10 films i really enjoyed this year

College was a blur.A movie watching,shawai eating,sharja guzzling,blur.We would download so many movies that it would require a dutiful,disciplined regimen to actually complete all of them.So I made it my own personal task to watch as many as i could.i would devote entire weekends to watching movies as many as 5 a day.There were so many movies and so little time that someone had to do it for the entire hostel.Yeah, everyone tried.Everyone gave it their best shot,but it was not enough.There so many distractions.assignments,football,shawai,life all came in between. Anyway,somewhere down the line i realized i was shunning quality for quantity.I need not watch all the movies out there to prove my geekiness.No,Watch only those you feel like.And you are allowed the odd mistake or two.That made it all better.It cleared the mist and brought much needed order.
Well all that is only vaguely related to this post.What i wanted to say was that i did watch a lot of movies this year.And of those i remember, the following were the ones that really really stood out.They did not all come out this year.I just saw them this year.In no particular order...


1)Memories of murder
A nicely shot thriller about a couple of detectives trying to catch a serial killer in rural Korea.Based on a true story, its taut,well directed and paints a ghastly picture of a twisted mans handiworks.


2)Jab we met
I absolutely loved this film.Hilarious,gr8 songs, and good chemistry between the leads make it a wonderful experience. I hated Kareena before.now i dont :)...



3)Chotta Mumbai
Nobody in India does comedy like Mollywood.NOBODY.Though recent times have been a slump.Gems pop up now and then.Many die hard Lalettan fans were disappointed with mohanlal resorting to cheap gags and slapstick.Not me.This flick about a motley crew of slum dwellers trying to protect their homes, is not only funny but surprislingly has a well thought out story.While director's Abdul Rashheed's previous film ,Rajamanikkyam was all the rage, i dint quite get into it.But this one did the trick for me.



4)Detective
i believe it was mamooty's Oru CBI diary Kuruppu ( i am not sure if i am spelling it rt) that started the trend of murder mysteries in Mollywood.And they have survived through the 80s and 90s and even now as subgenre they thrive.There is always a lead detective who arrives at a crime scene with a team of experts and sets about solving the case.Here too, the same but its impossible to guess the ending ,The modus operandi and the motive are very unique.The smallest details matter, and the story puts forwards so many possible methods that you start thinking on your own which of them could be true.This is intelligent cinema sans the item number.

5)A dirty carnival
I love gangster flicks, ever since i saw the departed i have been gobblong them up like shawais.This is the story of a rising goon who carries out a important hit , which no one was willing to do.An old school mate who happens to be an aspiring director, approaches him to get insight for a script hes writing.trouble stirs when he makes the film about the hit, and it becomes a major success throwing the goon into a spiral of coverup after coverup.The fights are very realistic,moreso by the fact that there are no guns,only knives and clubs.


6)The Kingdom
Peter Berg knows how to direct an action film.Tight, realistic,loud and effective.The kingdom is about an FBi team that lands in Saudi Arabia to investigate the bombing of a US consulate.there is no muslim bashing, instead it portrays the Saudi lifestyle in a compassionate manner. I liked the performance of the Saudi inspector who is assigned to babysit the team.The last half an hour will leave you at the edge of your seat, nail firmly between teeth.


7)Zodiac
David Fincher.The man knows what hes doing.Three different characters hunting the same serial killer.LA confidential?? No, This ones about the real life Zodiac killer and based on the book by one of those investigators.Theres a scene when Jake Gyllenhall visits a potential suspect in his home.Nothing could be creepier than that scene.


8)Superbad
Superbad baby..!!wow, a film with a self descriptive title.Its hilarious,and anyone who hasnt seen it needs to see it.Twice.My fave character has to be Fogell .."I am Mclovin".Probably the funniest film of the year. I am going to watch anything that stars any of the leads in the coming future.Each character is funny in his own imperfect way.The 3 leads, the policemen, the old guy who got arrested. i cant wait for a follow up from the same camp.



9)Bourne trilogy
The wolverine prequel comes out in 2009.But they already made it.its called the bourne trilogy.There are so many similarities between Bourne and Wolverine .Bourne is Wolverine without the claws.Anyway, i just completed the 3 films this year.And you cant deny the fast-pace-ness of the films.And the stunts and action is so stylistic yet realistic that it leaves your mouth gape.You dont mess with the Bourne.If you break down the last film, ultimatum its nothing but Bourne getting from Europe to NY.But its more than that.The duel between Bourne and Desh in Algeirs has to be one of the coolest fight scenes ever.

10)The Exorcism of Emiluy Rose
This film really scared me.Really did.Its not just the in your face scares.There is also a subtle creepiness to it.Heres a scene that creeps you out.Emily'sBoyfriend wakes up to find her missing from bed.She is one the floor ,her body twisted in an inhumanly manner and staring at him.just imagine yourself in that guys shoes,that is some scary shiite.The film is about a Priest who goes on trial for an exorcism that goes wrong.We see in falshback what went wrong and question whether exorcism is mumbo jumbo or not.I really enjoyed it.Especially Tom Wilkinson's portrayal of the priest.

Also in the list:We own the night,Shoot em' up,28 weeks later,and Eastern Promises(this one i dug alot), and the TV show Extras and the super cool second season of Dexter.

Major Disappointemnt:Live free or Die Hard

Trivia:Brian Cox apparently has a nig hand in the creation of both Bourne and Wolverine.He is the Cia guy who oversaw project Treadstone on the Bourne films and he also plays Gen.Stryker in X2 and the upcoming prequel.

Ramu ki Aag... oh what could have been...

I have watched a lot of movies over the year just out of curiosity.To know how the story ends and what the director intended.i have burned my fingers several times, with romcoms,B-grade horror and a little film called Cannibal Holocaust and this too falls in the category.Every director has hits and misses but theres is no one whose misses are so off the mark and whose good films are so on the spot as Ramu.RGV ki AAg misses and does a good job of missing.Ramu is a very good director , i don't have to tell you that but sometimes he stubbornly clutches onto his whims,he just doesn't know whats good for him.Case in point remake of James and this little film.The novelty here could have been the urban setting,the twist and changes he could have given to the famous scenes and Jai taking on the role of Gabbar(known as Babban , due to copyright issues)but all save the last have been poorly handled.The first half is so lame, so immaturely treated that it makes you wince at the camp and cheese.Here is one director who has come to define reality cinema in Bollywood with his gritty takes on the underworld.Someone who has come off strongly against the improbablities of bollywood scenarios and the lack of deviation from the norms but here he tries so hard to be mainstream that he falls flat.I tried comparing the scenes between the original and this one and they i couldn't spot any single one that was better or different in a good way..well the Kitne Aadmi scene was good and the hand-cutting scene..thats all.The new Jai-Veeru are Ok and thats all,basanti is good and that may be just because i am blinded by Ms.Kothari's curves.Sushmita tries all she can.Mohanlal excels in the scenes that he is in but his Mallu pronunciation is distracting.But since he is Mohanlal, one of the greatest actors in the country, all is forgiven.The stand out character as in the original is Babban/Gabbar.Amitabh excels without parallel in this role.Babban is one badass,MFer and he knows that.He is cruel,unrepenting and psychotic ,and the only good thing that comes out of this fiasco.
Ok, lets see how campy some scenes are.Mohanlal asks Jai-Veeru to help capture a goon for whom they work(They didn't knw he was a criminal)they come to the decision by squinting there eyes and looking at each other, and then sipping some pepsi.And how exactly do they help him??The 3 of them dress up as caricatures and arrange a drug deal.And when they are asked there names.One says Anthony Gonsalves and Amar Akbar..!!!A 90s style shootout follows in an abondoned fort complete with barrels and empty boxes.And how do Jai-veeru selflessly save the Thakur's life?One distracts the goons by talking nonsense while the other call the police.This act is enough to convince the thakur that these 2 guys alone can rid of Babban.Gabbar Hybrid.
He had previously announced that he would never put lip sync songs in his films unless it was a romance, and i whole heartedly agreed with his decision.The songs in Aag are picturised with background dancers ,something which even mainstream boolywood has shunned.The songs in all the Factory's films have always had a raw,amateur feel to them and that was good.But here the lyrics andthe music itself is very shabby except for the holi song the others were all un-melodious.When i first heard of the remake my mind went wild at all the possibilities, all the guys who could play the different roles, how slick and gritty the modern day reincarnation would be.But Ramu fails and how.
On a related note:
I personally dont have great love for Sholay,and i only saw it completely after coming to college.Its a good film and for a bollywood film its very good.I like the basanti intro scene"tumahara naam kya hai ,basanti?" and the melancholy tune that plays when jaya bhaduri comes onscreen, and the intensity with which they stare into each others eyes.But my favorite scene is where thakur's Family is shot down.Its unexpected and well shot.towards the end when theres just the grandson left,all the sound you can hear is the creaking of the jhoola.As gabbar trots towards the kid,takes out his gun and aims, you lean forwards to see whether gabbar could be so cruel and all of a sudden you hear the engine of the train releasing pressure as the thakur steps of the train.Classic.

Trivia:
1)There are over 4 films titled AAg.I guess the most famous is the one starring Raj Kapoor.
2)Do you know why there are no scenes with basanti and the Thakur together in them??... Coz Hema Malini did not want to be anywhere near Sanjeev kumar since he had recently proposed to her.
3)Everyone knows that Danny Dengzopa and Shatrughan Sinha were the first choices for Gabbar and Jai.
4)Danny Dengzopa in real life is best friends with Jacki Shroff.I thought Anil Kapoor and Jackie Shroff would be best friends seeing the millions of films they did together.but no.
5)Jackie Shroff's son is names Tiger.Wow both father and son have typical Dog-names.
6)the opening scene of James is downright shocking, but the film spirals downwards from there.

I am too immature for my own good..

I saw this puddle frozen up and I couldnt resist.

Bleary eyed me...

I haven't slept the whole night.I got back at 8:30 from the lab.We( Jasmeet and I) had to take readings every 30 minutes, so had to be awake all the time..All the rest i got was trying to sleep on a table, the floor, and a chair while subconsciously waiting for the alarm to sound the 30 minute mark.Its a harrowing thing, waiting up all night.Plus it was cold,17 degrees Celsius so that made everything worse.The sleep gnaws at you from inside making muscles tighten in dire need of rest and even you try to sleep yu cant cause you dont have a good spot.So we whiled away our time in the lab,Jasmeet found out that one of the offices was open and he continued his quest to watch all the Byomkesh Bakshi episodes on youtube.I told him that in the very last episode Ajit reveals that he had an affair with Byomkesh's wife and Byomkesh is finally killed trying to save an innocent man.you should have seen his face light up at the thought of a climactic end to the series.Poor guy, i was just making it all up...Muhahaha..[evil laugh]..jasmeet then described his cousin brother who just bought a new car."He is a Siamese twin,there are two of them..including him"he said.Well i knew who he was talking about.The guy had come to drop him at cedar lane and i obviously didn't notice another identical person attached to his hip."You obviously mean Identical twins not Siamese"I said.This triggered us into the correct definition of Siamese twins and we bet to sponsor the others lunch if we lost.I hope everyone knows why siamese twins are called so?they are named after the first recorded case of conjoined twins in "Siam".hence the name.
I tried dancing to keep warm but without music its no fun.Then I tried singing and after a while i couldn't thing any good songs to sing.Then my mind started conjuring up serial killers and psychotic madmen breaking into the lab and trying to dismember us.the banging noises from the pipes and vents above didn't help to allay my fear.Why would anyone break into this lab?"reasoned jasmeet ,"to steal concrete and bitumen.?".I then asked jasmeet what he would do if a "Ganda Aadmi" came in with a knife and tried to cut off his nose."I like my nose" he replied."Yeah, so what would you do to stop him"."He looked around the room and pointed out the 2 Normal Nitric Acid, the glass beakers and the vacuum pump , all of which could be hurled at the intruder"."What would i do ?"he asked me"Well, I would punch you (i e Jasmeet) in the face and throw you in front of him and run away.He would be too busy with your nose to come after me..".
When even at 8 am we still couldn't complete the readings we contemplated taking the equipment home.But it would be too much of a trouble taking care of the equipment.Then people started showing up as office timings began and we decided to stop here and continue in the reading in the evening.We came back and while jasmeet is sleeping ,I just completed watching RGV ki AAG.Its not that good.Thats all i will say rt now.Anyway I am headed to Busch campus to get my paycheck signed and eat my free lunch at Schezwan Express.Meanwhile check out this awesome song.Its very good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12Wqeiow3a4

PS:Did you know that the siamese twins from Siam, Chang and Eng Bunker did get married and spent the night alternately at each of the wives.

Let it snow,Let it snow,Let it snow....

Oh the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we've no place to go,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Why is it that i wake up when i get a phone call, but wont wake up when my alarm goes wild in throes of vibration??So i get a phone call at 7:30 from Teja, hey open your door, I am downstairs.I unlatched the door and lied down again.But something outside stuck me as odd.The sky seemed empty,and the treetops that i usually spot from my mattress on the floor-silently mourning the loss of their leaves- seemed more solemn than usual,and I just knew it.God it was freezing in the afternoon yesterday(-2 C) when i went to Ctown,and last night i was thinking that anytime now, anytime now.Just as i was springing up from my bed, Teja got in,dusting snow from his shoulders, confirming the good news.It was like a festival, that we were all expecting.I rushed to the window to see a snow covered serene exterior.Trees clutching on to whatever snow they could gather, holding out their wide branches, and the cars blanketed by a uniform layer of white everywhere.I went to the balcony and saw the lovely fir trees in my backyard covered with snow.Watching the snow for the first time filled me up with a inexplicable joy, a child like glee, a genuinely warm feeling,Cibin who was also awake, accompanied me and Teja as we decided to take a small walk to Johnson Park nearby,As i reached downstairs, and opened the door, a wide grin found its place on my face.It was beautiful,rally beautiful.Do I hear Sinatra in the background??The walk was nice,we took photos, made snowballs wrote our names on the snow.It crunches beneath your shoes, and it feels actually like powdered ice.It was around -5 C .It was freezing as hell.I couldn't imagine being outside without warm clothes.Later after we came back and I was sitting on the comp when it started snowing again.I went downstairs to take photos.I was alone as it snowed ,quite heavily actually, the birds were chirping madly,and trees stared back at me,I smiled as the radio in my head was playing "let it snow" on repeat.

The fire is slowly dying,
And, my dear, we're still good-bying,
But as long as you love me so,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

My Black Friday Adventure Pt-2

It was Hari, who had called me at 5:30.Are you ready for the trip?he asked.i groaned as i realized i had forgotten all about the trip to Atlantic City.I was pretty tired,but i thought i would go, i called up rahul who was still sleeping and couldn't come.Next i turned to the AP bhavan.Teja and Sandy , were just sitting around thinking of what to do, when i called them and told them of the trip.We all got ready and since there were no buses, we again had to walk to the train station.As i met up the guys in front of hari's place,i found myself doubting whether i should go or not.My whole body was aching from last night.WTF.I thought, it rarely hang out with these guys nowadays.hari and Raghu from 10-A were the ones who accommodated me when i first landed here.Teja was also a temp acco there like me,,and thats how we came to know each other.The entire 10-A gang is cool,there are 5 of them and everyday is like being in a sitcom at their place.They get on with each other very well.So the 5 of us were joined by Sumit, another senior and we headed off to the station.We had to run cause the bus was supposed to come in front of the station in 30 mins.At the station, 2 other seniors,Pinakin(strange name) and rajesh.W took seats in the bus and I quickly fell asleep.When i woke up t was like we were passing through the desert with barren lands on all sides.I could see lights in the distance, which were the hotels and the casinos.We were here.I was feeling refreshed after the sleep.I later realised that the barren land were in fact water and we were near the shore,near the Atlantlic Ocean.Atlantic city, is called the Las Vegas of the west and is a gambling hub, full of the aforementioned casinos and hotels.We got off at the Caesars, and to show our IDs to prove we were 21.We got 17$ coupon which could be exchanged for cash to play at any of the hotels.We decided to get something to eat, and after having pizza at Papa John's,we started the casino,got our cash exchanged and headed to the many crowded tables.th place was filled with ppl, bright rows of slot machines and tables.we headed to roulette table and watched as Rajesh quadrupled his money.i was still making sense of the rules as we headed to another table."wheel of fortune" were you had to bet on several possible outcomes and if you guess it correctly you multiply your money by that many times.there are markings on the table that say, 1 to 1,2to1,5to1,10 to1,and 20 to1.and there are the same markings on the wheel that the dealer spins.and there are more 1to 1 than 2 to 1 and so on.the safe way to play is to always bet on 1 to 1 and simultaneous;ly bet on other slots too.But this is gambling, so ended up losing 15$.But it was good fun.We took photos at the many Caesar and Greek statues all decorated with Santa hats to signal the start of the holiday season and we lost more money and decided to go to another hotel.We stepped out into the cold, and spotted Bally's Wild Wild West.We got into what what was decorated with montages from the wild west.There was an entire mock town set up inside the hotel complete with slot machines and tables.the good thing was that the best were smaller here.Hari and raghu played the wheel of fortune while we all watched.Then i too decide to play.I lost in the beginning and then was going good.i realized slow and steady was the way.But i soon ran out of chips.Again it was good fun.God, these casino ppl must be making millions.We sat down for some time at a restaurant that was fashioned like a saloon from old times.I urged sandy and teja to play something, and sandy decided to try the slot machine.he put in a 5 dollar bill and got started.The min bet is 25 cents and he was going downhill.then he rammed in the last 4 coins, and spun.tung tung, the counters spun as he got 3 "roaring 20s" and got 10 times his money.so he made 10 bucks, and cashed in.That was so lucky, and that too in the end.Soon we got Teja to play as well. he started off well from the beginning and soon he too made 10bucks.Inspired by them i too decided to try my hand and i lost 5 bucks.Any way it was good fun.We all decided to call it a night, some guys having lost more than 100 $ and catch the return bus at 2:30.I quickly made mental note come here and try my luck again.We had enough photos for orkut and good memories of our first time here.In the ride back home too I slept soundly...

My Black Friday adventure Pt-1

Black friday is the day after thanksgiving when ppl line up in front of stores to get really low deals on electronics,clothes,eomps etc.You also have loads of online deals.I and a couple of other guys were tossing around the idea of going and spending the night in front of some store in NY, but nothing solid came up.So on Thursday , here i was ,having just cooked some good rajma and loki sabji, nothing much planned.Thats when Chandu walked in.Chandu is..different.He is someone who is constantly spewing out fundas,interjected with hindi profanities, all the while maintaing a bihari accent.He is form jharkhand, the Bokoro steel plant to be exact.So he tells me that he and Nishanth sagar are going to the Menlo Park mall.Did I want to go?.. I was in half mind here,yeah i was planning on getting some things, but plain old laziness was preventing me from doing anything.In the end I gave in and we also called Rahul Pandey.So the four of us planned to take the last train to Metuchen at 1:30 and spend the night in front of the mall, and burst in at 5:00 when it opened.I knew the temp would dip dangerously low at night, so i armed myself with 3 layers of clothing and a jacket and gloves,muffler and a binny.So we set out to the train station, but since its thanksgiving ,no bus.we walked the 2 kms to the train station,reached there and settled nicely on the benches,dunkin vanilla Chai in hands.I was feeling cold, and i knew i had a colder noght ahead of me.Our chattering of teeth was interrupted by two homeless guys one of who claimed he wasnt ready for the cold since he was knew at this homeless thing.He said that he had just got out the prison (nicknamed greenmount) and that the food there was very good.He ;lifted his shirt to proudly show of his rotund belly.We smiled and nodded in appreciation.He kept going on about the cold and all, when the train arrived.It was nice and warmbut we reached the destination on 5-6 minutes.We were again greeted by the cold as we got out.Nishant has N95 which has a GPS in it.So we used that to reach the Menlo park mall.We passed by a graveyard, rt next to the station, and rows of houses that looked eerily abandoned,but the cars in fron tof them told us the opposite.This was the true american subarbia, and it looked good.many houses had the american flag hoisted on the porch which made me wonder, how many ppl in india do this.I put on some music on my phone and we quickened our pace.We could see a man wlaking in front of us andwe discussed inwhat all ways the four of us would react were we to be jumped by a mugger.the houses soon thinned out and we soon reached a wooded area.UBdecided on the direction ,we again looked oin to the GPS, it pointed us to a dark trail andwe could make out the other guy walking in the fronyt following the same trail.We just figured we had the common and decided to follow him.After walking for arounf 4 kms we reached what was the huge double storeyed mall. We went around the mall once to spot other discount hunters like us, but we couldnt spot any.there were a couple of police cars and that was it.Going around the mall itself was a 15 min walk, it was that huge.Finally we decide it was too cold to stand outside and we went into the second floor of the parking lot.It was comparatively warm, but only comaprativel.We sat around in a circle and chatted for some 1 hr after which chandu and nishant went to have a look around.Afetr sitting around trying to sleep, me and rahul decided to go down.Jsut we climed down we spotted an empty shopping cart kying around, Rahul got into it and i pushed him around while we searched for the other 2 guys.when we caught up with them, they told us that ppl had started arriving.We went to the front of the mall, and we could see 5-6 guys there.It was 4:30 and freezing as hell.I remember givving out 2-3 sobs in frustration at the cold.It makes the hair on your feet stand and bites down on your skin.around 5 the mall opened adn we got in and were surprised that ity wasnt that crowded.We looked around here and there, but and could see while some shops had activity others had no ne on them.we spotted an old navy outlet where, you could get a free mp3 player when yu shopped for 20 $.we decide dto stand in line here.At 5 all the sho[ps started opening.we rushed in and started grabbing some good deals here and there.we quickly cilled got the promised mp3 player and headed out next we spotted an Aeropostale outlet that had 50% off everything.yeah fine we said and got in got some stuff too.next was radio shack, everyone wanted to get a digicam.so we stood in line since this was supposed to open at 6.when it opened, we found that there were just 4 cameras that had good deals on them.Only rahul bought one while others decided that it wasn't that good a deal.I needed shoes, and i went out looking for them.I had heard of BigBens, basketball shoes that yu could get for 15$ but they were no where to be found and i had to settle for 40$ nikes, (they were listed at 100$).Finally tired by all the running around me and rahul decided to get some food.Chandu and nishant were missing in action,we went ahead anyway .the last stop before leaving was Steve and Barry's.I was amazed at how cheap everything was,and there were also Bigbens there.man!!well i could have the other shoes returned i thought.Thats one good thing here, you can return almost everything you buy in America if you don't like it, no questions asked.but i decided to keep them.The sleep deprivation was catching up on me and we decided to return by taxi.So we called for a cab and waited for the 20 mins they said they would take.20 became 30 and finally an hour and still it was a no show.i called them again and again only to receive some Spanish gibberish.You would be amazed at the no of people who don't speak English in America.Finally it arrived and it was on the other side of the mall.We walked and got in.I fell asleep in the front seat.We finally reached home, got off, quickly said goodbyes, we all live across each other so we all got off at one place.I went to my bed and plopped in.It was 10 am.i asked cibin to wake me up at 12. i slept like a log,( I generally do)till 5:30 when i was awoken by a phone call.A phone call that i had forgotten about....

PS:the lack of public urinals is a big inconvenience.Desperate times call for desperate measures.We had to desecrate the new Brunswick railway station, the parking lot and a two spots near the Mall entrance.

PLAY THIS GAME..ITS INSANE

The Impossible Quiz - Answer insanely hard questions

Is it possible...

i am sitting here in my apmnt, browsing the net and going through other ppl's blogs and wondering why am i not being regular?Its just that i want things to be perfect, before writing anything.i wait for the rt mood, the rt atmosphere ,free time but at times I am plain lazy.So i thought i would write something today, no matter what.And i will even put in a good photo on the top.i think Photos make posts look good.i am no good with headlines, but many times photos act like pseudo headlines, nicely summing it up.So i am wondering, is it possible to write about nothing.is it possible to ramble on abt nothing and still make it interesting.you know how there are people who just now how to tell stories.. who animately describe anecdotes and make you feel you were there, those kind of ppl could write about nothing and make it interesting.people with a great sense of humor could do that.We all believe we are funny, we are, but not in the general sense of the word.Human beings themselves are funny for a variety of reasons.i often wonder how much we have (d)evolved.How inane things can turn our hair grey and how really out of perspective we are.We are first most living creatures whose primary objective is survival.We have modified that objective to hilarious proportions.we worry abt not being able to score well on tests,about missing a episode of a TV show,etc etc.we have invented things to get addicted to.We have superimposed our existence with layers and layers of activities,emotions and desires.But now when i think of it, everything we do however small or innocuous in someway or the other contributes to our existence and fulfillment pf basic needs and desires.It is this high level of complexity that we have blanketed our actions with that surprises.I hope i am making sense here...Some of the things that we do make go"Stop,how can you be worried abt this when as living beings our basic purpose should be to survive, eat,and find shelter ." This brings me to a realization or observation that i like to state often.The only truth in life is Relativity.Everything is relative.We should be overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of this fact.What is a daily act for someone might be the lifelong ambition of someone else.What is unbearable to someone, might be someone daily job.
The realization of this fact can in fact bring a sense of inner calmness, peace.Every second that you exist is a proof of how much lucky you are than others.That you have these many facilities, at least these many, that you are better of than 5/6ths of the worlds population,should be considered a boon.Something that should overwhelm you with emotion and gratitude, make you cry because God has given you so much.But we don't, why?Because of a simple reason that has been th cornerstone of human dominance over all other living entities.We adjust.We adapt.whatever situation we are put through,we may cry and be uneasy at first, but give a day, a month or even a year,the person will adapt he will adjust.i am reminded of a story of a a guy who moved next door to a tannery.the smell that emanated from that place was so intensely foul that he couldn't possibly survive another second.So he went and complained to the owner, who assured him that the smell would be taken care of by the beginning of next week.When that did not happen the guy went and complained, and was again assured that by next week come what may the smell would be taken care of.Bu the fourth week the guy stopped complaining.he had gotten used to it!Well this reminds of a place that my roommate rahul told me about once, where the land is dirt cheap because of a huge garbage dump nearby.Apparently there are many extravagant houses there,cause the land almost comes free.I think i have written enough.What i wanted to test out actually was whether i could start talking about something,associate it to other things , make a chain of sorts and still come back to the same point i started from.i guess that is impossible!!

GO WATCH "JAB WE MET" NOW!!!!

Stop whatever you are doing,no matter how busy you are,go and watch "Jab We Met" now.WOW!!!Its all i can say after coming out of this flick.Its total entertainment.total time pass and still has standing to be classified as a good film.Lovely characters,great settings and locales and never-bores-you pace make this movie a must watch.I couldn't care less about the Shahid-Kareena pair in real life , but i really wanted them to get together in this film.No matter how much you hate kareena in real life, you will love her character in this film.She reinvents the bubbly,cheeky,peepy girl played so many times by Priety Zinta.I think her character is very unique and her fundas and outlook are totally new.you like her from the start.Right from when she tells a guy who helps her onto a moving train to let go of her hand"itni bhi beautiful nahi hoon yaar"she says to everyone in the compartment.The script is top notch,you think what can be added to the boy meets girl formula,watch this and you will find out.Kudos to director and scriptwriter Imtiaz Ali for proving that good films can be made while staying within the realms of commercial bollywood.It is a road trip movie,a guy and a girl meet and fall in love during the journey, but the treatment is so fresh.the first half is a total non stop laugh riot .the songs too are great,though an item number after the credits made me think whether this was added by the producers?I loved Imtiaz Ali's first flick ,Socha Na Tha and with this he proves that he is no one hit wonder.Imtiaz Ali also provided the story for Shivam Nair's Debut Ahista Ahista which also is a great love story.I am glad that there are these talented directors out there making good movies,experimenting and coming out with fresh things.Rest assured i will line up for their next film.I like the fact that there is a lot of experimenting going on.Unconventional themes are being explored.you have films like Johnny Gaddar,No Smoking,Manorama Six Feet Under etc coming out.They are like the Indian Indi.You have mainstream partner, kind of bollywood and then these talented guys.i hope they are here to stay.

Random Observations2: scenes from my life.

1)The Warehouse

The warehouse is real old group of buildings located near the Livingston Campus .they house all the ugly unwanted labs.Like a elephant graveyard, all lowly trades or labs with low fundings are sent here to die a slow death.They are built like the barracks you see in Commandoes and Call of Duty and imagine my surprise when i heard they were actually barracks during WWII!They are all in dilapidated states and this is also wher i have to perform ny duties as a Lab Ass.Can you see the red door in the first pic.Well thats where the immensely funded Civil Dept were given to serve as secondary labs.A few days back i decided i would see around the lab.Its actually quite near to my Apmnt.But I decided to catch a bus anyway,being the health conscious industrious person I am.It was a cloudy day and i knew it would be a cold night.I just glanced through the equipment in the lab and decided i will cross the river when I come top it and returned home.But I accidently stood at the wrong spot and the bus driver refused to stop for me.he pointed to me that 'there behind him was the bus stop.he gave a wave with his hand meaning i would never learn and sped away.Oh yeah, i can walk too, you know.And I decided to walk home.It was windy,slightly nad it was about to rain.The trees were silently acknoledging the appraching downpour by swaying to and fro.It was beautiful.just the way i like it.I stopped to take photos and got quite a few good ones.And as i was about to reah home the same driver came by and looked at me and shook his head and drove on.Well I dont like you too ,mister,i thought.It isnt such a good story,quite pointless,but I felt real good after that walk.Anyway there is a road that goes around the warehouse.surrounded by woods on the other side.i ,teja and pomplii have taken many walks around this road,when we were temp accos.now everyones so busy with coursework that no one shows up.

2)Our weekly trip to C-town.

We run out of milk and curd almost weekly.So we make regular trips to C-town, a grocery store.Its becoming almost like a saturday morning ritual.Teja and me and someone else from my house,jasmeet or Cibin.We get off george street and walk to the burger king.there we have a nice little breakfast.We have coupons that give you "1 ke badle 1" offer.this BK is filled with mexicans.In fact geaorge street is there province.they are everywhere.You find them on both side of the checkout desk.For them,by them.The coolest thing at BK is that you get unlimited fills for the drink you buy.Fill it up as much as you like.And we do.We drink to our fill and then fill it up and head to C-town.C-town has all the things you need and that you dont.We get both.That pic above is of george street.and the one below is inside C-town.they have a huge section dedicated to meats of all kind.You get tongues,kidneys,breasts,thighs and livers.Chicken is cheap,fish is not.We get both.you can tell this place is tailored for the mexicans or to be more politically correct , the hombres from south of the border.There all types of potato like veggies,tortillas,tacos and chillis.the trouble is carrying the stuff home cause its like 100m to the bus stop.The other alternative is catching 2 buses.On weekends with the frequency of buses going doen i think that is the better option.We are out of curd,bread,milk and veggies.So yu dont care but i am going to C-town,b-yatch.

Random observations...

Hey ppl..slow couple of months i know.... I was thinking about a lot of things to blog but the thing is i want to add a pic to each and i dont want to transfer pics from my phone in to other ppls laptop... its too much of a pain.. anyway.. lifes good(so far) in the Garden State..(ie is NJ for the uininitiated).. i told you its all green and landscaped and bunnies and sugar .. yada yada.. but there are a lot of things that stand out,.. that are so different from our country...I had memorized 5 big things..but i forgot..ok lets try remembering..
1)The horizon is wider,longer,larger..because all buildings have a lot of space around them..parking lots, and i guess building restrictions..No tall buildings on campus...
2)The ppl here are crazy..well a part of them are..They jog at all time of the day..not just evening or morning..Any time of day yu can see them running around..I have been made fun of by passer bys for jogging at 9 am.in India...here its normal.. What would you do if in India, a guy runs along a busy street,earphones,cooling glass,shorts and no shirt?? call the pagalkhana??...here its all good...
3)there are a lot of strange characters on campus..but you would find eccentric ppl in all parts of the globe.Anyway theres a lady who wears headphones with antennas and cycles around a small fountain..at 11 am..My roommate jasmeet saw her and exclaimed"This place is filled with crazies.here, meet the leader.."he has a theory that she really is a spy who is out to get illegal immigrants on campus..well it sounds funny when he says it in his punjabi accent..There is a giant of a man who is a professor in the psychology dept who has a huge beard and long hair like Leo DaVinci.there is a bald cleaning lady at Busch campus centre who mumbles to herself.There is the compulsive smoker who will always squat while smoking, no matter where he is..and then there is a lady with white wavy hair..;lots of it..who you look at and think she might have a lot of cats at her home..she fits that picture..Cat lady..
4)the taps all turn the other way.So you get a lot of splashes,when ppl accidentally increase the flow,when they actually want to close it..
5)Well i cant rem any of the things on the list..except for the horizon...A thing i like is everything is has a system.You can do everything online.I was supposed to have my lappi delivered at 1030 am..but i was nit here so FEDex left a note on my door saying they were here and will come again the next day..I called them and they checked and said that the driver was still in the area and he would make a reattempt..and i got it that day itself..sweet..!!

The smoker who always squats...he saw me take the pic!!!

I went to NY...

Its just like yu see in the movies...ek dum same.. but the thing is when yu are there for real... and for the first time yu realize how tall skyscrapers really are, how the definition of a "crowd" is relative and that "life in the fast lane" is not just an eagles song...
I slept at 3 the night before the trip and there wee still doubts how many would turn up but our event organiser was pretty enthusiastic.So finally 8 guys showed up and 1 went back at the last min citing tiredness from getting ragged too much the previous night!!!k. since i don have too much time i am gonna write in points...
1)The girls are all very pretty..
2)we took the NJ transit train to Ny and then got ourselves a all day subway card, that meant unlimited rides for 7$.
3)yu actually need to tilt yur head upwards 120 degrees to actually see the top of skyscrapers...
4)we saw the statue of liberty from afar, since we we took a free ferry ride that takes yu to a diff island and along the way yu get to see the statue..i donno it seemed small.. but hope to see it from near next time..
5)central park is a beautiful place.Its a huge park that has a zoo inside it,very green and full of ppl just lazing around.i had my first taste of a pretzel.I dont understand how they eat that thing..its VERY salty..There are ppl sitting around who will draw your protraits and caricatures for 10$..Plus there are horse rides..Huge horses..and ppl playing guitars and singing.there was this one guy who was sitting with an open guitar case,and he playing a really great tune..his own composition.He even had a CD out..I couldnt catch his name but he played real well.I guess NY is full of anonymous artists...
6)Times square is huge..That place is so busy...huge buildings,huge crowds..and lights..form the signs and billboards..huge boards..Rt nearby is Broadway,where there are all the theatres.there is also the Ripleys Believe It or Not museum and Madame Tussauds,and even a restaurant called Bubba and Gump Shrimp Company..from that film tom hanks starred in...
7)A lot of colourful ppl,gr8 sites,its worth a visit...definitely..just bring some money to enter the exhibits, yu cant enter anywhere with a students budget...there was an offer for a bus ride through the city for 35$..but we decided otherwise.. I can certainly see in my mind how it must be living in such a city..it makes you part of a diff culture..i guess it defines cosmopolitan...
8)Almost everyone you stop for directions is "new to the place myself"..."no speaka english..".."habla espanol??"...."hum bhi naye hai,yaara"...and "incomprehensible chinese"..that says someting of the city doesnt it??..well anyway abt the part i visited..
9)Did i mention the girls are pretty...??..very pretty

PS:I have been thrice to NY now...I saw RENT on broadway...ok..., and I roamed around Times Square.. I would like to live in this place for sometime..its expensive but it would be a great experience..The city is divided into 4 parts:Manhattan,Queens,Brooklyn and Bronx...and i would like to get a taste of all...

My temp Acco rocks...

I have been put up at 68 A,cedar lane.I am staying now with a group of 5 guys whos are from south india.3 from tamil nadu ,1 mallu and 1 from Andhra.Theres vathsa the cool guy,Shyam the chatter, Venkat the lol guy,Shiva,the compulsive movie watcher and Raghuveer,the resident comedian.Theres a big guy called B who keeps dropping in. . This is place is real fun.Its almost like a sitcom ,every other minute a guy makes a grand entrance into the apartment, and everyone’s a comedian.So many things are happening at the same time in their lives.The conversation is never dry.though they speak in tamil I can follow a lot.Even my fellow temps are gr8 guys.Teja,the lover boy and Mahesh,aka prince.It is indeed a pleasure nay an honour to be allowed into their homes and have a peek into their lives.Its humbling how well they treat you."Family ke members!!" is what venkat announces when he comes home every night.They sit around having the most animated conversatioons, while one guy cooks the food.Later I came to know that theres another guy hari, who is actually the RIGSA vice president and that Vathsa is actually from Syracuse here for internship.Hari is someone you look at once and realize that he's the studious type,but hes cool.And he is very active with the RIGSA stuff...
its all good.. this RIGSA deal...they pick you up from the airport, put you up in their homes,take you out walks to dunkin donuts, i doubt any other university has such a good system in place.I really enjoyed those midnight walks, we have to take a detour through johnson park,so as to avoid the cars that come through a tunnel, and rt when we reach under the bridge, everyone starts shouting,because it echos.
Man, I am going to miss these guys when I finally get my own apartment.

In transition...like peregrina..

Hey ppl.i certainly like to post more but since i am just starting grad college and adjusting to life here in NJ, i just get tired at times.i was hoping to write 3 posts today, lets see.so apologies to my loyal readers thats Rajesh,Rochyne and Gaurav.And the stray advertiser who walks by.Stay good guys.

PS:the pic is of the Brussels Airport.

Sweet Life in Windy NJ

I am here in NJ.I am staying with seniors for the time being.The place is called cedar lane and is more or less filled with indians.NJ itself has an excellent desi population.You step out into the city and you always spot ppl who look definitely indian.Almost everyone here is in ECE.Civil,machanical and metematical finance are definitely a rarity.Almost everyone has booked apartments here in cedar lane and will be moving in september.the apartments come with fridge,heating,dishwasher,hot/cold water and a balcony.You should see the place it looks like a hotel or something.the whole city seems to be landscaped.There are trees everywhere and a humongous park/reserve next door to cedar lane.you often spot deer and dozens of geese/swans are frolic in the football ground.
Life certainly is different here.So many things are differnet.You see a car turn and almost expect it to turn into a different lane, but it doesnt coz of the right sided traffic.You cannot just cross the road.that called jaywalking and is an offence and can be fined 100$.You have to go to the traffic signal and press a button and wait for it to change before crossing.In other places cross only at the zebra crossings.The drivers here are very afraid of accidents and will stop like 100 m away when they see that you want to cross.The people here are very polite too and ready to help.i am still to see the rowdy,swearing americans who you see on TV.There are such a lot of different cars here that you couldnt possibly recognise the models.You have to read at the back.There are even car companies you havent heard of, or at least i hadn't.The use of toilet paper is certainly an uncomfortable change and the water seal here is also very high.I used to wonder how they would dunk a guys head inside a toilet in hollywood movies and they would come out wet to the neck.The climate in NJ is very cold. i was told to expect slight rains.there was that and lots more.The whole sky was covered with dark clouds for a week.It was the the same from morn to evening so yu couldnt tell what time of the day it was by just loking at the sky.Friday was the first day i saw the wsky after coming here.
th evegetation and animals here are really different.The trees are coniferous type.And there huge ferns everywhere.The squirrels are called chipmunks coz they are not squirells.they are larger and less afraid and have a grey body.the campus has beautiful buldings and lawns.we have free bus service in low ride buses.There are three main campuses-Busch,Livingston,and cook/Douglous.We have classes at Busch only.There is also the place called College Avenue which houses all the administration buildings.The place actually looks like a village with houses housing(?) various offices.Its like the Rutgers ppl came and drove out the village folk, like the Others drove out the Dharma initiative in LOST.
these are like all the differences i could observe.there were man y thing s i was silently jotting down in my mind but now i cant pull them up.so i am gonna end my post here.

PS:you can drink water directly from the tap coz its treated.And that pic up there is my future apmnt.the one on the top left.

The day of two mornings....

I have finally reached New Jersey.I am sitting alone in a vacant new jersey apartment with drizzle peltering the window and the constant hum of the AC in the back ground.It paints a solitary picture but as i write this I am brimming with the excitement of a person who has reached a truly pivotal point on his life.But before that some details from th journey.

1)I didnt sleep much in the 22 hour trip just around 2 hours.I am not feeling sleepy, hope i have conquered Jetlag.
2)There were loads of movies ob a personal Tv screen available to you.i saw The Naesake,TMNT,Eklavya and parts of blades of glory and Wild Hogs
3)Since there were free drinks on the flight the guy siting nest to me drank 4 glases of smirnoff with coke.he puked into his blanket in the middle of the night while i was busy with TMNT.
4)Food was good,but from Mumbai to brussells I had to sit alone, there were 8 of us going to Rutgers.I was at 52C others near 39-38.
5)Brussell was beautiful.Smal cottages, with lots of trees a diff shade of green.And probably the cleanest airport ever.It was so huge and nce looking though a bit empty.
6)I did start getting some feelings of regrets when the plane was aqbout to land.Surprisingly i was Stolid all the way from Delhi.

The US of A is absolutely amazing.You see so much of it on TV but its actually a unique feeling to see unscrupulous roads,neat streets houses and buildings and since NJ is called the gardenSate there ae landscaped green stretches everywhere.The seniors are amazing.They came to pick us up and ave given us a temp acco in their apmnt.MAde me very comfortable rt from the start.I am rt nw sitting at Kapil and Karan's Apmnt and using their lappy .They have taken the other juniors to get some shopping done.Everyone is cool about everthning, be at home and all that.Its really raining now.Thi place called Cedar lane that has all the indian students has red brick houses with slopng roofs.At first when i hrd APMNT i though it would be some huge building with rooms like in Friends.But this is very nice.Almost like proper little homes.I definitely want to get a room somewhere here.GOnna do that and some other running around tomorrow.

And since we were flying towards the west. I had one morning in Brussels and when i reached NJ 8 hours later it was 11 am.

my VISA interview

I was dreading this thing for a month now and today was D-day..
I reached there on time, got through the security and X-ray..I was told to stand in a line, which a had a young guy oif around 19 manning the counter.. i thought , this wont create any probs.. but he was jus the fingerprint-er guy.. after getting fingerprinted, i was asked to stand in line 2.. ahead of me were 2 bhutanese girls, who were also going for F1... there were 4 counters in front of us.. one american guy, one guy and girl with mongolian features and one lady with indian features.. turned out they were all americans..(accents)...The indian lady rejected a girl .. who kept saying that she didnt even check her docs...all of us in the line knew this laduy was danger.. in fact 1 girl went to back of the line when her turn came coause she would have had to face the danger lady.. there werre 4 ppl in front of me , i thought i would land in front of the danger lady.. fortunately it was the american dude..

me:good morning
VO:good morning( doesn't even look at me
VO:so what course are you going for?
me:MS in Envi Engg
VO:how many unis did you apply to
me:5
VO:which all
me: answered
VO:where all did you get admitted??
me:just rutgers. am still to receive word from umn..
VO:pardon
me:still to receive word from umn..
VO:your GRE score?
me:told
VO:your TOEFl score?
me:told
VO:what does your father do??
me:told
VO:how much do you have in liquid savings??
me:told
VO:what kinda of a job are yu expecting after your course??
me:well ENvi engg is a budding field in India.. if i get a foothold now.. then..
VO:ok, i am issuing yur VISA
me:thank you oh, i could kiss yur feet
VO:security!!!

that was that.. he didnt even look at any of the documents
i ran out of the embassy , reached home and was all happy, but in the afternoon i realized i had committed a big blunder...I had given them a photocopy of my i20 instead of the original...what do i do now??.. that is a big problem.. since it has a bar code and they check it when you reach USA...

Pimp my ride...

This is one great show on VH1..This is the better part of the reality TV affinity that all the music channels seem to have acquired.Rapper Xzibit selects one lucky guy/gal driving around with a dilapidated jalopy of an excuse for a car.he then proceeds on to the proverbial pimping!!With the help of West coast customs,they do a mind blowing refurbishing of the car.They put so many accessories,and do such a great job, you wont believe it.i think the accessories come out costing more than the old car.. it is a bit campy at times.but still it is fun.There is always a scene where the West Coast customs guys sit around a table and discuss what to do.It goes something like this.
Big mike"This car has no sponge in the seats, no dashboard.Diggy Dogg what are you gonna do?"
Diggy Dogg:"First of all I am gonna..then.."
Big mike"That will look sweet.The paint job looks real bad...El hombre what are you gonna do about that?"
El hombre:"I am gonna give a aqua blue turquoise coat,since this girl is into surfing.."
Big mike"Niice.This gal also likes hip hop music .Jesse what are you gonna do about the stereo
Jesse:(whos always holding a tester to show he is the electronics guy)I am gonna provide 5.1 stereo surround woofer system, plus I am gonna throw in a DVD player."
Big mike"Gee.. wont that be expensive?"
Jesse"I donna give a *beep*.. its MTV's money"
Big mike"So what are the tyres gonna look like when you are done with them,Donny??"
Donny:"They are gonna be round you dumba$$..."
Big mike:"this car also needs a good engine work., what are you gonna do about that,jerry?..hey wheres jerry??"
Jesse:"He quit.. and so will I if you don't shut the $#%# up.."

What do the lucky guy/gal have to do in return?? They jump around screaming and a lot of *beep*ing ensues as they cant believe that this is their car.They hug everyone and shake everyones hand.You cant believe ppl can get this lucky.its almost like a spanking new car, and its customized.There was this one episode where the guy was given a DVD player cum projector which was installed in his trunk.He couldn't believe it and said if he could just get some DVDs to watch on the thing,next thing you know Xzibit hands him a dozen DVDs.Stop with the giveaways already!!It ends with the guy/gal looking into the camera and saying"Thank you MTV for pimping my ride!!!".. thats compulsory.


Trivia aka unnecessary info:
Xzibit is a play on the word Exhibit.
VH1= Video Hits One

Agrasen Ki baawli

Who would have guessed that just 50 m from hailey road lies a historic wonder piece.A well that once quenched the thirst of many a travellers.A bath frequented by many a nobles.The place is Agrasen ki baawli and its hidden smack in the middle of the city.It is a great looking piece of construction with different layers and steps leading down to the main well.As you can see in the pic its quite steep.this is where "Bol na halke halke" from Jhoom Barabar Jhoom was shot.Its also featured in Hazaaron Khwaishen Aisi.Well I and Arun made a little trip to this place this friday.I also saw the deepest well ever.Its situated rt at its backside.Though it is great looking, The place reeks of Guano.Bat poo ie.There are probably hundreds of bats hanging at the end of those steps.And there are so many pigeons,that its bird shit central.And there are lots of feathers,everywhere.I wonder how they shot here.The ASI could do well to maintain this place.It could turn out to be quite the tourist attraction.

What about these guys...

If you have ever lived in an apartment complex you must have seen little 10 yr olds who work as servant boys.Many of them are actually bought from their masters' native towns.They get food,boarding and a little something to send home.It must be so sad to grow up in a house that has everything but you are denied everything.While the master's son comes home from school and sits in front of the idiot box till evening he has to run around doing chores.Of course,there are considerate masters too,but you don't hear about them.You hear about the little girl who was tortured for asking for her salary which was denied to her for 6 months.
I remember when i lived at Nirman apartments there was this servant boy who was from Andhra.His masters were newly shifted to the city and their children didn't come down to play.Well sometimes this kid,lets call him venkat cause i forgot his name,would watch us whizzing by on our cycles or playing cricket and you could see that he wanted to play.so sometimes he would sneak out and come stand nearby,sometimes we would let him play.the thing was he was dark and didn't speak Hindi well,so sometimes he would get into fight.You know children are never considerate about feelings.There was regular taunting of "Kallu,kallu"...he once got into a ferocious fight with my brother.Now my brother himself is a wild one.A stubborn,unruly horse if you will.Something happened, i don't remember well and suddenly they were on each other,fists and nails and all.We had to literally pull them apart, and you couldn't make my brother understand that venkat was different,he didn't speak Hindi, that he means well.And venkat himself ,always felt violated.and no one stood by him after the fight.All of us 7 guys on one side and him on the other.that was so sad.How much alone can you make a child feel.All he needs is peer approval, and when all of us stood against him he should have been close to tears.He wasn't.He was furious at all of us.He looked at us with eyes that bellowed anger and said "You well off kids would never understand".Only Shreeram, an older kid who bowled really well but rarely played with us( he was always studying) and who was from Andhra himself came to him and put his arm around him and lead him away.I could see him comforting him and Venkat complaining about the other kids.I sympathized with him.I really did.And at least in this story I was a mere spectator,not a villain.Venkat did come out to play at other times.he played with other groups and sometimes with us(kids bury hatchets quicker than you think)but you knew that this kid was being emotionally violated.I sometimes wondered if this were happening to my brother,would I stand for it?How bad would I feel.There is nothing more insulting to a kid than the taunts of his peer.He went back to Andhra after a couple of years.And thats the last I saw of him.
Now ,I live at pandara road Apts and a couple of houses away from mine, there is a north east family(chinki...for the less suave)They have two teenagers and one servant boy of around 13.He has been given his own barsaathi on the roof.He gets up early morning to clean their hyundai Getz and by the time the master's daughter leaves for CJM, he has wrung the washcloth,and is done with the cleaning.Let the morning chores begin!!Once i was standing in my backyard with my mother and brother.I was in an argument about something with my brother,when my mother said something that made us all laugh out loud.This guy was there on his barsaathi,watching us, and he was smiling.He couldn't understand our joke.But he understood the emotion.Back home he too had shared laughs with his sister and mother.Been a long time ,but.
I wish at least the kids of Venkat and this chinki guy,have a normal childhood..

The last Potter....

I finished reading Harry Potter and the deathly hallows yesterday morning.It was nice,the second half is excellent though there were some 100 pages or so of nothing happening.The loose ends have been nicely tied up,characters killed off, some unnecessarily just for shock value while some otherwise.This story is more of a mission, rather than a school year so it is different in that way, from the other titles.
But what was with the all the spoilers??I hate these people, who go out ruining other's ending.There were TV channels proclaiming the survival of a main character, How can they do that.Isnt knowing who will survive equivalent to who will not.It was a spoiler, and these channels should learn about respecting other people's boundaries.I felt outraged when I heard it.I had already decided after being exposed to a major spoiler to the previous book( thank you Landam, Thank you Ananth) that this year I would not put my enjoyment of the book at stake.So I was incommunicado for 3 days while I was reading the book.No TV,no net,no sms,no orkut,even no paper.and it worked.too bad people like these guys dont care about other ppls wishes.They are the scum of the earth.i would have given them the A$$ whooping of a lifetime if it had happened to me.morons!!

##############Spoiler Alert:Don't read ahead if you haven't read the book############

At the end of the book, in the epilogue, when Harry's kids names were being told, I half expected one of them to be named after Snape.So I was disappointed when they were not.Hey,if I were writing this thing I would have remembered Snape in the end..Snape is one of my fav characters and I knew he had a reason to kill dumbledore.But later we find out one of the kids middle name is Severus ie Snape's first name.Sweet.

A Grand Reunion

I noticed something recently,All i do is describe events.i never comment,or state my opinion.

We had a reunion of sorts at our school today.I must say it went really well.Though not everyone we expected ,turned up the turnout was real good.Ok rollcall... Me,sam,arun,vipul,harpal,gireesh,karthik,pinky,sid b,udit,sachit,oinku
those who couldnt make it:Ab roy,Anang,Kunal,Soumen,piyush,prateek,satty,gaurav

We gathered first one by one at mammaji's house, which is our regular meeting place.we chatted for a good hour or more.It was amazing how everyone talked like it was a regular day in school.Old incidents flowed out like a river. And several interesting college occurrences were also spat out. We hadn't decided anything,so we started off by playing basketball, while another group splintered to play cricket.after a grueling sweat inducing session of BBall and cricket ,with hunger calling out to us, we headed out to galeena, our fav central delhi haunt.There over rounds of Butter and kadhai chicken ( i donno what the veggies ate) we talked and talked and talked.Everyone had so much to say.so much to describe.So much catching up was to be done.Then we decided to head out to barista but it us a bloody hour to come to the decision ,by which some guys had to head home.So the rest of us packed into pinku's car and headed back to school.The weather was fine, though dark clouds loomed and while we were sitting near the bball court, it started to rain.We headed indoors and had another good hour of chatting.after which everyone decided it was time to head home.

many of us would be seeing each other for the last time.Probably.Sam's going to Pune tomorrow.pinky's off to the US on Aug 5.Pinku too is headed to Gujarat.Some may be in Delhi. But honestly how often do we meet?I just hope we keep having these reunions yearly if possible.Though not everyone is gonna live in Delhi.I certainly had a great time, and I am not just speaking about the food.It was a much needed meeting, and I am glad it took place.Everyone left with renewed vigour and revivified friendship.