A Day To Remember Or Maybe Forget!!!

Reliving an old post! My 1st post ever 5 yrs back! :-) A real life incident :-D

It was a few weeks ago when I was still busy with exams & all of a sudden I got a call from my buddy Levin & he was like "dude come over to my place for lunch tomorrow". I was excited "Whats the occasion" I asked. "Nothin special, Im cooking" was his answer. For a second I didnt know what to say. "U there??" he asked. I said "yeah yeah, U cooking????". "Yes & be sure that u make it & I've called some other friends over too". Relieved that there'll be others to share the grief "Yeah sure" I said trying to sound excited & at the same time making a mental note to have a heavy breakfast the next morning.

I had to go to college so when I reached his place it was just a little late, but with plenty of time for lunch though. When i made it there finally I saw that the others were already there.

SCENE 1
CHARACTERS- Binoy, Pearl, Karen, Relin & ofcourse Levin
THE SETTING - Levin's  Dining Room

Of these people Binoy was an old friend from school, Karen was a friend from college & I was meeting Pearl & Relin for the 1st time.When I entered all these guys were sitting around the table & Levin was pain stakingly explaining a board game to them which they were about to play. I opted out of it(which i was really thankful for later!!). Looking at everyone's faces I knew immediately that nobody could understand what the game was but everyone pretended with some even asking the occasional question. Nobody wants to look dumb you know.I made a prediction that Levin would win the game coz I was sure that no one else understood what the game was all about. Anyways they began playing & it went on for about an hour. Binoy had that determined look throughout. He wanted to win desperately even though he had no clue as to what was going on.Karen kept circulating some card to everyone throughout the game.Relin pretended to be enjoying & Pearl...Well she was'nt even pretending.She kept fiddling about with everything & yawning. Finally the game to an end and VOILA!! the winner was........NOBODY....Huh?? Yeah you heard it right. Nobody won. The fact that even Levin couldnt manage to win even though he was playing against 4 people who had no clue as to what they were doing says something, doesnt it?? Then everyone blamed poor Relin saying that there was no winner coz she cheated during the game. Give me a break!!! How can u cheat in a game that you dont even know how to play in the first place?? . Well...she agreed that she cheated( which makes it all even more weird).

SCENE 2
CHARACTERS- Well pretty much the same
THE SETTING - The Kitchen

Levin went into the kitchen to have a look at the "food".We all began packing the game up. Suddenly Binoy realised what the game was actually about & began screaming "Now I understood the game"...huh?? I know its getting all too weird. So then we went into the kitchen

WAIT A MINUTE.....THIS IS GETTING ALL TOO BORING. LET ME DRAMATIZE IT A BIT

We were done with the game. Levin went into the kitchen. We all looked at each other. We knew that the time had come. Our worst fears were about to come true.The moment of truth. We were scared, we were confused,we were helpless. We were surely too young to....well not die but have a stomach ache or something( Do people die of stomach ache???).We looked at the main door. I knew that everyone had just one question in mind,"could i make a run for it?". But we all knew that it was just not possible. Levin would get to us even before we would get halfway through the hall. Hungry, scared, dejected we made our way to the kitchen in a single file like Prisoners of War. There Levin was standing saying"everything looks good". Everyone was standing far away waiting for the other to make the 1st move. Seeing that nobody else was coming forward I grabbed my plate & went first. I smiled to comfort the others( coz I remembered the movie Bhagath Singh).I went to the rice first. I grabbed the spoon to take the rice. I tapped the spoon with rice onto my plate.Nothing happened.'Tap' again nothing happened.Then I scraped the spoon with another. 'Splat 'the rice fell on the plate. Now that was done I looked at the rest.Other items on the menu were palak paneer, curds & vegetables.I put everything in my plate , mustered up all the courage & put the first morsel in my mouth.......

Now after such a build up to the story im sure you must be expecting me to say that it was either very bad or very good. But here's where a bit of anti-climax comes in. It was neither good nor bad.It was STRANGE. Strange because everything tasted absolutely the same, not similar.SAME!!. I mean u eat rice & then palak & then the vegetable & have a sip of water. SAME. Infact if we would run out of palak , it didnt matter coz you could make do with the rice.Everyting tasted the same afterall!!! Infact for the 1st time ever I realised that water had some taste. Everyone else started having their lunch silently. Levin still kept sayin "everything looks good". Somebody(either Relin or Pearl) said there was a jar of pickle in the cabinet. Everyone ran to get some.I've never seen so much demand for pickle ever. Now atleast we have something that tasted diffferent. Well anyways somehow we managed to finish whatever was in our plates. I dont know what had gotten into Levin. He still kept saying" everything was good, nothing got wasted"....DUH!!!!

Well whatever it is , it was an experience(I didnt say good or bad). I also know that Levin wont stop trying. He'll definitely call us all over to his place once again & TRY n cook again. Ill definitely go. Till then Im gonna enjoy & appreciate every meal that I have everyday.

More than just a phone!

It was back in the year 2000 when I had my 1^st tryst with internet. Back then “cyber centres” as we used to call them were a rage. There seemed to be one on every corner of the street & a money spinning machine. Students used to waste their pocket money mostly over nothing!I remember that there were 2 categories actually…an hour of games used to cost 40 bucks & an hour of internet used to cost 55 bucks. Whether you chose internet or games, the aim was to make use of every  minute of the hour so that it was total paisa vasool coz otherwise it would seem like a huge waste of money (which in any case it actually was)!

Cut to 2012…. How things have changed. Those very cyber centres seem to have disappeared into oblivion! Coz now who needs bulky computers  when  the world is at ones finger tips. Yes ! mobile phones, those tiny things which were once considered to be used to only to call or msg people is used for everything except to call people & maybe as toilet paper!

Nobody needs an introduction as to what one can do with internet. By bringing the net within the grip of the palm, it  has opened up innumerable, previously unimaginable avenues! Today I use the phone for everything other than calling people!

Music!

Gone are the days when you used to here that catchy number on MTV & wait for an eternity in front of the tv to hear that song again! These days all you have to do is type the song out on your phone browser & choose from the 100s of options available on how you want to hear it! Why type??? Infact just keep your phone near the speaker when a tune is playing, turn on ‘shazaam’ & let the li’l brain inside the phone search the song, give you all the details which you wouldn’t get even in any magazine & also watch the video!!! Also tag it, share it friends, find the lyrics, practise the song with the karaoke feature, learn how to play it on the guitar using the chords feature on the net. Whew! The only thing remaining is to meet the music director & thank him which you may also be able to do if you win the online contest :-D

Lost & found?

The other I was travelling with my wife & friends to a resort at around midnight & as expected we got lost. Our wives kept telling us to stop the car & ask someone for directions. Bah!  You can imagine what it did to our huge egos. So what does my friend do? He whips out his galaxy note, goes to google maps & voila! Gets the exact route! The ladies aren’t impressed & they persist on us asking for directions, but our relief the phone took us to our destination safely! What an ego boost that was :-D

News!

Being a PG, one doesn’t exactly get time to sit & read the newspaper at leisure. Infact most of the time one just gets to brush through the headlines from the sports & local news. Well not anymore. you can read all the news around the world & at ones own time without even the hassle of carrying a newspaper around! Whats more you can even comment & discuss it with total strangers! What fun is politics or sport if you cant put down someone else’s team.And mind you it comes with the entire package of weather information too.

Games

Your waiting at the doctors clinic(I like that example), your waiting for your date to show up or your plain frustrated with the world. These days you don’t need to sit idly watching other peoples faces stupidly  or they yours, wondering what the hell can I do to distract myself. You can kill aliens or beat Schumacher all on your phone. Use the net & you can even play live with total strangers whom you would never meet in life. Also it would save your relationship coz you wont complain about your date being late always!

Facebook!

Gone are the days when you only SMSed your friends. SMSing was once considered cool, well not anymore… today you have Watsapp, Facebook on the go, on the phone. You don’t need to wait to reach home to see the likes on your pics or your friendship requests. You can do it on your phone any day & anytime. Just beware of those serial status updaters through phones,they’ll update every minute detail of their life which will probably make you puke, you can block them anyways ;-D

Exams!

Remember Munnabhai MBBS? How he wasted so much of talk time on calls while copying during exams? Now you don’t need to! Got a smartphone with internet? Just type in what you want & use it to write beautiful, textbook answers in your answer sheet. After all nobody here said that only good things about the internet should be written ;-)

www.vodafone.in/fun

Weekly Photo Challenge - Water

Weekly Photo Challenge - Wildlife

The pictures are the ones that I clicked from the Bannergatta National Park in Bangalore :-)

Roadtrip to Goa!

What we saw on the way to Goa! :-)

Introspection ... Wordpress Style!

The Confused Phase
I wanted to blog, I thought I had loads of ideas & that thousands of people would flock their computers just to catch a glimpse of what I wrote so I started a blog after a lot of research. And that research mainly focused on whether I choose Wordpress or the one that sounds like Clogger. Once I decided to use Wordpress(for no particular reason back then) I was all excited. I created the profile with my very own name in the top bar! Ah! My name! My ego was on cloud 9. Went to “New Post” & realized that I was not good enough to blog! So I did the easiest thing that I could think of. I went to Youtube & uploaded the “Nikes 1st cricket commercial” video. Then the wait began. I began checking everyday. On the 3rd day or so the page visits went from 0 to 1. Wooooohooo I had my 1st visitor! Thank God to that one soul who finally came & saw it. I tried to find a way to track him down & mail him an official thank you letter but that ofcourse was’nt possible.

The Blog Phase
Every blogger worth his salt will tell you that the “visitors” & the “comments” on his blog excite him! Now that I knew that there was atleast this one guy out there I began a barrage of posts… Within 3 days I posted few videos, an article on torrents & what not. The next 2 months seemed to be so so so dead! Nobody came! I mean nobody! Not even that 1st guy! I knew I should’ve chosen Flogger over Wordpress…or was it Clogger… I don’t know but Im sure more than 1 visitor would’ve come on Slogger.


The Damage Control Phase
Now I was certain that if this blog had to serve any purpose I gotta stop waiting & do something. I started posting a steady stream of articles, some good & some pathetic. And I did something extra. I joined facebook. So I began posting the articles on my wall (Ofcourse Wordpress didn’t have the auto share with facebook like they do now) The poor guys on the my friends were fooled into visiting my blog & slowly the visitors increased, not by much. Maybe 10 or so which was definitely more than the 1 which I was happy with on the 1st day. Monthly visitors increased to about 45 or so & once hit 70. Life was good!

1st Retirement
The sudden interest that I had slowly began to fade away. People were visiting but not a single comments, not a single “like”. Man cannot live on bread alone, he needs his ego fed too. Im not someone with an iron will, I give up very easily so I did the best thing! I disappeared from the blogging scene. Infact I didnt even open my blog site for about 6 months.

The “Im Back” Phase
One day after 6 months or so I just logged into my account & I noticed that the last 6 months showed a steady stream of visitors, not much about 20 to 30 per month even though I hadn’t even logged in! Yeah that really amused me! So people do come here! I posted with gusto for the next 4 months & was happy with the response


2nd Retirement
The topics began fading, the mind stopped working. I kept getting flashes of brilliant ideas but when I sat to write them out I couldn’t go past the 1st two or three sentences. I realized that it was time to leave. It was time to give up once again and that’s something Im really good at!

The Daily Post Era
I came back somewhere around the february of this year. I logged into Wordpress with a lotta difficulty coz I had forgotten my password, they sent me a temporary one which no one would remember even if they tried & was pleasantly surprised with the better, sleeker & a livelier interface. But for me the best part was the “The Daily Post” initiative along with the “Featured Post” & “Freshly Pressed” features. Wordpress had finally become a “reading” site along with the “writing” site. I became a part of the daily post challenge & the results are here to see for everyone! I have readers visiting my site, commenting & also discussing the posts! A thousand readers a month is definitely a big improvement from 50…don’t you think so? :-D So 3 years with this site has definitely been a great ride so far & hopefully this time Im here to stay :-D

Top 5- Most Embarrassing Moments

Moment No.1
The “Wrong Number Moment”. Im not talking about the wrong number of the phone variety. This is the one about the mistaken identity. Here’s what happened to a friend of mine. He walks into a cyber café, sees a long row of guys sitting on the computers with their backs turned towards him. He notices one guy there who’s back of the head has a remarkable resemblance to a close friend of his & so goes & slaps him his hard on his head saying “Yo dude, what you doing here.” Unfortunately for him when the head turns its that of a complete stranger who himself looks totally confused & obviously in pain. The entire cyber café is looking at my friend who just feels like digging a hole & disappearing but cant find a shovel. He mumbles a few apologies & runs out leaving behind him a roar of laughter.

Moment No.2
The “My Friends Suck Moment.” Everyone has friends who like to pull a fast one on their buddies. Our friends group is no different. Our group of 5 guys went for a movie. There’s this one guy among us, lets call him X, he’s a bit notorious & crazy. Once we were all seated in the theatre, he gets up & sits on another friend of mine & goes “keeku keeku”. Now that’s bloody embarrassing for the rest of us with the crowd looking at us. During the interval we decided to trick him. We went in early & moved one row behind from our place. Some others came & occupied our earlier seats. The lights went off. Mr X was late & made his way in the dark to the place we were sitting earlier. And as expected he sits on the guy there and goes “keeku keeku” We at the back are falling off our seats laughing. When he realized his mistake he made his way back to us sheepishly & vowed never to speak to us again.

Moment No. 3
The “Stud Moment”. This was narrated to me by a friend of mine. Guys always want to be the studs in when there are girls around. There was this guy, lets call him Mr X (not to be confused with the previous Mr X, You can call him Mr Y if you please) who walked everyday outside a girls college with sunglasses, jacket & what not. He would walk by with a swagger making sure that everyone around him noticed him & at the same time he checked out every girl. But then came that fateful day when Mr X (or Mr Y for some) was walking by with that same swagger, he slips & falls into a small puddle right in front of those very girls. Now girls being girls began giggling & stifling laughs & that poor guy was never to be seen again there.

Moment No. 4
The “Sleep Walking Moment.” This one happened to a friend of mine when I was there & undoubtedly caused my biggest laughing episode. As kids we had these various camps in the remotest of areas where hygiene & cleanliness was not in the forefront. It was to make us “TOUGH”. Army training tough. We were posted to have duties in shifts at night which was a part of our training programme. One night after my shift I woke up my friend to start his shift. The sleepy guy walked to the restroom(it was barely one with animal & human poop) all around. So he walks sleepily & suddenly realizes that there’s something right in front of him that he shud’nt be stepping on. So he jumps, slips & unfortunately lands on it!!! To this day we laugh remembering that moment!

Moment No. 5
The “That Was’nt Me Moment” This is one of the common, silly, gross for many and still one of the funniest moments for all. Its when you or someone in your group decides or without deciding releases some air just to gain some relief! It’s a an “EEEEEWWWWW….. moment” Some of you just reading this might call it “EEEwww gross”. But then it does happen. And if the person admits that “Yes that was me”… he get the “EEEwwww shameless” reaction & if he says it wasn’t him then he’ll get the “Guilty conscience, that’s why he’s denying….EEwwww” reaction.

The Battle Of The Ages

The "Daily Post" Challenge for today is a good one & so I thought I would give it a try :-D

Ryan17 : Hi Im Ryan. Young, smart & talented. I think Im the best there was, the best there is & the best there will be! Who are you?
Ryan27 : Wow! Im Ryan too! And Im much smarter, more talented & wiser with age. And your right about the “best there will be” atleast sonny.
Ryan17 : Wiser with age is just a nice way of saying “Im old”. Ewwww your 27??? That’s like …old man! That’s like in the year 2011. I guess by then people will talk to each other online more than in person.
Ryan27 : Errr…. Your right about the online part actually. Oh and come on, 27 is not old! Im like the most eligible bachelor, you’re just a loser kid with an attitude problem.
Ryan17 : Who you calling loser, Im 17, I have all the time in the world ahead of me, unlike you. Chicks dig me
Ryan27 : Girls don’t “dig you”. They just find you cute, that’s all! Havent you heard that girls your age prefer guys my age?
Ryan17 : (angry) That’s true. They think being with old men like you makes them more matured & more in demand. Bah! That’s the only thing you have going for you so don’t be so happy about it. Don’t forget that I have 10 more years to do all the exploring I need.
Ryan27 : (Now angry) That’s true too. But I make money now. And girls love guys who can pay for them right? And what do you plan to do in those 10 years?
Ryan17 : Ok I don’t care about the girls, I have other things that make me better than you.
Ryan27 : Like what sonny?
Ryan17 : Like… I don’t use geeky words like “sonny”. I have so many things I still can do! So many adventures to see, so much to explore.
Ryan27 : I’ve done it all. Flying, skiing, snowboarding, girls, money…what else? Its not that big a thing. After sometime you get bored.
Ryan17 : I can become rich & successful. I know for sure that I can become the next Mark Zuckerberg when Im 27
Ryan27 : 1st of all Mark Zuckerberg was still dating his girlfriend when you’re 17 which makes the example redundant coz there is no Facebook yet for you! And even I made plans of being a millionaire when Im 27.
Ryan17 : Are You?
Ryan27 : Not even close.
Ryan17 : See you’re an even bigger loser than I thought. Im sure you didn’t have any planning, any goal, that’s why.
Ryan27 : I had all that. But then everyone cant be a Zuckerberg. There are other things which come in the way. Studies, work, responsibilities. Things that cant be fast forwarded. Luck only plays a small part in ones life & that too all are not blessed with good luck, there’s something called bad luck too!
Ryan17 : Now that’s a long boring lecture which only a 27 yr old could come up with.
Ryan27 : You might think that now but as you get older you’ll know better.
Ryan17 : Atleast I can run faster.
Ryan27 : I don’t need to, I have my car. I can also buy whatever I want.
Ryan17 : Yeah but you have a bigger waistline. I don’t have to sit in an office all day.
Ryan27 : Yeah but I don’t have to answer anyone.
Ryan17 : Yeah but you have to look after others, others look after me.
Ryan27 : I know to play golf.
Ryan17 : Yuck I don’t even wanna know how to play golf.Oh boy then am I lucky coz right now I have no responsibilities at all! No money problems or work problems. I can do whatever I want. But I do wanna grow up fast.
Ryan27 : That’s true. But then why you wanna grow up? Isnt it the best life? I wish I were a student again!
Ryan17 : Nah dude… There’s no freedom. I don’t have money of my own. Who wants to be stuck in this boring classroom. I wanna work. Explore. I wanna be the 27 yr old whom both the younger & older chicks wanna die to be with.
Ryan27 : Trust me boy, Ur much safer & happier in the classroom. Once you come out you’ll know the harsh reality of the world outside. Now you’re protected. Freedom is over rated. And yeah girls or rather chicks that you keep talking about. Those will happen when it has to happen. The more you catch a butterfly the more it runs away, but you sit still & it’ll come to you.
Ryan17 : Huh? Why are we talking about butterflies? Do people your age call chicks butterflies?
Ryan27 : Now that was a wasted example. Just forget the example & take the rest.
Ryan17 : Btw does Pamela Anderson still look as hot on the beach during your time.
Ryan27 : Not really, and now there are better ones too ;-)
Ryan17 : Arent we supposed to argue the other way round, are you supposed to support your age & me mine?
Ryan27 : That’s the problem sonny, there’s no argument at all! Coz Im wiser so trust me when I say that “The grass is always greener on the other side”

Disclaimer : All the views posted above are fictional & do not reflect the authors or anyone elses views. Any resemblance to reality is purely a co-incidence

TOP 5 – Most Annoying Facebook Users

User No. 1 -The perpetual status updater.

Ok we get it. You have lots on your mind. But that doesn’t mean that you have to let everyone know every damn lousy thought of yours EVERY HALF AN HOUR! “Im going shopping” – “Im so excited sitting in the car to go shopping”-  “Listening to the radio in the car on the way to shopping” -“Im almost there, I can feel goosebumps”  .SOMEBODY PLEASE THROW HER OUT OF THAT MOVING CAR!!!!!  And also get me her phone when you’re at that. It doesn’t help the fact that there is that one guy who’ll be replying to each of those status msgs which is more  probably even more annoying.

User No. 2 - The Drawing Room Farmer

Probably the most annoying one. Too lazy to get their asses of their couch to even stretch but ever the most hardworking farmer. Nobody would mind if they kept their farms to themselves. It’s the 130 notifications of “Feed my chicken, Wash my cow, build me a barn” that makes you wanna throw a goat at them which in all probability they would like & send you another wave of notifications asking for more. Go out into the sun & do some REAL gardening people!!!! And when you do, please spare us the updates.

User No. 3 - The FDA ( Facebook Display Of Affection)

“I love you honey bun, I love you too chilli cheese sandwich, you make my heart go Shalala boom boom"…. Somebody please hand me a gun so that I could go BOOM BOOM!! Yes everyone wants to show their love to someone on FTO( FB, Twitter, orkut) but not every hour & not on others news feeds. There are something called cellphones for that people!!! That small thing used to speak to people. Or mails, or Messages! What are you trying to achieve by showing your love on FB which in all probability is seen by everyone except your loved one!

User No. 4 -  The Friender

Pardon the use of a non existent word but its that annoying person who “wants to be your friend”. You have  no idea who or what he is but he insists that you could be his new best friend! And its not just the girls who are haunted by these creepy guys!!! Guys are stalked too! Ignoring them probably tells them that your interested in them. Till that fateful day when you report them.

User No. 5 – The join my page/group/cause

Somebody is just so bored that he decides to create a page/community/group of something that they like & thinks that its imperative that you like the same thing! And after a 100 mails asking you to join the group you’d probably start hating the ‘cause’ even if it’s a good one. Nobody wants to take the trouble of actually doing something for the cause, we just have to join to show our “support” . Two months later you visit the same group you’d find it abandoned filled with dubious links!

Bonus one

This is the “I broke up with my ex so its time for me to humiliate him/her on my wall” User. And then begins a barrage of hints, taunts, insults, jokes on that poor ex. Doesn’t matter whether the ex is good or bad, 200 people will convince this user that he/she was right in dumping him/her though they have no idea about whats going on.  Yes this user is stupid & annoying but so are the ones who pretend to ”publicly” advice them  when in reality they don’t care & are infact secretly enjoying the public washing of linen so to say. Why watch reel life soaps when you can get real ones ones on FB!

Top 5- UNSOLVED MYSTERIES

1. ATLANTIS- THE LOST PARADISE

Plato, the Greek philosopher believed that there existed a civilization about 3,500 years ago in the great Atlantic Ocean. He said that it was a paradise, a city consisting of an enormous palace & a beautiful temple believed to be covered entirely of gold & silver. The interior was of ivory & the walls & pillars were covered with orchil. It was a civilization both prosperous & happy until that fateful day when the volcano which stood by it erupted & flattened the entire civilization. A once bustling city covered now with ash & rubble.

Many believe that this was a mere figment of imagination of Plato’s mind. The story was told by him to his nephew Critias . It was propagated that the remains of the city lie in the depth of the Atlantic ocean which led to a series of explorations & studies. An American by the name Ignatius Donnelly even published a book ‘Atlantis- The Antediluvian World’ which went on to become a best seller.

To this day there are believers & there are skeptics. The controversy seems to flare up all of a sudden like it did in 1912, 1968, 1975. But to this day nobody can rule out or confirm the existence of the Atlantis

2. BERMUDA TRIANGLE

Probably one of the most famous mysteries of all time. Situated in the Western Atlantic between Florida, Bermuda & Puetro Rico, this seemingly haunted area seems to have swallowed up 100s of ships. In the beginning it was said that it was imaginary, people sat up & took notice when the number of  casualties went on increasing. Some believed that it was due to extreme gravitational & magnetic deviation that radios & compasses fail. Some even believed that the modern machinery lost in the Atlantic civilization were still working at the base of the triangle. Sand there are those that believe that the triangle is a hunting ground for alien visitors

In December 1945 five torpedo bombers disappeared in the triangle. The last words radioed from the ship were “we don’t know which way is west.Everything is wrong..Strange we cant be sure of any direction.Even the ocean doesn’t look as it should.

Over the years a number of explanations have been given & now most of them do not believe in the myth of the Bermuda triangle. But it will continue to be the most interesting topics of discussion...

3. BLACK HOLE OF SIBERIA

On june 30^th, 1908 Siberia experienced a mid air explosion. Everything within a 25 mile radius was destroyed. Trees uprooted, houses burnt, all the fauna killed. People said they saw a fire ball in the sky which was so powerful that it burnt their clothes. A similar thing was said to have happened in 1960 too.

A number of theories were given. One said it must’ve been a meteorite though it was never found. Next one in 1950 said that it might be due to impact of mid air nuclear explosion of some advanced civilization. The most accepted one is that it was due to a comets head entering the earths atmosphere.

The latest explanation is that a tiny black hole hit Siberia. According to Scientists a black hole is a huge lump of matter which had shrunk so much that it had become invisible. But light rays passing near it are drawn into it. And because of its density it generates such gravity that not even light can escape through it.

All in all its still not clear as to what exactly hit Siberia that fateful day!

4. The UFO’s

Any mystery has to have UFO’s mentioned in them. Reports of UFO sightings have come from 133 countries, nearly 82,000 sightings but 95% have been dismissed as fake. But there is still that remaining 5% that still continue to baffle everyone

Melbourne, 1978- Pilot Frederick Valentich noticed something flying towards him. He radioed saying “The thing is orbiting on top of me. Its hovering & its not an aircraft. It is…” The transmission broke off. It was thought that his plane must have crashed in the Tasmanian Sea.

This is just one of the many many “apparent” sightings.Some Scholars call it spaceships from outer galaxies. Erich Von Daniken called them "The Chariots of Gods"

There are explanations & counter arguments but the fact remains that UFO’s continue to be an interesting story to talk about.

5. THE MYSTERIOUS IRON PILLAR

In New Delhi is situated an IRON PILLAR. Its 22ft tall & has a diameter of 4 1/2 feet. It is a solid shaft of wrought iron with an ornamental top built by King Chandra. But the reason this pillar is famous is coz despite years of exposure to wind & rain it has not rusted or weakened! Erich Von Daniken in his book said that the Pyramids & the Iron Pillar could not have been built without “Super Intelligent” forces.

Over the years, myths have surrounded this pillar as well. It is said that if anyone is able to encircle the pillar, that person is supposed to be very fortunate. Whether its believable or not the mystery of the Iron pillar has not been solved despite a number of scientific tests. Maybe someday science will be able to tell us the exact material used

Weekly Photo Challenge - OLD

Often Old & New is a mere perception. Take for example the pic. If it was all dark it would've been percieved to be "old"... If it had color it would be "new".... Now is it "old" or "new"?  :-)

Oh The Woes Of Social Networking!!!!!

10:00 PM

It had been a hard day at the office. Deadlines, deadlines & more deadlines. It seemed never ending. Edward was finally at home away from all the madness. Its now time for the best part of the day… Social Networking!!! A term unheard of a few years back but now an indispensible part of his life. He logs on to Facebook & Twitter. His eyes move to the red flag… all he wants to know is how many updates he’s had & from whom!

He checks his updates. He’s disappointed. The “Friendship Request” he sent Michelle a colleague who worked on the floor above was still not accepted. He wondered why. Was she angry with the request? Not that she had any reason to accept it coz frankly speaking they weren’t friends. They hadn’t even spoken to each other, except a glance or two but even so, she had to accept it!! It would be a an insult of social networking proportions if she didn’t. He cursed all the girls in the world all the while checking the new pics uploaded by those of the opposite gender.

9:00 AM( Next Morning)

Edward entered the office. He looked around, but nobody seemed to be bothered that he was there. He made a mental note to spam them all with FARMVILLE requests. Nothing could be more irritating than asking someone to feed your cow 5 times a day.He walked over to his cabin. On the way he saw Loreen, another employee… she looked a li’l low but that was understandable coz she had put an inverted smiley as her status msg last night. 150 ppl had commented on it but Loreen had’nt replied. Edward cursed her, if she didn’t want anyone to know why she was sad why did she have to put up that status in the 1^st place! He had wasted an hour waiting for her reply to the 150 comments from everybody but it never came. He sat down at his table wanting some coffee but he didn’t dare touch it coz someone had put up last night on FB that coffee might contain radioactive material coz it may have come from Japan. Edward wasn’t gonna take any chances!!

10:00AM

Edward gets bored & logs in to Facebook. There were now 200 comments on Loreen’s status but still no reply from her. How come girls get so many comments? Nobody would bother if he said that he was gonn kill himself but 200 people are worried about this girls smiley. Meanwhile there’s a new development, that really got him excited. Michelle’s status said “Single Again” “OMG! THE Michelle is single again, he had been praying for that to happen for a year now. “ This has to be best news ever” he said aloud. There were already 15 guys asking her “what happened” & “Im here for you babe”  & Edward knew that  this was opportunity so he posted “ Tough times never last but tough people do” It didn’t make sense but he was too excited to think it over. He wondered if she would be impressed. In the next minute she “LIKED” what he posted & he was over the moon. He wondered what she liked about it coz he himself didn’t know what he meant. “Who cares, she likes it & that’s what matters” he thought

12:28 PM

After talking to 15 clients & solving all their problems, FB needed him again. 45 notifications! He jumped with joy wondering who had sent him so many messages only to realize that it was just another 45 guys replying to Michelle’s relationship status. He was angry. He called them all vultures & threw all the fishes of fishville at them but only in his mind. He decided to ignore Michelle. Still no sign of Susan though. “I wonder whats taking her so long to accept the he request “  He wondered. He checked that there were new pictures uploaded by his colleague. It was a party at his place house. Michelle & Susan were both there along with many other familiar faces from the office. Edward fumed. How dare they not invite him & promptly put him in his ‘ignore’ list. He then spammed him with Cityville updates.

2:00 PM

Afternoon at the office was a drag especially after a heavy lunch.  He wondered what was happening in the world of social networking. He logged in. He decided that it was time he draw some attention to himself. After thinking a lot he posted ‘ Work is killing, don’t think I can survive another day’… he waited. No comments. 10 mins…no comments, 20 mins…no comments. Cursing everyone he decided to poke Ajay. He poked back… “Oh so he is online & yet didn’t comment on my status”.  He decided to exact revenge & opened Mafia Wars & after spending 15 mins on it trying to kill him ended up losing 50,000 Mafia dollars. Nothing was going right today, the FB fortune cookie was right today when it said “You’re gonna fight a losing battle” He thought he’ll divert his mind with work.

3:18 PM

He looked up from his papers which had kept him busy for the last hour or so. Still no comments on his status. Something else caught his eye. Tania!!!! Her status said “Parents leaving to Canada, home alone for a week” He jumped with joy off his chair & landed on the floor. Heads turned towards him & he sheepishly got back on his chair. Tania was one of the office hotties & though he had never spoken to her he felt he had a chance. He immediately commented “Want some company?”.  Just then he saw that Ajay had answered a quiz which declared that he’s soulmate was Susan !!!! WTF!!! “ 1^st he doesn’t comment on my status, then he makes me lose my Mafia money & now this!!!” The nerve of the guy! Edward answered the same quiz.  Result – Ajay was his soulmate.

5:12 PM

Just done with tea break after a grueling session. Again no Coffee for him, stupid Earthquake in Japan, all the bad things happen to him only. Edward eagerly logs on to FB! YES!!!! 8 updates… he wondered how many girls commented on his status. But alas there was only one comment & … Joseph with his reply “Don’t die today dude, tomorrow is Sunday. Monday wud be better coz we’d get a holiday the next day”  Edward made a mental note to raid his farm later. Also the coffe thing was a hoax by some sadist geek who thought that it was funny. Still no news from Susan. Still no comment from Michelle & still Tania didn’t invite him home! Edward felt like he was fighting a losing battle against humanity. And Ajay still was his soulmate. Edward decided to never to use FB again!

7:00 PM

Edward decided to use Facebook again. He logged in. Antony had sent him a heart. Weird , geeky Antony. He deleted it & removed Antony from his friends list. Everything remained status quo. Except for one thing. Michelle had posted a link to her blog. Edward jumped on it. He read for what seemed an eternity at the end of which all he understood was that Michelle was single again. But that was something he already knew this morning. Oh what a waste of time! He superpoked her partly coz he was irritated & partly to get her to reply to him. He also had to delete 20 farmville requests, apparently he wasn’t the only one who spammed others with them. People were leaving the office silently.  Mafia killer Ajay, then weird Antony, Masochist Susan, Home alone Tania & single Michelle all made their way out with host of others. Nobody seemed to be talking. Why talk when you can chat on Facebook.

10:00 PM

The day has come to an end & Edward wants to have one last look at FB (one last look for the day that is) Ajay has “LIKED” his status. The nerve of the guy! Edward threw a pig at him. Michelle had changed her relationship status to “In a relationship” …. WTF that was the shortest breakup ever. Tania had put up that she was having the best time ever. Apparently now she wasn’t home alone…. And Susan had sent him a msg asking “Do I know you?” Edward decided never to use FB again & deactivated his account.

11:00 PM

Edward reactivates his account……….

Stairway To The Room

Well I basically clicked this picture for no reason but when I saw it, the 1^st thing that came to my mind were two very famous songs –‘Stairway to Heaven’ & ‘The Room At The Top Of The Stairs’. One is an all time favourite & the other is my favourite. The stairs in the picture lead to my room so no guessing as to which one is my favourite song of the two.  At the end of these stairs is neither heaven nor the room where all the “stuff” that happens in the song so its actually as useless as the picture.

And if you wanna get philosophical about it then I guess you’ll remind me, just like how my grade 3 teacher ,that it would also mean “Failure is the stepping stone to success”.  To be frank I didn’t click it thinking about that coz these steps are far too cool to be equated with that saying . I mean shouldn’t the stone for that quote be more battered than these? But then how many times has one heard this saying. When you’re down, your friends say it to you & when your friends are down, you say it to them. Either way it does get said a lot. Its like a rule that you have to say it or else you’re not motivating the person who’s ‘down’. But then it doesn’t always hold true coz there are a number of people who have to just go through life suffering one failure after another! And those who lead an average life despite putting in all the hard work! So you cant really blame them if they do succumb to failure right? What then?

This is where some wise guy out there who bounced back after being beaten down over & over again came up with the “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger”. Now that covers all the bases, doesn’t it? Somehow even I can relate to it. I mean just coz you failed once or twice or many times doesn’t automatically mean that you’re gonna succeed & make it big right? You only become wiser or lets say stronger. You learn what is right for you & what is beyond you. Now don’t even get me started with ‘Nothing is impossible’ coz that quote is far from true. It does sound cool but ‘cool’ doesn’t get you through life. I mean what do shoe makers know anyways?(Impossible is Nothing)  Im more of the ‘ Aim for the stars, you’ll atleast reach the clouds’ kinda guy. So basically what I was saying was that you become stronger & you get bolder in life infact. And that’s what I guess success means. In the end it all comes to going out there EVERYDAY & giving your heart out at whatever that you do. Its not always about winning, not always about being the best. Sometimes ‘ordinary’ will do just fine. You have guys who become successful by chance & then there are those who don’t despite years of struggle but still don’t complain coz they love fighting it out!

So in the end life is about living each day as it comes. Getting up everyday & facing life & its challenges with enthusiasm. Coz there’s no point living your life if your not enjoying it… So lets just end it with a “Don’t worry, be happy’ ;-)

And the Winner Is................

The 1^st ever WEEKLY PHOTO VOTING has come to an end & Im happy to say that it has been a grand success. I started this a week ago after a lot of deliberation coz the WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE by Wordpress fascinated me, especially the number of entries. I felt Wordpress could get more out of it & so I came up with the voting idea so as to give credit to ALL the bloggers who submit their entries every week.

When the poll started off I was a tad bit disappointed I must say coz somehow process got off to a very slow start but then with the help of enthusiastic bloggers who helped promote it voting picked up in a big way. Here I’d like to especially mention CLASSYROSE who has gone all out in making everyone contribute to this & making this a success. It was coz of her intiative that the 2^nd poll could come up. Do not forget to take part in the Random Blog 2011 Challenge organised by her! Voting of course is on for the “Weekly photo Voting- Curiosity” so please to caste your vote there.

Meanwhile like I said, we have our very 1^st winner of the Weekly Photo Challenge. There were a lot of great entries, I know coz I had to go through all of them! The one who’s been voted by  the bloggers across Wordpress as the best entry for the “Weekly Photo Challenge- Boundaries” out of the atleast 100 entries is ………… Barb at passionateaboutpets.wordpress.com! Many congrats to her! As you can see from the poll that it’s a landslide of a victory with a 60 % of the voters believing that it was the best entry so she is undoubtedly the queen of the 1^st photo challenge of Wordpress!

You can view the winning picture here- Passionateaboutpets.wordpress.com

You can check the poll results here -  Weekly Photo Voting- Boundaries

Disclaimer- This poll is a private poll organized by me & is not in anyway started, promoted or organized by Wordpress.

Baby Thoughts!

Life seems to be pretty hectic these days. I wake up early in the morning…well not exactly early but early enough to be called early. I rush through with the morning routine with barely a glance at the newspaper which I so religiously go through otherwise & rush to the hospital ….. All coz Im posted in the Labour Theatre & I have to be there at 8 sharp coz God forbid there be a delivery.







And once you get there finally life seems to be a drag. You monitor , monitor & MONITOR! And then ofcourse relax in the air conditioned Interns Lounge. Hey come to think of it life ain’t that bad there after all! Except for the poor screaming women that is….. and jus when you think that you can fall asleep comes that one screaming woman who’ll scare the daylights out of you…..



And then you go through the routine…. Monitor, preparation, scrub, drape & PUSH PUSH PUSH…. Not me, her!!  After what seems to be ages, again for her comes that deep breath of relief when a crying baby is finally out…. It’s a boy! And a healthy one at that…. He’s quickly suctioned & taken to the incubator where he’s checked thoroughly & later given his 1^st bath….. wrapped in whites, looking all fresh you cant help but admire this li’l handsome boy



I look at him lying there so innocently with an occasional sigh blissfully unaware of everything around him. Ignorance is definitely bliss. I wonder if I should tell him that life ain’t gonna be like this always. That its all gonna go downhill from here on. Once he’s out of this cozy incubator which now seems to be his world, he’ll have problems galore. He’ll be crying & for a while no one would know why. Being nude won’t be cute after a while. There’ll be school & then worry about math, worry about that bully in class who’s gonna make his life miserable, that teacher who’s gonna find fault with him for everything. Should I tell him that he’ll have to worry about his grades or that there’s gonna be that so called BAD company that he’ll have to stay away from. Maybe I should tell him that he’ll have a friend who’ll backstab him or that girl who made him a million promises will one day just walk away making him feel worthless. Should I tell him that this is a competitive world & to survive he’ll have to be as ruthless & as selfish as the others .I can tell him that hard work rarely pays & being selfish is the only way to make it big around here.Every step in life is nothing but filled with problems & that he’ll one die either of stress or due to all d junk food that he ate to beat the stress or his nagging wife ;-)



He shivers, moves a li’l & lets out a small cry. He’s reading my thoughts I guess. I feel sad…. Maybe I should tell him the good things. Life ain’t that bad afterall right. His loving parents would see that he has everything that he could ever ask for. Schools gonna be a great place learn, meet new friends & it’ll be the best phase of his life, He’s gonna study hard… he wouldn’t have to worry about the bully coz he can stand up to anybody. I can tell him about those friends who’ll always be there for him no matter what, they’ll be his partners in crime & also pillars of support. Heartbreak or no,a wonderful girl will come into his life who’ll hold his hand & make him feel the luckiest guy in the world. I can tell him that he’ll have. I should remind him that there’ll be a lotta pressure but the trick is to be confident enough to deal with them all. I can tell him that the world is competitive one but he doesn’t have to be a part of it, he can make an identity of his own.

He smiles… he likes the idea I can tell or maybe he just thinks that I look funny…. I decide not to tell him anything. He’ll learn on his own, afterall there’s no fun in watching a movie if you already know whats gonna happen

RELATIONSHIPS- Let me give it a try :-)

Now before you all assume that Im actually getting into a relationship let me assure that this is not what Im talking about coz I wouldnt reveal it if I did :-D.One of my friends here in mlore who considers himself to be an expert on relationships has been bugging me to explain my take on the whole issue so I finally decided to do it. Wat better time to post it than just befoe Valentines Day!:-D And Im posting it between the 2 halves of my story ALL IN A DAYS WORK  just to prolong the suspense :-D
So what exactly are we talking about here.
WHAT EXACTLY MAKES A RELATIONSHIP WORK
This is a question I guess that many people must be asking.And you know what? I have no idea as to what the answer is :-D Being from the medical field I've seen that relationships here are supposed to be a 5 yr deal.You join the college, find a partner, go around till the end of the course & then get married to someone else :-D.The only problem is that one of the partners wouldnt be knowing about the deal & so ends up being BETRAYED.I can see some of my friends cringing hehe but well its the truth.This is the age where you see so many people getting into relationships just for the EXPERIENCE.After one yr experience its time to look at greener pastures :-D But dont get me wrong coz among all these people there'll be that one sweet loving romantic couple, THE COUPLE.The couple who'll just make you say "Oh I wish I could have what they have" and Im not talking about the ice cream that they are feeding each other.Then what makes this couple different from the others. ACCORDING TO ME-
1)LOVE :They are obviously in love with each other.....inspite of each other.That's the big difference.No two people can be the same. There are those who say "They are made for each other coz they are exactly alike" WHAT RUBBISH!!! How can two people be exactly alike & even if they are then whats the point of being with them coz its like looking at ur self in the mirror, always talking like you, always doing what you want,always knowing what to expect coz well....he/she is EXACTLY LIKE YOU!Where will be the surprise element, the suspense that'll keep a relationship going? Wouldnt it all be just boring? But at the same time it also doesnt mean that 2 completely different people will celebrate their diamond jubilee wedding anniversary coz opposites may attract but they cant blend(I made that up :-D ).... I would imagine that it would be really really tough to be with someone who is nothing like you. So in the end it all comes to how much you LOVE your partner.
2)EXPECTATIONS- "I dont expect anything from you,i just love you no matter what" How many times have you heard this in movies as well as real life.Mind you there's absolutely no harm in saying this IF in fact you actually mean it. But the problem is that most often you do expect something or the other from your loved one & when you dont get it you feel that you arent COMPATIBLE. Expectations are natural, if you dont expect from the one you love who else would you expect from? Your boss? your gardner?
3)TALK: Talking to your partner.Anybody can say "I love you"... people say that to their dogs too.But you gotta talk more than that to keep your relationship going.Talk about your day, discuss about your problems, talk abt your EXPECTATIONS coz your partner cant always GUESS what you want so that when you talk about what you want you'll solve point number 2.Along with the talking there is nothing wrong in doing something special once in a while for your loved one too :-) Surprise him/her, make your partner feel special, appreciate the good stuff in him/her.I feel it would go a long way in making the relationship stronger.
4)COMPATIBILITY: Again related to point number 2. What exactly does it mean to be compatible? For most people it means something that should come naturally but I beg to differ. Compatibility in a relationship means to ADJUST! Its all about adjusting to your partner. In an ideal world both d individuals in a relationship are equally understanding & adjusting but well this isnt an ideal world so atleast one of the two has to try & go that extra mile for the other. One of the two has to adjust to the mood swings, the temper of the other so that things dont get out of hand.Like i was telling a friend of mine the other day that living with me wouldnt be easy & the one who does will have to have a lotta patience to do so :-)
And if infact you do manage to do all these things and walk the aisle then the next question would be what makes a marriage work?
Simple...1234! Well atleast you would think that wont you.But here again there are a few problems. How many times have you heard of couples who've been going around for 4 yrs but suddenly find themselves incompatible soon after they are married...Lets go through the points again
1)LOVE : No time for love coz many couples feel that now that they have each other they can focus on their careers.And in doing so they lose the closeness that they shared before marriage which will eventually lead to the "You have changed after marriage" syndrome. So whether before or after marriage NEVER TAKE YOUR PARTNER FOR GRANTED.
2)EXPECTATIONS: When you're just a couple your expectations are different from that when you're married.Something in your partner which seemed cute when you were going around might just seem plain irritating once you start living with him.Doesnt mean that you have to pack your bag & run away.Ill add to this in point number 4.
3)TALK : Just coz your married doesnt mean that anything about this point has to change. Infact this holds even more true once you're married so that there is no shortage of romance in the relationship so ill keep this point exactly the same.
4)COMPATIBILITY: This according to me is the most important one.While you're dating, if you have a fight with your partner-you're really angry-you'll go back to your respective homes-after some time you'll start missing each other-he/she msgs saying "I miss you so much honey" & VOILA! PROBLEM SOLVED!
But once you're married & are living together.You have a fight-you'll ignore each other-you see him in the living room watching tv which makes you even more angry coz it MEANS that he doesnt care-you go to the kitchen & somehow ACCIDENTLY few vessels drop which obviously makes a lotta noise ,which makes him mad coz APPARENTLY she's doing it on purpose....& VOILA! DIVORCE....coz we are not compatible!

And if infact everything is fine between you & your partner then-
1)It might not Work coz religion might come in the way
2)It might not work coz she's a bitch or he's an asshole
3)It might not work coz you just dont have the money that he/she wants which again makes he/she an asshole/bitch
4)It might not work coz he/she was in it just to have a good time which again makes he/she you know what

Weekly Photo Voting! "Curiosity"

 



Ok so my 1st experiment with the "Weekly Photo Voting" didnt exactly set the world or rather the bloggers on fire coz the voting process seems to be going on at a snails pace. The voting process is in its closing stages. You can still vote for it at "Weekly Photo Voting- Boundaries" .So I thought that I'd give one final try with the "Weekly Photo Voting" for CURIOSITY, the next theme.This was ofcourse the 2nd theme of "The Post a Week". . Needless to say, the entries for this one were even better than for "Boundaries" coz the users seemed to know better about the challenge. So we'll try with this one, if it works, it works. If not atleast we'll know who were the best two for both the challenges :-) Check in at @ryan2484

The voting process would be the same as the last one. You have 1 week to caste your votes. And the nominees are-

1) Its a Small world after all!

http://connieemeraldeyes.wordpress.com

2) This is a truly curious pic of a dog & a cat. Wonder what they are thinking?

http://flickrcomments.wordpress.com

3) I guess he's telling Mark Zuckerberg that his friends dont seem to be on Fb

http://itikkecil.wordpress.com/

4) Is he one of us?

http://redneckprincess.wordpress.com

5) "Whats the matter with dis guy?"

http://ryanfernandes.wordpress.com

6) Damn! Im one hot looking dude!

http://gentlewit.com

7) How the hell do I get in there?

http://vasare.wordpress.com

8 )I seem to be everywhere!

http://pigletinportugal.wordpress.com

9) What am i looking for?

http://stickinsect.wordpress.com

10) A lot of curiosity

http://staceyarcher.wordpress.com

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What You Cant Say No To!

The "Daily Post" Challenge for today is WHAT YOU CANT SAY NO TO... Well the problem for me is not saying no, its the saying YES thats more of an issue.

Things that I cant seem to say YES to-

1) Wake up early in the morning- I guess the one who came up with the "Early to bed, early to rise..." needs to have a good one on one talk with me.

2) Exercise- Just the thought of all the pain & sweat & tears makes me go "Early to bed & rise as late as possible

3) Studying- What a bore though I must admit that this has kept away from pills, coz who needs sleeping pills, drugs when just the sight of a book can put you to sleep :-D

4) Veg Food - Pffftt... Why just stick to vegetables? Might as well eat the plastic bags, couch covers, paper wrappers

5) Turning The Other Cheek - How can you even think of telling someone who has backstabbed you "Its ok mate, my front's all yours too"

6) Forgive & Forget - Oooooh. This will have many of you shaking your heads sadly. Yeah I cant say YES to this. Coz a glass once cracked cant be fixed, you have to replace it!

7) Young Healthy Beggars- Im not giving you my money just coz you're too lazy to work for it.

8 )Watching Golf- Surely that cant be a sport! Toddlers hit the ball wherever they want to & they are amusing to watch too!

9) Animated Movies - Sorry not my animated cup of tea.

10)Blogger- Sorry guys, I have WORDPRESS! ha ha

P.S- Im glad that Im not the one bugging Classyrose today...Or Am I :-D Yes/No

Important- Dont forget to caste your vote here for the "Weekly Photo Voting"- Boundaries

Disclaimer- All the views posted in this blog are mainly fictional & tuned to keep the posts readable

 

Weekly Photo Voting - Boundaries!

 



Please do read the previous post before proceeding further.

And so here it is!!! The very 1st "Weekly Photo Challenge Championships" :-) The theme was "Boundaries". It was the very 1st Wordpress Photo Challenge. Till date there were 119 comments under the topic with almost equal number of entries. I've gone through all of them ( The ones who posted it in the Weekly Photo Challenge Topic only). The ones who didnt post it under that topic will unfortunately not get a look in. So here are the best 10. Click on the links below (Dont worry it'll open in a new tab) Remember that these were the chosen 10 from the 100 & more entries.. IIl post updates on twitter @ryan2484

1) timbond81.wordpress.com

2) pigletinportugal.wordpress.com

3) passionateaboutpets.wordpress.com

4) ryanfernandes.wordpress.com

5) kattsby.com

6) writingcanvas.wordpress.com

7) bogsofohio.wordpress.com

8 )knotrune.wordpress.com

9) nolagirlatheart.wordpress.com

10) rthde.wordpress.com

Please do read the poems & captions at the bottom of some of the pics coz they are really good... Vote widely, Voting ends next tuesday so you have a week

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