Tuesday, July 29, 2003

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| | Viewer's Nightmare.

Saw MPKDH yesterday. Sigh...i dont even know where to start from. Every character in the movie has overacted, right from the animated parrot to the animated actor - hritik. He is working really hard to convince me that KNPH was a big fluke.

The movie has a backdrop of a small town called 'Sunder Nagar' in UP, but the scenery is comparable to the one in LOR. I would really like to go to this place in India, where u have snow capped mountains, white waters etc...all in one place. I mean if u are shooting in new zealand - atleast accept that.

Sooraj bharjatiya is supposedly one of the best directors around. With movies like maine pyar kiya and hum aapke.., he was considered to be the king of family drama kind movies. Then he made hum saath saath and now this one. That brings me to my point - is a director only as good as his crew and storyline of the movie? Even a novice could have done the same kind of work like he did. Then why are these guys so overrated ?

- or are the sanjay leela's and the farhan akhtar's really different? and can make a normal script look better on screen?

(* OK steven spielburg is an exception).

reading Death on the Nile by agatha Christie.
listening to All the things she said by T.A.T.U.

JaI. | 8:48 AM

Monday, July 28, 2003

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| | I have finally managed to include the "haloscan" comments code in my blogpage.
So if enetation doesnt work (which usually doesnt) we always have the option of clicking below it and leaving comments.

So with THAT out of the way - i am surely expecting more comments on my posts :) JaI. | 7:21 AM

Friday, July 25, 2003

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| | Finding cello !!

And i thought procedures and things were illogical and tough back home.

I just realised how tough and frustrating it can get to choose ur cell phone plan/ carrier here. Its not like back home, where you could go to "Heera panna", buy a china made replica of the latest cell phone model and pick up a sim card from the orange store (usually) on ur way back home. It was just like that.

Here, u dont really have the liberty of choosing both the carrier and the phone model of ur choice; ONE of them can be of your choice - the other is usually a compromise. Why dont they just make cell phones that are compatible with all carriers and just float them in the market- let us decide, what we want.

Ok- maybe they do have "good" cell phones with every carrier - but being the graduate student that i am, there always seems to be this cash crunch at hand; all i wanted was a nice cell phone "with a flap" for less than $50 with the most basic of all plans (I wasnt asking for much - was I ??) and with this combination in mind, i tried every possible place i could. For the last week and a half, I have bothered everyone i knew (having a cell phone) asking them bout plans and what their opinion was - so much so, that some of them nearly gave up on me.

Another thing that added to my dilemma was that if u want nice handsets (for less) you need to sign up for a 2 year contract with the carrier - now this is unfair - i mean TWO years, 24 months ???

With all this at the back of my mind, i went to the mall last evening with 3 of my friends (read bakras). After about 2 hours of intense search at all possible target locations (radioshack, verizon wirless, circuit city) i couldnt find the combi that i was looking for. Dejected we went down to the foodcourts where atul had to wait to get his name embossed on his zippo lighter. While at that i noticed a really small- temporary "simply wireless" stall at one end. Being the inquisitive character that i am, i went to try my luck there. What i couldnt find online, or at one of the more popular bigger stores, i found at that small stall.

I am currently storing numbers and names in the phone book of the Motorola V60i;am pretty satisfied with its combination with AT&T. But tommorow is another day - and i am sure that i will come across another deal that might make me regret this decision and get the encore feeling - ONLY if i had waited a li'l bit more !!. But till then - lemme call the world and give them my new cell number. JaI. | 8:01 AM

Tuesday, July 22, 2003

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| | - And those "ehsaan faramosh" ppl do this to us.

Totally unacceptable this. JaI. | 9:11 AM

| | Got a nice forward by kevin this morning -

Worth all engineering and management!!

Woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost.She reduced altitude and spotted a man below.
She descended a bit more and shouted,"Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man below replied, "You're in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground.You're between 40 and 41 degrees north altitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude."

"You must be an engineer," said the balloonist. "I am," replied the man, "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is, technically correct, but I've no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help at all. If anything, you've delayed my trip."

The man below responded, "You must be in Management." "I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where You're going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise which you've no idea how to keep, and you Expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow,it's my fault."

so true so true ! JaI. | 9:01 AM

Monday, July 21, 2003

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| | To Tea or to Coffee !

It really beats me - how can ppl have their preferences on the kind of beverage that charges them, keeps them going.

Me - am one of those ppl too. I am addicted big time to "chai". I have to down atleast 4/5 cups of tea a day. Be it anytime of the day (or night), if someone offers me tea, i cannot-not say no to it. My perfect day has to start of with a nice hot cup of tea (elaichi or no).

I dont really remember how i got addicted to tea. Can date back to my engineering days, when i used to accompany friends for the occasional (and later on - ever so often ) "smoke" (or sutta in engineering terms :)). There was one problem tho, i didnt smoke , so with the limited options that i had (eat eclairs or drink tea) i got hooked on to tea. My dad is another big fan of tea, so when at home, i always knew there would be atleast one person who would gimme company whenever i felt like indulging.

But LIFE - as it is, has taken another twist *sigh*, unfortunately people here in the US dont have a liking to tea, so all they can offer are coffee machines all over the place. Now if i need charging , all i can do is grab a cup of coffee (regular, decaf,vanilla). Am starting to realise that this side of the beverage world aint that bad either.

But until i change my loyalties completely - waiting to get back home and pamper myself by making me a nice hot cuppa tea. JaI. | 8:19 AM

Saturday, July 19, 2003

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| | Nice article this .

Makes an interesting read.
JaI. | 1:23 PM

Thursday, July 17, 2003

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| | Milestone.

While the India - Pak controversy still rages on, I have crossed the 1000 hit mark !! (not a big thing, but feels nice to know :))

Thanks to all the junta who visit my site, keep the comments flowing friends. Hope to keep this modest effort of mine going for some time.

Cheers. JaI. | 6:55 PM

| | Proud to be an Indian !!

Inspite of the strained relations between us and our neighbours, we have always been on the lookout for peace. We do have the cushion of having won each war that has been fought till date, and winning them convincingly at that.

Every now and then, we put our foot forward and try and make truce with them, but things dont work out. How many of us would see this happening with an indian in pakistan??

Am proud to be an indian.
JaI. | 1:12 AM

Monday, July 14, 2003

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| | Drive !!

Every now and then- all of us need that push,that drive to keep going. When i came here to the US about a year ago, (frankly) I was disillusioned, a little lost.

I have a habit of turning to God whenever i have any questions in mind, whenever i need inspiration, need that push !!. Atul - my best buddy and now my roomie gave me his "Weapon" to counter my doubts -- the "GAYATRI MANTRA". Most of us know it still -

Om Bhoor Bhuvah Svah
Tat Savitur Varenyam
Bhargo Devasya Dheemahi
Dhiyo Yonah Prachodayaat.

I have got hooked on to this, these four lines have kept me going, mumble them out whenever i feel alone and cheated - and believe me it helps.
JaI. | 11:13 PM

Thursday, July 10, 2003

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| | F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

No - am not talking bout the popular sitcom on TV. I am talking bout friends in real life. Friends at work, in school, online - how important are they??

I once heard, "relatives" are default, but you choose ur "friends". For me- friends are life !!. I have a few really really good friends with whom i keep in touch. These friends have the ability to affect me, they can make or break my day. About a year now, away from home, i have made many new friends, and realise that "they" are my family - joy or sorrow, its them that i share things with, but i also know that most of them will move on, and few will bother to keep in touch.

Me - have not kept in touch with many friends either, but now that i realise the importance of friends and them being around, want to get one chance to get in touch with all the good ol' friends that i have lost in my pursuit.

and yes - alumni.com and batchmates.com are not of much help either :(

Sigh!!
JaI. | 12:02 PM

Tuesday, July 08, 2003

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| | White Water Rafting.

This weekend, i had been to charlotte,NC. Mangesh (one of my best buddies is doing his MS in Comp Science there). When i left for NC, i thought i would just go, meet him and come back. This trip was far from that. Has to go down as one of the best outdoor trips i have ever had. We went camping, trekking and white water rafting in the Nantahala river,Smokey mountains.

My idea of partying and being with friends was listening to good music and dancing, i never thought outdoors would be so much fun. Never been to a camping trip before this, it was a totally different experience all together. We were a group of 18 ppl when we left for the trip from Charlotte, i knew only 4 of them. By the time we headed back home, i had made 14 new friends. Amol,Shishir,Rohit,Namit - just to name a few.

We played soccer, basketball, volleyball; had a barbeque in the open, lit a bonfire, and created so much havoc that we were nearly thrown out of the camping grounds :). We even tried to go trekking at 2 am,with one torch to guide us-That we were highly unsuccessful is a different story.

White water rafting was an out of the world experience. An 8.5 mile strech of flowing white water, with rocks all around, we conquered the Nantahala river in about 3 hours. For all those who havent done this before - I recommend it. The fact that u are on ur own in the flowing water, with only ur paddle for support, this can be one tricky thing to do.

Another weekend well spent, this one - was my date with "Mother Nature". Just made me realise that there is a whole big exciting world out there - if u are game, to go out and explore. JaI. | 12:44 AM

Tuesday, July 01, 2003

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| | Crap !!

Just finished seeing "Supari" - one pathetic movie that was. What is happening to our movies guys?? Chalte Chalte,Jhankaar Beats,Border Hindustan ka,Haasil, Koi Hai . All that the indian film makers are churing out is crap !! Pick a couple of models, strip them, put in an item song,make classy promos..and forget bout the movie.

Whatever happened to the DDLJ,KNPH,KKHH, JJWS kindda movies?? Are we - as the audience expecting too much, or is it just the quality that has degraded. Am really looking forward to a nice-nice bollywood flick real soon, or i might just give up on them :( JaI. | 11:08 PM