Time's Up

Valentine's Day 2005, the last day in Akron, Ohio. No more left to do...Nothing more left to say...but the one word that I have been repeating for the last few hours...Good Bye
My days in akron have been great...everyone has been great to me...and i thank you for it all! Me and Hemant sat down today...and discussed life...both here and back home...the ageing process...the growing process...how everything about our situation is perfect...college life extended to the fullest...till you eek out the last remaining drop of fun...great relationships...bad relationships...good friends...some that will last a life time...some that the waves of time will rub out from your memory...but through it all...it feels great to say...I was here...a small part of a whole...making up the community and sharing it for a few years...without the strong wall of parents, siblings, or age old friends to rely upon...we all walked the path together...i've heard some where that it is never about the destination...but what you make of the journey that gets you there...and you people have made it a memorable one! and to think i didn't know you existed three years ago...so back to the discussion we had today...the fact that whenever you start out at a new place...with the same tools...you swim as hard as you can against the tide coming into the shore...it might take years to fight off that tide...but there will be a time when you have overcome what initially seemed to be impossible, insormountable, you will look up...and see what you have been dreaming of...the perfect wave...the perfect sorroundings...the perfect condition...and that's when the fight is over...you have outdone the incoming tide...and now it's time to Glide...

Everytime I look at this...I fail to understand what the great Salvador Dali was trying to convey to us...Tell me what you think...and please don't look it up online cuz it will spoil the fun 

The Season Of Joy

Have yourself a merry little Christmas.
Let your heart be light,
From now on our troubles
Will be out of sight.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Make the Yule-tide gay,
From now on our troubles
Will be miles away.

Here we are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore,
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more.

Through the years
We all will be together
If the Fates allow,
Hang a shining star
On the highest bough,
And have yourself
A merry little Christmas now.

SX8

That's what my baby, Honda City 1.5 Exi non-Vtec, back in India is called. I was lucky enough to have been given this beautiful piece of machinery once my dad was done with it. You have to understand that traditionally the cars we drive in india are not based on power! But economy...Anyway, there she was standing in front of me! My first car...I still remember the first time i took it out! My dad was sleeping and me and my boys went for a drive to town...and I just let it drive me! It was beautiful...the powerful (indian standards) 100 Hp 1.5 liter engine...brakes smooth like butter...and the sound....man i was in love! That car made me wanna know about cars! And now i do...just because of the SX8...So a couple summers ago...my dad gave me the permission to mess around with the car, buy a turbo kit, change the rims, a new paint job, the works...and i did....it was great sitting in that garage...and just watching them work on MY CAR....and the first time we took it out...two mechanics, Sid and myself...with the turbo installed...that was a day to remember...no seats...but we packed in there...and here I am now...looking to start over...

Everybody needs a project...something close to their heart...this is mine...and will always be...
New Mods in 2005:

Overboost Stage III turbo kit
Brembo Big brake kit
Apex'i Rear drum to disc conversion kit

WISH ME LUCK

Contents

You thought I was gonna write something deep and meaningful...just like i always do...but no...this one is different...yeh kahani zara hatke hain...sorry bad joke...the contents i'm gonna tell you about are of my garbage can!
Now you must be thinking...damn! he's lost it...i may have...but what the hell...I'm soon to become a POLYMER ENGINEER...i think everybody who gets here loses something or the other...so here goes...

Gatorade Fierce Grape( i like grape its tangy )

Two bags of EAT FRESH...YOUUUUUU Guessed IT (SUBWAY-that idiot gave me a six inch instead of a foot long...come on... i know i look thin and all but a six inch sub for a man?)

A coupla cans of pepsi (bought at tops FOUR CASES FOR 10 Dollars)

Ruffles LAYS (It wasnt me...I would never abuse my body like that)

DAMN! I forgot i just consumed an entire third world coutry's supply of TACO BELL

SO YEAH I DO ABUSE IT SOMETIMES...

Ferrero Rocher...classic, favorite, overdone...whatever you might call it...it's GOOD

Thats about it! All this over the weekend...working at school...writing my thesis...by the way...I'm on page 123...pbb about 35 more to go

IM GREAT AT BULLSHITTING...WATCH ME DO IT LIVE IN JANUARY (defence of my thesis)

Life

Don't underestimate the ability of physical exhaustion to make you feel relaxed
Don't underestimate the ability of music to uplift your spirit
Don't underestimate the ability of boredom to slowly bring you down
Or, in a second, for life to pick you right back up

Good Times!

Damn! I love this place...I was in Minneapolis for thanksgiving...and didn't have a car...so hung out at home...my uncle and aunt were never home...so i stayed home...four out of the six days...spent a total of 3 hours working out...two days with my best friend...doing nothing....just hanging out...and decided to come back a couple days early! Even though priya said that we were supposed to go shopping, go out and go snowboarding over the weekend...i just had to come home...i spent two days with her...but all we did was argue and fight and fight...didn't get along with her...loved it! It was just like it always was! When I went to school there...we were always fighting...over stupid things...both of us being stubborn didn't help the situation...both of us hate saying sorry...or never believe that we did anything wrong...so yeah...it was just like old times...so i decided to come home! Couldn't take anymore of her bickering...hahaha.....she would kill me if she ever read this...but i feel closer to her now...isn't that wierd...anyways...we had this wierdness the last few times we met...i guess it was just some kind of attraction...coz...shes been my best bud for a while...and i have been the same for her...and i guess...i did start to think of her as the ONE! But now I don't...i know where i stand with her...who she is for me...and it was great talking to her last night...and just spilling everything out to her...all my daily crushes...hookups everything...something i hadn't done for a while...fearing...WE might take a step back...but i love this here...she is great...she is perfect...she's just not the one for me! I love having a clean slate...FINALLY! I love starting from scratch! I love not knowing...or wanting someone! It's liberating!

And yeah...I LOVE THIS CITY...it might be the ghetto'est of towns in america...but damn! I love the people I've met here

Inspiration

So i'm sitting here...on my desk...typing on my computer...not knowing what i'm about to write about...except for the fact the inspiration is the thing i want to write about...it just sounds right...i want to know what inspires you! what motivates you...to do what you do...i need some myself now...i finished chapter 3 in my thesis two days ago...and i'm stuck...two full days and one paragraph added...it sucks to have to try and write...it would be nice to finish it though...so talking about inspiration...i saw a very inspiring one this weekend...Veer Zaara...inspiring in many ways...inspired me to get back home quick...there was this one song...about how great things are back home...and really...we never really think about it but things are great back home...sure you don't drive the best car around...you don't live in a mansion...but there is this one thing that you can't put your finger on...but you can sense it around you...it's an uplifting feeling...we forget that when we come here...we forget what it feels like and get intoxicated by what this country has to offer...i am...i am inspired to get that back...to feel that again...but first i need to finish this damn thesis

Jim and Kate

How happy is the blameless Vestal’s lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sun-shine of the spotless mind!
Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resigned.

Watched this great movie last night...Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind...there have been few and far between that have appealed to me in more than one way...i wouldn't want to spoil the movie for anyone who read's this but...i wish you had seen it and i could say whatever i wanted to...anyway...the question arises...how would you react to life if you hadn't been hurt...or if you had been, you didn't remember...you know...had a clean slate...didn't have past experiences to have learnt from...just a pure, clean, fresh mind...nothing scared you...nothing to remind you of something else...didn't have anything corrupt your current experience...just the moment you were living....just 'now' to worry about...i think this a great movie because it makes you wonder...most of us have been 'burnt' in relationships...or non-relationships...just think if you didn't remember...would you approach...a new person...a new situation with as much caution as you do now? all relationships, when they end, suffer from a lack of trust...after the promise of a perfect future has evaporated...all the small things are magnified...until it becomes intolerable...what if you knew all the shortcomings...everything you would have to face...before the start...of that new relationship...and you could weigh it, compare it, with what the person standing in front of you had to offer...a new life...a new beginning...and the promise of love!

Weekend at home

Friday night...now saturday night...just dont feel like going out...just wanted to stay at home and look at the wall...don't feel like people right now...thats why i haven't spoken to you if you called...don't feel like saying anything...so sorry...it's not personal...but one good has come out of it...i started to like baseball...been watching a lot of it...so yeah....just to salute the greatest achievement in team sports history...and my new favorite team...not in the state of minnesota...and after the jordan led chicago bulls...is this 2004 boston redsox team...go sox...beat the curse!

All the world's a stage

All the world's a stage...act away!--My mom
She believes in that phrase with all her heart...and i must say that everytime i'm down...she, her words usually pick me right up...i spoke to her the other day...and told her things that i was happy about...and she just new what was gonna happen next...so she told me not to get too happy about things and consequently not too sad if they don't work out...she said, "don't forget that you are just playing a part in god's creation, it's only a play"...but when was the last time we listened to our mothers...so why start now right? So here's to William Shakespere, who exposed my mother to that phrase! And, here's to my ma, who always says exactly the right thing....every time!

Devil's Advocate Take Two

(Pachino)Who are you carrying all those bricks for anyways? God? Is that it...God? Well I tell ya, let me give you a little inside information about God. God likes to watch...He's a prankster. Think about it. He give man...INSTINCTS!!He give you this incredible gift and then what does he do, I swear for his own amusement, his own private, cosmic, GAGREEL! He sets the rules in our position. It's the goof of all time. LOOK, but don't touch...TOUCH, but don't taste...TASTE, don't swallow. HAHA! And while you're jumping from one foot to the next, what is he doing??? He's laughing his sick FUCKING ASS OFF! HE'S A TIGHT ASS, HE'S A SADIST!!!HE'S AN ABSENTEE LANDLORD! WORSHIP THAT...NEVER.
(Reeves)Better to reign in hell than serve in Heaven, is that it?
(Pachino)Why not? I'm here on the ground with my nose in it since the whole thing began! I've nurtured every sensation man has been inspired to have. I cared about what he wanted and I never judged him. WHY? Because I never rejected him, inspite of all his imperfections...I'M A FAMINEN! I'm a humanist...I rest my case.

It's that time of the year again

To say that there are a few things we all live for, is quite common....but to actually live for something...it's not easily done...so when i smell fresh cut grass...and i see leaves gravitating to the earth...i hear the early morning buzz that can only be associated with a new semester in my most favorite of seasons....i know one darn thing....It's time for FOOTBALL...for one more of randy moss's reality defying catches....for some more smash mouth low scoring football in the afc...and some iron curtain defenses...my favorite poem ends with some of the best lines ever written...
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With Sixty seconds' worth of distance run-
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And-which is more- you'll be man my son!

Well...the next five months....they are My sixty seconds' worth of distance run...but i'll always be a boy

Two

"How many?" I shouted from across the street, he was walking away but he lifted his left hand and showed me the peace sign, didn't turn back to do it, didn't need to....he knew that i knew....ma friend had just lived a dream....That's the best i can do to describe my roommate, atanas gagov, cool as f...k, awesome to hang out with...has mood swings that are like a pendulum only not that predictable, but when its all said and done...that man is crazy. He has taught me a lot in these past few months...that's when i decided to go out and have fun again...and you know i never ever tried to pick someone up at a bar....just not my thing...but he...he's fearless...he's mindless...and he goes out to have fun...so no...i could never have asked for a better roomie...its almost like joey and chandler...wait...actually now that i think about it...SHIT....it is exactly like that...we have the foosball table and everything...pichka, putka, pichka ti mai china, ti e de mike da pederas, this is what i do, n....r you look thirty, i have good news for you, i just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance, etc, etc....these are his lines...and everytime he says any of them...he cracks up as if its the first time he's said it...

To Write or Not to Write

So i have been inventing ways to chill...usually it involves a lot of movie watching...playing the brand new Madded NFL 2005 on my xbox....or my personal favorite, sleeping. The last week has been too slow...i'm working on two experiments that dont require much of my time...and i can't move onto other ones because the machines aren't up. That has put me in a quandry...should i begin writing my thesis? You know a smart person would easily answer that question...but come on...i never bragged about being smart....only about being good at what i do...so yeah i think i'm gonna chill for now atleast

Letters from Tucson

Do you think you can know when someone is thinking of you? I think i can...i don't want to tell you how or when i knew or how i know it's correct...but i know...call it bullshit call it whatever...but i do...and it's cool...i like knowing...anyways...so i've been here since thursday night...which was cool...coz me and my cousin went to go watch a movie...and everything went downhill after that...i've two full days in the hotel room...and the best part of my day was when WE WERE CHANGING HOTELS....damn...but you know what keeps me happy that both these days...my brother was out making friends...its 8 here and hes been with his friends all day....which, i couldn't be happier about...the only productive thing that i have done is helped him decide on a house...and it's a great apartment in a great place right on campus...he's gonna be sharing a room with someone, barraha, from mexico....but it's what should be done...so yeah...i'm patiently waiting for my flight that leaves...in about 35 hours...thinking about what's gonna be on tv next...or who is gonna think of me next...i told you that i could tell...and you know how? Well, you are here aren't you?

The Wonder Years

I think it was sometime before the short recess...there was this girl...Gopika Malkan...She was tall, i think taller than i was at the time, beautiful, fun loving...all the things that can make a boy about 12 years of age fall in LOVE with a girl...so i did...most of you who know me, know that my crushes change in a matter of days...and like the great shakespere once wrote and my tenth grade class teacher acknowledged...I wore my heart on my sleeve...so crushes came and went...never ever really did anything about them...maybe once, but that is another story...for another time...but i knew that one girl in my class, of fifty some people...would always be on my top list of crushes...and the things that i did for that girl...i dated another girl in tenth grade so i could be closer to gopika...i used to want to change houses...now this concept of houses in a school messed me up the first time i heard it...my sports teacher came upto me and asked me whats the color of your house ?

CHOICES: A-BLUE
                    B-GREEN
                    C-RED
                    D- Yellow

And my dumb answer was BROWN...you should have seen the look on that shantaram's face...priceless.....it made sense at the time though....but i wondered why my sports teacher would want to know that kind of personal information...the color of my house/apartment building was none of his business...i was probably 8 at the time... so you can understand the confusion...but anyways...she was in blue house and i was in yellow...and i couldn't stand the camaraderie that the people in the blue house shared during sports events, debates or any such activity...so i bought a t-shirt one time that was for blue house students...and wore it to school, hoping gopika would share just one day of that camaraderie with me...when questioned about the change in color...i had said that my older cousin was in blue house and i accidentaly took hers...i thought that was a smart answer because the t-shirts for guys and girls were the same...but stupid ol me forgot that she was in the yellow house too...so my attempts to come close to MY GIRL continued...while my other crushes continued...i remember once i stood outside a bus...after school for ten minutes staring at this girl...coz i thought that she was so amazing...she was two years older and a friend of my sister...so i stood there staring at her lifting that heavy bag and putting it into the storage shelf...how beautiful she looked...there was a time when i went to mauritius on a school trip in ninth grade...with 14 girls and two guys who were in 5th grade...or standard...whatever you may call it...on this trip there were five girls that had been top contenders on my crush list over time including the great, beautiful, untouchable, unreachable, GOPIKA...so you can understand how totally AWESOME that trip was....and to add to it...there was another one that was added to the list after the first day flying....so yeah...to describe the true feelings that i had for my unicorn is a feat that i would die trying to convey...or maybe i'll just die of embarrasment because of what i'm about to write down

I love your hands
I love your eyes
I love your love
Beyond the skies

This is the poem i wrote for her when i realised i was in love with her...at the age of 12...sitting in class...three rows behind the goddess...wondering what it might be to sit next to her

Sunday beautiful Sunday

Damn!!!  How many times does that happen?  From smalltown Akron to Cleveland...on 8 North...where you will find three stop lights on a frigging highway...we (myself, sunny, puneet and hari) didn't catch one red light...and when we got off at the cricket ground exit...we caught a green again...I have never ever caught all greens on that 8 north....so we were joking around that it was gonna be the driver's day....the driver being my humble self....
So we got to the ground and it was an overcast morning...I didn't think that we would be able to finish the game...but the game began....and our strike bowlers, namely hari and manpreet, got one striking wicket for us...the second wicket partnership was a good one...and it nearly took us out of the game...all our bowlers toiled hard...but be it because of dropped catches or misfields...we couldn't get that partnership broken...finally, our captain, hari, realized that it was time to use his frontline, supreme bowler...so sachin of Akron cricket club (myself again)...came into bowl...at first i was a little nervous...but soon i settled down...i was suprised how difficult it was to control the ball in those conditions...i mean...i know i am a slow medium pacer...but....i guess i swing it too much...just kidding guys...anyways...two overs of mine down and one good over by our chappar captain...and they felt the need to go for some runs...and then it happened...how was thatttttttttttttttttttttt......sohail...their best batsman...was caught plumb in front by our team's best bowler...brijesh sujan...then came another one...and another and another...so the budding all rounder did it again for ACC....starting at 118 in like 24 overs with one wicket down...they were all out for 181 in 34 overs....manpreet CHIPPED in with four wickets too...but they were all lower order batsmen...so now it was time to BAT...
Kiran and myself...opened the innings...and trust me there aren't many better 2 hours in life than going all out against decent bowling and dominating....that's a rush i felt yesterday...i shouldn't get addicted to it though...i know its not my game...kiran is the aggressive one and i stay...thats my role....so i stayed till the twenty something over and got out...but i must say that...kiran had 9 runs...when i had 42.....booooooooo yeahhhhhhhhhhhhh......thats probably the first and last time i'll do that...so i'll rub that into my buddy too....but he played a good innings...that was fun...so yeah back to boasting....i scored a 69 and hari, puneet, kiran bhaskar, and batula all chipped in with a few runs here and there...myself and hari have been fighting for the tag of sachin on the team for two seasons now...but come on now...i think it's a well established fact...i can bowl anything....from offspin to medium pace...JUST LIKE SACHIN...lately i've been batting decently...JUST LIKE SACHIN...and i open the innings...JUST LIKE SACHIN....
ALL I HAVE TO ASK MY CAPTAIN, HARI, TO FINISH THE ARGUMENT "HOW MANY RUNS HAVE YOU SCORED IN THE MIDWEST TOURNAMENT BUDDY?"
 
NO HARD FEELINGS GUYS...ONLY INTENTED TO BRING SMILES TO YOUR FACES...OR INVITE THE MIDDLE FINGER  

Sunday bloody Sunday

To think i could have had a PERFECT WEEKEND....there aren't many of those...there was this one time when the wolves, vikings, twins and the wild all won important games over one weekend...that was pretty perfect...but this last one....it came pretty f... close...it started friday afternoon....basketball and tennis for four hours....thats what we used to do in the much heralded days of 15-18 years of age....but yeah....i realized how old i was when i got home after that...in that...my body creaked, like those doors in the cheesy scary movies...and when i finally decided to stop being sympathetic to my needs...i got up and ran a quick errand...and then went out for the italian festival over in cuyahoga falls...the festival was greattttttt...or so i heard...coz as soon as i got there...it was time for the shops to close....so yeah...after that we went to the battle of the bands at gillians and got pretty wasted there....after which....i came home passed out....and woke up to the most brilliant saturday morning idea...indian food for $6...all you can eat...pani puri....chole...the works...now you might be thinking....can this guy not think about anything else...its always about food, sports, women, cars....there is this one thing i want to write about...sooooooooo badly....its like acceleration you have never felt before...and to feel it everyday...is almost mind numbing....i wish i had a 1300 cc Hayabusa....which im working on...someday...someday...that's what losers like me say....
anyway back to my weekend...watched one of the best superhero movies....spidey 2....brilliantly done...as much as the first part was a let down...this second one....rockedddddddd....the elevator scene was hilarious....anyways....got back from the movie...was late and exhausted for cricket practice....so just watched th guys play...then went for poker night...which i won.....forty dollars in the bag....it was sweet...i wish i can find about seven guys in india to play poker with...that would be cool...i wish i find this beautiful, both inside and out woman someday....i wish i had a porsche carrerra gt....i wish i die base jumping and not in some bed somewhere...i wish i could have one bite of tandoori chicken sometime....i wish...i wish...i wish the vikes win the superbowl ring...this year...and im here to watch them do it....i wish the twolves win it all this year and im here to watch it....and i wish that life stays this awesome...all the time

You Better Go Get Her Humphrey

Was watching this sweet ass movie about half an hour ago....I've seen it about three times now...seems to be an HBO favorite and consequently has become one of mine...as embarassed as I am to admit it...it's more of a chick flick...it would make a great bollywood flick too...Brown Sugar...
It's so real....that's the appealing part....and it confuses me...challanges me...and basically messes me up everytime...it gets me to think....and most of you know i'm not the thinking kinds...my phone just rang...and the reason this movie messes me up is the one who just called...my life is an open book...and sometimes...you know when you kinda come back to the reality...after a super long high...you start to wonder...when...and how?
Shit i'm just gonna say it now...no matter how many people I meet...it dosen't seem anymore than a distraction...it's like the main event has passed me by...it's like something inside saying exactly what the title suggests...

"You better go get her Humphrey or you will be walking away into the fog with some dude!"