Another one

Yeah.....whatever.



Shakespeare: Sonnets. Everyone has heard of you,
and almost everybody can find something
touching in you. You are calm and control
yourself, even though your wisdom and your
messages are no lesser than those of others.


Which literature classic are you?
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OGILVEEEEE OGILVY!!

Well it was supposed to have been an interview. How many times has it happened with you, you go for an interview, all psyched up, wearing your smartest formals and though you dont show it, inside you are craving for whatever is up for grabs after the interview. And the interviewer doesn't turn up!
And her secretary would tell you, oh so apologetically, he is busy in a meeting and wont be able to meet you guys today.

Anyway, just coz we were there she asked us to write 200 words on anything. ANYTHING you said........hmmmmm nice topic. I asked her what was it that she wanted to test us on, was it going to be comprehension, vocab or what? And she didnt have a clue.

Ok dont kill me for being over enthu about my bike, but you know what. I wrote a road review for the bike and i think i did a decent job of it.

Why are the biggest advertisers' options coming in now when i am blocked for summers at the campus? Now Publicis is on it?! Why do you have to do it yaars Prasoon and Piyush?

The Wing Rider

Honda Unicorn - Grey


Ok Peoples, i m finally the proud owner of a Honda Machine. I will try hard not to let this post be a road test but cant help it.
Well, the last one, a Bajaj Caliber wasnt all that bad, and i used to pride myself on the antics i would perform on that bike, i couldnt well have imagined what all i can do with a bike WITH rectangular box swing arms. Alright, the bike is a dream to ride.


Hold on.... abhi aaya thodi der mein.
.
.
.
.

Ok am back. and guess what the break was for, CNBC's the Auto show. And lo! they had a pulsar 150 and unicorn shoot out. And guess who won. Well, as much as i would have liked the unicorn to win, i guess neither Bajaj nor Honda had paid Hormazd and his team enough to rate their bikes better so they gave both of them a 4/5. And the dude said all my words. The bike is "understated, elegant and thrifty." "the Pulsar is all Juicy, Street Racer Bod". Well my dad was satisfied with the presenter seconding my decision as an "elite commuter bike".

And it is just that. A commuter bike which has grown.....mature. To an unnoticing eye, it may pass off as another 100 cc bike's upgrade. But on closer look, the bike is sufficiently large but doesnt look so from a distance, surprisingly though. The fuel tank is neat and the rider's legs fit snugly into the sides (mine do). It might not be a traffic stopper but unpleasant is not the word for its looks. It is like the guy in class who is always unassuming, gets above average marks but isnt really participative in class and goes about doing his work without making a fuss about it.

The Engine is makkhan! It is nothing like what indian bikes have seen so far. You just cant hear it purr at idling speeds. The self starter button is feather touch. The shop where i was getting the accessories fitted, the bike got its fair share of admirers, one of them being a pulsar owner who came up to me to congratulate me on my wise decision. He was all praise for the acceleration of the bike (?). He said he rode one and was impressed by its pickup. I was more than surprised, coz during the 100 kilometres i have driven it, the pickup hasnt really taken me by surprise and i was hard pressed to even compare it with other 150 ccs. May be it will be better after the engine has been suitably run in (500 kms maybe).

And tell you what! It goes round as if its on rails! Man, what confidence it gives me to throw it round the corners. It's crazy.

Ok, not all is so hunky dory with this package. One, the gearing is too short. It is like stretching the 4 gears of the caliber to make 'em 5. And the final gear ratio is short too, which i am sure will limit its top speed. And checked out Autocar and it vindicates me. The figures say, the top whack for Pulsar 150 is 119kms, and for Unicorn it is 111 km/h.

And the package, at 56K isnt really cheap. Check this, this is all what i am NOT getting in the honda which i would have with the Pulsar 150. 17", 6 spoke alloy wheels, Nitrox gas shock absorbers, a decent horn (yes the original horn was good for a 3 wheeler auto rickshaw, i had to get a pulsar horn fitted on it), how cheap can honda be, they haven't even fitted a leg-guard on the bike (and to talk of rider safety and helmets and all), well the trip meter is missing as well, and so are the metal weights on the handle bars.

But i am not complaining (i cant afford to, i have had to throw tantrums for this), the bike shall serve me well, i hope. And shall save my graces too, the next time i throw a challenge at a pulsar rider on the signal.



Hey, i have an interview with O&M tommoro! wish me luck.

Are you Addicted to the Internet? 53% Average@Internet-User.com (41% - 60%) You seem to have a healthy balance in your life when it comes to the internet and life away from the computer. You know enough to do what you want online without looking like an idiot (most of the time). You even have your own Yahoo club or online journal! But you enjoy seeing your friends and going out to enjoy life away from your computer. See I told you so!!!! The Are you Addicted to the Internet? Quiz at Quiz Me!

Rahul is out?

No way this is happening!

If u've been following indian idol, you know what i am talking about. It was a no brainer.
Rahul Vaidya WAS the indian idol. Even though i myself voted for Amit Sana, but the mind said that it was rahul who deserved to be the indian idol. Any which way he is going to be a singer as big as, if not bigger than Sonu Nigam.

And this episode of indian idol was definitely the BIGGEST. i m darn sure the TRPs, wouldn't have been higher. Although i had been critical of the useless suspense created by Mini Mathur while declaring the results, and the hoopla and stupid display of emotions after a candidate had been voted out, today was truly moving. One cannot explain the look on Rahul's face. It was as real as reality TV gets.

doston se wafaa ki ummeedein

I dont know if i mentioned wat a ghazal buff i am, and i pity my friends who have to listen to me humming a ghazal everyday. Actually it like the juke box...something like...i just so have to hum the ghazal i listen to in the morning, the whole day...

I am posting one which is on my lips these days and i like it quite a lot.


Aisa lagta hai zindagi....tum ho
Ajnabee, kaise ajnabee tum ho?

Main zameen par ghana andhera hoon...
Aasmaanon-ki chandni tum ho

Ab koi aarzoo nahin baaki.........
justajoo meri aakhri tum ho

Doston-se wafa ki ummeeden!........
Kis zamaane ke aadmi tum ho?


There is a message in there too. I hope, my friend, you get it.

the pic

ok....not very impressive, but now i have a pic on the blog for the heck of it
may be i will remove it soon.

Green You are a very calm and contemplative person. Others are drawn to your peaceful, nurturing nature. Find out your color at Quiz Me!

Well i think it works....

Valentines

Ok, so its that time of the year when people HAVE to go out on a day and EXPRESS their love, and a group of kurta-clad people HAVE to show their angst against the 'foreign' concept. Bloody immature people! Those who are raising a hue and cry are misled. The opposition should be against indecent behavior and not expression of love. And i know most would debate the definition of 'indecent behavior'. Well stop kissing in public places for one. And you get the drift. And Why 14th feb? why not 15th, 16, or any other day for that matter.

Achha quit it. Heavy police presence in Kamla nagar, Demonstrations on one end of bungalow road, Gawdy guys, cheap crowd is wat i made of Valentine's.

Other than that, the reason for this late post is that i have been travelling and partying hard. Well, nothing has come over me suddenly, blame it on the marriage season. First it was my Dear friend Arindem's wedding ceremonies and what a wedding it was. Seeing them pose for the photos was like a dream. All those years when the gang went hanging around, this was something never thought would happen, although we all wished for it, but we never visualised how it would be like.
And then came the big ticket show in Gwalior. My Celeb bhai marrying the Kaanta Laga girl, although no one in the family talks about the video. Better that they don't. And she is so opposite of her screen image. Call her the in-law's home effect or whatever. To me, she came accross as shy, unassuming, sweet and respectful. Well, to be honest i went there for the opportunity to travel than to attend the celeb wedding. The party had a host of TV actors and singers coming down. Mika and Anamika performed. and so did the meet brothers themselves. And to be honest, i felt a bit left out at times. Had it not been for papa's company, it wud have been difficult. And for all people, my ma was the most star struck. And those cheap people, posing with these guys frm bombay, they had turned the family affair into some ....i dont know wat. But then i made friends with my bhabhi's parents!..imagine? I was talking to Shefali's parents casually, and they sure are very nice people. Very easy to get along with, and some similarities between the punjabi gregariousness and the Gujju affability was there.

Then the visit to the Gwalior fort and the Scindia's palace was worth the time and effort. So my tally of indian states i have atleast visited, has gone up by one. Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab of course. Next on the agenda is Rajasthan.

Is that it.....there was so much i wanted to yap about the trip to Gwalior....may be i will when i remember them.

College is ekdum thanda. No rhythm to classes still, and we are mid way thru the semester. I dont know wat is going to happen. The placements are rambling along, and i dont want to talk of the summers. Better things are in store i hope.

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you. May you celebrate it next year with the same partner!

Phenomenon

This is the movie i saw today. And i dont know anything about this movie, as in i havent heard the name before, when was it released, if it won any awards or not. But heck, this was one of the best movies ever. If u enjoyed reading the Alchemist, you would have loved this movie. And one cant see any body else but John Travolta carrying this off. John playes George Malley, a small town farmer who, one day experiences a blinding flash of light and things change from then on. Suddenly he finds himself able to move things without touching them. He cant put himself to sleep so he starts reading. Reading any and everything he can lay his hands on. So he is now discovering and inventing things. there are a 1000 ideas crowding his head every minute.

And then when the world gets to know about it, he is tested, scanned and everything. and ultimately it turns out that he has a tumor in his brain, which, instead of turning down the activity, is stimulating the brain and now he has more usable area in his brain than anybody who lived the earth, but he's dying anyway.

So here come's in some top neurologist who wants to do an 'open brain surgery' on him, which gives George a 1 in 500 chance to live an extended life but opens up vistas for research in neurology. And then the reply George was the highlight of the movie. And mind you it was not like Bollywood Style...loud dialogues...it was so normal and matter of factly delivered.....i cant see any bollywood hero delivering those dialogues....amir khan an exception.

'You grasp Science with one hand and Technology with another and then u have nothing to grasp the simplicity in life.'


I know i m not the best film critic but i have not thought of anything else since then....this was some 2 hours back.


Anyway.....i have been figuring out things for the blog, and playing around with the template. hope to set things right with the help of some friends. soon.

Losing out on the Fun?

Call it luck or whatever, whenever my gang is up to some fun, i manage to miss it. ALL THE TIME!!! I was gonna go late to college coz I knew that the first class wud be late in the day, however others who didnt know turned up early and then...had plans for BLACK, the rani mukherjee movie. I dont even remember the count, how many times this has happened. i think soon i will be visiting cinema halls alone coz my peers must ve seen the movie i m goin for.

Yesterday was fun. Attended all classes in a day after a long time. The international Marketing class was interesting as usual, cant say the same for Fin Systems and international marketing research lectures though.
Also Feb 6 was the entrance exam for MIB batch 2005. I wish the candidates the best of luck.

Yesterday was a pretty long day... one which began at 9 am and ended after 7 in the evening. At the end of the day We went to Momo's point for Ash's Bday treat. her bday was on the 2nd. After that we went to Barista for cold coffee and had a couple of rounds of truth and dare games. And with the type of junta around (not many sweet babes ;)) around, everybody played safe with 'truth'. Had fun.

And yeah, my trip to Gwalior this weekend is confirmed finally, with the tickets being booked. Lookin forward to a taste of a high pro celeb marriage. lezz see how the 'stars' party. Wonder how it would feel like calling Shefali Jhariwala...'parjhai!!'. Moreover i look at it as a rare opportunity to get out of town. I guess one outing to a nice and unexplored place in a year is good....and necessary too. Travelling is something i like but can't for a variety of reasons. hence this craving to get away.


And now finally, with some projects and assignments coming near, i expect the class to get into the groove once again, which has been missing in the new year, and the irregular lecture schedule is entirely to blame.

Anyway, its time i got some sleep.

Value Addition?

Is it just me or all you B-Schoolers feel the same way? Why am i here? How does spending 2 years in this place suddenly make me worth 6 laks a year? Yeah of course, everybody just so loves bragging about the average packages at campus and the highest offers and all......

But deep down do you, too, feel that may be i am not getting worth the money i spent here. Worth in the sense that i am a more 'valuable' employee for the organisation i will work in than what i was 2 years back. Running through entire fields of study in 2 -3 months, how much does anyone, even the guy with the best grades, grasp. If ultimately we HAVE to learn best, on the job, what is the point wasting my time here, why dont i just get on with the job i love and learn while i earn, never mind the meagre sum i get at the end of the month.

I just hope that i m wrong and i do become a genuinely valuable asset for the organisation i work for, and this is just one of 'those days'....

Anyways, news is, that this guy in the senior batch has got a placement with Bharti Televentures as Country Manager.....all day long we were wondering how this chap who always brought up the rear end of the class, had more ERs than fingers on his hands, couldn't present himself well, become the country manager at Bharti Televentures. May be Sunil Mittal's good days were over. And all this time what country he would be managing? Papua New Guinea, or Nigeria? or is it then guatemala?

Well neither, it is one of the latest US Colonies.........AFGHANISTAN!!!!
i laughed out so loud as i never did in the past year! Best of luck to u dude and god bless Afghanistan. Mr. Mittal please diversify soon, televentures should not be the only egg in your basket, not anymore.

Anyway, the placement scene isnt really blockbuster, but we are told it definitely is way better than last year and otherwise too. The avg now is a little under 4 laks. Among the big ones who have recruited till now are ICICI PruLife, Indiabulls, NDPL, Asia Pacific Capital, Jindal Steel, MMTC, among others.

All the best to the rest of the guys.

Lovesickness can prove fatal!

Lovesickness can prove fatal!
AFPLondon, February 7, 2005


The concept of lovesickness might be more than just a flighty poetic notion, as it can burden the afflicted with genuine mental trauma, a British psychological study warned on Sunday.

In the most serious cases the "disease" can prove fatal, the researchers said, calling for lovesickness to be taken more seriously by the medical profession.

For many centuries, the manias, depressions and obsessions associated with romantic love were considered a genuine state of mind rather than an affectation, clinical psychologist and author Dr Frank Tallis said.

However, in the past two centuries lovesickness had fallen out of favour as a proper diagnosis, Tallis said in a report for The Psychologist magazine, the official publication of the British Psychological Society.

In the modern era, while love was still associated with madness, this was only likely to be in the lyrics of a pop song, Tallis noted.

"The average clinical psychologist will not receive referral letters from GPs (general practitioners) and psychiatrists mentioning lovesickness," Tallis said.

"However, careful examination of the sanitised language will reveal that lovesickness may well be the underlying problem.

"Many people are referred for help who cannot cope with the intensity of love, have been destabilised by falling in love, or who suffer on account of their love being unrequited."

Symptoms can include mania, such as elevated moods and inflated self-esteem, depression, or obsessive compulsive disorder, such as repeatedly checking for e-mails.

The most serious cases could lead to suicide, the article said.

"Although there is much modern research into the treatment of relationship and psychosexual problems, there is little dealing with the specific problem of lovesickness," Tallis said.

"Perhaps now is the time for us to take it more seriously and take a lead from those ancient clinicians who diagnosed and treated it like any other complaint."

Discovery

Each day is a discovery.


Some years ago i was dumbfounded when people asked me for my favorites, my likes and dislikes..... not that i didnt have any.....just that i hadn't crystallized those feelings towards things, places...food etc.

That was the time i liked some things....but i could bear with others as well, and never complain.

I dont know if i m choosing the right words to express what i want to.but the point here is that every now and then i stumble accross new behavioral patterns in me.....


Let me put it this way.......i now see my self in third person. I watch my self behave, win, lose, love, dislike, talk and everything. i m sure it isnt a conscious process but it is happenning. I dont know if this happens with you or not, but i all of a sudden i can see my limitations in certain fields and there are others where i know i m the best if i work on it.

People talk of mental and physiological transitions in the teen age. all that alrite but this is something i am experiencing for the first time, and that too 3 years past my teens?!

I some times am very frustrated at my own absent mindedness......and i m sure if i take an IQ test today i would do miserably. So many times i feel i was a brilliant intellectual when i was a kid, or when i was in school, to put that in perspective.

Is it because i had more time, opportunity, space, encouragement to think.
I think it is yes to all that. I dont think i was ever pressurised for marks at home during school and as long i was passing, it was ok (not OK with ma, i m sure). MSM school too was intellectually stimulating..... At that age i had answers to all problems facing the world. The Kashmir problem, Aids and Drought in Africa, American Hegemony, Extreme Socialism (communism).
May be then i had not been given a structure to think in. And now it is so difficult to break out of it. The TV, newspapers, professors, everybody wants me to think like they do. Every body talks of harmony and freedom. freedom of speech, freedom of religion. But where is the freedom of thought. Why does a 22 year old think that he is smarter than an 11 year old. why does your dad think that you are not 'mature' enough to take decisions, even those which affect only you and no one else? why cant u let me find everything out on my own.?

I dont remember who did but whoever said that the child is the father of man, hit the bull's eye.

We are all born with IT, the knowledge, the enlightenment. The knowledge here being talked about is not only spiritual but also the worldly and practical knowledge. Why, then, do we tie ourselves down with rituals, traditions, and 'practices' which are already in place.

Tell me if i am wrong, And i guess there is a hidden question in whatever i said, if u know what the question is please let me know along with the answer.




And another thing......is it with all guys or is it just me, At 22, i m not old enough to be thinking about relaxing rides on winding roads on a cruiser? Why is it that i m willing to take a ride on the thinderbird in the hills and not get into another red light drag with a CBZ or a Pulsar? I have done that a zillion times........and now when i ride a more powerful bike than most 100cc Japs, i dont even feel like getting into a drag, I now think of average top speed and not 0-60. Am i done and over with the adrenaline rush on 2 wheels already?

What's wrong? Will that high of seeing the traffing getting reduced to a blip on my rear view mirror never return?

I hope it does....... lest i become a buddha baba soon.

*draft posted 3 years after original post!*

The Last day of my life!?

Following is a conversation between me and a friend of mine, i dont know why but i felt like posting it here :

Prashant : waise gen speaking all people remotely related to comp's are insomniacs by habit and nature nothing forced
Achan : it is so soothing and relaxin to b in front of the box
Achan : and time flies
Prashant : u bet
Achan : i now realise the theory of relativity
Prashant : hehehehe
Achan : wen stupid gals bore one on the phone it takes a life time to put the receiver down Achan : and when one is chatting or doing any damn thing for that matter on the net or otherwise
Achan : hours pass by like minutes

Anyway


Reading all the MBA blogs, i felt like putting up one of my own, but this is turning out to be anything but that. May be that MIB at D school only is a part of the whole picture and not the picture itself......hey but i dont think anything but MIB these days! ....se i am contradictory to the core.

The other day i was thinking that the ppl in ma class who commute in a bus or those who car pool but dont drive themselves have some time on their hand to read or yap with a friend and all that will be 'utilisation' of time, unlike me who was riding to and fro campus and wasnt enjoying the ride anymore either.
Remembering the good ol days of BIS when i would car pool with Ma and Divya and we used to yap such a lot and i guess i also came close to both of them primarily for the loads of time spent with them on the road and sure had many useful (!) discussions on our way.

So, i dont think twice when a classmate asks for a hike back home in the evening coz i can chat and share stuff on the hour long ride. never mind the slight detour to drop 'em to their places.

Ash and me were riding back home, and i dont know why it just came to my mind and i thought about it for a minute before asking her. I said, in another 14 months time we will hopefully be on with our jobs and in any case wont be meeting daily as we do today, so then....would you miss me.
After a minute she said yeah i wud miss you. I knew she meant what she said.

Then i asked her another seemingly unrelated question. U've had an argument with a good friend of yours. Deep down you know and he/she is wrong. u arent on talking terms with her now coz of the fight. Someday, soon, then would you go up to her and patch up, without waiting for her to apologise, just coz u think that the staying away is not worth it.

she said yeah may be she would...

If you are reading this, i m sorry but u have to bear with me.

Then came another question....and it was "what if you were at the receiving end" as in you are friend who did something wrong, but u realised the mistake and apologised more than twice, but the (formerly) good friend of yours isnt willing to listen. She said 3 times is good enough and if 3 apologies are not good for that rootha hua friend, then he/she is not worth my friendship.


I wasnt trying to make a point here but helping myself out of this dilemma. the details of the dilemma shall be saved for another post. But the moral of the story is explicit here.

An addition of my own is : why should we ever have a fight in friends.and even if we do, y spend time 'not talking to each other'. I firmly believe that the most important thing on this earth is the companionship of my loved ones. Nothing, Nothing is as precious as the time spent with them. In an argument even if i firmly believe that my friend is on the wrong foot, i m being even worse if i get angry with him and dont talk to him/her for any duration of time.

So enjoy each others company while you can. U wudnt have been fighting, had u known that this was your last day on earth. Then why not live each day as it is the last one.

"Live each day as if it were your last - and some day you will be right"

VIKTORious

Check out this quiz. And this is what it says i am.....




VICTOR: You are victor!

1400-years-old, he is the supreme Vampire overlord
who has been sleepong to restore his power.
Selene trusts him as she trusts no one else and
daringly awkens him when no one else believes
her discovery of the Lycan plot to destroy the
Vampires. Viktor is tall, powerful, haught, and
ostentatious. And ruthless. He had his own
daughter, Sonja, executed when it was
discovered she was secretly involved with a
lycan leader. Many have elevated him to
celebrity status. Many others wish him dead.
But Viktor has his own secrets and a dark side
no other Vampire has ever known ... he may have
been the one who began the ancient battle
between Lycans and Vampires.






Which UNDERWORLD character are you?
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