Deja Vu meets Signs

One Confusing movie meets another and becomes the story of my day this New year....Confused? Well for starters..deja vu is something repeating itself..(also a confusing, stretch to your imaginations movie starring Denzel W.)......and Signs is the M Night Shyamalan movie stressing on the fact that everything happens for a reason.
Well over the yrs since my school days, I have had the penchant for losing things. Flashback arnd 17-18 yrs ago...my first school picnic was an auspicious start to being a loser..(don't mistake it with the noun loser...grrr)....I mean at the art of losing....I was arnd 6-7 yrs old and was packed to board the school bus with a bag filled with a bottle, tifin and the works.....well I came back with all my stuff barring me myself being in the lost and found dept....The above happenings recurred many a times over the next few yrs...of course with a few disparities.....Umbrellas was a rare commodity for me to use (more so to own)...coz I lost the umbrella of all my family members...(ok rephrased all male family members....I ain't gonna carry a red umbrella to school...I wasn't my metro-sexual self yet...that word wasn't even born then)...The usual place of occurrence was a rickshaw. As usual I 'd keep it at my side and forget it after i paid the fare and then run after the rickshaw, hoping against hope itself. This led me to completely avoid carrying an umbrella in my college days..unless it was pouring outside of course....that gave me a responsible image too...(not coz of the 'not carrying umbrella' thing...the 'not losing an umbrella' thing)...well you cant drown if u don't swim rt....or do u drown coz u don't swim?...u got what i wanna say!!! Thats the deja vu part...
Well what abt the 'Signs' part of the blog u ask?.....Well here they are

1. After around a yr of not having to sit in a cab...I started using em regularly...Well someday I had to lose something....strike 1
   
2. It was the New year weekend and I saw a really good leather jacket sale....An inner voice said 'Get it dude!!!'...but for once the angel in me decided to save up.....hmmm the sale was a sign dude...don't u listen...buy one...u can keep an extra jacket???...Strike 2
   
3. I was about to leave my apt with an inexpensive jacket...but it was cold....and I decided to take my expensive leather jacket instead....duh!!!...Strike 3
   
4. At the airport, before getting into the cab, I decided against wearing the jacket..coz its so hot....and then when I alighted....the rain had stopped too...giving me no reason to look for my jacket.....Strike 4...You are out.....(I know its out on Strike 3 u snobbish baseball fans)

Well as you may have guessed I am hoping against hope again for the cab driver to be an angel and get the jacket back to me....nope...Ok I ll hope for the sale to still be available...thats a safer bet

The year that was.....

2006...what a year it has been...Its almost the first yr in my life where I really took control of every aspect of my life....well almost...Took the bull by the horns (pic attached as proof) to put it more poetically (Is that a word?). I achieved objectives which I set upon myself at the start of the year..ok ok not all the objectives (hey is this a boring blog or what?)...I still gotta learn a guitar...and I forgot most of the stuff I did not achieve....(this is really a boring blog ain't it?)
The year started with a lot of aspirations and vulnerabilities and along the way...I developed got through many of them and developed new ones....I learnt a lot about life and about myself...Striked out a lot of members of my To do once in a lifetime list...Made a lot of good decisions...(hey the bad one's were someone else's fault u know...hehehe just kidding...)...have received some good advice and doled out some good advice...I learnt a lot about relationships and people......made some awesome friends who will remain with me for as long as they don't land up on my wrong side.....hehehe just kiddin....I lost a few friends...well not out of a fallout...but just the way I have always lost friends....by non communication...well thats on my list of vulnerabilities to plug list in 2007..
Anyways so tomorrow is New years Eve and I hope 2007 is more rocking and more fun than 2006 was....heres a bid adieu to 2006

My Next Big Blog

Hmmm....well its been a while since I created another piece of art for my millions of readers....ok let me cut the BS....I have started on my next blog several times...but haven't found the content good enough for this space.....I know what you are thinking...Isn't this blog a waste of space too.....well I agree to some extent...but I ll give my real view at the end of the blog.
I have always refrained from writing the happenings of my personal life in my blog...well...I will keep on refraining from doing that...So haven't I told you what this blog is all abt? (how many times have I written Blog in this blog...early bird prize for getting that one right is a 100$ dinner with me...be sure to get it when u come...hehehe)
Lets get to the point here. Much has changed since I last wrote here. The most notable being I have a 3rd place which I can call home...the airport. Well since I have started traveling...I end up at the airport for a better part of the day when I do travel....(No I haven't joined FedX...was thinking abt it...but then I saw Cast Away) Ever since I have known myself (which is like forever..duh), I have spent a lot of time waiting at some place or someone or something....at the train station...for friends who are always on time....for the school bus (but then I have run after a bus too) .... So when it is a flight why should it be any different?....well with the current no liquids rule....the check-in takes light years...(Am I the king of exaggeration or what?)....the worst part is taking off all ur metals at the security....no offense meant to airport security guys...they do a real good job given the number of ppl traveling. The best part is when I get onto a plane...well I wait again for a PYT ( you go figure out what a PYT is....your intelligent enough to take a guess) to get on and take the seat next to me...(word of advice..the middle seat has double the chances...)...and then wait for an excuse to strike a conversation...and then wait for the bag to turn up on the baggage claim conveyor belt....and then wait for the car in front of me to get thru the parking fee booth ASAP....and believe me ASAP= as slow as possible in this case....well that just about consumes every bit of my creative take on this subject...so last words...It is not a waste....(huh? u didn't read the 1st para did you...aah now u did...and u do not agree...too bad...write your own blog....ciao 4 now)

First Impressions....

First impressions are last impressions....so they say! Well I gotta challenge that one. Ever wondered why people always say 'Just be Yourself'...confused as to how these two relate...Well let me explain.
I've always believed everyone has 2 sides to themselves....(well who's writing this column...I am...so if you have a problem with the everyone....go write your own)...One of these sides is the one they expose to the outside world and the other is...well the cliche'd real them. As the boundaries between being a stranger and getting to know the person converge...one comes face to face with the real person....But is the person who you meet initially...not the real person...hmm well if you really dig deep into this hypothesis, you will realize that no one is cruel enough to do a volte-face from the initial personality to the known one. Its just that sub consciously everyone develops a public image that represents the person who they want the others to see them as. Emphasizing on the above..a more exaggerated (and a real filmi) take would be a criminal leading a normal life on his off day or (more later) and then donning his work uniform at work..a la Satya...the RGV thriller. So the next time you say to someone 'Just be yourself' coz they are behaving obnoxiously irritating or nervous...maybe thats the real them...or maybe not...I am not a psychology major...go figure that one out for urself and let me know...

What If....?

If Fate does not make you laugh....then you didnt get the joke....Ever wondered how small incidents/decisions in life impact the way life would be for the rest of your life? Well a few crazy insightful introspective moments prompted me to write a bit about this....let me look back at a few of them as they would have created a parallel universe which wud have been a lot different from the current reality...
1) A few years ago after my tenth (yeah just a few yrs...main itna buddha bhi nahi hua yaar) I was dead sure I was gonna get into commerce...well it turns out I decided to switch to Science 3 days before my result....Consequence...well I had a miserable 2 yrs in SIES junior college when I would have been having a ball in one outta Poddar or Sydenham...hmmm...well I wont write abt the good things that happened coz thats not what this blog is all about.
2) 2 yrs later after my 12th, I was again dead sure that Mumbai was gonna get another hafeez contracter in my shape and form...(for the ignorant souls..I wanted to become an architect)...but again 'meri antaratma' my inner voice gave me direction to turn towards engineering and become a martyr in the struggle to fight null pointer exceptions...(non software folks dont even try to decode that piece of work)...Well what if I hadnt had that thought....I would have been working nights...maybe become a tea addict or worse a smoker....had the opportunity to roam arnd south mumbai as I wud have been in JJ....watched lotsa of movies....hung out at places like Cafe Mondegar...(Gosh I discovered this place so late)
3) What if I had continued Athletics when I was young...well I would have been taller....lets not even go there...this would be like asking bridget jones to write abt the lack of love in her life
4) What if I had studied a bit harder or been sane enough to not make any silly mistakes in my CATs (there were multiple ...yeah)...I would have been sitting pretty in a B school (i know its hard work) and later got a start in my corporate career...
5) What if I had'nt faced financial hardships during a phase in my life...well maybe I would have been a lot more care free and gone on to become a die hard party animal...(thats a bit of an exagerration..but as long as it seems dramatic who cares...) I certainly would have been more trustful of people and maybe would have been able much milder in my ways.
6) Well lets look at a lighter one now....hmm how abt this one.....What if I had sent a red rose to my crush in college???...hmm...hmm...hmm..if not an approval that would have certainly sent my skills of expressing my love in public way up north....
7) What if I had not got into my first company and got into another one?....Well the possibilities are endless on this one...I cud have cleared CAT (goto step 4...another software eng piece of work)...I cud have been in the company of a lot more eligible bachelorrettes...(is that a word?).... I cud have shifted outta Mumbai and had an independent life early on and become a lot more street smart.

Well having said all of the above.....I think the most important thing would be that I would have written this blog with all the things that I did do as one of the points and then went on to wish for all the things that I doid accomplish due to the above not happening.....Am I confusing you????.....I believe that whatever a person is, is influenced by so many conspicuous and lot of inconspicuous things. And truly it is the journey that matters and not the destination...(Thats me trying to sound intellectual)....Summing up whatever decisions I made or whatever need not be looked at as wrong or right...coz they wouldnt have created the 'Me' writing this piece de resistance...So the best thing to do is just leave this introspective nostalgic fervor of a blog as a single moment in time and get on with life....

Great Movies...all of em

Amongst the many movies which have entertainment as their sole purpose, I ve always been a fan of good movies which go beyond entertainment into invoking a sense of philanthropy and some insight into the harsh realities of human existence.
The first movie that actually shook me in a way was City Of Joy. What hit me the most about this movie was the indefatigable spirit of human beings in a dark slum in the City of Joy, Calcutta. Although I saw this movie just once I vividly remember the important moments of the movie. One dialogue at the end of the movie sums of it all for me and everyone else...'God hasn't made it easy to be human. So it feels great to beat the odds.'
Several years later, Hotel Rwanda was a total eye opener to problems I never knew existed. It takes us straight into an African Civil war. Don Cheadle plays a Hotel Owner turned into a refuge provider brilliantly. This one has one amazing scene followed by another. The most moving is a scene in which a car is driven through a misty surroundings on a bunmpy road which turns out to be a road full of corpses.
A few days later, I saw another good movie called Lord of War. This unlike others had its mirthful moments but it never ever let the focus away from the main theme of the gun dealers all over the world. Nicholas Cage does an awesome job of narrating the story and playing the main protagonist. Along the way it subtly points fingers at all G8 nations which are the peacekeepers of the world alongwith being the largest exporters of weapons. Entertaining and thought provoking.
I just finished watching Beyond Borders. While not in the same league as the above 3, I would certainly rate it as a good watch. It has some rivetting and mind boggling moments like the one in which the vulture is just about to get to a malnutrtioned kid and one in which a Cambodian baby is handed a grenade to play with. Angelina Jolie tries hard to get into the skin of a British UN employee..but just isnt British enough. Clive Owen steals the show playing a free lance Doc working for the welfare of people all around the world one corner at a time. The movie deals with the hardships faced by social workers all over the world.
Well that ends a short list. I would like the movie makers of the world to make welcome additions to the above....Untill then this is me Sanchit Rege signing off on the philanthropy movie network.

Lets Have a Beeeer

What prompted me to break the alcohol ban in my blogworld? Well it has been brewing (pun intended) in my mind to write something about the strange tradition of havin a beeeeer (thats how a freind of mine pronounces it). To say the least, havin a beer has meant a lot of different things at different phases in my life....not to me...but to others. Confused? Well lets delve into this some more.
I started with beer way back in the Ice age...aint gonna tell u when guys...(my parents have access to this as well...and i am censoring the inceident that happened with me and beer back in college) As long as I have known, I have not liked the taste of beer...and still I am getting to terms with it. But as we all know its a nice habit to break the ice (pun intended again...for all u eng poetry students read and learn) or to have a night out with the guys (this time no puns u sick @#*$%) Back in college, someone who drinks beer was an alcoholic even if the frequency is once in 6 months...well I was asked by a queer (for all the shocked beings who know one of the meanings of queer is gay...well consult the english literature majors for the other meaning) fellow 'Tu Beer Pike aaya????' at a college fest....and I was like 'Are you asking me coz u were told by someone or my breath gave me away?'.....Anyways as days went by the same ppl who were asked whether they drink...give an answer...'Main Madira nahi peeta jee' hehehe got u on that one...the stranger thing they say is 'Haan lekin sirf Beer'.....Well is Beer alcohol or Is it not? Or is it like a sin u can commit and be forgiven for it. Is Beer the pious V among vodka, rum and other Ws of the world (decode that...its simple)? Hmmm well I dont know... u tell me!

Some more years later, I have known these same type of guys drink beer every day of the week (so that they dont get knocked out) and drink beer after the other alocoholic beverage supply runs out and then get knocked out, along with the fact that they get offended to get invited to parties which choose to go sober. Me on the other hand have maintained my frequency and go steady with my alcohol not violating the qualitative or quantitative boundaries....Hey am I preaching...Hmm well maybe I am....I just wanted to convey that a persons contorted view points (which he/she hold close at a certain time and later relinquishes them..ever so subtly) does not do justice to what the real truth is. Ok I am definitely preaching preaching peaching.....did u say u see see see 3 preaching....well u have had one beer too many mate...Cheers.

Ek Saathi Aur Bhi Tha.....

Well thats the only worthwhile reusable (now u knw i am into software...duh) dialogue in JP Dutta's dud LOC. 'Ek saathi aur bhi tha' is a function being invoked by all and sundry in my workplace. And the funny part is the people who say 'Et tu brutus' are the next in line. Well heres to all my buddies who I wish all the luck in their future endeavours (...hehehe I picked that from one of the last day mails)
Now I would have written a superficial blog about ppl from the workplace leaving and throw in a few mirthful quotes here and there and just leave it at that. But it seems to be affecting my personal well being with the gauntlet of responsibilities being handed over to unsuspecting trespassers like yours truly....(woooooo I am Grisham in the making...but I would be writing on IT rather than law...so my central character would always be a mouse - metaphor and a damager- manager) Well it started with me driving off room mates and managers and now the whole ecosystem in my nick of the woods seems to be tumbling down.
Talking of room mates, I would like to publicly thank each and every one of you for being such a good friend and support (now that I will write in my last day mail)....On a serious note, I have lost very many friends over the years because of my inability to keep in touch after we lose touch... Every one of these friends has left an indelible mark on my psyche (for better or for worse) and created a void which can only be filled by their presence.....now now those who know me know that I am not a sentimental being...but do u really know me guys?...hehehe just kidding. I have come to know so many friends in such a short period of time that 2 trips with same group of friends had just 2 ppl same as the earlier group...then how is it a group???...well lets call it my group of friends....I have almost lost all the matter I could write on this matter and I do not wanna list down the friends that I lost....I would have to write name changed for each of em coz it may get nasty...hehehe. So till the next blog...asta la vista amigo

Vrrrrrrrrrooooooooooooooom

ferrari. The July 4th weekend was planned for a long time. The pilan waj to go see michaelWell if you have still not guessed it...this blog is an account of the time when 2 legends crossed path me and Schumi....ok ok just kidding. I walked and he vrrrooooomed past me in the red skumachher (thats the way a gujju friend frm college used to pronounce his name...try sayin it and its even funnier when I pronounce it for ya) kick some serious b$%^ at the indianapolis grand prix. The trip began on friday when I was late for the planned start time and got the flak for making a friend miss his flight to NY (Hey dude u were late anyways..:) We started from Atl at arnd 4 pm and the traffic was absolutely mumbaiyya or like delhi to be precise...unbearably long. We had to cover a lot of distance 2 drive to Indianapolis. My suggestion to extend the trip to chicago was vetoed out by my co-passengers (Mark and Rutu...names changed to keep identities secret..hehehe) On the way we went thru a lot of bad weather in Tenessee. All the while I was tortured and surprised by the shyam sundar music (kallu hip hop) which is Rutu's forte (why surprised...well there were some non shyam sundars as well...hehehe) We had booked 2 tent sites at the Indianapolis KOA for 3 nites...those @#$%% had a policy that it was minimum 3 nites.....Since we were running late, it was past midnite when we reached the place. Thankfully we all concurred that 2 am was not the best time to set up a tent....so we had to settle in the car.....a rented dodge stratus...and all the time we were unable to find the button to switch on the inner lights in the car.
The next day started pretty early at arnd 8. We had got tickets to the qualifying race....alag se :(..... anyways the traffic was intimidating as we got near the colloseum...its not gladiator..near the race track. Nevertheless twas not chaotic. We just couldnt wait to get in as we could hear the sound of the lean mean machines revving up the decibel levels...did u knw F1 engines are of the capacity of a jet?...Nawledge.... So as we made our way into one of the stands the first thing that hit us was a beatiful chick in blue...hehe u were expecting something else rt?...but the renault color was looking awesome on so many of em.....anyways lets keep it short...no pun intended. The stands were burning with the summer temperatures soaring to arnd 90-95 deg. We were already in awe of the cars zooming past the J stand where we were sitting intially. The best part about the qualifying day is that we could venture out and sit in any stand. So we decided that we are gonna try and get our money's worth and xplore each and evry corner of the race track...the stands that is. It was the best day of our trip as we enjoyed Ferraris overtaking Renaults on the fatsest part of the circuit....(also oggling at some delicious chiks in blue...well though a ferrari fan...the reanult blue looks rockin on em) After the qualifying we rushed to a nearby bar to watch France plunder Brazil...Well the bar ambience was nice too with some brazilian drunks singin 'braziiil lalalalala...' Anyways we got into a kroger nearby so we could get us some Chicken for the BBQ. Gosh this is a loooong one will continue in part 2....hehehe lord of the rings style

Memorial Day Weekend wih Shanks and Avanti

The memorial day weekend was really fun. I went to my cousin Shanky and his wife Avanti's place in Richmond. Well seemed like just yesterday that the 2 got married (its been 2 yrs actually..but nice line eh) Well start se start karte hain... I booked my tickets some 2 months in advance...gosh now I think I was stupid to believe the flights wud be full like the time we used to book Konkan railway tickets to go to Goa...Duh.... anyways so after a brief mix up of the destination and a few anxious phone calls later (dont ask me how...I am already famous for my mix-ups..... better still u can find em in any of my family members blogs....wait a min...phew no one has a blog other than me) I got my ticket to Richmond. I took an late night flight outta Atlanta...another duh moment for me as I realised I cud have sneaked...(woh to chori se jaana padta hai)...no walked outta office after lunch....(thats a friday tradition...more so on a long weekend...India mein cudnt even sneak out on a saturday)...Anyways so after a futile attempt to get on the earlier flight..(only 15 mins late ...sob sob), I was forced to sit and wait for my already late by 30 mins flight to take off. as I reached Richmond airport, I recalled Circuit's famous line 'Yeh airport to chaloo hote hi khatam ho gaya bhai' Its really tiny in comparison to Atlanta...also there was bit of renovation work goin on.
I settled down into Shank and Avanti 's (Does the apostrophe s come for both...English majors a bit of help here) cosy home and we chatted like not a single day had passed since we last met....all 3 had put on quite a few if that assumption were true (sorry avanti had to include u in that one...u dont want shanky to feel bad do u?) Twas decided that we were gonna visit Virginia beach the next day...thats Saturday and visit Washington DC on Sunday. After a sumptuous meal of chicken and bread (or saada pav as Shanky says...others dont try to get the joke u wont), We went to bed and got up really late (at least me..Shanky and Avanti were up already...so I will believe u even if u said u got up at 6 :) After another delicious meal we were off to VA beach in our summer gear. The traffic to get to VA beach was quite dense as we got close to our destination. Once we reached there, we headed straight to the sand....and me and shanky splashed into the cold waves...twas like almost 1-2 yrs since I had done that. After the beach we started looking for a good restaurant to eat...(duh of course to eat...what else?) ...we zeroed in on this mexican joint which served a good margarita and some almost spicy food. In the evening we roamed around the VA beach streets which had various shows all sponsored by the VA beach city....the magic show was the pick of them all...well thats the only one we watched for more than modicum of time. We drove back home soon afterwards.
The next day started early and I rose before Shanks and Avanti did at arnd 6 am (hehehe just kiddin I think it was 5 mins earlier to u guys) and made some tea as well.....ok ok enough of the modesty stuff...So we kinda got ready to go to DC and started on the freeway. The ride was a pleasant one until a point where we were overtaken by a harley samellan...It was a real site though. The next thing we know, we are stranded at the same place for 30 mins...geez. After that ordeal came to end..phew..we reached DC. The place is a treat to watch for the sheer amount of open space and that too well mainatained open space arnd smaller monuments or museums. If Washington wouldnt have been commemorated with the naming of this city by his name, I would have called it Museum DC. (gosh that was a long grammatically incorrect sentence....aaah who care anyways...this is the US anyways...I dont care for nobody....pure american english taht one) It has a plethora of museums, outta which I loved the Mammals museum, Air and Space, American History..which was quite a surprise. By the time the trip to DC got over we had broken bapu's record from sabarmati to Dandi, in terms of miles covered (yeah miles not kms...hehehe)
The next day (Monday not a usual one..it was memorial day) was the most relaxed of the 3. We had our morning breakfast in the porch and talked a lot about life....dont get so serious guys just a casual conversation about my future plans...(they are secret...so ask me no question and i ll tell you no lie) We had our lunch and then drove to Richmond downtown where I met one of my cousins after a looong time. By the time we got back it was time for me to pack my stuff and leave for the airport. I got very emotional at the airport and broke down.....hehehe got u there..just kidding.....I bid adieu to Shanks and Avanti. I thank em for the wonderful time I had....gosh I need to buy a camera...socho Virginia beach and I cudnt click pics of my choice...ciao till the next blog!!!