The Ten Tag

Tag time again ppl and it comes from Chandu. I'm supposed to relate the first ten numbers with important stuff from my life... lets see how it goes

10 - The name of the first and best Pearl Jam album ever. One of my all time favourites.

9 - The number of years we've been together and I've loved each one of them.

8 - liters of beer, that's my record for a single evening... :D

7 - the number of women I have dated

6 - pairs of footwear I own currently, the most I have ever had in one go

5 - the number of times I have read the complete Lord of the Rings - cover to cover

4 - the total number of goals I have scored in my hockey career

3 - the number of days that I survived on 2 bars of Snickers only

2 - the number of cameras i own

1 - my wife, the #1 person in the world

New Year Tag

Chandu sends in tag and I thought it's a good way to start the new year. The premise is to do an online image search for the answers and paste one image from the results on the first page. So here it goes...


1. The age you will be on your next birthday: thirty :(











2. A place you’d like to travel to: Bhutan













3. Your favourite place: Under the Stars

















4a. Your favourite food: Rajma Chawal











4b. Drink: Glenfiddich single malts












5. Your favourite pet: Labrador retrievers (though i need to get one)

























6. Your favourite colour combination: white / blue










7. Your favourite piece of clothing: Shorts















8. Your all time favourite song: Pakeezah - Yun hi koi mil gaya tha




























9. Your favourite TV show: Top Gear











10. Full name of your significant other: Will give that a pass in the interest of privacy








11. The town in which you live: Delhi



























12. Your screen name/nickname: nomad

























13. Your first job: Graphic Artist


























14. Your dream job: Nat Geo Presenter




















15. Bad habit you have: Forgetful























16. Your worst fear: losing loved ones






















17. The one thing you’d like to do before you die: Drive a Porsche 911 at 300 kmh













18: The first thing you will buy if you get $1,000,000: Canon EF lenses... lots of 'em !!

I

Chandu has once again sent across a tag.. here it goes

--

I am: a nomad, at least in soul

I think: that there is nothing called fate, everything that happens to you is a direct result of your actions

I know: that i'll die some day for sure., but there is lots that i want to do before i die

I want: a Canon EOS 1DS Mk III, with a 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS and lots more.....

I have: my wife... so basically i don't want anything... the above line is just to fill the column

I wish: that i am able to give her everything she wants

I hate: the moment when i am unable to giver her what she wants

I miss: the innocence of my childhood

I fear: losing the people i love.... beyond that there is nothing that scares me

I feel: everyone should travel by second class sleeper on the Indian Railways at least once in their lives

I hear: less than what i should be hearing

I smell: practically everything.... i think i was a dog in my previous life

I crave: for good food... all the time

I search: for myself

I wonder: if i will ever be able to find myself

I regret: nothing any more

I love: my wife and whole lot of other people and things... the list is endless

I ache: i don't ache, my stupid knee does

I am not: as insensitive as people think i am

I believe: loving is the most important thing in life

I dance: the macarena really well

I sing: like a donkey imitating a wolf on full moon night

I cry: for this world sometimes.. the way it is getting sucked into the whirlpool of relegious intolerance and pointless violence

I don’t always: agree with myself

I fight: for everything that i feel is right

I write: much less than i want

I win: not every argument with the wife

I lose: not every argument with the wife

I never: wanted to be who i am right now, but then it's not that bad either

I always: wanted to be a railway engine driver

I confuse: between magenta and maroon

I listen: to a lot of music

I can usually be found: hunching over my laptop, making some PPT or the other, if not - then i am peering through my camera's viewfinder - both to the consternation of lé wife

I am scared: that i will die after everyone i love dies :-(

I need: to know... always

I am happy about: the fact that there are so many people who love me and i can count on them when i need them

I imagine: my self on the wheel of a Porsche 911

I tag: no one... this one is for keeps :-)

Self Portrait

Ranga has passed on this brilliant little tag - for a change it involves a bit of photoshoppery rather than writing. The task is to make a slide with abstract images which describe you.

Here is my effort

The yin-yang is central to my life. It not only represents my zodiac sign, the Gemini but also reflects my own character a bit of good mixed with the bad and the other way around. The moon inside is a representation of my name as well as that of the moonlight that shines in my life to show me the way. The gear shifter denotes my passion for driving and further the quest to explore the unknown, while the speedometer is the way I love to live and showcases my triple passions of my life - cars, trains and planes. I've used grayscale to convey that life is not always in black & white and the same color combo denotes my passion for photography as well.

This is me...

Tag Time again people… Chandni has sent in this one, so here we go,,,,

Last movie seen in a theatre?

U Me & Hum… Not a bad effort by Ajay Devgan, but could have been much much better. The songs turned up at the most inappropriate moments.

What book are you reading?

Tom Clancy : Clear and Present Danger

Favourite board game?

Scrabble

Favorite Magazine:

Top Gear, Popular Science, Flight International, Discover, National Geographic

Favorite Smells:

Her perfumes, My own Davidoff Cool Waters (Game) & Aroma of non-veg being cooked

Favorite Sound:

The click clack of rail wheels. Nothing even comes close

Worst Feeling In The World:

Of being alone and unloved

What Is The First Thing You Think Of When You Wake?

Time to switch on the water pump !!

Favorite Fast Food Place:

Slice of Italy (takeaway), Pizza Hut (sit down)

Future Child’s Name:

Ye Kaisa Sawaal Hai ? (What kind of question is this)

Finish This Statement. “If I Had A Lot Of Money I’d…”

Send my parents on a cruise, buy my brother a mondo computer, buy a Canon 1Ds Mkiii with a range of L series lenses, buy a Porsche and drive around the world with her.

Do You Drive Fast?

Is 90 fast?

Do You Sleep With A Stuffed Animal?

I have my teddy bear ;)

Storms-Cool Or Scary?

Love them !!

Do You Eat The Stems On Broccoli?

I don’t like broccoli too much…

If You Could Dye Your Hair Any Color, What Would Be Your Choice?

Purple / Blue maybe

Name All The Different Cities/Towns You Have Lived In.

Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad

Favorite Sports To Watch:

Cricket, F1 & wrestling (yes I love WWE it’s as good as Tom & Jerry)

One Nice Thing About The Person Who Sent This To You:

Chandu: Glad to have you in my life honey

What’s Under Your Bed?

My laptop and books / newspapers from the day… I’m too lazy to put them away before I turn in for the night

Would You Like To Be Born As Yourself Again?

Why the hell would I want to be anyone else?

Morning Person Or Night Owl?

Find me something interesting to do, it wont matter what time of the day it is

Over Easy Or Sunny Side Up?

Don’t care too much

Favorite Place To Relax:

Home with the wife and cold beers, worldspace and the works ;)

Favorite Pie:

Pizza pies are better :p

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor:

Black currant… period

You pass this tag to -

Siddhusaaheb, Ranga,

Of All The People You Tagged This To, Who’s Most Likely To Respond First?

Sidhusaaheb ;-)

Technology

I'm sitting in my office in Delhi on a stupid Tuesday evening, waiting for a heavy ZIP file to get downloaded. The file contains around 50 photos which had been taken earlier in the afternoon in Hyderabad and I am now supposed to send it off to a journalist in New York, who needs them in his 'box by the time he wakes up. He'd sent me a text message before going to bed that he needed them urgently as the CD I'd given him earlier got corrupted. End to end - the files would have reached him within 6 hours of him calling me up for them.

Now Imagine the same scenario around ten years back. The guy in NY would have waited for me to get to office before telephoning me on my desk line that he needed the photos (by when it would have been time for him to sleep.) I would have then telephoned my Hyderabad colleague on his desk phone to pass on the request. Had he not been there, I would have waited for him. By the time, the message got to him, he it would have been lunch time. He would have gone out post lunch to click the photos and then taken the camera to the studio around seven in the evening. Most likely the studio would have closed by then so he would have waited the next day to hand over the film roll. Another day before the prints finally arrive. By the time the photos reach me (I have to vet the photos before sending) it would at least be another day (or four days had it been Post) before the courier arrives.

By the time, I choose the photos and find the nearest International Courier and filled his form and the declaration (that I am not sending across any porn, drugs or nuclear weapons) it would have been another half day and a minimum of 2-3 days before the good folks at Blue Dart would have shipped it off to the Big Apple. In this case at least a week between the time the I got the call from the journo and he got his photos.

So we all assume that technology makes our life more convenient right? WRONG !!

Ten years ago, I would not have been in office past five in the first place so where does the question of me getting the call arise. But today, I have a cell phone, so journos (the 24x7 news channel variety) call me at 4 in the morning to enquire how far can see you on the runway. I have a laptop with a wireless internet connection, so my boss expects me to send and receive emails while I am driving at 120 kmph down Haryana's highways. I also sit in office till 8 usually, because technology allows my colleague to click photos on his fancy digital camera, process them on his computer and mail all 50 of them in a jiffy, so that I can download them and send them to the journo in NYC pronto !! And while all this happens, technology also allows me to vent my feelings on this blog rather than my stupid diary which gathers dust in my bookshelf.

And now we shall ask five friends to tell how technology has changed their lives. The lucky winners are

Vrij

Shuunya

Aa

C

Sidhusaaheb

This day - That Year

This tag comes courtesy Chandni. Though I'm not those who'd look back and mull over things too much, but I would take this opportunity to dole out advice to myself (like I love to do) to myself. Because hindsight make us wiser, doesn't it? So here we go...........


Haan to bhai Nandu, you've just gotten engaged eh? Soon to tie the knot and settle down as our lovely ol' Punjabis say? So how does it feel?

I know you're the person who doesn't like anything in constancy. I know you like to keep moving - you self proclaimed nomad !! But trust me dude, it's all worth it. Think of those times when you were living alone, when each night you came home to an empty house, came to no one. You felt like doing nothing, didn't feel like a drink, but you drank; didn't feel like eating but you did. You did that because you had to.

Not anymore son, not anymore - think of what you're getting... you're going to be (always) with the person you love. She'll be there to take care of you, she'll be there to hold you close, she'll be there to fill up the space that's been empty.

More importantly you'll be able to take care of her, the way you've always wanted to. Remember the time, when she got mugged and how you felt helpless, not anymore... now maybe you can chase that moron down and give him the knucle sandwich that he deserves. You'll be able to ensure that she has a proper breakfast and more than just Maggi for dinner.

Even more importantly, you'll be together. And now don't tell me if it isn't the thing that you wanted all these years. Just go for it partner, you won't regret it... Trust me, I know it better than anyone else does.

And in case you're wondering how.... remember that I've been there, done that ;-)

Cuatro

Ah, it's been a long time since i got tagged. This one comes from Mr. Zero

Four jobs I’ve had in my life

1. Computer Graphics Designer
2. Event Manager
3. Photographer
4. Publicist

Four TV shows I love to watch

1. Air Crash Investigation
2. Top Gear
3. Wild
4. Takeshi's Castle

Four movies I can watch over and over

1. Sholay
2. LOTR - the series
3. Star Wars (the original trilogy)
4. Andaz Apna Apna

Four places I have lived

1. Delhi
2. Mumbai
3. Bangalore
4. Hyderabad

Four places I have been on holiday (in the last couple of years)

1. Dharakhoh
2. Ferozpur
3. Bareilly
4. Bayana

Four of my favourite dishes

1. Rajma Chawal
2. Butter Chicken
3. Mommy's hot parathas with last night's dal from the fridge
4. Chicken Biryani from Hyderabad House

Four websites I visit daily

1. Google
2. Wikipedia
3. irfca.org
4. airliners.net

Four places I would rather be right now

1. Dangle my feet off that ledge near Chandrakhani pass
2. Rafting down the Alaknanda from Rudraprayag
3. On a train anywhere in the country
4. At a dhaba in Punjab, having a drink and watching a movie with the truck drivers on the in house TV

Four people I am tagging

1. Siddhusaaheb
2. Vrij
3. Sridhar
4. No one else