Thank You Sachin
"It seems while Time was having his toll on every individual on the face of this planet, he excused one man. Time stands frozen in front of Sachin Tendulkar. We have had champions, we have had legends, but we have never had another Sachin Tendulkar and we never will."
- Time Magazine
- Time Magazine
I was listening to the lecturer talk about cloud based software when a customary glance at my phone gave me the goosebumps. India were about to start batting, because well, West Indies had folded yet again. More importantly, there was time, ample time, for Sachin Tendulkar to come out to bat. One last time, in all probability. And just like that, out of nowhere, the very nice Finn that my lecturer is, he told us he was done for the day, and we could go our ways and meet again next week. Actually, he said a lot more. But I probably wasn't listening that well. The universe had conspired to let me watch him bat - one last time?I grabbed my jacket and a zillion other winter accessories that you probably need to don before venturing into the cold and set home on my bicycle. Thinking about it on the way, took me back in time.
I used to be this chubby school kid who loved rushing home from school, on his bicycle to watch Tendulkar bat in one of those numerous day-night one dayers in Sharjah. Stopping on the way back to ask a shopkeeper the score and sighing with relief after hearing him say, "Tendulkar maar reha hai!". I still am a student. I still ride a bicycle. And if the Finns had arbitrarily planned shops around roads, I'd still have stopped by to ask if Tendulkar had come out to bat (I did that on my phone anyway). Sixteen years on, nothing seems to have changed. Time indeed stands frozen in front of Sachin Tendulkar.
I don't really remember when I started liking cricket. In fact, now that I think about it, I never quite did. It was Sachin that I began following and cricket was just a part of the parcel. There are various theories to why we Indians are so fond of cricket. We lack the stamina for real sport probably? And for a billion people believed to be good with numbers and mathematics, cricket offers all the statistics that let you take your mental mathematics to a different level altogether. My mother would absolutely vouch for that fact. But yeah, Tendulkar had me hooked on. So much so, that I valued watching him play more than India winning. A victory was just an icing on the cake called a Tendulkar century. Every season of my life that I can reflect back on, has a corresponding Tendulkar memory attached to it. Like the summers spent half-camping in Palampur, where a radio did it's best to explain to me how an emotional Tendulkar reacted after scoring a century, when he had just returned from his father's funeral. Or watching him flatten the egos out off Pakistan's famous pace trio during the '03 World Cup, a moment that gave me a much required inspiration to get out of the rut and finally pass my exams. And those hilariously predictable days when he'd get into the 90s and you'd know he's going to walk any moment now, teaching you how important it is to keep trying, every damn time, no matter what.
My Tendulkar memories are about his success and failures and not India's because for me he was the superhero that I looked up to. In a team sport, he came out as the self-assured figure full of calm and a quite will. There was this short period of time when Saurav Ganguly almost managed to discover the cricket lover in me, but he couldn't quite succeed. I sometimes question myself, why I couldn't come to like another cricketer if not cricket. It's probably because none of them have been such phenomenal show men, and the ones that probably are, are just too inhuman. The idea of a Virat Kohli pumping fists, after scoring a century before opening up with choicest of expletives just doesn't appeal to me. When did I last see Sachin pump his fists, if at all? Probably when he foxed a batsmen with his leg-spin. Bowling was something that he wasn't supposed to be good at, batting was a routine - not to be celebrated.
There is a lot I'd like to remember Tendulkar for. The drives, the upper-cuts, the smile, the weird short paced sprint, the awkward stance... and the list goes on. The slight raise of the bat with eyes saying thank you to the heavens, before coming back to mortal life and acknowledging the crowd. That, is the moment I'd like to take with me to sleep when looking for inspiration. They call him God, master, genius and a few other things. I don't know which of these I can actually relate to - he was fallible, gullible and pretty much human. Somebody who tried hard and harder than each last try. He was Sachin.
I got back to my apartment and managed to find a live stream, just in time to watch the on-drive unleashed. The stumps were drawn soon, and I set my alarm for the next day's start of play, Indian Standard Time. The alarm never rang, I never woke up to see him score a few more and walk back, and I'll not try to search for the highlights. As somebody who lives a life that relies heavily on Sachin Tendulkar moments for inspiration, I'd like to live the rest of my life thinking about the on drive - give it back to life as hard as it comes at you.
I used to be this chubby school kid who loved rushing home from school, on his bicycle to watch Tendulkar bat in one of those numerous day-night one dayers in Sharjah. Stopping on the way back to ask a shopkeeper the score and sighing with relief after hearing him say, "Tendulkar maar reha hai!". I still am a student. I still ride a bicycle. And if the Finns had arbitrarily planned shops around roads, I'd still have stopped by to ask if Tendulkar had come out to bat (I did that on my phone anyway). Sixteen years on, nothing seems to have changed. Time indeed stands frozen in front of Sachin Tendulkar.
I don't really remember when I started liking cricket. In fact, now that I think about it, I never quite did. It was Sachin that I began following and cricket was just a part of the parcel. There are various theories to why we Indians are so fond of cricket. We lack the stamina for real sport probably? And for a billion people believed to be good with numbers and mathematics, cricket offers all the statistics that let you take your mental mathematics to a different level altogether. My mother would absolutely vouch for that fact. But yeah, Tendulkar had me hooked on. So much so, that I valued watching him play more than India winning. A victory was just an icing on the cake called a Tendulkar century. Every season of my life that I can reflect back on, has a corresponding Tendulkar memory attached to it. Like the summers spent half-camping in Palampur, where a radio did it's best to explain to me how an emotional Tendulkar reacted after scoring a century, when he had just returned from his father's funeral. Or watching him flatten the egos out off Pakistan's famous pace trio during the '03 World Cup, a moment that gave me a much required inspiration to get out of the rut and finally pass my exams. And those hilariously predictable days when he'd get into the 90s and you'd know he's going to walk any moment now, teaching you how important it is to keep trying, every damn time, no matter what.
My Tendulkar memories are about his success and failures and not India's because for me he was the superhero that I looked up to. In a team sport, he came out as the self-assured figure full of calm and a quite will. There was this short period of time when Saurav Ganguly almost managed to discover the cricket lover in me, but he couldn't quite succeed. I sometimes question myself, why I couldn't come to like another cricketer if not cricket. It's probably because none of them have been such phenomenal show men, and the ones that probably are, are just too inhuman. The idea of a Virat Kohli pumping fists, after scoring a century before opening up with choicest of expletives just doesn't appeal to me. When did I last see Sachin pump his fists, if at all? Probably when he foxed a batsmen with his leg-spin. Bowling was something that he wasn't supposed to be good at, batting was a routine - not to be celebrated.
There is a lot I'd like to remember Tendulkar for. The drives, the upper-cuts, the smile, the weird short paced sprint, the awkward stance... and the list goes on. The slight raise of the bat with eyes saying thank you to the heavens, before coming back to mortal life and acknowledging the crowd. That, is the moment I'd like to take with me to sleep when looking for inspiration. They call him God, master, genius and a few other things. I don't know which of these I can actually relate to - he was fallible, gullible and pretty much human. Somebody who tried hard and harder than each last try. He was Sachin.
I got back to my apartment and managed to find a live stream, just in time to watch the on-drive unleashed. The stumps were drawn soon, and I set my alarm for the next day's start of play, Indian Standard Time. The alarm never rang, I never woke up to see him score a few more and walk back, and I'll not try to search for the highlights. As somebody who lives a life that relies heavily on Sachin Tendulkar moments for inspiration, I'd like to live the rest of my life thinking about the on drive - give it back to life as hard as it comes at you.
Listening to: Bonfire Heart, James Blunt
Dedicated to: Doesn't need mentioning
Images Courtesy: Google Image Search
PS: I finally got my act together to write a tribute. Just in time I believe.
One for the cause
One of India’s most trusted and credible NGOs, GiveIndia is taking part in a competition on Facebook to win a US$1 million grant. The winner will be the NGO that gets the highest number of votes from Facebook users. The prize of $1 million will help put or keep 40,000 children across India in school for one year!
Voting in the competition is for one week only, from Friday, January 15 – Friday, January 22, 2010. Can we make a difference in the next 5 days? We sure hope so!
The link for voting, where you can also see more details of the competition is
Something you can easily take time of for while online for one of your countless social networking session... GO VOTE!
Listening to: Back Home Again, John Denver
P. S. Hell yeah! I'm back for sure :)
My DD moment
The radio jockey was going all praise over DD turning 50 and asking listeners to phone in and tell everyone about their favourite DD moment. The faint first memories that I have of myself watching DD are glimpses from the everybody at home assembling in front of the TV for watching there favourite Buniyaad go a step farther. [Yes, Ekta Kapoor neither invented nor discovered family dramas.] Of course I remember Shanti too, Mandira Bedi never got tired of coming back on to the screen every afternoon, day after day after day. [UTV again beat Ekta Kapoor to daily soaps] And then there was Sports Broadcasts, whether it was the Hero Cup, The 1996 Wills World Cup, Leander Paes's bronze at Atlanta Olymics of '96 or Zidane's moment of glory at Fifa '08. DD was here there and everywhere, juggling time and resources pretty efficiently I'd say.
Having a 'Cable Connection' was considered something elite and taboo at the same time at the lunch break conversations of us 7th graders.
And then things began to change. Cable TV became as much about Discovery, BBC and National Geographic as it was about Star World and AXN. You just had to have it to have a taste of 'The World'. WWF(E) was never a DD trademark and so wasn't Prannoy Roy's NDTV. And the good old terrestial antenna caught in the web of cable signals carrying coaxial wires, slowly lost it's esteemed place atop the rooftops. You had to have 5 different Sports, News, Family Entertainment, Movie and Foreign channels to complete a TV viewing experience. [I do love cable TV for ESPN, HBO and WB though.]
And slowly, DD was left to be that official broadcaster of the nation that nobody had the time to see.Of course it isn't anywhere near with regards to quality of the content or presentation that we have on the Satellite channels. And who needs to be blamed for that, is anybody's guess..
So what's my favourite DD moment? Quite a few come to mind when I think of that...
- One fine afternoon, you could only see the pictures and not hear anything. I later got to know that Rajiv Gandhi had been assassinated. Don't know how, but I happen to remember that.
- Of course being home on Sunday mornings to watch Jungle Book, Duck Tales and Tales Pin is something I can't forget. I still cant find a Cartoon channls that airs those shows.
- Some of the really well presented social service messages that were aired after every hour or so. Remember "एक चिडिया - अनेक चिडिया" and "मिले सुर मेरा तुम्हारा" ?
- Watching the friday night movies that went on for about 5 hours thanks to the plethora of advertisements that DD used to get back then.
- Buying a Radio that broadcast DD so that I didn't miss '99 WC during my summer sojourn at Palampur, where we didn't have a TV.
- Remember the "Sorry for Interruption - रुकावट के किये खेद है" screen that used to pop up so often? It became a part of the Indian legend and folklore for ever. Modern day satellite channels hang up too, it's just that they aren't courteous enough!
Well none of these happen to be the actual DD moment for me. It's way too recent, when I lamented India's early exit at ICC WC '07 and decided to do something about it. So I got a TV Tuner card from my uncle's and we built a special set top dipole antenna, that could easily catch the free-to-air DD terrestial signals. And sure enough, I witnessed India's triumph at the ICC World T20 right there in my room, without a cable wire. And to this day, I haven't been able to decide what satisfied me more...
So what's you DD moment? Come on, say!
Listening to: Feelin' Way Too Damn Good, Nickelback, The Long Road
Dedicated to: That big terrestrial antenna that once brought home Doordarshan. Gosh I miss you :P
_
I guess I'm not done... just yet.
Why I've not been posting anything on THE iNFINIY all this time? Well, a combination of lame and not so lame excuses - have been lazy, haven't been well, had to undergo a nightmare (they call it surgery in medical terms), have been speculating a lot, haven't been thinking that much, have allowed my jobless tag get to me, have been listening to lots of people instead of just hearing them...
In a nutshell, I've been screwing and letting life screw me...
And then I remembered I certainly had things to do... probably a lot better than what I've been doing. This ain't really something worth reading... just a reminder to all my readers that I'm still here... and gonna be back writing soon... I do believe its better than most things I do.
Don't think there are many regular readers left on THE iNFINITY. But, asd's willing to do whatever it takes to get them back...
No bangs, but yes, I'm back! :D
[Silly punchline to end with, I know, but you know, I'm outta form]
And then I remembered I certainly had things to do... probably a lot better than what I've been doing. This ain't really something worth reading... just a reminder to all my readers that I'm still here... and gonna be back writing soon... I do believe its better than most things I do.
Don't think there are many regular readers left on THE iNFINITY. But, asd's willing to do whatever it takes to get them back...
No bangs, but yes, I'm back! :D
[Silly punchline to end with, I know, but you know, I'm outta form]
Listening to: Ye Dooriyan, Kaminey. Courtesy: Radio Mirchi
Dedicated to: The hapless radio jockey on the same station. Man! I'm a fan of their stamina and shameless stupidity.
P.S. The preview pic that I put up was t attract more readers... nothing to do with a movie review as you must have realised by now. Ya kamina... dazz me!
Gone, are my whiskers :(
A man without a moustache is like a cup of tea without sugar.
- Read in an old Reader's Digest a few days back. Can't recall the personality they attributed it to. So for now, attributed to Anonymous.
So out of the blues one day,just like that, I decided that I'll heed my doctor's advice and won't shave for good. He had been telling me to avoid it until I got rid of my summer supply of pimples, but being presentable in college constitutes a huge chunk of any dude's check list. And so I'd been shaving each alternate day to keep looking like the gentleman that I am.
And then the stubble, which slowly grew into a much heralded beard. "Impressive growth rate", I complimented myself.
Then one fine day, they told us it was time to bid farewell to the college, with of course an official farewell from the college, that sadly had, an official dress code. Yup! I had to shave.
Going through the routine, a shimmering Gilette Mach3 in hand, I checked out my face with a moustache. Just a moustache. The shaving cream smeared on the rest of the face. It looked... errr.. impressive to say the least. "Does a moustache violate the term clean shaven? " I asked myself. "Probably it does. Probably it doesn't. But well worth the risk all the same."
"Let's do it". I told myself.
So there I was at my official farewell party with a big black moustache. It did earn me a lot more photo opportunities than normal, apart from, of course, the glares and stares.
And to this day I'd been sporting the same bushy black moustache. Just that some (mis)happenings tell me it's the wrong era to be going around showing it off...
Friends were generous in showering accolades. How much they ridiculed my latest 'experiment with my looks' is something I'll never really get a masure of. Kids tried calling me uncle. Girls came forth with their particularly unappealing smiles. And some were blunt enough to do away with the smiles, altogether. And to top it all, my own mother seemed perturbed with me, the moment I set foot, in my new home.
So, with a heavy heart and even heavier hands, that seemed more like the butcher's hands, making the lamb say it's final prayers a million times, before they actually do it in, I chopped off my prized possession of the past few months.
"The Mumbai clime made it impossible to maintaion one, and I wasn't one to trim them off", is what I tell people who ask me the whereabouts of my face's bookmark. For the record though, I had to do it out of compulsion. A compulsion called keeping your near ones happy - at whatever the cost!
They say a man without a moustache is like a cup of tea without sugar. But then, isn't that what the doctors prescribe us for a healthy life these days? Hmmm... consolation enough.
Listening to: Mean Mr. Moustache, The Beatles
Dedicated to: Nathulal. That legendary guy with whiskers to die for...
Dedicated to: Nathulal. That legendary guy with whiskers to die for...
P.S. I happen to be too modest a guy to post my own picture sporting the moustache on my own blog. :P Check out my Facebook badge down below to get a first hand view of the look.
_
The Moving Chronicles
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Part II
continued from Part I
On to this particular round of moving...
Packing stuff is something I've just about been OK with ever since papa taught me the right way to go about it, a long time back. [Yeah, that goes to mean I hate it all the same.] Of course there is more to it than just stuffing cartons with things that you come across. If you know you're going to be shifting from your present home one day or the other - you tend to preserve the original packing for anything that you buy. And if it's a small house that you have, those cartons are going to be seen all around the place, much like ugly mantel pieces. Then you need to grade the stuff as fragile / handle with care and OK / throw it around and pack it likewise. Of course the prospect of stuff getting mixed up and never showing out of a carton for a long long time doesn't help either. So I decided to innovate the whole process this time round by putting my digicam to use. Each carton had a unique ID and the contents of that paticular carton were all clicked and labelled with the unique id. [I love to make things seem damn important, don't I? :D]
Slowly and steadily the stuff kept disappearing into cartons until one day I could feel that nothing much was left to do. Elementary, my dear Sood.
But this time the job was just a bit longer than usual. Having lived in the north of India for the past ten years, we'd stuff that Mumbai just didn't want. Woollens, winter ware et al. So we needed to dump all that at our place at Palampur. The mini truck ride through the night with all those horrible bumps and jolts and ruthless mosquitoes is something I won't forget for a long, long time.
But someone gave the mosquitoes a beating at sucking the blood out of us. It was, hold your breath... the royal constables (or whatever rank they were) of Punjab Police. Every 15 minutes, a policeman stopped us in the dead of the night flashed a strong search light at our dreary eyes and told us that he wanted to frisk the truck (when it wasn't even covered.) And when given the go ahead, not one was in a position to do so, given their inebriated state. All they were interested in was some chai - pani bakhshish (though I still wonder when was the last time that any of them had ever tasted liquid and not liqour)
We passed through some of the worst roads and unbuilt bridges, which the driver told me, were under construction for the past ten years or so. And yet, the same MLAs and MPs had been winning the elections in the area over and over. So much for the informed voter!
Palampur was a delight as usual in the summer heat and so was my own village where I got to meet my grandparents.
The same way back in the middle of the night, the same Punjab Police personnel who wanted to frisk an EMPTY truck and I was back home for the bigger job.
In two more days, the truck slated to leave for Mumbai arrived and soon all of what we called home was on the move for a destination about 1500 kilometers or three days away. I had to leave back some of my favourite potted plants, my cute (yes cute) bicycle. Papa said there wasn't any place for them in the new place. Too bad. :(
Continued Here
Listening to: Superman, Lazio Bane - The Scrubs title track.
Dedicated to: Err... I worked damn hard on this job, so Me. This one's dedicated to me.
Dedicated to: Err... I worked damn hard on this job, so Me. This one's dedicated to me.
_
A Century of Lies - !00 Truths
DISCLAIMER: This post has been done under intense peer pressure and (friendly) fire. The author of this blog, in no way confesses these as his own views in full or part. This is being posted because the author hates breaking promises and (seriously) had nothing else to do, once he got over with the torture of exams.
So I've been tagged, yet again. And I forgot to mention in the disclaimer, the responsibility of this kind act, lies with, Akansha again... So sit back and enjoy my hundred, weirdest of truthful lies!
1. Last beverage: Instant Coffee
2. Last phone call: Received: Sud Dialled: Sud
3. Last text message: AirTel - to inform me that I'd missed calls. So people do actually miss me, sometimes.
4. Last song you listened to: Yellow, Coldplay
5. Last time you cried: Yesterday... not today... hmmm no. Yeah. Sure about that.
HAVE YOU EVER...
6. Dated someone twice: Does a no suffice?
7. Been cheated on? Nah... never.
8. Kissed someone & regretted it? No. Wait... does a teddy bear count?
9. Lost someone special? No.
10. Been depressed? Yeah. That's like perennial.
11. Been drunk and threw up? Nopes.
LIST FOUR FAVORITE COLORS:
12. White
13. Green, Blue (it said four up there... right?)
14. Black
HAVE YOU:
15. Made new friends: Yes, always.
16. Fallen out of love: In... probably, how does falling out feel like?
17. Laughed until you cried: hmmm... maybe yes. Don't remember though.
18. Met someone who changed you: Not really. I'm back to being me of late.
19. Found out who your true friends were: I guess I'd never be sure of that.
20. Found out someone was talking about you: ME. Yeah! 'twas like... who's he? never seen him before!
21. Kissed anyone on your friend's list: No.
22. How many people on your friends list do you know in real life: Many... Some... relatively... quite a few.
23. How many kids do you want to have: At least two... :)
24. Do you have any pets: No. Dying for a labarador... as soon as I'm on my own.
25. Do you want to change your name: No ways... My blog would go so meaningless if that were to happen!
26. What did you do for your last birthday: 'twas Diwali... the world burst crackers and ate! And, I cut a cake for only the second time in my life...
27. What time did you wake up today: Woke up 10.30AM, and I tried yoga!!!
28. What were you doing at midnight last night: Watching Scrubs Season 1... chatting.
29. Name something you CANNOT wait for : This stupid engineering thing to get over and a doj from TCS. I desperately wanna work!
30. Last time you saw your father: It's been about 4 months :( miss you dad.
31. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life: hmmm... errr... OK... forget it! Wish there was one!
32. Most visited web page: Gmail
WHAT's YOUR:
33. Name: Aseem Sood
34. Nicknames: aZoed... I know that sounds stupid :) They did call me Ashu too, once. asd as in asdscribbles
35. Zodiac sign: Scorpio
36. Male or female or transgendered: Male.
37. Elementary: St. Joseph's Convent, Bhatinda. St. Joseph's Convent, Hoshiarpur.
38. School: St. Joseph's Convent, Hoshiarpur, DAV Amritsar, DAV New Shimla.
39. Colleges: JUIT, Waknaghat, Solan.
40. Hair color: Black with lotsa grey.
41. Long or short: Keep changing. Short for good, right now.
42. Height: 5'8''... add another half inch to that for my convenience! :)
43. Do you have a crush on someone? I can't say a no to that...
44. Ever been in love? I guess... yes. Though I believe a one sided thing is more like a tale of heart breaks! :)
45. Piercings? None.
46. Tattoos? None.
47. Righty or lefty: Righty.
FIRSTS:
48. First surgery: 'twas something minor... Thank God!
49. First piercing: bola na... NONE!
50. First best friend: We never called each other that... but he was one for sure - Naitik.
51. First sport you loved: Cricket of course! And I was damn serious about it back then.
52. First pet: I secretly gave shelter to a stray puppy once. Too bad, mama found out and that was the end of it.
53. First vacation: Dunno... camping in our unfurnished house at Palampur... THE best days of my life.
54. First concert: Is that supposed to mean when I performed? Class 4th... a romantic solol! Group: Engg. 2nd yr. Le Fiestus '07, main stage.
55. First crush: How do you define it? The cute girl 'cos of whom I was sent outta class almost everyday in class 7? Or, the other one seeing whom everyday makes me *^* (see stars and the moon) :) Of course, I'm not gonna name her! Right aks?
RIGHT NOW:
56. Eating: Nothing
57. Drinking: Water (Aquaguard eBoiling Plus wala)
58. I'm about to: Break this monitor into two, if this tag doesn't end soon!
59. Listening to: Are We The Waiting, Greenday... My CPU fan humming away... some welding noise in the distance... wait... the fly's saying something too... kya? you think you love me? OUT!
60. Waiting for: Change of mood. It swung the wrong way, sometime back!
YOUR FUTURE:
61. Want kids? bola na... HAAN!
62. Want to get married? Aren't kids out of wedlock like... a problem?
63. Careers in mind? Journalism... Marketing... Designing... OK maybe Coding too!
WHICH IS BETTER WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX?
64. Lips or eyes: Eyes
65. Hugs or kisses: Kisses
66. Shorter or taller: I'd say taller. Not too much though!
67. Older or Younger: Doesn't matter. But I'd prefer older.
68. Romantic or spontaneous: Both.
69. Nice stomach or nice arms: Difficult to decide. OK. Both.
70. Sensitive or loud: Sensitive.
71. Hook-up or relationship: Relationship.
72. Trouble maker or hesitant: Neither. There should've been a third option to that!
HAVE YOU EVER:
73. Kissed a stranger: No.
74. Lost glasses/contacts: No
75. Sex on first date: Did I say I haven't been on a date yet. Ever!
76. Broken someone's heart: Me? You kidding right?
77. Had your own heart broken: I'm your perennial heartbreak kid. Or guess I was born with a broken one!
78. Been arrested: No
79. Turned someone down: No. (What does that really mean?)
80. Cried when someone died: Yes
81. Liked a friend that is a guy? Yes. In the most unDostana way possible, though. To put it straight - I'm straight.
DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
81. Yourself: Yes, more than anyone probably. No wait... there's omeone else too.
82. Miracles: Damn yes!
83. God: OK. I confess it. This is big and breaking NEWS! Aseem Sood still does believe in God. You smiling up there... haina?
84. Love at first sight: I'd say yes... But that does fade into more of an infatuation sooner than later. But you know, she's cute... damn cute! ;)
85. Heaven: My room - that's heaven and hell both!
86. Santa Clause: I've run outta socks. So, No.
87. Kiss on the first date? If I do connect... OK.
88. Angels: Yes, they do exist.
89. Devils: I exist. So more might be around too!
ANSWER TRUTHFULLY: (So even you know I'd been lying till now... How candid is that?)
90. Is there one person you want to be with right now? Yes. Chunmun.
91. Had more than one boyfriend/girlfriend at one time? Not even one! OK?
92. Wanted to kill someone ever? No. I believe in Gandhigiri.
93. Among you blog mates, whom would you like to kiss? All... None... Weird question!
94. Committed a blunder and regretted later? Everyay!
95. Wanted to steal you friend's boyfriend / girlfriend? No.
Associate with someone you know:
96. White: Me. That's my colur!
97. Black: First yearie! Dark Circles! lol.
98. Pink: The Pink Orchid. She also happens to be my junior from one of my schools! I'm so excited on catching up with her.
99. Red: Me again. Mom thinks I'm the only grown up guy who wears so much of red! OK. Meri marzi!
100. Posting this as 100 Truths? Sure as shell. YES
yippeee! I did finish it... FINALLY! I'm am a good samaritan, so I pass the torture on to nobody... Do it by yourself, if you find it that interesting... I've got things to do... so tata!
Dedicated to: aks, who somehow coaxed me into doing this. And... my first crush! :)
Are you on the roll?
After the makeover for iNFINITY, I have decided to share with my readers, the list of blogs I frequent, comment... in short, love to read. Since the new template doesn't make for good viewing with a long blog roll on the sidebar, I decided to host the iNFINITY Blogroll somewhere else. (Happens to be Google Sites.) So checkout here or the menu bar just above the banner, for Blogs I love to read and find out for yourself whether you are on my list of favourite blogs. Don't find yourself there? Well ou could send in a request, and I might add you to my list of favourites if I love you place so much... Happy Searching!
Another makeover!
I had been thinking of designing a new banner for iNFINITY for quite sometime now. So when I finished with the banner day before, and was about to upload it, I came across this new template at http://bloggerstop.net/ and I just couldn’t resist myself from going for a complete makeover…
Although it took almost three precious hours and a lot of chipped nails, I’m finally satisfied, no happy! with new look that I have managed for THE iNFINITY.
Gives the readers a glimpse of 15 of my latest posts, and the option to read on, if they wish to. There were some other interesting things as well, which of course, you’ll keep discovering as you keep coming back.
Time for the credits:
Evan Eckard, Smashing Magazine, Magznetwork. Thank you all for the beautifully designed template.
A big thanks to Divya Sai for his guidance when I thought I had completely screwed up my blog.
Finally, thank you Sugarrock99 at Deviant Art, for the beautiful picture posted here, which he graciously allowed me, to design into my blog banner.
And with this I have promised myself to go easy on the frequency of redoing my blog from now on… So, hopefully, you should see me posting again on iNFINITY, pretty soon.
P.S: Do let me know, your thoughts and views about this new look.
Dedicated to: People who keep giving away amazing stuff for free!
Look Who's Talking
During the Samuel Johnson days, they had big men enjoying small talk; today, we have small men talking big.- Fred Allen
After my last post, I had twittered about having run out of ideas for my post titles. This post did not have any such qualms attached to my choice of title, though there was a long, cogitating pause before I finally decided what title to go with for this post. And since the root of it all seems to be (at least) a movie, I decided I could borrow my post's title from another Hollywood flick. On to it... No wait! We have BREAKING NEWS here on iNFINITY! Arindam Chaudhari is possibly considering making another movie, starring, you guessed it right - Amitabh Bachhan and he wants the Big B to cut down on his price for the same. And, he is leaving no stone unturned to make AB do that. And no, this isn't Aaj Tak, so I don't have video proof from a sting operation to prove it. You'll just have to... read on.
My friend told me of a review that Mr. Arindam Chaudhari had written for Slum dog Millionaire on January the 25th, on his very own blog, which, interestingly, is called - Passionate About India. Nice name, coming from someone who seems to be more passionate about his ponytail and free-laptop-for-the-hapless-student B-School, than India. I could buy that from him someday, you know he's got almost thirty times the readership, that my blog has. But, that's for the sometime later. The movie for now...
The review, if you could call it one, starts with this description for the movie "A phony poseur that has been made only to mock India for the viewing pleasure of the First World!!" Now, I don't really know how many people who have seen the movie go on to read my post, but if you could trust me, (I'm really sorry, but the why-you-should-trust-me piece that I promised in my last post will have to wait some more time. We could do with blind faith in the mean time.) it's anything but a mockery of our motherland. Mr. Chaudhari admonishes us against watching the movie, branding it the "Emperor's new clothes"! [?]
He question's the movie's 'hard to spot brilliance'. (Does every movie need be brilliant?) Can't some movies be brilliant for the sheer joy that watching them brings to you? And anyways 'Slumdog...' has it's flashes of brilliance, if only, they are flashes.
"Had this film been made by an Indian director, it would have been trashed as a rotting old hat, which literally stands out only because of its stench, but since the man making it happens to be from the West, we’re all left celebrating the emperor’s new clothes." says, the conceiver of IIPMs. I believe, we do have really talented directors in India today, who could have done a better job, but yes, maybe even then it wouldn't have been noticed like now, for being a Bollywood flick. And, that sums up the brilliance of Slumdog Millionaire - something that Mr. Chaudhari could not have spotted.
He calls us "shameless fools" for "gloating over its success without realising that it makes a caricature out of India". Sir, if you could have looked it over from an artistic perspective, which I sure supposed, you did have after watching The Last Lear, few nations, and that too as vast and diverse as India, have a defined comic undertone which runs through each nook and cranny, so that they can be 'caricatured'. I'm not as good with watching and especially understanding movies, but, of whatever Hollywood I have had the opportunity of grasping, I sometimes find it funny, being centered around NY, Vegas, California or at the most... a Texas for that matter. At least I was proud (yes I was!) of the caricature that it depicted India as. You - I guess, are a bit too Passionate About...
There's a lot more about "Slumdog..." that Mr. Chaudhari has to say. But iNFINITY I guess, has gone beyond providing easy publicity to quirks.(OK. that was just going overboard with attitude!) So, you better check out his blog if you are so very interested in a first hand read.
One more thing, he's a bit too concerned with the age old cliché of snake charmers and elephants being replaced by slum dogs and their dream stories of turning millionaires. Think again, sir. Isn't life when viewed from a bird's eye view, all about perspectives, which in turn, boil down to clichés.
And lastly, if the movie has been nominated for the Oscars, it isn't really a masterpiece. Not all movies that go the distance are masterpieces... they are just those, great entertainers.
He signs off, by urging us to spend our precious time watching an Amitabh Bachhan starrer instead of wasting it on "Slumdog..." which 'he believes' - sucks. We'd do that any day Mr. Chaudhari, but sometimes you need to embrace the new to discover something good about it. And, I'll advise you, not to make a multilingual, the next time you plan on making a movie. Apparently, your review on "Slumdog..." rants a lot about "jarring dialogues delivered in cumbersome manner in a language which doesn’t come naturally to most of the actors."
Mr. Chaudhari, by the way, writes here. Do me a favour if you plan on visiting. Don't come back without reading the comments. On iNFINITY, your comments, are always sought after, as usual.
Dedicated to: Our slums and their spirited dwellers.
THE iNFINITY has a new address!!!
In just about half a year since it went online, THE iNFINITY is going places. No, I literally mean it. THE iNFINITY, now has two new domains or web address in the form of http://asdscribbles.co.nr/, http://asdscribbles.co.cc/ .The earlier address http://aseems-infinity.blogspot.com/ will continue to exist, which means you could come visit THE iNFINITY whichever way you chose to!
Just one of my numerous attempts at trying to do new things with my blog...
Till the next innovation that I chose to acquaint you with, this yours truly wishing you Happy Reading!
One helluva semester!
Most things break, including hearts. The lessons of life, for me, amount not to wisdom but to scar tissue and callus.- Wallace Stegner
Four months of operose toiling,for nothing substantial whatsoever, brings me to an end to another semester at my college (Do I have to repeat it is called the JUIT!) It happened to be the penultimate of my eight torrid semesters in here (that leaves me with one more) and I am not feeling nostalgic at all, at the thought of having to move out soon. The place doesn't leave with you too many memorable moments to do that actually, and the thought of the ensuing pastures being greener anyways, helps big time.
Back to semester 7. There has been this special something with each consecutive semester at college. Each time I leave college for the holidays, thinking the next one could not be worse, it turns out to be just that, worse than what I have experienced so far. Semester seven was no exception, just that I put academics on the back burner this time. Not that it was something atop my priority list anytime earlier, but I did it more by choice than chance this time round. Reasons galore - my new found interest in blogging and setting up of The iNFINITY, lesser workload owing to lesser credits assigned to courses(!), the beautifully considerate time table that I got this time around, with ample sleep hours, here, there and everywhere(Thank you again!), a new graphics card for my PC - yes the only good use that you can put it to is - you guessed it right - Gaming!, and of course last but not the least, life itself.
Trust life to never leave you bored with repeats. They only occur in gene sequences. ( Aw snap! that is my limited Bio Informatics knowledge getting to me. Sorry for that.) Just when I thought I had been there, done that, seen it, experienced it first hand, life bowled a googly(read pleasant surprise) out of nowhere, to leave me gaping for breath. OK, truth be told, a pleasant surprise is just not enough, you need shockers and that is something that I had to deal with aplenty this fateful semester.(Actually, which one isn't?) Descriptions? Aw come on, you don't want to derive pleasure out of listening to a listless some one's tale of personal woes. Do you? There's so much more though, that I would like to pass on as part of my gyan acquired this semester.
Recorded TV series episodes come in handy when you have got nothing to do. No silly commercials to deal with, no wastage of time (!) and yes - some really interesting lessons to learn if you are willing to. Case in study - How I Met Your Mother - one week, four seasons and I am not finished yet! And guess what, I already want to be a Barnie Stinson. Trust me, it's gonna be legen-dary!
Bollywood finally seems to be coming of age - I actually sat through about five full length 'hindi feature films' and to put it mildly - liked them just about fine. OK, you want to make good use of your time - don't, I repeat don't sit through a bollywood movie without having consulted about 3 different reviews.
Your attempts at being handed out the 'Social Outcast' certificate just won't succeed, come what may. So keep toiling, dragging your poor self on with the society, that won't let you R.I.P. until you learn to live that way.
You are pleased with what you are and what you do. So what more? Stop trying to please everybody whose just anybody. Adidas may proclaim 'Impossible is Nothing' But the above job, is simply not, nothing.
And last but not least... don't plan, just don't. They never work out to your liking and if they do, probably they weren't right in the first place. What a waste of time, isn't it?
I learnt so much in such a short time and yet, I go on to blame the semester as my worst so far. That in a nutshell, is the story of life. No matter what and how you do, the brickbats always await you somewhere down the corner.
Who gives a damn? I do, you do, we all do and that in essence is the reason why our lives our as complex as they seem to be. Think it over...
And before I stop ranting (yeah! that is what I have been actually doing up until now) a toast to One Helluva Semester!
Dedicated to: Sorry people, it's me this time. I dedicate it to myself.
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