Posts from — September 2002
What will your message be?
What would you give to get a chance to communicate with your descendents. A chance akin to walking into the future and having a talk with the children of your children of your children of your children … of your children!!
Do I sound like a crazy scientist who has just invented a Time Machine?? … Well, I hope not!… because if all goes well, this seemingly outlandish idea is going to transform into a reality!! …(and I’m not talking about some Sci-Fi movie thats gonna be released soon!)
Project Keo is going to turn the impossible into possible. Keo involves a space shuttle that is supposed to be launched from earth in late 2003. It would go deep into space and stay there for 50,000 years (yup!! you heard me right!! … fifty thousand years!) and then return to the earth… intact! Sounds like an exciting adventure! … But what purpose will a space shuttle from the past prove to our descendents? Well… before its launch, the space shuttle, Keo, will be loaded with our messages… our messages that we write today. It is this precious cargo that will come back to our descendents 50,000 years later, giving them a glimpse of their ancestors… a glimpse that, I’m sure, they’ll be grateful for!
According to the project team of Keo, the purpose of this mission is,
To tell the people of tomorrow, more about the people of today And to reinvent our present world by sharing each other’s dreams, aspirations, personal hopes… so that we can address all of this to our faraway descendants.
Noble hopes indeed!
If you want to write your own message, you can go to www.keo.org and you’ll find links to help you do that. By the way, Project Keo has been elected as the Project of the 21st Century by UNESCO.
Enuf said about Keo! … lets get on to more worldly matters! ;-)
Couple of times last week, I referred to something unmentionable in my blogs and did not care to elaborate what that unmentionable thing was all about. Well, you see… it was just poor me filling up my yearly performance appraisal form! And it was such a boring and painful task that it took me two days of mind-numbing efforts trying to figure out things that I had done during the past year! Added to it was the fact that some fool in the HR department had bungled up and had missed out some important information that needed to go on my appraisal form. And it took something like quintillion phone calls and a zillion emails to my appraisal data updated with the required information, at the end of which I was pooped out! Why so much effort for an appraisal?! … Kya karen! … Is paapi pet ke liye karna padta hai!! *LMAO* ;-)
Among other things… life has been going on pretty ok. I’m looking forward to the semi-final match tomorrow, between India and South Africa. I hope India can recreate even half the magic they displayed while batting against England on Sunday. Tomorrow, I’m supposed to give a small presentation to my project team… and I haven’t the foggiest idea about what I’m going to blabber about. Absolutely no preparation! … I’m just gonna shoot my mouth off! *LOL*
Hmm, lets see whats new on the blogging scene…
Richa got a new layout that looks really cool… so does her new haircut!. Amrita is down with flu (Get well soon!!!). Suku has been changing her layouts nearly everyday… (Suku, the pink one was not bad! … but I prefer the current one!). Hey Sindhu, my fingers are crossed for your mom!
By the way, I was chatting with Rochelle today and she said that Librans tend to have dimples… *LOL*, I dunno how valid this is!
What else?? … ummm… nothing much! … So see you all around later, folks! Take care!
cheers!
September 24, 2002 Comments Off
A weekend in the life of a Libran
Have you ever seen a person walk into a room and everybody turns to look at him/her. He/she will probably be dressed to perfection, have a laugh that’s sheer music to the ears and will dazzle you with his/her smile. And you might just be left wondering what just hit you now! He/she in all probability is a Libran.
*LOL*… thats what MSN says while giving brief overview of the characteristics that set the Librans apart. Furthermore, Librans, as easy-going people, they tend to procrastinate and take the easy route in doing things. Luxury is always a welcome addition to their life since they have a pronounced aversion to high-pressure situations!!
Hmmm… maybe that explains why I love weekends. And especially those relaxing and lie-back-in-the-easy-chair kind of weekends.
Friday, I went home early because the the roads were supposed to get blocked in the evenings due to the Ganpati Visarjan processions. So, the moment I reached home I flung myself on the bed and was dead to the world for something like three hours. zzzzzzzzzzz!!. Then, saw some live telecast of Ganesh Visarjan on TV. Earlier, till as recent as couple of years back, I used to go out and watch the Visarjan processions at Dadar Chowpatty. But the tasteless manner in which some fools in these processions dance has put me off. I prefer to stay at home and watch the live telecast from places like Pune, where the processions are much more disciplined and traditional. aaahhh!! … why do I sound like an old man?!!! ;-)
They were showing Good Will Hunting on a movie channel on Friday night. Saw it! … Its a good movie, with some very powerful dialogues and some very watchable one-on-one scenes between Matt Damon and Robin Williams. But frankly speaking, I’ve seen better movies… heh heh heh! … very diplomatic, n’est-ce pas! … very Libraesque! ;-)
Saturday was kinda funny! … I don’t remember how it passed… as if it never happened… as if I slept on Friday night and woke up directly on Sunday morning!! … strange! … strange indeed!!
One thing I remember about Saturday, though! I remember having gone to have my hair trimmed. But I must’ve fallen asleep in the chair as the barber went to work on my hair. I guess he must’ve used garden shears, because at the end of the ordeal, I was left with hair so short that they stand out from the scalp like pin-pricks… making me look like a complete idiot… a dork!! *grrrrr*. Now, just to take the attention away from the massacre on the top, I’ve kept a little goatee. But, that doesn’t suit me as well. My head and my chin, both having very little hair at the moment, are driving me nuts everytime I happen to glance in a mirror!! Mirror, mirror… on the wall! … Who’s the dorkest of them all?! …. thats me!!!!
The first thing I remember about Sunday is rain… lots of it… at dawn!! The sheer racket that the heavy rain made, woke me up at dawn. Fortunately, I managed to drift back into sleep easily and woke up to a bright and sunny Sunday! … Mumbai has moderate climate they say! … bah!. The only reminder of the heavy rain in the night was the slightly damp ground and dead phones!
Having nothing to do on a Sunday morning, I made my way to Sunderbai Hall at Churchgate. They had a book exhibition with 15 to 50 % discount on the books on display. I bought a few books including Khushwant Singh’s A Train to Pakistan and Vikram Seth’s An Equal Music. Vikram Seth’s book was an impulse buy… I really have no idea as to how it is. I think it would be good! But then, I realize that a Libran’s admiration for aesthetics is legendary whether it is music, art or people. Because of their admiration for all things beautiful, they would be inclined to judge a book by its cover.
Sunday ended with a bang! … Quite literally!! … India was playing a crunch-time match against England in Colombo and the result was gonna decide the semi-finalist in the mini-world cup. And ohh my God!! … Virender Sehwag just blasted the England bowlers to smithereens!… It was an absolute massacre as bowler after England bowler was tried out but each of them could only act as cannon fodder for Sehwag as he blazed away to a century off just 77 balls. Simply amazing!… South Africa… better watch out!! ;-)
Well, that about sums up my weekend. More later! … But just before I take your leave, here’s a parting thought!…
A Libran in love can be a combination of some of the best characteristics in the zodiac: a sensuous Taurus, a romantic Pisces, and a melting Leo. oooh! … I didn’t know that! … Ofkors… never had the opportunity to try it out! … *LOL* …. well, now… any volunteers?!
cheers!
September 23, 2002 Comments Off
A Local encounter
If I was busy yesterday, I’ve been busier today!… busy with a capital B!!! … and that too, busy doing a really boring and pointless thing (remember the “unmentionable” thing I blogged about yesterday!) *LOL*
Right now, I’m bleary eyed, cotton-mouthed and can feel the onset of acidity growing from the base of my stomach and rising up to my chest like a poisonous mist… *LMAO* … gosh! I’m so melodramatic and full of shit!!. But all this is courtesy of the freaking unmentionable thing. *grrrrr*
*LOL*… anyways, since I don’t have much time to do any serious blogging… I’ll do what I normally do! … Put up some piece of scribbling that barely passes the muster!
Actually I wasn’t going to do even that much today, but I read Suku’s blog today morning. It was about this nice little incident that took place while she was travelling in a local train. It reminded me of one of my own encounters while commuting by a Mumbai Local. I had written about it and it got published in our office’s online mag. So, I thought… why not put up this articlethat I had once written, instead of posting nothing! ;-) …(you would say,… “what a shameless way to advertise his own sad stuff!!”… *LOL*)
Well, the shameless brute that I am… I would anyway publish my article… so here goes! ;-)
some of the expressions used in this piece are in Hindi… so if you don’t understand that… please feel free to contact me!
A short journey in a Mumbai Local
The train stands still, ready to ferry tired souls to their cubbyholes in the suburbs. I strain my eyes to read the tiny illuminated letters on the indicator suspended high up in the soaring roof of “the station formerly known as VT”. I manage to decipher the word ‘Dadar’ on it. My mind accustomed to seeing “will not halt at” list of stations on the indicator, registers a silent surprise. But the surprise lasts only as long as it takes my eyes to travel to the top of the display, which rebelliously proclaims “will halt at”. They say the Indian Railways are undergoing a change. I certainly didn’t expect it to be a change of wording on the indicators. Long live India! I climb into a second class compartment.
I am suddenly engulfed by a monotonic murmur only interrupted by a loud guffaw or two from a Gujarati stockbroker for whom this is probably the only time in the day to relax and unwind. My watch shows 8:40 PM. Two minutes past the scheduled departure time. The train is still standing, taking in many more tired souls. At 8:44 PM there’s a tooting of the horn and with a sudden lurch the local begins its journey.
A motley bunch of people unleashes a loud religious shout and with a tinkle of tiny cymbals, starts singing an obscure bhajan with gusto. This is the famous ‘bhanjan mandli’ of the Mumbai Local scene. The train has gathered a fair speed now and the rhythmic beat of the wheels on the uneven rail sleepers is imparting a certain ‘avant garde’ feel to the bhajan tragicomically reducing it from the sublime to the ridiculous. So much for God.
“Dadar kahan aayega?” I ask a pair of ’seasoned’ travellers standing beside me.
“Yeh side mein”, comes the reply from the older of the two.
Heeding the advice I gravitate towards the door on the indicated side. There is a moment of silence followed by an excited titter behind me. The younger of the two ’seasoned’ travellers calls out to me and informs me that his older friend was wrong and in fact Dadar will come on the other side. I make a show of thanking him for the help and change ends.
I stand uncomfortably, shifting weight from one leg to the other carrying the bag containing books, which now feels heavier than it actually is!
“Yeh boot kaunsa hai?” a short man standing next to me asks innocently.
“Adidas”, I reply mentally smiling at a groaner (about Adidas) which springs to mind.
“Bahut achcha hain. Mehenga rahega na?” innocently once more!
“Woh to hain!. Lekin achcha chalega.” I defend my choice of expensive footwear.
“Main bhi aisa joota pehenta tha.” he responds almost in an admission of guilt, “Lekin ab shirt pant ke saath sports shoes achcha nahi dikhta office mein”. I just nod.
Silence. And then some more silence! I think I have discouraged the man.
“Niche ka dikhayenge, please?” I shrink back at this scandalous sounding request, till a clarification comes as an afterthought, “Sole!”
I transfer the bag into my right hand, catch the overhead handle with the left and bring my upturned foot up for closer inspection by the short guy. I cannot help but chuckle inwardly about my pose – standing one legged in a train crammed with people, showing off the sole of my shoe to a complete stranger.
Thankfully, the train slows down enough for me to realize that Dadar has arrived. As the local chugs to a halt I jump off the footboard and onto the platform before hordes of ‘tired souls’ rush into the compartment already packed to much more than its capacity. I pause for a moment on the platform to see people transform briefly into angry cats, snarling to get a foothold on the train.
The local lurches once again and resumes its journey. I wait till the train leaves the station. Then I start climbing the steps of the footbridge, pitying the next man who would start a conversation with the short guy on the train!
Ok ppl… I promise to come back tomorrow with a genuine blog! :-)
cheers!
September 19, 2002 Comments Off
Busy
I’m currently busy in an unmentionable activity!! Wayyy too busy!! … Don’t you worry people! … this particular activity is decent enough to be mentioned in print (or on national television!), but I’ll not mention it just yet… maybe later! ;-)
Really… no time to blog! … So. I’ll resort to the tactics they use on TV … re-runs!!!
I had written the following piece for our office’s online magazine. And I guess, most of you must have already read about it… given the fact that a link is ever present on this page! … Anyways, if you haven’t already read it… please do! … *LOL*
How I survived a writer’s block and lived to tell about it
The other day, I got myself a cup of steaming coffee and turning on my PC, sat down in front of it, intending to do some writing (uh huh! ‘Typing’ would be more appropriate). As the ubiquitous MS-Word splash-screen flashed on the monitor followed by the cursor blinking on a blank document, I started trying to think of a topic to pen my thoughts on. And suddenly my mind seemed completely blank. It was a weird feeling - nothing seemed to pop up in my mind.
I sat there facing the screen, rooted to the chair, as if struck by some immobility charm. The cursor blinked on impatiently, waiting for me to make the first move. And somehow, I did not know what I was supposed to do in order to get my ‘creative’ juices flowing.
I then tried to force my mind into getting started. My fingers, hesitantly typed cliched lines like, “It was a dark and stormy night.” just to jumpstart the creative thinking that my mind suddenly seemed to have forgotten about. But, my mind, like an old jalopy, stubbornly refused to rev up and start.
When you are trying to type something on a word-processor or a PC, you miss out on the experience of tearing the paper off the stationery pad or the typewriter, crumpling it into a ball and tossing it into the waste-paper basket with the finesse of a NBA star player. In the pre-PC days, the waste-paper basket used to bear testimony to the frustrations of a writer. Often, depending on the writer’s level of frustration, there used to be more crumpled paper balls in the basket than there are golf balls at the bottom of a water hazard on a golf course. But, you can only delete the characters off the monitor in case of a PC to leave the slate clean and with no marks of the failed attempts at writing.
I got up from the chair and downed the remaining coffee in a gulp and splashed my face with some ice-cold water in an attempt to jerk my mind out of its stupor. Then I did a bit of spot jogging and a few push-ups. This, I had once seen in an English movie. It however had not helped the writer in the movie and since, they say, life imitates art (or is it the other way round. I can never tell), it did not help me either. If anything, I was out of breath at the end of it.
Then, I opened the window, looked up at the starlit sky, took a few deep breaths of the cool night air, rolled up my sleeves and once again sat down in front of the monitor. The cursor was by now, I am sure, mocking at me. With renewed gusto, I attacked the keyboard once more. After 15 minutes of furious activity that involved, typing, deleting, banging my fist on the desk and cursing under the breath, I stopped to see my handiwork on the screen. “It was dark and stormy night and the dogs were howling in the distance.” was all that could be seen on the screen. My mind, stubborn than the proverbial mule, was refusing to budge!
The next few minutes were spent clutching my head in my hands while my elbows rested on the desk. What would it take for me to be able to conjure up some topic and write again!! I could think of no answer to even this question. Then it suddenly struck me. I was suffering from a case of ‘writer’s block’!
This was the first time that I had contracted this affliction. It was supposed to be a prerogative of real writers and authors. And here I was, the amateur scribbler that I am, being tormented by the writer’s block. A hint of a smile touched the corners of my mouth and spread across till I was grinning from ear to ear. My very own writer’s Block!! Wow! I must be a real writer, I thought! This called for a celebration and so, I opened the drawer of the desk and treated myself to a candy bar.
The next couple of days I could not help but brag about my writer’s block to my friends and to almost everybody that I had a chance to talk to. I made it out to be a big deal and felt good about it. It must have shown on my face, though. Because, someone whom I had not told about it looked at me and asked in hushed tones, “Is it love?”
Then, I felt as though I had to document this piece of personal history. And since I am not affluent enough to afford golden letters to write about it, I had to make do with the same old MS-Word. So, I sat down to write about the ‘writer’s block’, and immediately rattled off a few paragraphs describing my condition and how I came to realize that it was indeed a ‘writer’s block’. As, the thoughts were flowing from my mind to the keyboard and then onto the screen, I suddenly stopped typing.
It was gone! The ‘writer’s block’ was gone! I could feel it. It was as if my mind was bursting with ideas and my hands were not fast enough to keep pace with them. I cursed my luck for providing me with such a short-lived writer’s block. Then, I continued typing, and result of that effort is something that you’ve just finished reading!
Oh well… the unmentionable task beckons again!! … take care, folks!
cheers!
September 18, 2002 Comments Off
Reporter Sam
I thought I’ll just do a round up of some current news and some interesting news stories that I’ve come across in the last couple of days.
First of all, the big news as far as India is concerned… 23 constituencies of the state of Jammu and Kashmir went to polls yesterday, i.e. 16th of September 2002, in what was the first round of elections in the state troubled by terrorism. The overall average voter turnout was a modest 44 percent, but that should be put into perspective while passing judgement. The votes were cast under the shadow of guns as the terrorists desperately tried to stall the progress of the polls. As a result, 44 percent assumes bigger significance when one also considers that sometimes lower voter turnout than 44% is recorded in some elections in other peaceful parts of the country. So, hats off to the spirit of the Kashmiri people! Well done!! A more complete coverage of the J&K polls is available here.
On to sports now… The ICC Champions Trophy got underway in Sri Lanka last week and matches are being played almost everyday. Yesterday, the hosts Sri Lanka played Holland (an absolute novice side as far as cricket is concerned). The result was a foregone conclusion… Sri Lanka, playing in their usual blue outfits, walloped the Dutch, playing in almost obscenely bright orange clothes, by a huuuuuge margin. It was a mismatch really… which leads me to wonder why did they invite Holland to play in a tournament that is termed as the Champions Trophy?!! Anyways, today, West Indies took on Kenya and hoped to avoid the repeat of their shock defeat, years ago in Pune. Brian Lara scored 111 runs helping West Indies to reach a total of 261. Kenya could not quite match up to the task of overhauling the target and fell short by some 29 runs. But the news of the day was that Brian Lara was rushed to the hospital after his batting since he was feeling fatigued and uneasy. The preliminary reports indicated that Lara might be suffering from Hepatitis. Thats a bad news! hope he recovers soon!!! Read about this story here.
Shekhar Kapur, India’s most prominent star on the firmament of world cinema, is ready with his next film. The film, titled, The Four Feathers, based on AE W Mason’s novel is supposed to be a a lavish mounted gripping tale of a young English soldier who quits the army on the eve of a crucial war and is branded a coward by his friends and fiancée. The soldier, played by Heath Ledger, returns to the battlefield few months later to save the lives of the very same friends who had denounced him not too long ago. Many critics and reviewers have already predicted that this might be a strong Oscar contender. Well, I hope Shekhar Kapur does manage to win Oscars this time around. Anyways consider for a moment, the list of hits that this talented director has produced over the years… Masoom, Mr. India, The Bandit Queen and Elizabeth. What a list to adorn his CV!!
Now, just a set of links to some interesting news…
They had a little time after picking peaches and before swimming, so Marie and Tom Burrows decided to take their grandson Zack to America’s newest tourist attraction: an enormous pile of radioactive waste. Confused?!! … read about the nuclear dump for the whole family.
What happens when national television reports, on prime time, an incident that never took place?! … Embarassment… feet in the mouth… and red faces. All this must have happened when Pakistan Television (PTV) announced the rigging of polls in one of the constituencies in the J&K elections. Investigative reporting at its best you would say… fair enough! But what if election never took place there at all! Read about this terrible faux pas here.
Skippy goes clubbing in Milan. Anybody would! … in this trendy and chic Italian city. But Skippy is five-and-a-half feet tall kangaroo!! Read about Skippy, the pub-hopping kangaroo.
*LOL* … I think I bored you enough with news. But before I take your leave, here’s a last bit of tidbit…
This one is from the irrepressible Navjyot Singh Sidhu…
In the last test match between India and England recently, there was an incident when a streaker ran across the ground in his birthday suit. Speaking about the incident during the luncheon break, Sidhu exclaimed that “Streakers are the people who want to show they’re nuts!”… *LMAO*… Go figure!
cheers!
September 17, 2002 Comments Off
