yesterday was World Environment Day. Find lotsa plants in the office - resembles a rain forest...
colleague 1: is there a world animals day too?
colleague 2: thats everyday.... this section is the carnivores... that one has the omnivores....
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Saturday, April 22, 2006
mod god
neighbourhood Annamma* temple devotees are demonstrating their love, respect, devoution, you know... the works. the temple it seems, isnt enough, so they bring it out onto the streets. which means closing the road for traffic, rerouting buses, etc. geez! you actually use the bus!? you can do without it for a day. awww... come on now! stop cribbing.
the lanes, by-lanes and just about any path that leads to that place sports loudspeakers. you really need to pump up the volume. after all, heaven is way up there & the gods are a bit hard of hearing. saar, its all part of the festivities saar! reminiscent of the days in mumbai when prayers to Ganesha included "tu cheez badi hai mast"... guess the slokas, mantras & bhajans could get a bit monotonous eh? the gods need some entertainment too. yo baby!
but gulshan kumar came to the rescue pretty early in the scene and a local influence is not far away. a kannada rendition on the tune of "babuji zara dheere chalo" is the perfect crowd puller. did somebody say belief and devotion was all that one need to have? dude! get a life!
noise pollution is it? call the 'for-your-service-and-protection' police station and here's what you get... "saar, protest against this, you for sure would get beaten up, even we wouldnt be spared! forget it saar..." i am all for the hafta system now.
gen-prev raised a toast when bangalore clamped the 11:30pm deadline on pubs & discs.... he he heee.... what goes around, comes around :) praise the lord! cheers :)
* an incarnation of Devi
the lanes, by-lanes and just about any path that leads to that place sports loudspeakers. you really need to pump up the volume. after all, heaven is way up there & the gods are a bit hard of hearing. saar, its all part of the festivities saar! reminiscent of the days in mumbai when prayers to Ganesha included "tu cheez badi hai mast"... guess the slokas, mantras & bhajans could get a bit monotonous eh? the gods need some entertainment too. yo baby!
but gulshan kumar came to the rescue pretty early in the scene and a local influence is not far away. a kannada rendition on the tune of "babuji zara dheere chalo" is the perfect crowd puller. did somebody say belief and devotion was all that one need to have? dude! get a life!
noise pollution is it? call the 'for-your-service-and-protection' police station and here's what you get... "saar, protest against this, you for sure would get beaten up, even we wouldnt be spared! forget it saar..." i am all for the hafta system now.
gen-prev raised a toast when bangalore clamped the 11:30pm deadline on pubs & discs.... he he heee.... what goes around, comes around :) praise the lord! cheers :)
* an incarnation of Devi
Thursday, April 20, 2006
annavaru
this is not an obituary, neither a eulogy about the humble soul. its about what people made of his departure.
never did one realise that someone's death could be so scary, and ironically, bring you close to your own. it was an inflamability test for just about anything they could lay their hands on. he was buried but bangalore burned.
they mourned, they say. and insisted that others were ordained to do the same. it didnt matter if he meant nothing to the others, it was made sure they felt bad he wasnt anymore.
like a scene out of moses, it was the passover of the plague. anything that carried his picture survived. the rest had a gravestone ready in its name. the mob didnt realise the joke was on them. companies closed early and carried annavaru with them. they thought it was in respect for their star.
they took a cue from mumbai, where they couldnt care less before bringing down a hospital for their leader didnt survive an accident. not that they repented it later. the law there learnt and wised up though. only, their counterparts here dont like to learn from others' mistakes. they like their name in blood. be it at the cost of being sitting ducks as they get pelted by a mob.
sorry, i forgot. thats how funerals happen here. you know, just like that da. adjust maadi.
never did one realise that someone's death could be so scary, and ironically, bring you close to your own. it was an inflamability test for just about anything they could lay their hands on. he was buried but bangalore burned.
they mourned, they say. and insisted that others were ordained to do the same. it didnt matter if he meant nothing to the others, it was made sure they felt bad he wasnt anymore.
like a scene out of moses, it was the passover of the plague. anything that carried his picture survived. the rest had a gravestone ready in its name. the mob didnt realise the joke was on them. companies closed early and carried annavaru with them. they thought it was in respect for their star.
they took a cue from mumbai, where they couldnt care less before bringing down a hospital for their leader didnt survive an accident. not that they repented it later. the law there learnt and wised up though. only, their counterparts here dont like to learn from others' mistakes. they like their name in blood. be it at the cost of being sitting ducks as they get pelted by a mob.
sorry, i forgot. thats how funerals happen here. you know, just like that da. adjust maadi.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
office conversations #2
colleague 1: you know this DJ, he scratches...
me thinks: i say, he ought to visit a dermatologist!
c. 2 to c. 3: i am told your cubicles are gonna be named after cartoons.... (pause).... i mean the meeting rooms are....
me thinks: i say, he ought to visit a dermatologist!
c. 2 to c. 3: i am told your cubicles are gonna be named after cartoons.... (pause).... i mean the meeting rooms are....
Friday, March 17, 2006
bon appetite!
on the billboard of a restaurant (forget the name)...
man giving that look of home-sickness or the sick-of-home-look.
caption only underscores the confusion...
"paali, it tastes like your cooking!"
man giving that look of home-sickness or the sick-of-home-look.
caption only underscores the confusion...
"paali, it tastes like your cooking!"
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
aa bail mujhe...
garden city. thats what its called. but its time for a new name. something that speaks of the accidents here? it's so common, one would hardly raise a brow to it. auto companies could use these roads for their crash tests. read an article sometime back that b'lore manages the 2nd highest number of road accidents in india, following delhi.
the two months that i've been here, seen 2, witnessed one and was almost part of 2. but i was nestled safely in a cab... those on the receiving end were bikers. as my cousin retorts... need not worry. with the pace of the traffic, you cannot go fast enough to hurt yourself! a minor brush here & there, thats all.
it seems delhi has some 27k kms of road & manages some 1000+ collisions in a year. b'lore meanwhile with 4.5k kms of road does approx 750. that in fact makes me wonder about delhi... with 27k kms of road, do those buggers go around asking for a bump!?
the two months that i've been here, seen 2, witnessed one and was almost part of 2. but i was nestled safely in a cab... those on the receiving end were bikers. as my cousin retorts... need not worry. with the pace of the traffic, you cannot go fast enough to hurt yourself! a minor brush here & there, thats all.
it seems delhi has some 27k kms of road & manages some 1000+ collisions in a year. b'lore meanwhile with 4.5k kms of road does approx 750. that in fact makes me wonder about delhi... with 27k kms of road, do those buggers go around asking for a bump!?
Saturday, March 04, 2006
show me the money!
its that time of the year when one frantically gives finishing touches to one's tax plans. i am a bit retarded in this approach, so the prospect of holding a ppf account hadn't struck me, until better sense was hammered into my skull.
with this day assigned to getting myself one such account, i set out to befriend our friendly neighbourhood SBI. now i find following trends in the banking industry as much an activity of interest as one would look at compost formation. but i was told that they are one of those rare banks with the distinguished privilege of according you that coveted account. never once did it occur to me that it would lead me into a treasure hunt. the hunt seems to have ended, the treasure however, opting to remain elusive.
i was also told that SBI is no longer the geriatric laggard we had so nonchalantly accepted. they are off on a massive roadtrip to change customer perception. i would rather they stop burning ad fuel and got to work. "200 years of service", is what their banner proudly proclaims. i am ready to accept the 200 years part of it. as for the service, if there is one, someone forgot to put the customer on the list of beneficiaries.
enter SBI branch #1. the clerk is rather forthcoming in driving you away. in the absence of a signboard, he expects me to posses telepathy and realise that he doesnt deal with new accounts. i wonder if he hides a fly swatter under his desk. the manager had a wiser disposition. my guess is, footprints of irate customers on his backside has done the trick. volunteers to part with the secret that one can no longer open a ppf a/c there without having a savings a/c in that branch. i remind him of an absence of such a mandate. their "computerised" system just wont allow he bleats! oh btw, with computerisation they mean a passbook that a computer prints for you. look ma! no hands! the realisation that i do not hold an a/c in SBI compels him to give me the look of a crock choking on the piece of cattle it has just dug into. expecting me to give that life saving thump on his back. i say, what shred of imagination is it to expect every bloke in this country to hold an SBI a/c!?
enter SBI branch #2. this one has a signboard that says "enquiry". man at desk repeats manager 1's story but he seems to follow indian cricket fielding. points me to another staffer i would rather meet. and much like the behaviour of the ball while india fields, i eagerly roll over to the designated boundary. the lady there is trained like a parrot! well, so was i & i remind her of the absence of the rule. she's quick on the retort that well, thats how things are done in this branch. for further issues please approach the manager. damn! this is a cricket loving branch!
had read somewhere that this is how the old banks justified the absence of an online face. now they have it, but thats more of a reluctant favour meted out. the old banks believed in the personal touch that their employees were capable of and something the private banks lacked. 'when you discourage people from visiting the branch, how can you have that human touch!?' they might argue. well, point noted, but i am not in a barber shop to discuss my life's maladies with him. besides, i certainly dont fancy sitting at a counter plastered with notices & rules wondering if there's a banker behind it somewhere. i.e., if they have the inclination to look beyond their ledgers as they juggle 'tween the red & blue ends of a smudgy pen. i would rather peep into the viewing hole of a solitary confinement cell. that surely affords a more exciting view.
but that was branch #2 staffer's idea of customer contact. she wanted me to visit as many SBI branches as i could & figure out which one would use a system that doesnt mandate an s/b a/c. lack of time & the futility of it made me abandon the treasure hunt. might as well call the investment agent. he's known to "fix" things.
with this day assigned to getting myself one such account, i set out to befriend our friendly neighbourhood SBI. now i find following trends in the banking industry as much an activity of interest as one would look at compost formation. but i was told that they are one of those rare banks with the distinguished privilege of according you that coveted account. never once did it occur to me that it would lead me into a treasure hunt. the hunt seems to have ended, the treasure however, opting to remain elusive.
i was also told that SBI is no longer the geriatric laggard we had so nonchalantly accepted. they are off on a massive roadtrip to change customer perception. i would rather they stop burning ad fuel and got to work. "200 years of service", is what their banner proudly proclaims. i am ready to accept the 200 years part of it. as for the service, if there is one, someone forgot to put the customer on the list of beneficiaries.
enter SBI branch #1. the clerk is rather forthcoming in driving you away. in the absence of a signboard, he expects me to posses telepathy and realise that he doesnt deal with new accounts. i wonder if he hides a fly swatter under his desk. the manager had a wiser disposition. my guess is, footprints of irate customers on his backside has done the trick. volunteers to part with the secret that one can no longer open a ppf a/c there without having a savings a/c in that branch. i remind him of an absence of such a mandate. their "computerised" system just wont allow he bleats! oh btw, with computerisation they mean a passbook that a computer prints for you. look ma! no hands! the realisation that i do not hold an a/c in SBI compels him to give me the look of a crock choking on the piece of cattle it has just dug into. expecting me to give that life saving thump on his back. i say, what shred of imagination is it to expect every bloke in this country to hold an SBI a/c!?
enter SBI branch #2. this one has a signboard that says "enquiry". man at desk repeats manager 1's story but he seems to follow indian cricket fielding. points me to another staffer i would rather meet. and much like the behaviour of the ball while india fields, i eagerly roll over to the designated boundary. the lady there is trained like a parrot! well, so was i & i remind her of the absence of the rule. she's quick on the retort that well, thats how things are done in this branch. for further issues please approach the manager. damn! this is a cricket loving branch!
had read somewhere that this is how the old banks justified the absence of an online face. now they have it, but thats more of a reluctant favour meted out. the old banks believed in the personal touch that their employees were capable of and something the private banks lacked. 'when you discourage people from visiting the branch, how can you have that human touch!?' they might argue. well, point noted, but i am not in a barber shop to discuss my life's maladies with him. besides, i certainly dont fancy sitting at a counter plastered with notices & rules wondering if there's a banker behind it somewhere. i.e., if they have the inclination to look beyond their ledgers as they juggle 'tween the red & blue ends of a smudgy pen. i would rather peep into the viewing hole of a solitary confinement cell. that surely affords a more exciting view.
but that was branch #2 staffer's idea of customer contact. she wanted me to visit as many SBI branches as i could & figure out which one would use a system that doesnt mandate an s/b a/c. lack of time & the futility of it made me abandon the treasure hunt. might as well call the investment agent. he's known to "fix" things.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
poetry writing 101
its rather simple to come up with one.
write in prose & then chop of some pronouns and adverbs at your fancy...
then refer the thesaurus for some bombastic words for the rest...
presto! your very own poetry ready to serve....
write in prose & then chop of some pronouns and adverbs at your fancy...
then refer the thesaurus for some bombastic words for the rest...
presto! your very own poetry ready to serve....
Sunday, February 19, 2006
AoL
this one thing not only humours me, it sets aglow lot of thinking bulbs.
yeah, its about the silver jubilee celebrations. i have nothing against the foundation or ravi shankar. i merely question the event. so if some bloke wishes to start a charade of blogspace-dirty-linen-washing, please spare me the bandwidth.
firstly, i was amazed doordarshan actually changed its regular show timings for a live telecast of the whole program! someone please lemme know the trps for this. coming to the way the entire program was compered. one announcement in english followed by another in kannada. i believe that this foundation is a global one, so by set theory, holds a whole lot of indians too. i dont know how many indians can speak english, let alone kannada. why didnt they try hindi & english!? i spotted a bus from ahmedabad head towards jakkur. would like to know how many of them understood either versions!
wouldn't even want to comment on how or why, what a 3800 strong menagerie of musicians conjoured up can be called a "symphony". my sense of music is not impaired.
found a whole army of popular individuals, people who on various occassions have been referred to as spiritual gurus, godmen, politicians, celebrities, statesmen, etc. dont know if they were invited or they too got themselves that all-important pass. what was the big idea in calling them on stage anyway!? all they did was talk about ravi shankar and er... world peace :p
that brings me to the whole raison-de-etré of this exercise. was it for the foundation to blow its own trumpet? or call the world there & make them blow it for them!? leaves me with a lingering thought. why were there praises for him more than the concept? or was all this just to eulogise him or the foundation? a case of large scale self-advertising perhaps?
yeah, its about the silver jubilee celebrations. i have nothing against the foundation or ravi shankar. i merely question the event. so if some bloke wishes to start a charade of blogspace-dirty-linen-washing, please spare me the bandwidth.
firstly, i was amazed doordarshan actually changed its regular show timings for a live telecast of the whole program! someone please lemme know the trps for this. coming to the way the entire program was compered. one announcement in english followed by another in kannada. i believe that this foundation is a global one, so by set theory, holds a whole lot of indians too. i dont know how many indians can speak english, let alone kannada. why didnt they try hindi & english!? i spotted a bus from ahmedabad head towards jakkur. would like to know how many of them understood either versions!
wouldn't even want to comment on how or why, what a 3800 strong menagerie of musicians conjoured up can be called a "symphony". my sense of music is not impaired.
found a whole army of popular individuals, people who on various occassions have been referred to as spiritual gurus, godmen, politicians, celebrities, statesmen, etc. dont know if they were invited or they too got themselves that all-important pass. what was the big idea in calling them on stage anyway!? all they did was talk about ravi shankar and er... world peace :p
that brings me to the whole raison-de-etré of this exercise. was it for the foundation to blow its own trumpet? or call the world there & make them blow it for them!? leaves me with a lingering thought. why were there praises for him more than the concept? or was all this just to eulogise him or the foundation? a case of large scale self-advertising perhaps?
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
more bmtc...
was very impressed years back when BEST in mumbai came up with their online route search. helped a helluva lot. moving to b'lore expected the same here. haven't been much of a fan of the city, and my crib factor with BMTC only continues to grow :) yeah, BMTC does have a route search. but never realized that the "IT drenched" city of b'lore would make such a half-assed attempt at it!!
i was rather anxious to know how one could get to ITPL from the main city bus stands. here's what the site suggests...
1. if you select a place close to the centre of the city which doesnt have a direct bus, here's what you get "Reach one of three the central bus stations - Kempegowda Bus Stand /Shivajinagar Bus Stand /K R Market and then, take a connecting bus."
2. if you select the kemegowda bus stand, you are offered a couple of options which are of no good (you would reach ITPL in time for lunch). so you select shivajinagar as departure & ITPL as destination. check it out :) "Reach one of the central bus stations - Kempegowda Bus Stand / K R Market and then, take a connecting bus."
3. now select k r market and watch the fun :) "Reach one of the central bus stations - Kempegowda Bus Stand /Shivajinagar Bus Stand and then, take a connecting bus."
:)
then again, wonder how many IT professionals in b'lore depend on BMTC to get around, and how many of them would even bother looking it up here. i for one, tried to depend on it and was pigheaded enough to look it up here :p
i was rather anxious to know how one could get to ITPL from the main city bus stands. here's what the site suggests...
1. if you select a place close to the centre of the city which doesnt have a direct bus, here's what you get "Reach one of three the central bus stations - Kempegowda Bus Stand /Shivajinagar Bus Stand /K R Market and then, take a connecting bus."
2. if you select the kemegowda bus stand, you are offered a couple of options which are of no good (you would reach ITPL in time for lunch). so you select shivajinagar as departure & ITPL as destination. check it out :) "Reach one of the central bus stations - Kempegowda Bus Stand / K R Market and then, take a connecting bus."
3. now select k r market and watch the fun :) "Reach one of the central bus stations - Kempegowda Bus Stand /Shivajinagar Bus Stand and then, take a connecting bus."
:)
then again, wonder how many IT professionals in b'lore depend on BMTC to get around, and how many of them would even bother looking it up here. i for one, tried to depend on it and was pigheaded enough to look it up here :p
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
....and everywhere that mary went....
it is said about oracle that they gave two computers to their employees. one in office another for home so that they never stopped working....
companies today have wised up. they give laptops....
companies today have wised up. they give laptops....
Monday, January 23, 2006
whale sightings
was reading this piece in a daily. whale swam into the Thames and poor thing died as rescuers were trying to take it back into the sea. it seems it was the first time a whale made its way there since someone started documenting whale sightings in the Thames way back in 1913. i don't get this. is it that every year people just fill in a sheet saying "no whale sighted in the Thames this year"...!? is it something one ought to expect to find there but shoot! not there!
Thursday, January 19, 2006
be ma sa sa
thats kannada for BMTC. the city transport system. otherwise known until recent past as rattling tin cans. yeah, they have changed over time now. not all are rattling tin cans anymore. some have graduated to coffins on wheels. kidding. they've got some decently comfy pushpaks and some a/c buses too. have you seen them? nope. sorry! all the IT companies have leased them out!
now this whole thing about experimenting with the bmtc spawned from my cousin's wild idea of making me travel to his place from office. that evening i did wonder why i had the privilege of leaving office early. banashankari to kamannahalli. if my geography serves me right, its like somewhere in south of bangalore to the north east. on the map it looks quite a reasonable distance. but there's that minor issue called "scale" that makes it all so unreasonable! i get the first inkling of distance when i see the ticket. Rs.11. wow! some distance. (strangers note, bus travel in b'lore is quite cheap. so Rs.11 on a ticket means FAAAAR.)
there's an interesting thing one should note about b'lore buses. winning a jackpot in vegas is easier than finding the routes written in english. yes, they do have numbers on them, in english. at times at three different places on the bus; and quite possible, all three different numbers. a flash of ingenuity made them put the number behind the bus. (BEST in mumbai has it in the front and by the door) whats the big idea in putting it behind the bus!? hey dude! this is the bus you just missed! was it the one you were looking for? too bad! there are bus shelters, but not one will you find that tell you the routes that come there. why? search me! but thats a consolation. until a few years back the best way to look for a bus stop was to find a tree with people huddled around it. a chipko movement of sorts :)
anyway, so started my journey spanning the city. you are told the journey time is 45mins. the unit of measurement also varies. what we commonly know as 1 second, lasts for 2 here.
then the passengers too are quite an enthusiastic crowd. bmtc buses dont have a bell. so the conductor needs to whistle (using a whistle or his fingers or just the avian mating call shriek) and the driver gets his cue. so you will find those who've mastered the art of miming the conductor's whistle :) rest is history. of course, there are also those random cases where drunkards wriggle their way in and get thrown out just as religiously!
i am given a landmark to lookout for. a huge watertank. "get off at the stop after the signal once you see this tank" i am told. i spot the tank but in my excitement of finally making it there, forget the other detail. that makes for a healthy evening walk. one that guarantees to work up an enviable appetite.
there's that thing about bangalore neighbourhoods too. almost all lanes & by lanes look alike. i thought i knew my cousin's locality. i see this ad sign "CMR Institutions" and am doubly sure now that i am in his area. the fact that CMR could have a very strong marketing team behind it skips my mind. only to realise that the ad signs appear on more than one road in that area :) i eventually resort to something my chromosome combination forbids me.... ask for directions. what do i do!? i carry a screwed up compass in my head! knocking it doesnt tilt the needle in any which way! and guess what, asking directions does help :)
why didnt i call my cousin? well, i have this thing with cell phone batteries you know... :)
now this whole thing about experimenting with the bmtc spawned from my cousin's wild idea of making me travel to his place from office. that evening i did wonder why i had the privilege of leaving office early. banashankari to kamannahalli. if my geography serves me right, its like somewhere in south of bangalore to the north east. on the map it looks quite a reasonable distance. but there's that minor issue called "scale" that makes it all so unreasonable! i get the first inkling of distance when i see the ticket. Rs.11. wow! some distance. (strangers note, bus travel in b'lore is quite cheap. so Rs.11 on a ticket means FAAAAR.)
there's an interesting thing one should note about b'lore buses. winning a jackpot in vegas is easier than finding the routes written in english. yes, they do have numbers on them, in english. at times at three different places on the bus; and quite possible, all three different numbers. a flash of ingenuity made them put the number behind the bus. (BEST in mumbai has it in the front and by the door) whats the big idea in putting it behind the bus!? hey dude! this is the bus you just missed! was it the one you were looking for? too bad! there are bus shelters, but not one will you find that tell you the routes that come there. why? search me! but thats a consolation. until a few years back the best way to look for a bus stop was to find a tree with people huddled around it. a chipko movement of sorts :)
anyway, so started my journey spanning the city. you are told the journey time is 45mins. the unit of measurement also varies. what we commonly know as 1 second, lasts for 2 here.
then the passengers too are quite an enthusiastic crowd. bmtc buses dont have a bell. so the conductor needs to whistle (using a whistle or his fingers or just the avian mating call shriek) and the driver gets his cue. so you will find those who've mastered the art of miming the conductor's whistle :) rest is history. of course, there are also those random cases where drunkards wriggle their way in and get thrown out just as religiously!
i am given a landmark to lookout for. a huge watertank. "get off at the stop after the signal once you see this tank" i am told. i spot the tank but in my excitement of finally making it there, forget the other detail. that makes for a healthy evening walk. one that guarantees to work up an enviable appetite.
there's that thing about bangalore neighbourhoods too. almost all lanes & by lanes look alike. i thought i knew my cousin's locality. i see this ad sign "CMR Institutions" and am doubly sure now that i am in his area. the fact that CMR could have a very strong marketing team behind it skips my mind. only to realise that the ad signs appear on more than one road in that area :) i eventually resort to something my chromosome combination forbids me.... ask for directions. what do i do!? i carry a screwed up compass in my head! knocking it doesnt tilt the needle in any which way! and guess what, asking directions does help :)
why didnt i call my cousin? well, i have this thing with cell phone batteries you know... :)
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
:-)
caution sign on road reads "road humps ahead".....
would like to be warned about what else the road can do :-)
would like to be warned about what else the road can do :-)
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
harvesting season!
seemingly rich guy / spoilt brat, whichever way one may look at... driving down the road in his swanky accent. spoiler and all for that extra effect. the auto ahead was acting as a governor on the pace of his life. tsk tsk.
well, opportunity presents and he's not the one to lose it. speeds ahead into oblivion. we catch up with our man at a signal. hmm. poor chappie. not fast enough. tsk tsk again. but he's got a lot of time to reflect on life while he waits for the reigns to be pulled off him again.
admiring himself in the mirror, he notices a minor aberration. that little bit of nose hair. hmmm. whats that doing jutting out like that!? well, the whole world was celebrating pongal*. our man decides to reap a different crop. twang. ouch! (or a sound similar to what you hear when johnny bravo raises an eyebrow) and off comes that dangling nose hair. and admire at it he does!! wow! (sheesh... puke! puke!) goes on for quite some time oblivious that he's being observed :)
he does turn around eventually. well, buddy, its more than the accent that you've shown off today :)
* pongal - the beginning of the harvesting season.
well, opportunity presents and he's not the one to lose it. speeds ahead into oblivion. we catch up with our man at a signal. hmm. poor chappie. not fast enough. tsk tsk again. but he's got a lot of time to reflect on life while he waits for the reigns to be pulled off him again.
admiring himself in the mirror, he notices a minor aberration. that little bit of nose hair. hmmm. whats that doing jutting out like that!? well, the whole world was celebrating pongal*. our man decides to reap a different crop. twang. ouch! (or a sound similar to what you hear when johnny bravo raises an eyebrow) and off comes that dangling nose hair. and admire at it he does!! wow! (sheesh... puke! puke!) goes on for quite some time oblivious that he's being observed :)
he does turn around eventually. well, buddy, its more than the accent that you've shown off today :)
* pongal - the beginning of the harvesting season.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
adieu
December 23, 2005.
it’s the hardest thing to do. much as i can the emotional self, or feel there's nothing of that sort in me, its times like these that make the heart leap and crash out of its cage. tears don't well up that easily (should i be proud of that?) but the body shivers.
there was a time i used hate chennai. but how can you hate the place that gives you the best of friends? the ones that make you wish you always were in their midst? c called for a dinner at her place. she said it was gonna be a quiet little affair. me agreed instantly. who would not want to drive down ecr for a good evening out? :) pp was the driver. hmm small party i tell myself and am about to leave. pp says he gotta take a detour and so devil drops in. i should’ve noticed that there was more to it :) but the very adventure of getting there kind of helped in no doubt creep up. thanks to the expert directions provided by c's significant half, s.
imagine my surprise when i reach there to find the dear little ryze menagerie i hang around with! i forget whether it was a "surprise" or a "boo" that they let out, was too stunned to find them there. m and s2 pop out of nowhere. yeah, learnt how wide my jaw can drop :) was later enlightened to the fact that a bigger group was called in. unfortunately couldn't make it there. shoot! these things make one rather emotional you know. not something i usually expect to cross my path. and my hands were not trembling 'cos of age or 'cos it was a nikon s4 :) you ought to have checked my pulse then. would've shot the sphygmo through the roof!
its tough to get out of that elated mood! am born with two left feet, but would love to blame the surprise you guys sprung on me for not having danced that evening :D
thanks c, s(c), devil, m, s(witch - the christmas cake was tops!), s & pp (and of course the others who would've turned up there otherwise). it was the best farewell i could've ever expected!
'a friend is the one who reaches for your hand and touches your heart' – mail signature of a wise friend of mine.
so true! so true!
so much for the emotional outburst! can't even blog about it! but i guess its the only way i am capable of expressing it. :
it’s the hardest thing to do. much as i can the emotional self, or feel there's nothing of that sort in me, its times like these that make the heart leap and crash out of its cage. tears don't well up that easily (should i be proud of that?) but the body shivers.
there was a time i used hate chennai. but how can you hate the place that gives you the best of friends? the ones that make you wish you always were in their midst? c called for a dinner at her place. she said it was gonna be a quiet little affair. me agreed instantly. who would not want to drive down ecr for a good evening out? :) pp was the driver. hmm small party i tell myself and am about to leave. pp says he gotta take a detour and so devil drops in. i should’ve noticed that there was more to it :) but the very adventure of getting there kind of helped in no doubt creep up. thanks to the expert directions provided by c's significant half, s.
imagine my surprise when i reach there to find the dear little ryze menagerie i hang around with! i forget whether it was a "surprise" or a "boo" that they let out, was too stunned to find them there. m and s2 pop out of nowhere. yeah, learnt how wide my jaw can drop :) was later enlightened to the fact that a bigger group was called in. unfortunately couldn't make it there. shoot! these things make one rather emotional you know. not something i usually expect to cross my path. and my hands were not trembling 'cos of age or 'cos it was a nikon s4 :) you ought to have checked my pulse then. would've shot the sphygmo through the roof!
its tough to get out of that elated mood! am born with two left feet, but would love to blame the surprise you guys sprung on me for not having danced that evening :Dthanks c, s(c), devil, m, s(witch - the christmas cake was tops!), s & pp (and of course the others who would've turned up there otherwise). it was the best farewell i could've ever expected!
'a friend is the one who reaches for your hand and touches your heart' – mail signature of a wise friend of mine.
so true! so true!
so much for the emotional outburst! can't even blog about it! but i guess its the only way i am capable of expressing it. :
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
unsubscribe
ever unsubscribed from those zillions of promotional campaigns these banks throw at you? i for one, make it a point to do that with every institute i'm associated with (no matter how remotely). all of them gloat about the technology-savviness of their systems. but it still intrigues me.
every one of them gives you that all important 'unsubscribe' link. eagerly you follow it. in most cases you would be lucky if the page loads at first attempt. (take a hint bloke! they want to fill your inbox with the loads of stuff you can buy with the money you don't have). furiously you key in your mail id and press the all so gorgeous looking 'unsubscribe' button. poof! stage two of junk mail-list retention – the page might not load.
it might go through if there's a guardian angel watching whom you've bribed like crazy. then you see the message 'you shall be unsubscribed from our promotional mailing list in two working days. sorry to see you go… blah blah blah… but you shall still continue to receive… blah blah blah… ' what!? i still get stuff from them after all this!? oh ok. its just the statements. phew! you almost had me there! (icici bank – my favourite crib bank wants 3 days to do that) just imagine your plight were you to do this on a friday. (or thursday in the case of icici :p) they get 3 whole days (4 for icici) to clobber you with as much junk as possible! there! take that! and that! how dare you refuse the shit we throw at you! did someone ask for weekends?
now, it was so easy for these guys to put you on that list (in all probability you are on it once you open an account – system driven they say.) what makes it so bloody difficult to automate getting out of it!? it surely wouldn't take the server that long to remove one measly mail id from a list! ah! now i see it. the marketing guy wants to know who the defiant renegade is. you shall not be purged of your sins without hearing from the marketing guy.
finally, unsubscribe done. 2 working days (3 for icici) done. but you might still hear about the latest pre-approved personal loan they designed 'just for you'. why? i guess their system just forgot to get you out of the list. amnesia you know. happens. here's where you step in to fire a feedback/complaint to them.
:)
seen those java and asp errors when you submit feedback? all that lingo Apache Servlet, SQLerror, ConnectionString, yada yada... gives one a feeling of dabbling in rocket science.
every one of them gives you that all important 'unsubscribe' link. eagerly you follow it. in most cases you would be lucky if the page loads at first attempt. (take a hint bloke! they want to fill your inbox with the loads of stuff you can buy with the money you don't have). furiously you key in your mail id and press the all so gorgeous looking 'unsubscribe' button. poof! stage two of junk mail-list retention – the page might not load.
it might go through if there's a guardian angel watching whom you've bribed like crazy. then you see the message 'you shall be unsubscribed from our promotional mailing list in two working days. sorry to see you go… blah blah blah… but you shall still continue to receive… blah blah blah… ' what!? i still get stuff from them after all this!? oh ok. its just the statements. phew! you almost had me there! (icici bank – my favourite crib bank wants 3 days to do that) just imagine your plight were you to do this on a friday. (or thursday in the case of icici :p) they get 3 whole days (4 for icici) to clobber you with as much junk as possible! there! take that! and that! how dare you refuse the shit we throw at you! did someone ask for weekends?
now, it was so easy for these guys to put you on that list (in all probability you are on it once you open an account – system driven they say.) what makes it so bloody difficult to automate getting out of it!? it surely wouldn't take the server that long to remove one measly mail id from a list! ah! now i see it. the marketing guy wants to know who the defiant renegade is. you shall not be purged of your sins without hearing from the marketing guy.
finally, unsubscribe done. 2 working days (3 for icici) done. but you might still hear about the latest pre-approved personal loan they designed 'just for you'. why? i guess their system just forgot to get you out of the list. amnesia you know. happens. here's where you step in to fire a feedback/complaint to them.
:)
seen those java and asp errors when you submit feedback? all that lingo Apache Servlet, SQLerror, ConnectionString, yada yada... gives one a feeling of dabbling in rocket science.
Monday, December 05, 2005
NDTV again....
this has the classic NDTV signature all over it! looks like they get trained to come out with er… ‘NDTVisms’!? :)
reporter covers a train accident (did not note where). she goes something like ‘lineman has been taken up for questioning on account of negligence. lie detector tests from forensic department conclude that he’s lying. results of the test are not made public’.
huh!? is a lie detector supposed to tell you something beyond that!?
reporter covers a train accident (did not note where). she goes something like ‘lineman has been taken up for questioning on account of negligence. lie detector tests from forensic department conclude that he’s lying. results of the test are not made public’.
huh!? is a lie detector supposed to tell you something beyond that!?
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
5 seconds
lovely lass on two wheeler. glances around checks traffic. a glance again and eyes meet. the world stops and pulse shoots. mom on pillion sizes me and scans id card. no pulse. lionesses also protect their cubs. it’s a feline nature. growl.
heaven and hell visited. 5 seconds.
heaven and hell visited. 5 seconds.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
confused!
much as i love the language, its irony stupefies me. take for e.g. ‘losing his temper’. now temper is bad. a short fuse. not good. so if i have it, am not an exciting person to be around. but if i lose it, i'm still not preferred company. weird!
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