To each his own

I used to be pretty short tempered during my school and college days. Keeping that in mind, I guess I’ve come a long way since then :)

Usually things don’t affect me and I let them pass…but once in while someone does something really mean...and that infuriates the crap outta me.

I’ve learnt from my past experiences that the first thing that comes to mind isn’t the smartest thing to say when you’re mad at someone. The best way to deal with the impulsive rage is to keep quiet. For the first half hour or so it makes u even more angry….but as time passes by u tend to appreciate the integrity of you’re resolve.

In the past I’ve lost out on friends thanks to the inability to control my urge to speak my mind in that moment of rage.

Despicable things get said…and yes I truly believe they deserved it…but nonetheless, if only I could’ve just thought before I actual spoke the words, I’d have a lot few regrets from life today :)

So recently when things took a drastic turn, I’m glad I kept my opinion to myself.
Doesn’t mean that I’m ok with the way things were done…It just means I’m glad I maintained my integrity. I guess i've matured over the past few years...hehehe...what a scary thought.

Call it a shortcoming of sorts if u may….I have it in me to forgive people pretty easily…but I can’t forget what they put me through.

As Amol often puts it…”To each his own” :)

Do the Garba

I’m afraid of two things...... that’s the number I can think of right now atleast….umm…well actually, when I think about Deepti giving me the cold shoulder treatment, I’ll make it three :)

Coming back to the point….I’m scared of incidents involving snakes….and I’m scared of occasions requiring me to dance.

I categorize dancers into 4 groups…the excellent kinds who’re oozing with grace...the above average kinds who make it look sooo easy....the average kinds who manage to pull it off without attracting too much attention to themselves…and the shitty kinds who’re an embarrassment not only to everyone on the dance floor but to the entire human race.

I qualify under a different category….the Constipated Buffalo Category!!!

The Hindu Students Association had organized a Garba night last Friday. I usually avoid such events coz they aren’t ego-boosting at all. Moreover, since I make an ass of myself all the time…I somehow don’t feel the need to attend such functions to test whether I still have control over my super powers.

Agreed, people take a look at me and speculate that I can’t dance...but I don’t see why I need to confirm it for them.

So here I am…accompanying Deepti to the Garba….with a suicidal mission in mind…to do the Garba (picked it up literally from “to do the macarena”). I guess we arrived a bit early coz the crowds hadn’t started pouring in yet. Which was good, coz that would mean I get an opportunity to learn a few steps before the actual dance starts.

Took a crash course in Garba from Deepti (knowing our history, Deepti has on a previous occasion offered crash courses in "walking" for Amol n myself...HaHaHa)

Me, being a fast learner with an awesome ability to absorb new information thrown my way and being able to effectively put it into practice, I stepped up to the occasion. Yes, being modest is another trait I happen to pride myself in.

So after a few practice runs under my belt, I felt I was ready….I could smell victory….I was almost there…and just as I almost got the hang of it, the organizers moved over from Garba to Dandiya......DAMN!!!

Fine…if I could learn the Garba…Dandiya couldn’t be that bad, could it? …..newsflash..…it could.

I tried my best to not be the nuisance that I usually am, but I guess it comes to me naturally coz somethings in life are meant to be. Managed to clobber quite a few delicate fingers that night. I felt really bad….but at least nobody can claim I was partial in my approach….I clobbered boys...girls…aunties...uncles…grandmothers…grandfathers…nephews and nieces alike.

It was fun…..the event. Felt nice to see so many Indian families in this small University town…especially to see them decked up in their ethnic wear

Next big event on the social calendar is Diwali…looking forward to it :)

Destination Las Vegas

The next get together for the ‘insane lot’ has been announced. Over the past few years the locations for our reunions, which take place at the end of every semester have varied from New York…Colorado….Orlando….Miami….and this semester it’s DESTINATION LAS VEGAS!!!

We (Deepti n myself) confirmed our tickets early this morning :)

But as all of us congregate upon Las Vegas later this year, we'd be missing out on the 3-4 weddings which would be taking place back home over the same time. Can’t believe my friends are getting married….hehehe…..makes me feel old :)

It doesn’t get any better :) ....Well, when I think about it, actually it would... if all of us could meet up this way maybe in another 10-15 years down the line as well.

By then, most of them would be married with cushy high paying jobs or managing their respective businesses and engrossed in raising their kids while a lucky few like yours truly would still be happily single loitering around the world waiting for that special someone :)

It would be pretty amusing when people explain that they can’t make it to the reunion coz they couldn’t find a babysitter for their kids.
Or maybe a certain someone would again justify not making it to the trip like he did last time, coz it was the last day to pay the income tax for the year and since his dad’s company had made tons of money in that financial year, it was imperative for him to go through the accounting before he signed it.
Or maybe someone wouldn’t make it coz he/she had to attend his/her in-law’s 63rd wedding anniversary….hahaha

Looking forward to hear their pansy excuses 10 yrs down the line…..touchwood. :)

So what happened to right to freedom of expression???

So what happened to right to freedom of expression???
This was the question posed to the moderator of ufl_2004@yahoogroups.com
ufl_2004 is a group for Indian students who're studying at University of Florida.I guess it has around 350 plus members.

It so happens that this particular group is an extremely boring group. Trust me, some of the people on the list are way too classy...but it's just that there's nothing “fun” ever happening here.

But all that changed last weekend. Usually all the mails on this group are with regards to people selling and buying furniture, bicycles, computers and text books. Once in a while you have an odd spam mail informing you about ways to make fast money….but besides that, nothing ever happens here.

So when I browsed through the daily mails on that weekend I happened to come across a huge mail from this girl named Hemal. Hemal had written about her experience with yoga and how she wanted everyone to try it out. I have to be honest….I don’t know the girl and I don’t exactly have a craze for yoga….so I didn’t even bother reading through it…coz it was a pretty huge mail.

Anyway, a few days pass and out of the blue a wise-ass character named Yogendra replies to Hemal's mail by saying something on the lines of “I'm not interested in your yoga so don't chew my brain". Just one problem…..this guy is really rude to her….I wish people could be more polite.

Hemal’s well wisher, a particular Mr Ritesh Patel is offended big time and replies to Yogendra’s mail by sending a solid huge mail on the group and calls Yogendra a schmuck and demands a public apology.

Yogendra’s ego is hurt, so he replies immediately and calls Ritesh names and concludes that Ritesh is out of his mind and informs Ritesh that an apology is not an option.

To which Ritesh replies with another majorly solid long mail and accuses Yogendra of being a very small person with no principles whatsoever.

Yogendra replies promptly and tells Ritesh to get lost….and I begin to recall my kindergarten days. I use to fight in a similar manner with the girls in my class then….which often resulted in me getting overpowered. (My only defense back then was to kiss the girls coz they hated it. Can u picture a tiny guy getting clobbered by huge girls and during the clobbering session the guy has puckered lips and is trying his best to plant a kiss…..hehehe.) The only other all time pathetic war strategy was when Orlando Bloom decided to take on Menelaus in the battle for Troy in the movie.

As all of this is going on Nidhi, a friend of mine, decides she's had enough and informs everyone concerned that they should take this argument someplace else.

Finally Ms. Hemal comments and informs Yogendra that she found his comments highly derogatory and thanked Ritesh for standing by her side during this phase.

All of these mails are being posted on the group....hehehe....and made for a lot of amusing reading.

Till now a particular Pratap has been a mute spectator to the chaos that’s going on. He feels a burning desire to make a contribution. So he takes the chaos to a new level and initiates a poll on the same yahoo group:


WHO SHOULD APOLOGIZE TO WHOM?

1)Yogendra should apologize to Hemal coz his comments were uncalled for and his behavior was that unbecoming of a Gentleman.

2)Yogendra should apologize to Hemal and Ritesh coz that would be the right thing to do.

3)Ritesh should apologize to Yogendra coz Ritesh’s mails were way too long and forced Yogendra to fall asleep as he read through them which in turn affected his academic performance.

4)Ritesh, Yogendra and Hemal should apologize to Ms Nidhi coz they clogged her 100MB Yahoo Inbox

5)Somebody out here needs to apologize to Everybody coz Nobody out here knows Anybody

It just so happens that the Moderator of the yahoo group was at his all time low on the “Fun Quotient” and couldn’t see the fun side of it.

Result…Pratap gets banned from ufl_2004@yahoogroups.com.

Hahahahaha…it was awesome.

P.S. I wasn't sure how Hemal would take this whole spoof thing coz I've never met her before. Which means, she's not aware of my "wierd ways". So I did get in touch with her in advance and I sought her consent before going ahead with the poll. I wouldn't have gone ahead with it had she been uncomfortable with it :)

Ok, so what did I miss???

Tonight I’m experiencing that same eerie feeling that follows the point in time when I forget someone’s B’day. I know it for a fact that I’ve screwed up again…I know it. I just can’t put my finger on it yet. I know there’s one significant occasion on the 7th of this month but I’m not too sure what did I miss out on.

I hate this feeling…it’s the feeling where I know I’ve slipped up big time…and it’s just a matter of time before I figure out what happened here. I feel like the poultry birds, awaiting the butcher to sharpen his knife one final time before he can drag the birds out from their cage....like the prisoner on death row, awaiting the priest to recite him his final prayers…like the bloke, who flunked algebra, awaiting his dad to show up for the ‘father finally gets to meet class teacher’ day…like the…..you get the picture, right?

So the period of waiting has begun…I hate it…I HATE IT!!!

Talking about stuff I hate…I hate it when people read this blog and don’t comment. I have no problems with people posting comments anonymously or posting huge amounts of criticism…as long as they comment. I also hate it when I personally forward a particular photo link to someone and they forget to inform me that they browsed through it. When you say you went through the link, I know you’ve made that special effort…which in turn makes me feel nice. If you don’t comment I assume you couldn’t find the time to browse through them…you keep up with your trend and that’s the last of my photo links you get to see…coz if you aren’t interested, it doesn’t exactly make sense to send you stuff that doesn’t interest you.
hehehe…I’m one hell of a mean guy,haina? :)

The same applies to emails. I hate it when people don’t reply. But sometimes it enters a different league….someone mails you…you reply and ask a few questions...they reply promptly and make a few queries themselves...to which you reply…to which they reply….so at this juncture I guess it’s ok for you not to reply unless they’ve asked something specific. People might differ on this issue….but lets face it…someone has to pull the plug on it…coz we’ll just end up sending mail after mail.
However, if the sender happens to be your girlfriend, I’d strongly suggest that you not be the one who volunteers to ‘pull the plug’ :)

Disclaimer:These are strictly the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog…wait a sec…isn't this blog owned by the author???…Hmmm…I guess, that leaves no room for a vigorous debate…hehehe…I feel bad…I really do.
*the author has a devilish smirk*

...looking back

You’ll have to forgive me for the sentimental crap that’s going to follow. It’s sentimental in the sense that it reflects my sentiments…and its crap coz that’s what my friends think of it…hehehe….I’d agree with them.

I’m listening to “Yaaron” performed by KK right now. I'm supposed to be studying but this song has forced me to stop what ever it is that I’m doing and think about those shitheads I call my friends :)

I’ve got more than one group of friends…I’ve got the lot from my school…the lot from my Karad Engineering college days…the lot from College of Engineering Pune days….the lot from Goa…the lot from Pune…the lot from Salt lake City…the lot from Gainesville…the list goes on….

The bad thing about having soooo many groups is that most of the time I tend to loose touch with what's happening where.....worse still, I get accused of “ They are more important to you”…..not true…..well…ok…maybe I am a wee bit partial….but it doesn’t alter the fact that they all mean the world to me :)

Have u ever noticed that the “period of time” has nothing to do with the magnitude of your friendship….I mean just coz you’ve met someone recently doesn’t mean he/she can’t be as good a friend as someone else who you’ve known for the past 15yrs...and the same is true the other way round too. Some of my closest friends were introduced to me a few yrs back…and then there are others who've distanced themselves. I’d say it’s all about staying in touch basically…out of sight is out of mind...life goes on and people move on...and that’s the sad part….I haven’t been in touch with quite a few friends for quite some time now :(

it's like....if you don't stay in touch for a week you can explain yourself...if you don't stay in touch for a month..you can still squeeze your way out of trouble...but then if you've dissapeared from their lives for a year...how do you explain that???

Ok….I need to stop now…coz it’s KK's song that’s making me come up with the crap…plus I've been told to reduce the size of my posts coz they’re toooooo long to read….and that’s my excuse for bailing out on this post :)