Bonanza

My office "Share" folder suddenly has a superb collection of ebooks. I generally find it tough to read from the monitor but it's ok, I'll have to get used to it.

I can actually use my office printer...but no...conscience does not allow me to do so!!

Readers...don't get annoyed if I don't post all that regularly...lots a reading to do !! How do you guys bother anyway??...no comments on my last two posts !!

Let me give you a taste.

P.G.W, Douglas Adams, Tolkien, JKR, JD Salinger, stephen king, ayn rand, george orwell, hemmingway, arthur c clarke, edgar allen poe, lewis caroll, jane austen and lots more....there are some movie scripts too!!!....Feels like I've won a lottery....

Added Attraction: Kamasutra translated by Richard Burton :P

Cooking Oils

No! I'm not going to discuss the various varieties of cooking oils and their qualities. I'm going to talk about the use of oil in cooking. Something which our cook, Saraswathi, does not have a clear idea about (i wish she could read this blog!!). We add oils to our dishes for better taste, better texture and because Indian cooking requires the use of oils. But as far as Saraswathi is concerned the primary and most important ingredient in cooking is huile.

She's been cooking at our house (for 4 people) for two weeks now and she has successfully finished 2 litres of Sundrop refined oil!!

Today I had oil rasam and oil curry (with some snake gourd in it). I think I have had more oil in the past week than what I usually have in about 2 months or so. We actually think she's using so much oil only because she has access to the bottle itself. So we've devised a strategy :) - buy a small container with a very small opening so that she can pour less at a time. And everytime the container needs to be refilled, one of us will do the honours.

I tried to explain to her that first of all I'm not the Sultan of Brunei or Saudi Arabia, nor am I the President of the US...Money doesn't mean petro-dollars to me, it means INR. Second of all, I already have a paunch and do not want to nurture it. Third of all, my friends (roomies) said we should have home cooked food because it is healthier and I thought they really meant it. And last (certainly not the least) of all, I'm not getting paid by Sundrop to use or endorse (on my blog) their product (remember the Idhayam Gingelly Oil ad with Jyothika in it ??).

I really hope she understands!!!...

Immediate plan of action: I'm switching to a diet consisting bread, curd and fresh fruits & vegetables for some days now...to bring my system back to equilibrium!!

Thought for the day: Too much oil in his food, makes abhi a..... suggestions please!!!

Tell the truth. The whole truth. Nothing but the truth.

That is the first rule that any blogger should follow. I apologise that I did not stick to it in the previous post. The vacation was good, yes. I had loads of fun, yes. But it wasn't just that. I had my share of disappointments(other than the weather) as well. Serious disappointments.

Well, following are the lyrics of two not-so-famous-but-wonderful Beatles songs.

I Will

Crying Waiting Hoping

That's my predicament. Another friend of mine is in a similar quagmire. No one ever expected (not even our own selves) we would be in such situations. In my case people think I'm too casual and easy-going to get entangled in such webs. In his case they think he's a serious and above-all-such-frivolous-things kind of a guy. But let me make one thing clear- it is not frivolous.

Well as of now, with the frame of mind I'm in, I can only think of one song.

I'm a Loser

Relatives, friends, treats, money & Best Friends

It was a lovely week long vacation. I reached by Charminar express on 14th. I went by bus to Thiruvanmiyur, then by another bus to Vijaynagar and then took an auto home. That day was the most pleasant in terms of temperature. I met a junior, from school, in the bus who told me that the present 11th and 12th std students of my school are planning a trip to Hyderabad in October. I was initially happy but then I was told that they would be accompanied by a certain Mr.can't-reveal-the-name and my mood changed completely. I cannot stand even the sight of this person. So I'm not really looking forward to their visit but I'm sure they'll enjoy the trip because their choice of the place to visit is really good.

I spoke to a few friends and relatives on phone. Then, Shankar and I went to the beach and although we'd met after just 3 months it seemed like a really long time. The next day was the Landmark Quiz. I met a lot of friends and had a really good time. I'm sure you all, by now, know what happened to my team in the prelims (If you are not a regular visitor to this blog, we did not qualify); we did pretty well though.

The next day was the beginning of a 4 day ordeal at Loyola to obtain my cumulative marksheet, TC and the provisional degree certificate. In the end I was successful in getting only the first one. I met a lot of juniors and met Sharad almost all the four days. He also wrote 2 cds full of blissful music for me. One has just The Beatles and the other has The Beatles, Dire Straits, John Denver and some other amazing 60s and 70s numbers(some of the bands are Lovin' Spoonful, Gerry & the Pacemakers and The Monkees).

I treated quite a few friends and it was a nice feeling because they're all students and I'm a "working professional". They might be enjoying being students and I might miss college & college life but still it feels great to be earning. Only regret on this trip was that I couldnt meet two friends who are leaving next month to UK and I don't know when I'll meet them again and whether I'll meet them ever. And the biggest blunder of the trip was not having called Laxi...he will be furious when he knows that I was in Madras for a week and didn't even call him.

Saturday 21st night was good. Shankar, Hemanth and I were at the beach for a long time just chatting away to glory before we finally bid farewell. Next day, I left by Charminar Express and got back this morning.

There was actually nothing extra ordinary about this trip but I enjoyed it and learnt a lot about people, friends and Best Friends.

One Crazy Meeting: A guy (complete stranger) sitting next to me on the bus asked me about call centers, technical call centers and how the jobs in these are. After talking for about 5 minutes he told me he was a Computer Science Engineer and was going for an interview to a call center!!!

Memorable Evening: 17th.

About Madras: It is terribly Hot & Humid. Please don't go there unless your parents, a lot of friends and the best of your friends live there.

Read "Five Dollar Smile and other short stories" by Shashi Tharoor, a fellow disciple of the master P.G.W. Before this, I had read only his articles in The Hindu. This collection of stories was really good and I think I'll surely try and read most, if not all, of his books . Most of his stories revolve around life at St.Stephens, Delhi and I found a lot of similarities between that and life at Loyola, Madras. The only problem is that his stories are dated 1970,71...and it seems similar to life at Loyola in the 21st century!....lol

And Kannan (i know he's not reading this): Thanks for the Morrison & Boyd !!

Madras...a cool place

Well, if you've been here you know I don't mean it with respect to the temperatures or the weather! It's just that it's great fun to be here. I wonder whether it'll be this good this time next year because most of my friends won't be here...they'd be busy pursuing higher studies...most of them, across a few seas.:)

Met a lot of people today. Many of them mean a lot to me. Some of them, like the juice shop guy at planet yumm, don't. Some of them made me feel good. Some of them,like the car driver who was blocking my way for more than 3 minutes in a narrow bumpy road in tharamani and gave me a cold stare when i turned back to look after overtaking his amby, did not.

I'm confused! My friends are confused! ...aren't all of us confused about something or the other all the time?...

I'll be in Madras till sunday and I think I'll watch some movie. I plan to write my first (public) movie review....let's see...

"All you need is love" ---Lennon/McCartney

42 or Why I don't qualify for Finals

Biggest question in my life now is "Why Don't I Qualify for the Finals in any of the open or corporate quizzes ?"

Well some people might say that I haven't reached that level. I do agree to quite an extent because when you are really good you can recollect what you've read, heard or seen and relate two totally different things exactly when you have to (i.e., during the prelims). My quizzing ability seems to have gone down because these days I'm not able to recollect many fundae I know, at the right moment...they simply don't strike me. All the striking is when the quizmaster gives out the answers- my hand and head are involved.

This Saturday, at the Kcircle open quiz I put up what a decent quizzer would call a sad show. Forget that! The quiz was pretty good but it was old style. The thing is the quiz had lot of factual questions and it did not have any visuals or videos. Two Chennai teams took home the prizes. First was "No Questions Asked" from IITM and placed second were two of the best quizzers I know, Samanth Subramanian and Gopal Kidao (they are god level)...It was a very close race which was decided only in the last round.

Then I went with them to Outswinger (a pub) and had something called Full Toss (Whiskey, Rum, Vodka, lime juice and a few other things...quite a heady mix...literally). Then I went for my thehinduxword yahoogroup conference on messenger, where we cracked last sunday's crossie in just an hour and then I wrote a comment on Vinod's blog- http://vinodg.blogspot.com/2004/08/cat.html

When I read that comment later I realised what I realise pretty often these days... I'm crazy!!!

On Sunday I went for the Orkut Hyderabad Community meet and met 8 guys (would've loved it even if one of them had been a girl) and had really good fun...I never realised that even strangers can have fun together, provided they have common interests and think at a similar wavelength. All these guys were great to talk to and I think I'll post regularly in that community from now on.

Monday Morning...no blues !!! Having fun...got my ticket to Madras, will be there between 13th and 23rd of August. Hope to make the best of the vacation...(read- hope to qualify for Landmark finals)....

"high hopes da Abhi"- this is what each one of the many people who know me will say !!!