Live well, Smile often, Laugh much

Fleemi Deywane

2005-12-08T15:31:00.000+05:30

Recently we made a trip to Ooty (Udagamandalam). The sight-seeing package that we went to on the first day, was aptly name Filmi Deewane. The places which we were taken to had been shot in one or the other film. Our driver cum guide was Shankar, who managed to pronounce it as Fleemi Deywane :)

One peculiar style of his was to start the explanation of a place with the term - Excuse Me Sir(EMS). Even if we were conversing with him, as he stops at a location he first speaks EMS and then carries on to explain the significance of the place. Let me take you to those places along with their significance.

A part of Golf course. The shape of heart that you can see was shown in Qayamat movie.

This bridge was shown in Roja. Actually its KamrajSagar Dam.

The set of Raju Chacha was built here.

A song in Raja Hindustani and few other movies have been shot here.

Rose Garden

There are a few more places, but cant recall their Filmi significance as in case of Rose Garden. But would like to tell you about the scene created at Rose Garden. When we came out of the Rose Garden, we expected Shankar to be in the parking, waiting for us. But it wasn't the case. He was nowhere to be seen. Then we inquired about him at the ticket counter. The lady told that Shankar has gone to the guest house, which is nearby and should be back soon. So we waited for sometime. Then we told the lady that Shankar was supposed to take us to the market for shopping. She replied that here is a guy who can take you there, you can go with him as Shankar had some urgent work and had gone to Coimbatore. My Sony PSP was in that car. Panic !!! We said, we are not looking for someone who can take us to market but Shankar who is our driver, and is suppose to take us to market and to back to the hotel. She said that Shankar is not the driver but owner of the guest house. Then we understood that there were two Shankars being referred. Meantime, Shankar came there. We got into the car and drove off. That was the end of Fleemi Deywane trip !

Choc0l@te - D(eep ,ark,irty)

2005-10-07T18:52:00.000+05:30

S had come back from Aus. And ofcourse, for no obvious reasons got many chocolates along. N gave me a few from those. I ate couple of them, and kept the rest to have it later. Not realizing about the consequences I put them in my jeans pocket and forgot about it. As I reached office, I saw a brown mark on my t-shirt and it was then when I realized my mistake of keeping the chocolates in pocket, moreover with the cell. It had melted and spread deep into my pocket, was dark brown in color and had made my t-shirt, pocket and mobile really dirty. I straight away went to the wash-room, cleaned up my clothes and washed my cell after dissembling it. I also tried to dry up my cell faster, keeping it under the hand-drier. Fortunately its working as b4 (mind u, not perfect :)

Moral - Eat the chocolates as and when given to you.

Can a monkey differentiate between land/water ??

2005-10-04T19:43:00.000+05:30

We (me n my roomies) were discussing something and someone landed upon the topic of Ramayan. In Ramayan, it so happened that the "Vanar sena" (army of monkeys) crossed the river with the help of some special "floating" stones. Now I dont remember how it started, but a debate started on 'Can a monkey differentiate between land/water ??', whether he can understand that he is walking on land and he cant walk on water. R said that monkey cant, while J said that he can. And they were so seriously and convincingly arguing with each other, it wasnt a scene to be missed :-) Meanwhile B was into a laugh riot and barely managed to speak "what a silly topic are they arguing about" !! I gave few of my ideas that supported R, primarily to tease J. Thinking about it now, I remember a kid's story about a monkey and a crocodile. Not that relevant here, but it does prove J's point :-)

Miss Call or a Mystery Call

2005-09-29T20:13:00.000+05:30

One fine afternoon @ 3pm, I was busy doing something in my cubicle and realized that I had missed 2 calls. One of them was Jigar's (my roomie) and other number wasn't known to me(call@2:26). I called back on that mobile number from my extension. I heard a male's voice on the other end. And when I tried to explain him that I had got a miss call from his number, he was not ready to take it that way. Infact his tone suggested that I was the one who was being mischievous. Fine, I decided to leave it there itself. Again @ 5:10pm I saw a miss call from same number(call @ 4:58). This time I called him from my mobile, so that he may recognize the number on which I was getting miss calls. He recognized me through my voice and was really angry this time. He told me that he was in some important meeting and he was some kind of scientist and I should not be disturbing him this way. I was totally confused. Whats the mystery ?? Then he told that he will look into the matter, whether someone else might have used his mobile or so. I said fine and hanged up.

Next day when I was having lunch, I again got a call from that no. And this time I picked it up. There was another guy on the other end. But as it turned out, I was not able to understand his language(Kannada). So mystery still prevails !!

SPicE iT Up

2005-09-28T18:42:00.000+05:30

I was excited to board my first no-frills flight, Spice Jet to be precise. Also it was my first surprise trip back home. But God had some surprise lined-up for Gor (thats my last name :-)). Was an experiance rather than surprise though. As I reached the Bangalore airport, I saw a large group and all women dressed up in typical "maarvadi"(originally from rajasthan) style saris. A group check-in and boarding was arranged for them, and it was then when I realized that they would be travelling in the same flight as mine to Ahmedabad.

Time to board the flight. As I entered the aircraft, it appeared all chaotic. People(from the group) dint know which seat was whose?? It was a great effort by the crew to help them and get everything settled. Mine was a window seat. I got to know that it was a group of around 120. Lets take-off now. Believe it or not, as the flight took-off they were speaking out aloud "Jai Mata Ki" (Hail Mother God). As the flight was no-frills, only chocolates were offered. Then a few representatives from the group went and talked to the crew for some time. After that, they got couple of trays from the crew and loaded them with their food-packets containing dry fruits (prasad). These were distributed to the group members and some non-members also like me ;-) We (me and the guy besides me) were also expecting tea to be served, but it dint turnout that way. Damn no-frills, but two thumbs-up to thrills !!

3 to tAnGo (for a MaNgO !!)

2005-03-11T19:39:00.000+05:30

I have enjoyed most of my summer vacations in Mumbai (almost all till I was in school). As you might be knowing summer is the season for Mangoezz.... earlier we used to stay at Vile-Parle(W) behind Bajaj Road... there used to be a Mango Tree (Aambo in gujju) near the house... It was so close that we could take down the mangoes by hitting with a stick from our balcony... enjoied a great deal eating them... It used to be Me, and two cousins of mine... three of us... (Lord of the Mangoes - Fellowship of mangoes ;=)

After few years, we moved to borivali... there was also a mango tree there... but wasnt that easily approachable... Still we tried with a bigger stick and all... and managed to succeed upto some extent... Once we (fellowship) were having a stroll around the house... We saw a mango tree that had big mangoes hanging through it... They were low enough, so that we can jump and grab them... The tallest among us, tried the stunt and succeeded... yeah... then we heard "Oye.... Rukk..." We saw that a man was shouting at us and was coming towards us... We got a bit tensed... We opted to run to home... dude also ran after us, shouting and screaming... and got us, when we were almost home... He told us... "The mango you ppl have took is from my tree.. you trespassed my territory, I wont let you go like that"... We were too small then to deal with him, so took him home along with us... where few elders came in handy... they talked with dude and finalized the deal... 100 bucks for one damn mango... and the mango was all ours... it has to be this mango which we should have enjoied the most till date ;-)

Silent Scream

2005-03-09T19:07:00.000+05:30

9th March 2005... I was a bit less energetic than usual... had a fast previous day (Mahashivratri).. so just had juices and milk... Got ready, went to a food joint and had a juice... time to board the company bus... Got a middle seat :-( As therz not much option left for ppl staying in BTM... the bus is almost 2/3 full... as it was the front most seat, it wasnt that bad... much leg-room and all.. my disc-man batteries were down... so only option was dozing off or read smthin... i chose to read... Hardly after 5 mins after that, I heard a half scream... looked around... the girl sitting on my left appeard bit taken aback... y the hell did she screamed... silently !! (obviously it wasnt a mute scream but silent relatively) ... I looked in front thru the windshield of the bus... a bike had collided with other and drivers were down... it wasnt that serious an accident... you know how serious can it be ;-) I mean the drivers were able to get up and walk... I thank the girl for that silent scream... Had it been a little louder i would have gone down too.. (fast side-effect !!)

Suspension for Passion

2005-03-08T19:26:00.000+05:30

"Jab mein chhota bacha tha...
badi shararat karta tha...
meri chori pakdi jaati........... "

- famous ad

Cricket WorldCup '96 - 1st match: NZ v/s Eng at Ahmedabad. Me and some guys from school (9th std.) had planned out to watch it live (my first time)... Got tickets 250/- each. Gracefully went to the principal with a leave application with genuine reason. Princi poured water on our hopes... :-( He said that education is important than entertainment. Had it been India's match, then he would have given a second thought to it. We argued and told him that tickets have been bought. But Education again won, this time over Money.

Came out and thought about it, Do we really think so... do we care !! Naaaah... the match was ok, but experience was awesome !! But what to do the next day ?? Dad comes in handy in such situations. Doc's certificate that "Keyur Gor was not fit to attend school for two days".. So other day was a deliberate rest day... But others had gone to the school and had been caught by the Princi and were kept out of the class whole day... they were kind enough to let Princi know that I had been there for the match too... Ball was in my court... what to do... again, do i care. !! Naaah... went to Princi next (3rd) day indicating that i had went to see the match 1st day and was not well to come 2nd day... he was so understanding, that without any fuss... he handed me the suspension letter and said : 'You are suspeded for two days. Come with your father the third day'. Gr8... can watch 2 more matches !! (not live of course)... went to school on 3rd day with dad, and was gracefully taken back into the class ;-)

Trust - Virtual Reality

2005-03-08T17:25:00.000+05:30

There are two people who I trust, the first person is me the other is not you!

-Nicholas Cage, from Con Air

TRUST iS THE HARDEST THiNG TO FiND AND THE EASiEST TO LOSE

-Unknown

I think this should be enough to set the scenario.

Had fixed a meeting with Faheem (new landlord - LL) to discuss out things, as we were interested to take his house on rent. The rent amount was agreed upon to be 13k pm, and deposit to be 110k. We told him that we can give 60k upfront and rest of the 50k within next 15 days.

LL: what if you cant give ?
Me: you tell me (I had no answer !! What should I say)
LL: Give me 4% of the amount that remains to be paid after 15 days
Me: Hmmm... (Again no ans !!) I will have to ask others !

Called up rajan (better money manager). He said this cant be agreed upon. Conversation went on for few mins. Me back to LL.

Me: What would you do with the 4%. Its not that we are taking some loan on interest.
LL: I have commitements, so have to answer. Thus want some assurance from you ppl.
Me: If its so then we can give you PDC (Post Dated Cheques) of 1st April (Salary gets credited)... The reason for paying later is we have our deposit with previous LL. As soon as he gives, we can give it to you. If it doesnt work out that way, atleast you can have PDC.

LL called up someone and agreed upon it. Its been 4 days now that we shifted to the new place, but the fans havent been installed till date. Cheers !!

Air Show 2005

2005-02-22T20:11:00.000+05:30

An air show was being organized in Bangalore (Was it Bangalore, am not sure!!). Kashy had got 4 tickets for us, mind you 'us' dint include Kashy... he had to go with his some friends (purani dosti ;-)... So it was Neel, Lech, Rajan and me. Rajan and me met Neel at Jayanagar bus stop and we went to majestic, where Lech joined us. CJ s/w was brunch material for us that day... Majestic to Air-force Station was a long journey, and u shud soon know how ! We were suppose to get down at gate 5, which we dint and went uptill the last stop which was gate 8. We came back the same route, walking in the scorching sun. It was about 2-2.5 kms walk, but gate 5 was still much far so took a rick. Like bus, like rick. We again went much ahead of our destination. Again took a walk back. We saw that a rick-wala was struggling to get tyre out of a (sandy) pit. We tried to help him... but one who are helpless seldom are source of it. Finally Gate 5 it was. Went in, saw the exhibition,. Then air show, which was excellent. It cant be described as well verbally as visually. (few pics - attached).. The return journey was around 2.5-3hrs long !!

Kick(ing) start to hyderabad

2005-02-09T18:12:00.000+05:30

4th Feb - Friday

Had completed the seminar on MAGI (refer to other blog). Time to pack bags and leave for a potentially nice weekend in Hyderabad. Went home, packed stuff and reached East End Travels... Rac and Rajan also joined me there (from Infy). We informed a guy there about the bus that we had to board to hyd. After few moments, a bus came and ppl started boarding it. The guy told us and we also boarded the bus. Jigar, Rac's friend was suppose to join us from Majestic (Hotel Cauvery). He called us to inquire the arrival at the hotel. We asked the conductor and he told that this bus goes to VRL office in majestic. Rac told Jigar to wait at VRL office. Meantime, at a pick-up place I heard the conductor screaming out - "Vijapur Vijapur !!". We were a bit surprised. We hadnt realised completely. So I went and asked conductor, "Bus hyd kab pahuchegi ?". He told "Ye bus hyd nahi, vijapur jaa rahi hai !!". Panic... Shit !! Rac called up the guy who was suppose to be in the "Right" bus. Kyun ! Ho gaya na !! (Gudbud)... Anyways, jigar called up again, and told that therz no VRL bus goin to Hyd that day... we explained him the situation and told him to ga back to Kauvery hotel and hold the bus for us. We got down from the wrong bus at majestic, took a rick that dropped us at wrong place... had to happen (rite ??)... but we always had option of No.11 bus... finally reached and boarded the bus to Hyd... Couldn't be better start to the weekend (at Hyd) ....... ;-)

Elaan - e - D/4

2005-01-17T20:03:00.000+05:30

Title is not self explanatory, but you will come to know why is it so !! We (Me, Rac, Neel, Nirmal and Tuks) had planned to go for a movie on Friday the 13th... oops actually 14th Jan. Elaan, which had 2 shows running at Swagath (6 and {ulta 6}*) . We opted for the FDFS^ at Swagath. Neel had reached first, so he was going to get the tickets for all of us. When we all reached at theatre, he proudly stated that we had conquered some of the few seats available of Rs 25/- category. The seats were D/3 to D/7. We were not much excited of watching the movie from the 4th row in front of screen. As we went in, to take our entitled thrones, it was 'Sone pe Suhaga'. It wasnt the 4th row, but 2nd row from the screen. Gr8... Neverthless seats were awesome. Mine was a bit extra slide-back seat which was probably highly lubricated. It wasnt able to hold me straight at all. As the movie progressed, the angle between the seat and the back rest went increasing. At a point it had reached to 180 degrees. And when I finally got-up from the seat at the end, believe it or not, the angle had crossed the 180 degrees mark. It was around 200 degrees. Well D/4 did challanged me BIG TIME but I accepted it and won (Dint get up throughout the movie).

Dumb readers Legend:
* {ulta 6} = 9
^ FDFS = First Day First Show

My first Chop with Sticks !!

2004-12-02T16:47:00.000+05:30

Once upon an afternoon, far away from Bangalore city, to be precise in Infosys (Electronics City, Hosur Road, Bangalore-560100), to be more precise in Building 19 (2nd floor, the cubicle above Craig Barrett) , it was as usual as everyday. But something happenned later, which was not usual in my life, infact i did it for the first time. Ok... enough of pakaofying... coming to the point. I got a bit hungry. Kashy (Kashyap TA - Friend,Fellow Infoscion and a BIG L* (stocks)) had brought his tiffin that day. I had tasted the rice that he had got, earlier before lunch (about 12 p.m.). Some rice was still left, but the thing was I din't want to get my hands sticky as before, and so I resorted to the only option, "Chop Sticks"^, which were there besides the tiffin. Before actually going into business, I thought of practicing it first. I tried it myself, with some guidelines from Lech, which also inspired Neel. Neel also tried, but got frustrated. Then finally I got into business, and managed pretty well. While enjoying the delecious food, I just mentioned that this experience of mine, can actually be a BLOG. Neel got inspired again (may be the BLOG reason)... This time he overcame the daunting task and managed a few chops !! I dont know how to end this, as i am already feeling bored writing it !!

^ Chop Sticks - Kashy's friend got them from Shanghai, during his on-site visit.
* L (Loser) - one who needs to refer this

ROL - Reading Out Loud

2004-10-26T17:08:00.000+05:30

While I was coming to office today morning(not exactly as i took the 10:30 bus), there was a lady(blog topic) besides whom i sat in the bus. She was reading something. Suddenly I realised that she was speaking out the words loudly while reading. I found it very strange. First i thought that she would be reading something work-related or some study-material and trying to concentrate, but it wasnt the case. She was reading "O' Henry (small stories)". After a while, i took out my novel and started reading it. She glanced at me (dont know whether she was amused or what). She noticed that i was reading without ROL. Suddenly she closed her book and didnt open it since then. By the way, one more thing, this is my first post !!