The Hangover: Funny movie

Yesterday night, AnnuMan and I went to see “The Hangover”. Couple of days back AnnuMan pinged me and said – dude, we got to see this flick. Most of his friends in US had seen it and everyone loved it. I knew about the movie that it is doing well in states and its general buzz was positive in media. So I said, yeah let us watch it on big screen. We planned to see it on Friday (yesterday). The same day Gaurav went to watch the movie with his team and he called me up. His exact words were – dude this is my new favorite movie. Hmm ... another big endorsement ... made me more curious about the film.

I reached home at 8:40PM. In about 5 minutes, AnnuMan came ... parked his car ... I took out my car and we took off. The show was of 9:50PM and the route is usually very traffic heavy. Above all, we did not had tickets booked in advance, so I pedal to the metal and reached at the theater (Naraina PVR) in just 20 minutes. Just as we reached in front of the parking lot, AnnuMan jumped from the car and ran to grab the tickets. I parked the car, and saw AnnuMan checking out the gals there ... I asked did he got the tickets ... he smiled and said ... yeah. Phew ... that was easy. Now that we had all the bases covered and 40 minutes to kill ... we decided to grab some ale and bite. We went to nearby retro-bar and had couple of Kingfishers and Paneer Tikka. Ummm ... yummy.

We finished snacking and entered the auditorium just in time. Movie time now !!! The hall was full ... a very young and vibrant crowd. Niceeeee !!! The movie started with Phil (Bradley Cooper) calling Tracy (Sasha Barrese) and telling her that they lost Doug ... and the fun begins. The film revolves around three main characters (groomsmen) who go to Las Vegas to have a bachelor party for their soon-to-be-married friend Doug. 4 immature people in Las Vegas ... a bachelor party gone wrong ... booze ... rape drugs ... and the hilarity follow. The movie was side-splittingly hilarious and everyone in the hall was laughing throughout the length of it.

The movie ended at around 11:30PM. While I was about to took the car out of the parking lot ... I saw some old man was beating the hell out of the parking attendant there. I went near and saw that the car door had a big dent (the parking attendant must have dented it while moving the car for space). The old man was cussing and beating the hell out of that poor attendant.

It was my first movie at theater this year ... and I'm glad that I saw it on big screen. Good movies deserve big screen experiance. Oh what a fun night ... booze ... funny movie ... popcorn and Pepsi (diet affcourse ... ahahahaha) ... a perfect Friday evening.

Three Zero: The Beginning

OMG !!! What a weekend (and its aftermath). The relevant world seems to be experiencing some amazing (and sweeping) developments.

First and foremost – yours truly is finally in the 30s club ... an exclusive but somewhat depressing company (d’uh!!!). I would be honest ... I wasn’t too happy about it. On 15th night ... I literally felt like crying. At exact midnight, I received a call from my sis and bro-in-law (expectedly ... the first ones to wish me) and then I heard the voice of my niece ... she also wished me in her own kiddy lingo (albeit forced by my sis ... ahahahaha). My niece is just 17 months old ... she doesn’t care if it’s my birthday or whatever ... she kept on yelling “neenu neenu” (translation ... I want to sleep ... ahahahaha). But when she realized that my sis is having none of it ... she reluctantly said “yappy budday” (translation Happy Birthday ... cho sweeeeeeeeet). If only life can be so cute and sweet all the time.

16th evening ... mom made some delicious pizzas ... I cut a cake (no candles ... thank you very much) and celebrated my life (or should it be AGE) altering birthday with my family ... quite and peaceful. The next day ... it was time to go out and celebrate with some good friends ... and by that I mean ... reason to booze out ... ahahahahaha. So I called up Sonal, Honey and AnnuMan (did not came because of his dental appointment).

16th was general election result day as well ... and beating all the pollsters ... the Congress led UPA gained an unexpected majority. Wuhuu ... I was supporting them ... not because they are the most honest party or whatever ... but more because there is no real alternative. And we need a stable government to handle these turbulent times.

On 18th, the stock market seemed more excited than a kid in a candy store. It raced ... no zoomed ... no went berserk. For the first time in history of secondary markets, the Indian Stock Exchange (both BSE and NSE) hit the upper circuit breakers (twice). Less than a minute of trade happened and the entire day has to be suspended. It is nothing sort of a miracle if you ask me. Who in their right minds would have predicted this ... and that too when the whole world is in recession.

Finally some good news from neighboring country ... Sri Lanka. They ended their decades old civil war by eliminating the militant organization – LTTE. India is surrounded by a very bad (and most dangerous) neighborhood. It is in our favor that some part of it may return to normalcy soon. Amen to that ...

So ... all in all ... a very exciting last 3-4 days. My 30th started with some positive news ... hope the good times just keep on rolling like that.

Cheers !!!

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.

SuperStar Night

Its been long since I had any fun ... until Ganja called me on Wednesday and we planned a usual SuperStar night out. I asked Gaurav and Payal about having a Friday night out ... Gaurav agreed instantly. However, just like me, he too was kinda sceptic about the plan ... because last time when we all met, we planned for some kinda outing ... which didn't materialized because of Ganja and Payal's "official" problems.

Anyhoo ... on Friday, Ganja informed us that he won't be able to make it because of some "office work". Well ... what can I say ... I wasn't surprised by this last minute bailout ... its becoming a habit of Ganja and Payal. Speaking of Payal, she too said that she would only be able to join us at 9ish. I was obviously angry ... in the meantime, Gaurav called and asked what to do now. I asked if he is ready for SuperStar ... he agreed. He asked me to meet him outside GL at 6:20. I reached GL on time ... Gaurav and Mansi (Gaurav's wife) came out of the office and we all got in the car. Garuav dropped Mansi at the CSM mall where she went for a movie ... and we 2 went straight to SuperStar.

As we entered, the waiter there recognized us and we asked him for our usual sofa seat. The seat was already reserved ... but since it was us ... he said we can take it. WOW !!! We ordered beer and some food to eat ... and asked for the pool table. The table was free ... but since it was far from our seats ... we asked the waitor to shift us to the table near the pool table. We played pool ... drank and ate ... and suddenly we realized that its almost 9pm. So I just called Payal ... she said she won't be able to make it. Huh !!! Anyways ... I said OK ... no problems ... and we played some more pool ... drank few more rounds. I lost the pool games ... 6 to 2 ... well the fact of the matter was that we had fun. In the meantime, Mansi called and told Gaurav that her movie was over. So we got out ... picked her ... and went to home. Gaurav dropped me to the Metro station ... and I reached home at 11pm.
Although ... it wasn't the usual SuperStar night ... but it was still fun.

Basement and Super Sitare

After a long time, the basement gang got together yesterday and had some fun. The basement gang – Me, Gaurav, Payal, and Vihan – was formed in the basement of GL (hence not so clever name for our group ... ahahahaha). When I joined GL in June 2005, I got the Bowstreet project. Gaurav, Vihan, and Payal were also new to the project. Even though the entire project got on famously, we 4 really formed a good rapport and we remained good friends even after all these years. Gradually, most of us left GL, but that doesn’t meant that we didn’t met ... although the frequency of our get-togethers have decreased over the period of time, but we still do meet and party once in a while.
Yesterday was one such fun filled night. Couple of days back I was chatting with Payal and I told her that it has been a while since we all met ... and since all of them are in India (which is rare these days), we should seize the moment and party. So we all gathered at Super Star (we call it Super Sitare ... ahahaha) ... had little bit of booze and food (yeah ... just enough to get filled and soaked ... ahahaha). The masti (fun), the jokes, pulling each other’s leg, booze, food, catching up with life and work, the cheque fights ... aah ... good old days. We all decided to take a break and go somewhere ... the plan was for the coming weekend, but Gaurav’s has a family function to attend. So the plan is postponed by a week ... so I am hoping nothing else comes up.

Dudette and Ghajini

Yesterday evening, we (I aka Jajs, Mohini aka Mohans, Anshuman aka Annuman, Deepak aka DD, Nitin aka Chaws) went to Ruchi’s (aka dudette) house. Mandeep (aka Mandy – dudette’s hubby) is not well for the past couple of months. At such a young age, his kidneys are not working properly and he needs regular dialysis. Dudette is working from home for quite a while now so that she can take care of him. We all can only imagine the kind of pain and anguish dudette is going through – that too at such a young age. Hence, we decided to visit them ... also we thought that they need to unwind a little. After a long time, the GL gang got together ... met Mandy ... he was cheerful and so was dudette (as usual). After a while, we (I, DD, Annuman, Mandy) went to a nearby eatery and ordered a nice dinner. Got the dinner packed and headed back home ... where the girls and Chaws (usual for him ... ahahaha) were setting the table for dinner. We ate ... joked ... pulled each other’s legs ... had quite a bit of fun. At around 11:30, we headed back to our homes. On our way back, we got a SMS from dudette ... she messaged to say thanks for the nice evening and they felt good. Mission accomplished.

Today, my BS team planned for a team outing ... movie (Ghajini) and lunch ... niceeeeee. Even though I’ve quit GL, they asked me to join for one last team outing. Since the show time was 10:30 AM, got up early in the morning. Caught the metro at 8:50 ... could not believed my eyes ... it was cold and the fog was really dense. It was so smoggy that I couldn’t see anything beyond the metro’s track flyover (Delhi’s metro is elevated). Reached Noida (Great Indian Place mall ... Big Cinema) sharp at 10:30 ... Viabhav was standing at the gate so that I can enter the hall (he had everyone's tickets). Just when I entered, the start credits were being shown. The movie is a remake of a hit Tamil movie (of same name), which itself was “inspired” by Memento. However, I really don’t care about these details ... am just a normal moviegoer ... ain’t a movie critic/reviewer. The movie was hyped as the biggest blockbuster of 2008 ... although I can’t deny that in terms of simple box office collection ... it may turn out to be the highest earner, but I'm not too sure that it is the best film of 2008. However, it is not the worst either. The story was kinda fresh ... liked the first half because of the lead pair’s funny romantic track. Asin (lead actress) looked good and she seemed confident enough on screen. Aamir (lead actor) ... being Aamir ... gave everything to the movie. I heard that he trained for 13 months to get a ripped bod for this movie. One thing is for sure with Aamir, if he is doing a movie, it would be worth a dekko. The second half and the songs could have been better ... but then nothing can be perfect (even if it is an Aamir Khan movie). All in all, it was good enough ... would give it 3 stars.
After watching the movie, we all lunched at Pind Balluchi. Hmm .... Nice Punjabi food .... yummy!!! Then we all headed for the office .... me too because I had to submit few documents for the final settlement paycheque from GL. Met couple of friends there ... got a lift back home from Mohans. She dropped me at usual place ... and I walked back to home. On my way back, I took the usual short cut via District Park ... man it was fun. Since the park is pretty big and open, it was really foggy ... could not see anything in front of me ... and it was pitch dark ... not a single soul near me ... nice winter evening walk. Finally, it has started to feel like winters ... thank god.

Back from Mumbai

Am back from Mumbai ... was there to attend my niece's birthday party ... she is 1 year old now :-)

Getting tickets in this festive season, for a place like Mumbai, was a challenge ... I planned the trip 40 days in advance and still I couldn't get reserved tickets. As a result, I had to book my tickets in special holiday season Rajdhani. I boarded the train from Hajrat Nizamuddin station and immediately I felt that this ain't the usual Rajdhani. Anyways getting the reservation was good enough. Luckily I got the side lower seat, which meant that I do not have to deal with 5 other commuters. I just have to face another lonely soul ... and luckily my co-passenger was a young gal ... her name was Urvashi. I noticed BITS logo on her sweatshirt and asked if she is indeed studying there. She said yes and told me that she just finished her majors in Public Health. Since I also studied at Pilani (did little bit of schooling from BHS), we instantly started talking about the place. Soon we developed good rapport and started talking on various other things. Not only was she beautiful, she was intelligent (has to be if you are a BITS student) and fun to talk to. The next morning the train entered Mumbai ... amazingly it was an hour ahead of its scheduled arrival time. To correct its timing, the train started to stop frequently. When the train stopped at Dadar (it was not scheduled to stop there), Urvashi asked me - Is this train gonna stop here. I told her that I don't think it is supposed to stop here. She told me that her place is nearby and if it stops it would be good for her. So when the train finally stopped, I asked her that if she want to get down, I can help her. She told me yeah and we rushed to the door so that she can get off the train quickly. She thanked me and told me ... will meet sometimes (like thats gonna happen !!!). When I came back to my seat, I called my Jijaji (brother in law) and told him about that the train. He asked me to get down there (Dadar) since it is easier to catch the connecting local train to Thane (Jijaji's place). So I got down and saw Urvashi again ... but by that time she was leaving the station. Meeting new people while travelling is fun, especially when the person you meet is interesting. I know that meeting her again is almost an impossibility, but that's the beauty of travelling. Its like instant friendship ... short and sweet.

Next day (22nd Dec), the big day arrived ... my niece's birthday. We booked a newly built hall for the occasion. From 4 pm, we started decorating the place with balloons. We also set up the music system and arranged the podium. My sister made couple a big banner for her princess on thermacol. She also made a collage of Avni's pics (my niece).

The gifts were packed in special hand made gift bags, which my mom made (they were really cool). Amazingly, these bags were made from normal stuff which you would find in any Indian home.


The party started at 7ish. Since it was basically a kids party, there were games, music, dance, the usual kind of birthday fun. Before cutting the cake, the Khoya bag (bag full of goodies) was broken. The bag bursts — toffees, pencils, erasers, kids stuff tumbled out. All the kids pushed each other to collect the "loot". What a fun !!!

Finally the cake was cut (a whopping 4kg choco cake). Just when the candles were about to be blown away, my niece swung her hand into the cake. I guess that was the perfect way to cut the cake (cutest way too .... hahaha). Afterwards, the dinner buffet was served. Yummy food, yummy cake, yummy ice-cream ... all my dieting went for a toss ... but who the heck cares ... anything for my princess.

Got in the train on 23rd from Bandra. Again I got the side lower seat. This time also there was a gal ... alas this time, she was butt ugly and illiterate. The train arrived an hour late this time. Aah ... good times gotta end sometime. Before boarding the train, I asked my mom to send the office bag to station ... Mamaji came to station and dropped me to office.

The trip was nice ... and already am missing my sweet little niece.

MAMS 97 Reunion

Yesterday night, I had my first re-union (sort of) with MAMS school friends; some of whom I met after 9 years (1997 !!!). I was in touch with most of them via e-mail or Orkut, but haven’t seen most of them in 9 years. A month back, I received a group mail from Punit asking all of us (MAMS 97 batch) for a get-together. Punit came up with this idea of old buddies meeting once in a while, and last year the first MAMS 97 buds met (I could not attend). However, I made sure that I come around for this one because not every day you get to re-connect with school buddies. Even though only 8 of us came for the party, it was a night of nostalgia. I guess next meet will see a much better turnout. Well you can’t complain since most of us are not in same city, country or even continent. Anyhoooo ... it was good to see all of them. Getting to know them all over again was also an experience. In these 9 years, we all have grown older and wiser (except for me ... LOL). We are in the “adult” phase of our lives, but yesterday we became kids again.

Diwali 2008

At Blues

Ohh, what a night !!!

Well yesterday was Sonal’s last day at office. While coming to the office, we (Me, Sonal and Arjun) decided to have a party. So according to our plan we left office at around 6. We landed up at Blues in Connaught Place. Its an amazing place if you like ale and rock-n-roll. The place was jam packed, which was surprising considering the day being Monday. Initially, we had to content with chairs at the bar because there was not a single seating space. Luckily we got excellent seats (just in front of the live band) even before finishing our first pitcher.

Soon the live band (comprising of 2 hot chicks and a bald dude) came and started playing good rock-n-roll. However, when they started to take requests, it became very predictable. People started to request songs like Complicated (by Avril Lavigne) and (worse) Dancing Queen (by Abba). And I was like – C’mon !!!. Anyhoo ... that’s typical of Delhi’s crowd. When will they get out of the Top 40 syndrome?. Thank god, the band didn’t play any Bhangra or Bollywood crap. That would have been a total spoiler.

We 3 had a great time and towards the end Sonal kinda got Lovely Lovely (our slang for soaked). Arjun didn’t drank because he was following some religious thing (fast !!). Thank God ... he became the designated driver by default. We got in the car and pretty soon, I was also kinda Lovely Lovely. However, I was sober enough to walk to my room where I almost fall on my face. I slept like a baby after such a long time.

Today, when I woke up – man, my head was exploding. Had to take the day off because of the headache – good excuse to chill ... ahahahaha

Cheers