Bandra

I was shocked in my first year of college, around 2000, when I heard that my friend Sameer, being a Maharashtrian and living in Bombay all his life had never seen the Gateway of India. It was just unimaginable. It took Nicholas and me almost a week before we came to terms with the fact that such a thing was actually possible. It was with us, I think, that Sameer made his maiden voyage to the Gateway :)

Fast-forward 10 years to 2010. I have lived in Bombay for many years and I have never been to Bandra. And apparently that is where everything cool happens :P. Anyways this trip came about due to a number of factors. The first reason was that my ophthalmologist friend suggested that I pay a visit to the Mount Mary church. The second reason was that I needed to exchange a book with a friend that we had been planning for almost a month. The books are a topic by themselves, which I'll discuss on another day. For starters just google Dr. Brian Weiss. The third reason was that I had not been to any place interesting in quite sometime and I needed to do some photography. So all these reasons made me push myself out of the house and head for Bandra. Loved the trip to Bandra thanks to the NMMT air-conditioned bus.

It was cloudy throughout which made the weather bearable. I was a little worried about the church timings but was really glad to find out that it was open when I reached.

I have always loved the architecture of old churches. Was decently impressed with this too. Though, the churches at Goa are just plain awesome. The interiors were interesting too with Christ's story illustrated all around the walls.

I sat there for a while and generally tried to gather my thoughts. I observed that a lot of people were present  (I guess it was because of the fact that it was a Sunday). I also realized that people from all faith came there to pray. The fact that a lot of them were leaving there shoes outside the church made it very clear. It was funny to see a guard telling people to wear their shoes inside rather than leaving them out. Obviously most people would find the idea of wearing their shoes inside a holy place sacrilegious and so they left them out.

Observed the people, prayed a bit, clicked some photos and waited for my friend to come. I was pretty satisfied with my trip so far.

I first came in contact with this friend of mine during my kitten incident (Refer to my old posts) and since then we have only met online and this would be the first time we would be actually meeting. She had promised to show me around Bandra and so thats what we did when we met. We first went to the Bandra Fort which was the saddest fort I have ever seen in my life. I don't know if I missed something there but from what I saw I am sure Belapur Fort is bigger than that :P

Though I did manage to take a couple of photos there. I wanted her to pose in front of the Taj Lands and take an excited touristy look wala photo, to which she said she would rather die than do that :) She in fact suggested that I do it. Now I think I should have done it. Hmmm... next time maybe :)

Took a couple of photos showing the very famous Bandra-Worli sea link. The crowd made it really sad. There were people all over (mostly couples :P). And I actually was startled finding people at weirdest locations :D

Walked along band-stand for a while and had some sort of a light-very-late lunch. I had a really good time there and we ended up talking about a lot of stuff. Now some seriously freaky thing happened at the end of it. In one of my previous posts, I had mentioned about how I keep seeing 11:11 in a lot of places numerous times in a day. The number patterns have started increasing now.

We were about to leave when she suddenly tells me that for sometime now she has been seeing number patterns over and over again in various places. I was very amused and asked her about the 11:11. Apparently she keeps seeing 444 apart from 1111. It was good to finally meet someone who saw similar number patterns :) We exchanged some more stories about where all we see the numbers and then before we left she asked me what time it was. Guess what the time was? It was 4:44... :)

Fly away KITES never to return

After sleeping at 3:30 last night, the day didn't go that good. I had a headache most of the day. Had to resort to going to a saloon and getting a "chumpi" :P Spent most of the day, staring at the computer, doing nothing. Didn't work on the site or anything. Salsa was sort of alright. I wouldn't categorize it as great. I was forgetting the steps and couldn't really practice the steps that I wanted to and planned.

Tried watching Kites, I say "tried", cause in spite of attempting twice I haven't been able to finish it. I think I'll manage to finish it tomorrow. Its a well shot movie, Barbara/Hrithik are both looking good, good dance sequence in the beginning, but I would still like to shoot myself in the head at the end of it. I think they made the story as they were shooting. The good thing was that the goras where not shown speaking fluent hindi. Anyways my family wants to watch MNIK tomorrow where Shahrukh gives a huge dialogue in Hindi to a bunch of black americans and they get all weepy and start singing "We Shall Over Come" :(

I think I will call it quits tonight. Sleep will probably do me good :)

You are hopeless! Why don't you get married?

The only highlight of the day was that nothing happened and the World Cup started (yaaaawwwn!! whatever!). Apart from that, had a sudden stroke of brilliance and came up with this:

Stay behind me, my shadow,
For you darken my road ahead
Walk with me, my conjoined twin
There's a lot to be heard and said

You surrounded me in times of light
There were many more of you
But where were you when the nights were longer
When I really needed you.

Pretty painful right? Ya I know! Lets lighten up the air a bit tonight.

I read this somewhere quite a long time back. Its about the sad story of man and his contorted connection with the word "Bachelor". He goes through a painful journey to attain bachelorhood (his bachelor's degree) only to realize that he has to now go through an even more difficult path of losing his bachelorhood (his bachelor status). The daft bloke had no idea that his days of joy after attaining his bachelors would be so short lived. Yours truly is currently in the phase of attempting to lose his bachelorhood or should I say, is being forced into giving it up under very unfavourable circumstances.

The process began almost two and a half years ago and has gone through various levels of foul attempts and phases. My parents have attempted sweet talking, logic, external influence, anger, brainwashing, emotional blackmail and various different techniques to get me married off. There have been times of heightened activity (bride search - conducted by dad, assisted by mom), gaps of dormancy (reverse psychology applied here) and phases of stealth search (I was unaware of it happening).

I have tried all evil ways to avoid the subject and at times have deliberately jeopardized their evil plans. There was a time when I rejected using a certain sequence. My dad would show me photos and I would be like "no, na na not possible, not this please, she is so not what she says, i don't like her, i'd rather die, are you crazy?, no, na na not possible..." and the loop continued. Soon my Dad found out about my sequence and generally attempted a method of "clearing my false aspirations and hopes about my future partner". In short, "Izzat-ka-kachda" happened.

While my Dad has been trying a direct approach of scaring the shit out of me and making me give in (a procedure often followed by the police on criminals), my Mom has been far less conspicuous about the whole thing. She is more of the subtle type which makes her all the more dangerous. I have absolutely no idea how but she somehow manages to connect every possible subject to my marriage. A few examples would clarify the situation:

Me: You know mom, I was thinking of buying a dog.
Mom: And who is going to take care of it? Get married first and then your wife can take care of it. We will not say no.

Mom: Help me out in the kitchen
Me: Are you crazy? Do you know how much time you'll spend undoing the things I do and then redoing them?
Mom: I wish I had a daughter. She would be more helpful and understanding than you are. And you won't even marry x-( ! Atleast I would have then understood how it would be to have a daughter. :(
Me: Huh!? (In my mind - How the hell did the conversation lead here?)

Mom: Your Dad is the biggest pain in my life. 
Me: Huh? What happened?
Mom: How am I to get any work done if he keeps asking for tea every hour?
Me: Aren't you habituated after 29 years of marraige?
Mom: How long am I supposed to keep doing this? And you won't even marry x-( ! Your wife could have helped me a bit. You are absolutely useless and may I add, hopeless!
Me: (Blank look on my face and wondering what the "F" just happened) What?
Dad: (Walks in cluelessly) What happened? What's the problem?
Me: (turning to dad) Grrrrr....


Mom: There is good news
Me: Really? what?
Mom: X's son Y is getting married to Z. Y found Z on his own. X was a little hesitant in the beginning but at the end it is Y and Z who will spend their lives together. We are attending on (a particular date). Don't plan anything else.
Me: Ok
Mom: Why don't you try something similar? "Internet mein nahi milti kya?" They met on some site.
Me: "Haan milti hai na, Rs 50 per kilo, lau kya?"
Mom: Shut up! You can't even find a girl for yourself. Absolutely hopeless. Why don't you get married?


So that's how most of my talks with mom happens nowadays. There are a million more examples but they all end the same way, "You are hopeless. Why don't you get married?" Such is the sorry life I am leading.

So, my future wife, if you are reading this, please come out from wherever it is you are hiding. Lets just get this misery done with. I am sure you're story is somewhat similar too.

Emotional Atyachaar

Disclaimer: Contains explicit content and may not be suitable for overtly decent people

I downloaded Masters of Chants by Gregorian today. I already had some of their songs but with my new net connection (I just love saying it) I got hold of their first album. Shall get hold of all of them. It is an awesome collection! Very very gothic and eerie :D. Will darken my room tomorrow and listen to it. Should be a good experience. It was exactly what I needed. Was a little mind-fucked most of the day. Helped me relax :)

There is one particular show on TV nowadays which totally freaks me out. It's Emotional Atyachaar on UTV Bindaas. It makes me very uncomfortable and I avoid watching it most of the times but then there are days when I get this inkling to see what new crap people can do. After watching the show there are just 2 thoughts that will come to your mind depending upon whether they are focusing on a girl or a guy. Most men are bastards! Most women are bitches! Absolutely made for each other :P. I am sure most of you have heard of it. In case you haven't, then let me just brief you a bit :)

The idea is very basic. You have a partner and you think that he/she might be doing some extra-curricular activities while sweetly telling you that he/she can't live without you? Well you do a tiny loyalty test on your partner and see how much in water your relationship is in. You would think initially, how can I doubt my partner? Isn't that like breaking the first commandment of Love? Well might as well do that and prevent yourself from breaking the 6th commandment, "Thou shall not murder!" :P. These guys create situations where a person of a sidey morality would falter. The rest as they say is history :)

I think there is no excuse for infidelity, unless you are in an open relationship (what the fuck is that anyways!?). Excuses such as we were so far away for so long, we didn't have time for each other and all that is absolute bull-shit! If you do not have the balls to tell the truth to your partner, no matter how difficult it is, then you don't deserve to be in a relationship. I have suffered my share of cheating, lying and two-timing. And that's the reason it pisses me off more when I see someone cheat on their partner, be it on TV or in real life. I have cut-off friendship with a very good friend because he did a similar thing. He may have his point of view and his excuses but knowing the girl and knowing that she was totally faithful to him, I don't give a rat's ass about it.

I may sound a bit snobbish and over-confident but I firmly believe that I will not fail a loyalty test no matter what. I have been proven wrong about a number of things in my life but I think this is one thing I am confident about, just like I am confident that I'll never start smoking/drinking. Seeing this program, I do feel scared to think about relationships and how I would react would it happen to me, again. I am sure a lot of you too may feel the same. But then based upon my history (whatever insignificant amount it is), I think infidelity is like a boomerang. You get exactly what you give :P And its not long before they get exactly what they deserve. And sometimes, if they have a little decency left, they come and apologize. But mostly by then, it doesn't really matter :)

Well life's a bitch and relationships are no child's play either. But then again, C'est La Vie!

I am happy for you :)

Had good fun today. An ophthalmologist friend of mine is in town, so Shekhar and I, went and met up with her. It was hilarious! I think Shekhar and myself were both at a pretty good state of humor today and the fact that our friend is such an awesome sport, just made it better :) 2 hours of continuous rotfl! (Google it if you don't know what it means :P)

Work was weird today. Extremely boring!!!! Extremely!! Sat and sifted through all the commands and the software is one hell of a complicated program with such a large number of commands that one tends to lose track of the whole scene. Good thing is at the end, I had a rough idea about how the structure should be.

I think I have mentioned before that I have had an increased interest in photography. I have a Nikon L11 digicam with which I manage to take decent pictures and with a little bit of post processing, things turn out interesting. But after a recent encounter with a Nikon D3000 Digital SLR, the thought of getting myself a DSLR has been seeded. I am thinking of saving me some money and getting an entry level DSLR. Something to experiment with and learn the ropes. I was pretty confused between Canon (EOS 500D & EOS 550D) and Nikon (D3000 & D5000). But after seeing the specs, approximate price and a few reviews, I think Nikon D5000 would be the best for me. Now I just need to somehow manage and save around 38K :P.

I have noticed something which I think is pretty common and happens with everyone. It is a common phenomenon to see people not very happy when someone else is happy for a change. What I mean to say is that lets say for example, out of 3 acquaintances, one gets a good job and shares it with the other two, 80% - 90% of the time, they will give a nod and a smile and then criticize among themselves as to why the job is so not what it is made out to be. Its not often that others share the joy when you share your good news with them. In fact there will be people who takes it upon themselves to convince you that it is really not so great and you have nothing much to be happy about. Then there are those who'll use this opportunity to just get a free "daaru-party".

It has happened to me too. The saddest part is that I have been the one to nod and smile and then feel jealous about my friend's fortune. The jealousy came for a fraction of second but the damage was done. I was happy for him, but the sense of guilt over powered it. I think most of us are always so dissatisfied with what we have that this thing happens. Or maybe this feeling comes, when we lack something and a friend's good news just reinforces the fact that we are unable to get it while he can, which takes precedence over the thought of feeling happy for his success.

There are a lot of factors for this, including the fact that some people are just by nature negative and they just can't see someone else happy. It's like they are epicenters of negativity. My mom tells me, "Too little of something makes us mean minded and too much of something makes us too self-engrossed. You need to find an optimum balance between the two where you have enough for yourself and yet can spare something for someone else's good." I think this applies to a lot of places but in this context, its true. If I have very less money then I'll never be happy when my friend gets a good salaried job and if I have too much of it, I'll probably not even feel his happiness cause it comes so easily to me. But if I have sufficient and am happy with myself, I think I'll appreciate his happiness and actually feel good for him. Feel that he deserves it.

Being jealous of others, I guess is human, but I wish we wouldn't feel jealous of our friends. Cause if you have a strong conscience, it becomes extremely difficult explaining the situation to yourself. And I guess answering one's own self is not as easy as it seems :)

DTH with recording facility - Yaaaaay!!!!

I had thought of writing quite a bit today, but this broadband is seriously screwing my plans :( I ended up watching Youtube videos instead of writing. I haven't enjoyed the simple pleasure of watching them at home before. So its a brand new experience. I remember my friends kept sending me Youtube links and I would be like, "ummm! My net is damn slow, I'll check it out at office". Well now, "Bring it on baby!! :)"

Work was pretty "blyaah" today. The Model/View thingy was still screwing with me but then just towards the end I found out a way to do what I wanted to do though the process isn't very elegant. In the longer run, I need to learn how to subclass the Abstract classes to get the funda working. I think I'll put up a tutorial once I get done. There isn't a good tutorial on the net to do it. Damn pathetic! Good tutorials can save a lot of time for a lot of people.

Its been quite sometime now since I got the Tata Sky+ but I think it was one of our best investments. Fortunately, my friend Kartik had come down from the US then and he had a similar TV recording box. He sort of enlightened me and showed me how it actually saves time and entertains. He said, "Look buddy, you love watching TV but you don't get the time. The only time you watch TV is probably while you eat or after you come back from office. I am sure you must not be watching more than an hour per day. And you will notice that during this time, you will never see anything worthwhile. You keep flipping channels and end up watching nothing. Get this system, set your timings and record the stuff you wanna watch. Watch it during the small window you get to watch TV."

It was one of the "Ahaaa!" moments :) We got it immediately and soon discovered many more positive points about it. I could record all the FRIENDS episodes and watch them over and over again. Record movies on weekdays and watch them on weekends. In fact, now even if I have the time I record the movie and start watching it an hour after it actually starts. That way, I watch the recorded version and fast forward those gazillion useless advertisements. Super time effective! Specially when you are psychotic enough to pack your schedule so bad that you don't get a breather all day, a TV recorder system really helps you push it up a notch and yet lets you watch your favourite serials and de-stress :)

So if you don't already have one, and you are a die hard TV fan, get it, specially with the World Cup just a few days away :)

Disclaimer: No DTH service is paying me any commission for this, specially Tata Sky. So you can get anyone of them and this is not an advertisement :P

Its raining Megabits :)

My MTNL broadband is finally here! After suffering forever with a pathetic excuse of a broadband connection, I finally have something which makes me feel happy :) The first thing I did after coming home from work was get online and check the speed ( skipped gym :P ) at one of the speed-test sites. And what did I discover? I have a 2 Mbps connection :D The joy is short lived because they will soon realize that I should be actually getting 320 kbps for the Unlimited plan that I opted for and they will cap my bandwidth.Another problem that I have noticed is that the connection is extremely unstable. The link keeps going down :( Hopefully it'll stabilize in a few days.

So in my excitement, I opened up a torrent site and decided to download something. After looking at the screen for a couple of minutes, it struck me that there was really nothing that I wanted to download :P Super anti-climax! Went and downloaded a couple of salsa videos. And then again stared at the screen for another 5 minutes and then a dialogue came to my mind, "You know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it." I wanted broadband and now that I had it, didn't know what to do with it :D The Dark Knight really had some awesome dialogues. God knows what prompted Ledger to kill himself though, after such an amazing performance.

QT4 is a pain in the ass! Seriously! I felt like tearing my hair off with it's Model/View programming concepts. Sounds very cool and intelligent but implementing it is suicidal. All I did the whole day was get more and more confused and ended up sub-classing god knows how many QT classes x-(

The rains are finally here! It has been coming and going for the past few days but today it appears as if its here to stay :) I am sort of happy because it'll bring some respite from the heat but then again I am not the biggest fan of the rains. Though many of my friends would give their right arm to get wet in the rain and also take this opportunity to call me a loser :) Today in spite of the fact that we both contemplated rain, Suman and myself reached office without umbrellas. And as expected it started raining while we were waiting for the bus in the evening. Thankfully there was a cobbler shop where we could stand for a while and the rain subdued. Was lucky the first day but I think its better we don't take a chance tomorrow.