Of Minesweeper, Pac man and Rubic cubes

Right O ! Here is an almost 26 year old, BE and MBA guy about to rock the floors of the corporate world starting July. CEO's can fasten their seat belts or that plush leather chair could just disappear from underneath. Competition, just watch out. Quite a few of you would be out of business soon. Investors, hold your money tight for now. A right investment in July could be your sure fire way to millions…

Ding Dong. The bell rings. Its 8' o clock. And guess who is at the door to win a 3 day 2 nights trip to Mauritius, fully sponsored (by you that is). Yup it's the house maid. Its time for me and Cheeku to wake up, for her to spend another day at work and for me to fix the few remaining pieces of the picture which would finally read MBA.

While I sip my morning tea, I go back to the cerebrally conceived optical illusion I had before opening my eyes to the blaring door bell (for the idiomatically illiterate it's the dream I am referring to). Quite a dream, so much enthu and aspiration I think. The kind of 'hit-the-floor' energy that Tamil movie dancers exhibit. (They tend to do it quite literally though. In the latest flick down under, the item number performance measured 6.5 on the Richter scale.)

Warning : Heavy stuff ahead.

I had it all, the enthu and stuff. Had is the key word here. Whether I still have it as big a question mark as the US presidential election. So where did it all go, if at all it has. At least it's not as prominently present for me to be as sure of it as I am of the outcome of a Mayawati Vs Vishwanand Anand Chess match. So does it recede in others too? perhaps yes. May be with increasing education and age, the proximity to reality and real life issues increases. Perhaps, not the best thing to happen to an individual's aspirations. Not that it makes you any less skillful or equipped. No way. I can still make good timings in minesweeper and make at least one face of the Rubik cube as I did in times when the gas cylinders at home and other such stuff was outside my scope of work. But just that with time gas cylinders do become your responsibility and one is required to make all the six faces of the cube simultaneously. That's when it becomes so difficult to cross your best scores in pac man and you can't go beyond world 4 and 5 in super Mario. This is where the question marks of uncertainty play battle-city with your enthu and stuff.

But that's not it. Quite a few can make all 6 faces of the cube (even with eyes closed. You must check out Guinness prime time on AXN). I might do it as well, with some perseverance. Let's see, only time will tell. Wish me luck and don't blame for a heavy head please. I warned you.

(Apologies to those who are finding it difficult to figure all this out. In all probability you haven't played enuf video games. Quite something to have missed I tell you.)

Just-in before 2008

History repeats itself. Trust me. If you don't then you need to think of my situation exactly approximately a year ago.

Flashback: Cheeku has gone to Bangalore to undertake a week's training. I am lying in my house staring at the wall like any piece of broken furniture wondering what use it can put itself to. Life is going through its motions without much knowledge of where it's heading. (Not to pretend that otherwise I have it all figured out)

Cut to somewhere closer to today: Cheeku had again gone to Bangalore giving me the déjà vu of the furniture like feeling.

But between the two, quite some time has transpired. My blog hasn't really been party to it and its way too much for a single cover up post. Quite a lot has changed while many things have remained the same as well. Like, I am much closer to finish my MBA yet my cluelessness as to the value of the degree remains. I have crossed a mile stone by getting myself a job to do after my MBA, while the sense of missing purpose remains and off course, had a rocking time with family, but the count of family members remains the same…

Cheeku has now returned for good, just like she did from Canada, Swizz and US. (No she doesn't for tours and travels company. She'z a software person). While she was on her world tour, I myself did some travelling, not one that required a visa though, unfortunately. :-( I have been 8 different states in the past year, travelling to places like Chennai, Bhubaneswar, Delhi & NCR, Lonavala etc. which may be I will talk about in my coming posts, which by the way should ring a bell or two in your minds. It should be telling you that more of this - despicable torture, the kind that Himesh Reshamiya has reserved all rights for, or poetic bliss the kind that legendary poets unlike me are made of (depending on whether you are the rest of the world or me) – is in the offing. If you take the former view you have Anusha, Rikesh, Sanchit and likes to blame who pulled me back here. (a serious thanks guyz.)

For now I just want to wish you all a merry Christmas and a great new year ahead!!! May all your wishes come true and you uphold all your resolutions. For the community of people like yours truly, for whom resolutions are futile and they don't know what exactly to wish for, may this New Year be more chillax!!

Mere Jeevan ki Naiyaa...

Bhagwaan jee, aisa mere saath kyo decide kiya? Maine peechle 1 mahine se aapse kuch nahi maanga, maine socha uske birthday pe mehnga gift kharidne ke liye paise maang lunga. Nahi dene the to theek hai, lekin meri waat kyo lagaayi?



Oh this is so bad. I had so many things planned for her birthday. Oh yes I had. Okay if not so many than at least two. Gift and Dinner. Sacchi mucchi. I was feeling happy and excited. But the planets you see. They just cant see good things happening to VVS laxman and me. Laxman bhai went to south africa with all band baaja and got first a ball duck and just before we could have a gala time on her birthday cheeku went out of bombay for a training.



Dil ke armaan aasuon main beh gaye,

aur hum yaha guldasta pakde reh gaye.



And as if judaai ka gum wasn't enough, I have my end-terms starting the day she would be back. Garibi main aata geela.



And if even that was not enough, my life between her leaving and coming back is miserable. The mornings no longer start with a melodious scold, a sweet hit of the pillow, a tug of war of the blanket and my finger in the hot tea. I now wakeup to two miserably ringing alarms or a baai ringing the door bell or I dont wake up at all. I somehow manage to get in and out of bathroom in time, but my habit of forgetting the essentials outside is leading me to a lot of embarrassment especially with the maid around. (I wonder i should start keeping a pile of newspaper in the bathroom.) And then I... Hai Ram, Mujhe sharam aati hai.



I make it to the insti only 15 mins late. Life has moved from ghar ki chai to ek cutting on the tea stall, from garam garam jaykedaar ready khana to sabji laana, cook ko bulaana, aaye to theek nahi to hotel main niptanaa, from home sweet home to a something thats looks similar to a hostel room (I hope cheeku is not reading), from an excuse to rush home to majboori of going home..... life has taken a U turn and I feel I am driving wrong side. All in all I am waiting. Waiting for her to be back and bring my life on the right track.



O mere jeevan ki naiyaa beech bhanwar main gud-gud gote khaaye

jhatpat paar laga de, o cheeku paar laga de....

Don ke dushman ki sabse badi galti kya hai?

Don ke dusman ki sabse badi galti kya hai? Yehi ki woh Don (movie) ka end samajhne ki koshish kar raha hai. By that logic I am one of the "Don ka dushman" trying to figure why Don did what he did? I wish the movie ended before its final twist. Par shayad Don ko tweesht in the tail bahut pasand hai. Isliye pura 360 degree tweesht kar dala. By the way, With the exception of khai ke paan banaras (club remix ?) - that too in with a UP crew in malaysia (total lack of imagination) - I like the music and singing. And I think I would spare myself from getting into the whole non-debate of Sharukh is better or Big B is.

In the mean while, There has been some disturbances in my blissful schedule of wake up-go to class-sleep-wake up-go home. The disturbance came in the form my tryst with Passport office of Mumbai. After visiting the place I feel customer care employees should visit passport office every now and then. It can be excellent crash course training patience and how to survive rude , dumb and misleading people. I mean I was lucky to get in and get out in as short as 7 hours. swear I would rather listen to non-remix Himesh Reshamiya 10 times in a row than visit the passport office. If the former is merciless torture the latter is fatality.

By the way, in the short whiles that I have been awake in college I have listened to the lecturer in economics. After careful evaluation of her teachings and a few hundred sincere attempts to make sense out of them, I have come to realize that this world would be a better place to live without the Economists and Economics. I mean Physicists would turn in there graves if they listen to concepts of velocity of money being number of times money changed hands in a process. All Maths and Logic goes for a toss in the economic equations. Here is a funny one, the salaries paid to Indian politicians by some freak logic and freaker economics contributes to GDP. No wonder its going at such a good pace. Perhaps The only thing good about an economics book is that the number of sharp curves one can see in an economics book can give Jennifer lopez an inferiority complex. To top it all here is my personal favorite line from the subject, In the long run, we all are dead.

As if thats not enough we have business communication lectures. If one sincerely attempts to follow all principles of it he would only be able to write a perfect letter at an age when the only letter he would need to write would be - an application to God for filling up a vacancy in heaven. Nevertheless, if one has to live in a bee-school he has to bear with the stings ;-)

Of Temple, bhooth,beaches and ulcers

Its always a great time. The one just between the exams and the results. My Exams are past. The day they were over the feeling was similar to the one that comes when the nature is calling and you cant receive the call because you are in a meeting. It keeps vigorously vibrating somewhere in your stomach nevertheless, Until the blissful moment of release, when you feel a couple of kgs of extra baggage you were carrying all this while in your intestines has found its way out. It feels so light now, after the exams that is.

The weekend after the exams was good. I went to Hari Hareshwar with Cheeku and friends. The name of the place itself suggests that its renowned temple and I visited for asking the Gods; "Please flood the Exam office in my college. All my answer copies are kept there. " I am sure God would listen to me. I have read that god listens to those who pray for others. Arey bhai ... my prayer was meant for my teachers who are about to read my answers naaaa , you silly.

Me and cheeku had good company, abhi, dipsi, sanjay bhaiya and keerti di. By the way the whole trip was planned in a very chaotic manner. We could not find a travel agent willing to lease us a car and a driver. The rains gods to be blamed. All cars stuck. Finally we managed to find an decent car and an interesting driver. On our way, He told us about a ghaati which has a ghost of a budhiya and boodha coming between 12 and 3 each night. The story went like this:

me and keerti di: ha bhaiya, kya keh rahe the bhooth ke baare main...
driver: kuch nahi sahab... jaane do
me: arey bhaiya, batao naa, aisa bhi kya hai...(i was already reflecting on the movie kaal, lekin yahaa to bhoot do hai, ek couple)
After a lot of urging from us to speak and from dps to not speak (she was chanting hanuman chaalisa alll this while) bhaiya finally spoke.....
Bhaiya: yaha ghaati pe roz raat ko ek boodha aur budhiya aate hai, lift mangte hai aur gaadiya rokte hai. Koi daya karke baitha leta hai to fir gaadi ka accident ho jaata hai yaa fir passenger gayab ho jaate hai....

Silence for a while. Some more silence. Darna Mana hai for some and darna zaroori hai for others. Jaise taise ghaati paar ki. The night was dark, it was raining and for most of the journey absence of any creature resembling human outline, added a lot of flavour and imagination to the classical oration of driver saab. So thinking about kaal, bhoots and cursing the maharashtra tourism for not having proper signboards, we reached Hareshwar.

The place we had initially booked was in all probability made for shooting of Ramsay movies. It was in such isolation that even the bhoots would think twice before going there. Considering the existent centiments of the truly afraid females and disguisefully nervous males we found another place to put up. Hanuman jee could now relax as the vigorous calls he was receiving from us had now stopped. The rest of the night all of us were peacefully asleep except for....... that was a good guess.

Incidentally there was a bright and brilliant beach also in Hareshwar. There was greenery, mountains and a big ocean. A scenic and engrossing beauty unlike the other beaches that I have seen where the beauty is confined to the blondes lying around and the only people enjoying are the massage walas. We thoroughly enjoyed photography, dips, unsuccesful attempts to float on water (abhi and me enjoyed some desperate attempts to swim in some in which unfortunately we could cover no physical distance) and last but not the least the tasty saline water because of which 4 of us now have ulcers in the mouth.

By the way, ulcers have not been all that bad, cheeku feels pain while speaking which has ensured a tranquility at home and life, until ofcourse today when she has audibly recovered enough. (you will trust me if u look at the time this was posted.) think i should close this down. Cant give so much pain to my readers in a single post. Bottom line. Hari Hareshwar recommended. Go there. Hope fully the right people will catch mouth ulcers for you too... ;-)

(Closing prayers: Oh God, May cheeku not read this post)