Its a week of color codes in the office. Monday was a Blue day and today its a Red day. Click on the pics for a better view

Home....Home Again !!!

Home, home again
I like to be here when I can
And when I come home cold and tired
Its good to warm my bones beside the fire

No place like home. And even better when the place you live is called "The city of Lakes". Magnificient. Yeah am talking about Udaipur.

Couple of things about the city
Its not in middle of a desert. Yeah yeah I know its in Rajasthan(thar desert) but this place is far far from desert. Its in southern Rajasthan and probably the only city in Rajasthan having so so many small and big lakes. 3 of them right in middle on the city. And the city itself is very small. 20 mins flat you can cross the city. I guess not even 20 mins.

I happen to live probably the coolest place in the town. Right next to 2 of the lakes. And when the gates of the lakes are opened to flush out the excess water the entire volume flows just just in front of my house.

Question) So what else except lakes?
Answer) A lot. Palaces. Grand Palaces. Forts. Umpteen number of beautiful locales. Mt. Abu is just 3 hours away(this place goes sub zero in dece-jan).

I never appreciated the fact that I lived in Udaipur when I was there. I mean it was so so monotonous for me. But now I know. Its paradise.
Would be going there in March during holi. Am so so thrilled. Holi with parents/frds after some 8-9 years.

Dunno why I am so nostalgic today. Maybe because am listening to couple of very cool songs.
1) Wish you were here
2) Time
3) Brain Damage
4) Goodbye Blue Sky
5) Atom heart mother

You people have to listen to all these songs. Immediately. I guess I don't have to tell the band :). Boo, do I have to?

There and Back Again - A Bihari weds a Bong - I am Quarter Century Old

The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say

This might be a very lengthy post 'cause am writing all about what I did and where I went during the past week. So go pee, grab a coffee and sight tightly.

First of all about L & T. Two of my very close friends(actually closer than close friends) got married in a lovely wedding ceremony. Never had so much fun. Two days of absolute thrill. I just can't explain all that here. You guys had to be there to witness the craziness.

The Shaadi was simply great. Me, NS and SS danced like crazy in the Baaraat. NST, MSG I danced from your side too. Non-stop for 2 hrs. All those crazy hindi songs that you'll always hear during marriages. From "Aaj Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi hai" to "Mundiyan to bach ke rahi". Well I took 3-4 large vodka shots just before the baaraat was about to start and it hit me at the exact moment it was supposed to hit. Finally L's brother made the baaraat move a little fast as we were stopping the band at every 10 mts. We left the baraat as soon its reached the wedding hall. Went to a friends place and changed into a nice cream colored chudidaar and then came back.

And then the fun started. It always feel great when 4 innocent guys are mobbed by around 15 girls. Why? Because we have L's jooti. Finally we gave up and those girls took aways the shoes. I still have scratch marks on my arm. Bhai, ladkiyan aapke peeche kabhi kabhi hi bhaagti hai !!!

We were awake till the "pheres". L & T went to T's place and we went to P's place. Next day was even better. A proper "suit" party. With a very nice bar and even better dance floor. Again danced for 2.5 hrs. Then all of us sat down for dinner. Cracked jokes for another hour and then left. Here comes the best part. 3 of us got into a friends Santro and drover around bhilai for almost 3-3.5 hrs. Had chai and pakodas at a roadside dhaba. Heaven.

Trip back was not much fun. Except the flag hoisting ceremony at bhilai railway station on 26th morning. Felt so so good taking part and singing the national anthem on a cold chilly thursday morning.

And yes it was my b'day on 27th. I know a lot of you missed wishing me, especially some people with whom I actually spoke on that day. But then someone told me sometime back that I should not expect much from others. True. So no regrets. Actually some of my relatives called up. Infact a lot of them. Jiju frm france, Di from Dubai, Sways, Mom-Dad from Udaipur, Bhaiya-Bhabhi from Jodhpur, Inu D-Jiju and cousins from Ahemdabad, couple of people whom I met in bhilai, RajJ, TS, Blore ppl, Pune, US. Infact my phone was ringing throughout the day. Went out for a lovely dinner with my flatmates. And crashed as soon as I came back home. Was too tired to do anything.

Well all in all, a great weekend. Unforgettable in every sense. Been listening to Floyd since morning. All I can say now is.....

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

The weekend got over on Saturday

Yeah its a sunday and am busy slogging my ass off in office !!!
Most of my colleagues/friends/fellow bloggers must be surprised that instead of going to a movie/pub on a sunday what the hell am I doing here. And I can already hear GK/RG asking "Tum to aise na the Rahul, kya ho gaya hai tumhe? "

Well the workaholic inside me has started stirring up again after almost 3-4 months of laziness. Am I kidding? No. Well after waiting for months for things to happen for me I have decided to finish the bloody tasks by myself. Its a pain to see when events, that are important to me, would occur. So I thought why not go there and wipe 'em out once and for all. M*F* work. !!! I might sound a bit gory but I watched Zinda yesterday and these kinds on lines are bound to come out from within for couple of days. What the fuck!!!

Yesterday was fun. Ate all sorts of food. Did all sorts of things. Roamed all sorts of places.
Had nice idli/chai for breakfast. Then a lot of amrood(guava) for lunch. Yayyyy !!!! Pizza and Veg Dizzy Dog for evening snacks.Cappuchino and some cake. Coke and Popcorn. Poori and Chhole. Bread Butter and Maggi with tomato and onion in the end. And then couple of Toblerones to end it all.
Am exhausted now.

Am off to Bhilai on monday. Where is this place? I myself don't know except that it is in Chattisgarh and we go there via Nagpur. My really close friend's wedding. And am really to drink, dance and make merry there.

Next week this wall would be unattended. I hope you guys come and paint it sometimes for me.

Till then take care.

Oh yes I forgot.....Muaaahhhhhh !!!!

Am not talking much these days !!!

Don't know why? But people around me are quite astonished by the fact that i've stopped speaking or rather i've started speaking very less.

Things have changed drastically since 1/1/6. Rather things have become much more clearer I should say. Everything seems centered around people I know and people I don't know. Or can I say around people whom I knew and yet I was not knowing them ?

Someone in IIT told me once that I must be really be careful in picking up friends. And I rubbished his observation. I guess I should have listened to him. It invariably happens that all the warnings given to us by others seem true only after some accident happens. And in my case couple of accidents.

Wo kahte hai na ki college ke friends are the one's you'll cherish your life long. True. Totally true. Even after not meeting them for 3 straight years they're really close to me. Am going to attend my really close friend's(2 of them) marriage next week. Would be meeting a couple of more old pals. Really looking forward for that. Baraat main dance kiye hue bahut time ho gaya hai yaar !!!

And in the meantime thanks to a lot of people for keeping me happy and full of energy
- Swe, L & T, NS, TS, Di
- Bloggers: msg, "new song teller", boo.....
- And my fishes(frodo, bilbo, gimli, aragon and legolas)

Saw a movie "Tokyo Story" on monday. Really good movie guys. And for all who have slight inclination towards movies this is a must. Watch that and maybe you'll realize why am acting this strangely.

Whats in the name ?

Am so so bad at it...remembering names that is !!!
I mean i'll talk with the person and when he/she leaves i'll just struggle to remember the name.
And on the top of it people have same names !!!

For the past couple of months i've been meeting people having similar names. Once classic example is Ritu. For the past 23 yrs I did not know even a single girl named Ritu(except, of course, my sister). I used to tease her that she has a strange name when written in hindi(ऋतु) and how un-common it is. But I guess I was wrong. The last 3-4 months have seen me meeting 3 girls with the name Ritu. Man I am so so confused now.

Another one is Namrata. Man this is another name thats pretty closely assosiated with me. But suddenly there are so so many namrata's around. The best part is T's sister D whom I know for the past 3-4 months now suddenly tells me one day that her official name too is namrata. Damn !!!

Then there is Megha(medha you too are in the same category).
Its like suddenly there is a huge influx of people with similar names. This can't be real. Maybe I'm trapped in a world similar to "The Truman Show". Who knows ?

Another name(surname) is Tiwari. Ashutosh Tiwari, A N Tiwari, Ashish Tiwari, A K Tiwari and Srishti Tiwari. Why can't this name let go off me. But the good part is that all these names have a very good story behind them.

The last but not the least. My name. Its so bloody common. I guess in 1981 it wasn't that common so I can't blame my parents too. I've had umpteen number of problems due to my name ranging from getting wrongly caught by the police in the hostel, to getting the wrong table in a restraunt and latest fighting with a VP in my office due to some idiotic misunderstanding !!!

I hope none of you fellow bloggers have these common names to make me even more confused. And if you have then do tell me the nicknames also.

5 Movies in 2 Days - A little too much

Sometimes I over do it. And now am feeling the effect.
Saw 5 movies this weekend.
Kung Fu Hustle
The Fog
15 Park Avenue
King Kong
Shaolin Soccer
Am all ready for action now. The last 3 were back to back. Sunday 8 PM till Monday morning 3.30 AM. Adding to this list 6 episodes of LOST. Man this series is just too good. Must watch one.

This week would be very busy. This is the "investment proof" week. We have to show the receipts of all the investments we've made over the year. And I don't have money for that now :( Luckily wednesday is a "chhutti" so i'll call my parents and arrange for some money !!!

Life suddenly has become strange. No its not because of my last post. Rather the events in the past 2 weeks. But then its interesting as usual. Full of fun and excitement. Talked with di today morning. Jiju has gone on month long europe tour and since di also has work she could not go. But the best part is that she has a week long holiday now. Some Sheikh passed away in Dubai and they have the full week off.

Have changed the pic again. This character *Mike Wazowski* never ceases to amaze me. The entire movie infact. Let me watch it again after lunch !!!

Some Football stuff: Liverpool won 5-3. That too after trailing 1-3. Man the recovery was just too good. Next is against Hotspurs. Mouthwatering !!!

Have been listening to this song "Sach mere yaar hai" from "Sagar". I actually am hearing it after some 4-5 years and have fallen in love with it.
सच मेरे यार है, बस वही प्यार है...जिसके बदले मे कोई तो प्यार दे...बाकी बेकार है यार मेरे...
AMAZING !!!

Friend - A very dubious word

Well since it is my first post in 2006 so lemme wish you a very happy new year.
And how was the new year celebration? Just one word -- AMAZING. But thats a different story. Maybe i'll blog abt it sometime later.

This post is about something else. Just about the experiences in the past year and half or maybe two or three. Well time does not matter. I've been through a lot of ups and downs. A lot. Money, Work, Parents, GF(s). Though everything seems settling down and am pretty relaxed now, one thing that still hurts/annoys me is the way how people(rather friends) change so so abdruptly.

I've starting hating people when they say "Rahul, you are my best friend" or "You're a really really good friend" and afterwards they just disappear. I've never told anyone that they are my best friends because I don't need to. And people whom I can proudly call my friends know this. I mean its just an understanding you need to develop and not just shouting one day in a restraunt/pub in front of everyone else swearing that we'll be best frds for life and other crap.

The other day on 31st I went to a party. Saw AP there. And I was just damn surprised to find him there. All alone. And I just knew that he must've had a break off with his gf. I know this guys for over 2 yrs now and he was so so chilled out earlier. Full of enthu earlier. Ready to go out and play football, squash, cricket. But then he wasted his last year and half on someone who just took him away from his friends. He almost stopped talking to everyone. Just that we were on the same floor. But I really felt bad for him on 31st. I just can't ignore my friends for no matter what.

This is just one of the many incidents i've witnessed during my stay in Hyd. EP, SL, MK...umpteen number of examples. But then what are new years for. Resolutions. And seriously I need to be more selfish now. High time.Maybe time for me to become like others ? Ignore mode on !!!

I know this won't take me anywhere but atleast this way i'll have only good friends and...
-- Not people who talk to you depending on their mood or talk to you when they want some favour from you.
-- Not people who are just another entry in your cellphone.
-- Not people who don't call you on your b'day while they expect you to call them on their b'day and shout if you don't.

I know people learn from their mistakes and am just one of them. But I guess its a little bit too late for me to realize all this. But then they say, Better late than never.

BTW all these names(initials) I mention are for my memory only. So that down the line when I read all these posts I remember the person whom I was referring to. I can curse him/her then :) :)

Happy New Year ppl !!!