Bungee jumping.....done

Para-sailing.....done

Para – gliding.....done

Tatoo......done

Ear-piercing.....done

Snorkelling.....done

Under sea walk.....done

Biking on a Harley Davidson.....done

I think the agenda for this summer is white water rafting and sky diving.....

My craziest years were surely the last few years I spent in Loyola High School, Pune. Those years left a lasting impression on me. I have gone through 3 different educational institutions after that but my closest langotiya pals are still the ones from Loyola...all morning I have been thinking about those awesome days and suddenly I remembered our mantra/chant that we would shout at the top of our voices when we went to see interschool games....and I was not surprised by the fact that even after nearly ten years it did not take much brain racking to remember it.....if you read it carefully you will see the actual meaning in it...

Our souls, our souls , Our souls they went to fight
To fight for the count, to fight for the count to fight for the country
With pis, with pis with pistols in their hand
For King, For King, For King and Queen
For coff, for coff, for coffee and tea
For cu, For cu, for curiosity

(repeat all over again)

more about Loyola experiences in the days to come.....

Latest addiction along with gummi bears.....hmmm ...jelly beans....

The gummi bear addiction will always pe there.......though dunno how long jelly beans will be in fashion with the Thakkarmeister

There is this technology that's been around for a while. .....academia sees a lot of potential in it......the success though is measured by only the potential real-world applications that one can develop.....and I dont see many applications that have materialized yet.....to get this to be accepted into the market and see it become a greater success than what it is right now...thats what i hope to achieve some day....its gonna be the biggest test of my convincing powers....

I have always thought of myself as someone who is very good at convincing people about what I believe in....in the real world that helps too , but one of the added advantages is that i can pull of all kinds of statements with an absolute straight face.....so if you dont know why the sun moves from east to west...dont come and ask me with an innocent face....I might just say its due to solar winds....and if you dont take a second opinion then you will probably end up with that idea for the rest of your life...

The power to convince people in the real world is all about mind games and perseverance......and more often than not the stronger mind always wins....by this I mean that the weaker mind is convinced.....and then are those rare occasions when you may have the stronger mind but its the frustration that gets to you...and at the end of it you just give up.....knowing very well in your mind that what your are saying makes a whole lotta sense but the other person is just not gonna accept it.....so finally the other person cannot be convinced but at the same time this situation is not that bad....because you still have with you...what you believe in...which is very important......and its all about packing your bag....going back home.....rest a bit and come back to "Fight Another Day"

After thought..if you are out there to convince people...and if they dont change...then the arguments need to change:)

Quite a few times during the year mom usually reminds me… “ Today is xyz’s death anniversary. Whenever you get a chance during the day, pray, so that their soul may rest in peace.”

This is something that happens quite often. The death anniversary is something that stands out most vividly and we keep reminding ourselves about it, or if we forget someone will do it for us. On the other hand, do I remember my nani or my dadi or my dada on their birthday, which would be more apt to remember them by, or some other day, which had been truly memorable with them? I know my nani and dadi were both born in Feb, and my dada was born in June, but seriously however much I try and remember I just can’t recall the exact date.

Yeah, I do feel sad that they are not here with me today, but that’s life. Death is a part of the natural course of events in the so-called circle of life. But rather than give importance to the good times you have with people, and think about the awesome ride you had with them, we chose to remember them more openly on the day they ceased to exist. We feel pangs of guilt for having forgotten someone’s death anniversary and mourn about the loss. Would it not be better to remember them among other times on their birthday and celebrating their lives?

The complexities of the human mind and psyche….the less said the better

I think it was the December of 1987 or 1988. I was all excited about going to Calcutta to see R…actually I was more excited because it was the first time on a plane…..I had all the ideas that I would take the window seat and enjoy the cool breeze from the plane…and wave out to the other planes passing by….and touch the clouds and maybe get some pieces of clouds in a plastic bag…..talk about not being informed…I think my parents did not teach me the right things…..well the flight to Calcutta cleared all the misconceptions I had….what a big disappointment that was….

The time I had in Calcutta though was awesome….no parental control…Rajiv and me free to do whatever…..all the kachra food…the shopping….Thums-Up and Bijoli Grill (it’s a cream soda) any time of the day and kitna mangta utna piyo…..I think it was more to do with the fact that if R and me had food, movies and Thums-Up we would keep out of trouble….R was like this cool elder brother…who knew it all (Panterr will vouch for that…FSCL yaad hain na??)….popular with his friends and the way he spoke I always felt that I had so much to learn from him….the fake stories he told me about his robot called Rambo….Ohhh my God!!!! I thought that was the coolest thing…..

New Years Eve….our parents put us to bed early and left to celebrate the New Year with my youngest bua in Bhowanipore….sometime later I get up and don’t find my parents (read mom) around and realize that we were duped into sleeping early so that they could go and enjoy….so the fact that they duped us and my mom’s absence..well I took that real bad….and I start howling at the top of my voice…..R gets up and comes to me….and tries to pacify me….nothing works….then his neighbour..I think his name was Shivshanker…comes over to try and stop me from crying…..I know R was acting like this big brother …saying things like… “Puneri main hain na..tera bhai…tu dar mat….” which over the years evolved into his trademark statement “Chinta Nako….main hain na!!!”….but nothing helped……the howling kept on increasing….until I heard the magic words…. “ Tu roo mat Puneri…..tu Pune jayega na to mera sab Tintin comics le jana”….now the moment I heard this I continued crying though the volume had gone down….realizing this was working, he continued “ Tu mera sab video games bhi leke jana”……hmmm…that’s good I said…maybe I should just sob a little more…so I continued sobbing with breaks..mind you ..now the tears had stopped….so he says… “ Tu mera denim jacket bhi le lena”….and that was enough to make me stop crying…content that I had made a good deal….I started smiling and stayed awake for a while with R watching some movies…I guess it must have been Thundercats…ohhh we were big fans of the Thundercats and the Eye of Thundera….

A few days later it was time to start packing for Pune and while mom was packing all the stuff I very casually go and get all of R Tintin comics, the video games and the jacket…and beforeI knew it he had snatched everything away from me and said….. “Voh to tu roo raha tha isliye maine aisa hi bola ki tu yeh sab le ja”….I was shocked…he did not even let me get close to the bag, which would have enabled me to sneak a comic or two and probably a video game….I was devastated…..this was my second big disappointment of the trip, after the plane incident……I wanted to punch him in the face just like I wanted to punch the guys who forgot to put windows with latches on planes so that they that could be opened and I could wave my hands outta the window……

If only I would have punched R and managed to get some of that stuff, I would not have had such a deprived childhood….

Need to get this out of my system..hence the ranting away!!!!

Attention is something that everyone likes…at least to a certain extent……it’s a boost to the ego, in some cases a fragile one and in some cases an inflated one….all the same it can be very flattering and it makes you feel like the you are the center of a warm little world where u are royalty…..

Type 1:There are some who get the attention no matter what they do…they sit quiet and they have people come to them enquiring if all is ok…..they talk and everyone listens to them with wonder in their eyes as if they were listening to some great orator….they can just be themselves and still get the attention, which, mind you, they don’t necessarily seek….

Type 2: And then there are the ones….in most cases individuals with ego’s on the fragile side….who need a continuous boost…or then they are driven by jealousy when the encounter the type 1 people I mentioned earlier….often times the question in their mind is akin to the one I heard in a detergent ad… “ Bhala uski Kameez mere Kameez se safed kaisi?”…or then the one from the VIP Frenchie ad…. “What’s he got that I ain’t got?”
And so they go about seeking attention in the weirdest of ways….loud laughter….being over friendly…trying to be extra demanding of your time…high expectations levels…and in some cases they even try and ape the Type 1 people they are jealous of….

So what exactly do I want to convey …I seriously have no clue…but its just that Type 2 people rank high on my list of pet peeves…..one very irritating thing…I am watching TV very quietly..because that’s how I always watch TV…and they come and sit next to u…and then after a while they cant stand the silence and the fact that you are paying more attention to the TV and not them….they say something like..” Arre Puneri ..itna chup kyon hain”…and I say” Nahi main TV aisa hi chup hoke dekhta hain”….and they go..” Arre!! Nahi nahi!! Zaroor kuch baat hain!!!” and in the process I miss on some joke or important dialog…..Urghhhh!!!!!!!…or then they repeat dialogs……..

Ohh and another thing……I give people my time and attention not because of their popularity index….its because of a very genuine connection at a very personal level…..so Type 2’s of the world….you are not going to get my attention by any of the above mentioned tactics….

What a useless rant!!!!…but feels much better after getting it out of the system

Adi

Adi leaves for India this weekend....making the move finally.....for those who dont know who Adi is....check this .......its been an awesome ride mate.....we all gonna miss the numerous cups of chai everyday....the "Am I supposed to laugh" look....watching Seinfeld will not be the same.....come to think of it.. this "Hello...Anybody Home???".....prank would have been possible only with Adi....

Goodluck and Godspeed mate......May the force be with you.......*sniff*

Memorable quotes from Fight Club….which according to me is among the best movies ever made…..

Some of the best ones by Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt)

-Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.

- You’re not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your f@#*ing khakis. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.

-Listen up, maggots. You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else.

-It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything.

-The things you own end up owning you

-The first rule of Fight Club is - you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is - you DO NOT talk about Fight Club. Third rule of Fight Club, someone yells "Stop!", goes limp, taps out, the fight is over. Fourth rule, only two guys to a fight. Fifth rule, one fight at a time, fellas. Sixth rule, no shirt, no shoes. Seventh rule, fights will go on as long as they have to. And the eighth and final rule, if this is your first night at Fight Club, you have to fight

- F@#* what you know. You need to forget about what you know, that's your problem. Forget about what you think you know about life, about friendship, and especially about you and me

And these by the Narrator (Edward Norton)

-When you have insomnia, you're never really asleep... and you're never really awake.

- You wake up at Seatac, SFO, LAX. You wake up at O'Hare, Dallas-Fort Worth, BWI. Pacific, mountain, central. Lose an hour, gain an hour. This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time. You wake up at Air Harbor International. If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person?

-On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.

-And then, something happened. I let go. Lost in oblivion. Dark and silent and complete. I found freedom. Losing all hope was freedom.
-Is Tyler my bad dream? Or am I Tyler's?

-When deep space exploration ramps up, it'll be the corporations that name everything, the IBM Stellar Sphere, the Microsoft Galaxy, Planet Starbucks.

And this classic scene between Tyler and the Narrator

[While burning the Narrator's hand with lye]

Tyler Durden: Shut up! Our fathers were our models for God. If our fathers bailed, what does that tell you about God?
Narrator: No, no, I... don't...
Tyler Durden: Listen to me! You have to consider the possibility that God does not like you. He never wanted you. In all probability, he hates you. This is not the worst thing that can happen.
Narrator: It isn't?

Bike Crazy...

Living in Pune for 23 years , riding a two wheeler came very naturally to me....and since its something most people cannot avoid using apna family took a special interest in this....I think during his college days,Dad had a Rajdoot (ekdam status symbol).......Chacha had an Ind-Suzuki....which in the eighties launched the 100CC bike revolution in India....towards the end of my enginnering days we used to have a Kawasaki Eliminator 175 CC that's now called the Bajaj Eliminator......we had been waiting for that bike to be launched and thats one of the reasons I used a 1983 Bajaj Super scooter for 3 1/2 years of enginnering.......it was like bike hoga to Kawasaki Eliminator......Chacha, R and me have been quite crazy about bikes.......the first trip Chacha made to Europe he rented a motrocycle and wanted to go around Switzerland.....but it rained and temperatures went really low that weekend and he called me up and there was soo much disappointment in his voice ' cause he could not make the road trip....but he wanted it real bad and he was back in Europe in 6 months time and this time the weather did not let him down....and he had the time of his life spending four days biking in Switzerland on a Honda CBR 600.....

Then he made a trip here to the US in 2002...and the thing that was foremost on his mind was that he wanted to rent a Harley and experience the cruising.....luckily for me when he was in Clemson, South Carolina he did not find a dealer who would rent it to him....so 3 days later when he was in Akron we went down to this place about 80 miles west of Akron and rented a Harley Davidson Springer Softail....1600 cc ....sala its more powerful than any of the cars we had in India.....one helluva experience.....

Then last summer R and Chacha spent 4 days biking in Europe...and this time they had two bikes...the latest Honda 599/Hornet and the latest Honda CBR 600 F series with the central exhaust..though the one in the picture has the rear exhaust.....just looking at their pictures from that trip makes me green with envy......

Then two weeks back R got himself a motorcycle.......a Honda 599.....its called the Hornet in Europe...here in US they call it the 599......the day he called Chacha to tell him the news....all Chacha could say was.." Mujhe baithne de do minute...news digest karne"...he then called R an hour later and said " Aaj main kaam pe se chutti lera and Eliminator leke Sinhagad jara"......he could not get any friends to go so he went alone.....So finally I too have decided to take the plunge this summer and get myself a bike....though the Ohio weather will permit me to ride for 4-6 month...I dont think i can let this oppurtunity pass by....though unlike my partners in crime...I prefer the cruiser class of bikes....so come summer 2004 I think I might just have this or then this parked outside my house....can't wait......

Phani Dawg joins the bandwagon too?????.......

Looking forward to some more "Hello people...whatsup people!!!!" , from you.....