Gosh! I am so naive...

Dunno why.. but I have become all the more docile these days.. And because of this tendency of mine to get uncomfortable at the slightest instance, I always tend to agree with people.. and lo! people have taken advantage of me.. why am I so naive??

and of late it has been happening quite often.. I really must stop trying to please everybody...

"depressed"... for no reason at all....

Dunno when it actually hit me... I realised it around 7 in the evening yesterday during the Advertising & Sales Promotion class, when my prof was discussing about the Nerolac ads... I suddenly felt depressed... not quite recovered yet... the midnight walk didn'y help either...

Anyway, have kept the F.R.I.E.N.D.S routine on a halt... Into Prison Break these days... Finished Season 1.. Season 2 seems interesting.. Can't wait to get back to my room to watch more... Apart from the reason that the show is pretty good and one additional reason is that the protagonist is a structural engineer for a change, not yet another computer geek or electronics genious....

Gotta go.. time for class....

Swimming, Diwali, my Autobiography & a Reunion

Its been a while since my last post... Well, quite a few interesting incidents has happened since then... Classes have been more or less irregular with sudden bouts of free days followed by intense schedules... My B'day came and went... Made a fool of myself volunteering to dance along with an Odissi danseuse during a SPIC MACAY event... had a great time dancing the Raas during Navrathri... and a few more other incidents... had made a few entries... but never came round to completing them and so those posts never saw the light of the day...

Coming to the recent past, I've not been having any classes for the past few days... not doing anything constructive though... Have been trying my had at Sudoku, for which I suddenly developed a liking last week... Else, I've been watching Coupling episodes back-2-back...

Friday evening, we went to Sea Queen for dinner... Our original plan was Fortune but due to a wedding reception, their restaurant was fully booked... Anyway, I saw my old college-mate there... Was seeing her after a long time... felt good... By the time we were done with dinner, which saw heated debates on the topic of champagne and the accuracy of wikipedia, it was nearly midnight... Sea Queen is facing the Calicut beach and offers a fantastic view... Before heading back to campus, we went for a long walk on the beach... The sea was pretty rough and feeling the mist rise as the waves lashed onto the rocks was amazing... The dinner was also significant coz me and a close friend of mine made up after a fight which had happened sometime back... It was good to start speaking with him again...

On Saturday, went to NIT swimming pool in the morning.. quite ironic that in the four years that I've studied there, the only instance when I visited the pool was during a treasure hunt... I still did not swim that day... But next time I well... Anyway, the good thing was that we had our lunch from the NIT Canteen that day... I simply love their shell-fish preparation... I used to gorge on those during my engineering days...

We had our Diwali celebrations that evening... The campus looked beautiful, all lit up... Especially the 'circle' near my hostel... The pooja was short for a change... And we had a lot more sweets this time round... The fireworks were a little less grand when compared to last time, but we had great fun nonetheless...

Sunday, was spent watching Coupling and trying to write my autobiography... Not that I'm interested in publishing my life story or anything... It was part of a course Discovering Self and was meant to be more like an introspection... But man, it is really tough... I could muster up just a few pages after sitting for 3 hours straight... Anyway, dropped it the moment I heard that the submission deadline was extended owing to the mid-term exams which starts tomorrow...

And so, I went out again yesterday evening... It was a mini reunion of sorts...We met at the beach... I am a beach person... I can spend hours sitting there, feeling the wind in my hair (which is falling faster than an avalanche) and just staring out into the sea; with the sounds of the gulls and that salty/fishy scent... Just four of us mallu civilians from college... Bino, Akku and Mithun... It was good to meet the guys once again... We talked for quite sometime... Bino has become the numero uno when it came to gossips and info... By the time I returned to campus, it was almost time for dinner...

Resumed watching coupling and studying a bit... Ok, I think I better wind up... Got a big exam tomorrow...

So long then....

Gosh.. I feel sooo.. happy

Man.... I really do feel a lot happy today... Am I drunk... Nope... Have I doped? definitely not... Dunno why I feel great!..... Discovering Self course has been a great experience.. Am greatly enjoying it...

Decided to go over to Taj for dinner as they were having a Punjabi Food Fest and we also wanted to show our friends from France who are on student-exchange from ESCP EAP, Paris; a taste of Punjabi cusine... The food was good.. I normally donot like the Taj food, but greatly enjoyed it this time... and we went in the Sumo rather than the usual jeep.. so the return journey with the cold night-time air was intoxicating... man.. I am on a high!!

FROM TOP LEFT...

That's myself; Akshaye; Anchit; Frederic; Chinmay; Paro; Rita; Bala; Anne; Bivudh; Arka & Kiran

Hellew Coffee...

For a change, time is going pretty slow these days. My classes won't begin until Tuesday and so I have loads of time to spare. With Orkut and tonz of movies on the campus server, passing time has never been an issue :)

Anyway, got bored of hanging around the hostel all day and so went to the city with Siam (my friend) yesterday. He had to buy a shirt. Since time was not at all an issue we went to a lot many stores, before settling on a blue striped shirt from the Indian Terrain showroom. Tried looking for a shoe for myself, but got scared off when I saw the price tag on a particular Adidas shoe which I really liked... Maybe in another year, when I start earning a buck, I would get my hands on one...


Many of the shops were still giving out their Onam discount offers in a last minute attempt to finish off stocks.. So, I finally bought an electric kettle. Having subject myself to the horrors of the canteen coffee for over a year, it was time I finally yield to the pressures of my tummy and buy a coffee maker.. Since, a coffee maker was a tad bit expensive, I settled for this 1.8l electric kettle. Bought, a pack of Nescafe and some sugar from the local shop... And now its coffee time!! (even though it is DIY...)


Also, went to Al Bake to round up our trip. We were pretty tired after all the walking and so gorged on Shawerma. Arabic food never tasted better... And today, as I sit typing this, my mind is already thinking of options for tonite...its been raining cats and dogs for the past few days and so going out options are limited...hmmm... praying for a really bright idea to click...

Back with a BaNg... (i hOpe)

Its great to be back... musing at random...

A lot of things have happened in the past few months... Came back from Calcutta.. fell in love in Kerala again... monsoons started... and a hectic 4th term came and went... went for a 3 day trekking trip (though we spent a good amnt of time sleeping in the tents)... Onam came and went... and finally I await the starting of yet another term tomorrow... hope it is not as action packed as the one that just got over... Hopefully I'll get time to breathe (and blog; of course!) coz I have taken only the min: credits this term... hoping to catch up on a lot of things like jogging; sleeping; blogging; movies; calling up friends; movies; books and a helluva lot more...

What prompted me to write today was the train journey from home by the Mangala express... unlike all my previous trips, this time the train was actually on time and the compartment was nearly empty... after reading a couple of articles from the latest issue of Outlook Traveller (yep, I'm an armchair traveller - BIG TIME)... I just started looking out through the window... It had started to drizzle and the landscape was all clean and green... man! Kerala is gorgeous...

That's when nostalgia hit me... about a long lost friend of mine... well, not exactly long lost coz we met sometime back.. but nonetheless long-lost... a friend who meant a whole lot than just a mere friend... we really did connect at a much deeper level... but that was "then"... what happened to all those feelings? somewhere along the way, we grew apart... now the distance is too unfathomabale to revive that old passion we had... friend, I really miss you... friend, I wish you were here with me... friend, I wish we could take all those long walks like we used to... friend, I wish we could talk for hours like we used to... friend, I wish we could play pranks like we used to... friend, how I wish you were beside me at this very moment... Oh! if only wishes would come true... if only....

what a walk...

well... I did take a walk and boy was it good or what... IIMC is blessed with a lake and by the time I reached its banks it was refreshingly windy... a jolly good experience, I'd say...













Inspired?? Sure I am... but not enuff to make me work.. Maybe a good dinner will fix that.. Plng to eat out and give the mess a miss...

In need of some inspiration...

Dunno how much longer I can hold on. The Calcutta weather is as horrible as it can get. The words hot and humid get a whole new meaning here...

Got lots of work left to be done. But what to do, me not just feeling right. Not even the least bit inspired to do an ounce of work. Maybe I'll go for a walk. That might just be the right receipe to cool off my nerves...

teri khubsoorti main hum Fanaa ho gaye...

AAh.. what a day... went to watch Fanaa today... due to the muliplex issue, had to go to a local theatre. With a melee of local crowds cheering and old plastic seats, the theatre was a far cry from the cozy (but ridiculously expensive) INOX theatre where we usually go... but the movie more than made up for all that...

With fantastic locations in Delhi and Poland, it is a real visual treat.. Fanaa is the story of Zooni (Kajol) a blind Kashmiri girl who falls in love with Rehaan (Aamir Khan) a tour guide with a dark secret on her maiden trip to Delhi...

Well, the story ain't that great.. nothing novel and easily predictable.. but the performances are fantastic.. Man, Kajol looks absolutly fantastic... Fanaa seems to be a perfect comeback film for her... And Manish malhotra has worked his magic again with the costumes...

And I never realised Aamir Khan was that old.. esp in all the closeup shoots in the beginning... Also wish there was more of Shruti and Kiron Kher... Two very lovely ladies...

Me, an out and out Kajol fan... waiting eagerly for her next release...

And Now.. I'm a beauty contest judge...

Well well... its not every day that one gets to be a beauty contest judge... Isn't it...

Of late I've been frequenting Crosswords, a bookstore in the shopping hub of Calcutta. Coz, its one store that allows you to read to your heart's content, for a long as you want, without chucking you out even if you don't buy a thing. Plus its got an inhouse coffee shop.. Great combination, ain't it folks..

After doing my usual rounds, I was sitting down on one of their cute lil cubical cushioned stools, browsing through some DVDs when a beautiful girl approached me with a cute smile and one of those mechanical "Hellow Sir" greetings..

"I'm doing a survey for a beauty contest, and I would like you to give me a little help.."(sure!) She hands me a sheet which has headshots of about 20 contestants.. "Sir, (all smiles) all you need to do is look through the photographs and choose the contestant whom you think is the most beautiful, stating you reason.." Dudes, how can I say no to such an offer! That too coming from a girl who was no less beautiful...

Eventually I chose one who had this big dreamy eyes... And with that she took the sheet back.. flashed her smile again.. and scooted off hunting for more men..

So, that's been my lil stint with the pageant industry.. as for the girls, may the best contestant wins...

What killed the video star?

Yawn.... its a lazy summer afternoon... Ever since a bug bit me a couple of days back leading to a series of allergic reactions, I've been a lil grumpy. I look really funny though. A very normal right side of the face, as opposed to a red, swollen and chubby left side. All this has reduced my wanderings pretty much within the hostel itself. Because I can't show up at the office looking like this, I've been doing my project from my lil non-descrpt room in a hostel at IIMC.

Anyway, coming back to the topic at hand.. well, I was getting tired of sitting in front of the computer all morning. Decided to give my poor sick self a lil break. Dashed to the Coffee Day Xpress outlet just outside my building, grabbed a Cappuchino and rushed back to the safety of my room. (Calcutta is very hot these days to venture out in the afternoons). Put on an ole fav of mine... "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles

This song has the ditsinction of being the first video to be played on MTV on its debut at 12:00 am on the first of August 1981.

Was googling for a pic for this post when I came across this interesting link. Incidently, a parody of the same song was released in 2001.. "Internet Killed the Video Star".. Its pretty neat. Do check it out.

Well, as for me.. I better get back to work.. :)

On haunting memories and things that can't be undone...

Life is a roller coaster ride.. With many ups and downs.. In its wake, life brings along many instances that remain etched in our minds as memories.. memories to live by.. memories to reflect on.. memories that lift your spirits and those that haunt you for the rest of you life..

Some people say that things happen for a reason.. But I don't know why such an incident happened. Is it so hard to resist temptation? Or is it that I have grown so weak that I have absolutely no will power and contol over my emotions..

Reflecting back, I am still not sure how it all started.. What went wrong.. Was I wanting it all along.. and was it an explosion of repressed emotions.. Was it wrong.. Or is it just another event in the bigger scheme of things.. what will happen of me now..

Worse, its not the first time that this has happened.. And yet, I am not able to come to terms with it.. not able to acknowledge that it happened.. dunno how I was able to shrugg it off as if nothing happened.. Its high time for a "talk"...

Dear friend.. I am sorry that it happened.. and believe me if it could be undone, I would try my best.. but your silence is killing me.. and this guilt is too heavy a burden to carry on my shoulders..

But one thing I'm sure about, that this memory will haunt me for a loong time from now.........

Cattle Mutilations....

Was watching some ole episodes of X-files... That's how I got some info abt cattle mutilations

Ctrl C- Ctrl V...... abracadabra...

Cattle Mutilation Phenomena refers to thousands of cases in North America where cattle have been found mutilated under abnormal circumstances. Many mutilated cattle have been found marked with fluorescent paint, probably to help identify them in the dark.
The cows are found dead (although the cause of death is undetermined), exsanguinated (all their blood has been removed). Precise "laser-precision" cuts are observed in the mutilated cattle. They have had certain organs surgically removed from their bodies. Often their reproductive and rectal organs have been removed.
Abnormally high radiation levels have been detected near the dead animals when they are found, and scavengers will not touch the carcass. There are no footprints leading to or from the cows. There is evidence (clamp marks on the animals' legs) that the cattle were taken from their habitats and mutilated elsewhere. Sightings of UFOs and strange, unmarked, black helicopters coincide with many cattle mutilation cases.
Some people suspect our government as being behind this as some sort of biological warfare plan. Yet this is a world phenomemon.
The marks found on the animals are not consistent with attacks by predators such as wolves or coyotes.
In many cases the owners hear nothing at the time of the mutilation which is usually at night.
All organ removal and incisions are done with surgical precision, and in some cases the evidence of cauterization along the incision lines has led investigators to believe the use of some sort of high heat cutting device has been administered, suggesting the strong possibility of a laser.
Bones are also clearly cut with no bone fragments around the cut.
The body of the animal is totally drained of blood yet there no trace of blood is found, no signs of a struggle, footprints or tire tracks found anywhere on the ground around the body.
The typical cattle mutilation has shown repeatedly, huge oval shaped incisions around the jaw bone and in most cases the exposed jaw is completely removed, and the tongue removed from a precise incision deep in the throat. Also observed is the additional removal of at least one (1) eyeball, the udders on the female are most always removed and the sexual organs on both sexes are also most always removed.
UFOs and strange black unmarked helicopters have been linked with these mutilations since they have been sighted at the same time in the same area where the mutilated bovines have been found. There have been reports about UFO's lifting the animal off the ground. No one seems to have a valid reason as to the link between the multilations and the ET's.

Many animal mutilations are now being blamed on the animlas called Chupacabras who have yet to be captured and researched. Animal victims are found with a puncture hole in their neck and blood drained.

Pretty murky, huh!!
click here or here or here or here to get more info...

"Quarter Life Crisis"

There's been a lot of things that I wanted to speakout but always feels tongue tied when I try to do it... Well, here's something which my friend forwarded to me.. the guy has exactly written down my thoughts.. In a way it makes me glad to know that I'm not the only one....

>>"Being a twenty-something">>

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you. You look at wat ur studying or ur job... and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you.

Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't. One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you're doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself... and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that every one reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

Its called "Quarter-life Crisis." nothing is constant......except change. wats life without a few risks? keep playin the game! "

What would you do if I sang out of tune....

Man, it was a good day...Spent a lot of time watching "The Wonder Years"

It was too good...Nw a bit nostalgic...wanna write more, but got to catch more episodes...