Happy New Year

Moi is back from the Christmas vacation...
Will write a long post(s) about the travel soon...and upload pics too
(about 300 have turned out to be good)

In the mean while lemme wish u all a Happy New Year.
See you next year!!

Rang De Basanti

There is something about this song which charges me up... Daler does a fantastic job...I loved him in Rubaro from Maqbool ... Chitra is like a light soothing breeze in the furore created by Daler paaji... the continuous beating of the drums and the ek-tara do you more good than instant coffee....

Highly foot tapping...rustic lyrics that ooze with "desh ki mitti ki khushboo"....no bhangra-shangra/UK-born-n-bred-desi-boys kinda music...its truly a song to be loved by one n all.. north n south… listen to it with earphones and preferably loud volume.. U’ll love it.

If u haven’t heard it till now, then go get it.

*********************************************************
Thx Anshul for tagging me.. I will surely post all that tagging-wala-stuff once I am back from my Xmas vacation...

This week and the one before have been particularly taxing as this is peak business time for client and we have been on our toes with all the crictical issues and excessive workload.

With the festivities at its highest, the chill in the air, the warmth in the hearts and just the right mood, here's wishing u all a Good Health, Prosperity, Peace of Mind n Happy Times ahead. Cheers!!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
God bless us all.

SHOLAY

Friday evening it was pizza coke and Sholay... Sholay?? Why Sholay?

Because it is one of the movies I am never tired of watching (included in the list are Jaane bhi do yaaron, Chashmebadoor, Amar Akbar Anthony, Chalte Chalte, Golmaal, Masoom, Baat Ban Jaye, Rang Birangi, Baaton Baaton mein, Andaz Apna Apna )....and what better way of doing it than on big screen....Now you don’t get to see many English movies in Aalborg, forget about Bollywood movies... so we got a projector and constructed this whole setup…and it was really worth the effort

You know that Sholay did not open to a very good response way back when it was released and caught on later ...But for me the movie is a super duper uber hit...

And my fav guy in the movie ..."Gabbar Singh"... unarguably the most famous character of Indian cinema... Even Raju Shrivastav and Sunil Pal have recited his dialogues at the GILC...

"Kitne aadmi they?"
"Katili Nachaniya"
"Jo dar gaya, samjho mar gaya"
"Yeh haath mujhey de de Thakur"
"Bahut yaarana lagta hain"
"Itna sannata kyu hain bhai?"

And many such more dialogues which have crept into our daily parlance... which have become part of everyday milieu...I dont think any other movie has had that kind of penetration

Apart from the fabulous dialogues, the plot of the movie is racy, fast paced, action packed and one in which you can't escape for a leak and come back thinking that u havent missed anything significant.... one stays glued to the seat from starting to the end...

The music is excellent, both background and songs and RD Burman's 'Mehbooba o mehbooba' is simply AWESOME... each of the songs gel so properly with the movie.. its not forced upon you
The music during the numbering... harmonica and violin... gives u a feeling of a great western classic.

Another Thing about Sholay is the Sholay Trivia Quiz... which me n frnds used to indulge in a lot...Questions like :

Q Gabbar Singh ke baap ka naam kya tha?
A Hari Singh

Q Who was the other Hari in the movie?
A Hari Ram Nai

Q Jai aur Veeru ki Bike ka number kya tha?
A MYB 3047

Q Gabbar Singh ko jab pehli baar sazaa hoti hain to kaunsi 'dafa'(section) lagate hain?
A tazrat-e-hind dafa 400 ke tahat 20 saal kaid-e-baamushakkat

Q Post man ka naam kya tha?
A Gulzarilal

Q Asrani ki Jail mein AB n Dharmendra ki uniform ka number kya tha?
A AB - 15 n Dharamendra - 20

Q Imam Sahab (A K Hangal) ke bete ka naam kya tha?
A Ahmed miyan

(and this one is my fav...none of the people I ask this, have been able to answer it)
Q Imam Sahab ke bhai ka naam kya tha?
A Mukaitullah

Once I was at Mondy's (Cafe Mondegaar) and we were playing the sholay trivia quiz... soon the guys from the next table joined us...Its that kinda movie... you cant help but love it ... so if you think that Sholay is the greatest movie ever built... if you think that RD was the best .. and if you think that AB, Dharampaaji n Sanjeev Kumar and Gabbar Singh rock.. then join the sholay fan club.

Thank you Ramesh Sippy, RD, Salim Javed, AB, Dharampaaji, Amjadbhai and everyone else...



********************************************************
Today happens to be the Bday of two pals
Happy Bday Diana and Deepak!!

Dumb Charades

OK….This is a long one… so better be patient.

This is one thing I can say for sure, I am good at ...rather was... but I am not all that rusted either...

It all started in college when the thought to participate in a certain Dept fest coupled with the desire to know the gals from Eco Hons made us look up the posters and decide to participate in some event...
Quiz - "Naah... we'll never get past the prelims"
Debate - "What do u I know about economics anyway?"
AD-MAD - "What's that supposed to mean?" (We did actually try out that)
.
.
Dumb Charades - Hmmmmm this sounds good... maybe we could try this one

So this is how the journey began.... lets not talk about how we fared in this particular event at that particular fest, coz its not worth mentioning, but yeah the Ad-Mad event got me a cool Rs 500/- ...

Conclusion: The Eco people are not at all economically challenged and more importantly picking up the game seemed a good option to supplement our pocket money(500 bucks in 1999 meant a hell lot more. I got all by books for the first year in less than 200)

The first DumbC that we won was at Miranda House Chem Soc fest in 2000. Yes I still remember the name "Rasayanika". It so happenned that P n me were out in North campus for some work n we saw their poster and decided to go for it... but the problem was that we were just 2.. a team of 3 was required and the organisers were pretty admant about it.. As neither P nor I knew anyone in Miranda we asked the organisers to get us a teammate...All set n done we finally managed to win our first DumbC... Three trophies with Miranda House written in bold at the bottom... I still have mine at my home, so does P ... Dunno about the random chick who was our teammate

We started taking it as a serious sport henceforth and decided to excel in it...
Top 1000 Movies of all times list was downloaded, Photocopies of the complete list of Classic books from British Council Library (thx to my membership which I won in another Radio contest)

Next came in a lot of other wins in Stephens, Hindu, Venky, Miranda(again!!), KMC, Gargi and a few more, both in dept and the main fests... Somehow we always had more luck in the girls colleges..The biggest competition used to come from proff colleges... The first crush came in the form of Rendezvous2000. After a series of wins I guess we got a bit bloated up and IIT happened just at the right time to jolt back us to our senses... we didnt even clear the prelims...partly because of my ignorance on who Riya Sen was (Mind u it was much before Style, Qayamat or that MMS clip happenend) hence could not enact something from which my temmates could guess....silenced we watched the whole game... congratulated the winners , which was a team from IIT, and came back.

P n I decided that practice was the only key and started doing it everywhere.. in between clas breaks, sometimes during the class as well.. in canteen, in the playfield, in the bus. Now in the bus people used to look at us with amused and sometimes pitiful look...now P n I used to travel on the same route and the busses predominantly consisted of people from ISBT getting back to their homes... simple folks whose expression often said "What a pity!! if only he could speak, he would not have to make all those faces to communicate to his friend" and the expression would soon change into "#$#@$%%$$%^%$^$^@$^" when I used to start talking to P...

A few more victories here n there and next year we were back at Rendezvous2001 to avenge our defeat...The team which one last year was again there n so were we and a few other teams ... the contest went close till the very end. With only one more sentence left to crack in the bidding round it was do or die for our team, suitable called "The Craters" in all the competitions, which was behind the defending champs... After much haggling I took the challenge to crack in 47 seconds the foll sentence "It's not that I am afraid to die, I just don't want to be there when it happens." and the team from IIT was virtually celebrating their victory... With hands and feet going numb I took a 1 min break and thought out all the words carefully and the way in which I would do each one of them... Fortune favors the brave and we did win DumbC@Revdezvous2001 finally a target we had set for ourselves a year back had been achieved... Rendezvous2003 was also our year, and apart from that we won at AIIMS, MAMC, DCE n NSIT... BTW by this time we were pretty much acknowledged in the DumbC circle in Delhi and in NSIT we were offered a a wild card entry straight into the finals, as we hadn't reached the venue on time for the prelims... The team from IIT was like a failiar sight and there always would be the customary hi/hellos and then we would take positions in opposite corners...

The biggest challenge came in the form of Oasis2002@BITS Pilani where I was without my regular teammate P. By this time P n I had deveoped such a good understanding that it was like telepathy... nouns, pronouns, adverbs, adjectives, verbs, profanities, colors, animals, famnous personlities, shortcuts (which we used to call 'Hathoda'), the cheat codes (we had signs for all the alphabets which was almost impossible to catch ), rolling, phonetics... all was well etched in our memories and the synch was awesome...We always had a changing third team member ...so with one ex team member A and another random guy K we entered our team name for the DumbC events... Yet again "The Craters"...only that this time it looked more like our destination when the event got over...one full night i was explaing A n K the nuances of DumbC...finally we did manage to win the DumbC...The hindi one.. much to my surprise coz I thought we had no chance .. Firstly coz A didnt know the K Kha Ga of hindi cinema and secondly coz K was probably playing for the first time ever...We lost the english Dumb Charades in the finals... nevertheless the trophy from Pilani is def my fav one...(BTW A made it till the last 3 in the Mr Oasis and what happened on stage is a hilarious incident)

Apart from all the certificates and some petty cash, the finest things this game has taught me are:-

Theres always a first time"
If u try hard you will succeed" and most importantly
It feels GREAT to win"

If u think that I was bragging n blowing my own trumpet all the way then I would have to partly agree with you... After completing when I read it, it sounded the same way to me...Bad!

X'mas Dinner

Well last week was at this Xmas dinner with people from office... Client as well as us... about 30 people.

We reached the venue just on time...about 6 pm and the party lasted till about 11:30...

Great food Good drinks and some great company...

I was flanked by Peter and Trine (pronounced Trina - it was actually one of those arrangements where u make sure all the sit in a way that on either side of a desi will be a client), opposite to me was Marcel and next to him were Sachin my roommate, and Regi. Now Trine is a live-wire and the most helpful and bubbly person in the office from client side...

The small talks(involving 2 people) lead to larger talks (3-4 person) and Trine was helping me with the menu... actually all the desis had to be helped coz the menu was in Danish which no one of us understands except the relationhip manager, who wasnt there that evening... the food was ordered n the drinks started flowing... I ordered (what I now recall as) "Klosterbyrg"... thats some kind of inhouse beer these guys had and were famous for (I have been told)...

Now started the bigger kinds of discussions (involving 4 or more person) and some of the topics were :-

How the wives of the desis could start an Indian restaurant in Aalborg(In
hindsight I think it is a great idea)

The great Indian Matrimony (thx to Deepak's almost-fixed arranged marriage thats
slated to happen sometime in the summer of 06)

How Sachin Deepak n me are the only bachelors in the group of 18 people...

How Trine is still single and Why Trine and yours truly should hook up (this one
invoked a out-of-the-book gag reflex by me.. thankfully the beer didnt
spill...Why??? Now Trine is the sweetest, bubbliest and youngest person from
client side but she still is about 9 years older than me and I m not in my
teens)

Some great live music was playing in the background plus the food and drinks & the general festive mood did the trick. I sure had a good time..

At the end of it all Trine knew how to say "Namaste" and she had just discovered that she had been eating "Daliya" all this while for breakfast. Kirsten (the business lead) was waving and saying "Phir Milenegy" to all and I had run out of my ciggarettes, thx to Dutta and Venky.

A picture is worth a thousand words

Danish Countryside

The entire album can be viewed here.

6 Desambar

Doosra Banvaas

Ram banvaas se laut ke jab ghar mein aaye
Yaad jungle bahut aaya jo nagar mein aaye

Raks-e-deewangi aangan mein jo dekha hoga
6 Desambar ko Shri Raam ne socha hoga
Itne deewane kahan se mere ghar mein aaye

Jugmagaate the jahan Raam ke kadmo ke nishan
Pyar ki kahkashaan leti thi angdaayi jahan
Mod nafrat ke usi rahguzar mein aaye

Dharam kya unka hain, kya jaat hain yeh jaanta kaun
Ghar na jalta to unhe raat mein pehchanta kaun
Ghar jalane ko mera, log jo mere ghar mein aaye

Shakahari hain mere dost tumhare khanjar
Tumne Babar ki taraf pheke the saare pathar
Hain mere sar ke khazaar zakhm jo sar mein aaye

Paun Sarjoo mein abhi Raam ne dhoye bhi na the
Ki nazar aaye wahan khoon ke gehre dhabbe
Paun dhoye bina Sarjoo ke kinare se uthe
Raam yeh kehte hue apne dwaare se uthey

Raajdhani ki khiza aayi nahi raas mujhey
6 Desambar ko mila doosra banvaas mujhey.

~Kaifi Azmi(19?? -2002)

Thx Google Earth!!

The development database was down.. some tables went missing and no clue who did it... so with a few hours to spare at hand I started out exploring Google Earth... And boy!! Time really flew by...

Picking up places like my house in Delhi and my school n junior school ...I did put up some placemarks in Google Earth Community...

And I found this - my college in Google Earth... looks like shot from a relatively close distance. Anyways, it was amazing to see the images n revive all those college memories

The picture with the callouts explains it all but what was most amazing was the way the cricket pitch stands out distinctly...as if it has an own individuality... its own purpose of existence... as if laughing in the face of all those buildings and priding itself at the fact that the students spend more time with her than in those buildings...

Thx Google Earth for making my day!!

Gimme Red and more

Reservations have been done, tickets have been made and the wait commences for the long awaited X'mas vacation... come 24th Dec n I'm off to a 5 day holiday to Paris, Rotterdam and Amsterdam (Nudge Nudge Wink Wink!!)... After visiting Goteberg, Sweden, in mid Aug I haven't really been anywhere , except for Hirtshals but it was more like a go-in-the-morning-come-back-in-the-evening kinda trips, which though are very good to give you that much needed break don't quiet satisfy the appetite for travel

The tug of the sack on your shoulders, the waistpouch containing maps of diff places... trying out new cuisines.. wandering in awe of the magnificient structures and their history...Ohhhh the whole thing gives me goosebumps... just can't wait!!

Now coming to the original story of this post... suddenly the color red has captured everything...Posters are red... Clothes on display at the shop windows are red... the decorations are red the clothes are red and the caps are red...whole Aalborg is more red than it ever was in the last six months... Christmas fever catching up.... and today I saw this band which was marching down the road and playing "Jingle Bells"…Small kids were also part of the band ... all decked up in Red... could help but admire the whole procession .... Festivity is in the air and u can feel it... Maybe I will pick up my camera one of these days and shoot all I can and post...

Yeah def. one of these days!!
:-)

Early Morning Ramblings

0700 hrs CET and I am in the office... had run some queries in the production database last night before leaving, so had to make sure that they were either executed or killed before the CRs started with their work... Its pitch black outside... waking up at 0530 hours is not the ideal start of the day for me....
As I got ready making the minimum amount of noise, so as to not wake my roomie S, I kept thinking of the time I had in mumbai where I was before coming here.. for almost two years I was in one project GEMS

The good and not so good times back in India...Started for office at 0630 hrs in pitch darkness,,, hardly anyone on the roads... the cold morning air and the darkness did as much to lift my spirits as Sourav Gnaguly did to lift the score in this recent ODI games ... sorry bad example...

Lekin I am in a bad mood... generally that is not how I am on Fridays... the sole day when u get to wear jeans to work and forget about not sitting in office with one foot tucked under your rear on the chair (you know wat I mean )... that alone is a reason for me to be cheerful and generally I do maintain a rather cheerful disposition ... but I am just not an early morning guy... especially if I have been in the office till 2200 hrs the last night....

The most wonderful thing about GEMS was that we used to go to office late something like 1500 hrs and work till 2300hrs ... strictly 8 hours of work .. Well sometimes.... and that allowed me the liberty to sleep till 1200 hrs .... (my mom suspects that’s the main reasons why I am not shifting base to Delhi)… No I don’t work in a Call Center … just that the client was in US so we had to stay late to have conf in the evenings

Kishore Kumar n Lata mangeshkar crooning softly "Dil tere bin kahin lagta nahi Waqt guzarta nahi".. thank God and www.MusicIndiaOnline.com guy and www.Desi-Radio.com ... without you office would be so boring...

OK enough of my rambling .... sorry to have subjected you guys to such torture... this I what early mornings (read dark cold windy early mornings) do to me...

So I guess I will go nicotinise n caffinize myself n get back to work with a bit of grumble....

Have a great weekend!!

Update

Its snowing here almost everyday now... looks great , especially if u r inside the house or office .... our office has these large windows and is higher than most of the buildings in the vicinity... the sloping rooftops covered in snow make a really good sight ....

But travelling while it is snowing is a bit of a problem as walking is a big pain... the ground tends to get a bit slippery and my shoes dont really have a groovy grip(being formals)... hmmmm guess I will buy the high ankle kinda shoes with soles good enough for mountain climbing...

All that snow and winds has made climate really chilly n pullovers are a norm now inside the office... which basically means that you dont need to iron shirts anymore... hehehe what a relief.

Today I complete 6 months in Denmark... the project was initially supposed to be for 6 months only ....the project deliverables have been released but some more work has come rolling my way and I am now involved in that.

DUETS

Had a chance to go thru some hilarious stuff the other day and here is some of it for you guys :
DUETS you will never hear

If you took two songs, by two different performers, and combined the titles, what new and interesting song title could you make for a duet with those two performers?
e.g.
"Oops, I Did It Again," by Britney Spears and "In The Closet," by Michael Jackson and you get
Oops, I Did It In The Closet Again
Get the drift ?… OK here it comes


"Things Will Never Be The Same," Roxette "Without Me," Eminem
Things Will Never Be The Same Without Me
[You say that like it's a bad thing!]

"Talk Dirty To Me," Poison "Like A Surgeon," Weird Al Yankovic
Talk Dirty To Me Like A Surgeon
[Me raises eyebrows]

"Talk Dirty To Me," Poison "Dirty Laundry," Don Henley
Talk Dirty Laundry To Me
[And you thought your fetish was weird!]

"Pour Some Sugar On Me," Def Leppard "Brown Sugar," The Rolling Stones
Pour Some Brown Sugar On Me
[Fetishes Galore]

"Shoot The Dog," George Michael "Shock The Monkey," Peter Gabriel
Shoot The Dog And Shock The Monkey
[Someone call the SPCA/Maenka Gandhi ….NOW!]

"Naked Sunday," Stone Temple Pilots "Pictures of You," The Cure
Naked Pictures of You
[I swear I deleted the MMS clip jaanu!]

"Take My Breath Away," Jessica Simpson "Morning," Jim Ed Brown
Take My Morning Breath Away
[EWWWWWW]

"Take My Breath Away," Jessica Simpson "Bad," Michael Jackson
Take My Bad Breath Away
[EWWWWWWWWWWWW]

"Take My Breath Away," Jessica Simpson "Geek Stink Breath," Green Day
Take My Geek Stink Breath Away
[EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW]

"Take Me Down," The Smashing Pumpkins "Where Boys Fear To Tread," The Smashing Pumpkins
Take Me Down To Where Boys Fear To Tread.
[Where??? Michael Jackson’s place?]

"Take Me Out," Franz Ferdinand "C'mon Baby," Buddy Knox
C'mon Baby! Take Me Out!
[The Desperate Guy Song]

"Carry On Dancing," Savage Garden "Dancing Wtih Myself," Billy Idol
Carry On Dancing With Myself
[A song for nerds, who never get a yes when they ask a gal for dance!]

"These Boots Are Made For Walkin'," Nancy Sinatra "Walkin' In The Rain," The Ronnettes
These Boots Are Made For Walkin' In The Rain
[Rubber boots, of course]

"Thank God I'm A Country Boy," John Denver "Woman," John Lennon
Thank God I'm a Woman
[Funny …both performers are guys]

"I Get Wet," Andrew W.K. "Your Underwear," Bryan Adams
I Get Wet In Your Underwear
[Please use ur imagination]

"Honey Don't," Carl Perkins "I'm Afraid," The Everly Brothers
Honey Don't, I'm Afraid
[I've never tried that before!]

"Calender Girl," Neil Sedaka "Problems," The Everly Brothers
Calendar Girl Problems
[Every month!!!]

"Big Girls Don't Cry," The Four Seasons "Busted ," Ray Charles
Big Busted Girls Don't Cry
[Slogan of Implant Promotion Committee!]

"Bikini Girls With Machine Guns," The Cramps "Girls Just Want To Have Fun," Cyndi Lauper
Bikini Girls With Machine Guns Just Want To Have Fun
[Watch out! Armed and dangerous!]

"Naked" - Avril Lavigne "With You" - Jessica Simpson
Naked With You
[Avril n Jessica… Oooooohhhhhhhh!!!!!!]

"Truly, Madly, Deeply," Savage Garden "Possibly, Maybe," Bjork
Truly, Possibly, Madly, Maybe, Deeply
[Attack of the Adverbs!!]

"Tired Of Sex," Weezer "In A Country Churchyard," Chris De Burgh
Tired Of Sex In A Country Churchyard
[Blasphemous!!]

"Hotel California," The Eagles "California Girls," The Beach Boys
Hotel California Girls
[The REAL reason you'll 'never leave'!]

"Let's Talk About Sex," Salt N' Pepa "Changes," The Beatles
Let's Talk About Sex Changes
[No thanks, I'd rather not]

"Ring Of Fire," Johnny Cash "Asshole," Dennis Leary
Burning Ring of Assholes
[Hemorrhoid flare up! Yikes!]

"Shit On U," D12 "Blood On The Dance Floor," Michael Jackson
Shit And Blood On The Dance Floor
[The club was later closed for health code violations by NDMC/BMC]

Wake Up Little Suzie," Everly Brothers "Let's Get It On," Marvin Gaye
Wake Up Little Suzie And Let's Get It On
[When the Viagra kicks in at 4 A.M.]

"Hands," Jewel "Girlfriend Is Better," Talking Heads
Hands? Girlfriend Is Better!
[Hands free comfort]

"God Save The Queen," The Sex Pistols "Dancing Queen," ABBA
God Save The Dancing Queen
[The new UK anthem]

"Throw Away Your Television," Red Hot Chili Peppers "To The Moon And Back," Savage Garden
Throw Your Television To The Moon And Back
[instead of watching Ekta Kapoor serials]

"Thong Song," Sisqo "Every Breath You Take," The Police
Every Thong You Take
[...burns a hole in my pocket. Can get a dozen baniyaan(vest) with that kind of money]

"Stupid Cupid," Connie Francis "Give Me A Future," The Everly Brothers
Stupid Cupid, Give Me A Future!
[I wanna love life now,dammit!]

U may wanna read the rest of the stuff here.

Adios!!

Video Killed the Radio Star

Medium wave do-sau-unnees teen meter, yaani ek hazaar teen sau adsath kilo hertz par ye Vividh Bharti ki vigyapan prasaran sewa ka Dilli kendra hai...Aayiye ab sunte hain prayojit karyakram

Remember something????

The time when radio used to be a popular source of entertainment as not many households had got TV. Families sitting near the radio post dinner ...People travelling with radio in DTC buses....The radio slung on the shoulder in a leather case (My Dad, had one of those kind) The popular channel Vividh Bharati... and at night u cd also get Radio Nepal ..and sometimes Radio Ceylon (I guess it was there ...can anyone confirm?)... the program "Myaro Man Ko Geet" on Radio Nepal which used to be aired at night and had all the latest bollywood chartbusters

Remember the Golden Voice of yesteryears - Ameen Sayani with his Binaca (later Cibaca) Geet Mala... thats inarguably the most popular program on Radio

Yeh Vividh Bharati ki Vigyapan Prasaran sewa hain.... and then the advertisements used to follow...


Yaad rakhna yeh naam
Saari ki pehchaan
Uma falls
Uma falls

Oye khoche pathan se poocho seth
Pista baadam kaaju kishmish
Koi bhi mewa ekdum badhiya quality ka lena ho
To Roopak Store se lo
Roopak Store... Ajmal Khan Road

Aapka naam: Sonaram
Rehte kahan hain: Sonepat mein
Khate kya hain: Sona halwa
Pehante kya hain: Sona Hawai Chappal
Kya baat hain.
Sona hi Sona

Sun maa meri
menu fall dila de Sarita
nahi to main shaadi nahi karni
Sun meri beti Geeta
layi main fall sarita
baja do ab shehnai
Sarita fall main laayi

Cheap silk store hain jaana pehchana
Apne ghar ke kapde lene yahinpe aana

[BTW the Cheap Silk Store family's son was a friend of mine and here is the other version which I used to sing to him
Cheap silk store hain jaana pehchana Apne ghar ke cheethde lene yahin pe aana]

He: Kya jala
She: Omlette
He: Hua daftar ko late
She: To Black Diamond non stick cookware la do na?
He: Black Diamond non stick cookware.. na chpakne ka khatra na jalne ka dar
She: Black Diamond non stick cookware.. har grihani ki pasand.

She: "Ooi maa"
He: "Kya hua Munne ki maa?"
She: "Chappal toot gayi.. Ab kya hoga"
He: "Kitni baar kaha hai ARI Relaxo Hawai Chappal pehna karo...."
ARI Relaxo Hawai Chappal

Ramu rat le kaasmadhu kaasmadhu kaasmadhu kaasmadhu"
"Kaasmadhu?"
"Haan khaansi ki gunkaari dawa hai Kaasmadhu"
"Achcha!!! Kaasmadhu Kaasmadhu Kaasmadhu Kaasmadhu"
[...talk about drilling the message in! ]

Sahni Tyres
Apni cycle aur Rickshaw check kijiye Correct?
Sahni Tyres kabhi raaste mein dhoka nahi dete

Male Voice: Gaon se khaalis ghee mangwaate thhe...Mohan Ghee khaya, toh aisa shuddh ke maano gaon se naata hi toot gaya!
Female Voice: Ae ji Mohan Ghee lete aaiyega...yeh ghar mein bane ghee jaisa shuddh hota hai!
Chorus: Shuddh ghee Mohan Ghee

The morning transmission used to start with Vandan Waar, followed by Bhoole Bisre Geet. Hamari studio ki gahdi ke anoosar abhi subah ke 8 baja hai...ab aap Ramanuj Prasad Singh se Samachar suniye!

And then there was Ek Phankaar at 1'o clock...and Mann Chahe Geet at 2. Late night prasaran mein Chitrapat Sangeet from 12:10 to 1:30 a.m.

Some other popular programs were:-
Binaca/Cibaca Geet mala
Hawa mahal
Santojen ki mehfil
Diamond comics @Sundays 2:00 pm (Chunnu padhta Diamond Comics, Munni padhti Diamond Comics, Mazedaar hain Diamond Comics ...I never used to miss that)
Some Jokes program every nite @9:30 pm
Hariyali aur Khushhaali
Fauji Bhaiyon ke liye (or something like that)

Somehow radio lost its mass appeal with the advent of Cable television in India... However It is very encouraging to see so many Radio statiuons come up in Recent times... in Mumbai we have Radio City, Go fm, Win fm, Red fm, Radio Mirchi, AIR Rainbow fm, AIR Gold fm apart from Vividh Bharti

With inputs from BG, Newman da and Nanhi..
Yours truly
:-)


Edit:
Newman Da's Comment:-

They bring back warm, fond memories...dont they? Radio was and, to a large extent, still is the one with the largest reach of all the mass media...and the most popular...remember the fasionable hero of yore, who would step out of the plane from vilayat and walk proudly with a radio slinging from his arm?

And how can one forget the deadpan voice of the RJ in aap ke farmayish:"agla geet hai film Phoon Bane Angaarey se,aawaz hai lataji aur mohd. rafiji ki,bol hain indivar ke aur sangeet se sajaya hai kalyanji anandji kepasand aap sabki:rohtak se devender singh, rajbeer singh meena aur dhanpatsarai rohilla se anil, sunil, chinki, minki, dabloo, sweety, moti aur unke sabhi saathinangal raya se hanif mohammad, dilawar singh aur unke paravar ke sabhi sadasya..."

Chocolate and Iqbal

This weekend I saw two movies
Chocolate and Iqbal

Yeah I know they were released ages ago lekin time lagta hain yaar Copenhagen tak aane mein DVD ko and then from Copenhagen someone has to get it to Aalborg n then when ur turn comes u get to watch it...

Well... about Chocolate the lesser said the better... Anil Kappoor - hyperactive eccentric lawyer(whats with him n eccentric characters?? me thinks it all started with his much acclaimed Taal performance n just doesn't want to let go), Irfan's 'natural acting', Emran yet again obsessed with sex or money or both, Arshad is OK and so is Suniel Shetty (just a bit of advice...that hairstyle wont get you anywhere close to being a Rocker)
Sushma Reddy ... Baby there's more to acting than push-up bras
Tanushree Dutta: OK so this gal really makes Tara Sharma's acting seem like Oscar winning.... coupled with lyrics like "Mummy ko nahi hain pata" want you to forget the movie as soon as u can... however I liked her twin assets very much... NO, not her tits you pervert!!.. I was talking about her eyes... Big n Beautiful...

Biggest Let-Down
Item number by Mumait Khan
It could have been a lot better had Anil Kapoor not decided to steal the rhythm of the song every now n then.. and Mumait. Honey u need to loose those rolls of fat which have started making their presence felt...


Iqbal on the other hand is alltogether diff world ... Rampur from where emerges Rampur Express..a deaf-mute boy who aims to make it to the Indian cricket team... against all odds.. and finally manages to do so...
Strong performances by Nasser, Girish Karnad n Shreyas Talpade.. (the facial expressions and body language)
Is like any other Nagesh Kukunoor film - no frills attached... however he doesnt make an appearence as in almost all his other movies... Kapil Paaji does... however not like the most-forgettable one in Mujhse Shaadi Karogi

Banished to Hell !!

Yeah thats right... Thats where I am going after I die...Looking forward to meet a lot of interesting people there...

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Seventh Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Very Low
Level 2 (Lustful)	High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Low
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	High
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Low
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Low
Level 7 (Violent)	High
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Moderate
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Low

Will you be there ???
Find Out - Dante's" Inferno Hell Test

SNOW

It snowed here today and it is just 16th of November.... What lies ahead is the days when the sun won’t shine... When it will be dark n gloomy the whole day and it will be snowing accompanied by high winds... God help me sustain in that environment...

Actually today was the first time I experienced snow... and was visibly surprised by it.... we weren’t expecting the snow until the second week of December and it is rather early according to Danish standard too, the people confess ... although it didn’t last for more than 15 mins still there was enough to cover the open spaces especially the grass which looked somewhat like frozen peas in the refrigerator...... green n white... I was away at the call center for some measurements that we take after every release into Production(the most boring job on Earth).... While on the way out we caught the snow .... It was almost coming to an end ... just time to catch a few flakes in my hand and see them melt .... Somehow the whole experience was very enjoyable... I generally felt very cheerful the whole day after that...

And come to think of it the moments in life are also a kind of snow flake..... They come at their specific destined time and vanish thereafter....Some of the moments are welcome while some are not... Despite that each moment has a shelf life, a purpose of its existence and occurrence.... Good or bad, it will never last forever... What may last is the memory...It is up to us to try to live in that moment... Completely...So that we can cherish the memory of that moment later and make it immortal... Something like ‘Carpe Diem’ or ‘Joie de Vivre’

Here’s to all the snowy moments in store for me

Cheers!!

CENTURY

HEY.. My blog just scored a century... yeah yeah yeah I started the counter at 1000..lekin u must realise that I got a counter when the blog was about 20 posts old...OK Agreed.... Few people drop in here to read and even fewer take the pains to Comment.... but I cant help it yaar...I can't write about my sex life(since it doesn't exist) and neither am I too Talented or Funny...3 days and 100 hits... yeah alrite atleast 20 were from me ... so what ... a Hit is a Hit !!!!

November Rain

No this post isn’t about November Rain from Guns N' Roses... Neither is it about Rock or any other kind of music... Please feel free to click the X on the Top Right corner of your monitor in case the reason why u started reading here was your love for music

No offence.. I love music as much as the next guy (perhaps a lot more, coz the guy who sits next to me is a gult who's world of music starts and ends with Telugu Movie songs)

Its about the Rain of Birthdays in November

Was running through my planner and just discovered the number of people who have their Birthdays in November...

Let’s go back about 22-26 years and try to see what was so special about that period... I mean the month of Feb which led to so many birthdays in November...

Couple of reasons I could think of are :-

Spring - Now who doesnt like spring...The air is fresh...Flowers everywhere...New leaves on the trees... A romantic hue to the whole atmosphere... Now spring alone, according to me, is a reason enough to explain the November Rains, but I have another reason

Weather - Too hot and the last thing you would want to do is make out.... all sweaty and hot(literally)... Too cold and you dont want to get out of the rajai.. leave alone the clothes... Now Feb has just the right kinda weather ....it's not too cold and heat is still far away....

Now that some images have splashed across my mind which are not suitable for public discussion.. I will drop the whole finding reason thing....

Another thought intrigued me.... Is it that I am more compatible with the people born in the month of November.. Is that why a majority of my fiends are under the Zodiac sign Scorpio????
So I checked out .. Ahem... This

Please don't get me wrong... I am the last person who would turn to read about Horo(r)scope... I care two hoots what the signs say...A staunch non believer of Zodiac, I would rather confess surfing porn than surfing these zodiac sites...And I was always amongst the gang in college, who used to sneer at gals from Eng Hons who used to religiously carry Linda Goodman for their "reading pleasure"... Reading Pleasure.. Aawww gimme a break...

Doctors in medical conferences don't discuss the symptoms of Chicken Flu/Dengue/AIDS with as much fervor as the Eng Hons chicks do... Every possible shade of human emotion, character and temperament can be explained thanx to the 12 Zodiac signs... Somehow the Eng hons chick is quintessentially a Linda Goodman reader...

OK so much for the November Rain lets see what December has in store for urs truly
:-)

FILMI EUPHEMISM - PART II

This is in line with the first post on Filmi Euphemism in which featured some of the most commonly used euphemisms in our film. (Here is a link to that in case u missed it)

And more often than not these are relating to sex.... Now this brings a Q to mind
Is depicting sex on screen such a hard task that our filmmakers have to resort to such tactics????

Now surely its not that the people of India don’t know about sex ... You don’t have a nation of 1 billion people for nothing..... In fact Indians know too much about sex... and we are pretty good at it too...our birth rates n population are proof of that... The only people who have better sex than us is the Chinese... In fact they are so good at sex, that people all over the world are dying to have sex with them... So much so that they had to build a wall around their country to stop that...

Euphemism No 8
Boiling Milk

Scene: The heroine is working in the kitchen.... newly wed wife... learning the tricks of the trade... the husband sneaks up from behind and grabs her around the waist... the heat in the kitchen , the smell of milk boiling on the stove, the spices in the kitchen and all that make the hero really hot (not that he wasn’t already horny) and they start making out oblivious of the milk on the stove ... while the hero n heroine move out of scene the camera pans into the vessel kept on stove with milk boiling... within minutes the milk starts to rise ... the rise in the level of milk is directly signifies the building up orgasm ... in five minutes the milk overflows (that’s the average time it would take - for both the activities)
Note: This euphemism can also be shown for Rape and in that case the milk boils to a rather jarring music

Euphemism No 9
Bird in Cage

This euphemism is solely reserved for use when depicting a rape scene.. The bird in the cage is analogous to the hero's sister in the grip of the villain...
Note: It will be hero's sister in 99% of the cases and this should occur somewhere in the first half of the movie.

Euphemism No 10
Fluttering Diya

This particular diya is rather from 60s and 70s where a diya would be lighted next to the person on his death bed... sitting next to the dying old man/woman would be his wife/husband, the dutiful-and-friendly neighbours, the chacha, taya, mama, mausi, doodhwala, kaam-wali-bai and a hoard of junior artists but not the son...
the son is rushing home to be besides his father/mother who is ready to kick the bucket anytime now.... as soon as he enters the room panting the diya is extinguished and the man/woman in bed has breathed his/her last....

In recent movies the diya has been oft replaced by the ECG machine .... The waves going up n down in a jagged way and finally nothing but a straight line....

Cigarette

The first one small n swift. Followed by a long drag. A cloud of smoke bursts into the scene. The lighter slowly placed near the clock which is slowly ticking away. Its distinct mechanical sound can be heard clearly in the silence of the night. Outside cars zoom by at irregular intervals. Some people making their way home. Some more ash in the tray. It nests comfortable amongst the stubs that once caressed my lips and filled my lungs. Can hear the rustle of burning each time I pull a long drag. The tip, glowing orange in the dark. Brighter, dimming , bright again with a bitter smell and slowly inching towards me. The window closed against the cold. The air mixed smoke and the faint undertone of my deodorant. I stub it in the ash tray and glance at the clock. Its late. I crawl into the bed thinking about the day next.

Life : Six minutes less.

Some Quotations

Recently I had the chance to read some Quotations by some great men.... and women ofcourse. Here are some of the ones which I liked. You may read the whole list here. (Basically this guy was threating with a © Copyright Notice so I had to give his site's URL)

"Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever."
- Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)

"Victory goes to the player who makes the next-to-last mistake."
- Chessmaster Savielly Grigorievitch Tartakower (1887-1956)

"If a man does his best, what else is there?"
- General George S. Patton (1885-1945)

"I can write better than anybody who can write faster, and I can write faster than anybody who can write better."
- A. J. Liebling (1904-1963)
[I am thinking of including this in my mail signature and really giving it a serious thought...]

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
[Niether am I Mr. Einstein]

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."
- Galileo Galilei
[To each his own reason]

"I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have."
- Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
[Mr. Jefferson... If u were lucky enough u needn't work.]

"Each problem that I solved became a rule which served afterwards to solve other problems."
- Rene Descartes (1596-1650), "Discours de la Methode"
[And each problem which I solve forms the base of a subsequent problem]

"Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right."
- Henry Ford (1863-1947)
[Damn right I am]

"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it."
- Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
[I have been practising that long before I read that]

"Don't stay in bed, unless you can make money in bed."
- George Burns (1896-1996)

"I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves."
- Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951)
[It never is]

"The use of COBOL cripples the mind; its teaching should, therefore, be regarded as a criminal offense."
- Edsgar Dijkstra
[Lolz... ]

"C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot; C++ makes it harder, but when you do, it blows away your whole leg."
- Bjarne Stroustrup
[I love this one... m sure the techies would understand]

"A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into theorems."
- Paul Erdos (1913-1996)
[So is a software engineer... turning coffee into software]

"Problems worthy of attack prove their worth by fighting back."
- Paul Erdos (1913-1996)
[Yeah....and before they go they stare deep down my eyes and with a Schwarzeneggerish voice "I'll be back"]

"Dancing is silent poetry."
- Simonides (556-468bc)
[two words ....Umrao Jaan]

"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws."
- Plato (427-347 B.C.)

"The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is like an eggs-and-ham breakfast: the chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'."
- unknown

"I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let's start with typewriters."
- Frank Lloyd Wright (1868-1959)
[Next in line - Keyboards]

"How wrong it is for a woman to expect the man to build the world she wants, rather than to create it herself."
- Anais Nin (1903-1977)
[right said gal.. way to go]

"There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life."
- Frank Zappa
[U bet!!]

"If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe."
- Carl Sagan

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."
- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

"There are two ways of constructing a software design; one way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult."
- C. A. R. Hoare
[I swear]

"When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I've never tried before."
- Mae West (1892-1980)
[Same here]

"The difference between pornography and erotica is lighting."
- Gloria Leonard
[Well said!!]

"Every day I get up and look through the Forbes list of the richest people in America. If I'm not there, I go to work."
- Robert Orben

"I never miss a chance to have sex or appear on television."
- Gore Vidal
[Niether would I... GOD are u listening??]

"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve immortality through not dying."
- Woody Allen (1935-)

"Copy from one, it's plagiarism; copy from two, it's research."
- Wilson Mizner (1876-1933)

"The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense."
- Tom Clancy

"God gave men both a penis and a brain, but unfortunately not enough blood supply to run both at the same time."
- Robin Williams, commenting on the Clinton/Lewinsky affair
[LOLZZZ]

Deepawali

Diwali came n went and finally the celebrations are over ... but the food isnt which was ordered for Saturday's party from Arhus (since Aalborg doesnt have any Indian restaurant)... I guess it will last till tomm...anyways ... on Tuesday it was just another day... All the people were at office working as usual but with a bit of festivity in the air... We did invite the Danish folks from office to have some sweets and they did like them very much...
Here are some pics from Tuesday evening

100 rupees

a 10 year old boy was very happy ... his dad had just got him a bicycle... although the cycle was a second hand one but nonetheless he was overjoyed... and so was his dad.... the little boy soon started the process of learning how to ride the cycle with the help of his elder sister... the falls, the bruises, the cuts... he remembers them all... although it hurt he never did mind all that... he was living his dream of riding his bicycle and that was what mattered at the moment... he still remembers the final push his sister gave to the bike after which he glided the cycle without any support... how his sister was running besides him and panting while he took his first ride unaided ... how he came rushing back in to tell his mother that he rode the cycle without any assistance... as soon as his father entered the house he told him the same... and the father was smiling seeing his son happy... 100 rupees couldnt have been better spent

Eid Mubarak

Wishing u all a very happy Eid!!

Happy Diwali

Wishing all the people in Blogsphere a peaceful, prosperous and safe Diwali.

Delhi Bleeding

Just as I was trying to catch some rest after my weekend shopping routine, Ashish called up and the first thing I heard was “BBC laga..”

Eyes widened. ears alert n a strange sensation like someone had just squeezed my heart as I looked to the TV…

FLASHING NEWS : INDIA BLASTS
Announced BBC… soon it became clear to me that there had been bomb blasts in the capital
Paharganj – which is just a stone-through-away from my house in Delhi
Sarojini Nagar
Govind Puri
Kotla Mubarakpur

Several are feared dead and lots more injured. The markets had been flooded by lots of shoppers just before Diwali and Eid. It’s sad that for so many families the coming few days would be full of grief.

My condolences are with the bereaved families.

Sans Cricket :-(

I hate not being able to watch Sachin blast away Lankans.... I really do...
What a comeback by The Master Blaster... Welcome back Sachin we were all missing u so much....

They dont show Cricket in Denmark not on any channel.... isn't that amazing... could a sports channel even think of operating in india and not show the cricket matches... (OK OK!! Leaving DD Sports)

And for the 16 of us who are in this project www.cricinfo.com is our hope.... refreshing the browsers every now and then .. or better still getting a ticker on your desktop... and stay abreast with the game... but come to think of it Cricket is much more than a game ... its a passion... a movement ... a thinking... Remember the Ad... Eat cricket Sleep Cricket Drink only COCA
Some random cold drink company trying to encash on the cricket fever in India...

Talking of Cricket related ads ... cricket stars have been the brand ambassadors for many companies... I love the Adidas Ad in which Sachin is shot using numerous cameras... another fav is the Coca Cola Ad with the sound track of “Dum Mast Kalander” sung by NFA Khan... the whole city painted in the crimson hue... Red clothes . Red chillies.. Red walls... Red buildings...and to top it ... the eight octave voice of NFA Khan..(May his soul rest in peace) Lovely!!!!

My very early initiation to watching cricket started when I was very small.. my mom, being more enthusiastic about cricket than my dad, would put an alarm to wake up early mornings to watch the matches happening Down under.... in school we used to carry small transistors which would be switched when one class ended and the teacher is yet to come... During lunch time our princi used to switch on the TV in his room and raise the volume a little so that the students could gather outside his room n watch the match... the lunch break was the most awaited moment on those special days... During Grad we had a dhaba near our college where almost all the guys would assemble to watch the match... I bet the dhabha owner did 500% business than normal on those days ... so on days there was a match I would either be at the dhaba or better still at home... We often used to bet during these matches and the method was also very unique... lemme explain how...
Lets say we are betting on Dravid... now we mutually agree upon a score which I think he would be able to make and the other guy thinks he wont .. lets say 60. Now if Dravid makes 110 I win 50 bucks and if he makes 10 runs I lose 50... this way the stakes never got very high .. but no matter who lost.. the money eventually landed up in the Dhaba owner's pocket...
Post grad it was no different...It only got crazier

Even after I started working my enthu for the unofficial national game of India didn't go down. On days when there was a match I would reach office at 3 pm after watching one side play 50 overs and the other side play 5 overs or something... like many other colleagues ... Inside office it was again www.cricinfo.com … we had a site which used to stream video which we used to watch during world cup
When it used to be a day-night match ... we would reach office at 7 am and get off at 3 to watch the match..... while in office frequent trips to the pan-wallah/canteen would ensure that I was updated about the match....

Life sans crickets is not the same anymore.... although u get to see read the ball by ball commentary it can never match the excitement of watching the match... the sound of timber hitting leather is just so esctasic... The way the hands go up in the air when the ball goes past the rope... the "oooooooooohhhhhs" which some when the bat misses the balls n nests in the keepers gloves...

Song of the Day : Koi lauta de mere beete hue din!!!

UNIT OF MONEY

What's the unit of money?? Technically speaking its the lowest denomination of money which is indivisible.... and by the books it is 1 paise... I am not very sure about the pie and kaudi mathematics so cant really comment on it... (Remember: "do kaudi ke aadmi" and "main aapki pie pie chuka dungaa lalaji" from the yesterdecade movies)

But isn't it surprising no one remembers the humble aluminium coins anymore... we don't even get to see them anymore... except if some crazy guy (like me) is still clinging to his old coins nicely kept in a box in one of the cartons...

Forget about the humble one paise coin... or the rhomboid 5 paise coin... or the frilly edged 10 paise or the hexagonal 20 paise coins .. people are avoiding the 25 paise and 50 paise coins as well...

Now I do agree to a point that is inconvenient to carry coins... they weigh more than notes and I certainly dislike the sound of them in my pocket.. and GOD forbid, if I drop a coin... it becomes a real problem for me to pick it up from a slippery surface ... since my nails are so dug up (ok ok... I AM trying to give up biting nails)

But I am not reluctant to accept coins of small denomination as a valid means of trade... outside our office at the tea stall the cutting-chai is priced at Rs. 2.50 /- so that means I get 50 paise back with me ... but then people come up with excuses like.. "Agli baar laga lengey" to avoid taking that 50 paise...

Most often seen at Pan-wallahs .... that poor guy has to accept 50 paise from people but when he tries to give someone that 50 paise coin... "Bhaiya... Mint de do iski" .. Now where does that pan wallah go with his sackfuls of 25 paise and 50 paise coins????

The BEST bus conducters in Bombay... harass you if u produce 50 paise coins for the ticket...

I heard that somewhere in MP (guess it was Jabalpur or someplace) they have stusck together four 25 paise coins and count that as a rupee.. now it actually is a rupee but people dont want to carry four 25 paise coins...

I went to Bangalore long time back and there people were still using those aluminium coins... or for that matter the torn worn out notes were wrapped in plastic and still circulating... Now that is good.... coz we are increasing the life of a paper note....

There is a cost for printing currency, which sometimes exceeds the value of the note itself... as was the case with Re 1 and Rs 2 notes so they no longer are printing those notes

Just because a note is slightly torn doesn't mean it is completely devalued .... it still is a tenner or whatever it is

One reason why the coins of small denomination are loosing their sheen (literally) is that the purchasing power of rupee has gone down... things are expensive now... there is ahrdly anything u can buy with a lone 50 paise coin... gone are the days when a 25 paise could fetch you a orange ice lolly... then to avoid this mess should we reprice evrything so that everything has a Rs*.00/- kinda price... no paise attached... (I wonder would Bata people do that... their stuff is alays like Rs***.95 ..any guesses on how much they would have shortchanged the people over all these years??)

What next... soon people will be reluctant to accept 1 Re coins... then Rs 2 coins and then Rs 5 ...Are we heading towards a coin free economy ??? Will there be a day when the coin shall only be used while deciding which team bats first???

Dilli

yeh shehar meri jaan
iska naam hain meri pehchaan
meri saanson mein basa
hawa ka nasha
mera dil mera pata
meri shaaaaaaaan
yeh shehar meri jaan
yeh shehar meri jaan

kehti koi kahani
yeh galiyan yeh bastiyan
rahon ko sajayein
pedo ki daaliyaan
yeh nazara
kitna hain pyara
mera dil mera pata
meri shaaaaaaaan
yeh shehar meri jaan
yeh shehar meri jaan

bhagta phir raha
har insaan yahan
dil mein hain basaye
jeene ka armaan
sab ka sahara
shehar hamara
mera dil mera pata
meri shaaaaaaaan
yeh shehar meri jaan
yeh shehar meri jaan

dilli hain meri jaan
dilli hain meri jaan
dilli hain meri jaan
dilli hain meeeeri jaan
meri jaaaaan

An ode to my fav city in the world..
Thx Palash n gang for this beautiful song

FILMI EUPHEMISM

We find euphemisms of all kinds these days...

No longer are there clothes for the obese... they are "King-Size"... Inventory Shrinkage instead of Shoplifting... Aesthetically Challenged instead of Ugly... Vertically Challanged instead of Short .. and the list goes on...(one euphemism which I really adore is "Differently Enabled")

Anyways back to what I started for. From the umpteen number of movies I have seen I hereby draw a list of euphemisms used in world's biggest film industry: Bollywood

Disclaimer: This list is by no means exhaustive, for as long as the filmmakers of this nation of 1 billion plus, continue to dig into their minds(or their noses.. or both) to find out new ways to show things on screen this list will keep growing


Euphemism No 1
Flowers
Scene: Hero n geroine in a public garden whispering sweet nothings to each other... hero feeling the pangs in his loins and the heroine acting coy.... after a while they bend down and the camera stays there on the two flowers (preferably roses mind you... and red too ) and then the two roses start to bump into each other or swaying left right up n down as if nodding approvngly to the acts being committed just below them... usually signfies kissing.

Corollary :Another version.. hero and heroine are now in a jungle ..rest scenario remains as above.. in this case the flower nodding usually signifies copulation

Euphemism No 2
Fireplace
Scene: hero n heroine on a stormy night... its raining accompanied by thunder and lightening... their car has broken down and they are now in a secluded Daak Bungalow in the middle of nowhere.... since their clothes are wet the hero will start a fire.. (somehow all the dal bungalows are stacked up with firewood for any such emergency n the hero has lighter/matches to light up the fire even without the need of any kerosene/petrol). The roaring fire's flames are directly proportional to the lust between the love birds at this point of time... the light in the room should be orangish-yellow and the hero should be nude waist up...
Hero n heroine get close to each other and the camera zooms in through the small space between their bodies and blurrs into the fire
Signifies copulation
It may be noted that this euphemism occurs solely when the case is of pre marital sex. the Euphemism No 1 though can also be shown with married couples. The corollary to it though is strictly reserved for premarital sex... if it were a married couple the husband would be busy pulling his hair and thinking "Why did I ever promise this woman the jungle safari???"


Euphemism No 3
Bedside lamp
Scene: Its the "SUHAAG RAAT" .... now after all the ghungta uthana, kesar wala doodh and the rest of the usual shenanigans are done with the hero will lay down his bride on the bed (fully clothed n jewelled)... camera pans to the bedside lamp which switches off after a delay of 2 seconds


Euphemism No 4
Child photo....shhhh
Another variation to the scene in the above euphemism... at the end instead of panning to the bedside lamp the camewra will pan upwards on the wall where the child photograph is ... and the child having a finger on his lips... Sssshhhhhhhh!!!
Dont be surprised if the next day the heroine throws up and is expecting a baby.. coz somehow this euphemism is oft used in cases when the couple is trying to make a baby.


Euphemism No 5
Waves in ocean 1
Usually occurs at some beach .. now the beach has to have green waters , white sand, sample sun and most importantly it should be secluded be totally deserted one... how else will their lusty instincts urge them to make out behind those coconut trees...then when the huge waves start hitting the shores you know that the guy has been successful in nailing the gal... one might wonder how all of a sudden the peaceful waves turned into big mighty roaring ones... the answer I m afraid is a bit complex... its the lunar gravity coupled with the earth's centrifugal force due to rotation on it's axis combined with all the pumping n grinding going on behind those coconut trees


Euphemism No 6
Waves in ocean 2
This is again a variation to euphemism no 5...except that this time the waves are crashing hard on the rocks... this would in most cases signify a rape or passionate love ...it may also be used in some other situation where there is a kash-m-kash going in the hero's mind whether to obey his parents word or go with his gal...or when heroine is comtemplating suicide due to the unwanted pregnancy.. but we wont discuss those senarios

Euphemism No 7
Mountain Erupting

Now this one is a multipurpose euphemism... it can and has been used at a number of places in a number fo situations...
Hero's sis gets raped.... Volcano erupts
Hero heroine are making passionate love ...Volcano erupts (in this case the amount of lava flowing out of volcano is directly proportional to the hero's virility)
Saboo ko gussa aata hain ... Volcano erupts (on Juptier ofcourse)

Food Fiesta

The week that went by…. OMG … first of all let me admit that I am a food freak and now that I have to cook for myself I have grown even more fond of food…. Which includes my own cooking… this week GOD has been exceptionally kind on me and since Tuesday we haven’t eaten at home… thx to the festive spirit in the air….

Wednesday
Venue : Datta & Anshuli’s place
Dasshehra dinner at their house.. a wholesome marathi meal followed by Basundi and ice cream to leave two satisfied people with stomachs packed to max capacity

Thursday
Venue: Prasenjit n Swati’s place
Some how the Bengali’s were celebrating the dasshehra a day later… so wed it was at their place… Shrimps, chicken, mix veg, dal n rice all cooked in authentic Bengali style… Prasenjit also showed the first pic of their child… a sonograph…
May u have a healthy baby n safe delivery!!! I blessed them with all my stomach … errr heart

Friday
Venue: Sukhbir n Rimpy’s place
Well we had to go over to their place to give them some utensils which they may be needing on Saturday for the party at their place…. Sukhbir being a true blooded Punjabi came up with this Famous Grouse bottle to be emptied before touching main course… three pegs later we were at the table savoring pulao, dal vegetables n roti smeared with desi ghee… this probably explains Sukhbir’s paunch…

Saturday:
Venue: Sukhbir n Rimpy’s place
Well it’s the birthday of their daughter Tavleen urf Sonia/Sonu a.k.a. Nonu
After chaats papdi smaosas, pakodas, choley, pizza, fries and three pegs of Famous Grouse there was hardly any room left in the stomach to eat … but the good natured fellow that I am I still managed to squeeze in two Gulab Jamuns and one cup Rasmalai… now I do admit to having a sweet tusk… but more than that I wanted to applaud Rimpy bhabhi’s efforts at entertaining their guests and she knows it very well…
Went back again on Sunday for more of that lovely stuff
Somehow I relate it to the phrase:-
"Been there.. done(read ate) that; went back for more"

Being one of the three bachelor’s in a team which has the rest 15 married and living with spouse does increase your chances of getting invited at dinners

To all the people who invited me for dinner at their places… I thank you profusely… I pray to GOD to keep u well… May your tribe flourish!!!!

To all the people who haven’t invited me yet… It’s never too late!!

Dasshera

This week it was Dasshera… it has been an exceptionally good week for me… got no less than 5 invites for dinner on different days of the week and since Tuesday night we haven’t cooked anything ourselves….
Dasshera marks the slaying of the evil Ravana by Bhagwaan Shri Ramchandra... another 20 days and on the amavasya of Kartik maas will be Deepawali - the festival of lights , when ShreeRam returned to Ayodhya along with wife n brother....

Another year (that too in succession) when i wont be with my family on this occasion...Last year it was due to project pressure that I was not able to go home during diwali... this year I am not in the country.....

I am reminded of two things:
First … these lines written below by the Late Kaifi Azmi... one of my fav poets..

Doosra Banvaas

Ram banvaas se laut ke jab ghar mein aaye
yaad jungle bahut aaya jo nagar mein aaye

Raks-e-deewangi aangan mein jo dekha hoga
6 dec ko shri raam ne socha hoga
Itne deewane kahan se mere ghar mein aaye

Jugmagaate the jahan Raam ke kadmo ke nishan
Pyar ki kahkashaan leti thi angdaayi jahan
Mod nafrat ke usi rahguzar mein aaye

Dharam kya unka hain kya jaat hain yeh jaanta kaun
Ghar na jalta to unhe raat mein pehchanta kaun
Ghar jalane ko mera, log jo mere ghar mein aaye

Shakahari hain mere dost tumhare khanjar
Tumne babar ki taraf pheke the saare pathar
Hain mere sar ke khazaar zakhm jo sar mein aaye

Paun sarjoo mein abhi raam ne dhoye bhi na tha
Ki nazar aaye wahan khoon ke gehre dhabbe
Paun dhoye bina sarjoo ke kinare se uthe
Raam yeh kehte hue apne dwaare se uthey

Raajdhani ki khiza aayi nahi raas mujhey
6 dec ko mila doosra banvaas mujhey

Secondly I remember the movie Naseem it was in mid nineties or sometime close…
It was about communal situation of India particularly Bombay during Ayodhya's Babri Masjid demolition by the Hindu fundamentalists… Kaifi Azmi played the role of an ailing grandfather who goes thru all this and breathes his last on 6th Dec… Mayuri Kango plays his school going granddaughter …

But all of a sudden why I am subjecting you to my personal rambling.. then some high quality literary stuff and then some hindu muslim riot movie …. Let me just stop writing before I stray too far.

Hirtshal

This weekend I went to Hirtshal (3rd Oct) ... thats a beach on the north most tip of Denmark...
Actually we had planned to go to Lokken ... the plan being formulated very late in the day
around 12 in the noon when i woke up and saw the sunny weather outside... thw thought of going somewhere came impromptu to the mind ... a few phone calls later it was decided to meet at 1:30 pm at the bus terminal from where we take the bus to Lokken...

Fortunately or unfortunately we missed the bus for Lokken which was at 1:50 from Aalborg bus terminal.. so decided to take another bus at 2:10 the only difference was that we would have to do a break journey and change the bus from Bronderslev…anyways we decided to go for it…
As fate would have wanted that bus got cancelled that day and we were left at Brondslev with the next bus to Lokken at 6 pm… that was too much to wait for and by the time we would have reached Lokken it would be dark… so we pulled out our maps and began hunting for some other location to go to…

Hirtshal came to our rescue as there was a train to Bjorring(pronounced ‘Yo-ing’) in a few minutes from where u get a direct train to Hirtshal… so Hirtshal it was … soon we boarded the train to Bjorring and reached there in about 20 mins… The trains here have smoking compartments and it seems that the people travelling in those compartments make it a point to smoke and exercise their right to the maximum extent…

Anyways from Bjorring its another train to Hirtshal … now this train is amazing… they have the best plush comfy seats …. spotlessly clean windows and amazing toilets (better than airplanes believe me )… absolutely gorgeous…

Reached Hirtshal around 5 in the evening… the beach was mostly deserted and as soon as we entered the waters we knew why… the Atlantic was chilling…couldn’t stand in the water for long…. Played football for sometime… built sandcastles .. ate drank and had a good time …

The journey home was again from Hirtshal to Bjorring and there to Aalborg…went straight to Burger King and ate to hearts fill.. and then hit the sack….
Overall a nice trip with a bit of adventure thrown in unexpectedly…

Will the real Tarannum Khan please stand up!!!

For GOD sake dont send me another forward containing pics of Taranum Khan (TK) or links to her pics...Believe me I have seen no less than 4 different versions of this gal TK.... Dynamism personified... infact she is so dynamic, she appears different in each set of pics...

the first mail (read forward) nearly threw me off my seat... and the first reaction was... "Why doesn’t she try in bollywood??" she could have easily given a few of the sirens a run for their money... soon another mail came proclaiming that the gal in last mail was a certain Miss Tarannum Bhatia (in my case from the same person) who’s pics had being doing rounds in the mailboxes and now her family had decided to file a case against those who started these mails... I promptly deleted the earlier mail from my mailbox and the recycle bin too...

After two more mails on the same subject came this last one which contained the foll link

http://web.mid-day.com/news/city/2005/september/119659.htm

I secretly prayed to GOD to let her be the real TK... as I didnt want any more mails on the subject ...not that I mind pics of beautiful gals in my mailbox... but it was getting a little it too much to handle.. one mail comes with the pics... and then one of the frnds goes with a reply to all... then comes a pat n rather quick reply...(I wonder why they never reply so promptly when I ask for some technical stuff)

but the multimillionaire bar dancer was a hell of a topic for about a week when the officials exposed her assets(no pun intended)... Tanishq Bungalow at Juhu, another couple of flats, jewellery worth 7 lacs and a pocket change of 3 lacs... not to mention her betting bids which would put a lot of hardcore satoris to shame...and the number of four Men in Blue in her mobile...

One thing sure exists that she changed a lot of people's views about the bar girls....the image of a woman who seeks refuge in this proff to feed her family of 6, to which she is the only earning member, doesn’t emerge as quickly as the rich crorepati bar gal who travels in the swankiest of cars, lives in bungalows and has cash n jewellery stacked up in every closet...

Did she mange to change the image of a bar girl in the minds of people??? Is she at fault that she exploited the weakness of men for monetary benefits??? Is she involved in betting??? Has she got links with underworld???

Ur guess is as good as mine!!!

GEMS

Although I intended to blog on the experiences in Denmark I really want to write about GEMS.. Please bear...

GEMS
Why do I remember GEMS so much... well the reasons are more than one....the fact that it finds a mention in my blog which was solely meant for recording the experiences in Denmark
GEMS was my first project... fresh out of ITP... joined TCS Mumbai (TCS SEEPZ then)... the best TCS centre in the country.... and was allocated to the group GEMS..... the largest griup in GE which is the biggest client for TCS..... all over India around 2000+ consultants are working for this CMM level 5 company which knows IT like the back of their hand....

My first few days in GEMS were spent in the Borivali and SEEPZ libraries where we were made to sit n wait until we were absorbed in projects ... thankfully that happened soon and I was off to my Siebel internal training along with 4 more ITP batchmates... it notable to mention that all the people from my batch who landed in Mumbai were selected for GEMS....

The training, at Borivali, was for 10 days at the end of which I was a internally trained Siebel consultant .... only I know how much of Siebel I got to understand when the training concluded...Then off to SEEPZ, to meet Mr. Lij0 J@c0b Mann@raprayil (I admit having goofed up in pronouncing his last name the first time... but never again)...who was to be my account manager for a long time to come... He managed Services CoE, which was a new CoE added to GEMS specifically for the purpose of the Service Workbench Siebel implementation... Lijo was one of the most frank and open guys I have come across in the company… very very approachable.. he is one of the guys one wouldn’t forget easily… I hope I don’t… he entrusted me some responsibilities in the team and always showed confidence in my abilities..
He has had a lasting impression on me… although there do exist certain points on which our thoughts didn’t(rather don't) match and were source of constant arguments … overall I am quiet happy to have a manager like him early in my career…

The whole team there was new to the technology and the initial days were fun… subah se shaam tak fight marte the … everyday was a new learning experience… always discovering something or the other…filled with a zeal, common among the freshers, to learn and try out new things….

I met one of my greatest pals in this team. Altaf. He n I set off like a house on fire...Those work breaks in between the sutta/tea/coffee/TT breaks, the many evenings when we drowned our frustration at work @Maharaja Bar and many such memories would be incomplete without him. He is right now in Dubai setting up his own business.. the bureaucracy in the company got too much on his nerves.
Another worthy guy to mention is Nilendu… gem of a person… he as my module leader and together we cracked many a challenges and had some night outs in office and some more in pubs… He is right now in US as a lead configurator in a project
Ashish who was my PL is another extraordinary person.. cool clam and composed… Always. Whatever happened he was always there with a smile to answer your questions effortlessly…somehow he also had a solution to all the problems… he is also in US right now as the project manager for a project for 20th Century Fox… I have made a conscious effort to be in touch with these people…

Some of the other things I learnt at GEMS was … the need to follow processes… and the way they influence the final product…the need to be in harmony with all the people… the need to think about others also…

Some other very imp things I learnt are ….
The way one should tackle unwanted or unprecedented situations
The way one should stay awake during meetings
Use as much techno lingo and stuff, as u remember or can remotely associate with your work, while to your PL/PM/manager :-)
Learnt to use the following words/phrases as often as possible, preferably at least one in each sentence:-

RCA - Root Cause Analysis
FBA - Fish Bone Analysis
KPI - Key Process Indicator
CTQ - Critical To Quality
ROI - Return On Investment
SnS - Snags n Spikes
CSI - Client Satisfaction Index
best practice
benchmark
reverse engineering
retrofitting
repeatable process
quantifiable
lessons learnt
hightlights n lowlights
consistent
optimized
performance tuned
peer review
360 degree feedback
wholistic view
futuristic thinking
avoidable bottlenecks
congestion points
sigma level
ISO
CMM
pCMM
showstoppers
hotfixes
quality conscious
version control
customer satisfaction
quickwin
breakfix
staging environment

And kabhi bhi koi tedha question pooch le to do sentence yaad rakna:-

1 I will get back to you on this
2 Let's take this offline