Ma: Taare Zamen Par

Lovely song, mind blowing lyrics, hats off to Prasoon Joshi! BTW Prasoon Joshi is the same guy who wrote lyrics for the Rang De Basanti Song: luka Chipi, most of you might have heard thgis, but if anybody hasnt, read this and then hear!!

Main Kabhi Batlata Nahin,
Par Andhere Se Darta Hoon Main Maa
Yun To Main,Dikhlata Nahin
Teri Parwaah Karta Hoon Main Maa
Tujhe Sab Hai Pata, Hai Na Maa
Tujhe Sab Hain Pata...Meri Maa

Bheed Mein Yun Na Chodo Mujhe
Ghar Laut Ke Bhi Aa Naa Paoon Maa
Bhej Na Itna Door Mujhko Tu
Yaad Bhi Tujhko Aa Naa Paoon Maa
Kya Itna Bura Hoon Main Maa ..
Kya Itna Bura ..Meri Maa

Jab Bhi Kabhi Papa Mujhe
Jo Zor Se Jhoola Jhulaate Hain Maa
Meri Nazar Dhoondhe Tujhe
Sochu Yahi Tu Aa Ke Thaamegi Maa

Unse Main Yeh Kehta Nahin
Par Main Seham Jaata Hoon Maa..
Chehre Pe Aana Deta Nahin
Dil Hi Dil Mein Ghabraata Hoon Maa..
Tujhe Sab Hai Pata Hai Naa Maa
Tujhe Sab Hai Pata ... Meri Maa

Main Kabhi Batlata Nahin
Par Andhere Se Darta Hoon Main Maa
Yun To Main,Dikhlata Nahin
Teri Parwaah Karta Hoon na Maa
Tujhe Sab Hain Pata, Hain Na Maa
Tujhe Sab Hain Pataaa,,Meri Maa .....

Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon

Training for Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon now (20th Jan 2008), and really excited to attend it, a lot of Junta from RFL is going as well, so it would be great fun! Specially Pankaj, Prateek, Nitin, Gaurav, Mukesh and me are flying together on 19th so I guess it would be ultimate chaos in the flight, with us onboard.

Would be giving regular updates on the training schedule! :))

Song Today: Maa..
Film: taare Zameen par

"woh Din.........."

This was the main theme of the conversation we had over the lunch today, in office. Yes you guessed right woh din means the days right from childhood till your college. It was a very interesting conversation, which gave me insights on the life of each of us as a kid / teenager. Surprisingly we all did the same things, played the same games, sung the same songs, watched the same serials on television (obviously because we had only DD at that time)

Some other things that we discussed:
- Bata Cadet Shoes, and how our entire school life we have worn them
- Ruff and Tuff Jeans, and its advertisement where akshy kumar says "Ruff and Tuff ho to Ruff and Tuff pahno"
- Newport Jeans, and what revolution it brought when Arvind mills offered the for Rs 399/-
- TeleSerial Surabhi
- The games like eye spy, Vish Amrit, Statue
- Rangoli on Sundays
- Writing exams and how prestigious it used to be to take a "B" Sheet
- Me flunking in Sanskrit every year!

I swear man, I miss those days, and so does everybody!

Song Today: Pyar ke Mod par
Film: Parinda

"I"

I love cakes
I love driving
I miss my school
I am a runner (finally!)
I hate the cabwalas on road
I am a great fan of Madhuri
I am a greater fan of Amitabh
I am the greatest fan of Sachin ;-)
I love going to Goa
I want to go to Ladakh
I miss my parents
I miss my younger sister
I don't save... money
I admire Ratan Tata
I cant cook (other than maggi)
I like thrillers
I cant attend official meetings
I love to attend reunion meetings ;)
I can sleep at anytime during the day
I am a Google worshiper
I always try to irritate the children around
I love children
I cant live without cheese
I stick to my ipod while running
I cant run without my ipod
I live in Bangalore
I like this city
I love Delhi
I love sitting in cannought place in winter afternoons
I miss traveling in DTC
I want to drive to Delhi from Bangalore
I am in love with my swift
I hate dogs
I hate pets
I am new to swimming
I love old songs
I am a great fan of Asha Bhosle
I used to listen to rock
I love day dreaming :P
I am a software Engineer
I am Shantanu......

8 hrs of pain...running..... walking...... crawling

Finally I have completed 52K at the Bangalore Ultra, this was definitely one of the best organized races ever in India. talk about the aid stations, the enthu of the volunteers, the quality of certificates / medals and last but not the least the trail, everything was class apart.

The race started at 6:00 am, it was still dark and was a liitle difficult to actually figure out the way on the trail. I decided to cover as much distance as I can in the morning , as after the sun comes out it is going to be very difficult. I completed 26 K in about 2.5 hrs, i.e by 8:30 and then the tough part started, sun was out and unfortunately it was pretty hot yesterday, but the enthu of all the runners was very high, I completed another 13 K and by the time I was starting my last lap the heat was bad and the time was around 11:00 11:30 am now this lap was the toughest, probably I completed the entire 13K limping / crawling, there was a point when I thought after 39 K that I would stop but then I thought that its only 13 K more left and I can finish it, but I underestimated the last 13K. It was tough... very tough.

Finally I completed the race in 8 Hrs, I cannot explain the feeling I had. There weas a new energy inside me after I completed For sometime I just forgot the pain in my knee and hamstring. I guess in every marathon you are running against yourself, your mind tells you to carry on, your body tells you to stop, and this always happens in an Ultra Marathon, where the distances are more that 42K. Running is definitely 50% mental and 50% physical.

Today my knee and Hamstring are really bad ... limping in the office wearing the Bangalore Ultra T-Shirt with the tag line "I am togh Are you ?" I guess now I am eligible to waer this T-Shirt!

Song Today: Ankhon main Teri
Film: Om Shanti Om

Jamoore 52K daudega ????

ustaad: jamoore 52 K daudega
Jamoora: ji ustaad tayari to ki hai

ustaad: pantar log aayenge, tu peeche reh jaayega
jamoora: ustaad farak nahi padta, bas poora kar loon mere liye kaafi hai.

ustaad: watt lag jayegi teri
jamoora: ji ustaad kuch kuchh abhaas to hai, par fir kisi tarah daud kar ... chal kar....ludhak kar.... poora karoonga

ustaad: par tu daudta kyoon hai
jamoora: ab ustaad aap bhi ye sawaal poochoge, jis sawaal ka jawaab main duniya waalon ko de dekar thak gaya??

ustaad: time pass kaise karega
jamoora: arre ustaad bahut saare pantar dost log hain, par agar wo kaafi aage nikal gaye to fir mera ipod hai

ustaad: jamoore ipod ki battery khatam ho jayegi itni der main to
jamoora: arre haan ustaad ji je baat to humne sochi hi nahi thi!

jamoora: par ab okhli main sar diya to musal se kya ghabrana! poora to karoonga hi...

chalo ustaad fir abhi main chalta hai, baaki samachar daudne ke baad, agar likhne ki haalat main raha to kal raat hi nahi to somwaar ko!

Song Today: aane wala pal..
Film: Golmaal

Hats off to Priyadarshini!!!

On the RFL (Runner's for Life) mailing list we have a new member , her name is Priyadarshini from Mumbai, beware guys she is the first Indian women Ultra Marathoner. The definition given by Wikipedia is "An ultra marathon is any running event longer than the traditional marathon length of 42.195 kilometers (26.21875 miles, 46,145 yards)." more you can read here.

Now more on the "beware" part she has just completed the 100 mile Himalayan Stage Run, yes you read it correctly it is 100 miles (160 Km). Quite an inspiring story, you can read her experiences here and By the way this was her first marathon.

Link to the detailed story

Song Today: Jame Raho
Film: Tare Zameen Par

The final week of training....

Ok this is the last week of training before the Ultra, yes I am attempting 52K in it, lets see how much I end up completing, but I am really excited about it. Now the main concentration would be to run really less and avoid any injuries. I would be running around 2-4 Km this weekend and then no running the entire week, and then testing myself at the Ultra. I hope it would be fun, as a lot of Guys are going: Nitin, Pandey, Rajaram, Mukesh. so I guess time pass wont be a problem.

Apart from this we would be getting ADIDAS T-shirts with the tag line: "I am tough are you ?" so I guess after completing the Ultra (or even otherwise :p) can flaunt that T-shirt as well.

Song Today: yeh hai reshmi zulfon ka andhera...

Radio City... whatte Fun

Radio City 91.1 FM has become an important number in my mornings, and like me to a lot of people in Bangalore and across the metros. While driving to office this is your daily dose on the happenings around the city, the traffic updates, and a lot of other crap, which is nice to hear. Radio has always been an important part of my morning routines since childhood, I still remember waking up in the morning, getting ready for school, but all this while "vividh Bharati" playing in the back ground, with my favorite show of that time Chitralok! Well that was one show which used to air new latest songs, as at that time the only way to hear new Filmi songs was to buy an audio cassette, but then chitralok was a sponsored program which used to air advertisements and audio trailers of movies.

Nowadays since I don't get Chitralok here in Bangalore on Vividh Bharati, I stick to Radio City, with my favorite RJ Vasanthi on her breakfast show. Lately there has been too many radio FM channels, I used to be quite fond of Fever 104 FM as they concentrated on music more and less on advertisements, but the most painful thing with these radio channels (except Radio City) is that their RJs are PATHETIC, they keep cracking pathetic PJs to which you feel like banging the car to the very next pole. But still if you can bear the pain of some advertisements, the quality of "Bakar" on radio City stands apart. I have been following Vasanthi's breakfast show (in the mornings) and Aviva's Joy Ride (in the evenings) and I find them quite entertaining and informative!

But I still miss my good old vividh Bharati...citralok, hawa mehel, that typical trumpet tune of Jaymala, that brings back my childhood memories, getting ready for the school bus, those chilly winter mornings when you and your vividh Bharati are the only things humming when there is still dark outside. At that time I used to miss new songs on the radio a lot, but now all these FM channels are not able to satisfy my hunger for old songs! except on Fridays when Vasanthi plays Friday Flashback, this is one show I love, and the trivias.....but alas I cant hear that entire program, my office comes after 20-30 minutes drive!

Song Today: Raat Akeli hai...
Film: Jewel Thief

Cab Menace

Recently I have been observing a new breed of drivers quite closely, the cab drivers. Some of their traits are:

1) Extremely ill mannered
2) They don't know the use of brakes in their cabs
3) Doesn't have any concern for the pedestrians
4) 90% of the time are on their mobiles while driving
5) Would always honk on a "red light"
6) Have a very strong union, so doesn't matter whose fault it is, its always the non cab end who has to pay
7) A lot of them doesn't know how to talk to the fairer sex
8) will always stop on the left side of the red light even if they have to take a right turn

These are only some to list, I am sure that the list is endless. Yesterday I went for running as usual and I was nearly killed by a speeding cab, and all I see is a hand that comes out of it... in a gesture of sorry. What the heck, the Bangalore roads are becoming increasingly unsafe for the people walking / running and yes you are right the credit goes to all these cab drivers. Earlier I used to see a number written on all the cabs "if found driving rash please call" but lately none of the cabs have it. I know that nothing would happen even if I give them a call, but then too there was a hope... but now even that doesn't seems to be there. If you try going to the police station, the situation might just become worse, I have been told by a cop that you give money to this cab wala or I am going to frame you in a false charge, all these cab owners send their respective share of money to the Police station every month, this is their hafta for breaking the law.

The other day I was standing at a red light, the light was still red but the traffic at the other end stopped, the cars started moving, I decided not to break the rule and kept standing, soon a cab came next to me and started abusing me, do we need to get abused for following a rule ?

A number of times I have experienced during running that these cab walas make fun out of you, during one such incident one of the cab walas intentionally came very close to me so that I jump off the footpath.... and then I hear is a burst of laughter.

If any of you know the helpline for traffic police in Bangalore please drop a comment here, now I have decided, even if nothing changes then too I am going to complain and get a number generated, someday something might happen. But all these software companies hiring these cabs should seriously bring some rule in place.

Song Today: Turn Turn Turn by Byrds

Kaveri Trail Marathon: 18th Nov 2007

You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind cant know whats coming - Frank Shorter

Sunday was the running day, and we were participating in the Kaveri Trail Marathon at Srirangapatna, near Mysore. I decided to drive to the venue, the place was perfet for running, a beautiful canal was flowing on the side, on the other side were paddy fields, and we had around 100 enthu runners, what else could a runner ask for.

I attempted a Half Marathon (21K) , but there were some delays and finally the race started at 9:40 am which was supposed to start at 9:00 am. Already the heat was becoming unbearable, and I initially thought that it is going to be impossible for me to complete it, then I thought lets see how long can I continue with this heat, maybe this is a good training for the Ultra, where we are attempting a 52K. But as the day progressed the sun became unbearable , the salt losses were also heavy, but thankfully the aid stations were very well positioned and well equipped with electral and other stuff, one thing that I really liked was the availability of peanut butter and jelly sanwiches, that helped me in the last 5 Km.

I met some really great people there as well, some were attempting the half marathon the first time, and hats off to them many made it back to the finish line in a decent time. I guess the idea with a marathon is always that you are running against yourself, you always try to beat your last best time and for some people they run to complete! I used to be in the latter but now trying to improve my timing lately!

Overall a great experience.....

Links:

1) Priyanka's Post on Kaveri Trail Marathon
2) Sudhir P's experience with running
3) Manoj's Blog


Song Today: Mauje hi Mauja
Film: Jab We Met..

Run Forrest Run!

When you are 99 miles into a 100-mile running race, your brain is not the same brain you started with. -- Paul Huddle

Life is short, running makes it seem longer -- Baron Hansen

Most people run the race to see who is the fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts -- Steve Prefontaine

Song Today: Karoge yaad to..
Film: Bazaar

Godhra vs 1984 Delhi Riots

After ages I have read an excellent blog on CNN-IBN, this particular blog draws a comparison between the 1984 riots (Post Indira Gandhi's Assassination) and 2002 Godhra Riots. Both of them have similar profiles, its not that the journalist is trying to defend any, but then very similar crimes were committed, in fact the 1984 riots were more horrifying that the godhra ones, and in fact a small group of Sikh widows were protesting against the judgments given, but then we in India tend to remember only the latest facts, and then for that too we need things like sting operations.....

Read the blog, its worth it!

Updates....

Its been a long time since I have posted anything here! So it is time for updates.

Running:

I had made a decision earlier about not to party and religiously getting up at 5:30 am and going for a run on weekends, and I am happy to tell you that I have been implementing this plan of mine since the last two weekends. Well even if I party I go for a run in the morning! Next weekend is the Kaveri Trail marathon so looking forward to it.

Diwali:

So this was a diwali weekend, didnt do much as most of my group went home, however Gaurav was here so we used to go out...on the diwali day I went to my cousins place, didn't do much as I am never interested in lighting crackers and polluting the environment more, but yes I am always interested in eating like a beast on these festivals, food being my first love (obviously the other first loves are Running and Cricket). So I ate like a beast and then the very next day was in need of a Digiene!

Others:

One of my friends got engaged, so looking forward for him to be back and then we can kick start the bachelor parties! Nothing new otherwise looking forward for Rathi, Nitin and Tarun to be back... got really bored being alone this Diwali.

Song Today: Jab bhi ciggerette jalti hai....
Film: No Smoking

Bangalore Ultra!

The posters for Bangalore Ultra are out now!

Andha Raaj in Pakistan.....

I have been reading a lot over the internet on the developments in Pakistan, first it was Mr Musharraf's hilarious address to the nation that he has imposed the emergency as he never wanted his 7 years of "hard work" to go in vain! then It was US concern that due to this emergency the Nuclear Bomb might go into wrong hands, but I guess it was always in "wrong hands" ;-)

Sacking of Chief Justice Iftekar Chaudhary, then it was running away of Imran Khan, man Pakistan is becoming a happening place.

I read this news today on BBC, where Justice Iftekar Chaudhary is asking the people to make sacrifices, in other words he is asking for a civil war, a revolution! In the same news item I read this:

Gen Musharraf said on Monday he had declared the state of emergency because of a crisis caused by militant violence and an unruly judiciary.

hahahahahahahahaha this is the most hilarious statement I have ever heard! A militant state imposing emergency because of increase in Terrorism and militancy... what an irony!

Anyways I personally feel that Pakistan is far from any Revolution right now! and nothing will change there

But this is just a though: does anybody in India has the guts to do this? Congress is still asking for forgiveness on the emergency imposed in 1975 by Ms Indira Gandhi!

We are far better than our neighbors!

Song Today: Nagada
Film: Jab We Met

Sangeet Paul's Blog

I came across Sangeet Paul's blog and found it to be wonderful, specially this post: They're all happening and Padukone on orkut!

Loved his style of narration!

Song Today: Janiye
Film: Dus Kahaniya

The continual Change.....

Hum Kahan se kahan aa jaate hain, kuchh saal pahle bas school jaana aur waapis aa kar garmi ke dino main , ya fir sardi ke dino main bhi... shaam hote hi cricket ka bat utha kar nikal jaana, us umar main zindagi ki sabe badi fight thi ki 50 run bana loon match main, shaivalik house ko school sports day matches main hara de humari team! Thode aur bade hue to thodi aur cheezon ki taraf dimaag dena pada, jaise, padhai, marks, maths in special... but cricket was always there... wo kuchh bhi ho jaaye har shaam ko to jaana hi tha, fir class 11th aaya, ajeeb cheezo main zindagi fas kar reh gayi, haan ajeeb hi kahoonga, kyoonki shayad unhi ajeeb cheezon main fasne ki wajah se hi aaj main kama raha hoon. anyways brilliant contact programs, coaching, board exams, ICSE ki English ki teen kitabein (shakespeare, Wuthering Heights and poetry).... aur in sab ke beech main cricket kahi kho gaya, mera woh cricket bat to be specific, I had a Symonds ka bat, pade pade kahi kho gaya..... fir kaafin dino ke baad mila ... in kaafi dino ke dauran main B.tech first year main pahunch chuka tha... aur fir to zindagi behtar hone ki jagah aur battar ho chuki thi, hum ghar par kuchh dino ke mehmaan rehte the, doston ke bhi kuchh ek jaise hi haal the, kabhi saath mil paaye to kabhi nahi.....

Waapis college aayo aur fir se kitaab utha lo, lab bhaago, resume banao... arre isi sab chakkar main third year aa gaya aur ab to summers ke liye apply karna shuru kar diya maine, mere paas aur bhi kam time hone laga... is baar to main chuttiyon main bhi ghar nahi gaya......sem break aaye ... kutte ki tarah kaam kiya summer interns main, kyoonki maloom the ki main ek slump year main passout hone ja raha hoon, naukri milna bahut bada kaam hai.....infact humara batch to 2000 Rs main bhi kahi bhi naukri karne ko tayar tha, kai logo ne to bina salary ke keval workex ke liye hi naukri kari thi.....

Final year aaya , cvampus se kahi bhi placement nahi hua, par ek josh tha, ya fir ek optimism tha, ki itni ghisai hai thodi aur ghisani padegi... ghisa lete hain, fir wahi bhulawa ...ek baar naukri milne ke baad sab kuchh theek fir bas office aur office ke baad masti! Naukri lagi, par man maafik nahi, par isme us samay zada kuchh kar bhi nahi sakte the, akhir naukri to lagi, khoob kaam kiya aur khoob kaam karke keval ye pata laga ki jab waapis ghar laut kar aate hain to koi masti ka time nahi bach paata, par kuchh kiya bhi to nahi ja sakta tha , khud hi to bali chadhe the is raste par, aur royen bhi to kis se... kis cheez ke liye?

Aur dost ab aalam ye hai ki zindagi bas office aur ghar ke beech main fas kar reh gayi hai , cricket, cycle saari masti class 10th ke baad mano ruk hi si gayi ho... kayi baar kuchh karne ke liye kaafi bade ho chuke hote hain, is wajah se nahi kar sakte. maano ek daud si lagi hai, aadmi zindagi bhar underpaid hi rehta hai, paisa kamana, paisa achha mil jaaye to work satisfaction nahi hai, wo bhi mil jaaye to office main politics hai, wo bhi na ho to office itni door hai ki traffic ki wajah se lag jaati hai....

Haan yehi hai change, ya kuchh log ise improvement bhi kehte hain, improvement bas itna hai ki ab main apne pasie se bat khareed sakta hoon, pahla papa se request karni padti thi....par pahle us bat se khelne ka samay tha, ab wo nahi hai.......

Song Today: Ye tera ghar ye mera ghar...
Film: Saath Saath

Interviewing the King.....

Interesting article by BBC Correspondent John Simpson on one of his most difficult interviews ever with the Saudi King.

Read it here

Song Today: Jalta hai jiya mera bheegi bheegi raton main

Integrity Lost.......

Read this news on CNN-IBN.

This reminds me of one of the posts earlier by Rathi, where he writes:

zameer marta hua kisne dekha, marne ke daam mile to kya nahin bika...

How impotent can we get, this guy forgot about his kid, wife family, to save some lives, some people whom he doesn't even knew, and in the process lost his sight and one ear, only to receive a medal of honor from the Government... oh I forgot and a promise from the Govt to reimburse all the expenses that would be spent on his treatment , but today it is 2 years since he has been running from door to door, only to receive insults and some more false promises, wait a minute did I just wrote "insults" yes this is the word that is used in the news on the website, well I dont really know the source or the authenticity of this, but if anybody from the government has insulted this true Indian, then he needs to be hanged in Public.

I just hope that he gets his share of money from the Government after this news... sometimes the media is actually good!

Song Today: O meri Jaan....
Film: Life in ... a metro

Jab We Met

Saw Jab We Met yesterday, so here goes my review

I went to the movie theater thinking that a movie with Kareena and Shahid... hmmm I shouldn't expect much out of it, but I was wrong, apparently its a pretty nice movie. By the way for those who don't know , its a movie by the director of Socha Na tha... and that was an highly underrated movie.

Now coming back to Jab we met. The movie starts a little painfully with Shahid not opening his mouth for about 5-7 minutes (as he was ditched by a girl) and that starts to become irritating. And then enters Kareena, well at this point of time too I found the movie painful as she just kept chatting like a chatterbox.... but eventually you get tuned to it and starts liking it. The director has picked the star cast pretty carefully, Kareena who overacts in a number of movies doesn't seem to be doing that in this movie, as her role requires that. On the other hand Shahid has acted brilliantly, his facial expressions, his role of a young industrialist.

Watch the film for fun and you will like it, please do not try to go into facts like "this doesn't happen in corporate world" and "This is no way to run a company " as the film is not about that. Again the director like his previous movie has captured the indecisiveness in love of an individual pretty well. The movie is emotional but then too it doesn't get painful, there are some really hilarious moments too in the movie. Apart from this the Punjabi Culture and Sardars are shown well in the movie. Songs are good except the slower ones, at one time they just come back to back, so at that time maybe you can go out and grab a popcorn.

Overall a good movie I would give 4/5

Disclaimer: I liked this movie probably because I didn't expect much from a Shahid and Kareena movie. ;-)

Song Today: Tum Jo mil gaye ho....

Singer: Mohd. Rafi

Experiences with running - 4

One more weekend passed, and I am guilty that I didn't go for the RFL runs on both the days :-( I have been a bad boy lately just wanted to sleep little longer on the weekends... but this is hampering my running schedule so one decision made this weekend is no partying on the weekends and religiously getting up at 5:30 am and going for a run to Cubbon park on Saturdays and on Sundays for the RFL run!

However I ran with Nitin in and around Koramangla on Saturday, we covered around 10 - 11 Kms. Yes you are right this was a justification to overcome the guilt :P

Bangalore Marathon is announced as well, its on 9th December 2007, and the bangalore Ultra is on 16th December, i.e the very next week. So I have to be more sincere towards running.....

Chalo would tell about the success of my decisions made this weekend!

Song Today: Roz Roz aankhon tale
Film: Jeeva
Music: R.D. Burman

Tags....

I have been tagged by Pheonix. Now here comes the tough part, I have to write about five things, that I am fond of and then add adjectives to it as well! The example given in the original post: My super cool super fast car....I wish I had a red-coloured super cool super fast car.

Hmmm this is tough what am I fond of, so the list goes like this:

1. My azure Grey Swift....but my dream car is a Volkswagon Passat... ya I know thats too high a dream ;-) well I would rather lower my choice of the dream car on second thoughts and that would be a Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia :-P so that is more practical now.

2. Good friends... but I have lost many of them or maybe its that I think too hard, people are practical in relatioships but I am not, I guess its high time I need to be.

3. Parents and the most loving younger sister in this whole wide world, well I think I cant ask for more here... that would be too greedy!

4. The running stamina that I have developed in the last one year... but I would really want to do cycling like Lance Armstrong or run Ultra marathons like Paula Radcliffe. Ok the latest materialistic item of desire is the Polar RS 200sd Heart Rate Monitor (that is a gadget used in running for telling the heart rate, the distance and the speed!)

5. I take things really seriously at times, maybe I need to take a chill pill, and this chill pill I need to take more often now!

wooosh so done! well Thanks Pheonix you actually made me sit down and think about a lot of things! Probably a good self analysis is done today! :P

Song Today: Jalta hai Jiya mera bheegi bheegi raton main......

Meaning...

Everybody used to ask me the meaning of my name "Shantanu" and I always used to give the excuse "he was a king" coz I never knew the meaning.

Today Finally I found out! The credit goes to Google Blogsearch and Shantanu Rao.

The meaning is:

Shantanu: "the child of controlled passions"

hehehehehe Now I know the meaning

Song Today: Dil se re...
Film: Dil se..

Trip to "Wonder La"

Now don't laugh at that name , I know you are holding your stomach and laughing on me, that how can I go to a place named "wonder la". you haven't seen the logo of this place, now after this I am sure that you will start rolling on the floor. See this:




I got a call from an old school friend on Saturday night with the invitation to "Wonder La" well I was never keen on going to this part of Bangalore, the reason being I thought that I have long surpassed the age to visit these silly amusement parks (specially which has a silly looking monkey on their logo!). But then I thought that as it is I don't have any plans for Sunday so maybe I can try it. I reached "Wonder La" at around 11:00 am and we got the tickets and moved inside, only to find that atleast the entrance and the changing rooms are jam packed.... no the number of kids was very less as compared to the number of people of my age! I was pretty surprised to see so many people there as it is pretty far from Bangalore (around 30 KM). So here goes my review of the place:

Pretty nice place, the rides are good and some are pretty scary, the water park is the best part, and it is clean as well (which I never thought that it would be). They have watter osmosis plant, and a Laboratory for the water quality checks as well. Yes you are right I am those type of persons who want to bug people to the limit, and so I visited this laboratory and found the quality checks done there to be of awesome. I didn't believe myself when I saw the watch I ended up spending the whole day without getting bored. We returned Bangalore at around 6:00 pm and we were dead tired, and hungry as well... grabbed a pizza at Domino's.

So this was a short account of my visit to "wonder la". I know you are still laughing.... but believe me this is a nice place.

Song Today: Bol na Halke Halke...
Film: Jhoom Barabar Jhoom

Sheeshe ke Gharon main rehne waale........

This news item on BBC reminded me of an old saying " Sheeshe ke Gharon main rahne waale doosron par pathar nahi fekte" now the same fire is burning inside Pakistan , over 250 people died in separate incidents of clashes, and on the other hand our news channels failed to report all these.....

I guess they are still busy tracking the Shahid- Kareena Slipt and on the other hand campaigning for their new movie! Its high time all you responsible journalists..... stop making money and start reporting honestly

Song Today: Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam...
Film: Kagaz ke Phool

A chaotic Weekend... Thanks to our responsible Netas

Ek aur weekend gaya, kuchh khaas nahi kiya.
Saw Resident evil on Friday, and found it to be pathetic movie, looked like more of a comedy movie...
Saturday morning was exciting went for running with the RFL guys at Cubbon park, did around 10 Km
Shaam ko Pawan and the Joel gang ke saath party kari.....
I was planning to go for a run on Sunday early morning (as early as 5:30 am), but then I don't know why I ditched the plan, maybe wanted to sleep till late on Sunday.
Sunday der tak soya, fir breakfast / Lunch Koshy's par kiya, mera favorite Fried Eggs and toast!

par boss sunday ko Bangalore traffic ki lagi hui thi, There was some silly demonstration by the BJP supporters at Chinnaswamy stadium, and you could see the nuisance monger Netas all around the place. As a result of this the traffic was in a bad shape, lot of roads were blocked in and around MG Road, it took us approximately 30 minutes to come on the right track as the one way we were supposed to take was blocked because of this manace.

This is a big irony in India, we elect these illiterate fools (pronounced Netas) and after winning the elections they eat up our money (tax payers), I don't know how many of these Netas pay their taxes. Spoil the roads (by carrying out these processions) and create all sorts of problems for us (the Sunday traffic EXAMPLE). The junta really need to think and then vote......

Came back home and slept again, itna traffic ke baad aur kuchh jaan hi nahi reh gayi thi!

Song Today: Zindagi jab bhi teri bazm main
Film: Bazar

Calvin !

That is irritating!!!!!

1) You are waiting for the lift in your office, and along with you 15 more people are waiting, and there comes a girl, no she is not new to the building, she stands in the front row and as soon as the lift comes climbs on to it. What the heck, is she the only person in a hurry, and if yes then there is something called manners, she can atleast tell that she is in a hurry to the rest of the 16 fools standing and waiting for the lift!

2) You are standing on the right side of a red light and waiting for the light to become green so that you can take a "right turn" but then a yellow number plate "cab" comes from the left and plans to take a right turn, blocks all the traffic that is supposed to go straight, and it turn ends up blocking the traffic that was waiting for the right turn since a long time.

3) Waiting for the auto, finally it comes and you ask him "bhaiya xyz chaloge" he slows down and then just moves ahead, he can have the courtesy of saying atleast a "No"

4) The city buses which stops just after crossing the red light.

5) The cab drivers who doesn't respect the pedestrians, and in the morning and late nights the runners(since I am a runner, I have been nearly ran over by these "yellow" number plated vehicles a number of times!)

6) Somebody asking you "why do you run!" or this one is better how many more KGs do you want to lose (another comment on running)

7) Bangalore: It pours whenever you are planning to leave office, and you end up thinking all clothes wet.....what am I gonna wear to office tomorrow!

8) None of the auto fellows and the city buses listen to the police walah (pronounced as "Thulla"), and he takes out all his frustration and asks you to empty your wallet if he catches you! ;-)

9) Mondays!

10) The weird music people get fitted in their car and it suddenly starts playing when the car is in reverse gear, this really gets difficult if anybody is trying to do so late in the night.

11) the John Abraham (of Dhoom fame) bran of bikers, who get weird silencers put in their bikes.

12) The Yamaha RX100 breed of bikers who thinks that their bike is actually a dirt bike!

These were some of my thoughts, do drop in what irritates you the most in comments!!

Bangalore Ultra

The Bangalore Ultra marathon is on 16th December, not much time left now, I have already started practicing for the same. but still not decided what distance I would target, maybe depends a lot on my practice. Since Sunday I have started running at a higher pace, just to check my stamina.... and I found it to be good!

Now I aim to run around 5 Km daily at a good pace (approximately 10 km/hr).

So far so good! Will keep posting my experiences here!

Links:

• Bangalore Ultra

Training for Half Marathons (copied shamelessly from the Bangalore Ultra's Website)

• http://www.halhigdon.com/halfmarathon/index.htm
• http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/half_marathon.html
• http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_4/144.shtml
• http://www.marathonrookie.com/half-marathon-training.html
• http://www.marathon-training-program.com/training-program-for-half-marathons.html

Song Today: O meri Jaan
Film: Life in a.... Metro

My Experiences with Running: Part-3

Sunday I had a totally different experience, running with a group of people. I joined Runners For Life (RFL) some days back, this is a group of enthu runners in Bangalore, who keep organizing runs at different places. So this Sunday I decided to go for a run, I missed India's match (T20, India Vs Australia) on saturday just to sleep early as I was supposed to reach the venue (White field) at 6:00 am. The route was the same as that of the Bangalore midnight marathon.

Reached the venue and found that around 20 - 30 people were there, it was a great experience running with them, all this while I was used to running alone, but this time I had a lot of people to chat with while running, we chatted on a lot of topics from politics to Bangalore, but the hottest topic there was stretching exercises after running. However I didn't like the plan of running on road, but I guess the venue was Whitefield because of the rains. In the past the group had organized runs at some really good places like Nandi Hills, Bellandur, Chamundi Hills.

Every Saturday some people from the group meet in Indira Nagar to play hockey as well, no this is not because of the Chak De Fever, actually hockey is one of the best games for core strengthening, as you bend and run to drivel the ball. Lets see if I can make it there sometime or not!


On weekdays I am running in and around Koramangla with Rathi, Some guys from the RFL might join from tomorrow!

Overall it was a great experience, and looking forward for the run next weekend!

Links:
1) Runners for life
2) Bangalore Ultra Marathon


Song Today: Katra Katra
Music: RD Burman

"AN ECO-FRIENDLY BOMB"

I read a news article on ibnlive.com, Russia tests world's most powerful, eco-friendly bomb. Now what is an "eco-friendly" Bomb supposed to mean? I am pretty confused will it not hamper the surroundings, will it not kill people. Now atleast the Nations have a better justification to go on war!

The press release says that "dad of all bombs" is four times more powerful than the US "mother of all bombs." Now this is again Cold War in the making, what was that George W Bush and Vladimir Putin meet all about in the US?

These matters get really confusing at time, and to top it all "AN ECO-FRIENDLY BOMB" !

Song Today: Aise na Mujhe tum dekho...

Bangalore Traffic.......

The traffic in Bangalore has gone from bad to worse, during the rush hours it takes about an hour to travel 10 Kms, but we are only to blame for it, we fail to follow the traffic rules at times, with some or the other justification every time. But there are some really irritating things happening on the road while you are driving, atleast they are irritating for me.

1) The most irritating thing I find on the road are the BMTC buses, no they should be there but there should really be some kind if training for these BMTC bus drivers, they stop anywhere (I recall this is the problem with the Blue line buses in Delhi too).

2) The BMTC should really re review their bus routes at times the roads are too narrow and are not designed for buses to pass through them, and as a result whenever they stop on the bus stop, the whole traffic behind them stops!

3) During the rush hours the traffic cops switches off the red light and tries to manage the traffic manually, and when they do that they end up stopping the traffic for atleast 10 minutes, as a consequence the whole traffic floods the next traffic light and this continues.

4) Some auto walahs have sworn to themselves that they will always overtake from the left, even if there is scope on the right.

5) If the autowalah bangs you dont ever try to argue with him, just say thanks and try to get the claim from the insurance company, as the minute you stop to talk to him, atleast 50 auto walahs will surround you.... the same is true for the cab drivers

6) As a government norm every cab has to write a phone number saying that "if the driver is found driving negligently please call-----" but dont try to do that, as nobody picks up the phone on those numbers

7) Since the BMTC bus drivers are govt. employees so no police wala fines them... instead I have seen scenarios where the bus walah ends up abusing the "thulla"

8) Even if you are right there is no pint in arguing with the "Thulla" as most of the time he wont prefer to talk to u in Hindi / English, and if he talks then he ends up threatening you that he can frame you in false charge and since you are away from your hometown it would be best for you to just walk off.... this is the face of the protectors of Law here!

9) Its seems that the cabs in Bangalore just doesnt have any brakes in them, as I have seen numerous incidents where they jump the traffic light.

10) The state of pedestrians is really bad in Bangalore, it seems that none of the pedestrian light works here, I have seen foreigners crossing the road frantically! And they are talking about making Bangalore an international city!

BTW this post is inspired from Rathi's post on traffic read it here


Song Today: Do Naina aur ek kahani
Film: Masoom
Music: RD Burman

Red Fort: New Delhi

Was watching some of the photographs clicked by my friend Deepak, and loved this (A soldier on duty at Red Fort)one for some reason, maybe seclusion, sense of Duty.... or a lot of other adjectives

See his collection here: http://photocurry.blogspot.com

Song Today: Huzoor is Kadar bhi
Film: Masoom
Music: RD Burman

Hutch Delhi Half Marathon

I Registered for it today, it is happening on Sunday 28th October, still around 59 days to go for the big event. Well now that I have started running Marathons I have to run one of the biggest marathon organized in the country (the other I am planning is Mumbai Marathon). Initially I thought that going to Delhi just for a Marathon... but then I discovered the route plan of this marathon, and found that it would pass by India Gate, Rajpath..... and all those areas..... I got nostalgic, those clean big roads, and in front of you the India Gate, running on them would be too exciting.

And I think a couple of more people are enthusiastic about it, the list has Pandey, Nitin and Rajaram, lets see how many of us finally make it there but definitely it will be a great experience. And by the way a part of the registration fee is going to the charity as well, so kind of.... running for a cause!

So all you Marathoners see you in the capital on 28th October 2007!

Song Today: kanto se kheech ke ye anchal
Film: Guide
Music: SD Burman

Weekend Started

Chalo weekend aa hi gaya.... kuchh khaas to plan nahi kiya par haan is weekend ke liye intezaar kaafi kiya, kabhi kabhi lagta hai ki sab software mazdoor (aakhir hum rehte to dihadi par hi hain) Monday se hi friday ka wait karne lagte hain.

Aaj apun ne Heyy Babyy ki tickets bhi kara li hain, kaafi kismat waala tha ki Bangalore main mujhe Friday ke show ki tickets mil gaye hain. dekh kar kal review daal ta hoon!

Aaj kal running bhi achhi chal rahi hai meri, 8 se 10 KM to maar raha hoon daily, aur ab main apne aap ko us esteemed runner's club ke layak samajh sakta hoon.....

chalo zada kuchh hai nahi likhne kop.... kaafi din se kuchh likha nahi tha isiliye socha samachaar daal doon! Shayad is weekend ke baad kuchh hoga mere paas likhne ko...

Song Today: Tum aa gaye ho noor aa gaya hai
Film: Aandhi
Music: RD Burman

Chak De India....

Saw Chak De India this weekend and then again saw it with office colleagues yesterday! Pretty nice movies, read my review here. This movie has glamorized hockey which is exactly what the game needs, maybe we need to concentrate on other games as well apart from cricket. No I don't have any problems with the cricket and I follow the game and Sachin Tendulkar in particular pretty closely.... but we are like "Jack of all master of None" see Australia, they are the world champions in a lot of sports.

Yes I agree that Sports is not a successful career option in India... but then too we have people who dare to stand out of the crowd, people like Dhanraj Pillai and Baichung Bhutia. Just imagine the amount of hard work they might have put in their daily lives to reach that level, considering the fact that they were not playing cricket, and any other sport in India does not get sponsors, even Raghvendra Singh Rathore was able to go to the Olympics just because he was in the army and he had a secure job!

Lately the Indian Hockey federation is taking measures to promote this sport, the PHL (Premier Hockey League) which is organized every year is a wonderful tournament and we have some nice players playing them as well. My favorite team in the tournament is Shere Punjab!

And then came Chak De India which gave the much needed glamorization to the Indian Hockey, people have started acknowledging this game and the gorgeous girls definitely added up somewhere.....

Do see this movie, this is a perfect blend of :
Patriotism
Women's Liberation
and Promoting Hockey as a sport in India

No wonder this is our national game :-)


Song Today: Aasman ke baad shayad..
Film: Rockford

Feast your eyes on my latest sweetheart

So this is here, meri zindagi ki pahli car! Yes it is a Swift VXi (Azure Grey Color). was planning for the same since the last one year, did an extensive survey and market research on all the options that are available with Maruti as well as other brands. So here goes my experience:

Chevorlet Aveo UV-A
This car was about to get the honor of being my first car, but then I test drove it and found it to be pathetic, some of my observations
*bad build quality as compared to Hyundai Getz and Swift
*It had a 1.1 Litre engine, now that is the exact capacity of Santro's engine, no need to pay Rs 5 lac for a 1.1 Lt engine
* The body weight of the car is qyuite high due to which it suffers on pickup
*Didnt have any great mileage (even with a 1.1 Lt engine)

Zen Estillo
I considered this as well but this one never came close to that place, firstly it looks like an autorickshaw to me, and has an engine capacity of 1000cc so didnt find it worth the money, looks like a matiz to me!

Hyundai Getz
Good car, spacious, good pickup and has a 1.3 Lt engine but it suffers a lot on the mileage , Nitin has it so I know the biggest disadvantage of this car, but then too this one came quite close to that honorable place

Tata Indica
Good car, value for money, the petrol version has a good pickup and is fuel efficient too, but Dad already owns one so there is no point going for an Indica again.

Swift
I didn't used to like the shape of this car a lot, till the day I drove it, man this is an awesome piece of machine in 4.9 Lacs on road, awesome build quality, a tried and tested 1.3 Lt engine (the engine is Esteem's engine) so you don't have to worry about the performance of the engine. Awesome pickup, okish mileage and this car falls in the B+ Segment

So it is here now......keep watching this blog for more reviews

Song in Car: O meri Jaan
Film: Life in a....Metro

Yellow Journalism....

Finally CNN-IBN has also resorted to all kinds of yellow journalism, the latest Blog by their "star"reporter Sagarika Ghose (here) she has gone to the extent of genralizing that it is only Muslims who are getting punishments these days. Well according to me there is a way of visualizing the things that are happening in and around you. If a channel like CNN-IBN goes to the extent of saying that "Soon India's jails will be choc-a-block with Muslims." this can have serious effects on the society, whatever you are airing on the channel or writing on your website , affects ppeople in some or the other way.

A section of the Indian society might go to the extent of thinking that it is only our community that is being targeted by these judges and judiciary, but this is actually not the case, everybody who is guilty should be punished, and that guilty can be a Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian. Somewhat media is not playing the role it should play in today's time.

There is no point talking about the news channels like Zee news, Star News or even Aaj Tak for that matter, the level of news has gone so down that its practically like watching a "C" grade Bollywood movie (something like daaku Hasina ;-)). Now considering the type of news we get on channels like CNN-IBN, well I think they started off well but lately they have become the self proclaimed channel for giving verdicts, a news channel should only report news and not give its own opinion, or even if they are giving their own opinion, why are the opinions biased in case of the political party sitting in the center. They create a news and then they end up spending hours discussing about that news in the name of "Janta's Polls"

Its high time that these channels analyze themselves instead of airing advertisements like "awarded the best news channel of 2006" by the way who gives these awards, some organization like Filmfare, where Dharmendra never got a best actor award???

Angoor Khatte Hain.......

The Definition given by Wikipedia : Sour grapes is the false denial of desire for something sought but not acquired; to denigrate and feign disdain for that which one could not attain.The phrase is sometimes also used to refer to one expressing, in an unsportsmanlike or ungracious way, anger or frustration at having failed to acquire something.

Well now coming to the incident, Nitin and me thought that we would go for a long run on Sunday, and then we were not able to wake up early in the morning , so we thought that we would probably go at around 12:00 noon for a run! Rathi also joined us, we decided to go towards the outer ring road. Well we were not just running not even looking at the people passing by or the traffic but then too people kept saying "paagal hain" I recalled the phrase angoor khatte hain, this specially works with distance running, maybe a lot of people want to do it... secretly but then their reactions to your passion for running would be something like these:

1) Paagal hain
2) I dont think that I need to run (Well I never said that you need to run.....)
3) yaar itna patla hokar bhi kya karega (I don't know why people always relate running to losing weight)
4) yaar itna khaali time aa gaya hai kya? (well there is no free time, but if you want to do something you need to find time for it)

So you see in all these cases Angoor Khatte hain phenomenon is applicable! ;-)

Mota's Birthday!

Yesterday was Mota's birthday party, so we were all sent a mail stating that the venue of the party would be Thew Village Restaurant in Indiranagar. I went to Mota's office from MG Road and then we decided that we would go to Trupti (our house in Bangalore) and then we would head for the restaurant. No we were not tired , we just recalled that the cake from last night must be still in the refrigerator, so we thought of finishing that first before anybody else does. The traffic was bad, it took us almost an hour to reach home, but we were determined to eat the cake and so we did that as soon as we reached home!!

Soon after the cake was over Pawan Goel (of the Joel Gang!!) dropped in, with his naya hawai jahaj (thats his new SX-4), and soon we were heading for the Venue, in our way we were supposed to pick up Rathi near the Domlur Flyover. The time we spent in The Village was too good, soon me Rathi and Moti decided that its better if we just drom the main course and head staright for the deserts and at the end of it we ended up eating deserts as our Main course. Well just take an account, I can remember how mainy we ordered but

5 plates of Ras Malai
4 Gulab Jamoon
and I think it was 6-7 Kulfis!!!

Between the three of us, it was time to go back now!! oh I forgot the gifts Mota got!! two bouquets and one balloon!!!

When we reached home , we were so exhausted that sleeping was the best option we could think of... Mota went for net surfing as usual and me and Rathi went to sleep!!

So this was Mota's 28th Birthday!!

Rains.......

Lately Bangalore apne purane dino main waapis aa gaya hai, well this is one thing which I love about this city, it never rains in the morning when you are going to office and on the other hand it always rains in the evening when you plan to come back from work. Its 1:00 am in the night and its still raining.... last year it did not rain at all..... but the situation of rains in the north is really bad.........

Anyways coming back to the Bangalore rains...... by the time you wake up in the morning the streets would have a beautiful wet look... awesome sight to run on weekends. But after about a week of such rains in bangalore you feel bored, whenever you make a plan to go out ... its raining, another side effect of the Bangalore rains is that at the end of 5 days you dont have any clothes for left for office...either they are dirty with red stains or they are wet :(

chalo yaar kaafi raat ho gayi hai abhi sota hoon......
baaki samachar kal.......

Song Today: Ganpat
Film: Shoot out at Lokhandwala

School Days.....

While coming to office this morning I saw a group of kids waiting for their school bus, some of them started eating tiffin in the morning itself, I sort of got nostalgic seeing this. I never thought earlier that I would miss the aam ka achaar and the cold parathas that we ate during or lunch breaks in school. For the first time I was missing the fun of eating tiffin in school, finishing our tiffin and then targetting somebody else's, or on some days sharing the tiffin with friends, and still on some other days stealing and eating the tiffin of some people who used to bring good stuff, this act became such a big problem I remember that some people started putting a lock o their school bags ;-)

And then I realized that I still miss St Josephs' College a lot ( well thats my alma mater), Some things that I can recall are:

-the basket ball court
-the big football field where we spent more time fighting with the classmates than playing football
-calling father (principal) by the name of chongapati (our's was a catholic school)
-lighting crackers in school premises during diwali
-playing holi on the last day of school before the holi holidays
-coming back from school in 42 degrees celcius during summers when the roads were deserted and probably you and your friends are the only people cycling on the road
-saving 2 rupees and having samosa in the canteen
-the cricket match with the rival school I still remember that the enthusiasm was better than an India and Pakistan match
-Eating tiffin in class
-using HCL to make your 2 rupee coins shine ;)

Week end gaya....

Kya excitement tha boss... weekend aa gaya aur is weekend par to main bangalore main bhi hoon, wo bhi kuchh weekends the jab main Vienna main akela pada bore hota tha. Anyways kuchh khaas nahi kiya... Friday ko collegues ke saath party kari, 20 Ft high par, fir lakeview main awesome khana khaya, actually wo khana kam aur snacks zaada tha...but awesome isliye kyoonki ek triple sundae khaya aur ek vanilla. Well now I am back in shape and considering the fact that I have resumed my running also I think I can eat Icecreams "once in a while" (dil ke kuch rakhne ko ghalib ye khayal achha hai)

Fir raath ghar pahunch kar socha ki Pandey se bhi mil liya jaaye kaafi din ho gaye the us se mile hue, so Pandey ke ghar gaya.... aur fir wahan se hum airport gaye...kyoonki wahin raat bhar chai milti hai, kaafi achha laga shayad hum dono apni prayag station (Allahabad) waali sittings bahut miss kar rahe the, shayad apne ko upgrade karne ka hi ek anjaam ye tha ki hum pahle railway station par tiume pass karte the, par friday raat hum dono airport par kar rahe the ;) . Kaafi der batein ki...Ojha ki li....fir Varun ki bhi li....fir jab lene waalon ki list khatam ho gayi to ghar aa gaye!!

Saturday ko ghar par hi lot te rahe, film dekhi (Rang Birangi and Pushpak) kuchh khaas nahi kiya

Sunday ko Partner dekhi aur main aur Nitin kaafi zada pak gaye (see my review here)

aur aaj hai Monday , aaj se fir Dihadi shuru paanch din ke liye, aakhir hum hain to Software mazdoor hi.....

Subhash K Jha..... Awesome Masala....

Hey guys I am sure everybody by now is aware of the Subhask K Jha and Sonu Nigam episode.

There is some awesome Masala post I got on this website,

check it out... here

I was shocked to see good reviews for AAp K suroor movie in Times of India, well now I lknow the real game, the journalist is actually on payrolls of the singer turned actor.... that is why the film reviews in TOI are quite weird.....

Song Today: Ek Din...
Film: Naqaab

Nokia Siemens Networks

Nokia Siemens Networks, yes this is the new company formed after the merger of Siemens Communication and Nokia Networks aur main is company ka ek chota sa mulazim hoon, but these acts of mergers become a pain when you are explaining it to somebody who is not aware of this news. Last week I came back from Vienna, was very excited whole one week at home, nothing to work just eat and sleep! but there were moments when I needed to explain to certain people what is Nokia Siemens Networks. Take into account these real life conversations.

The first one happened at the Delhi airport when I was waiting for the flight to Lucknow.

A: So you are into IT?
me: Yes :)

A: Which company do you work for?
me: Nokia Siemens Networks :)

A: Oh you work for Nokia, that is really a good company.
me: No I work for Nokia Siemens Networks!

A: Which Company? Is it some startup
me :| (I knew that this guy knows nothing about both the companies and what they have been doing since the last one year)

me: Well.... This is a joint venture between Nokia and Siemens Communications.
A: oh.... ok, so now Siemens is taken over by Nokia, strange this is a big news didnt come in the newspapers
me: No this is not a take over this is a 50-50 JOINT VENTURE between the two companies
A: ok... but if this is not a take over then why does Nokia come before Siemens in the name?

I did not have any answer to this, probably this guy should ask the CEO!! Anyways the conversation is not ended here!

A: So now there is nothing like Siemens? The Whole Siemens empire is taken over by Nokia (mind he is still using the word Take over!!!)
me: No it is not like that, first of all this is not a take over, and only Siemens Communication has merged with Nokia.
A: Oh... I always thought that Siemens is more into making couplings and switchgear and not into software!!

anyways after this statement I thought that there is probably no point hitting your head against the wall, and I smiled and went to the counter to grab a samosa....bach gaya yahan par to....

Second scenario, I am in Lucknow, some of our family's distant acquaintance comes:

B: So beta aap kahan kaam karte hain ?
me: (in a fix after the delhi airport incident, should I tell Nokia, Siemens or Nokia Siemens?) uncle Nokia Siemens Networks

B: hmmm
me: :)

B: so what does your work involve?
me: I am into Softwares

B: oh I tell you these software guys are minting money!!! (quite of a statement!)
me: :)

B: So when does Nokia stop manufacturing Mobile phones and jump into softwares?
me: Well I think it was there in softwares since a long time, and by the way I I work for Nokia Siemens Networks , and not Nokia, which is a Joint Venture between Nokia and Siemens communications. This is only Siemens Communication and not the whole Siemens!!!! (its always saves time if you learn from your past mistakes ;)

B: Oh.... Ok so now you will be getting discounts on Nokia Mobile phones!!!! (what????? never expected this question!!!!!)
me: I don't know..... not through with the policies.

And I escaped from the scene, and the rest of the week I was never enthusiastic in meeting any uncle or aunts!!!

Trupti Runs !!!!

Well let me first throw some light on the topic of this post, to start with, Trupti is the name of the house where we stay in Bangalore (3rd Block Koramangla),that according to me used to have the best "nightlife" sometime back in Bangalore, now the next question arises why runs, well this is the name I thought for our runner's club in Bangalore. Majorly because it was started by the inmates from Trupti, however the initial inspiration are some other people who live quite far from This place. Now the members of this club:
Me
Nitin
Manoj (was already there ready to beat us!!!)
Rathi
Chota
Bhaiya

We have some other people also enthusiastic in joining this club, well this includes Gulli, PDey and Pandey!!! So we are finally successful in motivating some people around us for a healthy way of life. So I am all excited to go back to Bangalore and resume my running...."at the speed of chat" with the new club members! Well Guys me and Nitin can be sort of trainers to many people at least the starters, as we have learnt a lot of lessons regarding Injuries (Since I had a bad Muscle pull for sometime) and the dos and donts of distance running, now that we have successfully completed our First half Marathon too (The Bangalore midnight Marathon!)

But yes I have to get this name approved from other members of the club

So keep checking for updates on Trupti Runs!


Song Today:Mujhe tum yaad karna aur
Film: Mashaal

अब तक का समाचार........

कुछ खास नही किया दो तीन दिनों मैं , घूमा वियेना मैं और अब देस वापिस जाने का ecxitement , जनता भी वापीस बैंगलोर मैं इंतज़ार कर रही है। Party भी प्लान कर रखी है वापीस जा कर! आज मौसम काफी अच्छा है यहाँ आज सुबह से ही बारिश हो रही है, और काफी हद तक ठंड भी बढ गयी है, आज सुबह जैकेट पेहें कर ऑफिस आया । अब ज़ब्की ज़्यादा दिन नही बचे हैं वापीस India लौटने मैं, कल पता चला की अभी भी काफी सारी जगह हैं जहाँ घूमने जान बचा है। तो फिर अब उन जगह को भी कवर करना है, और क्यूंकी अब वापसी का समय आ गया है तो थोदु shopping भी करनी है......

चलो अब तक के लिए इतना ही... बाक़ी बाद मैं

गाना आज: ओ मेरी जान
मूवी: मेट्रो

Report from Vienna......

So here I am back with my account....in my Birthday week!!! No I am not that excited about it, never was, but then too this is the first birthday I would be all alone here in Vienna!!! Maybe will spend some time with myself. Anyways will get the wishes through mail and messenger, these things have really shortened the distance. Daily I exchange lot of hot and chatpata gupshups with Rathi, Mota and Akhil over the messenger thanks to Google! Oh I forgot will get loads of wishes through orkut too!!!! Thnx to orkut that people remember your birthdays now!!!

I remember we used to get excited about our birthdays when we were kids as this was the day we used to get gifts, and it was tough to make the final choice and tell it to mamma and papa that what do you want, maybe the prioritizing things worked there, and then the second priority used to automatically become the birthday gift for the next birthday, hmmm at least for the time being, till something else didn't come to mind or till something else wasn't seen at some friends place or somewhere!!!!

I remember when i was in class 5th I was very excited about my birthday because that was the first birthday I distributed sweets in my class, actually the Funda is My birthday is on 5th of July and the school almost always used to open on 8th or 10th of July after the summer vacations!!! so obviously the excitement used to fizz off..... That day I wore nice cloths and distributed melody in my school I still remember that!!!!!

hehehehehe so that was some blast from the past!!!

looking forward to going back to India now, I hope that should happen sometime next week.

Song Today: Kya yehi pyar hai
Film: Rocky

Saturday

Woke up at 9:00 am , wanted to sleep a little longer than normal, a typical in Trupti (my place in Bangalore) , or wanted to enjoy the weekend my way. Had to wash the clothes, so that was one task planned for morning as soon as I woke up. I had a hard time figuring out how to operate the washing machine, as everything was written in German, maybe here your common sense works, which button should do what, while I was trying to figure these things out I thought about the importance of English in our daily lives, maybe the people in Germany and Austria are realizing these facts now pretty late though, that is why they have made English Compulsory in their schools, anyways better Late than never. Finally I was able to wash the clothes, and it wont be this tough now at least for the two weeks to come.

Took a bath hastily as I had planned to go to the Danube Island festival , this is a festival being organized by the Austrian Tourism Deptt to promote Tourism every summer in the end of June, I was lucky to be here at around that time! I took a U-6 to Neou Donnou from Alser Srtasse , and then walked for about a KM to finally come to the place where this festival was. Now this festival was organized on an Island, on both the sides of this island is river Danube, pretty clean!

The festival was more sort of an advanced "mela" with people singing and dancing and there were lot of stalls of eatables, drinks etc. Roamed the whole of this "mela" it had different sections for "Jhoolas" "Khana Peena" and singing and Dancing, pretty nice place and unlike des it was clean also. At this point I thought that its not the infrastructure that makes a Nation an advanced nation , its actually the citizens who develop a civic sense in the due course of time that do! When the people stop screwing the infrastructure developed by the Government, or in other words by their own money (tax payers). back in Des a lot of money goes in to maintain the infrastructure screwed by the crowd. Anyways it was a nice place, I didn't have breakfast in the morning so had chicken sandwich and a Diet Coke, while buying the diet coke I again had a tough time trying to explain to the lady what I want, maybe here in Austria Coke markets Diet coke as Coca Cola "Light"! anyways I again thought its not the fault of Coke, maybe its English!! Everything was very expensive there so I settled for a sandwich and a Coke.

I roamed there for about 2.5 Hrs and then got bored, and moreover I was tired, thought that I would getr back to my Flat, watch some BBC and then go off to sleep, and then maybe in the evening I can again venture out somewhere on my own. I reached the Apartment at 3:30 pm and was very tired, didn't have the energy to make anything to eat... and I went to sleep.

I woke up at around 5:15 pm, felt fresh, turned on the television only to find out again that there is nothing which comes in English, so I again went back to the only English channel BBC WORLD, I am convinced that after watching BBC for 21 days here I can become an adviser to the Indian Govt on European Affairs, the Global Warming issue, European Union, Poland's threat of a Veto in the European Union........and the list goes on.

Just wanted to chill today at home and hence didn't go out anywhere, tomorrow is Sunday so I will again go to the Danube Island Festival and then to Stephanzplatz !

Song Today: Pyar ke Mod pe
Film: Parinda

Friday....

A not so busy day at office, had lots of chat with my colleagues here during Lunch, everybody was so eager to know more about India, and the ways of life there, that after sometime I felt as if some Martian has visited their company and they all are eager to know how we live on Mars. Everybody was so surprised about the high temperatures during summer in India as if they have never been taught that in Geography, atleast we were....one more reason to be proud of our educational system....maybe "Dil ko khus Rakhne ko Ghalib ye khayal achha hai" types! Found out from the chat that global warming is not at all any issue here for the common man in the developed nations, the ones which are contributing the most to the global warming, all they are doing is accusing the other nations of contributing to the Global Warming, maybe "Charity begins at home" funda should work here and people should become more and more aware of what to do and what not to do, for example I have observed here in Vienna that nobody switches off their car's engine when they are waiting for anything, I have seen people doing that for as long as 15-20 minutes!! maybe they are not affected by these temperature changes initially but ultimately we all have to realize that we are residing on earth and I am actually not a Martian.

After office I went to stephanzplatz to roam around, I somehow liked this place a lot, its so full of life, you get to see so many people from different countries there, and then finally I don't know why I met a lot of desi's there, there was this Desi Punjabi family who were frantically searching for some Indian restaurant, I had a lonely planet with me so I helped them out, but the price in the book was on the higher side, I told them, but it seems that they were se frustrated with the food here that they were willing to pay anything for the Indian food!!!! Came back home......watched some TV and then slept.

Song Today: Yaar bina chain kahan re..
Film: Saheb
Music: Bappi Lahiri

Vienna Day -III and IV

Day 3:

In the morning as usual I went for a run in my area, and then went to office, was a little late so the trains were pretty crowded and then I missed the S-Bahn to Strebersdorf I had to wait for around 20 minutes. Had some installation work in office and then had some spinach soup and bread in office for Lunch, the Spinach soup was bad , bread was......bread! left office at around 6:00 pm went to the apartment, sat there for some time and then started for Stephanzplatz, that is the same place I went to yesterday, liked it though as it had a lot of people and some people also performing some sort of short skits (more of a nukkad natak kind of thing in India). I passed time till 9:45 pm and then decided I would head back to the flat as I had office the next day.

Day 4:

Today I left office rather early, no didn't have any work, everybody was leaving early , so I thought I would do the same. I had a lot of time so I thought that I would visit Millennium City, this is a big shopping mall here. Went there, wasn't impressive if I compare it with the shopping malls in India, but the sight outside the mall was pretty scenic. Now this mall is just opposite to the Danube River and that is what makes it scenic, spent some time sitting by the river, and then I got bored so thought that I would head back to the mall. Went to Saturn (this is an Electronics Goods Store) checked out some digital cameras (Nikon L11 is what I chose finally). Also checked out the software and Computer Games section in the store only to find out that Nehru Place is the best place for these things. Came back to the flat was dead tired, but the time was still 7:30 pm, I went off to sleep, when I woke up it was 6:00 am in the morning!!!

Song Today: Karoge Yaad to...
Film: Bazar

Vienna DAY- II

I went to office today, the Siemens office I was supposed to go to was at the end of the city, so I didn't knew how much time it would actually take, got up at 5:30 in the morning, and then went for a run (as usual!!) and left the apartment at around 7:00 am. Then I went to the nearby U-Bahn station Alser strasse and trook the train to Floridstorf, now this is the station where was supposed to change the train to Strebersdorf, I took an S-Bahn to the required station and reached the office, only to find out that this time again I was over cautious and reached there at 7:35 am and nobody from my team had come, at 8:00 am one of the persons came and I was allowed to go inside. Was a nice day at work, some installation ToT and installation of C-NTDB and some chat with friends in India.

Left the office at 4:00 pm as I had to go to the American Express Bank to get the travelers cheques I was carrying encashed. Now this place (Stephanzplatz) is the heart of Vienna City, it was more sort of Brigade Road in Bangalore there was a big church, and a lot of Tourists, was more sort of fashionable place than anything interesting, had a lot of Beer cafes and branded stores (mostly fashion brands).

I reached the Apartment at around 9:15 pm and it was still day outside, after a busy day I am tired and planning to go to sleep, looking forward for Tomorrow's run in the morning and then office!!

Song today: Jalta hai Badan
Film: Razia Sultan

First Day in Vienna

Well I took the 2:00 am flight to Paris, it was an Air France flight to Paris. I must say that except the in flight entertainment the Kingfisher flights are much better, got Hindu food on board (that is what they call food which doesn't have beef, but this doesn't make sure that it doesn't have non veg) since I am not that rigid about veg or non veg I ate it...didnt like it much though. The flight was long around 9 hrs and 45 minutes and then the flight took off late from Bangalore and hence I was worried to catch the connecting flight to Vienna, I landed at the Paris airport (Charles De Gaul) and then rushed to the terminal 2D this was where I was supposed to get my flight, but I just managed to get on time there and boarded the flight

I reached Vienna airport collected my Luggage, I was sort of worried for the Luggage as for some of my colleagues who traveled to Vienna earlier the Luggage didnt come on time, but thankfully for me I got my Luggage!!! Took a taxi to the apartment where I wa supposed to stay! The apartment is huge a 3 BHK and I am the only person in it...." bhoot ki tarah Gjoomta rehta hoon!!" But no doubt the apartment is very good

Went for a run too in the evening or rather in the night, the sun sets here at around 9:00 pm . So I have a lot of time to roam around!

Will keep updating this blog!! So keep checking!

Song Today: Huzoor is kadar bhi na itra ke chaliye
Film : Masoom

Rajnikant the Superstar!

I got this forwarded mail from one of my friends. Rajnikant is definitely a super duper start of Tamil Cinema, just see the crowd that came yesterday (Bangalore, Forum Mall) to get the tickets for his new movie Sivaji!!!! God man I practically jumped on my chair after seeing this snap (taken by one of my friend) . Well some facts the total cost for the movie is around Rs 95 Crores, with Rajnikant charging around 35 crores for this one. After this release he has left all the great stars behind!!!

He is definitely a god here in the south! Earlier this year some scenes of his recent flick were leaked and came on you tube. The producers decided to remove those scenes from the movie and re shoot those parts, at that time only the cost crept up to 65 crores, and now the final figure is 95 crores!!!!! no wonder that the producers got such a huge opening to Sivaji. It is already a hit in the south, and Rediff says that the movie is good too!!!!

Some More Snaps:
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Phase I: Preparing for Vienna

Leaving for Vienna this weekend for some project work, this was pending since a long time, I guess earlier the travel was scheduled in the first week of May and then it got postponed to the last week of may, and now finally the tickets have arrived, leaving on 16th night, well technically speaking in the wee hours of 17th (2:00 am). Heard that it would be too hot in Vienna, well considering the heat wave in North India I was sort of confused, "Hot in Vienna ???" but then I did some survey on google and found out that the temperature would be in the range of 15-17 degrees celcius. And by the way I that is pleasant in India, or rather I should say that is the type of temperature we experience in North India in the months of November and early December, aur usmain hum log "Half sweater" pehen kar school jaaya karte the!!!

Anyways so the schedule is I will be flying to Paris, there would be a three hour wait at the Paris Airport, and then I will take a flight to Vienna. Ab baaki samachaar Vienna se...........

Song Today: Ye Mera Dil to Pagal hai...
Film: Gardish
Singer: SP Balasubramanayam

Running an absurd pastime

"They say running is an absurd pastime, a means of exhausting yourselves. But if you can find meaning in the kind of running that you do, then chances are you will also find meaning in that other absurd pastime – life" – Bill Bowerman. track coach for University of Eugene, Oregon, who also trained America's distance prodigy Steve Prefontaine and co-founder of Nike.

By the way I am running 8 KMs daily......heard that a Marathon is scheduled on 15th July in Mysore, so planning to be there!!