In the Sun

I picture you in the sun wondering what went wrong
And falling down on your knees asking for sympathy
And being caught in between all you wish for and all you seen
And trying to find anything you can feel that you can believe in
Ref: Joseph Arthur

How does being happy listening to sad songs work? I don't know, it just does. Maybe not so much happy, but i do feel quite at home listening to mellow and usually melancholic music. One for the shrinks to work on when i get my bog-standard mid-life crisis. Good thing Porche is coming to Bombay for me to start saving up.

Work has actually been quite enjoyable these days - but sadly enough only because i have been keeping busy doing some coding. A postgresql database accessed through PHP on Apache. Why Postgresql? because that was what i learned databases on, all thanks to a certain large funny man.

Google buying over YouTube. Everyone has had something to say, i suppose i may as well. Good move - if you can't beat 'em, buy them over despite the legal ramifications. However much they are just throwing money on everything these days, you have to be in awe of that gigantic firm. Innovation in an industry that can be so deadbeat and jaded. And some top-notch people too, three ex-colleagues at Symbian moving there who were all highly respected. Of course some others didn't even get an offer. But they weren't the highly respected kind.

I've been on a long and painful quest for a new digital camera. But tonight at Jazz By the Bay reminded me why my Polaroid is so useful after all. Not for my upcoming amateur photography phase but they do produce the most memorable photos by far.

Usually happy ones.

Long Island Iced Tea

Well, technically there were two but what the hell, it does not take much to make me sing and embarass everyone else when its loud enough for me to sing. So I did - Leaving on a Jet Plane and Unchained Melody - just not to the one I requested . Wonderwall is a bit cliche'd but then again so is drinking and karaoke. Shame we did not get a chance for our 4 minutes of fame though. Next time - not that the whole going for karaoke has ever ended up in karaoke.

Anyway, the decision has been made to drink every night this week as next week I will be running two hours behind in the land of no-tax and sheikhs. will the alcohol help? of course not, i should be drinking there not here! but i think i've found home and i will miss it.

Especially singing Yellow very loud and very badly.

Not Applicable Anymore

Bon Jovi - It's My Life

I've never particularly liked it, but it did strike an ironic chord on Sunday night while some drunk guy was screaming it out at karaoke night @ Jazz. "some guy.. nobody gives me credit for anything!" Ref: Scrubs.

Yes of course I am free to go drinking and free to stay out till whenever I want but one must question whether one restriction is just the start of a slippery slope... Is this how things are for everyone or is it just the blessed few? do things get worse after the big M? Honestly, I don't think I want to hear the answer to that one.

For some particular readers they must know i am just upset at the situation, too tired to be upset at anyone.

I guess Snow Patrol are right -
What have I done; it's too late for that.
What have I become; truth is nothing yet
A simple mistake starts the hardest time
(Ref: Chocolate)

Weird Beds and Chikoo Milkshakes

This weekend was just perfect. Well almost - there was a bit of drama back home in Bombay which i missed (i suspect that is a good thing). I went to Bangalore to meet old colleagues at Symbian and it was really nice to be back and remind myself of how things used to be just a few months back. A large office with 300 employees against 12, a professional environment and some honestly amazing people to hang out with. Don't get me wrong, I think i am much happier in Bombay but i do appreciate how things were at Symbian too.

The best part was catching up on sleep - think i slept about 20 hours over two days, bar a few cheerful morning phone calls. This, despite having a weird bed and pillows to get used to!

Besides the usual visit to the pub, cinema, crossword and bowling, the highlight was sunday lunch at Olive. The city has some really nice sunday brunch places, and Olive is one of the better ones. It has a cocktail and food thing, so I tried a whole list of "sunday" aka girly cocktails. There was a pink Mojito, a Lychee-tini, a Chocolate-tini, a Guava-tini and something else i can't remember. Food was fantastic as always, but the best part was chilling with a bunch of people from all over the world. People who have travelled to so many interesting places and had other things to talk about than the latest bar or how bored they were at work.

Oh did i mention the Chikoo milkshake? God they do them so well at Empire. Cold milk and no ice, just how it should be...

Jai Maharastra

Is such a fantastic way to answer your mobile, it really is...

Translated into Hail Maharashtra (the state Bombay is in) i think, some chap from a local union (wearing a saffron shirt so you can guess which one) was at my office and answered his phone with Jai Maharashtra all the time. Classic declaration of allegiance i think, but just really bizzare and a gangster sort of thing. And in reality i bet he could not care less about the state as much as photographs of dear Gandhi and the number 1000 next to it.

I have one last episode of Scrubs series 5 remaining to watch - when it comes down to the last one you really can't resist watching it but yet you don't want it to end. I guess there is always Scrubs music ... Did i hear someone saying Grey's Anatomy? You're 'avin a laugh!

Any suggestions for a follow up to a series of Scrubs?

p.s. Don't be surprised if i start picking up my mobile to Jai Grey Goose

Eskimo Friend

Anyone who's listened to Damien Rice should know this. I think mine has got to be my ipod / my music in general. All you enemies out there really should destroy it first - but beware of the backlash
I think the entire week of sleeping lesser than normal is getting to me - usually by now i show signs of moodiness and depression. I really did quite well until this evening - was really cheerful at work even with stuff happening. Today's highlight - went to this launch party for this brand of watches in India: Milleret. My friend's family is distributing them in India and this was the first sort of launch party i have been to. A ramp, hot models, the press, everything. The models were quite pleasing to the eye i must admit, but weirdly enough the watches were really pretty too! I've already got three that i would love to buy.

Back to the tiredness catching up with me though. After the presentation, my friends wanted to head after the food so we had one drink and did - our host was a bit upset though as a certain someone wanted to leave though. I do feel bad that we left so early, but theres something else. I do feel a bit like Antonio from Merchant of Venice. It's funny, of all the songs i love i can't think of any thats happy or cheerful.

But back to my Eskimo Friend - Smashing Pumpkins today

Fat Camp and Nice Asses

Two filing girls hired today - On a trial basis. Then we had a discussion and concluded that we really didn't need two - the telephone operator was just covering for the non-existant operator and would go back to filing when we got a new operator.

So, the fat and slow one just had to go. not that her fatness had anything to do with it, the other girl just was smarter and more efficient. Of course, the letting her know that her services were not required was left to me cos i told her to come for a trial in the first place.

Right, I had to fire someone who was barely there a day. I don't know if that is better or worse than someone there for a few weeks or even longer. So I/we just told her the truth - we didn't think she was required as the other one was good enough to do all the work. Of course, the surprising thing was that she was really calm and ok with it. Didn't look surprised - weirdly enough.

My first ever sacking of staff. I am just glad it wasnt someone who i really liked and was there for ages. Next week if the temporary operator doesn't show signs of improvement, she goes too. Sigh....

On the bright side, I love my gym. It was full of hotties today, it really does make the day much better. A little eye candy can cheer up anyone methinks.

Later on I found out that the fat girl asked my brother if he had any other role for her , so tomorrow she is coming back to have a chat with me. God, I suck at firing people too! I guess I will get better with time. If better is the right word to use!

Drowning Out the Noise....

Recipe for a fantastic saturday afternoon:

1 X iPod with something mellow (e.g. Coldplay or Snow Patrol)
1 X Bose headphones (or any other company that does the mickey mouse headphones - people who have it know what i mean)
1 X quiet street to walk on
1 X credit card to indulge in some shopping after

I think i should have lowered the volume when the taxi driver started mouthing swear words and presumably was honking too. But Yellow just has to be heard on full volume, can't avoid it!

Of course, this saturday should be fantastic - walking around bangalore on my little weekend visit to see old colleagues. And a lot of beer i hope!

Funny story...

So i was driving to my sister's place (other side of town) and this guy walking on the road just banged into my side mirror and broke the glass. How inconsiderate! What the hell, he had no right to be in the way ..... when i had to swerve to avoid some jackass cutting in my lane. Err... ummmm.. I would have claimed compensation but i suspect his broken ribs would have cost me more.

To be fair i did stop to check if he was ok - he got up and continued his conversation on the mobile so i drove of to avoid any mob beating me up.

Ok, so that wasn't so funny. More tragic....

But i suppose thats how Bombay is. The guilt has died down by now which probably makes me a bad person. Or just someone who has lived here too long.

On the plus side miss "drivers are people too" just tagged me in some photos from this weekend on facebook. The fun side of living in Bombay!

Flashlights and Explosions

thats what's missing. i've been blogging for a good week or two and i think what is so weird is that this is a one way conversation. lets see how long this monologue will go on.

Anyway, my itrip ceased functioning over the weekend, probably due to some drunk guy throwing it around. (some guy, don't i get credit for anything!?). ref: scrubs. RIP itrip, you served us well but succumbed to all the physical abuse.

songs. some of them remind me of things. i know ~"what else is there" (royksopp) and "world hold on" (bob sinclair) will always remind me of this summer. of course, its been monsoon but i am still sticking to london weather patterns dammit.

i have to say, im really enjoying myself socially back in bombay. of only whats her name was here :-(

Weekend by the beach

Since today was a bank holiday and more importantly since it was a dry day (no alcohol), a bunch of us decided to head to this place called Dahanu, which is north of Bombay by about 3 hours. Of course, a lot longer when it rains and roads get flooded to about a foot deep, but thats another matter altogether.

It was actually pretty good. Can't honestly say I would recommend either the place or the actual resort we were at. Admittedly, we did get our money's worth at the resort. But anyway, it was an alcohol fuelled weekend. The highlight most certainly was two of us polishing off a bottle of Absolut in one night. Yes, there was a bit of throwing up involved but i wasn't there. Oh and of course weirdly enough there was a bit of forcibly-removing-someones-tshirt, thankfully i was only an observer. Must say though, the next time there must be more poker played - just not the same.

Oh and for those who really want to know, some bars have measurements of alcohol in half-nip's and nip's. No, really.