2010 - The End...!

I still remember how enthusiastically I embraced 2010...well...here I am...a few days before the end of 2010 and trying to see if anything really changed...

Besides - few negligible improvements, the year over all has been pretty much slow and low in all respects...2011 isn't expected to be any different...

Normally, no year is different from any other...its all the hype and hope about future in general and the mysticity (new word...HAHA) around the unpredictability of the future that makes us believe that there is always this huge change just around the corner...!! But truth be told...mostly that change is not even remotely visible...leave alone achievable...only you keep looking for it or chasing it...

I for once am learning to not just accept but even appreciate the great 'constant' that is my life...and love the part that there is hardly any surprises or shocks around it...and hope it stays that way...for as long as I have to deal with it

Heres to my docile life and to a very predictable and stable 2011...

Haggling

haggling when your product is relatively out of date and off market...

may may...just MAY very closely resemble something else! :)

YOU GOT TO BE NICE TO US...DONT YOU KNOW US...WHATS WRONG WITH YOU?!

Be nice to us...

Be nice to us please...

Why cant you be nice...?? Try it...dont be afraid...its not as complicated as you perceive it to be...

I am going to have to stop talking to you...!

Ok...I was just kidding...but what is the problem here??

I am involving my brother now! He is going to beat some sense into you! (*LOL*)

Come on...its nice to be nice...to everyone!! Ok?

Animal cruelty is all wrong! You dont pelt stones at dogs do you?? Why discriminate now?!

poor mothers! you got to love them...

Mothers dont give up...they dont EVER give up!

here goes...

Astrologer -> the best period in your son's life is now...

Ma -> Really? Great! (Extra special 'thank you' prayers from today...)

Ma to KJA -> The best time for everything is now. Everything is great. 

KJA to Ma -> I burnt the dinner last night...had to eat out...when are you coming back...

Ma -> Are you even listening to me?! We re-re-visited your horoscope. You are going to become a human soon...the time has come

KJA -> Splendid. What else?

Ma -> You are midas now according to him

KJA -> Ok. Its that time of the year to show investment proofs etc. I have a bunch of used boarding passes as my 'investments' for the year. This special power will really come in handy!!

Ma -> He is wrong. I give up. What bad luck...I should have stayed single...

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KJA -> so whats for breakfast in Madras...?

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Saree Jahan See Acchaa!

Most of us (...including yours truly) at some point in time or the other have felt bad or disappointed about having to deal with a lot of "unacceptables" in this truly lovely country that I am super proud to call my home...

Tonight...was special...something truly special...my unit had an official gathering at a cozy little place near my residence...(super thanks to all who chose that place...the sheer relief that you feel past mid night knowing that you are home in about 5 mins is really hard to describe in words really)...towards the end of the night...I had this truly inspirational exchange of thoughts with this new found work friend...talking about history...culture...heritage...and mostly how India is more "human" in every sense and tone of that word...than the rest of the world...

HUM --> we/ours....

MAN --> mind....

HUMAN --> oneness in thought...! :)

JAI HIND

all about the hunger!

Airports...airports seem to bring out the best in everyone!! here goes...

few weeks back...am waiting behind a fellow flyer at the boarding gate...this was an early morning flight...visibly the bloke was little restless...he walks to the airport staff...displays his boarding card...and as he walks past this lady...."andhar khana milega na??" - "food is served inside right??"

This lady was stunned...and politely said..."yes"!

...I was behind this dude...and I couldn't help but smile at her..."I wouldn't dare ask that question in that tone to even my mom or my wife..."

....a giggly....."Enjoy your flight sir"

..."Yes. I will. Thank you. You have a good day"

baggage bliss!

I am sure most working professionals returning "home" for a break from work will be able to relate to this feeling of relief (no need to cook and clean for a few days), mild thrill (perhaps the recently launched F1 2010 game on the PS3 waiting for you as a surprise), guilt (coming home empty handed as you have just finished the box of cookies all by yourself)...etc etc...

But this isn't about all that - obviously everyone is attached to their luggage! No matter whats inside - you are attached to your bags, suitcases! There is no denying that! AND they are attached to you as well (YES YES YES!!)

How else would you explain the 4 somersaults that they perform on their way to reaching you on the baggage belt at the Madras airport!! They know you are too old and physically unfit, so they take over and exhibit that unmanageable bliss that you really feel inside every time you land home at the Madras airport!!

total freedom

Everyone wants to be free... most seem to stop at the "freedom to do whatever I wanna do, whenever I wanna do" phase. Recently, I took it to a slightly different dimension...

You will be able to achieve a sense of complete freedom, unless you kill your conscience somehow, only when you completely lose your ability to hurt anyone or anything (including yourself) willfully or unwittingly by your words/thoughts/actions!

In reality, I think if this has to be achieved, one must welcome the state of "total social insignificance"! :)

On a lighter note - wearing a cloak of invisibility is surely not a bad way to start...

pluuu plaaahhh!

Today was a live dose of the famed blondness or blonditude!

At the airport, while waiting in the long winding queue there was a temporary cut in the power supply and within moments it was restored using the back up!

There was a blonde woman waiting in the queue as well....making conversation with some people around her...just 'socializing'...you know! As soon as this power supply thing happened - her expression turned a little concerned and she asked "what if the same thing happens inside the aircraft?"

For a moment there - I froze and then the "oh she's blonde" calmness fell over me and I walked in for the free "feel me up" session with the security personnel!!

Belief

In the most unlikely of times - I realized this simple truth!

Perhaps the most of important things I have accidentally stumbled upon and obviously therefore, too important not to record in here.

It is always less stressful and relatively painless to believe the bad stuff. Its the truth and am mostly convinced of this.What took a little while to figure out was the reason as to why it is a lot easier to believe in the bad stuff.

Here goes - the amount of scrutiny and acid tests a good deed or thought is put through before finally it is 'accepted' to be good (by yourself...leave alone anything or anyone external) simply drains a lot of emotions and energy from you. On the other hand, to believe in bad stuff actually takes one simple global acceptance of the evilness that is visible and the minute you have made your peace with the existence of the evilness - the belief in bad stuff is almost effortless and instant.

Its sad but boy I would love to prove myself wrong about this little discovery!

PUNE paradiso!

Cant seem to remember for the first time what I wrote last on this blog! And of course when I scrolled back I had a smile on my face...! (whether this 'activity' keeps anyone else entertained I think these entries will put a smile on my face whenever I read them!) *LOL*

Alright - now I have been in Pune since early March! After the initial hiccups of commute and 'directionlessness'...I must confess living here has been an immensely fulfilling experience so far...

As resolved and predicted at the beginning of this year - so far this year has been all positive with absolutely nothing to complain about!

Bro lands himself with a peach job in his chosen career path which amongst other things mostly takes all the stress marks away from the faces of parents! and needless to say anything that can take those marks away has to be recognized as truly extra-ordinary! Wonder when I will find my own version of those mark removers for them! :)

Yours truly has been playing the drums for about three months now...and is 'fairly' OK on the kit.

The house is all set up and is very livable!

Last week was an extra special fun picnic to a place about 50 Ks from Pune and it truly was a fun trip and hopefully many more will follow in the coming weekends.

Will this post put a smile when I forget the next time what I wrote last??...I think it will...! :)

Lunch time humor!

Obviously this incident was too good not to record it in here! :)

At the lunch queue with an old friend / colleague and this question from yours truly....

"Is this dal or sambar?"

The AMAZING prompt response - "What is placed after the rice should be mixed with the rice and eaten!!"

And ofcourse the clear unmouthed words were - "Get on with it and stop wasting my energy!"

*LOL*

confusion...

Normally - at this hour (half past four in the morning) -> before I leave to the airport -> I am given a nice cup of tea...a warm hug and a kiss on the forehead by the people who matter the most in my life!

Today here I am scribbling on my blog missing those people immensely -> there are some conflicting emotions really -> does anyone ever convey the 100% truth when they say care or the likes? I surely don't think I even know what that phrase means...until last evening I thought I knew how to care...!

Going forward -> I want to be extra careful before I convince myself I care about anything -> Real care should never succumb to tantalization...at least thats my take on it! If it does..then it isn't real care!

Of course on the lighter side -> the profundity of the remark "who cares!" puts a smile on my sleepless face...! :)

persistent determination!

Ahhhh...I told you so...didn't I?

Yes. You did. I thanked you then for the unsolicited pearls of wisdom**...didn't I?

Yes...you are welcome again...but it would have saved you all the trouble had you listened to me

No no...how could I ever pass the oppurtunity to hear you say the words - "Ahhh see...I told you so...didn't I"

So this is going to happen again?

I think so...wise one!!

** Guess compelled by matchless arrogance and disdain

Insurance tip...

If you decide to die or know that its going to happen fairly quickly (you see some blue prints of the plan laid out lying at home) -> meet with an accident first!! -> would prove immensely rewarding...

...now whether this "accident" takes place under the influence of alchohol or not depends on how well you are treated at home!! LOL

ode to her mind...

how is it possible I wonder...
and endlessly I ponder...
about your ability to multi-task...
a question that I dare explicity ask...
oh (good) smelly T...your mind is a thing of beauty...
amongst all parental duty...
you say with overwhelming exuberance "black woman is with someone!"
while all wanted to do most...was to end the fight...
that it really was to get through that tiring night...
these lines above are for my dear friend...
who I hope will keep me entertained till the end...

despair

I cannot stand anyone around me in a state of despair. I am very possessive about that state! :) - KJA

macro (mental) economics...

For very long - I never truly understood why the human mind was always absolutely crucified, condemned and described as the root cause of all human suffering by philosophers...spiritualists...Indian Gurus! (using in their own unique phonetics and dialects)

a sort of break through few weeks back...

preferences seem to be the problem...while 'desire' as a whole would be great to get rid of...that act may never be possible without the total disassociation with the mind itself...however...preferences (the lesser evil if I may...) is feigned intelligence that differentiates and ranks (based on attributes) what is more desirable to own/consume/use and what is not...

if preferences were to be eradicated (theoretically speaking) or to begin with minimized -> the choices supplied to quench the new "preference-free" demands become infinite eventually -> in other words - the demand and supply become attribute free eventually -> and thereby ceasing to become as complex and as Godly an issue as being completely desireless!

mirthful me...

"What good is the sense of humor if it aint supplemented with the acumen to comprehend the reason for the laughter!" :)  - KJA 

ah...the best mobile handset in the whole world...

samsung corby truly transforms lives of women!

1. SOS messaging (hit the volume button 4 times and 4 text messages sent to 4 specified phone book contacts)

Now - women never need this feature as most of the SOS scenarios in their lives are imaginary and at times around which pair of shoes to wear! Having said that - it is a total selling point while marketing it to women as it is devoid of any practical use (like a coffee maker or kitchen knife)

2. Fake self calls

Normally - how difficult is it really for a girl to excuse herself from a situation? I dont know - a simple "I got to go" would work rather well. But yes - who can comment on their overwhelming need to be polite sometimes

3. Yellow and Pink and all the other wonderful colors

oh Dear Lord - please let me be a girl in my next life so I can use this phone! :)

ain't so ba(l)d after all

when something gets the undivided attention of kids...and provides the much needed time to their exhausted  mothers so they can 'breathe'...that object must be appreciated by someone!

1. Super Sid - Rather stressed out week. Million dollar smile and such an affectionate tap/stroke on the bald shiny head almost 'talking' through his touch telling me - "Its Ok. Its alright. You will come out of this" and always those were the ONLY words that you needed to hear to snap out of whatever it is you need to and want to snap out of.


2. Pretty P -  After the intial warming up and the 'hatred' mostly brewed by my doing stuff that she clearly didnt want me to do (like be at her house!) - she tapped my shiny scalp and found extreme thrill using it as a make-shift bongo :)

Now thats hardwork!

This past Saturday I took the evening train from Bangalore to Madras (was in Bangalore to close a few pending things relating to bank etc) - I made conversation with this rather courteous attendant in the train. He stood by the door and waved his hand to three people from the train as it went past a small town about two hours from Bangalore. I naturally got curious and enquired who they were. Mother, Father and a friend was the reply.

This bloke spends 6 days of the week attending to passengers on this train from 0600 to 2130 everyday and goes home every tuesdays which is this particular train's declared "no service" day!

Boy am I glad my latest 'wave' has lasted for about three weeks including some super fun lunch/dinner meetings with family and friends...

Game Set and Match Agassi

I love watching and following tennis. Most of my high school years and a little after that as well - I immensely enjoyed the many many Agassi - Sampras matches on TV.

Both these geniuses have written books and as a gift for my brother (who is a sportsman himself) I had ordered their autobiographies online and had them delivered home. I finished Sampras' last week. Well - Agassi's was being read by my brother and wasnt available for my reading.

Honestly - I think it was rather boring. It didnt have any life. I didnt like the tone of the book. I am an intense reader and remember a lot of phrases/lines from most the books I have read and especially the ones I have enjoyed reading immensely (I almost know my bible -  "Everything and a Kite" inside out)

Just started reading Agassi's - the book for lack of a better adjective is simply "unputdownable"! I love the way he described his match against Marcos in the US open - "Vow...he has a lot of hair...........................for a moment I feel jealous. I miss my hair"

I hear you Andre...and know exactly what you mean!! :)

I recommend reading his book to everyone who has admired him/his tennis or even anyone who hates his/her job even though they are very good at it...

Love...Hate

As simple as it may sound - it is my opinion that the world loves you when you love yourself and similarly hates you when you hate yourself.

Of course there is always this set of people in life who you love no matter what and who love you no matter what...

On that note - this is me signing off from Belgium/Europe for the moment and returning to home beautiful home...

Yes...I'm coming home...to "that" set of people in my life who mean the world to me...

intelligence

"All my intelligence is smartly concealed by my goofiness. Ironically that bit is not intentional" - KJA 29/01/2010

acquired feelings...

"Any 'non-hate' feeling toward me is an acquired one - my family and friends are still slowly acquiring them after 30 years!" - KJA 19 Jan 2010

:) :) :)

Cleaning up!

One of the things that I did not do for sure in 2009 was tidy up - take out the accumulated trash!

The past two weeks of this new year have been rather well spent - there is this new energy and unlike in the past this time it seems to be coming from a rather positive place within and not from the usual all so familiar place of disgust and a sense of wanting to break free from the madness that it really was!

A lot of excess dead weight has been removed and there is a lot of relief is knowing that it was only a false sense of guilt or obligation that had stopped me earlier.

The long sleepless nights continue to prevail but these ones seem to be for some meaningful pursuit like the Sega pro tour world #1 on the PS3 Tennis!! - no no no - like for working on the Harvard course which was so conveniently set aside as there was no real pressure to work hard at it.

There is this great hope and self belief largely due to this wonderful start to the year 2010.

my 'blonde' moment!

Day before I stood outside my door cursing my ill luck about the door being completely jammed and being stranded outside!

Called the landlord and sought help...and her prompt justified question was "Are you sure its the right key?"

Well...ofcourse it was the right key! She said she would come have a look and well she did...only to tell me I was standing outside the wrong door!

A flat on each of the three floors - you generally don't think floor 2 is floor 3!!

That was 15 minutes of time well spent...

:)