Rocking With A Rebellion Inside !

  Donno why but since pretty long I've been wondering why do I like RATM so much? I am soo strangely attracted to RATM, that I never get tired of listening to them day in n day out; over n over again! Their rebellious nature sure strikes chord with me! Especially their dig against the system in general, and the govt. in particular. Apart from their political stance which is almost always against the govt. they have, with equal energy, talked about socially relevant topics. And importantly they mean it too- firstly not only they have talked stuff, but they have also DONE stuff for the causes they talk about, and secondly when everyone (including the labels which they didn't signed initially) was thinking it was essentially bullshit they were talking about, it was just a stance pulled to shot to flimelight of nu-metal, that time RATM proved out not to be hypocrites- they have been consistently doing things and keeping their voices high on topics like
corporate America, govt.'s subjugation, short-sighted policies, cultural
imperialism, etc.

    Apart from that I think its something abt their style too, had it not been so then I might have not been keen about Regenades of Funk - its ALL covers but still I love it as well as I love. The energy and an unbeatable sound is extremely enticing and it rants not just through my ears but my brains n my body.
  They are creative in their ideas to talk of masses, rejuvenate the listener, and be a food for thought; and are equally (and nicely) sarcastic in their lyrics
      Quoting Zack himself, the purpose of them coming together under the name RATM was to " . . . bridge the gap between entertainment and activism; . . . "

Its fresh, its raw, its energetic- it will blow thru' your
body and sit in ur heart!!

She's got to Beat me MORE !

Guess its her turn now I've had my share for 20 long years!

Actually I've had my chance when small, had put up many 'all-time shows' worth remembering and seems like my part is done for! Akka has had her share [and mind u it was a biiiig share by all standards] of beating. I remember it all as if its a thing from yesterday only- it was an ritual which I followed without fail - the moment mumma-papa were out for marketing or went somewhere, I was on her. As obvious, she had IT a lot more than I used to have IT from her. Oh boy! and that variety of stuff - how will I ever forget it? Could be endless punches on her shielding hands at times (that is from the time when I was too small to remember it properly); or pulling her hairs-just pulling and/or sometimes dragging her in our house; the most common being general fighting on mummy-papa's double-bed or kitchen; and pinches/slaps/punches/tingling is but of course a part of IT all!
And then she used to bolt her room from inside or lock me in a room with my books to do away with our fights :D Between I never used to let her do that but every dog has his day ;) Mostly she used to run into bedroom before me taking a stock of the situation and bolt it from inside, or worst still run out of the room and lock me inside Sometimes the endings used to be more melodramatic- when we both used to get exhausted fighting and had to call it off- resting under fan and drinking water and eating something and the fights used to dwindle away unknowingly into nice (and off-topic) talks :) At other times one of us sometimes, unfortunately used to get more than desired (from the other sibling or some object!) and immediately the scene used to change from that of fighting to caring/sympathizing/loving. At other times her swearing that she would complain to papa-mummy used to scare me off.

The ending as anyone would guess used to be very sweet. Firstly, whenever she heard papa's scooter stopping outside- she used to ask me if she should tell them or not and . . . . . well regardless of my replies/jokes/teasers they would NEVER know about most of our sweet fights- though they knew it always and used to tell her at times NOT to be soo protective about me but then that's what sisters are for, aren't they. Secondly, the sweet part of the endings was the love that it all fostered between us. Oh how much we laugh at each other and ourselves remembering those days- whenever we get nostalgic this topic surely comes up without fail- with me wondering what made her took sooo much of beating and everyone wondering how come we fought so hard and love so deeply- well let people keep wondering; meanwhile I am sure I have the best sis in the world and we are the most loving pair around

And regarding her chance-- off late I have lost the charm I used to find in doing all that- instead I love getting it the way she used to get it!!!!!! Whenever I am home, all day long I'd tease her, prank her, pull hairs (she hates if anyone mess around with her hairs!) and tingle her a lot -- just to set her off and then I cherish a slight beating from her- the charm doubles if I get to hide, heads-down in her lap or hug her or . . . . But I never get enough of it- didn't knew a sister's beating could be soo lovely! Guess
She's got to beat me MORE, a lot more!!

Well, let the fights and the love continue . . . . . I love you akka

Obnoxious Girls!!

I won't say no one puts it the best![that'll be an over-statement]. But I love the way Bill puts it and makes Sus n Calvin flirt . If not the best its among the very best way I have come around to say IT. Well no hard feeling but frankly speaking I have stabile faith in the theory that girls are made of crazy stuff!! Anyway I will leave all these regurgitations of my 'going-around-in-circles-about-girls' mind for some later time. I was just reading "my collection of C 'n H"[catalogued] all over again and rightaway wanted to share a few of those nicely put fwd. thoughts here. Last but not the least, Bill does it marvellously and quite obviouslly is my star hero

Coming to the actual comic stuff here are some of the mootings on that[read feminine] side of the world:

Well to get this one completely you need to go thru' a few previous ones.

[. . . .Ssshh some girls are listening n I am gonna pay for this post from my nose ;) ]

Hitmaps!

      As known to anyone, people have been trying to understand and
predict the climate ever since ages. Frankly speaking I have just an iota of idea about all these thingies in details but now that I read a bit on the topic I am able to say a few things that I know them. Going about studying climate, Statistical methods are more about collecting data and banging your head [read applying Numerical Methods!] against the data. Smarter way to do so might be mathematical modelling only! You at least require some mathematics to predict stuff!
    They have been largely following 2 methods for this viz, simplified and approximated models which work with some restricted parameters like, location specific models, atmospheric-conditions specific models, etc. These will neglect effects of small things or approximate them but more complicated modelling includes many more miniscule details than these restricted models. And they do need to know what all can happen- mathematically and practically- with small small changes brought out in these parameters. Climateprediction is one such ongoing project at the Open Univ, UK. Their vision is to "improve methods to quantify uncertainties of climate projections and scenarios,including long-term ensemble simulations using complex models."
    Now since they needed to test run their models and use a truly random dataset of conditions to test run their models and at the same time needed to keep a track of who is running their model where on the face of the earth. So to locate the users downloading their models Jiri came up with Hitmaps! Using these its been a matter of click only to locate people using their climate-prediction s/w. What Hitmap actually do is to display the [approximate] physical location of visitor to their site. A database relating user's IP to geographical location is needed as hitmaps take the IP and simply display whatever location it gets based on IP, on the geo. map. Well in the first place authenticity and accuracy of locating IPs on a map is difficult to establish. But on a larger scale with a broader look like this, it works fine.

      But this is only the start, what Marc's team is actually trying to achieve is what they prefer to call "enhanced presence management " as they have explained in their philosophy!(w.r.t. instant messaging!) One of the futuristic vision of the people [Yanna] working on this project is research on ". . . . 'presence' in the online and wireless connected world and [to]investigates the potential of massive multiplayer games and playful multi-user interaction based purely on 'presence' information." I am clueless as to what kind of games that would be or how this techno. could be exploited in games already available. May be 'coz as I said I have next to an iota of idea about all this techno. and may be 'coz I am not a gamer. Someone pls. enlighten me, if you can!
   But nevertheless, at least this project satisfies my curiosity of keeping track of the geographical presence of the people reading this .The principle behind it is "Hits to a web page are collected by including the thumbnail HitMap image into the page (as the one at the top of this page). The IP of the page requester is translated into geographical coordinates and stored in a database. Once a day, the Hitmaps map images (the thumbnail image and the rest of maps it links to) are updated according to the database" as stated on hitmap's website.

      Unfortunately, as of now they are moving their servers and hence no more new users are allowed to register. I will be putting up one hitmap for this blog to but lets see how long they take

from fwd. mails!

A rhyme from some fwd. mail:

Jackwa aur Jilwa
Gaye upar Hilwa
Pani bhari ke waste.
Jackwa gir gawa, uka khopdi fut gawa
aur jilwa aawat ludhkan pure raste!!!!

"I do not know where family doctors acquired illegibly perplexing handwriting nevertheless, extraordinary pharmaceutical intellectuality counterbalancing indecipherability, transcendentalizes intercommunications' incomprehensibleness".
This is a sentence where the Nth word is N letters long. e.g. 3rd word is 3 letters long, 8th word is 8 letters long and so on . . . . [vocabulary apart this suits so well to akka]

The Natural Progression of a Relationship !

      I don't have any slightest ideas as to from where I copied this! Its from some site (you can google and also lemme know, I'm too lazy to do that now!). I'm not sure if it applies to others too or how commonplace is this procedure of falling in love; but I feel the same in my case! And of course, would like to know how others feel about it.
      During 'Diwali cleanliness drive' I found this deep inside one of my folders - Oh by the way I was cleaning my Hard Disk. Thought would share this with others too!

So n'joy being in love . . . .

1) Interest and Attraction -- this is where two people initially see or meet each other and decide they both want to get to know each other better.
2) Infatuation and Falling in Love -- this is the stage where you become blinded by your emotions and oftentimes behave like a love-sick puppy dog. The attention and mushiness of the other person makes you feel really great about yourself and you begin to fall "in love".This is all about how YOU feel about yourself because of the other person. IT is NOT love. It is that thing that reduces you to a slobbering fool who speaks in "baby talk".
3) The Comfort Zone -- this is where you start to relax, and move out of the infatuation stage into something more "real". This is also the time where feelings begin to deepen towards the other person while experiencing a reduced feeling of being "in love".
After being in this stage for awhile many people make the mistake of thinking the relationship is in trouble because they aren't still infatuated. In reality, the relationship is beginning to grow into Mature Love. So many people bail at this point and never actually reach the "Love" stage.
4) Mature Love -- this is the real deal, folks. You have reached the point of having a genuinely mature relationship, that, if you have chosen the right partner, is a beautiful thing.

Reaching Stage 4 doesn't mean the fun is all over, though. You can and will go from stage to stage at different times throughout the relationship. You can even learn to do things that will make you and your partner feel infatuated and falling in love all over again. Most relationships are either made or broken during the Comfort Zone.

Actually Happy Diwali

      Fortunately tonite wasn't like the rest of the 3 diwali nights I have spent in hostel! Couldn't be home even though had got reservation in advance! Had to sell off the tickets to a friend since end-sems are closing in real fast; of course without me getting serious about them
      Anyways, the first year diwali was the worst :( For the first time I was not at home (thankfully didi was there with papa-mumma!) and I was kind of very lonely on diwali night. I still remember how I had slept till late evening whereas Ishank had cleaned the room and took a bath and was moving out for dinner! I took a bath and by that time whole wing was deserted (half had already gone to their hometowns). Around 10pm these wingmates came in with crackers and asked me out to be with them, bursting crackers! That time only saw my spirits slightly uplifted (of course a missed dinner and no sweets must have had added to my plight- though I don't remember what was it, except it all being sad enough to make me hate anymore diwalis in hostel).

      Second and third year's diwalis must also have been too casual, since I don't remember anything about them! This year was kind of dull at start. I hadn't been out of my room till evening. Actually had got up late! (at lunch time and ate and took ages to check mails and read slashdot. Played a bit on my comp and watched a movie (Before Sunset). It was Vardan who came up late in the evening telling me to get ready and "we are leaving, to eat out." I generally got ready without much on my mind!

But I must thank you ALL for the lovely evening. Vardan, Atin, Ishank and myself went to Hiranandani and had large pizza with coke and icecream at Baskin Robbins . I wanted to be there only till late in night but had to come back pretty soon (around 8:30 only, since had Ranjeet's dinner with us!). I wanted to just be with wingmates- may be kind of sitting someone in HN and generally having a talk or silent moments together, watching crackers bursted, happy faces all around, some bird-watching, etc.
    But nevertheless, it was a wonderful evening, came in hostel and had fun for a few hours, they were bursting big crackers in wing corridor, fking the hells out of my ears! I hate those biig bombs; anything that harsh/loud makes me freak out. But still with wingmates, donno how I actually enjoyed that! Called it a day finally at around 12; back to room, behind a closed door since some friend came online. Slept happy-happy and glad to be here this diwali :)
Well on the same lines, I wish to be at Uncle's home in Borivali some diwali too; which diwali has yet not came.

~! Alive !~

. . . . yeah still alive! and I am soo glad about it, and so thankful
Actually was reminded about Sachin again and was feeling sad at missing him like this . But also was thankful for being alive myself ! It all reminds me of those really chancy things I have done at some point in my life!
      Well.. I am sure some scarry ones are slipping me but I'd rather not force myself to think of ALL of such chances - so good for me, lest I'll be I am more afraid to take risks and more thankful to some unknown(so called GOD?) Still some of them were these weird, read on . . .

      *   Must have not been more than 5 years old. u know that kind of cute, chweet, ignorant, playful, loving-all kind of kid next door who is ..... (Oh enough of it- you know how wonderful I am ). There were these 2 kittens in neighbourhood (South Civil Lines, Jabalpur!) - the brown one quite playful and that damned white one was sooo elusive. As usual like you, I am also not satisfied with whatever is in hand. Afterall 2 birds in bushes are better than one in hand eh? Went after that white kitty one day- climbing the narrow boundary wall (covered with slime n algae from rains); climbed using a iron gate which lay useless supported against that wall. I remember it was rinky-minky's home! (Ohh how much we 3 played whole day together! Donno where they both will be I dont even rem how they looked like!). Anyway as usual that kitten disappeared in a wink over the roof - IT went UP and I came DOWN! Oh boy some fall that was- rolled over that iron gate and fell head-down on bricks in rinky-minky's garden. The scar on my scalp still reminds me of those stitches!
          . . and I recollect things (from my folks description later) - how MUMMA was having this gut-feeling of all it since evening before I went to play and was sitting whole time in the window! Oh God! who gave these moms, sisters and girls this sixth sense. Damn they always get me- cannot even lie to them :(

      *   Oh and that "sholay" show . Diwali night in our home in indore- I must have been in 10th or 11th standard. Sholay was being broadcasted on Doordarshaan and we all were having a nice time with Amitabh when suddenly lights went off! Akka went out to realise some arbitrary sounds coming from nearby and some burning smell!! Goshh it was our electric meter's wiring on fire. I had to(and I did) pull the main-switch off, with the electric meter burning a few centimeters away from it! (huhhh I have never seen sholay completely in one go).

      *   It was first year- working in MoodIndigo (college cult fest) as organiser. Some guests were to come in some house next morning and it was very late in the nite when we realised the lights in that place weren't working. Without any help foreseen from power house people, we 2-3 guys went with candles and I fixed the LIVE thing at the electric meter (ever seen those 4 wires going into the meter from below - 2 coming from main-lines and 2 going inside the mainswitch and then inside the home-line). It had to be that way(live) since those coming from mainlines cannot be switched off !.. Ha Ha Ha

      *   And how dumb of me to put my beloved at risk with me It was during the joining of 2004 freshies' batch when anshema was here with anshul! That time those panthers were being too bitchy- chasing people on even main road and killing a few poor souls around this area! Anshul had college work so used to sleep early at nite. And of course mausaji-mausiji both slept early , leaving we both IITians lukhha 'n sleepless at night (nothing unusual for any IITian!). Actually anshema and I were going around walking alone on absolutely deserted roads (in the campus only!)- with even security people, patrolling at night, telling us to call it a day off and go and sleep, on more than one occasion. Now i realise how foolish it was to put our life in jeopardy like that.

      *   Recently went out on bike to purchase something from opposite IIT maingate at midnite. Coming out of the IIT gate on the highway, the traffic lights are yellow at night time (Yellow=wait, SEE and go). Not wanting to slow down I straightaway headed to cross the road (no wait and no see, just GO!). And it was the same nite when a few hours later we lost Sachin in a road accident. Next morning I was soo distressed as well as frightened listening about his accident and my driving...... well still I am speechless! Could have been me too, u never know!

      But all is well that ends well and it has been ending its best all the time I take a plunge off the cliff! And I am thankful to my stars that I am sitting here writing this blog. There have been soo many other incidents n small accidents that make me realise the need to be definitely more careful next time!

      Between I think small accidents should keep happening once in a while- they keep shaking us into reality and defying our presumptions like, " How can something bad happen to me? Nahh Nahh I am just fine and I can do whatever I want to do - after all such things happen in news 'n movies only, and that too, to others! I am good person and I will die old! "

She´s a Rainbow

      Can listen to it day in and day out. In fact since last two days my playlists have come and gone like wind but this one song still managed to hold on to all my playlists ! enjoy . . .

-by The Rolling Stones
[download]

She comes in colors everywhere;
She combs her hair
She’s like a rainbow
Coming, colors in the air
Oh, everywhere
She comes in colors.

She comes in colors ev’rywhere;
She combs her hair
She’s like a rainbow
Coming, colors in the air
Oh, everywhere
She comes in colors.

Have you seen her dressed in blue?
See the sky in front of you
And her face is like a sail
Speck of white so fair and pale
Have you seen a lady fairer?

She comes in colors ev’rywhere;
She combs her hair
She’s like a rainbow
Coming, colors in the air
Oh, everywhere
She comes in colors.

Have you seen her all in gold?
Like a queen in days of old
She shoots her colors all around
Like a sunset going down
Have you seen a lady fairer?

She comes in colors ev’rywhere;
She combs her hair
She’s like a rainbow
Coming, colors in the air
Oh, everywhere
She comes in colors.

She’s like a rainbow
Coming, colors in the air
Oh, everywhere
She comes in colors .

Rain Rain ........delight my ears again !

      Guess what? ... me continuing with my obsession with rains What if its not raining, its raining in my heart!
      Actually searched for rain*.mp3 in my songs folder and got all these 28 songs ! Oh gawddddd I never collected songs specifically with rains in my mind; but then I am glad to have suchaaa nice 'rainfull' collection, especially since I have it unknowingly.
      And the ones which deserve a mention are:

      - January Rain by David Gray [OST of Serendipity ]
      - She's A Rainbow by The Rolling Stones[download]
      - Box Of Rain by The Grateful Dead
      - Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head by B.J.Thomas.
              [someone plss explain this song to me!]
      - Have You Ever Seen the Rain by The Divided Highway
              (can you search this song on net?)
      - Buckets Of Rain by Bob Dylan.
      - Water Color In The Rain by Roxette.
      - Queen Of Rain by Roxette.
      - Caught In The Rain by Revis.
      - Only Happy When it Rains by Garbage.

      Oh and by the way they have said,
          "Rain rain! come again, and
            take away all the pains!"

something something.....

Its been a long time ... pretty long ... I was afraid if I dont write something fast then it'll be a month between 2 posts ! Will my blog hate me for that ? Or will I hate myself to be soo busy killing time that I didn't got time! Or if someone reads this blog later and finds no posts for so long what would (s)he think ("you lazy bone, ashish") ??
Well one might wonder what could be the reason for not posting so long (did I say I was busy killing time ?) and again wonder why posting now. Nahh you got it wrong- my blog won't hate me ever and I am too lazy/freewheeling to give it a damn what others gotta think!! Well there is this guilty concious in me and its shouting its head up! but still I wont stick my ass on this chair to write simply 'coz of some reason like that ! ... Oh reason .....

Oops! divagated again !

..... we were on the the reason why I am back here- its 'coz IT RAINED LAST NIGHT . Hey in fact no posting since Orphic Rains sure makes these 2 postings uniterrupted and a kind of sequel!!

Anyway I was saying it rained last night ! It rained and oh boy! it did rained graciously. I was soo overwhelmed. Donno actually why? Shouldn't have been ! Although rains came after weeks of dryness and mostly everyone enjoyed it (except, of course, those who got washed over or got struck at places ) but I was more aroused than I think I should have been.

The effect lasted a few hours wherein fortunately no wingmate minded the high volume songs and my delirium; in which I wanted someone to go to lake side for a walk ! (though missed going there)
And here are a few lines I sent to friends on messenger; wanted to talk to someone who loves rains

".......else everything is soo damn exotic rite now .. it rained and its suchaa nice cold breeze .. I am feeling on top of the world and soft light romantic music ..... its like .. .its all soo wonderful .... "

Soo childish isn't it ? hmmm so how does the child inside you shows up?