Chaha-pohe karyakram

My mom got a call from my aunty saying, they have found a nice girl for Nishad. Send them his horoscope and a photo. Please note down these 2 phone numbers. They will be in touch with you soon. I was very casual about all these things. I was mentally not ready to get married as I felt I was not settled enough to get married. I had a dream of having a bungalow and a Mitsubishi Lancer before I wed. Right now I have difficulties paying my house rent, and forget a car, I ride a bicycle. It is now that I realise, "You are never settled until you get married."I was ignorant to all these issues as I was confident no one would accept a guy who calls himself a software engineer and rides a bicycle to office.  
 As a part of horoscope match, my mom sent them my photo too. This one. This snap was taken more than 3 years ago when I flaunted a big moustache and was at least 10 Kgs heavier than what I am today. When I came to know about this snap, I was even more confident of myself getting rejected.

 

One day during my vacation, I was told that the girls's parents want us to meet. I was shocked. This was the first time I was going to see a girl the typical arranged marriage way, or in marathi we put it as "Chaha-pohe karyakram". One day before we decided to meet at her uncle's place, I got to see her photo for the first time. Sonam had given a snap specially taken from a professional photographer. My first impression was "Not bad". We went to her uncle's house. Her father gave us a warm welcome. I was made to sit straight in front of her father. My mom and aunty were to the left, and my elder brother was to my right. 
             Now comes the interesting part. Many try to keep this program as a secret. But let me tell you the full uncut story. This was my first "Chaha-pohe" programme. Coincidently it was Sonam's first programme too. So you can imagine the amount of tension filled in both of our minds. I was in a state of silence. Just the feeling of me being looked as a groom for someone made me nervous. All eyes were set on me. Her father, mother, uncle, aunty were all looking at me, and I was simply looking down at the third button of my shirt. In my mind, I was thinking, right now what would the girl be thinking about all this ? In this house, where she must be sitting right now ? when will they call her ? Will she get the tea and poha tray herself with a ghoonghat on her head ? Is she really in the house or not ? With all such thoughts dangling in my mind, My aunty introduced me to her parents. I simply nodded my head to what she said. Then, her parents started asking me questions. Where in Bangalore do you stay ? How many people do you stay ? what about food ? how far is the company ? and some similar questions. I replied them promptly. Whenever I opened my mouth, everybodies eyes were staring at me. I felt, this arranged marriage was harder than an IBM interview. Then suddenly, someone called her down. At this point, I only remembered who her father was. Out of the two ladies, I was not sure who was her mother, and who was her aunty. 
            Sonam came down, touched the feet of my mom and aunty and silently sat on the chair. I just glanced at her face. Like me, even she looked tensed. She also glanced at my face. Inside my mind I said, "She looks better than the photograph". (After the marriage was confirmed, I was told that even her parents were surprised to see me without moustache and in beter shape than how I looked in the photograph) I looked at my Mom, Now it was the reverse, My mom, aunty and brother were staring at her, and I was still looking down at button #3 of my shirt. Then, it was "Chaha-pohe" turn. I dont remember who served them. I was given a plate with Pohe and small bowl with a sweet(Shira). In order to eat, I had to take the plate closer to my body. In doing this, out of tension, my hands would shiver. This shiver caused the bowl on the plate to shiver and make a cracking sound. While putting the first spoon in my mouth, I realised this. It was going to be tough finishing both without making a sound. I looked at Sonam. She had happily rejected the plate and had took only the sweet bowl. I was thinking to myself, She has done this purposefully after hearing my bowl making crackling sound. To avoid the sound, Even I finished the sweet first and then the rest. Then came tea. I am not a regular drinker of tea and I take longer time to finish it as I cannot drink it hot. It took me 5 extra minutes after everyone had finished their tea. 
           After everyone was done, suddenly everybody got up to show us the house. I was wondering why do we have to see the whole house now ? Later did I realise that this was all made up so that finally me and sonam end up in a room so that we can talk to each other in privacy. Finally, it was only me and Sonam in one room. The rest disappeared here and there. I was tensed, She was tensed. I asked her a few questions and gave a few confessions. 
Q1. Is this marrige going as per your wish or you wanted something else?
A1. I am happy with what is going on.

Q2. Is the age difference between you and me Ok ?
A2. Ok.

Q3. Do you know where I work, how much I earn ?
A3. yes.

Q4. Are you ready to go anywhere with me after marrige ? Currently it is Bangalore, later even I dont know. I will try for Pune though. 
A4. Yes. I am ready.

Q5. Do you believe in God ?
A5. Yes. I am a devotee of Ganesha.

Q6. I sleep early, and get up early regardless of any holidays and I would be happy if you too do the same. 
A6. Yes.

Q7. Do you eat non veg ?
A7. No. Never. I even hate the smell of eggs.

Q8. I see you are very silent, please ask me also some questions.
A8. I cant think of any question.

I gave some of my confessions to her.
I told her about my dream of a bungalow and a car, and where I stand today. Instead of taking an auto, I prefer the bus. I get up early and go for running. I run Marathons. When I told your father I ride bicycle, I really meant I ride a bicycle. for the past 2 years, I have been riding it. Its not that I cannot afford a motorcycle, but I love a bicycle and would love it even after marriage. I eat chicken, fish, eggs. I too believe in God but not the the extent to which you do. While telling all this, I was looking at the floor and she was looking at the wall.

Before we could talk more, We were called back downstairs. It was time for us to go. Her parents told us to give them our reply in two days. Even now I was quite casual thinking that they might still reject me. Also, She didnt speak to me much which made me think, something is stopping her from talking to me. My mom was very happy with her. My Aunty was very happy with her. My brother was happy with her. I told mom, she didnt speak to me at all. I cant say yes unless she talks a little. A months later, we did get a chance to talk, and this time even she was happy with me, and even I was happy with her answers. Finally, it was "YES" from both the families and we had a happy begining.....

Happy Valentine's Day

A Very special way to celebrate Valentine's Day....

My health insurance

I was suffering a mild pain in my right leg. After consulting a sports injury doctor, he pinpointed my problem. There was a slight difference between my left and right leg. It was all visible by looking at my old pair of running shoes.

Check out the extra wear on my right shoe.

I used Reebok Torrent Elite IV for the past 1.5 years. It has covered more than 1000 kms now. The doc immediately suggested me to change the shoes. Though the shoes look good from the outside, the actual cushioning inside the shoe has died. So, for a runner, it is always recommended to change his shoe after 1000 kms of running. I was also given some stretching exercises which will correct my right leg. 

When you catch cold, of fall ill, you go to a doctor, he will use his stethoscope, thermometer check your health and will prescribe you some medicines. You go to a medical shop, buy them, follow the prescribed dose, and get healthy again. 

This doctor also gave me a prescription, not of medicines, but shoes which suit my leg. 

1. Adidas Supernova Control 10

2. Nike Triax 11

Instead of a medical shop, I went to a shoe shop, checked out the shoes, and picked up the Adidas shoe. The shoe cost me a lot, but Its ok, that's my health insurance. 

Five unusual reasons to Ride a Bicycle

You probably think that you've heard all the arguments for riding a bicycle. Sure, the bicycle doesn't use non-renewable resources or pollute (including noise pollution), is inexpensive both for ownership and in terms of public infrastructure to support it, can be parked anywhere, and is a healthy activity.

"Blah, blah, blah. Tell me something new," you say.

O.K., here's five reasons to ride a bicycle that you've never before heard of. Not in your wildest dream. And if you don't already ride a bicycle for fun, fitness, or transportation, this will surely convince you to get your gears spinning.

All of this is copied from a very informative site on bicycling. 

1. Bicycles are more technologically advanced than motor vehicles.

Don't let the shiny, complicated looking engine on that Ecstasy S.U.V. fool you. A bicycle is in certain ways the most intelligent vehicle ever created. It has the world's most advanced "engine" controlled with the most wondrous and sophisticated "computer." The engine often knows what's wrong with itself and usually fixes itself. A bicycle is also the world's most energy efficient mode of travel, using just 35 calories per passenger mile versus 1860 for an average automobile with one occupant. And the engine can run on all kinds of strange fuels, like masala dosa.

Affordable bicycles are manufactured with exotic materials such as titanium, carbon fiber, incredible aluminum alloys, and high strength alloy steel. If you've never ridden a high quality modern bicycle, you're in for a treat.

In comparison, cars are dinosaurs. Actually, they burn decomposed dinosaurs in an internal combustion engine that, evolutionarily speaking, is about at the Paleozoic era. We've had rocket ships that go to the moon and back since 1969. We have limitless solar energy and enough nuclear technology to atomize the earth, but our motor vehicles still use fossil fuel. Cars are made with steel, iron, and plastic. You can't pick them up. And try to fix one!

2. Bicycle manufacturing is not controlled by special interests.

Well, special interests are EVERYWHERE, but relatively speaking, this is true. Bicycle manufacturers could have invented the Army recruiting slogan "Be All That You Can Be." Their goal is to produce the best vehicle possible. Bicycles are the perfect synthesis of body and machine. Be a cyborg.

Cars on the other hand, are the epitome of special interest controlled products. The oil industry wants cars to get the worst gas mileage possible. The steel industry wants cars to be big and heavy, ostensibly in order to be safe.

So, reject the greed of huge multinational corporations. Tread lightly and ride a bicycle.

3. Bicycles are faster than cars.

In urban areas, this is sometimes literally true. Congestion, traffic signals, parking-space-search time, and walking-to-final-destination time all conspire to reduce the speed of even the highest powered motor vehicle to about that of a bicycle. However, if you consider that the time cost of travel also includes the amount of time spent working to pay for the vehicle, bicycles come roaring ahead. Also, why spend loads of time working to pay for the car to get to work to pay for the car?

Since exercise is mandatory for optimal health, and riding a bicycle to some necessary destination incorporates exercise which would otherwise take time in the gym, pedaling to someplace can be considered as taking zero time. Therefore, bicycles are infinitely fast. That's faster than light, which, according to Einstein shouldn't be possible, but nonetheless reverses time. Riding a bicycle makes you younger. Be a kid again!

4. You can be part of a cutting edge movement.

According to the 1990 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey, only 0.7% of all transportation trips are made by bicycle. Ninety percent of trips are taken in a personal automobile with the remainder via transit, walking, or other modes.

Lets face it, bicyclists are a minority. But, by the same token, we're unique. So why be normal? Be different, ride a bicycle.

5. Someday you'll wish you had.

Helen Hayes, the much beloved "First Lady of American theater" who died at the age of 92 was asked in an interview if she regretted anything. She said she had only one regret. "I never rode a bicycle. I wish I had. That's all."

While few of us can hope to achieve the stature of Ms. Hayes, we certainly can fulfill a dream that she never did. The simple pleasure of riding a bicycle — effortless motion at one moment, challenging yet empowering hill climbing the next, followed by the thrill of the decent.

Bicycling is the wind in your face and your senses on hyperdrive. It's life at its best. Try it. Ultimately there will come a time when you won't be able to.

Will you please let me run ?

The first and the last time I participated in an international event was on May 18th in the Sunfeast World 10K. Since then, I had dreamt of running so many events lined up in 2008. Unfortunately, I was not able to participate in any of those. 

I missed the Hyderabad Hi-tech Marathon on 16th August purely because of negligence, I was totally unaware of the date. From that day, I closely followed the Run calender. 

The second one I  was Chennai Marathon on 31st August. Sadly, I had to go to Mumbai for the 1st death anniversary of my grandfather. 

The third one I missed was, Portsmouth Seacoast Marathon. Yes, This one was in UK. I was supposed to go to UK for a business trip, and I had plans to run this one while I was there. Unfortunately, the trip got cancelled, and so were my dreams of running a marathon outside India. 

The 4th one I missed was Kaveri Trial Marathon. The actual venue was very far from my house. Also, I felt very insecure to travel that far, run for a minimum of 21 Kms and come back. I voluntarily dropped out.

The 5th one I missed was, Bangalore Ultra Marathon. As the name suggests, Its ultra. 25Kms, 50Kms, 75 Kms, or 100 Kms. You decide where you fit. I didnt fit in any of these. I had already made up my mind to skip this one as Hyderabad half Marathon was lined up next for me.

The 6th one was Delhi Half Marathon, I opted out as it was not worth traveling till Delhi and running.  

The 7th one I missed was Hyderabad Half Marathon. I was fully prepared for this one. Had booked return tickets for Hyderabad too. But for these fuckin' terrorist attacks on Mumbai, My mom advised me to skip this one. Last moment I had to cancel my tickets, and stay at home in Bangalore. 

The 8th one I will be missing is, Pune International Marathon. I had waited for a long time for this one. Unfortunately, it clashes with my cousin's marriage date.  Sadly, I will me missing this one too. 

Bad luck or bad timing, whatever you call, for a  passionate runner, this is enough to bring his spirits down. Enough to make him disappointed for the rest of the year. But as one of the marathon says, "Keeping the spirit alive, year after year", I am not one of those who will give up. I am not a professional runner, I am not 100% dedicated to running. I have a family for which I earn. That is why I am here in Bangalore. I have to respect every word what they say before I decide what I do. I had to skip some of the marathons for them, there were times when I was frustrated, angry on people, my job and sometimes myself. Running alone in the silence, cool and pleasant weather @ 6 am makes me calm down. It makes me realise, there are so many good things in life you need to pay attention rather than taking out your frustration on someone else(especially my mom). Running is one good habit I have put in myself, and I don't want to lose it.  This is just the 1st year I have started this craze. There is no point getting disappointed, there is no reason to lose hope.  There are at least 50 more years I will run, 300+ more marathons I will participate. 

The next in line are, Bangalore Midnight Marathon on 13Th December 2008 and Mumbai International Marathon on 18th Jan 2009.  Will you please let me run ? 

Dec 9th 2008 : Just an update : Bangalore Midnight Marathon is postponed due to Govt ban on public rallies till 15th December :x :X :X

The 1000 Kms Distance Club

The day has come, I have completed 1000 Kms on my nike+ipod. It took me 10 months to reach this goal. According to logical calculations, I ran almost 100 Kms every month, 3.3 Kms every day. 

Sounds easy, but trust me, it is tough.  These 10 months I experienced some excitement, some fun, and a lot of pain. I have emptied at least 

4 bottles of Iodex

1 tube of MOOV

1 tube of anti friction gel (too shy to mention the name :p)

2 packs of vicks vaporub

2 bottles of cough syrup

2 bottles of Dettol

10,000 litres of drinking water ! 

I disposed at least 5 underwears, 5 baniyans, 4 T-shirts and 3 pairs of socks. (These were all dedicated to my Training plan) Soon after Mumbai Marathon in Janauary, I will have to dispose my shoes too ! They are just 1.5 years old, but have sustained my whole weight for those 1000 Kms. 

1 Km = 1320 steps. 1000 Kms = 13,20,000 steps. (Thats 13 lakh 20 thousand steps !!!)

My knees, hamstring muscles and calves  deserve a huge kiss from me for this. 

Normally our heart beats @ 72 BPM. While running at my pace, it beats at around 135 BPM.

I completed 1000 kms in 90 hours = 5400 mins. So for 5400 mins of my life, my heart had to beat at almost twice its average rate.  Dude, my heart is precious. 

To make my heart beat at 135 BPM, it requires a blood supply twice as fast than its average time. My lungs were a great contributor in my heart's achievement. 

My lungs were able to perform so well because I could breathe enough air during my runs. So should I thank my big nose ? \o/

Breaking the law

 I always get irritated when someone comes on chat and asks, "How are you" I've written a whole blog about my feelings on this questions earlier.  For the sake of an answer everyone says, "I am fine" But are they really fine ? Maybe they are, maybe they are not. Yesterday, while listening to my ipod, I found a song which matches perfectly with the life I am living now a days. Weekdays go in at least 3 hours of travel, 9 hours in office, 2-3 hours of television, 6-7 hours of sleep. Weekends go away in watching movies, visiting friends, food in some nice hotels, sleep in the afternoons. Want to do something else, but dont know where to start. This song by Judas Priest describes it all. 

Here is the video for the song and here are the lyrics. 

There I was completely wasting, out of work and down
All inside its so frustrating as I drift from town to town
Feel as though nobody cares if I live or die
So I might as well begin to put some action in my life

Breaking the law, breaking the law
Breaking the law, breaking the law
Breaking the law, breaking the law
Breaking the law, breaking the law

So much for the golden future, I cant even start
Ive had every promise broken, theres anger in my heart
You dont know what its like, you dont have a clue
If you did youd find yourselves doing the same thing too

Breaking the law, breaking the law
Breaking the law, breaking the law
Breaking the law, breaking the law
Breaking the law, breaking the law

Maybe I should continue the same life, or BREAK THE LAW

Bankruptcy Concept for Dummies

This one is a direct copy paste from an fwd email. I recommend, you spare some time and do read it till the end. Initially, it is easy to understand whats happening. later on, it starts getting confusing and in the end, you might think, NOW WHAT ? read it maybe 2-3 times and you will get it.

Here is the story....

Once there was a little island country. The land of this country was the tiny island itself. The total money in circulation was 2 dollars as there were only two pieces of 1 dollar coins circulating around.

1) There were 3 citizens living on this island country.  A owned the land. B

and C each owned 1 dollar.

2) B decided to purchase the land from A for 1 dollar. So, now A and C own 1 dollar each while B owned a piece of land that is worth 1 dollar.

* The net asset of the country now = 3 dollars.

3) Now C thought that since there is only one piece of land in the country,

and land is non producible asset, its value must definitely go up. So, he

borrowed 1 dollar from A, and together with his own 1 dollar, he bought the land from B for 2 dollars.

*A has a loan to C of 1 dollar, so his net asset is 1 dollar.

* B sold his land and got 2 dollars, so his net asset is 2 dollars.

* C owned the piece of land worth 2 dollars but with his 1 dollar debt to A,

his net residual asset is 1 dollar.

* Thus, the net asset of the country = 4 dollars.

4) A saw that the land he once owned has risen in value. He regretted having sold it. Luckily, he has a 1 dollar loan to C. He then borrowed 2 dollars from B and acquired the land back from C for 3 dollars. The payment is by 2 dollars cash (which he borrowed) and cancellation of the 1 dollar loan to C.

As a result, A now owned a piece of land that is worth 3 dollars. But since

he owed B 2 dollars, his net asset is 1 dollar.

* B loaned 2 dollars to A. So his net asset is 2 dollars.

* C now has the 2 coins. His net asset is also 2 dollars.

* The net asset of the country = 5 dollars. A bubble is building up.

(5) B saw that the value of land kept rising. He also wanted to own the

land. So he bought the land from A for 4 dollars. The payment is by

borrowing 2 dollars from C, and cancellation of his 2 dollars loan to A.

* As a result, A has got his debt cleared and he got the 2 coins. His net

asset is 2 dollars.

* B owned a piece of land that is worth 4 dollars, but since he has a debt

of 2 dollars with C, his net Asset is 2 dollars.

* C loaned 2 dollars to B, so his net asset is 2 dollars.

* The net asset of the country = 6 dollars; even though, the country has

only one piece of land and 2 Dollars in circulation.

(6) Everybody has made money and everybody felt happy and prosperous.

(7) One day an evil wind blew, and an evil thought came to C's mind. "Hey, what if the land price stop going up, how could B repay my loan. There is only 2 dollars in circulation, and, I think after all the land that B owns is worth at most only 1 dollar, and no more."

(8) A also thought the same way.

(9) Nobody wanted to buy land anymore.

* So, in the end, A owns the 2 dollar coins, his net asset is 2 dollars.

* B owed C 2 dollars and the land he owned which he thought worth 4 dollars is now 1 dollar. So his net asset is only 1 dollar.

* C has a loan of 2 dollars to B. But it is a bad debt. Although his net

asset is still 2 dollars, his Heart is palpitating.

* The net asset of the country = 3 dollars again.

(10) So, who has stolen the 3 dollars from the country ? Of course, before

the bubble burst B thought his land was worth 4 dollars. Actually, right

before the collapse, the net asset of the country was 6 dollars on paper.

B's net asset is still 2 dollars, his heart is palpitating.

(11) B had no choice but to declare bankruptcy. C as to relinquish his 2

dollars bad debt to B, but in return he acquired the land which is worth 1

dollar now.

* A owns the 2 coins, his net asset is 2 dollars.

* B is bankrupt, his net asset is 0 dollar. ( he lost everything )

* C got no choice but end up with a land worth only 1 dollar

* The net asset of the country = 3 dollars.

************ **End of the story; BUT ************ ********* ******

There is however a redistribution of wealth.

A is the winner, B is the loser, C is lucky that he is spared.

A few points worth noting -

(1) When a bubble is building up, the debt of individuals to one another in

a country is also building up.

(2) This story of the island is a closed system whereby there is no other

country and hence no foreign debt. The worth of the asset can only be

calculated using the island's own currency. Hence, there is no net loss.

(3) An over-damped system is assumed when the bubble burst, meaning the land's value did not go down to below 1 dollar.

(4) When the bubble burst, the fellow with cash is the winner. The fellows

having the land or extending loan to others are the losers. The asset could

shrink or in worst case, they go bankrupt.

(5) If there is another citizen D either holding a dollar or another piece

of land but refrains from taking part in the game,  he will neither win nor

lose. But he will see the value of his money or land go up and down like a

see saw.

(6) When the bubble was in the growing phase, everybody made money.

(7) If you are smart and know that you are living in a growing bubble, it is

worthwhile to borrow money (like A ) and take part in the game. But you must know when you should change everything back to cash.

(8) As in the case of land, the above phenomenon applies to stocks as well.

(9) The actual worth of land or stocks depend largely on psychology 

Garud Puran punishments and a Software Engineer

Inspired by the movie Anniyan(Aparichit in Hindi) I searched google and found out a list of punishments from the Garud Puran given to sinners. I had a weird idea of linking all these punishments to the wrong things we do in our lives. To my surprise, lot of punishments are applicable even to a common man. Some of the punishments are harsh and very sick to read. I have taken some of the punishments very seriously and some of them very lightly. Its upto you how you handle it.

Anthakuubam :

Those who murder pious people and those who cheat divine ones will be sent here. This place is a well filled with dangerous animals, insects, birds & snakes. These creatures will endlessly torture the sinners till their sentence is over.

For Software Engineer : Software Engineers who produce fake permanent address proof in order to get a driving licence, open a DMAT account. will have to face Anthakuubam. 

Kirumibohjanam 

Those who eat food without offering to God will take the form of worms and other worms at this place will bite them. 

For Software Engineer : Software Engineers take food from the cafeteria. If you don't finish whatever is in your plate, You will have to suffer. I don't offer food to God, But I don't waste food either. So I think, I am spared :-) Remember, Never ever waste food. Its YOU who took take the food by your hand, and its YOU who is throwing the same food in the dustbin. 

Pandri Mugam

Those rulers/kings who sentence others unjustly and those who torture the weak old people will be sent here. This place looks like a pig's face. Here the keepers of hell will break the sinners' arms and legs. Their bodies will be squeezed in between rollers like sugar cane. At such moment, the sinners will faint without realizing it.

For Software Engineer : You are not a king. But being rude to the security man if he insists you to display your badge, blaming the bus driver for traffic jams, paying no respect to the cleaning staff.......welcome to the place that looks like a pig's face.

Thaamisrum

Those who steal others' wife, property or children will be terribly beaten up by the keepers of hell. The continuous torture will make them semi-conscious, overcome by greater fear and tremendous pain.

For Software Engineer :  At least I am not eligible. Married techies, think yourselves.

Annatha Thamisrum

Those who deceive their life partners by not offering them food, will be tortured here till they look like a lifeless tree. They are made blind for their sins.

For Software Engineer : Again, I am spared. 

Rauravam 

Those who take away others' property by their cunning speech and those who destroy other families for their own happiness will die as pauper. In hell, those affected by him will take a cruel form then a poisonous snake to punish him. Such sinners will be held in Maha Rauravam till their sentence ends.

For Software Engineer : Troubling the landlord, Not paying the rent on time. Preparing fake rental agreements, duplicating the landlord's signature. You can suffer !

Kumbibaagam 

Those who do cruelty to birds and animals and those who eat their meat will be pushed into a pot of boiling oil. They will be in it for countless years.

For Software Engineer : Most of us will suffer this punishment. Eating Chicken, Mutton, Fish everything is counted ! 

Kalasuthiram 

Those who chase their parents away will be brought here. This is a place of fire and tremendous heat. Sinners will suffer internally and externally. They will not be given food or water. At such stage, they will be walking, standing and rolling on the floor with great pain.

For Software Engineer : Software Engineers who don't know the value of money they earn. Instead of sending sufficient money to their parents, spend it on drinks and cigarette, movies, hotels, and other unnecessary stuffs. Not obeying what their parents say, Fall in love with a colleague, and marry her without their parents permission, This punishment is for you.

Asibathiram

Those who convert to other religions without a good reason will be brought into this forest with sharp knife like leaves. They will be beaten with sharp edge belts. Those running away from them will suffer more cuts from such leaves and stones. Moreover, they will be cut into pieces continuously till their sentence ends.

For Software Engineer:  The words are clear enough to be applicable to all software engineers. 

Saaramehyaathanam 

Those who burned down houses or poison others, those who do mass murders and politicians who destroy countries will be held here. They will be fed on dog meat and in return more than 700 dogs will bite them before they are freed.

For Software Engineer :  More than Software engineers, Politicians need to worry.

Ahvisi 

Those who do good services for mere publicity will be brought to the top of high place or hill to be pushed down. The hard surface/ground will shatter their bodies into pieces. The hell keepers will gather the bodies together to repeat such punishment again.

For Software Engineer : Those who study for CAT in the office, use office material for personal use. Come to office on weekends just to create a monster.com / naukri.com account and claim overtime and eat pizza. Beware.

Paribaathanam 

The drunkards will be sent here. They will be given boiling iron liquid to drink.

For Software Engineer :  I am spared here too ! Most of the software engineers will face this. 

Shaarargartham

Those who disregard other qualified ones or holy ones and those who boasts about themselves while insulting other capable people will brought here. They will be hanged up side down, beaten and tortured by the keepers. 

For Software Engineer :  Every word is applicable for every software engineer.

Rashohganam 

Those who do human or animal sacrifices in Yagna and those who eat their meat will be brought here. Those killers will be turned to animals and those animals or others killed by them will take human forms. They will tear them apart and eat up their flesh and drink their blood.

For Software Engineers : You will be rewarded with either Kumbibaagam or Rashohganam. Anyways you have to suffer. I am sure I will get Kumbibaagam.

Suulapurohtham 

Those who cheat the innocents who trusted them and those who commit suicide by hanging or piercing the trident into their body will be brought here. Tridents and birds with sharp beaks, will pierce them as punishment.

For Software Engineers : Switching jobs just for a higher pay, Applying for jobs in other companies using fake experience, Producing fake medical bills, showing fake bank balance in order to approve a loan. Suulapurotham is waiting for you !

Vadaarohtham

Those who torture animals or other creatures staying in caves, valleys and webs will be sent here. They will be placed in smoky pits, fire pits and punished by poison.

For Software Engineers : Dont know whether this punishment is valid for torturing cocroaches, mice, lizards etc. If yes, I am afraid, no one is spared.

Paryaavaathanagam 

Those who murmur to themselves by cursing their superiors while having their meals will be sent here. Crows and eagles will poke such sinner's eyes till their eyeball drop off.

For Software Engineers : The description is clear enough. cursing your managers, piers during your meals. Discussing how you can take revenge, teach him a lesson, how you can shock them by your resignation. Every small detail is counted.

Susimugam 

Those who become arrogant about their wealth, those who show hatred to the poor, those who bury or protect their wealth with 'genies' guarding it and those who refuse to return the money borrowed from others will be brought here. Such sinners will be tied with ropes and their bodies will be cut into pieces.

For Software Engineers : This a similar punishment is already given by banks if the loan is not repaid in time :-) Software Engineers who borrow money from their colleagues in order to buy a bike, laptop, land, flat etc. and not return it in time, Producing fake documents in order to save tax, all such deeds are counted for Susimugam. 

Agni goodam 

Those who take away others' things by force will be sent to this chimney like place to be barbecued continuously.

For Software Engineers : Those who download songs, movies, and other high volume stuff, watching youtube videos during office hours, you are not aware, you are stealing others bandwidth by force. 

Vajra goondam 

Those who have illegal affairs will be forced to hug burning rods while been whipped.

For Software Engineers : Beware. Thats all I can say :-)

Sunmaali 

Those who flirt will be poked with spiked weapons.

For Software Engineers : All weekend lovers. Visiting malls, parks, gardens just for the sake of "bird watching". Very common !

Vaitharani 

Those who offend the 'shastraas' will be pushed into the river filled with blood, pus, flesh, fats, hairs, bones, urine and bowels. They will be bitten till they bleed by the creatures dwelling in it. The sinners will struggle helplessly unable to reach the shore. 

For Software Engineers : In order to offend the shastraas, first of all you need to know them. Anyways, you will be pushed.

Pooyohtham 

Those who neglect their culture, those who have illicit affairs with low status women, those who misbehave without self-discipline and those who neglect the right way of living so as to live like free birds or animals will be brought here to eat bowels and to drink blood, urine and pus. 

For Software Engineers : These sins are mostly committed when in college. Doesn't matter, if you've done it, you will be punished.

Prinarohgam 

Those Brahmans who rear dogs and donkeys and use them for hunting will become targets for arrows shot by the keepers. 

For Software Engineers : Those techies who used ready made code copied from the Internet and use it in your programs claiming it as yours, get ready for some target practice.

Visasnum

The keepers will whip those who sacrifice cows for the sake of pride.

For Software Engineers : ???

Laalaapasham

Those who force their wives into unhealthy sex performance will be drowned into a pot of sperm forcing them to drink it.

For Software Engineers : No Comments.

These are just few of the punishments from the Garud Purana. I am not 100% sure of the genuinity of the punishments. I have copied the punishments from here. Even if you have committed some (or rather most) of the sins, there is always time to remorse. Be good to yourself. Be good to others. Or else Mr. Aparichit will give you one of the punishments for sure !

Half Marathon !

Today, I did something what seemed impossible to me 1 year ago. I finished a Half Marathon. The timing is not very impressive, but trust me, for a newbie, this one is a huge achievement. Now there is no stopping. A Full Marathon is not far, and training for it has already started.

Ironically, when I returned home, and read the newspaper, tomorrow is "World Heart Day" So should I say "Thank you" to my heart ? or say "Sorry" for making it struggle on just before his day ?

Aduei #883

* I've been working on this since a year now. But finally, my room mate came up with the write up. I added some snaps, and modified the content to make the blog more memorable.  This blog is written by a guest writer Rohan (Bunnu) who was also a resident of #883 and is written with Rohan as the 1st person. This blog is dedicated to all the lucky guys (and few gals) who were the "victim of fun" in #883. A special thanks to our land lord Diwakar a.k.a 'D' for his kindness and patience to tolerate us in his house. Here is the story.... 

For those who know "Good bye 695" it can be a sequel...

Our contract for 695 was getting over by August 06 month end. We could have extended  it by paying revised rate of 10K. We opted for the other option and quest for new home was began.There were 3 of us, Me(Rohan), Dahsin(Nishad) and Sappya(Swapneel).

Our main condition was house should be near to the office.After searching in ad magazines and papers we came to know about House no.883,near East end.

              When we saw it we found it bit small area wise.Though area in which it was built was  convenient one. After discussing for a short while we decided to take that house on rent. And a new era of my stay in Bangalore was began. I would have been more than surprised if somebody had told me  this will be one of your finest stay. I must admit that for first few days I found it bit small.Very soon I realised it was big enough to give us a memorable stay. In the meantime our friends Jakya, Busaan and Vinya also found a house nearby.That triggered amazing memories spent together.

For the first 3 months Sappya used to stay with us.He used to study all the day:-)

The house saw the Birth of Magician 21!dahsiN.He used to learn new magic tricks of his own and then we were victims of his experiments:-) He has mastered the this art by now.So many videos are  evident for it:-) Again most of them are taken in 883. After Sappya left the house, one of my friend Barvya arrived. The house saw so many events like late night bakar,patte sessions, bday bash of different kind, world cup hawaa. I remember most of the  bdays were celebrated in different fashions.I loved the way Dahsin brought triangular caps having cartoons

over it  for all of us. It was amazing feeling to celebrate bday of a 24 year KID:-)Another memorable bday was of Chaaandya's, to whom minimum 10 empty boxes were presented as gift.

So many of our friends had the Privilege of staying in the house.Sunnya,chandya and Chaaandya will top the list.

Once, there was a naming ceremony done for each one of us, based on what we did, 

1. Swapneel : Gurappan Palya (due to his Guruji abilities)

2. Rohan : Dhery Circle (In Marathi, Dhery = Belly)

3. Omkar : Crazy Frog, Dungya (Crazy frog for his body language, and Dungya in memory Mr. Raj Singh Dungarpur for changing his statements every other day)

4. Amar (Jackie) : Jakkasandra (Just because his pet name matches with an area in Bangalore)

5. Chandya : Kuchka Futana (For his cunning and witty humour)

6. Diwakar (Landlord) : D (Based on RGV's Movie "D") 

The house witnessed so many things related to 'Food for thought'.Correct, all the things related to food, whether we brought N no of Idlis or planning to go to our favourite hotels, finding reasons to treat a Mosumbi juice @ Cool Corner, or an even better reason to enjoy ice-cream @ Pick 'n' Move.

I remember one evening when dahsiN managed to throw out a mouse.Mouse tried his best to survive from dahsiN only to be swept away by dahsiN in one shot.Needless to say, he never came back. At the time of World cup our house was full of friends and wafers,chips,cold drinks, never to forget the famous "Vicks World Cup" and unlimited fun.All these things were enough to convince our landlord that the no of people staying in the house was more than 8.:-).We tried to convince the landlord that it is impossible to fit 8 people in a 550 sq feet 1BHK without anyone noticing ! But instead of warning us about the 8 people conundrum, D calmly said," You want to stay 8 people, stay. But you will have to pay extra for water bill !!!" After cherishing every moment over here finally time came to say Good bye.I had to shift from Bangalore to Mumbai. 

        I left the house with heavy heart on 29th of sept. I decided to visit the house sooner.Hardly a week passed and I came to know about Barvya's transfer to Pune.Suddenly Dahsin had to bid adieu to 883 in very short time.Finally he packed his bags and shifted to his friend's house.

10 months are over by now still we find it hard to have a conversation in which 883 is not mentioned.

For those who have never visited the 883, this can be just a story; but for those who have stayed there it is far more than just a blog.

The last footage and some small memories from the house. (I had tears while making the video)

Rubik is back !

After I mastered the Rubik's cube algorithm, Rubik is back in news ! 

Rubik's cube is voted as the greatest toy ever !!

http://in.news.yahoo.com/ani/20080412/r_t_ani_tc/ttc-rubik-s-cube-voted-greatest-toy-craz-a34fb50_1.html

Ganesha Symbolism

I never knew there was so much of details hidden in the statue of Lord Ganesha. Thanks Swaroop for educating me !

Spot 10 differences

Its more than 24 years now, So many things have changed, I wish these moments never change.

So close to a Half Marathon !

Getting closer to my goal. Half marathon is just 5 Kms away. And a full marathon is 27 Kms away. When will I reach 42Kms mark ?!

dahsiN's top 10

A lot of people, friends, relatives, park joggers keep asking me, How can you run so much ? How can you pedal for so long ? Why do you have to get up so early ? Why are you doing all this to yourself ? What do you get after doing all this ?
In order to answer all the above questions, I have created my Top 10 reasons, Why I am doing all this. I will start in the reverse order,

10. When I was 20 years old weighing 73 kg, I wasted (or rather enjoyed) my time playing Quake 3. College days, played quake 3 all day and night. Food I ate was all junk, Chicken, eggs, fried rice, Noodles, and what not. At the age of 24, I was 82 and I realised where I was heading. That's when I decided to lose weight.

9. Joining a Gym, a diet program was all tried and tested, nothing worked.

8. Running at first thought, was not for me. Like others, I used to bonk in just 1 or two rounds. Others of my age, completed 5-6 rounds in ease. That made me feel ashamed of myself. One day, I don't know, what happened, This running and cycling got into me. (In Marathi, we call it "zapatne") It became my habit, that every morning, I go to the park, run at least 3 rounds and come back. I took the harder way of losing weight, Run run and run. Cycling helps build your stamina, so cycling came along.

6. Of all the people I see around, I notice, 60% are overweight, if not overweight, they have a bouncing tummy. A survey has predicted that by 2040, all the people in US will be overweight. I have made up my mind, Never in my whole life, I will become overweight again, have a tummy like that. Today, I have a massive intake of food. In order to maintain, I have to go through all this running and cycling.

5. Nobody is born strong, You have to make yourself strong. People drop their jaws when they hear about my stamina, how much I can run or pedal. (I drop my jaw when I hear about real athletes, and their stamina) You need not be this strong, but at least you should have the stamina to walk the stairs 6 floors without running out of breath. Trust me, I was one of those who would come last in a 200 mts race. Afraid of the traffic on the road. Ate chicken as if it was the last chicken left on the earth. Waited for lifts to take me to the 2nd floor. Now, I don't care if the lift works or not. going up to the 10th floor is never a problem.
Check these 3 things in life, and you will live healthy :
a. Always use the stairs. Never take the support of the handles along the stairs.
b. Sit on the floor with your legs folded. When you get up, never take help of your hands. If you already have problems getting up, I doubt, you need exercise.
c. Everybody uses shoes. Majority of them tie their shoe laces while sitting on the chair. I say DON'T DO THAT. Make it a habit to pull your socks, tie the shoe laces while you are standing.

If you follow these 3 habits, you will never have a health issue. You might also not have to read all of my dahsiN's top 10 !!!

4. These habits help me save money ! Don't believe me ? I have saved a lot ! A descent bicycle cost me 4000 rs. I have done at least 10,000 kms on it. Imagine me buying a motorcycle and riding it for, lets say 10000 Kms. I might have consumed petrol worth 12000 rs + the actual cost of the motorcycle. I can travel to any part of Bangalore on my bicycle without second thoughts. I don't keep any shame in my mind about being such a grown up, and still riding a bicycle.

3. This habit has changed my lifestyle. Earlier, I used to sleep late, get up late. With this running in my mind, I have to go to sleep early, and wake up early. And you all know the benefits of a early morning walk. These habits make me stand out in a crowd. Instead of a me being recognized as on of the millions and millions of software engineers, I am better known to people as a guy who rides a cycle to his office and does a 10K run in his free time.

2. We have a company bus to our office, One of my team mate asked me, why don't you join the bus ? You can come to office, and go back sitting peacefully. I replied, " That is what I don't want" People find it easy to board an auto, bus or accelerating a bike. Instead of the easier way, I would rather choose the harder way. Accelerating a bike is easier than pedaling a bicycle. Even for the weight loss, joining a fitness centre, paying thousands and thousands of rupees to lose weight was much easier than running. I chose the hard way to lose weight, so, weight gain for me will be harder :-)

1. People say, riding a bicycle for such a long distance is crazy stuff. Yes it is !! but only in India. In many European countries, people respect cyclists. For them, no distance is too far on their bicycles. People ask, "What pleasure do you get by doing all this to you ? " I said, "Pleasure ? I do it for the pain" Yes, its as as crazy as riding a bicycle. Like most of us, my parents have brought me up in a very simple way. No costly gifts, no un-necessary spending, no fancy clothes. When I started earning, I was living a luxurious life. A salary which my parents would not have thought of when they were of my age. A few month's salary is enough for you to forget the pains your parents had to suffer, just to give you good food, good education, and a good life. Riding a bicycle or running long distances, hurts a lot. My legs pain, my stomach pains, my back aches. Every time they hurt, it reminds me about my parents, my relatives and all the good people who came in my life. There was pain when your mom's hands burnt when she prepared food for you. There was pain when your mom was worried about your illness. There was pain when your dad had to pay donations for your admissions. There was pain when you grew up and stopped listening to what your parents said. I feel good when my runs make me hurt. Maybe this is my way of thanking my parents for all the things they did for me! This pain will not go unnoticed. In a couple of years from now, my mom will see me as a healthy, fit, and a very active son.

Dosaaa Anyone ?

Run maadi run

Finally, It was race day. I was all set. I knew I was not here to win.(At least in this race) but to finish in the top 200. A total of 20,000 runners had participated, and around 5000 had opted for the 10K run. I saw people warming up. getting their shoe laces tightened, Clipping the bib numbers to their T-shirts, visiting the rest rooms just before the run. I was cool. No worries. I was pretty confident of finishing the run with a good timing. During my practice runs, I could finish 10K with ease, Thanks to my Nike+ipod. I had prepared a "Run Special" playlist which will make me run faster. I saw a couple of guys who used to practice at the same park as i did. All of them were very serious about the run. It seemed, that I was the only one who was taking the run lightly.


It was 8:55 am, and we all gathered near the starting line. At sharp 9.00, the run started. I started with a steady pace. I knew I had taken a lot of efforts for this race, and I will not quit in the middle. 1 Km milestone passed. I saw Kingfisher females giving away water bottles to the runners. Cheer leaders (Yes, like the ones you saw in IPL) cheering you, residents near the road coming out in their balcony, entrance gates and cheering us ! The media van taking live footage of the run, A helicopter taking rounds over your head, An Ambulance, just in case, and above that, 5000 determined runners along with you. It feels great when you are a part of such an event. 2 Kms passed, but my Nike+ipod showed that I had covered 2.5 Kms. I knew, there was something wrong. Till yesterday, I was thinking that the 10Kms counted by the device was exact 10Kms, and based on this, I had done all my calculations. But now, I knew 10 Kms was longer than what I expected. I trusted the milestones on the roads, as this was an international event, the distance ought to be accurate.
At 3 Kms, I saw people slowing down, falling behind, stopping for water. I was not yet tired, I continued. An old man, in his 60s just crossed me and went ahead. he was all sweating, but I couldnt see fatigue on his face. Withing a minute, he was far ahead of me. This incident made me feel ashamed of myself. A 60 year old has the guts and the power to continue, and a 25 year old young blood is slowing down ! In spite of so much of practice, so much of efforts, I was felt that I was not at all worth of doing this run. If I am like this today, at the age of 60, I will not be able to get off a simple chair !! Maybe I might not survive to celebrate my 60th birthday !
Even today, as I write this blog, this incident always makes me bow down in shame. Now I knew, why others were so serious, and I was so cool. At 8 Kms milestone, My nike+ congratulated me for completing 10 Kms. Actually, there were 2 more Kms to go. My device was very badly calibrated. By now, the sun was sucking all the energy of me. I started having stomach pains. I had to slow down. I collected a bottle of water, and started walking on the road. people started overtaking me. A female, about my age crossed me and zoomed. This was another em brassing incident for me. After about 500 mts of walk, i again started running. The stomach pain had reduced. I focused my sight at the finishing line, which still seemed to be very far.
I slowly gained some more speed. I saw cheerleaders again boosting my confidence. Photographers started clicking photos, I saw the timer, as i crossed the finishing line. I took 56 mins to complete the race. My nike+ read that I completed 12.5 kms. My friends were waiting for me just next to the finishing line. They were glad that I completed, they congratulated me. I collected the refreshment kit and went straight towards a bench. My legs didnt seems to get hurt, but I was mentally stressed out. I had expected to finish the run in 45 mins, and i took 11 mins more. The friends said, your position was not bad. the winner had taken around 40 mins. and I was still better than the rest. We went home, had nice lunch and a good nap.

A few days later, I got a courier of my run timings certificate, and a link to the photos which the officials had clicked. I opened the envelope, found out that I took 56:18 to complete.
And my overall rank was 211 !
I didnt expect me to be in the first 200, especially when I had slowed down at the 8 kms mark. But still 211 was not bad at all ! I have not lost hopes. I've done the 10K, now its time for half marathon. People think its crazy, but I think, it is required if I want to live to 60 without any disease or medication. Trust me, events like this can change your life. They will make you stand out in the crowd. At my age, people lose their health to earn money. And at the age of 40+, they lose their money and (try to) earn health. Everybody earns money. Very few earn good health.

Be the change you want to see

This is a real life incident which happened in my life. Instead of me writing the whole incident, My friend Manjunath has made my job easier.
Here is the complete writeup.

Moments of Joy

People have different reasons to celebrate. Buying a high end Mobile or a Bike or a laptop. It can be your birthday, promotion, festival. So many things to celebrate.
I found joy in the smallest things in life. Recently I took running and cycling to a bit extreme limit. And within few months the result we astonishing. Here are some of my moments of joy captured in my camera.

Watching the weighing machine dip from 77 to 72 was fun. Here, Biggest loser wins !

The trip to the road side belt seller was another moment of joy. watching him drill 2 extra holes on the tighter side of my belt.






Buying new 32" trousers was fun. Comparing them with my 34" ones was even more fun. I was so confident that I bought 4 new trousers and discarded all the 34" trousers.

The time has come, you dont quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest! if you must; but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up, though the pace seems slow;
You might succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit;
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.

The spirit of Marathon

The Banyan Experience

I was waiting for a long time for this one. Finally last sunday, we did it. I always wanted to go on a long bicycle ride. This one was perfect. A 30+ kms ride on the Bangalore Mysore Highway. Our Destination was The Big Banyan Tree.
Here is the route which we followed :


I was accompanied by my friend Paresh. We both started off at 5:15 am. It was all dark outside. We felt very nice riding our bikes on the empty roads of Bangalore. Somehow we had to reach Mysore road, we asked directions and finally hit the highway. From here it was a straight road. I have a cycle computer fitted on my cycle. It give accurate readings of my current speed, average speed, total distance etc. We recorded a top speed of 41 Kms/Hr on the highway. Everything was going as expected. Before leaving, we had decided to reach the Banyan tree in less than 3 hours. Within a hour, we had already covered more than half the distance.
Finally we saw a diversion board : "Way to Big Banyan Tree ----> " From here, it was 8 kms more. We happily pedaled our way towards the tree.

We passed through a small village. There were funny stares from the people there. Imagine 2 stupid guys wearing a helmet, T-shirt, shorts, shoes and riding bicycles in a remote village. We continued the journey and followed the only road ahead. We saw a couple of BMTC buses # 227 overtake us. I thought, If anything goes wrong, we always have a return ticket :-)



Finally, we reached. We saw a huge jungle, and we were sure, this was it. From the outside, it looks as if it is a dense forest, but actually its just one Banyan tree, with its roots spread all across. It was 7:30 am and we knew we were too early. The Banyan tree is surrounded by a compound, and has an entrance gate. We asked one guy, when will the gate open, and he said, "Welcome, the gate is open for you !"

We had brought our own breakfast. we sat under the tree, and had it. After that we roamed around, and decided to head back. The place was excellent, but you can spend a maximum of 1 hour over there. Also, If we decide to leave late, we would have to pedal our way in the afternoon sun.
So at around 9 am we started back. The sun was up, and we had started sweating. The return trip was all uphill. The highway was full of vehicles. and we two innocent riders were always riding on the edge of the highway. Our speed had dropped, we were all exhausted. We took a halt at Kengeri town. gulped a lot of water, and continued. As we proceeded, the conditions worsened, My t-shirt was all wet with sweat. Bangalore was still 18 Kms away. I was confident of making the distance, but Paresh was falling behind. This one was the first long distance ride for both of us ( Me and my bicycle :-) and of course Paresh) . After a 30 mins ride, we had another halt. gulped more water. We were near Majestic. Actually, we missed the Banashankari bypass, so had to travel till Majestic and back. Third halt was at Majestic. We had finished our water supply, so bought some more water, and finished it there itself. This journey lasted for more than 2 hours. Next stop : Jayanagar 4th Block. again thirsty. had sugarcane juice. Finally, the last stage of the journey, and within 20 mins we were home. We parked the bikes in the garage, looked at each other and smiled. My hands were all Sun tanned, Face, which is already dark, had become darker. That was a wonderful ride. I called up my friends and told them about the trip. They were amazed. Actually, The trip distance was not that much to get amazed. I could have done another 70 Kms on the same day, but my ass was not ready to bear the cycle seat.

Onwards Journey :
Trip Distance : 30.15 Kms
Trip Time : 01:48:22
Avg Speed : 16.4 Kmph
Max Speed : 41 Kmph

Return Journey :
Trip Distance : 39.44 Kms
Trip Time : 03:14:54
Avg Speed : 12.3 Kmph
Max Speed : 33 Kmph

Total trip Distance : 69.59 Kms
Total Trip Time : 05:03:16
Avg Speed : 14.3 Kmph

I am always ready for another ride. The next destination will be Nandi Hills.

Yes, Running can give you a high !

*Article from TOI Bangalore dated 28-03-2008
The reason I decided to copy paste this article was, Sometimes when I am having my 10K run, After 5-6 Kms, I start feeling lighter, and it seems I have no control on myself. My hands and legs continue their motion and I just helplessly witness the "Flight".
Maybe this is what happens to me sometimes :

The runner’s high: Every athlete has heard of it, most seem to believe in it and many say they have experienced it. But for years scientists have reserved judgment because no rigorous test confirmed its existence.
Yes, some people reported that they felt so good when they exercised that it was as if they had taken mood-altering drugs. But was that feeling real or just a delusion? And even if it was real, what was the feeling supposed to be, and what caused it? Some who said they had experienced a runner’s high said it was uncommon. They might feel relaxed or at peace after exercising, but only occasionally did they feel euphoric. Was the calmness itself a runner’s high?
The runner’s-high hypothesis proposed that there were real biochemical effects of exercise on the brain. Chemicals were released that could change an athlete’s mood, and those chemicals were endorphins, the brain’s naturally occurring opiates. Running was not the only way to get the feeling; it could also occur with most intense or endurance exercise.
The problem with the hypothesis was that it was not feasible to do a spinal tap before and after someone exercised to look for a flood of endorphins in the brain. Researchers could detect endorphins in people’s blood after a run, but those endorphins were part of the body’s stress response and could not travel from the blood to the brain. They were not responsible for elevating one’s mood. So for more than 30 years, the runner’s high remained an unproved hypothesis.
But now medical technology has caught up with exercise lore. Researchers from University of Bonn in Germany, using advances in neuroscience, say that the folk belief is true: Running does elicit a flood of endorphins in the brain. The endorphins are associated with mood changes, and the more endorphins a runner’s body pumps out, the greater the effect. Leading endorphin researchers not associated with the study said they accepted its findings. NYT NEWS SERVICE

CHASING EUPHORIA: It has finally been proven that endorphins exist! Getting a high during running or other intense, sustained efforts isn’t a myth anymore

I am Special !

After watching "Taare Zameen Par", I was wondering, these people claim, every child is special.
If everyone is special, there must be something special about me too ! I thought of some points which can make me special.
1. I don't smoke / Drink ?
There are many who don't smoke or drink.
2. I don't have a girlfriend ?
Many people don't have a girlfriend.
3. I spend money wisely.
Actually I don't. So I cannot be special.
4. Can I paint like Eshan Avasthi ?
here is the proof
5. I love my Mom.
Everybody loves their parents.
6. I like cartoons.
Not a valid point to qualify as special.
7. I am very emotional.
Again not valid.

Actually, I found 100 reasons, why I cannot be special. But there are a few good reasons which make me special.
I have never been to a Gym, but still people ask me, Whether I used to do wrestling (In Marathi we call it Kusti. This game is famous at my hometown Kolhapur.)
Nature has given me such a good built. Strong arms, strong legs. Good height. All the basic senses intact.
Now I am 25 years old. I looked back till the point I remembered, and asked myself,
When was the last time I was admitted to a hospital ?
Never.

When was the last time I took a Sick leave from Office ?
Not a single.

Did I ever break any of my bone ? Any Fracture ?
Nope.

Did I ever vomit ?
The last time I remember was when I was 17 years old, and I ate a lot of Mutton.

Did I ever suffer from any disease ? jaundice, TB, Typhoid, Cholera, Chicken Pox ?
I asked my mom. She said Never.

To be special, What more can you ask for from nature. (For me, Nature is God)

Recently, I figured out another special thing within me.
Its been 6 months, I have been going out for Jogging everyday.
I admit, I am at least 4 Kgs overweight, have an extra 2 Inches of tummy, and still I could run better than people who appear to be fit.
Recently, On nikeurunning.com, I found a VO2 Index Runners chart. according to that, My running pace is rated as "Excellent". When I tell people, I can run 10 Kms non stop. Their jaws drop.
I wondered, How can I run so much without getting tired ? I feel the pain, but that is at the toes. My Thighs never hurt, I never run out of breath (when running at a pace of 5 Kms / min)
If allowed, I can continue to run a marathon of 42 Kms at that pace non stop.
I think, I have the answer. Its my nose.
Lance Armstrong has slightly bigger lungs, which allow help him gather more stamina. Similarly, I have a bigger nose, from which, I can have a large intake of air in one breath. This fact is not proven by doctors. But I think I am right. Till yesterday, I kept cursing my nose. Half of the day, I keep scratching my itchy nose. Whenever I catch cold, I suffer wholesale !. (Imagine a Giraffe catching cough) But Now, I will use the same itchy nose for some good reason. That is what will make me special.
Because of my nose, I can run a long distance. Normal 'Fit' people get tired within just 1 km of run. I can run 10 Kms and dont get tired. After the run, I travel 3 Kms on my bicycle. Go home, I never feel tired. Of course, I get a snory sleep. But I dont collapse after reaching home.

Now, I will continue my runs. Improve my stamina. And one day, I will run a Full Marathon.
When I do it, I will consider myself, "Special"

Save your Heart

Save your Heart
Time is less
14 Feb is approaching

MILLONEION

Long time ago, in May 2007, I was given an article from Times of India Editorial page to read by my room mate. He said, its a must read for you. I said OK, and started reading it. It was a very small article but was written beautifully. The article touched me, and even I decided to write a blog based on it. The Times of India Article might be a fiction, but my story and characters were real. The very next day I wrote the blog. The blog came out nicely, and even I was happy.
7 months have passed since I wrote the blog. I was checking my orkut scrapbook, and I came across this scrap :
Hi Nishad. Wish you and your family a very happy new year!
You don't know me as such. At least not directly. But it so happened that I chanced across your blog and read your piece about a gift to your mother which, as you wrote, was inspired from "My Girl" in Times of India.

Well, I wrote it :-)

Glad that you liked it and thank you for gracefully acknowledging it as an inspiration!

Aditya
P.S. Did you read any of my other pieces?

This guy Aditya had written the Article in Times of India reading which I had written my blog. Somehow he landed up reading my blog and he scrapped me with his findings. After reading his scrap, I Immediately opened my blog and searched for the blog which I had written in May. I was surprised after looking at the footnote of my blog. "*Based on a true story. Inspired by an article "My Girl" by Aditya Gupta in TOI dated 11th May, Editorial page. "
Man ! I was so sincere to give credit to the real author, and after 7 months, the same author somehow reads my blog, finds me on Orkut and scraps me a "Thank you" note for it.
That small foot note in my blog brought back my memories of that incident, and also gave a feeling of satisfaction to the real author.
This incident was really something I would call "One in a Million".
In case you were wondering what's the Blog title gotta do with the content ?

"MILL ONE ION"
One in a million

Re: Hi Barvya..Rohan Here..

This blog is a chain mail of we three old room mates - Rohan(Bunnu), Omkar (Barvya) and Nishad (dahsin). Most of the content is in Marathi and the sentences / meanings will seem relevent only to some people. Some of the confidential information has been removed from the mails.
Here is how it started :

Nishad N Bhatawadekar <
01/02/2008 12:08 PM

To
rohan@abc.com
cc
Omkar V Barve <
Subject
Re: Hi Barvya..Rohan Here..

|| Shree Gajanan Maharaj ||
Namaskara,
New year special : Mi 1 tarkhela company cha badge wisrun office la gelo hoto. Kaal Bhagwan chya ghari jaun Pav Bhaji banavli. Urlele pav mazhya ghari anun aaj sakali bread chi phodni takun bhaji keli :-)
Bhagwan 25th Jan la long term onsite janar ahet, Tikde ek underwear 15-20$ milte asa aaikla mhanun to mala chaddi shopping la gheun gela. tyane ani mi milun 1000+ rs chya chaddya-baniyan wikat ghetle :-) mi Hanes chya chaddya ghetlya trial mhanun. (Bunnu, tu sangitlelya chromosome walya milalya nahit.)
Aaj mala swapnat Infy ne office madhe yaychya aadhi exercise compulsory kela ahe asa swapna padla hota.
Nike + ipod ne navin haawa suru keli ahe. New year resolution chi. tyatla Mazha new year resolution aaika : "If I wont reduce my waise from 34" to 32" in 1 year, I will not buy any new trousers. To achieve this, My Janauary's target is 150 Kms in 30 days. atta kutha 5 kms zhale :-) Aaj singapore wale gogulwar pan nike+ipod wikat ghenar ahet.
parwa tax proof submit maadi kela. purna 1 Lacs chi investment zhali. Ata next investment will be in Pure Gold (Tumchya vahini sathi) . opening a ICICI recurring deposit and depositing 2500 rs per month there. (mazha VPF udvun taknar) so that by next year, I have around 30,000 In cash to purchase my objects of desire :-)
If I shift to Pune by March, I am planning to buy another cycle :-)
Hopefully getting a laptop from BUSAN when he returns. Mazhya sathi chi ek good news : Quake 3 is back in Electronic Sports world cup 08. I want to practise.
Paise kharcha karaychya laai gappa zhalya. jara paise wachvaychya goshti karto. December chi salary mazhya Band change walya hike sakat ali. the figures are not very impressive, but that is the maximum i can squeeze from here. ikdun tikdun udhaari wali paise pan miltil this month. Aamche mutual funds ekdum mast profit madhe ahet. Cycle ajun puncture nahi zhali.
Laai motha zhala patra. jaga sampli tar ajun ek inland letter wikat ghyava lagel mhanunpatra thambavto. kalave valave ani lobh asawa.

P.S. Mi mazhi hello tune change keli. Barvya will like it very much.


Thanks and Regards,

Nishad N Bhatawadekar.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
rohan@abc.com
02-01-08 12:26 PM
To
Nishad N Bhatawadekar/
cc
Omkar V Barve/India/
Subject
Re: Hi Barvya..Rohan Here..

|| SHREE||

Priy Mitravary Dahsin,

Tuzya Patrala deto mi daaaad...
Patr hota ekadam Naad Baaad...

Bangalore cha sagala Vrutt kalala..
Man aapoaap ch tikada Valala...

Parat office la jatana Badge visaru nakos..
Ghari kapde astavyast pasaru nakos..

Tuzya Mutual fund profit ne vatali khushi..
Sonyat hi gunatavtoys, zalays tu Houshi...

Nike ani ipod chi chalu thev hava...
Ashich gadget ghe, jeek tu bhava..

Busaan ne laptop anala tar bara hoel..
Tuza ek swapn lavkar khara hoel...

Atta Hanes try kar, theek ahe...
Pan lakshat thev chromosome Jeek ahe..

Asach Vyayam karun vadhav bal..
Roj 5 kilometer nakki pal...

Asa ch mottha patr lihi, Kalji jagechi nako karu...
Shaky ahe titki jaga premachya shabdane bharu...

Chala ata karto mi patr Band...
Tumhi hi lihit ja ase, jopasu ha chand...


Thanks and regards,
Rohan

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nishad N Bhatawadekar <
01/02/2008 05:08 PM

To
rohan@abc.com
cc
Omkar V Barve <
Subject
Re: Hi Barvya..Rohan Here..


|| Shree Bunnu Prasanna ||

Tumchyach style cha patra lihaycha mazhya manat ala
Mhanun patrala reply karayla thoda ushir zhala.

Tumhi aamcha exercise cha inspiration,
tumchya wajanavar aamcha calculation.

tumche dinner Mumbai la hote,
dhekar matra ikde Bangalore la yete.

Karala wikat ghetana tuzha chehera disto,
karala fry sathi mi barik chaktya kisto.

Tuzhi orange chaddi ikdech wisarli,
Ani, Aaj tak chi haawa aamchya ghari pasarli.

Haawrata sarkha khanyachi mazhi nahi geli khaaj,
5-6 polya ani wati bhar bhaat ghetana ajun nahi watat laaj.

Etka khaun suddha Jar mala asli bhuk thodi,
Pongal la ektach jaun khato mi ghee podi

Khaun ratri zhoptana mhanto, "Poat kami kela pahije"
sakali uthlyavar tuzha dialogue marto, "Mazha poat sutlach nahi ahe"

Hindi picture chi sagli details tula astat ekdum basic
Tumhala competition dyayla mi baghto Zee Classic,

Tumhi gelyapasun mazhya Camera chi screen ahe shut.
Kharab photo alyavar koni nahi mhanayla "Aai chi kat-kat"

Tumche pratyek mail che reply astat tirke,
Tari pan mi mhanto, Roomba nalla irke.

Tumcha reply aamhala itka aawadla,
aplya ya mail-mail cha mi blog lihaycha tharavla.

Tula mazha patra aawdel ki nahi mala ahe doubt,
Ghari jaychi vel zhali, Patra thambavto OVER AND OUT.

Thanks and Regards,
Nishad N Bhatawadekar

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: rohan@abc.com
To: Nishad N Bhatawadekar/
Cc: Omkar V Barve/
Date: 02-01-08 05:27 PM
Subject: Re: Hi Barvya..Rohan Here..



Tuza kavita lihinyacha prayatn chaan ahe...
Maitrichya kavitetala ek soneri paan ahe...

Thoda ajun Yamak Jamavnyavar de bhar..
Mag tuzech naav asel Kavinmadhe saglyat var..

Tuzi Vyayamachi avad nishchit ch Stuty ahe...
Mhanun khup Palne tula Nity ahe..

Aaj apan sagla Padyatach bolaycha ahe... (padya=kavita)
Athavanincha album basun kholayacha ahe...

Tu nighalas tari,Barvya officat thambala asel..
Apale ase mail pahun Nakki ch Aambla asel...

Tuzya cameryacha amhala nahi padla Visar..
Bhetlyavar lai photo kadhun bharun taku kasar..

Navin ghari jaun tu Banalays bhari Coook..
Vyayamane alay, tula handsome loook...

Zee classic banghun tu Nusta Todalyas..
English pictures cha ratsa madhun ch sodlays..

Aajchya mail-mail var blog lihi nakki..
To HIT honar, mala aasha ahe pakki..

Amhi ata tharavalay kami karaychay Sapadaa...
Basat nahi amhala amachach juna Kapadaa...

Chal ata aaj che patr thamabavto...
Ajun chan goshti udyavar lambavato...

Tumha doghana karto, C U, Tata ani Byee...
Lakshat theva sagle "Apan Apan Haay"...!!!!!!

Rohan

My new year resolution :-)

Nike and Apple are helping me with my new year resolution. Here's the proof !

Nike+ipod

I recently purchased one of the most awaited gadget for ipod nano- The Nike+ipod. Actually, it was launched long ago in 2006, but was made available in India recently. It costs Rs 2000 in India and is available in Nike showrooms, Thought of buying it, but finally ordered it from US thru a friend. It costs 30$ in the US. The product is quite a hifi gadget for ipod users, but the catch is, it works only with Ipod Nano. And, There's a catch from Nike too ! it fits in selected Nike Shoes. The gadget consists of a small sensor and a receiver. The sensor goes inside the shoe's sole and the receiver fits to the ipod. Thats it ! you are ready to run and track your workouts.

I had recently purchased new Reebok shoes worth 3500 rs, and I was not ready to pay more to buy those Nike+ compatible shoes. So after a little research, I found a wokaround. Instead of the sensor fitting inside the shoe's sole, It works quite accurately if it is slipped between the shoe and the shoe lace. So, along with the sensor, I order for a shoe pouch too ! It cost me 8$ and I cursed myself why did I spend 300 rs on this stupid pouch ? anyways, it is quite reliable and once you fit your sensor, you can forget about it.

So, finally i attached the shoe pouch to my reebok shoe, inserted the sensor, plugged the receiver to my ipod and I was ready. My ipod automatically detected the sensor. I got audio feedback in a female voice. This was the best part. It seems as if you are in some outer space and you are guided by someone. In addition to the audio feedback provided by a generic male or female voice (user's choice), there are pre-recorded congratulations provided by Lance Armstrong and Paula Radcliffe whenever a user achieves a personal best (such as fastest mile, fastest 5K fastest 10K, longest run yet) or reaches certain long-term milestones (such as 250 miles, 500 kilometers). This "celebrity feedback" is heard after the usual end-of-run statistics.

After I finished my run, I connected my ipod to my computer. Itunes automatically detected my run and sent the data directly to Nikeplus website. Here I got my statistics of the run, graphs, comparisons with previous runs, my position among other fellow Nikeplus runners around the world, in india, in Bangalore. Also, I downloaded a smal widget which will let you know how much I have run. It is placed in this very blog in the left hand side. There are a very few users of Nike+ipod in India, but I am sure, people who are fond of jogging/running, this one is a must have. existing ipod nano users, you have just another reason to do a workout.

I have already surrendered before this gadget.

OShO

This is a review of the movie 'Om Shanti Om' and all the views expressed are my own and are not copied from any other reviews. The review might reveal some twists/key points of the movie.

Funny title for my blog :-)

As expected, the movie is full of comedy, drama, songs, climax and happy ending. Shah Rukh as usual, is the centre of attraction and with his powers, he keeps the story moving. Deepika Padukone was simply superb. Her smile is too cute. I am already a fan of her. She has the talent, looks, shape and whatever it takes to be a successful actress in Bollywood. At any point of time I never felt that this is her debut movie of Bollywood. She has acted in a kannada Movie 'Aishwarya' which i will soon watch :-) Arjun Rampal actually did some acting. and his role was quite good. Shreyas Talpade is no doubt a good actor, and he too has kept his levels high. Kiron Kher is the mom of Shahrukh Khan and has purposefully done over acting.

Now lets go into the movie. Like everybody knows, Deepika (Shantipriya) is a well known actress in Bollywood and Shah Rukh Khan (Om Prakash) is a junior artist who does small roles of Dakus, back ground dancers, etc etc. Om Prakash falls in love with Shanti, She too is impressed with Om's approach. But due to ill fate, and Villan Arjun Rampal (Mukesh Mishra) both die only to be reincarnated. This time Shah Rukh (again Om Prakash) is a super star and Deepika (Sandy) is a debutant. Om Prakash remembers every thing that happened in the past but Sandy remembers nothing. When Om Prakash is sure, he is re born, he decides to take revenge and like always, kills the villan Mukesh Mishra. There are some twists in the tale which i wont reveal.

People who have watched Karz, this movie goes on the same lines. And the ending is exactly like a old movie featuring Rishi Kapoor. My friends say, the movie is not worth getting a rating of 3.5. But I feel, the movie has everything that a common man expects in a movie. People laugh at funny dialogues, people scream at the entry of the stars, people applaude at the song which featured 31 actors. What else do you want to make a movie a hit ? At least I enjoyed the film. (I enjoy every film :-) Read my reviews of a tamil film Veerasami)

Run dahsiN Run !

In order to reduce my weight and also to keep myself fit, I go for jogging every day. I run around 3-4 kms daily. One day, one of my friend called me up and told that his company is organising a marathon this Saturday. The run was for 4 Kms and 10 Kms. I said, "Lets go for 10 Kms". Even he agreed.

Me at the Registration queue (blue shirt)

Before I start with the actual run, here is something which I request you all to read. These paragraphs are more important than the story of my 10 Km run.

If you are a software engineer, I recommend you to try and run continuously for at least 10 minutes. I've seen my friends saying its easy. And when they hit the road, they are flat in 5-6 minutes. I've also heard stories from friends saying, "I was the top football player of my school" or "I used to run 5 kms daily when in college" or "I cycled 10 Kms to the college and back every day". If you too think you have done all of this when in school, college, Think again. Try doing this today.
Getting up @ 7am, boarding a company bus at 8am coming back home at 6pm watching TV serials,movies having dinner and sleeping at 10 pm. If this is your daily routine, do you think you can still be the top football player of you company ? Do you think you can still cycle 20 kms daily ? do you think you can run 5 kms at a stretch ? You decide whether to say yes or no.
When I asked this question to myself, I got an answer -NO. I used to get tired in just 4 minutes of brisk jogging. My feet would start swelling and start giving pains. I could feel my tummy bounce when I started jogging. That's when I decided, something is not going right for my health. And this was my health condition even though I don't smoke or drink. So I decided to go out for jogging every day. This was decided in April 2007.
Today, its October 2007. 6 months have passed. As promised, I still go out for jogging everyday. Now I have the capacity of running for 10 kms without any break.
Quite a great achievement for me !
If you think 10 Kms is too less, Try this :
on an average, you can cover 1 Km in 5 minutes with a descent running speed. that makes 10 kms= 50 mins of non stop running. Go out on the road and start running. Don't stop till you get tired. when you are done, check for how many minutes you ran ? When I tried this on myself, I had run 4 mins. thats less than 1 Km !!! When you try this out for yourself, you will come to know how fit you are and 10 kms is a lot of distance. My friends and family members often called me fat, overweight, and a lot of things ! , My waist is 34, I weigh 78 Kgs, and I am 5-6 Kgs overweight than an average person with height 5-10. Now when they see me, they dont say I am fat. They say, I have become strong !

Thanks for reading that stuff. If you think the blog is too lengthy, you can skip the rest of the blog, because what's written next is all fun and I am a victim of it !

On 5th October, my friend Pritesh called me and said, the marathon run starts tomorrow at 7 am from his office gates. and his company has arranged for bus transport early in the morning to get to the office. the bus leaves at 5:30 in the morning. I said to myself, is it necessary to get up so early and go for the stupid run ? catching the bus at 5:30 meant, I had to get up at 4:30. Till 5th october night 11 pm, I was thinking whether to go for the event or not. Anyway, I set the alarm and went to sleep. I woke up before the alarm and was ready to run at 5 am. I went to the friend's house. He too was ready. (Just by looking at the enthusiasm in my friend for the marathon run, poured a lot of confidence in me.) He too was excited and we went to the bus stop.
We reached the office by 6 am. I collected my T-shirt and the registration number(which is supposed to be clipped to the T-shirt), plugged in my ipod and was ready to run. I was the 19th Registration for the 10 Km run. Pritesh was still confused whether to go for the 4 km run or the 10 Km. I met some of Pritesh's friends, some of my college friends who had turned up for the event. They were confident of running the 10 km race. So was I. I had attempted this 10 km run 1 month ago. During India-Pakistan 20-20 finals, I had a bet with my room mates, If India wins this match, I will run 10 kms the next day. And as decided, I ran the distance in 45 mins. Before the race, Pritesh was still thinking, running 10 kms is not a very good idea. he kept saying, stay with me till the end. If I fall down, there must be someone to pick me up :-)
The race was to run 5 km on the highway, take a U-turn and run 5 Kms again and finish the race inside the campus.

Me just before the start of the 10 km race. Right side corner.

The race started exactly at 7 am inside the campus. I started my stopwatch in my "Timex-Iron man" and began the run. By the time the mob exited the campus and hit the highway, I was all lost. I couldn't see Pritesh, his friends, no one ! All were dressed in the white shirts provided. There was a media van with cameramen sitting on the roof, there were photographers following us on their bikes - sitting backwards and taking snaps. people from the nearby houses had gathered in their compound/balcony to watch what's going on. There were people at regular intervals to supply water bottles. At first, I saw many people overtaking me. but withing 5 minutes, I noticed people slowing down, and puffing. I kept a constant pace. when i crossed the 1 km mark, I saw Pritesh running. Even he was slowing down. I overtook him and kept running with my pace. when I reached the 2 km mark, I saw at least 50 people ahead of me. and the current leader was at least 500 mts away from me. My aim was to complete the race without stopping. 3 kms done, I looked at my watch, i had run for 17 mins. still 7 to go. I thought this is impossible. I was tired already. But i knew, I could do it, and I had done it before. So I continued.
When I crossed the 4 Km mark, I could see the leader running back towards the office. This means, He had crossed the 5km mark and has already covered 1 km extra. which made him 2 Kms ahead of me. Man, he was an athlete. I saw many people following him. I thought, when will i get here ! I had not even completed 5 Kms. The road was made of tar and was full of ups and downs which made running even more difficult. By now some people had given up. Some people were walking on the track, and some were determined to finish the race.
I saw a group of people standing on the road. I knew this was the 5 Km mark. I hurried myself to there. One guy sprayed some liquid on me. I thought it was water, but later I noticed, My T-shirt had become Blue at he spray applied area. It was an indication that, I had completed half of the race. I was full exhausted, and as decided, I was not to drink a drop of water in the course of the run.
With my body sweating all over, I continued my drag towards the last 4 kms of the race. These 4 kms were the longest (wrt time as well as distance). By now the people ahead of me were not in a mood of quitting, and people behind me were all set to overtake me. Also the sun had started bombarding its morning sun light on my head. Now it was 3 Kms to finish, and people had started overtaking me. A female also overtook me. I was shocked ! She was determined, and was already speeding ahead. That brought some JOSH in me, and I too started running to keep pace with her. My hands were all numb, and I was unable to control my run. I could now see the company Main gate. That's where the race ends. I hurried towards the gate. During the course, I overtook the female. (And I was happy ). When I entered the gate, there was around 200 mts. of ground yet to cover. I could see the crowd cheering, the Media Van in front of me, and a few guys running along with me. I could hear the roar of people even with my ipod on. I thought I was far away from the winner, but in fact, I was one of the early finishers of the race. I just started looking at the chequered flag. even the 200 mts run was like another 10 km run.
After a long and hard time, I crossed the line, and stopped by Timex-Ironman stopwatch. It read 00:50:21. I completed the race in 50 Mins. I turned my head around, and people were clapping. It was for me ! (and others who made it till the end along with me) When I stopped, I started sweating more than when I was running. I grabbed a bottle of Pepsi-Aquafina, and went to the assembly area. People who had opted for the 4Kms race had already completed it and were down on the lawn like wounded soldiers. Even I felt like crashing down. Before that, I went to the rest room to pee. While washing my hands, I looked at myself in the mirror, and what I saw was horrible ! My face was all Black and blue ! First of all I am dark, but still i could see a blue shade on my face. I knew i had lost a lot of water from my body, and had to recover it as soon as possible. I gulped the whole aquafina bottle and joined the other wounded soldiers. By now even Pritesh had finished the race. We then did some warm up, and waited for the prize distribution ceremony.
The winner had clocked a time of 42 mins. and the next 10 to follow were in a gap of 4 mins. So for a time of 50 mins, I predicted, I was among the top 30 runners, and that's why there was all that cheering and clapping ! After all the practice for 6 months had paid off !
3700 rs Reebok shoes, 500 rs Reebok Track pant, 7000 rs ipod, 2000 rs Timex Iron man, so much money spent, all of it put for good use.

What makes my Blog famous ?

I use Google Analytics to gather statistics about my blog. I get details about how many times my page was viewed per day/week/month/year, how many of them were new visitors, from where in the world my page was viewd, what brought them to my blog, and a lot more. Here's something interesting I want to share with you. Analytics gave me a list of keywords which brought up my blog in Google search list. Here are some of the interesting ones :

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No Smoking* !

If you think passive smoking is just that - passive... think again.

There is sound scientific evidence endorsed by the World Health Organization, that passive smoking or the inhalation of Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) poses a substantial threat to the health of the involuntary smoker in a similar way that active smoking affects smokers.

World Health Organization (WHO) 1999 estimates indicate that four million people, or one person every eight seconds, die globally from tobacco related disease and illness; many of these are affected through ETS.

The world’s major public health agencies have concluded that ETS is a significant hazard to the health of non-smokers. There is no known safe level of exposure to ETS; the level of ill health and death it causes is considerable as it contains over 4,000 chemical compounds, including 60 known carcinogens.

In view of similarity between ETS and Mainstream Smoke, and the considerable likelihood for exposure of non-smokers to ETS, passive smoking is potentially a substantial public health concern.

Smoking or not smoking is a choice which individuals make. I urge you to consider the next time you strike the match that you spare a thought to those who have chosen not to smoke.

*copied from an awareness mail sent by my company's HR

The Never Ending Blog

WARNING : This post contains material NOT suitable for readers below 18 Years of age. Parental Guidance required.

This blog has nothing much to do with adult content, and does not contain any tantalising stories which people love to read (or don't want to read). This blog is just for fun and I am a victim of it.

I eat Idli's at a road side stall near my house almost 3 times a week. The wall besides the stall is a display board for various movies screening at the theatres near you. Most of them are Kannada, Tamil or Telgu, and hence I don't understand what is written. But I see a poster for a particular theatre(cannot reveal its name), always having a semi nude woman on it printed in 3 colours Red, Green, Blue and has the movie name in English. You must have guessed what kind of movie poster it is. Every educated person pretends as if he/she has never glanced at such a poster. If you have seen one, you will come to know what I am talking about. First, even I used to ignore the poster, but after a few weeks, I thought of exploring the posters every week.
Every week, the movie name and the woman's photo changed on the poster, because the movie lasted only for a week. Next week, new movie, new poster. A closer look revealed that the woman on the poster this week and the woman on the poster a few weeks back was the same, only her sexy pose and the movie name had changed. Just by this much of analysis, I can guarantee, that the story of the movie has nothing to do with its name. The name is just for the sake of giving. And the viewers also don't care what the name is :-) This sound's strange, but funny and it is the reality. So I decided to write this blog about it. I cannot put snaps of the woman, but I will keep writing the names of the movies screened at the theatre every week, and I guarantee that the list will never stop, that's why my blog is named so. The names of the movies are not in sequence in which they were played. Every week, I will update this blog with a new movie name after seeing the poster. Please don't take the blog in the wrong sense. Anyway you are going to enjoy.
1. The lost love.
2. Diamonds of Kilimanjaro
3. Lonely Nights.
4. Lady at night.
5. Secret Desire.
6. Brahma Rakshasi.
7. 16 to 60.
8. Kinavu Pole
9. Madana Mohini
10. Honeymoon secrets
11. Nights in City
12. Prison Girls
13. Raat ka Nasha
14. Sleepless Nights
15. First Timers
16. Jawaani Ki Aag
17. Hai Ye Jawaani
18. Sharmili Raatkali
19. Pati Haiwan Biwi Pareshaan
20. Aaaaaaah!!
21. Main, mera aur sirf mera!
22. Revathi
23. One man 2 women
24. Zehreeli raat

New updates soon :-)

Hi....... Kya chal raha hai ?

Recently I have observed a strange thing among almost all of my friends. This has never happened till last year. But this year, I see everyone is doing it. Even you must be doing the same but you must have not paid any attention to it.

I am talking about a very common, stupid, useless and meaningless question :

"Kya chal raha hai ?"

I don't know why, But now-a-days, i get really irritated when I see :
1. Someone order Paneer Butter Masala in a hotel. (read my whole blog on it.)
2. Someone calls and asks "Where are you ? " on a working day and that too in the afternoon.
3. Someone calls and in the middle of a conversation says "Aur Batao " (This is called "Aur batao syndrome")
4. People who do not finish the food served in their plates.
5. And finally, people who chat by starting with this question : "Kya chal raha hai ? "

I first thought only some people say it casually, but now I pay special attention to who says it, how many times he says it, or to how many people he said it and found out some interesting points out of my research.

After some straight forward analysis, I found out that, this happens to :
1. People who are new to chat/messengers and get excited when they see someone online.
2. People who have Internet connection and messenger on, and still find themselves sitting idle.
3. People who want to talk to their friends, but don't have any topic to discuss.
4. People who are caught in a chat discussion (which they don't want to continue) and who don't want to talk much, simply make use of this question. (Passing the ball to the other side).

If you are a victim of such a question, what answer will you give ?
Q : Kya chal raha hai ?
A : "Kuch nahi"
A : "Kaam kar raha hoon"
A : "Tum batao"


I tried very hard, but could find a stupid answer to the stupid question. Apart from these 3 answers there are hardly any replies to the question. And the interesting part is, people ask the same question every time they start a conversation. Everybody wants to ask the question, but nobody wants to answer if asked to them. Even If they answer, I bet, the answer will be among the 3 given above.

Some very similar questions which we come across are :
Q : "Hi, Whats up ? "
A : Nothing Much.

Q : "Hi, How are you ? "
A : I am fine, How are you ?

Q: "Hi, Hows Life ? "
A: Cool ! what abt you ?

Q : "So what else ? "
A : Nothing.

Q : "Kaam kaisa chal raha hai ? "
A : Thik chal raha hai.

What answers do you expect to this questions ? If you ask these questions to your friend or a total stranger, the answers are the same.

Finally, I came to a conclusion that, Typing such questions is a sign of getting bored, no topic to chat, or as I said earlier, Putting the ball on the other side. If you are doing this, please think again, do such questions make any sense ? asking once or twice is fine, but everyday the same question ?
You know the answer what you will get, you will not be amazed if he says, nothing. You know there are much important things to ask, but still you spill the same question. You know that nobody will answer "Pankha chal raha hai" or TV chal raha hai" and still you ask the same question.
So should you ask me or should I ask you "Kya chal raha hai ?"

I am on Top Gear !

I am 24 years old now. Its been 2 years I am working for a software company. After so much of work experience, people look forward for marriage, a new flat, at least a bike. I am not interested in marriage so early, i cant afford a new flat, But I can surely buy a bike, (I have assumed that i will get a 2 wheeler loan). My friends have already bought bikes, have fancy mobiles, and enjoy all other stuff that an ideal software engineer should. Even I feel like doing all these. But before thinking of anything I wish I had right now, I first think of the things which I wished I had in childhood.

Flashback :
10 June 1998

In My school days, One of my cousin had lots of small Hot Wheels cars. We both played together. He had all types of cars. Sedan, SUV, Trailer, Trucks etc. Even I dreamt of having such a collection. But My parents didn't allow me to buy them, just because they were expensive. I had a choice to buy the local made cars, but I always insisted on having the hot wheels brand. Days passed and as a grown up, I was not supposed to play with those small Hot wheels cars anymore.
My father had bought me a Hercules captain bicycle when I was in 4Th standard. I used it for 5 years. In the mean time, Father brought my elder brother a Hero Ranger MTB bicycle. I used my Hercules Captain till 9Th Standard. Until Hercules launched its latest bike : Hercules Top Gear. It was the first bike I saw with gears. It had 5 speed adjustments, and one of my friend had already bought one. in 10Th, we both went to a coaching class. Me on my Captain, and he was on his Top Gear. One day I told My father, I want Hercules Top Gear. He asked me, How much it costs ? I said 3000 rs. He straight away rejected the proposal. He said, We already have 2 bicycles. Why do we need the third one ? Practically speaking, My father was right. But I was very disappointed and angry on him. I told to myself, "Itka kay vichar karaychay tyat? 3000 rs chach tar prashna ahe, tyasathi pan baba nahi ka mhanale ? " (" Whats there to think about it so much ? Its a question of just 3000 rs. and for that why did my father say no ?" ) I had a sleepless night. I watched kids riding the Top Gear, shifting gears. My head turned whenever I saw someone riding that bike.Everyday, I used to ask my friend to give me his bike for the ride to the class and he was kind enough to lend me. Before giving me the bike, he always warned me not to shift gears unnecessarily. I was very much impressed with the gears stuff, and I would do anything for it. Even my father came to know that I was disappointed with his decision of not buying me the bicycle. So he promised me to get customised gears fitted to my elder brother's bicycle IF i scored more than 80% in the 10Th standard exam. And ultimately I did score 80.4%. My father also was happy and he promised me to get those gears fitted to my brother's bicycle. It took him 2 months to give me the money but he kept his promise. The gears cost him 750 rs. I went to a famous bicycle shop and surrendered my bicycle to him to get the gears fitted. (By now my elder brother was doing engineering and no longer used his bicycle, so I will assume that his bike is now mine. And my Hercules captain is taken by my grandfather, and he paid me 500 rs for it !) I stood there all day long watching the mechanic dismantle my bicycle and making space to get the gears fitted. During that course of time, I saw kids entering the shop with their parents and buying the bicycle of their choice, a couple of them bought Hercules Top Gear, while most of them even after liking top gear, were forced to buy a different orthodox bicycle. At the end of the day, the gears were in place, and I went home happily changing gears. I used the Bike for 4 more years till the 3rd year of my engineering. I took utmost care of that bicycle.

Back to the Present :
8 June 2007

Its almost 9 years now After I cried for the Hercules Top Gear. One day I had a thought, I can afford a new bicycle. Why not buy a new one ? My room mates straightaway laughed at me. I told my mom, I am buying a new Bicycle. She thought for a while, but said yes. And above that, she said, Buy a nice one.
I was very happy. I checked my bank account, and was happy that I could afford a bicycle straight away. I went to the bicycle shop. And told me to show me bicycles with gears. He showed me Hercules Top Gear, and many other Bicycles. in 9 years, there were many models to choose from. He also showed me a full Aluminium body bicycle. It cost 7500 rs. I had the capacity to buy it but, I still felt it was too costly. I had a second thought on my statement made 9 years ago " Its a question of just 3000 rs" Now I realised, My father was absolutely right. And 3000 rs was not JUST 3000 rs. And why it took him 2 months to gather 750 rs just for my silly promise. Finally I selected a good looking 18 speed Aluminium Wheels, Alloy Body bicycle : Hercules Omega. I was Happy, My room mates still couldn't believe I am buying a bicycle worth 4000 rs.
I did the payments, and drove back home on my new Bicycle. When I reached home, kids in the neighbourhood gathered around me and started staring at the new bicycle. 9 years ago I was one of such kids staring at someone Else's Hercules Top Gear. Maybe the Bike I just bought is the dream bike of every kid of this generation. I proudly parked the Bike and went inside my house. Within few minutes, the kids came to me and started asking for a ride. This time I gave them the keys and told, " Don't Shift gears unnecessarily "
No doubt, it took me 9 years to fulfill my unforgotten 9 year old dream, but it has also made me a proud owner of the dream bicycle of every kid in the block today.I called up mom and told her about my purchase. She was very happy. But still she said," Why didn't you buy the 7500 rs bike ? " I told her 3500 rs is too much to add to my 4000 rs bicycle. I wish I could tell my father about the lessons I learnt today and thank him for all the things he did for me. Now since I own a bicycle, with its regular use, I will be helping the environment by saving some flue gasses which would have been emitted if I had bought a motorbike. I will be saving some amount of money which I spent on auto rickshaw. I will be benefiting myself by having a exercise. And hopefully I will be an inspiration for the people who loved their childhood bicycles more than their present motorbikes.

My new Hercules Omega

P.S. I still keep buying Hot Wheels cars too !

A tale of every restaurant.

Recently I noticed something strange through which I go almost everytime I visit a restaurant. And now I have started to hate it. I have noticed this when I go with my college friends, Team mates, or even relatives. I am sure even you have gone through this, but have never noticed, or have simply ignored the fact. What I am talking about is a regular day when you go out for lunch / Dinner, just because you are "bored" of homely food and want a change.
I will take the blame on myself and become the person who delivers the regular dialogues and continue with the tale, you can link it with your experiences in a restaurant. I will keep the conversation limited to two people, so that it becomes easier for me to write the tale. And I will mention only the vegetarian dishes which are served in every hotel.

The decision :
Amar : Khana khane kahan jaana hai be ? (Where to go for lunch?)
Nishad : Kahin bhi, tu bata. (Anywhere, you tell.)
Amar : Best foods ?
Nishad : Nahi yaar, wahan ki roti achhi nahi hoti. (No yaar, their rotis are not good )
Amar : To bata na kahan jaana hai ! ( Then tell naa where to go ? )
Nishad : kahin bhi, but not Best foods. (Anywhere but no best foods.)
Amar : Kya khana hai ? (What do you want to eat ? )
Nishad : Kuch bhi. (Anything.)
Amar : Chal Shiv Sagar chalte hain. ( Lets go to Shiv Sagar )
Nishad : Ok.
And rest of the friends also agree to the decision. Frankly, almost everybody have no problems with which hotel we go in but still someone argues about the hotel when given an option, as someone rightly said, Opinions are like A**holes, Everybody has one.

So we go to Shivsagar.
The Menucard is placed.

Starters : Amar : Kya order karna hai ? (What to order ? )
Nishad : Kuch bhi. (Anything )
Amar : Soup peena hai ? (anybody wants soup ? )
Nishad : Nahi yaar. (No please ) (Others also say no to Soup)
Amar : Main ek Veg Manchow soup loonga. ( I will have one Manchow soup)
Nishad : One by two karna. (Make it one by two.) (And the rest also order soup)

Everybodyb wants to have soup / starters, but they simply wait for someone to take initiative, till then, they keep saying NO.
In every restaurant visit, When it comes to placing an order, only 1 or two people take the responsibility of ordering food. Nobody is firm on what to order except for one or two.The rest are, "Kuch bhi"
First they say no to soup / Starters, and when one of them takes, the rest follows.
The only orders : Veg Manchow Soup / Tomato Soup
or Gobi Manchurian / Veg Manchurian for starters.
Even though the menu card shows a veriety of other dishes.

The soup is served, everybody is happily drinking the soup, spoon by spoon.
someone raises a point in between,
"Abe main course order karte hain. " (Lets order the main course)
In between, the main course is ordered.
Amar : Kaunsi sabzi maangani hai ? (Which curry to order ? )
Nishad : Kya kya milta hai ? (What's served here ? )
Actually, everybody is aware of what is served and what is not in every hotel, except for some special dishes. But still, " Kya kya milta hai yahan ? "
Nishad glances through the menu card, and says, " Paneer Butter Masala ? "
One of us says Ok.
Another says, " Abe panner nahi be. Hamesha paneer hi khate hain " (No Paneer please, we eat it everytime. )
"To kya ? " (Then what ? )
"Dusra kuch bhi." (Anything other than that.)
"Ek sweet aur ek Spicy sabzi maangate hain" (we will order one sweet and one spicy curry)
After a lot of opinion mismatches, we order :
" Ek Paneer Butter Masala , Ek Veg kadhai, Ek dal fry"

Every order contains only:
Paneer Butter Masala / Paneer Tikka Masala
Veg Hyderabadi / Veg Kadhai / Veg Handi and a Dal Fry is a Must.

I haven't seen anybody order Aloo gobi, or Baingan ka bharta in a hotel.
While ordering rotis, nobody has a single opinion on whether to order a roti / naan / Kulcha .
out of 4 people,
First : Plain Roti
Second : Butter Kulcha
Third : Main bhi Plan Roti.
Fourth : Butter Naan.

This is enough for the waiter to get confused what to get for whom.

The soup is finished and everyone is waiting for the main course. And 6 times out of 10, everybody feels that the waiter is taking a lot of time to serve.
Finally the food arrives. The waiter serves the food in everybody's plate.
everybody gets their roti/kulcha/naan.

When the roti is about to finish,
Amar : Kisi ko ek aur roti chahiye ? (Anybody wants extra roti ? )
Nishad : Muzhe ek.
Amar : Aadhi aadhi lenge kya ? (Shall we take half each ? )

While ordering the next roti, there is always a Yes/no- Yes/No. Finally everybody order roti / naan.
Every roti orderd the second time, always takes 10-15 minutes.
By that time, everybody keeps playing with the curry in the plate, or with the onion salad which we get as a compliment.
Nishad : Kya yaar, kitna late kar raha hai. (What the hell, how much time he is taking )
Amar : Wohi to. Khana thanda ho raha hai. (Even the food is getting cold )

Actually, The food gets cold in the 5th minute from when it is served. But still, for the sake of saying , "Khana thanda ho raha hai"

Roti Arrives, everybody finishes it. Always some curry is left.
Amar : Rice order karna hai kya ? (Shall we order rice ? )
Nishad : Nahi yaar, pet bhar gaya. (No , stomach is full)
Amar : muzhe khana hai, Kisi aur ko chahiye ? (I want to eat, anybody else ? )

The third and 4th also agree. and finally we order
"2 Veg Fried rice"
There are at least 10 vareties of rice available, but still we order :
Veg Fried rice / Ghee rice / Jeera Rice.

Rice arrives,
It is served to everyone (Including Nishad) Saying my stomach is full is just for the sake of saying something. Everybody finishes their rice.
And finally if you observe everybody's plate, you will notice that, for someone, the curry served was insufficient. Someone has a lot of leftover in his plate. Someone has carefully seperated the chillies and capsicum from the curries.
The bill is paid, and at least 10-15 rs of Tip is given to the waiter.
Everybody exits the hotel, and say " Khana sahi tha !"

The dialogues mentioned in the above story are exactly the same whenever I go out with my friends. The same incidents occur everytime, regardless of the people accompanying me. I am tired of this stuff. I am no more ordering the same things again in any hotel.

Dumbstruck !!

Last week, my company threw a grand party at a grand hotel. There were almost 2000 employees enjoying the party. Big food stalls, DJ, Whiskey, Wine, and everything which an employee would like which if served for FREE. I reached the venue a bit late just to find out that most of my friends had already finished 2 pegs and some starters. I quietly took a glass of sprite and stood with them. Within 5 minutes, we all decided to hit the dance floor. Of course people like dancing when they are drunk. We danced till we were soaked with sweat. Fearing that the food will get over, we quickly went to the buffet stall. I had just finished my diet plans and had lost 4 kg in 4 days. The hardest 4 days of my life. And today, I was pretty sure that I will finish a whole chicken today. But donno why, I couldn't eat more than 2 chicken pieces that day. Maybe, I had really lost the taste of chicken after eating watermelon, tomatoes, bananas for the whole week.
After dinner I was chatting with one of my friend, and suddenly a girl past me. I just glanced at her, But she was continuously looking at me. She took me by surprise, Even I stared at her wondering why she was looking at me like that. She was walking forward but was looking behind at me, and was smiling. On her way she dashed someone, but still she continued looking at me. In the mean time, I tried to recollect whether I knew her or not. Many thoughts raced through my mind.
1. Did we both joined the company together ? No.
2. Is she from my college ? No.
3. Am I looking so funny in this dress ? Maybe.
4. Is there some object sticking to my face and I am unaware ? No.
5. Did someone mix Vodka in my Sprite ? No.
6. Is she drunk ? Cant tell.
7. Is this Love at first sight ? Never happened to me till now.

By now even I was staring badly at her, I don't know what she was thinking about me, but in my whole life no girl had ever stared at me for so long.

Finally she broke the silence. She said, " Areee wisarlas kai ? Jaadu ? "(Hey, u forgot ? Magic ?)
Suddenly the thoughts broke down. Now I remembered who she was. One day my room mate had invited his friends to our house. Since my roomie is also greatly impressed by my magic tricks, He had requested me to perform in front of his friends, and she was one of them. I had performed one of the greatest tricks I knew on her. I remembered her face, but today, She was looking different. More charming than the day when I performed the tricks. I laughed at myself and my stupid thoughts. (especially Thought #6 and #7) Anyways, Felt great knowing that I have a fan following too :-)

2 diet 2 quiet

As promised in the last post I have restarted the diet schedule.
On day 1 itself I lost 1.5 Kgs. Thanks to watermelon.
On day 2 I lost 1 Kg. Thanks to cucumber and Tomato.
So in all 2.5 Kgs lost in just 2 days. Looks easy to read. But is Hard to achieve. Especially when your room mates bring potato wafers at home and start eating it. Or tell stories of what they ate for breakfast and lunch. Eating a full grilled chicken is a lot easier than not eating at all. I knew my eating abilities, How much I can eat, but this has proved that, Not only I can eat more than a normal person, but also I can eat very less than a normal person too !

People are getting confused, I keep getting advices :
1. You will lose 5 kgs in 1 week, and in 2 days you will gain 5 Kgs again.
2. The only thing that can restrict your weight is having limited food.
3. Eat only when you are hungry. (I say, I am always hungry)
4. Dont do a diet, I like the way you are :-)
5. Stop eating Non Veg.
6. What weight loss ? You still look the same.
7. Lets see, If the program works on you, I will do it in next week.

Day 3 has also gone smoothly. I felt some weakness, but its Ok.
The hardest part is Day 4. Only Bananas and Milk. donno how I will perform there !

Diet till you are quiet

Recently One of my friend told me about a brilliant diet plan recommended by General Motors. They claim that you will lose 5 kgs in 7 days if followed correctly. I told him to forward me the diet plan. I immediately took a print of it and started reading it. This one was not like the other plans where they advice not to eat this, not to drink that, eat this in limited quantities etc etc.
Before I proceed, let me tell you something about me and why I Opted for this diet plan.
Height : 5 Foot 10 Inches.
Weight : 83 Kgs (Recommended weight for that height is 72-75 Kgs )
Waist : 34 Inches.
Daily Intake of food :
Breakfast : At least 5 Idlis + Coconut water.
Lunch : 6 Rotis(Small size) + Rice. OR A banana leaf full of rice + Andhra style accompaniments.
Dinner : 3/4 Rotis (Big ones) + Rice. And a fruit Juice.

Chicken every weekend.

Some great achievements :
1: 10 Jowar Rotis (We call them Bhakri) + rice and other accompaniments in one meal.
2: Two Consecutive lunches on the same day.
3: Eating 1 roti without breaking it.
4: Eating a full 3 Kg watermelon at one go.
5: 5 Masala dosas in Breakfast.
6: 13 Idlis in Breakfast.
7: 2 Chicken Biryanis for Lunch.
8: 1 Full Grilled Chicken for Dinner.
9: Nick named "Tanker" for my eating abilities.

Now after having so much of food everyday, who wont get fat ?
And for someone who loves food so much, how will a diet plan work ?

This Diet plan consisted of having selected food items each day, and the best thing was, You have no limit on how much you eat ! Also, on day 6 of the plan, they recommend to eat meat and white wine ! Even if I don't drink, eating chicken and still losing weight fascinated me.
So I made up my mind, From tomorrow, the diet starts. Since from tomorrow, I will be abstained from junk food, I thought why not enjoy the most today ?
So I ate 1 Plate Onion Bhajji, 1 Plate Mirchi Bhajji, 1 packet Bingo-Mad Angles, and at last had a regular Dinner. I had also brought 2 pomegranates, 1 watermelon and some Mangoes to inaugurate the Diet's Day 1.

Day One : All fruits except Bananas. Your first day will consist of all the fruits you want. It is strongly suggested that you consume lots of Melons the first day. Especially Watermelon and a Cantaloupe. If you limit your fruit consumption to Melons, your chances of losing three lbs. on first day are very good.

I will lose 1 Kg in the first day ! Wow !! This is cool ! Straight away I cut the watermelon, and started eating it. I finished half of it and saved the rest for Lunch. I was smiling as my room mates looked at me in astonishment. I simply ignored them and went to the office. While going to the office, I could feel that I have already lost weight. So I weight myself on the way. Unfortunately, I was still 83 Kg. :x
In office, For the first hour, I was merrily working, But later I started feeling hungry. So much of watermelon where did it go ? Why am I feeling hungry now ? The thought of going back home and again having a watermelon made me sick. As in bad times, good news comes in the form of lightning, for me, Good news came in the form of an SMS.
Our everyday dinner tiffin is supplied by a Marathi aunty. She had messaged me that today she will be serving Egg curry. "How many tiffins do you need ?"
What a sigh of relief ! I immediately replied 3 tiffins ! Called up me roomie and said,
"DIET CANCEL. Kaku serving Egg curry today. Lets go to Krishna Chinai and have rice meals and celebrate !"
My heart was saying, " What are you doing ? you are spoiling your diet plan !" But my stomach said, " Rice, sambhar, rassam, drum sticks, chutney, buttermilk, Yummy." We met at Hotel Krishna Chinai. My roomie was laughing at me, but when the meals were served we both kept quiet and started eating it greedily. No limits to how much we eat. like me, my roomie is also famous for his eating habits. The lunch was heavy and was exactly the opposite of what the diet plan had suggested me not to eat. But who cares ? My stomach is happy.
After eating I realised what a mistake I had done. And this was not the first time, I have done the same mistakes many times, so it didn't hurt me too !
In the evening, I had dinner, Sooo tasty egg curry !!, ate the rest of the watermelon, and pomegranate. I finished everything and gave a good BURP !!! My room mates still laughing at me, and me too laughing with my head down.
And that was the end of day 1.

To sum up,
Morning I weighed 83 Kgs. I ate 1.5 Kgs of watermelon as breakfast, at least 1 Kg worth lunch. 0.6 of dinner, 0.5 Kg of watermelon. I didn't even dare to weigh myself again.
According to the plan, I was supposed to lose 1 Kg weight, But ended up gaining at least 1.5 Kgs of weight. And the greed for diet isn't over yet. I told my room mates, "Forget today. I will start the diet from Tomorrow :-)"

My Happy Lady

That day I was very happy. I had booked my tickets. It was a long time since I had not met her. While going Back home, I thought of Buying her some gift. I Entered BIG BAZAAR and started searching for a perfect gift. I roamed around the floors of the mall until I found the perfect gift for her. I knew she would be very happy when she get this gift. I thought of packing the gift, but there was a huge queue for billing, so I decided to give it as it is to her. It was Monday, and my bus was on friday. I couldnt wait till friday. This time, I had taken a long vacation, so that I can spend more time with her. We talk on cellphones every day. Talk of things we would do together when I meet her. Nice restaurants, Movies in Multiplex, shopping etc etc. I have never spent so much of money on any girl except her. Why not spend on her ? She is the only girl in my life. She has been knowing me since my childhood, We shared every little thing and knew each other through and through. Yes, we had had a few squabbles and days when we wouldn’t speak to each other but hey, what’s a good relationship without a fight or two? Though i was often charmed by other pretty faces i always came back to my one and only love. Even she enquired about any other girl in my life, And I truthfully said, "No one except You, My Dear"
Friday came, I had packed my bags, without forgetting, I put her gift in my bag, and went to the bus stand. When the bus was about to leave, I called her and said, " Be ready, I have a surprise for you." She got excited about what I had bought for her, Infact, she told me that she has a surprise gift for me too ! The next morning, she called me to know my whereabouts. I was just 1 hour away from meeting her. When the bus entered the bus stand, I took an auto and went straight to her house. She was eagerly waiting in the balcony for my arrival. I got down from the auto and looked straight towards her,I saw the smile on her face. Even I couldn't refrain myself from smiling. I ran up the staircase, and entered the house, dropped the luggage on the floor, removed her gift from the bag and presented it to her. I knew she would be happy seeing the gift. "The Times Of India Sudoku Book Vol. 1" She had been searching for this book since last month. "This is the loveliest surprise ever" she said. "I will get Vol. 2,3 and 4 on your Birthday", I said.
As promised, She too had an surprise for me, She went inside her room, and brought a slim box from her cupboard. I opened it, and was very happy see a set of 6 pure cotton handkerchiefs in it. "I badly needed them" I told her. We had a lot of things to talk, had a lot of time too ! And, balcony was the place where we spent most our our time chatting. So I straight away took two chairs and headed to the balcony with her, she whom i had loved every second of my life. My mother.
This Blog is dedicated to my dearest Mother. Happy Mothers Day !!
*Based on a true story. Inspired by an article "My Girl" by Aditya Gupta in TOI dated 11th May, Editorial page.

अगला वर्ल्ड कप हम लाएंगे !!!

गूगल ने Blogspot पे नया हिंदी टेक्स्ट चालू किया है तो फिर क्यों नही मेरा अगला ब्लोग हिंदी में हो ?

हमारे क्रिकेट के खिलाडी बड़ी मेहनत कर के वेस्ट इंडीज गए थे, हम भी उन से बहुत आशाएं लिए बैठे थे। लेकिन हुआ क्या ? सब को पता है। वर्ल्ड कप २००७ कि हवा २००६ से ही भारत में शुरू हुई। द्रविड़, चैपल, गांगुली सब को सिर पे चढाया गया और "वर्ल्ड कप २००७" इस बार इंडिया जीत के आएगा ऐसा आश्वसान दिया गया। आख़िर सभी लोग लौटे खाली हाथ। advertisement वालों का काफी नुकसान हुआ, भारत super 8 में पहुचेगी ऐसा समज्ह के अगले advertisements तैयार थे। लेकिन अब उन्हें टीवी पे दिखा नही सकते इस लिए नए aad बनाए। बनने में कुछ नही लेकिन, इतना भी hype करने कि क्या जरूरत है ?

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"डिलिवरी कब चाहिऐ ? "
"४ साल बाद "
" अगला वर्ल्ड कप हम लाएंगे ! "

यानी २०११ का वर्ल्ड कप इंडिया जीतेगी, इतना पक्का।

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२०१५ का वर्ल्ड कप भी हमारा है।

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उस का इंतज़ाम मैं ही कर लेता हूँ। यह बच्चे ले के आएंगे वर्ल्ड कप २०१९ !!!

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The real Thala !!

Watched this movie yesterday !
Didn't know the name of the movie until we entered the theatre. The only reason I went for this movie was to see, how can such a person become a HERO ? We were 3 of us and no one could understand a single word of Tamil, Still we managed to get tickets, 25 rs each for a wooden bench like seating (Like those which we have in general dabba of a train) right in the front of the screen. The Ticket read it as : Gandhi Stand. We entered 10 mins late, but were never late to miss the Hrithik style dance of our hero on the title song ! The very first dance step brought smiles on our faces. As the movie progressed, we realised that the hero was a MLA and a Lawyer by profession. his love was the 'Kaamwali Bai' of his house. He had a beautiful sister which in every scene had college notebooks in her hand. Like Bipasha Basu in Omkara, This movie had Meghna Naidu as the 'ITEM GIRL'. Almost every scene involving our hero started with him coming down from staircase. Every fight involved malfunction of 'Lungi' and a typical knife used to chop coconuts, Every time his sister cried, our hero cried ! There was always at least 3 inches of water on the road in front of the hero's house. It wasn't a rainy season. Maybe his emotions were so strong that his tears filled the whole road ! He cried at least 8 times in the movie. (Imagine this guy shedding tears like a baby )

There was comedy in between, We laughed when the public in the theatre laughed, just to avoid suspicion. There were Hit dialogues thrown by the hero, which were appreciated by the audience. Lots of whistles, and screams !!! We too screamed a lot ! (Again to avoid suspicion)

The climax included a huge fight with death toll above 25 in 5 mins. and the action involved the hero with his coconut knife in his right hand and a shield emerging as a result of continuous rotation of his lungi, held in his left hand. The fight went on for 5 more minutes with our 'Tanaji Malusare' (in Black shirt and a striped undergarment, lungi in his hand) fighting the enemy in 3 inches of water (remember that water which I talked about ?)

I wont reveal the End, If possible, will buy a DVD of the film.

When the Movie ended, We were already a fan of

VeeraSaami- The real Thala
VeeraSaami - The real Action Man



Couldn't believe this guy can do romance, emotions, drama, and not to mention-ACTION !!!
When the movie ended, we were the only 3 stupids laughing while exiting the theatre. When we tried to take a snap of the poster outside the theatre just to prove that we really did watch the movie, the doorkeeper came screaming towards us :-)

To my Valentine......

Dear Quake 3,

Its almost 7 months we have not met each other. I don't know how I let this happen, but its been so long I have left you alone. I am now feeling guilty. I still remember that day when I brought you to my college. Everybody was impressed with you. Slowly your popularity grew and you became a part of each and every NITKian ! I don't know how much you love me, but I can't help falling in love with you. You have everything which I seek in a partner. You have looks ! High resolution, satisfying FPS, inspiring music, ready to play with me for the whole night :-) and you run great even on my PIII with 64 Mb RAM. You never say no to whatever I say. I have your photo as my Computer desktop wallpaper. I have your appealing logo placed at my cubicle, I even see you in my dreams.

I know you cannot enter in me, so I sacrificed the real world and entered your world. It was really a good experience exploring you. During my elder brother's marriage, I had you carved in mehendi on my hand.

The times have changed, I came back to the real world, and my mind was diverted to some other work. Now I cannot be with you every day, every night. I cannot bring back the time we had in the college. Now a days, even weekends are a bit tough to squeeze in a small visit.

I have to come to office even on Valentine's day. But I promise, I will meet you this weekend, and I will get a licenced version of yours soon !

Before I end my letter, let me dedicate a small song to you.

Every game of Quake,

Every move you make

Every shield you break

Every shard you take

Ill be missing you

Every single day

Every word you say

Every game you play

Every night you stay

Ill be missing you

Oh, cant you see

You belong to me

How my poor gun aches

With every step you take

Every quad you take

Every frag you get

Every flag you take

Every score you make

Ill be missing you

Yours Truly,

21dahsiN

Masala Dosa and the Way of Life

Yes, I hope the title made you smile or laugh. If it didn’t I am sure that you be too shocked to react to it. Anyways, this is not just for laughs but some things I have noticed in life. Hope you all can relate to this and if so, please do let me know. Do let me know in case something is not right as well.

There are many ways to eat a masala dosa. I have seen people approach the dosa as if it is on an operation table as they carefully open the dosa, see if everything is ok and then proceed to eat it as if it is an open dosa. I have seen people eat all the masala and then wonder what to do with the rest of the dosa. I have also seen people carefully plan and eat the dosa and then throw away most of the masala. What ever the way you eat, there is a very good reason you do that. It shows some traits of the person that is you.

Case 1: People who open the masala dosa and eat it: These are the people who are very open about their life. Everyone one the persons friends would know all about him/her. I have generally seen guys do this rather than girls. Some people think that it is a gross way of eating but in truth, these people are just portraying who they are and how their life is.

Case 2: People who start from both end and approach the masala later: These are the people who like to wait for the exiting things to come to their life. Sadly when the times comes, they are not too interested or just do not know how to enjoy it to the fullest. These are the folks who just want life as either dry or exiting. They just do not know how to phase their life and enjoy it no matter what. There are two types of people within this group

Case 2.1: People who do not finish all the masala: These folks just do not care as much for the fun times as they are already brought down by the harsh reality of life. The dry periods in their life has left them with so much scars that they do not want to be really happy when the time is right. They just take only as much as they needed and end their life. A very sorry state indeed.

Case 2.2: People who finish all the masala with the little dosa they have: These are the folks who just are the extremes. They just go all out in life. No matter it is dark or bright. They may not enjoy life to the fullest but they sure make sure that they get every single good and bad thing out of life. Sometimes these folks are really hard to get along with. They are either your best friends or your worst enemies. They do not have a middle path at all.

Case 3: People who start from the middle and proceed to both ends: These are the people who like to get right to what they think is their best part of life. Usually these guys finish of the good portions in a hurry and get stuck with nothing but worst parts of their life. The thing to note among these people is that the tendency to burn out very early in their life. Like the above case, there are two kinds of people in this group too.

Case 3.1: People who do not finish the dosa: These folks are really the saddest of people. They are the ones who tend to end their life as soon as it hits the bad patch. For them, they only need and want the best things in life and nothing more. Typically, they are not prepared or tuned to life as a whole. They just want to enjoy from first till last. Sadly, no one in the world can live without even an ounce of sadness in life. Not even the richest of the richest. But to self destruct at the mere sign of distress is very bad. That is what these guys tend to do. Some learn to live life but most of them do not.

Case 3.2: People who do finish the dosa: These folks are the typical human beings. We all enjoy the greatest of times in life and push the sad parts thinking about the great times in life. Typically the plate is clean and nothing is left for fate or in life. Happiness and sadness are part of life and these guys know that and are kind of prepared for it. Life is not always happy but there are moments of happiness here and there.

Case 4: People who eat the dosa making sure that the masala lasts for the whole dosa: These people are very rare. These are the people who like to attain balance in their life. It is hard to displease these people and it is hard to make them really happy. They like their balance and are very protective of it. Sadly these are the people who tend to be lonely as anyone else may upset the balance of their system. Perfectionist to the core and are very careful. These guys do not make the best company but are needed in any group to make the group from going hay wire.

Case 5: People who do not share and eat the dosa as if it is precious: These folks are very protective about their life. They do not want anyone to come and interfere in their life. They like to hide their true nature and intensions for their benefit. Beware of such people as they are in every group for their own need and nothing else.

Case 6: People who offer their first bite to others: These guys are overly friendly. They do anything to be part of a group and make everyone feel like the group is important than the individuals. They are the glue that holds any group together. They are very friendly and bring the best of all the others in the group. They go out of their way to help other friends. Most groups should have a person like this and they are the ones who plan the group outings and other group activities. Once this person is out of the group, typically the group slowly falls apart.

Case 7: People who take one or two bites and then offer the dosa to others: These guys care about friends and friendship but they take their time to get into the group. They take their time in making friends and they typically are very committed once into the friendship. These guys like to always be in the side lines and typically do not jump into anything in life. They always take their time to analyze the situation and then make a decision. These guys take the better safe than sorry approach.

Case 8: People who wait for others to make the offer first: Typical people I must say. They are unsure about everything. Even if they wanted to offer, they will wait till the other person offers the food first. If the other person is silent, so are these people. They are the followers. They do most of the things in life with respect to other people’s choices and advices. Even if they have a terrific idea, they will pitch it to someone else and get their advice before proceeding. Sadly, most of the elderly world like these types of people.

Case 9: People who offer dosa only when they cannot finish it on their own: You all may be familiar with these kinds of people. People who are very generous only when all their needs are fulfilled. These folks are selfish but at the same time not misers or greedy. They just want to satisfy themselves before they give it to the world. They typically do not stuff themselves nor do they tend to starve. They are very good people who would give you the best of advices in life. They would make sure that you are not sad following their advice.

Case 10: People who offer the whole dosa and eat from others plates: These folks are other extreme. They know what they want, they get what they want but they cannot enjoy what they want. Instead they tend to settle for other things in life which satisfies the needs but does not satisfy the person completely. These guys are termed as born losers cause even when they have the thing they wanted, they can’t stop others from stealing it from them.

I dont fall in any of these categories. For people like me, all these should be clubbed together or there should not be a category at all. If insisted, I will fall under this category :

Case 11: People who eat masala dosa the way it is presented and order one more :-)
So next time you sit with a person eating a masala dosa, look closely and see if he falls into one of the above categories. You may be surprised as how much it reveals about the person…

Lost & Found

I never dreamt that I will some day write a blog on this subject. I have seen people who have lost their wallet, cell phones, thief robbing their house, and so on......
Till yesterday, I was one of the lucky guys who haven't faced any of these situations. Only till yesterday.

I have lost an Ipod Shuffle due to mishandling by PROFESSIONAL COURIERS.

Please do not do any bussiness with this courier service. I know its a mistake of just a single person but it has cost me more than 4000 rs.

Till now I have made 12 Phone calls, visited 3 offices in Bangalore. Troubled the Kolhapur office, and still I am not able to get even a small trace of where the package is. Whether it has been shipped out of Bangalore, whether it has reached Kolhapur, or whether it has been shipped and something has happened in between. I have received 100 reasons as to why it has not reached its destination.

Now everytime I see a courier advertisement or a shop, I keep remembering my tragic story. In the Future I am not going to send anything through any Indian courier services. It will be either DHL, BlueDart, or SPEEDPOST. even if they do not gurantee the sound condition of the item, at least they deliver it on time. Sorry to all the courier services in India. A small mistake of a courier boy has shattered my faith in the whole courier service.

Some advice to all of you :

1. Never send any electronic. gift item by courier, or else you will end up like me.

2. Avoid using private couriers. Speedpost gurantees delivery within 48 hours.

3. Even if the courier is of minor importance to you, it will be of great importance to the recepient. So whatever you send, Make a declaration along with the payment receipts and produce it in front of the courier boy. If not done, the courier people can find 10 excuses if the package is lost. In my case : these are the various reasons I've got :

• The transport bus stops at Belgaum, and maybe there was some misplacement done over there.
• Maybe the Custom people have confisticated it since it did not have bills. Even a 50 rs doll is confisticated.
• Please check with our Customer care.
• Please confirm with the shipping office whether the item is shipped or not.
• Tell me the name of the boy who booked your courier. Please contact the office from where you booked.
• It is shipped on 26th and within 48 hours it will be shipped. <-----------This one was told to me after 60 hours had passed.
• When I booked the courier, I specifically told him that this is a gift item and are you ready to ship it ?,He said,"Sure why not ? " And now when it is lost, they say, "We dont ship gift items."
• We dont keep track of it. Whatever packages are booked are dumped in a box and sent to the main office.

4. Remember the name and phone number of the courier boy who booked your parcel.

5. Always remember, however precious/costly the courier is, if it is confirmed that it is lost in mislandling, the courier service will not pay you more than 100 rs if it is not insured. So think twice before sending a costly item.

6. Avoid buying electronic items from ebay, indiatimes etc. They send it via courier only. And once it is handed to the courier service, their job is done. It is assumed that the item has reached you. No matter what happens in between.

I love Rubik's Cube

Since Diwali I have been trying to solve this so called Rubik's Cube.


Its end of December now. Almost 2 months i have spent on this useless cube. According to a survey, 70% of the people THINK better when they are sitting on a toilet seat.





I am one of the 70 % people :-) I had the Rubik's Cube placed in by Bathroom. Every morning I used to try solving it. For the first few days I was struggling to complete the first layer itself ! I searched for algorithms on the Internet to solve this wonderful puzzle. I got some useful hints, some moves which can be played blindly, some easy movements of cubes etc. Within a month, I could solve the first 2 layers.
Now it was a piece of cake for me to solve the first two layers. The last part was the hardest one. Every morning I used to try solving it, but every attempt went in vain. So one day, I got a print out of the algorithm, and studied it. (Of course while sitting on the toilet seat). Now I got an idea of what are the steps I need to follow in order to complete the cube, Everyday I came very close to solving it, but every move i played further would shuffle the solved layers. I was irritated by this. One night I was again in the bathroom, and I decided to solve even if it takes me the whole night. I started all over again, followed each and every step given in the print, and after 30 mins, I came out the bathroom with the cube perfectly solved. It was a golden moment. Even my room mate was confused as to why was I smiling the whole night. I told him about my achievement. He was not Impressed, but I bet if you get addicted to this cube and after 2 months of effort you are finally able to solve it, You will be happier than me !!! Now I can solve the cube in less than 10 mins. The next challenge is to finish it within 5 mins. Hope I succeed in it.


4th Jan 2007

Just a small Update : My record for completing a shuffled Cube is 2 Mins, 58 secs.
Time tracker : Timex Ironman :-)
Venue : Bathroom
Time : 8:14 am

I have a dream, I already have the dream in reality

I had a dream way back in August to buy a high end mobile maybe a Nokia N series or a Sony Erricsson w800i. I thought it would be great to have a camera, mobile, mp3 radio, etc in a single gadget. But Mom didn't allow me to buy one. Reason : there is no need to buy such a costly model now. Buy it in December.
All my dreams were shattered, I was really depressed. I never say no to what my Mom says. So said to myself," There was something to gain, But there was nothing to loose. "

It was a very dull weekend of November, I got a very inspiring SMS from a friend :
"Dream is not what you see in sleep, Dream is the thing which does not let you sleep."
I thought for a while, If its said by Abdul Kalam there must be some truth in it. That afternoon I went to sleep. I didn't have any inspiring dreams, but when I woke up,something struck my mind. I hurried back to the kitchen, got some rubber bands, took my Digital Camera, my mp3/FM/Voice recorder, my very old and trusty Cell phone, Panasonic Earphones, and did some Magic. I was impressed with the result. Even you will be impressed !

Now I have a cellphone with 4Mp camera with Flash, 512 Mb memory, Mp3/FM/Voice Recorder with additional 512 Mb. Who wants a high end cell phone when you already have a upgraded version of it ? Look at what you have rather than what you don't have, and you will notice that what you don't have is what you already have :-)

Update :

4th Jan 2007
Now I own a 2 Gb ipod Nano (2nd Generation)
Who wants a Sony Erricsson now ?

November- The month that was.......

November was one of the most busy and interesting month I lived in. After a loooong vacation, I was assigned a huuuuge workitem by my manager. So I was involved in it. On Nov. 5th Star World aired a show about magic. This show overwhelmed me. I was really amazed by the tricks performed. It made me learn good magic tricks. After Office hours, I browsed for magic tricks on the internet. I found some and was successfull in performing them in front my whole team and some of my friends. Here are some of them :

While I was middle of this magic stuff, I got a call from Adobe. So now I started studying from

And a bit of this

Within a few days, I got a call from GE too ! This time I was made to study a bit of mechanical engineering. Turbines, thermodynamics, nozzles etc etc.

All of this consumed my weekends. Also there was a Table Tennis tournament organised by IBM. I had to participate in it. I bunked my IBM training and went for the matches. Finally, I emerged out as the winner and was awarded this :

November also included CAT-2006. Thank God I had not filled the form for CAT. My roomies had filled them. After the CAT we visited a car exhibition :

That night was the last night of my roomie in Bangalore. So he decided to give a champagne party. The night was memorable.

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaan this november was too occupied. There was one more thing I had committed to IBM. I appeared for a certification exam on 25th.......and I managed to clear that too ! Now call me IBM certified DB2 Application programmer. :-)

Nobody's to Blame !

The recent performance of "Team India" (now who named them 'Team India' ???)* was pathetic. out of 17 ODIs played "Team India" (Again this Team India ???)* managed to win only 3 wins. Even Zimbabwe and Bangaladesh have a higher victory rate than Team India*. I have no words to write for our performance. I've lost confidence in them. I recently received a fwd mail which describes why Team India* has not performed well. Here is why you cant blame the players for the poor performance :

1) Sehwag - U can’t blame him. He played his natural game (and got out, naturally)
2) Tendulkar - U can’t blame him. He scored a 50 (like a tortoise)
3) Laxman - U can’t blame him. This was his first match after a long gap. (Just wait for another 10 matches)
4) Mongia - U can’t blame him. He played well. (Just that he thought the test series had already started)
5) D. Karthik - U can’t blame him. He won us the 20-20 match (He is not used to the 50-50 format)
6) Dhoni - U can’t blame him. He tried for a big shot and got caught at the boundary (well ... ok ... 20 metres from the boundary line)
7) Pathan - U can’t blame him. He's an all-rounder. (Like Alok Kapali - The Bangladesh all rounder)
8) Harbhajan - U can’t blame him. He's the best spinner we have (He's the only one, so he has to be the best)
9) Kumble - U can’t blame him. He's a fighter (and a loser)
10) Zaheer - U can’t blame him. He is the fastest bowler (The ball disappears fast as well)
11) Sreesanth - U can’t blame him. Atleast he has the guts to look into the batsman's eyes (after being smashed all over the park)
Chappel - U can’t blame him. He's building the team for the World Cup (He may be missing at that time though and also for which world cup no one knows??)
Kaif & Raina – U can’t blame them. They didn’t play (Thank God)

If there is anyone to blame, it's us (who are still watching these games) ............
And thats quite correct. I request all the cricket fans to stop watching Team India* matches if they continue performing the same way. I've lost hopes of winning the World Cup. And I am planning to shift my interests from cricket to Hockey. The Hockey team deserve to be called as Team India*. After all Hockey is the National Game of the Country. I dont even know who is the captain of the Indian Hockey Team, but I feel the games will be more interesting than watching Team India* in the cricket field.


Now something about this Team India :

* I don't know whether you people have noticed the (*) I gave after Team India. I also don't know whether you people have noticed that almost all the news channels have started referring to the Indian Cricket Team as "Team India". Do you feel its right ? I am really frustrated with the Indian Cricket team and I get even more furious when someone calls it Team India. Do they deserve to be called Team India ? If you want someone to be called as Team India, why not the Indian Hockey team ? Why not the atheletes who have participated in the Asian games at Doha ? Why not the Indian Kabaddi Team ?

I again request you to Please,
1. Stop watching Cricket matches if the cricketers continue their drain. If you are in the stadium, simply walk out of the stands.Let the players play in an empty stadium. There have to be 1-2 ocassions where the team will feel ashamed of themselves. No reasons are allowed from the cricketers. BCCI has enough money and also it spends heavily on the players. If the foreign pitch and the bounce is what made India score less than 200 in all the 4 matches, who had told them to go just 3 days prior to the 1st ODI ?? they must have been there 1 week early to get the feel of the pitches.

2. Please dont damage houses of the cricketers, Instead, send flowers with "get well soon" wishes. Follow Gandhigiri. Why should the family members of the cricketers suffer for the poor performance of the player ?

3. Stop using products which are advertised by the cricketers. ( I guess the advertising agencies will think twice before making a cricketer their brand icon :-) )

4. Apart from cricket, take interest in some other sport which India does well. eg. Tennis, Chess, Shooting, Hockey etc etc. Someday it will help you a lot.

Someone still loves you.

I use email, I use a telephone,I use Yahoo messenger, I use Gtalk, I use orkut, I send SMS, In spite of all these free modes of communication, I still admire INDIAN POSTAL SERVICE. Of course times have changed now. I don't buy Post cards or send a letter to mom in an envelope. But whenever required, I always opt for Indian Post. It is much reliable, now-a-days. Just like any other private courier service, you can trace your parcel just by a few clicks.
If you are still sadistic towards Indian Postal service, Think again. You will not get your passport without signing on the postman's register :-)

9th October

Today is the Anniversary of Indian Post. My dear friend 'Aandu' SMSed me "Happy Postal Day" I was glad there is someone who admires Indian post more than me.

Obsession In me

This one is really funny and you can try it out on yourself or your friend. I was a victim of this prank. It was all unintentional but it sure did bring out my hidden obsession,
It was saturday evening, Me and my friend "Chandya" had been to Forum Mall. We had gone there neither for any shopping nor to watch a movie. Just stand in the Balcony and watch the weekend beauties pass by. Chandya suggested a good spot in the food court from where we could enjoy the most of it. There was a series of revolving chairs (just like the ones used in Kaun Banega Crorepati) facing the mall. Just sit on them and enjoy. We were free to comment on any girl since we were sitting behind a glass wall. The safest place to be :-) Chandya calls them Military Base. After a few minutes I thought of buying 2 cokes, sit on those chairs and enjoy the beauty having small sips of the drink, just like people sit on a Bar counter. So I got down the chair, and helped myself through the food court tables and reached the Coke stall. Took 2 cokes and returned back to my chair. Chandya was waiting for me. When I handed him his coke, he asked,
Chandya : Koi Maal hai kya udhar table pe ?
Nishad : Kuthla maal ?? mala nahi disla (What maal, I didn't see any maal)
Chandya : Maage valun paha jara, (turn back and see)
I Turned back and had another glance. I was amazed to notice that i had missed so much of beauty during my journey from my chair to the coke counter. There were so many good looking girls around, but didn't even notice one of them.
Chandya : Coke ghayla gela tevha kuthe baghat hotas ? ( where were you looking when you went to get Coke ?)
Nishad : (Obfuscated ) khara sangu ? Mi pratyek table warchya dish madhle items pahat hoto. Kon khat ahe nahi te pahila. ( To tell you the truth, I was looking the food plates on the table and never noticed who was eating it. )
Chandya : (laughing) Kai tu nirke =)) =)) = ))
After we were done with our coke, decided to leave. When we exited the food court, I asked Chandya,
Nishad : Ti Laal dress wali mulgi mast hoti ki nahi ? ( That girl in red dress was really hot. wasn't she ?? )
Chandya : Kuthli mulgi ?? (which girl ? )
Nishad : (pointing at that girl ) Ti Bagh. ( Look there )
Chandya : Chayla, Ti tar aplya shejarunach geli ki atta. Mi kasa pahila nahi tila ? ( She had just crossed us on the way, how did I not notice her ? )
Nishad : Mag tu kuthe pahat hotas ? (So, Where were you looking ? )
Chandya : Tichya plate madhlya chicken biryani kade. ( At the chicken biryani that she was holding in her hand )
Nishad: kai tu Chandya =)) =)) =))

Goodbye #695

This blog is not of any interest to people who have not visited #695. This one is dedicated to my memory. Before I forget it, let me write about my experiences in #695

I was one of the luck 5 people who had a chance to stay In this heaven. On sept 20 2005, After a loooong search for a house, this was the last and only option left for us. If not today, we would be homeless tommorrow. We were totally new to bangalore and had read enough forward mails of how people of Bangalore are. We blindly gave the House owner Mr. Kanthraj his deposit of 85000/- and occupied the house.

The house was a 2 BHK with walls painted with colours which I guess were carefully chosen by the landlord - Yellow, Pink and green. The hall was pretty big. could have accomodated 3 people. One of the bedroom was a bit small and the green cooured bedroom was the one in which I stayed. The House was guarded by 2 dogs. they did their job just as a security watchman does. Sleep all day long. They never barked on strangers, but they barked on stranger dogs ! The house had a monster's face projcting outwards. We assumed that the face of the landlord. many houses had this kind of monsters put in front of their houses. Maybe it reflects the nature of the owner.

Some of the moments I cherished here are :

1. The Name. "Aandal Nilayam" Which I proudly called "House of the Testevoirs"

2. The fierce dog made from Plaster of Paris.

3. Our landlord who always said, "Your like my sons."


4. The two guardians Sophie and charlie (these two are real doggies ). Our landlord used to take good care of his dogs. When he brought food for them he used to call them, " Sophie, Come come come come." "Charlie, Charlie, Come come come come."
It was 4th october, The day had come to pay him his monthly rent. Me along with Nishank went upstairs to give him his earnings. We knocked the door. He welcomed us " Come come come come. "

5. Imagining Rohan's state of mind when a Rat jumped out of the toilet and landed straight on his foot.

6. Watching Nishank fall right on his Bums while trying to kick Rohan.

7. As mentioned earlier, we were 5 people who stayed there. (Officially) One day Our landlord comes and says, "you are 7 people staying here" Amar (a.k.a. Jackie) assumed to be the 6 th one and Sunny as the 7th.

8. The scream of me and Rohan when one of the bed collapsed. were about to sleep after watching a horror movie.

9. Watching Anant perform "His style" Skipping =))

10. The look on Kanth Raj's face when one of my friend brushed his bike to kanth raj's TATA Sumo.

11. Watching Kanthraj Removing the filth from the water logged bathroom.

12. The Great Indian Comedy show watched together at 10:30

13. The late night patte sessions.

14. GPL ( Ga%#d Pe Laath ) to every Birthdayboy.

15. Indoor Cricket.

Let the photos tell the rest.

Anti-forwardism

This blog is a bit too long. But I recommend instead of just browsing, please read it. Blogs are meant to be read :-)

Take a look at one of the forwards I received on Orkut:
IIT Bombay student Anupam Biswas 5th Year Mechanical Engg is suffering from Colukabki (caused due to excessive nabad and depression) a disease very rarely found (3 in a billion). His condition is very pathetic and the treatment is very expensive, obviously his parents are not able to afford his treatment. Orkut has agreed to pay 1 paisa after each time this message is forward. So pls pass on this message to help.

Now, I get really irritated when this sort of a message comes. I knew this was one of those but I wanted to check out how Orkut can pay 1 paisa after each time this message if forward. I typed Orkut has agreed to pay 1 paisa in the Google Search bar.
Most of the content of my blog is extracted from some similar blogs on the net Since after i searched for that string, i got blogsites which had info on this one paisa nonsense :

An IIT Delhi student Anupam Joshi 4th Year Engineering Physics is suffering from Colukabki (caused due to excessive smoking and depression) a disease very rarely found (3 in a billion). His condition is very pathetic and the treatment is very expensive, obviously his parents are not able to afford his treatment. Yahoo has agreed to pay 1 paisa after each time this message is forward. So pls pass on this message to help.

Mechanical Engineering. Engineering Physics (I wonder if there actually is an Engineering Physics course at IIT Mumbai.)
Both suffering from Colukabki.
What is Colukabki by the way?
I searched again and what did I find?
Colukabki is not a disease. In fact If you try searching for this word, you might end up reading this blog !
There's no word called Colukakbi in English.
Of course, there are the more irritating ones, some of which are "If you dont forward thisdon'tu dont have a heart" and the AIDS injection wala. Or the SMS 'Sorry I couldn't ignore this message."I love my Mother" please pass this to 10 friends if you really love your mother'
If the message said, 'If you love your mother, please fwd this to yourself 10 times' would you do it ? Just because fwding a message is a matter of seconds don'ts, dont promote such nonsense among your friends.

Here's One more I got:
"Today is world's Message day send dis message to all ur friends as i have fwded you."
This is what I replied :
"Today is 'world's ch**iya day. Send this to all ch***yas n have a nice day"
Later I realised sending this message made me a Ch***ya too !

Email spam, messenger spamand now Mobile spam ? Yes, it seems. A very reasonable name.
How about an Anti-forwards Campaign? Dont just ignore such forwards. Type a reply:
"Look, I have something called a brain which actually thinks. I can donate a piece of it if you want. Stop sending me such forwards." even if he is your close friend.
Or if the Message says, "Fwd this to 10 people", have patience and send the same message to the sender 10 times instead of deleting it or being a chauvenist and sending it to 10 of your friends.
This, of course, shouldnt apply to all those hilarious and rather useful forwards.

I shall put all "those" forwards I get here from now on. I'd like to name it Stupidoscope, to measure peoples' stupidity.

Stupidoscope :
Observation 1:

Yahoo President Neeraj Sheth....This is Yahoo President Neeraj Sheth Jay Russell, I am sorry to announce that Yahoo has reached its maximum number of accounts two million. If you would like to keep your account for free send this to everyone on your list.This way we can know which accounts are being used and which accounts we can delete.Send this within 8 days and your account will remain free.Once again I am sincerely sorry that I have to do this.Please start sending.Jay Russell,Yahoo Management Renee:WHOEVER DOESN`T SEND THIS MESSAGE YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE DEACTIVATED AND IT WILL COST $10.00 A MONTH TO USE IT! TO SEND TO EVERYONE ON YOUR LIST,RIGHT CLICK ON YOUR GROUP AND SAY SEND

Is Yahoo so poor that it starts deleting its accounts ? Do you really feel that yahoo has no other work and thats why it has started to count the number of times this message is been passed on ? Dont you think this act of yahoo will ever want to decrease the number of its users ?

Observation 2:
please forward this msg,very urgent. One of my friend's mother condition is very serious. She needs 4-bottles of B -ve . Contact: gayatri 9841983811. Pls don't avoid this even if u can't help atleast pass this msg to all

If you really care for such messages, before forwarding this message,call this person called gayatri first. I am sure No one will ever do this. I did it once. Called up a person called Seema. The fwd message said Seema works in Wipro and her husband was suffering from some rare disease and wIs asking for help.
So i asked, " Is this seema ?"
Answer : No.
"Do you work in Wipro ?"
Answer :No
"Is your Husband ill ?"
Answer : Who are you ? stop bothering me. And dont call me again.
Well she wazzunt Seema, nor she worked in Wipro and I dont know whether she even had a husband or not. But yes, it was a female voice.
Also one point to Note : 80% of people forwarding such messages have a free SMS scheme. :-)

Observation 3 :
Here I received few facts about the person behind orkut.
This is the mastermind behind Orkut social networking community.
Some facts about Orkut:
1) Orkut Buyukkokten(the creator of Orkut) gets $12 when every person registers to this website.
2) He also gets $10 when you add somebody as a friend.
3) He gets $8 when your friend's friend adds you as a friend & gets $6 if anybody adds you as a friend in the resulting chain.
4) He gets $5 when you scrap somebody & $4 when somebody scraps you.
5) He also gets $200 for each photograph you upload on Orkut.
6) He gets $2.5 when you add your friend in the crush-list or in the hot-list.
7) He gets $2 when you become somebody's fan.
8) He gets $1.5 when somebody else becomes your fan.
9) He even gets $1 every time you logout of Orkut.
10) He gets $0.5 every time you just change your profile-photograph.
11) He also gets $0.5 every time you read your friend's scrap-book & $0.5every time you view your friend's friend-list.
12) Many Global Financial Consultants think this person might become the richest-person in the world by the end of 2009.
13) Finally, this is the best fact. This person has 13 assistants to monitor his scrapbook & 8 assistants to monitor his friends-list. He gets around 20,000 friend-requests a day & about 85,000 scraps a day.

If you observe point 4 : He gets $5 when you scrap somebody & $4 when somebody scraps you.
Dont you feel it is contraciting its own statement ?
Suppose Nishad scraps Rohan.
From Nishad's Point of view Orkut gets 5$ when I scrap Rohan, but when Rohan scraps me, Orkut gets 4$
Seeing from Rohan's Point of view, When he scraps Nishad, Orkut gets 5 $ and when Nishad scraps Rohan, Orkut gets 4$.
Now should Nishad start arguing with Rohan that his scraps are precious than Rohan's since they result in higher profit to orkut ?
Or if the above statement is true, the act of writting a scrap should result in profit of 9$ and there is no need to state that writing a scrap results in 5 $ and receiving a scrap gains 4$. The same logic applies to most of the points stated.
The point 12 says that Many global financing firms have analysed this. Cant they spot such a huge flaw ?
And about the 13th point : No comments :-)

Observation 4 : (Update : 5th Jan 2007)
Look how Stupid people are : even after being a Software Engineer, age more than 22, and still they beleive in such stuff :

Hi ...Orkut is deleting Profiles again message: Dear user because ofsudden rush of people signing upto orkut is come to an attentionnthat weare vastly running out of resources so with in a week any one whodoes not receive this scrap will be deleted of our server . We knowthat you are still using this account We want to find out which users are actually using their orkut accounts so if you are using your, then please send this scrap to every orkut user that you can if u donot pass this scrap to anyone then we will delete your accountJustfollow these simple steps. 1. Click on the "Messages Tab" in youraccount. 2. Click on the "compose mail" option which is the last oneofthe four icons you see together. 3. Select "all friends" 4. Cut andPaste this mail

Some Analysis : Just like Observation 1, Why will Orkut want to delete profiles, It will be more popular if the number of profiles present increase. And even If Orkut has started deleting profiles, Why will it do that in the form of such an informal junk scrap ? If they are the administrators of our profiles, they should clearly know who uses orkut and who does not. They have all the logs stored. Each and every click is logged. I've seen mails from some websites which clearly address their inactive users on their personal email id to use the account or else they will deactivate the account. ( NOT DELETE ).
Can't believe there are such stupids among my friends !!!

Update : 07-06-2007
Observation 5 :
Hi I am 21,student and I earn 50000pm working part time on internet. 3 months back I got a message like this. I logged in to [some website name] checked all offers. I am earning over 50000pm for third month in row. If I can do it you too can do it. Iwish you get the right offer and I hope you will succed. Login [some website name]

I am sure every orkut user must have got this message, and not only once, at least 5 times.
I haven't checked the genuineity of this message, but still I have some points which prove that this is all fake.
1. Now the subject line is very eyecatching, No company ever gives a subject line like that !
2. I earn 50,000 pm. A student earning 50,000 pm. I guess 50,000 is the salary of the Prime Minister of India. Even in a good company like Google, U must be exceptionally well to get a package of 50,000 pm.
3. If a student earns that much, Why will he tell others about it ? If he keeps the secret with himself, He will be the only person getting richer.
4. What about Income tax ? :-P
5. If you visit the profile of the message senders, You will see very cute photos, nicely prepared profile content, and hell lot of scraps saying, "Hi cutee, shall v b frnds ? "

This much is enough to prove my point !

Update: 9-06-2009

1)Mobile

Don't put your mobile closer to your ears until the

recipient answers, Because directly after dialing, the mobile phone would use it's maximum signaling power,

which is: 2watts = 33dbi. Please Be Careful. Please use left ear while using cell (mobile), because if you use the right one it may affect brain directly. This is a true fact from Apollo medical team.

2) APPY FIZZ

Do not drink APPY FIZZ . It contains cancer causing

agent.

3) Mentos

Don't eat Mentos before or after drinking Coke or

Pepsi coz the person will die immediately as the mixture

becomes cyanide. Please fwd to whom u care

4) Kurkure

Don't eat kurkure because it contains high amount of

plastic if U don't Believe burn kurkure n u can see

plastic melting. Please forward to all!!!!!!!!! !! News

report from Times of India

5) Avoid these tablets as they are very dangerous

* D cold

* Vicks action- 500

* Actified

* Coldarin

* Co some

* Nice

* Nimulid

* Cetrizet-D

They contain Phenyl- Propanol -Amide PPA.Which Causes strokes, and these tablets are banned in U.S.

6) Cotton Ear Buds

Cotton Ear Buds... (Must read it) Please do not show sympathy to people selling buds on roadside or at Signals..... Just wanted to warn you people not to buy those packs of ear buds you get at the roadside. It's made from cotton that has already been used in hospitals. They take all the dirty, blood and pus filled cotton, wash it, bleach it and use it to make ear buds. So, unless you want

to become the first person in the world to get Herpes Zoster Oticus (a viral infection of the inner, middle, and external ear) of the ear and that too from a cotton bud, DON'T BUY THEM! Please forward to all this may be helpful for someone..... ....... Please forward to all your near and dear

ones....!

This one came to me at least 4 times before I tried to find out the truth.

Thanks to Kenny Jacob and his article which uncover all the truth I was in search of

http://www.kenneyjacob.com/2009/02/07/mythbusting-fwd-mails/

Some more stupidoscopes coming soon...... as I am waiting for my fatous friends to send me some similar junk.

Crocodile Hunter' Is Dead

1962 - 2006

Today afternoon I was very sad to hear this news.
Steve Irwin, host of the Animal Planet series The Crocodile Hunter, was killed Monday during a diving expedition off the coast of Australia, Sydney's Daily Telegraph reports.
Most of us would ask, Who is he ??? But for me, he was the real Superhero. Man, I was a big fan of him. Never missed his show. When I saw Steve with Terry, I used to think, what a couple. They really enjoy working together. But now, Steve is no more !!! I still dont believe in what i have just typed, but its a fact and everybody must accept it. He was killed by a sea creature called stingray. Usually stingrays are calm and dont hurt anyone. Steve was the 19th reported death by a stingray in the last 100 years !!!!! I still remember when a crocodile behaves in a awkward way, he used to say "CRICKEY !!!!"
I Salute this man. May his soul rest in peace.

Look what the animals want to say on this incident :

SMS Mania

I cant keep more than 25 messages in my Mobile inbox. I also dont want to lose my SMSs.
Before I delete them , let me share some of the funniest messages i've received.

This one was from one of my friend in Kolhapur :

Happy belated holi to you and your family :-) Celebrate wid crackers and diyas… &get drunk! Jst like I am rite now… Merry Christmas once again.

This one was sent by one of my Room mate :
I will not come home today. Please take inside my clothes from outside of house !@!???

From one of my college mates :
Managed to fool the HR :-) Got into Accenture.

The next day :
Main bachpan se Accenture mein jaana chahata tha :-)

This one was from my friend (who used to play Quake a little bit) yesterday. around 20 days ago he was a victim of a mysterious disease and was in ICU. I couldnt stop laughing until i read this :
Health 100
(regenerate)

There were a lot of SMSs which were worth writing here but I have deleted them long ago.
Some of those were :
On 31st December 2005:
Let me be the last one to wish you Happy New year 2005 :-)

One of my friend from hostel blocks sent me this when I was giving a seminar :
Quake ctf snipers game ip 172.155.155.72 join fast

I used to get this SMS at least twice a day :
AOE join fast. 14 14 14

or something like this :
45 45 45


In college days we used to communicate using such numbers. No one other than a NITKian would understand if I say 84 to someone :-)
Some of the codes we used were :
1: Yes
2: No
3: Food Please
8: All hail, King of the Loosers
14: Start the game.
45: You Bastard
55: Evil laugh HAAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHA
80: You have lost the match
84: You are an idiot.


This one i sent to my Mom on 23rd August 2004 which she still has it stored.

I got into IBM

Slash DOT Slash

There is nothing Much to write in this blog, This blog is dedicated to myself. It features the metamorphosis of Nishad at the age of 30 to Nishad at the age of 23.
You will rarely have a glimpse of something like this.
See it yourself and bring a smile on your face :-)

Just before the Slash session !!

What was I thinking about ?

The first Slash !!





The second Slash !
Slash Dot Slash


Inspired by Hitler !!

In great thought.

I dont know what made me cut my moustache in this shape. But I feel this is the style Aamir Khan will use in his coming films.

Metamorphosis complete. I will be 21dahsiN forever.

Even I cant stop laughing at this photo.

Something abtrusive

Recently something shook me and realised that I need to improve my english.
I went through some wordlists from a Competetive exam book and found out that I was a DUMBO in english !!! To get used to that kind of language, I would have to use those words in real life.
So maybe my next blog will look like this !

Last week we had a bacchanal since one of our onsite team mates had come to India. We were maladroit in the stints given to us, so he decided to have a tutelage for 5 days. For the last five days, we got a smattering, but in the end i was just a charlatan. This night I had decided to forget everything and erode whatever comes in my dish. I reminded myself of the forswear of not having any non veg in the month of august. The starters were ordered. Fish Tikka, Chicken Platter !!! (Not to enumerate that a soup comes before a starter ). I immediately reneged what is said earlier. I avow that I am a gourmand and possess a discretion when I see food ! I ate like a glutton and was very happy to finish whatever was served in my plate. I hate seeing the food plate devoid of food. Though this was a bacchanal, I had a covenant with myself that I will follow teetotalism for the rest of my life, so I just snubbed from the rest of the section and concentrated only on Delicious food. The hotel management had done their homework in gastronomy and were gusto in filling my plate. I am in complete oblivion of how much I ate later, But I remember when I got up from my seat I had an effusion that I have gained at least 2 Kgs of weight today. Again from Now onwards a new perjury,
I will be abstinent, and will relinquish all my gluttonous habits :-).

Mr. Murphy strikes back..........Again.

Me and some of my friends had a plan to watch a Movie named "Omkara" night show. I was responsible to book the tickets. I came to the office, to check the availability of tickets opened www.pvrcinemas.com and got a message : This page has been blocked by the administrator. (Murphy No 1 )
I knew how fast the tickets get booked at PVR. So I decided to go to the theatre itself and book the tickets. I sat in an Auto. As as the Auto was about to start, I realised that I had just 10 rs in my pocket. ( Minimum fare for an auto in Bangalore is 12 Rs. ) I clearly told the Auto driver, that I had no money and requested him to stop at the ATM right ahead. As he approached the ATM. I saw the shutter of the ATM was down. Machine refilling was in progress. (Murphy No 2 )
I knew one more ATM on the road to PVR. I told the Auto driver to take me to the second ATM. When we reached, there, I went frantic. This ATM was also closed for Money refilling. ( Big Murphy No 3 )
Now I knew there was not a single ATM till PVR and ahead. With no hopes, I sat in the Auto. and told him, ' Plan cancel !! Take me to any ATM first. Then PVR. '
He too agreed. Took me to some ATM in Koramangala. I withdrew plenty of money. Gave the Auto driver his share and hurried back to PVR. There was a queue for tickets at the counter. But I was smarter :-) I thought of booking tickets using the machine installed there. All I had to do was, select the show and timing, select the number of tickets I wanted and swipe my credit card. I started my transaction and found that all the tickets for the show were sold out !!!
( Murphy No. 4 ) I cursed myself. I had come all the way to book tickets and I didn't wanted to go empty handed. So I booked tickets for the next day 10 pm show and came back. When I was back at my desk, one of my friend messaged me," I guess it will rain today" . The first thing that came to my mind was,
'Murphy cannot be wrong. It will surely rain tomorrow night at 9:30 and will make it difficult for me to reach pvr on time."
When it comes to watching a movie, I was already a victim of Murphy's Laws. This was the secong time, Click here to read my 1st time murphy.

This happened on 1st of Janauary. What a way to start a new year.
For those who don't know who this Murphy is :
Click here

Machines dont lie

Recently I weighed myself and to my surprise I found that I am a whooping 80 Kg monster ! Before standing on the weighing machine, I thought I must have lost some weight, I had not eaten chicken for 5 months ! But the weighing machine betrayed me..Or should I say the machine don't know to lie ???
Now the Bird Flu scare is gone, people eat chicken regularly. But I have got a scolding from my mother, No chicken ! But i know i cant live without it. Its like a addiction for me.
After thinking a lot, I have got a solution to this problem after watching a TV commercial ! It was of a low calories sweetener tablets. Every morning people go out (or rather are thrown out by their wives) for jogging. One young man jogs chanting 'Butter chicken, Butter chicken, Butter Chicken' the other one chants 'Aalu puri, Aalu puri, Aalu puri' and a 3rd person is chanting, 'Samosa Chaat, Samosa chat, Samosa chat'.
Its been 1 week now. I go out for jogging everyday (except Weenends.....Quite sincere to admit this) and just like the people in the commercial, I keep chanting,'70 Kgs, 70 Kgs 70 Kgs...... '

Now I weigh 79.6 Kgs (The same machine which tells the truth says so.)

Face to Face with Rahul Dravid

I had gone to Bangalore Airport to receive my aunt and sister. But due to so called 'Congestion' in the sky, their flight got delayed and the time of arrival changed from 9 pm to 10:30 pm. I reached the Airport at 10 pm. I took an entry ticket and went inside the airport's Arrivals section. I stood there watching the passengers coming out of the terminal with their luggage. I saw the joy in the eyes of grand parents receiving their sons and grand sons, Saw tears in the eyes of a mother who saw her son heading towards her from the terminal. Saw a loving hug from a wife when she met her husband. Saw fright in small kids who had just experienced their first flying experience.
In the mean time, I saw my sister waiting for her luggage near the luggage revolving slide. I waved at her, but she was too busy searching her luggage. ( Visitors are not allowed to go near the Luggage terminal) I just stood there waiting for my aunt and sister to collect their luggage and come at the exit gate. I kept my eyes focused on them. After a couple of minutes later, I noticed a man standing next to me. Even he was waiting for someone of his beloved to arrive. I looked at him and his face took be aback. I just stared at him for 2 minutes wondering, "Why is this person looking like Rahul Dravid ??? " I am sure my weird stare must have made him very uneasy. But he must be used to such stares. I couldn't believe my eyes. Why will a person like Rahul Dravid come to a Domestic airport wearing a plain T-shirt, tracks and slippers to pick up someone,, and that too alone !!!!
I was still in a dilemma whether this person was really Rahul Dravid or a look alike ? Then, a person came and took autograph of him. Even I took a paper and took his autograph. As soon as I took his autograph, people started to gather. A security personnel came and took Dravid straight inside, near the Arrivals terminal. My eyes were still focused on him. I couldn't believe that The Indian Cricket team Captain was standing right besides me. As he disappeared from my vision, I realized that I was here to receive my aunt and sister, I looked at the luggage slide, I couldn't find my sister and aunt. I began to worry, did they leave when I was busy staring at Dravid ?!?! I dialed my aunt's mobile number. She was still inside, So I told her Rahul Dravid must be somewhere near her. Even she saw him. After some 5 mins. Rahul came outside with his parents. But this time there was security surrounding him. When he passed me, I shouted in Marathi , "Rahul, West Indies tour sathi Best of Luck re !!! " He just looked at me. Not a single expression on his face.
But still I was very happy because I met Rahul Dravid, and also saw the love and respect Rahul Dravid had towards his parents. He had come all alone to the airport to receive them!

(G)Olden days re lived

Its been 8 months now, leaving the college and working for a company. In order to survive in this kind of world, had to restructure my language, change the way I dress, sleep early, get up early, get a clean shave everyday and many more. I hate this kind of life, wish I were a student again. The time has not run out yet, but if I continue living like this, life is going to get miserable for me.
A couple of days ago, I was supposed to go to my college for my Convocation (Degree Awarding Ceremony). I was really happy to visit my college again. So were my friends. We quickly made a plan of going there. We were some 10 of us. Most of them decided to book a room at Surathkal (3 Km from my college) and stay there. Wooo, these 8 months have surely changed them a lot. I was firm of my decision of staying at the Hostels Final Block. I wanted to relive the old days. Harshal and Swaroop also agreed. I had informed my juniors about my plan and my decision of staying in the hostels with them. Even they were happy, I had to pack my bag, so i just asked swaroop what he is gonna take along with him, Here's the Gtalk Conversation :

me: hmmmmm
bag main kya kya lene waala hai ? :)
Swaroop: 2 chaddi. 2 baniyan. 2 T shirt. 1 pant. (1 pant angawar)
me: :)
Swaroop: 1 towel. 1 toothbrush. 1 toothpaste. 1 shaving kit
tu ?
me: mi pan same...........except toothpaste :)

When it was decided to relive the olden days, why not pack the bag accordingly ? There were things which I purposefully didn't take along with me.
Tooth paste was just one of them. Old Habits die hard.
I reached the College at 6:30 am. I called up one of my junior Omkar (a.k.a. Yakku) He was awake already. This is a very rare scene to observe, someone awake at 6:30 am on a weekend and that too in a hostel !! The main gate was closed, but a sideway was always open in the mornings. But we opted to climb the gate as we used to do while coming back after 10 pm. By the time we reached the Hostel gate, he was there at the entrance to welcome us. Even we were surprised at his enthusiasm to meet us. Yakku is a fatso, and stayed on the 3rd floor. But still he had come down to escort us to his room :)
The Convo was at 3 pm. Till then we got fresh, I used Yakku's Slipper, Yakku's Tooth paste, Put my mobile to charge on Yakku's Charger. Old Habits Die hard.
For Breakfast, we went to our college canteen to eat the only item which has kept it open for so many years, 'Open Dosa' Maaannn That was delicious. i met most of my batch friends in the canteen itself, and all had ordered Open Dosa. Old Habits Die hard.
I had some pending work at the College SBI bank, so I went there, did a jugaad for a pen from one more junior, Rodge. When i was back, ppl were making plans for lunch. Mess food was never good, but there were many options now, When we were in the college, the pocket money we got was very limited and having delicious food was never an option for us. The juniors had started asking us for a treat, i said, " I am going to Ganesh Canteen, Anybody interested ?" Half of the Junta turned back. Still some of them were ready to come with us. (Ganesh Canteen is a very simple canteen where we get Boiled rice and fish curry for 12 rs, and an extra fish fry for 12-15 rs) I loved the food. It was only rice and curry on a banana leaf, but the days when we used to have frequent trips to ganesh canteen had added more flavour to it. Bird flu made us ditch the Plan of Tikka Hut. The regular procedure which we used to follow was, Have food at Ganesh canteen, go to Melting Point, have juice and come back. This time also we followed the same. Old Habits Die hard.
By the time we reached the hostel, it was 2:30 pm. Swaroop decided to take a nap. And i decided to play Quake :)
Convo was to begin at 3 pm and Me and swaroop were still in the hostel, i woke Swaroop up, he was sleeping as he used to sleep in his room, The only garment on his body was an M sized shorts. Swaroop got ready and we started to head towards the Auditorium, it was 3:10 now. I got calls from my friends saying where are you, convo has started. it takes 5 mins to reach the auditorium from the hostels. While I was going, I noticed a strange but a familiar phenomenon, It had been just 3 mins since I had left the hostel gate, and now I was sweating very badly, My face was already wet and had started to become oily, I remembered the old days, this is what I faced for last 4 years, and never complained, and today, only 3 mins of Sun tan made me uncomfortable. When I reached there, I saw Ajit going back to the hostels, Reason : He was wearing a T-shirt and only formals were allowed, not an unsusal sight to see. We went inside, had a seat, there were some speeches delivered. We noticed, that the director was someone else. During my stay at the Institute, at least 4 Directors had changed, so getting the degree from a new one was not at all surprising. Some of my friends had come Drunk to receive the degree, Old habits die hard. The ceremony was a very formal one, but still the students tried to add some humour by whistling while the degrees were being awarded.

Once the ceremony was over, i rushed back to the hostel, Jugaad a Comp and as usual started my Quake sessions. Then we had a plan to visit the beach.
The Beach was a very interesting place to visit, some of the reasons were, the Sunset, Big Ships, Watching birds that fly and birds that walk on the shore :)
We sat on the usual rock, and enjoy a little bit of everything.

After the Sunset of the sun and the birds, we headed for Mangalore. Had food at one of the most expensive hotel in Mangalore "Pallkhi". Had ice cream at a very special place for special people, Iceberg.

We Came back to the hostel at 12 am. Some of us were tired, even I was, but I did not wanted to spend the rest of the time sleeping. So I again made a Jugaad for a Computer and started Quaking. some of my batchmates joined me in the frag session. We played till 4:30 in the morning.

Swaroop and Harshal were watching Taxi 9211 in the other room. later i too decided to watch the movie, so i started it from the first, and by the time John Abraham was in the scene, i was fast asleep and snoring. suddenly i woke up, realised that i cannot watch the movie any longer, switched the comp off, and prepared myself to sleep. My Preparation : Pillow without a cover , Bed without a Bed sheet, and a fan revolving above my head. Thats all. And i loved it. Old Habits die hard.
I woke up at 8 am. I saw Yakku faar away in the corridor brushing his teeth. I was surprised, our juniors are very sincere i thought, And they were.
For Schumacher, Sunday is Raceday, For Me, Sunday is Dosa Day.......in my whole final year, i have never missed a dosa made on sunday. It was delicious. And i used to have at least 2 of them. This time, i had no mess card, no balance in the hostel office, but still i had warned Shetty (the mess in-charge) that i will be coming and whatever ur swami says, i am gonna eat 2 dosas :) Even he agreed. He knew me since First year, i was one of the people in Shetty's list who eat limited things as if they are unlimited. After a Dosa session i again went back on the jugaad Comp, and started playing. Old Habits die hard.
MY friends from the Hotel reached the hostel by around 10:30 am. they asked me,"Abhi tak nahaya nahi kya ?"
I rightly said ," pagal ho gaya hai kya? Sunday ko nahane??"
Let me Do a confession here : In my 4 years which i spent in the college, there wazzunt a single day, when i took a bath and went for lectures. All the baths i took were either in the afternoon or nights. and those too alternate days. People hold record of staying in the hostels without having a bath for continous 11 days.
Now a days, i take a bath daily before going to the office, but today, i was in the hostel and i wanted to act likewise. Swaroop and harshal also agreed,Since harshal had a train journey ahead, he was bound to take a bath.
In the Afternoon, we gave our juniors a treat. i had asked Yakku to jugaad a sandal for me. He gave me his sandal. During the treat i noticed, Yakku was wearing his bathroom slippers. I felt really bad. gave back yakku his sandals, but he refused. After the treat, we bid goodbye to Harshal and came back to the hostels. We were to leave by 9 pm. Like every college, we have a small Food supply unit right in front of the hostel.We called it Sunder(the owners name). We get many egg items over there, and everyones favourite- Maggi. And according to the procedure, after this, Sugarcane juice from Mustafa is a must. After our Pet pooja,we went to the blocks, did our regular activities, for the last time. Some of us just browsed through the LAN, i played Quake :), Some burned CDs, some watched things which are meant to be seen by everyone in the hostels.Old habits die hard. Everyone knew this was the last time. Nothing like this in the future. We packed our bags, and headed for surathkal.Before leaving, Sujit told me, he wanted to go to the main lobby. I just realised, i had come to the college, tried to do everything i did in 4 years in just 2 days, did almost everything, but how did i miss the Main lobby, the SAC (Open air theatre). A college is incomplete without a Main building and i missed out going to the same. Maybe because i didnt like the college as i liked the hostels, or maybe it was just i forgot, about everything, but i still wonder, how did i let this happen. Anyway, we ditched the plan and started to walk for surathkal..It was a 3 Km journey, but it was a memorable one. we had covered the distance on bikes, cycles, bus, cars, but the on foot experience was different. Me and swaroop had once come to the college from surathkal on foot at 11 pm with rains pouring heavily. Bid Surathkal a last Goodbye, Nothing like this in the future, and no chances of coming back and having fun.

Before ending my blog, let me thank all my juniors for their love and respect for us Especially,

Yakku (For a lot of things.)
Tadwalkar (For lending me his Room)
Rodge (for lending me his pen, which i still have in my pocket :-) )
Ghanshyam (For lending me Toilet accessories :-) )
Paratwar (For lending me his soap :-) )
Aadarsh Pai (for lending me his PC)
All others who were with me during my stay at the college.
All the Quakers of Final Block who played with me.

Quaker Forever

From the Far Reaches of my Mind
The Arena Beacons to leave everything behind,
Escape Reality and enter a Warriors World,
Where I am Invincible, Immortal and A Quaker
Forever....

21dahsiN

The Shock of Life !

I woke up at 7:45 as usual, went to the office at 8:45 as usual, started doing my work as usual, had lunch as usual. Came back and started my work. I was feeling a bit sleepy, so I tried to adjust myself in my chair a couple of times. I do this almost everyday to scare away the sleepiness in me. But today something really amazing happened. Its a very simple thing and most of us have experienced it. But this one was of more intensity, and more shocking.
You people might have guessed what had happened. I got up from my seat for the Afternoon tea, went to a team mate and tapped him on his shoulder and ZAP ! He screamed, so did I. He got angry on me and said, ,"that wazzunt funny at all, Now stop poking me with ur pen " . I said," I didn't have a pen, it was static electricity maybe."
He couldn't believe it. "How can someone hold static electricity of such high intensity and discharge it on ME !!" I said, "Forget it lets have coffee." By now we could see faces from different cubicles staring at two of us. We went at the coffee vending machines, I took my mug close to the machine and pressed a button and again ZAP !!! " Holy Shit ! What the hell is happening??", I just threw myself away from the machine, and wondered, am I not discharged yet ??
By now I was afraid to open the door too. Somehow I came back to my seat, and with some fear in the heart, touched a metal structure. Thank God, now I am fully discharged now. Wow what a experience. I have sustained many electrical shocks in my life including one from a electricity pole on a road. But this static stuff something really scary (for me at least) and as much funny too.

Now some science behind what had happened.

Static electricity is the imbalance of
positive and negative charges.

When I rubbed myself on the chair, I got negatively charged. And now when I started touching neutral, but good conductors of electricity, the charge began to flow and ZAP !

I smile again :)

21dahsiN

Cream Roll

I am not a school going kid now. I am not a college going student now. I am not a teenager undergoing graduation now. I am now earning money. All the (g)olden days are gone. Wish I was still a kid. Wish I could still enjoy the holidays after the unit tests and terminal exams. Wish I was innocent as I was in my childhood :-)
One day I was going back home after my office hours. I stopped at a bakery. The showcase displayed a variety of cakes, buns, sweets. But eyes were concentrated on something else. I saw Cream rolls. You may feel this is crazy, but its true. Some of you might even not know what a cream roll is. But for me, it was like finding something I had lost a decade ago. I still remember the childhood memories, Some children cry for sweets, chocolates, GEMS, Cadbury. But I cried to get a cream roll. I cried when my mom used to take me to the barber to have a hair cut. She promised to give me a cream roll. At school, Saturday used to be a half day. My mom used to pack cream roll in my tiffin.



Now those days were gone. Slowly even I forgot what a cream roll was. But when I had a bite of it at the bakery, Ummmmmmmm I cant describe the smile it brought on my face. I paid for the cream roll to the bakery guy. It was for 5 rs. 10 years ago, it costed me 1 rs 50 ps. Time has surely changed and prices have gone high. I couldnt find a proper pic. of a cream roll. Hope you get an idea about what food item i was talking about.

ATM

This blog is a tribute to the inventors of the ATM. Most of us think that the full form of ATM is "ANY TIME MONEY" Practically speaking it is right. You will find the correct full form of ATM as you read through this blog.

As is often the case with inventions, many inventors contribute to the history of an invention. In the case of the ATM, Don Wetzel invented the first successful and modern ATM in the USA, however he was not first inventor to create an ATM. In 1939, Luther George Simjian started patenting an earlier and not-so-successful version of an ATM.

An automatic teller machine or ATM allows a bank customer to conduct their banking transactions from almost every other ATM machine in the world. Don Wetzel was the co-patentee and chief conceptualist of the automated teller machine, an idea he said he thought of while waiting in line at a Dallas bank. At the time (1968) Wetzel was the Vice President of Product Planning at Docutel, the company that developed automated baggage-handling equipment. The other two inventors listed on the patent were Tom Barnes, the chief mechanical engineer and George Chastain, the electrical engineer. It took five million dollars to develop the ATM. The concept of the modern ATM first began in 1968, a working prototype came about in 1969 and Docutel was issued a patent in 1973. The first working ATM was installed in a New York based Chemical Bank. (dahsiN's note: There are different claims to which bank had the first ATM, I have used Don Wetzel's reference.)
"No, it wasn't in a lobby, it was actually in the wall of the bank, out on the street. They put a canopy over it to protect it from the rain and the weather of all sorts. Unfortunately they put the canopy too high and the rain came under it. (laughing) One time we had water in the machine and we had to do some extensive repairs. It was a walkup on the outside of the bank. That was the first one. And it was a cash dispenser only, not a full ATM... We had a cash dispenser, and then the next version was going to be the total teller (created in 1971), which is the ATM we all know today -- takes deposits, transfers money from checking to savings, savings to checking, cash advances to your credit card, takes payments; things like that. So they didn't want just a cash dispenser alone." - Don Wetzel on the first ATM installed at the Rockville Center, New York Chemical Bank from a NMAH interview.
The first ATMs were off-line machines, meaning money was not automatically withdrawn from an account. The bank accounts were not (at that time) connected by a computer network to the ATM. Therefore, banks were at first very exclusive about who they gave ATM privileges to. Giving them only to credit card holders (credit cards were used before ATM cards) with good banking records. Wetzel, Barnes and Chastain developed the first real ATM cards, cards with a magnetic strip and a personal ID number to get cash. ATM cards had to be different from credit cards (then without magnetic strips) so account information could be included.

Thank You Don and Luther for making us to shift from the cashier queues at the bank counter to longer queues in front of a ATM.

HNY06

It was 1st of Janauary. I had just come back from my hometown, the salary had been credited, and the best thing was, it was SUNDAY. After a noisy 31st december, i woke up late (as usual) . One of my friends called me and said he was coming to my house. i said, " Great ! Come fast, i've heard that there is a theatre near my house. It always shows the latest released movies at a very cheap rate. we will go there for a movie." My room mate also agreed. By the time my friend came and i got ready, it was 12:30. We thought, If we were to go for a movie, it would have started at 12:00 or before that. No point going there now. so we decided to have lunch at some hotel nearby the theatre, roam around and do a bit of shopping and reach the theatre by 2:30 pm.
We went to a hotel, had our lunch. Then we went to a ice-cream parlour. took a Jumbo ice-cream. There we came across some marathi girls, who spoke to us !! ( Finding marathi girls in Bangalore is rare, and they talking to you is still rare) With smiling faces, we left the place. We went to a T-shirt shop, did window-shopping and came out. At another shop, i bought two really cheap t-shirts.
It was 2 pm now. we decided to take an auto to the theatre thinking that :
1. If we reach early, we will be the first ones to get the ticket.
2. The next show must be at 3 pm and not 3:30 pm
3. If we dont get the ticket for the coming show, we will surely get a ticket for the evening show.

We took an auto and headed towards the theatre. The Auto driver said," 15 rs Lagega, meter nahi lagaunga". We said, ok. Take us to the theatre first. He raced his auto and took a sharp left. later he stopped his engine and cruised on the steep road. We cursed that auto driver. He was going to earn 15 rs without any efforts. Finally we approached the theatre. But wait ! where is the crowd ? There was not a single person moving towards the theatre. Huge Blue tarpaulin sheets covered the theatre premises. We peeped through the sheets to see that half of the theatre had collapsed and people were working on the other half. After moving a bit ahead, we learnt that the theatre was closed for renovation. "But i saw one movie last week here ! " my friend said. We looked at each others faces and cursed the theatre. Even the auto driver was laughing at us. We told him," Now put your meter on and take us back home " He agreed and took us back home. Even he felt pity of us and he didnt take the 15 rs we promised him to pay earlier.( again very rare in Bangalore)
"No more going out today, lets have a sound sleep on the first day of a new year" said my roomie. I was so depressed that i decided to go to the company and do some work.

What a nice start of a New Year !!
In case you are still wondering what does the topic mean: Happy New Year 06

Crazy for cricket, Crazy in my head

I was crazy to stand in a 2 Km queue on a shivering cold morning 5 am just to get one ticket for the India South Africa match on saturday at Chinnaswamy stadium. Thank god i had my friend with me who was as much excited as me to get a ticket. No food, no water, we stood there for more than 6 long hours. Finally i got the ticket at 1 Pm. So did my friend. the ticket cost me 200 rs. and more than 6 hours of rush and congestion.
If the rush was soo much for a ticket, how many people will be there for the match ? Its a day/Night match and the best thing is , it is on saturday. so sunday we have for rest. Such a moment comes once in a decade. When i got the ticket and came to the company, showed it to my team mates.they were obviously jealous of me :) Yesterday one of them had said ,"There is no chance to get a ticket if u dont stay at the counter the whole night." Since 1 ticket per head was sold, there were enough tickets to get the queue moving and make me the proud owner of one ticket. If i plan to sell it in Black, i could earn 1500 rs easily, but i dont want to miss the first match of my life, that too INDIA-SOUTH AFRICA and a DAY/NIGHT on a SATURDAY. The seats for 200 rs are just steps, but the fun is double than the stands. If you get to see the match, try to spot me :) coz we will be right at the boundary line fences.
The day before this match, My company had sent me for a induction programme at a very expensive Hotel. I said, its better to go to a hotel for a free Lunch than sit idle in the company. Many of my friends had come to the hotel. As i stepped near the reception, i saw a bag which had 'Sachin Tendulkar' printed on it. I looked around, and i found many bags with the Indian cricketers names on them. I couldnt feel the ground beneath me. I knew why i was able to see the luggage. I said to myself, " What a luck i have brought with me !! The Indian Cricket team and Me in the same hotel !! " During the training i was in the conference room but my mind was wandering near the reception hoping to see the Master Blaster. As soon as there was a tea break, i ran down with my camera, Again what a luck ! the Bus was waiting at the entrance and all the cricketers were getting inside. I guess very few people get a chance to see the superstars soo close.
The team had just finished a quick meeting and were on their way to the stadium for practice. Couldnt believe, i saw all of them !! and the master blaster waved at us ! Oh, God (and my company) , thank you for this day !! Once the bus left, we all went back to the conference room, had another sleepy session...when we were about to leave the hotel, we saw bus coming straight to the hotel. "Damn, they are the South Africans !" someone shouted. I once again took my camera and began taking pics of the players.
What a day it was...and whats more, i had the ticket for the match tomorrow !! I went home, showed the pics to my friends....one of them said, " these snaps are of no use.......you are not there with any of the cricketers here" . Suddenly i realised what i had done......." Why didnt i realise this when i was taking snaps ??" where was my mind ??? i had a once in a lifetime chance to take snaps with the cricketers and i had blown it up. My friends started laughing at me............" You get snaps from some website and claim that u had clicked them......how do u prove that u were with the cricketers ? "
I had no answer for this....i kept cursing myself, i knew what a golden opportunity i had missed. I kept browsing through the photos to find myself somewhere, i could find nothing except a photo with their luggage. In case you are still laughing like my friends, see this photo . Believe me, i was there.

This happens to everybody

It was wednesday morning and tomorrow was my company Picnic to a resort. I was very happily surfing the net inside my cubicle. Everything was going fine, and suddenly at 7:30 pm i get a mail from My team leader, XYZ- Failed !!! (FYI - XYZ-was a work assigned to me a month ago and i had finished it and submitted it for User testing.) It had come back and the deadline for it was saturday ! And on top of this i was supposed to go home friday night (14 hrs journey) to attend a marriage. The picnic was mandatory and i was supposed to go with the team, no excuses. I was totally out of my senses.
I asked one of my team mates what to do ? He calmly said,"Relax ! Dude, this happens, and had happened to me too ! worst than yours. And after all you are new to this project, they wont blame you." This gave me a bit of strength. But still, my legs were shaking. Today i was supposed to leave early and do a bit of shopping for my Mother before I leave for my hometown. Finally i decided to wait till 8:30, hoping to finish as much work as I can. Then go with a friend to do that bit of shopping.
At 8:30 i was not able to do it, now i was really frustrated. I got out of my office, decided 'Come what May, I will not Stay' called my friend, we both went to a shopping complex, but it was already 9 pm and it was about to get closed. After a bit of roaming, we came to a Metal mart. He too was in a hurry to close his shop. I saw a Bajaj OTG kept outside, i asked him the price of it. He made me listen to his Loooooooong cassette about the product. Without opening the box, i grabbed the OTG and said,"I'll take it."
The next day(Thursday) , got up at 5 am, went for the stupid trip.It wazzunt that stupid as i had supposed....My office girls were just like those in my college, but in the resort i saw many unknown faces (i dont know where do they hide when inside office ?!?) I forgot what had happened yesterday and enjoyed the resort facilities.(Since this is a sad post, i wont mention the happy times i had at the resort :) ). We came back at 9:30 pm fully exhausted. Went home, had food and slept......Tomorrow was going to be a veeeerryy loong day.
On Friday morning, i came to the office at 8 am (I generally come to office at 10 am) With empty eyes, i had a look at my Monitor and the papers besides them......"How am i gonna finish this all before 6 pm and catch my train ?" (remember i told you i was supposed to go home friday night ?) Anyway, my cubicalmate is a good buddy, he knew my dissapointment and promised me that if it doesnt finish before i leave, he will stay in the office on friday night and complete is before saturday. I thanked him, and started to work. (He was in the office before i entered at 8 am). By lunch time, he was ready with the solution. As the day progressed, my assigned task got solved, and finally my tension was relieved.
Now it was 2 pm and according to me the work was over. I gave it back for review. and took a deep breath. i wrote a mail to my collegue saying that i will not be available on saturday and sunday (though they are holidays, My team has to work 24x7 ) and gave him my submitted work details, got out of the office by 6:30, packed my bags and boarded the train. Now no more worries till monday. Reached home safely, attended the marriage, Mom was happy seeing the gift. On sunday evening again i was travelling back, monday will be a great day i said to myself.....i finished the tension filled work in time after all.
In the meeting i gave out my work status and it had already passed the testing stage. (Hush) Now my Team Leader said," You've Finished XYZ just in time, but what about ABC ? it has already crossed the deadline !"
Now tell me it was all my fault. How didnt i recognise that the deadline was so near ? My cubical mate said," Not to worry, I will do it for you." (He was there in the office at 8 am even today)
After the meeting was over, he said, " Did you notice the tension we have in our project?" I said," No i have not noticed the tension in the office, but i have surely seen the 'Everyday' you spend in the office. Thanks for the help."

My First Blog

Hello people,
This is my first Blog. I am still not sure about what a blog means ! but still, i am just posting what all comes at my fingertips ! i am now a software engineer, but still i feel i am a kid, i love watching cartoons and playing computer games.