One Inauguration, so many questions

President-elect Barack Obama’s journey to drop the “-elect” from his title started with a 137 mile train journey from Philadelphia to Washington D.C., which took about 7 hours (that’s about 32 kmph. And we Indians thought Barshi Light was slow). My question is:

Was he sitting in the train looking at his watch and going, “48 hours till I can ride the Air Force One, 47 hours till…”?

We have seen all the film award shows put musical performances before the Big Four awards to increase the suspense. Just like that, after swearing in the Vice President, there was a musical performance.

Does the president-elect think at this point, “let’s get this done already”?

Can a close friend of the president-elect (or better yet, soon-to-be ex-president) turn around and go “Once more” after the performance is over, just to pull president-elect’s leg?

After the swearing-in ceremony is over, the president was shown inside the Capitol signing some documents. Of these options discussed in our office, which do you think describe the documents he was signing:

a. Lease for the White House, Air Force One, Marine One etc.

b. HR documents

c. Benefits documents

d. Just some papers he doodled on so that photographers can get shots of him signing something.

Meanwhile, people on the ground had other concerns. Bars open 24 hours, sub-zero temperatures and (despite this being the costliest inauguration yet)  one port-a-potty for about 6000 people on an average. I will leave you to complete that thought.

And while we are on the thought of bars, the president has to attend 10 official balls on the same day. This, plus 24 hours open bars: does the entire country wake up with a serious case of Januarythefirstitis on 21st January every four years?

 

- The Great Eagle Has Spoken

 

P.S. Obama vs Congress chess? What an idea…

The Year is Over, Long Live The Year!

The Year That Was:

Personally, after last 2 years, 2008 was not a bad year for me. But then, I can imagine why some people felt like doing this:

 

On the positive side (just as a sample), India had the biggest medal haul in Olympics in its history of participation, (which included a gold medal after 28 years, and first personal gold). Viswanathan Anand successfully defended his World Chess title, and continues his third year at the top of ratings. And there is a piece of Indian technology in the form of Chandrayaan I, which is orbiting around the moon right now, and will continue for next 2 years.

On the negative side were (at the very least) last 40 days of the year, when India faced a horrific terrorist attack, and Pakistan government continues to change its stance with about the same frequency as the dress changes of actors in a typical Bollywood masala movie song, most of the times coming out as equally ridiculous (sorry, this is not a political blog). And then again, there is the looming (or rather, continuing) shadow of economic disaster (to say the least).

And then there was this:

The Year That Will Be:

So, here’s hoping all of you Have a Very Happy New Year!

May all

- feel safe in their homes and outside it

- prosper, keep your jobs and find new ones you like

- (and last but not the least) get what you wish for this year. And that means keeping your resolutions too.

- in short, be happy.

As for me, I think I will follow Chintoo’s aai’s advice and will “take the year as it comes”.

 

- The Great Eagle Has Spoken

 

* Translation for Chintoo comic:

1. Chintoo: In this year I will…

     Mother: Don’t decide anything.

2. Mother: You don’t follow your resolutions.

     Chintoo: All right.

3. Chintoo: I had decided to eat all vegetables in this coming year. :(

Definitely Not 42

And here is your this week's supply of completely random questions which probe into the deeper mysteries of life:

• Why didn't I go to a highschool in a(ny) serial on US television?
  
  Corollary: Where do all highschool kids in Indian television serials go to "learn"?
  
  Corollary to corollary: Are there any highschool kids on Indian TV?


• Is there some Murphy's Law which gets you ambushed by heavy rain when you are about five minutes walking distance from home, on the very day that you don't take your jacket with you?
  
  If not, is it too late for me to start a list of Fleiger's Laws? (Yes, before you ask, the law will mention the fact that the rain will stop when you are soaking wet, and about 10 meters from your door)
  
  Or, like faces on currency notes, is it a requirement that you can only compile lists post-mortem?


• How do you have simple spelling and grammer mistakes (not to mention complete and obvious lack of research) on the websites of (admittedly) major newspapers?
  
  How come a newspaper reporter and/or editor does not know that Aamir Khan was blogging way before Amitabh Bachchan started, and not the other way round?


• Why does every episode of CID end in such a lame fashion?
  
  In how many ways can you say "You will [go to jail, hang]" before it starts getting repetitive and boring?
  
  Can once in a while a criminal confess before the officer of appropriate gender moves his/her hand near the criminal's face with some force? And why do killers start crying, and confess after just one slap?


• Read on a bus window: "Please keep all body parts out of window opening." Am I crazy or does that sound extremely uncomfortable, not to mention, dangerous?

The regular programming will continue soon.


- The Great Eagle Has Spoken

And That Was A Great Saturday

They say that everything happens for a reason. Missing a bus last week made me catch the metro (which adds 30-40 minutes to my travelling time, and triples the cost), when I saw the poster for Armed Forces Open Day, which included an airshow.

By now you must know that for me an airshow is like offering a chance for an average Indian man to go into the dressing room of Indian cricket team. Or like offering a backstage pass for a VS fashion show to an average teenager. It took me two seconds to find a seat. It took me considerably less time to decide to attend the show.

They say that the best laid plans never survive first contact with morning (I may have been paraphrasing). I saw my "planned" metro leaving the station while still outside. Which meant I was to reach the AFB half an hour later than I intended. But it was worth it.

Spending ages in front of a flight simulator doesn't even come close to seeing the actual fighters. You have to see them up close to see how superb F/A-22 looks. Or how JSF looks. Or a C-130, F-4, Hurricane or Spitfire. Or a Harrier, F-14, cockpit of A-10 and F-16. Or how Blue Angels "perform".

Let's just say that I could not get the end of Blue Angels on ground because I ran out memory card in my camera. This was just one of those times which push me to get an SLR without looking at the price-tag.

Here's just a small sampling of my 6 hours yesterday:









Surprisingly, this was my first airshow, not counting the impromptu show we saw in Hyderabad when Suryakiran team was practising before their Afro-Asian Games performance (the ground is just round the corner from Hyd Infy office).


- The Great Eagle Has Spoken

P.S. The show was also worth the knowledge that I can get sunburned. Ouch!

That "Gedanke" Part Chapter I

Today's Chapter: "Inspired" Thoughts


You start a blog, and name it "Random Thoughts". You start writing, and after some time find that the thinking is becoming a bit too structured, and there is no place for "random" thoughts any more on your blog.

So, here's a place where I dump all those titbits and one-liners (which I came up with during my endless net-surfing and intermittent TV) which wouldn't have made it on their own:

• Kusum recently blogged about the lesson she learnt on the first day of school: "Let Sleeping dogs lie". What she forgot to mention is that this is the motto of the sister school of Hogwarts, the one for muggles and squibs.


• The review of "Mrityunjaya" on Lazy Habits was picked up by some blog directories. Among "Related Posts" were posts about Rakhi Sawant. Mahabharat and Rakhi Sawant... Can you think of more unrelated topics?


• Things I learnt from watching ads: in 1940s, a part of your annual car insurance would pay for a home in Beverly Hills. Either insurance rates have gone down a lot or real estate is getting way expensive.


• Where do ghosts get their powers? Why should the ghost of a person killed by falling weight be killing others by burning them (either that or electrocution through hand)? Where's the justice in that? Or is it just for sadistic pleasure of the ghost? In which case, I need to ask again, where's the justice in that?


• A lot has been written about the guys who write captions (subtitles) for hindi movies, making makhna into buttercup and so on. But their cousins in closed-captioning jobs are no less entertaining. How else can you explain the line I read during recent telecast of EPL? "Two girls in EPL for XYZ this season". As if we didn't know how football players "score".


• Ever wonder how Shahrukh Khan's sister would look like (well, I know everybody has seen the forward thousand times till now, but still)? Ever wonder who would be cast in the remake of "Duplicate" with elements of "Twelfth Night" mixed in? Wonder no more... (Picture picked from an ad in local newspaper)

- The Great Eagle Has Spoken

Quote of The Day:

This is my answer to the gap between ideas and action - I will write it out.
- Hortense Calisher

नभः स्पृशं दीप्तम्।

The Indian Air Force celebrates the 75th Anniversary of its inception today.

Starting with six officers and four Westland Wapiti IIA biplanes, the IAF has come a long way. With exceptional men piloting and maintaining the machines, IAF has frequently proven its superiority even over more advanced machines. In today's world where the supremacy of airspace is important, IAF is led in its quest for latest technology by air superiority fighters like Su-30MKI and multi role combat aircrafts like MiG-29 and Mirage 2000.

With Tejas replacing the mainstay of IAF (and the cause of many a controversies) MiG-21 by 2010, and possible development of fifth-generation of fighters with Russia, as well as indigenous MCA, IAF is set to continue defend India's airspace for years to come, as they have admirably done till date.

Here's to heroes in the air from an ex-NCC cadet (Air Wing) and a flight-sim fan (not to mention a Su-30 fan).


- The Great Eagle Has Spoken

P.S. Interestingly, this also marks 75 published posts on this blog.

Stat-isfactory or...

If you care about your blog as much as I do (i.e. if you crave attention as much as the next blogger), I am sure then you would be checking your stats, err... your blog's stats at least twice a day.

Pro-bloggers and serious bloggers tell me that blog stats are a good way to know what your readers are reading, and what they don't like, thereby making you more "in tune" with your readers. That doesn't mean the keeping an eye on blog stats is easy going.

To give you an example, here's today for me:

• Good: Pageviews exceeding daily average by 30% on "Lazy Habits of Thinking" within first quarter day means that I am well on way to make this second-best or even best day.


• Bad: I still don't know why the occasional spikes, so I don't know what I did (and should do) to attract people to my blog.


• Good: Coming after a particularly slow day (on account of Labour Day weekend), the spike might be expected.


• Bad: Not a single comment resulting from all those visits? More than 82% readers spend less than 30 seconds on my blog.


• Good: Some of the older posts seem to have been rejuvenated.


• Bad: As much as I want, I cannot believe people are searching the net only for one Harry Potter book out of seven, that too not the last one. So what's different in that one post? I haven't found any answer yet.


• Good: The spikes, and resurgence of some posts gave me idea to put some extra things in the post footer, like single button to bookmark the post on any social bookmarking site you want, and link for subscribing to RSS feed.


• Bad: Without feed stats on Wordpress, I cannot be sure if that is working at all.


• Good: An e-mail from the author of a book I reviewed for BlogCritics, telling me he liked my review and my blog. This has nothing to do with stats, but I must say, it was a nice feeling hearing from an author (whose book I liked by the way), not to mention reading that he appreciates the post.

So, now that you know how stat-watching is emotional roller-coaster ride for me, I would like to know more about you:

Do (blog) statistics matter to you? Do you keep going back to your stats counter again and again through the day? If you see lots of traffic on one post, do you wonder why? And if 100-odd readers leave no comment, do you despair?

Write in comments, write a post and leave the link in comments... answer any way you want and do tell me I am not alone here.


- The Great Eagle Has Spoken


P.S. Do remember to check my last year's post "A Toast to All My Teachers" on this Teacher's Day (09/05/2007).

Quote of The Day:

Statistics: The only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions.
- Evan Esar (1899 - 1995), Esar's Comic Dictionary

This is it...

It has been less than a week since I conveyed my unhappiness about the current state of affairs with you. And while I am not so much happy about the response to it either, I want to tell you the result of my thinking.

So, after much ado and without further, let me present to you my new blog:

Lazy Habits of Thinking

While this blog will continue to have other random posts, along with my "Detectives" series, "Lazy Habits" will be exclusively literature-related blog. Thus, the blog has way better and easier to follow tag structure and indexing. It also allows me to have a nice F.A.Q. as an "About" page. In short, I am planning to make that blog my "flagship" from now on.

I will be updating the links on all the blogs to which I contribute. So, please head over and don't forget to update your bookmarks. And while you are reading and commenting on that blog, there are some more things which you can do.

1. I am going to delete the posts from this blog to avoid duplicates, and also will be removing the "My Book Reviews" and similar links from sidebar. Please tell me if I should keep the posts on this blog too.


2. This is for all the artists in you: As much as I like the layout, I am not so sure about the header image. I would like it to be something related to books, and my profile. And although I am a very good reader, I am slightly less than an average artist. So please send me your suggestions/images. The winner of course gets due credit on the blog.

So, see you there...


- The Great Eagle Has Spoken...

Some Random Thoughts

No posts for more than a week... Did you think I shifted to my normal lazy ways? Or that I contacted a case of breakitis which is currently doing rounds in blogosphere?

Fear not, that's not the case.


As I sit here with more than 2 years of this blog behind me (well, not spatially, but temporally) I feel like something is missing. The Eagle is not going the way he should, or want to. Although the emphasis on this blog is on book and related stuff (given my interests), The Eagle's thoughts are, well... random. I don't like that.

Well, if you think you know where this is going... well, let me tell you there will be an important announcement on this blog soon. So stay tuned...

Till then, keep reading and commenting...

And anybody who spoils my surprise announcement, तेरा मुँह काला| (you will get sunburn and no tanning)


- The Great Eagle Has Spoken...

Status Update

For all those people who are wondering where I have been disappearing to for last few days, here's the answer... (And for all those who didn't, shame on you)




In keeping with my status as a Master, a few observations are due here:

• Commencement ceremonies are great. Every person should attend at least one in his life, if only to soak in the general air of celebration. (And oh yes, the atmosphere, slightly cloudy and not at all boiling like last few days, was ideal for a nice ceremony on the ground)


• Contrary to my belief, Graduation gowns are very comfortable and easy to wear. Of course, you would look foolish trying to "use" the hood.


• Tassels are a pain. A small gust of wind, and you have to search where the tassels have gone flying. Keeping an eye on a small child is easier, believe me. (At least, my niece is better behaved than the tassels I have on my cap.)


• The caps have one of the most non-aerodynamic shapes, which makes the wearer very weary of them flying off at the smallest breath of air. Which brings me to my next point...


• The only use of the tassels I could come up with (apart from denoting the level and field of study) is to get hold of, in order to prevent your cap from flying off.

Regular programming commences soon...


Quote of The Day:

The Day Is Here

Know what day it is? Of course, there is a high chance if you have put one foot out of your house or have any contact with outside world today, you already do. It is the day most of us look forward to more than any other day of the year like 1st January, 15th August etc. It is the apt birthday of the Troublemakers-in-Chief, (perhaps) the best practical jokers Hogwarts has ever seen, the proprietors of “Weasley's Wizard Wheezes" Gred and Forge Weasley. I can go on, but I guess you got the point.

Now, before all of you in India say anything, remember that I am almost 9.30 hours behind you, and look at the date of the post...

On a separate note, can anybody answer the puzzle, “What does one and one equal?” (Answer somewhere in the post)


Now, you must have guessed by now that this is the second anniversary of the day when I wrote my “Hello World” post on this, my “Hello World” blog (anybody who has learned any computer language ever will know what that means).

Two years have gone by since that day, when I converted from a reader and a wannabe writer to a blogger and (later) reviewer. I started three more blogs, one of which is dormant (feared dead), one has surpassed this in number of posts, and I have the highest hopes for the latest one.

I don't know if I have grown better with the years (well, I have grown, you know), that is for you to decide (Check out the “This Week in History” section). I would really like comments on this...

Of course, two years means that I am a serious blogger now, and I am (hopefully) here to stay. That is to say, despite what you say, I am not going to give up writing.

And for all those wondering why I am sounding so “prosaic” and there are no songs in this party... as I said, I have grown up. And as you grow up, you get dignified and serious. So, even though my blog will continue to live up to its birthday, this is the time for introspection and thought.

Also, I just remembered (thanks to Dan Rydell) that the most popular song for this occasion is copyrighted, and I am in no mood to sing “Hum Bhi Agar Bachche hote”.

Which reminds me, you can expect my best and heartiest wishes on your and your blogs' b'days, but don't expect me to sing...

OK, now let's see what gifts you got for me...



P.S. Are you still looking for the answer to the puzzle? Really? First grade maths? OK, then here's one more puzzle for you, “How can you keep a fool wondering for 5 minutes?”

P.P.S. Had to mention the word “fool” in the spirit of The Day...


Quote of The Day:

To me, old age is always 15 years older than I am.
- Bernard M. Baruch (1870 - 1965), 1940

Back With A Bang... Sorry, Tag...

If there wasn't another post for last few days, it was because I was reluctant to push the last post down on my page (and that doesn't mean I was lazy as some might think). But, on fear of being frozen, I am back with a tag. And this time I am going to lay my soul bare for the world to gaze at and marvel what a great person I am...

Rules of this tag:

1. Name the person who tagged you.
2. 8 things about you.
3. Tag 6 people.

Question 1: (Sounds like I am writing an exam, right?)
This time, it is the charming etc. etc. (for complete list, contact her) ex-doofus and my partner in crime... sorry, my fellow-philo Kusum who tagged me. And while we are at it, if any of my lines seem a bit out there, remember that we are philosophers and there is some residual effect (*ouch*) of a well-aimed flowerpot...

Question 2:
Apparently, this can be anything as long as it is about me... now that's interesting... so many possibilities, so many things to tell... and nobody to confirm or deny anything I put here. *evil laugh* Now that's my favorite type of post. So, where should I start?

• I am an aspiring writer. I have written some stories till now, and have played some part in the magazine we used to publish in our department in my engineering college.
  OK, so you know this already, but how many people know that my first piece of writing (and prize-winning, published piece at that) was a poem I wrote when I was in 4th standard? It was about summer holidays if I my memory serves me right...


• I have a large circle of acquints, but it takes some time for me to become a friend. So, I have very few, but extremely close friends, and we are (mostly) together from our 3rd-4th standard. Yes, you guessed it, we form The Knights of The Round Table. (That post just keeps getting postponed).


• I find it very very hard to be serious, and I can make fun of almost any situation. I have found it helps keep me the sane, well balanced person I am (no snickering at the back there, I can hear you)


• I am normally found pulling somebody's leg. The victim can be anybody, and even though teaser can be teasee anytime on The Round Table, I am the person who is the teased least, or hit least (Offense is the best defense, you know)


• I am a movie buff, and though the number is reduced in last year, I used to watch at least 2 movies every weekend when I was working. I guess I haven't missed any single good (and sometimes bad) movie when we were in college either. I can foretell what is going to happen in almost any movie (which is not saying much, I know) Yes, I have watched movies like Jis Desh mein Ganga Rehta Hai, Yaadein, and recently Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. Which just shows, I have a lot of patience...


• I am an confirmed fan of Sherlock Holmes. I have read and re-read the books at least 100 times (in fact, if my memory serves me, this was the first English books set I bought, ever). Given my slightly bad memory for names, I can recite the whole plots of every single Sherlock story written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, ever, along with its salient points, and recite the name of the book Altamont slipped the von Bork, instead of naval signals, from memory...


• OK, let's get some things over with. I still read comics like Tintin, Asterix (though I don't like Chacha Choudhary and public that much), Enid Blyton's books and many children's books. I can watch (good) cartoons for hours, and I am a great fan of “Laurel and Hardy” (while we are at it, why couldn't anybody get the references at the end of this post? What are they showing the children now-a-days?). And, I love chocolate in any form.
  In fact, now you mention it, I must agree, I am a child at heart. (Send all your chocolates to my address, none will be wasted)


• Last but not the least, I can read almost anywhere. I read while I am walking to college, I can read while brushing my teeth, tying my shoes, getting dressed. That, combined with my excellent reading speed, gives me an edge over normal readers, so that I can bombard people with my book reviews. I have finished an entire Champak (when I was in 6th I guess) riding pillion on a scooter in 20 minutes. I have finished the 5th book in Harry Potter series (an 870 page volume) in less than 13-14 hours, in almost one sitting (the day before my project orals in my last year engineering, which is no less an achievement).

Question 3:
And this is where I get to choose my victims... *evil laugh*. You know who I mean...
So, after thinking for a long time (about 2 seconds) about who should the persons I would like to perform open-soul surgery on, I have come up with:
1.Sid (he is always ready to take up tags like the good fellow he is)
2.Silverine (though I think we will get more material out of her brother M)
3.Deepa (she seems to have taken a sabbatical from blogging, which has extended way beyond my patience)
4.Nikichan (of course, the owner of cute mee-chan must be here, right?)
5.Keshi (of course, I would like to know more about the hot ghostess apart from coffee and blueberry muffins)
6.Cuckoo (did you seriously think you wouldn't be in the list? No chance of “later” here)

And, of course anybody who wants to take up the tag, please do so... and please leave a comment here so that I can visit you in the hospital with the Get Well card after your open-soul...

The Great Eagle has spoken...

Quote of The Day:
Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious.
- Peter Ustinov (1921 - 2004)

Update

No updates for a long time, but then try writing a blog when your over-enthusiastic (4 year old) niece is asking to use the laptop (to write A-B-C-D), and when you are moving around in a lot of places. Anyways, now in Nasik, and (hopefully) will update the blog once I get back to Pune as her school started last week.

Sorry all my friends, missed commenting on all the beautiful posts after coming here, thanks to a beautifully slow network, and limited access (can't clog phone line for long time). Will be back in circulation once I get back for commenting.

Deepa, the next post is your tag... will continue with the travelogues later.



The Great Eagle has spoken...

Quote of The Day:

If time flies when you're having fun, it hits the afterburners when you don't think you're having enough.
- Jef Mallett

Status Report

I'm back. After a long time... So, I guess a review of what happened in last 1 month, and what is going to happen in next some months is in order.

• Exams are over. So, I finished my first year in Graduate school. That's all I have to say on this subject.


• Watched some good old movies. “Dil Chahta Hai”, “Tere Mere Sapne” and now watching “Saathiya”. (Thanks Lily) Some movies are never forgotten, because of the memories associated with them. Thanks to Citibank and my roomie, can watch “Rang De Basanti” whenever I want.


• Watched “And then there were none”, on Agatha Christie novel. The only gripe, they changed the end. And I thought only Hindi movies had to have the hero and heroin walking into sunset at the end.


• Watched “Darna Zaroori Hai”. Not a fiasco as the first Darna movie, some of the stories are pretty well executed. Most of the twists are predictably predictable, but then any hindi moviegoer worth his salt should be able to predict any hindi movie story (even if it is a thriller). Acting is above (expected) par in many cases, even Reitesh (is that the spelling now?) Deshmukh. Only gripe, why did the morning have to come in the end? The movie was 2 minutes too long for me. And still, I haven't found a director who uses silence as well as background music.


• Watched “Private Life of Sherlock Holmes”. If I didn't know it was kind of parody, I would have picketed the director's house (not sure he is alive yet, still). Holmes was engaged to get married? What next, he was married and his wife died??? And I thought Mycroft was supposed to be quite healthy, if not completely round. But the dialogues are too funny sometimes, and I can forgive the director because he hasn't changed the core of The Great Consulting Detective much. Of course, the references to Irene Adler are too obvious.


• Watched “Dial M for Murder”. Typical Hitchcock.


• Watched "Iqbal" after a long time. Great movie. Tried to watch "3 deewarein", got till the second last chapter and the DVD started playing wierdo. Still to watch the climax.


• Missing a great road trip with my friends here, because I have to finish some work here. They are out for a week, and I have only my laptop and movies to pass the time.


• Trying to finish “Sands of Time” with my friend. Can't pass one level, even when playing co-operatively. Don't know what we can do when we couldn't pass the Sand King (“uncle” in our language) with full life, and computer feeding oh-so-slowly. Maybe will try again when my roomie gets back.


• Playing “Silent Hunter III”. Finished one career from 1939 to 1945. Got “Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds”, but my rank was Jr. Lieutenant from start to end. Please tell me how I can get promoted. Started another career, and have advanced till “Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords”. No promotion yet again.


• Read "V for Vendetta" full 10 comics. Worth reading, and if the movie sticks to the story (except maybe a 16yr old first time pros), I am looking (even more) forward to watching it.

All in all, watched a lot of movies, and played a lot of PC games. Enjoying life as it comes...

• Last but not the least, going to India on 14th. Will be there for the longest time (without any work) since, let me see, 9th std. From the mails, offliners, scraps, phone calls et al (I love this word) I have got till now, the expectations about me are:
  
  
  
  • I am going to talk with an American accent, and like, start conversations with 'sup dude. (Me, and American accent? That's like, impossible man.)
  
  
  • Call taxi cab, and ask for cheque in restaurants. (Fat chance of a taxi in Pune)
  
  
  • Start walking and driving on the wrong side of the road (the most probable one, so I am not driving. I am asking my friends to chauffeur for me)
  
  
  • Start drinking mineral water only. (Fat chance since I am drinking tap water here, which we use to wash the dishes and all that)
  
  
  • And the finest one: Getting down from the plane, I am going to walk to my mother and tell her, “Yeh hai teri noo, teri bahu. Iska naam hoyega Sue. Khas London se pakad ke laya hoon” (Yes, my flight is via London.)
  
  

The Great Eagle has spoken...

Quotes of The Day:

Haasil kar aaisa shikhar
Parbat ki bhi nazrein uthe
- From the song "Aashayein", Iqbal

You know you are...

There are lots of posts about “You know you are ... when” (the blanks meaning anything) on the net. When I thought about those, they were missing some points, IMO. So, here's the missing things, the lists now are complete. You know you are...

• Getting older when...
  
  
  
  • The girls you (that be you and your friends, matey) liked in high school (Silverine, point to be noted, High school, not nursery) don't look as beautiful as they used to. (and girls who you didn't notice start to take your attention)
    
  
  
  • You suddenly realise that you are the one of the few persons in your friend circle, who don't have a girlfriend, while your friends (girls and boys both) are getting engaged, even married and having babies, left, right and centre (the directions are from your group photograph from some trekking thingy you all did when you were in college).
    
  
  
  • Your life cycle till now is: nursery, school, high school, college, college (undergraduate) and school (graduate). And you are not ashamed that you are going to school even when you are adult now.
    
  
  
  • You are the person the family friends, neighbouring kids and relative kids come to as an expert on (or at least a person who knows) all things college, GRE/GMAT/CAT (whatever you have taken) and career path. (not that that's insulting or I don't like it)
    
  
  
  • You watch the serials you liked as a kid again, and laugh at the things they did back then. This comes after watching first 7 episodes of Ramayana. Everybody knows that they did some funny things about arrows and other weapons (they went on forever and forever, and after they clash, one disappeared causing the owner/thrower of the winning weapon much pleasure, and irritating the loser in bargain), but I just realised that if we take the script for whole serial, the mix will be about 1 parts dialogue to 5 parts music + songs + श्लोक. And as my room mate noticed, we could act better than the extras they had back then, at least expression wise. And how many of you have noticed the envy and a feeling much like “how could he do this” on the face of Lakshman when Ram killed Tratika (or Tadaka or whatever she is called in any language)?
    
  
  
  • You can read this, and resist the urge to try search engines or P2Ps. And come up with most innocent comment.
    
  
  
  
  



• Missing your country (parents, friends, city et al) when...
  
  
  
  
  • you hear a perfectly cute specimen of American kid asking her father, "डॅडी, मम्मी कुठाय?” (daddy, where is mummy? in marathi)
    
  
  
  
  



• Have been reading a lot of Harry Potter and watching a lot of Friends when...
  
  
  
  • You find Ron and Ross a lot similar (nope I don't think Ron is going to study Dragons or start getting all geeky). But,
    

    ʹHe's WHAT?' spluttered Ron, outraged, his ears now resembling curls of raw beef. 'She's going out with - my sister's going - what d'you mean, Michael Corner?'
    'Well, that's why he and his friends came, I think - well, they're obviously interested in learning defence, but if Ginny hadn't told Michael what was going on -'
    'When did this - when did she -?'
    

    
    Do tell me this is not like what Ross would say, same style.
    
  
  
  
  

P.S. The Love Story is finally a complete story. The record is finally set straight.

Finished the third and fourth chapters and they are online now. Read the complete story here. The link to my stories is also present under the "I Wrote" heading.


Quote of The Day:

Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.
- Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), Lady Windermere's Fan, 1892, Act III

My muse is loafing

“ये world हैं ना world, इस में दो तरह के लोंग होते है। एक जो सारी जिंदगी एक भी किताब नही पढतें और दुसरें जो एक ही जिंदगी में सारी किताबे पढ लेतें है। ऐसा मै ही कहता हूं। और कहता क्या हूं करता हूं। और ऐसा करता हूं जो ना शायद ना किसी नें किया, और ना कोई कर पाएगा।”

(The above quote has very little connection, if at all, with the topic and the contents of the post. But it has been in my head for last two weeks since I thought of it. So, now that I have put it down, I can get back to other topics, such as they are.)

A severe bout of Writer's block. For last few hours, I have been sitting in front of my laptop trying to write something. Lot of topics, but I cannot put the thoughts in order. I am feeling like this, this and this. So, I am heeding to Nique and writing this down.

Should I write about my trip to Germany (done when I was still getting paid to surf the net)? I have thought of a great title for it, in fact two titles if it goes over two posts.

Or should I write about the new (and old) books of Michael Crichton which I have been reading? Just finished reading a book which I did not know existed.

Or should I write about two great book series, containing all the glory of wizards, kings, knights, battles and even a dragon or three? Both the writers are good, and the tales of valor and chivalry do touch our hearts (at least mine).

I have just finished watching a great drama on Maratha history, which just reminded me of a great Marathi novel by a great author. That should be a good topic for a post, given that I love history.

Maybe I should write about the Paolo Coelho books, seeing that I finished third book written by him today. The religion and philosophy in his books (bar some) is definitely worth commenting on.

Let me tell you, I am not able to key in more than 2 lines on any of these topics right now.

Does this help? A help on both counts is welcome. Maybe the heavy work load has driven all other thoughts from my mind. Maybe this theory is true. If so, my writing days may be lettered.

Pray to God that this does not happen, or is my current state the result of all the prayers going to God? If so, beware, हर लेखक का दिन आता है। (जिस दिन वह समिक्षक होता है।)



Quote of the Day:

The cure for writer's cramp is writer's block.
-Inigo DeLeon

FNS or Fanatic about Non-issue Syndrome

After SNTN¹, another victim of FNS was found last week here at cyberland. The victim, MNIYA², displayed all the symptoms of second stage of FNS, confirming the rumors that the disease has started spreading. To avoid further spread of the disease, we at the Aerie have decided to spread the knowledge about the disease.

Causes:
Although the actual causes of the disease are still unknown, the information till date suggests that the disease can spread from any FNS patient to any apparently healthy person. The data suggests that persons with low levels of enzyme l-ortho-bigoto-immuno-cogitamine (popularly known as logicamine) are particularly susceptible to the disease.


Symptoms:
The disease attacks the logicamine controlling centers in the brain, causing reduced levels of logicamine. The enzyme is particularly important in proper functioning of the thinking part of the brain, so this part is the one severly affected as the disease progresses.
e.g. MNIYA was found advocating the use of English over Hindi, because,

“The strength of Hindustan today over other countries like China is that we are able to speak English well, and that should be developed. In Maharashtra, Marathi children should speak only Marathi and English. No other language should be allowed to infringe upon the development of Marathi and English as the two primary languages of every Maharashtrian.”

and

“I think we should start disregarding Hindi and should not respond until the other person talks in Marathi.”

During the second stage of the disease, the logic centers are severely affected, causing statements like,

“We are Indian first? Who says? Your history textbook? Your school teacher? Gele bhokat!(To hell with them)”

and

“You hollow-chested excuses for patriots, Itkich zar deshasathi zalzal hoti tar mag pranarpan karayla ka nahi gelat sainyat?(Why didn’t you join the army to sacrifice your lives for the country if you feel so much about the country?)”

A patient in second stage is extremely resistant to many kinds of therapies.

In third stage, the disease can take one of the two paths:
1. Benign: The path of benign disease, symptoms and the treatment is discussed here, here and here in detail.
2. Malign: In this stage, the patients have been shown to have speech impairments, leading some of the researchers to believe that the logicamine plays at least some part in speech centers of the brain. At this stage, the disease is called CPD (Culture Police Disease). This stage is almost universally untreatable, and the patient can be extremely sensitive to “attacks against culture”. Symptoms at this stage include sayings like "मराठी हो तो मराठी बोलो(sic)".


Treatment:
Though the disease decreases logicomine levels in the blood, the persons with high enzyme levels are shown to be extremely resistant to it. Also, some researchers claim to have cured patients in first stage by logicamine therapy.

In second stage, sometimes a contact with person with high logicomine or cynicomine levels may cure or stop the progress of the disease, though the treatment is extremely difficult.

The third stage is exceptionally hard to cure, though extreme therapies like social shock or liberalis vaccine are being clinically tried. A few cases were historically reported to be cured by a medicine called cupid-arrow. The search for this medicine is currently our primary aim at Aerie.




We at Aerie Institute of Immunology request the people to test your levels of logicomine, and take necessary steps to stop the spread of the disease. Taken enough precautions, we can stop the spread of this fatal disease.

To all close relatives, friends and girlfriend/boyfriends and other halves of the patients, याद रखिये, बोलने से ये बिमारी नही फ़हलती, बोलनेसे तो सिर्फ़ प्यार बढता है!

जनहित में जारी (Issued in public interest by Aerie Institute of Immunology.)


Glossary:
1. SNTN (pronounced sun-tan): Say No to Non-veg!!!
2. MNIYA (prononces mania): Me Not Indian, You A@#$#s!!!
(The names of the patients are changed to save my person.)

Non-Veg And Attack On Community

This is subject for a topic of discussion currently on one of my Orkut communities. (For the record, the community in question is “Deshastha Brahman”)

The actual thread started with a discussion on who eats non-vegetarian food (hereafter called non-veg). One of the persons came up with a series of posts on why we should be eating vegetarian food only, called “Food for thought (of course vegetarian)”.

Some of the reasons he gave were

“It is traditional. It is healthy for Brahman lifestyle. It is what our ancestors ate. If one continues to eat non-veg over a period of time, gradually his creative abilities and the metabolism on whole slowly goes on depleting. This is what we should do so as not to defame the name of our community. If you eat non-veg, you can get ridicule coming your way from other vegetarian brahman. If we start eating non-veg, the only traditional cuisine we will pass on to our children is Pizza Hut coupons. It is not natural choice of food. And you shouldn’t eat non-veg just because girls get impressed by it, as we should impress girls by our intellect.”

(All quotes sic. You got the gist.)

Now, I have nothing against traditions. Some of the traditions are very good, and we must keep them. Like the Swedish cousins I met were very impressed by the fact that her cousin’s brother-in-law came to pick them up at midnight from the airport. The values of caring for people, family etc. (just as an e.g.) are the traditions which anybody should value, and try to follow. But doing something just because our ancestors did it, is stupid for lack of any other word.

Also, why should you get ridiculed just because you have a particular dietary choice? And, I doubt hearing anywhere that Newton, Galileo etc were pure vegetarians. Of course, for a person who is doing intellectual labour most of the time, non-veg is not a good choice because of the fat content, but then, what about others? We don’t always follow the traditional callings of our community.

And who said non-veg diet means only Pizza Hut or McDonalds? Also, try telling a hungry lion that his choice of diet is not natural.

So I put all these things in reply, and added one just one at the end,

“Please introduce me to the girls who are impressed only by non-veg diet. I am sure other carnivores in this community will be very happy with the knowledge too. ;)”

(For those who don’t Orkut, ;) is converted into a nice symbol quite like YM, so that you don’t confuse it with two random punctuation marks.)

In answer, he came with a series of posts with the subject same as the heading of this post. His reply was,

“Fleiger, I making this particular point here on basis of some examples that I have seen myself… Still I can definitely say that there are considerable no of girls from Brahmin community itself, who mock at VARAN BHAAT Brahmin guys. From the above discussion hopefully we can find out that one (repeat “one”) of the reason for rising intercaste marriages by Brahmin girls is fast diminishing faith in Brahmanism and its food habits.”

(Again, all things sic. And I must admit the last line is a gem of reasoning and logic)

And I thought the time when girls were impressed by “वाघिणीचे दूध प्यायलेले” boys was along long. (Sigh, the good old days) Why go to hotel and eat what you want once when you can get married and eat your choice food for your life? Hmmm… I didn’t know Indian girls were so mature and long range planners (Sorry girls, no offense meant).

At this point of time, I am boinked (nice word, Amrut). So please help me with some basic questions:
• What do you call a person who writes “SAY NO TO NON-VEG!” (caps are not mine) at least 20 times? (I mean, even with all ctrl-c-ctrl-v-ing the effort will burn more calories than provided by 2 eggs I had for lunch)
• Should I send him this link (ह्याला मराठीत अनुरोध किंवा शुद्ध शब्दात खवचटपणा असे म्हणतात) or should I accede my defeat claiming that I have found one more type of knockout? (Well, given my level of workload now-a-days, I am leaning towards second option.)
• Why do people use keyboards where the Caps Lock key is stuck?

Well, seems like I have found a new candidate to be Minister's Junior Under-Secretary (seriously, I doubt this person would recognize a joke even if it is not wearing Dobby's tea cozy).



P.S. Looking back on the discussion, it seems I have been guilty of one more offense, of "putting forth the pretext of individual freedom / personal choice conferred by the constitution of Democratic India’" (sic). Guilty as charged, milard...

P.P.S. Do check out Aerie Institute's brochure on FNS, which this person must had contracted somewhere.

Yes, I am in Love......

Can you fall in love twice in the course of one day? Well, it happened to me last week.

Twice, knocks came on my door last Thursday. Two gorgeous beauties, each in a different way. One a sleek model, a great traveling companion… well, actually a must-have kind of companion. Heavily into music (and movies too (). The other one, more serious like, great in almost all conditions. So, now the position is, I can’t think whom I love more.

So, without further ado, here are my two new muses… Great, aren’t they?




A fifth generation iPod, sleek black model, with my name carved on the back. 30 GB storage for music, photos and movies.

And a Sony Vaio S560. A very lightweight model, a true traveling companion. Comes with 100 GB hard disk, and DVD writer. What more does a person want??? I had borrowed a friend’s old laptop till now (Anuj, thanks a lot man… May your married life be a paradise for just one good deed, for others, the wishes are in line) But, having your own laptop, and a Sony one at that, is a different feeling.

Let me tell you one thing here, sitting in a coffee house, working on your laptop sipping a good coffee, is there anything more in life to crave? (That is a rhetorical question, I know the answer. I am not so ignorant you know!)

Anyways, I am going to San Jose tomorrow. Will have a lot of things to write about in next 15 days, what with visits to DisneyLand and Universal Studios being planned.

So, till then, it’s me, and my beauties…



P.S. Looks like this is my second post where I mention love. Am I getting too romantic?? (Battle Stations… Battle Stations…)

The Separation

We celebrated our second anniversary this week. But now, its time for us to move on, and we will be separating next week. After all, we can’t carry on with the relationship when I am no longer here with her, right?

Two years of a great relationship! What memories I will carry with me! To say it was love at first site will be an understatement! I was in love with her even before we actually met. And the first meeting proved me right. We were made for each other. I was getting over my first crush.

But that didn’t mean the relationship was all a ride in the park. We had our ups and downs. There were days when neither of us could do anything wrong, and then there were days when even one word started a fight. But still, we carried on regardless. We knew neither of us was perfect, but we tried!

Two years have passed now. Almost three, if I start from the day we first met. Every day was a new experience. Every day taught me something new. Every day brought me new experiences. (We even have a foreign location song in this film.)

But somewhere, something was missing. My heart was now crying out for something different. My first crush was beckoning me. It was time to follow my heart. And so, we decided to separate.

So, finally I have resigned from my company, and going back to continue my studies in my favorite subject. Only one week to go, and it will not be “My Company” anymore, it will be referred as “My ex-“.

What I will miss in the company?

- The 4 months training with a great batch and even greater batch mates (hey, I miss it even now)



- My project and the night-outs (ok, I never stayed beyond 11.30, but still...)

- The project parties @ Planet X and the dinner after that in “Olive Gardens”

- My place, my computer and the “Pillar of PLM” in front of me (on my right hand side in photo ;))



- And last but not the least, my colleagues, who regularly come up with statements like this, and provided the targets for my “Puneri” sarcasm.

So with a sad heart, I am presenting the third (and last) edition of Tongue of Slips:

• "We will watch ‘Star of Wars’!!"
(In the climax of this film, Tom Cruise fights with Darth Vedar. May ‘The (F-)Fourteen’ be with you!)

• "We will start going home on Java!"
(Ok, I will start writing the code. Please fill in the blanks according to personal choice.
public class MotorCycle{…}
)

• "Panther को हिंदी में बघीरा कहेते हैं!" (Panther is called Bagheera in Hindi)
(Hindi Maha Pandit... Used Jungle Book as textbook)

• "We ordinary people have different nameplate template than PM (Project Managers)"
(public class The_Ordinary_Man extends The_Common_Man implements The_Software_Engineer)


Guys, keep up the good work, and Best Luck!!!