Ok, I know a lot of people hate me but do you HAVE to get together on one day to get all your curses firing?
Whew, what a day yesterday. I started this post last night but I could barely hold back my tears and decided to curl up in bed with a good book instead(Have you read Samit Basu's Gameworld trilogy? In terms of SFF books with a bite, its right up there. I didn't even read an unknown book. I needed so much comfort)
Even today, well read and well rested I look back to yesterday with a little shudder and a grimace on my face. My eyes turn up with an accusing look and I still whimper the words that became a part of yesterday's regular vocabulary.
Are you up to hearing this sordid tale? Its not going to be pretty and I do not guarantee that you will not cry.
The day began as any other.
Pleasant dreams shattered by the door bell as the maid came in at the crack of dawn. And then I resettled into another set of pleasant dreams (dream set number 2 for the statistically minded). Everything was perfect. The gentle swish of the ceiling fan. The warm embrace of my well used and slightly worn blanket. Diffused sunlight filtering through the curtains as if afraid to jar me from my slumber. Ah, bliss...
And then something clicked at the back of my subconscious and my eyes snapped open, wildly staring into the not-so-diffused light streaming in.
"Damn. Late again. Have to do something about daily dream set number 2"
Racing through the morning routine (no breakfast) I raced to my car. Then stopped in my tracks. Turned around, raced up to my house. Picked up the car keys. Turned around. Raced down to the car. I was still in control and driving out of the gate I thought I would still manage to reach with only a small delay from my usual entry time in office.
I swear I heard a little rumble in the skies. The Gods, in hindsight, were sniggering.
Now the regular route that I take to office is fairly straightforward and hardly any red lights. I reach office in around 20-25 minutes. However, today was going to be different. As I sailed through my regular route I saw this army truck bearing down on me as I was turning into a perpendicular road. It didn't seem to have any intention of slowing down so I did. That's my 'Golden Rule of Driving'. You might want to take notes here.
Do not get in the way of a truck.
Ah what an adage. Brilliant in its simplicity, yet so useful.
So, moving on, I let the 4 tonne hunk of momentum gaining metal take the turn first. As I eased behind it I had a couple of thoughts. The truck, it seemed, was just transporting one guy sitting at the back.
"What a waste of resources!" I thought.
The second was that it had a small learners 'L' apologetically painted at the back.
"Ah, so its a practice run for the driver. Show him the kind of challenges he could face in the battlefield. Nothing better than to let him loose on Bangalore roads for a real test of his skills in a just-about-slightly-less life threatening situation than he was being trained to face. Good" I thought
Then, with a wry grin I accelerated on the left towards the turn I usually take for my workplace. But, and here's when things started going down, the turn was closed for some construction work As I slowed and moved past the turn I was cursing. It just had to happen on the day I was getting late.
And then it happened.
I have no clue how that truck appeared at my right rear side. Didn't I actually let it pass earlier? I heard the solid iron bumper of the truck dragging along the side of my beautiful beautiful car. The rear passenger window glass shattered and shards from it flew in. Another bump and the truck disengaged from the car and was on its way with no intention of even stopping to see the damage it had inflicted. I was a bit confused for a minute and in that time it raced away before I could gather my wits all I could see of the truck was a deep military green blur.
(I am a bit appalled.I just don't expect our armed forces to just run away. I guess the learning driver panicked but I am very disappointed I can't report his cowardly act of running away)
Fortunately, I wasn't injured. (Yes, you can keep the champagne back in the fridge. Yes you, I know who you are and I WILL hunt you down)
As if that wasn't enough when I gave my car at the workshop in the evening I left my house keys in it (Its not the first time its happening. As I enter the car I just stick the house key in the cigarette holder {I don't smoke and it seems such a waste to not use that nook}and then promptly forget its existence till I reach home)
So 11:30 at night saw me hammering away at the surprisingly strong lock of my house. Finally after four five neighbors clustered around we finally managed to break the lock and I heaved a sigh as the day finally came to an end.
I am not moving out of my house today. No sir, I've had a month's fill of incidents in a day.
16900
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Squash-ed and Snook-ed
As you, my fawning fans, know I am a man of myriad interests and tastes. A true connoisseur of the good things in life and an open experimenter to boot.A man not afraid to try new things at the risk of mortal peril or societal reproof. Truly an amazing person (*bows, acknowledges the applause. Oh stop please, I want to continue this post too)
So anyhow, I have written on many occasions about the tennis I try to play every weekend. It started in October of 2007. A bright sunny day my then boss and I reached my then office's tennis court with Rs old tennis racquet. Three years and many racquets, tennis balls and restringings later I still like the game but have lost some josh that I had for the game in the early days. Sleeping at 2 and getting up at 4 in the morning to reach the court early enough (I have actually reached the court before the sun came up once. As Barney would say, true story) is becoming a thing of the past and I find myself not even setting an alarm for the morning and hoping that Sid would get up and give me a call to wake me up for the game. And heaven forbid if I've had a late night! The phone can ring till kingdom come and I wouldn't pick it.
But today I felt some of that josh of yore returning with baby steps in a new game. I went to AS' apartment to try this new beast called Squash. And what fun it was!
Its intense, its fast, its mindboggling (on occasion, when you lose sight of the ball and flounder and wheel around frantically to prevent it bouncing its dreaded second bounce!), and it is so so tiring! (As an aside its so good to be an army brat. Sid has played all these games before. And though I managed to win two out of three games (hehe), it must've been such a sporty childhood where you get to try your hand at so many sports with all facilities available). Anyway, I had a whale of a time.
And talking of wheezing whales, squash also has a murky side to it. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, its not all fun and frolic at Swapnil's. We follow responsible journalistic tendencies and highlight the ugly with the good to ensure that you, the reader, the public, walks (or, you know, clicks) away from here with a complete and insightful view of the whole issue.
We were playing 15 point games and when I found myself leaning against a side wall, half bent over heaving and huffing to catch some breath with just 10 points having been fought over, the message was emblazoned across the wall (or, you know, the floor where I was staring in today's situation).
And it said - Fitness.not.good.Have.to.do.some.thing.
And I quickly put together an appropriate response of supreme urgency.
Will.jog.after.this.last.pitcher.God.promise.
So all in all a great sport that I'm looking forward to playing a lot often.
Actually a very good Saturday in totality. Played with AS' cute pugs after the game and rounded out the day with a couple of games of snooker as well. I am in my cue games phase and I must be getting old because I prefer snooker to pool now. Its so much tougher and serious.
One debate has started raging in my mind. Its a bit unrealistic considering I just moved in this house a few months ago but I am actually considering moving to an apartment with such sports facilities. I mean it would be expensive but it would be so cool to come back from a long, mentally exhausting day at work and then have a quick game of squash (can be played alone as well so no dependencies) or just soothe your mind with a gentle game of snooker before going to bed. Lets see, it doesn't make any economic sense but it would be so nice to have these things available...
16833
So anyhow, I have written on many occasions about the tennis I try to play every weekend. It started in October of 2007. A bright sunny day my then boss and I reached my then office's tennis court with Rs old tennis racquet. Three years and many racquets, tennis balls and restringings later I still like the game but have lost some josh that I had for the game in the early days. Sleeping at 2 and getting up at 4 in the morning to reach the court early enough (I have actually reached the court before the sun came up once. As Barney would say, true story) is becoming a thing of the past and I find myself not even setting an alarm for the morning and hoping that Sid would get up and give me a call to wake me up for the game. And heaven forbid if I've had a late night! The phone can ring till kingdom come and I wouldn't pick it.
But today I felt some of that josh of yore returning with baby steps in a new game. I went to AS' apartment to try this new beast called Squash. And what fun it was!
Its intense, its fast, its mindboggling (on occasion, when you lose sight of the ball and flounder and wheel around frantically to prevent it bouncing its dreaded second bounce!), and it is so so tiring! (As an aside its so good to be an army brat. Sid has played all these games before. And though I managed to win two out of three games (hehe), it must've been such a sporty childhood where you get to try your hand at so many sports with all facilities available). Anyway, I had a whale of a time.
And talking of wheezing whales, squash also has a murky side to it. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, its not all fun and frolic at Swapnil's. We follow responsible journalistic tendencies and highlight the ugly with the good to ensure that you, the reader, the public, walks (or, you know, clicks) away from here with a complete and insightful view of the whole issue.
We were playing 15 point games and when I found myself leaning against a side wall, half bent over heaving and huffing to catch some breath with just 10 points having been fought over, the message was emblazoned across the wall (or, you know, the floor where I was staring in today's situation).
And it said - Fitness.not.good.Have.to.do.some.thing.
And I quickly put together an appropriate response of supreme urgency.
Will.jog.after.this.last.pitcher.God.promise.
So all in all a great sport that I'm looking forward to playing a lot often.
Actually a very good Saturday in totality. Played with AS' cute pugs after the game and rounded out the day with a couple of games of snooker as well. I am in my cue games phase and I must be getting old because I prefer snooker to pool now. Its so much tougher and serious.
One debate has started raging in my mind. Its a bit unrealistic considering I just moved in this house a few months ago but I am actually considering moving to an apartment with such sports facilities. I mean it would be expensive but it would be so cool to come back from a long, mentally exhausting day at work and then have a quick game of squash (can be played alone as well so no dependencies) or just soothe your mind with a gentle game of snooker before going to bed. Lets see, it doesn't make any economic sense but it would be so nice to have these things available...
16833
Sunday, September 12, 2010
And no, I don't want to cook. Thank you...
Hey there. How've you been?
I've been away a while. I've changed jobs and including the few days break between jobs I mustered, I've been trying to stay away from the laptop as much as possible. But alas, the beautiful days starting with bright sunlight streaming inside your window (What? So I get up late on vacations, sue me) and no itinerary or calendar entries to mar your bliss are over now.
Which brings us to this.
Now as regular readers may know, I don't watch too much TV. Even now that I'm staying alone I still don't spend too much time in front of the telly. And when I do there are only a few channels I watch (No, not Star Plus thank you).
But recently whenever I drop into by beanbag-chair, squirm a little till I get into that perfectly comfortable position for atleast an hour long repose, have a beverage and some light snacks at hand and finally raise the remote to switch on the TV, the only thing that seems to come on the channels I watch are these Cooking challenges.
Top Chef, Top Chef reruns, Top Chef Masters, Top Chef Masters reruns, Top Chef Australia...come on you can guess the next one. Yes, Top Chef Australia reruns! 100 points to you, my friend!
Now, don't get me wrong. I love food. All types of it, the more exotic the better. In fact my extremely extremely gradually expanding girth is a clear indication of this continued love affair that I have with everything fried, baked, grilled or skewered. And though I may not be a superb cook, I do appreciate the fine art of cooking. In fact I have been occasionally found staring in rapt attention as the TV cook does some fancy knife-and-oven-work and creates a masterpiece out of refrigerator refuse.
But the sheer deluge of of these cook-challenges is extremely irritating. Every channel you switch to, it's some poor creature being grilled by the judges.What? I meant the chefs.
"Ze textuere of ze dish is verryy important, see? You have mezzed it up. You don't belong infront of ze oven. Get out of my sight!"
"Even though the presentation was excellent, the flavour itself is horrible. And I don't like your face either. Get out!"
"I just don't like your face. Get out"
Seriously, what is wrong with these channels. Lets have some regular programming please. Sitcoms, comic acts, and funny talk shows please, NOW!
Ok, so now with that out of the way.
I've been reading a lot of Indian sub-continent authors recently. And they have blown my mind away. Such awesome, sensitive and varied writing.
We weren't lovers like that - Navtej Sarna
Extremely sensitive. Blows you away. A tale of losing love through inaction and the resulting life long regret. Brilliant
Moth Smoke - Mohsin Hamid
A great study of how life is the same across the Pakistan border as well.You read it, and you think we are all the same people, same reactions (reaction to our nuclear tests followed by Pakistani nuclear tests), same thoughts. Sigh, what a waste this enmity is.
Bunker 13 - Aniruddha Bahal
Super fast paced thriller set in recognizable locales. It got a bit confusing towards the end though. But maybe that was just my slowness.
I'm now reading another one, Back Seat by Aditya Kriplani. The jacket cover sounds very good, as does the first chapter. Looking forward to getting entranced by it! Maybe I should review books I read on this blog on a more regular basis. What do you say?
6699
I've been away a while. I've changed jobs and including the few days break between jobs I mustered, I've been trying to stay away from the laptop as much as possible. But alas, the beautiful days starting with bright sunlight streaming inside your window (What? So I get up late on vacations, sue me) and no itinerary or calendar entries to mar your bliss are over now.
Which brings us to this.
Now as regular readers may know, I don't watch too much TV. Even now that I'm staying alone I still don't spend too much time in front of the telly. And when I do there are only a few channels I watch (No, not Star Plus thank you).
But recently whenever I drop into by beanbag-chair, squirm a little till I get into that perfectly comfortable position for atleast an hour long repose, have a beverage and some light snacks at hand and finally raise the remote to switch on the TV, the only thing that seems to come on the channels I watch are these Cooking challenges.
Top Chef, Top Chef reruns, Top Chef Masters, Top Chef Masters reruns, Top Chef Australia...come on you can guess the next one. Yes, Top Chef Australia reruns! 100 points to you, my friend!
Now, don't get me wrong. I love food. All types of it, the more exotic the better. In fact my extremely extremely gradually expanding girth is a clear indication of this continued love affair that I have with everything fried, baked, grilled or skewered. And though I may not be a superb cook, I do appreciate the fine art of cooking. In fact I have been occasionally found staring in rapt attention as the TV cook does some fancy knife-and-oven-work and creates a masterpiece out of refrigerator refuse.
But the sheer deluge of of these cook-challenges is extremely irritating. Every channel you switch to, it's some poor creature being grilled by the judges.What? I meant the chefs.
"Ze textuere of ze dish is verryy important, see? You have mezzed it up. You don't belong infront of ze oven. Get out of my sight!"
"Even though the presentation was excellent, the flavour itself is horrible. And I don't like your face either. Get out!"
"I just don't like your face. Get out"
Seriously, what is wrong with these channels. Lets have some regular programming please. Sitcoms, comic acts, and funny talk shows please, NOW!
Ok, so now with that out of the way.
I've been reading a lot of Indian sub-continent authors recently. And they have blown my mind away. Such awesome, sensitive and varied writing.
We weren't lovers like that - Navtej Sarna
Extremely sensitive. Blows you away. A tale of losing love through inaction and the resulting life long regret. Brilliant
Moth Smoke - Mohsin Hamid
A great study of how life is the same across the Pakistan border as well.You read it, and you think we are all the same people, same reactions (reaction to our nuclear tests followed by Pakistani nuclear tests), same thoughts. Sigh, what a waste this enmity is.
Bunker 13 - Aniruddha Bahal
Super fast paced thriller set in recognizable locales. It got a bit confusing towards the end though. But maybe that was just my slowness.
I'm now reading another one, Back Seat by Aditya Kriplani. The jacket cover sounds very good, as does the first chapter. Looking forward to getting entranced by it! Maybe I should review books I read on this blog on a more regular basis. What do you say?
6699
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
MSM Memories: Lalaji ke Chholey Bhature!...
The internet is a wonderful place. It has the ability to transport you to a whole different time and place and make you lean back with a wistful smile and happy memories.
I was trawling Facebook while watching some tennis on TV when I came across a group for Mount St. Mary's. I studied there from prep to class 8 before moving to Delhi Public School, Vasant Kunj. Now the strange thing is that even though my most cherished memories are from DCE, my college; I just spent four years there while I had spent nearly nine years - the most formative years in MSM. Yet, surprisingly I hardly ever go back to memories from MSM. I am also sorry to say that I'm not in touch with anyone from school beyond the mandatory Facebook additions of long lost friends. But these contacts, as everyone knows, are very cursory and hardly ever go beyond a couple of chat sessions or a few 'likes' and comments.
But today when I saw that group a flood of memories descended on me. Especially when I came across another group - Lalaji ke Chholey Bhature! Now Lalaji used / still runs the canteen at MSM. You know the one, right opposite the Syndicate bank counter where I first learnt how to pay the school fees - my first brush with responsibility. And though a lot of my schoolmates frequented the canteen a lot, I was not amongst them. For me, the occasional (bordering on rare) samosa or chholey bhature was a treat beyond compare. As I saw that group, I actually leant back and almost savoured the taste.
I don't want to sound too wistful or sad, but so many lifelong friendships that could've been did not happen as I moved out at the time I did, just when true friendships are forged. Of course, even I didn't try to stay in touch nor responded to feelers from some kids I knew. Its really good to see photographs of people on Facebook that you knew as kids with their quirky quirks, their intrinsic innocence and the way they laughed and fought and screamed and cried. Its such an opportunity lost isn't it? Being friends right from innocent childhood to vulnerable adolescence to ambitious youth. It certainly would've been great.
But now I shall list down the memories that've flooded back. This list is just for me. So I can look back sometime later and lean back with a wistful smile again...
- Playing the memory card game in class 3. And the cake that Mrs. P Choudhary Ma'am baked for the class
- First crush on a teacher as an innocent kid in class 5! Mrs. Mehta Ma'am
- The joy on getting to use my sisters old ink pen when we were finally allowed to use pens in class 6 or was it 5
- Kapil Dev! His visit to the school for some Pepsi thing. Still have a lot of pictures in my head from that visit.
- Also Vinod Kambli
- Christmas celebrated with huge gusto in the HUGE auditorium. Santa (Mr. Brown, I think) distributing sweets and candies
- Getting caught and nearly getting a skinning by Mr. Brown again. Was with a kid called V. Raja.
- Coming second in class with the teacher being surprised!
- The marathon that I completed. Albeit very very late
- Dallas Bastion's enthusiasm for football. He used to carry sports shoes in his bag everyday in case he got a chance to play! No idea where he is now.
- Sleeping off / boarding the wrong bus when I was really small. (ok, probably a memory implanted through story telling)
- The time the school got flooded and it was declared a holiday!
- Visiting the Principal's bungalow- with the fish tank
- The time I had the best salad (with roses made of radish) in, surprisingly, crafts class
- The story our craft teacher (her name eludes me) told about the ticking watch
- The time I fudged my mum's signature on my report card. And then almost shat my pants before the PTM (Parent Teacher meeting)
- Annual day parade
- Not being able to sell the raffle tickets and trying to fill up my quota with my piggy bank money. (I was a very shy child)
- The 'love letter' written in blood that I edited for a classmate (I'm not kidding. One of the disadvantages of being the English teachers pet is that you get to these things too! He was writing to a girl in, surprise surprise, Loreto Convent across the road)
- Running two rounds in the morning for wearing unpolished shoes
- The tennis ball squash we used to play
- Being class monitor for the first time
- Addressing the morning assembly
- Getting a prize in front of the school
- The art classes, especially in primary school. The painting of children dancing in the rain that our teacher was working on. I can still see it as if it were just yesterday. Such brilliant use of purple and black.
- The morning Tae Kwon Do classes
- The Fido Dido wristband that I was soooo obsessed with. The one you got by collecting Pepsi bottle caps and some money. I stalked paanwalas in my neighborhood but somehow never managed to collect enough bottle caps
Whew, there are just too many memories. I'll keep adding as I think of them.
And now I'm hungry. If only someone could get me Lalaji's chholey bhature!
16385
I was trawling Facebook while watching some tennis on TV when I came across a group for Mount St. Mary's. I studied there from prep to class 8 before moving to Delhi Public School, Vasant Kunj. Now the strange thing is that even though my most cherished memories are from DCE, my college; I just spent four years there while I had spent nearly nine years - the most formative years in MSM. Yet, surprisingly I hardly ever go back to memories from MSM. I am also sorry to say that I'm not in touch with anyone from school beyond the mandatory Facebook additions of long lost friends. But these contacts, as everyone knows, are very cursory and hardly ever go beyond a couple of chat sessions or a few 'likes' and comments.
But today when I saw that group a flood of memories descended on me. Especially when I came across another group - Lalaji ke Chholey Bhature! Now Lalaji used / still runs the canteen at MSM. You know the one, right opposite the Syndicate bank counter where I first learnt how to pay the school fees - my first brush with responsibility. And though a lot of my schoolmates frequented the canteen a lot, I was not amongst them. For me, the occasional (bordering on rare) samosa or chholey bhature was a treat beyond compare. As I saw that group, I actually leant back and almost savoured the taste.
I don't want to sound too wistful or sad, but so many lifelong friendships that could've been did not happen as I moved out at the time I did, just when true friendships are forged. Of course, even I didn't try to stay in touch nor responded to feelers from some kids I knew. Its really good to see photographs of people on Facebook that you knew as kids with their quirky quirks, their intrinsic innocence and the way they laughed and fought and screamed and cried. Its such an opportunity lost isn't it? Being friends right from innocent childhood to vulnerable adolescence to ambitious youth. It certainly would've been great.
But now I shall list down the memories that've flooded back. This list is just for me. So I can look back sometime later and lean back with a wistful smile again...
- Playing the memory card game in class 3. And the cake that Mrs. P Choudhary Ma'am baked for the class
- First crush on a teacher as an innocent kid in class 5! Mrs. Mehta Ma'am
- The joy on getting to use my sisters old ink pen when we were finally allowed to use pens in class 6 or was it 5
- Kapil Dev! His visit to the school for some Pepsi thing. Still have a lot of pictures in my head from that visit.
- Also Vinod Kambli
- Christmas celebrated with huge gusto in the HUGE auditorium. Santa (Mr. Brown, I think) distributing sweets and candies
- Getting caught and nearly getting a skinning by Mr. Brown again. Was with a kid called V. Raja.
- Coming second in class with the teacher being surprised!
- The marathon that I completed. Albeit very very late
- Dallas Bastion's enthusiasm for football. He used to carry sports shoes in his bag everyday in case he got a chance to play! No idea where he is now.
- Sleeping off / boarding the wrong bus when I was really small. (ok, probably a memory implanted through story telling)
- The time the school got flooded and it was declared a holiday!
- Visiting the Principal's bungalow- with the fish tank
- The time I had the best salad (with roses made of radish) in, surprisingly, crafts class
- The story our craft teacher (her name eludes me) told about the ticking watch
- The time I fudged my mum's signature on my report card. And then almost shat my pants before the PTM (Parent Teacher meeting)
- Annual day parade
- Not being able to sell the raffle tickets and trying to fill up my quota with my piggy bank money. (I was a very shy child)
- The 'love letter' written in blood that I edited for a classmate (I'm not kidding. One of the disadvantages of being the English teachers pet is that you get to these things too! He was writing to a girl in, surprise surprise, Loreto Convent across the road)
- Running two rounds in the morning for wearing unpolished shoes
- The tennis ball squash we used to play
- Being class monitor for the first time
- Addressing the morning assembly
- Getting a prize in front of the school
- The art classes, especially in primary school. The painting of children dancing in the rain that our teacher was working on. I can still see it as if it were just yesterday. Such brilliant use of purple and black.
- The morning Tae Kwon Do classes
- The Fido Dido wristband that I was soooo obsessed with. The one you got by collecting Pepsi bottle caps and some money. I stalked paanwalas in my neighborhood but somehow never managed to collect enough bottle caps
Whew, there are just too many memories. I'll keep adding as I think of them.
And now I'm hungry. If only someone could get me Lalaji's chholey bhature!
16385
Friday, August 6, 2010
Jiminy!! What a disaster...
Ok, you be the judge - is it humanly possible to resist this invitation? If you get a brilliant email like the following would you not accept the invite with a smile on your face and a cheer in your demeanor?
"
"
"Today,
is not an ordinary day.
An year ago on this very date a small change happened to Bangalore’s landscape.
A change that at first glance seemed similar to numerous ones happening, maybe even innocuous
But as time went on, the small change started having an impact on our lives.
And then it started directing the way our lives were scheduled
And then it took over our lives and our minds
Yes, Jimi’s opened an year back.
And they’re celebrating. 50% off all day today
Let us celebrate this significant change,
this evening
Jimi’s has been my favourite pub for a while now. It plays awesome music and has some of the widest collection of music once the ‘by request’ period starts. They even had Danger Zone with the Top Gun movie clip!
And I’m so shocked. None of my friends could make it even after this brilliant email I wrote to everyone. People enthusiastically said yes, but as the day progressed the Yays started turning into Nays because of work delays. Eventually we had a total turnout of ZERO!!
I need to get more friends who are irresponsible and not driven at work. L
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