Reelistically Speaking ...

Since everyone has an opinion on 26\11...

2008-12-02T16:47:00.002-08:00

... I guess I should have one too? Having never been one to slack off in giving my opinion on any topic under the sun, I avoided this one like the plague for various reasons. The subject is too touchy and way too close to home, so anything and everything I say can and will be taken out of context.

The past week I've heard everything there is to hear from everyone (including our so-called embarrassing "News" channels) and received dozens of emails, forwards, petitions etc. asking for my support. There is so much information around - "The ISI is involved", "7 terrorists still at large", "US intelligence warned India of seaborne attacks on Mumbai (going as far as naming the Taj Hotel as a target)".

I don't know what to believe in and what not to believe in. All I know is that I feel the same emotion that I'm sure a lot of Indians are feeling right now - Anger. Some are angry at the terrorists and some are angry at the politicians. I'm angry at neither. I'm angry at the Indian people.

Take a look at our politicians. Seriously. Think about the people in charge of our country. Who do you see? Leaders? I see people who have been involved in criminal activity for large parts of their lives. Corruption, murder, rape, kidnappings, extortion - these are the qualifications of a lot of our "leaders". Just because they kill people slowly and under the radar makes them no better than terrrorists in my opinion. So how do you expect these very people to sympathize with the common man?

WE put them there in that position of power and WE need to get them out. How did previous attacks on our country go unnoticed? Are we reacting this time because a lot of affluent and foreign people have been targetted thereby garnering a lot of international attention that we can't avoid? The politicians know that all they need to do is wait it out. We have a very short memory. Soon this too will be forgotten. Why wasn't 7\11 our 9\11? There is one particular email circulating that states the recent disasters that have struck India where they've gotten that very date wrong (or it has been intentionally changed by the originator to fit into some astrological numerical bullshit)! Several years after 9\11, Americans still remember that day grimly and have taken a lot of strict measures to avoid a recurrence while 2 years after 7\11, we are reminded of it only after another attack.

The terrorists are smartly exploiting the youth to carry out their missions. It is time for youth of India to take charge and fight back. We want to declare war on terrorism but we don't have the right leaders to fight that war for us.

My advice? Don't waste your time on futile protests. We have been failing in our most important duty, and that is electing responsible leaders for our county. So, in our next elections, get out and vote. Learn about our candidates, research their pasts, spread the awareness and have your say in electing our future leaders. The current US elections are proof that the youth can play a major role in bringing about the needed change for a country. Let's not elect politicians who are just continuing their family business, but politicians whose family IS the people of India. Once we have such leaders who truly care about India and her safety and prosperity, no terrorists will dare attack us or in the least, we won't let them succeed.

And as citizens, let's stop sitting around and taking pride in trivialities like India winning some cricket series, and let's play a more active role in society. For starters, we should do our basic civic duty by reporting suspicious activities, being more alert and aware of the people in our surroundings, and apart from not partaking in illegal\criminal activities must also bring any such known activities to light. Let's take India to the heights she deserves to be at.

Yes, we can. And only we can.

"Well done, McDonalds" or "Why kids need to STAY IN SCHOOL!"

2008-07-28T15:27:00.003-07:00

I'm not a hard person to please. In fact, one thing that makes me very very happy is McDonald's McFlurry. It's a very simple, easy dish that involves mixing various chocolates\candy in vanilla ice-cream. My favourite one is the Smarties-Rolo combo McFlurry. It puts a satisfied smile on my face.

So, today, I go to McDonalds for the sole purpose of wanting something to smile about. After standing in the ridiculously long line (I still don't understand why people eat the other stuff at McDonalds!), I place my order. I look at the 14? year old in front of me who is about to make me very very happy.

First, she brings me 2 McFlurry's - one Smarties and one Rolo. I say, "No, I want just one, with both Smarties and Rolo." I'm still smiling at her, as this small setback is nothing compared to my happy feeling I'm going to get afterward. She comes back with the order and I leave.

Outside the building, I start to sense that it doesn't look like the colourful McFlurry I have grown to love. Maybe the Smarties are hidden underneath, as I saw pieces of Rolo on top. I took a bite.

Stupid #$%^ing Bitch! That was KitKat. Not Smarties. I like KitKat. But not in my McFlurry. I wanted Smarties. Seriously, how hard is it to get a simple order right??? I gave her not one, but two chances!!!!

Maybe I should have gone back and got it exchanged. Stand in line again for 20 mins till she screws up my order yet again? It's just a $3 item that does not seem like a big deal. But it's not about the money. I wanted my "happy meal" and she couldn't even comprehend my order. Why is she even working there?

I think kids need to remain in school and concentrate on being there. I don't understand why 14-15 yr olds have to get jobs and try to become independent. Yeah, they grow up faster, but what's the point if they remain stupid? When kids work while in school, they probably enjoy coming to work more, as they get paid, and then have their own money to spend on Pokemon cards and other stuff, while instead their parents should be getting them these things, so that these kids stay at home and study their books!!!!

The winner here is definitely McDonald's who hires these kids. The best kind of employees are the ones you can hire at $6 an hour and pay them $2 an hour instead, because their dense brains won't catch the difference anyway!

Waiting for the light

2008-04-04T03:46:00.000-07:00

It's dark
The world's asleep
I can hear the silence

I lie awake
Count the minutes
Clock's chiming in the distance

Floorboards creak
Furniture "pops"
The heater is a nuisance

Fearing
Then reassuring
It's just a matter of patience

Everyone's waking
The earth's rotating
Sun's here in all its brilliance

I've won this fight
But gotta rest for tonight
I'll yet be waiting for the light

Huffing and puffing

2007-02-12T15:21:00.000-08:00

Today was a beautiful day - a breathe of fresh air (literally). Usually, the weather around this time of the year is wet or dreary or chilly or wet or dreary or chilly. But today was perfect. A sunny day, clear blue skies, a cool breeze - exhilarating. I took a deep breathe to fill my lungs with the freshness in the air. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Cough cough cough!!!!

I turned to my left in disgust to find the culprit of my irritation - a 30-something year old female having a cigarette. Why anyone would find the need to be smoking on such a beautiful day is beyond practical reason, but to stand in the direction of the blowing breeze and thereby, cheat others next to her of their beautiful day is a worse sin. I stared at her, angrily. For a sudden, I felt most Harry-Potterish, as her cigarette proceeded to fall out of her hands and onto the dirty mud in front of her. "Serves her right", I thought to myself.

Without so much as a flinch, she calmly bent down, picked it right up and put it back in her mouth. And that's when it hit me - why smoker's smoke. They'll just about put any filth into their mouth.

Die smokers. Die.

(o)(o)

2007-02-04T01:15:00.000-08:00

It's so much easier to write when I'm in a bad mood. Here's what caused it.

Apparently, Americans find this picture offensive.

Seriously. I actually need a few moments here to get myself together before I can continue writing. What the fuck is wrong with these people???

Here are some reactions, just to give you an idea.

"I was SHOCKED to see a giant breast on the cover of your magazine," one person wrote.
"I immediately turned the magazine face down," wrote another.
"Gross," said a third.

Gross??? What in the world is gross about it? It's a picture of a cute little baby breastfeeding. Why is that offensive? Why? Why? Why?

One mother who didn't like the cover explains she was concerned about her 13-year-old son seeing it. "I shredded it," said Gayle Ash, of Belton, Texas, in a telephone interview. "A breast is a breast — it's a sexual thing. He didn't need to see that."

First of all, lady, if you think you're 13 year old son hasn't seen a breast before, you are not naive, but plain stupid. Secondly, wouldn't you rather that your son see this picture and start associating breasts with something sacred and pure like feeding and nourishing babies, as opposed to the only other image out there that breasts are something that men whip out their dicks to jerk off at????

If you read the stories, there are many, that range from a woman being asked to get off a plane for nursing her baby to a woman being reprimanded in a food court for feeding her baby and asked to feed her baby in the bathroom instead, as it was offending people.

That's real nice. A poor baby can't be fed mother's milk at the food court while we stuff our fucking offensive mouths with fat-laden burgers. Classic American attitude.

Breastfeeding is highly offensive, while this is completely acceptable???

Bloody hypocrites.

I've got femail.

2006-12-17T04:02:00.000-08:00

I've always wondered of what use hi5 would ever be of to me and today, it played its part.

For the first time in my entire life, or at least that I'm aware of, I got hit on by a chick.

I've never been this flattered EVER. Not by any of the compliments or 'hit ons' that I've gotten from guys. They haven't even come close!

I can't reveal the entire contents of the message but let's just say she thinks I'm pretty and wants to do some rather interesting stuff with me the next time she's down in the Middle East.

Of course, her being a pretty hot latino chick helps the whole blushy 'n' gushy feeling. Daymn.

Too bad I don't swing both ways.

Or do I?

I can't change my past. I can influence the future. But for that, I need to be able to choose a freaking present!

2006-12-02T23:10:00.000-08:00

I first heard this sweet little rhyme from my dad:

The past is history
The future's a mystery
Today is a gift
That's why it's called the present

But no, this post isn't about poetry or tenses. I have a serious problem. (Well, what's new, eh?)

It's that time of the year again. I don't celebrate Christmas (or even New Year's for that matter) but the Ghost of Christmas Gifts seems to have possessed me.

As is common knowledge, I can count the number of close girl friends I have on one hand. (3 fingers, to be precise.) So obviously, the 100 odd (and I use this word oh-so-lightly here) remaining friends are all guys. (Go ahead, i'll say it with you. Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas!) I don't have the fortune (or misfortune) of having any eunuchs as friends. Unless, of course, he\she (no pun intended) is doing a good job of hiding it; which, by the way, IS how I know all my friends - with their clothes on. Where WAS I again??!

Yes. Gifts. It is SO hard to find a reasonably priced gift that a man will truly appreciate. If you're buying for your lover (or the married man whose mistress you are), you can just buy yourself some sexy lingerie and it substitutes as a gift for the both of you. But to shop for a gift for other men??? Diffi.. nay.. impossible!

Don't get me wrong. I don't think guys are fussy about what they're gifted. I think most guys are glad about the fact that at least some girl, other than their mom, thinks they're worth spending some money on. But you can't get a guy something he really wants and likes without burning a hole in your pocket.

Once again, I'm not saying that guys are hard to please. In fact, it's our gender that has that reputation. I don't know how true that is either. I'm rather very very easy to please EXCEPT if I have sufficient evidence to believe that the 'gifter' concerned is loaded. (And by sufficient evidence, I mean my gut telling me, "He looks like a rich guy!") That's when I believe "sentimental and thoughtful" just don't cut it. But serious rich-guy talk aside, I'm 22 and I still love receiving soft toys as gifts. Same goes for artificial jewelry (some of which, I must admit, look better than the real stuff), cute looking stationery, cartoon merchandise or even hand-made cards, most of which can be bought under 20 bucks. Add another 20 bucks to it, and you've got yourself a whole year's supply of gifts for me. And I'll be thinking the world of you all year round. Marvelous, right? Thanks to Hallmark and Carlton and the female sex being the mushy type, most guys have it pretty easy.

However, is there anything you can get a guy for 20 bucks, or even 40, that he will want or even like? I don't mean to say that guys are ungrateful for the gifts we do get them, nor will they ask for the receipt to exchange it at the store; they just smile, say thanks, and put it away in a box somewhere till the next men-only garage sale. (I'm so sure they have these!) But there are just no I'm-on-a-student-budget gifts available to give guys.

I can gift books to my few book-reader type friends. But what about the rest? Guys like cars ('all the way to Mars and back' way over budget), gadgets and other technical gizmo (too complicated for me to understand and pricey too; plus if he wanted something, he'd probably already gotten it anyway), and girls. (I refuse to start playing pimpstress. It's just Christmas, not a winning Powerball ticket, for Christ's sake!)

So guys, please tell me, what exactly do guys appreciate as gifts, that doesn't cost me my kidney and won't end up in the designated men-only garage sale cardboard boxes? (In spite of how this entire post may sound, this is a genuine cry for help, "Help!"

Hrithik makes looking bad look really good...

2006-11-27T11:32:00.000-08:00

... and Bips makes looking hot look really cool.

Moo-V talk - brought to you by Ms. V.

This week's release:

If you're looking for something to exercise your mind, Dhoom 2 is definitely not for you. But if you're looking to get your hormones real excited, go for it.

Hritik has something that no one else does. We've seen guys with well-built bodies, and we've seen guys with great dance moves. But ever seen a guy with fantastic muscles moving with such flexibility? Add to that a good-looking face and you have a man to die for.

Since Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, I have been waiting for a chance to letch at him again, and so far, none of his other movies delivered. You can change my name if you're a chick and you're able to watch him rock the Dhoom Machale song without having drool trickle down your chin. Even my guy friends sitting next to me had their mouths open in awe.

The story is so-so if not predictable with some major flaws in the plot line (the biggest one for me being "why is only the Mumbai police force behind an international criminal?"). The movie does not have you "wowing" at the robberies unlike "The Italian Job", "The Thomas Crown Affair" or "Ocean's Eleven". But there is still enough in the movie to keep the adrenaline pumping.

For the ladies, there's Hritik for drop-dead gorgeous and there's Abhishek for rugged coolness. Uday Chopra does not do much for the hormones, but he provides much-appreciated comic relief. And for the men, there is Bipasha who is looking mindblowingly stunning. In one song, she's clad in an orange gown and all her sensuous moves turned ME on! Aishwarya does what she does best - looks really good and sucks at acting. Her first scene was so awkward, it was ridiculous. Ash can look hot but she cannot pull off looking cool. So, in my opinion, Bips with the lesser-character role, stole the show.

Nothing more to say about Dhoom 2 except one thing. Hritik, the superstar is back!

Last week's release:

Another movie I want to talk about a little is Vivah. I never really read any reviews but the titles to a lot of them conveyed the message - don't waste your money or time watching Vivah. I still went ahead to watch it. And I'm so glad I did.

Vivah was absolutely adorable. Though some scenes were very reminiscent of Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, since even Vivah had Alok Nath and Anupam Kher playing in-laws, Vivah came to me as a breath of fresh air. The story is very very predictable but that's not the point. The point is that even today, we still have a director who is willing to make a movie without a smooch scene, without having his female lead (or an item girl) almost naked, and without dhishum-dhishum of any sort.

Vivah will probably strike a chord amongst our parents' generation than ours. And I find that so sad. We expect our parents to change with the times. And yet we can't be open to what used to be part of our culture. Arranged marriages are becoming old-fashioned. A shy bride is becoming old-fashioned. A city boy marrying a village girl is becoming old-fashioned. Indian culture is becoming old-fashioned.

With all Bollywood movies becoming part of one huge glam-fest, I embrace the simplicity of films like Vivah with open arms.

(And people need to stop using the phrase "It's just another love story." Would you ever call your love story "just another"?)

Earlier this month:

A lot has been said about it, so I won't say too much. Shah Rukh Khan sucked as Don. I know it's unfair to compare this Don to the previous one, but I felt that the movie was almost insulting to the previous one. The biggest flaw of Don? Casting. SRK is not Don material. He may be a superstar, he may be King Khan (blech!) but he can never be Don. In fact, I think Abhishek would have made the perfect new Don and not just because he's Big B's son.

And is it just me or is there way too much of Boman Irani in Bollywood these days??? Get him off the damn screen!!! Seriously. What was Farhan thinking when he cast him to play the big villian in the movie? What a damper. One thing he did do right was give us Arjun Rampal - the actor. Behind the "I cannot describe in public the effect everything about him has on me" looks, body and voice, Rampal proved that he is taking his new profession seriously. I want MORE.

Earlier this year:

KANK. If you're not a Karan Johar fan, don't go watch this movie and crib about it. You know the kind of movies KJ is going to churn out, so why do you expect KANK to be something its not going to be? Ram Gopal Varma has his genre of movies. David Dhawan has his. And so does KJ. People just need to stop being stupid. I liked K2H2. I liked K3G. And so I liked KANK. As simple as that. (Though casting Rampal in a movie sure earns brownie points from me!)

Coming soon:

A movie I'm looking forward to is Kabul Express. I watched the promos and it's been a long time since a Bollywood movie gave me goosebumps. As I heard Arshad Warsi and John Abraham describe their experience shooting the movie, I was thinking "Man, these guys have balls!" The entire movie has been shot in Afghanistan, apparently the first movie ever to be fully shot there post-Taliban. They even said they actually witnessed live bombings. In one incident, John mentioned that they had been strictly warned to stick to one particular dirt-road and neither go slightly right or slightly left as there were land mines on both sides! All this in the name of movie-making? Very impressive to me. All that effort is well worth my money and more.

I will NEVER get over it.

2006-11-17T12:36:00.000-08:00

(Do not read post. Go read the news and fill me in on the fun stuff that's happening in the world.)

Some things time will never heal. I don't know why that is so hard for you to understand. Are you stupid? Insensitive? Or a whole lot of both? It's like when someone's been injured really bad. After some time passes, there's a scar left where he'd been wounded. In some cases, there's a little bit of pain that remains behind that scar to remind him for the rest of his entire life that he'd once been injured. You'd understand that pain, wouldn't you? Every time that person flinched when you punched him playfully on his once-broken arm, you'd feel bad for him and be glad it wasn't you, wouldn't you? So, is it because I don't have a scar to show as proof of being wounded that you don't understand? It's not my fault that I can't show you the hole in my heart. But how is it that this same you can understand the plight of your other friend who'd been dumped 5 months ago? He doesn't have a scar for proof. But he must obviously be in so much pain. After all, the love of his life just broke his heart. What's not to understand? That sweet little thing he knew for maybe a year or two walked all over his heart. That must really hurt. Not that another sweet little thing won't come right by and set it all right in a matter of time. But in my case? There are no replacements. This is not about some sweet little thing I knew for only 1/10th years of my life. And yet you don't understand. You just don't understand. Well, let me ask you just one question then. Do you have any idea what it's like to be sitting all alone in your room, away from your family and friends, crying on the day of the first death anniversary of your bestest friend in the whole wide world, and to receive a phone call on that same fucking day that informs you that your dad is dead? Do you have any fucking idea? No? Are you sure? It doesn't happen to everyone? Geez. Well then, the day you know what that feels like, you tell me to fucking get over it. For now, shut the fuck up.

He knew. She knew. They knew. I don't news.

2006-11-10T01:44:00.000-08:00

Over the past 2 weeks, I've been getting the feeling that everyone's beginning to believe I might be the female version of Michael Kelso. (For the uninitiated, there's Google.) There may be those of you who've had that opinion for a long time but you've just been wrong all this while. However, now, I wonder if "the people" (like they really matter!) might be right.

I've officially given up "The News". It's been a while since I've read a newspaper and I don't watch TV either. I do live on the Internet, but I don't waste my time hitting up news sites. So, in other words, I'm sort of cut off from world events.

Today, I was sitting on the couch, flipping channels to find something interesting to watch for 10 minutes while I relished my cold glass of pomegranate soda (somehow cold things taste so much better in the winter).

"...the Democrats have taken over the Senate..." - FLIP - "...and just a dab of rouge will help your beautiful cheekbones to pop out..." - FLIP - "...MOM! Milhouse is not my best frie..."

"Heyyyyyyyyy! Change it back!!!", screamed my roommate.
"What???? WHY? I don't want to watch the girl scream in glee over how beautiful her cheekbones now look!" replies I.
"Not that. I've already seen that episode. Flip it back to the news. They're talking about the Democrats' victory." whines my roommate.

Now here's what a penny would have gotten you at that point in time.
[Gosh. He's so slow. He reacts to everything 10 hours later. And he's already seen that episode? Geez. His "kind" puts me to shame! But I guess a Democrats victory is something his "kind" needs. Huh?? A Democrat victory? What victory????]

FLIP BACK. FLIP BACK.

"There was an election????"
Unfortunately, I said that out loud.
"Oh my goodness! You didn't know that?"
"Uhm... I don't really keep up with the news."
"What kind of lame excuse is that?"
"Uhm..."
"Well, the Democrats control Congress now."
"Yeah, I sort of gathered that."
"So, do you know that there's a storm heading towards Vancouver tonight?"
"Ohh! Really? Anything serious?"
"And do you know that Brad and Angelina are currently in India?"
"Wow."
"And do you know about the pastor who resigned?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, so you must have at least heard that Saddam's been given the death penalty, right?"
"?!?!?!"
Brain overload. Must sit down and take deep breath.

Okay, I lied. I didn't say that aloud. But I honestly did have no clue that there had been an election. So, had I admitted that out loud, the above conversation would have pretty much taken place. After all, the rest of the news bites mentioned above (which, I'd like to mention that if had been told to me all at once, would have followed that exact order of priority) were also told to me, courtesy: my so-up-to-date-with-current-affairs roommie. Except for the one about the pastor which I was tricked into reading online only because the headline had the words "sex" and "gay escort" in the same sentence. Enough said.

But yeah, as I was saying, I have cut myself off from the world. My friends probably watch the news but there are better things to do and talk about when we hang out. So, my only source of current affairs is The Dilbert Blog. In my opinion, if Scott doesn't blog about it, it's just not important! And about taking sides on issues, I stick with his. It's not like the media isn't biased, and I like him so much better than the media because he makes me laugh. So, since he hadn't really brought up the above issues, I was quite unaware. I guess now I understand why he was making all that fuss about the electronic voting machines.

Is it wrong of me? Am I being ignorant? I just don't care to read anymore about natural disasters and lousy politicians and wars and rapists or even miracle children and Oprah and China's booming economy. I honestly don't care. And I don't know why I don't care. Yes, it's depressing to hear about the horrible things happening to people (because some day that "people" could be me) and it's also depressing to hear about the great things happening to people (because I'll spend the rest of my time wondering why great things don't ever happen to me). Ohhhhhh. Eureka moment here. I don't care because it's depressing to care! Very well, then. That's the end of this post.

Just. Need. To. Write.

2006-10-31T22:05:00.000-08:00

I don't know what to write about. I just know that I need to write. This is ridiculous. I haven't blogged in forever. And it's not really because my life has gotten more meaningful. I just haven't "felt" like it. And that's scary. I've never really needed to feel like writing before. I would just sit in front of my screen and out would pour the words. So, what's different now? Is it the fact that I know no one's reading this anymore? Or is it just because I've lost my penchant for writing? I do know that I have a sort of ADD; I bore of things very easily. But writing is not just a "thing". It was never meant to be a fling! Christ, I'm writing a poem now. Anyway, I've decided I'm just going to force myself to write a couple of lines once in a while till I get the hang of it again. It's going to be a whole lot of boring crap. But you know what? I learnt something today. I need to do this for myself. Gosh. I should stop watching all those South Park episodes. It's stunting my creativity. That's only because I spend all my available time in AWE of Trey and Matt's creativity. Man, those two guys are simply brilliant! Seriously. Okay, that's it for today. Mmm-kay??

"Excuse me while I kiss the sky..."

2006-09-24T19:18:00.000-07:00

I believe the world is moving in the wrong direction. We all need to stop this whole education business and start honing our creative sides. You'll be amazed by what you'll find.

Who would have thunk that my hands could be capable of creating this???

So proud of myself. So. Fucking. Proud.

Wake me up when September ends

2006-09-12T22:58:00.000-07:00

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up when September ends

Like my father's come to pass
Seven years has gone so fast
Wake me up when September ends

Here comes the rain again
Falling from the stars
Drenched in my pain again
Becoming who we are

As my memory rests
But never forgets what I lost
Wake me up when September ends

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up when September ends

Ring out the bells again
Like we did when spring began
Wake me up when September ends

Here comes the rain again
Falling from the stars
Drenched in my pain again
Becoming who we are

As my memory rests
But never forgets what I lost
Wake me up when September ends

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up when September ends

Like my father's come to pass
Twenty years has gone so fast
Wake me up when September ends
Wake me up when September ends
Wake me up when September ends

- Green Day

Blogging from Frankfurt

2006-09-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

Iäm on mz waz to Canada, and am transitting through Germanz. Germans have reallz weird kezboards. But thatäs not the point.

Anzwaz, I know Frankfurt airport like the back of mz hand. Okaz, I need to digress, but where in the world did that phrase come from_ I mean, who reallz knows the back of their hand_!_! Iäm not even sure if I know which one is the front and which one is the back of mz hand. But zeah, I know this airport prettz darn well. I know where to find the lounges that are not overßcrowded, and where to find the rare one or two computers with the free internet connection. A lot of people have walked bz me over and over again, in the hopes that I will vacate this seat soon. Little do thez know (unless thezäre reading over mz shoulder) that I have a six hour halt here, and that Iäm not going ANZWHERE for that span of time!

To be quite honest, this airport is reallz boring. The dutz free shops are too darn expensive. I donät think I can afford anzthing in Euros! Luckilz, I struck gold at Muscat airport. I found a 700 page book for the measlz price of Rial Omani 1.8 i.e. approximatelz Rupees 200. Well, itäs a sillz chick flick book, but at that price, Iäd read anzthing! (Zes, living in the west screws up zour sense of monetarz value.) Plus, Iäve been to this airport so manz times, Iäve seen everz nook and corner. In fact, if onlz I were travelling with a lover, I know all the nooks we could be hooking up in!!!

Itäs depressing to go back to Canada. First of all, leaving the comforts of home is NEVER fun. I mean, what was I thinking when I wanted to run off to foreign lands after 12th grade_!_ Secondlz, the weather in Canada is going to be equallz depressing. 3 pm is prettz much night! Ugh. Thirdlz, I have to studz, just to get a stupid piece of paper thatäs going to determine who I am for the rest of mz life. I think thatäs reallz sillz. In fact, over the past 3 zears, I donät think Iäm anz smarter or anz dumber. Education is overßrated. But thatäs another blog post!

Anzwaz, itäs the month of September, and Iäm getting on a plane. Weäll meet again if I ever get to the other side.

P.S. ß As the observant maz have noticed, the y, apostrophe, hyphen, and question mark are all grossly misplaced on this keyboard. No matter how well zou know me, it was not a purposeful attempt to make zour life miserable. Danke! (Thatäs German, not misspelt.)

Gaana bhajaana

2006-08-29T09:09:00.000-07:00

I love music. All kinds of music. And I'm not just saying that because I don't have an opinion. Anyone who knows me knows I'm never short of opinions.

So, when I say all kinds of music, it of course includes Bollywood music too. I love Bollywood music. It's just plain whacky! I mean, where else will you find songs like "Isne bola kem che, kem che, kem che" and "Jab tak rahega samose mein aalu"!!!

But there are some songs and melodies that really play with my heart-strings. Dil ko choo lete hain.. bollywood ishtyle!

In the song "Dekho na" from Fanaa, there's a small little tune right before the singer starts singing. In fact, the song starts with 3 different instrumental tunes... I'm talking about the 3rd one. I just love it!!!! It has such a beautifully romantic feel to it. Just makes me sigh! A similar effect was had by the ending chorus of the song "Kuch tho hua hai" from Hum Tum. I would rewind and replay the ending over and over again.

And then sometimes, the effect is more because of the singer rather than the tune. "Bheege hont" is a perfect example. It's a great song, no doubt (and I'm really trying hard to resist cursing that bastard Malik for shamelessly copying every single note from the original Pakistani version!) but Kunal Ganjawala sounds AMAZING! After that song, I looked forward to hearing that magic in his voice again, but just didn't find it. Until now... "Sabse alag" from the movie "Alag" is Kunal at his best again. He has a ridiculously romantic voice!!!

But nothing beats old Hindi music when it comes to beautiful melodies and lyrics. Here's one from in memory of Hrishikesh Mukherjee from his movie, 'Anand'.

"Zindagi... kaisi yeh paheli haay
Kabhi yeh hasaaye, kabhi yeh rulaaye"

Seriously funny

2006-08-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I think that Pearls Before Swine is a better comic strip than Dilbert and Garfield!!!

Just check out these gems!!!

Tooting my own horn

2006-08-18T21:49:00.000-07:00

Update: Pics up now

I wish I could toot a horn literally, and maybe someday I will. After all, the Arts bug has bitten me in the arse. The bug's been residing on my butt for a long time now, but has somehow recently decided to bite me good. (As always I digress, but I have a question. How many of you today use the word bum to mean the bottom? Because just recently, and after a really long time, I heard a grown up use the word, and it cracked me up like a five-year old!!! Okay, enough of gluteus maximus talk.) So, as I was saying - Arts.

I have always loved the Arts. I've been singing since I can remember (trained in Carnatic). I play the keyboard\organ decently. As hard as it may be for some to believe, I trained in Bharatnatyam for 5 years. And now, I'm learning to oil paint, and am also moving on to other mediums like oil pastels and charcoal. I alo started taking guitar lessons. In fact, I consider writing to be Art too, especially poetry.

When most people my age use their vacations to make contacts, take up training jobs or internships etc, I prefer to hone my creative side. After all, these are the last few years you can tap into it. Plus, as you get older, you also become less confident about your ability to pick up new stuff. Of course, there are exceptions, but the fact that I already whine about my fingers being too small for the guitar tells me that I'll have a billion and one reasons at age 45 about why holding a flute up at that position with both elbows up could be a bad posture at that age. I'm not an ambitious person. So, it doesn't make a difference to me if I'm working with Microsoft or with We-will-shortly-be-out-of-business-because-of-Microsoft. But the feeling of having completed a painting or mastering a song is undescribable. I'm probably not good at them all, but that hardly matters. I enjoy it and there's a definite feel-good factor about it, and that's what counts.

I can't share with you my vocal, instrumental or dance talents, and you've probably had enough of my writing, but I sure can show off my paintings, and with great pleasure at that!!!

Still Life (Oil Painting)

Usually, most beginners start off with a still life painting i.e. a couple of still objects on a table etc. My painting consists of some apples, a vase and a UBO (unidentified blue object).

At the Pier (Oil Painting)

This was my second painting, and I found it quite challenging because of all the detail. But I love it now because it's so colourful and alive.

Marketplace (Oil Painting)

This was my next painting after the first two, and I'd done the previous two a year before this. So, I was quite scared, as I thought I might have forgotten how to paint! Plus faces are always scary!!! But, not bad, eh???

Sunrise or Sunset??? (Oil Painting)

I've titled it thus because I don't know myself. But I know it's looking gorgeous.

At the Countryside (Oil Pastel)

This is the first of 4 oil pastel drawings. There's a sort of freshness about it that I like. And do check out the reflections in the puddles of water!!!

Snowfall (Oil Pastel)

If you look at it from a distance, it looks better.
Winter Beauty (Oil Pastel)

It's pretty. Me like!

Arab Lady (Oil Pastel)

I feel like I didn't capture the beauty on her face, but it looks like a face, at least!

Note: None of the oil pastels have been done on white paper. Can you guess the colour of the sheets???

Coronation of a Princess (Oil Painting)

This is my most recent painting, and I'm quite proud of it. You can tell the difference between velvet and satin, can't you???

Anyway, that's it folks. End of show. I'm currently working on one more oil painting. When it's done, it will be up! It's my best one yet (I hope).

Tagabond

2006-08-14T08:22:00.000-07:00

Thank you, Sid. It feels good to be tagged. First, let me complete the formalities of the tag.

I tag: my newest, dare I say, fans! Mise and Saikat.

Moving on...

I'm thinking about: where this world is heading to.

I said: that today's concept of true love is about as real as a mirage.

I want to: make a life-changing positive difference to at least one person's life.

I wish: life had been kinder to me.

I hear: voices in my head... all the time.

I wonder: how much more Time will change me as a person.

I regret: not spending every second of my dad's life with him.

I am: content with who I am.

I dance: when I'm alone.

I sing: every chance I get.

I cry: myself to sleep every night.

I'm not always: a bitch.

I make with my hands: Art - be it music, painting, poetry, baking etc.

I write: because I love to.

I confuse: being completely honest with "digging your own grave".

I need: someone to take care of me.

Boost is the secret of my ego!

2006-08-04T12:15:00.000-07:00

Ego restored.
Blogging resumed.

Ms. V khush hui!!!

Who will cry when my blog dies?

2006-07-29T23:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, I will. But, who else?

Change of plans, guys!

2006-06-28T03:43:00.000-07:00

Ok. So, I'm not REALLY in Germany. Well, I was. But everytime I tried to get out of the airport, they demanded something called a visa. No, not the credit card, because I showed that to them and got dirty stares for it. How dare they!! Like I would try to bribe them just for some stupid football tournament???? (Oh I SO WOULD!!!)

So, I'm home, in Muscat. And it's depressing. Exciting yet depressing. Home's not the same anymore and will never be. That's the life I've to live. It's inspired me to write a whole lot of depressing poems though. (Look out, RA.) I'll post them some time later.

Right now, there are only 2 things on my mind - FIFA and my cousin's wedding.

FIFA is awesome! (Gautam, you stupid fool. How is football boring??????) I hate the French and the English. I'm still rooting for Portugal to beat the Beckham team. Poor little cute Deco. I hope the other ruthless Portugese kill the Englishmen on the field, if not by tactic, then literally! They seemed to show some good WWE potential out there on that field!

All of you who doubted Ronaldo for even one second, go eat your hats. He is BACK in form. And has broken the record of 14 FIFA goals. That too in Germany. Ironic.

As for my cousin's wedding, I'm SO excited that I can't imagine how she must feel. I have yet to meet the groom, so if I don't give the green signal, he's in big trouble! I usually think marriages are a BIG BORE, but when someone so close to you is tieing the knot, it is exciting as hell!!!

So, anyway, I'm coming to India tomorrow - Madras and Bangalore, to be specific. So, if anyone is around there and wants to chat or meet up, leave me your numbers!!!

See you on the other side of the Arabian Sea.

GGWCF - So, the question of the day is...

2006-06-25T13:49:00.000-07:00

... how many people actually did NOT get carded in the Portugal-Netherlands match???

(Gosh. That's the dirtiest match we've had thus far, eh? But, what a match. WHAT a match!)

I AM IN GERMANY!!! WOOHOO!!!

2006-06-18T03:05:00.000-07:00

Okaz guzs. Zou are going to have to excuse mz spelling errors, because the Germans apparentlz think it's more important to have a Z on their first line as opposed to a Y. Anzwazs, I'm presentlz eating some reallz zummz football-shaped cookies!!! Let's see if I can catch a couple of matches or so. Look out for me on TV, okaz???

P.S. - I'm also sporting a football brooch to show mz passion! Let the games begin.

GGWCF - It's obvious that MEN came up with the rules to football!

2006-06-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

I'm not even going to bother to do a proper organized recap piece today because I'm pissed!!! Seriously, in which bloody world is it fair to pit 10 weak players against 11 good ones? Okay, forget their relative strengths. 10 versus 11? That's just lame, man. L-A-M-E!

And even the fouls are so questionable. I agree that the referee cannot be perfect, but sometimes it's so pissing off to see a player be given a yellow card because he bumped into the back of the opposing player while running. I know you sports guys aren't really all brain up there; so for your information, it's called INERTIA. (You probably never took physics though, so I don't blame you for not knowing.)

It's also amazing to see the player bumped into instantly fall to the ground crutching his ankle\wrist\crotch. No doubt that it hurts, but being a professional footballer, you'd think they'd develop some level of tolerance to pain, right? Even mosquitoes learnt to become resistant to DDT!!!!

Yeah yeah. So, it goes both ways. But it's not time to be doing probability here. It's about how a single mistake can make or break a team. And that's what happened today. When Poland lost Sobolewski, they lost their morale too. I don't think they came into this game thinking they could beat Germany, or even tie with them. But when they had managed that for 75 minutes, I'm sure they thought they could somehow pull off a draw with Germany. And that in itself would have been quite an achievement for them. But that referee just had to go and screw it all up. The minute the Poles were down to 10, Germany basically had a psychological advantage from there on.

Today, I am disappointed in the game. And I hate the Germans.

Auf Wiedersehen.

GGWCF - Superpower-LESS!!!

2006-06-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

June 12th

Match 1:

The winners - Australia (3)
The losers - Japan (1)
The game - I didn't watch this match. However, considering that the score at half-time was 0-1 with the goal in Japan's name, it can only mean that the Australians played a damn good game in the second half!

Match 2:

The winners - Czech Republic (3)
The losers - U.S.A. (0)
The game - Oh. What a game. It was a delightful one for anyone who is a CZE supporter! Or a U.S.A. hater such as moi. Every goal that was scored filled me with such joy that I wonder how the Czech Republicans must have felt. The Americans were the clear favourites going into the game. But the scoreboard told a different story altogether.
Men that matter - Rosicky scored 2 goals. He is also a 4/5 on the qutometer. I don't know about men on the American side because I don't really go for losers. Or maybe I'm just racist. Bah.

Now for the remaining recaps.

June 10th

Match 1:

The winners - Paraguay (0)
The losers - England (1)
The game - Yes. Technically, England won the points for the match. But it was hardly something to be proud of. "The best English side yet", the commentator reports. What they do on field could hardly be more of a contradiction. That one goal they got was sheer luck because the Paraguans were feeling a bit like deer-caught-in-headlights for the first few minutes of the game. But after the first quarter, the Paraguans were clearly the better team.
Men that matter - Owen (ENG) is a cutie (4/5 q.r.). But he did jack shit in the game. Beckham (ENG) is for those of you born in the 50s. Seriously. Valdez (PAR) has cute dimples (3/5 q.r.).

Match 2:

The winners - Trinidad & Tobago (0) and Sweden (0)
The game - I only watched it in bits and pieces but for a team that's participating at their first World Cup, T&T sure did a good job of not letting Sweden score.

Match 3:

The winners - Argentina (2)
The losers - Cote d'Ivoire (1)
The game - I did not watch this game. I did expect Argentina to win. What I didn't expect was Cote d'Ivoire to score.

June 11th

Match 1:

The winners - Netherlands (1)
The losers - Serbia & Montenegro (0)
The game - I did not watch this game. I just have one question though. How in the world is SCG a suitable acronym for Serbia & Montenegro???

Match 2:

The winners - Mexico (3)
The losers - Iran (1)
The game - I did not watch this game. But I have been told to regret that I didn't.

Match 3:

The winners - Portugal (1)
The losers - Angola (0)
The game - This pretty much looked like a recap of the ENG-PAR match. Portugal get lucky with an early goal and then pretty much suck through the rest of the game. The funny thing is that the Angolans weren't even all that good. They really need to work on their scoring-a-goal-in-the-vicinity-of-the-net skills. So, basically, it seems that either the Portugese were just being way too casual since it's just a Round 1 match, or they really aren't that good a team.
Men that matter - Loco (ANG) is following the footsteps of Beckham and Ronaldo of setting new hairstyle trends. A 1/5 q.r. though.

The Girl's Guide to World Cup Football - Introduction

2006-06-11T14:07:00.000-07:00

Yes. This is a post about football. But since it is being written by a girl, it can actually be understood by the masses. You will not read about throw-ins, corner-kicks or the off-side. You will also not read about forwards or wingers. Though you may read about cute guys who happen to be forwards or wingers. What you will definitely read about are the winners, the losers and the cute guys on each team. So, if you are a self-proclaimed football expert, you might as well sod off.

A few basic things to know before you read on.
1. A football field is usually green. The colour of the green depends on the type of grass and the angle of sunlight rays falling on it.
2. A football game is played between 2 teams of 11 players each. So, excluding the goalkeeper, there should be 20 men running around the field. There are times when there may be say 19 men only. Do not be confused. Someone has just left the field to pee. Okay, not really. There are technical reasons behind that; nothing to break your head over, really. You can be rest assured that the 20th man will be back!
3. A football game is 90 minutes long. Therefore, half-time is at 45 minutes. However, extra time is sometimes added on by the referees for fun. After all, more time, more excitement.
4. A cute-o-meter a.s.a. (also spelt as, for further reference) qutometer should be self-explanatory. This has nothing to do with the official game of football, per se.

So, to recap what has happened uptil now...

June 9th

Match 1:

The winners - Germany (4)
The runners-up - Costa Rica (2)
The game - What a GREAT way to start the FIFA World Cup. It was honestly one of those you-can't-take-your-eyes-off-the-screen-for-a-second matches! Trust me. I was trying to make a sandwich to eat while watching the match, but I couldn't get to it till half-time. There were 2 goals scored (1 each) in the first 10ish minutes. And even though the Germans were clearly the better team, the Costa Ricans were in no way losers. This game made the 4-year wait worth it.
The men that matter -
1. Klose (Ger) - Scored 2 out of 4 goals for his team. Scores 2 out of 5 on my qutometer. But then again, I just don't really like blondes.
2. Frings (Ger) - Scored 1 goal but with great style. And that counts!!! 1/5 on my qutometer, though.
3. Ballack (Ger) - 4/5 on my qutometer! He's as cute as a button. (How the hell did this phrase originate???) So, you can keep gushing about him, and the guys will pretty much nod their heads in agreement, because he also happens to be a class player.
4. Wanchope (Crc) - Apart from having a really cool last name, he scored both of Costa Rica's goals. 2/5 qutometer reading (q.r.).

Match 2:

The game - I did not watch this game. All I know is that Poland shouldn't have lost 0-2 to Ecuador.

To be continued...

IT'S HERE! IT'S HERE! IT'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!

2006-06-09T00:08:00.000-07:00

GO BRAZIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He ate us!

2006-06-03T14:41:00.000-07:00

Po-tay-to. Po-taa-to.

Same difference.

Go figure.

Long live people-who-have-no-life!

2006-05-29T00:22:00.000-07:00

I've never really been interested in message boards. Or forums. Or whatever it is they're called.

For the past one week, a movie had been bothering me. I'd seen the trailor and I wanted to watch the movie. But for the life of me, I couldn't remember what the title was, or who was starring in it, or who directed it etc. So, I did what I always do when I have movie problems. I decided to IMDB it.

The site apparently requires specific information. Ugh. There is just no appreciation for vagueness in this world anymore! Resignedly, I clicked on 'Help'. Then, in the FAQ section, I found my question!!!

Q: "I'm looking for a film but I can't remember the title... can you help me?"

Yay. Yay. Yay.

A: "We'd love to help everyone, but unfortunately our staff is unable to..." Whaaaaaaat? Why? Gaaaaaaaaa! "You can try posting your question in one of our online message boards..." Pffft. Yeah, right. Whatever!

But eventually, I gave in. Beggars can't be choosers. So, I registered myself onto the site and posted my question.

40 SECONDS WAS ALL IT TOOK. To get my first reply. And it was spot on. Seriously! I was shocked. Amazed. At a loss for words. And you know it's almost impossible for me to be at a loss for words. I got my second reply in the next 4 minutes. Again, spot on.

For all the times that I have scoffed at people who use message boards, I am sorry! I was an idiot, and I admit it. I did not realize the power of the Internet. And thank you, YourDream84.

As for the movie, I shall be renting it tomorrow. It's just a movie about lesbian love. Nothing you guys would be interested in.

F! F! F***!

2006-05-22T19:37:00.000-07:00

Atta Yaqub is ORGASMICALLY GORGEOUS!!!

Who is he? A Glaswegian-Pakistani actor. I just watched his debut film and he is OH-SO AAH!

Why is it that all the hot men got pushed to the other side of the border, damn it????? WHY!!!!

I'm not putting up any pictures because they just don't do justice to how WOW he is.

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Oh, you know me SO well. Here he is. Drool, ladies. Drool.

What the heck. Here's more!!!

Ooh, I want you. I don't know if I need you. But, ooh, I'd die to find out.

You and your wife will be happy in your life together.

2006-05-18T17:40:00.000-07:00

That's my Orkut fortune-for-the-day. Bloody sexist site. Isn't it so irritating when so-called co-ed sites are so stupid? Especially when they have all your information, including gender and sexual orientation etc. Or maybe they know something I don't know. Hmmm.

I'm in a bitchy mood tonight. Bitchy bitchy bitchy. It's been a-coming too. Man, it sounds good just to say it. BITCHY!!!

Today's Headlines.

Sometime earlier this week, a key came off my keyboard. Just like that. It bloody came off. I kept it aside and continued using my keyboard like all was well. A few days later, I realized that I didn't miss the missing key at all. So, I took a look at it.

An EXACT duplicate of the key already exists. So, basically that particular key is redundant and useless. Hey engineers! What's with THAT??? I paid for a crappy key that comes off from NEVER being used? Seriously. With all this moving forward with knowledge and technology, that move certainly took us a million steps backwards. And don't give me crap about "See, that key came off, and you still have the characters elsewhere to use it." I hardly ever use '/' and I can't remember the last time I used '|'. In fact, what the hell IS it??? It looks like it would probably be very handy on a Hindi keyboard! If you want to give me duplicate keys, I'd rather have another 'Enter' or even an extra '.'.

An hour after the key popped out, my cell phone fell down for the first time ever. I've never dropped it prior to this. And obviously, it cracked. I also noticed a small black piece lying next to it. It's one of the pieces that clicks into place while putting the cover back on. That piece is apparently useless too. The phone is still fixed perfectly, and the cover is in fact easier to put on and take off. There's even no rickety-ness or anything in the fitting. It's perfecto! So, again, engineers, why?

With regards to something they DID get right, I've got this new tiny mouse that I'm in love with, the size of Thumbelina! Check out the cool adjustable cord thingy. Now THAT I love. Wires are especially irritating, and this reduces the clutter. So, 10 points for that.

Moving on to Global News.

I'm sick of being called East Indian. I don't know why other Indians haven't taken offence to this yet, but seriously, we're the first Indians, damn it. I'm Indian. And someone from East India is also Indian. You North Americans can call your so-called Indians as Native Indians or any other prefix that you may prefer. But don't damn prefix me! It's gotten so bad that forms online that ask to fill out ethnicity, now state "East Indian" as one of the choices. I'm either Asian, South Asian or Indian. That's it. Bloody fucking Columbus. Just went around calling people Indian. Not only did the idiot not find India, but he went and discovered America, a country I could REALLY do without.

Coming up, some Corporate News, after the break.

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There are two types of corporations - those that rip you and those that let you rip them. FutureShop (Canadian version of Best Buy) I like because it's the latter kind. I bought an MP3 player solely for my trip to Illinois and returned it back today (30 days later) with no questions asked. Fido (my cell service provider), however, ripped me apart by plonking onto me a bill of $170 for my phone usage during my trip - just 10 freaking days!!!! Apparently, it's more expensive to receive a call while abroad than to make calls. Now, who would have thunk it?!? Bloody hell.

Now for some Reality TV News.

Yesterday was the Amazing Race finale. The hippies won the million dollars. Yay. I was rooting for them. They didn't play dirty AT ALL and they had a smile on their face throughout the race! Good for them. I felt bad for the frat boys, though. Maybe because one of them is terribly cute. But they were so painfully close, that I cried a few tears for them. For future reference, boys:

Oman (left), Thailand (right)

American Idol was down to choosing its final 2. As usual, the racist Americans voted out the amazingly talented Russian boy to choose the Barbie-doll-cute I'm-on-"American Idol: The Broadway Show" girl. I don't trust the American public to choose Taylor Hicks, the grey-haired uber-talented crazy-personality average-looking dude over afore mentioned pretty-face chick. But let's see. Go Soul Patrol!!!!!

What is wrong with The Apprentice? It's like every person who takes up being project manager and loses, gets the boot. That's so stupid! Even Hitler couldn't have managed some of those characters. I think Trump should watch the tapes and the drama that goes on behind the scenes to make more informed decisions. But then again, what is one badly hired apprentice going to cost him? A million bucks? 5 million? That was probably Ivonka's pocket money when she was 3.

We'll be back with some Sports News.

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The Americans piss me off yet again. Rugby is NOT football. Soccer is. So, when we talk about football, it should mean soccer. Let your American version be called something else, like rugby, for example. How often do you guys have your foot on the ball anyway? In soccer, the guys play the game mostly with their feet. So, isn't football a more appropriate name for that sport?

Plus, according to Columbia University Press, "the first recorded game probably was that on a Shrove Tuesday in Derby, England, part of a festival to celebrate a victory over a contingent of Roman troops (A.D. 217)." Do you see that, Americans? A.D. 217! Rugby came about only in 1823. So, how come all of a sudden, you guys decide that rugby gets to be called "football" and the real football must now be called soccer? You guys are either so fucking ignorant or so fucking arrogant. Either way, it's bloody pissing off. And most of the times, you guys are holding on to the ball for dear life. I suggest grabball or gropeball as a more appropriate name for your so-called macho game.

Last but not the least, some Animal Planety News.

I'm dog-sitting this week. Here's the little angel.

Isn't she CUTE??? This is great training for me because I've always wanted to have a dog, and now actually taking care of her will help me realize the responsibility that comes along with having one. So far, I've cleaned her puke and her poop. And I still love her. Looks like I may be ready for the Yorktese (below) I've been yearning for.

In Other News, I have an accounting exam tomorrow. Yet, it was of utmost importance to watch the series finale episode of Will and Grace. And Karen and Jack. Sigh. Also, Nestle sure knows how to make awefabulicious© ice-cream. I'm so in LOVE with their mint chocolate swirl. Not only are they not scrimpy with their chocolate chips, but those babies are huge. When it comes to sex and chocolate, I guess size DOES matter!

A little less conversation, a little more action please
All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning© me
....
Close your mouth and open up your heart
And baby satisfy me
Satisfy me baby!

Now here's a man who knew all about ending on good notes.

P.S. - How do you get rid of the damn French A in front of the copyright symbol, damn it???

Welcome to Chambana, where the skies are gray, and it keeps damn raining almost every day (to the tune of "Welcome to India")

2006-05-12T04:59:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: All characters and events portrayed in this post are non-fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely intentional. This is not a work of fiction. It may be a work of exaggerated reality. But you will never know.

It all started with an innocent little chat Ajith and I were having about the weather. Somehow, he tricks me into planning a trip to Chambana, Illinois. How I get there is another blog post altogether, and will probably be the bitchiest rant yet. But right now, I'm feeling "flowery and rainbowy". So, using the great technology of "fast-forward in flashback", I'm going back in time to April 21st and then moving forward to 10 freaking 30 pm. (aana paana, aana paana, aana paana) Okay, I'm alright now.

I get off the Suburban Express, which it says so on the bus (no easy feat that, I tell you), right in front of Altgeld Hall. (That's a picture of the building during winter.) Altgeld Hall is the most confusing building ever (irrespective of weather conditions), and is aptly the Mathematics building at UIUC. There are actually half-floors in the building. Take a minute to imagine a half-floor in your head. Good. That's exactly how it is. The total number of floors in that building is a fraction!!! It is thus a scary-ass building to have classes in at night-time, for the chances of getting lost in there are [3.14159 times e to the power 19]! After 3 long years, it sure feels good to be back in Chambana.

Before I go further, I shall digress for a moment. For geographical purposes, there are two separate towns - Urbana and Champaign. (Yes, it's pronounced like the drink. Woohoo! Crack your puns. Have your moment. Okay. Moving on.) However, for the students of UIUC, it is just one big bloody flat town that they affectionately call Chambana. For the students who don't, they're obviously not part of the "cool crowd".

It takes another 15 minutes to locate Ajith, as he's clearly not getting ANYTHING right today. Anyway, saying that it was ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL to finally meet him is an understatement. In all honesty, it was more like meeting someone I'd met online, as we hardly hung out together during freshman year. Oh, I forgot one tiny detail. The whole trip was meant to be a surprise. Nobody except Ajith was to know about it. Or at least, that's what the plan was. Yeah, so awkward first hug later, we're back on track again.

We drive to his apartment and as predicted, his roommate, Bharat a.k.a. BK is nowhere to be seen. I've been told I may never even get to meet him, so I've prepared myself. Luckily, I know what he looks like, so if he plans to make a guest appearance while I'm around and Ajith's not, I won't need to let out my all-powerful help-scream. It's been rumoured that Ajith once left for an entire weekend to New York, and BK was completely unaware of the fact even after Ajith was back! So, that's saying something.

The living room is extraordinarily neat for a guys' apartment. But then again, there is only a TV, a set of speakers to enhance their TV viewing, a table (which is neither tall enough nor short enough, in my opinion) and 2 couches (of which one will be spoken about, at great length, later) that adorns it. I don't know how much this arrangement helps their Yin and Yang, not that I'm an expert in Feng Shui, but it sure does help the boys play their cricket with the least amount of breakage. I think it's important to point out at this juncture that the TV is NOT theirs and I highly doubt the speakers are either. At least, I'm positive they haven't paid for it.

Here's a small story about the TV. The beautiful 27-inch Apex (a.k.a. generic Walmart brand as Ajith calls it) TV belongs to their ex-roommate. He attempted to sell it to them for $85. Ajith and BK found the very idea preposterous. So, they came to a compromise. They convinced the ex-roommate that not only will they be kind enough to keep it for him, they will also take the trouble to find a buyer. The ex-roommate is adamant that the TV not be sold for less than $85. "Perfect!" think Ajith and BK, who're probably dancing the evil jig in their respective heads. The result? The TV still sits in the exact same location, moving a couple of inches here and there, only when a tennis ball is hit at it with great force and fervor, during the oft-played in-house cricket games. Apoorva, if you ever happen to read this, you've been HAD, dude. Big time!

Attached to the living room is a kitchen. The less said about it, the better. Bah. Who am I kidding? The fridge in the kitchen is one of the 3 reasons BK will get off his ass (the other 2 being The Shopping Network and nature's calls), and Ajith cooks very yummy appams in spite of negligible resources. Very impressive, I must admit. More details later.

There is a small passageway that connects the living room to the bathroom and 3 bedrooms. Of course, there is a chair right at the mouth of the passageway, because it is more important to have a stump-double (in case of a life and death need to play cricket) than to be able to walk comfortably between the living room and the bedroom. But I guess some people get a kick out of contorting their body to weird angles. There also lies a sea of cables bang in the centre of the passageway. God forbid you need to use the bathroom urgently. That explains Tuppel's aaaaaaah + body-twist routine when he had to do so!!! (Tuppel is the sorta-3rd roommate who has his own place but still lives here most of the time. More details on him later.)

The bedroom kept for me was small and cosy. I really liked it. All I'd brought was a really small strolley, so I was going to live out of the box. (I travel such that I not only put girls to shame but also guys. Or garner myself a whole lot of sympathy.) I didn't need too much room, just a bed to sleep in. I was surprised to see that there was also a full table at my disposal. "Maybe I don't have to run off to Aabha's place after all." That was my first thought, Ajith, in case you care to know.

I took a look at the bathroom and immediately demanded a substitute mug. (No matter how many years I live in this part of the world, it will ALWAYS be water over paper.) The toilet seat issue I deal with at my own apartment. So, I'm hoping I was good about it. Somehow, Ajith got himself the largest room in the apartment. Smart move. Though I think BK could hardly care less. All in all, an apartment that didn't revolt me one bit. Off to a good start, I believe.

It was now time for THE PLAN.

To be continued...

Template changes

2006-05-11T23:41:00.000-07:00

I've made a few changes to the template. So, everybody can stop whining now.

1. The font has been changed. It looks so un-cool now. But looks like people prefer legibility over style. Hmph.
2. The colour of the links has been darkened for the 70 yr old readers of my blog.
3. The blogger icon on the address bar is now a cool "V". At least there's something I can smile about!

So, yeah. I guess I do give thought to your suggestions. Do let me know if there are more.

Nohari results

2006-05-09T04:02:00.000-07:00

So, this is what my Nohari window looks like.

Arena

(known to self and others)

insecure, lethargic, unhappy, cynical, foolish

Blind Spot

(known only to others)

incompetent, timid, simple, hostile, needy, brash, childish, chaotic, insensitive, self-satisfied, passive, smug, overdramatic, cold

Façade

(known only to self)

irresponsible

Unknown

(known to nobody)

intolerant, inflexible, cowardly, violent, aloof, glum, stupid, vulgar, withdrawn, selfish, unhelpful, unimaginative, inane, cruel, ignorant, irrational, distant, boastful, blasé, imperceptive, impatient, weak, embarrassed, loud, vacuous, panicky, unethical, rash, dispassionate, dull, predictable, callous, inattentive, unreliable, humourless

Dominant Traits

60% of people agree that Ms. V is insecure
60% of people agree that Ms. V is cynical

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

The window rules - Basically, I choose 5-6 bad traits about myself. Then, my "friends" do the same. If the traits they pick are the ones I picked, they show up in the 'Arena'. The 'Facade' is a trait I picked that nobody else picked. The 'Blind Spot' is the fun part where I get to know what other nasty things people think about me!

I'm pretty pleased with the results because there's nothing about me that's hidden. Except my irresponsibility, and that's something you'll get to know if you're around me. That means I'm pretty much an open book!

So, 60% of people agree that I'm insecure and cynical. I would have agreed to that; however, out of the 5 people who had the balls to mess with me (or a lot of time on their hands), I only know 3 of them: Makki, Viks and Sparky!

As for the other 2, I truly do appreciate the time you took to fill out my window. But with a name like sexxx bomb, you can hardly expect me to take your comments seriously. What with me being such a stickler for correct spelling et al. And Suresh, I have no clue who you are, but considering what you think of me, I'm glad we got off to such a great start!

A trend I noticed is that my friends picked only 5 traits whereas the 2 strangers picked 6. It only goes to show that the more you get to know me, the more you'll find that I'm not all that bad. Or it could just be that I have really lazy friends. Or that strangers like to be meaner??

In all honestly, I had a BLAST with this one. I really wish more people had helped contribute to it. But then again, I'm still coming to terms with some of those traits pointed out in the 'Blind Spot'. So, maybe it's all for the best! ;)

Nohari window

2006-05-07T05:59:00.000-07:00

We're usually strangers to each other in this blogosphere, right? That's why we're all so nice to each other.

But I think we've known each other long enough to be friends. So, go ahead. Tell me what you REALLY think!

Click here to contribute to my Nohari window.

Courtesy Gautam's blog.

Friends versus Coupling

2006-05-06T19:45:00.000-07:00

Coming up next: How to have fun in a university town!

Not that I would ever make the mistake of comparing the two shows, but there are some idiots who do.

"Oh, you should watch 'Coupling'. Then, you'll realize how blah 'Friends' is."
"'Coupling' is so much bolder than Friends. 'Coupling' is for grown-ups. 'Friends' is for kids."

Bah, I say. Bah humbug.

Until two weeks ago, I didn't have anything to say to these fools because I'd never watched 'Coupling'. So it would have been unfair on my part to make a comment comparing the two. (I'm not like those who think Crash deserved the Oscar and those who think Brokeback Mountain should have won it instead, even when both groups of people have clearly not seen the other movie in question.)

But seriously, what exactly is so great about 'Coupling'? I watched it and found it okay. Not boring but not exactly interesting either. Most 'Coupling' fans argue that the show has no qualms about saying anything and everything out loud. But that's what my problem is.

I don't have any issues with the boldness per se, but honestly, which scenario do you think is funnier?

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

Scene:-
Enter female with really huge breasts.

Coupling-
Oliver: Wow. She has really huge breasts!
Rest of Coupling cast: Yeah. Uhm-hmm. (etc. etc.)

Friends-
Joey: Wow. She has really huge.. oww!!! (Chandler elbows Joey in the ribs.)
Chandler: EYES! She has REALLY huge eyes!
Rest of Friends cast: Yeah right!!! (dripping with sarcasm, obviously.)

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

Personally, I find the 'Friends' scene funnier. I think humour lies in things being innappropriate to say or do. If everyone is bold, and does and says whatever is on their mind, where the hell is any place in this world for double entendres??? Or for "Did I just say that aloud" moments???

Obviously, it is visually obvious to the viewers that the female has huge breasts. The fun is in being able to make something out of that moment, rather than someone stating the very very obvious.

What I'm trying to say is that those of you who want to be grown up, go ahead. Go watch your show, chuckle at appropriate moments and nod in agreement with your characters' dialogues. I'm going to be a kid and watch my show, snort juice out of my nose and fall off my seat laughing at Joey and Chandler's quasi-gay histrionics!!!

"Feel the rain on your skin"

2006-05-02T12:32:00.000-07:00

So, I took a break. A 10-day long break. And I treated myself to a WHOLE LOT OF FUN. (Actually I could write this entire post in caps lock and it would hardly begin to capture the amount of fun I had.)

But I'm going back. For sure. A month. Maybe two. Maybe five. But I will be at UIUC again. (That stands for University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, for the I-wasn't-good/rich-enough-to-be-looking-up-good-US-universities'-names. And that stands for United States (of America), for those of you who were born yesterday.)

Anyway, I'm really tired right now, so there'll be a post on this soon. Or 10 posts! I don't know. All I know is that no amount of money in the world can bring you the kind of joy that I experienced. (Well, I guess a couple of bucks did come in handy, what with all the yummy food we ate.)

Special thanks to Natasha Bedingfield. She changed my life forever!!!

Announcement

2006-04-24T12:33:00.000-07:00

This blog, at the moment, is indulging itself in a bar of Kit-Kat.

A REALLY LARGE BAR.

Old is gold.

2006-04-18T21:19:00.000-07:00

I was travelling to school on the bus today, and opposite me sat a man about 65 years old. I'm going to henceforth call him OMOM - Old Man Opposite Me. The first thing I noticed about OMOM is that he had a brace around his neck. OMOM had to turn his body to fully face another old man he was conversing with because of that brace he wore.

OMOM was cheerfully chatting away oblivious to the fact that I was observing him. "I surely wouldn't be of such a cheerful disposition with a god-awful brace, such as that, around my neck!", I thought to myself. I also noticed that a huge NIKON camera hung around his neck. A camera bag was strapped over him arm and a tripod leant against him. "A photographer of nature", he calls himself.

As the bus got a little noisier, the other man asks OMOM to speak up louder explaining that he's hard of hearing. "Welcome to the club", laughed OMOM. "I'm blind in my left eye."

I didn't hear the rest of the conversation as I spent the next couple of moments feeling stunned, amazed, awed, flabbergasted?!? However, I got off at my stop with the biggest smile on my face and a weird tugging at my heart-strings.

Here we are, the youth of today - the so-called trend-setters. We ignore certain people on purpose with the two eyes we have. We are sometimes too busy to lend our two ears to listen to a friend's problems. We think it's hilarious that someone's taken a hard fall instead of using our two hands to help lift him up.

And yet, here was OMOM, making the best of what he had.

Today, I was truly inspired.

Men. Today, I applaud you.

2006-04-14T18:57:00.000-07:00

I've never really had a lot of respect for men. Except for my darling dad, obviously.

Now don't get me wrong. I love men! But I just never respected them. Admire them, yes. Lust them, yes. Respect them, no. That's because they've not really mastered that department themselves. When it comes to respecting women, they're dorks, jerks, idiots, fools etc. You get the picture.

I've known a gazillion guys. And they've all been in love or thought they were in love at least once in their lives. And when I ask them why, the first thing I hear is "She's so beautiful!" And they stop at that only because I'm a girl. I'm sure amongst themselves, they're discussing how she has such a hot ass or sexy legs or big boobs. BOCTAOE.

I know guys have the tendency to think with their dicks when it comes to women, but I got sick of hearing that line. And yes, you could say it's a case of the fox and sour grapes.

I've been born with a face, which I would hardly call cute, forget beautiful. And no, my parents are really not at fault here. They had the right genes. But even though the ingredients may be right, the combination has to be. It's like cooking. Your dish can turn out to be delicious or burnt. The "figure genes" didn't work out in my favour either. So, my sister turned out delicious; me, burnt.

I never really missed being loved because I had such great guy friends. I never really needed "a guy"; I had hundreds! But I wondered, would I ever be "loved"? You know, the wanted-kinda loved.

I don't want a guy who's good-looking. If he is, it's a bonus. But that's definitely not my top-5-qualities-I-look-for-in-a-guy list. Unfortunately, for guys, it is.

There are 4 kinds of girls.
1. Girls who are beautiful and have character
2. Girls who are beautiful but have no character
3. Girls who are not beautiful but have character
4. Girls who are not beautiful and have no character.
And I've put them in the order of priority given to them by guys. So falling in group 3, I had good reason to worry.

If there's one thing I know about myself is that I have a good heart. I've never done anything to hurt anyone intentionally. And I wondered if there would be a guy who'd think that was enough to fall in love with. I often answered to myself - no.

It's not even funny how wrong I turned out to be. In the past couple of years, so many guys have professed their love for me that I checked out all the latest magazines to find out if it was the latest fad or something - "Go tell that not-so-attractive girl you love her and see how funny it is!" I'm not talking about guys who've flirted. I'm talking about guys who've clearly stated that they love me. And no, they've not all been the I'm-so-desperate-I'll-settle-for-anyone kinda guys. I've had some real hotties too (There are girls AND guys (straight ones!) who'll vouch for their hotness.); guys who are not socially inept or anything. Basically, normal guys. Plus I've garnered a wide variety of fans through this blog apparently, from one who doesn't even have a clue what I look like [Hi Vinod ;)] to one who's a little young for me [Hi Shashank!!].

So obviously, these guys think that my good heart is good enough. Unless they're under the false impression that since I've not been blessed with good looks, I've been compensated with great talents, genius brains or Tarla Dalal cooking skills. No, guys. I'm just plain.

But whatever be their reason, they're there. They proved me wrong. And that's my point.

All I have to say is - thanks. I'm terribly flattered, to say the least. But above all, I applaud you. I applaud you for being able to look beyond skin and body. Hail the next generation men!!!

This is evolution, alright! ;)

P.S. - This post should be read the way it is and not between the lines. I have never considered myself any less of a person for not being beautiful. I've never tried to beautify myself. I've never owned make-up and don't know what lipstick tastes like. I love who I am and wouldn't change me for anything. Well, I wouldn't mind losing a couple of pounds though. Come on. Who wouldn't? Plus, it's supposed to be good for the heart and what not! :D

Alright. Time to change the mood out here.

2006-04-06T05:29:00.000-07:00

Yes. It's true life gets good, bad and ugly. And mine's been ugly for a real long time now. But I guess I'll stop bothering you with all the crap because I'm sure frankly, most of you don't give a damn.

Anyway, here's a tag-like thingy I came across in a magazine. Here's my take on them.

I can't forget - those who've bitched about me behind my back. (Nor forgive.)
I am waiting for - death. (Not in a scary sort of way. But I believe that all dead people "go" somewhere and I sure would love to be with my dad again.)
Competition makes me - sympathetic. (Some people want to win SO bad, that I just let them.)
I just can't - tell you about my wild encounter.
Nothing works like - magic! (If I believed in god, I'd think he was David Blaine.)
Marriage for me is - like losing weight. (The idea sounds GREAT. Later, you realize how hard you have to work at it to be successful. But you know it's going to be worth it, and it sure as hell is.)
In a time machine, I would go to - any day in the past, when my dad and my uncle are alive.
Shopping for me is - what one does with money. (You make it to spend it, right?)
Music for me is - a painless teleporter. (Every song takes me to a different world.)
My clothes are inspired by - half the amount of money in my wallet. (Yes, I wear cheap clothes. So?)
My spice - Red hot chilli peppers. (Diversion alert! Dave Navarro... sigh!)
Success is - what is screwing up the world today. (People are so caught up in being successful that they're forgetting the other things that are more important.)
When in doubt - flip a coin! (It's rather amusing too when you're feeling indecisive.)
Astrology is - the perfect victim to blame your failures on. ("All the stars are conspiring against me. I don't think the planets like me too much either.")
Wild encounter - See above.
2's company, 3's - kinky! (Ahem.)
Household chore I hate - shutting up my roommate. (Oh, it's a real chore, alright!)
Adventure is - doing something for the first time. (Whatever it may be.)
Language I want to learn - Chinese/Mandarin. (I think it'd be in my best interests to know what over 1 billion people are talking about.)
Gossiping is - not just a girl thing anymore. (It's even more of a gay thing.)

That's it. I'm done. You can go ahead and consider yourself tagged, if you wish.

What the bloody fuck.

2006-04-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

Fong is one of the 2 people I click with over here on a really deep level. And I just learnt today that he lost his dad on Sunday.

What the fuck is happening? And why the fuck is it happening to the people I love? Where is the fucking justice in this world, man? Where the fuck is it? I just don't fucking get this anymore.

If anyone so much so as mentions the fucking word god in my comments section, it will be fucking deleted.

Fuck it all. No point to life at all. No fucking point.

Happy 58th birthday to the most important man in my life.

2006-04-02T03:41:00.000-07:00

Daddy, there's so much I want to say but I'm just too choked up right now to say anything. Luckily we never needed words between daddy and daughter, did we?

All I want right now is a big warm hug and that loving kiss on my cheek with your mustache tickling me. I truly hope that I don't have to wait too long for that.

I miss you so much, daddy. So much that it hurts. I'll try not to cry, daddy. Because I know that you hate seeing tears in my eyes. But forgive me if I do.

It's so hard to go on without the one person who could have helped me through it. I love you so much, daddy. I love you so much.

Who's going to hold my hand now?

"People"

2006-03-29T00:47:00.000-08:00

-by Ms. V

Man stabs kid, woman gang raped
Children shooting teachers; Daily such actions aped

Steal, mug, murder; Disrespecting lives
Bullet through a heart, Blood stained knives

Car crashes, drunk drivers
Robbing banks, homes set on fires

Fed everyday with such negativity
Losing all faith in our humanity

People hurting people
Our own kind of people
Other kinds of people
Are we behaving like people?

7 hours on end, doctors operated
Miracle baby born, the world celebrated

Man risks life to save that of stranger
Adopting orphaned kids, keeping them out of danger

Charity houses, education trusts
Relief measures, human rights activists

Sharing, caring, giving; Humanity's not lost
Good Samaritans, helping at their cost

People helping people
Our own kind of people
Other kinds of people
Living like we're people!

A true friend is...

2006-03-26T23:36:00.000-08:00

... one who makes you a cheat sheet for an exam when you haven't asked for one!!!

Thanks but sorry, Fong. I can't cheat. But I still love you :)

If you're human and you know it, READ THIS POST!!!

2006-03-25T07:26:00.000-08:00

Okay. So before I get myself into any copyright technicalities here, I want to state that I'm blatantly stealing content off Mr. Scott Adams' blog. I could have put up the link, but most people just get lazy when they see a link. Even though it's just a measly click away, many tend to ignore it. And this post just NEEDS to be read.

So, I'm sorry, Scott. I hope you'll take into consideration the fact that my dad bought 3 copies of "The Dilbert Principle" just so he'd have the extras in case he ever lost one, and you'll let me get away with copy-pasting your work on my blog. Thanking you for your generosity in advance!

Recently there was a tennis tournament in Indian Wells. It's one of the biggest tournaments not counting the four "Grand Slam" events. Because tennis is an individual sport, there are always great stories within the game. This year's biggest story was James Blake's comeback.

If you don't follow the game, let me give you some background. Blake is the son of an African-American dad and an English mom. He was raised in Connecticut and had to wear a back brace for years when he was a kid. He took up tennis, excelled, and went to Harvard for two years before going pro. He looked promising, along with a number of other young Americans, but not top 10 material. He was most noted for his sex appeal and great personality.

I became a fan after watching him play Lleyton Hewitt a few years ago. After some calls that went against Hewitt, the Aussie singled out an African-American linesperson and complained to the chair umpire. Hewitt used a poor choice of words that led observers to think he was complaining of racial favoritism. Hewitt says he didn't mean it that way, but nonetheless it became the story. And the media tried hard to get Blake to bite. They wanted him to complain about racism, maybe get a little mad about it. That's good TV. But Blake didn't take the bait. He politely pointed out that people say things in the heat of the moment, and whatever Hewitt said was Hewitt's problem, not his. It seemed to me the perfect response. Sometimes trivializing is the best strategy.

Blake's ranking bobbed up and down, peaking at 22 in the world. He shaved his dreadlocks and gave up his sex symbol image along with millions in potential endorsements. (I'm guessing his hair was prematurely thinning.) Then in 2004 he had the year from Hell. He ran into a tennis net post and broke his neck. Then he got a shingles virus in his face that paralyzed it on one side. Then his dad died.

There was some doubt that Blake would ever play tennis again. He watched the major tournaments from his couch and wondered about his future. In time, his body recovered, and he felt that he had been given a second chance. He grabbed it by the neck.

I don't know what kind of training he did, but oh-my-god. I watched him play in person during the first week of the Indian Wells tournament and thought it couldn't be the same guy. There was ferocity to his strokes. He wasn't just hitting the ball, he was punishing it. His court speed was breathtaking. His shot selection was brilliant. His backhand, previously a weakness, had become a rocket.

You only needed to listen to the court sounds to know that Blake was heading deep into the tournament. When a tennis racket strikes a ball perfectly, it creates a sound wave that spectators can feel in their entire bodies. If you play tennis yourself, you can practically close your eyes and know who is winning.

Blake blasted through the field of world-class tennis players and found himself in an unlikely semi-final with a Spanish force of nature named Rafael Nadal. Nadal is the #2 player in the world. He hits with brutal topspin. It's a relentless attack that less than a handful of elite players have been able to withstand in the past year.

Nadal brought his best, but Blake blew past with a combination of game and gamesmanship that surprised almost everyone, not the least Nadal himself.

Now it was time for the championship match against Roger Federer, the best player in the world. Correction - make that the best tennis player who has ever lived. That's not just my opinion. He already has seven Grand Slam wins. If he stays healthy, many people expect him to hold every important record in tennis.

Against all odds, Blake blazed to a 4-1 first set advantage against the all-time greatest player on earth. It seemed as though nothing could stop him.

And then something happened. The momentum shifted. The rest of the match was all Federer. Blake seemed to fade away, settling for runner-up, but his effort that week was enough to put him in the top ten in the world.

At the trophy ceremony, Blake spoke to the crowd. He said that in 2004, when he was in the hospital with a broken neck, only one tennis player sent him a note to wish him well. It was Roger Federer.

I wanted Blake to win that match, yet somehow, by losing he found perfection.

Of all the things one can try to be prepared for, I did NOT expect to be brought to tears by Mr. Scott Adams.

Why haven't I heard from you?

2006-03-24T01:42:00.000-08:00

Break ups are hard. They're hard even if two people have mutually agreed to part. Break ups are harder, however, when one person behaves like he's fallen off the face of the planet.

1 day has passed: Why hasn't he called? Is he mad at me?

1 week has passed: Why hasn't he called? Is he okay?

1 month has passed: Why hasn't he called???? Is he even bloody alive?

By now you realize the jerk he is. But here's a way to have the last word in. Send him the lyrics to this kick-ass song by Reba McEntire.

Back in 1876 an ol' boy named Bell
Invented a contraption that we know so well
By the 1950's they were in everybody's home
As a crazy little thing they call the telephone
Now there's one on every corner, in the back of every bar
You can get one in your briefcase, on a plane or in your car

So tell me why, haven't I heard from you
Tell me why, haven't I heard from you
I say now: Darlin', honey, what is your excuse
Why haven't I heard from you

Well there's no problem gettin' to me
Baby you can dial direct
I got call forwarding and call waiting
You can even call collect
The service man he told me that my phone is working fine
And I've come to the conclusion trouble isn't with my line
I'm sure the operator will be glad to put you thru
So dial zero for assistance if this all confuses you

So tell me why, haven't I heard from you
Tell me why, haven't I heard from you
I say now: Darlin', honey, what is your excuse
Why haven't I heard from you

There better been a flood, a landslide of mud
A fire that burns up the wires
And a thunder so loud with a black funnel cloud
A natural disaster I know nothin' about

So tell me why, haven't I heard from you
Tell me why, haven't I heard from you
I say now: Darlin', honey, what is your excuse
Why haven't I heard from you

Go country!!!

Not-so-FAQ

2006-03-21T16:58:00.000-08:00

Have you ever stopped to think that if viruses had a smell to them, what a common cold virus would smell like? No? Well, neither have I. However, a couple of days ago, while I was waiting for my bus at the bus-stop, I smelt a smell I hadn't smelt before. And the only thing that went through my head at that moment was that if viruses had a smell to them, that's what a cold virus would smell like.

Memories

2006-03-18T17:14:00.000-08:00

In the movies, it probably makes more sense to show flashbacks in black and white, and the present time in colour. In the movie of my life however, the flashbacks are in colour, and the present is in black and white.

[Standing (L to R): Mom, Dad's elder brother's wife, Dad's elder brother, Dad's sister
Sitting (L to R): Dad, Uncle, Grandmother, Grandfather
On laps (L to R): Sister, Cousin, Me]

It's been half a year since my dad died, and a year and half since his younger brother died. It hasn't sunk in yet. I don't think it will. And I don't think I want it to.

I dreamt about the both of them just two nights ago. We were all watching an Amitabh Bachchan interview on TV. It was a wonderful dream.

I wonder what will be the irony that takes my life. My dad's a road-safety freak. He wears the seatbelt even if we're traveling at 10 kmph. He never crosses the speed limit. His motto about getting to any destination is "better late than never". So, it is ironic that he died in a car crash, a horrific one at that, where the driver remains unscathed, but my dad is killed on the spot. Interesting how that works out. My uncle's a health freak. He's a fit man for his age. He works out at the gym on a regular basis. So, it is definitely ironic that he died in the jacuzzi which he had stepped into just after one of his workout sessions. I think a really ironic way to die is in a case of mistaken identity. I wonder if there is anyone who looks like me who's been getting into major trouble.

I've never believed in god nor did I believe in any sort of higher power. But then, I look at the past 4 years of my life wherein I've lost 5 people dear to me. That's a lot of deaths to deal with for someone my age. And then, I think of my young cousin brothers who are now fatherless, one who still doesn't understand why daddy hasn't come home in so long. I think of my mom and my aunt who have lost their husbands, still have children to look after and have half their lives to live alone. I think of my sister who doesn't have a dad anymore. I think of my 97 year old granddad and my 89 year old grandmother who have lived that long only to lose two sons in the span of one year. How could both of them die on the same exact date, one year apart? The cruelty of it all makes me realize that it wasn't a mere coincidence. There definitely is a higher power. The devil exists.

In the case of untimely deaths, most people sympathize with the fact that the deceased died too early. I think it's worse for those who are left behind to deal with it; to deal with the guilt of being able to live and go on about your daily lives when someone dear to you is no more. To me, my life doesn't feel like a gift anymore; just a guilty burden I carry that I'm alive today while my dad and uncle are dead.

They were both great fans of Kishore Kumar. I think that comes from being brought up in Bombay. And also having great taste in music. My dad was my very own Kishore Kumar. Every KK song that I've ever heard, I've first heard my dad's rendition of it. He sings beautifully, by the way. Dare I say better than Kishore da! Here's a song that has been playing in my head, on and off, ever since that night, in my dad's voice, of course.

Jeevan ke safar mein raahi

(In the journey of life)

Milte hain bichchad jaane ko

(Travellers meet, only to part)

Aur de jaate hain yaaden

(And leave behind memories)

Tanhayee mein tadapaane ko

(To torture us in our loneliness)

So true.

New Release!

2006-03-15T14:15:00.000-08:00

I don't really mind change, especially when there is a lot of it. But could I have it in bills please?

Okay fine. I'll stick to not trying to be funny. But I was dying for a new look for a long time, and then it happened. The html bug bit me. Plus, I think the 100-post mark was great timing too!

Now, I'm very very excited about how this page turned out. VERY. A couple of days ago, I couldn't tell HTML from SPCA. (I'm not much of an acronym person.) In fact, I'd asked someone else to create a new template for me. But then he left to go home for Holi. And I couldn't wait 10 days for him to be back. So, I decided that I had to take things into my own hands.

First things first. This page looks FABULOUS. If it doesn't, then:

You're using the wrong browser, OS, screen, computer etc.
You don't have certain plug-ins, fonts etc. required to view this page in all its splendour.
You have really bad taste.

If after 5 days, this page still doesn't look fabulous, it obviously means you don't have enough geeks in your life. Or you still have bad taste. So, too bad for you.

For those of you who are poorly equipped (technologically, of course), here's what it should look like.

[This page looks its best in FireFox 1.5, which is what I use. It looks okay in Internet Explorer 5.0 too. It's easier to read in IE actually because the text is more spaced out. There's a horizontal page scroll bar which can be happily ignored. The 'Now Playing' doesn't blink in IE.]

Now, I'd like to go over the features of this blog.

As you can see, it's very black, white and grey, and I love it! I hope you've been able to catch that there's a theme to this page.
Okay, so, I love the font of the title. It's called Broadway, weirdly!
The popcorn picture and the moving reel rock! So do the tickets. Aren't they cute?
I've used Blogrolling.com to maintain your links and they have a logo with colours that match my blog. And when someone updates, the name is appended with 'a popcorn'. So freaking cool, eh! (Is the singular for it also popcorn???) Oooh, and hover over the names for cool descriptions.
The 3,2,1 animation you see has been created by me. Woohoo! Okay, just go along with me here. I've NEVER done such stuff before. I can't even use MS Office applications to the best of their potential. I downloaded so many new programs (Adobe Photoshop, Ulead Animator) to help me dazzle this page. And I feel pretty darn proud about every fucking pixel on this page. Gosh, I've never used the word 'pixel' in conversation before!!!
I found the perfect tag board to fit with the colour scheme of the page. It's got some pretty cool smilies too.
I love the idea of using a filmstrip for the writing area. I give full credit to Shvetank who came up with it. In fact, that was what sparked the whole filmy look! At first, I was going to have the full strip with those thingies (whatever they're called) on both sides. But it looks better this way.
If you observe the clipboard carefully, you'll notice how I smartly got the hit counter to coincide with the 'take box' of the picture. I'm a genius, right?
This blog is copyrighted. Not that anyone's going to bother copying anything off it. But it makes me feel important.
I didn't want to remove the Blogger icon from the page. (I did remove the NavBar from the top. Yay!) It's convenient actually. So I 'black-and-whited' it. I noticed it read "I power Blogger". Then, by sheer chance, I came upon this really cute bunny animation. So, my genius brain put the 2 together and now, it looks like the bunny's saying that it powers Blogger with its cool dance moves. Fine. It cracks me up, at least.
The only things that are out-of-theme are the clock and the 'countdowner'. (The colours suit though.) But I'm as excited about the World Cup as I am about having created this page. It's been a long, long time since I watched some good soccer, and it's about time!!!

Okay, so that's all, I guess. I don't think I missed anything. All you computer scientists out there, please don't burst my bubble. I know this page is far from perfect, but to a 'computer illiterate' like me, it's the best! If you've got any ideas, put them forth. I most probably won't give a damn, but you just might get lucky. (Okay, to be honest, I do want opinions on two issues. (1) Is the font okay? Or is it hard to read? (2) Do you guys like the haloscan commenting system, or should I revert back to Blogger's comment page itself. Let me know.) There are a couple of more things I want to add to the page but I couldn't wait any longer to show off my creation. And I do know that this page can do with some fine-tuning here and there. But hey, I'm not an expert. To me, this IS rocket science. (And not like how rocket science is to a rocket scientist.) If anyone has any questions to ask me about creating a template, I honestly have nothing to share with you. This was one of those things that I just could not have done on my own. For that, I'd like to thank the beauty that is the Internet, the beauty that is Google, Shaw Cable for the awesome internet service they provide me, all the wonderful people who take the trouble to put up "How to html" websites, and last but not the least, Blogger whose standard templates are 'tweakable'. I'd also like to thank all my fans who have spent precious minutes of their lives reading my blog. Thank you, one and all. Good night and good luck!

(No, this is not a post-Oscar blog theme. But speaking of the Oscars, and Crash winning over Brokeback Mountain, I think this one line by some newspaper-article-writer-whose-name-I-did-not-write-down sums it up perfectly - "I guess this year's Oscars only goes to show that the Americans obviously feel more guilty towards the Blacks than towards gays.")