Sunrise...

An out of shape sun rising behind a thick cloud cover...Taken in the Gharwal himalayas last year...Again, for Cuckoo's monthly kompteeshun...

If you'd been a beer drinker and turned a vodka drinker, going back to beer could be very very difficult..Way too much effort for the same result...

Dipikaji: Ek vodka large, with lime cordial, soda, 4 ice cubes..

Bartender: Lekin aap normally bade bothal waale Beer peethae hai na?

Dipikaji: Agar wahi nasha, wahi kick, kam milli litres mein mil jaae tho mai bade bothal waale beer kyon piyoon?

Bartender: Maan gae Dipikaji, aapko aur aapki Vodka ko...

Agla kaaryakram 'Rangoli'...

Tipsy again..posting again...with apologies to the irate anonymous commenter of the previous post..

I usually go out with a bunch of guys. There is no future with them since i am straight. Or i meet married women or women with boyfriends, fiances and the like (the unavailable kind). I am most comfortable with them since there is no need to appear cool or impress or score brownie points. But at times i wish i was meeting a woman whose feet my feet touch under the table, while we pretend to have a serious conversation about communism or theoritical physics, neither of which either of us have a clue about, and go on and graduate to touching feet without having to pretend. I guess i am too old for such games. But is anybody too old for such games? I've been middle-aged in my head for a while now. I think in the period from 26 to 30, an average human ages a million and 11 years, give or take 3 years.Was chatting with P the other day. When we talk, the topic shifts to my singularity every once in a while. She says "Have an open mind da...u dont have to tell anyone its arranged...but try and meet ppl...u dont have to marry every girl u meet...or any girl for that matter...but its nice to yell at someone in the morning when ur back is killing u...just for that its worth spending a few hours buying someone coffee-tiffen". Wisdom, no?

I used to think blogs were written by sad people with no personal lives. And then i started blogging. I used to think orkut was inhabited by stupid flirtatious 20 somethings with nothing better to do. But then i joined orkut. Buying a house, spending lakhs on a concrete piece, used to be an unthinkable idea and that's exactly what i did recently. Metamorphosis or wishy-washiness, term it as you please. I used to think arranged marriages were acts of desperation that i couldn't relate to. I don't think so any more. I am not out in the market. But when a friend tries to hook me up with a random being that he/she knows, i don't turn it down the way i used to less than a year ago...

ps: TQ, see, i can be tipsy and talk only about myself too. Am not all that nice :).

Drunk...after a really long time...

Drink very rarely these days..get drunk even more rarely...And alcohol doesn't tickle my brains no more...Still a high does not feel bad...Went with P and V. Occasion was what i mentioned in the previous post, the concrete piece.

Am a big fan of P. I've grown to respect him for his work ethic and brilliance, and love his company for the sense of humour with which he deals with everything. V is a long time friend. Haven't really worked with him, but anyone who knows him will like him.

Random talks...Beer...Wine...Rum...Of how much our dads have done for each of us...the schools we went to...the education we got...despite the lean patches our parents went through...the things they gave up for our good..the platform that helped us get where we are..Of past love lifes, or the imagination of an existence of one, or some...Of bulbs* given, bulbs got...names withheld of course...events are more important than the people they happen to...More beer..more rum...Of what we think is in store...V will live on in chennai...likes his life...likes his wife...is pragmatic...is a husband and a dad...P is engaged...gathered enough courage recently, to tell his fiance, that he kind of likes the effect alcohol has on his head and his life...he is still engaged, so things are not too bad...And as for me, i am looking forward to leaving chennai...Living in the bay area...Writing code for a living...Being around Sis and Bil a lil...Figuring out if i'd like earth sciences as much as i fancy it...The more i talk about leaving chennai, the more i feel i am going to be around for longer than i desire...Lets see...

Am beginning to wonder if there was any point to this post...So i'll read some news for the record...Important things have happened to people important to me...P put kutti and she calls her son Sanjay...fully nice only...D got her divorce and she can plan and look forward to the rest of her life...When she called me to tell me of the divorce, she sounded happier than what people sound like when they call me to tell me they've found someone...Made me wonder about the whole cycle...Sis has heart-burns, cant eat sambhar saadham, cant drink wine...and i find the former more tragic...B became an entrepreneur ...i am skeptical about his venture's success, but badly hope it does well and he makes it big...M became a nomad..G got domesticated...And i know you couldn't care less about the goings on in the life of V or P or Sis or B...but what to do..i am drunk...and these are the only things drunk fingers can type...so...so thats all...i am going to crash right now...

*Bulb - Chennai (Tamilnadu?) terminology...X likes Y, Y doesn't like X enough => Y gave Bulb to X. Understand?

Temporary teetotaler?

It is tough to pull it off when you are in the vicinity of a bar called 'Whiskey Dicks'!. That too after a 5 hour drive through clogged roads. (a fast 5 hour journey on an empty road is less tiresome than a 5 hour journey inhibited by traffic, even if you're just a passenger..wonder why...anyways thats besides the point). I had gone to Lake Tahoe with Jai(my bro-in-law) a couple of weekends back. The journey, longer than expected...the destination, colder than expected...i was awfully underclothed in the bottoms dept. In any case we decided to go to a bar. I had recently decided be a teetotaler until April, to meet some agenda of mine. Primarily because i smoke whenever i drink and my resolve to not smoke may not hold water after a couple of rounds of water. So i thought i'll let Jai drink and i would have lemonade or some such inconsequential fluid, not fully beleiving it.

So we went to 'Whiskey dicks'. A small poster announced "Tip, you bastard!". Another more conspicuous one politely requested "Help our bartenders get ugly people laid". Now, if you enter a place like this, and you like the idea of drinking, the drinkers' rule book says you ought not to come out without a drink or two. So i readily agreed when Jai suggested Beer. There was this nerdy guy in the bar who had a Rubic's cube and solved it under a minute for you if you bought him a shot. He was rather good at it...and in the slight tipsy state i felt sorry for him...not sure why...maybe because i thought some one as smart as that should be able to buy his own drink, shouldn't he? But then, he pawns what he knows for a drink, just the way i pawn what i know for a monthly pay cheque. Now that the drink's effect has long worn off i am less sorry for him. Somewhere along the way we saw two women kissing. Thats a first. Jai went 'That was hot man!'. I continued to concentrate on the beer. For me, to be turned on, if i am not directly involved in the act, the act has to be 2-dimensional and i should be alone. I am a pile of contradictions in this department (i hope everyone is), so lets leave it at it. After the drink, we went to an Italian restaurant close by. As we entered, a mom-daughter pair was leaving with the daughter telling her mom "Mom, you're drunk...walk carefully...you shouldn't be drinking so much at 80". For some reason, that had a vague feel good factor.

Back in chennai and heading to Bangalore. Meeting a bunch of seasoned glass holders in bangalore tonight. When we enter a bar tonight, i'll tell myself that i'll drink a lemonade or some such inconsequential fluid...

Postscript: Over the weekend in Bangalore, my resolve to not drink drowned in Beer, Margarita, Vodka and Baang and went up in tobacco smoke (To my defence, 5 cigarettes only).

About to crash...

A beer. A good dinner. A glass of wine (am not a wine fan..just that it has alcohol and hence is functional). A pretty decent movie. And the company of a couple of people you like hanging out with. At the end of it, you are supposed to feel good about a well spent saturday and put yourself to sleep feeling good about life in general. Only problem is, i cant go to sleep unless the clock says 2 am. So i am generally sitting, thinking/typing inane stuff. I realize that the high point of the day was when i made 802.1x work with EAP_TLS. I am not going to explain what that means. Over time i guess i've become a workaholic. My sis says i'd get withdrawal symptoms if i quit this line of work and try something else and i am beginning to wonder if she is right(one life and a single line ofwork sounds so limiting!).

Came to the bay area around a month back on a short trip..and am just about beginning to miss the 'thiruvanmiyur beach' and Satyam Theatres and the raw chennai heat, in that order...

This trip has had some weird eye-openers. Keeping your room neat and washing clothes are not bad uncool acts. It has a cathartic effect on the clothes, room and you. I hate to admit it though. These acts shall be reassessed and dropped if i realize that its just aflash in the pan.

And I am kindof convinced that life should be a seriesof monogamous relationships..for some it may be strong enough to last a lifetime..good for them...but we should do away with the paper work of marriage, divorce, alimony and other such stuff...there shouldnt be an external body policing how a bunch of ppl go abt their lives..

An aside. 'That 70's show' rocks...it has knocked off everyother tv show on my favourites' list...or i am so starved and this is the only half-decent meal i got and i am finding it much better than it actually is...Dona (the tall one with weird parents) is my pickof the characters...and at some level i wonder if it is because she reminds me of someone i dont mind being reminded of...

Seven year itch

A lil drunk. Again. Seven years gone since i started work. Dint notice the date when it passed. (Aug 16th). Realized it a lil later. Not that it matters. Making serious plans to take a break. Atleast for 3 to 6 months. From Jan or April next year. Will go to Uttarkashi, Varanasi, some parts of NE India and a few sanctuaries i want to go to. Want to do a few things before i hit 30. Dont trust my back to be good enuf to do the things i want to do beyond a certain age. The sooner i do those stuff, the better. If i dont get such a long vacation i'll quit.

 

Drank with Binu at good old Casablanca. Booze trips with him have reduced after his marriage. He keeps telling me good things about being married and eggs me on to do something about my singularity. I might grow to become this 40 year old morose, irritable, single guy (well, i dont think life wud come to that, but the 'single' part might come true). But i cant bring myself to seek company in unnatural ways just to avoid regrets i might have in a hypothetical future. For now it is just work, books, booze and the faithful beach in my backyard.

A drinking song

A poem i got from "The wondering minstrels" (http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/), and
liked. Its a subscription thing, and at times you could get some amazing poems. I can only read
poems (must admit quite a few of the eclectic ones go over my head), would never try writing
non-prose...

"A Drinking Song"

Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That's all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at you, and I sigh.

-- Willam Butler Yeats

Drunken post...again...

I entered 'diesel'. That's a pub in chennai. I normally dont go to pubs. I hate loud music. I thought
"What shit?"...You can't have a conversation. It is too loud. You can't see the people you are with.
It is too dark. A collegue had come down from mumbai. The last time i went out with that person and
a few others, it was fun. So, was kindf ok to go again though i wud've preferred to go to restaurant that
serves booze, to a pub. Anyways, a few beers down, and a shot down(of something, i dont remember
it's name, was raw alcohol with some icecream kindof thing on top), the music started playing in my
head. I was sitting and dancing at the same time. It was fun. I still prefer it to be quiet...that no noise
disturb me from the peace of a 'high', i could kindof relate a lil more to why ppl go to noisy places
to have a drink.
Am headed to the marina beach...a friend from college is waiting outside work...i hope i am not
apprehended for being a drunken passenger(u can never be sure of the rules)...
And i realize that i have this inexorable pull towards writing some shit whenever i am drunk...

Afloat

Haywards 5000 is good...reallly good...shit i'm drinkin so frequently...it is a humungus effort to write gramatically right sentences when u're drunk...

and it is a little more difficult to use the right spellings....but if u decide to write a gramatically right post with correct spellings and all that, it is

still possible(i am proof, but will check it trrow if my claim is worth it, i must have pressed backspace a million times)...

But i fail to understand how people get away with crappy stuff like rape and murder claiming they were drunk...murder is atleast ok...but i think your

moral sense of what is right and wrong will be intact even when u're drunk...if someone can rape when he is drunk, he cud also rape when he is sober...

The judiciary shudnt care whether a subject was drunk or not when he commited the said crime..

Anyways, am chatting with someone i've felt closest with, and the person  is away fixing a crash...so thot i'll make an inane post...will come

back here t'rrow and knock it off it doesnt make sense...but haywards 5000 is really good and am really high...am glad my office prvides shelter and

mattresses for drunks...

 

Casablanca

I am a little tipsy. And no, i am not talking about the Moroccan city. 'Casablanca' is this nice

restaurant close to where i work. It has this noisy pub (called Zanzibar) attached, that i dont enter. But the

restaurant is nice. Good food, not-so-loud music, and comfortable chairs..yes, comfortable chairs...and well Kingfisher

tastes the same everywhere.

They say, alcohol lets u be your natural uninhibited self. Going by that, i am a happy guy. Cos i smile a lot when i am

drunk...and i keep laughing out aloud when i am very drunk (today i was just smiling..actually, i am still smiling:). I actually

think ppl get very conscious when they are drunk, not abt what ppl think about them, but genlly about wat they do...walking back

to work, i was keeping track of whether my right foot was forward or left...now, you dont do that when you are sober, do you?

If this post sounds incoherent, i blame it on the alcohol...aadaab...