Sea-Link And The Turn Of Events

Ok before you go ahead and start reading, this is again going to be a long post.I just cant seem to keep it short, not my cup of tea.

Well as we all know the Indian Media of hyping things up, this time it was the turn of Mumbai's Latest Landmark "Bandra Worli Sea Link". I too was caught up with the whole ga-ga behind it and couldn't resist going on it as soon as possible.

It was Aditya's Birthday,1st July, we wished him late night and decided lets go and explore the sea-link and soon everyone was game.But no sooner did we reach there than we saw close to 50 cars already honking and waiting to get a ride on the 1600 crore bridge built in a time span of almost a decade.We were very nicely shoo-ed away by the cops(pandu - mumbai slang).He was shouting on top his voice that the sea link is going to be open by 7am in the morning.

Disappointed we went back.But I had this thing, I somehow convinced and lured everyone to get up 6 in the morning and lets be one of the 50 cars to travel first on the sea-link.

So there we were, it was only me,aditya and vyas. Not 6 am but 8 am.. and not amongst the first 50 but I am sure about the first 500.

The Aaj taks and the india tvs and the blah blahs.. were already on the bridge covering the so called " breaking news" which was..

" aur hamaare saamne ye pehli gaadi jo iss adbhut aur hairat angez sea link ka maza uthane ke liye iski savari par nikal chuki hai. kaisa mehsoos ho raha hai aapko"

And I was cursing if only all of us would have woken up on time it would have been our car.

Anyway..we touched the sea-link and started or i thought so we started because as soon as we started we had to stop and we started again and we stopped.

No there was no problem with the car but the traffic was moving at a snail speed.

Now I'll tell you the reason behind it. You give to the people of India anything that comes without a cost (free) and they will accept it with open more than willing hands and well I cant blame anyone because who doesnt like free stuff...I do...

There wasnt going to be toll charge for 4 days. So the Sea-Link that claimed to make commuting faster by taking the commuters from bandra to worli in just 7 mins.. it took us 37 minutes to cross the sea-link.

I was happy in a way that happened. Because I wanted to apprecitae its beauty and seven minutes are just not enough.

That was because the Sea-Link is just marvellous,you actually feel that you are somehwere abroad and even your normal Zen that you are sitting in makes you feel that you are driving in a BMW.

The very feeling of being right on the top of the arabian sea is amazing. The air was cooler , the sound of the waves hitting the base of the bridge, everything was just awesome.

Since the traffic was moving real slow we decided to get down of the car and walk on the bridge itself..o it was wonderful. I started clicking pictures and saw outside the corner of the bridge the waves gettin wilder. The architectural wonder was an absolute spectacle. Although only 4 lanes are open for traffic till now and the other side of the bridge is not built at all.

But the smooth roads and the sophisticated one lane to each driving was witnessed first time in Mumbai by myself.

Since this wasnt enough to quench my thirst we decided to come back from worli to bandra via the same SEA-LINK and that is where the turn of events started.

When we were still enjoying the view and our car moving at a greater speed this time we suddenly heard a squeak and started wondering what happened and where the noise came from.

After that, the car stopped right in middle of the sea link and till now when I was thinking I was in a BMW i finally realized i was actually in a ZEN.

The car had the momentum to cross the entire sea-link but finally we had to get down and push it from bandra reclamation to all the way till the nearest petrol pump which wasnt so near.

To top it all in the rainy season the sun was shining right on top of my head.

We reached there and tried all the possible things to start the car but all in vain.

Aditya decided to leave the car there and we called for a MERU( the new taxi service if you havent heard about) its nice and fast.

We finally saw a green LOGAN coming towards us and stopped right in front. We got inside finally all exhausted, saturated and worn out.

That is when my friend gets a call from the MERU driver who was actually supposed to pick us up and he said " guys we are in the wrong car"

I was like wow..icing on the cake it seems.

So when i started from my place at 7.30 in the morning i never thought, to enjoy a 7 min drive on the picturesque new landmark i would come back home 2 in the afternoon.

Aditya compensated for all the turn of events by throwing the most wonderful party and we enjoyed like crazy on the new roof top restaurant in andheri forgetting the back ache by pushing the car for almost 5 kms.

At last it was all in the fun and in the name of experience.

I wanted to be the first one to drive on the sea link and I was infact the first one to even walk on it.

New York or New Yaaawn..!!

Aahh... feels so good finally the smell of popcorn.. the rush to catch the movie right on time so that u dont even miss the national anthem..damn i missed the theatres.. it seemed like a decade that i'd been inside the theatre to watch the movie because of the stupid strike between producers and the multiplex owners.. so when we made plans for NEW YORK - the movie ofcourse i was all game..katrina and my theatres back in action.

NEW YORK - the movie of course .. had everything to pull you to the theatres.. decent star cast.. nice promos... perfect timing....and a good YASH RAJ banner written all over it.

I was looking forward for the movie but again too me its a sort of disappointment.

You cant call the movie good .. neither it is too bad.

The director KABIR KHAN.. i was a fan when i saw KABUL EXPRESS i liked the movie.
With terrorism as a back drop even here , this time the 9/11 twin towes blasts and its prejudices, he came up with a more commercialized flick , prolly many people thought that KABUL EXPRESS was more of a documentary.

So this time what he does is , he tries to make a mystery , then some suspense , then a love triangle , then some terrorism , then some chor-police chase and you get NEW YORK - the movie of course..

The movie starts of with some "childish" college scenes which have been re-repeated over a million times in many different movies in different ways. I am in love with this particular word which is gona catch up real soon with guys as the movie is seen .. TOTAAA!!.. haha..

love saying it again and again..!!

John Abraham the stud ,

Neil Nitin Mukesh - all three of them.. play the geek ,

Katrina - sweet pretty lady and the eye candy.

The movie moves at a real slow place in the first half with some flashback and interrogating scenes IRFAN KHAN being the COP.

(I dont understand this if its a bollywood movie and shot abroad and you have a crime investigation, from out of the world you will always have your friendly neighbour hood.. INDIAN COP who speaks fluent hindi).

Problem with this movie is that it grips ur attention for a while and then loses it by putting some un-necessary emotional scenes and stupid songs couple of times.

John Abraham said it in an interview that NEW YORK- the movie of course.. begins where the movie KHUDA KAY LIYE ends...

Actually he spoke sense.. this movie actually tells about life after 9/11 specially for the muslims living abroad.

But i should mention here where the movie loses its brownie points is the CLIMAX.. i mean a good end makes you forget about the tortured 2.30 mins in any other movie.

But then , though i wasnt tortured , i dint enjoy either and to back it up it had the most pathetic CLIMAX scene which dint help the movie to have a good taste in the audiences minds when they leave out.

Music theres not much to hear except for the " hai junoo" song. And a love making song between john and katrina but u rather see it than hear it. :p

Acting

Neil Nitin Mukhesh - i've been a fan of all three of them since johny gaddar.. nice acting

John Abraham - he's always proven the myth that "models cant act" wrong..superb acting..he potrays flamboyance , anger , frustration.. just perfect!

Irfan Khan - is a superb actor.. he plays the role of a cop with ease and natural acting abilities unlike the other star cast but wat is IRFAN khan without his wise ass perfectly timed dialogues he's been given NONE..!!

Now for the acting skills of my pretty lady Katrina Kaif , all i can say.. she's definitely improved her HINDI.. lol

All in all NEW YORK - the movie of course..is a strict , mediocre .. one time watch.

I would say go for it , smell the popcorns and come u'll have a feel good factor.. lol..

RATINGS: 2.5/5

Baa Baa Boo Boo Blah Blah Blah...

Well, just how weird and confusing you might find the topic of this post , that's exactly my thought process right now.

I am writing this particular entry just for the heck of it.

I almost thought TONIGHT'S ENTERTAINMENT is dying so i had to bring it back to life. :)

the thoughts are just so random right now that i just dont know what m gona type in the next few minutes . There's just so many different feelings that I am going through right now its a dilemma of sorts.

Firstly, a "little" whining to do..

I just so hate the timing , the length and the very purpose of conducting engineering exams.The entire world is out there enjoying their summer holidays and we get to sit and cram the entire 1000 page book in 4 days.

Its that time where you look out you see people so free , so happy , so de-stressed and you have just piles of book lying on the table waiting for that "new book" smell to fade away .

Since I've been in engineering I've actually forgotten when did I last have a thing called "Summer vacations"

But m happy its over.. its f**kin over. I don't care how irritating the papers were , where there were moments when i scanned through the entire 140 marks and was wondering if there are at least a good 40 marks that I can attempt confidently.

The paper setter must be going through his/her divorce while setting it.(what the hell were they thinking) and even the bloody almonds, the eating of yogurt before the exam( courtesy my mom and my stupid superstition), the late night cups of coffee dint help much. The hot coffee used to put me to sleep even earlier than the normal time I would have slept.

But the good old saying actually holds true , " Alls well that ends well"... well almost.

Somehow amidst the mountain of distractions I managed to scrape through my exams. I got hooked to bloody FRIENDS what a time..

after every three answers I used to watch 1 episode..saying " well its just 20 mins and i shud take it as a refreshment.. yea ryt.. after that i used to spend some good 10 mins on what got ROSS AND RACHEL to break up and also start thinking about CHANDLER's wise-ass remarks and wonder why cant I come up with this. lol..

one more so called refreshment was facebook , got addicted to that as well

the equation was..10 mins of "serious" studying and 15 mins of even more "serious" facebooking.

after reading this I know many of you must be wondering when did I actually study..?

N guess who knows the answer, only me and I guess the mark sheet that I am gona get soon after college re-opens... like m waiting for it.. bleh!..

But that's how it works!

p.s: facebook , ipl , t20 world cup , unexpected calls , birthday treats , guests , movies they all happen during exams I don't understand.

The irritating part is you sit to study , and you don't want to , and you fall in for some of the distractions mentioned above and then you feel guilty that you should have studied instead. wtf!.. serious atyachaar..!!.. my veins used to pop out so often and whenever I used to just shake my head in frustration i would see hair falling like how leaves fall during autumn. Well you do get new leaves but I dunno if my fallen hair gona come with that speed very next season.

Even worse look at the irony of life , how it plays tricky games with your mind and heart.

My younger bro who's just entered 10th grade was at home since a month for his summer holidays he got from his boarding. He was so not waiting for 12th June to come and he'll have to go back and I was so waiting for 12th June to come when my exams finally end.

Different people different prayers different wishes and different wants.

He tells me even now " Bhaiya , I seriously dunno where one full month flew past" .. and I was like.. " yes ask me, every day seemed like a month for me..."

Secondly ,

Its been almost like a tradition, or you would say stress-breaking therapy that I take after every exam. I just feel like running out of Mumbai. I mean the city comes to eat you if you don't take a break once a while. I just need a change in the atmosphere , the air , the very ambiance. I just need to go out where i can just live some days in peace with no material tensions about what am I going to do tomorrow. Eat, Sleep, Sit idle, Day-dream, Fantasize and listen to some good Music is all i want for some days... lol..

I don't know if I am even going to get that cos of the MBA classes are already dancing on my head. In fact m looking forward to go all guns with the CAT prep but i seriously need some time off man.

Thirdly,

Time for some thing to smile and be cheer about. I have in fact lot of things to look forward for.

I am seriously contemplating not wasting much time sitting in front of the idiot box and try taking up squash instead.

Its even Entourage time baby!..season 6 coming this July.

Also , how much ever i crib about the exams they went pretty decent i should say... lol

and finally some sense prevailed in the karta-dhartas of engineering and dey gave us a 1 month off before the last and final year of my thing dat i call B.E in Computer Science starts.. or i shud say ends..

Finally ,

After the dry phase in the multiplexes coming to an end.. the dry spell at TONIGHT'S ENTERTAINMENT.. at oye its malpani!.. is also coming to an end.. cos you'll soon see a flurry of back to back to back to back posts!..

hopefully..

Well not the right thing to say.. but have a nice RAINY VACATIONS.. at least to my engineering friends.

P.P.S: Since m writing after such a long time and to add to it the dis-orientation of my thoughts and to add to it, its being typed when my eyes are almost red and its 4.03 am!!..the post is so huge dat a short novel can be written on it.. but well.. again..sorry but can't help it....lol

take care...watch out this space for "much much much MORE".. haha..!

The CPLC Bash!!

"Guys be there on 9th may for the CPLC bash and keep your feet free. Sharp 6.36 pm"

This was the invitation that was sent by the CPLC administrator to invite all the students for the bash happening on 9th may that was yesterday.

Let me brief u guys about CPLC ..its Chitale's Personalised Learning Centre. I am so sure many CPLC students will have their tongue in cheek after reading the full form."Oh!.. thats the full form" lol..

Its my CAT classes that i had joined some months back and I always loved the atmosphere there. The professors are friendly and helpful and masters in their subjects.

Well the bash was happening at jashoda rang mandir next to NM college to celebrate the success of CPLC students in the recent CET/CAT exams.We were kept updated through facebook in the CPLC group as well as by a guy called Sutradhar CPLC who represents the CPLC and communicates between the students and the classes.

I learnt that some acts are gona be performed on stage and they need dancers for group dance.I know i am a budding engineer , I know my exam starts in less than 2 weeks but I was too bored and it was hardly any time. Plus the idea of learning the dance , interacting with the teachers, meeting new people was exciting enough for me to volunteer for it.

I was one of the members of the group dance with 11 others.

The songs were 

kismat konnection(title track)

desi girl

jee karda

mar jaani

And ask me about it , I had awesome fun the last 2 days practicing and alas performing sucessfully on it.The practice sessions in particular were damn funny.The whole choreographing act.If i have to describe each and everything it would be too much to talk about.I remember pooja who was trying her best to choreograph the song with a lil slip of tongue said 

" ok guys in this particular music  for ten seconds you have to do nothing .. just play with yourself."  

 and we all burst out laughing.

swati with her jive and salsa performance when we were down and out after continuous practicing she entertained us with some amazing moves.

rohan and gaurav who entertained us by their non-stop commenting on the choreography.

harshita who taught me some cheer leading steps with the pom-poms

i shud mention rancy has a beautiful voice.

and ankita the big scholar i was zapped when i heard she's a 99 percentile student

 

I met some really sweet, nice and fun to be with people.

It was the last act of the evening after which everyone cut loose from the professors to the students and almost everyone was on stage.

Bhavin Sir specially danced like a professional. He was awesome.

I was happy that I contributed towards the bash and interacted so much with the professors who are going play a very important role in building my career next 6 months.

The music was amazing thereafter and the food was equally good.All in all nice fun.Enjoyed.Thank you CPLC. 

God Bless You.

So finally my dreaded vivas(orals) are over. I know its a bit pakaoing seeing me crib about my vivas every second post but guys u have no idea the hell engineers are made to go through for a meagre 25 marks.

Anyway lets leave that aside now dat its over and my Preparation Leave starts

Our professors call it "study leave"... engineers call it "leave study"

trust me this is the time meant for us to study considering the entire semester is digested and puked in 20 days of study leave...on the contrary we spend all the more time playing stupid flash games , watching tv , orkutting , facebooking and many other such important stuff!..

lol

I just wanted to start the prep leave on a high so I thought of studying. In fact i managed to put my bum on my chair for quite a long time and was quite happy about it.

So decided to go for a walk down and this wierd thing came in my mind lets go and visit the temples in my colony. I call it wierd because its been ages that i have even stopped seeing a temple forget visiting it.

My mom was after my life , she walways used to tell me , out of 24 hours in ur day atleast spend 24 seconds praying in front of the god. But.. all her efforts and nagging were in vain and she eventually stopped.

I thought its mother's day so Y not do something to be the momma's boy.

Therefore i decided to go and visit the mandirs and even asked her to company which was more like shouting " dekho mai mandir jaa raha hoo.. baad mein bolna mat that m an atheist"

Lol cos everytime she used to mention this i always used to tell her "u neednt go to a particular place to pray to god , he's omnipresent.I used to call the faith she has in god as superstition.

Although when I am in need the first thing i do is pray. ( Sucha hypocrite.. lol)

Guys bangur nagar , where I stay , is a senior citizen's paradise. There are closed to 6 temples in 10 min walking distance. 

See when you go and visit a temple there are three P's dat come along with it.

Peace , Pure , Positive

It felt so nice. It was divine. The chants of "Om". The silence in the background. The devoted and dedicated faces. The people with faith in their gods.The red orange grey teekas.Something powerful was there in each of the things.

My dad used to tell me that you dont visit temples to pray.

You go to temples because thats the only place where how much ever u try a negative thought will never come across your mind.You will never think bad about anyone or anything once in the temple.

One more thing that i used to ask my dad when i was a kid was why do we have to touch our elder's feet to show that we love them and respect them

Why the formality when the respect comes from the heart.

To which he answered " when you touch someone's feet at the same time the person keeps a hand on your head to bless you and a circle of positive energy is thus completed in this way."

It made sense even though superficial.

Another thing that i read in a book was about the famous tirupati temple in tamil nadu.

Why do devotees who go to visit the tirupati temple donate thier hair.I mean what kind of "daan" is that. We have always seen people donating wealth , food , shelter, clothing.

But hair??!!.. wierd naa..

But the answer is that generally a human beings associates one's hair to pride , style , personality , image. The first thing you do when you look into the mirror is check whether your hair is looking alright or no.

So when u donate your hair to god it means that you are being humble , sacrificing your pride honour style and u are reminded dat you should always be down to earth.

Makes sense doesnt it?.

I realised how pure i felt when i finally visited the temples. It was a kind of refreshment and the urge to be more positive in life and be content with what you have.

Thank you God....Bless All..

Tum Chalo Toh Hindustan Chale..

Well.. its been a long time that I have blogged. As usual there are many things already that are keeping me busy from IPL to stupid vivas.

I finally have a breather and got just 2 more vivas to go.. before my ever so long PL short for "preparation leave" starts and the days will start passing at a snail speed. But i guess now I am pretty much used to it, used to getting 15 day break between 2 exams , used to run and butter teachers up for my submissions , used to saying " ahh umm.. mam.. u u knw.. basically.. actually.. its like".. in my vivas before every answer also used to defending KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS despite of them losing every single game and my friends dance on top of my head when we lose..!!..

One thing that I wasnt used to doing.. and that i should have started doing 3 years ago when I was 18 was ... to V-O-T-E.

It was like just another day for me, I 've lost track of sundays and mondays and the difference between them, thanks to my college who arranged a viva on a sunday morning.

I didnt even know the importance of 30th April 2009 , till my dad told yesterday that its the VOTING DAY.

My first reaction was... oh yea.. as if i care..voohoo.. its a holiday!..

This has always been my reaction when it comes to politics patriotism and related stuff.

It has always been " I dont care and I dont give a damn" about whos there and whos not.

How is it gona matter anyway..!!

Although I had my voting Id made long time back when my mom forced me outta the house to get it done.

You can tell me that I had the same mentality what "siddharth had from RANG DE BASANTI"

I remember a dialogue " Jis din mujhe degree mili mai toh kat loonga yaha se... seedha america .. india mai reh ke mera kuch nahi hone wala. Tu yaha pe baith aur sudhaar is desh ko"

My thinking was almost like this.. if not that insensitive.

Then again the two advertisements that keep on coming on tv very often these days.

No I am not talking about the stupid "jai ho and bhay ho " adds by congress or bjp about what they are going to do and what they have done.

The first ad that i am talking about was the ad in which a small boy tries to remove a huge tree that is blocking the road in heavy rain and causing traffic jam while other young adults are just looking at it and cursing it and feeling ashamed and embarassed.

and the song that plays in the background is " tum chalo toh hindustan chale"

I get goose bumps man.. every time i see the advertisement. Its touching and brings you back to your senses and hit you hard on ground reality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txYbVJFZZls

And the other one is , no matter how funny or sarcastic the ad is it gives u a message saying " election ke din agar aap vote nahi kar rahe ho toh aap so rahe ho"

jaago re!..

All this built up.. and plus a lil force from my mom and dad brought me back to senses and I went there to cast my first ever vote!..

I mean your vote is your voice to speak up.

I knw the first thought in our minds will be "kya faydaa hai.. politicians saale chor hai .. aur ye hai aur voh hai" but out of 100 there must be one good person who actually wants to change things. So atleast your one vote can support that particular person and give him a chance.

We have a human tendency to type cast people so lets not do that and judge evry person as an individual and "VOTE".

I am feeling a sense of pride , and respect for my self everytime i see the blue ink on my index finger.

I feel responsible ... i feel that I am an indian.!!

Tum chalo toh Hindustan Chale..!!

Jai Hind!!

Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo Re....!!

Yeah Baby!!.. the festival begins.. Saturday 18th April..!!.. and the excitement is just building up.. as it comes closer.I just cant wait for it.

As they say "ek desh ek junoon" its actually a junoon now.

Last year's IPL was a mega hit and this time round its happening in "Dakshin Aphrika" we just have to wait and watch how it turns out to be.

Now for the whining and the cribbing part i have my submission , my midterms , my vivas..!!..

WHat luck .. what timing God..!!

But its okie.. i'll try and manage both.. infact i'll do that.

Cos as it is my heart and soul will lie only in the matches where my team is playing.

Yes My team... KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS!..kkr.. reloaded..!!

KKR RELOADED AD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAHKQixgDcQ

This time i have feeling they will be back with a HUGE BANG!!..

Although the word hasnt been good yet with the inside conflicts and the negative marketing strategies that SRK has been applying to mint money and make publicity still if at the end of the day if they win i'll fly!..

I mean i love MUMBAI .. but come on ders SRK AND DADA both together.. both my childhood idols and i dont support them.. sorry..!.. have to root for KOLKATA..!!..

Srk quoted in an interview " Last time we had the best cheer leaders , the best outfits , the best promotional song, the best ad campaign bas cricket nahi khela"

So this time i hope so its more of the twenty twenty gang bang.. with the likes of

Brendon Mc Cullum

Chris Gayle

Ishant Sharma

David Hussy

Mortaza

Ajantha Mendis

and our very own Dada - Saurav Ganguly ( god on off side)

KKR PROMOTIONAL FEAT. SRK

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DAkyL8sIHg&feature=related

I just hope they provide us with the entertainment and a put up a good show because in my colony its like a 12 on 1 thing for me.. where i am the loan supporter of KKR.. so if that doesnt happen m gona have to hear taunts and mockings through out the year.

So for now " We're too hot we're too cool... aamhi KOLKATA, we rule!!!!!!!!.."

lol..

Fire in the Mountain RUN RUN RUN!!..

One hell of a month.. starts..

This April gona be complete madness!..

SEM 6 as it is has been the most frustrating semesters academic wise!..

Yes its that time of the month.. where engineers suffer from P E S .. Pre-Exam-Submission Syndrome..

Trust me its dreaded!..

I dont know.. just 10 days ago.. everything was like so smooth and nice..

and all of a sudden Mumbai University had to use its brain and prepone the exams.

May 19???

The prfs come and order and announce the dates and leave conveniently..

So much to do.. so little time!..

we depend on 1 month of Prep Leave and then a month long exam schedule to clear the papers..and i get a tiny 10 days to get thru with six subjects where in i have no clue about either.

Submissions

Assignments

Vivas

Projects

Midterms...

all in APRIL..!!

god have mercy and save our souls!..

I just pray the month is smooth..!!....simple... the profs remain hassle free..and gets over fast..!!

oh yaa i could i forget..!!

icing on the cake..

IPL also starting this month!..april 18

y god y !!...

lol..!!

all the best!..