The drudgeries of life
Friday, May 25, 2007
Accident prone
So it finally happened!
It was bound to happen sometime or the other but didn't expect it exactly one year after the last one!
That time it was Amod's new Pulsar, this time round it was mine!
Last time the speed at which it happened was 50 kmph... this time round, a measly 10 kmph! How embarrassing!
If I had Rishabh sitting behind me then, Varun was the unlucky passenger yesterday!
Both times, the fall was lucky in that we didn't have any vehicles tailing us, or else we were goners for sure!
Still have a big scar from that accident... all I took home yesterday was a scraped up palm! And oh yeah! Varun ended up with a small gash on his butt :p (but then it was so small that he realized it only after we reached home, so...)
The best part is that not a single scratch mark could be found on the vehicle, and you can be sure I scanned it thoroughly!
But I guess I'm jolted back to reality and I'll be playing Mr. careful for some time!
Luckily, I can still play the guitar, workout and do all the things I did before the incident! Just that setting my hair is a painful affair now! Ouch!!
And today in a badminton game, I smashed my heavy duty racquet into the head of my poor partner... both of us went for the shot at the same time and WHAM! He was down! Not that I'm boasting but I put every bit of my muscle power into the shot and it must've hurt bad! Luckily, he escaped with just a big fat bump on his head! Sorry mate!
Some end to a busy week! Planning to watch Shootout at Lokhandwala, and indulge in loads of bakar tomorrow and the day after! Happy weekend everyone!
It was bound to happen sometime or the other but didn't expect it exactly one year after the last one!
That time it was Amod's new Pulsar, this time round it was mine!
Last time the speed at which it happened was 50 kmph... this time round, a measly 10 kmph! How embarrassing!
If I had Rishabh sitting behind me then, Varun was the unlucky passenger yesterday!
Both times, the fall was lucky in that we didn't have any vehicles tailing us, or else we were goners for sure!
Still have a big scar from that accident... all I took home yesterday was a scraped up palm! And oh yeah! Varun ended up with a small gash on his butt :p (but then it was so small that he realized it only after we reached home, so...)
The best part is that not a single scratch mark could be found on the vehicle, and you can be sure I scanned it thoroughly!
But I guess I'm jolted back to reality and I'll be playing Mr. careful for some time!
Luckily, I can still play the guitar, workout and do all the things I did before the incident! Just that setting my hair is a painful affair now! Ouch!!
And today in a badminton game, I smashed my heavy duty racquet into the head of my poor partner... both of us went for the shot at the same time and WHAM! He was down! Not that I'm boasting but I put every bit of my muscle power into the shot and it must've hurt bad! Luckily, he escaped with just a big fat bump on his head! Sorry mate!
Some end to a busy week! Planning to watch Shootout at Lokhandwala, and indulge in loads of bakar tomorrow and the day after! Happy weekend everyone!
Labels: Deja Vu, Experiences, Mess
Monday, May 07, 2007
Weekend Blues
Monday!!!
This might've sounded like Garfield's take on the first working day of the week, but it isn't! I hold an entirely different opinion about Mondays. In the words of the Frenchmen, "J'aime le jour de Lundi"!!
I'm tired and I have good reason for it! Of late, weekends seem to be the stress inducers instead of being the stress busters!
Not long ago, we used to look forward to Saturdays and Sundays, the countdown for the weekend being the sole purpose of surviving the gruelling weekdays! The scenario has changed drastically these days! Weekends now seem to be more hectic than the normal weekdays! Take the last couple of days for instance...
Anurag's birthday party on Saturday, hosted at a posh hotel, was the perfect way to enjoy the evening. Lots of fun and frolic, leg-pulling, good food, a couple of shots of Vodka, and a very happy ending in the form of the bill amounting to 4K! LoL! Yes, it was worth every moment! Felt good to know that I had the same control over my senses which I used to have back at college, and felt as sober as a teetotaler by the time I reached home after a long drive!
Sunday was very hectic! Caught the matinee show of Spiderman 3 and though everyone has been criticising the movie, I liked it! Okay so it was lengthier (it is almost 2.5 hours long) than its prequels and had it's share of melodrama, but then the story has been dealt with fine enough! Girls can't stop gushing over James Franco, so our super-hero has to find solace in all the attention the kids have to offer! Kirsten Dunst... pretty in a typical way but I somehow don't like her much! Bryce Howard... yeah! Now she's a babe! Ahem! Anyway, all I want to say is that if you're keeping great expectations after watching the promos and trailers, please don't! I'm no sadist to spoil the fun by narrating the story here... and there's a lot to describe anyway:p So do let me know how you guys felt about the flick!
Went shopping in the blazing heat and planned to alter the decor of our room in the evening! But that was not to be! Ever heard of those doors with self-locking mechanism which when locked cannot be opened from the outside unless you have the key? Well, Anand and my room has exactly that kind of a door... and just when we were ready to call it a day and turn in, we found that the door was locked and we had no key! Me and my roomie found ourselves roomless! Greattt! Inspired by all those novels I've read, I tried to pick the lock but it seemed to have too many levers and I gave up after an hour! My elderly landlord had gone to bed and he lived 10 miles away, so save for the option of breaking down the door, the task I was in the mood to undertake, we had no other choice!
Anyway, frustrated though we were, the locked room saw all 6 of us flatmates having a wonderful bakar session in Arjun and Ankur's room! This was something which we hadn't done for ages... always some of the guys used to be missing! We talked about and laughed over incidents from college, discussed crushes, and this went on till past 1 AM! Wow! And we all are early sleepers!
Come Monday, we got the room keys from our landlord, unlocked the door, cleant up and beautified the room, and left for office after 1 in the afternoon! Not much work except for a status call at about 10 PM :( So spent the whole day going through a compensation review document and working out how much extra moolah we're in for:D!
Anyway, a lot has been happening recently and not all of it is sexy, but even though I curse and fret in the heat of the moment, in the end I tend to accept my Mom's standard line, "Everything happens for the best" :)
This might've sounded like Garfield's take on the first working day of the week, but it isn't! I hold an entirely different opinion about Mondays. In the words of the Frenchmen, "J'aime le jour de Lundi"!!
I'm tired and I have good reason for it! Of late, weekends seem to be the stress inducers instead of being the stress busters!
Not long ago, we used to look forward to Saturdays and Sundays, the countdown for the weekend being the sole purpose of surviving the gruelling weekdays! The scenario has changed drastically these days! Weekends now seem to be more hectic than the normal weekdays! Take the last couple of days for instance...
Anurag's birthday party on Saturday, hosted at a posh hotel, was the perfect way to enjoy the evening. Lots of fun and frolic, leg-pulling, good food, a couple of shots of Vodka, and a very happy ending in the form of the bill amounting to 4K! LoL! Yes, it was worth every moment! Felt good to know that I had the same control over my senses which I used to have back at college, and felt as sober as a teetotaler by the time I reached home after a long drive!
Sunday was very hectic! Caught the matinee show of Spiderman 3 and though everyone has been criticising the movie, I liked it! Okay so it was lengthier (it is almost 2.5 hours long) than its prequels and had it's share of melodrama, but then the story has been dealt with fine enough! Girls can't stop gushing over James Franco, so our super-hero has to find solace in all the attention the kids have to offer! Kirsten Dunst... pretty in a typical way but I somehow don't like her much! Bryce Howard... yeah! Now she's a babe! Ahem! Anyway, all I want to say is that if you're keeping great expectations after watching the promos and trailers, please don't! I'm no sadist to spoil the fun by narrating the story here... and there's a lot to describe anyway:p So do let me know how you guys felt about the flick!
Went shopping in the blazing heat and planned to alter the decor of our room in the evening! But that was not to be! Ever heard of those doors with self-locking mechanism which when locked cannot be opened from the outside unless you have the key? Well, Anand and my room has exactly that kind of a door... and just when we were ready to call it a day and turn in, we found that the door was locked and we had no key! Me and my roomie found ourselves roomless! Greattt! Inspired by all those novels I've read, I tried to pick the lock but it seemed to have too many levers and I gave up after an hour! My elderly landlord had gone to bed and he lived 10 miles away, so save for the option of breaking down the door, the task I was in the mood to undertake, we had no other choice!
Anyway, frustrated though we were, the locked room saw all 6 of us flatmates having a wonderful bakar session in Arjun and Ankur's room! This was something which we hadn't done for ages... always some of the guys used to be missing! We talked about and laughed over incidents from college, discussed crushes, and this went on till past 1 AM! Wow! And we all are early sleepers!
Come Monday, we got the room keys from our landlord, unlocked the door, cleant up and beautified the room, and left for office after 1 in the afternoon! Not much work except for a status call at about 10 PM :( So spent the whole day going through a compensation review document and working out how much extra moolah we're in for:D!
Anyway, a lot has been happening recently and not all of it is sexy, but even though I curse and fret in the heat of the moment, in the end I tend to accept my Mom's standard line, "Everything happens for the best" :)
Thursday, April 26, 2007
What the ....
Ok! So that wasn't a very appropriate title! But then, that's what I've been finding myself saying a lot lately! The various phrases which can be the elongated versions of the abbreviation wtf sure are useful when it comes to echo all sorts of feelings and emotions! Here's one lengthy account of a mood spoiler:
My alma mater, Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology (read DA-IICT), Gandhinagar, a world class private college, was set up by one of the greatest visionaries of our time, and hence we find his name appended to the title! Well at this point I'd like to mention anything I say about my college cannot be considered biased just because I spent four years there. Frankly speaking, I hadn't heard of the institute before it's application form was shoved in my face more than 5 years ago by worried parents and relatives... worried because the only entrance exams I was ready to make an appearance in were IIT-JEE and AIEEE; worried because they wanted to make sure a reckless me had a back-up in case I flunked both the tests. My argument was that I wanted no distractions and I'd prefer to concentrate on the two exams... who'd want to appear for the test of this DAI-whatever college which is barely a year old?! Dammit even the name seemed so long that you could hardly remember it! Not for me, I had declared putting my foot down! But then, parents and relatives are people not to be put off so easily... they stood their ground, I shrugged and gave in... I still pat myself on my back (a rather painful task but what the heck!) for that, and feel a sense of gratitude towards my folks! DA-IICT was the best thing that happened to me...
Anyway now is not the time to delve into the past and get nostalgic. The main reason why I'm posting about the college is the recent news which is doing the rounds... DA-IICT is all set to become a bloody state-run institute; admission to the courses to be through the Gujarat Common Entrance Test, the GCET; the bill proclaiming all this is just one step away from becoming effective! Fuck! The people who matter, the people who should actually be fighting to prevent this from happening seem to be oblivious to the developments!
Take Anil Ambani for instance. The institute comes directly under his purview, thanks to the rift with his elder brother Mukesh in which the younger sibling managed to bag a pittance but which is quite a lot really. Anyway, whatever the case, this institute was his late father's dream and anyone would've thought he'd make sure no harm comes to it. But no siree! He almost turned a blind-eye towards the whole affair (almost because sources have it that he summoned a hurried meeting to discuss the issue... just to showcase the fact that he cares, I guess)! But the fact is that he doesn't care... pray tell me why else did the younger Ambani fail to attend our convocation ceremony which would've cost him a measly 2 hours of his precious time, but on the other hand, he made it a point to be attend the Abhi-Ash marriage function; not just attend it, mind you, but he was sticking around for God knows how long... as if it were his own fucking marriage! Mr. Ambani, I have just one thing to say to you... DA-IICT deserves much better than you can offer; It makes me sad to say that the government taking over the college sounds better than leaving it under your control.
As for the present director of the insti, just calling him the director makes me want to puke! Don't know where they brought him from but he doesn't know shit about managing an institute, let alone protect it from befalling such doom! He's unworthy of the seat which an able predecessor vacated... I so wish Prof. Arvind Kudchadker was there to look after the institute which he set-up, established almost single-handedly!
So that's the sad story! Once the bill is ratified, the college will become a full fledged college for the people of Gujarat... I'll be surprised if a handful of outsiders make it there! The very best of the professors, hand-picked and recruited by our ex-director, are already on the move... some have joined other colleges (why won't they?!) and the others will follow suit soon enough! Top students would prefer other colleges too! Can't expect much from the state goverment too! There goes any chance of DA-IICT becoming the world-class institute which many had envisioned... dreams shattered in a jiffy!
Woe is me! It feels so terrible to be helpless! God save DA-IICT from this mess!
My alma mater, Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology (read DA-IICT), Gandhinagar, a world class private college, was set up by one of the greatest visionaries of our time, and hence we find his name appended to the title! Well at this point I'd like to mention anything I say about my college cannot be considered biased just because I spent four years there. Frankly speaking, I hadn't heard of the institute before it's application form was shoved in my face more than 5 years ago by worried parents and relatives... worried because the only entrance exams I was ready to make an appearance in were IIT-JEE and AIEEE; worried because they wanted to make sure a reckless me had a back-up in case I flunked both the tests. My argument was that I wanted no distractions and I'd prefer to concentrate on the two exams... who'd want to appear for the test of this DAI-whatever college which is barely a year old?! Dammit even the name seemed so long that you could hardly remember it! Not for me, I had declared putting my foot down! But then, parents and relatives are people not to be put off so easily... they stood their ground, I shrugged and gave in... I still pat myself on my back (a rather painful task but what the heck!) for that, and feel a sense of gratitude towards my folks! DA-IICT was the best thing that happened to me...
Anyway now is not the time to delve into the past and get nostalgic. The main reason why I'm posting about the college is the recent news which is doing the rounds... DA-IICT is all set to become a bloody state-run institute; admission to the courses to be through the Gujarat Common Entrance Test, the GCET; the bill proclaiming all this is just one step away from becoming effective! Fuck! The people who matter, the people who should actually be fighting to prevent this from happening seem to be oblivious to the developments!
Take Anil Ambani for instance. The institute comes directly under his purview, thanks to the rift with his elder brother Mukesh in which the younger sibling managed to bag a pittance but which is quite a lot really. Anyway, whatever the case, this institute was his late father's dream and anyone would've thought he'd make sure no harm comes to it. But no siree! He almost turned a blind-eye towards the whole affair (almost because sources have it that he summoned a hurried meeting to discuss the issue... just to showcase the fact that he cares, I guess)! But the fact is that he doesn't care... pray tell me why else did the younger Ambani fail to attend our convocation ceremony which would've cost him a measly 2 hours of his precious time, but on the other hand, he made it a point to be attend the Abhi-Ash marriage function; not just attend it, mind you, but he was sticking around for God knows how long... as if it were his own fucking marriage! Mr. Ambani, I have just one thing to say to you... DA-IICT deserves much better than you can offer; It makes me sad to say that the government taking over the college sounds better than leaving it under your control.
As for the present director of the insti, just calling him the director makes me want to puke! Don't know where they brought him from but he doesn't know shit about managing an institute, let alone protect it from befalling such doom! He's unworthy of the seat which an able predecessor vacated... I so wish Prof. Arvind Kudchadker was there to look after the institute which he set-up, established almost single-handedly!
So that's the sad story! Once the bill is ratified, the college will become a full fledged college for the people of Gujarat... I'll be surprised if a handful of outsiders make it there! The very best of the professors, hand-picked and recruited by our ex-director, are already on the move... some have joined other colleges (why won't they?!) and the others will follow suit soon enough! Top students would prefer other colleges too! Can't expect much from the state goverment too! There goes any chance of DA-IICT becoming the world-class institute which many had envisioned... dreams shattered in a jiffy!
Woe is me! It feels so terrible to be helpless! God save DA-IICT from this mess!
Labels: DA-IICT, Frustration, Mess
