A saturday evening at Java City

To begin with, i visit "Java City", my favouritest (i know its bad english) coffee shop on earth, every sunday evening and sometimes on saturday evenings too!! Its live music time on weekend evenings there ..... Pop on Saturdays and Jazz on Sundays!! I've made it my time to listen to some music after facing music all week long!!



Ok, let begin with the entry ....

1. Leave after waiting for friends who promise but never turn up!! (This time, somehow Vikram Wadhwani aka Psycho did join me)

2. Weave your way towards church street steering your car like Captain Jack steers 'The Black Pearl' amidst the ocean of bangalore traffic!!

3. Park the car half a mile away, thanks to parking woes on Museum road!!

4. Fumble with the "Autocop" car lock remote!! (Bloody thing has some loose connection i guess and i'm lazy to get it rectified)

5. Steal a glance at the beautiful girls on the way to Java City!!

6. Buy cigarettes at the paan shop in front of 'Temptations Wines'!! (I always buy half a packet of Wills Navy cut)

7. Wander for a minute on the sidewalk in front of Java City!!

8. Climb the steps into Java City!!

Once inside, i take a deep breath just to accustom myself to the slightly smoke filled cafe!
There is the usual sprinkling of lovers, jazz lovers, weirdos, weirdo wannabes, good people, bad people and the C-Street Band!!

This Saturday, the usual band wasnt there ...... We had our old guitarist, Trevor to rock us!! Man, do i love his guitaring!! He is the local god!! He can make us forget the world!! Then joined Lester, the bassist"PAR EXCELLENCE" (lester's fav phrase while introducing the other band members)!!

They rocked us to pieces!! This will be the subject of my next post coming up very shortly!!

What happened after i went out ... (Continuance to the BOREDOM post)

A lot of interesting things happened!! Read on!!



Normal evening ..... Me and Raghu leave for Coffee day, Malleswaram .... On the way, Raghu gets an urge to have a Paan .... Yeah, he's a paan freak, we stop for his paan at his usual paan shop .... Once he's done with his chewing and spitting, we leave ....

On the way, we spot our old haunt "Veena Stores", a college-time hangout for soft idli freaks ..... Raghu says "Maga, swalpa DT?" ("shall we hog on idlis?") ..... I say "Beda annoke aagutta" ("Can i say no?") .....

Full rush at the place, its a roadside eatery with people bustling and spilling over the footpath/pavement ...... One plate of idli-vada each, one plate of chow-chow bath for him and one plate of shavige (vermicelli) bath for me ..... yum yum and BURRRRRRRRRRP!! He suggests that we have coffee there and i say .... no we'll have it at coffee day ....

We come back to the bike, and he spots a small alley and says "Maga, ee road try maadona" ("we'll try this small lane") .... I say "Beda kano, it ends up on a footpath on the otherside" ("Nope, it ends up on the footpath on the otherside") ..... He insists, so off we go into the lane, only to discover that the other end is blocked and actually ends up on the footpath ......

Dang! I'd told him .... He sometimes doesnt trust my observations .... He gives me a toothy smile and giggles ..... "He he he he, ok but footpath mele hogona?" ("hehehehe shall we go on the footpath?") ..... I say "Thika mucchu, nandu bike-u off-road vehicle alla" ("Shut up, its a bike, not an off-road") ..... He does a "Grrrrrrr" and i turn around to move in the direction of the coffee outlet .....

Thirty seconds later .... on the parallel road, we sight a few young 'un (females ofcourse) and say "oh! weekend, olle CC (colour count) irutte" ("Oh! weekend we'll have some colour around") .... and we move a bit further to sight a guy on the pillion of a bike with a short shirt riding up his waist and his ass crack staring at us, basking in the glory of the headlight of my bike!!

A mini traffic jam .... involving four cars, two bikes and an old inexperienced driver in one of the cars .... The first car on the opposite side, an ambassador (a huge bulk of a car) moves, clearing the space and the inexperienced old man in a smaller car fumbles and is hesitant to drive through the space in which the huge car moved easily .....

A few minutes later, cursing our misfortune that we had to bear the sight of the ass crack visible in front of us .... we go and park our bikes .....

Ah! there he was, my favourite roadside bookseller .... I buy Jeffrey Archer's "Prodigal Daughter" and Raghu buys John Grisham's "The Summons" ..... For Rs.50 each .... Yep, you can believe this, we get good books for that price, whereas the bookseller charges atleast Rs.80 for the other customers ....

Enter coffee day ..... we find the usual assortment of teens, people in 30s tryin to act like teens, true to themselves and in love type of couples, the waiters with the same old bored look running hither tither ..... And yeah, thank heavens .... NO Q-JAM ..... Instead there's a display stall of some new model of Sony Ericsson phone which could blast music audible to the whole of the coffee outlet ..... Well, it was better than Q-Jam for a while, then began a string of the recent hindi movie hits ..... Jeez, cant these people play something else??

Anyway, coming back to coffee, we order two capuccinos and sit back ..... The waiters dont turn up when we want them and they end up asking us whether we want to place an order, soon after we've placed one ..... When will these people ever learn getting organised??

And there's this cafe manager, we TOTALLY hate this guy, dont know why, probably his face attracts hatred .... He has this paunch and just strolls across the cafe, eyeing women, their assets, a slight wardrobe malfunction .... whatever suits/appeases his demented soul's eyes .....

Coming back to coffee, the usual thing, they give us two capuccinos with one sugar sachet each ..... When will they understand that one 10gm sugar sachet aint enough? ..... We end up askin for one more, EVERYTIME ....

The teens (not older than 16) in the table beside us, two guys and two girls (another guy joined in later and he paid for all of their bills) .... The group were having a pastry, a coffee etc .... whatever they ate, god knows, but they looked constipated ..... Yet they were energetic enough to give us ample entertainment!!

Then came two young ladies, one of them pale and hanging onto the other .... They went towards the restroom and the whole crowd followed them, with their eyes ..... God! why cant they let those two women be at peace? The two male teens in the next table jumped up and ran towards the restroom (I forgot to mention .... hehehe one guy was wearing a T-shirt with Superman's symbol/logo/whatever). They come back and one of the guys (not Mr.Superman) ..... brings out his tongue and says "She was puking ..... ewwww" ...... Why the hell did they bother? =)) ..... why oh why?? and what was the intention of going back there?? Lol ..... we can never understand, neither can those two young lads!!

I intentionally omit the description of Mr.Dinner-man .... the guy who comes to the outlet and has something to eat, EVERYDAY ..... He must have a kick-ass digestive system!!

Ok .... enough of this .... we came out ... another paan for raghu and we return .... nothing that needs special mention happened on our way back .....

What happened next, really lifted up my mood!! To know that, you'd have to wait till my next post ....

Boredom and moving on (with thanks to Manasa Madishetty aka MASH)

Boredom is something that i cannot bear ..... It eats into my system, it corrodes my creativity, it erodes my emotions .... It kills the fun in doing something, anything ..... It plays the spoilsport .... No lethargy here, no laziness ..... Just plain boredom!!

The next step awaits ..... "restlessness" .... this is worse!! It takes the bored mind, twists it till it writhes in agony .... Its that feeling when you want to do something just to break from the shackles of monotony and boredom, but you dont know what to do .... you either dont have something to do or you simply cannot pin-point what you want to do ..... A confusion with nothingness and too-many-choices playing the two sides ....

As i was dribbling these thoughts and was frantically searching for something to do, i realised i better write about it ..... This would atleast release the stress/tension built up inside me from all this confusion and boredom (wow! what a combo ..... confusion and boredom!!) .....

I thought i'd better talk to someone and get an idea as to what to write .... or rather, feed them with the idea and check out whether this blog entry would be meaningful .....

The first name that usually pops up to my mind would be of some new found friend .... And here she was, my darling little new friend ..... Manasa Madishetty (aka MASH, this name reminds me of two things ..... the old-time Star-Plus serial with all those military things and mashed potatoes, yet its her nick and she'd have got it for some reason, maybe as simple as it looks that its picked off MAnasa madiSHetty ..... so i'd give it, its much needed respect and prominence) .....

I message her from my cellphone and begin with a "Hmmm .....", she says "Sorry i could not message earlier .... I was busy cuz i was workin from home .... You said you were bored .... how are things ..... " (or something of the sort) ...... i reply with a "Yeah am bored ...."!! Then i tell her that i'm stuck up with the completion of this blog and its on boredom ...... she says "Move on, find something better and exciting to write on" ...... I say "Hmmm .... How about you, our conversations etc" ...... she says "Move on .... our conversations are not that interesting, find something good" ...... I say "Ok .... will write something"

So here i am ..... sitting to write about something interesting .....

At this moment ..... I get a call from my best pal Raghu ...... he begins with the usual and funny "Yellide?" (which means "Where is it?") ...... I say "Ille computer mundhe ide" ("Its in front og the PC") ..... he says "Coffee kudiyakke barutta adu?" ("Will it come out for coffee?") ..... I say "Barutte aadre adu swalpa wait maadbekagutte ..... ee blog entry mugsi barutte idu" ("It will come, but that(raghu) will have to wait for two minutes till this(me) finishes the blog entry")

Thus the whole plot of writing this blog of boredom is killed too ...... Let me see what is in store for me out there ......

A long long time ago ... (aka Recognition)

Dont know when it was ...... Never knew if it existed ....... Had no sense that it had relevance ..... Have a feeling that these words bring some sleep to your eyes!

I dont know if i should be looking back at times when i was toiling for recognition ........ It is a phase of everyone's life ....... There are days when one looks back and sees that he/she has done the same things repetitively ...... There are days that seem so different from the regular days ....

Just like that day when i rode to my college in a weird mood that it was monday .....

Just like that day when i sat at coffee day sipping coffee ...... almost 4 yrs ago

Just like that day when i read the newspaper with 3 murders, 4 accident deaths, a minor being raped and two communal problems

A different day was when i brought home a puppy from the streets 6 years ago!!

My god!! I realised now that he is 6 years old!! He has been with us for 6 years!! thats so many dog years ....... I have read somewhere that 1 human year = 7 dog years ............ that makes him 42 years old!!

The wise old man ........ oops DOG!! I better not call him DOG ...... his name's Lucky ..... He is definitely more intelligent than men ............ YEAH YEAH ...... women who are reading this ..... dont ya giggle ...... more intelligent than women too .............

He'd be sleeping in the living room and he'd know when i tiptoe into the kitchen and open the box which contains biscuits ........... By the time i return to the kitchen door (hardly 8 feet away) ........ he'll be there ...... drooling and wagging his tail like the propellor of a messerschmitt airplane!!

One whistle is enough to bring him from anywhere in the road ....... yeah he is always outside running and playing on the road ....... he's a common toy for all the kids of our road .........

I usually tell people to ask for "Lucky mane" (The house of 'Lucky') when asking for directions to my house ......... that is once they reach our road ......

Yeah ...... remember i used the word "RECOGNITION" earlier ........... I can relate to it now ......

Our road is Lucky's world ............. He is well recognised, cared for, loved and valued!! He is missed if we dont let him out for a day!!

Guess thats the kinda recognition i am looking for!!

Existence!!

When you find what you want, take it or leave it, it exists!!

Is this MEDIA or a stage for advertisements?

I dont know how to begin this ....... i dont know how the thoughts will be poured ....... i dont know how it will end ...... nonetheless my thinking shall find a written form ......... the same anthem that runs through my head as i begin writing anything!!

The day: 9th september 2007

The TV channel: some Indian News channel

The Event: A report on the preparations for 5th anniversary celebrations of 9/11

The program brought a thought into my mind ...... Why the 30 min report on the preparations for the 5th anniversary of 9/11 ...... We have enough problmes to solve ...... We have enough people dying ..... We have enough to handle ...... Why dont they showcase something useful?

I am not being patriotic, nationalistic or anything near it ...... It is just that so many hours of transmission was being wasted on not-so-important stuff, being relayed by other channels like BBC CNN etc .....

Why dont they spend their money on something useful ..... i cant suggest what they should probe into ....... let them find it for themselves ...... am not here to suggest anyway ....

It happened the next day too ...... were they making use of free footage sent by Uncle Sam?

I wonder whats next? A military parade on 4th July - American independence day? A one-hour program on the lifestyle of Queen of england ..... on her next birthday? A plea from some other country to donate for the upliftment of their country's poor?

We have had so many disasters in our country ....... Jalianwalabagh, deaths during the freedom struggle, so many martyrs dead and so many still suffering .......

Why arent those days remembered? Why dont they remind us of the lost glory ...... the valuable lives lost ...... the days of agony .... etc ...

I think we're selling ourselves .... lets wake up and realise our values!

Finding the simplest of joys!!

I remember those days when i used to smile at the simplest things, like once, i smiled when i saw my favourite shirt washed and hung out to dry! I had worn the shirt a zillion times and it was faded beyond recognition! Everbody but me used to ate the shirt, my mom topping the list! She had kept the shirt hidden for a few months now, and i stumbled upon it and mom had to wash it so that i can wear it! Oh! what amount of persuasion it needed to have my mom wash it! And mind you she uses the washing machine, so it didnt need much of her efforts!

Ok now i get to the question "It makes me wonder what makes us smile and what brings the moments of joy? "

I believe they are those memories, those nostalgic moments, those lost in time yet green in thoughts! How many times have you smiled when you see child jump? Weren't you reminded of those days of childish prancing, those adamant demands for a toy, for a dress, even a chocolate!

I still remember those games played, those friends with curious nicknames like "YentaaNe", how wonderfully well we used to mingle with girls, those pranks, the resulting punishments, the scars of the wounds of childhood - like the one on the knee when i fell of the bicycle while learning to ride it!

Well we have grown havent we!! We have lost those glorious moments of joy, washed away in the tensions and trauma in the journey seeking ACHIEVEMENTS!

What were our acheivements back then? Let me a list a few

1. Having the most golis/tamarind seeds amongst friends
2. Jumping the widest gutter
3. Pulling the tail of the neighbourhood dog and returning unscathed
4. Falling off a tree/compound wall and pretending not to be hurt
this next one is the funniest!!
5. Peeing the farthest or tallest!! Yeah, we used to do that, we used to mark the farthest distance one to could pee and the tallest on could spray! We even used to spray our names on walls! We used to mark the tallest one could pee and try to outdo the best!!

Lol, i cant stop myself from laughing, it sounds funny (and disgusting to some) doesnt it! But we'd have done such things atleast once!

Friends, woah! What a variety of friends we used to have! The one with an eternal hole in his shorts (it would appear in two hours on a new pair of shorts). The one with the eternal running nose with the slimy green mucus being blown into a bubble when he got excited! The one with all the new toys which were broken in a day or two. The one with crooked teeth, the girl with pig tails and the front teeth absent, the one who could get into any gutter and get the ball!!

Woah its a treasure trove of goodies!! Most of them must be engineers, doctors, traders, wives, political honchos and what not!! I have lost track of more than half of the friends i used to have .......

Heyy!! wait a minute ....... while writing this i also realised that i lost track of the subject ....... "Finding the simplest of joys!!"

I could find my share of joy in writing this ....... I know it will connect to some part of your life and would have brought back some sweet memories and made you smile! If you smiled atleast once, i'd be happy ....... if you smiled more than once leave a comment ....... if you laughed at "the peeing adventures" contact me, i probably could teach you the skills even today!!

Keep smiling, thats what we're born for, smiling in the face of adversities!!

Taken away to the depths

As i read on and on about the advancements of communication and stumbled upon the window to sharing information, "A blog". I was awestruck, not only at the opportunity to voice my thoughts and let other to read them, but also that i could read others' views ......

OK OK ..... I know that i've been a bit late to enter this world, but let me start writing. Once i begin writing, maybe a few people would look at my phrases and utter "GIBBERISH", but i wont be deterred, mind you!!

So much for my first post!! Next would be up soon!!