Dentists

The unfortunate accident I had resulted in me requiring Root Canal Surgery and quite a few visits to a dentist. Now this wasnt the first time I was visiting a dentist but somehow Dentists scare me more than say Heart Specialists. The reason is simple:

Doctors use tools like scalpel which inspite of being dangerous looks elegant. However, dentists use tools which resemble more like tools from a carpenter's workshop.
When doctors operate upon a patient, the patient is in a sedated state. He cannot hear or see what's going.
In the case of a dentist, well firstly the injection in gums hurts like hell. After that u c the tools of terror like miniature saws, drills at work. One can close his eyes but can do nothing about the sounds of these tools at work which resemble a constuction site. The difference is that you know that the construction site is your mouth this time.

All said and done. The dentist was a very experienced one and didnt give up inspite of all my tantrums (although the bill told my the reason behind this). Glad to put it all behind me.

Planned a Goa trip on the 3-day weekend. Tried to take everyone I know but ppl didnt confirm till the last moment. Last moment, everyone else refused and we 3 who started the project were the only ones left. As we were waiting for others to confirm, all buses & trains got booked. So the trip is in jeopardy now. Seems like first mover disadvantage to me.It is so tough to ask ppl to relax and have a good time.

On the other hand, saw lots of movies. Pyaar ke side effects is a wonderful movie. Watch to know what guys have to suffer. Miami Vice, Bas Ek Pal can be left unless you have lots of time to waste.

Soccer season gets off to a gr8 start. RM joint leaders with Barca in La Liga. The defence looks solid with only one goal so far. But not celebrating yet. Knowing RM, they can go from extraordinary to ordinary in mins and the season has only begun. But now I dont have to take all those barbs from my other soccer fans. This is a new feeling after the past 2 seasons. Lets c how long it will last.

Goodbye Andre!

Tennis is different from most other games in respect that its an individual sport. In soccer, players might retire but the club is always there. Hence, whenever a tennis player retires, a void is created which takes some time to fill.

Last night, there were three of us watching Agassi v/s Becker in US Open. Agassi was 2 set down and was playing what would be the last match of his career. The whole stadium, in fact I think every Tennis follower was willing Agassi to win but it was not to be. No more Andre Agassi in action from now on.

First of all, I'll confess that I was never a die-hard Andre Agassi fan. Firstly, it was Pete Sampras
and now its Federer who rules in that respect.

But somehow its hard not to like Andre Agassi. The perennial underdog, firstly against Pete Sampras and then against Federer. The guy who has done it all & won everything in Tennis. A career spanning more than 20 yrs.

Sampras v/s Agassi was the rivalry of the last decade. It was fitting that they played against each other in the 2002 US Open finals after which Pete retired. Just two quotes that capture Agassi like none other

Pete Sampras:
"He's made me a better player. He's brought moments to my career that are like Borg and McEnroe. Those guys needed each other. I've needed Andre over the course of my career. He's pushed me. You know, he's forced me to add things to my game. He's the only guy that was able to do that. He's the best I've played."

Unknown:
"Agassi has known it all, the victories, the decline, the renaissance and victory again. His path through tennis is symbolic of life."

Just a thought from Sid. With the kind of genes that the children of Agassi & Steffi have, who will have a chance in front of them ?

Zidane gone. Agassi gone. There r rumors that next yr even Schumi might retire. Have to look for so many new idols.

Just an ending note. Saw "Lagey raho Munnabhai". Its an exception to the Law of Sequels. Even better than Munnabhai MBBS. We were laughing so loudly that the lady next to us requested us to tone it down so she could hear the dialogues. Munna and Circuit surely make it to Bollywood Hall of Fame. Cant think of any character other than Anand that I loved so much. Hope the series continues forever.

Sad but True

It has been a long time since my last post. The reason not being that there is a dearth of stuff but various factors. A major factor was as soon as I started writing, one or other of my friends would pop up on some messenger.

Another factor was the fact that I had an accident. Not one involoving automobiles but a mishap. Two weeks ago, I fell into a ditch while coming from office. Dark nite, no streetlights and open ditches. Makes me wonder how can India still be the second most populous country worldwide.

Coming back to the mishap, well the ditch was abt 10 feet but thankfully was filled with water upto waist height. And my friends had to pull me out. I had a few injuries, the major one being on chin requiring stitches but otherwise in one piece.

Just one observation. Quite a few auto rickshaws passed the scene but none had the time to wait and help. If the same case would have happened in Bombay or Delhi, there would be a crowd ready to help. Guess, one more reason to hate the rickshaw drivers.

On and on these have been a very sad 20 days. To top it, the last two days have been even worse. Hrishikesh Mukherjee, my all time favourite movie director passed away. I dont think I have still seen a movie which touched me like 'Anand'. Dialogues like

'Zindagi badi honi chahiye babu mushay, lambi nahin'

and the last scene when Amitabh is shouting 'Baatein karo mujhse, Baatein karo mujhse' still gives me goosebumps even after seeing it an infinite number of times.

Hrishi Da will always be immortal through 'Anand' and other timeless movies.

On Sunday, Schumi lost to Alonso, Real Madrid drew and Barca win. The worse possible results for someone like me.

One bright thought-Life can only get better than here. It certainly cant get any worse (atleast I am hoping it doesnt)

Tags

Tagged. I was thinking of writing a blog on podcasts and online puzzles but got tagged by Sid. Maybe later.

Although I believe in that blogs are ur own personal space but tags are a good way of knowing more abt other bloggers. So here goes the Tag

I a’m thinking about:
Should I call sick 2morrow and njoy a 5 day weekend ?

I said:
Real Madrid is going to win a trophy this season (I have said this every yr for the past III yrs too)

I want to:
Study Law someday.

I wish:
that college life would have never ended

I hear:
Maiden, Metallica, Pink Floyd and Movie OSTs

I wonder:
what will happen to Voldemort at the end of VII book

I regret:
Nothing

I am:
a Pisces

I dance:
Err does headbanging come under this category ?

I sing:
when I m listening music on my iPod

I cry:
When grown ups waste their time watching the Saas Bahu soaps

I a’m not always:
Sarcastic

I make with my hands:
Abstract figures when I have nothing else to do

I write:
what I think

I confuse:
waiters and visitors at a restaurant
friends and foes

I need:
a friend arnd to talk to

Now, keeping with the tradition, I have to pick up a few ppl and tag them to do the same on their blog. Being a supporter of free speech, I am not going to tag neone specifically. However, all the fellow bloggers who read this are requested to do this as I would love to know more abt them. Consider urself Tagged

Saw Omkaara the last weekend. Othello is my III fav Shakespeare play behind Julius Caesar and Macbeth. Movie would have been another sad love story if not for Saif. Never thought neone could take the spotlight away from Ajay Devgan's performance but its only the character of Langda Tyaagi that stays with you after the movie.

Kudos to Saif for making the role of Lago his own. Everything abt him is perfect - The reptilian smile, the scheming eyes and the wicked grin. Every actor has a role that defines his career.
Marlon Brando had Don Corleone,
Amitabh Bacchan had Vijay Verma (in Deewar),
Jackie Shroff had Gardish,
Rajesh Khanna had Anand

and now Saif has Langda Tyagi .

The i-Ching

Murphy's Law. The sole universal truth. Someday, Einstein's theory of relativity might turn out to be wrong, 2+2 might not make 4 but there wont be a day when Murphy's Law would be proved false.

I have already devoted a post or two to Murphy's Law. But for the uninitiated, I'll restate the original law:
Murphy's Law
If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong at the worst possible time and in the worst possible sequence.

This is the original law for which Murphy won the Lifetime Ig nobel last year(Visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ig_Nobel_Prize to understand its significance). Over the years, many more laws have been derieved from it. My favourite one being:
If everything in life is coming ur way, you are in the wrong lane
The complete list of such quotes is available through various books (worth purchasing) and maybe even online.

Over the years, Murphy's Law has been omnipresent in my life. It stays with me, even in Bangalore. Hence, I came up with my own versions of Murphy's Law.

Rickshaw Reality
The Auto Driver Law- If a rickshaw driver is charging you 100/- but u decide to walk for 2km and then take one, the next one will charge you 120/-.

Arrival of the bus you have been waiting for half an hour will be at the time when you board an auto and the driver starts to drive.

Destination Dilemma
Whenever you get lost, the first person you ask for directions will be another techie from out of the town

The first localite will tell you that your destination is 5 mins walk. After walking for half an hour, the second localite will say that the destination is still 3 kms away.

Training Truths
The fresher u feel in the morning, more boring will be the lectures on that day.

The toughest lecture of the week shall coincide with maximum no. of your friends popping up on various messengers.

Whenever you call the trainer to your PC for clarification, a few of your friends will send you msgs on YM for him to see.

Miscellaneous
The day you forget your iPod, Radio Mirchi decides to play 4 Kannada songs and 1 Himesh song during the half an hour cab ride to the office.

The day you make fun of the MD in cafetaria, he will be sitting at the chair immediately behind you.

And finally,
If you want to reply to comments on your blog, the word check will be a 6 letter word with letters merging in & out of each other like warwrt. On other blogs, it will be a 3/4 letter one like cat.

Saw POTC2 on Sun. POTC2 pales in comparison to the POTC (The Law of Sequels). The major difference being that POTC was a fun movie while the second is a more serious one. Captain Jack doesn't dominate the screen like in POTC. The presence of lots of slimy creatures acts as a turn off too.

Real Madrid gets Cannavaro, Emerson, Nistelrooy. Now all we need is a solid left-back and a creative attacking midfielder to challenge Barca. Cant wait for La Liga to start. However, no channel is going to show La Liga live. Instead, ESPN Star prefers to telecast the stupid EPL.

Another Ferrari 1-2. Mere 11 pts separate Alonso & Schumi with 6 races left. Go Schumi.

Beginning of another long week. 6 working days !! Seems like some form of Chinese torture.