Part 1 : Why I never liked this place

Its the place, where everyone goes back to, nostalgically, in fond remembrance. The gates, the bells, the morning assembly, the teachers, the intervals, the vada paos,the PT, the Karate, the Scouts, the Nuisance, the mis-behaviours etc. I do not like to remember any of them now. My school had gates which opened to an over-flowing gutters when it rained, making it really hard to enter. My school bells used to ring up just before i crossed those gates. Next was the chaotic assemblage of some 700-800 students, instructed by Discipline-In-Chargers (another name for Dogs-in-Charge), hostile teachers, and one Principle ! (i do not remember his name now, we used to call him Bull Dog). Once I reached assembly just after the morning news was read, that's when it struck me that it was I, who was suppose to do that today! Then of-course since you are late and lived just 100mts from School, you had to hear all the bullshits which far offs never had to. I hated that part! how does it matter if u lived so close or so far.. its this school which starts so early in day (6.30am) and all this because it needed same class-rooms for lower grades in afternoon. When you are past the assembly, then cleanliness checkers come in(that AB style won't do.. tat Baby needs to cut her nails lil more short). Most of the time I was stuck here too, cauz my hairs won't stop growing and I hated sitting at barbers'. I remember once, it was my Mom-Dad who did my hairs for sake I pass through those eyes. I had this charisma of AB in me ;) liked to keep those hairs pulled straight back ..but that lead the onlooker to believe that u have the extra long hairs and that wasn't allowed! and so my Mom insisted I keep them parted at one end.. anyways that helped me past the eyes many times until the day I was liberated from that place.. i've never ever thought of getting back to that style now !

... PTO day after .. :)

ले.. लो ..

ले लो बस ले लो। बस यही सुन ने को मिलता है आज कल, इतना तक कि मैंने अपने मम्मी का नाम लेलो रख दियाहै अभी। मजा आता है अब, जभ भी मम्मी बोले .. अचार लेलो ..थोडी रोटी लेलो .. जरा और चावल लेलो .. दूध लेलो .. बादाम लेलो .. लड्डू लेलो .. मैं मम्मी को 'लेलो लेलो' कर के चिढाता हु। लेकिन यह सब से न मम्मी का 'लेलो लेलो' रुका है .. न मेरा पेट भड़ना .. बस अब एक ही होप रह गई है .. भागो यहाँ से :) !! एक और बात हुई .. मम्मी कि मेहनत रंग लायी। रोज रोज सर कि चम्पी ने , सही में मेरे बालो कि हालत काफ़ी मस्त कर दी है :) यहाँ तक कि, नए बाल दिख रहे है !! तोह अभी मम्मी को रोज बोलता हूँ .. 'आपकी मेहनत बाल लायी' ..

W@ke up S!d ...

.. definitely looking forward to this. But only if they (the Yash rajs and Yash Chopras) keep away the stereotyped notions. No foreign locations, no promotional hip song, no gay jokes, no disco number, no item (either he or she) numbers, no great looking character beyond the demand of the character.. just keep it raw.. just let the sid wake up ! !

Reached their climax way before 'The End' ...

Delhi~6 and now Kaminey .. both the movies reached their 'The End' even before the 2nd half started. None had any more to suggest post the Intermission. Both these movies failed in keeping away the sense of 'déjà vu' .. been there seen that - gimme something new .. they ended up like a failed attempt to master all the characterizations and 'short bios', not that कि these characterizations and actors/actresses playing those bios were ever below entertaining and fun (except for AB baby who was the only let down in Delhi~6). Neither could give a satisfactory climax to the foreplay. Anyways, both the movies had distinct art-work of respective directors and sounded equally well throughout (with Kaminey's retro and classy appeal setting your boots thumping, sometimes ticklish feeling of nostalgia works, but that's only when Music plays.. ). I just hope that these are just fore plays to a movie (from any one of them) that would just have it all ... one single masterpiece ...

reviews for both these movies that made parallel sense to me -

http://satyamshot.wordpress.com/2009/08/15/gf-reviews-kaminey/

and

http://celluloidrant.wordpress.com/2009/02/23/delhi-6/

Oh no! My name's Khan ..

and oh ho!! my next movie's also 'My Name is Khan'.. damn! now they will accuse me of doing all this for my next movie ... well no harm in playing a stunt (even if its aint the planned one)

- how much ever I like SRK for his shrewd outspokenness and agility.. sometime he does overdo it ... in this case the fate has helped him overdo it yet again ...

know why i hate this place...

cauz i never found this as home ... cauz i never realized, people here aren't on vacation always... cauz i never thought people are just people who enjoyed as much as i did and sulk worse than i do ... cauz i m not able to comprehend many and much of the dialect here (dialect: my def. The usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people that leaves you dry for seedhi baat) .. cauz the ghosts take over my precious M&D and that is probably so because they have lived through this place as home and not the summer vacationing resort.. cauz they just have altogether different story to take each other on .. cauz i always thought that these people are definitely special ones to laugh about but not to cry and fight about .. cauz they are just too many faces to comprehend and remember when on a trip back from last vacationing .. cauz the people who helped me vacation do not do so any more .. or may be cauz i still like to see change in positive direction rather than the other way .. वाह मेरी hypocrisy!

India's Got Talent...

definitely! .. but do they really need to fight over it?

Why every show in India is designed to 'make hay only when sun shines'? Why cannot be there a consistent platform for such artists to shine? Why can be there no time limit to performance one boasts to deliver? Why do those have to beg for votes from us who beg to have such entertainment every night? Why do we need those judges' assertion to feel good or bad about someone's performance? Why doesn't Shekhar Kapur use his time making and building movies/talent elsewhere?


.. may its just the way we are with such Talent

Food and Beer @ Mangalore

Fish Curry Rice @ Narayana's - The absolute case of climax and anti-climax in span of few hours... starts with C coming home Saturday noon tryin hard to fix his last night's hangover, (i mostly wouldn't have joined his last night boozing) and would have just woken up from last night's gupsup or movies ... and ofcourse we both are hungry .. and so we start off picking up any stray roomies (S,P or/& J) who haven't munched anything else yet ... it's my car to Narayana's (it's old dock road behind erstwhile Taj Manjuran which by the way is renamed to 'The Gateway')... the place is packed and its definitely very small to accommodate to many in queue already... so u need to pick up those places where u know the guy is licking his fingers for almost last time .. (knowin tat comes with practice) ... well by now we are completely drained out given our empty stomach and hangovers to some :).. the finger licking sucker gets up and we sit down (anyplace u get .. u r not here for family formal lunch.. u r here to eat tat fish) ... so now finally v await our food .. the rice thaali with curry and pickle arrives almost instantly ..making us instantly start craving for our Anjal ... thoda bahut mu maarna shuru kar diya .. bhuk bhi toh lagi hai and then after waiting till eternity those sizzling fishes arrive .. we used to chose Anjal anytime (many reasons for that .. far lesser messy.. very filling.. and tastes really good with that hot masala over it) ... this thing is hot and so you start pocking your fingers almost instantly .. caring least about the burnt fingers... so we start filling ourselves up .. the rice .. the curry... the pickle.. the Anjal .. the red masala... all moulded in to 1 and into the mouth instantly ... (cautionary note - All hands here) .. the fish is delicious and so is the curry .. and after an hour long endeavor we are through and filled to the brim ... after this heavy meal (plateful of boiled rice and 2 Anjals).. the space-time dimensions stretch out... every meter and minute feels stretched to respective higher cousins... if comin over every step was a milestone .. then while goin back every step feels snailstone... all this and time is 2 already.. and time is for real afternoon sleep.. so you see its like this .. u prepare.. u drive.. u arrive.. u conquer .. u eat.. and then u fill urself.. and then u start retreating as fast as u can.. u take tat last bite.. u get up .. wash ur hands.. pay up the bill .. move out... pick a smoke ... put it off before its even half way thru .. u get into car.. u take those damn turns.. and u get down at ur place.. u go up the lift .. u open the door.. u let loose ur belt and u fall off that bed .. THE END

p.s. i need to do a special mention here .. the place was also introduced to me by Mr. D :)

Sizzlers @ Ranch - i do not know why .. but this place gave me sizzling hot vegetables and sauces as delicious as sizzling hot ghar ka khaana ... this place became ritual with Mr A .. absolute gentleman contrast to my C :) ... the guy is strict veggie and used to love this place almost or may be more than i did.. the place serves you Satellite, Shashlik, Italiano, Baked Beans etc. of which the Satellite, served with a disc shaped cutlet and melting cheese over-it, was the superstar .. followed by my personal favourite Baked Beans and Italiano... the place is just behind the Mangalore Corporation building and is absolutely packed with ppl and beauties :) and Infoscions as well :(

p.s. another special mention.. this place was introduced by me to almost everyone else.. besides those which introduced it to me i.e. Mr J and Ms. R :)

Draught @ Froth on Top - if it wasn't for this place i wouldn't be drinking beer right now and neither would have i have such fun at such place in mangalore... the place is straight from retro and cartoons sketched in its inner wall... and it serves only Beer! ... introduced for first time by ma D and later made life by C, G and B ... the songs are pure ol' time american country music .. a lil zing added nowadays though.. and you enjoy! .. the beer .. the atmosphere ... is definitely good!! and its just next to Diesel Cafe

Wine and Continental @ Diesel Cafe - the place got my fancy in my initial days... the place .. the music.. the sitting.. the wine and the of-course the divine and sinful Chocolate Mousse ... the place is just next to FOT :p

Some Like It Hot @ Cherry Square - woh nahi try kiya toh kya kiya .. the place definitely served best of such even against the more popular Sizzler's Ranch ... the name's definitely makes u pick that up :) ... and the browni and vanilla ice-cream over hot plate marred by hot hot chocolate... man that definitely is awesome... and this place is well not exactly next to Diesel Cafe but surely next to it :)

Gadbad/Tiramisu @ Ideals - the hot favorite among the Mangaloreans, but i find them best thing to have if u haven't had ur lunch or dinner :) .. but definitely a place to visit in Mangalore.. go in afternoon and you will find all the aunties out to do the marketting cooling off there .. and then in the evening will be the Mangalore's rich and poor out there pumping in there scoop.. .for location ask any Mangalorean!!

Choco Cake @ Temptation - The only place which dares itself past midnight in Mangalore and that's why we the 602+904 used to end up there, almost everyday ... the frequency died down with the number of 602+904 but the place remains there for its Choco Cake... the chocolate ice cream and choco cake with nuts and sizzling chocolate sauce.. amazing! ..

Vodka and Prawns @ Village - Mr K had come over and we went out to try famous mangalorean sea food.. i knew this place to be good and really good given its village-like ambiance along side the lengthy water fall... we seated just next to it and ordered our first dish of Prawns and along with that citrus twist with Sprite.. we ordered 2 plates.. and single prawn piece filled up the entire plate! .. wat a dish and then 2nd and 3rd time was just the repeat :D

Fish and Beer @ Gazalee - any place u get nice food + the ambience + the beer .. its this place... Specifically sea-food restaurant and the view is pan Mangalorean along the highway and into the city ... open air and open mouthed waiters (ignore them) .. C and I used to be there when we ran out of mood for afore mentioned places.

Punjabi Dhaba @ KS Rao Road - this is another place where 602+904 started having our initial dinners in Mangalore and this is the place i had my dinner just a night before i left ... the place is pure veggie and if you ask me .. The Best Vegetarian Restaurant in Mangalore.. be the daal makhani.. paneer butter masaala.. the classic tomato soup .. or gobhi ka paratha... all is just mouth wateringly delicious here... and besides the AC room of this place is guarded by a big glass sheet on the traffic end.. so the moving traffic gives u nostalgia of Mumbai Restaurants .. I m glad i finished off my Mangalore outing :p at this Place

Signature @ Haveli 305 - Mr. D, J, M, R, A & H all the residents (/proxy residents) of this Haveli had single brand in mind that is Signature and so will this be my brand for years to come :D ... the place has ceased to exist the way it used to be... so location is of least importance ... well the same place has also hosted Black Dogs, Red Labels etc. :)

long pending thoughts ...

Its been for almost a month now. Like the thoughts have come and gone and just that the tangible words haven't met them on my blog :) ... so will start blogging afresh but before that just a round trip through each of those random thoughts -

Mangalore Monsoons
The thunders and showers, what a amazing way to arrive. Since there's been a lengthy good-bye to them, there has to be welcome note as well and so had wanted to post this ... but i guess i m too far away from the place,weather and time (sitting in desert doesn't help much) to put down the welcome message.

Mangala STP
This was my office a week before. It was named so. Smallest of all Infy Mega Structures. However, the place was full of life .. well crowded spaces simmers such seemingly ... with TT and Pool tables in hall ways ... Badminton court cum Volley Ball court on the way to food court. The serenest (:p) place to say was my Swimming Pool to which i lay - not bare totally :) - any time i could.. All this is memory from past (may be a year or so) as things have changed quite a lot now with TT tables moved to recreational block and Swimming Pool being host to Water Polo crowd most of the time :( ..

They Let me go
yes just like that.. fill those feedback forms and put that ID card down and then you are free as that free bird which had once come down here to Mangalore... its sad but an honest way of letting one go... definitely

UP-78 P 8498
Mangalore Traffic police are IMHO sedated with dose of honest pills .. cauz they never ever questioned more than 1000kms wheelin all through Mangalore roads in UP-78 Maruti 800. May be they knew this 9yrs old model has had enough Mumbai cops trouble already :p ... well know the car is in new land called Gujarat to test crude eyes of hawaldars here in Mehsana

Mangalore Food & Beer
... i think i can dedicate one full page to this one... wil spare myself here

Special Mentions
Dr. Devdas Shenoy - the Malaria specialist who cured more than half of my roommates
Jasani Tiffin Service - the Gujju tiffin specialist who let us live through the Great Mangalore Riots
Nilgiris - a supermarket so very close to home and heart (cauz it served my stomach) and sometimes with very nice music playin the place was grazing ground for ppl like me
Sulthan Battery - another so to say watch tower.. a very small one .. over the creek... the place was getaway of sorts .. and also let u get into small ferry to tanirbavi beach across the creek..
Ideals @ Infy - there's been papaya, orange, banana, chiku shakes/juices most of the time and then there's been Chocolate shake almost all the time :) ... well the chocolate at any place can be good but at this place it was GOO..OD
CCD @ Infy - The regular coffee joint for us .. power coffee joint for power houses of Infosys Mangalore. Anycase, this place was special to me for my coffee and coffee mates :)

and that brings me to end of something from very immediate past... i guess had many more but once for all .. those shall - RIP

thought for today ...

early morning breakfast ... coupons at counter and straight at the chai stop with my coupon .. and then i realize i have broken the queue without realizing it !! and then embarrassingly i go back to await my turn !! and following words come to my mind -

Ignorance is key to fake attitude ...

Steps to filing RTI

RTI - Right To Information

Simple steps -

Step 1. Research on your grievances. The more information you have gathered on the topic (formally or informally) the stronger you can make your case. Also it may be possible that your research itself would convince you that there is no need to file and RTI.

Step 2: Draft the RTI: Although you can file the RTI via email, please avoid it. The best way to get the ball rolling in an government office is have things in writing. RTI can be filed on a simple piece of A4 paper in any language (Hindi, english or the regional language). It can be hand written also.

Step 3: Locate the Public Information Officer/PIO. As per law, all government organizations need to have a designated Information officer who would be responsible to handle your RTI. If the department website does not have it, ask someone in the office. If you are still not able to locate him/her you can write to the head of the department.

Step 4: Pay the nominal fees of 10/-. Most departments prefer if you pay via a Postal Order/Demand Draft, however cash is also accepted. Based on the effort required in compiling the response, some additional fees might be charged to you later on, but its nominal.

Step 5: Submit the application
a. In person. Just walk into the office and file it in person. Usually there is hardly any waiting queue and the process should not take long.
b. Speed/registered post: Avoid Couriers because its not recognized by GoI.
c. Electronically: Although it is permitted, there is often a problem in sending the fees etc via this mode.

Step 6: Acknowledgement:
This is the most crucial step. All RTI applications have to be answered in 30 days. Hence please preserve the application number and date of filing.

courtesy - http://enagar.com/2009/06/25/steps-to-file-an-rti/

am I still dreaming ...

.. I still do not know what are the real world realities... I still do not know that the books do not speak the real world... I still do not know why credit, more than merit, proves higher worth ... I still do not know why Modi was the choice of 300+ seats in Guj elections 2003... I still do not know why many still approve of silent religious sectionalizing across India ( i witness this in Mangalore right now) ... I still do not know what made IPL the flavor above the Elections this season ... I still do not know why Kashmir should be ours or theirs ... I still do not know why many think Bush made right choices, if not for America, but for India! ... I still do not know why should we be scared of Obama ... I still do not know why Climate Scare Mongering is what is needed to make person aware of his home ... I still do not know why MJ choose to be MJ that died last thursday ... I still do not know MTV is MTV no more ...
just a last one for now :p...I still do not know why any one would want to marry Rakhi!

to list is aplenty .. the confused soul is 1 ...

'Let me Speak'

... to think of it again ... hope you do not read too much in to this self indulgent words...