The Language Barrier?

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Its been 3 weeks since I came to Hyderabad. Its been fun..! Away from home again.! I have lived at Bangalore before, but i did have my relatives there to help me.. Hyderabad is totally different.. I learnt the process of walking around and learning stuff by trial and error.. Its wonderful to be all alone and getting to know this city.. I do have a room mate, but that guy is pretty home sick and rushes off to Chennai every weekend. I have the whole weekend to myself..! An apartment (1350 sq ft..!!)!! I found this place online at 99acres, and i am slowly making livable.. Its an awesome feeling to see an empty house being slowly made a home.. You get to do what you want.. Kitchen utensil, toiletries, plants on the balcony, i am thinking of keeping a bird bath, an aquarium is in the works, furniture, to everythin..!!

And the language?

Telugu – I can actually understand the local language. Tamizh and telugu have the same source, so thats easy, but how do i use it to my advantage?

Hindi – Thanks to prathmik, madhyama and rashtrabasha, i can follow and speak really really broken hindi, but i am confident that i am improving.

Sign Language – Ah..! My saviour..!!

How does so many languages help me here?

At my workplace – At the start of this job, i made it clear that i am going to keep my personal life and professional life apart.. I have conveniently told everyone that i understand only english. ;)

During transit – only 3 words necessary, “Kondapur”, “Kothaguda” and “Cyber towers”. Yeah, those are the places i need to change or catch autos to. So, that easy. But when i am not going to office is the trickiest part. You need to sound as much a hyderabadi to convince the guy to switch on the meter. Madhapur is pretty much the equivalent of Tambaram to Chennai. So, in case i need to go to a mall or catch a movie, its going to take an effort to catch an auto. phrases like “Kya bhai saab”, ” Meter daliye, main aawoonga”. But i swear, 50% autos switch on the meter by default..!!

At home – My owner speaks hindi, so, thats ok. But my watchman knows only telugu. I just cannot get a point across to him. My dad had come a few days back and i was late from office.. the watchman was exclaiming Bapu, bapu..! I wanted to tell him ” yeah yeah, i know, he is waiting outside my house”.

But the best thing to do is to introduce a bit of sign language into everything, except to the auto drivers.. I had a very helpful salesgirl at a store, who knew only hindi, but understood most of my sign language like ladle, mixer, knife, spoon, etc etc. And man, was she having a gala time looking at me speaking to my mom on the phone and then trying to get the message across to her..!!

In the middle of all this, i am back to my novel reading in full swing, one hindi movie a day (thanks to moserbaer) and get to do a lot of stuff i always wanted to do..!!

Cheers..!!

Cheers for a new beginning..!!

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Wow..! This might be easier than i thought.. Was actually planning a dragging post that said bye to anyone from Chennai. That one sounded like an article on the Obits column.

So, am off to Hyderabad today.. New job, new city, Excited!!

Give me a couple of weeks to a month to settle down and I should be back to my feet and settled. The world is a pretty small place now. You may never notice i am in another city..

To the extended ballistics gang – Dudes..! Mocha and the beach will be sorely missed..!! Lets just expand our knowledge of lovely ice cream and the best of restaurants to another city..

To Sankavi..!! Happy Married life..!! I really wish i could make it.! Lets see..!! (You are growing up so fast..!! *sniff*)

To all my friends.. – Do stop by and give me a shout when you come to Hyderabad.

To all those at B’lore. – I plan to come as frequently as i come to Chennai. Will probably alternate visits.!!

Cheers all..!!

Books, Comics and other doors

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Books have been an integral part of my life. I sleep with one. I travel with one. I used to eat with one. I have been going to my regular library so far this lifetime. Most of my schoolmates have been that way, right from the school library’s decades old National Geographic’s to MAD magazines to everything, its always been a topic of conversation.

My journey to my current ambiguous persona started from the Tinkles and Amar Chitra Kathas. Graduation happened sometime during my 7th to the famous Secret Sevens and Hardy Boys and somewhere in between had been the Enid Blytons. The absence of pictures was not felt to a great extent as pictures had started taking shape in the head. The world’s best theater had just opened to its sole occupant. But my first jaw dropping, awe inspiring, nail biting, page turning, complex, and divine book was “The Death on the Nile” by the Queen of Mystery herself, Agatha Christie. The first of my bigger, creamier, “crime”ier, scandalous, reads was lying my book shelf for a very long time and belongs to Mom.

Crime and its instigations and following  investigations is still a major genre of my favourites, but a lot of additions have been made. Robin Cook kept me amazed about the medical world, Sidney Sheldon kept me engaged during my early college days, but I am shocked as to how I read them, Ken Follet, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six has a brilliant story about an elite SWAT team, JK Rowling’s HP series(Had to read it to know the climax), LOTR, Mario Puzo and many others have kept me going.

I am sad at the state of Indian english authors. Chetan Bhagat is probably the only one who is an instantly recognisable name, but Vikas Swarup, Jhumpha Lahiri, Anurag Mathur have some really good titles to their name. Vikas Swarup will be known for his Q&A, but Six Suspects is a fantastic novel too.

A special mention to Matthew Reilly, Michael Crichton, Clive Cussler, Fredrick Forsyth and many others.

Alright, getting to the point of this blog. As novel reading grew up on its own, cinemas too found its way. A lot of books were made into movies thus murdering a few key aspects of emotion and character of the story. Depth of character, uncertainity of a human being and other aspects were lost during the transition. But comparisons are bound to occur. Godfather is a classic in both forms, tut the follow up sequels were far from the original. LOTR was by far, the best adapted story.

But I am just trying to justify the point that I will compare movies to their original books. I brand movies as “An insult to human intelligence” (Not a lot of movies get that review, and i really forgot where i copied that phrase from). Because, the movie in my head is far far better than on the screen. Its got stunning visuals, beautiful sound effects, emotions that are shown in appropriate levels, best stunt sequences, uncensored scenes, picturesque locations, the coolest of villains, most beautiful of actresses, gore of highest levels, sleaze and other real technical effects that are fueled by books rather than movies.

How many ever Kindles, Nooks or iPad’s come out, it is just impossible to miss out on paperback books ever in my lifetime.

Just remember. Recycle Paper.

A love affair

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Disclaimer: The contents of this article is an extreme form of dirtiness. If you still go ahead and read it and want to shout at me, i would be glad to hear it in the comments! But if you liked it, i will still meet you there.. :)

———————

I saw her at a distance. She stood out in the crowd wearing a tight leather skin that accentuated her curves. I caressed her back moving my fingers through her dunes. I teased her. Walked all around her. Spell bound. We were aching to get together. Both of us were equally desperate. But we had decided to take it slow the first time. It was going to be an extended session of foreplay. We wanted our first time to be the best.

I got on. I unclasped her support and left her hanging for a moment before i grabbed them. Her handle bars. Key inserted. Finger depressed. Energy started from the battery and was carried to her nerve center between my legs. Ignition happened with my finger and i could feel her heartbeat rising. It was a slow hum at first. The sign of approval.

Her approval got me going. I throttled. I could feel her wetness from her lubricant. The rising piston waiting to receive more fuel. She kept wanting more. I was just not ready to give everything she wanted. Just not yet.  I decided to tease her more. We rolled down the road. Both of us locked in an loving embrace. Living in our own world. The pot holes were the least of our concerns. We just moved past them with ease. I tickled her with more fuel just to give her a taste of the high life. And then i stopped with a screech. Just to see how she reacted. And she took it well enough. But warned me not to do it again. I loved her for that. She always wanted more.

I couldn’t hold it longer. We decided to take it to the next level. There was no one around. I wanted to go all out. I gunned it. The piston moving faster. The sparks were faster. Lubricant splashing all around. Gears grinding. Pumps running at fully speed. Valves open and allowing maximum fluids to flow. We were doing it together. Both responding well to each other. And then it happened. We were one! At top gear. The tachometer and speedometer standing fully vertical. We hit the big ‘O’ moment simultaneously. And then, time stopped. It was the longest climax i have ever experienced. A duration when air did not matter. When we were floating. When the world did not matter. Seasons changed. But waves were still. We just dint care  It was a trance.

I eased her back to reality. Slowly. Taking my time. I knew i wanted more. We had time to do it again. I could feel her heat.

She was ready for another go.

I just couldnt say no.

———–

A love affair with my bike

Unicorn and me

The Dashing Duo ;)

An article on the IPL

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My friend Ramnath writes this blog called 22 yards. A major cricket fanatic who is a freelancer for some leading magazines has his take on the growth of IPL and cricket.

Not once but innumerable times I have encountered this argument. Yet I know this is an undying question that lingers in the minds of many. Most recently, yesterday (February 1, 2010) I had gone to one of Chennai’s best roof top coffee shops Casa Piccolo with a couple of my friends when this issue popped up once again!

Read the rest: In defence of my religion – via 22 yards

Chain Reaxion

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A green clean initiative by a group of friends who turned a fun cycling trip to a revolution is Chain Reaxion. I heard about them when a friend had put up this status message, ” Cycled for 45kms. Was fun.”. That was in August and I got curious. Called her up and started to dig for details. Thus began my introduction to Chain Reaxion.

My first ride was on the 4th of October. Was actually scared about the ride. The practice sessions were excruciating, riding a bike after like 8 years is very difficult. But the difficulties lasted for the first 3 days. After which the body gets the rhythm. After all, i did cycle to PS from my 6th to my 12th standard. Water therapy 48 hours before the ride is definitely necessary. I campaigned and got in 4 of my friends interested. We went as a gang and registered at the Mylapore BSA showroom.

Sunday dawned. Assembled at Thiruvanmiyur, and the cycles were awesome.! Disk brakes, 21 gears, Wow! Excitement, nervous! But the crowd was very very encouraging. One thing that was very evident was the organisation and management was done well and things were kept simple. It took me a full 3 hours to get to mahabs. Each pit stop was a godsend. Chocolates, water, Red Bull were all necessary to keep me going. But a sense of triumph was satisfying. It was totally worth it.

I have been on 3 rides so far. I cycle everyday for an hour at boat club road. My timings have come down to 2 hours and 5 mins. I don’t stop at pit stops anymore. Overall health and fitness have improved a lot over this period. All smiles. Anyone speaks of going to mahabs anymore, i got this feeling that it is so near and i can just cycle there.

I definitely gained a lot personally. But i see a decline in the quality every time. The second time, Redbull stopped coming. The third ride (december) was probably the worst planned. There was no one at the pit stops. Punctured cycles took a very long time to be replaced. Timings were not noted. Photographs were not taken. Cycles did not have mud guards or gears. And it had rained the previous night.

And to top it all, i realised that i had kept my ipod on the table at GRT temple bay. I mailed the organisers and i did finally track it down. My sister would have killed me for losing it.

Thanks to chain reaxion that i started cycling again. Its been very helpful. As in Sohail’s words, ” Used it as a platform” to making cycling a regular activity. I just hope that the organisers bring up their game to the new comers in the coming rides.

Happy Riding.!

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P.S: I know this is not my usual style of writing. Experimenting with very short sentences.. :)