Hello blog....

After a pretty long time [ I suppose] am back to blogging. Don't think I can write anything coherent so trying to list down my activities

• Had an awesome trip to Hyderabad,the best part all the people who made is awesome were blog pals. The guy who accompanied me to the trip, the person who invited us and most importantly the wonderful man who made the whole trip memorable. I knew all of them thru blogs yet never felt they were any different from other friends. Cheers to the spirit of blogging.
  
  
• Hyderabad trip can be summarized as Eat-Go around-Eat-Go around-Eat-party-Eat-Sleep-Wakeup- Eat-Go around. All this in an infinite loop. Add to it the Eat part mostly was biryani, not just normal biryanis... yummilacious hyderabadi biryani. As soon as we gorged down the last bit of paradise biryani,there was this great sense of achievement and bliss which covered us. Finally mission accomplished...burrp
  
  
• With the train man around we never needed any guide for the city, he knows the history, geography, civics, chemisty and many more subjects of hyderabad more than what the nizams would have ever known. He has a deep love for the city and its cuisine,lucky us got to eat at the best places and visit the most important spots.
  
  
• Not sure if it was the over eating spree or the hot weather, fell sick with typhoid and was on a curd-rice wonly diet for ten days...it sucks
  
  
• If there is something more suckier than the above point, got to admit it is IPL and it's on-your-face commercialization. When the cricket jockeys like gavaskar, shashtri over hype all the matches as the match of the century and then ball of the tournament, shot of the decade, catch of the millenium... God give us a break..nop not the strategic breaks with Ads.
  
  
• I suddenly find every girl I come across attractive!! The best[or worst]part, I dumped my I-can't-woo tendencies and stuck a converstaion with couple of them n even got their numbers. Phew tell me about the side effects of typhoid...it's pretty baad I shud say.
  
  
• Bought a new car, it looks like a toy car[a Wagon R]but then serves the purpose. Had the most irritating 2hours of my life when the car was delivered, right from the showroom guys to my parents wanted a 100 poojas[rituals] to be performed. At the end of which the red color car was covered with so much petals and other stuff I forgot which color I had booked for. These theists...argh.
  
  
• They have pink slipped my team mate...now it's like Mera number kab aayega ?. Wish to quit the job and go for a long trip across India. Hmmm.....If wishes were horses
  
  
• Elections are up and still undecided as to which moron to vote, probably vote for some independent candidate so that I feel content that I did vote and at the same time don't feel guilty I chose another corrupt dumbass to represent me.
  
  
• Seriously contemplating to take up sanyas full time and start an ashram to preach gyaan and whenever I think of this I feel I am getting old.
  
  
• Met my schoolday crush in a friend's post wedding dinner, she is a mother of two and is like a walking talking blubber...how times change. Whenever I come across the previous point I think of her and feel younger ..Complex mind I have got.

---The End---

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A Stroll in the valley...

“Vacation is what you take when you can't take what you've been taking any longer.”

How true can this quote be. Especially when you spend 12hours in front of the computer at work, 6hours in front of the computer at home and the balance few hours dreaming about solving the production issues in the main server computer. Argh..It is compute-err I got to say. Add to it when you get a question like "Will you be home by 5?" and you respond "System time or run time?" you know it’s the high time to take a break.

I am blessed, lucky, fortunate[that’s the end of my attempted-GRE vocabs] to get a bunch of people who were equally if not more bugged with work. So a motley group of guys and girls numbering 13[yeah I know the last supper but in this bunch all were Judas] decided to take a weekend off to a place which is uncorrupt by overt commercialization and artificial fauna n flora.

The spot was avalanche, some 30kms from the hustle bustle of Ooty[Ooty is a perfect example of my rant about commercialization].My previous visit to avalanche was 3years back and those adventurous memories made me all pumped up.

We booked tickets in a special train to coimbatore and the train was indeed special with a delay of one hour to the destination. Other than the grudge that we didn’t get all the 13 tickets in a single coach the train journey was incident free. Infact it was surprising because most of the folks who follow indian flexible time n were expected to miss the train arrived on spot during the departure.

A saying goes - God can't be present everywhere and that’s why he created bars..err..friends and we had a truly god sent friend at coimbatore. This noble person[whom 99% of us met for the first time] was present in the coimbatore railway station with the 14seater cab he had arranged for our trip to avalanche and most importantly with 2 bottles of Smirnoff and packed breakfast as he thought we may get delayed if we halt for breakfast or to buy sarakku. A heartfelt thanks to him.

We gobbled down the idlis, pongal, sambhar and chutney as the cab was on the move and reclined on our seats half asleep. The journey from coimbatore to ooty is 2.5 hours and from ooty to avalanche its another 1 hour. Thanks to our innumerable tea and pee breaks we reached avalanche with a delay of more than an hour.By the time we reached the parking lot of the resort which we had booked it was 1 in the noon.

I presume the resort guys had planned fun right from the word go or probably it was our cranky group which turned even the most mundane things into fun filled adventures. I am speaking about the 3 km long army truck ride from the parking lot to the resort's reception. It was jungle pathway with no evenly laid road even for a centimeter. Bump...jump..bang that was our situation inside..more like the fruits being beaten in a mixer. But we being the innovative ones decided to start a game, the participant shud stand up from his/her seat without holding anything for support, the one who stands for the highest count is the winner. Interestingly the fattest of the lot won it by a huge margin.

Once we reached the resort,the next few minutes the only expression on the face of 13 people was "jaw dropping", be it the beautiful valley which started from the room or the tastefully decorated rooms[they had a wild west theme] or be the yummy lunch everything about the place was simply awesome. As we had arrived pretty late that day,we spent it by going for horse riding, playing a violent game of foosball[kids ran back into their cottages hearing our over excited screams during the game],munching down the home made cakes and last but not the least emptying the 2 bottles of Smirnoff till the last drop. The adventures of the drunken travellers can be written as a separate novel. Imagine going to the topmost point of the valley and doing march-past[with perfect commands and movements, everyone remembered their NCC days] at 12.30 in night in the freezing cold, I say only a man in a happy high can do it.

The next day morning we were back on our feet by 6.30AM and all set to conquer the wilderness, after a small fishing session and visit to the farm[the produce of which is used for preparing the yummy food]we got ready for a long trek.Or rather a hike into the forests covering two hills. The trek started pretty normally...a few slopes and few uphills.As we went deep in the terrain got tougher and then came the best part....the skies opened up,drenching us totally and all were wet till the bone. The terrain was getting more uphill and the rain was making it slippery, after lot of huffing and puffing by some fitness freaks[read as yours truly] we managed to proceed. We reached a clearing, and from there we could get a glimpse of the beautiful avalanche river spreading her tributary in a grandiose manner. We were spell bound, such sights reminds me of the famous hawkings quote "We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star", we feel so minuscule in front of the nature's vastness but imagine the number of petty fights and conflict we have..hmmm..after a few seconds we realized we were carrying cams, then the photo sessions began.

The hike back to the cottage took another 45 minutes, it was easier than the onward journey with a pretty flat terrain. Back to the cottage we jumped into the lunch, for a change I dumped all my diet controls and was emptying the food bowls, the poor waiters could not do anything but keep serving more.

The return from paradise started with the truck ride[and ofcoz the who stands still game, this time I improved vastly and was the runner up]to our cab. The next 3.5hours drive to coimbatore was made interesting with group singing sessions [the driver too joined in] and a particular joke about a ducky love affair. The dinner was in a very average restaurant but then only the average ones provide quick service.

The train had already arrived and for those who thought the fun was over here..nop it didn't, the next day being the birthday for one of our gang's mainstays, we had decided to make it special. A cake was set up inside the train and with proper plotting and scripting we made sure the cake and b'day celebrations were a total surprise to the b'day boy. The cake cutting was followed by a creamy facial and a b’day bumps session right on the main platform of coimbatore railway station. The expression of others in the station is still etched in my memory, imagine a guy being lifted by 10people and being given bums in a rather busy railway station...finally getting tired of giving bumps we all retired to the berths. It was a different story that the b'day boy was given a Vaseline n Colgate facials in the morning...and we claim to be in the wrong side of twenties.

The next day all of us were back in our seats by 10.30 AM, looking into the compute-errs and prizing the memories of a fun filled trip. A special thanks to my friend without whom I would not have been able to make it in time to work and wud have got a guaranteed screwing from my boss.

They say - If you come home as happy as you leave, you have had a good vacation, but the fact is all of us came home happier than when we left so it was a blast of a vacation indeed.

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Masakali...Masakali...

A sleepy afternoon at office[ yes..yes...damn it!! working on a long weekend] have put masakali in a loop and am hearing it over n over again[i know that's wat happens when played in a loop still]. Addictive I say, add to it the visuals of the song which run thru my mind. A cute sonam kapoor dancing with pigeon on her head...*sigh*...she looks a bit anorexic but adorable no doubt. Also liked her guts when she took on the old vixen shoba de.

Aah did I divert the topic? happens many times... like the other day at office we started speaking about fitness, john abraham came in and then the topic drifted off to bips, her you-know-whats... well men you know. We are like boomerangs, wherever we start the discussion ends in the same thing.

Coming back to Masakali[trying to] I dont' understand 40% of the lyrics, the other 60% has challenging words repeated...like masakali,matakali,jatak,burrrr...burrr. As an amatuer lyricist-Yesss I had written english lyrics for a tamil pop album, the album was a sell out, the only two released copies were bought by the music composer and his Sasural- I am amazed by some of the lyrics in our movies songs. Imagine Rang de basanti's title track by daler the first 3 lines are of great literary value, it goes "ding ding ding ding". Having heard ARR for the past 17 years[now I feel as old as dev anand] the use of catchy words has been his trademark and best part is rarely does it sound odd. It gel's with music and yeah tough to write an alternate for daler's energetic "ding ding ding". Next time you hear a ARR composition keep an eaye[or an ear] for this.

Ok I started the previous para with the aim of highlighting the amusing lyrics I have heard but ended up praising ARR. This is getting tough, with less than 6 hours of sleep in last 48 hours at work, blood shot eyes and trying to write a comprehensible post...The new project kick off is kicking me hard, so all those whose posts I have missed...a BIG sorry, forgiveness is next to godliness. So try to take the second spot after god.

The hectic weekend brings back memories of the previous weekend. That was something which I wish I could have every time, a trip to yercaud with a cool bunch of buddies. Decided to try something out of the world and yess it was weed!!. Weedy trip I shud say, but frankly it wasn't a great or memorabe experience. Weed is not for weirdos like me I suppose. Having a drink and getting a high is ok, but smoking something and forgetting the whole sense of time & space... often thinking abt the dialogue which indian movie actors utter when they regain consciousness i.e "Mein kahan ho". It's good if the weeder[one who smokes it] has happy memories and can go on a jolly trip.....surely it's not for loser's like me :D.

As of now this post looks like a weedy post...pointless,intentless,going towards nowhere, and... argh...lemme stop it righ here. Adios....have a great weedend..err...weekend..

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Train to Tambaram.

After putting up a post with the picture of a rather bloody railway station I decided to write something positive about my train experiences. The other trigger was my qucik trip to kerala. It was really quick, imagine spending 36 hours in travel and 5 hours in cochin. My back is still sore after the trip and given a choice I would have watched the latest Mike Myers movie thrice a day....

The most vivid and recent memories of train travel is the one I used to have to my previous company. It was a daily train travel to Tambaram [the first time I saw the board I read it as Tam-Bram as in tamil brahmin,too much influence of matrimonial sites you see :P], which lies in the outskirts of Chennai city.

Train travel has always been an enthralling experience for me, right from my days in kinder garden. You are advised not to go as far as the Jurassic age for this. I am quite young, just 5 years and a few months, the value of few being 275.

As a kid, traveling by train was a special occasion akin to a travel in a time machine. It came once a year during the summer vacation trip to my grandma's place. Innumerable sights and scenes fill me up - the noise of the screaming vendors, the hustle bustle of railway station, suitcases that come in different dimension, potpourri of unique co-passengers and much more.

Once inside the train the moving landscapes and the excitement to climb onto the top most berths were added incentives. The other memories which strike me are the innocence and trust while hearing wide eyed to my sister's stories about fifty men pushing and pulling the train from the platform for its move and halt, the greedy wish to buy everything selling on the platform and of course the earful I get from my mom after failed attempts to climb to the top berth. As I recall these, a nostalgic cloud surrounds me and makes me feel as old as a tortoise. Obviously while the journey up to my grandma's place was full of fun like a bullish investor, the return one was as sad as that of an investor run over by the bears and waiting for a bail out.

From an eight-hour journey in a 15 bogey express train to a thirty minutes journey in a nine compartment electric train, the differences do remain. But the soul is the same, be it the rattling ku-chiku sound, the smell of iron in my palms or the interesting characters I come across.

There had been occasions, which give bad experiences. Like this guy who dropped a huge sack- which many guessed had Mike Tyson in it- right on my leg and gave a reaction as though I had hurt his parcel. The girl who gave this bewildered here-is-the-most-wanted-serial-rapist look when I had just enquired for the name of the station which passed by or the obnoxious old man who was shocked to know I can read tamil while all along he was thinking I am an alien from a different galaxy. He started to correct each and every syllable I pronounced. It is a weird package indeed.

Yes accepted, the good things do come along in this package. Be it the cute and pretty girl who got onto the 8:12 AM train at my station and gives a small chuckle or the hot girl from who comes in the 8:00 train. It made my time schedule go as crazy as a tom cruise on the Oprah winfrey show.

Rarely, I did get a chance to travel with a bunch of pals from my training batch. The whole journey turns lively and is full of fun and banter, after the end of the party we used to take a resolution about group trip once a week. Ten days later a mail would peep out and remind us of our resolution. Life just went on like the train with joy and sorrow being the two tracks’. Oh! Am I getting philosophical here?

The funniest things in the trains are the stick-on ads. Paper ads stuck for sexual potency and to increase the size of manhood or to stay erect. Good lord!! Aren’t we folks obsessed with it? Yet we say no to sex education of kids. Hope they don’t learn that from these so called therapy quacks.

The train gets its primetime obviously when the students step in. With their group songs, meaningless jokes followed by loud hearty laughs and the graffiti on train walls...we can see some wonderful couplets like "unnai kandein ennai marandhein...un thangayai kandein unneya marandhein". A literal translation would be … I saw you and forgot myself...saw your sister and oh I forgot you! These couplets would be decorated with hearts and piercing arrows rented from Cupid and of course the couples’ name in the middle. It should be sheer coincidence that many times the guy’s name remains the same while the girl’s keep changing in every heart.

The atmosphere is radically opposite during the night times when none but the breeze keeps me company and sometimes a beat constable gets into the compartment to catch a small nap up to the next station. His loud, reverberating snores give the confidence to travel the distance alone. The station would have become the bedroom for the beggars and street urchins who owned it during the day. The otherwise old n weak lady who stands in the steps and pleads for mercy costing Rs.1 a pinch can be seen shouting and acting as the boss of the place, commanding folks and demarcating the borders for other legions. It’s a puzzle as to what kind of disease strikes her in the mornings to make her so weak and frail.

The street urchins who plead for something to be given can be seen smoking pot or some cheap drug with an air of supremacy about it. They do try out different styles and mannerisms to leave the smoke out of their lungs via the mouth, I am sure movie super stars can get some style lessons here.

The daily travel offered so many things to view, enjoy and relish yet I used to see folks immersing themselves in a book or their gizmos in a train...weird world.... I hope to continue my train travel saga with lots of interesting things for years to come.

A poem I came across

The rain streams across the window panes;
the hills loom sombre though the failing light;
the carriages sing steel along the rails;
the brooks rush brown and fierce through the fields;
autumn is torn to pieces by the storm;
night falls, and I am homeward bound.

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