2011 July

Jul 31 2011

My Favorite Places To Read & Write

Reading:

My bed. I’ve read many books, novels mostly while lying on my bed at times in various positions (let your imagination run wild dear reader), with some music playing in the background.

At the cafe. Sipping on a nice cold frappe or a latte, depending on the weather, and reading the latest John Grisham or Stephen King best seller is so enjoyable. When hunger pangs set in order a sandwich or a muffin or maybe a biscotti and settled for a couple of hours in the cafe. Perfect escape from the heat or the rains in the city.

The Bar. Not all bars though because the lighting usually is dull at best. But on afternoon jaunts to a local bar here called Oberois, I usually do take a novel with me as there is enough natural light and or lights above me to allow me to read without any strain. Sipping a beer or some vodka+sprite and some good food engrossed in a good book is the best way to kill a weekend afternoon.

Writing/Using my latop:

Well the first two do qualify; I wouldn’t use my laptop in a bar. But yeah I usually go to Cafe Coffee Day or Coffee Beans or Coffee Cube with my laptop. Only the last of these offer wifi; for the others I use my Reliance Netconnect+ USB modem to get online. I like blogging from the cafes and find that I usually can type up a lot more over there rather than at home.

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By Roshan • Personal • 0

Jul 31 2011

Chasing Waves

Chasing Waves by British guitarist Mark Playle. What this guy at 25 with just one full arm can do that most people with 2 can only dream about. Fantastic talent.

By Roshan • Music, Video Clip • 0

Jul 30 2011

Chatting With My Cousin

I’ve been chatting with my cousin Raakhee a bit these days. Chatting with her reminds me of the old days when she was here; she’s been living in the US for the past 13 years with her husband and they have 3 kids now. I’ve seen her 3 or 4 times since then, whenever they are able to come down for a visit. She & I have been reminiscing about the old days, which brings a big smile to my face. Like

When I was around 16-17 (she is 2 years older) she noticing & commenting on something between my sister & I; Raakhee used to define “irony” as my sister Sherine, going to the bottom of the stairs and yelling at the top of her voice and straining her lungs “Roshan! Stop SHOUTING!!!!” My voice was no way as loud as my sister bellowing at me.
I remember having a nightmare when I was around 18 – me going into this dark & damp grey house. Straight outta a horror/slasher movie. I was creeped out and then looking around found my sister & Raakhee sitting at a table, sharpening huge butcher knives with sinister looks on their faces and calling me “Wanna play?”
The two of them also wanted to make dinner one evening when my folks were out. I said ok and they proceeded to concoct some sticky ash grey matter with lumps that stuck to the sides of the cooking pot – it was supposed to be Chinese Chilli Chicken. And next to that was a smaller bowl filled with, what looked to me like dried up shampoo or conditioner that had been rinsed – that was supposed to be a souffle!!!! In no way did either of the dishes look remotely like, I dunno, food!! The two of them looked exhausted and messy and well, we ended up eating it.
When we used to get up early in the mornings for studying for the exams, I’d make her coffee (she loved my strong, black coffee) and she’d drink it, claim it to be great ….and then go back to sleep right away!
And my favourite one – one night some cousins & I were sitting in my room in my house and Raakhee decided to tell us a ghost story when the power went off. So sitting with a torch light, she proceeded to tell us a story at as the suspense build and I was engrossed in the tale, she flashed the torch light on her face and screamed out loud – scaring the living crap outta me!

I miss her, not her cooking though!!! Oh and Raakhee was the one responsible for naming my dog Shawny, suggesting it as at that time we used to watch Baywatch and blondie babe Erika Eliniak’s character was named “Shawny” or “Shawnee” in that series. That will forever be the most endearing fact about her for me.

By Roshan • Family • 2

Jul 30 2011

Shifty-Eyed Evader or Unblinking Intimidator?

Ah yes, I think at the moment I come right into the middle. I used to be extremely non-confrontational and shy and always backed off when people glared at me. Although this has not changed too much, I do hope that I have improved quite a bit. In that for me it seems that I can be more upfront and not back down from some idiot asshole who seems to look down upon me for reasons which only he believes are inferior or weak. I am not letting people do that to me anymore.

Let me give you an example; the starer! The impolite, fucking ass morons whose parents apparently did a fucked up job of raising them, who look down at you in a very obvious way. When I commute, I at times, although those are very rare and far apart now, get stared at by some dim-witted father fucker. The only reason I can think of for them to stare at me in such a manner is because they are fucking assholes who think I am too fat. I don't think so numbnuts! I know I am fat, but not as much as you think I am. And even if I was, its just to fucking rude to do so. So think of this, each time you stare at me unkindly, after you die you will be gang raped in the ass that many times by the demons of eternity with penises the size of a baseball bat!

Anyway, back to my topic, so when earlier I used to back away and either lower my head or look away, now I just stare back with a look on face that is just like giving them the middle finger and saying "so that's one for you in hell"! Sometimes I do give them the middle finger — and they look away. Often I do not have to do that; they get intimidated quite easily and look away when I stare back. Cause when I stare back it's like "You? You pathetic excuse for a human, look down upon ME!!!"

It's like my cousin Manoj once stated: back in 2000-01 we were both in Mattancherry at the market and two morons were whispering to each other and pointing at us and no doubt making fun of us as we are both fat. I was upset and looked down. Manoj say this, patted me on the shoulder and said "Look at them! Those two grown men, holding each other's pinky fingers and walking around. And they are making fun of us!" And we both laughed out loud at them!!!

By Roshan • Ramblings • 0

Jul 29 2011

Because The Bully’s The Victim They Say

A song about the trickiness of racism; not something you’d expect from a bluesy-jazz singer. But yeah, Katie Melua does tackle this topic in Spider Webs.

By Roshan • Music, Video Clip, Women • 1

Jul 29 2011

All Tired Out

Ho hum! What up dawg? I am so bored and tired and for some reason, extremely thirsty even if I’ve been drinking a lot of water today. I’m quite tired because I did not get a good sleep but what’s with the thirst! I was so sleepy by the time I reached home that I didn’t wait for breakfast, just had a coffee – funny it didn’t keep me awake for much more than 45 minutes – and then went to sleep at 9am. Unfortunately I woke up by 12 am and it took me a while to get some more sleep. At 1:45 pm I got hungry and so went to have some lunch. No sleep was possible after that so I watched an episode from season 4 of Star Trek: TNG and a couple of episodes from season 4 of Stargate: Atlantis. And also one from Corner Gas….season 4! Just what is it with me and Season 4s!!!

So now I’m drinking cups of strong black coffee until it is time for me to take a shower and get ready for work. I’ve just been wondering that my walls are bare, except for big framed artwork, and it would look good to have a couple more in the room. The one that I have is a 3D effect image of two love birds that was a gift from my former team at my last job on my birthday last year. And other than a small wall clock, that’s it. This from a guy who had so many posters (sportspeople, sports team & rock bands/musicians) on my wall in our old house. I had so many up and I was meticulous enough that it actually looked like wallpaper. And admired by a lot of people who saw it.

I would like to see my old team this Sunday and I am trying to arrange an evening out on Sunday. It will serve as a farewell for one of the members, who is quitting my old office and moving back to Thrissur. She is also getting married in a month or so. I hope the other 4 will also soon leave the office and find work elsewhere. Things are not going good at all over there.

By Roshan • Personal • 2

Jul 28 2011

An Amusing Coversation Not Meant For Me

I once got a call from a gal who dialed my number by mistake and spoke to me thinking I was her boyfriend! Yeah, the nutcase was not thrown off by my voice and when I understood that she hadn’t realized that I was not who she intended to call, I kept most of my answers to mono-syllables and verbal nods to see how long I could continue this conversation with dumbo-girl without her coming to know that she had made a big boo-boo!

So I was all “hmmm”, “oh”, “uh ha” etc just to keep the conversation going. It also helped that the young lady in question was telling about something that had happened in her college involving her friends and she kept going on & on & on, at times not even waiting for me to acknowledge anything at all. I was mostly trying to control my laughter and ensure that I didn’t give myself up. I was thinking “man, this chick is so dumb” and kept on listening to her ramble on.

It was only when she asked me some question for which I had to give a full sentence that I let her know that she had dialed a wrong number from her landline to my cell number. You can imagine her embarrassment and my chuckles.

By Roshan • Personal • 0

Jul 27 2011

Planet Of The Apes – A Rundown Of 5 Movies

One of the biggest movies that I can remember from my childhood, and something I watched atleast a good 25-30 times till very recently, is 1968′s Classic Scifi movie Planet Of The Apes. Starring Charleton Heston, Roddy McDowell, Kim Hunter, Linda Harrison & based on a novel by Pierre Boulle, the movie stunned a lot of people, who hadn’t read the book, with its fantastic ending that is the stuff of movie legend. Heston stars, as Taylor, a doomed astronaut from 1968 who, with three others, get tossed into the future and crash land on a strange planet in the year 3978 AD. With the female colleague dead before they land, the 3 men go in search of shelter and food and discover a primitive level human population who cannot speak. The apes have taken control and can speak English; the warrior like gorilla are the police & the army, the orangutans are the politicians/administrators and the pacifist chimpanzees are the scientists.

However as they approach the tribe of humans they are all attacked by an upright group of talking gorillas on horseback. The apes are the dominant species and use humans as slaves, target practice and as lab animals. With one of his friends killed and the other lobotomized Taylor gets the help of two sympathetic chimpanzees Zira & Cornelius, one a doctor and her archeologist husband, and escapes along with a primitive human female he calls Nova. Although the gorillas led by the orangutan called Dr. Zaius, finally catch up with the escapees, Taylor forces his freedom with the aid of a shotgun. He & Nova ride off into the Forbidden Zone, in search of more human settlements on the basis of more advanced human artifacts that they find in a cave. And that is when Taylor sees an almost completely buried Statue of Liberty – he was on earth all along. Humans had destroyed themselves in a global nuclear war and now reverted to a more primitive stage while the apes evolved. This is when Heston delivers his famous rage-filled rant – “We finally really did it. You maniacs! You blew it up! Damn you. God damn you all to hell!”

The second movie is supposed to be a few days after the ending of the first movie. Beneath The Planet Of The Apes (1970) sees Taylor & Nova traveling through the Forbidden Zone and becoming close while Taylor tries unsuccessfully to teach Nova to speak and gives her his dog tags. Coming across an illusion of fire, thunder & lightning. Taylor investigates and disappears into a cliff wall. Meanwhile another ship with two astronauts crash land not far from the forbidden zone. While his commander dies from his wounds, Brent (James Fraciscus) survives and finds Nova riding her horse. Seeing her wearing Taylor’s dog tags, he tries to convince her to take him to Taylor. Nova leads him to the Ape City, where Brent see the apes in action and while trying to get away are shot at by gorillas. They then go to Cornelius and Zira who treat Brent’s wounds and gives them supplies. Once again the pair flee the city & are captured but Zira helps them escape and the two run off to the Forbidden Zone.

Meanwhile Dr. Zaius leads the gorilla army on an invasion of the Forbidden Zone. Brent & Nova hide in a cave and discover the ruins of an New York subway, which leads Brent to the truth as to where he is. The next part gets weird – the pair are captured by mutated humans, wearing masks and wielding telekinetic powers and who worship an antique nuclear nuclear bomb, capable of destroying all life on earth. Brent is forced to almost killing Nova and then is questioned by the mutant humans before being reunited with Taylor. The pair of astronauts are made to fight each other before Nova’s intervention distracts the mutant’s hold on the two. They fight off the mutants and the invading gorilla soldiers who start shooting. Nova is killed by a bullet and soon Brent also dies. A wounded Taylor pleads with Dr. Zaius who refuses help and on his last breath, Taylor activates the switch, triggering the bomb which wipes out all life on earth.

That should have effectively ended any chance of a revival of the franchise but the makers had other ideas! We have 1971′s Escape From The Planet Of The Apes, the 3rd movie in the series made possible due to an impossible scenario of Cornelius (Roddy McDowell), Zira (Kim Hunter) and a new character Milo (Sal Mineo), who escape Earth by first salvaging Taylor’s spaceship, getting it started and launching it in orbit. The resulting shockwave caused by the blast of the Earth’s destruction by the nuclear bomb, sends the spacecraft into a rift in time and into earth’s past; specifically 1973 – 3 years after Taylor’s ship was launched. Caught by the military who are stunned to see 3 upright chimps piloting a spaceship, the trio are sent to LA zoo where doctors Lewis Dixon (Bradford Dillman) and Stephanie Branton (Nathalie Trundy) discover the speech abilities of the apes. Milo is killed soon after by a gorilla in the adjacent cage.

Zira & Cornelius are brought to a presidential inquiry where they tell the humans that they are from the earth’s future and they tell them some of the things that have happened. Bedazzled by the talking chimps, humans soon make the pair celebrities and they are taken to tour the city and lavished with presents & media attention. However Dr. Otto Hasselin gets a pregnant Zira drunk one evening and find out about her experiments with humans. The chimps are taken for further questioning in an army facility and under the influence of a truth serum, Zira tells all to the humans. Paranoia of the apes killing humans takes over and Hasselin wants the baby to be killed. Cornelius and Zira escape from the facility and with the help of Lewis & Stephanie, are taken to a circus, where a sympathetic Armando (Ricardo Montalban) shelters them.

There Zira deliver a boy chimp, who they name Milo, but she switches him with a primitive chimp’s baby girl born just a few days ago. To escape soldiers who are searching for the chimps, the doctors take the pair to an abandoned ship yard. However Dr. Hasselin tracks them down and, while waiting for the army to arrive, shoots Zira and kills the baby. A raging Cornelius kills Hasselin and in turn is shot dead by a soldier. Zira drags herself to die next to her husband and it seems that the threat of an ape revolution has been averted. However as the movie ends we see baby chimp Milo, watched over by Armando, looking out of his cage speaking repeatedly “mama, mama”!

So I guess now you know where the story is headed. In Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes (released in 1972), kind-hearted Armando (With Ricardo Montalban reprising his role again) raises Milo, who he re-names as Caesar (Roddy McDowell again) and hides the ape child’s speech abilities and intelligence from everyone. In 1983 a plague wipes out all cats & dogs on planet Earth leaving humans with no pets. It’s then that they turn to apes – chimps, gorillas & orangutans as pets and train them. Realizing the apes’ capacity to learn and adapt, humans train them to perform household tasks. However by 1991 the humans have become racist and treat all apes as slaves, making them do menial tasks & beat them when not efficient enough. The Ape Management center uses brutal force, electricity, batons and whips to enforce the training of apes.

While traveling past the center, Armando & Caesar witness such brutality, causing Cesar to yell out against the humans. Armando takes the fall for him, stating that the ape can’t talk and is later questioned by the authorities. Caesar hides amongst the other apes and is sent to the center for training. Since he scores high, he is auction off and the Governor Breck, whose second in command, African-American MacDonald is much more sympathetic to the plight of the apes. Breck allows the ape to name himself by randomly pointing to a word in a book handed to him and the chimpanzee’s finger rests upon the name “Caesar”, feigning coincidence. Meanwhile Armando is accidentally killed when being interrogated causing rage in Caesar. Secretly he teaches the other apes to go collect weapons, knives, guns, ammo etc, having lost his faith in humans. However he is captured by the Governor’s men, who had tracked down the talking chimp, and is tortured until he speaks. Having left him for dead, Caesar kills the guard and leads the revolt of the apes against the humans.

After lots of violence, apes finally take control of the area, killing most of the humans and holding the Governor as prisoner. MacDonald is spared by Caesar as he is more compassionate & kind. The human pleads to Caesar for the life of the governor. After an angry rant, Caesar relents on the urging of his mate, Lisa, who utters her first word “No” and he orders the apes to lower their weapons, saying:

But now… now we will put away our hatred. Now we will put down our weapons. We have passed through the night of the fires, and those who were our masters are now our servants. And we, who are not human, can afford to be humane. Destiny is the will of God, and if it is Man’s destiny to be dominated, it is God’s will that he be dominated with compassion, and understanding. So, cast out your vengeance. Tonight, we have seen the birth of the Planet of the Apes!

The final entry in the original movie series is Battle For The Planet Of The Apes, which starts off in by a narrator, The Lawgiver (John Huston) tells us about what happened in the last movie and then the movie follows as to what happened later. Now it’s 12 years since the event of the previous film and the world is in a post-nuclear society. Ceasar is the leader of the Ape City where Chimpanzees, Gorillas and Orangutans have created a pre industrial civilization and living with the surviving humans. The Ape have mastered language (gasp) and the gorillas, soldiers & war-like, treat the humans with contempt. Caesar has married Lisa and now has a young son named Cornelius, after his father. A gorilla general, Aldo, opposes Caeser and his soft touch towards the humans.

MacDonald’s brother is now his aide, and along with the genius orangutan Virgil, the three go to city to find the archives in which Caesar’s parents words are recorded and stored. They take some weapons from the armory and go on foot to the city. They find the archives and play it and while leaving the city, they are attacked by the remaining humans who are now radiation scarred and led by the crazed Kolp (from the earlier film). The trip escape but soon Kolp leads his men on jeeps, a few bikes and an old school bus,to find the apes and destroy them. They take their weapons but leave word for a nuclear bomb to be set off in case of defeat and only on Kolp’s signal.

Meanwhile Aldo plans a coup to over throw Caesar and unfortunately Cornelius overhears this. Aldo chases the young ape up a tree and cuts the branch on which the boy is standing and the young one falls down and later dies. Aldo then has all the humans rounded up and locked away while Kolp & his men attack the city. Caesar, although devastated by the death of his only child, rallies the apes and fight off the invading humans, until they are victorious. Kolp and some of his men are killed by Aldo and the gorillas but Caesar shows mercy to most of the others. As Aldo approaches the city’s humans to kill them and Caesar shields them, Virgil announces that he knows that Aldo killed the boy. As the general as violated the most sacred of laws, Ape shall not kill Ape, all the other apes turn against Aldo, even his own soldiers. Caesar chases Aldo up a tree and the gorilla falls to his death.

Caesar then attempts to free the humans, but they refuse to leave the pen unless things change. MacDonald insists that freedom is meaningless without being treated as equals. Caesar then realizes the apes are just as despicable as the former slave-owners if they treat the humans the same way. The apes and humans then decide to coexist with one another and begin to make a new society. As the naration ends, we move 600 years into the future and we see the Lawgiver addressing a gathering of children – orangutans, chimpanzees, gorillas….and humans! Instead of humanity falling and apes rising to take their place, the two species have continued to coexist. When asked by a human child what the future will hold, the Lawgiver states that only the dead know about the future. A closeup of a statue of Caesar shows a single tear falling from its eye.

By Roshan • Movies, Nostalgia, Sci Fi • 1

Jul 26 2011

10 Things I Did 10 Years Ago But Don’t Anymore

I don’t play badminton anymore. Haven’t played it in years (sucks in big belly)!
I don’t watch tennis anymore. I used to be a huge fan of the game and followed the results & scores week after week
I don’t hang out with my cousins anymore. That used to be what I most looked forward to for a long time.
I don’t buy fruits like apple, grapes, watermelon & pineapple and make ice old juices in the juicer anymore. I really miss that and would want to start doing more of it again.
I don’t read that many books anymore. It has taken me almost 3 months to finish a book – unheard of 10 years ago.
I don’t play card games anymore. I use to play a lot with my cousins but point #3 will explain that.
I don’t go to movie theaters anymore. Haven’t been to one since 2005.
I’m not as outgoing or open to meeting new people as I was 10 years ago. Scars & wounds, my friends. Scars & wounds.
I don’t let myself get dragged to do stuff that doesn’t interest me anymore. I’ve only got one life you know! So I stick by this point. Other than work
I don’t trust as easily as used to 10 years ago. Life has hardened me although I think maybe not as much as I think it has. Certainly more skeptical and cynical.

By Roshan • Personal • 4

Jul 26 2011

7 Billion Of Us

Amazing video by National Geographic on the Earth’s population.

By Roshan • Cool Stuff, Video Clip • 0

Jul 26 2011

Kris Draper Hangs Up Skates

After a long & successful playing career, Kris Draper is finally hanging up his skates. The Detroit Red Wings have called a news conference for Tuesday in Detroit where Draper will announce his retirement.

In 1157 NHL games, the 40-year-old forward scored 161 goals and added 203 assists, racking up 790 penalty minutes. A clutch playoff performer, Draper won four Stanley Cups with the Wings. He would also claim the Frank J. Selke Trophy in 2003-04 as the NHL’s best defensive forward. Draper was a member of the famous Grind Line in Detroit, consisting of himself, Kirk Maltby and either Joe Kocur or Darren McCarty. The line was reunited with the return of McCarty to the Wings in the 2007–08 season.

Draper also had a long history of representing Canada, starting with the national team from 1988 through 1990 before moving on to the NHL. He would win World Junior gold in 1990 and 1991, World Championship gold and silver in 2003 and 2005 respectively, the World Cup of Hockey in 2004 and laced them up as part of the 2006 Canadian Olympic team in Turin, Italy.

Draper is also only the fifth player after Alex Delvecchio, Gordie Howe, Steve Yzerman and Nicklas Lidstrom to play 1,000 games in a Red Wings uniform, finishing with 1,137 games in the red and white. He was originally drafted by the Winnipeg Jets in the third round, 62nd overall in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft. He would play 20 games as a Jet before they traded him to Detroit for $1.

He & his wife Julie have two daughters and a son.

By Roshan • Hockey • 0

Jul 25 2011

6 Days Of Downtime

*Stretch* That’s the only way that I can let you know that I have been relaxed and rested! For the past few days due to a couple of reasons I have been away from work and the office and I can say that it has been relaxing for the most part. On Wednesday night 8:30pm, as I was waiting for a bus to get to Koratty, I got a call from the office – we had a fiber cable cut and the internet was down and repairs were not expected to be done till atleast Friday. We can’t work without the leased-line that we use and so I went back home. I was to go online and discuss with clients on a new project so I worked from home for the next two days for just about 4 hours each at night.

The repairs were not going well and so on Friday it was decided that we would change service providers and the management went to look at other options. So I had Friday, Saturday, Sunday and today off as well. Other than spending a few hours chatting with the agent & project provider I have been mostly free. How have I been spending my time? Lots of sleeping and resting. Been online a whole lot and watching a lot of longer videos on Youtube, reading a lot of scifi stuff and blogs. Friday I went out for sometime and spent a couple of hours using wifi at Coffee Cube and having a cold frappe and a sandwich. Later I went to get some vodka and had some good food for a late lunch.

Saturday & Sunday were spent watching the last few episodes and the first few episodes of Stargate Atlantis (for the 3rd time, I might add). I am also in the midst of downloading the Planet Of The Apes movie series, except for the 1st one which I already have. I have completed the 2nd & 3rd one and will be blogging about the franchise as a whole soon. I’m also planning on giving Babylon 5 a try; lots of Scifi fans have raved about this show and I should probably try it out. I’ll download the first 3 or so episodes and then make my decision about the rest of the series based on my impressions about it. We’ll see.

That’s it. I have enjoyed my mini-staycation. This evening I went out for a bit, nothing big just took my laptop for an evening stroll and went to Cafe Coffee day, sipped a great big coffee and enjoyed the evening rains, enjoyed the fact that there were a group of beautiful Irish lady tourists in the cafe that provided for tons of eye candy. I assume they are Irish cause I saw a Ireland flag on one of the girl’s bag. I couldn’t make out much from the accent (and no, none of them said “diddeldee potatoes” as Danny Bhoy claims) as they were across the cafe from me.

By Roshan • Personal • 0

Jul 25 2011

Left Brain, Right Brain

Isn’t this just brilliantly creative & awesome? How did I miss this ad for Mercedes Benz?

By Roshan • Cool Stuff, Images • 0

Jul 24 2011

Spaceship In The Sky Apartment

This is like one of the most amazing concept homes I have ever seen. Just a great work of art setting up the design to this place.

By Roshan • Apartments, Video Clip • 2

Jul 24 2011

Roommates Of The Past

I’ve been thinking a lot about some regrets and things from the past. Things that I wish had gone differently, things I wish I could go back and fix. I know that I can’t but having some free time due to being off from work for the past few days have given me a lot of time to do some thinking. And a couple of nights ago I was chatting with a relative from Bangalore and that made me think about my year spent in the Garden City back in 1995-96. I had joined a polytechnic in Bangalore, PES Polytechnic in the PES Campus, and I was hence staying in their boys’ hostel located in Hanumanthnagar, quite near to the campus. I would drop out after a year as my exam results were terrible and I felt that I was wasting my time there and hate that institute & the administration. I regret my decision now and also regret the fact that I didn’t work harder.

But that’s not what this post is about. This post is about roommates as that is the blogging prompt I got from this site that I sometimes use (Imagination Prompt Generator) when I am stuck for a topic. So roommates; the only ones I have ever had and I hope that I never have to have anymore – unless she happens to be a busty brunette who is scared of the dark and wants me to keep her safe at night! Ahem, I digress. So coming back, I had two roommates during my one year stay there in the hostel. We shared a room, just big enough for two built in clothes cupboard, three single beds (the metal cots provided by the hostel, we had to buy the mattress) and a small table each for keeping our books and for writing on I took the bed in the middle, opposite the door and with two large windows while the other two had beds against either wall. Saji was on the side near the head of my bed and Tharun was on the other side.

Ah what can I say about them? Considering the fact that I haven’t seen either of them in 15 years, I still remember them well. Saji was a bit younger than me although we were both in the first year. He came from Mavelikkara, but was mostly raised in Pune. His father had passed away less than a year before – I know this because I remember that he was at his home on January 2nd for his dad’s 1st death anniversary. I knew he had a maternal uncle who also lived in Bangalore but Saji didn’t want to stay at his uncle’s place as it was quite far off from the college. His uncle was a very kind hearted man and I remember that he had married a blind lady. Saji also had a problem with his heart, due to which his uncle was very concerned and he had asked me to call him at any time of the day if Saji was showing any health issues.

What else do I remember about Saji? I know he was a bit religious, quite mischievous and generally a very good person. The only time we argued was when Tharun, him and I had a big disagreement and we didn’t speak to each other for about a day. That was it. Last I heard that he was working for a construction company and had married his high school sweetheart, infact they got married quite young, when they were both just past 21. I have no idea what he went on to do since then but I hope he is doing well and is raising a family of his own.

And that brings us to the other guy – Tharun. He hails from Aluva and was older to me by about 4 years! He had joined the institute late because he had spent the last few years in a seminary, studying Christian Theology and preparing to become a priest in the church. Due to some issues at home and his father’s illness, he left the seminary in his final year and came to help his father out with their family business. Once that was sorted out he didn’t know what to do next and someone suggested him to do a diploma in Electronics & Telecommunication in a polytechnic and that’s how we met. He had a slight complex because of the age difference between us – he was 23, I was 19 and Saji was 18 – but in no way did he try to boss us around. But he did have some issues. He didn’t like other people being happy!

I guess you would call him a sadist; he never did it in front of you but he would talk behind your back. If he saw two people talking & laughing and being friendly, he would want to come between them and split that friendship apart. He did this very cleverly and most of the stuff I only found out many months after I had left. He would then say some cruel things about people and want to hurt you to get his kicks. I am glad that he was only part of my life for a brief time and would never want to see the fucker again. I have always had bad luck with too religious people, especially people who have very close associations with the church! It’s a fact; he was the first of atleast 6 that I can remember.

Those were my only two roommates and only for a year and I’m happy to say that I have remained roommate free since then. And that’ also why I never have felt comfortable living with other people who are not family (cause in that case I am forced to anyways) and hope to never have to share living quarters with anyone outside family again. Exceptions for busty babes who like to prance around in their underwear and engage in pillow fights!

By Roshan • Nostalgia, Personal • 0

Jul 23 2011

Calicut – The Town With The Nicest People

Considering the fact that I only there for the better part of 8 months, it might be a little difficult to give it that honour but my vote for the town with most friendly people is Calicut. From the last week of July, 2002 till the end of March 2003 I lived in Calicut and I can’t remember any other time where it felt like everyone was my friend. I made a whole lot of friends while living there, mostly from work but the very fact is that the locals really helped out a lot of us who were from other cities.

The Calicut locals from the office that I became friends with went out of their way to ensure that the stay in their city was as good as possible for those of us who were renting rooms in lodges. Showing us the city, spending time with us, going to movies, hanging out at the beach and having food, inviting us to their homes to have home cooked meals which they knew that we were missing. Taking us to bus or train stations when we had to go back home for the weekend or coming back to Calicut. Picking us up on their bikes or cars if we needed a ride. Stuff like that.

Also a friend of a friend helped us quite a lot – a couple of us were renting out rooms in this lodge, and the owner’s son was a colleague’s friend. Not only did we get rents that were less than normal, when we had trouble paying the last 3 months’ rent, he never collected it from us. We had trouble getting our salaries from the company due to financial issues. He said that he was glad to help us and considered us friends of his. At the end of our stay he refused to take the full rent and took a discount – which we sent back to him a few months later once money was no longer an issue for us and we had settled in new jobs back home.

I’ll never forget the help of the people there without whom we would have struggled and probably even should have been chucked out into the streets. Calicut always holds a special place in my heart and if I didn’t live here in Cochin, I would want to move there.

By Roshan • Friends, Kerala, Personal • 0

Jul 23 2011

New Logos For The Winnipeg Jets Revealed

After a whole lotta speculation, many, many suggestions, a huge contest for fans all over the world to submit their logos (some awesome, some good and some weird) and even pleas from the most nostalgic & faithful of all fans to stay with the old logos, TNSE & the Winnipeg Jets (the new franchise which moved from Atlanta, as the Thrashers, to Winnipeg when they were sold) have launched their new logos.

The design for the new logo, which was developed in partnership with Reebok and the NHL, was inspired by the logo of the Royal Canadian Air Force. The Winnipeg Jets will unveil their uniforms and uniform colors at a later date. So here are the logos : the primary logo (on the jersey fronts) on the left, the top right is the secondary mark/shoulder logo and at the bottom right is the primary wordmark.