A Sorrowful Farewell

From my childhood unto this day, I have experienced no greater sorrow than having to watch the paddy fields and the coconut groves flash by, as the Nethravti Express leaves Trishivaperoor, chugging along on the serpentine route, towards Shornur, leaving the former a memory that will slowly continue to diminish until the next summer vacation.

The summer vacation part is history now anyways... I fear the rest will come to an end too, soon...

When I said in my earlier post that I hope that my trip be eventful, I certainly wasn't expecting this.
Hardly a month after my cousin's marriage (the reason I had gone there two months back), my uncle passed away...
Making the return journey, after all his rites were done, all the more difficult...

With him no longer being there, the chances of my visiting the home town reduces even more, than it has since school (and hence summer vacations) got over.
For a creature of nostalgia like me, it gets tough...

I just hope that I don't find myself uttering those dreaded words, "I'll miss going there...", because I want to keep going there... keep despising the thought of returning back to this cess-pool I still like to call home... keep looking at those paddy fields and coconut groves as they whiz by, refusing to part with anything, other than some memories for me to carry back 'home'...

Now Playing:

Track: A Noise Severe
Artist: The Gathering
Album: Home
Vaidu’s classification:Progressive Rock, Trip Rock

Kongratulasuns

Completed three years of employment in the Indian IT Industry, this week.
The Gods were pleased it seems, pleased enough to bless me with a total Solar eclipse. Followed by some heavy rains and the highest tides in a 100 years...
Things are looking bright...

As for not posting for so long, it gets really tiring after 8-10 hours of work, 2-3 hours of Counter Strike and then 1-2 hours of traveling back home...
Hope to take some time out for posting more often. (I say that a lot)

Good to see A-One-Shoe-Man posting again... He seemed to have forgotten the purpose of his blog...

Thus ends the week...

A week of ale drinking ends today...
Off to the native land for a week now... The clean air, the rains, the coconut trees, the feminine famine... hmm...

(Hope it'd be eventful enough for a slightly more interesting post...)

DVD

...that's short for Dev D that's short for Devdas that's short for loser mellow dramatic drunken lover.

Luckily Mr. Kashyap didn't think so. Neither did Mr. Deol juniorest. (How the hell was he born in that family anyway!?)

Finally got some time off my busy schedule [sic] to watch it, a can of ale in hand.
Apparently one can is not enough, as A-One-Shoe-Man had rightly warned me. He should know...
He'd watched it, all alone and wanted me to watch it more that anyone else wanted.
Happy now?

Now the problem is that I had heard sooo much about it that I could no longer form an opinion about the flick myself.

So here's all I can say about it:
It's a pretty good movie.

(Anyways who wants to read a 'Dev D' review, roughly 23 million years after it has already faded away from their minuscule memories)
Heck, even Tapan had a hard time writing about the darn movie!

Next up, 'Gulaal'.
Please shut up, Mr. A-One-Shoe-Man.

Now Playing:

Track: Broken Glass [piano version, if you must know]
Artist: The Gathering
Album: Blacklight District
Vaidu’s classification:Prog/Goth Rock

Random

The thing with Ganti is that, take him to a hill top and ask him to paraglide, he'd gladly go ahead and do it, but ask him if he wants to join you for a movie that's playing some 3 postal codes away, and that's too far for him...

Was just going through my older posts and man, is it boooooring... This is a dull place...

Had a lot (and some more) of Angoor Basundi yesterday, at a cousin's engagement.
Had a lot of Paal Adda Pradhaman at another function today. (I'll still complain about putting on weight and you can't do anything about it! - other than probably make fun of me.)

Had been to Bhivpuri Road last to last week.

Mistake #1, went in the summer heat.
Mistake #2, didn't make Chris take along at least 1 bottle of water to drink. (As Abhi suggested, next time onwards we'd all be taking an extra bottle of water, labeled with our names. And when Chris is thirsty, we'd just empty that bottle in front of his eyes.)


The Tree

So basically what we did, traveling 100 km in the burning April heat was, sit below the only goddamn (if it wasn't for it, we'd all have been roasted alive, food for vultures - wait, it's so hot there, even vultures wouldn't wanna hang around) tree near the Bhivpuri Lake Dam, and try to create music with the empty water/cold-drink bottles. Or maybe it was just the heat making us do that. (Blair Witch Part 2, anyone...?)

Oh, and ya, this is another guy who saved us...

The ice cream kinda thingy man

We did have a good time, after 15+ minutes of contemplation as to get into the lake or not, because of some IPL match that day. Have to make another trip in the rains... Anyone game?
Almost forgot about the highlight of the day! Had to throw away 2 cans of once-upon-a-time-chilled ale as it had turned hot in the heat. The disgrace...

Last week watched Bev D at Mondegar's, over a nice cold mug of ale...

And now I have successfully managed to get late for the Iron Maiden Flight 666 show. Have to learn the ways of the A-One-Shoe-Man... soon...

Now Playing:

Track: Broken Glass
Artist: The Gathering
Album: Souvenirs
Vaidu’s classification: Gothic/Prog Rock

Eau de Chembur

This is just so awesome!
So when I am finally settled in Sweden(/Norway) and am reminded of home, I just have to go to the nearest mall and grab a vial of Chembur.

Didn't get me? Here and Here

And justice for all

I really thought the trial for Mr. Kasab would be a joke. But Mr. Kazmi doesn't think so. That's why he wants a month to go through the entire 11,000 page long charge sheet. At the end of which will happen what? He'll find something which will acquit the guy? :-\
unlikely...

So the next best thing he could think of, prove that the guy is under 17 and try him in a juvenile court instead... ha ha ha ha...
And also not to forget this.
We live in a really funny country...

But this is funnier, don't you think?


Tell you what, here's what needs to be done:
Chop off the bloody fucker's head and count the number of rings... There, you have his age... Problem solved...

Andheshwariwaragaon

Yeah, you guessed it right. It's a combination of those 4 places, and it comes pretty darn close to describing my latest workplace.

Now Playing:

Track: You're so beautiful
Artist: Akon (Now you know why I hate Akon? Wait, why would you... :\ )
Album: I dun give a fcuk
Vaidu’s classification: I-dun-give-a-fcuk something

There was a cold day

The joke goes like this:
How'd a foreigner (very generic, ain't it) tell his India servant to open the door?

That doesn't have too much to do with the fact that the last 5 days have been the coldest of the year, not the calendar year, mind you.
I strongly suspect that it's got something to do with the Voltas Vertis Plus that we got installed last week.
Take that, ...summer

(Still didn't get the joke, did you? Chris obviously will)

Now Playing:

Track: Wake
Artist: Rosetta
Album: Wake - Lift
Vaidu’s classification:Progressive/Post Metal

Old School

Highlights from RAIT Alumni Reunion 09

• Wasn't present for much of it. By the time I reached at about 11:30 PM, the smell of beer had died out too, can you believe it?!
  
• Most of whom I was expecting to meet had left.
  
• Kapilavastu got his share though, and then some more. Did an encore, from Reunion 2K7, complete with the puking and stuff... Frigging tea-spoon!
  
• Met up with Ranga, Kapil, Baba, Khosa, Dhaval, Mohsin, Pankhil, Animesh, etc...
  
• Waited for Ranga to get sober before we could leave
  
• Found some booze. Got soft drinks to go with it too.
  
• Found more booze. No soft drinks this time.
  
• Played some racing game and Dead or Alive '4' on someone's X-Box
  
• Ate slices of pizza lying around on a desk outside. Hmm... dinner...
  
• Made Mohsin a tattoo with a permanent marker. He was too sloshed then to thank me for it.
  
• Reminisced
  
• Cursed the current state of affairs in the college
  
• Reminisced
  
• Cursed the current state of affairs in the college
  
• Reminisced
  
• Cursed the current state of affairs in the college
  
• Reminisced
  
• Blurted out things I shouldn't have
  
• Cursed people for not showing up/leaving early
  
• The mosquitoes reminded me of my first night out in college
  
• Ranga and Kapil waited for me to get sober before we could leave
  
• Had tea and Sun Feast biscuits from the cycle chaiwalla under the LP flyover at 4-5 am
  
• Had breakfast at McD's - Some stupid Big Veg Breakfast Thingie - for the last time
  
• Had to spray my face with deo
  
• Still managed to have a ball of a time
  
• Still hung over
  

I still love the college, it's just the wusses who studied there that I hate now...
(This is the last bullet pointed post, promise...)

Now Playing:

Track: O Fortuna
Artist: Amplifier
Album: Insider
Vaidu’s classification:Post/Prog Rock

Do you know...

• that I have moved back to the Andheri office?
  
• Heck! Did you ever know I was in Ghatkopar since the last 3 months?
  
• that there are worse things than just burning my tongue from the hot tea, that I have to worry about?
  
• that the Guardians of the sons of the soil have an Entert(p)ainment wing as well?
  
• how it feels when first thing in the morning on a Monday, you get an SMS saying, "The site is down, come to office quickly"?
  
• that the last direct train from Andheri to Panvel is at 21:11?
  
• that I haven't gotten on that train, except for the first day in Andheri?
  
• about Chaos Theory?
  
• that I am a Senior Developer now, and not a Technical Associate anymore?
  
• there were renovations going on at my place since the last 4 months?
  
• that Kendra Wiklinson is giving up nudity?
  
• that I can bid all my formals good bye?
  
• that I have tons of posts in my drafts that I don't have time to complete/refine and post?
  
• about blabrarium?
  
• that there's a huge pay cut at my office?
  
• that the last rusty nail of the coffin, that was our relation, has finally been struck? (someone would beg to differ)
  
• that I have pictures of XvaXsuX in compromising positions, that I'll use to black mail him, when the need arises?
  
• that A one shoe man doesn't feel comfortable boozing alone, but not going all the way to Pondicherry all by himself?
  
• that I don't get to watch Scrubs anymore?
  
• what's Post Metal?
  
• that my iRiver player is almost out of battery from listening to the above for so long?
  
• that I was in the office, working on IndiaVoting, on the morning of Holi, after being in office the whole night?
  
• that, that's when I found out that Jogeshwari station is closer to my office?
  
• that this is one of my longest posts in a long time?
  
• that I miss the Ghatkopar office a lot...?
  

I know all this...

...and more

Now Playing:

Track: A Three-legged Workhorse
Artist: This Will Destroy You
Album: This Will Destroy You
Vaidu’s classification:Post Rock

Norsk

This joke of a blog just got a visitor from Norway!
:)

Must have mistakenly thought that this blog had something more to do with this...
Poor guy...

By the way Mamba is now officially the murderer of joy...
I don't know if I should continue mentioning his name here.
(I'll hopefully start posting frequently soon... Tied up with a lot of things at the moment...)

Thungabhadra!

For the geographically challenged, Thungabhadra is a river in south India, (otherwise popularly known as Madras; I presume that's how the term Madrasi came into being) into which, passengers on long distant trains to their native places, throw coins, which, children on small rafts on the river, dive into the water to collect, and some of which sometimes ricochet off the poles along the bridge and hit other passengers, traveling to their native places, standing near the doors of the train.

But all this doesn't really explain why Mamba chose this URL for his blog.

Anyways, as I said earlier, welcome to the Blogosphere/Bloggers Park, Mamba...

It wasn't over yet...

On top of all the below mentioned woes, my name was mis-spelt in my salary check cheque.
So now it'll, hopefully, be encached encashed by tomorrow.

Monday Morning Blues

The way she dodges my questions really amazes me!

Add to it the fact that I found out that there are no direct buses from Bombay to Chennai and also that the Tatkal ticket booking is actually Tat-con, that too at about 6:30 in the morning...

So there I was waiting in the line, Digit magazine in hand, for more than an hour, just to find out that there were no Waiting-List-less tickets to Chennai for the weekend. By the time my turn came up, I wasn't even very sure if I should really try for it. I ain't spending 10k for a 1 hour gig, no sirree...
I might not be grinning after all, it seems.
But mind you, I haven't yet given up. That is more of Chris's forte.

If anyone wants to sponsor a one way ticket at least, I'd be more than grateful.

Now Playing:

Track: Hessian Peel
Artist: Opeth
Album: Watershed
Vaidu’s classification:Progressive/Melodic Swedish Death Metal

Harvest

Sorry for not living up to all your combined, yet measly expectations, and not posting on the 1st of January... Luckily for you, not being blessed by a hallowed post of mine on the very first day of the new year doesn't necessarily mean you won't have a good year ahead.

Crap apart, I got my first salary in over 5 months.
Ya, I am happy; it was a 'decent' amount, being 3 months' worth. For the concerned lot, the other 2 months' was given to me as part of my Full-n-Final settlement by TechM.

But that retarded grin I had, when I got into that auto, from the ATM near that petrol pump close to Shivaji Nagar, on my way to the training centre at Wakdewadi, on the 1st of January 2006, was missing. As Homer once said, "...until the weight of the world crushed my spirit".

I am very much tempted to treat myself to an Opeth gig. Now don't you feel that it's a cleverly titled post, huh, huh? Happy, Mamba?
That grin may after all reappear. Only time (about 3-4 hours) will tell...

Now Playing:

Track: The Noose
Artist: A Perfect Circle
Album: ???
Vaidu’s classification:Yet to figure out (think along the lines of Tool)

The Shame...

Google just rejected my AdSense request!
Oh the shame...
Is it thaaaaaaaaaaaaat bad?!?!? How the hell did they know about my abysmally low readership???

Here's what they had to say:


Hello,

Thank you for your interest in Google AdSense. Unfortunately, after
reviewing your application, we're unable to accept you into Google
AdSense at this time.
We did not approve your application for the reasons listed below.
Issues:
- Page type
---------------------
Further detail:

Page Type: In order to participate in Google AdSense, publishers'
websites and application information must satisfy the following
guidelines:

- Your website must be your own top-level domain (www.example.com and
not www.example.com/mysite).
- Your domain must have been registered and active for at least 6
months. before you apply for AdSense.
- You must provide accurate personal information with your application
that matches the information on your domain registration.
- Your website must contain substantial, original content.
- Your site must comply with Google AdSense program policies:
https://www.google.com/adsense/policies?hl=en_US which include Google's
webmaster quality guidelines:
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769&hl=en_US#quality .

If your site satisfies the above criteria in the future, please
resubmit your application and we'll review it as soon as possible.



I reiterate, "A year best forgotten..."

Now Playing:

Track: In My Heart
Artist: Moby
Album: ???
Vaidu’s classification: Electronic/Pop Something...

Farewell... Farewell...

Chal then, bye bye 2008...
As one of those news channels put it, "A year best forgotten..."

No time to come up with anything more sizable...
(Yes, I'll probably come up with an equally lame post tomorrow, just for fcuk's sake)

Now Playing:

Track: Mumbhai
Artist: Javed Jaffry
Album: Bombay Boys
Vaidu’s classification: Something ahead of it's time, as far as Bollywood is considered.

Bachchaa De Basanti

A Generation Gives Birth...

(What a lame ass post title na?)

Has anyone else noticed the sudden appearance of a slew of 1-2 year olds?!
There are at least 6 in my society and 2 in my family... that I can remember of...
And, Boy..., are they smart or what?!

But I am a bit apprehensive about the negative attitude...
A kid in my society keeps telling me "Tu jaa", every time she sees me... Then there's always the "Yeh appa ka hai" rhetoric. She believes my jeans, my cell, my floaters, all are her Appa's.

Any attempts to play with my niece are greeted with an animated "Nahi Chahiye". The other day I offered her a Vadai which was eagerly and expectedly replied with a "Nahi Chahiye". She took the Vadai, of course.
Just yesterday when I called up to wish her on her second birthday, she refused to come on the phone, saying, yes you guessed it right, "Nahi Chahiye".



The blog has started resembling that Twitter thingy, what with all those 2 line posts earlier. So here goes...

Some other random things from the week:
It's been more than a year now since I have seen my 'chin' :P

Two days back I let a bearded guy place some 3-4 boxes just outside my office. He said they were batteries... So far nothing has occurred to make me regret letting him do that.

Today as I was returning from an uncle's place, I was asked to throw away a bag of (rotting) flowers from a pooja last week, into a lake near Kurla. Just couldn't get Arch Enemy's 'Burning Angel' outta my head:

These are dark times,
Suspicious minds breed like rats.
Guardians of corrupt morality,
Spread their filthy lies.

(Well, the same song was playing in my head during my last few days at TechMahindra too... Such a versatile song!)

I think it's time to chuck the goatee...

Now Playing:

Track: Goblin's Dance
Artist: Ensiferum
Album: Ensiferum
Vaidu’s classification:Folk/Power/Black/Thrash Metal

His Own Peace Initiative

At such wretched times when the motherland and the neighbours are on the verge of war, the only person actually making some efforts to bring peace seems to be XVaXsuX.
Hope his love making spreading initiatives across the border bear some humane fruits... get it...? 'bear some human(e) fruits...' get it...? :P