Tickling Zombies

Lucky me! She said yes :-)

2009-07-12T01:03:00.003+05:30

David Cook rocks out Billie Jean

2008-03-28T21:03:00.003+05:30

I am not a big fan of American Idol. But I was wowed by this guy!

David Cook has amazing talent. Every song of his I heard so far on that show has been quite outstanding.

Brilliant stuff.

See you soon Ralston..

2007-09-06T01:52:00.000+05:30

Meeting old classmates is always an activity worth a bit of time on your vacation. I was lucky that I got to meet not only Ralston who left for the U.S.A on the 20th of August, but I also got to meet some of the ‘Mandal’ members. Namrata, Sneha and Vardha to be precise.

You can see the rest of the photographs here.

Surprisingly though Ashita, Minty and Bhakti are in Pune, I haven’t met any of them. That was the case until Sunday, when as chance would have it I ran into Minty, Vardha, Bhakti (who straightened her hair!) and Radha at Pyramids in Camp.

But I still haven’t met so many others of my batch who are in Pune; Rochelle, Medha, Sweety, Rini, Selwyn etc etc…

All the best Ralston.

Anyways.. since today is Rochelle's birthday, and Remya's birthday, Happy Birthday you two!

Cat under the lamp. A happy cat.

2007-09-05T23:43:00.000+05:30

Cookie’s cats are quite amazing. Just finished uploading a few cat snaps to my Flickr account. Thought I’d blog one of my favorites.

Will add more of the very photogenic felines to flickr in the weeks to come.

See you soon Ashay...

2007-09-05T23:23:00.000+05:30

Ashay left for the U.S.A on the 16^th of August. Rima, Tassia and myself met up with him for dinner the night before he left at Martin's Corner in Goa. See pictures here.

Feel really nostalgic and even sad when I think about it. Ashay was part of that great college gang we had, and his going to the other side of the world somehow makes that gang seem a deeper part of my past than it actually is.

Even though we got geographically split apart after college ended, the Internet and the mobile phone contrived to keep that gentle spirit of being part of each others lives intact. Somehow Ashay’s departure has added a sense of finality to the fact that …those days are gone. You have got to love memories that give you that warm glow inside, but they have a bitter aftertaste.

I miss the gang. I still have Tassia, Rima, Rahim in my day to day life, and Liz Anne will probably be around for a long time yet (a different reason there), but Roma and Remya already seem to drift on to wherever the tides of their life must take them. Sadly that seems a far shore from where I’m heading.

Oh Nostalgia my fickle friend, no peace shall I have from you.

Enough heavy grammar, as the Nigerians would say. One must imitate time and move relentlessly forward.

BookEazy's newest member... in some sense.

2007-08-03T20:04:00.001+05:30

Neha Gupta, originally uploaded by Nigel Fds.

Just a quick post to say hello to Team BookEazy's newest official member.

Ola !

Carlos and the magical house

2007-08-03T19:35:00.001+05:30

Fermino Gardens, originally uploaded by Nigel Fds.

I've been meaning to write about Carlos and his amazing house in Agasaim for a while now.

I have finally decided, that the best way to actually describe th place is to show all you folks pictures of the fantastic venue.

The enterprising, energetic and always young cousin of mine never fails to come out with a quite spectacular show, whether you are having a wedding at Fermino Gardens or just at his place for dinner.

Of course, all this helped by his wife Maylyn, who in spite of being a vegetarian makes the most amazing non veg. dishes.

You can find the rest of the pictures on my newly created flickr account: Carlos's Fermino Gardens

The trip to strawberry town...

2007-05-25T18:35:00.000+05:30

After talking about make a trip somewhere since back in October.. and never doing anything about it... We finally did go somewhere. And all thanks to the insistence of Utsav & Tassia, and organization of Dhruv.

The destination was Mahabaleshwar with Panchgini as a stop along the way. And it was an amazing trip. It was a real pity I has to miss the FA Cup final, but apart from that, I must say I really enjoyed the trip.

More so because our small party was boosted by the company of the lovely Lisette. I wonder what impression our noisy outspoken group left with her. I like to think she enjoyed herself... I know we did.

There was so much that happened in that trip, and I don't think I'd be able to put them all down here. Besides somethings are awesome fun, only in the moment they occur. In recollection its hard to capture the mirth.

I missed my digital camera on more than one occasion and my little cellphone had to do all the work of recording our trip for posterity. In honesty it did a better job than I expected.

By the way, those of you who know Utsav, really must ask him about his experiences in Mahabaleshwar's market. I guarantee, that if he tells the story as it happened you wont be disappointed. Wish I could say more.. :-D

Enough from my side.. I'll let the pictures try and tell the rest of story. At the bottom of this post you might find links to some videos from the trip.

The lake up at Mahabaleshwar in the evening light

Update: Most of the pictures of this trip can be found on my Flickr account here
Update2: Please email me / leave a comment if you want the zip with all the videos.

I love this song.

2007-04-01T21:26:00.000+05:30

The brilliant Jack Johnson has lyrics and music to cover even the deepest of emotions. This one is for you babe ;-).

"Better Together"

There's no combination of words
I could put on the back of a postcard
No song that I could sing
But I can try for your heart
Our dreams, and they are made out of real things
Like a, shoebox of photographs
With sepiatone loving
Love is the answer,
At least for most of the questions in my heart
Like why are we here? And where do we go?
And how come it's so hard?
It's not always easy and
Sometimes life can be deceiving
I'll tell you one thing it's always better when we're together

[Chorus:]
MMM it's always better when we're together
Yeah, we'll look at the stars when we're together
Well, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, it's always better when we're together

And all of these moments
Just might find their way into my dreams tonight
But I know that they'll be gone
When the morning light sings
And brings new things
For tomorrow night you see
That they'll be gone too
Too many things I have to do
But if all of these dreams might find their way
Into my day to day scene
I'd be under the impression
I was somewhere in between
With only two
Just me and you
Not so many things we got to do
Or places we got to be
We'll Sit beneath the mango tree now

It's always better when we're together
Mmmm, we're somewhere in between together
Well, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, it's always better when we're together

MMmmmm MMMmmmm Mmmmmm
I believe in memories
They look so, so pretty when I sleep
Hey now, and when I wake up,
You look so pretty sleeping next to me
But there is not enough time,
And there is no, no song I could sing
And there is no, combination of words I could say
But I will still tell you one thing
We're better together.

When you're just feeling that feeling...

2007-03-27T01:07:00.000+05:30

Sometimes you feel in a way that only a Jack Johnson song can convey. Right now thats how I'm feeling.. I feel like I can take on the world right now.. I feel invigorated and full of life.

Love this...

Upside Down

Who's to say
What's impossible
they forgot
This world keeps spinning
And with each new day
I can feel a change in everything
And as the surface breaks reflections fade
But in some ways they remain the same
And as my mind begins to spread its wings
There's no stopping curiosity

I wanna turn the whole thing upside down
I'll find the things they say just can't be found
I'll share this love I find with everyone
We'll sing and dance to Mother Nature's songs
I don't want this feeling to go away

Who's to say
I can't do everything
I can try
And as I roll along I begin to find
Things aren't always just what they seem

I wanna turn the whole thing upside down
I'll find the things they say just can't be found
I'll share this love I find with everyone
We'll sing and dance to Mother Nature's songs
This world keeps spinning and there's no time to waste
Will it all keep spinning spinning round and round and

Upside down
Whos to say whats impossible and can't be found
I don't want this feeling to go away
Please don´t go away
Is this how it´s suppose to be
Jack Johnson

You can listen to that song here:

Bring on the world.. I can take whatever you got ! Yeah.

But is it art ?

2007-03-26T01:11:00.000+05:30

Did you ever believe that making movies was an art? Do you remember a time when watching a movie was more than slapstick comedy, flesh baring eye candy and physics defying stunts? Sometimes I ask myself what happened to movies that went deeper than the latest action hero paired against the hottest damsel in tinsel town.

…And then every once in a while, there comes a delightful movie with a name like ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’. I’m sure there are people out there who will argue that this movie has a story that never really takes off, or that the story is rather predictable. In fact one rather interesting comment from a friend of mine went along the lines of, ‘I don’t agree with the idea behind the movie; that the pursuit of happiness is tied into the pursuit of money’.

And why that is interesting is because that thought never once crossed my mind. My own opinion was that this was a movie about overcoming challenges in the face of overwhelming odds. In later discussions, no sooner had I voiced this, when I immediately hand to contend with two more opinions. This was a movie about succeeding as a single parent, succeeding as a single father. No, wait, that’s not it. It was actually a movie about doing what it takes, and whatever it takes.

Maybe it was a movie about all the above. I can’t help thinking however, which was the last movie I saw which conveyed such different meanings to different people? Somehow the discussions that followed struck me strangely of a conversation more commonly found at an art museum.

All that aside folks, sometimes it’s not about the story itself but how it’s told. One of my favorite movies of all time, Amelie (pictured above) had that special something when it came to artful story telling.

No matter what your taste in movies is, there’s no denying the quality of the performances by Will Smith and the rest of the cast.

So is this the movie of the year? Probably not. Is it art? Why don’t you watch it and tell me?

Just felt like making something...

2007-03-19T23:02:00.000+05:30

... and since Praveen says its good enough to publish I have decided to do so...

Bits and pieces of a great endeavor

2007-03-15T11:15:00.000+05:30

Google tells me the following definitions for the word Endeavor

1) enterprise: a purposeful or industrious undertaking (especially one that requires effort or boldness);
2) attempt: earnest and conscientious
activity intended to do or accomplish something;
3) attempt by employing effort; "we endeavor to make our customers happy"

Reading the above definitions, I have come to believe that this one simple word, symbolizes BookEazy. Well at least BookEazy as I see it.

And here are the people who have made the endeavor take on such brilliant hues.. the folks who color everyday with their unique personalities.. the folks who make it a joy to work.

From top to bottom they are :
Anjali, Santosh, Rahul, Sonali, Shivam (the BookEazy pin-up dude ;-D ), Praveen (the psuedo Puneri...I believe he's actually goan ;-D ) ... and of course ...Alan

BookEazy is now LIVE !! Whoooooohoooooo....

2007-03-12T16:32:00.000+05:30

We are live. We are out there.

Come what may, we are out there. And its scary and wonderful and exciting all at the same time.
BookEazy

Get your retro hat folks..

2007-03-12T12:42:00.000+05:30

Quick question... who remembers this song :

Artist: Double you
Song Title : Please dont go.

Woke up this morning and for some insane reason had this tune stuck in the back of my head.

Sunsets over Pune..

2007-03-05T02:15:00.000+05:30

hmm... dirty, dusty ... unorganized, restless, ... crowded, uncouth even, ..

Yet... beautiful at times. Not bad Pune, not bad at all.. you continue to suprise me..

Sorry about the quality of these snaps folks, but I was to busy drinking in the sunset to really focus on getting a good shot. I guess you had to be there to see the colors and the burning red sun, to really feel such a sight. Maybe the hallmark of a good photographer is that he can bring that imagery to film. I dont pretend to be that, or even attempt to reproduce that. Its an art. I am content to have been lucky enough to enjoy my share of god-awesome sunsets.

Here's to hoping I see many many more..

Speaking of flatmates..

2007-03-05T01:53:00.000+05:30

So these are my flatmates...

Utsav...
...talkative, creative, talented, brilliant..

Joel...
...quiet, gentle, happy, smart, messy

Awesome guys both of 'em. Never a dull moment with them around. Thanks guys, you two have helped make, and continue to make, life in Pune a most memorable experience.

The riddle ..

2007-03-05T01:33:00.000+05:30

Every once in a while..
you'll find a song you really like,
a poem you love to read,
a book you cant put down,
a picture you cant stop looking at,
an idea you cant leave alone,
a woman you cant help loving,
and when that happens..
you have to stop and feel really happy,
feel happy to be alive,
feel happy for that moment.
Every once in a while...
--Me

Not bad for a fly-by-night poet eh ? I was looking for way to convey those thoughts and I decided to take a new approach to getting my point across. Normally I'd post a picture or two, but this post will be different folks. Instead of the usual fare,
today I'll serve up a 2cent poem, lyrics from a song I think is really nice, and a link to the same song :-) Happy listening.

The Riddle - Five For Fighting
(I really really like this one.. the words are in their own way, pretty thought provoking)

There was a man back in '95
Whose heart ran out of summers
But before he died, I asked him

Wait, what's the sense in life
Come over me, Come over me

He said,

"Son why you got to sing that tune
Catch a Dylan song or some eclipse of the moon
Let an angel swing and make you swoon
Then you will see... You will see."

Then he said,

"Here's a riddle for you
Find the Answer
There's a reason for the world
You and I..."

Picked up my kid from school today
Did you learn anything cause in the world today
You can't live in a castle far away
Now talk to me, come talk to me

He said,

"Dad I'm big but we're smaller than small
In the scheme of things, well we're nothing at all
Still every mother's child sings a lonely song
So play with me, come play with me"

And Hey Dad
Here's a riddle for you
Find the Answer
There's a reason for the world
You and I...

I said,

"Son for all I've told you
When you get right down to the
Reason for the world...
Who am I?"

There are secrets that we still have left to find
There have been mysteries from the beginning of time
There are answers we're not wise enough to see

He said... You looking for a clue I Love You free...

The batter swings and the summer flies
As I look into my angel's eyes
A song plays on while the moon is hiding over me
Something comes over me

I guess we're big and I guess we're small
If you think about it man you know we got it all
Cause we're all we got on this bouncing ball
And I love you free
I love you freely

Here's a riddle for you
Find the Answer
There's a reason for the world
You and I...

You can listen to song below:

How to avoid crazy shoppers...

2007-02-18T11:46:00.000+05:30

So the other day.. some time before Christmas I think it was .. Utsav and I were taken along (*cough* *cough* dragged *cough*) shopping by Tassia and Rima.

Now any and every guy knows.. (and this is cliche..) that you dont want to be shopping with two girls in a mall just before they are heading home to Goa on a holiday break.

So, since we are experienced in the tricky business of avoiding roaming from store to store looking at endless outfits all of which look the same five minutes into this exercise, and since we are masters of avoiding those trick questions that all women ask when they go shopping (ie. the ever green "will this fit me ?", and "do you think this will make me look fat ?" ... to name a few).. I have decided to post our mini guide to escape.

Step 1 : Pretend to shop for yourselves in *one* store. (preferably the first one)
Step 2 : Take really long to do step 1.
Step 3 : Keep at step 1 until they get fed up in said store and tell you .. "ok we'll meet you at place X at time Y."
Step 4 : After departure of crazy shoppers, find nearest big armchair, and flop there. Stay there.
Step 5 : When time Y approaches, call up crazy shoppers and say you will meet them at place Z at time T.
Step 6 : Stay in chair.
Step 7 : Repeat step 6 till time to end crazy shopping trip.

Its works I tell you. I have pictures to prove it. Utsav and I survived. All we bought was a deodorant.

Shucks.. I wish I had more time in my days..

2007-01-19T01:43:00.000+05:30

Hey all.

There is so much to say, and do.. and just not enough time.

I have to wish all you folks so so kindly took time to remember me over the Christmas and new year season, sent me emails, cards and message to say you care. Well to all of you, from this lazy ass bum (who really really appreciates all of you by the way), thank you so much and the same good wishes to all of you.

That reminds me.. I have to reply to Walter's awesome email, Shalome's amazing emails, call up Ma'am Dilshad, visit Ma'am Dilshad, email Ma'am Madhu (it was so awesome to hear from her), ring up Stephanie, update my blog, get to work on my technical blog, and finish my manuscript for this year's Booker prize. Phew! quite a load eh..

Oh and there's Nadia and Roma and Liz and Analiz and Naash and Ralston and Ashay and Abhi and Indra and all the rest who I absolutely must, must keep in touch with ...cant do without these folks yeah.. life would be soo dull.

And there's ... and theres also.. and ..so much to do.. so little time. Forgive me folks.. I miss all you guys and girls.

Will try and get through this list by May..

Its a whole different world out there you know...

2007-01-19T01:19:00.000+05:30

Its pretty strange how isolated Goa can be from the rest of India.

Whether that a good thing or a bad thing.. I dont know, and not sure I want to think about that. It raises a whole lot questions I'd rather not fling about my head.

But the point I'm going to get to eventually, is that I never realised how different we do things in Goa from other parts of India.

I got a chance to experience this first hand back in October, when I chose to spend Diwali night in Pune instead of in Goa. Shocking I know, since it was a long weekend, but I could not help it. I had made it back to homebase the two previous wekends in a row, and I needed rest. Contrary to what you may think, for a Goan returning home for a weekend, life is anything but relaxed. Awesome fun, but totally hectic.. what with all the people you got to meet, and partying to get done..

Back to my point, ..so.. I there I was, in Pune and .. holy cow. No Narkasur's along the roads, no all night bike trips round the city like we do traditionally in goa, but instead a world of awesome awesome fireworks.

In total honesty, I tell you folks, you have to be here to understand what it is like. I headed on to th terrace. which if you read this blog, you will know yeilds a fantastic view for miles and miles around.. and watched the night sky explode like an American air raid on Baghdad !

Ivan, Ryan and me did not know where to look.. its was that awesome.. and a full 360 degrees around you. It started at six, and did not stop till 12pm.. for three days.

A neighbors flat...

Boy people sent up a lot of money in spoke that night. Move over Babush, Pune has you beat ;-) [ref: Goa politician who has the best firework display on Diwali and new years day]

Anyways.. so we enjoyed ourselves. Pizza and beer to go with a grand sight, from the comfort of good ol Padaria.

Diwali night in Goa is awesome fun ...
Diwali night outside Goa, is quite something else...

Oh McDonalds.... yeah .. Bleh !

2006-11-19T01:11:00.000+05:30

The thing about being a catholic Goan in Pune, is that you dont always get the food you like. (more like never, actually). But most of the time the food is decent, and occasionaly bordering on good.
I guess my point is that you expect the cusine to be different. Thats fine. Its part and parcel of life to have to eat food you dont enjoy. So what I dont understand is how people will willingly and almost eagerly subject themselves to eating at McDonalds.

From the very first bite, its nothing but a most formidable asault of horrible bland food, that shares the combined consistency of a rubber chicken and fluid poo. And tastes the same too.
Mass produced, cattle fodder is what I call it (ironically since most of it is made from cattle ..well except in India that is).

Yet everyday there are hordes of people, whom you would assume are in possesion of a functional set of taste buds, queued up in and around that center of ghastly gourmet. What on earth would posses them to go there ? Worse.. (oh horror) at times, they go there to celebrate !!

Sadistic I would think it, if I were a taste bud, or stomach. (no matter what my friends may tell you, I am most certainly *not* a walking stomach. I just happen to have a nice sized appetite).

Back to the matter at hand..
So..the story goes like this ..some weeks back, I was in the middle of a fine weekend of very important lazing, when my room mates decided to haul me off to that foul polluter of the Indian palatte, the new MacDonalds at Aundh.

Of course I insisted the food would be [insert vile adjective of choice here] . But who listens to me.. So off we went.. and yess.. lo and behold .. the food was [insert vile adjective of unsual potency here].

Anyways I was of course my usual charming self and I took it upon my self to let fly some of this rant at those sorry buggers. The pictures we took on Joel's cell phone will vouch for sheer power of my words.

Hehe.. the chance to rant like that almost made up for the soggy burger and oily dishwater mayonnaise. Almost. Maybe if the price had been a little less.. I can honestly say that the only thing edible in that store overflowing with American style in-your-face branding was, a chicken tikka (or tikha if you're a purist .. sheesh !) type offering. Not suprisingly it was an India inspired, specific item. It had to be if it was edible.

John Ralston Saul had this to say of the Big Mac back in 1947

“A Big Mac - the communion wafer of consumption.”

I have a slight clarification and modification to make to that.

“A Big Mac - the communion wafer of tasteless masses fed fat with the scraps of American, retail and brand, marketing.”

Give me a good meal at Mughlai restaurant anyday, I tell you. Just listen to this line from their website :

McDonald's truly cares about you and your well-being. They devote so much time, resources and passion to improving and educating their customers about balanced, active lifestyles.

BAH ! ... codswallop. Here is a much better line actually.

What is it with McDonald's staff who pretend they don't understand you unless you insert the 'Mc' before the item you're ordering? It has to be a McChicken burger...a chicken burger gets blank looks. Well, I'll have a McStraw and jam it into your McEyes, you f**cking McTosser!
-- Billy Connolly

I'm off to bed.. these McIdiots with their horrible McFood and McBranding is given me a stomach McAche.

Some sights from my romps through Pune...

2006-11-18T23:16:00.000+05:30

Just another morning for these guys doing electric arc welding 30 feet above a busy junction where the road crosses over the rail tracks. Taken at 8.00 am near Sancheti Hospital Junction ...

In Pune its an absolutely , run-of-the-mill, not-worth-a-second-glance , old betty, common as sand, kind of sight; To see insanely stupid trafic.. and even stupider Rickshaw drivers..

And of course, the occasional suicidal traffic cop who in the middle of directing rush hour traffic on a 5 way junction decided to ... points will be awarded for guessing here ... Click the image below to really understand.

Sigh.. hazardous indeed and potentially catastrophic. In the words of Pete Seeger in that classic song I really like... (look it up on google if you have too)

Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the flowers gone?
Girls have picked them every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

The guys come over to watch the game...

2006-10-25T22:51:00.000+05:30

Aren't we a pretty bunch then aye ?

Looking out across city...

2006-10-25T21:59:00.000+05:30

Early on, my roommates and I decided that we would live in comfort in Pune. There was going to be no roughing it out here. So we'd end up blowing away a couple of months worth of pay checks.. but so what.

The way I look at it is, if you arent able to come home to place that brings you comfort, you are never going to enjoy your life.

What the point of earning money and not being able to enjoy it? You have to be comfortable, otherwise you are going to feel something is lacking in your life.. and that sooner or later goingto creep into your work and ruin what is a great job..

Well.. thats how I look at it at least. hey I'm 21 and I intend to live my twenties in style. Which hippie was it that said "you're only 20 once!"

So here I am, in Pune, working happy, living in a 3 bedroom flat with my two roomates. We have our own attached bathrooms with a water heater in each, I stay on the 7th floor of a nice apartment colony with round the clock security, back up generators, our own covered car parking spot, and maid who cleans and does laundry. Over the last two months we have added a bike, a car, a fridge, an electric oven, a hot plate, an electric kettle, a 21" flat screen TV, cable TV, a worldspace receiver and broadband internet for my computer.

Dont forget the many small things like a dart board, 3 playstation type gamepads for the comp, lots of board games, & plenty of extra mattresses for slouching (a must in a house for goans). .. the aim is always to make this place as much fun as possible..

These are snaps of my room in Pune.. (before you ask that's Joel's frog mug). I keep re-arranging my furniture .. why.. I dunno.. just feel like it I guess.. (oh yeah, thats Ivan on my comp..)

I love this place !! The view from our windows and balcony is just brilliant. Its so expansive I cant even catch it on film! Wish I could. You can see Pune lying all around for miles upon miles...and thankfully we overlook the dense green expanse of Pune University, the Botanical Gardens & Spicer college. There are a couple of snaps of the view on this post, one at nigth and one of a kite soaring past early one morning. I've given up trying to catch the view on camera..Well at least till I can afford a wide-angle lens ;-)

This is what I wanted life to be like. Sure I work most of the week away, but Friday night onwards is sheer happiness. Holly molly folk.. I'm a twenty something living it up in the city. And come the 29th (of Oct) its going to get even better.

Whoopie....now..where will I find that fooseball table I've been looking for... :-D

The setting sun sneaks a retreat across Utsav's room late one evening

Pretty Analiz..

2006-10-23T21:01:00.000+05:30

The other day, I was performing a sort of spring clean up of my harddisk, and decided to re-organise some of my more recent photographs. In that tedious process, I was happy to stumble across this photograph I took of Analiz some months back. Wonder how this one did not make it to my blog sooner. I also wonder if someday we'll all have to refer to her as the Hon. Judge Analiz.. ;-)

Its been a while aye ?

2006-10-23T18:58:00.000+05:30

Hey everybody.

Its been a while since I updated this blog.

But no fear folks. There is no need for panic.. let the cries of anguish that roam the cyber alleys; "where has Nigel gone", be banished. Let the false whispers; "Nigel is lost to us, we are doomed", be exposed as the lies they are.

Fear not I say. I am back. Armed with a broadband connction, a new city, a new flat and a dream in hand. Let the posts roll...

:-D missed all you folks. Missed me ?

That afternoon with friends and ...chinese food.

2006-10-23T18:26:00.000+05:30

Many moons ago ..

ok well.. not that long back .. but anyway, some of us (all members that very real but ellusive entity known only as "the gang") decided to meet up for lunch at Zen. If you havent been reading this blog, then I must inform you that Zen is that lip smacking purveyor of excellent chinese food in Panjim.

I like to think the assembled members of 'the gang' had a great time. What was there to not like, I ask.. there was me (that should be enough ;-) ) and there was good food. All this aside, I thoroughly enjoyed their excellent company. Quite miss 'the gang'...

All Roads Lead Pune…

2006-08-13T23:15:00.000+05:30

Orkut told me two weeks ago that I would be a hailed as a community leader.

Well... that did not happen. Not even in the closest sense of the phrase. However, I did make a trip to Pune. What actually started out as a plan to beat the boredom of that aimless time that surrounds you when you are out of college and not working, turned out to be an adventure just recently concluded. Actually the trip ended within three days but the adventure did not. Here’s that story.

It all began when Vishal, Charuhas and I found ourselves struggling to kill an abundance of free time. Why is that free time manifests itself when least needed and not when scarcest? Murphy’s Law? Anyway… after a couple of guy night outs which revolved around that primary Goan recreation, i.e. eating, we found ourselves outside Vishal’s home with nothing to do.

That’s when I hit upon the idea to visit Pune and visit Utsav. Why...? Vishal had never been to Pune, and Utsav had his own apartment and we were bored out of our minds. The possibilities for fun seemed endless. Once we had done all we could to convince Charuhas to come along to Pune, we resigned to the fact he could not make it, and decided to go ourselves.

A couple of calls to Utsav, who was himself royally bored, and a plan to get us into Pune by the weekend, were afoot. As it was, it worked out nicely because that Saturday was to be Utsav’s 22^nd Birthday, and he could not get leave to come to Goa. So at least we would get to party with him in Pune.

But fate has a way of being just that little bit amazing when not being cruel. Utsav rang me up and word of possible job opening was quickly conveyed. I still owe him for that…

Some emails, and a couple of phone calls with the energetic and rather magnetic personality that headed the company with the opening, and I had an interview setup for Friday in Pune. Of course fate returns to cruelty with some degree of speed, and my interview was only confirmed on Thursday morning. But Vishal has always been game for adventure of any sort. We got packed, bought some dense sponge foam to sleep on at Utsav’s place, and caught a bus to Pune, Thursday night.

After an uneventful first 3 hours of bus travel where only our MP3 players saved us from that bloody irritating in-bus movie, e stopped for dinner. The next part of this bus ride proved much more eventful, when after 4 hours of solid speeding through some of the remotest parts of the Western Ghats, the lady in the foremost seat of the bus raised an almighty ruckus. She swore and cried and howled that her gold necklace had been stolen,

BUT, (and this is the good part)...it had been on her neck not ten minutes ago!! She had it with her ten minutes ago, but now it was missing. 200 Km from anywhere and on road non-stop for 3 hours and at 3.30 am, and we had ‘a situation’. So what followed was some heavy bus searching by the bus driver, his assistants and the spare driver. Soon everybody had been roused from slumber. The elusive necklace was not to be found !! Needless to say the whole busload of people ended up at Police station 80kms from Pune, while the police proceeded to search exactly the same way the bus crew had. After 1 and ½ hours out in the cold at the Station, while the nincompoops searched the bus again, we finally headed on to Pune.

Of course Vishal and I had a jolly time. While all the passengers where looking tense and worried, he and I roamed like hippies on a drug trip. We sang in time to our MP3 music, took photographs, and joked around in demeanor most unbecoming for a police station.

We did end up in Pune two hours later than supposed to, and the amazing robbed lady proceeded to disembark from her ill fated bus, only to have the conductor realize ten minutes later, that after all that hullabaloo, she had now left her bag behind in the bus.

Sheesh. Well from then on the trip was a lot of fun. We crashed with Utsav, I had a four-hour long interview on Friday, and we stayed up to wish Utsav that night. A mate of his brought over some great ice cream at 12.30am, and I have a video of a very happy Utsav playing the guitar and singing Eric Clapton.

This is shot I took from one of his windows. Really nice view all around the 7^th floor apartment.

Saturday was awesome as well... We had the most incredible afternoon of

being the laziest people to ever live. Pizza and Nutella made for the main course, and sheer laziness was our ruling master. The evening saw us TV shopping on MG road.

That alongside, would be Utsav looking disgustingly happy after some heavy birthday shopping at Pune Central mall. The night yielded a fantastic mouth-watering dinner courtesy what was left of Utsav’s new salary.

Cheers to you Utsav !! May you have many happy returns of the day, you brilliant beanpole !! hehe…

Sunday brought more lazing, and a new TV. This would be Utsav posing with it. Later that day we left for Goa.

Our plans to make a flying visit to Mumbai and meet up with Dhruv had to be dropped due to incessant rain in Mumbai accompanied with heavy flooding.

Vishal was pretty bummed about those plans not happening

So why do I say the adventure just ended. Well.. there was the matter of that rather grueling interview I went for. Well the results of that, I have just recently learnt and the product is that I’m heading to Pune once again, …and on a Thursday again, …and to the same flat again.. But only this time i'm going to be living there !

I can’t wait…

Doing that Mambo Thang !

2006-08-08T01:30:00.000+05:30

The good thing about being out of college and not yet working is... the freedom to party at the drop of a hat. So with a bunch of friends (Liz, Tassia, Vishal and Lisha) that is eaxctly what I proceded to do one dull friday night. The target ? That trendy beachside party point ..

Cafe Mamabo's

and we reached just in time to really enjoy a Hawain Theme Night !!

It was such a good time .. Liz and Tassia pulled their traditional pose. We danced till 4 Am and only left when the Dj's closed shop for the night. Dj Yuri plays some of the best Retro music ever ! I may not be much of a party animal but I think even I missed the occasional all-night-at-a-club experience.

So all in all.. another night well spent. I was pretty tired from my excursions for the day, but good company can keep you on feet till even the wee hours of the night.. and whats more .. you'll actually really enjoy yourself.

I ran across some kids, who were junior to me in my school days, that night. My god, how they have changed. And for the worse it would seem. Sometimes I cant thank my stars enough I haven't pissed away my life like some of them seem to have done. Maybe I'm wrong though, and they haven't. My impressions are frequently wrong.. and I hope thats the case.

But all in all.. a fantastic time.

My favorite snap of Liz Anne...

2006-08-08T01:17:00.000+05:30

Always brings a smile to my face...

Small things... damn those small things.

2006-07-30T22:10:00.000+05:30

Why is it that sometimes, for no clearly apparent reason, something small and trivial, and altogether insignificant, will push my buttons and get me all annoyed or angry or upset?

Why do I let these stupid un-important things get under my skin? Why do I let it affect me so? Why do I let myself say stupid things that can do irrepairable harm when that happens ?

Damn. I hate when that happens.

I love my Club !

2006-07-27T15:13:00.000+05:30

One United.. Forever.

Everyone's always heading somewhere...

2006-07-27T14:29:00.000+05:30

Well .. its true if you think about it. Even literally. The other day Nadia, Vishal, Charuhas, Melanie and Me took off for a night on the town. For no reason except that, chance roams like that are becomming harder and harder. Nadia's heading to the States in less than 2 weeks, Charuhas has to retrun to Belguam by the 5th, Vishal to mangalore, Mel to her books and me.. well who knows what I'm going to be doing.

So we headed out.. grabbed some yummy take-away, drove alot, sang alot, listened to music alot... chatted even more. It was that relaxed evening with friends that you just love and that comes less and less often as time goes by. Well at least, less and less with your old friends..

Still.. making memories is always fun.. this was another night of fun memories. I did not have my camera, but I do have a couple of snaps courtesy Charu's and Vishal's cell phones.

Taken at Baskin Robbins that night, just before we headed out to Cab Raj Niwas to sit on the stone benches, infront of an open car, listening to the sounds of Goo Goo Dolls 'Iris', watching the lights twinkle, and sky slowly cloud over.

Time flies.. and with it my friends. I hope Nadia has an amazing time in the States. Find it so hard to believe she's going. Even though she's been in Mumbai most of the last 4 years, she always seemed closer. Its just a sense of finality I'm feeling ..I guess..

Biking around Taleigao with a camera and good company.

2006-07-24T23:05:00.000+05:30

Some days back, on one especially lazy afternoon, I had the pleasure of biking around Taleigao. With time to kill, a fueled Kinetic and my ever handy Pentax, I took off to explore Goan countryside. I was looking for that famed scenic beauty. To my incredible luck, an impending thunderstorm, and the vast expanse of marsh land on Panjim's outskirts came together to forge some really great scenes.

Below are some of the images from my over zealous photogtraphy session. I racked over 32 exposures in the matter of an hour. I picked a few at random and uploaded them. Its so easy forget that just a minute from Panjim, you can get a view like this.

It was a refreashing experience to see the world looking so green and pleasant on the eye. Made for a memorable roam..

Stephen Hawking and a lighthouse ?

2006-07-24T18:47:00.000+05:30

I finally finished my copy of Stephen Hawking's 'A brief history of time'. I enjoyed the book so much I have been reading for the last 2 years. I would read a chapter at a time .. and digest it over..and over again.. usually there'd be a big break before I could pick up the book again, as i tackled college workloads and project work.

I enjoyed biting into his ideas..So much so that I ended up reading the chapters I really found intriguing more than once even before I had finished the book. But anyway, come the other day, I found there was only one last chapter I had not read.. and so I took a little time out, found a nice spot at Kala Academy, and there surrounding by one of Panjims best designed buildings, I finally got around to polishing off the book.

Its amazing how little we know about anything. I dont mean 'us' as in the 'Human Race', I mean 'us' as a term for the general everyday man/woman around me (or you). There is so much of information out there. I wonder if we'll ever be able to explore even a tithe of it.. even with todays modern Internet..

But anyways.. after I finished the book, and realised how insignificant my contribution to advancing the Human Knowledge bank.. (becasue they amount to a grand 0.0 %).. I decided to whip out my camera and take a few photographs of my surrounding. Its a lovely place.. perfect for reading.

This is a photograph of the view from where I was reading..The lampost in the middle is an amazing bit of outdoor decor.

This is a snap of the old unused lighhouse that lies on the edge of Kala Academy's riverfront. There are several of these dotting both banks of the Mandovi, in close vincinity to Panjim city.. leftover I believe, from the days when Panjim harbour was actually used for trade.

And this snap is a most interesting one. I had to struggle to get the right angle for it. There were a lot thingas I wanted to capture, the effects of time, a sense of propotion, the weather.. I was also trying to capture the line of the horizon with respect to the lighthouse. Well.. not exactly the horizon, but the river level. See if you can spot I'm talking about..

Quintessentially Picturesque...

2006-07-24T18:32:00.000+05:30

Quintessential.. Mmmm..Quintessential.. Doesn’t it have such a nice ring to it. I like this word. I find it delightful to say it in normal conversation. Its like that other word I like so much… Picturesque. Now there’s a delightful word if ever there was any.

..Oh and the image alongside is of a friend of mine, who's expression here is quite something. I can't explain it.. but I find myself following her gaze.. almost trying to find what she's looking at.. what she's turning over in her mind.

I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions about the image.. leave you to put your own story to the image.

Crazy MSDN handler !!

2006-07-21T23:59:00.000+05:30

Ok folks.. this is a post for the techies.. and well, the not so techies can see the humour behind this as well.

The sheer proof of the perils that go with trying to be too user friendly, can be observed by trying out the folowing.

Go to Microsofts International Web site for Developers: the MSDN or Microsoft Developer Network website
---> http://msdn2.microsoft.com

And in the search bar located near the top of the page, please type the following WM_SETPOSITION

..And that is by the way a perfectly legitimate search query.. What an interesting approach by Microsoft dont you think.

A ScreenShot of what I was talking about, in case they fix this, is provided alongside. Click it to se the full image. But I really reccomend you try this out for yourself

Italy Won !!!

2006-07-10T23:22:00.000+05:30

Whooohooo ... Italy Won .. Italy Won !! The Azurri Rule !!

We were at the Ozone to watch the finals on the big screen. It was an absolutely crazy atmosphere. Once again, I think we were the loudest group there.. well.. I yelled a whole lot at least.

Still feeling the high of that night.. but also feeling a little sad the World Cup is over. I really enjoyed it as a whole!!

Amazing times at Martin's Corner for Lunch

2006-07-10T23:07:00.000+05:30

The other day, I took another group of really close friends out to the famous Martin's Corner Resturant in Betalbatim for lunch. Rahim, Ashay, Levlin, Analiz, Liz Anne, Rima, Tassia, and Roma made up our lunch party. We followed the awesome grub, with what has become an almost traditional trip to Baskin Robbins for ice cream.

It was so so much of fun. It so unbelievable that we are all going to be split up in a few weeks time. Already there were people missing. Naashoma and Remya could not make it. Sigh. But it was a great outing.

At the amazing resturant 'Zen' for great chinese food

2006-07-10T22:57:00.000+05:30

I took some of my friends ( Dhruv, Nadia, Jane and Mel ) out to this local chinese place called Zen for dinner.. and god the food was tasty. Isnt it strange how every city in the world had a local chinese food place you would swear by ? I dont even like chinese food all that much...

Over cocktails and yummy chicken, we had a really pleasant evening, followed by a drive through the streets of Panjim and Dona Paula.. we finally capped off the nite with delicious icecream at Baskin Robbins...

Family comes over for dinner on my Birthday...

2006-07-10T22:32:00.000+05:30

Its tradition.. and its family.. and its got a wholesome niceness to it.

Spending the morning of my 21st Birthday with friends..

2006-07-10T21:53:00.000+05:30

So the day I turned 21, Tassia, Liz Anne, Ashay and Roma came over to wish me. We spent the day together. It was awesome fun. I'm not going to waste words trying to explain how I felt. There aren't words for such things. Perhaps its because such feelings aren't meant to be described.. only experienced ?

At first it was just Roma, Tassia and Me..at CCD, while we waited for Ashay and Liz to join us..

We started off from home and later drove around aimlessly. Somehow we found our way down a road running alongside the river Mandovi on that overcast afternoon. Eventually we reached Fort Aguagda,

...went for a stroll around to see Jimmy's house...

...posed for posterity...

..and finally headed back home because all good things must come to an end.

A trip to Calangute with Dhruv, Mel, Nadia, Fiona and Robson

2006-07-10T21:32:00.000+05:30

Sometimes a picture cant say it all, but a bunch of 'em sure can :-D

Aaaargh !! England Lost....

2006-07-03T23:29:00.000+05:30

Absolutely gutted that England are out of the World Cup ! Absolutely ! :-C

But here's the story of an evening that was a lot of fun before my team fell to their perpetual nemesis..'Penalties' !

Goa, being the former Portuguesse colony it is, is the stronghold of Portugal supporters in India. It was a strange twist perhaps that my friends and I ended up at that local institution, the "Clube de Vasco Da Gama" to watch the game between England and Portugal.

There was a great deal of noise, and drink, ...and sausages, ...and fanatic supporters. Typically Goan.. typical of any club who's patrons are football crazy, I guess. We were by far the loudest group there. Equally divided though with 3 England fans (DK, Nadia and Me), 3 Portugal Fans (Ashay, Joel and Pranav) .. and oh.. 1 Brazillian Fan (Robson). I think Melanie was playing neutral for this one.

The game was heart breaking at the end, but the beer flowed, and good times all ran through. The shot below would be me, somewhere after 50 mins of playing time, quite happy after 4 pints in quick succession.

This would be the two women in our boisterous gang, Nadia and Fiona.

And here we have an unbeliever who is temp. converted to the good side !! Pranav admits England is superior as can be clearly infered from the picture.. either that, or he admits to too much beer on an empty stomach.

Its a pity England lost.. but it was good time.. and a great atmosphere. You had to be there..

At the Pub for the World Cup Quaterfinals..

2006-07-03T23:14:00.000+05:30

Germany plays Argentina for the world cup quaters. Dhruv calls up half an hour before the game and says, "lets meet and watch the game". Ten mins later the five of us, Dhruv, Ahsay, Pranav, Joel and Me are at the Ozone watching the game on the big screen.

Pranav, Dk and Me supported Germany on that night.. the other two.. supported those cheating scumbags Argentina. (hey i'm an England Fan ;-) )

And good results all round ... pity there's no snap of the victory dance I did around Ashay when Germany won...

Finding my way in Mumbai...

2006-06-29T23:17:00.000+05:30

I recently had to spend a few days in Mumbai. I was treated to a first class stay by an old friend who's currently in Mumbai and who was kind enough to put me up. What an awesome apartment she has. But I think better than the place and food, I was priviledged enough to be able to experience, one of the most intellectually enjoyable visits of my life.

She has surrounded herself with brilliant, witty, high IQ, achievers who are really leading such interesting lives. I had several, most pleasant chats and light discussions with the people I met. Its was just awesome. In addition, I ate amazing food !

I think my opions of Mumbai and its inhabitants has undertaken a fundamental shift. I was the small village boy dropped in the middle of the bustling metropolitan. It was a new and enjoyable experience. It was a typically cognitive remark of hers that really got me thinking about the way life is in Mumbai and Goa. She said, "Time just expands when you are in Mumbai. There is so much more you are able to see, do, achive and experience in a day in Mumbai than you can, in Goa".

I love Goa, but I think I have a new found respect for that big city of immesly vast proportions. A part of me did not want to leave. And thats a strange feeling. Never in any of my few travels have I found a place that actually made me want to stay, when the alternative was returning to Goa. What is it about that city that grows on you ?

Some points and misconceptions I have noticed about Mumbai..and things I have learnt..

1) The great amount of time you spend in Mumbai traveling but not moving as compared to Goa.

2) Most Mumbai Rickshaw drivers are not out to fleece you.

3) The millions of black and yellow rickshaws, that scurry perpetually through the city's arteries, are the lifeblood of the city.

4) Its a city that's vast beyond imagination in comparison to the space and distances of urban Goa.

5) I cannot talk Marathi.

6) I should not attempt to talk Marathi.

7) It cost more to travel from Dabolim Airport to my home in Panjim, Goa, then all my travels by Autorickshaw in Mumbai... combined!

8) On an average, Girls/Women in Mumbai are HOT !

9) The city truly does not sleep.

10) The wind in mumbai howls.. especially on the 13th floor.

11) The beaches are dirty and quite ugly compared to Goa.

12) The Highways in Mumbai are top class, the main roads are better than Goan highways, the connecting roads are like goan Highways, and the side roads are worse than the tiniest goan vllage road.

13) Mumbai is dirty.

14) Everywhere you look, you are astounded by the sheer volume and mass of Human population movement. Its mind bogging to see the rivers of people that flow around you, Oblivious of your presence. Its an almost enjoyable feeling of Anonimity.

Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead...

2006-06-29T22:56:00.000+05:30

Have you ever had those days, where all you did the whole day is worry or obsess about something totally out of your control? I had one those days yesterday. Having completed a job interview, I was asked to await a call back concerning it.

I promptly proceeded to fret the whole day about the impending all-important call. I guess it just eased the pressure, in that very cliché way, to hear the people around me find excuses and reasons for the call not coming in.

However, the day passes, and just like every other fixation we create for ourselves, it fades from the focus of our mental universe...

When the next day comes... its predecessor is just another wrinkle on your forehead.

All we do is eat ?

2006-06-29T21:53:00.000+05:30

It’s a really interesting thought that has arisen several times..."when ever we go out as friends, all we do is eat".

In truth, there's not much to do in Goa. Every event and every outing usually revolves around food in some way. Either its, "oh lets grab a bite to eat", or "lets go have coffee", or "lets meet for lunch"... and even if that’s not the line used to set up the 'Outing', chances are the outing will involve us hanging out at a place where there is a menu on the table.

I've noticed this rather recently. Actually it was when a friend from a metropolitan city, claimed there wasn't much to do in Goa. Being proudly goan, I of course jumped to its rescue and claimed there was so much to do! To which she countered with that annoyingly challenging response: "Like...?” I would not be daunted. I would overwhelm her with options...so I started with my defense, only to see my enthusiasm wane rapidly as I realised that all we do, revolves around eating or meeting at places to eat.

Well there's an occasional movie or two... but Food it appears, is always the end objective.

So in keeping with this insane food centric behavior, a bunch of friends met up to eat and talk one evening, a few days ago. The chosen temple of worship, was the beach facing, Cafe Coffee Day at Miramar.

It’s an amazing place actually, full of people, full of color, and ideally located. Therefore, the conformists who met on that, day like every other, were Jane, Nadia, Mel, Fiona, Dhruv, Gaurav, Robson and Me.

It happened to be the eve after examinations for Dhruv, Jane, Mel and Me... Moreover, since Nadia was in town, and Fiona and Robson were also back in Goa, there for no reason we shouldn't get together for...sigh... food.

However, if the pretext of our social outings rarely varies from script, at least the actual outing is awesome fun. It was great meeting Fiona and Nadia after so long, and Robson made for good company.

I fear Gaurav and Dhruv were a little bored though... or maybe it’s just the camera caught them at one of those quiet lulls between conversations.

I don’t really know Robson all that well, but he was pleasant company, and it’s always nice to meet people with interests and lives so different from my own.

All in all... I think it was the girls who had the heartiest time of all present that evening. And why not...

Viva Carnival .. back in 2003..

2006-06-21T20:10:00.000+05:30

Back when I was new kid on the block at P.C.C.E. I made a trip with some old friends from H.S.S.C. to Margao to spend the carnival with my new classmates from P.C.C.E.

Melanie, Dhruv and Charuhas comprised the old mates, and Xiyan, Roma, Sulana, Analiz, Tassia, LizAnne, Remya and Sherwin made up the new folks. The snap below is of all us atop Analiz's house in Margao ..

Its been a long time since then.. and we've all come such a long way. Time has changed each one of us.. but i'd like to count that day as being a little special.. for many reasons.. good and bad.. but it was happy experience in hindsight..changed my life in small way..

Quick Touch up to the way the blog looks...

2006-06-21T16:35:00.000+05:30

hmm... have decided this blog looks way to clean and uncluttered.. doesn't truly reflect my style ... have decided to touch it up a bit. :-)

An evening with friends in Margao..

2006-06-18T15:47:00.000+05:30

There aren't many places that you can visit with good friends in Margao, when your sole pupose for the evening is to loiter, eat a little bit and talk your voice away.

If there is good music and coffee in the vincinity, then thats all the better. I think the only place in all of Margao that actually fits the bill, is the Bread & More bistro tucked away in a corner of Margao.

Naturally, it has become that coveted, favorite haunt of ours. Its almost like our very own 'Central Perk'.. complete with its share of regulars and whacko patrons.
..And so.. that was where I found myself with some my closest friends. Lizanne was loud and nosiy and full of life as usual...

Analiz I met after so long, and had a more interesting chat with her, and even a couple of light discussions.. its awesome to be able to bang thoughts around with her.. studying to be a lawyer, she knows how to discuss social and intellectual issues without letting it get personal.

And of course its quite difficult to go anywhere with these three (Tassia, LizAnne and Analiz) without at least two of them pulling a pose like the one below..

crazy, opinionated people, they are... but what to do... you gotta love them for the way they are...

A trip to Britto's at Baga with old friends

2006-06-11T17:00:00.000+05:30

I recently had a most delightful evening with some really great friends who have been with me for ages.

Stephanie and Shalome along with a friend of the more recent years, Ashish, and Me, hopped over to the famous Britto's at Baga Beach for some excellent cusine. Shalome has great taste in food and when at a restaurant she knows, one would be wise to pay heed to what she says. !

A great evening out... and I had a chat with them , like I haven't had in a long time. There are some things that only your friends of many years can share with you.. its almost like finely aged whisky. It gives you that nice and warm, mellow glow inside.

Good Times.. good times..

At Inox, after watching Mission Impossible 3

2006-06-11T16:42:00.000+05:30

I went for Mission Impossible 3. An 'ok' movie. One of the better MI movies, but I think the idea behind the movie is getting old. Like Terminator and the endless Bond movies, I thinks its time to put this theme to bed.

That said, the movie was pretty decently made. Story line is action packed but quite weak in every other aspect... and of course throughly unbelievable and improbable. Sound and Visual effects are the usual top notch hollywood masterpieces.

The sound in the theatre was way too loud though. It actually made me flinch every time glass broke on screen. Think I was midly deafened and it ruined the experience a bit.

But its always the company that makes the outing so much fun. Rahim, Liz Anne, Remya, Rima, Tassia and Me went. It was a pleasant way to spend an evening.

Amazing Sunsets at Miramar

2006-06-11T16:23:00.000+05:30

The other day I was passing by the beach on a rountine drive by before heading home.

Glancing seawards, I saw the ugly sight of a barge grouded very close to shore. A result of the recent heavy rains we had, this marvelous piece of iron mongery, has planted is wide fat ass right in the middle of Miramar.

One can only hope it does not turn into a 'River Princess Episode Part 2' (the ship still lying grounded off Candolim Beach).

But after handing around long enough to capture the beast on film, I was treated to an amazing sunset. It took me a while to get the setting on the camera just right for panoramic scene, but in the end I think I managed.

In order of the time they were taken, below are the photographs. There is roughly a delay of about 5 minutes in their taking.

Another great evening at Miramar !

2006-06-11T16:05:00.000+05:30

For most of the last ten years or so, the best place to spend an evening with friends has been Miramar Beach, right opposite ol' Sharada Mandir.

With the great food, and crazy amount of known folk in the close vincinity, that strip has only got better with the addition of a Cafe Coffee Day, and awesome Chicken Shawarma !

Of course the hallowed institutions of Da Silva's (uncle's) and the Bhel Puri carts have not lost their charm.

So when Nadia, Dhruv, Jane, Mel and Me met up the day the exams got over, we headed to our favorite haunt.

Nadia's on her way back to Mumbai as I type this..close friends for years upon years, Nadia has known me since we 5 years old. And all that time she's been quite a gem of person. Its a pity, life's twists has meant we see much less of each other now-a-days. But with luck, maybe that will change soon. .. I hope so.

2006-06-03T02:17:00.000+05:30

Over the last few years I have met some really special people. The picture above is of some of my closest friends...Very close knit bunch, and real gems at heart.
In order from left to right they are the beautiful: Naashoma, Analiz, Liz Anne, Tassia and Xiyan.

Playing with light and shadows ..and starring the Cats !

2006-06-03T01:36:00.000+05:30

I was pottering around cookie's flat the other day, sometime after dinner. Presumeably I was there to help her get her house ready for the birthday party she was hosting the next day.

But being the post-dinner work-a-phobic that I am, I quite managed to escape doing anything meaningful or productive. Well..apart from some excellent suggestions and some minor object carrying.

But while I was up there, I spied Cookie's two cats in a rather interesting setting by a lamp on a wooden counter top.

Noting the effect and play of the light and shadows around them, I whipped out the digital camera, and started photograping them. Its quite hard to get cats to pose for a snap. A photographer to them is just another large bumbling human they couldnt care less about.

But I would not be defeated by these annoyingly fidgety felines. Many adjustments to the exposure time and shutter speed later, I finally got the effect I was after. Then I had to keep clicking till I managed to get a snap that wasn't blurred by their movement.

But I must say that I was exceedingly happy with the results. Below I have uploaded the 3 snaps that I liked the most. The composition and coloring is reall nice.. well at least to my rather amatuer eye. The orignal snpas are all more than 3mb in size and I ahd not the patience to upload them. I therefore uploaded an heavily reduced size version, and as a result the images are showing signs of pixel shading. Its unfortunate, but I had not the patience to upload such large images to the net.

I really really like these snaps.. think I'll make one of them my desktop wallpaper.

Heavy Rains.. and history repeats itself..

2006-06-03T01:18:00.000+05:30

Every year, the monsoon bursts upon the unsuspecting public in Goa with its usual fury, bringing much needed relief from the sweltering heat of summer.

And every year our local government run weather department is totally clueless about its approach only informing the public through the newspapers, after four days of incessant heavy rain. Its almost as if they wait to see if the roads are flooding before they casually inform the editors , "oh by the way folks, the monsoon is here".

And believe me, the roads are a good indication.. below is a snap I took today, about 40 meters from my home. The water is about a foot and half deep.

By the way these snaps are taken in rather well-to-do residential neighborhood in the suburbs of Panjim, the capital city. Sigh.. will times ever change.. I got a shot of woman struggling across the flooded street. This determined woman was managing an umbrella in the strong wind, carrying the days shopping in one hand, a baby in the other, and trying not to get drenched by passing cars. Amazing !

And the poor owner of this Kinetic-Honda is going to have a tough time getting all the water out of his bike's silencer, which is totally submerged.

When will it change ? When will streets stop flooding ? Who knows...life goes on with all its problems and hiccups. A blocked street drain takes a backseat to other more pressing concerns for the average goan..

The galley at Casa Fernandes gets a face lift..

2006-06-03T00:58:00.000+05:30

After much beating around the bush, and plenty of delays, Mama has finally decided to complete the furnishings in the kitchen. For more than a year the kitchen has remained in a state of flux, with plenty of furnishing installed already, but yet having bits and pieces missing..

So Ali the carpenter and his merry men were ropped in to see the kitchen to final stages..

Below is a shot of the good men hard at work..

And believe me, they worked hard, sometimes not even stopping for lunch or tea break. And in four days, Mama had her completed kitchem.

But all was not complete yet, because thats where I stepped in. In a bid to really do up the kitchen, I hit the electrical fitting stores and picked up plenty of lighting fixtures.

24 hours later and the Kitchen had two new tubelights and 2 new spots lights all fixed and wired by me with my trusty drill set. And later that day, we had the nice Mr. Prakash from the house appliance repair store outside our place fit up a small fan in the kitchen. Perfect for those hot summer days when Milagrin, our cook, grumbles about the heat.

Below is a snap of the Mama and cookie posing in the newly complete kitchen.

But the kitchen was not the only thing that got a face lift. Being the good soul that I am, I set about the hall and below I proudly present the results of a hard days cleaning and re-arranging of furniture in the hall..Snaps specially taken for the benefit of Papa, who wont get to see all this until much later this year :-)

And while we are it, here's a snap of Cookie and Mama posing in Cook's place after the new blinds got put up at her place...

The Small joys of interior decoration, but oh .. what happiness it gives you...

The Sharada Mandir gang through the years..

2006-06-03T00:26:00.001+05:30

I spent 12 years if my life at good ol' Sharada Mandir School in Miramar, Goa.

In that time I made so so many friends, some who were really close to me, and some who were not so close.

Over the years I've stayed in touch with a few, and still some of them quite often... but a good majority have moved their separate ways, to pursue dreams of their own.

Wherever they maybe, I wish them well...

The pics below are of all the classes I was a part of in school from the 1st Standard/Grade till the 10th Standard/grade when I finally left that hallowed institution.

To all of you, who see yourselves in those snaps, we all had some great times didn't we ?... Yeah !

I had a snap of the kindergarten class I was a part of, but just cant seem to find it. I do intend to locate that snap and add it to this post sometime in the near future.

Edit: Found Snap of Prep Class !!

(Click the picture to see a Larger version.)

The Prep Class

The First Standard

The Second Standard

The Third Standard

The Fourth Standard

The Fifth Standard

The Sixth Standard

The Seventh Standard

The 8th Standard

The 9th Standard

The Tenth Standard

The Entire Batch of 2000 Passouts from Sharada Mandir
(Both classes)!

While on this topic, I must mention, that I was amazed to find a snap I never knew was taken. All the more shocking is the fact that I'm in the picture. Thanks to Dhruv who stopped by the other day, I was able to scan a picture of the Geology Class of 12th Grade (H.S.S.C.) at Dhempe's. It was a crazy couple of years in HSSC.. Even though I was not a part of Sharada Mandir for 11th and 12th grade, that snap deserves a place on this post.

12th STD Science - Geology Division

Thanks to Dhruv & Utsav, I was also able to obtain the snaps of some of the classes of my batch at Sharada Mandir, which I was not a part of. Since so many of us were jumbled around between divisions, I have scanned those snaps as well and uploaded them to the blog. Please use the links below to view them. I'm still missing quite a few though. Drop a comment if you have a snap to contribute to this post.

Since I do not remember which divisions these were, I've added the class teacher's name, to help you decide if you were a part of a class or not. ;-D

KG-1 Mrs Sandhya
1st STD - Ms Auria
3rd STD - Mrs Talwar
4th STD - Mrs Semoise (correct spelling ??)
5th STD - Ms Auria
6th STD - Ms Ann
7th STD - Mrs Negi
8th STD - Mrs Uma Devan
9th STD - Mrs Uma Devan & Mrs Negi & Ms Auria
(who knows who was class teacher..)
10th STD - Mrs Binewale (spelling ?)

The Goa Government gets progressive patriotic !

2006-05-30T22:25:00.000+05:30

Like every other day in my life, I woke up this morning and in the course of my morning routine, picked up the daily Navhind Times newspaper. And like almost every other subscriber to this very popular newspaper I turned to the last page of the newspaper after a cursory glance at the headlines, as a matter of habit.

I was greeted with a big full color image advertisement from the Goa Government's Department of Information and Publicity. Shown below is the advertisement that wishing "All people of Goa a happy Statehood Day".

So at after first glance anyone would think to themselves..."hmm.. That's nice". But then on closer inspection of this large advertisement another striking feature hits you squarely in the face. Its almost like diving into a haystack, and hitting a stone wall under the haystack. Below is the image of the entire advertisement.

Highlighted conspicuously under the official logo of the Goa Government, is a picture of two very happy looking individuals of what looks to be Caucasian origin.

I am quite proud to see that our state government recognizes that Goa is a state made up of people of all kinds of races and filled with ethnic diversity. I hope that my interpretation is the actual one, and not merely an oversight.

I cannot help but wonder if there is any other state in India, where such an advertisement on the most popular daily newspaper, by the state government, would not fail to cause controversy. Such is the nature of bandaging I see in India, all around me.

I am also happy to see, that as of this post, no Goan has taken this rather trivial issue I mention here, as a source of controversy.

Happy Statehood Day to all you Goans out there !

2006-05-28T14:03:00.000+05:30

The cat goes exploring on a rare excursion outside the house.. Unfortunately (or fortunately) with the arrival of the of the other kitten Smoky, Mia's days out roaming wild have come to a close.

2006-05-28T13:55:00.000+05:30

Oh wow.. this snap is of my dad and his brother taken from ages and ages ago.. found a scan of it on the old hard disk.. touched it up a bit in photoshop .. that would be papa on sitting with uncle Alex standing..

2006-05-28T13:53:00.000+05:30

great snap from years ago of me and mum I found lying on a hard disk in a forgotten folder.. I love finding things on my comp that I had forgotten about..This one comes from a folder of scans taken from back in the day. It lay dormant in that old hard disk all these years.. until i decided to hook it up now.. Like finding an old chest .. cant wait to see what other goodies the old HD has..

2006-05-28T13:45:00.000+05:30

A snap of me and dad on a trip to Pune for a re-union with his friends from Nigeria. An awesome trip in January 2005, this snap is taken at a farm house we were all staying at on the outskirts of Pune not far from the National Defense Academy. I had a really great time on that trip...

2006-05-28T13:14:00.000+05:30

Sunset over the sea at Sunset Beach near Betalbatim in south Goa. Quite lovely..

2006-05-28T13:11:00.000+05:30

A local fruit seller goes about his business.. I dont quite know why this snap appeals to me.. but it does.. something about his disconnection with global issues around him maybe ? I'm sure he doesnt care that there is was in Iraq, or that people in africa are hungry. ... maybe its the contrast in the picture of the old and the new.. modern Honda Dio in the background, old pushcart in the foreground ?

2006-05-28T13:03:00.000+05:30

A close up of papa..I thought this snap came quite nice. Wish I could have uploaded the original version from my camera. That one is a much higher resolution but 1.7mb in size.. this one is a slimmed down 200kb. Pity.. you could actually zoom in on his sun glasses and observe the details reflected in there..

2006-05-28T12:58:00.000+05:30

I love this snap because of the way the garden looks in the bright summer sunshine. Thats papa in the picture playing with water in the garden. it must be a Fernandes family trait, because both the brothers (my dad and Uncle Alex) love to put water on plants.. actualy I think they just like to play with water.. but being adults need an excuse.. hehe ..

2006-05-28T12:52:00.000+05:30

Some of the old gang from Sharada Mandir, met up again along with a friend from the later years. A nice re-union of sorts at the miramar Cafe Coffee Day. Named left to right are Me, Melanie, Melody, Nadia, Deepa and that would be Platini in the back. Good time.. good times...

2006-05-27T11:56:00.000+05:30

When cookie got her new kitten from the shelter, its main roaming grounds was our place. According to her the cat needed company while she was away at work. This is a snap i took of the rather inquisitive Mia sitting in my window grills..

2006-05-27T11:52:00.000+05:30

Awesome snap of the Kakra beach taken with Vrinda's camera, I believe. After our tech fest Manthan 2005, the organisers, which was basically my batchmates, decided to out for lunch. We pigged out at lunch, and then again at Cafe Coffee Day. Then went for a drive to this awesome rather remote beach on the outskirts of Panjim. Hidden away beyond Bambolim, this is one my favorite beaches. I think the group I took there agreed...

2006-05-27T11:45:00.000+05:30

This snap is also taken by Larissa, the same day as the other two I have just posted, and is my favorite of the lot. This one is of the river looking up towards Divar and Old Goa. All three snaps were taken the same day and I think they are quite amazing. What eye for photography that girl has..

2006-05-27T11:41:00.000+05:30

Another of larissa's early morning snaps taken from the Mandovi bridge.. this one is the golden sunrise over the Ribandar-Merces side..

2006-05-27T11:32:00.000+05:30

Some days back my cousin Larissa stopped over and showed me this awesome snap she took early in the morning off Mandovi Bridge. Lovely snap of the Britona & Penha-De-Franca side of the bridge...

2006-05-27T11:15:00.000+05:30

I was at Waves 2006 (in March) !! hehe that was the aim of this self snap, but the problem with self snaps is that they are very dificult to get just right. But on the plus side I think i got everyone expressions :-D Really enjoyed the waves experience !! Met some awesome guys and girls from BITS and made friends with quite a few. Walked away from bits with 3 first place prizes. One for winning the JAM contest, one for winning Mr. Waves and one as part of the first place in the Model's lounge Event. BITS goa rocks.

2006-05-27T11:10:00.000+05:30

I recently had the opportunity to participate in the Waves 2006 inter collegiate cultural festival at BITS Pilani Goa Campus. The snap above is of the amazing BITS campus at night. Taken from one of the main building balconies.

Above the law ?

2006-05-27T10:58:00.000+05:30

Some days ago my dad and I had to go to the ATM in Panjim. Now the SBI ATM opposite the Hotel Mandovi is notorious for those who use it, because finding parking in that area is something herculean. The nearest available parking space is usually 3 roads away. So after driving around the ATM for a good 12 minutes, by chance we were able to get parking in sight of the ATM. As my dad gets up to go to the ATM, up come a Police vehicle, stops right in front of the ATM, right under the "No Parking" Sign. The driver gets down from the car, nice and slowly, and goes to the ATM. While the other occupant of the car has a happy chat with a friend. Indeed !

I felt such behavior on the part of police officials was disgusting ! They of all people should know, that no one is above the law. If the enfocers of the law can't obey, why should anyone else.

Trying to catch a smile..

2006-05-26T15:35:00.000+05:30

I spoke to papa yesterday, and it reminded me of a certain undertaking of mine a few months ago. Going through bunches of old photographs from over the years, Cookie had once remarked that "papa never smiles in photographs if he knows the snap is being taken".

Well technically that's not true.. But the point she made is that it is genuinely hard to get a snap of papa smiling unless you are at a party.

So when the digital camera came round I was determined I would catch papa smiling in an everyday situation.. What follows now is my rather opportunistic attempt to eck out a 'Kodak' moment..

My first attempt I think had a good degree of success, when I caught him rather unawares when he was engrossed in his favorite bridge problems from the Sunday Express.

The next few attempts, I must say yielded these intense photographs which were exactly the opposite of what I was trying to achieve...

...Another sneaky snap and I got a half grin ..

By now I had dozens of blurry images or images of the side of his head. Deciding I'll just settle for a nice portrait snap, I shot a heavily zoomed snap of papa just as he turned from the window.

Ready to concede defeat I decided to take a shot later that night of the two of us as a record of my failed undertaking. And behold... Success...

Rainy days and mondays...

2006-05-26T08:36:00.000+05:30

Dont you love the smell of the first rains ? That earthy aroma that rises up from the ground..that whiff of mother earth refreshed..

When I was growing up, I used to spend my summers in the sleepy coastal village of Utorda, on the south coast in Goa. Home to my mum's side of the family, I remember the last few days of summer holiday were torment to a young kid. The May showers had begun, that awesome first rains aroma roamed unchecked, and all around, parched life turned magically green. Yet I had to leave for yet another year of school ! But I always liked new beginnings, school included, and so life went on...

Today an early thunderstorm graced the wee hours of morning (4am) and brought back all those memories. I always find it amazing how some memories can lie dormant in one's mind until a sound, fragrance, or sight suddenly awakens it, and then you get happy rush as it all comes flooding back. And it seems so unbelievably real.

In traditional goan fashion, with the coming of the first storm, the power utterly failed, condemming me to a hot and restless sleep with the mosquitos. Finally at around 5 am I conceded to defeat to the elements and the inefficient power department. I threw open the windows and was hit squarely in the face with the most refreashing, cool breath of air. In that minute, I decided, 'what the hell, I'm up anyways, might as well enjoy the morning'.

So began another day.. one which suprisingly found me awake at 5 am and in good spirits. I think I have forgotten when the last time, i was awake that early and not in most foul mood.

Deciding that these moments may happen just once in my lazy life, I grabbed the camera and decided to caputure the moments...

The snap below is the first I took, and right away I realised that the first light of day is pleasant on the eye, but much harder on the camera.

So after I got this dull moment on camera, I decided to aim for the heavens and see what else the skies had in store for this refreshing day...

A coconut tree later and I decided to explore the outside. While the rain was likely to piss off poor Dominic by leaving the car a mess, mama's plants at least were glad of the rain...

The second shot I took was my attempt to get artistic and nail some water droplets dangling from the leaves...

So much for art... ;-P

Heading back to my room I realised that fearsome entity, the 'Mama' was awake.. and it made its presence known with loud warnings of leaving windows open for rain to enter and ruin its realm.

By this point I was quite enjoying this experience. People who get up this early regularily are of course crazy, but such behavior has its moments. The next shot is of my window... a window to nicely washed world from the poetic point of view..

Few mins later I stole snapshot of the light of dawn creeping slowly into the living room...

..and then I caught on camera a priceless 'mama' moment. Having woken up a few minutes earlier, she promptly proceeded to do what every sane person does early in the morning .. she re-pots and re-arranges plants in the window !

By now, this experience of being awake so early was taking its toll, and I needed coffee.. nothing like that hot cuppa coffee early on a rainy morning is there ?

Coffee drained and the rain outside paused. I figured the heavens had decided to allow us to venture outdoors. Not to be daunted, brave explorer that I am, I snuck outside and grabbed a few shots of the neighborhood resting after bearing the fury of above..

blissfull peace, everything so calm...

.. excursions complete, I took a parting shot of the our happy residence

...and retired to bed with happy thoughts of a special holiday in the recent past. After all, people who get up this early are crazy and I need my sleep...

So with those happy thoughts and the musical strains of Yanni, Bob Dylan and Cat Stevens, I returned to what is second nature to me.. sleep.

whither zombies roam...

2005-11-20T12:07:00.000+05:30

Hi ! Welcome to Tickling Zombies..

For the first post to my blog, I've decided to give you readers a brief introduction to what kind of articles you can expect on these pages.

I delve deep into the technical and computer related issues that take my fancy. But those are thoughts for my other blogs ...in other places. The sidebar links will take you to those..

So the bulk of this blog comes from the other, highly quirky, part of my head. Who knows what may come spewing out. Short Stories, unusual commentary, my opinions on nothing, cooking tales... you never know with me.

But I look at this blog as my little corner court.. a place where I take all my little thoughts and give them place to run around.. fall, get dirty, and then pick themselves up and run again.

A little quiet corner amidst the tempest of the internet, and my life, where I can be myself.

Oh and since I must roam the net to satisfy a wanderlust that, limited by financial circumstances, cannot be lived out, expect the rare post on the quirky and strange and wonderful things that comprise this great beautiful ugly World Wide Web !

happy reading..