Adios Orkut!

Life was going good. I got my first phone - Nokia 3310 (still epic!). I got my first computer (with a simple P3 processor and 20GB hard disk). College was awesome. Friends were great - all wonderful characters whom I still miss. Those were the days when Super Mario / PacMan / Sonic / Minesweeper ruled the gaming industry. I used to play Cricket and Lawn Tennis (on 8-bit video games) with my friends all day long. None of my friends in college had a girlfriend, so all of us were always free and devoid of any commitments. None of us had a need to show how many friends we had, what we thought of the other person in the same group, no one wanted to rate how cool the other person was. Life went on in a "real" social environment… 

…till Orkut happened!

Not that we cared. But it forcefully entered our lives. I used to get repeated reminders of people in my address book that s/he has joined Orkut and is waiting for me! That's right, waiting for me to join them. I just met them a couple of hours back and now they were waiting for me on a strangely named website known as "Orkut". These are the same friends who didn’t wait for me in the bus stand so that we can catch the bus together, but were waiting "endlessly" on social media. That time, we didn’t know anything about social media. Orkut was just a website where you need to register ourselves and share some information in public domain. 

Now that Orkut is nearing its scheduled end on 30th September 2014, I am experiencing a strange sense of loss. I don’t use Orkut now. In fact I haven't used Orkut for the past 5 years. But it was part of my early 20's and hence it matters. Those were the days without smartphones. There were no apps. Internet Explorer was the most reliable way to explore an enchanting new world of Internet. Orkut became one of the most critical parts of the puzzle that partly made us who we are.

Some things in Orkut that I will cherish all my life – 

1. Testimonials: We all like to show-off, don’t we? Even the most introverted type has an innate desire to be known by those around him. And what better way than testimonials! Orkut took this concept to an all new level and introduced this feature as part of their offering. This allows friends to write testimonials for someone and it appears as part of the profile, once approved by the recipient of the testimonial. Writing and receiving testimonials were a craze during those times. One usually used to reciprocate the gesture. And we used to cherish the “kind” and in most cases “flattering” feelings our friends had towards us. I, for one, will surely miss this feature. It baffles me why Facebook did not opt for this feature!
2. Who viewed your profile: In other words, intrusion! But we didn’t mind. Orkut had an interesting module where you used to know who just viewed your profile. It perfectly targeted the human curiosity factor. That’s also one of the ways you can find friends. They view your profile and you add them, in case they didn’t initiate. If you opt out of this, no one will come to know you viewed their profile and in turn, you will never come to know who viewed your profile. Now that I think of it, I am glad Facebook didn’t opt for this feature. Its more of a bane than boon.
3. Scrapbook: Exactly what the name suggests. Write what you want on your friends’ scrapbook. Your popularity used to depend on the number of scraps you had vis-à-vis your friends. Some smart ones (me included) used to delete our scraps once the purpose is served. Deleting the scraps also used to shield me in the scrapbook popularity index! C’mon, I don’t want people to know I am less popular than them. They say, “try try till you succeed; else remove all evidence that you even tried”.

In more ways than one, Orkut made the first step towards social media till Facebook took it to a totally different level. And now, as we speak, there will soon be a new social media platform being made in some college project somewhere around the world. Personally, I wanted to continue on Orkut, but all the friends I had on Orkut were moving to Facebook and I was left with only two options - either to stay on Orkut without updates and interaction from friends / move on to Facebook. Like most, I chose the latter. 

When majority followed the new leader, Google eventually decided to post this message to signal the end of an era - 

Nevertheless, a big thank you to Orkut for all the wonderful memories. And as you move towards the fag end of your product life-cycle, may your URL rest in peace.

Whose copyright is it anyway?

Although we all know what copyright means, I still thought of asking someone who’s second only to God in more ways than one – Google, our academic and professional savior! This is how Google responded – 

So, copyright is “the exclusive and assignable legal right, given to the originator for a fixed number of years, to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material”. I think this definition is exclusive and covers everything that needs to be covered from an ownership perspective. That’s what we thought till a few days ago. Until Wikimedia posted this as part of its collection – 

Here's the Wikimedia link - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Monkey_selfie. I don't know if I can share it - copyright issues, you see. If they have removed it by the time you click on this link, your loss. Oh no wait, you can still Google the pic. That's how our Internet works.

So, what’s the background? – A British photographer, David Slater, was travelling through one of the Indonesian jungle when he bumped onto some monkeys. The monkeys started playing with his photography equipment including the camera. One of them found the button to click photos. Excited by the reflections / flash, it started playing with it – completely oblivious of the fact that it was clicking its own images – defined by a human term called “selfies”. There were 100’s of photos clicked, most of which were blurred except for some which was shared by Wikimedia. 

Where’s the problem? – Photographer Slater feels he own the images and Wikimedia should not use it without informing him. In other words, the image is copyright protected. But Wikimedia is refuting his charges stating that the image is not a copyright of the photographer simply because he did not click it. And if at all anything, it belongs to the Monkey! Obviously Slater has pressed charges against Wikimedia and Wikimedia is standing firm with their own set of arguments. 

If we agree with what the photographer believes, then we are opening a can of even bigger problems. Following are some of the scenarios where we will have to relook if Slater is legally correct - 

1. I publish my blog posts from my laptop. So, the content I create is my copyright. Now, what if a fellow blogger creates his content using my laptop? Whose copyright is it?
2. Assume Virat Kohli got dismissed for a duck in a cricket match. The next batsmen, Rohit Sharma, asked Kohli for his bat. He then goes on to make a century. Whose century is it now? Kohli, Sharma or the bat?
3. Assume I worked on a PowerPoint presentation for a business contest using a sample template shared by someone - xyz. I am the only one who worked on it, so the content part is totally mine. Then I submitted the presentation to the contest authorities. But since the template was owned by xyz, PowerPoint automatically makes xyz the "owner". Whose PowerPoint is it now? Me, xyz or Microsoft? (Actually, this falls under “Work for Hire” where the owner owns the work and not the workers)
4. During school exams, I gave my "extra pen" to a person - xyz - who went on to top at the university level. Irrespective of my result, who topped the university? Me, xyz or the pen?

I know the examples don’t exactly match the situation of the photographer. But don’t you feel compelled to think about these too? So, who do you think the image belongs to? Now, don’t say “God only knows”!

PS: This post is written more at the sarcastic level and is intended to be read with a pinch of salt and some selfies too. 

Youth v/s Experience

It’s a tricky proposition. If you are leading an initiative, who would you go for – youth or experience? Would you prefer someone who has been there and done that but with relatively lesser innovation capabilities? Or will it be someone young, innovative and eager to do something but with no experience of the initiative? Experience knows the usual pitfalls involved and possible work-around. Youth will bring in innovative and cost-effective ways to tackle pitfalls. 

For instance, experience will tell you how to make a bill payment, where to go, when to go (to avoid queue), whom to meet. Youth will simply open an app and 2-3 clicks later, bill payment’s done. Both have their own merits and demerits. And both are prevalent in our country. Your grandparents may not even know the meaning of “app” and will still prefer the traditional mode of payment. Your parents will be open to both, but deep down will prefer the traditional mode. You will obviously opt for the “app” mode and will always be in the lookout for faster options.

I was in Kerala this April. It’s usually very hot at this time of the year. Add to it the fact that the electricity runs on its own whims and fancies, you are at your "perspiring" best. Especially in my ancestral home, to get to that one line of network connection, you need to roam around your back yard and literally freeze at a place where you find that much needed line on your smart-phone to check your mails / WhatsApp messages. So, practically, there’s nothing much to do while in Kerala but to just sit anywhere and chit-chat with your family / relatives (now that I think of it, isn’t this how we were supposed to communicate in the first place? – direct and personal media rather than social media).

image courtesy - apsltd.com

One day in Kerala, I was sitting in the veranda with my grand-mom. We were discussing about the happenings in Kerala and the updates of our relatives from my grand-mom’s perspective. Then suddenly, she said it’s going to rain. I was sweating like hell. Just to be sure, I glanced towards the sky. The sun was beating down and there were no sign of clouds. How the hell is it going to rain, I wondered? I confidently told my grandma that it won’t rain. She remained adamant and suggested we go back in the house. My explanations were being rudely ignored. She went back in and I remained in the veranda sweating even more. After barely five minutes, I heard thunderstorms and before my brain could gather this new information, it started pouring. 

I ran back in and humbly sat beside my grandma whose face was filled with modest pride. I didn't ask for an explanation and she didn't initiate either. The moment passed. On that day (at least), youth lost!

Satire: How to solve ODI bowling woes?

Bruised, Battered, Hammered and completely @#*&*%@ (word censored by Indian Cricket Committee after their review of this post).



Dhoni made an interesting comment after the seven match ODI series against Australia at home. He talked about teams easily chasing scores in excess of 350 and that 350s have become what 300s were few years back - a competitive total. Honestly, I don't think that's true. Just a look at the bowling line-up of the two competing teams (India - Australia then and India - South Africa now) suggest that there was no one threatening among Indians bowlers. India's supposed spearhead had their tail between his legs. Carom ball became just another ball. Yorkers became non-existent - and sometimes dispatched for sixes. India-Australia ODI series became an extended version of Hong-Kong super sixes tournament. And new ODI rules aren't helping the bowlers either!

If this trend goes on, it won't be long before the entire bowling community becomes extinct. And that's where this post comes in. The National Cricket Board, after a long discussion - almost 15 minutes - have come up with a solution. A solution that will completely eliminate this current crisis.

Solution: If bowlers are having problems, remove them entirely from Cricket. Since technology is making everything redundant, bowlers will be replaced by bowling machines used during training. This is how it will work out -

Why? Spectators want to see fours and sixes - lets give it to them! Conduct a batting academy to prepare the team for 2015 World Cup. Board will have a team of 15 top batsmen and no bowlers. Moreover, machines have been in training for long. Its time to utilize all their training experience during the match.

What about other boards? Indian board will request (Read: Force) boards of other countries to follow the same. Based on past interactions, requesting the other boards will only elicit positive response.

What will happen to popular pace academy? It will now be utilized as a bowling machine manufacturing unit.

How to generate revenue? Rent out the surface of the bowling machine to marketers. Bowlers are financial liabilities. Machines will be financial assets, injury free and without long hair. Board will have to shell out one-time cost to buy the machine and some standard maintenance charges. This will be less compared to the salaries paid out to multiple bowlers. Also, for maximizing ad revenue, have 2 machines instead of one. Through this solution, board will be converting liabilities into assets - dream of any business entity.

Who will manage the bowling machine? The obvious choice will be the captain. However, the captain can decide to delegate the responsibility to any of his fielders.

If at all there is a right time to introduce such a novel concept, it is NOW! Bowlers are not at their best and the innovations in batting and new cricket rules aren't helping either. Maybe this innovation in bowling can nip the issue right in the bud!

PS: This is a satire. And satire (I hope), it will remain.

Fish and an Indian NRI..

Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and

all the years you have lived - Hellen Keller

Kerala is known as God's own country. And the people who have visited this beautiful state will vouch for it. The greenery and back-waters are all desktop wallpaper material. Kerala will easily feature in top 10 best places in India to visit. Kerala has one of the best literacy rate in the country. Kerala is known for its coconut oil, Banana chips, Jack fruit chips, halwa etc. And the fish curry in Kerala is second to none.

Unfortunately, the Fishes in Kerala doesn't think so. And for obvious reasons!

Image: Kind courtesy kerala.me

Smelly moment ...

Few years ago, I had been to Kerala for a vacation. When a Keralite goes to Kerala for a vacation, its usually to meet relatives. When a non-Keralite plans such a trip, it is usually to visit tourist places. So, being a Keralite, as part of my itinerary, I went to one of my relatives' place. The thing about meeting relatives (especially those who live near the sea-shore) is that you will always, and I mean - always - find fish as part of the staple diet. Fish is part of Kerala's staple diet, but its even more significant if you stay near the shores.

As we were sitting and discussing the life and times in Kerala, a peculiar aroma filled the room. It was the output of a frying Fish. Apart from some hardcore fishitarians, most others would have hated the smell. I know some who will even puke - no kidding! It was as if the aroma waves from the Fish fry had decided to go all around the house and sometimes even the neighborhood to spread the word. Unlike a burning candle that lightens up the room by sacrificing itself, Fish fry had gone a step ahead. By sacrificing itself, it spreads what it thinks as refreshing aroma to not only the kitchen, but the surrounding rooms and in some cases even the neighboring homes!

As guests, we were completely encapsulated - right as well as wrong sense - by the fishy aroma. Wonder where Oxygen went? Anyways, the only part of my body that was full of optimism by the sudden burst of fishy aroma was my taste buds! They were about to have a feast of their life.

... changed to Smiley moment!

Before having lunch, we were informed that another family will be visiting my relatives and then we'll have lunch together. They were settled in one of the Gulf countries, the second best place for Malayalis. Now Keralites coming from Gulf countries are recognized using two parameters - clothes and perfume. Their clothes looks rich and feels richer. Their perfume has the ability to light up their journey and momentarily allow the bystander breathe in aromatic oxygen - one of a kind not commonly found in Kerala. Even their car gives away the feeling that it has just had an aromatic bath / spa / car wash.

Their visit to my relatives place that afternoon seemed to be a welcome relief to everyone concerned. Why? The smell of the perfume immediately got mixed with the Fish fry smell and the resultant output was a mix of both the smells but had a dominating impact of the perfume. It was as if we "escaped into freshness". I could feel the presence of Oxygen again! That moment, my dear friends, became a smiley moment.

Ambiance Purified!

Memories, imagination, old sentiments and associations are more readily reached through the sense of smell than through any other channel - Oliver Wendell Holmes 

PS: This post is published for the love of fish and is part of an Indiblogger "Smelly to Smiley!" contest in partnership with Ambi Pur.

Book Review: The Paperback Badshah

The Paperback Badshah : The comical journey of a 100 Rupee author (by author Abhay Nagarajan) is a funny rendition of an aspiring Indian author to fulfill his dream of publishing a book. Its about his journey and the mistakes he makes, his misadventures and the lessons learnt. Its about facing roadblocks with regards to his dream of being a writer, creative challenges, publishing, marketing, promotions, feedback from readers etc.

Judging a book by its cover -

Who should read this book -

1. Readers preferring a time-pass, weekend read
2. Budding Indian soon-to-be authors - If you wish to publish a book, you might want to read this for tips

What's the story like - The book is about a young Financial advisor Raghu who is not interested in the corporate life. He finds it difficult to achieve his ever increasing monthly sales target. At the same time, he is also working on his first book titled "The Paperback Badshah". Unfortunately, the pressure he faces in his corporate life is not allowing him to focus on writing his book. He then takes a bold decision, bold in Indian scenario, of quitting his corporate life. As expected, he comes under immense scrutiny from his family and other supposedly successful relatives. However, he stands his ground and spends the next few months working on the book amidst attending creative writing classes and meeting friends / like minded writers and strangers. The book describes in detail his journey from being a weekend writer to being a published one and the challenges he faces on the way. Mind you, its a fun read so everything is described in a light-hearted manner.

How's the writing - Creative is the first word that comes to my mind. The author has used creativity in his story-telling and his descriptions of almost every situation is somewhat different compared to other masala books. Some might feel that the author's creativity falls down to PJ levels - and I agree to an extent. As it is, there's a thin line between creativity and PJ. The author has structured the book based on various stages of book writing and publishing. Being a book published by Indian author, its bound to be error-prone. All I can say, its not as much as you would find in other books. However, I strongly feel, we are yet to take "proof reading" as an integral part of writing the book. The book also touches upon the Indian scenario of masala authors becoming more successful by writing masala stories while the literary ones find it difficult to sell books in India.

So, what do I think - One time read. A time-pass read. I personally don't think there's anything out of the ordinary in this book. If you want to spend 4-5 hours of your weekend and don't know how, this could be one of my suggestions. Also, if you want to be a writer, it will give you an insight on how to write a book and the various steps after writing the draft version like seeking publishers, rejections etc.

My Rating: 3/5

Quick take on Husbands..

The other day, we took our little daughter for vaccination. I was carrying my daughter to the doctor and my wife was carrying all the necessary documents and the files. The vaccination went fine. Jiana didn't cry and we tried our level best by diverting her attention during the vaccination process.

While coming back home, I told my wife about how I am willingly helping her by taking care of Jiana. You see, husbands need to get some brownie points in a discussion so that we can use it later during an argument. If you didn't understand my previous statement, think of a game where you need to collect as many gold coins as possible so that you can trade them to become more powerful. Simple, isn't it? If you still didn't understand, get married..

Me: Did you notice that I am helping you taking our baby to the doctor. Did you see that no husbands came in the clinic apart from 1-2 of them. Most husbands shy away from such stuff. But I came!

Wife: But all husbands are supposed to help not only in financial stuff but household stuffs too..

Me: (being slightly confident) But where can you find such an husband? We are a rare breed!

Wife: That's not true at all. I have heard husbands help in cooking, cleaning, shopping etc.. Didn't you see how many husbands were helping their respective wives in that shopping mall. Wives were doing the shopping and husbands were carrying the trolley.

Me: But that's because they were shopping for themselves too. And most of them were fiddling with their mobiles.

Wife: Just like you..

Me: But I am different, you see.. It was my decision to accompany you.. You could have gone on any day during the week, but it was my suggestion that we go during the weekend..

On one of those rarest of rare occasions, I felt I was winning.. That's when this happened..

We saw a couple with 2 children walking towards a rickshaw stand. The husband was walking in the front - yeah, male dominated society indeed! The guy was with a 1-2 yrs old child on his right side and had 7-8 yr old child walking on his left. And the wife, who was walking behind him, was more concerned about her sari, her hair and her make-up..

My wife looked at me with pride and an understanding which said - "Need I say more?"

Damn ít! I lost again..

C'mon husbands, we were winning - for once, in this generation! Think of our fore-fore fathers. They will be embarrassed about it! They toiled hard to ensure we remain a male dominated society. They were united in their pursuit.. And were successful too! They left hoping we will carry on the legacy. What have we made it into? :D

Moral - Males dominate the society till they get married!

Image courtesy - MyIndiaPictures.com

PS: This post is intended to be a humorous one and should not interpreted otherwise. 

Book Review: When Strangers Meet..

"When Strangers Meet" by K. Hari Kumar is a story of three characters from different strata of society who meet in a resting room of a metro station and life takes them towards a different direction from the one they were already charting for themselves. All this and more is aptly described in the cover page. The cover page is catchy - no doubt - and will be one of the key reasons towards the sale of the book. But the cover page and the information provided in the back page reveals a lot more than is needed (I feel). It encapsulates the story along with the climax (if you read between the lines). Maybe, the author wants the reader to know a lot more and then start reading the story.

Target Audience:

1. Readers who like light hearted, bollywoodish novels

2. Readers who want to read a different type of narrating style
3. Maths haters anyone? You might just enjoy this..

Plot: The reader is introduced to a boy, Jai, who's least interested in Maths and would do anything to get away from the subject. His dad is a Mathematics professor who wants his son to be like him. It reaches a stage where Jai could not take more pressure and decided to run away from his home in search of his dreams. You are also introduced to Hussain, who's a devout Muslim, runs a tea stall and believes in doing good for the people but is finding it difficult to make ends meet. He wins a lottery and is on his way to the lottery office. Hussain and Jai meet in the resting room of a Metro station since there's an accident that took place which ensures that their respective plans are delayed by a few hours. A stranger approaches Jai and immediately strikes up a conversation. Jai, initially hesitant to listen and be a part of the conversation, suddenly starts liking it as the story is very similar to his present life. "Amazing things happen when strangers meet" - is what the author claims. The book validates his claim.

Writing: If I tell you that that author has written a 3rd person account of two characters in the book, I'll be right. If I tell you that the author has written a 1st person account of the third character in the book, I'll be right again. This way of writing makes it a fun read. Also, all the three protagonists are important to the plot. And their plots are interconnected as both Hussain and Jai learn a lot from the stranger and in-turn learn a lot from each other. The author has ensured that the plots are closely knit. By and large, the book seemed to be error free. But there are some sections with multiple spelling and grammatical errors. It feels like the proof reader did not completely read the book and instead concentrated on some sections and ignored the rest.

Overall, the book is a light-hearted and fun read. Simple and straightforward story with an interesting twist in the end. Read it, enjoy it, cherish it..

My Rating: 3 / 5

We Came, WeChat, we Conquered!

One Saturday evening. One lazy Saturday evening. I lay there, resting on my couch with nothing much to do. Feels like conquering the world, but that's not the case here. Facebook seems to be dead since no one is online. Twitter users are busy promoting a hashtag without knowing what it means. A popular chat app has become a paid app in android after one year and hence most of my chat friends have deactivated it. Television is busy showing a dubbed South Indian movie for like the (n+1)th time. No Soccer too. There's some breaking news going on and the news anchor is screaming at the top of his voice, "The nation wants to know.." I wonder which part of the nation he is referring to! I cannot even sleep as the government / municipalities are busy digging the road with their long cranes just before the rains (nothing new here too).

Unable to bear the boredom, I opened the "Play Store" in my Android smartphone to see if there's anything new and exciting and bingo - I found a new app that's trending. It's called - WeChat.

It seemed fascinating. I installed the app. The moment installation and the basic registration process was done, guess what happened. I got an immediate "Hi" from one of my contacts. The world know him as - "Joker". Knowing how crazy the guy is, he immediately added few members and before I know what's happening there were 6 members and we were in a group chat!

The participants were -

• The Joker, of course 
• "Captain" Jack Sparrow
• News Presenter "AG"
• A 'not-so-santh' Cricketer
• Anonymous Indian Politician
• Yours truly

And this is how the group chat went - 

News Presenter "AG": Ladies and gentlemen, we have with us some of the well known personalities from this world and also out of this world. Let me introduce them to you..

Joker: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are tonight’s entertainment! Well, you look nervous. Is it the scars? You want to know how I got ‘em? By the way, where's the lady we are talking about?

AG: Let's not deviate from the topic here, Joker. I assure you, you will get your chance to write. Today, the nation wants to know the inside story of spot fixing in the popular cricket league! We have with us one of the prominent personalities from the world of spot fixing - Mr. Cricketer! So, let me start with you, the nation wants to know how did you do it? 

Cricketer: Well, you know I am a technology freak. For communication with the bookies, I used different chatting apps. The police tracked them down and now I have changed the app!

AG: My only question to you tonight is WHY? WHY did you do it?

Joker: If you’re good at something, never do it for free.

Cricketer: Right. I agree with Joker here. 

AG: Yes, thanks Joker. That's what I was getting at. Let me bring in another participant here - anonymous politician, who doesn't want to be named. Sir, what's your take on this? 

Politician: The matter is sub-judice. I would not be able to comment on this. But I will say the opposition is involved here. There's no doubt about that. 

AG: But that's not the topic we want to discuss here sir. That's the next topic. This is about spot fixing.  

Me (finally): Is this really "The Joker". Huge fan of yours sir! I must tell you I have seen your movie a zillion times and felt sad when you apparently died.

AG: Once again we are deviating from the topic gentlemen. Let me bring me Mr. Jack Sparrow into this discussion..

Captain Jack Sparrow (using the voice chat option in WeChat): "Captain" Jack Sparrow. Why do people always forget to include "Captain"? 

AG: Of course, Captain.  

Me: Am I dreaming? 

AG: One participant at a time, please. So Captain, are you there on the group chat? 

Captain (voice message): Aye.. 

AG: Ok. Captain, why do you think the authorities took so long to catch the culprits? 

Captain (voice message): If they were waiting for the opportune moment, that was it.. 

AG: Do you think there are others involved in the conspiracy too? Any women you think? Where are they? 

Captain (voice message): She’s safe, just like I promised. She’s all set to marry Norrington, just like she promised. And you get to die for her, just like you promised. So we’re all men of our word really… except for, of course, Elizabeth, who is in fact, a woman. 

AG: No. I didn't make any promises Captain. I am not sure what you are discussing.. Moving on.. Coming back to Joker.. 

Joker: Oh, you. You just couldn’t let me go, could you? This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. You are truly incorruptible, aren’t you? Huh? You won’t kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness. And I won’t kill you because you’re just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever. 

AG: So what's your plan Joker to catch all the culprits involved? For once, be honest and reveal your plans in front of the nation.. 

Joker: Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I’m a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it. You know, I just… do things. 

AG: I have no idea what you are trying to imply here. Let me bring in ME who's just raised his hand to speak. ME, go on.. 

ME: Joker and Captain Jack Sparrow together. This seems like a dream in a dream. Is this Inception all over again? 

AG: This is reality, my friend! Reality. Gentlemen, we are running out of time. Final comments. Captain, you go first..

Captain (voice message): This is the day you will always remember as the day you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow! 

Captain Jack Sparrow leaves the group chat. 

AG: I believe we have lost the link. Anyways, Cricketer. You are next..

Cricketer: I am being framed. I would like to reach out to millions, no sorry, 100's of my fans, actually 10's of my fans to support me through this. I will come out clean, I promise. 

Politician: The opposition is behind this. Opposition is playing dirty politics.

Joker: How about a magic trick? I’m gonna make this pencil my profile disappear. Ta-daaa! It’s.. it’s gone. 

Joker leaves the group chat.  

Me: Is this really a dream? 

AG: Thank you gentlemen for your participation. We will be tracking this event 24*7 live only on your news channel (thinking that this is actually his news channel). Coming up next are the advertisements that make us earn our millions. Stay tuned.

As we all know, nothing really comes out of such discussions. But my Saturday evening was well and truly worth it! What the participants said in this group chat on WeChat platform are their trademark statements and it's precisely this reason why I wanted them in this chat.

We came, WeChat and We Conquered!

PS: This post is part of a contest run by WeChat and IndiBlogger.

PS (again): This post was one of the Runner-ups in the contest. Thank you guys! God Bless!

Moments of Appreciation (Part 2)..

Like they say, when God blesses you, he gives you everything you need and even more! That's exactly what has happened to me - as far as awards are concerned. Here's another Liebster award thanks to my blogging friend - "The Guy in the Mirror". Thank you buddy for the appreciation. Apart from passion, appreciation / feedback is the other important thing we need to ensure we continue blogging. And now I can say I have them in abundance!

Without wasting too much time, lets directly move on to things that you think you knew about me. And I will prove that you actually did know more than you initially thought! Here we go -  

10 Random facts about me:

1. I am lazy when I am at home
2. I love watching sports
3. I (still) play FIFA 2012 (and soon to start FIFA 2013). That's the way I relax
4. I was (and still am) a huge fan of Andre Agassi
5. I follow Arsenal Football Club. Gunner for life!
6. I have stopped watching cricket matches. I just keep track of the scores.
7. I still don't understand Duckworth-Lewis calculation!
8. I read books mainly during travelling
9. I have watched all of Christopher Nolan's movies
10. I strongly feel IPL-like concept will be replicated the world over and we will move away from country based cricket to club based.. Watch out this Nostradamus' prediction..

Answer to the 11 questions asked by "The Guy in the Mirror"

1. Do you maintain a diary?

Response: No. The first random fact is the reason why!

2. Is falling in love and getting hurt really better than not trying at all?

Response: I think so. Actually, I am not experienced to answer this question. In my case, I fell in love with a girl who is now my wife.

3. Is there a person, or people that you don't want to find out about your blog?

Response: Actually no. I want anyone and everyone to read my blog - Utopian state!

4. The longest time you have spent in front of a mirror?

Response: After Holi, some 8-9 years ago. There was something wrong with the silver color paint. The skin below my eye burnt and it took 3-4 months to recover. During that time, I was in front of the mirror more than once every day!

5. The last time you said to someone "I Like You" or "I Love You" (Mention the person too if possible).

Response: Everyday. To my wife and daughter. (I think this question is aimed at a person who's yet to get married)

6. The last time you received a hug.

Response: Everyday again! And by now, I am sure you know who I am referring to.

7. Do you believe in next birth? Why, why not?

Response: No, I don't believe in multiple births. But I am a strong believer of life after death, the concept of souls, heaven. I also believe a lot of our queries can be answered through religious scriptures and concepts like NDE (Near Death Experiences).

8. Something that makes you extremely genuinely happy (non-materialistic).

Response: Once I had been to a charitable institution. They bring the homeless together and look after them day-after-day. One can donate one-time meal to about 170 of them. I was there and what I saw left me speechless! They don't have any family member, no career / money / future and yet they are so happy together. They didn't seem to have any problems with life. Unlike most of us - despite the fact that we have everything we need to survive. That moment made me genuinely happy for them and I learnt a very important lesson.

9. The best part of being single, and the best part of being in a relationship.

Response: I belong to the second category. The best part of being in a relationship - you are never alone.

10. The most extreme thing you did in anger.

Response: I am somewhat short-tempered. But am also the kind of person who gets angry quickly and recovers even more quickly. There's not much time in between. So, I don't think I have had the opportunity to do something extreme when I am angry.

11. Habit or habits of yours that others find peculiar?

Response: During college days, I used to rotate my wrist a lot. Some of my close friends know about it. In fact, they even made me realize about this habit. I think I still rotate my wrist!

Since this is the second time I am receiving this honor, I will nominate the same set of blogger friends I nominated last time! And here is that post. 

Moments of Appreciation..

Let me start by asking you a question? What is the most important thing one craves for? Money. What is the only thing one cannot live without? Money. What should you normally expect once you have completed what's required of you - at work or any other location? More Money.

And that's exactly what I got. From my blogger friend - Ramya. It's awards time, ladies and gentlemen. And I have been bestowed with the "Liebster Blog Award" (honestly, a long time ago, but I messed up in carrying it forward). I told you money is not everything. Thanks a ton Ramya for the honor. And the fact that I learnt a new word too. For those few people who doesn't know what "Liebster" is, I will help you out. Liebster is a German word and it means Favorite.

Now with appreciation comes greater responsibility (Spiderman - if you are reading this, since you are so fond of world wide web - I didn't copy your quote. My quote is totally original. And by the way, you don't even have a copyright). The responsibility here is to do one of the following:

1. Write few lines or a post on one interesting hobby you have or you have ever heard OR
2. You can choose to write a post on a person you have met or incident that has happened during any of your travel.

I will go with the first challenge. One interesting hobby I had. It was during childhood. Now I have never heard of this thing before from anyone, so I am assuming this is somewhat different. It's a combination of pen collection, cricket and mathematics. Now I know that pen collection and cricket made for interesting reading but mathematics spoiled the fun, right?

 

How it worked: This hobby started when I was 7 year old and died down (for obvious reasons) when I turned 12. I never used to throw away the pens I had / were present in my home. I used to collect them. Those were of different brands (local ones, not at all costly and some imported ones with no refills and hence useless). So they had their own unique brand names. Now, here's the weird part. I used to assign them to teams (say team A, B, C..) and used to play cricket using them. But cricket was not the main aspect of my hobby - Mathematics was! I kept track of runs scored, wickets taken, run rates, required run rates, strike rates etc.. Everything that needed to be calculated in Cricket. I also did the same when Dad and I used to watch Cricket matches on TV and was quite good at it. Eventually, I drifted towards honing my mathematics skills by watching live matches and pen collection remained just that - pen collection. Embarrassed as I am, now that I think of it, I feel this hobby helped me a lot during school and college.

 

Now to the last part of my post. Life is not about taking and keeping. It's about sharing too. So I would like to appreciate some blogging friends of mine who have supported me, read my stuff, appreciated and criticized me, only for me to improve (this is NOT the Oscar winning speech! I genuinely mean it). Thank you guys! I hereby bestow the Liebster award to my following friends (in alphabetical order).

Arti
Ashwini
Jenny
Prashanth
Rahul Sir
Raj
Ramya
Red Handed
Dr. Roshan
Saru Singhal

Tania
Vishal kataria

 

I leave it to you if you want to go with any of the above challenges. Or you can try the challenge mentioned in this post.  Or you can even opt not to go with any. I am perfectly fine with the decision you take.

The metamorphosis of a guy..

.. from a serious looking professional to a guy who got engaged / committed.

There was once this guy who I thought had the following traits:

1. He was an introvert. He seemed to be very quiet, all to himself and a no-nonsense kind of a guy
2. He was a thorough professional and equally a family person - work while you work, family is the top priority after work
3. He hardly used to pick up anyone's calls but is hardly busy on phone
4. I always thought he might be having his own friend-circle and might be going out with them for movies and stuff during the weekend.

You know the kind of person I am referring to, don't you?

And then this happened -

Image inspiration: http://chuckiespictures.co.uk/

he got engaged!

Have a look at how he's changed now (compare the point below with its corresponding point above) -

1. He is no longer an introvert. Infact, far from it! He now seems very approachable and very happy with life. He now laughs at jokes and even attempts to make his own little jokes (lets not talk about how funny there are - it hurts).
2. He still believes in work while you work and family is still his top priority after work. The only difference here is there's now an addition in his family who lives far away  and the addition gets all the priority!
3. Huge change happened here. He now has an additional phone with a new plan and new number. The new number is present only with his special someone. The plan states that he can call one person within the same provider network for hours at stretch and all this for FREE (obviously, conditions apply). I think marketers are responsible for this. You see, marketing is all about finding a hole in the market, provided there's a market in the hole! Marketers know how to exploit the situation. As far as his friends are concerned, he never used to pick up their calls then and nothing has changed on that front!
4. I am still not sure if he has his own friend circle to enjoy his weekends. But even if he did, his friends will now be without him as he will always be busy during the weekend. After all, his fiancee needs more attention now! Who wouldn't want to listen to the innumerable shopping reviews and 101 different ways of shortlisting something & not buying it, who wouldn't want to support her when she cribs about her friends / enemies / frenemies? Who wouldn't want to say sweet nothings when there's absolutely no topic left on this Earth to discuss? We all do! (pun totally intended)

Hey, I am no one to make a judgement. I am just happy to see him happy. After all, what matters is shown in the image below! Don't you agree?



image courtesy: www.funnyuse.com

If you are a married guy (got married in the last 5-6 years), you know exactly what I am talking about. If you are engaged, you will realize how you have changed without even making a conscious effort. If you are single and are ready for the next stage, I just described your future, mate!

Happy Valentine's Day, Guys.

PS: This is a satirical and a semi-fictional take on the metamorphosis of a guy. Guys, take it with a pinch of salt. Ladies, you already knew it, didn't you? :)

How life is described in internet advertisments?

Three sets of advertisements have defined different phases of my life since the first half of 2012. I know there are cookies that track what I search on the net and that's how this happened. When you visit any website, you will get a series of flash / image advertisements. In some cases, your website content and the advertisement never match - like the 3rd instance below!

First half of 2012:

Those times when you are married and want to spend a weekend. The main option that comes to your mind (or atleast it comes to my mind) is movies.

Second Half of 2012:

As per our family custom, my wife went to my in-laws place for delivery. I used to go to Kerala to meet her as much as possible. And this advertisement popped up at that time!

Now:

Now, I am sure you know what's happening in my life and why I am busy now-a-days.. I was really surprised and laughed out loud when I saw this as an advertisement on a football website - that's right, a football website!

Keep checking the advertisements when you open ad-specific websites. Trust me, it'll be fun.

PS: I am not promoting any brand through this post. The brands and images are purely for representation purposes. It's just that I usually surf the above mentioned websites for buying tickets / online shopping.

Things we will miss if the world ends on 21st December 2012..

There's a certain group who (used to) believe that the world will end on 21st December 2012. And it's based on a calendar they follow. They have taken back their initial belief and are of the opinion that the world won't end on 12/21/2012. But let's take this discussion to the next level - the  fictional one. Let's just assume the world actually ends today. Aren't there many things that we will miss? Things that we needed to complete, to watch, to experience, things you were waiting for all this while.

Image courtesy: http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.com

There are a lot of things from different areas of life that we will miss for sure, especially considering the times we live in. Lets not include the personal stuffs here, just the social ones. Here are some of those:

1. Sports:

• Indian Cricket team is going through a bad phase (and a long one at that). Fans are shouting for change. One such change includes a debate on whether Sachin Tendulkar should immediately retire. Don't you want to see Sachin playing his last match, getting to bat for the last time, a guard of honor from the opposition and ultimately retiring? If the world is ending, there won't be a closure on this saga!
• Formula 1 2012 season was nothing short of spectacular! Amazing races and the championship went till the last lap, in fact even beyond the last lap (with Ferrari questioning Vettel's overtaking). If this is what happened in 2012, don't you want to see how 2013 pans out? If that certain group have their way, there won't be a 2013 season! And my wish of a championship win for Kimi Raikkonen will remain a wish.
• As an Arsenal fan, I am going through mixed emotions. We are winning, we are losing and are not where we want to be in the EPL table. We qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions league for like the nth time now but have never won. I, for one, would like to see Arsenal winning the UEFA Champions League. 
• Though I am not as big a fan of Lawn Tennis as I used to be during Sampras - Agassi days, I still try and follow the Grand Slams. With four contenders to choose from in the Men's draw (Djokovic, Nadal, Federer and Murray), we can look forward to an exciting semi final clashes in all the four Grand Slams! But wait, can we really look forward now?

2. Politics:

• Narendra Modi has won the state of Gujarat for the 3rd time in succession. That's quite an achievement in itself. Only time will tell when he will target the 2014 elections. But, assuming the world end as planned, we might not be able to witness the outcome. But hey, there won't be any outcome!
• We love shocking revelations. We loved wikileaks. 2012 saw an Indian version of Julian Assange. Enter Arvind Kejriwal. So far he has just played the witch hunting game. There will be a time he will take his politics to the next level. Or maybe he knows the world is ending and is just playing his part to have a lasting impression. It's Indian politics, your guess will be only as good as mine (and vice versa).

3. Movies:

• Dabangg 2 releases the same day the world is scheduled to end. This was Salman Khan's chance to enter the Rs 200 crore club and stake his claim as the most sale-able Bollywood actor. It seems highly unlikely that he will cross Rs. 200 crore in a single day. To make matters worse, he was also planning for Dabangg 3 next year! Damn, even that goes out of the window.
• Shahrukh Khan still claims to be the baadshah of Bollywood. However, he is yet to prove it in numbers. 2013 could have been the year for him. He will definitely lose a lot more than others if the world were to end today.
• Though I am not sure, but I can safely assume Golmaal 4 would've been released next year. Its a money making franchise. Rohit Shetty and Ajay Devgn are keeping their fingers crossed today which will make it really difficult for either of them to tweet their feelings today. 

Am I missing out on something? What will you miss? No wait, what if the world doesn't end?

What if Chris Gayle was an Indian?

On Sunday, October 7th 2012, West Indies cricket team rewrote the history books. It took them 33 years to do so. As a cricket fan, it was an emotional moment to witness the rise and fall of the West Indian cricket team. Among many cricketers who contributed immensely to the success (Read: all players), one of them was Christopher Henry Gayle. What was interesting here is the confidence that one person has when he / she is at the top of their game! You feel you can achieve anything and you back it up with your talent as and when it matters. That's where Chris Gayle belongs.

Now, before I get into my satirical post, let me share some of the tweets published by Chris Gayle after the World cup final. I am not talking about any specific tweet here, but the kind of fun this cricketer has forces me to love the game of cricket more than I ever used to!

Kind courtesy: Chris Gayle's twitter handle @henrygayle

Now assume an Indian cricketer published the same tweets had India won the T20 World cup. Assume that the entire Indian cricket team partied in the airplane back to India. This is what you would have read / experienced for an entire week:

Sidekick Newspaper (like BT etc): Indian cricket team hosted an impromptu party for Air Hostesses in the plane while travelling. One cricketer was seen partying with a single air-hostess throughout the trip. An ex-cricketer, on conditions of anonymity, said that the partying cricketer is actually having an affair with the air-hostess for quite some time. We tried to reach the cricketer and the air hostess, but both declined to comment. The cricketer's ex-girlfriend, during her movie promotion, said her new movie is about betrayal but is not inspired from her own life. She declined to comment on her ex-boyfriend's new found love.

English News channels: "National Glory - or - National Shame" flashed as breaking news in one of the popular English news channel. On the panel of 'experts', they had one ex-team manager, one ex-cricketer who's a critic of BCCI, one spokesperson from BCCI, one woman social activist, Congress spokesperson and BJP spokesperson. As is always the case, no one is sure where the debate is headed. Some wonder if the experts are called only to hear the questions raised by a certain anchor who never has the time to listen to the response. Congress and BJP started their own debate regarding women issues and empowering. BCCI spokesperson was single-handedly targeted by the anchor as if he was the person molesting the air-hostess.

Hindi News channels: Now this is where the excitement begins. Hindi news channels went few decades behind and revealed that the air hostess actually had an affair in her previous life, her boy-friend later dumped her and she committed suicide. In this life, she is out for revenge. All the planets are unusually circling around her showing their support. They even showed pictures of a dog barking in front of the cricketer with an animated oval figure showing the position of the dog and an arrow pointing towards the dog, as if we cannot see the dog barking. They even stated that the dog is out for revenge!

Mahila morcha: An andolan began from the headquarters of the xyz mahila morcha towards the place where  the cricketer resides. "Hamari maange poori karo" -  was the standard argument. No one even described their 'maange'. Not only was the cricketer dragged into an unwanted controversy, but his family was also being dragged. The cricketer's mother and sister had to intervene and request the mahila morcha not to press any charges.

Impact of all this: BCCI decided to ban the cricketer indefinitely from all BCCI sponsored sporting events (of course, until the IPL starts).

Indian Cricketer's response: I publicly apologize to all the Indians for hurting their feelings. I also apologize to the family of the air-hostess who had to go through the humiliation from different parts of the society. I hereby discontinue my twitter handle and my facebook page so as to ensure such incident doesn't happen in the future.

New Impact: BCCI decided to remove the ban (just before the IPL starts).

Two sides of the same road

An incident happened.

After reaching Trivandrum airport from Mumbai, I was travelling towards my native home in a cab. At one of the crossroads, a car was trying to enter our lane. We, on our part, maintained the speed of our car. You know how it normally ends, right? Both the cars applied sudden brakes, drivers stare at each other, some choice words spoken, hand movements from the window and life moves on as if nothing happened! Then comes the "justification phase" of what happened to the co-passengers. How our driver saved us from eternal doom, reasons why the other driver was at fault, how is our driver's driving perfect, blah blah..

But what we normally miss is the other side of the story. The above mentioned story is a fact and now's its time to introduce some fiction.

Image: Kind courtesy  http://www.clker.com/

Story from our driver's standpoint:

This is the state of driving in our country. No one cares about others. Did you see what happened? We were driving straight, I even flashed the headlights for him to stop. He still had to poke his car's nose in our lane. He could've waited right? I have always maintained steady speed. I never drive fast. I am sure you have observed my driving skills. I care for the people who travel with me. Unlike the driver in the other car. Reckless driving! It's a rule, the preference always goes to the driver who's driving on a straight lane. How will he know the rule, he might have got his licence without the test. We have rules defined for safety of all the travellers. But who follows them now-a-days? It always happens in India. Look at the 'foreign' country, there are rules and there are punishments for breaking the rules... I blame my country for this. Blah.. Blah..

Story from the other driver's standpoint:
Did you see how reckless people are when it comes to driving? He was still far away from the crossroad. He could've slowed down. But did he? No! I even pressed the horn to indicate I am entering his lane. But what did he do in response? Nothing! How will I ever come to know that he wants me to stop. Thank God I had the common sense to avoid an accident. Otherwise we all would have been dead by now! It's only because of you guys that I didn't go and fight with him. I don't want you people to be late. You know, we have rules defined for safety of all the travellers. But who follows them now-a-days? It always happens in India. Look at the 'foreign' country, there are rules and there are punishments for breaking the rules... I blame my country for this. Blah.. Blah..

India's response: Yeah right. Blame me!

Moral of both the stories: We are always right, no matter what other say.

PS: This definitely is not location specific. This happens everywhere in our country. The only difference is the language of choice words used and hand gestures based on urban-rural divide.

Cricket and Car owners: A love-hate relationship

Those were the days:

We (me and my friends) used to complete our homework, tuition classes and used to rush outside our homes. One / two guys will bring a bat along and we all will contribute (emptying our dad's pockets of course) and buy a Rs. 10/- rubber ball. On occasions, we used to make some bold decisions and buy a tennis ball worth Rs. 25/- (those days, I tell you). Reasoning: Rubber ball can burst anytime, tennis balls usually stay longer. We didn't have a ground near our building so we used to play in the empty places inside the compound.

Here's a description of our compound. Straight behind the bowler is a building. As per our rules (yes, we followed them) when the ball hits the building directly it is considered OUT! Another building occupies the cover region on the offside for a right handed batsman. Needless to say, hitting it directly is also OUT. Square on the offside is an open area with one run declared. Since our stump is drawn on the wall, we didn't have anything behind the wicket. Leg side is where there was more open space and hence most of my friends (including me) eventually became strong on the leg-side. Fours and sixes can only be scored in the long-on region. Simple? Here's a 'architectural' view of the same:

Everything's great for cricket, right? Wrong.

Did you notice something in the pic that I didn't mention in my description. Observe carefully.

Car parks!

Yes. Those are the virtual fielders for the bowling side. Always there in India. We used to discourage the batsman from hitting the ball directly on the car. When such an incident happens, the batsman is declared out! Makes sense as they are (virtual) fielders and hitting them directly mean they are virtually catching the ball. The cars, more often than not, used to decide the result of the match. We tend to not like (I cannot write HATE as some of the cars belonged to my family friends) the cars and their owners for obvious reasons. 

Fast Forward: 15 - 20 years later:

It was a weekend. I was in my house. Laziness took complete control of me. Then someone called and informed me that some boys were playing cricket inside the society and one of them broke the side mirror of my car. On further speculation, I came to know that a ball hit the side mirror and it's damaged!

Damn you boys! How dare you? Why can't boys play with their playstations or rather study for some exam coming their way! Why always cricket? Why always inside the compound? We pay lakhs to buy a car, lakhs to have a car park here in Mumbai (which is now considered a luxury now-a-days). What were the security guards doing? Don't we pay the maintenance bill so that they get their salaries? The cursing just went on...

Sometimes, just sometimes, life is not always greener on the other side.

That's when my past just hit me! I started missing my childhood a lot. A sense of deja vu, so to speak. And hence the blog. It was a slightly costly deal but it was all worth it! Thank you boys.

Allow me to tweak the Mastercard advert to suit my post: Car - Lakhs, car parks - few lakhs, car damaged - few thousands, the memories - PRICELESS!

This post is dedicated to all my childhood friends. Really loved playing cricket and football with you guys. And to all the society uncles who scolded us day in day out yet allowed us to play and enjoy our childhood.

A satire on how to solve world problems

Friends meeting after a long time commands discussion on a lot of topics. Like girl-friends - for those still single and taking their time, marriage for those who tied the knot, cricket, college times, pranks et al. But there's still a level of decency and diplomacy maintained in the get-together. There are some who don't want to behave the way they used to, when they were in college - now that they are supposedly 'responsible' and have a family to support. There are some who don't care about what others think and are always themselves. And then there are the other guys.

These guys need something to get going. Its like we need to start the machine (for Mechanical Engineering guys), switch on the plug (for Electrical Engineering guys) connect a cell / battery (Electronics) and boot your machine (Software / Hardware). There's only one thing that can turn them on (not literally though). A glass of Beer!

Now to the topic of this post - "Solution to World Problems". Once everyone is literally elevated to seventh heaven after many 'pegs', they are capable of viewing the Earth and its problems from a 'birds-eye' perspective. And the moment a problem is identified - a plethora of solutions are discussed and finalized upon. Following are some of the topics discussed and the response we get to hear in such meetings:

1. Fixing in cricket - The world knows about it guys! Everyone knows. Fixing exists in Cricket, it exists in all sports. It's like playing God! You know the result and manipulate it in such a way that it favors you. Its like drinking - I know what I want to drink, I manipulate (cocktail) it in such a way that it favors me - simple! I am telling you, there's only one solution to this. Instead of banning match-fixing and conducting probe, conduct a probe on why rest of the people are not fixing matches, on why matches are being played without someone fixing them. Ban people who are not fixing matches. Cricket lovers across the world will be confused. You ban chocolate and people will eat more chocolates. You ban spitting in public places, holi will be played that day.You ban people not fixing matches and no one will ever fix a match!
2. Same sex marriage - You see, it's all about being brand-loyal. I love a brand. I prefer drinks that belong to a brand. I don't care if the brand is feminine or masculine. I would like to believe it is masculine as it makes me more masculine. Hey, that's the solution. If two people like each other and make them feel what they want to feel, where's the issue?
3. Terrorism - You see, the problem is not as complicated as the news channels and the diplomats understand it to be. Two brothers had a problem, they fight. Their egos clash - it is normal. They have their own families. After the two brothers die, their families fight. Now you have multiple egos clashing - which is even more dangerous. Their families have their own families and the cycle goes on! All we need is for someone to bring them together - across the table - to have a free dialogue! And you need a catalyst to destroy the mindless egos inbuilt in them since the time one could imagine. What's the catalyst? Drinks, of course! Friendship is just a peg away! Bring the terrorists and the 'anti-terrorists' together, include a catalyst and bingo - the world is a better place to live again!

Pic was taken when some of us topped college and went to celebrate it.
I so miss those days!

PS: This post is dedicated to all my close friends, most of whom enjoy their beer and know how to entertain people like me! And yet, never forced me even for a peg and always allowed a non-drinker like me to be a part of the group. Needless to say, you guys are the best and I enjoy every single moment with you.

Also, I don't subscribe to the solutions I mentioned above. The solutions have sarcasm written all over it. All you need is to 'Read it with a pinch of salt and a glass of beer'.

Back to being responsible in life.

Cheers!