Back in Pune

It feels good to be in Pune. Life is funny. There was a time when I used to hate this place. Maybe the circumstances then made me feel that way. But the perception has definitely changed, and I feel Pune is not that bad a place.

Normally the memories associated with a place form an opinion about it. You ask a bunch of students freaking out on F.C. road about Pune and they will definitely come out with something like "Pune rocks". You ask a group of new joinees in TCS/Infy/Wipro having a great time in one of the pubs in Bangalore and they will say "Bangalore is the best".

So its the time you have in a place which decides whether the place sucks or rocks. I am definitely glad to be in Pune again.

This week is going to be an easy one, with literally nothing to do on the work front. So reading and browsing is what I have on mind.

Bangalore Trip - II

Life is hectic suddenly with tons of work , but it gets over this weekend. And I expect my next week to be free. Had to fly to Bangalore last week for some urgent official work and am still stuck up with that. How I hate last minute issues.....

But the stay here has been pleasant. After witnessing that heavy downpour in Pune for weeks the sunny weather in Bangalore was a welcome change. Bangalore has been a fav city for me since I visited it first during my final year.

But I can see the infrastructure crumbling under the steady increase of traffic on Bangalore roads. It takes more than an hour to rech Airport road from BTM during peak hours. The flyover construction at Airport Road junction and Bannerghatta Road junction is still incomplete. I remember it started well before I left Bangalore for Pune almost a year back. And I don't think it will be completed within a year. Lousy state of affairs.

One more thing which I don't like about Bangalore is the lack of good cinema halls. Just one multiplex....that too somewhere on the outskirts of the city.

Recently there was a strike called by the Kannada Film Producers Assoc.
There demands....
1) Release all non-Kannada movies after 6 weeks from the date of the national release. ( I will have to wait for 6 weeks to see any English/Hindi movies which are released in India )
2) Rollback the decision to reduce entertainment tax from 70% to 40% for non-Kannada movies. ( I will have to spend more money for watching a non-Kannada movie )

Sounds ridiculous....Isn't it?

On the reading front, finished reading Jules Verne's "A journey to the center of the earth". Its an average novel. Maybe I was expecting too much. Yesterday started HP but was bored after reading couple of chapters.

Have started Dan Brown's Deception Point and it definitely is promising.

Independence Day

Tomorrow we shall celebrate our 57th Independence Day.

There are memories associated with each and every festival we celebrate. Independence Day always reminds me of the school parade which we used to organize. Carrying Indian tricolor on our bicycles while going to school used to be a major thrill. Morning atomosphere used to be so energetic, one could hear patriotic songs played or radios/TVs. After the parade there used to be cultural programs which invariably had a group singing "Saare Jahaan Se Accha" or "Vande Mataram" and students performing a skit on a freedom fighter. Some sweets distribution used to end the ceremony.

After the school parade I used to rush back to catch the live transmission of parade at Red Fort on DD. Then DD was the only option. Me and my cousins used to get so excited watching our troops marching. The various missiles and tanks used to be the topic of discussion for quite some time after the parade.

But this was when we were kids. Things change as you grow up and so do the ways of celebrating a festival.

Is it true that as you grow you are less jingoistic? Or you are more bothered about materialistic things in life?

Happy Independence Day !!!

Bushy Olympics

Bush begins his speech to pen the Olympic Games. He looks at his paper and says : Ooooooo! Ooooooo! Ooooooo!


For those who have not understood read further....




An aid comes over and whispers :
Mr. President, these are the Olympic rings. Your speech is below.

Music Creation.....

I think creating sensible music is the most tough art to master. Whenever I listen to a great song, I think about the efforts which go behind it. I am listening to one helluva track from Floyd. Its called "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". One of my all time favorite from the Floyd stable. Must confess that I just can't get enough of this song. Have heard that this one is dedicated to Syd Barett. But that's a different story.

Coming back to the topic of music creation, I don't think creating such great music is possible when you are sane. It must be the high (on grass or whatever) which lets your creativity flow and such a masterpiece is recorded. Listen to Dave's guitar solos in the song and you will understand what I am talking.

No wonder almost all the rock bands of the flower generation were indulged in doping. But at the same time they also gave us great songs which will be there till the end of time.

How rich you are?

Every year we gaze enviously at the lists of the richest people in world published by Forbes. Wondering what it would be like to have that sort of cash. But where would you sit on one of those lists?

Find out at Gobal Rich List.

Hope you'll feel better about your position in the globe !!!

Dreams

Yesterday night I dreamt about missing a train. I am supposed to catch a train at 1:00PM. I realize that at 12:30. Haven't even packed my stuff. I dump stuff into my rucksack. Get on the road. Wave frantically at autos. Not even a single auto seems to be free. Finally get into one after much frantic waving. Make it to the railway station just in time. About to board the train, I realize tickets are not in the wallet. I forgot them back home. Bang. I wake up. Smile. Back to sleep, feeling happy that there is no train to catch.

I can never understand dreams. Have read somewhere that dreams are always in black in white. No colors in dreams except shades of grey. Is it true?

Two Days

Two days of fun !!!
Two days, for recharging your batteries !!!
Two days, to catch up on the reading/studying/sleeping front !!!
Two days, to unwind yourself !!!
Two days, to freak out !!!
Two days, to be yourself !!!

Just two days.....Thats BAD !!!

Have a nice weekend.....

Don't Get Bangalored !!!

Thanks to outsourcing, Bangalore has become a verb and don't be surprised if you see it in the next Webster edition. Apparently a US online anti-sourcing website is now marketing T-shirts saying “Don’t get Bangalored”.

The dictionary of old and new words actually has an entry for "BANGALORED".

I really don't understand the hue and cry over outsourcing. The very proponents of free world trade are making an issue out of outsourcing. Yeah, we know that its an election year in US of A. But I am really scared of that dumb Kerry. If he finds himself in White House, its sure going to be one tough job for us. I sincerely think no matter how stupid Bush is, he will make a better prez than Kerry. Atleast India will be assured about her IT and ITES success stories.

Back to home and rains play havoc in Maharashtra. Following pic tells Mumbai's monsoon story.

Some laws......

Lorenz's Law of Mechanical Repair:
After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch.


Anthony's Law of the Workshop:
Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.


Kovac's Conundrum:
When you dial a wrong number, you never get an engaged one.


Cannon's Karmic Law:
If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the next morning you will have a flat tire.


O'brien's Variation Law:
If you change queues, the one you have left will start to move faster than the one you are in now.

Walk down the memory lane......

Last Friday saw six Shahuites gather at the Bamboo House restaurant near Shivaji Nagar to celebrate Girish's stupendous success. Me and Girish reached Deccan at 6:45 and as expected no one was around. We decided to head for Bamboo House since it was drizzling. Amit joined us in couple of minutes. I was the only one with a drastic change in BMI since our Shahu days. Manish and Srihari arrived and the stage was set for an eventful evening.

We talked about our profs, gals from our batch and all the incidents which shall be part of our memories forever.

Some personal observations I made during the meet.

Girish : Not much changes since our 12th. Found out that he is gifted with a supernatural power of meeting friends, profs ( and for that matter whoever is remotely associated with Shahu ) in state transport buses. It was decided that Girish will have to go on a India tour, commuting strictly in state transport buses, to promote our Yahoo Group. ( Since he is bound to meet someone from our Shahu days ).

Manik : Still the loud mouth he used to be. Extremely funny and nice to talk with. One interesting fact.... he still remembers the roll numbers of gals from our batch. The problem is, he doesn't remember the names.

Amit : Soft-spoken, shy and very much the same Amit we remember. Nonetheless it was nice to catch up with him.

Manish : The only CA from our batch. If you guys don't remember, our man dropped out of Medical and Engineering after scoring those mind-boggling marks. He is practicing here at Pune and doing well. Stays silent most of the time but has the ability to crack real good one-liners when needed. He is the next one to get hooked.

Srihari : The only married guy I know from our batch. Keeps good knowledge about restaurants in Pune. So next time you land in Pune and don't know where to have your breakfast/lunch/dinner you know whom to ask.

To wrap it up, it was an evening which will stay with me for years to come.