The beauty of the world has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder.-Virginia Woolf

I haven't seen him for the past 8 days and I kind off hmm miss him. No Sajjan , I am not talking about you but about Ra! Ra the Sun God, Duh!!. It’s been dark,dull and cold out here in Bangalore. According to Anand , Hosur Road which is the only road to Electronics City is no longer a road. Sigh*. My plans of going to Hosur (Tamil Nadu) to buy crackers and bringing them in huge gunny bags goes down the drain.Once upon a time ( read a month back) I was proud of all the lakes in Bangalore , now I dread them. Everyday I pass the Ulsoor Lake, which is all set to burst out into the open. It has been reported that three major lakes in the city breached their banks. siliconindia.com reports : "It is very uncommon for Bangalore to be flooded because the city is at a higher plateau and water seeps away, but an incessant rain due to low pressure over the Bay of Bengal has had its toll on the city. Many lakes and drains in the City are over flowing and the water has gushed into houses." According to the Met Dept the unforeseen rains are because of the cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, but according to my Mom it’s because of the Solar and Lunar eclipses which occurred in the same month of October :) (Solar on Oct 3rd and Lunar on October 17),there might just be some truth in it. The local FM station has stopped giving warnings of Traffic jams, you can't blame them, every street and gali is jammed, morning, noon and night, and not with vehicles, mind you, but with water. I saw an interesting article in TOI yesterday, which compared Mysore's infrastructure with that of Bangalore. *Land rates(per square feet) : Rs 300 in Mysore compared to Rs 2000 in Bangalore. The rates have to come down,no one in their right mind would pay for water logged sites. But you never know.... *Number of Engineers graduating in a year: 5000 in Mysore , a whooping 25,000 in Bangalore. This was rather evident a couple of days ago, when the neighboring MNC company, conducted " A Walk in interview".It has been estimated that 7000 people stood for 2 days in a Q ,weathering the rains and the cold temperature. *Commuting across the city : 20 mins in Mysore , and 60 minutes in Bangalore. 60 minutes ? I'm sure the journalist who wrote this must have rented a Tata Sumo and drove across the city at 2 am.Our driver tells me that even at that unholy hour of 2 am there is a lot of traffic, mainly because of the cabs that drop the tired BPO employees’ home. My mom received a lot of anxious calls from her 3 brothers in Mangalore. They wanted to know what was happening in Bangalore. The news channels tend to exaggerate a little. In one of the conversations, my uncle told her that the sun was shining brightly in Mangalore.Aah for a glimpse of the sun. Thankfully it is clear today, no sign of rains, yet. Schools and Colleges had announced holidays on Tue and Wednesday and have decided to remain closed all week. Lucky kids. Yesterday while traveling to office, one of the rear wheels of the bus got stuck in a slippery ditch and leaned precariously to the right.( A scene taken straight out of Keanu Reeves's film -Speed ).One of the aunties saw me getting down and shouted out a warning " Don't get down". I ignored her. If you don't know what the problem is you can't solve it. I and my colleague saw that the rear wheel was stuck in the mud and we asked the others to get down and help us push . The ladies as usual were reluctant to even step out of the bus, let alone lend a helping hand. Talk about equality.Oh I think I forgot to mention that it was drizzling, as usual.The driver put the bus in first gear and after 3 attempts, Voila!! we were off. We thanked our lucky stars that the bus didn't topple over onto its side.The very thought of “P aunty’s” 212kg of flesh crushing my head into pulp is frightening and quite amusing :) . Sri who works in Gurgaon and Saj who works in Hyderabad are coming down this weekend to celebrate Deepavali with their families. Here’s hoping their flights and trains are not cancelled. On a lighter note, a friend said that I looked like a Second World War German U-Boat Captain. I thought that with my beard and cream turtleneck , I looked a lot like this guy or at least like this dude. Alas! I will have to be content with being compared to Sean Connery ( The Hunt for Red October ) :) "The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate; try not to miss a pinch of joy".

A Metro Platform Scene by Jamie Kraft. Too good .

A man must keep a little back shop where he can be himself without reserve. In solitude alone can he know true freedom. Michel Montaigne

It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.

Another Day in paradise : I was in a compromising position.The harsh lights were focused directly on my light brown eyes .I wince with pain.The Doctor continued to probe, hoping against hope that something would be wrong with my teeth .He seemed unhappy when he couldn't find any cavities. (Thank you Colgate Toothpaste) He removed his mask and said with a straight face “You have a good set of dentures. Take good care of it ". I was elated. Suddenly the phone rings ,the ring tone is We wish you a Merry Christmas, it was Dee. I switch it off. The doctor gives me a smile and starts giving me a lecture on oral health care. Its 9pm and after a rough day at office , I didn’t feel like listening to toothpaste,cavities and gums.I tread back home longing for hot supper.Dee calls again. Dee : Psst Vc someone was asking who the tall hmm hmm was , I mean you ? Me : eh ? Dee: We were watching my marriage video and when you came on the podium, she got all excited. Me: who who ? who wants to know ? Dee: She wanted to know who you were and if you were an Iyengar . Me: Oh Great . Dee: and then I told her you were a Mangalorean Brahmin, is that ok ? Me: Why do people think I am a brahmin ? che and Hello! My mom is from Mangalore which doesn't mean that I am a Manglorean. Now tell me, who wanted to know ? Dee: Well she even said that you were hmm hmm ? Me : Loos aa ? Dee: No No... Me: Then ? Dee: well she thinks you are hmmmm.... Me: Grr…. who is it ? Dee: My mother in law , who else . Me: %^$& ## Dee : Oye!! Please don't mind .. She's got these small eyes .... Me: * *&^* && Moti **^^%% elephant ^^@$*

An appointment with Dr Pain.

I try not to laugh when someone is in pain.But me being mean and sarcastic...just couldn't control my laughter when a colleague was narrating his experiences with the Dentist.It was so funny.That was last month. Even Lord Krishna says" Beware of life and death and all in between,everyone has to undergo the miracles of life."In short he meant a visit to the dentist. I had this feeling that my wisdom tooth was acting funny, I decided to meet the dentist.I thought I would meet a hmm hmm doctor, but alas...if wishes were flies I would be a toad. We have a local saying : Throw a stone in Bangalore and it invariably hits an Engineer or a dental clinic. Every street in Bangalore has 10 to 12 dental clinics and I just picked one. The board said Dr Mahesh..and the only other patient was a young guy playing SUDOKU.I peeked and saw the maid cleaning and asked the dude if the doctor was in. He shook his head to say yes.After a few minutes this dude closed the newspaper with a satisfied look and went inside the clinic.I picked up the local Magazine and was busy reading Tintin, when the doctor asked me to comein.Surprise Surprise it was that young dude,he wore an apron and asked me to lie down on the dentist's chair.He didn't even ask me what the problem was. What is the first thing you notice when you meet a dental doctor ? Yep his teeth . :) Dr : Open your mouth Me:Aaaah The Dr then took an instrument and started testing the teeth. (took took)which was in morse code and read: pain pain. Dr: So what's the problem ? Me :( At last) I think the Wisdom tooth.. Dr: No its fine .All the teeth are fine . That sentence sounded like "The reports are negative , you don't have brain tumor". I was relieved but that sensation was short lived because the Dr's next sentence was "I think you should get your teeth cleaned". I shook my head which to any normal person would mean " NO" but doctors are not normal persons, are they ? He started cleaning the teeth and he stopped suddenly and said "Flush".I was like " Flush ???? " Oooh..i think he means spit.. ok and then I had a shock which jolted the dentist's chair. I was spitting blood.. litres of it..I looked at him , his eyes twinkled. He was like a primitive African hunter , his adrenalin pumping at the sight of blood.He continued cleaning and ordering me to Flush . After the 4th "Flush" , I realized that it was not Flush but "Wash".Comeon with the drilling and blood you cannot expect me to deciper the Da Vinci Code. I read that in order to endure the torture and pain,prisoners usually sang out loud or would recite the complete works of Shakespeare. "Take honour from me, and my life is done" Richard II, Act i, Sc.1 I couldn't sing with my mouth open nor could I recite Shakespeare.So I did the next best thing , closed my eyes and imagined hitting the Doctor. Pattar pattar. I think he read my thoughts and more blood spilled.I quickly thought of a few unsolved puzzles and tried solving it. Suddenly the pain subsided and I opened my eyes.The Dr was at his desk scribbling. Dr: You'll have to come again on Monday. Me : (Whispering) Why ? Dr: The second sitting is required. Me: Hmm Hmm.. Dr: Use this toothpaste and meet me on Monday 8 pm. I pay the fees and make a hasty retreat. Lets take each day as it comes. Monday is so faraway...........or is it ?

Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said.

Upcoming singers

Have you guys heard or seen Indian Idol ? No .. hmm.. well it was a show in which they searched or tried to unearth India's star performer/singer. This guy Abhijeet became India's first Indian Idol and went on to released an album titled "Aapka Apna Abhijeet Sawant".The song Mohabbatein Lutaaunga was a huge hit. My friend Sajjan is a huge( with a capital H ) fan of this guy.Yep I do agree his songs are hmm hmm .The second runner up Rahul just released his albumn titled Tera Intezar.I think this 18 year old singer , who sings so much like Sonu Nigam has some serious talent. You can download his latest hit titled "Tera Intezar" from coolgoose.com

The egg is to cuisine what the article is to speech.

What, after all, is a halo? It's only one more thing to keep clean. ~Christopher Fry

Its Dee's Birthday today .. .. here's wishing her a Happy birthday !! Apart from learning that I was " Mean " ," Sarcastic" and " funny" ,the other thing I learnt from her was how to be modest. Would have loved to put a pic of Mrs Deepa here .. uahhahaha yep she would have skinned me alive ... As her visa to the Swiss got rejected,she wants us to pray for her .So here goes.. Oh!! Holy Father and the 33 crore Hindu Gods , Please let Dee get her visa .Vc bows.

No matter they are still mighty handy.

Behold the ____________ How they promise,conjure,appeal,menace,pray,supplicate,refuse, beckon,interrogate,admire,confess,cringe,instruct,command,mock and they are the envy of your tongue . So what am I talking about ?

The World X1 and Australia Super series test match was a damp squib.. but it had its moments, like this over from Murali to Katich.. It was amazing.. even the wicket Keeper Boucher was foxed :)

Nothing can happen that affects the choice to go back

I am seldom frustrated , but this week has been grrrrrrrrrrrrr. With my colleague on a long leave , I am supposed to finish all his work .aaaaaaaaargh.Well atleast he's having fun in Udaipur.I wonder why I never take a long leave ? I need a Time Turner .Hermione used a Time Turner to repeat hours of the day and take more classes in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban . I need a similiar one, why ? Because I have to be at 3 no make that 4 different places at the same time and I am through making excuses.Every weekend I am invited to movies/outings/gatherings by friends and relatives and I invariably turn them down. Did anyone notice that I used 11 I's ( the pronoun "I" ) in the above post ? Well make that 13 :) uhahhaaaa. Its Oct 13th, damn not a friday though.... ********************************************************************** Ohmmmmmmmm.... Listen to this Trance mix .... the groove and bass will melt your brains.. Armand_van_helden spins his magic.I've got 2 words for this track : It's WICKED. http://s39.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1H4QF4BCU08050JKAZ1E4VSFJY ********************************************************************** Afterthought : Did the characters of the epic Ramayana feature in the Mahabharatha ? ( Ofcourse not Vishnu .. the other characters ) That's this week's crazy thought : 1. I remember reading in the" Amar chitra Katha " comics the story of Bheema meeting Hanuman.Simple one.. 2. I think I vividly remember someone worshipping the idol of Lord Rama in Mahabharatha.. who who who ? 3.A colleague says that in a remote corner of Mahabharatha , a Gopika admolishes Lord Krishna ..." Why can't you be like Lord Rama ? ". ( Don't ask me what that meant :) )

Kirik Kirthi turns 76 today !!!

May your spirit keep the freedom of a butterfly in spring, May your heart be filled always with the joys of simple things. May your essence claim the freshness of the new laid morning dew. All of this...and more... is my Birthday wish for you. Happy Birthday kk .

Dussera Holidays....

I almost forgot.. .. Che ..how time flies.. not that we celebrate Durga pooja.. but we remember Navrathri for the holidays... Now we get 1 full day leave.. yep 1 day .. yipeee that's tommorow ( Used to get 20 days leave in school).... I'll go buy a DVD of Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Sarva Mangala Mangalya Shive Sarvartha Saadhike, Sharanye Trayambha Ke Gauri, Narayani Namastute.

Not sure where I got this from....but it was appropriate that I post it today..It seems AB is celebrating his ** th birthday today.. wow... and ofcourse you know who is eating grass..

Move over Ash.. atleast for a few posts :)

The well-dressed man is he whose clothes you never notice.

Yesterday, I was invited to a birthday party. It had lots of balloons,cakes, sweets and girls. I was surprised by the trendy clothes these younger generation girls wore .. and the smiles they gave were bewitching .I talked to a few of them and even got to know their names. ( Vc and shy Hah! ) .And oh they were accompanied by their mom's .. I mean who would send their 6 year old daughters to a birthday party unaccompanied? You know what's difficult. Finding the right present for a 6 year old girl. The first thing that came to my mind was Barbie dolls. You’ll be surprised at the different shapes and colors that Barbie comes in. I liked the Indian Barbie, but the price choked me . A cool Rs599 /- for a plastic foreign lady dressed up in Kanchivaram silk saree .I was desparate and so had to break Rule 9.3g , “ Never ask a shopkeeper for advice “.I asked the shopkeeper for a suitable gift for a 6 year girl .I stressed on the word "girl" because his eyes were roaming around the expensive Remote controlled Cars . He said why not present a junior Scrabble set .( Aaaaah that reminded me of my childhood days when I used to go to Rahul's house to play scrabble. Sigh* wonder where Rahul is ....) I was jolted from my reverie when he quoted the price, a whooping Rs 600/- . I couldn't visualize the little girl spelling INSCULP( To engrave; to carve; to sculpture). So I decided on a Kitchen set. It costed a little over Rs 400 but was worth it. I mean it had cabinets ,a table , pressure cooker, plates, spoons and even a miniature gas stove. I remember my sis playing with one such set a long time ago and I think I accidentally hmm broke it. I swear it was an accident . What's with parents dressing up kids ? I mean everyone has a childhood photo were they are dressed as "Lord Krishna " or "Hanuman” ( as in Sajjan's case ) or as a "farmer" or as "a girl" ( as in Sajjan's case ) . Thank God my parents did not dress me up in fancy clothes. Wait a min …. Pink Jeans.. Yep I was made to wear pink jeans . Can you imagine me in Pink Jeans ? ( Ok you can stop imagining ) .Oh the best part is that even my brother was made to wear them ... uhahahaaaaaaaha. And no I am NOT posting those pics here . Here's another thought .. during the festival season we ( me and my bro ) would be wearing similar type of shirts. It turns out that my pop bought 4 meters of the same material. You can find such "enthusiastic parents" all over the country. I think its something to do with " partiality " among children. Oh yes I would revolt and throw a tantrum. "It looks good on him and not on me ." and the result - pattar pattar . There was this guy Mathew in my Engg college. He was a classmate and a casual friend and we used to travel in the same bus. One morning , I saw that he had managed to get a window seat and .... Me: Hi Dude . I dump my bag of books on his lap .. He : Hi ( He gave me a surprised look ) (I did not notice the look because I was busy with certain other activities. No not buying tickets but checking out chicks). Me : So did you complete the Maths assignment ? (Still looking as if I was from Planet Pluto) Me : I found the 3rd problem a bit tricky.. He : I'm getting down here, you can have my seat . I was caught off guard and before I could react he jumped off the bus. Thirty minutes later, I reached college and was busying narrating this incident to a couple of my friends and what do I see ? Mathew writing assignments in the classroom. Now how the hell did he reach before me ? Didn’t I see him jump of the bus ? I confronted him and asked him to explain himself .He gave me that puzzled look and wanted to know what was going on? His concern was genuine and I calmed down and told him about the incident. He smiled. Of course he had a twin brother and his twin had decided to wear a similar shirt that day. Twins in identical clothes are cool .. but why do they do that ? I mean we are confused as it is ....

For old times sake ....

kajra re kajra re tere kare kare naina tere naina tere naina tere naina judwaa tere naina tere naina tere naina tere naina main chupke rehna kajra re kajra re tere kare kare naina hai !!!!!

Must visit the Meenakshi Temple .....

Peace favor your sword

As promised here's a review of The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, Book 1) written by Robert Jordan. I broke a couple of rules while buying this book. The rule being " No Expectations No Disappointments". I expected this book to be similar to the Lord of the Rings and I was a tad disappointed.I started reading this book late in the night and the language in which Robert weaved his characters was a bit boring at times but spectacular most of the times. He starts of introducing the characters Rand al'Thor,Mat and Perrin . I had a slight advantage when I picked this book . I did not know who the main character or characters were nor did I know of the plot . So I had to keep an eye on all of the characters and ofcourse names !! . After 2 days and finishing 5 chapters, I was getting a bit restless. Where was the action that SP was talking about ?. Grr.. I was being let down. But I was patient.. the story dragged on .. more characters... Nynaeve , she's called the wisdom and is the village healer, Egwene who is Rand's girl friend . Moiraine and Lan the strangers to the small village. * sigh .. where was the action, suspense and drama ? boww bowwwwwwwww ... Then one lazy Monday morning as I was trying to fight my ever-closing eyes ( this was in the office-bus) all hell broke loose. Enter Trollocs and the horrifying Halfmen and I was smiling. Even my colleague noticed me sitting up straight and smile. It was at this point of time I appreciated Robert Jordan as a fantasy writer. You have got to read the book for the plot .The book did remind me of " Lord Of the Rings " with its characters and wizards but there are more female characters in this novel than in LOR, and they do have stronger roles. Hmm.. Here are some lines from the book which have made a lasting impression on me: The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time. "The One Power comes from the True Source, the driving force of creation, the force the Creator made to turn the Wheel of Time. Saidin, the male half of the true source, and saidar, the female half, work against each other, and at the same time together to provide that force. Saidin is fouled by the touch of the Dark One, like water with a thin slick of rancid oil floating on top. The water is till pure, but it cannot be touched without touching the foulness. Only saidar is still safe to be used... "The True Source cannot be used up, any more than the river can be used up by the wheel of the mill. The Source is the river; the Aes Sedai, the waterwheel." "The Dark One is after you three, one or all, and if I let you go running off wherever you want to go, he will take you. Whatever the Dark One wants, I oppose, so hear this and know it true. Before I let the Dark One have you, I will destroy you myself." The proverbs where so ...... Sometimes you have to grab the wolf by the ears. When you have a wolf by the ears, it's as hard to let go, as to hold on. Now this passage is well written and I believe is central to the story and explains a lot of things. "The Wheel of Time weaves the Patterns of the Ages, and the threads it uses are lives. It is not fixed, the Pattern, not always. If a man tries to change the direction of his life and the Pattern has room for it, the Wheel just weaves on and takes it in. There is always room for small changes, but sometimes the Pattern simply won't accept a big change, no matter how hard you try... "... But sometimes the change chooses you, and sometimes the Wheel bends a life-thread, or several threads, in such a way that all the surrounding threads are forced to swirl around it, and those force other threads, and those still others, and on and on. The first bending to make the Web is ta'veren, and there is nothing you can do to change it, not until the Pattern itself changes. The Web - ta'maral'ailen, it's called - can last for weeks, or for years. It can take in a town, or even the whole Pattern. Arthur Hawkwing was ta'veren. So was Lews Therin Kinslayer, for that matter, I suppose." ~~Loial Overall: A good read and Rs 350/- well spent. Some of the lines in the book will make you go " what the .... " , like this one” Peace favor your sword " .