Abhi picture baaki hai mere dost !

Freaks Inc.. Bengaluru.. 15 years 2 months and 8 days later.. Agenda for the meeting:

Day 1

1. Paying our respects to the beginning of time Goli Saar - Sporadically throughout the evening 

2. Yaar.. kuch cheejein hote hai yaar - 30 mins

3. Deliberation over why Carlos Alcaraz is no match to Marw - 30 mins

4. Why Ranveer Singh is the Ashoke Dinda of Bolywood?  - 30 mins

5. Who is Mithun Minhas and how he helped shape Goli's perspective on life? - 30 mins

6. Khaana, peena - Rest of the evening, night

Day 2.

7. Lunch and some more of UMBC musings

8. Bringing it all back a la "Balls telling the story to Thomas" - 30 mins

--- more to follow

Phew! I Graduated !!!!!

As I came back from my graduation ceremony, I wondered, whether it was worth waking up 6 in the morning to get ready and reach the place wearing the regalia for endless speeches, a final 5 second handshake, couple of photo shoots, and a fake diploma with a promise to send the actual diploma soon.

As I reached home I read this congratulatory email that said, "You have reached the epitome of success!" from Ash. But the next line in the email is actually what I have been thinking, as I sat through those endless monologues , "How's that working out for you?"

And although, I would admit, the degree itself did not matter at all. I had lost all hopes of ever getting a Masters and would be sitting in the ceremony. But somehow I pulled through all that to get my Masters and looking back, it really looks surreal to me today. I don't know how I managed it and probably will never be able to replicate this in future.

I have yet to feel the degree to have an impact on my professional life and career, but I will try to be optimistic here and believe in an old adage, "Hard Work will pay" some day!

But I would say the journey was the most interesting part of it. Without graduate life, I wouldn't have met the Freaks and friends of Freaks - some of them who I am pretty close too. Without the thesis work, I wouldn't have worked with an advisor who is a stickler for perfection and kind of helped me in some areas too. Without this all the endless parties, trips with the freaks would have never happened. Without this, participating in each others joys and sorrows would not have been possible. So as I look back I actually got a lot from my graduation.

I find myself still here in Baltimore and everyone has gone places. But as I graduate today, I think people are moving on and my graduation marks my time has come to move on too. Probably migrate to newer places but still do 'glorified cribbing' of the times in Baltimore and elsewhere with the Freaks!

Oh Brother, where art thou ?

Was just persuing through our blog roll and saw that the last blog was way back in October. Yes, a lot has changed since then. Many are busy making their better halves "comfortable", some with shorts and some without (pun intended). Though we all are equally culpable for this lack of activity, a stark observation is that, the man who lives and swears by our blog didnt get a chance to add his two cents and I hope that we dont have to wait more for his third offering after Lust and Wrath which were true gems in my mind.
So much for the rant, I wanted to just kick off some new year activity, to add something to the archives of Feb 2008 which truly is what my blogs are worth. Not an excuse, but here are the significant happenings over the past three or so months due to which Freaks Inc was inactive.

Best of the best: A full day with Vani, Goli, Shruti, Balls, Vcd and Jhadiya just roaming around on the streets of Bombay and a dinner in this itsy-bitsy but awesome Chinese restaurant in Bandra reclamation. Sheer co-incidence.. but well worth it.

Now individual honors:

1. Balls - His Orkut profile once read " Its my way or the highway".. the man has settled down..kyunki " yaar.. settle ho jaana mangta hai" ( with a beer in hand on the beaches of Outer banks, NC). All set to be married in May of this year, he makes quite a pair with his significant other Ramya, a fact that was put forth in his engagement ceremony in Bombay. May God bless the couple ( read Ramya) good luck for days to come. Way to go brother !

2. Kausum: The man was so busy with his thesis that he forgot eating, enjoying, blogging and plagiarising ;-). But nothing can debate the clinical approach with which he completed his second thesis in a row ( both he and Balls know which was the first one :-) ). So, Kausum is finally Masters in Electrical Engineering from the Univ of MD, Baltimore County and will be taking the walk this May. Congrats Kausum....in anticipation for a vice-versa from you Circa 2014.

3. Marw: Was busy with the ATP Masters and master-minded Federer's fall at the hands of Djokovic at this years Australian open, walking the talk in his autobiography " balls.. they are over-rated"

4. Vcd: Still checks the blog on a regular basis but cannot comment because there are no blogs. Vcd managed to be in India and multi-task ( Marw style) and attend multiple marriages and engagement ceremonies. Also played a gracious host cum driver when Vani, Goli, Shruti and I were at his place before Ballsy's engagement ceremony

5. Todd: Is coping pretty well after a three year live-in relationship with Balls. Feel for you bro.. while you were in and out of the relationship both. Apart from that managing work and his musical shows while churning out Kabab stories by the dozen.

6.Jhadiya : Umm..aargh..ummm..aaargh..aaarggh.. Sachin..Prathmesh..IBM.. ummm.... aaargh.. ummm..aargh.. enough said !

7. Bhaiyya: Comfortable sa hai.. he has found a good charger for his Motorola V 810 finally. Set up an aquarium at his new place. Never blogged so lets leave it at that.

8. Goli: Well settled and happy..the Pitamaha of our group continues to baffle everyone with his logarithmic and exponential age and experience. Still working on getting a sense of humor !

9. Mike: Bore ho gaya to Green Card ke liye apply kar diya.. got his Advanced Parole and now is vacationing in India.

And finally urs truly.. got married on 6th of December and since then doing two sets of laundry ( whites and non whites), cleaning the house, washing utensils and ironing clothes while relocating to Saddle Brook, NJ.. second relocation in the past year, meanwhile churning out yet another worthless blog. Coming to terms with a life I had no clue about and adjusting well.. I assume. Waiting to play a good host next weekend to Ballsy, Todd and Kausum. Will surely have champagne to celebrate our achievements.

- Aup

Yet another top ten list

As with almost every other discussion with Balls the one from yesterday ended the same way: Tera top 10 XYZ of all time kya hai? (Yesterday's XYZ being Hindi songs).

My list as of yesterday looked something like this:
10. JJWS - Pehla nasha
9. Masoom - Tujhse Naaraz Nahin Zindagi
8. Yaarana - Chookar mere mann ko
7. Chaudvi ka Chaand - Chaudvi ka Chaand
6. Yaadon ki Baarat - Chura Liya hain tumne
5. Padosan - Ek chatur naar
4. Golmaal - Aane waala pal
3. Safar - Zindagi ka safar (Sorry Balls, a bit of cheating here :-) )
2. Kabhi kabhi - Kabhi kabhi mere dil me
1. Pyaasa - Jaane woh kaise log the

What does your Top-10-Hindi-songs-of-all-time list look like?

Hum Jeet gaye...Hum jeet gaye

Immediately after Sreesanth lapped up the now world famous skier, I received an email from vcd "In the immortal words of Ram Singh from Lagaan - Hum jeet gaye! Hum jeet gaye"!!! Its been a day and I still haven't gotten over that sensational bit of news. I, an enternal purist always had my doubts about this format of the game. Taking another cue from Lagaan I thought it was "sadiyal, bhaddha sa khel". Now that India has won, I absolutely have no doubt that it would be humongously popular in India culminating in more tournaments and better packaging which in my opinion will lead to replacing the 50 over game.

Most of the blogs or articles I've read have re-iterated the fact that India have found a new father figure in Dhoni and the togetherness is at a new level etc etc. We've always been a nation who has adored their batsman much more than anything else just like Pakistan is obsessed with their pace bowlers. Dhoni was the first person to point out that this victory was a tribute to some exceptional bowling on our part throughout this tournament. I would like to go a step ahead and point out the influence of Venky Prasad and one of all time favorite ODI cricketers Robin Singh for their influence.

Its no co-incidence that our bowling has improved by leaps and bounds after Venky was brought on board. Zaheer and Arpy consistently troubled the Pommies during our summer tour to England. Arpy and Irfan then carried on the good work into T-20 WC as well which eventually led to our victory. Our fielding was in fantastic shape...a direct hit at a crucial juncture in almost every match was enough evidence on our sharpness on the field and more importantly the key ingredient that we have been missing for a while. I've always felt that a good coach would be the one who has had to struggle and really work hard for moderate success. They could instill the right work ethic into a youngster to help mould his career better. Venky and Robin just about fit the bill...moderately talented but hardworking nonetheless. They deserve a big round of applause along with the adulation for the players.

Somewhere deep down I kinda feel bad for Pakistan as well. They have bowled their heart out...fielded fantastically and led smartly by Shoaib (the move to bring in the spinners as soon Yuvraj walked in was a master stroke). Both India and Pakistan have brought colour back into the game of cricket....much like the way I used to enjoy Holi in the days of yore. That's why I found it appropriate to end the blog with a video of Dhoni and SHoaib celebrating their success (along with Darryl Hair) to the tune of the legendary Bhojpuri song by Shenaz Akthar "Kaptaan bhool ke kaptaani". Enjoy!!! ... And ofcourse....Bharat Maata ki Jai!!!

Kanti Thoughts

He woke one morning
Wondering what he saw
A dream to him, A nightmare for others
Was he a good person?

He wondered about things
That could have been different
Had he been different
or could people have been more tolerant?

People say a sorry
And they really mean it
But would it matter for the one
Who suffers the consequences everyday?

A plea to listen to him
A plea to talk to him
The plea fulfilled but,
A taunt of being needy
Was it really worth it?

A friend of yester-years
A stranger in the present
Was the human ever a friend
Or was an acquaintance of yore?

He lived his life alone
For the past score and more years
He wondered does he like company
Or would it be a hassle?

A peek into my pensieve

I’ve had long drawn discussions with my old friends Vcd and Todd about the veracity of the popular notion that “Federer is the best player to have lifted a tennis racquet”. As I so often do, I tend to stick my money in stats from the past. I haven’t seen a player of the class of a Sampras who in the midst of greatness all around him stood head and shoulders above everyone else. Would Sampras be considered as a legend if Federer was playing in the same era? Probably not; but neither would Federer. These are just random musings on the part of an old man though. I still tend to look at facts and the fact is that I can’t get a certain US Open final out of my mind and that is where I need to delve deep into my pensieve to dig out the greatest upset that humbled a cocky Federer.

It was just another fine day in NewYork where the crowd had resigned to yet another youngster’s decimation by the hands of Roger. Little did they realize that this strapping, ebullient, Metro-sexual young man had the talent of a Sampras, the work ethic of a Courier, the grace of Edberg and the determination of a Lendl. Never had one seen the complete package in a wild card entry ever before. He ran like a gazelle covering every inch of concrete with consummate ease. His nonchalant wafts and magical racquet struck a deep chord with the rapacious crowd who egged his mastery and erupted at his opponent’s errors. He was a true son of the soil and the hallowed turf was shrinking its womb to etch his footprint where a vast legion of warriors had succumbed valiantly. The large contingent of Federer-haters including yours truly had finally found their voice after nine gruelling years of staying mute.

Federer face was ashen as if he had just been violated by a 12 inch alpha specimen. His precise if not perfect back hand had completely deserted him, his once feared fore hand was being mauled by incisive ground strokes and his unruffled demeanor was sullied by his rants towards the chair and his incessant frustrated hissing. The first set flew by like the cool autumn breeze that was blowing through the ‘Meadows’. The 6-4 score line against Federer appeared a lot closer than it actually was. Things though did not take a turn towards the worse; the youthful exuberance of the young man and his heart stopping plays lit up the azure sky; reminiscent of Sampras in the days of yore. A running back hand followed a delicate lob, every drop shot was accentuated by a fearsome forehand cross court passing shot and each precise first serve was complimented by an even better array of volleys. The second set was an even shorter affair: 6-2. This was Providence in flesh, justice was being served cold!

I sat there with my mind racing ahead of time imagining this young rookie lifting a rare piece of silverware amidst years of ruthless domination. I quickly snapped out of my halcyon thoughts for fear of bewitching the foreclosure of what lay ahead. But nothing of that nature happened; the best was yet to come. The relentless machine gun fire from the rookie’s racquet kept pace with the racing heart beats of every human being inside the arena. His iridescent presence beneath the luminous floodlights and an incandescent moon bequeathed the master of his glowing past. A 6-0 bagel set in the final was a fitting way to end Federer’s humiliation, just as the way he has humiliated others. The night was young but to me, a new day had already dawned.

The scenes after the young man’s victory are as fresh in my mind as the virgin snow. Even though I’m entering the fag end of my sojourn, I can never forget the euphoria of having seen my closest buddies beat one of the best player’s ever. If only he had continued longer, the question that I posed at the very beginning would have never been raised. He will always, to me, be a man who fought disability to emerge triumphant. That image of him lifting the trophy in one hand and a Jackie Shroffish thumbs-up with the other will forever be etched in my mind. Click here to reminisce a forgotten great.

I salute you my dear friend Marw.