Hey!

The last weekend was a long one, my cousin had come over from Portland,Oregan. We drove down to Mt Shasta and Reno along with 2 other colleagues of mine. It was a good experience, this wasn't the best weather to visit Mt Shasta because there wasn't any snow there and since we weren't planning on camping overnight there wasn't much we could do except take the usual round of photos. Though I must say the drive was fantastic. Here's a picture taken that day,





More here

The weather here is fantastic, its bright and sunny during the day and in the evenings it gets just a little bit chilly. I guess it'll get much colder as winters approach, but till then I'm loving it :-).

Heylo,

Update time! I've quite RBS and have moved to the US for work. I'm here on my H1 and will be working as a consultant. I'm presently in Sacramento and have managed to secure a project that should start in a couple of days. The weather here is fantastic, I think during the day its in the early thirties and at night it's around 10-15 degrees. Past week I've been busy opening my bank account, applying for my SSN number, giving interviews ( 2 to be precise , I cleared both of them :D.. I know, I know, I'm a genius ;) ) etc etc. Oh! forgot to mention the other herculean activity that I"ve taken panga with, DRIVING.

Damn! firstly most cars here are automatic, ok I can get used to that only problem is that at every turn or stop my left leg start to search for the clutch. Then comes the problem of traffic rules... see there used to be rules in India too, but nobody followed them easy!, add to that the fact that you have to drive on the right side of the road, not so much fun .

As such things are looking good and am looking forward to working with the Amriki's, I hope its fun :).

Current Location: Sacramento, CA
Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: Bas ek pal

If you think about it 7 is quite an important number, check out the list below

7 Colors
7 Musical notes
7 Generations
7 Lives ( wrt Hindu marriage)
7 days (of the week)
7 Vices


can you think of anything else in this league?

Talking of leagues there is a one though fictional and its called the Fantastic four. They recently came up with a new movie and I happened to watch it. Before I get into the the details a brief background (to give this post a dramatic effect). I have a cab mate by the name of Vipin Aggarwal who can be best described as a movie buff. He LOVES english movies, so last week he called around 9:00 Pm and asked me if I wanted to go for "Fantastic Four" and I said yes. The show was to start at 10 and I had about an hour to reach Pacific mall (Adlabs) and I made it in time without much trouble. I was put off the minute I entered the theatre, there was weird stench inside the hall and the thought that I'd have to put up with it for another 2 hours was it quite annoying. I forgot all about the weird smell as soon as the movie started, that wasn't because the movie had an explosive opening or anything it was because Vipin had bought tickets for the dubbed hindi version. Both of us sat there swearing at Times of India for printing the movie timing under the english section. Eventually we accepted our fate and continued watching the movie.

As for the movie, its CRAP! the story is almost non-existent the silver surfer at best makes a guest appearance in the movie. Honestly if you're planning to watch the movie in a theatre then do take a couple of shots of tequila before you go.Whats even more amazing is that that the same bloody Times of India has given it a 3 and 1/2 star rating!. I'm waiting for Die hard 4.0, haven't seen a hardcore action flick in a long time.

Oh! remembered another one

7 Dwarfs :-)

Current Mood: annoyed
Current Music: Tu Zindagi hai - Jhankar Beats

The Religions

Taoism: Shit Happens

Hinduism: This shit has happened before

Confucianism: Confucius say, "Shit happens"

Buddhism: It is only an illusion that shit happens

Zen: What is the sound of shit happening?

Islam: If shit happens, it is the will of Allah

Jehovah's Witnesses: Knock, Knock, "Shit happens"

Atheism: There is no such thing as shit

Agnosticism: Maybe shit happens, and maybe not

Protestantism: Shit won't happen if I work harder

Catholicism: If shit happens, I deserve it

Judaism: Why does shit always happen to me?

Televangelism: Send money or shit will happen

Rastafarian: Smoke that shit

Current Mood: amused

Every now and then I come across topics that I think I should blog about but somehow I loose all enthusiasm and I end up not posting it. So today I decided I must overcome this habit and here I am..

Reclaim you life.. that's the punchline from the Tata Safari ad and I really like it, I think its a fantastic line for a 4x4 and it pretty much embodies everything that a person with a 9 to 6 job cribs about. I agree with the idea that inorder to gain more money/power etc etc we end up giving up big chunks of our lives.

Classic Sunday evening movie

HBO was showing "You've got mail" yesterday, and I have to confess I like that movie. As a general rule I steer clear of romantic movies these days (unless they're highly recommended by friends) for the sole reason
that they're excessively emotional or downright weepy (I guess I've described every karan Johar movie ever made), but its for this reason (or the lack of it) that I like YGM. The acting is very real
its got a good sense of humour and a very simple story. I dont get to watch many movies at home (thanks to Ekta kapoor) and seeing this one yesterday was a very good change.

Btw I'd appreciate suggestion for movies that I should see, anything good thats released in the past 6-12 months would be a good candidate (The PVR near my house doesnt show english movies often and I dont go to Palika often).


As for other stuff,

I was wondering , whenever we think of where God resides or where heaven is we tend to look up, why do we do that??? Isnt it very possible that heaven is beneath us ? what makes the core of the Earthy any less... divine than the space beyond Earth??
OK if you're thinking I need to seek medical help, lemme explain I have a 2 hrs cab ride in the evening and if I dont fall asleep I have a lot of time to think about these things!!

Current Mood: blank
Current Music: Blind Melons

"Aur Kya chal raha hai??" I've hated that line for a very long time. Its surprising how most people start a conversation with that line. Its worse when you're talking to friends and you're bombarded with this question every alternate sentence. As a general rule I believe that if someone asks you this question more than 4 times during a conversation its pretty evident that you havent got much to talk about!. Hey don't get me wrong I know it sounds radical but if you think about it you'll probably be nodding your head in approval. Infact I've setup an agreement with a few friends that anytime during a telephonic conversation such an event were to happen (reaching the "aur kya..." mark 4 times or more) we'd point it out to each other quite politely and then offer to call someother time, and till now its worked quite well :D (on the other hand I think I've completely stopped talking to a few people).

I hate to say this but life does become quite routine after one starts working (by work I mean a 9-6 job ), you work for most part of the week and during the weekends you try to have as much fun and rest as possible (please note fun and rest can be treated as antonyms in most cases), so its quite easy to summarize "what's up" in a short concise sentence.

Anyway, I did manage to see a couple of movies over the past month or so. The first one was "Casino Royale" and the next was "Guru". Viewing of the bond flick was a delayed one and I'm glad I didnt miss it. I've always been a Sean connery fan have used him as a benchmark for measuring the screen presence of all successive bond's. When I saw the promos on TV I must confess I didnt think Daniel Craig was a good choice, boy was I wrong!. I think he did a great job . I've also heard that "Layer Cake" is the film to watch if you want to know why he made it as a bond.

As for Guru one word sums up my emotions -- dissapointed!. The promos looked great, the posters looked fabulous yet the moview wasn't up to it.. I was really looking forward the movie mainly because it was a Maniratnam movie, what bothered me the most about the movie was the lack of detail, you can almost compare the story to the childhood rhyme "Ek tha raja ek thi rani dono mar gaye khatam kahani". I personally want a movie to have a fair amount of detail so that the movie becomes more believable, which was visibly lacking in the movie.

Incase you're still thinking "Aur kya chal raha hai" , like a friend of my says

"Bas Kat rahi hai"

:)

I pretty much make a post everytime I change jobs, but this time I seeemed to skipped that ritual. So the short of it all is that I've changed jobs and now am working for The Royal Bank of Scotland (come to think of it the four people who read my blog already knew that..). The biggest issues when joning this place was the fact that its in Gurgaon and that meant a long COMMUTE. If you've been reading my blog for a while you'll know that there was a time that I used to do that (long commute) everyday but my last job put an end to that. Anyway I wanted to join this company and thats what I did. The first couple of months were hectic, settling down to the new schedule trying to learn a new applcation and everthing else that comes with a new job. Though I must admit time did fly by very quickly.

Mid November I flew to London for my 6 weeks training ,they call it training but effectively you're just doing the stuff you did in India only difference being you've got a new set of colleagues and I guess you learn new things when you work with them. Visiting London was a very good experience for me, I really wanted to see this city and I was'nt dissapointed. I've been here for about 5 and half weeks now and will be returning home on the 24th.

All for now

I ’M nobody! Who are you?

Are you nobody, too?

Then there’s a pair of us—don’t tell!

They’d banish us, you know.


How dreary to be somebody!

How public, like a frog

To tell your name the livelong day

To an admiring bog!

Foreign Countries/Cities I would like to visit someday

1. Australia
2. London
3. Rome
4. New Zealand
5. Prague
6. Austria
7. Peru
8. New York
9. Kenya
10. Brazil
11. West Indies
12. Paris

This is probably just the tip of the iceberg, everytime I see a new place on discovery or travel and living channel I feel like visiting that place too.

IF

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!


--Rudyard Kipling

I'm not much into poetry and stuff but really liked this one.