Home Theatre

"MUMBAI: In one stroke, Optical disk manufacturer Moser Baer has destroyed the business model of pirated movie seller and even the DVD libraries across the country. Delhi based optical disk maker is going to launch Hindi movies on DVD at Rs 38 and VCD at Rs 24. The price of a Hindi DVD at the retail end varies from Rs 200 to Rs 400 and even higher if it's a new release. Moser Baer's comparable price is one tenth of the existing retail price for these disks. The MRPs for Moser Baer movies will be even lower than rentals from libraries or buying pirated DVDs or VCDs. Moser Baer has developed new technology to bring the price down for the Digital Video Discs (DVDs) and Video Compact DisksTheatre"

There go the theatres !!!
As if the movie watching experience wasn't shifting from the cinema hall to the living room quickly enough thanks to increasing piracy, now Moser Baer have come up with this.
If what MB claim is achieved, then at least the prices of PVR and I-nox should come down a bit.
This can change a lot of ways.
The whole distinguishing factor as to why the crowd in such multiplexes is so good at present is largely due to the prices as it kept the cheap junta out. The decreasing quality in scenery will in turn keep out a lot of people who flock to the malls just to exercise their eyes. Traffic might reduce a great deal, enabling more parking space making Bangalore a more pleasureable place to live in once again. This in turn will attract a lot more people from outside and voila !!! The people ready to spend now will increase as a result of which the economy of the state would go up in turn causing an infaltion in prices. Hence, MB may hike their prices with the theatres soon to follow. We come back to square 1.
So, it really doesn't change anything.

Bowled over by the WIZARD

"Test cricket's greatest bowler Shane Warne announced his retirement from international competition Thursday, drawing the curtain on one of the most celebrated careers in the sport's history.
Saying he wanted to go out on top, the 37-year-old Australian leg-spinner with a world record 699 Test wickets revealed the two remaining Ashes Tests against England will be his last international matches. "

Heroes come and heroes go but legends are there to stay.
One such legend of my generation is Shane "the Wizard of Oz" Warne. Having grown up seeing him bamboozle batsmen from all over with his leg spinners, leg breaks, flippers etc., his retirement from the international cricket gives me such a big heartache. This year has seen too many sporting legends retire;Agassi, Schumacher, Zidane and now Warne.The cricketing world is surely losing one of its gems and I sincerely hope that ESPN Star can somehow bag him as a commentator at least.

Here s little video showing how magical the wizard's bowling was.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YDqn043XhQ8
It's a little compilation of Warne's best wickets.

Masala Dosha

Your Dosha is Pitta

You have a quick mind, a gift for persuasion, and a sharp sense of humor.You have both the drive and people skills to be a very successful leader.Argumentative and a bit stubborn, you have been known to be a little too set in your ways.But while you may be biased toward your own point of view, you are always honest, fair, and ethical. With friends: You are outgoing and open to anyone who might want to talk to you In love: You are picky but passionate To achieve more balance: Be less judgmental of those around you, and take cool walks in the moonlight.

What's" Your Dosha?

I wanted to be an Italian ...

Your Inner European is French!

Smart and sophisticated.You have the best of everything - at least, *you* think so.

Who's" Your Inner European?

two days in the life of ......- Part 2

Monday was never one of my favorite days and this one was no different. The only consoling fact was that I hadn’t had to travel 60 kms to do nothing.

Job 1 ) Give the car to the service centre. My dad and me went along and gave our car to Trident Hyundai and waited for like 1.5 hours before we could get the estimate. It was a shocking 48 000. There went my appetite along with my mood. Lucikly , 15 grand was labor charges which was fully insured. The remaining amount comprised of spare parts to replace, Bonet, side panel, headlight, compressor, radiator, windshield, coolant etc etc…The list was just endless.

Job 2 ) Go to Peenya Police Station and collect the acknowledgement. We made our way though to the station only to discover the cop we were supposed to report to was on rounds and as his junior put it ..”ille hogidhare saar. Kothkoli. Aydhu nimsha ashte banbidthaare”("he has just stepped out saar. sit down. will be back in 5 mins"). That “aydhu nimsha”("5 minutes") turned into 2.5 agonizing hours.Every half hour the constable would come out and reassure us that the cop was on the way. Eventually at 1:30 the cop landed up and said . “Saar. Firsht you call the other party. Make sure He doesn’t file a case against you. Also, call insurance agency and enquire about the amount they will cover upto. Becaaase an acknowledgement may be enough to cover only upto 10000 Rs in repairs. You might need ad FIR for more amountu.” We left the police station dejected that 3 hours of waiting accounted to no work being done.

Job 3 ) We called Mr.Prasad, the other party. He said his Ford service station has given him a bill of 12 grand, which he was ready to produce in front of us, and as his insurance company wouldn’t reimburse a lot as the bumper was a plastic part, he wouldn’t claim the insurance as his premium for next time would go down compared to the amount he would gain out of the compensation. Whew. Long sentence !!! Basically he was driving to the point that we give him the full 12 grand. Obv we weren’t ready for that and hence told him that we would talk to our insurance guys and get back.

Job 4 ) After a tidy meal at home, we met up with our insurance agent and he explained tht an acknowledgement would suffice for the amount we are claiming for. That was the only piece of good news we received all day

Job 5 ) We headed back to the station and asked for the acknowledgement. The cop as usual was insistent that we settle the amount we pay to the other part first as he shouldn’t file a complaint later. So, negotiations began over the phone with Prasad and we settled to a reasonable 7 grand. Now, it was time to feed the devil The cop was hinting at a bribe. My dad said he worked in BSNL and any problems regarding phone they had he could help them. Nothing more. Eventually he asked for a new instrument as his cabin didn’t have one. My dad agreed to that demand as we had quite a few spares at home. After getting the acknowledgement from him, first hing we did was to get him a new instrument from home. The joy on his face was unbelievable and I actually felt an iota of pity for him. The kind of office he had was a pig sty compared to the ones we sit in day in and out. The kind of people he deals with on a daily basis are rednecks compared to those we encounter. If we thought local politically stimulating Bengalis were the worst, he has to deal with drunk lorry drivers. At the same time, a huge 7 foot cupboard was delivered to his cabin and I was about to walk out when I noticed the sign “Donated by ITP Industries” on it. One more accident case eh?. Couldn’t help but chuckle over it

Job 6 ) Went to Mr. Prasad’s industry and gave him his 7 grand and he was throwing all dialogues like. “Noodi saar. Ee accident nanige losse alla.. Nenne ondhu property deal madodhikhe hortidhe. Full mood offu aagoythu. Adhu nange real loss”("Look sir. This accident is no loss for me. I was going to do a deal on a major property. My mood turned foul after the accident.That is my real loss") Just as I was about to take my money back and say “F**k off then !!!” my dad butted in saying “No sir. You may take this in the wrong sense but whatever happens is for the good only. Maybe something was wrong with the property. So, maybe this accident will benefit you in the long run.” Why doesn’t he say the same to me ?? J J. Anyway, I walked out of there 7 grand poorer and hopefully if the insurance guys strike us a good deal, maybe only 15 grand more to go.

Worst of all, I felt very guilty and offered my dad to pay the entire amount from my savings. He obviously refused.
Me : “look pa !! It’s my fault and I’ll pay with my money. Don’t spend your savings for that. Etc etc”
Dad : “Look son. If I had done the accident, would you not have paid then??”
Me : “Errr. I.. err..definitely would’ve paid….Ah My phone is ringing….Aaaa….Helloooooooo”

…walk off into oblivion..

This, my friends is the story of my last 2 days.
A few words of advice to all you people.
1) Wear seatbelt. That was the only thing that prevented any bodily injury to any of us. Please heed this always
2) Please cross check with your insurance company as to how much you are covered etc etc.
3) Don’t beat me up after listening to this long sad tale of mine. I’m jobless

two days in the life of .... -Part 1

Oct 8th 2006 (19 days to go)1) Had my mock CAT early in the morning. Thats where the ill feelings started.
2) Anyway, that was just the start. After CAT a friend suggests we can have lunch. The buffet in Mainland China is 170 and is really good. So, we go for a Sunday afternoon outing. We eat to our stomach’s content and then the bill comes. 350 bucks lunch !!! luckily I had my card on me.
3) I got home and then we were suppsed to go to Bobby house. I think most of you have met him at a football game or two. PK might remember him better for those unstoppable (always used to hit a stone and change directions) penalties he used to take. As I was saying, I had my mom, my sister, grandma and another aunt with me in the car. Was zipping through Ring Road on way to Magadi Road. It was raining very heavily and visibility was very poor. The car ahead was a new Ford Fiesta and he had his lights on in order to enable the driver bhind aka me to follow at a safe distance.
Me : Look Ma…tahts the way to drive. You must turn the lights on and drive in the rain. Atleast the parkings ones. So, that people coming behind, can get a measure of how far you are.
Mom : Have you got the lights of your car on??
Me : Yes. Yes……….BBAAAANNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG

The guy in the Ford had encountered a road hump and had braked suddenly. I too braked as soon as I saw those brake lights go on. Unfortunately due to the large amount of rain water collected my car just went into a skid. I swerved at the last minute to avoid hitting him straight from the back and ended up making a huge impact to his right side rear bumber with my front left side of the car., Thanks for the seatbelts.
He pulled over to one side. After checking that everyone was ok in ym car, I drove next to his car and asked him everything is fine there.
That bastard did’nt even roll his windows down and finally I had to pull over in front of him and then run to his car int eh rain (very filmi indeeed). Then he let me in his car. He was pretty polite. We decided that in order to claim insurance for the damage done, we needed a police report. Hence my Sunday night was spent at the Peenya Police station. The effeciency in the Indian administration was highlighted on that very night. The cop we were supposed to report to came after around 2.5 hours of waiting. He wasn’t that bad a person. Explained the facts to us and said that filing an FIR etc would mean useless running around for a week or two and having your cars parked at the station for a few days etc etc. Hence we would be better off to amicably settle a amount that I would have to pay him and be o0ff our ways. In order to claim insurance he would give us aan acknowledgement stating so-and-so happened in his station limits.
The other party, an entreprenuer from Peenya said he couldn’t afford to have his car parked for a few days and run around for the case. SO, whatever insurance doesn’t cover him for, I should pay him . I agreed and we returned home with a sigh of relief.

mash them macedonia

I'm watching the Englan-Macedonia match on Tv right now. The england team are reminiscent of the Sven era. Boring, lacking imagination and with Frank Lampard in it.
Come on Macedonia !!! Come on Macedonia !!!
I think if Macedonia can return with atleast a point from Old Trafford, the press will go all out at Steve "Second choice" McLaren. Wonder which secretary he will sleep with now?
Elsewhere the Czech are having a saturday night out with San Marino. That match ended 7-0

my bread is full of jam

Today was another of those 'road gets narrower/traffic gets worse' days. I left office at 1725 . Happened to reach home at exaclty 1950. No energy left to even smile at my sister and help her with her math assignment. No energy left to adjust my Iodiot Box to get good reception. No energy left to talk to SS. No energy left to take my CAT books out.No energy left even to take a pi*s.
Thats how bad it gets. That too, after I saved walking 100 mts. by convincing the bus driver to take a different route in the last stretch as I was the only guy left on the bus. Hopefully he found his way to the stand from there on.
God bless Hosur Road and all the daily commuters on it. Anyway, I'll be off from it all in another 22 days. Hallelujah !!!

This reminds me of one of the cleverest lines I've ever heard (from an employee of a famous IT company in Electronics City,Bangalore) is
"I travel 60 kms daily for my bread and butted, but all i get is JAM"

right,left,right !!! right??

remember the basics of crossing a road??
"look right, then look left, look right again and then if on all occasions no vehicle is approaching, cross the road"
I have always wondered about the idea behind looking right the second time. One logical explanation is that after the first look to the right side, when you turn to look left, vehicles might have started coming towards you on the right side and hence you look twice to check again. Ok!!The logic is flawless till that point.
The question I have is why don't we look left again. What makes it so sure that no vehicles will come from the left again. This way, we keeping looking left and right over and over again and end up stuck on the same side of the road. Highly pointless !!! But why should we ignore the left side? Is it because for the majority the right hand is more dextrous compared to our left and hence any damage done to the left is sustainable? Millions of kids all over our country have grown up with this rule of crossing the road. This could be the major reason for the thousands of hit-and-run cases in our country.
Think about this next time you cross the road.
Ssomething doesn't seem "right"???

time and time again

here we are again. the entire team is supposed to assemble at St.Peter's square for a team photo at twelve. its already 12:15 and noone has lifted their arses of their seats. as usual my PM hasnt yet come to office. why can't these people just keep up time. its the same story for all team meetings as well...
anyway, am glad am quitting this place in a month's time..three cheers !!!!

just eat it..

Just returned from my trip to the Capital. It was panda's sister's wedding. my first experience of a full fledged northie wedding. and i must say it was brilliant. ghee.. errr. i mean gee!! thats what it was all about. the amount we were fed has reached new gastronomic widths.
Few things i noticed :

• south and north india are two worlds apart
• north indians earn all their lives to spend on a wedding (it is a good thing for people like me)
• everybody eat everything only with a block of butter or a pot full of ghee.
• number of two-wheelers in bangalore + pune = 1/2*(number of cars per house in delhi)
• all cars in delhi must have a dent as an indication to the fact that people can just buy another instead of getting the old car repaired
• the people are really nice, even the auto rickshaw drivers (i come from bangalore you see)
• carry a big iodex bottle with you before going bird watching in delhi as turning your neck in 1923874 different directions in 0.152 nanoseconds will need some doing
• infrastructure in delhi is just really unlike any i've personally come across
• i can dance and am not as bad as i thought i would be

i'll add more whenever i can think of them

capital deserving , that is delhi
rivers of ghee, that is delhi
birds of beauty, that is delhi
north indian wedding?? please call me...

Exodus 2005-2006

It has begun. The exodus from our beloved place, our ADDA, our true home. For those of you who don't know what I’m talking about, sorry I really am not in any mood to explain it. Its 12th June today. Time is 11:15. Am in office. Was done with my work last working day only, so not too busy and also I wanted to put down my feelings somewhere.

It’s been coming for the last one year and today was just one more dent in the armory which is all that is friendship, comfort and fun. No matter how many dents are caused, I am hoping the armor will still hold fort in the coming years. Adda is what kept us going during our school and college life, the life that we remember best, the life that, 10 years down the lane when we look back at will miss thoroughly. It was basically a form of living. It had its hard-core members and followers and many others joined us in the quest to nothingness, a quest so different, that its not what at the end that matters, its what you do and whom you meet along the way that counts. Sadly, like all good things, this too has an expiry date. It was roughly 9 years ago that ADDA was formed by 5 members- Sandy, Sureka, Tushar, Myself and Rahul. It was a different kind of living then. Cricket was the religion and we used to live for it. It used to be evenings when we used to meet regularly for a game of fun and physical activity. Then more people came seeking this path to freedom of speech and expression. - Amrinder, Karthik, Ram, Panda, P.K and Vicky and the girls – Smitha, R.K.etc. The time of 11^th and 12^th were totally fun. No matter what people said about NPs being nerdy, only studies etc. I wish they could see my two fingers up now. It was one of the best times I had in life and will always be. How we never got around to studying in 11^th and how we wasted our parent’s cash and our time in BASE. Geez. But I don’t remember the times we had to sit through KVC’s or CRR’s class. All I remember is the time we spent in class waiting for a bite of that yummy Hathwar Bakery’s capsicum puff., the “IIT methods of KVC”, the”atul gupta belching” incident, ammi’s “you can feel it if you can’t see it” incident, the” sandy removes starter” incident, our “daddy’s girl’s daddy”, our “aagala” case, our “steal guava from ashram” cases, “NTTF bus journeys”, “put stones in ram’s bag” pranks, “I don’t know I say, put ladder to the moon” dialogues, “chalk baeka” questions, our “slides down Beugal Rock”….. I can go on. There is no end to this list. And I am sure I would have brought back so many memories for all those who spent those glorying weekends at BASE along with me. And beat this, we never used to bunk BASE (I eventually quit it in 2^nd year middle). That year was tough on all of us. We were uncertain of our futures, some aspiring to be IITians (people like Vicky did succeed), some hoping to get into good engineering colleges (all of us did that) and others just to be somewhere in Bangalore (no one left). We all came out in flying colours, mind you; it’s a very relative term I am using here.

The next phase began with us spending our post CET hols contemplating where we would get in, which college, which field. That too we got through without much problems thanks to the ADDA, the members, the road, the garage and the ADDA itself. Everyone was entually happy, or shall I say satisfied with what we had in our hands. Even me, who took up payment seat by being lazy enough not to go for a 3^rd round of counseling and missing the merit seat. ( It’s quite funny that I am actually feeling guilty about the fact that I am not feeling guilty for missing that seat and making my parents part with a lot more of their savings) We took up part time jobs selling toilet papers, kitchen towels and car tissues and we gleefully spent that cash on our first ever trip outside Bangalore- a supposed “counseling” to the RECs. The counseling I can remember is ,Ram who never even bought the form I suppose, Sureka who I guess bought it but didn’t bring it. Pai, Sandy and Me – who bought it, brought it and said screw it, Ammi – who did everything right but attend the counseling and finally the sole man with the purist purpose Tushar, who even attended the counseling with all of us in wet shorts and t-shirts, questioned by the REC faculty and finally ended up with a NO to go to Kurukshetra REC. What a rocking trip it was. The beach, the rain, the “you lost my best Undi” incident involving Sureka and Sandy. Unforgettable!!!

The next stage of our lives were college life, a first for me. It meant just more than colour dress and new friends. It could have meant end of time spent together. Yet again, the ADDA came to our rescue-car pooling, sharing lunches, and evenings of seeking solace from our capricious and universally dreaded principal and our college in the ADDA. Also, came Karthik and Kurie, two bital important members of the present ADDA.Those games of cricket in the road, challenging teams for a game of cricket or footer in our beloved home ground aka Kamallaman Gundi (K.G.) Grounds.. Eventually we all grew old or shall I say old-er and hence were not enthusiastic about running up the slope on the ADDA road to bowl (I shall quite honestly exclude my name from this list of such people) and our cricket became “throw”. I suppose even that took a toll on people and hence it went indoor. Improvisation ruled and voila we had our very own version of under-arm cricket with our very own rules. It ranged from tushar’s super supler “I will only be only 2423 nanometres away from the ground” low balls to get out Sandy, to Ammi’s “Sehwag ki Maa” style batting to me playing with my leg (I always did that. What can I say. football came naturally to me) to Panda or Ram fighting not to last. We had our very own zones and it was a crime to ask a fellow player to step into your zone to fetch the ball. Hahaha. I cannot forget that rule we made up. One of our best. But alas, that too had an end and we ended up playing Business aka Monopoly aka “the game is so boring I decided to become banker” aka “ Sandy : No, I cannot give you this card because if I do so, how can I win” (don’t deny it sandy). In all this playing and studying for our boring VTU exams, we did manage to go out on a few trips. Yercaud and Coorg for 4-5 days where we experienced what it was like to live in a cloud and a quails. And a few 1-day trips to Mekhedhaatu, Talkaad and Muthathi. We all got placed, most of us in Bangalore. But unfortunately Karthik, Khushi and Tushar had to leave for Bombay. I thought it would end there. But Ammi Bummy had other ideas. He decided to re-unite with his family abroad and so it started….

The next and current phase in life has been the toughest for me. But before things changed, we had one great and so far the best trip so far. The trip to MUNNAR. It would definitely not take a PROFOUND thought to say that it was the closet I’ve got to heaven (really sad AMMI and PANDA couldn’t make it) After that, I have seen my friends depart, my fellow ADDA mates leaving to pursue better futures.. I too was off to the place where I first came from (I was born in Mysore) in September. Seeing P.K. leave was sad enough but seeing Ammi leave the country was the saddest part esp the fact that his parents also moved outside Bangalore back to the north was very depressing as that would mean he no longer might spend good amount of time in his “BIRTHPLACE” (remember ammi??...hehe). Tushar, Khushi and Karthik left for Bombay, and eventually got separated there and R.K. left for Hyderabad ( but she came once a fortnight atleast). But I didn’t feel that bad then, cause I knew they would be back in a year or two. I was to leave ADDA for my work but I could be back only on weekends. It was bearable. Ammi’s absence was duly felt and I suppose, the practical owner of the ADDA will have felt it most. I was back in Bangalore in 5 months time and so another 4 months and Khushi, Karthik and Tushar would also return. It was just like old times. But not for long, I write this today as it is the end of this phase and beginning of another, another that can test all that is ADDA…

Smitha has officially left ADDA for higher studies and God knows when she’ll be back next. I wish her all the luck in the world for her future endeavors. Next in line to leave the country is Sandy (who has already got his VISA) and Ramu. They shall be off in two months time and just the thought of that leaves a bad feeling in my stomach. Tushar will be here along with Kurie and Khushi for company. I do not mention Karthik, Sureka and Panda’s name as they will be off in the coming year. Everybody wants to leave this country eh??? The only lass here is Kurie and I felt bad for her when she shed some tears today morning at the station. Tushar, my fellow arien , myself and Khushi all plan to crack CAT or the likes of it this year and hopefully be on our ways by next June.

Just the very thought of all this that gives me a bad feeling in my stomach. It’s that we may never be able to and by we I mean the whole jing bang lot may never be able to meet up together again, all of us in the same place at the same time for quite a few years to come. But no matter, what happens, I am sure of one fact though – The ADDA always has been and always will be one of the most influential factors in my life. We shall each lead our own lives and we will all grow old by ourselves but the one thing that shall forever remain young in our hearts are the sweet memories of the ADDA, the memories that have got us through tough times, rough times, good times and bad. And though it is a bit too early, I would like to thank the ADDA and all its fellow members for those memories and I think I speak for more than just myself when I say………

“Once upon a time, there was a tavern

Where we used to raise a glass or two

Remember how we laughed away the hours,

Think of all the great things we would do

Those were the days, my friend

We thought they'd never end

We'd sing and dance forever and a day

We'd live the life we'd choose

We'd fight and never lose

For we were young and sure to have our way

Then, the busy years went rushing by us

We lost our starry notions on the way

If, by chance, I'd see you in the tavern,

We'd smile at one another and we'd say

Those were the days, my friend

We thought they'd never end

We'd sing and dance forever and a day

We'd live the life we'd choose

We'd fight and never lose

Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days

Just tonight, I stood before the tavern

Nothing seemed the way it used to be

In the glass, I saw a strange reflection

Was that lonely man really me?

Those were the days, my friend

We thought they'd never end

We'd sing and dance forever and a day

We'd live the life we'd choose

We'd fight and never lose

Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days

Through the door, there came familiar laughter

I saw your face and heard you call my name

Oh, my friend, we're older but no wiser

For in our hearts, the dreams are still the same

Those were the days, my friend

We thought they'd never end

We'd sing and dance forever and a day

We'd live the life we'd choose

We'd fight and never lose

Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days”

one of each kind

I haven't blogged in some time because a lot of things have been happening lately in my life. Some of them have turned my life the other way around, other not so significant and some have made me ponder over various trivial issues which we normally "busy" people tend to ignore.

"It was around 9:30p.m., on a Friday night. My dinner was done. it was my treat along with 7 other people for my entire project team. The food was great, so was the ambience but as usual people just did not want to be on time. So, whilst some of us finished licking our lips after the yummy carrot halwa, others just started arriving. And these others include even the senior most of people who are supposed to set examples to us beginners. Life is not just about being and doing well at your work place. it is about carrying that same spirit and ideas outside too. It is quite sad to see how the very guys who insist on punctuality and efficiency in some delivery to be done to some person sitting across the world just because he pays us in those little green notes, now do not care about keeping up time and making people wait as the stakes are apparently much lower. This is one form of hypocrisy I despise and i suppose one form which cannot be stopped. It has to come from within. It cannot be induced. Anyway, not deviating from my main theme, I had to excuse myself from the dinner party as it was quite late and I would miss my bus to my place if i didn't leave then. So, I said a final good-bye to all and left for the night. Waited at the bus stop for 15-20 minutes but there wasn't any sign of the bus. There was this other lady who had to go to her home which was quite close to my place. She was a little older than my mother and I felt maybe if we were off towards the same way, we might as well share a rickshaw, as it was getting pretty late. She agreed on the condition that i share the fare with her. OKKKKK...In the rickshaw I did offer her, more than 2-3 times, the choice of taking the auto to her place, and I said I would manage if she dropped me off somewhere close by to my place but she politely disagreed. The whole journey was quite eventless. She said a sentence or two about how she had to get home before 11 as her son would be home then and she had the house keys. That one concern of hers quite touched me. Here she was, this lady, who knew nothing of me and yet in these dangerous times where the headlines in most papers read about so-and-so person being abducted, abused..etc etc., accepting an offer to share a rickshaw with someone less than half her age, all for the fact that her son need not wait after he gets home. WOW. I was quite amazed by the unconditional love a mother can have for her child. Then, her stop came and she paid for more than her share. Asked me to keep the money in spite of my reluctance to do so. She then quickly jotted down her number on a piece of paper and asked me to call her around 11. That was quite surprising. I reached home at around 15 minutes to eleven. And then called her exactly at 11. She asked whether i reached home safely without any problems and said I could call up anytime I needed to talk. "

I do not know how much significance this incident may seem to have but it sort of gave me a new look to life. there I was surrounded by people who I work with day in and day out, not caring much for making me wait and showing that all I really was to them was a piece of resource to show to the client. And here was this lady, who knew nothing of me and yet she was concerned whether I reached home safely and invited me to call up anytime I wanted to talk... What a world we all live in!!!!
" Tell me, tell me, who are these around me with no mask
With no more, with no more intentions than those shown
In their words, in their covers.........."

comfortably bum-ed

YES!!! its the Floyd influence which has got me writing again. This time around my behind is comfortably sitting in..wait..lemme check..nope.... the maker's name isn’t there anywhere on the chair.Surprising!!! probably they didnt want people like me to come after them for making such comfortable chairs and making us soooo very lethargic and make us think so much. You may wonder why they call it "BENCH". shouldn't it be called like "CHAIR".

Where does the "bench" word originate? Maybe in the dark ages times, in the times when feudelism was a craze, the landlords and the czars used to punish people by locking them up in dungeons and giving them nothing but a bench to sit on with no work also. just chained to the BENCH. I probably guess thats what set the "BENCH MARK".I can imagine the simple peasants who eyed the evil landlord's daughter with little malicious intent sitting on planks of oak or teak muttering to themselves." how can this be that bad?". MUHAHAHAHA. Thats all we all think at the start.."hey. i am on bench. not bad. i get paid for doing nothing. only research or prostitution can be more gratifying". But thats why peasants will be peasants.

Let my take you briefly through the course of the evolution of the BENCH....
It all started out one fine day when HE got bored with just creating archaeopteryxes and brontosauruses. HE decided to have some fun and create a new funny breed called MAN. Well, actually this new breed was called NEANDRETHALS but then he gave them two bad characters. ONE was the opposing thumb(you know...that’s how you grab stuff) And another was intelligence. The power to think. The power to say what you are thinking. The power to BLOG. These Neanderthals decided to call themselves different things from ramapicthucus, sivapithucus(yes. Mrs.jyothi…I didn’t sleep in your bio class so much after all.) and now they are called HOMO sapiens (gee!! I wonder why?). Anyway, as I was saying, the HOMOs…wait.. lemme just refer them as humans or MAN in general so that I can be spared being called a sexist and a narrow minded person….so, these humans got bored of doing nothing all day, and hence “adam” and eve decided to PLAY around and eat the APPLE (and they say, “an apple a day…”) and pissed HIM off real bad. He decided “you HUMANs always keep running around, destroying whatever I’ve built. I am going to punish you now. Now go, sit on that little plank of wood and think it over about how bad you have been.GO!!!” and that my friend is actually how MAN was doomed and the tradition began. Because that’s what made man THINK. He was happy till then playing around , eating fruits, screwing “eve” all day long. But now he was on the BENCH. His mind was subjected to what we have called now learnt to call as BOREDOM. He began to THINK and hence he EVOLVED. That’s what set the cave man thinking and he got this load of inventions and discoveries. And all thanks to the rest his buttocks got on that little wooden plank. That my friend is the HOLY GRAIL of all humanity, That very plank of wood on which humanity began. We have all been mislead so far to think it was some cup, a chalice etc.etc but NO. The first bench is what most historians consider the true holy grail.

Anyway, going ahead, that thinking of man is what led to the civilized world Man created fire. He must use it to make women cook and not to light his friend’s cigars. That’s what exactly happened to bench. Men used to worship it in the early ages. Then came Christianity (thanks to something that Constantinople did).which forbid IDLE worship..err …I mean IDOL worship. They preached religion and soon in then dark ages, the bench evolved from being a sacred symbol of worship to a means of torture. People did try and fight back all this during the Renaissance period and then the Reformation period. The great thinkers from all over the world hid their message in their paintings and statues. You think Leonardo drew the last supper to indicate whether the person next to Jesus was a man or a woman? He couldn’t have cared less about it. He was actually showing us THE BENCH on which Jesus had the last supper. That’s where Jesus thought and that is the Holy Grail we should all be after.

A few centuries later came the industrial revolution and along with that came with the steam engine..the printing press. Books were written about this BENCH. And that’s what Thomas Moore wrote when he talked about UTOPIA (no use arguing with me about this because I have’nt read the book). But, man conveniently chose to ignore this message. Anyway, then came the world wars. And again THE BENCH was responsible for this. Some smart ass decided “Throw HITLER in prison. He is no good.” And voila. They put him in those prisons (highly evolved dungeons) and gave him nothing but a BENCH to sit on. That’s where he wrote the MEIN KAMPF which translated in german means MY BUTTOCK. He thought when he was on the bench. And hence decided that the best way to teach the world was a lesson was to go out and kill a few jews and you know how the story goes from there. U.S. and their allies somehow won that world war too, not realizing what the true cause of it was. The cold war, the Vietnam War and many such useless wars came and went but no one realized the truth. All the wars were fought by men, who resting their behinds on a one or the other form of a BENCH. It makes you think man!!!

That’s the power of the BENCH. One bench to control them all. THE LORD OF THE BENCHES. Why do you think football coaches put their not-so-good players on THE BENCH? So that they can think. Think of what they can do to improve the game and the world in general. That’s the true power of THE BENCH. It makes YOU think. Not many people realize it though. Why do you think modern day policticians fight for the “KURCI”?. It’s just another form of then bench where the person sitting in it has to do nothing all day long and he gets to think. This has been the best kept secret in the world. So, I hope I did my part in spreading the message. Now I must go, before I can be tracked down and beaten to pulp for writing this article. But what can I do, it was my duty. I had to keep up the tradition. Don’t blame me. Blame it on the BENCH dammit. I cannot help but think when I am sitting on it…

“…………. Now I got that feeling once again.
I can’t explain, you would not understand.
This is not how I am.
I have become comfortably bum-ed.........”

just another day

Am this close to heaven
but am leaving another behind
Why must we face these times
Just another day I ask

Much to touch,so much to feel
A lifetime of misses
Just one day to make up for all
Cannot i have just another more

My last sight of her to savour
stored in my head for eternity
How can heaven be a better place
when the angel is right here

They wait for me to come back
but going i was far away
The light at the end of the road
is shining brighter than ever

Why couldnt i see this coming?
Why was i so blind?
Just another day is all i seek
to undo all that was done

Standing at the gates
I realize that life can be so short
Savour every day while you can
You never know when you'll need another

-Dilip R.S.

Santiy Testing 1….2…3..

Does that make sense? If it does, then please click the little cross mark at the right hand top corner of this window and you can be on your way to wherever you were while you stumbled across this. If it made no sense, then you can go on reading further.
“Started Sanity Testing…..”…those words still echo in my mind, not because I have had a bad experience with it but because I get a mail with that subject every 1/6th of a nanosecond from my team members. It apparently is something to do with our project. What kind of project would be testing sanity? Well, I suppose the lack of something is what makes you want it more. No question of sour grapes now eh? Definitely one should start to expect such things in the IT industry. IT industry and sanity, what better oxy moron do you need. Hey, if you are a proud member of this famous industry, then you know where to click. If you are not, please feel free to read further. Its not that I ….
( OH HELL YEAH !! HERE WE GO AGAIN. Just as I was talking about it, here is another mail I get. “Sanity restarted…”. Don’t trust me. Check out the screenshot)

….have anything against THEM, its just that I am so very jobless and am a big fan of Seinfeld. I like to ponder on the little nothings of life which everyone else conveniently chooses to ignore. As i was saying why do you need to restart SANITY? Why does it have to stop? Its not like you have a little hole in the six inches between your ears and it just pops out and you go like “Oops!!!!. Dropped my sanity folks. I gotta restart it now.”
And maybe test it a few times over. Why do men, men who have joined THE COMPANY (which according to CNN is harder to get in than HARVARD. Who are they kidding??) not keep their sanities safe in some secure place like their pockets or wallets where all their other materialistic precious belongings go. Is it that normal to not be careful about your sanity in this industry? Am I making any sense or is it that I have just dropped mine? I guess we all have our sanities kept somewhere, safe or not. And once in a while it is needed to restart it to be normal again. Some of them run servers to restart and test sanity, some of us write blogs which make no sense and some of you read such blogs.
As I finish abusing this useless piece of virtual space we all get for free, I hear the murmurs somewhere in the next world ( yes, though its in the next cubicle, the conversations there gives me the feeling that we are worlds apart)
”..sanity testing shuru ho gayaa…tera baari hai…
(translated to all as : “…sanity testing has started…now its your turn”)….

us and them

what is this blog? is it me? is it you? is it us? is it them? questions i should'nt be asking and you shouldn't be thinking about
leave that. the title for this blog is quite simple, i am listening to floyd's "us and them". i must admit. i had not heard much of floyd, just that one p.u.l.s.e album. i always used to wondner what is it with drunkards and floyd? now, being a similar state of mind i.e. being wasted, i know why floyd is what it is.
"Heaven from Hell,
Blue skys from pain.
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?"
anyway, i am not "drunk", am just wasted. wasted by this bloody industry, this revolution that is supposed to change the face of our country. the only thing revolving here is my buttock in my nice little chair, looking here and there, begging for some work to be given. that my friend is truly what i define as wasted. some people in this famous IT industry also use another 5 letter word for it. B.E.N.C.H
finished my training in THE COMPANY around 50 days ago. got into a project 15 days ago. got some crappy documents to read whilst THE COMPANY negotiates with THE CLIENT to finance for our SPECIAL training. bless the bureaucrats.
how apt !!! the song playing in my windows media player now. is it coincidence or a sick joke HE is playing on me
"As you look around this room tonight
Settle in your seat and dim the lights
Do you want my blood, do you want my tears
What do you want
What do you want from me
Should I sing until I can't sing any more
Play these strings until my fingers are raw
You're so hard to please
What do you want from me.........................."