Aah! The frog just jumped from the pan... u cannot complain since heavy chance that it has heard about its proverbial cousin... But the frog needs to be killed coz if not the whole world is in danger - come to think abt it when has the world never been in danger - hm-mm! ny ways back to the frog which is trotting arnd the garden apparently not realizing the fact that it has broke the most sacred of rules...I am still staring at the frog trotting in the garden...

What is this thing with life? Just when you thought you go the hang of it - KABOOM! I like it when I don't know what to do...

Yep I am thinking about the invisible army that needs to be conjured to kill this blasphemous-no respect for rules-trotting arnd the garden unnecessarily frog. Plato would probably help. Aristotle - I am not sure.

I dont see why I would need any of them to kill this 'stupid' (the word means awfully lot of different things) frog. But when u dont know what to do, its always good to have someone along with u...and what...If u are a good a**, then get the other person to do it.

At this point of story, I think (really?), I should say what I have got against this FROG. Dont u c..if the forg had just stayed then everything taht was ever written would have been enough. Not anymore.

Wherz the frog?

I like the movies. I like it when the on-screen gaints put life before you in such simple terms...Like they chew entire books of philosophy and spit out a word or two and that is all tat means to life. the question is - Is life taht simple. Can it be summed up in two words or a thousand or even voulmes of books. Or is it the inevitable thirst of man to comprehend the nature that is at work. To simpify things.. To make out a pattern. To put ut in in simple terms bcoz complex isnt his cup of tea... Maybe life is complex... too complex. One that changes too much for any sort of absolute. Not even an absolute of change. Not even an absolute of unpredictability. To complex to be put in words. Something that should not be solved.

Well the frog escaped. Why the hell am I still here...


p.s. This blog is a reminder to all my friends who continually ask me to put my uncensored and uncompleted blogs. This is my way of saying ...'You had it coming".....I wouldnt be putting ny more....I love u guys too much....This all doesnt mean I cannot say the same to you.

p.p.s. No frogs were hurt in the making of this story... :D sorry but could not help it

p.p.s I still like movie quotes...the one that i could think of now...

Dark and difficult times lie ahead. Soon we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy.

p.p.p.s I like post scripts and post post..... scripts.

Learning life skills is the new item on menu and I am all raring to go. Forget the noodles, roast and the occasional helping out in kitchen; I am really pathetic when it comes to cooking. If I myself didn’t know that till now, well yesterday was a day of reckoning.

I finally got the go ahead to do a fish fry. Confidence was brimming since I got loads of experience in the frying part from previous helping. But this time around it was different. The finer points of cooking skills, like cleaning, cutting and masala mixing was also tested. The one word that could describe the whole process is ' Frightening'. The fish looked like it came straight from a post-mortem after the cleaning. Well that is how my brother described it anyway. After the marinating part, one could attribute it to a “cover up job of a murder victim gone astray”. I hoped the looks wouldn’t hamper the taste as much as the appetite. But that was not to be so. The masala didn’t set properly in the meat and finally we had to eat some raw pieces of garbled fish that would have put even prehistoric man to shame.

Never to give up that easily, today was the turn of chicken. The pieces were already cut properly by the butcher. So one job less to mess up. My mom having finally learned a painful lesson not to pin too much hope on me gave a hands on teaching of how to do 'broasted chicken'. The marinating, the mixing and the frying went pretty well. I even got ingredients right. I may have over fried a couple of pieces but guess what - not only was the whole stuff tasty, but it was also my first successful endeavour in the kitchen. One more thing to brag about in the blog. Chao :)

A tinge of sorrow, lots of happiness and memories that maketh life. This is how I am gonna step down from Bethany Student Centre - My home for the last two years. This will be the last blog from my dear hostel. Funny!! Thinking how the next post will divide blog into a pie. The larger part comprising of the musings of a Bethanian and the smaller of an ex-bethanian. In time the pie will change its mix i.e. If I continue blogging. But I hope the memories in this place wont disappear as easily as the shrinking part of the pie.

The whole 'home' trotting started right after from entrance exam. My mother realized enough is enough and proposed to move into the city. After all nothing should stand in the way of a repeater to reach into the halls of some reputed college. A massive place but with no ambiance, is how I describe our first attempt at city life. I was amazed at how easily my mom adapted to this new life while I spent half the time grumbling about - well basically everything in life. 2 months later - It was goodbye to our house and my repeat course in Zephyr as I finally joined MBCET as a Mechanical engineer. It is weird how to think how life would have been had I taken a different path.

The second so called house was as different as chalk and cheese when compared to first. A warmer house owner, very small rooms (well one hall, bedroom and a kitchen for the three of us - There is no question of space thats for sure), wonderful ambiance and two totally different personalities. I found the life very refreshing especially since Mech class was wonderful. Not quite the same for my mother who had to take 3 buses to reach her place of work. The grind followed and off we packed our bags again. At this point of time, me and my brother had become excellent at packing and moving - Another life skill learnt.

The 3rd move was to be the end of the 3 musketeers - at least for some time. My mother went abroad to live with my father. Bro packed his bags and went off to Infosys and I was left off at the only alternative to the whole situation - College Hostel. It need not be said that I hated it there - It got little to do with my hostel mates and everything to do with the college. To live or better - to 'survive' college is an arduous task enough. One that need constant support from all corners especially your friends. But to go through this charade and come back to a hell of different kind is too unbearable. Also for a person who respects his privacy beyond any measure - hostel life can be tough. I got very little from hostel except my room mate who turned out to be a wonderful friend. Finally enough was enough and I packed my bags again. A brief stint at home and off I was to my home away from home - Bethany Student Centre.

I recall how frightened I was at arriving here. Very different from my previous experiences and very different for a 3rd year too. In every manner this is the only place which I could call a home away from home. Here I made friends but was never expected to sacrifice my space. Here I respected people and was in turn respected by others. Here I worked my ass out for the different activities and finally got the satisfaction which was much needed. This is a wonderful place with so diverse characters that it is impossible not to experience a change in yourself. Your thoughts, your views, your principles, your actions. Everything changes. I still remember:

• 2 in the nite with a coffee cup in hand watching the Manutd Chelsea UEFA final. Nail-bitting finish. Countless such occasions shared with the ever present football communtiy at Bethany.
  
• 100 people glaring at the screen throwing obsenities at each other on the eve of the two IPL's.
• Sitting so many times in the raised platform after a match of football - just enjoying the site.
• Sleeping so late, waking so early, countless nite-outs. I still remember sleeping at 2 in the nite after decorating christmas tree nd waking at 4 to go to the market to buy fish for the feast.
• The wonderful mess we ( ME , JACOB and MANU) did which featured some exciting dishes - toasts on sundays, chilly chicken on mini-feast and biriyani on feast day.
• The card games between the awesome four (ME, JACOB, SALIM and SUBIN).
• The 2009 Lok sabha in front of TV with a heated discussion about politics between the engineers, doctors, IAS aspirants and the list goes on.
• Such diverse topics from politics, theology , bikes, technolgy, love, sex etc. (I really dont think there is any category we haven talked about)
• and (there is so much more) The final farewell (Abi chetan, Ambu, Rolly, Lee, Raghu, Salim, Jacob and me) where I totally felt ' This are the best days of my life' (Corny ..I know..but isnt so life??)

This is one place which I would miss to live and would love to live again.

My thoughts about putting such a blog has been flip - flop. Ofcourse, the prediction will not alter the result in any manner. Had it been, I wouldn't have choosen to do so either. Actually I kind of feel the same way during a fantasy premeir league match or the erstwhile superselector league. To take a shot in the dark and then wonder how close you are to the original. I have been so engrossed in this election for the past few months that I am starting to feel ashamed of the same. To such heights as to ask the question "Why waste your time". The so called battle of politks is so much against the spirit of the country that it wouldnt be surprising if there is another election within the next two years. All that - may be in another blog.

Here is my prediction for Lok Sabha Polls from Kerala.

UDF = 12
Ernakulam, Pathanamthita, Thrissur, Chalakudi, Wayanad, Ponnani, Malapuram, Mavelikara
Close call: Kottayam, Alapuzha, Trivandrum,

LDF = 8
Kasargod, Vadakara, Kannur, Alathoor, Palakkad
Close call: Kozhikode, Attingal, Kollam, Idukki

BJP = 0
But I expect them to do a good show in Trivadrum, Palakkad and Kasargod.

NCP = 0
Party crashers. Mureleedharan may turn out to be a dark horse in Wayanad. But maybe not tmmrw.

My constituency - Trivandrum

Too many under currents. BJP and BSP could split the votes in a major way. NCP factor is also present. All in all a tight race . I am taking a blind guess when I predict Shashi Tharoor to beat Ramachandran Nair. But either way the win margin is gonna be small.

A match like no other. It was not the quality of play that made this match memorable nor the context. It was that one single moment in the 93rd minute of the game when Inneista scored the winning goal for Barcelona. YEP!! I just saw the semi-finals of the UEFA champions league. Barcelone defeated Chelsea (1-1) on away goals. Another minute or so without a goal and Chelsea would have raced to the finals of the most coveted trophy in club football. But that was not to be so.

With all due sympathy for Chelsea, that moment was really beautiful. The game was really dominated by Chelsae. Barca never seemed like scoring, nd if my stats are right, I think the winning goal was the first shot on target too. But suddenly without even a faint warning, they scored. The 3/4th of the stadium clad in Blue, who were celebrating (from the 9th minute onwards) suddenly silenced. But even this pain is no comparison to the one felt by the coach nd players.

I still wonder. How do they take it?? I have never experienced something like this. To want something so much, to get it in yours hand's range and then to loose it in a single fleeting moment.

But then again like every time, they would rise up. After the break down, the silent thoughts, the pep talks nd the rising excitement, the same players would come to the field for another match. Maybe a prayer in thier mind that 'Not this time'.

My heart condolences to Chelsea in this great loss. Best of luck to Barca for the finals. (They would need it. They are gonna face Manchester United :) in the finals)

April 16 marks the first phase of the 2009 election for LS Polls. To me its very special coz its my first vote or my 'kanni' vote. It feels really good. For years, I had this terrible feeling that I never do ny ting for my country. Now I ask - should I?? India is the largest democracy of the world and is making an ass out of it. The subject of politics is too diverse and complex to be analyzed over a blog like this, so I will pass it. In many ways, I am so typical of the new generation of youth - 'the youngistan's. I am not that patriotic ny more - the erstwhile history and geography leasons we learned in our school forgotten long ago. I dont have ny loyalities - every party is a facade. I dont believe in any candidates. The ones who have already been there are all shrewd, tactical, self -serving and f#$&*# morons in one way or another. There are a couple of new guys in the block, but history shows that it wont be long before they are also 'politicized' by our system. But what really put me off was the candidate list in in northern parts of our country. Murders, extortion, vandalizing - all of them are laurels on their political career. Stars used to decorate and show off their stature.

" Hey! You only have 3 murders to ur list. I have 4."

"Oh really, Ok u rightly deserve the candidate post"

The only common thread between all the parties (National or regional) is that when it comes to everything bad abt our democracy, they are all up for it.

I remember yesterday talking to a friend of mine. A passionate loyalist to his party. He was by all means engaged in the election and was canvasing for his favourite candidate. He later confessed to me one thing - When it comes to politics, almost everyone is ignorant. Now thats the only thing I agreed with him that day :).

But still with everything. I feel it is the right and responsibilty of every Indian to vote. If someone wants to change the system, well and good. But till then, go cast your votes. If you dont, they will win any way. It doesnt matter if there is 80% polling or 20%, the election stands and someone wins. The point is, then the choice is left to an even narrow minded group. It is rightly said that:

In many ways, this is 'THE' election for me. No only being my first, I am also very intrested to know what lies ahead, I hope I dont have to think abt visas and immigration. I have done what I think is , my part in this election. I know every candidate in my constituency (Atleast the importent ones). I know most of the candidates in the state, their chances, their party agendas, the virtues and vice (even though most of them are pack of lies). I heard many of their speech and threw up and listened to even more. I have tried to keep the 'national perspective' in the equation, but good god !! The only thing I can say is that the field is wide open. I put myself through lot of canvasing. I called a friend of mine day b4 yesterday to wish him vishu and he canvased me for 45 min (Bloody idiot :D, but then again I like talking politics). But at the end of canvasing, I have not promised to ny one ny ting. Yes!! I have a favourite candidate and I have looked at evrything I could abt him (well not everything....but the general facts). After all this, I was specific not to influnce any one to vote for any party bcoz then I would be veryy much part of the sytem that I loath. I have been an undecided voter even today but knew exactly who to vote when I was in the polling booth. I went and cast my vote in the early hours (the radio warned me of false votes towards the end of voting). I wouldnt say who I voted - not even to God. This is me being an Indian :)

P.S. - Now waiting for 30 days of pure entertainment.

P.P.S - Btw my friend promised he will shave his head off, if his candidate looses. Now thats an example of a promise he cant keep - already a poltitician :D

The story is about five clowns studying in the 'Blah Blah' Nursery of 'Chori'-craft and 'Chori'-zardy. The Nursery is run by the greatest Choris of all time. In an effort to Chori innocent people and to make this world more chorifying, the 'Blah Blah' Nursery has a grueling 4 year 'Chori' course. There are so many disciplines of chori run by different Chori- OD's. Basically they are same - like colored water. Then when they reach the final sem of the final year after 3 and 1/2 grueling years of chori, the students have to face the 'mother of all chori's' - 'The Project-ion'.

'Persistent Leader' - The master deceiver. He uses his straight face to befriend 'Chori' mongers. This has saved the cult in quite a few occcasions. But honestly he is a 'klay'.

MR Business man(BMR) - He is the echo of the cult and uses his facial muscles nonchalently. The obvious listener may be confused beyond means. He is a passionate runner and is said to have a keen interest in shoes.

The Charming Princess - Good looks and raunchy jokes apart, the guy has a special abilty to charm people. But it works more at getting additonal (and totally undeserved) se'x'ional marks rather than dates with his countless girlfriends.

The smart A** - Descriptions are know to vary.

Kidu - So Says Himself" - A person who likes to think he looks good. While he is a 'pulli' (read:Tiger) he can turn into a totally different person on wearing a red hat. Now seems totally committed to pass his GUPPLI'S (or GUPPLEMENTARIES). Even despite much hardship, he continues to fail in subjects including 'Dictation', 'Walking with toes pointed forwards' and 'Talking using Two letter English Words'.


In order to pass the degree, the clowns were supposed to do a 'project-ion' in the final semester. It was then that the 'Group 4' decided to do their 'project-ion' in some industry. 'The Charming Princess' was given the task to find a suitable place. After all he is the Master of 'Project-ion' rght?? Thus the Clowns find themselves staring into the gates of Cowputra.

Now Cowputra is one of the premier institutions in the whole nation. Their expertise include aiming certain pointed stuff at sky and 'bang'ing them half way through thus loosing millions of rupees in process. They are also know to help students with the 'project-ion'. Students who have their 'project-ion' at cowputra is said to have an enhanced (or high profile) project-ion which will later help them to find jobs. They were told by the 'Blah Blah' that better project-ion means better job prospects.

Thus the 'Group 4' spend around 6 months working on their project-ion. Now the process of project-ion in an industry is very different from individual 'project-ions'. The better part of it is done in front of the gate. The usual project-ion needs atleast a 2 hour wait, while the gaurds there discuss about the security concerns relating to the cowputra. I mean if someone infiltrates the facility and made any changes to the pointed stuff. Then it may NOT 'blow' up half way through. Oh!! That must be scary. IT may actually reach the target - Gee that is a big dissapointment. Oh wait May be they are afraid someone will steal the research material - Oh as if the whole world is intrested in knowing how to 'bang' half way through the projectile.


Aah Yes the 5 clowns are required to give a status of the 'project-ion' in a review back at Blah Blah. Around half way through, suddenly the people at Blah Blah say that this is not enough. We will only get less credit, because apparently our individual contribution to the 'project-ion' not good enough. Apparently they wanted 'project-ions' to be more 'Hands on'. Infact in our selected discipline they like to get our hands dirty so as to say:)


In an effort to work with their hands and increase the profile of their 'project-ion', the clowns started to work even more. Another 3 months they toiled. They went to places, visited more nurseries, talked with lots of people on how to increase (the profile of course!) of our 'project-ion'. Finally They included an analysis of the projection, some comparison between local and cowputra material used for project-ion and even some hand on approach. All seems to go well.


Phone Ringing
CA: You cannot achieve 'project-ion' here.
Persistant Leader (PL): But Why sir?? We tried for 6 months.
CA: Your time was 6 months. u need to extend the date to do ny more project-ion
PL: OK Sir! We will extend the date.

(The clowns spend another 2 weeks trying to extend the date and paid around 12500 Rs in the process)

Phone Ringing
CA: We cannot extend your date!
PL: But Sir!! Why??
CA: There is a directive banning any more 'Student project-ions' here.In Industry these things are important. So U have to go.
PL: But Sir! We have almost finished our project-ion. But we need your certificate to validate it.
CA: We will think abt it

(After another 2 Weeks)

CA: Sorry But it is not possible.
PL(Fed up): OK Sir! Can we have the money back??
CA: Sure But we will take some time to process it. Also we are busy this time around. We got a 'miss-ile' to blow up half way through.

(It is like you are about to Bang and they say Stop!! Around 7 Months of 4play and suddenly they withdraw permission to do s'e'x. WTF!!)
The clowns got permission to do their project-ion in another industry. They need to start anew and finish the project-ion in 2 months time. Apparently this industry liked very fast project-ions. But then again at this point WHO CARES?? The clowns visited, called and pleaded for their money for another Month. Finally Cowputra agreed to give their money back. One fine morning when smart a** was sleeping.

Phone Ringing
Charming Princess: Get up! Come fast to Cowputra! They need all the people to give the money back.
smart a**: WHY the hell. Why cant they just give it to u?? IT is not like they are going to give suitcases filled with money.
CP: Just come fast !! Apparently this is how they do it in industries.

Smart a** reflecting: Aah So this is what industries teach us. WE learned more abt chori from 7 months of cowputra than 4 years in Blah Blah.

That noon the five clowns left the cowputra gate for the last time, their pocket 2500Rs a peice richer. For the first time there was a smile lingering on their faces!!

P.S. This story is not a comedy. The author never intended this piece to be comical. He may have intended to hurt few imaginary souls and sarcastically bash certain customs and institutions. Any comical gestures (mainly dry and sarcastic) are only means to achieve this effect.

P.P.S: The Charming princess is advised not to take this matter any further. The IRONBOX will be too hot for him to handle then.

The last 3 years of my school life at 'CNS' was perhaps the most exciting period of my life. Now when I look into it, the happiest too. It was the time when I finally started to make friends. Much different from the earlier times when friendship was result of sharing side-by-side seats or hailing from the same location. It was also the time when make-ups and break-ups started to happen. I had my fair share of both perhaps the latter being more pre-dominant.

During this Christmas, I had the chance to meet my oldest and in my words - the "Golden group" of friends. Close to 4 years have past since our parting. Yes there have been phone calls in between. Msgs and email sent and received to fill the gaps created by time. But in matter of friendship, nothing enough, not even close to live up to the legend left by our friendship in the first place. But when we finally meet, time and space seem to melt away as if it has been an illusion all along. Everyone has changed but somehow they all seem to be the same for each other. Nowadays if someones says 'I missed you', the first thing that comes to my mind is doubt. A question mark at his/her sincerity of the statement. I almost always reply with a grunt implying that such exhibition of love and friendship is beyond me. But this was a meeting where such generous show of affection looked very natural and only seem to warrant a reply of the same nature. Nothing seemed out of context.

After years of following Ayn Rand and her interesting look at relations, I have learned to be indifferent. But this is one group of people with whom I can be anything but indifferent. No matter how intelligent you think or how rationally you put it, I still get hope from their friendship.I can still feel the pangs of pain when something goes wrong and the joy of life when a phone call comes from them. The saying that "Love is not a choice, it just happens" is very true.

In 4 years of engineering, I have perhaps seen 10 times as many people as before. Talked and made acquaintance with such a lot of people. But there are so few among them that I can really call friends. Yes there are those who have breached my fortress of indifference to find place among the golden group of friends but the numbers speak for themselves. This is a new era much different from the older one. Here a more practical outlook and slightly grown-up intelligence have resulted in more acquaintances and less friends.

Friendship is like a beautiful and vintage bottle of wine. The older it goes, the better it becomes. It is also a very intoxicating drink. Here you can drown all your sorrows and celebrate all your joys.

Back to being practical, I dont think life is going to go this way. Things change. New people come into our lives and old ones depart. Even the ones we believe in may not always remain.But thats the rule of life "In love and friendship we can only give. Then you just wait with open arms to recieve whatever is thrown at your way"

It is a revolting idea. How could this day be any important than any other day? In matter of time, date and place, it has no specialty. The earth revolves around the sun which means there is no single point of beginning. Thus this day could have been any other day. Yet this day stands on top of all others. One could argue that this is the mother of all days.

I remember talking to a friend of mine yesterday about how new year was a commercial invention. If that is the case, then it is perhaps the greatest marketing affair of all times. My friend was put down by my apparent lukewarm reaction to her 3 hour early new year wishing. But the truth is that I was in no mood to celebrate this day. New year is suppose to bring something new to life. It is suppose to be the day when we can start life anew, forgetting past mistakes. But somehow I didn't want this. I wanted it to pass without affecting me. Maybe years of making resolutions and breaking them has finally taken the toll on my spirits.

But somehow I couldn sleep. Needless to say, the hour long session of bursting crackers by my hostel inmates didn help. Thus I found myself wandering the familiar territory of hope for a new year. I was skeptical !! How could you not be? But the truth is it is better to hope and fail rather than letting it go. In reality I am still the confused soul. The midnight chimes have done no alteration. But somehow it just feels good :)