I miss a place, the smell, and an aura that I can only smell-Dilli!

Well, last November was the first time I ever saw an ocean in my life. More than being an overwhelming experience, it was humbling .
As I sat and watched the waves hit the shores, I could hear the ocean mocking me.

"Look at me and look at yourself. Look how insignificant you are."

I kept quiet, looked at the ships on the horizon and all i could think of was,

"I know"

"Do you know what I can do"

"A tsunami?"

"I let you know that there are somethings left and that you are allowed to dream."

Keep Walking

Yes, I'm in Chennai - nanz's city...
For the first time in my professional career, I'm making this MOVE because of someone I have given my heart to...

Consider this:
"There are plenty of jobs in Bang'ore, hyd, NCR - Delhi, why chennai?"
"Well, my partner *dot dot dot*... she's working with ABC airlines, so.......that's why...."
It was more of a discussion than an interview...

so here I am...

I'll miss Chandigarh for reasons that I only know....Illusions stopping over with Amit and uttering that "you are living LARGE". Now LARGE and BIG might sound complimentary. But then, as tinkertoon put it, "its all relative" ....

Illusions, nanz, mojo, I'm missing you...I miss working with you!

So, here are the highlights of my first day in City Chennai...sounds abrupt, but then:-

• Silently prayed when the flight landed
• "Reported" to her
• Called up Dad
• Sent an SMS to Captain (he won't like me saying that I miss him etc, but I WAS missing him :)
• "Reported" to her (again),
• Reach this place called nanganallur (where I've been sneakily...visiting her since last September), went online, commented a thing or two,
• Called up KK (Hyderabad), Aashish(bangalore), AABDI(Chandigarh, one African guy I TRUST), TLUANGA (my friend and brotha),
  
• Finally CAPTAIN (who didn't find it necessary).
  
• Oh, Nepal "naresh" also called up from Kathmandu (Well, he's finally going for that DJ'ngineering course in Copenhagen :)
  

Oh btw, this is how I look these days :D

In life you do things because you have to, sometimes you do things because you want to, and then there are things that you do for love.

It’s already Valentine’s day and the one thing that I give a heads-up to my girlfriend is her tolerating my fart’ing’. I don’t give the stinking and loud fart that most guys do, but its a cute fart-you know the ones with a poot sound. Now you must be wondering how can a fart be Cute? well, that’s how she describes my fart as.

“It’s cute because its similar to the sound when our kitty sneezes” *sigh, you have to give it to women*

Prior to meeting her, I never knew I farted. It seems that after a few minutes I go off to sleep, I go poot.

“Honey, don’t worry. It’s barely audible!”

Time passed and one Valentine’s Day, she couldn’t bear it anymore and well, we had a fight about it.

“Fuck you and your farting!”

“Well, fuck you too!”

“I’m going to sleep”

“So am I”

“Stay in the other room”

“and you stay right here”

“Fine”

“Fine”

“HaHa”

“Now what?”

“I love you”

“I love you too”

A kiss on the lips, a hug, a nose rub and she curls up on the bed.

“Goodnight love, Happy Valentine’s Day”

“Love you too…Happy Valentine’s Day”

Thirty minutes pass.

Poot!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that was the best Valentine post I could come up with

It’s not you that chooses whom to love, its love that chooses you : )

Life sure gets complicated when you're in love.

Love, I'm just joking...

2007 is here...Doh!

So the second week of 2007 is already here...hmmmm *strokes his Chinki beard like pai mei did*

The boldest thought I have had so far: 2007 is going to be a great year! *lights up a cigarette and says "bull$#1t"*

And for those of you who forwarded the forwarded sms I forwarded you on New Year's Eve, you are as unoriginal as me.

I wished you a happy new year when 2006 started and I will wish a happy new year when 2007 ends. BTW, If you thought that the SMS I sent you didn't have any thoughts behind it, you are very wrong! :)

BTW, here's 2007 as I see it:-

• Baghdad will continue to be on the news (was that supposed to be "in "?)...a bomb blast here, a bomb blast there....(I'm political, but too lazy to do anything about it)
• Bombay will be flooded again (mawhahahaha)
• We will have some "manufactured artist(s)/band(s)" that your teenage sis and my sis will go crazy for
• Bush will deploy something something bomb or some 2000000000000000000000 troops in some country
• Bollywood actors... e.g. John Abraham will appear in a "special" Chi"rs"tmas Program" where your 5 year old kid might ask him who his first crush was. As an actor, he'll "blush" and talk about how \a girl rejected him in college...and of course, we'll be watching this crap with our family
• Amar Singh and Shahrukh khan (Amita bacahn?) will "play" (khelenge... as in celebrate) Holi together
• Jimmy will have his own share of goof-ups - on the job and off the job
• Jimmy will cross his 30's
• One of my friend is surely going to bite the dust...(I mean, get married)

Homer! where TF are you? I need inputs for this blog! (Oh, the simpsons movie will be released this year...phew! some relief at least...)

My first week of 2007:-

• My heat convector is "still" working
• I am still calling friends/relatives after 11 PM, to ask them how THEY are doing and how i AM doing (alcohol makes you do "wonders"!)

• I've realized that my new flat/room sucks.
• I'm listening Hindi songs again (someone takes the credit for this one)
• I hum "Kal ho Na ho" when I look at her picture
• I've realized that drinking isn't what it used to be - "its not your cup of tea!" that's what my soul tells me
• "This is not what MSTP says", some lady in my office.

2007, here I am, I'm the man on the scene! *pulls down his pants and shows his ..."

Happy New Year! YAY!!

If you thought I was depressed when I wrote this blog, you empathise well, me thinks

Black is a song that pretty much sums up my state of mind these days. Copying and pasting the lyrics as is from the Net. If only singers could write and emote songs as well as Eddie Vedder does. I love the part where he says, "We belong together" and the last stanza is what hits me the most.
PS from a fan: "Eddie had written the song for his girlfriend :)"

Sheets of empty canvas, untouched sheets of clay
Were laid spread out before me as her body once did.
All five horizons revolved around her soul
As the earth to the sun
Now the air I tasted and breathed has taken a turn


Ooh, I know she gave me all that she wore
And now my bitter hands chafe beneath the clouds
Of what was everything.
Oh, the pictures have all been washed in black, tattooed everything...

I take a walk outside
I'm surrounded by some kids at play
I can feel their laughter, so why do I sear?
Oh, and twisted thoughts that spin round my head
I'm spinning, oh, I'm spinning
How quick the sun can drop away

And now my bitter hands cradle broken glass
Of what was everything?
All the pictures have all been washed in black, tattooed everything...

All the love gone bad turned my world to black
Tattooed all I see, all that I am, all I'll be... yeah...
Uh huh... uh huh... ooh...

I know someday you'll have a beautiful life,
I know you'll be a sun in somebody else's sky, but why
Why, why can't it be, why can't it be mine

Been a month since I blogged. So here's what has been happening lately.

• Became close friends with an Ethiopian (Abd) - to be honest, my first impression was that Abd was a "Wise Man"
  
• Thanks to Abd, got to party in a place he called "Sector-13" of Chandigarh
  
• Been working/partying, working/partying, working/partying
• G and I are totally out of touch (the distance factor coming into play, yet again
  
• Nishant was back in City Beautiful
  
• Gave shelter for three days to some "Homeless" friends ('twas the landlady, not their fault they say :D
  
• Conceded that "I have a habit that I'm not really proud of..."
  

Coincidence, fate or destiny?

I had never planned to come here (in city beautiful:) nor had I planned to go to Poona. More than coincidences I have always been a believer of fate or something of what you call destiny. In college, Sam used to tell me this thing - "You are the maker of your own destiny". I could never convince Sam that destiny is what drives me and has/will take me to places where I never thought I would be.

So here I am Sam, with a story. Trying to convince you once again, as to why I believe in destiny :)

One night the film-maker Rui Guerra, was talking with his friends in a house in the interior of Mozambique. The country was at war, and so everything - from petrol to electric light - was In short supply.

To pass the time they started talking about what they would like to eat. Each of them described his or her favorite food; and when it came to Rui's turn, he said: 'I'd like to eat an apple', knowing that, because of rationing, it was impossible to find any fruit at all.

At that precise moment, they heard a noise, and a beautiful, shiny apple rolled into the room and stopped in front of him!

Later, Rui discovered that one of the girls who live there had gone out to buy some fruit in the black market. As she came up the stairs, she tripped and fell, the bag of apples she had bought split open, and one of the apple had rolled into the room.

Sam, if you say that's mere coincidence, that would be a very poor word to explain this story.

A few more hrs and this week will be "officially" over! Phew, the weekend is finally here.

Quotes of the week:-

• "Bad news guys! I've left the keys of the gate in Captain's car and the landlady has locked it!"
• "Sorry Jimmy, I thought it was my phone. Will come and give it as soon as i'm back in Chandigarh" (not S's fault actually, we both use an 1100)
• "Jimmy-a chu i ngaihawm dawn hle mai", said Fela, the night before he left for Delhi. Jimmy,
• you'll be really missed!
• "Why are you leaving this place?"
• "Uncle ka mood kharab hoga, varna aunty to aapko apne beta jaisa dekhti hain!" said my maid. Uncle (landlord) must be in a bad mood, that's why - Aunty sees you as her own son - (Don't kid me lady!)

List of things to do this weekend:-

1. Get a hair cut (first priority)
2. Go with Captain to the construction site where he's getting some work done
3. Ask landlady if Uncle Really wants me to leave
4. If landlady (Aunty) says Uncle really meant it, then "Things to do" No. 2 is scrapped!

Been limping the whole week 'cause of a minor fracture. My feet have been hurting like hell. I'm going to drink the pain away with Cap'n and R at Aerizzona.

The Last Ride Together

Cap'n asked me to search for this poem last Weekend. Well, we read it aloud (with some guests around :P )

Cap'n told me that it was written by some *Robert*
Robert Browning - (1812–1889), it turned out to be!

Yep! 'twas written a long time ago!

I finally concluded with Cap'n that we aren't good in *PURE* English!

BTW, this poem talks about the "last ride" that the poet wishes to have (with his Woman) before it's "time to go" for him (Cap'n told me that the poet is dying!)
-----------------------------------

*COPIED AND "shamelessly" PASTED*

-----------------------------------

I SAID—Then, dearest, since ’tis so,
Since now at length my fate I know,
Since nothing all my love avails,
Since all, my life seem’d meant for, fails,

Since this was written and needs must be— 5
My whole heart rises up to bless
Your name in pride and thankfulness!
Take back the hope you gave,—I claim
Only a memory of the same,
—And this beside, if you will not blame; 10
Your leave for one more last ride with me.

My mistress bent that brow of hers,
Those deep dark eyes where pride demurs
When pity would be softening through,
Fix’d me a breathing-while or two 15
With life or death in the balance: right!
The blood replenish’d me again;
My last thought was at least not vain:
I and my mistress, side by side
Shall be together, breathe and ride, 20
So, one day more am I deified.
Who knows but the world may end to-night?

Hush! if you saw some western cloud
All billowy-bosom’d, over-bow’d
By many benedictions—sun’s 25
And moon’s and evening-star’s at once—
And so, you, looking and loving best,
Conscious grew, your passion drew
Cloud, sunset, moonrise, star-shine too,
Down on you, near and yet more near, 30
Till flesh must fade for heaven was here!—
Thus learnt she and linger’d—joy and fear!
Thus lay she a moment on my breast.

Then we began to ride. My soul
Smooth’d itself out, a long-cramp’d scroll 35
Freshening and fluttering in the wind.
Past hopes already lay behind.
What need to strive with a life awry?
Had I said that, had I done this,
So might I gain, so might I miss. 40
Might she have loved me? just as well
She might have hated, who can tell!
Where had I been now if the worst befell?
And here we are riding, she and I.

Fail I alone, in words and deeds? 45
Why, all men strive and who succeeds?
We rode; it seem’d my spirit flew,
Saw other regions, cities new,
As the world rush’d by on either side.
I thought,—All labour, yet no less 50
Bear up beneath their unsuccess.
Look at the end of work, contrast
The petty done, the undone vast,
This present of theirs with the hopeful past!
I hoped she would love me; here we ride. 55

What hand and brain went ever pair’d?
What heart alike conceived and dared?
What act proved all its thought had been?
What will but felt the fleshly screen?
We ride and I see her bosom heave. 60
There’s many a crown for who can reach.
Ten lines, a statesman’s life in each!
The flag stuck on a heap of bones,
A soldier’s doing! what atones?
They scratch his name on the Abbey-stones. 65
My riding is better, by their leave.

What does it all mean, poet? Well,
Your brains beat into rhythm, you tell
What we felt only; you express’d
You hold things beautiful the best, 70
And pace them in rhyme so, side by side.
’Tis something, nay ’tis much: but then,
Have you yourself what’s best for men?
Are you—poor, sick, old ere your time—
Nearer one whit your own sublime 75
Than we who never have turn’d a rhyme?
Sing, riding’s a joy! For me, I ride.

And you, great sculptor—so, you gave
A score of years to Art, her slave,
And that’s your Venus, whence we turn 80
To yonder girl that fords the burn!
You acquiesce, and shall I repine?
What, man of music, you grown gray
With notes and nothing else to say,
Is this your sole praise from a friend, 85
‘Greatly his opera’s strains intend,
Put in music we know how fashions end!’
I gave my youth: but we ride, in fine.

Who knows what’s fit for us? Had fate
Proposed bliss here should sublimate 90
My being—had I sign’d the bond—
Still one must lead some life beyond,
Have a bliss to die with, dim-descried.
This foot once planted on the goal,
This glory-garland round my soul, 95
Could I descry such? Try and test!
I sink back shuddering from the quest
Earth being so good, would heaven seem best?
Now, heaven and she are beyond this ride.

And yet—she has not spoke so long! 100
What if heaven be that, fair and strong
At life’s best, with our eyes upturn’d
Whither life’s flower is first discern’d,
We, fix’d so, ever should so abide?
What if we still ride on, we two 105
With life for ever old yet new,
Changed not in kind but in degree,
The instant made eternity,—
And heaven just prove that I and she
Ride, ride together, for ever ride?

Will Power

Happened to read this today. Hilarious!

It's good to have a weak will power, it keeps the hope alive...

Life never stops

However philosophical you may get, but (and oh! what a bit but) always take chances while you can and always should.

Mirror, Mirror on the wall

"Ok! can you look at yourself in the mirror and say that you don't LIE and that you don't PRETEND?"

Copied this quote from Rupen actually! Thanks Rupen :o)

Katie "Holmes"

We met in a restaurant around dinner time. 'twas the place and time when/where you had those "Poona University" students stop by to grab their "non-homemade" dinner. As usual, I ended up placing an order for "Pomfret Fish".

As I savoured the fish and rice, SHE gave a hungry and helpless obligatory "meow".

That was Katie. A tiny, skinny, and orphan kitten. I looked at her, and gave that "oh! so cute!" smile. Finally, I smeared some pieces of the fish with my fingers and dropped them on the floor. As with all cats, she gave those casual meows as she ate, probably appreciating my gesture, and savouring the food. She was trying her best to chew the fish and I knew that she didn't have any teeth, but I guess the hunger took over. As I finished my dinner, I saw her sitting by my chair and my benevolence and instinct took over. Yes, I took her home with me.

Here's Katie playing with a "brown-colored" grasshopper :o)

She was with me for about 4 months-till the day I left Poona.

I'm not in Poona anymore, but I've been told that she still gives that shrill :meow: :meow: whenever she hears the sound of my room's door opening. :o(
I never thought that i'd love or for that matter, "like" a cat!

Hope she's doing well.

But a question still lingers, "Why was I scared to take her with me when I left Poona?"

Miss you Katie! :o)

My first MTV video

Out of a sudden desire, decided to watch the Don't Cry music video that I had purchased some three/four years back when I was in Mizoram. It was nostalgia at its best, as Don't Cry was the first music video that I got to watch on MTV and I can vouch for the fact that Guns n Roses were a band that made many of my (non-North Eastern) friends love rock n roll or for that matter, Heavy Metal.

Before MTV, I know most of my "non-North Eastern" friends, here in Delhi knew three bands (Umm, let's say artists).

1. Madonna
2. Michael Jackson
3. Wham!

Speaking of nostalgia,

1. What song/video makes you nostalgic?
2. What was the first video that you saw on MTV?

Political lessons

Our politician is nearing his retirement age and proudly feels that he has told his dear son the tricks of the trade. But then there still is this final lesson his son must learn.

So our politician asks his son to climb to the terrace. Son reaches the terrace, looks down at his father with a curious look.

"Now what?" he thinks

To the son's surprise, Father asks him to jump from the terrace.

"Bapu! are you crazy?"
"Just jump! don't you trust your own father? Don't you know what I'm doing?"
"Bapu! I'm not going to do this. This is too much!"
"If you don't jump, the ticket for that constituency isn't yours. PERIOD! And do you think that I won't help if anything happens to you?"

Son thinks, lifts himself and takes the plunge.
Politician father moves away, lets his son fall on the hard ground.

"Bapu! why did you do that? I trusted you?" son asks

"And you trusted a politician?"

My Blog...

... is screwed up!
Just like my life!

Is that what you wanted to say?

Big Company, an office that looks like a 5-Star hotel, and Coffee similar to the one you get in that so-called "Coffee Day" or "Barrista" joints. I love that Coffee house in Kamla nagar though (Delhi University).

Fresher joins this Big Company. A week passes, a month, and then a quarter. Fresher is "Khool", is intelligent, Boss calls him, "He can really do things and I love the way he charges up people around him". But-and oh! what a big but, he's "stupid" (I still think he was immature...), wears that Hare Rama, Hare Krishna T-shirt, sports a hair longer than Nuno Bettencourt, and oh, he sometimes looked like a BackPacker.

One day, Fresher reaches office, opens the door of his glass house office, presses the button of that elevator, waits, enters the elevator with a serious, executive-looking fellow. Executive-looking fellow presses the button of the elevator, the "Automatic" door of the elevator closes. First Floor, Second Floor, about to reach Third Floor...

Executive-looking fellow looks at our Fresher, his hairdo and finally speaks out.

"Do you work for Me?"

Kasol, Manikaran and villages like Kalga...

Oh well, this happened some 2 weeks back.
"So are we going?", I sms Gaurav at 2 AM
"Yes we are" he replied.
Our plan was to leave at 4 in the morning, so we could pick up Samar on the way, who would be waiting for us in Jalandhar.

I've always liked trips that have an uncertainty surrounding them. So Gaurav gets up at 7 in the morning and calls up.
"Yes, Jimmy have you guys got up?"
"What time is it?"
"Brother! its 7 now, I'm reaching there in another 10 minutes. You guys get ready. Ok?"

Nothing is really far in Chandigarh and well, Gaurav did reach my place within 10 mins.
Nishant and I do our packing (well, kind of :P)

It was a 10 hr drive to Kasol about which I won't talk at length.

Kasol was our first stop-A 10 hour drive from this place. A typical north-indian hill station-hills, rivers, pahadi folks, some fancy hotels promising you an experience of a home away from home. Hey I thought came here to get away?

What struck me most about Kasol was the presense of Israeli hotels and restaurants. Israeli breakfast, Israeli dinner, hotels name Israeli Hotel, and restaurants named Rasta Restarant. Another surprising thing was that most of the billboards were also written in Hebrew.

So we booked a hotel-Deep Forest was the name, cleaned up ourselves (kind of :P) and sat for dinner and drinks on the hotel lounge. I faintly remember that there was this World Cup match being played on the big screen (Tunisia was playing some team :P) and a song called G**nd Mara de was playing on the background-it was in the tune of a Bhajan song.

I surveyed the area and ended up sitting with an Israeli couple who asked me where I came from.
"Mizoram yada yada..."
"Oh Mizoram, isn't that the place where there was this talk about the Manashe tribe?"
"Oh well, that's speculation, not every Mizo believes it though"
"Its funny, you know. We come here to get away from the violence of our country and there are guys in your tribe who wanna go there?"

Next stop- Manikaran and Kalga... :o)

The man who fell asleep

So here's the URL:-

http://www.themanwhofellasleep.com/invisibilia.html

If you're into art, illustration, and photography, do visit this site. What this fellow does is replace people in real-life photographs with illustrations. It may seem like a simple idea, but yes, the results are cool.

Hello, strangers of the internet. This page is a gallery of pictures. The pictures are simple enough: the people in the photos have been digitally removed and replaced with drawings. Yeah, I know: anyone can trace a drawing. But so what? I am doing it, and you're not. You're sitting at home doing nothing. Or maybe you're surfing the web at work. I don't know. I'm not psychic.

Maybe the pictures illustrate the idea that we all want to remove ourselves from life, and replace ourselves with fictional, self-created versions of ourself. We want to fictionalise our own existence, and impose order and narrative where there is none.

:o)