Friendship day is here and i am thrown back to memories of college where we used to look forward for this day.
We here is "LEO" club of RECT. I was a member of it and God, didnt have a great group of ppl from our year in this club.
The mentionable members of this club were:
Myself (ofcourse),Remya, Shivani, Addy, Ashwin,Amrita, Susan and Thakur(Saurabh Singh currently in IIMB)..yeah thats it..you can call me biased but these were the only people whom i liked in my club...n(now dont count the number of girls in the above list - it just happens like that:-))
And we were the ones who used to organize Friendship Day in college...God and didnt we make huge profits.
Coming to think of it, we did manage to fool almost the entire college (our yr) into buying some thread pieces n a piece of paper for 10 - 20 bucks. And as far as i can remember (leave alone my close friends) none seemed to complain. Thats a commendable achievement in the art of convincing people and not getting any complaints. And we did the same thing for 4 yrs, though each time it were the first yrs who were the bakraas. What better way for a girl to approach a guy ;-)or the vice-versa than giving a friendship band (duh? band??..whatever) and asking like in the movie "Mujse Dosthi karoge".hmmmm...anyway those were the days..and ofcourse we did reap huge profits and we went on seeral trips with the loot:-)
Amazingly we were called the "Blood-sucking" club as well.This was coz our club used to conduct Blood donation camps and ask students to volunteer to give blood. Well this was for a generous cause and ppl found fault with us for the same.
Man!!the world is so damn partial you realise. You do something good for the society, everyone calls you names, abuses you and what not (as in the latter case) but you do somethin crooked, cheat all of them, swindle and whatever evil comes to mind and none even bothers...all are happy...
Makes me wonder at times...if i have to continue being honest and trustworthy, the way i am now;-) or should i becomea swindler, a cheat, a rogue...like all those millions out there who live daily cheating ppl....hmmmm....
signing off for the day with a reply that i got from one of my close friends , Sankar, when i had mailed him a "Happy friendship day"
Now if there is a second person whom i envy in his English, its him. (the first is one of my seniors - Sidin..He plays with words...juggles them around to make you laugh)
Following is the reply i got....(dont mind the praises he has for me in there...hmmm..sounding like a narcist off late)
"thanx for bein such a super friend to me.. in this ocean of a million faces, u are travellin like achilles in the blue mediterranean- in the eternal odyssey without direction that is LIFE... u have perchance come across many inevitable rocks n' boulders.. the sights of some have made u consider even alighting and taking a break..n' rarely, some that u've even decided to visit again... it is good to know that among those chosen few sandy beaches where u have not only broken ur journey but actually holidayed.. one is ME. n i treasure ur entry into my heart, where u will live forever.. :)"
Cool aint it..!!:-)Cheers all you buddies out there...
Happy Friendship day to one and all:-)
Friday, July 30, 2004
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Think Before you Leap
I am just sitting here...just whistling away time..thinking abt my past..abt my future..!!!How it was 10 yrs back..and how it is going to be 10 yrs from now...
I can see a small fly hovering around my nose. I have the mind to SWAT it but then I dont want to be framed as a MURDERER by the FLY community or whatever...
makes me wonder at times what if i was not what i am today...what would i have been..a fly?? Would i like being swatted down by some pesky human who was just not in the right mood and shortened my life by a day or two:-( Restlessnes, Impatience ect..are the very characteristics that describe a human when you come to think of it from an insect's point of view. Hmmm...I suddenly realise I am talking as if i am the director of SPCA.
Just pondering...you never actually lose by loving someone or something.But it is difficult to love a person, especially when you don't know how to express your feelings (How can you express your love for insects;-)?? interesting thought huh>>) Worse still, if you are unsure of the person's feelings, the uncertainty can really tear your heart - Dont think this is actually true in case of insects..but as far as humans are concerned, I can vouch that this is really tearing...that brief period of time when you dont know your possible/ probable better half's feelings for you;-)) and just hoping against hopes that she loves you the same way if not more than what you love her.
Flirting is something i guess every guy loves doing..and I was crowned in college of being an expert in it though i myself was not very sure of the same...anyway will pen down the basic points of this so called flirting..
statutory warning: I am not to be held responsible if any of the following steps fail. These have proven to be good techniques time and again by many.
Here goes:
1. Our actions speak a lot for us. The very act of getting a cup of tea for your colleague when he/ she didnt actually ask for it...is the first way to break into their region. a sign that you are open and ready for the friendship.
2. Never ask too many questions. Asking too many questions in the first couple of meetings could force the other person to roll back into her shell. She will feel as if her privacy is trying to be brooken.
3. In the first few meetings..talk quite a lot about yourself. Never get into details and bore the other person. JUst summarize the various happening of your life and you dont even have to mention about anythin personal even. If nothing intersting there...make up stories or narrate incidents from other ppl's lives ..statin them as your own.
4. Trying making the other person laugh. Make a joke at something dumb you did and laugh at yourself.Bring out the humour sense in you. Girls dig guys with good humour. The moment she laughs with you...trust me brother she is in sync with you. (Make sure that it aint a forced laugh..just for the heck of it)and once this stage is got thru, you can actually call up to meet her, just to spend some time with her and guaranteed she will be looking forward for the same too. In this busy hectic life, which girl would not like to spend some time with a guy who can make her laugh and make her forget all the worries of the world.
5. Once you are in the stage of freely callin her up and meeting her, slowly ask her questions abt her personal life...or anythin about her life...and she will start rolling out her life's movie reel to you..all the ups n downs..what she would not have shred with any other guy but her boyfriend/ husband , she may share it with you as time passes.
6. Never ever break her flow when she is talking abt her life. Learn to be a good listener. And dont break her flow of thoughts with your own dumb ideas n experiences and advices. Just give an ocassional nod supplemented by "hmmm"..."oh oh".."sheesh"..."oh my GOD"..."wow"..as per how the situation demands. Girls love being heard.(atleast most of them do)
7. Dont ever try getting physical with the girl. Wait..hover around and probably she will give in..(this never worked for me..nevertheless i still believe that given enough patience, it will work out)
8. Never give the indication that you are interested in her. Act as a normal friend. And as time goes by slowly praise her, make her feel good, give her flowers...and my Man!! She is yours...forever as a friend with whom you can talk anything n everything.
9. Dont ever brag about this girl and you in public. Dont do stupid things like giving off song dedications in her name for some function. This can really piss off the girl and all your efforts till then would have gone in vain. Rather to make yourself associated with the girl, go to places where there are lots of ppl..let them see n talk about you n her. Let the word spread by itself without any added effort from you:-)
The good part about flirting is never can the girl claim you proposed to her...and you dont have to be fixed with her and at the same time you can mate, i mean meet a lot of girls (which again makes girls fight with each other for you..though you have never evr once committed to anyone of them...)
Note: Jealousy is the one of the weakest point in any girl and you can use this as your STRONGEST weapon in wooing the girls to you. Just have to play it right.
All the best DUDES:-))) (guess i am in for a beating if all the girls whom i made friends with...read this blog;-)- mind you..I hereby declare that I NEVER FLIRTED - I just followed the above 8 steps to Success;-)9th step aint my fav point but then it just used to happen..and hence this name of flirt stuck with me...DAMN!!!)
Will wind off this writing with a touchin story. This has nothing to do with flirting but then has to do with being patient (though in completely different context and not similar to the one stated in point 7 above:-)
This is a true story that happened in the States.
A man came out of his home to admire his new truck. To his puzzlement,his 3-yr-old son was happily hammering dents into the shiny paint. The man ran to his son, knocked him away, and hammered the little boy's hands into a pulp as punishment.When the father calmed down, he rushed his son to the hospital. Although the doctor tried desperately to save the crushed bones, he finally had to amputate the fingers from both the boy's hands. When the boy woke u! p from the surgery & saw his bandaged stubs, he innocently asked," Daddy, I'm sorry about your truck, but when are my fingers going to grow back?" The father went home and committed suicide.!!!
Think about the story the next time u see someone spill milk at a dinner table or hear a baby crying or you think the a girl is not giving you any hints abt her feelings for you. Think first before u lose your patience with someone u love/ like. Trucks can be repaired. Broken bones & hurt feelings often can't and ofcourse A girl once lost...forever lost (very difficult to get her back you see).
Too often we fail to recognize the difference between the person and the performance. People make mistakes. We are allowed to make mistakes. But the actions we take while in a rage will haunt us forever. Pause and ponder. ! Think before you act. Be patient. Understand and love.You Never Lose by Loving.
Adios!!!
I can see a small fly hovering around my nose. I have the mind to SWAT it but then I dont want to be framed as a MURDERER by the FLY community or whatever...
makes me wonder at times what if i was not what i am today...what would i have been..a fly?? Would i like being swatted down by some pesky human who was just not in the right mood and shortened my life by a day or two:-( Restlessnes, Impatience ect..are the very characteristics that describe a human when you come to think of it from an insect's point of view. Hmmm...I suddenly realise I am talking as if i am the director of SPCA.
Just pondering...you never actually lose by loving someone or something.But it is difficult to love a person, especially when you don't know how to express your feelings (How can you express your love for insects;-)?? interesting thought huh>>) Worse still, if you are unsure of the person's feelings, the uncertainty can really tear your heart - Dont think this is actually true in case of insects..but as far as humans are concerned, I can vouch that this is really tearing...that brief period of time when you dont know your possible/ probable better half's feelings for you;-)) and just hoping against hopes that she loves you the same way if not more than what you love her.
Flirting is something i guess every guy loves doing..and I was crowned in college of being an expert in it though i myself was not very sure of the same...anyway will pen down the basic points of this so called flirting..
statutory warning: I am not to be held responsible if any of the following steps fail. These have proven to be good techniques time and again by many.
Here goes:
1. Our actions speak a lot for us. The very act of getting a cup of tea for your colleague when he/ she didnt actually ask for it...is the first way to break into their region. a sign that you are open and ready for the friendship.
2. Never ask too many questions. Asking too many questions in the first couple of meetings could force the other person to roll back into her shell. She will feel as if her privacy is trying to be brooken.
3. In the first few meetings..talk quite a lot about yourself. Never get into details and bore the other person. JUst summarize the various happening of your life and you dont even have to mention about anythin personal even. If nothing intersting there...make up stories or narrate incidents from other ppl's lives ..statin them as your own.
4. Trying making the other person laugh. Make a joke at something dumb you did and laugh at yourself.Bring out the humour sense in you. Girls dig guys with good humour. The moment she laughs with you...trust me brother she is in sync with you. (Make sure that it aint a forced laugh..just for the heck of it)and once this stage is got thru, you can actually call up to meet her, just to spend some time with her and guaranteed she will be looking forward for the same too. In this busy hectic life, which girl would not like to spend some time with a guy who can make her laugh and make her forget all the worries of the world.
5. Once you are in the stage of freely callin her up and meeting her, slowly ask her questions abt her personal life...or anythin about her life...and she will start rolling out her life's movie reel to you..all the ups n downs..what she would not have shred with any other guy but her boyfriend/ husband , she may share it with you as time passes.
6. Never ever break her flow when she is talking abt her life. Learn to be a good listener. And dont break her flow of thoughts with your own dumb ideas n experiences and advices. Just give an ocassional nod supplemented by "hmmm"..."oh oh".."sheesh"..."oh my GOD"..."wow"..as per how the situation demands. Girls love being heard.(atleast most of them do)
7. Dont ever try getting physical with the girl. Wait..hover around and probably she will give in..(this never worked for me..nevertheless i still believe that given enough patience, it will work out)
8. Never give the indication that you are interested in her. Act as a normal friend. And as time goes by slowly praise her, make her feel good, give her flowers...and my Man!! She is yours...forever as a friend with whom you can talk anything n everything.
9. Dont ever brag about this girl and you in public. Dont do stupid things like giving off song dedications in her name for some function. This can really piss off the girl and all your efforts till then would have gone in vain. Rather to make yourself associated with the girl, go to places where there are lots of ppl..let them see n talk about you n her. Let the word spread by itself without any added effort from you:-)
The good part about flirting is never can the girl claim you proposed to her...and you dont have to be fixed with her and at the same time you can mate, i mean meet a lot of girls (which again makes girls fight with each other for you..though you have never evr once committed to anyone of them...)
Note: Jealousy is the one of the weakest point in any girl and you can use this as your STRONGEST weapon in wooing the girls to you. Just have to play it right.
All the best DUDES:-))) (guess i am in for a beating if all the girls whom i made friends with...read this blog;-)- mind you..I hereby declare that I NEVER FLIRTED - I just followed the above 8 steps to Success;-)9th step aint my fav point but then it just used to happen..and hence this name of flirt stuck with me...DAMN!!!)
Will wind off this writing with a touchin story. This has nothing to do with flirting but then has to do with being patient (though in completely different context and not similar to the one stated in point 7 above:-)
This is a true story that happened in the States.
A man came out of his home to admire his new truck. To his puzzlement,his 3-yr-old son was happily hammering dents into the shiny paint. The man ran to his son, knocked him away, and hammered the little boy's hands into a pulp as punishment.When the father calmed down, he rushed his son to the hospital. Although the doctor tried desperately to save the crushed bones, he finally had to amputate the fingers from both the boy's hands. When the boy woke u! p from the surgery & saw his bandaged stubs, he innocently asked," Daddy, I'm sorry about your truck, but when are my fingers going to grow back?" The father went home and committed suicide.!!!
Think about the story the next time u see someone spill milk at a dinner table or hear a baby crying or you think the a girl is not giving you any hints abt her feelings for you. Think first before u lose your patience with someone u love/ like. Trucks can be repaired. Broken bones & hurt feelings often can't and ofcourse A girl once lost...forever lost (very difficult to get her back you see).
Too often we fail to recognize the difference between the person and the performance. People make mistakes. We are allowed to make mistakes. But the actions we take while in a rage will haunt us forever. Pause and ponder. ! Think before you act. Be patient. Understand and love.You Never Lose by Loving.
Adios!!!
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
10 years Old!!
This is the last of the testsi will be taking..............TODAY..!!really amuses me how this tests are created to derive this results and no matter what the results are, I always seem to relate to the final outcome and feel it is absolutely right..!!
My inner child is ten years old!
The adult world is pretty irrelevant to me. Whether
I'm off on my bicycle (or pony) exploring, lost
in a good book, or giggling with my best
friend, I live in a world apart, one full of
adventure and wonder and other stuff adults
don't understand.
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Prisoner's Dilemma
Was just reading sidin's blog and while reading the comments, got directed to another blog which had mention of Game theory in it and an associated link called Prisoner's dilemma. It was a really interesting read and if you have an interest in Maths especially, I can guarantee it would amuse you.
The whole theory revolves around the possibility of 2 ppl having to take 1 option out of 2 choices and the final outcome for both the ppl depends on each other's answer. And you would stand to gain maximum if you cheated and the opponent decided to be faithful. Sort of convinces you of the fact that "It pays to cheat, if your partner decides to remain faithful".
Just click on the link and you will get the wind of what i am saying.
And now since you have read this and understood the concept, it would be fun playing the game. I played it twice and I won it both the times. Dont know if that would be the case with everyone. Try out and let me know. After the first game, if you are brilliant enough;-), I guess you could very well anticipate the computer's move - called Serendip here, which again is derived from the word Serendipity meaning chance in one word.
Majaa Maadi!!
The whole theory revolves around the possibility of 2 ppl having to take 1 option out of 2 choices and the final outcome for both the ppl depends on each other's answer. And you would stand to gain maximum if you cheated and the opponent decided to be faithful. Sort of convinces you of the fact that "It pays to cheat, if your partner decides to remain faithful".
Just click on the link and you will get the wind of what i am saying.
And now since you have read this and understood the concept, it would be fun playing the game. I played it twice and I won it both the times. Dont know if that would be the case with everyone. Try out and let me know. After the first game, if you are brilliant enough;-), I guess you could very well anticipate the computer's move - called Serendip here, which again is derived from the word Serendipity meaning chance in one word.
Majaa Maadi!!
Road Trip II - Day 2
Well day 2 - morning we had got up only by 7:00. Sapna had got up at 5:30 since we had told her we will be starting early. But , I guess little did she know that we were one bunch of lazy gooses. Come to think of it...who in their sane mind would get up early in the morning on a Sunday. (i hope Sapna does not strangle me after reading this;-))
anyway we got ready by arnd 7:45 and by 8:00 we were on our way. From the moment we started from the travel lodge, it was raining heavily and the winds were strong. We thought by the time we reach Blackpool it would be better. But it was not to be. We reached Blackpool in less than an hour. And in a way it turned out to be a big flop going to this place on this day. It was as if everything was jinxed.
It was raining so badly and so cold that the very idea of going to Pleasure Beach was ruled out. We decided to go to the famous Blackpool Tower and go on the "Walk of Faith". This is nothing but at the top of the tower you have an area where the flooring is completely glass. And there is a precaution board saying, that it might break if you walk on it. Standing on this glass, all you can see is the 30 floors below floor. That is creepy and this is in an open area. Now as luck would have it, coz of the rain, they decided to restrict the entry into this. They said the glass was all wet n slippery and it was dangerous to go on "Walk of Faith" under such weather conditions.This dampened our spirits completely. It was not worth giving £12 entry fees and not being able to go to the top of the tower. there was a ball room and circus and so many other entertainment within the tower area but then we were in no mood for that. so ditched that. Now we were stranded in Blackpool with one whole day in hand and nothing to do coz of the weather.
What could be more irritating. We looked across the road and saw the stranded beach which otherwise in this supposed summer was to be filled with birds that were semi-clad or whatever. And instead what was inviting us was a dull stranded beach with not even a real bird in the vicinity. ( Later on i came to know that this area was also famous for its Sandstorm and we were lucky not to have got caught in that). Anyway we just walked around trying to find a shelter from the rain n wind. We saw this huge Casino by the name "The Buccaneer Family Bar". We decided to enter into it promising each other, we would not gamble or do anything of the sorts. Just walk around, see what is happening and once the rains stopped their beat, we would go somewhere. But we didnt know the surprise that was held for us. This was not the Casino which i had expected where big gambles are made. This was a proper fun area with lot of sega games and small gambling for 1 penny, 10 pence, 50 pence etc..so we started playing the games...one of the games was dropping in 10 pence into a slot. And if the coin dropped at the right spot,there was this metal plate which would give ti a slight push which in turn would push the hazaars which were kept at the edge of the collection point. But try as much we could not get the coin to be pushed. So then we quit that game and walked around checking out stuff
Th next game we played was dropping in 50 pence and manouvering a metallic claw to pick up a teddy bear or something of the sorts from a box. By the time we had figured out how to do it efficiently, we had already spend abt £2 pounds on it. Cursing our luck and our day we ambled along and saw the next game - Camel race.
This game had about 15 toy camels lined, reaedy to race. And each person was alloted one camel. He was given 3 balls and he had to roll the ball into holes which was a t a distance and each hole was for a specific distance and depending on the hole in which the ball fell, the camel would move the appropriate distance.
Basu started off on this game. He played 2 rounds and in first round he almost came close to winning it. and ended up being 2nd in the race. Then Srijith played one round and he wa nowhere near winning.Next Srijith n myself played one round (mind you...there were 13 other ppl also playing along with us) and both of us did a poor show. Basu then coaxed me into playing one final round before we left the place. And i agreed. I played smooth and we won. I didnt even realise we had won until the guy came up and asked me which stuffed toy i wanted. I told him to give me "Hobbes" of the Calvin n Hobbes series. Relishing the victory we decided to stick on for some more time in there. Next we thought we would let Sapna play who was so far an enthusiastic supporter only. We came to this game of hitting the dinosaur that popped out with a hammer. She played that game thrice followed by Basu who played it once and in return we got 10 ticket points for which we got a "Skateboard key chain". Happy with our gifts, we got out and decided to munch on something since it was already half past 12. We entered into Mcdonalds. Srijith had some mini chocolate stuff and Sapna had veg. burger. I had a Big Mac Meal while the best of the lot was what Basu had - Big Chicken green ranch salad with dressing. It tasted yummy. Poor basu hardly got anything since the remaining 3 of us plunged into it as well.
After that we walked around Blackpool city center, checking out the place. We went to this "chor bazaar" likes in Blackpool where for a fleeting moment , i felt as if i was back in India. Anyway having roamed arnd plenty, we decided to hit it back and weather was also getting a bit better. Went to the tower once again to see if they had reopened the walk of faith. But all in vain. We got back into the car and drove along back to M6. At junction 44 we took a deviation to go to Coniston waters.
Thats when i took over the driving again. Initially it was a pleasant and smooth ride but as we went further n further into the country side, the roads were getting so narrow and for the first time i thanked Srijith for taking a small car which could fit in these roads more comfortably than any other cars.
We decided to go through Hawkshead hill and this road was a mighty climb- actually reminded me of the roads leading to Ooty. hawkshead Hill is famous especially fro having inspired one of the greats in poetry - William Wordsworth. Anyway we just kept going n going and suddenly came across a steep climb and i was in the 3rd gear (yet again) and i shifted to 2nd..and voila, the car stopped on upward slope. There were cars coming in from behind and Basu waved all of them to carry on past us. The problem was this was an upward slope and a curve. You can imagine my situation as the driver. It was such a fix where i could not even pass on the wheels to Srijith or Basu. If ever we were to get out of there, it had to be courtesy me then. And after so much valiant efforts, finally i managed to get out of that fix. really got workedup at that point. Luckily none Honked at me. that was the only relief i had. We then stopped at coniston waters. Sapna n Basu played in the waters for sometime...while i went on clicking and Srijith taking a break:-)
And after about having spent half an hour there, we continued.At a particular curve, suddenly the road narrowed further and there was another car coming in the opposite direction and i banged the left side of the car onto the rocks on the left side. I thought i had screwed up the car completely.But however , we were in a position not to stop the car anywhere...and so continued driving. Reached this place called Far Sawrey and realised that we were reaching a dead end and we had to take ferry service to get across the lake. Now we were all puzzled. Coz from a distance, it didnt look like there ever existed a ferry service and the very thought of having to drive back all the way we had come was extremely taunting. Anyway we decided to take a chance and carried on forward and after about half an hour or so..saw the ferry service..and thats when i heaved a sigh of relief.Checked the car where i had banged it and saw that it was only a small dent/ scratch and anyway the car had been fully insured while we took it for rent.And so ultimately all was well. Stopped the engine as we were the 22 in the queue and at a time the ferry took only 18 cars max. The other 3 had ice-creams while i had a hamburger. Then i handed over the car to Srijith. The driving thru the country side with so much concentration had taken its toll on me.
Srijith took over. We got into the ferry and got off at the other side..and continued our ride for another 2.5 hours into EDinburgh. Reached Edinburgh by around 10:15 pm in the night. was dead tired by then.
Vinay had cooked dinner for us (me, basu n srijith). We had that . Even Parveen, Srijith's room mate had come back from Punjab that evening. So all of us got together at our place..talked for sometime, had tea and finally around 12:00 midnight, crashed onto the bed after a very eventful weekend.
ps. Check out the snaps.
(forewarning: - Clarity not that good for many of them)
anyway we got ready by arnd 7:45 and by 8:00 we were on our way. From the moment we started from the travel lodge, it was raining heavily and the winds were strong. We thought by the time we reach Blackpool it would be better. But it was not to be. We reached Blackpool in less than an hour. And in a way it turned out to be a big flop going to this place on this day. It was as if everything was jinxed.
It was raining so badly and so cold that the very idea of going to Pleasure Beach was ruled out. We decided to go to the famous Blackpool Tower and go on the "Walk of Faith". This is nothing but at the top of the tower you have an area where the flooring is completely glass. And there is a precaution board saying, that it might break if you walk on it. Standing on this glass, all you can see is the 30 floors below floor. That is creepy and this is in an open area. Now as luck would have it, coz of the rain, they decided to restrict the entry into this. They said the glass was all wet n slippery and it was dangerous to go on "Walk of Faith" under such weather conditions.This dampened our spirits completely. It was not worth giving £12 entry fees and not being able to go to the top of the tower. there was a ball room and circus and so many other entertainment within the tower area but then we were in no mood for that. so ditched that. Now we were stranded in Blackpool with one whole day in hand and nothing to do coz of the weather.
What could be more irritating. We looked across the road and saw the stranded beach which otherwise in this supposed summer was to be filled with birds that were semi-clad or whatever. And instead what was inviting us was a dull stranded beach with not even a real bird in the vicinity. ( Later on i came to know that this area was also famous for its Sandstorm and we were lucky not to have got caught in that). Anyway we just walked around trying to find a shelter from the rain n wind. We saw this huge Casino by the name "The Buccaneer Family Bar". We decided to enter into it promising each other, we would not gamble or do anything of the sorts. Just walk around, see what is happening and once the rains stopped their beat, we would go somewhere. But we didnt know the surprise that was held for us. This was not the Casino which i had expected where big gambles are made. This was a proper fun area with lot of sega games and small gambling for 1 penny, 10 pence, 50 pence etc..so we started playing the games...one of the games was dropping in 10 pence into a slot. And if the coin dropped at the right spot,there was this metal plate which would give ti a slight push which in turn would push the hazaars which were kept at the edge of the collection point. But try as much we could not get the coin to be pushed. So then we quit that game and walked around checking out stuff
Th next game we played was dropping in 50 pence and manouvering a metallic claw to pick up a teddy bear or something of the sorts from a box. By the time we had figured out how to do it efficiently, we had already spend abt £2 pounds on it. Cursing our luck and our day we ambled along and saw the next game - Camel race.
This game had about 15 toy camels lined, reaedy to race. And each person was alloted one camel. He was given 3 balls and he had to roll the ball into holes which was a t a distance and each hole was for a specific distance and depending on the hole in which the ball fell, the camel would move the appropriate distance.
Basu started off on this game. He played 2 rounds and in first round he almost came close to winning it. and ended up being 2nd in the race. Then Srijith played one round and he wa nowhere near winning.Next Srijith n myself played one round (mind you...there were 13 other ppl also playing along with us) and both of us did a poor show. Basu then coaxed me into playing one final round before we left the place. And i agreed. I played smooth and we won. I didnt even realise we had won until the guy came up and asked me which stuffed toy i wanted. I told him to give me "Hobbes" of the Calvin n Hobbes series. Relishing the victory we decided to stick on for some more time in there. Next we thought we would let Sapna play who was so far an enthusiastic supporter only. We came to this game of hitting the dinosaur that popped out with a hammer. She played that game thrice followed by Basu who played it once and in return we got 10 ticket points for which we got a "Skateboard key chain". Happy with our gifts, we got out and decided to munch on something since it was already half past 12. We entered into Mcdonalds. Srijith had some mini chocolate stuff and Sapna had veg. burger. I had a Big Mac Meal while the best of the lot was what Basu had - Big Chicken green ranch salad with dressing. It tasted yummy. Poor basu hardly got anything since the remaining 3 of us plunged into it as well.
After that we walked around Blackpool city center, checking out the place. We went to this "chor bazaar" likes in Blackpool where for a fleeting moment , i felt as if i was back in India. Anyway having roamed arnd plenty, we decided to hit it back and weather was also getting a bit better. Went to the tower once again to see if they had reopened the walk of faith. But all in vain. We got back into the car and drove along back to M6. At junction 44 we took a deviation to go to Coniston waters.
Thats when i took over the driving again. Initially it was a pleasant and smooth ride but as we went further n further into the country side, the roads were getting so narrow and for the first time i thanked Srijith for taking a small car which could fit in these roads more comfortably than any other cars.
We decided to go through Hawkshead hill and this road was a mighty climb- actually reminded me of the roads leading to Ooty. hawkshead Hill is famous especially fro having inspired one of the greats in poetry - William Wordsworth. Anyway we just kept going n going and suddenly came across a steep climb and i was in the 3rd gear (yet again) and i shifted to 2nd..and voila, the car stopped on upward slope. There were cars coming in from behind and Basu waved all of them to carry on past us. The problem was this was an upward slope and a curve. You can imagine my situation as the driver. It was such a fix where i could not even pass on the wheels to Srijith or Basu. If ever we were to get out of there, it had to be courtesy me then. And after so much valiant efforts, finally i managed to get out of that fix. really got workedup at that point. Luckily none Honked at me. that was the only relief i had. We then stopped at coniston waters. Sapna n Basu played in the waters for sometime...while i went on clicking and Srijith taking a break:-)
And after about having spent half an hour there, we continued.At a particular curve, suddenly the road narrowed further and there was another car coming in the opposite direction and i banged the left side of the car onto the rocks on the left side. I thought i had screwed up the car completely.But however , we were in a position not to stop the car anywhere...and so continued driving. Reached this place called Far Sawrey and realised that we were reaching a dead end and we had to take ferry service to get across the lake. Now we were all puzzled. Coz from a distance, it didnt look like there ever existed a ferry service and the very thought of having to drive back all the way we had come was extremely taunting. Anyway we decided to take a chance and carried on forward and after about half an hour or so..saw the ferry service..and thats when i heaved a sigh of relief.Checked the car where i had banged it and saw that it was only a small dent/ scratch and anyway the car had been fully insured while we took it for rent.And so ultimately all was well. Stopped the engine as we were the 22 in the queue and at a time the ferry took only 18 cars max. The other 3 had ice-creams while i had a hamburger. Then i handed over the car to Srijith. The driving thru the country side with so much concentration had taken its toll on me.
Srijith took over. We got into the ferry and got off at the other side..and continued our ride for another 2.5 hours into EDinburgh. Reached Edinburgh by around 10:15 pm in the night. was dead tired by then.
Vinay had cooked dinner for us (me, basu n srijith). We had that . Even Parveen, Srijith's room mate had come back from Punjab that evening. So all of us got together at our place..talked for sometime, had tea and finally around 12:00 midnight, crashed onto the bed after a very eventful weekend.
ps. Check out the snaps.
(forewarning: - Clarity not that good for many of them)
my FAMILY
Mavelikara (Allepey District)
-----------------------------
Grand Dad - Idiculla Oommen (called Appai by all) - was in Excise (Customs)
Grand Mom - Lily Elizabeth Oommen (lillykutty) - My GOD mother
Eldest son - Joji Oommen in glasgow- scotland - Dr. in British Army - Anaesthist
wife - Ruby Oommen - Dr. Ophthamology
Daughter - Swapna Elizabeth Oommen - Dr. - married to a scot guy Dr.David (orthopaedics). Swapna is expecting this october - 4 yrs elder to us
Son - Sarin George Oommen - major rugby player - finally decided to go in the lines of his family - doing 2nd yr medicine in Dundee now
Second Son - My dad - Mathew Oommen (Shaji) - born on June 5 1951 - Electrical Engineer from REC, Calicut.
wife - Aleyamma Mathew (Usha) - born on Jan 26 1957 - Msc. BEd. in Zoology
Son - Me:-) . currently in scotland...
Daughter - Remya Elizabeth Mathew - 9th std. M.E.S. indian school - qatar - born on 2nd Dec 1989
Third Son - George Oommen (Reji) - Chemistry Teacher - Now teaching in a school in Ernakulam..not sure of the name.
wife - Shanti George - Chemistry Teacher - now teaching in TIME's entrance/ CAT coaching centre in Ernakulam
Daughter 1 - Asha Elizabeth George - doing final year in ECE - Rajagiri college of Engineering, Ernakulam
Daughter 2 - Sheba George - in 12th Std. now - in Ernakulam
Fourth Son - Alex Oommen (Viji) - Maths Teacher - was in Dubai all this while - now migrating to Canada - my God father
wife - Susan Alex - English/Psychology teacher - born n brought up in Chennai
eldest son - Suvin Alex - finsihed 12th and plannin to continue studies in Canada
2nd son - Sajin Alex - in his 10th std. now..
Punnakadu (Kozhencherry)
-----------------
Grand Dad - M.T. Varghese ( kunjai) - worked in police force in Malaysia for many years - thats where my mom was born too- then worked in Insurance company in qatar
Grand Mom - Joyamma Varghese
Eldest Daughter - My mom
Second Daughter - Jolly Ninan (Jollymummy)- in Saudi - house wife - B.Com -she considers me as her son.
Husband - Ninan Mathew ( Babu) - from Kaviyoor, Tiruvalla. - Computer Engineer in Saudi. They reside in Damam
Third Son - Thomas Varghese (Shaji) - in Lonavala, Pune - Mechanical Engineer - Asst. Manager in a Nuts n Bolts company;-) (the coolest uncle of the lots)
Wife - Julie Thomas - Bsc.in Maths - house wife
Eldest son - Deepak Thomas - now in 12th in Don Bosco - the smartest kid in the family so far in terms of GK.
2nd son - Dilip Thomas - now in 9th std in Don Bosco - the second most naughtiest and wildest and loving of the lot
Fourth son - Abraham Varghese (Shibu) - in Kozhencherry - Dentist - MDS.- worked in Saudi for 3 yrs...my playmate when i was the only grandson in the family and very attached to him too.
wife - Elizabeth Abraham (Elsyammai) - from Kurianoor basically - Dentist - BDS...my fav ammai. more of a friend than ammai. very simple and naive. born n brought up in KUWAIT . Her parents were in kuwait for a long time. dad passed away recently.
Eldest Daughhter - Reshma - now in 5th std., i think..the biggest tongue in the house...non-stop talkin till she sleeps...
Second son - Rayan - now in 2nd std. the most naughtiest...and the most loving...my fav.cousin.
Third daughter - Raikah - a sweet little baby, now about 2.5 yrs old.
Thats my family - paternal n maternal:-)pretty BIG i guess:-)
-----------------------------
Grand Dad - Idiculla Oommen (called Appai by all) - was in Excise (Customs)
Grand Mom - Lily Elizabeth Oommen (lillykutty) - My GOD mother
Eldest son - Joji Oommen in glasgow- scotland - Dr. in British Army - Anaesthist
wife - Ruby Oommen - Dr. Ophthamology
Daughter - Swapna Elizabeth Oommen - Dr. - married to a scot guy Dr.David (orthopaedics). Swapna is expecting this october - 4 yrs elder to us
Son - Sarin George Oommen - major rugby player - finally decided to go in the lines of his family - doing 2nd yr medicine in Dundee now
Second Son - My dad - Mathew Oommen (Shaji) - born on June 5 1951 - Electrical Engineer from REC, Calicut.
wife - Aleyamma Mathew (Usha) - born on Jan 26 1957 - Msc. BEd. in Zoology
Son - Me:-) . currently in scotland...
Daughter - Remya Elizabeth Mathew - 9th std. M.E.S. indian school - qatar - born on 2nd Dec 1989
Third Son - George Oommen (Reji) - Chemistry Teacher - Now teaching in a school in Ernakulam..not sure of the name.
wife - Shanti George - Chemistry Teacher - now teaching in TIME's entrance/ CAT coaching centre in Ernakulam
Daughter 1 - Asha Elizabeth George - doing final year in ECE - Rajagiri college of Engineering, Ernakulam
Daughter 2 - Sheba George - in 12th Std. now - in Ernakulam
Fourth Son - Alex Oommen (Viji) - Maths Teacher - was in Dubai all this while - now migrating to Canada - my God father
wife - Susan Alex - English/Psychology teacher - born n brought up in Chennai
eldest son - Suvin Alex - finsihed 12th and plannin to continue studies in Canada
2nd son - Sajin Alex - in his 10th std. now..
Punnakadu (Kozhencherry)
-----------------
Grand Dad - M.T. Varghese ( kunjai) - worked in police force in Malaysia for many years - thats where my mom was born too- then worked in Insurance company in qatar
Grand Mom - Joyamma Varghese
Eldest Daughter - My mom
Second Daughter - Jolly Ninan (Jollymummy)- in Saudi - house wife - B.Com -she considers me as her son.
Husband - Ninan Mathew ( Babu) - from Kaviyoor, Tiruvalla. - Computer Engineer in Saudi. They reside in Damam
Third Son - Thomas Varghese (Shaji) - in Lonavala, Pune - Mechanical Engineer - Asst. Manager in a Nuts n Bolts company;-) (the coolest uncle of the lots)
Wife - Julie Thomas - Bsc.in Maths - house wife
Eldest son - Deepak Thomas - now in 12th in Don Bosco - the smartest kid in the family so far in terms of GK.
2nd son - Dilip Thomas - now in 9th std in Don Bosco - the second most naughtiest and wildest and loving of the lot
Fourth son - Abraham Varghese (Shibu) - in Kozhencherry - Dentist - MDS.- worked in Saudi for 3 yrs...my playmate when i was the only grandson in the family and very attached to him too.
wife - Elizabeth Abraham (Elsyammai) - from Kurianoor basically - Dentist - BDS...my fav ammai. more of a friend than ammai. very simple and naive. born n brought up in KUWAIT . Her parents were in kuwait for a long time. dad passed away recently.
Eldest Daughhter - Reshma - now in 5th std., i think..the biggest tongue in the house...non-stop talkin till she sleeps...
Second son - Rayan - now in 2nd std. the most naughtiest...and the most loving...my fav.cousin.
Third daughter - Raikah - a sweet little baby, now about 2.5 yrs old.
Thats my family - paternal n maternal:-)pretty BIG i guess:-)
Monday, July 26, 2004
Me, myself n Vineesh
During this last weekend, when I was staying over at Travel lodge next to M6, there was this electronic thingy which would measure m,y blood pressure, weight and height for £1. And I decided to test my height and weight once n for all. and the results:
Readings:
----------
Weight : 87.3 Kgs (13st 101lbs)
Height : 174 cm ( 5'8")
Blood Pressure:
Maximum Systolic : 121 mm Hg
Minimum Diastolic : 74 mm Hg
Pulse per minute : 65
Atmospheric pressure: 768 mm Hg
BMI (Body to Mass Index = Weight/ [Height*Height]) = 28.8
Expected Results:
------------------
Weight : 60.6 kg - 75.4 kg
Blood Pressure:
Maximum Systolic : 140 mm Hg
Minimum Diastolic : 90 mm Hg
Pulse per minute : 72
Inferences:
------------
BMI => I am Overweight (by an index of 3.9)
Weight => I am Overweight ( by about 11.9 kgs)
Blood Pressure => Low BP? or is it ok (Any doctor or knowledgeable person lemme know)
Pulse / min => Obviously low. Guess I am way too cool with no worries or tensions in life.
a perfectly plump yo dude!!!;-)
Readings:
----------
Weight : 87.3 Kgs (13st 101lbs)
Height : 174 cm ( 5'8")
Blood Pressure:
Maximum Systolic : 121 mm Hg
Minimum Diastolic : 74 mm Hg
Pulse per minute : 65
Atmospheric pressure: 768 mm Hg
BMI (Body to Mass Index = Weight/ [Height*Height]) = 28.8
Expected Results:
------------------
Weight : 60.6 kg - 75.4 kg
Blood Pressure:
Maximum Systolic : 140 mm Hg
Minimum Diastolic : 90 mm Hg
Pulse per minute : 72
Inferences:
------------
BMI => I am Overweight (by an index of 3.9)
Weight => I am Overweight ( by about 11.9 kgs)
Blood Pressure => Low BP? or is it ok (Any doctor or knowledgeable person lemme know)
Pulse / min => Obviously low. Guess I am way too cool with no worries or tensions in life.
a perfectly plump yo dude!!!;-)
Road Trip II - Day one
Well we had another one of those road trips this weekend.This time to Lake district and Blackpool.
Had had plans to wake up at 5 on Saturday morning and leave by 6:00 but things got delayed by an hour...and we started from Edinburgh at 7 after having picked up Sapna(colleague of mine)from her home. This time again, it was only 4 of us - Myself, Srijith, Basu and Sapna. Vinay(who was there in our last road trip) could not join us as he was oncall for the weekend. So the poor guy had to stay back in edinburgh all alone. Felt bad for him. but then could not help it.
We started out from Edinburgh. Got into one of the "A" roads (similar to state highways in India). Srijith was driving the car. This time we had a Ford Fiesta - Black colour. Thought we would get a sedan but it was out of stock. anyway the start of a journey is always bright. The first stop we had was in a nearby petrol bunk. We had to fill in diesel. Basu got us all some breakfast from the services shop next to the bunk . Anyway then we continued our journey. We went via the place called Galashiels. There was nothing much to see there and so we continued on our journey and next stop point was Silkirk. We had not actually planned to stop there..but after a while we realised that we were going round n round in Silkirk and could not get out of the place. We were supposed to go to this place called Hawick (pronouced Hoik) and we were following the boards but somewhere some cranky guy had taken off one of the boards and we were going in circles.So finally we stopped the car, asked a couple of guys and they were not able to explain to us the way. Then we (the guys )felt nature's call and amazingly there was a "pay n pee" toilet:-) After relieving ourselves from such mundane tensions;-) We entered a bakery to gran on couple of muffins and the old granny there showed us our way out of Silkirk and into Hawick. We continued on the drive. In the car we were listening to CD's like "Bagpiper yaaron ka yaar", RDX-II, War of the DJ's etc etc..all remix versions of good lovely oldies. We then entered into M6 (England's longest motorway; similar to National highways)
and basu took over the car. His dream/ aim was to touch 100 miles per hour. Basu tried putting itpast 95 initially and the speedometer was not budging and we assumed since the car was small..that was the max speed it would take...ad then suddenly, i saw that we had crossed 100 mph and the happiness on his face was something to be seen. Then he was changing lanes and at the speed he was going we almost went and kissed another cars' butt. and that psyched him out of his wits. And he parked in the next available parking zone and handed over the wheel to me. Continued on the drive via Carlisle and into Penrith (courtesy me).At a particular point instead of driving into Kendal and into Lake district , i had taken a wrong turn and voila we were in the town of Penrith and not knowing where to go. and we were looking arnd and going slowly and i was in 3rd gear that car suddenly jumped n stopped (coz of the low speed obviously). and there were a fleet of cars behind us. The guys behind Honked (that the sybolic way of yellin here else Horns are rarely used in Britain, i guess. Only if you want to yell/abuse someone for wrong driving or delayin unnecessarily, will you honk at them). Anyway then me started the car and drove into a parking lot. I didnt find the drive that very comfortable. Somehow within city limits. just could not enjoy it.Srijith took over then There was nothing much to see or enjoy here other than for the drive part and picturesque beauty around. Once we got past Kendal we entered into Lake District. Our first stop was at RYdal n Grashmere lakes. These lakes are monitored by the Lake District National park authority. We got out from the car and walked a bit into the woods and then climbed a hill to see the view of the whole lake. There were a lot of ppl trekking n biking over there. took a lot of snaps...in between Basu climebed a tree..rather i propelled him onto it and i tried hanging from there and woof...i scratched my stomach in the process and Basu got stuck for some few moments on top. He could not jump down since it was a slope onto which he would have had to jump and there was risk of slippin n getting hurt. Anyway somehow he managed to get down. and we got back into the car and drove along. We reached this place Ambleside. We had planned to climb a hill which is abt 500 mts in vertical height but then we decided against it. since that would have taken abt an hour or 2 and all of us wanted to go on a cruise. So next stop was Ambleside where we paid £15 each to go on the Windermere lake Cruise.
This windermere lake is England's largest fresh water lake. We got on the cruise and the journey was for an hour or so..we went to the upper deck and then came to the front end of the boat. For a moment ,had this mind to stand on the railings (i dont know what the exact term is) and stretchj out my arms (the TITANIC way without my kate winselet) but then there were lot of tourists on board and the captains room was just overlookin to the front end. and i somehow didnt want the whole junta to be laughin at me for this;) anyway the cruise first stopped at this place called Bowness for abt 15 min where few got off and few other got in. Once Bowness was past, we went to the lower deck and it was splendid. This was the bar/ refreshments room of the ship and from the window we could see the water as if we were in water with just th head bobbing out....anyway finally reached Windermere. Here was a large underwatter tunnel aquarium. Went into it...amazing it was. you could see all sorts of fish big n small going all around you and at times felt like just holding them. then there was a asmall pond within the aquarium and there we saw the RAY fish. As in there were lots but there was one which was active and whenever it saw anyone taking a snap...it used to come half out of water and pose itself in front of the camer (it was not actually posing..but then u know how my imagination just goes)...tried getting a snap of its face but then just could not get it to pose long enough;-)
there was a gift shop there from which myself,basu and sapna picked up a few souveniers. Then we waited for the return boat. The return cruise took us to Broughness and from there we ahd to take another cruise back to Ambleside. Once in Ambleside Srijith took over the wheels and drove thru M6 to the travel lodge in Lancaster. The Lodge was too good..We 3 guys were put up in one room and Sapna in another room!! And to top it all there were all possible restaurants like Burger King, Little Chef, Mcdonalds, KFC etc..etc..and boy I had a dinner of XL DOUBLE Whopper meal from Burger King. yuuuuuuuuuummmmmmm........
After din,we all sat and talked till about 11:30 pm on one of the park benches generally talking abt sticking to one company and being loyal to your company FOREVER (sapna's view) while we argued that for our personal growth in career we needed to shift jobs if required and not stick on. anyway the discussions were getting heated up and things slowly started getting personal so then we wound up for the day and hit the sack ..hmmm...thats day 1!!
will be uploading the snaps tonight and you can check it out on Day 2 blog which i will be putting up today sometime later or tomo sometime...till then
Cheers:-)
Had had plans to wake up at 5 on Saturday morning and leave by 6:00 but things got delayed by an hour...and we started from Edinburgh at 7 after having picked up Sapna(colleague of mine)from her home. This time again, it was only 4 of us - Myself, Srijith, Basu and Sapna. Vinay(who was there in our last road trip) could not join us as he was oncall for the weekend. So the poor guy had to stay back in edinburgh all alone. Felt bad for him. but then could not help it.
We started out from Edinburgh. Got into one of the "A" roads (similar to state highways in India). Srijith was driving the car. This time we had a Ford Fiesta - Black colour. Thought we would get a sedan but it was out of stock. anyway the start of a journey is always bright. The first stop we had was in a nearby petrol bunk. We had to fill in diesel. Basu got us all some breakfast from the services shop next to the bunk . Anyway then we continued our journey. We went via the place called Galashiels. There was nothing much to see there and so we continued on our journey and next stop point was Silkirk. We had not actually planned to stop there..but after a while we realised that we were going round n round in Silkirk and could not get out of the place. We were supposed to go to this place called Hawick (pronouced Hoik) and we were following the boards but somewhere some cranky guy had taken off one of the boards and we were going in circles.So finally we stopped the car, asked a couple of guys and they were not able to explain to us the way. Then we (the guys )felt nature's call and amazingly there was a "pay n pee" toilet:-) After relieving ourselves from such mundane tensions;-) We entered a bakery to gran on couple of muffins and the old granny there showed us our way out of Silkirk and into Hawick. We continued on the drive. In the car we were listening to CD's like "Bagpiper yaaron ka yaar", RDX-II, War of the DJ's etc etc..all remix versions of good lovely oldies. We then entered into M6 (England's longest motorway; similar to National highways)
and basu took over the car. His dream/ aim was to touch 100 miles per hour. Basu tried putting itpast 95 initially and the speedometer was not budging and we assumed since the car was small..that was the max speed it would take...ad then suddenly, i saw that we had crossed 100 mph and the happiness on his face was something to be seen. Then he was changing lanes and at the speed he was going we almost went and kissed another cars' butt. and that psyched him out of his wits. And he parked in the next available parking zone and handed over the wheel to me. Continued on the drive via Carlisle and into Penrith (courtesy me).At a particular point instead of driving into Kendal and into Lake district , i had taken a wrong turn and voila we were in the town of Penrith and not knowing where to go. and we were looking arnd and going slowly and i was in 3rd gear that car suddenly jumped n stopped (coz of the low speed obviously). and there were a fleet of cars behind us. The guys behind Honked (that the sybolic way of yellin here else Horns are rarely used in Britain, i guess. Only if you want to yell/abuse someone for wrong driving or delayin unnecessarily, will you honk at them). Anyway then me started the car and drove into a parking lot. I didnt find the drive that very comfortable. Somehow within city limits. just could not enjoy it.Srijith took over then There was nothing much to see or enjoy here other than for the drive part and picturesque beauty around. Once we got past Kendal we entered into Lake District. Our first stop was at RYdal n Grashmere lakes. These lakes are monitored by the Lake District National park authority. We got out from the car and walked a bit into the woods and then climbed a hill to see the view of the whole lake. There were a lot of ppl trekking n biking over there. took a lot of snaps...in between Basu climebed a tree..rather i propelled him onto it and i tried hanging from there and woof...i scratched my stomach in the process and Basu got stuck for some few moments on top. He could not jump down since it was a slope onto which he would have had to jump and there was risk of slippin n getting hurt. Anyway somehow he managed to get down. and we got back into the car and drove along. We reached this place Ambleside. We had planned to climb a hill which is abt 500 mts in vertical height but then we decided against it. since that would have taken abt an hour or 2 and all of us wanted to go on a cruise. So next stop was Ambleside where we paid £15 each to go on the Windermere lake Cruise.
This windermere lake is England's largest fresh water lake. We got on the cruise and the journey was for an hour or so..we went to the upper deck and then came to the front end of the boat. For a moment ,had this mind to stand on the railings (i dont know what the exact term is) and stretchj out my arms (the TITANIC way without my kate winselet) but then there were lot of tourists on board and the captains room was just overlookin to the front end. and i somehow didnt want the whole junta to be laughin at me for this;) anyway the cruise first stopped at this place called Bowness for abt 15 min where few got off and few other got in. Once Bowness was past, we went to the lower deck and it was splendid. This was the bar/ refreshments room of the ship and from the window we could see the water as if we were in water with just th head bobbing out....anyway finally reached Windermere. Here was a large underwatter tunnel aquarium. Went into it...amazing it was. you could see all sorts of fish big n small going all around you and at times felt like just holding them. then there was a asmall pond within the aquarium and there we saw the RAY fish. As in there were lots but there was one which was active and whenever it saw anyone taking a snap...it used to come half out of water and pose itself in front of the camer (it was not actually posing..but then u know how my imagination just goes)...tried getting a snap of its face but then just could not get it to pose long enough;-)
there was a gift shop there from which myself,basu and sapna picked up a few souveniers. Then we waited for the return boat. The return cruise took us to Broughness and from there we ahd to take another cruise back to Ambleside. Once in Ambleside Srijith took over the wheels and drove thru M6 to the travel lodge in Lancaster. The Lodge was too good..We 3 guys were put up in one room and Sapna in another room!! And to top it all there were all possible restaurants like Burger King, Little Chef, Mcdonalds, KFC etc..etc..and boy I had a dinner of XL DOUBLE Whopper meal from Burger King. yuuuuuuuuuummmmmmm........
After din,we all sat and talked till about 11:30 pm on one of the park benches generally talking abt sticking to one company and being loyal to your company FOREVER (sapna's view) while we argued that for our personal growth in career we needed to shift jobs if required and not stick on. anyway the discussions were getting heated up and things slowly started getting personal so then we wound up for the day and hit the sack ..hmmm...thats day 1!!
will be uploading the snaps tonight and you can check it out on Day 2 blog which i will be putting up today sometime later or tomo sometime...till then
Cheers:-)
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Thought for today
Only twice in your life do they pronounce you:
The first is Man and Wife
(Dennis Hopper and his wife Victoria Duffy, April 12,1996)
Second is Dead
The first is Man and Wife
(Dennis Hopper and his wife Victoria Duffy, April 12,1996)
Second is Dead
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Life (Re)Cycle!!
I am bored with life...there is nothing exciting happening at all.What exactly is the definition of exciting? is it the presence of a really challenging job or is it something like your work environment is located in a jungle and you have to get through all the peril to get to your cubicle??
well frankly speaking i dont mind either of the choices...the second would be physically exciting though..and much more challenging. Imagine riding on crocodiles to get across the river, playing with lion cubs, wrestling with a bear all on your way to work and way back from work and to top it all you would be fit n trim:-) (personally would get of this excess fat)...and if it is the former, then it would wake up my completely dormant brain.
Wish I was a some paper or plastic at times..which could be recycled and start life all over again...atleast the first 21 yrs of my life (till my college ended) can be classified as exciting for sure - what with all the fights, romance (mind you- no running arnd trees like in bollywood), flirting ,how could you say life was dull then...each day presented a new challenge of some kind. The only time it was dull was when exam set in...but then again i found a challenge there...staying up the whole night and cramming and understanding stuff for the first time in a semester for the particular subject...what could be more challenging and in this case it was a fight against time....wonder what i would have been if ever i studied like that the whole semester...class topper...??hmmm..intersting thought..but no regrets so far..absolutely not..!!I am happy the way things went for me in college especially..!and one thing i am really proud of is...that i scraped thru (right word) all the semesters without getting a suplee ever..!!(a pat on my own back for the same;-)) Anyway all thats over...................sheesh...really dont mind going back in time just for enjoying those 4 glorious years specially.............................
This weekend planning to hire car again and go on another road trip to
Lake District
Nothing finalised yet. But planning still going on.......
well frankly speaking i dont mind either of the choices...the second would be physically exciting though..and much more challenging. Imagine riding on crocodiles to get across the river, playing with lion cubs, wrestling with a bear all on your way to work and way back from work and to top it all you would be fit n trim:-) (personally would get of this excess fat)...and if it is the former, then it would wake up my completely dormant brain.
Wish I was a some paper or plastic at times..which could be recycled and start life all over again...atleast the first 21 yrs of my life (till my college ended) can be classified as exciting for sure - what with all the fights, romance (mind you- no running arnd trees like in bollywood), flirting ,how could you say life was dull then...each day presented a new challenge of some kind. The only time it was dull was when exam set in...but then again i found a challenge there...staying up the whole night and cramming and understanding stuff for the first time in a semester for the particular subject...what could be more challenging and in this case it was a fight against time....wonder what i would have been if ever i studied like that the whole semester...class topper...??hmmm..intersting thought..but no regrets so far..absolutely not..!!I am happy the way things went for me in college especially..!and one thing i am really proud of is...that i scraped thru (right word) all the semesters without getting a suplee ever..!!(a pat on my own back for the same;-)) Anyway all thats over...................sheesh...really dont mind going back in time just for enjoying those 4 glorious years specially.............................
This weekend planning to hire car again and go on another road trip to
Lake District
Nothing finalised yet. But planning still going on.......
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Fate!!
Its so funny. The way fate plays it games...sometime real dirty. At times you are so close to achieving a goal that you even have anticipatory celebrations but then "sudden twist of fate" and you are embarassed beyond belief...you are disgraced!!you feel like jumping out of the window not knowing what to do. After all the blood n sweat that was shed to achieve the target, now you lie down there thinking what went wrong. Y could not things just be the way it was and had been going on all this while....there are no answers...none to help you!! In this evil world you are all alone when you take the brunt.
I still remember this vivid incident way back in 1991, somewhere in November. I was in the 6th Std. and it was the Annual Sports Day in my school . Since the day i had seen one of my cousin sisters get the individual championship cup , that had become my dream - To hold that cup some day (to this day i have not been able to achieve that). And in my child mind, as always, i thought then that this was the year i had the biggest chance to become the individual champion. I was all excited and had practiced sprints n jumps for almost a month in Doha Corniche tugging my dad along with me every night to record my timings for the sprint and to measure my jumps.
And boy finally the D-day arrived. Annual sports meet 1991-1992. I was all set. Clad in Yellow shorts and t-shirt i went to school all ready to lift the cup of my dreams.
(I was in the yellow house. The entire school was divided into 4 colours - red, blue, green, yellow). I had reached school pretty early and few of my class mates had also arrived. We decided to practice before the actual events kicked off...and we did small sprints. And i was very elated coz in all these practice sessions i was emerging the winner with the best time and best jumps...my joy knew no bounds...!!I already started dreaming of the final function when i would be handed the cup.
The bell rang for the school assembly and while the students were gathering for the assembly, me and a couple of my friends decided to do one last practice before everythin commenced.
We got ready at the start line and swoosh...we ran and my leg got tangled with another friend of mine "Syed jaffer"..and i fell on the cemented floor..BAM!!my hand was smarting in pain...and my friends came running around to seeif i was ok!!I stood up bravely just shunnin them away sayin nothin could go wrong with me..!!I was not going to loose that cup of mine for anything in this world.
The events started. The first was the 100 meters dash qualifiers, i made it thru till the semifinals. Then was the 200 meters for which i had made it thru till the final. For long jump, though weighing nearly 50 kilos(over weight for a 6std. guy), my efforts did not go in vain. I got a bronze medal for the same.
I knew I was nearing my goal. all i had to get was probably a gold each in 100 mts and 200 mts and probably a silver for the 800 meters which was my last event. Any student was allowed to participate only in 4 individual events of which not more than 3 could belong to a particular category (so i had 3 track and 1 jump event).
My hand was writhing in pain all the while. I kept quiet. I could not make a fuss of the pain and get myself out of the race when i saw my chances of gettin the cup were very bright.
The 800mts was my last event. The finals of the 100 mts and semi n finals of the 200 mts was scheduled for the next day. I realised getting a silver in the 800 would vey well guarantee the cup. The race started. I completed one circle round the track(400 mts) comfortably. i was in the third or forth position and i had plans of accelerating in the last 100 mts or so...and i was nearing the last 100 mts..my hand was beginning to pain real bad...and the heat (somewhere round 30 degrees) was almost getting into me...my vision blurred...but i was not to give up...i needed that cup..i could not give up after comin so far...i kept running...and in the last 50 meters or so...i collapsed on the track...i fainted........................
Afte 5 min, i felt sprinkles of water on my face. Rubbin my eyes, wrist paining real bad, i got up and from the corner of my eyes i saw the medals being given away for the 800 metres and i knew i had lost it...i started crying. my mom( who is the vice-priniciapl of my school) was next to me and thought that i was cryin in pain. and i looked at my left hand and saw that there was a huge swell on my wrist..i was sent to the hospital in the school bus by my mom and by the time i reached hospital , dad had also reached the hospital.
The doctor took an x-ray and checked. I had Goddamned fractured my wrist. It was just a small crack butt due to lack of giving attention at the right time and having lifted weights and did long jump too , the fracture had become worse.
I got my first dose of scolding from the doctor for not coming to the hospital straight away. (who in the world would have thought that such a normal fall would result in a fracture...if i listened to his words...i would have been in hospital everyday every hour of my school life..i guess;-))
And then i got the second dose of scolding from my dad for trying to act smart. He even asked me if i was Carl Lewis or not...
I had no answer.......Maybe not Carl Lewis but then , upto even this day I maintain that I could have been the Individual Champion for the Sub-junior category in 1991 in my school...........and who knows how my fate would have been then.......
I still remember this vivid incident way back in 1991, somewhere in November. I was in the 6th Std. and it was the Annual Sports Day in my school . Since the day i had seen one of my cousin sisters get the individual championship cup , that had become my dream - To hold that cup some day (to this day i have not been able to achieve that). And in my child mind, as always, i thought then that this was the year i had the biggest chance to become the individual champion. I was all excited and had practiced sprints n jumps for almost a month in Doha Corniche tugging my dad along with me every night to record my timings for the sprint and to measure my jumps.
And boy finally the D-day arrived. Annual sports meet 1991-1992. I was all set. Clad in Yellow shorts and t-shirt i went to school all ready to lift the cup of my dreams.
(I was in the yellow house. The entire school was divided into 4 colours - red, blue, green, yellow). I had reached school pretty early and few of my class mates had also arrived. We decided to practice before the actual events kicked off...and we did small sprints. And i was very elated coz in all these practice sessions i was emerging the winner with the best time and best jumps...my joy knew no bounds...!!I already started dreaming of the final function when i would be handed the cup.
The bell rang for the school assembly and while the students were gathering for the assembly, me and a couple of my friends decided to do one last practice before everythin commenced.
We got ready at the start line and swoosh...we ran and my leg got tangled with another friend of mine "Syed jaffer"..and i fell on the cemented floor..BAM!!my hand was smarting in pain...and my friends came running around to seeif i was ok!!I stood up bravely just shunnin them away sayin nothin could go wrong with me..!!I was not going to loose that cup of mine for anything in this world.
The events started. The first was the 100 meters dash qualifiers, i made it thru till the semifinals. Then was the 200 meters for which i had made it thru till the final. For long jump, though weighing nearly 50 kilos(over weight for a 6std. guy), my efforts did not go in vain. I got a bronze medal for the same.
I knew I was nearing my goal. all i had to get was probably a gold each in 100 mts and 200 mts and probably a silver for the 800 meters which was my last event. Any student was allowed to participate only in 4 individual events of which not more than 3 could belong to a particular category (so i had 3 track and 1 jump event).
My hand was writhing in pain all the while. I kept quiet. I could not make a fuss of the pain and get myself out of the race when i saw my chances of gettin the cup were very bright.
The 800mts was my last event. The finals of the 100 mts and semi n finals of the 200 mts was scheduled for the next day. I realised getting a silver in the 800 would vey well guarantee the cup. The race started. I completed one circle round the track(400 mts) comfortably. i was in the third or forth position and i had plans of accelerating in the last 100 mts or so...and i was nearing the last 100 mts..my hand was beginning to pain real bad...and the heat (somewhere round 30 degrees) was almost getting into me...my vision blurred...but i was not to give up...i needed that cup..i could not give up after comin so far...i kept running...and in the last 50 meters or so...i collapsed on the track...i fainted........................
Afte 5 min, i felt sprinkles of water on my face. Rubbin my eyes, wrist paining real bad, i got up and from the corner of my eyes i saw the medals being given away for the 800 metres and i knew i had lost it...i started crying. my mom( who is the vice-priniciapl of my school) was next to me and thought that i was cryin in pain. and i looked at my left hand and saw that there was a huge swell on my wrist..i was sent to the hospital in the school bus by my mom and by the time i reached hospital , dad had also reached the hospital.
The doctor took an x-ray and checked. I had Goddamned fractured my wrist. It was just a small crack butt due to lack of giving attention at the right time and having lifted weights and did long jump too , the fracture had become worse.
I got my first dose of scolding from the doctor for not coming to the hospital straight away. (who in the world would have thought that such a normal fall would result in a fracture...if i listened to his words...i would have been in hospital everyday every hour of my school life..i guess;-))
And then i got the second dose of scolding from my dad for trying to act smart. He even asked me if i was Carl Lewis or not...
I had no answer.......Maybe not Carl Lewis but then , upto even this day I maintain that I could have been the Individual Champion for the Sub-junior category in 1991 in my school...........and who knows how my fate would have been then.......
Dammit!!
Its 1 am in the morning and i am still working. Thankfully these guys have given a laptop coz of which i have the luxury of working at home.
Else imagine sitting in the office at such unearthly hours and working your ass out and just today when Kolli had called I was bragging that there was not much work for me to do and i was just whistling away time many a days. Its quite funny the way work proceeds here. At times you are burdened with so much work that you have no time to breathe or think for that matter and at other times you just lie around asking people for work.......and getting bored so much so that you begine to think you are on a paid Holiday here in Edinburgh.....!!
Dammit!!another job failed..........................................
Else imagine sitting in the office at such unearthly hours and working your ass out and just today when Kolli had called I was bragging that there was not much work for me to do and i was just whistling away time many a days. Its quite funny the way work proceeds here. At times you are burdened with so much work that you have no time to breathe or think for that matter and at other times you just lie around asking people for work.......and getting bored so much so that you begine to think you are on a paid Holiday here in Edinburgh.....!!
Dammit!!another job failed..........................................
Monday, July 19, 2004
FRIENDS!!
Found this in Sankar's blog and tried it out.
really time pass stuff and makes sense if you are one of those fans of the FRIENDS series on TV.
I'm Chandler Bing from Friends!
Take the Friends Quiz here.
created by
stomps.
really time pass stuff and makes sense if you are one of those fans of the FRIENDS series on TV.
I'm Chandler Bing from Friends!
Take the Friends Quiz here.
created by
stomps.
Brotherhood
This past weekend, I had another wonderful experience. I re-lived my childhood once again. At my uncle's place , their very close family friends had come over and these ppl had a kid - Sumi . A 2.5 yr old adorable little baby.
Friday entire evening and Sunday till i left Glasgow, she was with me. a real adorable kid. She had long curly locks reachin upto her waist, big round eyes and her tongue was a mile long...!!the spark struck between us the moment i arrived. she got close to me very fast. Soon we were playing Hide n seek, cats n rats, cooking, takin care of baby, house-house..and all possible games that she was conjuring up in her playful little mind. And i just sync'ed with her and went on. It was an amazing feeling just to see that glimmer in her eyes and the smile and laughter coming from a clean pure heart, just tingles in you and even now i can hear her laughter..so innocent..so full..!! We even played Horse and elephant:-)
At a particular moment i felt really bad that i had not been a good brother to my own sister Remya. She was born in 1989, December 2nd when i was almost 9 yrs old. And for me at that point,it was like my kingdom, where i had been supreme king for 8.5 long years...all of a sudden it was being snatched away by this person who had just come into the world. The intial days were filled with rivalry and hatred esp when the entire attention of every other family member..(who upto this point had none else to pamper but me) was turned to her. I just could not tolerate it. There were moments when i used to lock myself up in the room and cry for being ignored, for being thrown out of the lime-light. This was too much of a change for a 9 yr old boy. However as time went by and she started growing up,i started liking her rather loving her. The elder-brother-should-protect-young-sister feeling creeped into me by then. Moreover ihad also grown up by the time and my thoughts had matured(atleast i thought so). I was into my teenage years when she wanted to play with dolls and all the above mentioned games that i have mentioned. And as a teenager, i admonished such games being played anywhere near me. What would my cool friends think about me if they happen to know i play doll, house, elephant, horsaes etc.. with my little sister. And in no way was i ready to compromise on my prestige, status (typical teenager) in front of my friends.And thus though i loved my sister and adored her more than anything / anyone else in the world, I never showed it out. I jst kept al lthese feelings within me and just saw to it that she was ok always and never had to cry courtesy me.
There are times during my teenage years when i have overheard my sis complaining to mom that "ee achachan'u enne ottum ishtam alla...ente kude onnum kalikilla..baaki elavarudeyum achachan'maaru avarude kude kalikumallo" ("this brother of mine does not like me at all...he doesnt play anything with me...everyone else's brothers' play with them")and these were the times when beads of sweat(out of fear tht she will start hating me) used to form a thin necklace of guilt within me........but ispite of all this i never could manage to go down to her level and play with her...
years passed by..and now at times i feel guilty that me as an elder brother might have deprived my little one from happiness which is really unforgiveable.
Our relation improved specially after i joined college-R.E.C.-Trichy and as the saying goes Distance made the heart grow fonder and things became better and atleast upto my satisfaction level, I was being a better and loving brother...and it has been so till date (touch wood)!!!
Friday entire evening and Sunday till i left Glasgow, she was with me. a real adorable kid. She had long curly locks reachin upto her waist, big round eyes and her tongue was a mile long...!!the spark struck between us the moment i arrived. she got close to me very fast. Soon we were playing Hide n seek, cats n rats, cooking, takin care of baby, house-house..and all possible games that she was conjuring up in her playful little mind. And i just sync'ed with her and went on. It was an amazing feeling just to see that glimmer in her eyes and the smile and laughter coming from a clean pure heart, just tingles in you and even now i can hear her laughter..so innocent..so full..!! We even played Horse and elephant:-)
At a particular moment i felt really bad that i had not been a good brother to my own sister Remya. She was born in 1989, December 2nd when i was almost 9 yrs old. And for me at that point,it was like my kingdom, where i had been supreme king for 8.5 long years...all of a sudden it was being snatched away by this person who had just come into the world. The intial days were filled with rivalry and hatred esp when the entire attention of every other family member..(who upto this point had none else to pamper but me) was turned to her. I just could not tolerate it. There were moments when i used to lock myself up in the room and cry for being ignored, for being thrown out of the lime-light. This was too much of a change for a 9 yr old boy. However as time went by and she started growing up,i started liking her rather loving her. The elder-brother-should-protect-young-sister feeling creeped into me by then. Moreover ihad also grown up by the time and my thoughts had matured(atleast i thought so). I was into my teenage years when she wanted to play with dolls and all the above mentioned games that i have mentioned. And as a teenager, i admonished such games being played anywhere near me. What would my cool friends think about me if they happen to know i play doll, house, elephant, horsaes etc.. with my little sister. And in no way was i ready to compromise on my prestige, status (typical teenager) in front of my friends.And thus though i loved my sister and adored her more than anything / anyone else in the world, I never showed it out. I jst kept al lthese feelings within me and just saw to it that she was ok always and never had to cry courtesy me.
There are times during my teenage years when i have overheard my sis complaining to mom that "ee achachan'u enne ottum ishtam alla...ente kude onnum kalikilla..baaki elavarudeyum achachan'maaru avarude kude kalikumallo" ("this brother of mine does not like me at all...he doesnt play anything with me...everyone else's brothers' play with them")and these were the times when beads of sweat(out of fear tht she will start hating me) used to form a thin necklace of guilt within me........but ispite of all this i never could manage to go down to her level and play with her...
years passed by..and now at times i feel guilty that me as an elder brother might have deprived my little one from happiness which is really unforgiveable.
Our relation improved specially after i joined college-R.E.C.-Trichy and as the saying goes Distance made the heart grow fonder and things became better and atleast upto my satisfaction level, I was being a better and loving brother...and it has been so till date (touch wood)!!!
Saturday, July 17, 2004
Ooo La la.....
The weekend was good...!!
I went to Glasgow...had a great time ..as in proper relaxation..holiday...whatever you could think of!!
Think about this..a whole 2 -storeyed house to yourself with net connection, cable TV, an excellent collection of DVD's ranging from Monsoon wedding. Sixth sense, Top Gun to Bad Boys-II and even Cold Mountain and a fridge full of food ranging from aunty's specially-made-for-nephew home cooked food to pizzas and cold chicken/ salad creams and all sort of delicacies like cookies n chocolates and what not..!!:-))and to top it all that..call up KFC and ask them to drop in a COMBO meal at your place..!!that was heaven on earth for me..!!
Dont ponder too much what i was doing there alone at my uncle's place..i had told my uncle (Dad's brother) that i would be droppin in at their place for the weekend and they forgot that they had a marriage to attend and end result being me landed there and they had to go for the marriage:-) n my only company for sometime on Saturday was my cousin brother Sarin. He was a proper host and there are a lot of memories that i have shared with him in childhood days...!!in the earlier days when i was small..he used to be real thin and i used to be HUGE..horizontally but then as time went by...he got more and more healthier (muscle building..etc) while i went on being healthier in another way!!:-)
and today this is how he looks
The above snap is shot after the recently held finals of The BT BOWL (Club level Rugby) after his team lost. He is the one in the front row squatting in the extreme left with a blonde streak on his hair..!!(HE looks like me...face atleast):-)
Anyway watching movies was getting boring for me and i decided to read HARRY POTTER for a change. Read from Volume 1 till PRISONER OF AZKABAN. Amazing book. This is one book i think that will enrapture both the children and adults alike. It has a mix of Enid Blyton (wizard land and magic - suiting taste of children), to some extent Agatha christie (the mysteries involved and revelation of Harry's history at odd moments when you least expect it) and John Grisham.And the best part is once u start reading Harry potter, u dont feel like keeping the book down till u have reached the end...i was awake till 2:30 am today morning trying to finish Prisoner of azkaban and never knew when i fell asleep..!!Anyway thats that!!
all in all a very relaxing and fantastic weekend. and I might have gained a couple of kilos too;-)
By the way..today onwards i am going to tell my weight in stones. I weigh nearly 14 stones (14 stones = 90 kilos...so for those intersted you can do the necessary conversion and decide how many stones you weigh;-)))
CHEERS.
I went to Glasgow...had a great time ..as in proper relaxation..holiday...whatever you could think of!!
Think about this..a whole 2 -storeyed house to yourself with net connection, cable TV, an excellent collection of DVD's ranging from Monsoon wedding. Sixth sense, Top Gun to Bad Boys-II and even Cold Mountain and a fridge full of food ranging from aunty's specially-made-for-nephew home cooked food to pizzas and cold chicken/ salad creams and all sort of delicacies like cookies n chocolates and what not..!!:-))and to top it all that..call up KFC and ask them to drop in a COMBO meal at your place..!!that was heaven on earth for me..!!
Dont ponder too much what i was doing there alone at my uncle's place..i had told my uncle (Dad's brother) that i would be droppin in at their place for the weekend and they forgot that they had a marriage to attend and end result being me landed there and they had to go for the marriage:-) n my only company for sometime on Saturday was my cousin brother Sarin. He was a proper host and there are a lot of memories that i have shared with him in childhood days...!!in the earlier days when i was small..he used to be real thin and i used to be HUGE..horizontally but then as time went by...he got more and more healthier (muscle building..etc) while i went on being healthier in another way!!:-)
and today this is how he looks
The above snap is shot after the recently held finals of The BT BOWL (Club level Rugby) after his team lost. He is the one in the front row squatting in the extreme left with a blonde streak on his hair..!!(HE looks like me...face atleast):-)
Anyway watching movies was getting boring for me and i decided to read HARRY POTTER for a change. Read from Volume 1 till PRISONER OF AZKABAN. Amazing book. This is one book i think that will enrapture both the children and adults alike. It has a mix of Enid Blyton (wizard land and magic - suiting taste of children), to some extent Agatha christie (the mysteries involved and revelation of Harry's history at odd moments when you least expect it) and John Grisham.And the best part is once u start reading Harry potter, u dont feel like keeping the book down till u have reached the end...i was awake till 2:30 am today morning trying to finish Prisoner of azkaban and never knew when i fell asleep..!!Anyway thats that!!
all in all a very relaxing and fantastic weekend. and I might have gained a couple of kilos too;-)
By the way..today onwards i am going to tell my weight in stones. I weigh nearly 14 stones (14 stones = 90 kilos...so for those intersted you can do the necessary conversion and decide how many stones you weigh;-)))
CHEERS.
Brilliance!!
An English university creative writing class was asked to write a concise essay containing the following elements:
1) Religion
2) Royalty
3) Sex
4) Mystery
The prizewinner wrote"My God," said the queen, "I'm pregnant. I wonder who did it?"
1) Religion
2) Royalty
3) Sex
4) Mystery
The prizewinner wrote"My God," said the queen, "I'm pregnant. I wonder who did it?"
Thursday, July 15, 2004
My Experiments in the Kitchen
Hmmm.....believe me when i say i never in my dreams thought that I would be cooking at any point of my life. I remember my mom used to keep asking me what if my betrothed was ignorant of cooking and i had a steady response always "I will make sure she knows cooking before i get married to anyone".
But we have all heard the common saying "Necessity is the mother of invention" and miracle of miracles....i was forced into cooking after joining my office Edinburgh. The main reasons being:
1. It is not everyday that you can eat half boiled vegeatbles and half cooked stuff at canteen
2. The amount spend in cafeteria is almost double what it would be if i cooked at home.
So takin all these factors into consideration, i plunged into the world of cookery. The inspiration to cook, i must admit, came from my flat mate in blore as well as here in edin burgh now - Randeep Basu. He is the main cook. I cut the vegetables and mix the masala in the correct propportion while he starts cooking. And then he leaves it to me while i check the taste and add salt/pepper/whatever available to make it more spicy n hot - this taste in food can be attributed to me being a mallu, i guess and it does help when the other person is a Bong with similar food habits and is a non-veg too:-)))))
We had intially started with veg dishes experimenting various recipes and then one day, a weekend, we decided to try our hand on chicken. It is a point worth mentioning that both of us were new to cooking (atleast i was and i guess so was he) and cutting and cookin chicken was a dream for us.
And we decided to make this dream a reality. And you should have been there to taste it - yummy yum:-). That day we realised that if not for anything atleast for survival sakes we could cook n eat tasty food:-)
Potato (aaloo) has become our staple food coz no matter what dish we prepare, that seems to be the main ingredient - aaloo baingan, aaloo gobi, aaloo dum, aaloo mutter, Gobi dum, rasam, sambar, dal , rice and once even aaloo parathas. Rice, samabar, dal and rasam are generally made by other falt mate here - Vinay V who is a pure vegetarian though after being in our company, he has slowly started eating eggs:-). He makes excellent Sambar/Rasam/Dal, provided he has the mood.:-) But after coming onsite, by far the best sambar has been prepared by Srijith - one of my colleagues and u can call him my ML (module leader) as well.Excellent.
The intial days of cooking were filled with enthu when we used to get up in the morning and cook lunch in all zest n vigor.
But off late the drive has gone. Have to get some new recipes, i guess in order to get the old enthu back again in cooking.
All in all i can say - My lucky wife;-)
But we have all heard the common saying "Necessity is the mother of invention" and miracle of miracles....i was forced into cooking after joining my office Edinburgh. The main reasons being:
1. It is not everyday that you can eat half boiled vegeatbles and half cooked stuff at canteen
2. The amount spend in cafeteria is almost double what it would be if i cooked at home.
So takin all these factors into consideration, i plunged into the world of cookery. The inspiration to cook, i must admit, came from my flat mate in blore as well as here in edin burgh now - Randeep Basu. He is the main cook. I cut the vegetables and mix the masala in the correct propportion while he starts cooking. And then he leaves it to me while i check the taste and add salt/pepper/whatever available to make it more spicy n hot - this taste in food can be attributed to me being a mallu, i guess and it does help when the other person is a Bong with similar food habits and is a non-veg too:-)))))
We had intially started with veg dishes experimenting various recipes and then one day, a weekend, we decided to try our hand on chicken. It is a point worth mentioning that both of us were new to cooking (atleast i was and i guess so was he) and cutting and cookin chicken was a dream for us.
And we decided to make this dream a reality. And you should have been there to taste it - yummy yum:-). That day we realised that if not for anything atleast for survival sakes we could cook n eat tasty food:-)
Potato (aaloo) has become our staple food coz no matter what dish we prepare, that seems to be the main ingredient - aaloo baingan, aaloo gobi, aaloo dum, aaloo mutter, Gobi dum, rasam, sambar, dal , rice and once even aaloo parathas. Rice, samabar, dal and rasam are generally made by other falt mate here - Vinay V who is a pure vegetarian though after being in our company, he has slowly started eating eggs:-). He makes excellent Sambar/Rasam/Dal, provided he has the mood.:-) But after coming onsite, by far the best sambar has been prepared by Srijith - one of my colleagues and u can call him my ML (module leader) as well.Excellent.
The intial days of cooking were filled with enthu when we used to get up in the morning and cook lunch in all zest n vigor.
But off late the drive has gone. Have to get some new recipes, i guess in order to get the old enthu back again in cooking.
All in all i can say - My lucky wife;-)
"Bend it like Beckham"??
Well past 2 days hardly got any time to blog. one of those rare occassions when you are actually bogged down by work and dont have time to think..forget blogging..!!:-)
Life has become pretty mundane. Nothing interesting going on. off late due to extreme work pressure even football has come to a standstill - secondary reason being the ball has very less air in it and kicking it now on a windy day...it would bend like how Beckham manages to do it.
Speaking of Beckham, recently watched the movie "Bend it like Beckham" yet again and i wonder if Beckham actually intend to kick the ball so that it curves or does it happen just naturally for him. Intersting question eh?
I remember when i started playing football way back in standard 6, even i used to curve the ball..though unintentional and after getting into college and being selected as Centre back for College football team, my services were always called upon for free kick/ corner, the only main reason being - I could curve the ball in the last moment taking the Opponent goal keeper n players by surprise.
And trust me when i say this (ok, i am demeaning myself now) I never intended to curve the ball. I just used to take a small run up and kick the ball and voila 9/10 times it used to curve. Dont ask me how. it just used to happen and during that 1/10 chances when it didnt curve, i used to look at the spot from where i kicked , frusturation and anger glowing on my face (very similar to Beckham's reaction after his spot kick against Portugal in recently concluded Euro2004 quarters went into infinity).
Probably i can console myself that i have got the inborn talent of curving the ball without having to try hard.
hehe..!!
The only times i felt guilty was when my team mates or juniors used to ask me on how to kick the ball so that it curves...i used to tell them tall tales...askin them to kick the ball with a particular portion of the foot so that it curves and lucky enough for me at times when try tried it..it did curve and my image remained intact:-) (as a good player and as a good coach;-))
Ok guys..i can see all the rage and criticism coming in from all those ppl whom i have "coached" if ever they read my blog. Sorry ppl...:-)))
And my footballing career (whatever little) i owe it to my build..(oh boy! aint i hefty) and the fact that i am a left footer..!!Being left footer had always helped me getting easily into a team and my willingness to play defense. Cmmon who in th world would love to play defense. Everyone wants to score goals.
Well I too had started off playing as a forward in 8th std.But my gauche endings in front of the opponent goal post (at times not even the goal keeper would have been there) forced me to rethink on my playin strategy and arrived at the wise conclusion that i was not made to play forward. I decided to shift myself down and become a midfielder. I was successful when we used to play Inter-class/ Intra murals tournament in school...and seeing my enthusiasm the coach pulled me in as a reserve for the school team. But then the glory days were soon to be lost. In the interschool i had to run so much as a midfielder and with my bulk...within 10 min of play, i was gasping for breath.
There i reworked my strategy to stay in the team.I didnt have much options. I pushed myself to play defence, gracefully giving others the chance to make play and score:-)
And since then thanks to my bulk and the "Bend it like Beckham" abilities, I have stuck on in the team - school n college n even in infy football team. I didnt have to run much and i could use my build to the full use and only ocassionaly using my natural footballing skills!!! Another thing i was famous for was the sudden burst of energy which i displayed on field when i got possession of the ball and would just make a run with it to the opponent goal only to squander away the ball in a completely gawkish manner!!
reading so much i thing anyone could very well guess who my role model is - yeah ROBERTO CARLOS.
- known for being attackin defender and his power filled free kicks.I swear he would die of fits if he knew he is my role model in football followed by chance happening of reading my blog.
God save all those ppl who think i play real good football!!
Life has become pretty mundane. Nothing interesting going on. off late due to extreme work pressure even football has come to a standstill - secondary reason being the ball has very less air in it and kicking it now on a windy day...it would bend like how Beckham manages to do it.
Speaking of Beckham, recently watched the movie "Bend it like Beckham" yet again and i wonder if Beckham actually intend to kick the ball so that it curves or does it happen just naturally for him. Intersting question eh?
I remember when i started playing football way back in standard 6, even i used to curve the ball..though unintentional and after getting into college and being selected as Centre back for College football team, my services were always called upon for free kick/ corner, the only main reason being - I could curve the ball in the last moment taking the Opponent goal keeper n players by surprise.
And trust me when i say this (ok, i am demeaning myself now) I never intended to curve the ball. I just used to take a small run up and kick the ball and voila 9/10 times it used to curve. Dont ask me how. it just used to happen and during that 1/10 chances when it didnt curve, i used to look at the spot from where i kicked , frusturation and anger glowing on my face (very similar to Beckham's reaction after his spot kick against Portugal in recently concluded Euro2004 quarters went into infinity).
Probably i can console myself that i have got the inborn talent of curving the ball without having to try hard.
hehe..!!
The only times i felt guilty was when my team mates or juniors used to ask me on how to kick the ball so that it curves...i used to tell them tall tales...askin them to kick the ball with a particular portion of the foot so that it curves and lucky enough for me at times when try tried it..it did curve and my image remained intact:-) (as a good player and as a good coach;-))
Ok guys..i can see all the rage and criticism coming in from all those ppl whom i have "coached" if ever they read my blog. Sorry ppl...:-)))
And my footballing career (whatever little) i owe it to my build..(oh boy! aint i hefty) and the fact that i am a left footer..!!Being left footer had always helped me getting easily into a team and my willingness to play defense. Cmmon who in th world would love to play defense. Everyone wants to score goals.
Well I too had started off playing as a forward in 8th std.But my gauche endings in front of the opponent goal post (at times not even the goal keeper would have been there) forced me to rethink on my playin strategy and arrived at the wise conclusion that i was not made to play forward. I decided to shift myself down and become a midfielder. I was successful when we used to play Inter-class/ Intra murals tournament in school...and seeing my enthusiasm the coach pulled me in as a reserve for the school team. But then the glory days were soon to be lost. In the interschool i had to run so much as a midfielder and with my bulk...within 10 min of play, i was gasping for breath.
There i reworked my strategy to stay in the team.I didnt have much options. I pushed myself to play defence, gracefully giving others the chance to make play and score:-)
And since then thanks to my bulk and the "Bend it like Beckham" abilities, I have stuck on in the team - school n college n even in infy football team. I didnt have to run much and i could use my build to the full use and only ocassionaly using my natural footballing skills!!! Another thing i was famous for was the sudden burst of energy which i displayed on field when i got possession of the ball and would just make a run with it to the opponent goal only to squander away the ball in a completely gawkish manner!!
reading so much i thing anyone could very well guess who my role model is - yeah ROBERTO CARLOS.
- known for being attackin defender and his power filled free kicks.I swear he would die of fits if he knew he is my role model in football followed by chance happening of reading my blog.
God save all those ppl who think i play real good football!!
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