Minneapolis and the kabootar and the baby hunter

One of my fondest memories of all times would be driving around in sub-urbs of Minneapolis with Pritam, Deepak, Lakhan, and Sapna with Delhi-6 songs playing!!!

I remember this weekend where we must have heard Sasural Genda Phool and Masakali atleast 50 times or maybe more!!! I think this was the weekend when I met Pritam's baby hunter for the first time!

As per Pritam this was a hunter who was still a baby... not to forget that we are talking about a Nissan Xterra here! To accept that it was still a baby at that size was very tough for almost all of us... And somehow the title baby hunter, tilted towards the car being someone who hunted babies more!!

Nevertheless, the whole Minneapolis downtown gang and the cars, and the drives are some thing worth remembering for a very very long time to come!!

1.1.11

This year has been an year of deaths!!!

and no DEATH is not always bad... at times it is, however for a relatively short duration of time as compared to time itself!

I knew some who died this year, I did not know a lot who did! but irrespective of this, I grew closer to death, my own, of people who are close to me and mean a lot to me, and the concept of death as a whole!

DEATH always leaves a VOID... it was surprising how I felt when some friends lost their near and dear ones this year! I did not know this people except that I knew they were there!

People leave, and they do that for good! leaving behind an emptyness.. something that you feel when you are shifting your house after years of staying there... You do not see the walls, you see what was there on those walls... you don't see a corner, you probably see your favorite program which was on the TV last night...you don't see a door, you think of the last time you opened that door and walked into the warmth of your home... you don't see a kitchen, you see the dishes that were there which your mom cooked last week!!!

The year is also coming to an end! Its dying! we cannot save it either, and that's a fact... time does not stop, and there is no point trying either! My options being, either to welcome the new life in whatever form that its coming, or to cry about what has been lost!

While I am still not able to come to terms with the concept of death and its brutal existance.. ok... not brutal, but existance!! I am looking forward to 1.1.11

Point and Beep

I find it funny that a lot of people stretch their arms to point towards their cars while using remote locking!

To each their own

A still from one of my favorite places in India... Old Delhi

Every saturday Hindus offer Mustard oil, and earthen lamps with mustard oil to Shani Dev in India. Shani is one of the "Navgrah", 9 planets and is the elder brother of Yamraj, God of death! Shani is probably one of the most feared ones however if placed favorably in a horoscope does wonders!

Anytime Tea Time - Chaibaaz Paavani (चायबाज़ पावनी )

Paavani is a flickr and blog-friend for quite sometime now, and I was really glad to see a T-photograph on her flickr stream! My immediate reaction was to request her permission for posting the photographs on Chai ki Dukaan and am thankful to get a nod from her!

An exceptionally talented photographer, a good writer and a design researcher, she is one of the photographers that I follow and learn from! Please do enjoy her photography work by clicking here.

Welcome to the ChaiBaaz Club, Paavani!

What a loss!

Lost the best of my street shots from Panaji, and some really beautiful pictures of Pooja!

Memory - 1GB
Cost - a few thousand rupees
Actual worth - Priceless!


I am so angry right now, that I don't even feel it! The photographs were just alright the last time I was viewing them on the camera, and now the bloody card just does not want to work!!! the photographs are all messed up of whatever i can see in the thumbnails... the camera freezes when I try to preview the images on it! what a loss!

On the brighter side, it gives a big reason to go back to Panaji sometime!

Where do they go?

We were driving out of South Goa this weekend for a day trip to Panaji and other places of interest in North Goa, when Pooja asked me this question...

"Prashant! Where do people who get married in Goa, go for a Honeymoon? "

Similar

Ram Charitmanas and Christmas are made of the same alphabets!

Very Very Tasty Tasty

Tasted the chilly fog in the morning!

Fell in love with Delhi Winters all over again!!!!

Ah! time for some tea in the warm morning winter sun!

Who do you call?

You are in a meeting!!! The phone is silent!!!

When you finish the meeting, there are three missed calls on your phone..

1. Your Boss

2. Your Wife

3. Your Best Friend

Who do you call first?

And why? :)

The Golden Mean

Very interesting video!!!

Room gets a whiteboard!

Any idea what can I write on it? :)

Saturday has been both lazy and rewarding so far! Nice!

What is! what would be?

I remember listening to this song, and songs like these on the radio when I was a kid! Felt good about the simplicity of messages being given via these!!!

Cut to today, when what I see all around is a strong negative vibe about almost everything which happens in one's life! Jobs/ Family/ Infrastructure/ Government/ Policies/ Taxes/Curruption and what not!

These songs had extreme positivity and commitment in them! And I think what we are today is not because of what we do today, but what people and leaders about 30 years ago did! We are only seeing the fruits of whatever effort in whatever direction they put in! and if someone starts a change today, its going to be visible in only about a decade or maybe more!

I feel extremely sad at the kind of country that we are going to pass on to the new generation! Am I talking like a concerned father? :) I think marriage does that to people! I am thinking of what can I do to give my kids a better world to live in!!!

Oh, and if it interests you, you can see the kid Aruna Irani @ 1.57 minutes into the first song and again at 2:49

Movie Weekend!

You would know that you have just seen Golmal 3 if

1. You have experience an overdose of primary colors for about 140 minutes

2. You managed to keep your sanity through a similar duration of nonsensical slapstick (made to look like situational) comedy

3. You went inside the cinema hall expecting nothing but senseless comedy, but see a lot of senseless action and melodrama instead

4. You did not expect anything or get anything from the dialogues or the script anyway

5. You feel that Golmal 1 was a different league altogether

6. You feel that Tushar Kapoor spoke a little too much for being a dumb. (Can't forget how hilarious it was to see him do his act in Golmal 1, Rohit Shetty things that overdose of that would make for a funnier movie; He is just simple a simpleplain dumb or what???)

7. You have not managed to laugh for more than 30 minutes during the entire movie! Half of which could have been because you were laughing at yourself!

Anyway!!! I also managed to watch Twilight, sunday evening, and liked it! not amazing, but it got me thinking about how selfless people could get when it comes to love! or can they?

Grand Entry

Entry to the Basilica of Sr. Mary in Downtown Minneapolis.

Two steps

There are only two steps that are needed to reduce issues in one's life!

1. Find Problems

2. Resolve them

and when i say Find problems, I really do not mean that one needs to go around looking for one :) or to create one if they cannot easily find one!

There is a third step too, which can be mixed with the two above!

Have tea while you do the two above!

The Fall has gone...

But the feeling remains!

All in One Weekend

This weekend was such a tiring but satisfying weekend!

Went to

- Chandni Chawk in Old Delhi for lights, and wall-clocks

- Khari Baoli in Old Delhi for Candles and Dry-fruits

- Sadar Bazaar near Old Delhi for Crackers and Fireworks

- Cottage Emporium in Central Delhi for solid wood furniture

- Uttar Pradesh Shilpotsav in NOIDA for handicrafts and snacks

- Jwala Heri in West Delhi for random Diwali shopping

Every single time I visit the markets in Old Delhi, I love that place more than the last time!

Felt like a friday

Been a very strange week this one!

Since Monday, every day felt like Friday! not because it was festive, but something inside me really wished that the next day is a Saturday (read a holiday), and now that its Friday finally, it does not feel like one at all!

I, however, am still waiting for the saturday :)

I think I need to go dancing!!!

Champ of the month!

Getting an award when you cannot substantiate why you "should" get it is more of an embarrassment than a matter of pride!

Maybe I am being overcritical of myself, but I am not really sure why I should have been awarded at work as yet! Am far from what I need to achieve!

T-Time

There are certain times when resisting the need of having a hot cup of tea is almost impossible!!!

Some of them are

1. When it rains

2. When you have been driving for a while, and want to take a quick break

3. When you want to talk at length with a friend

4. When someone has a packet of Parle-G Glucose biscuits

5. When its really cold outside and you are sitting in a balcony enjoying the chill

6. When you just want to sit on the top of a hill watching the valley in front

7. When you don't want do much and relax in the morning

8. When you want to stop thinking for a while

9. When you want to think about something important

10. When there is a lot of work to do

11. When there is nothing to do

12. When you want to crib about things at work

13. When its a long weekend (thanks CP for the idea)

14.

15.

16....

am leaving some points for the readers to fill in! When do you like to have tea?

All photographs from a recent trip to the hills (Ranikhet, Dist. Almora, Uttarakhand)

Thanks to the visitors of CKD, here is another long list :)

* When I miss home a lot - V

* When you have a headache - Saguna

* When I enjoy looking at the hedges across the road, from my balcony - Mepretentious

* Anytime and everytime... its theraupatic... i can never say no to tea unless too sweet - Raina

* When you are writing a blog (post) - Raina

* Samose ke saath - Raina

* When you're sitting on a swing... the three-seater kind that is in the backyard or frontyard or indoors. :) - Kanan

* Chai anytime anywhere & everywhere!! - Purnima

* When you have to wake up.. - Komal-Niksha

* When you can't think or do anymore..a cup of chai almost always seems to re-enrgise you.. - Komal-Niksha

* When you want to pen some beautiful lines.. - Komal-Niksha

* When you want to go back in time.. - Komal-Niksha

Getting better!

I used to like the amazing photograph, lovely pictures, what a shot sorts of comments on my flickr page a lot! And to be honest, I really like them today as well! But I struggle to improve in absense of the comments which tell me what can I do better!

There is a huge number of extremely talented photographers who showcase their work online on websites such a flickr, and a favorite, or a small comment from them does help continue with the effort!!!

And there are people who keep you going by coming back to you work, and encourage you! Its amazing how such people keep you going, if not help you improve!

However that is not enough all the time!

Here is what I did in the recent past to work on my photography...

1. Distinguish between what I am clicking just to document that "I was there", and the photographs which show a different side to the usual

2. Reduce the number of photographs that I click! Though this is in disagreement with a lot of experts, I feel that I want to see more than I click! hence a little more time spent behind the camera, or looking at pictures, or reading about them! and reduced time clicking! Not really sure if that has helped, as I am yet to reach a significant difference in my work

3. I follow the people who my contacts follow as their favorites! So let's say I really like how Tushar clicks, I would go to his favorites page, and see what does he follow! There are chances, that what he follows is a couple of steps ahead of him... and if I like his photography, the chances that I would like what he "really likes" a lot more! so I follow both! Over a period of time, I look at images that inspire me the most!

4. Stop following groups which are just a dumping ground for digital junk! I have spent a lot of time trying to find good pictures, from large groups! And did not end up learning! Instead I spent more time doing what I mentioned in step 3 and have gained a lot of "where could I get better" knowledge! How I get better is another chapter totally!

5. Stop getting emotional about my own work! Just because its me who has clicked a picture, does not mean its a nice picture! Reviewing every picture as an independent viewer has helped me break a lot of bonds with my images, and delete them from my collection (After a backup ofcourse; you never know when you need to go back to your originals)

And that's not it! I am nowhere close to what I can be!

But I am getting there!

T-tips from Chai ki Dukaan!

When you make tea, make sure that you are smiling!!!



It helps the TEA Taste Better!!!

Photograph from a T-Shop at Jageshwar(Distt. Almora), Uttarakhand, India!

...

Take two things away from Delhi Roads and this city would never be the same again!!!

The Horn!

and

The Horny!!

Pieces of Peace

You find your peace in pieces all over!!! Make sure to collect all of them!

Photograph from Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis Downtown, Minnesota!

Games people play!

CWG 2010 are about to come to an end, tomorrow being the last day! I have been looking forward and hoping that the games go well, and there are no major issues while the games are on in Delhi!

So far so Good!

The traffic has been alright! Infact, I have made it on time every single day I was travelling to work in the morning! Evenings have been a bit tight, however that is a usual scenario! An addition of about 20 minutes to a 150 minutes long drive does not really bother me anymore! Plus I am not driving myself, so that leaves some sanity intact by the time I reach home every evening, and I do not mind getting behind the wheels over weekends!

What I really like about games such as CWG and Olympics and other sports activities, is that they have a start date, and an end date! However there are games which just don't seem to end!

How I wish, from an endless list, the two below, have an end date

~ Political games at Office!

~ Office games in Politics!

I promise to participate in the closing ceremony!!!

Title courtesy : Games people play by Inner Circle

Lie to Me

"A real surprise lasts for less than a second. If they act surprised for more than a few seconds, they are faking it!"

Lie to Me (Season 1)

Started watching one of my favorite TV shows today!

...

Been a not so good week so far!!! muscle pulls, sprains, pain and just feeling dull!

commonwealth games के नारे!

कुछ चोर कुछ भिखारी

भ्रष्टाचार का नया नाम - सुरेश कलमाड़ी ||

Happy to see Indian team winning many Golds on day 2 of CWG2010 @ New Delhi! Keep an eye on the medals tally here.

कलमाड़ी की (कु)आरती

जय बाबा कलमाड़ी

बोलो जय बाबा कलमाड़ी

अद्भुत अनोखे ढंग से

तुमने commonwealth की मारी ||

बोलो जय बाबा कलमाड़ी!!!

सारे सम्बन्धी करोडपति

चाहे देश हो जाये भिखारी |

सबका ख्याल तुम्हे है

दोस्ती हो या रिश्तेदारी ||

बोलो जय बाबा कलमाड़ी!!!

इतना पैसा खाया

और आधी भी डकार न मारी|

तुमको जेल में डाले

अब किसकी ये ज़िम्मेदारी?

बोलो जय बाबा कलमाड़ी!!!

ऐसा हाल किया के

शर्म से डूब मरे नर नारी|

यमुना में भी बाड़ आ गई

धोने को तुम्हारी बीमारी|

बोलो जय बाबा कलमाड़ी!!!

CWG तो होंगे

भारत की है तय्यारी|

तुम जाने कहाँ जाओगे

कहाँ डूबेगी नैय्या तुम्हारी?????

बोलो जय बाबा कलमाड़ी!!!

Happy Birth(month)

Chai ki Dukaan entered its 7th year this september!!!

One of the quietest years for CKD has been its 6th, and rightly so! It has been an year of realizations, milestones, achievements, new journeys, and revisits! A few windows closed, and a lot of them opened!!!

And from how I see it, the 7th year is going to be extremely exciting, and happening, and set a strong base for years to come!

Here is some tea for everyone who has been a part of the journey in some form or the other!!!











Happy Birthday Chai ki Dukaan!

and with this, I finish the 100th post for 2010! Interesting!

(चायबाज़) Chaibaaz - Salva Magaz

Salva is one of my favorite photographers on Flickr... The moment I saw a Tea photograph on his stream, I knew I had to request him to let me post it on ChaiBaaz!

Enjoy!

Please do visit some more of his tea related photographs here.

p.s. All of these images including the above are copyright images and cannot be used in any form without Salva's written permission!

...

मुझे ये भी पता है.. वो भी पता है...

पर कुछ चीज़ें थी ज़रूरी...जो दिल भूल सा गया है

Moments from Ranikhet!

From a solid base to a fast country

I think advertisements are a good way to interpret how the country is moving and what its moving towards!

While there is a huge number of people who still have to ride a cycle to work or take the city bus/train (DTC/BEST/Mumbai Local) there is a substantial direction that our two wheelers provide to the country! Actually let me correct myself right here! there is a indication of where the country is going, represented in advertisements!

Let's look at Bajaj!!!!

Bajaj was "बुलंद भारत की बुलंद तस्वीर".. a representation of strong India! the ads also show families, people, emotions, bonds between people etc etc!

Cut to today!

Bajaj Ads now represent Speed, power, individuality, etc etc!

Note the change in lyrics and the genre of this soundtrack below ! Its "नए भारत की नयी रफ़्तार " now.. representing the speed of this new India!

Needless to say, the advertisements are much more classier than before too!

Do I like what is represented in these ads now? We can debate that! but the fact which needs to be accepted is that times have changed, would continue to do so! though we will end up where were started from!

Back from the hills!

Stay for two nights at Ranikhet - Rs. 5700

Food Bills for the trip - Rs. 2400

Fuel for about 800 kms - Rs. 4500

• Dodging falling rocks and rushing through the rock-rain within a matter of seconds
• Gathering courage to cross a fresh active landslide, and driving over rocks and trees
• Driving over huge rocks with just about an inch of possible error margin
• Watching river Kosi in its full flow, and driving through rushing waters for about 100 meters

Priceless!!!!!

Came back from a wonderfully rejuvenating break from Ranikhet and around! and brought back a whole lot to talk and think about for a long time!

"Sun"Day started with Rain

Had a perfect start of the day today!!!

Woke up at 6:45 while it was raining heavily...

Went out to get drenched in the rain, and enjoyed walking around in the water logged streets...

AND

planted 14 Jamun saplings which I had in a small pot on my balcony... All of them from the seeds I had planted a few months back!

I hope all of them grow and grow well :)

Had some amazing breakfast and lovely lunch as well!

Off to sleep early tonight, to wake up early morning tomorrow.. gotta catch a train to one of my favorite cities for a one day work trip!

Indraprastha Apollo in NOIDA?

I thought Apollo Hospitals did not have a presence in NOIDA, or maybe just a clinic. However Pooja said that she had seen the hospital!

To check, I went to Indraprastha Apollo's website to check for the hospital's address... The only thing about NOIDA that I could find out was the address of a pharmacy in sector-26.

Some screenshots from the website:

More locations...

Some more...

If you google the hospital, you would find that the hospital does exist in Sector-26, NOIDA and even has 20+ reviews.

I then called the Sarita Vihar hospital to check for the address, and asked the person on the phone about why NOIDA is not mentioned on the website.. and all he could say was..."Sir, wo update nahin hua hoga"!

I am surprised that this big an institution does not bother to keep its website updated. And like Tushar said, it does not really matter to them! Even if a few odd people who visit the website and do not find the right information chose to go somewhere else! I think this is very disappointing!

And from an IT consultant perspective, I consider this a blunder... The IT department of this organization is not upto date with what the business is doing! The number one symptom that most IT departments suffer from.

Anyway... for people who do not know, Indraprastha Apollo is in NOIDA as well! I am not sure about the quality of services, but let's leave that for a first hand experience though I hope doctors run out of business in future!

On a lighter note... How about trying to "Forget" a password instead of trying to remember one?

At work, I can click on forget password and what happens next is anybody's guess!

InnGaAnAe; Jugaad and the Idiot

While I was driving back yesterday evening, this sign caught my attention... The engines on the airplane sticker look kind of funny to me!!!

And I couldn't help but notice the hindi version of the acronym for Indira Gandhi International Airport!!! From now on please refer to the Delhi Airport Terminal Aas Inn-Ga-An-Ae

I feel nice about some of the changes that have happened in Delhi over the last decade... However the hustle bustle and amount of vehicles on the road, and all of this rat race makes us see right through that, and only end up cribbing and complaining!

While yesterday night, I was wondering at the improvements in the city, and feeling good about it... I got into a thought conflict while driving to work in the morning today... What you see in the photograph below, is a pedal rickshaw used to transport light heavy items for short distances... A lot of owners put a 100cc old scooter engine to cover longer distances, and save physical labor in such rickshaws... Good! innovation! and the great Indian JUGAAD! But today I saw a family of 4 using this and along with them was a small baby as well... This guy was driving at a good 40kmph completely oblivious of the fact that a small bump might throw all of them to the ground, and it could just be fatal, specially because of the speed of traffic at this hour.

Oh, and just for the records! These are not supposed to ply on the Ring Road!

And now lets get personal! The driver of this car! no no! the arsehole driving this car hits my car from behind... and in bumper to bumper traffic! no no.. it was not a gentle push, or a little peck! It was a bang! And then makes gestures like his father owns the bloody road!!!

And when I ask him to stop, he just rushes through like the illegitimate brother of Nayaran Kartikeyan...

The rear bumper had a slight impact but I was able to fix it after I reached work! I hope no plastic parts have broken!

Have a good Wednesday!

Relativity

For a lot of us, Royal Enfield is a big bike!



But this Punjab Police Gentleman, made this big bike, look like a moped!

Post-it CnH

From Scott Adam's Blog

A must read blogpost from Scott Adams. An interesting insight into what Scott felt was the reason of low ratings on a recent Dilbert Comic!

I had read the strip a couple of days ago, and did not really understand it.. Scott talks about what the artist likes is not necessarily something that his audience would also appreciate equally.

Click here to read Scott's post and see the strip he is talking about.

Chai ki Dukaan by Fredcan

In Fred's words, "A portrait of a chai wallah (tea maker), in his shop, in Haridwar. I took this during my stay in Haridwar for Maha Kumbh mela 2010, last April. This little chai shop had become a shelter for me, when the crowds and the sadhu camp became a bit overwhelming. In a way, it was like spending time, not just in a chai shop, but at the man's home itself, as the tiny shop seemed to tell of the man's life story with photographs and objects displayed in every corner.
He said he had seen many Kumbhs in his life before, and was no longer impressed by the whole thing. Yet, he admitted that for his little business, Kumbh time was the best !"

I have been followed Fred's work for a few years now, and have not seen a lot of people capture India with such simplicity. I really admire his street work, and am thankful he allowed me to post this photograph on Chai Ki Dukaan.

Please do visit his flickr page here, and his website here.

Power and Lines

There is not much that I miss about the US except a few things such as the skies and the clouds!!!

And the Fall colors!

2 years ago!

I am still working on the photographs that I had taken 2 years ago! thats a lot of backlog!

A bit of Color a bit of not!

Two to Tango!

More proof needed?

Wild-fires in Russia

Cyclones in USA

Cloudbursts in Ladakh

Floods in Pakistan

I might not have statistics, however it definitely feels that natural calamities have increased many fold in the last decade!

Most of these have scientific reasons behind them, however they are a RCA (Root Cause Analysis), and I personally feel that some, if not all, could have been prevented if some steps were taken to avoid them!

While there are many things which are a part of the natural cycle of evolution, there is a larger contribution of us as humans which is accelerating the pace of deterioration! I feel responsible for a part of it, however also feel helpless at the fact that there is little that I can do about it!

There is a need to apply some brakes somewhere! soon!

Happy Monday!

Driving to work with Radha! She never ceases to amaze me on our drives!

Finding Calvin and Hobbes on Google Books!

Bill Watterson! You are God!

Common "man's" Wealth "politicians playing" Games

I do not understand why this hue and cry over

1. Chairs being rented for Rs.8000 per month

2. Turf's being laid at 5 times the regular cost

3. Treadmills being leased for exorbitant prices

4. and probably 100s of other small and big scams that are in progress while Delhi and the country is preparing for Commonwealth Games!

Almost everyone in this country tries to get benefit from the situation when they can! and I say almost everyone, because I know some who do not! And when these guys in their positions try to make the most out of where they are, we cry foul!

While I feel sad about such bastards looting the country's money, I am really worried about what happens when the CWG start!

I sincerely hope that the entire setup does not collapse like a pack of cards! while somewhere in my heart, I am very scared it will!

Round!

It all comes down to where it started from, at some point of time or the other!

Running faster brings you closer to the beginning a lot quicker!

Once Upon a Time in NOIDA

Last minute plans for a late evening Sunday movie helped us watch "Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai" My choice of a cinema hall in NOIDA is going to very obvious now. Its going to be Big Cinemas in TGIP... reason? I bought an year of parking for Rs. 1000... This gives me unlimited parking at the Mall for an year, and some discounts on a lot of stores! most exciting being Rajdhani and Subway! a few more, but Pooja is more interested in them than me!

Let's get back to the title of the post now! Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai! The movie starts with a failed suicide attempt, and runs mostly in the flashback! Sultan Mirza's story and how he is dethroned by both the thought process of a new generation and a man which belongs to it, all of this when he invested his trusted in him! I like the parts of the movie when Ajay Devgan is on the screen, and I almost hated the parts when Imran Hashmi was doing his so called acting! Absolute nonsense! I find it tough to identify Kangna Ranaut on the screen! ALWAYS! she looks different all the time! makes her likeable in my opinion though!

Overall, I think the movie was ok, but slower than what I would like such a movie to be! The dialogues are good, the attention to detail in the backdrops are good too, and the entire look of the movie is carefully thought after! The soundtrack is nice, however there is not much to be heard during the movie except a couple of songs! If you ask me, I would say go watch it if you like watching Ajay Devgan's onscreen presence, and do not mind getting bored for about 30% of the entire duration!

Hustle

We all screw up! Its what we do next that counts!

A dialogue from "Hustle" S1E2

बेटी बचाओ देश बचाओ

I am wondering about the thought which went into the small ad that is displayed at the back of this Maruti Omni!

Now the ad is about losing weight! with a money back guarantee! and there is a small "Public Message" which says "बेटी बचाओ देश बचाओ " meaning "Save the daughter, Save the Country!".

I am struggling to find a connection between the two! Something about this is not right, but I am not able to point out what is wrong!

And another Omni, this time full of people like luggage in it!

Ye !

Ye !, originally uploaded by Prashant ॐ Bhardwaj.

Summer fun for kids at the Millennium Park, Chicago!

Photograph taken in Aug'08

In-err-net xplorer!

I don't like Internet Explorer!

Period!!!!!

.

Oh, and I spent sometime on changing how Chai ki Dukaan looks! Let me know if its slower than before!

25 days

Speaking of numbers!

I was out at the Flour Mill near my house yesterday to get flour! I had visited the guy a few minutes ago when Tushar had come over to get some stuff.

This fella tells me on my second visit that he was wondering why I was not buying the flour as we had bought flour from him about 30 days ago, and it takes about 25 days for my family to finish 10kgs of wheat flour.

He seemed very happy about the fact that he was right in his estimate!

This is a pretty busy shop that I am talking about, and if this guy remembers how much floor is consumed by every household which buys flour from him, we are in for an interesting statistical time-pass.

65366223434515689078

Numbers do play an important roles in our lives! We do like to related numbers with future, past and present! And there never is a shortage of numbers of you are interested!

I like numbers too! Love them rather! Driving for over 3 hours everyday gives me an opportunity to think about a lot of numbers..

~ How many cars overtook me!

~ How many vehicles did I pass?

~ How many flyovers in my way?

~ How many times I end up in the lane slower than the right and left side lanes on the toll bridge?

~ How many times I honked?

~ How many time I was the last person to cross the traffic light before it turned red?

And some more numbers on my desk!

1. How many keys do I press everyday?

2. How many meters does my mouse move everyday?

It kind of moves a couple of cms every 15 seconds... lets assume two centimeters every 15 seconds,making it about 8 centimeters every minute on an average which means about 480 cms every hour, and in the entire working day of 8 hours I move my mouse for about 3840 cms or 38.40 meters! Not bad for everyday workout :D

रावण के दस सर, कभी इधर कभी उधर (Raavan ke das sir, kabhi idhar kabhi udhar!)

Raavan has three songs with words which repeating words...

Kata Kata sung by Ila Arun, Sapna Awasthi and Kunal Ganjawala... This song has a lot of words which are sung in repetition! Gaya Gaya, Mara Mara, Dulhe Miyaan Dulhe Miyaan and so on!

Ranjha Ranjha sung by Rekha Bhardwaj, Javed Ali and Anuradha Sriram... I love the feel of this song!

finally

Beera Beera sung by Vijay Prakash, Mustafa Kutoane, and Keerthi Sagathia... It sounds really nice the way Beera Beera sequence sounds... and some of the lyrics also catch attention! Somehow it reminds me of the title track of Omkara, Dham Dham Dhadam Dhadaiyya re!

All these songs shout out loud of the typical AR Rahman flavor of music! Crisp highs, and deep lows! In my personal opinion, ordinary music systems do not do justice to his music!

Now why are the words being repeated?

My take... this is Raavan's soundtrack! and has to justify the fact that Raavan had 10 heads! all of them singing would mean the same word is to be repeated! As a matter of fact, Beera is repeated 10 times when the song starts :)

Alright I am just kidding about the repetition of Beera 10 times, but thanks if you tried to sing the song in your head and count the number of times it was repeated!

I have been a Raavan fan for a while now, and have some thoughts about how his presence in the modern day could be beneficial to us! (this is assuming he carries all his 10 heads together)

Now some people could argue that 10 heads were symbolic and share their accurate knowledge about Raavan or Raavana, but hey! We are not in a "know more about Raavan" lecture are we?

slow slower slowest!

Though the sky was overcast, there were no signs of rain! and I could not even figure out if it was going to rain or not from the AC'd car cabin! Its usually a race against traffic, from within the traffic every day with close to about 3.5 hours of driving to cover about 80 kms. As I had left before the peak hours, traffic was following me, and I found relatively less traffic than usual! By the time I reached Moti Bagh, it was drizzling, and by the time I reached India Gate, it was raining cats and dogs!

And as soon as I turned left from Nizamuddin, I was caught in one of the worst storms I have experienced. With winds around 80kmph, a few asbestos sheets and some plastic drums came flying out of nowhere hitting a few cars just about 50 meters ahead of me, leaving me all jittery and scared! Took me about 40 minutes to reach Akshardham!

While there were loads of bikes and vehicles which broke down on the roads, there were a few who were playing music and dancing in the rain!

Drove through water as high as a foot in my sector to reach home!

What an evening!

2009 in Pictures - September

September was great, like any other month in 2009!

Went to Gatlinburg, and the Smoky Mountains (again)...

Met Bumblebee! This was completely unexpected and I could not believe my luck! The car that I have loved and admired was right there in front of me! Yes the same car which was in Transformers-1. The yellow black Chevy Chamero!

Also went to Six Flags, the amusement park I used to drive by frequently, and even came back from the gates ones because it was too cold!

Bought a whole lot of movies... by the end of 2009, ended up with more than 100 movies, and all handpicked!

Also went to Chicago yet again... The Bean looks amazing when the lights come on!!!