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going home for a looooooooooooooooooooong weekend……
© Shantanu Goel | going home….

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I don’t have a television at my place so didn’t know about it until today morning. I woke up just like any other day. Went out to the balcony just like any other day. Picked up the paper just like any other day. But the day was most unlike any other day as soon as my eyes became accustomed to the gory scenes splashed all over the front page….
Shook my head three-four times to clear the cob webs. But the spinning didn’t stop…
The headlines were screaming as if they were live hooters…
Tsunami claims over 5,500 lives in India
Over 14,000 killed in SE Asia
Lanka toll 4,857, still climbing
Just cudn’t muster the courage to read the horrifying details.
My heart goes out to the hapless victims…and pleads and hopes that such an event of destruction never happens again, never…..
I hope I never get to read the word “tsunami” again, never……
© Shantanu Goel | Tsunami……..:-(

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Yeah, herez a sample of a typical telephonic converstation that takes place between a son who *was* ill a couple of days ago and his parents.
(Note: The son here is me)

Mom: Beta, ab kaisa hai?

Son: Mom, Ab bilkul thik hoon. Nothing to worry about.

Mom: Beta, teri awaaz to bahut dheere aa rahi hai. Tu to bahut kamzor lag raha hai…

Son: Arre nahin mom, bola na, I’m perfectly OK.

Mom: Khana to thik se kha raha hai na…

Son: Haan

Mom: Doodh pee raha hai na?

Son: Haan Mom

Mom: Dawai kha raha hai na?

Son: Haan Mom. I can take care of myself now. I know what things I’ve to do…

Mom: Haan beta I know that.

Son: Thnx

Mom: Vaise, garam kapde to pahanta hai na thik se. Bahar bahut thand hai…

Son: Moooooom….Not again….

(Dad chips in)
Dad: Ab thande paani se to nahin naha raha?
(I have a penchant for bathing in cold water actually and was doing the same until 21st of Decemeber)

Son: Nahin dad, i’m using warm water now.

Dad: Geyser lagwa liya?

Son: Nahin, I’m using a heating rod.

Dad: Heating rod is dangerous. U can get an electrical shock.

Son: Dad, I switch it off before touching the water.

Dad: Fir bhi beta, kabhi bhool gaye to?

Son: Nahin bhooloonga dad.

Dad: Nahin, I’m coming there to get a geyser installed.

……And after many more such dialogues I convince dad not to come down here…..

Yeah, I do feel irritated when they treat me as if I’m 5 year old. But simultaneously, I’m forced to think what if they hadn’t done so. All this makes me feel so loved. Had it not been for the constant nagging by mom and dad, I’d have felt so lonely and left out.

Thank you Mom, Thank you Dad. I love u guys……

© Shantanu Goel | Telecon with Parents

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Had to live out the whole day yesterday on the bed as I was down with fever…:(
Its really a sickening feeling (pun not intended) to just lay there doing nothing. And with the electricity playing cat and mouse with the sockets of the household, the maximum fun u can have is watching the thick sheet of fog get even thicker thru the window.
Neways, am glad that it lasted just one day and am back….:)
© Shantanu Goel | Been sick…

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Yeah, the movie’s great…Huh, what am I talking about???What else, dude, “The Incredibles“. Went to the movie yesterday. First time to the new DT Mega Mall in DLF Phase 1. And guess what, I got 5th row tickets (from the back), on a Sunday evening, for the 5 o’clock show and that too when i bought the tickets at 3 PM. I mean, u can’t get even a front row ticket at PVR or old DT cinemas at this time. Guess, it pays to go a little farther away from the buzzing malls road.

Neways, had a whale of a time, watching the movie, munching on popcorn (Hey Neels, u listenin’?? ), and in general, laughing all the way. The laughter induced in me was enhanced by the dude sitting next to me with his girl. The guy laughed like he was just coming back after playing his role in a Nautanki. (The nautanki being “Ramlila” and the role being of Ravana.) And in the complete movie, he went on sipping his diet coke like he was gorgin on his madira. But despite the distractions, I managed to catch most of the movie….

Then I had an idea for the dinner. Was in a mood to try something new. One of my friends had suggested one “Aloo Posto” dish from “The Bengali Kitchen” at the Metropolitan mall. So, zoomed over to the place and ordered the same. The after effects were such that I’m glad that I’ve to “write” the blog and not dictate it. Yeah, u got it right, my throat has gone so bad that I can’t utter even a single sentence without making the listeners run for cover from my thunderous cough.

Chalo, ek achhe weekend ke liye itna to seh hi sakte hain…….

© Shantanu Goel | The world is saved…..once again….jus’ like ol’ times

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“Baazee.com CEO Arrested”, screamed the front page of TOI today. I woke up to find this startling news which was punctuated with another smaller headline “Non Bailable Warrant Against the DPS boy”.
It has been reasoned that the CEO was arrested cuz he was responsible for what was sold on his site (the MMS CD in this case). However, the police fails to understand that:
1. Trade worth lakhs of rupees is done thru baazee daily and it is quite difficult to track each and every transaction.
2. The CEO doesnt track any transaction, the hundreds of technicians involved, do.

So, why was the CEO arrested???
They say that it will set an example for other sites to take care in future…Example, my foot, I say.
What sort of example will be set when u arrest the CEO of a company which, from day 1, co-operated with the police to apprehend the culprits.
And is the destruction of a man’ life and reputation (including the harrassment caused to his family), and that too for no apparent fault of his, worthy enough to “set an example“.

And if this wasn’t enough, the police have issued a non-bailable warrant against the boy. Why isn’t there anything regarding the girl, I thought. And then I came upon an innocuously added line in the report “Police have also decided to question the girl who was filmed.” That’s all??? The boy is being hanged publicly while the girl goes scot free. Don’t take it in any gender discrimination sense on my part but I’m just curious to know why is this preferential treatment being given to the second person who was as much involved in the incident.

The police are just searching for as many scape goats as they can so that they can close the case soon so as to save their face, or maybe even get a few accollades from the janta and the media.

In whole, I can only say what I’m “forced” to repeat every few months ” Shame on the Indian Police…”

© Shantanu Goel | The Irrationalities of Indian Police…..

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Came across this site today Hellacious Riders, which is supposedly giving away 1 TB of mail space (Actually they start at 100 GB and u can continue to use any amount of space even if u cross that limit).
I went over to the site, though I was suspicious about it from the very beginning, and what did I see:
1. Patchy Design
2. Quite old scripts for carrying out various tasks
3. Not much depth in the site

which leads me to believe that its not run by a big company. Now, lwts ask why wud anyone give away so much space. Even hellaciously big companies like M$ won’t (even though companies of such stature are the only ones that can probably provide it)

This seems to me like one of those sites where u get some space when they start out but soon after either the space u have is reduced or worse, the site is no longer there when u log on one fine day to check ur email….

And by all means, it could also be an email phishing scam.

Neways, coming to my opinion, I won’t use it cuz my gmail account is enough for me (I’ve used just about 150 MB so far). Will create another couple of gmail accounts for myself even if this space is filled up.

© Shantanu Goel | 1 TB mail account?????

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Went to see Ocean’12 this Sunday. And have to say, this is the second time in recent time that I’ve felt that it was a sheer waste of money. And to think of it, I had to buy a Europa ticket, which is priced at 200 bucks against PVR’s 150. So, there went my 200 down the drain.
The movie started off in a very solemn style. We thought that it must be the build up to a rousing storyline, ending with a goose-bumps wala climax. But all we got was a lousy storyline coupled with a sulane wala climax.
I have to say that the movie lived up to the old adage, ” Sequels are just a waste of time and money. Don’t ever fall into the sequel trap.” (Okay, okay its not an old adage, I invented it)
The movie just goes on and on with silly sequences and then later tells the audience that actually something else had happened. Everyone seems to have a third eye to see what’s coming.
Ocean’s 12th person was julia roberts, who didn’t have a role of more than 15 mins(putting together everything she did on the screen).
And to top it all, the heist that was pulled out by the 12 was of such a silly nature that we see everyday in Bollywood B-grade movies and that too with a huge outside help. Even the “supposed to be” thrilling break-in by their competitor gives u laughs instead of the chills.
My rating: *1/2 (out of 5 *’s. Deducted a 1/2 * cuz the director and producer clearly meant to just cash in on the first movie’s success and there was no meaning to the story)
My advice: Better watch a “K” serial on star plus or zee. There u will get better laughs atleast.
Oh God, send in some nice movies, puhleeeeeeeeeeeeeez.

© Shantanu Goel | Movie: Ocean’s 12

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Well, this weekend we (read “the cubicle dwellers of HSS”) decided to do some bird watching. No, guys, don’t get it wrong. Not the bird watching we do every evening at the malls and in the market place but the “real” bird watching. Decided to drive over to the nearby Sultanpur bird sanctuary. For a change, had to wake up so early (8:30 AM to be exact, and yes, don’t be surprised, that is indeed early for me).

But when we reached sultanpur, it had everything. Well, except the birds!!!

The promised lake of the much hyped “Supltanpur lake and bird sanctuary” turned out to be a large muddy pond of sorts. There we saw our first and only creature that we don’t see normally, “neelguy” (Dunno what they call it in english). But it wasn’t so pleasant as the “supposedly” blue cows were cows after all and then they have that old Prem Chopra saying “Bhains poonchh uthaygi to gana nahin gayegi, gobar hi karegi”. I’m sure u can now do the rest of the mathematics urself and see where 2+2 leads to .

Neways, somehow after managing to jhelo all that bird watching, we came out to have lunch at the only restaurant there (run by the Haryana tourism). And the “nice hospitality” showed by them lead us to eating a Rs. 118/- per plate meal which wasn’t even worth Rs 18/-.

But the trip wasn’t a total failure. We decided to make good use of the situation to let our hair down. We played all those kiddish games like dodgeball, frisbee throwing, et al, and I’ll be only understating it if I say that we had a lot of fun. It feels good to be a kid again.

The journey (to and fro) was, as usual, punctuated by antakshari session in the bus, with me mouthing hindi filmi songs with such ease that it left me wondering about the effects of passive listening cuz I cudn’t understand where from were the lyrics coming to my mind cuz I never indulge in this genre of music.

All in all, the trip was successful (though in a different way) and yeah, did i mention that i got to know so many new people…:-)

© Shantanu Goel | Bird Watching…