I'm happy with my coffee

Its been more than a month and no new posts!well it does worry me too. i m afraid i m losing this interest to the new addiction to facebook. its more than a social networkin place and i m lovin every fb moment. well..exams could be another good excuse but i wanna be truthful to myself if not to you folks...for i ve always used this space for spillin out all my thoughts. something that could release a lot of pent up emotions. i had to check out my first post to find out when i started blogging.(i m not a diary person u knw).beleive me guys!its been more then 2 yrs and i ve loved every minute here as much as i love fb now!!

What made me blog today was the frivolous attitude of the govt. exactly a year back, the city of mumbai was under attack and justice not yet delivered. quoting a recent tweet, when a new movie opens up in theaters, there is almost 70% turnout...but only 40% for voting...what have we learnt?very true, there is a problem with the system and also with us. we arent concerned about the world around us. life has seem to ve lost value in this busy world of stocks and numbers and politics and entertainment. this means to me a failure of an entire generation. you have understood life the very wrong way.failure to produce good leaders, failure to produce concerned citizens and failure to sustain harmony and peace. species getting extinct. men getting killed. is this the world we live in? i have lost full faith in the judiciary system of my country..a system that hasnt yet tried the 26/11 attacker...not long frm now,our pockets may go a bit more heavy carryin guns for protection. bullets sold at cash and carry. try it and if you are not satisfied, we ll give you a full refund!

Meanwhile..the younger generation is too busy apeing the west. they think its good to be 'kewl' than cool.suddenly the whole world looks foolish.there is profanity in speeches, obscenity in films and lack of intelligence among people. if this what testifies modern development, i wud be more then happy being under developed. i m so very angry that one could spot indotherms out of me.the men are becomin increasingly boring.the women worse.my only respite these days is my cup of coffee and my pc. its much better spending time with this pal who cant understand more than binary than with my look-alike creatures who are way too stupid.

Btw..its nice to be bak blogging..though i ve not got huge followers for my blog or too much comments pouring in for any post, i ve loved the journey till this very moment and i hope to continue this.....but much like the "tree falling in the forest" riddle..i dunno if my blog ever exists.oh cmon!11:44 is not the time for metaphysics.

facebook:what's on your mind?
haha!many things :)

A SALUTE TO THE MARTYRS OF 26/11
hugs
balaji

Read more...

to where i belong?

Roads that prove tough for a sedan, lush greenery all over, deserted streets, the huge and the not-so-huge rivers, friendly ppl, temples frequented by foreigners and a slow life..who says villages suck?

its this 3 day tour i jus finished visiting my native place and so many temples. my recent visit seems to ve jus watered my plant of interest towards our culture. its this "tough to pick up word" kinda feeling u get when u visit ur ancestral places sometimes wondering these really are ur valuable assets. you realize you are here because of them.i dunno whether a joke at this place would be appropriate but then i m a very frank writer and leave reading to ur choice. [[[yeah...the joke..in one of the conversation between a father and son while dicsussing computers...the dad explains"son..the undo button on the toolbar can be used to remove the effect of your last change..in the sense it ll give u back what you had before.."...the son says"hmm...so if there was an undo button in your life...i wouldnt be exactly standing here"]]]. coming back to the ancestry thing..gosh!the ancestry thing??ridiculous:)..its not very often you get to experience such contrasting environments...something city life cant jus cater to. i ve mentioned a lot abt temples in my previous posts and havent received a single comment!!so i ll take it as a excuse to avoid giving my temple experience...write something abt obama..and comments pour in!!crazy world:)well that again is ur choice.talking about choices, i wanna bring about one of the convos i had during the journey especially during times when u are bored watching out the so many mountains on the freeway and one looks no different than the other or the times when your ipod playlist restarts..i had this question for my uncle..given an option to stay either in the village or the city...whr would u live??he was quick enuf to choose the former. the same question was put back to me..this "and u?" act is so common in discussions especially when u don have a question of ur own but are still interested in keepin the convo ticking!!i couldnt reply quick.to be honest..i still havent!!coz i m thinking and too much thinking can strain ur neurons..so i take breaks occasionally by surfing the net..that doenst question my intelligence..jus that it isnt such an easy question after all.you ask me pratibha patil or obama and quick would be my reply.

hmm..yeah the tour again...was really memorable and amazing. whenever i talk about my past or ancestry, i pop up this saying from the back of my cerebrum..how is your ancestry important in ur life?? you life is like a potato plant..the best part of which is underground!!...definitely yes,your past is very important...so is ur present and ofcorse ur future..so wht happened to the question that was put to me?hmm...village life is definitely poetic and looks great.but you knw what??..the first thing i did when i was back home was switch on my pc:)

later that evening, i crossed a high traffic lane, i inhaled more pollution..i found not so friendly people, i heard the big honks and gazed at the huge movie posters..u may have your own views...but city life seems much better..i m looking out of the window now..its raining nice here..shall ask for a hot cup of chai now..hope u enjoyed reading this post as i leave to enjoy my tea.

i belong here,
balaji

Read more...

the 9 km ride---trrrr,fumes and thoughts

it was 6.45 am.my distance-traveled meter read 10073.

i kickstarted my drive(the real meaning of the word) and within seconds,i was on the roads of a country thats celebrating 62 yrs of freedom today.i dunno why,but i ve never felt so happy riding my scooter as much i felt this morning.the climate too did all it could to make things more pleasant.as the wheels rolled front,my thoughts rolled back to the times when our country was ruled by the british.

the injustice and torture done to us were perhaps the worst acts of human nature.we had seen the worst.yet,we won our freedom through non violence.such a great nation this is.i pay my respects to millions of ppl who sacrificed their lives for the country.the britishers showed us the worst of human nature and we replied in the best of india.i salute those souls for they gave their lives to ensure a free india tmrw.

man doesnt know wht happens to him after death.we ve all grown up listening to stories of spirits and i hope if those great souls are here somewhr...all i want to tell them is that we are now a great nation.a nation with a great blend of colors,religion,languages,cultured,cuisines and yet united.a nation that has produced great scientists and engineers and doctors and wht not.a nation with jubliant youngsters who are hungry to achieve things,a nation which has embraced cultures frm across the world and a nation that respects and values its past.we are now a nation with one of the largest cellular subscribers,we are a nation which has a fantastic film industry...we ve achieved many things and are still growing.

as the tricolor was hoisted,i felt goosebumps.the national anthem was sung.i was moved.i climbed on my bike bak and set home.i am so proud to be an indian.i respect my identity.i value my heritage.i cherish my culture.if there is something called rebirth,my only wish is to be born again in this great land!!

it was 9.00.my distance-traveled meter read 10082.

hugs
balaji

Read more...

my poetic side exposed!!!

dunn wanna fill this post with crap.jus a plain poem.
read thru and lemme know.


It’s a gifted child they said
And looks of more me than you
Oh father!you ve finally answered
We are among a blessed few.

Hes born in the month of December
As the world is filled with joys
He ll make history in this planet,said they
But fate had a different choice

It was white all around for them
But grey it was for him
Oh my god..whts wrong
The priest said you ve sinned.

Twas winter
And spring looked really far behind
He was a cute litlle fella
Jus that he was blind

He couldn’t go to school
As Irwin and as eve
He could all but feel
But not see his parents grieve.

They cursed the lord they praised
why are you so injust?i ve done nothing harm.
Don talk to him like that said the lad
For I can still hear and speak the psalm.

Mamma! A competition I heard is in town
That of a spelling bee
I think I can give it a shot
Thers nothing they want you to see

Ofcorse!you ll win said mom
But his dad thought the claims were tall
I know I cant see the colors
But who said I cant spell them all?

He participated and he even won
He won the hearts and the prize
On given the mike said he
Thank you god!i dunno if I cud ve done this
if he’d given me those eyes.

But then a request he made
I want you to donate thy eyes
For I want to see that lord
Who made me get this prize!

Read more...

hey....how do i look?

ahem...the new me is 1 day old.my master decided to gimme a complete makeover ystrday.i havent been liking my previous avatar u knw....the black backgrounds,the pic of my master(he sux!!sshh).my master finished off his exams ystrday and he seemed to be so really releived that he stayed up till minutes after midnite to dress me up.after all..i like u human folks too, need change.but i shud tell you this.

i ve been genuine and loyal to him than any of you guys.he has filled me with almost everything sometimes crap but sometimes real good posts.i ve jus accepted them without a single objection.not too often ve i showed up"bad server" msg to stop him frm uploading thigs which i thought werent dat good.so hes finally done justice.and here i am.my colleagues say i look decent.(guess wht..ms.wordpress says i'm hot!!).

i knw u are in love with my new avatar too.mail me ur comments.guess my inbox is already overflowing.cant really help it.its a mad mad world!!.
so when the site traffic increases,you knw why.but balaji mite think its becoz of his posts.poor fella!!
oh shit!i can hear someone coming in.i think its him.he doesnt knw i m doing this.

i m not going to sign off by "hugs" like how he does.i hate touching human folks.
so its jus a quick bye

http://csayeebalaji.blogspot.com

Read more...

hot,hotter,hottest

omg!!this is one of the tuffest times to pass in chennai.with the mercury touching all time highs,you can do nothing but endorse the "stay indoors" campaign.and yes,talking about campaigning,the general elections are round the corner and its time for us to vote.

i m 19.and yes i wanna vote.but unfortunately,i dun have my name in the voters list.this keeps me away from the booths on may 13th.but if someone asks,i can always say that none of the candidates interest me!!the customary excuse thats been passed on to us hereditary.

but i guess everyone should come out and vote.voting is one of the most beautiful gifts of democracy which helps us decide whom we want to lead us.but then,most of us take the election day as a good holiday.and with the temp rising,i m a bit skeptical about the turnout this yr.the other thing thats happening this summer is IPL.some great cricket action for the country that lives cricket,though i personally believe that it wud ve been better if it was conducted in india.they moved it to south africa for security reasons.arey yaar...its election time and the politicians are busy with the elections...so thers no reason to worry(no pun intended).

ah yes,coming bak to the summer,i m trying hard to stick on to the "beat the heat" column suggestions in the daily.going for less black n more white for some time.tried even sticking my head into the fridge once.its bloody 40+ here dude.

i hate anything that goes above 40.(ipl is actually my brainchild)...hey wait....excuse me dad!...whts ur age???

le personnel type de wearie clotha lessier
(the person whos typing with less clothes on)

balaji
(now what language was dat!!!!)

Read more...

these times make me think...

when you are sulking around for a coupla days or more,you know that thngs arent going the rite way.but then,thats what coll life is all abt they say.i m smart enuf to knw that college is all not abt bunking classes,the party times,girlfriends or bikes.i m not the guy who gets cross on silly things and never i allow petite matters to spoil my day.

its been a good journey so far.the very first day of coll was very special.as such,first is always special.be it the first place in sports,academics or anything,its got a different feeling.all i hoped for on that first day was 4 good years which when remembered long after would bring a smile on my face.i ve relished the time spent so far,thanks to the company of some great friends.

life is full of crests and troughs.but its some strange periods such as the one i m going thru now that makes you feel boring.days ve been tuff for some while and today was no exception.today was the kind of day where you start with a great morning and draw a sulky face towards the evening.teachers play a great role in a students life.they are the ppl whom u admire and look forward to.but little do they realize they have such a beautiful responsibility..building tomorrow's citizens.good teachers is history.what we have in schools and coll are jus ppl who teach some things they know to others who dont and they charge a fee for that.service?u mus be crazy!!!!!!.

i dun expect them to be model teachers but atleast they can be sensible and a bit responsible.but thanks to some teachers void of all that,my day today was spoilt.a case taht may ve been dealt in a smooth manner was blown out of proportion and i bear the brunt.now all f them seem to ve a grudge on me.but as i said,these things little bother me.for they are just troughs in between crests of happiness and joy and the company of beautiful friends. and when i m going thru troughs,i knw that the crest is sumwhr round the corner.

when i leave this campus 2 yrs later,i m gonna carry a heap of memories..some sweet and some that make u sad...some that make you laugh and some cry.but they are memories.and they always remain sweet.when i recollect these days later,when me and all my classmates wud ve been settled in what they call "life"...the emotions would overflow.tears wud roll down the cheeks and i d jus smile at my son and tell him"your dad is blessed with great friends".

i m feeling much better now and i think i ve already lost that cross feeling.
when winters come,can spring be left far behind???


hugs
balaji

Read more...

this and that---ASK'AR' and beyond

a little while ago,i switched on the tv to find out about the oscars.yes,slumdog has finally made it and rahman,gulzar and pookutty have won the awards too for their work on music.now i have every reason to cherish or thats what most of u think or i may ve wanted to do too.no doubt,thers so much pride in me that an indian has finally got to hold something that until today remained an unlikely thing.but on the other hand,you are made to think whether the recognition that we are busy celebrating is truly an honor the indian film fraternity and we indians at large.

i am in no way underestimating the genius in rahman,gulzar and pookutty but something tells me that the western audience isnt still fancy about accepting indian style of music and cinema and we shudnt be crazy about making them accept.they ll never accept it anyway.if they do,then they arent distinguishing themselves from the art styles of a third world country which me and you are a part of.had it been an indian director for the same movie,its tough to say if the story wud ve been same.you never know.

i ve always believed cinema is geo-specific.i.e.cinema should always reflect the cultural identity of the local people.there has to be things that they can relate with easily.we ve grown up listening to songs and they still remain the dominating factor in all public functions.rahman himself has given birth to scores of wonderful music.we have witnessed it and they still keep ringing in our ears.the western world has always laughed at us criticizing our cinema.they say"oh indian movie??is it like 8 hrs with a dozen songs and dancing around trees and stuff?"

taare zameen par to me was a much better film than slumdog millionaire.tzp brought about a change in parenting across the nation and showed dyslexic children in a new light.that may not necessarily fancy western audiences.bcoz the film was based on indian parents and their attitude towards their children.indian parents want nothing less than 1st place for their kid.i wonder where the country would go if all fight for that 1st place.

i m reminded of a joke that was a part of a stand up comedy show in london.crewberry is a dull girl.an american teacher asks her"what is 2+3,little kid?".she replies"hmm....i think...i think...tis RED".the american teacher says"oh my god!!that was not what i was expecting.but i should tell you this.you have a very good creative mind!!!".the same girl goes to an indian teacher and all she gets for her answer is a slap!!.jokes apart.now lets be straight.we are not like them and thats the reason we could easily relate to tzp.pookutty himself feels that his work for SM was not his best.he liked his work for the movie"gandhi,my father".

a movie on gay rights may not be appreciated in india but may be doing good somewhere else.all this means...there are loads and loads of better movies and music that may havent gone to the oscars but are definitely more sensible to the indian audience.i want to say about naan kadavul,a movie which i saw last week.a terrific movie with such a heavy concept and songs that make you cry.it was about a life of an aghori and also threw light upon the dirty beggar mafia that runs in this country.an incredible movie.

this country which we beleive is soon going to overthrow developed countries,movies like this jus pinch us reminding we have a long way to go to make this great country which we both love a better place to live.let us learn to accept and applaud realistic movies.let us all change.yes we can(see again...we need an american to tell us this!!)

congrats to rahman,gulzar and pookutty

balaji

Read more...

whats in a name!!

if you ve been seeing the toyota camry advt on the TV or seen the harry potter movies,you might just understand wht this thing is all abt.i m talking abt anagrams.

for those of u who are terminologically challenged,anagrams are nothing but wht u get by rearranging the alphabets of a given word so as to get an entirely new word or a phrase.for eg. "camry" anagrams to "my car".in the harry potter movie,the name tom marvolo riddle changes to "my name is voldemort" with the swish of a wand..

i jus happened to bounce on this website called anagramgenius.it has an anagram generator and gives really interesting anagrams to ur word.i filled the text box with all known names and found it really amazing.

type george bush and it anagrams to"o,he buggers".
osama bin laden is "a damn alien S.O.B".
saddam hussein is "UN's said he's mad.".
statue of liberty is "built to stay free".
albert einstein is "ten elite brains".
and "William Shakespeare" anagrams to "I am a weakish speller"??!
beleive it or not,sachin tendulkar anagrams to"and i lack the runs"!!!.
i tried princess diana and it said "ascend in paris".

it is very interesting to get really funny descriptions to ur name.anagram is not all that junk stuff..not many of us know that the city kyoto located in japan is actually an anagram of tokyo!!.so jus give it a try.its worth it.

now,obey dog!(good bye)

rgds
ease by a jail(sayee balaji)

Read more...

mumbai meri jaan

i took a break from my routine life in chennai and visited mumbai,the place which of late is being identified with terror but is still the good old childhood place for me.

its been close to 4 yrs i havent been to b'bay.i had a long pending visit and i decided to jus make it this time.after getting down at the chatrapatti shivaji airport,i was a bit careful.there were a chain of auto rickshaws just outside the arrival terminal but my experience here in chennai made me skeptical.so i jus called up my frnd and asked him if it wud be good to trust those guys arnd.after all these fone calls and stuffs,i jus got into an auto and told him"uncle!!mujhe thakur village jana hain".and that was it then.i was into the roads of mumbai.

dunno wht,but this city has got a charm that u cant find newhere else.i have lived for some good amt of time in both these cities ...so u can actually trust wht i m saying.thakur village is the place whr my frnd is put up.the school which i attended was in place called thakur copmplex which is jus like opp thakur village.as it was early hours in the morning,traffic wasnt that much a problem.so i could get a fair glimpse of this city.those frequent movement of my eye balls to the meter in the rickshaw can well suggest how bad auto experience in chennai was.

the place looked not exactly as it was 4yrs ago.there were some changes...or perhaps i had jus forgotten everything.i somehow managed my way into the thakur village and there i was.as this was my first outing alone,every succesful thing i did was a great morale booster for me.yes!!found my way frm the airport to my frnds house.the weather was pleasing.was as if it was welcoming someone returning home after a long time.rang the doorbell.and i met my frnd there.it felt soo great.very nice you know.i jus refreshed myself and we started calling up our frnds to find out when we can possibly meet them.as it was a very short trip i had planned,i wanted to make sure i'd visit everyone if possible.

where and when was decided and at abt 11.00 we were at the coffee shop.met a good old frnd of mine.we shared and talked abt so many things over the coffee.a lot of interesting things came up.recollecting memories of the past,talking abt our present and curious abt our future was wht we did until there wasn nothing left that could come up the straw.my frnd had actually bunked his coll and was speaking abt wht fun it is in doing that.i felt out of the group for that few minutes.u knw wht i m talking abt!!we jus roamed abt the place for some time and decided to get back home.we decide to spend the evening watching a good movie.mumbai was stung by the ghajini mania and so we thgt we could give it a watch.it was a good movie.we returned home for dinner.menu was punjabi.and i liked it very much.my frnds mom cooks really well.all the 3 days i stayed there,i retired very late in the nite....past midnite.so thats something very different for me.i m bascially the "early to bed,early to rise" fella.

later that nite,we went down and had some sweet pan.that was the perfect way to end the day.next morning was sunday and i was soo geared up for i was to meet some more frnds that day.i did.and it was amazingly awesome.beleive me,i had some really great times out there.after coming to chennai,i wasnt able to keep in touch wid all my classmates in mumbai.i did meet a few of my frnds whom i m speaking to, literally after 4 yrs.how gr8 it was.cheers!!.with frnds arnd,time really flies.and how true it was.it was late noon when we said bye,take care,good luck and stuffs.i cudnt waste ne single second.coz i had plans for going to town i.e churchgate for shopping and jus walk along the beautiful marine drive and also look at the taj.

we went to borivali and boarded a churchgate fast.there are very few places which actually stick to the description they give and mumbai is one of them.so a churchgate fast is really fast.local trains are the lifeline of the city and all u cud afford in one of these trains is 1 sq.ft of luxury.but since it was a sunday,it wasnt that crowded.i travelled all along the distance hanging near the edge of the train compartment.it was great.an amazing experience.got down at churchgate.walked outside and straight to the fashion street which is the shopping hub and u can find everything frm safety pins to platinum.i got something which i found interesting.i still hadnt eaten a wada-pav which remains the best street food in the city and something i crave for very much.i finally got my hands on one of them.every single bite i had,the wow was getting even more louder and expressive.we then went to marine drive and jus sat thr for some while looking at the endless sea."before we turn poets,lets go"i said.

we clicked a few pics and headed straight to the taj.the gateway was under renovation and the immediate area outside the taj was cordoned.took some pics here too.walked all the way back to th churchgate station.on the way i found i good tee and i got that.it said"i love mumbai".i knew i had to get one for me.after buying all this,we head back to the station and catch a borivali fast.the story of hanging near the edge still continued.

the beautiful breeze hit me with some interesting thoughts..how active the city is..how vibrant the place looks.its definitely got something which is not there newhere else.we down got at the borivali station and i had some more wada-pavs.i knew i wudnt get them here in chennai.so i wanted to have till i get sick of them.by the time v reached home,it was 9.00...i wanted to meet another good frnd of mine.so i went up to his place.he stays pretty close to he school i was in.so we just thgt we'd visit the school campus too.the school looked same except for some minor changes.but it still rocked as a campus.talking abt loads of things,we were jus strolling arnd...we then headed to a kulfi parlour and i had some great kesar pista kulfis.there were simply the best.thers one more thing called dabelis which u get there and are something i used to live upon during my days in that city.so i jus asked my frnd if i cud find one in that locality.his yes made me reallly happy....some sort of feeling which u get after u r done wid ur checklist or something.i had those mouth watering dabelis followed by pani puris and dahi papdi.

i knw whts going thru ur mind.u mus be finding me a real foodie.cmon,mumbai street food will provide neone a great gastronomical journey.i had soo much that the proportion of 70% water and the rest food wud ve swapped places.we then found a park nearby and sat there talking and talking and talking.i was past midnite then."bye bye" followed and i went back home.i never really expected the sunday to go this rocking.thnx to evryone who gave me such a beautiful experience.monday morning was like different.my flight was at 11.00.so i had to start by 9.00.so all my time today morning was spent in packing and stuffs.it was truly a great experience for me.something i never expected.something that has made me feel really different and great.

be it the autowalllas,the stay at my frnds place,the trip to south mumbai,meeting all my frnds......everything was soo soo amazing and fantastic.i cudnt have asked for more.my frnd dropped me at the airport.i hugged him.i called up all my frnds to say goodbye.it was a trip of a kind.i m fortunate to have some great frnds up there.hope the coming times will only strengthen our relationship.as for the city,its the city.i'd nevr love any place more than this.its got the charm.its got the atmosphere.mumbai rocks.please god!!i sincerely pray to you.please dont let this city suffer any more attacks or disasters.this is such a great place,a place where there is life everywhere everytime.

this trip has only increased my love for this city and i hope to see her back soon.before i get all emotional,i ll quickly say

hugs
balaji

Read more...