tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-241701462024-03-23T23:23:20.358+05:30Apy saysApyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-89366763609995085622008-08-05T02:15:00.004+05:302008-08-05T02:25:36.337+05:30A Birthday to Remember<p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal">Before I get into the details of what this post is all about, first an update. Apy is in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Mexico</st1:place></st1:country-region>. It’s been 1 year since my last post. It would be silly to think if anyone still remembers this place but here I am, writing another post. I don’t know why, I love this place. I don’t know why I stopped blogging and I don’t even know if I am going to be regular at this now but will definitely keep trying. </p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal">Currently, I am living with 2 roommates, Liz and Naaz. It was Naaz’s birthday on Saturday and we (me and Liz) had planned the day one week back. The idea was to irritate Naaz to the core and then give her a surprise party. Well, as long as I am in the picture, irritating someone is never a problem. We started building the base a week back by telling Naaz that we were planning to go for a trek on Saturday (the day of her birthday). She had had an accident a month back and she is still not supposed to trek. That meant that she was going to be all by herself on her birthday. She tried her best not to look irritated. </p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal">As her birthday approached, she got more and more upset. We felt bad a little but it was worth it. All the lies were planned. For everything that we did, a lie was thought of beforehand. On Saturday, we wished her and told her that there had been a little modification in the plan and we were going for a night trek instead of the day and we would leave in the evening. The guest list was planned and all the friends were invited. <span style=""> </span>We usually party in such a way that everyone cooks something and gets along. So, we had to cook just one dish for the party. </p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal">At lunch time, I told her that we would cook something nice for her for the lunch as we won’t be there for the dinner. Also, we may not come back at night. With that, her last hope of cutting the cake vanished and she had a clear LCD display on her face saying “Fk you Apy!!!” She was on the verge of crying. (As I said, irritating someone can never be a problem if I am around.) </p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal">Since she likes fish, we started cooking fish for her. Luckily for us and also for her, she went to sleep in the afternoon. It was ‘Lucky for her’ because we had thought of a lie for that situation as well. We would have said that since it’s a night trek, we would take the fish along for dinner at night. Considering, the liking that she has for the fish, no one could have stopped her from crying after that. </p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal">We cooked fish for the party. In evening, when people started to come home for the party, she still thought that they were all there to go out for the night trek. She was sitting amongst all in her pajamas as she had woken up after a long sleep. </p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal">We didn’t want her to cut the cake in her night suit so Liz took her upstairs and convinced her to join us for the “trek”. For that, Liz had to answer a million questions bombarded upon her by Naaz.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal">Finally, she got dressed and came down to realize the fact that everyone was there for her birthday party. She was so confident that we were not going to celebrate her birthday that she did not respond at all even when we shouted “SURPRISEEEE!!”. It was only after she saw the cake, she realized what had been going on. </p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal">Finally, she gave a smile and cut the cake. A smile, for which we had to use a million lies.<br /></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-76899688201009916072007-07-31T16:07:00.000+05:302007-07-31T16:10:17.351+05:30An Old Friend!<div style="text-align: justify;">It feels so weird when you meet an old friend. A friend, with whom you used to spend most of the day. A friend, who knew you inside out once. A friend, with whom there was no end to the conversation. Even after talking for hours, you’d realize later that some things were still left unsaid.<br /><br />I met my best friend from school sometime back. Thanks to Orkut. I can’t even begin to describe how happy I was on getting a scrap from her. She asked me if I remembered her and I was like “Duh!!” I had been looking for her since I don’t know when. I had already searched for her on Orkut earlier but could not find her. She found me.<br /><br />As soon as we exchanged phone numbers, she called me. It was as if we were back in school days again. There were so many things to talk about. It’s been 8 years since we spoke last time and a lot has changed since then. We spoke for more than an hour but realized within a few days that we both are way too busy with a lot of new things. As I said, a lot has changed. We both work and are totally occupied in our own lives. The good part is that no matter how busy we are, we still manage to take 2 minutes out of the day to say hello to each other.<br /><br />Back to the weird part, this comes after the first conversation with the old friends. A realization, that unlike the old times, there are very few things left to talk about. After asking the usual questions, there is just nothing else left to say. And then you realize, is this is the same friend with whom there was no end to the conversation?<br /></div>Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-21965288862869121092007-06-04T14:16:00.000+05:302007-06-04T14:35:59.898+05:30Messed UpLiquor Shop Owner: <span style="font-style: italic;">Yes Sir, What do u need?</span><br />X: <span style="font-style: italic;">Do you have Kingfisher? </span><br />LSO: <span style="font-style: italic;">Yes sir, how many? </span><br />X: <span style="font-style: italic;">I don't want that. Do you have Haywards 5000 '350ml' can?</span><br />LSO: <span style="font-style: italic;">NO sir, I don't have that.</span><br />X: <span style="font-style: italic;">Do you have '650 ml' bottle? </span><br />LSO: <span style="font-style: italic;">No</span><br />X: <span style="font-style: italic;">'500ml' can?</span><br />LSO: <span style="font-style: italic;">Yes sir, how many? </span><br />X: <span style="font-style: italic;">Just one.</span><br />LSO: <span style="font-style: italic;">That would be 50 bucks. </span><br />[gives 50 bucks]<br />X: <span style="font-style: italic;">You don't have '650 ml' bottle?</span><br />LSO: <span style="font-style: italic;">No sir</span><br />X: <span style="font-style: italic;">Then return my money. I want the bottle.</span><br />LSO: <span style="font-style: italic;">Shall I give two '350 ml' cans?</span><br />X: <span style="font-style: italic;">Okay, Give me that.</span><br />LSO: <span style="font-style: italic;">That would be 10 bucks more. </span><br />X: <span style="font-style: italic;">You dont have 650 ml ? </span><br />LSO: <span style="font-style: italic;">No</span><br />X: <span style="font-style: italic;">Then give me back my money, I want only 650 ml bottle.</span>Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-3185787820917074902007-05-21T14:54:00.000+05:302007-05-21T14:58:56.942+05:30Updates!<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Last few weeks have been quite eventful. <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Delhi</st1:place></st1:city></st1:place></st1:city> trip was great, and I had an amazing time. The amazing time involved a road trip to Haryana, <st1:city st="on"><st1:city st="on">Chandigarh</st1:city></st1:city> and <st1:place st="on"><st1:place st="on">Punjab</st1:place></st1:place>. The best part was the long drive with the family, something that we did after a long time.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;" face="times new roman">Then, the wedding of the school friend was quite exciting. It was fun to see him smile for the last time. The cameraman was a pain in the patootie. At times, he used to shout as if it was his wedding and people had come to create problems. Man!! It was irritating every time he said… “Thoda Idhar”. “Thoda Udhar”. “Aap Thoda side ho jaao”. “Wait, Wait”. Finally, we were like, “BALLS!! If you can’t click pictures on time, its not our problem.” But apart from that, the ceremonies went pretty well.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;" face="times new roman">After coming back, something horrible happened. A close friend lost her father. I could not understand what could be the comforting words in such situations. Suddenly, I had nothing to say to her. I was there with her all the time but could not think of a single sentence, which I could say to her to comfort her, to make her feel better. I felt helpless, watching her cry.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Last week, I was standing at a Traffic signal and I saw an old man in rags, selling ear-cleaning sticks. He was trying to convince a guy in a car to buy a packet. However, that person was least interested. Finally, the car guy took out a 20 Rupee note and gave it to the old man and asked him to keep the packets with him. But the old man, instead of taking the money and walking away, insisted that the guy take the packet. In fact, since he had given 20 bucks, he took out one more packet and tried to give it to him as each packet cost 10 bucks. He forcefully kept those 2 packets in his car and told that guy that he wont be able to eat his food if he took that money without giving him the packet. “I am not a Beggar, sir!” was all I could hear him say. I couldn’t believe what I had just witnessed. I wanted to help this guy and would have bought a few packets from him but suddenly the traffic signal turn green and I had to move since I was on a bike<span style="color:black;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-5620507858167498382007-03-17T15:23:00.000+05:302007-03-17T15:28:56.589+05:30Bargaing at it's Best!!!So, I wanted a leave. Under normal circumstances, I would just have to go to my Boss and give him the dates but not this time. This time, I have been working at a client location. So, my Boss couldn’t possibly help me with the leaves.<br /><br />“You will have to talk to your manager in that company!” was all he said. I didn’t like the idea as I know the person he was referring to and I knew what was coming my way. Since I had no other option, I decided to talk to him.<br /><br />“Hi M, I need a leave for 10 working days. I need to go to Delhi. It’s been quite a while since I went back home and also, a friend of mine is getting married. He happens to my school friend so, it’s really important for me to be there.”<br /><br />“10 days??” he sounded as if I sentenced him life imprisonment which of course is not a bad idea. I was shocked by the way he expressed his shock.<br /><br />M: Can’t you postpone this to some other date?<br /><br />Apy: No, my friend is getting married and I need to attend the wedding else I would have done it.<br /><br />M: You can take 5 days now and 5 days after some time<br /><br />Apy: I m going to spend a huge amount on my travel. I can’t go to Delhi again and again.<br /><br />M: 10 days is a long duration. People usually take that long leave in case there is an emergency or a marriage.<br /><br />Apy: There is a marriage, my friend is getting married.<br /><br />M: I am talking about your marriage.<br /><br />Apy: Ohh!!<br /><br />M: I m sorry, but I will be able to give you only 5 days off as we are expecting some high priority work (and also some crap which I cant remember as I didn’t bother to listen)<br /><br /><br /><em>After some more wasted discussion</em><br /><em></em><br /><br />Apy: Okay then, give me 8 days.<br /><br />M: I will give you 7.<br /><br />Apy: Fine 7. But, in addition to that I’ll take a half day on the day I leave and half on the day I come back<br /><br />M: That will make 8 days.<br /><br />Apy: Yeah… kind of, but that’s the best I can think of right now.<br /><br />M: Fine. You may take it<br /><br />All through this process, I felt as if I was standing and buying grocery. The only thing that was left in this was <em>“Bhaiya, Theek Theek Lagao!”</em>Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-70553525197854528972007-02-26T15:12:00.000+05:302007-02-26T15:16:43.193+05:30The Client<div align="justify">So, I joined the new company "X". It was a little weird as everything was new, the infrastructure, the people. But this post is not about the new company X.<br /><br />Flashback:<br />When I was interviewing at different companies, I went to a company named "Y". It is a very high profile company and an excellent pay master. The interview did not go well as I had flown down from Kolkata just a day back and hadn’t had a chance to prepare before the interview, so, went anyway, just for the heck of it.<br /><br />Back to the joining date:<br /><br />Well, I was told at the time of interview at X that I will have to work at a client location in Bangalore. The name of the company was not mentioned and I was not so sure about that but agreed to it at that time. So on D day (joining date), my manager called me in morning to tell me the name of the client where I was actually supposed to work. It turned out that the client was Y.<br /><br />OH … MY… GOD…<br /><br />The manager wanted to introduce me to the client and I was supposed to go through the client interview. (WHICH MEANT I WAS GOING TO BE INTERVIEWED AGAIN AT Y). Suddenly, my stomach churned. I was not sure whether it was the breakfast or the name of the client.<br /><br />I asked my manager to give me a few days if it was going to be another interview. Luckily he agreed. Then after that for the next few days all I did was read (even in the loo). I had to get through this interview. There was no way around it. The scary part that I wanted to avoid was the person who had taken my interview the first time. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">“It’s a big company, may be the requirement is in another team.” I tried to tell this to myself again and again but it never worked. The apprehensions were giving me nightmares. Finally, the D day arrived and luckily the person who interviewed me was somebody else. The interview went just fine and I was supposed to join on the next day.<br /><br />I was still not very sure about the next day. But I didn’t think I had an alternative. I went to client’s (Y) office and the manager who took my interview introduced me to the team. And then, I was introduced to my lead.<br /><br />Turns out, he was the same guy who took my interview initially.<br /><br />I AM GOING TO WORK WITH HIM???????<br /><br />“We’ve met… right?” This was all he said when we shook hands. I smiled and came up with, “Yes! Absolutely.”<br /><br />Well, I’ve been working with him since then. Turns out, he is not as bad as he initially seemed to be but then I usually don’t trust people easily and he is no exception.</div>Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-1172223016221465752007-02-23T14:49:00.000+05:302007-02-23T15:00:16.276+05:30Revenge of Apy!!<div align="justify">Days go by and I wonder what the heck hit me. I sit on my desk staring at the screen. My life has become more like a pendulum between the lab and my desk .Sometimes I love it. But then there are times when I wonder, where exactly I am heading? I mean, Is this what I want from my life? In my last to last post I wrote about the stuff that I had planned for my Manager. I guess I will continue from there. There are loads of things to tell and I wish I had the time to write it all.<br /><br />So when I got my new offer letter and date of joining got extended to a date after 2 months, I figured I can relax and have a good time in office. My manager wanted me to suffer in these 2 months and I was really not in a mood for that.<br /><br />The Monday after Diwali, I was getting ready for office and I felt like talking to R (happens to be my best buddy. He had gone to Kolkata for Diwali then). At that time, he was in a train traveling to Assam. I spoke to his folks who have always treated me like a son. Told them that I miss them and I might come to Kolkata soon. R asked me why I couldn’t come to Assam the same day as it was going to be an amazing trip and they will be covering complete North East India. I was tempted but then suddenly remembered that I was getting ready to go to office and I told him the same. R has the ability of convincing people pretty smoothly, yeah, including me. He just had to tell me that it’s a once in a life time opportunity. I will be able to see Assam, Kaziranga, Shillong, Cherrapunji. In a way, that’s almost complete North east India.<br /><br />Me, greedy me. I was tempted but going to Guwhati from Bangalore on such a short notice was insane. I mean I didn’t have air tickets and absolutely no idea how to go about everything. He wanted me to reach Guwhati by next morning. I got on net, checked for the availability of tickets. Tickets were available but they were pretty expensive. He had warned me to hurry up as the mobile was going to be out of coverage area as soon as they would enter Assam. In a matter of 30 minutes, I booked the tickets, packed my stuff, left home by 3 and was in air by 5. Phew!!<br /><br />I made it to Guwhati. Had to stay in Kolkata for a night, for which he had made arrangements. Now, that’s what I call an uncertain life. I was getting ready for office and within 24 hours, I was in Assam(for more details refer to the map of India). The good thing was that my manager sat at a different location. I was still apprehensive as I could not inform him or anyone that I will be away. I was simply absconding. I couldn’t be online in Assam and my mobile was not working either. So, I had no information about office.<br /><br /></div><div align="justify">I was in Assam for one week and after that we went to Kolkata by train. As soon as we came out of Assam, my phone started working again. It had been one week since I’d gone to office. I was not sure if some one had figured out that I was missing or not as no one in my team sat in that particular office. We were supposed to be in train for the whole day and then suddenly I received an SMS from my manager. It simply said, “Apy, call me back.”.<br /><br />I was like… O FK!!!!<br /><br />I was still in train and I had no idea what to tell him. The train had stopped but I was still scared.<br /><em>What if some Chai wala came shouting Chai Chai Chai …<br /></em><br />I called him up anyway. He asked me whether I was on leave on that day. Suddenly it hit me. If he was asking me this question that means he does not know that I bunked my office last week. I told him, "yeah.. I am sick!". He asked me to meet him on next day. NEXT DAY?? R U NUTS?? I told him that I was bed ridden and wont be able to come to office for a week at least.<br /><br /></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">Suddenly a Chai wala came and everyone around him Shhhed him, asked him to keep his mouth shut. For a while he got scared, wondering if these people were okay. I kept talking to my manager for some more time telling him how miserable I felt. At the end of the call, he asked me once again, “Are u in Bangalore”? By then I was pretty confident about all my lies and with the same confidence I replied, “Of course I am in Bangalore. In fact, I m at home. I tolya I am bedridden for a week.”<br /><br />Rest one week was fun. Kolkata is an amazing place. That’s where I gave an interview in an amusement park.<br /><br />So when I joined office after 2 weeks (officially one week), my manager had assigned that work to someone else due to urgency… n I was one free birdie again.<br /><br /> </div>Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-1166438257518050232006-12-18T15:58:00.000+05:302006-12-18T16:14:07.596+05:30Interview Nightmares<div align="justify">As I mentioned earlier, when I started interviewing for jobs, it was an experience of its own kind. The companies I got calls from were kind of weird. (Yeah yeah.. Apy also acted weird but that's not new. Right??). There was one company that stood out in its weirdness. After I reached the general area of its office, it took me half an hour to spot the actual office. I was a little shocked when I saw the building and immediately made up my mind to not work there. Still, just for the heck of it, I went inside to give. I wanted to see how bad this could get. The size of the office was not more than a 2 Bedroom flat.<br /><br /><br />Anyways, interviewed with a lady, who was likely, the wife of the flat owner. Then came the HR manager. He seemed to be the brother of that lady. Looked like the complete family was involved in the business. Also, saw some kids running around. It really made me wonder... <em>Where are the other frikkin employees???</em><br /><br />It seems they were looking for people who could work in Taiwan.<br /><br /><em>No offence but... Taiwan??? NO WAYS.. Not Taiwan! Kill me. pliss pliss... Kill me...</em><br /><br />Then the HR manager spoke to me. He asked me, if was interested in working for a big company or a mid cap company like theirs which will provide good working experience. I wanted to shout out loud. "MID CAP COMPANY? U CALL THIS A MID CAP COMPANY. THIS COMES IN THE COTTAGE INDUSTRY CATEGORY". Instead, I forced a smile and said, "I would like to work where I get good work. Yep! I lied. I wanted to see where all this was heading and how much they were planning to buy me for.<br /><br /><br />Later when they made an offer, I had to say this. <strong>BLOODY CHEAPOS!!!</strong><br /><br />There was another interview that I attended standing in an amusement park. Well, that was fun. They kept telling me that there was a lot of noise in the background. I was like... "Yeah... sorry, I cant help!!"I was getting all kinds of weird ideas at that time. (I was wondering how they would feel if they heard people screaming on rides or may be I should sit on a roller coaster and ask them to hold and they could hear me screaming too... :P)<br /><br />But during this period, I realized how crazy things could actually become or may be it is just my usual luck.</div>Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-1165341197791749722006-12-05T22:58:00.000+05:302006-12-06T09:32:11.840+05:30I AM BACKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!<div align="justify"><br />It seems that even after my getting back from Japan, there is no change in the frequency of misadventures in my life. I guess I have been making a lot of excuses till date to not to blog but I need to resume this old habit of mine. Why? cuz I miss it like hell, cuz I miss all those wonderful people with whom I used to interact once upon a time, who left comments asking me about my whereabouts. I didn't reply to any of those but definitely read em all. I missed all you people. Thanks for being there.</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br /><br />So here I start with my series of misadventures that are happening in India now. But first some updates.</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br /><br />When I came back from Japan in September, I was told by my manager that I will be sent back again within a few days which of course was a carrot placed in front of me. I waited for one month and then I realized that I have been moved to a new project, which was totally off my domain. I was upset and that's when I decided to post my resume online. I started getting calls pretty soon. The only mistake that I made was that I did not prepare before posting my Resume. As a result of which, I went to many interviews mostly unprepared. Then one day I got a call from a company X. I gave a telephonic interview and the manager selected me immediately. The kind of package they offered was pretty decent and I almost took it immediately.</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br /><br />Next day, I went to my manager and asked him to release me. I was pretty sure that he would release me almost immediately. He spoke very politely, even congratulated me, and kept smiling. Finally I asked, "When can you release me?" </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br /><br />He politely replied," <strong>In 2 months</strong>!"</div><div align="justify"><br /></div><div align="justify"><br /><br />I was thunderstruck. It was like my heart leapt into my mouth. He happened to be such a cool dude. I never expected him to create anykind of trouble in my release. We always thought he was a "gai" (no not gay... gai as in cow). Suddenly, I realized that I m furious, I tried my best to keep my cool during the conversation. I asked him, "Why can't you release me before two months?" He replied," We have a policy of a 2 months notice period".</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><em></em></div><div align="justify"><br /><br /><em>WTF!!!!! What do u mean by you have a policy????</em><br /></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br /><br />"But I know others who have been released early. Why are you doing this to me?" I pleaded.(As I heard myself say this, a picture of a Hindi movie actress standing in front of a villian whose about to rape her came into my mind. I shook my head and came back to reality) With this I started giving him all sorts of senti stuff. I reminded him about my slogging in Japan, the appreciations received from the client. The projects, which I got for him. He kept smiling and kept saying that he couldn't help it. I spent one hour giving him all kinds of crap that I could possibly think of but how could I forget, he was a <strong>Manage</strong>r.</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br /></div><div align="justify"><br /><br />At the end of that, I gave him a nasty look and walked away from there. My concern was whether my new company would wait for 2 months or not. Next day, I mailed my manager again asking (read begging) him to release me.</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br /><br />Am I stubborn or AM I STUBBORN?</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br /><br />In addition to that, I also mailed my new employer about the 2 months notice period that my company required me to serve. I was pretty apprehensive about the response. But in any case, I didn't have a choice. At the end of the day, I received a mail from my new employer stating that they were ready to wait for 2 months. I was overwhelmed. At first, I couldn't believe my luck and then I had a smirk on my face thinking about the hard time I was planning to give my current manager.</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />To be continued...</div>Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-1159174169280955062006-09-25T14:10:00.000+05:302006-09-25T14:24:50.916+05:30The Missing Link<div align="justify">Things have been too fast for me. I haven’t posted for ages now. Do I miss it? Yes, I guess so. 1 month. Yep, Its been one month, may be more than that. Apy is back in India. The project got over and my company decided to send me back as there was nothing more to do there. From the day I got the news of my return, my mind is in a transit state. This state has always been an uncomfortable state which means that I am on move, which means I am not settled and neither is my mind. So, with an unsettled mind, I don’t think I could blog. As a matter of fact, I even stopped reading blogs. Don’t ask me why. I don’t know the answer. I was just unsettled and uncomfortable.<br /><br />I decided that I will resume my blogging once I am settled again. Lame excuse! I know. There is no doubt that I was happy to come back to India but this transit and this change has always made me go crazy. With this change came another hassle, packing. I have hated packing since the day I packed for the first time but as usual I didn’t have any better option. Packing as such does not give me a problem but keeping it under the allowed free check in baggage weight does. I was seriously not in a mood to pay 4400 JPY (44 USD) per kg for extra weight and then I got the weirdest return ticket. My trip from Tokyo to Bangalore was via Bangkok, Delhi and Mumbai. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to guess that it was Air India. After a lot of struggle, I was able to convince my manager to drop me at Delhi and give me a break for 15 days. I don’t know how but it worked and I was in Delhi on 3rd September with a vacation in my hand till 18th September. Well!! I was happy and excited.<br /><br />Delhi trip was amazing. Initial few days were spent in visiting friends and relatives in neighboring states. The trip was fun. After a long time, I spent some quality time with family. But where did these 15 days go, I still have no clue about that.<br /><br />Then came to Bangalore. I think aliens have replaced humans here as my knowledge says that humans survive on oxygen but after looking at the pollution level here, I wonder if there is any oxygen left in the air. Yes, may be I have also become a non human. The pollution level is amazingly high. May be I am over reacting.<br /><br />Still thinking whether to stick to where I am or to move on somewhere else, to a different company, to a different work environment and yes definitely to a better package. The questions are still unanswered. It will take a few days for me to figure out the answers to these questions.<br /><br />P.S. : I wanted to say Thank you to all those who stuck around. Thanks for being there for me.</div>Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-1155807740571619432006-08-17T15:10:00.000+05:302006-08-17T15:25:46.360+05:30Ol' Memories: The Milk storyI was just telling a friend of mine how much I hate drinking milk. When I say that, I mean milk in its original form. I like it as coffee and in Shakes but if you ask me to drink it by just adding sugar (or with some Bournvita kinda stuff) in it, I promise I will make all the faces before eventually drinking it. Yes, I will drink it and I wont throw it away. I still remember I did that once and the results were not very good.<br/><br/>I was in third or fourth grade and was standing in the balcony of our house then. Mom came and handed me a glass of milk. I told her I don’t want it but <i>meri to koi sunta hi nahi hai na</i> (No one ever listens to me). The glass was forcefully handed over to me. So, as soon as she turned around and walked away, I spilled contents of the glass on the road. Immediately after that, me smart me, rushed to the kitchen to keep the glass back. <br/><br/>Mom was there and she got suspicious. <br/><br/>a.) I was not that fast when it came to drinking milk. <br/><br/>b.) There was no (b). <br/><br/>Reason (a) was good enough for her to suspect me. I tried to avoid any eye contact but she called me and asked me what I did with the milk. <br/><br/><br/><br/><i>Did you drink it?</i> She asked.<br/><br/><br/><br/>Me,<i> Harishchandra</i>, came up with a small <i>yes</i>. <br/><br/><br/><br/>She asked me again, <i>Are you sure you had it?</i><br/><br/><br/><br/>Now she had me. I just shook my head.<br/><br/><br/><br/><i>So, where is the milk?</i> She was turning impatient by the second and I could see the temperature rising.<br/><br/><br/><br/><i>I threw it on the road</i>, was all I could come up with.<br/><br/><br/><br/><i>YOU WHAT ??</i><br/><br/><br/><br/>CHAPAAT!!!!!!!!<br/><br/><br/><br/>I still remember that slap. That was the last time I spilled milk. Though, I still hate it when I have to drink it but I manage to after making all those faces. <br/><br/>I was just smiling away to myself when I thought about this and surprised as hell that I still remember it. I guess some memories are there in one's mind. <i>Forever!<br/><br/></i>Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-1155606855923658092006-08-15T07:10:00.000+05:302006-08-15T08:17:30.720+05:30T-TagBilbo tagged me a long time ago and me, lazy me was postponing it to eternity. Today, at last, I gathered all my energy to complete this and here it goes.<br/><br/>Time for some day dreaming.<br/><br/>1. Most desirable celebrity:<br/><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/jennifer%20aniston4e.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/jennifer%20aniston4e.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br/>Jennifer Aniston or Rachel Green??<br/><br/><br/>2. Want to do this one day:<br/><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/bB-2StealthBomber.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/bB-2StealthBomber.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br/><br/>Well... Tolya its gonna be a day dreaming post<br/><br/><br/>3. Want to visit this place:<br/><br/><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/WF1.WORLD.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/WF1.WORLD.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br/><br/>I think this is the best way to fit my list on this page. Boy! Am I greedy?<br/><br/><br/><br/>4. Random favourite :<br/><br/><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/secretbunker.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/secretbunker.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br/><br/>Totally cracked me up.<br/><br/><br/>Where did I pick this tag up: <br/><br/>All I can say is, Me n my BIG mouth.<br/><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/tagPick.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/tagPick.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br/> <br/><br/><br/>Whom am I gonna tag??<br/>Hmm... Lets see... <a href="http://the-latte-files.blogspot.com/">Perspective Inc</a>, would like to know her perspective on this. :PApyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-1154920502658422442006-08-07T08:37:00.001+05:302006-08-07T11:34:10.516+05:30Japan (mis)adventure series: Dude! Where's my Key?<p><em>#5449</em><em><br />Error</em></p><p><br />It was the fifth time it gave me an error when I tried to enter the code that I have been using to enter the main entrance of my apartment building.<br /><br /><em>They changed the code! But how could they change the code just like that?</em><br /><br />I could not figure out what to do. It was 8 PM on a Friday evening. I browsed through my address book to find the number that was given to me to be used in case of emergency.<br /><br />Well! This was an emergency. Wasn’t it?<br /><br />The only thing that I had to do was, call a colleague who could speak Japanese, give him the number and request him to talk to this person and ask for the new code.<br /><br />After 5 minutes, my colleague called back to give me the bad news. It seemed the number was the office number of the agency and they closed at 7PM<br /><br /><em>“So, what are you going to do?”</em> he asked.<br /><br />I didn’t know what to do. I told him that I will wait for someone to come out or go inside and enter when the door opens. But after waiting for 45 minutes, It seemed either everyone was already in or they were not planning to go out and since it was a Friday night, chances of anyone going in at then were thin.<br /><br />I looked around and found the 24 hr emergency number of the agency. I thought for a second to give this number to my colleague again but something inside me resisted and next I found myself talking to a lady on the other end.<br /><br />After explaining the situation 5 times, she understood what I was trying to say. Lucky me! She knew a little English and I was able to convey my situation. It was hot and I had just bought a huge pack of Ice cream.(To be frank that, was one of my major concerns.)<br /><br />She promised to call back in 5 minutes and I agreed to wait (as if I had a choice).<br />Ten minutes later, I was beginning to get impatient. I thought of jumping over the grill surrounding the mansion, and getting inside but there was a lot of risk involved in that.<br /><br /><em>What if someone called the cops?<br />Explaining the complete situation to them in Japanese will again be a huge task.</em> <br /><br />15 minutes later, I was on the grill. Just as I had imagined, half way up, my phone rang. She was late but she had kept her promise. (Have you ever taken a call hanging on a grill? Trust me, it’s not funny.)<br /><br /><em>“So your company has not given you the apartment key?”</em> She asked.<br /><br />This time I lost it but still trying really hard to sound polite and patient, I replied, “<em>No! YOUR COMPANY has not provided the key to the main entrance. I have my apartment key but this key does not fit in the keyholes on the door of the main entrance</em> (there are 2 keyholes on that door) <em>and I have been using a 4 digit code to open the door which was changed today.</em><br /><br /><em>But your room key should be able to open the main entrance door.</em><br /><br />I was really worried that I might blast her any moment now. Still I was going to keep my cool for as long as I could.<br /><br /><em>“No, I have tried that and it does NOT work”</em>. Saying this, I went back to the door again trying to insert the key in the keyholes on the main entrance door. But the key did not go in.<br /><br />At last, I gave up. Without saying anything I hung up and turned around to go out and climb over the grill. As I moved, I saw a keyhole under the keypad where I used to use the code. I inserted the key, knowing that it is not going to happen, and, suddenly, I heard a click.<br /><br /><em>Fk me!</em> </p><p><br /> <em>The door opened. </em></p>Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-1154671003660343272006-08-04T08:37:00.000+05:302006-08-04T15:24:43.443+05:30Some Random Pics:2 (Kids Special)At Kamakura, we (me and <a href="http://dagguerotype.blogspot.com/">Bilbo</a>) worked on theme ‘Old age and kids’ and we were surprised with the collection that we had at the end of the day. I am putting up some of the pics that Apy clicked. Amongst these, my favorite is ‘The Princess’. One look and you will be ready to do anything for her. ‘The Princess’ pictures were taken by Bilbo and I envy her for that. However, I am also thankful to her for letting me use them. :P<br/><br/><br/><strong><i>The Princess<br/></i></strong><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_1960.1.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_1960.1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/><br/></a><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_1961.1.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_1961.1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/><br/><br/></a><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_1958.6.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_1958.6.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/><br/><br/></a><strong><i>The Brat<br/></i></strong><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_1963.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_1963.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/><br/></a><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_1964.2.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_1964.2.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/><br/><br/></a><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_1962.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_1962.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/><br/></a><strong><i><br/>The Kid with Granpa<br/></i></strong><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_2033.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_2033.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/><br/><br/><br/></a><strong><i>The Goofy One<br/></i></strong><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_1965.2.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_1965.2.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/><br/><br/><br/></a><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_1966.2.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_1966.2.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/><br/></a><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_1967.2.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_1967.2.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/><br/></a><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_1968.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_1968.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/><br/><br/></a><strong><i>The Cute One<br/></i></strong><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_2083.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_2083.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/><br/><br/></a><br/><br/><strong><i>The Piglet<br/></i></strong><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_2465.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_2465.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br/> Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-1154496868532952242006-08-02T10:55:00.000+05:302006-08-02T12:47:24.093+05:30Some Random Pics:1<div align="justify">I went to Kamakura some time back and took these pics there. The camera used was an SLR and for the first time I realized how it feels to have the power of a Machine Gun in your hand.<br/><br/>In one word, “Sexy...”<br/><br/>It was P' s camera and she was generous enough to let me use it for a while. The best part about it was the sound that it made when a picture was clicked and of course not to forget the zoom it had. <br/>We clicked around 500 pictures that day. I am uploading some of my favorites. <br/><br/>I am not that good at Photography so don’t look at those minute mistakes... <br/><br/>Just enjoy the pictures... <br/></div><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_2390.4.jpg"><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_2390.4.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/><br/><br/></a><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_2391.3.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_2391.3.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/><br/><br/></a><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_2392.2.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_2392.2.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/><br/><br/></a><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_2393.1.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_2393.1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/><br/><br/></a><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_2435.0.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_2435.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/><br/><br/></a><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_2353.1.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_2353.1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/><br/><br/></a><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_2420.0.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_2420.0.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/><br/><br/></a><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_2434.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_2434.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/><br/><br/></a><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_2437.1.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_2437.0.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/><br/><br/></a><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_2480.1.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_2480.0.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/><br/><br/><br/></a><br/><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_2494.2.jpg"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_2494.1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/></a><br/> Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-1153833692953283752006-07-25T18:48:00.000+05:302006-07-25T19:41:14.273+05:30Lost in Translation<div align="justify">Apy is on a roll. Every other day I do something, which makes me feel guilty and not just normal guilt, but a guilt that could take one’s life away. Today was another similar day. Damn! The more I think about it the worse I feel.<br /><br />I have been looking for an apartment and today the HR lady, who arranged an apartment for me, called and told me that I need to see a lady at the Metro station near my office and she will show me the apartment. After reaching there, I found that she could not speak English. Well! There was nothing new in this as every day I face the same awkward language issue but today I was just hoping that we wouldn’t have to communicate much.<br /><br />We would to walk to the place, take a look and return. <em>Perfect plan!</em><br /><br />She showed us the apartment and I decided to take it. After that, when we started to return she tried to show us the way back to station and started walking along with us to the station and just out of courtesy, I asked her, if she had to go in some other direction, she should carry on and we would manage to get back on our own. I tried to tell her the same in English but she didn’t understand a word. So, my great friend who knows Japanese slightly better than me came to the rescue. He told her, <em>“Betsu Betsu ni, Aru-ite, Daijobu desuka?”</em> She seemed to be a little shocked (a little hurt too). She turned, started walking and never looked back.<br /><br />When she walked away, I asked my friend what he’d said, and the actual translation was “<em>Is it okay if we walk separately?</em>” After knowing the meaning of the sentence, I can’t even begin to describe how I felt.<br /><br /><em>Damn!!!!!!!!!!!</em><br /><br />Once again, <em>FK!! FK!! FK!!<br /></em><br />I have been feeling miserable since then. The only thing I can’t tolerate is being rude especially when I don’t intend to. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">Am I being ultra sensitive? Can’t help, I just am like that.</div>Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-1153543190019829872006-07-22T09:41:00.000+05:302006-07-22T10:18:19.496+05:30Pav Bhaji<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/Pav%20bhaji%20008.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/320/Pav%20bhaji%20008.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/Pav%20bhaji%20004.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/320/Pav%20bhaji%20004.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><p></p><p>I had been thinking about making Pav-Bhaji but was not able to find guinea pigs for my experiment until last weekend when I invited <a href="http://bronxmoon.blogspot.com/">Bilbo</a> and S for lunch. Both were happy to be a part of this experiment and I couldn’t wish for anything more. :P</p><p><br />But the experiment turned out to be a huge success (thankfully else I was dead). I was not sure about the recipe but <a href="http://starsandsun.blogspot.com/">ROS</a> came to the rescue and mailed me the same. Using the recipe and some tips from Mom, the dish that was prepared was just awesome.<br /></p><p>The pictures were taken by Bilbs.<br /></p><p>Isn’t it tempting? </p><p>Sorry in advance for not posting the recipe. The recipe belongs to someone else and I cannot post it here. In case, you really need it, after reading the post you should have a fair idea whom to contact for the same. :P</p>Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-1152775984371761822006-07-13T12:54:00.000+05:302006-07-13T13:28:23.026+05:30Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!<em>“Excuse Me!”</em><br /><br />I was as usual busy reading my novel on another 2 hour long office journey of mine and was startled when I heard this. I turned around to see who had addressed me so and saw a man staring back. He was tall, fair, square faced, blonde and definitely non Japanese. He was traveling with his wife and son.<br /><br /><em>“Could you tell me if this train will stop at Kanazawa Hakkei?”</em> He asked.<br /><br />I had no clue and I told him so. The station we were approaching was Kanazawa Bunko and the station where he wanted to get off at was the one next to it. Since it was a Limited Express train, he was not sure if it will stop at that station and since I was the only ‘non-Japanese’ around, he had asked me. I looked at the chart which had some details mentioned about the stops of the train but it was a generalized chart and it did not give details or may be I should say, I could not understand the chart and I could not tell whether this train will stop there or not.<br /><br />So, as we reached Kanazawa Bunko, I saw a Local train standing on the other side of platform destined for Shinzushi. I told him that since that train was a local, I am pretty sure it would stop at the next station. So, they could take that train.<br /><br />He thanked me and got out of the train with his family.<br /><br />Suddenly, I noticed on the chart that, that train will take another track to go to Shinzushi. My stomach flipped and I shouted, “EXCUSE ME!!!” He did not hear me. I shouted again. By then every one had started staring at me. For once, I thought I should get off the train but my bag was on a shelf, out of my reach. The doors of the train had closed by then . He had already boarded that train.<br /><br />I kept banging on the door out of regret. I think guilt would be more appropriate. But he did not even look in my direction. If he could just look once, I could ask him to get off that train and take some other train. Now the guilt had started to kill me. The train left the platform and I started moving randomly in that empty space, cursing myself, wondering where I had sent that family. The man had just asked me a simple question and I had no clue what I could do then. Poor man just wanted a simple help and I gave him nothing but trouble. <em>“Damn you Apy!”</em> As if this was not enough, the train stopped at Kanzawa Hakkei.<br /><br /><em>“FK! FK! FK!”</em><br /><br />I tried to relax. People were still trying not to stare but could not help. I didn’t bother. I had just made the biggest Fk up of the day. I tried to call a friend but the train entered the subway and I entered a weird state of mind.<br /><br />“<em>Damn!”</em><br /><br />What else could I do? I was just trying to help.<br /><em>Oh yeah! You were a great help. In future, you better not help. Where ever he was trying to reach, I don’t think he will make it on time. All thanks to you.<br /></em>But...<br /><em>Shut up...</em><br /><br />I got up and went to see that chart again. To analyze how bad the damage was.<br /><br /><em>Wait a minute! The train changed track from Kanazawa Hakkei. That means it will go to Kanazawa Hakkei and then it will go in a different direction, that means I did not put him on the wrong train, that means, well!! That means he won’t be abusing me at this moment.<br /></em><br />I rejoiced, relaxed, sat down and smiled to myself.<br /><br /><em>Phew! What a start to the day!</em>Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-1152538830604510372006-07-10T18:58:00.000+05:302006-07-10T19:10:30.626+05:30Meri Bhains Ko Danda kyon MaaraI have been thinking about this post for quite a while but every time I sat down to write it, something or the other came up and I had to drop it. But today, in spite it of being Monday, I started it and I hope I will finish it.<br /><br />I read a post some time back written by a blogger, whose name, I don’t think I will mention. But, I seriously did not find it funny. Not that it was supposed to be funny but the content outraged me.<br /><br />This guy happens to be in US and some time back he saw an Indian guy make out with a girl in a train. This guy took it as a personal responsibility to make sure, that, that couple should feel uncomfortable and the means adopted were cheap staring. I am surprised that he had the balls to write a post about it and take pride in it. He also wanted to give this Indian guy a lecture on morality. My response to guys like these would be, “FK OFF!!!”<br /><br />The guy totally forgot that he was not standing in some remote village. The people around him did not have any problems with it but this guy is “THE MAN”. They term this cheap mentality as Indian mentality forgetting that it’s the cheapness within that made him stare at that couple.<br />It isn’t just this one guy though. I was with a friend some time back and we were walking on the street. She was holding a bottle of beer in her hand. Some of the Indians who saw her gave her a look as if she had just killed someone. Why can’t people just mind their own business and leave others alone?<br /><br />A few months back, a guy shuddered when he heard a friend of mine saying, “FK OFF” and, yes, he was a Desi. He looked as if some had slapped him hard on his face. I don’t understand why people who claim to be modern still carry on thinking like that. I mean, okay, if a person of a different generation reacts or behaves like that, I can still understand that but if some one in his twenties or early thirties does that, please tell me how I am supposed to react to that. Its not the general outlook of our country but since a majority behaves like that, it has started to become one.<br /><br />I was planning to end this post, but then I remembered this incidence that happened some time back in India in Meerut. Police called it Operation ‘Romeo’ where couples were slapped by women constables. The worst part was that they slapped the girls too. The reason behind it was that they were holding hands and walking in a park. Incidents like these make me rethink if we are who we claim to be or may be we say we are open minded just for the heck of it.<br />There are a lot of guys who make sure that if a couple is having a good time together, they will spoil it. The means adopted are usually passing cheap comments or staring until the couple gets uncomfortable enough to walk out of that place. The question is why? Why can’t they let them be happy? Just because they don’t have someone to be with, do they have to act like this and play with someone else’s happiness? I still don’t know the reason. You can’t say that may be they are illiterate. GOD DAMN IT! The cases I am talking about occurred in US and Japan. They are not just educated; they are highly educated and may be working too. So, what next? Can we do anything about the mentality that these people are carrying? How can we make a difference? Do we do anything to make a difference? Or may be the question should be, do we wish to do anything about it?<br /><br />I think it all happens as we grow up. It’s the way we evolve. May be I can’t do much to change anyone in the society but I will make sure that at least my kids know it right. The kids who are associated to me should know it right. That’s the least I expect myself to do.<br />I don’t and I repeat I DON’T say that those who don’t do it (public display of affection) are out dated or something like that. I just request to Please Mind Your OWN Business.Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-1152329451881332632006-07-08T08:32:00.001+05:302008-02-15T09:47:52.079+05:30A Gurdwara in Tokyo“There is a Gurdwara in Tokyo.”<br />“Whoa!! Really?” Those were the first two words that came out of my mind when some one told me about this.<br /><br />This happened few months back before I went to India. I was at Roppongi which is famous for its night life. It was 2 am (I don’t know whether to call it morning or night). For me, it was still evening. I was with friends, pub hopping. That’s when I met this Indian guy. We started talking and then he told me about this Gurdwara in Tokyo. Well! I hope you don’t expect me to be sober at 2 am in Roppongi. So, me smart me, wrote down the number on my palm.<br /><br />Next morning when I woke up, I realized, it was a mistake.<br /><br />After I came back from India, one day another guy pinged me on messenger. He saw me on Orkut, knew I am in Japan and since he was also in Japan, he pinged me. We had a long chat and after a few days he told me that he knew about the Gurdwara in Tokyo. I was happy to hear that and this time I did not make the same mistake. He told me that it opened once a month.<br /><br />So, we went to the Gurdwara on the date he had mentioned. It was so good to see fellow Indians after a long time. The place was amazing. I was surprised to see a Japanese guy playing <em>Tabla</em> and a lot of Japanese women dressed in Indian suits and at the end of the program they served Langar too. The word is ‘Awesome’<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_1350.3.jpg"><img alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/320/IMG_1350.3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1600/IMG_1357.2.jpg"><img alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/320/IMG_1357.2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Some definitions for those who are not from India:<br /><br />Gurdwara: A holy worship place of Sikhs in India.<br />Tabla: a musical instrument that is played while Kirtan (which is like singing devotional hymns)<br />Langar: Langar is the term used in the Sikh religion for the free, vegetarian-only food served in a Gurdwara and eaten by everyone sitting as equals.<br /><br />Gosh! This was difficult in English. For more details please use Google and if someone in Tokyo is interested to go there, you can mail me at <a href="mailto:apysays@gmail.com">apysays@gmail.com</a><br /><br />Update:<br />How to go to Gurudwara if you are in Tokyo, Japan:<br />The Gurudwara opens once a month. The date is not fixed as its usually announced one month before. But mostly, it’s the “Sangrand” or the first sunday that falls after 'sangrand'.<br /><br />The name of the station is Myogadani. You can use the following link to find the route to Myogadani from your station<br /><a href="http://www.jorudan.co.jp/english/norikae/e-norikeyin.html">http://www.jorudan.co.jp/english/norikae/e-norikeyin.html</a><br />Once you are there, you need to get out of the station towards the main road. You will see Mc Donalds across and turn left and walk along the main road.<br />After 2 minutes of walk, (at a Y junction) you will see an Indian Restaurant 'Namaskar' across the road (on the right hand side). You will have to cross the road and again start walking in the same direction. Turn right at the first turning after the restaurant and you will see 'Nishan sahib' (Bright orange flag of Gurudwara) at the entrance of a building. Enter the building and use the stairs to go to basement.<br />You are there.<br /><br />Some important email ids and phone numbers:<br /><br />Gurudwara Phn number : 0081-80-5693-5541<br />email: <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:bskhalsa_jp@yahoo.com" target="_blank">bskhalsa_jp@yahoo.com</a><br /><br />Mr. M. S. Sahni: sahni@vaishalitravels.com (You can mail him for more details. His phone number is: 0081-90-3909-5434)<br /><br />Update: You may refer to this blog for more details: http://www.sikhjapanese.blogspot.com/Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-1151913067340368072006-07-03T13:16:00.000+05:302006-07-03T13:21:07.363+05:30The ConfessionAs I entered my room, I saw her already there. I don’t know how she got in and for how long she had been there. But there she was, excited and naked. As soon as she saw me, an electric current ran through her. I was drunk and not interested and gave her a chilling look to let her know of the same but she didn’t seem to notice. She was excited and wanted attention which was annoying me all the more as it was quite late. I tried to tell her that I was not interested in the games she was willing to play but she had made up her mind.<br /><br />I moved past her and started to change. Suddenly she jumped at me. I tried to push her away but she was desperate. Suddenly, I was fuming and I gave her one last warning but she thought I was kidding again. As she came towards me, I lost it and my hand was in the air. I missed. She was fast and I wasn’t sober. This annoyed me all the more. I moved towards her to complete what I intended to do the first time but this time she got the idea. She started to run away from me but there was not much space to run. Suddenly, she saw the bathroom door ajar and she slipped in. I locked her in.<br /><br />I sat outside in my room, hands covering my face. I was still fuming. I just wanted a peaceful sleep but she had gone too far. The rules were clear and she was supposed to be aware of them. How dare she come in here in the middle of the night? I tried to calm myself and told myself to deal with her in morning but could not. Rules were rules. At last, I got up, determined to end this with as little pain as possible.<br /><br />I entered the Bathroom quietly and saw her sitting there at a corner. She looked back. The night didn’t turn out the way she had planned. I moved towards her with a weapon in one hand behind me. She understood my intentions and tried to run again but this time I was prepared. I raised my hand and hit her hard on her head. She was down on the floor. I saw her for a few seconds and then bent to check if she still had life. She was gone.<br /><br />Now the problem in front of me was where to hide the body. I covered my hands and dragged her out of there. I took her out of my room and left her there.<br /><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">This was the true story of the ‘Fly’ that I killed last night. Well! The fly didn’t seem to know the basic rule of my room. It’s a “NO FLYING ZONE” and “Trespassers are executed”.</span></em>Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-1151898394992567832006-07-03T08:56:00.000+05:302006-07-03T09:16:35.010+05:30RokuRoku is six in Japanese. I was tagged by Wbix some time back and I think its high time to complete it.<br /><br />So here it goes:<br /><br />Name six things/ behaviours / habits that bother you in a person:<br /><br />1.) People who don’t really mean what they say. They comfort you and talk to you as if you mean a lot to them. However, they quit when ever ‘they’ feel like.<br />2.) People who live in a mess. Okay, even my room is a lil messy by the end of the week but trust me I have seen those who live in a total mess without cleaning for months. I mean you enter the room and there is this stink.. Yuckkk!!!<br />3.) People who don’t have ethics at all. Okay! You don’t have to set a record in ethics but I think if you don’t have some basic ethics, then you have nothing.<br />4.) People who cant take a stand for their actions. They talk a lot but when they see that something they said has back fired, they change their words. <br />5.) People who cant respect women.<br />6.) People who don’t value other person’s time or efforts.<br /><br />Name six places you dream of visiting on a vacation:<br /><br />1.) Sydney… my sweet cousin is there. Wish I could go n see her<br />2.) Philadelphia.. My two angels (my nieces) are there.. saw them a long time ago when they were jus a few months old.(Yeah I want to go to US just for that reason… crazy… that’s me!) <br />3.) France- I love the language there and of course!… women …(that’s a different story that I cant understand a bit but I like to hear it… lol)<br />4.) Kerala… Back waters<br />5.) Goa (again and again and again!!!)<br />6.) Singapore (was not there long enough when I went there last time…)<br /><br />Name 6 things you would like to do/ accomplish by next year<br /><br />1.) Would like to learn to speak fluent Japanese<br />2.) I am thinking of MBA… not sure if it’s gonna be next year or next to next year (if at all).<br />3.) I had fixed a target amount that I need to save till next year… I hope I am able to meet that target… (for that I need to cut down on a lot of parties :P)<br />4.) Visit as many places as possible in Japan (again that affects my point 3… lol)<br />5.) To be a better person (I know this sounds boring… but wtf…)<br />6.) Get an SLR (Again affects my point 3… Bilbs this wish is all your fault and you know why… lol)<br /><br />Name six things people would be surprised to know about you:<br /><br />1.) I am pretty obsessed with good food (mostly chicken)… eating to be precise… I like to cook but I prefer if some one else cooks and feeds me… lol <br />2.) At times, I could get as freaky about cleanliness in my room as ‘Monica’ in ‘FRIENDS’… Okay.. not as freaky as her but yeah pretty much like….<br />3.) I start dancing whenever a peppy number begins to play even when I am listening to my Ipod and have my headphones on… (This could be embarrassing when I am on train… lol). So, I try real hard to suppress this urge and end up tapping my feet.<br />4.) There are certain principles that I follow in my life and I am pretty strict to myself about those.<br />5.) I am a sentimental person. The amount of leg pulling and weird jokes that I play on my friends does not change that fact. <br />6.) I am pretty impulsive and can lose my temper easily if someone says something inappropriate. (am still working on improving this… :P)Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-1151572831711000442006-06-29T14:31:00.000+05:302006-06-29T14:50:31.730+05:30Total Time PassA few days back, during my usual 2 hour travel home journey, this ‘Dude’ pinged me on Yahoo Messenger.(Now if you are thinking, how the hell was Apy on Internet in a train then I should tell you that I have a wireless internet card :P ). I was not exactly in a mood to chat but this guy seemed to belong to the same category as mentioned by Sayesha in <a href="http://sayesha.blogspot.com/2006/06/are-you-hot-sexy-guys-wanting-to-do.html">this</a> post. He thought he was talking to some female and I didn’t bother to correct him. As a matter of fact, I played along for a while. I had to guess most of the time what he was trying to say.<br /><br />Following was my conversation with him or as I say, “Total Time-pass”.<br /><br /><strong>Dude</strong>: <em>(Some non sense smiley)<br /></em><strong>Me</strong>: Excuse me<br /><strong>Me</strong>: do i kno ya ?<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: i dont think so<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: just wont to say hi lol<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: <em>(Another non sense smiley)</em><br /><strong>Me</strong>: well! hi<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: you are from iraq right ?<br /><strong>Me</strong>: yeah .. how did u guess?<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: im from iraq 2<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: <em>(Another non sense smiley)</em><br /><strong>Dude</strong>: and you are from baghdad right ?<br /><strong>Me</strong>: hey .. yes ..<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: cool me 2<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>Dude</strong>: <em>(Another non sense smiley)</em><br /><strong>Me</strong>: wow<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: whats your name?<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: im hussam<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: 23 years old<br /><strong>Me</strong>: i m angel<br /><strong>Me</strong>: 24<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: angel??<br /><strong>Me</strong>: yeah .. why ?<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: <em>(Another non sense smiley)</em><br /><strong>Me</strong>: u dont like this name?<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: you mean malak??<br /><strong>Me</strong>: u r close...<br /><strong>Me</strong>: but i prefer angel<br /><strong>Me</strong>: lol<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: k<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: what you do for live ?<br /><strong>Me</strong>: work<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: good<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: what is your job?<br /><strong>Me</strong>: cant tell you that, if i tell u i ll have to kill u<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: <em>(Another non sense smiley)</em><br /><strong>Dude</strong>: why is that?<br /><strong>Me</strong>: well .. thats top secret<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: <em>(Another non sense smiley)</em><br /><strong>Dude</strong>: what is your religion?<br /><strong>Me</strong>: hmm...<br /><strong>Me</strong>: if i said .. i jus beleive in God.. will that work ?<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: nop<br /><strong>Me</strong>: well .. then thats not my problem ...<br /><strong>Me</strong>: lol<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: ok bye<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: <em>(Another non sense smiley)</em><br /><strong>Me</strong>: byeeee<br /><strong>Me</strong>: i guess u judge people more with the religion they belong to<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: ya alil<br /><strong>Me</strong>: So i hope u will not waste my time in future<br /><strong>Me</strong>: Thanks in advance<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: i will not<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: by the way i have your ip address<br /><strong>Me</strong>: keep it.. there are a lot of losers on this planet.. u can distribute it <br /><br /><em>After 5 minutes...</em><br /><strong>Dude</strong>: I will tel you I wont like others<br /><strong>Me</strong>: I thought we were through....lol....<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: jist wont to kno.. how will you kill me if I come to kno ur job <br /><strong>Me</strong>: Great.. u r still trying to figure that out..wow.....lol<br /><strong>Dude</strong>: ok bye<br /><strong>Me</strong>: At last.....<br /><br /><br />I still don’t know what this guy was upto...... but it was fun.... Sometimes I get scared thinking that if I keep listening to this kind of stuff, may be I ll also start talking like this.. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.....Relax Apy Relax......Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-1151230314030554162006-06-25T15:05:00.000+05:302006-06-25T15:41:54.046+05:30That's meeeeee!!!Phew!!!<br />At last .. I finished kathy's tag.... Now jus one Tag is pending.. Wbix's tag.... Dudette!! will finish that asap...<br />Here goes... <br />Tag About Me...<br />I am thinking about -------- getting those Bose speakers<br />I said---------------------Oh did I?? Mus be the Walker I was drinkin las night<br />I want------------------- A fleet of aircrafts, a few limos.. n Apy s Happy<br />I miss------------------Homeeeeeeeeeee...Delhi...<br />I wish------------------- I had a steady gal frnd..lol<br />I hear------------------- your complaints every day...<br />I wonder----------------- how I managed to get home las night..hehe<br />I regret---------------- I am still not the best (*makes a modest face*)<br />I am--------------------- I dunno.. Still trying to figure that out<br />I dance----------------- when ever I m in a good mood.. irrespective of where I am..<br />I sing------------------- to irritate neighbors<br />I cry-------------------- naah.. u weren’t there...I won’t tell ya...<br />I am---------------------hey that’s a repeat question.. u think u r too smart huh huh huh...???<br />I make with my hands------ anything for a friend....<br />I write----------------- utter non sense<br />I confuse---------------em when I cant convince ...<br />I need------------------- toilet paper.. jus checked... its gonna be over soon...lol<br />I should-----------------Shut up????<br />I start------------------ what you can’t finish<br />I finish----------------- when I like to.... usually when the pressure is unbearable....(jus like this tag.. too much pressure fom Kathy...) lol<br /><br />N i m gonna Tag... <a href="http://www.nuvochezmoi.blogspot.com/">Wbix</a>, <a href="http://bronxmoon.blogspot.com/">Bilbs</a>... (As Denzel Washington says..Revenge is dish best had cold...lol)<br />and also <a href="http://sillygoof.blogspot.com">Me</a> n <a href="http://sk1902.blogspot.com/">Alice</a>...(I kno u ll hate me for this but wat the heck..lol...)Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170146.post-1151224005757418692006-06-25T13:48:00.000+05:302006-06-25T14:20:51.130+05:30Apy cooked Chicken<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/1024/IMG_1230.0.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3959/2503/400/IMG_1230.0.jpg" border="0" /></a> Oh yeah! As promised, I am posting the pics of the chicken I cooked last week. I guess Apy can cook.. lol<br /><br />As I always say, Apy and Chicken are Beshtesht friends.<br /><br />The pictures were taken by P. Aint she good? <a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; moz-background-clip: initial; moz-background-origin: initial; moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a><br />Check out her <a href="http://bilbocancook.blogspot.com">foodblog</a>Apyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11887814316977378799noreply@blogger.com7