Wednesday, May 31, 2006
And the Rain Came Down
Raindrops keep fallin' on my head
But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin' red
But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin' red
Well, I'm in bombay for a few days.. and boy, this is what I call rain. Had completely forgotten what the Bombay Monsoon was like. Its been 2 years since i last experienced it, and somehow i misplaced that memory and overwrote it with the monsoons experienced in trivandrum and bangalore.
As I landed at bombay last night, the city was being lashed by the rains. It was a beautiful sight from the sky, even as the plane was delayed due to traffic (even the airspace seems to like bangalore's model!) :-) Anyway, landed on a wet runway with a brilliant spray of water cascading water down the windows. You had to be there.
As we drove home from the airport, the rain intensified. At one point, lightnign and thunder were separated by milliseconds!
Marine Drive, and thats where I saw it. A curtain of rain keeping visibility to a minimum, and making the car move to a crawl. Roads had about 3-4 inches of water on them as well. This was with 3 hours of rainfall! Ah.. the bombay monsoons.
But no, this was not enough. The rain gods decided to show me what more they were capable of. This afternoon was another treat for the senses. Black clouds rolled across the sky, making it look to be dusk, when the time was actually about 2 pm! Soon, the heavens burst asunder, and large drops of water fell to the earth, making a swimming pool of the already soaked ground in front of my house.
By 6 pm, the roads in the colony were flooded. A tree near my bus stop had been uprooted. The rain finally slowed to a drizzle. Even as i write this, a steady drizzle pitters against my window. I really ought to go to the seaside, and have a walk. But common sense prevails.
And the rain came down
Like an angel come down from above
And the rain came down
It'll wash you away and there ain't never enough
Like an angel come down from above
And the rain came down
It'll wash you away and there ain't never enough
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
There's a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby
Way up high
There's a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby
This sunday was blessed with lovely weather. A hint of the approaching monsoon, lingered in the air all day. Partially cloudy, humid, and a strong breeze marked most of this sunday. A cool afternoon was then kissed by the some rain. A beautiful day to sleep through.. which I did in the afternoon.
Woke up after my siesta and stepped outside the house to a wonderful sight. A rainbow!
R and I considered going to CABS to search for the pot of gold. Somehow, something kept us at home..
Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true
Skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true
Saturday, May 27, 2006
The Curse Continues
Some of you may remember that a few weeks ago I had written a post involving a lack of fuel in our car... I called it "I Hope There's No Pushing Involved."
Well, the post seems to have started a curse. Something like the one in the movie "The Ring."
First, Melody, one of my readers saw this post and mocked me for it.... you can have a look at her comments on my post... and then.. she suffered the same fate.... setting up No pushing involved Part 2!
Recently another friend of mine, Rahul, came across this post. He too laughed off the situation. Voila, that night he experienced part 3. He actually started another blog to write up this experience!
And so the curse continues.... I wonder who gets to talk about part 4!
Well, the post seems to have started a curse. Something like the one in the movie "The Ring."
First, Melody, one of my readers saw this post and mocked me for it.... you can have a look at her comments on my post... and then.. she suffered the same fate.... setting up No pushing involved Part 2!
Recently another friend of mine, Rahul, came across this post. He too laughed off the situation. Voila, that night he experienced part 3. He actually started another blog to write up this experience!
And so the curse continues.... I wonder who gets to talk about part 4!
Thursday, May 25, 2006
How You've Discovered Me!
And I'll remember the way you found me
Now that I've been here for so long
I'll remember the way that you read me
I'll remember.....
Now that I've been here for so long
I'll remember the way that you read me
I'll remember.....
This blog has been up for a few months now. Just under six months if i count correctly. Nonetheless, I'l measure this as roughly 2000 hits. Thats a lot of hits in about five months. (The counter came up only in December, as u can see.) Its kept me motivated to keep posting out to the world. And i've been more daring with my posts at times. I apologise to those who like the picture posts.. its just that i havent seen anything nice to photograph.
Anyway.. the reason i write this is to share with you all the different ways ppl discovered this blog. Most of them are quite interesting indeed!
And this is how you remind me...
This is how you remind me...
Of what I really am
This is how you remind me...
Of what I really am
Disclaimer: These hits are given as per the day they led to my blog. As time passed, the search engines may have updated the index to move the position of the blog in the search result. Also, these hits are in no particular order! :-)
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
You've Got Mail
Well, someone did! :-)
Let me give you a little background on what we do here, before I carry on with this topic. Putting it into perspective for you, may make you see the humour of the situation a little better.
We work in a research lab for a company in India. Our project collaborates with a large number of European companies, and labs in the development of wireless technologies. As a result, there is a frequent exchange of e-mails between us and them.
Yesterday was a day with one such email. It came from France. There were a few problems with the language, so a colleague of mine asked us to help "translate" it. After a few minutes, we were able to grasp the meanings of his queries.
Just to annoy the person who received the mail, another colleague, hit the reply button on his mail client.. and typed a few choicy words to the french chap.
You can imagine what happened next. Send button was pressed, and the above mail was sent to France.
What followed was an intense one hour of panic. We furiously searched for his contact details on line to call him and apologise for this grievious error. Meanwhile, both, the person who sent the mail, and the colleague who receiived the original mail, sent out email apologies. Phone calls were made to France to try and apologise.
Finally, a new mail arrived.
He accepted the apology.
Let me give you a little background on what we do here, before I carry on with this topic. Putting it into perspective for you, may make you see the humour of the situation a little better.
We work in a research lab for a company in India. Our project collaborates with a large number of European companies, and labs in the development of wireless technologies. As a result, there is a frequent exchange of e-mails between us and them.
Yesterday was a day with one such email. It came from France. There were a few problems with the language, so a colleague of mine asked us to help "translate" it. After a few minutes, we were able to grasp the meanings of his queries.
Just to annoy the person who received the mail, another colleague, hit the reply button on his mail client.. and typed a few choicy words to the french chap.
Please rephrase, dumbass...Let me digress again. Most of us have set a default spell check in our mail clients. As a result, when u press send, the spell check is activated, and after clarifying spelling errors, the mail is sent out. Our friend here, whose mail client was being used, did not have this feature activated.
You can imagine what happened next. Send button was pressed, and the above mail was sent to France.
What followed was an intense one hour of panic. We furiously searched for his contact details on line to call him and apologise for this grievious error. Meanwhile, both, the person who sent the mail, and the colleague who receiived the original mail, sent out email apologies. Phone calls were made to France to try and apologise.
Finally, a new mail arrived.
He accepted the apology.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Criminal Activities
Thats what we've been charged with at work now! The work we do involved studying of some securtiy algorithms. So off we went to google.. and entered a search string. Voila, we find some useful sites. Open them....
and...
.. the site is blocked beacause it enhances our criminal skills!!
and...
.. the site is blocked beacause it enhances our criminal skills!!
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Queues
I had started this space with a theme in mind. I wanted to talk about the interesting things that happened at Wall Street. Things, however, change. So must this space. Its grown, its adapted. Thats where soem work related posts came about. Then some abt the city of Bangalore. Once again, this post has nothing to do with Wall Street. I dont even know why this belongs here. Probably need another space.
Some things never change. Take for example, alighting a bus. A company bus, for that matter. As we pull up to the company, and the bus grinds to a halt, everyone gets up and tries to alight. This includes people sitting in the back, with an entire bus load of people in front of you also trying to get off. Kind off gets annoying, when you are seated in the middle section and everyone is pushign for the door. I mean, even the bombay locals are more organised. (Darn, promised myself no more comparing blore to bom... but could not help it.)
This, however, is not limited to only the bus. Take, for example, an aeroplane. The ones, i've flown in are roughly 200 seaters; 6 seats to a row, and 3 on either side of an aisle. Am sure you know what I'm talking about. What I narrate is something that I have seen on every flight, be it to Bombay, Bangalore, or Trivandrum.
The plane lands at the airport, and taxis to the runway. The captain makes an announcement informing the passengers not to stand up till the plane comes to a complete halt. Does anyone listen? NO! As soon as we touch earth, people jump up to get their handbags out of the overhead cabin, and rush to the nearest exit. One of the many reasons I prefer window seats. None of this pushing-shoving to be experienced and u can continue to be blissfully ignorant of this behaviour.
I cant quite figure out, however, what it is that makes us so jumpy to get off the transport, and carry on? Is it so urgent that we have to run?
Some things never change. Take for example, alighting a bus. A company bus, for that matter. As we pull up to the company, and the bus grinds to a halt, everyone gets up and tries to alight. This includes people sitting in the back, with an entire bus load of people in front of you also trying to get off. Kind off gets annoying, when you are seated in the middle section and everyone is pushign for the door. I mean, even the bombay locals are more organised. (Darn, promised myself no more comparing blore to bom... but could not help it.)
This, however, is not limited to only the bus. Take, for example, an aeroplane. The ones, i've flown in are roughly 200 seaters; 6 seats to a row, and 3 on either side of an aisle. Am sure you know what I'm talking about. What I narrate is something that I have seen on every flight, be it to Bombay, Bangalore, or Trivandrum.
The plane lands at the airport, and taxis to the runway. The captain makes an announcement informing the passengers not to stand up till the plane comes to a complete halt. Does anyone listen? NO! As soon as we touch earth, people jump up to get their handbags out of the overhead cabin, and rush to the nearest exit. One of the many reasons I prefer window seats. None of this pushing-shoving to be experienced and u can continue to be blissfully ignorant of this behaviour.
I cant quite figure out, however, what it is that makes us so jumpy to get off the transport, and carry on? Is it so urgent that we have to run?
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
One of the Good Things in Bangalore
I know I have been complaining abt Bangalore a lot on occasion. But I must reiterate its not all that bad. All I ususally mean, is that its no Bombay. Of course, I am biased towards my home city. Who wouldn't be? It also helps that I grew up next to the sea!
No, dont worry.. nobody has a gun to my head... This is being written of my on volition. :-)
What made me say this all of a sudden? Well, the initiative is not very new. Almost three months have elapsed now. The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), suddenly grew some brains, and implemented something every office goer would dream about - AC Public Transport. Yes, thats right, they introduced the AC Volvo bus for commuters.
The Volvo that plies on Bangalore Roads
Now thats smart thinking. A lot of people use this bus, on my route to work. After 8 am, its quite tough to get a seat in these buses. I hear, however, that en route to Electronics City, the buses go empty.
Whats better, is that these buses make travel economical. For a distance of nearly 12 kilometres, from my house to work, the fare is substantially cheaper than auto, and not that much more expensive that the regular bus. (Why auto? well Bangalore did not begin as a big enough city to have taxis!)
The fare :
No, dont worry.. nobody has a gun to my head... This is being written of my on volition. :-)
What made me say this all of a sudden? Well, the initiative is not very new. Almost three months have elapsed now. The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), suddenly grew some brains, and implemented something every office goer would dream about - AC Public Transport. Yes, thats right, they introduced the AC Volvo bus for commuters.
The Volvo that plies on Bangalore Roads
Now thats smart thinking. A lot of people use this bus, on my route to work. After 8 am, its quite tough to get a seat in these buses. I hear, however, that en route to Electronics City, the buses go empty.
Whats better, is that these buses make travel economical. For a distance of nearly 12 kilometres, from my house to work, the fare is substantially cheaper than auto, and not that much more expensive that the regular bus. (Why auto? well Bangalore did not begin as a big enough city to have taxis!)
The fare :
Auto: Rs. 100/-It gets better! The frequency, again on my route, which btw is Airport Road to ITPL, is amazing - every 30 minutes! So its convenient as well. What more can anyone ask for? It gives u comfort with convenience. And one can always trust Volvo to give you a comfortable ride.
Regular BMTC Bus: Rs 9/-
AC Volvo: Rs 24/-
Sunday, May 14, 2006
9 to 5
missing nine to five
what a way to have a sunday
barely getting by
it`s all taking and no giving
they just take ur power
then they never let u live it
it`s enough to drive you crazy
if you let it
what a way to have a sunday
barely getting by
it`s all taking and no giving
they just take ur power
then they never let u live it
it`s enough to drive you crazy
if you let it
Nine to seven thirty actually, but who's counting... What am I talking about? Hmm, i probably should tell you before you think I am mad.
Yet again we lost electricity. No, this was not one of those rain related outages. This was scheduled. A newspaper notification appeared on Saturday claiming that there will be a power outtage on Sunday in well pretty much all of East Bangalore. Nine-thirty to five were the timings they gave. And promptly, at nine thirty the electrons cease to flow in the wires.
This is all well and good till you realise its Sunday.. its hot... and there is nothing to do. Too hot to sleep, too hot to read. No electricity so no music to listen to. Radio is horrible in this city, except for a few hours. How I wish Go 92.5 were here. Well, considering they just went nuts and went desi, no.. i'm glad they arent.
Anyway, somehow managed to read some fiction. It was too hot and muggy to read the papers I had taken home to read for the weekend. :-(
Time inched on... minutes seemed to take eternity. (A good thing considering that I nearly finished a 400 page book in about 4 hours.) Not such a good thing, considering there was no circulation of air.
Five o clock came... and went... No electricity....
Anger!! My F-1 race... I'm gonna miss it...... :-@
Five thirty.... still nothing....
Get a call from a friend... he suggests we go see Munich... readily agree...
Six thirty... still no power... the race is almost over.... and I leave for an AC Movie Hall... to watch Munich..
Friday, May 12, 2006
Happy Birthday K
Yesterday brought about the birthday of one of our neighbourettes, K. I missed the midnight celebrations, as I was a leep, and, well it would just be odd going to a house full of girls at midnight! ;-)
Did go in the evening though. Special invite came on my cellphone.. thanks for that girls. Upon my arrival, I was introduced to the new girl in the house, RN, or rather, she introduced herself to me by making sure I was who I was. (Had no idea, they talked abt me in the house) ;-) Well, RN, then got busy getting her internet connection installed, while T, N, and I sang as K cut her cake.
Of course, the normal process of feeding the bday girl ensued, and then some photos were taken. Most of which I dont feel I ought to publish without the permission of the subjects. Once again, sorry to RM for running out of battery just as she came to get her snap taken in the group snap!
All in all a great time, and once again, wishing K a very Happy Birthday.
Did go in the evening though. Special invite came on my cellphone.. thanks for that girls. Upon my arrival, I was introduced to the new girl in the house, RN, or rather, she introduced herself to me by making sure I was who I was. (Had no idea, they talked abt me in the house) ;-) Well, RN, then got busy getting her internet connection installed, while T, N, and I sang as K cut her cake.
Of course, the normal process of feeding the bday girl ensued, and then some photos were taken. Most of which I dont feel I ought to publish without the permission of the subjects. Once again, sorry to RM for running out of battery just as she came to get her snap taken in the group snap!
All in all a great time, and once again, wishing K a very Happy Birthday.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
And again
Yes.. it rained again today. Let me rephrase. It poured today.
Started earlier today. One hour early. In fact, almost like the reversal of the tides, which come an hour later everyday.
Four pm, and the sky went black. The rain lashed down in more fury today than it did yesterday. Wonderful stuff.
This time the rain let up as i got into the bus, and then returned to full glory as I alighted. Headed back to the same shop as yesterday, had an ice cream and milk. Nothing like ice cream in the rain, I tell you.
In one of the short lulls, i rushed home, to no electricity!! As always! Decided, it was time to get shutter happy!
The candle that lit up my room :-)
Trying to get its star shaped shadow.
Whats this? Any guesses...
Bet u did not think of this!
The fan's still not moving...
Not even now! :-(
For the record, electricity came back at 1915 hrs, about an hour after I reached home.
Started earlier today. One hour early. In fact, almost like the reversal of the tides, which come an hour later everyday.
Four pm, and the sky went black. The rain lashed down in more fury today than it did yesterday. Wonderful stuff.
This time the rain let up as i got into the bus, and then returned to full glory as I alighted. Headed back to the same shop as yesterday, had an ice cream and milk. Nothing like ice cream in the rain, I tell you.
In one of the short lulls, i rushed home, to no electricity!! As always! Decided, it was time to get shutter happy!
The candle that lit up my room :-)
Trying to get its star shaped shadow.
Whats this? Any guesses...
Bet u did not think of this!
The fan's still not moving...
Not even now! :-(
For the record, electricity came back at 1915 hrs, about an hour after I reached home.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Summer Rain
And it rained. No this is not the typical bangalore rain. It was fierce. Hard and heavy. And long... All distinguishing it from whats typical of this place. And the memories it brought back..... sigh. :-)
Havent seen this rain for a while. We had a bright and sunny day this morning. Nicely toasted anyone who dared to venture out in the afternoon, like i did... But thats besides the point.
Afternoon tea, and its still hot. But soon after, the clouds appeared. Dark, and menacing, they loomed in the horizon.
Got in the bus to head home. And thats when the heavens opened up. Big buckets of water lashed down on the earth. The smell of moist earth wafted up, and wow.. its just perfume for the nose ;-)
Thats when I saw a fuse box explode outside the bus. What a spark that was! Big and bright.
And the rain was not done yet... thats when it pciked up... Visibility dropped to almost 5 feet. I dontknow how the bus driver managed to drive the bus, what with one hand wiping the mist that settled on the inner part of the windshield, and one hand on the horn. Hang on, who was steering?! Me confused now!
Finally reached my stop.. and what amazing rain it was. Even more than cats and dogs... more like cows and bulls, to coin an expression! Ran into a shop, and had a lovely veg puff. Then some milk.. and still the rain continued unabated.
Thats when it happened. A bilboard in front of the shop tore. No i have not made a mistake. It tore. Bilboards have a cloth front, which just tore. That was the power of the wind that was blowing through airport road. :-)
the fury of the rain, the wind, the smell.. they all brought back memories of the bbay monsoon to me.. something I have not seen for 2 years now!!
As the rain finally abated, one hour after it began, I started my wade home. The water was ankle deep in most places. So i get to wear sneakers to work tomorrow! Yipee! :-)
And of coruse, upon reachign home.. as per bangalore's tradition, there was no electricity. For some reason the corporation feels it better to cut off the power even when a few drops fall to the ground. Even as i wrote this post, electricity went twice!
Anyway, this is not a rant, so I'l end it on a happy note.
Havent seen this rain for a while. We had a bright and sunny day this morning. Nicely toasted anyone who dared to venture out in the afternoon, like i did... But thats besides the point.
Afternoon tea, and its still hot. But soon after, the clouds appeared. Dark, and menacing, they loomed in the horizon.
Got in the bus to head home. And thats when the heavens opened up. Big buckets of water lashed down on the earth. The smell of moist earth wafted up, and wow.. its just perfume for the nose ;-)
Thats when I saw a fuse box explode outside the bus. What a spark that was! Big and bright.
And the rain was not done yet... thats when it pciked up... Visibility dropped to almost 5 feet. I dontknow how the bus driver managed to drive the bus, what with one hand wiping the mist that settled on the inner part of the windshield, and one hand on the horn. Hang on, who was steering?! Me confused now!
Finally reached my stop.. and what amazing rain it was. Even more than cats and dogs... more like cows and bulls, to coin an expression! Ran into a shop, and had a lovely veg puff. Then some milk.. and still the rain continued unabated.
Thats when it happened. A bilboard in front of the shop tore. No i have not made a mistake. It tore. Bilboards have a cloth front, which just tore. That was the power of the wind that was blowing through airport road. :-)
the fury of the rain, the wind, the smell.. they all brought back memories of the bbay monsoon to me.. something I have not seen for 2 years now!!
As the rain finally abated, one hour after it began, I started my wade home. The water was ankle deep in most places. So i get to wear sneakers to work tomorrow! Yipee! :-)
And of coruse, upon reachign home.. as per bangalore's tradition, there was no electricity. For some reason the corporation feels it better to cut off the power even when a few drops fall to the ground. Even as i wrote this post, electricity went twice!
Anyway, this is not a rant, so I'l end it on a happy note.
I lost myself
I lost myself in the summer rain
Raining now
Raining now
Raining down on us
Raining down it
Rained
I lost myself in the summer rain
Raining now
Raining now
Raining down on us
Raining down it
Rained
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Anura, aka Salientia
We had a strange visitor at ur place last night. It was the Anura or Salienta. In English? Well it was either a Toad, or a Frog. Not sure which one :-)
And yes, he posed for the cameras. Quite a celebrity I must say!
And yes, he posed for the cameras. Quite a celebrity I must say!
Friday, May 05, 2006
I Hope There's No Pushing Involved
Friday evening.
Get into my friend/colleague's (H) car. His first statement is "I need to fill gas." I nod, noting the point.
We drive out of work. Pass one petrol station. I bring up the issue of petrol, which H had mentioned as he started the car. We both feel we can probably reach the next one. Thats when I come up with the gem, "I hope there's no pushing involved." :-)
Any guesses what happened? We reached Marathahalli and as we ascended the bridge, the bane of bangaloreans travelling east, the car dried up. For those of you unfamiliar with bangalore, let me explain a little more.
Imagine a road, two lanes on either side, heavily used, converging into a one lane road on a bridge with no escape. Well thats where we ran out of fuel.
Here, have a look, although the picture does not give u the feeling of scale that every commuter in bangalore can elaborate upon!
Anyway, I get out of the car, and push it, as H steers the car to the side of the road, to avoid any inconvenience we may cause to the rest of the traffic. I tell you, its not that tough to push a car... or else the 3 days of gym I recently had, have been of real use ;-)
Once done, I wait in the car and H hitches a ride on a friendly motorcyclist's bike to the nearest petrol bunk, about a kilometer away.
Sitting in the car, I took to watchin the reactions of the people as they drove past the car. Was quite interesting. Almost everyone turned to see who was in the car. Most shook their head in disdain. How I wish I had a camera on me to capture the various faces of this city...
Its funny how we always curse the fool who runs out of fuel at such a strategic location. I can remember how H and I always mocked the people who had starnded cars right in the midst of the most heavily trafficked place on the route. Of course the mocking is immediately followed up with a steady stream of curses.
We both knew that this was the fate we had today as well, yet we were unable to wipe that grin of our faces. The situation was just too amusing!
And.. to top it all... there was NO traffic jam caused by this incident. Stunned? So were we. Till we saw all the cops on the road, regulating the flow to perfection. If only they would do something like this regularly. And the discipline on the road.. man.. that was too good to be true.
Did not take us too long to realise what was the cause of this. Some VIP was on his way. Pretty soon, we saw the cop cars waving flags, and clearing the road in front of them, approach behind us. In between the cop jeeps, were two VIP cars. Indians. Once they passed us, H quickly tailed them to ensure he is not stopped anywhere along the way. And thats what happened. We had a free flowing ride from Marathahalli to the Airport!
Which is where I got off... (I stay there, if u dont know).
All in all, "it was fun, but lets not do this too often!"
Get into my friend/colleague's (H) car. His first statement is "I need to fill gas." I nod, noting the point.
We drive out of work. Pass one petrol station. I bring up the issue of petrol, which H had mentioned as he started the car. We both feel we can probably reach the next one. Thats when I come up with the gem, "I hope there's no pushing involved." :-)
Any guesses what happened? We reached Marathahalli and as we ascended the bridge, the bane of bangaloreans travelling east, the car dried up. For those of you unfamiliar with bangalore, let me explain a little more.
Imagine a road, two lanes on either side, heavily used, converging into a one lane road on a bridge with no escape. Well thats where we ran out of fuel.
Here, have a look, although the picture does not give u the feeling of scale that every commuter in bangalore can elaborate upon!
Anyway, I get out of the car, and push it, as H steers the car to the side of the road, to avoid any inconvenience we may cause to the rest of the traffic. I tell you, its not that tough to push a car... or else the 3 days of gym I recently had, have been of real use ;-)
Once done, I wait in the car and H hitches a ride on a friendly motorcyclist's bike to the nearest petrol bunk, about a kilometer away.
Sitting in the car, I took to watchin the reactions of the people as they drove past the car. Was quite interesting. Almost everyone turned to see who was in the car. Most shook their head in disdain. How I wish I had a camera on me to capture the various faces of this city...
Its funny how we always curse the fool who runs out of fuel at such a strategic location. I can remember how H and I always mocked the people who had starnded cars right in the midst of the most heavily trafficked place on the route. Of course the mocking is immediately followed up with a steady stream of curses.
We both knew that this was the fate we had today as well, yet we were unable to wipe that grin of our faces. The situation was just too amusing!
And.. to top it all... there was NO traffic jam caused by this incident. Stunned? So were we. Till we saw all the cops on the road, regulating the flow to perfection. If only they would do something like this regularly. And the discipline on the road.. man.. that was too good to be true.
Did not take us too long to realise what was the cause of this. Some VIP was on his way. Pretty soon, we saw the cop cars waving flags, and clearing the road in front of them, approach behind us. In between the cop jeeps, were two VIP cars. Indians. Once they passed us, H quickly tailed them to ensure he is not stopped anywhere along the way. And thats what happened. We had a free flowing ride from Marathahalli to the Airport!
Which is where I got off... (I stay there, if u dont know).
All in all, "it was fun, but lets not do this too often!"
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
More Strangers
Yup. Met some more of them today. Not as unknown as the first time, however. The mails and online conferences had familiarised most of us with each other. This time, however, it included two new faces, and me.
We were to be joined by two more faces from the last gathering. Unavoidable circumstances prevented them from joining us at the Leela Palace. (One being held up in another state on account of the long weekend, the other held up by a broken-down bike on his return back to the state!)
Once again I was the first to be spotted.. and the one that people will approach and then ask if I was me. (Well, not like that exactly, but you get the picture, I presume)
Sat down at the Barista @ the afore-mentioned place, and there began our discourse. No introductions this time... just head on into normal conversation as if we had known each other for years! Quite nice... and rather different from the last time. This trio of people were more closely linked by not only one, but two threads....
Not as many acronyms this time.. just the same number... a few times... 15-213 ... and its implications to our choices...
Most of you are probably wondering what on earth I am talking about... a little too high context... My apologies.. but as per the clause from the last post in this chain... confidentiality is of utmost importance...
One change.. this time I have a snap! :-)
We were to be joined by two more faces from the last gathering. Unavoidable circumstances prevented them from joining us at the Leela Palace. (One being held up in another state on account of the long weekend, the other held up by a broken-down bike on his return back to the state!)
Once again I was the first to be spotted.. and the one that people will approach and then ask if I was me. (Well, not like that exactly, but you get the picture, I presume)
Sat down at the Barista @ the afore-mentioned place, and there began our discourse. No introductions this time... just head on into normal conversation as if we had known each other for years! Quite nice... and rather different from the last time. This trio of people were more closely linked by not only one, but two threads....
Not as many acronyms this time.. just the same number... a few times... 15-213 ... and its implications to our choices...
Most of you are probably wondering what on earth I am talking about... a little too high context... My apologies.. but as per the clause from the last post in this chain... confidentiality is of utmost importance...
One change.. this time I have a snap! :-)
