Seven 'o clock, Friday Evening

"The Interpreter" is quite a decent movie. A decent story-line and a cute heroine. It meandered on and on and with Sean Penn looking like he was totally disinterested in the movie, it didn't quite make an impact. Obviously, securing permission to shoot in the UN HQ is not everything.

I got free food today. A classmate of mine won the Aditya Birla Scholarship and she gave us a treat. Also, I have a team for the IITM open Quiz and am looking for one guy to accompany three guys from IIMB- the three are accomplished quizzers and are very likely to qualify (Wimpy, Beedi and Baada).

I spent the last two hours watching Desperate Housewives and I must admit that my initial fears proved to be unfounde. The show has got a great range of characters and this variety lets it explore a variety of themes from adultery, broken marriages, depression, nannies...

I have working friends. I have always wondered what work would be like. As i talk to these people, I wonder how these companies function. I mean, Does it make any sense to have your people sitting around all day and assign them work at 7 pm, when they're likely to be at their least productive? I have wondered the same about B- schools. We rarely seem to do anything during the day. The day is spent attending class till 1.30 pm and that is not very long (max 3 a day). The campus is half-dead from then till about 4.30 and by the time productivity rises, it is dinner time. No wonder people work till the wee hours of the morning. It is true that there is work, a lot of it at that but it can be managed on most occasions but then I have been promised a glimpse into hell during my next term.

I was wondering this morning- for the first time in a long time, I did not bump into anyone I knew at the theatre yesterday. People are at work, they've left the city. They have moved and it feels weird. It seems like I'm entering a phase of my life where things are going to be changing, continuously. It is nice to meet new people and engage with new surroundings but every once in a while I'd like to see that familiar face you can look at and seek comfort... knowing all is well and you haven't become that old yet.

It's all games

It is another lazy afternoon and I face the prospect of sitting at home through the day, doing 'nothing' at all. Am learning quickly- sleep comes at a moment's notice and broadband takes care of the rest of the time. Ironically, I spend more time in thye virtual world here than I did in my hostel.

I was out with Anjana and Prashanth last night. It was good fun and I broke a glass for the first time in God knows how long!!! I have been reading Three Men in a boat- it's a funny book.. maybe I'll post a review when I am done.

I have not had the time to post my views on major sporting events of late. Since it's always more pleasurable to discuss fall from grace than grace itself, Federer shall take a back-seat.

1. Ferrari have struggled all season and Schumacher hasn't looked half the driver that won seven world titles. Are his racing days over? I don't know... I refuse to make that call coz I thought Sampras should have retired a year before he actually did- inspite of the consistent US Open performances of those years.

2. I was betting on Australia winning the Ashes and winning it quite comfortably. The first test went the way I predicted the rest of the series would go. After every succeding test, I would say, "It's only a matter of time before the batting line-up hits form." Gilchrist didn't look half the player he is and the batting never performed together. Is Hayden's career over? Is Martyn finished? Will Clarke's even begin ?- for all the hype I must say he is nothing that special. McGrath's injury was the worst - the Aussies would've pulled off something if he had played. Wonder how Warne does it. Enough has been said and written about him- he is the Maradona of cricket. But the most worrying thing is that the new crop of players don't seem a patch on their replacements - infact they don't even seem of international quality.

3. And Ganguly. Hmm... what shall I say. I don't really like the guy. I believe he doesn't merit his place in the team as a batsman. He is afraid of fast bowling and his days as a fine one-day player are past him. and so are his days as a good captain. Getting Chappell and Ganguly to patch up is a bad solution- either Ganguly must go or Chappell must. Ganguly has had his moments of Salman-like glory and his best days are behind him. He might as well retire before this goes any lower.

And now am off to do some reading and some movie watching.

"Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you need-a homely home and simple pleasures, one or two friends, worth the name, someone to love and someone to love you..."
- Jerome K. Jerome

Musings

The end of another day. Time is just passing me by... another day that I can look back to and say, "What happened ?"

I came back thinking that the 2 week break was the best thing that could happen to me. I met three good friends today. It was great fun and bought back memories of time gone by. But at the back of the mind, there is a feeling that something is missing, somethings have changed. Wonder if it is me. Have I undergone a radical change. It is true that I have done more than my share of dancing but I can't notice any major change of character.

I drink coffee nowadays. Don't know why that's significant but...

I went to the libarary today. Wanted to read a Cussler but couldn't find one that I hadn't read. Got myself "The Transmission". Am also reading "Three men in a boat"... seems interesting enough.

Find myself logging into the internal messaging service at IIMB atleast twice a day. The place grows on you. I had my Finacial Accounting exam on the 22nd. We were given the TATA Motors Annual Repost and had to study it cover to cover and answer 30 Qs on that in the exam. Ever heard of Social Capital? The things that people do that really make you want to belong. A senior of ours, A CA, sat and analysed the entire report and spent hours teaching a bunch of Fachchas, who know nothing at all about accountancy it turned out, what to do and how exactly to approach the paper. We all owe our grades to him.

I keep getting the feeling that my quizzing- never great to begin with- has taken a major beating and with the likes of Swami at the insti, it's hard enough when you are at your best. I found myself so wanting in the previous quiz... my team answered just one Q in the finals. God!!!

I have about ten movies that I intend watching before I return to what promises to be a very tough term.

"Sleep- It is what you get when you have an exam the next day."

Sally

He was sitting in the room, his head pounding. There seemed to be a void in some parts and a feeling of restlessness.

He saw her enter. The room brightened, everything went quiet. He could hear no one, he saw her and her alone. The vacuum filled his head. There she was- her quiet, confident walk and lovely smile on the clear face. How he wished she'd occupy the seat across him! She waved, the other waved back. She went past him... giving him a smile through the corner of he mouth, her eyes making contact for that one second. She kept going. Was every head turned towards her? She then seemed to stop... had she, actually? She seemed to have stopped fractionally longer near the other.... had she? He was mad at her.

He was sitting in the room, his head pounding.

Life and all that

Its been a hell of a week here. Its almost exactly a week down to the minute since I got here. And we've had a week of training from the basics of the company to defensive driver training and first aid. W'e had a great time. A really nice group we have here. 5 Indians, 2 portuguese, 5 indonesian, a malaysian, 2 thai, 3 syrians and 1 egyptian. And we're all a bunch of funny guys. Pretty fascinating to observe the different sense of humor that each kind of people have, but then again the humour is pretty much universal.
Airdrie, which is about 20-25 minute drive from Calgary is a picturesque little town. And we managed to go out for drives on the gravel roads in the country during our driving lessons and it really is very pretty. The sheer largeness of the wide open farmlands is hard to comprehend. HUGE farms. And the rockies loom large on the western horizon. In an hour and a half you are straight into the mountains, which is where we are all going on Tuesday(that our day off this week). In the meantime we made trips to the Eu Claire market on Friday as a team building exercise and played some silly games at an arcade. Hell of a lot of fun. The Eu Claire market is bang in downtown Calgary round about Chinatown. Hope to visit again some other day when I have loads of time to spend. Downtown looks pretty awesome with the usual skyscrapers.
Work for now is just about laying the basic ground work for what seems like exciting and hard times ahead.

The weather here is pretty Sunny for now, but even so a little cold in the beginning for a poor old Chennaiite like me. Hover about 15-20 C maximum and goes down to about 0-5 in the nights. There's this nice little pacific wind which is supposed to warm things down when it gets cold. So the weather here is pretty unpredictable in the winter. It can go from -30 to 15 in the same day if the wind starts blowing. There are plenty of open spaces all around and when the sun is out you really long to go out and just be out there. I guess you need the cold to really make you appreciate the Sun.
Thats it for now, a nice relaxed sunday afternoon...
Maa El Salama, Boa Noite. Good night.


amo te..(that means i love you)... Boa noite(good night)...(Ni Hau ma)( how are you in chinese)

Thermal Shock and Sunrise Glory

I dont know what I'll acheive in my life. I dont know if ill experience any culture shock. But Im pretty certain that ill experience Thermal Shock. I got my job posting in Canada and am leaving today for Bombay and from there on Sunday. Its close to a year since I've started this blog. And I dont see any reason why I shouldn't keep posting unless of course im dead/ dying of over work/ cold. Barring such occurences I should be back posting wondering about the spelling of the word 'occurences'. Its pretty hard to imagine how 'cold' feels. If you've lived in the tropical urban desert that Chennai's become you're bound to have trouble adjusting to cold weather. But i guess the real trick is not let the weather get to you.
You always hear about people riding into the sunset when they retire, but I can think of a new phrase for how I feel. Its like driving into the sunset. You wake up and fly out into the sunrise to greet the world. With every passing moment the light grows and you know more about the world. But after everyday there's darkness and then light again. A day has ended and a new day dawns. The cycle of light and dark goes on and on
The glory of sunrise, the glory of sunset, the revelry of evening and then blissful sleep.

Sportinion

Ha! Thought that title might get you curious enough to try reading. Here's my opinion about certain specific issues in sports , based on my extensive couch-ridden existence over the past 3 months. I must admit its been a great learning experience and I'd like to solemnly thank my TV my couch. Its been great but sadly I think we must grow apart, physically. Sad that its coming to an end.

Ganguly vs Dravid.
The question is not whether Ganguly should be captain, its primarily a question of whether he can bat or not? If he can bat, he'll stay on or else he'll perish. But somehow its not that simple. Somehow the Indian team appeared more settled when Sourav was back at the helm. Perhaps that just familiarity and maybe all Dravid will need is time, to acheive that level of comfort with the players to his style of leadership. Captaincy is more or less a human relations exercise with all the strategies chalked out by a software effectively. The captain is defined by his interactions with the player, the coach , the media , the opposition and any one else who cares. Ganguly has shown the capability to inspire and thats what any future captain must possess as a pre requisite, should Ganguly's batting continue to fail.

Kimi Blows Up again...
Kimi Raikkonnen has had yet another engine failure. Hard luck. I guess when you're driving the fastest car you can't complain if the car aint as reliable as the other cars. But I guess the new rules introduced this year have put a premium on reliability and its shown up as the key factor in seperating Kimi from Alonso. The question is should RELIABILITY be the key factor in a FORMULA-1 race? Its like converting a 100 m dash into a marathon, a high speed marathon if you will.