Goodbye Aloo

To be quite honest, initially I wasn't a very big fan of Inzamam-ul-Haq. He seemed to be a very lazy cricketer to my innocent eyes. Slow between the wickets, slow in the field & even slow while playing his shots. It was as if I was watching the game in slow motion. But as I grew up, I realised that his laziness was not a vice but something of a virtue. He seemed to have the time in the world to play his shots. He was never hurried into anything, never bullied into submission. And plus his laziness had a sort of elegance to it. I have to admit, Inzy had charm, the sort of charm the rest of the so-called "professional" cricketers lacked. He was like the common man's representative in the world of cricket. He was one of us, and yet while batting, he became one of them. Or even better than them.
And then who could forget the great fun we had watching Inzy giving press conferences. He was the one who made post match press conferences interesting with his style of talking & the stock phases that he consistently used ( " Inshallah, the boys played well today"). He might not have been the shrewdest captain and definitely was not the most media-savvy one around but he led by example - and his record speaks volumes about his dedication to the game.
But alas he's gone now and we shall miss him. Cricket really needs more characters like him and not the automatons that we see nowadays. And before I leave, I'll leave you with my favourite Inzy story, as told by Aamer Sohail.

"We were at a warm-up game in Zimbabwe once and the fast bowlers were on with the old ball. I was standing at slip with Inzi next to me. We crouched down as you do when the bowlers were coming in. Four or five balls later, I noticed Inzi was still crouching and surprised, I asked him if everything was ok. He replied, "I'm fine, just trying to sleep. The ball is old and reversing so there's hardly a chance there will be any edges to snap up."

The looong weekend

I'm having an extended weekend right now, thanks to the college having a holiday on friday. I guess that's the main reason why I have so much time to spare. I have absolutely no plans for the weekend. I am not going home, nor am I meeting anyone. I was going to hang out with my friends tonight but that ain't happening either. To kill time I decided to label all the posts on my blog but even that is done now. I have run out of movies to watch. And I just can't study with the exams more than a month away. So basically I don't have the slightest idea of what to do (though this does NOT mean that you can offload your dirty work onto me)
Hence since yesterday I have been working on my homepage. Most of you might not know this, but my homepage has been up for 364 weeks (or 7 years!). However I hadn't visited it myself for months and hadn't edited it for years. In fact before I restarted working on it (which was yesterday) it still read 'I have just appeared for my HSC examination'. So as a part of my massive reconstruction plan, I have already started a blog there which is kind of strange because I have to copy paste my posts from here to there and change all the here s to there s and vice-versa which is kinda annoying and hence I might not do that in the future when I don't have time for such silly stuff. Now I have decided to upload all my photos onto my homepage, so that all those of you who have unfortunately not seen enough of me during the last week can now do so online. But unfortunately my big plans for the website end here, I have no idea what to do next. There's a BCQC session tomorrow, so that's a relief. But that still leaves a day and a half with nothing to do. When will this weekend end? When can I get back to my normal life where I keep cribbing about how long the week is and how short the weekends are? When? There seems to be no end to this..

Johnny Gaddar

Sometimes you have a hunch that a certain movie is going to be great. There is no logic for it. You just do. Johnny Gaddar was one of those hunches. I just loved the name. And I just had to watch it. Which I did today. And I really loved the movie. The pace, the style, the 70s feel during the titles, everything!
And more importantly, I am loving the fact that I actually backed such a wild hunch and it came good. Now why doesn't this happen during exams?

A new beginning

Out of sheer lack of anything interesting to do and also as an attempt to avoid complete google-isation of my online identity, I have hence forth decided to blog here, instead of here. Since most of you are familiar with my old blog, I shall be updated both blogs simultaneously for a while after which I plan to shift here totally. At least that's the plan. And I really don't have a very good follow through record for plans hatched up at 2 in the night. So let's see what happens

Growing up brothers

Growing up brothers is kind of a mixed bag. Strangers, warriors, enemies, idiots, friends. One day you fight to the death; the next, you lay down your lives for each other.
- The Wonder Years

Missing you bro...

Hat-trick!!

For those of you who might have mistaken this for a review of the recent dumb bollywood flick, you can rest assured for it is no such thing. This is a hat-trick of an entirely different kind...
Well my Hostel I-card has never been something that I have treasured. Actually I have plenty of reason to treasure it, as every year I am the last guy to get a seat in the hostel on account of my rapidly degrading grades. But still, somehow, I don't care much about it. And that forms the basis of my hat-trick. Because the hat-trick signifies the third time in three years that my Hostel I-card has been confiscated.
Lets Rewind:
The 1st incident:
Circa Sep 2005. The Mid-Semester examination of my first engineering semester. 6 papers in six days. Back to back. And back then I was a raw, eager first year chap who had scored great marks in the 12th boards and the CET. So at 3 in the night, you would expect me to be either studying or fast asleep. But well, I always have had this penchant for pulling off absurd and absolutely crazy stunts. And this day was just another page in my ever expanding book of crazy stunts. I wasn't studying at 3 am. I wasn't even asleep. Instead I was playing cricket in the hostel corridor. Now you know why I am called a cricket nut. So at 3 in the night, me and my friends were busy playing cricket and making a lot of noise too. This aroused the rector from his sleep and he came to see what was happening. And at that exact time I was batting. I can still remember the scene. I had just played a forward defensive stroke and had been batting for quite a while. So after playing the shot I looked up and hoped to see some appreciation of my technique on the faces of my friends. But instead what I saw was the rector coming towards me. And I couldn't even say I wasn't there, after all I had the bat in my hand. Caught red-handed. And my innings came to a premature end. What a way to end a perfectly fine innings!
Epilogue: Our I-cards were confiscated and all of us were slapped a fine of Rs 100. All my friends duly paid it and collected their I-cards as soon as possible. As for me, well, I didn't give much of a damn. I didn't collect my I-card till after the year ended. And guess what, I didn't pay the fine either.

The 2nd incident:
Well this happens to be the least interesting of the three. It happened in early second year, around Sep 2006 I guess. The day it happened was possibly the third time in the week that I had come back to the hostel after the deadline of 11 pm. And this time I overshot it by a good three hours. So I guess I left the security guards with no choice but to relieve me of my I-card. This time though, I did give a damn and got it back in about a week's time.

The 3rd incident:
This was the third and final blow. And it happened today, a few hours ago. It was my friend's birthday and all my friends got together to celebrate. We ate cake, kicked the hell out of the birthday guy and were gonna go back to bed in peace when suddenly the warden turned up. And I made a great escape from the crime scene and successfully came back to my bunker (or room if you wish to call it so). I was about to celebrate a successful exit when I got a call. Someone had betrayed me. And it turned out to be Apoorv Vaidya who did the treachery. My name was on their list and I was a hunted man. So instead of facing the ignominy of the warden coming to my room and taking my I-card, I voluntarily went to him and handed him my I-card. And that, ladies and gentlemen, completes the hat-trick. Let's see how long it takes me to get my I-card back this time.

P.S. : While writing this post I realised that all three events took place in the month of September. I guess it must be the weather. And I can't wait for September 2008.

Yuvi's revenge

They say that in cricket, as in life, things tend to level out over a period of time. In case of Yuvraj & Dmitri, it has happened pretty soon.
No one can forget the 5 sixes that Dmitri Mascarenhas hit off Yuvraj Singh during the ODI series last month in England. However, soon after, Mascarenhas got a taste of his own medicine when he was clobbered for a few sixes against New Zealand. And today, finally, Yuvi got his revenge. Six sixes in a single over. Unbelievable. And spare a thought for the poor Stuart Broad. He is one of the best bowlers England have produced of late. Let's hope he doesn't suffer too much mentally as a result of Yuvi's onslaught.
And another important thing about Yuvi's sixes was that for the first time ever, despite years of watching cricket, I was present for a major record being created by an Indian. I have great timing when it comes to such things. I can still recall the day Kumble took all ten wickets. I was watching the Pakistani innings till they reached a hundred for no loss when I finally gave up. Kumble took his first wicket when the score was 115 and the rest was a glorious chapter in Indian cricket history, but just another short afternoon nap for me.
Amongst others I have also missed Dhoni's 183*, major portions of Sehwag's 309 and Laxman's 281 and all of India's recent test victories. But it seems now that the tide is changing and my timing is improving. Lets hope I get to see many more great Indian feats in the future. And I also hope poor old Stuart looks at this with a broad perspective (pun intended). After all, his name is also permanently entered in the record books.
But for now, England have got off to a flier. And though I know they have no chance of winning, I don't want to miss a single moment of the action. So see you later..

Watching Sholay

Yesterday I saw Sholay for what must have been the 40th or even the 50th time in my life. And I still feel really bad every time I see Amitabh die during the movie. For me, Sholay is a timeless epic, the greatest movie ever. And therefore the emotions in the movie too are very life-like. And that is something no amount of Aag by any director can recreate...

(I CAN'T GET NO) SATISFACTION

I can't get no satisfaction
I can't get no satisfaction
'Cause I try and I try and I try and I try
I can't get no, I can't get no
Satisfaction

Dhekun 2 : Evolution

All those who have ever spent time at the College of Engineering, Pune Hostel must have had a number of close encounters of the fourth kind with the Dhekun (bedbugs). Especially all those who were unfortunate enough to spend time at the dreaded I-block. So when I finally left I-block after one year of suffering, I thought that my tryst with the Dhekuns had ended. However, it has proved to be otherwise.
I have now come across a new species. They have evolved from their predecessors and have grown resistance to all forms of insecticides. In fact, they seem to thrive on them because everytime I spray insecticide, they seem to grow in numbers. And whereas all these years I was happily Dhekun - resistant myself, I used to be fast asleep even though I had lots of them crawling over me, it seems that these new suckers have found a way to trouble me too with their constant biting and their penchant for exploring all parts of my bed. And it seems that the new species has evolved intellectually as well, they have started their attack right during my exams - the time when I am least likely to bother them and also the time when I spend most of the day in bed. They have decided not to let me sleep and I have decided to fight it out like a man. It's war now - Man v/s Beast. And though the man may not be doing much on the war front right now, I'm warning you Dhekuns - I'm gonna getcha !

An extract from the little master's diary

I promise not to be dismissed in the 90s again.
I promise not to be dismissed in the 90s again.
I promise not to be dismissed in the 90s again.
I promise not to be dismissed in the 90s again.
I promise not to be dismissed in the 90s again.
I promise not to be dismissed in the 90s again.
I promise not to be dismissed in the 90s again.
I promise not to be dismissed in the 90s again.
I promise not to be dismissed in the 90s again.
I promise not to be dismissed in the 90s again.
I promise not to be dismissed in the 90s again.
I promise not to be dismissed in the 90s again.

The ICC World Twenty20

Now here's a tournament that I'm really looking forward to. Even though I am somewhat a purist when it comes to cricket, especially since I prefer Tests to ODIs, I have to admit that I love the shortest version of the game. It is a lot of entertainment. And although it is very hard on the bowlers, I don't feel so bad because it is good for the crowds, which is what you want, and also because I no longer belong to the category of bowlers, since it is quite a while since I last bowled my Shane Warne-ish leg spin. (The comparison is made purely on the basis of the action and nothing else. Though I do not deny the presence of a few zooters in my repertoire)
But coming back to Twenty20, I first fell in love with the game when it was first introduced in England as a domestic championship. I remember watching a lot of matches at that time and I found it very refreshing since the matches lasted only as long as a bollywood movie and had a much better plot. The plethora of big hitting, the non-stop action and the inevitable close endings made me a big supporter of this new format. I hoped that there would soon be more Twenty20 matches in the future as I was already pretty bored with the 50 over format. And now that dream is finally coming true. The location for the event seems proper as hard pitches will be aplenty. Also the idea of having a tournament with the inauguartion and the final only 13 days apart is very appealing, especially to one who has suffered the pains of an excruciatingly long world cup. And then again there is the added attraction of an Indo-Pak encounter, which thankfully is on the night when my exam gets over. I really thank my college for its thoughtful consideration while planning the exams.
However, I do have a small complaint against it. It's the name. It is called the ICC World Twenty20. That's it. No championship, no series, no cup nothing. Come on ICC, is that what you name the event which might change cricket forever?

Surprise test blues

Well to be quite honest, I wasn't expecting to do very well in the new surprise tests that the college has forced on us. Since the start of my BTech innings I have always relied on heavy slogging towards the end to get me through. Regular studies, attending lectures et al has never been my forte. So maybe I should have been expecting such a scenario.
But then I always had faith in myself, that somehow I'll get through the tests unscathed but it was not to be. I had just 3 tests to deal with and my record has been totally miserable. I missed the first, was mediocre in the second & totally clueless in the third. Even Manchester United had a better start to their season. Maybe it's because I am yet to get used to the whole pattern. Maybe my approach was wrong. Maybe there's something missing in my preparation. Maybe its something psychological. Or maybe I just didn't study. But somehow something feels wrong. Just need to figure it out.
But there is always hope. And the mid-semester exam is coming close. Maybe it's time for me to finally score. After all, Man U did win their next match...

My latest addiction

If you have met me of late and have heard me constantly mumbling the same tune all over again, then it was probably Tangled up in blue by Bob Dylan. I am slowly coming to love all of Dylan's songs but somehow it is this one which appeals to me the most. Maybe it's the beauty of it's lyrics - simple & yet moving. Nobody writes such stuff anymore. It's a pity.
And here are the above mentioned lyrics:

Early one mornin the sun was shinin,
I was layin in bed
Wondrin if shed changed at all
If her hair was still red.
Her folks they said our lives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did like mamas homemade dress
Papas bankbook wasnt big enough.
And I was standin on the side of the road
Rain fallin on my shoes
Heading out for the east coast
Lord knows Ive paid some dues gettin through,
Tangled up in blue.

She was married when we first met
Soon to be divorced
I helped her out of a jam, I guess,
But I used a little too much force.
We drove that car as far as we could
Abandoned it out west
Split up on a dark sad night
Both agreeing it was best.
She turned around to look at me
As I was walkin away
I heard her say over my shoulder,
We'll meet again someday on the avenue,
Tangled up in blue.

I had a job in the great north woods
Working as a cook for a spell
But I never did like it all that much
And one day the ax just fell.
So I drifted down to new orleans
Where I happened to be employed
Workin for a while on a fishin boat
Right outside of delacroix.
But all the while I was alone
The past was close behind,I seen a lot of women
But she never escaped my mind, and I just grew
Tangled up in blue.

She was workin in a topless place
And I stopped in for a beer,
I just kept lookin at the side of her face
In the spotlight so clear.
And later on as the crowd thinned out
I was just about to do the same,
She was standing there in back of my chair
Said to me, dont I know your name?
I muttered somethin underneath my breath,
She studied the lines on my face.
I must admit I felt a little uneasy
When she bent down to tie the laces of my shoe,
Tangled up in blue.

She lit a burner on the stove and offered me a pipe
I thought youd never say hello, she said
You look like the silent type.
Then she opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me
Written by an italian poet
From the thirteenth century.
And every one of them words rang true
And glowed like burnin coal
Pourin off of every page
Like it was written in my soul from me to you,
Tangled up in blue.

I lived with them on montague street
In a basement down the stairs,
There was music in the cafes at night
And revolution in the air.
Then he started into dealing with slaves
And something inside of him died.
She had to sell everything she owned
And froze up inside.
And when finally the bottom fell out
I became withdrawn,
The only thing I knew how to do
Was to keep on keepin on like a bird that flew,
Tangled up in blue.

So now Im goin back again,
I got to get to her somehow.
All the people we used to know
Theyre an illusion to me now.
Some are mathematicians
Some are carpenters wives.
Dont know how it all got started,
I dont know what theyre doin with their lives.
But me, Im still on the road
Headin for another joint
We always did feel the same,We just saw it from a different point of view,
Tangled up in blue.

The Simpsons Movie

Well, let me keep this real short. The movie is amazing. Just too good. The best movie to have been released recently. In fact one of the best ever. It's the grand-daddy of all other movies. Beats the hell out of all other animation movies or in fact all other movies.
But that's not why you should watch the movie. The reason why you should watch the movie is that if all of you who haven't seen the movie yet, to quote Homer, "are a total bunch of suckers. All of you. Especially YOU!"

The New Look

As you can very obviously see (and for all my braille readers - 'as your fingers can very obviously feel'), my blog has undergone a major revamp. I request all of you to please send me your valuable feedback regarding the makeover. Both bouquets & brickbats are welcome!

A word of advice...

I know I'm not the first one to mention this and might not be the last one to do so either. But this is really a piece of wisdom worth sharing.

Thought of the day (or maybe month):

"If you die a virgin, in heaven you have to have sex with a terrorist."

-Timothy Dreier, commenting on the Reason Hit and Run Blog.

Quoted by Kunal S in Ceteris Paribus

So do the right thing before it's too late.

And for now, excuse me. I have some, eh, work to do.

Rain rain don't go away!

I actually managed to get up at 5:30 in the morning today. And it might well be due to the constant patter of the rain on the roof. So I got up and looked outside and I saw puddles of water forming on the ground outside. And all this made me very happy. That's because I was planning to go on a trek for quite some time but couldn't because there was no rain. But it's evening now and it's been raining almost throughout the day. So I guess the rains have finally arrived! So I would definitely be going on a monsoon trek next weekend. Yippeee!! I could start shouting out of sheer joy.
In fact the sight of the heavy rain early in the morning made me so happy that I promptly went back to bed. After all, you can't seriously expect me to stay awake at that time on a saturday...

Just another post

I have been online for more than two hours now. And the reason why I came online was that I felt like writing something here. But I forgot what I wanted to write about the moment I signed in. So I opened the 'Create Post' window & the window has been open for the last two hours now without me writing a single word in it. And I still can't remember what I wanted to write about. And in between I must have visited a million sites.
The only reason for me writing this is that I have been criticised as being too lazy, especially with respect to my blog. So I would like to take this chance to justify myself by saying that sometimes, there is nothing to write about. Or I just don't remember anything to write about. Either ways , not my fault.

The Count

1. Avinash Kunder
2. My tailor
3. My Aunt
4. Puneeth Shetty
5. Samarth Shrivastava
6. Sneha Das
Enough people have told me that I have grown fat over the last two months. So I'm sending a warning - the next one shall receive a free punch in the nose.

But I guess it is time that I do something about it. And blogging is certainly not going to help. So if you would please excuse me, I have a few crunches to do.

And I'm not joking about the punch in the face.

Seriously.

Movie time

Yesterday turned out to be a movie day of sorts. After all its not everyday that you watch three movies in a day (actually four, but i barely saw half an hour of Rockford). So lets go through them one by one.

Movie 1:
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
To sum it in one word : brilliant! This has to be the best Harry Potter movie ever. And though I totally despised the book as I found it very boring and very slow, the movie suffered from no such problems. It was totally dark, which I particularly liked as the book was very much the same. It was action packed, even though it had no Quidditch. And I really loved the whole 'revolting against the school authorities' part. That part of the book was really good and it has been brought alive on screen very effectively. Plus I happened to like Harry's new hairstyle. Makes him look much more mature.
But the best part (or maybe the second best part) of the movie was not on screen. It was in the form of a young girl who was sitting right beside me. She was about ten and had come with her mom to watch the movie. She would laugh out loud, and I mean really loud, and that too for no apparent reason. Many a times she would shout out "Mummy usne kya kaha??" after which her mother would very kindly explain it in short in Hindi as she too was very busy watching the movie. Only once did she fail to do so. That was when Ron asks Harry about his kiss with Cho and then asks "She was crying even while snogging?". That was too much for the mum and even she broke out into laughter (and the gift of laughing loud very obviously ran in the family) following which her daughter, who was totally oblivious, asked her the same question very innocently. Actually it's good the mother didn't explain that one.
Also the girl got very bored in between and since the theatre was empty she decided to move from her place and sat on the armrest of the chair in front of her. And I guess the armrest wasn't very comfortable as she started jumping while sitting there and soon came back to her own seat.
But fortunately, or unfortunately, they left with about half an hour to left. I can only think of three reasons why someone would leave a movie theatre before the movie ends :
a. They positively hate the movie, which was certainly not true in this case.
b. They receive an urgent phone call telling them about some emergency. Nothing like that happened.
or
c. I actually forgot the third reason.
But anyways, with half an hour left, the girl just looked at her watch and said that it was noon. And immediately both of them got up and quietly left the theatre. They weren't even in a hurry. They just left very casually. As if it was written in their day's schedule

1200 hrs Leave movie theatre

And they left with all the popcorn lying scattered on their seats and the floor. And a glass of soft drink too. Some people just have no sense I guess and I decided to think no further about the matter.
And that led to the best part of the movie.

MP3 : Mera Pehlaa Pehlaa Pyaar
I generally dont see such films. Honestly. But as I was just lazying around and the fact that all my friends wanted to see it made me watch the movie. And happily enough, it wasn't that bad!
The movie is very obviously a love story, between a guy Rohan and a girl Ayesha, set in high school. A few minutes into the movie you realise that there is absolutely nothing logical about the movie. For eg: Rohan is very rich. He asks his dad for 2000 bucks for his date. He actually drives his dad's car while dropping the girl home. Yet, he goes to school everyday on a bicycle. I guess he must be one of those environment friendly kinds. So basically it's best if you just kept your brain out of the entire matter.
The second thing you realise about the movie is that nobody can act. Not the guy, not the girl and definitely not the gang of boys who are Rohan's friends. I have seen better acting in Inter-house dramatics competitions held in schools for the mentally challenged.
But you know what, who cares about the acting skills (or the lack of it ) of the cast. Because one thing that you definitely notice is that the girl is cute. Really cute. In fact she actually makes the whole movie worth watching. I hope she signs more movies and, if possible , this is just a very polite request, polish her acting skills. Though it must be said that her performance was better than the guy's, though that is not saying much, if it is saying anything at all.
And yes, here comes the best scene of the movie. You have to love it.

Rohan is detained by the Indian embassy in Paris. He is about to be deported. He then starts thinking about what he can do. He reminds himself that he is the man and that he can handle the situation effectively. Then he decides to play tough guy and goes to the officer working there and says
" Aap ye nahi kar sakte. Main ek Indian citizen hoon aur meri rights jaanta hoon. I have a right to make a phone call!! "
The officer thinks for a long while and then quietly says,
" Mr. Rohan. Humne aapko detain kiya hai. Arrest nahi kiya. Aap jitne chaahe utne phone calls kar sakte ho"

Too funny!

Shrek 3:
This happened to be the third movie of the day for me. Before watching the movie I had got a lot of negative feedback about the movie. And though the first two movies were better, I must say that the third wasn't all that bad either. And I'm not gonna repeat the plot as all of you must have obviously seen it but it must be said that the movie was very good, had a good story, had good moments and was very funny. Come on, what else do you want from a movie? And yeah, I just loved the baby ogres that Shrek and Fiona have in the end. They look really cute.

Though not as cute as the girl from MP3. Not even close.

And I'd better leave now. Have to watch MP3 again.

Man, she is too cute!

So long.... and thanks for all the fish!

Over the last few days I have been charting Arthur Dents's journey through the galaxy through the book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. A totally remarkable book indeed. And possibly one of the best ones that I've ever read.

This post is not about the book.

Well, at least not entirely.

And honestly, those who think that this is a book review which will end in me awarding a rating in terms of coloured shapes with 5 edges ( or "stars") will do much better if they stop reading at this point.

This post is about My journey while reading The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

Read on..

I first heard about the existence of such a book about a year and a half ago. It was in some quiz I guess. I would love to give you the exact date, time, what the question was et al but fact is that I have totally forgotten. But as far as I can remember, which is not very far actually, it was in some quiz. And I was confronted with questions based on H2G2 (as I shall now call it) in many a college quizzes since then. And my reaction to every one of these questions was to make a face which would be very similar to the one an earthman would make when asked for directions to the Restaurant at the end of the Galaxy.

But that was not what sparked my interest in the book.

It was the laughter filled discussions that my friends would have about how funny the book is etc etc. And it was during these conversations that I heard that the book consisted of a lot of crazy people with really interesting names like Zaphod Beeblebrox, Slartibartfast, Gargavarr, Zarniwoop and - here's my personal favourite - Wowbagger the infinitely prolonged. That really made me want to read the book. After all, any book with such exotic names is bound to be funny. So I finally bought the book and started reading it.

I really loved the first part and managed to finish it off in three days. The second part I found a bit dull and hence it took me more time. And after some more time, while I was reading the third part, a huge brown coloured humanoid monster who was more depressing than Marvin the Paranoid Android ( I'm talking about Gaurav Singh) converged upon my humble residence and snatched the book away from me. Hence my journey came to an abrupt halt.

And then, for a while , all thoughts of the book vanished from my head as if they had been lost in the eddies in the space time continuum.

But then one fine day the book reappeared in my thoughts when another monster - this time a thin humanoid with spectacles and long hair whose entry in that totally remarkable book Aniket's Guide to the People in the Galaxy reads 'Mostly Harmless' - mentioned to me that he was reading the book and was having a blast. This reminded me of the fun I had had while reading the book until it was snatched by the previously mentioned monster. So I finally decided to confront the monster and after a long and successful war I managed to get back my treasured copy of H2G2. And then I promptly forgot all about the book again.

But the book resurfaced once again in my mind sometime in these vacations. And hence I decided to take a shot at reading the book once again. I spent the first day in trying to find out where I had left reading the book but after a day of false starts I realised the futility of te whole exercise and decided to start off from scratch again. That was about twenty days ago. As I started reading the book for a second time, I somehow liked it more than I did the first time, despite knowing about most of the jokes which form the crux of the content. And slowly, day by day, I once again charted Arthur Dent's totally remarkable journey though space and time in quest for the Ultimate Question about Life, the Universe and Everything! And coincidentally during the same time I was involved in one of those totally useless activities which people indulge in when they have a lot of free time - retrospection. So while Arthur Dent went around the Universe searching for the Ultimate Question, I spent time searching my soul for something like an Ultimate answer to Life, the Universe and Everything! And all of a sudden I began to relate to Dent, as we were both searching for something that somehow remained elusive. And then I decided to finish the book as soon as possible as I thought the knowledge of the outcome of Arthur Dent's quest might just help me in my own search. And so with great hope in my heart I set about finishing the book as possible.

Which I did today.

And on doing so I realised that what I had expected from the book about the quest and the search and the Ultimate answer all was just a lot of shit. And that relating to Arthur Dent was also a lot of bull shit.

So much for the hope.

But then I realised that I did gain something from the book - a lot of fun. And maybe that's what life is all about - having a lot of fun.

I shall accept that as the Ultimate Answer in want of a better one.

And for those who had to tolerate another dose of my philosophy, all I have to say is:

WE APOLOGISE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE

The perfect day

Got up late.
Didn't exercise.
Slept off again.
Chatted on the phone.
Watched TV, slept off while watching the mindless nonsense that was on.
Spent time with my friends.
Had a heavy lunch.
Slept off again.
Started reading a new book.
Slept off again.
Chatted on the phone.
Went to the library.
Had lots of junk food.
Had Tandoori chicken.
Had a heavy dinner.
Followed it up with a lot of ice-cream.
Watched a good movie.
Spent hours online doing nothing.
Still doing that.....

All in all, a perfect day.

Borat

Well I agree it took me a long time but I've finally jumped onto the Borat bandwagon. I wanted to see the movie for a long time but somehow could not find the time. Finally I managed to see the movie yesterday. I obviously couldn't watch it with my parents around so I had to stay up late at night to watch. But it was worth it!!!
Firstly, I loved the movie's name. To state it in full, it is: Borat, Cultural learnings of America for make benefit glorious nation of Kazakhstan (Hopefully I've got it right). What a name!! And then of course the movie itself. I've never seen such a vulgar, obscene, gross and yet completely brilliant movie in my whole life! And mind you, I've seen quite a few of the above stated genre but somehow Borat towers above everything else. The movie starts off brilliantly with a scene depicting Borat's house in Kazakhstan and then reaches greater heights. I loved the live gags in the news studio and also the fake interview with the feminists. Another scene I loved was where he dines with a few high society people. Absolutely hilarious! And though the scenes in which Borat and Azamat go running around (and a lot else mind you) naked in the hotel are mind bogglingly gross and makes an ugly contortion to appear on your face , which was last seen when you were four years old and were force-fed green leafy vegetables , it still remains a very good movie. I know many will loathe and despise it but for the ones who can take it, it is an unforgettable experience. So if you think you belong to the latter category, go out and get a print of Borat. And if you belong to the former, I advise you to kindly stay away.

The new-look Indian team

Let's move away from the topic of who's going to be the next coach for a while. And let's move to the people who actually make more of a difference than the coach - the players ( though a quick scan through all the news channels would make you think otherwise).
The Indian team for the forthcoming England & Ireland tours has been announced. And it has some new faces. Firstly, Ranadeb Bose. I've read his name so many times in domestic cricket scoreboards, and many times the last column in his bowling figures had a 4 or a 5 in it. It's nice to see that he has finally got a chance in the national team. Secondly, Rohit Sharma. This lad has been scoring heavily domestically too. Let's hope he can make the step up.
The one-day team features Piyush Chawla & Robin Uthappa which is great news since these two might well be the stars of the team for the next few years . I also liked the selection of Gautam Gambhir in the one-day side. He is definitely NOT a test match specialist. Also it is much better to have a stable player like him rathe than have both the slashers - Sehwag & Uthappa in the same team. That brings us to Sehwag's omission. You can't say it was totally unexpected, he was out of form for quite a while. He should learn from Ganguly and try to get his form back in domestic cricket. I'm sure that he'll make a comeback , it's just that he needs time out now. The same applies to Harbhajan Singh & Irfan Pathan. All of them have quality and real quality cannot be kept out for long. It's only a matter of time before they return. However this does create a rather interesting scenario - two of the Indian players in the Asia team (Sehwag & Harbhajan) for the recent Afro-asian cup are not in the Indian team. Good enough for the Asian team but not for Team India? Strange but true!
It has to be said that the team looks well-balanced on paper. We have enough fast bowlers, technically sound batsmen & experienced players to be successful on the England tour. Let's see what happens..

A huge sigh of relief!

The truth is finally out. Nobody killed Bob Woolmer. And I, like millions of cricket fans around the world, heave a huge sigh of relief. After all, cricket can't be so evil. Any other sport, maybe. But not my beloved cricket. It may not be a gentleman's game, but it isn't the devil's pastime either. Long live the game!!

A day of two quotes

Yesterday was a good day. I got up real late(umm no surprises there I guess). I came third in a quiz (COEP Nexus Quiz for the stastically inclined). My laptop finally got a net connection. And I didnt have to worry about the general useless stuff like studies, college, attendance etc
But most importantly, yesterday was a day of two quotes. And to understand why these two quotes were so important, I have to give you a flashback.
Act I:
Flashback:
It's 14 February. Valentine's Day. Today happens to be the 18th V-Day of my life for which I've had no reason to celebrate. And I'm only 18 years old. Every year around this time I feel sad that I'm still single. A beggar in a city of riches. A blind man in a world of sharpshooters (ok, bad example I agree but I'm in no mood to replace it). And many such more sad metaphors. Believe me you don't want to hear them. I guess it's got something to do with the weather.
But this 14 Feb turned out to be different. Today I made a vow - this shall be the last Valentine's day I shall spend alone. And I'm not alone in this, four of my friends join me in this oath-taking ceremony. So there!!

Act II:
Back to the future:
It's been 10 days since the vow. And I've made no progress on this front. I feel kind of gloomy. Pune Times doesn't help by printing an article that states that all those are single are made to feel like losers. Everyone's just rubbing it in. But then there's this flash of sunlight from out of nowhere. One of my friends makes a remark. "I guess I'm in a phase of my life now where I don't really need a Girlfriend".
That just made me feel a whole lot better.

Act III:
The other quote
I'm out with my brother. Now my brother is an E&TC engineer himself. But unlike me, he's a true E &TC engineer. He actually knows the stuff they teach in class. He's a guy who loves his field. And because of him I've always had an inferiority complex. He's the guy who knows everything while I know nothing. And come to think of it, we were brought up in the same house. But today he says something that really shocks me. He says , "Look. Just because you are an E&TC engineer, it doesn't mean that you have to pretend to be seriously interested in the co-curricular events like Robotics etc. It doesn't mean you have to like your subjects. You can't force yourself to like your subjects. That'll never do. If you think that your future lies elsewhere, don't bother about such things. Keep on doing the things that interest you. It is not a rule that you have to a job in a software firm or in an electronics company. You can go into something totally different. And don't ever for a moment think that you are wasting your time studying engineering since your future lies elsewhere. Its the attitude that matters. And once you have the right attitude, no one can stop you".
And I thought I was the one who gives long philosophical lectures. Rushikesh, you just went up many a notches higher in my book. You're the greatest brother a guy can have.

My new cricketing heroes

Everybody loves attacking batsmen, or sloggers if you happen to be a purist, everybody. Even the people who turn up their nose to a cricket match, come running back to see a really explosive player batting. Adam Gilchrist is obviously the first name that comes to mind when one thinks of attacking batsmen. Other cricketers who fall under the same category amongst current players would be Kevin Pieterson, Andrew Symonds, Sanath Jayasuriya & Shahid Afridi. But in the last month we have seen the emergence of two new cricketers to this illustious list - Mal Loye & Robin Uthappa.
At first sight there seems nothing similar between them - Robin Uthappa is a youngster who got through after a string of good performances at the under-19 level while Loye has been playing for ages and made his debut only at the age of 34. But the way they play is pretty similar - they show no regard towards the bowler and try to hit every ball out of the park. Every ball. That's why they're not as successful as other batsmen in the team. However, no one can match their entertainment skills. I'd rather see Loye slog-sweeping Shane Bond (though he did get his jaw broken when he tried the same to McGrath) & Uthappa hitting the poor Bradshaw all over the place than see Collingwood sneak singles. Let's hope that both of them have a long career ahead of them so that we get to see more such memorable moments.

I'm back

Just when all of you thought that I've left the blogosphere for good, I'm back to trouble you!! Why? Well that's a question that even I can't answer... Maybe the only reason why I'm back is that I like shocking people now & then by doing something that they I'd never thought do. Though of course this doesn't even compare to the last shocking thing I did- which was getting up at six in the morning today. Yep, on a saturday. In fact I was so shocked that I immediately went to sleep again, hence my virtuoso performance went unnoticed by the rest of the world.
Well so much for why I'm back. Another interesting question would be what the hell WAS I doing for so long? Well the last time I made a post was on November 30 last year. But since then there have been many occasions on which I've felt like writing a post & have even managed to come up with a title for a few of them. But unfortunately due to the lack of internet access, an extremely long bout of laziness (Hell, I was more active than this during the first six months of my existence) & a general disregard about my blog has lead to this enormous delay.
Publishing the posts which I should have made earlier at this time makes no sense. Hence I wont be doing that. Those posts are now forever lost to mankind. However I shall try to take care that the next time I feel like writing, I'll actually go ahead and publish it without being fettered by my laziness. But that's not a promise. In fact it's also very unlikely since I'm getting bored of this whole blogging business already.....

A Royale treat!!

Taking into consideration that I'm a movie buff, it was shocking to note that I hadn't ever seen a Bond movie in a movie theatre to date. In fact the only Bond movie I had ever seen was "Tomorrow Never Dies" on a friends laptop. Unfortunately laptops haven't evolved enough yet to give the same effect as movie theatres. Something which I noted when I finally went to see Casino Royale.
There was a lot of talk about Daniel Craig not being worthy of holding a candle to the previous Bonds like Sean Connery, Roger Moore or even Brosnan for that matter. Fortunately all such fears were unfounded - I loved Daniel Craig as Bond. He is ruthless, which I feel is the basic quality you seek in a 00 killer. Compared to him, Pierce Brosnan looks like more of an accountant. Also the new Bond is much more human than superhuman & that is what will endear him to his fans.
And coming to the movie - its awesome to say the least. It has more of pure action rather than the gadget wizardry that was the highlight of the previous Bond movies. It starts off with an amazing chase scene which proves that chase scenes needn't always have fast cars or bikes. The pace of the movie is really good too, never do you get bored by the proceedings. And most of all - it actually has a story! And a good one at that. So this was one movie I really enjoyed - despite the handicap of watching it in Hindi & also despite the fact that I was watching the movie right in the middle of the exams. So my advice, go ahead and watch it - it's Royale!!

Go on Kev, we are with you!

The Britney-Kevin divorce saga promises to be the most public private affair of our times. And there is no doubting on which side my loyalties lie...
The video of Kevin getting a text message from his wife makes for really interesting viewing. And then again there were reports that Britney actually called Kevin "a nobody". I mean, how much more insulting can you get? After all Kevin is a dancer & singer par excellence. He has performed as backup dancer for Pink, Christina Milian & the band LFO. So its not as if Britney picked him up from obscurity and decided to marry him, thus breaking the hearts of millions all over the world. And after marriage Kevin has been busy. Though he hasn't done any backup dancing since ( a sensible decision on Britney's part considering that he fell in love with the last singer he danced for) he was nominated at the 2006 Teen Choice awards (Teen Choice Award for Male Red Carpet Fashion Icon). He then launched his debut album - Playing with Fire - released by Federline records which, shockingly, sold only 6500 copies in its first week, followed by 1200 in its second. But then, not everyone starts off with a hit. His NYC concert attracted a huge crowd of about 300 (possibly including some obsessed Britney fans with loaded handguns. Unfortunately no shootout took place..)So Kevin is a celebrity in his own right after all.
And he is perfectly right to threaten oops... warn Britney that he may release some of his Sex tapes with Britney. Considering that Britney actually ruined his whole life, thats the least he can do. And since then he has also filed for custody of their children. This was made in a statement in which he says that he is a responsible father and is not doing it for money or fame. We believe you Kevin, we really do. So go on Kevin, sue her. We're all with you!!

P.S: Q:What's Kevin's new nickname?
A Fed-Ex

Top 10 sledges

Well everyone who has played a decent bit of cricket knows that cricket is not much fun without at least some sledging. In fact it does tend to make the game interesting especially at times when not much is happening. A real good sledge can serve many purposes - demoralising the opposition, provoking them or sometimes just provide some real good entertainment.
So here are some sledges that I found on the net. They're taken from Simon Briggs' new book - Stiff upper lips and baggy green caps which I'm pretty sure hasn't released in India yet. So till you get to read the book, read these sledges. Nice warmup for the ashes I'd say.

Warning: Colourful languages. Regular KSBKBT viewers may not appreciate the genre of humour on show.

Top 10 sledges:

1 Mark Waugh to Jimmy Ormond on his Test debut, 2001: “Mate, what are you doing out here? There's no way you're good enough to play for England.”
Ormond: “Maybe not, but at least I'm the best player in my own family.”

2 Merv Hughes to Graeme Hick et al: “Mate, if you just turn the bat over you'll find the instructions on the other side.”

3 Hughes again: “Does your husband play cricket as well?”

4 Mike Atherton, on Merv Hughes: “I couldn't work out what he was saying, except that every sledge ended with ‘arsewipe’.”

5 Dennis Lillee to Mike Gatting, 1994: “Hell, Gatt, move out of the way. I can't see the stumps.”

6 Derek Randall to Lillee, after taking a glancing blow to the head: “No good hitting me there, mate, nothing to damage.”

7 Ian Healy, placing a fielder yards away at cover when Nasser Hussain was batting: “Let's have you right under Nasser's nose.”

8 Tony Greig, England’s South African-born captain, to the young David Hookes, 1977: “When are your balls going to drop, Sonny?”
Hookes: “I don't know, but at least I'm playing cricket for my own country.” Hookes hit Greig for five consecutive fours.

9 Rod Marsh, late Seventies: “How's your wife and my kids?”
Ian Botham: “The wife's fine – the kids are retarded.”

10 Bill Woodfull, Australia’s captain in the Bodyline series of 1932-33, responding to Douglas Jardine's complaint that a slip fielder had sworn at him: “All right, which one of you bastards called this bastard a bastard?”

Life through a lens

I know I haven't written anything here since a very long time but since you must be used to my apologies for such delays, I wont bother with putting up another one.
But I must say that one of the reasons why I haven't been posting regularly in the last few weeks is the fact that I was having a series of bad headaches everytime I used the computer for long. And me being me, I never bothered going to the doctor, thinking that the pain would go away soon. However in due course of time the pain became more and more unbearable. In fact at times it got so worse at times that my roomie - the ever loveable Rishikesh Baviskar - immediately gave his prognosis - Brain tumour. This shows the adverse effect that Bollywood movies have on our innocent minds...
Then I had a break for Diwali in which me & my tumour travelled together to Nashik. There we met an opto-whatevero-logist who gave an entirely different prognosis. He said that my tumour was not a tumour at all (much to my tumour's discomfort) and that the only thing that was ailing me was my poor eyesight. Well that shouldnt come as a surprise considering that all of my recent addictions - watching movies, orkutting & reading - were not exactly eye-friendly. It so happened that my eyes finally got tired of the constant crap that I made them see & as a sign of protest started bending in places. That (according to my doctor) meant that even though I had 6/6 vision in both vision (something that my dartboard would confirm), my eyes were suffering from a lot of strain . And then he gave the worst news I'd ever had in my life (since my T2 results) - that I had to wear SPECS, day in day out. I almost fainted.
And well since then, my life has been confined to whatever I see through a pair of spectacles which are a constant pain in the ....er nose. And adjusting to this greatly reduced field of vision took a lot of time. But thankfully thats over, I'm finally getting used to my specs. However I still wake up occasionally thinking that the whole spectacles incident was all a great nightmare. How I wish that were true! But what I had feared most was the backlash that I might expect from the spectacled people whom I had constantly abused throughout my life. Thankfully nothing untoward has happened so far & my entry into the spectacled community has been welcomed gladly albeit unspectacularly.
But I guess having specs does have its advantages. It might get rid of my consistently low grades in practicals. And it makes people take me a bit more seriously than they used to. But these two are the only pros that I can think of, and even they're not much.
Hence a last bit of advice to all those who dont have specs - GO EAT CARROTS!!

Help!

As of now, I'm trapped outside my room without my key. One of my room-mates has told me not to worry, he'll be back in 2-3 hours, whereas of the other two, well let's not talk about them. So this leaves me stranded outside my room, all sweaty from a game of basketball and also without my cell and my wallet. So if anyone has, mistakenly, stolen the key of my room or has a duplicate of it, PLEASE give it to me. I shall be very grateful.....

This must count as the one of the most dumb excuses to come online. But what the heck, I'm not even paying for this (I don't have my wallet remember? All I have is 2 bucks that I stole from Apoorv). So might as well shut up and keep surfing before they kick me out of here.

Sigh, just another regular day at the hostel...

Tasting defeat..

Let's face it. All of us lie. Every single day we lie to our friends, family, colleagues et al. We lie about everything. Hey Dont worry, it's not the Lage Raho Munnabhai effect and nor am I trying to preach Gandhi-ism to you. I just want to tell you how I, for one moment, rose above the rest of mankind by not lying. Read on...
I guess the people we lie to the most are beggars. I mean if a beggar approaches you and asks for a rupee, how many of you actually say, " Sorry Dude, I have money but I'd rather have a Coke instead"? Nobody, right? All you say is, "Chal kucch nahi hai aage jaa". But day before yesterday I was on the Z-bridge (no forther inquiries involving questions like Who? and Why? shall be entertained) at night when a small kid walked up to me and begged me for some money. I reached out for my wallet and realised that it wasn't there. I mean I had my cell and my keys but my wallet was not there. Then I realised that I was, for one moment, just like the little boy - no money in my pockets and no one around who's ready to give me even a single buck. So for the first, and hopefully the last time, I looked the little beggar boy in the eyes and said in an honest voice, "Dude, I REALLY dont have anything. I'm not lying, I dont have a single buck. Believe me". And that he did, 'cause he walked away without a word. Too stunned to say anything.
But I was wrong, I wasn't like that boy. For ten minutes later, he walked past me again and this time he was happily munching on some chaat that he had in his hand. And not just that, the moment he saw me, he pointed at the chaat, laughed at me and left. And I spent the next half an hour trying to find a chaat-wallah who would give me something to eat. But I found no-one. I was beaten by a beggar kid. I feel like s**t.

The week after

July 16, Sunday:
I like to call Pune or rather COEP 'Neverland'. Thats basically because I never thought that I'd land here. And also because after every vacation I feel like never coming back to this land. But unfortunately today marks my return to Neverland and also to the closest experience of jail that I've ever had - the hostel. And to make things worse, there were about 16 of us crammed into one room where usually 3 live. How we actually managed to sleep is a great example of Human Resource Management. Maybe this'll help me while I'm doing my MBA.

July 17, Monday:
Now the real stuff begins as they say. Today happens to be my first day of college. No more studying useless subjects like Graphics, Civil et al. From now on I shall study subjects like DESC, NAS, EDLC, PS & CSTL, the long forms of which still elude me. The college or rather the dept manages to shock us and there is a lecture conducted, before we get another shock - we're gonna have pracs from tomorrow. Surely they wouldn't....

July 18, Tuesday:
But they did, I just had my first practical of the year and surprisingly I actually learned something today. Did you know that on the CRO....naah, forget it. No electronics stuff here. There's enough of it in college already.
And life just got better. I started playing football again. Finally I'm doing something I like..

July 19, Wednesday:
I moved into my new room. I-104 is the address for those unfortunate souls who might have to visit it. The room happens to be right next to the toilet. Awesome. And when I enter, there's so much shit left by the previous inhabitants, that I feel as if I'm IN the toilet and not next to it. It takes us the better part of three hours to clean the room so as to make it hospitable. But it does feel better to have some place that you can call your own.

July 20, Thursday:
Nothing special. The day consists of going to college & playing football. By now I'm sick of the hostel food. And it's only been 5 days since I've come here. What will I do during the rest of the year?
And now I realise that I seem to have become a loner and am avoiding most of my friends. Or is it the other way round?

July 21, Friday:
Today. The plan for the day was great - fill the fees and get admission as soon as possible so that I can bunk college later when all others are taking their admission. It totally backfires - thanks to a late 9:30 AM start to the day. I go to college at 10:30 and am stuck there till 3 PM. I thought that once you pass your FE exam, you enter SE. But now I know better. You ain't in SE, till you've taken admission. And taking admission is by far the most boring thing to do. Needless to say, I doze off in the auditorium. And while everybody around me gets their job done quickly, I seem to be stuck. And by the time I leave, all others have completed their admission process hours before and have gone home. I guess I must be the only person who didn't break into a queue and followed all the procedures to the letter. No doubt I came out last. So much for honesty.

Fun, Frolic, Friends, Football, Freedom..........Finished!!

I sit here in Pune, writing this post. It's been almost a week since I'm here and I'm still suffering from the holiday hangover. Lets recap what happened over the course of the last 2 months:
To begin with, I slept a lot. And mostly during the day, I was awake till almost 3 AM every single day of the vacations. Then I'd sleep through the morning. Ah! Those were the days!
I played lots of football. Every single evening, I'd be out playing with my friends. It was great fun!! And so was the football world cup.
I read 'The Godfather' which happens to be an awesome book. I liked Michael Corleone so much that while reading the book (mostly in the loo) I'd be saying his dialogues out aloud. That was fun too.
I hung out with my close friends and did all sorts of crazy stuff.
I spent hours online chatting.
I saw a bus being burned by a crazy mob of rioteers.
I slept more.
I spent hours watching TV. I was watching Discovery channel at 3 AM!! I also realised that TV only gets interesting after 11 PM
I listened to Pink Floyd for hours everyday. It's too good!!
I saw all the movies that were released, even if they were crap.
I ate like a hog and put on almost 6 kgs, which I hope to lose sometime in the next millennium.
I was bitten by the Orkut bug and suddenly wanted to increase my friends. As a result, I now have 250+ friends on orkut, a leap of about 150 in the last months or so.
And lots of unmentionable stuff...
But now I sit here, and I'm staring at this list. And I realise that for the next one year, I'll be able to do nothing of this sort.
Life sucks!

It's all over

The World Cup was one event I was looking forward to with great anticipation right from the time my vacations began. I had watched the previous World Cup too but Germany 2006 was way more enjoyable than KJ 2002. Firstly, there were fewer upsets which meant that the top teams were competing in the knockout phase unlike last time around when lower-ranked teams like Korea & Turkey were playing in the semis. Also was the fact that the coverage was much better than last time. I've been watching sports for almost a decade now and I feel that the coverage provided by ESPN-Star Sports is by far the best, be it any sport. They bring to sports broadcasting a perfect mixture of fun and serious analysis and hence please both the purist and the new follower. Bravo ESS keep it up!!
There were obviously other reasons why I liked this WC more than the previous ones. Firstly, all of the matches were played at night(IST) and this gave me a great opportunity to see all the action live, something which I was unable to do last time around when the matches were played in the evening. And of course this gave me a chance to actually improve my footballing skills by playing football every evening. Lets hope my football playing doesnt become a one-off, WC only activity. Because that would be a real pity.
Then again this time around my favourite teams played pretty well, though they didn't go that far in the WC. Spain & Holland both showed that they are very good teams and went out early only due to a tough draw. I also found a new team to support - Germany. Their attacking style of football made me a big fan. I just loved their striking pair of Klose & Podolski and also the new players like Lahm & Schweinsteiger. Klinsmann turned out to be a great coach and I have a feeling that in the years to come, this team might be the best in the world. Ditto with Argentina & Holland, both of whom had extremely young squads. And finally one of my old favourites - the Azzuri - managed to win the title, so I'm in a great mood now. And my favourite - Andrea Pirlo - also had a great WC which was the icing on the cake for me.
I guess I loved the WC so much because I finally got to see some top-quality football, which I was deprived of during the last year. And also because I had a blast throughout the WC as in coincided with my vacations. Heck, I even missed Wimbledon just to see the WC. I must have seen about 50 or more matches during this World cup, out of the 64 played. And thats a lot of TV watching. But the fun that I had during that is simply unmatchable.
But it's all over now. Time to move on. Feels sad that it's over, and even sadder to know that one of my all-time favourite footballers - Zizou - will never play again. But the show must go on. However irrespective of what happens later, I shall always remember the WC 2006 as one of the happiest months of my life. Cheers!!!

The crowning glory

Zinedine Zidane is considered by many, including myself, to be the greatest footballer of his generation & arguably the best French player of all time. He has won all there is to win - the World Cup, the European championships & the Champions league. He has been both World and European world footballer of the year. But today, two days before what might be his greatest footballing moment ever and surely his last international, comes his moment of crowning glory. For today, in honour of his great contribution towards French and indeed World football, I change MY nickname from 'Khazu' to 'Zizou', at least till the World Cup final. I'm sure that he'll be touched by this enormous gesture of goodwill. A copy of this declaration has already been sent to the heads of state of all the countries in the world so that they can make the necessary changes in their contact lists. I request you to please do the same. And for one last time, Go Zizou!!

Am I going insane?

During the last three days, I haven't played football. I have actually woken up before 8 AM. I have been regular in all my daily activities. I actually spent two hours chatting with my college friends. I haven't met my school friends. I havent played Basketball. I haven't gone for swimming or even for cycling. I have actually helped others a lot. I have driven safely at extremely slow speeds (by my standards). I have gone to bed early (again by my standards). I have exercised every morning. I have done all that was asked of me. I haven't done anything which I might have to hide from my parents. I haven't spent hours doing nothing on the net. And worst of all, I actually missed the semi-final between France & Portugal because I fell asleep!!! In fact I have behaved like an ideal boy, almost. So that has once again raised the world's most popular question - Am I going insane??

Me, Michael Owen & Phir Hera Pheri : Memoirs of a painful day

What's the similarity between me & Michael Owen? Well, simple enough - both of us were unable to play football yesterday because of injuries obtained on the playing field. I have an injured foot, my right one to make it worse, while Owen's knee is injured since he plays at a somewhat higher level than I do. But now I can totally empathise with Owen. It does feel bad being unable to play football. Especially during the world cup. It is real tough on him. And he is going to be out for quite a while. However my fans needn't worry, I'll be back playing football very soon. But even I had quite a painful day yesterday, after all Owen didnt have to sit through a three hour torture called Phir Hera Pheri. The movie totally insults the original. It does have it's share of funny jokes, especially one liners, but a lack of pace, originality and some horrible music makes the movie a must-no-see.
It begins quite well, with the three heroes living a rich life. Some of the scenes in this part are quite funny. All is quite well till the interval, but after that all hell is let loose. Things get complicated to point of sheer boredom. All sorts of crazy people - 10 feet tall Nigerians, gangsters with speaking disorders and corrupt cops - get in on the act to triple the confusion. And then suddenly you also have to put up with a Himesh song whose music is as original as, well, the previous Himesh song in the movie. Then even a Gorilla gets in on the act. He keeps on chasing Johnny Lever around and after a while you can't make out who's who. The Gorilla is by far the most human of all the characters.
The climax of the movie takes place in a circus and it is one of the worst endings I've ever seen. It just goes on and on and on. People keep running after each other while you feel like running away from the theatre. Which you probably should have done, since the climax is followed by another painful track. Sitting through the movie was by far the most challenging thing I've done in the vacations. If you want to test your patience then go ahead, otherwise you can surely give it a miss.

PS: I heard that the movie was selected for the prestigious Oscar library. Expect a bombing of the library anytime soon.

A few realisations

It's been a month since my holidays began. And during the course of that month, I've realised a few things which I never knew before. These are not meant to be generalisations, they just happen to be true in my case. You may or may not agree, it doesn't matter. So here's the list:
1. Holidays are infinitely more fun than college days:
In fact, these two are incomparable. I get a great kick by just getting up every day and realising that I've got absolutely no need to study, nothing to attend & nothing that can't can't be done tomorrow. Realising this, I go back to sleep.
2. Nothing beats the joy of playing outdoor sports:
I didn't get much of a chance to play while I was in Pune. So I'm making up for it by playing a lot now. Cricket, Football, Basketball - you name it & I've played it. My schedule consists of swimming in the morning, playing cricket in the afternoon & football in the evening. And I've never felt better.
3. Playing football is a lot more fun than cricket:
This might sound strange coming from a cricket nut like me. It might be due to the Football Fever spread by the World Cup. But it is true. Especially when it's raining cats & dogs which gives you a chance to slide around in the mud - which was what I was doing yesterday. The ground was so slippery that it felt like we were on skates. And the soft mud allowed me to celebrate my winning goal with a full blooded slide, er, dive on the ground with my back towards the sky. By the time we were done playing, all of us were totally covered with mud. I couldnt make out the colour of my shirt. Even my face was smeared with mud so that I was almost unrecognisable. The sole of my shoes had so much mud sticking to it that they weighed almost twice their regular weight. And I had the taste of mud in my mouth for the entire while. After we were done playing, the ground was severely trampled upon. Even a herd of cattle couldn't have done such a thorough job. We had so much mud on us that amongst us, we might have unearthed a ton of mud. It was the dirtiest I've ever been in my life. It was also one of my most memorable moments on the sporting field.
No wonder so many countries play football. Football rules!!
4. I can't read more than 3 books simultaneously:
I've got 9 books right now, brought from various libraries, that I've to read during the holidays. But I just can't manage to read more than 3 at a time. That means that the others might have to wait. Maybe I'll read them in the next vacations. But I have to read them now, since I've started almost all of them & enjoyed the starting part.
5. The hardest part of watching movies on Television is staying awake through the advertisements.
6. I can watch football for hours at end. And all this while I thought it was only cricket.
7. You may make new friends wherever you go, but the sort of fun you have with your old schoolmates cannot be matched. This leads to the next point:
8. The schooldays are by far the best days of our lives:
That's because all that I've stated above is stuff which I used to do during my school days. I've only rediscovered these great joys now. In fact, I missed my school so much that I even went there and took a dozen or so pictures of the empty school building. Sigh, those were the days...

The payback

All of you must be having a friend(?) who is a real bore. Who keeps on talking, interminably, about subjects of which you have the least knowledge and no interest. Who keeps on telling you how great he is just because he did something that you never felt like doing. Who feels that whatever he says is right. Who comes for all treats but never gives one himself. Who annoys you totally. Whom you never want to be with, but have to be friendly with just for posterity. Well I dont know whether you have such a friend or not, but I do have such a friend. Let's call him X. This is the story of how we got one over him for a change.
X is an unbelievable bore. I've been with him since school & I don't remember a single moment when I've actually enjoyed his company. X never lends stuff to anybody but borrows from everybody. He helps no-one but expects everyone to help him. X has by far the worst taste in all aspects - music, clothes, bikes etc. Nobody likes X, nobody ever will. Not that he minds. He likes to be the jerk he is. I hope you get the idea.
Visiting X's house was always a daunting task. You never got anything more than a glass of water there. And his parents asked more questions than a CBI officer. A visit to his house was like a mission in Delta Force: you enter, you complete your objectives (borrowing notes, books etc), try to dodge the endless enemy bullets(questions asked by his parents) and then head for the extraction point - the door. In fact the door of his house is possibly one of my favourite places - nothing gives me more joy than coming out of it sane & alive.
But X makes it a point to visit your house, needlessly. You try to keep him out ("sorry dude, I was just leaving, you should have come earlier" etc) but somehow he always manages to come in. And once that happens, only God can save you. If you are watching TV, he changes the channel & tells you about this awesome documentary that he saw on National Geographic. If you are playing on your comp, he starts playing instead, finds that he cant play & hence says "this game is dumb" and forces you to load some other game. And you have to listen to all his orders because your parents think that he is the most well-behaved of your friends & they know that he is also someone who studies a lot. In short, he is a guy whom even Mahatma Gandhi would have felt like punching in the face.
But why am I dwelling on the painful past? Now I shall describe to you the hour of my victory. It's pretty much true, except for a few changes. Here it is:
I was , as usual, roaming around with two friends of mine - Kalpak & Avinash. Suddenly me & Kalpak both felt like peeing. And we didnt want to return home so soon. Both of us were at our wits end. But then I had a brainwave - I realised that X's house was close. I suggested that we should go there and take a leak. Both of them were, obviously, horrified by the idea (Kalpak: I'd rather die). But then I explained my hidden motive - the guy comes to our houses, does whatever he wants and walks away, while we never trouble him in his house. So the plan was to go to his house, take a leak and come out as soon as possible. We were going to take on the lion in his own den. We were aware of the risk involved. All three of us knew that we might not make it out of there alive. So we hugged each other, wished each other luck & thanked each other for always being there (thats what happens when you watch too many war movies). And then I rang the doorbell, knowing that nothing shall ever be the same again.
Here's the conversation that ensued :
X: Hi Aniket, when did you come to Nashik?
Me: Yesterday (it had already been a week since I was in Nashik)
Kalpak: Me too.
X: Thats great. How were your exams?
Kalpak: Forget it.
X: Why? (smiling)Very hard?
Kalpak: Just forget it.
Me: How are yours coming along? (why did I ever ask that?????)
X: Maths was easy, I attempted questions worth 90 but I'm not too sure of a few of the answers. A friend of mine said that the question on Differential Equations might have an error but another guy said that it was right and had to be solved by ....
Kalpak(interrupting): Yeah, yeah, got it. Whats your next paper, Applied Science?
X: Yeah. Actually I have completed reading 4 units - 2 of both Physics and Chemistry. I still have to revise them but I find it hard to...
Me(obviously interrupting): App Sci's always easy. Only a fool would find it hard. (This was the coup de grace. He never dared to speak a word about App Sci after that)
(At this point Avinash kicks Kalpak in the back to remind him of our mission objectives.)
X: Why dont we go down to the parking lot & chat?
Me: (Sensing that it's now or never) Hey X, I want to use your toilet.
X: What????
Me: Yeah. Need to take a leak. Do you mind?
X: Er, no. Go straight and take a left.
Kalpak: Me too.
X: What????
Kalpak: Yeah man. Have to. Otherwise....(What a threat!!)
X: Okay, just wait till Aniket comes out. Avinash, do you have to take a leak as well?
Avinash: Come on. Do you think we came here just for peeing?
X: (realising that this was true) Not at all. Just kidding.
(After that I used his toilet and came out,but the task was still only half done, we still had to face his parents)
X's mom: Hello Aniket, a long time since you last came here.
Me: ("Yeah, that explains why I'm so happy") Well, I've been busy.
X's mom: How were your exams?
Me: Fine.
X's mom: Do you find it possible to study at the hostel?
Me: ("No, I passed my first year just by fluke") Well, yeah.
X's mom: Aamcha X tar ghari ekdum changla abhyas karto.
Me: (too dumbstruck to reply)
(Kalpak comes back from the loo and seeing my predicament, heads for the door directly)
Me(taking the cue): Well aunty, I'd better leave.
X's mom: But you just got here.
Kalpak: Never mind aunty. We'll return later. (Yeah right)
(We then go down to the parking lot. I never thought that he had a hidden objective there.)
X(pointing towards a brand new black Activa): This is my new Activa.
(Here I realise that it's the same vehicle which I had barged into while parking my Kinetic)
X(waiting for a response, but on getting none): It's a great vehicle.
Me: Yeah, yeah. It's real smooth.
Kalpak: And powerful.
X: It's also VERY economical.
Me: hmmmm.
Kalpak(sensing a need to change the topic): You're damn lucky to be living at home while doing your engg studies.
X: Yeah. Nashik's a good place. How's Pune?
Me: Big.
X: I heard your syllabus is a bit different from ours.
Kalpak: It's not.
X: And your marking system?
Me: It's complicated.
Kalpak: Yeah too complicated. Can't explain now.
X: For how many more days are you here?
Me: Let's see.
Kalpak: Not too many.
Avinash: What's the time?
X: Nine.
Me: Oh no!! I had to be home by eight.
Kalpak: Me too.
Me: Gotta go man.
Avinash: I guess I'll leave too.
X: Why?
Avinash: I've to drop Aniket off at his house.
Me: Well, see you later. Bye!
(And by the time X realises that all three of us have our own vehicles, we're out of there alive, unscathed & without losing our minds)
Mission Accomplished.

Why all the fuss about gaming?

Believe it or not, yesterday was the first time I ever played LAN games in a game parlour. The gaming bug, which has deeply infected Puneites, was comparitively unknown in Nashik. Hence I never got a chance to try gaming during my stay in Nashik. I had lots of chances to make up for that during my stay at the hostel in Pune as most of my friends were total gaming addicts. However it never appealed much to me. But finally when my friends went to a game parlour & insisted that I join them just to see how the experience is, I just couldn't say no. The parlour we went to was a pretty cool place. All the computers had LCD screens, the ambience was nice & the chairs were really comfortable. And it had almost all the games, from FIFA 06 to NFS Most Wanted to GTA San Andreas. We played a few games of NFS MW to begin with & I thought 'Hey it's not that bad after all'. But then suddenly my friends decided that they'd had enough of NFS & loaded the one game that has captured the imagination of all gamers worldwide - Counter Strike. And all hell was let loose. There were 4 of us, that made two teams of two. Before the game started, we were good friends, but once it started we were sworn enemies. Battle cries filled the room. "Come on, what are you doing?", "Give me cover", "Dont drop the bomb", "Look behind you", "Shit, he got me" & many more unprintable ones. I've never seen my friends so totally engrossed in anything as they were in playing CS. Nothing could take their attention away from the game. They played with such intensity as if their lives depended upon the dumb game. I just hope that terrorists worldwide do not take their jobs as seriously as the terrorists in CS. I played with them for about an hour or so. And then I had had enough. I just quit the game and told my friends that we should leave. But it's amazing how CS not only grips the mind but also the ears - they just couldn't hear me !! So I decided to play FIFA 05 on my comp. And that too against the comp, as there was nobody on LAN whom I could play against. So that's what I ended up doing in a LAN games parlour - playing a two player game against the CPU. Imagine paying 20 bucks an hour for that. Soon the torture came to an end, not because of a lack of interest but because of a lack of cash. My friends couldn't believe that 3 hours were already over, they even checked their watches twice to be sure. And then they gave me an _expression that said, "Three hours, so soon? I never felt the time fly by". And all I could say was, "It was about bloody time you came out". And so we left the game parlour after three hours of extreme boredom for me & total fun for the others. And despite all this I could still not understand, why all this fuss about gaming?? What do you get out of it? The answer, it seems, shall always elude me. But all I can say that if anybody catches me playing CS in a game parlour again - they can shoot me. It will relieve me of the burden of playing the dumb game.

A lotus in the slush.

I've been reading 'The Fountainhead' for the last week or so & while doing so, what struck me the most was the impeccable integrity of the protagonist - Howard Roark. He is, to use Ayn Rand's own words, the noble soul par excellence, the man as man should be. In today's world such a person doesn't seem to exist. But as I was reading the book, my thoughts moved in the direction of the one person whom I've met & who comes closes to the description of Howard Roark. He's an old schoolmate of mine & we were pretty good friends for almost a year. His name is Shreyas Ware.
I was a student of St. Xaviers High School, Nashik till Std. VIII. Xaviers was a boy's school & I had a lot of innocent fun there. When I left Xaviers & joined Rangubai Junnare High School in Std. IX, I was still an innocent soul. I know that seems to be almost impossible, knowing how I am today but it is true. I was the sort of boy who'd never waste time anywhere outside home, who'd do everything that his teachers asked of him & never ask for reasons. But somehow all that changed when I shifted to Rangubai. Whereas most of the students in Xaviers were dignified & well-mannered it was the opposite in Rangubai. The majority there was rowdy, to say the least. Not that they weren't good but there was still the difference - in the way they behaved, the sort of language they used & the things they did. I was conscious of this difference from the very beginning but soon, unconsciously, I became one of them. I started using the same sort of vile language & behaving in the same rowdy way. And all this happened within the first six months of my joining the school. I thought that all this was natural, almost inevitable. But I was wrong. Because there was one person there who had been in the school for years but still was a pure, untouched soul. He was Shreyas.
Shreyas was the ideal student in school. He wasn't the class topper but he was studious nonetheless. He took his studies seriously & worked diligently at whatever task given to him. He was the guy who did his homework everyday, who completed all his assignments in time & did everything that people asked of him. But he was never proud of this, in fact vanity & boastfulness were unknown to him. He was also extremely helpful, as long as he felt what he was doing was right. We did a lot of crazy things in school but he never joined us then. But whenever we actually did something good, he became one of us. He had no enemies, in fact that during his entire school life nobody was ever even angry at him. He joined us whenever we played cricket during the weekends but not when we would sneak off to watch movies secretly. Whenever he felt we were doing something wrong, he would just frown. He never asked us not to do it but his disapproval was obvious. How I wished I had listened to him a bit more. Even the teachers liked him but he was never their pet, because he would never try to impress them with his knowledge. He would sit quietly during the lectures, listening intently to whatever the teacher taught, while we were busy passing comments. And what I respected in him the most was the fact that he never lost his cool & never ever used foul language. And in a school where everybody used at least 50-60 swear words everyday, that's saying a lot.
He was also a good chess player. In fact it was this hobby that brought us together. We would sit for hours together after school, playing chess. And the reason why he became such a good player was that he was always willing to learn. While the rest of us never listened much to each other due to our inflated egos, he listened to whatever anyone said & tried to learn as much as he could. This was the sole reason why his game went on improving while we were stuck at a mediocre level. In fact, in Std. XI he almost qualified for the district team. He came sixth after losing the 5th place playoff & the top 5 got selected. I don't know what happened to him the next year, but I'm pretty sure he must have qualified. He also had a very strong will. He had scored 83% in SSC but still took up commerce because he felt his interest lied there. Everybody he knew was against this - his teachers, friends, family, neighbours, everybody. But he stuck to his decision & took up commerce.
Shreyas got happiness from the small things in life. While we spent most most of our time lamenting on how unhappy our lives here, he obtained joy from small things like studies, playing chess, doing his chores, obeying whatever teachers told him & much more. In fact, for him every single day was for him a moment to be enjoyed. You may have all the big things in life, but to be really happy you need enjoy the small things. And Shreyas was a perfect example of that.
I don't know much of what happened to Shreyas later. I don't know whether he is till the same or not. Colleges have a tendency of destroying the innocence & integrity present in the souls of the students. A student like Shreyas in the BYK College of Commerce seems almost unimaginable. But then even in Rangubai, a student like him was unimaginable. And I'm pretty sure he's still the same. While all of us dived into the murky waters of Rangubai Junnare High School & became a part of the dirt, he rose from the same waters & became a lotus in the slush. A lotus in the slush.

Horror & Himesh

Finally, a few villagers from Bhalej, a small village in Anand district, have managed to do something which I have yearned for a long time - ban a Himesh song. These villagers have banned Himesh Reshammiya's "Jhalak Dikhlaja" from the movie Aksar, saying those who listen to it or sing it get possessed by the evil. It is believed that the evil follows you because the lyrics of the song have the words 'Aaja aaja' that invite the ghost. Till date five to six people have been infected by the "evil" in the song. Hence the ban on playing or even singing the song. Now why the hell didn't the evil strike Pune or Nashik instead?

For more, visit:
http://in.movies.yahoo.com/060601/43/64pb3.html

Looking back

Looking back over my previous entries, I realise that I've made only two posts in the month of May. Two is certainly a very small number considering the fact that this month might well prove to be of significance in the future & also considering the fact that I enjoyed it a lot. So, taking the risk of providing an outdated account, I narrate here some of the more enjoyable moments of a very interesting month:

May 3- May 13:
These 11 days were the most important of the entire semester as they were the dates of our exams. Somehow, after Std. XII, I'd never felt happy during the exams. Never felt like struggling a bit more, going the extra mile or waking the extra hour for the sake of scoring the extra mark. It was almost as if I'd lost interest in studies (and perhaps a few other things too). And the monotonous subjects ( Civil, App Sci-I, BT etc) didn't help much in improving the situation. I guess I just wasn't yet accustomed to living at the hostel. No wonder I performed disastrously in last semester's end sem exam. And then came the vacations which proved to be even more disastrous as I had an accident and had to spend almost a fortnight in bed, doing nothing all day. All this almost took the fun out of life.
The second semester came as a breath of fresh air. Beginning with a gala time at Mood I, the various activities & events during the sem ensured that I was always doing something. It kept me ticking & suddenly, for the first time, I felt at home in the college. Since then, each day in college was an event in itself, a moment to be savoured & to be enjoyed to the full. The dull inactivity of the previous sem was completely forgotten, like a bad dream that never took place. I had made very few friends in the first sem, in the second it seemed as if I made a new one every day. I had managed to regain control of my life & started to enjoy it once again. Soon the idle evenings spent at the hostel transformed to an endless saga of parties, movies, entertainment & loads of fun. I had enough reasons to be satisfied with my life again.
But somehow all this never transformed into success in the exams. If you think that the activities would've had an adverse affect on my studies, you're wrong. In fact the activities kept me in a happy state which generally results in a good performance in the exams. But that never happened. T1 came and went & my performance was ordinary. Then came the T2 when I decided to experiment by radically changing my entire time-table. I'd study throughout the night & sleep through the day. This meant that even though I appeared for each paper well prepared, I was in no mental state to write a good paper. And that was reflected by my pathetic T2 score. Life was a bed of roses with just one thorn in my flesh - my inablitity to do well in the exams.
Hence doing well in the end semester exams this time around was not just recommended, it was vital. Fortunately this realisation dawned upon me pretty soon & I prepared thoroughly for the exam. And finally it resulted in a performance which may not make many heads turn but was satisfying nonetheless. I did nothing spectacular but nor did I commit dumb mistakes. I didn't exactly reach heaven, but I surely avoided hell. And sometimes that's all you need. My faith in my own abilities was once again renewed, thanks to a friend who never doubted my ability. My interest in studies was refuelled, the fire within was re-ignited. It may not be a raging inferno but it was much more than a spark. Much more.
So at the end of my first year of engineering I can't say that I've achieved something spectacular in academics. But I managed to experience both the highs & the lows without losing my sense of perspective & my faith in myself. Now I know that I can make it through any difficulties that might arise, that no problem is unsolvable, no hurdle unsurpassable & no aim unattainable. And that none of these can have a permanent effect on me.

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

- from "If" by Rudyard Kipling, my favourite poem

Reading Shantaram

Writing 'Shantaram' was probably the greatest experience of Gregory David Roberts' life. Well, reading the 934 page long story was quite an experience for me. I started reading it sometime in April & finally managed to finish it in the last week of May. I kept reading it through my submissions, my Preparatory Leave & also throughout my exams. It was especially hard to read it during the exams. Whenever I'd pick up the book, my conscience would scream at me and ask me to put it down & read a textbook instead. But I read it nonetheless, maybe because I realised that I was learning much more from that book than from any textbook. And another reason why it took so much time was that the book was so thought-provoking that very often, after reading a few pages, I'd lay on my back & spend a lot of time thinking about what I had just read, trying to understand it completely. It had ceased to be just a book for me, it was a friend, a guide, a philosopher & a teacher - all rolled into 934 pages of text. Hence when I finally completed reading the book, I felt as if I had finally managed to reach the end of a long struggle. It felt like the end of a journey, the completion of a process, an achievement to be cherished. No other book I've ever read has had such a huge impact on me. And maybe no other book will ever have such an impact. The depth of this impact will only be seen in the future. You may wonder how possibly a book written by an Australian criminal, drug addict, alcoholic & chain smoker can inspire me so much. That can only be understood by reading the book. It may not have the same effect on you, but it's effect on me has surely been profound. And for that I'll always be indebted to Gregory David Roberts.

The Nagpur trip:

I left for Nagpur on the 26th of May along with most of my relatives, excluding my immediate family. We were going there for a family get-together. And if you felt that that would mean meeting a lot of distant relatives who hadn't seen you since you were a kid in diapers, you're wrong. Such get-togethers are an annual event in our family & having missed the last one, I was keen to be there for this one. And it proved to be the right decision after all.
The get-together lived up to it's name. I got together once again with my cousins & uncles whom I hadn't met for almost a year. We all had lots of fun together. We ate, played, travelled, partied, fought, danced, argued, discussed & slept together like one huge family. We shared our sorrows, our pains, our fears & all of our feelings with each other & came off much the better for it. It seemed to me that I knew about my family before the get-together, while after it I knew them. And all this while we had the maximum possible fun. Such fun that I had never experienced before. I found new friends in my aunts, uncles & especially my cousins. So strong were the bonds created that when we had to part after 5 days of togetherness, all of us had a tear in our eyes. We had all had the time of our lives & all of us sincerely looked forward to meeting again.
You may have noticed that I haven't written a word about Nagpur yet. Well, it's a good city with splendid roads. It's just that during those 5 days, the location never mattered. All that mattered was who I was with. And I was with MY family. Thats reason enough to be happy.

PS: The trip also happened to consist of a very funny Coffee-shop incident, probably the funniest thing to have happened to me in a long, long time. The details of this I shall publish later.

Home.....Home again:

Well my vacations had begun unofficially on the 10th & officially on the 19th of May but I hadn't been to Nashik since then. I'd enjoyed myself in Pune & had a blast in Nagpur. But there's no place such as home & hence I was constantly looking forward to coming home again. And that finally happened on the 2nd of June. Now I feel relieved to be home finally. No need to eat the hostel food again, no need to share your life with a hundred other people, no need for all the small talk, no need to make compromises. Being home gives me a chance to talk more with less people, rather than less with more. It's the only place where I can be myself & feel nothing about it. Where I can do nothing for days & still not feel guilty. Or do everything and still look forward to doing more. Where I can relax in the truest sense of the word. Where I can rediscover my old self again. Where I can sit back & relive my past life as if nothing had happened, as if I had never left this place, as if nothing had changed. And I can compare this life with my present life, which would be both the past & future, and see for myself what is better. Such liberal intertwining of all three tenses is impossible elsewhere. And also, I get to see a marvellous sunset every day. That's the icing on the cake.