I ought to do a tag a month,now! Tags are  refreshing and rejuvenating! So I stole this one from Sriram! Nothing special, I just have to answer a few questions this time – new readers will know a lot about me from this post. Old ones might already know a lot, but just read through. I know you’re jobless. Why else would you visit my blog?

As the title suggests, it’s an understatement to call this HUGE!

1. Last beverage – Frooti!   (It was my lunch, that day! )
2. Last phone call- Vidya Chechi
3. Last text message – Vishnu
4. Last song you listened to – Black or White – Michael Jackson *sniff* Amen to his soul!
5. Last time you cried – A month ago… due to ‘matters of the heart’,in solitude!

HAVE YOU EVER..

6.Dated someone twice? – Yes (10-15 times, actually! )
7. Been cheated on? –Loads of times!
8. Cried yourself to sleep? –No, per se.
9. Lost someone special? –I miss a lot of people, yes.
10. Been depressed? – I am depressed as I write this post! Depression has so hopelessly become a part of my life!
11. Seen ghosts –Duh!!
12.LIST THREE FAVORITE COLORS.
Blue, Red, White

THIS YEAR HAVE YOU
15.Made new friends – A lot!
16. Fallen out of love – Nopes
17. Laughed until you cried – You bet, I’ve lost count of that!
18. Met someone who changed you – Hmmm… maybe.
19. Found out who your true friends were – I knew it ages ago.
20. Found out someone was talking about you –  Came  as a pleasant surprise
21. Kissed anyone on your friend’s list – Er… I choose to avoid this question for fear of prejudice!
22. How many people on your friends list do you know in real life ? – 90% of them
23. How many kids do you want to have – Two. A lovely guy and a sweet girl.
24. Do you have any pets – Nada.
25. Do you want to change your name – I hated my name once, but Now I’m in love with it. So the answer is: NO WAY!
26. What did you do for your last birthday – Well, It was among my happiest birthdays… Got a record number of gifts and cards, and of course studied for my series exams starting the very next day!
27. What time did you wake up today – 7:10 AM. Mom woke me up reminding me to do household chores for a change!
28. What were you doing at midnight last night – Reading ‘Roots‘ by Alex Haley. AWESOME book!
29. Name something you CANNOT wait for – Day 1 @ IIM Ahmedabad *Sigh*
30. Last time you saw your father – two hours ago, when I was bidding him goodbye.
31. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life – Ah.. lots *sigh*
32. What are you listening to right now – Dreams on Fire: Slumdog Millionaire (I’m in love with the movie’s soundtrack!)
33. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom – A lot of times! There’s a junior in my college, of that name.And there’s my favourite blogger Thomman – whom I’ve talked to at school!
34. What’s getting on your nerves right now? Certain very nice people in my college who’re making my life hell for no reason whatsoever!
36. Whats your real name – Neo – after I chose the red pill! (DUH!!!)
37. Relationship Status – Single
38. Zodiac sign – Scorpio
39. Male or female – Male
40. Natural Hair color? – Black
41. Hair color now – Kinda dark brownish to black.
42. Pet Peeve – The want for intellectual freedom, which I don’t get
43. Need Glasses- Nope, wearing glasses is a nightmare for me!
44. Long or short –Er… is this question about some body part?
45. Height – Five eleven
46. Do you have a crush on someone – Used to have loads, none right now. It’s pointless
47. What do you like about yourself? – The fact that I can write reasonably well.
48. Piercings – None.
49. Tattoos – Aaargh!!
50. Righty or lefty – Right.

FIRSTS.
51. First surgery – to fix my mangled left clavicle – was an experience.
52. First piercing –None yet!
53. First tattoo – Don’t remember – was some removable one.
54. First best friend – Godly
55. First sport you joined – Cricket
56. First pet – A hen. We used to have four of them at home.
57. First vacation – Trip to Delhi, when I was in 7 years old. Barely remember anything about it now!
59. First crush- Name’s Lakshmi. Now, there’s a whole blog post about it! I still see her around
60. First alcoholic drink – None yet! Sworn teetotaller here.

RIGHT NOW.
61. Eating – A sweet laddu (At 11:26 PM, mind you! )!
62. Wearing – A grey tee with “No Fear’ emblazoned on it, black pants (from school) [Why would anyone wanna know this? ]
63. I’m about to – Code away to glory! I’ve found my true calling.
64. Speaking to – I’ve kept my chat client (Pidgin) off at the moment. I don’t chat when I blog.
65. Waiting to – talk to someone special (If you’re reading this, call me now! Dying to listen to your voice! )
66. Want kids? – Not in the near future
67. Want to get married? – Ditto.
68. Careers in mind? – Wanna be a pro-blogger-cum-coder-cum-filmmaker-cum-entrepreneur!

WHICH IS BETTER WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX?
69. Lips or eyes – Eyes.
70. Hugs or kisses – I love hugs. The warmth of the female body as it presses on to you is GREAT!
71. Shorter or taller- Shorter
72. Older or Younger – Not older anyway.
73. Romantic or spontaneous – Hopeless-romantic
74. Nice stomach or nice arms – Arms will be fine. The tummy must be okay.
75. Tattoos or piercings- Nada to both.
76. Sensitive or loud-  Loud to a certain degree. Sensitive also is as nice.
77. Hook-up or relationship – Relationship
78. Trouble maker or hesitant- Hesitant

HAVE YOU EVER.
79. Kissed a stranger – Nopes and NEVER!
80. Drank hard liquor – Won’t do that in my lifetime!
81. Lost glasses/contacts – Haven’t owned any yet and hope not to!
82. Sex on first date – Not yet. But Not so early, anyway.
83. Broken someone’s heart – Very much. Parents being on top of the list.
84. Had your own heartbroken – You bet!
85. Been arrested?- Was close to being so a couple of times, but escaped!
86. Turned someone down –a couple of times.
87. Cried when someone died – Frequently
88. Got someone into trouble intentionally –Hmmm… naah!

DO YOU BELIEVE IN.
89. Yourself – Started to lose belief, but I still cling on to myself
90. Miracles – Yup!
91. Love at first sight – I even dreamt about it the other day !:|
92. Heaven – too far-fetched, but being religious. yes.
93. Santa Claus – NO WAY!
94. Kissing on the first date? – Probable
95. Angels – Metaphorically, yes.

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY.

96. Is there one person you want to be with right now? – Sure!
97. Had more than one boyfriend/ girlfriend at one time? – No and never.
98. Do you believe it’s possible to remain faithful forever? – It is.
99. What’s the one thing you cannot live without? – Friends and family, Computer, Internet
100. Posting this as 100 truths? – Err… I confess that two or three points at the most, are mildly inaccurate. Apart from that, there are about 97 truths here. Honestly.

There goes! Bored? Jobless? Be my guest and take this up! Please acknowledge me when you do it, btw.

No related posts.

Almost as if in cue with the commencement of my exams, my PC died a silent death yesterday!

After a vigorous and inspired session of studies, I decided to take a well-deserved break and go online. After all, I hadn’t used my PC (I’ve named it P4MONSTER),  for over a week since I was in my native place (now, that’s another bloggable topic – but later, folks!) due to familial pressures. I thought a break and a blog post would free my mind.

Only to my eventual despair!

As usual, I switched on P4MONSTER, ignored the ‘Windows’ option in my boot menu typed my username and password, and logged into my Kubuntu Intrepid screen. I logged into Pidgin automatically and had barely opened firefox when the system hung. The number-pad lights started flashing in maniac fashion. I shrugged and restarted the system – an occasional cranky moment for my MONSTER. But I knew (s)he’d be back in action!

The blue Pentium 4 boot screen loaded up. With a few differences, nonetheless. There were white, horizontal lines popping up, shaking all through, over the boot screen. I knew it’d be a monitor issue and waited – to no avail. The blue boot screen (with greyish-white lines) remained unchanged (apart from a Brownian-motion-ish movement in the lines!). I restarted my computer about ten times, still no change. I couldn’t even log into the BIOS menu.

Flustered, I opened the box up, removed and reinserted the RAM. Tinkering with all the parts, checking if all of ‘em are in the right place, I dusted the whole box up and powered it again. This time, I could get into the BIOS menu, but no further. That confirmed it – my Intel Xtreme Onboard Graphics died a painless death! INTEL 865 GBF has been out  of production for over a couple of years now, there’s  no other good motherboard in the market to host my 2.4 Gigs P4 processor! Prasanth confirmed my hypothesis and I’d no option but to cover P4MONSTER  with a white cloth and bid tears (I did that!). It’d been my buddy – my trusted friend, for five years and a month.  Apart from minor issues, it had never let me down! I was broken and shattered.

Now what?

I’ve saved up some money to buy a laptop (I’m eyeing a Dell Studio) but the money’s in Fixed Deposit and won’t mature in a while. At the moment, I’m coaxing dad to buy a new system after the exams and he’s almost agreed.

But don’t worry guys, I don’t need a PC at my place to blog regularly! Keep visiting, there’ll be regular updates that’ll still make you smile .

And, wish me luck for the exams! The first exam (Computer Communication) went well.

UPDATE:

I tried switching on the PC again (after a couple of days) and it magically WORKED! However, the Graphics issue with the motherboard is real and my system is really in the verge of a collapse.

Related posts:

1. Good Samaritan
2. The algebra of good food and conversations

I’m going through the worst of times! True to my ‘Jathakam’, things’ve been topsy turvy, at the best! But thanks to Thomman (a celebrity blogger -cum- senior at school), yesterday turned out to be a fantastic day! For he lifted up my moods with this award-cum-tag!

The award ‘declaration’ goes like this:

“This award is bestowed upon a fellow blogger whose blog’s content or design is, in the giver’s opinion, brilliant.”“When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to the said person so everyone knows she/he is real. Choose a minimum of seven (7) blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don’t have seven friends. Show the seven random victims’ names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were prized with Honest Weblog. Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon. List at least ten (10) honest things about yourself. Then pass it on!”

Here I go!

1. I used to be a BIGTIME introvert when I was in school! I was known as a crybaby back then. I guess college (and some GREAT friends) brought me out of my cocoon. I’m an addictive, non-stop talker now! People often ask me to shut up! But yes, with the flick of a (mental) switch, I can revert to being an introvert (for a short while), yes.
2. Unlike most guys, I always need someone as my best buddy. Someone I can always open up to any time and who would listen to me for hours!
3. I haven’t played an outdoor game in some six years! Again, strange for a guy!  I suffered a knee-cap dislocation when I was in the 11th grade and after that, the doc advised me to stay away from sports for a year. After a year, I lost my (already feeble) interest! Even before the accident, I wasn’t much of a sports buff and my trysts with football/cricket would be once in a bluemoon or something. I’m ashamed of this, but yeah, I’m a sports-n00b!
4. I engendered a huge complex about the other sex for a long long time! It began quite sometime back with a grossly deflating remark from someone. Ever since, I’ve kept my distance from girls. Even now, traces of that complex exist! It’s another matter that most of my best friends are gals!
5. I’m dumb, period. I’m seriously contemplating about starting a humor blog based on the ROTFL stuff I do, cause of my ‘extreme’ common sense! Who knows, I might even surpass eebil Silberine and Doubting Thomman, one day!
6. Now, this is goanna do a hell lot of negative publicity , but I cry. A lot, for a guy! For downright silly issues!! On the contrary, I’ve stood stoic at some of the most depressing moments of my life. I’ve no idea why, but I guess I’m a bit too emotional.
7. I’m narcissistic, to some extent. More so about this blog! Would you believe that I spend at least four hours a day doing something in this blog? It’s the biggest pleasure I can possibly derive from the depressing shithole my life has landed in! My blog is MY LIFE. And if things go the way they’re supposed to, I might well be a professional blogger, soon enough!
8. I’m a hopeless fan of Mohanlal! He might be overweight and past his prime, but for me, he’s the best, anyday! Precisely why I’m listening to Sagar Alias Jacky theme as I’m writing this!
9. I don’t watch TV. Not a bit! Mom & Dad rule over it here, so my viewing is restricted to occasional sound bites from CNN/IBN, NDTV et al, when the remote’s with me.
10. I badly want to make a movie. And I’m making one right now! Along with Akhil. That’s another thing that gives me solace during these despicably-bad times.

I guess that’s enough ‘honesty’ for the day.

And I’m awarding Abhi, Akhil, Salted, “Aanyoo”, Sindhya, Shal, and Joju. They all deserve it!

Related posts:

1. Confessions of a mediocre student
2. Life blog
3. Makeover!

Leaves fall from the boughs of that tall tree,
Not the ones green, fresh & filled with nature’s ardour,
But the leaves of time, whose fall
Goes on & on, till the end of eternity…

But every year, as the twelfth month dies,
It comes, commemorating a sweet memory,
Of something, the birth of a man – the true Son of God,
In whose hands, the sins of mankind were washed.

He gave his life for the cause of mankind,
A scapegoat of treachery & deceit,
Never did he grumble, but blessed,
Even those evil souls that stole his life…

New countries took birth, New inventions were made, & more leaves fell,
Still we worship him, remember his service & call him Messiah,
We rejoice the day he was born & worship him
But, is that enough??

The yoke of oppression is on our heads,
More wars, more treachery, & more cruelty,
But when you’re about to sin,
Remember, there’s this Messiah sitting high in the heavens, watching you!

Related posts:

1. An ode to the perfect sis…

I’ve been a lifelong addict, so when I got a tag asking me to list all those addictions from Cris, I couldn’t resist! I know it’s pretty gross after a series of ‘personal’ posts, but yeah, I’ll try to make it attractive.

1) Computers/Internet: My first love! I used to surf the net for nothing less than three hours each day, until a month back. Going through withdrawal syndrome now!

2) Music: The daily dose of my favourite playlist(s) on mobile & PC keep me going. Thinking of buying a power packed music system to get more of the ‘experience’! But as always, I’m broke and bankrupt.

3) Day Dreaming: Dreams are but manifestations of the innate desires of the human mind. I manifest my cravings and live them through my (day)dreams. They make me happy, sometimes to the point of exhilaration!

4) Blogging: For a while, I was under the impression that life without internet might massacre the compulsive blogger in me. But one month without internet (parental restrictions at home once again ) and I’m still going strong!

5) Talking: A new-found addiction. Might seem out of place for someone who used to be a bigtime introvert three years back; but as someone said, Life f**ks everyone and I changed in the process! Talking is my way out of all problems that bog me down. A good friend and hours of idle time means nirvana for me!

P.S. For those who’ve read my earlier tags about ‘passions’ et al. I haven’t lost interest in reading, movies and the like! They still remain hardcore passions. But fact is, I haven’t got enough time to pursue them.

Lack of time forces me not to tag any one specific. So anyone is free to take up this tag. Talk of a fully democratic world!!

Related posts:

1. Life in a… Hospital
2. The happiest day of my life!
3. The Quarter life crisis

When I saw this tag in GWBE‘s blog, I couldn’t help suppress a shriek of joy and surprise! Turns out that I was blogging on a similar topic right here. The tag was SO endearing (perhaps, due to GWBE‘s un-put-downable style) that I thought I’d chuck the post I was working on, and do this tag.

Well, first things first. Ms GWBE didn’t tag puny ol’ me. I STOLE this one from her! Hope she doesn’t sue me for this culpable act of gross intellectual-property violation!

The rules for the tag are:

RULE #1 People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs and replace any question that they dislike with a new question formulated by themselves.

RULE #2 Tag 6 people to do this quiz and those who are tagged cannot refuse. These people must state who they were tagged by and cannot tag the person whom they were tagged by continue this game by sending it to other people.

Here goes nothing!

1. If your lover betrayed you what would your reaction be?
No one’s perfect! I don’t expect my lover to be totally loyal to me. In these troubled times, its simply not possible!! Alright, her betrayal would leave me heartbroken and dejected, but I’d do my best to talk it out and resume our relationship. If she wants to dump me, so be it.

Having already been dumped once, I think I’ll survive sans vodka if my next gf goes the way of my ex!

Which is why I’m averse to romantic relationships until I reach some level of maturity. That should happen in six-seven years in time! (Sorry gals! )

2. What’s it that you see in an ideal partner?
Hmm… Tough question! She must be a good and empathetic human being who can cope with my mood swings. Must be a non-stop talker with a sweet voice and a good singer too! Should be smart and must be reasonably compatible with my wavelength. Looks come last in my wish-list. But she should be moderately-presentable, alright.

3. What, according to you, is the perfect date?
I don’t care about the location, but a seaside-restaurant would be good. I’d seat her across me, we’d look into each others’ eyes, we’ll hold hands and talk for hours!!

4. Would you like to have children soon enough? Or would you wait till your mid-thirties for the first child?
I LOVE childeren! (Off, you perverts!! I’m no MJ! ) Children always end up liking me and vice versa. Playing with them brings back the child in me! (People who know me real close should now know why I’m SO childish/childlike at times!!) So, the earlier I have children, the better. (That doesn’t mean I wanna have kids out of wedlock! )

5. Will you fall in love with your best friend?
Sigh! This question reminds me of “Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na!” and the mallu movie “Niram”.
But not for me! True, most of my best friends are of the opposite sex. But I don’t EVER confuse friendship with love! I’ll make sure that the relationship between my best friend(s) and I will remain platonic.

6. Which is more blessed: loving someone or being loved by someone?
Loving someone, I guess. It always feels good to do something for someone you love, even if you have to pay a price for that. But when my ‘love’ is reciprocated, it feels doubly good.

7. How long do you intend to wait for someone you love?
Well... I don’t really mind waiting. But there’s a limit. Everything comes in a package, naah?

8. If the person you secretly like is attached, what will you do?
I’ll break the ‘attachment’ even more secretly! *evil grin*
But if the person and her partner are of the ‘made-for-each-other’ mould, I’ll spare them!

9. If you could root for one social cause, what would it be?
Compulsory and free food and education for all! (Copied from GWBE!)

10. Do you lie?
Yep! Not a lot, but circumstances force me to. But I try my best to be truthful and honest.

11. Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?
If I don’t live my MBA dream, get a well paying job, marry a loving wife and have adorable kids (a boy named Prasanth and a girl named Krishna)… I’d most probably be hunting for jobs, selling vacuum cleaners part-time to earn a living! If the current socio-economic-trends are to be believed, I’d most probably end up in the latter situation.

12. What’s your fear?
I fear failure. True, it’s the stepping stone to success and all… But I’ve made enough mistakes all my life and I’m YET to learn from any of them! Yeah, for most parts I’m still a sore loser. I want to rise up from my pit of failures and relish the taste of success!

13. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
Uh… I wasn’t tagged by anyone, ’cause I stole this from GWBE! I’ve been a hardcore fan of her blog since 2005! Her blog, endearingly inspired me to start blogging! She’s a lovable and sweet person as far as I know her. And writes marvellously-well too!

14. Would you rather be single and rich or married and poor?
Single and Rich, at the moment. But I might change my opinion some five six years down the line, ’cause right now, I’m tired of hopeless teen-affairs and crap! (You’ll know why soon.)

15. If you fall in love with two people simultaneously who will you pick?
Totally hypothetical question. For one, I’m tired of falling in love and realizing that I’m not worth it. Even if such a situation arises, I’d choose the girl who loves me back, maybe. Since there’s no way of determining that either, I’d chuck both girls out of my mind and start searching for a third one!

16. Would you give all in a relationship?
Hmm… I don’t mind dying for my girl, once I’m fully committed! (That wasn’t a joke!)

17. Would you forgive and forget someone no matter how horrible a thing she has done?
Nobody’s perfect, again! To err is human, to forgive is divine! Forgetfulness is not a sure-shot possibility, cause I already have a good memory. But I won’t take the matter up with her again. At least, I’ll try not to! I dislike fights!

18. Do you prefer being single or in a relationship?
Ah. The question I’ve been waiting to answer.

Right now, I prefer being single. Simply ’cause I’ve learned
the hard way, burning my fingers with immature relationship(s). I’ve even seen Worst Case Scenario and experienced excruciating pain. I just don’t want to relive it all again, at least in the immediate future.

Being single has its virtues. I can still talk to any girl I like for how long I want (unless she she says no!!). I still can look at any girl ‘admiringly’ without a shred of guilt/remorse. It’s easy on my pocket too! Instead of ‘love cards’ and valentines day gifts, I can re-channel my meager ‘income’ into Birthday cards for close friends and good books from the second hand market. Not to mention total peace of mind!

But that doesn’t mean I’ll remain single for life! Maybe I’ll change my views in a few years time, if I succeed in life and meet my ‘dream’ girl. If not, I’ll ‘obligingly’ love the girl parents chose for me as my bride!

19. Your all time favourite song. Only ONE. And why?
Sowparnikamritha Veechikal Paadum from Kizhakkunarum Pakshi.
I’ve been mad about this song since God-knows-when. The booming voice of Yesudas praising the Mother Goddess… Poignant lines set to tune by the maestro Raveendran Master… Often, my eyes well up with tears after I listen to this soulful song!

And I’m tagging:
1) Shal: I’d love to see her take on love!
2) Vidya: Expecting more thoughts here, again.
3) Raouf: My frequent tag-victim. (Brace yourself, buddy! )
4) Neethu: Her take’s goanna be fun!
5) pR@tz: Fellow-നിരാശ കാമുകന്‍ ! (dejected lover)
6) Josmy: Another blogging-idol of mine.
AND
7) Cris: I’m a big fan of Ms Cris!

And hey, you may take up this tag if you want.

Related posts:

1. First Love.
2. To G, with love.
3. Unrequited Love.

Apologies for the cheesy title! But I’m so mad about the movie and so big a fan of Will Smith that I wanted to use the name as the title of this post, where I’m taking up Nitin’s tag. (Two tags at a stretch… whew!)

You’ll know why I used the movie name in a sec. Here I go!

I am: a simple human being! (Duh!)

I think: Therefore I blog. Or rather, Cogito, Ergo blog! (With due regards to Abhi chettan!)

I know: that I can get real dumb at times. Trying to change!

I want: to be a part of the 2010-2012 PGPM class of IIM-A. Before that I wanna top Kerala University! (Serious about both.)

I have: absolutely no money! Totally bankrupt!

I wish: I’d been more arduous. I wouldn’t have ended up in this train-wreck I’ve made of my life!

I hate: snobs! Feel like kickin the livin sh1t outta them! Bloody a$$holes!!

I miss: Loyola, my alma mater!! Cheer Loyola’s sons!

I fear: driving a bike. My accident did that to me!

I hear: all kinds of music in my Creative SBS 2.1!

I smell: gross, if I’m not using my axe deodorant, that is!

I crave: for a new life. A new identity. I hate his bloody existence!

I search: for happiness and contentment in whatever sh1t job I’m assigned. I’m in constant Pursuit of ‘happyness’, yes.

I wonder: why does it always happen to me! But that’s just one thing. I wonder about a LOT of things like why the Sun rises in the east, and why people always stick to Windo$ instead of embracing GNU/Linux, for instance.

I regret: my messed up priorities and perennially-skewed decisions. But yea, again, I’m changing!

I love:Photography! Clicking pics turns me on. Sad that my cam’s totally f**ked up!

I ache: When I overhear someone I care talking sh!t about me!

I was not: always like this. There used to be a good time in my life.

I am not:totally dumb & geeky. I too have my 30 seconds of fame, occasionally.

I cry:when I feel like. (Sounds too sissy, yes. But I do.)

I believe: in my BEST friends. (Trinity… You top this list!) They’re the only ones who lend me a shoulder when I’m desp.

I dance: when I’m euphoric. Only the four walls of my bedroom get to see me in action, though.

I sing: when I’m happy and/or people request me to. (Yea, I’m a kinda okay-okay singer)

I read: anything and everything. A good book is a lifetime friend!

I don’t always: make mistakes. At times, even I am perfect! B-)

I fight: rarely. Yeah, I’m an advocate of peace and love.

I write: almost everyday. Something or the other, not necessarily for my blog.

I win: odd-contests at college and elsewhere!

I lose: my stuff quite often. Trying to change that too!

I never: show off before others. At least, I try not to.

I always: make mistakes. Terrible ones at times, I admit it.

I confuse: my parents. Especially when I’m trying make up an elaborate cock & bull story!

I listen: to my friends. I can do it for hours and repeat every word they’d mentioned! *Sigh* if I’d listened to lectures so well, I would have topped my class…

I can usually be found: in my bedroom, cooped in front of my PC, googling something.

I am scared: of where my life will take me. At this rate, i’m goanna end it real bad!

I need: a new aim in life. New goals and new priorities too!

I am happy: when I’m with my friends/when I’m listening to music/when I’m NOT fighting with my parents!

I imagine: lots of stuff. My imagination is weird, at times.

Ta dah!

Anyone can take this tag from me. It’s upto you. Don’t wanna thrust it into anyone this time. I think Abhi Chettan *must* do it!

No related posts.

So I’m tagged once again by Abhi chettan (and later by mea culpa). This time, it’s the unique ‘quote’ tag. I fell in love with this one when I chanced on it in three ‘celebrity’ blogs, namely Silverine‘s, Mathew‘s and Thomas Chettan‘s blogs. And I loved all their quotes! Even though Mathew tacitly allowed me to take the tag, I decided to wait for an ‘official’ nod by the Great Mr. A himself. The tag’s like this:

Jot down 5 of your favorite quotes from the various books you’ve read/movies you’ve seen. If you don’t have the books with you now, Googling (Wikiquotes and the like) can be used to find them. Tag five people and acknowledge the person who tagged you.

So here I go!

1.

“I know you’re out there. I can feel you now. I know that you’re afraid. You’re afraid of us. You’re afraid of change. I don’t know the future. I didn’t come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it’s going to begin. I’m going to hang up this phone, and then I’m going to show these people what you don’t want them to see. I’m going to show them a world … without you. A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you...”
- Neo (The Matrix)

The Matrix is a movie that hugely inspires me. Alright, there are lot of better quotes from the movie trilogy like ones from Smith & Morpheus, but somehow I love the way Keanu Reeves delivers the ‘quote’. And I know I’ve mentioned the movie a trillion times in this blog. Couldn’t resist!

2.

You’re not your job. You’re not how much money you have in the bank. You’re not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You’re not your f**king khakis. We are the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.
…
Self improvement is masturbation.

- Tylder Durden (Fight Club)

It was Abhi chettan who introduced me to this movie. Got to see it after a LOT of coaxing and cajoling! (Yea, people with unlimited downloads are a tad too selfish, it turns out! ). Ever since, I’ve been addicted. Managed to read the original ‘book’ too! I actually wanted to use the FC quote Abhi chettan used, but well, turns out that even I have used it before in another post. So tried this one.

3.

Now it is such a bizarrely improbable coincidence that anything so minbogglingly useful could have evolved purely by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see it as a final and clinching proof of the non-existence of God.

The argument goes something like this: “I refuse to prove that I exist,” says God, “for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.”
“But,” says Man, “the Babel fish is a dead giveaway isn’t it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don’t. QED.”
“Oh dear,” says God, “I hadn’t thought of that,” and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)

The funniest book I’ve ever read! It even made me think, in a tongue-in-cheek manner, actually. Reading it for the third time now!

4.

Timon: No, no, no, I mean he’s depressed.

Pumbaa: Oh. (talking to Simba) Hey kid, what’s eatin’ ya?

Timon: Nothing; he’s at the top of the food chain! (laughs hysterically) The food chain! (sees no reaction from Pumbaa or Simba) So… where’re ya from?

Simba: Who cares? I can’t go back.

Timon: Aaaaaah, you’re an outcast. That’s great, so are we!

Pumbaa: What did you do, kid?

Simba: Something terrible. I don’t want to talk about it.

Timon: Good, we don’t wanna hear about it!

Pumbaa: Come on, Timon. (to Simba) Anything we can do?

Simba: Not unless you can change the past.

Pumbaa: (trying to cheer him up) Kid, at times like this, my buddy Timon here says “You gotta put your behind in your past!”–

Timon: No, no no!

Pumbaa: I mean–

Timon: Amateur. Lie down, before you hurt yourself. (to Simba) It’s “You gotta put your past behind you.” Look, kid, bad things happen, and you can’t do anything about it, right?

Simba: Right.

Timon: WRONG! “When the world turns its back on you, you turn your back on the world!”

Simba: Well, that’s not what I was taught.

Timon: Then maybe you need a new lesson…

Simba: “Hakuna matata”?
Pumbaa: It’s our motto.
Simba: What’s a motto?
Timon: Nothing, what’s “a motto” with you? (laughs)
Pumba: It means ‘no worries’.
Timon: When the world turns its back on you, you turn your back on the world!
- The Lion King

Alright, this might look a tad childish to quote from ‘The Lion King’ and all, but I simply love the philosophy of “Hakuna Matata”. It’s even part of the ‘default’ signature in my e-mail. Being a maverick myself, this quote helps me pull through all those debilitating lows in life!

5.

The only thing that one really knows about human nature is that it changes. Change is the one quality we can predicate of it.
-Oscar Wilde

How true!

Bingo! I’m done!

I’m tagging:

1. Raouf: He’d love this tag! Drop dead sure.
2. Shal: Now that she’s back to blogging after a gap, she might need this too!
3. pR@tz: Someone who never forgets to tag me! I’m returning the favour now.
4. Abhilash Sir: Abhi chettan has already tagged him. I guess I’m repeating it.
5. Miss Small Wonder: A senior-par-excellence. She too must have some interesting quotes to share!

I’ll end the quote tag with my favourite quote.

“Don’t take life too seriously. You’ll never get out of it alive!”
-Bugs Bunny

That’s all folks!

Related posts:

1. Confessions of a mediocre student

Thanks a bunch for the tag, pR@tz! The nerve-wrecking stress of impending exams had almost taken me down! This should be a welcome relief…

1. LAST MOVIE YOU SAW IN A THEATER: Dasavatharam. Ultra-tera-giga-exa-peta crap!! That reminds me, I have a 45 rupee debt to pay off!!

2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING: Database system concepts by Abraham Silberchatz. (Opening it for the third time in my life, after two unsuccessful attempts during the previous series exams!) I’m also reading Power Shift by Alvin Toffler, side-by-side.

3. FAVORITE BOARD GAME: Chess! All-time-fav!

4. FAVORITE SOUND: Lots and lots of ‘em! I adore Hariharanji‘s voice. (Love all *sweet* female voices too!)

5. WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD: When I dissappoint my parents (and the ‘disappointment’ follows every exam-result!)

6. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE: My mind is usually blank when I’m awake, but on the whole, the intriguing possiblites of the day loom large as I open my eyes up.

7. FAVORITE FAST FOOD PLACE. Don’t have the moolah to frequent fast food places. CCD has nice cozy sofas to rest your ass on, if someone else’s paying the bill. But the food (especially the cappuccino) is crap. Ambrosia(Trivandrum) isn’t a bad bet , food wise!

8. FUTURE CHILD’S NAME. Girl: Krishna (strongest crush‘s name! ) Boy: Prasanth (once-best-friend’s name)

9. FINISH THIS STATEMENT.”IF I HAD A LOT OF MONEY I’D… start my own business, employ as many employees as I can, reap huge profits and contribute it to the nation. (I’m serious about this.)

10. DO YOU DRIVE FAST? I’m a slow driver, yes. But even slow driving couldn’t prevent me from embroiling myself in a near-fatal accident! So I’m paranoid about driving (motorcycles) these days…

11. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? : No. Period.

12. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR? Never had one, apart from toy cars, of course. Remember having a yellow coloured ‘Ambassador’ as my favourite toy when I was two-three years old. Parents still speak about how I bawled when a dog made off with it!! The first car in my family was a Maruti 800, though.

13. FAVORITE DRINK : Lime juice.

14. FINISH THIS STATEMENT, “IF I HAD THE TIME I WOULD… post daily, learn all the programming languages in the world and make softwares, travel around the world and click pics like hell!

15. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS ON BROCCOLI?: Umm… forgive my ignorance, but what’s a brocolli? On second thoughts, considering my delicate food habits, I think I don’t. Do I? No, I don’t. Sure!

16. IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY COLOR, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR CHOICE? : Trick question. Brown (my hair already sports a tinge of brown, btw)

17. NAME ALL THE DIFFERENT CITIES/TOWNS YOU HAVE LIVED IN. : Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram, Mumbai

18. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH.: Cricket, F1, Tennis

19. ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU: He’s a great human being whose life and actions inspires me to a great degree! (Drop dead serious, pR@tz!)

20. WHAT’S UNDER YOUR BED? : Crumpled papers. *Sigh* need to clean my room up! It’s been ages…

21. WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE BORN AS YOURSELF AGAIN? No, thanks! Don’t want to relive my shitty life once more. I’d better be born as someone else.

22. MORNING PERSON, OR NIGHT OWL? Morning person

23. FAVORITE PLACE TO RELAX? My bedroom with music on!

24. Of all The People You Tagged This To, Who’s Most Likely To Respond First?: Sriram

And I’m passing the tag to:

Sriram, Anup, Prashant, Sindhya Chechi and Raouf

Related posts:

1. You are what you eat!
2. The algebra of good food and conversations
3. ‘Quote’d

Tags, tags and more tags; whew! Tagging seems to be the flavor of the month! So here’s the latest one. This one’s from Abhi Chettan, who used to be my senior at college and is one of my BEST friends. All I have to do is to list 8 items about various topics. Here I go!

8 things I’m passionate about:

1) Family: True, I hate the control they have on my life & actions and I positively feel low when they put up savagely-inaccurate accusations against me. But in the end, I’m what I am because they all are, to quote the Ubuntu philosophy. Dad & Mom, if you ever read this, you matter the MOST to me in my life. Thanks for being there!
2) Friends: I’m proud to have some of the best human beings in God’s own green Earth as my friends (and that includes the guy who tagged me, who’s right there at the top of the list). I’d lay down my life in their service and I’m sure at least some of them (if not all) reciprocate the affection I have for them. Thanks a bunch, guys!
3) Blogging: My current GTalk status message reads: “I think, therefore I blog”. It’s not exaggeration. Blogging IS my life, it’s the only activity in my life that I practice with religous zeal and dedication. I enjoy the bliss of seeing the first comment in my post, and savour the manic satisfaction I get at having shouted out my thoughts online. Posts like this have lifted me up from banal lows and put me back in action. I intend to be a professional blogger, someday!
4) Photography: Another activity I enjoy the most. I inherited the interest in photography from dad. Today, hours of rigorous practice and Gigabytes of Photographs later, I can safely say that I’m a kinda-averagely-talented photographer. Many of my photos have won accolades in competitions, and Photography actually gave me my first salary! Do visit my flickr account to catch a glimpse of a few of my pics.
5) Music: Someone said, “Music is the food for Love”. For me, it’s the food for life. Can’t imagine a day without music. My 30 GB music collection (pirated, yes! So sue me! ) is one of the few things I love to boast of. I listen to them all! From hard-rock, heavy-metal to soothing Carnatic and Hindustani melodies and Ghazals.
6) Books: Compulsive reader here. I devour books the way someone who hasn’t seen food for years gobbles stuff up! Fiction, non fiction, anything… If it’s engrossing and matches my tastes (which are pretty-flexible) I don’t rest until I’m done with it.
7) MBA: Tough point here, but MBA’s again my passion. I’ve been dreaming about joining the IIMs ever since that quick conversation with a successful IIMite senior from Loyola. Not that I’m really working hard the way I should to get into a premier MBA institute. Slacker that I am, I need time. But still I’m doing my best!
Tech-stuff: Mobiles, Cameras, PCs, Laptops, iPods… you name it! Anything remotely related to those four magic letters: T-E-C-H turns me on!

Eight things I want to do before I die

1) Be my own boss and start my own company someday.
2) Make my company top Fortune 500, and be a billionaire.
3) Try and make the world and the universe my playground like Mr Dennis Tito.
4) To save the world from an impending disaster and be the real action hero! (with due apologies to Hari)
Too far-fetched, eh? Guess I’ll move on to more realistic dreams.
5) Own the top-end SLR Camera and click photos to my hearts content!
6) Write a book someday.
7) To be able to put my best foot forward in whatever I do and succeed.
Marry the woman of my dreams and live happily ever after! (This is what I REALLY want! Seriously!)

Eight things I say often

1) Oh fish!
2) What the fish?!
(Both of ‘em used to be something else… Censored it la’ OSO after a rather, erm, ‘bitter’ experience!!)
3) ദൈവമേ! (OMG!)
4) കലിപ്പ്! (Awesome!)
5) Crap!
6) Dooood…..
7) Oho!
തന്നെ?! (Really?!)

Eight books I’ve read recently

1) A Thousand Splendid Suns
2) The Three Mistakes of my life
3) How Opal Mehta got kissed, got wild and got a life
4) The God of Small things
5) Power Shift
6) The Argumentative Indian
7) The Godfather
Next

Eight songs I would listen to over and over

1) Souparnikamritha (Kizhakkunarum Pakshi)
2) Pramadavnam (His Highness Abdulla)
3) Harimuraliravam (Aaram Thampuran)
4) Krishna Nee Bhegane (Carnatic Keerthanam)
5) Numb (Linkin Park)
6) Tum Se Hi (Jab We Met) <- Current favourite. Might change.
7) Navras (The Matrix Revolutions OST)
Ae Ajnabi (Dil Se)

Eight things that attracts me to my best friends

1) That I’d give my life for them, if need be ( I mean this)
2) I’ll be able to solve all their problems related to computers!
3) I believe in the virtues of peace rather than head on confrontation.
4) That I can listen intently and assimilate whatever crap they say for hours on end.
5) That I try my best to be myself without any facade whatsoever.
6) I’m honest to the core.
7) I do my best to keep in touch with friends; even long lost ones.
I demand less and give more in the friendship!

Eight people I’m Tagging:

1) Anup
2) Akhil
3) G-Man
4) Krishna Chandran
5) Krishnadev
6) Prashant
7) Sindhya Chechi
Vishnu

Related posts:

1. Tagged!
2. Remember, Remember the month of October…