Santa never came....OR Did he???

After the last minute planning for the xmas long weekend,11 of us reach London airport to catch a flight for Edinburgh.After loafing around the airport departure lounge for more than 3 hour(Getting some gyan on menz perfume from sweta) finally we start our flight for edinburgh, blissfully unaware of what was in store for us. At the youth hostel in Edinburgh every one was surprized to know that the youngest of us all, pavithra was infact Mrs.Pavithra :-). Day1- after the initial round of coffee(Some real nice coffee for half the price we pay in london) Nitin nd Adarsh pick up the cars which would be our mode of travel for the next 4 days(Tow trucks,ambulance and helicopters not included) in scotland. And of the 2 , nitin looked more vulnerable for a disaster on road. we ditch Edinburg castle for Sterling castle and what we saw at sterling castle left us with a feeling - we should have covered edinburg castle. We end the day at fortwilliam youth hostel with some 'yum yum' sambar and rice prepared by gopi and pavithra.At this point I had decided to name this post as 'Rice,Sambar and Scotch'. Day2 - After the first days circus , we decide to get organised and plan our journey better. And Day-2 starts off accordingly. After a good breakfast we set off for glen nevis where I get the glimpse of the scotland all of us have seen in movies. teh snow capped mountain and the lush green countryside. After we do the trolley-trek up the hill,we head towards lochness and the whole trip seems to have got into grove. The other car driven by adarsh is not to be seen or heard and its like 2 differnt groups doing the scot trip. After finishin up all the sights- we head towards Portree. About 40 miles from portree at about 5:00 pm - I spot a Deer on the road side and as nitin(our driver ;-)) tries to look at it - the car starts to swirl around.And before we know we have a flat tyre in the middle of nowhere.The next 20 mins is spent in searchin the Spare tyre in the darkness(yep at 5:00 in the evening its pitch dark ). Then we have a car stop by and a lady and her son get down of it and offer to help - nitin goes with them to the next town to get help - this is xmas eve. In the meantime 5 of us in the car try to keep ourselves occupied by some real 'Besura' antakshari which gets gopi some real shivers :-). By now we have thanked about 10+ vehicles which stopd by to offer help (One of em was a real Wow gal ;-)). Finally the help arrives in the form of a Tow truck and we board the cabin of this Big truck which has a jolly old man at the wheel.As we head for the garage - everyone has their smile back on the face and we thot - the bad was over..........after a new tyre was put onto the car we headed towards the portree hostel - all energy drained,hungry and cold. To be continued........................

He Isn't dying,is he?

Well, have you heard that one before? In some hollywood movie or may be in a bollywood movie(in hindi ofcourse). I had the rudest shock of my life yesterday when I heard this from a receptionist at a hospital here in london.
What was I doing there? Well,me and my house mate started towards the movie hall to watch D:2 and at the Zebra cross right infront of our apartment- my roomie was hit by a speeding car and he had a bleeding lip and some bruises.When we reached the hospital - it was filled with a bunch of kids(yes the oldest mustave been 17) who had got in a black gurl who had passed out after one too many drink. After we gave the details(name, address, tel) to the receptionist she asked us to wait until the doctor called us(Mind you this is the Emergecy cell of the hosp). After about 15 minutes of waiting,by whihc time my roomie had lost another 50 ml of blood from his lips - i went upto this receptionist to ask her how much longer would it take and she was like- ' the doc would call you'. When I reminded her that my roomie was 'bleeding' - phat- came her reply 'He isn't Dying-Is He?'. Belive me folkz - I just had no reply.
And this comes just after 3 days of hearing another horror story of a father taking his infant to the hosp with acute cough n cold and the doctors tired on some 'symptom aleivating' techniques on that kid(which looked like strangling according to the dad), and when the dad suggested prescrbing some cough syrup,the rely fromt he doc was -'Those are only used in 3rd world countries like India and Africa'.
Folkz am yet to come to terms with what I heard from that receptionist. Just a food for your thot. And its funny that no english movie talks about these stuff ;-)).

Updated Resume

Yeah - I dont blame you if were expecting a techie write up after seeing the title.But this is about some other skill set update.
When I put my bag onto the X-Ray machine in Bangalore Airport - it was checked twice and the guy there asked me to xplain the 6 bottles tied up in duct tape. Then I had to tell him that those were my 'Rasam and Sambar powder' supplies . He would have thought - i am an xpert cook,well i was far from it then. I also had a peice of paper in my luggage with some of momz reciepies - which i never tried to cook when in india.
Once I moved into the house in England- It was pretty clear that...the rules of the house requires me to update my 'Cooking Skills'. And there I find my cooking GURU ,aka -Prashant Mali : My house mate.
On day two - its my turn to cook for the whole gang(phew- what a risk these guys were taking). Mali is the best guru u kan have as a starter(tho once u r in the grove of it,its a different story). He took pains to explain where the things were in the kitchen,how to operate the microwave, and most importantly how to cook Dal. And after 45 mins of do it yourself kinda session - ta raaa - we had Dal-Chawal dinner ready. And since my house mates are still alive and healthy - i can safely say that - I had passed my first test of survival in a alien country.
Down the line I realized that I do like cooking(preferably on weekends tho) and I was constantly thinking about trying out new stuff. With all my housemates bwing comfy with the taste of what I cook,I was doing very fine until a couple of days back - when the honey moon ended. I did try to mix tomato puree with capsicum sabji and ended up burning the vessel charcoal black( The guy who cooks- washes the vessels too :(().
But as they say - failure is the steppng stone for success, yesterday was a day where I got certified as a decent cook. On a lazy saturday afternoon i go into the kitchen and try my hand out at chana masala(reading a recepie from a site) and belive me folks - the end result was GOOD(am being modest here).
I know my mom is waiting back in india for her weekely offs now tht she has a option in kitchen.But hey - I am proud of it.

Dilemma of a new country

When you are in a new country,using a new currency and in a new culture you come across so many dilemmas. To start with I was in awe of the fact that I had a MERC waiting for me as a Taxi at the airport. So when I get down at the hotel - I am not sure whether I should tip the driver or not and If I should - how much should I tip :). But he made my life easier by asking for a total sum. The next thing I noticed was the fact that when you cross a road on the zebra crossing, all the vehicles HAVE to stop :-)). Then In the temple I was not sure how much to put into the hundi(Mind u - we get coins of 1 pence too). So if you were to put in 1pound coin - god wud b richer by 85 bucks. You hop onto train and se some amazingly dressed chicks. But you look around and hardly see ppl staring(think of indian bus\tains).

Many more experiecnes is on ur way.Keep watching this space.....

The Routine

After getting into the routine of catching 2 trains to my workplace and trying to pick up the frozen stuff from the shoppin malls for lunch - i was kinda settling down. The major problem was - Cornflakes.Bread nd jam and black tea for break fast(Miss all those Dosa,idli,poori and all). The hotel here doesnt play any channelsonTV-u need to buy a package for extra money. You have to drink the water straight fromt he Tap and yes - there is no Tap in the Loo - only tissues.
Justbefore the weekend I move into the apartment which is going to be my address for the next few months. And come saturday - It is Deepavali. One of the most pale and colorless festivals i have ever had. Me and a friend decided to visit this Swaminarayan temple(oneofthe biggest temples outside india) and after travellingforabout 2 hours we reach a Marble palace :)). After we see the marble gods - we plan to go to westminister - where all the londons tourist attractions are. After seeing the Big Ben and after having a Big Mac(Diwali pey Big mac :(() we went into London Aquairum and man this place was awsum(check o ut my Album on orkut). Once we come out of aquarium and decide on the souvenier we plan to watch a hindi movie - Jaane mann. We travel for abt 1.5 hrs and then go to this big Multiplex(forum is nothing). We buya a ticket for Rs650(Yep i am still converting) and then go in to see just 4 other ppl in the theater(whoever said hindi movies Rock in UK). So finally after a loong day - we have yet another Burger(now at Burgerking) and start back for home.
And by now - I think I am getting into the groove of Onsite(as my techie friends would call it).
And Haan the latest news is that 'I COOKED' for the first time todady. And this I did for myself and my roomies. And the bigger news is all of them are ALIVE :)).

Bye Bye for now.

My First week in London

Finally am writing this- had thought about doing this on day one.So how am i feeling- have just started to settle down..lo sotza emotions.Many firsts for me this past week.My first Flight(not to forget the first immigration check,boarding pass and stuff). Then the interesting peopleI met on the journey( I have a talent to pick upa conversation with absolute strangers). Then My taxi in London was a Merc -S class (WoW). A five star hotellocated in a area with historical significance(Called Greenwich - Yep the place where we gt the GMT from). Then the search for FOOD on day one :). Getting to know the various rail transport systems and how to use the automated ticketing system. How to use the Calling cards(trying to get the best out of each). The conceptoffrozenfoods (you get something called 'Pilaurice' which looks like 'lemon poha' and the gravy here are as bland as it can get).

Going to office on day one - the first thing that came to my notice was - London is trying to be India,no kidding. You have loads and loads ofppl in Trains.Theplace is kinda dirty(you findppl throwing the ciggeratte butz everywhere). Yes - lotza pretty and fashionable faces in train. Ppl dun care a damn to show their emotions in public ;).

Many morestuff to say,but will signoff now. Will be back with some more soon.

Its lonely @ the top

Yeah! That is what Pete Sampras,the tennis legend of modern era told the reporters when asked-How does it feel to be World # 1 for so many weeks. Now with the ongoing British Open Golf and every one being interested in Tiger Woods's comebackhad he gone some where?), it's a De Ja Vu situation for me.

In sport or in real life its a fact that people are ready to pull down a successful person on the first oppertunity. If we look at sports- you can find innumerable instances of 'Greats' being pulled down from their Number 1 slot at every possible oppertunity present. Whether it was Pete Sampras,Andre Aggasi, M.Schumacher, Tiger Woods - every one has had to face the situtaion where the whole world(read media) want's to see them lose. And it must be tough for them to comprehend the attitude,because these were the same peolpe who had cheered them on when they were rookies and were climbing up the ladder.

The other part of the story is, where the cycle comes one full circle and the same people start supporting these guys when they are trying to come back from a bad patch - as is the case with Tiger Woods today - where it was written that the Tiger wouldnt roar again and now the media is all Ga Ga about his form in British Open .

Strange are the ways of the world.

'Human' Emotions???

I have always wondered whether animals too feel the same emotions that we feel,if they do- how do they show it? The whole reason behind this thought is from the fact that I see atleast one Dog dead on the highway I travel to work every day. On one hand I see a group of dogs roaming around,playing and stuff. The next day I might see one of the dogs dead on the road crushed by some speeding vehicle. And I always thought - how would the other dogs react to the situation where they will have one dog less ,with whom they had interacted the perevious day. Its kind of strange that if a human being meets with a accident there is a group which circles around and makes the necessary arrangement for the injured, but in case of animals nobody cares a damn.

Today morning,I did get some answer to my question though. A pup (of a street dog) had fallen into the open water tank in the park near my house and had passed away. Now its mother has been sitting in front of that dead pup from the morning. Its a very very sad picture. Guess they also go through the same emotions as we do but they are not as expressive as we are.

Will end on this sad note. Hope there will be no canine casulties on my way to work tomorrw.

1st and 2nd july saw some of the greatest sporting moments. For me it was the moment where masters of the individual sports stood up and showed to the world what they were made of.To begin with Zidane showed that he was still better than the best in the game of football. The likes of Ronaldo,ronaldhinio and other big names could only be mute spectators to the magic of zidane.Then on sunday Schumi in his Scarlet ferrari - drove a near perfect US-Grand Prix to show the alanso's and the Kimmi's of the F1 that he is not done with it yet. It was his 87th victory and his 4th straight win in IndianaPolis, where only 9 cars could finish out of the 22.Finally late into the night(IST) Rahul dravid made sure that India have a decent score to defend against the W.Indies with another resilient innings and then Kumble showed the world(yet again) that he is a match winner and Age has nothing to do with performance and commitment.All in all a superb weekend for some real good sporting action. It always feels nice to see the old war horses perform and deliver.

KARMA V/S MI:III

Year - 1986Show man Subhash ghai's first foray into Multi starrer block buster movies.Story - Reputed jailor,(dilip Kumar) engages three death-row convicts to forma team to combat the terrorrist camp of escaped prisoner- Dr.Dang(A charecter which has become a peice of history in indian cinema-played by Anupam Kher).The movie deals with how these criminals go about finishing of the natioanl enemy no.1.

Year - 2006Twenty years later the we have MI:III.Story -Super-spy Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has retired from active duty to trains new IMF agents. But he is called back into action to confront the toughest villain he's ever faced - Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman), an international weapons and information provider with no remorse and no conscience. Hunt assembles his team - his old friend Luther Strickell (Ving Rhames), transportation expert Declan (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), and background operative Zhen (Maggie Q), to rescue one of his very own trainees, Lindsey (Keri Russell) who was kidnapped while on a surveillance detail of Davian. It soon becomes evident that Davian is well-protected, well-connected, and downright malicious, forcing Hunt to extend his journey back into the field in order to rescue his wife, Julia (Michelle Monaghan), and uncover IMF double agents in the process.

You cant ignore the similarities in the story and the scenes(Ok,the action sequences are not comparable).Especially the scene where Dilip Kumar slaps Dr.Dang and he says -"Tumne is thappad ki goonz suni...ab main tumhein is goonj ki goonj sunaoonga". In MI:III you have Owen Davian asking Ethan about his family and coolly threatening him that he should not be much worried about the 'rabbit foot' but should be worrying about his family.

And did we say Bollywood guys are copy cats.Or is it that the Holly folks have started getting 'INSPIRED' by us.