Hello! Anyone there? Koi hai ????????
Seems this webpage has been left alone all along. (I can even visualize weeds growing from the sides of the page... See that?)
Except for the lone visitor here and there, (and a few regular ones who just come in between days just hoping the the blog owner would pull his lazy fingers and type something on the keyboard), there has been NO activity on this blog! Nothing, Zilch, Zuke, Nein, Nowt!
Anyways, as all good things should come to an end, yours truly has decided to restart putting down his random thoughts (or made up ones) on this discarded piece of HTML.
Discarded no more, now...
Reader, pls pull out that weed sticking out from the bottom left, will you?
There! Thanks!
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Sunday, February 25, 2007
4 AM Morning, snowless European winter and a flat-flat country
Caution: Long. Very long. But not uninteresting :)
Since last 4 months, visits to the Netherlands have become quite frequent - due to official necessity that keeps arising at expected and unexpected times. These visits start with a extremely early morning flight to Amsterdam, then a 1 hour cab ride to Utrecht at the client office.
Then, back the same way.
Waking up at 4 AM in the morning. Catching the cab at 4:45 AM. And getting my boarding pass at the Stuttgart airport. Ah, doesn't leave me in such a fresh mood at all. But yours truly too bizy dozing off....
Wait! is that cheese sandwich and orange juice on the flight? I'm awake.
And hungry.
Its winter. Its a snowless winter.
6:15 AM
Flight begins on time. Stuttgart airport is never congested. No buses. Direct down the alley into the aircraft door. There you have (sometimes) nice looking Dutch air-hostesses wishing you that your morning is good.
Well, it is.
The usual civilities of aircraft safety - spoken in assortment of German, Dutch and Englees. I am done with skimming through the in-flight magazine in few minutes. This month's issue has a feature on Hyderabad!
Good.
I am now trying to sleep again. Read: make believeing my eyes that I am asleep.
7:50 AM - Arrival in Dutch-land!
Windmills. Tulips. Cheese. Bicycles. Football. Sex.
(the last one was just to draw some attention, in case the reader is already dozing)
I look out of the small window beside and I find a flat landscape with criss crossed lines that are actually canals. I try looking through the other window on the opposite side as well, and the blonde sitting there assumes I am staring at her. Oops.
I turn back my gaze. Of course its the same view from there too!
Digression 1: Prologue to the Netherlands
Haven't seen a flatter country! Its at the sea coast and its so flat (also below the sea-level) that the high tides enter the land areas and flood them outright. For this reason, one can see canals all over Holland, just to keep the tide water in flow. These canals - objects of neccessity, give Holland a distinctive identity, that is even oh-so visible from the sky! And then there are dikes that prevent the sea-tides at the shores outright. For these tall countrymen, the war with the sea is a never ending one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_the_Netherlands
Quick fact: Canals of Venice are murky, dirty and close ended to the buildings. In Holland, they are more like rivers. Clean. Asthetic. Occassionally inhabitanted by gorgeous swans and bunches of noisy ducks!
Nice.
Digression 2: Prologue to Amsterdam (well, once I DO see the city properly, I might have more to add)
Its bad enough to miss seeing this city during summer. To top it, havent been able to experience the city in this winter as well! Yes it's beautiful in the summer months. Tulips that bloom, canals that meander through the heart of the city - cafes and bistros that are lined up on the sides, some good architectural visuals, and of course, the famous red light district.
(I happen to look up a map of Amsterdam while waiting at the airport, and voila, there I see an area marked specially as 'Red Light District' - a rarity for sure)
Well, the city is famous for that area ridden with so many caberets, massage parlors, sex shops, strip bars and of course the women (and men!) engaged in the 'trade' - full time. Holland isn't called the sex capital of Europe just like that!
Did someone mention sex? :P
8:15 AM
Sitting in the cab on the way to Utrecht.
Way out of airport driveway leads to the cross-road between Utrecht and Rotterdam.
Spotted a huge signboard of TCS visible from the airport driveway. Europe is getting faster on offshoring. Whats MY employer doing?
The soothing back-seat upholstry in the Mercedes Benz is a treat to the.... ahem... hinds. :)
Our cab guy is the extremely amiable Soerish. (loosely corrupted from 'Suresh' if you are curious) From an Indian family originating from Surinam, had been in Netherlands as far as he can remember. Indian roots are very much intact though - and bollywood music is one branch to cling to, passionately.
Surprise! Amsterdam and Utrecht have their own Hindi Radio channel! Its called 'Ujala Radio' and if you excuse the weird accent and half Dutch that accompanies the nattily written script of the RJ, it does manage to entertain. I mean, sitting there in the comfy back seat of the E-class, I am treated to numbers like 'Suhaani Raat dhal chuki...' (classic!), 'Aye Dile Nadaan...' and 'Khalbali'! Funny how after listening to an array of bollywood songs, I am tempted to sing aloud James Brown - 'Whoa-oa-oa! I feel good...!
Dammit! There's a Himesh track thrown as well!
Maybe I'll try that 'I feel good' song next morning in the hotel room shower. :)
9:15 AM
Arrived at the client office. From then, the 'I feel good' counter is backwards!
Meetings. email. Coffee. Meetings. Lunch. Conference call. Meetings.
Wishing it to get over soon.
6:30 PM
Time to go!
Reach hotel room. Check in. Check out the room. Go for dinner.
11 PM
Hit the bed.
Its been an early morning actu.......zzzz
Friday. Next day
Checked out of hotel. Reached office again.
Done with the regular stuff of knocking heads with clients.
5:30 PM
Time to go.
Rush hour. Long drive. Hasty arrival. Schumacher-ish driver.
7 PM: Amsterdam Schipol Airport
Long queue at security check mocks at us. "Hah!" I say.
Digression 3: Crazy EU flying rules
The new EU rules tell me that I am not allowed to carry liquids, and if any, they should be in less than 100 ml packaging (why?) and carried in a transparent plastic bag. Ah, I already know that from Stuttgart, but its much strictly enforced here.
I see an attractive blonde being held up for not complying. She shows her bag to the attendent. The overwhelming contents of the bag emptied on to the table. Voila! Out comes a complete survival kit of sorts! At least 40 items!
Lesson learnt: If you wanna see how one can survive on a stranded island with a smal bag full of stuff (Castaway?) - check out such a woman's purse.
Frustated by the snail-pace of my queue. I see that the queue next to mine is smaller. I apply my quick logic - so I decide to shift to that one. It seemed that the people at the security check were not amused, because from that moment on, my queue started getting slower and slower.
~~~~
Murphy's law of serpentine queues:
Amongst a number of queues at the same place, the queue that you choose will be the slowest!
Corollary to the law:
If in the middle, if you decide to shift to a queue adjoining that is moving fast, from that moment, your new queue will become the slowest of all.
~~~~
8:10 PM
Quick dinner at the food-lounge over. Waiting for boarding. Gate C 22 to 28 seem worse than a State transport bus stop in India. Only cleaner.
8:35 PM
On board. Bring on the sandwich and the juice!
10:30 PM
Home sweet home. Sleepy again.
PS: Did someone say Amsterdam is the.... .... capital.. ?
PS2: That blog post promised in the previous post below will come soon, of course.
Since last 4 months, visits to the Netherlands have become quite frequent - due to official necessity that keeps arising at expected and unexpected times. These visits start with a extremely early morning flight to Amsterdam, then a 1 hour cab ride to Utrecht at the client office.
Then, back the same way.
Waking up at 4 AM in the morning. Catching the cab at 4:45 AM. And getting my boarding pass at the Stuttgart airport. Ah, doesn't leave me in such a fresh mood at all. But yours truly too bizy dozing off....
Wait! is that cheese sandwich and orange juice on the flight? I'm awake.
And hungry.
Its winter. Its a snowless winter.
6:15 AM
Flight begins on time. Stuttgart airport is never congested. No buses. Direct down the alley into the aircraft door. There you have (sometimes) nice looking Dutch air-hostesses wishing you that your morning is good.
Well, it is.
The usual civilities of aircraft safety - spoken in assortment of German, Dutch and Englees. I am done with skimming through the in-flight magazine in few minutes. This month's issue has a feature on Hyderabad!
Good.
I am now trying to sleep again. Read: make believeing my eyes that I am asleep.
7:50 AM - Arrival in Dutch-land!
Windmills. Tulips. Cheese. Bicycles. Football. Sex.
(the last one was just to draw some attention, in case the reader is already dozing)
I look out of the small window beside and I find a flat landscape with criss crossed lines that are actually canals. I try looking through the other window on the opposite side as well, and the blonde sitting there assumes I am staring at her. Oops.
I turn back my gaze. Of course its the same view from there too!
Digression 1: Prologue to the Netherlands
Haven't seen a flatter country! Its at the sea coast and its so flat (also below the sea-level) that the high tides enter the land areas and flood them outright. For this reason, one can see canals all over Holland, just to keep the tide water in flow. These canals - objects of neccessity, give Holland a distinctive identity, that is even oh-so visible from the sky! And then there are dikes that prevent the sea-tides at the shores outright. For these tall countrymen, the war with the sea is a never ending one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_the_Netherlands
Quick fact: Canals of Venice are murky, dirty and close ended to the buildings. In Holland, they are more like rivers. Clean. Asthetic. Occassionally inhabitanted by gorgeous swans and bunches of noisy ducks!
Nice.
Digression 2: Prologue to Amsterdam (well, once I DO see the city properly, I might have more to add)
Its bad enough to miss seeing this city during summer. To top it, havent been able to experience the city in this winter as well! Yes it's beautiful in the summer months. Tulips that bloom, canals that meander through the heart of the city - cafes and bistros that are lined up on the sides, some good architectural visuals, and of course, the famous red light district.
(I happen to look up a map of Amsterdam while waiting at the airport, and voila, there I see an area marked specially as 'Red Light District' - a rarity for sure)
Well, the city is famous for that area ridden with so many caberets, massage parlors, sex shops, strip bars and of course the women (and men!) engaged in the 'trade' - full time. Holland isn't called the sex capital of Europe just like that!
Did someone mention sex? :P
8:15 AM
Sitting in the cab on the way to Utrecht.
Way out of airport driveway leads to the cross-road between Utrecht and Rotterdam.
Spotted a huge signboard of TCS visible from the airport driveway. Europe is getting faster on offshoring. Whats MY employer doing?
The soothing back-seat upholstry in the Mercedes Benz is a treat to the.... ahem... hinds. :)
Our cab guy is the extremely amiable Soerish. (loosely corrupted from 'Suresh' if you are curious) From an Indian family originating from Surinam, had been in Netherlands as far as he can remember. Indian roots are very much intact though - and bollywood music is one branch to cling to, passionately.
Surprise! Amsterdam and Utrecht have their own Hindi Radio channel! Its called 'Ujala Radio' and if you excuse the weird accent and half Dutch that accompanies the nattily written script of the RJ, it does manage to entertain. I mean, sitting there in the comfy back seat of the E-class, I am treated to numbers like 'Suhaani Raat dhal chuki...' (classic!), 'Aye Dile Nadaan...' and 'Khalbali'! Funny how after listening to an array of bollywood songs, I am tempted to sing aloud James Brown - 'Whoa-oa-oa! I feel good...!
Dammit! There's a Himesh track thrown as well!
Maybe I'll try that 'I feel good' song next morning in the hotel room shower. :)
9:15 AM
Arrived at the client office. From then, the 'I feel good' counter is backwards!
Meetings. email. Coffee. Meetings. Lunch. Conference call. Meetings.
Wishing it to get over soon.
6:30 PM
Time to go!
Reach hotel room. Check in. Check out the room. Go for dinner.
11 PM
Hit the bed.
Its been an early morning actu.......zzzz
Friday. Next day
Checked out of hotel. Reached office again.
Done with the regular stuff of knocking heads with clients.
5:30 PM
Time to go.
Rush hour. Long drive. Hasty arrival. Schumacher-ish driver.
7 PM: Amsterdam Schipol Airport
Long queue at security check mocks at us. "Hah!" I say.
Digression 3: Crazy EU flying rules
The new EU rules tell me that I am not allowed to carry liquids, and if any, they should be in less than 100 ml packaging (why?) and carried in a transparent plastic bag. Ah, I already know that from Stuttgart, but its much strictly enforced here.
I see an attractive blonde being held up for not complying. She shows her bag to the attendent. The overwhelming contents of the bag emptied on to the table. Voila! Out comes a complete survival kit of sorts! At least 40 items!
Lesson learnt: If you wanna see how one can survive on a stranded island with a smal bag full of stuff (Castaway?) - check out such a woman's purse.
Frustated by the snail-pace of my queue. I see that the queue next to mine is smaller. I apply my quick logic - so I decide to shift to that one. It seemed that the people at the security check were not amused, because from that moment on, my queue started getting slower and slower.
~~~~
Murphy's law of serpentine queues:
Amongst a number of queues at the same place, the queue that you choose will be the slowest!
Corollary to the law:
If in the middle, if you decide to shift to a queue adjoining that is moving fast, from that moment, your new queue will become the slowest of all.
~~~~
8:10 PM
Quick dinner at the food-lounge over. Waiting for boarding. Gate C 22 to 28 seem worse than a State transport bus stop in India. Only cleaner.
8:35 PM
On board. Bring on the sandwich and the juice!
10:30 PM
Home sweet home. Sleepy again.
PS: Did someone say Amsterdam is the.... .... capital.. ?
PS2: That blog post promised in the previous post below will come soon, of course.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Unity in Diverse-cities
Finally found it!
Had been looking for this video for quite some time now.... And there it was - the very tv-show filler that I'd seen ages back on our very own National channel.
Remember the video - 'Ek-Anek'?
Does 'Ek chidiya, anek chidiya' ring a bell?
This is one of those few tv-shows that I practically grew up on!
One of the simplest lessons that explained grammer - how plurals worked, simplified mathematics - how counting should be done, and put this damn simple thought in the little children's heads that 'Unity is the way to go!'
Ah, those were the simple days of Doordarshan....
(and I shall continue this discussion in the subsequent post...)
Had been looking for this video for quite some time now.... And there it was - the very tv-show filler that I'd seen ages back on our very own National channel.
Remember the video - 'Ek-Anek'?
Does 'Ek chidiya, anek chidiya' ring a bell?
This is one of those few tv-shows that I practically grew up on!
One of the simplest lessons that explained grammer - how plurals worked, simplified mathematics - how counting should be done, and put this damn simple thought in the little children's heads that 'Unity is the way to go!'
Ah, those were the simple days of Doordarshan....
(and I shall continue this discussion in the subsequent post...)
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Further from the previous post....
The few lines in the previous post about wars in Europe remind me about something that happened last week in Stuttgart. A construction group was busy in activity at a site, and they unearthed something which we have only heard stories about, but its fairly common across this place. I'm talking about bombs. And huge ones!
While digging through the layers of earth, the site workers happened to come across a HUGE bomb, unexploded since last many many years - which apparently was dropped there during the world war 2. And there it lay, untouched and undestroyed....
That was enough to cause frenzy all around and soon the area was cordoned off, while the special bomb squad folks jumped in. Traffic and movement of trains came to a standstill around that area.
By the way, Stuttgart was one of those cities that was almost completely destroyed by bombing during the World War, and had been newly rebuilt. Thats the reason for its modernistic public transport and its public buildings. In and around Germany, its a fairly common thing to discover these sort of things, but hey, a bomb is a bomb! Who can beat that...?
On a lighter note, an interesting theory I read, about how the World War I started:
"A Serbian rebel killed an Austrian prince, so everyone declared war on Germany."
:-)
While digging through the layers of earth, the site workers happened to come across a HUGE bomb, unexploded since last many many years - which apparently was dropped there during the world war 2. And there it lay, untouched and undestroyed....
That was enough to cause frenzy all around and soon the area was cordoned off, while the special bomb squad folks jumped in. Traffic and movement of trains came to a standstill around that area.
By the way, Stuttgart was one of those cities that was almost completely destroyed by bombing during the World War, and had been newly rebuilt. Thats the reason for its modernistic public transport and its public buildings. In and around Germany, its a fairly common thing to discover these sort of things, but hey, a bomb is a bomb! Who can beat that...?
On a lighter note, an interesting theory I read, about how the World War I started:
"A Serbian rebel killed an Austrian prince, so everyone declared war on Germany."
:-)
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
The Inscrutable Europeans
Firangs are weird people!
I'm sure half the population of Europe would find ME, the asian, weirder, but as the owner of this conversation I'll just let that point of conflict pass.... :-D
Ya I know, each society has a way of norms, behaviour and lifestyle and blah blah... but puhleese let me have the menial pleasure of ripping apart the ways of some foreigners that I find really surprising or stomach-tickling or both!
With all due respect, they (my clients) are the ones who provide the bread and butter for my employer, which in turn does a (half) decent job of giving me my daily bread.... so...
Firangs have a way of doing EVERYTHING systematically. Thats a good thing, considering that they usually end up doing a quality job. (especially engineering and sports!) But 'systematically' usually has an after-effect of turning into 'boringly one thing at a time'!
Try getting towards a salesman here when he is attending another customer, and all you'll get is a big IGNORE! Of course you'll have to wait till he is over with the current person that has occupied all his limited attention.
Try telling a foreigner about 2-3 different things simultaneously, and you can be damn sure his processor will hang! Good-ol' multitasking - I dont think its exists in the foreign dictionary.
And they in no comparable ways can get closer to us desis in terms of money-management, cash-optimization! (I'll tell you what it means... by an example)
A friend of mine in Amsterdam had the following interaction with his client. (he was offered the luxury of being given a lift to office by the client Project lead (PL))
Friend: Hey, I'll wait at the R-square and you can pick me up from there.
PL: Okie, what time you'd be there?
Friend: Oh, just gimme a miss-call on my cell just when you leave, and I'll be there in 5 mins.
PL: What is a miss-call? why would I give you a 'miss-call'?
Friend: Oh, its when you give me a call and I don't pick it... Just to let me know that you are on your way.
PL: (confused) But why would I not pick the phone if you call me?
Friend: (aaaaaaahhhhh !!!!!)
Once at a shop I managed to cough up a bill of 5 euros and 18 cents. I paid the cashier a 10 bucks crispy note and wished I wouldn't be stralled with a handful of loose change of cents. Then I realized I had 20 cents with me that might save me (and her) some bit of trouble. So I handed that to her with a new 5 euros note and asked for the 10 rupee note back. That did it! Her system totally crashed! Firstly because she had already entered 10 in her cash registers, and secondly bcos she totally lost track of the transactions that we were mutually were into! (whatever happened to math classes in junior school?)
And of course there is this vast cultural difference - which a desi is duly subjected to, from the moment he/she enters phoren land. Be it the Public Displays of Affection, or the way senior citizens are treated (bad, really bad), or the way individuality and professionalism is rooted here, or the way they eat, drink and party - everything is oh-so different here!
A greet to everyone you meet - its the norm. Its really a good thing to have around - politeness and 'assumed' nicety, but after a while when you see everyone speaking the same thing artificially, EVERYDAY, it can get to your nerves.
(Prakash seems to think on simlar lines) :-)
A friend of mine who had recently moved in with her husband to Stuttgart was asked by her landlady whether the guy was her husband or boyfriend! (ya, I know live-in relationships are slowly picking up in India too, but a question like this?)
Another friend of mine had this conversation: (oh so typical :-))
Foreigner: Are you married or single?
Friend: Single :-)
Foreigner: Do you have children?
Imagine this being spoken in India. Something like this would send the person on a minor heart attack!
On a serious, more factual note:
Europeans have been at the crux of the Industrial revolution. They have been the foremost in science, technology, the arts and monarchy. They are responsible for all the development around the world (and also responsible for all the backwardness due to colonization - thats the irony) Such a small continent, so beautiful to the eyes, divided in small small pieces of nationalities, each speaking a different language, each weirder than the other! Europe is one its kinda continent (ok, ok - we don't have many continents anyways)
The funny part is - most of the nations have ended up fighting each other throughout the centuries and still have remained the most developed and rich nations. Except beautiful Switzerland which hasn't fought wars, probably explained by Scott 'Dilbert' Adams' theory that cooler nations have had lesser battles, ha ha.. Maybe while the whole world was busy killing the world, the Swiss were too busy freezing their chocolate covered nuts! lolz!
But all things apart.... there are hundreds of things we Indians could learn from these goras, of course! (too big a discussion - might take a whole new post and a very hopeful mood for that, maybe for later :-) )
Prakash and me both are seeing the ways of foreign land (in separate continents), and that is naturally accompanied by a mental comparison between that place and our very own motherland.... so be it! :-D
Peace.
And, Jai Hind!
I'm sure half the population of Europe would find ME, the asian, weirder, but as the owner of this conversation I'll just let that point of conflict pass.... :-D
Ya I know, each society has a way of norms, behaviour and lifestyle and blah blah... but puhleese let me have the menial pleasure of ripping apart the ways of some foreigners that I find really surprising or stomach-tickling or both!
With all due respect, they (my clients) are the ones who provide the bread and butter for my employer, which in turn does a (half) decent job of giving me my daily bread.... so...
Firangs have a way of doing EVERYTHING systematically. Thats a good thing, considering that they usually end up doing a quality job. (especially engineering and sports!) But 'systematically' usually has an after-effect of turning into 'boringly one thing at a time'!
Try getting towards a salesman here when he is attending another customer, and all you'll get is a big IGNORE! Of course you'll have to wait till he is over with the current person that has occupied all his limited attention.
Try telling a foreigner about 2-3 different things simultaneously, and you can be damn sure his processor will hang! Good-ol' multitasking - I dont think its exists in the foreign dictionary.
And they in no comparable ways can get closer to us desis in terms of money-management, cash-optimization! (I'll tell you what it means... by an example)
A friend of mine in Amsterdam had the following interaction with his client. (he was offered the luxury of being given a lift to office by the client Project lead (PL))
Friend: Hey, I'll wait at the R-square and you can pick me up from there.
PL: Okie, what time you'd be there?
Friend: Oh, just gimme a miss-call on my cell just when you leave, and I'll be there in 5 mins.
PL: What is a miss-call? why would I give you a 'miss-call'?
Friend: Oh, its when you give me a call and I don't pick it... Just to let me know that you are on your way.
PL: (confused) But why would I not pick the phone if you call me?
Friend: (aaaaaaahhhhh !!!!!)
Once at a shop I managed to cough up a bill of 5 euros and 18 cents. I paid the cashier a 10 bucks crispy note and wished I wouldn't be stralled with a handful of loose change of cents. Then I realized I had 20 cents with me that might save me (and her) some bit of trouble. So I handed that to her with a new 5 euros note and asked for the 10 rupee note back. That did it! Her system totally crashed! Firstly because she had already entered 10 in her cash registers, and secondly bcos she totally lost track of the transactions that we were mutually were into! (whatever happened to math classes in junior school?)
And of course there is this vast cultural difference - which a desi is duly subjected to, from the moment he/she enters phoren land. Be it the Public Displays of Affection, or the way senior citizens are treated (bad, really bad), or the way individuality and professionalism is rooted here, or the way they eat, drink and party - everything is oh-so different here!
A greet to everyone you meet - its the norm. Its really a good thing to have around - politeness and 'assumed' nicety, but after a while when you see everyone speaking the same thing artificially, EVERYDAY, it can get to your nerves.
(Prakash seems to think on simlar lines) :-)
A friend of mine who had recently moved in with her husband to Stuttgart was asked by her landlady whether the guy was her husband or boyfriend! (ya, I know live-in relationships are slowly picking up in India too, but a question like this?)
Another friend of mine had this conversation: (oh so typical :-))
Foreigner: Are you married or single?
Friend: Single :-)
Foreigner: Do you have children?
Imagine this being spoken in India. Something like this would send the person on a minor heart attack!
On a serious, more factual note:
Europeans have been at the crux of the Industrial revolution. They have been the foremost in science, technology, the arts and monarchy. They are responsible for all the development around the world (and also responsible for all the backwardness due to colonization - thats the irony) Such a small continent, so beautiful to the eyes, divided in small small pieces of nationalities, each speaking a different language, each weirder than the other! Europe is one its kinda continent (ok, ok - we don't have many continents anyways)
The funny part is - most of the nations have ended up fighting each other throughout the centuries and still have remained the most developed and rich nations. Except beautiful Switzerland which hasn't fought wars, probably explained by Scott 'Dilbert' Adams' theory that cooler nations have had lesser battles, ha ha.. Maybe while the whole world was busy killing the world, the Swiss were too busy freezing their chocolate covered nuts! lolz!
But all things apart.... there are hundreds of things we Indians could learn from these goras, of course! (too big a discussion - might take a whole new post and a very hopeful mood for that, maybe for later :-) )
Prakash and me both are seeing the ways of foreign land (in separate continents), and that is naturally accompanied by a mental comparison between that place and our very own motherland.... so be it! :-D
Peace.
And, Jai Hind!
Sunday, November 12, 2006
A 'Reverse Lagaan'
We had a kinda 'Reverse Lagaan' setting today! Don't get confused - its just a stupid phrase coined by me for this blog post... (probably just bcos I could think of nothing better to describe the scene with :-) )
A gang of desis (all office colleagues) decide to gather together for a long-due round of Cricket on a lazy Sunday! After the people had gathered as per IST, the game began in a small ground amongst a quiet neighbourhood. The ground not being large enough, restrictions were made on long shots, lest every self-confessed Dhoni went on a window-pane breaking spree!
Now coming to the 'Reverse Lagaan' part - remember the scene in the movie where Bhuwan and his friends sneak in near a cricket ground boundary and begin wondering what the 15 goras were doing with 2 sticks and a ball? Thats what happened today with us - only that this time the desis were inside the ground and the goras were out, ha ha!
As our game went on, passerbys (all native Germans) began wondering what kinda silly game we were up to! Some found it quite interesting and paused for a while to have a closer look. Amused they were, yes!
Some tried chatting up with the boundary fielders, asking them:
1. What this funny game was called and if it was something they knew as Baseball?
2. How the hell was one supposed to play it?(now that none of the desis there spoke an acceptable level of German, is a different thing)
And it having rained the previous night, the ground was muddy and slippery, but who cared! A few hours of cacophonous cricket so far from Bharatvarsh - was just what the desis needed to feel happy! Clothes and hands were all dirty after the game... but who cared!
My long-unexercised arms still ache from the numerous wide/no/dead balls in an over - all due to the fact that I touched bowling after years!
(and my blue jeans looks like a 'before' piece from a 'before-after' commercial for a stain-removing detergent!)
But who cares, we had fun! :-)
Speaking of cricket and dirty clothes, here's something that I recently came across:
"I cannot for the life of me see why the umpires, the only two people on a cricket field who are not going to get grass stains on their knees, are the only two people allowed to wear dark trousers." ~Katharine Whitehorn
.
A gang of desis (all office colleagues) decide to gather together for a long-due round of Cricket on a lazy Sunday! After the people had gathered as per IST, the game began in a small ground amongst a quiet neighbourhood. The ground not being large enough, restrictions were made on long shots, lest every self-confessed Dhoni went on a window-pane breaking spree!
Now coming to the 'Reverse Lagaan' part - remember the scene in the movie where Bhuwan and his friends sneak in near a cricket ground boundary and begin wondering what the 15 goras were doing with 2 sticks and a ball? Thats what happened today with us - only that this time the desis were inside the ground and the goras were out, ha ha!
As our game went on, passerbys (all native Germans) began wondering what kinda silly game we were up to! Some found it quite interesting and paused for a while to have a closer look. Amused they were, yes!
Some tried chatting up with the boundary fielders, asking them:
1. What this funny game was called and if it was something they knew as Baseball?
2. How the hell was one supposed to play it?(now that none of the desis there spoke an acceptable level of German, is a different thing)
And it having rained the previous night, the ground was muddy and slippery, but who cared! A few hours of cacophonous cricket so far from Bharatvarsh - was just what the desis needed to feel happy! Clothes and hands were all dirty after the game... but who cared!
My long-unexercised arms still ache from the numerous wide/no/dead balls in an over - all due to the fact that I touched bowling after years!
(and my blue jeans looks like a 'before' piece from a 'before-after' commercial for a stain-removing detergent!)
But who cares, we had fun! :-)
Speaking of cricket and dirty clothes, here's something that I recently came across:
"I cannot for the life of me see why the umpires, the only two people on a cricket field who are not going to get grass stains on their knees, are the only two people allowed to wear dark trousers." ~Katharine Whitehorn
.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Orkut and the fine art of socializing
I just realized. Sitting in the train and jabbering down your thoughts on the laptop isn't sucha difficult thing after all. I did this today.
Its funny how a piece of technology manages to take over our social lives. Yes, I'm talking about Orkut.
We live in a globalized world. And the World is Flat. And we have friends scattered all over the planet. Friends, with whom we would like to get back in touch with.
Friends, brothers, sisters, cousins, crushes, seniors/juniors from school/college/playschool :-), the neighborhood gundas, the gal-next-door... you name it! All of them can be accessed with a click of the mouse! Good na!
I myself have found so many old friends through this... (and I'm sure its the same case for everyone else around)
And Orkut is spreading like wildfire... Have been on this site since almost 2 yrs now, but never bothered to check it out much. But the last 10 months or so, its exploded!
This July when I spent 12 hours at the Mumbai airport (thanx to the annual floods occuring) I noticed at least 3 ppl in different places, sitting with their laptops and... Orkutting!
Welcome to the world of online socializing!
Of course nothing can beat the charm of meeting the person for real, but this is a workable delight sitting thousands of miles away from each other.
And how could the discussion be complete without the an eulogy to the never-ending list of DFSs (aka Desperate Friend Seekers)
Wow, I love this part....
There are loads of DFSs crawling all over the internet... loads. And if you just happen to mention in your profile that you are a female between 18 to 28 there will be loads of them wanting to make 'franship' with you and scrapping the nuts out of you....
Ya... female - thats enough. A sweet-sounding name and/or a pic that is remotely feminine will multiply the 'franship' offers almost-instantly. Uploading a few more of such pics on the album will result in exponential increase in the friends requests and scrappps!
I mean I know from a few of my gal-friends that everyday when they log on to their orkut, dozens of 'franship' requests stare them in the face on the homepage.... and it gets so irritating to click on 'NO' for each of them, one by one. Aha, the pleasures of being a guy... you don't (usually) have to go through this, he he!
As if the 'franship' requests are not enough, there are the scrapyards! Aha, welcome to the free arena of oh-I'm-so-cooool scraps, where each DFS comes up with one cheesy line after another (some in bold, italics, eastman color) - just to grab attention. (remember the Joey, 'How are u doin?' thingy'?)
I dunno how some people get kicks out of seeing more and more gals in their friend's list, even if they have no clue whatsoever about them or about their lives. Ah, maybe they think, the way to a gal's heart is through her 'Friend's list' :-) Someone pls educate me.
Here are some of the cornier examples:
(names have been withheld to protect identity, including mine ;-0 )
(Consider the responses in brackets below to be that of a PAL - Pretty Annoyed Lady)
Hi how r u?
(PAL: Hello, am i gonna tell random strangers how am I doing - whether I feel on top of the world or down in the dumps or both?)
hi, cute pic / nice pic / what a blah-blah pic!
(PAL: Well for starters, Thank you, but don't expect me to scrap you back. Its not a 'I scrap... err scratch your back, you scratch mine' thing)
Would you like to make franship with me?
This one takes the cake mann! I mean, if this works with a gal whom you've has never met/talked/chatted in life before, I could myself fancy my chances of using this line successfully with with Catherine Zeta Jones! Ah!
And the Engleees is just.... Subhaanalla...!!
more cornier versions of this:
'Would you like frenship with mee?'
'Hi I'm Narayan Kumar Babu from Rajpur, pleees freind me...'
Hi I'l w8 4 scrp, tc, by!
(PAL: This guy is having an SMS nightmare)
Waiting 4 your screp, byeeeeeeeeeee... !!!!!!!!!!!!!
(PAL: Hey, why was the 'byeeeee' for...? Aaye, scrap kiye, aur chal diye...? And sochte ho ki ladki patt jaayegi?? ha ha)
Still beats me why the extra e's and the hordes of exclamation marks added - was this guy having an orgasm while writing this? :-P
(And here are the try-again till you drop types...)
I screp yu but yu had not respond me so care to replay
(HA HA... ROTFL !!!)
And finally... this - yes, I've seen at least 2 such scraps in other ppl's scrap books. Laughed for 9.5 minutes non-stop!
Hi I woud like u as frend, pls send me a massage!
(Need I say more? :-) )
.
Its funny how a piece of technology manages to take over our social lives. Yes, I'm talking about Orkut.
We live in a globalized world. And the World is Flat. And we have friends scattered all over the planet. Friends, with whom we would like to get back in touch with.
Friends, brothers, sisters, cousins, crushes, seniors/juniors from school/college/playschool :-), the neighborhood gundas, the gal-next-door... you name it! All of them can be accessed with a click of the mouse! Good na!
I myself have found so many old friends through this... (and I'm sure its the same case for everyone else around)
And Orkut is spreading like wildfire... Have been on this site since almost 2 yrs now, but never bothered to check it out much. But the last 10 months or so, its exploded!
This July when I spent 12 hours at the Mumbai airport (thanx to the annual floods occuring) I noticed at least 3 ppl in different places, sitting with their laptops and... Orkutting!
Welcome to the world of online socializing!
Of course nothing can beat the charm of meeting the person for real, but this is a workable delight sitting thousands of miles away from each other.
And how could the discussion be complete without the an eulogy to the never-ending list of DFSs (aka Desperate Friend Seekers)
Wow, I love this part....
There are loads of DFSs crawling all over the internet... loads. And if you just happen to mention in your profile that you are a female between 18 to 28 there will be loads of them wanting to make 'franship' with you and scrapping the nuts out of you....
Ya... female - thats enough. A sweet-sounding name and/or a pic that is remotely feminine will multiply the 'franship' offers almost-instantly. Uploading a few more of such pics on the album will result in exponential increase in the friends requests and scrappps!
I mean I know from a few of my gal-friends that everyday when they log on to their orkut, dozens of 'franship' requests stare them in the face on the homepage.... and it gets so irritating to click on 'NO' for each of them, one by one. Aha, the pleasures of being a guy... you don't (usually) have to go through this, he he!
As if the 'franship' requests are not enough, there are the scrapyards! Aha, welcome to the free arena of oh-I'm-so-cooool scraps, where each DFS comes up with one cheesy line after another (some in bold, italics, eastman color) - just to grab attention. (remember the Joey, 'How are u doin?' thingy'?)
I dunno how some people get kicks out of seeing more and more gals in their friend's list, even if they have no clue whatsoever about them or about their lives. Ah, maybe they think, the way to a gal's heart is through her 'Friend's list' :-) Someone pls educate me.
Here are some of the cornier examples:
(names have been withheld to protect identity, including mine ;-0 )
(Consider the responses in brackets below to be that of a PAL - Pretty Annoyed Lady)
Hi how r u?
(PAL: Hello, am i gonna tell random strangers how am I doing - whether I feel on top of the world or down in the dumps or both?)
hi, cute pic / nice pic / what a blah-blah pic!
(PAL: Well for starters, Thank you, but don't expect me to scrap you back. Its not a 'I scrap... err scratch your back, you scratch mine' thing)
Would you like to make franship with me?
This one takes the cake mann! I mean, if this works with a gal whom you've has never met/talked/chatted in life before, I could myself fancy my chances of using this line successfully with with Catherine Zeta Jones! Ah!
And the Engleees is just.... Subhaanalla...!!
more cornier versions of this:
'Would you like frenship with mee?'
'Hi I'm Narayan Kumar Babu from Rajpur, pleees freind me...'
Hi I'l w8 4 scrp, tc, by!
(PAL: This guy is having an SMS nightmare)
Waiting 4 your screp, byeeeeeeeeeee... !!!!!!!!!!!!!
(PAL: Hey, why was the 'byeeeee' for...? Aaye, scrap kiye, aur chal diye...? And sochte ho ki ladki patt jaayegi?? ha ha)
Still beats me why the extra e's and the hordes of exclamation marks added - was this guy having an orgasm while writing this? :-P
(And here are the try-again till you drop types...)
I screp yu but yu had not respond me so care to replay
(HA HA... ROTFL !!!)
And finally... this - yes, I've seen at least 2 such scraps in other ppl's scrap books. Laughed for 9.5 minutes non-stop!
Hi I woud like u as frend, pls send me a massage!
(Need I say more? :-) )
.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Waiting....
Ok, that was just to grab attention. The fact remains that I've been busy like hell... and hence no time for chitter-chat on this webpage! No, wait... maybe I've run out of ideas too.... :-)
But like every other self-confessed writer, I'd think of something snooty to pen down... eventually. So..... here's me saying, "Yeah... I'll be back soooon...."
Monday, October 16, 2006
Weekend.... thou art quick!
Another weekend comes and goes....
Saturday was full of shopping for goodies... just to keep our home sweet home in order.... Keeping the house liveable for 4 bachelors is equivalent to a battle. And you gotta keep all the artillery ready for that.... (unfortunately the battle is a never ending one...)
And today Sunday..... 9 of us friends from office got together, deciding to pay a visit to a beautiful 19th century castle close to Munich. And well, was it good or what!!
(more about that in Travelogue 2, maybe...)
As I write this at midnight on Sunday... another week of project work beckons from tomorrow. But I guess I'll survive!
The one book I've been trying to finish since last 10 days is 'Jack - Straight from the Gut' - one of those which was long pending since the b-school days. But it continues at this snail pace only due to the fact that I find time to read it only during my commute between work and office - the 30 min train ride that actually relaxes! (not kidding!)
Bah-bye Sunday!
Saturday was full of shopping for goodies... just to keep our home sweet home in order.... Keeping the house liveable for 4 bachelors is equivalent to a battle. And you gotta keep all the artillery ready for that.... (unfortunately the battle is a never ending one...)
And today Sunday..... 9 of us friends from office got together, deciding to pay a visit to a beautiful 19th century castle close to Munich. And well, was it good or what!!
(more about that in Travelogue 2, maybe...)
As I write this at midnight on Sunday... another week of project work beckons from tomorrow. But I guess I'll survive!
The one book I've been trying to finish since last 10 days is 'Jack - Straight from the Gut' - one of those which was long pending since the b-school days. But it continues at this snail pace only due to the fact that I find time to read it only during my commute between work and office - the 30 min train ride that actually relaxes! (not kidding!)
Bah-bye Sunday!
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Travelogue
My blog is evolving into a travelogue of sorts (though I didnt mean it to be, initially). But when you are lucky enough to travel to places that many people have just read and dreamt of, you gotta brag like hell! Besides, it gives me a readymade subject to write on that my friends would actually enjoy, rather than read about my opinionated notions about the world that's all centered around me. Excuse me sometimes, puhleeaaase! :-)
But hey there is another positive. Maybe I'd get really famous writing about my expeditions, maybe TOI would do a cover feature on me, maybe 'Lonely Planet' would discover my hitherto hidden talents and give me a handsome advance for my first Travel book, alike Ms. Kaavya, and maybe a part of the advance would be a free cruise to Gibraltor so that I could write about the island and the mediterranean - some 5-star resort treatment thrown in as well!!! Woooh!
Ok. Ding Dong! Landing back to reality!
I now present, short descriptions of two very eventful excursions - Munich Oktoberfest and the Swiss Alps! :-)
Oktoberfest
Germany and specially Munich is world renowed for its Oktoberfest. Its a 3 week long Beer fest that happens every year in the later part of September. Every self-respecting beer drinker in the world considers this as a pilgrimage that one should do, no matter where in the world! Munich being just 3 hours away in the train, was an easy choice, so we went there on the Sunday when the Costume parade takes place. We reached Munich just on time when that started. The main streets where the parade would move through, had people decked up on both sides waiting to watch the visual extravaganza. There were the locals dressed in traditional attire walking in sync, with different kinds of props, orchestras walking and playing the music, decorated vehicles, bob-carts, horse carriages etc. all walking gallantly. And we happily watched and took pictures.
The parade pathway led to the big ground where the tents and the rides were set up. The tents accomodate between 6000 to 9000 people each and have tables spread all over. A group wud be lucky to get a seat on a weekend. And there were waitresses carrying oversized beer jugs, sometimes 7-8 of them together (1 ltr each!) and serving it to the ppl on the tables. And loads of carnivorous dishes (and some veggie ones) to go with that....
I personally have a very sporadic intake of the spirits (pun unintended :-)), and even those rare moments have been in good times only with friends around. This was one of those times - so I enjoyed. :-)
The parade
One of the 10 big tents (each seats around 10000 ppl!)
The waitresses who manage to carry all the heavy beer mugs with striking ease
Switzerland Ahoy!
Quick. What comes to your mind when you say Swiss?
Alps? Chocolates? cheese? watches? bells? Army Knives? banks?
Switzerland is all of these..... and much more!I might as well spend the next few thousand words describing about the Swiss experience, but it will still fall short of describing totally what this heaven is all about. All superlatives would not be enough. Probably it would be an insult to 'write' about a place which has to be 'seen' to be experienced.
So I'll leave you with only a few glimpses of heaven on earth.... (maybe I'd write more about that when my I'm done with the hangover that this beautiful place has left on me)
I'm still hopeful about the Gibraltor cruise, though... :-)
.
But hey there is another positive. Maybe I'd get really famous writing about my expeditions, maybe TOI would do a cover feature on me, maybe 'Lonely Planet' would discover my hitherto hidden talents and give me a handsome advance for my first Travel book, alike Ms. Kaavya, and maybe a part of the advance would be a free cruise to Gibraltor so that I could write about the island and the mediterranean - some 5-star resort treatment thrown in as well!!! Woooh!
Ok. Ding Dong! Landing back to reality!
I now present, short descriptions of two very eventful excursions - Munich Oktoberfest and the Swiss Alps! :-)
Oktoberfest
Germany and specially Munich is world renowed for its Oktoberfest. Its a 3 week long Beer fest that happens every year in the later part of September. Every self-respecting beer drinker in the world considers this as a pilgrimage that one should do, no matter where in the world! Munich being just 3 hours away in the train, was an easy choice, so we went there on the Sunday when the Costume parade takes place. We reached Munich just on time when that started. The main streets where the parade would move through, had people decked up on both sides waiting to watch the visual extravaganza. There were the locals dressed in traditional attire walking in sync, with different kinds of props, orchestras walking and playing the music, decorated vehicles, bob-carts, horse carriages etc. all walking gallantly. And we happily watched and took pictures.
The parade pathway led to the big ground where the tents and the rides were set up. The tents accomodate between 6000 to 9000 people each and have tables spread all over. A group wud be lucky to get a seat on a weekend. And there were waitresses carrying oversized beer jugs, sometimes 7-8 of them together (1 ltr each!) and serving it to the ppl on the tables. And loads of carnivorous dishes (and some veggie ones) to go with that....
I personally have a very sporadic intake of the spirits (pun unintended :-)), and even those rare moments have been in good times only with friends around. This was one of those times - so I enjoyed. :-)
The parade
One of the 10 big tents (each seats around 10000 ppl!)
The waitresses who manage to carry all the heavy beer mugs with striking ease
Switzerland Ahoy!
Quick. What comes to your mind when you say Swiss?
Alps? Chocolates? cheese? watches? bells? Army Knives? banks?
Switzerland is all of these..... and much more!I might as well spend the next few thousand words describing about the Swiss experience, but it will still fall short of describing totally what this heaven is all about. All superlatives would not be enough. Probably it would be an insult to 'write' about a place which has to be 'seen' to be experienced.
So I'll leave you with only a few glimpses of heaven on earth.... (maybe I'd write more about that when my I'm done with the hangover that this beautiful place has left on me)
I'm still hopeful about the Gibraltor cruise, though... :-)
.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
