Fish

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime; give a man religion and he will die praying for a fish.

the worst thing ever

My mom told me that a eleven year old committed suicide. By hanging herself. In a shed. It is pretty disturbing. What would cause that kid to kill herself? What would have given her the idea of killing herself? I find it surprising that 11 year olds have something to be depressed about. Something for which she thought she cannot go on living. Especially in an age when they are supposed to be having fun and playing and joking around.

The whole fact that someone committed suicide at such a young age is making me very sad. I asked my mom if she had written a letter. My mom said, "do you really think she would have written a letter? She's a kid". And I thought - no she is not. She decided to kill herself. To take a rope, make a knot, and put it around her neck, and jump (?). How? Why? What was she thinking? When she put that noose around her neck? What were her last thoughts?

I wish I could do something. At least to prevent more people from doing it.

Quote

"I can resist anything except temptation" - Wilde

Frustrated

It is so frustrating when the internet does not work. I feel like I am living in the stone age or something. I hate BSNL. I really do. It has been almost 2 weeks ( or maybe even three) since when the internet has become really slow. The sad part is that no one in BSNL knows why it is slow, or why the speed drops down so often. They must have made us call 25 people, and all of them have asked us to call someone else, or to log a complaint with someone else.

I watched two movies today. Quick gun murugan. A movie that no one should ever see. Ever. It is like college Mad-ads for 1.5 hours. Painful.

And to get over that movie, saw another one. The taking of pelham 123. Its a decent movie, felt good to watch something better than the other crappy movies.

Also, last week I saw Public Enemies. It is a nice movie. Really liked the setting, the actors, the way they spoke. It was all very believable. There was also this song that they played in the background which I am trying to remember... will have to google that out. It is played when he gets into the first bank.

Not any great movies now a days.

Random

Till today I thought that "double spaced" meant that there should be two spaces between two words. Apparently it means there should be more gap between lines. The space between the lines are double. If that makes sense.

I have more stuff to write but my back is aching, and I can't sit anymore. Sigh.

Respect and assumptions

Sometimes, people don't get the respect they deserve. Perhaps it is because they don't know the person, or because they don't know any better, or they know the person very well (and hence take the other for granted). This totally annoys me. I just hope I am not like that.

Sometimes I wonder how I would look like from another person's eyes. I mean, we all have opinions of each other - and not everything is told to them. So like that, others would think something of me, and I want to know what that is.

There is no way of finding this out. Because, if you ask them, they would always tell you what you want to hear and not really what they think.

This is when people start assuming things and jumping into conclusions. But, there is no way to find out if what you have assumed or concluded is correct. An assumption will always remain an assumption.

Please don't stop the music

Yesterday I changed the ring tone in my phone to the song "Please don't stop the music" by Rihanna. Today, I left my ear phones in the office. The music has officially stopped - today from office to home. And tomorrow from home to office. Unless, I take some other ear phone of course.

Somehow the day has been extremely irritating today... There are people who are interfering with my work, and it seems like some people have no trust in what I do. And it is just totally annoying. Of course, I will get over it as I usually do, but at the moment it is bugging me.

Why me?

I usually work till 5:30 in the evening. However, sometimes I have to stay back for some meetings that my wonderful TL likes to suggest weird timings.

So yesterday as well, he scheduled a meeting from 5:30 to 7! 1.5 hours! As soon as I woke up, I was irritated cause I hate staying back. I was considering going to office late, but finally decided to at my normal time.

In the evening, I asked him if it was okay if I didn't attend it. He said fine! Good for me. Meetings are a waste anyway - all that gets decided is when to have the next meeting! (Don't know where I read this, but it is so true).

So I left my cubicle at 5:25. I have to go down two flights of stairs, and I usually take the stairs. However, I was scared of missing my cab, so I decided to take the lift.

There was already someone waiting near the lift, so the lift should come up any second. But it didnt. Dont know how long I waited, but it seemed an eternity. So finally it came, and we got in. We pressed the Zero floor. The doors closed. And then nothing happened. We decided to press the button a few more times, hoping it would work (yeah, right). But nothing happened. So I decided to get off the lift, and take the stairs anyway. But now the doors would not open. Lovely.

So we pressed few other buttons that were there, and after another eternity, the doors opened. It was 5:30. My cab left.

Went back to my cubicle... But I did not attend the meeting.

Annoyed

My phone is acting all weird today. First, in the morning, while I was listening to music, it would not allow me to change the volume. So I actually had to switch it off and then switch it back on.

And then, as soon as I switched it on - it decided to call a number on my contacts. I cut it. Then, she called back to know why I had called. But could I pick up the call? Of course not! So I tried calling back to explain. As soon as I could hear one ring, it stopped calling. It got disconnected!! I was not sure if it was a problem with the network or my phone. I just assumed it was the network.

Then, it would not play the radio. And if at all it played, it would keep changing the channels - so that I was not listening to any station for more than 5 seconds. Very calming.

After a lot of switching off and switching on - removing the battery and putting it back on, I finally figured out what the problem could be. It was the memory card! I removed it, and everything was fine. I put it back, and everything started to hang.

But I need the memory card. That's where all my music is stored. And so I devised a plan. I switched on the phone. I put on the radio. I put the memory card. And made sure that I don't touch any of the buttons. I literally kept counting minutes. And so, after some time ( I suppose after everything loaded fine), everything was working fine. I could make calls, and listen to whatever I want, and could increase/decrease the volume.

And I reached office. NO, no it does not end.

I was on my way for a coffee break - and there comes this woman. She is just swaying her hands around me, and off goes the phone from my hand. Flying. It came down in 3 pieces. I just got down and picked up the pieces. She was very apologetic. I told her that its alright, and went ahead putting everything back together. Had to go through it all again - battery, memory card, blah blah.

In the evening, I was talking on the phone with a friend. It got disconnected 5 times in 5 minutes. Then I decided if it gets disconnected again, I would talk tomorrow. It got disconnected in 2 seconds.

I don't know. No idea whats wrong! Did not change anything in the phone , and did not put anything new in the memory card either. Just a bad day.

The shining

The hedges are supposed to move. The lions are supposed to come alive! The boy is supposed to see it, and so should his father! This can't be happening. They HAVE to show it come alive. I mean, thats like the best part! The part where Danny gets into the room 237... That's scary! I got scared while reading the book. Seriously! But, not scary in the movie. Sure is creepy, though. The lift, how the house talks to Jack? Not really there either.

Lots of things were supposed to happen - but they didnt. Did not make it any less better though.

The good stuff - Jack Nicholson, of course. The part where he is walking up the stairs, and he is shouting , I am not gonna hurt you, ha ha. I am just gonna cut you into little pieces.. or something like that. And the ending - with the maze and all that running around! Jack's psychotic smiles. Yikes.

Somehow I remember the hotel burning up in the end (of the book) - but that did not happen in the movie. In the movie, Jack is a ghost - not really sure if he was one the book as well.

Guess what?

I'm going to UK again! It is total madness. My manager sent me a message (!) asking me to book tickets as soon as possible, and to leave as soon as possible. I have not even been here for a week! And I am going back? I am sort of happy, and sort of annoyed! Mixed feelings. Never thought that there would be one day when I would be traveling so much! Ha!

Good thing is I didn't unpack. All my clothes are already in the bag, so I just need to put my shoes, and I am done!

The travel back last week was totally sick. After all that happened with my tickets in UK, when I reached Bangalore, I realised that my bags have not come with me. I asked those guys, and they told me that I was supposed to identify my bag in the first port of arrival in the country (or something like that). Basically, i was supposed to have gone and told someone, "those are my bags". But since I was taking the same airlines till Bangalore, I had a through check-in. I expected to take my bags only when I get to Bangalore. Some shit. So anyways, I had to go to the airport again to get my bags on Tuesday. I went to office only on Wednesday. Monday, again I would be in UK office. Crazy!

The stupid things I do

Saturday evening, around 4 pm. I am all packed, and ready to leave. The cab to the airport is supposed to come at 5:15pm. I decide to check the tickets, just like that. So I check the time. It says 9:25. Right. And I check the cab details and confirmed that it would be coming at 5:15. Then I check the time when I am supposed to reach Mumbai. It says 23.00 or something. What? The flight is supposed to leave at 9:25 pm, and I should not be reaching Mumbai so soon! Fuck! I have missed my flight! The flight was at 9:25 in the morning and not at 9:25 in the evening! And the cab is 5:15 morning, and not 5:15 evening!! Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!

Panic.

I check my e-mail, and it says 9:25PM. But the e-ticket says it is 9:25 AM! Damnit!! There is some confusion.

I call up the travel desk in Bangalore. It is all their fault. They sent me two different things. In the mail it said one thing, and in the print out, they gave me another. After some 15 minutes of not knowing if I have missed my flight or not, they call back. Telling me that the flight was indeed in the morning, and that I have missed my flight. They would call me back later to tell me what I should be doing now.

I don't know what's gonna happen. Will I be flying today, or tomorrow, or next week! Next week would totally suck. That would mean I would have to go back to office in UK, where I have already told all my goodbyes. That would be totally weird.

After an hour, they call back. I will have to take the flight on Sunday evening. So I am all packed. No food at home. I gave it all away to a colleague who stays close by since I was supposed to be leaving!!

Somehow I feel it was also my fault. I mean, I didn't check the e-ticket. how dumb.

So I fly on Sunday. Have to say though, the last 24 hours have been totally crap. I hate it. And now I am in Delhi airport. I reached at 10. And my flight to Bangalore is at 5:50PM!!! Yuck. The whole day in an airport. But, I have internet. I am now listening to internet radio as I type.

I plan to watch a movie, have not decided which one. I have lots on my machine already that I have not already seen. It is weird though, I thought I would be bored. I even have a book, but I have not opened it yet!! When I have internet, I don't need anything else. Sad, in a way. Sigh!

So, I need to get to office tomorrow. And I would reach home late. I did not sleep in the flight at all, and now it has been a really long time since I slept. Have to go to office since I have lots of stuff to finish off by this week, and I have not even started the work.

Man, I am totally tired. The airport is too noisy! People can somehow do something though. There are other people using the internet, taking vidoes of the airport in their handycam (I saw atleast 3 already!), people eating, drinking, reading books, shopping. It is like a mall. I had plans of getting out and watching a movie in a mall, but I was too tired to do so.

What an end to everything!

Fools

Quote of the Day - Abraham Lincoln - "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."

Got this in gmail today.

Isle of Wight - Pictures

Two days to go.

I finally went to the Isle of Wight! With 2 friends and a colleague. Friend totally made fun of the colleague. Damn funny it was! I was actually laughing at his face! yes, I can be mean. And now unfortunately I feel bad about it now.

But, Isle of Wight? Beautiful! We took a ferry to that place from Portsmouth to Ryde. Once we reached there we hired a car and drove around. It was amazing. The well known beaches were really crowded. It was nice though. There was one beach in Shanklin, and it looked really nice from the road. It was a cliff and the beach in front of it. But we didnt get any parking space. So we just went more ahead, and we just stopped in a random place and walked towards the beach. And the place was even more beautiful than the place where we didnt get parking space. haha. Full of greenery and a stream, a 12th century church(!) and finally the beach. And there was a hill next to it. The whole thing was so relaxing. Just sat there and was speaking with a friend while the other 2 went to play in the water. The place was so good that both of us wanted to stay there another night and see more places. We just managed to see half of the island. There's a place called Cowes, which is supposed to be really beautiful as well. But did not manage to see that because of time constraints.

Things that I would want to remember - the beach house, cleopatra (don't ask), pebble beach, driving around with a stupid map, godshill, the funny bird on the hill, peace!

I am leaving UK on Saturday! Just one more day to go! A bit happy, and a bit sad. Really liked staying here and visiting so many places, but I am totally annoyed with the company that I have here. If I think of it, I don't really see so many places in India!

Pictures and everything in some other post. Don't have access to blogspot anymore. I tried mailing some pics, but I dont know how it looks in the blog, since I cant see it myself.

Windsor castle - Some Pictures 2

Windsor castle - Some Pictures 1

Windsor castle

I'd been wanting to go to Windsor castle ever since I heard about it (which was about 2 weeks ago). So my colleagues, friends and I made plans to go there that weekend (2 weeks back). We were not able to make any proper plans - what to see, how to go, etc, but we decided to do that on Saturday so that we could go that Sunday. But in the last moment my friend (call her X) decided that she has to go somewhere else. She told me that she really wanted to go to that place, so we changed our plans and decided to go the next weekend (which was last week).

So last week, I made sure that we made all plans, and we were all set to go. On Friday, X told us that she does not know if she can come on Sat or Sun, since she had to go shopping with an aunt! She would let us know in the evening. When I called her in the evening, she told that she will let me know by 11. I said fine.

She called at 11:30, and told that she cannot come! Not on Saturday! And not on Sunday! Whatever. Something about her aunt, church, and something. I was pissed, but if she didn't want to come, I could not do anything about it.

On Saturday, 2 of them said they don't want to come, and 1 had already gone to some other place. So now, only 2 of us were left. When I asked him, he asked me how much it would cost for 2 of us to get there. I  told him. Then he asked how much it would cost for 3 to get there. I told him. (it is cheaper for group). He said fine. After sometime, he decided that it is not "fun" for 2 people to go to some place. He started thinking if he knew someone else - who could come with us (hoping for group discount). Irritating people. It is not that expensive also. I mean, c'mon, why would I want to go to some place with a stranger because it would be cheaper for me? I told him that it is a dumb idea. That I would rather go with two people and not have fun, instead of going with 3 and not have fun!

So it was decided that he does not like to go to a place, when there are only 2 of us. I said okay. Then I decided to go on my own. I really wanted to see the place, and if they don't want to come, let them not! Why should I depend on them?

And so I did. And I had fun! On my own! I should do this more often.

I was a bit worried that I would get bored, so I even carried a book with me. I didn't even have to use it!

the best thing about going alone was I saw what I wanted to see. I experienced what I wanted to experience. I didn't have to check with others as to what they wanted to do, etc. So, it was nice. Friends were shocked that I actually went alone. And some didn't even believe me. Since I am not the "type" who would do such things. Whatever.

This weekend, plans are to go see Isle of Wight. The place I want to see so badly. But I dont know if these people will come, or not. But I was thinking that even if they don't come, I will go see the place.

Should thank the friend who convinced me to go to the castle alone...

By the way, the place was AMAZING! Will post more about it later.

How to tell if I am bored

I keep refreshing my mail box to check if I have received any mail. And this refreshing thing happens every 2 minutes.

Sad.

Scared

Last week, on a Saturday morning, my sister called me. I cut the call thinking I would call her, since I didn't want my little sister to pay to talk with me! And as soon as I cut it, I got a text from her which just said "Call soon".

This does not happen regularly, and I freaked!! She has never called me from her mobile before since I landed here! So why would she call me? And what was the meaning of the text!

So I got to the phone immediately, took out my calling card and started dialing. Only, the call would not go! I must have dialed the number thrice, and it still did not ring. I did not know if there was a problem with the card, or if she was not picking up, or whatever! And so, by now, I was panicking. So once again I called, and this time she picked.

And all I could hear was her crying on the phone. I did not know or understand what was happening, and I tried to find out if everything was okay. After she finally calmed down, I got to know the story.

She had parked her bike outside a restaurant, and she had gone in to eat with her friend. When she got out, she found out that someone had picked the lock, and had taken out the stuff which she had kept beneath the seat!

So what was the stuff? It was something that I had bought for her a few days back. And, she had just gone shopping, and she had got clothes, which was also taken.

I got really angry (for her scaring me). And some relief. She was feeling bad (and hence the crying) cause someone stole her stuff. She kept crying and asking "how could anyone do this!". And I of course did not have any answers.

anyway, I sort of convinced her to go home. And she let me know that she had already spoken to mom and dad, and they said that they are willing to go shopping with her to replace what was stolen.

Weird that she actually cried. And weird that I freaked out so much!

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I started writing this last week! And now I finally finished it!
Either I am becoming busy, or lazy.