 Monday, March 28, 2005 |
63 degrees... @ 
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By Whoosh 2 @ 4:32 am 
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India is a country in which people like doing things differently. This was evident when the Bajaj family brought out the Chetak, Priya and the 500 series of scooters. People from the older generation will remember these. These scooters were special. For those not aware of the specialty of these scooters, the starting mechanism of these scooters went something like this… - Stand on the right hand side of the scooter
- Place your right hand on the steering column
- Place your left hand on the rear spare wheel
- Make sure that you have the scooter on the center stand
- Tilt the scooter to a 63-degree angle towards you. Mind you, not a degree more – not a degree less..
- Hold the scooter in that angle for 10 seconds.
- Place the scooter back on the normal position.
- Kick the ‘kick start’.
- If lucky, the scooter will start. If the scooter starts, increase the revs to 15000 rpm and see if black colored smoke is emitted from the exhaust. This indicates that the scooter is in proper working condition.
- If the scooter did not start in the previous step, repeat all the above steps.
- If black colored smoke is not emitted, take a hand full of charcoal and put it into the fuel inlet. This will make sure that black colored something will come out of the exhaust….
It was the pride of every Indian to own one of these machines. It was said that Hindustan Motors (Ambassador cars) felt jealous about the popularity that Bajaj’s starting mechanism had achieved, that they wanted to try the same thing with their Ambassador and Contessa cars. But this was not implemented, as they could not come to a consensus as to which side the cars needed to be tilted. The case was taken to the Supreme Court and even the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India couldn’t find a solution. So, Hindustan Motors had to make do without that “feature”. As I was saying, it was the pride of every Indian to own one of these machines. We were no different. We had two at home. My dad used one Bajaj scooter and my grand-pa used the other one. I was 14 when I wanted to learn to ride the scooter. But, I had to give up soon as I couldn’t tilt those scooters. A stint at the gym to build my biceps and triceps too didn’t help. The scooters wouldn’t buldge. I decided I wasn’t going down without a fight. I went to Erode to learn the tricks of the trade to ride a two-wheeler. I took out a Hero Honda and blazed through the streets of Erode. I returned to Chennai a more determined person. I was ready to take on the mean fighting machine, my Bajaj…
Btw, I am not sure how many of you know this. This news made headlines some ten years back. NASA was attempting a Jupiter mission and they had their rocket ready at Cape Canaveral. All was going smooth and the countdown started.. 1 .. 2…3… oops, sorry this is a countdown right… :D 10, 9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 Blast off!!! Nothing happened. The brightest brains of the USA, people from MIT, Stanford, CMU didn’t know what to do. They called for International help. They went to scientists in England, Australia and Canada.. Nobody knew what the problem was.. Finally, they came to India and contacted Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam. Kalamji was initially very angry that they came to him as the last resort and not earlier. But, being a kind person he agreed to look into the problem. He was taken to the launch pad. Kalamji surveyed the rocket just once and he said “I know the solution”. The Americans were flabbergasted. “What do we do”, they asked. Kalamji calmly replied “Tilt the rocket 63-degrees and then bring it back to normal”. The Americans did as they were asked to. Then they restarted the rocket and it blasted off fine! Not knowing how it worked, they asked Kalam for the secret. He said, “I ride a Bajaj back home!”…
Wokay, now back to my Bajaj. I was ready to take on the mean fighting machine. I placed my hands on the scooter. The scooter snorted – evidently not liking the fact that I was going to tame her. With all my strength I pulled hard.. The scooter slowly but surely started to tilt… 10-degrees… 40-degrees… 60-degrees… 63-degrees.. Yipee!!!!! I did it!!! I placed the scooter back on the stand and kicked it. It started!!! Cool!!! Before leaving, my grand-pa gave me one piece of advice.. “Dai.. vandi la break velai pannaadhu.. Paathu po!!”… Adhai oru kaadhula vaangi innoru kaadhula vittein.. I pressed the clutch; Turned the gear knob; the first gear fell… I slowly released the clutch.. the machine started to move… 20kmph, 40kmph, 60kmph… Wohooo.. I was flying .. I had tamed the beast.. The next thing I knew was that I was in a ditch – Brake failure elaam onnum illai.. Naan brake pudika maranthutein… The mean fighting machine was sitting next to me in the same ditch laughing at me… It had got the better of me.. That darn machine!!!! PS: Btw, we sold those two scooters and now we have a Kinetic Honda at home… :p |
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| Saturday, March 26, 2005 |
| The Summer of '99 @
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| By Whoosh 2 @ 11:47 am
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Bryan Adams liked the Summer of '69 a lot and he wrote a song about it.. For me it was the summer of '99.. If I could sing, I would have had a blockbuster too.. But I cant sing.. I can blog though.. '99 - The year i joined SSN Engineering College in Chennai...
Yesterday i went back to my college to enjoy the College Day celebrations along with Umesh. This college day was supposed to be special.. There were two batches in my college in which I had many friends. One batch was my own, the 99-03 batch and the other batch was two years our juniors. ('01-'05). This junior batch of mine is currently in its final year and this was their last college day. It really saddened me that from next year on, if I go to my college, I would know nobody. The last people whom I knew would pass out this year... **sigh**. During our college days we had a Dance group named "The Surface Connectors". It had Sridhar, Varun, Ramu, Jagan, Chakky, Umesh and myself in it. We were a pretty good group and we were quite known in our college. When we left college two years back, we decided that we would get back together and perform a dance once again for the 2005 College Day. Well, Jagan and Ramu are in the USA, I am in Bangalore and though the rest are in Chennai, they are all pretty busy with their jobs. So, what was a thought - stayed that way! :( - We would NEVER perform in SSNCE anymore!!!!
But one nice thing was that I met up with quite a few of my juniors after a long time. It was really nice to see them after all this time.. Srini, Joe, Vyaas, Griffith, Dharini, Tina, Shwetha, Sameera, Deepa, Savitha, Sabesan (his MJ dance this time was - as usual - great) to name a few! Brought back thoughts of my SSN days... **sniff sniff** Those will be days I can never get back...
These days, many of my classmates from SSN are getting married. Next in line is Ms.A. She is getting married sometime in June this year. She is my friend of 7 years. A very close friend of mine, I must add.. I have never seen a more bubbly person than her. We nicknamed her "Rowdy" for all the 'looty' that she used to do in SSN. The thing is, it is hard for me to believe that she is getting married. We are going to miss all that fun she used to be the cause of! Things are not going to be the same, is it? We wont see her sporting a kerchief around her hand anymore.. Though this is a special phase in her life and I should be feeling happy for her, I still cant avoid having a heavy heart knowing that we wont see the REAL ROWDY anymore. Guess this is how life is going to be.. When each friend of mine gets married, a void is going to grow within me, and that would tell me that someone special in my life will no longer be the same person anymore.. A hard and grim fact.. The other side of marriage!!!!
Sorry abt all this Senti.. Just couldnt take it and had to dump it somewhere..
Vikram
(PS: Notice that I signed this post as "Vikram". This is the real me scribbling :(( ) |
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| Friday, March 18, 2005 |
| Play Safe... @
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| By Whoosh 2 @ 9:03 am
15 Comments
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It was 2am. A full moon day. The night was quiet. The hiss of the drizzle outside made for a nice soothing effect. The scene was perfect. A long day at the office made me sleep like a baby. My Nokia's ringtone shattered the silence of the night. I woke up. I could hear my heart pounding. Generally, I dont get calls at that time. I saw the number. It was her. I picked up the call. She wanted to do it one last time. She was leaving the next day. I thought she was crazy. She was adamant. She wanted to have me at her place immediately. I told her I would be there in half hour.
I remembered the first time we did it. It was a year after we had met. That night, I can never forget. I got ready in five minutes and ran to my car. The rain had picked up and what was a light drizzle was now a heavy downpour. I started my car. I could hardly see the road ahead. Images of our first time kept flashing in my head. It was hard for me to believe that this was the last. I tried to keep my thoughts aside. I wanted to enjoy our last night together - The last time we would do it. I always liked doing it with her. She was the best at it. She always had a surprise everytime..
On my way, I stopped at a 24 hr shop to get something. I knew she wouldnt have a spare and I couldnt take the risk. It was another ten minutes before I reached her place. I got down from the car and walked to her doorstep. I was about to press the bell when she opened the door. I was happy to see her.
She was happy to see me. She looked really beautiful that night. She held my hand and pulled me in. I wanted to say something, but she put her fingers on my mouth and cut me short. "This isnt the time for talking...", she said. She made me sit on the couch and asked me to get comfortable. I was as comfortable there as I could be. She went inside to "get things ready". She came out after five minutes. She cleared the table. I liked doing it there. She asked me if i brought it. I did.
I took out the candles I bought on my way there. We had our last candle light dinner together. I couldnt believe we wouldnt do it again....
;)
Vikkki |
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| Thursday, March 17, 2005 |
| Top 10... @
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| By Whoosh 2 @ 4:53 am
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I have decided to list out the top 10 things that I find totally annoying… - I hate it when people pick their noses in public.. People, if you wanna do it, get a room!
- I hate it when, as the elevator doors are about to close, another jerk comes and presses the “Call” button, thereby opening the elevator door.. And, just to add to the fun, another jerk will press the call button again…
- I hate it when people take the lift to go just one floor up.
- I hate it when people who know Hindi use the word “ki” when they speak English. Eg: The project is due tomorrow, mathlab ki, everyone has to submit it tomorrow.
- I hate it when Kannadiga-Tamilians (People who know both Kannada and Tamil) use “aamaavaa” instead of the actual tamil word “appadiyaa”.
- I hate it when people who have girlfriends brag about them when you and I don’t have one…
- I hate having vegetarian food 21 times a week.
- I hate the alarm clock sound in Nokia phones.. It is my phone that wakes me up everyday.
- I hate Venkat’s alarm clock even more. It wakes everyone else except him. Grr!
- I hate hands-free phones. They make you look like an idiot at times..
Vikkki |
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| Monday, March 14, 2005 |
| Avazh @
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| By Whoosh 2 @ 8:16 pm
16 Comments
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Her son passed away a couple of years back. He was the same age as me. Maybe a year older. We resembled each other. We had similar features; we were of the same height; same build… My cousin was a very popular fellow.. My aunty liked me a lot as she saw him in me.. I am on my way to meet my aunty. She wanted to introduce me to someone…
I met Shreya three years back in the Chennai MRTS. It was late at night - around 10 pm. We were the only two people in the compartment. Her eyes were red. She had obviously been crying for sometime. Out of the corner of her eye, I could still see a tear tickle down. Feeling sorry, I decided to talk to her. I had another half-hour of train journey left and that was quite enough time for me to console her – I thought.
“Hai. I am Vikram..”
“...”
“Hello… “
“…”
All that she said were some incoherent mumbles. She was not too stable that night. She probably had a little too much to drink! I figured that it wasn’t a great idea to leave her there in that state. I took out her cell phone from her bag and called her home. I told the other person to come to the TIDEL Park station. It was her brother. I helped her out onto the platform at TIDEL Park and waited for her brother to come. He was there in 10 minutes. After explaining what had happened, I took leave of the two. Before I left, I slipped my visiting card into her bag….
I went to work the next day, and with a thousand things to do, the previous night’s happenings were the last thing on my mind. That evening, at around 6, I received a call.
“Hello. Is this Vikram”
“Yes. Who’s calling?”
“Were you on the MRTS yesterday night?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“I would like to meet you at Coffee Day at 8 tonight. Please come.”
“Hello… Hello…”
The caller hung up on me. The female voice on the other side sounded sweet. I was contemplating whether to go or not. Curiosity gave in. I decided to go.
Coffee Day was pretty close to where I work. I was there on time. Inside, in a corner of the café, I saw a familiar face. It was the girl from the previous night. She was in a pink top and dark blue jeans. Her face was bright and full of life – a total contrast to the previous night. She was sipping a cup half-full with coffee. She had come a while ago, apparently. I went up to her.
“Hai.”
“Is it you?”
“Yes?”
“Are you Vikram”.
“Yup”
“Take a seat.”
She ordered coffee for me too. I would have preferred a tropical iceberg though. She asked me what happened the previous day. I narrated the entire incident. She looked at me rather suspiciously.
“Why did you drop your card in my bag?”
“If I didn’t, this conversation wouldn’t be happening”, I said sheepishly.
I carried on.. “You look much prettier compared to yesterday”
“Are u mocking me??”
“No.. No.. ofcourse not..”
“Are you trying to hit on me?”
“Excuse me!!!”
“If you are.. Forget it. I am not your type.”
“Hmm..”, Girls!!! I thought!
We chatted for a while, and she told me that she had broken up with her boyfriend the previous day. She was quite the talker. I was slipping in an “Hmm” or a “Yes” and a “I see” whenever I got the chance. It was almost half past 9 when she said that she had to leave. She gave me her mobile number and asked me to call her sometime.
Call her sometime? Well well… She did look my type. But girls who drink turn me off. I hated her for that. I wasn’t planning on calling her anytime in the future. The next day, she called me again. She asked me out on a date. I thought that things were moving too fast. But hey, I am a guy – and when a girl asks, we never say no. Do we? Of course not. I accepted. We met again that weekend. We spent the entire evening together – and a few more too. We went out for almost a month. I got to see the other side of her – the tom boy in her. She had to have her way always. In a café, she always ordered. I wouldn’t say that she was the best in ordering though! She liked to win. She would play till she won. She wrote beautiful stories. That was her hobby. That was her passion. She wanted to publish her own book someday. She would give her stories to me and ask me to read it. I hated that part, as I was quite the critic. If I found something I didn’t like, I would say that I didn’t like it. But thankfully, that situation never came with her stories. They were all beautiful…
It was the 30th of April. I received an SMS from her. “Hey Vikkki. It is my birthday tomorrow. Don’t forget it. If you do, I might have to celebrate your death anniversary along with my birthday from next year”. Now, that was a nice way to ask for a gift, wasn’t it?? ;). I decided to take her out for dinner. On the 1st of May, I drove her to hotel Bayview. I made it clear that I was the one who was going to do the ordering. As luck would have it, I met my classmates from college there. To say the least, they were surprised to see me with a girl.
“Dai Vikkki, yaaru da idhu”
“Guys, idhu Shreya. She is my friend”
“Shreya meet… ######”
After the introductions, I took her to the table I had reserved. She looked sad. Her eyes were teary. I asked her what happened…
“You introduced me as your friend… Am I just your friend??”
I didn’t know how to respond to this. We had officially not taken our relationship further. This was the first time she said it. I went over to her and gave her a nice tight hug. We had more than one reason to celebrate that night.
Soon, it was our 100th day together. She called…
“When is a girl the most beautiful?”
“When she plays the Veena” I said. I like who can play the Veena.
I asked “When is a Guy the most handsome?”
“When he gives his girl a rose in front of her friends. Vikkki, I want you to give me a red rose today at my college”
“What?”
“Do as I say…”
I went to her college that day. I found out that they had some inter collegiate culturals. Shreya was on stage. She was playing the veena. Just like I had asked her. She performed and came down. She came straight to me. Her friends were all there. I didnt’t say a word. I gave her the rose. It turned out just the way she wanted it. She looked the happiest person in the world that day…
Time moved on.. Shreya wanted me to write a letter. She wanted me to write about everything that I felt about her. She said that she would do the same about me. We were to meet at our favorite hang out - The park in the middle of the city. We met. She took out a jar and put both our letters into it. She dug a small hole in the ground and buried the jar into it. I couldn’t understand what was going on. She told me that she needed time to think about her future. She said that she wanted some time alone. She told me to meet her at the same spot two years from that day. She said she would have made her decision by then. Two years hence would be the day we would read the letters we have written each other – she said. A tear trickled down from my eye, though I tried hard to suppress my emotions. I kept telling myself “Two years is not such a long time”.
Two years passed. There was not a single day when I didn’t think about her. We were to meet at 2 pm that day. I arrived at 1:30. It struck 2. She didn’t come. 3pm. 5pm. 9pm. She didn’t come. I decided to open the jar and read her letter.
“Vikkki. The time I spent with you is something I can never forget. I had probably the best time of my life with you. I told you that I broke up with my boy friend. The truth is, my boyfriend died. That was the day I met you. It seemed as if he was showing you to me. I tried looking for him in you. I know that it is wrong and I am sorry. I met him on the train too. Infact, he was so much like you. He loved my stories. We loved spending time together. He too gave me a rose on the 100th day. But now I know that you are the person I would like to spend my life with. But I feel guilty inside. The more I like you, the more it hurts me. I need time to forget him. I wont be coming there after two years as we planned. I will come someday and read what you have written about me. If we were destined to be together, we will meet someday, somewhere.
Bye Vikkki
Luv,
Shreya.”
It has been more than a year since this happened. I reached my aunty’s house. I was seeing her after 6 months. She took me aside and told me that her son’s girlfriend was here. She told me that her son’s girlfriend had faced a terrible time after he died and she wanted the girl to meet some new people. My aunt wanted me to take her out. As we resembled each other, my aunt felt my cousin’s girlfriend would find him in me… She took me to her for an introduction..
We didn’t need one.. Fate made sure that we met. We were destined to be together.
:)
Vikkki
PS: Inspired from a Korean feature film. |
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| Saturday, March 12, 2005 |
| Maayavi... @
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| By Whoosh 2 @ 8:05 am
5 Comments
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I learnt the following things today after seeing the film "Maayaavi".
* Never see a movie without reading its review. Atleast listen to what capricious has to say. I didnt watch Sukran. But I did watch Maayaavi... :((
* It is not a pre-gone conclusion that Surya will give u good movies.
* Jothika has started to overact once again...
For heaven's sake dont watch the movie...
Peace!
Vikkki |
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| Thursday, March 03, 2005 |
| Fried Eggs... @
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| By Whoosh 2 @ 12:29 am
10 Comments
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I got this forward today and I couldnt stop laughing....
A wife was making fried eggs for her husband for breakfast. Suddenly her
husband burst into the kitchen.
"Careful... Careful!!! Put in some more butter! Oh my God! You're cooking
too many at once. Too many! Turn them! Turn them now! We need more butter.
Oh my God! Where are we going to get more butter? They're going to stick!
Careful... Careful!!! I said be careful! You never listen to me when you're
cooking! Never! Turn them! Hurry up! Are you crazy? Have you lost your mind?
Don't forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the
salt. Use the salt! The salt!"
The wife stared at him and asked, "What the heck is wrong with you? You
think I don't know how to fry a couple of eggs?"
The husband calmly replied, "I wanted to show you what it feels like
when I'm driving with you in the car."
Cheers!
:)
Vikkki |
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