Tuesday, November 01, 2005

'MAX'imum Affection !!

Heyyy ppl, work's been keepin me away from bloggin of late. But I'll still find some time to somehow drop in a post :-) And hey, of course I do keep track of my blog almost everyday! First of all, wish you all a HAPPY DIWALI! Ok, this one's been a long time pending post. Always wanted to write one on my sweetie pie, but it was kept on hold thanks to my laziness... So here goes... I'm gonna talk about our doggie - Max :)


In the pic shown above, the time is 6am, and Max has just finished reading the 'headlines' on todays newspaper. Only trouble is that after he reads, no one else can read the paper! :-) Unless of course, someone's in the mood to solve a jigsaw puzzle first thing in the morning! [Have a look at the sense of achievement on his face! He is one satisfied dog! :-) God Bless You, Max]

Max is a German Shepherd, and a big one at that! He's just 5 months old, but I guess he's reached full growth. Atleast we hope so :-) Cos if he gets any bigger, its gonna be hard work! My mom used to take him out for a walk every morning, but nowadays she refrains from doing so, cos it always ends up with Max taking my mom out for a walk :) He literally pulls her along to wherever he wants to go! We've reached a stage where only my dad, my brother or I, can can handle him. He looks very ferocious but trust me, he's a small kid inside! He'll bark like mad if he sees someone new entering the house, but whoever it is, if the person comes near him - our man will lie down and wait expectantly to be fondled! Like most dogs, he jus lovvves attention.

Poor fellow has been having a very tough time of late. Guess why ?? Cos its Diwali! :-) He jus cant stand the sound of crackers. Now thats a very tough demand, keeping in mind the festival and the amount of fireworks that go into it. Max has to live with it, and best we could do for him, was allow him to stay and sleep indoors till the diwali mood kinda eased! :) Yeah he stays indoors these days. But even inside, he gets restless when the neighbours burst crackers. When he used to be outside, Max got into a frenzy everytime a cracker went off! We felt sad for the poor fellow.. You know what, Max 'used' to love the small kids stayin near our house, but the last few days he's been trying to avoid them, and he barks madly at them when they try to approach him. Guess why, bcos he knew that it were the kids who bursted the crackers, and that was reason enough for him to keep a distance! :-) With all the noise around, I wonder what all would be running thru the canine's mind. He must be thinking 'what the **** is wrong with the world suddenly' :) 'It was all silent and calm till a few days back, all of a sudden people just go mad and burn/burst everything! Sigh, Its a Man's world' :-) If only dogs could speak - we @ home, would have been introduced to a new range of bad words for sure... You guys wont believe, even when he is inside the house - when someone outside lights up those 'rockets', Max's head follows the 'whizzing' sound upwards, and he looks up and barks at the ceiling! One thing's for sure - if at all we just leave Max loose on the street tonight, 100% sure there will not be a single soul bursting crackers in our area :) All said and done, its diwali today, and he wont have to suffer the torture for much longer.. Wish he knew that!

I dont wanna delve into the loving nature of Max, cos like all animals - he's very attached and possesive! But some really peculiar traits that Max exhibits - The way he drinks water. Max just cannot stand or sit, and drink water. He has to lie down! Its a very sweet sight. The moment you pour water into his bowl, he goes down to his customary sleepin position, places the bowl exactly between his outstretched paws, and laps the water. Another thing, is that Max just cannot stand people wearing headgear! Lol... Yes its true, he gets mad when he sees people wearing caps, bandanas, or any sort of thing on their head. Don ask me why! :-) The people who suffer because of this -> the 'gas' guy who brings the gas cylinder on his shoulders, the 'vegetables' lady who carries the basket on her head, my brother's friends who wear 'cool' caps, and most importantly - everyone during the rainy season (cos of the umbrella) :-) He is a character for sure!

We have 3 kittens stayind behind our house, and you should see the way Max plays with them! He's so so fond of them. But sometimes he gets soo fond of them that he gives them a smallll nibble, which sends them scampering in all directions! Little do they know that Big brother is just playin with them! There is especially this one kitten - Dark grey in colour, and he's Max's best friend. The way he cuddles around Max is a sight to watch. Its very cute, and this guy is only as tall as Max's knee. The grey kitten sleeps on Max's lap whenever given an opportunity. Unfortunately I could not click a snap when the kittens were playing with Max :( they are scared of us, cos they are too small. Well if you ask me how come they aint scared of big and ferocious Max, search me!

In this pic, Max is seen with his 'best friend' kitten. Our man is busy trying to peel off the coconut skin, and his friend is giving him moral support I guess!
Max is a very disobedient and naughty, but thats cos we have not trained him. Know what my mom says? 'The children in the house aint obedient, how will poor Max be obedient??'.. My brother and I jus stare at her.. :-) And yes, that was just a joke! Another bad habit that Max has developed of late - These days he eats dinner only if he is hand fed by my Mom or Dad!! Talk about babies.. Hope you guys found it worthwhile, getting to know Max a lil better :) Next time you plan a visit to our house, you guys know what to do, and what not to do :-) hehe, jus kidding... Have fun!

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Tagged !!! 7 things that I.......

The lean spell, as far as my blogging is concerned, has come to an end. I have been tagged by Shalz. Something had to wake me up, and guess this was just what I needed.. Its not that I do not have anything to write about! So many things in my head that I wanna pen down, but time jus doesn’t allow.. Hopefully I’ll be more frequent from here on!
Ok, here goes.....

Seven Things I want to do before I die:
1. Become really really good at my profession - software. I really admire my superiors at work, who have fantastic technical knowledge.
2. Travel almost all around the world! Most of u might know that i am travel freak :) Wanna go to some specific places - New Zealand, Rome, Cairo, New York City (Rama are u listening), London, Switzerland, Sydney, Paris, Johannesburg and one of the Himalayan hill stations!
3. Watch Sachin Tendulkar score a century from less than 80 balls, against a full strength aussie bowling attack, in front of a packed cricket stadium in India!
4. Do something really worthwhile in music. Maybe bring out my own album, or help in composing music, something of the sort. I know its far fetched, but its a dream i cherish! Music is very close to my heart.
5. Drive a ferrari. If things go my way, maybe even own a ferrari!
6. Find that special person whom I can share all the love with!
7. Hold my baby(as in, child) in my arms....

Seven Things I can do : (Tho there are a lot more!)
1. Put my head down and fight through the rough patches, no matter how tough it gets. Sometimes being thrown into the deep end, tends to bring out the best in me.
2. Make people smile, even if it means that i have to make myself look like a fool, sometimes :) (obv applies only to my friends ) hehe
3. Play any sport, and become quite good at it.
4. Live without food for a day, without even knowing it
5. Keep myself awake through the night, either chattin, browsing, bloggin,working, studying, blah blah blah, etc etc etc :)
6. Say something sarcastic, or tell a lie, and still have an innocent look on the face :) Unless I tell it out, the listener will not know :) lol..
7. Look at the bright side, of even the worst possible things, once it has happened and nothing can be done about it.

Seven Things I say most :
1. Whats wrong with u ?
2. How?
3. Hmmmmmmm
4. Suthom ( Tamil for 'Gone!')
5. Chance ay ille (Tamil for 'no chance')
6. Fooooool
7. What the.... ( I say this to myself, I speak a lot to myself)

Seven Things I can't do:
1. Sit idle for more than 10 mins!
2. Tolerate people who boast. Some people have stuff and they show it out. Thats quite tolerable. Some can only mouth, and that really pisses me off. Never miss a chance to give one back, to such people :)
3. Be without my mobile phone
4. Hurt an animal
5. Leave somethin halfway through, and have a peaceful night's sleep
6. Restrain myself from temptation! I get easily tempted, a lot...
7. Do things without any goal, or do somethin just for the sake of doing it. If i play, i play to win :)

Seven Things that attract me to the opposite sex:
1. Straight forward and frank women.
2. Nice hair
3. Attractive eyes. Girls who look into the eye when they talk!
4. 'Pretty' ranks much much higher than 'beautiful', in my book. I donno , but i differentiate between cute/pretty and beautiful, quite easily...
5.Dress sense! This is quite a major factor. The way she presents herself, matters!
6. Sense of humor. No jokes, no fun! :)
7. Simplicity. Come on, already there are enough complicated things in life! A simple, loving n caring girl - who wont fall for her? :)

Seven Celebrity crushes:
1. Alicia Silverstone
2. Sonali Bendre
3. Steffi Graf
4. Jennifer Anniston
5. Sania Mirza
6. Preity Zinta
7. Catherine Zeta Jones

Well thats about it! About passing the tag onto my fellow bloggers - I do not have 7 torch bearers, but i would like these people to take up this tag post!
1. Vinay
2. Divya
3. Rama
4. Monu

Happy tagging! :)

Monday, September 12, 2005

Bangkok - The City Of Angels

I have always been someone who would get excited at the very mention of the word 'travelling'! I love to see new places, new cultures, how people differ all around the world, and stuff like that. Its so fascinating, to understand the differences in the way people live their lives. Two months back I had been to Thailand and Sri Lanka. It was a kind of an overseas tour, with my family. Yeah, my family loves to travel too! I am gonna talk about some memories about my trip, of course I wont be able to pen down the entire experience, cos that would put you all to sleep :) This post is entirely on the Bangkok part of the tour. Sri Lankan bit, will follow in my next post! :)

Bangkok is a bustling city, although pretty small. The core city is very well developed with hi-tech stuff and lotsa hi-rise buildings, but you move away from the city, and its barren land. We flew Sri Lankan, and frankly speaking, I was not too impressed with their flight. Food would just pass off as O.K, and their air-hotesses were pretty sad ! :-) All over-aged, and over-weight ladies! Anyway, leave that aside, we reached Bangkok international airport by noon, and checked into "D'Ma Pavilion". The hotel was fabulous - luxurious and the service was really impressive. Though it was not exactly 5 star by Thai standards, it would compare to an Indian 7 star! Serious, jokes aside. Below is a snap of 2 Thai warriors I took on my phone... :) kidddingg, thats me on the right, but we have similar expressions on our faces tho :-)


The hotel we stayed in, was located flush in the middle of the city and thus we had no trouble venturing out by foot, to explore more about the city. It was a nice experience. If not by walk, we used to take tuk-tuk's to reach wherever we wanted to go. A 'Tuk-tuk' is how an 'auto' is referred to, in Bangkok :-) To be pronounced as 'took-took'.... Hey you guys might remember the James Bond movie, where he drives one of those tuk-tuks in a frantic chase, all over the crowded Bangkok streets! This was one such Tuk-Tuk, which we took :)


Obviously, we had done our homework before leaving India - with respect to the shopping malls and other important places to visit. One whole day was dedicated to temple visits and boy that was truly awesome. Bangkok is a buddhist country, and there are infinite monasteries and buddhist temples there. Every corner you can see a statue of Lord Buddha. We went to the famous temple, where there was this 100feet long Golden statue of the Reclining Buddha. It was fabulous, the entire statue was made of gold, and to walk around the statue took us a good 15 minutes. Trust me, it was massive. This snap covers just a portion of the golden statue.


The temple visits took place on the second day of our stay. Of course yes, the first day was spent at shopping malls :) My mom was with us, so it had to be that way :) Tourism is one of the biggest sources of income here, and its pretty evident too. You can see people from all over the world, within a radius of 1 or 2 kms! Bangkok has a lot of Huge malls - Big See, Indira Square, MBK Centre to name a few. These places are really massive and if you do not stay together, chances are that you'll get lost. We did not do any major shopping, as in no big time buys. Jus bought a mobile phone (panasonic X200), a few panels for my Nokia Phone, and then of course - clothes!! :) I did buy a few tees and jeans from there :-) Shown below is the snap of a floating market. Floating markets are very common in Bangkok, cos there are lots of canals and waterways, all over the country! People make a living, by selling stuff on boats - usually its just aimed at tourists. And boy, the westerners are fascinated by such things! Most of them bought stuff like crazy, and these people do not know that something called 'bargaining' exists!! We Indians bargain bargain n bargain, till our thoats become dry, and finally at times we end up not buying it, cos we might have felt its 20Rs too much!! :)) The spending power of Europeans and Americans can really be witnessed, in such circumstances..


Thai food, is pretty bland. That too being accustomed to the spicy south Indian food, one really finds Thai food quite bland. At restaurants, we spent most of the time looking for salt n pepper containers :) but generally, the food there tastes goood. We took every opportunity to have food, as it was, in Thailand :) No use going to Thailand, and still having Indian food!! But one thing we just could not stand, was their fish varieties! Man these people do not believe in cooking fish fully :-) Its partly raw and i dint take the risk of having fish, even once, in Thailand. If you are someone who hates the smell of raw fish (most of us do), you will most definitely hate the aroma around Thailand! :-) The whole country, i thought smelt of fish.... Every 15 metres there will be a roadside stall, cooking and selling fish delicacies! Thai people love sea food, have no doubts! Bar the 'fish' stench, everything else was nice... Oh boy, how could I forget the Thai Foot Massage therapy! Every second shop in Bangkok is a foot massage centre !! Yeah there were these lovely ladies standing outside every shop, enticing the tourists inside! What happens inside, I seriously do not know! Before any guesses crop up, no I did not go for a 'foot' massage... hehe

Overall, a lovely country to spend a vacation! Lots of places to visit, and the lifestyle there is totally different from ours. So it really makes for a fascinating experience. We could not go to Pattaya, a famous beachside town, cos we were short of time. I've heard its a lovely part of Thailand too! If u guys get a chance to visit, dont miss it!

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Just When You Think That...........

Just when you think
- that you got all the time in the world,
- that the days ahead are rosy and pink

Just when you think
- that no more hurdles you will find,
- that your dog days are way behind

Just when you think
- that the sky suddenly looks supremely blue,
- that dark and gloomy days are gonna be far and few.

And Just when you think
that this was the phase of your life you were yearning for,
Well thats exactly when,
you actually realise that the 'phase' just got over!!

Why does all this happen,
Just when you think that..............................

Sometimes we think too much, and try to save all the fun for the 'last'. And it often happens that we rarely get to enjoy the good times we had actually planned for! Dont ever make the mistake of not having fun, when you get the chance to have fun!!! If u keep delaying it, the only thing which accumulates is 'expectation', and you end up having no fun at all...
Dance while the music lasts!! :-)

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Shades Of Life....

What’s in a person's color or complexion? This question might be one of the most clichéd topics ever, in any discussion or debate! Forget all that, I just wanna share my own views here :-) First of all, have no doubts, I am dark and I have no regrets about it (even if I did regret, wouldn’t make much of a difference would it? hehe ). I've released quite a few things as far as attitude towards 'looks' go. You hear people say that 'looks don’t matter', and its just 'how beautiful you are in your heart, that matters', and lotsa crap like that... I call it 'crap' cos only a handful actually mean what they really say in this regard. "Beauty is only skin deep", “It really doesn’t matter how you look", are all feel-good sentences, used most of the time, just to escape a tricky situation!

Do you think how you look, your complexion, and your features, just do not matter? I tend to disagree, mate. The first sign of attraction is always how you look. The inner beauty, your character, what you really are, and stuff come later! That’s the truth, so face it.. This holds true with 'first impressions' only, mind you. People, who already are your friends, will of course know you. It’s quite obvious that at any given point of time, lots of people are looking at you, and framing opinions, without even you knowing it. Some might be liking you, some might find you repulsive, and so on. These impressions are being formed, just based on how good/bad you look. People don’t know what kind of a person u are at heart, they don’t know your 'lovely character', but they can only see how u look from the outside, plain as that. It is your look, which will make people notice you and make them want to know you in the first place. It’s only after this, that they get to know the inner, 'real' you. And this might be where all the above mentioned 'quotes' hold true. Thus for the wise men’s sayings to make sense, a lot of things have to happen, as a precursor!

Let me share a very funny incident that happened, when I was 5 years old. My mom had just given birth to my brother, and he was this Fair, chubby veryyyyy sweeet baby. Like any small kid, I could not tolerate the attention that he was getting, from all the guests, and sometimes even my parents! Very natural, a baby needs much more attention, than a 5yr old. But how was I supposed to understand all that then? I used to ask my mom, why I was not 'white' like George (my brother's name). She used to pacify me with some answer which I don really remember ( cos I was not really intent on her reply, I was busy wondering how I could become 'white') One fine day, my parents realized that I was missing for an hour or so, and thus a search was launched, to find 'naughty' me. Everyone grew quite anxious when a few minutes of frantic searching did not yield any results. After sometime, my mom found an empty Talcum Powder tin lying on the ground. It was emptied to the last bit of powder! And she could see a small trail of white powder leading to a bedroom. When she opened it, there I was, standing at the corner of the room, all smiles! Yours truly had a 'sense of accomplishment' written in Bold, all over his face! I had applied the talcum powder, all over my body! I dint spare my eyes, legs, toes, ears.... I stood there with a barely visible smile, a genuinely innocent face, and slowly asked my mom these very words "Amma, now do I look like George?" Even now, my mom tells me she could see how much I really meant those words! That tells a story in itself doesn’t it? :-) I look back and laugh at all those memories! Truly fascinating, this mind of ours.

All said and done, its been a long 17 years since that happened and I have been through many experiences and situations in life! But all these had just one thing in common, and all my experiences taught me just one thing - to be really happy and proud, that I was 'ME'! If you don’t feel good about yourself, no point in living! How will someone feel good about you, when you yourself doubt the very person you have been all your life! I have no regrets whatsoever... How a person looks, is a totally individual and independent opinion. Someone might have a face that 100 people find 'not-so-interesting', but the same person and the same face, might be the reason why someone else wakes up everyday with a smile on his/her face! Life has a lot to offer, if we care to look around.... :-)

Monday, August 15, 2005

Mera Bharat Mahan !!

Hiii Everyone !!! Happy Independence Day to all my readers, and of course to all my fellow Indians wherever you guys are!!!
Proud to be an Indian!!!I have this liking towards composing Ringtones on Nokia phones. Some of my close friends will know that, while my blog friends might not be aware. Ok its actually not 'composing' as such, bcos I am not creating new music. What I do, I just make Ringtones out of popular hit songs, good music n stuff. So thats how it works. I use the Nokia composer to simulate songs in the form of Ringtones. In short, just like the ones u get downloaded, forwarded, etc.

I have composed quite a lot of Ringtones, and if any of you guys need any particular song, feel free to let me know. I shall do it to the best of my ability :-)
Coming to the point, today is a significant day for each one of us, Indians! If you are interested, I would like to share a tone with all of u all. On a Nokia phone which has a composer, please type in these notes (hope you know to use the composer keys) and I hope you recognise the tune that u hear! :-) Those who do not have a Nokia phone or composer on their phones, but who are interested, please get in touch with me...

The notes of the Ringtone go like this :
4g1 4.a1 8#c2 8d2 8#c2 1d2 8d2 8e2 4.c2 8b1 4a1 8a1 8b1 4.g1 8#f1 4.e1 8e1 8e1 8a1 8g1 8a1 8#f1 4e1 8#f1 1d1 4d1 4.e1 8g1 8a1 8g1 1a1 4g1 2a1 8#c2 8d2 8#c2 1d2
Set the tempo at 100 bpm.
[PS: Please do excuse any mistakes, it is not downloaded or composed on the phone by an expert. Its just me ...]


Jai Hind..

Sunday, August 14, 2005

If Not For Dreams!!

I've always been a dreamer, a dreamer much much beyond mundane imagination! I dream a lot, and for me, dreams are not just when I sleep. I just think of a lot of things, when I am wide awake, and I get lost in a series of thoughts! It may range from cricket to music to life to work! Like the wise men say, its just not enough to dream, you have to work towards it. Sadly though, I have not been able to fulfill my dreams, atleast up and until this point of time in my life. Have to admit though, my dreams were far fetched, but then, thats what dreams are meant for :-) If there are some things that you cannot achieve in life, atleast acheive them in ur dreams :-)

I used to imagine a lot, about me playing for the Indian Cricket Team :-) And yeah of course, not just playing but also playin match winning knocks, and you know right, those heroic deeds! I was very serious about my cricket till I left school :-( Not that I do not play cricket now, but I am not thinking about it, like I used to :-( On the bright side, I ended up representing my school, my college, and right now I represent my organisation in cricket. :-) I feel I am at my best, when I on the ground competing against opponents, at cricket! It kinda brings out the best in me. You gotta admit that life in general, and any sport, share so much in common. Most of the things in sports, can be related to our lives. Well some of these things just continue to fascinate!

Next, I had always dreamt about playing music, being part of a band,.and treating a huge crowd to some wonderful music. I used to envy the way fans used to love it, when they saw their favorite stars, live in concert. I had imagined being in that situation too! How lovely it would be.... But sadly it only remained a dream :-( Once again, on the bright side, I do play the keyboard, and I did perform with a band, 4 of my college frnds (included 2 of the best guitarists in chennai), in front of a sizeable crowd, at a rock show! Another significant memory -> I played the keyboard for my church choir at christmas celebrations, when I was 7 yrs old, in front of a 2000 strong audience :-) Have to admit, I was much much better at playin the keyboard when I was a small kid. I kinda lost touch after 8th std :-( Thanks to cricket! :-) I do play still, I just take out my keyboard once in a while and play the songs that I love listening to. Music is my life!

These were just some of my dreams, and it was really fascinating to dream them, being fully aware that I was only dreaming. Its really nice to live a lot of things, in your head. Who knows, someday it might come true! And if it does, you are gonna be best prepared for it, cos you have gone through it all before, albeit in your thoughts :-) But one thing that projects itself, from all these experiences -> when u dream hi fi, even if u fall short in real life, its still some achievement. Do not hold back, when u dream! Let your imagination take wing! Happy flying....