What Is The New New?

Old-fashioned is the new Modern.

Che Guevera is the new capitalist icon.

Sleeping is the new Awake.

Giving up is the new Acquisition.

Hopeless is the new Hopeful.

Getting Lost is the new Finding Yourself.

Non-conformity is the new Conformation.

Dropping Out is the new Joining In.

Working Hard is the new Laziness.

Resignation is the new Acceptance.

Minimizing Damage is the new Gaining.

Reducing Problems is the new Finding Answers.

And this is the new blog.

All the posts and comments have been moved and surprisingly, it was quite easy. Thank you, Blogger.

You Can Call Me On My Mobile Phone

No wonder they call it the Xtreme Sports Bar. Because we visit that place bar bar (not just because it's a bar) and extreme things happen while we are there. For example, Zee Sports is the channel they were playing on the TV screens the first time we went there. And why not, doesn't that qualify as a sports channel? Yes Sir, it does. While there has been definite improvement now, it is only to the level of playing Ten Sports these days. Yes yes, even that qualifies as a sports channel.

No problems about it at all, because just the act of playing a any sports channel on TV justifies its billing (we'll get to the billing part in a while) as a Sports Bar. Speaking of bills, they have a couple of billiards tables too, and you can snook around as well. Considering how crowded it is, no one really pays any attention to what one does there. Whether or not you pay attention to what others are doing, you have to pay the bill. Ok, I'll stop.

And continue here. Because Kaak had returned from Singapore and we had to make him feel premium, we decided to check the (then) newly opened Xtreme Sports Bar that Friday evening when they also have the karaoke nights.

One got excited about karaoke and decided to give singing a try. And try one did. Confidence stemmed from the fact that except for Kaak and Pole, occasionally only, no one would really take notice of (pay attention to is way too off, not even worth twelve grams of that) my singing and I could sing, scream, blare, be silent (there was the loud karaoke music anyway) and take it out in the name of singing. More importantly, have one thing checked in the list of things I have done. And sing (put voice to words in a rhythm I thought was right) , I did - this one and this one . Sorry Stipebhai and Gallagher bandhu, I hope you will pardon me for this transgression. But then, maybe I made a few people hear your songs for the first time. Hope that's redemption enough.

After all that is said and done written till now, the singing was actually nothing much to write about. Seriously, it was so mediocre (even that's a compliment) that even I don't remember it. The singing apart, the DJ(or the karaoke conductor?) was a very interesting man. One was quite pumped up after the singing (there was some jumping with the singing as well. Mostly because I could not see the screen from where I was standing and there were many people walking in between) and went to the DJ(or the karaoke conductor?) to say Hi and thank him. Here's what happened.

Me: Hey, thanks man. It was good fun.
He : Great! (Nodding his head, like the way a grandfather would to his grandson after the grandson comes running to him after his first cycle ride)
Me: Looks like a good place. Hope to see you here sometime soon.
He: I'm here every Friday, come have a good time.
Me: Nice, see you soon....your good name?
He: Val. My name is Valentine, you can call me Valentine.
Me: My name is Nikhil. You can call me on my mobile phone.

Val was not amused. I don't think it's fair to have expected him to be amused in any way. I still find it amusing though.

And then, the other day while we were there, those girls we vacated our seats for.....

The Trip To Talakadu

Photos from the trip to Jaladhama, on the banks of rivers Kaveri and Kapila at Talakadu, about a couple of hours drive from Bangalore.

Flower Power



Photos taken during the breakfast stop-over at the Kamat Upachahra on Mysore Road.

Scattering of Light?




Barb Wire?



Photos of the fields on the way - the Well Fielded Series

















I am quite pleased with the way these photos of the clouds came out. This is the Cloud Cult Series, dedicated to Cloud Cult, an indie rock band whose song Love You All I really like.













Photos from the resort.

Love As Seen in Bollywood Movies



Drops of Jupiter



Drops of Jupiter (on green leaves?!)



Leafing Through the Past



Contrasting Focuses





Coffee - Bean There Done That



What are these called?!



The Lonely Soldier



What Are You Getting Antsy About?!



And we all went dinning at the end of it!


All these and more pictures of the previous trips on Flickr - here.

Mysore Dasara Trip 2008 Or Why I Can Now Die A Happier Man - I

The Theory of Happening Trips has been proved once again. That the best trips are those which are decided at the spur of the moment with minimum fuss about the planning, stay, travel and the company. And that the ones that are planned and thought over, over and over, never quite happen.

The Mysore Trip for the Dasara celebration started by proving the The Theory of Happening Trips right. Plan Zero was that Ashutosh and I weould leave from Bangalore on his bike either on Wednesday night or on Thursday depending on how fried a day Wednesday would be. Plan Zero never took off as Ashutosh found out that he was the only resource for a project that would save the world from global warming and end poverty. Plan One involved asking Joshi if he could come and turned out that he had to work the next day on a project to bring about world peace. I cannot blame him too, for he'd have only a couple of hours to decide. But then all of us are not like and me, who set out on the Wayanad Trip with just a day's notice. The rest, of course, were too busy with more important things in life. Taking inspiration from them all, I realised even I could not waste more time on trivial things anymore and did a very important thing - start on the trip rightaway. After a quick call to Prasanna (THE man, the selfless friend, philosopher and Mysore guide, gracious and tolerant host, and to be called as SP henceforth ) informing him about my late-night arrival in Mysore, followed by a packing of trip essentials and a quick bath, I found myself jostling for space in the Bangalore City Volvo bus, since 67% of those working in and around Airport Road were heading towards Majestic area to take buses or trains to travel to their homes.





Kempegouda Bus-stand, Bangalore ~ 10:30 P.M














On reaching Majestic, I realised that 73% of Bangalore had arrived there, looking for a bus to travel out of Bangalore. I know 73% is exaggerated as it can get, but looking at the current economic downturn and the threat of massive lay-offs in the IT industry looming large, will there be a day in the near future where we could possibly see such an exodus out of Bangalore? I'm sure the copywriters in the media would be salivating at such a prospect. I can bet my left index finger that at least 38.2% of them would have thought of such a headline - [Insert well-known IT company name] Shuts Down Bangalore Operations, Employees Asked To Log Out. Even that, I think, is a fairly exaggerated scenario. That of a mass exodus of those working in the IT/BPO industry in Bangalore. Definitely not the copy-writers, they have their copies ready I'm sure.

I pushed, shoved, shouted, tripped over, bumped into and apologised my way through an ocean of people and reached the area from which buses depart towards Mysore. Discovered that KSRTC has launched a low-cost version of their popular air-conditioned buses named Sheetal(meaning cold). These buses run at a fairly good frequency and I did not have to wait for too long to find one with a comfortable seat. At Rs. 137 per passenger with comfortable seating and air-conditioning, I'm sure even those at Capitol Hill will have no problems in voting for this deal.

With Radio Indigo giving me good company and a refreshing coffee stop-over at Maddur, the journey was smooth and comfortable.



















Maddur Bus-stand. ~1:30 A.M

On entering Mysore, I called up SP so that he could reach the bus-stand by the time I reached there. And by the time I finished the call, the bus stopped and I realised that we were already at the bus-stand. I was glad that Mysore wasn't like Bangalore that it would take one at least an hour to reach the bus-stand on entering the city, even though it meant that I had to wait for SP for about fifteen minutes to come and pick me up.







Mysore Bus-stand ~1:00 A.M




























The warm and thoughtful man that SP is, he had brought a jacket for me in his room-mate's car that he had come in to pick me up. Now this is non-sense and I'd advise you not to read further as the previous sentence made no sense except that I tried to play on the word warm. But yes, it was really thoughtful of SP to have brought that jacket for me.

After straight and few cover drives through the deserted streets of Mysore, which only a few hours from then, would be teeming with people wanting to catch a piece of the Dasara action, we reached SP's home. Again, there was no reason for me to mention to the straight and the cover drives because we were not on a cricket field, but then I plan to go to watch the third and fourth day's play at India-Australia Test match here in Bangalore. That thought was playing on my mind while we were driving and I was hoping that I'd get to watch Dada's cover drives and Sachin's straight drives, Dravid's defences and Laxman's drives and defence. Hence the drives find themselves tossed up into this post. But then before this post goes on to become a post on Dada's retirement, which is definitely coming soon, I better get back on track than queer the pitch. We reached SP's place with out wickets intact(it would be redundant and cliched to say that there were no maidens on the road to bowl us over and hence our wickets were intact) and danced to Koyal Si Teri Boli from Beta. No, we did not do any dancing and I'm writing all non-sense. I'm really exhausted now and will continue writing this post once I've returned to sanity after a good night's sleep. Now, are you really reading till this point? Then there's one more thing I want to tell you and want you to listen. Listen, not to me, but to Mar Jaava from Fashion. I think Shruti Pathak will go places and I should go to bed. I promise to keep the next post relevant and write about what we saw at Mysore the next day. Till then, Mar Jaaava..

Life Is Driving A Car In Heavy Rain

Wisdom decided to bless me with a rare visit while talking to Sap last evening, and this is what it left me with -

Life is like driving a car in heavy rain. You (mostly) know the destination and (mostly) know the road, but the journey is rough. Due to the rain, you never know what's going to hit you when you take next turn. You want to keep moving fast, but have to be cautious not to skid and be thrown off the road. You can't see what lies far head because of the heavy rain and though there are vipers wipers, they only help you to see to a certain distance. You still keep going - backing your instinct and gut feel, taking calculated risks and making decisions from experience. You stop for breaks in between, but still keep going. Your car breaks down, a stranger comes along and helps you, reminding to help others in need. You meet with an accident, break a few bones, repair your car and resume the journey. Help a stranger on the way since you know how important help is. So that's what it is - set out on a journey, pick up a few bruises, keep your ears and eyes open for the unexpected, hope that the rest of whatever is left of the journey will turn out fine.

PS. Now I know why wisdom decided to bless me. Sap was around!

Photos From The North East Trip

As Partha correctly points out here, it was not exactly the North East that we know as. Nevertheless, it was originally planned as a North East trip and hence the name shall remain. A picture is worth a thousand words they say and all the photos from the put together would be close to a million words. You can find all the photos from the trip here, but the traveler suggests that you wait for the blog posts about the trip coming up over the weekend. That's the plan at least.

Meanwhile, have a look at the albums. Sets rather, as flickr calls it. It is a really neat service and totally worth the $25 I paid for a yearly paid account.

Bhutan	Nepal	Gangtok
Changu Lake	Kolkata	Siliguri
Tiger Hill	Darjeeling	Kurseong

Back

The subject is back after the trip. Photos and the post will be up soon.

Were We Wayanad

Two boys. Two states. Two rivers. Two dams. Visits to places of death of two men who gave the British a hard time. Two national parks. Two nights in God's Own Country. Ruins of two ancient Jain temples. Lots of fun.

Photos and details coming soon. Notes from the scrapbook.


Day 1

Pole's call-> CMH Road ->IISc-> Kaveri Hostel confusion->Sap's quick camera tutorial->Petrol Pump, leaving the helmet behind->Ramanagaram->Maddur->Maddur Tiffany's->Satyagraha Memorial->Srirangapattana->Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple->Tipu's place of death->Dungeons->Commemorative Obelisk->Delhi Gate->Watergate->Jama Masjid->Sangam->Nimishamba Temple->Gumbaz(36 pillars for 36 years)->Mandya->Mysore->Lunch at Kamat Upachara->Nanjangud->Teppotsava(Full moon day)->Gundlupet(Return for fuel)->Bandipur WLS(Elephants)->Chill in the air->Ponkuzhi->Closed Jain Temple->Sulthan's Bathery->Vijaya Tourist Home->Hot Water->Hotel Kalapakam(Cool Hotel!)->End Of Day

Day 2

Sulthan's Bathery->Jain Temple->Phantom Rock->Meenmutty Falls->Karapuzha Dam->Museum at Ambavalam(Vijaya H S Polpully)->Edakkal Caves->Closed, pleading to no avail->Mastering Macro->Declare March 22 Macro Day->Kalpetta->Rain->Search for a hotel with hot water->Arun Tourist Home->Megha Tourist->Choosing Arun Tourist->Food at Udupi Restaurant->Mallu Rice->Women high is not high!->Chundale tea estateVythiri->Pookote Lake->Rowing->Kayaking->Physics and Chemistry of Kayaking->AnchoorTea Estate->Banasura Dam(Earth Dam!)->Kalpetta->Hotel Woodlands->Lady wanting to drink the pink thing->Hotel Pankaj->Kalpetta

Day 3

Start at 6:30 from Kalpetta->Jain Temple ruins #1-> Pole's bruise->Pole asking for a photograph and not their photograph->Jain Temple ruins #2->Mananthavady->Udupi Hotel(again! Best Kerala Parattas)->Pazhassi Raja memorial->Kuruva Island->Bavali->Kachda Road->More Kachda Road-> Spotting deer->Some more Kachda Road->H D Kote->Mysore->Lunch->Chamarajanagar Coffe Day->Bangalore Corporation.

Way To Wayanad

Is this blog dead or what? In the middle of a few good and a few not so good things, Pole and I are heading out to Wayanad on his Shine. Should be fun. Here's to tripping, more of which is coming soon.


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Teetotaller Of A Different Kind

It's a very proud moment for all of us at CircusMouse. And we wear that pride up our sleeves, literally. Hence the t-shirt.

What the bloody hell is this?

From the world's best blahg comes the world's best t-shirt. To cut the long story shirt short, here's the t-shirt for you. Do not get distracted by the wonderful modull model posing with the t-shirt, pay attention to the wonderful t-shirt instead.

Front:




















Back:




















Damn, it's such a stupid t-shirt

Really? You either get it or you don't. And if you have not, get out on the road, walk for 23 meters - not a meter more, not a meter less. Wait there and ask the first female walking by
carrying a purple handkerchief. She will know for sure. Huh.

Ok, I've got it. How do I get the t-shirt?

See, now you're talking sense. This t-shirt might be the best piece of visible fabric your body has ever had on it. Of course, there are better pieces of fabric your body would've had on it and much closer than this t-shirt. But we have learnt our Moral Science lessons well and we know exposing is not appropriate. Hence, this t-shirt comes with an OK certificate from the Exposure Control Authority Of India.

If you want to get this amazing creation, indicate in the comments to the post or write to 10plus3i@gmail.com. Here are the details -

Size - The model in the photo above is wearing an M size t-shirt. So an L would probably fit most men to the tee. An M for most women?

Cost - Higher the quantity of the order, lower will be the price. Estimated price is Rs. 200. And we'll try to keep it within that.

Quality - Fairly Decent.

Delivery - It's that good, eh? That you want it delivered right away? We're glad. Tell us if you want the t-shirt either by comments or by e-mail. We'll see how many t-shirt we're printing, arrive at the cost of one t-shirt and then get in touch with you for the address. Delivery charges extra. Definitely lesser than most maternity hospitals.

To hell with you. Absolute bullshit this is. Such huge fuss over such non-sense.

We're happy. At least someone is honest. Now if you'd only let us what about the t-shirt makes you feel that way. That it's a t-shirt and not a t-short? That it has Gabbar and not Mogambo? That the idea in itself is ridiculous? Tell us, please.

The Head And Tail Of It Or The Problem With Probability

I was tossing what seemed like a totally biased five rupee coin to decide the outcome of something. Heads was Yes and tails was No. And in that five throws experiment, tails turned up each time. Was I then fighting against odds, literally?

Point Your Mouse To

No pun intended, unless you thought of that thing as a mouse. Let's not get into the pun trap, or punt rap for now!

Point your mouse to CircusMouse. Lot of action happening there. And someone likes posts on CircusMouse doesn't mean he's gay for me. Gay for me? Now, as a young thing would say - How gay is that, Sahu? Perhaps he liked this guy's one's only post on that blog. Hence gay maybe.

Random Remembrances.

• India- Australia Cricket Match at Chinnaswamy Stadium. [photos] No, we didn't heckle Symonds. But had awesome fun with Dada, Karthik and Powar fielding at the boundary right in front of us. Cricket will never die in India. And Cricket is a simple game of heart, mind, bat, ball and a couple of guards for safety. The excessively annoying TV coverage is doing no good to the gentleman's game it is it once was. Hope though, is still alive.

• The mid-night trek to Skandagiri [photos] following the match. That I was tired and exhausted would be an understatement, and that I was a bicycle because I was too tired would be a wonderstatement. Puns aside or puns-a-side, I still have no clue about the source of energy that kept me alive during the trek. Thank heavens(we were definitely closer to it) for the life-saving omlettes and tea at the summit. The trek would be incomplete without the mention of birth of Joshi, a person who existed amidst us all along, but we had no idea about him. Thanks to a certain America-bound dude, we discovered his existence and he's been living with us since then. The day Joshi's true identity is revealed would be the day when this polite, gentlemanly, mature Nikhil Kulkarni's make-believe identity will be known. Till then, live and thrive, Joshi.
  

• A Walk In The Clouds, Caffeine, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Laaga Chunari Mein Aag, Morning Raaga (Oh fuck! How could I forget Apparao and Annapoorna? Wake Up!), Tout Va Bien (Everything Is Alright - that's the movie's name in English!), Un homme et une femme (A Man And A Woman)
  
• A special mention. We were brave enough to watch this one - The Brave One. Clovie, get out of the car! Those who suffered this at my hands, or my mouth rather, after this movie, should feel honoured. Gods (Warner Brothers, that is) have heard us and we have this great news - Warner Bros says “No More Female Lead Characters”?!
  only to be followed by Warner Bros Denies Comments.
  Huh, no reward for our bravery.

• The trips home, the series of forgotten birthdays, the chull that was finally put to rest a minute back (Aw fuck! Commander will go crazy over this!) , the falling ill and getting back to life again, Octoberfest, the Bangalore Book Festival, the visit to that insti, the scary predictions(I should stop doing that now!)......
  

• Pustakaaha
• Londonstani - rudeboy rules, rudeboys rule! Samira Ahmed, Product Marketing and innit! Absolute must-read.
• Games Indians Play - interesting, especially the application of the behavioural economics tools to understand why we are the way we are. In addition to things mentioned here, I want to become a Behavioural Economist. Very fancy it sounds. Absolutely. And that's not the only reason I want to become one.
  
• A book on the best upcoming writing in Indian English edited by Kushwant Singh.
  
• Plans are to read Butter Chicken In Ludhiana during the upcoming trip to Kanpur. If the previous trip out of Bangalore was anything to go by, this one should be great fun! The same refrain again - but that was Mumbai! This one is no less either- Bangalore->Delhi->Lucknow->Kanpur->Lucknow->Delhi->Bangalore. Should be fun enough.
  

PS. Began this post with just the thought of directing readers to CircusMouse, but it ended up being an almost-complete update post. I'm glad it came. Good for the well-being of this world. Om Shanti Om. Huh, the movie's noise these days. Shanti Shanti. Huh, that's Mandira Bedi. Ab Bas. Huh, that's Diana Hayden.

The Curious Incident Of The Quote In The Night Time

The problem begins when you do not know what to do with it. The problem only gets worse when you don't know what to do without it.

Looks like immense profoundity flows when one is reading Mark Haddon. It's A Spot Of Bother right now.



PS. The quote indeed came in the night time. At 5 a.m. Quite the right night time.

PPS. Only he can come up with quotes like these - I am atheist in a very religious mould.

Movies - Towards Achieving My Aim In Life

Not that I'm going to become another Madhur Bhandarkar, but watching as many movies as one can has never made anyone a bad film-maker, has it? So much ado for a movie update. But seriously, if I had only seventeen more days to live, I'd make start working on a short film Right Angle. I might as well start working on it right away, but why not? I need the space and the time for it, the luxury of which I do not have right now. Here's the list of movies I watched recently-

• Not a 17% contented child as mentioned here , I can probably die a 23% contented child now. Have finished watching all movies made by Vishal Bharadwaj - Makdee, Maqbool, Omkara and now, The Blue Umbrella. Each of them is brilliant, with Vishal's earnestness and honest approach standing out. Watch The Blue Umbrella in a theater, otherwise one wouldn't be doing justice to the wonderful cinematography by Sachin K Krishn. I'll be following Abhishek Chaubey very closely now on. His work till now -
  
• Screenplay, dialogue, Associate Director - Omkara
  
• Associate Director-Maqbool, Makdee
  
• Associate Director & Screenplay-The Blue Umbrella

• Chakde! India - decent good movie. Couldn't have come a better time for it to do well. Independence Day, prosperity(?) all around, things looking more hopeful than ever for our country(yes) and for the youth(?). Pop-corn patriotism is very convenient for today's generation who do not have much time. Convenient for the producers too, pop-corn patriotism sells. On a related note, this is Celebrating Freedom from CircusMouse, our new blog. We don't have a description for it yet, please visit it and helps us find one. Warning : Very chaotic there.
  

• Naagarahaavu - the first of Puttanna Kanagal's movies I've watched. Ramachari's character is perhaps a better representation of the angry young man of those days. Even better than Amitabh's roles then? Not sure, need to watch more movies of the 70's to be qualified to answer this. But I liked the character played by Loknath the best. Ade namma speciality!
  

• Ananathana Avaanthara by Kashinath. Kannada industry needs more people like him. People like him, Upendra, Jaggesh whose work maverick, unconventional approaches add a new dimension to Kannada film-making. But what has happened to Sunil Kumar Desai to make a sub-standard movie like Kshana Kshana? Forget the review, Shri Desai has set certain standards with his earlier movies. At least live up to them, Sir?
  

• Movies I caught up with now, as they released during the time of my shift to Bangalore -
• Guru - huh, they shoot it in Karnataka and pass it off as Gujarat! The movie fails to capture the magnitude of Dhirubhai's empire. Perhaps his story is such that one can't put it together in a 3 hour movie. Maybe one can, if they do away with needless songs and not give extra time to characters just because they are played by Aishwarya Rais and Vidya Balans. Ratnam Sir, is Mahabharat still on? Forget Lajjo, make Mahabharat. Please!
  
  
• Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd - Minissha Lamba, Minissha Lamba, Minissha Lamba, Minissha Lamba, Minissha Lamba, Minissha Lamba. Well made movie.
  
  
• Ek Chalis Ki Last Local - This movie would be more tight and crisp if unnecessary songs and sequences could have been done away with. Nonetheless, it was about Mumbai Meri Jaan and that more than makes up for all the shortcomings in the movie. Laree Choote. At the last count, it was 2643 - number of times I've played it.
  

• Movies I slept half-way through -
  
• Choker Bali - will someone please explain why it is such an acclaimed movie? Maybe I do not know the meaning of the italicized word. Finding its meaning should be a rewording exercise.
  
• Yatra - my yatra to bed only got faster while watching this. Again, will someone please explain everything about this movie. Art movies, more often than not, are definitely enjoyable. But this one wasn't.
  

PS. Why Madhur Bhadarkar? I used to study and run a video cassette shop at the same time. I developed a liking for movies. I would watch all the movies in the theatre, first day first show! More in this interview - here.

My Aim In My Life

When I grow up...Yes. When I grow up, I want to be an academician like Dr. Ramachandra Guha or and a film-maker like Vishal Bharwadwaj and a social entrepreneur like Dr. Brij Kothari. Seriously, I do. If I'm able to achieve even a bit of what they have, and what they will in the coming years, I will die a happy man. When I look back now, I've already worked with one of them and worked with someone closely related to another one. So, I can at least die a 17% contented child now.

PS. Not entirely unjustified this aim in life of mine. My previous posts on the desire to make a film and to become a social scientist.

Happy Birthday, Nikhil

Dear Nikhil,

Congratulations on completing 22 years of your life. Maybe this birthday wasn’t as happening as the last one, but it was only apt that this birthday celebration, if you can call it that, was very quiet. It gave you the time, however little you got, to reflect and think on what you’ve been through since your last birthday. You also thought of what you want do and where you want to be for your next birthday. Though this happened when things were a little hazy, but the sky was still very clear and you could manage to walk straight. And when the haze cleared the next morning, you were glad that you have come a long way since your last birthday, but also reminded yourself that there’s much more to be done. Make sure you never lose sight of that. Go hang yourself otherwise or pick up the phone and talk to those special people bearing the brunt of your irritation, to get back on track.

Though you haven’t had any time to digest all that you’ve been through in the last one year, you understand that you’ve surely learnt a lot and in more ways than one, they have helped you evolve as a person. They might not be visible in terms of the acquisitions that you’ve made or explained in stupid blog posts like these, but you have certainly realized that on certain occasions, decisions based on such experiences hold you in good stead rather than anything that has been taught to you or been told that those are the right things.

Judging by yourself, but considering different perspectives before that

You’ve also learnt to make judgments by yourself, but at the same time making sure that you understand all the possible ways the same thing could be looked at. While you are certainly right on most occasions, you’ve also realized the importance of making an effort to understand first and then appreciate others’ points of view. That not only broadens your outlook, but also helps you feel comfortable while dealing with different kinds of people.

Enjoy people laughing behind your back.

To this a lot of people would say – ignore people who laugh behind your back. I say – enjoy with them. There are two things to this. One, that their amusement over you could be totally baseless and thus while you’re laughing with them, you’re actually laughing at them. Two, there might be some genuine reason to their reaction. There’s no harm in laughing at yourself. Do that and make sure without being bothered too much, work on those things. It’s a little hard to digest humiliation, but you’ll come stronger out of it. I know you are smiling now, that’s how you’ve learnt a lot of things. Now that you are doing much better, you’re definitely enjoying it!

Patience and focus

Perhaps these two are the most important things you’ve learnt since your last birthday.

You cannot do everything by yourself, immaterial of how genuinely interested in each of those you are or how important it is to you. There are a few things, which beyond a certain level, are beyond your control. Then you have to bow to the structure and order and let things take their own course. I don’t mean to say that you should become a slave of the ‘system’, it is also that certain structures and systems are put in place to maintain order and it is important to respect them. Thus it becomes important to maneuver and find your way through this structure. That skill of making sure you get what you want and to keep people in good humor is something which needs to be developed. Some smart people around you know how to do it, learn it from them. Be patient, but don’t get sick!

There are a lot of things you wanted to do and a lot you still want to do. Just to make sure your energy is used judiciously in the right direction, it is better you concentrate on a few things you think you are good at and you are comfortable with. You are indeed fortunate that you have access to people and resources to help you pursue your interests, but make sure you know the difference between your interests and matters which deserve more attention.


Formalities and niceties are important.

Well yes, on certain occasions and with certain people for sure. But otherwise remain as politically incorrect and blunt as you are. Formalities and niceties are important because not only they make you (appear!) more presentable, they lend a certain degree of credibility to what you say and what you do. Though personally you might not like as it might seem superficial, it is important that you understand and appreciate this. Ways of the world, my man! Be like them, it’s ok. But don’t be them!

[Nikhil’s reaction to this: What the fuck man? Could you please cut the crap? ]

Well, let’s put an end to this crap. But remember
* You’ve definitely done your bit, but there’s so much more to do. The benchmarks are only getting higher by the day. Yes, a lot of times you have the feeling of having ‘been there, done that’. Kick that feeling, go out and take up new challenges.

* Remain as stupid as you’ve always been. You’ve learnt a lot of things the hard way and perhaps that’s the best way to learn things. Remain stupid, ask more stupid questions and make a lot of mistakes.

* Malcolm Gladwell is definitely right, Blink! is a great book. But yes, try being a little measured and less instinctive while reacting to things. Think on your feet, but sit down and talk!

* There are those special people in this world who make you the person you are today. Some help you remain sane while others make sure you are as insane as you’ve always been. And yes, the sugarcane crushing machine!
[ Nikhil : Thanks all you special people. You know who you are. Joey ishtyle! ☺]

It’ll be interesting to watch the contents of the letter I’ll write to you on your 23rd birthday.

Naansense and a month in Mumbai.

[ I'm in Mumbai now. All my tech posts like the previous one on search engines will now be on WATblog.Here are my recent posts on WATblog.]

This is the tenth time I'm sitting down to write this. It should have been up about ten days back, but then ten things wouldn't have been added. Then, it would've been tentatively titled 'Tendulkar's tender tentacles'. Now that would've given you a lot of tension. Ah, enough of it.

10. I'm definitely talking about both here - nonsense and the bread - naan. Just that having stayed in Pondicherry for close to five months, it is difficult to shake off the South Indian accent. So that's naansense for you.

Naan, in this case the bread, also makes a lot of sense. With the kaamwali bai bidding us good bye, we're mostly having to eat a lot of naan. Apparently, this not(naat?) so good bai decided to do a lot of buying during Diwali with her bhais. Then while helping herself with baingan ka bharta,she decided to bid us good-bye or was she inspired while attending an RSS baithak and then boycotted us! Ah, that was too much of wordplay!

Now to the more serious mentions,

1. We still haven't found a regular bai. That is indeed unsettling.

2. Mumbai is wonderful. One word which probably describes Mumbai the best is - intense. There are way too many things happenings, there are way too many people on the roads, way too many people in the local trains, way too many scents and odours, way too many sounds and way too many things to be mentioned here. Inspite of all this, there's such sense behind the madness. I'm reminded of this post, where I had mentioned about reading books, watching movies about Mumbai. It feels good to have read those books which once one wishes to read. Gregory David Roberts's Shantaram was the first. It's probably the best investment I've made in my life till now. And it is only apt that I gifted it to Scott while he was here in India and of course, fell in love with Mumbai. Check out the t-shirts he's made. And yes, he's donating some of the proceeds of the sales to PlanetRead. Way to go, Mr. Social Entrepreneur in the making. No wait, he's already one! And yes, here's the documentary we made for PlanetRead. A long way ahead from the days of silly college videos like Over and Out and de Young Basanti. And yes, then I read Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra. Ok, the book might not have the depth of Shantaram, but is certainly wide, in terms of the time and geography he's managed to cover in the book. The book certainly justifies the time it took, seven years, and the advance Vikram Chandra got for the book.

And then Suketubhai Mehta in his Maximum City delves much deeper into the chaotic universe that is Mumbai and brings to life more of its intrigues and intricacies. Can't wait for Shantram to be brought alive on screen.

52. What? Shouldn't three follow two? Blame it on my sudden surge of interest interest in random numbers.

So here's another random list of things I've been upto in Mumbai.

23. Kaak, Chinsi, Kenny and another one 'He who shall not be named' (for the simple reason that I do not know his name) were here in Mumbai. We went around South Mumbai, I bought The Perfect Store: Inside eBay and have finished reading it as well. More on the book soon. All I remember is that we walked into Gokul Bar and the rest of it is still very hazy. How we spoke of life being a spiral and not a circle, our journey back to Andheri, how they must be the luckiest people on this earth to have caught a bus back to Surat, is all very hazy. I'm glad such hazy things happen.

24. Movies watched.

Seems like it'll take another three hundred twenty seven years for Hindi movies to be regularly screened in Pondicherry. So starved I was for Hindi movies, read Hindi movies in theatres, that I had to get my dose of Hindi movies when I came to Mumbai. Here's the list - Jaan-e-Mann, Don, Apna Sapna Money Money, Deadline - Sirf 24 ghante and Dhoom 2.

My two cents worth. No wait, I paid more for these. Anyway, here goes.

I'm no big consumer of Dabur products, but I have to say Yeh baat kuch hazam nahin hui to Gulzaar Sahab. There's no comparing Naam Ada likhna in Yahaan to huaan jo zamane ka dastoor hain, woh maane nahi dad naaraaz tha and sirf do hi mahine hai seh lo agar, mera future hai teri kasam, mera future hai jismein piya in Jaan-E-Mann. It really hurts, Gulzaarsahab. Thank God, there's Guru coming soon and it does have some good alfaaz.

Jaan-E-Mann deserves no mention here, while Don was very stylishly made. For all the flak Farhan has received, I congratulate him for taking this risk and coming out trumps. Isn't Don a hit? Guess that says it all.

Dhoom 2? It's got Hrithik written over it all the way. The liplock aside, Aishwarya looks more like, like Sneha Ullal. Bikinasha, Abhishek and Uday just manage to pass the muster, helping us pass pop-corn with ease.

37. Books read

- Maximum City

- The Bachelor of Arts

- The Perfect Store: Inside eBay

- In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India. Makes for an interesting read. Having read India Unbound earlier, this book helped me put the various aspects of India- social, political and economic, in the right perspective. Long way to go before I really understand the dynamics of this mystery that is India.

- The Big Red Fez: How To Make Any Web Site Better by Seth Godin. I regularly follow Seth's blog, and just like on his blog where he simplifies marketing,in the books he provides real life examples to simplify web design.

All books recommended for reading, depending on your tastes and sensibilites.

58. Books to be read

- The Alchemy of Desire by Tarun Tejpal. Wonder how tasty will that be? Yes, this is in refence to this. Scroll down and you'll come to know why. Anyway, I've developed this strange liking for writers from Tehelka. Bunker 13 by Aniruddha Bahal. The rpm from that book is still very fresh in my mind. Read this to know more!

- Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog. Thought it's time I read some sensible stuff!

57. Some more movies I watched while I was not blogging
- Kannathil Muthamittal
- Pithamagan
- Fight Club(again)
- Full Metal Jacket.

Whenever I walk in the teeming Mumbai crowd, I imagine everyone marching on the road saying - "This is my rifle, this is my gun". If you've watched the movie, you'll know what I'm talking about.


63. Really glad that I'm back to quizzing. Because I'm not a B-school student, for purposes of convenience, I'm a student of NMIMS and Das remains my partner for any online B-school quiz. What's more, it was a heartening return to quizzing as Das and I teamed up to win the second prize in the entertainment quiz by IIFT. Another matter though that Dipubhai and I could not make it to the finals of quiz conducted by Avinash Mudaliar. But then, answers like the Marlboro man, iPod shuffle and more importantly FabIndia will help us take pleasant memories from that quiz. But just one point of bother - do fun and entertainment in a quiz have to include references to balls and let the tongue and cheek go haywire of tongue-in-cheek.

108. Watched Shazia Mirza perform.She was funny, hilarous, outrageous, serious, over the top, stinging all at once. But her honesty and straighforwardness are what make her more appealing and entertaining. If all her gigs are her real life stories, then this woman surely has the nerve!

457. Watched Kashinama at The Prithvi Theatre Festival. Was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Ok, this I have to write. I was standing beside Kay Kay Menon and then I asked him who the performer was. Swanand Kirkire,came the answer. No sooner did I exclaim - Oh Hazaaron, did Swanand began Baanwra Mann, followed by Raat Hamaari toh bowing to audience's request. His Main solah saal ka would be ideal for the short film on social networking I'm planning to make. Plans are to run into him again at Prithvi and ask him for the same. I know it's a tough ask, but I'll try.

3124. Shortfilm reminds me of the documentary/shortfilm Komal and I are planning to make on the recent 'corporatization' of Bollywood covering the latest attempts at
innovative marketing and promotion. We've got the basic framework worked out. All we need to do now is just go out there and do it! Promises to be exciting. What say? Ms. Big shot journalist! [ Ah, how much I'll have to hear for this]

5372. Conversations with Prayas have been educative and enlightening in a sense. We've discussed(a lot) over coffee, some Italian dish I can't remember and dinner. Hopefully, something concrete will emerge out of those discussions. Personally, Prayas has been a great person to spend time with. I shall start contributing for Mumbai Diaries soon and get invloved in the short film competition Prayas mentions on his blog.

6453. Ok, Pandora can read my mind. Talking of music, Mumbai's Rainbow FM is really good. I like it not because it is the only station which plays English music, but because unlike the RJs at Mirchi, Red, One, BIG or City, RJs at Rainbow are restrained and not shouting over the top of their voices.

3241.DesiLassi is up and running. We're still contemplating on how do we position it. Positioning might seem a fancy term, but doing business on the internet is definitely not easy if there's no focus. The DesiLassi blog is up. Promises to be a fun ride. Finished a pilot TV show episode for BookBox. Feels good to have done most of the things by my own - shooting, post, pre and free production and editing!

367532. And finally,

If you find love on the internet, will you say it was love at first site?!
If you work on the internet for a long time, will you be keybored?

Tamizh Rock, doctors and etcetera.

[ This is the last time I'm announcing my return to regular blogging. Here are the comeback posts, 1 and 2]

It's definitely fun here in Pondicherry. More often than not it's funny too. Funny was how Ganesh Visarjan was done here, or for that matter how Ganesh Chaturthi was celebrated here. Funny was smelling fresh flowers on long plaited hair during a rock show. Ok, maybe I did not get that close to any Tamizh woman to actually smell the flowers. But it is indeed strange, the sight of many women in the traditional Tamizh appearance in a rock show. One definitely expects smell and sight of something better in a rock show.

Here are the details. The venue was JIPMER and the occasion, their annual fest - Spandan. A very funny name to begin with. Not that the names of the fests conducted in the college I did my engineering from were any better. Sparsh and Kashish sounded dangerously close to names of characters in K-serials.

Having attended rock shows and performances in engineering, architecture and management institutes, it was funny watching doctors organise an event. We engineers are good at problem-solving, hence take care of a problem as and when it arises. Also, go to any extent possible in solving the problem. Even if it means ending up in jail, which happened in my college.

But doctors you see, are very clinical in their approach. At the entrance,they brand you with indelible ink on your wrists as a mark of identification of entry. Later it dawns on you that it is infact a wonderful medical idea. The mark is to identify the right vein in the wrist to give an injection in case there's any complication because of drug overdose, or if the subject dozes off due to lack of interest. They make sure they don't make you over-excited by being a little more enthusiastic while introducing a show. You might get a heart-attack for all you know. Doctors know better. Then I realised that most of crowd was seated for the entire show. They did not want to put their best foot forward and enjoy the show.

Personally, I did enjoy the show. There was good music - a very good band, a wannabe band and a band whom we didn't watch for their entire duration. Motherjane was the very good band, Moksha , we really didn't get hear much because we had to leave by then. Having spent close to three hours in a doctors' place, we believed that it was in our best interest to follow the 'Early to bed, early to rise' principle. There was another college band - Junkyard Brew apparently, which really did not make me enthused enough. They were trying to hard to be rock stars and the music wasn't really polished. Motherjane on the other hand played excellent music for one and a half hours. It was definitely not a mean feat considering the fact that their music was more compact, more polished and more organised. Wish they had a CD stall at the venue. The Dream Theater influence was unmistakable,and that perhaps was the right dose for me. Not having heard John Petrucci for a long time had left a void which Motherjane definitely made up to a certain extent.

This rock show brought back memories of the days when I was the manager of the college band! Mrinabh, Joji, Chinsi and Shubham. Short-lived though my stint was, it was indeed great fun. Also brought back wonderful memories of the Chaos experience at IIM-A. Those were indeed the best days of my life. More importantly, in some way or the other those few days have instilled some sense of madness and craze in me, which have better best days for me in the future!

Related/ Unrelated blabber.

1.
Bloody stye in my eye troubling me again. This time though, I have read Catcher in the Rye.
Here is the limerick when a similar stye had troubled me.

2.
Arjun Sharma
is not attending the BlogCamp
as he is busy MOCKing CATs. Irli bidi Sharma avare, innond saari sigona. MOCK maadi. Looking forward to meeting some interesting people there.

3.
Had a long PJ session with Ram after a long long time. Time so long that our watches would've grown really long, if they could grow.

Analyse these -

i. Which TV channel will Inzamam appear on?
A. Zee, because he is In-zy.

ii. Which biscuits will Inzamam give you?
A. Priya Gold. Because 'Haq se maango, Priya Gold'.

iii. What did the ICC tell Inzamam?
A. Stop scratching your balls. Otherwise you'll land in trouble.

Funny, aren't they? :D

4.
Bharath writes about our
meeting with Kiran Karnik in his latest post. I think that was the day we realised that our key to success is our madness.

5.
Bharath apparently has a friend who is crazy about stocks and shares. I
decided to learn some lessons so that I could test my knowledge when the meeting
happens. Here are my initial lessons -

i. Sensex has no relation whatsoever with having sex with any of the Sens-Sushmita,Riya or Reema. About sex with Rimi and Raima, I am not too sure. The whole Sen actress' group is so insane and so confusing.

ii. There is no problem in wearing stockings to a stock exchange. But be careful if you happen to do that. One cannot exchange stockings in a stock exchange.


Not bad for a novice, eh?


6.
Bunker 13 is an incredible fun ride. MM has to be the man. I'd definitely want to be born as Shantaram in my next birth, but do not mind if I'm born as MM.Just that I really do not want to be the person who he turns out to be in the end,but the experiences he goes through and the life he lives are outrageously amazing.

What are you writing about?

[ OK, I have returned to regular blogging. Here is the comeback post ]

Now, there are few important decisions I have to make. Of course, some decisions I've made previously have proved costly. One of them for example was my decision to buy Maximum City . About sixty pages into the book and I realised that it was indeed a costly decision, about sixty rupees maybe. But even with books like this come with good memories. I bought that book when Bharath and I met Kiran Karnik in Hubli at the IT Investors' Meet.Like every book has a story to tell, which even Maximum City has, there's a wonderful story behind our meeting with Mr.Karnik. Bharath has agreed to write a post on that soon.
But somehow I feel I should have paid some attention to Kaak when he asked me not to buy it. Somehow Suketubhai is too harsh on Mumbai. Having called Mumbai my jaan in an earlier post on my blog here, I really couldnot digest Suketubhai's verbal abuse of Mumbai. I may someday complete reading the entire book and tone down my disregard for Maximum City. But until then, it can rest on the table. Or is it on the shelf already? Great. I am now really desperate to get my hands on Sacred Games. If you committed that costly(time-wise) decision of reading that post, you'd know that I did mention about Sacred Games there.



But then sometimes costly decisions turn out to be really worthwhile. Buying Bunker 13 turned out to be one such decision. So I while I headed out for lunch trying to look for Sacred Games on the way, Bunker 13 waiting right there to be picked by me. The first fifty pages, in no uncertain terms, make me believe that it's definitely worth the wait and the weight. Rupees Two Hundred Sixtynine only, is the weight. It was almost like MM telling me - "Fuck the weight, pick up the bait!". Who is MM? Read the book.

So talking of decisions to be made, I have decided that I should blog about something new. Apart from playing predictable word-games with puns on my blog, there are many other useful things that I can write about. It'd be great if I could run a colla-blog with a fellow blogger. I know my earlier attempts like this didn't really take off, but I'm still ready to give it another shot. Here are a few subjects that I'd like to start another blog on.

1. Technology start-ups in India [ Entrepreneurship in India ]
2. The retail industry in India.
3. Business opportunities in Tier -II cities and towns in India.

I know these would require a lot of investment of time and resources, but I'll
still give it a try.

I think I'll got to bed now.To sleep, definitely not Arjun Sharma ishtyle like this. Enantheera Sharma avare?

P.S. I am planning to attend the Bloggers' Unconference at Chennai. Details
here. Anybody coming?

P.P.S.

Lovely. Just like those days!



Wonderful. Pandit, Ankush and I will go to school again!

Losing My Religion

[ This post is about I not taking up a software job and joining
PlanetRead. Read on for details!]

It was ironical (the best of the times?!). It was funny (worst of the times?!). Ironical because it was the last engineering exam of my life and the mail confirming that I was getting aboard PlanetRead effectively meant that I wouldn’t be getting into software. Ironical, more so because the last exam was Software Engineering.Funny was how I motivated myself to ‘study’ for that exam, which was only of academic interest, pun very much intended. I’ll leave aside the funny story for a while. Time for some serious discussion now.

Yes, I’m not taking up the software job I got through campus placements but joining PlanetRead instead. Why? Who? Where? When? How? What? Here are the answers!

What?

- What is PlanetRead?

Well, PlanetRead is an organization setup by Dr. Brij Kothari, a Reuters scholar and an Ashoka fellow. Closer home, he teaches at his alma-mater IIM-A. Dr. Kothari is credited with conceptualizing, researching and nationalizing SLS in India. More on Dr. Kothari and PlanetRead hereand here respectively. Looking forward to meeting him! PlanetRead is funded by Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google among a host of other organizations. Here’s how PlanetRead had its origins. In Dr. Kothari’s own words-
“So I used to watch a lot of Spanish films with English subtitles. One day, suddenly I thought: Why not Spanish films with Spanish subtitles? It'd be a better way of learning the language. Adding text to the audio, you could actually follow what the native speaker says. Then I exclaimed, 'Why not add subtitles to the popular film song programs in India? This way those who had rudimentary knowledge of the alphabets could learn to read! “

Dr. Kothari is also the CEO of Bookbox. Bookbox, again based on SLS is a web based jukebox of multimedia stories for children, and for those young at heart. Try the free preview. Almost everyone, whom I showed this to, was left agape. Chances are that you’ll be one of them to. Simple and so very elegant. Yet, equally powerful and effective.

- What will I be doing in PlanetRead and Bookbox?

I’m joining the PlanetRead team as Media and Publicity trainee. My work would involve lots of traveling, interacting with people, and the media. Publicity, brand building, mass media are the words. Hope you get the idea! Initially, I’d be traveling with Scott, an American film-maker. In the process, I’d be learning how to handle the camera, edit videos and make documentaries and short films. Glad, this’ll help me make better videos than the stupid hostel videos I had done and better documentaries than ‘de Young Basanti’. Over a period of time, I’m expected to perform varied roles relating to the publicity and the brand image of SLS and PlanetRead. Suffices to say that the profile is definitely exciting and interesting, and more importantly gives me lots of scope for me to learn and pick up new things.


Why?

This perhaps is the question on everyone’s mind. Not that I hate software or despise it. It’d be too frivolous on my part to ridicule it without actually being a part of it. I easily worked my way out though four years of engineering. And I could have done the same thing in software. Somehow, the working my way out business doesn’t quite appeal to me anymore. And PlanetRead gives me a chance to work to my skills, my strengths and more importantly my interests. Some more answers to why.

1. The whole concept of technology being used to make a difference to people’s lives appeals to me the most. I was ridiculed when I chose ‘IT in rural development’ as my final year seminar topic. I can probably identify more with that farmer in Haryana whose life has been transformed by e-choupal, than this classmate who just blabbers on some hi-funda tech term while others royally doze off. Ask me, someone who first touched a computer in Std IX and actually worked on it in Std XII about the joy of being ‘empowered by technology’. Do not know what corner of my heart that joy emerges from, when I see kids in my neighbourhood smile and thank me when I let them play games on my computer or when our Kaamwaali Bai’s daughter types her name on the computer!


2. I get a chance to leverage on my skills, my talent and my interests to make a real difference to the organization and the society at large. Yes, I did say the same thing (with a sly smile ;) ) in the campus interview though. But could I really have? I guess not, at least not when I’m crazy about quizzing, Web 2.0, making videos, writing, photography, traveling, movies, current affairs et al. I might not get to pursue all of these with the same vigour, but at least my work would have lots of scope for pursuing some of these. In software? I’m afraid not!

3. The team I’ll be joining. I haven’t met them as of now and will probably have met some of them in a few days’ time. A click on the Team link on www.planetread.com will give you an idea of what I’m talking about.

4. Finally, as silly as it may seem, I get to work in casuals. I remember asking Rohit Shankar (college senior from IIM-A, who's started his woen venture) as to why did he opt out of placements and venture out on his own. His straight-forward and terse reply was-“ Abey, tie-wie pehen ke kaun kaam karega? Main toh apne company mein chaddi pehen ke kaam kar sakta hoon!” . A tie or a chaddi isn’t all that important to me. But yes, I thrive and relish in an informal atmosphere.

5. The bestestest thing, I might get to write PlanetRead and Bookbox’s blog!!I definitely hope I will, once I reach Pondicherry!


How
- How did all this happen?

This again a story in itself. We had a four hour lab every Friday afternoon. During one such lab hour (of the four hours?!),my craze about Web 2.0 again took me on a tangential. I came across this piece on Dr. Larry Brilliant taking over as the CEO of Google.org. There I stumbled upon PlanetRead and the fact that it is one of the only four organistions in the whole world being funded by Google. Silly as it may seem, it was a Blink! moment for me. I immediately mailed Dr. Kothari and he forwarded my mail to the COO and a few days later, I was in for a very pleasant surprise. I happened to speak to the COO in Sanskrit in our very first conversation. Those of you who still follow this beautiful language would understand my joy at such an event. Then a few more phone calls and mails followed, and here I am, writing a post on why I’m not taking up a software job and joining my multilingual boss. Funnily enough, most of the mail correspondence happened during the lab hours. I perhaps made the best use of the a.c comfort and four hours of hi-speed internet. What’s funnier?! The subject was aptly named ‘Internet Technology and Applications’! Our teachers couldn’t have been more philosophical, could they?!

- How did my parents react?

An important question again. Their initial skepticism was not totally unfounded. This was indeed something new. And when their excited son calls them close to midnight, telling them that he has plans of dropping out of a software job and instead joining an organization working for promoting literacy, would definitely have any parent thinking a thousand times about it. I’m indeed very lucky such wonderful and supportive parents who’ve let me pursue what’s close to my heart. I know it definitely wasn’t easy for them. That makes the load on my shoulders all the more heavy, with that added responsibility. Feel a little sorry for my mother though. She cannot possibly say-‘”Mera beta laakhon mein ek hai”. How could she?! I wouldn’t be one of the many lakhs of software engineers Kidding. She’s a very proud mother and I’m an equally obedient son ;) And thank you Sir, for talking to my parents .That helped so much

How was others’ reaction?

To be very frank, not too many people are really bothered. Even the ones you’d generally expect to be interested in something new and exciting aren’t all that keen. It’s fine. Most quizzers, movie freaks, music maniacs, literary bugs would understand what it is like. I being no different have been through this many times. Perfectly fine by me!

Where?

Initially I’ll be traveling, mostly in South India. Might just be at a tea- stall near you! PlanetRead has offices in Pondicherry, Mumbai and Ahmedabad. But it’ll be mostly Pondicherry I guess. Keep visiting this blog to know of my where-abouts and my travel blog about my experiences and my photoblog for the photos!

When?

This is going to be fun. Soon after my college, I join PlanetRead on the 16th at Bombay as soon as I leave from Surat! Such a rush, definitely. But then again, that’s where I thrive. Something like, I did really well during this rush earlier. One mad rush that was!

I move to Pondicherry on the 23rd after a quick stop-over at home. Then embark on the travel with Scott. So much looking forward to it.

Anymore questions?! By the time this blog sees a new post, I’ll already be on PlanetRead’s team. More inside dope then! Till then, nothing more could convey my feelings better than the Red’s lines from The Shawshank Redemption-

“ ……… I find I’m so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I imagine it’s the excitement only a free man can feel. A free man at the start of a long journey, whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border… I hope to see my friend and shake his hand… I hope the pacific is a blue as it has been in my dreams… I hope ”

Related/ Unrelated Babble:

1. Getting swamped by four kid cousins as soon as you step into home, can relieve you of all the fatigue and pain of a continuous 20-hr train journey in a general compartment.
2. Re-discovered the joy of getting really involved in something and working for it. This time around, it happens to be my final year project. The last two days I’ve been totally immersed in Spam. Good mails by the way are called Ham. But bit Ham and Spam are safely edible items.
3. It is a little irritating though when you have Him-ass Reshammiya ‘poke his nose’ when you’ve to really concentrate. It is very irritating when he runs 24*7 not only in the mess, but also in autos, restaurants, tea-stalls. What is absolutely irritating is when he enters your project lab and half the junta absolutely ‘suroor’ him. So much for an unshaven face and a Fevicol glued cap. Will Somebody tell me what Suroor means?!
4. Might just get to meet the likes of Kiran Karnik, Narayan Murthy, Azim Premji at the IT investors’ meet in Hubli. The event manager has agreed to us(I and Bharath) being there to ‘interact with and learn from the dignitaries and the entrepreneurs present there’. Looking forward to that as well.
5. It’s a pain in the backside roaming through this huge campus to collect some 16 signatures for the No Dues Certificate. Can’t there be a centralized system to check the dues. Would rather stay back than get everything burnt in this shot sun. But what to do?! Professional hazards, you see.
6. I don’t have any time for all ‘one last time’ things . The one last trip to Shanivari, the one last trip to Chowk for chicken and Mava jalebi, one last trip to Varachchha: ;), one last visit to each of the rooms I stayed in previously, one last visit to Mansi and Sweety’s place, one last visit to GanGhor. The won’t be any end to these last lists! But yes, nothing lasts forever! Not even the last one?!
7. Last, but not the least least, least is next. This might be the last night-out of my engineering life. It’s 5:19 now and our submission starts from 10:00. How pleasant, my back hasn’t touched the ground since morning!
8. Last but not the least, another list! Of things I’ll miss
1. No miss to miss. So that’s a miss from the list of things I’ll
miss!
2. Garba: Vibrant Gujarat isn’t just a punchline. Come here
during Navaratri and you’ll know what it means. Haven’t
missed a single garba till now!
3. LAN and Internet in my room: Less said the better. I’ll start crying otherwise.
4. My room: esp. the graffiti and the huge rubbish board. It’s worth some $32445435 of information. Quizzers’ delight.
5. The HUGE campus. Walking in the campus gave some sense of pleasure.
6. Lots of people. They have all chosen to remain anonymous. But you know who you are [Joey ishtyle!]
7. [ To be filled later. When I find out what I’m missing]
8. [ To be filled later. When I find out what I’m missing]
9. [ To be filled later. When I find out what I’m missing]