Poker (K)nights

Ross : "I play poker to win. For me to win, others have to lose. So when we play poker, don't expect to be a nice guy.. coz once those cards are dealt...."

Joey: "...yeah? "

Ross: "I'm not a nice guy!"

Poker is one of the funnest games to play. I love playing poker, with friends... not the virtual thing on FB :-P

Poker nights are awesome.

I would love to start something like that in college... not with real money of course.. just the chips we used in Casino Royale :-D

With A Little Help From My Friends

-The Beatles

What would you think if I sang out of tune,

Would you stand up and walk out on me.

Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song,

And I'll try not to sing out of key.

I get by with a little help from my friends,

I get high with a little help from my friends,

Going to try with a little help from my friends.

What do I do when my love is away.

(Does it worry you to be alone)

How do I feel by the end of the day

(Are you sad because you're on your own)

No I get by with a little help from my friends,

Do you need anybody,

I need somebody to love.

Could it be anybody

I want somebody to love.

Would you believe in a love at first sight,

Yes I'm certain that it happens all the time.

What do you see when you turn out the light,

I can't tell you, but I know it's mine.

Oh I get by with a little help from my friends,

Do you need anybody,

I just need somebody to love,

Could it be anybody,

I want somebody to love.

I get by with a little help from my friends,

Yes I get by with a little help from my friends,

With a little help from my friends.

Juhu beach

Walking on Juhu Beach yesterday made me realize some things :

There is something in the air, which makes you feel good instantly. Hope. Belief. Faith maybe. It’s like this healing place, where suddenly, all of your thoughts and feelings which may have been clustered for quite some time, are absolutely gone. You feel clear. Happy. I don’t know how many would agree to it, but I feel different from the past few days. Feel like I’ve never been so clear in my life. And makes me wonder, how did I not see the obvious?

You feel like a kid every time you go there. It always brings back memories from childhood and I remember all the Giant Wheel rides, all the bhutta, all the gola. It’s a part of heaven, I tell you.

You can be there with absolutely no money and still have a wonderful time just walking around in the sand.

Somebody mentioned it to me; all kinds of people are found on Juhu Beach. No matter the age, the caste, the bank balance, the occupation, marital status, etc.

There are people usually waiting there –

• A man waiting for life to happen.

• A woman waiting for her husband to pick her up while her children play around on the beach
• A child waiting to grow up
• A person just waiting for things to clear up in his life
• A vendor waiting for customers
• Children waiting to jump into the water
• Some people waiting to get the hell out of there coz it’s so damn crowded!
• A girl waiting for him to come, hold her hand and walk with her
• A man waiting for inspiration and praying for patience to help him get through
• Children waiting for the airplane to pass in the dark sky filled with stars

Yeah, we wait. ALOT.
Calvin says ( I think I've said this one before )
"We're so busy watching out for what's just ahead of us that we don't take time to enjoy where we are. "

But if there would be a place where we can do enjoy where we are etc - Juhu beach would be it :-D

"The best presents don't come in boxes."
-Hobbes

Growth

I don't have that drive anymore. I need it back. Something I had in first year where I knew what I was doing and where I wanted to be. Irony is, now I look back and I know that I didn't know what I was doing. I don't know now either but I'm not cocky about it.

More on this later.
All the best for exams.

My vote of thanks

There are so many people I'd like to thank. They have helped me discover who I am - a very specific part of me and I am unconditionally grateful to them. Without them , I don't think I would be in the position I am in today.

To all pedestrians,
Without you walking as if you own the road, I don't think I'd ever be able learn how NOT to run you over or fight the urge to not do so. You have taught me that I should wait for you when you are crossing the road, even if the green signal is on or even if I am at 50kmph - because you own the road, obviously.

To all cyclists,
Thank you for teaching me to drive in the middle of the road, even if I am going at 10kmph, I have as much right to drive on the road as a car at 80kmph. Size doesn't matter is what I'd like to believe, even though it's not true.

To all auto-rickshaw waalas,
You are my favourite people on the road. I wish I could drive like you guys - just veer from any side and avoid all potholes, never obey traffic rules - total INDIAN driving . I sincerely wish to conquer that one day.

To all C-segment owners,
This may sound rude, I really hope you don't take it personally but I know you guys have the cutest little cars that always find the cutest places to park in, but hey, don't underestimate the power of my Sedan. Still, Thank you for teaching me how NOT to overtake another car (bigger than or equal in size to my car) and teaching me how to park in the most awkward places.

To all Sedan owners,
I honestly love you guys. Coz you feel my pain. My happiness. You understand me. Thank you for teaching me to be patient with other sedans and NOT to honk when a fellow sedan goes off in the middle of the road.

To all SUVs/MUVs/CRVs/Buses,
I admire you. I am in awe when I see your power, your smooth control and obviously, your big fat ass! Thank you for showing me that I can easily overpower smaller cars - coz I'm bigger and better than them.

Last but definitely, not the least,

To the government,
I cannot begin to thank you for making me learn driving the hard way. I am forever grateful to you for your patience to keep the roads as they are, for I know for a fact, you HATE to see the roads in such bad positions but you just want all newbies / noobs to learn the hard way. Thank you for teaching me persistency and inconsistency.

Driving

I couldn’t wait to turn 18. Not because of my right to vote. Not because of my eligibility to get married (both of which I don’t want to, still). Not because I get a right to sing ’18 till I die’ and mean it. But because, I wanted to drive. I had learnt driving in a rough manner when I was 15 or so and I couldn’t wait to learn ‘officially’. My father, obviously, couldn’t dread it more.

The day came. I got my learner’s permit. Joined the school to learn driving with a friend, which honestly really wasn’t helpful, but it made me happy to drive everyday as my father wouldn’t give me our car! I used to incessantly beg him to let me take our car out in the evening with my mum and after a lot of reluctance, he’d give in.

( Btw, when you learn to drive, do it with your sibling or driver or someone else. Never with your mom. NEVER. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. )

Soon, I was driving pretty well and I wanted to take the car out alone. You can guess what reply I got. Yearning for that one day I get to take the car out alone, I used to day dream a lot. Just the idea of taking out the car, driving along a smooth road, listening to music made me calm and happy. If there was one thing I could do all the time, and not get tired of it, driving would be it.

And then I did. I took it out on my own. I got it to college one day. It was a terrible, terrible day. I suddenly knew what the ‘real’ world was. I was scared to do it again. It wasn’t that I was a bad, fledgling driver. It was Mumbai. Our roads are so fantastically uneven, that there is no way I can achieve my tranquility while driving. I couldn’t bear the idea of having to drive on the blasphemous roads, where the auto-rickshaws just cut in from anywhere and everywhere, where METRO has been dug up and there is god-forsaken traffic everywhere!

It just has ruined the entire equation of driving for me. I wish I could go back to my day dream, but every time I do, my auto-rickshaw fellow takes a tortuous turn and I am back in actuality with a shock! Couple of times, I have found myself back-seat driving in the rickshaw. One day, I guess it must’ve gotten really annoying that my driver had to actually say, “Madam, aap mujhe bas batado kahaan jaana hai, wahaan kaise pahuchenge, yeh mujh par chhod do!”

Dammit.

Overwrought.

When you wallow in your success, you don’t think why the hell am I here? I should be a failure, but when you’re down and out, you often wonder about the things that got you there. Sometimes those things make sense. Sometimes they do not. Actually, 90% of the time, it does not make sense. It hurts you most when you didn’t expect it. (Yes I know this is just stating facts. Bear with me, I’m going somewhere.)

How do you get out of it? How do you get over it?

Distract yourself with some good music. Create a blog to vent your feelings. Write down on paper what you feel. Read a book that was always on your list, but never managed to read. Eat chocolates (and eventually grow fat, but that’s not the point I’m going for!)

Or, just talk about it with someone.

That ‘someone’ can be anyone – parents, sibling and dear friends. It’s really a boon to have that someone in your life, to say absolute nonsense and still get away with everything – without being snubbed or judged.

Although, one has to risk being lied to from time to time, as they don’t want to hurt your feelings with the truth. Such are true friends. No, you don’t look fat. You’re a very smart person, results don’t show anything. Don’t listen to them, they’re jerks. No, you don’t talk too much. No, you’re not annoying.

Yes they’re just protecting you because they care. But sometimes, you just need to hear the truth. It may hurt but then these people are the only ones who can tell you that!

*Err... I am kind of befuddled about my initial plan to write this post. *

ANYWAY, to all the people (you know who you are) who have been my ‘someone’ sometime or the other (or still are and hopefully will remain) Thank you for being there and lying to me, sometimes it’s all you need to raise somebody’s spirits.