i have a new site up !!! actually just another blog….

but it comes up with a thought at the back of my mind….

with this is going to start a round of conversations…and some learning is going to come my way.. and everyone’s who reads that one…

wish me luck…

everyone..

ye !!!!

p.s. just found out that it needs some tweaking.. will introduce the page soon to all !!!

• Bharatpur Bird santuary…
• Dehradun and Dhanaulti…
• Gwalior…
• Rishikesh…
• Vaishno Devi…

for me the day started kinda early.. had to finish some important work before i could rush to meet up with Jassi and Deepak for a pre-ODM do @ the Gali Paranthe Wali !!!

and i was late… reached around 1120 hrs… and then found out where they were.. and then met Richa… and then met Jassi and Deepak… and then Sayantani called… or i guess Deepak called her to find out where she was… and we were to wait for another 10 minutes so that she could join us for the bruch in the walled city !!!

there she was… as expected in front of a book stall…. a small hellos with everyone.. and then we moved to the State of the Art… Rajiv Chawk Metro Station… three levels… two lines… Dwarka/BaraKhamba and CS-DU line… we had two smart people with smart cards… Jassi Praji… and Richa ji… so we bought three tokens.. and reached Chandni Chowk pretty quick… enjoying the feel of the metro !!!

This is where i was thinking about the Kolkata Metro and the Mumbai Locals… phew… look at this and then think about them.. there is a difference.. as of now.. this is way way ahead of both of them !!!

out of the metro station.. and to the Chandni Chowk Market… bought a few rollls for myself.. and then a sun cap for the lens… and two Batteries for the camera !!!

a walk towards the Gali Paranthe wali, asking Richa to buy those dresses with the mirros in them.. and she agreeing to buy them and wearing them on her Farewell… a small visit to the Gurudwara ( my first in all the visits so far.. thanks Jassi)… a small talk about how in some places the shoes are kept in bags and not touched… a quick decision to decide where to eat out of the three places left…. followed !!!

and here is a list of what all we ate…

• Aalu Parantha
• Matar Parantha
• Paneer Parantha
• Khurchan Parantha
• Kela Parantha, and
• Lassi yummmm ( though i feel it could have been much thicker… it was the last time)

Richa was not too keen to eat there and wanted to share my paranthas with me.. but the brave gurl took a brave step and ate two paranthas on her own… after some loud suggestions by the person taking care of the famous five there !!! he also gave us all a few names… well.. not all actually…

Richa was the Choti Maidam.. and he pulled her leg ekdum maje mein…
Sayantani was the Badi Maidam…
Jassi Praji was the Babe Babu... and
Deepak bhai was the Chota Babu… and for me he could not think of anything… though he mentioned that i was just like him… well i take it as a compliment !!! he was a total entertainment… and i would love to make people smile the way he did…

i was wondering.. what if the fake smiles from the people across the counter from the new age cafe’s and the McDonalds and the Pizza huts are removed.. and such smiles and conversation added to the modern day food joints would make life so much better to live !!!

well to start with my coffeee shop is going to have people who enjoy being there.. and not work work there only only !!!

what next… Aseem was there… and we were late… and not worried…
Aseem has always been on time.. and has been a part of all the ODMs so far.. like me and Bhaskar… Jassi as well gave a guest Appearance in the Chapter – III before he had to rush !!!

so we reach CCD CP… and Aseem and Akash were there already… oh i forgot.. Arup… also met us outside the CCD.. he is on orkut too.. but not very active… and knew Sayantani… so we 6 entered the CCD together !!! and two already there.. makes it 8 !!! nice gang !!!
in not much time… Gaurav and Gaurav and Harpreet joined us…. and then Bhaskar… good he did not miss the ODM… he’s been doing a lot of hard work and money generation lately.. and it was good to see him take out sometime and come for the meet !!!

a round of introductions followed… Jassi was as usual a li’il quite… and i am sure the rest were kinda surprised to see him silent after the kinda work he does on Orkut !!! hehehe.. we were shocked too.. when we met in the ODM Chapter I !!!

food.. drinks.. cookies… more drinks… and people backing out of the Golgappe Eating competition… and we playing dumb sharads followed.. before i had to leave for a function in FICCI !!! and i was on stage after a gap of 4 years… what fun !!! ( will write about that later)

this was a nice day… fourth Chapter written in the History of ODMs…. a book that started on April 1 2004… the April Fools day and has come a long way from there…. wonderful… from 6 people to 12 this time…

ODM Chapter – I
Prashant
Aseem
Bhaskar
Mayank
Jaspreet
Night

ODM Chapter – IV
Prashant
Aseem
Deepak
Jaspreet
Richa
Sayantani
Aroop
Gaurav Goyal
Gaurav
Harpreet
Akash
Bhaskar

Feels good…

hope to be a part of another ODM pretty soon… and looking forward to more people joining in !!!

I saw “Rang De Basanti” on Thursday… 26th Jan…. The Republic Day…

and i have to say that please watch this movie.. if you have any emotions for India..!!!!

I was very very touched by the movie..had tears in my eyes as well… three times i remember….

go ahead.. watch it… and WAKE UP for yourself !!!

OK this guys drops a comment.. and tells me that Prashant ji.. you are tagged… and now you need to get the creative guy inside you come out of sleep and write a ishtory !!!

Thank you Rohit !!!

I took the rules from his blog only..
(1) write a 100-to-200-word entry using the following words: I, me, blow job, grapes, random, power, loneliness, water, robot and blue;
(2) use these words once and only once; and of course
(3) the entry should make sense.

I am not good at writing short stories…. but Rohit tagged me and i have to write one now… most of my short stories end up being essays.. but here is one…

____________________

__________________________

Ok Rohit… are you happy now !!!

and am i supposed to tag anyone?

Ok… here are a few people i would tag…
Rohit again… now write another ishtory…
Sayantani…
Bhaskar…
Deepak…

enjoy everyone….
i have another strange post in mind.. which i am going to write.. may be tmrw !!!

i went out to pamper myself today…

Got a hair cut.. the most expensive so far in my life… nice hole burnt in the pocket.. but then not too bad for a feel good…

and then a shopping spree…

Koutons Trousers…. 57% OFF 😀
Lee Cooper PullOver…40% OFF ( Incidently i had to leave the same pullover in the shop a few months back because i was short on cash.. and i bought it today.. i had loved this one so so much that time….)

am i showing off.. kinda.. yes… umm.. maybe… never mind

😀

i am happy to buy all this for myself today… and tmrw is Radha’s Service DAY.. so another happiness coming my way… my car happy… me happy…

There is more happiness here… For you dear Reader… the fotos of my trip have been uploaded to Flicker… and here is the link…

OR if you want to see specific places here is where you click…

• Kolkata
• Mahabalipuram – Pondi – Mysore
• Bhopal – Mumbai – Elephanta

p.s. you can also check out the new FLICKR BAdge in the Left Bar to check out the fotos !!!

what a DRIVE !!!

i woke up at 0500 hrs to the music on Red FM in the morning today… why !!! because I had to reach office at 0700 hrs for a training…

phew… itta compromise karna padta hai mereko training dene ke liye.. but then it was every second worth it… here is why…

• I reached office in 13 minutes FLAT… a distance of 18 odd kms…
• I drove at 120 kmph… and the car felt ROCK SOLID… love you baby…mmmmmmmuah
• I heard three of my favorite songs during these 13 minutes…

• And I loved the breeze that whooshed by my face when i was driving !!!!

wish i could do that everyday… i might just do it.. not really come to the office but get up in the morning.. early morning and go out….

I thought i justify the title of my blog… and there is my grandma present in this world…. who does it better… class apart…

Ladis and Gentel Mans pliss BhelKome

Richa Vague Bhardwaj !!!!

😀
😛

p.s. i had to write it buddy… just could not stop myself…

and now time for some of my vague thoughts as well….

~ what if we do not treat time as a standard and something else… like for example we say the the bus would come at 0630 hrs… what if we start saying that when the bus comes then it would be 0630 hrs…

flashback…

Saturday in Kolkota…

i will just write the route i took…. and not much about the rest…

• Started from Salt Lake… took a rickshaw to Korunamoyee… 10 bucks…
• Korunamoyee to Howrah… local bus… 8 bucks… front seat.. via Sialdah
• Howrah to Berul Math.. local bus… 7.50 bucks…
• Berul Math to Dakhineshwar… boat…. 7 bucks…
• Dekkhineshwar to Howrah.. local bus via Berul… 7.5 bucks…
• Howarah to Fairle… Launch on the river Hugli… 4 bucks…
• Fiarle to BBD Bagh Bus Stand via Mellenium Park and Writers Building… walk….
• BBD Bagh to JadhavPur… mini bus… 8 bucks…
• Jdhadavpur to Panchasayar… Taxi…50 bucks…
• Panchasayar to Esplanade/Dharamtalla… State Run Bus…8 bucks..
• Dharamtall to Victoria Memorial…. TRAM…. 4 bucks… Victoria Memorial to Robindro Sodon… walk…
• Robindro Sodon to Salt Lake… Private bus… 7.5 bucks…

monginis; taxis;flurys;icici bangla; victoria memorial by night; the hand pulled rickshaw; robindro sodon; early morning at the korunamoyee stand; belur math; howrah bridge; TRAM; flight back home

phew… and Arobindo was wondering if i would be able to make this in one day… well i did… and in time for a good sleep before i woke up around 0430 hours for the 0700 flight to delhi….

Sunday in Delhi… Auto Expo…

hondo hybrid;go fida;DC styled ford fiesta;the 9-crorebike; modified swift and city; the rally swift; WV beetle

and meeting up with a friend… and then quick fast drive back home via the Toll Road… and then a walk to sector-18 market to buy a Steam Iron.. i bought a Philips….

bass…

baki ab pictures aane ke baad 🙂

oh and by the way… my PhotoBlog is active again… do check it out 🙂

back in delhi….

and DELHI is the best…

what roads… i could get down on the road and kiss the road today… the fastest i have been in a vehicle on the road in the last one month was TODAY…

LOVE YOU DELHI !!!

i tried to find a place where i could have tea.. could not find it though 🙁

more later 🙂

its been fun so far now in kolkata… the first impression was not so good.. well getting into a locality which looks just like where are you are living otherwise does not make you more comfortable.. you just try to look for more things which you are used to like friends and family and that does not help you much.. does it.. eh !!! neva mind…

lemme write about what i have been doing for the last two evenings…

i went to 15 Park Avenue… yes that is an address that Konkona Sen Sharma was trying to look for in Kolkata… and i was with her while she looked around for it… and with her in tht search.. partcipating or not participating.. willingly or unwillingly were Rahul Bose, Shabana Aazmi, Waheeda Rehmaan and a few more… a movie very well written, directed, crafted.. work of art.. and someone who appreciates sincere acting and cinema should not miss this opportunity to thank Aparna Sen to create this movie…

i am not going to talk about the story of the movie much except that i loved it… it kept me thinking all the time.. something that i usually do not do while watching my favorites.. well they are comedies ofcourse…

thats how day before yesterday evening was spent… and yesterday evening…

left from office a li’il early and then from the guest house around 1700 hrs to check out some kolkata.. the real city.. and not the artificially built up so called posh just like any other city with malls…

took a shared auto to Korunamoyee.. and then a shared cab… to Exide.. you must be wondering what kinda name is that for a place.. well that place actually is Ravindra Sadan.. but there is a building called Exide House there and hence the name….

from there a Metro Ride to Dharamtalla.. or what is called Esplanade.. this is supposed to be a good place to just spend time but i had other plans.. i wanted to see what the trams look like.. and take a ride if possible too.. well the first wish was taken care and the second one is deferred till saturday… i took a few fotos.. but i am not sure they are what i really wanted to capture.. i have a few things in mind.. and i hope to take care of them in bright sunlight on saturday….

the tram.. the metro.. the light and sound show… the park.. the flyover…

what next… a metro back to Ravindra Sadan.. and a walk around the place.. was lucky to catch a light and sound fountain show near the place.. and it was just mindblowing… its a 45 minute show… from 1815 hrs to 1900 hrs.. and then from aroud 1915 hrs to 2000 hrs for anyone who wants to see it… and then had some mithai at Ganguram ki dukan.. and a double egg roll at a road side Roll Walah !!! and just walked around the place doing nothing at all… and hey.. also bought three film rolls…. and then took a cab back to koronamoyee.. and got down near City Centre.. went to a shop inside the city centre to have tea… and eat some Khatam Dhokla.. and then have some tea.. and then walk around taking snaps…

2100 hrs.. time for my movie.. Tom Hanks and Leonardo de’caprio starrer “Catch Me If You Can”… slept and got up to a severe pain in my left leg.. a bad muscle pull.. could not even stand up properly.. just waited for a while for the pain to reduce a li’il and then came to the office…

another experience this was… took a city bus.. blue and yellow..metal from outside.. wood from inside… a typical seating system.. basically to enable more people to stand… and wood all around.. and the way it is driven.. uff.. rASH 🙂

the kolkata bus…

what follows is my plan on saturday… any additions to this would be appreciated…

leave for howrah very very early morning.. take a bus from Koronamoyee to Howrah… and then then take a train to Belur Math.. and then a Ferry to Dakshineshwar Temple… go to Esplanade from there.. and then to a friend’s place in Panchasayar… and then come back to Park Street… if time permits.. go to Kalighat.. and a recent addition to the list.. The Indian Museam… I also need to click a few fotos of Victoria Memorial in the evening.. so going back to Robindro Shodon is a must.. also need to buy mithai from Ganguram or some other shop in Park Street !!!

Wat Say….

and hey…

Roundabouts in Kolkata are referred to as “ISLANDS”…
the Autos do not have meters….
and the Taxis need to be given 180% of the amount displaying in the meter….
kolkata metro = about 78% of the mumbai local trains.. wahi rush.. wahi bheedh.. i could see and feel the delhi metro’s future there….

agenda of the post : mysore trip … and the rest of it till right now…

the day started early actually very very early yesterday at 0400 hrs… sushant was to come over after his work got over… he came late but i got up at 0400 anyway.. got ready and called him over… and then waited for the cab outside the shopper’s stop…

subhadip had booked a qualis for the trip.. and arun was also taking his mom along.. it was good.. all in the famly types.. so we were finally off to mysore around the 7th hour of the day… Sushant, Arun, Arun’s mom, Me, Subhadip and Kailash…. and Vasu the driver… and this time the driving was better then the chennai-pondi trip 🙂 no sudden turns.. no bad breaking… Vasu was asked to be careful after the first jerk, and that was the last time we needed to say anything to him on the entire trip.. he was a good driver… and made sure that we could get the max out of the trip as well.. nice…

life on wheels…

the highway between banglore and mysore is still under construction.. and even though the road is good… a lot of times you suddenly have to move to drive on the wrong side of the road… that actually demands you to be more careful and control you speed because there are no large signs that ask you to take a diversion, but the brigher side is that you get to drive on the smooth road all the time… with a few kilometres of exception as well…

these are the places I managed to visit in this day long trip….

the trip to mysore… my floor in the guest house..the lift..srirangapatnam, jamia masjid, daria daulat, chamundi hill, St. Philomena’s church, Mysore Zoo, Mysore Palace etc.

• Srirangapatnam and the Daria Daulat Bagh
• St. Philomena’s Church
• Chamundi Hill and the temple there
• Mysore Zoo
• The beautiful Mysore Palace and
• Brindavan Gardens

brindavan gardens…

It turned out to be a great day which started at 0700 hrs and finally came to an end at 0030 hrs the next day… what next.. i did not sleep and did not anyone else sleep too coz i had to come to kolkata by a very very early morning flight… 0605 hrs… phew… i almost missed the flight as well… check in delays even after reaching the airport one hour before the time of departure…

this aircraft was the Airbus 320… what shit it was… the leg room smaller then a volvo… and i was not really comfortable sitting on those seats… i had not slept for over 26 hours… and the seat was not very nice.. but the view outside the window.. by far the best so far…. clouds all around… as if someone had spread the fluffy cotton all around.. and the sun rising out of the horizon… it was very beautiful…

stills from the flight…. i was @ 35000 ft. and moving at 550kms/hr

and then two evenings and two days in kolkata… aargh… i am staying in the salt lake city.. and very near to a huge mall called the City Centre… sunday evening i went to the mall and noticed that it was as good or as bad as any other mall in delhi… tooooooooo crowded.. i was as quick to move out of it as possible.. and then looked around for a place where i could eat something local… did not find anything… so had to be satisfied with a normal available anywhere dinner and then end it up witha small fruit punch at the monjinis… now this was surprising.. this cake shop was atleast 50% cheaper then the mumbai shop !!! anyway.. who cares till i get to eat the pastries….

and yesterday evening after the training… it was much better… went to the guest house.. kept my stuff there… and then rushed to Korunamoyee… and then took a shared van to Robindro Shodon…roamed around that part of the city…. had mithai at the ganguram halwai ki dukan… and then had kolkata egg roll… a glimpse of the victoria memorial… and then trip back to the guest house in a bus….

some observations about the city so far…

~the air is better then in banglore…
~too many mosquitoes in this part of the city.. thanks to it being very near a lake…
~the travel around the city is not very comfortable from this part of kolkata…
~too many ambassadors as taxies… mumbai was full of fiats.. and this ambys….

and i am not sure where to go to have mithai.. i want to have the bengali sweets.. lots and lots of them 🙁 help me please….

oh and guess what.. for the first time in my life.. i saw a fiat test drive kiosk… they are in the building that i am in for the last two days.. and have the adventure, the palio nv and the petra on display…
missing you radha 🙁

ATheeYumm.. did it take longer for you to speak this compared to the term ATM… i am assuming it did…
and thats not all.. in south the average time anyone takes to get out of the ATheeYumm is 10 minutes.. i have had this exp. twice…

first time in Chennai on the 31st:
i had thu withdhraw some money… before mhe.. there were thwo ladhies sthandhing in fronth of mhe… when their thurn comes they enther the AtheeYumm.. and spendh abhouth 10 minuthes there…and then they call mhe inside… no no nothing interesting happenedh… they were noth able to fighure outh how to use the damn ATheeYumm !!!

Firsth they were searchingh for da AtheeYumm Cardh.. and then they did not know how to swipe it in the machine.. and then they forgoth the pinh… finally i had to requesth them to let me use the AtheeYum… they didh… thankh you ladhieezz…

time spent in that AtheeYum = 12 odd minutes..

second time today morning…
standing outhsidhe the Mantri elegance AtheeYum… a guy goes insidhe and stays there for 10-15 minuthes… and then comhes out with justh a bloddy mini statementh… ullu ka paththa !!!

there is something that i missedh outh on yesterday… why was i feeling senthi…

i saw thwo goodh moovies yestherdhay night…

~ Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind…

Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet…
story: Joel Barish meets Clementine.. and likes her.. she likes her back.. and with time like every other relationship their relationship turns sour too… and then Clementine erases Joel from her Memory and Joel also does the same.. Fate has it and they meet again the very next day both have erased each other’s memories from their mind… and like each other again… and then come to find out about what had happened… very nice movie.. a li’il confusing at times coz I could not understand what was going on.. but then i tried and could understand the entire movie… a must watch !!!

joel and clementine looking at the sky lying down on a frozen lake… beautifully romantic…

~ 13 going on 30…

Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo
story: Jenna is a 13 year old kid who wants to look good.. be the centre of attraction and wishes to be 30 on her birthday.. the next that she knows is that she is 30 and comes to find out that she has not been one of the nicer people around.. not meeting her parents, making her way upto the top, selling her firms secrets to the rival magazine and all… and then changes for good.. does things nice.. and so on and so forth… a nice comedy… which has some romance as well in it… very nicely paced movie too… again a must watch…..

jenna and matt inside a small park where they were playing and swinging like kids.. and then fell down together… loved the silence that was there in this scene…

ok now why was i senti.. coz some of the old memories were brought back because of these movies… some sad memories.. some happy ones too…

bad bad… memories memories… get out get out !!!

i have been troubled a lot in the past few days because of the fact that i could not drive my car on the open roads… and the place where I missed my car the most… well they call it the ECR… the East Coast Road… some people in chennai talk a lot about this ECR… and why not this 3 lane two way highway looks like one of the best in the country… look around you and you will see green.. and blue and more green and more blue… such a pleasure !!!!

when do i get to hit this highway you must be thinking… well the answer is the last of the last year i.e. 2005 took me to meet Deepak… a friend i have not known for long and i still call him a friend… which makes him a very nice fella… i do not emotionally care about whatever happens to anyone in this world.. but as someone has said.. exceptions are always there… my life has given me a few exceptions always to care for… ok… lemme get away from the senti stuff… i will tell you at the end of this post why am i feeling kinda senti right now…..i might even forget coz i am going to write about a different new year celebration tonight… another FIRST in my life…

chennai…. 30th dec-2005… Anna International Airport…. Prashant is smarter after his experience in mumbai and heads straight for the Pre Paid Taxi Counter… and takes a taxi to the Thiru-Vaan-Miyur… where Deepak lives… this plan was being thought of for a while.. and it finally had been taken care of.. he and Deepak were to go to Pondi to celebrate the new year… two friends… fond of travel.. and fotos… both with their own thoughts and ideas… it was supposed to be fun !!!! prashant was looking forward to it !!!

deepak came down to make sure prashant does not have a problem in searching for the house.. prash was thinking and imagining a society like the ones he had seen in gurgaon and noida and other places…. but this was different… right on the main road… later he found out that it was the HIGHWAY…. now how cool is that… 7th floor.. the highest prash had ever stayed at so far… and a cool breeze… a few talks about the plan, and this is what was decided… they both go to mahabalipuram with parul and her folks who were in chennai for a holiday and they move in a different direction from there…

sleep greets prashant only at around 0100 hrs on the last day of 2005… and he has to wake up around 0800 hrs.. its going to be a long day ahead hero.. get up… so gathering all his will against the sweet sleep he gets up and gets ready… what the FUCK… this is what comes out of his mouth when the tap water goes in the first time.. the water was salty… well the water was not really salty… it was the bloddy salt that was a li’il waterry… huh !!! and after he has taken his bath deepak also happily points it out and asks him how was the experience of having a bath with salt 🙂 well… good to be different… bad to be usual… prashant was wondering how tough it is for deeps to stay there…

anyway parul is about an hour late.. and then we make them wait… for about 5 minutes… the deluxe qualis… peeche wali seat bhi middle seat jaisee.. its the best muv pras has traveled in so far.. the most comfortable of all… and then he realised.. the car was comfortable.. and the driver NUTS… the driver was driving as if he was driving in a video game… it was like he was realising that there is a vehicle in the front when he could read the fine print on the number plate on the rear of the vehicle in the front.. and thenhe would suddenly move to the right.. and then suddenly to the left…. and prash sitting at the rear seat could feel that… and he could see that speedometer as well to make him all the more uncomfy.. anyway a few kilometres helped him adjust to the unique way of driving… in anycase he had see something of this sort in the amby last night too… the car would go all the way to the left.. and then all the way to the right… and just inches before it would hit the divider all the way to the left again to kiss the footpath.. was a drive.. and imagine without a headlight 🙂 some talent pool chennai has in the drivers !!!

ok back to ECR….. and cut to the parking outside the shore temple in mahabalipuram… pete or prash had thought of the temple to be huge temple.. but it was smaller then he imagined… it stood beautifully next to the sea and also had managed to survive the Tsunami in 2004… however the walls were big time corroded.. nevertheless it was beautiful… and CROWDED…. the good and the bad have been mixed up pretty nicely for prash in this trip of his… a walk around the temple… a few fotos… some of them without humans too… good work done.. and then off to the other side of the road to check out some rock carviings and a light house.. one of the better parts of that trip.. walk around the rocks… climbing up and down.. and then managing to catch a few good shots in the cam… makes all the effort worth it.. and the phone camera also came out good to click a few snaps too….

a snapshot of the 31st Dec 2005….

and now the golden question… how do they go from here… do they continue with parul and folks.. or do they stay back and do some other arrangement.. the display of intelligence came when they decided to hang in there with the folks.. where else could they get that kinda comfort.. a smooth drive.. and decent lunch away was the small town of pondi… the sea was so different here… mumbai was calm.. this was more aggressive… white waves.. green sea… rocks… air.. purrfect… and when they tried to find whats there to catch up in pondi the answers were not very appealing… visiting a church too.. and then after a few thinking sessions.. and some questions and answers.. the dynamic duo decided to move back to chennai with parul and party only !!! and that was a good decision !!!

chennai back again… wondering what can be done… and pete and deeps move to eat… Pondi also went ahead to meet his friends… shit why can’t i remember his name.. one of the guys was Swapnil, the fighter.. and pondi was who.. anubhav??? i think its better to leave it upto to deeps to correct this name !!!!

three autos and 20 minutes later, deeps and prash climb the stairs of EDEN… a wait of 45 minutes… dissapointment and anger because the bloddy waiter did not tell the lady assigning the tables about the two.. and then finally a table and two chairs to have dinner… prash kept looking others’ plates till he got a seat.. everything looked so yummy.. this was a restaurant for continental food.. and pete never had been to such a restaurant.. so another first… the dinner started with the Cheese Toasts.. something that just melted as soon as he kept it in his mouth… lovely.. pizza hut’s garlic bread with cheese is SHIT !!! and then a pasta dish… and spaghetti followed by the fresh fruit icecream !!!! A W E S O M E it just could not get better then this in 2005.. pete ate the best food he ever had in a restaurant… ofcourse the times when he was dead hungry and GE or Green Park’s parantha stalls greeted him are not counted or taken into account in the comparison.. but whatever said and done.. this food was good enough for him to just go back to chennai and have food after waiting for 45 minutes standing inside the restaurant…

this is where conversation brought them to the topic of wines and daaru.. and prash was kinda interested in having the white wine which was to be used in the night… this is when prash found out that deeps is a few months younger to him.. and he was pleasently surprised… its good to know people who you can get into conversation with.. and most of the time prash has been able to give that kinda respect only to people elder to him… khair.. the best food ever.. and a good conversation.. and a few new things about deeps made prash a more knowledgable fella… when deeps likes the food he is eating, he would not talk but would eat with complete concentration.. so if you happen to eat with him.. and he looks more interested in food… let him be… he will give you your share of time when the time comes… but food comes first 🙂

and then back to his home… and then pondi arrives with his friends.. and some things to eat.. hey his name is Anubhav only… he opens up the white wine bottle after freezing it for a while.. and pete is also given a peg it the divine drink… now the first question that comes to his mind is.. why is the wine called white.. if the colour is a pale yello.. anyway.. he wanted to taste it.. so he did.. and thats IT… bas abb aur nai.. one sip was good enough to let pete know that he is most definitely not a wine guy.. he can never drink wine or beer or any other drink whatso ever.. so that wine is saved from getting wasted by the rest of the gang.. and after watching a few episodes of the Great indian laughter challange and wishing each other a happy new year.. the gang goes off to a sleep only to wake up late late late in the morning… a wonderful lunch with rajma chawal in chennai 🙂 and then a relaxed auto journey to the station saw pete through… he also saw the marina beach.. which was nothing but an ocean of people.. only human heads all around the beach.. what shit !!! a train to banglore with a lot of south indian language all around… and some decent enough food in the train helped prash reach Banglore in the last hour on the first of january 2006…. the rest is history.. and has been mentioned in the Banglore Bugs !!!

4 days and 3 nights in banglore.. and i am already doing a countdown of the hours i am left with in banglore !!! what crap this city is !!!! with a few good things.. it has been a pain so far being here…

first a queue for about 25 minutes to get a pre-paid auto when i reached here on sunday night… i managed to reach the guest house by 2340 hrs…. and the good part was the lady managing the guest house was really sweet.. and arranged for my check in to the Guest House smoothly…. nice large room… the best so far in my trip !!!

10th floor… with a large balcony… a nice wrought iron bed… the flat also has a washing machine, a fridge, an oven, a coffee machine, an ironing board, dsl and dial up internet connection, color tv, big almirahs… and an AC ( hv not used it though).. fundoo…

and where did i have to go for training.. about 15 kms away… ok.. that is in kilometres… and an hour and 15 minutes away in terms of time !!! what the heck !!!

and the travel time increased every day by 15 minutes.. one way roads… roads.. no.. sorry streets.. very few streets that qualify to be called roads here… and then most of the actual streets have been turned into roads for the traffic leaving the residents in those localities in pain !!!

Met vinay for two days after the office… and it was great spending the time with him.. he was kind enough to take me to places were we could eat all sorts of junk local crap !!! I loved it… different versions of the Chaat that we get in delhi.. a strange looking jelly custurd straberry ice-cream was on the list of the things that i ate.. also went to the Commercial Street.. and that street was phulll of sunder sunder kanyaas… very good place.. but the entire bloddy street is about 200 metres.. so not much eye tonic could fit into this cramped street.. par jitna bhi thaa achcha thaa…

second evening was much better..
ok.. before i start… picture this…

a paper plate…
and then a small newpaper on it..
followed by a small 6″ by 6″ banana leaf cut
and then the real different stuff….

lots of gulcand ( the sweet stuff made from rose petals) and then a li’il bit of butter mixed in gulcand… and then a fresh banana cut into small small tukde followed by two scoops of icecream and some additional taste added by small pieces of fresh cut apple and a wafer and a cherry…

yumm !!!!

and then some phirni with badam milk…
and some excellent dosa with gooooooood chatni…

the funduu icecream… some biiig buildings.. the longer then usual bus.. and a long empty road-can be called a miracle too…

and then a good night sleep… good two evenings..

the days have been hectic…
the traffic screwed up…
the evenings good..

met up with some old friends…
sushant came over to the guest house.. his office is two minutes from where i stay…
met arun, sammy, shubhu.. they are just like family.. and its always good to meet your family members…
and yesterday.. rather today morning at 0500 hrs.. i met jassi in his office.. sushant also is in Oracle.. so both of them were there.. and we three went to the Oracle Cafeteria.. and talked our hearts out.. its always fun to be with Jassi.. his non-stop funny sentences.. with the icing to the cake added with the Gaali every sentence.. make the conversations more interesting… and his views about banglore… were hilarious if not anything less !!!!

i plan to go to mysore on saturday.. lets see if i can go… i really want to get out of banglore seriously and not turn back towards this city !!!!

and hey.. i had heard bad bad things about the auto walas of banglore.. even jassi has a wish that he can beat the hell out of one of the auto walas before he heads out of this city… BUT for me.. so far so good with autos… thank you God…

ok.. here is a small list… hehehe thanks BASTM.. i am making lists as well now..

things i do not like around me this week..
~ TRAFUCK… oops.. it should be TRAFFIC
~ MG Road… i can show the people around here bigger better roads…
~ Roads, streets, lanes, bylanes, footpaths
~ the SMOKE… why can’t they move to alternate fuels.. most of the autos and the nigger vehicles are smoke machines here…
~ no seat belts, no helmets

a still from the shatabdi…. lotsa fresh bananas… a view from my balcony… the traffic…. no helmets.. and the strange auto shapes…

things i liked…
~ my room in the guest house.. what a view from the 10th floor…
~ ummm….
~ the junk food that i ate so far.. thanks Vinay…
~ meeting family… Arun, Shubu, Sammy, Sushant and Amit Kumar, and Jassi… mera Spectra ka goodie good friend…
~ umm…
~ i guess thats it…

will write more !!!