V2 ..

You might have read about my Aloo paratha and cake versions 1 ,2 ,3 and so on.

Now what happens if you decide to launch a new version of yourselves !! No, I am not kidding. Just think through whatever you think are the problems with the current 'version', and come up with a plan for version-2.

What are some of the things that Pradeep - V2 could do with ? The question is definitely very deep.

So let me think a bit more and get back on this one :-)

Trousers, buttons and Engineers

How many engineers does it require to sew back the button on a trouser ?

Wondering where this question came from ? Let me explain. The amazingly lazy lifestyle that I have adopted has resulted in a few expansions in my life. Now generally expansion is considered good - expansion in your salary, expansion in roles and responsibilities, expansion of your house - all are just great. The expansion that I am referring to is around my waistline. You don't have to be the brightest bulb in the room to realize that this is NOT an expansion that is desirable.

And you don't need to have a PhD in Mechanical engineering to understand the stresses and strains experienced by my trouser button, which has been fighting a valiant battle for survival against my waistline. Well, sometime last week , the unthinkable happens. I hear a pop sound around noon in office one day. Sure enough, there goes the button, severed from the umbilical cord that tied it to my trousers. Sadly I picked it up and put in my pocket.

Now the options for me were (a) To buy a new trouser (b) Sew the button back on . Being a non-IT engineer , the pay check more or less ruled out option (a) . I am not much of a tailor, but hey if the other option is to actually spend like 1500 Rs on a new pair, bring it on buddy !!

Frantic search of the home landed me with the tools for the job, the thread the needle. Several challenges popped up as soon as I start stitching. The main one being the apparently simple process of pushing the needle from one side and getting it through the hole of the button on other side. I just could not get them aligned. On the rare occasions in which I did manage to thread it though, I also managed to maintain a 100% hit rate on my finger !! By the time I finished stitching, my fingers had neat rows of perforation marks. I will omit the bloodbath details in interest of the family audience :-) All the bloodshed paid off in the end though, got my button back on and the trouser is ready to go !! It is stuck at a slightly odd angle, but hey , who cares as long as it does the job ..

Pradeep the tailor though may not have too much of a future, I doubt very much if I am gonna make Versace turn over in his grave. Unlike Pradeep the cook, who will definitely give Gordon Ramsay a run for his money :-)

Quote

Walk a mile in my shoes, you may find that it is the most painful and loneliest walk you ever had ... ( source : myself )

In U.S !!

Finally landed here in Albany yesterday evening around 6.30 pm. Flights were long and tiring and usual. The Bangalore Frankfurt one was ok as I slept through most parts. The Frankfurt-Washington DC one was awful , could not sleep a wink and nearly 9.30 hours !! The DC-Albany one was just about an hour, the plane looked awfuly shady though. One of those Embraer jets which looked as if it is falling to pieces. There were 2 seats which were damaged and had no back rest !!

Slept like a baby yesterday. Woke up at 3 am watched some TV and fooled around on the laptop, then slept back again 4 am, just like a baby would do ;-)

I had booked a Mazda or equivalent car. When Hertz lady told me that they will give me a small upgrade,I thought maybe I will get a Corolla or Camry. I got a Ford Edge SUV instead !! Now I am in trouble , the thing is so big that I am finding it tough to manouvere around. I will be doing a demo run to Walmart today, hopefully would reach there and not the police station :)

We went to Lathay Biriyani yesterday for dinner. Most of my colleagues here have been in US for past 2 weeks and are really desperate for Indian food :-)) The food was excellent, better than Biriyani's you get in most places in Bangalore.

Today will mostly be just some shopping and roaming around. Have to catch up with some work also later in the day.

Will the real me please stand up ?

I had a bit of time for reflection in my last trip home. If you have been reading my blog, you would know that I do this reflection thing quite often !!

Looking back at the past 8-9 months, I realize that a lot of the time I have been behaving a bit out of character. I have complained and whined a lot, which is unlike my normal behavior of just accepting things the way they are and moving on silently. ( At least I think that is my normal behavior. I know that self-assessment often leads to wrong conclusions in behavioral analysis)

Which begs the question , will the real me please stand up and be heard now ? My sense of humor seems to have taken a back seat. Need to bring that passenger back to the driver's seat for sure !! The ability to make others laugh , to share a good laugh and even laugh at yourselves from time to time , is a grossly under-estimated quality in a person.

Being the darker side of me is no fun, I am off to the fun side now !! :-)

Abhinav Bindra, you beauty

Finally I witnessed something I never thought would happen in my lifetime. An Indian winning gold medal at the Olympics !! Just incredibly happy that this long long period of shame has finally come to an end. I'm a blogger from a gold medal winning country now, don't mess with me !!

Started off my trial work from home program this Friday, turned out really well. I really should have done this a long time back. Better late than never, I suppose.

Indian cricket team of course slumped to a miserable spineless defeat once again. One idea that was doing round in our office was that let us use the cricket players as targets for Indian shooters. Interesting one that, I must say :-) .

I have this nasty feeling than within couple of years, it will be Abhinav who ? . That is the sad state of recognition for our true heroes ....

I am planning to travel to the U.S from 16th to 29th August. I am a very reluctant traveler, just hate the thought of spending 7-8 hours inside a plane. I get more leg room in local BMTC bus !!

But coming back to the main thread- Abhinav Bindra, you rock buddy. Thanks for restoring some sense of pride to all Indians.

Working from home

Got scared of the office AC's influence on my Asthma, do decided to work from home today. Actually was a very nice experience, managed to get more work done at home than in office. Which in itself is not saying much , but let us not get there.

I kept the TV news on in the background just so that I do not feel very lonely. Could not help overhearing this whole abortion case that is going on now. The question being asked was whether the would be parents have the right to terminate the pregnancy of their child who has been diagnosed with congenital heart disease beyond the legally allowed limit of 20 weeks of pregnancy.

I firmly believe nothing of that sort should be allowed provided there is no threat to the mother's life.
Where do we stop if allow things like these ? Are we trying to imply that only the healthy babies have a right to live in this world ?
Should we kill all the babies who are unhealthy ? 
How can you or me or a doctor reliably predict if the baby will have a health problem after birth ? Why don't we start playing God and allow killings of everyone who has a disability from now on ?

In my book, willing termination of a pregnancy based on guesswork like this is nothing short of murder. I dare you to look into the eyes of a baby and tell me otherwise. Unfortunately , as per the polls not a lot of people share this opinion. Most of the respondent might have never been parents is my only guess.

I know there are lots of other issues involved like difficulties for the child, trauma for the parents, costs of treatment etc. If you are a parent, you should never ever ever give up on their children. I am happy to see our court has stepped up and said no to this abortion, according to me that is the way it has to be.

Quotes , quips, dialogues

You know, some quotes that you read, dialogues that you hear, tend to stay with you for a while. Here are some that randomly come to my mind

"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist" - Verbal Kint ( Kevin Spacey)  from the movie The Usual Suspects

"Birdy Edwards is here. I am Birdy Edwards!" from the book The valley of fear by Arthur Conan Doyle. ( I must have read this while I was in 10th, it was so thrilling !! )

"Anger is what gets us into trouble, pride is what keeps us there" - Source unknown ( Might have mentioned this earlier sometime on my blog, one of my favorites )

"Beedi undo sakhave oru theepetti edukkan ?" from the Malayalam movie Lal Salaam.( Dialogue has no specific meaning, just one of those you can never seem to forget !! )

"I am going to make him an offer he cannot refuse" from the book, The Godfather by Mario Puzo ( One of my favorite books, sadly whoever I have loaned this book to has never liked it :( . For the record, I have not seen the movie )

"You don't need a patch on your arm to have honor"  - Kaffee ( Tom Cruise ) in the movie A few good men

"Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy, or are you gonna bite?" - from the movie Reservoir Dogs

"I'll be back" - Don't think you need a source on that one !! :-)

I would like to add Stand by me by Ben. E. King to the earlier list of songs. Lyrics are decent and a soulful rendering.

Off to my cooking lab now . Let us see if something edible comes out today !