An Unexpected Call...

As I'm 16 now(Just hit my birthday and i'm loving the 16 thing on my profile lol :D) ,I just got a surprise Call on msn last night while I was having a conference with all the guys from school...It was my old soccer coach..
While I was just barely 9 or 10,he was just finished with the National team as he had an eye defect and he took time off to get it checked and he stopped by my city for quite some time and when my buncha guys (a team bubbling with energy ,not much skills ,but talented and energetic :D) practicing in the neighbourhood soccer park ,saw him pass by..The ball flies out as a result of a stoopid corner and he anticipates the ball and shoots it from a distance and to my horror ,the ball goes in..."WTH ,how on earth did he did that??" that was the first thing on my mind that day..When he introduced himself ,one of my teammates immediately recognised the name and his face and said he was the national player..He was with us for quite a lotta months and worked on our positioning and dribbling skills and to my surprise ,all the guys got super good and moved to different cities for soccer schools (unlike me who had to continue with normal schools cause of personal reasons :( but hey ,I'm liking normal school as much too )... He suddenly had to leave back to the national team and he didnt even inform us of his departure ,he said he thought we would change his mind..
To be honest ,If he had told me ,i wouldnt have let him go..thats a different story lol ,I was emotionally attached to him ,he was my mentor ,coach, everything i'd say
And receiving a call from him made my day!!!

I'm gonna give one of my old teammates an unexpected call just like he gave me one
Lets hope he gets surprised too :D

Over and out for today,
Peace out!!! xoxoxox

How to make your LDR thrive!!

03/19/2010 Chicago,

First of all ,I'd like to wish one of my most amazing friend a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I ADORE YOU MATE!!you're super awesome..I know u'll read this one ,so hey..Happy birthday once again!! xD


There are Questions that you will need to ask yourself before undertaking a Long Distance Relationship, as well as questions you will need to ask of your partner. If you are in a Long Distance Relationship then there are much needed Essentials for it to flourish, such as knowing how to deal with an argument as well as Faithfulness, Honesty, Trust, Fun Dates, Spicing it up, Communication and "LOVE" being the Deciding Factor.

Things You'll Need:

• Webcam
• Skype
• Phone
• Computer
• Love

1. Step 1

Questions are meant to be Answered (Unless Rhetorical)
Ask Questions!

Ask yourself if you can see this person in your life in the Near as well as Distant Future at some point, are you going to move to where He/She is, or is He/She going to move to you? Are you willing to leave your life here for him/her to go there? Are you willing to devote your time to this person to make things work out for the best or are you too busy? What's the time difference between you two? Think of all the necessary questions for your particular situation and discuss them with him/her, there is no sense in pursuing a Long Distance Relationship if you, him/her or neither of you two have that level of commitment needed for a long distance relationship to thrive.

2. Step 2

Being Prepared eases the mind of stress
Thorough Preparation!

Prepare yourself on how and when you plan on being with him/her. Showing how prepared you are will also show how serious you are on making this work out for the better.

3. Step 3

Honesty builds a solid Foundation for Trust
Be Honest!

Honesty is what builds a foundation of Trust. Without trust you cannot have a happy relationship, without trust he/she will lose that sense of security and that sense of friendship, so by all means be Honest.

4. Step 4

Good Old Faithful
Be Faithful!

Don't Cheat. If you're cheating then you're not serious about this relationship and it will only lead to you hurting your partner as well as most likely losing him/her.

5. Step 5

Results of Great Communication
Communication!

The biggest part in communication is being a great listener, listen to your partner when he/she is talking and they will do the same for you. Show them you're interested by asking questions and they will know you're listening and really appreciate that you care.

6. Step 6

Laugh with each other and watch your Relationship grow
Fun Activities!

Write a Romantic Letter and/or Send Post cards every so often by slow mail, this will keep things fun and will show them they mean a lot to you knowing you took the time to write a letter for them. Watch Movies online together, make time in your schedule to talk on the phone together or have a webcam chat.

7. Step 7

Spicing up your Relationship
Spicing it up!

Don't be afraid to talk about each other's desires whether it be on the phone, through e-mail or even better on webcam, you never know where it may lead you.

8. Step 8

Try to stay as calm as possible and show compassion
Dealing with an Argument!

Again listening is very key, try to be understanding of your partner and listen to their point of view and where they're coming from. Ask questions to show you're listening, Respond with the words "I understand" or "I hear you" and refrain from using the words "ya, but". Once you've listened to what he/she has said you can let them know your opinion or thoughts on the situation.

9. Step 9

True Love is Priceless
Stay True to your Feelings!

If you Care or Love for him/her let them know how much you really do care for them daily, say it before they go to sleep or when they wake up, it can be a random e-mail or text message. Most people love knowing they're loved and cared for and that there's someone who will be there for them.

Peek Into My Diary

03/16/2010 Chicago,

A BRUSH TO THE OLD TIMES: Not too old though..Just last year :D

I used to be friends with this guy who hated living in India . By hated, I mean viscerally despised it more than anything else, for its clinical coldness and lack of poetry. A student of linguistics and a talented writer, all his written work would be singed with this frothing fury of being islanded in a place like India, with its one track focus on daily bread graduating to cash, car and condominium. This was absurd to me because growing up, THE AIM had been clear - Be here.Not to go anywhere else- the UK, or Australia, or Singapore or the ‘Gulf’. Anywhere but here. The earlier you leave, the worser cause this part of the globe is just the best I'd say

I had been home(India) for a week now and this time, my experience here has been different. Coming back home between school was still just a nostalgia trip back to old times. India still never opened itself and amazed me like it has this time. A long time has passed since my old friend last complained about the horror of a realized Utopia and what it does to the left brain. But now I see that perfection is uninspiring. Perfection means stagnation. Once you peak, there’s nowhere to go but down. Not like India, at least not like it is for us upper middle class folks.

Not like India, where the New Indian Express at Rs.3.75/- goes like an espresso shot to your head.

Not like India, where the average advertisement, between the morning-midcap headlines, has the creative quality of a 30 minute American sitcom.

Not like India, where the girls with their beautiful faces, in their tight jeans and embroidered, noodle-strap Kurtas and their horrible, DIY streaked orange hair, eat rice, rasam and avial at home and then sneak out with their secret boyfriends to pubs in 5-star hotels, that close at 11pm.

Not like India, where you don’t need a trashcan or public toilets because that’s what the foot path is for.

Not like India’s ‘rich’ world heritage sites that still house homeless people under its carved arches.

Not like India where you come back home for a 10 day winter vacation from Austin or Cincinnati or U-Penn and the first thing you do is gather your old school buddies, who’re also just back from MIT or Stanford or Virginia, to play cricket at the empty plot by the town graveyard.

Not like India where the women are colorful without a trace of make up.

Not like India where stray dogs swarm in packs around housing complexes, like street wolves.

Not like India’s with its bruised roads, heat, pollution and dust.

Not like India with its blood and terror and stupefying kindness.

Not like India’s mess, not like India’s problems, not like India’s organized chaos and chaotic organizations, that still somehow make people of the highest quality, still makes people who are determined to make it and still makes people who shape the world.

I’m so envious of all those young writers in Zeitgeist, who’ve been here long enough to be acclimatized to this experiential extravagance. It was so hard to write in India because there’s so much to write about. Its like opening Pandora’s box. Its scary for a child; the first short story I wrote at 14, was a horror story.

I find it so easy to be creative in Chicago. Almost all my inspiration comes from the memory or the dream, of life in India. Chicago is my comfortable little jail cell away from real life, where recollection visits me in tranquil captivity. In India, real life is madness and it never ever ceases to stuff itself down throat, petrifying me with amazement. The ink freezes in my pen and my fingers are paralyzed over the keyboard, because I’m looking for beginnings and ends. In India, there’s just flux, the start is obscure, the end point is non existent. In Chicago, everything is cleaner - the beginning is at my departure from India and the end is when I return.

The Best & Worst Of The Oscars 2010

Ten Best Picture nominees! Two hosts! One kudosfest.

It's Oscar night, and we've got the bests, the worsts and the most talked about moment of the night right here:

Most Awkward! We hope they never again get the idea to trot the nominees out onstage so the audience can stare at them like they are very expensive mannequins. They have feelings, people. Pretend feelings, but still.

Best Host: Steve Martin. No, wait, Alec Baldwin...Hey, Neil Patrick Harris is doing this one, too? Um, can we choose Jeff Probst?

Best Opening Jokes: There were so many—some of them were even good! (Not to mention all those lingering looks at George Clooney...)

"Meryl Streep holds the most nominations as an actress. Or, as I like to think of it, most losses," said Steve Martin.

"I know you loved Invictus," said Baldwin to Martin. "Because it combines two of your favorite passions: rugby and tensions between blacks and whites."

"Anyone who has ever worked with Meryl Streep," said Martin, returning to a favorite target, "always ends up saying the exact same thing: 'Can that woman act?' And, 'What's up with all the Hitler memorabilia?' "

Best Aside: Matt Damon, watching the clip of his own nominated performance and mumbling to his wife, "So bad." (Well, that's what it looked like anyway.)

Most Rehearsed: Christoph Waltz, who gave his umpteenth speech thanking Quentin Tarantino for putting him in Inglourious Basterds.

Most Competitive Category: Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart vs. Zac Efron and Anna Kendrick: Who presented the best?

Least Upset: Mo'Nique surprised no one by winning Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Precious. But when you think about it, that's pretty amazing, right?

Worst Way to Begin an Acceptance Speech: The Young Victoria's Sandy Powell began with, "Wow. Well, I already have two of these."

Best Tribute: Reuniting the Brat Pack to celebrate the works of the late John Hughes was a fine idea, but giving the filmmaker's family good seats to see it was even better.

Best Introduction: Tina Fey and Robert Downey Jr. gave funny, character-driven performances just introducing one of the writing awards. Said RDJ: "Actors want scripts with social relevance, warm-weather locations, phone-call scenes that can be shot separately from that insane actress that I hate and long, dense columns of uninterrupted monologue."

How Do You Say Noble in Na'vi? After doing his damnedest to crack up James Cameron with his Avatar-cum-Vulcan impersonation, blue-faced presenter Ben Stiller then promised, "After I announce the winner, I will try to stand as far away from them as possible so as not to demean their moment of triumph." That was totally nawm, Ben.

Worst In Memoriam Snub: Not sure why the Academy decided to leave out Farrah Fawcett, Bea Arthur and Ed McMahon, recently departed actors who appeared in film as well as on television. That stunk. TV is good enough to air your awards show, right? Should have included them.

Biggest Question: Do live dance sequences belong on Oscar telecasts?

Best Reactions: Some of the stars look like they're far, far away when the camera finds them in the audience, so it's wonderful when celebs look like they are having a ball. Take a bow, Penélope Cruz and Maggie Gyllenhaal; you make the Oscars look like a blast.

Most Contentious: Was the decision to put Gerard Butler and Bradley Cooper together the sexiest pairing—or so not?

Best Advice: "Do it."
—Winner Michael Giacchino, thanking his parents, teachers and colleagues for supporting him, and telling kids out there if they want to become artists they can

Most Family-Friendly: Whether it was a winner thanking his parents or a married couple accepting trophies together, Hollywood almost seemed to be one big happy family tonight. (Don't worry, tomorrow is another day.)

Least Effective Kudos: Though Colin Farrell and Tim Robbins managed to find some humor in the exercise, the actor-delivered testimonials to the nominated performers almost veered into parody with the over-the-top praise. Seriously, enough.

Most Effective Kudos: Oprah Winfrey celebrated Gabourey Sidibe, and nobody does that better than Oprah.

Biggest Wha? Sean Penn offered a brief mea culpa during his presentation, which was nice. We have no idea what he was talking about.

Best Man: During his acceptance speech for Best Actor, Jeff Bridges must have ended every other sentence with the word man. Truly, the Dude abides.

Happiest Ending, Part 1: Sandra Bullock gave a warmhearted speech that thanked many and accepted little credit for herself. It was about as gracious a speech as they get.

Happiest Ending, Part 2: Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the Best Director trophy. Loved that, because it's an excellent film.

Worst Music Cue: As noted by an expert, the Academy chose the 1970s Helen Reddy hit "I Am Woman" to play Bigelow off. Really?

Best Question: Which nominated film will we still be talking about in five years: Avatar or The Hurt Locker? Or something else?

Most Important Opinion: What did you make of this year's telecast? Awesome or awful? Or do you count anything a success simply because it featured Taylor Lautner?

Thanks Joshua :)

02/06/2010 Chicago,


This one is a thanks to Joshua - our tennis coach. We(a group of 5-6) played tennis on Saturdays pretty regularly last semester. And when I thought I could play a few rallies together, decided to call Bharath - a friend on the varsity team and get some pointers. And one of his suggestions was to learn tennis from his teammate Joshua..

Racket sports are very technique based and while we can get by playing football without too much coaching, the same cannot be said of tennis and table tennis(for example)...

Anyway, we had 5 classes with Josh working on our forehands. During this while, we had completely stopped playing our usual doubles games(which used to be LOTS of fun) and we got back to playing 3 sets today and boy.. it was amazing! We used to barely be able to play a 3 or 4 shot rally. Today, the rallies flowed beautifully, our services were in place and everything seemed so easy..

I am so energized that feel like I can give Federer a shot now.. haha :P

Jokes aside, thanks to our coach Joshua. If anyone wants to learn tennis, you know where to go! :)

And thanks to Bharath for suggesting him and following up as well!

When we learn something, it's good to learn something right!

Things I Learnt From Prison Break

02/06/2010 Chicago,

Well..For another post ,Everyone of us know how awesome Prison Break is!! And yeah ,It is addictive lol..Since i'm addicted to it ,I just made a buncha cool things I feel I learnt from the show
Here it goes :



1.its very easy to get into Prison
2.American prisons look better than American Schools
3.Convicts in American Prisons are treated better than School kids
4.Having an older brother is cool
5.Having an older brother who is about to get Killed is "not so" cool
6.Prison Guards are more bent than the cons
7.Flip Phones Are totally Rad
8.replacing Hello with "yeah.talk to me" while answering a call sounds way Hipper
9.Taking a headshot is a lot safer
10.Gas Station employees are a pain in the ass
11.there is ALWAYS someone Smarter than YOU!!
12.trust NOBODY!
13.Its Fairly Simple to steal a car
14.Cell Phones can be easily traced
15.Dont get Chicken Footed
16.Digging tunnels aint easy
17.in PANAMA, Cons run the Prison
18.things usually sink in water :P
19.Moms can be EVIL
20.Guns run out of bullets
21.Friends Are the best ppl in the world
22.Drugs are bad
23.Bombs are better!
24.Always Have Leverage

AND Finally
25- PRISON BREAK IS ADDICTIVE!


will update later! 8)

The movie of the year!!

02/05/2010 Chicago,

I was quite surprised when this movie released in theatres here!! Actually I was crazy bout watching this movie right from the time the hype was created bout A.R.Rahman scoring the music for the film..and to my surprise ,the songs were totally awesome..Surely better than the ones he had scored for Slumdog Millionaire ,and better than the Couples Retreat songs too!! (excluding Tour of the Villas which I'd say is the best in the movie)
Most of you reading wont know this ,but this movie is a Tamil classic!! The best I would say that has come from this director!!! A must watch for every tamil movie buff!!


Three cheers to Gautham Vasudev Menon, the big daddy of romance is back with a bang! His Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya (VTV) is pure magic. This one works and grabs us where it matters; VTV is straight from the heart.

10 years after his candy floss Minnale, Menon’s VTV is a far more mature Valentine. The film is backed by awe inspiring performance and precisely one thing going for it and that’s the chemistry between its lead actors Silambarasan and Trisha, Manoj Paramahamsa’s eye-catching frames, great screenplay and a stunning climax that is riveting.

VTV songs

It is return of romance and will strike a chord with anyone who’s loved and felt the unbearable anguish of loss, and knows the feeling that binds people in love together. Menon’s creativity is completely home grown though it looks autobiographical.

VTV trailer

Karthik (Simbu) a mechanical engineer dreams of becoming a film director meets Jessy (Trisha) a Malayalee Christian girl, an IT professional and it is love at first sight. She lives on the top floor with her strict father (Babu Antony), mother and an aggressive brother while Karthik and his family have rented out the lower portion of the house.

The first half is all about how he passionately woo her, follows her to Kerala, with his good friend Ganesh (Ganesh) a cameraman and his mentor who was instrumental in him becoming director KS Ravikumar’s AD. Karthik’s passionate wooing melts Jessy who finally succumbs to his ardent love. But her family and religion stands in the way of true love.

The romantic track is engaging because it’s innocent, simple and the director nails it right. Silence convey so much more than irreverent banter, and nowhere is this more evident than in the interactions between Karthik and Jessy, whose romance is conveyed through their conversations, eyes and longing expressions. The credit goes to its lead pair who invests sincerity and genuine enthusiasm while attacking their roles.

However, VTV is not devoid of minor flaws. It has too many songs which are experimental and are non-structured that act as speed breaker. The pre climax song is unwanted, still “Hosanna..” and “Aaromale…” are the pick of the lot. The film at 2 hours and 35 minutes can be trimmed by at least 10 minutes in the second half to make it as racy and interesting as the first half.

Count among its major plus points- the technical wizardry of the film. Manoj Paramahamsa’s camera and his colour combination especially the night silhouette shots in the backwaters have a touch of class. Art director’s Rajeevan’s choice of interiors and mixing it with the exteriors are brilliant. Antony’s editing without using any gimmicks makes the narration silken smooth.

The film belongs to its lead actors. For sure, Simbu has come a long way from his finger wagging punch line spewing days. It’s a joy to watch him in the climax scene when he speaks about his love by taking ordinary lines and delivering them so convincingly, and never miss a beat. His sheer agility in the romantic interludes, his composure, his dead pan humour and his tears in the climax are tangible and real, giving it a heart warming immediacy.

As a woman torn by the dualities of her existence, Trisha looks good and delivers her career best performance in a knock-out role. Her costumes, body language and gait changes as the story shifts from Chennai to New York via the backwaters of Kerala. There is a super cameo by Ganesh (one of the producers of VTV), which is earthy and outrageous as the cameraman friend of the hero and raises huge chuckles and the bar ofthe film.

The film is a must watch for those who cares for cinema of sense and substance. It stresses the fact that Tamil cinema has to break the mould if it aims to grab eyeballs. Gautham Menon has crafted a movie that will stay in our hearts for a long, long time.

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar-It's Been A Privilege

I still remember the 1st innings of Tendulkar I watched as a cricket crazy kid(like all others in India). It was a scintillating 127 against Kenya in the 1996 world cup. What a world cup it was, followed by a 90 against the Aussies, 70 against the Windies, 137 against Sri Lanka and disappointing 3(I think) against Zimbabwe.. the sign of great things..

So many unforgettable moments..

143 and 134 in Sharjah..

Obliteration of Shane Warne with a 155 in Chennai..

136 against Pakistan in Chennai..

140 against Kenya after the death of his father in the world cup..

An amazing 2003 world cup with the crowning glory - 98 against Pakistan blowing them away on 3rd March, 2003 at Centurion..

Since I left home, I've watched very few of these innings. Being a fan who used to only watch the game as long as he batted, it meant a complete shift from Cricket to Football..

But I caught the 200th run.. and boy, am I glad!

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar. We have precious little to cheer for when it comes to sport in this country of ours.. and you've carried that burden with no complaints whatsoever for 23 years..

A lot may be said about your ability to play under pressure, perform when chasing in big games - all that's small talk.. in 30 years, I am sure every Indian kid from my generation who has watched cricket will be telling our grandkids that we were fortunate to have lived in the era of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar..

Celebrating you being right up there with Pele, Maradona, Senna, Sampras, Federer, Woods, Armstrong, Schumacher and the like in the pantheon of sporting greats..!

Little Productivity Boosters-Texter,Mouse,Launchy (Predominantly Windows..)

'Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am tempted to think, there are no little things at all.'


A few such things that came to my mind when considering laptop productivity are the following -

1) My Mckal mouse: For 3 years, I lived off an IBM mouse as I did not want to waste cash on buying a new one. Yes, the IBM mouse gave dozens of problems especially after the 1st 6 months but no, I did not feel spending cash on something as stupid as a mouse was worth it.. And boy - was that a mistake. The mouse has saved many many hours of time which could have been lost fiddling on a touch pad/ correcting the issues caused by a bad one. Here's a pic of the mouse available for only 20 bucks @ Challenger @ Funan.

2) Texter: Texter is a brilliant little tool created by Lifehacker that saves tons of time especially for those who have emails streaming in by the 100s. This is a text replacement tool. A simple example is -

Most emails require a greeting like 'Hope you are doing well.' or 'Thank you for your email! :)'

Texter enables you to configure keystrokes for these sentences. In my set up, I've got hyd for hope you are.., tyf for Thank you.., brg for Best Regards, Rohan etc..

3) Launchy: Another time-saver. Launchy helps open up any application. After a simple download and installation, launchy can be opened up with alt-enter and typing 'word' and pressing enter would open up microsoft word instead of going through the process of going to the start bar and searching etc.

Launchy can also open up favorited/book mark websites on your browser and can also be configured to open music files among others.

4) Ninite: Ninite brings them all together. Going through the ninite list itself would give you a list of some great free software.

4) X1 - For those who use outlook as their email client, there's no better way to search and find email as fast as you type.

Other small windows utility that tend to add a lot of value in the background are -
Wizmouse
Taskbar Shuffle
Quickmonth calender

**For more advanced users, OneNote is a wonderful addition to your toolkit. And when combined with Dropbox, makes for a killer combination.

--
There's a LOT more when it comes to productivity boosters but I thought I'd start with a basic list first. I love looking out for new additions myself. A very good list is Lifehacker's 46 apps we are thankful for.

Happy productivity boosting! And if you do have any interesting software/apps to recommend, please do leave it in the comments..

Aaron Ramsey -I Hope This Makes You Stronger...

Football is a contact sport - as much as there is talk about better referees, maybe more protection - taking out that contact aspect would reduce the adrenaline to that of a sport like golf..

And often times, when we are watching sport, horrific incidents take place - those that transcend whether you like or hate a player, whether you are a fan of the club or not..

Yesterday, Aaron Ramsey's leg was broken as a result of a dreadful tackle by Ryan Shawcross and he may be out for a year..

A lot can be said about Shawcross but it was plain from the moment after the tackle that he was devastated.. it's not an easy ride for him as well. I just hope there is no football fan who will be coining up a song to taunt Arsenal.. there are some incidents that rise well and above the game itself.. and this is one of them..

As for Ramsey, I do hope he comes back much stronger.. and I'm sure he will!

Just on a different note, that's the 3rd horrific tackle on an Arsenal player in the last 4-5 years.. what is it about the football club that makes it so susceptible to injury?