October 27, 2008
After a long time away!
Hello everybody! Missed ya all!
I have no explanations for my self imposed exile, but like always everything happens for a reason. I have been travelling a lot past few months and I had a bunch of odds and sods left over to take care during my non-writing phase. So what’s new? I have listed down things I would like to get done and I am not a victim of desire. This is in no particular order but I would like the last one to happen at the end. Here it goes:
- Open a restaurant, very chic in style!
- Learn to whistle
- Deliver a non-political, non-preachy speech to a large group of people abt something and they are all amazed, loads of applause, wow murmurs etc doing its rounds
- Learn any kind of dance form
- Write n publish a book
- Learn to blow a bubblegum
- Buy a house and all electronic products should be wireless. Absolutely no wires seen!
- Start a start-up
- Taste all cuisines in the world
- Learn to fly a kite
- Sit in the cockpit with the pilot and enjoy the experience
- Write a script and screenplay for a movie
- Drive in the Autobahn
- Be a bartender in Mauritius for a week – *just for kicks*
- Create my family tree starting 5 generations back
- Fart in a crowded place and pretend like nothing happened
- Donate a bench to a public park and get my name engraved on it. The bench stays there till the end of the world. (If the engraving is a bit too much, I would just write “RJ was here” with a permanent marker!!)
- Learn a foreign language, probably Russian or German
- To meet my dream girl in the most filmy way (at the train station, she drops her books, I help her & rest you see is 30 secs of battering eyelashes :D)
- To have washboard abs (We recently had a seminar on “how to not set unrealistic expectations?”)
- I want to skydive and I know I am getting closer to the next one
- To die without pain
Okay! Here’s the deal. I haven’t started working on any of these as yet. I have no plans laid yet, but I will. You guys know what you have to do – let me see your bucket list!
By the way, I just checked the first look of Ghajini and I am speechless. Take a look.
August 25, 2008
Brillante!
Nikhil “humility” Kumar awarded me this Brillante Weblog Premio – 2008 award which I still don’t really understand completely. But my nature and attitude allows me to pick up all awards and gifts presented anytime anywhere, I gladly accept this award. Thanks macha!
Now, the rule is to pass on this award to 8 fella bloggers, this part I don’t cherish! So here goes the list:
1. Sandeep
2. Meghana
3. Bhavna
4. Nikhil
5. Priya
6. Smallstar
7. Nova
8. Scorpria
This is my list of 8 best-est blogs and these fellas deserve all awards of all times. Even if you guys have been awarded already, you just deserve the award one more time & DO NOT PASS IT ON. Cheers!!
August 15, 2008
60 & moving forward!
A feeling haunted me when I watched Swades. The same feeling haunted me when some of my friends back in India said, “RJ, I never want to leave India and work abroad. I want to do something here.” One of my other friends left his lucrative job and opened a startup in Mumbai. It’s an inner feeling that questions me all the time. “Do you really want to work with these whites for them or work for the brown back in India?” (The assumption is usage of white, black or brown won’t be considered racist and is used in a non-offending manner) The inner self had no answers, moreover I liked working here because of the experience I got and working in a global cosmo environment helped me grow professionally and personally.
I am not a stolid kind of person and feel very close and emotional about August 15th. I feel excited also as the India newspaper read “Deepika Padukone to lead I-day parade in New York” Whoa! I screamed out loud, “Deepika aarahi hain..yeah!” It was all a plethora of mixed reactions inside me. “What am I doing here?…quick money…do something for India …Aditya’s startup…Indians aboard…Deepika….India…green card…Phew!” Amidst all these reactions a new heading captured my attention. It was something like this “Manmohan says Indian diaspora an inspiration” It also felt, “Lauding the contributions of the Indian diaspora, who number some 25 million in over 130 countries, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said they were a source of “inspiration” for their country of origin.” Inspiration! Damn! The PM also stated we are India’s unofficial ambassadors. Those made me feel somewhat good the reactions still in my mind going on. “Deepika…What am I doing here…no Ranbir…wow…India..Independence Day………”
We have come a long way with regards to information technology, infrastructure, science, swanky malls & even standard of living. The mid 20s, early 30s is earning more than their parent’s joint income annually. Moreover, no foreign country gives me the mouth watering roadside pani puri wala! Having said all of this, I was wondering where are we lacking and where we have to get eventually.
Is it the politicians? Illiterate folks? Ignorance of the literate folks? Education system? Community based decisions? Population? or something called an attitude which reads “Responsible Indian”
Give me you views and opinions and let’s all get together to take India to the next level. Let’s start with the next 5 years. What are the things that should happen in the next 5, 15, 20 years? Speak out!
Happy Independence Day
~RJ
August 4, 2008
Roomie, me & machines
There’s no other reason to the self-imposed exile than work. Also, neither did I get engaged or got married secretly. It’s been work all while along. Apart from this operose madness, I did something innerving, exhilarating two weeks back and have to share. I test drove cars!! Brand new, luxurious, sporty cars!! This may sound boring to people but it served as a anodyne to my work pain.
The reason behind me getting such an opportunity is my rich bastardrommie wants to spend 40k USD on a sports sedan so that he could improve his driving experience & attract girls 😀 (Roomie – the latter is not happening in a lifetime) The reason I am talking about his driving experience is because he drives a 93 stick shift Corolla, driven 160k miles!! He claims it to be a V6 engine and I doubt that they had all those in olden days 😛
So here was our foolproof plan. I sent out an out of office mail claiming my car broke down and for easier reading we will call my roomie Mr. Ass henceforth in this post. So my roomie oops!..Mr. Ass sent out a migrane day note. We had the day off and the plan was to visit Infiti, BMW, Audi & Acura in that order. Mr. Ass was eyeing Infiniti’s G35, BMW’s 328 xi, Audi A4 & Acura TL. Now, these cars fall under the luxurious category when compared to the regular sedans like Accord, Civic, Altima, Camry, Corolla. We test drove all the 4 cars and realised quiet late that when BMW couldn’t make an impression over the Infiniti the others were way behind.
My off day went pretty well when I got to drive these machines. There are a million packages you can add to enhance the luxury but the simple thought of limiting your choice was a big learning I would keep in mind while shopping around for car. To choose one from four wasn’t a big deal at all.
What adds luxury is the power, technology, mileage, resale value, maintenance & the class. Infiniti G35 was one up than the rest. An AWD (all wheel drive), V6 engine, 300 hp, 0-60 in 6 secs, navigation system, front heated seats is a sports car with the premium luxury touch. I personally like black colored cars but Mr. Ass had made up his mind on a blue slate with black interiors.
Mr. Ass – Congratulations on your new G35!
July 17, 2008
I am saving energy! *grin*
Hey Folks! This week and last week have been extremely busy and moreover me and my sexy-looking-polka-dots-hair-falling-over-forehead boss are getting closer day by day. Before you read my mind out, we are just having more meetings! I was out of the blogging space for a good two weeks and stuck with aphonic commenting. But, I got news to share! Good green news!
I was watching the IIFA awards with my friend over the weekend and the “Green Project” caught my attention. Basically, all stars talking about global warming and effects of it and how we could all prevent it and save planet earth. AB said:
If not you, who? If not earth, where? If not now, when?
These words make more sense than mere words when converted into thoughts, I thought. I asked myself, What the *faraday* I have been doing lately to save energy in any form? So day-before yesterday we (me and assholemy roomie) were on a energy saving mission. We called it the bulb changing day. Here’s the step by step process to do it.
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Count the number of incandescent bulbs aka energy sucker bulbs in your house
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Notice the unwanted watts you have been burning and make your roomie feel guilty
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Give a long philosophical speech about global warming and steal AB’s words – believe me it gives you that extra kick and feel!
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The roomie feels more guilty, convince him to drive till walmart and get new energy saver bulbs. He retorts in negation and that’s when you know you got to accompany him
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Get new evergy saver bulbs, light up the house and feel proud of saving some energy
On a serious note, this may be just one small step to save energy in turn save earth, but there are a million ways you can do it. I am not gonna preach the different ways but everyone of us has a role to play. Since everybody is talking about global warming, saving planet earth, life existence in mars, let’s just concentrate the help. Blog fellas – let me know your contribution, if you may or your plan!
July 10, 2008
Flucked it..Oops! Flicked it!
Poo tagged me with to create a mosaic of pictures using flickr associated with the questions below. Here’s my arty work. Let me know if you guys like it. I am not doing any more tags this month! 😀
The rules for the Flickr Tag:
1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
2. Using only the first page, pick an image.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker
1. What is your first name?
Bharathiraja. My parents couldn’t find a shorter name for me 😀 I call myself RJ, I (*not it*) couldn’t get any longer than this!
2. What is your favorite food? Right now?
Empanadas. It’s lunch time & I am hungry!
3. What high school did you go to?
Khalsa College. I couldn’t find my school pictures 😦 Btw, I went to Sri Ma Bal Niketan High School. Long name again!
4. What is your favorite color?
Black
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
Angelina Jolie – Do I have to mention my reasons?
6. Favorite drink?
Mango Lassi
7. Dream vacation?
Cuba – for the salsa dancing and Havana!
8. Favorite dessert?
Ice-cream (any flavour) – The one in the picture is so yummmy nooo?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
A healthy happy man
10. What do you love most in life?
Peace
11. One Word to describe you.
Flamboyant
12. Your flickr name.
Fluckr Boy, it was a typo! I realised it after clicking submit *OOPS! ;)*
Like always, I tag ALL my fella bloggers on my blogroll! 😀 Don’t hate me! Thanks Poo, this was a fun tag!
July 8, 2008
L for love, P for poem, T for tag!
I was sick of writing about movies (Hancock sucks btw, regular superhero stuff no big thing!) for the past few days. I wanted to do something fun and thought about writing a poem, a love poem – in a very clichéd style! So here’s the deal – you get transformed to this 4th grade version of you, make the poem ultra cute and super sweet, filled with innocence and write about Love! Here’s my take on it – though it wouldn’t have changed much even if I hadn’t transformed to my younger version! 🙂 [P.S. Everybody on my blogroll is tagged! including Reema :D]
Title: Two minutes
Give me two minutes,
Spare me two thoughts,
Remember me, I am at a far far place apart
Call me once,
Make me bounce,
Two minutes, spare me two thoughts!
Wishes come true,
Hope floats,
The days run by at pace,
And you are so so near,
Call me once
Make me bounce
Two minutes, spare me two thoughts!
The miles doesn’t matter,
And the times doesn’t matter,
The moments it is that does matter,
Call me once
Make me bounce
Two minutes, spare me two thoughts!
Friendly minutes those were,
Or should I call it love,
Soul is mine and I call it life!
Call me once
Make me bounce
Two minutes, spare me two thoughts!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
July 5, 2008
Jaane Too cute!
Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na (Imran Khan, Genelia)
It’s cute. Go for it! First things first, major credit of this movie goes to Abbas Tyrewala. We all knew him as this amazing scriptwriter and he’s no less a director. It’s Aamir Khan, so Imran Khan and it was QSQT so it is NOT Jaane Tu. Both the movies are love stories but there’s no comparison whatsoever. The self stabbing scene was serious and probably late 80s or early 90s stuff( people stab each others now! 😀 ), but Jaane Tu joins the league of cute, romantic, to-be-liked-by-macho-guys love stories (Read: Fresh!)
Right from scene one the movie comes as a cool zephyr, trust me a much needed one! Its a simple ‘friendship turns love’ story, every frame shot with loads of sweetness, innocence and cuteness. Probably, Imran’s perfect launch pad, Genelia is cute (did I say cute again?) and whoa they make a perfect couple for this kinda story! The rest of the cast is perfect and few new fresh faces with no over dramatic roles. Yea! there’s 3 guest appearances and they were all funny and cute! Cute again!
Jai (Imran Khan) has a best friend Aditi (Genelia) and they call each other Rats and Meow. Cute nooo? No, they don’t love each other but their chemistry is intense. They are on the phone all the time, extremely possessive about each other but they don’t love each other. What happens next? Aditi finds a girl for her best friend and Jai decides to do they same thing for Aditi. And we all know how it ends when things start to shape like this. Its a fun ride, its about friendship, best friends, relationships & love.
Most of the scenes are executed nicely but one particular scene to mention is when Aditi and Jai dance with their respective fiance` and stare at each other. There was that special something about the scene. Folks – send me your reactions to the movie plus your thoughts on best friends as best friends and best friends as that special someone. What happens to your possessiveness after you meet your special someone?
Rating – 3.5/5
July 3, 2008
Weekend Special
I have been watching movies like a mad man over the last weekend and continue to do so. It’s been some fye food, cool movies and the much needed relaxation all past week. Close friends know that I am a crazy movie buff and for me movies need not leave a long lasting impression. If the movie manages to entertain me for that 133 mins, I would be a happiest person on the face of this earth! Read on – no spoilers!
Movie #1 – Wanted (James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman)
First things first, tattoed Angelina is sexy as ever! The movie begins with the cubicle life of Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) who googles his name everyday to find out where his life is moving. Ofcourse, the search result was “No standard web pages containing all your search terms were found”
He is confused, like all of us and his life was taken for a ride by his boss, his girlfriend and his best friend. This is when he meets Fox (Angelina Jolie..hmmmm!) who changes his life completely. She is sent from the “Fraternity” to protect Wesley from the murdered who killed his father. Fraternity (group of assasins) is lead by Sloan (Morgan Freeman) who is in his coolest best as always. The Fraternity forces Wesley to take a series a tranining sessions. One interesting stuff was to bend a bullet – the movie should have been named “Bend it like Wesley!”
You could also get to see hollywoodish style Rajnikant movies, the 2 bullets killing each other & bullets travelling in a circular motion! all in all a flick you can sit back, relax and watch. Leave your brains and mind back home! The movie ends with a thought provoking dialogue (atleast for me) – “What the fuck have you been doing lately?”
P.S Guys – There is a 5 millisec tattoed back Angelina! Enjoyable butt just 5 millisecs!
Rating – 3/5
Movie #2 – Get Smart (Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway)
Maxwell Smart aka Agent 86 (Steve Carell) and Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) work in a U.S spy agency. Long story short, they partner to fight when the U.S spy agency control is attacked. Its a comedy flick with Agent 86 is at his expression best!
The film is would get you a occasional smile but its nowhere close to the out and out comedy you would expect. Agent 86 and Agent 99 have a chemistry goin all thoughout and you have to watch it to figure that out. Agent 86’s silliness or Agent 99’s delicious looks? What would you root for? All in all a DVD watch!
Rating – 2.5/5
The other movies that I watched over the weekend and this week are My Mom’s new Boyfriend (2.5/5), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (4/5). I am watching ‘Paradise Now’ now.
Drooling over Angelina,
~RJ
July 1, 2008
Branded!
This is Nik’s brand tag and this had been pending for a few days now. My brand post is not that neat as others, but I had a tough time adding a million images and also making them look good. Don’t curse me for that – coz’ I know it’s bad 🙂
Numerous brands move us in our day to day life. It doesn’t matter if we wear branded clothes or if we are brand conscious. What matters is are we branded in terms of people who move us? I think brands are like relationships. Do you maintain a good friendship brand? Are your loyal and caring in your relationship brand? Let the real brands prevail.
Okay, that’s too much philosophy for the day! Here we go, with the list of brand that move me in the day. I couldn’t find images for “Bajaj Almond Oil” 🙂
6:30 AM
7:30 AM
9:00 AM
12:00 PM
3:00 PM
5:00 PM
6:45 PM
Especiality! 