Muzicals

Giving goose bumps to the forgotten classical senses .
Like sitting in a music concert and nodding your head surrendering to the excellence of musical nuances …which touches your soul .
Listen-Piya tora kaisa abhiman –Shubha Mudgal from Raincoat.
Download female version from here and male version from here .

Baanwra Mann(Male) -Swanand Kirkire from Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi , on similar grounds .
Hindustani was learned decades back when thyself was incapable of writing it’s script , but was able enough to sing.

PS0 : This blog's URL is going to change in few days .Interested or frequent readers (if any.....hmmm........chuck the "modesty"…...if many ) can contact the author for the new link. Others can now rest in peace. Nope , this time it shall not be broadcasted unless asked for …..will lurk around some where in the world wide web.
One needs some space ,
the one who writes ....
the one who reads .

PS1:Label-the-posts bug has bitten me recently.
PS2:The same way add-tools-to-your-blog sting earlier. Resulting in decors like National Geographic Pod and Cheeky Quotes.

Garnier Pure

They come, they go
Not without leaving a mark

They shine , they grow
Not without leaving a scar

They often come in couples
When the rosy cheeks are supple

They are coz of the heat
Or shall I say “I am hot”
Or is it those numerous pickles I bought
Sure to resemble a Dalmatian’s spot

They belong to the teens

Bothering me , howmuchever I clean

They pout , dwarfing my dimple
Oh! those scorching little pimples
Oh! those bloody pimples.

PS0: I leave u all at the mercy of God ....
PS1: till the poet in me is tickled.
PS2:Still wondering who on earth can write a poem on pimples?
PS3: btw, I even named them once , they were the cutest twins.
PS4:Ok, if somebody feels like jumping off, i Stay @ 5th floor, u knw.. just in case :P

Just Clear Up This Haze

You continue to chase..
for me it's a maze .

May be you love to hide,
or is it a game to thrive
or is it just a tide
hitting a stoned beach,
in a moony light.

You continue to chase..
for me it's a maze .

The day it seems everything is over
And thyself is prepared to be sober
Clues are dropped all over again
much stronger, driving me insane
You obnubilate stranger.

You continue to chase..
for me it's a maze

How long one shall wait?
The one who infers black n white ways,
to whom you talk only in shades of greys.

Leaving me amazed, now…..

I continue to chase
for u it's a maze.

PS0:Wanted to write something else,
PS1:Don’t know why it ended up like this.
PS2:It will not make any sense,
PS3:to those -it should not make any sense.

Tirupati-Talakona Trip

Pre-requisite: PapikondaluTrip-part1 (Optional).Contradictory I am.

Disclaimer: The Martians can rest in peace as Venusians have decided not to pass any derogatory comments. Though, they hail from Mars and we from Venus , today we all coexist as Earthlings .Peace.White flag hoisted.

Places Visited: Tirupati + 40kms = And Talakona.

Note: Some travelers have been designated with new nicknames coz of their obvious hidden skills showcased during the trip.
The Travelers : Once DQ now Muneem Ji aka Kuber , Once JhansikiRani now balti , Comrade and thyself. Yup , once again a subset of- gang of girls.

Last minute tickets cum Darshan booking ->C/o JhansikiRani .
We all should have at least one uncle posted in some influential Govt. dept for such favors .

And the story begins……..
“Every day I want to fly stay by my side.............” sings my X –mobile around 11ish in the night .A voice from the other end speaks , we r planning Tirupati trip , u in?
Next day I inform the voice on the other side – yes, I am in .Same evening ,we are found in Padmavati express A/c coaches. Yeah , it all happened in 24 hours time slot.

All kinds of yummy eatables(read fattening) were bought for dinner and train was boarded . It was filled with families majorly crying babies for mundan and grand pa’s- ma’s for teerath. As everything as usual happened just-in-time, arrangement for water was not made. Anyhows ,pet pujja started .Result, thyself started feeling thirsty. one hour passed ……….no sign of panni wallas. Meanwhile ,we played one round of HOM (heights of misunderstanding - >bhai bandhoo of Pictionary minus the kit). Another hour passed , thirstiness multiplied. The very sight of a used Bibo water bottle of a co-passenger intensified my water craving. Comrade offered mints and Balti offered Binaca mouth fresher to curb it, but no vain .All I wanted was water and that too of Bibo brand . The news spread among the co –passengers and a “generous uncle” wait ! nope, I wasn’t offered water …we were just informed that Kachiguda station will come in sometime and there we can buy it. Undo “generous”.

DAY 1
Next day early morning we arrived at the holy land. Balram JhansikiRani’s old helper took us to a 3-star hotel and we checked-in. After an hour rest we started our quarter-life-teerath -yatra. Temple after Temple , Pooja after Pooja .This went on till we finished the 8th Mandir visit. They were mostly of goddesses –Wife’s of Balaji or some other avatars. Throughout this tour Comrade and JhansikiRani feed MuneemJi and thyself (the religiously challenged ones) with mythological gyaan .Of course Balram the guide added to it .Of which the most unheard was -one of the Balaji’s wife was a Muslim.

The uphill journey through the ghat road to visit the richest god’s temple commenced .Unusually we reached Tirumala before time. The weather was amazingly very Ooty type-chilled, foggy. we spent 1 hour in one of the various flora rich parks .After north-east exposure , the greenery here was very gardenly for me , but it had its own beauty.

We had another hour to kill. Ajj kal ek rupai mein kya milta hai? Nope , we weren’t running out of money .Our MuneemJi had Kuber ka khazana from which money kept flowing .We were running out of options and it started drizzling .
Ek rupai mein Tirupati Museum ka ticket milta hai. Sasta aur tikaoo barish se bachaney ka upay. The dekko of the exhibits slightly tickled the sleeping archeologist in me. The same way Columbia launch tickled the sleeping Astronaut .

Darshan
The sight of the free darshan queue -mother of all queues, housed in a three storey building , left me bewildered. We assembled and waited in a cellar for the privileged VIP break darshan inside the temple . After an hour the short break was announced and we swiftly walked through the fenced route towards the main. Suddenly on the way I realized I wasn’t carrying my wallet , Damn it ! I felt a strange sinking feeling, immediately I signaled Balram that I need to go back , he asked us to continue and himself headed back to the waiting cellar.
Twisted irony 1: An announcement was made “ Hence forth darshans with recommendation are being cancelled owing to heavy rush”.
Twisted irony 2: Balram had the tickets and ID for VIP passes , his presence here was undoubtedly needed .
Twisted irony 3: The small VIP queue with us sandwiched in the middle was quickly nearing the Balaji Idol.
Meanwhile I started listing what all I can lose->PAN card, 1 ATM card, office id card, some more random id cards , 2k cash , last but not the least my Bagget wallet L. Fortunately, when on travel I leave my credit and extra atm cards at home.
Queries wandered through the mind->How to contact (mobiles are inaccessible), whom to contact, where to get the card number from….etc….
Another thought knocked me - is this my agnostic belief or my take on Tirupati - commercialized saga, being questioned by the almighty itself.

Balram appeared just in time and signaled assurance. Jaan mein jaan ayee !
Immediately the D-moment arrived, small pooja-archana was done , we got the sight of Tirupati Balaji dressed up luminously with a divine aura around and Tathastu !
Must say it was magnificent and soothing.
After coming out we marched viciously towards the security and there , after some identity match they handed over my baby. Apparently I had left the purse in the waiting cellar while playing with a kid. The sweeper found it and handed over to the security.

DAY 2
Trip with no adventure ? Naah!
Next day we headed for a 2 hours on road journey to Talakona. The ride was pleasure as the car zigzagged through the 7 hills .
We reached a sanctuary and had to let go of the car as further journey was possible only on foot. Necessary stuff and clothes for change were packed , while we were preparing for all this , we heard a ghastly shriek .My ear drums were almost ripped apart as the source was sitting just next to me – JhansikiRani. Ok , we were in the middle of a jungle and it was their home , obviously the wild monkeys around dint liked it and one of them jumped inside the car through the open window, Luckily the shout scared the monkey as well and it drifted outside .All windows were rolled up and we waited it to go.
It started drizzling and we started our trek for the waterfall. On the way photo shoots were done , Comrade(bugged with new interest in photography)was the camera women most of the time. Next 15 minutes we were able to hear the sound of water thrashing on the rocks .After some more climbing we could see it ……amidst the woods ,through the green n brown curtains, their it was ,a watery delight ,a gravity of height . The shoes were thrown , pants were up rolled ,slippery rocky hurdles were crossed and splash. Few more click –click- click –click(s)………..and we attained nirvana.

After spending ½ an hour at the water sight , we descended back and went to a nearby habitat. Punnami jungle wooden guest house. Had our much needed lunch their , did a canopy walk, petted Deer’s and started journey back to Tirupati .On the way we halted at Chandragiri fort and digested some more historical dose. Way back JhansikiRani explained the fascinating fact about how invention of balti (bucket ) has revolutionized the way humans store and carry water. Period!

DAY 3

Back to concrete jungle , in front of the boring computer screens ,with the keyboard tic tics.

Meltdown in Phd.....

comics.
Pink slips overrated ?Every minute we r bombarded with so much info from all the directions that everything seems to be overrated . Yes we know it’s happening. But then a lot of things are happening per minute(or such stats) around the globe.
Does anybody has a DIRECT friend being layoffed (touch wood, fingers crossed and all). Of course everybody has a friend whose friend’s friend is kicked out.
Anyhows, have ur laughs below.
yes , readability is just a click away :P

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php?f=1077 for those who think only hyperinks can do some uddhaar to this civilization.

ps0:None
ps1:Seriouly none.Stop scrolling!

And Finally

We broke up. It has been 2.5 years. Wonderful moments were spent together , thyself shall always cherish them. But then, we both knew, we were growing apart. It’s time to move on. For quite some time it has all been adjustment-compromise-favors-tolerance that kept dragging us in the vicious circles of emotional turbulence. I am stoned now .The inquisitiveness wasn’t off concern , but off prying .How long I could have carried that fake smile and pretended to look blissful with you ?We knew it was a mess , but I kept dragging with a faint hope, that… maybe we can together work this out. Trust me, I tried, u never reciprocated .
Now I am sure , it was all wrong , I was wrong, my choices were wrong , I fell for the wrong, may be u were the best then ( I was blinded), but surely not the most trusted one now.
I was warned ! from outside , from inside . . I was such a fool
You never cared ,did u ?
Took me for granted, dint u?
You were never there when I needed you the most, were u?
I was such a fool.Its hurts .................................................

I was such a fool ……………………….to choose LG m4410 as my-technically-first-mobile

Ps0: Zameen pe leytkey hassney wala smiley.
Ps1:Zorse hasney wala smiley.
Ps2:Zeebh nikalkey chidhane wala smiley aka :P

Battery was replaced , shortcomings were overlooked (I tired, dint I?)
within few months you r back to i-need-more-power-charge-me-every8hours state. endurance has been crossed .
Sorry m4410 , but I am seeing somebody else ……still in the R&D state, but soon will zero in .

ps3:hehehehe wala smiley, maja aya na?

ps4: i knw , we all are attached to our teleephoons , be it bad , be it good.

Metal-good conductor of heat

And so they get cold quickly, even doggies know this or is it finished-painted-metal cleanliness they prefer?

or they want elevated seats amidst 8 storey buildings to ward off October-evening global-warming- heat , before Dilli ki sarrdi begins? or they feel restricted when sitting inside the car?

Doggy on car roof 1: Nap time.ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz

Doggy on car roof 2: Distrupted, “uuuuff yeah paparazzi’s “

Doggy on car roof 3: “I am out of here”.

ps0 : Should have taken a video instead, Duh!

ps1 :papi-part2?

ps2 : as they say- sabar ka phal meetha hota hai.Is it?

ps3 : Lazyy I am so lazyyy etc…

Papikondalu trip –part1

Coz girls just wanna have fun.

Places Visited : Papikondalu , Bhadrachalam.
Probable candidates : Comrade ,Drama Queen(DQ),Kiddo,Mads,Wiki,Reks ,JhansiKiRani,D,MiniY and yours truly.
DropOuts : D , Wiki ,MiniY cause of personal commitments.
Unavailable: Jhansee Ki Rani .She was in the land of bailouts-meltdowns -eco crisis during the planning period. Apologizes.
So net 6 -gang of girls went on a adventurous- hectic- semi-planned trip.

We tried our best to keep the consensus under the wraps ,as we truly believe in evil eyes and envies which in past has already waterofied our Kerala trip. But then, the khabar was leaked , raised enough eyebrows and also fueled (read motivated) Pondicherry trip for the gang of boys.:P

On 10th October evening we all boarded the Gouthami Express A/C coaches Just in time. Unfortunately our berths were distributed across the coach. Coz of the halla we made , some travelers voluntarily exchanged their seats and we finally settled in a single compartment .The next moment we noticed , a handsome young bloke was our co-passenger.DQ declared , the beauty he was travelling with was his fiancé. I object milord , I object!.It was his sister 200 % sure. we whispered ,giggled, laughed out and made him feel terrible /nervous /out of place . He was cute but not worth ankhon ke rasthe dil mein uttar jaye types and hence all the DDLJ , Jab we met train sequences were put to rest. After heavy snacking and dinner we all slept on the respective berths. DQ kept doing jagtey raho act once a while.

The next morning train reached Rajahmundry 1+ hour late .We were suppose to catch a AP-Tourism transport from somewhere to a place where the lauch/boatride to Papikondalu starts .Comrade took the charge, made some calls to ensure that the transport waited for us. After reaching somewhere we realized that the transport was a Yerra bus. To add to our misery we got the last row. With some ooohhh aahhh ouchh, the bumpy ride on the village road ended and we reached the launch site in 1.5 hr.

Our launch was a 40 seater with LCD tv, Split A/C to show off (hantee ke dath-khane ke aur, dikhaney ke aur types).I hated the very site of that dokku boat. Once again we bagged the last seats ..where in we got extra dose of vitamin D n solar energy owing to reduce shading. The marathon journey started ,6 hours upstream , 4 hours downstream .We proceeded deeper….. the zigzag Godavari amidst the hills treated us with picture perfect scenic beauty. We crossed 3 tribal villages on the banks .The cannons and handycams were put to use. Only me and Kiddo had all the enthu to pose for photo shoots. Deal was signed , we mutually modeled , photographed each other…result -> my fultoo filmy pose with parvat,pani making waves on orkut. Everything outside the launch was awesome but inside , the torture went on-> the crowd was vague , rather boring gaon wale types, high volume idiotic songs were played on the speakers. The washroom were eeeeuuuu. The weather was hot-humid, food was bad.
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger “.
First three hours junta struggled to deal with the heat and later, once the bodies got adjusted ,masti started .The Pictionary game kit which consumed almost one back pack luggage space came to rescue .We played all through the upstream and became centre of attraction for all the kids. After passing by the camp site we finally reached Papikondalu and halted to visit a temple in Parentapally.Ahhh what a relief to see the land. DQ who suffers from restless leg syndrome finally found place to spring on. The very sight of the chinna waterfall elevated our spirits. While the other junta performed their religious temple visit and boarded back to the boat …we all rushed into the water ,did a chota trek till top and yipeeeee,. The halt was for approx 20 minutes .The guide gave the last calls and 6 of us rushed back to the launch ,once again last to reach (just in time) and missed the chilled cold drinks .

Downstream journey, cool evening breeze ,tired musafirs ,sunset view ,small town silence ….perfect ingredients for sleep and we all napped. Reached back to the start point , took the yerra bus ride as last benchers , took auto from there and reached the Rajahmundry Bus Depot around 10ish PM at night .

The original plan was to take a late night bus to Bhadrachalam. After reaching there we came to know that reservations are needed for night journeys. Last bus to Bhadrachalam was at 10:30 PM and was already full booked.

Climax: no bus , no prior hotel booking,6 girls alone in an unknown city, completely exhausted, sleep devoid ,hungry .What next?

To be continued………..

P.S1: DQ actually yawned and slept the next day. Can u believe ?
P.S2:The emotionally challenged Kiddo said few cheesy shayree type lines, Can u believe ?
P.S3:Comrade if ever in future u plan to be a leader , we shall vote for u.
P.S4:Mads n Rekhs remained the silent and supportive spectators .
P.S5:And thyself’s susheel kanya pose was finally captured in a pic. Comrade, ur wish is fulfilled.
P.S5: Picture abhee bakee hai mere dost.

Belated Happy Journeys-NorthEastTrip-Remaining

Pictures speaking thouasand words..........
What do u think the monkey was thinking?

Mannipal @ Sikkim:

Lama gang:

Sleeping Jackal:

Selenarctos thibetanus:

Local Dance:

Sleepy leopard:

Left,Current Butan King :

Helper trekked to top:

Clouded Leopard:

What do u think we both were talking?

P.S: So much easier to put phottus, na.

Belated Happy Journeys - NorthEast Trip

The Tiger Bridge on Teesta ,declared expired by Civil Engineers .Still going strong.


The Yak on which we sat for a while.See its still alive:

Traffic Jam at 13000 ft :
Cafe @ 14000 ft:

River path:

Rumtek Monastery:
Foggy sign board:

Changu Lake:
The Indo-China border:

Long long long ago, the author made a promise. The holiday season and so has the trip season has started. Every other day the mail box is spammed with out of office & (OOO)replies and yes we have once again stared making plans for travel from Goa ,Kerela to Egypt, Amazon (in dreams)……..50 places to visit before u die types.
All this reminds me of my last trip of which there has been only promises and no posting.

The round trip : Hyd-Delhi-Binagudi(Siliguri)-Butan -Darjeeling-Gangtok(Sikkim,Nathula pass)- Binagudi -Delhi –Hyd, Phew!
Time:-Around April 2008

The travel above and across Binagudi to * was done in a car.
All I remember is that we were just cruising round and round across the mountains with a faint fear of -one wrong move and we all end up in the valley with no left over’s.

Bhutan visit was mostly border area markets and monasteries, of where I was literally caught by a kid lama for clicking photos. I was made to delete all shoots or was asked to forgo my cannon baby.

Binagudi-Darjeeling was a peaceful ride. From plains to mountains . we were made to change the course (and missed an amazing lake on the way)cause of road -blockage- havoc caused by rains.
Places visited :-
1.Himalayan zoological park –with major attraction -endangered species like clouded leopard, red Panda.
2.Mountaineering museum.
3.The street market- full of peppy clothes n shoes , of chinky chicks n dudes , hazzar crowd on that steeply terrain skimpy route and yes , there was room for a mall as well. Our own Big Bazaar.And my “Shabji” watchman -Agam is proud of the mall at his home town.
This hill station is highly commercialized.

Darjeeling –Sikkim was a bumpy ride to the ass, but man! what an eye candy treat to the eyes. Such scenic route it is. Small villages, rain forests. Thick, plush and green is what I remember.
Places visited:-
1.Gangtok- Rumtek monastery.
2.Nathula Pass.
We moved on to an Army camp named – 5 miles to halt for our major destination –Nathula pass -14000 feet above sea level. This travel was the most dangerous and gory. On the way we saw multiple waterfalls , some of which happily took the road way like a trail of pedestrian crossing the narrow mountain road. On the way we camped at Changu lake for yak ride, hot food n tea.
Finally, we trekked to Nathula pass in the freeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzzzing cold.
Hurray moment!. victory flag was hoisted , border shake hands were exchanged, photos were clicked and we all felt like king and queen of the world in spite of low levels of oxygen. Breathlessness prevailed for a while .On our two legs we descended back to our four wheelers parking.Sipped hot coffee in “café coffee day” ..yes even here there was room for a cafeteria . Apparently this café site is highest in India.

Sikkim to Binagudi :The ride was across mountain alongside a river from source to almost destination.
We saw river Teesta from birth to middle age .There was some gyaan dan of jungle jadibuti and stuff on the way back owing to nauseated sickness of one of our helper. The driver , a localite stopped the SUV somewhere in the middle of the jungle to hunt for teetapatti which on rubbed smelling cured the helper.

kanchanjangha:

Some Monastery @ Darjeeling
Teetapatti, The Herb:
Mountain Beauty:


P.S1: Weekend trip to Papikondalu.

P.S2:Buri nazar wale tera mooh kala.

one arrow , two lines , three hurt

अर्ज़ किया है....

एक तीर से तीन घायल....
एक तीर से तीन घायल,
हम उसपे , वो किसी और पे कायल

वाह वाह !

PS: Title contributed by TeofKap.
PS1:Three movies watched in a week , all in theatre !
The Last Lear *** & 1/2(PVR)
WALL.E *** (Imax)
Rock on ** & ½ (Adlabs)
PS2: The ratings works for theatre as well, sheer coincidence.

Gags

pre-ps/note: click to be able to see the textual content in each:

By now u must have rendered those grad days...with some famously infamous profs.
Note: Below content is purely CtrlC+CtrlV of an incident described by some juniors in one of the communities dedicated to one of our most popular saar:-


He comes with a stagger in his walk that could rival Will smith's [or chiru's in shankardadaMBBS for that matter]. Now this man just cannot go past a group of students without interacting with them and giving them a point to laugh at about for a week. and that day, it happened to be Andy. So here we go..

Prof M: aaan U, yes u only maan..Andy Raaz(it is Raj which prof conveniently converted to raaz , like he does to the Jebras in the Joo from Jimbabwe)...Please come here.
Me(Andy): Yes sir, how can I help u?[courteous me]
He then proceeds to ask me some CAD Lab viva before he puts forth the million dollar question..
Prof M: I believe u have Eunuchs book with you?
Me(Andy):*wide eyed, Dumbstruck, bewildered and what not!!!#@@!#
Prof M: If you have books of eunuchs I would want to take them from u, I think I am slowly beginning to like it. First I thought it was varryy varry complex, but now u see as I learn them slowly, I think it is varrry nice.
Me(Andy): Still in a stoned state....dumbstruck and bewildered
Prof M: Kindly, if u don’t mind, please get me book on Eunuchs...see the Library has very few books on it...
Me(Andy): Sir, Eunuchs...what makes u think I have books on Eunuchs???
Prof M: U will have no, last week I saw Linux books in yuvar hands only no. So u should have eunuchs books also, cos from Eunuchs only,Linux came...
Bolt of lightning strikes, cloud forms over andy'shead, bulb flickers n gets switched on and finallyAndy attains Nirvana.
“Prof M was talking about UNIX and he kept saying UNUX forUNIX and me perverted me, kept thinking Eunuchs.....hehehehe .But believe me, the way he said it, I was not the only one who fell prey.Had Linus Torvalds heard the last line..."From Eunuchs only , Linux came"...only godknows what he would have done to himself.So all u ppl learning Unux & Zava !!! all the best...”

Ps:Hahaha
Ps1:Hohoho

ps2:Hehehe