tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18141700406103121952012-02-16T06:21:49.959-08:00Saadnoreply@blogger.comBlogger361100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-40176444459660266012011-10-02T01:00:00.000-07:002011-10-02T17:39:42.934-07:00

Dear  Dev  Saab, Chargesheet- The Movie It’s past midnight but I thought I must write to you before I accept and make peace with myself about what happened today. I saw the trailers of your just released movie – Chargesheet over the last 2 days and couldn’t stop myself from rushing to the multiplex today to delight myself. The trailers indicated that the movie was a rib tickler and I was

Saadnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-40732952006788933392011-07-03T09:36:00.000-07:002011-07-03T09:36:06.247-07:00

One of the things I love about traveling is that I get to meet and observe a large variety of people. As per my last count at around 6:30 this evening, I have met/observed 51506 people over the last one and a half years- that’s the time I have spent in my current job- . (For the benefit of curious souls the calculation for arriving at this number is available at the end of this post*) So

Saadnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-19505542823660902872011-06-25T06:48:00.000-07:002011-06-25T06:53:24.053-07:00

Image courtesy: grinningplanet.com I am being stalked. On phone. There’s this crazy guy who has been messing up with my already super crazy life for the past 4 weeks now. It all started around the time the ICC Cricket World Cup was being played. Like most of the other companies around, my company also decided to do a consumer promotion. After much thought and deliberation we decided to

Saadnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-19997419274533260532011-02-27T08:51:00.000-08:002011-02-27T09:08:24.813-08:00

Image Courtesy: dreamstime.com I celebrated moving to the wrong side of 30 by picking up a new hobby- Photography. So this Saturday, I decided to venture out with my camera in search of faces which would become the talk of the town through my pictures. It was all meticulously planned. I would drive to Connaught Place, park my car there, take a metro to Chandni Chowk and look for my subjects. I

Saadnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-76854643684055334152010-12-02T01:53:00.000-08:002011-03-18T23:11:16.657-07:00

It’s an interesting view from where I am sitting – the 4th chair in the third row right across the donut shop at Delhi’s international terminal T3. A Sardar ji is gliding across on a segway and there’s a bunch of kids chasing after him. In the last 12 weeks I have made a total of 11 visits to Jharkhand and Bihar - That takes the total count of my flights to 22 - I am a buddy to the security

Saadnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-20133237854097228292010-10-20T23:09:00.000-07:002010-10-20T23:13:44.024-07:00

I take the morning metro to work every day. That’s probably the biggest reason why I prefer travelling in Delhi to Mumbai. I get an A/C environment, clean surroundings and the confidence that no matter how crowded the train is, I would not make it to the headlines of the story talking about some freak accident in the next day’s papers. Also, if I land up in the ladies’ coach, I can always walk

Saadnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-41907405780575319992010-10-17T01:15:00.000-07:002010-10-23T05:08:20.371-07:00

The commonwealth games just got over and they’ve left Delhi a cleaner and newer place than ever. While most of the Delhites enjoyed the games on TV and in the stadia, I entertained myself by simply traveling in the Metro with several firangs for company every day. The exciting bit about being in the company of these foreigners is the opportunity to overhear

Saadnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-64138271517559561262010-07-27T22:27:00.000-07:002010-08-09T06:39:11.090-07:00

My earlier post on how the English Language is murdered daily in our country has found another deserving example. During my last visit to Jamshedpur - a small and beautiful town in the state of Jharkhand, - I stayed in a hotel. While I did not have any specific words of praise for the service, their post –service operations surely swept me off my feet. I received a letter from their Sales

Saadnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-54828256172433010032010-06-10T01:28:00.000-07:002010-06-10T01:34:18.200-07:00

This is not a technology blog. And while I take full pride like most men do in talking about the latest gadgets, I have never had the inclination to actually put down a perspective on the newest gizmo in the market. But then this isn’t a movie blog either and still I have written a few reviews (of sort) here and here. An understanding of my psyche tells me that anything that doesn’t fit in the

Saadnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-49221868112045988612010-06-08T21:55:00.000-07:002010-10-23T05:11:42.005-07:00

One of the few good things about working in an Indian company is getting to hear people ruthlessly murder the queen’s language. The web is replete with resources on faux pas in English committed across the world but Indians have a beautiful way of doing it.During the last three years I have had the privilege to witness some acts of barbaric treatment towards English. My top 5 are listed below:

Saadnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-73395239313418372872010-04-28T23:50:00.000-07:002010-04-30T00:11:08.559-07:00

My new job doesn’t allow me to write much. Ironically, it provides me with a lot of material to write on. I travel frequently and considering my affinity to bizarre incidents I often find my tours replete with myriad stories of absolute craziness. Here’s short list of the top stories so far: 1. The menu card of my hotel in Ranchi lists coffee under the section – “Stimulating drinks”. This became

Saadnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-32685951073128972052010-02-02T23:56:00.001-08:002010-02-16T20:12:35.222-08:00

I am having a wonderful time in life. I am traveling in the Hindi heartland, eating non-idli and non-dosa food and I am having conversations which let me walk away “dry”. Simply put, I am absolutely ecstatic and the other day I celebrated my homecoming by watching Sallu Bhai’s Veer.   My expectations with the movie were realistic. I had prepared myself for 3 hours of preposterous content and

Saadnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-24638932070072913852010-01-19T21:19:00.000-08:002010-01-19T21:39:39.465-08:00

This post is dedicated to my 22 months of random conversations in Chennai. It is a subject close to my heart so it deserved a place here on my blog. The conversations are Warm and Moist. Warm because most of the conversations I had in the local dialect were with the Auto Wallahs and most of these contributed to a significant rise in my body temperature. It’s moist because most it left me drenched

Saadnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-67023590901388718592010-01-13T23:35:00.000-08:002010-01-13T23:44:42.338-08:00

An interesting name for a perfume and a valuable addition to one of my older posts. Thanks Priyanka for sending this all the way from Europe :)

Saadnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-45378970085071638662010-01-10T01:13:00.000-08:002010-01-10T10:12:16.555-08:00

My work involves talking to people for business partnerships. It suits me well because I have an incorrigible disposition towards blabbering. I have been able to crack several deals just because the aggrieved party listening to my pitch thought it was better to get into an association with my organization than braving the brutal inundation of jargonized banter shot at them from a point blank

Saadnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-48314449821358161572010-01-01T01:50:00.000-08:002010-01-01T01:53:22.652-08:00

This one goes back to the time when I was in school. I had just moved to a new city. Life was good , I had shaved for the first time for a new look at a new school. At 17 years of age, I felt I had arrived. I was reasonably well known in the school. Every new kid is. Life was quite a song with new friends and a new scooter that Dad got me. And then I got the scare of my life. A friend walked up

Saadnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-37128918159504917292009-10-18T01:18:00.001-07:002009-10-18T02:36:29.869-07:00

I am spending the long Diwali weekend in Chennai. There are not many things one can do outside of home to kill time here. In fact you could just count them on your fingers. Here's my list - Eat outWatch a movieFight with Auto wallahsSend obscure messages of peace and harmony to aliens disguised as Idlis and Dosas placed in myriad shops across the cityI usually indulge in the top 2 on most

Saadnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-27421550269052620482009-09-09T05:36:00.001-07:002009-10-18T02:54:17.122-07:00

Back in the summer of 2008, when I was just about a couple of months old in the city of Chennai, I figured out the crazy way they spelled names in this part of the country. I had covered my experiences in two of my earlier posts here and here. Today morning as I was coming to work I saw these huge posters stuck across the city walls welcoming Rahul Gandhi, the rising young politician of the

Saadnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-55504350547535269052009-09-06T03:05:00.003-07:002009-09-06T03:05:11.165-07:00

Found these on Youtube. Absolutely hilarious! :D Posted via email from Sunny Side Up

Saadnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-11631948557365367802009-08-14T10:41:00.000-07:002010-12-03T09:03:54.621-08:00

I consider myself very lucky when it comes to meeting celebrities. I have met them in shopping malls, gymnasiums, on the road, on the beach, in the middle of traffic, at restaurants and coffee shops, at airports, in airplanes even in the buses from the terminal to the aircraft. One might ask – “ So whats the big deal!” I say, it is a big deal. In a country where people are so obsessed with

Saadnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-65052311405375097842009-05-25T10:12:00.000-07:002009-09-05T10:52:59.864-07:00

MISSINGTwo black shoes with 2 grey socks stuffed in them. Last seen in my drawing room on the evening of Friday, May 23,2009. The right shoe is called Jugnu and has a small scar on its right side and the left one is known as Jhingur and has an absolutely clear spotless skin. Both look a good pair together and it is highly likely that they would be found together. The shoes and the socks were

Saadnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-31694605878064606012009-05-14T09:45:00.000-07:002009-09-05T11:29:07.162-07:00

In the month of February this year, Murphy struck more than once. First our Refrigerator conked off and then our landlord asked us to vacate the house. Though both these incidents appear to be very innocuous, they have both gone on to become epic tales which I shall narrate to my grand children some day to establish myself a hero in front of them. I will write more on both these issues on some

Saadnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-38633910519294638642009-05-10T03:31:00.000-07:002009-09-05T11:29:32.315-07:00

I was in Pondicherry last weekend. I thought I would draft a post out of my experience in Pondy and put some sensible stuff on this seldom updated rotten blog which I had hoped would fetch me a lot fo money some day (Sigh...!). Well as it turns out, I was made to realise this yet again that sensible writing is not my forte. So here it is the most remarkable part of my Pondy experience; While on a

Saadnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-32359799188820484682009-03-06T23:55:00.000-08:002009-09-05T11:30:06.338-07:00

Almost one year into Chennai, I am still amazed by the sheer volume of content Chennai land can provide me to write about. Here’s the latest:TATTI. No,I am not expressing any disgust here. I am actually spelling out the acronym for TAMILNADU ADVANCED TECHNICAL TRAINING INSTITUTE; an engineering college in Chennai.If you were to analyze the implications of being associated with the institute, you

Saadnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-50636063800853396742008-12-24T05:33:00.000-08:002009-09-05T11:38:41.935-07:00

With great grief I announce the sad demise of Nonty. After being in the operation theatre for over 60 hours, he was declared dead today at 1500 hours. Nonty was diagnosed with acute hydrophillia; an ailment which ultimately took him to his deathbed.On December 18, 2008 Nonty landed himself into deep shit when he jumped into a flushing toilet. After being rescued, Nonty was given first aid under

Saadnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-73636045527114399402008-07-21T03:54:00.000-07:002009-09-05T11:30:42.006-07:00

I was in Kanpur recently for some work (Yes, I also work). A colleague took me to a famous sweet seller and while everybody enjoyed their sweets, I was lost -appreciating the brilliant bit of marketing a low profile Halwai had put into his business.I took a picture and decided that it would contribute to my blog The Tag line says “Aisa Koi Saga Nahi, Jisko Hamne Thaga Nahi!”Mr. Thaggu planned to

Saadnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-23474215748643123922008-06-24T22:27:00.000-07:002009-09-05T11:31:22.626-07:00

While I am seldom abashed of my association with Nincompoops, I shall not tolerate incomplete information which might mislead my fellow Nincompoops, Dodos and Super Heroes. It is for this reason that I am putting forth this clarification which throws some light on the events that took place on that fateful night of June at the Mahalaxmi station in Mumbai:Clarification #1: There was a reason why

Saadnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-40725479129716752842008-06-24T01:57:00.000-07:002009-09-05T11:31:49.046-07:00

I discussed about Nincompoops in my last post. Here is a bystander's account of an incident which depicts a Nincompoop at his best:Man on Railway platform provides comic relief to commutersMumbai, Sometime in June: Commuters on the Mahalaxmi station were witness to a very curious incidence recently…… at approx. 12 midnight a local train stopped at the station and out came a man to buy a bottle of

Saadnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-78868312428577116202008-06-20T02:35:00.000-07:002009-09-05T11:32:14.461-07:00

Everybody has a right to look dumb sometime in their lives. While some may have a higher propensity to make a fool of themselves at every opporuntity presented to them, others exhibit this ability in spurts.As always , I will exhibit my systematic thinking and analytical bent of mind by categorizing the human species into three broad sub categories1. Dodos: These are people who have transgressed

Saadnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-13451997942933249972008-05-29T23:15:00.000-07:002009-09-05T11:33:09.738-07:00

With my stay at Chennai hitting the 2 months' mark, I have found myself wiser, smarter and better prepared for the city and its people. The latest addition to my vast and ever-expanding ocean of knowledge is in the area of language (again).In my last post on language I had written about the strong affinity that people fo Chennai have for the letter 'H'. I was convinced that 'H' was the king of

Saadnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-88418319389625231642008-05-02T00:41:00.000-07:002009-09-05T11:33:39.812-07:00

Ass; Everybody has one. I have one too, only that I thought mine was a real smart one. Having stated that, I must also confess that my perception changed yesterday.I am currently in the process of furnishing my new home. I woke up yesterday a bit early and after doing the usual morning business sat down with the to do list that I had meticulously prepared the day before. I have this habit of

Saadnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-85572106411797926602008-04-24T00:07:00.000-07:002009-09-05T11:34:24.058-07:00

I've recently moved to Chennai where I'd be taking up a new job. For the unitiated , Chennai is the southern most metropolitan of India. Everyone who gets to know of my current abode greets me with a "Tch tch.. I am so sorry for you" expression /tone. I have no idea why they do so. In fact I dont even want to know. One of the first things I noticed about this place is the way people spell here.

Saadnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-47244800568372072132007-05-25T14:19:00.000-07:002009-09-05T11:36:06.523-07:00

It was a bright Sunday afternoon. I had been through a grueling week and was looking forward to spending some time doing what I do best- Nothing. It has always amazed me how busy I have kept myself all these years doing ‘nothing’ – an activity I started indulging in while I was an engineering student. My friends and I would get over with the classes and then dutifully visit ‘Pandey Café’ where we

Saadnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-13245108034041556412006-12-10T09:32:00.000-08:002009-09-05T11:36:49.927-07:00

I did a two month internship in Mumbai in the summer of 2006. The place is full of challenges and made me realise that there is so much to learn in life. Some really funny things happened to me on the day I first set out for my training . There were two more friends with me. I scribbled my memories for the day in a mail and sent it over to friends for some fun filled reading. I think it deserves

Saadnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-51001585998011702742006-11-06T05:01:00.000-08:002009-09-05T11:37:30.832-07:00

Life is a learning experience; it teaches us of its vagaries in numerous ways and prepares us to face ups and downs as they come. There are essentially 3 types of learners*: 1.The Fishukawas: These are the front row students of the course; they are smart, seldom make mistakes and are quick learners. They believe in the adage: Prevention is better than cure and hence always ensure quality control.

Saadnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1814170040610312195.post-74883836063715564052006-10-12T18:52:00.000-07:002009-09-05T11:37:51.630-07:00

Never thought I'd write this .. medicine? From an engineer?? Well this one is not so much about my mantra on medicine but it has more to do with the failure of some trusted and validated mantras in my case.There is one disease which has always scared the s**t out of me it's not cancer, its not any tumor its not even AIDS.. it's called Common Cold(CC). As far as I can remember through the

Saadnoreply@blogger.com0