There is a time and a place for everything.
I won't care to elaborate. The rest is private.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Friday, December 5, 2008
What the hell is smart casuals ??
My company's dress code allows for smart casuals on Fridays.
T shirts allowed but round necks are not.
Casual footwear allowed but sandals and slippers are not.
I'm guessing formal wear with the shirt not tucked in will satisfy all the requirements of smart casuals.
The idea is for people to dress down on Fridays and act more relaxed. Not like your work gets any different 'cos you are wearing jeans.
There are two women in my company who seem to have kinda redefined how this is perceived. Last Friday, they wore sarees. As in, not the casual whatever. The kind of sarees which are bought with specific occasions in mind and worn only when women are assured of the presence of other women. Well, you know how women like to show off what they've bought.
They pretty much got the smart bit correctly and I'm guessing their definition of casual is a little skewed.
They probably had their reasons but I can only write about what I see.
T shirts allowed but round necks are not.
Casual footwear allowed but sandals and slippers are not.
I'm guessing formal wear with the shirt not tucked in will satisfy all the requirements of smart casuals.
The idea is for people to dress down on Fridays and act more relaxed. Not like your work gets any different 'cos you are wearing jeans.
There are two women in my company who seem to have kinda redefined how this is perceived. Last Friday, they wore sarees. As in, not the casual whatever. The kind of sarees which are bought with specific occasions in mind and worn only when women are assured of the presence of other women. Well, you know how women like to show off what they've bought.
They pretty much got the smart bit correctly and I'm guessing their definition of casual is a little skewed.
They probably had their reasons but I can only write about what I see.
Barra Barra by Rashid Taha
This song featured in the movie Black Hawk Down. I loved the movie and I love this song.
I don't know the language. I don't know the lyrics and I don't freakin care.
I don't know the language. I don't know the lyrics and I don't freakin care.
Star Shpongled Banner by Shpongle
Forget the video. Just listen.
This song allows me to take a step back and enjoy the chaos that I have come to call as my life.
This song allows me to take a step back and enjoy the chaos that I have come to call as my life.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Are you an idiot ??
How would you react if someone asked you that question ?
I'm double damned sure the answer is never a yes or a no. Normally, people assume that when other people ask this question to them, they are trying to make a point and the question is purely rhetorical. Most of the time other people are trying to make a point. How about the times other than most of the time.
It only seems rhetorical because people assume that other people will have the courtesy not to say such things to your face. It gives gossiping a bad name and we all know that is not good for anyone.
There are times when you know that question is purely rhetorical. Like for example if someone were to ask you, "Are you an idiot ? What the fuck do you think you are doing?". Here it's obvious.
Just imagine if you actually answer the question when it is intended to be a rhetorical. What will happen ?
Someone comes up to you and says, "Are you an idiot?". You, without any trace of hesitance or doubt, reply "Yes. It takes one to know one" and you walk off. What kind of reaction can you expect ?
I don't know and I'm very curious to find out.
Henceforth, I shall answer all rhetorical questions. Even if the question obviously does not warrant an answer, I will ensure it is answered.
If someone were to ask me, "who do you think you are?" the following could be my potential answer.
"I am human. I am male. I am my father's son. I am old enough to know this question does not deserve an answer. I am old enough to also know why I am answering this question. These are things I know and hence they are not what I think and thus they do not answer your question. The real answer to your question is, I think I am not an idiot which implies that I am nothing like you. I think I am more than even I can begin to imagine. I think I am more than anything you can fathom. I know I am a nice guy and I think I am right. I think that I can think, which clearly sets us apart. I think what I think I am has no relevance to you or what you think I am, ultimately rendering this question completely irrelevant. I know why I bothered to answer your question. Do you know why you really asked me that question?"
I am not saying this will be my answer. I am saying it could be. This should be an interesting experiment.
Damn, I have too much time on my hands. Need a hobby or something.
I'm double damned sure the answer is never a yes or a no. Normally, people assume that when other people ask this question to them, they are trying to make a point and the question is purely rhetorical. Most of the time other people are trying to make a point. How about the times other than most of the time.
It only seems rhetorical because people assume that other people will have the courtesy not to say such things to your face. It gives gossiping a bad name and we all know that is not good for anyone.
There are times when you know that question is purely rhetorical. Like for example if someone were to ask you, "Are you an idiot ? What the fuck do you think you are doing?". Here it's obvious.
Just imagine if you actually answer the question when it is intended to be a rhetorical. What will happen ?
Someone comes up to you and says, "Are you an idiot?". You, without any trace of hesitance or doubt, reply "Yes. It takes one to know one" and you walk off. What kind of reaction can you expect ?
I don't know and I'm very curious to find out.
Henceforth, I shall answer all rhetorical questions. Even if the question obviously does not warrant an answer, I will ensure it is answered.
If someone were to ask me, "who do you think you are?" the following could be my potential answer.
"I am human. I am male. I am my father's son. I am old enough to know this question does not deserve an answer. I am old enough to also know why I am answering this question. These are things I know and hence they are not what I think and thus they do not answer your question. The real answer to your question is, I think I am not an idiot which implies that I am nothing like you. I think I am more than even I can begin to imagine. I think I am more than anything you can fathom. I know I am a nice guy and I think I am right. I think that I can think, which clearly sets us apart. I think what I think I am has no relevance to you or what you think I am, ultimately rendering this question completely irrelevant. I know why I bothered to answer your question. Do you know why you really asked me that question?"
I am not saying this will be my answer. I am saying it could be. This should be an interesting experiment.
Damn, I have too much time on my hands. Need a hobby or something.
Friday, November 21, 2008
When the day fades and the night beckons ....
He felt restless. He knew it was going to be a long day. He was really not looking forward to that day. He wanted the day to gradually fade into oblivion. He did what he had to do albeit with an unmistakable tinge of reluctance. His movements were laboured. Every move, every step, every thought was the result of phenomenal will power.
He only wanted to close his eyes, lie down, listen to his favourite music and let all the random thoughts in his mind run wild.
In his state of apparent delusion, he watched as the day crept past him. He was desperate to free himself from the mind numbing social niceties. Unfortunately, the irrational craving for the overrated idea of social acceptance super ceded all of his primal instincts and he felt himself drowning in the sea of his own gloomy silence.
The end came.
The sun went down.
The music came on.
The day that would inevitably fade into obscurity ceased to exist.
The night was born.
He was no longer restless. He was free.
He felt alive.
He only wanted to close his eyes, lie down, listen to his favourite music and let all the random thoughts in his mind run wild.
In his state of apparent delusion, he watched as the day crept past him. He was desperate to free himself from the mind numbing social niceties. Unfortunately, the irrational craving for the overrated idea of social acceptance super ceded all of his primal instincts and he felt himself drowning in the sea of his own gloomy silence.
The end came.
The sun went down.
The music came on.
The day that would inevitably fade into obscurity ceased to exist.
The night was born.
He was no longer restless. He was free.
He felt alive.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
It's the cool thing to do
If you are boy friend and girl friend and if you are walking on the road, then the boy's arm has to be around the girl. Doesnt matter where, hips, shoulders or wherever, just as long as there is visible physical contact.
Why ?? 'Cos it's the cool thing to do. Everybody is doing it. Hollywood and Bollywood is filled with this kind of body language.
Mind you, I'm not saying it's wrong.
What I'm really trying to say is, a boy should put his arm around a girl if he wants to and if the girl doesnt mind or if the girl also wants him to. Not because of, for lack of a better word, peer pressure.
Recently I saw something which triggered this post. I generally hit the beach in the mornings and on my way back home I saw this guy and girl. The guy had his arm around the girls shoulder. But, what I didn't really understand was the Great Wall of sunshine between the two of them. There was no genuine intimacy. Why bother with the arm bit ?? Obviously one or both of them weren't comfortable with what they were doing. But still, there they were.
It's not cool if you are doing something you don't like to do just 'cos someone else thinks it's cool. It's not sophisticated if all that you are doing is imitating someone else.
Sophistication is not in the way you dress or speak or even act. Its in the way you think. You can copy anyone by mostly just watching them, but you can never really carry it off like the person you are copying.
There is nothing cool about trying to be cool. It's just cool if you never do something you don't want to do. It's way too cool if you do something you dont want to do for the right reasons.
Why ?? 'Cos it's the cool thing to do. Everybody is doing it. Hollywood and Bollywood is filled with this kind of body language.
Mind you, I'm not saying it's wrong.
What I'm really trying to say is, a boy should put his arm around a girl if he wants to and if the girl doesnt mind or if the girl also wants him to. Not because of, for lack of a better word, peer pressure.
Recently I saw something which triggered this post. I generally hit the beach in the mornings and on my way back home I saw this guy and girl. The guy had his arm around the girls shoulder. But, what I didn't really understand was the Great Wall of sunshine between the two of them. There was no genuine intimacy. Why bother with the arm bit ?? Obviously one or both of them weren't comfortable with what they were doing. But still, there they were.
It's not cool if you are doing something you don't like to do just 'cos someone else thinks it's cool. It's not sophisticated if all that you are doing is imitating someone else.
Sophistication is not in the way you dress or speak or even act. Its in the way you think. You can copy anyone by mostly just watching them, but you can never really carry it off like the person you are copying.
There is nothing cool about trying to be cool. It's just cool if you never do something you don't want to do. It's way too cool if you do something you dont want to do for the right reasons.
Friday, October 17, 2008
What happens when you have a fat behind ??
I'll tell you what happens. Don't for one second be tempted to think this is a rhetorical question.
If your office is on the 9th floor and you need to go way way way down to the 8th floor, you wait for the god damn lift.
I've seen this so many times, it really starts to annoy me. I know you don't pay for the lift in office. I know u don't even have to select the floors, after all you have the operator to do it for you. I know it's absolutely free, in every sense of the word. But still, climbing "down" one flight of stairs won't kill you, you know.
The other day, I was in the lift along with one very business unit head and two senior managers from my office. This bunch of kids, five girls, come along with us. All of us were on the 9th floor. Myself and the senior managers were going to the ground floor. The kids were the last to get in - nothing wrong with that. They were loud - nothing really wrong with that too. They selected 8th floor - technically nothing wrong with that too.
The business head saw them press 8 and he didn't say anything. That's because his face said it all. It's the kind of look that makes you want to peel the skin off of your body. For lack of a better word, it was ugly.
It's not only the employees. The problem is with everyone in the building. From the house keeping staff to the caterers, everyone uses the lift for literally everything.
God damn it, use your legs. It won't kill you if your legs get to feel the weight of your body every once in a while. If not anything else, it'll tell you how fat your behinds gotten.
If your office is on the 9th floor and you need to go way way way down to the 8th floor, you wait for the god damn lift.
I've seen this so many times, it really starts to annoy me. I know you don't pay for the lift in office. I know u don't even have to select the floors, after all you have the operator to do it for you. I know it's absolutely free, in every sense of the word. But still, climbing "down" one flight of stairs won't kill you, you know.
The other day, I was in the lift along with one very business unit head and two senior managers from my office. This bunch of kids, five girls, come along with us. All of us were on the 9th floor. Myself and the senior managers were going to the ground floor. The kids were the last to get in - nothing wrong with that. They were loud - nothing really wrong with that too. They selected 8th floor - technically nothing wrong with that too.
The business head saw them press 8 and he didn't say anything. That's because his face said it all. It's the kind of look that makes you want to peel the skin off of your body. For lack of a better word, it was ugly.
It's not only the employees. The problem is with everyone in the building. From the house keeping staff to the caterers, everyone uses the lift for literally everything.
God damn it, use your legs. It won't kill you if your legs get to feel the weight of your body every once in a while. If not anything else, it'll tell you how fat your behinds gotten.
My latest favourite song
Satellite by BT. Without a shadow of doubt, one of BT's better songs.
=============================================
We'd like you to leave immediately.
(next subject...)
We can see the satellite at uh, a distance of about uh, I guess over 15 miles here.
It looked like a star as you looked up.
See here, we have a beautiful view of the earth down below as the satellite departs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She smells of the sun
And shes constantly saying
Thats its all right,
Because lies sound so nice.
And like soil to seed goes
To casting my fears aside...
She says, the satellite is coming.
I pray, the wrecking ball is waining
She says, the satellite is coming.
Its come to take us home.
Satellite...
Still smells of the sun
And the light that brings healing
Is burning my eyes
And the dark seems so nice
And Im choking on blessings that I can receive
I hide.
She says, the satellite is coming.
I pray, wrecking ball is waining.
She says, the satellite is coming.
Its come to take us home.
(repeat out)
=============================================
We'd like you to leave immediately.
(next subject...)
We can see the satellite at uh, a distance of about uh, I guess over 15 miles here.
It looked like a star as you looked up.
See here, we have a beautiful view of the earth down below as the satellite departs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She smells of the sun
And shes constantly saying
Thats its all right,
Because lies sound so nice.
And like soil to seed goes
To casting my fears aside...
She says, the satellite is coming.
I pray, the wrecking ball is waining
She says, the satellite is coming.
Its come to take us home.
Satellite...
Still smells of the sun
And the light that brings healing
Is burning my eyes
And the dark seems so nice
And Im choking on blessings that I can receive
I hide.
She says, the satellite is coming.
I pray, wrecking ball is waining.
She says, the satellite is coming.
Its come to take us home.
(repeat out)
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Power of Boredom
After a nearly two year hiatus, I'm back on Orkut. I had previously deleted my profile and cleared out and now I'm back. I had my reasons for quitting then. At that time, it seemed like a valid reason. Actually, it still does sound very valid. But something more powerful has overcome the validity of my reasoning and now I'm back on Orkut. Ready to be everyone's best friend.
What can I say, never underestimate the power of boredom.
What can I say, never underestimate the power of boredom.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Fear and Greed
What do you think really drives financial markets ?? Man's most primal instincts - Fear and Greed.
I was watching TV the other day and this analyst came up with a very witty explanation for the current financial crisis. It was something like this:
The reason we are in this position now is because of too much greed and too less fear. The reason we are not able to get out of this situation is because of too much of fear and too less of greed.
I think that's very nicely put. There are quite a few who have tried to explore and understand the qualitative aspect of the functioning of financial markets. The social influence that is inevitably brought on my the involvement of humans is undeniable. Try reading "Theory of Reflexivity" by George Soros. The man is a genius, in every sense of the word.
There is a point where rationality is thrown out the window and "sentiments" rule the game. It's not who you are, it's what people think you are. That doesn't stop with people, it true for anything and everything.
Doesn't matter what you think, if Warren Buffet says something markets will plunge or rise. The Finance Minister or the Prime Minister come out with a statement and immediately the market recovers. So what, the fundamentals have all of a sudden changed because some politician has something to say.
How can the Finance Minister say that "investor confidence" has returned ??
How the fuck would he know ??
He hasn't slogged all year long, saved by cutting corners, invested the savings in the stock market and lived to see his life savings be flushed down the god damn toilet.
He has every right to try and convince the world that India is still a hot investment destination. He has every right to say that Indian banks are not in any trouble. He has every right to claim that the Indian economy is insulated from the global recession. Do you see the irony here ?? It's a GLOBAL RECESSION but India is insulated.
He can say whatever he wants about the economy but he has no right to comment on investor confidence.
I can see that I have successfully deviated from where I started. I shall not burden you with my rants any more.
Rest easy.
I was watching TV the other day and this analyst came up with a very witty explanation for the current financial crisis. It was something like this:
The reason we are in this position now is because of too much greed and too less fear. The reason we are not able to get out of this situation is because of too much of fear and too less of greed.
I think that's very nicely put. There are quite a few who have tried to explore and understand the qualitative aspect of the functioning of financial markets. The social influence that is inevitably brought on my the involvement of humans is undeniable. Try reading "Theory of Reflexivity" by George Soros. The man is a genius, in every sense of the word.
There is a point where rationality is thrown out the window and "sentiments" rule the game. It's not who you are, it's what people think you are. That doesn't stop with people, it true for anything and everything.
Doesn't matter what you think, if Warren Buffet says something markets will plunge or rise. The Finance Minister or the Prime Minister come out with a statement and immediately the market recovers. So what, the fundamentals have all of a sudden changed because some politician has something to say.
How can the Finance Minister say that "investor confidence" has returned ??
How the fuck would he know ??
He hasn't slogged all year long, saved by cutting corners, invested the savings in the stock market and lived to see his life savings be flushed down the god damn toilet.
He has every right to try and convince the world that India is still a hot investment destination. He has every right to say that Indian banks are not in any trouble. He has every right to claim that the Indian economy is insulated from the global recession. Do you see the irony here ?? It's a GLOBAL RECESSION but India is insulated.
He can say whatever he wants about the economy but he has no right to comment on investor confidence.
I can see that I have successfully deviated from where I started. I shall not burden you with my rants any more.
Rest easy.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
My sincere advise
In case you are not married, marry someone you already know. From the look of things, I'm sure the entire process is bound to get very ugly.
If you find someone on your own, there are so many advantages. For starters, you wont have prospective matchmakers asking your parents, "Can I have a recent photo of your son?". And obviously, you wont have people commenting on how photogenic your face is or how you appear to be shorter in the photo than you really are.
No pre-marriage pains in this case. There is no avoiding the marriage blues or the post-marriage trauma.
But then, something is better than nothing, right ??
If you find someone on your own, there are so many advantages. For starters, you wont have prospective matchmakers asking your parents, "Can I have a recent photo of your son?". And obviously, you wont have people commenting on how photogenic your face is or how you appear to be shorter in the photo than you really are.
No pre-marriage pains in this case. There is no avoiding the marriage blues or the post-marriage trauma.
But then, something is better than nothing, right ??
Saturday, October 4, 2008
I'm back
It's been a month since I posted last. Funny, it doesn't really feel like a month. There were days when I got bored but in retrospect it does feel like time kinda flew by. How is that ?
Certain events have the capacity to transcend space time continuity. No matter when these events occur, it always feels fresh in the mind. Coming to think it, there were quite a few events that occured over the past month. Lets see now.
=> Financial markets are all screwed
=> Acquaintances renewed
=> Farewells and goodbyes
=> Congratulations and sweets
=> Doubts and uncertainty
=> Productive discussions
=> Meaningless arguments
=> Loads of frustration
=> Ideas galore
=> Nearly a million topics for my blog but no posts
.
.
.
.
That's just a very high level summary of what I have been looking at over the past month or so. I haven't really been working but my mind has always been occupied. In what has otherwise been a rather busy month, I can categorically state that I have been up to nearly nothing productive.
How can I call this anything other than 'NORMAL' ??
Certain events have the capacity to transcend space time continuity. No matter when these events occur, it always feels fresh in the mind. Coming to think it, there were quite a few events that occured over the past month. Lets see now.
=> Financial markets are all screwed
=> Acquaintances renewed
=> Farewells and goodbyes
=> Congratulations and sweets
=> Doubts and uncertainty
=> Productive discussions
=> Meaningless arguments
=> Loads of frustration
=> Ideas galore
=> Nearly a million topics for my blog but no posts
.
.
.
.
That's just a very high level summary of what I have been looking at over the past month or so. I haven't really been working but my mind has always been occupied. In what has otherwise been a rather busy month, I can categorically state that I have been up to nearly nothing productive.
How can I call this anything other than 'NORMAL' ??
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Chill to the music
I have Pagan Dream Machine by Entheogenic, Nuria Lita by Kafez and few Buddha Bar tracks on loop. Pretty much the whole day today, I've been listening to these same songs over and over again. Even when the music is switched off, it's only these songs which are playing in my head. Not like this is having an adverse effect on me, just that it's doing the opposite.
For some time now, I have been listening only to film music - Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. I've missed all the other stuff. It all came flooding back, well today. Chill out music. Lounge music. It does have a different effect, I tell you. Actually it has just one effect, at least on me. It completely drives out the single most dominant thought in your head and frees up space for all the other stuff to come in and take over. That's a good thing, at least for me, definitely right now. I have just one thing on my mind. And this music has helped me to not think about it and actually enjoy the music.
Over the past few weeks there have been so many incidents which would have otherwise found their way to my blog. But, as you can see, this is my first post in almost three weeks. Wow.
Well, there is a reason why this thought has been on my mind for so long. It's fairly important. And what I do now will have long lasting effects. If I get it wrong, it is not the end of the world but it would mean I have to put in a lot of effort in fixing things. I'm seriously looking forward to not putting myself in that situation.
Doesn't matter. I now have one of my favourite Buddha Bar tracks playing. I'm done with this post. I've got more important things to listen to.
For some time now, I have been listening only to film music - Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. I've missed all the other stuff. It all came flooding back, well today. Chill out music. Lounge music. It does have a different effect, I tell you. Actually it has just one effect, at least on me. It completely drives out the single most dominant thought in your head and frees up space for all the other stuff to come in and take over. That's a good thing, at least for me, definitely right now. I have just one thing on my mind. And this music has helped me to not think about it and actually enjoy the music.
Over the past few weeks there have been so many incidents which would have otherwise found their way to my blog. But, as you can see, this is my first post in almost three weeks. Wow.
Well, there is a reason why this thought has been on my mind for so long. It's fairly important. And what I do now will have long lasting effects. If I get it wrong, it is not the end of the world but it would mean I have to put in a lot of effort in fixing things. I'm seriously looking forward to not putting myself in that situation.
Doesn't matter. I now have one of my favourite Buddha Bar tracks playing. I'm done with this post. I've got more important things to listen to.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Death of a symbol
Symbols are meant to represent something: something special. Over the past few weeks I have witnessed two of the most famous symbols in the world being abused like it's nobodies business. My heart bleeds I tell you.
The Prancing Horse. Anyone who owns a car will know what this stands for. Actually anyone who knows anything about cars will know what this stands for. What the hell, ask anyone and they will tell you what this stands for.
You think prancing horse, you invariably think Ferrari, you think Modenna, you think Micheal Schumacher - all legendary names. The recall associated with the prancing horse cannot be mistaken for anything else, not by any stretch of imagination.
The first one is a Ferrari 360 Modena - after a brief slump, it was the Modena that really put Ferrari back on the map. This is most driveable Ferrari of all times and the dream car of every Ferrari fan: arguably Ferrari's best ever: perfection personified.
The second one is a Ferrari Enzo - the fastest production car that Ferrari has ever made. Its in the same class as the Mclaren Mercedes SLR and the Porsche Carrera GT.
Just look at them. Such distinction.
Yet, I have seen this symbol in the most inappropriate places one can think of. I will not attempt to list all of them, but one of them was the worst. The other day I was at the petrol station with a friend, waiting in line for our turn. A Maruti 800 pulled up right next to us. The ass who was driving that piece of shit car had a cheap sticker of the prancing horse stuck on the lid of the petrol tank on his car.
After a really long time, I was so tempted to kill another human being. I feel like beating up people all the time, but I seldom feel like killing someone. Some people have the innate capacity to bring out the worst in me.
Prancing horse sticker on a Maruti 800. That too on the lid of the petrol tank. I am so glad Enzo Ferrari didn't live long enough to see this. Just when I thought this is about as bad as it can get, I was proven wrong - convincingly, might I add.
There may be a few people who might not know what the prancing horse is, but there possibly cannot be anyone who doesn't know what the tri-star stands for. One of the most recognisable names in automobile history, Mercedes Benz, has an image that sets it apart in a league of its own. There is a certain character, a certain legacy, an air of class that the name brings with it. You think Mecedes Benz and immediately you think S class, you think Mclaren Mercedes SLR, you think AMG, you think the Black series, you think Brabus S biturdo roadster.
I was actually thinking of putting in the picture of a Brabus S biturbo here, but then I found this.
If you are a petrol head, trust me, this is worth your time. Take 10 mins and watch the video. I swear you will not be disappointed.
But, when you put that tri-star on the bonnet of an Ambassador it kinda feels a little out of place. I saw this and I was at a complete loss for words. Its been three days now and I am still unable to articulate my feelings in a coherent manner. All attempts seem to end in a barrage of abuse aimed at the Ambassador driver's mother.
I am so sad. I am so angry. Since any and all actions I have in mind are illegal, please can somebody do something about this.
The Prancing Horse. Anyone who owns a car will know what this stands for. Actually anyone who knows anything about cars will know what this stands for. What the hell, ask anyone and they will tell you what this stands for.
You think prancing horse, you invariably think Ferrari, you think Modenna, you think Micheal Schumacher - all legendary names. The recall associated with the prancing horse cannot be mistaken for anything else, not by any stretch of imagination.
The first one is a Ferrari 360 Modena - after a brief slump, it was the Modena that really put Ferrari back on the map. This is most driveable Ferrari of all times and the dream car of every Ferrari fan: arguably Ferrari's best ever: perfection personified.
The second one is a Ferrari Enzo - the fastest production car that Ferrari has ever made. Its in the same class as the Mclaren Mercedes SLR and the Porsche Carrera GT.
Just look at them. Such distinction.
Yet, I have seen this symbol in the most inappropriate places one can think of. I will not attempt to list all of them, but one of them was the worst. The other day I was at the petrol station with a friend, waiting in line for our turn. A Maruti 800 pulled up right next to us. The ass who was driving that piece of shit car had a cheap sticker of the prancing horse stuck on the lid of the petrol tank on his car.
After a really long time, I was so tempted to kill another human being. I feel like beating up people all the time, but I seldom feel like killing someone. Some people have the innate capacity to bring out the worst in me.
Prancing horse sticker on a Maruti 800. That too on the lid of the petrol tank. I am so glad Enzo Ferrari didn't live long enough to see this. Just when I thought this is about as bad as it can get, I was proven wrong - convincingly, might I add.
There may be a few people who might not know what the prancing horse is, but there possibly cannot be anyone who doesn't know what the tri-star stands for. One of the most recognisable names in automobile history, Mercedes Benz, has an image that sets it apart in a league of its own. There is a certain character, a certain legacy, an air of class that the name brings with it. You think Mecedes Benz and immediately you think S class, you think Mclaren Mercedes SLR, you think AMG, you think the Black series, you think Brabus S biturdo roadster.
I was actually thinking of putting in the picture of a Brabus S biturbo here, but then I found this.
If you are a petrol head, trust me, this is worth your time. Take 10 mins and watch the video. I swear you will not be disappointed.
But, when you put that tri-star on the bonnet of an Ambassador it kinda feels a little out of place. I saw this and I was at a complete loss for words. Its been three days now and I am still unable to articulate my feelings in a coherent manner. All attempts seem to end in a barrage of abuse aimed at the Ambassador driver's mother.
I am so sad. I am so angry. Since any and all actions I have in mind are illegal, please can somebody do something about this.
Friday, August 8, 2008
August 8th, 2008
That's today's date. To my knowledge, nothing really special about today, except when you try putting the date on paper, it'll look like this:
08-08-08
I'm sure there must be a whole bunch of astrologers, marathadi josiyar makkal who think today is special for some weird inexplicable reason. I have no idea and I don't really care.
Have a nice day.
08-08-08
I'm sure there must be a whole bunch of astrologers, marathadi josiyar makkal who think today is special for some weird inexplicable reason. I have no idea and I don't really care.
Have a nice day.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
I wish I were a clairvoyant
Have you ever wanted that ? Just imagine, it would be so damn cool.
To be able to see things beyond what any of your senses can feel or even imagine. To know the answers for questions that will never be asked. To be called a psychic by the decent people and a freak by the not so decent people.
That sounds a bit too fantastic, even by my standards. So, lets tone it down a touch. Imagine if you had the power to read people's minds. Check this out. You just look at a person and you can instantly hear what that person is thinking. Lets forget about the invasion of privacy and all that stuff. On the face of it, how cool is it ?
I'll tell you why I, suddenly, wish this was possible. I take the local train to office. Or I take the bus, depending on my mood. I travel alone and unlike the thousands of people who travel with me I don't listen to FM radio on my mobile while I am travelling. I just sit there and watch people.
I don't judge people. I mean that. Who am I to pass judgement on somebody else's actions. I watch and I speculate on what they are thinking.
This one day I took the bus. I was on bus route number M49 and was sitting right behind the driver. The driver was in a foul mood that day. No idea which side of who's bed he got out of, but he was pissed.
I'll tell you why I think he was pissed. He was cursing at a traffic signal because it just wouldn't change from red to green when he told it to. Finally he got his way and we moved ahead. Just then, there was some guy trying to get on the bus when it was on the move. The doors are generally on the left side of the bus right. The driver saw the guy trying to get in and without a second thought he swerved to the right. With a guy trying to get on the bus on the left side, you can imagine what a right turn would do. The driver didn't bother to look at his rear side view mirror. He didn't signal. He just turned. Now, this was in the morning on one of the busiest roads in Chennai. For some reason, the driver didn't want that guy to get on the bus when it was on the move. Luckily for the guy, he was very agile and quick enough to adjust to the right turn and he got on the bus. This obviously enraged the driver even more. He stopped the bus, right in the middle of the road, turned around and told the guy to get off. I am being very nice here. But the whole thing was very unceremoniously done. He refused to move the bus if that guy didn't get off. That guy did get off, muttering to himself. Then we were on our way like nothing had happened.
Boarding a moving bus is not new in Chennai. Thousands of people do it all the time. Hell, I have done it god knows how many times. Drivers and conductors are used to it. Seldom does it result in an incident like this.
That's when I really wished I knew what the driver was thinking. Why was he so pissed ? He was so mad, it was affecting his ability to drive. He was rash and could have easily ended up hurting someone, not only the guy trying to board the bus but also some innocent motorist who made the mistake of being anywhere close to that bus. There must have been a reason. Obviously not the best day of his life. He was probably running late on that trip. Maybe he had some personal problem.
I was also wondering what that guy must have been thinking when the driver stopped the bus in the middle of the road and told him to get out. The guy was probably late for office. It was a really hot day: hot, sweaty, humid day and the pollution on the main road makes it all the more unbearable. He probably didn't want to walk half a kilometre to the bus stand.
I am sure both of them had their reasons for doing what they did. There are so many people in this world. There are so many things happening. Things that we know. Things that we don't know. Things that we may understand. Things that we don't understand.
Made me feel almost insignificant.
To be able to see things beyond what any of your senses can feel or even imagine. To know the answers for questions that will never be asked. To be called a psychic by the decent people and a freak by the not so decent people.
That sounds a bit too fantastic, even by my standards. So, lets tone it down a touch. Imagine if you had the power to read people's minds. Check this out. You just look at a person and you can instantly hear what that person is thinking. Lets forget about the invasion of privacy and all that stuff. On the face of it, how cool is it ?
I'll tell you why I, suddenly, wish this was possible. I take the local train to office. Or I take the bus, depending on my mood. I travel alone and unlike the thousands of people who travel with me I don't listen to FM radio on my mobile while I am travelling. I just sit there and watch people.
I don't judge people. I mean that. Who am I to pass judgement on somebody else's actions. I watch and I speculate on what they are thinking.
This one day I took the bus. I was on bus route number M49 and was sitting right behind the driver. The driver was in a foul mood that day. No idea which side of who's bed he got out of, but he was pissed.
I'll tell you why I think he was pissed. He was cursing at a traffic signal because it just wouldn't change from red to green when he told it to. Finally he got his way and we moved ahead. Just then, there was some guy trying to get on the bus when it was on the move. The doors are generally on the left side of the bus right. The driver saw the guy trying to get in and without a second thought he swerved to the right. With a guy trying to get on the bus on the left side, you can imagine what a right turn would do. The driver didn't bother to look at his rear side view mirror. He didn't signal. He just turned. Now, this was in the morning on one of the busiest roads in Chennai. For some reason, the driver didn't want that guy to get on the bus when it was on the move. Luckily for the guy, he was very agile and quick enough to adjust to the right turn and he got on the bus. This obviously enraged the driver even more. He stopped the bus, right in the middle of the road, turned around and told the guy to get off. I am being very nice here. But the whole thing was very unceremoniously done. He refused to move the bus if that guy didn't get off. That guy did get off, muttering to himself. Then we were on our way like nothing had happened.
Boarding a moving bus is not new in Chennai. Thousands of people do it all the time. Hell, I have done it god knows how many times. Drivers and conductors are used to it. Seldom does it result in an incident like this.
That's when I really wished I knew what the driver was thinking. Why was he so pissed ? He was so mad, it was affecting his ability to drive. He was rash and could have easily ended up hurting someone, not only the guy trying to board the bus but also some innocent motorist who made the mistake of being anywhere close to that bus. There must have been a reason. Obviously not the best day of his life. He was probably running late on that trip. Maybe he had some personal problem.
I was also wondering what that guy must have been thinking when the driver stopped the bus in the middle of the road and told him to get out. The guy was probably late for office. It was a really hot day: hot, sweaty, humid day and the pollution on the main road makes it all the more unbearable. He probably didn't want to walk half a kilometre to the bus stand.
I am sure both of them had their reasons for doing what they did. There are so many people in this world. There are so many things happening. Things that we know. Things that we don't know. Things that we may understand. Things that we don't understand.
Made me feel almost insignificant.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Can you imagine ...
Can you imagine what it would be like if the defining moment in your life is all about the worst thing you have ever done ??
Can you imagine living your life knowing fully well that, no matter what you do, nothing will ever change ??
Can you imagine falling asleep everyday thinking how close you were but never quite there ??
Can you imagine living your life in denial ??
Can you imagine waking every morning knowing that you are living your life in denial but you are too scared to do anything about it ??
If you don't have to imagine, damn that would really suck.
Can you imagine living your life knowing fully well that, no matter what you do, nothing will ever change ??
Can you imagine falling asleep everyday thinking how close you were but never quite there ??
Can you imagine living your life in denial ??
Can you imagine waking every morning knowing that you are living your life in denial but you are too scared to do anything about it ??
If you don't have to imagine, damn that would really suck.
Monday, August 4, 2008
What do you think about you ?
If you were asked to describe yourself using one word, which one would you choose? That's not a fair question to ask. So, lets make it more reasonable. Lets say, you can choose multiple single words to describe yourself.
To give you a better idea, if someone were to ask me this question, I would probably come up with the following, this is spontaneous okay - didn't really think about this.
Confident
Sensitive
Sarcastic
Relaxed
Strong
Arrogant
Suave
#$#%@% (just so we're clear, that's the censored part - there are people in this world who don't love me as much as I do)
..... and so on and so forth
You get the picture, right.
I just picked up the phone, called this friend of mine and asked her the same question and this is what she came up with:
Young
Energetic
Vibrant
Versatile
Dynamic
Frank
Independent (this one's actually inferred but I'll allow it)
Interestingly, as you can see, there is nothing common between the two of us. That's because her sense of self is a lot different from my sense of me, which makes sense.
What I actually find interesting is, almost all the words I chose were character traits. Almost all the words she chose were well, I don't what they were but they were certainly not character traits.
You are probably wondering, "where is he going with this?" That's an excellent question and if you were standing in front of my face asking me that question, then you would be greeted with a goofy smile on my face followed by a helpless shrug from my shoulders.
You are also probably wondering exactly why is this guy doing this. Well, to be absolutely truthful, I had twenty minutes before I had to leave to watch a movie. Now, the twenty minutes is up.
Tata. See you. Byeeeee (Supposed to sound like Janakaraj in Baasha)
To give you a better idea, if someone were to ask me this question, I would probably come up with the following, this is spontaneous okay - didn't really think about this.
Confident
Sensitive
Sarcastic
Relaxed
Strong
Arrogant
Suave
#$#%@% (just so we're clear, that's the censored part - there are people in this world who don't love me as much as I do)
..... and so on and so forth
You get the picture, right.
I just picked up the phone, called this friend of mine and asked her the same question and this is what she came up with:
Young
Energetic
Vibrant
Versatile
Dynamic
Frank
Independent (this one's actually inferred but I'll allow it)
Interestingly, as you can see, there is nothing common between the two of us. That's because her sense of self is a lot different from my sense of me, which makes sense.
What I actually find interesting is, almost all the words I chose were character traits. Almost all the words she chose were well, I don't what they were but they were certainly not character traits.
You are probably wondering, "where is he going with this?" That's an excellent question and if you were standing in front of my face asking me that question, then you would be greeted with a goofy smile on my face followed by a helpless shrug from my shoulders.
You are also probably wondering exactly why is this guy doing this. Well, to be absolutely truthful, I had twenty minutes before I had to leave to watch a movie. Now, the twenty minutes is up.
Tata. See you. Byeeeee (Supposed to sound like Janakaraj in Baasha)
What a load of crap
The first Sunday of every august is Friendship day. Can anyone tell me why ? Is it because the concept of friendship was discovered on the first Sunday of some august ?
Why is it different from birthday or wedding day or death day ? Why does it not have a date ? First Sunday of every august is Friendship day. What a load of crap.
My real question is, do you need a reason, like friendship day, to celebrate a friendship ? For the same reason, why do we have mothers day and fathers day ? If you really mean it, then everyday is the same among friends.
If you think friendship day is special, then it means that you are being a hypocrite on the first Sunday of every august or every day other than that particular Sunday. Your friends don't mean the same to you on days other than friendship day ?
Valentines day is different. A guy does need a reason to buy a gift for his girl. Due to my lack of experience in this matter, I am not willing to comment on what the girls take is likely to be on this.
Let me ask you this - How many of you can look at the phone book in your mobile and categorically state that you want all the numbers in it ? Please note, I use the word "want" and not "need". Yes, there is a difference. I "want" a pizza. I "need" food. You get the difference. How many of you have some long lost contacts number in your phone book ? Some one time friend whom you were close to in your previous life and you are no longer sure if that person is living or dead ? Have you thought about how many numbers you can delete from your phone book without bringing on absolutely any change whatsoever to your current lifestyle ?
Don't give me this crap that you will keep in touch with all those people if only you had the time. If you really wanted to keep in touch, you would have made the time. The fact that you can do without them basically means that you are no longer friends. You are merely acquainted.
It's not anyones fault. Just that sometimes things work out that way. Priorities change. Needs and wants change. Shit happens.
What I actually want to say is, if you really want to get in touch with someone and say hi, just go right ahead and do it. Sending a long and winding text message just because its friendship day completely undermines the relationship you share with that person. It's hypocritical at best.
Please don't do it. At the risk of sounding rude, it makes you look cheap.
Why is it different from birthday or wedding day or death day ? Why does it not have a date ? First Sunday of every august is Friendship day. What a load of crap.
My real question is, do you need a reason, like friendship day, to celebrate a friendship ? For the same reason, why do we have mothers day and fathers day ? If you really mean it, then everyday is the same among friends.
If you think friendship day is special, then it means that you are being a hypocrite on the first Sunday of every august or every day other than that particular Sunday. Your friends don't mean the same to you on days other than friendship day ?
Valentines day is different. A guy does need a reason to buy a gift for his girl. Due to my lack of experience in this matter, I am not willing to comment on what the girls take is likely to be on this.
Let me ask you this - How many of you can look at the phone book in your mobile and categorically state that you want all the numbers in it ? Please note, I use the word "want" and not "need". Yes, there is a difference. I "want" a pizza. I "need" food. You get the difference. How many of you have some long lost contacts number in your phone book ? Some one time friend whom you were close to in your previous life and you are no longer sure if that person is living or dead ? Have you thought about how many numbers you can delete from your phone book without bringing on absolutely any change whatsoever to your current lifestyle ?
Don't give me this crap that you will keep in touch with all those people if only you had the time. If you really wanted to keep in touch, you would have made the time. The fact that you can do without them basically means that you are no longer friends. You are merely acquainted.
It's not anyones fault. Just that sometimes things work out that way. Priorities change. Needs and wants change. Shit happens.
What I actually want to say is, if you really want to get in touch with someone and say hi, just go right ahead and do it. Sending a long and winding text message just because its friendship day completely undermines the relationship you share with that person. It's hypocritical at best.
Please don't do it. At the risk of sounding rude, it makes you look cheap.
Monday, July 28, 2008
There's something about Enigma
I knew what I wanted to write about. I switched on my comp and logged in. I was listening to Morphing thru time by Enigma and all of a sudden, I couldn't remember what I wanted to write about. This song completely distracted me. Not the first time this has happened, I must say. Enigma never fails to get me.
============================================
Lyrics
Earth. a biosphere.
A complex,
Subtly balanced life support system.
Et turtur nidum,
Ubi reponat pullos suos
Altaria tua domine virtutum,
Rex meus, et deus meus
(translation:
And the turtledove a nest
Where it might place its young
Your altar of strengths, lord,
My king and my god, )
We are floating over the line
Let us follow our mind
All of our life well wait for the answer
And the question is why
.
If were following our mind
We can glide into light
No one knows if therell be an answer
While were morphing thru time
.
We are floating over the line
Let us follow our mind
All of our life well wait for the answer
And the question is why
.
Were just travellers
In endless space
If were following our mind
We can glide into light
.
No one knows if therell be an answer
While were morphing thru time
============================================
Lyrics
Earth. a biosphere.
A complex,
Subtly balanced life support system.
Et turtur nidum,
Ubi reponat pullos suos
Altaria tua domine virtutum,
Rex meus, et deus meus
(translation:
And the turtledove a nest
Where it might place its young
Your altar of strengths, lord,
My king and my god, )
We are floating over the line
Let us follow our mind
All of our life well wait for the answer
And the question is why
.
If were following our mind
We can glide into light
No one knows if therell be an answer
While were morphing thru time
.
We are floating over the line
Let us follow our mind
All of our life well wait for the answer
And the question is why
.
Were just travellers
In endless space
If were following our mind
We can glide into light
.
No one knows if therell be an answer
While were morphing thru time
Saturday, July 26, 2008
What women want ??
How the hell should I know? I'm not Mel Gibson and this is not a movie. But you could try this song though.
===============================
Glory Box by Portishead
I'm so tired, of playing
Playing with this bow and arrow
Gonna give my heart away
Leave it to the other girls to play
For I've been a temptress too long
Just. .
Give me a reason to love you
Give me a reason to be ee, a woman
I just so wanna be a woman
From this time, unchained
We're all looking at a different picture
Thru this new frame of mind
A thousand flowers could bloom
Move over, and give us some room yeah
Give me a reason to love you
Give me a reason to be ee, a woman
I just so wanna be a woman
[INSTRUMENTAL]
So don't you stop, being a man
Just take a little look from our side when you can
Sow a little tenderness
No matter if you cry
Give me a reason to love you
Give me a reason to be ee, a woman
Its all I wanna be is all woman
For this is the beginning of forever and ever
Its time to move over...
===============================
Glory Box by Portishead
I'm so tired, of playing
Playing with this bow and arrow
Gonna give my heart away
Leave it to the other girls to play
For I've been a temptress too long
Just. .
Give me a reason to love you
Give me a reason to be ee, a woman
I just so wanna be a woman
From this time, unchained
We're all looking at a different picture
Thru this new frame of mind
A thousand flowers could bloom
Move over, and give us some room yeah
Give me a reason to love you
Give me a reason to be ee, a woman
I just so wanna be a woman
[INSTRUMENTAL]
So don't you stop, being a man
Just take a little look from our side when you can
Sow a little tenderness
No matter if you cry
Give me a reason to love you
Give me a reason to be ee, a woman
Its all I wanna be is all woman
For this is the beginning of forever and ever
Its time to move over...
Friday, July 25, 2008
Women and food
What is the connection I ask ?
Everybody knows the connection between men and food. Men, generally, love to eat. Can we safely assume, that women like to feed ? After all, as the saying goes, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach."
If you think that is right, then you will be wrong.
Based on one of my recent experiences, I think women are fairly, if not overly, conscious of what they eat and how much they eat. Not to mention where they eat and with whom they eat.
Since men are thought of as gluttons, there is an inevitable comparison between men and women. Men are always telling women how little they eat and making fun of them. Obviously when the time does come when men don't eat as much as they normally do and women eat as much as they always do, we reach the equilibrium point.
Given that this is such a rare sight, women are quick to pounce on it, shout it out loud and rub the men's face in it.
The particularly nice women are the one's who are actually curious to know why the men didn't eat as much as they normally do. Nice one's like this very new friend of mine.
This friend took a few of us guys out for dinner. For some reason, we guys and she ate the same amount of food. And she was curious to know why. We did reassure her that nothing was wrong. But the bottom line is, she pointed out that we ate the same amount of food.
In conclusion, I don't know the connection between women and food. But we have established that the nice women are concerned about how much the men eat.
Next week, I am taking her and few other friends out. My social experiment continues. If I come up with something interesting, expect to see me back here gloating about it, all the way to glory and back.
Everybody knows the connection between men and food. Men, generally, love to eat. Can we safely assume, that women like to feed ? After all, as the saying goes, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach."
If you think that is right, then you will be wrong.
Based on one of my recent experiences, I think women are fairly, if not overly, conscious of what they eat and how much they eat. Not to mention where they eat and with whom they eat.
Since men are thought of as gluttons, there is an inevitable comparison between men and women. Men are always telling women how little they eat and making fun of them. Obviously when the time does come when men don't eat as much as they normally do and women eat as much as they always do, we reach the equilibrium point.
Given that this is such a rare sight, women are quick to pounce on it, shout it out loud and rub the men's face in it.
The particularly nice women are the one's who are actually curious to know why the men didn't eat as much as they normally do. Nice one's like this very new friend of mine.
This friend took a few of us guys out for dinner. For some reason, we guys and she ate the same amount of food. And she was curious to know why. We did reassure her that nothing was wrong. But the bottom line is, she pointed out that we ate the same amount of food.
In conclusion, I don't know the connection between women and food. But we have established that the nice women are concerned about how much the men eat.
Next week, I am taking her and few other friends out. My social experiment continues. If I come up with something interesting, expect to see me back here gloating about it, all the way to glory and back.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
If you know the answer, please call in ......
There are a lot of things that can make me smile. More than events, it's people who make me smile even more. Some because of their innate stupidity and some because the situation they are in is genuinely funny.
I am starting to become a really big fan of FM radio. They play the latest music, some of the RJ's are quite witty and funny and some of the topics, these RJ's talk about, are outrageously ridiculous.
One of the topics merits special mention. Y'day, I was driving to office. I was listening to 94.3 FM. This RJ called Suchi was on and the topic being discussed was "Which side dish tastes the best at TasMark?". For all you people who don't know, wine shops in Chennai are called TasMark.
It's about 9:30 in the morning. I am trying to understand what kind of reaction the radio station was hoping to get from people who were listening. Who listens to FM radio at 9:30 in the morning? Obviously people like me, who are stuck on the road. Housewives, preparing lunch for their kids and family. Roadside tea kadai, obviously and etc etc etc.
I thought it was insane. What I found even more interesting was, listeners were expected to call in with what they thought was the best side dish at TasMark and there were so many people calling. I really don't think getting people to think about alcohol as early as 9:30 in the morning on a working day can possibly lead to anything productive.
It gets better.
There I am, wondering what the producer of the show was thinking when he came up with the topic for the show. Just then, this listener calls in with his opinion. His response, translated to English, was something like this:
"The best side dish is pickle. If you look at movies, most of the heroes and comedians like Vivek are always drinking with pickle."
Once I stopped laughing my guts out, it hit me. The producer of the show is one smart guy. He's put his faith on the one constant that has faithfully accompanied human evolution - stupidity.
We, as a race, are good at doing stupid things. Any and all addicts, adrenalin junkies, petrol heads, politicians .... the list goes on - the world is filled with stupid people. Of course there are exceptions but the problem is, everyone thinks they are part of the exception.
The producer of the show is stupid because he successfully managed to distract a whole bunch of people early in the morning. The caller is stupid because he actually fell for that crap and called in. I am stupid because I just wasted 20 mins of my time writing this crap.
So, all in all, the point I'm trying to make is - My faith in the human race has been reinforced, at least for the time being.
I am starting to become a really big fan of FM radio. They play the latest music, some of the RJ's are quite witty and funny and some of the topics, these RJ's talk about, are outrageously ridiculous.
One of the topics merits special mention. Y'day, I was driving to office. I was listening to 94.3 FM. This RJ called Suchi was on and the topic being discussed was "Which side dish tastes the best at TasMark?". For all you people who don't know, wine shops in Chennai are called TasMark.
It's about 9:30 in the morning. I am trying to understand what kind of reaction the radio station was hoping to get from people who were listening. Who listens to FM radio at 9:30 in the morning? Obviously people like me, who are stuck on the road. Housewives, preparing lunch for their kids and family. Roadside tea kadai, obviously and etc etc etc.
I thought it was insane. What I found even more interesting was, listeners were expected to call in with what they thought was the best side dish at TasMark and there were so many people calling. I really don't think getting people to think about alcohol as early as 9:30 in the morning on a working day can possibly lead to anything productive.
It gets better.
There I am, wondering what the producer of the show was thinking when he came up with the topic for the show. Just then, this listener calls in with his opinion. His response, translated to English, was something like this:
"The best side dish is pickle. If you look at movies, most of the heroes and comedians like Vivek are always drinking with pickle."
Once I stopped laughing my guts out, it hit me. The producer of the show is one smart guy. He's put his faith on the one constant that has faithfully accompanied human evolution - stupidity.
We, as a race, are good at doing stupid things. Any and all addicts, adrenalin junkies, petrol heads, politicians .... the list goes on - the world is filled with stupid people. Of course there are exceptions but the problem is, everyone thinks they are part of the exception.
The producer of the show is stupid because he successfully managed to distract a whole bunch of people early in the morning. The caller is stupid because he actually fell for that crap and called in. I am stupid because I just wasted 20 mins of my time writing this crap.
So, all in all, the point I'm trying to make is - My faith in the human race has been reinforced, at least for the time being.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Why man Why ??
There are many things in this world I don't understand. Attempting to find an explanation would probably the rational thing to do, but somehow I can't bring myself to do that. I'm too busy laughing my ass off.
This one actually came to me while reading V.I.D's blog. I found one of her posts very inspiring.
I and my friends go out for dinner to this really nice chettinad restaurant called Anjappar. There we are, ordering our Ceylon parota's, kothu parota's, chettinad chicken masala and our vanjaram fry's. This couple come and sit in the table right across ours. We pay no more attention than a passing glance. About fifteens later, our food arrives. We are busy digging in, gluttons that we are. All of a sudden, something stopped us from chewing on our food. We lifted up our heads in complete awe. The waiter is carrying tandoori naan and, from where we were sitting, something that resembled black dal.
We look at what we were eating. We look at the food on the table next to ours. Once we were sure that we were indeed in a chettinad restaurant, we couldn't stop laughing.
Exactly why would someone walk into a restaurant which says CHETTINAD CUISINE and order naan with dal ?? I fail to understand this completely.
You don't order tandoori food in Anjappar just because it's on the menu. That is like someone buying a hardcore porn movie because the movie has a nice plot. Good god man. Stop embarrassing yourself.
You know what else I dont understand, why people come to the beach ?
I stay really close to the beach - elliots beach. I love it. I will swear by it. If I spend any more time at the beach, I'll end up naming every grain of sand out there. Obviously, I spend a lot of time there and invariably so do a lot of other people. I don't want to talk about all the other people who come out there - just a select few "couples".
I am at the beach with few friends of mine. It's a nice windy evening, about 6 on the clock. We park our car, get out and enjoy the breeze. As usual, we are chatting about everything under the sun. Thats when we see it. This black maruti swift pulls up in the service lane. We are standing beside our car, which is also parked in the service lane. This car parks right next to ours - nothing strange about that. Closer look into the car, we notice a guy behind the wheel and a girl in the front passenger seat. They are just talking. About 5 mins later, we realise that the swift's engine is still running and the windows are not rolled down, obviously the a/c was still on, they are still talking.
Now you must remember that the weather was really pleasasnt that evening. Weather like that in Chennai is probably signs of the coming of the apocalypse.
5 mins later the car leaves. My friends and I are left wondering as to why those two came to the beach. Obviously, to sit in their car with the a/c on. But then, why drive all the way to the beach to do that. Am I being too dense or is there something seriously wrong with these people ?
I'm trying to come up with a witty analogy here, but cant seem to do better than the porn movie one I typed earlier. You get the picture, right.
Hey hey, I got another one. Yeah, I'm on a roll tonight. Check this out.
My friend and I are driving around one day and we see this girl on a bike right in front of us. Fairly good looking girl, I must say. She was wearing a tank/tube top, I can never tell the difference, they all look the same to me, and low rider jeans. Now, this girl was pretty tall. Okay, I am guessing you people know where I am going with this.
Sitting on the bike, somehow, prompted her top to migrate due north and her pants to migrate due south. She probably, literally, felt the chill on her spine and at the next traffic signal, she's desperately trying to defy the laws of physics.
Unfortunately she was going the same way we were and we had to stop right behind her. We can see her glancing at her rear view mirror while trying to get her clothing to stick to her will. All of a sudden, my side view mirrors are all wrong and I cant stop fiddling with the power windows. My friend also suddenly realises that his mobile phone needs his immediate undiverted attention.
Poor thing. Must've been the most humiliating sixty seconds of her life. What was she thinking ? Did she not know she was going to use a bike ? Did she not know what was going to happen ?
I guess she couldn't resist it when she saw herself in the mirror in the tight fitting clothes. Good when you are standing upright, bad for any other stance.
I don't always understand why people do the things they do. But sometimes it's just hilarious.
This one actually came to me while reading V.I.D's blog. I found one of her posts very inspiring.
I and my friends go out for dinner to this really nice chettinad restaurant called Anjappar. There we are, ordering our Ceylon parota's, kothu parota's, chettinad chicken masala and our vanjaram fry's. This couple come and sit in the table right across ours. We pay no more attention than a passing glance. About fifteens later, our food arrives. We are busy digging in, gluttons that we are. All of a sudden, something stopped us from chewing on our food. We lifted up our heads in complete awe. The waiter is carrying tandoori naan and, from where we were sitting, something that resembled black dal.
We look at what we were eating. We look at the food on the table next to ours. Once we were sure that we were indeed in a chettinad restaurant, we couldn't stop laughing.
Exactly why would someone walk into a restaurant which says CHETTINAD CUISINE and order naan with dal ?? I fail to understand this completely.
You don't order tandoori food in Anjappar just because it's on the menu. That is like someone buying a hardcore porn movie because the movie has a nice plot. Good god man. Stop embarrassing yourself.
You know what else I dont understand, why people come to the beach ?
I stay really close to the beach - elliots beach. I love it. I will swear by it. If I spend any more time at the beach, I'll end up naming every grain of sand out there. Obviously, I spend a lot of time there and invariably so do a lot of other people. I don't want to talk about all the other people who come out there - just a select few "couples".
I am at the beach with few friends of mine. It's a nice windy evening, about 6 on the clock. We park our car, get out and enjoy the breeze. As usual, we are chatting about everything under the sun. Thats when we see it. This black maruti swift pulls up in the service lane. We are standing beside our car, which is also parked in the service lane. This car parks right next to ours - nothing strange about that. Closer look into the car, we notice a guy behind the wheel and a girl in the front passenger seat. They are just talking. About 5 mins later, we realise that the swift's engine is still running and the windows are not rolled down, obviously the a/c was still on, they are still talking.
Now you must remember that the weather was really pleasasnt that evening. Weather like that in Chennai is probably signs of the coming of the apocalypse.
5 mins later the car leaves. My friends and I are left wondering as to why those two came to the beach. Obviously, to sit in their car with the a/c on. But then, why drive all the way to the beach to do that. Am I being too dense or is there something seriously wrong with these people ?
I'm trying to come up with a witty analogy here, but cant seem to do better than the porn movie one I typed earlier. You get the picture, right.
Hey hey, I got another one. Yeah, I'm on a roll tonight. Check this out.
My friend and I are driving around one day and we see this girl on a bike right in front of us. Fairly good looking girl, I must say. She was wearing a tank/tube top, I can never tell the difference, they all look the same to me, and low rider jeans. Now, this girl was pretty tall. Okay, I am guessing you people know where I am going with this.
Sitting on the bike, somehow, prompted her top to migrate due north and her pants to migrate due south. She probably, literally, felt the chill on her spine and at the next traffic signal, she's desperately trying to defy the laws of physics.
Unfortunately she was going the same way we were and we had to stop right behind her. We can see her glancing at her rear view mirror while trying to get her clothing to stick to her will. All of a sudden, my side view mirrors are all wrong and I cant stop fiddling with the power windows. My friend also suddenly realises that his mobile phone needs his immediate undiverted attention.
Poor thing. Must've been the most humiliating sixty seconds of her life. What was she thinking ? Did she not know she was going to use a bike ? Did she not know what was going to happen ?
I guess she couldn't resist it when she saw herself in the mirror in the tight fitting clothes. Good when you are standing upright, bad for any other stance.
I don't always understand why people do the things they do. But sometimes it's just hilarious.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Farewell
Said my final goodbye today. Couldn't bring myself to turn around for a last look. Forced myself to walk away.
Hurts.
Hurts.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
This one's got nice lyrics
Set The Fire to The Third Bar by Snow Patrol
====================================================================================
Lyrics:
I find the map and draw a straight line
Over rivers, farms, and state lines
The distance from 'A' to where you'd be
It's only finger-lengths that I see
I touch the place where I'd find your face
My finger in creases of distant dark places
I hang my coat up in the first bar
There is no peace that I've found so far
The laughter penetrates my silence
As drunken men find flaws in science
Their words mostly noises
Ghosts with just voices
Your words in my memory
Are like music to me
I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
I, I pray that something picks me up
And sets me down in your warm arms
After I have travelled so far
We'd set the fire to the third bar
We'd share each other like an island
Until exhausted, close our eyelids
And dreaming, pick up from
The last place we left off
Your soft skin is weeping
A joy you can't keep in
I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
And I, I pray that something picks me up
and sets me down in your warm arms
I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
and I, I pray that something picks me up
and sets me down in your warm arms
====================================================================================
Lyrics:
I find the map and draw a straight line
Over rivers, farms, and state lines
The distance from 'A' to where you'd be
It's only finger-lengths that I see
I touch the place where I'd find your face
My finger in creases of distant dark places
I hang my coat up in the first bar
There is no peace that I've found so far
The laughter penetrates my silence
As drunken men find flaws in science
Their words mostly noises
Ghosts with just voices
Your words in my memory
Are like music to me
I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
I, I pray that something picks me up
And sets me down in your warm arms
After I have travelled so far
We'd set the fire to the third bar
We'd share each other like an island
Until exhausted, close our eyelids
And dreaming, pick up from
The last place we left off
Your soft skin is weeping
A joy you can't keep in
I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
And I, I pray that something picks me up
and sets me down in your warm arms
I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
and I, I pray that something picks me up
and sets me down in your warm arms
Friday, May 16, 2008
What's a grand worth ?
One thousand Rupees.
I can remember a time when that much money would make me feel richer than Bill Gates. Fast forward to today and it makes me feel like I am not as rich as I used to be a month ago.
One thousand bucks has really started to lose it's significance. Hurting, I tell you. I'll tell you why this has, all of a sudden, gained relevance.
I drive this nice car. It's a car which is constantly underestimated by a lot of people. It's deceptively fast. It's in fact so fast that it took a You Tube video for me to realise how fast I can actually go in my car. Now, coming to the most important and relevant part, my car runs on petrol. And in keeping with my unnecessarily flamboyant lifestyle, it runs much much much better on Xtra Premium Petrol (with Friction Busters) as opposed to the normal Petrol. Of course, I have regularly started using Xtra Premium Petrol. This shit, of course, costs more.
Today, I topped my car off at the petrol station. I blew off Rs.2,500/- and gained 47.35 litres of Xtra Premium Petrol @ Rs.52.81 per litre. That works out to a shade under 19 litres of Xtra Premium Petrol for Rs.1,000/-
1,000/- bucks used to mean, I was good for an entire month. It used to mean 20 movies. It used to mean a b'day treat for 15 people. It used to mean I was the lender and not the borrower. It used to mean, I was drowning in surplus.
Today, 1,000/- bucks means, my car will run for a week. Perhaps, a day or two more than a week, depending on traffic conditions, availability of alternate means of transport and my constantly changing moods.
1,000/- bucks makes me feel like I need a lot more 1,000's to last the month. It makes me feel normal. It makes me feel, well nothing extraordinary.
Realising the Time Value of Money has just one effect - Pain.
Let me say this, Ignorance is truly bliss.
I can remember a time when that much money would make me feel richer than Bill Gates. Fast forward to today and it makes me feel like I am not as rich as I used to be a month ago.
One thousand bucks has really started to lose it's significance. Hurting, I tell you. I'll tell you why this has, all of a sudden, gained relevance.
I drive this nice car. It's a car which is constantly underestimated by a lot of people. It's deceptively fast. It's in fact so fast that it took a You Tube video for me to realise how fast I can actually go in my car. Now, coming to the most important and relevant part, my car runs on petrol. And in keeping with my unnecessarily flamboyant lifestyle, it runs much much much better on Xtra Premium Petrol (with Friction Busters) as opposed to the normal Petrol. Of course, I have regularly started using Xtra Premium Petrol. This shit, of course, costs more.
Today, I topped my car off at the petrol station. I blew off Rs.2,500/- and gained 47.35 litres of Xtra Premium Petrol @ Rs.52.81 per litre. That works out to a shade under 19 litres of Xtra Premium Petrol for Rs.1,000/-
1,000/- bucks used to mean, I was good for an entire month. It used to mean 20 movies. It used to mean a b'day treat for 15 people. It used to mean I was the lender and not the borrower. It used to mean, I was drowning in surplus.
Today, 1,000/- bucks means, my car will run for a week. Perhaps, a day or two more than a week, depending on traffic conditions, availability of alternate means of transport and my constantly changing moods.
1,000/- bucks makes me feel like I need a lot more 1,000's to last the month. It makes me feel normal. It makes me feel, well nothing extraordinary.
Realising the Time Value of Money has just one effect - Pain.
Let me say this, Ignorance is truly bliss.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Questions
What is it about asking questions which are never meant to be answered ?
One would tend to assume that they serve no real purpose, but if that was the case, then one would be completely wrong. I can't quite put my finger on the beauty of these questions. Lets check this one out.
"Which is worse, shopping for women or shopping with women?"
I guess shopping for women with women would particularly suck but I also guess one can make a case for either of the two options.
As I like to say, the answer is only important when asked the right question. When silence is the answer, you know you have hit on one hell of a good question.
So, keep coming up with questions. Questions are the sign of progressive thinking. Bad questions just mean that the direction of your progression is a little off, but not meaningless.
For all those readers who feel like this post is a complete load of crap, I only have the say that the feeling is mutual.
Cheerio.
One would tend to assume that they serve no real purpose, but if that was the case, then one would be completely wrong. I can't quite put my finger on the beauty of these questions. Lets check this one out.
"Which is worse, shopping for women or shopping with women?"
I guess shopping for women with women would particularly suck but I also guess one can make a case for either of the two options.
As I like to say, the answer is only important when asked the right question. When silence is the answer, you know you have hit on one hell of a good question.
So, keep coming up with questions. Questions are the sign of progressive thinking. Bad questions just mean that the direction of your progression is a little off, but not meaningless.
For all those readers who feel like this post is a complete load of crap, I only have the say that the feeling is mutual.
Cheerio.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
About me
I really don't know why people keep this section on blogs. My faith in the human race does not lead me to believe a word of what I see in this section, unless it is something so blatantly boring that it has to be the truth. Something like this.
"My name is XYZ. I am 5 feet and 10 inches tall with brown eyes and a great patch of hair. I studied in Guduvanchery Engg College, I.T dept and currently working for Mannar and Company. I have been to the United States of America three times in the past five years for onsite project. I like it there. It is nice. My hobbies are listening to music, watching movies, playing cricket and making jokes about Silambarasan and his excuse for a father. I am looking for a nice girl to marry. She should be tall, fair, beautiful, not so smart, but working and making lots of money, but not more than me. If anybody knows girl like this or any girl interested, I can be reached at loose_paiyan@kirukku.com or you can reach me on orkut by searching for loose paiyan. I checked, there is only one profile with that name - Ha Ha Ha."
I mean seriously, come on. The more sympathetic characters would term that as innocence and probably be impressed by it, but any way I cut it, I cant seem to call it anything other than stupidity.
The other way you go about this is by being the witty smart ass. Now, this is a problem too you know. Everybody thinks they are witty and smart. Lets say, something like this.
"That is for me to know and for you to find out."
All I have to say to that is, Fuck You.
Me, of course I have this section filled in too on this blog. Currently it reads, "If you think love is the work of God then genius is the work of the Devil"
If you realise, that says a lot about me without actually saying anything at all.
I am going to change it now. So, check out the new "About me". The point is not what I put in there, but what you make of it.
What do you make of it ?
"My name is XYZ. I am 5 feet and 10 inches tall with brown eyes and a great patch of hair. I studied in Guduvanchery Engg College, I.T dept and currently working for Mannar and Company. I have been to the United States of America three times in the past five years for onsite project. I like it there. It is nice. My hobbies are listening to music, watching movies, playing cricket and making jokes about Silambarasan and his excuse for a father. I am looking for a nice girl to marry. She should be tall, fair, beautiful, not so smart, but working and making lots of money, but not more than me. If anybody knows girl like this or any girl interested, I can be reached at loose_paiyan@kirukku.com or you can reach me on orkut by searching for loose paiyan. I checked, there is only one profile with that name - Ha Ha Ha."
I mean seriously, come on. The more sympathetic characters would term that as innocence and probably be impressed by it, but any way I cut it, I cant seem to call it anything other than stupidity.
The other way you go about this is by being the witty smart ass. Now, this is a problem too you know. Everybody thinks they are witty and smart. Lets say, something like this.
"That is for me to know and for you to find out."
All I have to say to that is, Fuck You.
Me, of course I have this section filled in too on this blog. Currently it reads, "If you think love is the work of God then genius is the work of the Devil"
If you realise, that says a lot about me without actually saying anything at all.
I am going to change it now. So, check out the new "About me". The point is not what I put in there, but what you make of it.
What do you make of it ?
Friday, April 25, 2008
Yes Teacher
That's how I used to answer my attendance when I was in school. During the course of my schooling it did vary between Yes Ma'am and Yes Sir, depending on the particular teacher. It would be weird if I called everybody Sir or Ma'am. The bottom line is, that's how I used to answer my roll call.
I realise it's been a while since I posted anything up here. I have had the time. Lots of it actually. I even vaguely remember a few topics I wanted to post about. Can't seem to recall exactly what they were right now. But somehow, it never happened.
Anyway, I am here now. Not to post anything, just to mark my attendance.
I'm not dead ... yet.
I realise it's been a while since I posted anything up here. I have had the time. Lots of it actually. I even vaguely remember a few topics I wanted to post about. Can't seem to recall exactly what they were right now. But somehow, it never happened.
Anyway, I am here now. Not to post anything, just to mark my attendance.
I'm not dead ... yet.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
So much to do ...
Over the past week or ten days, I've been watching a whole lot of movies. Don't exactly know why but just felt like watching movies.
Apocalypse Now
Twelve Monkeys
Blade Runner
Snatch
Lock Stock and two Smoking Barrels
Seven Samurai
Kill Bill 1
Kill Bill 2
Bank Job
Pulp Fiction
Sin City
X-Men 3
Dog Day Afternoon
Lethal Weapon 1
I didn't watch it in that specific order and I know I'm forgetting something, but what the hell. Of course, I have seen most of the movies in that list at least more than once, but like I said - what the hell.
Planning to watch more today. I was thinking of Anjaathey for today and maybe Scar Face or I think I'll go for the Godfather marathon.
So many movies, so little time.
Apocalypse Now
Twelve Monkeys
Blade Runner
Snatch
Lock Stock and two Smoking Barrels
Seven Samurai
Kill Bill 1
Kill Bill 2
Bank Job
Pulp Fiction
Sin City
X-Men 3
Dog Day Afternoon
Lethal Weapon 1
I didn't watch it in that specific order and I know I'm forgetting something, but what the hell. Of course, I have seen most of the movies in that list at least more than once, but like I said - what the hell.
Planning to watch more today. I was thinking of Anjaathey for today and maybe Scar Face or I think I'll go for the Godfather marathon.
So many movies, so little time.
Friday, March 28, 2008
WwwooooWWW
What do you get if you put Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall and Laurence Fishburne all in one movie at the same time ?
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola and released in 1979, I personally think this movie kicks ass everything else save for Godfather Part One.
Watched this movie the first time about twelve years back. Obviously I was too young to fully appreciate it.
Watched it for the second time today.
Wow, indeed.
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola and released in 1979, I personally think this movie kicks ass everything else save for Godfather Part One.
Watched this movie the first time about twelve years back. Obviously I was too young to fully appreciate it.
Watched it for the second time today.
Wow, indeed.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
It's different
I'm not talking about that ad where Javed Jaffrey tries his hand at humour and ends up making a mockery of Tomato Ketchup. Actually I only want to single out the mockery part and put it into perspective.
One of the things I have become good at is watching bad movies. You see, watching good movies is easy. It's almost natural. But watching bad one's is an art. One that needs to be mastered and can only be achieved through vigorous practise and phenomenal mental conditioning.
For those of you who don't know, I can speak Telugu with reasonable level of fluency. I also speak Tamil, given that I have spent the best part of my life in Singara Chennai. Due to some arbit rule devised by some old men at Central Board for Secondary Education, I can also speak Hindi. It's very utilitarian, but I can get by.
The fact that I can speak these three languages basically implies that I am capable of watching movies in these three languages. And in the true spirit of every jobless soul out there, I do watch movies in these three languages.
Between these three languages, I can confidently state that I have a six sigma coverage of all the bad movies that are ever released. And I use six sigma in the statistical sense. For those of you who are more informed, in the normal distribution curve, three deviations on either side of the median covers approximately 99% of the area under the curve. For those of you who mistakenly think I am a nerd, all I am saying is - I watch a lot of really shitty movies.
Given that I watch this outrageous number of sad movies, it is only natural that my mind has been preconditioned and can handle pretty much anything that celluloid can throw it's way. Over the years movies have gotten worse, there are now more number of heroes and heroines who are intrinsically capable of delivering bad movies. Practise only helps them graduate from bad to worse - Try watching Kaalai by Silambarasan. Not to mention the whole bunch of actors who are, for some inexplicable reason, led to believe that they make good directors.
In spite of all this, I can put with the bad movies, I can put up with the whole new generation of bad actors, I can put with everything except for one thing.
"It's different"
The one constant selection of words that I hear from pretty much any actor before the release of every movie.
"This is not the usual romance or action movie. It has a bit of everything. There is comedy, there are some good action sequences, there is some romance, of course with sentiments and the songs are a super hit"
"It's different"
I have such a gut wrenching feeling right now, if I start puking now I don't think I can get myself to stop. If anyone associated with the film industry uses these words to describe anything made on film, they should be beaten up, broken down and burnt alive.
It's like "different" is a new age euphemism for "sucks". I vote for "different" to be officially declared as a new genre of movies.
Nowadays I find it easier to sit in a theatre with the preconception that a movie will suck and be surprised as opposed to expecting to see a decent movie and be disappointed. This way, I can prove that you live longer because you face fewer disappointments in life and you have reason to believe that your line of thought is correct.
I am no movie critic. I am no professional. But, what I am is a movie goer. And if I think a movie sucks and so do my fellow movie goers then it doesn't really matter what the critics and the professionals think now does it ?
Having said all that. I still watch movies that are "different". When the occasional movie that is NOT "different" does come along, it makes the experience all the more pleasurable.
Now, who's with me ???
One of the things I have become good at is watching bad movies. You see, watching good movies is easy. It's almost natural. But watching bad one's is an art. One that needs to be mastered and can only be achieved through vigorous practise and phenomenal mental conditioning.
For those of you who don't know, I can speak Telugu with reasonable level of fluency. I also speak Tamil, given that I have spent the best part of my life in Singara Chennai. Due to some arbit rule devised by some old men at Central Board for Secondary Education, I can also speak Hindi. It's very utilitarian, but I can get by.
The fact that I can speak these three languages basically implies that I am capable of watching movies in these three languages. And in the true spirit of every jobless soul out there, I do watch movies in these three languages.
Between these three languages, I can confidently state that I have a six sigma coverage of all the bad movies that are ever released. And I use six sigma in the statistical sense. For those of you who are more informed, in the normal distribution curve, three deviations on either side of the median covers approximately 99% of the area under the curve. For those of you who mistakenly think I am a nerd, all I am saying is - I watch a lot of really shitty movies.
Given that I watch this outrageous number of sad movies, it is only natural that my mind has been preconditioned and can handle pretty much anything that celluloid can throw it's way. Over the years movies have gotten worse, there are now more number of heroes and heroines who are intrinsically capable of delivering bad movies. Practise only helps them graduate from bad to worse - Try watching Kaalai by Silambarasan. Not to mention the whole bunch of actors who are, for some inexplicable reason, led to believe that they make good directors.
In spite of all this, I can put with the bad movies, I can put up with the whole new generation of bad actors, I can put with everything except for one thing.
"It's different"
The one constant selection of words that I hear from pretty much any actor before the release of every movie.
"This is not the usual romance or action movie. It has a bit of everything. There is comedy, there are some good action sequences, there is some romance, of course with sentiments and the songs are a super hit"
"It's different"
I have such a gut wrenching feeling right now, if I start puking now I don't think I can get myself to stop. If anyone associated with the film industry uses these words to describe anything made on film, they should be beaten up, broken down and burnt alive.
It's like "different" is a new age euphemism for "sucks". I vote for "different" to be officially declared as a new genre of movies.
Nowadays I find it easier to sit in a theatre with the preconception that a movie will suck and be surprised as opposed to expecting to see a decent movie and be disappointed. This way, I can prove that you live longer because you face fewer disappointments in life and you have reason to believe that your line of thought is correct.
I am no movie critic. I am no professional. But, what I am is a movie goer. And if I think a movie sucks and so do my fellow movie goers then it doesn't really matter what the critics and the professionals think now does it ?
Having said all that. I still watch movies that are "different". When the occasional movie that is NOT "different" does come along, it makes the experience all the more pleasurable.
Now, who's with me ???
Saturday, March 22, 2008
What's up with one sided conversation ?
You ever find yourself being asked a question by someone and find the question to be answered by the same someone.
I have. Exactly what is anybody supposed to do in that case ? I don't know what to do, so I manage a goofy smile and try not to feel like I'm completely invisible. Trouble is, once you are used to this sort of thing, you are never sure if the answer to a question is expected to come from you or if the question is purely rhetorical in nature.
Let me explain. I used to work in Hyderabad and subsequently shifted back to Chennai. The first few days I was back in Chennai, we had relatives visiting. I open the door for them and they say, "You are in Chennai?".
As tempted as I was to say, "No. The midday sun has got you hallucinating", I didn't. I only managed that goofy smile I mentioned earlier. That's not the end of it. While I was still contemplating what I was supposed to tell them, they tell me this, "Your mom told us you had come back. Good that you are back".
That's when I realised there was no need to say anything. All I had to do was pretend like I gave a damn and people are happy. This is an empirically proven fact, might I add.
Sometimes one sided conversations are fun. It's like white noise. It's very peaceful. When you know that your involvement in a conversation is purely academic, gives you the time and the opportunity to just watch other people make a fool out of themselves.
It's like watching a movie. If only I had an extra large popcorn in hand.
I have. Exactly what is anybody supposed to do in that case ? I don't know what to do, so I manage a goofy smile and try not to feel like I'm completely invisible. Trouble is, once you are used to this sort of thing, you are never sure if the answer to a question is expected to come from you or if the question is purely rhetorical in nature.
Let me explain. I used to work in Hyderabad and subsequently shifted back to Chennai. The first few days I was back in Chennai, we had relatives visiting. I open the door for them and they say, "You are in Chennai?".
As tempted as I was to say, "No. The midday sun has got you hallucinating", I didn't. I only managed that goofy smile I mentioned earlier. That's not the end of it. While I was still contemplating what I was supposed to tell them, they tell me this, "Your mom told us you had come back. Good that you are back".
That's when I realised there was no need to say anything. All I had to do was pretend like I gave a damn and people are happy. This is an empirically proven fact, might I add.
Sometimes one sided conversations are fun. It's like white noise. It's very peaceful. When you know that your involvement in a conversation is purely academic, gives you the time and the opportunity to just watch other people make a fool out of themselves.
It's like watching a movie. If only I had an extra large popcorn in hand.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Does history repeat itself ?
There is this quote by some guy who's name I can't recall just now.
"History does not repeat itself. The historians repeat one another."
Just realised the truth in that statement. I find myself in a situation I have been in before. One would tend to think, given my past experience, I will be able to handle the situation better than the first time. Which is true. But that's not the point. The point is, I let myself be put in the situation again.
Worst part is, I saw it coming. Unfortunately I was not willing to let go. Most unfortunate. Too little too late. It has cost me time. It is going to take more than just time to correct this. I'm going to have to change few other things as well. No easy task. Should be interesting to see how things turn out.
Lessons are always there to be learnt. Question is, am I willing to learn ?
"History does not repeat itself. The historians repeat one another."
Just realised the truth in that statement. I find myself in a situation I have been in before. One would tend to think, given my past experience, I will be able to handle the situation better than the first time. Which is true. But that's not the point. The point is, I let myself be put in the situation again.
Worst part is, I saw it coming. Unfortunately I was not willing to let go. Most unfortunate. Too little too late. It has cost me time. It is going to take more than just time to correct this. I'm going to have to change few other things as well. No easy task. Should be interesting to see how things turn out.
Lessons are always there to be learnt. Question is, am I willing to learn ?
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Feels good to ...
Wake thinking it's a Thursday and go to office only to realise it's Friday.
Think of someone to be younger than you only to figure out later they are not.
Know for a fact your car is much faster than it appears and be content in that knowledge.
Find that extra 100 bucks in your purse when you thought it's empty.
Get a refill of your favourite milk shake just when you thought, "Damn it's over".
Get more than what you think you deserve because others believe you deserve more.
Eat the right amount of food that tastes really good.
Wake early on a weekend knowing you don't have to go to office.
Feel good about yourself.
Think of someone to be younger than you only to figure out later they are not.
Know for a fact your car is much faster than it appears and be content in that knowledge.
Find that extra 100 bucks in your purse when you thought it's empty.
Get a refill of your favourite milk shake just when you thought, "Damn it's over".
Get more than what you think you deserve because others believe you deserve more.
Eat the right amount of food that tastes really good.
Wake early on a weekend knowing you don't have to go to office.
Feel good about yourself.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Hey listen, I have news
In what has otherwise been a rather slow week, punctuated by elongated moments of phenomenal boredom, I have come to realise a pattern that is slowly, and frighteningly, emerging.
Been trying to keep track of who's been calling me and for what reason.
I have discounted my friends in town who call to share their boredom and in the process not feel bored. I have also discounted my friends from out of town who call, only to make sure that I am as miserable as them.
The only calls I have been keeping track of are from people whom I least expected to call. Now, there have been a few such incidents in the past few days. This pattern hit me when I was still recovering from the shock of receiving calls from such people.
The pattern is quite interesting and like I said earlier, quite frightening.
The first fifteen seconds of the call is dedicated to exchanging completely redundant and useless pleasantries. Once the formality is out of the way, the real reason behind the call starts to surface.
It pretty much always starts with, "Hey listen, I have news." My conversations so far have ended with "November 24th", "June 6th", "By the end of this year", "April 30th", "At the latest by September" and "May 24th" while being punctuated with "Oh my god", "Thats unbelievable", "Congratulations", "I didn't know people are that dumb" and so on and so forth.
Before I type anything more, I need a couple of minutes to get my head straight.
I didn't take notice of my play list that's been playing since I started typing this post. The following is the list of songs I have been listening to:
1. Unarugil Varugayil - Kalloori
2. Un Siripinil - Pachai Kili Muthu Charam
3. Para Para Pattaampoochi - Tamizh M.A
4. Sun is shining - Bob Marley
When I hit Track 4, I had to stop and let that song pass. There is no recovering from the Marley effect. Which reminds me. Watched this movie called 10,000 B.C with couple of friends of mine. Ten minutes into the movie and this friend of mine is like, "Enna da edhu, ellarum Bob Marley machan mathere erukkaanga". No direct relevance here, but just came into my head.
Luckily the fifth song in my play list is Anomaly by BT. The Marley effect has passed.
From the manner in which the sub-conversation started and the manner in which it ended I am sure I don't need to really spell out what happened in between.
The news, I can handle. It's the number that has me a little off guard.
Enna kodumai Saravana edhu.
Been trying to keep track of who's been calling me and for what reason.
I have discounted my friends in town who call to share their boredom and in the process not feel bored. I have also discounted my friends from out of town who call, only to make sure that I am as miserable as them.
The only calls I have been keeping track of are from people whom I least expected to call. Now, there have been a few such incidents in the past few days. This pattern hit me when I was still recovering from the shock of receiving calls from such people.
The pattern is quite interesting and like I said earlier, quite frightening.
The first fifteen seconds of the call is dedicated to exchanging completely redundant and useless pleasantries. Once the formality is out of the way, the real reason behind the call starts to surface.
It pretty much always starts with, "Hey listen, I have news." My conversations so far have ended with "November 24th", "June 6th", "By the end of this year", "April 30th", "At the latest by September" and "May 24th" while being punctuated with "Oh my god", "Thats unbelievable", "Congratulations", "I didn't know people are that dumb" and so on and so forth.
Before I type anything more, I need a couple of minutes to get my head straight.
I didn't take notice of my play list that's been playing since I started typing this post. The following is the list of songs I have been listening to:
1. Unarugil Varugayil - Kalloori
2. Un Siripinil - Pachai Kili Muthu Charam
3. Para Para Pattaampoochi - Tamizh M.A
4. Sun is shining - Bob Marley
When I hit Track 4, I had to stop and let that song pass. There is no recovering from the Marley effect. Which reminds me. Watched this movie called 10,000 B.C with couple of friends of mine. Ten minutes into the movie and this friend of mine is like, "Enna da edhu, ellarum Bob Marley machan mathere erukkaanga". No direct relevance here, but just came into my head.
Luckily the fifth song in my play list is Anomaly by BT. The Marley effect has passed.
From the manner in which the sub-conversation started and the manner in which it ended I am sure I don't need to really spell out what happened in between.
The news, I can handle. It's the number that has me a little off guard.
Enna kodumai Saravana edhu.
Monday, March 10, 2008
I'm annoyed
I know the problem. I know the solution. I just can't seem to implement it. That is seriously pissing me off.
In the absence of implementation the problem keeps recurring which leads to more frustration.
This is something I need to very urgently remedy.
In the absence of implementation the problem keeps recurring which leads to more frustration.
This is something I need to very urgently remedy.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Between then and now
I ask myself what happened. The optimist in me says Life and the pessimist says Old Age, relatively speaking of course.
For some reason I was checking my mail box to see how many mails I have in it. The earliest mail I have is dated late 2004. I start reading select few mails and work my way backwards. I can't believe I used to be in touch with so many people for so many reasons with such varying levels of comfort.
Some of them, I'm still in touch. Some, more often than then. Some of them, I'm no longer in touch.
Reading some of the stuff I typed back then makes me smile. Hitting on girls, complete strangers, some girl I met one time in some gathering. I came across two such mails where they chose fit to reply. I cant recall what I was thinking when I did that. I cant remember how many such attempts have not managed to get a reply. I remember their faces, names are in the mail so no mystery there. I am shaking my head in disbelief as I type this.
Will I do it now ? The answer is an emphatic no.
I wouldn't mail, I'd get her number and call. What was I thinking ? Why did I waste my time mailing ? Or maybe I'd shrug it off. Probably the latter is more likely than the former, unless of course the girl is irresistible.
Anyway, my choice of words now will be drastically different from what I would have chosen then.
I can see a sea of change in the content and in the presentation.
Content has changed probably because between then and now, I have evolved from student to professional, from financial dependence to independence, from optimist to practical, from dream to life.
Presentation has changed probably because now I understand the difference between content and presentation and my reading habits have changed over time.
At a personal level, I know things are not the same. I'm not the guy I used to be in 2005 or earlier. At the outset, change may not be obvious. But I know, I'm not the same.
My perspectives have changed. My ideas have changed. My opinions have changed. My priorities have changed. My needs have changed.
I like what I used to be then. I like what I am now. The older me would have been alarmed at this change. The new me is more curious to know what the next two years will bring.
What will I type after two years when I read this post ?
I am not sure if change is painful, it sure is inevitable.
It only seems befitting that I listen to this song called "Make this go on forever" while I type this post.
For some reason I was checking my mail box to see how many mails I have in it. The earliest mail I have is dated late 2004. I start reading select few mails and work my way backwards. I can't believe I used to be in touch with so many people for so many reasons with such varying levels of comfort.
Some of them, I'm still in touch. Some, more often than then. Some of them, I'm no longer in touch.
Reading some of the stuff I typed back then makes me smile. Hitting on girls, complete strangers, some girl I met one time in some gathering. I came across two such mails where they chose fit to reply. I cant recall what I was thinking when I did that. I cant remember how many such attempts have not managed to get a reply. I remember their faces, names are in the mail so no mystery there. I am shaking my head in disbelief as I type this.
Will I do it now ? The answer is an emphatic no.
I wouldn't mail, I'd get her number and call. What was I thinking ? Why did I waste my time mailing ? Or maybe I'd shrug it off. Probably the latter is more likely than the former, unless of course the girl is irresistible.
Anyway, my choice of words now will be drastically different from what I would have chosen then.
I can see a sea of change in the content and in the presentation.
Content has changed probably because between then and now, I have evolved from student to professional, from financial dependence to independence, from optimist to practical, from dream to life.
Presentation has changed probably because now I understand the difference between content and presentation and my reading habits have changed over time.
At a personal level, I know things are not the same. I'm not the guy I used to be in 2005 or earlier. At the outset, change may not be obvious. But I know, I'm not the same.
My perspectives have changed. My ideas have changed. My opinions have changed. My priorities have changed. My needs have changed.
I like what I used to be then. I like what I am now. The older me would have been alarmed at this change. The new me is more curious to know what the next two years will bring.
What will I type after two years when I read this post ?
I am not sure if change is painful, it sure is inevitable.
It only seems befitting that I listen to this song called "Make this go on forever" while I type this post.
Now, This is a real Feel Good Song
Heard this song for the first time about a month back on this channel called Voyager on WorldSpace Satellite Radio. My only regret, I didn't know about this song earlier.
The music and the lyrics are so in sync, if they were people they would be wearing each others underwear.
Artist: Snow Patrol
Track: Shut Your Eyes
Album: Eyes Open
Year: 2006
Notice the irony in the name of the track and the album. No wonder this is the best song in the album. Why do I feel like I've known these guys for a long time ?
Lyrics:
========================
Shut your eyes and think of somewhere
Somewhere cold and caked in snow
By the fire we break the quiet
Learn to wear each other well
And when the worrying starts to hurt
And the world feels like bricks of dirt
Just close your eyes until
You can imagine this place
Yeah, our secret space at will
Shut your eyes, I spin the big chair
And you'll feel dizzy, light and free
And falling gently on the cushion
You can come and sing to me
And when the worrying starts to hurt
And the world feels like bricks of dirt
Just close your eyes until
You can imagine this place
Yeah, our secret space at will
(Shut your eyes)
[x4]
Shut your eyes and sing to me
(Shut your eyes and sing to me)
[x4]
The music and the lyrics are so in sync, if they were people they would be wearing each others underwear.
Artist: Snow Patrol
Track: Shut Your Eyes
Album: Eyes Open
Year: 2006
Notice the irony in the name of the track and the album. No wonder this is the best song in the album. Why do I feel like I've known these guys for a long time ?
Lyrics:
========================
Shut your eyes and think of somewhere
Somewhere cold and caked in snow
By the fire we break the quiet
Learn to wear each other well
And when the worrying starts to hurt
And the world feels like bricks of dirt
Just close your eyes until
You can imagine this place
Yeah, our secret space at will
Shut your eyes, I spin the big chair
And you'll feel dizzy, light and free
And falling gently on the cushion
You can come and sing to me
And when the worrying starts to hurt
And the world feels like bricks of dirt
Just close your eyes until
You can imagine this place
Yeah, our secret space at will
(Shut your eyes)
[x4]
Shut your eyes and sing to me
(Shut your eyes and sing to me)
[x4]
Friday, March 7, 2008
Credit crunch, Liquidity crisis and Economic recession
Anyone following international economics will know what I'm talking about. For those who are happy reading only the headlines and not the content, you must know about the subprime crisis and fears of economics recession in the global markets. For those who are not bothered with international news, you must know the SENSEX, as recently as yesterday, closed below 16,000.
If you think these events are not connected, you are an IDIOT. A pristine one at that.
If you think the problem is only with global economies, why do you think ICICI took a $263 million mark to market loss ?
Oh thats easy to explain, ICICI has foreign subsidiaries and the MTM loss is a result of their lending activities.
Oh yeah, so who owns these subsidiaries huh ? These are fully owned subsidiaries of ICICI bank. You think this MTM loss will only reflect on the price of ICICI ADR's listed on NYSE. Of course not, it will eventually reflect on ICICI's consolidated earnings and ultimately flow through to the price of ICICI stock listed on the BSE SENSEX and NIFTY.
If you think that is not possible, I'm going to say this one more time. You are an IDIOT.
Of course ICICI management claims this is only a mark to market loss, which means its only notional at this point and not yet realised. The assets will rebound and these losses will be recovered.
But somehow, i'm so not sure that will happen.
At some point I will try and put in my understanding of the subprime crisis and assoiated problems. It will take time to type that post. Actually, I have the time, just don't have the patience. Maybe sometime over the next week or maybe even tomorrow.
Meanwhile, at a very holistic and abstract level, the following comment sums up the problems faced by the international financial markets.
"It's interesting that the industry has invented new ways to lose money, when the old ways seemed to work just fine."
As said by Mike Smith, ANZ's Chief Executive quoting Wells Fargo Chief Executive John Stumpf, while addressing the Australian British Chamber of Commerce.
If you think these events are not connected, you are an IDIOT. A pristine one at that.
If you think the problem is only with global economies, why do you think ICICI took a $263 million mark to market loss ?
Oh thats easy to explain, ICICI has foreign subsidiaries and the MTM loss is a result of their lending activities.
Oh yeah, so who owns these subsidiaries huh ? These are fully owned subsidiaries of ICICI bank. You think this MTM loss will only reflect on the price of ICICI ADR's listed on NYSE. Of course not, it will eventually reflect on ICICI's consolidated earnings and ultimately flow through to the price of ICICI stock listed on the BSE SENSEX and NIFTY.
If you think that is not possible, I'm going to say this one more time. You are an IDIOT.
Of course ICICI management claims this is only a mark to market loss, which means its only notional at this point and not yet realised. The assets will rebound and these losses will be recovered.
But somehow, i'm so not sure that will happen.
At some point I will try and put in my understanding of the subprime crisis and assoiated problems. It will take time to type that post. Actually, I have the time, just don't have the patience. Maybe sometime over the next week or maybe even tomorrow.
Meanwhile, at a very holistic and abstract level, the following comment sums up the problems faced by the international financial markets.
"It's interesting that the industry has invented new ways to lose money, when the old ways seemed to work just fine."
As said by Mike Smith, ANZ's Chief Executive quoting Wells Fargo Chief Executive John Stumpf, while addressing the Australian British Chamber of Commerce.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Spare the rod, Spoil the child - Part One
I know what I want to type, but I am just too damn lazy right now.
Feel free to speculate amongst yourselves. I'll probably add a Part Two to this if I have the patience.
Feel free to speculate amongst yourselves. I'll probably add a Part Two to this if I have the patience.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Emotional Leverage
If you are good with word associations, you need not read further. You will obviously have a fair idea as to what to expect.
If you are not good with word associations and you are bored with a butt load of time to kill, even then you shouldn't bother to read further. I'm sure you can think of something better to do than read my rants.
On the odd chance that some of you people are still reading, well what can I say. Best of luck.
It is important to explore one's abilities.
It is important to realise one's limitations.
It is important to manage one's expectations.
It is important to handle one's disappointments.
If anyone knows how to do that, please do tell me.
I used to think, "no expectations, no disappointments".
Now, I know it is not possible to have no expectations. Thus leading to the conclusion, it is not possible to have no disappointments.
The more we explore our own abilities, we start to build our expectations. Failure to recognise our own limitations invaribaly leads to disappointments.
Only thing not factored into this theory is "emotional leverage".
The extent to which we explore our abilities does not commensurate the increase in our expectations. If we discover that we are capable of doing "x" number of things, our expectations increase by a factor of "x".
Similarly, the extent by which we fail to recognise our limitations does not commensurate the disappointment it causes.
This introduces what I like to call as "social risk". Our expectations are a function of more than just our abilities. We expect things not only from ourselves, but from others around us. Odds are those expectations will not be met.
Applying emotional leverage here, we can see that, more the number of people we interact with, higher are the expectations from them. And if you are a hopeless optimist, then you will never realise the limitations in anyone and you will get hurt. Badly at that.
My workaround for this - It's simple.
Try and limit your expectations to yourself.
That way you will only have yourself to blame. That also means you will run out of excuses when something goes wrong, but it also cuts a lot of crap out of your life.
On the up-side, when something goes right, you will be smiling both on the outside and the inside.
If you are not good with word associations and you are bored with a butt load of time to kill, even then you shouldn't bother to read further. I'm sure you can think of something better to do than read my rants.
On the odd chance that some of you people are still reading, well what can I say. Best of luck.
It is important to explore one's abilities.
It is important to realise one's limitations.
It is important to manage one's expectations.
It is important to handle one's disappointments.
If anyone knows how to do that, please do tell me.
I used to think, "no expectations, no disappointments".
Now, I know it is not possible to have no expectations. Thus leading to the conclusion, it is not possible to have no disappointments.
The more we explore our own abilities, we start to build our expectations. Failure to recognise our own limitations invaribaly leads to disappointments.
Only thing not factored into this theory is "emotional leverage".
The extent to which we explore our abilities does not commensurate the increase in our expectations. If we discover that we are capable of doing "x" number of things, our expectations increase by a factor of "x".
Similarly, the extent by which we fail to recognise our limitations does not commensurate the disappointment it causes.
This introduces what I like to call as "social risk". Our expectations are a function of more than just our abilities. We expect things not only from ourselves, but from others around us. Odds are those expectations will not be met.
Applying emotional leverage here, we can see that, more the number of people we interact with, higher are the expectations from them. And if you are a hopeless optimist, then you will never realise the limitations in anyone and you will get hurt. Badly at that.
My workaround for this - It's simple.
Try and limit your expectations to yourself.
That way you will only have yourself to blame. That also means you will run out of excuses when something goes wrong, but it also cuts a lot of crap out of your life.
On the up-side, when something goes right, you will be smiling both on the outside and the inside.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Once Upon the Sea of Blissful Awareness
Presenting Shpongle.
This song will make you willingly and blissfully unaware of everything around you. Just don't listen to this when you are high - on anything.
Lyrics:
===========================
'Waves of the soft spring wind
Love's flood tide is rising full
The moon of love is rising full
Sea of beauty.
The moon of love is rising full
Love's flood tide.
Some laugh, some weep, some dance for joy.
My mind craves nectar day and night.
Like a blue lotus floating on the sea of love.
Lingering in ashantically
Lingering in the akashic realms
Lingering in the realms.
Blue lotus floats, floating, floating..
Some laugh, some weep, some dance for joy.
My mind craves nectar day and night.'
This song will make you willingly and blissfully unaware of everything around you. Just don't listen to this when you are high - on anything.
Lyrics:
===========================
'Waves of the soft spring wind
Love's flood tide is rising full
The moon of love is rising full
Sea of beauty.
The moon of love is rising full
Love's flood tide.
Some laugh, some weep, some dance for joy.
My mind craves nectar day and night.
Like a blue lotus floating on the sea of love.
Lingering in ashantically
Lingering in the akashic realms
Lingering in the realms.
Blue lotus floats, floating, floating..
Some laugh, some weep, some dance for joy.
My mind craves nectar day and night.'
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Who knows me better ?
The debate is between me and them. And by them I mean everyone else other than me.
At various points in time, people have come up to me and tried to convince me of what is best for me. If not convince, atleast they have no inhibitions in voicing their opinions. From school, through college, both under graduate and post graduate, till until recently like a few hours ago.
They are just overwhelmingly convinced of what they have to say. Seriously makes me wonder. How can I be so bad at knowing what I want ? Let me illustrate with an example. Following is a reproduction of a conversation I had with a she-friend of mine about 3 hours ago.
she: Elektra (obviously thats not her name, but I like the sound of that name), my other former roomie is coming to stay with me. She's here with me till the weekend.
me: super. enjoy.
she: yeah
me: is she single ?
me: how does she look ?
she: she's not your type.
You see what I'm driving at. You will understand better when I tell you that even I don't know what my type means.
It's like the entire world is suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder. People are just obsessed with psycho analysing everyone else.
It's either that or I'm being paranoid.
Like Omar Epps says in one of the episodes in House M.D, "It's not paranoia if someone is out to get you".
It probably is paranoia if you think everyone is out to get you.
Wait, I'm confused. Somebody help me.
At various points in time, people have come up to me and tried to convince me of what is best for me. If not convince, atleast they have no inhibitions in voicing their opinions. From school, through college, both under graduate and post graduate, till until recently like a few hours ago.
They are just overwhelmingly convinced of what they have to say. Seriously makes me wonder. How can I be so bad at knowing what I want ? Let me illustrate with an example. Following is a reproduction of a conversation I had with a she-friend of mine about 3 hours ago.
she: Elektra (obviously thats not her name, but I like the sound of that name), my other former roomie is coming to stay with me. She's here with me till the weekend.
me: super. enjoy.
she: yeah
me: is she single ?
me: how does she look ?
she: she's not your type.
You see what I'm driving at. You will understand better when I tell you that even I don't know what my type means.
It's like the entire world is suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder. People are just obsessed with psycho analysing everyone else.
It's either that or I'm being paranoid.
Like Omar Epps says in one of the episodes in House M.D, "It's not paranoia if someone is out to get you".
It probably is paranoia if you think everyone is out to get you.
Wait, I'm confused. Somebody help me.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Sunset, Beach, Sundal and the rest
Scene Sindhamani, henceforth referred to as SS, and Rouse Rangamani, henceforth referred to as RR, are friends.
Just as any other weekday, they are jobless and decide to meet up to rant about their joblessness to each other. They decide to meet at elliots beach. They get themselves a packet of sundal each, the universal sign of vettiness.
The following is the complete conversation that occured between them:
SS: Do you know what we should do ?
RR: No. What ?
SS: If I knew I wouldn't have asked now, would I ?
RR: Hmm. If I knew I would have told you now, wouldn't I ?
SS: Hmm. Good point.
They decide to go in for their second packet of sundal and watch the sunset.
Just as any other weekday, they are jobless and decide to meet up to rant about their joblessness to each other. They decide to meet at elliots beach. They get themselves a packet of sundal each, the universal sign of vettiness.
The following is the complete conversation that occured between them:
SS: Do you know what we should do ?
RR: No. What ?
SS: If I knew I wouldn't have asked now, would I ?
RR: Hmm. If I knew I would have told you now, wouldn't I ?
SS: Hmm. Good point.
They decide to go in for their second packet of sundal and watch the sunset.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Everybody needs a reason to crib
If I start and keep doing ONLY the things I love to do, then I would have nothing to look forward to. Every moment would be the same as every other moment.
As pessimistic and as negative as that may sound, if you just keep quiet for a while and listen to yourself, you will know that is the truth.
Everybody needs a reason to crib.
If all the people were content and happy with the way things are we will all begin to rot in our own filth.
But hey, atleast we'll be happy, right ??
As pessimistic and as negative as that may sound, if you just keep quiet for a while and listen to yourself, you will know that is the truth.
Everybody needs a reason to crib.
If all the people were content and happy with the way things are we will all begin to rot in our own filth.
But hey, atleast we'll be happy, right ??
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Dark Heart Dawning
I really love this song. The video is not exactly what I had in mind for this song, but unfortunately couldn't find anything better. Let the song play, close your eyes and listen.
Lyrics are as follows:
=======================
It's all good...
Clever clap of lightning
Flash before the sound
The dark heart is dawning
There's no one else around
Violate me like an animal
Like you always do
While the dark heart is dawning
And the sky is as black as you
I came up in it
I crash down in it
It's all good
I feel complete in it
I black out in it
It's all good
[x2]
Burning branches of synaptic fire
Surf the serotonin swells
While the dark heart is dawning
And cuts the wound that nothing quells
Impotent in your hatred
I've been cut but never bled
Though your dark heart is dawning
This child can see a light ahead
Though I came up in it
I'm not defined by it
It's all good
I felt complete in it
now cuttin free of it
It's all good
And in the age of love, you came and split my heart
And in the rage of love, you taught the joy in pain
And in the age of love, I found my sacred place
Where I can hide
from the dark heart that's dawning
like now...
from the dark heart that's dawning
And in the age of love, you came and split my heart
And in the rage of love, you taught the joy in pain
And in the age of love, I found my sacred place
Where I can hide
from the dark heart that's dawning
like now...
Dark Heart Dawning
Calm's still coming
Waves keep rising
Time keeps takin her time
[x2]
Lyrics are as follows:
=======================
It's all good...
Clever clap of lightning
Flash before the sound
The dark heart is dawning
There's no one else around
Violate me like an animal
Like you always do
While the dark heart is dawning
And the sky is as black as you
I came up in it
I crash down in it
It's all good
I feel complete in it
I black out in it
It's all good
[x2]
Burning branches of synaptic fire
Surf the serotonin swells
While the dark heart is dawning
And cuts the wound that nothing quells
Impotent in your hatred
I've been cut but never bled
Though your dark heart is dawning
This child can see a light ahead
Though I came up in it
I'm not defined by it
It's all good
I felt complete in it
now cuttin free of it
It's all good
And in the age of love, you came and split my heart
And in the rage of love, you taught the joy in pain
And in the age of love, I found my sacred place
Where I can hide
from the dark heart that's dawning
like now...
from the dark heart that's dawning
And in the age of love, you came and split my heart
And in the rage of love, you taught the joy in pain
And in the age of love, I found my sacred place
Where I can hide
from the dark heart that's dawning
like now...
Dark Heart Dawning
Calm's still coming
Waves keep rising
Time keeps takin her time
[x2]
My top 5 at this point in time
1. "Orestes" by A Perfect Circle
2. "Spiral" by Godsmack
3. "I'm no Angel" by Dido
4. "As sure as the sun" by Black Rebel Motorcyle Club
5. "Dark Heart Dawning" by BT
This subject to change without prior notice.
2. "Spiral" by Godsmack
3. "I'm no Angel" by Dido
4. "As sure as the sun" by Black Rebel Motorcyle Club
5. "Dark Heart Dawning" by BT
This subject to change without prior notice.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
This is one of the best songs ever
Lyrics are as follows:
Metaphor for a missing moment
Pull me in to your perfect circle
One womb
One shame
One resolve
Liberate this will
To release us all
Gotta cut away, clear away
Snip away and sever this
Umbilical residue,
Keeping me from killing you
And from pulling you down with me here,
I can almost hear you scream
Give me one more medicated peaceful moment
Give me one more medicated peaceful moment
And I don't wanna feel this
Overwhelming hostility
I don't wanna feel this
Overwhelming hostility
Gotta cut away, clear away
Snip away and sever this
Umbilical residue
Gotta cut away, clear away
Snip away and sever this
Umbilical residue,
Keeping me from killing you
Snip away and sever this
Keeping me from killing you
=============================
Orestes was the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestre (sorry about the names, not sure about them since i'm no greek). Clytemnestre along with her lover Aeghistus murdered Agamemnon at his return from Troy, and attempted to kill her own son. His sister Elektra managed to have Orestes escape to Mount Parnassus. Eight years later, he was ordered by the Oracle of Delphi to return to Athens and slay his mother and her lover, which he eventually did with the help of his sister. The Gods, upset about that maricide, sent the Erynies to torture him. He eventually got forgiven his murder during a trial Athena organised, and went on to become king of Mycenae, Argos and Laconia, before dying of a snake bite in Arcadia.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
What is a "bad feeling" ?
I am driving a 1.9 litre, 90 bhp, 4 cylinder inline, turbocharged diesel at approximately 180 kmph @ 4000 rpm and suddenly a slow moving bus pulls onto the road in front of me.
I am pissed because I like to drive and drive fast. Now I have to slow down. Bad feeling. It gets better. Wait for it.
This car weighs about 1.3 tonnes. 1.3 tonnes when barrelling down the road at 180 kmph has a shit load of momentum going for it. I need a fair bit of stopping power to slow down let alone stop. This car doesn't have Anti Lock Braking. Neither does it have Electronic Brake Distribution. Nor does it have Air Bags. It has seat belts, but being the stud that I am, I am not wearing them.
Given this bit of information, I put my foot on the brake pedal and push down hard. It feels like I stepped on a banana peel. I can feel the disc brakes on the front wheels trying to stop the wheels from spinning, the operative word there being - "trying". I can feel the drum brakes on the rear wheels literally sliding off the wheels, fighting to create some sort of friction.
This is not my imagination. I felt the brake pedal pulse beneath my feet and there are only a limited number of known causes which will have that effect.
I know I am getting close to the bus, but I don't seem to be going any slower.
Since I am here recounting my experience it is obvious that I managed to make it out of that situation alive. You know how people say, when faced with near death situations, your life flashes before your eyes in slow motion.
Trust me, at 180 kmph nothing happens in slow motion. There's no time for slow motion.
Now, that is pretty much as bad as a feeling can possibly get.
I am pissed because I like to drive and drive fast. Now I have to slow down. Bad feeling. It gets better. Wait for it.
This car weighs about 1.3 tonnes. 1.3 tonnes when barrelling down the road at 180 kmph has a shit load of momentum going for it. I need a fair bit of stopping power to slow down let alone stop. This car doesn't have Anti Lock Braking. Neither does it have Electronic Brake Distribution. Nor does it have Air Bags. It has seat belts, but being the stud that I am, I am not wearing them.
Given this bit of information, I put my foot on the brake pedal and push down hard. It feels like I stepped on a banana peel. I can feel the disc brakes on the front wheels trying to stop the wheels from spinning, the operative word there being - "trying". I can feel the drum brakes on the rear wheels literally sliding off the wheels, fighting to create some sort of friction.
This is not my imagination. I felt the brake pedal pulse beneath my feet and there are only a limited number of known causes which will have that effect.
I know I am getting close to the bus, but I don't seem to be going any slower.
Since I am here recounting my experience it is obvious that I managed to make it out of that situation alive. You know how people say, when faced with near death situations, your life flashes before your eyes in slow motion.
Trust me, at 180 kmph nothing happens in slow motion. There's no time for slow motion.
Now, that is pretty much as bad as a feeling can possibly get.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Art of Multitasking
People always say Time Management is the key. And the key to Time Management is Multitasking.
I have a problem. I have to manage my time at home.
Between fairly important activities like consuming food for my survival, extremely important activity of watching House M.D and this very annoying activity of avoiding conversations with my mom.
Before you jump to conclusions and decide that I'm an insensitive jerk, you must know that I am just about 25 years and 6 months old and all conversations with mommy invariably lead to when I am willing to get hitched and end with me raising my voice and me serving myself cold dinner.
So, I figured I need to do something about this.
What do I do ?
Simple, combine the above mentioned activities to occur simultaneously. I started having dinner while watching House M.D hoping that the sight of me in front of my comp will discourage my mommy from indulging in any sort of conversation. Then she made me realise that I'm not the only one capable of raising voices.
First instinct would be shout back at her and prolong the torture. But I didn't. This is where my genius brain kicks in.
I don't raise MY voice. I just increase the volume on my comp. Clever huh. It's one thing for my mom to compete with me on who has the louder voice, but with 2.1 creative speakers doing the work for me - she's toast.
If you think Love is the work of god, Genius is the work of the devil.
Wow - I actually kinda like the sound of that.
I have a problem. I have to manage my time at home.
Between fairly important activities like consuming food for my survival, extremely important activity of watching House M.D and this very annoying activity of avoiding conversations with my mom.
Before you jump to conclusions and decide that I'm an insensitive jerk, you must know that I am just about 25 years and 6 months old and all conversations with mommy invariably lead to when I am willing to get hitched and end with me raising my voice and me serving myself cold dinner.
So, I figured I need to do something about this.
What do I do ?
Simple, combine the above mentioned activities to occur simultaneously. I started having dinner while watching House M.D hoping that the sight of me in front of my comp will discourage my mommy from indulging in any sort of conversation. Then she made me realise that I'm not the only one capable of raising voices.
First instinct would be shout back at her and prolong the torture. But I didn't. This is where my genius brain kicks in.
I don't raise MY voice. I just increase the volume on my comp. Clever huh. It's one thing for my mom to compete with me on who has the louder voice, but with 2.1 creative speakers doing the work for me - she's toast.
If you think Love is the work of god, Genius is the work of the devil.
Wow - I actually kinda like the sound of that.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
My day @ work
I am bored.
I want to sleep.
Huh !!!
What day is today ?
Which movie is releasing this Friday ?
What time should I have coffee ?
What kind of coffee should I have ?
How many times have I checked my mail today ?
Yaaawwwnnn .....
I need a new mobile.
I have to change my car.
What the hell am I doing here ?
If I am thinking any one of the above mentioned thoughts, it can mean only one thing.
I am in office.
Do not make the mistake of assuming that my presence in office means I am working. Oh no. One of the advantages of working for a credit desk when international credit markets are on the floor is, I get paid for free.
It's like space time continuity ceases to exist when I am in office. Every day is like a deja vu of the previous day in office.
Which leads me to question, what the hell am I doing here ?
I want to sleep.
Huh !!!
What day is today ?
Which movie is releasing this Friday ?
What time should I have coffee ?
What kind of coffee should I have ?
How many times have I checked my mail today ?
Yaaawwwnnn .....
I need a new mobile.
I have to change my car.
What the hell am I doing here ?
If I am thinking any one of the above mentioned thoughts, it can mean only one thing.
I am in office.
Do not make the mistake of assuming that my presence in office means I am working. Oh no. One of the advantages of working for a credit desk when international credit markets are on the floor is, I get paid for free.
It's like space time continuity ceases to exist when I am in office. Every day is like a deja vu of the previous day in office.
Which leads me to question, what the hell am I doing here ?
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Moral #$^%&
The word which I'm cleverly trying to censor is Police.
"Moral Police" - I've been hearing a fair bit about this nowadays. Didn't really bother about it until it found it's way to Singara Chennai - specifically Marina Beach.
Apparently families, and by that I mean dad with mom and kid, who come to Marina beach for recreation are increasingly encountering heterosexual couples who also visit Marina beach for recreation but of an adult nature. Apparently, a guy and a girl holding hands in public is not allowed. So, obviously, any other part of their anatomy coming into physical contact is also not allowed.
The dad's and the mom's are apparently worried that the sight of a guy and a girl holding hands might have a detrimental effect on the development of their kid. Which makes me wonder, how did the dad and the mom manage to make a kid without going through that exercise ?
Actually, I have a better question.
Which is more likely to happen -
1. a kid watching a guy and a girl kissing on Marina beach, which is open air and rather spread out for one kid to exhaustively cover
or
2. the same kid being taken to watch Ajith's latest flick, Billa, where Nayanthara walks around in a two piece bikini and Namitha clearly has no inhibitions shaking different parts of her anatomy on a 70 mm screen.
I'm sorry but I fail to understand this.
The parents are apparently opposed to PDA. Don't worry - For all you people who are not tech savvy, like me, PDA stands for Public Display of Affection.
First time I heard that acronym, I thought it was some cool hand held device which had some new feature(s) which I couldn't even pronounce let alone understand.
Anyway, parents are obviously comfortable when their kids are exposed to soft porn on a 70 mm screen but they would absolutely not allow their kids to see a guy and a girl sit on the beach holding hands.
The Police has now joined in on this gang bang and are actually warning couples in Marine beach to mind their space and actions.
What next I wonder.
All this bullshit is hypocritical at best and cheap at worst.
"Moral Police" - I've been hearing a fair bit about this nowadays. Didn't really bother about it until it found it's way to Singara Chennai - specifically Marina Beach.
Apparently families, and by that I mean dad with mom and kid, who come to Marina beach for recreation are increasingly encountering heterosexual couples who also visit Marina beach for recreation but of an adult nature. Apparently, a guy and a girl holding hands in public is not allowed. So, obviously, any other part of their anatomy coming into physical contact is also not allowed.
The dad's and the mom's are apparently worried that the sight of a guy and a girl holding hands might have a detrimental effect on the development of their kid. Which makes me wonder, how did the dad and the mom manage to make a kid without going through that exercise ?
Actually, I have a better question.
Which is more likely to happen -
1. a kid watching a guy and a girl kissing on Marina beach, which is open air and rather spread out for one kid to exhaustively cover
or
2. the same kid being taken to watch Ajith's latest flick, Billa, where Nayanthara walks around in a two piece bikini and Namitha clearly has no inhibitions shaking different parts of her anatomy on a 70 mm screen.
I'm sorry but I fail to understand this.
The parents are apparently opposed to PDA. Don't worry - For all you people who are not tech savvy, like me, PDA stands for Public Display of Affection.
First time I heard that acronym, I thought it was some cool hand held device which had some new feature(s) which I couldn't even pronounce let alone understand.
Anyway, parents are obviously comfortable when their kids are exposed to soft porn on a 70 mm screen but they would absolutely not allow their kids to see a guy and a girl sit on the beach holding hands.
The Police has now joined in on this gang bang and are actually warning couples in Marine beach to mind their space and actions.
What next I wonder.
All this bullshit is hypocritical at best and cheap at worst.
Ignorance is bliss
That is so true, but also far fetched from reality and more importantly, incomplete.
If I was ignorant to the fact that there are jobs out there which will better suit my requirement as compared to my current job, I would be in a state of bliss.
If I was ignorant of the existence of the world around me, I would be in a state of bliss.
There is always an "I" and an "IF" in the statements I have made here and the one's I thought of but didn't type in here.
Tells me two things - Bliss is conditional and very subjective.
If I live in a world where I am the world, then bliss would be unconditional and universally applicable.
Since I dont ......
If I was ignorant to the fact that there are jobs out there which will better suit my requirement as compared to my current job, I would be in a state of bliss.
If I was ignorant of the existence of the world around me, I would be in a state of bliss.
There is always an "I" and an "IF" in the statements I have made here and the one's I thought of but didn't type in here.
Tells me two things - Bliss is conditional and very subjective.
If I live in a world where I am the world, then bliss would be unconditional and universally applicable.
Since I dont ......
Monday, January 7, 2008
2007 gone on 2008
Just another calendar year. I receive this with distant enthusiasm and a distinct lack of optimism.
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