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Wednesday, October 11, 2006

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.

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.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

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.

Saturday, October 07, 2006

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

Thursday, October 05, 2006

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"

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

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"???