Monday, June 30, 2003

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| | My trip to Akron.

Its a small place - Akron, OH. About 360 miles from DC, its the place where sapna stays. Keeping up with the tradition of trying to meet up atleast once in every 2 or 3 weeks, we (me, atul ,avi and manish) decided to drive down to Akron to spend the weekend with Sapna and her friends. Mandar-another common friend (who was with us in undergrad) joined us from Cincinatti.

On the driving bit, this happened to be my first ever drive in the US. And boy is it different from back home..or what. We rented a chevrolet malibu from enterprise. I even hit speeds of 90 mph in some streches.:-)

Starting from the time we reached there, till the time we started back on our way home, i cannot-not recall a single "dull moment" that we spent in Akron. "Thirsty Parrot" and "Shooters" in Cleveland, the flat tyre in Aarti's car for which 15 of us had to stay back for 4 hours,(Brijesh is still cursing himself for being born on the day that he was), Aarti's AAA card mystery which is still unsolved, the game of American Football in the jungle at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the laser attack game where sapna beat the rest of us hollow, the Barbeque party at Hemant's place (Torrey Street) on saturday night, dancing for 4 hours to all kinds of music, ppl sitting on a small ledge and shouting out to the world, the early morning antakshari duel in which disha and madhu lost real bad to me and atul (read that as - delhi lost to mumbai), playing chinese checkers with mandar,madhu and priya at 7 am in the morning, eating hot tasty upma prepared by reshma, and the normal ritual of playing "Guesstures", these are some of the memories i have brought back. This was one weekend well spent. Really enjoyed meeting the people in Akron.

Now am jealous of Sapna for staying with such ppl around. I made some friends in this trip, really warm ppl , nice to be with - THEY make me wanna go back to Akron to be with them again - sometime soon.

KEEP ROCKIN' AKRONwaalon !!
JaI. | 4:15 PM

Friday, June 27, 2003

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| | IE seems to be taking some bachpan ka badla with me - my page doesnt open up entirely in Internet Explorer. A suggestion - "DOUBLE CLICK" on the top left hand corner of the browser, where it reads My first steps - Microsoft IE. This usually works :-). A temporary desi solution untill i find a permanant one. JaI. | 1:27 AM

| | HUMOR !!

This word has a lot of importance in my life - or for that matter for most of us. So much so that every time i have a hearty laugh i end up with tears in my eyes.

Talking of humor i read this series of elephant jokes somewhere and believe me i laughed long and hard, not cause they were humorous but cause they were downright silly. Take a moment off guys, remove ur socks and sit back... read this series at a strech and fast (you will surely enjoy it !!)

CAUTION : the content is silly, long and doesnt make any sense - dont try to reason :-)

(Those with high blood pressure, please avoid reading this. But never read only one. The effects may cause permanent brain damage.)


Q: How do you stop an elephant from charging?
A: Take away his credit card.

Q: Why is an elephant big, grey, and wrinkly?
A: Because, if it was small, white and smooth it would be an Aspirin.

Q: Why did the elephant fall out of the tree?
A: Because it fell asleep.

Q: Why did the second elephant fall out of the tree?
A: It was glued to the first one.

Q: Why did the third elephant fall out of the tree?
A: It was a copy cat.

Q: Why did the fourth elephant fall out of the tree?
A: It thought this was all a game.

Q: And why did the tree fall down?
A: It thought it was an elephant.

Q: What does an elephant and a blueberry have in common?
A: They're both blue, except for the elephant.

Q: What did Tarzan say when he saw 1,000 elephants coming over the hill?
A: Look, there's 1,000 elephants coming over the hill.

Q: How do you shoot a blue elephant?
A: With a blue elephant gun, of course.

Q: How do you shoot a red elephant?
A: No, not with a red elephant gun. You strangle him until he turns blue, then shoot him with a blue elephant gun.

Q: How do you shoot a green elephant?
A: Tell him a dirty joke so he turns red, strangle him until he turns blue, then shoot him with a blue elephant gun.

Q: How do you shoot a pink elephant?
A: First you bake a cake, and put 3 raisins on top, then you take it out in the jungle where the pink elephant will find it, and you wait. Eventually the elephant comes along, finds the cake,eats the raisins and throws the cake away. Then you go home and bake another cake and put 2 raisins on top, take it out in the jungle where the elephant will find it. The elephant comes along, finds the cake, eats the 2 raisins and throws the cake away. You go home and bake another cake and put only one raisin on it. Then you trek back into the jungle and put the cake where the pink elephant will find it. The elephant comes along eats the raisin, and throws that cake away.Now you go home and bake another cake, but (here's the sneaky part) you don't put any raisins on it. You take it out into the jungle where the elephant will find it and lie in wait. The pink elephant comes along and finds the cake, he gets SO mad that there aren't any raisins on it, he turns red, then you jump on him, strangle him until he turns blue......and you shoot him with a BLUE ELEPHANT GUN!!!

Q: How do you shoot a yellow elephant?
A: Aw, come one, have you ever seen a yellow elephant !?!

Q: Why do elephants have red eyes?
A: So they can hide themselves better in cherry trees.

Q: Ever seen an elephant in a cherry tree?
A: No? See how well the trick with the red eyes works?

Q: What time is it when an elephant sits on your fence?
A: Time to get a new fence.

Q: Where does an 8 ton elephant sit?
A: Any damn place where he pleases!

Q: Why is an elephant covered in wrinkles?
A: Ever try to iron one?

PHEW!! I personally liked this series - doesnt make sense but i laugh every time i read it !!
JaI. | 12:21 AM

Thursday, June 26, 2003

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| | 20 Years On ...

An avid cricket fan, really loved this small article on rediff . It talks bout "The Moment" in Indian cricket (offcourse apart from 24th april 1973).

You might want to check out 20 Years On...Celebrating India's 1983 World Cup triumph .

Have we lost the magic? How close can one get to the world cup than we did this time !!

And the final one (keeps bothering me all the time)-- Will sachin ever get the world cup back?? JaI. | 1:48 AM

Monday, June 23, 2003

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| | The case of Dil Chahta Hai (DCH)

It happens to be one of the better movies made in bollywood in recent times. A story of 3 friends, who inspite of being really close happen to differ at some stage in life. The three being Aamir Khan (Aakash),Akshaye khanna(Sid) and Saif Ali khan(Sameer).

My personal views bout the characters (not the actors) :

Sid - An artist who is does things ..more dil se than dimaag se. This is not the way things happen in real life dude.

Sameer - The best character of the three, happy go lucky, trying to get his friends together in hard times, falling in love with every second girl he sees...Thats a normal guy for u.

Aakash - the most selfish of the 3. Only concerned bout his well being. This guy can be rude to his friends, play practical jokes on others, and when he is down, wants the whole world to cry with him. And you dont really go to ur girlfriends "mehndi" party to propose to her do u...pretty unrealistic.

Am sure some ppl would beg to differ ...

JaI. | 7:18 PM

Friday, June 20, 2003

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| | Long distance relationships!!

Always wondered if long distance relationships work out or not. Never been involved in one myself, i wonder how it must feel like to know that the person you love and care for..is not actually with you. All u can do is an occasional phone call or the regular email or chat.

Can u actually feel for a person who is miles away. Can you be romantically involved with someone you dont see everyday. Even if things do click, do such relationships last?

- just curious !! JaI. | 2:05 AM

Tuesday, June 03, 2003

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| | The eternal sachin fan !!

Born in mumbai, India and brought up in a locality where cricket was followed like religion, it was no surprise that i got hooked on to cricket in a big way. In bombay, being born in a middle class family, you dont really have many options when it comes to following or playing sports. Like here, in the US anyone can just pick up a basketball, pick up a trash can and start playing BBall, the same way in india, all u needed was a rubber ball (aww..come on perverts..that is what it is called !!) usually the MRI variety and a wooden plank to start playing cricket. Yes, you also need someone to volunteer to bowl to you. Cause initially cricket used to be all about batting. Any one who has played cricket would tell u that batting has to be the most pleasurable thing to do.

Cut to 1983 - about 20 years back, India won the prudential world cup, as a 4 year old you dont actually know whats happening around you, but even then i remember the celebrations that had taken place in and around our locality, i knew this was something big, one sport that i had to follow no matter what. A year later, we won the Champions trophy, down under, not a single cricket fan can forget the scene of a jubiliant shastri riding his audi..all around the ground (nor can we forget his photos being burnt when he didnt perform - that later tho). I was hooked on to cricket, one sport i knew my country was doing well in.

Another 4 years, the world cup was held in india, it was a big thing, and the countries biggest industrial group sponsored the cup. That was the indication that there was money to be made if this sport was projected in the right manner...and projected it was, cause today the total money earned by indian cricketers in more than any of their counterparts (courtesy - contracts by different brands). Till then i was a normal cricket fan, seeing every second match, follwoing what was going on generally.

Cut to 1989 - the Indian team leaving for pakistan. I can still recall the interview ravi shastri did with a 16 year old school boy, curly hair, at the international airport in mumbai (dont really know what its latest name is..cs..bs..whatever..so lemme play safe). I still remember that question when he was asked whether he was nervous going to pakistan at that age...he replied back in hindi..."unko hara ke aayenge".

I was 10 and that is the time..you start following sports, and seeing sachin gave me reason enough to see cricket. I can safely say, i remember most of his matches, the way he got out, his trademark shots and his stats (roughly) till the 2002 natwest trophy held in England. Cause after that i came here, to the US where seeing cricket is like a big project. Its been a pleasure being born in the same era as he has...cause i can not imagine seeing cricket before or after him.

He started off playing with legends like Imran khan,Joel Garner, Craig mcdermott, Merv Hughes and Chris Lewis among others, he weathered that storm, within a couple of years he was already being rated as one of the best youngsters in the circuit. The 92 world cup gave us a hint as to what lied ahead. Then came the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis,saqlain,mushtaq ahmed,shane warne, murali,Mcgrath,Ambrose,Walsh....they came and they went, he weathered the storm..building on his ever growing average and reputation. They still keep coming ...the lee's, akhtar's, and he is still weathering the storm. All fronline bowlers have just one thing in mind when they play india...take sachin and the rest will follow (another point of debate in the recent past). He has seen and played 3 generations of cricketers..and is still going strong.

A thorough team man, one who has always put country before self, he is still being doubted upon - that to me is the saddest part of indian cricket. Some still believe that sachin is a "chocker" - and i would personally like to talk to those ppl about this. They say he does not perform at his best in the finals...i say respect him and adore him...atleast he got you to the finals yaar. Better than those times when your team just used to be a struggling one..and participate just cause it used to fill the cash registers of the ICC. Admitted he may not be a good finisher of the game, but then everyone has his or her weakness...THAT to me is his..and no insult in accepting that. He might not be too good at mind games but that is acceptable.

For me winning the game against pakistan in that fashion was the defining moment of the world cup (i know this is debatable too), the fact that he got out to mcgrath trying to pull him,chasing a total of 360 in a world cup final, after making some 600 odd runs in the world cup, with the pressure of 1 billion fans, even after hitting a four of the previous ball... no shame in that..no shame at all.

Choker or not? Its for you to decide and argue... for me he is the best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be.

JaI. | 1:10 AM