Thought monitoring

For people who know me, I've been sensible! I'm positive they will agree. From staying arrogant to being straight forward, I know myself as I'd like to be.

But then, there are these moments; these times when I think I'm just too right. I should be wrong at times. It gives people more of a chance to get close to you. If you portray yourself to be unaffected by anything, you put yourself inside a shell; and don't give any reason for others to try and break that shell. And then the worst part comes: for all your life, they who you thought knew you, understood you; go away, stop understanding you.

These are just moments. As much as I think about it, I know I will never do anything that I feel wrong. I'm just what I am. And I'd stay this way!

Pest Control

If you were wondering why I was quiet for so many days, it might have been because of the increasing number of unloved living beings in my bathroom. There have been spiders, cockroaches, mosquitos, and insects which I couldn't identify. So they kept me busy.
First I tried using Baygon cockroach spray. Next day, I found only two in the bathroom. Encouraged, I tried the same spray in the air to get rid of the unidentifiable insects. Next day, I found more of them; and thought to myself; maybe the cockroach pesticide wasnt working for them. I could only think of them being like mosquitos, and so I put a Good Night mosquito repellant in the bathroom for the night. No effect. Then, I sprayed Hit Mosquito Spray all over the bathroom, and voila, most of them were gone. Another night of Hit got rid of them.
If this sounds like an insect repellant test; it may just have been it. Practical testing of three prominent brands in the market.
Best buy: Hit Mosquito Spray (Only Rs. 63/-)

Robotics and PC controlled circuits

I have developed this rather new interest in robotics in the past few days. I was checking out these sites for wireless control circuits to try building a robot and came across such things that excited me to the core. Umm, from building a PC controlled oscilloscope to wirelessly controlling electrical equipment, wow. I am excited to start building such things; and am sure it will be as exciting as it seems now!

Mumbye

So I am finally leaving day after. After months of planning, I still do not know my itinerary yet. We will see. All I know is that I am really excited that I'm going, all alone. It's going to be loads of fun. Would love to keep posting from there if I get a chance.

Ah. But I will miss Mumbai. Just the other day my friends were asking me why I was going for so long, and I was all like, I'll have a real good time; but now that I'm on the verge of going, I have already started missing Bombay. How will I be away for so long. We will see!

Arjun Singh 6/6/6

A caricature by me of the man himself.

"Walking on crutches, and making India do so too."

ANA Company

OK. So it was my first trip abroad. It was 1998. I was travelling to Zambia with my sister to visit my aunt.
Now, Zambia is a country which grants visas on arrival. So it was a much unplanned decision that I may go. We booked my ticket and went to the airport. There was a hitch with the airline, and so we went to the Airport Manager at Mumbai airport. Every two minutes, he kept explaining to us (in his South Indian aiee-aiee-o accent) that we needed to get an ANA company form for me to travel. It was weird. We had never heard of any company with that name, leave aside relating to travel. Further more, I had never travelled abroad before and knew nothing about any such form.
After racking our brains, we understood what the manager was actually talking about. Surprise, surprise, he was explaining to us that we needed to have signed the Unaccompanied Minor form, or I would be travelling at my own. Huh. So much for a UM form.
At the end, I ended up travelling without one; my sister travelling as a UM.

of brazilian samba on punjabi songs

It is a phase, it seems. Just today I read about Isha Koppikar and Shahrukh Khan being obsessed with the PlayStation 2, when I thought to myself; ain't I too?

To be honest, I have been playing around 2-3 hours of PS2 everyday since we bought it, even when my exams are going on.

It is funny; Harwani betting on winning a game (laugh), Manmeet dancing on the Punjabi song which plays in the game menu, Tanay's tactical genius, Panno challenging everyone and then losing, Shreya and Taha passing wild-ass comments, and each partner of Manmeet shouting at him for his solo dribbling gameplay; it is sure funny.

It is a mania. Dunno how long it will last, but when we could buy the PS2 just for playing FIFA on it, I'm sure it would last long!

Airport woes

In the recent past, I have been to the Mumbai airports a couple of times to just come back exasperated.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport, Santacruz
There is constant policing to prevent people from parking near the terminals. I do understand why even then, people are happy to take rounds of the airport rather than park their cars in the Airport Parking Facility; the bloody parking costs Rs. 50. Now, not even ten rounds of the airport would burn a litre of fuel in my car, so why should I park it for the price of a litre? As a result the parking is half empty all the time, and the Authorities still do not learn to reduce the price. Sigh.

Sahar Airport, Andheri
All these hotels in Mumbai need to take care and train their staff (read: hotel car chauffeurs). It is pretty embarrasing to stand next to them while they go about cat calling every foreigner that exits the terminal, waving their boards above their heads. And even better, when the person who they have come to pick up finally responds to their frantic waving, they issue a "Good evening" and a "Aa gaya saala gora" in the same breath. 'Atithi Devo Bhava' or something was the government's campaign, wasn't it? Sigh.

Cry baby, cry

Yesterday, I cried. Well, I think it is fine to once in a while cry to yourself; it helps to understand yourself a lot better, if you know what I mean.

36 China Town

I don't understand why Indian directors just cannot grow up! I mean how can you print in the movie that a particular scene is placed in Mumbai, and then show vast deserts and mountains and lakes.

Then you try and make the film into a funny flick by giving horrendous dialogues to an equally horrendous actor, who goes by the name of Kapur.

And to top it all, you have a certain Tanushree Datta, a Payal Rohatgi, a Tanaaz Currim and even Kareena Kapoor displaying ample skin to maybe compete with Tanisha of Nikki fame.

Add to it Himesh Reshammiya's music, and there you have it; a pathetic movie which will surely be labelled as a box office hit!

Surprise

It happens so often now on birthdays that I was ignorant not to realise.

Heres what happened. I went out with a couple of friends for bowling yesterday. And one of my friends was all into his phone. I asked him who he was talking to and he ignored me. I didn't make much of it. He asked me of my plans after bowling and I told him I was going out with my family.

These friends of mine land up at my place five minutes before I am about to leave, and I am shell shocked. I was just so happy to see them. One by one, each one entered, and I looked as dazed as I ever could. So all the phone calls were leading to Siddhesh's house then.

Thank you guys for coming though. It really made me feel nice.

Drawing

After nearly two months of engineering drawing, I switched to drawing portraits, after three years. Three years back I had made one of Sachin, and a few other cricketers. This time around, I tried my hand at my new favoured footballer, Cesc Fabregas. Hehh. The face is not recognizable but any football fan would recognize the frame and the posture of Fabri..

Firefighter

I was sitting by the PC trying to work out a way to understand the Linux interface, when my mom suddenly shouted panic. I rushed out to see a small fire gaining wind right above the electrical board. The bell, which was placed right above it, had somehow caught fire. The stupid maid suggested throwing water over the fire; that would have surely electrocuted us. I picked up a doormat and banged it right on the bell a couple of times. The fire went out and luckily, it did not catch the electrical board. Man it was a scary day. Soot flying all over the house, even to my room and dirtying my laptop. The wall has now turned black and there is still a lingering smell of burnt plastic.

Highlights of the day - Saturday March 18 2006

- Munaf Patel bowled brilliantly

- Yuvraj Singh came to field at the third man boundary and the whole North Stand erupted in chants of KIM SHARMA, KIM SHARMA... Yuvi turned around and gestured to slap the crowd. Two minutes and the crowd started to chant SORRY, SORRY.. then came the surprise.. just as Yuvi turned to acknowledge the crowd, they chanted... @%#&!@ banaya, bada mazaa aaya.. It happens Yuvi..

- WE WANT SAURAV chants erupted as soon as Dravid dropped a catch

- The usual SACHIN SACHIN was on, but attempts to get the Mexican Wave started proved futile, with the East Stand refusing to cooperate

- All in all, a boring day's play, with neither the batsmen scoring at a quick rate, neither the wickets falling..

All the attention

It sometimes happens that you suddenly get so much attention that it seems unknown to you and you end up doing things people do not expect of you.

A person who has been in those unnoticed few ever since school, where he was neither too good nor too bad, for him to be known; if he is suddenly noticed and famed for a good thing of his or by chance of no one better being there with him..

Everyone starts talking about him, and then a few months down the line, you realise, is he really that good? And then your brain replies, "No, I mean he might be OK, but nothing that you have not seen before." And by then, you have raised that person to such a pedestal that bringing him to himself is a tough task.

Sizzler woes??

I did this in probably the 9th standard, and it works even now..

Kya aap Yoko jaane ke liye tadapte hain, aur phir vahaan pahunch kar ek sizzler bhi nahi kha paate? Do you call the waiter half way through your sizzler to clear your platter? I have the answer. Siddhesh Mehra presents to you the 'Sizzler woes to wows', your best way to finish a Yoko sizzler... (I know its cheesy, but I wanted this para to be this way)

Now once you have got the sizzler of your choice in front of you, and once the sizzle has burnt your face with the smoke, you decide to pick up the fork and start with the fries. Do not tempt yourself to put the fork straight into your favourite food, chicken in my case. In fact keep it till the end. It is a sure way of getting through your sizzler. You eat the fries, and the other vegetables. Remember to eat onions and mushrooms later because they are the most likely to burn your tongue, if you haven't already. When your stomach says enough, you will end up with the chicken on your platter. Now obviously you cannot skip that. Thats what you came for. Remind yourself of the name of the sizzler 'Sizzling CHICKEN in *your choice* sauce'. And there you have a reason to eat all the chicken. And then probably your friends sitting next to you, who haven't read 'Sizzler woes to wows' will stare at you in admiration.

Hehh. I just love Yoko.

The Metro Ride

When you think of railway stations in India, you expect a crowded, dirty place with so much noise that two people standing a foot away need to shout. Forget about sitting in a local train. (Now now the New Bombay stations are an exception)
But think again. Go to Delhi, travel in the metro there, and I am sure you will come out impressed. With working escalators and clean floors, the stations are beautifully made.
Picture this. In a car, a ride from Delhi University to Connaught Place takes around an hour; if you are lucky and the traffic is moving. Contrast that to the metro, which takes fifteen minutes and leaves you in the heart of Connaught Place. You get a place to sit easily; it is centrally air-conditioned (obviously) and even for a first-timer, there are enough signs and boards to have a trouble free journey.
Mumbai needs a metro. Though it has been passed, I am sure it will be years before such a project will be undertaken in this city. Why, we do not know? Remember the Bandra Worli flyover?

School

I always wonder why my parents decided I should go to a boarding school when I was just in the fourth grade.

It was a brave decision; and to say that I also wanted to desperately go to a boarding school was another thing. I had always been in awe of my sisters who were in Mussoorie International School. My sis never failed to tell me how much fun they had in school, besides the independence they got.

So I, who had torn an acceptance from Welham Boys in the second standard, suddenly wanted to join a boarding. And then, I was at Scindia School, Gwalior.

I did not know then, that I would have to bathe in ice cold water in the even colder winter, or that I would have to eat tasteless food for three years.

What I did know was that I was to live on my own for those years. I would be introduced to so many people from so many parts of the country, that I would later be able to distinguish a Bihari from a Bhaiya. (Most people in Bombay confuse between the two.)

There was this fascinating person I met. He was a German guy, of German parents, not an NRI. And surprise, surprise, he was a Hindi teacher.

I went to so many places. Went to Bangladesh, went to Ajmer.

Good my parents thought I should go to a boarding school. Everyone should.

Lacklustre

After watching movies as rang de basanti, there is a definite surge in the minds of many people; to do something, extraordinary.
But I ask, what if I want to do something? I do want to, but I am just not able to.
Whenever a movie portraying all those patriots is released, I have a feeling of guilt. I put myself in a predicament which I do not know how to get out of. I know that in five years, I will be in the US and paying taxes to the country who would have already charged me a bomb for the education there.
When my father gives me money to buy a painting for the house, he trusts that I would spend the money on a nice painting. If I get a bad painting, the next time he would go and get one himself, not tell me to buy.
We; at least I, have lost trust in the government I'm giving money to. But what do I do. I don't step into it, I keep paying. And I know the country is going to the dogs. But I am too scared to come forward and take something into my own hands.
I lack the courage. Because if someone does come forward, he will die in this vicious political circle. So it will probably need another few courageous people to save the country. I know I can't do it, unless I suddenly develop a will so strong that a miracle does happen.
This post is more of a confession. I today know that there are certain ties to me with my world, that will never let myself be carefree. And I believe that that is very necessary for someone to do something of such a stature.

Poetic Moods #1 Black River

Water rustling, we could hear;
the lights on the sides in the night, see;
A sight one would love to behold;
A river joining the Arabian Sea.

So we told the flat owner,
we wish to buy,
An apartment,
so beautiful as thy;

A golf course is coming up, Mr;
he told us with a smile;
What more could we ask for;
A beautiful view for a mile.

So we bought the house,
And came to stay;
And then,
to our utter dismay;

It was a drain;
the rustling sound;
The Black River they called it;
all around.

We called the flat owner and asked about;
the river and the sea;
He said "Don't worry Sir;
In ten years you will also have a Black Sea!"