Hmm... Phew.
If I thought mugging models [instead of lechering at them] and cramming theories was meant for highschool students, I couldn't be more mistaken. I chose the subject called Brand and Pricing here at Wee Haa Uuu and today, a mere 21 days after it began, it is over. I gave its end term exam less than an hour ago. Wheeewwww!
As must be clear by now, we were expected to cram a lot. The exam reflected our expectations, except for the Question number 1 which took us so much by surprise, I thought I was gonna fail this exam!
Later however, the extensive years of sitting in exam halls and thinking and writing a lot of fart helped me. And when I saw badi_murgi walk out of the hall a good 15 minutes before the exam [ ina 75 mins exam], I knew at least a few more people were being cool about this exam.
The ghost of why-did-it-happen-to-me haunts me again. This time for Eurail pass. I don't know what this will lead to, may be a mangled head and some arbit dreams.
Trying times, I must tell you. Just last night, I saw another of my series of arbit dreams. I woke up at 5 am, almost eager to record the dream before I forget it. And maa kasam, I had it in my mind till around 5 mins before I decided to finally pen it down. But it was Lost. Forever.
Just yesterday while I and Ghanta were coming back to our dormitory, we ended up talking about beautiful ladies of different nationalities. There was unanimous assertion that French women are the sweetest talkers. I opine(d) that Greek and French must be the two most beautiful countries to belong to. Ghanta would rather wait to observe a few more samples before he expresses his opinion! Italians, by the way, have a wonderful skin color [mostly] but their voice doesn't really please your ears. Who cares ;)
Today is my sister's birthday. Thank God for all the good times you have given her so far, and send her more such wonderful things in the future.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Mera bad luck hi kharab hai ...
Its one of those days when you get the feeling... "why did it have to happen to me !"
I mean, how could I have known that transferring money from one a/c to another would take one week. How could I have known that coming back to square one would take the better part of a fortnight!
The quest for a laptop has taken a frustrating and actively hostile turn. With the doggedness of a dhobi-ka-kutta, I insist that I will procure a laptop. I truly need one to keep up with the times. And to keep myself sane.
As of today, I am waiting. Dry throats and hungry eyes notwithstanding, I am waiting.
Us unkhareede laptop ki kasam, no more purchasing online.
I wish I hadn't been told about the movie PKSE. Now, I think I will have to rename my friend CoffeeMate. I think I can call him Popes. Much much better! The idea of "coffee at 12" will never feel the same again!
I read a post on a friend's blog about dogs. He seems to take a very sympathetic stance towards them. Incidentally, street dogs really piss me off. Not in the reclining-against-the-pole sense, but they have created enough nuisance for me in the past. Interrupted and almost scared me when I was walking around with Popes in the road in front of the campus one early morning [ or late night if u will]. Scared us on our adventurous walk to the Kashid beach one dark night.
And who can forget Strato's stunt that night... We were all scared, trying to form a small bunch. And there she was, holding the burning candle, quite in the 'Gumnam hai koi' fashion. Luckily, it did scare the dogs, I think.
There's something strong about German nationalism. Almost to the extent that sometimes, it creates a lot of troubles. The online banking webpage is entirely in German language, all ready-to-cook food comes with instructions in 4-5 languages (and English isn't one of them), the newspapers and TV channels are all in German! Except the movie on Sunday late night, there's very little you can understand on German TV. If for the sake of consumer convenience, businesses provided an option of communicating in English, life here would be so much easier.
Till then, ready-to-cook food is better referred to as ready-to-translate!
People in Ahmedabad are worried about dropping water table. I wish someone in this part of the world was worried about the dropping waist lines. To the extent that some waistlines begin at the absolutely limiting levels... beyond that, both the waistline and the trouser/jeans/skirt doesnt make much sense [except for the Supermans and so on...]. Granted that God is great and that everyone has the right to make his or her own choice, but still... Some of these people look more like brand ambassadors of inner wear! Details not worth mentioning/discussing/thinking about. Do what you want, but don't sit in the chair in front of me. Please.
Strangely but luckily, despite all the provocations by these @#$#@%#@ online store people, I am happy. Because in small windows of time, I have been doing what I like best to do. Garbled nonsense about serious issues, or serious discussions about nonsensical concerns. Anyway, the weather is clear and lots of clouds have been blown away.
Only If
by Enya
When there's a shadow near, reach for the sun
When there is loving here, look for the one
And for the promises, there is the sky
And for the heavens are those who can fly
If you really want to, you can hear me say
Only if you want to will you find a way
If you really want to you can seize the day
Only if you want to will you fly away
..snip..
I mean, how could I have known that transferring money from one a/c to another would take one week. How could I have known that coming back to square one would take the better part of a fortnight!
The quest for a laptop has taken a frustrating and actively hostile turn. With the doggedness of a dhobi-ka-kutta, I insist that I will procure a laptop. I truly need one to keep up with the times. And to keep myself sane.
As of today, I am waiting. Dry throats and hungry eyes notwithstanding, I am waiting.
Us unkhareede laptop ki kasam, no more purchasing online.
I wish I hadn't been told about the movie PKSE. Now, I think I will have to rename my friend CoffeeMate. I think I can call him Popes. Much much better! The idea of "coffee at 12" will never feel the same again!
I read a post on a friend's blog about dogs. He seems to take a very sympathetic stance towards them. Incidentally, street dogs really piss me off. Not in the reclining-against-the-pole sense, but they have created enough nuisance for me in the past. Interrupted and almost scared me when I was walking around with Popes in the road in front of the campus one early morning [ or late night if u will]. Scared us on our adventurous walk to the Kashid beach one dark night.
And who can forget Strato's stunt that night... We were all scared, trying to form a small bunch. And there she was, holding the burning candle, quite in the 'Gumnam hai koi' fashion. Luckily, it did scare the dogs, I think.
There's something strong about German nationalism. Almost to the extent that sometimes, it creates a lot of troubles. The online banking webpage is entirely in German language, all ready-to-cook food comes with instructions in 4-5 languages (and English isn't one of them), the newspapers and TV channels are all in German! Except the movie on Sunday late night, there's very little you can understand on German TV. If for the sake of consumer convenience, businesses provided an option of communicating in English, life here would be so much easier.
Till then, ready-to-cook food is better referred to as ready-to-translate!
People in Ahmedabad are worried about dropping water table. I wish someone in this part of the world was worried about the dropping waist lines. To the extent that some waistlines begin at the absolutely limiting levels... beyond that, both the waistline and the trouser/jeans/skirt doesnt make much sense [except for the Supermans and so on...]. Granted that God is great and that everyone has the right to make his or her own choice, but still... Some of these people look more like brand ambassadors of inner wear! Details not worth mentioning/discussing/thinking about. Do what you want, but don't sit in the chair in front of me. Please.
Strangely but luckily, despite all the provocations by these @#$#@%#@ online store people, I am happy. Because in small windows of time, I have been doing what I like best to do. Garbled nonsense about serious issues, or serious discussions about nonsensical concerns. Anyway, the weather is clear and lots of clouds have been blown away.
Only If
by Enya
When there's a shadow near, reach for the sun
When there is loving here, look for the one
And for the promises, there is the sky
And for the heavens are those who can fly
If you really want to, you can hear me say
Only if you want to will you find a way
If you really want to you can seize the day
Only if you want to will you fly away
..snip..
Sunday, September 24, 2006
A birthday and Oktober ka Mela
Today is Strato's Birthday. This is for her :)))
With the accompanying wishes and hopes and all that.
I wonder how some people are able to tolerate so much of me. I am a little keen to make fun of people while I often suppress the compliments. Strato had a taste of that recently ;)
And when I end up revealing the compliments, my ability/tendency to exaggerate things makes the whole atmosphere a little too stoopid.
That doesn't mean I don't mean them. I mean, that post about a girl being deliciously beautifool wasn't written for nothing. All the stoopidity apart, the compliment was truly intended! :)
So was SISGB - a term I use when someone deserves to be complimented with a straight-from-the-heart She Is So Goddamn Beautiful.
We spent our Saturday at the Oktoberfest in Munich. It was great. Surrounded by people drinking around 4 liters of beer on an average, the atmosphere felt really festive. It sorta reminded me of the fare we used to have in Banda. Multiply the scale by a few thousands. [It is said that Oktoberfest is visited each year by around 6 million people]
We spent an incredible amount of time just walking around. McDonald rawksss. We just walked out the main festival gate and went in the direction that looked like it led to the market. And after a little walking along the straight road, we reached the McD outlet. I have grown a surprisingly huge appetite. This time, even the BigMac seemed to vanish into a corner.
One word summarises the Oktoberfest like nothing else. Masse [ written in German as 'Ma' followed by beta ... sort of like Maa-beta]. It means a flask. And you can see that it is really big. It measures one liter and if you consider that the Bavarian beer is stronger than other beer, you can understand what it does to people who gulp down some 3-4 liters.
When we travel around in Germany, the things uppermost in our mind are
-free WC
-water to drink
-McDonald's
I mean, who wants to spend the equivalent of Rs 30 on such trivial things as loo. And it is really difficult to find non-carbonated water anywhere in Germany.
Ghalib bhai showed his master culinary skills in cooking chicken curry for today's lunch. And he did a very good job of it. Of course he was supported by the master onion-cutter Your Truly. And YT was a little busy in trying out whether gTalk can really be used to Talk.
After all the walking last night, I was wondering if going to CC would be worth all the pain. But had pleasant conversations with CM, Cheenz, Strato and AshKD. And also did the scanning job.
Incidentally that PC on which the scanner is connected has German Windows XP. And while scanning, my only concern was that I should not accidentally print the document... it would some euros. Luckily, I knew that print is drucken in German. So I managed to scan the documents. Phew!
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Bible, Matthew vii. 7.
Friday, September 22, 2006
No I don't need them.
Them. The People.
They make such a mockery of my name. :(
Last night I went to a party and there, they misspelt my name. For a moment, I should have looked like the typical Chinese tauschie. They had called me 'Vyong'!
I mean, in the two weeks since I have come here, I have seen many different mutilations of my name. 'Vom' 'Vo' 'Vyon' 'Om' 'Yom' 'Yon'
Yes, all these and more.
Its not as if the experience has been less traumatic in India. A proff at my college gawked at my name plate and blurted out 'Bhom'. When I was young enough to wear clothes shown in kids' section, my friends , especially the more enterprising ones, called me Bhai-bho. Some teachers called me Y-om.
What do I do?
I keep a name tag handy so that I can avoid having to spell out what some people find an incredibly difficult name.
Bad look!
And no, I am definitely not a dealer in vaccuum cleaners. And my sofa is clean, so don't come with a vaccuum cleaner.
What had all the ingredients of an interesting conversation was struck out by a bolt from the blue. Its always at the wrong time that your mind decides to rebel.
When Greek beauties were beginning to get intoxicated in Sangri etc at the party last night, my stomach was growling at me. Loud enough that the inebritated Spaniard next to me mistook it for music. So Vyong went back to his apartment and had a semi-fool filling dinner.
Or may be, it was the right time. Words were beginning to come with a falter. Lack of enthu, energy or courage?
And what was it that cut it short?
I don't like obese people either. And its not related to aesthetics in anyway. Just that when I used to play see-saw in my childhood, people would come and sit on the see-saw opposite me. And I would be left hanging in thin air! It felt bad. To top it all, they would leave suddenly and that would hurt you in ways they would never get to know. The sudden fall from the top followed by the loud thud and I would scream in pain!
So I learnt the lesson the hard way. One shouldn't be in see-saw relationships with people stronger than him/her. It hurts. If you go weak on your knees when you see someone, it may not be a good idea to play see-saw with them. Try some other game!
Sorry for using the same quote again, but I like these a little too much.
from Movie Dor:
yeh honsla kaise jhuke
yeh aarzoo kaise ruke
yeh honsla kaise jhuke
yeh aarzoo kaise ruke
manzil mushkil to kya
dhundhla sahil to kya
tanha yeh dil to kya
rah pe kaante bikhre agar
us per to fir bhi chalna hi hai
shaam chupale suraj magar
raat ko ek din dhalna hi hai
rut yeh tal jayegi
himmat rang layegi
subeh fir aayegi
yeh honsla...
hogi hamein jo rehmat ada
dhoop kategi saaye tale
apni khuda se hai yeh dua
manzil laga le humko gale
zurrat sau bar rahe
uncha ikraar rahe
zinda har pyaar rahe
yeh honsla...
They make such a mockery of my name. :(
Last night I went to a party and there, they misspelt my name. For a moment, I should have looked like the typical Chinese tauschie. They had called me 'Vyong'!
I mean, in the two weeks since I have come here, I have seen many different mutilations of my name. 'Vom' 'Vo' 'Vyon' 'Om' 'Yom' 'Yon'
Yes, all these and more.
Its not as if the experience has been less traumatic in India. A proff at my college gawked at my name plate and blurted out 'Bhom'. When I was young enough to wear clothes shown in kids' section, my friends , especially the more enterprising ones, called me Bhai-bho. Some teachers called me Y-om.
What do I do?
I keep a name tag handy so that I can avoid having to spell out what some people find an incredibly difficult name.
Bad look!
And no, I am definitely not a dealer in vaccuum cleaners. And my sofa is clean, so don't come with a vaccuum cleaner.
What had all the ingredients of an interesting conversation was struck out by a bolt from the blue. Its always at the wrong time that your mind decides to rebel.
When Greek beauties were beginning to get intoxicated in Sangri etc at the party last night, my stomach was growling at me. Loud enough that the inebritated Spaniard next to me mistook it for music. So Vyong went back to his apartment and had a semi-fool filling dinner.
Or may be, it was the right time. Words were beginning to come with a falter. Lack of enthu, energy or courage?
And what was it that cut it short?
I don't like obese people either. And its not related to aesthetics in anyway. Just that when I used to play see-saw in my childhood, people would come and sit on the see-saw opposite me. And I would be left hanging in thin air! It felt bad. To top it all, they would leave suddenly and that would hurt you in ways they would never get to know. The sudden fall from the top followed by the loud thud and I would scream in pain!
So I learnt the lesson the hard way. One shouldn't be in see-saw relationships with people stronger than him/her. It hurts. If you go weak on your knees when you see someone, it may not be a good idea to play see-saw with them. Try some other game!
Sorry for using the same quote again, but I like these a little too much.
from Movie Dor:
yeh honsla kaise jhuke
yeh aarzoo kaise ruke
yeh honsla kaise jhuke
yeh aarzoo kaise ruke
manzil mushkil to kya
dhundhla sahil to kya
tanha yeh dil to kya
rah pe kaante bikhre agar
us per to fir bhi chalna hi hai
shaam chupale suraj magar
raat ko ek din dhalna hi hai
rut yeh tal jayegi
himmat rang layegi
subeh fir aayegi
yeh honsla...
hogi hamein jo rehmat ada
dhoop kategi saaye tale
apni khuda se hai yeh dua
manzil laga le humko gale
zurrat sau bar rahe
uncha ikraar rahe
zinda har pyaar rahe
yeh honsla...
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Why?
Sometimes you stand on the balcony , feel the breeze brush past your hair. The chill in the air pinches your nose and creates a painful sensation in your ears. You suddenly begin to resemble a red-faced monkey sans a full-blown tail. And your mind begins to wobble.
Why on earth did this have to happen?
I mean, granted that I have more expertise in this field than the other two guys, but why did I have to be the one who ends up cutting onions before every meal we cook? Why do I have to cry before every meal?
A few thousand kilometers away, a full billion people are merrily sleeping. May be some nocturnal types [who live in some hostel or work in a call center or are on emergency duty of any kind] are awake. May be some are reading this and wondering why I wrote this.
Ye ye ye ye [ with all the animated intonations, that make it the favorite expression of joy for a typical German ! ]
I wonder why I have to go back. I wonder why I have to wonder.
Ghalib bhai's loud snoring drowns out the soft sound of my keyboard tapping. Downstairs, a group of guys are going to practice their dancing skills. My dbabble is refusing to log me in.
You get the atmosphere right.
Still I wonder. Like Arun, Amit and Raja [ my friends ]. I wonder and worry.
I wonder if it is a good idea to start experimenting with the binge sessions. Germany would be the best place to do that should I decide to go ahead. The free beer, the festive atmosphere and spirited people eager to invite me - this combination is difficult to find. It might be a good idea to drown away my thoughts in a giant vase. I mean, so what if I am only one-gulp-old. There's always a beginning and there's always an end.
I try hard to hide my thoughts behind thin veils. Some people may not like to see me change my habits. I mean, except for the one gulp I took to see what German beer [ or beer of any kind ] tastes like, and except for this rare musing, beer isn't something I would find so acceptable. Not in the normal course of things.
I feel like a dealer of vaccuum cleaners. Vacuum in, vacuum out. Someone brings in some vaccuum, someone takes away some vaccuum.
If it gets any more arbit, I promise I will jump off the window. At this time of the day, the garden lights will switch on by themselves. These Germans use engineering so ubiquitously in their lives. I mean, the lights in the corridors are timed to switch off automatically after a few mins. When you enter the WC, you have to start the light timer, and after that time, the light goes off by itself. Crazy or ingenuous?
It did cost me a lot of trouble on my first day. The WC details are best left out but you can imagine having to use a WC at midnight when its completely dark all around.
Its about time I woke Ghalib bhai up and signed off lest I write something that betrays the true mood of the day.
[ Ye ye ye , beer bars of Vallendar, here I come!]
The last perusal of this blog to ensure nothing leaks out is over.
[Sorry for treating you with this, but I like this expression!]
Takdeer mein hamari to aasmaa bhi nahi tha
Fakr se ud chale hum kate pankh liye hue.
Woh sookhi daal, hawa ke jhoke,
kab tak rokegi aakhir
Ek roz hum sabhi ud ud ker
ufaq mein kaheen chchip jayenge!
Why on earth did this have to happen?
I mean, granted that I have more expertise in this field than the other two guys, but why did I have to be the one who ends up cutting onions before every meal we cook? Why do I have to cry before every meal?
A few thousand kilometers away, a full billion people are merrily sleeping. May be some nocturnal types [who live in some hostel or work in a call center or are on emergency duty of any kind] are awake. May be some are reading this and wondering why I wrote this.
Ye ye ye ye [ with all the animated intonations, that make it the favorite expression of joy for a typical German ! ]
I wonder why I have to go back. I wonder why I have to wonder.
Ghalib bhai's loud snoring drowns out the soft sound of my keyboard tapping. Downstairs, a group of guys are going to practice their dancing skills. My dbabble is refusing to log me in.
You get the atmosphere right.
Still I wonder. Like Arun, Amit and Raja [ my friends ]. I wonder and worry.
I wonder if it is a good idea to start experimenting with the binge sessions. Germany would be the best place to do that should I decide to go ahead. The free beer, the festive atmosphere and spirited people eager to invite me - this combination is difficult to find. It might be a good idea to drown away my thoughts in a giant vase. I mean, so what if I am only one-gulp-old. There's always a beginning and there's always an end.
I try hard to hide my thoughts behind thin veils. Some people may not like to see me change my habits. I mean, except for the one gulp I took to see what German beer [ or beer of any kind ] tastes like, and except for this rare musing, beer isn't something I would find so acceptable. Not in the normal course of things.
I feel like a dealer of vaccuum cleaners. Vacuum in, vacuum out. Someone brings in some vaccuum, someone takes away some vaccuum.
If it gets any more arbit, I promise I will jump off the window. At this time of the day, the garden lights will switch on by themselves. These Germans use engineering so ubiquitously in their lives. I mean, the lights in the corridors are timed to switch off automatically after a few mins. When you enter the WC, you have to start the light timer, and after that time, the light goes off by itself. Crazy or ingenuous?
It did cost me a lot of trouble on my first day. The WC details are best left out but you can imagine having to use a WC at midnight when its completely dark all around.
Its about time I woke Ghalib bhai up and signed off lest I write something that betrays the true mood of the day.
[ Ye ye ye , beer bars of Vallendar, here I come!]
The last perusal of this blog to ensure nothing leaks out is over.
[Sorry for treating you with this, but I like this expression!]
Takdeer mein hamari to aasmaa bhi nahi tha
Fakr se ud chale hum kate pankh liye hue.
Woh sookhi daal, hawa ke jhoke,
kab tak rokegi aakhir
Ek roz hum sabhi ud ud ker
ufaq mein kaheen chchip jayenge!
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
The Expectations Theory
No, I am not about to delve into the economic theory of how expectations wreak havoc on all sorts of things from prices to mental balance of Central bank governers. Or whatever that theory was. My mind has only so much space and I can either use it to remember the academic stuff or the stupid stuff... and the decision I made is amply clear ! :D
I sometimes wonder how expectations shape the way we behave and think about others and ourselves. Some people say expectations in relationships bring troubles, but then people are not to be believed.
Richard Bach has an interesting thing to say about expectations. He says that we get angry at someone only when we expect something from him or her. I think it is very true indeed.
True, anger is a big devil, and who should know this better than me. I mean, when I was very young, wise people with deep understanding of astrology would look at my kundli and instantly predict that I would grow up to be a person with lots of latent anger. Soon thereafter, the same judgement could be reached without reading the kundli.
Trying to run away from the home because my parents wouldn't let me watch 'Jungle Book' or sitting under the sun because I couldn't watch the India Zimbabwe test match. Ample evidence of my not-so-cool temper.
Anyway, when I stand in a queue, I expect people to maintain some amount of distance. In India, mostly they don't. I have had to resort to bending my left elbow backwards in an attempt to keep some empty distance behind me, but it has been tough indeed. I mean, when a person with a big pot belly stands behind you, you don't really want to feel the contour of his hemisphere.
When I treat someone with a degree of fairness, I expect them to reciprocate.
But sometimes I wonder if it is fair to expect people to behave the way I want them to. Or the way I do.
A discussion with CM brought a lot of clouds and thoughts into my mind. In the typical filmy ishtyle you love a person you know your parents don't approve of. And then the family drama. . . Hmm. If only life were simpler...
Our culinary experiments have been going all wrong off late. The use of a different curry paste in yesterday's sabji led to the whole bhagona full of it being wasted! We enrolled for a company presentation for this evening so that we can get some food for free, and without hassles.
And here's some stuff in an incredibly stupid self-destructing code I devised with the sole purpose of irritating Strato. . . and it worked well, mind you! :P
I wajh I knbw wkjsde I am gklla be in a ydfr fghm ndw. I wkjt to ldfk igho tke fhjsde baksnde I am ahgksd of my pkjt.
I sometimes wonder how expectations shape the way we behave and think about others and ourselves. Some people say expectations in relationships bring troubles, but then people are not to be believed.
Richard Bach has an interesting thing to say about expectations. He says that we get angry at someone only when we expect something from him or her. I think it is very true indeed.
True, anger is a big devil, and who should know this better than me. I mean, when I was very young, wise people with deep understanding of astrology would look at my kundli and instantly predict that I would grow up to be a person with lots of latent anger. Soon thereafter, the same judgement could be reached without reading the kundli.
Trying to run away from the home because my parents wouldn't let me watch 'Jungle Book' or sitting under the sun because I couldn't watch the India Zimbabwe test match. Ample evidence of my not-so-cool temper.
Anyway, when I stand in a queue, I expect people to maintain some amount of distance. In India, mostly they don't. I have had to resort to bending my left elbow backwards in an attempt to keep some empty distance behind me, but it has been tough indeed. I mean, when a person with a big pot belly stands behind you, you don't really want to feel the contour of his hemisphere.
When I treat someone with a degree of fairness, I expect them to reciprocate.
But sometimes I wonder if it is fair to expect people to behave the way I want them to. Or the way I do.
A discussion with CM brought a lot of clouds and thoughts into my mind. In the typical filmy ishtyle you love a person you know your parents don't approve of. And then the family drama. . . Hmm. If only life were simpler...
Our culinary experiments have been going all wrong off late. The use of a different curry paste in yesterday's sabji led to the whole bhagona full of it being wasted! We enrolled for a company presentation for this evening so that we can get some food for free, and without hassles.
And here's some stuff in an incredibly stupid self-destructing code I devised with the sole purpose of irritating Strato. . . and it worked well, mind you! :P
I wajh I knbw wkjsde I am gklla be in a ydfr fghm ndw. I wkjt to ldfk igho tke fhjsde baksnde I am ahgksd of my pkjt.
Monday, September 18, 2006
European Trips on Shoestring Budgets
Germany has lots of different types of trains. Probably the handiwork of some fraud bureaucrats with nothing else to do! I mean, there are the ICE, IC and EC which are fast trains. Then there are RE and RB trains. Then there are S-Bahn and U-Bahns. These are still understandable. But then, sometimes you find IRE and IR trains as well. It confuses me to the point where mind feels only slightly better than overcooked spaghetti !
One really needs to know which kind of ticket is valid in which class, and to top it all, the tickets are printed exclusively in the German language. Quite tough for first timers.
The five of us took the Schones Wochenende karte [ literally, the beautiful ticket ] which is valid for 5 people for the whole day. The catch is that it is valid in only the short distance trains [i.e. RE RB IRE and SBahn ]. So our weekend trip to Heidelberg consisted of 3 breaks. But the ReiseZentrum [Information Center] people at train stations are very helpful. And they understand English. So one can go there and ask for the schedule to any particular city and they will take a printout of the shortest connection [train timings, platform numbers and all included] for FREE.
Mind those words. FREE.
In sharp contrast, you will rarely, if at all, find free drinking water anywhere in Germany except the fountains near old castles. It makes the stomach go squeasy especially if you choose to drink coke/sprite over water everytime you find that water costs the same as coke at railway stations.
We went on a weekend trip to Heidelberg and Stuttgart. Heidelberg is a town famous for its old castle, of which only scattered remains exist. The town being featured as tourist destination, it is very crowded. Our journey started with the train at 8, and we reached Heidelberg at 12. After that we had a brief lunch at McD - the Happy Meal, which seemed to have vanished somewhere between my tongue and throat. But we had to move on.
Having decided to walk around the city, we peeked into passing by tourist destinations [like the old University Library and numerous churches] and covered close to 3 kms by foot, of which around 400 m was steep uphill. The city looked quite scenic from the height of the small hill. Then we sat in the garden and had some rest, topped up with liberal doses of lively laughter.
Since we had already made a specatacle of ourselves, we discovered there was a way to avoid feeling embarassed.
"Hamare mulk Pakistan mein to aise hi hanste hain!"
After that, we felt free to indulge ourselves in the most insane activities without feeling the least bit of shame!
For dinner, we had to look around a lot before we found a place suited to our price-quality indifference curves. It was a Chinese outlet which offered buffet, unlimited food for 6.90 euros.
I personally took four plate fulls of food, and it was the yummiest food I have had so far in Germany.
We spent the night in train stations and trains. On non descript train stations, we would sleep on the benches. Every time a train would pass by, I would be woken up by the big and chilly gusts of wind! A little shuffling and swearing later, I would try again to sleep. The attempt was only marginally succesful. But all these efforts proved to be ok when we reached the Mercedes museum. It is splendid and grand.
From the first car to concept cars, the SLRs, S class and Maybach. It was all on display. From there we went to the Porsche museum with high hopes and tired legs. Our legs cried out in joy when we realised that the Porsche museum was only a room full of artefacts. Compare that to the Mercedes Museum which has 4 floors with HUGE space in each floor.
The return journey was very fool-filling. At McD's we had a grand lunch. Almost till the point where I was afraid to cough, lest some of the unprocessed burger be spilled over to unsuspecting co travellers!
Back in our apartment at 8, we slept like drunken donkeys. But the thought of waking up for the moring lecture at 9 am the next morning sent chill waves down our spine!
One really needs to know which kind of ticket is valid in which class, and to top it all, the tickets are printed exclusively in the German language. Quite tough for first timers.
The five of us took the Schones Wochenende karte [ literally, the beautiful ticket ] which is valid for 5 people for the whole day. The catch is that it is valid in only the short distance trains [i.e. RE RB IRE and SBahn ]. So our weekend trip to Heidelberg consisted of 3 breaks. But the ReiseZentrum [Information Center] people at train stations are very helpful. And they understand English. So one can go there and ask for the schedule to any particular city and they will take a printout of the shortest connection [train timings, platform numbers and all included] for FREE.
Mind those words. FREE.
In sharp contrast, you will rarely, if at all, find free drinking water anywhere in Germany except the fountains near old castles. It makes the stomach go squeasy especially if you choose to drink coke/sprite over water everytime you find that water costs the same as coke at railway stations.
We went on a weekend trip to Heidelberg and Stuttgart. Heidelberg is a town famous for its old castle, of which only scattered remains exist. The town being featured as tourist destination, it is very crowded. Our journey started with the train at 8, and we reached Heidelberg at 12. After that we had a brief lunch at McD - the Happy Meal, which seemed to have vanished somewhere between my tongue and throat. But we had to move on.
Having decided to walk around the city, we peeked into passing by tourist destinations [like the old University Library and numerous churches] and covered close to 3 kms by foot, of which around 400 m was steep uphill. The city looked quite scenic from the height of the small hill. Then we sat in the garden and had some rest, topped up with liberal doses of lively laughter.
Since we had already made a specatacle of ourselves, we discovered there was a way to avoid feeling embarassed.
"Hamare mulk Pakistan mein to aise hi hanste hain!"
After that, we felt free to indulge ourselves in the most insane activities without feeling the least bit of shame!
For dinner, we had to look around a lot before we found a place suited to our price-quality indifference curves. It was a Chinese outlet which offered buffet, unlimited food for 6.90 euros.
I personally took four plate fulls of food, and it was the yummiest food I have had so far in Germany.
We spent the night in train stations and trains. On non descript train stations, we would sleep on the benches. Every time a train would pass by, I would be woken up by the big and chilly gusts of wind! A little shuffling and swearing later, I would try again to sleep. The attempt was only marginally succesful. But all these efforts proved to be ok when we reached the Mercedes museum. It is splendid and grand.
From the first car to concept cars, the SLRs, S class and Maybach. It was all on display. From there we went to the Porsche museum with high hopes and tired legs. Our legs cried out in joy when we realised that the Porsche museum was only a room full of artefacts. Compare that to the Mercedes Museum which has 4 floors with HUGE space in each floor.
The return journey was very fool-filling. At McD's we had a grand lunch. Almost till the point where I was afraid to cough, lest some of the unprocessed burger be spilled over to unsuspecting co travellers!
Back in our apartment at 8, we slept like drunken donkeys. But the thought of waking up for the moring lecture at 9 am the next morning sent chill waves down our spine!
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
The Cook
I don't know how this would look to anyone else but it was delicious. Accompanied by aam-ka-achaar and followed by yoghurt, it made for a sumptuous dinner. But this afternoon, we broke the healthy streak of succesful experiments in food, where quantities and ingredients were the outcomes of group discussions and random calculations. We had to make do with two rather uncooked pizzas. And to think they were bought ready-to-cook! The mushrooms and the half-cooked cheese tasted a little too eek-y.By the way, Ghalib insists that I acknowledge his contribution to the making of this pulao. So, let me acknowledge his contribution without which, this pulao could not have been made [and so on...]
[This post was abandoned midway because there were too many gaps in between.]
Monday, September 11, 2006
Life in a gaaon.
Vallendar [pronounced Fa-len-der] is a quite gaaon. In the evening, after 8pm, it becomes eerily quiet. And chilling cold. So when we were coming last night, my ears froze and turned red. Thanks to the heater in the room, it was pretty warm and cozy inside.
I also attended my first lecture at WHU[pronounced Wee-Haa-Ooo]. It was a three hour session with 15 minutes break in between. But the professor here turned out to be quite easy going. People carry laptops [ they call them notebooks ] to the lecture and merrily check email and chat during the lecture! Overall, the session was interesting.
I must mention about the subtlely of German humor though. They talk in animated tones, with all the right whiffs of air, and facial expressions. Sometimes however, the joke is lost in all these efforts! Sometimes, the joke is too subtle to be of any use for brainless straightspeaking people like me!
The Indian community here is growing. The people from IIMB having arrived, we make quite a crowd at the dorm kitchen. The huge amount of curry being cooked in the big vessel is an ample proof of our healthy diets!
Here at Vallendar, I spend a lot of my time in Ghalib's room. He's a buddha friend from IIMA. I am writing all these posts from his notebook. And I also chat from his notebook. Just this evening, he started getting curious about my conversations with a particular friend.
'Kyun bey, kaun hai? Bandi hai, yeh to chamak raha hai'
I promptly renamed the friend's entry in my chat client! I also ensure that he does not put his hands on my shoulders as a friendly gesture too often. In videshi land, you never know what people might infer from that !
The German food is also quite bland. Today we had mexican rice for lunch. While it had all the appearance of a really spicy veg fried rice, alas, it turned out to be pretty bland.
Today's dinner was awesome.We cooked food for 6 people and it was better than what we get at our mess at IIMA.
Ghalib needs to work on his notebook, so I need to conclude this here.
"A wild wish has just flown from my heart to my head, and I will not stifle it though it may excite a horse laugh."
Mary Wollstonecraft
http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/wollstonecraft-mary/1792/vindication-rights-woman/ch04.htm
I also attended my first lecture at WHU[pronounced Wee-Haa-Ooo]. It was a three hour session with 15 minutes break in between. But the professor here turned out to be quite easy going. People carry laptops [ they call them notebooks ] to the lecture and merrily check email and chat during the lecture! Overall, the session was interesting.
I must mention about the subtlely of German humor though. They talk in animated tones, with all the right whiffs of air, and facial expressions. Sometimes however, the joke is lost in all these efforts! Sometimes, the joke is too subtle to be of any use for brainless straightspeaking people like me!
The Indian community here is growing. The people from IIMB having arrived, we make quite a crowd at the dorm kitchen. The huge amount of curry being cooked in the big vessel is an ample proof of our healthy diets!
Here at Vallendar, I spend a lot of my time in Ghalib's room. He's a buddha friend from IIMA. I am writing all these posts from his notebook. And I also chat from his notebook. Just this evening, he started getting curious about my conversations with a particular friend.
'Kyun bey, kaun hai? Bandi hai, yeh to chamak raha hai'
I promptly renamed the friend's entry in my chat client! I also ensure that he does not put his hands on my shoulders as a friendly gesture too often. In videshi land, you never know what people might infer from that !
The German food is also quite bland. Today we had mexican rice for lunch. While it had all the appearance of a really spicy veg fried rice, alas, it turned out to be pretty bland.
Today's dinner was awesome.We cooked food for 6 people and it was better than what we get at our mess at IIMA.
Ghalib needs to work on his notebook, so I need to conclude this here.
"A wild wish has just flown from my heart to my head, and I will not stifle it though it may excite a horse laugh."
Mary Wollstonecraft
http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/wollstonecraft-mary/1792/vindication-rights-woman/ch04.htm
My (mis)adventures
The auto to frankfurt has finally arrived. And I am now in Vallendar [pronounced Fa-len-der] as an exchange student at WHU [pronounced wee-ha-ooo].
Vallendar gaon is located in Koblenz shaher in Germany desh.
It has been an adventurous journey. First the journey on board Swarna shatabdi from Lucknow to New Delhi. I was hoping I would find some interesting company. And well, bad luck. Right beside me was seated a really plump man in his early forties. He had a penchant for playing games on his cellphone and in the process emitting a sequence of shrill beeps. Now that was irritating. However, he had a perfect sense of timing. Right when my patience would cross its limits, he would get bored of his game and then close the flap. Other than that, his hands were so plump, they not only covered the whole of the arm rest, they also covered some of my space. I had to recline a little away from him. Even in the cool AC environ, the thought of his hand touching mine was soooo ..well... abominable. Not to forget the regular announcements of the secretion of digestive juices inside his alimentary canal, in the form of huge loud burps. Once, he even attracted the attention of the Ticket Checker who was standing at the other end of the bogey.
The guy seated in front of me turned out to be an unfriendly chap as well. Apparently, the cover on the window pane seemed to stop him from resting his elbow on the edge of the window pane. In a more rational setting, I would have explained to him that the edge was only a few cms in width and was reclined at an angle of 80% from the vertical. But I was already half asleep. I told him I needed to sleep. But he turned out to be one stubborn fellow.
Anyway, the interruption to my slumber wasn't so bad after all. I read a few stories from Shashi Tharoor's "The 5 dollar smile". It was interesting. In fact I would rather call them simple and elegant. This guy was one hell of a child prodigy. What was I doing when I was 16? Wondering about the football like structure of C60 or the problems in relativity and so on.
Then there was also this lady seated right across me. Well, I might probably have measured upto her elbows. Most minds inside the compartment were hovering at the level of her bellybutton probably.
The journey from New Delhi to Frankfurt was equally long and painful. It was crampy. I mean economy class seats in the domestic flights must be at least 2 mts apart. In this AI flight, the only good thing was the food. The tired and hungry me had his stomach full. And I devoured every bit of butter, jam and dahi [and everything else] that was sent my way.
The old lady behind me had a problem with me reclining my chair. The airlines decided to use the movie 'Pyaare Mohan' as a tool for torture.
And the story goes on. I managed much better than I did last time. Of course the same language issues. The same schwein drie and other arcane stuff that is sooo tough to understand. And they speak it so fast that it is diffcult to make out when the words end and when the sentences begin. Thoda le-ja-woo, thoda de-ja-woo.
But I left India with a slightly bitter taste in mouth. Sweety is still perceptibly angry and there's very well little I can do about it now.
A question has been raised about how much truth there is in what I write here. Clearly, I try my best to hide identities. And I exaggerate. I mean, my parents weren't so cruel after all. And I didn't have a crush on that girl in first term. But simply talking about her didn't make any sense. And if you strain your mind, dear Sweety, you might be able to recollect that I indeed told you about her, as I did about every little thing that happened in my life then.
Anyway, even though sorry sounds too meek a word,
Sorry.
I might appear to have walked out too easily. I might appear to have been cold.
I wasn't.
Guess thats it for now.
Dhundhla saahil to kya,
manzil mushkil to kya
tanhaa yeh dil to kya...
[from movie Dor]
Vallendar gaon is located in Koblenz shaher in Germany desh.
It has been an adventurous journey. First the journey on board Swarna shatabdi from Lucknow to New Delhi. I was hoping I would find some interesting company. And well, bad luck. Right beside me was seated a really plump man in his early forties. He had a penchant for playing games on his cellphone and in the process emitting a sequence of shrill beeps. Now that was irritating. However, he had a perfect sense of timing. Right when my patience would cross its limits, he would get bored of his game and then close the flap. Other than that, his hands were so plump, they not only covered the whole of the arm rest, they also covered some of my space. I had to recline a little away from him. Even in the cool AC environ, the thought of his hand touching mine was soooo ..well... abominable. Not to forget the regular announcements of the secretion of digestive juices inside his alimentary canal, in the form of huge loud burps. Once, he even attracted the attention of the Ticket Checker who was standing at the other end of the bogey.
The guy seated in front of me turned out to be an unfriendly chap as well. Apparently, the cover on the window pane seemed to stop him from resting his elbow on the edge of the window pane. In a more rational setting, I would have explained to him that the edge was only a few cms in width and was reclined at an angle of 80% from the vertical. But I was already half asleep. I told him I needed to sleep. But he turned out to be one stubborn fellow.
Anyway, the interruption to my slumber wasn't so bad after all. I read a few stories from Shashi Tharoor's "The 5 dollar smile". It was interesting. In fact I would rather call them simple and elegant. This guy was one hell of a child prodigy. What was I doing when I was 16? Wondering about the football like structure of C60 or the problems in relativity and so on.
Then there was also this lady seated right across me. Well, I might probably have measured upto her elbows. Most minds inside the compartment were hovering at the level of her bellybutton probably.
The journey from New Delhi to Frankfurt was equally long and painful. It was crampy. I mean economy class seats in the domestic flights must be at least 2 mts apart. In this AI flight, the only good thing was the food. The tired and hungry me had his stomach full. And I devoured every bit of butter, jam and dahi [and everything else] that was sent my way.
The old lady behind me had a problem with me reclining my chair. The airlines decided to use the movie 'Pyaare Mohan' as a tool for torture.
And the story goes on. I managed much better than I did last time. Of course the same language issues. The same schwein drie and other arcane stuff that is sooo tough to understand. And they speak it so fast that it is diffcult to make out when the words end and when the sentences begin. Thoda le-ja-woo, thoda de-ja-woo.
But I left India with a slightly bitter taste in mouth. Sweety is still perceptibly angry and there's very well little I can do about it now.
A question has been raised about how much truth there is in what I write here. Clearly, I try my best to hide identities. And I exaggerate. I mean, my parents weren't so cruel after all. And I didn't have a crush on that girl in first term. But simply talking about her didn't make any sense. And if you strain your mind, dear Sweety, you might be able to recollect that I indeed told you about her, as I did about every little thing that happened in my life then.
Anyway, even though sorry sounds too meek a word,
Sorry.
I might appear to have walked out too easily. I might appear to have been cold.
I wasn't.
Guess thats it for now.
Dhundhla saahil to kya,
manzil mushkil to kya
tanhaa yeh dil to kya...
[from movie Dor]
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