Third Person

Sometimes I just want to step out of my body and observe what happens in my world from the point of view of an impartial observer.

What would I see?

1. Would I enjoy hearing my own PJs?
2. Would I like the sight of my own frame? Seeing it in a mirror is different, mind you
3. Would I like the sound of my own voice?
4. Would I like to touch my own skin and enjoy that touch?

Such questions race through my mind specially while traveling alone in the bus to office/elsewhere.Right now, such a possibility seems bizarre - possible only through the realm of a camcorder/whatever new gadget has taken its place. 

In the meantime I guess there is this, Bleach! The way Shinigami (death gods) are able to come out of a faux body... :D

Belated Happy Birthday, Bloody Mary

Supposedly, this year is the 75th birth anniversary of the Bloody Mary. Read about it here.

Considering that 75th anniversaries are called diamond anniversaries, maybe all bloody marys served this year should be served in a diamond mug/cup/whatever container.

Two serious questions though:

1) Is there a record of the first bloody mary made?

2) Is it such a loved/popular drink to be celebrating its 75th anniversary?

I personally don't like it!

Maoists: Exterminate or Educate?

'Red rage' has become a common headline in the newspapers for the past 3-4 days. Maosists in central India (Chattisgarh and Maharashtra (Vidharba) to be precise) have sent shockwaves throughout the country.

In Chattisgarh, they abducted a policeman Mr. Francis Indwar and brutally beheaded him; and threw the body on a highway. The rage over that incident was yet to settle down; when they struck in Gadchiroli by ambushing a police party and massacaring a alrge number of policemen.

The body count apart, these incidents would definitely have sent a chill down the spine of the security forces posted in these areas. There are already rumblings about government apathy.

The incidents are shocking. Its time to adopt a 3 pronged approach to battled the Maoists. One, hammer them like the Lankan army did to the LTTE; and two swiftly incorporate them into the mainstream, and third, DO NOT EXPLOIT POOR FARMERS AND TRIBALS MERCILESSLY!

Down with frivolous patents

For long, the system of patents has baffled me. How can people gain a right over anything and everything? I mean, products/machines is fine; even ideas that lead to innovative products is fine; but a mere abstract idea??

This article describes the methods of granting patents and how the end of the frivolous patent is near. Nice reading with some amazing pictures. (specially of the cat).

The Romantic America

I've discovered that I have a 'thing' for America of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s; the houses, the scenery, the life. I also have a 'thing' for dramas.

This 'thing' was awakened after I saw Revolutionary Road and was strengthened after watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Just had this burning desire to blog about the dialogues that I loved in Benjamin Button and in revolutionary road.

All dialogues are sourced from IMDB.

Benjamin Button

1) It's a funny thing about comin' home. Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. You'll realize what's changed is you.

2) Benjamin, we're meant to lose the people we love. How else would we know how important they are to us?

3) You can be as mad as a mad dog at the way things went. You could swear, curse the fates, but when it comes to the end, you have to let go.

4) You never know what's comin' for ya.

5) Our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss.

6) Some people, were born to sit by a river. Some get struck by lightning. Some have an ear for music. Some are artists. Some swim. Some know buttons. Some know Shakespeare. Some are mothers. And some people, dance.

Revolutionary Road

1) You want to play house you got to have a job. You want to play nice house, very sweet house, you got to have a job you don't like.

2) Knowing what you've got, knowing what you need, knowing what you can do without - That's inventory control.

Sigh!! Somebody build me a time machine :-D

9

Saw 9 @ PVR Mulund today. Cute, nice, cuddly, feel good movie :-). And the stitchpunks are something totally different.

Read the review by Wired here.

Helplessness

I encountered a chain snatching incident today. I was walking back from the bus stop to my apartment; had almost reached there, when a bike suddenly sped past me moving from the wrong side of the road to the right side. It was driven just the way the irritating punks drive.

To be honest, I didn't pay much attention. Suddenly there was some helpless squealing sound from behind. Initially I dismissed it as some puppies whining; but when it got louder, I turned back to see a lady running with her arms outstretched, screaming in Marathi.

The basic gist was that her mangalsutra had been lifted by the thieves. A crowd did gather, but it was too late; the thieves had a headstart of 2-3 minutes on a bike and were beyond capture.

One can only curse them that they pay for their misdeeds.

Wake Up Dream

I had a weird dream today morning. I had to wake up early for a meeting and hence had set multiple alarms on different sources - mobile / alarm clock / phone from dad etc

When all sources started to sound with different tunes, the image in my dreams was Vadivelu standing in front of 5-6 telephones and going crazy trying to figure out which one of them was ringing.

I woke up when Vadivelu started to go mad in despair.

My Sir MV Moment

It was on Thursday, while returning from office. The King-Long volvo that I like, the one with two three seaters came empty at my stop.

The journey upto matunga was fine, but for some strange reason, I sensed that the bus was not able to negotiate the flyovers - its pickup was not upto the mark. Some strange sound, generally the one that you hear in an AC coach of a train deep in the night when its running at full speed, fell on my ears.

I instantly said, "Something's wrong with the engine."

Sure enough - the red light started flashing on the dashboard, and the driver had to switch off, make a check and then resume the journey.

Why is this post significant you ask? Call me sometime, and I'll tell you a similar story involving Sir M Visveswaraya. :D

My Photography

A few trips and many photographs later, I happened to sit down and classify myself based on the type of pictures that I take.

Most of my pictures are that of plants / animals / sculptures / abstract cloud shots / very less of people and very less of  me in my pics :)

And yes, the customary electricity transmission tower :)

What does that make me???

A foolish sell-out

WTF was Gareth Barry thinking when he did this? 

And to top it all, he pens an apology letter!!! :-o

Seriously dude, Liverpool were waiting for you to say YES, and you joined oil-money awash ManCity?

Shame!!!

My take on 'Earth Hour'

For those of you who are not familiar with the concept of Earth Hour, check this out. To sumamrize, it is an awareness campaign which attempts to educate people (the common folks and the policy dons) about the catastrophic results associated with global warming.

It is a noble concept and a demonstratable one too as was evident from last year. The newspapers reported a significant reduction in the demand profile for that one hour period. So, yes, it is a workable concept. 

However, I was not part of the event last time around. Nor am I going to be part of it this time or anytime in the future.

I feel problems like global warming should be attacked by long term sustained continuous methods - such as judicious use of electricity, using public transport to the maximum etc. One time radical actions do not achieve much. Did the people use electricity judiciously after the previous campaign? I don't think so. 

As a part of the set of people working in the electricity sector, I find on the other hand that demand has shot up, costly power needs to be purchased with ever increasing regularity and the amount of renewable energy expected on the grid is not reaching the required levels.

I believe instead of an annual Earth Hour, we should have a "life-long earth lifetime". It will be so much more effective.

On the flip side, I am aware of the "spirit of activism" and the legendary inertia of the human race to inculcate good habits such as consistent electricity saving. In this regard, this is a good move, and I wish it all the very best.

Janko Tipsarevic

Ladies, the complete package comprising of looks, brains, literature, COOL quotient and sports is here, and his name is Janko Tipsarevic.

Read about him here and here.

Loneliness

Much has been written about solitude, loneliness, being in company of people - stuff like how you can feel alone even if you are surrounded by many; or how you can feel connected even if you are alone physically. 

My take on this is that this matter is not one to be analysed. Instead, one should read this write up with a few poems.

I just love Kristen Hoggatt when she says the following:

But aren’t we all lonely, really, in our little worlds, with each click of the keyboard, with each thought that goes unexpressed? No matter how big our mental space, no matter how peopled our social sphere, no matter what kind of a romantic partner we have — real or imagined, we are all lonely for a majority of the day. We are in that space between the ears, dreaming, waking, drinking coffee, passively reading the latest news, and not engaged in a verbal, physical, or spiritual exchange with someone else.

 

AND

Your brand of loneliness, whether it’s the kind that wakes you up at 3 a.m. or the kind that propels you to open another tasteless novel, presents a formidable challenge to overcome, but everyone must do it sometimes.

AND

But no matter what we call it, it will find us, owed to that distinctly human combination of an over-developed brain and an unenlightened mind. I suppose there are those who would advise yoga or meditation, and maybe you should try that, but I can only vouch for acceptance. You’ve got to accept life and all its faults, as life accepts you and all of yours. Of course it’s going to be lonely and cold sometimes, but the good thing is that it’s always in flux.

Enjoy loneliness folks, its not a gift everyone can have. You truly get to know yourself better. For those who accuse me of the sour-grapes syndrome, I accept, I do miss my home and my parents :-D. Wokay?? Satisfied??

Masakali against drunken flying

How does the song "masakali" from Delhi 6 help in a slogan against drunken flying? Yes, you read it right, FLYING.

Modify a line in the song to 'Kudiyo na Udiyo'

Using a bit of Kannada+hindi, this translates to Do not drink and fly!!

It takes all sorts to make a world

They say that ‘Variety is the spice of life’. For a bus commuter, the sheer variety of people that he/she encounters during the bus journey is a statistical delight. One can classify, reclassify, declassify, “classifield”ify ;-) and what not!! From my experience there are the following classes, but mind you, these will only grow GRow and GROW as I travel more MOre and MORE!!!

The Morning Commuters:

The suit-wallahs/tie-wallahs – These are the biggies in some firm who might have given up commuting by their car in the interest of the environment/to avoid congesting the city etc

The like-me officewallahs – These guys like me would be at the starting stage of their careers and are commuting by BRTS since it is a cool concept and more so since daily commute by cabs is costly and much more uncomfortable.

The picture-perfect babes – Is it just me or has the professional world really changed so much? Why is it that women in their professional attire look so perfect? They certainly are a sight for sleepy eyes J {contrast with guys who at best look decent/ordinary)

The old uncles

The aunties

College kids

 The Evening Commuters:

All of the above who are tired!!! But still, the women look nearly picture perfect :-)

Today the concept of variety took an entirely different hue. The 19:10 BRTS 1 from Backbay Depot had a malfunctioning AC and hence its destination was curtailed upto its depot – Anik, which is roughly midway between Backbay and Thane. At every stop, the conductor stood at the door and announced the revised route and informed about the malfunctioning AC. This led to different reactions:

The people who wanted to get home soon and did not want to wait – ‘Haan theek hai!!! Darwaza khol ke rakhenge na? To baraabar”

The people who were willing to brave the heat but were taken aback when told about the new destination – “Thane tak nahin jaayegi? Whats this??”: these guys instantly got off

People who were pissed off with both the destination and the AC – “Tum logon ne hamaari gadi cheen lee hai!! Gaadi kyun nahin rok te AC kharaab huwa to?”. yeah right, the AC has deliberately been rigged so that you guys can't go home on time. Grow up man!!! AC is a machine and machines fail once a while.

And then, on the nearly empty bus, as I read P Sainath’s ‘Everybody Loves a Good Drought’ I came across this gem: “Ah well, their philosophical looks seemed to say as we part, it takes all sorts to make a world”. As Kurt Angle would say, ‘Its true, its true”.