sssssshhhhhhh...

Revival

2011-10-15T01:13:00.000-07:00

Those who know me beyond blog, knows being lazy is how i give back to the society. I guess about time i reclaim my life.

Hopefully, this time i'll continue writing. Its 2 in the afternoon, but this for sure calls for a toast.

Cheers !!

A big FUCK OFF

2009-01-09T02:25:00.000-08:00

In no specific order

I’m tired of media cashing on every tragedy: Every time a dog pees on a car in Delhi, a Barbie falls on the face of earth from 22^nd floor in Mumbai, a crow dumps on Mayawati (I wish) or the latest shortcut to fame – a particularly self involved kid falls in some remote unfinished bore well: its Christmas time at Aaj Tak’s office. Not just the journalist will have a ball smashing microphone at everyone’s face instead of helping, news readers will keep reminding you every 30 seconds.

I'm tired of hearing people argue about abortion, quota row, female infanticide, mercy killing and all the other bullshit that makes up the average Indian political discussion board: It’s good that you’re arguing. But just for a change have you consider listening to what people on the other side are ranting about? If you do not care for the ideas presented by the other side, why even bother participating: might as well blurt out your partisan argument to a wall. It’s not like you are helping your case by selective acknowledgement of the obvious.

I’m tired of short term memory loss: more commonly known as, oh fuck!

I’m tired of self-help authors telling me how to live MY life: You think people like to constantly frown as if someone buried their face in a 10 ft deep pit filled with cow-shit? Well for this once, try to have a look at life from their point of view. My advice to you is put your pen down and bullshit before a person who isn’t already a designated loser. You'll end up empty-handed like every other shallow idiot in the room

I'm tired of science being set back by superstition: Human Genome Project receives little-to-no government support in India because of our moronic Prime Minister's twisted religious beliefs and woeful understanding of biology. The Big Bang Experiment at NASA keeps receiving lawsuits from paranoid dimwits with a limited knowledge of Physics who think slamming a few protons together is going to destroy the universe. And this hasn't happened yet, but eventually some idiot "numerologist" is going to freak out and try to ban Calculus for fear of causing the Apocalypse. I wish I'm exaggerating.

I'm tired of people whinging that TV and movies are getting blood obsessed for them: The developers of TV also give a freebee called remote control with it and you dont have to take lessons from Mr Poirot to look for it. Try pressing that red button on top corner before crying out loud. My suggestion to you is to get a DTH and subscribe Pogo for your sorry ass. And before you walk out of your momma’s lap, please throw away your rose tinted ridiculous idea of the world and face it head on. Dodge this.

I’m tired of people blaming my music for death of their sex life: If it did, let me play a record or two of Cannibal Corpse so it ends the remote possibility of you procreating. Its not my fault that you were busy chasing butterflies when He was distributing sense, connoisseur for creativity and music, fresh unprejudiced brains, better eardrums and mojo. The gene pool you are creating is anyways a total trash and not just by Spartan standards. Your DNA is not even worth a bottle of formaldehyde. So let me start by crashing a cymbal on your head, stuffing your elephant ear in my sub woofer and disclosing the fact of your slothful penis by confronting it to nude cheerleaders.

I’m tired of people crying after 2 shots of tequila: Our own Uncle Sam made coke for kids like you and then they made Diet Coke for the fussy ones. 50% alcohol is for people who CAN handle it. How I wish your age reduce by one year every time you sulk, I’m sure it would make your case more curious than that of Benjamin Button. And I know I’m a very good person but I’m not a brother of a cry baby.

Football Porn ?

2009-01-02T23:11:00.000-08:00

Homosexuality is a touchy subject; gay footballers even more so.

When you consider that footballers are invariably looked upon as role models for children (for better or worse), many otherwise liberal and politically-correct parents would throw a fit if they found out their precious offspring was idolizing a baller sporting a chin-strap, and I’m not talking about Mr Cech.

There’s a time and place for being sensitive and to deal with issues in seriousness - but most of the time, football is just football - entertainment for those playing and entertainment for those watching. And if the entertainment turns into sexual innuendo, as any contact sport invariably does, then we’re on the front line cheering on the participants while pointing and laughing at the same time.

Enough talking - here’s a look at some of the less serious moments in football. Football is not gay, and footballers are usually not gay, but if there was a gay football team, would feel comfortable watching such photos of them?

A talk to remember

2008-09-14T12:38:00.000-07:00

Few days back D was being at leisure on a scarlet lonely beach in a white shirt, really short shorts, slippers and a can of beer. She was sitting right by F who was decked in a floral tank top, red frilled skirt and bare feet with a Pinacolada in her hand. D was staring in the oblivion and F was trying to write something on the sand against the mighty waves. Dusk, wind, beach and alcohol. Girls tell each other everything, they say.

F: So what do you think of him ?

D : Him, who ?

F : You know..

D : Oh he !!

Most people think he is crazy, but I dont believe that.

I'm no shrink and I'm not saying I've got him all figured out or anything, but "crazy" just does not explain him. Not to me. Sometimes I think he is a retard, a big brutal kid who never learned the ground rules about how people are supposed to act around each other. But that does not have the right ring to it either.

No, it’s like there is nothing wrong with him, nothing at all - except that he had the rotten luck of being born at the wrong time in history. He'd have been okay if he'd been born a couple of thousand years ago. He'd be right at home on some ancient battle field swinging an ax, into somebody's face. Or in a Roman arena, taking a sword to other gladiators like him...

Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep !!

Snoooooooooooooze !!

F rolled over to drop a glance on her cell. 8:05 AM. Unwillingly, she picked up her toothbrush from the cup, and mumbled as she moved towards bathroom “Damn it!! I hate early morn snoozes.”

Stock market buffs - Interesting Analysis

2008-08-07T01:26:00.000-07:00

A young and pretty lady posted this on a popular forum:

Title : What should I do to marry a rich guy?

I'm going to be honest of what I'm going to say here. I'm 25 this year. I'm very pretty, have style and good taste. I wish to marry a guy with $500k annual salary or above. You might say that I'm greedy, but an annual salary of $1M is considered only as middle class in New York. My requirement is not high. Is there anyone in this forum who has an income of $500k annual salary? Are you all married? I wanted to ask: what should I do to marry rich persons like you? Among those I've dated, the richest is $250k annual income, and it seems that this is my upper limit. If someone is going to move into high cost residential area on the west of New York City Garden (?), $250k annual income is not enough.

I'm here humbly to ask a few questions:

1) Where do most rich bachelors hang out? (Please list down the names and addresses of bars, restaurant, and gym)

2) Which age group should I target?

3) Why most wives of the riches is only average-looking? I've met a few girls who don't have looks and are not interesting, but they are able to marry rich guys

4) How do you decide who can be your wife, and who can only be your girlfriend? (My target now is to get married)

Ms. Pretty

-------------------------------

Here's a reply from a Wall Street Financial guy:

Dear Ms. Pretty,

I have read your post with great interest. Guess there are lots of girls out there who have similar questions like yours. Please allow me to analyze your situation as a professional investor. My annual income is more than $500k, which meets your requirement, so I hope everyone believes that I'm not wasting time here. >From the standpoint of a business person, it is a bad decision to marry you. The answer is very simple, so let me explain. Put the details aside, what you're trying to do is an exchange of "beauty" and "money": Person A provides beauty, and Person B pays for it, fair and square. However, there's a deadly problem here, your beauty will fade, but my money will not be gone without any good reason. The fact is, my income might increase from year to year, but you can't be prettier year after year. Hence from the viewpoint of economics, I am an appreciation asset, and you are a depreciation asset. It's not just normal depreciation, but exponential depreciation. If that is your only asset, your value will be much worried 10 years later.

By the terms we use in Wall Street, every trading has a position, dating with you is also a "trading position". If the trade value dropped we will sell it and it is not a good idea to keep it for long term – same goes with the marriage that you wanted. It might be cruel to say this, but in order to make a wiser decision any assets with great depreciation value will be sold or "leased". Anyone with over $500k annual income is not a fool; we would only date you, but will not marry you. I would advice that you forget looking for any clues to marry a rich guy. And by the way, you could make yourself to become a rich person with $500k annual income. This has better chance than finding a rich fool.

Hope this reply helps. If you are interested in "leasing" services, do contact me…

Signed,

J.P. Morgan

-------------------------------

Here's a reply from oh-not-so-dumb blonde:

To the gentleman who called me a depreciating asset

Dear Sir,

I must confess that I was somewhat taken aback upon reading your email. Indeed, it has taken some time for me to sufficiently recuperate from my surprise. Lest your confidence quickly inflate for little reason (as we know is the predisposition for Wall St. types), allow me to hasten to reassure you that the source of my surprise was neither your candor nor the accuracy of your perception. Indeed, it is your "claimed" success in light of your poor grasp of economics which has me baffled. If the standards required to meet with financial success on Wall St. have sunk so low, perhaps I should indeed "make my own money", except for the fact that the effort/reward ratio is far too high for my liking - especially when so many of your ilk have displayed a far more cogent grasp of market realities than you have.

By now you are likely scratching your ever-vanishing hairline in confusion, so allow me to elaborate. To build some credibility I will tell you a bit more about yourself. Though you did not mention the details of your occupation, it is clear that you are an investment banker and not a trader, as any good trader would understand that human courtships are based upon a semi-efficient open market, and not an investment banking cartel. However, your inability to grasp the realities of the dating market is not surprising, given that you have successfully employed the tools of collusion and market manipulation rather that true acumen in your supposed wealth generation.

If your grasp of finance were not a minority partner with your ego, you would realize that the "outflows" associated with my depreciating "assets" are quite certain, and therefore subject to a low discount rate when determining their present value. In addition, though your concept of economics evidentially failed to move past the 1950s, advancement in plastic surgery is not subject to the same limitation. Thus, with some additional capital expenditure, the overall lifetime of "outflows" generated by these assets is greatly increased. Sad that Ashton Kutcher has demonstrated understanding of the female asset class which you, in all of your financial "wisdom", have not.

You, on the other hand, are, given the uncertainty of the Wall St. job market, more of an inflation-indexed junk bond with an underwater nested call option. Though you may argue that you are more of an equity investment, my monetary minimums required from you do not change, and if you are unable to pay them, I will liquidate you without the benefit of a chapter 11, just as you would me.

Because your outflows are so much more uncertain with respect to mine, I require additional compensation in the form of a underwater nested call option on your future assets. I say underwater because, even taking into account the value of your junk bond coupon payment to me, the value of my "outflow" is in excess of the market price of your equity (which is quite low due to its riskiness associated with your poor grasp of finance and my existing claim upon your junk bond coupon).

I must thank you though for raising the question, despite the reputation cost of subjecting your weak logic to such widespread scrutiny. This took either considerable courage or ignorance on your part- and we'll give you the benefit of doubt, just this once. My current boyfriend (a trader who lives in Central Park West, of course) and I thoroughly enjoyed discussing your response and we wish you the best of luck in your unhappy pursuit of that elusive market inefficiency.

Ms. Pretty

Football Match Preview: Euro vs. Pound

2008-06-22T05:19:00.000-07:00

What happens when you start reading BBC football transfer gossips amidst your daily doses of Bloombergs, Moneycontrols, Economic Times’ and Wall Street Journals? An economic dribbling I’d say.

Euro has strengthened considerably with respect to GBP in last one year. Currently GBP/Euro ratio is hovering around 1.26 while last year same time it was around 1.47. Now the importance of same time is linked to the fact that it is the time of season when soccer clubs managers start nagging their directors/owners for fatter cheque books. Transfer season is embarking upon them and all the European big shots have already started working on their scout reports.

“How does it matter?” I hear you ask-Well, it does. Especially to English clubs owing to the fact that other European clubs have their transfer budget in Euros. For example consider transfer of almost discarded Brazilian prodigy Ronaldinho. He is valued around 40 million Euros by the Catalan club. Assuming that his valuation has not changed in last one year, mere inflation has changed his price from 27.2 million GBP (40/1.47) to 31.7 million GBP (10/1.26). This extra 4.5 million GBP can cost English clubs dearly while their European rivals still have to pay same 40 million Euros.

Applying reverse engineering to the argument makes players in Premiership an easy target for European giants. Regressing further, England team did manage to not qualify for Euro 2008 which basically means no divine heroics to be seen by top flight English players, who mostly play in Premiership, to boost up their prices in international transfer market. With lot of Premiership clubs looking for new managers this season, it’s going to repercuss their budget even more. One way English clubs can salvage from this plight of inflation is browse and hunt within shore. But that will further devalue Premiership players.

According to latest Forbes reports, there are 6 English clubs in top 20 richest clubs of the world but equation might wobble big time post season. Will the financial blasphemy of English clubs be confronted by the Reals, Barcas, Milans and Bayerns? How much will they make use of this loot? Will it give all the more reason for young South Americans to join Portuguese and Spanish clubs and not English? Are English clubs going to raise record breaking funds this summer or is it going to be mutual transfer agreements amongst them?

It’s going to be an interesting transfer season this time.

The Hacker's Manifesto

2008-02-06T04:30:00.000-08:00

The Hacker Manifesto

by
+++The Mentor+++
Written January 8, 1986

Another one got caught today, it's all over the papers. "Teenager Arrested in Computer Crime Scandal", "Hacker

Damn kids. They're all alike.

But did you, in your three-piece psychology and 1950's technobrain, ever take a look behind the eyes of the hacker? Did you ever wonder what made him tick, what forces shaped him, what may have molded him?

I am a hacker, enter my world...

Mine is a world that begins with school... I'm smarter than most of the other kids, this crap they teach us bores me...

Damn underachiever. They're all alike.

I'm in junior high or high school. I've listened to teachers explain for the fifteenth time how to reduce a fraction. I understand it. "No, Ms. Smith, I didn't show my work. I did it in my head..."

Damn kid. Probably copied it. They're all alike.

I made a discovery today. I found a computer. Wait a second, this is cool. It does what I want it to. If it makes a mistake, it's because I screwed it up. Not because it doesn't like me... Or feels threatened by me.. Or thinks I'm a smart ass.. Or doesn't like teaching and shouldn't be here...

Damn kid. All he does is play games. They're all alike.

And then it happened... a door opened to a world... rushing through the phone line like heroin through an addict's veins, an electronic pulse is sent out, a refuge from the day-to-day incompetencies is sought... a board is found. "This is it... this is where I belong..." I know everyone here... even if I've never met them, never talked to them, may never hear from them again... I know you all...

Damn kid. Tying up the phone line again. They're all alike...

You bet your ass we're all alike... we've been spoon-fed baby food at school when we hungered for steak... the bits of meat that you did let slip through were pre-chewed and tasteless. We've been dominated by sadists, or ignored by the apathetic. The few that had something to teach found us willing pupils, but those few are like drops of water in the desert.

This is our world now... the world of the electron and the switch, the beauty of the baud. We make use of a service already existing without paying for what could be dirt-cheap if it wasn't run by profiteering gluttons, and you call us criminals. We explore... and you call us criminals. We seek after knowledge... and you call us criminals. We exist without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias... and you call us criminals. You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat, and lie to us and try to make us believe it's for our own good, yet we're the criminals.

Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity. My crime is that of judging people by what they say and think, not what they look like. My crime is that of outsmarting you, something that you will never forgive me for.

I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto. You may stop this individual, but you can't stop us all... after all, we're all alike. Arrested after Bank Tampering"...

Considered to be the cornerstone of hacker's psychology, this piece is bible for new hackers. This piece defines the ethical guidelines they abide by, for hacking is quest for knowledge and not the act of harassing people. This manifesto is to provide them light, when they are lost in their moral lapses. Not just for hackers, but for all this is an anthem. A torchbearer. A philosophy. A Life.

The ITC Story

2008-01-03T05:04:00.000-08:00

DISCLAIMER: Few facts have been molded, curbed, exaggerated to spice up the story.

Scene 1: Embezzlement

“Holy Fuck” said I, jumping up from a cosy sofa of lounge at ITC Sonar Bangla when S called me up saying that we were conned and the passes we bought for the New Year bash were fake. My next reaction was – “Ha-ha!! Very funny, smart ass. Tell me where to come. In fact, please come and escort us. Over and out!!” I turned towards other four who were busy bitching about the vile traffic jams of “city of joy” and staring two hot chicks by the corridor. I reiterated S’ words and burst out laughing. But before our smiles faded, we saw all the dorks, including S coming towards us. Well, Atlas did shrug and we were conned.

The quest for dinner began.

Scene 2: The cracks of imperfect focus group

In P’s room six-seven ‘non-sceptic-fairly-optimistic-hardball-attitude’ studs sat together exploring the options which included a trip on a barge, a bar-b-que, hotel Radisson’s party and of course coveted “ITC Sonar Bangla” party. Hasty scheduling and lack of prior planning directed first two options off-stage. For remaining two, choice was not that hard to make. Monetary optimizations, ease of conveyance, brand name and most of all a miraculous discount made it quite an ~~obvious~~ unanimous select.

ITC it is.

Scene 3: Hysteria

No other word can describe what we witnessed at Park Street.

Post dinner, we guys turned on the damage recovery mode and decided to conclude the mishap by having a decent cup of coffee @ Park Street Barista. Little did we know that the hypothesis “’Just when you think that life can not suck anymore, a bird shits on you.’ was true.

Hooligans were erupting at Park Street. A wheelie, ugly naked dance on the middle of the street, whacky fights, drunken snotty bastards; they were all available, absolutely free of cost. But the deranged of the evening award goes to bunch of reckless boys which were coming out of a speeding car and pilling beer all over. And guess who the greatest cheerleaders were?? No points for the answer, “The ever alert Kolkata Police”.

Even guy were feeling pretty vulnerable, I couldn’t possibly fathom about the fairer sex. So amidst all the mayhem we decided to hide out in less affordable but better guarded Hotel Park.

Scene 4: The Park Scenario

Like refugees of park street frenzy, we were bestowed shelter in Hotel Park. Hell, it was crowded. Understandably we didn’t expect to get entry at any pub, disc or bar, but all we asked for was a little attitude from the coffee shop. Alas!! Lady luck was pissed with us and not just coffee shop but even the lounge was mobbed.

Drunken rabbles were everywhere, from sofa to floor, from dance floor to stairs. But the scene was in male restroom. A guy sunk in his own puke was lying unconscious. Man unleashes the beast within on special occasions, location no bar. Finally authorities called up an ambulance and the last I remember was when I saw them lifting him like a sack and taking him away.

Anyways petrified of the whole incidence and considering the safety of girls, we headed back to joka-land only to get mocked and deprecated by fellas.

Scene 5: The diamond in the coal mine

Amongst all this crazy set of events, there was a time when clock strike 12. All of us losers, how much ever I don’t want to use this word but can’t find a better fit, were sitting in Balwant ka Dhaba licking our fingers. Not that food was that delicious, but anything after such an atrocious night had to be sweet. Nevertheless, lassi was some serious gourmet shit and was designated toast for the evening. It was the most festive moment of one of the most unforgettable night of my life.

We had seen enough for the day, so thought we, before heading for a coffee.

Scene 6: Verdict

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. It may not be the way I conceptualized. But I did spend my new year with my friends; with people who mattered. Few of them were missing, but then...

This time it was different from the usual jazz. Two five stars, one dhaba, one coffee shop and countless hooligans; we did all. Its not about blame game or fault analysis, but forgetting about the sunk cost. The lassi toast, the awesome group hug, I shall never forget this New Year. :)

Taare Zameen Par

2007-12-21T14:21:00.000-08:00

Such untainted was Amol Gupta’s effort with the script that I was overwhelmed. Simplicity and sincerity were the key ingredients of Aamir Khan’s directorial debut “Tare Zameen Par”. And during the first 15 minutes of the movie I could draw parallels with my life of all the mundane commotions of our naïve protagonist Ishaan, which by the way gave a splendid performance.

The innate similitudes took me back in time when I use to toss gazillion innovative bahanas to bunk school just for one day, pull some crazy prank, add layers of mud over me by the time I am back from school, virtually box with kids next door, run for a kite, get pampered by mom when dad was designated villain, indulge in rowdy peer comparisons, lie precariously, unleash those captive imaginations in most dilapidated manner, fancy a virtual friend, get over protective about my baby sis, get thrown out from class for every single possible reason, get notes of excellence and not-so-excellence and even worse, of disapprobation.

I did it all and I relived those moments when Ishaan did it. Its not about whether it was appropriate or not or my guilt conscious was taking command or something; it just rejuvenated those careless, or should I say apathetic days of my life. It was about the time when I used to be wacky and reckless. Thinking of consequences was not my obligation; ma-pa did that for me. All I was supposed to do was to do, do whatever I please, however I please.

The childhood that’s eroding with every passing day, was gifted back to me in those 3 hours. The genuineness of the movie was because director himself was living each of the moment with Ishaan. There is a scene, where Ishaan was getting late for school and while running for the bus, he saw a mud-hole. He jumped and splashed it all over. Now to think of it, you need to be a kid. You and I are probably too self-conscious to do something like this now, even to think of it. The scene of flipbook exposed the vulnerability of a 9 year old. A thing like this requires getting into the script, feeling the mood of the movie and most importantly pouring your heart out. Aamir did that.

The second half of the movie was even better. It strikes a chord, leaves a itch somewhere. Parents do make their child live their dream, many a times forcefully. Imaginations are curbed as we grow older. Instincts are kept at bay and materialistic results become the benchmark of life. Dreamers, by default, are labelled as losers.

This movie dares to ask why!! And such innocent, yet mature is the approach that it makes you think. It compels introspection. The impact travels from heart to brain, from emotions to thoughts.

It raises even bigger issues like why in a country like India with such a diverse population; innovation is still an occasional hunch. Why do people here make run of a mill choice and not think beyond the horizon? Why kids like Ishaan have to struggle because they dare to be Howard Roark? The flaw is inherent in us and we all are responsible shelling million kids like Ishaan.

So after all this, do I think I’ll let my kid be so independent that it exempts me from his/her every action? The answer is NO. But then that’s the discussion of some other day. This day and this post is about the movie “Taare Zameen Par”. This movie made its way in coveted “Anshul’s Fav Movie” list and I’ll ask all the readers of this blog to do yourself a favour. You owe it to Ishaan in you.

p.s. I don’t feel like discussing the acting, animation and all those things. Trust me, they were all secondary. But before I forget to mention, lyrics and music were phenomenal.

Conquer All

2007-12-18T14:22:00.000-08:00

So everyone is talking about how impressive Liverpool were in the Champions League game against Marseille. But does anyone realize that we lost to Reading? The fact is simple. Rafeal Benitez is not getting it right with his tinkering and priorities.

Ask any Liverpool fan and I am sure you will get the same answer. The one trophy we all want to see at Anfield come end of the season is the Barclays Premier League title. A Champions League trophy will be a great bonus but surely a club of our stature should be challenging on all fronts? So what happened at the Madejski Stadium was an absolute disgrace. The reasons are simple.

First of all, we started the game with a good first eleven consisting of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. Both are amongst the world’s best in their positions so why do they only bring their ‘A’ game to the field in the big games? Time and again this season, they have shown us the amazing skills and precision they possess but does it only come in spurts? They should be playing as brilliantly as we know they can week in, week out. Not just in every alternate game or when the big games come along. Against Reading, both were off-colour and neither one seemed interested in winning it.

Are Marseille more important that Reading? No. Both are just as important and if a squad the size of two first elevens assembled through a huge financial outlay cannot handle playing two games a week, then what more do we need? Fifty men squads?

Secondly, I would like to let Benitez in on one thing. Liverpool is a club renowned all over the world for its great history and stature. Never has any Liverpool manager in our history ever dared think of conceding defeat until the final whistle goes.

And right there at the Madjeski Stadium, the much loved Liverpool club conceded defeat. Our manager took our two best players off to protect them from injury and even the most ignorant football fan could see that he decided that the game was lost and conceded defeat. It is a shame to see us giving up on a game just because our manager had his priorities elsewhere.

And finally, stop the demands for funds. Millions have been given to you these past years and you have invested on the supposed players you need to bring glory back to Anfield. Like any child would be told by a doting parent, money doesn’t fall from the skies. You need some, you earn some. In Liverpool’s case, sell the players you think are not of your standard and use that money to buy the players you want. Simple logic.

With that said, the Anfield supporters have waited long and hard for a league title. And with the amount of money thrown into buying players, it is time for us to see some results.

And just in case my stand isn’t clear enough, Liverpool never concede defeat. Not till the final whistle anyway. So wear your hearts on your sleeves and bring us that title! I believe we have what it takes to make sure the ribbons on the league trophy come end of the season will be red, red and nothing but red.

LITBM : Here Comes Another Bubble

2007-12-07T07:16:00.000-08:00

I'm putting up something after God knows how long. Well, sorry for being so irregular and hopefully i'd match my used-to-be frequency soon :). But for now, enjoi this video. Hilarious !!

the b-skool melodrama

2007-10-07T02:32:00.000-07:00

a blog dedicated to these awesome 3 months at joka. No text, just visuals.
~ensoi

~earlydays@joka

cheers !!

2007-09-10T07:26:00.000-07:00

After financial accounting exam, me and my screwed ass were both in a pretty bad shape. As an angel AC came to my rescue and gave me Madhushala sung by Manna Dey. The poem is amazing to read but even better to listen. In the song the sequence has been tampered with, nevertheless i love it. One of THE philosophies of life. This is my favourite part from the poem.

So here is to all bevdas/bevdis, students/employed ones, happy/sad souls and of course to that screwed up end term

एक बरस में, एक बार ही जगती होली की ज्वाला,
एक बार ही लगती बाज़ी, जलती दीपों की माला,
दुनियावालों, किन्तु, किसी दिन आ मदिरालय में देखो,
दिन को होली, रात दिवाली, रोज़ मनाती मधुशाला

cheers !!

I am a …

2007-08-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

Few days back I was thinking, which animal I share most traits with. Weird indeed, but last few days have not been the most relaxed ones as well, so expected out of an exhausted mind. Unfortunately I was at my self-deprecation best. The answer came out as “PIG” which is gross, but a surprising fit. The common characteristics include

Filth: Those who know me but at all, knows how dirty I am and more than that how comfortable I am being that way. Somehow it’s true for most of the guys, but I take this acceptance to preference. Taking bath is waste of time, water, soap and all those things. A jeans is preferred over trousers because one can wear it for a month without even bothering to wash it. Why bother cleaning room, when one anyways walks in it with slippers on. These thoughts are now philosophy of life. And pigs!! Do I even need to start on this?

Omnivorous: A lot of people claim to eat everything, but with few exceptions. But genuine connoisseurs of food are pigs and yours truly. Eat whatever is there without cribs and whines. Preferences of course are there but certainly no constraints. Everything from boiled vegetables to beef is welcome, provided cooked good. Unable to finish something on dinner table, please do not waste it and pass it on. As my roomies put it my appetite is like a mini black hole, both in terms of acceptance and amount.

Snugly: Ever seen a bunch of piglets sleeping?? A dozen of them will bunch together and sleep cosily over each other. Going back in time, when we just moved to CTM¹ four years back and we all gathered in Sas’ room for some movie, the sight had uncanny resemblance. It was one teeny-weeny bed and we were at least 8 on it. And man it was fun to watch movie like that. No PVR, no I-Nox gave me that much of fun.

Now this is not a tag, but everyone is tagged:D

P.S. Plz don’t hate me for this. Facts are exaggerated to certain extent to create interest in readers:D

1 CTM : C TOP MID, my wing at iit. Call me braggart, but this is where Gods live.

Fight Club : The Return of Hobbes

2007-07-11T07:00:00.001-07:00

In the film Fight Club, the real name of the protagonist (Ed Norton’s character) is never revealed. Many believe the reason behind this anonymity is to give "Jack" more of an everyman quality. Do not be deceived. "Jack" is really Calvin from the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. It’s true. Norton portrays the grown-up version of Calvin, while Brad Pitt plays his imaginary pal, Hobbes, reincarnated as Tyler Durden.

Part I: The Hobbes-Tyler Connection

Picture this: a hyper, self-absorbed child initially concocts an imaginary friend as the ideal playmate, to whom more realistic qualities soon become attributed. This phantasm becomes a completely separate personality, with his own likes, dislikes, and temperament—and the imaginer and the imagined clash and argue constantly, though remaining fast friends. This pattern continues to the point where the child begins to perceive what was originally mere fantasy to be reality.

Just as Calvin has an imaginary jungle-animal friend named Hobbes, whom everyone else believes to be nothing but a stuffed toy, "Jack" in Fight Club has an imaginary cool-guy friend named Tyler, whom no one but Jack can see.

In both cases, the entity that began as the ideal companion soon took on a more realistic, three-dimensional quality. In other words, they became real. This is evident in that both Hobbes and Tyler also began to function as scapegoats for their creators. For instance, consider that Calvin often blames broken lamps and other assorted household mischief on Hobbes, and that Jack is inclined to believe that Fight Club and other various anti-society mischief is brought about by Tyler, not himself. Calvin claims Hobbes pounces on him every day after school; Jack believes Tyler beats him up next to 40 kilotons of nitroglycerin in a parking garage—the list goes on and on. The relationships between the two sets of friends are the exact same. Is this mere coincidence?

"There are eight rules of Fight Club."

Filling in the time-gap between Calvin and Jack, we can imagine the story as something like this: Once Calvin reaches the hostile environment known as the seventh grade, the constant teasing from the other students and the frustrated concern of his parents finally becomes too much, and a reluctant, disillusioned Calvin is finally forced to grow up, or at least begin to. This decision is sealed by one of the hardest things young Calvin will ever have to do in his life: un-imagine Hobbes, an act which to Calvin is essentially no different from murder. After being Calvin’s best friend for over a decade, Hobbes is packed away in a box, or tossed carelessly into a garbage bag, perhaps even stuffed under the same bed that once contained so many monsters. This is all, of course, very painful for Calvin, so much so that he represses it all in shame. Little does Calvin suspect that while he is busy growing up, deciding what "dinette set defines him as a person," Hobbes is also maturing in the recesses of his mind, waiting to be unleashed at an appropriate time.

It’s worth noting that during these twenty or so years, Hobbes never bears a grudge against Calvin nor wishes any ill upon him. Hobbes, remembering the depth of their past friendship, does not hate Calvin but rather hates the society that made Calvin put him away. Hobbes, residing in Calvin’s mind, sees and experiences all that Calvin does—and truly despises all of it. He witnesses a bright, superbly imaginative kid (with a genius-level vocabulary) reduced to nothing more than another nameless cog. Fighting off the tears wept for his conventionalized pal, Hobbes resolves to set Calvin free, paying special attention when Calvin idly looks up homemade-napalm recipes on the Internet.

Flash forward to the timeframe depicted in Fight Club. Calvin/Jack has reached an all-time low. He has done everything society has told him to do but is completely void of happiness. Hobbes, newly adjusted as "Tyler Durden" (after all, grown-up Calvin would no longer accept a jungle animal walking, talking, and eating canned tuna), re-enters Calvin/Jack’s life, determined to show Calvin everything he’s done wrong, whether he likes it or not.

Tyler to Jack: "I look like you wanna look, I fuck like you wanna fuck, I’m smart, capable, and most importantly, I’m free in all the ways you wish you could be."

Calvin has always idolized Hobbes. In Weirdos From Another Planet, he dresses up like a tiger and attempts to live in the woods. Like Hobbes, Tyler is cool, collected, and incredibly cerebral. Given this evidence, one can conclude that Tyler is Hobbes, reincarnated after being trapped inside Calvin/Jack’s brain for so many years. Just as Calvin is Jack, Hobbes is Tyler.

Part II: Marla Singer—Avatar of Susie Derkins?

Somewhere between the end of high school and beginning of college, uptight, grade-obsessed Susie Derkins lost her way. The pressure to get good grades, the pressure to succeed, simply became too much for her, and she snapped.

Marla remembers the girl she used to be.

Free from the protective bonds of her parents’ guidance and the bland safety of her suburban home, Susie loses her moral bearings entirely and sinks into a dark, seamy, grim world of sex, drugs, and eccentric Albert-Einstein-like hair. Her transformation is so complete that she no longer even remotely resembles the upright citizen that her parents and society wanted her to be: thus, she changes her name.

Like Calvin, Susie has become a misfit, one of society’s lost lambs. It is for this reason that she soon finds herself frequenting support groups such as "Remaining Men Together." Fate has brought her back to Calvin, whom she probably spurned back in junior high. But the two have changed so much that they no longer recognize each other!

The pink dress Marla wears in one scene slightly resembles something that "Binky Betsy," Susie’s favorite childhood doll, once wore: the doll that Calvin stole and attempted to ransom. While Calvin and Susie mostly teased and tortured each other, Hobbes was infatuated with the raven-haired beauty. Accordingly, Jack despises Marla, whereas Tyler takes an *ahem* sort of interest in her (definitely inappropriate for the Sunday Funnies).

When we are first introduced to Marla, she is but a tumor on Jack’s slowly deteriorating world. She is disenfranchised, morbid, socially apathetic—and Jack despises her because she is a mirror image of himself, his own female double. On the other hand, Calvin hates Susie because she is his exact opposite: Bright, obedient, demure—the unruly Calvin has every reason to hate her. However, certain strips definitely infer that Calvin has somewhat of a crush on Susie, and some even imply that Susie shares these latent feelings. But as a cootie-fearing grade-schooler, Calvin may only express these strange feelings through attention-getting antagonisms such as constant snowballs to the head, ransoming her dolls—and through his separate, conveniently more mature other personality—Hobbes.

Unlike Calvin, Hobbes has never been bashful about showing his affection for Susie. Calvin’s imaginary tiger-friend has called her a "cutie," worn swim jams to impress her ("Girls flip for guys in jams"), and even claimed he would betray their club’s secret code if she gave him a tummy rub (which is one of the key differences between Tyler and Hobbes). Naturally, all of this confuses and frustrates Calvin beyond words, even though Hobbes is really nothing more than a product of his own mind! And though Hobbes and Susie never consummated their love for each other (he’s a stuffed tiger and she’s a kid, you sicko!) this is, of course, the exact same deranged love-triangle that is shared between Jack, Tyler, and Marla, or at least a natural progression thereof. Perhaps Marla puts up with Jack/Tyler’s apparent nonsense for so long, because it’s the sort of thing she became used to as a child? And perhaps, in the end, Jack finds solace in Marla because it’s the exact same connection he should’ve made long ago, in his suburban youth. A connection that may have saved them both.

Part III: GROSS—Precursor of Fight Club

In a scene eerily reminiscent of Fight Club, Hobbes blithely informs a sulking Calvin that he decides his own level of involvement in G.R.O.S.S.

When you boil it down, the Fight Club that Jack and Tyler start is really just an odd sort of boys’ club—no ovaries allowed—where men can be men, and the so-called stronger of the sexes can take solace in the fact that, even in our politically correct times, some exclusivities of manhood still remain. (As a side note, imagine how much more controversy the movie would have generated if it involved scenes of men fighting women on equal ground!)

And clubs like this, of course, have their beginnings in backyards, tree houses, and garages all over America. Not surprisingly, Calvin started such a club when he was six years old. Little did anyone realize that he would construct another one much later in his life, again with the aid of an imaginary friend. For just as Calvin, Hobbes, and Susie have dark future versions in Jack, Tyler, and Marla respectively, G.R.O.S.S. (Get Rid Of Slimy girlS) has the same in Fight Club.

G.R.O.S.S. shares the following characteristics with Fight Club:

Both have catchy names (although the "slimy" part of G.R.O.S.S. is redundant, otherwise it doesn’t spell anything).
Both are co-run by a friendless male and his imaginary companion (Calvin is Tyrant and Dictator-for-Life; Hobbes is President and First Tiger).
Both are exclusively male organizations, although Fight Club’s membership is considerably larger.
Along with that, all members of both organizations are very loyal.
The leaders of both organizations constantly engage in fisticuffs (but only in G.R.O.S.S. does a member receive a demerit for biting).
And in said fights, in both organizations, there is only one fight at a time!
Both are supposedly very secretive (though Jack never tells his mother about Fight Club).
At least one leader of both organizations is fond of giving speeches (though Calvin never uses the term "space monkey").

G.R.O.S.S. and Fight Club both wreak havoc on their respective neighborhoods (G.R.O.S.S.’s target is considerably more focused, i.e., Susie). Clearly, the roots of Fight Club can be seen in G.R.O.S.S. Calvin shows his penchant for such male-oriented, destructive organizations. Also, just like cardboard-box-time-machines and water-gun-transmogrifiers, G.R.O.S.S. was likely created as an escape, a release—as, of course, was Fight Club.

Part IV: Moe Develops Karmic Bitch-Tits

Moe secretly seeks atonement for past sins.

Robert "Moe" Paulson, Calvin’s grade-school bully, becomes a six-time weight-lifting champion, and somewhere along the line develops large man-boobs as a result of testicular cancer. This of course leads him to his support group, where he is shocked to find Calvin.

Moe greatly regrets his bullying days, but, too ashamed to reveal his true identity to Calvin, he instead offers his ample bosom for him to cry on, as a measure of retribution.

Part V: The Root of Evil

Although we’ve already learned of the fates of Hobbes, Susie, and Moe, there are a couple of other people important to Calvin that are missing. People that are even more integral to his development than (arguably) Hobbes: his parents. Mr . . . uhm . . . , and Mrs . . . uh. . . . Okay, so they don’t have names. But then again, there is no need to know them. Because in the comic strip, they’re not supposed to be important characters in their own right. They only matter in regards to how Calvin is directly effected by them; an effect which, by the time of the film, doesn’t seem to have been very positive. From what "Jack" mentions, he’s not exactly close to his parents, particularly his dad, on whom he seems to pin many of his problems. And this matches perfectly with the relationship depicted in the comic, as well as with what happened afterwards (in Part I).

Calvin’s dad seems to have done quite a number on his son. As stated, it was probably at his urging that Calvin "grew up," that is, finally started to conform to society’s rules, which was the death of Hobbes. Of course, his father wasn’t without his playful side—good-naturedly teasing Calvin at every opportunity—but perhaps this is why "Jack" resents him so much. Maybe after Jack reached the end of his dutiful journey, only to find emptiness, he thought back to the day his father told him that the sun sets down somewhere in Arizona every night. "Maybe," thought Calvin, "maybe ALL of it’s been just another one of Dad’s cruel jokes."

In the "bathtub" scene of Fight Club, "Jack" and Tyler discuss their woeful parents. In this scene, crucial information is revealed, as well as some inconsistencies. "Jack" claims his father left when he was six, an age when Calvin’s dad was obviously still around, but this statement is contradicted soon after, when Tyler mentions his own dad telling him to get married when he was thirty, to which "Jack" responds, "mine said that too." The self-pitying "Jack" is most likely seeking to garner additional sympathy from his newfound friend by making his childhood sound worse than it actually was.

But even more interesting is Tyler’s hostility towards his father: when "Jack" asks him who he would fight, if he could fight anyone, he answers, "I’d fight my father." But, since Tyler is only a figment of Jack’s imagination, we can only assume he’s referring to Jack’s father. And while this hatred would only make sense given that the two are sharing the same brain, why is it that Tyler seems to hate Jack’s father even more vividly than "Jack" himself does? Maybe it’s because Tyler hasn’t forgotten who’s ultimately responsible for the un-imagining that took place years before . . . maybe he’s still not too happy about it . . . and maybe he’s got some pretty good ideas for revenge.

The role of Calvin’s father in all of this is no small one. Other than to "save" Calvin, it’s entirely possible that Tyler’s real motivation for taking down civilization is simply to get back at Calvin’s father. For by destroying the society that forced Calvin into repressing Hobbes, he’s also destroying the society that Calvin’s father, after all, epitomizes. And this of course allows Hobbes an indirect measure of revenge.

Part VI: Calvin—"I Am Jack’s Lost Youth"

Although the personality differences between Calvin in the comic strip and Calvin in the movie are pretty large, it can be explained as easily as taking Id and introducing him to Superego ("Jack" actually seems to have sort of a Super-Superego). Nearly all people go through the same thing when first confronted with the crushing grind of reality. But, as they say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall—and in terms of imagination and dreams, Calvin was a giant.

Still, it’s not as though common traits between Calvin-Calvin and Jack-Calvin can’t be identified at all. Besides a preference for imaginary friends over real ones, and an inability to express affection for girls, Calvin has never done well when forced to play by any sort of rules. Take, for instance, his utter inability in any sort of organized sport, compared to his unbridled joy while playing the make-it-up-as-you-go-along "Calvinball." Furthermore, even at age 6 Calvin never exactly thrived in stifling, authoritarian establishments (i.e., school), and he’s always had clashes with authority figures since the strip began (his parents, the doctor, his teacher, Rosalyn)—which actually may have initially planted the seeds for Tyler. Beyond that, his excellent vocabulary and way with words are still with him in the voice-over narration of Fight Club, and his rampant materialism that started with mail-order propeller-beanies ends with yin-yang shaped tables. As for the differences, they can be credited to the demoralizing effect of reality.

In the end, Calvin’s involvement with Fight Club and return of Hobbes can be boiled down to two words: "Personal Responsibility." For although Fight Club and Project Mayhem were both mostly Tyler’s doing, by the end of the movie, Jack readily accepts his own part of the blame, as Tyler is his creation. And by doing so, he also accepts responsibility for the undesirable condition of his own life—his father may have pushed him, but Calvin himself was the one who chose to obey. It is through this newfound self-accountability that Calvin/Jack is able to take control of his own life at last. As skyscrapers flash and crumble in the background, and blood oozes from the bullet hole in his head, Calvin says that he is "okay." And we are apt to believe him.

Part VII: Conclusion

Calvin’s world in the comic strip is pure, romanticized idealism, whereas in the movie, he lives in gray, bleak reality. Within the safety of the panel, Calvin is perpetually six years old, terrible things can never happen, and no matter how crazy a stunt he pulls, everything always returns to status quo. Because of this, our hero is free to do as he wishes, free to chase his dreams as wildly as he desires, never having to worry about tomorrow because there essentially will never be one—unless it’s part of a continuing storyline. This makes the reality of Fight Club all the bleaker, because it depicts what happens when you take someone weaned on dreams and limitless possibilities and jam him into a cramped cage confined by rules and regulations. It probably only took poor Calvin a few years in the adult world (or growing-up world) to fully make the sad change.

This transition from gleeful Calvin to dull "Jack" is not uncommon. Little Nemo became a banker, Peter Pan became a lawyer, and Garfield was caught and butchered by the chef of a Chinese restaurant. (One exception is Charlie Brown, who from all indications was mentally middle-aged at the time of his birth.)

The moral of the story is that reality bites, kiddies. Calvin and Hobbes in Fight Club are proof of this sad, sad truth.

p.s. i copied this article from this link. an amazing read.

the gadget boy

2007-06-19T22:22:00.010-07:00

sorry guys for not being regular on blog. was busy shopping. :D and now i m the gadget boy of the town. bought a new lappy vaio c25 (upgraded RAM) and a new cell MOTOROKR. yeah baby !! wow is my word.

vaio c25

its espresso black and chocolate brown in colour.
intel core 2 duo 1.66Ghz
2 GB ddr2 RAM (667 MHz)
nVIDIA GeForce GO 7400 GPU
80 GB SATA hard disk (5400 RPM)
Windows Vista Home Premium

i'm in love wid this black beauty. :). for more details chk this link.

MOTOROKR

awesome awesome fone.

Premium entertainment PDA at only 14.5 millimeters thick
2-megapixel CMOS camera with 8x digital zoom to capture the moment
CIF and QVGA video capture for up to five hours
Full screen video playback
Integrated MP3 player with dedicated music keys and built-in FM radio
PDA featuring Business Card Reader, POP3 e-mail¹, document viewer to view Microsoft Word, Excel, etc., PIM
Connectivity includes integrated stereo Bluetooth® wireless technology³, HTML browser, hi-speed USB 2.0 EMU, 3.5 millimeter stereo jack
Removable memory card slot,1GB full SD card ; 8MB dynamic user memory4
Extended 1000mAh battery life for long usability
Brilliant 2.4-inch 240 x 320, 262K colors TFT external display with the latest touch screen technology.

for more details. check this link.

p.s. i luv flaunting :D

LITBM : on the radio

2007-06-08T02:09:00.000-07:00

Just imagine sitting in traffic on your way to work and hearing this.

Many Chicago folks DID hear this on the WBAM FM morning show in Chicago. The DJs play a game where they award winners great prizes. The game is called "Mate Match." The DJs call someone at work and ask if they are married or seriously involved with someone. If the contestant answers "yes," he or she is then asked 3 random yet highly personal questions. The person is also asked to divulge the name of their partner (with phone number) for verification. If their partner answers those same three questions correctly, they both win the prize. One particular game, however, several months ago made the City of Big Shoulders drop to its knees with laughter and is possibly the funniest thing heard on air yet. Anyway, here's how it all went down:

…………………

DJ:"Hey! This is Edgar on WBAM. Have you ever heard of 'MateMatch'?"

Contestant: (laughing) "Yes, I have."

DJ: "Great! Then you know we're giving away a trip to Orlando, Florida
if you win. What is your name? First only please."

Contestant: "Brian."

DJ: "Brian, are you married or what?"

Brian: "Yes."

DJ: "Yes? Does that mean you're married or you're what?"

Brian: (laughing nervously) "Yes, I am married."

DJ: "Thank you. Now, what is your wife's name? First only please."

Brian: "Sara."

DJ: "Is Sara at work, Brian?"

Brian: "She is gonna kill me."

DJ: "Stay with me here, Brian! Is she at work?"

Brian: (laughing) "Yes, she's at work."

DJ: "Okay, first question - when was the last time you had sex?"

Brian: "She is gonna kill me."

DJ: "Brian! Stay with me here!"

Brian: "About 8 o'clock this morning."

DJ: "Atta boy, Brian."

Brian: (laughing sheepishly) "Well..."

DJ: "Question #2 - How long did it last?"

Brian: "About 10 minutes."

DJ: "Wow! You really want that trip, huh? No one would ever have said
that if a trip wasn't at stake."

Brian: "Yeah, that trip sure would be nice."

DJ: "Okay. Final question. Where did you have sex at 8 o'clock this
morning?"

Brian: (laughing hard) "I, ummm, I, well..."

DJ: "This sounds good, Brian. Where was it?"

Brian: "Not that it was all that great, but her mom is staying with us
for a couple of weeks..."

DJ: "Uh huh..."

Brian: "...and the Mother-In-Law was in the shower at the time."

DJ: "Atta boy, Brian."

Brian: "On the kitchen table."

DJ: "Not that great?? That is more adventure than the previous hundred
times I've done it. Okay folks, I will put Brian on hold, get this wife's work number and call her up. You listen to this."

3 minutes of commercials follow.

DJ: "Okay audience, let's call Sarah, shall we?" (touch
tones.....ringing....)

Clerk: "Kinkos."

DJ: "Hey, is Sarah around there somewhere?"

Clerk: "This is she."

DJ: "Sarah, this is Edgar with WBAM. We are live on the air right now
and I've been talking with Brian for a couple of hours now."

Sarah: (laughing) "A couple of hours?"

DJ: "Well, a while now. He is on the line with us. Brian knows not to give any answers away or you'll lose. Sooooooo...
do you know the rules of 'MateMatch'?"

Sarah: "No."

DJ: "Good!"

Brian: (laughing)

Sarah: (laughing) "Brian, what the hell are you up to?"

Brian (laughing) "Just answer his questions honestly,okay? Be completely honest."

DJ: "Yeah yeah yeah. Sure. Now, I will ask you 3 questions, Sarah. If
your answers match Brian's answers, then the both of you will be off to Orlando, Florida for 5 days on us. Disney World. Sea World. Tickets to
the Magic's game. The whole deal. Get it Sarah?"

Sarah: (laughing) "Yes."

DJ: "Alright. When did you last have sex, Sarah?"

Sarah: "Oh God, Brian....uh, this morning before Brian went to work."

DJ: "What time?"

Sarah: "Around 8 this morning."

DJ: "Very good. Next question. How long did it last?"

Sarah: "12, 15 minutes maybe."

DJ: "Hmmmm. That's close enough. I am sure she is trying to protect his
manhood. We've got one last question,Sarah. You are one question away from a trip to Florida. Are you ready?"

Sarah: (laughing) "Yes."

DJ: "Where did you have it?"

Sarah: "OH MY GOD, BRIAN!! You didn't tell them that,did you?"

Brian: "Just tell him, honey."

DJ: "What is bothering you so much, Sarah?"

Sarah: "Well, it's just that my mom is vacationing with us and..."

DJ: Come on Sarah.....where did you have it?

Sarah: "well....errr......In the ass....."

After a long pause, the DJ said, "Folks, we need to take a station
break"

another tag

2007-06-03T02:06:00.000-07:00

10 facts/habits about me. saw this on priya's blog :) trust me its not that easy to write it down.

1 Fact: I don’t drink alcohol, tea. Drink coffee, cold-drink for company. Love to drink lassi, nimbu-paani.

2 Habit: I play with my ears while sleeping.

3 Fact: I can move little finger of my feet. *without any external help, of course*

4 Habit: I’m a compulsive foodie.

5 Fact: I’m scared of kids.

6 Habit: While reading, thinking or writing about something, I lie down and move my legs vigorously.

7 Fact: After my second year, I saw more than 125 different movies in less than a month. * wakawwww!!*

8 Habit: I dont tie my shoe laces, except for when i am playing

9 Fact: I am a champ procastinator. Deadlines are just dates for me.

10 Habit: I need to take some part of my leg out of blanket while sleeping, even if its biting cold.

i dont know why i am thrilled, but i am. btw everyone is tagged :)

20 tag

2007-06-02T22:41:00.000-07:00

1.Pick out a scar you have, and explain how you got it?

on my left arm, just below my shoulder. i was trying to skid my cycle and for smartass the i am, i pressed front brakes. then “jack and jill” happened and i landed up in barbed fencing. hence the souvenier.

2. What is on the walls in your room?

seriously nothing, as my land lord is a big pain in, u know where. but in my room, i used to have one huge poster of kurt cobain and sonali bendre.

3. What does your phone look like?

It’s a gone case. was silver, but now its paint is coming out from all the places.

4. What music do you listen to?

Heavy metal and ghazals/classical. *i know i am weird*

5. What is your current desktop picture?

its a foto from our kerala trip..awesome.

6. What do you want more than anything right now?

want to pee. trying to see how long can i hold it and ryt now cant think of anything else. been 18.5 hrs.*i told ya, i’m weird*

7. Do you believe in gay marriage?

ofcourse. what is the problem. they anyways do the same thing ;)

8. What time were you born?

dunno and dun care

9. Are your parents still together?

pretty much, even after all those fights :D

10. What are you listening to?

some movie sound in the background. *sale ghode, awaaz kam kar*

11. What's something people may not know about you?

that i dont booze. *i know its hard to believe, but i dont*

12. The last person to make you cry?

i cant recall, seriously.

13. What is your favourite perfume/cologne?

not too fond of them, but i use el-paso.

14. What kind of hair/eye color do you like on the opposite sex?

eyes does not matter much. i like long black hair, and tall girls.

15. Do you like pain killers?

never had one in my life. *another thing that ppl may not know about me* :P

16. Are you too shy to ask someone out?

Depends, cant ask a random girl out.

17. Favourite pizza topping?

Loads of capsicum/jalapenos or pineapple.

18. If you could eat anything right now, what would it be?

i want subway veggie delight and i want it now. *alas !! not a single soul moved by my gesture*

19. Who was the last person you made mad?

S..last evening itself. poor girl. she thinks i am a casanova. *compliment taken*

20. Is anyone in love with you?

even i want to know. tell me girls, for i wud never know if you wont tell.

i'm a monster :(

2007-05-30T00:50:00.003-07:00

Ok I confess!! I am bad with kids. Bad as in real bad. Most of them would plainly refuse to come to me and if sometimes someone comes to me by mistake, the interaction is sure to end up in a saline free flow. For the clarification, by kids I mean teeny-weeny kiddo who needs to be baby talked and who can’t drink milk from glass (ok as it is a confession, I accept, for kids less than 4 years I’m devil personified). Few days back I was at my uncle’s place for 3 days and my kid cousin refused to talk to me. Poor guy started crying every time I tried to hold him. And I sat contemplating and I came up with possible reasons (I know this blog is turning out to be extremely stupid, but whatever!! My kid bro is afraid of me and didn’t talk to me at all. I’m sad)

1) My size/voice: With my 185cm+ and 90kgs+ built I’m like Gulliver for the Lilliputian kids. And for the lazy bastard I am I refuse to shave daily (ok it’s a weekly thing for me) and I get scarier everyday. And my loud voice does the remaining damage to my reputation. I’m like a living monster. I’m like one of those fantasy devils which moms use to scare kids. But then this part is not under my control. Genetic faults, I would say.

2) Cant baby-talk: I claim to be very creative and a blabber-mouth. But when it comes to kids, I can’t talk for more than a second. I’ve realized that my monologue skills are directly proportional to size of the person.

3) Scared of kids: As embarrassed I am to accept it, it is a fact. I’m extremely scared of them especially when they curl in my arms. I think they are fragile and I’ll end up doing some harm. And even more than that, I can’t see a kid crying. My aunt kept on saying, let him cry for a minute but take him out and he will become ok. But no thank-you!! I’m scared of crying babies.

I guess I have to wait for another 3 years before I could properly talk to my bro. But only saving grace is my kid sis who found her new best friend in me. Yaaayyy!! We had so much fun together. And my entire family was, OMG!! A kid with bi2. It’s worth a foto. :D

p.s. happy first birthday Yash!! Love you bro. :)

the reunion :)

2007-05-22T01:15:00.000-07:00

19^th may 2k7 was one of the most memorable day of my life. It was the class reunion of St Paul’s 2k1 batch. To be honest, it was more fun than the farewell. I met lots of junta after 8-10 years. The excitement was inevitable, but the degree of proximity was surprising yet extremely comforting.

The whole planning started about a month ago. The core organizers were Ritesh (mama), Shweta, Suchit (t2), Pritesh, Rohit, Saurabh (papa) and me (yours very own Lord Anshul). As most of them were into business and all in Ujjain itself, we thought it would be much better to settle the event at our very own hometown. After a lot of thought 19^th may was decided as the D-day.

I reached Ujjain on 14^th, and then started series of meetings. All the old class fotos were dug out, the list was formulated and the exhausting process of reviving contacts was started. Everyone got busy, and cell became more important than ever. At the same time other plans were to be decided. All of us succumbed to the conjuring whims of “lady nostalgia”.

For the first time something on such a large scale was happening, and me and mama were in no mood to screw it up. Few other futile attempts of such sort ended up in a disaster. Everyone was foned and mama and I made sure that we would personally try and meet as many of them as possible. Rohit was given responsibility to contact and meet people in Indore. And others in Bombay, Delhi, Pune and Bangalore were called up.

T2 was responsible for hotel booking. With all his contacts in Ujjain, no one else was more suitable. And that guy did a brilliant work too. He got us “Shanti Palace”, which when we contacted was not free that day. Our hero spent a “high-spirit” evening with the GM of the hotel and we got a booking: D. We asked him to make sure that it is banquet hall and he said us we will get whatever we want. Brilliant!!

Food was decided by Pritesh and Papa. The program was scheduled from 5 to 10 and this made 2 courses a must. And being in Ujjain I had to settle for veg onlyL. No regrets!! Culinary options were secondary for me that day.

Mama and I then started looking for a decent memento. The whole idea was to have an event so grand that all “oh-I-am-so-busy” souls should feel that they have missed something significant and if something of this sort happens after another 5 years than we could expect almost 100% attendance. The memento was decided and the order was placed for 30 pieces. (Thanks a ton Mohammad for all the help).

A lot of other plans were fashioned and defashioned. We were planning to call teachers but finally decided against it and thought let this be strictly our batch’ event. Then we planned to give few informal awards (“the geek”, “most notorious”, “laugh riot”), but then got scared of puny disputes that might arise. Then we planned to arrange some skit or some little program, but lack of time held us back. We finally settled for a brief introduction of what happened in life after leaving school and little free-lance dancing:P

Digicams, handycams and lappys were arranged. Hotel guy was asked to arrange for music system and amplifiers. So far so good. Then again life has never been so kind on us.

Till 19^th morning everything was going so peacefully that it just didn’t make sense and I was waiting for some screw up. And it came from memento guy. He said that there was some problem with the print of memento and he has to re-do entire thing. I almost erupted “Mr. Mehta!! I am about to sign your death warrant. I want everything ready by 5 sharp, or I’ll hang you by your neck” and slammed the fone. Still the condition was under control.

Anyways we consolidated entire stuff and reached the hotel by 4:45. Abhinav and I reached there to ensure the arrangements. But surprise surprise!!. Everything could not have rolled so smoothly. Those idiots were confused and thought the entire event was supposed to start at 7 and in lawn. I could feel mercury rising in my veins. I barked at them to finish the entire thing by 5:30. I called up t2 by that time. “Seth” t2 was fuming and almost fought with the manager. But it was so late to do anything that we had to settle with whatever was being given to us.

Junta started to come by 5:30 and but only in ones and twos. I was like lol!! No one here understands the meaning of punctuality:P Major chunk came around 7. I am usually hyper for no reason, but that time I was visibly hysterical. And by 7:30 most of them were there, thought few ditched at last moment and didn’t show up. We anyways realized that weather became super sexy and lawn was very soothing.

We than started a mini intro round where everyone told what they have been up to after leaving school. And I realize I guess my class had one of the most diverse set of students. Only thing missing was probably an IAS and someone in police. We had everything else. Engineers, Doctors, Politicians, Lawyers, Artists and everything (it includes a guy with criminal record as well) :P

Then next 3 hours were the best time of my life. We all laughed, shouted, gossiped and danced. It never felt so good. Anecdotes were floating in the air and I can’t recall a teacher who was not mocked. Few got married and few engaged, and we were listening to their love stories. Time flew faster than ever. Me and J hugged and consolidated when we heard that P got married: D. Then came time for a group foto. It was more beautiful than any other foto I have ever seen.

We all parted with a promise to do the same again in another 3 years. But that time on even magnificent scale and with even more junta.

While coming back, I collected my memento, dropped R at her home and turned back to home. I ran in and called pa, ma and dids and told them everything. Phew!! Finally after 5 hours my lips were released from the continuous stretch and I crashed into bed.

LITBM : the adventures of bloodninja

2007-05-11T02:36:00.000-07:00

statutory warning : Explicit content. Proceed at your own peril. Author wont be responsible if this post hurts feelings or offends anyone. Only fun intended.

sweet17: Hi
bloodninja: hello
bloodninja: who is this?
sweet17: just a someone?
bloodninja: A someone I know?
sweet17: nope
bloodninja: Then why the hell are you bothering me?
sweet17: well sorrrrrry
sweet17: I just wanted to chat with you
bloodninja: why?
sweet17: nevermind your an jerk
bloodninja: Hey wait a minute
sweet17: yes?
bloodninja: look I’m sorry. I’m just a little paranoid
sweet17: paranoid?
bloodninja: yes
sweet17: of what?
sweet17: me?
bloodninja: No. I’m in hiding.
sweet17: LOL
bloodninja: Don’t fucking laugh at me!
bloodninja: This shit is serious!
sweet17: What are you hiding from?
bloodninja: The cops.
sweet17: gimme a fucking break
bloodninja: I’m serious.
sweet17: I don’t get it
bloodninja: The cops are after me.
sweet17: For what?
bloodninja: I’m wanted in three states
sweet17: For???
bloodninja: It’s kindof embarrasing.
bloodninja: I had sex with a turkey.
bloodninja: Hello?
sweet17: You are fucking sick.
bloodninja: Send me your picture.
sweet17: why?
bloodninja: so I know you aren’t one of them.
sweet17: One of what?
bloodninja: The cops.
sweet17: I’m not a cop i told you
bloodninja: Then send me your picture.
sweet17: hold on
bloodninja: Hurry up.
bloodninja: Are you there?
bloodninja: fuck you, cop!
sweet17: Hey sorry
sweet17: I had to do something for my mom.
bloodninja: I thought you were trying to find a picture to send to me.
bloodninja: When really you were notifying the authorities.
bloodninja: Weren’t you!?
sweet17: thats not it
bloodninja: Then what?
sweet17: I don’t want to send you the picture cause I’m not pretty
bloodninja: Most cops aren’t
sweet17: IM NOT A FUCKING COP YOU DICKSHIT!
bloodninja: Then send me the picture.
sweet17: fine. What’s your e-mail?
bloodninja: Just send it through here.
sweet17: alright *PIC*
sweet17: Did you get it?
bloodninja: Hold on. I’m looking.
sweet17: That was me back in may
sweet17: I’ve lost weight since then.
bloodninja: I hope so
sweet17: what?!?
sweet17: that hurt my feelings.
bloodninja: Did it?
sweet17: Yes. I’m not that much smaller than that now.
bloodninja: Will it make you feel better if I send you my picture?
sweet17: yes
bloodninja: Alright let me find it.
sweet17: kks
bloodninja: Okay here it is. *PIC*
sweet17: this isn’t you.
bloodninja: I’ll be damned if it ain’t!
sweet17: You don’t look like that.
bloodninja: How the hell do you know?
sweet17: cause your profile has another picture.
bloodninja: The profile pic is a fake.
bloodninja: I use it to hide from the cops.
sweet17: You look like the Farm Fresh guy lol
bloodninja: Well, you look like you ATE the Farm Fresh guy….
bloodninja: Not to mention all the groceries.
sweet17: Go fuck yourself
bloodninja: I was going to until I saw that picture
bloodninja: Now my unit won’t get hard for a week.
sweet17: I shouldn’t have sent you that picture.
sweet17: You’ve done nothing but slam me.
sweet17: you hurt me.
bloodninja: And calling me the Farm Fresh guy doesn’t hurt me?
sweet17: I thought you were bullcrapping me!
bloodninja: Why would I do that?
sweet17: I can’t believe that cops are after you
bloodninja: I can’t believe Santa lets you sit on his lap..
sweet17: FUCK YOU!!!
bloodninja: You’d break both of his legs.
sweet17: You’re a fucking wanker!
sweet17: I’ve been teased my whole life because of my weight
sweet17: and you make fun of me when you don’t even know me
bloodninja: Ok. I’m sorry.
sweet17: No you aren’t
bloodninja: You’re right. I’m not.
bloodninja: HAARRRRR!
sweet17: I’m done with you
bloodninja: Aww. I’m sorry.
sweet17: I’m putting you on ignore
bloodninja: Wait a sec
bloodninja: We got off on the wrong foot.
bloodninja: Wanna start over?
sweet17: No
bloodninja: I’ll eat your kitty

sweet17: You’ll what?
bloodninja: You heard me.
bloodninja: I said I’d eat your kitty.
sweet17: I thought you said you couldn’t get it hard after seeing my picture
bloodninja: Do I need a hard-on to eat your kitty?
sweet17: I’d like to know that the man eating me out is excited yes
bloodninja: Well I’m not like most men.
bloodninja: I get excited in different ways.
sweet17: Like what?
bloodninja: Do you really wanna know?
sweet17: I don’t know
bloodninja: You have to tell me yes or no.
sweet17: I’m afraid to
bloodninja: Why?
sweet17: cause
bloodninja: cause why?
sweet17: well lets see
sweet17: you say you have sex with turkeys. You call me fat. then you wanna eat me out
sweet17: doesn’t that seem strange to you?
bloodninja: Nope
sweet17: well its strange to me
bloodninja: Fine. I won’t do it if you don’t want me to
sweet17: I didn’t say that
bloodninja: So is that a yes?
sweet17: I guess so.
bloodninja: Ok. I need your help getting excited though.
bloodninja: Are you willing?
sweet17: What do you need me to do?
bloodninja: I need you talk like a pirate.
sweet17: ???
bloodninja: When I start to go limp… you say “HARRRR!!!”
bloodninja: ok?
bloodninja: Hello?
sweet17: You can’t be serious
bloodninja: Oh yes I am!
bloodninja: It’s my fantasy.
sweet17: this is retarded
bloodninja: Do you want it or not?
sweet17: Yes I want it.
bloodninja: Then you’ll do it for me?
sweet17: sure
bloodninja: Ok. Here we go.
bloodninja: I gently remove your panties and being to massage your thighs.
bloodninja: You get really juicy thinking about my tounge brushing up against them
bloodninja: I softly begin to tounge your wet kitty.
bloodninja: I run my tounge up and down your smooth cunt.
sweet17: mmmm yeah
bloodninja: uh oh …going limp.
sweet17: Har
bloodninja: You gotta do better than that!
bloodninja: Your picture was really bad.
sweet17: HARRRRRRRRRRRR
bloodninja: Ahhhh. Much better. I feel your kitty get more moist with every stroke.
bloodninja: I softly suck on your clit bringing it in and out of my mouth.
bloodninja: Your juices run down my chin as your scent makes its way to my nose.
bloodninja: I begin to feel empowered by your femininity.
sweet17: mmmmmm you are good
bloodninja: I feel your thighs tighten as I fuck harder
bloodninja: going limp
sweet17: HARRRRRRR
bloodninja: Mmmm I grab your swelling buttocks in my hands.
bloodninja: You begin to sway back and forth.
bloodninja: going limp
sweet17: this is stupid
bloodninja: …still limp
bloodninja: Do it!
sweet17: HARRRRRRRRRRRRR
bloodninja: I turn you around to lick your asshole.
bloodninja: I pry apart that battleship you call your ass.
bloodninja: I see poo nuggets hanging from the hair around your ass.
sweet17: WTF?!?!?
bloodninja: They stink really bad.
sweet17: OMG STOP!!!
bloodninja: I start to get fed up with your ugly ass
bloodninja: I tear off your wooden peg leg.
bloodninja: I ram it up your ass.
sweet17: YOURE A FUCKING PYSCHO!!
bloodninja: Then I pour hot carmel over your head.
bloodninja: And turn you into a fucking candy apple…
bloodninja: I kick you in the face!
sweet17: FUCK YOU DICKHEAD!!
bloodninja: The celluloid from your cheeks hits the side of the cabin…
bloodninja: Your parrot flys away.
bloodninja: …going limp again.
bloodninja: Hello?
bloodninja: Say it!
bloodninja: HAARRRRRR!!!!!

Have you ever..

2007-05-09T02:20:00.000-07:00

Smoked a cigarette? : Actively nah!! Passively oh yeah baby!! I’m a chain smoker.

Crashed a friend's car? : Friend’s no. but I have my uncles’: D

Stolen a car? : was tempted to when I saw that amazing Porche at Leela palace, but never did.

Been in love? : Yup!!

Been dumped? : Yup :(

Shoplifted? : Pro at that!! Just that we at kgp call it “jhapna”

Been in a fist fight? : With my size, people actually never dare to. But I still drag them into it.

Snuck out of your parent's house? : Nah, though I want to. But my parents are too liberal to let me have this fun.

Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back? : Not exactly.

Been arrested? : No, but I want to.

Gone on a blind date? : Yup!! :D. Trust me its fun.

Skipped school? : Of course I have. Count college in, and I am a self-proclaimed god.

Been on a plane? : Duh!!

Seen someone die? : Yeah. Many times.

Been to Canada? : Eh..No!!

Purposely set a part of yourself on fire? : Yup. I can do weird stuff, if dared.

Been jet-skiing? : I soooooooo want to.

Met someone in person from the Internet? : A lot of them. Orkut rules.

Taken pain killers? : Once. I loathe medicine. Prefer diet control and natural stuff.

Flown a kite? : You’re talking to a pro.

Built a sand castle? : Not really. I’m more of a mountain than a beach person.

Gone puddle jumping? : I’m a filthy pig. Just love all this shit.

Cheated while playing a game? : Duh!!

Been lonely? : Rarely. But yeah, I have.

Fallen asleep at work or school/college? : I’m back-bencher’s pride.

Used a fake ID? : Yup. As a rule never play pranks from real id.

Felt an earthquake? : Yup. Those Bhuj earthquake tremors were felt even till Ujjain. I remember I was sitting in my JEE coaching classes.

Touched a snake? : Yeah Baby!!

Slept beneath the stars? : Millions of times. I love sleeping with my grandparents on terrace. I still love it. I miss those “odomos” nights and my endless discussion with my grandpa.

Been robbed? : Obviously when you “jhapofy” something from someone, someone else will “jhapofy” something from you. Law of averages.

Been misunderstood? : Usually not. But …

Won a contest? : Yeah, Lots of them.

Run a red light/stop sign? : He He. I’m not a responsible citizen and I’m crazy about my youth.

Been suspended from school? : Nope. That’s one tag missing in my mis-adventures. I nevertheless was most frequent “get-outer” of the class.

Been in a car accident? : Yup. Banged my uncle’s car in footpath. I was a kid then.

Eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night? : No. But that is one challenge I m willing to take. I dare myself.

Walked the streets drunk? : No. I’m one goodie goodie boy. Don’t drink. But I’m forever high; higher than my drunken friends.

Had déjàvu? : NO :(

Danced in the moonlight? : Of course I have. I’m one shameless pathetic dancer.

Witnessed a crime? : Yup.

Been obsessed with post-it notes? : Nope. If something is important I wont forget it. And if I forgot something, its not important.

Squished barefoot through the mud? : Yup. My mom used to drag me for these barefoot walk on grass before sunrise :(

Been lost? : Nope. But ask my mom and she would say yes. Technicality of that incident is complicated and my family and me are still not able to reach a rational consensus.

Been on the opposite side of the country? : Not exactly.

Swum in the ocean? : Yup. Got a great lecture from dad after that though.

Cried yourself to sleep? : Nah.

Played cops and robbers? : Yeah.

Recently coloured with crayons? : Nope.

Sung karaoke? : Yes I have. And KJ Subz thinks I am really good. I’m shocked too: D

Paid for a meal with only coins? : Yeah. Lol…a must have experience.

Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? : Of course. I’m human.

Made prank phone calls? : Oh I’m a champ. Have made even international calls to play my famous credit card prank.

Caught a snow flake on your tongue? : Yup.

Written a letter to Santa Claus? : No.

Blown bubbles? : Who hasn’t?

Bonfire on the beach? : Yeah Baby.

Cheated on a test? : Yeah. Thanks M.

Gone skinny-dipping in a pool? : How skinny are we talking about here ??

and ofcourse everyone is tagged. :)

Most rewatched movies

2007-05-08T23:03:00.000-07:00

c Again, sakshi tagged me for it. Most rewatched movie. whoa !! a kind of tag i'd luv to do. its a known fact that i m a movie buff..and thr are millions of movie i have watched millions of times. but top five wud be.

1) Pulp Fiction : my fav movie. thr was a time i used to watch it daily. this movie is a religion to me. i keep on reading about it on net, in books and everytime i read about it i need to watch it again. and everytime i feel oh my god !! how can i have not seen this last time. this is a complete movie. everything is perfect about it. Hail QT !!

2) Braveheart : my second year of college was spent watching this movie. Me and G used to sit and watch it and watch it again. we have memorised it "by heart". craziness went to extent that even when i was reading a book i'll play this movie in the bckground insted of music.

3) LOTR : i've lost the count of how many times i have sene this movie. i remember 12 times all 3 parts at a stretch and individually each part, countlessly.

4) Kabhi haa Kabhi naa : i feeel this is the best movie if SRK. just love it. :)

5) Sholay : the mega movie. period.

and yeah, everyone is tagged !!

********************** EDIT **************************

i'm feeling that i'm doing injustice to alot of films..so here are a few more

6) The Matrix : it was like a dialy thing in my first year. have mugged up all the dialogues and all. though i like matrix 2 the most, but i have seen 1 a lot more.

7) Fight Club : this list have to have atleast one movie of ed norton. so here it is. not his best work though. watching this movie first time was killer. but i liked the attitude and concept so much that it is one of the most seen movie and most read book as well. i recommend the book as well. profound !!

8) Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar : best aamir khan movie. you are low and want to get in fifth gear. watch dis movie.

9) Remember The Titans : same as jo jeeta wohi sikandar, just that its best denzle washington movie. just wtch it before any game you're out to play.

10) Mughal-E-Azam : its like one of the fav family film (ok, except for my sis. she wont understand a word of it). i love the dialogues of the movie. hindi can never compare urdu. it can never have that smooth velvet touch, that formal yet binding tone.

i have a dream..

2007-05-07T02:28:00.000-07:00

Up thr "Reds"

When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of the Storm there's a golden sky
And the sweet, silver song of a lark.
Walk on through the wind, walk on through the rain,
Though your dreams be tossed and blown.
Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart,
And you'll never walk alone.
You'll never walk alone.

to the city of joy

2007-04-28T04:59:00.000-07:00

back to bongland, with few changes this time..

not kharagpur, but kolkata
not iit, but iim

yaay..i'm estatic, i'm delirious with joy, i'm jumping up and down, and i'm certainly cocky these days..cheers !!

p.s. assuming junta is going to congratulate me, thnx

Liverpool - Chelsea

2007-04-26T01:05:00.000-07:00

In one word “Liverpool Sucked!!” I never thought I’d say that but I am. It was their worst game in long-long time and they played exceptionally bad. Everything was disjointed. Chelsea didn’t need to make any steals; Liverpool anyways was passing ball to them. Possession was completely ignored. Only surprise was Reina’s performance. O Dear Reina!! Savior of pride of “the Reds”. Thank You!!

I’m in a big-big shock to write anything about this match. But the worst part of the game was Rafa’s tactics. It was blown apart. There were millions of flaws. To start with

1) Why no player at far-post even for one corner?

2) Why no attack from right wing, that’s our strength and we all know Zenden is major out of form this season. And Pennant is playing his best football ever.

3) Why not Gerrard in centre midfield and Pennant to start as right winger

4) Why no Crouch to start with? Chelsea in weak in set-pieces and air. Crouch and Kuyt can launch a virtual air raid and also feather-weight crouch attracts a million fouls near the box, like a magnet.

This much is more than enough to give way a win even when Chelsea was not playing a good game. But the only saving grace is the fact that next game is at Anfield and Liverpool is tough nut to crack there. But a lot of introspection has to go in it

Hope to see a much better performance at Anfield. Come on!! You can do it. But whatever, you’ll never walk alone. J

Verdict

Liverpool

Best payer: Reina, Gerrard, Crouch
Worst payer: Arbeloa (he is much better that what we saw of him last night), Alonso (where was he in the first half), Rafa Benitez (reasons above).

Chelsea

Best player: Drogba, Carvalho (I always say, he is much better than Terry), Makalele
Worst player : Sheva, Kalou

AC – ManU

2007-04-26T00:40:00.000-07:00

A supersonic thriller. Kaka is God and Dida should be hanged. Both showed moments of brilliance twice. Bah! And AC lost 3-2. Could I be more pissed??

5^th min and Dida almost held a ball by Ronaldo’s header but wait; he pushed it in back of net. “Thank you very much!!” says Ronaldo. 1-0 ManU. Dida was actually petrified. He was paler than Dada facing Shoaib. He was trembling and shivering. God saves AC.

But then it was brilliance of Italian midfield on the pitch. Gattuso hit Englishmen, the English way. Hard and plenty. He sure is backbone of AC’s game. And I told ya, Seedorf was a force to reckon with.

And then all of a sudden came the second goal of the match. Kaka pulled it through out of nowhere. Absolutely brilliant. If AC has Dida, ManU has Carrick. It could not have been worse for him. He just saw Kaka past by him and so did Van der Sar, and BANG!! The jacket hanging at the back of the net was dancing with a brilliant left footer by the Brazilian.

No it was not over. Just before half time, Kaka again! This time even better. Carrick, Evra, Heinze were spellbound, confused and Van der Sar helpless. Kaka hit the net again with one of the most creative moves of the season, garnished by the lethal right footed finish. 2-1. AC in control at half time. “Sir” Alex fucked royally. Old Trafford fans were gasping with a big mouth open.

In first half, ManU tried few futile attempts at goals and despite Dida at post, AC managed to keep them off courtesy Nesta.

But at half time two things hit AC. Firstly, substitution of Maldini and Gattuso (well, his was almost half time) and secondly, and more problematic a thing call complacency. One should not underestimate any team at a UCL semifinal. And certainly not when you are on the road. This problem is not new for AC though, they faced more of it 2 yrs back in Istanbul in final against Liverpool.

Gattuso was heavily missed in the midfield. And Pirlo is just not at his best this whole season. He was imperious last season. Together with Gattuso he makes a formidable pair just that he is not performing this season. Anyways AC’s attacks were getting fewer in number. But they managed to keep Ronaldo quiet, but Scholes and Rooney got louder.

Suddenly, in one of such moves, Scholes lofted ball was held at Rooney’s chest and only thing between him and net was poor Dida. I smiled “here comes the equalizer”.2-2. Game on!!

Not much happened till injury time and I was thrilled with the scorecard. Good Old Traffordians are going to have nightmares. But Dida was not quite finished yet. In injury time, on a counter run on a highly slippery pitch Rooney got the ball and Nesta was running alongside. He did all good to block far-post and Rooney was left with no other option then to shoot near-post. And another flash of brilliance by Dida. And Old Trafford went berserk. I was like WTF!! 3-2 L

It’s over. Its UCL knock-out again, it’s a 90+ goal again, and is it a fate-sealer again? We have to wait and see in 2^nd leg.

Verdict – top 3

Best player: Kaka, Gattuso, Seedorf
Worst player: Dida, Dida, Dida

ManU

Best player: Ronaldo, no one else impressed me
Worst player: Carrick, Evra, Heinze

UCL semis

2007-04-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

time for nightouts again..

UCL semifinals are here...and as Rafa Benitez has predited i wish its going to be AC vs. Liverpool final again...and ofcourse unlike istanbul, this time i do not want to witness any thrills in the final. a stright forward win would be nice.

my prediction says, ManU- AC match is going to be on hell of a match. AC has refound its confidence, with team almost certainly qualifying for the UCL next season even after points penalty. Man U is going to have a tough time in wake of injury and super tight schedule in EPL and Chelsea closing up for the title race.

For Liverpool - Chelsea match, i cant give an unbiased opinion. Heart and soul for "the Reds". But the problems faced by Sir Alex is faced by Jose as well. Team looked extremly drained out this weekend against Newcastle. I doubt if this match will go to away goals and will be settled on aggregate.

Up "the Reds".

Players to watch

Liverpool : Mascherano
AC Milan : Seedorf
Chelsea : Wright Philips
ManU : Ronaldo

happy budday

2007-04-24T00:37:00.000-07:00

when ppl say, He does not perform under pressure and He should be like Ponting who raise His level during crunch situation and sails his team through, i confess my temperature rises by 100%. people just do not see the facts and start criticising. WTF..just a quntitative analysis will prove the otherwise.

wat is a crucial match..for sake of simplicity we will stick to worldcup matches and finals of tri-series..and from india's perspective every match against australia.

worldcup : i dont think anyone can even dream of comparing His worldcup stats with anyone else. they complain that He didnt perform in last worldcup final. wat do they expect out of Him ? He scored more than 650 runs alone..was the sole reason your team reached the final..and now He didnt perform in one match, they are ready to rip His balls apart. its more than unfair. and punter has just reached 1000 runs mark in worldcup though he has played almost as many games while He is in league of his own, 1700+ runs. He got out in 90s three time, which is more than enough to proves how selfless His game is. and most impressive performance was His innings of 94 against pakistan last year. with strike rate of 175, He almost single handedly demolished the pakistan pace trio (wasim, waqar, shoaib)

His record against autralia is imperious, with average more than 48 and strike rate of 90+, its almost a miracle. only failure is against against proteas with a meager average of 27. But whatever, You are my God !!

Happy birthday :)

auf wiedersehen Lara

2007-04-24T00:27:00.000-07:00

Bye bye Lara...to one of the greatest test batsman ever. i will always remember that knock of 400, your respect for sachin, keeper of once great windies team, and your sexy "crouch-crouch-crouch-up-BANG" stance.

LITBM : Men’s rules for fairer sex

2007-04-23T03:21:00.000-07:00

1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down.

2. Birthdays, Valentines, and Anniversaries are special days, but not quests to see if we can find the perfect present yet again!

3. Sometimes, we are not thinking about you. Live with it.

4. Do not ask us what we are thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as navel lint, the shotgun formation, and golf shots.

5. Sunday=Sports. It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.

6. Shopping is NOT a sport, and no, we are never going to think of it that way. It will never make an Olympic event (although we could be wrong on that, the way they instituted women's hockey & wrestling)

7. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine. Really.

8. Crying is blackmail.

9. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work. Strong hints do not work. Obvious hints do not work. Just say it!

10. We don't remember dates. Mark birthdays and anniversaries on a calendar. Remind us frequently.

11. Most guys own three pairs of shoes - tops. What makes you think we'd be any good at choosing which pair, out of thirty, would look good with your dress?

12. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

13. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

14. A headache that lasts for 17 months is a problem. See a doctor.

15. Check your oil! Please.

16. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days.

17. If you won't dress like the Victoria's Secret girls, don't expect us to act like soap opera guys.

18. If something we said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

19. Let us ogle. We are going to look anyway; it's genetic.

20. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

21. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

22. Christopher Columbus did not need directions, and neither do we.

23. The relationship is never going to be like it was the first two months we were going out. Deal with it.

24. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

25. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.

26. We are not mind readers and we never will be. Our lack of mind-reading ability is not proof of how little we care about you.

27. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will assume nothing's wrong.

28. I'm in shape. - Round IS a shape.

Confessions of a frustated mind

2007-04-21T02:13:00.000-07:00

i have a threshhold, i have a fucking threshold. i might burst. i might do a "rang de basanti"

Breaking News

2007-04-19T23:55:00.000-07:00

These days I’m extremely pissed with the attitude of Indian press in general and news channels in particular. Their capitalistic tendencies are on a roll and moral responsibilities are going down the drain. The urge to be different and fast is so high that sometimes that at times facts are deformed and truth is compromised. The condition so arrived is due to moronic internal competition between media. Every senseless piece of news is covered by every channel and no one has any resources and means to find out the reliability and authenticity of it.

The competition is so huge between them that they will not hesitate even for a moment to pull a live-wire, not giving a damn about the emotions and sentiments attached with it. The sensitivity of any issue is cashed to attract more viewership and rules are bend to spice up the story.

They say, people are more aware these days because all these news channels. And it’s due to channels like these; people who are looking for instant fame do not mind doing something otherwise stupid. Public here is idiot and jobless, and certainly not shy of wasting time on streets holding placards saying “hai hai” and murdabaad”. Rationality is alien to them.

And a lot of times I feel that most of these processions and burning effigies by mob, is more of a drama in front of lens where everything from script to screenplay to sets are provided by these TRP pimps. Because my senses do not allow me to chew the fact that people enraged by dismal performances of Indian cricket team or Rakhi Sawant kiss while taking out procession will be intimidated by the fact that they are on TV and so they’ll put their laughing face forward. Yes, I have seen people in mob laughing and getting thrilled to be on TV. But then that’s my view.

1) Prince scenario: about a year back, this little kid named prince fell into a dig hole near Ghaziabad. Now instantly it became“breaking news” for the entire media industry and in a flash that whole place was packed millions of cameras and reporters. Almost every thing was given a major hype and the kid was already a national hero, even before he came out of the pit. And since then I have seen more than ten similar instances in different part of the country. Are kids in this country all of a sudden become so self-involved that they have stopped seeing the pits on the street? Or is it a shortcut to instant stardom to a lot people? May be it is!!

2) Cricket Reviews: zee news takes the crown in worst review. I believe my knowledge in cricket is damn good and I can analyze the game. It just takes one match to monkey flip the image of the entire cricket team. Being hero to zero is matter of just eight hours. All the comments on TV seem to be rigged and highly manipulated. And if sometimes some sense is being talked, they will do their best to go off air with some ad and eventually put “breaking news” forward. This is one conversation I saw on Headlines Today with Kapil Dev about retirement of Sachin.

Rep: Kapil da, don’t you think Sachin is performing exceptionally bad in recent times and it is high time that he should pack his bags.
Kapil: Sachin is the greatest player this country has ever produced and I feel, better than you and me he knows his game. And he certainly is not the kind of player who will put his personal interests above team’s interest. So I feel it is best for him to decide whether he should or should not retire. If he feels he is not good anymore then he will voluntarily take retirement.
Rep: So you agree that even Sachin knows that is not good any more and he should take retirement.
Kapil: no, that’s not what I said. I said if he feels….
Rep: So now you guys have seen even legendary Kapil Dev thinks Sachin should retire.
Kapil: you are getting it all wrong…..
Rep: We will continue this discussion with Kapil Dev after the break. Please do not touch the remote.

And in split second, in font size 24, appears “Breaking News: Kapil thinks Sachin should retire.”

3) Shilpa – Gere Kiss: This is the latest one. In an AIDS awareness program for the truck drivers, organizers were cashing the new found global fame of Shilpa Shetty and Richard Gere, whose love for India is pretty well-known. Now Shilpa gave a beautiful introduction of Richard and overwhelmed (I’m not sure what took him overboard, either looks of her or the introduction) Mr. Gere expressed his gratitude with a bit excess of PDA. Now people were stunned and so was Shilpa, but she made it clear that she was neither offended not appalled. Even her mom was ok.

But this little mis-adventure was a hot story for the Indian media and they were moved by their love for Indian culture and how a “firang” is flirting with it. Images were shown on all the news channels as “breaking news” and all the “vella junta” in the country was given a reason to take another procession. Entire country was opposing the “move” of Mr. Gere, so said the news channel. They say, he has no right to misbehave and un-dignify an Indian actress and he should apologize pronto.

What I fail to understand is why are these news channels are trying to be the keeper of Indian culture. I’m sure that Shilpa is mature enough to know how to maintain her dignity and with the type of publicity she is getting these days throughout, she would be well aware of the image she is projecting. Media is trying to make a fool out of themselves, and certainly portraying as a stupid bunch of dorks trying to raise TRP by making an entire half an hour of program on this shit.

4) DPS mms: This incident takes the last piece of the brownie. This is the height of irresponsibility and utter non-sense. I guess everyone know about the incident. Two kids of RK-puram were having “fun” and the guy made a video clip of it on his cell. And in sometime this clip was floating on the internet and was one of most searched voyeur clip globally.

Eventually media came to know about it and suddenly it was the hottest topic and of course “breaking news”. People were infuriated and parents worried. But that’s not the point. The point here is crassness of the media. By the time news leaked to all these channels, the clip was seen by a lot of people, but it still was less than 0.01% of Indian population (I guess). Now these intellectually challenged news channels and their “country-should-know” philosophy compelled them to show the entire clip on TV, saying that this is what was in the clip (they blurred the images of course). So what was seen by a minority is now seen by the entire nation.

I really was pissed with this bullshit. Height of stupidity. I really can’t understand what they have achieved out of this, except for sensationalizing the issue. But they made the life of that girl and that guy living hell.

But whatever, media is eating up the democracy. In wake of fundamental rights they are mocking the entire system. Sometimes I feel these people do not deserve to have freedom of speech, and it should be revoked until they get some sense. Such an irresponsible media should be banned forever. If not a ban, some filter has to be installed or sense has to be instilled.

2007-04-11T01:32:00.000-07:00

Last Night, I was watching Pulp Fiction again and suddenly this thought of plagiarism crept into my head. Some call it “influence”, which is an overused politically correct synonym for it.

I was thinking about what Jules say before killing a person. He recites a line from bible, Ezekiel 25:17. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee." And quite similar to this is what Joker says in the movie Batman, before killing anyone. "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?”

Is this an influence? May be it is. By any rationale, I won’t go too far to say it is a theft.

What about the un-avoidable similarities in Reservoir Dogs and City on Fire? Quentin Tarantino has told in a million interviews that he was heavily inspired by the Hong Kong film and he has almost copied shot-by-shot the end of Reservoir Dogs, i.e. the Mexican standoff. But then he is probably the only director/writer to admit such a thing blatantly. He scores for accepting truth gracefully

I really don’t know where the thin line between “homage” and a nonchalant “copy-paste” lies?

do you know wat i did that summer

2007-04-02T02:36:00.000-07:00

Sakshi didn’t tag me for this: D, but I thought of roping myself in it, forcefully: P. Summers are here and like most people, I’m nostalgic too. Now that I’m working, I miss those school days summer vacations, those tension-free strolls with friends, those cricket and badminton sessions. Summers were more fun as a kid.

Grandma’s kitchen: I distinctly remember, I used to go to nani-dadi's place for a month or so. I was the first kid on either side of the family so I was the most pampered one too. I was crazy about "nariyal barfi", I still am. My nani use to make those awesome nariyal barfis for me, and also a big packet was packed for me when I was about to leave. Ohh that thing was heaven. My nani is an amazing cook and it’s amazing what she can do without onion-garlic-ginger. My uncles were quite younger to my mom so no kids there. My sister and I were the rulers. Our wish was law. I miss those late night terrace sessions with my nanaji. We use to talk about everything from various constellations to various mythological stories, from world politics to Ghalib's shayari, from Sanskrit sholkas to Urdu lessons, from my studies to my friends. We use to sleep on terrace. I miss those "odomos" nights and early morning wake up calls.
From there I use to go to dadi's place. It was a joint family there, so already bunch of kids waiting for me and my sis. And then hell unleashed. Mumma and chachis use to bang there head on wall. I miss watermelon time (my dadaji use to call it "bakra" lol: D). I miss that chaats/paani puri of Aligarh and those amazing and yet cheap pastries of "ram bharose bakery". I miss that wall climbing sessions. I miss those cricket sessions with super bouncy rubber balls. I miss those math sessions with my cousin (I m a good teacher!!).
Coming back to Ujjain used to be almost a nightmare.

Sports: now I’m a pulp of fat, but as a kid I use to be pretty athletic. Fastest bowler around and one of the better fielders. Those days morning was booked exclusively for cricket. 6 o'clock in the morning and I’m cycling like a blaze to the ground, sometimes to avenge yesterday's humiliating lose, sometimes with a determination to repeat that classic yorker of last game. “Aftis” were reserved for TT sometimes or sometimes watching WWE with friends or playing cards with mom. Evening was for badminton. But in badminton it was rather better case for me. I was a champ. And I was usually hailed as one as well. I used to walk court with utter dominance and grace. And at 7 in the evening it was time for swimming. I had family pass, but alas Ujjain is not a town where u can see girls in family time. Nevertheless, swimming still is my favorite form of workout. Man!! I’m one lazy fat boy now.

Ice-creams/popsicles: I remember them for very different reasons from what most people do. As a kid I had severe tonsillitis. I was not allowed cold water of fridge, let alone ice-creams and popsicles. But I was a very good kid. Mumma says that I never made a fuss about it, will refuse politely even if someone offers me one. I was not allowed anything that was cold. But what!! I make up for it now. :D

Discovery channel: as a kid I was crazy about it, use to watch everything. (Only exceptions were news, cartoon network and matches.) No matter if it was biological/genetic shit or wildlife adventures or some travel guides. I'll watch it religiously. Right from my childhood; I have that knack to know everything. Unlike some people who want to be king of one thing, I am always inclined towards a basic knowledge of everything. I’m scared of a thought that I might end up in a bunch of people where I have no idea what they are talking about and I’m just staring their faces. That fear is still in me, and may be its getting stronger everyday. So whenever I talk to someone and I come across something new, first thing I’ll do after that is to hit “wikipedia”.

Maths: There is something between my family and maths. At least finding maths interesting and equally amusing, is a genetic disorder in me. My mumma always make sure, that during summer vacations, I do some maths. She will get next year’s maths book and make sure; I finish it well before next session even starts. My papa has always been my maths teacher. And I never realized when this interest turned into love. Condition became so bad that while I was about to get in 9^th, I was pretty competent with 10^th-11^th maths, and much better than kids in those class.

Maths still is my first academic love. And as GB Shaw said “First love is a little foolish and a lot of curiosity.” Come on, call me geek!!

Food: Summer is not the best time of the year for foodies, but there was a lot to drink. And two of my favorite fruits use to stack up in fridge. Watermelon and Mango are my love. I distinctly remember, papa used to get fresh mangos daily on his way back home from his morning walk. And then there was mango shake. That was a must have every evening. But I live because of my love for “lassi” and “shikanji”. People drink bed-tea, but I used to drink “bed-lassi”.

I still have my share of fun. Still like sitting on terrace in the night in cold summer breeze. Summers are all about minimal clothing, multiple-shower-sessions, crew-cut hairdos, ice-creams and cold drinks, midnight longdrives, hot babes in shorts and skirts and sports season finals. But vacations are not the same anymore; life is not the same anymore.

..So this is why they are God

2007-03-23T03:59:00.000-07:00

This blog is about the biggest concert of my life and I’m sure the feeling was shared by more than 25k people watching the God’s live act. Bangalore was going bonkers for the sight of Eddie. Pop was long out, and heavy metal was the new sound of music. Almost all the modes of transport converging towards bangy were packed with eager fans, dying to see the unimaginable and gasping in utter disbelief “Oh my fucking GOD, I still can’t believe that I’m going to see Iron Maiden live and that too in India.” And let’s not talk about the fans of bangy. Maiden performing live only in Bangalore, was official stamp on the unofficial-n-invisible-n-debatable document which reads Bangalore is the rock/metal capital of the country.

*I was trying to think of a scientific explanation for it and this is the best I was able to come up with. Bangy is the silicon valley of India and silicon is a metal, so it has to be metal capital. I know its crap, but 5 hours of brutally savage head banging without dope kinda makes your brain do rock n roll*

I had friends coming from all over the country for the concert and for the past few days I was busy arranging tickets and accommodation for them. I was so thrilled that philanthropy had taken over my sanity. And on the D day we were a bunch of 7 mean guys, most of them were drunk (at 1 o’clock in afti) and doped, and for being the sober one, I was given the responsibility to arrange for taxi and take care of the tickets. We reached the venue at 4 and managed to get few packets of “sutta” inside, hiding them near our holiest of the holy, in our undies (idea no. 53 in the bestselling “101 advantages of large undies and chubby ass”)

The moment I entered, my eyes popped out of the socket and as my friends say I was shouting “Holy Fuckkkk!!” All that I could see was people in black shirt and dirty jeans without any exceptions, well almost without any exceptions. It was a different world altogether. It was mean, it was dark, and it was crazy. Age no bar, color no bar, caste no bar, and sex no bar. It was a world where tattoos and piercing were no more a taboo. It was a world where “fuck” was the most frequently used common noun. It was a world where weed and spirit were staple diet. It was a world where Maiden was the only God and no one was atheist.

There was still time for concert to start and we thought what better way to waste some money and time on merchandise. I was in my maiden shirt, but could not resist the temptation for another one. Here goes “the greens”. Next pit stop was sandwich shop and the Pepsi stall. Sandwich sucked, by the way. And so did the sound. They said, maiden got 20 tons of instruments with them. Tell me, speakers were not in them. Sound was pathetic, by any standard. But whatever!!(I possibly could not have sounded more indifferent).

The concert started at 5 o’clock with the stage being occupied by FTN (winner of campus rock idols ’07). Who cares about the genre, they sucked major. We were busy hooting them shouting “suck my dick”, “fuck off bitch” and our very own kgp special “ek do teen char, band karo ye atyachar”. Our unison and undying hatred to that crap was source of inspiration for people standing next to us, and our rhyming masterpieces proved contagious for our neighbors as well. Finally, we got relief from that junk in around half an hour.*I guess they were done with the performance but I won’t mind taking credit*

Then came Parikrama. It was their 3^rd live performance that I was attending in last 5 years, and every time they were getting better and better. Their chick guitarist had added layers on his waist. But the best part was their recent addition of a violinist in the group. He was a surprise addition in an essentially rock band. Crowd was going berserk on the performance when they played hits like “but it rained”, “rhythm and blues” and “whiskey in the bottle”. I was especially impressed by the violin instrumental.

Then came the most boring part of the day. Before this let’s define loser. Loser is someone who thinks genetic advantages always pay. Laura Harris’s (daughter of founder and lead guitarist of iron maiden, Steve Harris) performance proved the definition. Enough said.

All minnows were done with their efforts. Some good and some not so good. But my clock of patience was ticking and heart was pounding higher than ever. Even the anticipation of the thought of seeing maiden was giving me jitters. Stage preparation was going on. Mob was turned to frenzy mode. It was in this time, I saw a kid (no more than 10, mind you) wearing a maiden tee-shirt, which could have fit two like him was shouting “maiden maiden!!” sitting on his father’s shoulders. And I was like “man!! And I call myself fan.”

Suddenly lights went off. And when they come back, I could see masses of blood and flesh on stage. Then I thought I know who they are. It was Dave, Steve, Adrian, Janik and Nicko. All the hands were up in the air making that typical head banger’s \\m// . Ear deafening sound of “maiden” was thundering the sky. But I was still looking for the king of the gods. And then he arrived, in a black blazer and a mic in his hand. Bruce was here.

Then he started singing. Song list was

The reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg
For the greater good of God
Wrathchild
Trooper (yes! he had Union Jack in his hand)
Fear of the dark
Run to the hills
The evil that man do
Iron Maiden
Brighter than a thousand suns
These colors don’t run

The voice was magical. It was more perfect than the body of any Greek god. It had velvet touch, irrespective of the pitch. He was everywhere. At one moment he is up on the steel bars, and next moment, just on the face of crowd and in a split second he is on tier 2 of the stage. After that I lost my senses. I was higher than any amount of booze can take me to. They had that scintillating presence that people talk of. Bruce’s energy, Adrian’s jugglery with guitar and Nicko’s smile made that entire wait worthy. It was like a living one of the most beautiful dream ever, when you wish if you could sleep forever.

And then Bruce said “bye bye Bangalore”. Nicko threw his stick in the crowd and Janik threw his picks and some bastards just got lucky. My heart sank. Just one hour! We were spellbound and were hoping that the curse would never be lifted. We started to move back trying to go out. But then he came back with “2 minutes to midnight” and we were like “whoa!!” there is still more to come and this time Bruce came out with Eddie. A giant Eddie. And finally came “Hallowed be thy name”. Crowd was getting mundane and I was one step ahead of them.

I was busy head banging, jumping and throwing my hands around. I was dancing insanely. By the end of an hour my neck, back, legs and hands were telling me to chill out. And then I jumped some more. I have lost the count of number of feet I had crushed and how many times I faced the same. My head was blessed with gift of perpetual motion. Back and spine witnessed the fury like never before. My voice had gone down two octaves. But fatigue was something unheard of, and pain was sweeter than ever.

And then they bid the final good bye. Such a crowd was not what they would have expected in this part of the world. Demography has always deceived them and a lot of other bands. But let’s hope not anymore.

Maiden concert is over and now only must watch concert in my list is of Opeth. But I’m an optimist. I’ll watch it someday, if not in India then maybe in Sweden.

And to Maiden, all I could say is “adios amigos”. :)

IIM C interview

2007-03-13T03:50:00.000-07:00

GD was an interesting topic. It was about attrition in software companies. We were supposed to identify the reasons and come up with the probable solutions. We were a group of 9 people and 3 panelists, one of whom was IIM C alumnus. And after conclusion of the GD, every one of us was suppose to summarize the discussion in one minute.

Interesting thing happened during my summary. For the first time in my life I was very organized, and was putting forward the problem, causes and solution categorically. But in between one of the panelist said “Anshul your one minute is over, but continue continue, carry on with your points, finish it.” J

*I have no idea, if it is good or bad, can anyone help me interpreting it*

Anyways, excerpts of interview are as follows

P1: please give me your certificates.
A *hands them to him*
P2: so anshul, tell me something about yourself.
A: blah blah...
*in between this P3 told me to relax and sit comfortably*
P2: oh so you are a chemical engg. And you work for which company?
A: sir, TCS
P3: so was this transformation tough?
A: not exactly sir. It was a long thought process. Blah blah…
P1: so what is the attrition rate in TCS?
A: sir, something around 10%
P1: so what is TCS doing about it? Tell me from the points discussed in the GD.
A: They are trying to make their paycheck more competitive and have made a lot of changes in their HR policies. They have tried to improve the onsite opportunities for everyone, and they try to make sure that any employee, who has worked more than 2 years, should be given a fair chance to get an onsite opportunity. They are also trying to shuffle projects of an employee, so that he should not feel stagnated.
P2: what do you think are the key reasons of people to quit TCS?
A: sir, as we discusses, people usually quit for mainly two reasons, firstly lack of competitive salary and secondly, not satisfied with the quality of work. In TCS, most of the projects are of maintenance and support, so people do leave company for that reason. And also a lot of them feel, that package is not sufficient.
P1: so are you in development?
A: yes sir
P3: and are you satisfied?
A: very much sir.
P3: what technology are you working with?
A: sir, I’m working with pl/sql and oracle applications.
P2: we talked about incentives and team outings. So what do you think people prefer monthly team outings or may be cash 2000 rs?
A: sir, it depends. I feel bachelors prefer hard cash, while families prefer picnics and outings.
P3: so how long have you been in Bangalore?
A: sir around one and a half years
P3: so you must know quite a lot about the city, eh?
A: yes sir, I think so.
P3: so what is the recent thing about Bangalore that is in news?
A: sir, these days the news about stray dogs in Bangalore is hot. A lot of people have been their victims and eventually two kids died because of dog bites. So state government has issued an order to capture something around 1000 dogs a day.
P2: why don’t you think they kill them?
A: sir, they were planning to, but PETA and other animal activists didn’t let them.
P1: what do you think is a solution for this problem? Are you satisfied with the initiatives of the govt.?
A: yes sir. I think that the govt. is doing a good job. I too feel killing is not option. The dogs should be sterilized and left in a jungle far from the city.
P2: what about the people living in nearby villages?
A: sir, it has to be made sure that the place where the dogs are left should not have any human population in its vicinity. Otherwise they can crate havoc there.
P1: but when you leave them in jungle, they will die their eventually. So why not kill them?
A: sir, but in jungle they have an opportunity to live. If they have will and caliber to sustain, they can survive. But if we kill them, they won’t even have a choice but to get killed. In jungle they always have an option. And after that they have to live by the laws of the jungle. As Darwin said it “survival of the fittest”.
P1: so anshul, do u eat non-veg?
A: yes sir.
P1: chicken, mutton everything?
A: yes sir.
P1: so when you eat them, that time you don’t think of taking an animal life? Why are you thinking about these dogs?
A: sir, I don’t dig canines.
*rofl*
*I know it was very bad of me to make such an informal smartass comment, but it just slipped off my mouth, and the mood of the room made me little too relaxed. Even they were laughing on it.*
P2: anshul, tell me about your hobbies?
A: blah blah
P3: so you like movies, who is your favorite director?
A: Quentin Tarantino
P1: so do you read newspapers?
A: yes sir, I do.
P2: so have you read about the financial budget?
A: yes sir, I have.
P2: what do you think about it?
A: blah blah
P3: I guess that is it anshul
A: thank you sir!! J

*there were a lot more questions, but I don’t remember them now.*

Finally I’m done with my interviews. Now I’m keeping my finger crossed and waiting for the results. But now life is more miserable than ever. Now that I know, I know that I have screwed up at many points, now I do not have a chance to correct any mistake I made. No more interviews left. And even this thought is giving me jitters. I hope I can hold on my sane self by the time these results are out.

Beware of Iron Maiden !! :D

2007-03-09T07:30:00.000-08:00

came across this hilarious mail sent all over...go thru it, the info in the mail is incorrect in the first place...the lengths that ppl go to to promote religion!!!

Iron Maiden [the band is named after an instrument of torture] are slated to perform live in Bangalore on March 17th, 2007. This explains why it is suggested for Christians to stay away and to inform their friends too. "Unleash the Beast Within" is the caption of a full-page advertisement released in the New Indian Express and other newspapers of March 2, 2007, welcoming to India the rock band, Iron Maiden, which "ranks fourth on MTV's 'Top 10 Greatest Heavy Metal Bands of all time'.It also states that their 1982 album "The Number of the Beast" was a Top Ten hit in 1982, and their single, "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter " was the fastest ever to hit number one.

We are informed that the band's mascot, Eddie- that looks like a partially-decomposed corpse- "is a perennial fixture in the band's horror-influenced album cover art, as well as in live shows ."
I submit 'The Number of the Beast' as evidence that a deadly serious Satan is right now bargaining for the very souls and minds of our children. Billboard magazine's full page ads proclaimed the record as being 'Forged in the fires of Hell' which it undoubtedly was. The album can only be described as satanic.

Some of the album's song titles are equally revealing: 'Children of the Damned', 'The Number of the Beast', 'Hallowed be Thy Name', 'Run to the Hills'.

This verse is repeated as a spoken introduction just before the song 'The Number of the Beast' begins. Here are some of the lyrics to that particular song: 'In the night the fires are burning bright / The ritual has begun / Satan's work is done…/ I'm coming back / I will return / And I'll posses your body / And I'll make you burn

Iron Maiden are slated to perform live in Bangalore on March 17th, 2007.
Plz stay off this concert !

p.s. its a copy paste from orkut iron maiden india community.

IIM A interview

2007-03-08T06:17:00.000-08:00

so 8th march was my d day.

there were 3 profs in panel and batch size per panel was 8. but one guy in my batch didnt appear (yeah yeah, ppl do miss iim a interviews). there were few friends of his and they were telling me that this guy got full waiver in MS from a decent university, so he dropped the plan for MBA. *thank God for small mercies*

Lets start with GD. it was a case study and it blew. pathetic would be an understatement and i was completly dejected by the time it ended. but may be it was good for me. i knew i have nothing to loose, as i'm already out of contention for the seat, and this subconcious thought help me do better in interview. but i still cant believe that GD could have been this pathetic.

lets switch to interview now, which i feel was ok. but i could not have done better than this, actually i didnt know anything more than this :P

P2: hello anshul, please hand me your certificates.
A*gives them his folder*
P2: so anshul, did you have tea? :)
A: thank you, I don’t drink tea.
A1: you don’t?
A*smiles*: no sir, i don’t like it.
P2: oh, that is strange.
A: yes sir, I’m not against it hardcore, but prefer not to have it.
P3: so do you drink whiskey?
A: no sir, I don’t take alcohol as well.
P3*devilishly*: oh you said hardcore, so i thought u drink hard.
A*what a pathetic pj*
P2: so what do you drink?
A: I drink milk, lassi and fresh lime, and occasionally cold drink.
P2: hmm, you are a good boy. But you know tea is good for health. it very good for blood and removes laziness.
A: yes sir, i have heard it purifies blood and act as detoxifying agent. And with regular lemon tea, skin glows.
P2: yes, but as soon as u add milk to it, all of it is gone. Tea is good only without milk.
A*whatever**smiles*
P2: yeah, you are a chemical engineer na. So can you tell me two things which are good, but if you mix them product is harmful?
A*hmmmm*: I guess hydrogen and chlorine. But hydrochloric acid is not good. Not that its bad, but it can be harmful.
P2: chlorine in itself is harmful.
A: oh, then may be hydrogen, oxygen and sulfur combine to make sulfuric acid*grins*
P2: *laughs*
P1: take biscuits please, or you don’t eat biscuits as well.
A*grins*: no sir, I eat biscuits.
*takes one good day*

P1: so anshul, what do you want me to ask from you, chemical engg or software?
A*grins*: sir, I’ll prefer software.
P1*laughs*: then I’m going to start with chemical engineering.
A*laughs with him*: as you wish sir.
P1: so what is market risk?
A: sir, I have worked on market risk software solution, but I don’t have much idea about it. But I can try it.
A: blah blah
P1: now you don’t want me to go in details of portfolio management?*grins*
A*smiles*: no sir.
P1*smiles*: ok, so this project MR-STAR of DB with which you were working, what was it about?
A: blah blah
P1: so you were into development?
A: yes sir.
P1: hmm, so you are chemical engineer. Let’s see, you are given a job in Pharma Company to design a database for them, for their various products, specifying contents, moisture content, assay.*he gave me whole funda of pharmacy, which I have never heard of. My god, I can’t believe how anyone can know so much. I started smiling* so what all tables will you define tables?
A:*I cracked this question, made a brilliant architecture*
P1*smiles*: so what is a relational database?
A: blah blah
P1: so tell me name of few databases?
A: oracle, my sql, ms sql, Sybase
P1: you missed access.
A: oh yes sir, access of course.
P1: which one have you worked with?
A: only oracle.
P1: ok. So tell me difference between mass transfer and mechanical operations?
A: blah blah
P1: let’s take one beaker of water, and add salt to it. It will dissolve, right? Can u draw me the curve of rate of solution vs. time?
A: hmm, sir I’m not very sure but it should be a reverse exponential curve, taking time on x axis.
P1: and why so?
A: sir, initially the conc. of salt will be zero in water, so conc. diff will be high and so higher mass transfer. But slowly as concentration of salt in water will increase, driving force that is conc. Difference will reduce and so will the rate.
P1: hmm, ok. So will this curve ever meet x axis?
A: I guess not sir.
P2: now consider a case, when I’m continuously adding more and more salt. Now what will happen?
A: sir, I don’t think it will make any difference.
P1: so what will happen at time infinity? Will it meet?
A*ponders*: hmmm no sir.
P1: have you heard of super-saturated solution?
A*oh my god*: sorry sir, it will meet x axis and not on time infinity but long before that. It will depend upon solubility of solute in solvent, temperature and many other factors.
P1*smiles*: and what about in other case?
A: it will depend upon amount added, after a particular amount, solute will stop dissolving and rest all will settle down as precipitate.
P1: so have you heard of super-saturated solution?
A: yes sir. Blah blah
P1: what will happen if its sugar in place of salt?
A: nothing will change sir, just solubility is different for sugar and salt, so only shape of curve will change but not its nature*smiles*
P3: in your weaknesses you have written that sometimes you get so engrossed in work of your liking that you tend to forget your other responsibilities
A: yes sir
P3: so while playing computer games, you ignored your studies?
A: not exactly sir
P3: but you get so involved that you don’t know what is going on around you?
A: yes sir, sometimes I won’t even realize that my friend came into my room.
P3: can you tell me some other incident when you get so involved where you compromised your studies?
A*since cgpa is not good, no point arguing that I never compromised*: sir, during illumination competition, I was involved in huge magnitude. It the kind of work I like to do and in sync with my skills.*please ask me question on illu*. I was heavily involved for about a month during all four years of my stay and at that time I fell I have compromised with my studies. But I feel that helped me in many other fronts. I learnt various other intangible skills like how to work in team, how to take decisions, how to manage resources, how to motivate people and I feel I’m a much better person now.
P3: now you said your hobby is analyzing movies
A*yo baby !!*: yes sir!! *smiles*
P3: ok, latest movie I saw was "GURU". Can you analyze that movie for me?
P3*turn to other panelists*: have you seen that movie?
P1: yes, I have *smiles*
P2:*nodded*
P3: anshul please go ahead.
A: sir, I feel the strongest point of the movie was its story. It was written brilliantly and was well executed too. Its amazing how one can portray almost lifespan of a person in such a short time and still able to tell what he wants. It helped maniratnam to direct a movie for which he himself has written the script and screenplay. This way he can execute his vision properly without any conflict of interests and opinions. He directed it brilliantly, and the movie was very gripping. Pace was good, but still I feel the length of the movie was not acceptable. It was way too long. And camera work I didn’t like much. For a director of maniratnam’s caliber I was expecting a better job with more close-ups.
Movie could have been shorten by not picturising few songs. I can’t see rationale behind that twins songs.
P3: as a matter of fact, do you think any song is necessary?
A: no sir, I’m not in a favor of songs in movie. At least not in favor of increment the length of movie half an hour that way.
P3: why do they out songs?
A: sir, mostly because it appeal to the masses here.
P3: what do you think?
A: sir I feel many a times lyrics of the song add to intensity of the shot. Let’s say a romantic song will help people understand song the deep feeling of love of couples for each other. Like the song “tere bina” portrayed exactly that.
P3: but don’t you think directors anyways do that in the scenes. And also they are providing visual aid to a story.
A: sir, I agree but songs are more appealing. They have rhythm and they can shape up the mood in a much better way than any shot. But I personally feel for that running around the tree and dancing is not the only way. I feel they should play the song in the background and vary the volume accordingly. If there are some dialogues then the volume should come down to almost mute level, while it can be raised again later. It will reduce the length of the movie significantly.
P3: ok. Anything else you wish to say about the movie.
A: sir I was moved by the acting of abhishek bachchan. He was superb.
P3: can you elaborate
A: sir, the intensity in his eyes was brilliant. I feel this was his best roles till date and this was his best performance till date. He delivered exactly what was expected out of him. He had that sign of passion and confidence in his body language. In particular I like the scene in which he encounters the businessman in the market. He was superb. I liked the way he picked up gujrati accent.
P3: you speak gujrati?
A: no sir.
P3: then how do you know that his accent was good?
A: sir, I don’t know if it was authentic or not, but he felt comfortable with it. I have seen many movies in which people pick up accent but perform below par. I feel that he had done a great deal of homework.
P3: what about aishwarya?
A: sir, I feel she was ok. She was looking very graceful. I should appreciate makeup artist for that.
P3: hmmm.
P3* turns to other panelists*: you want to ask something else?
P1: it’s ok.
P2: it’s ok
P3: thanks you anshul
A: thank you sir
P2: please collect your certificates and yeah*smiles* please have some toffees.
A*takes on melody :D*: thank you sir !! :)

so this was it. remember all this i faced when i have slept only for 10 hours in last 72 hours. yeah yeah champions league and office were taking its toll on me. and the fact that i was going to face A's interview was giving me nightmares and i had spent a lots of sleepless-rolling-on-the-bed nights.

please keep your fingers crossed :D

My new Liverpool tee-shirt

2007-03-08T02:01:00.000-08:00

i luv it..
photo quality is not tht good though :( but whatever.
aint it sexy ??

You'll Never Walk Alone !!

2007-03-06T20:44:00.000-08:00

They have done it.

"The Reds" have done it yet another time. They have kicked out tournament favourites and last year's winner, the spanish giants barcelona. Barca was outperformed in every aspect of the game. Though Barca was a star studded team, with almost all the players constantly performing on international standards and playing for thr country, Liverpool have shown them what a good team-game is.

Line-ups for the team were

Liverpool:
Reina
Steve Finnan
Jamie Carragher
John Arne Riise
Alvaro Arbeloa
Daniel Agger
Xabi Alonso

Mohammaed Sissoko

Steven Gerrard

Dirk Kuyt

Craig Bellamy

Barcelona

Victor Valdes

Carlos Puyol

Marquez

Lillian Thuram

Oleguer

Deco

Ineista

Xavi

Ronaldinho

Eto'o

Messi

More than anything it was a tactical win for Rafa Benitez. He had answer and a very solid and fatal reply to every move by Rijkaard. Rijkaard was outwitted in every strategy. And Rafa's players gave him tremendous support as well. They were spot on. Every one was aware of his duty. Every one knew the importance of this match, and everyone performed according to the need. Rijkaard was going bonkers. He tried each and everything he could have and shuffled his team formation majorly, but Rafa was unmoved, and so was scorecard.

Best move according to me was making Gerrard a left winger. He is a class act, and i guess one of the few person who can contain Ronadinho, alone !! he was well supported by Riise.Riise also had few good chaces, which unfortunately he was not able to capitalise. Both of them were too good for the brazilian and kept in under control almost entire first half. And Arbeloa though very inexperienced, did a marvelous job in checking Messi. His job was to keep a check on Messi's pace, and he worked like a charm.

Defense was the key for the Merseyside. They had no big names in thr, but collectively they were like an untrespassable wall. Carragher and Finnan were spot on. They made so many crucial tackels and with great perfection, both inside and outside the box. Reina also showed great spirit and hardly made any mistake throughout the game. One of the rare times when he impressed me.

And putting Sissoko in place of Mascherano was expected, as "The Reds" wanted more stability in defense and they were counting on counter-attacks only. And they knew Valdes was the weak link in barca defense and they have almost exploited in many a times, but woodwork came up as an unexpected friend for spaniards. Barca defense was very vulnerable and they were extremly weak in air. This is one thing tht recently came up with them and they are suffering major for it.

"the Reds" started with a bang. During first half, Riise got few great chances, but was denied somehow. Valdes made on super-humanly, i call it fluke though, save to deny both Bellamy and Kuyt. Condition was so much with english side that by the time they had like 12 shots at goal, spanish side had ZILCH !! :D. They were aggresive in every aspect of the game. They didnt have much possession, but managed to keep ball in the safe zone almost throughout the match.

But they came back strongly in second half, and made few good attempt, one of which payed off. Godjohnson scored. But then chanting of the anthem "you'll never walk alone" started. and then barca was no more in the game.

Finally liverpool lost 1-0.But due to more away goals, "the Reds" advanced to the next rounds. :)

My wishes with them and yeah, i want to say "You'll Nevere Walk Alone".

Black Friday

2007-02-21T04:06:00.000-08:00

a technical masterpiece !!!! another chilling crime drama by anurag kashyap after satya. and trust me this guy knows the spirit of mumbai underworld, and not only just of small scale"paploos" but also of the "biggies".

this is one of those few indian dramas, which can compete with any international standard. it scores high on all the fronts. a gripping story and a beautiful screenplay that did full justice to the book. direction is spot-on and the best thing about it is the clarity of thoughts of the director. he knew exactly what to present and how to do so. editing and camera work is state of an art.

as usual kay kay menon is outstanding, but for me the pick of the movie is pavan malhotra. the ease with which he executed the role was simply mind numbing. his eyes always had that passion which u will see in a man, with a mission. he is supposed to be ruthless, extremly ruthless and he delivered it.

this movie is an ace in storytelling. based on a real story, director got a great help with that fabulous script. but to execute it to such perfection needs caliber and passion. the ease with which he captures the spirit of the script was really commendable. and not to forget he got the help with entire crew.

right from the beginning i was feeling that the director is heavily inspired by quentin tarantino. by the end of the movie was damn sure of it. that chapter-wise presentation, those close-ups, excessive blood shed, lots of red colour, use of explecitives and most importantly non-chronological event based story telling was like watching a tarantino movie. and i am really impressed. he picks up a lof of small things with such an ease, it reminded me of gulzaar. small things like cracking knucles, empty drawer in tiger memon's home, ruthless 3rd degrees and a lot more. i'm impressed again.one good example was the traces of humour in first half. he portrayed character of kay kay with a perfection. he displayed the lighter part of his personality to show, how cool he is even in such a tragic and tense situation.

besides all this, i am very much impressed by two more things. firstly, that high-pitch piercing whistle sort of sound in background at the time of bomb blast. and use of hue(red) while capturing the frames for interrogations.this was very very thoughtful of director.both of them created some sort of nausea and discomfort in sub-concious and rightly so. this director knows how to go beyond just that standard "light-camera-action-cut".

it has some flaws as well. before interval movie seems to loose it pace and director, his grip. that chase scene of imtitaz was one fucked up scene. and at times movie seems to be stretched. director should have made it smaller by 20 odd mins. but u r forgiven mr.kashyap !!

and yeah, beautiful soundtrack by indian ocean.esp that song bande. brilliant!!

i'm not going to write anything about the story of the movie.it has to be seen. MUST WATCH for anyone. i'm sure indians are gong to make it big on internation scenario pretty soon.
just watch this movie !! if u dont like it, i'll refund ur money. most definately one of the best movie ever. one movie they should seriously think sending to oscars.

Interview iim k

2007-02-15T04:10:00.000-08:00

there were 2 profs in my panel. one was prof rp suresh and i have no clue about the other one. cant find him on the website.

GD topic was disinvestment of PSUs. GD was pretty good. no fish market, everyone contributed decently and lots of points came.

and excerpts of my interview are here

p1 = 1st panel member
p2 = 2nd panel member
a = anshul

p1: hello anshul
a: hello sir *takes his chair*

p1: you are a chem engg from iit kgp, working in a software industry and now planning to go for management. i cant see any relationship.
a*smiled, was expecting this*: sir, my jee rank was 1235 and chem engg was the best thing tht i was getting at iits.and at that point of time i was not aware wat exactly chem engg is and wat comp sci. is. and i worked really hard to get into iits and i was not interested going to some other engg college. but later in my second year i realised that i was not particularly interested in chem engg, but my interest lies in programming and software engg. so it was a well thought decision to move to the field of software engg. and management is wat i feel i want to do now. i love programming and that knowledge will certainly help me in my subsequent career in management.

p2: but dont u think, govt spent a lot of money making u a chem engg. and u wasted it.
a*screw govt.*: i dont think so sir. i feel more than acedemics, iit offered me quality ambience. i am a firm believer of peer learning, and i feel with the kind of exposure i got at kgp, it helped me learn a lot of intangible skills, which are going to be very helpful in my career. as one of my prof aptly said " at iit, we make u learn, how to learn". i believe i'm a much better person now.

p2:so tell me one good reason to believe that same thing wont be repeated if you enter in iims.
a: sir, iit was a mutual decision of my parents and me. and at that time i had a lot of peer pressure and parental pressure. but management is wat i feel i want to do. its my sole decision and i feel i am naturally motivated to do this. i have interest in managing things, and i believe i am ready now to take my job responsibility to next level.

p1: have u ever heard of a decreasing function.
a*how dumb u think i am*: yes sir, i have.
p1: you CGPA is a perfectly decreasing function.
a*lol, thts a nice way to put it*: sir, as i said earlier, in my second year i've realised tat i m not particularly interesrted in chem engg. so then i decided rather putting my efforts for something i dont believe in, i'll do stufff which i want to do and i'm good at. so i explored a lot of field there which were almost alien to me before. i participated and organized various events. i started exploring movies and music.i was/am an avid programmer. but with all these i made sure that i didnt lag in my studies. i tried my best to develop other skills, at the same time performing decently in my academics.
*shine in eyes*
and also sir, i feel the best way to analyze my academic performance will be to look at my semester GPA. and in first year when there were general subjects, i had a much better record. and after that it is almost constant. so proves that though i didnt have great deal of intererst in chem engg,but i still magaed to perform reasonable well, though not as good as my first year. and this explains the drop in gpa.

*i bitched about chem engg and made sure tht they wont ask me any academic funda*

p2: hmmm, so i see. you want to be a film critic.
a*come to big daddy*: yes sir.
p2: wat was the last movie you saw, anshul ?
a: sir, last movie i saw was "parzania" and "a few good men"
p2: so tell me something about "a few good men".
a* just wat i want u to ask me*

after this i gave them funda for 5 mins justifying wat jack nicholson did was good. his intension was clear, but results of the action was unfortunate.

p1: you support nazi or u like hitler?
a: sir, i do not agree to wat nazis did to jews. that was very extreme. but i do like hitler. i respect a person who can convince a whole nation to do wat he wants, and that too because of respect and not fear.
p1: ok

p1: so have you done something in which you hve lead a team of people.
a*aahaaa, my forte*: yes sir.and after that, i was giving them funda of illu.
p1: so as u told me, you need to convince people to work with yo for illu and motivate them. you knw, its been eons and management gurus are still not able to figure out, how to motivate people. and you said, you were able to do it. can u let me know, how u did it ??
a: sir, i have had a priviledge to have frnds and juniors, which were not very difficult to handle. and i had a very good rappot with most of them. so whenever i wanted them to work, i just went and met them personally and asked them to do this as a favour to me. and fortunately, most of the times, they listened to me and put thr efforts. i tried to make sure that they should have that emotional attachment to the whole process, and for this, i just tried to have thr maximum involvement.
p2: you know, this thing might work in college, but not in real life.
a: yes sir. i realise that, but i want to learn these tit bits of management, and thats why a formal management education will be a big asset in my career.

p1: p2, you want to ask someting else.
p2: no, its ok
p1: well then, anshul. its all from our side
a: thank you sir :)

2006-10-19T12:20:00.000-07:00

meet kalu.

he lives in suburbs of pune. he is 12 year old, though u cant make it out from the way he talks. he is polite, gentle and very mature. his family on paper is a pernnially sick mother, and a cute sis who is 8 yrs old. his dad was a rickshw puller, who died 3 years back in an accident.

he studies in 5th grade and his sis in 1st. he used to work at sweets shop of bhola guru during evening hours. guru was really nice to him, and besides daily wages, he also help kalu by giving him books, clothes and medicines for his mother.

this was kalu 4 weeks back. happy and satisfied. but now, he is not going to school, because he has to spend time on signals and beg for money. thnx to the ban on child labour. the law just managed to blow his self-respect.

raped !!

2006-09-25T00:10:00.001-07:00

i was googling today and came across this piece of news. and i am shocked to the core. male dominated society is one thing, but this time the limits have been crossed.

this news is about a 11 yr old girl in pakistan who is frequently being used by her father and her frnds, to have some "fun" with a young girl.her mom knows about it but she prefer to keep it to herself. frustated and wrecked, that girl runs away. police get hold of her, so poor girl tells them about those horrible incidents and her mom testifies it. but wat followed next, can only be happen in a land where morality is unheard of.

the law states, unless a girl can produce "4 male muslim witness" as a proof of being raped, she will be convicted for adultery. and harsh hudood laws make sure that extra marital affiars are dealt strictly. and ofcourse a woman's testimony carries no weightage, even if she is muslim.i dont know wat hurts me more : producing "4 male muslim witness" or idea of producing witness and not relying on DNA tests and all.

rape is a mental trauma that cant be described in words. but in pakistan trauma does not end after getting physically and mentally molested. you try to seek for justice and this time law makes a mockery of your appeal. you will be charged of getting indulged in a sexual extravagenza and raising a finger towards rapist, finally you end up in jail.

bravo !!

is thr anyone out thr to listen to all those poor gurls who are being used merely as sex toys, for which one dont even have to buy a ticket to get a ride. they talk about human rights. why the hell are they are not speaking on this matter. and this is just one case that came into highlight, but wat about million other girls. rape by father !!! no punishment will be enough for such a crime. cha !!

i rememebr seeing a video involving penectomy for a rapist in iraq. i guess anything less than that is not justice. for a crime as hideous as this one, capitol punishment is not enough. just chop of his source of so-called "manhood". may be it is strict and extremly inhuman, but i will stand for it. the punishment should be so hard that even thought should send shivers in the spines of every man trying to have some "fun".

fuck these laws and fuck you prez.

sigh !! :(

2006-09-21T02:42:00.000-07:00

was just going thru this news.

so now they are making JEE a objective type paper. cool !! ministry of HRD is all set to degrade one of the best exam all over the world. and the reason they give it for this brainless move is that it will help reducing stress. roflmao !! JEE is all about the few guys who can take that stress. i dont want to sound like a bragget, but i have had it and i jhelofied it. and so did a lot of my frnds. if they can, i can, why cant anyone else.

wat is troubling me even more is the fact that every year they are virtually screwing up the level of the paper. the peak was achieved in 90's when the each paper just had 6-10 ques and all of them were directly summoned from geeky hell. that time they were looking more for the approach rather than the exact answer. but now attention is shifting from intelligence to speed. but then CAT is there for that. why compromising on JEE. let it be wat it is known for. let it be one of the toughest paper around.

and with quota system just about to be implimented, no wonder level will fall even more. with objective ques they will miss out the most important thing, that all guys at iit seem to have i.e. approach to solve a particular problem. its about that lateral thinking. its about rugged schedules, never ending nightouts, and conceptual brilliance. JEE was never tough for the one who is thorough with the concepts. ofcourse hardwork is the key for that. and after that, a lil bit of confidence and traces of luck will land u into iit.

but now, i dont know wat they are looking for.i just hope that this day never arrives when a company recruiting ppl ask one to put in the resume which year he/she cleared JEE. its already getting tougher to get schols in US univs these days. and thes stupid policies will be final nail in the coffin.

and all i can do is curse them and write this blog !! :(

being thin !!

2006-09-21T01:33:00.000-07:00

recently in madrid fashion week, a russian model fainted on ramp and collapsed later. they say she was living on green leaves and diet coke for past few months. all in attempt to be a skinny, HOT model. and she paid for it dearly. models have to undergo enourmopus stress both mentally and physically before every ramp performance.and with event like MFW which is considered to be one of the most profilic one(comes only after paris, milan, ny ), schedules are obviously hectic, deadlines are stringent and expectations are higher. its not easy to cope up with all this pressure along with working for like 15 hrs a day on a meager diet.

so wat is it that a lot of girls compromise on diet to get a pencil slim body ?? is being fit is not in anymore ?? and who says being skinny is being sexy ??

i guess a fat ass like me will never understand.

2006-09-21T01:17:00.000-07:00

tagged by sakshi. finally i'm doing this.
ths one in bold are those i have done

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink.*(nah !! though paid for booze of my frnds, but not in a bar)
02. Swam with wild dolphins.*
03. Climbed a mountain.
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive. Schumi take a back seat. ******* (though i'll prefer mika on mclaren)
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid. *******************
06. Held a tarantula.* thnx
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone?*******
08. Said 'I love you' and meant it.
09. Hugged a tree.
10. Bungee jumped.
11. Visited Paris.****
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea.****************
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise.(a daily routine in coll)
14. Seen the Northern Lights ***********
15. Gone to a huge sports game.(if interhall counts, thn countless)
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa. *
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables.
18. Touched an iceberg.
19. Slept under the stars.
20. Changed a baby's diaper.(cant do it, babies who wear diapers are too delicate and i'm scared of them)
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon. ***
22. Watched a meteor shower.
23. Gotten drunk on champagne? * (again,i dont drink)
24. Given more than you can afford to charity.
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope.
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment.(in climax of mohabbatien, and my frnds were embaressed to the core)
27. Had a food fight.(usually ppl dont bother fighting wid me coz of my size)
28. Bet on a winning horse.****(cricket/football/f1 counts ?? then yes)
29. Asked out a stranger.
30. Had a snowball fight.
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can.
32. Held a lamb.
33. Seen a total eclipse.(both)
34. Ridden a roller coaster.
35. Hit a home run. * (was playing with a tennis ball and cricket stump)
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking.(millions of times)
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day.
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment.
39. Had two hard drives for your computer.(even now one 20 and other 160)
40. Visited all 10 provinces .(in india more thn 10)
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk.( being the only one who does not drink, hell yeah !!)42. Had amazing friends. (always had)
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country. *********
44. Watched wild whales .*
45. Stolen a sign.
46. Backpacked in Europe.*******************
47. Taken a road-trip.
48. Gone rock climbing.
49. Midnight walk on the beach.*
50. Gone sky diving. ***********************
51. Visited Ireland.****
52. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love. (wont say heartbroken, but yes single)
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them. (duh !! i'm an indian)
54. Visited Japan. **
55. Milked a cow.
56. Alphabetized your cds.
57. Pretended to be a superhero (superman, logan, spiderman and wat not !!)
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lazed around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers. (caught nude in front of frnds)
61. Gone scuba diving.***
62. Kissed in the rain.******************
63. Played in the mud.(bliss !!)
64. Played in the rain. (lost the count)
65. Gone to a drive-in theater.*****************
66. Visited the Great Wall of China. **
67. Started a business.
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken.(yeah !! ) :)
69. Toured ancient sites – (my hometown is ujjain, one of the most famous and ancient city of country)
70. Taken a martial arts class.(lol, you wudnt belive now, but i used to take 'em)
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight. D&D ???
72. Been in a movie.(homemade movie..yeahhh !!)
73. Crashed a party – (yeah !!, but was not alone)
74. Gone without food for 5 days * (thnx a lot !!)
75. Made cookies from scratch.*
76. Won first prize in a costume contest.
77. Ridden a gondola in Venice ****
78. Gotten a tattoo ******** (my dad got a stroke when i asked for his permission)
79. Rafted the Snake River.(yo sikkim !!!)
80. Been on television news programs as an "expert" .*(again, thnx alot )
81. Got flowers for no reason. *(wat a waste of money)
82. Performed on stage.
83. Been to Las Vegas *******
84. Recorded music.(yeah, have done all such bullshits)
85. Had a one-night stand.* (sex for me is exclusive, so i dont belive in one night stands)
86. Gone to Thailand.**
87. Bought a house.*
88. Been in a combat zone.
89 Buried one of your parents.* (god forbids)
90. Been on a cruise ship. No. ***
91. Spoken more than one language fluently. (hindi english, and used to speak german)
92. Performed in Rocky Horror.
93. Created and named your own constellation of stars. (yes,i remeber it naming bambooka !!)
94. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over.*(again, thnx alot )
95. Wrote article for a large publication.*** (school magazines count ??)
96. Petted a stingray.* ( RIP Irwine)
97. Broken someone's heart.
98. Gone on an African photo safari****************
99. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol.(NCC)
100. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild. * (i think twice before eating mushrooms in restaurent, let alone wild one)
101. Ridden a horse.
102. Had a snake as a pet. * (lol, you are funny !!)
103. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon **
104. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours (much more than tht)
105. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states.********************************************
106. Visited all 7 continents ******************************************************************************
107. Eaten sushi. (i dint like it much though )
108. Had your picture in the newspaper.(yup, after i got selected in JEE) :D
109. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about. ( born negotiator)
110. Gone back to school ******* (B schools)
112. Eaten fried green tomatoes. * (never attracted towards them)
113. Read The Iliad. ** (rather read wikipedia articles on greek mythology )
115. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read. (playboy !!, can u belive it i just got september edition of playboy e-book)
116. Killed and prepared an animal for eating. * (i'll rather eat prepared one)
117. Skipped all your school reunions. (i was the organiser of the one and only we had :D)
118. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language. (yes !!!!)
119. Dyed your hair.** (i hardly have any hair on my head)
120. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream. (yup !!)

and i tag everyone who read it but has not taken this tag :P

return of the god !!

2006-09-14T23:59:00.000-07:00

title says it all. the god is back, and back with a bang. 142* on a pitch like that. not easy !!

that pitch was a bitch. (oh it rhymes !!, i'm genius). it has the most uneven bounce ever. reason being a few very rough pathces here and there, and a lot of grass stubbles. one can never predict where the ball will go, once it lands in those pathetic regions.while most of them kept low, a few of them were unpredictably bouncy. but besides those pathces, it was a decent pitch to play on. ball was coming nicely on bat, and it gives more chances to execute shots.

he was dropped a catch on 11. a terrible misunderstanding between keepr and 1st slip, and it cost them dearly. its not very often to see master playing a noticable knock againt windies, but last one was exceptional. we saw it all. that maturity that he has developed in recent times, that aggression that we thought he has lost, and the best of all those 6s. oh i know how much i missed them. its been eons since he has hit more than four 6s in a match. last time it was in '00, and before that in '98(the year which confirmed his GOD status, remember those sharjah miracles). even he could not have asked for a better comeback.

he played fast and furious for first 7-8 over, and ripped the balls apart of taylor and edwards. but somehow gayle and bradshaw were able to put a chk on him. but then in last slog overs, no one was able to withstand the whirlwind. he played all over the ground. played those lofted shots that he refrained after tht shoulder injury. he was looking calm, fit and deadly !! more lethal than ever. timing of shots, as usual was perfect. but shot selection was indeed entertaining. its always more fun to watch ball fly past boundary, than see it rolling.

lets talk about those fliers. first one came of a slower one, shortpitched delivery. he anticipated it and then came that amazing pull. Boom !! then for the next one i have to wait almost for 40 overs. but then he said, start rolling the counter. second one was absolutely amazing shot. overpitched ball, pitched outside off stump, which gave him enough room. he just swung his bat, had that amazing contact sound, and BOOM !! over the covers, the followthrough was the key. third one was the exact ^c ^v of the second one. same over.fourth one was more of a traditional shot. slower one, and full swing of bat, threw the ball out of mid-wicket boundary. then came the shot of the day. similar to 2nd and 3rd, just this time, the ball was not pitched up ahead and didnt give him much of a room either. but he charged in, came down the wicket, made some room for himself, trasferred full bodyweight. BOOM !!!! again over covers, it went miles.classic !!

oh wat an inning !! certainly one of the best innings ever. his 40th ODI century, gave him 51st man of the match. is someone still saying he shud retire ??

2006-09-11T03:44:00.000-07:00

i found this tag wandering randomly..different !!

1)Are you happy/satisfied with your blog with it's content and look?
i was not, a week back, but now now i'm pretty much satisfied.

2) Does your family know about your blog?
my aunt and my sis knows, and thts a big big prob. cant swear :(( my mumma knows i write, but i never gave her address of my blog

3) Do you feel embarrassed to let your friends know about your blog or you just consider it as a private thing?
wat the hell !! i'm a shameless self-publicist. i actually curse my frnd who dont read my blogs and make them do it, by spamming in thr inbox

4) Did blogs cause positive changes in your thoughts?
Oh yes. really sometimes on a post they start a good discussion. and its always fun to know other's point of view. its different wether i agree to it or not.

5) Do you only open the blogs of those who comment on your blog or you love to go and discover more by yourself?
i am a born wanderer and blogger is no exception for me. i just enjoy going around and reading stuff. not always i drop a comment thr, but i try to do it. infact this tag i found roaming somewhere to be precise on this blog . Thanks !! :)

6) Did you try to imagine your fellow bloggers and give them real pictures?
i have seen a lot of them. and i dont try to picture them, until i have known them decently. not fair na !! but then i just go ahead and ask for the picture. poor sakshi !! :D medusa..rofl

7) Admit. Do you think there is a real benefit for blogging?
i can bullshit all i want.

8) Do you think that bloggers society is isolated from real world or interacts with events?
everyone has diff things to say. some vent out thr frustation, some thr love for life. some do it just for fun..so depends.

9) Does criticism annoy you or do you feel it's a normal thing?
should it ?? not at all, everyone has its own point of view. i may or may not agree to it, but it certainly wont annoy me.

10) Do you fear of some political blogs and avoid them?
duh !! like i care.

11) Did you get shocked by the arrest of some bloggers?
who ???

12) Did you think about what will happen to your blog after you die?
i will be counted in likes of van gogh and william blake. who were not recognised in thr life, but after tht :P

13) What do you like to hear? What's the song you like to put its link in your blog?
my fav song changes every week. so lets not talk about them. last week it was opeth : closure, now its U2 : where the streets have no name

14) Five bloggers to be the next "victims"?
five..nah !! i'll tag more.
1)sakshi
2)lalit
3)tarun
4)amiya
5)ishani
6)hemu
7)vijeta
8)krithika
9)vampy
10)psycho
11)sonik
12)arnav
13)akhil

*********edit*************
i'm tagging another person, you asked for it dude.
14)crackfire

Tags and quizzies

2006-09-11T03:40:00.000-07:00

thnx to sakshi for a lot of them.

Nerdy quotient

i dunno wether to be proud of this score or be ashamed of it. i wont mind being a nerd, as long as ppl dont misjudge me and call me bore :D

Brain test -

You Are 40% Left Brained, 60% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning.
Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others.
If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic.
Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet.

The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility.
Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way.
If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art.
Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

LITBM : finally resolved

2006-09-08T22:38:00.000-07:00

So this Egg and this Chicken are going at it pretty fast and furious in bed and suddenly the chicken groans, rolls over and lights up a ciggy, looking very content.

The egg rolls to the other side and says "Well, that answers that question".

The Dilbert Contest

2006-09-07T21:30:00.000-07:00

A magazine recently ran a Dilbert Quotes contest. They were looking for people to submit quotes from their real-life Dilbert-comic-strip-type managers. These were voted the top quotes from the managers we work for in corporate America. Interesting read!!

"We know that communication is a problem, but the company is not going to discuss it with the employees."
(Switching supervisor, AT&T Long Lines Division)

My sister passed away and her funeral was scheduled for Monday. When I told my Boss, he said she died on purpose so that I would have to miss work on the busiest day of the year. He then asked if we could change her burial to Friday. He said, "That would be better for me."
(Shipping executive, FTD Florists)

Quote from the Boss: "Teamwork is a lot of people doing what I say."
(Marketing executive, Citrix Corporation)

"No one will believe you solved this problem in one day! We've been working on it for months. Now go act busy for a few weeks and I'll let you know when it's time to tell them."
(R&D supervisor, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing/3M Corp.)

"Doing it right is no excuse for not meeting the schedule ."
(Plant Manager, Delco Corporation)

"This project is so important we can't let things that are more important interfere with it."
(Advertising/Marketing manager, United Parcel Service)

"E-mail is not to be used to pass on information or data. It should be used only for company business."
(Accounting manager, Electric Boat Company)

"What I need is an exact list of specific unknown problems we might encounter."
(Lykes Lines Shipping)

And the winner is :

"As of tomorrow, employees will only be able to access the building using individual security cards. Pictures will be taken next Wednesday, and employees will receive their cards in two weeks."
( Fred Dales,Microsoft Corp. in Redmond WA)

New Template

2006-09-05T00:34:00.000-07:00

let me know waddya think of it ?? :)

modifying it is a major pain as i dont know AJAX and xHTML, but am working on it and planning to introduce few more changes. wat better way to kill time at ofc..wot say ?

***********edit************

there is some problem with the slide show, but i will fix it soon
and to post comment..click on title of the post :)

happy blogging !!! :)

***************help me !!! ********************

its not working fine in mozilla and opera for me.please let me know if its just me, or all of u.working fine on internet explorer though !!

oh SHIT !!

2006-09-05T00:31:00.000-07:00

this is how the word SHIT was invented. interesting read.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, before commercial fertilizer was invented,large shipments of manure were transported by ship. It was shipped in dry bundles because in dry form it weighed a lot less than when wet. But once water hit it at sea, it not only became heavier, but the process of fermentation began, a by- product of which is methane gas.

It didn't take long for methane to build up below decks and the first time someone came below at night with a lantern, BOOM! Several ships were destroyed in this manner before somebody figured out what was happening.

Once they determined the role that manure played in the explosions, everybody began stamping the bundles with the term "Ship High In Transit", so that the sailors would know to stow it high enough off the lower decks so that any water that came into the hold would not touch this volatile cargo and start the production of methane.

Thus evolved the term "S.H.I.T," which has come down through the centuries and is in use to this very day.

Adios

2006-09-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

Bows to you champion !!
farewell !! :)
you will always be my fav player :)

Purple Haze

2006-09-03T11:27:00.000-07:00

wodden floor, saffron lit ceiling, comfortable sofas, dark yet gloomy ambience, hiccup inducing cocktails, draught beer, mushy mocktails, 10000 W bose sound system and rock and roll. ladies and gentlemen, may i proudly present, the pub of the bangalore, Purple Haze.

a place 'to be' on weekends. had a treat thr yesterday. so even better. drink and eat all u want and it will be billed on someone else's plastic. its more fun that way. B was giving me treat and G was along with him.

i was suppose to reach thr by 7:30. but then life arnd me can never be normal. my roomies P and S had to go out somewhere for half an hour around 4 o'clock. i was taking a nap in afti so i asked them to lock the door from outside and warned them not to disturb me.

it was 7 o'clock and i was thrilled. was going to purple haze after a long long time.awesome !! i was all ready. mast tees, jeans aur a lot of deo :D. was going out to get an auto,just to find out that these two arses were still not home.they were somewhere 15 kms away from home. it cundnt have been a better spoiler. i was bugged, so called them and shouted my ass off.

but then i realized i had the keys. so 'another' brilliant idea flashed in my mind. i called up the water guy and asked him to get water can for us. though can at home was not even half empty, but then i cant think of any better thing. poor guy came and i asked him to unlock the door for me. and amazing i didnt even have cash to pay him. so i asked him to take money later, and didnt even gave him the old can. he sure wud be cursing me. aah but watever !! free as a bird.

then i got an auto and reached purple haze. *ok sherlock holmes, i had money enough to pay the auto guy* and then at gate, there was a big huge, even by my standards, bouncer to greet me. you never carry money on a treat. but cell was still there. called up B and ask him to deal with bouncer and his cover charges. and then he escorted me in.

fundoo ambience. and i was welcomed by 'tears in heaven'. ok this may be irrelevant, but this song was written by clapton in memory of his four and a half year son who fell down from his apartment on 53rd floor. now pay attenion to the lyrics, it will make whole lot more sense.

playlist was amazing..dont remember all the songs but here are the few i know and remember

Eric clapton : tears in heaven
U2 : where the streets have no name
Nirvana : come as you are
Alice in chains : man in the box
Godsmack : i stand alone
Whitesnake : still of the night
Pantera : primal concrete sledge
Rammstien : ich will
Nirvana : smells like teen spirit
Iron Maiden : bring your daughter to the slaughter
Dio : holy diver \m/
Metallica : one
Peral Jam : jeremy
Pink Floyd : echoes
AC/DC : highway to hell
Ozzy : shot in the dark
Judas Priest : a touch of evil
...and a lot more

3 hrs thr were awesome. and best was when dj turned the super bass on while playing 'one'. brilliant. the floor waas shaking..and every where one cud see people just banging thr head insanely. junta was bizzy gulping beer..and i was bizzy reducing the count of roosters on this planet :P

and B was going berserk. anyone will after 3 pitchers. and bastard spilled the whole lot of beer on my jeans..its still stinking :(..and i have no intensions to give it for laundry for quite some time.

now insanity. he came on the floor and started banging his head. body was going wild in tht freelance desi bhangra. it was beyond my understanding how can anyone dance like tht on some decently hard tracks. but those who know him, knows B is capable of doing it, and much more.

somehow managed to get him out of the pub. my god. it felt aweful. my ears were pratically numb and i can lit feel hammer banging on my head.a frndly adv, sudden change of ambience can invoke crazy suicidal thoughts in ur head. something similar happened to G then and he promised to give me a treat next week. for no reason. lucky me !! :D

restroom adventures

2006-08-28T21:33:00.000-07:00

oh, i have done it a lot of times before. just that this time i decided to make it public, ahem rather more public. this 'harkat' is often considered benchmark for nuiances by my fellows. though i have done things more gross than this one, but to maintain decorum of this blog, lets not push it, and stick to this one

this all happened few days back. most of u wud know, how difficult these post lunch sessions are. you just can keep ur eyes open. and wat makes matters worse, nice comfortable chairs in cool, calm ambience. perfect to take you in 'aagosh of nidra devi'. oh it was just one of those days, i was wasting time till late the night before, somehow managed to get the bus to the office in the morning, and as usual didnt feel like working. though i didnt have much work that day but like anyone else, my boss gets some kind of sadistic pleasure when he sees me sitting on my chair even though i stare aimlessly and with zero productivity in my moniter. and if you ask to leave early he will give you a face so disgusted, that even mrs lincon wudnt have given being asked upon about the play.

yeah, i was yawning majorly. oh i am yawning even now *yawwwwwwwwwn*. anyways back to topic. i was yawning and desperatly wanted to sleep. and darn them, unlike few companies, mine does not provide basic infrastructure like dorm to thr employees. and i knew it can be suicidal and appriasal killer to sleep on desk, for two reasons mainly. this boss is new and not much aware of my sleeping-in-meetings syndrome and second and more important one, he is more strict and pain. poor me :(

even in that lathargic mood my head was working like a F1 car, to think of an alternate place. yeah yeah, all u intellugent ass by now must have guessed what place i m talking about. and for the dumber ones, i'll make the task easy. it was a commode. its not as gross as it sounds. in software companies, you have nice clean toilets, with seats shining as if they are just polished by mercury and air smelling really good. and hygiene factor is much higher that wat you'll usually find in a bachelor's apartment.

so it was in that moment, i swiped out of ODC(offshore development centre) and headed straight to restroom. then i ensured it was empty and then looked for the most dry and clean one i could find. i placed the lid over the seat, and rested my ass comfortably on it. put an alarm of half an hour, and slided my head to rest over flush. and zzzzz...

where thrz a will, thrz a way !!

Omkara the movie

2006-08-14T02:51:00.000-07:00

We talk about bad writers, we talk about good writers, we talk about
mind-blowing writers and then we talk about "Shakespeare". this genius
is a master of tragedies, and so he proved again in "Othello". mind
blowing script it was, and all credit should be given to vishal
bhardwaj to do all justice with the masterpiece. the movie is an
indianised version of Othello, set in rural backgrounds of eastern UP.

i wont disclose the story, though a lot of people might already know
it. but there is a minor change in the end, which according to the
director, how he wanted Shakespeare to write it.it has been taken care that
names of all the characters in actual play and in movie start with the same
syllable.

Omkara (Othello) : Ajay Devgan has outdone himself in this movie. He is
a leader of few vagrant young men, and is a terror in local neighbor. A
man of principles, he enjoys a uncompromising respect by the fellow
gang. and what Ajay did, was just perfect. he doesn't has to say much
with his mouth but his eyes did that . his body language in the movie is outstanding. In true sense he was able to bring out the dark authority
and the sense of possession and jealousy as expected by Othello. his stance
will give you an idea that he owns whatever surrounds him and everything
is in his control. even when he is weak and low, he displays that authority.

Dolly (Desdemona) : Kareena after a long long time, has shown some
excerpts of her talent, which seem to be lost in recent times. her
beauty is looking fresh and modest at the same time. she has delivered
much more than what i expected. her undying trust and respect for
omkara was captured beautifully by kareena.

Langra Tyagi (Lago) : Arguably Saif's best performance so far. This guy
has shown his competence is displaying 5 out of 7 deadly sins(gluttony,
greed, envy, pride, wrath and other two he didn't have to) with extreme
passion. his dialog delivery and body language was above par.as right
hand of "omi", he rightly is very confident and carefree. but what
struk me most was how swiftly and casually he is able to switch
between loyal langra to jealous langra and vice versa. i should admit,
i never thought that saif can deliver such a mind-numbing performance.
he is the revelation of the movie. hats off Indu (Emilia) : Konkana
steals the show among the fairer sex. she is vibrant and chirpy at
times and is able to exhibit her mental strength and toughness whenever
needed. she let her body flow with the theme of the movie with an ease
thats rare to find these days. though her character has to undergo few
changes from the original, but she is the one to be looked upon in the
movie. she anyways was expected to perform, and she did justice to the
role.

Kesu Firangi (Cassio) : Vivek did what he was supposed to do. he is a
relatively young lad in the gang and has to be the face of young
generation. he has given one of his best performance even,but it seems
simply average with likes of Ajay, saif and konkana along-with him.
girls are his weakness but his loyalty towards omi is countable. the
innocence on his face was good to see. but its his innocence that takes
him into pits.

Billo Chamanbahar (Bianca) : Bipasha is a slut, she looked like one.
her appealing sensuality along with her skills in bed makes her
irresistible to men. she was probably the weakest link in the movie,
and i feel should have been replaced by may be sushmita.

Bhaisaab (duke of Venice) : Naseeruddin Shah is one of those benchmark
actors with whom other actors are compared to. And as a role of
bhaisaab who plays brahmin politics in that region, naseer is flawless.
he is a political mentor and father-figure to omkara. perfectly blended
with his character, naseer bhai is on a roll.

But most creditable piece of work came from Vishal Bhardwaj, who made
his presence felt throughout, even though he was behind the scenes.
Direction and screenplay of movie is above par, by all standards. the
movie never lost the track in 3 hrs. brilliance and attitude was in
every scene, and every shot was done with flawless precision. this was
vishal's third movie on a lit classic and each time he seems to get
better.

i think this is the first Indian movie to have all sort of swear words
and abuses freely, but then thats how people in that part of country
talk. you will find it offensive only if u cant take reality. it adds
more to the mood of the movie. and so did the music. vishal was
uncompromising on this front as well. music emphasizes the dark and
bloody ambiance of the movie. only with scenes with dolly, tone of
music becomes a bit lighter and soothing. cinematography was spot on,
and lights are used pretty judiciously esp the scene in which omi
murders in front of train. camera work is good, but could have been
better.

all in all, one of the best movie to hit cinemas in recent times and
not just in Hindi. vishal bhardwaj, you made me your fan. i highly
recommend this movie to each and everyone who cherish cinema as an art
not mere entertainment. and please don't insult it by watching it on a
DVD.

mea culpa

2006-08-03T22:32:00.000-07:00

aajkal i m listening to a lot of Children of Bodom. Alexi, you are my hero.
this might sound destructive.

holding the scythe up and high,
a lake of blood he passes by,
smashing a bunch of maggots under his feet,
he loves the way they die.

he growls,
she cires
mea culpa
mea culpa
mea culpa
mea culpa

the dark woods he stroll into,
a foggy castle, he looks forward to,
as lightening struck the cellar,
doomed is the shelter, he seeks upto.

he growls,
she cires
mea culpa
mea culpa
mea culpa
mea culpa

waiting for the death to take his pride,
in a muddy damned graveyard they slide,
to wolf on land and ravens in air,
he offers the flesh of his virgin bride.

he growls,
she cires
mea culpa
mea culpa
mea culpa

LITBM : A Female Sexologist

2006-07-21T01:53:00.000-07:00

A man boards a Jet Airways airplane Delhi to Mumbai and takes his seat. As he settles in, he glances up and sees a very beautiful woman boarding the plane. He soon realizes she's heading straight towards his seat. Lo and behold, she takes the seat right beside his. Eager to strike up a conversation, he asks "Business trip or vacation?"

She turns, smiles, and says, "Business. I'm going to the annual Sexologists Convention."

He swallows hard. Here is the most gorgeous woman he has ever seen, sitting next to him, and she's a sexologist!

Struggling to contain his excitement and maintain his composure, he calmly asks, "What's your business role at this convention?"

"Lecturer," she says, "I use my experience to debunk some of the popular myths about sexuality."

"Really?" he says, swallowing hard. "What m-m-m-myths are those?"

Well," she explains, "one popular myth is that Negro men are the best endowed when, in fact, it's the Tamilian who is most likely to possess that trait. Another popular myth is that French men are the best lovers, when actually it is the Bengali. However, we have found that the best potential lover in all categories is the Sardarji."

Suddenly, the woman becomes a little uncomfortable and blushes. "I'm sorry," she says, "I shouldn't be discussing this with you. I don't even know your name!"

"Venkatraman!" the man blurts. "Venkatraman Mukherjee ! ... But my friends call me Santa Singh !"

LITBM : Why Russians are very good in CHESS

2006-07-20T00:25:00.000-07:00

ok, this is a new series i m introducing. Laughter Is The Best Medicine a.k.a LITBM. i'll appreciate if u rofl instead of a false imposed grin. more of this series to follow. anyways primary reason to start this series to regularly update my blog, even if i dont get time to write something.anyways for now 'enjoy maadi' ;)

After months of negotiation with the authorities, a Talmudist from
Odessa (in Russia) was granted permission to visit Moscow. He boarded
the train and found an empty seat. At the next stop a young man got on
and sat next to him. The scholar looked at the young man and thought:
This fellow doesn't look like a peasant, and if he isn't a peasant he
probably comes from this district. If he comes from this district,
then he must be Jewish because this is, after all, a Jewish district.

On the other hand, if he is a Jew, where could he be going? I'm the
only Jew in our district who has permission to travel to Moscow.

Ahh? But just outside Moscow there is a little village called Samvet,
and Jews don't need special permission to go there. But why would he
be going to Samvet?

He's probably going to visit one of the Jewish families there, but how
many Jewish families are there in Samvet? Only two - the Bernsteins
and the Steinbergs. The Bernsteins are a terrible family, and a nice
looking fellow like him must be visiting the Steinbergs. But why is he
going?

The Steinbergs have only daughters, so maybe he's their son-in-law.

But if he is, then which daughter did he marry? They say that Sarah
married a nice lawyer from Budapest, and Esther married a businessman
from Zhitomer, so it must be Sarah's husband. Which means that his
name is Alexander Cohen, if I'm not mistaken. But if he comes from
Budapest, with all the anti-Semitism they have there, he must have
changed his name.

What's the Hungarian equivalent of Cohen? Kovacs. But if they allowed
him to change his name, he must have some special status. What could
it be? A doctorate from the University.

At this point the scholar turns to the young man and says, "How do you
do, Dr. Kovacs?"

"Very well, thank you, sir." answered the startled passenger. But how
is it that you know my name

?"

"Oh," replied the Talmudist, "it was obvious."

Viva le Italia !!

2006-07-11T04:11:00.000-07:00

so this is it !!

Italy is the world champion for the fourth time. and they deserve every bit of it. after that bloody match with USA, they had a little contemplation, and then with every game the team improved on an exponential scale. not a lot of people(including me) expected the azzuris to perform so brilliantly.whole team was going through crisis. lot of members were from juventus and other serie a clubs, which are stuck into match fixing allegations at home. but all this only add to the mental strength and committment of the players of the nation, where football is more of a religion than a mere sport.

defence was better than ever, tougher to break and rock solid. pirlo's free kick were spot on, which covered up the fact the totti was out of form, to a great extent. and the best thing was italian team scored 12 goals in the tournament and they came out of 10 different players. how brilliant is that !!

this match had a glimpse of attacking italian side what we saw against the host nation, in the semis. first half was typically like that. they had greater possession of the ball. they made better moves and had more shots on the goal. this was quite different from what italy usually is known for. they have always been a good defensive side, with one motto counterattack and win. their strategy is simple, defense defense defense, counterattack and BAM !! GOOOOOALLL !!

but they knew, they had to be different and creative and more importantly, they had to keep changing the pace of the game and the strategies for this game. because this time they had to face the toughest opponent so far, the mighty french side. germans were tough too, but major attacks from italian side stunned them. and before thay can think of anything, they lost the match. but they cant play with the same stategy against france too.

first half, attack, attack and more attack. thn second half started and they were back to defensive style. they started to follow thr usual defense and counter attack game. french were not very sure of wat just struck them, and they failed to convert the few chances they got. and later, with viera and henry leaving the pitch, the azzuris knew that match is almost in thier hand.

anyways, match started in a dramatic manner with frech side fetching a penalty in 7th mintue. to me, it looked more like a fake dive, but referee's decision should not be doubted. and matterazi was given a foul, which he wont ever forget.the kick was taken by zizou and against him was buffon. both were the best in wat they do. anyways, zizou was sure that he is not going to end his career with a black spot of missing a penaly. he took a short run up, as usual, took a shot. it was not very powerful, infact it was more of a chip. buffon jumped to his right, but the ball was high and on left. and it hit the goalpost, diverted marginally into the goal, bounced back to hit the post again and then came out of the goal.

Both, french and italian supporters cheered with joy. but italian cheers couldn't last for long. refree decision. GOAL !! france had a 1-0 lead and tht too in just 7 minutes. french crowd was going mad and italian camp was going restless. italians unleashed the the best of thr attack after tht. but french defense was solid. at this point of time, i'd really want to appreciate french defense. with a keeper of barthez's caliber saving your post, defense has to be exceptionally good to concede just 3 goals in the tournament, of which one was a PK.

but italian attack didnt have to wait for long, as they scored in 19th minute of the game. pirlo was ready to take the second corner of the game. barthez was dazed and confused, and was not able to decide where he should stand.and ribery and abidal were on post with him. as usual cannavaro and matterazi were in the box, along with toni, totti, zamboratto and others. pirlo took a perfect shot, a lil high, diving low curvy projectile. and matterazi made no mistake to show this ball the way to the net.its revenge time. the tatto guy was unbeliveably thrilled. though i feel, barthez should have punched it out. ribery and abidal were mere spectators. but it was the equalizer. france 1 - italy 1

berlin was going crazy. people were shouting, howling and hugging each other. and quite similar was the ambience of my flat !! we all were thrilled...yipppiiieeee. suddenly the olympic stadium came alive, nd italian fans were cheering thr heros by singing thr tradition "oooaaa" ( i dont know wat its called, but i just love it, too sexy ) then italy tried few more attempts but thuram, makelele and abidal were alert to not to give any trouble to "King Barthez". and in the mean time ribery and henry tried few futile attempts to get past italian defense.

in second half, italy became all defensive, letting french forwards to dominate the game, which they did. unlike all his previous games,henry was in phenomenal form and made few really good attempts to bluff buffon, but later was too smart for it. but i should admit and appreciate the efforts of gattuso, who kept zidane under control throughout the game and not let him do, for what he is known for. another significant incident was a beautiful freekick from pirlo which landed in the goal by a well timed header, but alas !! was declared offside. this again was followed by lots of "oooo"s and "aaaaaa"s by italian fans.

and it was in this moment, that viera mishit the ball and this result in a hamstring trouble for the long legged midfielder. sadist italian supporters( include me too) went "yahooo !!": :D and he was replaced by diaba. in the mean time italy got de rossi(after 4 match, remember tht bloody US match) in place of totti. i personally hate this decision, but i wasnt able to let lippi know about it. ;) and few more substitutions which i dont remember. and so ended the second half with 1 goal each.

extra time, was not much different than second half, in term of position of ball, which again was in italy's half and french continued to dominate the game. but unfortunately, they were not able to find the net. ok, credit should be given to italian midfielders and defenders as well. then henry too got substituted. god, he looked exhausted. another "yahoo !!". italian defense was spot on throughout the game, but to my utter surprise they didnt commit a lot of fouls. only on few instances it looked vulnerable. one of them came in 2nd half of extra time. ribery who had a brilliant run from the right, chipped the ball towards virtually unmarked zizou !!, a mistake that could have been decisive. zidane knows how to capitalise such chances and he took an "almost" perfect header from the box. but almost !! buffon made an inhumanly save and punched the ball over the bar. sheer brillaince !!

5 minutes after that came the most dramatic incident of the match. another header by zizou, but this time it was matterazi's chest. that savage head butt, was like an unexpected bang on italian defender's chest. poor guy !! zizou is my all time fav player, but wat he did was shamefully unprofessional. so wat, if matterazi grabbed him during the match, or he might have said something foul to him. all this happenes in a match, and when its a world cup final, its inevitable .but happen watever, hitting someone in this manner is not at all acceptable. it was not acceptable to the referee as well, and french captain was immediatly sent off the field. why did you do that, zizou ?? it was your last match, and with only ten minutes to the whistle, you should not have done it. but watever, you still are my all time fav player. you have given me enough and more golden moments to help me forget this black one. and despite of this, he won well deserved "golden ball". but again, WHY ???

anyway, scored remained 1-1 after extra time as well. now it came to penaly kicks. everyone was sure, when it come to PKs, it is going to be unanimous. we had both world's best and worst goalkeeper on the pitch. and with french side without zizou, viera and henry its going to be even tougher for them. and buffon is king of penalty saving.

first kick, pirlo. beautifully hit. GOAL !!. then came wiltord for france. this expirienced striker didnt make any mistake to equalize the score. next came goal scorer, materazzi, to give itlians lead. then came trezguet. short crisp run up, and he chipped the ball. ball hit the goal post, and got deflected towards the ground, but poor guy, was not as lucky as zidane. italy got the lead. then del piero and de rossi converted for tialy and so did abidal and sagnol for french team. score now was 4-3. just one more goal. next came young grosso. barthez was tense and nervous, and grosso was about to take the kick of his life. he hit it with all the power in his body, barthez took a dive but it was a wasted attempt. that kick shaked the whole goal.

VICTORY !!!!!!!

Italy has done it, again. one side of the field, cannavaro and his gang was jumping with joy, and on the other side was the lifeless french squad. so close, yet so far. they were better throughout the game, but lady luck had some different plans. berlim olympic stadium was kicking by the frezy of italian supporters who were shouting on top of thier voice "viva le italia". no doubt, it was one of the best finals ever. a beautiful end to the beautiful tournament.

lets see wat happens next time in south africa. i hope spain can do something that time. amen !! :)

p.s. more world cup blogs to follow, post tourney blog.

Thats It !!

2006-06-28T06:38:00.000-07:00

spain lost !! :(
sniff sniff !! :( :(

Domination over Ukraine

2006-06-15T03:21:00.000-07:00

Wat a start to this world cup..GO SPAIN !!

my bet is on SPAIN..and yesterday they put on the most impressive display in this world cup, after the first round of group matches were over.Ukaine would have never thought that they were so vulnerable. Credit must be given to spanish goal machines. And not to forget more than half the time the team was playing without RAUL, who is hailed as best spanish player of all time.Couldnt possibly give a better start to this world cup.4-0 is the best score in world cup thus far. way to go !!!

The team played with 4-3-3 formation, definitly with a mind set to thrash the ukranian side with frontman as schevchenko, a recent addition to chelsea in one of the highest paid deals ever. in my opinion ukraine was the toughest opponent for them in the group rounds, and they dealt with them in style, needless to say, complete domination in all forms of the game.

starting 11 were
GK: Iker Casillas
DL: Mariano Pernia; DC: Pablo Ibanez; DC: Carles Puyol; DR: Sergio Ramos
MC: Xavi; MC: Xabi Alonso; MC: Marcos Senna
FW: Luis Garcia; FW: David Villa; FW: Fernando Torres

not to forget they had raul, reyes, del horno, lopez, fabregas on bench. so pretty decent team on paper, and i feel that they were the only ones to liquidise their full potential. though there were a lot of missed chances, but wat the fuck, you cant convert every move in a goal.

ukranian defence was never given a chance to rest, with all three spanish forwards starting their journey towards ticking the scoreboard, right from kick off. i missed the first few minutes, damn bangalore traffic and my office too :(. and to make matter worse, it was raining, which obviously screwed up the reception. anyways, first attempt was a fierce blow from senna in 12th minute,which the ukranian goalkeeper diverted over the bar. briiliant save !!

and the next attempt brought the first mark on the score card in 13th min. it was a perfect corner from xavi, which alonso managed to deflect towards goal. he made it look so simple. though shovkovsky( ukranian goalkeeper) managed to touch the ball with his hand, he couldnt do much then to helplessly staring at the ball getting netted.

soon after, another blow to ukranian defence came in form of powerful free kick from villa, who was in tremendous form yesterday and thoughout the season. this 25 yards stunner from villa took a major deviation from a ukranian defender, thus wasting shovkovsky's effort to stop the ball from getting netted. so at the end of 18 minutes spain were leading 2-0. then ukraine never came back into the match, and spanish domination continued until the end. there were a lot of nice moves made by senna in midfield. though i didnt see much of action from pernia's side, he is a player to look for this season.

spaniards were oozing with confidence during half time and ukranians were frustated. and it was in this time that one of thr defenders comitted a blunder in penalty region. the result, a red card and a penalty kick. not many miss it, and so wouldnt the man in form, villa who scored his second goal of the match. not that spain needed it, but they had 3-0 lead with tht penalty kick .and to worsen the conditions, ukranians had to play with 10 men then on.

later senna found the net from 20 yards but it was disallowed because Sergio Ramos had clattered into a ukranian defender.

but the goal of the day was yet to come from torres. puyol gave an absolutly elegant header, which torres picked on the run and this resulted in a brilliant goal, a perfect example of what they call clinical finishing. and here completed spain its 4-0 run over ukraine, completely thrashing their opponent.

not that it was just a game of forwards, but defence was tight, and puyol did a wonderful job in checking shevchenko. and also, for the class of the players he belongs to, his team was under par and that cost ukraine dearly. although the ukranians tried something in first half,in the next they realised the game was far from their reach.

but one of the most impressive things about the spanish gameplay was thr passing. they managed to slip the ball through tight positions and have really mastered one touch gaming, though it is not preffered in european football in which they rely more on long passes. but however spaniards form a league of thr own.thr defense seemed quite composed with the presence of puyol, ramos and pablo.

all in all, an incredible start for the european powerhouse. and who knows this might well end thr poor record in world cup. amen !! thr next game is with tunisia on 19th. i hope the goal margin will be even higher on this one.

p.s. data picked up from various news sites.

desea España viva

2006-06-15T03:20:00.000-07:00

people ask me all the time, why spain. you know, its not necessary to have brazil as favourite, or any other south american team for that matter. spain has always been an underachiever in world cups, but this time they have showed that they are here to stay. i dont care if people dont consider them as favourites, but for me they are.

english team is full of stars,but i feel they are not as united as they should be while playing for their country. rather all of them focus more on self proclaimed glory. and also, since espn start sports shows EPL live, most of indian fans are aware of english player, but i feel spanish league is more competant thet EPL any given day. But brazilian team seem to be very composed on the same front. and this was very obvious from the match day before.instead looking for their personal fame, they rather go for team victory and this is wat sets them apart, five time champs you see.

anyways coming back to my team,the mighty spainiards. a perfect balance on all front, this attack minded team has capability to thrash world's strongest of defence and at the same time can fail most impressive forwards. though they didnt include morientas in the team,still spanish attack seems to be one of the best in the world. and with pernia playing for the side, it is stronger than ever.

anyways players to watch are

Iker Casillas(GK) : possibly the best goalkeeper in the world, with kahn not playing. why germans chose lehman over kahn is beyond my understanding, but thats a different story altogether. and in absence of raul, he will be leading the team. if at all any team manage to get past spanish defence its not very easy for them to find the net, as this acrobatic wizard can nullify most formidable moves with his unbelivable reflexs.he is young by goalkeeper's standards and my feeling says he is going to be one of the all time greats, if he is not yet.

Mariano Pernia(D) : sometimes he amuses me, wat if he would have decided to be a forward, not that he is not that now but officially. i think, he is a secret weapon of spain in this world cup, who seems to me another roberto carlos in making(same left back, who act more like a left winger, beware reyes ;). but still has to get more into those calfs before his freekicks can generate power at par wid brazilian maestro.after del Horno's injury, his way to playing eleven became clear.

Sergio Ramos(D) : most talked about teen sensation after rooney and c ronaldo.not even twenty and he is first choice of aragones as right defender. as of now, he is trying to develop himself as a defensive midfielder. a young guy, in which you can see future of spanish football.

Carles Puyol(D) : versatility is the name. basically a defender, this FC Barcelona captian is a brilliant playmaker too. master of tackling and has impressive understanding of the game. no matter who you are, he is able to get into your mind and read it. this quality makes him world's best centre back. and he is kinda allergic to fouls, which makes him even more valuable under vulnerable conditions. this rock solid defender is also blessed with amazing fitness.

Xavi(MF) : another player with keen understanding of the game and with a hawk's eye. this amazing playmaker has mastered the art of ball distribution , and has created lots of unthinkable chances for his national team and for club barcelona.he is a very powerful shooter and is one of the most selfless player.

Xabi Alonso(MF) : though spanish team rely more on one touch game, this guy has that unique ability to send ball miles with a classy precision . an astonnishing player, who is suceptable to injuries, but for the kind of commitment he shows in the game, that is acceptable. playing as a central midfiielder he is going to trouble a lot of teams.

Cesc Fabregas(MF): spanish hope for next generation. he is considered to be a prodigy with a very practical sense of game. he is the youngest player in the squad, still a teen and is seen as immensly potent midfielder. arsene wenger consider him as a gifted one. he was the hero of spanish team who finished second in u-17 worldcup and grabbed both golden boot and golden ball.

Senna(MF) : i have not seen much of him playing, but of what i hear, he is a dynamo. powerful striker of ball.

Jose Antonio Reyes(MF) :they are saying its difficult for him to find his place in playing 11, but this arsenal midfielder is a killer. more of an attacking midfield, he can devastate any defense. he should be first substitute by aragones.he along with henry made a formidable duo for arsenal.

Raul Gonzalez(F) : does he need intorduction. if u dont know him, you dont deserve to cheer for spain !! he is acclaimed as best thing tht ever happened to spanish football. a born leader and outstanding striker of the football. he has everything to make him a great player.he is truly dedicated to the game. this wizard in jersey no 7 always rejuvinates his team, and the key reason for that never say die spirit in the squad. he is light fast and quick as a fox. this potential playmaker, also makes stunning moves, besides converting them. he can make goals virtually from all the angels and is remarkably good on both feet.its all these things that makes him any defence's nightmare.no doubt, he has to play pivot role in this tourney.

David Villa(F) : the man in form. a powerhouse, can hit the ball with inhumanaly power. was second highest scorer of spanish league after sameul eto'o.

Luis Garcia(F) : besides his striking capabilities this guy is famous for his celebration. HE SUCKS HIS THUMB. lol.and also his hairstyle is fun too. he is fast and furious on field but not very reliable.can make some top class moves but at times just loose control over ball. in form, he can be a major danger.

Fernando Torres(F) : Aragones says about him “never scores two goals the same” because of the variety of goals he scores. one of the younger spaniard, he is also called El Nino(the child).he has got amazing right foot but at the same time he knows how to use left one as well.

this is my pick from spanish squad.i still fail to understand how can morientes be dropped out of 23. but watever, spanish team is the one i m going to hail for a month.and in form, they will be one of the toughest opposition for any team.

Welcome to the past

2006-02-18T01:22:00.000-08:00

i know the title is catchy, but this post is about the reviews of the movies i saw two weeks back. ;)

RDB : paint it yellow

Tagline : a generation awakens

This movie is recieving vast acclaims not only by media, but also by public. And i fail to understand why !!. For me it was strictly OK.

Aamir khan, should not have tried to act for a character in his early 20s. Even the best makeup artist cant make you look half of ur age. Soha was looking gorgeous, as always, very fresh, veru petite, very girly ! :)But i was particularly impressed by the outputs of "karan" and "aslam". They both have brilliant screen presence, and both were amazingly confident. Both characters were rock solid, and kudos to siddharth and kunal, to did justice with them.

Though i should acknowledge, the camera work was brilliant throughout the movie, but the thing that kept me ticking for all that time, was the magical spell woven my AR Rehman. This guy just keeps on improving, despite of being on top, for more than a decade now. He certainly is the best stuff that happened to contemporary indian music industry.

What irritated me most, is to see the awakening of half an hour,i have to literally "jhelofy" the movie for 2 hrs. First half of the movie was, monotonusly boring, and utterly disappointing.The flaws of zero story they tried to cover-up using some vague jokes, but my friend this trick dont work always. Few fillups are ok, but using same jokes for about 2 hrs, way too difficult to appreciate.

Second half, they started with making matter worse, but again "rahman ka jadoo" was keeping me to my chair. But during the end, the anology of bhagat singh, was a soothing idea to have.And they executed it brilliantly, but killing defense minister and escaping without being notified, is an impossible task to performed, even by pro, let alone these noobs. But whatever, i liked this part of the movie.

End was made pretty thought provoking, but i m not so strong to have these filmi man as my idols and try to imitate even 10 % of what they have done. i'd be rather sitting in my cozy room, and write such blogs.However i do appreciate the bold measures they have taken, but giving thr lives in such an unacceptable fashion will tag them as terrorists, if not in ppl's mind, but sure in police records.

All in all, a watchable movie. I'll recommended, though, you wont regret either if u miss it.

ZINDA
Tagline: One good act of vengeance.... deserves another.

I guess, it is the movie with highest GQ (gore quotient) ever in the ths history of bollywood. though it is more or less a remake of korean phenomenal revenge flick oldboy, the end is very different, and it has to be or else censor board would have banned Mr. gupta from making a film, forever.

Movie had brilliant performances by all of them, sanjay dutt was brilliant. lara dutta was graceful and had a great presence on screen. I adore her so much, but i think she wasnt the best person for this role, but cant think of a young lassy, who is sensual and can act.may be vidya balan, but she would nat have done a sex scene (ok, so called sex scene with sanjay dutt).And john abraham, for a change did act in the movie.But, i so desperatly wish, it was ajay devgan at his place. Celina Jaitley, i dont think even deserves a mention.

Mvie runs at a brilliant pace, and was one of the best cold blooded revenge story. Master of revenge movies Quentin Tarantino, himself is a huge fan of "Oldboy". The plot was outstanding, and was brilliantly executed. Ofcourse end was a big change and a huge letdown. Backgroud music was too good, and complimented the theme and mood of the movie. Movie lack colors most of the times, and red (suits for both blood and oriental background of the movie) was the only color visible, in between thousands of shades of black and white. This made mood of movie look even darker.

But they somehow manage to make a bollywood hero a superman.Here sunjay dutt, alone manage to kick ass of more thn 20 pro fighters. And that too when he was brutally stabbed at the back, and ofcourse his mental stability as at stake. Will power is one thing, but this didnt seem natural.

I liked sunjay dutt throughout, but in the sex scene.He was very uncomfortable. But on the other hand lara was too mature, and extremly proffesional.I anyways cant understand the importance of the scene. God i want to say a lot more, but it will be a spoiler.

I wanted to dedicate it to a healthy comparison between oldboy and zinda, but i fear, it will be a big spoiler and at this point of time, i dont want to have some malice for me, in the heart of ppl reading this blog.

SO i end up here, and do recoommend this movie. A real nice stuff to watch and deserve to be seen. You sure gonna miss something if you dont. But if you cant accept gore, dont even bother, and in that case, you probabbly need not know, there is a movie called old boy.

p.s. i have been planning to write this post since long, but was heavily stuck wid work. not now i m free, but somehow manage to finish it. :)

Anagrams

2006-01-27T22:09:00.000-08:00

got this one in mail, and it is one of the best forwards of recent time..

DORMITORY:
When you rearrange the letters:
DIRTY ROOM

PRESBYTERIAN:
When you rearrange the letters:
BEST IN PRAYER

ASTRONOMER:
When you rearrange the letters:
MOON STARER

DESPERATION:
When you rearrange the letters:
A ROPE ENDS IT

THE EYES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THEY SEE

GEORGE BUSH:
When you rearrange the letters:
HE BUGS GORE

THE MORSE CODE:
When you rearrange the letters:
HERE COME DOTS

SLOT MACHINES:
When you rearrange the l etters:
CASH LOST IN ME

ANIMOSITY:
When you rearrange the letters:
IS NO AMITY

ELECTION RESULTS:
When you rearrange the letters:
LIES - LET'S RECOUNT

MOTHER-IN-LAW:
When you rearrange the letters:
WOMAN HITLER

SNOOZE ALARMS:
When you rearrange the letters:
ALAS! NO MORE Z 'S

A DECIMAL POINT:
When you rearrange the letters:
IM A DOT IN PLACE

THE EARTHQUAKES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THAT QUEER SHAKE

ELEVEN PLUS TWO:
When you rearrange the letters:
TWELVE PLUS ONE

AND FOR THE GRAND FINALE:

PRESIDENT CLINTON OF THE USA:
When you rearrange the letters
(With no letters left over and using each letter only once):
TO COPULATE HE FINDS INTERNS