ya whatever.......

*Yawn*.......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!

Cleveland Rocks!!!!Cleveland Rocks!!!!

went last night to Cleveland to party..decided to go pub hopping but reached kinda late so ended up going to only two places ......one was Thirsty Parrot an open air pub playing great rock music near the Cleveland Indians Stadium i.e. Jacob's Field....and the other one was Shooter's, an open air waterfront cafe cum pub....whcih has this open air dance floor overlooking Lak Erie.....this one was in the Flats area ( pub and party district) of Cleveland.....all in all good time partying late into the night......

sipping on Thums Up.....after such a long time....last night my roomie came from Chicago and I had told him to get me the 'desi' cola from there......feels soo good ....Coke, Pepsi gaya bhad me......Thums up is the best....

Aim of experiment:How long can I go for without coffee in the morning before the headache sets in.......

Materials and Equipment: Self......and one cup coffee to be consumed at end of experiment ......

Procedure: Dont drink coffee till slight pain is felt in the head.....

Result: One hour and 30 minutes before pain is felt......

Conclusion: Drink coffee within one hour of waking up.......30 minutes is safety factor.......

Appendix: I should get a life.......ugghhhh

Finding Nemo 10/10
Chalte Chalte 0/10....maybe negative marking if I could

I have realized I conciously download hip hop music and I actually check the hip hop charts and download the songs that catch my eye......I'm still faithful to classic and contemporary rock ....but at the same time this is just an indication that I have developed a taste for hip hop......the thing though about hip hop though is that the craze for any song is short lived.....I mean two weeks back I was listenting to these songs by 50 Cent and Sean Paul and R. Kelly.....this week the choice of songs is totally different.........

When I think about the rock stuff I listen to ...their influence seems to be longer lasting....I can never get tired of listening to Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin.....I think my new found love for Ozzy Osborne and Rush is here to stay,...I will always appreciate new forms of rock music that bands like Linkin Park or P.O.D. or Kid Rock or Limp Bizkit indulge in ....there is this store called The Exchange ....they sell used music Cd's for cheap....and they are in pretty good condition........but in the past 2 years I have never found myself looking for hip hop Cd's there.......

So though I may have dveloped a taste for hip hop.......my first love will always be rock........

Chalte Chalte is among the worst movies I have ever seen......I'd rather see the blank screen than that movie.......need I say more???

Ok......the devil wins....am off for the movie....well the deciding factor was that our cricket team i.e. Akron Cricket Club won a thriller against this team from Cleveland...and to celebrate they all have decided to go for the movie directly from the game......so work done for the evening......mite come back in the nite and get some done......I would have loved to play the game.......I was not playing today since I was not included in the team due to the rotation policy..but there is next time.....see the brighter side...i got some work done..........and what makes the win even sweeter was that we chased 171 in 35 overs...the match went down right to the last couple of balls......and we had previously lost to this team in a pre season warm up game........im sure apna captain Suneel will have a ball to ball description on his blog by tomorrow .....

am not too enthu about watching the movie...but im hoping that it will be fun to watch it with apna team ka tapori people.....

laters

Am in two minds as to whether I should go and watch 'Chalte Chalte' or then stay in school and continue working....

I sent some pics to an old school friend of mine ....and he remarks,,,,"arre hero, tu to mr jolly ban gaya".....

i could not stop laughing...thanks aakash....

Kolkatta.......

Whenever R, my brother would come to Pune from Calcutta, I was really excited. Well he is actually my cousin but since we grew up together during our college years I never ended up calling him my cousin and nor did I ever consider him to be a cousin( he is my bua's son)....he was always my brother, my elder brother...now when he was in Calcutta, he came down quite often to Pune......atleast once a year....and if plans were made then he would end up coming in his Pooja holidays......now I never went very frequently to Calcutta. The first time I ever went was when I was about 8 I think,.......now this was doubly special because it was my first visit to Calcutta and also the first time I traveled by plane....after that trip I made a couple of trips to Calcutta, however the best time I ever had was in the December of 1997.R and me had just started with our Engineering and in the winter of December , Panterr and me went to Calcutta to spend a couple of weeks there with R and his Dad (My fufa...AP......)..... AP had this whole trip planned for us....spend a few days in Calcutta and then spend a week traveling to Darjeeling, Siliguri and Jaldapara National Park ( a rhino sanctuary).......

The time we spent traveling was really awesome...we played cards every night...R and AP would always lose because many a times R had no clue as to what card to play.....worked well for us...took the weirdest of pictures.....the brandy AP had got in case we feel too cold.....well R, Panterr and me finished it in a day......we would go for long walks in the night in Darjeeling, smoke Gold Flake Kings.....made Panterr smoke with us too...fortunately he did not get hooked to it....but he always says...."main sirf hill station pe cigarette piyega...take me to one and I will smoke......" the trip to the rhino sanctuary was equally good...unfortunately we only saw some a couple of spotted deer and maybe it was Sambhar....off and an elephant.....the one on which we were sitting....I remember AP telling the mahout...." Hum tumko sau rupiya dega....humko bagh dikhao.....humko rhino dikhao...."....I'm sure the poor guy must have tried hard....

While in Calcutta (before and after the Darjeeling trip).....we partied a lot......I remember going to Saturday Club or SatC as R called it for some Christmas party.....going to Taj Bengal and then R insisting that we all have Irish Coffee and then the look on his face when he saw the bill....each Irish Coffee was Rs. 400 only.......those were the days....and R was so lazy to drive us around the day....we once asked him.." Teri voh girlfriend kidhar reheti hain?"....he said...." Belvedere Road.......arree lekin voh meri girlfriend nahi hain...main usko sirf ek bar mila hain"...and then Panterr and me would pester him to take us to Belvedere Road.....and he would say " arrreeee voh bahut doooor hain"....and when we finally once we did pass by Belvedere Road it turned out it was only 20 mins away from the house.....his excuse....."arree 20 mins in the night......din me jyada time lagta hain"....notice how must of his sentences begin with that long 'arreeee'..........

The Calcutta Metro....those typical houses with courtyards.....and lotsa trees.....darkness by 5.00 pm in winters......the yellow ambassador taxi's ....and their drivers who always drive in the highest gear to save on petrol.............then going to the Lake to have jhal muri and puckha....Bijoli Grill.......the mishti doi.....the chamcham's...the singoda's....the sandesh...the swear words I learnt in Bengali from R and his friends......

I could keep going on and on...........there is so much more I could write.....but I think I need to stop here and keep some of the memories only to myself......

Update.........

after Monday's incident.......I have utilized 2 outta 3 days very well....this kid is improving day by day......I'm impressed....Puneri tu stud hain re....tu bahut sahi baccha hain....tere pe main fida hain........

I wonder why some people say I am obsessed with myself......or then maybe not......

techie stuff coming up so read at your own risk.......

was supposed to be posted yesterday...but then i forgot
My research involves studying the material I make under a microscope...and mind you not the ordinary one...its what they call an Atomic Force Microscope.....point is I can reach very high magnifications........for this I need to prepare my samples and its not really easy getting that done.....I use a special kind of knife mounted on a mahine called a microtome that precision cuts the surface and gives me a really flat surface to study......and this needs to be done at really low temperatures of -80 C.......and to prepare one sample I need anything between half and hour to an hour and a half

OK so getting to the point....I had prepared about 10 such samples to study in the course of my research...and when the time came to study the samples I just could not find them.....so finally I decided that today would be the last day that I look for them and if I dont find them then I would go through the painful process of preparing them all over again...normally I would have been okay with something like this but then I have to get all my work done as soon as possible becuase I am defending my thesis next month and am graduating at the end of august...so basically have to get all my work done at super fast speeed.....well I could ramble on and on about how much i looked for the samples and did not find them....and just when I had resigned to the fact that I wont find them ,....(correction) or then maybe I chose not to look for them anymore....(I have to say this else some of my readers will start having arguments with me again about whther everything is an act of destiny or its all upto the choces we make)...... was all ready to go and prepare them again.....and thats when I though of looking in the microscopy lab where I work....and there neatly tucked under a table lay 10 flat plastic boxes each containing a sample all ready to be observed under the microscope...I guess I must have forgotten them there the last time I was up there in the lab trying my hand at using the microscope....all in all I think I saved myself about 3 days of work...and hopefull I can utilize it elsewhere....

My favorite question nowadays to my brother R and my best bud Panterr who are gonna get married soon(not to each other).....

" So guys ....what does the whip sound like?"

Ek Misal Don Pav,
Pune amcha chansa gav.......

I think the best compliment one can recieve is when someone tells u the three words...." I miss you"........

Am going to watch my first ever baseball game today....Cleveland Indians ( apna home team ) play the Los Angeles Dodgers.....Cleveland is 40 miles north of Akron so by default it become apna home team.......plus i think the seats should be good ones since they are season tickets that my uncle got from someone....anyways shall write about the game over the weekend....tab tak ke liye itna hi kafi hain.....have a good weekend guys.....

Mastani.......

To most people who are familiar with Maratha History , Mastani was the danseuse and concubine of Bajirao Peshwa I......on whom he must have spent a lot of his wealth ...to keep her happy and to show his love for her....he is supposed to have built a separate palace for her somewhere near Kothrud in Pune........

Most Punekar's including myself have been introduced to 'Mastani' sometime in our life, albeit of a different kind. A 'Mastani' on whom men and women ,young and old alike would be ready to spend the same amount of money......a 'Mastani' we all love deeply.....the pleasure one derives when one feels the touch of 'Mastani' to the lips just cannot be described....ok ok...before your imagination starts running wild...I’ll break the suspense.....the 'Mastani' I am talking about here is a milkshake with lots of ice cream and usually having the flavor of some fruit...the most popular flavor being mango....and believe me when I say this...its not possible to get a good 'Mastani' anywhere and everywhere.....the first time I had a 'Mastani' was in 1996 and since then I have tried having one at many places...but first impressions are lasting ones........the only place to get one would be Sujata Mastani House.......If you think I am prejudiced, then so would be scores of Punekar’s........to taste is to believe ....that’s my philosophy.....

If you know your way about the old parts of Pune then on a Saturday Night drive past Bhave Boys High School and then past Peru Gate Police Chowky and a little further down the street and you wont miss it to your right.......the crowd outside the place will be an indication that you have come to the right place......and do have an extra mango flavored one on my behalf....maybe two....gluttony...there I just committed one of the seven sins.....

Akron anyone???

Lets say you decided to come to Akron for a weekend and stay at my place...Friday evening to Sunday afternoon........well this is what it would be like.....

You arrive late Friday night.....well late night cause by the time you leave your place its late Friday evening since it took you a while to get all your work done......you reach Akron by 1.00 am..........since you will be all hungry after a long journey we need to grab some food......either you can have the dal chawal and sabzi that one of my room mates or yours truly made....or then we can go and grab something either at Eat 'n Park ( where I end up going quite often with my friends) or then Country Kitchen (where the weirdest people end up on weekend nights. )....Finally since we have not met for so long and we need to catch up on lotsa things we decide that Eat 'n Park is a better option......I assume here that you drove down here because I have car that does not work....kind of just parked permanently outside my house......so we drive down in your car...........I have an omlette and hot chocolate or coffee.....you well...take your pick......over a nice meal we catch up on a lots of things.....and we are already into the wee hours of morning when we hit the sack....

Saturday is my favorite day of the week for whatever reasons......get up aram se and some chai/coffee or whatever ......since its Saturday I think I will make myself some chai.........all this on the couch on my porch.........basically just laze around a bit and chill....ohhh and here I assume that you have come in the month of May when its not too hot.....the weathers just about right....nice and cool......but sunny too......lunch can be something quick like subway or then we could go to this place called Luigi's that serves really good Italian food....take your pick....from this moment on the day is packed right through the early hours of morning....after lunch we could go and visit Cuyahoga Valley National Park or the we could go to Portage Lakes Park or then there is this chota sa place called Gorge Valley Metro Park...or then if you are not really the Park type of person then we could go to the mall or then catch a movie......well plan for the evening is that there's going to be one those famous Torrey Bar-b-q parties in your honor.............for those who don’t know what Torrey is ..well that’s the street I live on...and parties at 277 Torrey Street are always legendary......lotsa beer.......grilled tandoori chicken and vegetables.....and maybe some veg pulao...awesome music.......food dance and drink.......party till the cops come tell us to reduce the volume...that’s when we leave the porch and move into the house and continue the party..........and basically have no idea when you fall asleep.......

Sunday ...get up around noon and try and remember what happened last night........time for lunch......desi food?????...well Bombay Sitar in Canton is a nice place....we could go there.......after a nice lunch we get back home and you decide its time you hit the road cause you don’t want to be driving late into the night.....do you have to leave ......ahh I guess you have to since tomorrow is Monday ...ughhh you say when I mention Monday!!!!!!

"You could stay longer if you want..." I say with a smirk and I have this look in my eye you can't understand..... And it all becomes clear when you hear me say the words......"you can check out any time you want, but you can never leave...."

I call her Ma( mostly this), Maaaaa, Mummy, Mom, Mum,Mumma, Jyo, Jyotsna, Old Lady..........

what about you????

We played our second game in the Midwest Cricket Tournament against Everest Cricket club...two time finalists and champions in 2001.....and the favorite in our Group ..........to read more about it do visit our captain, Suneel's Blog........there is also a mention about my contribution in the game....yippee........

I think I shall reproduce it here too...the part where he writes about me....
In the words of the captain himself........."we had done a decent job of containing them with good bowling for most of the match but the key for containing them was the fielding....the stars of the day in fielding were Hemant, Guru, Brijesh and Avinash. Hemant was almost entirely in the square leg and fine leg positions for the match and was brilliant with his diving stops and was showing off his newly found arm by throwing accurate throws from the fine leg boundary."

Was reading a post online somewhere.........this blogger writes about about how she enjoyed reading 'The Bridges of Madison County'. I read this book sometime when I was in junior college......recommended by all the girls in our group....they would not stop raving about how well written this book is....and how wonderfully the author describes the romance between Francesca Johnson and Robert Kincaid......at the same time these are women who will threaten to walk out if they find out that their guy strayed........but what Francesca does is fine.......please explain!!!!!!!!!!!

We see this happening all the time....men stray in relationships and women stray.......supposedly men stray to satisfy their physical needs....and women stray because they are not emotionally satisfied in relationships......so how does that make it any different..... a friend and I were discussing this and he told me that when women stray its considered 'mature'...does straying for emotional rather than physical desires make cheating any less wrong??.. ..In my opinion it’s the same thing...or is it like when men stray its murder and when women stray its killing in self defense.....

I agree that 'The Bridges of Madison County'. is very well written but in my opinion it's nothing but a love story that could be classified as one of the very well written Mills and Boons type romantic stories ......somewhere in the book Robert Kincaid says " Analysis destroys wholes"....I had to analyze this and I am sorry if I destroyed things for anyone out there but this concept on which the book is based just does not appeal to me........

On Wednesday I finished writing my third paper on my research.......and my advisor Dr. G thinks I did a neat job....I'm impressed he says.....now all I want is one for these three papers (which are categorized as conference proceedings) to become a journal publication (hopefully in Rubber Chemisty and Technology)

I think in one of my earlier posts I wrote about how the things we want most in life take longest to accomplish....well the task at hand was this paper..I dont think I am too demanding about what I want in life......

all in all a job well done......now back to some work

Have a cricket game this Sunday in Columbus.......if this one gets rained out.......I think someone is gonna be very pissed...

Come exam time and I know so many people including myself who get all superstitious.....I mean if you study well then exams should not be a problem right....but then who wants to take chances.....if a combination of appearance, food or whatever works.....you stick to it....soon will be living my last month as a student....and over the years some things I have experienced come to my mind

- When I was doing my engineering in India I always wore the same set of clothes for every exam.....though it had to prove luck for the exam I gave....in my final year I remember I used to wear these faded blue jeans and a black t-shirt.......

- once I was given the freedom to drive around in the old car that we had I once drove down to my college in the car and on the way picked up a few friends in a certain order and the exam went well......from that day every exam I would wear the same jeans and t-shirt and drive down in the same old car and pick up my friends in the same order......well they agreed cause they too were believers....

-this friend of mine.... he would not shave once our preparatory leave started......sometime halfway through the preparatory leave we would have our our practical exams and viva's.....he would shave then....after that grow that beard again and finally the day the last exam got over.....the first thing he did was go to the barber shop and get a shave and a haircut...he also wore these jeans that were ridiculously tight...thanks to all the weight he had gained over the years...but he insisted on wearing them for every exam he gave.....and the meal he had before every exam was the same.....'dal chawal '

-after every exam, my brother R and me would go down to this park near our house...there used to be this 'dosawala;...it was a ritual of sorts of gulp down a 'masala dosa' after every exam......once home he would immediately go off to sleep while I watched TV endlessly for 3-4 hours to help purge all the material our from my system that I had studied.....though I don’t think I was superstitious about watching TV

-R wore this sweater for every exam...it had these three or four very noticeable holes on the front side....but he insisted on wearing it for every exam.....

-once I got to Akron I though this would be the end of it......cause I wore my lucky t-shirt and jeans for my first exam here and it was miserable....I did real bad....so gave up on the whole superstition thing......just when I thought I was heading towards some sanity in my life I found other people here who did the same.....I remember once I walked to school with these two friends for an exam and we all did rally badly....since then one of them who happens to work with me in my lab refuses to walk with me to school on the day of the exam...his explanation being its not lucky......


So did anyone of you guys have or still do have such superstitious beliefs

I made this up myself and it gives u an idea about my corny sens of humor...marathi speaking people will hopefully figure this out....whether it will be appreciated or not....am not sure.....u have to get down to my level for that...:)

A man is selling 'alepaak' ( a sweet made out of jaggery and ginger)near the Wagah Border.....and he goes around the bunkers shouting loudly" 'aleeeeeppaaaaak'....'alleeeeeeeeepaaaak'....."
On hearing this all the soldiers of the Maratha Rifles regiment pick up their guns and point them towards the Pakistani border.......


I am not responsible for any brain damage caused to people who read this.....

What you want most in life takes the longest time to accomplish....well though zillions of wise people must have said this before.....this just dawned upon me in the wee hours of morning.......

And miles to go before I sleep.......and miles to go before I sleep ( no jokes...)

*sniff*......cricket match cancelled because all the rain ....today its nice and sunny outside.....perfect conditions for playing save for the pools (not puddles) of water on the field.....

well we shall live to play another day