Diwali Dhamaka

Just as I promised that this would be a photo blog... but, me being me, how can I not speak? But I will definitely try and let pictures do most of the talking... For me, this years Diwali was very different from the mundane bursting-crackers-kinda fun that would come to your mind the instant you think of Diwali... 

Diwali is celebrated grandly across both Indian offices of Deloitte US (only -- for some weird reason -- we celebrated it a week earlier). I will now describe the week day-by-day beginning the Tuesday before Diwali.

Tues/Wed: We were divided into groups and each group decorated their set of cubicles on Tues evening... We also wore traditional dresses to office the next day :) Needless to say, neither did I win the Best Dressed Male nor did my team win the Best Decorated Cubicles :) Nevertheless, we had some really good time and I actually made Rangoli on the boards... Really... you can come and check, they are still there. I don't have the pictures of the Rangoli but I do have other pictures of the 2 days of fun... And for your information, our group got a special mention when declaring the results.. (We were the only group that tried to bribe the judges :D with Chocolates - Cadbury Eclairs.. damn those girls, "chotte log (height-wise), chotti soch"... else we would have won :P

The first pic is that of the project team I'm supposed to be joining soon. The next one is the rangoli made by our artist, Golu. The first pic seen below is Subbu (in white) standing with Mahadevan (the Best Dressed Male) and in the pic after that is Pavan trying out a dhoti, rather lungi. He wore a formal trouser too underneath that dhoti - safety first. ;) 

The pic below shows the girls of my gang (thats how I prefer calling my friends circle). The lady in green sari was adjudged the Best Dressed Female and she became a celebrity for a day. :) The pic below that was clicked in the cafteria (our second office).

Thats all the pictures can speak for now... So I continue...

Thurs: An old friend of mine, N, called just when I was leaving, and we decided to meet. We went to Club 8 and I (in chronological order) had chicken kababs (it had bones and I hate bones), smoked (2 in a row was the highest ever for me. Till that day, I couldn't complete even one completely), had beer (I HATE beer - be it the taste, smell or even colour), and then I drove back home (I'm completely against drink and drive, but I had no other choice)... I finally reached home at midnight and had dinner (I would rather tell my mom I drink, than skip dinner - you can reason out why)... overall I broke a lot of rules I had set for myself but I actually felt really good at the end of it all :)

Sat: I was out shopping on the outskirts of Hyderbad (heard of some real good Diwali offers there ;) ) when another old friend of mine, S, called and me, N and S decided to spend that night at N's place... Before you come to any conclusions, let me tell you that all three of us were guys and we were all straight... so just as any other boy's night out, our meeting involved booze, a discussion about girls and how the US recession represented a huge business opportunity for us (would you believe that?)... I can't seem to remember if we also decided to start a business that night :D

Sun: Yet another old friend of mine, Ad, was in hyderabad and a group of 4 school friends met at Eat Street... This meet did not involve booze, but is worth mentioning for a different reason... Ad gifted me "The Ultimate History of Ferrari" and obviously I fell in love with it at first sight for 2 main reasons... Firstly, its a book related to cars; Secondly, its about Ferrari; and a bonus reason being, there were lots of pictures of scarlet red cars...

Mon: Regular office work followed by the mundane burst-crackers-to-celebrate-diwali activity... I stayed back at a colleague's flat, and to celebrate with my colleagues - 4 guys n 4 girls... we burst crackers on the rooftop and had dinner at his place... this was special for me coz this is the closest my life has ever come to HAPPY DAYS, if you know what I mean... but the end of even this special day was identical to every other day - the girls left and I had booze with my friend... Vodka this time, and this marks the end of a week of boozing spree.

Tues: Diwali finally!! The best part?? I celebrated Diwali at my sister's place with my NEPHEW... Definitely, the best day of the entire "eventful" week and I can't describe it in words. Even pictures can't either, so I leave it for your imagination.

I never will understand these Americans

Guess what the latest rumour is, Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant again.. Click the title to read the original article.. Generally, this is not something I would like to comment on but what made me do it, was this response - 

"We both agree that we want Maddie (their 4-month old daughter) to be a little bit older so that she can be a part of it" by Jamie Lynn when asked about when she and Casey Aldridge (the sperm supplier) would be getting married. Now, how dumb is that... and worse yet, what does she do in the meantime?? what better than getting pregnant again... Maybe, Jamie is planning to have one mega-wedding after 15 years, when Jamie, Maddie and Maddie's 10 younger sisters can all get married in the same church while her infant grand-daughters witness the grand and happy wedding...

And anyway, who the hell cares when they get married... or whether they get married at all in the first place... but wait, NY Daily News surely does.. So what do they do? They run a poll "Bringing Up Baby - Should Jamie Lynn and Casey get married?"... Right, as though they would get married if I voted yes...

I think the world should rather be worrying about how to make sure Maddie Spears doesn't end up being a Spears... Elder Spears has already proven she could be the worst mother of all times, and younger Spears has proven she still needs to "grow up"... Casey on the other hand seems happy running the new baby outlet he has opened up in Jamie's bedroom...

I really wish someone would ban Spears' family from making more of their kind... 

Ode to the Nice Guys

I found this on the net today and felt that everybody should get to read it. So, I'm sharing it on my blog as well :)
This rant was written for the Wharton Undergraduate Journal

This is a tribute to the nice guys. The nice guys that finish last, that never become more than friends, that endure hours of whining and bitching about what assholes guys are, while disproving the very point. This is dedicated to those guys who always provide a shoulder to lean on but restrain themselves to tentative hugs, those guys who hold open doors and give reassuring pats on the back and sit patiently outside the changing room at department stores. This is in honor of the guys that obligingly reiterate how cute/beautiful/smart/funny/sexy their female friends are at the appropriate moment, because they know most girls need that litany of support. This is in honor of the guys with open minds, with laid-back attitudes, with honest concern. This is in honor of the guys who respect a girl’s every facet, from her privacy to her theology to her clothing style.

This is for the guys who escort their drunk, bewildered female friends back from parties and never take advantage once they’re at her door, for the guys who accompany girls to bars as buffers against the rest of the creepy male population, for the guys who know a girl is fishing for compliments but give them out anyway, for the guys who always play by the rules in a game where the rules favor cheaters, for the guys who are accredited as boyfriend material but somehow don’t end up being boyfriends, for all the nice guys who are overlooked, underestimated, and unappreciated, for all the nice guys who are manipulated, misled, and unjustly abandoned, this is for you.

This is for that time she left 40 urgent messages on your cell phone, and when you called her back, she spent three hours painstakingly dissecting two sentences her boyfriend said to her over dinner. And even though you thought her boyfriend was a chump and a jerk, you assured her that it was all ok and she shouldn’t worry about it. This is for that time she interrupted the best killing spree you’d ever orchestrated in GTA3 to rant about a rumor that romantically linked her and the guy she thinks is the most repulsive person in the world. And even though you thought it was immature and you had nothing against the guy, you paused the game for two hours and helped her concoct a counter-rumor to spread around the floor. This is also for that time she didn’t have a date, so after numerous vows that there was nothing “serious” between the two of you, she dragged you to a party where you knew nobody, the beer was awful, and she flirted shamelessly with you, justifying each fit of reckless teasing by announcing to everyone: “oh, but we’re just friends!” And even though you were invited purely as a symbolic warm body for her ego, you went anyways. Because you’re nice like that.

The nice guys don’t often get credit where credit is due. And perhaps more disturbing, the nice guys don’t seem to get laid as often as they should. And I wish I could logically explain this trend, but I can’t. From what I have observed on campus and what I have learned from talking to friends at other schools and in the workplace, the only conclusion I can form is that many girls are just illogical, manipulative bitches. Many of them claim they just want to date a nice guy, but when presented with such a specimen, they say irrational, confusing things such as “oh, he’s too nice to date” or “he would be a good boyfriend but he’s not for me” or “he already puts up with so much from me, I couldn’t possibly ask him out!” or the most frustrating of all: “no, it would ruin our friendship.” Yet, they continue to lament the lack of datable men in the world, and they expect their too-nice-to-date male friends to sympathize and apologize for the men that are jerks. Sorry, guys, girls like that are beyond my ability to fathom. I can’t figure out why the connection breaks down between what they say (I want a nice guy!) and what they do (I’m going to sleep with this complete ass now!). But one thing I can do, is say that the nice-guy-finishes-last phenomenon doesn’t last forever. There are definitely many girls who grow out of that train of thought and realize they should be dating the nice guys, not taking them for granted. The tricky part is finding those girls, and even trickier, finding the ones that are single.

So, until those girls are found, I propose a toast to all the nice guys. You know who you are, and I know you’re sick of hearing yourself described as ubiquitously nice. But the truth of the matter is, the world needs your patience in the department store, your holding open of doors, your party escorting services, your propensity to be a sucker for a pretty smile. For all the crazy, inane, absurd things you tolerate, for all the situations where you are the faceless, nameless hero, my accolades, my acknowledgement, and my gratitude go out to you. You do have credibility in this society, and your well deserved vindication is coming.

Phrases that Spell me

Laugh and let laugh

Mera Naam Joker

Keep no secrets; If you know something, then its worth sharing

I'm not who I'm but who you want me to be

There is no black or white, they are just different shades of grey

Once an IITian, always an IITian; desparate yet single - forever.

The fall of The Mighty - Twice!!

No confusions about that, I AM The Mighty. And what happened was my bike skidded twice on the same day, but both the times I managed to get away unhurt. But my bike lost its rear-view mirror. :(

The day before yesterday, i.e., Monday, the 8th day of September, (the Indian counterpart of - thats me) Valentino Rossi got on his Yamaha (thats my Honda Unicorn), warmed up his Yamaha and prepared to race on the world's toughest race track - Hyderabad roads - in the rain.

Take 1: Vroom, vroom.. In the parking, at the top of the 40m slope overlooking the Deloitte exit gate.. Vrooooom.. Take a good look at the gate down the short straight.. Put the bike into first gear, accelerate to 10, jump to gear 2.. speed is 25, move to gear 3.. Ohh! Speed breaker ahead.. Apply both, front and back, brakes in the ratio 75-25.. SREEECHH, BAMMM, SCREeeeeech.. I'm now doing water-gliding rather than biking.. Damn!! That's like crashing in the pit-stop even before the start of the race..

Take 2: Even after the fall in take 1, I was driving in my normal style.. Two turns and 300m away from the chequered flag (thats my home), I was racing at 50kmph in 5th Gear, obviously first (in the single-driver race).. Traffic ahead..  A Santro brakes hard on the other lane. The cycle behind him detours into the opposite side straight into me.. Brake hard (front:back::75:25).. Screech to a halt, but with the bike lying flat on the ground.. Damn, yet another fall.

The common mistake: Applying Front Brakes on slippery ground.. First time, it was the slippery tiles on the slope.. second time, it was sand on the road.. You can control the bike when the back tyre locks and skids.. You get an extra split second before you fall and within this time, you can release the brakes and save yourself.. But when the front tyre locks and skids, the next thing you know you are down.. I guess, you must release the brakes and push your weight in the direction of the skid (because that will be opposite the direction of your fall).. So, if your front tyre skids to the right, the Center of Mass moves moves towards the left, and you (along with the bike) fall towards the left.. So you must push your weight towards the right.. but, I wasn't able to put this theory to practical use the two times i fell.. May you have more luck :)