Beginning of the End!

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

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!

I have a feeling Saddam Hussein is still alive.

Window Shopper

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

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

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

Acquaintance with a road side pisser

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?

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

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:

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

8RF about me:

1. 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.
   
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Of late I have been obsessed with 100 bullets, and I think that it is the coolest thing that has happened to this planet.
7. 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.
8. 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

How to watch Sivaji?

Answer in 9 simple steps:

1. Figure out the timing of the song sequences in the movie.
2. Enter the hall at the specified timing,
   
3. Hold your breath tight.
4. 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.
5. Get the chills while seeing her.
   
6. 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.
   
7. Watch the next sequence and dream more.
   
8. Get back home and blog about her.
9. Sleep and dream more.
   

I am sure CB would testify the same.

Leaders of tomorrow!

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

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

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

(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

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

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)

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

Then and Now

1997 -

A young man riding down the road with his hair fluttering against his forehead and a happy smile. He looks around him and finds these girls everywhere on the side walkways. He takes great pleasure in smiling at them and they smile back, for he is one sweet chap who reflects happiness.

It is yet another day when the young man sets out on his way to the college and is riding down the road on his bike and is continuing his routine of smiling at the girls he sees walking by the side of the road.

He suddenly spots radiance like never before. His eyes stop at one place. His body moves relative to his eye sight and he keeps staring at the most wonderful sight that he has ever witnessed. He enters a trance. He feels the aura and the freshness around the object that has captivated him completely. For once, he actually feels like stopping and heading towards it.

What is it?
I better rephrase it before I get jacked by some irrelevant organizations.

Who is it?
Thats the right question.

She is the most beautiful girl he has ever seen. He feels that he should float in the air and then travel his way to her hair and slide down them, while breathing in the fresh scent of her hair. Then swing his way using her hair to her shoulder, stand on her shoulders and admire her flawless skin and the comlexion. He delves deeper into his imagination and her beauty.

Screeeeeeeeeeecccccchhhhh!!!!!!!!
Tyres skidding, and smoke coming out of them leaving trails of burnt rubber on the road.

What happened?
Nothing to worry. He is not dead.

Our lover boy had strayed a bit too much to his left and was nearing the footpath. Mind you he was still on the road. The other person had stepped down from the footpath and was walking on the road along the footpath. Lover boy was extremely upset and frustrated that people do not have the common sense to make use of the utilities according to their defined purpose.

What followed was a conversation between our young man and yet another young man who almost got him killed as he was walking on the road. Our lover boy almost knocked him down and starts questioning him as to why he was walking on the road when there is a footpath meant solely for pedestrians. Why should he walk on the road when there is so much space exclusively for those who want to walk?

The sad part is, he lost all the smiles that girls were giving him that day as they all witnessed the anger and frustration which was evident on his face.

Poor fellow.


2007 -

There is no lover boy story here. This is my own story. Rather, this is something I witnessed myself yesterday. In fact, I have been witnessing this since the time I started my work for the internship. I have to commute 15 kilometres one way every day and get to witness a lot of fun and different antics by people on the move.

I was stuck in a really bad traffic jam at one junction and was almost a kilometre from the signal. I was on my two wheeler right next to the footpath. I was looking at the glowsign boards on the shops that were like 30 feet away from me. The footpath stretched to around 10 feet. I was trying to read the things on the boards through my helmet and was finding it really irritating. I had focussed all my attention on the letters and was oblivious to everything else. There were people walking on the footpath and were proud of the fact because I am sure as hell that they were travelling at a faster rate than the people with their vehicles.

Suddenly, I hear lot of honking, and at the same time I observe lot of unrest among the pedestrians. Before I realize what was happening, I saw people on two wheelers riding down the footpath and the pedestrians had to move out of their way. I mean, it was ridiculous. The footpath is supposed to be exclusively meant for pedestrians. I mean, it does not make sense for people to drive down the footpath. And here I was witnessing this insanity.

I witness this everyday. People trying to save on time by driving down the footpaths and there is absolutely no space for pedestrians to walk. Incessant honking, pollution adding to the pedestrians woes and unrest among the motorists and people shouting at one another and trying to get ahead of one another in this rat race is really frightening.

This time around, it would have been the fictitous lover boy from 1997 who would have been the cause for unrest and the poor fellow who was walking, the victim.

Times change, don't they?

How big is your yard?

There are insane debates going on about the climate change, whether we are going to survive this century and more of the blah. Me ending the earlier statement on a dismissive note does not mean that these debates are useless and are of no consequence. The issues are of utmost importance and need to be addressed.

Everyone talks about the necessity to reduce the green house gases(GHGs) emission and curb Global Warming, but very few talk about the ways to do it. For a layman especially, it would be difficult to understand the jargon that goes around in the scientific community. So a mode of communication and education that tells people 'What to do' is of much greater value than the one that says 'What is happening'. Of course, awareness too, is a must. But the results are seen only with the actions, and in this case, the actions are responses to 'What to do' and not 'What is happening'.

One such effort that my friend's father asked me to go through is the publication by TIME magazine on 51 Things We Can Do to Save the Environment. And one thing that was quite amazing among the observations that the report makes is the fact that Bamboo can prove to be one of the biggest guzzlers of Carbon Dioxide, and hence people who address the issue of Global Warming should not go around shouting 'Plant Trees, plant More Trees' like amateurs. Instead they should get a bit smarter and specific and do things that actually help the cause and direct people towards planting more Bamboo trees.

As the article on Bamboos in TIME magazine rightly concludes:

''How big is your yard?''

Penelope Cruz

After a very long time I got my hands back on my sketch book. My sister had found a very catchy image of Penelope Cruz as a part of a LOREAL advertisement in some magazine and hence the result.

The scan is not the best version of my efforts, as the cheeks and the contours joining the cheeks and the nose, and the shadows showcasing the chin are not highlighted well in the scan.

Felt good drawing something after a long time.

P.S.: This post is dedicated to MGM for he is the one who implored me to draw something time and again.

Yahoo on Gmail (?)

I had just finished checking mails and was about to close the tab and get back to work when I saw this:


Yahoo news on Gmail?
I couldn't help but feel weird. I don't know what it feels like. It is just weird.

This is just too trippy to be true. Please pay attention to the ellipse that I have drawn in the screen shot. Open it in a new tab or window to see it closely.

Its been a wonderful day at work too. I am having a great time laughing.

Ink it

This morning, when I was leaving for my intern work at TERI, my father gives me a lecture that lasted almost an hour. He kept telling me how poor I was in documentation and how I need to improve on that. His claim was that until and unless I write down what I am doing and what are the steps to be taken further in the work, I will not head anywhere.

I was getting bored. But then he knew how to finish it all. I am sure he also heard it somewhere, but heck! it sounds kinda cool.

''The faintest ink is far better than the brightest memory''

I guess its high time I start documenting my work.

Mosquito Zapper

There is this amazing instrument that helps us eradicate the mosquitoes in our vicinity. I have seen several people experiment with it, including my friends and family.

All you need to do is press a red button and wave it like you are playing tennis with the mosquito being the ball. Poor mosquito is roasted due to electrocution, the moment the face of the mesh on the instrument comes in contact with it.

Couple of days ago I had gone to this restaurant for a snack and there was this guy who was trying to sell these instruments outside the restaurant. There were a considerable number of people at the restaurant and hence the seller was probably thinking that he has a big base of people to whom he can try selling his product. To any vendor, a large gathering of people is a boon. He/she (My good friend who always points out how sexist we are, please note that I realized it this time around) obviously stands a better chance of finding a customer from a larger base of people, of course, all other factors kept constant.

To sell the instrument, the vendor needs to demonstrate what it does. I wouldnt believe the impact of the instrument unless I see it myself. Simply put, he has to kill a mosquito everytime he demonstrates this instrument. Naturally, the mosquitoes are smart. In a short span, they realize that things are not really friendly around here and make a move. Now there arent any mosquitoes left to be killed, and hence no more customers can be lured into buying this particular instrument.

On the contrary, there always is a huge number of insects including mosquitoes near the drainages, marsh lands and dump lands. Hence, there will never be a dearth of subjects for demonstration of the instruments for the vendor at such sites. But then, unfortunately you will never find human beings who will be around to witness the spectacle of the mosquito getting killed while the vendor acts like he is playing tennis with this instrument. In this case, we find that the customer base has vanished.

So how on earth can there be effective mass marketing for this product?

Mosquito, poor mosquito!

Déjà vu - SUVs or Auto Rickshaws??

This post is best understood by those who have played NFS Most Wanted and have suffered the worst set backs and the horror of two massive heavy SUVs bumping you head on.

Today, for the first time in real life, I felt what I generally feel when I play NFS Most Wanted.
It was total madness. The situation was precisely scaled and hence, equally dangerous.

In the game, I am driving a car which acts as the subject and there are SUVs which are the objects. Here I was, driving my two wheeler which became the subject and there were two Auto Rickshaws which turned out to be the objects. Considering the laws of scaling, the situations were not quite different.

Two Auto Rickshaws came onto me exactly the same way the SUVs come onto me in the game. I mean, I cant even press (R) for the reset option and hence come back into one piece onto the road, or press Alt+F4 and quit the situation. All I could try doing was, somehow survive the next fraction of the second and pass through safely.

I somehow did it. I survived.

I stopped my vehicle, looked back, looked up, kissed my hand, returned home and played NFSMW.

Phew!

P.S.: I dedicate this post to Munnu with whom I have enjoyed the best sessions in NFSMW.
I wish you were riding pillion with me today. It would have been good fun. :D

Spiderman 3 - Coincidence exemplified

Sorry for the laziness for so long. I am home and I have every right to be so.
The review for spiderman 3 goes something like this:

Person A (Spider man himself):

1. Have you ever asked yourself what is the probability of you getting bitten by a mutant spider and hence you becoming spiderman?
2. Now what is the probability that you are making out with your girl friend on a cobweb as giant as a basketball court and co-incidentally a meterorite from god forsaken sky falls within twenty metres of your make out zone?
   

Please understand the magnitude of the surface area of the earth and that of the meteorite in calculating the probability.

If you have been successful in deciphering the above two answers, I would like to bring to your notice that the probability of both happening to one person would be the multiple of the two factors obtained. I leave the math to you.

If that was not enough read the following:


Person B (Sand Man):

1. What is the probability that you are being chased by cops and while evading them you co-incidentally jump a barbed fence which reads 'KEEP OUT. PHYSICS EXPERIMENTS ZONE' or some whacky thing like that.
   
2. Also, what is the probability that you end up falling into a pit that is meant for some particle physics experiment and incidentally the experiment is timed to begin the moment you fall into the pit? Mind it, your body degenerates into sand particles after the experiment and you become the Sand Man. Now that you have successfully figured out the probability of the above events happening together, let me add a certain twist to the whole picture.
   
3. What do you think is the probability of B being the killer of A's grandfather?

Add two more characters to the story of co-incidences and stretch the story a little bit.


Person C (Harry Osborne):

C: You killed my father.
A: No I did not.
C: Yes you did.
A: No I did not.
C: I am going to kill you.
A: No. Wait.

The fight begins. C suffers a head injury and forgets everything only to remember everything later.

C: I am your girlfriend's new boyfriend
A: Oh!
C: I will kill you
A: Lets not fight
C: Lets fight

C suffers yet again... This time it is 3rd degree face burns.


Person D (A vague free lancer photographer who wants to take Peter Parker's place):

Coming back to the probability method:

1. What is the probability that you are at a place taking snaps of A unless you are A himself?
2. What is the probability that A is trying to shed the foreign substance that has taken over him in church, and you are present in the same church.
   
3. And then you enter the stairway and stand right below the bell, and the substance now captures you as its host?
   

Now comes the most important character,
Person E (Mary Jane):

''I love you A.
You dont have time for me.
I have saggy stuff.
I have a screechy voice, hence they threw me out of the troupe.
C, I think I want to spend some time with you. Lets kiss.''

I scream ''AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!''

more ''AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!''

''I am stuck in a giant black web. Please save me.''

some more ''AAAAAA!!!''

''Lets kiss.''


More blah and the final verdict:

Multiply all probabilities that you found in the above cases, add characters C and E, add a few more glamorous models and unnecessary guys, and dedicate a multi million dollar budget to the graphics and there you are... Spiderman 3.

The movie just had to be there. Coincidence exemplified.

My final verdict: Why would anyone make a movie that actually dilutes... wait a minute... destroys the legacy that the first two editions left behind?

Vome sweet vome

What is more precious than the sleep in the bed that you have been sleeping for 18 years of your life?

1. Your dog welcoming you
2. Mother's smile
3. Father's generosity (pocketo moneyo)
   
4. Brilliant weather
5. A dozen mangoes a day?

Na!
None of them.
They come close enough though.

After a gap of four months, I will be enjoying the pleasure of the brilliant nap.

I love my home.

IITian

This is not a brag post. It is just a reflection of a good friend's definition of an IITian. I am tripping over it. Brilliant fun. Here it goes:

"An IITian is one who does not fit any definition"

SP3 - The experience... Blah!

May 7th

Two of my friends and I decide to watch some movie, late night show. We end up deciding on watching Spiderman 3. Efforts went in contacting as many friends as possible and figuring out ways to get tickets for the movie. We finally decide to buy the tickets in black if need be and end up taking auto rickshaw till the theater.

Once we reach there, we wait for almost an hour to realize that we aren't getting any black tickets, and hence we need to book tickets for the next day. We end up buying tickets for the noon show for the next day.

Time for grub. It was 10 pm already and the nearest restaurant was Saravana Bhavan. We shuttle between the buffet and serving sections twice to decided upon the amount of money we are going to spend. Eventually we end up at the serving section and order the grub, which appeared to us exorbitantly priced, but then poor souls thought that the grub would be sufficient for our hungry stomachs.

Now comes the interesting part. The food arrives in vessels and containers that I remember having had my food in when I was a little kid. I meant, a little kid by age. I know I am still a kid though. Anyway, coming back to where I was. The food was not sufficient for one of us, let alone three of us. That was the second part of the dismal happenings.

We head back to the institute and get ripped off by the auto rickshaw dude this time around. I will come to the specifics later.

May 8th

We head to the movie in yet another auto and almost got ripped off again. We manage to enter the theater just in time and sit through the painfully coincidental movie, but filled with action that has become so cliched over the three editions.

As we had managed to wake up just in time to catch an auto for the movie, very evidently we had not had any food for breakfast or lunch. So it was time we had something to keep our growling tummies quiet. So 'Juthe' decided to buy sandwiches and cool drinks and get ripped off again.

Movie finally got over and we had to listen to the ugly rants(which, mind you, are not justified in the city of Chennai) of the auto drivers about the cost of fuel sky rocketing, their earnings and more and trying to coax us into paying them a fortune for the ride back to the institute. All this, at 3 pm under in scorching heat, while coughing incessantly and the fear of catching the fever that you had the previous night yet again.

The whole exercise cost me a brilliant Rs 400/-. All this for a movie that I did not even enjoy. What a waste! I know I am cribbing like a cry baby. It is justified. It definitely is.

And the review is coming up.

P.S.: Never think of eating American Chopsuey at a South Indian Restaurant. NEVER.

What tha ! ! !

It's not a original post. But then, what tha ! ! ! !

Something - Nothing

I was just wondering if god exists. Or rather, whatever was the train of thought that followed can be related to a very simple question 'Does god exist?'. I mean it is one of the questions which can have the train of thought that I had to find a solution. There can be many, but I haven't thought of others.

There are two things that one would say when asked a question 'Does god exist?

1. Yes he does
2. No he does not

Let us consider the first case which is kind of trivial. The triviality can be addressed by people who are reading this post themselves. If I see so many things on this planet and there exists certain relation between these 'many' things. Effectively we see things here. As said before, there is some relation between these things, which I am not able to define satisfactorily. But then, as there exists a relation between things, and by our understanding of time and other dimensions alone, there must have been things before these which lead to the things that exist now. Hence, there have been things before the ones that we are seeing now.

Now for those things to exist, there must have been things before them, so on and so forth. This is an infinite loop, and when we want to see the limit. There must have been 'something' that sprang up everything. That something itself is god.

There by the first case stands true.

Now coming to second case, we say 'God does not exist'. In which case, there must be 'nothing'. So if there exists nothing we can say god does not exist. But for that 'nothing' to exist, there must be 'something' that defines that 'nothing'.

Again we have two train of thoughts:

• I mean, for there to be nothing inside you, you need to be there. Similarly 'nothing' to exist beyond you, your existence is essential. Hence you are that something which exists.

• Similarly, for 'nothing' to exist, there has to be 'something' previous in line with it which was 'nothing'. This again ends up as an infinite loop.

Here the first case we considered an individual and proved that something always exists, and in the second case we considered the infinite loop. Hence we proved that 'something' has to always exist. But the result of the thought process is a contradiction with respect to the assumption. Hence, the assumption is wrong. In which case, god does not 'not exist'. Hence we come to a conclusion that god exists even in the second train of thought.

Hence god does exist.

P.S.: There can be flaws in the theory proposed above. I do not say that it is flawless. I hope that with better realization of things around me, I will some day be able to tell whether god exists or not, and if I am able to do that it would clearly mean that god does exist. Hence, god exists.

The Unforgettable Dream

The intro

I stand
I look down
Shining hair
I smell
The scent is intoxicating
I am moving
I feel
I feel the light feet on my feet
I move to the music
The caress of the skin
The eyes look up to me
I dance
The peck on the neck
The jolt down the spine
The world stops
The girl
A dream…

Ah!! The dream.

P.S : Joe Sat rocks.

Auto-Driver (I): A stint with an air-hostess

My job is monotonous. I like it though. I see people, I see more people. That part of my job is fun, though sometimes I have to get along with certain things that I do not really like.

It is my daughter’s face that keeps me going. I work the evening and night shift, so that I get to spend time with my daughter. She is only 5 years old, and I have one more year till she starts attending formal school. Till then I intend to continue working in the evenings and nights.

I got married when I was 29. Its been 6 years since. My wife and I decided to have only one kid till we are able to afford and realize the better life for the three of us. Lot of people in my community have told me to go for another kid. I am firm about my decision. Even if the whole community issues a fatwa against me, I will stand by it. I do not want my kids to have discontinued education like me. All the arguments which say that a lone kid remains a loner, and will always be in need of the sibling affection are true. But unless and until I am able to sustain the lives of the three of us, it does not make sense to get more affection into the family when the family itself cannot survive. One cannot live on affection.

Speaking about my work, as I said before, I get to meet a lot of people. It all began four months ago. On a Saturday night, I happened to pick up a few guys near M.G. Road at eleven thirty in the night. They had to catch a flight at 1230, and were in a hurry. They were a noisy lot, and I had a good time talking to them during the journey. It was a starless night, quite cloudy for a winter night. Customary to my work, I joined the queue of auto-rickshaws at the airport waiting for the passengers of the next flight to arrive. Since I had joined the queue late, I was anxious about getting a passenger for my auto.

The anxiety was well justified. I used to turn my eyes on every person coming out of the airport in the hope that he will take the auto first in line and I will get closer to the next person coming out of the airport. It is common practice that the auto drivers try to lure the passengers by approaching them well before they go in for the pre-paid service. Somehow that does not really work at the airport. I was anxious and was waiting.

An hour passed by since the time the flight had arrived, and it appeared to me as if all the passengers had already left. I was idle for 2 hours now. Everyday I work from 4 p.m. till 12 p.m. If I start late in the evening, I work late for an equivalent time. 2 hours of idle time meant, one fourth of my wages were cut straight away. I don’t know why I had taken that decision of waiting there. But then, something told me that it will be justified. I waited.

I lit a cigarette, and was sharing it with a fellow auto driver. The cold night was wearing me out, and there I was waiting for a passenger, with a cigarette between my fingers.

A soft and strained voice called me from behind and in a hurry I ashed my cigarette and turned around. The figure standing in front of me was that of a slender, fragile and scared girl who was trying to portray a bold image. She was wearing, what appeared to me, a miniature version of a school uniform. She was well groomed and looked pretty. She wasn’t the most beautiful girl I had seen, but she definitely had a very soothing appearance. The scared feeling was quite evident and she was making a futile effort at being bold. I felt as if I should be comforting her. Mixed emotions hit me. As always, my duty took over and I am really proud of myself for the same. She asked me if my auto was booked already, and I asked her to step in and take the seat.

She asked me to take her to her house and gave me the location and the directions and the journey started. Then began the conversation. It wouldn’t have been difficult for me to strike a conversation with any of my passengers, but there was something about this girl that made me feel awkward. I did my best to feel at ease in my own auto and tried to put her at ease too. I asked her as to why she looked terrified. She never expected a response like that from an auto driver.

She started telling me how every time she steps into a public transport vehicle, she receives glares from the male community of the society. She described the insecurities and the fears of doing the job that she was doing. Maybe she felt comfortable talking to me about her inner feelings and was letting herself go. She had been working as an air hostess for almost a year now, and had always feared the night. The job is such that it demands work at vague hours of ones life. I could very well understand her situation. The glamour of one world when comes down to another where it is not generally experienced or seen, things might take a different turn. And it is this realization that had made her afraid of everything around her.

She was a girl from a middle class background. That is what I could decipher from her house, and the surroundings. She told me that she felt really comfortable and secure during the journey and asked me for my cell number. I did not find anything wrong in giving my contact number to her, although I did enquire as to why she would need it. Her trust in me made her ask me for a favor. She asked me if I could drop her home every time she had a night flight back to Bangalore. Within an instant she realized that it would be unfair on her behalf to ask an auto driver for such a favor, as in our profession you never know which part of the city you are in at a given time of the day. She rephrased her statement and asked me if I could oblige, in case I was in that part of the city. I couldn’t say anything and it was assumed that I will be doing the job. I didn’t regret the assumption.

Over the next few months I picked her up several times from the airport and dropped her home. Every time I used to wonder as to how her job might be, what her daily chores are, how her family might be feeling about her job, and what her future plans her.

She used to call me in the afternoons to tell me that she will be landing in Bangalore at a specified time, and politely request me to be around airport at the same time. Somehow I used to get carried towards the airport and nearby areas and used to be there, at the airport, bang on time. But always, the timing that she used to give me was the time the flight used to land. Somehow in spite of understanding the basic fact that it takes an hour more for an air hostess to come out of the airport after the flight has landed, I used to conveniently forget the fact and wait there for an hour or more. To an extent this had its impact on my work and earnings. But it was well worth it as a girl felt secure and safe and some how I felt that thanks to me, the whole mankind was getting the security and trustworthy feeling. I started feeling good and gave myself the credit.

Once I did make a mention of the fact that I was losing out on working hours because I was waiting for her at the airport. The next time she bought a packaged meal from the airport lounge with some chocolates and asked me to give it to my kids. I thanked her and promptly reminded her that I had only one kid. I also told her that the gifts are always measured by the person’s intentions and never by the size of the magnitude and thanked her again. I also told her that I will be gifting her something invaluable.

Every time she used to step in to my auto, she was on the phone speaking with her boyfriend. In fact I used to be surprised and used to think whether she has a free phone connection. Because to me, speaking so much on the phone is just not plausible, and I somehow felt that it cannot be so for anyone for that matter. She used to get into the auto while she was on the phone and get off the auto and she was still on the phone.

One day, she told me that the taxis that she used to take earlier, in Bangalore and different cities were pretty unsafe. And when I made the effort of asking her what did she feel was unsafe, she told me that the drivers of the vehicles used to look at her through the rear view mirrors quite often. This made her uncomfortable. Before I could understand and ask her to help me understand the same, she went on with the description of the whole situation. It felt pretty bad. But I had to analyze.

I tried figuring out why that might have been happening. She was not the prettiest of the lot, nor did she sport revealing clothes. I did understand that being the only girl in the vehicle could have been a factor, but generally people do not have time to think about other things while on duty. Or maybe that was the case only with me. Anyway, after close analysis did I realize that her talks with her boyfriend on the phone might be triggering emotions among the drivers. I did not want to jump to any conclusions. But it was quite apparent. In fact, being a married man myself, my own ears had turned to her conversations with her boyfriend at times and the conversations were quite explicit to say the least. Every human being has feelings and it is probably not possible to shut the senses completely. So I concluded that it was her own actions and conversations that were driving the wrong things around her.

Next time I met her, I gave her the Holy Quran translated in English as a gift. It was the invaluable gift that I had told her about. I did feel that I should tell her what my analysis was. But somehow I restrained myself from doing the same. I asked her to read the Quran whenever she was free and felt like understanding life better and what Islam was all about. I have deleted her number and never met her since.

I really hope that the angel on her right shoulder takes good care of her. I do pray for her well being and hope that she understands the follies and good things in life.

I wish to fly some day with my wife and my daughter and hope to find her helping us out in the flight. I will feel safe and secure then.

Sensation, Perception, Conception

I had a brilliant train journey today, from Chennai to Bangalore. My N72 was wondeful company and Ayn Rand kept my mind working most of the time. I felt that this particular paragraph from her book 'For the New Intellectual' has to be put up on my blog. The logic seems just perfect. Though I tried to come up with arguments against the logic and reason that she gives in the paragraph, I couldnt really help but get convinced by her thoughts.

''Man's consciousness shares with animals the first two stages of its development; sensations and perceptions; but it is the third state, conceptions, that makes him man. Sensations are intergrated into perceptions automatically, by the brain of a man or of an animal. But to integrate perceptions into conceptions by a process of abstraction, is a feat that man alone has the power to perform - and he has to perform it by choice. The process of abstraction, and of concept-formation is a process of reason, of thought; it is not automatic nor instinctive nor involuntary nor infallible. Man has to initiate it, to sustain it and to bear responsibility for its results. The pre-conceptual level of consciousness is nonvolitional; volition begins with the first syllogism. Man has the choice to think or to evade - to maintain a state of full awareness or to drift from moment to moment, in a sem-conscious daze, at the mercy of whatever associational whims the unfocused mechanism of his consciousness produces. ''

P.S: I am an animal. I will, very soon, be a man.

A Tryst with DISTRUST

I have been closely following a set of events, my own life, national affairs, world affairs, and many other issues. These issues may or may not be relevant to me. But following something closely gives one, a deeper sense of understanding, I firmly believe. At the same time, I also speculate whether one’s understanding of things around are fair or are they biased as a function of other factors in one’s life. I know I am contradicting myself. I do not have a clear mind at times. I have tried to describe the whole process of trying to understand ‘what trust is, and what it means’ in the following few paragraphs. While describing the process, I have tried my best to follow a close outline. This in turn, has helped me to filter my thoughts and classify my feelings in a better fashion. I hope, at the end of it, things are more clear to me. Well, that has always been the intention of me jotting down something. Self realization.

Childhood and growth:

We all are deeply influenced by our parents, guardians, and elder people closely related to us. Well, the time of influence (not the span) is the childhood. We all are still in a state where we can be molded. The message conveyed by the family to the child, again, depends on the background and values of the family in general. Some families may try to inculcate a ‘good values’ system in the kid. The definition of ‘good values’ itself is subjective. What you consider to be good values, need not be approved by me. Hence, the essential difference comes in the childhood itself.

Anyway, I stick to one case, and one case alone. I was taught by my parents and people who influenced me that trust is very important in life. Since I was told by people who were my mentors, I blindly believed it. Ah yes! My father, mother and teachers tell me, trust is an important thing in life. Then it must be true. I need to trust everyone and in turn everyone will trust me. Life is so good. Peace.

Is life so simple?

Maybe.

I grew. I was a teenager now. It was time I get influenced by others and other factors. Still, life was good. I was having fun, and loads of it. I never looked beyond a certain dimension. I was innocent. Trust me (Ironical… isn’t it?), innocence is good. Television, movies, papers, magazines, friends, and family, all play an important role in one’s development during this stage. I was liking it.

Then sometime in my early teenage - Shock. I don’t remember what it was all about. But I did feel it once. That was my first meeting with distrust. I was taken aback. I mean, here I was, with a value system, which tells me that every being on this planet is perfect, and everything happens for the good. I still couldn’t question my value system. Very well, I thought, maybe it was something to be ignored. I went on.

It is funny but I have to mention this now. I was extremely addicted to WWF then. I used to follow every fight and sequence of events that were designed to entertain the viewers and keep them glued till the next session. I remember very vividly, Stone Cold Steve Austin coming on to the ring, creating havoc. More importantly, I remember his punch line: ‘’Never trust anyone’’. I am not sure whether he follows it himself in his off screen life. But it did affect me a lot. I used to go around screaming my guts out. A few people told me that I had gone insane. But most of my friends liked it. And we still had a great trust in one another, which was essentially a result of that screaming. Funny, but true.

As I grew, I realized life wasn’t that easy. I started seeing wrong things happen. It never really disturbed me. But it definitely made me start thinking. Since then, I have been meeting Mr. Distrust quite often. I thought more. Innocence was no more. More thinking.

Learnings:

Life became ugly. But, thinking gave a deeper understanding of things around.

I learnt that an individual has a choice all the time: the choice of doing the wrong thing.

Well, once again, the definition of wrong thing itself is subjective. This degree of freedom is available with every person, and the sanctity of trust lies at the core of this choice. There are people who choose to exercise this freedom, and there are others who do not. Which sect will one appreciate? This choice lies with you. And your choice defines the sect you belong to.

I think now. Has life really become ugly? Maybe not.

Implications:

You can either be happy being naïve, or choose to know that there are other things which will disturb you, but be happy at the same time that you have a better understanding of things.

''To learn something, one has to sacrifice the state of not knowing the same.''

TESTIMONIAL!!!

According to dictionary dot com the following are the definitions of a testimonial.

Testimonial:
–noun

1.	a written declaration certifying to a person's character, conduct, or qualifications, or to the value, excellence, etc., of a thing; a letter or written statement of recommendation.

2.	something given or done as an expression of esteem, admiration, or gratitude.

–adjective

3.	pertaining to or serving as a testimonial: a testimonial dinner for the retiring dean.

As I was going through testimonials on Orkut, I was thinking of what would be the best testimonial or for that matter who would be the right person to write one for someone. I came to a conclusion that there 'generally' cannot be a better person than oneself to write a testimonial for himself/herself, of course, as long as it is purely honest.

The following shall apply to the male members of the homo sapiens as there are certain critical components necessary which are not possessed by the other sex, which you shall learn about in the next few lines.

1. Who would know person X (a male.. please be patient) the best? As said before, 'himself'.
Now since he cannot write a testimonial for himself, lets ask his best buddies to do so for him.

2. Now who are his best buddies?
Lets see, someone who stays with him all the time can be classified as his best buddy.

3. Who stays with him all the time?
Hmmm, not at all a difficult question to answer... His 'Testicles'.

Ahh!! Now we have narrowed down upon who must write the testimonial for Mr.X . Lets try to figure out what a testimonial actually is. The above definitions are clear to everyone. There is one subtle thing that one generally fails to notice, which my mind(not perverted by any means) did.

TESTIcle - matriMONIAL !!!

I guess now everyone understands the concept behind this post. Hence I conclude that the best testimonial for Mr.X , or the most genuine one would be a Matrimonial written by his testicles on his behalf.

Kudos to all those who pioneered the language, and left such subtle hints for us to realize. And guys, start asking your best buddies for the matrimonial.

And more of it...

Realizations Realizations and more Realizations... That is all we are here for.

And now that you have realized that, you have just made your first step ahead.

Oh what a profound realization...

SCOOP!

Ever wondered how successful is India as a democracy?
Why did the partition issue even arise?
Was Hindi actually supposed to be our National Language?
Tashkent treaty - who was playing around?
Did Shastri die a natural death?
How bitter can the quest for power get?
Should Indira Gandhi be remembered for her guts or her whim?
Bhutto - assassinated?
How have the incidents since independence changed the fortune of this country?

This is not an ad, but a sincere suggestion to all to read the book 'SCOOP!' by Kuldip Nayar. The inside stories from the all time leading journalist of the sub - continent. The author describes his first hand experiences and the inside stories of various events since our independence. A brilliant read that gives a great insight into the Indian politics.

Check this for more insight...

I miss Naruto

There are times when one gets into doing something and before he realizes it he is not able to get out of it. I am, in a very concrete sense, speaking of addiction. All addictions are invariably resource consuming and very few of them actually are beneficial. The addict loses the capacity to decide whether the addiction is beneficial or not and eventually gets into a loop where in he lives under an illusion most of the times that the addiction is beneficial in some big way and tries to justify the addiction. I was addicted to watching Naruto, and I am glad I was.

Anyways, not deviating from my subject, let me get down to expressing my heart felt feelings about one of my favourite anime series. I started watching Naruto in the later period of the 4th semester. It was a big wave and quite a few guys I knew were addicted to it and gave me serious recommendations. I happened to watch the initial episodes out of curioisity and then there was no stopping. Quite a few people I know hate Naruto. There are quite a few reasons I love the series, the characters (of course, behaving like super humans), the well drafted comedy in it and of course, how can I forget the story line.

The main character, Uzumaki Naruto supposedly has a fox with 9 tails locked inside him which gives him immense potential and it is left to him to learn and exploit the power that lies within him. The power kept aside, what inspires me is the 'never give up' attitude that he has. Though almost everything depicted in the series is humanly impossible, still one can appreciate the message that the character tries to communicate to the viewers. In fact, there were quite a few instances when I could feel the goosebumps on my skin while watching Naruto. I mean, it takes a lot for an Anime series to make me feel so intensely for it. Or maybe it is the case with me. Actually, if I look back, I seem to have derived more out of animations, cartoon, and Anime when compared to series and movies involving human beings. Maybe I too fall into the category of weirdos, as people out here are generally labelled rightly.

Characters I admire most in the series, in order are:

1. Gaara
His silence and sheer power do the talking.
God. Period.


2. Naruto
Does all the talking. ''Never give up'' attitude and his Sexy skill (Orioke no jutsu (sexy no jutsu)) steal the show. :)


3. Kakashi
Agility and his perverted book (;)) are what impressed me the most.

4. Itachi
Someone who treats everyone else as non essential.

5. Shikamaru
I just fell in love with his lines: ''Too much trouble'' and ''I give uppp!!!''

6. Orochimaru
Wickedness personified. I worship him.

7. Sasuke
Wannabe, a child prodigy, and a smart boy.

8. Rock Lee
I wish I had the will to work as hard as him. I so wish... But then it is too much trouble you see. ;)

9. Haku
Love your saviour like there is no one else, whether he is right or wrong.

10. Konohamaru
Hokage's grandson, great fun!

I miss the series. It was great fun watching it and it was a source of inspiration amidst all the things around me. I am eager to get back after the vacation and watch a few selected episodes all over again. I seriously recommend the series to all, who are looking for a good time and a great way to learn a few values.

@Paapi and Victor: I throw you guys an open invitation to come over to watch a few episodes again.