Benazir’s assassination+The curious case of two neigbours

It was around 6 in the evening that I first watched the breaking news about the bomb blast killing over 25 at Benazir’s election rally speech in Rawalpindi. After following it for some time, I briskly browsed through all the news channels which were more or less reporting the same details on that suicide bomb attack. But it was when I switched to BBC; I read the flash news about Benazir being in critical condition in a hospital in ‘Pindi. Seconds later, on Headlines Today, I first read that she has been declared dead. Needless to say, the news channels went into a tizzy. Reportedly, she had been killed by two armed militants who opened fire at her car at 6.46. It’s true why they say ‘History repeats itself’ - Liaqat Khan – Pak’s first PM was assassinated at the same place decades ago as Benazir was today – ‘Pindi.

Asma Jehangir’s was sobbing while talking to NDTV 24X7 about the incident. Her hatred for the Pak army and Musharraf in particular was quite evident. The mood in Pak – my guess – is also. At the same time she was in mourning the loss of one of “Pak’s hope”. Almost all our leaders expressed the usual ‘shock’, ‘condemnable’ and ‘cowardly act’ on the fatal attack. The sympathy and sorrow expressed is a little over-the-top in my opinion. Next thing you know, our govt. may even declare a day or two of mourning and our flags held at half mast. As my friend Jimmy rightly pointed out, Benazir is no Mother Teresa to be mourned over so much. It was during her first tenure that Punjab (Pak) based Sikh militants spread their tentacles across the border and backed the Indian separatists during the Khalistan movement. J&K too witnessed mass infiltration of Mujahideen from across the LoC. Her turning a blind eye to the Pak army and ISI backed terrorist infrastructure in the valley is but obvious.

As expected the newspapers came out screaming out

CNN-IBN has really gotten on my nerves by it's 'Light a candle' campaign for Benazir

The incident now is a freaky coincidence, given the fact that Indira and Rajiv and Zulfikar Ali and Benazir – the two most famous and popular parent and child duos of the two countries met their ends on the same way in almost identical events. The storming of the Lal Masjid earlier this year was also de ja vu to Indians following the episode as something similar had taken place in ’84 when Operation Bluestar was carried out in the Golden Temple. WAIT!! But it doesn’t stop there. Musharraf’s PCO in November was supposedly to “wipe out” extremism and remove any “interference” by the judiciary. Indira Gandhi had also imposed the same in ’75 to root out corruption and lawlessness. But the popular belief on the both side during their respective emergencies was that the leaders had done so only to save their skins and remain in power. The scenes witnessed in both countries during the “emergency” times were also similar.

P.S: In case you're wondering if this is a rip off from some news article, I wrote this on the 27th but I have posted it now because I could not access the internet till today

Stay (Faraway, so close)

Green line, Seven Eleven
You stop in
For a pack of cigarettes
You don't smoke
Don't even want to
And now check you change
Dressed up like a car crash
The wheels are turning
But you're upside down
You say when he hits you
You don't mind
Because when he hurts you
You feel alive
Is that what it is?

Red light, grey morning
You stumble
Out of a hole in the ground
A vampire or a victim
It depends on who's around
You used to stay in
To watch the adverts
You could lip synch
To the talk shows
And if you look
You look through me
And when you talk
It's not to me
And when I touch you
You don't feel a thing

If I could stay
Then the night would give you up
Stay
Then the day would keep its trust
Stay and the night would be enough
Faraway, so close
Up with the static and the radio
With satellite television
You can go anywhere
Miami, New Orleans
London, Belfast and Berlin
And if you listen
I can't call
And if you jump
You just might fall
And if you shout
I'll only hear you


If I could stay
Then the night would give you up
Stay
Then the day would keep its trust
Stay
With the demons you drowned
Stay
With the spirits I found
Stay
And the night would be enough

Three o'clock in the morning
It's quiet and there's no one around
Just the bang and the clatter
As an angel runs to ground
Just the bang and the clatter
As an angel hits to ground

You've got mail PMji

Kind attn : This post appeared verbatim in TheTimes Of India's Bangalore edition on 8th Dec 2007 on the edit page as one of the letters to the editor on pg. 22. 'The letter is titled PM has better things to do' although I emailed it with the same title as this blog.

Click here http://epaper.timesofindia.com to read my letter in the e-paper

With Anil Ambani and Mayawati both "dashing out" letters to the Prime Minister at the drop of a hat, one wonders if they feel the PM has nothing else to do all day but read their grievances. Agreed, the PMO's address is public information but such "dashes" from the influential (Anil has written three in 2 weeks) seem more like a show of power that they know people in high places than anything. Do they expect the PM to sit and kill competition or ban a Bollywood flick? If such trivial issues are brought to the PM's notice then we all might as well start writing about the daily commuting troubles we face.

Yet another blog on Sanjay Dutt's bail (re-worked)

News on Sanjay Dutt being granted bail was oh-so coming. My suspicion is that the SC might have taken public sympathy, pleading from INC president for her party MP's sibling, Sanjay's good behaviour, charity work (probation), possible losses to the film industry into account while letting him go - for the moment.

I'm no legal eagle but on the face of it, the bail seems to be undeserving especially given the fact that he didn't even spend 2 years behind bars.

To me, the initial verdict seemed fair as it was an educative one and one that served as a warning to the public that one's status in society is immaterial when one has committed a crime. He was earlier given bail on grounds I don't know why but him having contacts with anti-nationals and that too during 'riot season' was reason enough to me for him to be sweating it out in jail.

His sentence given earlier this year too seemed fair - although it's severity seemed a tad harsh or atleast that was what the media thought. Solidarity shown by fellow actors and the film industry made me sick.

Interesting how the media widely covered his every trip to orphanages, trusts and temples while he awaited his sentence earlier this year. To me, Sanjay was running pillar to post to increase his Karma points in the public eye. Maybe he was attempting an image make-over. Come to think of it, his role as Munnabhai in the blockbuster movie also seemed like a step in that direction.

On this bail though, the CBI, whether under influence or not I don't know, said that it is not going to oppose bail petitions of those who were not a part of the "main conspiracy". With nobody contesting the bail, the possibility beckons that it may extend indefinitely. Basically, it's more or less concievable that it will be the last time Sanjay will ever be behind bars, at least relating to this incident which is disappointing since the case ran for almost 15 years and frustrated many including the city police, the Dutt family and the other co-accused who were sentenced along with Sanjay only for SC to set aside a lower court's sentence.

This anti-climactic sympathy was never coming. The very purpose of setting up ad-hoc courts for speedy trials is defeated and especially that which was deliberated over for almost a decade and a half.

I'd like to know what you guys think about this.

Tailpiece: I was amused on reading this line that appeared in Rediff - "The news of Sanjay Dutt's release on bail has come as a relief to producers of 'Mr Fraud', 'Kidnap'.." The titles of the movies made for a good laugh

Lo(w) main aagayaaa!

Lo and behold!

The winner of hurts, the ultimate in dim-wit humour, connoisseur of merriment, the (be)little master, the champion of the qwerty keyboard, the maverick writer, the un-shaven always-a-light-bearded dude who’s ongoing mission in life remains to “boldly go where no (wise) man has gone before >>> the barber”, the occasional janitor of his bathroom and the stuff dreams (the clean, dry ones) are made of, and lastly, the undisputed Bad-Shah of over-indulgence when it comes to using commas, quotes and parentheses to form long and reader un-friendly sentences is back to the un-real world of blogging hook line and sinker.

I thought it's high time I got back at.. err.. I mean got back 'to' all my readers who have stood by me through thick, thin and crap. My email has been flooded with requests for a new blog (I've made the above line bold so that you don't miss it.. afterall - IQ 150 hai bhai!!). Some have been really restrained in expressing their longing for new wisdom from yours truly. Readers, loyal and otherwise, are all puzzled by my conspicuous and high-profile absence. After reluctantly giving in to their pitiful pleading, I have decided to reveal the reasons for my long hiatus.

See, I have my plate full of heavy-dooty subjects like ‘Accounting’, ‘Marketing’, ‘Computer Applications’, ‘Economy’… where you’re given a free hand and a sudden divine right to act like you're in jargon-land where people frown at you when you indulge in loose, un-specific Gujju, Dalal street lingo like 'arre apro Mookes Omboni duniyo ne sabse omeer odmi ban gaya hai ne?’ instead of ‘Mukesh Ambani becomes the world’s richest man in terms of Market Capitalization! But if you want to sound atleast a little cool and veteran-ish with capital market terminologies, you should say market ‘cap’. (Hmph! In which other blogs will you get to read such not-so-obvious gyaan, huh? Bolo, bolo!) We are also taught computer application, statistics (which I am too keen on getting under after hearing that evergreen Sidhuism: 'Statistics are like a girls' skirt, they hide more than they reveal') and the last subject being ‘Organised crime’.. (again purposely commits a mistake so that he can use his favourite word >> ‘err’).. I mean ‘Organized Behaviour’ le! ('le' is, bytheway, a Kannada word for 're' in Marathi/Mumbaiyya, whatever. I've begun using it indiscriminately as if I was born in interior Belgavi and have been living in namma Bengaluru since the day I began thinking cool, which, needless to say was a long time ago). And since we have begun talking about Kannada, which I was going to come to sooner or later.. this being nanna blog afterall, I can proudly trumpet that I have working knowledge of it (working as in..it seems to be). Proper, methodical and unwavering guidance by my Kannada-speaking friends has resulted in me shamelessly enlightening simple, ignorant Kannadigas of the sheer magic of the plethora of abuses they are missing out on in their mother-tongue.

While I carry on with my mission, thou shall satiate thyself by intensely reading this blog over and over again till thou heart's content.

Till next timeth, I wish thee farewell.

Girls outshine boys !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thaaaats rrrrriighhtt! Lay-dees and Genital-men, the much awaited nerve racking, nail biting and dandruff inhibiting results of 'bloodyimportantexam' are out and once again the XX chromosomes have come out trumps in the battle of the sexes which the helpless boys weren't aware had begun. Banners in almost every one penny, two penny newspaper read 'Girls outshine Boys!' some even had sub-titles which read 'this is really good for boys' self esteem' or 'serves you beasts right, ha!'. Technically speaking, they are spot on. Being the fairer sex, girls have the natural advantage of reflecting white light off their skin better than boys. Therefore no objection to the act of "outshining" that girls have managed to perform. The "outshined" boys, especially those who aspired to enter the field of journalism, have now learned their lessons and have come to understand that true gender equality lies in coming up with headlines that demean their own kind and create a gender war. hmph..kids these days, I tell you..so naive!

TING TONG!

In case you forgot, let me joggle your memory about something relevant.

Our government is involved in a peace process (an irreversible one..remember?) with an arch enemy - Pakistan. Yes, we're still "at it". A visit by our PM to Pakistan for talks is due and has long been so. Reports suggest he might not do so this year given the situation over there.

Representatives of both sides have held four rounds of talks/discussions so far. The last one was held in January in Islamabad. At the end of each round the same hackneyed statement emerges "Talks were held in a friendly atmosphere..both sides have agreed in principle to continue discussing..the dates for the next round of talk will be finalised soon"

In case you forgot, since the peace process began in January 2004 leave alone that of the proprietorship of the valley, even comparatively smaller bones of contention don't appear close to resolution.

Siachen where hundreds of our Jawans and theirs brave the sub zero climate to guard their parts of a lifeless barren piece of frozen water! Sustaining such numbers in these altitudes costs a fortune; substantial amounts of public money is needlessly spent and continues to be spent as defence allocation keeps increasing with each passing year (a 11% increase compared to last year).

Sir Creek - one where both sides can't seem to agree to a common map even. Both countries tussle like all the gas reserves of the world are hidden beneath the creek. Even the joint survey which was recently concluded could not produce a breakthrough during last month's talks.

Transfer of prisoners - some who have unknowingly strayed across the border or who are mistaken for spies still languish in jails. Every round of talks raises expectations of the relatives of those prisoners and at the end of it disappoints them.

The sole exception being the Baglihar dam which wasn't really mutually solved, mind you. Both sides agreed to the UN appointed arbitrator's verdict.

Our Jawans of the army,upwards of 5 lakh in the valley alone,and paramilitary still patrol the LOC day in and day out and continue combing the streets of Kashmier to flush out insurgents/freedom fighters/whatever you call them. Life hasn't gotten any easier for them since the 6th of Januray 2004 has it? The always-in-the-news,never ending army excesses and human rights abuses are a direct fallout of the prolonged and forced stay of our Jawans in the valley coupled with the sweeping powers it is provided with by the dreaded AFSPA.

As for the valley, President Musharraf's four point formula - which experts see as a climb down or softening of Pakistan's stand on Kashmier, has faded from public memory. My prediction is that the UPA will drag its feet as long as it can so long as the 2009 Lok Sabha elections are some time away and when the elections start nearing, it (UPA)will speed up the negotiations with the other side and also wax about how it has succeeded in the peace process with Pak in its election campaigns. Acting on expected lines, some sections of our media too are helping the govt. find reasons to be unhappy with Pakistan. An exercise in brain washing is proceeding and has been for a while now, not just in demonising Pakistan but also China. It is not for no reason that the Pakistanis (government officials as well as media) view Indian press as biased and pro-establishment. It seems to be in our govt's interests to buy time and do as little as it can do stall the stagnating peace process. Urgency will only kick in once the summer of 2009 approaches.

Till then though, we shall continue to "do the rounds"

hmph 2

Dave Matthews Band - Satellite

Click the first video on the right

Satellite in my eyes
Like a diamond in the sky
How I wonder.
Satellite strung from the moon
And the world your balloon
Peeping tom for the mother station
Winters cold spring erases
And the calm away by the storm is chasing
Everything good needs replacing
Look up, look down all around, hey satellite
Satellite, headlines read
Someones secrets youve seen
Eyes and ears have been
Satellite dish in my yard
Tell me more, tell me more
Whos the king of your satellite castle?
Winters cold spring erases
And the calm away by the storm is chasing
Everything good needs replacing
Look up, look down all around, hey satellite
Rest high above the clouds no resrictions
Television we bounce round the world
And while I spend these hours
Five senses reeling,
I laugh about the weathermans satellite eyes.
Satellite in my eyes
Like a diamond in the sky
How I wonder.
Satellite strung from the moon
And the world your balloon
Peeping tom for the mother station
Winters cold spring erases
And the calm away by the storm is chasing
Everything good needs replacing
Look up, look down all around, hey satellite
Rest high above the clouds no restrictions
Television you bounce from the world
And while I spend these hours
Five senses reeling
I laugh about this world in my satellite eyes.

hmph!

Click the 2nd video on your right

Duran Duran - "Someone Else Not Me"

Now while the beat is slow
Here in your arms I sway
Now that the light is low
Something I want to say
I guess you've known it for a while
But I mean trouble
I only want to see you smile
And I burst this bubble
The hardest thing is to let go

When love is real...
Like a flower loves a bee
But I know you're meant to give yourself to someone else
Not me

And I could carry on with you
Does that sound crazy?
I think you feel the same way too
And you can't face it
The hardest thing is to let go

But it's not defeat
When you set somebody free
And I know you're meant to be yourself with someone else
Not me

Can you let go?
'Cause that's love that's real
Like a flower loves a bee
And you know you're meant to give yourself to someone else
Not me

Somebody else not me
Meant for somebody else not me
Somebody else not me

YUM GEEE YUM!!

The last fortnight was truly an eventful one for me. I had my first ever glimpse of mobs (of the tod-phod type) albeit of the juvenile/minor kind. Where? Who?.. Mahatma Gandhi Mission's college yaaph yinginyering yaand tuchno(low,all time)gy, Students protesting the fee hike. Also, some really cool slogans which I learnt were: "Chor hai, chor hai, MGM chor hai", "Jhoota hai,jhoota hai, principal jhoota hai" and the tacky,corny crowd favourite "MGM hai hai!!" I must admit though; the hike notice really roused the dormant artist in them. Posters, and there were quite a few of them, were pasted on every vinyl inch of the college walls, cartoons mocking the principal and the head trustee, which they don't trust anymore, in addition to plain dumb graffiti like "NO FEE HIKE!" and the in-your-face warning "Do not attain lectures". Spelling mistake? Yes.. but as Ratan Noora would put it, "bhaavnaaon ko samjho". Those who took admission in 02-03, like moi, were exempted from the hike but to the majority it was applicable. On reading the notice (with great difficulty and with the help of last semester's PCT topper), the suave, uber-cool stew-dents formed a large mob before the entrance and shattered the glass doors in anger. Given the lack of ventilation in classrooms and inadequate sunlight, this indeed was an opportune move. Effigies of the principal and the head trustee were made and burnt using Ship matchsticks and pocket cigarette lighters. The nation's most eminent and pioneering news channels (ETV Marathi, NMTV and Sahara Samay) were drawn to this incident and the TV cameras certainly gave stew-dents their 15 seconds of fame they craved for. Giggling faces, feigned anger and "arre tikde bugh, camera aale" became the in-thing. The episode lasted for much of four days and later fizzled out into a more sedate "We are still in protest but will resume attending lectures the coming week". I doubt this would have been the stand if there were any glass doors intact though. For most, the week was something out of the ordinary given the undercurrent of excitement one could feel all around the campus. In fact, un-confirmed but largely believable reports are coming in that most vidyarthis were glued to their TV sets hoping to catch a glimpse of their exploits the whole week.

Coming soon

Hi dear friends! (you're dear 'coz you read my blog) I gave the CET last month; wasn't bad. College is full of hustle-bustle of late. I'm striving to meet deadlines for getting my assignments checked. A lot of project work too is pending so expect me to be preoccupied and out of action (the blogging one) for atleast a week. Catch you later :)

Sick of rhetoric

Our politicians sure seem to have a way with words and at certain times, they somehow seem to be at their eloquent,loquacious best. Yet another bomb blast occurred last night inside two coaches of the Delhi-Attari Samjhauta express killing 66 people. The moment one reads this, even if he knows an iota about how things are here, one will easily guess what the motive is and who dunnit. I find it amusing how easy it is to accurately predict reactions of our leaders when such incidents occur. They know what to say without any emotion at all; all their responses are mere studied ones, not with any conviction or seriousness. Promptly, they offer 'X' lakh Rs. compensation, and (to save their bottoms) promise that the police will get to the bottom of the incident.

A few mindless, hackneyed ones that came out this time around are..

1. "We condemn this incident." - PM (achaa?)
2. "It is an act of terrorism." - HM (ha! no way, kya baat kar raha hai)
3. "It is an act of cowardice." (heard THAT before)
4. "India will not bow before terrorism." PM again (he said the same thing after 7/11)
5. "Terrorists trying to derail the peace process." (literally derail. RM at his obvious best)
6. "Matter will be investigated." (HM again)

Notice how not a single statement among these even remotely hints at any sort of apology or regret! Why cant they hold themselves slightly accountable and own up to the security lapses? Its clear that it isn't done because of the fear of being taken to the cleaners by the opposition parties and would be tantamount to political suicide?

F.Y.I:
PM - prime minister
HM - home minister
RM - railway minister

All this thrash talk showing defiance/courage is alright but how about being on one's toes 24X7? Why do we wait for such a thing to happen to get alert? Why is it that a nation, 3 times our size and MANY times as likely to be a victim of terror attack given its policies, hasn't witnessed a single terrorist attack after 9/11? When is the Indian Railways going to realise that it IS a favourite of terrorists? It ought to come down like a ton of bricks on the incompetent personnel who were in-charge of frisking the passengers and security. Now even foreigners are paying the price for their laxity 'coz the blasts claimed many Pakistani passengers as well.

Open up and say ahh!!

Hi guys! Just wanna share something I'm ecstatic about. My 7th semester results are out, they were declared yesterday, and I have passed!! I am so relieved and pleasantly surprised 'coz my elective wasn't exactly great but shockingly I scored 59 in it :) although the fact that I was awarded grace marks ('condoned' is the word actually) in a paper I thought I would walk all over is another matter. This,in fact, is the first time I have cleared all subjects of a single semester in my first attempt so that makes it TWO firsts :D Secondly, lol, this has made my folks very very happy. You are now reading the blog of a guy who just cant seem to wipe the satisfaction off his face. There's a spring in his step, with occasional tip-toe jumps, frequent snapping of fingers, broad chest, and a chin that's anti-gravity. Cheers! (hic):D

"Mumbai will burn!"..calories (satire)

In what can be described as a clear misunderstanding of the utterance of some words in Shiv Sena founder/leader/....be all and end all - Bal Thackeray's public speech on Sunday, the media reported that he warned of violence if Mumbai is delinked from Maharashtra. No section of the media cared to look into the other issue with regard to which he may have said what he did: "Mumbai will burn!". If they even slightly had their wits about them then they would have remembered that the speech came only a week after 30,000 jobless,unemployed and sick-of-everything-Mumbai enthusiasts ran their hearts out in a marathon organised by the "Poised" (and biased) Times Of India group. According to www.quacks-thrive-coz-u-r-dumb.com, Mumbaikars burnt 1200000 calories of fat, skin, acne, hair while running mindlessly for 10 kilometers in what seemed like a drill conducted by the Mumbai police to prepare for the scramble one may have to make during possible,future cases of rioting and deluges. The mercurial Mumbaikar (Mr.Thackeray), it was reported, had not read the papers for the last two weeks. He merely stated the obvious while talking of the marathon to the obese that the marathon (which Mumbaikars often run to get a glimpse of rare, 'once-in-a-green-moon' sights of clean roads) has several benefits. The city's treadmill manufacturers, who have always been pro-Congress since the days of rubber mats, were the real target of BT who have reportedly gone into losses following the out-and-out contempt shown for treadmills shown by the runners who gave a 'screw-them-treadmills' look of satisfaction when they finished their dream runs.

On a note-so-happy note

Its a sad sort of day for me. I usually have such days a few times a year and its the same sinking,surrendering feeling I'm filled with again right now, this instant. I guess when one does not get what one hopes (not being selected for a B-school, in my case), one's bound to have that 'so close, yet so far' feeling. My emotions are somewhat similar. Maybe it wasn't in my destiny. Compared to my previous 'sad' days, I'm extra depressed this time 'coz I really thought I'd get through once I finished with the rounds which I believe went through pretty satisfactorily. I try talking to a close friend but the situation isn't any better. Some say maybe something better is in store for me but I'm still depressed. Lets see, maybe next time. I know I somehow have to bear this defeat but like every other time, I'm finding it tough. Maybe some time alone will help. I try saying in my mind 'Jo bhi hota hai achche ke liye hota hai' (Whatever happens happens for the good) Dekhte hain, dekhte hain

Hyporcrites are us!

Too much has already been written on Shilpa Shetty and her "traumatic" experience in Channel 4's reality show 'Big Brother'.Wait... don't get me wrong, I'm gonna do exactly the same now.

As always, my ultra-sensitive fellow countrymen reacted "strongly" and our over enthusiastic media stoked their emotions. No one bothered to actually verify whether Jade Goody (without two shoes actually) did utter the words or were they just media speculation. Barkha Dutt wrote in her article 'Pride and prejudice' in HT (Jan 20) that Jade (who'se father is of African origin) called Shilpa a 'cunt' instead of 'Paki' as the media reported. Another participant slyly asked ''I don't know how Indians eat with their fingers.. I mean who knows where the fingers have been''. Shilpa was also told go back to her 'slum'. Ironically,she was called a 'dog' by one of the bitches too. So hearing all this hurt out pride, awoke our dormant nationalism and brought out generalised and hypocritical remarks against Britishers.

Why do I say hypocritical? Because..
1. To us, Indians of the northeastern states or people of east Asia are 'cheeni-meeni' or 'chinki'
2. We call Africans or people of African origin 'Kaalu'
3. We consume tonnes and tonnes of fairness creams every year to get ourselves or our daughters to be pretty (meaning 'fair-skinned') as we feel anyone with a dark or dusky skin tone is inferior and less pretty.
4. Most of the marriage proposals in our newspapers include: 'Wanted,a fair..bride"
5. A foreigner coming from Europe ,the Americas or Australia is referred to as 'gora' or 'firrang'

Isn't all this racist? If we are so proud of our colour then why do we prefer 'white' grooms? That's pretty racist isn't it? Lets get our own house in order because accusing Britain and its people of being racially discriminating shall we?

Now that Shilpa has in fact denied being racially abused by saying that she didn't feel Jade's abuses were racist leaves us (media+aam junta) embarrassed doesn't it? Now whether Shilpa really didn't take Jade's comments as racist or whether she denied it because she was discreetly reminded by the Big Brother management about her fat fee (3.5 crores) and the losses the channel may face, your guess is as good as mine.

More about myself

As someone (my conscience) rightly said, this is MY blog. So I should write more about myself than about issues hain ki nahi? OK, so let me blow my own trumpet for a change eh (meaning I'm modest and dont usually pat myself a lot. So try reading between the lines every now n then 'coz Im full of hidden messages) So let me enlist my interests, activities,hobbies and likes/dislikes,viagra,viagra...oopss..umm..mera matlab vagera,vagera. Hold your frowns for later,I've plenty of those (PJs)

I was born on the 19th of October, 1984 - the year Rakesh uncle (Sharma) went into antarikhsh, Indiraji was exterminated..no,assasinated...(sheesh,is she some rodent to be "exterminated"? what was I thinking?..Im trying to improve my usage of words here..so excuse me), Bhopal gas tragedy and one of my favourite cricketers,Irfan Pathan was born. I'm sure many other significant events took shape that year, only I can't remember them.

Im pretty good at the following: (mane there are a LOT of things so I'm listing them)

Playing Chess (Im famous for my night..err..Knight moves),
Am exceptionally good at Badminton (Sorry if I sound "cock"y..hehe)
Playing and watching Cricket (Im talking about the tougher version... underarm, box)
Boarding crowded, crammed buses
Reading newspapers and keeping myself abreast of the latest happenings,
Casually walking to lecture halls half an hour late but sprinting the last few paces like crazy and puffing and panting at the door to appear sincere,dedicated and eager to reach on time.
Taking shots at myself (with my digicam) and potshots at others who I don't like,
Regularly irregular when it comes to hitting the gym,
Sheepishly insisting on "Bhaiyya, ek sukhaa puri banaao na" every time I finish a sev/bhel/dahi puri for paisa vasooli,
Trying to play the guitar,
Frantically searching FTV and TRENDZ whenever our cablewallah changes the channels
and finally.... Orkutting (Join my communities guys!) :D

Ab mere gym ka time ho raha hai isliye main tumhe baad mein milta hoon kahin jaayiega nahin. Phir milte hain, isi samay isi waqt. Tab tak ke liye... Namashkar

Eating my words

Ok! So Dada ends up with the highest aggregate in the series among Indian players beating the likes of Sachin "spent-force" Tendulkar, Dravid (out-of-form) and the lax-man Laxman (good one no?! :)). All prayers of Kolkata's jobless rickshawwalas, sweet shop owners and ofcourse WB's Chief minister,Im sure he has some although he's agnostic, have been answered. So after my rant, I guess all this makes me hungry...very hungry..might have some humble pie.