Yeah , I haven’t written in a while, but here is the update:
I am in Singapore now and may be here for a while.
The Flight was short and can be summed up with a few words: average food, hot stewardesses, jack on the rocks and Kung Fu Panda.
Let’s hope the work on this side does not get too hectic, though I have a hunch it might not be a joyride
1800 Rs (in tickets), 1400 km (from Chennai to Hyderabad and back), 24hr (in a bus) and one movie.. The Dark Knight in IMAX.
Definitely worth it.
After Prestidigitator had send me a link to this article I knew I had to see this movie in IMAX. And as with all crazy things, Johnny joined in from Bangalore.
… here are a few things I am missing
I may add stuff as and when I think of them.
I am standing by the road outside Office waiting for an Auto. I hear the sharp crack of metal on plastic, that announces the accident. I turn my head in time to see a bike with its rider fighting for control. Some debris of the bike seems to be flying toward me. I manage to see the Bike rider hit the tar just before I freeze bracing for some sort of impact.That flying chunk lands a short distance in front of me. It drags for another 1 meter or so and comes to stop 50 cm before my feet.
I still did not move.
Vision clears. This is no debris. This is the pillion rider.
2 seconds .. 5 seconds .. 10 seconds
I still did not move.
I see no blood , but no movement from the body either. I am confused.
Around me people are already swinging into action.
Fuck! Swen do something? !! Like what ? Anything!I still did not move.
Other people are beginning to throw water into his face and trying to get him to move. I see no sign of life.
At least check his pulse!Slowly, agonizingly slowly, I reach out to check his pulse. Before I can reach down to him he starts to cough.
I take two steps back. I melt into the crowd that had gathered.
What was if that was your friend? I would have done something! Are you sure? ….I am ashamed.
I walk away trying to convince myself that I would have done something if nobody else was there and it was up to me.
10 minutes later the whole world is normal again.
Thanks to my friend we went to this Film Festival. We only got to attend 3 days and a total of 5 movies out of this 7 day 50+ movie event. I am not going to review the movies (because I’m not good at it and least qualified), but just list the movies I saw with some side notes on it.
All in all a good experience. Must do this again sometime.
This is a story of how daydreaming can cost you cold hard money. Till now I assumed the only thing at stake was a little embarrassment, death (if you operate heavy machinery) and a nuclear disaster (if you work at a nuclear power plant)
Anyways I had to get some photos done, but I was all out of money. And there was no ATM of my bank nearby. In need of cash, I thought I might use some other banks ATM bearing the surcharge of around Rs 50. And so I went and withdrew Rs 500.
It took me a week or more to realise that I did not use my Debit Card to withdraw the money from the ATM. No, I smartly used my Credit Card.
So here is how much if it cost me:
So that’s it. The cost of day dreaming is Rs 337. All for Rs 500. At least the photo’s came out looking good.
Mental Note: Don’t daydream by the ATM machine however cute the Lady before is.
Yes , you heard that right. Finally, McDonalds is opening a branch in Chennai (It’s about time). So all those people who are sick and tired of KFC burgers, rejoice. It’s going to be in the food court of Ascendas IT Park close to Tidel Park, Thiruvanmiyur.
Seen at Ascendas IT Park:
Right now I’m supposed to be at Chennai in the office doing some work. But I’m in Bangalore. How did this come to be?
Well , it all started with me approaching the counter at KPN to get my boarding pass for my online ticket. And they gave it, saying that my bus to Chennai would reach my 11 PM. As I was about to board the bus at 11 PM I noticed that the boarding pass was in Johnny’s name. Shrugging it off as a boarding pass error I was proceeding to board the bus when I looked at the ticket which was also in Johnny’s name. I realized I had left my on-line ticket in his bag and picked up his instead and nobody at the KPN counter had noticed. Basically I was trying to go to Chennai on the December 9th with a ticket to Madurai for December 21st. I called up Johnny asking him to give me the number of the on-line ticket which was still in his bag. Meanwhile my friend was blocking the bus so that it couldn’t leave. I ran several times between the bus and the counter telling them my on-line ticket number which didn’t seem to exist. They even searched for my name on the boarding list – no luck there either. Confused as I was I asked Johnny to read out all the details of the ticket for the umpteenth again.
Swen: Whats the number of the ticket?
Johnny: B296464
Swen: What about the date? Its for the 9th, right?
Johnny: Yeah, the date is 9 -11 – 2007
Swen: You mean 9 -12 -2007 ?
Johnny: No, its written as 9 -11 -2007.
Lesson learned: always read the contents of the on-line ticket before you confirm it, however smart you think you are.
There was this AIDS awareness program held at my office cafeteria. One section of the cafeteria consisted of dedicated Listeners while the other half was going on with their regular over-the-coffee chit chat. After a while 3 persons got on stage and said that this would be some kind of Ice breaker session. The first person asked to the crowd: “How many of you know or have seen a person that is HIV+ ?”. Very few hands popped up from the crowd. Then the person dropped the bombshell. She said: “The 2 persons next to me are HIV+.”. Why i called it a bombshell was because the silence that followed was deafening. The entire cafeteria, irrespective of participating in the program or not, became silent.
Later, I met a colleague of mine and asked her whether she attended the program. The reply was almost as shocking to me as the silence that I described earlier. She said that the people who require AIDS awareness are not the ones in this building, but the road-side people (Road side people were her exact words).
No wonder there is a social stigma associated with AIDS in India. This incident maybe only with one person , but the silence in the cafeteria surely proved that this is the common mind set of people here. And all the people in that cafeteria are the so called “educated” lot.
I wish i could tell you that i was away on an adventure of grand proportions which would explain the radio (rather blog) silence maintained by me. Truth is i was busy -working 7 days a week for nearly a month. I am not regretting this cause i like my work; i just wish i had more time for other things. That said, things should be slowly getting back to normal now.
Anyways, here are a few notes from the month of radio silence.
Iron Maiden live in Bangalore: Was there, and loved it. Parikrama was also neat though they gave too much of stage time to that violin guy.
Internet radio: I discovered the joys of Internet radio in office. This is what kept me going for the past 1 month. Somehow the firewalls haven’t blocked this one …yet. While listening, I am always reminded of Murphy’s law. Why is that people only come and ask doubts during the songs that you really really want to listen to?
Bubble wrap: Ever wondered how a bubble wrap feels like when a somebody bursts the bubbles of the wrap? I got some first hand experience there. Long story cut short: Group game, the thinnest guy in the group (yours truly!!) has to be stuffed with balloons under the T Shirt so as to make him ..well large. As fun as that was, what i enjoyed more was the frenzy with which everybody loves to bursts balloons (still under my shirt) once the game is over. Anyways, all i got to say is: Next time, go easy on the bubble wrap …
