Of pebbles and stones

So a post finally after a two month long hiatus. Needless to say, a lot has happened. A month has already passed since I touched ground at Bangalore. Before I go any further must say Bangalore rocks. Lots of exploring to be done. If all goes well should be getting an Enfield soon. Guess I should be on the lookout for a pillion. Err did I mention, Bangalore rocks :P. More about Bangalore some other time.

I am on leave right now. Got a week off for Diwali. And here I am at my parents' place(Dad is posted here in Rajasthan place called Ganganagar) As it turns out, was here when I was one. That was more than twenty years back :). Cant remember a thing now. By the way this place is quite close to Pak border,26 kms. You get typical desert climate here - freezing winters and simmering summers. Right now its chilly.

My mornings usually start at ten here(am on leave remember:)). The peace and quiet that you associate with a cantonment is very much there. For someone to come from the maddening rush of a metro , it is a heavenly feeling to just grab a chair and bask in the winter sun hours on end.. Wonder why I am going on and on about this place. Guess its nostalgia. Blue sky, green grass and boss miles away, life couldnt be any better :).

Moving on...

No, its not about Dravid, relinquishing the captaincy,nor is it about the Left-UPA differences(like they are going to end ever). And its certainly not about Ram Gopal Verma's Aag. No, its actually about yours truly getting transferred to Bangalore on a business assignment read project. I leave Hyderabad tomorrow. It happened rather quickly for my liking, getting just a three-day notice and all. Would have liked to have had the opportunity to catch up with friends before leaving. After the initial high fives with colleagues on getting the call, there are mixed feelings- on the one hand there is the excitement of venturing out into the unknown and living on my own in a new city (was with parents till now) . On the other, there is some trepidation, about my assignment;this being my first. Oh and I guess my culinary skills will have to extend beyond getting a toast from the toaster :) Please tell me that counts.

I am told there are a couple of things one can expect from Bangalore- traffic jams and rains. Heard a friend there took four hours to reach office. Phew.Like Hyderabad isnt bad enough. Looks like my dream of getting a Bullet will remain grounded for a while , given the traffic there. Hope to continue playing tennis there, without burning a hole in my pocket. Heard the city is expensive.

Am almost packed.In less than 24 hours, I will be off and I dont know how often I will be able to blog, if it all, given that I wont be having a system.

Cheers!!

Prison Break: A preview

Tattooist: Most guys, you know, for the first time, they start with something small— mom, girlfriend’s initials, something like that. Not you. You got a full set of sleeves, all in a couple of months. Takes guys a few years to get the ink you got.

Michael: I don’t have a few years. Wish the hell I did.

Michael: [referring to the vault] I’m not playing games. Open it.

Bank clerk: Sir, you have a half a million dollars cash in your bag, don’t you think it would be better... [Sound of police sirens gets louder]
[Michael fires his gun at the ceiling]

Judge: Rarely in a case of armed robbery do we hear a plea of no contest. Are you sure about this, Mr. Scofield?

Michael: I’m sure, Your Honor.

Judge: Given your lack of prior criminal conduct, I am inclined to a probation. However, the fact that you discharged a deadly weapon during the commission of the crime suggests malice to me. For that reason, I find it incumbent that you see the inside of a prison cell, Mr. Scofield.

Judge: The closest level one facility would be Fox River State Penitentiary. As for the term of your sentence, I’m setting it at five years. You’ll be eligible for parole in half that time. Sentence to be carried out immediately.

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These lines form the backdrop of the TV series 'Prison break'. Created by Paul Scheuring in the action/thriller/drama genre, the series spans across two seasons. The story revolves around the genius of Michael Scofield(played by Wentworth Miller), a design engineer whose brother Lincoln Burrows is incarcerated and facing execution for a crime he didnt commit. Once convinced of his brother's innocence, Scofield connives a plan to get his brother out. As the above quotes would tell you, Michael, of his own volition, gets himself arrested at Fox River cell. What follows thereafter is sheer entertainment . For those who havent seen the two seasons, I am not going to spill the entire story here, as much as I like it; dont have the patience to type thaat much :).Besides, you have to see it to experience it. Here are a few more quotes .

Sara: Here’s what I think. I think you are scared and you wouldn’t be human if you weren’t scared in a place like this.

Michael: When I was young, I couldn’t sleep at night because I thought there was a monster in the closet. But my brother told me there wasn’t anything in the closet but fear. And fear wasn’t real. He said it wasn’t made of anything just…air. Not even that. He said you just have to face it. You just have to open that closet and the monster would disappear.

Sara: Brother sounds like a smart man.

Michael: He is. In here though, you face your fear, you open that door and there’s a hundred more doors behind it. And the monsters that are hiding behind them are all real.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Michael Scofield: You kept it.

Dr. Sara Tancredi: Kept what?

Michael Scofield: The flower.

Dr. Sara Tancredi: Well, I'm a packrat. I never throw anything out.

Michael Scofield: [looks around the spotless infirmary] Yeah, well this clutter. It's... overwhelming.

Dr. Sara Tancredi: You should see my apartment.

Michael Scofield: Woah. We haven't even had our first date yet and you're already inviting me in. I thought you were a nice girl.

Dr. Sara Tancredi: Oh Michael, we all know nice girls finish last.
[motions for Michael to lift up his shirt]

Michael Scofield: So where do you finish?

Dr. Sara Tancredi: Depends on where I start. Deep breath.
[uses stethoscope to listen to Michael's heart beat, and looks up at him. Michael gives her the blue steel and forgets to continue breathing deeply]

Angela West: [suddenly walking in] Sara, we're backing up out here.

Dr. Sara Tancredi: Right, sorry.
[to Michael]

Dr. Sara Tancredi: I'll go get your shot.

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If you like suspense/drama then this is something you wouldnt want to miss. The third season is scheduled to go on air on 17th Sep.The promos sure looked good. Cant wait to see the likes of T-Bag, Agent Mahone, Belleck working in tandem with Scofield, who doesnt have the design of the cell this time.This season looks all set to live up to its billing. Here is to the third- Just bring it on :)

Cheers!

Musings on a late sunday afternoon

A month into the realms of corporate world, and you tend to look at weekends in a whole new light altogether. Atleast I do. Now I am not going to grumble about the rigorous training. No, I think its pretty ok as long as you can manage to clear the tests . Another fortnight and the training should be over.

Anyway it was the weekends that I wanted to bring up here. This weekend was one of the better ones I had. Managed to eke out time for tennis and rather content with it. Must say the synthetic courts at LB stadium rock. It was also a nice change to see the Indian cricket team on the brink of clinching an away series after 1986, not counting series wins in WI and Bangladesh. The much vaunted Indian batting line up is beginning to show some steel. Whether this steely resolve will be sustained remains to be seen. The forthcoming series in Australia later this year should give us a fair picture.

Oh and by the way, the other day on my way to office saw a bizarre incident. There was some sort of contact between a Qualis and a guy on a motor-cycle. What actually transpired leading to the accident I am not aware but saw the motorcyclist literally hitting,yes hitting the qualis driver with his helmet through the half open driver's window- glass. Infact such incidents have become passe. The way I see it much of the problem stems from the fact that people seem to have little or no patience and a complete disregard for driving ethics. Try explaining lane driving to an auto-wallah :)

Cheers!

Still Alive

Been rather long since the last post. Quite a few things have happened since. Its been a month since I joined Accenture and also a month since I last wielded a tennis racquet :((going to change that, rain gods permitting). Just finished the first half of training and now another month remains. It has been a good learning curve(learning how to sit and listen in a class again after four years of engineering ;)) .

The training is demanding, what with tests happening just about every week. In between all that, pocketed my first salary a couple of days back. The feeling is yet to sink in.

Will update once I am through with training.

PS: Missed the college convocation .This is wishing my friends all the best wherever you go.

Night at Coimbatore Bus terminal!

It is 2 AM in the morning and we(my four friends and me) are stranded at the Coimbatore bus stop trying to hop onto to a bus that will take us to Palini en route to Kodaikanal. There were buses on that route, but for some reason we couldnt fathom, they were choc-a-bloc full, yes in the wee hours of morning. We had been at the terminal for well over a couple of hours. Some of us were a little bleary eyed. I wasn't. Feeling a little hot(it was still and humid) I get up and walk to this shop in my purview. It was more of a shack. Nope, I wasnt getting pot :). This is the conversation , if you could call it one

Me: " Jara ek mineral water bottle dena. Thanda hai kya?"

Shopkeeper(old man): Gives me a bewildered stare like I have really asked for weed.

Then I point in the direction of the bottles. The old man nods and smiles and gets me a one- litre bottle

Me:"Issey bara hai kya, two litres wala".
Seeing the look on his face, I put my left palm at the top of the bottle and the right at the base, and feeling rather foolish(well more foolish than I usually feel:)) I raise my left hand to show a bigger a bottle. It works :). He flashes a big smile, and I do the same.He then shakes his head to tell me that he doesnt have a two-litre one.So I take the one litre one and take out a Boomer from the bottle in front of me. The old man then mutters something and this time its my turn to give him one of his blank stares. He then scribbles 14 on an old Tamil newspaper lying around. I see it and we smile and I pay the money and head off to my friends.

0230hrs: We are told the next bus is at 3 20AM, and we decide to barge in, no matter how crowded it was.

0320hrs: As the bus pulls in, there is frenzied running everywhere and taking the cue from others I rush towards the bus as fast as my suitcase and ruck sack would allow. There is chaos already at the sole entrance with all sorts of all people trying to get in. We somehow manage to get in, luggage and all. I grab the only seat that was left, beside the driver. As I sit there, the driver tells me it is the conductor's. I tell him I will move once he comes. The conductor does show up after a couple of minutes and I start to get up, but he asks me to sit. Damn decent of him. So there I was, in the first seat. Couldnt help remembering how as kids we used to fight over this very seat in our school bus.

0330hrs: The bus pulls out of the terminal, and even though it was dark outside, I was feeling really chuffed with the view through the windshield. Empty roads and just the drone of the engine. We reached Palini around six and got a bus from there to Kodaikanal, needless to say without the kind of fun we had that night :)

The Final at Roland Garros That Was

The second grand slam of the calendar year is the Roland Garros. It is truly unique and poses different challenges to the players. One reason could be attributed to the surface- the red clay. It is slow, meaning you just cant peel off winners straight away, you have to earn that right by working hard in the rallies, moving the opponent around the court with heavy top spin and pulling the trigger at the right moment. A case in point is Sharapova's semi final exit, at the hands of a lesser player. Well most players appear lesser to some guys when we are talking about Maria ;)

So what I am trying to say is that at some stage in the tournament, no matter what your seed is, you will have to battle through find that something extra , your fitness levels will be tested. Not that the other surfaces are not demanding, but here your movements are tested to the hilt.

Coming to the men's final, it was what the organisers must have hoped for. Number one and two going at each other, hammer and tongs. After a shaky start from both players, which is understandable given the occasion, the pace picked up and it was Federer who was making the play initially, and had several break point opportunities. But credit to Nadal, he hung in there, and played the big points well, going to Federer's backhand with his characteristic top spin meaning that Roger had to play his single handed backhand at his shoulder level, which is a very difficult thing to do. This pattern became the norm for the entire match,Nadal forehand to Federer's backhand. So after a good start, the number one seed lost his last two service games and with it the set 6-3.

With the first set in his pocket, Nadal had a firm grip on the match or so one thought. But Federer is Federer, and he changed the pattern in the second set, mixing his top spin backhand with the slice , and even serving and volleying as a surprise weapon. It paid off, and Nadal wasn't dictating the play anymore. Sometimes you wonder why he couldnt have tried the same thing in the first set, where he got into baseline wrangling match with Nadal, where there can be only one winner. Second set went to Federer. With the match well into its second hour, both players started showing the first signs of weariness. Here is where the fitness levels comes in . Now make no mistake, Roger Federer is a truly great player, a great anticipator of the ball, glides through the court, an artist at work.But grinding his opponent isnt his forte, which is a pre requisite here and his fitness levels arent the greatest. Usually he doesnt need to play long matches on other surfaces. His artistry coupled with sublime touch at the net ensures that the match is wrapped up without breaking too much of a sweat. Nadal ,on the other hand, isnt nearly as gifted as Federer but his game is built on grinding the opponent into submission with heavy top spin. Not as elegant as Roger, but mighty effective especially here. Plays a high intensity game and can run down almost any ball. A backhand winner on the run at full stretch frow way behind the baseline is testimony to the fact. His war- like demeanour on court may seem off-putting to some, but I must confess I rather like it. He plays hard, but fair.

I appear to have digressed again. Coming to the third and fourth sets, it was Nadal calling the shots. For whatever reason, fatigue or otherwise, Federer just couldnt find his rhythm. An early break in both the sets was enough for Nadal to close out the match, and close out he did, with the Federer forehand going long. It was the third consecutive championship win at the French for Rafa, emulating the legendary Borg who did it 1978-80. It was a special moment for someone so young at 21. For Federer, it was obviously disappointing. Like he said at the post match conference, he had the chances but couldnt take them. Next up, in a little over week's time, is the grass of Wimbledon, considered the mecca of all slams by some. The recent turn of events not withstanding, Federer will still be the man to beat. As the saying goes "Competitors come and go but the Champion remains."
Waiting with bated breath for the matches to begin. Till then cheers!!

PS: I have put the stats off my memory. Will be glad if you can point out any discrepancies.

The Southern Odyssey

Its been a week since I got back and with my joining Accenture still a distant month away, there is plenty of time to put my feet up and keep it that way:). Reason enough to resume blogging. Like I mentioned in the previous post, was out with friends Nadeem,Gopal,Sridhar and Sandeep on a southern tour encompassing Tamil Nadu and Kerela. Did these places

Ooty-Most of Ooty was already familiar as I had visited it on numerous occasions as a child, with Dad being posted at Wellington. But it was still nice to be there with friends. Some of the views atop the hills were really good.For those who read the previous post, yes we did go through Wellington and it felt as if the clock was turned back to the summer of 1990 . It felt surreal to be at a place where you had once grown up almost two decades ago.There was a lump in my throat after we left the place behind. Ok enough of namby pamby stuff. Next up was Kodaikanal. We did a lot of solid viewing there too , of not just the beautiful landscape[wink] . Needless to say, we werent disappointed :) But the icing on the cake was the three hour trekking. Some of the views overlooking the hills were exhilarating.Moving clouds shrouding the valley was a sight to behold. After Kodaikanal it was down south to Kerela, this place called Tekkdi on the Tamil Nadu-Kerela border. Famous for its Periyar lake and Periyar Forest Reserve, we spent half a day at the lake.The lake, meandering its way through the forest was truly magnificent, and the boating was even better. There was a gentle breeze blowing, which was so rejuvenating. Kerela is indeed rightly called God's own country. There is a languid elegance about the place which is unique to this state. Boating in the Alleppi backwaters was an experience to savour- coconut trees on either side, blue sky above and and the glassy still waters below,it was the true definition of tranquility.

Next stop was Kanyakumari-famous for its sunrise and sunset . Come the sunrise,the waters would go golden almost as if the sun were rising from beneath the ocean. We have some great shots of the sunrise. We also visited Swami Vivekanada's Rock Memorial. It is said that the Swami meditated on that rock for three consecutive days- Dec 25,26,27 in 1892 I think it was.

The last leg of our tour concluded at Trivandrum, where we spent an evening at Kovlam beach. The next day,early morning we boarded the train to take us back to Hyderabad. As they say "All good things must come to an end".

P.S: Couldnt figure out how to get the shots arranged. You will have to put up with the garbled medley.

Lady Sridhar, isnt she lovely ;)















Rose gardens

Random Thoughts on a Saturday evening

With the exam season(yeah season because it felt like one!!) coming to an end, things are looking up once again, the sweltering summer notwithstanding. Well for starters, looking forward to some hard-earned sleep[wink]. The next thirty days, I am practically going to be living out of a suitcase.

First its down south with a bunch of friends. Going to be nice visiting places like Ooty, Kodaikanal again after so many years. The very idea brings a deluge of memories flooding back, memories of yore- did my first standard at this place called Wellington , some sixty kms from Ooty. With the Nilgris as its backdrop ,its a quaint town, sparsely populated, at least it was then. Its a military inhabitation basically. Dad was in Staff college there. As I was saying I did my first standard there, the school was DSSC. What I remember more vividly among other things was rolling down the slope along the largish grassy hillock we had in school and getting all dizzy . It was quite a muse back then during the lunch breaks . Used to ruin my school sweater ;) Also fondly recall the long drives that Dad took us on, in our off- white Fiat. Those were good days. There were many other things which I cant remember now. All this may sound a little quixotic, and it probably is, but then that's me ;)

Again I appear to have gone offtrack, well after the southern odyssey its back to Hyderabad. And then after a fortnight its time to set off for home, my grandparents' place in Bihar, Deoghar. Its been almost a year and a half since I last visited and it will great to be with my grandparents. It will be mango season there shortly and I cant wait to get there.

Seems like an interesting month ahead. Will update once I am back. A couple of things that I would like to discuss here.

This morning, while looking up the Times paper, apart from the shocking bomb carnage, I was trying to read the sports page and thought I will bring this up. Its becoming increasingly difficult to read that page, what with the kind of pictures being splashed around in the pages adjacent :) . I understand that there was some ruckus created, and the issue got dragged in the court with the Times or TOI as they like to call themselves, getting the verdict in their favour some months back. I am not aware of what exactly transpired in the courts, but seem to remember reading that it was 'a victory for freedom of expression' as quoted by the paper. I would hastily add that I am all for freedom of expression, and what happened in Baroda with the art student is the height of bigotry. Sometimes you wonder where are those values of tolerance, of magnanimity that Akshay Kumar proudly professes to the Britishers in Namastey London. Thankfully,there was some support for the student against the perverse behaviour, with demonstrations among the art students all over the country . Lets also give credit to the dean who also stood up for his student . Coming back to the Times paper.Personally, I have no issues with the pictures. However, there is a right place for everything, and somehow, those sleazy pictures don't belong in sports. Not for me anyway. It would be prudent to utilize some other space for them, and just let the sports section be what it is meant to be- sports. This is just an opinion, would like to know what you feel about the whole thing.

Also would like to talk about the movie Tara Rum Pum . Saw it with a couple of friends. You would have probably have heard about the movie, or already seen it like me. Now I am not here to make up your mind for you, that's down to you. I will just tell you what I think. I found the first half slow, the songs were too long for one, and the movie unravelled along expected lines. There were moments where I had to stifle a yawn, partly because the movie was my idea[wink] and partly because its good manners not to yawn, and me being the perfect gentleman that I am, I didn't ;). The second half was a tad better. However having said that the director could have brought more out of Rani Mukherjee. Apart from the odd scene, she was always traipsing behind Saif Ali Khan. Saif in all fairness didnt do a bad job, but don't think he has the ability to carry a film single handed on his shoulders, like Sharukh Khan did in Swades.All in all it was a fairy tale like movie, which was probably targeting young families. I ll say I found it alright, worth a watch once.

Will be away , so wont be blogging for a while.
Cheers!!