just another blog

Harsha 2.0

2010-09-13T22:58:00.000-07:00

It's a shame I haven't blogged for a year and a half now. Not that a lot of people have missed me or anything. But Hey! Thanks to modern technology I could figure out using a page ip tracker that 12 people have been visiting my blog on a regular basis and a lot more every now and then. Anyhow, here's why I think I haven't been blogging:

1. Facebook (microblogging): Anything I wanna express goes straight into my FB/Orkut status. My travels, my opinions, reviews, moods, everthing's shortened into one concise sentence. I've become so used to it, this very moment I'm finding it very hard to write up this full length post.

2. iPhone: Well, I use FB and Orkut on my iPhone making it all the more easy to publish my thoughts instantaneously.

3. Been busy??: Well, not entirely though. My masters course was quite demanding. NOt that I didn't have free time, but all the free time was used up by actual real world socializing. Any given moment I'd either be workin on some assignment; or I'd be in a club/bar celebrating the birthday of someone from the Uni I barely even know; or I'd be cooking with my friends(who're all gr8 cooks from 5 different countries); all of which would keep me up till late thus giving me no time for my online world.

Hope that was convincing. And here's a few reasons I can start blogging again:

1. Work: I've graduated in Jan, returned to India and have been working ever since. I work 9-5 and am not the kind that takes work back to home. What happens in the office, stays in the office.

2. Work: I work in a laidback place in the middle of the Himalayas (yeah, I'll talk about it later), and there isn't much of a social life around here. I go to Chandigarh some weekends to quench my need for social contact (once again to celebrate the birthday of some friend of a friend of a friend in one of the nightclubs or if there's a gig), so the rest of the days I'm quite free once I've got back home from the gym and cooked my dinner.

3. Work: My job requires me to do some creative content writing. May be taking up blogging again would help get my creative juices flowing.

4. Though all the reasons are related to my work, the immediate reason that got me thinking is that a few good friends have been asking me to start writing again, at least to keep themselves entertained, if not anything.

I think between my last post and now, a lot has happened, lot of change, both in me and in the world. May be I'm a different person now. I've been to a lot of places, met lot of people and had so much exchange of thoughts and perceptions that my ideals, principles and the way I look at things and the way I express thoughts could even be quite the opposite of what they were, back then. Hence Harsha 2.0

Vote responsibly

2009-04-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

It wasn't until I saw this video made by my friend Vamsy, that I actually pulled this whole politics thing from my subliminal self to the consciousness. I knew the elections were around, but didnt give a shit about it... just like most of you reading this.

I'm gonna keep this short coz the video says most of what I want to. We talk shit about politicians, and that the system is all wrong and that we need a total reform. We watch movies like Rang De Basanti and Yuva and walk out the cinema with loads of adrenaline and we nominate them for many awards. But we hardly do anything for real. I mean, think about it... What happened to all those who tried bring that kinda change? What happened to that political party started a few years back by the IIT alumni guys which was supposed to be elite and bring about a political reform? How many politicians are aware of a squat of economics? And how many are atleast slightly sincere? How many are both? Im expecting too much!!

How about... How many have finished school? Forget it! How many have'nt been criminals in the past? The answer is ..we dont know, and we dont care.

Finally, when there's someone out there who believes he can change it all, and is actually educated enough to analyse the economy and do something about it, and there's a party full of educated men and women,

THE LEAST WE CAN DO, IS........... VOTE.

NOTE:

1. This post is just for my friends to know what I think. Im not into this whole political arguments goin on online in social networking sites, forums and purpose-built blogs. So, if your views differ from mine and you intend to start an argument, Jack OFF.

2. The video is the property of someone else, so any comments on the video good or bad, shall be made on youtube.

3. I took time off my assignment (about 30 minutes) to type this whole thing. You better Vote.

Migratory patterns of small pieces of green paper (they call it economics)

2008-11-06T21:02:00.000-08:00

I have no reason not to freak out and blow the brains out of myself. I mean wtf am I doing? It's 0530 in the morning and I'm still awake !!
Where - In my University.
Since when- 5pm yesterday.
Doing what - Studying economics(apart from coupla trips to the burger van)..
researching the economic conditions around which this Indian company ripened over an American business model.
Now dont even think of saying "You Harsha! of all the people, studying all nite!" coz thats what Ive been yelling at my inner self all the while, I mean over the months. It's honestly not my kinda thing, and I dont have a clue why I feel I'm yieldng to these adversities in this interlude of my life, but still not completely hating them, and actually secretly telling myself that I'm enjoying all this.
Now look at my pathetic schedule
0530am- go back home and sleep
1030- wake up (toughest part)
1100-1300 finish the "research"(the PhD that you are :-]
1400-1700 economics class
1800-1900 Deutsche Bank career seminar
1900- muay-thai
2100- walk back home sweating, and with body pains that are gonna linger for the whole week.
2130- shower(jacuzzi actually.. yeah losers!! I live off-campus n I have a jacuzzi at home)
2200- cook dinner (and wonder what happened to breakfast and lunch)
2300- okay its weekend, so neva mind the studies, watch a dvd n hit the sack
Not so attractive aye. Thanks to WBS for putting me through all this.

The Fast, The Furious and The Mummy

2008-08-10T09:40:00.000-07:00

Thats what Rob should have named the latest in The Mummy series. With all those chases, races, drivebys and the relentless pace, I assume he must have still been in The Fast and The Furious mood that he'd directed a while ago. The Mummy: Tomb of The Dragon Emperor. I had'nt the slightest idea what this was going to be about. Mummies from Africa, Dragons from China, and a potpourri cast.

I was wondering what Mummies have got to do with dragons. With the wierdest, wildest and funniest imagination that Im gifted with, I was expecting something like 'Aliens vs Predators', where there'd be a battle between Mummies (from The Mummy series) and Dragons (from 'Dungeons n Dragons' or any of those millions of Dragon movies). Other assumptions ranged from Dragons flying all the way to Egypt, to Mummie Zombies 'jay walking' all the way to China. But it wasn't quite that. I would'nt tell you what the movie is about, because you obviously hate spoilers.

I don't want to be judgemental about how good the movie is, but I'd let you know that I enjoyed watching it quite a bit, though my mates considered it crap, boring and a stereotypical Mummy movie. I don't agree except to the last part, that it was a cliched Mummy movie, because all the Mummy movies were about waking up a Mummy, having some action and then putting him back to sleep, and so was this one. But then again, I would say the whole Mummy series and a whole lot of other movies are labored under the shadow of Indiana Jones.
Also, 'Iam Legend' was an overused Zombie movie, and 'Wanted' was yet another Assasin movie.

The cast was big with Brendan and John Hannah as always, Maria Bello replacing Rachel Weiz, while Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh added a little more glamor. I personally like Yeoh, though I don't fancy Chinese(all east asian) women. But I do feel that she was better off as a bond-girl and as Silver Hawk, rather than as a middle aged witch living by the mountains, casting spells. Jet Li looked quite good though he's gotten old and fat; thanks to his highly imposive Chinese-Warrior costume which managed to conceal most of his unburnt calories.

It is not very illogical as some people consider, about a Mummy movie set in an oriental backdrop; unless you don't buy the explanation that its just a coincidence that wherever the O'Connell couple go, they keep waking up pre-historical characters that were once cursed to damnation. The idea of using "terracotta soldiers" to replace the mummies of the original series was very clever indeed.

I was particularly happy when the Yetis came on screen. As a kid, I've read about them a lot in books(TinTin in Tibet being the 1st one), and have seen only a few imaginary pictures as described by Himalayan Sherpas, which made me excited to see an animated Yeti for the first time. For those who don't know, Yetis are these hairy neanderthalish, monkeyish kind of guys, who're supposedly friendly to humans and are considered as "the missing link in the chain of human evolution" by some people(these people are usually put off as time-wasters only next to Ufologists and Conspiracy theorists). Another good thing about the movie was that I got to know what "Shangri La" actually means, which I'd wondered every time I ate Chicken Shangri-la or Mushroom Shangri-la.

I would've rated the movie as below average, but because of the cast, and because I din't feel very bored watching it, I'd promote it to being average. It's worth the time, because it's not very long, it has quite some humor, and impressive special effects. I won't say that it's worth the money unless you take your NUS card along and get a discount and free popcorn.

My first job

2008-06-18T13:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I actually worked for a salary today for the first time in my life. A part-time job I took up hoping to cover up my living expenses, eating out, pubbing, buyin a car, gas, tax, travel, clothes, frames, phones.... (OMG) or atleast half of those. It was hard, boring, and streneous. But I felt good at the end of the day.

2008-06-07T16:03:00.000-07:00

It wasn't until I watched over half the movie "The Day After Tomorrow" that I suddenly got reminded of all the emails regarding the Climate Change Bill I'd been receiving from Greenpeace(which I'm a member of) lately. I dint even think once before "archiving" them. Last month I was called up and invited to join them in a protest against the expansion of the Heathrow airport, but I couldn't afford to go to London. I hadn't the time to. This time it was about writing to the local MP ON this particular day, June 5 Environmental Day, about signing the EDM736 which would make the 2050 target 80% instead of 60% emission reduction. I hurriedly checked and luckily found that my MP was on the list of MPs who'd already signed it.

Ive always been conscious of the environmental issues, and done my best in protecting it. I even contemplated taking it as career, but Lancaster didnot contemplate giving me an admission. Saying "No, Thank you" to plastic bags after petty shopping at Tesco isn't quite enough to save the environment. Now that I'm closer and have easy access to Greenpeace's activities and campaigns, I take resolution to take part as much as possible. And also to read more books on climate change, do more of my part to avoid it, and encourage even more people to do so.

PS: I'm just being selfish, while trying to save the green planet. Its hard to imagine my grand children or great grand children sustaining another ice-age. Or being fossilized by it.

Hakuna Matata

2008-05-25T15:32:00.000-07:00

I feel like writing my own version of Hakuna matata, but I jus fall short of words and time. For the past 5 days, I've been spending most of my time feeling good. Two months back, I decided to quit my course and study finance or management in a top business school.

[Well, I know Ive been messing around with my career plans like this.. 3 months back I wanted to be an environmentalist, 4 months back I decided to become an automotive design engineer and 6 months back, I wanted to be a pilot. But I trust myself this time and am going to stick to this one. Im gonna be an investment banker.. OK you can stop laughing, this one's for real.]

I went through a lot of strain applyin to the schools and waitin for their responses was more irritating than boring. Finally after almost two months, I got an offer from Warwick and Aston on the same day which were my 1st and 2nd choices. I even got one from Bath, which is better than both, but I dont intend to move that far. Im going to Warwick.

I dont miss home anymore. I feel so good about being myself, being where Im and doing what Ive been doing. Ive been feeling so happy that I havent cared about any other thing in the past few days. Now that Ive got the offer Ive got lots of stuff to take care of. But Ive decided to put everything on hold for the next week and've decided to spend this whole week on makin merry. And I guess Ive made enuf of it.

Summing it all up, I jus want yall to know that Im happy. Happy to the core coz things are goin my way. And (atleast for the moment) I have no problems.
Hakuna Matata.

Missin home

2008-03-25T17:57:00.000-07:00

Its almost a month since I moved to the UK. Ive already started missin home. Im not homesick, its jus the flavour of my hometown that I feel Ive suddenly been deprived of. I feel good and bad at the same time. I feel good about the change and also because Im goin to uni everyday, after spendin almost 6 months of doing nothing in India after grad. I feel good about this place, the people, the pubs, my college. What sucks is the climate and the timings, most of the shops close by 5pm. They arent too big problems though. But there's always this tinge of sadness burrowed deep inside. Im going through a crisis, an emotional one. Nope.. Im not after any gal, its jus about my studies. Have got to make a couple of serious decisions. Irreversible ones. Ive put most of my issues on hold, jus to clear thiss off. Car, work, phone, cable, havent started sortin all these things. Everything seems so trivial, and I feel so helpless though there are lotsa ppl concerned abt this.

However, I know Im no kid anymore. Im more than old enough to start thinkin for myself, sorting things out, and stop being foolish. There's this red hyundai coupe for sale down my street, which Im plannin to buy once I sort my uni issue. Hope it's available till then. And then Id go home in summer coz of the long vacation. I'll start trying to love this place, though its sick.

Black Blue and You

2007-10-14T11:44:00.000-07:00

I seriously feel so pissed off at this very moment. NO....., my gal dint ditch me. It's not any of those "I loved u so much... how cud u do this to meeee!" kindof crap. It's about that concert I'd die for. The hip-hop concert I'd miss anything else for. Its called "black blue & you". Well, what does black and hip-hop put together remind you of. Okay... now you know Im talking about the Black Eyed Peas' India tour. They're already here, in Bangalore just 4 hours of road-travel from my town, and the show is due tomorrow evening. And they'll be leaving for Thailand the very next day according to the itinerary. But I've got equally important stuff to take care of, which requires me to travel to this messed up city called Hyderabad tonight and stay there for about a week. I feel so guilty about not going to the concert. I feel like someone's out there waiting for me and I've decided to ditch them(...LOL as if they'd give a shit). I've still got 24 hours to decide, and the tickets (surprisingly) aren't sold out yet. But I know I wont make it.

What makes it worse is that a few of my friends are going. I never get too jealous quite often, but this time Im jealous and Im justified about it. How could they go and I couldnt. But poor fellas volunteered to book me a ticket in advance. But still, Im jealous. How could I not be able to attend? I do believe in second chances, and third chances, and nth chances as I've done with my studies. But things like these are very rare that you cant hope to be very lucky. I mean, you only get to see the Halley comet once in your lifetime, except if you were born in a year divisible by 76(cant assure you that it makes any sense, though).

knock knock..........

2007-06-03T07:09:00.000-07:00

I was jus wondering if my blog was still alive or not, coz its been almost an aeon since i put down my last post. I wasnt even busy, coz Im done with college, and have been lazing around ever since. And, my next course(masters) which I havent even applied to yet, starts in Jan08. Which means I'll have to be with UncleSam by the end of this year, and I'll hopefully end up there like every other ambitious Indian kid. Ive jus started muggin up words so I do well in GRE, coz with average academics, thats my only resort to raise my GPA to suffice the requirements of UMi. And, boy 1300marks is no joke(i dont wanna tell u how poor Im in maths).

Ive been contemplatin life much these days, especially after my dad's friend's son bought an AUDI- A6. When am I gonna be financially independent(read:when am I gonna be filthy rich) and buy all the cars in the world, or atleast all the good ones(yeah Im at the heights of greed). I saw this tommy hilfiger denim in bangalore which i really wanna buy. But its 9000 bucks. Donno if I'll still be young when I can afford it. "What am I gonna end up doin" still remains a mystery even to me.

Taggggg.....

2007-03-23T02:56:00.000-07:00

Someone was buggin me abt the title of da post, so had to change it. Anyways, Isha asked me to do this tag....here goes.
3 things that scare me: exams, lizards, badly designed elevators
3 people who make me laugh: vamsi, dharani, Mr.Bean
3 things I love: chocolate, cars, paintings
3 things I hate: programming, indian politics, slow internet
3 things I don’t understand: engineering math, female implications, big bang
3 things on my desk: headfones, coins, hairpins
3 things I’m doing right now: doin the tag, waitin 4 a call, cuddling my dog wid my legs
3 things I want to do before I die: own a cessna amphibian, win a race, skydive
3 things I can do: speak german, dive underwater, drive like crazy
3 things you should listen to: rythm divine(enrique), eyes on you (jaysean), where is d
love(BEP)
3 things you should never listen to: i've never listened to them either
3 things I’d like to learn: parasailing, cryptanalysis, flying
3 favourite foods: biryani, pineapple chicken, carrot halwa
3 beverages I drink regularly: breezer, dry martini, coffee,
3 TV shows/Books I watched/read as a kid: chandrakantha, knight rider, street hawk

I m taggin mahati, vamsi, vijay

The name is Bond

2006-12-17T09:59:00.000-08:00

Note: Those who havent watched Casino royale n are plannin to watch it, are advised not to read the following post coz I dont want to deprive you of the excitement of finding how boring a bond movie could ever be and how dumb of an ass James Bond could be.

I watched Casino Royale a couple of days back. I was completely disappointed just like any other bond fan in the world, as i guess(as i bet), would be. In the first place, I didnot like Mr.Bond himself. I couldnt take the fact that Brosnan has been replaced by a stupid blonde. For God's sake, they should've atleast colored his hair black so he would look a little less stupid. He could hardly make it up to the Bond standard. The dressing did no less harm to the Bond image. He hardly wore the usual black suit. He was mostly seen in vacation
dressing like polos, beach shirts and designer partywear and fancy goggles, worse... he even posed nude. May be he wanted to be an unconventional fancy Bond. In that case he should've made a sequel to "The Beach" instead of "casino royale".

The plot of the movie was equally dumb. A double-O agent being employed to play poker at a casino and win the game. God!! how do I stop using the word "dumb" again n again. The plot is like this. There is this particular Mr.Villian who takes a huge amount of cash from
terrorists, plays poker, wins ten times the money, returns it to the terrorists and keeps a part of it. And the Brit Govt is worried coz if he wins,the terrorists would become more rich and powerful. So, our Bond is expected to play the game, win, and stop the terrorists from gettin rich, and save the world from terrorism. I would suggest a simplerer method of doing the mission. "Kill the man.Get the money." I suppose Bond would have found this more comfortable than playing a stupid game for hours together. I was also upset abt him not makin much use of the aston martin and the omega watch. Looks like they were just used for namesake.

Things that a doubleO would never do:
-break into a foreign embassy
-assault dozens of men in there
-finally blow up the embassy itself(no Im not kiddin ....watch it 4 urself)
-get all this published in the newspaper headlines(n still not lose his job)
-fall in love with an enemy spy(i dint say "make love")
-become emotional while on a mission

-turn an egotist 4 the sake of a friggin game which itself ironically happens to be his mission.
-become a dumbass who cant even operate a defibrillator.

But our Mr.Daniel was found doin all of these things. Actually, he was found doin more...I mean even more wierd stuff, which is hard to explain. But, in a way, this is a bit justifiable coz this particular "casino royale" is the 1st work of Ian Fleming, so Bond is just a rookie.

One good thing about the movie is that we get to know that chief M actually has a name. Bond just gives a hint of this sayin that M is one of the two syllables of her name, which means her name is Emma or something(OK... thats how i figured it out). I dont have an idea of the number of movies Daniel has signed for.It wasnt like "they had no choice", coz they had Hugh Jackman and a whole lot of others. I hope a miracle happens, and there comes another bond as smart as Brosnan or Timothy Dalton.

everything

2006-11-26T22:02:00.000-08:00

I have'nt been able to sit back and blog for the past 30 days or so, coz of my exams. thank god. they're over now. So Im puttin down all sorts of things that happened in the past one month.

EXAMS

Six wierd but interesting subjects (interesting only 4 those who atleast cared to look in to the subjects atleast once in this entire semester). Our department is like a slut. Its goddamn mixture. Its got all sorts of sciences- electronics, electricals, computers, biology, energy resources, instrumentation, controls systems, management, ..you name it, we have it!! Our last exam was this one called "neural networks" (much abt AI) where we had to study a wide range of things from "how the human optic nerve senses a picture" to "how to place a starting bid in some card game called "bridge"". DAMN!! I dont even know know how many cards exist in card games ...like some 53 or 54. It was ofcourse a bit amusing, but studyin so many amusing things in a single day....wasnt amusing. So much 2 sstudy, so li'l time. We had these books by expert authors, but were too ambiguous for "laymen" like me. So, had to rely on WIKI for simplified definitions, theorems and lucid explanations. However, I wrote all of the exams in an OK kindof manner, and I'll get thru all of them (hopefully).

ANI'S NEW CAR

Amid the exams, anirudh got his (much awaited)new car. A month ago I thot I succeeded in convincing him n his dad to buy a civic instead of a city. But finally they ended up buyin a city ZX, top variant. Panther black, atleast he agreed to buy my favorite color. Then we had a race after one of the exam,on the way back home, on that everybody's favorite by-pass road AKA(Affectionately Known As) "science centre road". Then I test drove his car. It was good. Nothing extra-ordinary, but quite some luxury in the inside. I even wrote a review for www.indiacar.com which may get published sometime, hopefully.

DAY-OUT

Now that Im free for two to three weeks, I thot I should leave for b'lore right after my exams. But Dad wanted some fun. So we were in for this hiking program and a night's stay in a nearby forest called "mamandur". I'd never been there till yesterday, though its as near as 22 KM from home. We started off so early, I cud'nt even check my mail. Reached there in an hour or so. The place was really awesome. There was this vintage guesthouse, built sometime in the 1930's, by the Brits. We left our luggage in our room n set out into the forest. Walked, walked walked, ran, swam, took some funny pics wid my mobile, but we never gotto see any animals. There was this little girl wid her dad n she was cryin "where are the wild animals??...u told me they live in the forest.." Then someone told her that they'd come out only after its a li'l dark. Yeah they do. By evening we cud hear them howl(..OK roar, whateva), but only 4 a while... until some drunk bastards started roaring louder than them. Their roars were so bothering us that we decided not to stay back for the night. So we took rest for a while n then started off. On the way back, we went to one of my aunt's village, ate some snacks had coffee n started off again watchin the sunset all along. Then again we stopped at my mom's farm, cut some sugarcane, packed it up, had coffe again, n finally reached back home by when it was late n dark. Dint feel like doin anything other than sleepin n dreamin.

Motorazr D&G

Im plannin to change my mobile. Lately, this one has caught my eye. Highly impressive and catchy. Its the same as V3i in features, except the design, n wot less....its got the D&G tag. Its simply beatiful. I havent even found out the cost yet. Will buy it if it falls in my budget, n if it doesnt, I'll still buy it. What the hell are moms and dads for?? eh? the

(so many) THINGS TO DO

>Have to convince my HOD(tyrant) about my project.

>Have to go to b'lore, get counselled about my career, visit the consultants shortlist courses n univs.

>Watch Casino Royale, and many more movies.

>Have to go to nellore with Dad.

>Talk to ajanth reddy abt the webspace he promised me.

Uhh,..... its actually a bigger list. But I dont feel like doin anything, right now. I jus woke up today with so much happiness, thinkin abt all the nice things happening around. But gotto know that, its all virtual, and only limited 2 dreams. The real world is good, the real world is bad, but the real world is, in fact, REAL. And its the only thing thats real. I jus felt wrecked for a while, but its not gonna take me over, in fact i only have a fortnight to do whatever. But jus to make myself relaxed, I'll walk back into my ordinary life n stop musing abt the future and all the superficial things. I'll take a bus to tirumala or my friend's village, or my aunt's village,stay for 2 days, sit back away from the internet, away from rest of the urban world, sleep on the floor eating peanuts and sugarcane, and talk about local politics, like... when will the villages get free power supply..LOL.

On parking a car

2006-10-31T10:29:00.000-08:00

The usual algorithm followed to park a car in my house.
1. stop the car near near the gate.
2. go open the gates.
3. get back into the car.
4. drive it into the space.
5. go home.

Or you could consider this advanced version developed by me:

1. stop the car near the gate.
2. go to the gates n push them open.
3. get back near the car.
4. ohhh! wrong side fool...you gotta pull the gates open.
5. get back into the car.
6. drive it into the space.
7. open the door wide enuf that it hits the wall beside.
8. "uhh fuck".
9. get off the car n shut the door.
10. walk away.
11. come back, open the door n take ur mobile n other stuff.
12. drop something on the ground such that it rolls to that stair case.
13. squat, pick it up, stand....n ur head hits the staircase.
14. "uhh fuck".
15. walk away.
16. come back, open the door, close the windows, close the door.
17. walk away.
18. come back, make sure u havent forgotten anything.
19. smile.
20. go home...(at last)
21. throw your shoes, hit the sack, n switch on the TV.
22. ohhhh..son of a.... You forgot the keys again!!!

Customer care - very rare

2006-09-08T11:02:00.000-07:00

Indians have changed a lot over centuries, but we (still)suck when it comes to customer care. Most of them dont even know what it means. And some of them probably have'nt even heard of it. Just go to a store in an indian city or town n u'll see what I mean. The sales guys or the managers treat customers like they're some relatives who have come to stay for a week. But the leading stores and branded showrooms are entirely different, I mean they say hello when you go in. And guess what!! they even say goodbye when you leave. But in every other case you'll come back home more frustrated than you wud be if u had a dozen wives. And i bet u'll want to soak ur head in a pool of ice untill it actually stops spinning, or atleast for two or three days. Everytime I get into such a situation, I end up fighting wid the store guy. I've been the same since my school days, when I first fought with a fastfood guy who dint respond properly. Even the businesses with the stiffest competition tend to pooh-pooh the importance of customer care.

In case there are ppl who by chance wish to please customers, I'd like to draw their attention toward a "new" concept in business called "customer care".
Businessmen in some countries have already adopted it some time back and some, even as far back as the 16th century. But it remains completely alien to the indian market.

The customer certainly needs help more often than not. If they(u know who it
refers to) see a customer walkin around, they probably assume that he has come to get some excercice. But Im afraid he needs ur help. A customer expects to be greeted as long as u dont misunderstand 'greeted' to nodding ur head up n down, or raising ur eyebrows or giving him a damn stare all of which gesture the question "what the hell do u want????" A couplof days back I was in this particular XYZ office where I needed to make a particular verification in a bill i got from them. I was in there standing an staring at everyone like a kid in a new KG. After a while one kind hearted employee cared to give me a damn look, though he wasnt kind enough to open his mouth. Then he frowned
a lil and moved his head up n down once which probably gestured one of these:

1. Who the hell are you?

2. What are you here for?

3. Oh no! ther's a fu**in customer Oh! not again

4. All the above

He expected me to walk up to him and talk, but I jus stood there until he came up to me n finally opened his mouth. And the rest is history( I mean i got my work
done n got back home disgusted, and felt like soakin my head till it stopped spinning).

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i feel like

2006-08-29T23:24:00.000-07:00

I feel like falling off a cliff.....but I dont want to die. May be I should find a parasailing club!!

my sweet sis

2006-08-10T10:52:00.000-07:00

Today is not just rakshabandhan to me. Its a bit special, coz my sister came back home after completing her MBBS. For the past 4 years she hasnt been at home for rakshabandhan, so she used to send me a rakhi by post . But today is a gr8 coincidence. She's back home as a graduate n its rakshabandhan on the same day. I still have the first rakhi that she tied when I was in 1st standard. She ties the same rakhi every year, along wid a new one (sentimental) n I treasure it like anything.

I still remember all the things she did for my sake n the way she took care of me when we were in boarding school. She used to cry whenever i was sick. And whenever i got homesick, she used to cry along wid me. She cried whenever I cried. I donno whether she cried b'coz she cudnt stand me crying or whether she too got homesick whenever I did. She used to finish all my homework n incomplete classwork books. She used to make greetings 4 me using cardboard and crayons(i still have them). She used to apply vaseline to my feet n palms and cold cream to my face every night after dinner(now, sometimes she blackmails me emotionally saying "how many times did I apply vaseline to u, cant u do this small help???" ) She cared a lot in school but
when we were home for vacation, we used to fight everyday over every small thing(like we do even now)

And then after we joined day-school, the vaseline and homesick issues were over, but the homework thing continued. She used to help me complete my homework(believe me Im the laziest fella u can ever imagine), She used to take me to school on her cycle until I got my own cycle. Here, she was every teacher's pet, n she was very popular in school, so the teachers had a good impression on me b'coz of her. Even now, in engg, she's written a gr8 deal of record work for me, and how cud I forget those assignments that she completed. Being a medico, she taught me an engineering subject(SSP).....whoa

The other side of her. Very very rowdy in nature at times( i mean most of the times), but is very softspoken as long as nothing provokes her. Doesnt want to get marrid as of now n doesnt want 2 go 2 d US on a dependent visa. Wants 2 go there independently do her PG n then work wid the WHO for a while before gettin marrid. There are a many more facets of her, like....she's a fantastic cook. She makes all my favorite dishes, tomato omlette, fish cutlet, pineapple chicken, what not.....she cooks much better than my mom(sorry mom.. no offence.Im jus being honest). She also promised me that she'd give me one-fourth of her salary once she starts workin, and as long as I wanted.

Who wud want to miss such a fantastic sister. But in a year, she'll be leaving to do her PG. So this is probably the last rakshabandhan together for the next 5 to 10 years..........sob.... sob..... :(

LOVE YOU SIS.

civic sense

2006-07-16T09:49:00.000-07:00

No................ thats not a screenshot of NFS. Its a real pic of the dash of honda civic. Goodnews to all the indian car enthusiasts....finally, ther's a good car on the Indian roads at an "affordable" price. Indian car lovers have been parched n forced to see roads filled with ambassadors and maruthi800s. U wanna hire a taxi, u get an ambassador. U wanna travel to a nearby town, an ambassador again. A relative comes to the station to receive u...well, he gets his gr8 car Maruti800. Some good n classy cars(A segment..above 25Lc) are rarely seen on the city streets, mostly owned by politicians. And so, the market itself has been so numb all these years.

Finally, the situation has started to change, thanx to the Indian consumer lot. As ppl have started showing interest in cars, different makes n models are being introduced every year. But the exclusive design for the Indian roads n users make the cars look shabby. Take the palio for instance. Not many Indians like it, let alone own it. Its got a very poor mileage, dirty finishing which gives it a cheap look(m talkin abt indian version) and a disastrous performance. Now consider its italian counterpart...the same fiat palio is a favorite of many thruout the world. Its classy finish gives it a very stylish look, n the other performance parameters r in no way comparable to those of the indian version. But they must be havin their own issues wid it, most probably the roads. I always wonder what if someone gets to drive a sports car in here, or what if I buy side-skirts for my car like I always wanted to.

A year ago, hyundai releasd tuscany in India. Most of the ppl dont even know that such a car does exist in the indian market. But honda has done the right thing in the right time by unvieling the civic this month. The nascent-rich and the uppermid class have been thirsty for a fancy car, which is a good performer and a bit lite on the wallet. The civic is one such. Its really catchy n appealing. The interiors are like never before with the digital speedometer givin the driver a sporty feel. And the exteriors give a sporty look to the rest of the world.

dil chahta hai ek drive

2006-07-14T06:37:00.000-07:00

Its gonna be the drive of my life. I've been waitin for this kinda drive, ever since I saw "dil chahtha hai" for the first time. But its not the bombay-goa road. Its more than that. The chennai-pondy road. The so called "ECR beachway". With my 2 best pals anirudh n dharni. Its gonna be fun. Will write more after I get back.

reunion

2006-07-03T12:48:00.000-07:00

(left to right)GunRanjan(bajji), Chaitanya, VijaySai(zambie), Anand, HariPrashant(ship), Pramodh(best student-1994)

Dad would come the next day to take me home for summer vacation. I was really very happy abt getting back home from hostel, but a bit sad abt leavin friends. Anyways, Id get back after 2 months, and receive all the hugs n then they'd lift me up n throw me on the beds n make a lot of mess(thats how we used to treat each other when we met after vacation). I fought with rakesh the other day n wasnt talkn 2 him. I thot we'd patchup after vacation. SV had already left wid his aunt (manorati ma'am).I knew he'd get some strange thing for me from zambia like he always did. "Well zambie(dats how we called him), see u after 2 months" I said. And thats the last thing I remember to have spoken to him. It was May 1995. 5th
grade exams were jus over n we were so excited abt getting into high school, 6th std that is. I thot I'd meet up wid them again in july.

But things were totally different. Dad dint want me to be in that school anymore. As a kid I was obviously happy abt staying with mom n dad instead of livin in a hostel. But I could'nt forget my friends. They'd be expecting me. I dint even tell them abt me leavin the school. I wanted to visit the school sometime so i cud atleast talk to them. But I never got a chance to visit the place again. There were no e-mails n stuff. I dint even have anyone's fone numbers. I wrote a couplof cards, but never got a reply. Days passed n I had
almost forgotten all this. Years passed n I grew old. I wondered whether I shud visit the place atleast now, because I was'nt sure as to how many ppl wud remember me.

A couple months back around april-may, I registered in a network called orkut, where I happened to come across a community of the students n ex-students of my school. With a little hope, I dropped a post there. And the next day I was totally shocked to see so many messeges in orkut as well as in yahoo msngr. I finally caught up with them. Then v all had a long conference on yahoo for 3 or 4 hours, talkin abt all the things that happened in school 10 years back. Even they were very happy to find me coz it seems they'd been trackin down all our classmates wherever they were, and cud'nt track only 3 guys one of them being me.

We decided to meet up in brindavan campus in whitefield. But there were'nt many guys in there. Many had left after 12th. Only those pursuing BSc were in brindavan. I went there and met them in the same old fasion. Same hugs. But they dint throw me on the beds this time(they're grown up). And guess what I got to know!! Zambie's no more a Zambie. Now, he's Aussie coz his parents moved to AUS, n he's goin there after his Bachelors. We spent some time together talkin abt our primary school days.Then we decided to have a biig reunion on Jan-11 thats when the Sports day is held. Its the most spectacular extravaganza held by the institute. And this time, its goin to be better than ever for all of us. Im jus waiting for the day................

Eat, drink, have fun, get a job.

2006-06-19T12:12:00.000-07:00

And thats exactly what I did today in Bangalore, after all these days of chilling out. Well, this time I dint go to my annayya's home, but preferred to stay in ma frnd's room jus 4 fun. I was actually fast asleep at 8 in da morning, when my frnd(senior actually) woke me up sayin' "Im leavin now...2 attend an interview in residency road". Felt like sayin "U bugger,.. spoilt da precious sleep of this nocturnal creature, n expect me to wish u good luck!". But I jus gave him a plastic smile n said "good luck. U'll get it". He said something... I thot he wanted me 2 giv company till the bus-stop till I realisd dat he actually wanted me to attend the interview aswell. "Are u out of senses??? Im still in 3rd yr. How can I?" He went toward da PC n was back in 5 mins wid a paper in his hand. He stretched it out saying "Now u are not". He actually printed a resume' wid my name. It read B.E in CSE. Now dats funny isnt it? It struck me "instead of hangin around here n there at KFC et.al. everyday, y dont u jus go give urself a try. find out if u r really worth something" though a compu job, like sittin in fronta d PC n typin code is not my cup of tea.

Finally, after much apprehension, I left da bed. I jus brushed, washed ma face n set out. Im sooo bloody frank 2 accept dat I dint even change my clothes. There!! dont get scared. the other nite, I slept wid a denim n a Polo. However, I was anything but decent. I dint even comb my hair, n it was all raised like a porcupine's. But that dint matter coz half of the bangalore guys have it dat way...they call it "spikes". We reached there by around 10 am. It was oe hellava building, nothing less than any of those ITC run hotels. It was 11 storeyed, with a wierd shape, a prismatic one probably. I felt like I were in a sci-fi movie. We were late by 5 mins, but were allowed to join da 1st rounda interview in da 9th floor. This fatass interviewer asked us to take da mike, intro ourselves, n then cook up a story, starting with the phrase "when I was walkin down da road". I jus went up there n said some bull shit n got shortlisted 2 da 2nd round. My frnd, poor fella....got rejected :( The 2nd round was'nt plain bullshit like before..... it was intellectual bullshit. We had to write an essay. Did that too, n got shortlisted again. Now there were only 8 of us out of all the 25.

It was then that the actual fun started. We were asked 2 hav a break n then wait 4 da 3rd round. First, we went to the cafe in 10th floor, had coffee, bullied the guard in there, took the TV remote frm him n watched football for about half an hour(it was a plasma). Then we went back to da lounge where we were supposed to wait. There was one B.Arch guy amongst, who was explainin us the building's shape. Then v had a discussion abt how we cud easily demolish dat building(da interviewer shud've heard us...haha). Then v started arguing loudly, so loud dat some1 had 2 come n order us to "shutup" in a corporate manner. One gal insisted we play dumb charades coz dat wud'nt be noisy. I ruled her out sayin "the name itself is dumb". Then, one professional-lukin' guy came n said "u guys must be hungry!! u can eat somethin in the pantry". In a moment, we all were there. The food there was really good, n the place looked nothing less than a pizza hut". I ate a pav-bhaji, a masala dosa, and had a pineapple juice at the end(it was free). It was really gr8 n for the first time in my life, I felt like getting into a job(atleast for the food there LOL).

Then, we completed the 3rd n 4th rounds, conducted by the same fatass buxom interviewer( FBI as v nicknamed her). Along with 4 others, I was selected for the job. They asked us to visit the next day, get our certificates, sign their bond, n take the offer letter. Then it was time to leave. I felt bad while leavin the place. We all exchanged email IDs n said goodbye 2 each other n left. It was all quite an experience worth remembering............

So Dark The Con Of Man

2006-05-30T11:28:00.000-07:00

I just watched the movie some hours back. That was one of the reasons that I came to b'lore for, apart from visitin idp, bookin my IELTS, buyin some books, other shoppin, and the remainin half a million reasons that I have. I was so excited about the movie that I wanted to watch it the day of release itself, but sadly, I could'nt. Finally, this evening, I managed to reach INOX in garuda mall along with my friend by around 4. Had I been a little late, I would'nt have got the tickets. The multiplex was really impressive, more than I expected, and was way better than PVR. But I faced the greatest humuliation of my life today, at the ticket counter. The guy in there put me down like no one ever did. This was what happened....

ME: "two tickets for the 6:40 show of da vinci code please."
HIM: "Sir, the movie is A rated, and both the persons have to be above 18."
ME(pointing at my frnd): "Ofcourse he is above 18 too."
HIM: "Sir, I'm talking about you. I need an age proof. I cant give you the tickets without ur age proof"
ME(embarrassed more than shocked): "uhh come ON,(rubbing my unshaven chin) look at me, Im 21."

Then, I had a small arguement with him after which he declared that I'd get the tickets only if provided an age proof. Time was running, the bar was already orange, which meant only a few tickets were remaining, and there were two more active counters. There was no way, me getting off the queue and coming back. So, I thought it'd be wise to stop arguing and look into my wallet, so I could show him my college Id card which had my DOB. Alas!! I dint have it. I only had my college bus pass, which actually dint show my age, but specified "engg 3rd yr 2nd sem". The ticketcounter guy was soo understanding(sarcasm, if u dint get it) that he understood that a 3rd yr engg grad wud be anything but a minor. Good heavens! he gave me the tickets. I was so embarrased with the ppl around me, their wierd looks, n giggles. Finally I watched the long awaited, and rather controversial movie

Lately, a lot of fuss has been goin on abt the da vinci code: whether its a fact or fiction, or a blend of both. But I jus dont care. My part is only to enjoy the thrills of the book, and thats exactly what I did.
Now let me talk abt the movie. I actually repent pissing off, in so many forums, and chatrooms, those reviewers, who wrote that the movie was'nt upto the expectations. The movie really was way less than what I expected it be. And, believe me, if u've already read the book, u'll find it very unexciting, jus like I did. And, the changes they made in the storyline and the consequences,... u'll find them unacceptable and kindof lame. But some dialogs portraying Teabing's sense of humour,which were'nt actually in the book, were good. I really loved this particular conversation, between him and Sophie....

Sophie: "so.....u mean jesus was'nt the son of god"

Teabing: "not even his nephew"

But what I can finalise is that the consequences in the book are a hundred times more exciting and, I guess, would've fit into the movie properly.

I only hope they dont mess up "angels n daemons" into another unimpressive movie.

Live Life in COLOR

2006-04-25T03:04:00.000-07:00

chill out with br eezer

My first date with the Stock Market

2006-04-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

I've been having a bent for the stock market since long, but I never gotto get really INTO it. So, my dad advised me to drop in on Mr.KondaReddy, our family doctor and a close well-wisher, coz he's got a lot of proficiency in stocktrading(the oldie has earned really biig over the years). I visited him, and he kindof took classes for about four days. But, I dint understand a bit of what he said each day (as if I ever understand what he says). It was as boring as my 10th-grade social studies. I felt like a kindergarten kid being given the birds-and-bees-talk. So, it ended up like that. And then, this particular neighbour, Mr.Gopal, one of the top chartered accountants of our town(an oldie 2), enlightened me with some basic knowledge, and gave me some books(which I never read).

Then, I participated in an event "stocastica", a stock market simulation, held in MIT(manipal), when I'd been there. Though I cud'nt even win a consolation prize, I really enjoyed it and got a clearer picture. It was in this event that I really understood what "manipulation" means, and how the so called big bulls(harshad mehta et. al.) do it. In this connection, I'm really thankful to Mr.NagrajNaidu, coz he was the one who encouraged me to go to manipal, eventhough my H.O.D, was against the idea.

And then, a youngster, Mr.Prakash Reddy, workin wid bajaj allianz, took interest in sitting down wid me patiently and explainin' almost everything.
Of course, he dint do it for nothing. He persuaded me to start off by buying "bajaj allianz" shares, so he could reach his target in sales and win a promo. He was a li'l intimate to our family, so he knew I had a savings of a hundred grand, which I had saved by giving up the idea of buying a bike. So, he urged me to invest the whole thing, and personally promised me a minimun of 20% returns in less than 3 months. I made the purchase on feb 25th. And, today, I jus disposed them off, the shares, after gettin to know that I'd get a 23.9%.

So, I'll be getting quite some money. Now, I'm so happy that I had given up the idea of buyin a bike, coz I saved money, saved India(remember...save oil save India), saved the planet from pollution, and gained a li'l which I'm plannin to use to support my edu sometime in da future.

first breakdown

2006-03-29T09:11:00.000-08:00

Being a novice,
i was driving alone on a busy road jus for the fun out of it,
and the damn car broke down amid the traffic,
pity me.

And I was there helplessly, not knowing what to do. I always knew my 11th hour saviour(name not disclosed for security reasons) would come for me. Then, he did show up after a while with the same grin that he always wears in situations like that. He sorted things out and took me home.

I just thanked god coz things could have gotten worse.

GUIDED MISSILES. misguided humans.

2006-03-26T19:51:00.000-08:00

The lingo was a li'l offensive. So I placed the post in the drafts. Yet to be censored.

help Never, hurt never

2006-03-25T16:25:00.000-08:00

deleted.

where ARE we going??

2006-03-14T06:50:00.000-08:00

Im not erudite and experienced enough to discourse something like the age old friction between science and religion. I just hope to phrase out my perspective of certain concepts regarding how far science has taken us.

No doubt science, ever since its existence, has been perking up our living standards and the quality of our life. Let me take the example of medicine
(well...its more than just an example). Only due to the advances in science and
technology, we are good enough at life-saving and healthy living. But this
development and growth have another dimension, the unethical dimension(no,Im not talking about warfare and such stuff). The development in medicine too is turning out to be a threat to the ethics of humankind. Consider cloning. Right now, it is possible to create a human using this technology. It may sound great regarding our prowess in technology. But how far is it acceptable regarding ethics. Man creating man. Thats ridiculous, and totally against nature. May be, in some years, we may have to witness ethical disasters like these. Like those in the movies "the island" and "6th day". Just recollect what Arnold does when his clone sleeps with his wife. And what Evan feels like when when someone tells him that he's not who he thinks he is, but his clone. Can you imagine yourself in such a situation? Let's just hope we won't get that far.

Surrogacy is another fine example. No pleasure, no pain...and a kid is born out of nowhere? A man's sperm and a woman's ovum are fused by a goddamn
lab-technician? And the embryo(or whatever it's called) stored in another
woman's womb? Sounds like childs' play huh? To me, it rather sounds like
transfering mp3 files from one PC to another using a thumb-drive. Recently, I
read an article in a mag about a man, who wanted a son very badly but din't
want a wife. So, he hired a woman's ovum, hired a Doc to get his sperm fused(i
may not be using exact jargon here) with the ovum, hired another woman's
womb, planted the embryo in her womb, waited for nine months, and .................
VOILA !!! He's got a son. Now who is the kid's mother? Is it the woman who
bore the child? Or the woman who donated the ovum?(whose identity was 'nt
revealed to anyone).

When I was a kid, I used to think we have already reached the zenith of
science. But each time I thought so, in a couple of days I heard about another
massive leap in technology, until lately I could realize that there is practically
no limit for development. It just keeps going on n on n on.....

These are the keys 2 my heart(it seems). find out yours by clickin the link below

2006-02-21T08:03:00.000-08:00

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to good manners and elegance.
In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored.
You'd like to your lover to think you are optimistic and happy.
You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please.
Your ideal relationship is comforting. You crave a relationship where you always feel warmth and love.
Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment.
You think of marriage as something that will confine you. You are afraid of marriage.
In this moment, you think of love as something you thirst for. You'll do anything for love, but you won't fall for it easily.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

A world without cars.

2006-01-15T08:06:00.000-08:00

Just imagine a world without cars.If there were no cars:

There would be no lying about your age for a license.

There would be no carpools.

There would be no drive-ins.

There would be no eyes meeting in the rear view mirror.

There would be no romancing in the back seat.

There would be nothing to put a just married sticker on.

There would be no peering into new cars.

There would be no forgetting your keys in the car.

There would be no "have we reached home daddy?"

There would be no driving off into the sunset.

There would be no rolling down the windows.

There would be no 0 to 60.

There would be no car races.

There would be no car ads.

There would be no hanging toes out on a long drive.

There would be no running out of petrol on a dark rainy night.

There would be no fighting for window seat.

There would be no child lock.

There would be no bumper stickers.

There would be no sedans.

There would be no coupes.

There would be no hatchbacks.

There would be no SUVs.

Thank god we do have cars.

(no eulogies please.....that was a reprint. Found it on a "ford" pamphlet.)

My trip 2 Pondicherry

2006-01-12T19:16:00.000-08:00

One of my favourite destinations in India is Pondycherry. Right from when I visited the place for the first time, sometime back when I was in school, I kindof fell in love with the place. Its calmness and serenity are what enchanted me. The first time when I visited the place and went to Aurobino Ashram, I got reminded of PrashanthiNilayam(puttaparthi), the place where I did my primary school. I had been longing to visit Pondy since I last visited it some 4 years back.

Several times, I planned to go there along with my friends, but everytime, something or the other would stop me and make me cancel my trip. But, this time, it was entirely differnt. I had nothing in my mind about going to pondy until one evening, my dad woke me up from my afternoon nap, and said, "You're going to pondy tomorrow. Go and book your ticket." I was sure that I was dreaming. But no, I was'nt. My dad wanted me to go there on some work.I had to take delivery of our car. Though I dint like the work, I agreed because I loved the place, so I decided to go. Actually, my dad decided that I would go. My friend and I started off on 11th early morning at around 5 o' clock though I dint like the idea of waking up so early on a holiday. We were lucky that there was a direct bus to pondy so we dint have to make a transit via Chennai as we thought. The journey was long and boring. The old and not-so-good bus made it seem worse and even more long. Finally, after 7 hours of journey, we reached there. I started having a nice feeling as soon as we entered the city. And then, we reached the guesthouse where we were supposed to stay. It was in JN Street, which is the hub of all shopping and commercial activity in Pondy. Then, we decided to go to the beach road and spend the entire day there itself. We had our lunch there itself and were roaming here and there on the beach road. My friend was taking snaps of french women.In no time, it was evening and after a while, it started getting dark. So, we came back to JN Street and checked out some shopping malls...well window shopping is one of my favourite passtime.

East Coast Road

There's nothing much to say about that night and the next day. After that, the best part of my whole trip started.The return journey. We had to take our new car from Pondy to Tirupati. As the direct route is full of bumps and potholes, we decided to go through chennai. The newly laid road between Pondy and Chennai was really amazing. The EastCoastRoad or "The Scenic ECR beachway" as it is called, runs along the coastal line throughout its length between the two cities. The TN Govt. has done a great job constructing this road with 2 or 3 view points and gardens in the middle. This can be listed in the best driveways in India on par with the Mumbai-Goa road which is considered to be the best driveway. As we were halfway through, it started getting dark. Slowly, the moon started shining brighter and brighter as it got darker. We stopped at a viewpoint for 10 minutes to enjoy the beauty of the seashore. Then we went on and reached chennai. We had a very hard time there. Chennai traffic is like a nightmare. And I dint want to keep reminding myself that my worst dream has just come true. So, I closed my eyes and kept praying that we get outta the traffic. But, we got stuck in traffic jams several times and it took us almost two and a half hours to get out of the city. Finally we could sigh in relief. I was tired and fell asleep and woke up in my town. By then, it was early in the morning and it was the festival day of Bhogi, so the roads were full of bonfires. I started feeling great about living in a peaceful town rather than a busy city which gives you nothing but a headache.

Same old New Year

2006-01-02T05:55:00.000-08:00

Thers nothin new about this new year......the same old routine....same old resolutions.....same old celebrations

Gangsta Rap

2005-12-15T10:20:00.000-08:00

Rap is one of my favourite genres. But I have to agree that Gangsta rap, as it is called, sends out a very bad message to the world of its listeners, and has a very bad effect. Especially in young minds, it causes a riotous confusion. This has been proven thru studies made on several american youths. The word "rap" itself means to utter words harshly in a criticizing manner, or simply "to criticize". Rap music today crosses the line on what is politically and socially correct in the society. In rap lyrics, vulgarity, and an extensive amount of profanity are used throughout. Gang banging, drugs, and alcohol, are some examples of rap stereotypes. Offensive names are given to women, such as 'bitches" and "hoes".It is hard to fight against such words used to identify women, when they are used so freely and frequently.

With illiteracy levels at extreme highs, and with the black population representing a large proportion of illiterates in America, rap can be mobilized and used as a means of remedying these literacy problems. This AfroAmerican genre, incorporating AfroAmerican culture in the music, requires an extensive word usage and manipulation. With its further evolution and development, the complications and literary value of the rap lyrics will also evolve and develop, as has already begun to happen. However, rap offers a motivational tool for youths who connect most with the music and its messages. Explicit lyrics also promote violence, and send out negative messages to young listeners. Gangsta Rap is a form of rap which deals with the traumas of young people. (it seems)At first these gangsta rappers spoke against the injustice done to underprivileged AfroAmericans. However, the lyrics have become more abusive as time goes by. Rappers blister their own race with degrading remarks like "nigga". Sadly enough, gangsta rappers support and even encourage violence. Rappers like Eminem, 50 cent, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dog have promoted killing their enemies by the use of weapons.

.It is said that Rap evolved from AfroAmerican minstrel songs which were'nt abusive but a little bit arrogant. Their main purpose was to oppose and criticize the racial discrimination. But these days, they have totally lost their essence and purpose and have created a kind of mayhem. With newer and newer albums coming out every year it is becoming more and more popular and even more vulgar(....looks like the more vulgar, the more it is liked by people).

JaySean

2005-12-15T10:16:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure whether you know this guy or not, but he's my favourite singer. He's JaySean, a UK born Asian. Still in his 20s, he's rocked the music world of UK with his debut album scoring a #5 position in the UK chartbusters.He's into hip-hop, R&B, and rap. The interesting fact 'bout him is that, being UK born, he has a craving for desi music. Most of his hip-hop tracks have that masala factor(of the kind found in punjaabi). I feel we cant catogerize his music into any particular genre. Its like he's put all the above said genres together with a pinch of desi masala.His first individual album Me Against Myself created waves in england's records and took him to #5. This album which has about 14 tracks is really gr8. The titlesong "ME AGAINST MYSELF", a rap track is really cool(the video is really good). The one really different thing about his rap tracks is that you'll find at the max 2 or 3 abusive words in the whole track, unlike most of the others' (especially american) raps where 2 or 3 words are'nt abuses. The other tracks of this album are also really good. Before this album, he has to his credit, a single called "dance with you" and a couple of remixes. Though these remixes sound dumb, the single "dance with you" (which he's done along with RishiRich and Juggy D) is really good. Recently he's performed a single "one night" in the movie "KYA KOOL HAI HUM" wher he teamed up with Rishi and JuggyD. Another attraction of this song was Veronica, another UK born asian.

My trip 2 Manipal

2005-12-15T10:15:00.000-08:00

I'll write 'bout it later.Right now, I don't have any patience. Jus hav a look at my pics at http://in.photos.yahoo.com/harsha_naag

Googlewhacking.........search 4 the 1

2005-12-15T10:13:00.000-08:00

Recently, I came across something called "GOOGLEWHACKING". First, I thought it was just another boring game on the net. But, once I checked it out, I changed my opinion about it because, I found it damn interesting, and funny. These days(i mean nights) I spend a lot of time with this crazy game. It turned out to be so much fun to me.Okay, I don't know whether you are already familiar with googlewhacking or not, but let me just explain. It's a funny game you can play all by yourself or with a friend. The thing is you got to go to www.google.com and use the Google search engine and perforn a search with only two keywords(each called a googlefactor), both of which must be recognized by www.dictionary.com, and the search must end with just one link.... Sounds silly?? Sounds crazy?? Whatever you feel, once you get into it, I bet you'll find it very interesting.Just like every other game, even this game has certain rules. They are as follows:Rule 1: Quotation marks are not allowed.Rule 2: Boolean search is not allowed.Rule 3: Use of numbers and punctuation marks is not allowed.(jus words made of A-Z)Rule 4: Each googlefactor must be 4 to thirty characters in length.Some of the googlewhacks I found out are: natural aquafarmings, india aquafarmings, calibratable hypomania.....So go ahead.....see for yourself how goog you are at whacking

Blog??

2005-12-15T10:12:00.000-08:00

My first thought about a blog was that it was some kindof a webpage(or a complete website) hosted for free on the internet by some agencies which indirectly gain from us by ads and such stuff. Well, this was when I was in 11th or 12th std. At that particular time, I had just completed my HTML course, ofcourse, with much less profeciency. I was just a beginner to webdesign, but was damn eager to do something on the net,something like hosting my own website. I understood it would cost me something around a thousand bucks,which I could'nt even think of. Then, I read about something called weblog (blog), and I mistook it for a free web-hosting ,and finally I ended up creating a blog for myself. It was then that I really understood what a weblog is all about.Then, I started posting my blogs just about anything that I came across , my dog, my college, friends, and just anything. I even gave my blog url to some of my classmates, mostly girls(jus to impress them). But, I realized none of my friends was really interested in reading my blogs. Most of them had not even used the net atleast once until then. So, I lost interest in it and stopped posting or even thinking about blogs. Recently, one of my friends asked me to create a blog in rediffblogs or blogcity, but, I was little interested until I came across this particular Yahoo! 360. It not only provides webspace for blogging, but it also works as a friends network just like orkut.com and hi5.com among others....one which I was planning to register in.

Gettin' Started

2005-12-15T10:11:00.000-08:00

I've just created a blog on blogspot. Long back I had a blog on blogshop which then became inactive as the sit closed down. Then I created one on yahoo360(http://360.yahoo.com\harsha_naag). But it was'nt that good. So, I decided to to create a blog on blogspot and copy all my previous posts.

Now let me talk about myself :

Physique: Im tall, dark and,....er...well..the "handsome" part is upto you.

Attitude: The following are my favourite phrases. Hope they describe what Iam....

There's always a second chance.
There's always another path.
There's always a PlanB.
Life moves on.
Things happen.
Now or later......(actually, they say "now or never" )

Strength&Weakness: I am straightforward and outspoken. That is my strength and at times, it turns out to be my weakness.