Life on a Conveyor Belt!!!

Relocation

2010-03-25T21:07:00.002+05:30

This is probably one of the last posts on this blog. It is being moved to a more swankier place(wordpress) and will continue over there. This is a slightly sad moment for me, there are quite a lot of memories attached with it. This is my Highbury, but Ashburton Grove awaits me.

You can catch it at http://www.stillbutmoving.wordpress.com/

Names across the globe

2010-03-21T22:50:00.001+05:30

The harshness of the German 'kh' to the s , z, v and the tsch combination sounding as zippy as any Bavarian Mercedes. The half pronounced French R-as smooth as any Burgundy wine, and the zha sounding J is worth a premium sparkling water bottled in the Champagne district around Magny-Cours. From the lyrical Italian names and the in-note way of pronouncing them to the Eastern European names, mass produced in a communist factory. The custom made Origami and Ikebana names from Japan, and the barely syllabic Chinese ones. A list of 'Mc's from Scotland, to a whole bunch of one worded Portuguese and Brazilian names sounding like titles of video games you have played through the ages. The flamboyance of the Arabic names to the incessant nature of their Greek counterparts, and the Israeli ones sounding like Biblical concoctions of the two.

Names across the globe have continued to fascinate us, with each region having their own enchanting peculiarity. Unpronounceable and incomprehensible at first, they turn into cultural icons of their region having elements of the lingual heritage, transitions and the history of the region. Celebrities choosing avant-garde names play no spoilers to this.

Following is a compilation of stereotype names from across the Globe:

INDIA: Indian names easily recognisable across the west can be broadly identified as North Indian Hindu names, Gujarati names and South Indian names. The North Indian ones include a parade of Shahrukh Khan screen names like Raj, Rajesh, Rohit, Rahul, Ram and surnames like Sharma, Singh and Kumar. The Gujarati names are quite popular in the west thanks to the amazingly strong and successful Gujju population in the UK and the US. The most famous of the lot would definitely be Patel, with Jignesh, Jitesh and other Junahgarhi names making up the list. The south Indian names would be mono-syllabic Tamil-Telugu blends(as seen in the Simpsons) made famous probably by the number of South Indian IT professionals working in the US lately.

THE ISLAMIC WORLD(ARABIC/URDU): Not wanting to propagate any stereotypes, three worded Muslim names are extremely recongnisable. The constituents being Abdullah, Habib(and its derivatives), Mohammed, al/ul/bin, Zaheer, Saeed(and its derivatives). Other names would be heavily weighted with a presence of letters like Q, F and Z.

HISPANIC(SPAIN AND OTHER SPANISH SPEAKING REGIONS): Spanish versions of Biblican names are the most famous ones. Mary turning into Maria on the foothills of Tibidabo is probably the most easily recognisable female name. Charles translating itself into Carlos is probably the most easily recognisable male name. Others include Antonio, Angelo, Raul, Fernando, Sergio, Rafael(derived from Ralph), Elena, Lopez, Garcia. As quite evident from Woody Allen's Vicky, Christina, Barcelona, Spanish names are also taken together in couples. A girl may be called Maria Elena even when being referred to informally.

ITALIAN: The essence of an Italian name lies in the way it is pronounced. They somehow end up sounding like Pizza toppings. Each one of them. You know what I am talking about if you know how an Italian would read Giuseppe or a Giovanni. Mario and Luigi(nothing to do with the Nintendo game!!!) are stereotype Italian names. They somehow manage to end most of their names with either an i or an o. Usage of del and di in between names is also common. Surnames from the Italian football players would be a testimony to this fact (Toni, del Piero, Cameronesi, Cannavaro, Baggio). Fans of the Godfather movie series, Tarantino, and Tribbiani from Friends would know about this. Commonly used first names include Alessandro, Florentino, Mauro, Luca, Angelo. Female names include Alessandra(Sandra), Aurora, Tina, Angelica, Bianca, Paula, Donatella, Cristina, Gina, Francesca, Florentina.

FRENCH: If Italian names sound like Pizza toppings, French names are the delicate main courses, proper knife and fork to be used for each part of the meal. A correctly pronounced Jacques or a Jean combined with a middle name like Pierre or Claude would guarantee you not going home alone from a pub! And for the belles and the mademoiselles out there, Anne, Emmanuelle, Amelie, Gigi, Madeline, Cecile, Fabienne, Danielle, Jeanne, Jeannette, Penelope, Adelaid, Fleur, Giselle, Jacquelinne, Roxane, Aurelie, Victoire, Charlotte, Sylvie, Avril, Sabine, Claudia, Estee, Julie, Adrienne... I could just go on and on mentioning one female French name after another. Dennis, Raymond, Robert, Louis, Bixente, Marcel, Gael, Emmanuel, Thierry, Gregory, Christophe are some classy male names. Surnames like Menochet, st. Claire, Laurent, Antoine, Papin, Cocteau, Michelin, de la Croix, Richard are heard of across the nation. Please note that these names are not to be pronounced as they are used in English, there is a delicate French pronunciation for each of them.

GERMAN: If the French names put a strain on your jaw and tongue, the German ones will do the same to your throat and epiglottis. A good old Oliver/Oliviera, a Hans or a Wilhelm are common to Germans, but really sets them apart are the surnames. Einstein, Weinstein, Hitzlsperger, Spielberg, Scheunemann, Snodgrass, Heinemann, Olshausen, Schumacher, Schweinsteinger, Schoneberg, Kohlschreiber , and then there are those teeny-tiny four-five-six lettered ones like Woltz, Strutz, Schultz, Mentz, Brandt, Lahm, Haas, Lindt, Scheibe. German names come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Here is the next category. Groepler, Klausing, Weinberger, Lindner, Prudohl.

EAST EUROPEAN(RUSSIA, CIS, SLAVIC STATES, AND THOSE PERPETUALLY IN CIVIL WAR!!!): A host full of names must make up for a large percentage in this region. Names like Igor, Sergei, Vladimir, Aleksandr, Dmitri, Anastasia, Helga, Ida, Olga, Lev, Nikita, Mikhail, Russians use evic, in, ov as suffixes to show a patriarchal relation for a male and use evica, ina, ova etc. for females. Tatiana, Marcja, Berta, Adelajda, Karolina, Petra, Veronika, Laura, Linda, Katarina, Marta, Zofia, Oleysa are common East European female names. Cyrill, Eniko, Nemanja, Jozsef, Ivan, Dominik, Filip, Henrik, Vladko, Aron and Rudolf are common East European Names. What sets the surnames apart is the usage of a g, j, y, k, v in succession so as to create a short mental tremor in an attempt at pronouncing them.

DUTCH: Dutch names sound as if people in the Orange Area have had really bad English teachers. Most of their names look like misspelled English names. Willem, Mathias, Persie, Nikolaas, Nikolaes, Margaretha, Pheabea, Sophiia and Hendrika are examples of this. Others include Arjen, Joost,Pieter, Christiann, Jansen, Roosevelt, Dirk, Griet/Grieta, Klass, Adriaan, Jan, Merel, and Skyler. Stereotyped Dutch surnames have to contain van or better still van der. Take a look at the names of pop-culture Dutch names and you'll get the picture. van Persie, van Basten, van Dyke, van Buren, van Bommel, van der Waals, van Bunge, van Helsing, van Nistelrooy, van Rompuy, van der Vaart, need to say anything more?

GREEK: Things back in Greece haven't changed that much, they are still pretty much the same. You get a feeling that people are still christened and named in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, with Oracle still presiding over them. Christianos, Christos, Agatha/Agathios, Demetrios, Nikolas, Giorgios, Althea, Hektor, Morpheus, Paris, Amos, Eusabios, Ioseph, Markos, Angelos, Hellen, Archimedes, Homer, Stelios look straight out of a Greek mythology book. The surnames aren't much better in this department. You've got Kyrgiakos, Nikopolidis, Stephanapolous, Giorgios, Charasteas, Anastakis(Jennifer Aniston's Greek origin surname) up the list.

JAPANESE: This is really cool. You could have your surname as Honda, Suzuki or Yamaha! Well the others aren't that hip, but they are fun surnames to have for a day or two to show off at a party. Yamaguchi, Nagasaki, Nakamura, Inamoto, Matsuzaka, Yamoto. You get the idea. A blend of Anglo-Russo-Oriental names.

ENGLISH: James(Jim), Daniel(Dan), Michael(Mike), William(Bill), John, Charles(Charlie), Richard(Dick), Robert(Bob), Benjamin, Bryan, Elizabeth(Beth, Bessie, Lizzie, Lisa, Liz, Eli, Alice, Eliza), Christina, Jude, Betty, Margaret, Victoria, Ashley, Britney are good old classic British names, and the surnames are the usual lot as well. You know them, Jones, Smith, Michaels, Black, named after 18th century professions(Cooper, Tanner, Harper etc.), Wilson et cetera, et cetera.

The Indian Fan

2010-01-29T00:02:00.000+05:30

A bright sunny afternoon in North London, thousands making their way to Holloway after getting down at the Arsenal tube station. An assortment of School Kids, Undergrads, Government employees, corporate honchos, housewives, dressed in red and white making their way to the Emirates Stadium. On their way they cross a set of fans dressed in all white, smiles turn into smirks, tempers start flaring, veins that were never there are now visible, the two sets of football fans automatically arrange into neat rows, facing each other, mano-e-mano. With frowns on their faces, and their clubs crests in their heart minds and souls, begins a confrontation. Words are exchanged, expletives being thrown in the air, fans of Arsenal FC and Tottenham Hotspur start the match about two hours before kickoff. No matter where their club finishes, this is one game the Spurs do not like to lose. Not just because it gives bragging rights to the Gooners, who may be their colleagues, neighbours, or in some extreme cases even immediate family members, but it hurts, and is recalled for the rest of their life as a painful indelible memory.

This is a typical derby day in English Football, and with over 200 professional football clubs in the country, chances are that more than one derby encounter must be taking place somewhere every weekend. And its not just about the derbies. Fight for the top, the Champions League place, or even to escape relegation, a previous encounter ticking off the fans, or maybe even seeing the young star who used to play at your club play for your rivals who pay him about £5000 more than your club, spur on fans to take their throats to the limits. The much famed chants like ‘You will never Walk Alone’ from Liverpool FC, ‘Glory Glory Man Utd’ or the Gooners’ own ‘Its Arsenal’ act as the 12^th man on the pitch for their respective teams. Ashley Cole being laughed off as Cashley at the Emirates, being greeted with jeers and a loud boo sound at his first touch of the ball at his first visit to Arsenal after signing up for Chelsea, and showered with fake £10 pound notes from the Bank of Russia, as a pun on Roman Abrahmovich, Chelsea’s new owner and shouts of ‘you do Cheryl Greedy’ could be heard quite distinctly over the live broadcast of the game in India, where about a score of people dressed in Red or Blue watched the game at a pub in Delhi. No chants, no scarfs, no fights, just the plain old applause and whistling, back seat driver like advice to the manager and amateur comments on who is playing well and who is not.

Switch over to cricket, and all you hear is noise. The crowd may have grown to 100, 200 if you count the people standing outside in Natraj like poses, just to get a glimpse of the newly introduced concept of score bar at the bottom of the screen, but all they do is make noise. No chanting, No songs sung in the praise of the Indian Cricket Team, or any of its members, or even chorus clapping. The stadiums fare only a tad better. The crowd tires after doing 3 rounds of the Sachin chant, 5 at max. About 10% of the crowd is dressed in the official jersey, you do not see a sea blue conjuring up at Ferozeshah Kotla every time India plays there, or for that matter, the 90,000 strong crowd at the Eden Gardens do not chant in unison to give the Australian fielders fielding at third man, fine leg and Long on. There is no drum beating at the Wankhede Stadium or for that matter claxons at Chinnaswamy or Chidambaram, no Mexican wave at the Barabati, no 100’x100’ Indian flags at the Green Park.

The power of passion that is in Indian Cricket fans fails to translate as a collective sound to make the opposition players nervous. I cannot recall one instance when the crowd at an Indian Cricket stadium collectively booed or jeered at an opposition player. Despite Ricky Ponting being a publically hated figure in India, even he was given a miss when it came to being booed. You see fans showing their passion all over the world. Be it the Americans with their customized version of most sports, the Australians with their mocking styled cheering, the South Americans and the Italians with their flares, the Spanish and the Portuguese with their giant flags do more than just play with a player’s psyche. The Dutch know only one colour to where to sports stadiums-Orange, even the classiest of Brits when it comes to supporting the English National football or Rugby team. It makes a difference. The players being supported feel good about themselves, bringing out the best in them, their passion for the game shows, and they get a high, whereas the opposition who bears the brunt of the fans, plays much below par, and there are bouts with nervousness, fear of failure, being taunted and anxiety.

This is not just limited to football or basketball. Even cricket fans abroad are used to such things. The famed Barmy Army of England sing for their team with a beer in their hand, dress up as Sylvester, Pink Panther, Snagglepuss on the third day of a Lord’s Test and have fun, they even travel abroad together to watch a test match. The Australian crowd knows how to get to an opposition player. I remember when the Sydney crowd getting the best of Ishant Sharma. The tall speedster who was just getting used to play for India at the test level, was at the receiving end of the jeering of the New South Wales bred crowd. The anxious bowler had ran thrice till the popping crease without delivering the ball, had to return and restart his run-up. And what happen when an opposition bowler is making his debut in India? Nothing, he enjoys the learning experience and probably returns home with the story of Sachin Tendulkar being his first ever scalp!

India first of all does not have a pub culture, that is where fan clubs foster. Viewers collected in Cardiff in a pub to watch a live darts game would probably make more of a difference than an Indian Crowd at Andheri or Salt Lake. There needs to be a culture of fan clubs in India. A small a thing as Arsenal FC has over 100 clubs registered with it from across the globe. Imagine such a thing happening for the Indian cricket team from within India, there would be more than double that amount. Fans meeting up every Sunday, at a Coffee Shop to discuss the progress of the Indian Cricket Team, and coming up with chants for the upcoming match in their town.

Secondly there are not enough people seen wearing the Indian jersey. There would me more people vouching for an EPL team in India, or having the jersey of an IPL team, but when it comes to the Indian national cricket team, they are not there, even after being changed from the weird sky blue colour to a much hotter shade of blue. People are mocked on the streets for wearing it, I fail to understand why.

I do not in anyway wish that Indian fans turn into hooliganism ala the South American or Turkish Football fans, or recreate the racism incidents seen at Mumbai a few years back. This is just a call to the Indian fans, an announcement, we have the passion, we have the power, now we can live the dream, the dream we all had at one point of time, of playing for the Indian Cricket team. We can do it now, as its 12^th member and making a difference.

3 Idiots

2010-01-16T16:00:00.002+05:30

Saw the movie last Thursday, with my preferred choice of company, after it was difficult to tolerate lines and jokes from the movie, and jaw dropping reactions when I told people that I hadn't seen the movie. What I had expected while going to the movie that it would not live up to its hype of being a revolutionary movie, especially for engineering students, and wouldn't even pass half a laugh at Chatur's speech(had already heard of it, after constant mentions of it in the hostel, and updates related to people joining a Facebook group related to it which kept up popping on my FB homepage. But it wasn't to be so, turned out to be a wonderful entertainer. Hats off to Raj Kumar Hirani and Aamir Khan's brilliance. Not to forget R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Omi and Boman Irani's incredible sense of comic timing. It was unrealistic at parts, like the scenes where Aamir delivers a baby at ICE's boys hostel's common room and Sharman's interview.

But what I felt that it had projected the higher education system of India in a very false light. Never are you going to seen a lisping nut-head leading the premier engineering institute of India with trousers reaching the heights of his chest and carry out every menial thing like taking a nap or shaving with precision and punctuality. What I fear might happen as a result of this movie is that people might not appreciate the power of hard work. There are going to be blames on the Indian Education System and the inefficiency of rote learning rather than appreciating the quality of academic brilliance. IITians will be seen as slaves of the corporate Industry in the US, with acquiring a Lamborghini and a Malibu Villa their only ambition, or maybe the Sunset Boulevard. If one is not a Phunsuk Wangdu, he may be inspired to just loose his interest in the classroom, and start building dreams of becoming a wildlife photographer. Not to forget that a wildlife photographs require immense knowledge about the subject and hardwork, but the whole point may be missed.

So keep in mind that the only message that it intended to carry was to identify your skills and passions, and live them, rather than doing something that you are not good at, and trying to make a career out of it.

Resolution Smesolution

2010-01-14T22:25:00.000+05:30

To blog regularly!!!

Lucknow...

2009-06-17T19:25:00.003+05:30

After only just getting into the Ganga Gomti Express at the Allahabad Station, the journey was quite peaceful. Yeah, it was. Thoroughly enjoyed my first time in a chair car of the Indian Railways. The view from the bio vision Television sized bread shaped window was quite picturesque. But the peace was soon to be lost. I was recalling many of Seema Goswami's countless mentions in the Sunday Brunch of how Indians lack etiquette. Could hear a guy from seven rows back talking to none other than a customer care executive of his cellular phone service provider, a medical school professor husband complaining to his wife of the same profession how he should have been the new HOD of some plasmo-something department and not Khan, a guy who was showcasing the amplification abilities of his new Chinese handset by playing the whole album from Slumdog Millionaire. Lattika's Theme put me to sleep. Jai Ho!

And there we were, at the Charbagh station, Lucknow. The Lady who sat next to me in the train, said "Aap Nawabo ke sheher mein hai!!!" as a reply to a sarcastic comment of mine on the vocabulary of Lucknowites. Nice. As I got out of the station I heard this Beggar say "Bhaijaan ek rupaiyyah deejiye na!", almost made me drop a note in his bowl. The Charbhagh station was like this pseudo-Sufi structure. At first glance it seems quite impressive, on careful observance you notice that its quite a decent way to fool tourists just about to enter Lucknow. They have made neat usage of Rajasthani and Mughalai architecture, but the paint on the walls of the building ruins everything. It seemed too fresh for my liking.

The Lucknow Malls turned out to be quite good, much better than what I had expected. Saharaganj was very sleek, though the crowd over there was quite a bummer. The Gomti Nagar-Indira Nagar side malls fared much better in this department. However from a list of very fond memories that I have of Lucknow, something that comes quite close to the top is the Gol Guppe of Royal Cafe at Hazratganj, and the basket chat from there is quite delicious too. The best chat I have ever had in my life. But here is a bummer: the taste is restricted just to Royal Cafe, other chat waalahs across the city have failed to reproduce the taste, Delhi still enjoys the status as the Chat capital of the world. Other food items that I loved from Lucknow is a variety of selections from Tunday Kebab's, Kulfis et al.

The monuments of Lucknow are quite similar to each other with the exception of the Residency. My journey started with a drive through the magnificent Rumi Gate(darwaza) which led to the Grand Shia Muslim Monument, known as the Bara Imambara. Walking around the site was quite an experience. The Bouli, well its in shambles now, but one can imagine how impressive it must've been back in its days. And the stories of the guides only add romance to all of it. The Imambara and the Bhool Bhullaiyya had this old world charm connected to it, tracking down the dark cool paths of the labyrinth in hope of this one untredead path that would lay open to us. Unfortunately we found none.

The Chhota Imambara was nothing like its elder cousin, but sitting down on the carpetted floor and absorbing the Sufi air around us was one experience. The lights, the decorations, the culture, it was all so charming. Residency was an altogether different experience. There were no domes, no putti paint, no Jhoomars there. It was all so British. It was stoned, paved and cemented. It reminded me of the so many of the remains that the British have left us Delhiites to spend our winter afternoons at. The la Marteniere school was a major dissapointment. At best it was this neglected heritage building that cried out for maintenance. Rustic is allright only till a point.

What else... Saw Ambedkar Park...what a waste, LU-charming, Bhoot Bangla-dont want to get started on it, JJ Bakers-delicious, needs to be a tad better for an upmarket area like Hazratganj, Chikan work-Mum and Dad love it, I have got no idea. In all a great experience. What I would remember this trip the most for is reasons I wont ever be able to explain to you on this blog. Sitting with friends at coffee shops and talking about quite heavy things, meeting new people and starting off with them, Jodha, the political spark in the autorickshaw(ask me about it...a good story), the return journey in the Shatabdi...thinking about this trip gives me a high. Loved this city. Would rate it very highly. One of the best cities I have ever been to. Needs a better government though. All in all, a trip worth remembering for the rest of my life. Would definitly be going back there.

Moonlight in the Darkness

2008-10-13T18:29:00.005+05:30

The past few weeks haven't exactly been all smiles for me, Actually they've been quite traumatic... But I've been in a good mood today... So I'd try and list down all the beautiful things in life... that make me smile...

1. Music --- This is a sure shot cheer pill that works for me... Listening to Roger Water's seductive voice accompanied with the mindblowing lyrics, or Slash strumming the Guitar, AR Rahman's soothers... and I just love when the Guitar is right hands... Thank You Gilmour, Clapton, Slash, Satriani, Hendrix for cheering me up so many times in the past with your magic.

2. Football --- Good Football that is... watching Bolton play Chelsea is not going to cheer me up, thats a royal bore! Watching two sexy teams in action, say Arsenal play Barcelona, a purist's dream definitely will. There's nothing better than sitting back and watch the most creative players on the planet entertain you with some end to end stuff. Missing you Zizou. Yeah, Zinedine Yazid Zidane... he was the orchestrator of the football field, and he surely created some magical music.

3. Calvin & Hobbes --- Having the entire collection of Bill Waterson's masterpiece creation in your kitty, you are bound to be happy most of the times. Calvin reminds me so much of ummm... me when I was 4! But the Transmogrifier was a bit beyond my abilities!

4. Brunch --- Yeah the Hindustan Times' sunday supplement. I have most copies of this mag(?) over the last few years, and I tend to pick up one every now and then and read it from the Title to the Copyright thingy!

5. Jodha --- For those of you who don't get what this is, dont bother asking. For those of you who do, yeah Jodha!

6. F.R.I.E.N.D.S --- The sitcom and my real life friends as well. Missing you all!

7. An Intelligent Conversation --- Yeah, discussions that involve words like Psychedelia, Tsar Nicholas II, Ashok Argal, Axl Rose, Francis Jeffers, Satanism, Westminster Abbey are big turn ons for me!!!

8. Children --- Watching them do silly things, watching them sleep, watching them smile while looking into your eyes...if this does not cheer you up, boy you are heartless!

9. Food --- Not from my hostel mess. Good food, freshly cooked by mum or for that matter anyone, always puts a smile on my face.

10. Movies --- Again good ones... I remember recovering from this nail of a problem after watching the Parent Trap... Watched Ratatouille yesterday, maybe that's why I am so happy... or maybe its all because of Jodha!

What followed...

2008-10-04T21:34:00.002+05:30

The last time I made an entry to this blog was a very very special day...and things seemed bright... But this being my life disaster struck 8 days later...losing one of my best friends... I was shattered...

Everything in the world seemed unfair, Negativities everywhere, I started lashing out on my dearest ones...

And thank you dear one(s) for hanging on to me... for believing in me, for being with me in my difficult times, I am greatly indebted to you for this... On that dreaded day I thought I would never be able to smile again, and here I am enjoying life once again thanks to you...

I was running away from everything, thank you dear one for pulling me back, thank you dear one, for getting me back to reality, thank you dear one for getting me back to my senses...

Thank you dear one

Clutterless

2008-08-14T21:40:00.001+05:30

14th August, 2008... The clutter is no more...and I'm so happy!!!
Happy Independence Day!!!

Consider this...

2008-08-01T13:46:00.001+05:30

There is this thing that you've wanted, for a long time now. And it seemed as if you were gonna get there, all was going well, but the journey just seems to get longer and longer. You know the destination in near, but somewhere in the back of your mind, you know there is still some distance to travel. But what keeps you going is the destination, coz its so beautiful, and it'd feel so good if you were there. It was something you'd dream about when you were younger, but when you are finally getting there you begin to have cold feet.
Cold feet, eh??? Well its not exactly because of what I'd feel when I am finally there, its because of this really steep mountain there is just before the destination that has to be climbed. But the summit, its beautiful. Kinda like an Arsenal goal...sleek and sexy passing, opposition defenders looking like silly goats, and if the final touch is there, it looks so good...and if the final touch is missing, it seems something so good went waste...
Now I don't want that to happen...its been a beautiful journey upto here, and would have to find steam to go through with the final step(Man, I wish I was Thierry Henry!!!), it'd be such a waste if all these didn't come off properly. And I hear that song from -Jab we Met---Aao milo chale---manzil se behtar lagne lage hai ye raaste---in strong disagreement with that right now...Initially it seemed so, but now Its time to make a move, to go ahead in this journey...

le Clutter!!!

2008-07-28T23:25:00.000+05:30

To the one person it concerns(the most!!!)

Dear person,

I know how much trouble it has caused you to see me in such a condition, and I assure you that things are gonna get better, there is going to be no clutter September onwards...August is going to be the month where I work really hard to clear this clutter, Actually I've already started work on it...and feeling much better!!! Some of it concerns you(really dont know what to do with that...things may get bad...should I take the risk...I dont know...)but I'd clear it out...giving it whatever it takes.

I guess you know whats it about...thats the one thing I can't hide...its so obvious, people have been coming up to me and asking me whether its true...I dont know how to answer them. Its been with me since February, its the first time this has happened...such circumstances, I was baffled to find myself in a situation like this...but dont you worry, I will find a solution to it, and deal with it. Just be there for me, forever.

Anurag Yelkur, probably in his last days with the clutter...

Anurag Yelkur, who???

2008-07-07T02:26:00.000+05:30

Why did I start blogging non-anonymously all of a sudden??? Like most things, I don't quite know that, just hoping that you get an idea of how this mind works, whats on it...Questions I dont know the answers to myself...Okay so this is going to be a journey, a journey for me to discover myself...Guess you are already confused, and your mouse pointer is moving towards that 'X' sign on the top right corner of this window...doesn't matter, this is my journey, backpacking through adolescence...Confused, Brain working overtime, Lost...Trying to get some answers, of questions you would not understand...

Well what do I do in all those diaries then??? Well its totally a private affair, penning down all but everything, Going public helps me in a way I can't explain...

And the cheesy title!!! Well thats how I feel at this moment...I seem still, but life is moving ahead pretty fast, not that I am suffering or anything, nor that I am in any pain of sort, but all I seem to do these days is sit still, and observe, and life takes me forward, as if I were on a conveyor belt...Guess you didn't get this either!!!

Okay...this is an attempt to unsolve me...So let's start with the basics...

Name
Anurag Yelkur

Date of Birth
12th of July, 1989...so I'd turn 19 this Saturday!

Place of Birth
New Delhi, India

Current Location
Vaishali, Ghaziabad

Passions
Too many to list down...I guess this sounds wierd, but everything about me is wierd. Seriously there are too many...But if I were to choose like the top five they'd be Arsenal FC(Football in general), Pink Floyd(Rock Music in general), Food, India(or for that matter everyplace that I share a sense of belonging with), Quizzing(getting better at it by the day!!!)

Favourite Music
Mostly Rock, though have developed a knack for everything nowadays...favourite artistes include Pink Floyd, Guns 'n' Roses, Children of Bodom, Aerosmith, AC/DC, A.R. Rehman...

Favourite Song
Tough Question...I'd list a few, dont know which one to select If I were asked to select one...Another Brick in the wall, Time, Interstellar Overdrive by Pink Floyd, Sweet child o' mine, November Rain by Guns 'n' Roses, Living of a dead beat by Children of Bodom, Crazy, I don't want to miss a thing by Aerosmith...

Favourite Food
Okay I can eat anything and everything...known to many as el 'bhukkad'!!! Dishes that I just love eating... Rajma-Chawal, Rava Dosa, Paneer/Chicken tikka, all sorts of Kebabs, Donuts, oh forget it, I give up, I would go and on and on talking about this...
Maggi noodles...Can't keep my hands off it...I can live on it for years without getting bored!!!

Favourite Drink
Black Coffee!!! and well the Virgin Sangria they sell at Costa too!!!

Favourite Colour
Black

Favourite Number
3

Favourite Season
Monsoon...the winters aren't that bad either

Favourite day of the week
Wednesdays and Fridays...I absolutely hate Mondays!!!

Favourite Months of the Year
July, October

Favourite Holiday Destination
London...the home of Arsenal FC, Pink Floyd, Madame Tussauds, Wimbledon, Cricket, the Wembley is there too, and so is Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, the Shakespeare Globe, the history, the culture, the art, the cabbies, the accent...its all there..there's too many things in this city to list down...

If not London...
Okay it really bums me out to hear that its not London...well its Europe then...I know its too big a place...and I'm not talking about those stupid 15 day tours these travel agents offer...I'm gonna need a lot more days than that...places that excite me...France(I don't wanna start on the things France has to offer), Italy(I don't wanna start on the things Italy has to offer), Moscow(by now I guess you know that I dont want to bore you with all the things all these beautiful places have to offer), Vienna, Geneva, Barcelona, Madrid...Preferred company...Probably alone/with the idiot who decides to marry me!

Favourite Movie
I guess you have noticed the trend, I am not gonna be limited to one thing, there's gonna be a list...so here's the once for this category...Fahrenheit 9/11, Rang De Basanti, Forrest Gump, Philadelphia, Bend it Like Beckham, Harold and Kumar go to Whitecastle, American Desi, The Terminal, The Bucket List...so I guess you get the idea...its either Comedy or Social/Political Drama...

Favourite Newspaper
The Hindustan Times

Favourite Cartoon
Calvin & Hobbes

Favourite TV Show
FRIENDS

Most annoying TV Show
All Soaps and anything that shows life how it is not...like Left Right Left

Favourite Karaoke Song
Sexyback by Justin Timberlake

Favourite Book
The Google Story, The Class, The Love Story, Anything for you ma'am...

Crappiest Song that I liked
Tere Bin from the movie Bhagam Bhag

Greatest Achivement
Still Waiting for it...

Worst Nightmare
I fell off a cliff, and the fall seems endless, I keep falling, keep falling, keep falling, endlessly.

If I were an animal, I'd be...
A dog!!! Maybe because of the connection!!!

If I had one superpower, It'd be...
Teleporting between places

If I could go back in time...
I am happy to be in 2008.

If I could be anyone in this world I'd be...
Anurag Yelkur

If I could meet anyone, I'd meet...
Zinedine Zidane, or perhaps Maria Sharapova!

5 Things I love
Family, Friends, Arsenal, Rock Music, India

5 Things I can't stand
Gawaarness, Manchester United Fans(they are the dumbest lot), Wastage of Energy...Water, Electricity..., a really bad quizmaster, People wanking off certain words...they are reserved to be used in sports events only, not for day to day use!!!

5 Things I wish were different in the World
Appropriate music should play in the background, India to be the bestest country in the world without any corruption and poverty and a powerhouse in Sports as well, an End to terrorism, Free thinking, Solution to all problems, so that all people could live happily...

5 Things I can't live without
Family, Friends, Music, Internet, Television

5 Random words that come to my mind
Delhi, Arsenal, Floyd, Psychedelia, Awww.....(!)