Sample to check enentation

Pardon me for this.. But I am neck deep in the Blog admin work..
So this is to check if the commenting feature of enentation works.
So Schumi won... as usual!!!!
Busy with some stuff... lets see...Only by like June end will my career path will sort itself out!!!But life is never a smooth ride.Kabhi yeh to kabhi woh.Any idea what I am talking about?I dont either.
This is so unfair!!!!
I didnt get a Gmail account even though I am a Blogger!!!
I am gonna sue blogger!!!!
Anywayz... I had a major crush a few days back.And today it turned to love. Wow... I am talking about that masterpeice "Rang deeni" from Dev.Mind blowing,awesome!!!All thanks to mp3lizard(eeks..!!! that sound very yuck!!!!) I downloaded it, and needless to say I have heard it some fifty times today!!!!It has been really long since I have fallen so much for a Hindi film song!!! I have seen that video for some two minutes.And looks so natural with Kareena(eeks!! and Yuck again!!!) and Fardeen(oooohhhmmmppphhhh!!!!!!). Kareena drying clothes and stealing those surreptitious glances at Fardeen. In Venusian dictionary, this would rate as being "shooo shweetttt" and "soooo cuteeee!!!".

Anyways , it is not the video or the film, It is that beautiful song.What subtle classical music with peppy beats.. has you mesmerized in no time at all.So for the next few days atleast,My status on yahoo is going to be perennially set to
"DEV[muzic4u.cjb.net] 01 Rang Deeni www.lunch.org".
Oh.. For the uninitiated - That is a winamp plugin that shows in your Yahoo messenger status the song that is played on your Winamp.Very cool utitilty. I am trying to get one for my blog, lets see.

So today was a good saturday.But afsos!!!I didnt get to do my afternoon sleep routine!!!Anyways went around commerical street today.Guess what..I havent shopped for dresses for me in almost a year now!!!!I wont for another month I guess.
So I gave my comp the much needed cleansing today.Got rid of most of the worms,and spyware infested in it for some time now. My god!!!whatever happened to Yahoo's virus scan!!!
And for all the hoopla about ISDN connection your always-on connection brings home all unvited Trojan Horses(Okay okay.. I ll stop reminding you about Rayban and "Network Security now!!!).

Tommorow is the Nurburgring GP.The Prince returns to his Home land. Hope Schumi makes up for his dismal performance in Monaco and thrills his fans at home and all over the world.
Wanted to watch "Hum Tum" this weekend.because of 3 reasons - Saif(I seem to have taken a fancy to his comedy roles like in "Kal Ho Na Ho") ,Rani(I adore her...Can you believe I watched "Chalte Chalte" just for her!!!) and more importantly because it is based on "When Harry met Sally" !!!!!!!!

Today was the best day of PS.. I am too tired to write more.. dozing off now.. will be back with details tommorow..
Remember how I keep whining that more of my friends should start blogging and that it is an amazing way to keep in touch.Well,Kothi,Welcome to blogworld!!! Trust me, were are gonna have great fun . To check her out see my sidebar or here.Thanks to you I also improved my HTML skills!!!!
So, yesterday was good. We left early, went to Koramangala and had a nice time. Anyways there is a major career related business that is psyching me these days.I'd rather not post it on the blog now. Too bad that my message board part of the blog alone doesnt load here in the office :(
This week has been a very good week at office for me. After a long time!!!! I also started writing "100 things about me" post..Only to find I couldnt go beyond point number 6 !!!!!
You know, that has actually led me to wonder why anyone will be interested in reading through 100 things about me at all.. !!!
But if not for the sake of posting it,I should actually try writing this just to see if I can!!!! (This has led me to ruminate into why I cant write 100 things about me in the first place.. What would freud construe this inability as?? acute case of.. Ok ok.. I am going crazy!!! I ll stop!!!)I just have so many things on mind right now that I am afraid if I continue writing now.. This blog will turn into a TO-DO list!!! Now!! Thats sad!!! Bye folks.. I ll come up with something better soon..!!!!!
I am ready to kill myself any time!!!!
Ok.. This is the deal. For months on a stretch I have been cribbing to whosoever listens, (or sometimes doesnt!!) about the fact that I am busy, while my other PS mate's duties include blogging,orkut, msn messenger,fowl words,anna karenina-on-net,Project Gutenberg(Okay.. now that sounds suspiciously like some cutting edge design and software development??? NO.. take a look at this bibilophile's delight at www.gutenberg.net )and netsends and phone calls,incessant SMS chat, corner house,2 hr lunch breaks, and one hr cofee breaks thrice a day!!!!!!!! You will not believe how earnestly this soul longed for that one day of rest- Meaning a day when you absolutely dont have work to do.(Because, I too happen to do the aforesaid activities.. but in those guilty breaks with the TOAD.EXE in the next window .. and the frog impatiently croacking away wondering why that cursor for loop was designed so pathetically..... Whoever came up with the story of the frog and the princess!!!uhh!! my story with this toad is not anywhere close to romantic.....not with my guide netsending me once in 10 minutes for a status update.. when I am not with him in his cube, in a meeting that is!!!!!)

But,my fortunes did turn.And.. fortuitiously.. It happened to be today of all days when that lucky break would come!!!!!But Lo and Behold!!!! I have been racking my brains(phew!!!okie why am I talking about a nearly non-existent entity now!!!)to come up with a good post.. because, officially I have de-allocated my memory that was occcupying LOBs and parsing, and varrays today!!! But no!!!! Nature plays traitor today!!! My brain just refuses to come up with anything creative.It is almost like when you are in the software industry, by default, someone installs a steath program in your brain, like a Trojan Horse,really(Okay....I learnt something in the 5 unit ME level "Network Security" course that I was supposed to be doing, in psenti sem!!!!) that insidiously eats up all your creative juices !!!!!!

I am going for lunch now.Hopefully will make that a 2 hour break today, make all those pending calls and have a good time today!!!
Will be back with more now!!!!
So, I claim to be a blogger, and all I can come up
with is a sad peice of writing,not even fit to be in
a personal diary??? No!!! (Did you just think of Joey's Thanksgiving turkey days!!! YES!!your are right on target!!)

Anywayz, today might be the last PS activity, with the
Instructor coming in to conduct a GD.As I last heard,
the topic was some technology day or something. Oh!!!
I just realised!!!No, not what tech day is all about ,
but that this might be my last BITSian component !!!!!
Oh my God!!!!Hm.. but I am not feeling anything. It is
like I underwent some sorta primitive soul-cleansing
to rid myself of any emotion attached to anything.
That, my friends, they tell me is,Nirvana!!!! Okay I
can crap away to glory, but I wont.


Bangalore climate is amazing. It is raining furiously
now. This my rate as my best summer,given that my 3
previous summers were in the middle of a desert in
nowhere... and mercury notching up a half century is
not unusual.(Yes.. that is 50 degrees for you!!!!).
PS is coming to a finish.. Didnt even realise how 6
months passed since I passed out of college!!!!


I will take a quick trip and remininsce last year.And
get back with some unbelievable things I did..(Hey hey
now.. dont let your imagination run wild!!!) like
GHOT!!!!!!!!!
My God!!!! It was as if someone or something had taken
over my mind and soul completely(Oh ok.. I know I
watch too much X-Files now!!!But this time I am
serious!!!)Oh ok.. just to go deep and explain some
things.. I am a person whose ideology says "Too much
ghoting is injurious to heath" Infact.. "Dont ghot
unless absolutely necessary" or something to that
effect!!!!! It was as if God said "I condemn(or bless)
you to the other end of the spectrum.. just to see how
it is!!!"It was nice being something else for a
while.. but I dont know if that is me.!!

A very sweet poem!!!!

FOR YOU:

May the roads rise to meet you. May the wind be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; The rain fall soft upon your fields And, until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand.



FOR ME :

You’ve blessed me with friends
and laughter and fun
With rain that’s as soft
as the light from the sun-
You’ve blessed me with the stars
to brighten each night
You’ve give me help
to know wrong from right
You’ve give me so much
please, Lord give me too
A heart that is always
Grateful to you.
Who said life was simple? Who said life was fair?
Fine.

"God , Grant me the courage to change the things I can,
The serenity to accept things I can't..
And the wisdom to know the difference..."

Bonus-Weekend Times III

So, I had a bonus weekend yesterday!!!That long overdue system shutdown happened yesterday!!(Well almost.. was also busy for some part of the day.. But not in the usual code-test-debug mode!!!). It was throughly refreshing. Watched Ayutha Ezhuthu. The version I watched was abridged , So cant comment much except it kinda marred the effect of watching a Manirathnam flick.Met some of my very dear seniors through orkut.Had a nice time catching up on old times.Trying to bring together the raag community- especially the '98 batch seniors, the most loved and respected in the history of raag.

Weekend Times - Part II

Oh.. Today was a good Sunday.I am going to kill Juan Pablo Montoya. But then, in hindsight, It could have happened to anyone.What a race that was!!!! Monaco.. The magical city, or should we say Principality.. What a glittering display of celebrities the 2 km stretch boasts of!!!!!
My cooking skills are improving by the day!!(Ok ok.. will write that special blog about that later!!)

Oh we watched some episodes of "Laurel and Hardy". Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, were people who defined the way the world percieved the term "Stand up comedy". I must say it never ceases to amaze me how much they made people laugh in days with no audio.It reminds me of my childhood when the entire family used to assemble in front of the TV to watch those weekly portions of L&R churned out by the then monopoly channel DD.Funnily enough, the laughter used to feed on itself till we were teary eyed and thought our stomachs would burst !!!!I was luckily to grow up in a "Dekh Bhai Dekh" kinda family for some years in life.

And yes!!!! Madhu made a job today!!! I am soooo happy for him. He is a very very dear friend,and by sheer luck, my cousin too!!!!We were born 20 days apart(I am elder.. though he hates to admit it !!!!) and practically grew up together.From all those running about chasing and hitting each other in childhood, we have grown up to be the best of friends, we can easily talk to each other about anything under the sun.(Should I mention that the credit goes to him for "initating" me to the "larger realities of life" !!!!)
He has seen me through all my woes,crying bouts and many many more... ok..I could go on forever.. anywayz..here is wishing you the best that life has to offer.You rock buddy!!!!!!

Weekend Times....

I havent recharged my cell yet, so it is currently being used as a digital (??!!!) alarm clock.Oh, for the uninitated, my cell phone is one of its kind. You know, at one point, I even had offers to display this legacy make in the BITS museum !!!!!!!!!(LOL ...!!!!)And my latest visit to BITS in march, included an open auction for this one. I had , at one point offered it for free. And guess what.. there were no takers!!!!Oh, I will take a snapshot of this priceless antique sometime and post it for all to see!!!



Oh, I just finished watching Munna Bhai MBBS. A good concept, and well taken.. Well.. almost... They did have to make it dramatic ,Didnt they?? Cmon, guyz give Indian cinema a break.When will you ever stop tainting original concepts with the usual "romance+item numbers+action+comedy" formula ??? Grow up!!! And let the audience move on !!!!!


So today was a nice saturday.Except Schumi's dismal qualifing at Monaco. And today included my weekend customary visit to Forum.Tommorow is Dipas wedding.I missed out on fun with the gang, feeling bad about that...Anyways, here is wishing Dips a long and happy married life.Dunno when I would meet the gang again. Anyways, and imminent visit to Pondicherry should make up for that.


Tommorow promises to be another lazy sunday.Lets see if I can get the winamp plugin for the blogger working. And then cook a bit(oops!!! thats a whole new story altogether... will post a special blog on that one sometime!!) and then... MONACO Grand Prix!!!!!! So, Trulli has truly come of age!!( That was a badly attempted pun, I know guyz!!!!)Anyways,tommorow promises to be an exciting race,lets see.. maybe Schumi will get some real competition, which i am a sure he wont mind, cmon, It should be getting pretty lonely at the top !!!!!!!

I am also planning to do a special blog sometime.What would it be? Thats a surprise..(Oh.. thats right.. I have no clue myself) Okay, I guess that is enough of crapping. Gotta go and try to see if I can sleep.Have already started cribbing about Monday :((( Will be back tommorow with more.. Bye..!!!!!!



A refreshingly nice forward story !!!!!

Normally I belong to the species that deletes forward without as much as a second glance(or in some cases first glance!!!). But when a fellow PS mate "shared" this folder, I knew this was different. What a treat on an otherwise boring Monday it was !!!!!!!!
So please read and enjoy !!!!!

Statutory Warning : All charecters in the story will bear close resemblance to living charecters, known and unknown.I swear I was also struck by the uncanny similarities between the cast of this story and people in real life.!!!!!

Statutory Warning II : Forwards generally gain world wide recognition, and are used left,right and center all over,but this is a wonderful case of how I got to know the guy who wrote this.Guys.. this story solely belongs , with all intellectual and 87 other copyrights, to one Mr.Rajesh Advani.Good work buddy!!! His original story got published here at http://www.sulekha.com/expressions/articledesc.asp?cid=307066 (Wow, I updated a post dated May 2004 on Jan 28 2005 !!)


.......through half closed eyes, replied "Good Night," and
then proceeded to return to my half hour nap before
the bus reached the office. Unfortunately, I was
woken up by a punch in the arm.


"Wake up, bozo!" She was looking at me with a big
smile on her face. "I'm not sitting next to you to
listen to you snore."


Half-heartedly, I opened my eyes and turned to her.
"What's up?" I asked.

Preeti Mehra was tall, good-looking and slightly
tomboyish. She was also my best buddy. "Come on,"
she said. "Don't look so disappointed. You'd rather
sleep than talk to me?"


"I talk to you everyday, Preeti."

"You also sleep everyday."

"It's not enough."

"So you've had enough of talking to me, eh?"

You can't argue with a statement like that, so I had
to give up. I grinned and said, "OK, sweetheart.
What's on your mind?"


"I wanted to tell you what happened yesterday. Can
you guess?"

"Anurag called you last night."

"How did you know?" She was stunned.

"Oh, he asked me for your number yesterday."

"And you gave it to him?"

"What else could I do? And stop complaining. You've
been drooling over him for weeks now. He must have
thought he had a chance."


Preeti was the kind of girl who would openly ogle at
every other guy she saw. And yet, she would not
respond to any advances of a romantic nature. She'd
happily join a group of boys to go to a cricket
match, but if asked out to a movie, dinner, or even
coffee, she'd never say yes. She defined
'Hard-To-Get'.


"You like putting me in these situations, don't
you?" she said.

"No. That's not true. I love putting you in these
situations!"

That invited another punch in the arm.

I had known Preeti for a year. We'd tell each other
about our joys and our sorrows, our victories and
our defeats. I'd tell her about all my crushes and
she'd scold me for being silly. She'd drag me to
classical music concerts and I'd add them to the
list of things she 'owed me' for.


And though I never let it show, I must say that she
punched pretty hard.


~*~
It was 12:00 am and my phone was ringing. "Hello," I
said, as I picked it up.

"Happy Birthday!" It was she.

"You're supposed to throw me a surprise party,
sweetheart. Not just call to say Happy Birthday."

"Well then open your door, dumbo!"

So I did and found her, cell-phone in hand, at my
doorstep -- with what seemed like half the
population of my company. My roommates were supposed
to be working late that night. Now I knew why.


I blew a lot of candles (seemed like much more than
25), cut my cake, got kicked in the behind, and got
painted with the cake's icing. If Preeti had had her
way, she'd probably have preferred to use a
paintbrush and a can of paint. But I bribed her with
a copy of the book "Lord of the Rings". She'd
borrowed it from me three times already. I thought
it was about time I gave her a copy for herself.


We chatted for an hour after everyone had gone. "I
think it's time I left," she said finally, trying to
stifle a yawn. I nodded. I dropped her home in my
roommate's car. As she was getting out of the car, I
stopped her.


"Hey, Preeti."

"What?"

"Thanks."

"Hey, don't get senti on me now!" she smiled. "Are
you trying to worm out of that gift you promised
me?"

"You know, it's interesting how I'm getting you a
gift on my birthday."

"That's just because you're stupid," she grinned.
"And you better get me that book, or I won't return
your copy."

"Hey, that copy was a gift to me from my dear friend
Preeti Mehra. I can't let you keep that."

She wasn't falling for that. "Your dear friend? And
what about me? Am I not dear to you?"

"Very smart. That won't work with me. I'm not one of
your Love Crazy suitors. Why do you need the book
anyway? You've read it umpteen times already."


"That is besides the point. You are getting me the
book. We both know that." She smiled that wide
confident smile of hers. "Good night." And she got
out of the car.


I sat there for some time, just thinking. Our
conversations were always like this – a little
joking, a little teasing and a lot of demanding. But
somehow, I felt that something had changed since the
moment she had turned up at my door that night. I
was still in my reverie when a paper ball landed on
the windshield. I craned my neck out of the window
and looked up. She was standing in her balcony.


"What are you still doing there?" she whispered
loudly.

"Waiting for you to start a paper-ball fight," I
whispered back.

"We can do that tomorrow. Go home now. It's way past
your bedtime!"

"Ok, mommy," I grinned back. "I'm going home now!"


~*~
I'm an extravagant gift-giver, and it is definitely
going to be my downfall some day. I made her wait
for it, but finally bought her the book. That, and
half-a-dozen other omnibus collections of various
authors, including a copy each of `The Complete
Works of Shakespeare' and `The Complete Short
Stories of Charles Dickens'. All I got for it was an
"I told you so."


I started spending a lot of time at her place after
that. Mostly because I wanted to read all those
books, and she wouldn't lend them to me.


"I'm not as stupid as you, ape-man. I'm not falling
into the same trap I laid for you. Plus, you dog-ear
your books. You're not doing that to these
masterpieces. So if you want to read them, you read
them here. And if you want to mark your place, use a
bookmark."


So that's what I did. She'd even make me wash my
hands before I touched the books. It was as if they
were sacred.

"Need I remind you that it was me that bought you
the books in the first place? For my birthday!"

"So? They're mine now."

"Well, then. I've been meaning to ask you this for a
long time. Where exactly is my birthday gift?"

"It was in your tummy at one point of time. It's
probably been washed into the sea by now."

"Huh?"

"Remember the cake I baked you on your birthday?"

"You what? You can't bake cakes!" That was a
mistake. She looked hurt. "You baked me a cake?" She
didn't say a word. She just shrugged.


I was stunned. "But you never told me."

"You didn't ask." That was typical of her.

"It was fantastic! And you wasted most of the icing
on me!"

"The cake was for you, dumbo."

"How long did it take you to make the whole thing?"
It had been a two-layered vanilla-chocolate cake
with three flavors of very creamy icing. She had
done all that!


"Well, the chocolate cake took an hour and fifteen
minutes, and so did the vanilla. Then cutting them
up and putting them together took another 15
minutes. Each flavor of icing took 20 minutes for
preparation, and then putting it on the cake took
another half hour. Cleaning up the mess took an
hour."


She seldom claimed the credit for anything, but once
she started bragging, there was no stopping her.
However, I wasn't thinking about that right then.


"You spent over five hours on that cake?"

"A little over four hours preparing it, and an hour
cleaning up. Yes."

I was speechless. I didn't know how to react. She
hated cooking.

"I forgot to mention," she continued, "the hours I
spent the week before that, practicing. Even the
birds wouldn't touch the first three cakes!"


I couldn't help but ask. "Why?"

"Because the first one got burnt, the second one was
only half cooked, and in the third one, I forgot to
add sugar."

It was just like her, to try to divert the
conversation. "I mean why did you spend so much time
on baking me a cake?"

She looked at me like I'd asked her why the sun
rises in the east. "For your birthday, stupid. Of
course, I also wanted to beat every gift you've ever
got me. Try beating this one." She was grinning like
she'd won the world championship.


As far as I was concerned, she had. I'd never spent
a week making her anything. I'd never even spent an
hour making her anything. Getting her a gift
normally involved me taking her to the store,
letting her choose and use my credit card. Suddenly,
I felt cheap. "Thanks," was the only thing I could
say. "Thanks a lot."


"Hey. Are you getting senti on me again?"

I was.


~*~
I was still mulling over my feelings for Preeti the
next day at work when my boss asked to speak to me.

I went over to his cabin and he started with the
usual greetings, asking how work was going and
whether I was comfortable. He then told me that the
company wanted to send me to New York for a couple
of years. Normally, this wouldn't have made much of
a difference to me. I could work anywhere and didn't
have too much love for visiting places foreign. But
right then, the first thought that came to me was
that I'd be away from Preeti for two whole years.
Twenty-four hours before, I'd have been disappointed
to lose her company. But right then, I was
devastated. That was when I knew I was in love with
her. I'd had crushes before. Lots of them. But this
was different.


"Do you have any problem in going?" my boss asked,
since I hadn't responded.

"Not really," I replied. What else could I say? That
I was in love, and couldn't bear the separation?

"When do I have to leave?"

I had a month.


~*~
"Wow! New York! Great! I've heard it's a fantastic
city! Did you know it snows there in winter?" Preeti
was obviously very excited about my going. She
didn't seem to share my disappointment on what I now
saw as 'separation'.


I had not decided then if I was going to tell her
how I felt. We'd known each other for a little over
a year, and we were very close, but beyond some mild
flirting, the relationship had never got even close
to romantic. That was, of course, until I found out
she had spent a week baking me a cake. It's funny
how small things seem to make such a big difference.



"What happened?" she asked. "You don't seem very
happy."

"Oh," I replied, "it's just that it's so sudden,
that's all. And you know I was never all that
interested in going to America."


"What an idiot. Go see the place. I've heard the
women there are amazingly beautiful." She had a sly
smile on her face. I wanted to tell her I didn't
care if I laid my eyes on another woman again, if
she wasn't with me. But I didn't.


I realized that I only had another month with her.
She'd rejected every guy who'd asked her out ever
since I'd known her. I didn't want the same to
happen to me, and I didn't want to make it awkward
between us. I didn't want to risk that month. I
wanted it to be the best time I had ever spent with
her. After I came back from the US, I might not even
get to meet her again. Two years was a long time.


We ate out almost every night. We visited some of
the best restaurants in the city. She also helped me
shop for warm clothes, formalwear, shoes, toothpaste
and a million things I'd never have thought of on my
own.


"You need to buy a nail-cutter." My roommates and I
shared one.

"I've prepared a list of must-have medicines that
you should carry."

"Your iron won't work in the US. No point buying one
here as you need one that works at a hundred and ten
volts and has flat pins. You can buy one at a K-Mart
or Wal-Mart as soon as you get there."


"You need at least two pairs of formal shoes and at
least ten pairs of dark socks. The East Coast has a
formal dress code. And you won't do your laundry
more than once a week or two."


"How many ties do you have? And which trousers do
your blazers go with?"

"Better get a haircut before you leave from here.
Knowing you, you'll postpone the first haircut for
too long."

She'd call me up at one in the morning to tell me to
add 'one more item' to my list.

And with every passing day, I was falling more
deeply in love with her.

The month swept by quickly. The day I was supposed
to leave, I asked her to come with me to the
airport. "Of course, dumbo. You think I'd let you go
just like that, or what?"


After packing my bags for me and checking the lists
for the hundredth time, she finally pronounced me
"Good to go."

We reached the airport four hours early to beat the
rush, because it was an international flight. She
got a visitor's pass to sit in the waiting area
while I went ahead and checked-in my bags. Preeti
had got a spring balance from somewhere and so we
knew my bags were well within the weight limit. I
finished the formalities and came to sit with her.
We had only a few hours before I had to go for my
security-check. We decided to get something to eat
at the food court. And all the time, the one thing
that was going through my head was that, after this,
I wouldn't see her for at least another two years.


"Hey, Champ. Why so glum?" She saved 'Champ' for
special days. Normally, it was just 'dumbo', 'bozo',
'ape-man', 'matchstick man', 'weirdo', or if she was
very irritated with me, 'nutcase'.


"I don't want to go," I said.

"I don't want you to go either."

"No, you don't understand." I couldn't hold it in
any longer. "I can't stand the thought of living
without you by my side."


She stared at me. There was a strange look in her
eyes. I couldn't read it.

"I am madly in love with you, Preeti."

At this, a sound escaped her lips that sounded like
a cross between a sob and a laugh. "Well, dumbo,
you've picked an absolutely fabulous time to tell me
about it!"


A tear escaped her eyes. It was all I could do to
stop myself from wiping it off her cheeks.

"How long have you felt this way?" She seemed
amused, though she was definitely crying. I didn't
know what to make of it.


"From the day I found out you had baked me a cake."

She laughed. "That's all it took? Well, bozo, I
guess a way to a man's heart is certainly through
his stomach! Hold it. A month? You waited a month?
You were the one who kept saying that if you really
liked a girl you wouldn't waste a day in telling
her!" She was smiling widely now. It looked funny,
with her eyes all wet.


"Well, I was confused. How did I know how you'd
react? In fact, I still don't understand your
reaction. I thought it would change things between
us. You've rejected every guy who ever proposed to
you!"


"That's because I'm in love with you, you overgrown
idiot!"

"What?" Somehow, I'd never expected her to say that.
She was in love with me? "How long have you been in
love with me?"


"Ever since the day you offered to carry my suitcase
for me."

"But that was the first day I met you!"

"I guess I was always a sucker for chivalry."

"All this time you've been in love with me and you
never said anything! Then you go and complain that I
waited a month!"


"You guys are so bad at reading a girl's mind."

"You women are so good at keeping your thoughts a
secret! Even Einstein couldn't figure you out."

"Einstein was a nerd. Casanova, on the other hand,
understood us very well."

"I love you."

"I know."

That moment, my dear friends, was magic. I looked
into her eyes and took her hands in mine. Physical
contact for us had been limited, until then, to a
punch in the arm, a slap on the back of the head, or
giving each other a 'high five'.


"You realize, don't you," she said, "that this is
our first date?" Leave it to her to notice the
little things.

"I really don't want to go." I'd always maintained
that love is a bucketful of emotions. I wasn't
exactly delighted to be proved right.


"Don't worry. I'm coming there in a couple of
months."

"How? On a dependent visa?"

She laughed. "For that, I'll have to wait, won't I?
I've got a project in New Jersey."

I couldn't believe my ears. "What? When did that
happen? You never even told me!"

"Well, I wasn't sure you'd propose before you left.
And I couldn't exactly sacrifice you to those New
York women, could I? I had to watch out for myself.
So I went on a project-hunting spree. There is an
opportunity coming up for a project in about two
months. Someone is coming back to India, so I'll be
taking his place. They want me there for a little
less than two years." She was beaming. "I realized I
had struck gold!"


"And if I'd not told you how I felt? When were you
planning on telling me about it?"

"Around a month before I reached there. I had to
make it look natural. Or you'd think I was
desperate."

"Well, you are desperate!" This was incredible. All
I'd done in the past month had been to mope around,
listen to sad songs and write her letters that I
never intended her to read. "You've been scheming
all this while! How come you didn't lay a trap for
me a year ago?"


"I tried giving you hints, dumbo, but you just
wouldn't pay attention!" She was laughing. "You're
the only guy I ever spent any time with. Wasn't that
a big enough hint?"


That was true. She would happily join a group of
boys to go to a cricket match, but I now realized,
only if I was one of them.


"What if I had rejected you?" I was extremely
flattered that she'd been crazy about me for a year.
My ego was swelling.


"You must be kidding!" she was clearly amused. "I
get proposed to every few days. You are the one
who's been rejected more times in the last year than
I can count on two pairs of hands!"


She really knew how to burst my bubble.

"Hey," she said softly, "don't look so dejected. I
said 'Yes', didn't I?"

I grinned. "Yes, you did. And you've made me a very
happy man. But you know what would make me even
happier?"

"What?"

"If you learn to cook as good as you bake cakes."

So she punched me in the arm again.




__________________________________

My Blog goes public !!!!

Oh..So after my poor grey cells(ok!!! whatever little I happen to have!!)worked overtime decided whether to let people see my blog, I finally took the plunge yesterday. I would say though, that the feel was different. It is kinda different when you know people are gonna read what you write.(Although eventually I was gonna make people read mine.. like it or not!!!) Anyways, Blogging is like singing in many ways.Maybe those early days, when I had just started performing, I used be conscious of the audience. Not how they would react or anything,but just the fact that they were there, and my music was reaching them.But then I used to just close my eyes,and then everyone would melt into oblivion, including me.
So,thats pretty much what I am going to do now too.

I created a tag board in the site today. Want to do much more. How I wish I had some respite from work during the day to do all this!!!!anywayz.. I really wish more of my friends would start blogging. It is an amazing way to keep in touch.

This weekend is going to be another lazy one.Want to see yuva. Lets see. Every single week since we started PS.. there would be discussions for plans for the weekend. And not even one of these weekends have we actually done anything.. So it was "nandi hill's"
turn this weekend. And of course, nothing is up till now.

Will be back with more soon. And... I love orkut !!!!!!! It is the best thing that has happened to be in a long while.. and my dull and uneventful life!!!(Oh.. this time I really mean it ..!!!!! ok.. I ll hold it there!!!!)


networking unlimited !!!!!

These days I dont get many mails.. reason being my friends are home. So two days back I got this mail from a friend asking me to join his group of friends at www.orkut.com
Skeptical as I was, I went to the site.But, I must say it is pretty cool. Specially impressive is the community feature. I had a wonderful time yesterday surfing through the many BITSians who are also in the community. Some long lost seniors, some long lost department mates and many , many more. I am looking forward to a really good time networking with these people. Thanks a lot orkut. You have given me something to add color to my otherwise dull and uneventful life!!!(Ok.. now that is not exaclty true!!!)

Yipee !!! My friends are Home!!!!!!!!

So.. My friends have come home.. after a gruelling 4 and a half months in the parched sands.After a really long time I am getting to hear my cell phone's ring tone..(Oh. I had almost forgotten what my ring tone is!!!!!)And.. for a change when I get an SMS these days.. It is actually from somebody other than Citibank messaging to remind me of how pathetically low my account balance is!!!!!!How great is that!!!!!!!
Oh.. and F.R.I.E.N.D.S was guuu-o-o-o-d(In Monica style!!!) ... Cristina Applegate as Amy was very convincting as Rachel's obnoxious sister !!!!!
Hm.. cant wait for Yuva to come along!!! Cant wait to lech at Madhavan and Siddarth !!!!!

As the Drama unfolds

So, Egroups was flooded with a campaigns for and against the New Prime Minister, and her party. Suddenly came the twist in tale.. Dude.. I told you, Politics is like India's Mega serials, only more spicy and funny.So.. Sonia steps down, and believe it or not , every single spineless moron begging,pleading and threatening her to reconsider. Cmon, (Though my fingertips are eager to type out a string of unpronouncable and ungentlemanly(or should we say gentle womanly.!!!!) expeltives) is there not a single person who can lead the party and the country? A party that claims sole credits for the glorious freedom stuggle? It is plain shameful that a country is under the mercy of these spineless fools who infact compete with "Jassi Jaise Koi Nahin" for Prime Time TV Spots !!!!
oops.. F.R.I.E.N.D.S is on ... this is emma's first thanksgiving episode and the one where Amy comes.. .. will be back..
Amma got up early on May 13th. It was 8 o Clock and she was anxiously switching Channels to check out the early leads by different parties. Being a strong BJP supporter, she was obviosuly dissapointed. Hailing from a normal middle class Indian family, we were never into "active" politics. Politics for us was like watching cricket,or wait... aleast we followed cricket zealously... a little less that religion perhaps.. So Politics was like watching a long running Indian soap.. Complete with all the action and back stabbing and the proverbial Public-Dirty-Linen-Washing routine.

It all changed some years ago, when we actually found some good statesman to go and vote for. With Rangarajan Kumaramagalam contesting from Trichy, and BJP for the first time aligning with local parties in TN, public interest soared. Hitherto uninterested sections were suddenly hopeful. And the last 5 years saw the NDA living up to atleast some of those expectations, and the country finally took a breather from dirty opportunistic coalitions keeping an entire democracy in tenterhooks.


Things change , However , in due course. Elections 2004 witnessed utter debauchery of the country's political fabric. Day after tommorow an Italian takes over as the country's Prime Minister.Dont get me wrong , I am not one of those saffron clad people who swear by the Hindutva. It is not about a person's origins, It is about ability and efficiency of the Individual as well as the party concerned. Who do we see ? Some age-old sychophants wasted away sitting spinelessly in the many CWCs, shamelessly encouraging people with not much but famous surnames.


Wednesday comes. It says clearly.."A country deserves the Government it gets".

One more weekend goes by.....

So.. one more weekend gone.. And the END is approaching. Uncertainity looms large, I know not what life has in store from me a month from now.

So,spend the better part of yesterday afternoon trying to spruce up the blog and give it new look and feel, add new features and the like. The result... absymal.(U thought of Joey Didnt u !!!!!!)

Went out for dinner with family and then dove deep into Clive Cussler's Serpent.Fascinated by NUMA and the underwater adventures. Devoured "Vallaha Rising" while at BITS, Thanks to BSL, and now I am hooked.

Guide and project deadlines breathing down my neck. Gotta go back to work now. Will be back.
Oh.. today was a sexy saturday.. except that I could do my usual "Dead to the whole world" sleeping routine.. Oh. for those of you who dont know... My body clock works like this.. My brain just refuses point blank to sleep well most days. Only on saturday afternoons do I sleep like I am practically dead to the whole world. There was a screw up in meeting Haran. So I didnt actually meet him until late evening.Good he will be here for lot of time. So lazy me .. Not yet decided whether to go to chennai and meet the gang and attend kolas sisters marriage.
Oh.. we had been to FORUM... Bangalores answer to spencers.
And at every darned store kept bumping into BITSians.. But having been a whole planet away from fellow beings of my species I am not the one to complain.. not by a long shot!!!!!!!!
Tommorow I might just go out with parents to lal bagh.. you know its funny, having stayed a stone's throw away from lal bagh I havent visited the place much. There is also work piling up at office. Conscience tells me to get up early and go to office.. but the BITSian in me says "sack out.. big deal maan!!!".Anyways there is not much I can do abt those bugs.. I rationalize... But what if my guide expected me to slog the weekend... what about client review.. what about conversions?
yes.. But what about the accumulated sleep debt? what about just lazing around and not fight sleep at 2 in the weekday afternoon fighting back those yawns and very fibre of ur body try to doze away to glory.... !!!!!
ok fyne!!!!!! stop it you guys.. as usual.. whenever in doubt..guss work!!!!!!!
Big deal maan.. of course!!!!!!!!!!!Sister as usual claims comp... Shall be back soon!!!!
It is not funny


Really.. working at insanely late hours in the office doesnot do any good to you.. except for the fact that you are too goddamned tired to think of where your life is going.. or why you are 20 and still sadly single. One of these days my eyes are gonna pop out of my head and cry "please.. no more comp!!!!!"
My eyes by now are probably thinking ... What a waste ... with all the things in a whole wide world to see and enjoy(not to mention lech at !!!) staring at an insanely dull computer screen.. what a waste!!!!
Heights of exhaustion... Heights of insanity.. thats what my life is these days... Sleep the traitor eludes me pretty much alwayz. I have stopped thinking about my lack of sleep long ago. Some people's unique gift to sleep soundly.. not me!!!!!
pObably the only semblance of a normal living being in me is food.Whenever possible I have good food... sometimes healthy too... today was a PS mates treat.. we had gone to casapicola.. and what a delight it was... the pasta and those exotic sauces with the garlic bread!!!! one of the very few things in my life worth savoring these days is food.. God Bless good food...!!!!!!!!
Haran is coming !!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Yipeee!!!!!!! I am so happy... to hell with all prententious literary high flown crap. Today I am in my element. And why not.. One of my dearest friends is gonna be here tommorow!!!! And..I ll be meeting most of the gang in may , june ,july. Oh.. I havent told you about the gang.. My Gang used to be my world.. (I still want it to be... but they want me to move on.. and get on with life.. Which I am trying to do in all honesty....) My gang is my anchor, cushion... everything. Each one is truly special in his/her own way.


So, Haran is truly one of the sweetest people I have met, he is widely popular in my college... and has gals of all ages going ga-ga over him.. He could easy have been the most flipped-for guy in 2000 batch(I can vividly picturise the ugly smirk -cum-grin-cum-blush on his face as he reads this!!!!). People, hold on.. the Casanova status is not easy to come by or hold... you have people commenting on your dress,clothes,shoes(or the lack of it.. as Miss Snob said once!!!!) and just about anything in you... For a long time.. there was a poll going on in the 2000 batch as to whether or not... hold your breath... he is a virgin.. .and there was another time.. when someone went about spreading rumors that... this is a hilarious one... haran is gay!!!!! He used to flip out at all these.. not anymore....after all ... all of us have grown from a bunch of wary,seniors-tripping-shy second yrites.. to a bunch of "rational,level, headed decisive" adults...(Kola.. i can hear u rolling with laughter!!!!!)
So.. the past week was filled with high spirits... This one promises to be the perfect anti thesis.... sleepy mournful teary and heavy... thats what this week promises tology from the Saudi Arabian royal family after 9/11. After all 17 of the 19 hijackers were from there. President
So there goes all my promises to write blogs daily!!!!
Life is getting better these days. Of all the natural phenomena that God created,the one that never ceases to lighten my heart and brighten my day must be the rain. My love affair with the Rain Gods started from when i was a small kid. I used to love the smell of the earth receiving the first drops of rain(It has a name that slips mind... Mrs. Sangeetha Sharma used to tell us in those few GRE classes that we attended!!!!!!).As I grew up, I used to listen to "Sudhya mayee" and "En mugam paraiyaa" and was awe struck by the ability of a raaga to induce rain in a parched land...There were days when I used to go to the terrace and sing amruthavarshini in a dire attempt to appease the rain Gods and to prove my prowess as a classical singer!!!!!!!!!
"Anandamruthakarshini" was another tryst with the rain-raaga. It is also special because, it showcases the mind boggling musical perfection of a genius - Muthuswamy Dikshitar. (In one of our family discussions my dad would attribute this prelidiction for dikshitar and his krithis to the school of music I belong to-I come from a musical legacy passed on by the genius himself!!)
Music then, like the rain,talks to a part of the being.. A part of your existence, that no one-not even you- have access to.A miniscule , non-entity like me can only gaze in ceaseless wonderb at music- A science, an art, a therapy,a miracle,a solace,a judge(Have you ever heard St. Thyagarajas "Dudukugala" set to raagam"Gowlai"??? Then you will understand...) in short -a universal, all encompassing experience.
Life then, has these moments,when you submit yourself to the moment, wordlessly,without struggle and give yourself upto it-completely and willingly.... It in these moments that life is worth living.