That is me...relaxing away to glory, free from the cares of life and with a sip of pure pineapple juice (probably with a little preservatives as well!). What you cannot see is a plate of Chilli Chicken and Fried Prawns. The only regret is that I missed out on Sehwag blazing away to his triple ton. :-(
More pictures to follow soon, need to reduce the size for the uploading.
The picture below is next to a small pond on the Majorda Beach. Yeah, it is not sea, but a pond.
Blogging is such an adiction that, the first thing I do after getting back from Goa is some of the same. I shall obviously post my Goa experience in the posts to come, but before that, there is tag to execute, sent by Rahul.
Rahul's tags rules read "The rules read--- Post 5 links to 5 of your previously written posts. The posts have to relate to the 5 keywords given (family, friends, yourself, your love, and anything you like). Tag 5 other friends to do the same. Try to tag at least 2 new acquaintances (if not, your current blog buddies will do) so that you get to know them each a little bit better."
Here goes:
Something about me: My Back to the Wall - A Poem
Slippery Soaps and k Soaps: K-Soaps
Favourite Movie: Sivaji??
Happy me: Friend's engagement
Delhi...oh Delhi! : And they say Mumbai's bad!
It kind of became difficult for me to choose amongst 210 odd posts, so chose the first five that I saw. Will tag further soon, now need to catch up on my much vaunted sleep.
Sehwag and the rest of the Indian inning beckons.
So, after the book, comes the movie. A movie that goes by the name of 'Premonition'. And when you want to watch such a movie alone, at 1 a.m. in the night, then you better be ready to feel goosebumps, while and after the movie.
As I still am.
It is a spooky movie alrite, and that is an understatement. Without really getting into the exact storyline, it is about a lady who experiences her days in a haphazard order. So, a Thurday is followed by a Monday and so on.
The problem with this is that there are days she already knows what is going to happen, where as there are some days, which everyone else around her knows what happened, but she does not. Simply because she has not experienced that day in her life.
So, while other people's life goes Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.....Sunday, hers goes in some arbit fashion. So, while the rest are experiencing a Tuesday after having experienced a Monday, she would be - for example - experiencing Tuesday, after having experienced a Thursday. So while she knows what is going to happen next and the rest do not, she does not know what happened on Monday and that surprises people.
The end, like my previous book, was a little out of place, but then, the movie does its job of delivering what it is supposed to. And it is a quick paced movie.
Sandra Bullock is the actress, and she, according to me, has taken to the role like a duck to water. The younger daughter of Bullock is exteremely cute.
This movie is for those who like to spook themselves by watching such stuff. Back home, there was a point in time when the Hindi serial, Aahat, was not a horror show, but a combination of chilling episodes of the culmination of coincidences and surprises. For those, who cannot watch the movie, for obvious reasons, you can get the whole story - from start to finish - on Wikipedia.
Just search for 'Premonition' the movie.
So the much vaunted party in town, at Enigma, and I give it a miss. They say farewell parties do not come back. I say bullshit.
Anyways, my reason were totally different. In fact there was a huge, long list, the most straightforward of 'em all was that I had yet to recover from the bout of my dehydration. The rest of 'em are not worth mentioning. Unfortunately, the two plans for Friday, that I was looking forward to, get cancelled as well.
So, now it is on to the Saturday for its plan to work. A nice little dinner at some place in South Mumbai. Simply because a walk by Marine Drive is a must after the dinner. The sore throat may prohibit the 'malai vanilla with mango pieces' at Naturals' but will scoop a teaspoon or two when no-one's looking.
The last two days have been spent in reading up a Steve Martini book - even I had not heard of this author before I randomly pulled this one out - called Double Tap. Good book, but a little abrupt end. Builts up really well, but ends when one would have wanted it to show some more twists and turns. It has been some time since I read a fiction - a non cricket related one - and hence the experience was satisfying. Planning to get a couple more before they give me my degree certificate and throw me out of the college, and lock me up from the huge college library.
Which brings me to a little deviation. There is always a thin line between being an eternal optimist and acting like a pure idiot. Coincidentally, I have been fortunate to hold conversations with either varieties. I have known both for some time now, and the difference between the two is simple, the optimist, apart from being an optimist, has a backup plan for his plan A, lest plan A fails. But he does not lose his optimism with Plan A. The problem with the idiot is that only does he not have a backup, but he also thinks that his plan A can NEVER go wrong, and is totally optimistic about this fact.
Unfortunately, plans also follow Murphy's law of going wrong whenever it has to go wrong. And that is when the difference between the above two varieties of people becomes more apparent.
There is a third variety of people, whom I have already spoken about in some previous posts, but to make a mention of the same, who never think they can ever be wrong. Even after Plans A, B, C...have acted fruitless.
I frankly have no name for such people, and prefer to leave the people alone, in their own well. Frogs are ugly, as it is.
The excitement of going to Goa can only be matched by one other thing. The announcement of the dates for viva, a date which could have modified or 'deleted' the plans altogether!
So for now, unless the date for the exam shifts for some inexplicable reason, Goa is on.
In the meantime, with the rest of the stuff meeting its rightful end, the seminars, workshops and exams, the last couple of days have been spent in conjuring up a couple of articles for the magazine I write for. And now the next one is going to be for the website. Friday may be dedicated for the trek, Saturday for a nightout with friends, followed by the viva and Goa.
Tough hectic week ahead eh!
The other day I get an sms from an unknown number.
"Wasssssssup Suneer?"
"Assi doing fine jee, but tu kone?"
"Rishtey may toh hum tumhaare baap, naam hai XYZ"
That is so much like him. Arbit, random phone calls, smses or e-mails. And once you reply to 'em, no more responses! This exchange of volleys has been happening for the past five years now, so, any random messages can mean only one thing. XYZ is back in town.
XYZ has another story attached to him. Final year BE. The guy gets a final call from one of the IIMs, and the joining date is June end. His final semester vivas are not done. Requests the prinicipal to advance 'em. Principal refuses. The guy does not join the IIM.
Then comes the next year. Fills up the CAT form again. Disappears out of the country a week before the exam to Canada. Does not take the test. And that is the year when the CAT papers leak. There is a re-exam held in February. Our man comes back like Rajnikanth does in many of his movies after taking a bullet on his chest. Takes the CAT. Passes with flying colours.
Gets through to IIML! Some people!
All submissions done. Khallas. Feeneees.
Or as I love saying, that is the end of that!
So, as some know, I have been lying low for the past three days or so. It began with the back, and by the time my back was back to functioning normally, I realised that it had camouflaged one bigger illness. Dehydration. Caused due to the Mumbai heat, that has begun to make its presence felt, as it always does when people like me began to enjoy the so-called Mumbai winter; like a wife so jealous of her husband's cricket watching habits. Or whatever else.
So, the last two days have been spent in overcoming this dehydration problem. Amidst all of that the obvious villain has been college, which I have had to visit on four of the last five days. Which is 80% more than what my attendance was over the last two months. Add to that, today's excursions from Mahim to Parle, to Mahim, to Bandra and then back to Mahim, with a strong possibility of a Shivaji Park next up in the evening, and it just could mean more recovery time needed for me.
But the day was good. End of submissions was obviously a huge plus, and apart from that, I met up with two different entities, one by design, the other, as it so often happens in a place like Bandra. You end up bumping into people you very well know. That is what precisely happened.
The first set of friends I met were from Pagalguy, met one of them for the first time, and it was a nice little discussion on - what else - but cricket. But even before the three of us met, I managed to bump into a very old acquiantance of mine, after a gap of almost four years. She was a college junior, and belonged to the category 'f' of this. Anyways, that was for a very short period of about a month or so and then, moved onto next.
We have been in touch after that through the usual social networking sites, but, thats about it. Never met. And so, it was good to see her, and even better to hear that she had become a professor in our former college - TSEC - she looks and acts like one anyways. Incidentally, she was with her better half - or probably to complicate it a little, she was with someone, for whom she was the better half - and again, made for a nice viewing! The coincidence was that it was her birthday today, and this I remembered when I saw a bouquet in her hand. I also remembered that I had wished her on her birthday, five years back, never before or after that.
Nostalgia had stuck. As it has this habit of striking at places and times one least expects it to. I could see my college - TSEC, which is in Bandra too - sticking out its face in the background. The memories flashed through my mind like a Brett Lee delivery does past a hapless batsman. Today was my last submission at my current college, some years back, there was a day when I had had a final submission for this college too.
Time had flown. It had began like a river waves rustling down it's course, slowly and steadily, then meeting the ocean and then acquiring the pace and fervour to leave the river behind.
That had been the end of that.
Nostalgia is a good thing sometime.
P.S. Incidentally, I realised that I have completed 200 posts on this Blog. This is the 202nd one. Did not expect me to be that regular when I first started!
Under normal circumstances, there are a couple of things that may just have bothered me enough to be called irritations of life. But thanks to the hectic schedule of the previous week, and the fact that it may just get a little more hectic in the next few days, has helped in pulling the mind away from the issue.
It is not as if the issue has been swept under the carpet, in fact, it is quite contrary. I have faced it head on, and that has obviously led me to become a little fuzzy headed. The good news obviously is that there are just too many activities left to be done, which mean that more than 90% of my 'thinking time' is diverted from the so-called predicament.
Anyways, moving on, the Goa plan looks in jeopardy, due to some unreasonable viva that has been suddenly announced by the college for a project submission during the same set of days. The whole batch seems to be in no mood to budge, and there is a smell of revolt in the air. This one is going to be interesting, how it pans out.
And then there was a small incident to end this one. A close friend of mine, had a bad throat overnight. She had one teaspoon too many of Benadryl, and the results were startling. The lady, who usually wakes up by 10 in the morning, ended up sleeping till 1.30 p.m. If this was not enough, her cell phone ringer was turned to a mode that one usually expects morally upright citizens to turn to in a movie hall. Silent.
So many missed calls and smses later, it was a bout of tension for a lot of the people around her, when she finally did call, her first question was, "Suneer, what is the time?" Dear, I should be the one who should have been asking this one, what on earth is the time buddy! One frikking thirty! And it was just a bottle of benadryl, not six and a half shots of tequila that we are talking about! Some people....!
Some day it was.
Played cricket today. The cricket I used to play as a 16 year old.
The cricket was brash and rash at the same time, with no regards to the fact that the body has changed over a period of years.
The result was not totally unexpected, but it probably was not seen coming. The bone on the left side of my lower back strained. Now, because I am no physiotherapist, I may have even used the word 'pull', unfortunately, bones do not get pulled. They either break, or strain. My bone's definitely not broken. But it is much more than a normal strain.
I cannot walk without a limp. I can certainly not climb stairs. And...I can definitely not play more cricket, till I sleep on this one, and gauge it tomorrow. It hurts...not the pain...but the thought of my plans going for a toss. Funny, that this happened in the first fifteen minutes of the game, I continued for another 90 minutes but the effect's showing up only now.
To overcome the pain, managed to catch the episode of Roadies, interpersed between the ICL T20 match. Unfortunately, both the programs did not manage to ignite the any kind of balm, for me to feel distracted. Blogging does help obviously, but only so much.
It is going to be an early sack hitting for me tonite.
There is only one way I can describe myself currently.
Exhausted. Bone tired. Sleep hungry. And so on.
Alrite, that was more than one way. Happens all the time.
So, the sleep yesterday night, deserted me like Tendulkar usually does in the finals of major tournaments. And by the time, it did come to me, it was my turn to shoo it away. Time to wake up.
I have almost been out of touch with sitting through boring 90 minute lectures for almost three months now, and when I realised that today was going to be one of the two days, when I had sit through 8 hours of classroom training, my reaction was anything but pleasant. The training was quite a surprise though. While I cannot really say that the eight hours passed like a jiffy, they were certainly not boring, as one would have expected.
Full credit to the trainer - who incidentally will continue the same tomorrow - and to some of the wisecracks that all of us manage to find at the right time ensuring continuing smiles, giggles, laughters and even uproars sometime.
But by the time the class ended, it was a sense of relief to most of us, especially to me. Because that meant I could get one half of my submission done, and then rush away to a close friend's reception.
Now, this is a second marriage, in six months, of a close enough friend I have been to, wherein I have been the only person from that particular group of his/her. So, it has been quite a something to be sitting alone, observing (I shall avoid the use of the word 'checking out' because of the negative connotations associated with it) all the people in the party, for at least a couple of hours, and waiting for the white aproned guy with a snackky dish on him to understand that I aint no gate crasher, and offer me something. But it is some experience.
Today it could just have gone one step further. I had to get to the hotel directly from the college, and that meant that, not only my shoulders carried a laptop weighing more than 6 pounds, but also a gift that amassed another four. Now, with no disrespect to "who cares about the world" attitude, it just doesn't look too nice to wear a laptop bag - which looks no less than a trekking one - and get onto the stage and greet the couple. My personal opinion is that it is a strict no-no.
So the only other option I had was to keep the bag somewhere before I could meet the couple. And unfortunately, with a laptop inside it, nonbody - absolutely nobody - was ready to take any responsibility for it. Sigh. It was only after repeated assurances and pleadings that the bar tender looked at me in sympathy and said something to the effect of, "You owe me a drink for this one dood."
And I thought he was the barman.
This friend M, and me have been together since my days at Mastek. And the common thread that linked us together was our Java skills. Or the lack of them anyways. So our trainer, who was another M - lets name him an M2 - would ensure that we got our daily dose of lesson, both, in the literal and figurative sense of the word. I remember this one conversation with M2, that went like this. The words in the brackets are lines that were left unsaid by us.
M2: You know nothing of Java. (Why are you even alive. Or in this company anyways)
S: Sorry M2, you know my background was not exactly computers, so.... (and you smart assed trainer, why don't you meet me in the ring - a la Hayden ishhtyle - or better still on a cricket ground?)
M2: Are you married? (like I care, whether you are married or a piece of depressed s***)
S: No M2, obviously not. (You idiot, I am all of 21, just graduated, getting screwed by you and your Java, and you ask me personal questions. )
M2: Then why don't you stay in office for a longer time? (Didn't your mamma tell you that hard work only pays off in the long run)
S: But M2, I went home at 730 yesterday, and 8 on the day before that. (And unlike you, I have a life beyond this office.)
M2: I think I will have to make a time table for you.
S: Huh? (Next you will tell me you would want to feed me milk in a bottle. Who do you think you are, a railway master? Time bloody table)
M2: Yeah, you got me right. Time table. So, temme what time do you come to office generally? (ab bajaata hoon teri band)
S: 9.30 am. Just like everyone else. (I should have done my MBA. Or MS. Or probably even MBBS.)
M2: Yeah, so now listen me out. Come at 930, attend the entire training, and try to code yourself. Once people leave by 6, you can take your break (and say thanks for allowing you to take it), and then restart coding by 615, work till dinner time in office which is 830, revising what has been taught before.
S: Ok, and then leave for home? (Now, he will soon tell me to cross my hands and put fingers on my lips. I just told him I am 21, he seems to have forgotten the 2)
M2: You kidding? (I told you he acts like a kid sometimes. I really wish I had a bottle of milk that I would have thrust in his mouth). Post dinner, take up the exercise discussed and finish it off till before the gates of SEEPZ close - which happened at midnight then - and leave for home.
S:.................... (I am obliged towards you, you actually allowing me to go home that early. Thank you from the bottom of my heart)
M2: Yeah, and then next day, to revise all that, you can try coming to office a little earlier as well. (You better come early or else....)
S: Would 9 do? (I am not coming before noon, fuhhhget nine)
M2: I was thinking more on the lines of 7. But 730 should be fine.
S: (I really wish I was married, at least I would not have got to hear this)
M2: See, I dont think it is too difficult, I am married and I follow this schedule, why can't you?
S: (If only one murder was forgiven in this land, just one. Please.)
That was the end of that. A real life conversation. Luckily I didnt survive that training for a long time, before I was thrown into a project. And didnt meet M2 for another 2 years. M1 - the guy who got married today - has equally fond memories of M2, and hopefully would pen them down sometime.
But before I left the training, there was a mandatory 360 degree feedback session with him, in which I had to give him a feedback. That, was another story. Probably for some other time.
The next four days are going to be full of action *groan*, something I could do without. Especially after a 'honeymoon' period of two LONG months. Now, this is replaced by two equally long DAYS of some workshops. Why. I need a break.
Spoke to an old friend of mine as well, S, after almost four years and it was good. Not that we were too close earlier, but, it always feels good to catch up. SO, had a nice little conversation with the friend, and though I wish hard that I could talk about a couple of goofups, I can't :-(
But even before that, I had a friend over from Pune, who had stopped at Mumbai enroute Delhi. It was an almost six hour stopover, and again, was good fun, meeting and discussing some hard core cricket - with due respects to many others - chomping away to a Smokin' Joes pizza, a Chicken Meat Feast. Divine.
If I am not too off the mark, Smokin' Joes does not have too many outlets through out the country, in fact, Mumbai and Pune seen to be its only cities. And as I just check it, SJ has grown to have 52 outlets now, through the country, that includes about 10 cities. The point here been that I have grown up to enjoy it so much that I cannot think of a Domino's or anything other than SJ. I mean, Pizza Hut is nice when you want to have a nice, peaceful time there, and enjoy the ambience as well. But for home delivery, I have not been able to overcome SJ. And very frankly, Domino's messes up its pizzas with a bad powdery, crust, so much so that after having one, the feeling my fingers give me is that I have just had a badly prepared tava roti!
And now, sigh, back to the project. Yawn. Groan. And all those words....you know.
It was a day of high adrenaline rush. Went to college after nearly forty days and met up with some guys. Relived some cobra jokes, the best of which was this one...
A: You done with your project report
B: Yeah, I had submitted the Project Title on time, and now I am gonna submit the Project Report in time as well. I am not gonna lose marks for late submission
A: You seem to have come under the influence of the CPI and CPM Parties, you have become a Marxist...started thinking of Marks!
Out of the ground. No chance for any fielder to catch that one!
This was followed by the Quiz that I hosted, and this time, it was my chance to laugh myself pink. Some silly question, I just could not stop laughing in front of an audience of fifty people.
Everyone waits patiently. Seconds passed and became minutes, but I never stop. Three minutes later, I - remember I am still the quizmaster - am shaken out of my reverie. Yeah, that was a fit of laughter at the most inopportune time, uncontrollable, uninhibited laughter. Some quizmaster eh!?
Another plan in the meantime gets hatched, this time, planning to go to a place in Neral. So, if things go as planned this month, it is Neral next week, followed by Goa. Guys, there is a 'Suneer Relief Fund' which I have launched, so kindly pop in a big note or two in it. Need it bad :-)
And o end this piece, I shall repeat what I said to Miss. Lunacy. I had recommended a dish to her, and this was something I used to have a lot when I was alone for a period of two months, away from the family. I had told this to another close friend of mine, N, and she asked me to put it down on the blog and patent it as quickly as possible, before someone copies it (!!??!!)
So here goes, put a slice of cheese between two slices of bread. To add to this, put a couple to three pieces of dairy milk chocolate or chocolate sauce between the slices of bread. Heat it - but be careful not to burn the sauce - and your chocolate n cheese sandwich is ready. But this is not all. Prepare the non-rice-noodle Maggi - the original one - and serve it hot with hot, chilli sauce, and have it with the choco-cheese sandwich.
Believe you me, it is yum! Take my word and try it once!
I have been tagged again, this time by Veenz...!
The title of the tag was supposed to be seven random things about me, which was then modified to seven weird things about oneself by Veenz.
Assuming that theres hardly anything left to be spoken about me, I will stick to the previous one, random things...and if they turn out to be weird, so be it. Its like "Do Shikaari ek Shikaar karte hain." :-P
1. There was a point in time, when my voice sounded exactly like my dad's. People couldn't distinguish, not only our hellos, but also our conversations. To give you a parallel analogy, it was like meeting a set Siamese of twins for the first time and not know whom you are talking, Appoo or Pappoo. A very close friend of mine called me up, and wanted me to help her get her talking to a guy. Unfortunately, my dad picked up, and for fifteen minutes, all my dad did was to explain her that it was not Suneer who is on line but his dad. She thought I was playing a prank, as I usually did then, and kept saying, "Suneer, shut up, eough is enough, I wanted to talk about that guy...." And my dad kept saying, "Suneer's not at home...." This was almost eleven years ago, and she still goes pink in embarassment when my dad reminds her of that incident. Fortunately, there have been many others who have borne the brunt.
2. The last time I cried on seeing the Indian cricket team lose was when I was in Vth, when India lost a Test to South Africa. I went on to think that my life has so many problems, studies, crushes and watching India lose.
I don't know why.
3. When I was in VIIIth, I was, what our school called it then, a Member of Parliament. I think it would be an equivalent of a Head Boy or something. They - rest of the students - said, I was pretty strict and a disciplinarian, and complained to the class prof. I resigned after that in huff. Typically political naah!?
4. I needed to go to my friend's house once. His colony was huge, and instead of going to his block - which was G - I entered the F block. As luck would have it, the name plate in that block had an entry against my friend's name. Without thinking twice, I rung the bell. The door was opened by people I did not recognise.
"Err, aunty is S at home?"
Now, remember, S is my friend's name, and by sheer coincidence, S was also this house owner's name.
"Naah beta, S has gone to work."
WORK??? S has started working? We are all in our second year of graduation, and this guy has already started working without telling us. I break myself out of my reverie.
"Working aunty? Where?" Remember, I am standing in front of an unknown person, and I have just asked, where does her son work. Awesome.
"Same place he has been working for the last four years." A totally confused lady in front of me. I am even more so.
I realised something was fishy. I ask again, "Aunty is this SK's house?" I use the surname this time.
She looks at me, yes, it is SK's house. Yeah, so there were two SKs in that colony. It took another couple of minutes for this to hit me.
"Ok aunty. Sorry, I think I am looking at a very thin looking student by the name of SK."
"Aah, I think you should try the next block then."
Little did I realise that the name on the name plate, should not have been my friend's, but his parents'. My friends were is splits later, but till date think I was kidding about the incident. I am not!
5. It usually takes a lot for people to get me to swear at 'em.
6. I am generally a strong believer in the maxim, "To each, his/her own."
7. A month or two before my XIIth Boards, I had adjusted my study time table around the Indian cricket team's trip to New Zealand, where the matches would begun at 3 a.m. IST. By the end of tour, my body clock was so badly messed up, that I thought I am going to end up screwing my Board examinations.
Done Veenajee!
Took me some time thinking of all these incidents. It was like cleaning my cobwebs away! Now I shall soon tag some others.
This one is for the people who know that Hockey is - apparently - our National Sport.
Switched on the news today, and there was a half hour special dedicated to hockey, the aftermath of India's ouster from the Olympic qualifier, without qualifying for the Olympics for the first time in eighty years.
The funny part came in the form of the ticker headlines that came next:
First to come,
Indian coach Joaquim Carvalho resigns from the job because he feels that....blah blah....blah.
Next one that came was,
Vice President of the Hockey Federation, some Mr. Batra also resigns, as he thinks that....more blah....
The last one takes the cake,
KPS Gill won't quit, just like he hasn't been quitting over the last fourteen years. Indian Hockey is not instant coffee that you start winning overnight.
I think he also said, it's only after losing that one starts winning. Err...touch of Shahrukh Khan here....haar ke jeetne waaley ko Baazigar kehete hain.
Unfortunately for KPS Gill, SRK had three hours to lose race, win heart, dance around the trees with big, fat specs and Shilpa Shetty and Kajol, kill Madan Chopra, laugh incessantly and himself die.
KPS has had fourteen....years to do a lot less. He's only managed to screw, the Indian Hockey. And the man still has the audacity to say, "There is no question of quitting, I shall answer when the time is right."
Huh? You mean after India fails to qualify for the next Asian Games as well? Come on, give us all a break KPS, get out of that seat and blood a new guy to replace you. It is a plea from someone who does not watch any other sport except cricket.
I want to start enjoying our National Sport too, KPS. Please allow me to.
Please KPS (in the style of that small daughter who begs her father for drawing, in the Airtel Ad.) Show us the stars KPS.
DLF IPL has a new advertisement jingle, on the lines of it not being a Desh Yuddh or Dharm Yuddh, but a Karma Yuddh.
The jingle's good, but as most of the cricket fans would agree, the video is even better. It is awesome infact, only second to an all time favourite jingle, "The Final Countdown" - of the Europe fame, for a programme on the precursor to the 1996 World Cup.
Here is the link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGr79rRIfb0
Do post your comments on whether you like it or no! For more on each of the IPL teams visit @ http://isport.in/content/category/8/41/57/
Its a long long way to go still. Probably another 70%.
And yeah, today Mumbai play Delhi in the ICL Tournament! For those who may just be interested in supporting their team, do tune into the same, at 1900 hours, Zee Sports or Ten Sports.
Even as I was typing this, I got a mail from the course co-ordinator that there would be no postponement in the dates of submission. Each day late would cost five marks. As I see it, I need a fifty to pass. Assuming that I end up delaying my submission by five days, I would need to get that fifty out of a possible 75. Think I can manage it :-)
The mandatory chocolate break is here. Over the past few months, a serious realization dawned upon me.
Not only do I have a sweeth tooth, but I am a chocolate addict. Now, I dont for a moment claim to be a connoisseur (had to search for its exact spelling!) of chocolates, but I am an addict. Plain, simple addict. I am like a dope addict who does not care too much about what is the brand of drug (are there any, like a Britannia Weed or a Cadbury's Ganja ), not caring whether it is a 'five star' bar or a chunk of 'Mars' - all taste the same to me. Haven't had too many days without a chocolate, first in the fridge, which in turn enters my tummy.
So each time, I feel obligated to have a night out like today - tonite - I have observed that atleast 6 pieces of a Dairy Milk bar disappear down my gullet. The same becomes a potent combination when the fact of laziness and lack of physical labour in the last year or so gets added to the same. A skinny 62 kg guy has suddenly become transformed to 74. Ok, probably it was not that sudden, it took 3-4 years. Yet.
And again, as I type this, half my mind's getting very distracted towards the half a bar of the same waiting to be chomped away.
Which brings me to the reason why I am awake. 13th and 15th of this month are my project submission deadlines. Now, while under normal circumstances, that would have meant that the night out dates would have been scheduled for 12th and 14th respectively, I have run into a problem. As they say, I have axed my foot. (Ouch, I think I 'axed' the English there).
I have stepped my foot onto an axe. Or whatever. When the topic for this final project had to be chosen, I could opt for only a marketing one. Because I have majored in it. I almost squabbled with my course co-ordinator to get the darned rule changed. So that I could take something in Operations! Holy thundering bovine typhoons!
So, as the things currently stand, I am trying my level best to get data on "Use of IT in Transportation Planning and Vehicle Scheduling", which is NOT too simple a task (If you do get something more than what wiki gives me, please mail it across, ehsaan zindagi bhar and all nahi bhooloonga). And till date, I never understood the rationale behind me choosing a topic like this, especially when a marketing topic like "promotion and sales of a sports website" could have very easily been taken and executed by me.
Sigh. Some questions, they say, are best left unanswered. And they also say, as you sow, so shall you reap. I have absolutely no clue about what and why am I reaping whatever I am currently. I dont even know whether I am reaping anything out of it. Don't forget to mail if you could help.
This is an appeal. Anyone up there?
It had been over an year since I picked up a bat, and almost three to four since I actually played for a stretch of time. In fact, the last I remember was during the 2003 World Cup, where after watching the first inning on the telly, I would make my way to the ground, smash a few myelf, and then hurry back to catch the second inning.
It was awesome.
Today was one such day. Played for an hour. Broke nothing, no window panes or bones - self or otherwise. But the body is sore to the core. That actually sounded funny. Sore to the core. Anyways, and right now, even as I type this, the left hand - which is the top hand while batting for right handed batsmen like me - is still a little shaky. To give a parallel analogy, if you star gymming all of a sudden, the first day, you would find that there is a bit of shakiness that may affect your movements. Almost similar is the case with me.
Now, it back to the project. A Long and winding one. Luckily one of the last ones for this college.
Long long night ahead.
Goa tickets booked. Sadly, it also reminded me of my precious camera.
And the even more precious pictures. All gone into thin air. Disappeared. Vanished. A minute it was there, the next, it was gone. Like swooooosh. :-(
And unfortunately, with the kind of balance that my bank accounts show, I would be lucky to survive the next couple of months till the incoming exceeds the outgoing. Into the bank that is. So no more 'Alpha Shopping' for me.
In all probabilities, this may just be a photoless trip.
The life's returning back to college. Yeah, it is, I can sense it. I can feel it.
I can smell it.
The gtalk messenger is buzzing with a lot more people than it was, in the last few days. There are more regular updates on Orkuts. Especially in the album section. Post-placement excursions have made this section for an interesting viewing. And yeah, I have been remembered by a couple of them as well.
Well.
How things change, same time last year, I was going through one of my worst phases of life. This blog would have had direct and indirect references to the same. To put it mildly, I was struggling. I needed someone, or probably something that would act as a trigger to stabilise things. The free fall was worse than ones witnessed by the Indian stock markets. Some 'apparently' reliable people had left - me high and dry if I could add - and expecting too much out of the rest was akin to expecting Sidhu to shut his trap in a debate competition.
The abyss almost seemed never ending, when I got my first trigger. Oh well, the tipping point had to be an atrocious one, which got me thinking. The hard facts that I had been pushing under the carpet for so long had to be tackled with. In the toughest possible manner. Tried. Failed. Tried again. Got a little success. Felt better.
Though I had taken such decisions earlier too, this was going to be different. Much much different. And it proved to be, as well. Much later did I realise that the decision taking was the easier part, the not-so-easy one came later. But I am glad that it petered out the way it did.
With a couple of issues resolved, a blog to boot - and I repeat, one of the most thereuptic entities it is, this blogging - the last straw that...err...mended the camel's back was a phone call.
A: Hello Suneer...
S: Hello
A: Would you.....
S: Why not. Obviously.
A: Cool. Talk to you later.
That was that. Some find their solace in alcohol, I had found it in something I love the most, cricket.
Progress was slow, but it was steady. The rocky terrains were definitely encountered on the way, but then, it was just a short journey left. I knew I could do it.
August came and went, so did a couple of months more. Encountered a couple of huge surprises, in the form of an e-mail that was I was expcting for the last three years and my final placement. And today, it has all turned around.
The last three months have flown...literally. The Chandigarh trip was as it could only be - awesome - and in the meantime, loads of other stuff began to fall into places. Today, as the things stand, I do not for a moment believe that something like what happened this time last year, actually happened to me.
But, I won't forget it. Lessons like these are better learnt sooner than later, and hopefully I have learnt mine.
Another week or so, and I should be done with the college jazz.
Game, set...and a total mismatch.
Another tag. And something tells me that by the time I would have been done with this one, people would know more about me than all previous 170 odd posts. Thanks to Miss. Lunacy :-)
Ten Things You Wish You Could Say To People Right Now (but cant/dont)
1. You are easily the most selfish and egoistic person I have met in all my years of existence. Easily. Sometimes, try thinking from others' point of view as well.
2. Please don't show your patriotism off by unleashing your unlawful activities. That so sounded like my 4th standard PT prof.
3. Please stop selling cars in this city. They suck (a lot of petrol and spit it out in the form of smoke!)
4. You are an idiot. Period. (there are three in my list currently)
5. Come on, don't do your MBA this year!
6. Will you marry me, like, right now?
7. You may not be a monkey, but you deserve every bit of the abuse that got hurled on you. You filthy giraffe (for want of being politically correct)
8. You worry too much and unnecessarily, mai hoon na, dont worry too much.
9. I miss you.
10. Stop smoking dude. Atleast on my face.
Nine Unknown Things About me:
Barely anything, but I will still try and invent something.
1. I hate soccer from the bottom of my heart.
2. I still cant help thinking what would have been had mum allowed me to continue playing cricket.
3. I am mortally scared of smelling the pathalogy labs in which they suck out blood. They = injections
4. As a six year old, I used to dislike cameras. For people who know me now, mai sach bol raha hoon, 'god promise'!
5. I am a bathroom dancer. No comments please.
6. I considered myself to be a techie, took my GRE, wanted to do my MS in Electronics when lightening stuck. And I did my MBA
7. I once took a 44 hour to and from Bangalore journey, just to meet a friend for a period of 30 hours.
8. I was only seven when I had my first crush, and it was NOT on a school teacher.
9. Unfortunately I think Sachin Tendulkar gets hyped up a little too much.
Eight Ways To Win Your Heart:
Eight??? I aint that demanding, one or two would be more than enough!!!
Be yourself, be genuine, dont be selfish (dont remember me only when you need me) and I am won over!
Seven Things That Cross Your Mind A Lot
1. I had a lot more fun as a fifteen year old kid than now. I would be having more fun now than what I would as a 40 year old.
2. Why did a couple of 'em behave in the way they did?
3. I am darned lucky. Very very lucky, and I hope to remember that always.
4. I should start exercising. And soon!
5. Agar cricket nahi hota toh...would I still be passionate about something?
6. How would I react if I won a lottery worth crore?
7. Whatever happened to Giant Robot of the Doordarshan fame? Click here to know which one I am referring. Rumor had it that he left for heavenly abode whilst trying to save the planet. Is it? Someone let me know.
Six Things You Regret:
None. Just think of what might have been had I played cricket more seriously.
Five Turn-offs
1. Some people remembering you at the time of distress, and then vanish into thin air like they and their distresses never existed. Cannot be more turning off. (almost typed 'turn offing' there!)
2. Jingoism and fanatism (for people, caste, creed, religion, gender etc). Far too many people belong to this list.
3. Commuting.
4. Frogs in wells. Ah well, this may need an explanation, these are those people who are typically those frogs in the well, for whom the worlds just that small place, they live ONLY for themselves - unmindful of what the people around think of situations and things. I know it is a little difficult to explain, but well I ain't no poet!
5. Rakhee Sawant. Did you just ask me why?
Four Turn-ons:
1. Humbleness. It really works with me.
2. Long hair (two points here, one, this is only for ladies, and two, I think my timing is a bit awry, given that someone's just had a haircut. Chorry.)
3. Openness, and honesty while conversing. Really appreciated.
4. Cool temper.
Three Things You Want To Do Before You Die:
1. I want to commentate for a period of at least two-three years on cricket matches and get paid for it. Alternatively, if this is too far fetched, watch a match at MCG, Lords and Eden Gardens.
2. Tell some people how much I love them. I dont know when. How. But I know I have to.
3. Be able to drive from my house to New Bombay in twenty minutes.
There are a lot more, can I like exchange this with the "things to win my heart", I wrote only two points there!!!
Two Smileys that Describe You:
:-) & ;-)
One Confession: I was a nerdy geek till I was in my first year of Engineering. Studies happened on the same day as the chapters got taught. My fall from grace - boley toh less marks - happened when I stopped being one. I also realised that this coincided with me becoming very lazy. Which was attributed to my shirfting away from the house near which they played lot of cricket. So, indirectly, I lost my nerdiness because I shifted to a house 100 meters away.
They always said I am a logical person. Pathetic logic.
One would have thought that with the course almost completed, availability of time would be at its peak. The posts would flow like the runs flowing through Sachin Tendulkar's bat. Or the controversies from Rakhee Sawant's stable.
One would have thought wrong.
I have been buried in anything and everything that holds any relation with iSport. So it could be marketing, promotion, recruitment, operations or sometimes even finances.
Irony is, I am an IT guy, who is soon going to join an IT firm, in an IT profile. But I aint handling anything related to IT for iSport.
The rest of it may not interest too many people, and for that matter nor will any cricket. But what may just be of a little bearing could be the audio podcasts that we have been recording for the IPL - recording my voice as a so-called 'cricket expert' and puting it up on the website, www.isport.in here. You could click on individual links for every team that is going to play in the IPL, and listen to the podcasts. It sure was a lot of fun talking on something that I can go on and on - like Celine Dion's heart - and to have it on the website was a huge kick as well. By the way, the Celine Dion joke was an ample testimony to how my sense of humor has drooped to unprecedented low. Have not been sleeping too long these days.
Moving on from cricket to something that I have been hearing a lot about MTV Roadies, a reality show on the aforesaid mentioned TV channel. I did manage to catch a couple of episodes and there are some comments I could make on the same. And I will. :-)
1. It is a gripping serial. Makes you want to sit and predict and not change channels.
2. Unfortunately the same holds true for a lot of other serials, the Big Bosses, Indian Idols and like, which are aired under the disguise of the genre of reality TV.
3. Mark the word that I have used is serial, yeah, it looks as stage managed as it could be. Probably not the result - who gets out when - but the rest of it tends to give me a feeling that the sole motive of this programme is TRP. That is a putting off factor.
4. Rannvijay suits the bill in terms of an unbiased, neutral host very well.
5. I don't know the background of Raghu, but he seems to come across as someone who has held sixteen degrees in psychology and specialised in leadership and team management. Unfortunately, it looks a little fake as well.
6. Nikhil hosted the initial studio rounds, or probably, the better word would be 'judged'. He was good till he remained Nikhil, but the problem for me arose when he started aping Raghu.
7. Someone made this comment - so I wont take credit for it - that there are not too many roads in roadies. Which is true. Bhai, agar sirf boot camps dikhaaney hain toh campies jaisa naam soch lo.
In the meantime, loving every moment of life currently. To add to that, a trip to Goa may just be on cards at the end of this month. So, it looks even better.
Snooze time now.
