Kya Nazakat hain

I heard the song Kya Nazakat hai by Shibani Kashyap this morning on the radio. I dont know what it is, but I liked the song. I tried to find a video of the song on the net. Could not find it anywhere... Putting a link to listen to the song. If any of you know where I can find a video of the song, do let me know.

.. uh.. ... um... uh.. Can I have a .........

(I was blog hopping when I ended up on a blog where people talked about their funny incidents with condoms. And I recollected a real embarrassing incident that happened to me. )

The practice in our hostel for birthdays was that we used to get condoms for the birthday boy, fill it up with water, (That stuff can take in plenty of water.) and then hurl it on the birthday boy. (Yeow ???? I know. That being the point.)

The incident I am about to narrate happened when I was in 3rd Semester Engineering. My (buddy and) room mate and I had gone downtown. The next day was another friend's birthday and so we decided to buy some condoms for the birthday ritual. We went around town searching for the least crowded chemists shop. We finally found one that did not have too many people in it. I was too shy and knew I would feel too embarrassed to make the purchase myself. I tried to get my roomie to go and buy it. He too did not want to make that looooong trip from the road to the chemists desk. We kept arguing on who should go .

After a lot of coaxing, my roomie finally built up the courage agreed to go buy the condom. I stayed back a few yards away, on the footpath, while my roomie went to the shop to buy the condoms.

Roomie : "uh..um.. Condoms please.. ".
Shopkeeper: "Which one ?"
My smartass roomie: (then turns around and asks me loudly) "Which one do you want ?? KS ? Ribbed ??".

My gawd !!! I wished I was dead !!!

Kalaripayattu ??

A boring Sunday evening turned into a real exciting evening. I just could not stop laughing watching our Kalari master Sreesanth demonstrating his war dance skills....

I-Pod !!!

A few days back, I was chatting with Pooja on Yahoo messenger, when all of a sudden she asked "Hey !!! Do you have an I-Pod?". I replied, "Now what ? You want to borrow that too ? C'mon you still haven't returned so many of those things that you have already borrowed." "What I have not returned ?", she was irritated. "Well, you still have to return my `Kenny G` CD, my USB memory stick, my Jeffrey Archer Novel.... do you want me to continue ??". "Oh! you are so possessive !!!" And as usual, it went into yet another unending argument.

The very next day I got a forward with a beautiful eye-pod. So I sent it to her.


I dont think she appreciated my sense of humour however, coz she socked me in my arm when I met her that evening.

Leaving On A Jet Plane

Was sitting at home, listening to the radio when they played "Leaving On A Jet Plane" by John Denver, one of the greatest songwriter, actor, performer, environmentalist and champion of several causes. I have always had a liking for his songs and I could not resist putting up the lyrics of the song.

All my bags are packed
Im ready to go
Im standin here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin
Its early morn
The taxis waitin
Hes blowin his horn
Already Im so lonesome
I could die

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that youll wait for me
Hold me like youll never let me go
cause Im leavin on a jet plane
Dont know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Theres so many times Ive let you down
So many times Ive played around
I tell you now, they dont mean a thing
Evry place I go, Ill think of you
Evry song I sing, Ill sing for you
When I come back, Ill bring your wedding ring

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that youll wait for me
Hold me like youll never let me go
cause Im leavin on a jet plane
Dont know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Now the time has come to leave you
One more time
Let me kiss you
Then close your eyes
Ill be on my way
Dream about the days to come
When I wont have to leave alone
About the times, I wont have to say

Oh, kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that youll wait for me
Hold me like youll never let me go
cause Im leavin on a jet plane
Dont know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

But, Im leavin on a jet plane
Dont know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Selection Conundrum

I was out for lunch with a few of my colleagues when our conversation veered to the upcoming first Test match of the South African tour. After the usual rants of the performance of the cricket team, the topic turned to the selection for the first Test. Ok.. now lets see... who we "have to" play, whom needs to play and whom we dont need to fit into the team.

For starters, lets say, we decide to go in with 5 batsman, 1 wicketkeeper and 5 specialist bowlers. Starting with the batsmen, and there starting with the captain, Rahul Dravid. Now, there is one man without whom the Indian test team is just incomplete. There is no doubt at all, injury or not, he just will walk into the team. He cannot leave his boys out for the South African bowlers to feast on. So, he is in. Then we have his deputy, VVS Laxman. He was brought into the team all the way from India to bolster the One day team's performance. He definitely did that. He added one more to the team - ofcourse I meant, one more duck to the scorecard. Then there is the all time great Sachin Tendulkar. Now, there is no way, anybody would ever drop him from a team. Thats like blasphemy. Whether he is in form or not, he will get into the team. And then, there is the comeback man, our one and only "aap mujhe boole to nahin" dada, Saurav Ganguly. Now after his scintillating performance in the 1st innings of the practice match, and that too under pressure, there is no way he cannot be included in the team. Right ?? So, he is in too. Then, there is the ex vice captain, who has not yet been dropped from the Test team for whatever reasons. Its very unlikely that he will sit and warm the benches. So, he's also likely to play.

And so, we have five batsman in the team already. But wait, we still have only one opening batsman. No, no ... I did not mean, to open the duck farm. I meant to open the innings for India. Ok, now lets look at whom else do we have. Wasim Jaffer. Hmm... Did he come to play cricket or to start the duck farm. He definitely has collected the most number of ducks in this tour. So, unlikely that we can go ahead with him. We obviously cant send Rahul or Sachin or Laxman to open. And definitely not Saurav coz neither can he fend off balls from the fiery South African pacers nor does he have the technique to handle the rising ball. And moreover he scored his 83 odd runs playing down the order, not as an opener. Moreover drafting him in as an opener, would seem like a very unfair hit on his comeback trial. If he does not succeed, the whole of Calcutta will blame Rahul (and Ratan tata and George Bush) of course. So, its probably safer he does not open. Ok.... lets worry about the fifth slot a little later.

Going on... we have the wicket keeper slot. Now unlike the one day team which usually has a slot for "bits and pieces" players, the test team consists of specialist batsmen, bowlers and wicketkeeper. So, its unlikely that the test team will have two wicketkeepers. So, unlike the one-day team either Dhoni or Kaarthik has to be selected. Hmm... now that is probably the easy ones. Thats right.... we need to keep the sponsors happy.. choose the man who can get more advertisements going. That's right, just choose the guy with the long hair.

Hmm... now comes the specialist bowlers. We need to stick with three pacers and two spinners ??? hmm.. bouncy pitch with lots of cracks, maybe we need the guiles of the experienced Kumble. Okay... so kumble in. Can we afford another spinner ? Tough question. Lets pick the other pacers and then decide. So we start with Zaheer Khan, yes that dude has been bowling well, on his comeback trial. We definitely will need him. But we need two more. Is Munaf fit ? If he is, he should be making it to the team. There are two slots... and there are Sreesanth, VRV singh and Irfan Pathan. Considering the fact that Irfan was the prolific scorer of the practice match, he should be in the team. Additionally he can be asked to double up as the opener too. Hmm... never mind the fact that he played lower down the order in the practice match. but then we cannot sacrifice the others who have given us so many ducks on this tour. But hello... we were picking bowlers, why are we talking about batsmen. well, thats because this is the Indian cricket team... yahan pe sab kuch chalta hain. Okay then its settled he gets into the team.

Now that leaves only one question to be answered - the fifth bowler. Whom do we go with ? Sreesanth, VRV or Bhajji ?? Now, Bhajji can bat too. "hello !!! We were talking about bowlers !!" Okay okay... we will stick to their bowling. We know that Bhajji does not like the Kookaburra ball. But hey ... wait a minute. Does it really matter who the 11th man is ? Its a team game. We are likely to win only if all the 11 play good, not just the 11th man.

Heaven on Earth.

I was woken up by a cackle of voices talking about a beautiful starry sky. I was not sure where I was. I looked around and realized I was in a cosy sleeping bag inside what seemed like a tent. As I listened to the voices outside my tent trying to guess where I was, the topic outside changed to how the rain had seeped into their tents and drove away all their much wanted sleep. I slowly recalled the events of the previous day. It had been a long tiring day. We had started our trek from the foot of the hills from a sleepy little village, Beedalli. The group of fourteen consisting of friends and friends of friends, some of whom I had met for the very first time, were attempting to climb the Kumaraparvatha, the second highest mountain peak in Karnataka. After walking along mud roads carrying our heavy backpacks and tents for almost an hour or so, we had reached the forest office. The trek had just begun, but I and a few other lazy bones were already feeling the effects of shameless lazing around, doing no hard work, post college life.



After collecting the required permissions, and a fair warning of the impending rain and misty conditions, we started the steeper part of the trek through the green forests of the Western Ghats. As we crossed streams and stretches of damp tracks that rose steeply, we began to question, "What crazy joy do we plan to get, after all this hard work. We could have easily lazed at home and watched some English movie on HBO or Star Movies?". But we did not want to wait to find out the answer, as we were busy trying to flee from the constant attack of the blood sucking leeches. As we marched on bravely, we managed to keep a good pace. (well, thats looking at the positive side. We were actually running away from the army of tiny bloody suckers.)

Some of the highlights of the ascent to the top was the amazing sights of natural beauty that we saw as we trekked across. Other highlights of our trek were the huge slippery rocks that we had to climb. We had a few acrophobiacs, like me, who could not imagine having to make the climb to the top without the safety of a nylon rope to cling to. This in spite of some of the few nimble footed trekkers in our group literally doing a ballet on those slippery surfaces trying to encourage us to climb to the top. Thanks to their effort and the safety of the rope we managed to climb that rock. But there were other huge rocky surfaces where the safety rope was not useful. All we could do was pull up our socks, gulp some glucose and start climbing the huge rock. Mid way up one huge rock surface, the clouds started moving in and it began to drizzle. If life was tough, it just got tougher. The rock surface was now getting as slippery as ice. And if you did not know ice-skating, this was not a time to learn because if you slipped from here, most likely you would never get a chance to learn. But thankfully we managed to climb up the rock surface -all fourteen of us, with the exact number of bones that we started the trek.

We continued our trek, in the drizzle, now exhausted, cold, hungry and tired. The only thing on our minds was to rest somewhere. But where ? All we could find in our path lined with thick bushes infested with leeches and God alone knew what else, were cold wet and slippery rocks. Oh ! God !!! What did I get myself into ? There could have been much better ways to spend a Saturday evening - like sitting and sipping coffee with friends or family in a coffee shop. But here I was, in the midst of nowhere, cold, hungry and tired, trying to rest my aching limbs and fighting off the urge to give it all up. We had no clue of how far we were from the top of the mountain. The mists were beginning to set in. Many of us were tired - more mentally than physically. The weight of our backpacks, the heavy tents, the lack of fitness, and the years of lazing and drinking coffee was beginning to show. It was pure adrenaline and the fear of the bloody leeches which had brought us so far. But then there is a limit to which these can work. There was no more adrenaline in our body and we now no longer cared for the leeches. We were exhausted and did not care if the leeches got their share of blood.

We reached an opening that was neither broad enough not level enough to put up all our tents. But many of us were too tired and unwilling to go any further. We wanted to pitch our tents right there and get some well deserved rest. But the more stronger among us, willed us to push on, to push our limits and attempt to reach the top. This definitely was test for the mind. Did we have it in us to push ourselves ? Or would we fall victims to exhaustion. This would differtiate the men from the boys. After a minor discussion, just as the mists began to get thicker and thicker we decided to move on. We would need to stick closer together so that we were not lost. And then, all of a sudden we heard loud hoops of joy from some of our ilk who had gone ahead as a search party. It only signalled one thing - we were almost on top, probably just a few hundred meters away. With renewed energy we trekked on and reached the top. Completely exhausted we fell in a heap. It took a while for it to sink in that we had finally made it - that we had reached the top. And once realisation dawned that we had done what we hitherto beleived was impossible, we shouted with joy, exchanged hugs and congratulated each other for the remarkable effort and camaraderie we had shown.

After sipping the sights from the top of the mountain, we had immediately set about pitching our tents, setting up a fire, heating our dinner (our only decent meal of the whole day). By the time night fell (which was pretty fast on the misty mountain top) we had a decent fire going. The fire and the warm food finally brought in some life into our jaded bodies. We lit up a campfire and warmed ourselves a bit more. However we were too tired to enjoy it for long. Soon most of us retired ourselves to the warm confines of our tents.


As I stirred in my sleeping bag, I remembered how the rains had come crashing down in the night, on our tents. Thankfully our tent was tied up quite well and the water had not rushed into our tents. I stepped out of the tent to be greeted by a strong cold morning wind. It seemed like it was going to be a cloudy morning and we would denied the sight of the beautiful sunrise. And just as we were speaking the mists cleared up.
Only then we realised how beautiful our surroundings were. We were at almost 7000ft above sea level, high above the clouds. The thick white milky clouds was spread over miles and miles of clear sky. And as we watched in bated breaths, another of nature's beautiful wonders unfolded right in front of our eyes. The sight of the crimson red sun rising above the clouds and lighting the sky was an amazing sight, probably by far the most beautiful sight of my entire life. I find myself handicapped to describe the beauty of the morning. Never in my life had I experienced something so special. And as the sun rose slowly above the clouds and chasing away the mists we cried out in awe and joy.



I now understood why everyone kept saying that "the heavens above are a beautiful place". This probably was the heaven on earth.


Soon, it was time to leave.We packed our tents, had a small breakfast, cleaned up the place, made sure we did not leave any non-bio degradable objects behind and started our trek back. We had a long day ahead of us. We planned to trek down the other side of the mountain this time. The descent from the mountain top was initally quite dangerous. We had to cross some very slippery and very steep rock surfaces. But once we managed the cross these and the thick forests the terrain changed to a series of grass covered hills.

If the previous day was cloudy and rainy at times, today the sun was beating down on us in all its glory, sapping out every drop of water we had in our lifeless bodies. After trekking for a few hours in the burning sun, we reached the "Bhattara manne" tired and exhausted far beyond the previous day.

The Bhatta provided us a simple meal of rice, sambhar, buttermilk and pickle. But that to us was like amrutham. After eating three full helpings, I had to stop myself before the bhatta threw me out of his house. But the simple meal was extremely energizing. It helped us pull along for a very long distance. After a few more hours of trekking down sometimes treacherous, sometimes winding, paths amidst thick forests we finally managed to reach the bottom of the mountain just as it was getting dark. We checked into a hotel nearby, took a much deserved bath and went to the Kukke Subramania temple and thanked Him for keeping us all safe. One more amazing trek had come to a safe end. But the memories of the trek would stay with us for a very long time.

PS: In my attempt to keep this post as short as possible, I missed out a lot of details. However one of co-trekkers has a much more descriptive post of the same trek.
Kumaraparvatha and the 14 trekkers : Prologue
Kumaraparvatha and the 14 trekkers : Preparations
Kumaraparvatha and the 14 trekkers - Day 1
Kumaraparvatha and the 14 trekkers - Day 2
Kumaraparvatha and the 14 trekkers - Epilogue
Kumaraparvatha and the 14 trekkers - Me's Thoughts!

Most pictures in this post are courtesy my co-trekkers Radhakrishna and Eshwar. Thanks Guys. Those were wonderful pictures.

Those who live in Glasshouses should not throw stones

The current tour of South Africa by the Indian Cricket Team has brought to fore the abilities (some people would like to say disabilities) of our team. But whats new ? It has always been the case. We have never been able to boast of doing good on tours. (As always there are a few exceptions to every rule.) Its a well known fact that all Indian cricket teams irrespective of whether its the current one led by Dravid or the ones before, are all poor travelers. It does not matter whether its Greg Chappell or John Wright or Kapil Dev or Angshuman Gaekwad, we have never done well abroad. So, why the furore ?

The Indian media which is always short of good news and delves more on sensationalism makes mountains of our mole-hills (read as cricketers). And our fickle public which remembers just these sensations begin to expect more than we can deliver (even at home). Thanks to this approach "one match wonders" are enough to carry our cricketers for long distances in the Indian cricket team.

Lets accept the truth, thats the case in everything that we do. We are never the best. Whether its cricket or any other field. We are far from the best. A small rise in the sensex and there are thousands of people drooling in Dalal Street. We make them much more real than they are. Yes, we may have the ability or the potential to be the best. But we have not been. And I am not talking about potential here, so lets leave that aside. I am talking about what we have achieved. We climb small mountains and rest hoping that the tide of sensationalism will carry us across.

We ourselves live modest lives. Many of us content with small things. But then when it comes to cricket, we definitely expect our cricket team to play better than mediocre. And why ??? Because we pay them so much. And also we see them on so many advertisements. (which our ex-cricketers from the licence raj regime constantly remind us of). Hence we expect them to play and be much more consistent. We want them to be accountable. We demand that their pays should be based on their performance.

Well, there is a particular lot in our country, whose salary has been revised more 30 times in the last 50 years. (Well, thats at least thrice more than any other lot have got.) They are provided the best facilities that our poor country can afford - cars, bungalows in the cities, phone bills that nobody questions, free air and rail travel, a barrage of educated officers (IAS officers) for their beck and call. Yes, no prizes for guessing... its our politicians. They rule our country. How well have they performed ? But who is asking ? We really don't care ... now do we ? Its after all just a small country of billions that they are dealing with. But then we of course should demand that Greg Chapell and Dravid and his men should be accountable. After all they are the only ones who have to take our country forward. We really don't care about where we stand on the International corruption index but we must care about where we stand in the ICC cricket ratings. Or is it that we decided that to make a start we'll start from the ICC cricket ratings.

Here we are after 50 years of independence, paying Rupees Seven Lakh each for almost 5000 victims of a communal riot as compensation, a communal riot that could very well have saved thousands of lives and property worth crores of rupees. But then who cares ? Do we really need to know all this ? All we really need to ask our politicians is what they make of the Indian team's performance in South Africa.

Cricket is a game. Its a game to entertain people. Our poor countrymen have a dearth of good entertainment. Lets just allow cricket to be a game meant for entertainment rather than making it our national anthem.

Sleepless in Flight.

No. No.. this has nothing to do with the Meg Ryan - Tom Hanks starrer "Sleepless in Seattle". Nor is this an advt for some stupid mattress that you keep hearing on the radio. This is just an interesting tip for sleepless travelers on those wretched flying machines. No promises that you will be able to sleep. But at least you have one more chore to do, in your attempt to fall asleep.

http://cyberkraze.blogspot.com/2006/11/travel-tip_20.html

Off on a trek.....

After long, me and a group of friends have decided to go on a trek. We decided to trek the Kumaraparvatha. It is supposed to be the second highest peak in Karnataka. And it being winter its going to be real cold. And we did not realise that the date we chose was a "No moon" day. Great !!! Trekking in the forest in winter in pitch darkness.... thats going to be fun. :)

After a lot of planning we are finally set to leave for trek in a few hours. Well... actually we should have left a few hours ago. But unfortunately the vehicle that we were supposed to catch has not yet arrived and so we are stuck waiting for the bus to arrive. Not a good start to the trip. But well.... these guys are all "like that only".... never on time. Hopefully we should be leaving in at least an hour.

We are scheduled to start the trek tommorrow around 7am. Trek to the top of the hill, pitch our tents there and stay there overnight. And trek back downhill on Sunday. So should be back in Bangalore, Monday morning. This is going to be one helluva trek for me. I am all excited.

Next posting after I get back from my mini vacation. :)

Crazy Law

While having our regular cup of afternoon chai today, my colleague the Bombay Bombshell (when this mumbai-ite gets angry she could be worse than the most powerful bomb) showed me a
news reportfrom the TOI. Amidst sipping my tea, I read the report and was aghast by the contents of the report. I felt that this was definitely one occasion of using the choicest of expletives against the justice system that prevails in India.

Here was a case where a crime is done against a harmless helpless 8 year old girl and the court was considering that this was not a crime which deserved the punishment reserved for the rarest occasions. How pathetic !!! The worst part was the following statement of one of the bench "The death occurred, therefore, as a consequence of, and not because of, any specific act on the part of the accused," So, does that mean that one can later argue, "Oh!! I just pulled the trigger. How can you blame me if the victim died ?". What crap ???

As we drank tea all of us debated about how the courts seem to work only for the rich and powerful. Every politician or celebrity who is booked in a case, goes public and says that the whole case is fabricated and he has faith in the courts. And yes, magically the court always favors the rich and powerful, take this for instance. A colleague reminded me, that sometime ago I had argued that "people must never take the law into their own hands.". But frankly, after reading the newsreport my blood was boiling. How will the people trust the courts to provide them justice, if the court goes around making such callous statements.

Reminds me of what Robert Kiyosaki had said in his book "Rich Dad Poor Dad". The law is made by "The Rich and Powerful" for the "Rich and Powerful. Why would they make the law pro-poor. Are they crazy ? If the justice system continues as irresponsbile as this and the poor continue to be deprived of their chance to justice, the day is not far when I see the public rising in revolt.

Goof Master

It was another uninteresting day in office. I was busy at work, when my phone rang.It was my friend Ms Pooja. I had hardly known her for a few months now. But what a girl, an excellent conversationalist with a great sense of humor. It was always fun talking to her. We were doing the general chit chat, when she suddenly said, "Hey, I need to catch the 5:15 bus. Let me hurry up. Talk to you later." Before I could even react, she had said "bye!!" and hung up.

A little while later, I noticed that Ms Pooja was online on Google Talk. "Hmmm.. that's surprising. Whats she doing online ? I thought she was heading home...". The curious cat in me said "Meow !!" I decided to ping her. If she did plan to catch the 5:15pm bus what was she doing in office at 5:45pm. May be she forgot to log off. I sent a message "Hi !!!". Not expecting a response, I closed the window and continued with my work. When after some time I got back a one word response "Hello.", I was surprised. The lady of so many words, must be really busy or something, how come she had replied with a monosyllable and that too had taken such a long time. Meow Meow !!! the cat said. I sent another message "How come you are online ? I thought you were supposed to catch the 5:15 bus". I waited for quite sometime. No response. I was getting impatient. I pinged her again, "Helloooooooo". Getting no response, once again I put the cat to sleep and continued with my work, when suddenly I got a response.

"Hello Puchu. This is Pooja's father. Pooja has not yet reached home from office".

What ??? Pooja's father ?? What was he doing, logged in with her id ?? I had not bargained for this. I had bitten on something that I could not chew. I needed to bolt. I needed to bolt like one of those street dogs at whom you have just thrown a stone. I respond... "Oops !!! Sorry !!! Bye !!!" and disappeared into the oblivion.

I panicked. I knew that Ms Pooja was from as conservative a family as mine. If this was my Dad he would have one hazaar questions for me and some severe reprimands. "Guys having girls as friends. No way." Not an accepted thing in my family. I had to inform Pooja. She better be prepared to answer tough questions when she gets to her home. I rang her up and blurted out. "Hey, listen... I am SORRY. I goofed up big time." I told her the whole incident. She laughed like there was no tomorrow. She kept pulling my leg saying, "I cant believe you are trying to hurt me like this." I was thankful she could not see me. I was feeling really sheepish. Finally, taking pity on me, she magnanimously said, "Don't worry, I'll handle it. I must have forgotten to log off Google Talk last night and it must have logged me on when Dad powered-on the comp. Chill. Dont worry too much. I'll handle it".

The next day Pooja told me, how her Mom took the first opportunity that she was alone and asked her about the incident. Pooja told her the truth. Thankfully her mom accepted her explanation and did not grill her any further. I was glad that the incident had not spiraled into a big storm. I made a mental note to remember not to ping her on Google Talk again.

For the next couple of days, I saw her online a couple of times. And every time, just when I was about to click on the "Start Conversation" I recollected how I had goofed up recently. And stopped myself

Pooja has the habit of sending a "Good Morning !!!" mails with an inspirational quote attached, first thing in the morning every day. She usually has a long list of friends to whom she sends these messages religiously. When I saw her mail today, I said, "Let me not goof up once again". So, I wrote a reply to her.

Hello Pooja,

How are you doing ? Have a wonderful day !!

you know what...I think I shall remove your gmail id from my address book. I dont want to accidentally cause any more problems to you

Regards,
Puchu

I sent her the mail and got busy with my work. Sometime later Pooja calls up and is laughing her head off. She is laughing so much that I cant make a thing of what she says. After a while she finally composes herself and says, "What the hell did you do ?". "Now what did I do ??" "You did a reply-all instead of a reply. And now all my friends want to know who Puchu is."

I was mortified. I couldn't believe I had done this. I felt like digging a hole and creeping in to it. There was no way I could have done this. But then, I had. I really did not know what to do. All I could do was apologize. I said "I am SORRY. I owe you a big one this time.". She laughed and said, "This is not the first time." I knew it was true, "Just add it to my list."

Scary Connections

(This is a true incident that happened to me a few weeks ago. Shook me up big time. )

This happened a couple of Thursdays ago. I left office early since I had to drop my parents to the railway station. My bro too decided to come early. We dropped off our parents to the railway station and went home to watch the India - West Indies match of the Champions Trophy. Both of us, were not keeping well due to the bad weather prevailing in Bangalore that week. Both of us were dozing off in front off the television watching yet another off-color performance by the Indians.

Around 8:30 pm a couple of friends dropped in to discuss some issues about a house construction with my brother. About ten minutes later, I heard yet another knock at the gate. We stay on the first floor of our two floor house. There is an external staircase which leads to the main entrance gate. Our gate makes this odd sound when you try to open it that we can hear its distinct sound on the first floor. I came out and saw two people trying to open the gate to enter the compound. We usually do not allow strangers to enter the compound. I asked them who they were and got no response. I was getting irritated. They looked up at me and continued to enter the gate. Both men, were around 35 or 40 years old, average build and sport a short military cut hairstyle. The man in front was in a light red shirt, while the other slightly taller man was in a cream colored shirt. I assumed this is one more real estate agent asking if the ground floor house was vacant.

I was getting irritated. I once again asked them, this time a bit roughly.... "yaaru ???". By now they were half way up the staircase. The man in the light red striped shirt, asked "Sudeep iddaara ???" (Is Sudeep there?). I tried to remember if I had given my name to any of those pesky real estate agents. Could not remember any. I said "howdu, naane. Neev yaaru ?" (Yes, I am sudeep. Who are you?). One of the men answered "naavu policeavru. Naav maalur inda barthaidivi". (We are policemen, we are coming from Malur.) I was like... "oh gawd!!... Cops!! What did I do ? Had I spoken to some girl recently ? Did I trouble any girl recently ? Maalur ??? Whom do I know from Malur? I knew this girl some time ago. But I have not troubled her. Unlikely that she would have set the cops on me. Or would she have... I hope its not ??"

As such thoughts kept rushing into my head, the two men were now standing right below my nose and were standing such that they had cornered me. They had positioned themselves standing acting like they were ready to pounce on me if I moved. The one in the red shirt asked "yen maadthira?" (What do you do?). I said "Software Engineer". "Yelli ?" (where?) I said "XYZ". And then the taller man speaking for the first time said, "Electronics City na ?". "Illa, M G Road hathra". (No, near M G Road). Finally realising that I needed to ask them my own questions I asked, "Vishya yenu ?" (Why do you ask ?). "Banni helthini" he said, trying to point towards the door indicating that he would like to sit down and then talk. I knew I had to ask them their ID card, but that only happens in the English movies. You never know how are Indian cops would behave if we asked them for their IDs. So I decided to go back into the house.

Me being from a very decent family, I am not used to having the cops coming knocking at my door looking for me. To the say the least, I was shitting in my pants. I guess it must have shown on my face. On seeing me and having realised that some people were coming inside the house, my bro asked "Who are these people?". I said, "I beleive they are cops and they are looking for me. They are not saying what the issue is." The cop in the red shirt having heard the conversation says "hedirkolleke yenu illa biddi" (nothing to be scared off). The cops went ahead and seated themselves and made themselves comfortable. Thankfully for me, my brother and our two friends were in the house. Its reassuring to know you have people who know you, sitting along with you in the room, when you are sitting down with cops, who want to "ask you a few questions". I dont know about others, to me the whole scene was an intimidating one.

The cop in the red shirt, the one doing all the talking, fishes out a paper from his pocket. On it, I see scribbled my name and address. He verifies once again with us if the name and address are correct. Also, on the paper is a cell phone number. The cop asks me if that was my cell phone number. I looked carefully at the number. This definitely was not my number. I felt releived. Finally something that does not match up to me. I tried to remember if I could recollect if this number belonged to any of my friends. Could not recollect any number. I could bearly recollect my own number with all the thoughts rushing into my head. The cop asked me if this number ever belonged to me or if I had ever lost any cell phone or any sim card. I said "No". Thankfully I have never lost a cell phone. Touch wood.

The cop in the red shirt then asked for my cell phone number. I gave him my number. He said "Nimm phone inda namma Circle jothe maathadi." (Call up and speak to the Circle Inspector from your phone). I went to retreive my cell phone from my room. In the meanwhile my brother checked the ID of the policemen. He mentioned to the policemen, that he used to work with the Lok Ayukta before and dished out names of a few Inspectors. And once again quizzed the policemen as to what the issue was. Why were they here ? They refused to divulge any details. They said its a sensitive issue and could not discuss it with us. I

After my brother had reeled out names of a few senior police officers, the policemen were sure that I was not the person they were looking for. They too relaxed a bit and finally after a lot of coaxing, the cop in the red shirt said, "See sir, we were investigating a case. During investigation we got this cell phone number. As you can see this is an Airtel Connection. When we furnished this number with Airtel, they gave us your name and address. That is why we have been sent to check out this address. But when we came here and saw your house and the locality you live in, we realised that this is not the person we want. But we came in just to check and make sure. We were pretty sure you were not the guys. If you really were the guys, we would not have talked this way. We would have rounded you up and taken you to the Police Station.". My brother then spoke to the Circle Inspector. He too dished out the same story. He asked us to verify with Airtel about the confusion.

As a parting shot the other cop who had been relatively silent the whole time finally spoke. He said, "Nammige gothitu sir neevalla antha. Nammig gothu nimm thai teacheru. Nimm thande HAL alli kelsa maadthidru" (We know sir you were not the person. We know your mom is a retired teacher. Your dad was working in HAL).. Whoa !!!! I was shell shocked. They had done a lot of homework. "Nimmig heg gothu idella ??" (How did he know all these details) "Naav police saar. namig gothirathe idella...". Great !! Does that mean I am in your record books now ?? Saying this, the cops left leaving me half dazed at the turn of events.

Apparently, before turning up at my gate, these cops had enquired with my neighbours about me. And finally my "good boy" image in my neighbourhood came to good use. But I am not sure what image I now have. The police dont come asking questions about "good boys".

After the cops left, I immediately called up the Airtel customer support. I learnt from customer support, that the number was a pre-paid connection. Also, they confirmed that indeed the number was registered in my name and address. I thought long and hard, tried to recollect if I had ever applied for another Airtel connection. I hadn't. I realised that it had to be a case of identity theft. Someone had used my credentials to obtain a pre-paid Airtel connection. Gosh !!! God alone knows what crime these guys were upto. I was very worried. I tried to find out what ID proof they had provided to get the connection. But Airtel was not forthcoming with information. They asked me to go personally to the Airtel office.

The next morning I went to Airtel's office on Nandidurga Road. Let me tell you that going to their offices is not a pleasant experience. Their offices open only at 10 o'clock. And if you assumed that all private offices unlike Government offices opened at 9 o'clock, be ready to entertain yourself outside their office. They would not even bother to give you a seat if you reach their office before 10. Anyway, finally when the office opened at 10 AM I went in, got myself a token and waited for my turn. When it was my turn, I went over to the representative sitting across the counter. He was beaming at me as if to say, "Ah !! Dont worry at all. I will solve your problem." So I told him my problem. He expressed his "deep regret" since he would not be able to help me. Great! Why pretend to be helpful when you dont have any intention of helping me in the first place. He asked me to go their head office on Bannerghatta Road, which is a good 10 kms from my office. Splendid. Here I was, in the midst of a busy week in office and also battling a bad bout of throat infection. And these guys showed no indication of helping me. I felt so helpless. I tried to recollect... "What had I done ??". I had done absolutely nothing. And people wanted me to run from pillar to post. Thats wonderful. I took the Bannerghatta office number from the "so helpful" representative and headed off to office. I was late to office by 2 and 1/2 hours and had not acheived a thing.

Endless attempts to contact Airtel's Bannerghatta office by phone went in vain. Apparently, Airtel's own head office could not transfer my call from their board to any department that could help me. They told me "Please wait while I transfer your call" and then "bing bing bing", my call was disconnected. I realised what my friends meant when they said "Airtel's customer service sucks !!!". I wished I had not argued on Airtel's behalf then.

I spoke to some of my friends. One of them knew someone who worked in Airtel. After a few hours my friend informed me that the only way something could be done was that I go lodge a police complaint. Only then Airtel would be able to take any action. "What the heck ?? I need to lodge a police complaint ?? Gosh !!! Here's another opportunity for some corrupt policeman to try to fleece money out of me." But then, I realised I had no other go, I better go and make the complaint. What if those cheats (the ones who had got the cell phone connection in my name) were upto no good ??? Poor me would unneccessarily get into unwanted trouble. But then, am I over reacting ? Do you need to really worry ??? May be its just a couple of idiots upto some stupid adolscent tricks. So, I decide to take it easy. Let me not get too worried. But then...... what if ????? I kept debating this for quite a while. I finally decided the right person to fill me in on the story would be the Circle Inspector of Malur, the cop that my bro had spoken to, last night over the phone.

I was a bit upset about the whole issue. But was not too worried. After all I had not done anything. Why the hell should I be worried ? I called up the Circle Inspector, Mr S. After I had introduced myself to him he says, "Let me tell you something very frankly. The case that we are currently investigating is a kidnap case". WHAT ?? Holy shit. I was in deep trouble. He goes on, "We are investigating this kidnap case where the kidnappers have already collected a Rs 30 lakh ransom". Shocked, I repeated "Thirty Lakhs ???". "Yes, thats right, they have already collected Rupees Thirty lakh and are demanding for Ten Lakhs more". Holy crap !! That means the victim has not yet been released. So, its likely this number is still active. Anything could happen. Knowing how our Indian cops work, my head started filling with countless stories of how the police could twist and turn anything to their benefit. If they dont find the actual thief, then they were very much capable of branding the next person they find as the thief. I was lucky, I was sitting on the chair, otherwise my legs would have buckled under the news that I heard. Garnering some courage, I managed to ask, "Sir, what should I do now sir ?". "Banni Maalurigge. maathadanna." (Come over to maalur. We can talk there.) I was not sure why he was calling me over to Malur. Did he want too want to fleece money out of me ? There was no way, I was going over to Maalur. "Banni.. bejaan busugal idde." (Come on over to Maalur. There are plenty of buses to this place)

I was pretty sure, that there was no way I was going to go to Maalur. I told the inspector that I would discuss the issue with my brother and get back to him later and hung up the call. I was shaken by the sudden turn of events, news of the kidnapping, the ransom and the Inspector's attempt to scare me saying "If we go by the proof, you are also one of the accused". Hello ??? (not the right word to say, under the circumstances. )What did I do ??? I stayed at home and did nothing. And here I was being accused of something which I could not even dream of ever being able to do.

May be I should go and register a police complaint. But what do I complain ? Against whom should I complain ? Which police station should I go to ? Isn't this a cyber crime ? Should I be going to the Cyber Crime Police Station ? I was totally confused. So many questions kept popping into my head. I was feeling really worried. The blood had all drained out of my face and I looked pale. My colleagues and friends all suggested I speak to a lawyer and take his advice. All of them told me strictly, "Dont even venture in the direction of Maalur. And if you have to go to the police station, take an advocate along. DONT GO ALONE."

By evening, my throat infection had gone from bad to worse. I hung around for a while, totally confused as to what I should be doing. By the time I reached home, I had high fever. I did not like the idea of going to the police station and registering a complaint. After consulting a lot of people, I finally decided to let it be as it is. I was not going to do anything. After all I had done nothing. So, why should I be the one going to the police station. Why should I go and consult a lawyer? Who was going to bear my legal fees ? After all, I had nothing to do with the case.

I decided that the only thing that I would do was send Airtel a complaint over email. The next day I drafted a letter and sent it to Airtel's customer care. I decided to wait and see how the story would now unfold. Nothing happened for a few days. Though I wanted to know what happened about the case, I knew it would be foolish to call up the Circle Inspector. A few more days passed by with absolutely no news. I spent most of the time on the phone calling up various departments of Airtel trying to see if they could be forced to help me. But nothing happened. They were at their irresponsible callous best. They kept passing the buck, but did nothing.

Finally on Thursday, morning, exactly a week since the whole episode had begun, the newspaper carried a front page news that grabbed my attention. " Kidnap drama ends in shootout." The gist of the story was "The police were investigating a case involving the kidnap of the son-in-law of a stationary wholesale dealer from Bangalore. The victim was released after the payment of a ransom of Rupees Thirty Five Lakh. However the police had managed to arrest one person, by name Tippu. During his interrogation he revealed the name of another accomplice, Ghafoor who was the kingpin in anothe kidnap for ransom case. The police were able to rescue the kidnapped man. They layed a trap to catch the kingpin. But on seeing the police, they opened fire. In the exchange of fire, the police were able to kill the two main accused." The article also mentioned another intresting information. The main accused, Ghafoor had given Tippu a SIM which was registerd in the name of one Ms Nagrathnamma.

Whoa !!! I think I had a close shave. Till date, I am not aware of how my name got linked in this whole case. But the most appalling thing during the whole incident is the callous attitude of the Airtel personnel. They were the ones who issued a SIM card in my name. But they did not bother to help anyway. Airtel sucks big time !!!!

Never Been Kissed

Ought to listen to....

Artist/Band: Austin Sherrie
Lyrics for Song: Never Been Kissed
Lyrics for Album: Love In The Real World

If I show up ten minutes early baby
You can bet that you'll be running behind
But it when it comes to loving me now baby
I have to say you're right on time and

I've never been kissed, never been kissed
Never been kissed like this, no, no, no
I've never been touched, never been touched baby
'Til I felt your touch
Oh your love's going to my head so fast
Just like the bubbles in a champagne glass
Now I know what I've been missing
I've never been kissed, like this
Ooh like this

Well you're a fool for wild-eyed-poetry baby
I only like the kind that rhymes
And your a little rough around the edges now baby
But your kind of edges suit me just fine and

I've never been kissed, never been kissed
Never been kissed like this, no, no, no
I've never been touched, never been touched baby
'Til I felt your touch
Oh your love's going to my head so fast
Just like the bubbles in a champagne glass
Now I know what I've been missing
I've never been kissed
Ooh like this

This is more than temporary madness baby
This is more than hearts just doing time
If love weren't so serious we could laugh about it baby
Yeah we could laugh until we cried and

I've never been kissed, never been kissed
Never been kissed like this, no, no, no
I've never been touched, never been touched baby
'Til I felt your touch
Oh your love's going to my head so fast
Just like the bubbles in a champagne glass
Now I know what I've been missing
I've never been kissed, like this
Ooh like this

Ooh like this
I've never been kissed
No I've never been kissed

A kind of Lozenge

I posted a question a few days earlier on this blog. The question was....

"If you take a rod two inches in diameter and cut it[in half] by drilling a two inch hole through it. what is the shape of the metal that is removed ?"

The answer :
The object has a round profile from the top, a round profile from one side and a square profile from the other.

Dont scare the daylights !!

The festival of Lights has returned again. I along with my bro and parents happened to go around the city quite a lot this diwali. And one thing that we all noticed is the relative decrease in the amount of crackers that were being burst this time around. And thankfully this time more people seem to have realised its a festival of lights and not exactly a festival to scare the daylights.

My memory of Diwali of the yester years is not a pleasant one. I think I was around 10 or 12 years old. It was the morning after Diwali. A house was being built in the neighbouring compound. One of the labourers stayed in this house under construction doubling up as a watchman. He had a huge family consisting of his wife and around 7 or 8 children. The older kids worked as labourers. But there were also these tiny tots, around 4 or 5 years old who played amidst all the construction work. Not the ideal place for kids to grow up but that was the reality of developing India.

The morning after Diwali, these kids went around the neigbouring streets collecting the half burnt, unburnt crackers from the streets. They collected all the chemicals in these crackers into a coconut shell and lit it hoping it would be a nice cracker. Little did these kids realise that their cracker was going to burst immediately and right in their face. The loud burst and the wailing of these kids brought us all outside immediately. We saw these kids running and hugging their mother. The poor mom not realising the gravity of the scene, used her dirt ridden sari to wipe the face of her children. The severely burnt skin on their faces just came off !!!

The scene when we saw it was these two kids who have dark colored skin, now had pink faces. Their faces with no skin and the flesh showing was one of the most gory scenes of my childhood. The very thought brings back images of those wailing kids. A truly horrible scene. Since then, I have never ever wanted to light a cracker.

This year too, the newspaper reports say that close to 100 people have been injured due to crackers. Infact many of the victims these time were innocent bystanders. I did meet a small kid who was walking along with his parents in Commercial Street when some kids burst some crackers on Commercial street and one of the crackers burst and some fragments hit the poor kid burning his shirt, neck and hair. I can only imagine the trauma the kid must have undergone.

I hope and pray not many have to watch such heart rending scenes, and that too on the occasion of a festival.

Happy Diwali !!!!

Rule of Law ? or Whims of a few?

A Delhi court recently pronounced Afsal Guroo, one of the main accused in the attack on the Indian Parliament on December 13, 2001 as guilty. And the punishment .... "To be hanged until death".

Some truths....
1. We all love to hate our politicians. Most of us consider them as the bane to this country. And wish .... at almost every traffic signal that somebody should bomb all these politicians out of the country.
2. But, the Indian Parliament however is considered as the home of the Indian Democratic system and a powerful symbol of modern India. An attack on a such an important symbol is unpardonable in the eyes of (almost) all Indians.
3. The lower courts were not very sure of the legitimacy of the case against Afzal Guroo and others and suspected foul play by the investigating agencies.
4. The people arguing on behalf of Afzal Guroo claim that he was not given a chance to prove his innocence, that he has been falsely implicated.
5. The people of Jammu & Kashmir have been having a horrid time for a while now. Life in the valley is under the constant shadow of the Gun. And is struggling to limp back to normalcy.

Clearly, the issues involved are totally different and cannot be mentioned in the same breath. Local politicians however see this as an opportunity to rise in stature in the heady mix of state politics. In the days following the SC verdict, narrow minded (terrorists under the garb of) political leaders mixed the issues involved, raised a hue and cry, whipping public sentiment to a feverish frenzy and caused unrest in the valley. They demanded clemency for Afzal, a failure of which they claimed would lead to Kashmir "burning".

Yaseen Malik, the leader of the JKLF(on the Indian side) claims that he himself "was one of the products of the last hanging of a Kashmiri". He seems to issue veiled threats of a "burning" Kashmir. Infact even the ex-Cheif Minister of J&K Dr Abdullah seemed to echo his words. Even the Central Government too tried to maintain a sturdy silence rather than supporting the verdict of the court. Is this really a belief that Afzal Guroo is not guilty or just an oppotunity to score the brownie points of Indian politics.

An attack on the heart of the Indian Democratic system is an unpardonable crime. And the people guilty of it must be given the severe most punishment by the law of the land. The Indian Penal code provides the death penalty as a punishment under the rarest of rare cases. And this attack on the Indian Parliament can be considered as a case under the rarest of rare cases. And so the guilty must be "hanged unto death". Yes, there is a demand from a few quarters for abolishing the "death penalty". But once again, that is a different issue and should not be mixed with the main debate of clemency for Afzal Guroo.

When the Supreme Court of India pronounced that Afzal Guroo was guilty and meted out the death penalty, it was fully aware of the element of doubt observed by the lower courts. The SC must then have been fully convinced beyond doubt that indeed Afzal was guilty. And hence must have meted him the harshest of punishments. If however, there still exists sufficient evidence to prove that he is not guilty, or that he was not given a fair hearing, the demand of these leaders must be for a free & fair trial and not clemency on the basis of a "burning" Kashmir.

As Solee Sorabjee, the ex Chief Justice of India rightly pointed out, what if tommorrow, when the verdict of the Gujarat riots case is announced and the guilty is given the death penalty. And if the political leaders of Gujarat seek clemency on the basis of a "burning" Gujarat. Should they too be pardoned ? Will these same leaders then seek clemency once again?

We live in a modern society where we live by the law of the land. Not by the whims of a few who probably have vested intrests in seeking clemency for Afzal. If Afzal Guroo is indeed guilty of the heinous crime of the attack on the Indian Parliament, then he must be meted out the severest punishment by the law of the land. And if the law of the land provides capital punishment as the severest form of punishment. Then so be it.

Imagine.......

Here's a wonderful exercise to stretch your imagination -

If you take a rod two inches in diameter and cut it[in half] by drilling a two inch hole through it. what is the shape of the metal that is removed ?

This was part of a question, once posed by a few engineers in General Electric to Steinmetz, the inventor of electrical generators, transformers. [excerpt from "Sparks of Genius"]

To most people[including me], this would be an extremely difficult exercise. I infact did take some while to be able to imagine the object. Imagination or Imaging is something that I dig a lot. Even an extremely difficult concept can be assimilated and recollected with ease at a later stage, if during assimilation of the concept, we are able to imagine each and every participating charachter/force in the concept to the minutest details.

Thanks to the East India Company.

I was watching "Path to 9/11", a wonderful documentary. The documentary portrayed life in Afghanistan. The Afghans and their cheiftains have no unity and are at constant loggerheads with each other. They have no modern governments. They have no unity, whether it was in fighting the Russians or the Taliban or the Americans.

And thats when my thoughts were drawn to my own homeland. I wondered how life would have been had it not been for the "East India Company". The company that came to trade in India and started a factory in Gujarat, defeated the Nawab of Bengal (thanks to Siraj-ud-daula) and slowly gained power over the whole country. Never in history has it happened that so few have ruled over so many for such a long time(I believe it was a ratio of 1 Britisher for every 4000 Indians.). The East India Company ruled over a country of millions for more than 100 years till its dissolution in 1858.

The East India Company and later the British Monarchy, systematically exploited our country and rendered us utterly helpless and inequipped. But then I think we must also thank them. Thanks to the East India Company and the British rule, the people of numerous different states(kingdoms), religions and ethnicities, united to once again seek control of our motherland. What followed was a long struggle, a never-seen before "satyagraha" a non-violent fight for freedom, division of our land, loss of millions of people (to the struggle and to the division). We paid a hefty price for staying divided.

But here we are just 50 odd years later, forgetting our tumultous past, having a state wide bundh fighting over state borders. Yes, kannada is important and protecting our land is important to us. There is no doubt about that. But what I question is, the means. A state wide bundh hurts nobody else other than the intrests of our own state. For heaven's sake dont turn our beloved state into another Kerala where strikes is the norm of the day and industries fear to tread. The youth of Kerala are forced to seek opportunites in far-off Gulf or other cities of India. We, the people of karnataka dont need to turn our state into a Kerala. We need to seek better ways. We are after all people from the same state as the illustrious Sir M Vishveshwaraiah. We can seek better methods than the age old strikes to demonstrate our feelings.

Strikes in the days of the british meant hurting the coffers of the British Empire. But does hurting the coffers of the Karnatataka State help us ?I may not know the intricacies of the problem, but I realise that this "strike" is only hurting my state and its denizens. Yes, we may have an issue at hand, that a part of our state is being questioned, but in order to save that part, dont seek a solution that though has sought so many sacrifices will not provide a solution. Yes, we are united against the problem. Let us seek a solution that gets rid of the problem. Not one which will only incite sentiments, raise a rheoteric, and not get rid of our problem.

What hurt me most this day, was a local leader proclaiming on TV that if the intrests of kannada are not looked after, that we would seek a new country called "Karnataka". Have we forgotten our history ? Is this all leading to another opportunity for yet another company .... may be a Pepsi or Coke... to one day rule our country ? Can we risk it ? I wonder what would have been, had the East India Company not come to India. Another Afghanistan ?

PS: I may be getting paranoid but I fear the path we take.

One, Two, I Love You (3:07)
- Clay Walker

Kindergarten, five years old
You and me and mother goose
Learning lines to nursery rhymes
Thats when I feel in love with you

Back when it was
One, two buckle my shoe
Three four shut the door
Five six pick up sticks
Even then my heart was yours

College days miles apart
So afraid youd forgot
Writing letters every day
And ending every one like this

One two I miss you
Three four I walk the floor
Five six come back quick
I dont wanna miss you no more

A little girl and little boy
Playing on a swing in the yard
As we watch I hold your hand
And youre still holding onto my heart

And now its
One two I love you
Three four lets have one more
Five six I wouldnt miss
A day of this for all the treasure on the ocean floor

One two I love you
Three four lets shut the door
Five six, kiss after kiss
I cant wait to hold you once more

Boring Boring Boring ....... Ramblings ....

Its a long weekend, thanks to Ayudha Pooja and Gandhiji. Its been the long weekend that I have been always waiting for. Time to just relax and recharge my batteries. Its been a while since I got a weekend to myself. Now that it has arrived.... I am lost... what do I do..... ??? What exactly do I do ? The thought of just sitting around, watching the idiot box, sleeping the whole day, gorging on all the sweets of the festival is not somehow inviting this time around. This was that weekend I was waiting for all the time. And now that it is here, I find myself inequipped to handle the spare time. I dont know what to do.

I always thought I had a lot of friends. I wonder why I am feeling this lonely suddenly. Guess its the time. The festive season being around, all the ones married, are at home completing their formalities. And the ones who have found someone, did not want to be disturbed. So... where all the singles ??? hmmm... come to think of it... there are just a few of us left, holding on to the bastion called bachelor.

Well... thanks to the blog sites, for helping me kill time reading all the time pass stuff that all the really creative people churn out. I wish I was like these amazing people who churn out sentences making amazing use of words still managing to convey what they mean in such simple ways that I keep thinking ... "Its so bloody simple.... why could I not think of it earlier" Hmm... well ... for one .... I guess you need to be smart.. Secondly... confidence and finally the perseverance to continue writing and develop a skill. These are the times when I curse myself for not listening to my dad and writing anything worthwhile in my younger days.

Well... I hope I make writing a habit atleast now. Need a plan !!! :) (here comes the software designer) I guess I should allot a few minutes to pen down a few things everyday. I am sure I can spare atleast sometime everyday to improve a skill that I really wish I have.

Wish me luck. And if you have any tips... i am all ears....

First Post

Geeez..... I dont know what to write..... this is my first attempt to maintain a Blog... maybe as days go by I will learn.... If anyone gets to read this.... wish me luck....

For starters.....

The whole of this evening was spent in front of the idiot box trying to see if "Prince" the 5 yr old who fell into a 60 ft deep pit would survive. The poor kid had a horrible time. He was stuck in a pit a couple of feet wide for nearly 50 hrs and all due to the negligence of some stupid guy who had left an unused borewell open.

But the worst for the kid... I think will start now.... those claustrophobic feelings, the fear.... gosh... cannot even imagine it and would not wish it for the worst of my enemies... But I think even worse would be the callous media... which will hound him for interviews asking him absolutely stupid questions. Talking about claustrophobic feelings... I am reminded of how Saddam was supposed to have put dozens of people into wells... where people had barely any place to stand.... where people rested on the floor in turns.. where all of them urinated on the same floor.... excreted on the same floor... slept on the same floor.... god... death at that point would be a definitely easy thing...... compared to the hell below...

I did go to the temple today morning. I prayed to the Lord asking for a lot of things. But probably I am already blessed. I probably have everything..... unlike many who dont have something as basic as freedom......