Seeking Grey Matter

Off to a better place, are we?

2011-12-22T10:27:00.001+05:30

So I've been lucky to have a few amazing friends in my life. Some of whom have loved me far more than I could, in return. This one's about one such a soul - one that I forced into being my friend. And he turned out to be a bloody good one, that darned adorable thing.

He turned out to be the kind of friend that you can talk to for hours without worrying if he's still listening - because you simply know he is. The kind of friend that you..or perhaps just me; that I'd declared was goofy and hyper enough to be my little brother. The kind that makes sure he shows you how happy he is to see you, even it's only ben five minutes since he last saw you. The kind that won't judge you when you eat chocolate at 3am or when you fall asleep sprawled across the floor like a hipster. The kind that will make you giggle like a teenage girl irrespective of the shit the world throws at you all day. Importantly, the kind that will let you have the last piece of cake, the last slice of pizza and even the last lick of an ice cream and not hate you for it. Well, not that I gave him a choice here.

The kind of retard who'd run into your arms despite having fractured legs, who'd stupidly and hopelessly try licking you in your face even after being sedated. The kind that would go to no end to churn out unbelievable amounts of energy just to show you how much he loved you, every waking minute of his life. You'd think it would be impossible for him to get anything wrong, but the bugger couldn't fight off some of 'em rotten viruses, I've been told.

RIP, love.

Now since I can't talk to him anymore, I'm going to disregard all kinds of logic and safely assume that he was smart enough to look this page up before making a permanent exit from here.

For the crazy amounts of love and joy you induced into my life..and to our family's, here's a very mediocre, sappy and barely justifying message - We'll miss you more than you know it, you stupid dog.

On the Rocky Road to ..Hosur

2011-10-22T23:23:00.003+05:30

Been forever, eh? It's almost if that budding li'l writer in me ordered a self-abortion. (No, you will not tell me I never really could write). But every once a while - twice a year, in my case - one comes across situations that make one want to vent. Vent so bad that one decides to write on her long forgotten blog. Wait, don't scurry away just yet. My traditional rant will follow right after a mild banter about the life of a 5ft-er in an MBA institution.

This entire post would be a miserable sink-hole, if I loathed my college. Yes, I am hinting that I like this college. (You didn't see this one coming, did you?) I actually have had a wonderful time in my four months here. That, despite feeling like I was being run over by a truck - in painful slow motion - every single day. But that's just the way post graduation rolls, they say. To cover the last four months in a single post is quite the task. Since day one, I've felt like I've been dropped onto an ice-rink with roller skates on. I'm still figuring out how the system works but dare I say, I don't despise the process.

There's several things I need to work on. For one, desensitization hasn't really happened. I still am praying, from the purest part of every living cell of my body, that somebody somewhere is working on a commode for public bathrooms that can be used without having to make any kind of physical contact with the device. Not that this place is unclean, but my bathroom-OCD still requires me to carry my army-kit of Dettol, et al and sanitize the damned place every single time. Another issue that needs a miracle-solution is my sinusoidal mood. Every other day, I wake up feeling like I fell from the sun and half expect 'Bad to The Bone' to play in the background as I enter class. But then, I wake up a couple of hours later feeling like Felipe Massa does after being ordered by Ferrari to sacrifice his ice cream for Alonso.

Oh, about the sleeping. Courtesy my randomly generated 'name', I've never really had a nickname. But if I do land one here, it will definitely be on the lines of 'sleepyhead'. The lecturers, the friends, 'em parents, the janitors and even me - I'm convinced I have a sleep disorder. I sleep through most of the day..and ..most of the night. I've managed to sleep through blood donation drives, exams, functions, speeches and conversations too. I'm not saying I'm proud of it but given how I can't seem to control my need to sleep at random times, a part of me is extremely curious to find out for how long I'll keep my first job. And the numerous that will follow. But I've got a backup plan in place - I've begun brushing up on Geography, I could teach. Yes yes, you can send your kids to me for tuition, once they've passed my 'How much of a bother is this brat?' test.

Plentiful assignments and the itch to conduct a case study on my sleep pattern aside, there's the regular song-dance-act functions that happen and I can confidently state that I've never enjoyed functions like these so much before. This one time, my friends and I were to sing a German-Christmas carol along with a few exchange students from Italy. That we did alright, but what we also did was recreate the song - Hitler style. And since I've gladly let the world laugh at me ever since I set foot on the internet, here it is:

The actual song: http://youtu.be/6guVKTsmmBs

..and a part of what we made of it: http://soundcloud.com/merinduh/voice-0014

(This is also my official request for Hitler-meme enthusiasts to get in touch with me.)

Oh, have I mentioned I sound like a guy now? Laryngitis, I've been told. Four months into sounding like a horse, I've given each of my friends a solid reason to remind me that being born a female was a mistake. As if this wasn't enough, my hair - which has always had a mind of its own - has had a falling out with my scalp and doesn't wish to stay on it anymore. I have a strong feeling the water here in E-City has a huge role to play in this scuffle, but there's little I can do that won't go against my laws of laziness. In order to make up for these losses, the women-folk here insisted I watched chick-flicks. The results have been so intense, I'm going to scar my blog by admitting publicly that I liked them.

Which brings me to people. Everything that's wonderful about this place stems from folks here - and this comes from me, someone who's been allergic to people for most of her life. There are the roommates who're destined to become chefs specializing in dishes made from Cerelac, there's the pseudo roommates and the Brit-accented twin, the neighbour in class who already knows me better than I do myself, the obnoxious chap who reminds me of QuizCorp with every word that comes out of his mouth, the Dudes who drop references to everything 42 in Eco papers - assuring me that we as a team can bring down the world economy even before the EU can and there's my ball of sunshine who will dance with me - while smelling like a tube of mosquito repellent - in dimly lit corridors, to Bohemian Rhapsody and Beiber's Baby at 4am, instead of studying for an exam that would eventually mutilate us 5 hours later. There's the poet, there's the nerd : there's the unbelievably brilliant class, extremely talented, uber fun people outside of it and a set of amazing lecturers - I am NOT making this up and no, there is no gun being held to my head. Sometimes, even I get lucky.

Right, that's as nice and thankful as I can get in one blog post - now, I simply need to vent.
The Indian GP. For the last few weeks, I've been steaming so bad over this race, that I might as well change my name to resemble that of some Icelandic volcano. Talk to me about the Indian GP. Go on, I dare you.

Do you know that feeling when your best friend grabs the last slice of pizza while you'd been eyeing it for the last 7 odd minutes? Or that feeling when you just discovered that the girl you had been heavily crushing on declared she was a Manchester United fan, while you'd waited months for the opportune moment to walk up to her and tell her "you'll never walk alone"? Do you know that feeling when your heart sinks so low down an abyss that (if you failed your biology) you'd almost worry about having to excrete it? THAT is how I feel when you ask me why I'm not going to the race. No, actually, that is how I feel when you mock me about how you're going to the race while I'm stuck in a town that's a skip, a hop and a jump away from Hosur.

As someone who's been excited about this sport and hence, the race track in her own country ever since the inception of the plan, it's immensely annoying when a 'newbie' F1 fan goes gaga about getting to see Narain Karthikeyan. You might want to know how to expand 'F1' and name a driver or two, before you walk up to me and get hormonal about India finally having a racetrack. Every sportsperson, every tech person, every movie star, every twitter-pun-master - heck, every nobody now talks of the Indian GP, despite not really giving a shit about it. And of course, they simply have to mention those passes they will be using to get into the track and cringe while 'em powerful F1 engines roar past them.

Initially, I thought the wannabe-aunties were #1 on my hit-list. You know, the kind that asked me "Why can't you go to the race? You call yourself an F1 fan?", with that repulsively disapproving look that could perhaps convince even me that I am no fan of the sport. But then our government decided it couldn't bear to not feature on any hate-list, so it's been out there feeding egos of the Lord knows how many people who obtain ridiculous pleasure in proudly chanting "F1 is not a sport". I sometimes wish I could give them all a break. Like a neat break bang in the middle of their backbone.

So in conclusion, flaunt your F1 ticket in my face only if you're prepared to deal with the consequences. Just so you know, I've been reading up on Voodoo and gathering material too.

Ever since my 'win a lottery' plan fell flat on its face, it hurts to see any sort of update about the race. The MBA schedule combined with MBA-driven-poverty have ensured I won't see the face of my childhood hero in Noida this month. Like Himesh Reshmiya would perhaps put it, no race no race - only mba only mba.

I'd decided to block every source of Formula 1 information and hide under a shell until the race was over, but then I chanced upon this. The video has Vettel taking us around the Buddh track and what can I say? For whatever reason, it was overwhelming. Have a look -

I love it how it sounds and how it looks. Like Vettel says, I can't wait for race weekend. I'm all set to lose my voice in the hostel mess(where the TV is) and be the sport's ambassador to E-City.

Dealing with relatives-101, please?

2011-05-30T18:36:00.001+05:30

I've roamed this planet for almost 22 years now. Much learning has happened in the process. But if there's one thing I have absolutely no expertise over, it would have to involve dealing with members of human-kind who I happen to be related to. I admit in public today, I have issues with a majority(not all, of course) of my relatives and would love for a course that can teach me how to peacefully coexist with them.

Please note: according to Merin's dictionary,

Set(relatives) = Set(people you are required to meet oh-so-often because your ancestors and their ancestors got naughty) minus Set(cousins who are full of awesome)

I can list several reasons and examples why my relatives and I are like the Venus Flytrap and a tiny insect, but I'll keep this rant very short. One, they talk too much. I know, I know - I'm not exactly the quiet type ; my life's not just any open book, it's like that history text book that was thrust into your face ever so often. But you'll have to agree with me when I say relatives go overboard while talking about their daughter's friend's neighbour who got divorced because the husband couldn't cook well. And our subtle, yet repetitive signals of disinterest fall on consciously ignorant eyes!

It's worse when they are under the extremely unfortunate misconception that they know it all. We've all been through the "Ohh, you've gotten shorter! And..you've gotten wider" phases. Ok, I have. But I figured this mocking would come to an end once you were labelled an adult. Nope, I couldn't have been more wrong. Sample this. I met an aunt, not very long back, who asked me what I had decided for my future. I shrugged telling her I wasn't too sure. WHAM! That was the biggest scowl I ever saw. And then she went on, in endearing Coorgi, "You could not get a job? Your parents said your college was great?"

Me: "Well, I did aunty. This company called JP Morgan."

Her: "Oh." "Is it good?"

Me: "Uh yes, aunty. It's a very good company, in fact."

Her: (draws a deep breath and..) "Don't worry, it's ok. Initially everyone starts off with a small job only. Small company and all doesn't matter, just try and get into some popular company in a few years."

As I stared back, half in annoyance and half in shock, she added,

"Only then you will find a good match no. Otherwise who will marry you?"

Immense.rage.

Speaking of marriage, have you noticed how utterly shameful it is to not have kids exactly 9 months after marriage? I have a cousin who's been happily married for three years now. At every function she attends, there are these old/bored men and women who walk up to her and cradle an invisible baby in their hands and then ask, very animatedly, "Where?". She, being the excellent person that she is, manages to smile and wittily change the course of conversation. But having recently attended a string of functions with her and watching this activity happen repeatedly, I know I won't make it past one function without wanting to chokeslam somebody. Hence, (in an act to combat boredom and) to prepare for the inevitable future, I'm preparing a small list which I will present to my relatives, when they make babies out of polluted air in my presence.

Yes, here's - Why I will not have or take my own time to have a kid:

1. Genes. As whacked-out as I might be, I realise it would be horribly cruel to pass on this height to another human being.

2. I am pretty confident I will lay down absolutely no rules to the kid. If this catapults into the kid wanting to spend the rest of his/her life smoking weed, I wouldn't want to face my parents' wrath in my after-life.

3. Passing on the same set of relatives? The kid might want to sue me for emotional damage.

4. Very simply, I have faced enough facepalms in my life already. I'm not creating more avenues or opportunities to mess up.

5. If at all the kid came into existence, he or she would have to attend every fancy-dress/dance competition dressed like Bowie. Preferably,

( Now Bowie's awesomeness probably reverses my entire argument, but let's remember that the kid might not be very amused. )

That should do, yeah? If this isn't enough to have my relatives label me weird and keep their windmill of gossip away ; if this isn't enough to keep my relatives from meddling with my choices for all eternity, I don't know what is. If this isn't enough, I'm going to look for and pay for classes.

God knows I need them.

Coorgi Rage!

2011-04-24T21:23:00.003+05:30

Citing the epic sites Tambrahm Rage and Kannada Rage as inspiration, I present to you - Coorgi (obviously) Rage.

Marriages = tests of patience.

Oh just call it what you want.

2010-12-30T22:20:00.001+05:30

I've never kept any resolution, be it the popular 'exercise often' types or the less known 'pray endlessly till you grow taller' types. But this year, I managed to cheat my way through one. Write at least one post every month, I told myself in January. I figured this way my blog would stay alive. One would think, having scammed my way through the resolution, I might have the decency to close with a good post. But yet again I only have a set of completely unrelated things to say. Not that you should have a problem with it though, dear reader, because the last time I checked, you didn't exist. (always wanted to crack this one, heh!)

I hate to admit that as I typed the word 'set' above, all I could think was 'bags and sequences'. Yeah, that's the affect of having a gazillion exams breathing down your neck. Like most normal people, I have issues with exams. And like most ~~normal~~ lazy students, I tend to check the syllabus and find out if I have the right textbooks when the exams are two days away. Now this would be ok if I didn't suffer from recurring episodes of OCD. Have I got an entire syllabus to study in under 48 hours? Yes. Are there a lot of chapters to cover? Yes. Do I start from the preface and the author's notes to his loved ones? A painful, freaking YES. I simply can not go about exam preparation without cleaning my room, cleaning my table, laying down my pens and pencils in order, setting my playlist, sitting down in a corner of the house that my mind's vastu declares fit..and then finally I start from the first bunch of words that are printed in the textbook. Let me not go into details any further or I might start listing the rituals that take place when I finish reading each page.

The bottom-line is that I obsess over highly insignificant things. And people. And sports. Which, of course, reminds me to mention Formula 1. So I love that sport and would do quite a few unimaginable things to meet some of those racers, but the interest surely has waned over the years. This year, I slept through 2 races and missed all but one qualifying session. *GASP!* The thrill did come back later in the season, but sometimes I think its my need to obsess over something that keeps me hooked to Formula1. That being said, I'd rather obsess over Formula1 than anything or anyone else in the world. Like Justin Bieber. Or trolling about the poor lad on youtube.

Now I can't remember what godforsaken things I've said or done over the year(and I'm glad I don't) but that must mean this year's been ok. The only memory of a facepalm that's fresh in my mind is that one dreadful moment when I accidentally flung my ID card(which was wrapped around my hand) at someone while trying to wave out to someone else. And I remember this because the guy I threw it at is a junior who travels in the same bus as me and he seems to grin mockingly every time he sees me. And that's nearly everyday. groan.

Like every year in recent times, once again I hope the New Year will be better. But then, this is that year where one has to decide if one wants to work or study further, if one is willing to disagree with family on decisions for the future, if one should cut her hair short or simply leave that messy stack of hay alone.. So I foresee the usual dose of mayhem and conflict making itself at home in my life next year as well. But that's cool because we all know life wouldn't be fun without healthy amounts of crazy in it.

Damn, typing 'stack' up there set off the alarm clock in my head which asks me to study for the exam that's coming up. And to think I thought I would never be one with Information Science and Engineering. Well, If you've managed to get to this point, thanks for all the effort, I appreciate it. I know it hasn't been an easy journey on this page, but your company has been fun and encouraging. So long, have a good New Year!

F1 Season 2010 = Awesomeness.

2010-11-15T19:14:00.000+05:30

Gratification
Part of speech : noun
Definition : satisfaction
Synonyms : delight, enjoyment, fruition, fulfillment, glee, joy, kicks, pleasure, recompense.

Yup, that pretty much is the emotion being felt right now. Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel has become the youngest World Champion, after winning the Abu Dhabi GP, his fifth win of the season.
Why am I gratified? Two reasons : I love Vettel. And I've noticed, for fans of Raikkonen and Schumacher(me me me!), he seems to be the next best driver to support. I digress, the second reason - Alonso didn't win! Haha suck it, you bank-robbing, Kimi-ousting, team-order-imposing , whining piece of eyebrow!

But moving on quickly, lets get to the what was and what should be. A brief account of this season(whatever I remember of it, at least) and what I wish for next year.

No.1, indeed. Click
to see a bigger image

Sebastian Vettel. He's young, talented and comes with a sense of humor that keeps those interview halls filled with giggles. Whether he's winning races with Kate's Dirty Sister or pulling Mark Webber's fractured leg, he simply is fun to watch. This season, he lost over 66 points due to mechanical or technical faults, but never gave up. He never led the championship this entire season, but he never gave up! I admit he's not particularly good at overtaking without crashing. He's temperamental too, who doesn't remember him showcasing his rage after his crash with Webber in Turkey? But he's just 23, I think that's pardonable. I'm counting on him getting better. Winning the championship the way he did - with a win, was a big moment for ~~us, fans~~ him and one can tell there's more to come his way.

The Webber jump

Webber is fun! He talks crazy, he advertises for milk and he also set off the most fun meme in F1 history. Oh of course, he also drives well and wins races, provided he has a good car. He came close to winning the championship this year, good luck to him for the next!

Alonso. ha! Ferrari paid Raikkonen a hefty amount of cash, so he would leave behind a warm seat for Alonso to place his tushy in. But instead of winning a championship for the Italian team , Alonso ~~blackmailed~~ whined his way to becoming their driver no.1. He not only asked his engineer across the radio to shut up , because he was too upset to listen, he also provided us that priceless piece of theatrics in Germany, when he declared it 'ridiculous' that Massa was ahead of him and wasn't giving way. The Ferrari chaps promptly delivered those classic lines to Felipe baby : Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message? So, Felipe gave way. Of course, that wasn't a team order. Despite the fact that they immediately apologized to him - on air. Here's the entire drama put together in one video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s00OfqnJROk And here I thought Shakespeare was an ace in the Tragedy category.
But then, I guess its ok. Alonso won a few races, he brought the team an entire bank as a sponsor! He's got to be a worthy champi...*cough* *choke!*.. heck, I can't even kid about it.

Mr.Whine reminds me of Petrov. Vitali Petrov drove a fault-less race, keeping Alonso behind him for about 30 laps, contributing to Vettel's championship win. Alonso sure wasn't a happy man at the end of it and he made it pretty clear to poor Petrov:

Who knew it was illegal to race for points? Alright, lets leave Alonso alone for now.
Petrov has made scores of fans across the world happy with his drive in Abu Dhabi. He has also been performing decently well throughout the season. Him, Nico Hulkenberg - who grabbed that lucky(yet awesome) pole in Brazil - are two rookies who are likely to lose their seats now. I sincerely hope they manage to get themselves back into F1, they definitely are good racers. There's also Kubica and Kobayashi - both who drove superbly well this season, that I'd like to see in good cars, next season. Maybe Heidfeld could get lucky too.

Naturally blonde, he is.

Hamilton, Button, Massa, Rubens, they've all had a pretty good year. (Rubens was nearly driven into a wall, you say? hmmm ) Lewis and Button, in particular, have been fair racers all through and gave Mclaren a respectable second in the Constructor's title. But my driver of the year is probably Goldilocks. Nico Rosberg, as you know him. He didn't flinch when Schumacher was made his team-mate and has driven very consistently race after race, bar an accident or two. He surely has helped Mercedes in jumping Renault for fourth in the Constructor's standings more than Michael has. So, cheers to him!

Talking about the Constructor's title, well done Red Bull! They were hell-bent on not using team orders and now they've got both titles in their bag. Something Ferrari could learn. Not to forget, they had a brilliant car. I'm one step away from starting to worship their engineer Adrian Newey. Also, Force India missed 6th to Williams by a single point. That hurts. About time they became regular faces in the top 5. C'mon Team Mallya!

Oh, also, I'm praying the team principal of Lotus (or whatever that team is called) , Mr.Tony Fernandes, is as pumped about winning his bet with the boss of Virgin Racing, 'Sir' Richard Branson, as I am. The bet went something like this: The losing owner must turn stewardess and serve drinks in the winner's Airline company, for a day. Now since Tony's team has done better than Branson's, we're going to get to see Branson play dress-up. Hopefully.

Air Asia will most certainly have all tickets sold out on that will-be-eventful day.

Michael Schumacher. What can I say? To say it was a disappointing year would be an understatement. Nothing can take away all those brilliant drives over 15 years of racing, before his first retirement. He'll always be the hero that made me love Formula1.
The gap of 3 years, the transformation the sport has undergone while he wasn't here, his age..whatever be the reason he didn't step onto the podium this season, I'm glad he's coming back next year. After his accident at Abu Dhabi though, I doubt his wife would allow for it.

I suppose I've covered most things that have been hovering in my head. Hat tip to that genius Bernie - thanks to the new points system, the Driver's title had four contenders to the very end. Also, Bernie, continue to bring in ex-drivers as special-race stewards, please. Damon Hill in particular.*drool*

The 2010 season has been fantastic. I know I miss F1 already, but I'll keep myself busy with dreams of going to a race next season. Kimi's 10th in WRC standings sure are good for a debut, but I'd rather have him back in F1. Along with wishing for his return, Schumi's return to his winning ways and Vettel keeping his momentum, I have one other wish for next season. There was one fantastic fellow who made me enjoy F1 mid-season, when I thought the circus was getting too bland. He's amazingly crazy and can overtake a driver faster than I can type this sentence. If there's anyone out there who deserves a winning car, it's the guy who made the Japanese GP the best race of this year. Kamui Kobayashi, stay awesome, you mad fellow.

Next seazon, all your meme are belong to me!

Bring on the 2011 season, I can't hardly wait!

In my life, I love you more.

2010-10-27T01:08:00.006+05:30

Of course, there's plenty of them fantastic artists out there. But this band is somehow more special to me. And I'm just about to grant myself the permission to talk about them.

I can't pick a favorite Beatle. That, in a way, translates to - I can't tell whose voice I like most. But honestly, I can't rank the four of them for nuts. There would be no legacy of this magnitude, if any one of them wasn't a part of the band. Each one was/is so supremely talented and brought in unique elements to the band. Of course, people's perceptions vary, but I'd say Paul had an edge over the others, when it came to creating the nicest rhythms. Lennon introduced that zing, while forming my favorite song-writing duo with Paul. George, that sitar-using charm aside, most satisfies my need for a good looking, long-haired member in a band. And Ringo, mighty Ringo, kept this crazy bundle of creative energy packed together. And together, anything they created was magic.

I'm partly happy this band existed, partly regret that they split up too early. I love them by a good measure, but most of all, I feel gratitude. For all those songs, words and tunes, and for all the times I've found peace in their music.

There is a Beatles song for every mood. And almost always, I'm a better person at the end of each song I listen to. And well, just some times, there's that overwhelming feeling of joy and thankfulness that compels you to write a post about them.

I'm hardly qualified to say anything that does justice to The Beatles or their music, so I'll borrow a line from ABBA and simply say,
Thank you for the music.

Philosophical indulgence

2010-09-30T20:51:00.000+05:30

I have a strong urge to post another 'arbit rants' labeled post, considering the number of unimportant and unrelated statements I want to make. But I'll skip them all for this.

It's insulting to the author that I don't remember where I read this or when I read this, so I apologize. But this simple poem has come to mean a lot to me. I find much depth in it and can't help but share it. Hope you connect with it as much as I did.

Let alone this desire

And see a new world rise

Let alone this time

Forsaken in your mind

Let alone this pride

And see the faces that smile

Let alone this hatred

Filled up in your heart

Let alone this remorse

And look straight in the eye

Listen to the sound of a new life

And we shall rise.

Whoever you are, Mr.Author, thank you for these lines.

The kind of post that gets deleted - 4

2010-08-25T18:50:00.003+05:30

Welcome once again, non-existent reader, to the world of arbitness. This is going to be one of those spontaneous posts, ~~with no proof-reading or editing,~~ where I simply wish to check if my keyboard is functioning.

2 fractures , one on each arm , while I was just being myself.

1 hairline fracture - and I still can't bend that toe.

1 cycle - truck accident , after I forgot I was coyote and not road runner.

1 muscle-ripping moped - rickshaw accident, because the rickshaw driver was just being your average rickshaw driver.

And of course, not to disregard the common fall - that usual trip and fall and slide. And many an embarrassed smile.

Ask me to list the times I've hurt myself and these incidents immediately come to mind. So yes, I've had my fair share of accidents, falls and injuries. But I've never had that crowning moment. You know, when you get a bump on your head? Never, until last week.

After all these miraculous feats, one would expect that I land the crown in a glorious manner, yeah? But no, I simply had to walk into that wall and then flail my arms like an awkward flamingo. Its disappointing. You know why? I thought this was one field where I exercised expertise. Its very disappointing.

So is the buildup to our CWG. Just as I wish the F1 season and Schumi's career take off again, I hope, like every other Indian, that the CWG happen smoothly and successfully. Also, the Indian Olympic Association, who took charge of CWG work, signed the deal with FIA for the Indian GP. Their involvement in this might just bring in a déjà vu moment come October 2011, when Bernie stomps his way around a deserted Gurgaon. But, we may not be the only country to pull a stunt like this. One of them Korean countries plans to hold a race too and their track looks like this :

F1 race track? You bet.

Oh, did I mention? The Korean GP is set to happen this October.

The track at Spa

The next race though, is at Spa Francorchamps, Belgium. A beautiful track, universally loved, what with its uphill sections and the works. One of my favorite tracks of all time, its also been a great place for Schumacher and Raikkonen. The latter of course, won't even race here this time. And to think it was him and the Belgium GP 2008, that made me want to create this blog. *nostalgia*

Love this track, yes I do.

And I won't get to watch this race this weekend. No, don't ask.

I have been overdosing on nostalgia of late, with many good friends passing out of college or moving out of the city. And as always, music comes to aid. While I have discovered/been gifted links to many wonderful bands/artists/songs over the last few months, I've got to make a special mention of In Extremo. They're German and they play medieval Irish, Swedish and Finnish instruments. My thoughts initially - are you kidding me?! If you dig this kind of music, you should probably give this song a try : Vollmond.

Ok, then, my testing's through. I'll leave you with this video of Formula 1 drivers doing their..err.. thing. They were to make sounds, immitating an F1 car, but Petrov and Massa were into something else altogether.

After laughing my heart out, it occurred to me that what happened in Hockenheim wasn't Ferrari's fault. No team orders, no growling Alonso. Massa has just always been the tame kitty.

Black,red,gold and a chequered flag.

2010-07-29T02:24:00.000+05:30

Just like it is with the chicken and the egg, I'm not sure what came first - my obsession for Formula1 or for Germany. Either way, they have both given me something to look forward to every alternate weekend, for a decade now. Over the last two months though, Formula 1 barely managed to excite me, thanks to Klose and co. draining me off adrenalin as and when my body produced it. Loew and his men(boys?) gave me more than one reason to smile, so here's me saying 'Vielen Dank, die Mannschaft'.

Stepping into familiar territory, I've got to say I'm not enjoying this season very much. Lets just say its harder than I'd imagined, to see Schumacher being a regular mid-fielder (all non-Schumis , this is your cue to point and laugh). And that's not all. This season's throwing up a few too many unpleasant surprises. If my opinions mattered - and I really wish they did - I'd have this to say to the F1 kingdom :

@Vettel, Webber and Team Red Bull - STOP stealing Mclaren thunder! All those actions on and off track , garnished with your war of words are so ridiculously dramatic, it must be giving Lewis/Alonso an inferiority complex. You were liked for your fun-quotient and diplomacy - save whatever of it is left.

@Bernie- You sly, 5ft tall bugger, you! Are you behind the scene at Red Bull? Wouldn't be too surprised, considering we have no scandalous 'gate's this season. Just..pick another team?

@Lewis, Button - So, you've been christened Lewson/Jenis by the media. Jenis, seriously? All the in-team-love is slightly over done, fellas. The patience is running out, just call each other a wanker and collide already!

@Ferrari - Dudes, I'm Tifosi and everything, but hello! You're supposed to be a Prancing Horse , not a braying child of a donkey. Let me put it across very simply :
Ferrari + Raikkonen + whining = monotone-d fun.
Ferrari + Schumacher + whining = bearable.
Ferrari + Alonso + whining = pain in everyone's rear.

You're not winning because you're not improving! It has nothing to do with one of the stewards not having a pleasant family life. No one's plotting against you!

"Its all a conspiracy =( "

So stop wailing and pointing fingers, before your logo goes from the classic horse to this --->

Oh Nando, you can continue. It's always fun when your frustration makes its way to the team radio , for all of us to hear. Also, (dyamn) I don't really have any other reason to pick on you.
(For your benefit kind reader, Alonso doing his thing : 1. A funny one 2.A sulky one )

@ Schumi - Don't quit. Not yet.

When the "Schumacher is a back-marker" claims drop into my chat window, I have nothing to say. I can only hope for better, I can only look back at The Race of Champions and feel a sense of relief. No matter what though, my opinion of the maestro will never change.

Formula1 is set to redeem itself this weekend, with rain hinting it might pay us a visit. I, for one, have been looking forward to this race for a very long time. After Schumacher, Germany and Formula 1 combine most beautifully in the location for this weekend's race - Hockenheim. The German GP is here, bringing back every emotion the German football team did. I'm excitedly hoping to witness an entertaining race and I can tell I won't be disappointed.
To all fans, happy (pre-poned and extended) Oktoberfest!

21 years of facepalm

2010-06-03T02:07:00.006+05:30

It's that time of the year when it's all about me. Don't run away though, I'll keep this rant short.

When I was 14, I was crazy about Formula 1 and I loved Schumacher. Today, I'm fond of Formula 1, I like Schumacher and I'm trying to hunt his son down. Back then, I loved watching Cardcaptors. Now, I watch Cardcaptors only when I find its Japanese version. I used to believe Richie Sambora was the best guitarist in the world. Now I don't think twice before saying Petrucci can kick Sambora arse. My behaviour, once termed hyper, is now high. As a teen, I'd regret a lot of things I'd say, often said without internal processing. Now I don't care enough to regret. Then, I was always full of energy and made good of it in athletics. I cared about education. I actually had ambition. And now, I'm ..well, I have energy and make good of it by looking for more food. I drag myself through the process of education. I can't find my ambitions.

Many changes, o'er these years, some trivial, others not so much. Only a few things have stayed constant. My height for instance, but lets not go there.

None of those changes, I had a conscious control over. When I turned 20, I decided to bring about changes that I wanted to see. It's only providing you with redundant information, when I tell you that none of it came through. But I did have exciting plans! I wanted to experiment and go trippin'.Instead, I had paan for the first time and went tripping over electric cables. Did I hear you say facepalm? Well, you're absolutely right.

In fact, I'm pretty sure the doctor who yanked me out into this world 21 years back had a hard time getting my feet out of my mouth, while I hid my face in my hands. Ever since, its been facepalm after facepalm. My parents have even considered using surgical measures to keep my feet out my mouth. 21 years of it all, its been fun. For those who stood at a distance and watched, of course. I'm not too upset myself, I'm sure a lot of things could've been worse. Tough, crazy or blissful-it's at least been interesting all this while.

The legal age for everything is here and I've waited for long. But harder times are to come, people say. I find myself wondering if I'm all set to 'battle the world'. I wonder if I'll ever make a positive difference to my environment, or if I'll fall asleep in a bathtub at 27, without having achieved anything worth talking about. I..

I wonder how much I'm going to cringe when I read this a year from now.

Damn.

There's a geezer in F1 (and its NOT Schumacher).

2010-05-09T03:59:00.009+05:30

"The five red lights eliminate and the *insert name* GP iis GO!"

Quite literally, ring a bell?

For religious followers of Formula1 who watch the telecast on Espnstar, every race begins with those words being spat out in mighty excitement by Steve Slater. And boy, is he one special character!

Before I stick to boring tradition and list out points as to why the man ought to be out looking for his screws, let me state that I like him. He's a fine chap, a typical middle-aged British man, I suppose, hyper and overly joyous all the time. Irrespective of everything I say, Formula1 RaceDay needs him. But considering all that bumbling, messing up and guffawing, I decided there had to be a post on the bugger. So, quickly getting down to business, here's what I find annoying/amusing about the man :

* The tone of his voice + accent.

Maaybe I shouldn't comment in this category because of my bias toward the baritone. But hey, its only fair that a sport have a commentator with a charming voice. I mean, the sport is a two hour show with cars going about one track, a shrieking voice can get to you, y'know? Alright, maybe not his voice per se , its pitch perhaps. Well, you get the drift.

And I won't trash the accent - I don't hate it. Especially since it can get amusing at times.

* Mr.Excessivley Hyper

Yeah, I'm no one to rant about somebody else being annoyingly hyper, but this man simply ought to calm down! What is he now, 50? All that excitement could rub his BP the wrong way. Earlier, there was the ever-calm Chris Goodwin, who kept things going steady, without giving any one's pulse a sudden jolt.

Agreed, there are two sides to the coin. Without Slater's constant cackle, non-crazy F1 fans might catch a snooze before lap 20. But just sometimes, his excitement can get to one's nerves.

* Blunders galore

In the name of Ayrton Senna, someone please help him get all those names right. Slater almost always remembers to drop in a blooper during a telecast. In all his excitement, it seems like he often loses his train of thought. For instance (and this is just one of hundreds), at this weekend's Spanish GP, he went,

"Whatever Sebastian Vettel can do, Vettel can do it 300th of a second better."

Replace the second Vettel with Webber, please.

Yes, I know, to commentate in real-time is very tough, I would've made a bigger fool out of myself.. yada yada yada. But one ought to know the basics like team and driver names, yes?

"Kobayashi there, driving for the BMW Sauber.....Sauber...whatever it is they call it now! hehe!"

BMW Sauber Ferrari, thank you very much.

* Talking over a driver's radio conversation.

Here's something that actually makes me want to send out a flying punch. When a driver's radio goes on for the viewers to listen to, you quit rambling and let people listen to the driver-engineer conversation! Slater always has a fellow commentator remind him to shush. When the man finally completes his rant and goes quiet, the radio conversation would be three fourths done with.

Bollocks!

* Well, strictly speaking, this is not a valid point. His bro-crush on Lewis Hamilton has nothing to do with this post. Yeah, he was a true Schumacher fan but jumped wagon. So? He never makes any biased remarks in Hamilton's favour now, does he? Does he?

Well, at least its better this year. Its just him going ga-ga over the Ham-boy. There is no bright orange-clad-pussycat's-annoying-doll going fruity in the pit lane. Phew!

Anyway, not digressing further ; the listed issues aside, there's Slater's constant comparison between F1 and chess ( "they're playing chess at 250kph!") and his never ending stuttering, among many such idiosyncrasies.

But like I said before, he's one endearing old bloke. He adds his Brit jazz to Formula 1 every Sunday and my race wouldn't be complete without him or his flubs. Of course, other sports have funnier people to celebrate, but here's my toast to that yeasty geezer from Formula 1 - Cheers.

A day well spent.

2010-04-28T21:48:00.005+05:30

Parikrma is an NGO that provides education to underprivileged children. For more information, visit Parkirmafoundationdotorg

A fine Wednesday morning two weeks past the commencement of my summer holidays , I found myself running through my to-do lists, trying to find something to do. The mundaneness of everyday routines having numbed my nerves, I refused to recognize tasks that seemed uninteresting. Quickly looking past the ones labeled 'important' , I decided to step up to the internet, the sphere where time isn't respected enough. But before I could lose my way amongst the many webpages, I remembered Parikrma. My friend and I had been putting off a visit for a long while due to work at college and were eager to visit. I thought, why not meet those kids today and bring a smile on their faces?

After a few calls to my friend and the Nandini Layout branch of the NGO, I left home. A short drive later, I found myself looking up at the bright and colourful school. I soon met my friend and together, we met the principal. We just wanted to volunteer, we told him. Very quickly, he had our work cut out for us. We were to assist teachers in minding 2 sections of tots.
Enthusiastically, we followed him into the nearest classroom. With just one look into 'Sun', the class for the youngest group of children, I realised I wasn't particularly qualified to handle the kids. Upon my request, we moved into 'Mercury', the standard 1 of Parikrma. Once inside the class, I saw everything that I had pictured an NGO school to be - except for one detail. I saw more smiles than I had expected to see. But that was the last mental note I was allowed to make. Five seconds into entering the class, we were surrounded by kids who only came up to our waists. Twenty five to thirty of them, all very excited and full of energy. They wanted to know our names, they wanted us to know theirs, they wanted us to take photographs with them, they wanted us to have a look at their coloured works of art and they wanted us to do it all immediately! I flashed my friend a part-exhausted, part-terrified look but she assured me we'd get by, unscathed. I tried to cross my fingers in prayer, only to realise my fingers were all clutched by different kids. I took a deep breath to calm myself, while my friend took charge. As worried as I was after the ambush, things only got better from then on.

Through the morning, we recited rhymes and math exercises, played games and laughed with the children. Every time a camera came out of our bags, they'd swarm around us and fight each other to ensure they made it into the frame. Of course, they wouldn't let us go until they had a look at the photo and felt content with their appearance in it. Evidently, we weren't the first visitors they had. But the love they seemed to shower on us so effortlessly made us feel very special. When it was time for lunch, we were invited to eat along with them. We were only glad to oblige.

The afternoon was consumed by art class. I had fallen in love with the kids, yes, but the talent-mine in that classroom drew a small measure of harmless envy. As we sat expressing our approval of all the masterpieces, the school bell rang. There was a loud chatter of bye-byes, lots of flying kisses and in less than a minute, the kids vanished. My friend and I turned to head home.

The children on

Independence Day.

Once home, I had a lot to think about. Parikrma mainly schools orphaned children or children whose parents are serving prison time. A majority of the children live in a hostel close to school, with just about the basic needs being fulfilled. For most of them, it had been years since they had seen a member of the family. For some, such a meet had never happened. But not once ; not once during the entire day, did they lose the smile from their faces. These children attend school everyday with unfathomable enthusiasm, study intently, greet visitors with tight hugs and rush out of school in the evening - only to come back in the next day, with the same energy.

Almost immediately, there was the inevitable introspection. I recalled my first year of engineering, when I'd get depressed over not liking what I was being made to study. I recalled the times when I refused food at home, wanting to go to a restaurant. The many times when I would fight with my family over a multitude of trivial issues. There was a lot to learn from these children.
Happiness seems to be the destination we all seek. But to a majority of us, happiness remains an elusive emotion. And then there are these children, who have nothing to lose but themselves. The energy around them is ever-so-positive and there is absolutely no room for hate. Sure, they have their mighty differences now and then, generally over an eraser or a crayon. But fifteen minutes later, you might find them posing for a photograph with their arms around each other. There isn't much that this world can do to take away their smiles. There hardly exists anything that can attack the bounty of happiness that lies within them. And there is absolutely no stimulus required, for them to share this bounty with you.

We went back to Parikrma again. For three months, we made charts , bound text books , sang songs and taught Math and English. Three months of bliss. While the children took lessons according to the designed syllabus, we had our fair share of life-lessons. The little ones showed us how the world is too small and life, too long, to feel hate. How there is never a need to seek happiness from around you ; you only have to look within yourself.

Even today, we go back for short visits when time permits. But unlike the first time I visited Parikrma, I don't visit the kids intending to bring a smile on their faces. I just know I'll return home with a broad one on mine.

Its raining Buttons.

2010-03-29T20:25:00.002+05:30

I have a problem with this Formula 1 season and Espnstar is to blame. Why, I want to know, just why have they changed their excellent opening track for Raceday and Chequered flag? It might seem trivial to you, but I have prepared myself for every race, over all these years, by bobbing my head to that racy track. The new track may not be bad but it isn't a speck on the old one. I wouldn't complain if I could get it off the internet, but I simply couldn't find it. Can anyone please help me find it?

Moving on, it appears like Alonso is the only teenage girl in this world who can drive the wheels off that Ferrari. Good for the team, bad for people like me. He praises the team, he praises the car, he praises the strategies, he drools over the team boss..just how hormonal can girls get?! Even I haven't, ever, gushed over Gary Oldman or Tesla like Alonso does while talking about Montezemolo. Really.

After Bahrain, I assumed Ferrari would run away with the championship this year. Vettel, I hoped, would take the driver's title. Then Australia happened. For me, the onset of the Australian GP induced a mix of joy, grief and fear. Joy, to see Vettel and Ferrari doing great. Grief, because I can't forget Kimi's first win with Ferrari, same place, three years back. And fear, because I don't like the condition of the Merc that Schumacher is driving. The buildup to the race was entertaining though, with the Hamilton man trying to impress women on the streets of Melbourne - and getting fined!

Getting down to the race itself, there was a world of change from Bahrain. Excellent maneuvers by Webber, Kubica , Roseberg, Hamilton(yech!) and a couple others, great battles between teammates, slight drizzle, a few wrong tyre-decisions and a small spray of accidents ; this race didn't let the fans down. The start was great for Vettel, Massa and Kubica, who wasted no time in darting to the first corner. The start wasn't good for me. Things were fine until Button decided to give Nando a li'l kiss on track. Their cars touched and Nando spun with joy : now only if he wouldn't knock down Michael's front wing and send him sliding off the track. While I tried to recover from this, two of my favorite rookies, Hulkenberg and Kobayashi, decided to park their cars in a spectacular fashion. Apart from a string of overtaking maneuvers and wild grass-rides, the race saw nothing significant happen until reliability issues struck the Red Bull again. This time, Vettel stopped a few meters shy of the barriers, after a brake failure. From there on, most cars played cat and mouse till the penultimate lap when things lit up for a moment. Webber touched Hamilton, ruining his race and Hamilton's chance for a podium. The final bit of action came from Schumi, as he overtook two cars, to land himself the final championship point. Button crossed the finish line with a rather butterball-ish John Travolta waving the chequered flag. Kubica took home a well deserved second. The Ferraris led by Massa, Rosberg and Hamilton came in 3-6.

In spite of things not going well for Vettel or Schumacher, I could appreciate this race. It was a fine trailer that demonstrated how exciting this season can be. I have my own concerns about the scoring system, but predictions and comments can be pushed for after two or three more races.

Looking forward to a better Merc and a reliable Red Bull in the next race, I'm also excited-giddy about the scene at Mclaren. While Whitmarsh praises Button's strategy, Hamilton blames the team for bad strategy. I'm glad there is enough action and drama to sustain Formula 1 this year. Despite what happens this season, I know I'll enjoy the races. I know I'll walk away from Steve Slater's jabber saying "I'm lovin' it!".

Its on!

2010-02-23T22:53:00.003+05:30

What is?
Firstly, UTPT . Quizzing doesn't get better than this. March 19-21st, 2010. Be there !

Now with that out of the way, the 2010 season is ON!
Nerves have started to twitch, fingernails have been digested , friends have been fought with - all this, with a month to go for the inaugural race!

There is so much to like about this season. New teams, new points system, NO Mosley, a good selection of drivers and the return of a winning combination. Needless to say, I'm thrilled(beyond acceptable limits) to see Schumacher and Brawn back together. But before I continue with my joyous rant, I'm going to say one thing to those of you who believe Schumacher is back for the money, fan count(?!) yada yada yada : Foutre vous.

Getting down to business, the new teams are US F1, Virgin, Lotus and Campos. The newbies started to interest me after I read about Branson's deal with Tony Fernandes, the owner of Lotus. If that deal is followed through, the team that ranks lower in the championship at the end of the season will have its owner serving wine in the other team owner's airline, for a day. Stewardess attire in place. How rad is that!

Their spirit is commendable. It has been and will continue to be an uphill task for the new teams to provide good/any competition to the established teams. Branson's glamour quotient aside, Virgin - the car, isn't really happening. If you look up an F1 thesaurus, you'll find 'US F1' to be synonymous with 'joke'. My genuine sympathies are with the team, but, that F1 is an expensive sport is no hidden secret. Lotus has launched a good-looking car, but is said to have downforce issues. And the last team, Campos, has been battling for survival. I have come across more rumors about Campos and Stefan GP than those about the foster parents of the world, Brangelina. It finally appears like Campos is being taken over by (some)Jose Ramon Carabante , in which case the team might be renamed. News about a certain Stefan GP continue to float around. Stefan GP is linked to Villeneuve, Ralf Schumacher and India's Karun Chandok. I wouldn't mind having them enter the sport, if it means giving Karun an opportunity to do the same.
Frankly, I can not do justice to this situation with my post. At least, not like Ferrari seem to have done with their statement. (Its a must-read)

Plenty new drivers coming in, but I'm excited crazy about The Hulk-enberg. I've been tracking this young German from his A1 and GP2 days and I expect him to perform well, given a reliable car. And perhaps, he could bag a better drive next season. Bruno Senna brings with him a legacy and the hopes of many fans around the world. US F1 brings with it some drivers whose names I haven't tried keeping in memory, not yet. Renault, for one, isn't paying a driver - the team is being paid by Petrov. Russian Petrov, his politically connected father and their tryst with F1 and money - this circus is far too controversial even by Formula 1 standards. Here's a good read on this.

Of course, we still have charming Vettel around. He is my candidate for the driver's title, after Michael. And I'm praying, with as many fingers crossed as possible, that we'll have an ego-driven battle in the all Brit team of Mclaren. Unlikely as this scenario is, I'd simply love to hear Button refer to Hamilton's arse on the team radio. All wishful thinking aside, I'm not ruling out Mclaren as a top contender. Mclaren, along with Ferrari and Red Bull seem to be the top 3 teams this season.

The new rules include a new points system, re-fueling ban et all. Interesting. But just having the old tyrant out feels good. My official congratulations to Jean Todt for becoming the new chief of the FIA. It is said, Todt wanted to appoint his son, Schumacher, as his special officer. But fortunately for me and numerous other Schumacher fans, Brawn made Schumacher an offer he couldn't refuse!
Ferrari tried hard to bring in a 3 car per team system, desperate to provide Schumacher a car. They couldn't manage that but had already booked themselves a whiny, brassy Spaniard. And before we knew it, Schumacher was set to join Brawn in his mission.

Ferrari have moved on, embraced their new line-up and can't stop singing wussy praises. They're sure of seeing their drivers better Schumi. Stefano said at an interview recently, "Alonso is the only one to have beaten Michael by a huge margin - in 2005." Stefano worked for Ferrari in 2005, surely he remembers how pitiful that car was?
Its rather painful to see Schumi separate from the family he held together for so long. Yes, I'm still miffed with Ferrari for ousting Kimi but once you wear Ferrari red, you don't trade the colour. I can't wait for Brawn to draw stunning strategies, watch Schumi execute them to perfection. I can't wait to upload photos of Schumi-Ross on the podium and tag them brawn and brain, respectively. I can't wait to feel the thrill and joy that I felt many years back! But it still is hard to accept that he isn't driving for the Tifosi. Whats harder, is watching Alonso drool over Ferrari like an annoying girl in her early teens. He is doing a great job behind the wheel though. The new car seems to be in great shape and I have little doubt that Alonso will make the best of it. Seeing Alonso top a Test session recently, with Michael coming in 5th(that Mercedes has me very worried) left me ripped. At this rate, cheering on Ferrari for Constructor's and Schumacher for Driver's isn't going to be easy.

Well, since I've got an entire season of racing, controversies and political drama to worry, lose hair and voice over, I'll end the post. I'll end it with a wish, an optimistic note that has been running through my mind for two months :

Schumi, kick Nando's ass for 2006!

Can Chuck Norris kick?

2010-01-10T13:38:00.016+05:30

Its not safe to let people know your weaknesses. I mean, pjux tagged me with two days left for my exams to begin. Clever tactic, wouldn't you say? Its exam time! How can anyone refuse a blog post?! Dang!

So anyway, here I am, making a public diary out of my blog. The year '09. The year that wasn't.

January - The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning.
The wonderful Quiz Corp trip to Saarang happened and I missed it. Yes, I'm still sore. Will always be. If you didn't go, you should be sore too.
This month, born with a bang, brought with it some cheer, a few tears, tough choices and general confusion. And all along I pondered about the truth in that thing they say, "What goes around comes around".

February to May - Electric Feel.
A good semester. It was no match to the previous, but good nonetheless. One fantastic UTPT* and brilliant company all through : this semester had it all. Apart for a few misses, it was a fine period.

Almost all my lady friends had broken up with their men by now. Did I mention, it was a fine period?

*RV Quiz Corp conducts India's biggest Quiz Fest. You didn't know? Be ashamed. Be very ashamed.

June - White and Nerdy, still.
So I turned 20. In contrast to everyone else around me, I welcomed the 20. In contrast to how a 20 year old would be expected to behave, I ran around town, wholly excited, announcing that I'd turned 20. But it didn't really sink in then. It hit me a month later, when my brother got know I'd turned 20 and expressed shock. 'Why', I asked him, 'How young did you think I was?'. 'Not young, but dumb. You still have so much to learn...' and his voice trailed off. For this, he got a pillow shoved into his face but I can't quite shake those words off my head. There is indeed so much to learn!

July - Schism.
This period was all about Hugga Bubba Love. Many mistakes made but many more lessons learnt. What is Hugga Bubba Love, you ask?

"T-rex is the man!"
Go read that nutty web-comic. Go.

August - Get Innocuous.
On one side connections were lost ; on the other, devious connections with old mirror images were renewed.
And right in the middle, we set up the fence. Fence101 : lessons in diplomacy, courtesy okienowwhat. I can vouch for its benefits. But it is a very hard thing to implement, this diplomacy. Definitely hard for a female Gemini. And harder for a female Gemini who was born with her foot -wait,scratch that- feet in her mouth.
But there has been some visible improvement. Like the other day, I totally didn't guffaw when my friend asked me how her outrageous outfit looked.

Honest! I only just chuckled! Jeez, give me a break already.

September - The F-word.
Hair trouble.
It is not done. It is just NOT fair that guys can have longer, nicer, healthier hair than us. Than me. Yes, I do believe that the sight of long maned males is delightful, but its not particularly exciting when you are bald in comparison. They don't care, they wouldn't notice if birds laid eggs on their heads but nature doesn't seem to understand where the demand lies!
It pays to be a male, it really does.

October - Take a bow.
The Nobel Quiz was set to happen. Quiz Corp worked hard for it. It wasn't quite the show we expected it to be though. Lessons learnt, yet again. For the event, I was asked to correspond with the media.

Wait, why am I not making this glamorous?
I was the Media Representative. Heh. I have to admit, this PR job, however insignificant it might be in its overall effect, gave me the biggest thrills of the year. Heck, I'd never been this excited to make phone calls! Seeing mum's joy when she saw my name in the newspapers(in grand, 5-5cm sized articles) was full-filling, to say the least. Must thank pjux for opportunity - and for all those phone numbers!

November - Winds of change.
I , for the first time in the history of my being, have issues with Ferrari. Buying Kimi out of the sport itself? Sigh. Saying goodbye to Kimi and welcoming Schumi into another team has been tough. I still dance with all tribal joy when I listen to Ferrari Polka*. So it definitely stings, but now, it won't kill to see the Reinmeister in overalls that aren't red.

*Ferrari Polka by Cuki. Fun track,this.

December - Paint it black.
I'm writing this just before a final exam that I'm not prepared for, with a sore throat, heavy head and runny nose : can't paint with any other color.
I'm surprised none of us died of exam overdose this month. I had an exam outside of college too! The Deutsch exam. I got that German course certificate alright. After a year of working hard, coercing and waiting, the poor lady from the institution finally got me to write a small test and collect the certificate. I slacked off yet again, despite being so passionate about the language. One day though, I'll learn enough to post in German. Count on it.

And Books. Try not to judge me, but I have a serious problem with books. I like them. I want to read them. But I can-not read them. Suddenly though, there are books everywhere. Every conversation I have, I'm introduced to a bunch of book names. So I finally give in, with sincere hopes that I won't give up on the third line of the first book. Little women to The Great Gatsby, the list is ready. I'm hoping I am.
Err..Don't worry, no matter what, I'm not reading anything that might result in MLIT.

In conclusion, this year ends like it began. Some cheer, a few tears and a lot of that general confusion. In Talking Heads' style, when I compare the first month to the last, its the "Same as it ever was". No useful knowledge gained, no substantial achievements made. No milestones conquered. No, crossing that mark by weight is not counted as a milestone.

I did, however, learn a few life-lessons. Like how to sit on the fence and not taste my feet repeatedly. If I sound cryptic in this post, then I've learnt how to not use the internet for dramatics. Also, that Karma goes by a pseudonym. Karma is Chuck Norris. What goes around not only comes back around, it also roundhouse kicks you in the face! And that brings me to the most important thing I learnt this year : Chuck Norris can kick very well and I'm most definitely not Bruce Lee.

Edit : All ranting and invisible/unsuccessful attempts at humor aside, I must add, this year did bring me many smiles and cherished friendships, from January right until December. And I can not, not be thankful. Taking into 2010 nothing but goodwill and the good times, here's my toast to a wonderful year ahead! Happy and Prosperous New Year, everyone. :)

I tag Mirror Image, Vinay, Swathi, Meghana and Idle-in-Thoughts.

Of Sport and Passion.

2009-11-21T17:50:00.003+05:30

This article happened after raking the brain for hours. Six hours. Five of those six came after 00.00 hour.
Anyway, I wrote this for a department fest magazine called Transit. The theme, hence, being 'change' or 'transition'.

Change. One knows not whether it is for good or for bad . Change is all pervading, all affecting. There are many things that change , as we grow. Grow out of our shells, grow out of our habits, grow into adults. All the while, moulding our personality, making us the people we are. And then there are those changes that we have no control over, but still make a massive impact on our lives.
As a Formula 1 fan for about ten years now, I have seen the many changes that this sport has undergone. Be it rules and regulations, new teams, departing teams or simply the change into becoming a sport with theatrics, I have been there to watch. But nothing changed me, as much as Michael Schumacher did.

Michael Schumacher drove his last Formula1 race in October, 2006. It was a breath-taking race, a spectacular display of the Meister's capabilities. Watching him drive would have filled the heart of every fan with pride. After 71 laps, it wasn't just the race that had come to an end. For most people around the world, it was the end of an era. For me, it was the day my childhood ended. I had grown up watching his shiny red car take him to the podium every alternate weekend. This man, along with the team he revived, was the constant change that my life grew around.

Michael Schumacher gave me my identity. He defined my existence as a human being , driving most of my instincts and my puerile opinions. A Schumacher victory or defeat would decide my mood for the following couple of days. Being a tomboy who rarely cried, there was, surprisingly, no resistance for tears that rolled out of my eyes when he crashed. When the same happened to his opponents though, my neighbors would have monstrous laughter echoing through their homes. Defending him or cheering for him was all I ever did. There have been many friends lost over arguments. Countless hair strands were pulled out and plenty of blood vessels threatened to burst, while I watched every race.

It might seem like taking things too far if I said his wins inspired me to do well at school, but yes, they actually did. I particularly remember a project we were asked to do, on our favorite sports person. It was the first time I worked on a project with all of my heart and soul, making helmets and wheels out of paper , scanning the internet for hours and eventually ending up with a mini-biography. The appreciation I received from my teachers only made me love this man more. There have been times when I'd vow to not watch the sport again , all because Schumacher came second and not first. Until Schumi, I wasn't one who thinks of competition. Stories of his dedication to his team and to winning, of how he worked on his car all night , would leave me in a trance. A state of complete awe which would eventually have me motivated and full of energy. I was always told, it was an absurdity to let celebrities and their exploits affect us to such an extent. But how Schumacher drove his races would always show in me and my work. And more often than not, it worked to my benefit. The era of Schumacher was and will always be, the period when I had 'the time of my life'.

Lets jump to the less inviting present. One might say the sport hasn't been drastically affected by Schumacher's retirement. Yes. Only, now there is more drama off-track than on it. If we recall the huge wave of excitement that swept the world when Michael announced a come-back earlier this year, we realise just what he did for this sport. There are many talented drivers, agreed. But no one for whom I would ignore sleep , skip work and ensure that races were not missed. There are Britons who have the whole nation rooting for them, charming Finns who never fail to spice up races , young Germans who don't stop proving themselves. But I, like many fans, still look for Schumachers in them. It is both a matter of pride as well as pain, when every driver who performs well is compared to Schumi. Pain, because no matter how good the newbie is, he is not Schumi. For Schumacher made the sport heavenly. His drives were nothing short of magical. My vocabulary restricts me from expressing articulately, the euphoria he brought to us, Schumacher fans. Michael was special. And he is irreplaceable.

So when Michael retired, I was stranded. For a while, there was nothing that could interest me or inspire me. I believed that it was the end of following the sport. That I wouldn't have anything to look forward to, week after week. That my passion for sport and enthusiasm for life would die a quick death. But three years on, I look back at his retirement as a refreshing reminder of reality. A change that was foisted upon me. After three calm years of introspection, I realize, it was not merely the person that had given me my identity, it was a whole body of ideals. Of heroism, of victory. Of dedication and will. Of simplicity and supremacy. He had been but the embodiment.

With his retirement, a defining feature of my childhood was taken away. And I didn't have a say. I knew then that it was time to grow up. Schumacher, and what he stood for , changed me as a child, helped me grow as a teen and stand by me still. I reiterate, nobody will ever affect my life, like Michael Schumacher did.

A big Thank You! to Nihal and Sid, for getting this piece and me out of our ruts.

Not an F1 post.

2009-10-15T01:13:00.008+05:30

Music is love. If music were a person, I'd want to marry him. (Its another thing that I'd say the same for Batman). There's isn't an instance when music hasn't helped me, there isn't an occasion when music isn't welcome. And I believe one of the most satisfying experiences, apart from living it yourself, comes from sharing music.

I've been blessed to have many generous people around me, who don't take too long to post links to the new discoveries they make. I've also been extremely jobless in scanning arbit sites and well, profile pages (I don't stalk, honest!) , to collect new music. Making an attempt to list out my favorites would be futile, with no doubts. Attempting to post an article about shady songs would be useless as well, because I can name a good number of crazy dudes around me, who'll know songs that are just that much higher up on the weird-o-meter.

So, this edition of my tribute to music will simply list ten artists/songs that are non-english! Famous or unknown, pronounceable names or otherwise, the music is definitely good! :)

Most songs can be found here :

1. Hedningarna.
The inspiration behind this post, I love how the male and female artists blend their voices in with the mystifying beats and enthralling music! They are brilliant. Listen to 'Räven' and tell me if I'm flattering them. I LOVE this song. Love it so much, I can sing those Swedish words even. 'Vargtimmen' meaning 'Hour of the wolf' is just as good. Try this band, if thats the last thing you do. This band and their songs are among the many things that make me want to shout out, All hail Scandinavia!

2. Sigur Rós - Hoppípolla (from the album Takk)
An Icelandic band, these guys play music that I would call exotic! This song is rather famous and has been used for/by various events and networks, including the BBC. Trailers of Slumdog Millionaire used this song as well.. Oh well, the other day TV9 Kannada had this on while talking of the floods in North Karnataka. Famous? Oh yes.
Must give it a listen!

3. Beirut - Prenzlauerberg (from the album Gulag Orkestar)
One of my shadiest search expeditions on the Gulag story got me the name of this album. Initially, I concluded this band was noise. But this song changed my opinion of them. Gotta admit, they are American, they do sing in English, but not much of the song sounds like English to me. Heh!
Mum loves this one. Aunties, please do try.

4. Avial! :D
Yes yes, our very neighbours, this Malayali band won me over. Thanks to an over-enthu quizzer-classmate , I decided to give them a listen. And I'm glad I did. They remind me of Linkin' Park, ever so slightly. If you haven't heard 'Karukara' , you're missing out on some genius here.
Really.

5.Sergio Mendes - Magalenha (OST Dance with me)
Thanks HBO. Most songs from this movie are fantastic, but this one stood out. A Samba number, if I remember right, do give it a listen. You will most definitely pull off a couple of dance moves you didn't think you were capable of. And while you're at it, give the OST a shot as well. There's lots of Latino jazz and Salsa and Cha Cha Cha and what not. Oh oh, do watch the actors perform in the movie. Splendid!
Sigh. Love dance.

6.Gypsy Kings
Discovered them with their version of 'Hotel California' (featured in The Big Lebowski!), which I definitely recommend. And there's 'Oye como va', 'Volare' and many more! Fast and uplifting songs, most of them. They're all Spanish, in case you wanted to know.

7. Manu Chao - Me Gustas Tu
All thanks to Facebook and kind seniors who post links regularly. Fun song. Very catchy!

8-10. German bands.
Of course I had to mention them! There's plenty I haven't been able to get my hands on, in spite of all that searching I do. But among the bands I have heard, here are the ones I really like and songs I suggest you try first.
Rammstein - who dun-know-'em? Plenty songs to list, but I'm currently hooked to 'Sonne', 'Engel' and 'Zerstören'.
Oomph! - Rammstein credit them, listing them as a major influence. Try 'Labyrinth' and 'Augen Auf!'. If you like German, you'll like them.
Steinkind - Boy, can they scream! 'Deutschland brennt' provides an entire week's dose of screaming, for me. 'Larissa' is addictive and 'Ich Muss' helps me stay up till 5 , while I try to mug for an exam at 9.

I would add a few Tamil songs to the list, but since I can't spell any of them properly, I'll let it be. Here's hoping you have the patience and time to listen to all of this. Opinions and of course, more artist/song suggestions(with links, preferably) are very welcome!

An F1 post.

2009-10-14T22:59:00.004+05:30

One post I say I miss seeing Alonso on the podium, he wins the next race.
Last post I said, bring Michael back! Well, it almost happened!

..
Ahem!
..
How I wish Vettel will be world champion this year!!!

Well, all the wishful thinking apart, I really do miss Michael. All I have is this small tribute(flicked off some blessed site) to share with you. Best bits of his last race.

Michael is, without doubt, the best.

(Is this to be mentioned?
Well, the entire clip is a property of the FIA ..I suppose. And I only intend to share some greatness with the people of the world. Please don't take it off,pretty please!)

The kind of post that gets deleted -3

2009-07-11T19:44:00.009+05:30

*Arbit rants that are supposed to pull a disappearing act*

1. Life's been giving me more than my fair share of lessons lately. (Its another thing that I don't seem to learn well.) Coorg is a wonderful place, I love it. (who doesn't?) But on my latest trip to the native, I had a lot to learn - the hard way.
a. When your mother tells you 'take a thick shawl and a sweater' , you take a thick shawl AND a sweater.
With the monsoon season paying a visit, its been raining non-stop in Coorg. We got off at the station there at 5 in the morning and I realised, it wasn't as cold as I'd expected it to be. It was far worse! And the I-can-freeze-the-shit-in-you type weather and I didn't really bond. Not only did my fancy, good-for-nothing stole make me crave sunshine, my feet went defunct. Each foot under two pairs of socks and a shoe, stung so bad, I almost felt the need to check if my toes had turned blue. The weather was unbearable and it got me thinking about the unfortunate many who have no option but to endure it. Until my brain went numb, that is. And to think, when I was younger, I used to wonder why Eskimos wore that many warm clothes. I'd say to myself, it can't get that cold now, can it?
I have nothing to comment on degrees of coldness anymore.

b.My favorite Nike shoes aren't waterproof.
Whats worse than cold feet? Wet-cold feet. Skipping and hopping across the puddles and pits on the almost tar-less road, I tried my best to step only on stones/rocks. But when you come across a pond , you can't really do much but walk across it, placing your foot as lightly as possible. Now knowing me, placing-my-foot-lightly wasn't going to help in anyway, so I told my shoes I was sorry and walked on. And then I hear my shoes go 'I'm sorry too'. You know the feeling of having your intestines twisted and yanked out through your mouth? That's pretty much what I felt as my socks soaked in and passed on the dirty water to my feet.Having to walk on ahead, with my feet going *squish squish* was a feeling that I'd need a whole new set of intestines and cutting tools to describe.

There were a couple more. Like, when you hear a creepy sound, don't locate the cause because the goddamned insect might jump you. And don't say you aren't hungry when you haven't tasted the food. You won't like it when you see others relishing it.
Really.

2. Current obsession(s) :
I'm not depressed, no. I'm just fond of the following lines ; from songs which you should give a listen to, definitely.

"Death makes angels of us all
and gives us wings
where we had shoulders
smooth as raven's
claws "
A Feast of Friends- The Doors

"Our freedom's consuming itself
What we've become
It's contrary to what we want
Take a bow."
Take a bow- Muse.

"I'm feeling rough, I'm feeling raw, I'm in the prime of my life //... I'll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone // ... Love must be forgotten, life can always start up anew //
...We're fated to pretend. "
Time to Pretend- MGMT.

3. I'm a new addition to an already massive fan club. Batman Begins happened a little too late in my life. But it did. And all I have to say is this :
Christopher Nolan, Christian Bale are amazing.
Batman is incredible.
Gary Oldman owns all. (He always has, even before the Batman movies) The Oscars mean less than insect pulp until he wins one.
I'll use this space to thank a certain Jim Gordon for all the help rendered.

4. Harry Potter is heeeeerrreee! I'm not 1% as faithful a fan as most friends around me, but this series brings back fond memories of pre-univ college when everyone's-favorite-blogger(A, indeed) and I,along with another friend,spoke about Harry, Snape and darling Sirius every lunch break, made kick-arse badges and wore them to the theater, to watch movie 4! That was the first time I had bunked college for entertainment purposes and you could tell I was thrilled! heh!
Cheers to those days. :)
Hope the movie won't disappoint!

5. Everyone's saying it. And I can-not not agree. Formula 1 is getting boring. I don't know what should be done, I don't know how the changes can be brought about but I do know what I want to see. Bring back Schumi, bring back Mika, bring back Montoya if need be! Give Alonso a good car , throw Lewis in along with him, say bye-bye to tracks that provide no opportunities for racing, kick Mosley under his chin, do whatever it takes but just give us this :

And when/if that happens, BAN stewards from penalizing the drivers.

Something old this way comes.

2009-07-04T21:38:00.008+05:30

The average age of drivers in Formula1 today is about 28. Young drivers, that's a good thing. But there's many things old in F1 now. Old people managing the circus, old stewards, old parents and aging controversies. And no, old ain't gold here.

To explain :
1.The old, slow-brained stewards penalize people a little too much. The penalty for Sebastian Vettel at Australia, for *racing*, completely blew the concept of such penalties for me.

2.Old parents are Ok, I have no issues with them-as long as they do not hog the camera. Call me a cold slab of Granite if you wish to, but I haven't the slightest desire to watch them exult with joy on seeing their genes on the podium or express deep shock over a smoky engine. (You can add slightly old pussy cats and dolls to this list.)

3.Controversies. F1 seems to have a theme for each season. 2007 had the Spy-gate controversy (whatte-story! Make a movie anyone?).

2008 had bored Stewards playing snake and ladder with the drivers for pawns. But whatever the gurus had planned for this year, certainly isn't working. F1 is getting boringly monotonous. I say 'boringly monotonous' because Michael's dominance was still enjoyable. Like a wise friend (a non-Schumi fan,mind you) told me, "Michael's victories were a lot more classy". And whats worse is, we have tasteless battles being fought by the oldies. Talking of whom, I move to the finally category of annoying oldness.

4.I only want to express my irritation on the itch in everyone's butt- Mosley. The old dictator who likes turning Jewish in bedrooms , can't seem to get the message. *Everyone is sick of him!* We had the F1 greats, most teams and drivers breathe a sigh of relief when he announced he wouldn't stand for re-election. And what do you know? It doesn't take him too long to go back to the media and say something to the effect of "Looks like I'm needed. I can't leave F1 like this. I may stand for re-election if necessary. I won't walk away from a fight." @#$%*!
Cost reduction is required, yes. But in my opinion, if teams want to spend, they should be allowed to! Its not like they would spend without a cause. How about we let them decide their budget? If teams cant find enough money, they should look for more means of survival, like its always been done. Else, there are other racing series they can walk into (and perhaps dominate?) I firmly believe Formula1 is a class apart from all other forms of racing and I'm not for lowering its standards in any way. I agree the budget cap will help new teams come in, help the weaker teams do better, but quite frankly, I don't care-not as much as I care for Ferrari anyway.
You can tell a person's brains are rusted when he makes a statement like this , "F1 can survive without Ferrari". *ahem* HAHAHA! Wait, isn't this the team that's been with F1 since forever? Isn't this the team with (arguably) the biggest fan following? Isn't F1 almost synonymous with Ferrari, to a large part of the audience? With the big teams failing to deliver this year, we see a decline in F1's popularity. And our old buddy actually believes F1 will survive without them? "Survive", it will, perhaps, but on life-support.
If I haven't been able to convey the reasons for my dislike well enough, get this ; I just don't like his face. I can-not wait to scream out "auf Wiedersehen, sucker!". If Mosley has his way or stays on as the chief of the FIA, I'm all for a new series with FOTA taking charge.
In which case, I will hold an Indian-ised funeral in the loving memory of Formula 1. You are invited.

With fingers crossed on hopes of seeing a German win the German GP next weekend, I'll sign off by wishing Formula 1 a speedy recovery.

A little game called go insane.

2009-05-01T00:59:00.003+05:30

Doors dedic, yes.

Funny is my thing. Atleast, I badly want it to be. And so, I keep myself from posting when what I have to say cannot accommodate funny. But I couldn't find a better place to proclaim my love.Status messages do not look good when you have epics written on them. So well, the latest addition to my list of obsessions and fetishes, what manages to drive me insane : Voices.

I have nothing much to say, really. Just that I love deep voices. Yes, there was a time when I thought nothing or no one could surpass Shane. The lead singer of Westlife, remember? (no? thought so.) And then there was Bryan Adams and a few years later, Bon Jovi. After three years of listening to Jovi's inspirational songs, I discovered Gothic rock and oh, did engineer-in-the-making-depressed-me love it! All the black , the deep voices, dark lyrics..heavenly. Nothing gets better than Finnish Rock, when you're looking for deep or opera-ish voices. Try HIM(a good looking front man can never hurt) and Theatre of Tragedy, you'll know what I mean.
Right now, there's The Killers. The lyrics, the voice, the music-all addictive. Also, Eddie Vedder. 'Into the Wild' ,anybody? \m/ Cannot articulate better.

Whats better than just deep voices? Jim Morrison. The long-hair/Greek-God look only adds to the baritone I so love. The first time I heard 'The End' by The Doors, I sat still for over half an hour, in complete awe. Morrison's voice took me to this whole other place! When he sings 'Riders on the storm' , I put off all work at hand and let my soul enjoy music,at its best. As (awesomely) weird as the man was, nothing compares to his poems or songs, and the way he voices them. I could mention many,many lines that I absolutely love, but I guess I'll leave them for you to discover, if you haven't already.

There's a whole lot of other artists I love, obviously. Many brilliant artists. Probably many,many more that I haven't come across yet. But I'll limit this post to so much. After all, it started of with me wanting to put up a status message saying 'I love deep voices'.
If there are any artist/band/song recommendations you'd like to make, please do! :)

P.S. GO VETTEL!!!!!
Yes, I'm still loyal to Ferrari.

The kind of post that gets deleted-2

2009-01-16T14:05:00.008+05:30

Arbit rants again. Not one of those unfortunate beings that interact with me everyday? It might do you(and the number of your future visits to this blog) good to skip this one. :)

1.This picture will probably be an all time favorite. I can't help but grin every time I see it!
What is it about? This is a small joke, on a bigger joke called Lewis Hamilton. Canada-08,anybody? Mr.World Champion(that would be Hamilton,for now), while moving at snail's pace in the pit lane, apparently did not see the red lights at the exit. Snail's pace in F1 being around 60kph, he was set to crash. The fox conveniently chose to crash into Kimi(he drives one of them red cars we call Ferrari ;) ), who was then his strongest opponent.

If I'm going down, I'll take you with me kinds. Smart man,ain't he? Rotten eggs to him and a hug to the person who drew this cartoon!

2. Picture this : Just done welcoming the New Year, I'm extremely tired but have to study for an exam I have the next day. Very late in the night(almost morning,really), my brain is refusing to accept any information-but I have to study. So there I am, cursing myself for not having studied before, fighting sleep and laziness, desperately trying to understand what lay in front of me. In an attempt to refresh the scenario, I select random folders on my system, turn on the 'shuffle' mode and plan to let random songs play. The very next song that comes on goes 'Kya hai problem? Kyun tera Bheja kum?', while screaming out 'idiot!' at regular intervals.(from Taare Zameen Par).

The world doesn't stop screwing with me,does it?

3.Formula1 again. Skip, if you must.
So the FIA had its gala, with all cost-cutting measures in place. They got out a video for the 2008 F1 season, drawing ridiculous and annoying comparisons between Ayrton Senna and Hamilton. The video also had Hamilton's pussy-cat-doll screaming her head off every 10 seconds. Now, the official site's photo gallery has a bunch of photos of the gala. While there is one of last year's champion,Kimi, there's plenty of Anthony. Who, you ask? Remember that face that was constantly shown to you, race after race, while all you watched tv was for some racing action? Yes, that guy who got more tv coverage than most other drivers combined! Daddy, baby Hamilton's daddy. Anyone care to join in for a petition, say, to get them to show more of the drivers and the racing? If that's not too much to ask for, of course. :)

4. This one is easy. I don't have to drill through my brain, looking for words.
I want certain people from Ujjain to fly down and if possible, settle down in Bangalore!
I want to go to Saarang! And if that's not to happen, I want to be gifted three mobile phones. Good ones. One for myself and one for each of the dear souls on either side of the fence.

5. Torturing the few surviving brain cells in my head, I wondered, isn't it weird how relationships change? Friends without whom you had imagined you would cease to exist, you talk to only if the Gods of the internet brought you online at the same time. Relatives who you grew up with simply don't seem as familiar as you would want them to.
Likewise, with obsessions! They arrive, they drive you crazy and then they pass. I've had plenty. There were the small ones like Westlife, Blue, Bryan Adams. And then I grew up. Slightly bigger ones like WWE and Linkin' Park. Come college, massive ones in the form of Bon Jovi and Harry Potter. I remember forcing my friends to watch live performances of Bon Jovi. Now I realize, my friends didn't hear what I heard when Richie Sambora produced those amazing sounds with his talkbox in 'livin on a prayer'. I realize, my friends didn't see what I saw when a long-haired Jon Bon Jovi flashed that billion-watt smile. Being in the position my friends were in back then, I find it funny how my views changed. And how they keep changing!

But life isn't much without obsessions,is it? Now, my mother, as much as she likes The Doors,can not understand what I find in Morrison's cheery poems about death. And she certainly does not appreciate Gothic Rock. I probably will laugh at this someday, but All hail Morrison! :)

Of all obsessions I've had in life, one stayed. And to this day, my life revolves around it. It was love at first sight for me, when I saw Schumacher's car zooming past all the others, like they were stationary toys on the track. This, in 2001. I can confidently state that Schumi and hence Formula1 made life better. This being my biggest passion ever, I could go on. And on. But there's a part of me that says it deserves a little more than a corner of a post I plan to delete. :)

Finishing off with another picture that I love, this I post with more optimism than confidence.

Heck, I can't wait for the Formula1 season to start!

The one with all the goodwill.

2009-01-07T15:57:00.009+05:30

Keeping with my habit of warning all innocent beings out there,
Please note: This post is infested with inside jokes and that may result in you not understanding my blink-and-miss attempts at humour.

So, in case you didn't get the message, I won an award. Yes,I know its not the kind that I can proudly tell my father about. In fact,its the kind that makes my mother laugh(out loud). But it is special because somebody else, who comes close to being my mentor, gave it to me.

"This award is given to a blog that invests and believes in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award"

*Lets all be nice children and show some respect,ok? :) *

Considering the fact that this could be the only award I'll ever get, lets thank a few of those people I should thank. No,really.
Thanks to mom, for letting me use the internet whenever I want to,inspite of the strict rules I'm supposed to abide by. Among others, Nihal(my good ol' F1 mate and the reason why my first post came up), Gautam(who more often than not does something that makes me want to write),Arjun(the theories he builds!),thanks. And of course, all my friends who (are forced to) read my blog and leave that tiny little comment to make me feel good,thanks.

Time I do my bit and pass this on. Since I have a problem with numbers(among other issues), I can't stick to eight. But going by the text above, more awards given, more friendships propagated,right? :)

Akshata
This lady needs no introduction in this part of the world.She's the perfect person I always wanted to be. Her blog has excellent ideas-each turned into a masterpiece , brilliant language, beautiful poems, a tinge of attitude(the right kind) and more of the good stuff,all garnished with wit.(She happens to be a very good cook too!) Nothing I say can compliment her talent well enough, so with a big 'thank you' for two splendid years at college,here's the first award.

Siri
Here's someone I definitely can't do justice to, with just my words. The life of every gathering, it doesn't take her too long to win hearts. Over 30 articles for a leading newspaper, numerous articles for Citizen Matters, editor of the college magazine, a bunch of interviews(she's been the interviewer and the interviewee!), a fan following-all before she turned **(as young as she is,she doesn't like it when we mention her age). And if you still require a kid to break it to you, she's among the best writers that have walked the ground of our (beloved)state.
The most sought after person in adoption issues, she fills in every void that life lays in front of her children and siblings. Here's to the person who walked into my life just as I was to surrender to certain evil forces of the 8th mile, the person who made college fun.
I'm lucky. Why? Do you know someone to whom you can say 'lets get depressed together!' with a huge smile on your face and feel great about the plan? No? Thought so. :)

Padma and Nandini- Here's the first of the twin awards.
Padma has a blog that reflects her, with an additional supply of attitude and wit. Simple and fun,that's her and her blog as well. The quiet one that keeps a certain infamous group tightly knit, she's my partner in majestic and well planned crimes that are never committed and well, quizzes where we battle our demons. Would love to give her a Darcy but this award is the best I can do. :)
Nandini. (the . was necessary) Of trees,dates and branches. Of happy-talk(find suitable synonym), tasty food and issues with hormones. A LOT can be said about the wonderful equation I have with this lady, if only I could. Here's an award for having a thought-provoking blog name and for being that special person I can't do without.

Soda and Nakul
What can I say? One loves saying things like 'women are complicated pa' and the other always talks high of the female kind. But both,willingly or unwillingly put up with my constant rants, hyper-ness and depressions alike. There's Soda who saves my soul with excellent tuitions a day before an important exam(bunking a class,that too! ;) ) and Nakul,who simply has nice advice to offer,when I need it. The future of a certain quizzing community(cough!), these young lads also happen to write very well. With a special mention of Soda's ability to come up with excellent titles for his posts, out go two more awards.

Vijay
Is it possible to love someone even after they beat you up,cause mental torture and almost-permanently damage your backbone? Apparently,yes. There's a clan that specializes in such display of greatness. Those losers are called sisters.
This cousin of mine maintains a blog when he's not busy winning quizzes and national level essay competitions,making fun of almost everyone around or simply torturing(or getting tortured by) street dogs. My guru since always, I picked up everything he left behind.(be it F1, wwe or Iron Maiden) I have no hopes of getting anything out of his huge first salary but I shall say this anyway: his articles are absolute fun to read (even when he's talking about eating/not eating dogs) and you should give his blog a visit. :)

Datta
*For additional effects, play Get Back by Ludacris*
Yes,the master of all masters does have a blog. But hey, when you're this busy winning tennis tournaments, acing exams, building cars, posing for photo-shoots with important people, winning/breaking hearts, reading everything the internet has to offer, making chicken soup, spreading cheer, making lives better and generally making sure every sentence that comes out of your mouth is witty, how would you find the time to blog,right? Needless to say, the man can write very well and hopefully, will start writing again. Since no part of my brain can come up with a fancy way of praising this person sufficiently, I shall stop. He's just one of those people everyone should have the privilege of knowing.
(and just when you think you've exhausted all kinds of praises, he'll come up with a new one-in honour of himself. ;) )

The Siddharths of Kharagpur
a. Sid Prabhu
Mr.I'm-too-busy-to-do-any-of-the-stuff-you-do-online really has a tight schedule. Though he doesn't have a blog of his own,each of his comments on other's blogs are worthy of being blog posts. Oh and he happens to be on the team of The Scholars Avenue! This award goes to him because he can write(and well) and also for being : a great senior at school, one of the best-est friends I could ever ask for ,the great adopted brother that he is and for simply making life better.
b. Sid Singh
Would you spend time helping out a cranky,hopeless teenage girl that you know not too well,with her trivial issues? Zoo,as he is fondly called at IIT,wouldn't mind. And he's not just a nice guy, he blogs very well. His blog oozes nerdiness and wit. :D Oh also, he's homophobic and blogs about it! Definitely a must-visit,dont you think?

Swathi
This happening lady blogs about everyday's everythings and in style! Just what I would like to read when I want to cut-off from the world I know. Simple and refreshing. And very worthy of an award meant for super-nice bloggers.

And well, lets give extra credit to a personality that battles various forces to be able to blog :
Myself
I step out into the world everyday and be myself. Like that's not enough, I come here and blog to keep my stupidity on display to the virtual world. And that requires courage(among many other characteristics you may be aware of). So this is in honour of that personality of mine that doesn't give up on blogging irrespective of how stupid my other personalities think it is. Cheers to me! :)

On a concluding note :
If I have missed out on a couple of names(sheesh!) I should've mentioned,sorry.
If I was under some kind of an obligation to give you the award but still didn't, sorry again.
If you're a great writer and a Lewis Hamilton fan...serves you right, sucker! :P

I'm not done with my name

2008-11-20T02:04:00.012+05:30

No,not yet. Welcome to round 2 of the name-bashing. In my other post, 'Whts in a nme?' (still hurts to type words like that!), among other things, I said "Yes,I know my name isn't all that bad". I write today,because I think otherwise.

It all started with a classmate making fun of my name. Strange as it may seem, I've never been made fun of,over my name. Nicknames,yes. Crazy reactions and pronunciations,yes. But no one ever told me "Funny name! Haha!" and went on to deform my already handicapped name.Not until now. I was angry. Why me? Why do I have such a lame name? This frustration eventually led to curiosity(God knows how). I wanted to know more about my name. So I've been named after a Roman Goddess. Which Goddess? Whats the story built around her? And what does an aging teenager do,when faced with questions like these? Google.
I looked up 'Roman Goddess Merin' ,on Google. The link to my previous post(where I've mentioned the whole Goddess thing) sat on top of the result screen. My heart sank. As in, no other site on the www spoke of Roman Goddesses known by the name Merin? More research!!! I typed in 'Origin of name Merin' but apart from learning arbit possibilities of the origin, I was slapped across the face,again,with the fact that 'Merin' is not-a-feminine name. And well, no Roman Goddesses. Now I had just one option left. I called out, "Maa!".

Me: Ma,I ran a google search on my name..
Mom: So? Have nothing better to do now that your internals are over?
Me: Listen! There's nothing about any Roman Goddess with my name!!
..
Mom: *grins*
..
Me: *stare* What?
Mom: Took you so long to figure this out?
...
Voice in my head : WTF?! Does she mean what I think she means?! No way man! This is outrageous! Say something! Anything!!!
..
Me: What? *more of the lame my-last-brain-cell-just-died staring*
Mom: Oh it isn't the name of any Roman Goddess. Your dad and I just liked it.
Me: You mean...?! What the hell does my name mean then?! (Oh a couple of 'em cells were alive!)
Mom: We just liked the name. We didn't know what to tell you,so we thought Roman Goddess sounded nice.
Me: You lied to me all my life?! (No,this is not the effect of watching saas-bahu shows. Trust me,you actually react this way,in situations like this.)
Mom: Ok,sorry. But for me, it'll always mean Roman Goddess,ok?
Me: Who in-the-f'ing-name-of-Lewis-Hamilton cares what you would like to think?! You lied?! However did you come up with this name then? Where'd you find it?!
Mom: The Pandit told us your name had to begin with m and we wanted a 5 letter name. And your dad's name starts with m and my name begins with n. So we just put this all in together.
Me: (After spending 15 seconds trying to digest that) So you just had m---n and you filled in random alphabets in the middle?!
Mom: Look I don't remember how we came up with it, but its no big deal. You're my Goddess,ok? Its just a name. (And walks off,making me feel highly immature).

Voice in my head: No,wait,Just a name?! Hello? Its my name. Its like the frikkin' passport number that your passport bears or the whatever code the processor-chip of your computer has! Only much more important!! Come back!

But that stayed in my head. I felt like I'd been robbed. (Don't you call me dramatic,you haven't spent 19 years being called 'merin'!). My name actually had no proper origin/meaning/gender. This was sad. The pathetic, jump-into-the-path-of-a-moving-cycle type sad. I sat in my room for a while,along with my different personalities,trying to cope with the truth.

It wasn't very long before I went back to Google. 'Merin' has to have a meaning! It has to exist somewhere! I'm a frikkin' Goddess!! And I found a page alright. A page that spoke of a Deity named Merin. And how I wish I'd never looked for it!
So there exists a Deity of the name 'Olori Merin',worshiped by the Yoruba-Speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa. Then again, its a HE. He's a God. But that's not the worst thing I was to find out. Here's exactly what that site had to say :

Olori-merin, possessor of four heads, is another god whose worship is nearly, if not quite, obsolete. He was the tutelary deity of towns, and was represented by a hillock, or, if no hillock existed within the precincts of the town, by an artificial mound.

Sacrifice was made to Olori-merin every three months, or four times a year, and always consisted of a new-born child not more than three or four days' old. The child's throat was cut by a priest, and the blood, caught in a calabash or earthen vessel, was placed on the summit of the mound, after which the flesh was sliced up into small pieces and buried in the mound. During this dreadful scene the mother had to be present. This sacrifice was called Ejodun (Eje-odun), "The season of blood."

Olori-merin had, as his name betokens, four heads, with which he watched the four points of the compass from the top of his mound, and it was believed that no war or pestilence could attack a town under his protection. He had the legs and feet of a goat. Sometimes, at -night, he appeared in the shape of a venomous serpent.
(If you think I'm SO messed up in the head that I would cook this up, here's the site. )

Now I have every right to scream, WHY ME?! Couldn't my parents have thought of some other set of alphabets to complete their ever-so-special m---n puzzle?! This flood of self-pity suddenly made way for enlightenment. The truth. Stark reality, if I'm allowed to make this sound fancy. Names are said to affect personalities...aren't they?

Now we know the root-cause of my spooky ideas! Next time I joke around saying "I need to see blood! or I'm going to slit his throat with a blunt knife,Joker style! or I'll frikkin' chop him into pieces,yank his intestines out and feed it to dogs!", you know whom to blame. Its NOT my fault. I was born normal; but over the years, my name worked on a couple of those personalities I shelter. And there was once a time when I thought a couple of disturbing Marilyn Manson songs that I liked made my brain think extreme,when frustrated.

When I reported my findings to my (permutation-combination loving) mother,she walked away,laughing-but I saw shock and a tinge of fear in those eyes. For those of you who haven't dismissed this as a ridiculous post by a jobless engineering student whose life revolves around her name(ahem...anybody?), you've no reason to worry. No,really. Nothing changes but for the one statement I would proudly announce when asked about the meaning or origin of my name. I'll probably spend the next one hour spoiling my soul with self-pity and then I should be back to my weird-er old ways. :)

Meanwhile, I prepared a wish-list(number1,draft1) for Christmas/New Years. I haven't asked for better hair/better genes et all, because they've featured on the list way too often(and have been ingored everytime). I've not asked for world peace and a solution to Global Warming because sane statements have always been a misfit in this blog. Here's what I'd like to ask for:

1. A Ferrari Fiorano 599. Yes, I frikkin' know that's too much to ask for,so how about flight and race tickets to ANY Formula1 race next season? (Preferably Imola or Belgium :) )

2. Hmmm,lets see.. more than 5 exam-less days per semester,in college? Wouldn't that be lovely!

3. A new brain. The last one I bought can't be used as it submitted itself to this disease they call 'rusting' and the one I'm using right now has to be discarded as repeated attempts at defrosting have failed. (This shows not only on the blog but also in my exam results.)

4. Santa/Mom-Dad can choose between a new vehicle, hormone-overpowering grey matter and make-me-a-good-programmer pills.

5.Like duh!, a new name. ( We're not past the one-hour mark yet.)

P.S. To certain members of the society who will find bright opportunities in this post :
Crude jokes about the new found connection this five lettered thing called name has,will not go down well with my system. This entire rant must be enough for you to understand that. If it isn't,I can always call upon snakes-at night. Ha!

The 2008 Formula1 season is over.We won't stop talking about it for long though,will we?

2008-11-04T22:14:00.006+05:30

And so this gripping,overly-competitive,controversy-filled or in one word, brilliant season is done with. How many times did we go about discussing which driver would win,whether FIA would come out with more biased decisions, whether DC would finish the next race, whether Alonso would crash into Lewis sometime(damn the guy for not doing it!),whether Force India would score any points at all and oh,whether or not Kimi would retire at the end of this season! And could we ask for a better finale? I don't think so. For a review of the race (if you are looking for one ) visit http://www.grandprix.com/race/r803racereport.html . I'm not writing about the race simply because I can't. I can,in no way,explain what happened in the race and how emotions ran loose.The person who has written that article though, has done a great job and has made a mention of every driver/team(most of us forgot about 'the others',didn't we?).

So here's what I have to say about a select bunch of drivers,followed by a small discussion about the next season! :)

Massa : How obvious was it,that I would start with him? "He isn't that good","He makes too many mistakes","He's isn't champion-material"..what else have the critics said? Yes,that exact bunch of super-humans who,right now,are having a hard time getting their feet out of their mouths? He didn't just silence the world with his aggression and determination but also showed unbelievable courage,as he stood on the podium this weekend,in the most dignified manner. No,going into the last race,I had no hopes of seeing Massa win the championship this year. But the race had me believe that Massa would,miraculously,win it. But he didn't. Can you get closer to winning a championship? A corner and a straight. That was all Lewis needed to grab the trophy back. When we,mere audience, lost our minds(did anyone suffer a nervous break-down? I'd like to know.My mom almost called for a doctor.) and felt our hearts break and sink, whatever went through that man's head,as he stood saluting thousands of fans? After a steady season and a stunning drive(in changing weather conditions-in front of God knows how many fans-with all the pressure in the world), all I can say is, Massa has trully arrived! And my respect for him has only increased,multi-fold. Hope to see him fight back,and win,in the future.

Lewis : Yes,the first Afro-Caribbean(correct?), youngest fellow to win the championship; The richest Briton, who dates a woman who has a band with a name I despise; The guy who should be gifted the record for rubbing people the wrong way and also, crashing into stationary cars in the pit-lane(I'm certain not many people have achieved this feat) : well,Lewis did it this year! Daddy's boy held onto his pants and managed not to press arbit buttons on the steering wheel this time around. Ok,in all fairness to Hamilton, he is definitely a fantastic driver and you don't need to hear me say it. I hate to admit that his style reminds me of Schumi,but I can't help but compare. He is a great driver. But for me,the greatness stops at that. Congratulations to him and all his fans. Hope we get to see more good,clean racing from him next year.

Kimi :What, oh what do I write here?! Steve Slater said that it seemed like Kimi would fall asleep once a race began, wake up towards the end and then charge through the field! Hard to disagree with that,the way this man has been performing. For majority of the season,he either didn't finish or he'd 'wake up' towards the end. What was the problem? Car didn't suit his driving style? Lack of motivation? Just bad luck? Whatever the reason maybe,I sure as hell am glad he's staying in Formula1!! And it certainly is fun to read about drivers turning up to Ski-resorts under famous-fake names and boating events dressed in Gorilla suits! Hope this fun(read alcohol)-loving Finn gets his act right next year. Needless to say,he's a great driver and actually,I'm sure he will be back with a bang! :)

DC : The man of Formula1 retires this year,but sadly his last race wasn't exactly a send-off one would wish for. After being a part of the sport for 15 years,he leaves as one of the most successful non-champions(Going by what Steve said!). One of the most respected drivers around,David always knew the wittiest things to say and he'll surely be missed. Looking forward to those (non-driving)F1 activities he's got planned for himself. :)

Alonso : Yes,he no longer is the human I hate the most in this world. He is a fantastic driver and no one can deny that. (Not even the Merin of 2006.)What he achieved with the car he was given this year is remarkable and I sincerely hope he gets a car that a man of his skill desreves,for 09! And,for once,I don't mind hearing all that he's got to tell the world(since most of it is directed towards/against you-know-who). ;)

Fisi : Why him? Because he has been a blessing to Force India. I think the experience he carried along,while joining the team,helped them grow-immensely. And I definitely won't forget the several occasions where he beautifully defended his Force India against superior teams like Mclaren. Well,thumbs up for a great effort and good luck for the next season!(if he plans to stay,that is).

Vettel : Been saving the best for the last! I love Vettel. (The excess amount of love I'm showering on the fellow could be a result of his role in the championship battle though). I've said it before and I'm saying it again,Vettel has what it takes to shine in Formula1. He's young,he has the skill,the aggression and most of what it takes to be champion. He has lots to learn and lets hope he will,soon. He's been doing well in other series and this year, he even won a race, overtook Lewis (ha!) and what not. That's got me rooting for him. But I remember having similar opinions about Rosberg(who,sadly,didn't do very well this year),at the start of this season.Hope Vettel continues to drive well. Let this overtaking maneuver he pulled on Lewis not be a one-time wonder like the one Sato pulled on Alonso! (remember that? :D )

Looking ahead to season 09,there are, but a few transfers happening.
There are these bonds between drivers and teams now. Bonds that are growing to resemble this-
Michael : Ferrari
And the one that stands out prominently is Lewis : Mclaren.
And, I can probably add, Alonso : Renault , Rosberg : Williams.

Lewis and Mclaren certainly seem to work well together and I don't see him leaving the team-not for a very long time,surely. Heikki stays at Mclaren for another year. But as good as he was this year,he didn't remind me of the previous Finns who drove for Mclaren. Ferrari have Massa and Kimi booked for a couple of years now. Am I happy? I guess so. As much as I like both drivers,it would be nice to see a fresh face in the red suit. Someone like Vettel!! Talking of whom, his move to Red Bull,I think,isn't great. Wonder if they can provide him a car with which he can challenge for wins! Rosberg stays with Williams-who promise to improve next season,what with their immense research in the much-talked-about 'KERS' technology. Apart from Honda,Toro Rosso and Force India,teams have announced their line-up for the next season. Except of course, Renault. I'm not too sure about Nelsinho, but Alonso should probably stay put. No other team can possibly satisfy his ego and provide a car that's good enough. The team seem to be improving and they have performed well before,maybe they can help him win more races,and even fight for the championship next year!
Also,there's Bruno Senna(does he need any introduction?) who is supposed to test for Honda, India's Karun Chandhok who supposedly will test for Force India and Germany's Nico Hulkenberg(helped Germany win in A1,last season) who has been testing for Williams.And there are others,mostly from GP2 who have been linked to STR Ferrari and/or Honda. I'm hoping to see young blood racing around in F1,next season!

There are also the rule changes,that I haven't really read about,yet. The KERS, tyre(threading) width, conditions on aerodynamics-related modifications and so on. I also wonder if they'll bring around changes in the qualifying pattern. I hope they do. And how would it be if they awarded a point or two to the pole-setter? After all,the guy who bags the pole doesn't stay ahead after the first five corners,a lot of times.He might as well be given a point for the pole,is what I feel. Your opinion?

Now we have the long,gruelling wait. Four slow months,with no F1. I'm looking forward to reading about the FIA gala though,which happens in December. I'm more than eager to watch their video,which brings out the best moments of the season. IF you haven't already watched last season's video(which,by the way,is brilliant),here's the link. http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg33tkyvG5A .

I'm done, I guess, with all the talking I wanted to do. Looking forward to another-I'm sure-mindblowing season, this coming year! :)

P.S. Any 'fact' that I've mentioned wrong,please let me know.

The kind of post that gets deleted when my senses find me-1

2008-10-21T19:04:00.007+05:30

*Arbit statements. Not for those who have brains that work-well.*

Right,so there are a lot of things that I don't understand these days and even the magical discussions with mum don't seem to help. Right from the everyday non-sense to Formula1. And, it looks like I can't think of anything better to do than put these 'questions' out here!
Starting with the not-so-normal everyday stuff :
1. Why do I put up posts when I have internals starting in a day and I have not touched ANY book? Especially when I have nothing specific to talk about?
2. I don't paint my face white or use black lip-stick,or use sticky substances to make my hair stand in different styles. I don't talk about pain and death all the time and I certainly don't believe in Satan.Then what explains my sudden love for Gothic Rock and deep,haunting voices?!
3. How do some people manage to take every joke made on them real well? And live with it even if they aren't appreciated enough for being sportive?
4. How and why did Chuck Norris become a part of my everyday conversation?!
5. Why are we,normal teenage kids in a normal engineering college,so obsessed with pairing people up? Especially when the two people have a lot in common..like their gender..?
6. WHY on Earth are a guy and a girl 'teased' only because they hang around together? (And that,while waiting for certain seniors to join them and brighten their day!)
7. How do PPTs of a ball that has lost a part of it make my class-mates roar with laughter? *wink*
8. When did I get the guts(or lets say,when did my last brain cell die?) to make fun of seniors,on their face?
9. Since when does my optimized vocabulary revolve around just one or two not-very-pleasant words

Moving on to a topic that I'm more eager to talk about :
1. Do I pay for cable tv, only to watch Lewis Hamilton's father,brother,mother,step-mother, and I hate to add, Massa's father?! And oh,watch Lewis hug his mom and step-mom? Why are those faces repeatedly shown on tv?! WHY?!
2. How jobless is Alonso to go around saying he's going to help Massa? Like he can do anything to actually help. If Massa achieves anything at all, we'll have other fans say he doesn't deserve it because he got help!
3. Not a day goes by,when I don't talk about how much I miss Schumi and how I wish I could see him on the racing circuit again. Doesn't look like I'll ever have this wish come true. But, just twice I mentioned(on this very blog),that I miss seeing Alonso on the podium. And voila! There he is,on the top step.Two races in a row. Why?! Whoever said 'Be careful what you wish for', must've said it out of some solid experience!
4. What will I have to face from Mclaren fans once Lewis wins the championship?! (Lord,give me strength!)
5. Do I openly admit that I too believe the FIA supports Ferrari quite a bit? (Agh,the embarrassment!)

There's more,really. Like Why I don't feel like studying,Why my friends and I visit depression oh-so-often,Why creeps pester nice people with high order e-mails,and what not. But what the heck,I'll stop.

Whts in a nme?

2008-10-08T19:45:00.008+05:30

That's supposed to be 'Whats in a name?'. For the few who have just studied the first few chapters of 'Unix:Concepts and Applications' by the How-I-wish-I-could-marry-this-operating system author , this title can be misleading. I'm not going to talk about file names.This is about MY name. And the title has those weird looking words because I also want to make a small mention of what I think of the 'super-cool' SMS lingo.

First, my name. Merin. I've been told that it is the name of a Roman Goddess(yay me!) and it means 'merry' or 'happy'. Let me tell you how a usual introduction-session happens,in my life.
Someone: Hi,I'm someone.
Me: Hello, I'm Merin.
Someone: Sorry?
Me: M-E-R-I-N. Merin. Don't worry, no one gets my name right at the first attempt.

Now that gives me one of these responses :
1. No,I got it. Merin. Or,
2. Merin..? Oh....Unusual name...Are you Christian?
Me: No, I'm Coorgi. Just got a name that's very-Christian.

Then there are those set of questions that completely stump me ;
Not Christian?? Hehe,you're joking right? Or,
Oh! You're not Christian?? ......How come?

How come? I dunno,how come?! I've almost always had to answer weird questions about my name, how my parents came up with it, what it means, why I have such a name inspite of not being Christian. I lost count very long back,of the various transformations my name has undergone. Meril, Marlyn, Marium, Marin... and the one that wins,hands down-Mary. I've had many people pronounce my name in many different and ridiculous ways. There are people who even stopped trying to get it right! My German teacher had such a problem trying to get my name right,even after six classes,that he finally decided he was going to use my Coorgi name,Kaveri instead. And there's worse than just wrong pronunciations. I've had people read my name and go 'Whats that?!!'. I don't blame them.'Merin' wouldn't sound like a name to me either!

And oh,here's the bomb. I met a girl online,while looking for would-be classmates in my new college. When I finally meet her in college,she says this: "Oh my God!!! I thought you were a guy!!!!!" .I'm not sure which one of us was more shocked.When I finally decide to join the community for all the Merins in the world,on a social networking site,I learn that there are guys with my name! Is it embarrassing or simply sad when I get friend-requests from the guy-Merins? Especially when most of them have the same cool quotient as this : 'It gives warm feeling to find girl with same name. We can be best friends.' And I got one that said 'Hey! Guess what! We have the same name! And I'm guy! We can have great life ahead!'. Now,assuming the worst of what that could mean, imagine an invite that reads 'Merin weds Merin'. So wonderful,innit?

Yes,I know my name isn't all that bad. Some friends even find my name 'interesting'. It certainly is far from being the worst name.For example, I have a relative back in Coorg whose actual name is Pussy. No kiddin'!!! What were her parents thinking?! Were they even thinking? Well,what were my parents thinking anyway?
All this trauma, if I may call it that,made me drop a certain oath I'd taken long back. For The Periodic Table and me, it was love at first sight. I'd sworn to name my first kid Mendeleev-irrespective of the gender.(In case you didn't know,he designed the masterpiece I fell in love with).I guess, now I know better than to do that. I like a new name now,because it pretty much describes me and how I behave when I'm all hyper. Tipsy. What do you think of it?
;)

And yes, I have to make a mention of the issue that has been driving me crazy. The SMS lingo. Whats with compressing every other word till its unrecognizable,skipping innocent alphabets in every word and even replacing them with alternate alphabets when there is absolutely no need?! Yes, I too use 'u' for 'you' and 'ur' for your, when the number of characters in my message just exceeds the maximum limit for a single message. You know,to save the very important paise. But why do that even when its not necessary? Is it an attempt to sound 'kool'? Oh wait, its kewl, isn't it? ARGH! That's got to be the most mind-numbingly 'un-cool' term ever!

There's wid(with), ma(me/my), yo(you), lik(like), den(then), dat(that), iz(is), wuz(was) and what not! There's the bunch that don't even serve the purpose of saving money. Vish(wish), totali(totally), la8er(later) and so many others. I can go on and on,with this list. There's also the overuse of 'z'. Lolzzzzzzz , frenzzzzzzzzzz!! And get this! 'Wil u cum today?' or ' Im cummin now'. I mean, What the..?!

It is highly frustrating,to have to read messages like that. Cold-blooded murder of the language,that's what it is! I'm only requesting those I know, to not do this. Typing those few extra alphabets won't kill you or paralyze your thumb. I admit, I used to use the weird lingo when I first got my phone. I don't now. And trust me, my thumb works just fine.
Thank you! :)

P.S. I went riding on my vehicle today, for the first time after the accident. For someone who used to drive like Schumi on Rossi's bike, I was very nervous. But the moment the engine came to life,what I felt when I finally drove...pure bliss! :)

I'd not planned to 'write' today!

2008-09-26T20:41:00.009+05:30

From 5.45pm. Yes,from 5.45 in the evening,I'd been trying to tune my damned television set,so I could watch the practice session of the first ever night-grand prix,being held in Singapore. Also,this was the first time a practice session was going to be aired. After nearly two hours and over seven frikkin' phone calls to the cable guy,I was blessed with the privilege of watching it. BUT ,I missed it for 45 minutes!!!!!

Our cable fellow can allot three sport-channels.He usually gifts me with ESPN,Star Sports and Ten Sports. But on important days like today,he takes them off! And he puts what?
Neo sports-cricket.
Ten sports-cricket.
Star cricket-do I frikkin' need to explain?!
Oh does it get worse? YES! Ten Sports was telecasting an OLD match from some ancient time!!!!!
Its times like this that make me dislike cricket. I don't really dislike the game,I only find this extremely unfair! And I definitely don't want an argument with cricket fans now.

Yes,this has happened before. No star sports on Formula1 weekends. Friends suggested Tata- Sky and the kind. We get CNN,NDTV,Times Now.VH1 and Mtv.HBO, Star Movies,et all.Even Nat Geo and Discovery.Dad has his TV9. We have no problems with the few Tamil channels that we watch now and then.(Dad loves Vadivelu,you see).So how do I ask my father for Tata-Sky? Should I tell him I want it so I can peacefully watch a sport that he SO does-not-like? The sport that takes away three hours of my 'study-time' on a Sunday?(I nearly choked typing that).I can't get Tata-Sky,thats for sure. :(

So I await the big day-this Sunday. Translating quite literally a very filmy Hindi dialogue, I've placed a rock over my heart and decided that I will miss the start of the Singapore Grand Prix, to attend a meet 'On the Rocks' of a certain park in the city.But when I get back home, if I do not find Star sports, I swear in the name of Lewis Hamilton, I will find the guy responsible for it..I will not sue him.No,I won't shoot him. I'll pepper spray him over and over again,I'll kick him where it hurts most and then slit his throat-with a knife,Joker style. Or if I'm really mad and decide to do something worse, I'll give him such a lecture that he wont ever forget in his sorry life and then he's going to make sure that I receive Star sports,for as long as he's alive-this,I swear to God. No, I don't think my cable guy is going to read this, but for his own well-being,I hope there's someone praying for him and hope he's working on the lecture I gave him today.

If the race keeps me happy enough to think of sentences to type,I will post soon. :)

P.S.
The Singapore track by the way,is fabulous!!! The view of the place is so good that I found it hard to keep my eyes on the track sometimes! And did you see how beautiful the cars looked? Oh and did you see Alonso's last lap?! Low on fuel or whatever, that was simply S-T-U-N-N-I-N-G!!!!! Hope to see him and my Ferrari dudes on the podium this weekend!!!

At RVCE and In Quiz Corp.

2008-09-22T18:43:00.011+05:30

* This is the part of the blog that becomes a not-so-personal diary and is meant for a very small audience.(2-3 people?).If you think you can keep in touch with me irrespective of how silly i can get, ONLY then, go ahead and read. *

So its been just over a year,in the institution at the 8Th mile,Mysore road. Let me start with an honest opinion-however tough things are at RVCE,it really is one of the best colleges in Bangalore. Probably the best.
Now,well,its been fun I guess.The classes(when you're in Info science,yes),the fests, the people. The girls in my class are a perfect blend-the geeks,the ones that know how to have fun, the ones that can dress oh-so-well and most importantly-the ones that crack me up with their wit,all the time. A bunch of good friends in class,out of class,especially in the computer science department and the ones I get to chatter with on the bus-they make life easy.
Anyway,here's a couple of lessons I learned,this one year.

1. Crying to see or talk to your old friends is not going to help. Especially when colleges plot to make sure you wont have an off on the same day.
2. In spite of being in love with Mathematics,if you study for a Math exam two hours before it actually starts,by only glancing through your 'notes', you'll scrape through the exam-that,if you're lucky.
3. When you're pissed at someone/something,do not talk to ANYone. Especially if you're a talkative Gemini.
4. When a person talks to you or your friends for only five minutes in their entire life and then sends you a message like this -"I treat u as best frnd bcz u r first friend in engineering.If i talk with u,is it hurts?" , make sure you don't encourage the best-friendship.
5. When you desperately want to go to an OTR meet on a Sunday,and you have a dad who is 'very strict', don't fight with him on the previous Saturday.

Moving on,here, lets talk about the one thing in college that makes me happy about my existence. I've gone into more depressions in this last one year,than in my entire life .But Quiz Corp is a place that makes every functioning cell of my brain happy. Sadly, As much as I love quizzing, I suck at it. But to watch the smart ones go right at it and murder the questions or to see excellent questions leave the smart ones awe-struck,is simply amazing! I make my 'small',lazy attempts to improve,but quizzing sure requires dedication and hard work.Maybe someday, I'll at least reach up to a level of quizzing where I can say-'Damn,I missed quali by one point!!!' :)

Talking of Quiz Corp,it has to be the best group on this planet. I've met amazing people,who I certainly wont forget for a very long time. Probably the smartest,wittiest lot in college. There's the super-cool fourth years who seem to know literally everything under the sun!!! The kick-arse third years and of course a big bunch of nice batch mates and juniors. And the super-seniors,as they are called-All hail our Gods of quizzing!:)

I'd like to make a special mention of the two people who got me into Quiz Corp:
Arbit Rants : Major geek,but a very nice fellow,very very sportive(I haven't seen anyone else who takes gay/straight jokes so well!). Can really give you good advice,when you need it.Oh and he got me into QC and introduced me to Avial!! :

Somebody else : What can I say about this mind-blowing-ly talented lady? She's someone I truly admire, for her wit, her beautiful literary skills and her ability to turn into 'the' agony aunt when need arises. Another kick-arse third year who makes my stay at QC a lot more comfortable,than it would've been otherwise. :)

I would like to conclude with a BIG thumbs up (and thanks!) to the QC for the gazillion things its done for me, and, with a prayer that I will last for three years(only) in RVCE and somehow,make my parents proud.
:)

Anyone else see a new 'kid' on the podium? :)

2008-09-14T21:06:00.010+05:30

I'm not very sure,what to write today. I have not made any draft this time(made one for the previous post!).I'm going to type in every 'meaningful' thought that my brain processes in the next fifteen minutes.

Monza 08 happened today. I speak of Monza itself as an event because this place personifies action,speed,drama,energy and most of all, passion. Just to be there at Monza,on a race weekend,must be mind-blowing. The crowd is so extremely passionate about the sport!(yes,like always I'm talking about Formula 1) If there is one place I could kill to be at,it would be Monza,on race day. At every Italian GP that has been held at Monza,when you get an aerial view of the track,all you can see is red! This is the home of the Tifosi,my adopted family. To see thousands of fans,all dressed in dazzling red,carrying flags with the prancing horse on them surround the parc-ferme area,as the podium celebrations go on is a wonderful feeling.Don't get the feel of it? These pictures may help.And they're just two,out of the millions. All this gets better,when you have the German and/or the Italian anthem playing in the background. And today, I got to witness all that I wished for-only,Schumi wasn't on the podium.

But,I did see three Schumachers today.
1. The real Schumi,all cute,sitting in the pit lane area with head phones on.
2. Someone who I don't like but can't dislike either. Lewis Hamilton killed the wet-track,driving around it sensationally well. He moved up from 15th on the grid to 2nd,getting past cars like they were mere road blocks. Yes,he had the best car but no one can deny that he is exceptionally good at driving in the wet. Just like good ol' Schumi.
3.No points for guessing. Sebastian Vettel. Inspite of making it clear to the world that he's not aiming to be the next Schumacher, The German media calls him 'Baby-Schumi'. (Heck,why would anyone not want to be called that?!).

I must clarify, I'm not someone who has blindly jumped onto the Vettel bandwagon after his record-setting-first-victory in Formula1. For me to like you,you only have to be German.When Vettel came around the international racing circuit, I instantly liked him.But it was not until The Race of Champions(December 2007),that I became a fan.Vettel and Schumi,together took the German team to victory,after superbly driven races. And this is what Schumi had to say about him : "Sebastian has shown he has the talent.He entered Formula 1 at the right time and at the right place I think. He has shown things with that car that no one has shown before. There is a bright future ahead of him. He has the potential to win the F1 championship one day." Now do I need any better reason to like the fellow?
I must admit,he was extremely lucky to sit at the pole for this race. The Rain Gods seemed to be determined to help him win. But, He did drive a perfect race. He has shown before,what he is capable of and today,with a healthier Toro Rosso and of course some luck,he showed that he can win races. And he's only 21 years old(and cute! With a good sense of humour et all ). I can definitely see him win a championship in the future,if he makes the right choices and gets into a good team. Oh,how I'd love to see him in Ferrari! As he stood on the podium today,the German anthem played-followed by the Italian anthem(After all,the team is called SCUDERIA Toro Rosso FERRARI ). Reminds you of someone else? Whether he likes it or not, after Alonso-Kimi-Lewis, I'd like to call him my next Schumi. I sincerely hope he lives up to the expectations of the million others,who feel just as I do.

Apart from Vettel and Lewis,many others were impressive today. Many drivers did a Lewis,cutting chicanes. But they all obeyed the rule this time,clearly. Alonso was brilliant and so was Massa.Its another thing that none of them improved much upon their qualifying positions. Kimi was disappointing,but he made up for it towards the end. He came in ninth,just one place short of the points scoring position. The drivers championship gets even more interesting, but what worries me is the frail five-point lead that Ferrari have over Mclaren.
Let us(Ferrari fans) hope for the best!

Oh and do I have to tell you that I'm excited about the next race? Singapore-the first ever night race. As I cannot find adjectives good enough to describe how amazing that race is going to be,I'm going to conclude right away.If you do not intend to watch this race,atleast a single lap around this track-at night-cars zooming around the streets at 300kmph,you live a SAD life,friend.
September 28th,Star Sports. Watch it! :)

P.S. Shocker to those who 'really' know me... I 'really' miss seeing Alonso on the podium!

Some Things Never Change.

2008-09-08T20:36:00.009+05:30

Sunday, the 7th of September,2008. At one of the most beautiful tracks that my eyes have ever set sight on, the radio on a particular Renault was turned on. A man with a heavy Spanish accent said to his engineers that drops of rain had started to fall on certain parts of the track. A commentator,with an English accent that always hangs on the verge of annoying me,spoke of how exciting the race was going to be. I thought, 'Isn't it already?'.

A couple of laps further into the Belgian Grand Prix, Papa's boy Lewis Hamilton had closed in on Kimi Raikkonen. After a brilliant start, well-planned pit stops and superbly controlled drive of over 35 laps, Kimi seemed vulnerable. Just as Alonso had mentioned over the radio, parts of the track saw rain. With Lewis hunting him down, Kimi had everything to lose. He would have to control his drive so he wouldn't go skating across the track,for a date with the barriers and yet be fast enough to keep Lewis behind.(Now that wouldn't be difficult for Schumi,but as good as Kimi is,he isn't Schumi right? ) Finally Lewis made his move.He came alongside Kimi,but cut a chicane to take the lead.Apparently,he backed off to give the lead back to Kimi. I started to release the breath that I'd held in for the last five seconds,but froze!Both the drivers went from left to right,swinging across the track,just before the powerful Mclaren got ahead of Kimi. And it seemed to me,that Kimi's front wing 'touched' Hamilton's rear wheel.
*GASP!*

I stood up,looked away from the TV and turned to see the huge portrait of Lord Krishna that sat in the middle of our living room. I prayed,from the purest part of my heart.My eyes were moving towards the Ganapathy idol,when Steve Slater went bonkers in the commentary box! I turned back,to see Lewis lose control of his car.Kimi and Lewis exchanged the lead a couple of times and then the race turned into what looked like an action scene from a movie.Kimi seemed to have trained very hard to perform a 360 degree spin. I pulled on my hair till a couple of strands came off and curled around my fingers. I yelled, "Mom, You've got to see this!". She came running and after about 3 seconds,she said "Don't worry, Lewis will crash".You see, we think she's good luck for Kimi. I was chewing on the nail that I'd bitten off, when all the excitement and fear died. Kimi lost control,but this time there was no escape. He hit the barriers,hard : with only two laps to go.I fell into my chair,unable to believe what had just happened. On seeing Lewis take the chequered flag, I turned off the television set.

Mom was upset. Me? After replying to a couple of 'proud' Mclaren fans and changing my status on the networking sites that i frequent, I shut myself in my bathroom and tried to accept 'reality'. This race meant SO much to Kimi. His favorite track,he'd won here thrice over the last three years and he had worked so hard to silence the mindless critics who were out talking about how his career would never see another victory. As I sat on my bathroom floor( This because my father would certainly not appreciate me being upset for a 27 year old Finn) thinking of what Kimi was probably going through, I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I was crying. Crying for a man whose numerous engine failures and tyre ruptures,just a couple of years back(2002-2006 in Mclaren), would amuse me. Last I cried in my bathroom was on the day of the Japanese Grand Prix,2006,the penultimate race of the year,when Michael had a good chance of winning his eighth and would be final championship title.He was in the lead with 16 laps to go,when his engine blew. Alonso took the race and the title that year. I cannot explain in words, the agony I went through. I cursed Lady Luck and obviously, the man i hated the most back then,Fernando Alonso. I felt things had never been that unfair,ever! Now,even if I wasn't as upset as I was on that sickening evening, I let my tears run loose and cried my heart out.

I had assumed that after Michael left,I could sit back,relax and simply enjoy the sport. But no. I started to suffer of a headache induced by all the sobbing.After thinking about poor Kimi,I sat to think about myself. While watching the sport, my heart is always in my mouth, I have my own rituals of praying at regular intervals and so on. Once a race is over, I'm either so elated that I could burst a bunch of blood vessels, or , I go into depression. When Schumi was around, topping an exam..winning an event..maybe even winning a lottery wouldn't come close to the joy of seeing him jump on the top step of the podium. Yes, other sports do this to me too. Take for example, the ManU-Chelsea and Germany-Spain matches that took place a couple of months back.And of course, THE Wimbledon final where Roger played Rafa. As nervous as these matches have made me, they haven't brought me to a state of nervous breakdown,that any ordinary Formula1 race can,with utmost ease.I've lost count of the abuses that I've hurled, the strands of hair that I've lost, nails that I have chewed on and swallowed,perhaps, and all the mindless arguments I've had with my friends.

I had thought of this many times before,but today I made my decision.Lady Luck wasn't going to favour those who I supported. I was punishing myself,watching these races. I figured,I was simply too addicted to a sport that would one day result in me being carried out of my home in a stretcher. Yes, I'd decided that I wouldn't watch F1 again. I'd probably read the results in the papers, but no torturing myself again. No more F1. Period.
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.
.
.
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Three hours later, I get an SMS that tells me, Lewis has been penalized and demoted to third, for cutting across the chicane and not handing the lead back to Kimi properly. Massa has been declared the race winner.
.
.
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So hey, who doesn't come across failures,right? Stuff like this happens all the time,don't you think? We should never give up. Not until we taste success! Now I look forward to seeing a place that I absolutely love. In about six days, its MONZA baby!!!

Ferrari uber Alles!!!!!

Don't tell me I didn't warn you.

2008-09-08T20:17:00.007+05:30

This blog has been created only so I can release the many thoughts that rot in my head. Let me tell you, the worst articles I've read have been written by me. So if any of you, chance upon this blog and care/dare to read it,you might develop the following symptoms:

1)Bad spelling.
2)Worse grammar.
3)Even worse vocabulary.

If this were to happen to you, i suggest that you visit certain other blogs,the links to which you will find somewhere on this page. Your language/literary skill should be back to its normal self in 2 days(I'm being optimistic here).

Take care, Auf wiedersehen!

P.S. Yes,I like to flaunt the fact that I can speak some German.

Also, Thanks to a certain superb-senior who suggested names for this blog that i was tempted to use. My apologies to an eager classmate,for not using them.