Eragon at E-Square!!!

It was a once-in-a-lifetime movie show. Few movie shows get this interesting. It was the 8.30 PM show of Eragon this Saturday (14-April-2007) at E-Square, Pune. I went there with my friends: Jitender, More and Chhoton - the Chhota Don!

As usual, I started my "Chalo Movie Chalte Hain" fight on Saturday, around "shaam-ke" types. Jeetu, More, Mac (a.k.a. Macchar) and I had a Yahoo Messenger chat conference to discuss about it. More wanted to get emotional and so wanted to go for a senti movie. The available options were - Persuit of Happiness, Eragon, Bandidas and Bheja Fry. More wanted Persuit of Happiness. I also. Jeetu wanted Bandidas, coz it had female Daakoos. Mac wanted to study, and so refused to come for movie. I suggested Bheja Fry also coz it had good artists and was also a Hindi Movie - so that we could understand it also besides watching. Chhoton was not available for chat. So his opinion was not known. But I knew he wud never agree for Persuit of Happiness. He is more of the Eragon kind, just like Jeetu is the Bandidas kind.

We reached the hall at around 7.30 PM. Persuit of Happiness was at 7.30 and Eragon was at 8.30. Jeetu and Chhoton expressed reluctance to go for Persuit of Happiness. So More and I compromised and agreed for Eragon, whose show was at 8.30 PM. I rejected Jeetu's idea of Bandidas, and luckily he didn't find any support. So Eragon at 8.30 was finalized and we bought the tickets.

We spent the one hour we had till the show by eating something and watching gals and getting sad about not having any with us, as usual. Chhoton almost cried when he saw one Aunty and Uncle making love in a corner...

The movie was at Screen-4. The entrance to the hall was opened pretty early - almost 15 minutes before the show. This does not normally happen. Like most people do before the movie starts, we all went to the toilet and did susu. Then we entered the hall and sat on our seats. Ours were the last 4 seats in the 3rd row from the top. More, I, Chhoton, Jeetu - we sat in this order starting from the end of the row. Jeetu was hoping a gal would come and sit by his side. But before long a guy came with his girl-friend. He himself sat by Jeetu's side and made the gal sit next to him. Jeetu was visibly disappointed. More discovered that the hand-rest (or whatever u call it...that separates 2 seats, you can keep your hands on it, and it has a hole for the pop-corn thing and cold-drinks) between the first 2 seats of a row, perhaps on both sides of it, could be turned upwards and gotten rid of. The rest were rigid. We understood why couples prefer corner seats, i.e., Kone Waali Seat - coz they are more convenient for Pappi Jappi in the absence of the seperator.

The movie started. It went on pretty smoothly till the interval. There was a dragon that came out of an egg...a boy whom the dragon chose to be it's rider. There was a bad guy. And he had to be killed.

Since Englis movies don't have an "Intermission" defined beforehand, they are stopped at some arbit point, followed by a transparency saying that it's the Interval and now you can go out and come back with pop-corn. Chhoton also went out and came back with caramel flavoured pop-corn. I had never tried it before. I liked the flavour.

The movie resumed. And now started the commedy of errors. Whoever was playing the reel played it from some other arbit point. A considerable part was skipped, and I am sure even guys could figure that out, coz everyone in my group did. And, believe me, we only know litil litil Englis, like all other guys. Still we knew something was missed. Coz one guy in the movie, who was helping the hero Eragon, was fit and strong before the interval. But after the interval, he was dying...for no reason.

Everyone in the hall seemed to have ignored the missing scene, as is common in India, and continued watching the movie. I think it's an amazing level of smartness and maturity that we possess. We try to fill all the gaps by assuming whatever comes to our minds and go ahead with the movie, without bothering too much about silly things. Afterall, how does it matter if the guy was dying because the villain stabbed him or because he had a curse from some Rishi-Muni in his previous birth?

However, not all of us are that smart. About 30 minutes after the interval, just when Eragon was killing the villain by stabbing him in his heart, the movie was turned off. I guess it would have taken just 15-20 minutes more, without cuts, for the movie to complete. A guy wearing a tie came inside the hall from the rear entrance, stood in front and shouted - "There was a scene that was missed soon after the Interval. I apologize for that. I am going to rewind the movie and play if from where we stopped at the Interval." Most of us in the hall were totally taken by surprize at whatever was happening. What he meant was that he was going to play the entire thing from where he left at the Interval. We had already seen 30 mins of that part. So essentially, all that was going to be repeated along with the 3-4 minutes of whatever that was skipped. This was ridiculous. I shouted - "Yaar, play only the part that was missed". But he ran away. The ladies sitting in the row behind ours looked at me and smiled. I Shabasshhed myself.

Before we could wonder much about who the hell requested for the repeat, 2 gals came inside talking loudly so that everyone listened - "How could he cut the scene like that? I told him - repeat or give my money back!!!" - and gave all the saas-bahu tu-tu-mai-mai fighting-against-injustice gestures and expressions all in one go.

Repeating the entire part was logical from those girls' point of view, coz while they were fighting against insjustice, they must have lost some part of the movie. So, the movie started again, from the point where it was stopped for the Interval.

It was fun watching all that again. We started testing our memories by trying to recall the dialogs. I could recall a few, and uttered them loud just before they were said in the movie...to impress the back row chicks. They giggled on a few occasions.

But as we were enjoying watching this part of the movie the second time, we could hear noises coming from the rear entrance of the hall. There were 2 guys fighting with the Manager. This time, the reason as I could hear them shout was - "Why the hell should we be made to watch the movie second time? Our time is getting wasted." The guys were really shouting loud and were creating an awkward scene for the Manager, in front of those waiting outside for the next movie on our screen, and on the adjacent screens. The movie was almost at the point where we had stopped the first time for a rewind. And lo, it was stopped again. Everyone was confused. Someone said we were going to get a refund, and the show was over.

Amidst all this confusion, the girl who faught against injustice went out again and came back with 2 security guards. She told them her seat number. It was somewhere in the middle of a row that was 2 rows in front of us. The guards asked everyone to make way, went straight to the seat she mentioned and checked for something under it. I shouted - "Is that a cockroach?" Some laughed. The gaurds said there was nothing. The girl was embarrassed. She said "it" was right there. I wondered what they were talking about. Nobody had a clue, except that gal and the guards.

And now, everyone started moving out of the hall. The Manager announced that we could get a refund by showing our tickets. I felt bad. I wanted the movie to be played till the end. I shouted - "Why don't we stay back and make them play the movie till the end." At this, one lady said - "No No, the kids have to go to bed", gently pushing her kid to move out. I said - "Ok then" and we also moved out.

We went straight to the ticket counter to collect our refunds. As we were wondering what was under that girl's seat, the lady whose kid had to go to bed started doing ui maa ui maa. She had left her tickets in the pop-corn's thing. And by that time, the housekeeping staff must have taken all that and threw away as trash. She was denied the refund coz she couldn't produce the tickets. We went to help her as true gentlemen. We told the cinema-hall-staff giving the refunds that she was there in the hall, we had seen her, etc etc. One guy who was the Manager started arguing with us that one should always keep his/her tickets till the end. Well that was true, but then I said "It happens, sometimes people lose...Imagine, it also happens that shows are stopped in the middle and people given refunds." At this, the Manager got senti and angry at the same time. He started explaining how some guys had threatened to shout in the hall if the movie was not stopped and refunds not done, coz their "time" was getting wasted. I had no good reply for this. Probably he had no better option. I just said "Ultimately people who stay calm like us suffer." He said "Sorry." I guess that settled it.

Meanwhile the lady got the refund. She shouted a small "thanks", which none of my friends heard, and went away. We got our bikes from the parking, and went back home.

Inequality of Income in India

These BSchool Grads are earning lot lot money. One person offered more than crore per month. Udi Baba! What will he do to deserve that much? I don't know. I earn one thirtieth of that amount. That is, (= i.e.,) his salary divided by 30, and that amount approximately. And I often think what I do ever, I mean what ever I do, I not deserve my salary. That man also got 24 hour in day. Woman also same case. Work that person do only 8-9 hour. Per hour that person (bole to he/she) earn more than 3000 rupees. Again Udi Baba! This is ridiculous. So much for decision making, which assistant make...haha...and not even every hour...most time spent on hifi chatter boxing...And other incentive also they get...like sexy secratry or secratraa...for timepassing.

Salary normalization must be there na...isn't it? Hugely huge inequality of income in this country. Look farmer suiciding becoz not getting enough to eat and feed family and cow. And this MBA getting more than crore, plus secratry. Something wrong with model, in first place...and second place also...problem with capitalism...it success in poor country only at the cost of poor people...poor becoming poorer, rich richer...and middle income also get richer...finally poor wiped out, and country is all rich...but that is not the right way to grow na...it is like telling poor people ki u r burden on country, we not need you...but the fact is, they are poor becoz the rich deprive them of resources for their own benefit and to improve their own standard of living and dying...

When I was small, I read in book - Inequality of income is bad and is problem in India. Now it is getting bigger Seriouser problem. Solve how? By more responsible economic desicions by Corporates and Govt at the same time. 9% GDP growth is like growth in heap of shit if only small segment of population enjoying its benefits and large poor people still poor and poorer. Growth is inevitable. But we need to grow in right manner. It is easy to get carried away at this stage by sheer numbers. But unless we interpret them the way they ought to be, they drift us in wrong wrong directions.

TaTa Bye Bye Kuchi Kuchi

We know and understand so little of the Universe, and what we do is actually just by a few individuals, who take pains to document all gathered knowledge for people who care, and are capable enough, to go through, validate and think further. And so the knowledge passes over ages. It's funny the way the creator created all this apparently mathematical universe and dropped us on a small round body called the earth (by us) to spend our time trying to figure things out, trying to know the reality. It's possible that somewhere else there are people who've discovered some other realities which are still hidden to us. I often feel that the 'reality', per sé, can't be so complicated. I was trying to discuss this the other day with Laajo. She is a Physics professor at Raapchaandoos Institute of Technology, Bilaspur. As always, she said 'stupid', slapped gently on my face, wore her chunni, said 'TaTa Bye Bye Kuchi Kuchi', and left for her lecture.

Happy Birthday To Me!

I've become 25 years old today. It cannot be considered an achievement since time passes on its own and we keep growing. As I look back, I find my 25 years full of experiences of many kinds. I regret some of my actions. And there are many things I feel happy about. I applaud myself for many of my choices. And there are a few I curse myself for and I guess I will keep doing that all my life, unless memory fails me. I am lucky to have been gifted with some of the best people to share my life with. I am grateful to whoever conceived and created this beautiful setting for my "Life".

I've come a long way since those simple childhood days. And yet, a closer look at myself reveals that it's not really that long a way. In fact, I am still where I have always been. And I will always be right there...right here. But something has changed.

Life is like a game where you have to keep walking. Choose your directions at each step and keep moving. There is no option to stop. At each step, you get a new mask. Wear it over the old ones if you feel like. We grow thick layers of masks as we walk into darkness, under faint spot-lights lighting each one of us. There is no destination, there is no goal. Throughout our lives we try to run away from death, live best hoping that we can manage to evade it by our cleverness and trickery. Though it's ironical that the best is often close to the worst.

There was a time when I was so small that everyone else around me seemed very big. I used to stick my face against the metal frame of the closed iron gate which served as entrance to my house, to look outside. Everyone else in my family was tall enough to see from above the gate. I was allowed a limited view of the world outside. I kept growing, and one day I was also tall enough. The gate ceased to be a barrier. I could see the world without obstructions. I also grew smart with time. I learnt to open the gate. One day, I walked out of it right into the world I was shielded from. The world which I had always wondered about. And as the world unfolds itself to me, I find fewer things in it that tickle my childish mind.

The first of the free airs that I breathed choked my lungs. It had dust, it had dirt, it smelt bad, it burnt my insides. I could see it if I tried hard enough. But its ability to kill was equalled, perhaps outdone, by an amazing ability to keep one alive, and breathing. With time, it made me fall in love with it. I've started enjoying the murkiness it induces to my vision. I cannot see far - the air doesn't allow me to. I want to walk slow, taking small steps, knowing where I am going. But there is a rush. One gets pushed or crushed. I prefer the former, it keeps me alive. We all move fast, carried away in the hungry tide of people. Not to a shore, there is no shore.

I hope, some day, when I can see my feet again, when I can bend down and run my fingers gently on my toe, when I can see the world with all its myriad colors, and wonder - where lies my destination, when I breathe the scent of freshness in the mysterious tranquility of the air, I will be born again, thence to live till eternity.

Digressive

I wrote a 'path-breaking' article on life yesterday. After I finished the article, I left the notepad open and went home. When I came back this morning, I 'accidentally' closed the notepad. The poor thing asked me if I wanted to save the file. Something made me click on "No". The article was gone.

I don't think I can re-think all those things again. Will definitely try. But I am sure any attempt will lead to a new line of thought and all those thoughts are not going to come back in their original hue. Though the new ones may be better, they will definitely not be the same.

Long back, when I was in my 12th standard, I wrote a 2-page-long poem in Hindi. I had it with me for 2 years. Then I lost it. It was a wonderful poem. Came from the deepest depths of my heart. I remember a few lines of it. Once I also tried to reproduce the poem by combining the lines that I remembered with some new ones by recalling the message and emotion that I wanted to convey. But the result was not as good. Nor was I so much in touch with the feelings that I had experienced when I was writing the original poem, though they were very much my own. One can never revisit the exact state of mind one has at a particular moment.

We all seem to be travelling into future. When we say 'Time Travel', it essentially means travelling faster than others into future. We are all continuously going into future. It means Time Travel is natural to our existence. We are so much used to thinking of 'travelling' as in terms of distances that we cannot imagine what travelling in time could mean. Even our clocks have a distance-representation of time. It could be a 'hand' covering circular distances at a specific speed. Or a digital clock which shows numbers whose periodicity of change we relate to some periodic motion in a way. We don't realize this, coz since childhood we've trained our minds to do this spontaneously. May be the most basic correlations are the movements of the Sun, the Moon, planets...It may also be like identifying instants with a particular state or position of a particular object, like the Sun. Coordinates are again distances relative to fixed references.

That was just a thought. It may not be true.

I am just wondering what should be a better way of looking at and understanding time at a very basic level, and whether a different way of looking at it has any advantages. Any ideas on this?

Am enjoying the digressions. A friend just phoned me. He had a question which according to him only I could answer. It was - "Why do people like the smell of their own fart but not of others'?" For a moment I thought - "do they?"

Then I felt I don't really hate my own fart so much. So it's more like not hating rather than liking. A related fact is that people don't mind washing their own shit with their own hands. The reason, I feel, is that a person's fart or shit is his/her 'own'. They may be one's dirt or waste material. But like a person always accepts his/her bad qualities, ugly physical features, etc., similarly a person accepts his/her fart and shit without complaining. They are a part of one's existence. My friend found this answer pretty logical. But then, he had something to add. That some people even start liking such things of their own. Like another friend of ours who enjoys farting loud, coz that way there is least smell, according to him. So finally, we concluded that people definitely don't hate such things, coz they are their own, and some even develop a liking for them.

I think another digression is necessary at this point, otherwise whoever reads might get frustrated. I am bound to enjoy this coz it's my own bakwaas. Wow, the above logic seems to apply in a lot of cases!

I was named Fartu during my 1st year in college. Not that I used to fart a lot. I mean I used to fart a lot, but not literally. 'Fart' also meant useless bakwaas which I used to do in plenty during my first few days in college. But this name did not become very popular. Nor did I. Coz I was one of those Enthu-less, homesick Freshies who didn't take part in anything, didn't give gaalis, didn't attend lectures, didn't mix with the 'bad boys' and didn't talk to any senior. I think these 5 are the success mantras for any college student. If you do these properly, in a college good enough, you can hope to be short-listed by McKinsey. I may be exaggerating...not sure whether about McKinsey or about the 5 mantras...there are many other good companies...there are many other ways to succeed...hmmm...I guess that explains why I am not in McKinsey :D

If you want to speak like P.Chidambaram, it's pretty simple. Always start your speech with "There is a saying in Thhamil". And after that talk any gibberish like "un pondati seriyaana naatu katta - meaning winners do things differently". And then start your speech. Make sure there is no one among the listeners who knows tamil ;-)

I hate reading blog posts which start with "This is my first serious post" or "This is my first attempt at writing something serious" or "I am trying to write something serious this time" or "This is my first attempt at serious blogging" or something like that. It totally turns me off. I think it is best to leave on the readers to form their opinions and comment on the nature of an article.

I need to make sure none of my own posts start like that :D But then, my 'own' posts cannot turn me off (by that 'fart' logic). And I don't know if it turns others off as well. Please let me know...(if you answer this question, I'll know that you've read the complete post :-P)

India - in Europe !!!

This morning, I checked what's written about India on wikipedia. The very first line surprized me. It says: The Republic of India (Hindi: Bhaarat Ganaraajya), commonly known as India, is a country in Europe. Click Here to read the complete article. Since the site is a Wiki, I think this error will be fixed by someone very soon. Also, a lot more information can be added in there about India. I may think about doing that some time, 'if mood strikes'. You can do it too!

CHEERS!!!

A few days back, I started the second innings of my drinking career. The motto this time is "Responsible Drinking". It started with my B'day treat on the 2nd of March. No, it wasn't my b'day really. I wanted to go on a treat, and nobody else was game to sponsor it. So I preponed my own b'day treat. I drank less than what I am capable of drinking without getting high. A few days after that, I had one small peg of Smirnoff Vodka during lunch. That was like 'OOnth ke mOO mein jeera'. And today I had beer for a change - 2 pints of Haywards 5000. For the first time, beer chadh gayee. My hostel-mate Ankit Bhargav used to stay awake all night and do a lot of nautanki after drinking a can of beer, shouting 'piyela hai apun' and knocking on every door of the wing. Beer is never so strong. Neither is it tasty. Wonder why people drink the bitter liquid. "Bumps" was all Ankit used to get in return for his nautanki.

I have mentioned in one of my earlier posts - drunk and blogging - about how I started drinking. I also talked about how I gave millions of innovative gaalis to my first-year room-mate after having a mixture of a lot of neat whisky, vodka and whatever Jeetu mixed and gave me to drink. It was great. I would love to do that again. Kaash somebody could record all those gaalis. I do remember feebly what happened that night. My x-roomie had said "Sudhar ja saale, kya buddhon ki tarah rehta hai"...not sure why he said that...possibly coz I didn't have a girl-friend or because he was too jealous of my maturity...haha... I also got irritated by something Somnath said, but I don't remember what it was. That was the most heavily-drunk I ever got. The only occasion when I didn't know what I was doing and when I eventually even spewed the daaroo. I remember in bits and pieces, how I was taken back to the hostel, how I pretended not to be drunk in front of the watchmen (who knew anyway), how I was stripped to chaddi (has this word already been added to english dictionaries?) and made to sit under the tap by Jeetu. I remember all this in flashes. I was totally gone. I got up next afternoon to find myself in my underpants and my spects safely placed on my table. Got up and checked my email to find one from Bablu, my BTech Project guide, that I had to do a few more compaction tests on 70:30 Kaolin-Sand mixture.

On one occasion, I drank 5 large pegs of Smirnoff Vodka and started speaking some alien language. I did realize that I was talking some crap, but I had no control over what I was talking at that time and I also wasn't conscious enough to make any sense out of it.

Another horrible experience at daarubaazi was in the recently held pan-IIT meet. The daaroo was served free, in the ICICI building at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai. The pan-IIT meet aimed to "Inspire, Involve, Transform" all IITians to work for India and thereby transform our country into a developed nation. Not sure how much of that purpose it attained, but there did happen a high level of Business Networking over there. Every delegate was charged Rs.2500/-. And in return for my 2500 bucks, I got to see the President - who talked about Carbon Nano Tubes, Lara Dutta - who gave fundaes on life to women, Nandan Nilekani, Shashi Tharoor - who spoke beautifully but ended up saying nothing useful, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar - who lives life very artfully, Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia - who was quite polite and smiled at a once-more from an ex-IITian and then said "Ok, we will play something", Shivamani - the drummer, Louis Banks, Shankar Mahadevan - breathless as always, Ehsan, Loy and many many entrepreneurs. I also got a Delegate's Kit which I lost. More on that later...

Most ex-IITians I met had started their own company. It was like either you had a company of your own, or you had to say you were willing to start one. Otherwise, you were a misfit in the event. One Sardar, who was a collector in Punjab asked me what I wanted to do. Without hesitating, I said "I want to Start up". On this, the Sardar gave me a wicked smile, as if after a long time he got someone to play Jhhingalala with. He asked me when I'd start. I said I was thinking and may be I'd start a company after doing MBA. He got my weak point. He almost shouted at me "Sochte rahoge to kuch nahi hoga, kood pado. Nandan ko dekho, usne itni badi company daal dee". He was probably referring to Nandan Nilekani. They must be langotiya yaars. He also criticized MBA's. "MBA's can only get you jobs in big companies. If you want to be an entrepreneur, MBA won't help you in any way". Then he gave me fundas about latest trends in business. He started talking about RFID tags which according to him was something I should think about. I pretended to be very interested in what he was talking. But, this may make you think I am stupid, I didn't know what RFID tags were. (Do many people know? It often happens with me - I don't know something and when I come to know of it, I find that everyone else knows it). I was scared that the sardar might ask me a question related to RFID tags. A guy, who was my junior during college days and who is now working in the US, was also sitting with me. He knew what RFID tags were, seemed to impress the Sardar by reacting with the right body movements, facial expressions and vocal sounds. He even added a few points to what the sardar was telling. The Sardar looked at me as if I was his prey. Lugai, a.k.a. Prashant Hiran was also sitting with me. I don't think he understood anything either. The Sardar gave me his card and went away.

I spoke to quite a few entrepreneurs during the 3-day event. One common suggestion that almost all of them gave was to get married. The logic was that if your wife earns, you can go around taking risks and starting companies. Well, that makes sense. Just make sure you put an RFID tag on your ass so that your wife can track you.

At the cocktail, I met a few very interesting guys - a sardar with a bunch of funny guys. I drank with them and we all shouted shit. Wonder who all of them were. That's the most interesting thing about drinking. You drink and then you do all kinds of bakwaas with guys whom you've never met before, and then you talk all personal things and crack stupid jokes like the closest pals, but in the end you go away in different directions not to meet ever again.

I don't remember how I came back from the ICICI building, where the cocktail was organized, to the MMRDA grounds, where the pan-IIT event was taking place. The next scene after the ICICI building that I can recall being in, is that in which I was sitting in front of a literature professor of IIT Bombay. I faintly remember that as I enetered the venue, I saw her sitting with her husband. I went close to their table, asked for permission, and sat with them. I am polite even when drunk. I told her that I was pretty drunk and to pardon all my gustaakhis that she was soon going to witness. She said she was ok with it. Then I talked to her all through the dinner. Don't know what we talked. I did give her my blog's URL and also told her that I wanted to write a book and needed her help. I came to know that I also took her email id, as I found it in my pocket the next day. I had done an introductory course in English Literature in which she taught "Doll's House", the play by Ibsen. I told her that I had always thought she was a very strict prof, but now she seemed very frendly.

The prof finished her dinner and left with her husband. Lugai joined me with Amrish Acharya and another alumnus from IIT Bombay, 1984 passout. The alumnus was also very drunk. Lugai (who has never tasted daaroo) asked the alumnus the most common question at the event - "Who do you work for?", and he got the most common reply of the event too - "I work for myself", followed by "Do you have any problem?". Lugai would have run away, if he didn't have to pretend that he was unperturbed. After that the alumnus gave many fundas about women and starting companies. Sorry, I don't remember any.

After this, we went into the hall in which Shankar, Ehsan and Loy were performing. I didn't hesistate the least bit and started dancing. Daaroo is great if you want to get rid of your shyness. Lugai was still standing far from the stage, he was still too shy to dance. I danced like a mad man for about 30 mins. In the end, when the stars had left, one Sardar took the mike and sang a song on friendship and good times. Everyone was clapping and applauding him. I also felt like singing, so I requested for the mike. I got it.

Kishore Kumar's "Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna" is normally the first song that comes to mind on any senti occasion. I felt a kind of competition with the Sardar. So I had to sing the best I could. But as I started singing, I realized that daaroo had badly choked my throat, and my voice was badly cracking. But I had never sung with more energy. I was singing and also dancing in front of 1000 people who were standing still. That for me is an unimaginable thing to do in a normal state.

One of my biggest worries as I was singing was whether I'd be able to recall the whole song in such state as I was in. Still, I started and went on singing. At the end of each line, I tried to recall the next line and there it was on my lips. I sang the whole song without a stop or confusion anywhere. I'd say, singing wise, it was my worst singing performance, and after half the song, quite a few in the hall started feeling disinterested, some got irritated, some turned to go out. But I totally enjoyed singing that night. It was the first time I could dance alone without worrying about anyone else, without any mental inhibitions and sing the loudest I could. After I finished the song, I started to say "Thank you dear friends, I know I am drunk, but It's fun to be with you all, and I will always remember this day". Something like that, but I had barely started, in fact said it till "I know", when the mike was plugged out. I felt a little embarrassed. Everyone stared at me for a while as if I was a mad man doing clumsy things in front of the elite. For a while, I couldn't figure out whether to be happy or upset. But it takes a lot of effort to concentrate well enough to stay confused while you are drunk.

As I was coming out of the hall some of my friends patted my back and said "Koi Nai, Accha Gaaya"...why were they confused? Soon after I came out, I found that I didn't have my "Delegate's Kit" with me. Don't know where I'd left it - ICICI building, dinner table, somewhere on the roads, or the hall in which Shankar, and later I performed. So after paying 2500 bucks I didn't have anything to carry back home. The Delegate's Kit consisted of a few useless books and one T-Shirt placed in a nice executive bag. I was sad at having lost the T-Shirt and the bag. I felt a sudden bout of kleptomania as I was walking out of the venue.

The huge loss made me want to quit drinking. I made resolutions as well. But then, drinking is fun, if done responsibly and within limits. So "responsible and not-too-frequent" drinking is the way to go from now on!

Had 2 pints of beer during the lunch hour today! It's been great working in the office after that! I did some great coding too! Also had my performance appraisals! Boss said "Great Job Done"!