Random Musings

Posession is the order of the day, apparently, especially if you’re in Dutch Orange. Yes, I’m watching the match right nw, and writing as I watch, which explaints the many typos. I got a new apartment today, so I’ll be shifting next week. All very nice.

The Dutch are the flying dutchmen today. They’re going to win Euro 2008, I bet you much and much. Total football perhaps not, but totally engrossing. France is as usual, very French.. muttering to themselves and casting dark looks at the referee.

Mom’s here for a bit, but she’s leaving all too soon.. only this Monday. Sigh. And I couldn’t even take a day or two off.

I’ve got writer’s block. Gnight

It’s lovely weather. The clouds are stacked up high, layered on top of each other. Cool breezes complete the feeling. I’m sitting at Manu’s house, doing nothing much. His sister’s getting married in a couple of days, so we’re roaming about occasionally, doing stuff like ordering 600 biscuits, checking the hotel rooms, buying scented candles, the works.

My knee is much better, but it’s still not fine. That will take some more time. I’m hoping that by the end of this month I should be back to normal and be able to run around. Let’s see how that goes. Walking around is less painful now, thankfully.

So what’s keeping me amused? Wimbledon, of course. Sitting on my couch, with something nice to eat nearby, and the weather mirroring England, what could be better? Especially when there’s such great tennis on show. Serena’s fightback yesterday after getting cramp, Nadal vs Soderling, Djokovic, it’s all here.

10 July 2007

Wimbledon is over, and Federer did what he does, he won. The wedding is over, and now I am looking ahead to my leaving home. Right now I am listening to 29 Palms and singing along. I used to do that a while back with a pal, and it’s still fun, though I miss my friend then.

It’s still raining, and the weather is lovely. My knee is getting better by the day, and I’m now able to walk for longish periods without it hurting. The signs are good that I will be able to play by the end of this month. Of course, I will be in Bangalore by then, but I’m hoping that I can get some sort of physical activity going then. Perhaps some gentle tennis, maybe? Who knows. I will probably be too busy to breathe, even!

I’ve been setting up the computer at home for Mom to use. I’ve installed Ubuntu, since Mom does not care about the OS, she just needs the thing to work so she can access the internet. And remote access is much much easier with Ubuntu, so if I need to fix something for Mom, or show her how something works, I can.

I’m missing a few people, quite a bit more than I expected. It’s funny, cause when I was in college, I’d sorta taken them for granted, and gotten used to their presence. Now that it’s not there, just feels weird.

Anyway, thats the update. Nothing much happening, just making some lists for what I need to get.

And slightly depressed, for reasons that will go unmentioned here.

Ah, where do I begin? I’ve been real busy over the past few days. Let me begin at the beginning, eh? I’ve divided it into days, for your convenience.

Regular readers know that I was going to go for the Iron Maiden concert in Bangalore. So on the 14th of March, I left college, all excited and all. The 15th was Mom’s birthday ( GO MOM!) so I was home for that, and we had a great time. Usual wandering around, eating, and talking lots kind of thing. Home was as always, wonderful.

16th March 2007

My flight to Bangalore was on the 16th, at 6:30 PM, so I caught the morning bus to Delhi, getting more excited. I land up at the airport at 1530, and am told that my flight has been delayed till 8 PM. Sigh and oh well, but not terrible yet, right? Flights get delayed and all that kinda thing. So anyway, I went up to the airport restaurant, and ate. Then I wandered around, read a book, and generally bummed around till 5:30 PM. I was trying hard to get free Wi-Fi, but was not able to ( this led to certain other events.. more on that later) Anyway, I finally decided to go check in.

At 5:35 PM I presented myself at the Air Sahara counter, and politely asked for an aisle seat. Imagine my face when the lady says politely, “Sir, this PNR has been totally cancelled.”
..
…
!!!!
WHAT??

For half a sec, I just stood there. Then, as the import of what she said began to sink in, I stammered out, “B..b..but, there must be some mistake.” Not a very snappy retort, but I was in shock! She told me to go to the reservations counter. I RAN there, through the crowded concourse, with my suitcase on my shoulder for optimum aerodynamic effect. When I reached the counter, there was one chap there asking for a ticket to Bangalore, only to be told that there were none available. My turn came, and I showed the agent my ticket, and asked what the heck was going on.

He tells me that my connecting flight from Hyderabad to Bangalore had been cancelled. Of course Air Sahara cares for it’s passengers, so they put me on the 5 PM direct flight to Bangalore. Sweet of then, no? Except that they forgot to tell me of this. Heck, I actually saw that flight take off, oblivious to the fact that I was supposed to be on it.

So I tell the guy this, and start thinking of alternative plans, along with framing a consumer complaint ( Sue their ass!) in my mind. Outwardly polite and earnest, like a little kid asking for an orange bar, in my head I was decapitating him. He tapped away on his console, and tells me that they can just about fit me on the 8:30 flight to Bangalore. He picked up the phone and called someone and explained the situation. Then he gave me a printout, and told me to hurry back to the check-in counter and speak to Geetanjali.

So back I run, huffing and puffing, and wishing I could blow the house down. I went and asked for Geetanjali, and she finally gave me my boarding pass. Phew!

Of course, after all this excitement, my (new) flight was delayed till 9:30. So I sat in the departure lounge, where finally I had a stroke of luck. Someone, somewhere had setup free Wi-Fi access. I blessed that unknown hero, and browsed the net for an hour or two, reading up on how to hack Wi-Fi networks, just to learn about it.

The flight was uneventful, and I landed at Bangalore at 12 AM. A short taxi ride later, and I was at my Uncle’s place, where I would be staying. We chatted for a while, about science, religion, philosophy and other such high-brow stuff, and then I hit the sack.

17th March, 2007

Woke up bright and early, all set for my interview with a major publishing company. I changed into my formal trousers, and headed out. On the way, I noticed yet again that Bangalore is a beautiful city. It’s the weather, y’see. It’s sunny and bright, but not hot. It makes you feel glad to be alive, and all rearing to go.

My interview was in the office building close to the Taj. I was asked to wait for a while, so I opened my laptop just to see if there was wireless access anywhere. Surprisingly, I was able to connect to the Taj’s network! I could not browse, since they had a MAC address based security setup. I knew that I could get in, but I had forgotten the command to clone a MAC address in Linux. While I was trying to figure that out, the guy I was supposed to meet came out.

The interview was rather fun. He was friendly, and obviously interested in finding about about me, and what I was all about. It was a very relaxed interview, and I liked the place. Apparently, they liked me too, cause he said that they will make me an offer. I haven’t got it yet, so I don’t know yet if I am potentially employed.

So after the interview, a quick auto ride back home to change into appropriate attire.. Black T-Shirt, and scruffy jeans. Then off to MG Road to meet the guy who had my ticket. At 1:30 PM, I had it in my hands.. A rectangle of cardboard, with a shiny hologram. My ticket! To IRON MAIDEN. I still could not believe that I was going. And I’m not even a fan

Since there was still some time left, I went to this pub called Styx, which is close by. I met up with a couple of good friends from Jaipur, and we headbanged there till 3.

And then, we left for the venue.

Arrived there to see thousands of black t-shirts streaming in. Everyone and their dog seemed to be there, and we joined the teeming hoards. Inside the main gates, we stopped to wait for some guys to catch up. As we stood there, observing, I was hailed by a familiar voice.. “Aditya?”

I looked at the guy, not recognizing him for a moment, mentally flipping through my catalogue of people I know in Bangalore. Then the penny dropped! It was Prateek Kuhad, all the way from jaipur, bunking his exams to come see the show. heh heh heh. The two of us were equally surprised to see each other, but it was fun. Haven’t met him for a long while.

At about 3:30, we were finally in! The Palace Grounds in Bangalore is like a big dusty field that had mats laid, and a big stage at one end. The stage was divided into two parts. The front bit had a couple of drum kits, guitars, mic stands and the like, for the opening acts. Behind this, there was a mysterious black cloth covering some manner of strange setup. It looked like a small mountain range covered with a black cloth..

We sat down, about 30 feet from the stage. And the, barring a brief trip to the loo, which by the way were nice clear portable toilets, and to purchase the official T-Shirt, we sat there till five thirty. The crowd kept on growing, and it was clear that if we had moved, we would have lost our places. And that would be a calamity beyond imagining, oh yes. Worse than Nuclear War, Armageddon and Ragnarok all put together. So we sat there, occasionally shifting weight to stave off cramp and pins and needles.

I was supposed to write more, and I am, but read this at least.. more very quick, I promise