The Perennial Psyche

New Blog

2010-06-14T08:40:00.000-07:00

After much deliberation this blog has been moved.

The new blog can be found here.

Inspiration and Envy go hand in hand

2010-02-05T08:26:00.000-08:00

Christopher McCandless, Steve Prefontaine, Che Guevera and The Motorcycle Diaries.

Gentleman

2009-11-15T08:18:00.001-08:00

Life status

2009-10-10T11:55:00.000-07:00

Spoke to a good friend, and the takeaway from the conversation: 'Live life with respect, and not in retrospect!'. Probably one of the most trippy profound statements ever made. At the risk of sounding like the title of a self help book, moments finally seem to be shaping my life for the better.

Plans / Updates:

a. Planning to give the blog a new look, or probably move it altogether to a different place. Hopefully a commitment on the blog itself will make me do it.

b. Will resume running in a week's time.

c. Another dear friend is back from the US after finishing his studies. Life became even more colourful now.

d. Do something whacky within a fortnight and blog about it.

Brazil: Football! Music! and Soap Operas?

2009-05-21T03:30:00.000-07:00

An excerpt from what I read just now about Brazil:
--

What is the demographic outlook?

Brazil's population is projected to grow to 216 million people by 2030 — but then fall slightly to 215 million people by 2050.

(Population Reference Bureau)

Why is that?

Brazil has a fertility rate of 1.9 children per woman (as of 2007) — below the rate of 2.1 children per woman needed to sustain the current population.

(Population Reference Bureau)

Was that always the case?

Back in 1960, Brazil’s fertility rate stood at 6.3 children per woman.

(New York Times)

Is there an explanation?

Brazil’s most popular prime-time soap operas revolve around small and stable middle-class families that are much smaller than traditional Brazilian families — and wherever the soaps air, the fertility rate for women drops significantly.

(Bureau of Economic Analysis for Development)

--

The last bit is really interesting. Read more about Brazil if you are keen.

His Dad

2009-05-15T08:24:00.000-07:00

He walked in. The obnoxious walk, the arrogant stance, and the derogatory posture at the table just proved it all.

There she was, elegantly sipping her coffee in a flowing black dress, a beige colored soft textured jacket. Sitting all by herself, and looking a million bucks and brains.

He stuffed himself till the brim, and made sure his friends were stuffed too. She caught his eye, and he couldn't let go of her sight. He was sure that his aura of power and riches would reach her and she would be flattered. It seemed that only he thought so.

She glanced at him and heard his loud conversations with his friends, though momentarily. It seemed that she was showing some interest. It was turning out to be a let down. How could she be interested in him?

The poor waiter did his job well while managing to stay shut and hoping that it would be over soon. Bringing the bill was just the preliminary task, securing the money was another.

He opened his mouth while keeping his eyes on her. And then it happened.
'Do you know who my dad is? He could buy this place out!'

She walked up to him. He was sure she wanted a piece of him. His power and riches could yield anything. He knew she was flattered and this would eventually lead to courtship.

She spoke.
'Could you arrange for me to meet your dad?'

A glass shattered in the background.

Vertigo Shag

2009-05-13T09:21:00.000-07:00

I am on a vertigo spree.

Reading:
a) Pride of Baghdad
b) Kill Your Boyfriend
c) 100 bullets (This one will take some time. In my opinion the best thing conceived by any human being till date.)

Big Bang!!!

2009-04-26T10:35:00.000-07:00

This made me think.

Imagine putting together all the nuclear related blasts that have happened so far, be it a resultant of a test, or a targeted test (read: killing people), at one place.

Nice! :)

Finally

2009-04-25T04:08:00.001-07:00

I have managed to resolve all issues related to the bloody broadband at home. This day, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the happiest days of my life. Feels like I am free now, reborn and blah blah blah.

Result: More net activity henceforth.

Cheers.

Advice

2009-04-13T02:41:00.000-07:00

Free advice is never valued. The response is always convenience driven.

Along the lines of the Joker, never advice if you are not getting paid for it. The lack of it, and subsequently the absence of the results due to its non-implementation might make the individuals realize. If not, then one of the two, advisor and advisee, is a fool. In most cases, both are. Atleast, I always am. I am not getting any richer.

Bliss

2009-03-26T07:27:00.000-07:00

One must stay away from it to understand what it truly means. I guess it is time I did so.

Sexist

2009-03-25T07:24:00.000-07:00

My earlier definition of a sexist: one referring to a human being as 'he' or 'she' exclusively.
A colleague and a good friend of mine highlighted something interesting. During a conversation I tried correcting him and he responded with a witty one that startled me.

Czar: Dude! Don't use 'he'. That makes you a sexist. Use 'he/she'.
Colleague: That would be also be sexist dude. I would have to use 'she/he'. The order is important.

So much for politically correct statements.

J for Jaundice

2009-03-12T23:39:00.000-07:00

gave me a miss.

Human beings

2009-03-10T08:03:00.000-07:00

are rarely smart.
The problem is that most never want to believe that they are dumb.

PS: I am too tired of labels. If you have the time, suggest some better ones.

2009-02-27T02:18:00.000-08:00

Google talk

2009-01-16T20:35:00.000-08:00

= Go! Ogle! Talk!

Self pampering

2008-12-30T08:21:00.000-08:00

Bought the following as a reward for a small inconsequential personal achievement:

1. Train to Pakistan

2. Strange Curves, Counting Rabbits, and other Mathematical Explorations

3. Math Charmers: Tantalizing Tidbits for the Mind

4. Perpetual Motion: The History of an Obsession

Chose to start book #3 first and already 40 pages down. Looking forward to a good time with all of them. Felt good buying such books after a really really long time.

Curiosity

2008-12-16T03:01:00.000-08:00

killed the cat.
And then came rat poison.

Red Eye correction!

2008-11-28T01:18:00.000-08:00

I present to you, my first Madras Eye.

Beautiful.

A dear friend

2008-11-24T01:29:00.000-08:00

is back.

2008-11-23T22:28:00.000-08:00

Damned if I do, damned if I don't.

Dilemma

2008-10-19T02:25:00.000-07:00

I want to kill you.
But, if I do, I won't be able to wish the same anymore.

900+

2008-10-16T22:29:00.000-07:00

is the number of nods and handshakes that a chief guest will be involved in, at the convocation of an institute like mine. That's some exercise.

I don't know why I thought of it. All I can say is, it probably isn't a very pleasant experience.

-1

2008-10-14T23:12:00.000-07:00

High time to shift and race.

I

2008-10-07T05:20:00.000-07:00

have progressed from stonage for good...
...unless another world war forces me back to it.

1000 kms in 2 days

2008-09-18T07:09:00.000-07:00

I made a breezy visit to Hubli/Dharwar the weekend that went by. It was breezy in all senses.

Statistics:
2 days, 1000 kms, 60 litres of petrol thanks to supposedly 'the most fuel efficient car' Alto. One near miss. Well, the miss felt like god gave me ticket and then told me that I am too young for a ticket yet, so left me through without one.

Learnings and Suggestions:
Avoid traveling away from Bangalore in the afternoon and evening as the sun would be hitting you in your face for a large part of the journey. Figure out the directions yourself, I am not good at that. I hadn't taken that into account while planning the trip, but I turned out to be lucky as the sun never really looked me in my face.

The stretch from Tumkur to Chitradurga is beautiful. Flawless would be an understatement, but the traffic in this stretch is fairly high. Not high enough for one to not maintain a respectable pace. If an Alto could sustain 110-120 kmph consistently, sedans and other bigger cars could do much better. The stretch around Chitradurga is very breezy, and one understands while traveling that the myriad number of windmills which are delight to watch, are totally justified.

The stretch from Chitradurga to Haveri is disappointing. Apparently the contractor who was supposed to deliver the road ran into some financial trouble and re-tendering of the road work is going on. Let's hope that the stretch gets ready soon, though if one were to decipher from the state it is in right now, it would take atleast a year and half for the job if one were to start right away.

The stretch from Haveri to Hubli is probably the best, as the road conditions and the infrastructure around are of similar nature as that of the road till Chitradurga. Additional attraction for a driver on this road would be the lesser traffic compared to the traffic on the roads till Chitradurga.

Time:
Onward journey timings inclusive of a breakfast break of 30 minutes:
Home in Bangalore to Home in Hubli : 7 hours (430 kms)
Outskirts of Bangalore to outskirts of Hubli : 5 hours (400 kms)

Return journey timings inclusive of a stretching break of 10 minutes:
Dharwar outskirts to Home in Bangalore: 6.5 hours (450 kms)
Dharwar outskirts to Bangalore outskirts: 5 hours 45 minutes (420 kms)

The most pleasurable part of the drive:
Late evening travel in darkness with the headlights on, on the return journey from Chitradurga to Tumkur : 130 kms in 1 hour 10 minutes.

A better car which can consistently clock 140 to 150 kmph comfortably, coupled with a rectified stretch of around 120 to 140 kms between Haveri and Chitradurga could result in a travel time of 4 to 4.5 hours from Bangalore to Hubli. Overall, the 53,000 crores that were invested in the Golden Quadrilateral Project by the last BJP central government are definitely justified considering the time and effort these highways save.

Bah

2008-09-15T07:20:00.000-07:00

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ.

Phew! I remember.

Could somebody start rolling?

Whatever.

My philosophy of life

2008-09-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

Dissolve. Evaporate.

Successfully completed

2008-08-04T02:55:00.000-07:00

a week and a weekend without liquor.

A valuable suggestion I received today: 'Whenever you feel like drinking, drink water and not quarter'.

Update (26th Aug '08): It's been a month now.

Quote

2008-07-28T19:55:00.000-07:00

Fortune favors the brave.
I add: I am fortune.
:D

@ Czar: Enough of self shag.

I

2008-07-28T19:54:00.000-07:00

passed out.

Coming back to life

2008-07-23T19:58:00.000-07:00

in 36 hours.

Why so serious?

2008-07-19T14:01:00.000-07:00

Fascinating, beautiful, masterpiece, godly, mind-fuckin-blowing, yeppppa, what thaaa.

That says it all. Go watch it. Oh! By the way, I am speaking about 'The Dark Knight'.

Coming to THE most special character of the movie, I had always wondered how would a character like the Joker would be if it were real life. For those Batman fans, or even better, Joker fanatics, Heath Ledger shows you how it would be. A death after delivering such a performance is probably message from above that it was the ultimate and cannot be bettered. Too bad that the next Batman movies won't have Heath Ledger as the joker.

I now see why the movie is #1 on IMDB.

Here's the trailer:

Please watch the movie on a big screen and do not get a dvd home. Do some justice to the movie and visit the theaters.

One of the many quotes from the movie that leaves you saying 'It can't get any better', and this one is from the joker : 'This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object'.

I am

2008-07-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

a GEEK.

The reasons for this announcement shall not be disclosed.

Cloud no. 9

2008-06-11T08:55:00.000-07:00

I have been away from my institute for a little beyond 20 days now, and a few days ago it hit me that life will never be the same. I am sure that most of the students who have left the institute would be experiencing such a wave of emotions. The following is the first guest post on my blog, written by MGM, and dedicated to our wingmates, and the only hostel whose name started with the letter J.

--

There are stories written with vibrant characters that say intelligent things and have distinctive characters and have brilliant chemistry between them. I was once a part of such a story. The problem with such stories, especially when you’re a part of them is that they must always come to an end. And so did this one. It inched and crawled to a slow inevitable end that gave us all the time to prepare and then at the end of it, took us by surprise anyway.

You spend your adolescent life with little or no knowledge of what you’re working for truly means. In my case, I discovered, all my expectations were but a tiny fraction of the sum of my experiences. It was an experience that built slowly like a rising tide into a lovely frenzy of time to waste. The time on my hands which was mine to waste turned into one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. An experience that was comprised of little routines and smiles and waves and puffs. An experience that will be cherished forever.

For it was in those little routines of waking up at 1 in the afternoon and foraging for food, of crushing ganja and rolling it in joints for my wingmates, of settling down on the corridor or the breezy roof and laughing at seemingly witty jokes with the tiny sounds of mobile phone music that I truly discovered the meaning of brotherhood.

I have always held on to the fact that there was no way you could stand in your boxer shorts next to a bunch of post-adolescent engineering students much like yourself and brush your teeth and not become close. But “close” doesn’t quite cover it. We knew every little detail about each other daily lives not unlike the way a lifetime of marriage teaches you about your wife or husband for that matter.

We knew the way the other person always forgot to switch off the lights before heading to bed, the way another groaned when we got a little too intimate (playfully so) for his comfort levels (levels that had been shattered long ago), the way some of us focused selflessly on the task at hand smiling occasionally with a witty retort, slaving under a stationary fan using expert fingers to produce joints for the rest of us who were relaxing in the breeze as we spoke and laughed. We knew when we were hit, when we should stop and what about us gave us class and placed us apart.

We were family.

And then the time to go came and went. Slowly one by one, we left the home that we had made over the last couple of years. In the days that led up to our departure, our doors were rarely closed and we were always the gracious hosts to hesitant and almost coy guests and outsiders. They always came and were never disappointed. The last few days passed all too quickly in a friendly soporific and calm lull filled with laughter, friends and music. The most exquisite detail about those days was that no matter how close we came to separation; we were never in any hurry. It was almost as if the sheer comfort of being in each others company didn’t allow us to think unpleasant thoughts.

But soon we left, one by one. And still we hung on to our merriment as thought the others had merely stepped out for a short stroll. I think we were too afraid to think of how it truly would be without each others company. Before I knew it, I was the last one left and thought it was for just one night, I could barely take it. I sang to myself and cried. And in a desperate attempt to leave a little bit of myself behind, left my posters on the wall. As I left, I noticed little details that I’d ignored from familiarity, the view from my room, the pattern of oil spots on my wall, the roof, the leaves, everything. And as I walked from locked door to locked door, I was filled with a sense of loss more profound than I’ve known for a long time; a sense of loss that was heightened by my awareness of its magnitude. I’d lost a big piece of my life and my family; and I knew it.

So, though I would love to recount details of my delicious and nostalgic story to you, dear reader, I can’t. Because as one of my seniors put it when he spoke about a very similar predicament, “Some stories are like colourful butterflies, pinning them down to a page only takes the life out of them.” I can only tell you that I was part of one such story. A story that will stay with all of us, it’s vibrant, independent, distinctive and entertaining characters, for the rest of our lives.

Elements

2008-05-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

Recursion screws Reality Checks

2008-05-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

I got up to the sound of my alarm after disabling it multiple times and letting it go into snooze mode. After a lot of procrastination I woke up to the realization that I had a lot of work on my hands. And considering the fact that it was a Friday, I had to wind up a lot of things so that I could have the weekend to myself. With a completely focused mind, I managed to sit up in my bed and was hoping that someone would bring me my cup of tea. Two more minutes on the bed, and I realized that I was staying alone. My mornings usually started this way. It was time to get up and start the morning chores. I thought that it was going to be one of those usual days again.

Jason, my Labrador, was happily sleeping at the door when I got up to collect the newspaper and the milk. He noticed my feet and the lazy fellow that he is, did not bother to move a single muscle. I had to literally lift him and put him to the side. The milkman hadn't been paid in two months, and I didn't want to miss doing so today. I opened the door just in time to notice that someone was dropping the milk packets. Walking towards the gate, I realized that the person started moving away despite me having not paid up for nearly two months. The milk man was a fairly calculative person, and it was surprising to even think that he would let his pay slip away for another day.

With longer strides, I started making a dash towards the gate, and with every stride it appeared that the silhouette of the delivery person was that of a girl. Lack of sleep could cause the imagination to run wild. I thought that I was probably hallucinating, and increased my pace further to catch up with the person who was delivering the milk. By the time I reached the gate, I was pretty sure that the person was a girl. She had moved further away, and it appeared
as if she faded away into thin air. Before she completely disappeared, I caught a glimpse of her flowing straight hair. It would be unfair to say that I made a whole hearted attempt to speak up and make her stop. It would also be unfair to blame it on myself. The silhoutte was encapsulating, and probably I couldn't think much. Nevertheless, at the end of it, I thought it was a nice little kick for a Friday morning. I collected the milk and the newspaper and headed back towards the door, but couldn't dismiss the thoughts coming to me. Who was she ? Why am I thinking so much ? Is she familiar ? Bah! Time to finish the chores and head for work.

Within an hour I was done with all my work at home, fixed myself some good tea and had a swift breakfast. Breakfast always tasted good, thanks to Jason's company. He always had a hearty meal when given a chair to sit on, and allowed to have his meal on the dining table. His crunching and munching made me feel civilized and I took great pleasure in that. Jason never had a problem in my relative comparison, or probably he never bothered about it. In any case, I was the homo sapien here and I had all the right to feel good. Somewhere I felt that maybe Jason is feeling the same. I guess it was best left that way, we never discussed how I felt about it or how he felt about it. It was perfect as long as both of us had a good time eating.

I took my bicycle, and with the backpack containing my notebook and other stationary clinging on to my back, I felt like a compact package. It felt as if I could sneak through any gap in the traffic, manage and maneuver any move to reach my office on time. This was my regular road, and it usually took me fifteen minutes or lesser to cover the distance. At the first junction, I was looking at the billboards while waiting for the light to turn green. It must have been a little before the lights turned yellow that I thought I saw her again. Yes! there was no doubt about it. It was her. She was walking away on the perpendicular road. This time I could clearly see her elegant walk. Her hair seemed longer now, and somehow I felt that she would be a very pretty girl, though I had not got an opportunity to see her face yet. She was in a totally different attire. It made me think twice about my perceptions. Maybe I was truly hallucinating. The blaring horns and ugly swearing by the frustrated drivers in the morning time brought me back to my senses. I was riding my bicycle cross ways, and had successfully managed to evade becoming pulp on the tar. I was lucky.

I continued riding in the direction of the girl. I was a few hundred metres behind her, when she stopped, and I increased my pace. I was hoping that she had not stopped to catch a ride to wherever she was headed. She turned towards the road, and I could see her pristine glowing skin. I couldn't trust myself. I thought to myself that this girl wouldn't need a halo as a testimony for being a goddess. She started waving her hand at the taxis on the road. Somehow, I felt things spiralling out of control. I wanted to reach there faster, and was hoping that all rides on the road would run out of gas at that very moment and she would be stranded and there by giving me that little window to see her in her entirety. I noticed a taxi slowing down, and was cursing the driver with all the spite I could gather. I was hoping that he wouldn't stop.

Heck! Who wouldn't stop?

Murphy proved to be right again.

Before I could clearly notice her features, the car had stopped, and she bent herself, oh so gently, and within no time was in the car. I was panting now, and literally wished that I could be superman or spiderman, or even better, the fantastic four put together in one. 'Bah! Get out of the dreamland' I told myself, and pedalled harder.

Then it happened.

Na! I didnt see her.

'High hopes mister' is what god wanted to tell me. Instead he gave me a few cuts here and there, three pieces of my bicycle, a bad dent on the car ahead of me, and of course, all the slang that a mob can ever think of. It is strange how people find it amusing to get into a random situation which they are not a part of, but end up deriving pleasure by getting into one. Anyway, now I was back on my way to work, not in the same state though. I was short of a few thousand bucks, a bicycle, and with a shattered notebook, and the beautiful adjectives that the crowd gave me still ringing in my ears.

Friday had become largely interesting by now, and I was not really sure if I wanted more. Work took over, and of course, things got dull again. But then, I have the knack of making things interesting for myself. All I did the whole day was think about the girl, who I missed twice. I was trying to draw a connect between the two situations I saw her in. The pictures of a girl dropping milk packets, and an elegant girl walking with great poise on the street were poles apart. Thanks to me spending time in my thought experiments, I ended up doing hardly anything, and by evening, I knew that I was in a big soup. My colleagues had begun giving me strange looks, and indicating that people weren't really admiring my idle state. I gave a smirk everytime I saw a face, and got back to my thinking. When it struck 6 in the evening, my colleague informed me that I was to be in the Director's office in the next thirty seconds. I was wondering what else could be in store for me.

A strange feeling started cropping up in my tummy, and the intensity only increased with every step towards the big man's office. Through the frosted glass, I could see that there were two people inside the chamber. I was hoping that if I was going to be fired, might as well be in private. The thought of yet another person in the chamber made me realize that things are not always the way you want them to be. I was at the door now, wondering whether to go in or stay till the big man himself came to the door all angry and pulled me inside. The more humane side of me took over, and I decided to not give the old man a higher blood pressure. I knocked, turned the knob and peeped in.

With the opening of the door, I could smell a fragrance which was unusual for the Director's chamber. He asked me to come in. The other person in the chamber was a lady with her back turned towards me. All I could see was her hair, her slender fingers tapping against her right cheek, and the stud in her right ear. Every contact that her fingers made with her cheek seemed like a drop of water hitting a water surface in slow motion. The blue stud shone bright enough to
live up to her radiance. I still was not able to see her face. By now, I was pretty sure that it was the same girl whom I had missed twice through the day. Why was I seeing her again? Who was she ? I had so many questions. But they could wait.

I wanted to see her face, to realize what a goddess looks like. I completely ignored my Director, as I probably was in a trance, and went straight to her. I turned her chair towards me. The time she took to turn her face by a degree was equivalent to a lifetime of mine. By now I was sure I was hallucinating. But lord! what a blissful sight.

I was spell bound, and moved my hands to hold her face. Instead of seeing my hands reach out to her face, I saw hers reaching out to mine. I could hear vague loud noises in the background. People shouting, cars halting and screeching tires and an absolute sense of chaos was prevalent. She was now holding my face in her hands. Quite contrary to what I wanted to do, I thought. Somewhere in between, all the noise stopped, and it made me wonder. I couldn't open my jaw,
it felt stuck. I looked down, and saw that my clothes were marginally blood stained. I did not panic. I was pretty sure I was sitting my director's office admiring the beauty of this girl.

Someone shouted again, 'Get him some water!'. Ah! ignorant fools, I thought.

I kept looking into her eyes. I could see that her lips were wavering, and she was trying to tell me something. Once again, all noise stopped, and I heard the most soothing voice ever say 'You all right?' I looked at her, looked around, looked back at her again. Now I realized that I was truly hallucinating since the accident. Before my mind could process all information, she put me in her lap, and asked me to relax. Looking around was not an option anymore. But, I had seen enough to realize that I was a wreck. I passed out.

She said, 'Are you all right?' once again. She continued speaking, 'Get up! get up! are you all right?' I snapped and woke up, only to find that my fiance was sitting right next to me, trying to make sense out of what was happening to me. I realized that all of it was a dream, and I was seeing her everywhere.

Phew! I replied 'I am fine', and took her tensed face in my hands and was about to plant a kiss on her forehead...

...Trrrrrrrrrrrrrng!

Damn it! The alarm woke me up. Jason was fast asleep, and it was time to fetch the newspaper and the milk. I walked towards the door, and then proceeded towards the gate after helping Jason move himself. As I started walking towards the gate, I saw the silhoutte of the person dropping the milk. It was a girl.

Laetitia

2008-05-25T22:36:00.000-07:00

I sketched this one in 2004, and thought that I should post a snap of it for the record.

PS : Its an A2 size portrait.

S

2008-05-21T02:58:00.000-07:00

:-)

Homecoming

2008-05-21T02:50:00.000-07:00

First day:
Pleasant surprise at the station. Beautiful drive with great company.
Breakfast : 5 chappatis, 5 servings of mango pulp, 5 servings of stuffed capsicum, mango pickles, two glasses of thick butter milk, carrot halwa and guavas.
Quick ride in the afternoon and three hours of being in the elements.
2 pitchers, and 2 good ones, and one wild ride back home.

Quite an eventful day for the first one at home.

I got the license to live, but I wish I could trade it for a few more days at the place which gave me the license.

I was told...

2008-05-18T09:58:00.000-07:00

... that I am an exceptional electron.

2008-05-13T20:21:00.000-07:00

I wanna leave before it gets any more haunting.

Shock waves

2008-05-08T23:16:00.000-07:00

'Muzn't weep. Muz do.'

Deja cracked a beautiful quote, and it was just perfect for this moment in my life.
Work Caesar work. Just a little more, just a little more.

PS : It takes only 4.5 hours to lead a full life. :)

and then spoke GRV...

2008-04-20T06:01:00.000-07:00

Writing on a compound wall at a signal: Love ever, hurt never.

I deliberately ask GRV, what he thinks is the summary of the statement?

Reply: 'Never have too many virgins'.

Voyageur by Enigma

2008-04-12T07:06:00.000-07:00

Conditions under which I heard this track for the first time:
Driving down lanes at 630 pm at 100 kmph in a zen(puns couldn't get any better) on a beautiful winter evening in Bangalore, when it was pitch dark and the street lights were still not on, on a beautiful high, and not to forget, the headlights of the car being switched off.

Pure madness and pure bliss.

PS: This post is dedicated to one of my best friends Shaggy aka Vyshak.

Sketchy day

2008-04-08T07:15:00.000-07:00

It has been a good day so far.
It began with me doing one of my better works so far, a portrait, and did so in a record cumulative time at midnight.

And a while back, Misre gave me a set of 12 graphic sketching pencils from Derwent.

Wish to become better, to be worthy of possessing a set like this one some day.

Happy feet

2008-04-05T02:46:00.000-07:00

The legs float and are unsure of their existence.
The light saves the day, and proves them wrong;
also wonders why is it still called 'saving the day', when it is the night that has been saved.

And then, the bird flies.

PS : Night photography would be so much better with an SLR.

Soon

2008-03-30T05:54:00.000-07:00

If we admit that human life can be ruled by reason, the possibility of life is destroyed.
- Alexander Supertramp

Soon, my time, for myself, is coming. Looking forward to it, with every breath.

I realized that

2008-03-25T22:59:00.000-07:00

all human beings are equal. Some are more human than the others.

July 25th - part II

2008-02-28T05:11:00.000-08:00

Thanks a lot Vatsap for the portrait.
Cheers!

July 25th

2008-02-20T04:08:00.000-08:00

The title is the day this man was born some time ago.

Oh! By the way, so was I.

PS : This portrait comes after a fairly long break in my sketching calendar.

As an aside, now I should get busy with saving my BTP. :)

Breakthrough ?

2008-02-16T01:02:00.000-08:00

Ladies and gentlemen,

We might be witnessing the next big thing.
New materials discovered which capture Carbon Dioxide up to 60 times their volume.

For more details click here.

I need more time

2008-02-13T03:05:00.000-08:00

There is just too much Carbon Dioxide to be captured,
too many lives to be saved,
too many trees to be planted,
too many things to be learnt,
too much of gray matter under utilized,
too many people to be met,
too many places to visit,
too much wealth to be created,
too many adventures to be experienced,

and of course,
too much of beer to be guzzled.

Got the drift ? :D

Mumbai Balconies & Bengaluru Beer

2008-02-09T03:38:00.000-08:00

Coming soon. Every alternate weekend.

PS : Everyone who can afford the to and fro travel is free to join. Requests to sponsor the trips as well might be considered on a case to case basis, the prime factor being how trippy can the applicant get.

PPS : A blog shall be up soon and all those who participate in the proceedings of MBBB may contribute to the blog. Please leave a comment if you would like to join some time.

Credits : Vatsap for the design

Wall (?) - Good or Bad ?

2008-02-08T10:36:00.000-08:00

A lot has been happening in my life and lives of people around and close to me of late. A lot has always happened, but the recent happenings appear to carry more significance even in the short attention span than most other events did in their short term attention spans in my life. A lot has been learnt, and there does not seem to be a bottom line per se, but only learning, and more of it.
I had started believing firmly that the reason why people start pursuing materialistic pleasures is because pursuing relations or human beings is just not worth it. Parallely, I was contradicting myself, because I wanted to still pursue feelings, and the pain and pleasure they offer.

Amidst all this, it appeared to me that things are just not the same anymore. Most things around seem like a farce. I had begun trying to read between the lines with every person. I had actually begun implementing an advice given to me long ago on a jovial note, and had begun telling people what they wanted to hear and not what I wanted to say. I was losing my genuine behavior, the true me. Slowly, I had begun forming a protective shell around me. Is it good ? The wall that I was trying to create, and not letting people penetrate it and at the same time being scared about the shell enveloping me completely, was a kind of a contradiction. Was the act of two timing my own mind bad ? I had begun to firmly believe that nobody is genuine and the best thing is to avoid any situation where I would be vulnerable and would end up in a situation where I would get hurt.

All said and done, it was chaos, and usually things get sorted out, but this was increasingly becoming a trouble.

Yesterday, over a chat on a drive, Gabbar, who is one of my friends and happens to be an alumnus of my hostel, gave me some food for thought. He did not particularly classify people as genuine and not so genuine. People are different. But if one starts to create a shell around himself, he/she ends up portraying a character that he/she isn't. The perception offered to people is an illusion by itself, hence the judgment that people make of one is a completely distorted one. This in turn leads to a false circle being formed around oneself.

One would be blocking the only window that one has to the outer world : Oneself. In the longer run, the people who get filtered and eventually stick with you are the people who know the true person in you and are similar to you. Hence, by pretending to be someone else, you are taking away the possibility of similar people coming towards you.

In any case, cheers to genuineness. Anybody for a cold beer ?

PS : Had one of the best times of my life last night. Looking forward to the next few years in Bangalore which promise more such times.

Phaashth

2008-01-27T09:13:00.000-08:00

This was my blog header statement for quite some time before I shifted to colorful headers.

If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.

My life is vyeeri vyeeri phaashth now. :)

Towel story

2008-01-19T03:51:00.000-08:00

How much will a towel cost ? Rs. 100 ? Rs. 200 ?
I am sure that a decent one will come in the above range.

How much does it cost when you forget to take your towel to the bathroom in a hostel ?
A treat to all the opportunist leeches who are also known as room neighbours aka wing mates.

In this case it would be a trip to Abiruchi. My negotiation skills helped me get off with a veg meal for all. Phew! I know that is not much. But still, it is more than twice the amount I would spend in buying a new towel. Damn it. So much for izzat!

Alive

2008-01-05T09:50:00.000-08:00

Conversation with a dear friend:

Vinay : seri.. nite

gotta go swim at 630 again in the mornin

bye

CB: night

happy swimming

dont drown

Vinay: :P

I am Caesar

and Brutus has already left me...

ALIVE

The Man and his Best Friend

2008-01-03T08:10:00.001-08:00

Taken at the beach next to Rasa Sayang resort, Penang.

Notice the good old friend of man next to the sea.

Taare Zameen Par

2007-12-27T09:28:00.000-08:00

For the first time, a movie in a theater managed to keep the full capacity crowd in its seats even after the movie was over and the credits were going on.

Very well crafted movie, and to say the least, the kid has done an exceptional job of the role. The movie highlights on the surface the issues related to kids and how each individual can be different, or rather, is different. More importantly, certain sections of the movie highlight the current scenario in the society where parents push their ambitions on their children's shoulders. This to a large extent is unjust as many a times the kid does not even get a chance to exercise its thought process to choose what it wants to do.

The soundtrack is amazing and supports the movie really well. Everyone will speak about what a perfectionist Amir Khan is, so I will not get into that. But yes! it does reflect in this movie too. I can go on writing about this movie as long as I feel like. But that is not the intention of this post. The idea is to tell you to go watch the movie. It is one movie that you shouldn't miss.

PS : The sketch of the kid done by Amir in the movie is mind blowing, and I wish I could do a self portrait like that.

PPS : It was after a wonderful gap of almost 3 years that I saw a movie alone in a theater. Felt really good, and I feel that I chose a brilliant movie to get back to my old self.

Kiss

2007-12-19T22:35:00.000-08:00

I feel that I just tried to kiss an express train.

( Though borrowed from Rocky Balboa, the moment I heard the dialogue, I knew what I was going through. )

Phillip Adams says

2007-12-06T01:39:00.000-08:00

Most of what he says should be known to people who are aware of the climate change scenario and the energy crisis too. But it is always good to re-realize a few things.

From 'Climate Change Action':

Saturday November 24th, 2007

Phillip Adams is the presenter of Late Night Live on Australia's ABC Radio National. He has been a contributor to The Times and The Financial Times in London, and to the New York Times. Honors include two Orders of Australia, and the Australian Humanist of the Year (1987) and the Republican of the Year (2005) awards.

I used to be

2007-12-03T05:24:00.000-08:00

like you.
Now I am,
more like ME.

How does it feel

2007-11-29T00:45:00.000-08:00

when you know you are going to flunk a course and still it doesn't hit you, though the eventuality has sunk in?
How does it feel to not feel?

Definitely not like Dexter.

It feels GODLY! ;P

PS: I hope that by god's grace the class cut off steeps to an all time low and I pass the course. And mind it, I am usually better. :D

Update : I passed the course comfortably. :)

CAM PAN

2007-11-26T23:58:00.000-08:00

I wasn't aware that 'Nagin' by Decibel started making its rounds almost a year ago. I saw it a while back and wanted to share it with another friend so I buzzed him on gtalk and what happened next was this:

Vinay: woh suna hai kya

nagin by decibel

ASN: ob.. bahut purana hai

Vinay: oh! i didnt know that..

ASN: aur tu duniya ka sabse bada m***rc**d hai

Vinay: whenever you get shit like that pass it on

kyun be hara*i ?

kya kiya maine ?

ASN: it used to come on channel v.. pichle december me, channel v some rock contest etc

Vinay: oh!

ASN: kya kiya tune? saala m***rc**d

(By now I was getting all worked up, now what have I done ? What is it that I haven't told him ? Have I not informed him about the job offer I have got? I was confident that I had, then what was it ?)

Vinay: bol bhaai kya kiya

Silence..

ASN: i lost a life in pacman

Vinay: heeee he eh eheee

trippp

ASN: teri wajah se.. abhi message karna tha kya

Vinay: wogays!

sorry boss

carry on

Renaissance

2007-11-24T08:58:00.000-08:00

Every now and then you find movies that beg to differ from the pattern. They start a new genre all together, and redefine the ways the movie experiences are meant to be.

This movie is not one among those. It is their grand daddy!

This movie changes the way people perceive when they watch something. The art work is godly and the way the motions have been conceptualized and eventually implemented are mind blowing. Take it from me, you will not pause the movie to do something else during the movie. You just cannot. But you may pause, a large number of times, to appreciate the art, to appreciate the way the sequences have been put together, to appreciate every inch of black and every half inch of white. And you will definitely pause, to stop, and stare at the screen in awe.

I might have made it sound like I was doing a piece as if I was Pablo Francisco. But this movie definitely deserves and calls for all the attention.

And when I say that I say that out of experience. I had not slept the previous night, and it was already 12 midnight when I decided to try this movie, and my eyes were totally weary. For the next one hour forty minutes, I could barely blink.

As an aside, the plot gives you the feel of a regular sci fi, but everything else just steals the show. So the plot eventually does not matter.

A user comment on IMDB -
''First things first, this movie is achingly beautiful. A someone who works on 3D CG films as a lighter/compositor, the visuals blew me away. Every second I was stunned by what was on screen.''

Watch the trailer if you have the time right now -

Unfortunately, I do not see this movie coming to Indian screens any time. So if you want to watch it, get a dvd and make sure that you watch it on a really nice screen and really good speakers. TRUST me, you will find it worth your time.

Psyche is out! Psycho is in!

2007-11-20T10:15:00.000-08:00

For the record,
the old one :

Time for a new header,

Text by Czar, and Graphic design by Vatsap.

Surprise!

2007-11-19T00:00:00.000-08:00

Life is full of surprises. Some times the surprises are pleasant and makes one happy, and the remaining ones are shocking/unpleasant/uncalled for. In general, life is full of surprises.

It would be nice to know that a friend got rewarded for nothing, but it would be more depressing to know that a friend got nothing in return for all the time and effort put in. What is common to both? - the surprise element.

Some how this particular phase of being in final year is really depressing. I hope it passes soon.

Ambition

2007-11-18T09:44:00.000-08:00

The chat I had with a friend of mine went something like this :

Him (U): mama, something ive been dreaming abt for the whole day

Czar (C): hmmm ..

don buy the hummer though

U: :P

C: just buy the bike

U: will run it on hydrogen
:P

and go around the world

C: ha ha ha

trip

then ll join you in the bike :)

U: enjai

sureaa!

C: sure..

U: :D

C: gnite..

Jigsaw

2007-11-16T13:48:00.001-08:00

Ladies and gentlemen (though I have always wondered why 'ladies' comes first! probably because of the saying 'ladies first', but then, why ladies first?), this is to inform you that I completed the 'one thousand pieces' jigsaw puzzle that I was doing for quite some time now.

When I switch off the lights it glows, and I am sure that my first experience of dozing off looking at the moon light reflecting off the sea surface on the completed puzzle is going to be amazing.

In fact it is 335 am. I hope I wake up for lunch.

Rasam

2007-11-16T00:52:00.000-08:00

Revenge is a dish best served cold.
Rasam is a drink best served haawt!

Right now

2007-11-14T02:54:00.000-08:00

I feel like shooting someone through the cheek and see through the gory hole that the bullet made.

Dream Joke

2007-11-12T20:30:00.000-08:00

Well, it is not really a Dream (adjective sense) Joke, But yes! it is indeed a dream joke in the literal sense. I thought of this in my dream just before waking up this morning, which was ten minutes ago.

By the way, Vatsap was on the dream too. We were traveling in a train together.

Anyway, here it goes :

I had to take a leak desperately, and the train was at a station. All this while the train had been moving really slow and had been irritating all the passengers. Vatsap, and I had to reach our destination faster, but there weren't any means to achieve the same.

Anyway, I could not tolerate the pressure anymore, and since I was not supposed to use the toilets on the train when the train was stationary, I got down to relieve myself and so did Vatsap.

The leak had just begun, the train started moving. Both of us had to rush back, but that would mean we had to hold back lot of fluids in our bladders. Vatsap said, 'Dude! let us make a dash later, but right now let us just get done with this'.

Then it struck me, the moment of enlightenment. It was like all the principles I had ever learnt in my life were coming to focus and were about to be utilized in real life and I was about to be the medium. I was jubilant, excited, and truly happy.

I replied, 'Dude! Let us hold back and get back in the train. When the train leaves the station, and we realize it is really slow, let us take a leak then.'

I could see 'Why the fuck?' expression on his face. Before he could actually say it, I gave him the answer:

'The train will go faster due to reduction in mass of the system you see. Conservation of momentum.'

PS: I know there are flaws in the whole thing, but then what the heck! It was a brilliant dream. And I bet, if somebody had seen my smiling face during my sleep, they would have thought for sure that I was nuts.

PPS: This is the third class of my BTech Project guide's course I have missed in a row. I was doing work pertaining to the project late into the night and hence couldn't wake up in time. But then, that is not a justification good enough for a score of three. Lord save me!

Time &(is) Money

2007-11-08T23:53:00.000-08:00

Today has been quite wonderful, though I have not really done anything productive. I got up pretty late in the morning emphasizing to myself that today I will be heading home for a brilliant four day vacation. Throughout the day I kept telling myself that its all right, I should resume all work once I come back from my deepavali trip home. The day went by and it was time to head to the station.

All was well and two hours before the scheduled departure time of the train, I left my room. The institute battery operated bus was right there on time and I reached the main gate in no time with Prasanna who had joined me at GC. Once there, the search for an autorickshaw began. The first auto rickshaw driver we encountered demanded a sum of Rs 180/- for the ride to the station. It appeared outrageous to us, and we did not even bother arguing and bargaining with him. Like hunks trying to prove their studness, both of us walked away from those autos standing at the main gate and looked forward to the autos on the road.

Five minutes went by, no sign of an auto. Then we saw the first auto from far and were really hopeful about the whole thing. The moment it was fifty metres from us, we noticed that it was already engaged. 'Ah! we will get one soon' was the thought we wanted to bring in our minds.

Another ten minutes went by and our patience was running out. By now, a bunch of juniors who had reached the main gate almost the same time as us had already walked away in the direction of the station hoping to get an auto on their way forward. This irritated us even more, as we did not know which was a better decision, ours or theirs. No success for another ten minutes did not really help the situation. Just before we were about to give up and do something ridiculous, an auto stopped by.

The moment the driver said, 'Yes sir!' when asked 'Sir station?', there was a huge relief and I was in no mood to let this relief leave me. It has been quite some time that I have gone home for a respectable stay. The last time I went home, I met my parents for a span of an hour en route to Malaysia for the Gourami Business Challenge. Now that a lot of things have come my way in the last one month, and I have had no time to share my experiences with people back home, I was in no mood to miss my train. I had to reach home at any cost.

I asked, 'Yevlo sir?'. In English, that would translate to, 'How much sir?' and snap came the reply, '180 kudungaa sir'. My eyebrows flickered for a moment, but then before I could say anything, he continued speaking and said, 'Sir, it takes a lot of time to reach the station in this traffic'. Before any further talk, we had tacitly agreed on the amount and were on our way to the station.

All the way to the station I kept thinking that now, no more is the fare based on the distance. It is based on time. Or thats what it effectively translates to. In a broad sense I might have realized in life that time is money, but today was different. I could in fact relate to the very specific nature of the statement that is a philosophy in itself. These are the first instances of transportation fares moving on time and not on distance I have witnessed in person. I am sure that such things are being seen across the world.

I think I should spend some time thinking about what would be the implications if every factor earned its revenues or benefits, in the broadest terms, based on the time it spent on the work.

Vague to some, but this realization has been profound to me.

PS: This post was composed on the night of 7th Nov, 2007.
@Vatsap : This was written on a train. :)

Update:
This is more of a thing that I had forgotten to mention. Thanks to Prasanna's comment, I was reminded. Basically, Prasanna and I had this strong realization that the driver was The Chosen One. We were speculating that I might end up missing the train as we were anticipating lot of traffic at the peak hour and our experience assured us that our speculation would be more or less true. It took the auto driver 25 minutes flat, in peak hour traffic, to take us to the railway station. He was The One. Period.

Gourami Business Challenge : Places

2007-11-03T05:46:00.000-07:00

I have tried a different slide show package this time, Flickrshow. I gave up on the previous Java script as it was giving lot of trouble, and my dear friends who are really good at all, also almost lost their patience, and I was in no mood to put them through more trouble.

Just another day

2007-10-20T06:35:00.000-07:00

It was a warm sunday afternoon. I had told my father I am going out to meet a couple of my friends. I was wondering whether I should be getting all dressed up to meet her. But somehow my laziness or my indifference, I couldn't figure out which one, made me act otherwise. I decided not to. Faded jeans, and a loose old tee shirt made me feel comfortable, and I felt like everything belonged to me rather than feeling I belonged to the place; you know, the amplified 'been there, done that' feeling. The bike responded quite well when I switched the ignition on, and it wasnt too long before I was cruising on the roads to the coffee shop. The breeze was warm, but it made me feel good. Ah! it was supposed to be a nice casual outing.

The coffee shop guy greeted me, as I was a regular there. I waved back at him and signaled him to get me my regular, a litchee soda with some french fries. Nothing special really, something that I, over a period of time, had realized is a really soothing combination. I sat at the table that I regularly sat at. I could see the traffic moving, and the relaxed faces of people driving as it was a sunday. The expressions would have been quite contrary on any other day. I waited for her. It was quite usual for her to turn up late, really late. I wasn't really perturbed. Three years with her, and two years away, had taught me a lot of virtues. Patience was the first. Indifference was next. I lit my cigarette, blew a few rings and waited.

Then came my soda, and the fries. They tasted really good on this sunday. There wasn't much of a crowd when I had walked in. Now, the place looked like it didnt have any more space to offer. I saw a teenage couple trying to find themselves some room in one of the cozy corners. I remembered the times when I was a teenager, and with the thoughts coming to me, I couldnt help but smile. The boy who was trying to help his girl settled down, caught my smile and gave a guilty as well as 'I will kill you' look. I smiled back. He sat down and didn't look at me again.

There was this another guy sitting at a table, which was at the far end of row of tables, the same as mine. My back was facing him, and I had witnessed him when I was entering the coffee shop. He had given me a weird stare then. Though I was oblivious to the rest of the things around me, it was his presence that had bothered me. I looked back once and he smiled at me, and I thought I had seen him somewhere before. Anyway, now he looked quite comfortable with the place too, and his thoughts left my mind. I was back to my usual self, and continued sipping my soda, and smoking my cigarette.

After about three quarters of an hour of the scheduled time, she entered. She was looking as beautiful as ever. She had this aura around her which was so magnetic and soothing. Something about her had always made me feel safe, secure, and on top of the world. I did feel all the same today. But I wasn't with her for the past two years.

She sat down and apologized for the delay. I gave her a casual smile and she understood that it had not really bothered me. She started speaking about her usual life. Her voice still had the same clarity and lovely tone that any man would love to hear the first thing in the morning. It felt good to know that it was still the same. She knew it very well too. But the only difference was that she also knew it did not make a difference to me anymore.

My cigarettes and smoking was bothering her. Politely first, and then assertively which almost turned into an order, she made a request to throw away the cigarette and not smoke any more. I obliged. The obligation was only for the meet, but I guess she thought it was for the rest of the life. Slowly she started speaking about the three years that we were together, and I listened intently. Those three years were possibly the best times of my life, and I liked to relive them.

She told me she was happy now. The guy she was with was supposedly keeping her happy. Before talking about her current happiness, she spoke of her behaviour when we had to stay really far away after those wonderful three years. Circumstances, primarily our careers, had made us go different places. I had always thought, and she had always told me that we would still be together, no matter what. But that wasn't to be. She was lonely then, and as I had always known her, she needed a shoulder to rest on, and fortunately for her, she found one. I had to let her go. This is when the most important virtue kicked in, indifference, though it was second in line to come to me.

She was now happy, and all was well.

I took another sip of my soda and offered her one. She declined. I remembered that she used to have a liking for litchees too. Maybe she had had too much of it while with me. We were waiting for her order to arrive at the table.

She was looking at the traffic on the road, while I heard someone walk up right next to our table. She turned to look.

Bang!

She said, 'I am ss. . .' and collapsed. I could see the red blot on her white tee increase in size.

I turned around to face the man who was standing right next to me. He was the man from the last table. His gun was still smoking. He said, ''I knew she was trying to get back to you, and she would leave me''.

Before I could say, or do something, he kept the gun below his chin and blew his head off.

I sat there for two more minutes, took out another cigarette. The teenage boy was staring at the scene in shock. I got up, walked to the counter. The accountant was trying her best to smile. I paid in hundreds and asked her to keep the change. I smiled at the teenage girl, and walked out of the cafe.

--

I drove into the gates of my house to find my father giving my dog, Louis, a bath. He asked me to lend him a hand. As I was in my old clothes anyway, I did not bother changing into anything suitable. I wiped Louis with the towels, and was playing with him, when my father went in.

He came out with a couple of beers, and handed me one. Louis was wagging his tail in anticipation. My friendly pats told him he wasn't getting any of it. He understood and found a twig to get interested in.

The usual clinking of the bottles followed by my father asking me if I had any plans for dinner. I shook my head, to which he said that he had made plans for the two of us, and asked me to give the car a wash. We had almost finished our beer, when I stood to walk towards the car. My father patted my shoulder and said, ''He has been well insured and the policy loopholes are fixed. It won't be taken as a suicide. His parents won't suffer''.

He handed me another beer, snatched the twig from Louis, and took him for a walk.

I remembered the red blot only to dismiss the thought and walked towards the car.

Cycling - greener and further

2007-10-18T06:25:00.000-07:00

I found a few posts on various blogs about Cycling, which I thought should be shared.

This was the first post I read and ended up visiting all the links in it. This one talks about New York getting its first exclusive bicycle lane. And finally this one talks about bicycling in Copenhagen.

Efforts are on by a bunch of enthusiasts in Bangalore who have started a store as well for road bikes and trek bikes. This is one of their posts on their blog which tells that there do exist lanes on some roads for cyclists in Bangalore. If you are from Bangalore, or planning to move to Bangalore in the near future then visit their site and hop on to a bicycle. :)

As we all know, globally , transportation is a major contributor to the GHG emissions, and in India the situation is only worsening by the day. Choosing to travel by a bicycle would not only cut down the emissions, it also helps in keeping oneself fit. Out here in IIT Madras, almost everyone travels by bicycle. I wish similar attitudes are followed outside the university campuses and academic circles.

Of course, there are a lot of things that can be wished for.

Being well aware of the climate change scenario, cycling to work as much as possible is something that I want to do among other things in the future.

Gourami Business Challenge : People

2007-10-11T10:54:00.001-07:00

This is the first time I am trying out posting pictures through java script, and I must thank Harshal, and Srinivas for their help.

To see the next picture, you may click on the pictures tab on the top, or just click anywhere on the right edge of the image.

Set 1 : People at Gourami Business Challenge

Gourami Business Challenge was a whole new experience for me. Somehow after my return , I have not really got the time to blog about the time there. At least, I have now put up a few snaps. Wish to write about it soon.

And of course, then came Shaastra. Will be writing shortly about that too.

Update 1 : Script having some problem. Will be updated soon. Sorry for the trouble.

Update 2 : All is well. Everything is working fine now. Just have to work on making the arrows a little bit more transparent for the next set.

Acknowledgment: JonDesign's SmoothGallery for the Java Script.

Update 3 : All is down again. :( Got exams coming up, will try getting it up after the exams are done.

Zleep

2007-10-08T23:02:00.000-07:00

I realized just now that I have been awake for 6 of the past 34 hours.

Quote

2007-09-21T02:40:00.001-07:00

Something I remembered and reminded myself, when I was asked about a certain important upcoming event and how the preparations for it were going on :

''I know the pieces will fit in, because I've seen them falling apart.''

In any case, all is well! :)

Ponder!

2007-09-16T00:26:00.000-07:00

I found this interesting exchange article on the price of sperm.

Interesting.

Life (?)

2007-09-13T22:22:00.000-07:00

There are three parts of life, and a person can be in one of them at any given point of time. The first phase is the present and the non analysis phase, where in the person is just being the person. Doing the regular stuff, being in action, and living life.

Now, the second phase is about falling back a few steps behind, stop there and look at oneself from behind, seeing where one is headed. In essence, being a ghost and running behind one's present, while analyzing the state of affairs is what I am getting it. I hope you will be able to visualize it.

The last phase is about running ahead, and looking back and say 'ah! thats all'. This too, is on the lines of being a ghost, but it just represents a third view of one by oneself.

Life, I believe, is all about falling back and running ahead and analyzing the state that one is generally in. These two phases, or aspects of life are the ones that are the most beautiful aspects, and are the true reasons why one should live. The 'living' per ~~say~~ se, is just a mundane activity of doing few things that in one or the other way are necessary.

This post is in response to this post by one of my friends. I hope, he realizes the true nature of life, though I am not sure what I described is, in its true nature, the true nature of life. It holds for me though.

And then, as always, 'lite ra mama!'.

[ ]

2007-08-30T11:08:00.000-07:00

There are moments which leave you clueless. Totally, utterly clueless. The title to the blog very well defines what my state of mind was during such a moment that I had today - blank. I am sure, I will never ever get another moment like that again.

My father calls me quite often. It is rare that he talks for long, and he compensates for it by calling me often. Today was different. After fifteen minutes of conversation came the shocker. And then he continued to speak for another fifteen odd minutes like nothing was said between us.

Highlights of the conversation:

My Father(F) : Gunda! I decided something today.
Czar(C) : What is it?
F : Nothing! I was generally watching this serial and you know this character who wants to get married to this girl who his father doesnt want him to get married to right.
C : Ok. So?

Trust me, at this point I was not able to fathom that my father had begun talking to me about such stuff.

F : Nothing! I wont trouble you about all this. You are my only son. Marry anyone you want.

Fuffff! Puff!! Wooosh!! Whatever else one can think of! Bang!

I will sleep a happy man tonight. Thank you dad.

Beginning of the End!

2007-08-26T06:59:00.001-07:00

Venue : Cornucopia
Date : Fri. 24th Aug, 2007

Occasion : Munnu's random treat for having saved infinite moolah in the internships over the last two summers.

(L to R): Deja, Munnu, GRV, MaGaM, Caesar, Guggu, Prasanna, Lavigne

Update 1: I knew something was missing. Absboy is not there in the pic above. So here is another one:

Absboy is to the extreme right. Ravirala didn't make it this time. Forgive me for the lack of clarity of the snaps. Next time, we will definitely take a good camera along.

Fear : Life at IIT is coming to an end.

It was a wonderful outing and it was one hell of a time for all of us. After having dinner at Cornucopia, we had a gala time at hi-look at 11 pm. Then came the long walk from the main gate back to the hostels. On the way, we made a guest appearance at CCD, walking in and out of it in no time and created considerable noise. After that was the slogan shouting at Tifany's and Sharav.

Finally we reached our beloved hostel Jamuna, to find sophomores playing footer in the quadrangle. It was time to stamp our authority of being fourth yearites. We played for almost two hours and at the end we were all topless and sweating like pigs. The best part of the game was the slogan, 'Hip Hip! Bow Wow' which is a toast to the dog, i.e. Munnu. It was one of the best times I have had in the quadrangle. And I am pretty sure, it was the same with my wing-mates.

Time to watch a movie and we pick Chak De India. By the time we settle down in Munnu's room to watch the movie, we realize that most of us had really sore bodies. Munnu, while trying to have a shot at a header, was pushed when he was mid air, and found himself with a sprained ankle at the end of the momentary flight, which he thought would end in a legendary header. By the way, he removed the bandage only today.

By the way, we were having a bet on whether one of us will choose to not watch the movie as it was pretty late into the night. The loser had to pull hair from Munnu's chest and lick them. Munnu, being the data miner, realized the implications : irrespective of who loses, Munnu would have got his chest hair pulled, which isn't one of the most pleasant experiences for many.

Deja, as usual dozed off during the movie and still managed to put a post on the movie. The rest had a good time watching the movie. The night ended for us at 5 am in the morning, and some of us tripped for a little while longer on Munnu and eventually hit the sack.

PS: I am contemplating starting a photo blog as I have been posting images quite often and planning to buy a good camera too.
Credits : Aniket helped in editing the snap as the light and play of colors was really bad.

Guess_What

2007-08-22T11:40:00.000-07:00

The gardener should be awarded for such a marvelous piece of art.

Or is it only me who thinks that it is what it is? Is it the ability to see beyond the regular? Is it the free thinking spirit?

Wah wahs and brickbats welcome. :D

Enough said! Enjoy the pic.

PS: Something to lookback upon.

Hunch!

2007-08-18T20:56:00.001-07:00

I have a feeling Saddam Hussein is still alive.

Window Shopper

2007-08-11T03:25:00.000-07:00

Initially I was just planning to show off the nice pair of glasses that I was trying out and how I look in it, by posting only the snap. But then I thought I should highlight a few things that I did as I had gone recently with a couple of friends to a reputed mall in the city.

I tried out a couple of tee shirts, a pair of shades, and a cap. I actually wore the cap at the beginning of the spree that we were on, and kept it on till we got out of the mall. So that is the kind of window shopping I do. I was also keen on wearing the shades through the remaining time that we intended to spend inside the mall, but then, my friends' advice got the better of me and I had to leave these shades back where they were.

The shades I am sporting in the snap are from Polaroid. I was keen on buying some aviator shades, and the salesman rightly pointed out that they are generally made for faces that are much bigger than mine and wont really suit me. He took the trouble to actually dig for a pair which were very much similar to aviator shades in their structure and did suit me quite well, or at least that's what I think. I really appreciate the efforts that the sales person put into finding this particular piece and I was actually serious about buying them.

Then came the surprise which always ruins the fun: the price tag!

Czar: How much for these?
Friendly sales person: Sir, these shades cost Rs 7200/- only.

I had genuinely asked him if they could be made to suit my eye-sight at the beginning of the conversation. Co-incidentally, he answered only after I had seen the price tag. Unfortunately or fortunately (the former represents the state before the awareness of the price and the latter, the state after the awareness of the price) they did not take up the work of fitting shades with glasses which were built to rectify the eye sight. He asked me to get it done in some authentic Polaroid showroom. At the same time, he insisted that I buy the piece in the mall itself as there was a discount on offer (which was small enough to be of any significant help to my wallet) and get the glasses changed in some other showroom as it would be done free of cost.

It was reason enough for me to safely say ''No! Thanks''. And I was gone.

Oh by the way, for those who think that all I do is window shopping, I did buy a pair of floaters from Caterpillar for myself, which did enough damage to my wallet anyway. And I intend to buy those shades at the earliest, and be assured, I will announce it when I do so. :)

Cheers to window shopping.

Credits: Vatsap for editing the snap.

Once upon a time

2007-07-29T09:41:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to the only place I can worship: IITM

People come, people go. A few names stay, many leave.

The only thing that is perennial, is the place.

It watches over all. It sees the generation come and go. It witnesses all the blood, sweat and toil. It cradles the nuances of friendship, love, hate, achievements, let downs, anger, excitement and makes the times the most memorable for the ones who come by.

I have been in this institute for three years now. Three hostel nights have gone by, and I have bid farewell to three batches of seniors, all gems. I have had a fair share of bonding with many, and have experienced the joy of the company, and the sorrow of the goodbyes. I like this place, and I have known that for long. I have seen people trying hard to hold back their tears. I have also seen them cry, and hug each other trying to live together those last few days while realizing that very soon they will all be apart, gone in different directions.

These feelings of nostalgia have surfaced time and again during discussions with friends and good friends (Forgive me for that. The classification is a must!). Every year I read people write about their time at this place, about their friends and how they will miss these most cherished times. I have always related to them well.

But today was different. It was an overhaul of feelings I have never felt before.

I was in my wing comfortably seated on the parapet wall. There was a lot of activity in the quadrangle. Many people are yet to come back for the semester. I could see a few shuttling around carrying their luggage from the security desk to their rooms across the quadrangle through the pathway. Some were playing footer and the rest just standing and chit-chatting.

I noticed a familiar figure, that of a second yearite. I shouted and waved at him, and got the friendly smile and wave back. The smile was a mix of lot of affection and some apprehension, which is I believe, out of some respect that he probably has for me. Before I realized there were a few others who had noticed this howling of mine across the quadrangle. Many who noticed this act continued whatever they were doing. One had stopped a fraction of a second too long for me to understand that he was a fresher. From what I could see, he was done surveying the rooms, and was ready to move in. But what was funny was the way in which he was looking at me, and tried to take his eyes away from mine. There was a strange sense of phobia, anxiety, and excitement that was evident from his mannerisms. I was wondering what would be going on in his mind. What would he be thinking?

It was at this instant that it hit me.

A little short of three years ago, I was in the position that the fresher was in now. There were seniors who were standing in their wing and looking down upon the things happening around in the hostel and passing comments and having a ball among themselves. I thought that I must have been their topic of discussion. My thinking and scope did not let me think beyond this, and I never made an attempt at that moment to speculate if it was something else that they could be discussing. It has been barely three years, and here I am, in the role of those who I admired and looked upon. Time has whizzed by, and I didn’t notice. I am not even sure if I have come even close to what they were. They will still remain the same to me.

A year from now, I will (hopefully :D) be receiving my degree at the convocation. But will I be getting a magical box which will let me preserve all that I have lived in the past three years? Is it possible to live it all again? I wish I could talk to them again. I wish I could make all the friends I have made, all over again. I wish I could live every moment once again.

Though I could relate to everything that was written, spoken, and done at the end of every eventful year by the people who were going to pass out, it was only today that I realized the gravity of it all. Kudos to all those who have lived in these corridors, and wishes to all those who will walk the same in the years to come.

I wish all my batchmates a wonderful year ahead, and intend to make it the most eventful one of my life.

Cheers to life at IIT.

PS: If someone could give me an image apt to put up with this post, I would be grateful.

Purple Haze

2007-07-22T22:38:00.000-07:00

It was the first time I visited the Koramangala Haze. Bliss. Truly a haze.

Acquaintance with a road side pisser

2007-07-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking of an assignment lately. This came up while a few of my friends and I, were on an outing and noticed a carefree senseless guy pissing on the road side. It would be a good exercise to take a handy cam and walk around the city on a weekend and find random people pissing at the wrong places.

A few questions that I would like to ask people who do not put any efforts into holding the fluids in their bladder and go around pissing on the road side, random compound walls while successfully embarrassing the general public who have a better sense of understanding of common ethics and manners: (mind you! These questions, I plan to ask while they are still in the act)

Sir, how do you feel while pissing here?
You couldn’t control eh?
You’ve been having lot of water lately is it? Or you just had a lot of beer?
By the way, what is your name sir?
Since when have you been doing this?
Where are you coming from?
Relieved eh?
How many times have you pissed on the compound wall of your own house?
Do you, like, piss in patterns? As in, do you try making flowers, animals, so on and so forth with the track of the fluid coming out?
You are on national television sir! Do you have any message for the viewers?

Once done with it all, I plan to hand them a rupee and ask them to visit the public toilets next time.

I seriously think I should find some time to do this exercise. Should be good fun among other things! :D

Hilarious - or do I find it so?

2007-07-19T09:52:00.000-07:00

My friend is talking to his girlfriend over the phone and chatting with me on gmail. She has a dance competition/performance tomorrow and is nervous about it. He is speaking to her and trying to pacify her.

What do I tell him in the chat window?

My friend: juzt now.... ladys called.. speakin to her..
shes lil tensed abt her dance show tmo... so just lil talking.s

me: ok.. pacification of india
in the indian ocean
fuck... that was hilarious
i cant believe I just said that!

Never mind.

8RF

2007-07-10T23:27:00.000-07:00

I have been tagged by Aniket, and have stayed so for quite some time now. My work has kept me busy and I haven’t been able to post anything for a while now. In fact, I wanted to post something about my work itself, but lack of time hasn’t let me to. Anyway, if you have the time go through the following.

Here are the rules:

Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.
Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.
Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged.

8RF about me:

I love giving bath to my pets, including cats. That was the case till I almost killed a kitten when I was four years old, and my mother made sure that I knew that the cause was the bath. Since then, I pity the cats. :P. I still love giving a bath to my dog though.
I smoked my first cigarette at the age of four. My father’s friend put a lit cigarette in my mouth, and left me coughing incessantly for the rest of the day. It made me feel like a man then. It is after ten years, maybe, that I realized that the feeling was just a result of some ads and movies that I had seen. Nevertheless, it was a kickass feeling.
Till 1^st standard it was my mother who used to do the drawings which were a part of my homework. Thanks to her spanking one day and asking me to do my work myself, I realized that I was way better than her at drawing, and there has been no stopping since. Now, I sketch sporadically, and some say I sketch well.
I ate thirty pickles to save my pride and honor when my uncle kept eating the pickles from my plate. He did it just to provoke me and only after I finished the thirty did I realize that he had eaten only four. Thank god! I did not have to visit the lou like they show in the movies. My digestive system took it all.
I think I have the ability to smell the presence of a snake. I am not sure about this, but I have this feeling that I can attribute a strange characteristic smell to the presence of a snake, and have been right on quite a few occasions.
Of late I have been obsessed with 100 bullets, and I think that it is the coolest thing that has happened to this planet.
I used to enjoy going to the movies alone during a phase of my life. I have not tried it recently. I guess, I will still enjoy it.
I had planned a plot to dump some mercury from the broken thermometer into the water bottle of a girl in my school days. I believe it was during my eighth standard. She is alive and healthy, which leaves me with only one conclusion: Thank God! Because recently I realized this.

Now that I am done with stating the eight random facts that first came to my mind, I tag CB, MGM, Paapi, Prasanna, Pi, KV, Varun, and Deja.

Tags taken up so far:

Pi's Mixtape, Paapi, Deja

How to watch Sivaji-The Boss

2007-06-30T14:05:00.001-07:00

How to watch Sivaji?

Answer in 9 simple steps:

Figure out the timing of the song sequences in the movie.
Enter the hall at the specified timing,
Hold your breath tight.
Watch Shriya Saran sizzle in the songs in the amazing attires, sporting one of the most beautiful smiles that mankind has got to see and showcasing her well crafted and chiseled body.
Get the chills while seeing her.
Get out of the hall till the next song and dream about her, as the movie is so loud(in all respects) that it will actually take away the precious things that you have witnessed.
Watch the next sequence and dream more.
Get back home and blog about her.
Sleep and dream more.

I am sure CB would testify the same.

Leaders of tomorrow!

2007-06-18T04:21:00.000-07:00

And that my dear friend, is my latest desktop wallpaper. Click here for more of them and an amazing campaign towards making people aware of global warming.

I hate Snipers

2007-06-13T23:53:00.000-07:00

This one is from Frank Miller's Sin City.

Wallace thinks to himself:

''I hate snipers. You should have the guts to look a man in the eye when you kill him''

Kickass!

Reversed

2007-06-11T08:44:00.000-07:00

One of my close friends celebrated his birthday recently. We had a ball of a time and everything was nice and good. I noticed that all of us who had gone for the treat including the guy celebrating his birthday were in full sleeved shirts, all tucked in and neat. I realized that we were all growing up. It was only 4 years ago that all of us were in tees and clothing that clearly reflected that we were 17 year olds. Now the mature look was reflecting from our clothing, attitudes and demeanor. The feeling set in that we were all growing up. It won’t be much time before we start earning our livelihood and have kids who will be celebrating their birthdays with their friends. Bah! Let me not go that far.

(The sore thumb was the eldest of us, who we call as big brother. He is the elder brother of one of my friends and is the guardian and advisor to all of us. He was the only one wearing a tee and claimed that he was becoming younger by the day.)

It was then that my friend Vyshak pointed out a concept. I guess it has been thought over quite a few times before and lot of people already know about it. How would life be if we reversed the life cycle?

I come into the world as an old man (when I am supposed to die in the existing system). I am born as an old man. I live my life backwards. I have a good business, industries and many sources of income. I make money as I grow young. I would have made enough money and experienced all the troubles and pains of life while trying to make all the money in my old age itself. Now I enter my youth, having made lot of money and possessing all materialistic things I would have ever wanted. I am assuming that with all the achievements backing me up, now I will have ample time to enjoy my youth.

After having all the fun that I ever wanted to have, I head towards an amazing learning experience at the school. Then comes all the pampering of the innocent childhood. After all the time and effort spent in the old age, glory of the youth, and the learning experience in the childhood, I eventually get to sleep the best sleep in my mother’s womb. Bliss.

Only thing to wonder is, how will the relative life cycle of other people be with respect to mine? If you look closely, the whole life cycle gets reversed. So for the whole concept to work, I should be born to someone who in the existing cycle would have been born when I am on the death bed.

Probably there are flaws in the thinking. But it feels good to think that at the end of it, you don’t die, but sleep peacefully in your mother’s womb.

Claustro: the choice of phobia/philia

2007-06-04T02:42:00.000-07:00

(x,y,z,t)= Some Darshini where I regularly go for lunch with other fellows (employees are actually called as fellows here) at TERI, lunch hour.

Dialogue:

A: Are you Claustrophobic?
Czar: Not really
A: I guess I am.
Czar: Hmmm..
A: But then, I have got accustomed to it now.
B: I guess I am claustrophilic.

( I am scratching I am head. The discussion so far was with respect to the Darshini that we were standing in. The population density is 2 per sq. ft in the area of the restaurant that strictly adheres to optimization principles when it comes to utilization of the space. So I am not able to figure out how one can get claustrophilic)

Czar(still wondering): But... how?
B: Dude, you are in Bangalore da.
Czar: So?
B: Wouldnt you love to be claustrophilic in some pub or disc with insane amounts of blessings from Almight Zeus himself to ogle over?
Czar: Ohhhhhh!!! *For once, I actually felt like an idiot*

It was a trippy momeny. :)

Full Circle

2007-06-01T03:50:00.000-07:00

There are several view points and facets to this debate that has been going on for quite some time now. What does one mean by energy crisis?

How much energy does an average Indian consume? This question answers a lot of other questions about how developed we are and where we stand now in the world scenario. The highest per capita energy TPES(Total Primary Energy Supply) for a country stands at 23.24 toe/capita (toe – tonnes of oil equivalent), the country being Qatar. Developed countries like US and Japan stand at 7.91 units and 4.18 units respectively. China stands at 1.24 units and then comes India at 0.52 units. The world average for TPES per capita is 1.77 units. Click here for more 'authentic data'.

The above data must give us a wide angle perspective of what the energy consumption trends in the world are. India constitutes 1/6^th of the world’s population and consumes energy that is less than 1/3^rd of the world average. That is a tremendous imbalance, isn’t it? Should we set the imbalance right? Many say yes. Maybe people should start re-thinking.

Looking at such figures, and the regular reports that go around saying that the growth and development of a country are signified by the energy consumption of the country, tells us that India is not anywhere closed to being called a developed country. In fact, it has been, mind you, has been far behind even on the developing nations list. As every country has to boast about its pathway to development and glory, India too has to increase that figure and hence be called a developed country. Now what exactly are we supposed to do to increase that figure? Are our needs such that the number (TPES/capita) is expected to increase? And are the speculations true that we will not be able to cater to the demands?

So we decide to increase the energy available at an average(?) Indian’s disposal. We are taking steps to achieve the aforementioned goal. At the top of the list of the steps would be the idea of adding 1,20,000 MW of installed capacity in the next five year plan.

Something to open up our eyes:
With simple calculations we can arrive at the fact that even after we add 1,20,000 MW to our existing installed capacity, our annual per capita electricity consumption will only be a sizeable fraction of China’s current per capita electricity consumption. It is not very difficult to guess that China will not be sitting quiet for the next five years and might very well end up installing a few lakh MW of capacity themselves. In which case, the per capita electricity consumption for India becomes much smaller in comparison with China, which again, is below the world average.

I would like to throw light upon the fact that India as a country has never installed more than 40 MW in any five year plan. The idea of installing 1,20,000 MW in the next five year plan sounds overly ambitious to any layman.

Probably this is what is known as energy crisis.

We will only end up buggering the atmosphere and the environment by adding 1,20,000 MW capacity in the next five years. Indian think tanks are just trying to follow the trends that the west and developed economies have set. We just want to reach where they are today. Beyond that nobody knows what should be done. The developed economies are already on the path backwards, and will very soon be paying heavily in terms of environmental costs. India too, is trying to imitate its way to hell.

The needs always arise because there are facilities to cater to a new need. What I am trying to say is, needs are not perennially existent. They merely arise every time human beings find something new. I always used to think that need is the mother of all innovation. Of late I have been thinking that needs are results of innovations.

Human beings are a little short of traveling a full circle. And I believe that many of us have lost the capacity to realize the same. After talking to lot of people on this front and thinking a bit myself, I have started wondering how exactly should growth be defined? From an Indian’s perspective, one should realize that the existing scenario of a billion people killing for that extra piece of land itself is frightening. If we go any further, very soon there will be nothing to lose.

It is high time that we stop defining growth in terms of the energy one consumes and the lifestyle standards. We need to define our standards ourselves, and showcase that for everyone on this planet to survive happily, the standards need not always get higher and higher. Again, that very definition of ‘higher’ is subjective.

Till date, every budget was measured in terms of the amount of money one possessed. It will still effectively be the same. With the introduction of CDM, and Carbon Credits for entities, industrial houses and countries, carbon costs are making their way into the budgets and balance sheets of these biggies. It wont be far from now that carbon budgeting will be the way of life for every individual.

A person traveling by a bicycle will have to be paid by a person owning a SUV for the guy owning the bicycle is more environment friendly. A person staying in a smaller house will be paid by a person residing in a mansion for the former consumes lesser energy at home, and hence the latter has to buy his carbon credits to be environmentally friendly too.

All said and done, being environmental friendly will become fashionable and being green will make you richer. The green will eventually transfer hands. That was a brilliant pun, wasn’t it? :)

Black Google(?) - Blackle

2007-06-01T02:14:00.000-07:00

Do check this out.

Irrespective of whether the facts about the amount of energy being saved are true or not, we should not ignore the fact that some energy is definitely saved.

So start using Blackle.

And in general, use darker wallpapers (preferably black) and switch off your computers when you aren't using them. People tend to forget that computers to consume power even during the sleep/stand by/hibernation mode.

So please do whatever little you can do to save whatever little energy you can.
You will be able to appreciate it if you manage to tell many more like you, and hence see a greener future.

Yahoo on Gmail ? (2)

2007-05-29T21:57:00.000-07:00

Yet again! Check out the red ellipse that I have marked.
Click here for part 1.