Here Without You Baby...

This one's for Her.... Even though I might sound horrible, I know that my voice means the world to her.. As her voice means the world to me... :)

Social Conventions -- Pain Personified..!!

There are three kinds of people in this world.. There are introverts.. There are extroverts.. And then finally there is "Me".. While I was under the false pretension that I fell under the first category, I recently was enlightened that I am actually my own "category"..

As of late, all that's been going through my mind is "how" and "how" can I avoid meeting my relatives... (ya.. I wrote how twice).. And its not just relatives, its people in general... These are people who I either don't know or people whom i've not met in a looooooon time...

I don't know why i've been in this rut lately... The thing with me is that once I get to know someone, I can be quite the rockstar to have around... I mean come on, have you met me? Style and charm come naturally to me... (Ahem... Too Much? I thought so too...)

But anyway, wat i'm feeling these days is completely against my principles... Its against my living ideologies... Its against the sacred shrine of "Freakrazy"... I guess, the problem is that I don't want to go thru these situations alone... I want someone to be there to make me feel comfortable... Someone that takes off that extra weight on top of the dumbell kept on top of the lid of the pressure cooker that is my life... But then again, one can't have someone with oneself all the time... One has to learn to get past these atrocities by oneself...

But then again, Does One Give A Damn? One Does Not Think So...

posted from Bloggeroid

Morning Metro...!!

You know, the Metro has been an "integral" part of my life for quite some time now... A lot of memories in it... My mind always ponders over the weirdest and the weighty stuff whenever I'm standing in a Metro...

 

That’s another thing you know... A guy of my age cannot (I Repeat CANNOT) just hop on a Metro and sit comfortably... Half the seats are reserved for Ladies... The Other half for Aged people... So a Young Male in his 20s to 40s just cannot sit in a Metro until and unless he coughing like Crazy...

 

I remember specifically the momentous occasion in my life when I woke up at 5am just to be a part of that very first Metro train that started from Noida City Centre.. That story was quite a hoot I tell you.. In fact, It was a Hoot-And-A-Half...

 

It was 6 am.. I was standing at the new Noida Sector-32 City Centre Metro Station waiting for the first train of the morning. Wiping that sticky gunk off my eyes, I remember very clearly that I envied the guy I saw the day before driving the “Suzuki GSX-1300 Hayabusa” for two reasons. The first of course being his awesome bike and the second that at that very instant, he was probably dozing off somewhere dreaming about a promise land where time stands still.

 

I see the guy standing in front of me. Fully dressed with a laptop bag around his shoulders and fresh as a daisy. I tell myself that he’s probably off to some big meeting at a fancy office in CP deciding whether or whether not to sell off that last stock of the Reliance City Builder Mutual Fund. I look at myself and find my jeans faded, shirt un-tucked and fly unzipped.

 

I thank god that even in my deep state of sleep, I remembered to wear my jeans in the first place. I give a slight “chuckle” and the guy turns around and with his two big, bright, wide-open eyes stares at me. I with my half-open, still gunky eyes try to give a smile to make what’s best of a worse situation (which I now realize, was nothing before after what I did). The guy gives a pathetic look and turns around and I say to myself, “Wow, that was pretty much as gay as the day can be”.

 

Finally, the train arrived. It’s interesting to note that, when you have time with you on a platform waiting for a train, everything seems to be running slow. The time was 6:03 am and I had been waiting for 3 minutes, which seemed like 3 hours. The lot of us (don’t know exactly how many) got into the new German imported coach (don’t know the exact details about the train either).

 

I, as of habit of always making an entrance, get in last and find myself struggling to find a seat. I have an option to sit with the “Mutual Fund” guy but realize that I have already instated a sense of fear in him, which might get him to call the cops on me. Then, I realize that the Section 377 has been abolished in Delhi and there’s nothing that he can do. It’s then that I say to myself again, “What the hell am I saying?” It’s at times like these that I feel that one must not talk when one is so dizzy that one can’t even get rid of the gunk in his eyes even after trying for 7 minutes (Oh Yes! The gunk is still there).

 

7 minutes later we exit Noida and reach Mayur Vihar’s Samachar Apartments Station. It was just 1 week before that moment when I was driving my car on road that I could see just below me. And I remember telling myself that it's a whole different experience altogether when one doesn’t have to stop at red lights and listen to those boring rj’s when one's stuck in a jam.

 

I remember telling myself one night while looking at that beautiful station flashing with lights that the day I step into that metro train and look down towards the road, I’ll tap my feet and do a little moonwalk. But, now being there for the first time in that train, looking at that road, with that stupid gunk still in my eyes, fly still unzipped (Maybe that’s the reason why everyone kept staring at my during my journey) and the whole “Mutual Fund” guy episode, I decided against it.

 

The people on the train were not enjoying the ride to that extent as I was. It wasn’t my first time on a metro train, it’s just that I felt this genuine happiness that this is something that I could enjoy and feel good about. It’s something that my “city-mates” and me can take pride in. Connectivity to Delhi has been an issue for a lot of time now. With the whole DTC buses being banned to the Taxis and Autos not being able to cross the border without paying heavy taxes issue, now has come a time that we can say “Ab Dilli Duur nahin”.

 

People were showing various emotions on that train, some sleepy, some serious, some suspicious (damn that early morning chuckle at the station), but just one of them was actually feeling the ride experience. I just felt that I could travel in that train for the rest of my life. I enjoyed the view, I enjoyed the announcements, I enjoyed that I never actually got to sit or else I would have missed the view, I enjoyed that in just took me 36 minutes to reach CP, I enjoyed people staring at me for my “fly” issues, I enjoyed struggling to use my Delhi Metro card for the first time, I even enjoyed the “Mutual Fund” guy. I reached CP at 6:38 am and realized one thing that made my day.

 

That, Just looking down at that very instant at that breathtaking beautiful site (that included people stuck in jams in their cars and a very broad and long sewage canal) made me realize that everything has been worth it. Everything from it taking months on construction work to loads of hours of traffic jams due to that construction, from inconveniences faced by me when I made those trips to the Sector-18 market to not being able to enjoy the amazing skyline view of Atta market in the night, from trying very hard to control my anger for the metro workers who blocked those roads to not able to just zip through with my bike as before, from taking the horrifying bus (which had weird messages inscribed on the backseat) to CP to getting up at 5:30 am to ride the metro for the very first time, everything was worth it, everything for that very first early MORNING METRO ride...

Holi 'Just Another' Day...!!

You know, if the date today was 27th March 1998 and I was in Allahabad instead of Delhi, I would have painted the town Red/Blue/Green/Magenta (That’s rite.. I said Magenta as well...)

The reason being that I was amidst an awesome group of people who were willing to act like complete idiots just for the sake of it... Dad was still serving that time.. We lived in these amazing Defence colonies with tons of fun at every nook and corner... there were people always ready to be freaking out as there was always someone or the other who was thinking on the lines of "Freakrazy"...

That’s one of the many many many things that my Defence background gave me and I'm proud to have it.. I can say without any regrets that I've had an astonishing childhood... Probably the best that a Child can ask for... Full of adventure... Without fear... Never saying "never" to anything that might drop the hint of having a tinge of crazy... Always trying new things... And BEST OF ALL... Always having this "venturesome" group to just Lose It.. :)

Holi back in the day was just another occasion to have fun with my Defence Brats... I remember the "strategy meet" that we used to have a day before about how to best position ourselves in the bushes so that we can ambush the on-goers in the best possible manner... We used to prepare charts with full fledged attack plans... throwing maneuvers... Artillery inspection.... and god knows what naught... After all, we did have that "Defence" blood brooding inside all of us just waiting to come out and blow the freaking crap out of others...

I remember this one time in particular when I was at that tender age of "hating" any and all girls around me... (I guess Puberty was just about to kick in.. :O ).. But anyways, I remember that time in particular because I stayed up all night a day before Holi just to get my stuff right... And by stuff I mean all the armament for a full-scale ambuscade... I made water balloons.. Some filled with water and some filled with Egg Yolk.. I prepped up my Steel Customized Pichkari.. 'Twas customized in the sense that I had this bucket that I used to hang on my back like a backpack and a pipe coming out of it that I could connect to my Pichkari and "Reload" without the need to actually find a source of water... (Yeah... I was that much into Holi back Then..)

So anyway, On Holi morning, my friends and I get together and go through all the final planning related to the bushwhack we had planned for the Girls... Come to think about it now, I can’t believe the details that we covered just to ensure that we encompassed all the "Rules of Engagement"... We made plans to go after the "weaker" section in the Girls fraternity... No "Man" was supposed to be left behind just in case the Girls too had a plan of their own... We made plans to cover each other's back... We decided that we would head out in groups of two... This gave us the leverage to implement the "attack-and-reload" phenomenon... That meant while one of us would be engaged in firing off the Pichkari, the other would be reloading his Pichkari for a second round of attacks...  

All in all.. Those were awesome days... Unlike now... I don’t know what exactly has changed now, but I do know that things are definitely not the same... I know for a fact that I DONT have a group that indulges in "Freakrazy" like me... I know that I don’t have the backing that I need... I don’t have group that is willing to act like complete idiots just because one of us wanted to see how that feels like…  I don’t have a group that would be willing to break the windows of a vacant house with Cosco balls just because we wanted to experience the effect of Stone Cold Steve Austin’s entrance music (That was Awesome BTW).. I know that I'm not in my childhood anymore and I need to act like grown-ups, but Boo-Freakin-Hoo... Why Should I? I had a wonderful childhood, kind of like the one that I intend to give my Kid as well... So why shouldn't I be a Kid at Heart?

Well... Can’t answer that I guess... It’s all Destiny... We just need to keep walking with out heads down... It’s like a journey... If we stand still, we get nowhere... If we run too fast, we amplify the risk of falling down... Hence, we just need to walk... Walk with our heads down without thinking about heavy stuff...

Kinda Sucks Doesn't it?

Sepang Spite…!!

After some delirious drama at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia, Red Bull’s German driver Sebastian Vettel came out on top by piping his own teammate Mark Webber for the prestigious victory.

The Malaysian Grand Prix promised to deliver a remarkable showdown of driving skills for two reasons – One, the passion of the racing fans heading into only the second race of the season, and Two, all the drama surrounding the use of “intermediate” tyres during qualifying..

Its been quite some time that I have seen something like all 22 (or 24 in some cases) drivers using intermediate tyres at the start…

After Adrian Sutil rocked Q1 and Q2 a day before by using medium compound tyres, the use of the intermediate came into play because the Sepang Rain Gods showed their ugly faces..

Ferrari’s Brazilian driver Felipe Massa, who was second fastest in qualifying yesterday, started in 2^nd place for the first time since Bahrain GP 2010 and was rightfully being termed as the Renaissance Man…

But, the whole “Comeback” was shattered when Webber began his awesome racing maneuvers.. Right from the start when the five red lights went off, Webber was on the offense when he challenged the Ferrari duo of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa..

The Weber-Alonso Fiasco saw Webber move from 5^th into 3^rd in the first lap itself and then finally to 2^nd after a hard fought battle with the Spaniard.. Alonso had his front wing clipped, which eventually gave up on Lap 2, therefore allowing Webber to move into 2^nd.

After 5 laps, Red Bull’s “tyre change” gamble seemed to pay rich dividends when Vettel straight away went for the medium compound tyres.. The track temperature at that time seemed to coming up with time and therefore the change was implemented..

The Red bull strategy was followed by all the teams almost instantly, which led to a “traffic jam” like situation in the pits..

Speaking of pit stops, there was one team in particular that seemed to have a horrible day there – None other that Sahara Force India..

Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta’s pit stops were complete disasters as the India-based team were having all sorts of problems with the hydraulics..

Due to these tyre changing fiascos, Force India’s Malaysian adventure just went from horrible to absolutely devastating as it forced both drivers to retire early..

 In fact, it seemed as if all the action on the circuit was less on the track and more in the pits… Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton even went to the extent to head into his old team McLaren’s pits by mistake… Classic move Lewis… Telling them who’s the boss.. J

On the other hand, Australian Grand Prix winner Kimi Raikonen and McLaren’s latest recruit Sergio Perez seemed to be having their own mini battles at the wee end of the grid as at first they were fighting for 9^th-10^th position and later for the 6^th-7^th spot..

While the “Iceman” was confident that he would win that battle, Massa had other plans to implement.. The Ferrari driver took full advantage of the Kimi-Perez duel when he overtook both of them to move into 6^th in Lap 50…

Another driver who had luck really pulling him down was McLaren’s Jenson Button,who at one time was even leading the race... The only thing that was not in his favor was the fact that he had one pit stop lesser that everyone else..

Before McLaren could even think about “planning” a gamble for Button to finish the race with his worn out medium compound tyres, Webber took the lead from Button on Lap 35..

That promptly forced Button to head into the pits one lap later and change his tyres.. However, disaster struck Button’s already horror-struck luck when his cars stalled right after moving out… It was “race-over” for the Briton..

Meanwhile, Vettel’s combo of fuel saving and DRS helped him overtake Hamlton on Lap 38 and therefore the triple world champion proved that the Briton still has a long way to go before he adjusts with his new team..

Red Bull and Mark Webber seemed to have everything under full control when on lap 45 an impeccable pit stop by the Australian proved the same.. Webber headed into the pits with a 20 second lead over his comrade and a perfect 20 second pit stop allowed his to come out of the Pit right where he left off… In front of Vettel…

Finally on Lap 46, Vettel moved into the lead by using his DRS to perfection.. Webber, who did everything he could to hold his ground, was completely outclassed by the German’s skillful moves..

After overtaking, Vettel said, “Come On Mate, This is Silly…”

All in all, the Malaysian Grand Prix was quite synonymous to being “team wars” with Vettel vs Webber (Battle for 1^st) and Rosberg vs Hamilton (Battle for 3^rd)..

Navy is and will always be Close to my Heart...!!

The Indian Navy is something that will never leave my heart and blood... It is embedded within me and rules my thoughts... It is a Passion and will always be something for which I will crave for from the bottom of my Heart...

 

Which is why when the following story came in the wire the other day, I could not help "ignoring" it... I had to file it... But cudnt on the Site because people wont care about it there... Hence, The Blog..!!

 

Here It Goes... Credits go to Press Trust of India (PTI)

 

"Garuda wins Regatta"

 

Kochi, Feb 6 (PTI) The team of INS Garuda won the coveted Cock Trophy at the Kochi Area Pulling Regatta held at the Southern Naval Command here today.

 

The team comprising ASW School Diving School, Navy Hospital Sanjivani, Survey Ships and Command Clearance Diving Team were the runners up, a naval press release said.

 

The keenly fought races had teams from all naval units of Kochi participating. Races were held in six categories with each team having a crew of six, including a helmsman.

Traditional Naval boats -the 27- feet 'Whalers' were used for the event. The total distance for the entire course was 1.6 Km.

Vice-Admiral Satish Soni,Flag Officer Commanding in Chief Southern Naval Command was the Chief Guest and distributed the traditional Cock trophy and other prizes.

The Admiral while addressing the gathering complimented them for the tremendous spirit shown and reminded them that pulling together was the ethos of the Navy. He also underscored the importance of sports and physical fitness in naval life.

A large gathering of Navy personnel and families witnessed the races. Seamanship School conducted the event.

Mahesh Bhupathi threatens to expose AITA

TNN

Mahesh Bhupathi said on Tuesday that the All India Tennis Association is not serious in meeting the demands of the players and has threatened to expose the tennis body.

 

NEW DELHI: Indian tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi said on Tuesday that the All India Tennis Association is not serious in meeting the demands of the players and has threatened to expose the tennis body.

Speaking in an exclusive interview to TIMES NOW, Bhupathi slammed the AITA governance saying that he has no faith in the committee and it is not at all serious in resolving in the on-going row between AITA and the players.

Bhupathi also went ahead to say that he had not forced any of the tennis players to rebel and the circumstances had led the players to rebel.

Earlier, the AITA CEO,  Hironmoy Chatterjee, had accused Bhupathi and Co. of blackmailing the AITA

Bhupathi responded by saying that Chatterjee should not get into a war of words with the players as the players have a lot to expose regarding how the players have been treated over the last 30 years.