My friend Nona thinks I'm lazy, I don't blame him... 'coz I think that's the kind of message I send out from my posts, while the truth is that I actually keep craving for more time most of the times.

Four places you have lived

1. Hubli: My KG classes, lots of lost water bottles, pencils, erasers and very few friends make up my memoirs of this place.
   
2. K.R.Pet: Being in 1st and 2nd standard seemed such a big thing for me in this place which then was a little more than a village, but for sure was less than a town.
   
3. Dandeli: My best years were in this beautiful place full of forests in the North of Karnataka. In the few places we do think of as having had nature's gift, this place surely figures in that list. Close to Goa, has the serenely black Kali River and of course has the West Coast Paper Mills. Volleyball, first crush all got developed here. Made some really good friends for life here!!!
   
4. Bangalore: What Can I say? Naanu bengaloornavne kanri. Memories of the process of standing on my own feet, in short my nucleus is composed of Bangalore.
   

Four TV shows you love (d) to watch

After having never had the cable television for almost until, I was in Class 11th or 12th, this is all I got exposed to.

1. Malgudi Days
   
2. Samandar – A DD serial that inspired kids from our generation to think about the Indian navy services. I only said think!!!
   
3. Superhit Muqabla – A countdown show that used to appear on DD-2 channel, which used to get tuned only after the customary adjustment of the aerial antenna.
   
4. Byomkesh Bakshi and a whole lot of the detective story variants.
   

Four places you have been on vacation

1. Goa – Been here lots of times with family, friends. Never get bored of the place.
   
2. Mangalore – Toured Mangalore to commemorate the first year of working with all my HP mates. It was a fantastic trip. Gone are those days… now
   
3. Kerala – Yet again a trip with HP mates, had become sort of a routine thing with every year passing, a trip would be in order.
   
4. South Indian Trip – been a long time since all the four of us in the family travelled together. It's actually been ages now, good 7-9 years.
   

Four of your favorite food items

Happens to be quintessentially south Indian

1. Chapathi + Tomato Gojju(curry)
   
2. Tomato rice: That I prepare.
   
3. Aloo partha with curds and sugar – took to this in Gurgaon. Had fun eating it J
   
4. Rice and rasam prepared by Mom only.
   

Four places you would rather be

I am yet to 'go kiss the world'… will list them all down in another 10-15 years maybe.

Four things you hope to do before you die

1. Author a book
   
2. Globe-trot
   
3. Be a super boss who would inspire others.
   
4. …..
   

Four novels you wish you were reading for the first time

1. Godfather by Mario Puzo
   
2. Shantaram: Somehow with my solitude in Gurgaon, enjoyed this book to the hilt.
   
3. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.
   

Can't think of more.

Four movies you can see over and over

1. Godfather trilogy (English): Without reasons, I can watch the trilogy endlessly.
   
2. Gladiator: Just for Russel Crowe
   
3. Nayagan (Tamil): Kamal Hassan shows why, he is what he is. Fabulous movie, direction, music, story etc.
   
4. Kannathil Muttamittal (Tamil): Should say I am a Mani Rathnam fan too… So subtle yet so loud. Would love to see it once again just for the beautiful acting by Madhavan and Simran, and of course AR Rahman with his music is like the icing on the cake.
   

Can list more, but no extra marks for writing extra here.

Finally, the following four are eligible for being carrier of this virus.

1. Self-talks: For she keeps talking about self (in a good way, not bragging) maybe these would throw some light on the person behind.
   
2. The World According to Cindy: I think it's time to disturb the author material. With her lucid style of writing the topic might find some justice done with it after my mishandling it.
   
3. Yet Another Muser: With this author, it's not always musing. There is a totally creative side to the person.
   
4. Chill-Maadi: My TT partnerJ, time to disturb you too.
   

Happy Tagging,
Sanju

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Half-century!!!

Well well well, this is the most unique 50 that I can recollect. The cricket 50 never happened, considering I am a bowler who can bat and of course, I have no intentions of doubling my age and reach the milestone.

Talking about age, i had the shock of my life when I got my BMI ratio checked in the gym. I have always been into some kind of sport whenever I got a chance. But this time there was a surprise waiting for me in the figures that emerged out of the damned machine that outputs this BMI ratio. I need to do a lot more to reduce the percentage of fat content. You know it scares the shit out of you, when you have this figure so close to that of your age.

And of course, the next one you have to look for in these set of figures is something called metabolic age. Looking at the values that emerged, i am a little bemused, but all the more motivated to implement the correction plan I require. I would say definitely read quite a bit into it before it is too late. There may now be some credence to the saying

"You're only as old as you feel."

With hectic work schedules, and complex lifestyles it is only very easy to find a reason not to worry about them all. But then.. think, is it really so unworthy?

That set aside, Coming back to this little milestone of mine, I'm glad I waded through so many uncertain times amidst numerous paragraphs of unsure shaky lines. But then without these, I would'nt have reached this far.

At this juncture, my heartfelt thanks goes out to all my friends, blog-mates and numerous other people whom I might have directly or indirectly contacted to get some feedback on my blog. All your comments have served as the food for my thought. I will strive hard to improve the quality of all my future posts, I'll definitely try.

Anyways, I would love to hear from you...

Cheers

Sanjay

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Absolute Musings

Apart from the usual chaos surrounded with classes and my preparation for it, things happening around have been of utmost importance in terms of what I want to call, as 'life skills'.

Woah, have I got back to preaching mode? I hope not!!!

It's something that we notice day in and day out but turn a deaf ear towards the craving voices of relationships. With relations it is not that an individual will be satisfied when his/her individual cravings are answered for, infact it is much to do with the intent of being empathetic towards the needs of all parties involved. We tend to take the easiest, non-committal approach which helps us in assuming a status quo position without taking a stance towards a particular situation.

With every passing day I’ve been learning the practical approach of applying these life skills where relationships are on the tip of the iceberg. Trying to ripen relations is like premature dislodging of the iceberg, which invariably causes damage to the ice. It all works best, when there is a natural meltdown I guess.

Seems like I can’t get any better at being abstract.

~Sanju

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One for the IPL '09

After every lost cricket match that I support, there is an enormous sense of depression that starts setting in, especially if it’s a match where the Indian team is involved.  Now for some reason(s) I did not feel the same thing yesterday when Royal Challengers Bangalore lost the match against Deccan Chargers that they so deserved to win.  

Thinking about it today, I recollected some of the brilliant innings played by guys like Rohit Sharma, Ross Taylor, Gilly, Dravid, Pandey etc in various stages of the tourney. Point is there is neutrality that has set in viewing IPL cricket. 

It’s no longer the same kind of support that would increase the demand for whisky or crates of beer depending on the match's outcome. I observed yesterday with my friends that a few of them ordered for pitchers of beer, some whisky, while a few others were content to try out the various mock-tails on offer in the pub we went. Well one could always say that in a pub one ought to buy something to drink, but come on, that's not what I'm coming to. The tourney is so beautifully packaged that everybody looks for the entertainment they derive from the whole experience. And of course the pub priced the event so optimally that it kept everyone interested. With so much in it for various stakeholders no wonder Mr. Mallya was so expressionless!!!

Coming back to the other reason which I think contributed to the state of my mind post the match, is the hope that Eddie Grant tried to give to the RCB during the fantastic closing ceremony of the IPL.

Talking about listening to songs that can uplift spirits, this for me, is definitely one such song.

Give me hope Joanna, Give me hope Joanna...........

Cheers for all the good times!!!

~Sanj

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Questions for the confused soul

Of late I have been experiencing a mix of routinized, intensive, pensive, tense, light and stressful times.  My posts of late have all been about what to write rather than what not to, with thoughts that seem to have got struck in the cellar of my mind. I think i'll just list few thoughts on top of my head:

• Whatever happened to my friends, everyone seems to be slimming down, making me look as if i'm growing fatter?
• Why does that sick nail on the road always show its pointed side to the wheels of my bike? And to the back wheel most often.
• Why does the traffic cop find something missing everytime, that he can charge me for?
  
• Why are the results always delayed at a crucial time?
  
• Why does that stupid pimple always leave behind a blemish?
• Why have I lined up so many books, waiting to be read?
• How many more weddings will i have to attend, wishing 'how the heck can it possible without me'?
• Why does being a hopeless romantic feel so hopeless?
• For how many days/months/years can i go so dry ?
  
• When will i ever do something that I feel really happy about self?

I can go on and on and on with framing questions, but how would that help but for filling up this boring post. It's time to churn some soul for the much needed answers.

Till then,

~Sanj

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Wonder what this April's got in store

Well the month April has been significantly different for me in the past few years ever since I keep track of it. It's difficult to post when both time and interest are found wanting.

While I was trying to mentally float to Grenoble and back in April 2006, it was everything for a cause in April 2007. April 2008 brought in me a total new perspective about where i was heading and had me thinking, for me it sure was a paradigm shift.

Going by what has happened in the past and also the kind of hunches I have, I can just hope something good happens.

Cheers

Sanju

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