"Signal Not Found"

"Signal Not Found"... I was getting frustrated... I have spent my whole weekend without watching television. I called Mohzam… "Yeh aaj theek kar dega? Cable-wale ko bula le bhai"... he with his broad smile replied back… "Birju bhaiya, aaj bulata hu unko" I was never bothered about he calling me 'Birju'... aise bhi Gandhi ji ne bola tha... "What’s there in a name?"… or was it Shakespeare??? kisi ne bhi bola ho... “What’s there in a name?” ;)

I was missing the MTV-Roadies action; new movie previews; T20 matches and a whole lot of new TV ads... Hmm... Let me count some of my favorite ads:

Sprite – Guy flirting with two girls;

IPL – Lady in the lift yelling @ seedha-saadha guy;

Mentos – Dadoo Tum? Donkey and Monkey;

Condom – Instead of Kabbadi;

Virgin Mobile – Daughter annoying the parents by stating…“mujhe ladkon mei interest nahi hai”

TV ads are generally made to promote product items and they may have a lasting effect on several thngs... I feel that good ads definitely have a higher product preference n purchase requests over other brands...

I remembered a funny incident while talking with one of my frnds about the effect of TV ads... There were these relatives of mine… They had a little boy and a teenage daughter… One nite they were cumin home after sum grocery and shoppin… Among othr things they bought sanitary napkins for the daughter; hiding the whole buying thing from this little boy… But being the nosy brat… he caught his sister sneaking out the packet and hiding the napkins… he began to demand n fight with his sister to see what is inside… Now since there were so many people around the girl was embarrassed … Eventually the packet tore lose and the brat grabbed one of the packs; had a look at them and just exclaimed loudly "Is this all you are hiding from me!!! I know what they do with them!!!"… Now everyone suddenly froze shuddering what to hear next!!! And the brat continued… "You just pour some ink on it and it becomes dry very soon!!!"

I know it's a funny incident; but all this sneaking around would have been avoided if people had not been conditioned to think of menses as a dirty thing or something to be ashamed of.

CHEERS !!!

Thanks for drinking Beer ;)

Today I came into the office after a glorious weekend and I didn't want to work. Now I know what you are thinking. You are thinking... "Baiju... tu aise bhi kaun sa kaam karta hai?" I realize that you may think I have a cushy job... even though I do complain about it because I am not doing exactly what I want to do. Anyways my weekend started with... me and Vishal bunking our offices and visiting the Radisson at DIC for a round of beer. "Garmi chalu ho gayi hai bhai" was the non-relevant reason behind this risky action. We also had to collect our AR Rehman concert tickets for Friday evening. AR Rehman - I am a fan and indeed a believer of this music maestro. He happens to be a great showman. After Friday eve concert; one word to describe it is - "fantastic"... Next day I injured myself playing football (I would not be playing next week; would go through physical therapy or whatever until I'm completely recovered) even missed the MTV Roadies action. If I had to rank these weekend events I would be a bit confused… hmm… Chances of attending an AR Rehman show seems to be less so would put AR Rehman show ahead of other things.

After a wonderful weekend; after drinking light beer (Thank you Vishal for taking the risk with me for drinking beer); after rocking at AR Rehman concert; after straining myself playing football... I somehow came back to the office not in the mood to work. Unfortunately for me, after the weekend… there is always a lot of work. There is a long list of emails to be replied and of course… Sunday's are always reserved for writing blogs ;) Today I just wasn't up to it... but anyhow managed to type this bakwaas. If I were a woman I would suspect I was on my lunar menstrual cycle. Maybe tomorrow I'll get back into the swing of things… but today I was worthless and I won't lie, it was GREAT...

Power Shutdown...

The lights went off and the message box popped up - "A network cable is unplugged". I knew that it’s a major power shut down in the office premises.

Woooo Hooooo… now its formal n official – “NOT TO WORK”… light hi nahi hai bhiya…

I was not the same hardworking guy anymore. I have changed a lot. I used to love my work n workplace. Looking back; things at my job have been going down hill. Not for what I do… but the environment in which I do it. I feel more skilled and capable at what I do but feel less like anyone cares about the quality of that work.

There is so much spinning in my head. It's difficult for me to explain the emotional satisfaction aspect of where I am coming from in my current position. Basically, I came to the conclusion the other day while riding to work… I just want to work in a position where I get more satisfaction. I'm a very hard worker, very interested in doing a good job, quality work.

One of my colleagues nodded me on my shoulder – “what are you thinking?”… I replied back… “kuch nahi yaar!!! I am meditating… stress release kar raha hu… ha ha ha…”

I checked for the network connection… Internet is not working; g-talk is disconnected... I feel isolated. Everyone left their seats; I was still resting on my chair and waiting for the power to resume. I moved my mouse cursor to the battery charger; it showed – “Fully charged (100%)” It can survive for another 3+ hours…

Most of the friends on my chat list are my old school buddies. I never met them after school; still I am very much updated about their lives. In this digital age; everything seems to have a virtual version. Virtual love or friendship is not a new topic, but I just think of it when I communicate with several friends of mine thru chat. I just get to think what if we talk facing each other or over the phone? I hate the term virtual friends… my friends are not virtual; they are real people. I have to say… I am not an outgoing or talkative guy in real life; if it's not a distance course; I am afraid I couldn't make any friends. When chatting online however, people are more willing to tell more about themselves.

Although I mistrust meeting new people online (perhaps I'm missing out on something good), I do believe that virtual friendships and perhaps relationships can be formed… unconventional and risky, many people do find the roots of friendship and love in the virtual realm.

Maybe internet is a good place to know more about each other. But virtual relationships have some downsides too. A polite, well-educated person could be a criminal in the real world. Sometimes, trust is just a difficult thing in the virtual world.

Lactic Acid Buildup

It's been a long time (years!!!) since I've played any of the sports or done rigorous exercise… for random reasons, finally it was over when I went to play indoor cricket last Saturday. I played better than my expectations and it was over in 2 hours. Anyway, I am not here to narrate that how I played.

Here is the situation: After playing for 2+ hours or so I drove home had a hot shower and went to bed and woke up the next day with severe arm; shoulder; back; thighs pain. Pain is not severe… it’s mild. It’s not like… it hurts like hell, but it's still annoying. I think it is muscle tension; lactic acid buildup; muscle knots; pulled ligament or something different…

Anything involving neck movement hurts… but I am more worried about my arms. I am having a hard time bending my arms or straightening them to do basic tasks as opening a door or reaching things on my table. They're kind of bent now and they're not straight at my sides. I got pain inside my right and left thighs and knees. Each and every muscle; ligament; tissue; cell in my body is aching. I cant even laugh on a joke; the 8 pack muscles on my abdomen starts aching ;)

I know what you're thinking: This guy has strained himself while playing!!! ab mera bheja kha raha hai ;)

So let's put that out of this topic, okay?

Do you know… what “AFA” stands for? If you don’t… its better you stop here and close this window… It’s the logo on the left side of my new T-shirt… and the new Argentina Tee I bought last week… ROCKS!!! In fact the whole Argentina Team rocks… with there smooth skills of football which makes them the best…

Let me write it out… abhi sahi mauka mila hai…

This blog is dedicated to my favorite team – ARGENTINA :)

I have been watching them play for last 20+ yrs. Like any other team they had their ups and downs. Currently they are No. 1 in the FIFA ranking table – 38 Points ahead of Brazil… I like the live wire in attack and the single Man for the reason is Carloz Tevez. With his skills compared to the legends is… Lionel Messi (the young 19 year old boy)… and in the mid field is Juan Riquelme.. with his abilities to possess the ball n his marvelous passes makes him worth 120 million dollar and with him comes the youngster Fernando Gego with his smooth skills… which makes it impossible for the opponent to move the ball pass the mid field... and the stricker Herman Crespo with his unusual haircut… Just love everyone from Saviola; Zannetti; Roberto Ayala; Gabriel Heinz; Cambiossa; Pablo Aimar… I love Argentina…

Sense of Humor

Sense of Humor is only found in human beings and having a good sense of humor is one of the most important characteristic of all happy and successful people. What would you consider your sense humor to be? My sense of humor is serious; I don't mean to be funny but it just comes out that way. Let me paste the chat extracts with my friends:

Chat Extract – 1
(The name on the chat list changed from “Harish Pillai” to “Harish Bhai”; I was excited to know why he has this "Bhai" tag on his name?)
me: bhai?
Harish: haan Mujhe aise hi bulatey hain mere Dost
me: hmm.. ladkiyan bhi?
Harish: ladkiyan meri dost nahee hai ab !!!
Harish is offline. Messages you send will be delivered when Harish comes online.


Chat Extract – 2
Shailendra: yaar.. Aaj subah se mujhe clear nahi dikh raha
me: shayad room ki lites band hogi... switch on kar le
Shailendra: Teri G.. Abe I am not joking… abhi jata hoon docter ke passs
Shailendra is offline. Messages you send will be delivered when Shailendra comes online.

In both cases; victims logged out of the chat; sheer coincidence or frustration on Baiju ;)