Hell ride

What an agonizing end of day ...

I usually take an auto-rickshaw till Anand Vihar, followed by a 15-20 minutes bus ride to Dilshad Garden. From there, I take the Metro to reach home. Ahhh sweet home ... which becomes even sweeter after a hard days work. This is my normal commute routine (morning as well as evening). Today, I decided to go back home via bus ... big mistake.

I used to commute via bus (till ISBT and then Metro), especially in the evenings. But the Dilshad Garden route is 15-20 minutes shorter so I usually take that route. Even though traveling via bus means I don’t have to change as many modes of transportation ... those extra 15-20 minutes to reach home don’t go down well with me. Anyhoo ... just for a change I tried the bus yesterday ... and I was pleasantly surprised by the timings. It took me almost same amount of time ... and I didn’t had to change autos and buses to reach the Metro. So I thought that what the heck ... lets do the bus again. As usual ... my luck ran out on me ... within 10 minutes of its journey, the bus met with an accident with a car. To be fair, the bus driver was not at fault ... the stupid car driver was in wrong lane and collided (not badly tough) with the bus ... even though the bus driver tried his best to steer the bus. Boy ... once the car touched the bus, all hell broke loose. The car guy stopped the car in front of the bus and started cussing the bus driver. Things just didn’t ended there ... incidentally the car belonged to some local politician. The car guy called him and within 15 minutes a SUV came ... and out came the local netas (politicians) along with a machine gun clad policeman. Although they didn’t created a scene ... but you can feel it ... they meant business. Somehow the bus driver convinced them (gave them his boss's number ... put 2 plus 2 together) and we were on our way ... again.

The pain was not finished there ... what do you know ... we got stuck in a deadlock traffic jam. At a crossing, the traffic light was not working. What else you need for a complete mayhem ... a broken traffic signal. No wait ... I forgot to mention ... there were no traffic policemen either to control the situation. Ahahahaha ... now the picture is complete ... total anarchy ... absolute chaos ... you gotta feel amazed at darn luck sometimes. After plenty of yelling and honking, the bus driver managed to squeeze the bus and finally I reached ISBT Metro station. I looked at the time ... I was 40 minutes late. Fuck !!!

I tried to calm myself and started to climb up ... was practically running on the escalator. But could not reach the platform on time ... watched the train go pass by ... damn it ... now I was totally pissed. I could have caught the train but due to those assholes on the escalator I could not. Why do people block the entire escalator ... leaving no room for people to climb up. When a person is going up the escalator (walking) ... have some goddam courtesy and leave some fucking room. Gosh ... I was so angry that I literally wanted to kick their asses. Anyhoo ... I did not ... wuss. I looked up and saw that the next train is 4 minutes away. OK ... not so bad. I was waiting in the queue ... the train came ... the doors opened ... and the asshole behind me decided to break the line and rush in. I just had enough of shit for the day ... I totally hulked up ... and gave him a piece of mind. Why do people have to rush in ... just for the sake of seat? If you are old or a girl ... I can understand ... but if you are a grown ass man ... there is no excuse to rush in. 15 minutes of standing won't make you paraplegic.

Things like these make me feel ashamed ... people not leaving rooms on escalators ... rushing in to grab a seat in Metro. I have experienced the subway in NYC, the tube in London, and the Bangkok metro ... believe me ... those public transportation carry more people than Delhi’s Metro ... but I have never seen such rudeness ... such indecent behavior. When will Delhi’s people grow up???

Finally, I reached home ... a thought crossed my mind ... I got down at ISBT ... but most of the commuters do not take the Metro ... they travel the rest of the journey in the bus itself ... and judging by traffic, I can safely assume that they would have reached their homes ... at least 60-70 minutes late than usual ... I feel pity ... may god bless them with a good night sleep.

Even after all this ... I will take the bus tomorrow as well ... see I am "try anything twice" kinda guy ... and for me first impressions are not always the last impression. LOL !!!

Cheers ... time for me to go now and take a well deserved nap ... will see you all soon. Chao !!!

Why I hate IPL

IPL is in its second week and so far I haven’t written anything about it ... partly because I don’t care about it ... and partly because I really don’t care about it. OK OK ... I know this is kinda contradictory statement since I really like Cricket. Sometimes ... enough is enough. There are so many things which I don’t like about this whole idea of IPL. First and foremost, contrary to its name, this year the league is being held in a foreign country ... a total deal breaker for me. C’mon it is INDIAN Premier League ... not English ... not South African Premier League. I know it is being held in South Africa because of elections back home and all that blah blah ... but I think it was Lalit Modi's (IPL Commissioner) ego which took IPL out of India ... I hope he looses his job soon.

Last year, Lalit Modi came out with an “amazing” idea of a league which will change the Cricket scene in India. Well ... the idea was totally copied from EPL ... even the name is copied ... lets not even get started on this. So the media hailed Lalit as a cricketing god who will change the way world sees cricket. Fair enough ... if something like this can make the game popular, I am all for it. But when I came to know that these teams would be “owned” by business houses/Bollywood idiots ... I was totally pissed. I smelled the stink ... it is nothing more than a ponsy scheme to milk money out of cricket crazy Indians. I can’t support an “owned” team ... c’mon I am not a stupid European who supports privately owned Football clubs ... even more than the national team.

The team consists of 7 Indians and 4 foreign players. However, there is no clause in team composition which makes it mandatory to have Indian players from the city (or region). Also, to incorporate foreign players in your city teams ... well ... I can never understand ... how on earth am gonna cheer for them. “Go Glen ... win it for Delhi” ... fuck no. I won’t ask a foreigner to win it for my city team. To top it all, half of the teams are led by foreign captains ... ahahahaha. Yeah ... I will support you Shane ... win it for Rajasthan ... its same as Sydney .... the only difference is that it is NOT. Arghhhhhh !!!!! Even the so called local players are not so local. Sreesanth ... a Keralite ... playing for a Punjabi team ... well ... you get my drift. One of my friend told me that how does it matter if he is from Southern India ... isn’t he an Indian. Well ... I am all for an united India ... but just to justify (if I try to) my city loyalties ... I can’t support an out of towner. He is as bad as any foreigner. Which makes my point ... that city based loyalty sucks. I believe in one nation ... and that’s why the only team I support is the Indian team ... not Delhi ... not Jaipur but an Indian team ... played by the Indians ... played for India/Indians.

The idea was to give local people a change to get involved and learn about the game and how it is administrated. That includes coaches, umpires, grounds men, support staff, etc. Well, most team are led by foreigners ... coached by foreigners ... supported by the foreigners. Lets take an example of KKR ... the owner treated his coach like a god. So much so that he kicked an iconic player like Saurav on his behest. Bravo .... SRK ... I say well done. I never liked your stupid movies ... but now I don’t even like you. And John ... you can go and scru yourself ... for being a complete ass.

Huh ... I know I got a little bitter ...

The teams are owned by big corporate houses (and partly owned by Bollywood idiots). Now cut me a slice of that ... even if I look past the obvious idiocy of foreigners playing for local city teams ... the owner fact just make me hate IPL even more. The whole IPL is nothing but a way to mint money ... from stupid cricket crazy Indian public. I don't understand why the cricket board is parting money with the business houses when it can have it all. Huge money is being generated and sadly none of which will be used for the betterment of cricketing facilities in India. All of it will end up in the bank accounts of these business fatcats. The numbness of using everything for commercial benifits could literally be seen on player's outfits. Just count the number of logos on a player’s shirt/bat/trouser ... if you can count all of them ... you really are smarter than the fifth grader. The fact that Bollywood is also in it ... in a big way ... makes me go nuts. It was bad enough that they are ruining the movie viewing habits of average Indians (yeah most of/by Bollywood is full of shit) ... now they have to ruin the nation’s beloved timepass ... oh ... I will have no mercy on them. I would be very honest ... I really gets sadistic pleasure out of watching sad Bollywood owner’s faces when their team looses ... ahhh if only all of life's joys were so sweet.

IPL is being telecasted by SET MAX ... well ... if the thing was already not horrible enough. If there is a broadcaster who just don’t know how to telecast a cricket match ... its MAX. They have made a mockery of the great sport. What on earth is a bitch like Mandira doing at a cricket stadium ... she has no business what so ever to host a match. Well to be honest ... she has no business to be on TV either ... but that is another story. She has no idea about the game ... but still she keeps on yakking on and on about it. Well Mandira ... do all us a favor and just die so that we don’t have to see you on TV. MAX is obsessed with her ... she ruined 2007 world cup ... and I was kinda glad that our team bowed out early from the competition ... at least I don’t havta watch TV anymore ... and no more Mandira. It doesn't end with her. The other jokers in the bunch are has-been TV "stars" (allegedly) who have as much knowledge of cricket as I have of quantum physics. Another pet peeve of mine regarding MAX is their 5 ball over theory. I know ... you must be saying that cricket is a 6 ball an over game ... but I guess someone forgot to teach this to MAX people. They keep on airing commercials by cutting the 6th ball ... no matter if that ball took a wicket of someone scored a six. I simply hope that MAX incurs heavy losses in IPL so that they bow out of the telecast scene.

Gosh … I am proof reading my post and I feel like I have ranted enough … well to conclude … I don’t like the idea of IPL and I hope that it fails miserably … so that Cricket can be saved from such smut.

Restarting health routines

After a long time, I have started exercising. It’s been a while since I worked out. Regular exercise is on my list of “things to do this year” list. 4 months have passed since I made that commitment ... and it’s about darn time to honor it. There is a saying in Hindi – jab jaago tab savera (its morning when ever you woke up). So from today, I decided to start working my butt off.

Since my sister is here ... mom tries to cook really nice meals all the time ... and by nice Indian/Marwari meal I mean ... really heavy stuff. Although the meals tastes like heaven, but its fattening. I gave into the temptation and started to eat like I used to eat before ... eating unhealthy food ... and eating a lot. I started to feel little heavy ... although I haven’t gained much weight ... but still there is some uneasiness. So before things go really bad (and believe me ... with me ... its very much a possibility), I decided to it seriously. I was postponing the exercise thingy for a while ... but now that sis is going back this weekend, I thought it’s a good idea to start exercising and stop eating unhealthy food. By the time she goes, I would be in top gear of my diet and exercise regime.

So hoping that I keep up the tempo and get back into top shape. Goodbye food ... welcome pain ... ahahahaha.

Chaws Wedding

Yesterday, DC a.k.a. Chaws a.k.a. Nitin Chawla, got hitched. A week back Chaws, along with AnnuMan (Anshuman), phoned me and asked me to come to the market. I was surprised as it was freaking 11:15 at night. Anyhoo ... I thought that these guys must really be eager to meet me ... ahahahahaha. As expected ... it was not the case. After all the wasups and screw u’s, Chaws suddenly told me that he is engaged and getting married in a weeks time. WOW ... back the truck up ... I mean. What !!! Chaws getting married ... well it was kinda surprising cause he never dropped any hint that he will take the plunge ... anytime soon. I obviously did not believe him at first cause ... hey c’mon its Chaws ... he always kid around ... the joker in the pack kind. How can you trust that guy ... but then he showed me the invitation card. Man !!! this is getting really serious now ... he indeed is getting married. I then looked at the name of the girl ... and no surprises there ... it is Swati (also known as Billi ... which is the shorter version of her "real" name ... Swat Cat ... ahahahaha). Chaws and Swati were seeing each other for a while. I and AnnuMan congratulated him ... by pulling his leg ... off course.

So the day finally arrived ... I talked to AnnuMan, Dudette (Ruchi), and Deepak about the timings ... as in when to crash the wedding. AnnuMan was my ride and he told me that he will pick me up at 9:15 PM. I decided to move a little early from the office so that I can have some time to get ready for the wedding. I moved outta office and boy it took me 2 and half hours to reach home. Since yesterday was a major wedding day, there were plenty of marriages happening and due to which, the traffic scene went for a toss. Anyhoo ... as soon as I reach home, I went straight to my washroom to shave. Suddenly AnnuMan called and told me that he would be little ... all rite by me since I was also running a little late in getting ready. Finally, AnnuMan came at 9:40 and we reached the venue at 10:15. Ruchi, along with Mandy (her hubby), was already inside the venue. After some time, DD (Deepak) along with his wife and kid arrived, followed by Sarda (Gaurav Sarda). He came alone ... and told us that Kanda (Vivek Kanda) might also join us soon. He could not come because of some work. Anyhoo ... we all went straight to Chaws who was blushing like a little kid. He didn't lost his wit though ... ahahahaha. Like when Dudette asked him to show his Mehndi ... she was trying to find Swati's name in it. Chaws told her ... try to find it. Actually the name was hidden somewhere in the Mehndi design ... Ruchi was really eager to solve the name puzzle. Chaws teased her by saying she won't be able to find the name. Ruchi kept at it ... and after a while, Chaws asked her ... are you sure you would be able to find the name? She said ... yeah ... and she said ... here is W ... and here is T. To which Chaws asked her ... are you sure ... she said ... yeah. Then Chaws asked her ... are you sure you are even looking at the correct palm ... ahahahaha. Even under pressure ... Chaws still got it ... ahahaha.



Soon the Varmala (exchange of garland ... a Hindu wedding custom) happened. It was held atop a raised stage. Billi reached there first with the Garland in her hand ... but Chaws was climbing slowly. Its kinda naughty custom for a groom to keep her bride wiating ... but Billi did not wanted to have any of it. She told Chaws ... Come, itna bhaav kyon khaa rahe ho (Come, why are you riding the high horse ... roughly translated ... ahahahaha). Then he looked down and saw Dudette and AnnuMan smiling ... seeing which, Chaws burst into laughter on the stage ... and he got close to Swati quickly ...and both of them exchanged the Varmala. Billi showed whos da bosss ... Hehehehehe !!!

After that, we had our dinner. It was a buffet and Sarda (true to his build) had 4 grains of Pulao. The amount of rice was so small that even a bird will feel hungry if it ate that pulao. Seeing Sardas plate ... AnnuMan joked ... Abe itna kyun leliya (Oi ... why did you took "so much"). To which DD said ... bhabhi ji ne bola hai ki itna hi khana hai (Sarda's wife instructed him to eat that much only) ... LOL !!! DD on the other hand, had his plate so full that you can literally find every dish of buffet in his plate. Oh ... how I wish I had a picture of both plates ... ahahahaha. But DD being DD ... he said to his wife to get some dish from the buffet ... I asked DD ... bhai kuch reh gaya tha kya (bro ... did you missed something) ... hehehehe.

So after the dinner it was time to give the sagan (wedding gift). We all gathered around and snapped few pics. Since I am older than Chaws, Dudette joked that I should strike an Aashirwad pose (blessing) ... LOL!!! It was 12:30 midnight ... and we then decided to head back home. A great evening. Wish the couple all the best ... Cheers.

Friends updates

Great things happening to my friends ... Sonal became a father of a baby girl couple of weeks back ... Chawla getting married in couple of days ... Anshuman moved to a new house ... Deepak’s wife opened her first private dental clinic yesterday

Amid these happenings ... some sad news as well ... couple of acquaintances in GL got the pink slip ... well ... that’s life isn’t it ... sometimes its full of hope and cheer and sometimes it can be a real bitch.

I wish all of them good luck and best wishes for the new events :-)

Office bunk

Yesterday I called in “sick” ... even though I obviously wasn’t ... ahahahaha. I didn’t had any other stuff to take care off at home ... I just took the day off cause I wanted to. Yeah ... seems kinda irrational ... specially for an IT guy in India ... but then what the heck ... I never followed any norms ... did I ... ahahahaha.

Quote from Office Space
It's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care.

At home, I lazed around ... played with my niece ... watched TV ... went on to net and surfed ... talked to mom and sis ... very mundane stuff. However, it’s been a while since I did such mundane tasks. Life these days have become very robotic ... I wake up ... go to office ... work ... come home ... sleep. In office also, I don’t have much to do ... if there is work ... good ... if there isn’t then I space out ... because my office don’t have any recreational facility to pass the time. Weekends come and go ... by the time I come to my senses ... they are almost gone.

Quote from Office Space
So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life.

It feels weird when you just don’t go to office for no apparent reason ... I am not very used to this feeling ... but yesterday it felt really nice. Earlier, I used to go to office even when I was under the weather ... or had some urgent personal work ... I rarely skipped the office. But since I joined this new office, I just stopped caring so much ... ahahahaha.

Quote from Office Space
I did nothing. I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything that I thought it could be.

Now that I have tasted the blood of doing absolutely nothing ... I think I will get sick more often now ... ahahahaha.

Quote from Office Space
We don't have a lot of time on this earth! We weren't meant to spend it this way. Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day, filling out useless forms and listening to eight different bosses drone on about mission statements.