More books today...

There was a books exhibition and sale in our office today. I bought the following titles from the exhibition.
The Company of Women - Khushwant Singh - Penguin - 250
Ice-Candy-Man - Bapsi Sidhwa - Penguin - 250
Surviving Men - Shobha De - Penguin -Free
Tackling Interview Questions - Shapiro, Straw - Hodder & Stoughton - 080
Best of Tehelka - Various - Buffalo Books - 240

Rules - Pyar ka Superhit Formula

I saw Rules... today. Nice movie. Lots of human psychology at play.

But my post is not about the main theme of the movie. Its about a more subtle topic touched upon by the director. They touched upon some problems faced by gay people in thisn country. There was one scene showing two gay men kissing each other. This reminded me of a colleague of mine I met during a public speaking club meeting in my office. He had the guts to reveal his secual preferences without being prompted to do so, and he did so in a very decent manner. I also realised the problems society has accepting these people. The movie has one scene when this guy's 'boyfriend' is planning to get married to a girl. The girl is visiting his place with hi sparents. And then this guy barges into his 'boyfriend's house. All the elders are seeing this scene with open mouths, while the girl is laughing like anything. It depicts the wide rift in social acceptence of homosexuality by the oldies and the young people.

And this is not all. By some stroke of coincidence, the episode of 'Friends' I picked up for viewing after teh movie ws 211- TOW The Lesbian Wedding.

Old friends meet

Met an old friend today. She was my classmate in college.

Our class has a very active egroup, but some people never post anything there. She was one of them. One day one classmate took the pains to write a mail describing what each of the 45 classmates were doing currently. She was reported to be with GE, but her location was not known. One day I saw her on Yahoo Messenger and had a chat with her. I gave her my number and she called me. Had a long discussion in office time. Had lots of things to catch up with in these 2+ years we had no communication.

On diwali night, I finally met her. I was to meet a friend right outside her appartment and then was to proceed with him to a colleague's place. I was calling her but she was not taking the call (later I came to know that the mobile was in the house). I was dialling her number again, and also looking out for my friend who was expected anytime now. And I saw her.

With her was another old friend. It took me no time recognizing that guy. He was a senior of mine and both of us were in the same hostel. He had not changed any bit. The same can be said about the lady. But definitely not about me. (People tell me I look older than what I am; of course, with a moustache, a big beard and a tummy, you surely look older. Read any espionage novel and you'll know).

I could not takl much with her. One thing, I am not really a great conversationalist (no marks for guessing I have no girl-friends). And there was not much time; my friend had also arrived and was waiting for me.

I am in regular touch with her on her cell. Its nice to be back with your friends.

Unknown date of birth ?

Got this from a college class-mate in mail today..interesting...

Thank you all for your wishes. This b'day my mother told me a very very surprising stuff. She told me that she is not very sure when was I born. Like she is a bit confused whether I was born on 25 or 26. She said that when she will go back to kanpur then she will try to figure this out. So lets see when was I born, but anyway i am happy with 25th oct. So this remains my Birth

Statement of Purpose

Got this in an IIT Bombay Newsgroup

"An Extrordinary College Essay

This was actually an essay written by a college applicant applying to
colleges/universities. The author of this essay, Hugh Gallagher,
now attends NYU
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3A. ESSAY
IN ORDER FOR THE ADMISSIONS STAFF OF OUR COLLEGE TO GET TO KNOW
YOU, THE APPLICANT, BETTER, WE ASK THAT YOU ANSWER THE
FOLLOWING QUESTION: ARE THERE ANY SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCES YOU
HAVE HAD, OR ACCOMPLISHMENTS YOU HAVE REALIZED, THAT HAVE
HELPED TO DEFINE YOU AS A PERSON?

I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have
been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more
efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for
Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently.
Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row.
I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can
pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook
Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love,
and an outlaw in Peru.
Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I'm bored, I build large suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge.
I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don't perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes. Last summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force emonstration. I bat..400. My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles.
Children trust me.
I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations for the CIA. I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully
negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me.
I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four course meals using only a mouli and a toaster oven.
I breed prizewinning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin. I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis.
But I have not yet gone to college.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meal ideas...hmm...

My loving sister sent me this in mail.

Good to know u’ve become more observant of what u eat, thanks for the good wishes

If u were to place that salad inside two slices of bread with either a layer or mayonnaise or malai chaska it would constitute a sandwich, which would be very nice with a cup of tea of a snack or small meal…multiply the sandwiches by a number of choice and it could be considered a full meal!!

Laloo for sale .. Only Rs 1.21 Lakh

Laloo to cost only Rs 1.21 lakh. Now Laloo can be had for any function you hold... another innovative way to make money by the biggest scamster of our time.

Indian Remixes
One thing I have noticed in the remixes of hindi songs for some time now. The remixes are usually mixed with some english song. And then the name of the remix is given something like this
(hindi_song_name)Vs(english_song_name)-(dj's_name)
(don't mind my software-like language while showing the 'syntax' of the names; I'm a hard-core software guy).
Any coments?

Delhi Metro shall rule
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation is doing a great job. I just saw the 'latest' map of the rail routes for the train and it looks amazing. For those passengers who had to board crowded buses and travel in them for half-hour to one hour, the travel time might get reduced to less than 10 to 15 minutes. Lovely network, fabulous systems, well-designed coaches and stations. Look at the photos. Worth a look.

Got the first link...
I got the first link to my blog. My friend GBS blogged about the latest Google Toolbar that I had downlaoded and then told him about it. Feels great. I know no one comes here and reads my blog. But then, I still try to write something here.

My problem is that its very difficult for me to learn new tricks. I mean, getting into habits is difficult for me and coming out of them is so easy. I try to make blogging a habit, but then I am not a creative writer. I lack a good vocab and do not have the inclination for writing. My father cribs taht I should write often. And many friends complain that they do not hear from me. True.

Pepsi-Cola and the contorversy..

Is there any end to the pesticides-in-cola controversy? Cola MNCs join hands against EU quality norms - The Economic Times. The cola manufacturers said, at the beginning of the controversy, that they follow the EU norms and now they say that blindly using the same norms in India can be counterproductive. First we were fighting about following the norms or not, then the topic was drawn to the fact that there were no norms at all in India. Now they want to say that the EU nrrms are very stringent.
Is there an end to this controversy?

BLOGGER
Testing BlogThis!
Just trying to use this feature. It seems much easier because it takes almost no time to start typing, one very important thing you need to do effective blogging and beat the laziness out of the system

Free food !
Today agian I shall get some good free food. Home-made north indian food. This is the third dinner invitation I have got this week. And I shall make full use of it. Wish me luck!

How different
Today I went to a Govt office to meet someone who was known to my father. He had sent a packet for me through this person. This person is in the education department and has good knowledge of the things that happen around us. But then when I talked with this person, I found how different people think and how different their belief systems are. They see life from the Govt's perspective, and mark things good or bad accordingly. Things that matter to us are sometimes very different than the things that matter to them. There is too much diversity in this world

Latest at my Alma Mater
The 41st convocation at IIT Bombay was captured in a slide-show at Rediff.com. Here is the slide-show. Take a peek.

Great Electronics Bargains (with a little sweat)
I went to SPJ Road (near City Market, Bangalore) again today. I had to go there to buy a Pen Drive for my father. I came to my office and found that the power supply was disrupted and was not expected for the next few hours. So I had a chat with the few colleagues who were in office, had my lunch and left for SPJ Road.

Today's experience was great. I got the pen drive I wanted for a very good price. But that was not the best thing to happen. I bought thin, foam-filled plastic covers for CDs, ones that store two CDs in one pouch, for 2 bucks a piece. And then I bought hard plastic two-cd-holders for 4 bucks a piece. These were really good bargains because my CDs eat a lot of dust at my place and now I can properly store them and extend their lives.

I had taken a box of precision tools to Bhopal this vacation (for reasons better left untold). My father saw it and admired it. He also said, in a very low voice, that I should have one too. So this time I have bought one for him and shall send the same to him. He shall surely like this small gift.

Overall, a good experience of wandering on the roads there. I like doing such shopping, where I know that I have to buy something. If I know that I am not going to buy and shall just window-shop, I just can’t do that.

What number are you?
Got this from another blog, don't remember whose. But I liked it. Try it

I am the Natural Number e I go with the flow _

what number are you?

this quiz by orsa

56 events that changed India
I was browsing (can't do more than that in the Office) through the latest copy of India Today I had bought yesterday from MG Road. The cover story is about 56 events that changed India. Its Independence time around and as it does each year, India Today has traveled to India 'Yesterday' and has tried to come up with a list of 56 events that perhaps could never be forgotten by any India. Events that jolted us, events that haunt us, events that make us proud, and even events some of us don’t even know of (I had a friend at IIT Bombay who didn’t know what 'Emergency' was or what the 'Mandal commission' was. And he calls himself an Indian. Sick!).

Buy that copy and feel nostalgic. See the course India has taken in these 56 years of Independence.

Lovers of Classics
ClassicReader.com is a website that has a good number of fiction and non-fiction electronic books written by world-famous authors. These books are not copyrighted any more and hence are pretty legitimate. Take a look.

Jet Set Go
I saw the Hero Honda Karizma yesterday at Rex theatre. On the face of it, it looks like just another bike having no more capacity than 150 CC. On a closer look, you see the difference. The engine is well hidden beneath elaborate fiber body work. It has a digital odometer, trip meter and fuel gauge. It also has a button that changes the display to show the Clock, something I always wanted in my Kinetic Honda way back in school (I did open the front panel and put in a 30 bucks worth digital watch in it; solved the purpose). It has disc brakes and automatic electric ignition and it comes in 7 beautiful colors

At the street price of Rs 79,001 (registration, insurance road tax etc extra), it seems to be a good bike.

Only one problem. Its tyres are the same size as that of the Splendor or the Passion. Why such small tyres?

Welcome all.
This is my latest attempt at creating an effective blog. One that I plan to update daily. Looking at the past, it seems difficult. But then, one should keep trying, should'nt one?
So lets Jet Set Go.