Ishmael, Male Child Preference & Polygamy

0935hrs
25^th  April 2013, Thursday
Mapletree Anson, Singapore.

Consider:  A hundred men and one woman does not spell a hundred babies, but one man and a hundred women does.

Isn’t this an astounding observation ? Read in the context of the rest of the novel Ishmael (from which this line has been extracted) it becomes even more thought provoking. Though everyone (including myself) might not agree with the novel completely, there are some statements such as these that drive you to look at our world with a new pair of glasses. So get a copy and read Ishmael now!

So what does this statement mean? In simple words it says that “a hundred males and one female ” have the potential of producing lesser babies than “a hundred females and one male” in a fixed period of time. With this insight in mind lets analyze some of the prevailing social conflicts in our world today.  From here on I will refer to this insight as our basic premise.

Let’s first take the case of male-child preference in some cultures. Various reasons like inheritance, “tradition” and burden of dowry are cited as reasons for the existence of this phenomenon. Sometimes peer/societal pressure for a male child even leads parents to extreme acts – female foeticide and infanticide. I am not going to do a detailed analysis on either the various reasons or consequences of this phenomenon; but I would like you to think about this preference (without thinking about the extreme acts it leads to) with our basic premise in mind. I am sure the realization must have hit you by now –  male child preference is a form of population control!  More males than females lead to a lesser potential population than more females and less males. I am not sure if population control was ever a reason for the male child preference phenomenon – but I found this connection intriguing!

Our culture (excluding tribal cultures) over the last few centuries has been one that has encouraged population growth without regard for its adverse effects on other forms of life. We are actually stuck in a vicious circle right now – we produce more food (implies more agriculture, which means destroying habitats of more species, leading to ecological imbalance) in anticipation of a larger population; the larger food production encourages higher population growth, which in turn forces us to produce more food again and so on. In the last century itself we have grown by 5 billion in number! By no means is this sudden rise in population sustainable for the human race in the long term. Keeping this in mind, lets look at polygamy and our basic premise.

There are two forms of heterosexual polygamy. When a man is married to more than one wife at a time, the relationship is called polygyny ; and when a woman is married to more than one husband at a time, it is called polyandry. Polygyny is the more widely prevalent kind. Polygyny seems to be consistent with our lust for population growth but violates the need of the hour – population control. If indeed some pockets of society allow polygamy – shouldn’t they allow polyandry over polygyny?

Next, think about this – if male child preference continues it will lead to major gender imbalance and there will be only two choices – 1) Polyandry 2) Only some men get the privilege of getting married and having children.

I am not justifying male child preference or advocating polyandry here (since these practices may have other adverse side effects which I have not analyzed), but I am trying to document my observations on these issues in light of our population problem (based on the basic premise). Your comments and observations are welcome.

1110 hrs
25^th  April 2013, Thursday
Mapletree Anson, Singapore.

A Weekend of Fire Pots,Bongs and Gangnam Style?

Procrastination has enslaved me. I still haven’t posted those entries that I promised in my last post. Tonight, I am off to Seoul and therefore won’t be able to post anything this weekend as well. So I am posting a quick update before I leave.

The temperature has plummeted significantly over the last week and sweaters have become essential. Being the (mis)adventurers we are, we have still planned a trip to the DMZ over this cold wet weekend (temperatures close to zero degrees C expected).  We have booked tickets for the 2122hrs KTX to Seoul tonight. We plan to spend the night at Siloam Fire Pot Sauna (Jiljimbang). Tomorrow morning at 8 we start our morning tour of DMZ from USO Camp Kim. Once we are back in the afternoon we plan to check into the  Bong House. We still haven’t planned what we will do after that – go to Gangnam and do some style maybe?

In other news, Sandy blew the roof off my cousin’s apartment in Boston. And cricket fever has gripped me as the domestic seasons around the world have kicked off this week and mouth-watering test series (Ind v Eng, Aus v SA) are about to start in the next. By the way is anyone else following the Ranji Series Opening Day?

Next week, I promise to write those posts and prove that procrastination is my bitch.

About me – Deepak Pitta?

Nagin Dance, Crabs & Autumn

0835hrs
19^th  October 2012, Friday
HHI Office, Ulsan.

Right, so it’s been more than a week since I stated that I would post something in the next 2 days. I apologize. There are a lot of things I can blame for this tardiness – too much work, too much partying, too much alcohol, cold weather, too much cricket and most importantly Umang’s Nagin Dance (put me in shock for 3 days).

As promised the next few posts will be more visual than verbose. I haven’t had the time to process all the 1900 photos that I have taken so far in Korea. But I will share some of the best ones taken over the last one month.

There have been 4 weekends since my last detailed post. I will list down the highlights from those weekends here. Over the next few days I will most detailed posts/photos for each of those weekends too. Here is a small teaser of what you can expect:

Weekend # 1 (22-23^rd Sept):
–          Hair Cut debacle at Toni and Guy
–          Visit to a local fish market
–          Amethyst caves & lunch in a temple mess
–          Finding the mysterious Paraeso waterfalls
–          Hike Hike Hike in beach slippers

Weekend # 2 (28^th – 2 October):
–          Chuseok Long weekend trip to Seoul
–          We almost miss our KTX train
–          Overnight stay at a Jiljimbang (Korean Spa)
–          Partying at night clubs near Hongik University
–          Check in at Grand Hyatt
–          Night City Bus Tour & Party at JJ’s@Hyatt
–          Sightseeing Seoul’s palaces & hanok villages
–          Amusement park – Lotte World
–          Sightseeing Hooker and Homo Hill in Itaewon
–          Myeongdong and Namdaemun Markets

Weekend #3 (6^th– 7^th October):

–          Rented a car from Avis for road trip to Jinju Lantern Festival
–          Stuck in Traffic Jam on highway
–          Checked-in to a shady motel near Nam River (4 of us in one small room)
–          Battled the crowd at the lantern festival
–          Dinner: waffles, 2 crabs, one whole chicken, 15 bbq fish and soju
–          Next morning drove to Haedong Yonggung temple (gorgeous place by the sea)
–          Had lunch at Korean restaurant
–          Drove back to Ulsan and dinner at Namaskar restaurant

Weekend #4 (12^th – 13^th October):
–          Farewell party for some HHI friends on Friday night
–          Tried all sorts of alcohol – beer,soju,whiskey, tequila, rum & more!
–          Next morning – Slept well, but tummy wasn’t too happy about all that drinking
–          Hangover- headed for HHI Autumn Festival for expats (yes! autumn has arrived)
–          Hiking at Mt.Namsan – Gyeongju
–          Visit to Gyeongju National Museum
–          Dinner and entertainment at Hyundai Hotel Garden
–          Extremely cold conditions – worsened by equally bad rock band performance
–          Decent fireworks to close the night

1851 hrs
22^nd  October 2012, Monday
HHI Office, Ulsan

Coming Soon.

Sorry for not blogging for a while now.

I have lots to write about and I will definitely put up something in the next 2 days! Lots to talk about – Seoul, Caves, Waterfalls, Lanterns, Jinju, Bibimbap, Hookers, Homos, Umang and more!

This time will put some photos too! 🙂

Sanba and Chuseok

1630hrs
19^th September 2012, Wednesday
HHI Office, Ulsan.

Quick update on whats been going on:
– It rained throughout the weekend, so we were pretty much at home all the time.
– On Monday, Typhoon Sanba paid us a visit. Really strong winds and rain. Office was open during the typhoon (Koreans don’t have a HSE policy I guess), so we had to go out.
– On Tuesday, tried the Indian/Pakistani restaurant -Shalimar- 10 min walk from the apartment. Terrible food.

What is going to happen?
– We finally booked our train tickets to Seoul for the long Chuseok weekend. Taking the KTX – economy outgoing, first class on our way back.
– Still need to book the hotel! Hopefully we get a decent hotel for that busy weekend, or we might have to end up staying in some shady love motel.

1640 hrs
19^th September 2012, Wednesday
HHI Office, Ulsan

The tale of 27 and 127

1430hrs
10^th September 2012, Monday
HHI Office, Ulsan.

The Chuseok long weekend is two weeks or so away and we still don’t have a concrete plan. Our initial plan was to go to Jeju Island, but that didn’t work out because all flights to the island got booked 2 months in advance. Travelling by road during the holiday period is not the best choice due to heavy traffic jams throughout the country. So our last choice is to go to Seoul by KTX and hope that the major attractions are open. I will keep you guys updated on the progress of our plans, if there is any.

I realize that I haven’t posted any entry in the last two weeks. There are two basic reasons for that – lack of writing material and more significantly – sheer laziness/ procrastination. But I have finally managed to motivate myself to sit down and type this out.

Nothing interesting happened on the weekdays, so I will just share what we did over the last two weekends. I will start with what we did yesterday and the day before yesterday. On Saturday (8 Sept) I woke up very late – at around 2 in the afternoon. I lazed around the apartment and watched 3 episodes of Psych before heading for a shower. In the evening we decided to head towards Ulsan downtown and catch a movie. So we left home at around 6pm and headed to the nearby Kkotbawi Bus terminal. We boarded bus number 127 which among many other buses goes to Lotte Cinema (I had checked this online before we left). We went and occupied the last seats in the bus and Umang slept off immediately.  One hour on the bus and there was still no sign of Lotte Cinema (we were on the lookout for a ferris wheel which is right next to the movie theatre). We were getting impatient but we decided to stay calm and wait. Finally after a mini tour of Ulsan on this city bus, at 7:30pm, Umang woke up and we reached our destination. We bought tickets for Expendables 2, had dinner at Lotteria, watched the movie and headed home in a taxi (which took 10 minutes)! We later found out that bus #127 is probably the worst choice to take while heading downtown. We found out today that even Srini and Sajeev had the misfortune of taking the bus 127 over the weekend. Unlike us they gave up midway, got down, took the same bus in the opposite direction and went back home.

Moral of the story: when going downtown, take a cab.

Sunday was uneventful.

The previous Sunday (2^nd September) on the contrary was lots of fun. Early in the morning, at 745am, we met up at the apartment gate and took a taxi to Taehwa Gang Kicha Yeok (Taehwa  River Train Station). In order to show the taxi driver where we wanted to go I had spent some time writing the train station’s name in Korean. When we reached the train station we bought tickets for the 855am passenger train (mugunghwa) to Bulguksa (outskirts of Gyeongju). The 29 minute train ride to Bulguksa was beautiful. From Bulguksa Station we took a taxi to Bulguksa temple (UNESCO World Heritage Site). At the temple we found an English tour guide who showed us the temple and gave us a crash course in Buddhism too.

After roaming around the temple and taking loads of photos we sat under a tree, next to some drinking water from a mountain stream, and had some snacks. After this we caught a taxi and headed up the hill adjacent to the temple. The winding road led us to Seokguram Grotto (another UNESCO World heritage site) – a hermitage on Mt. Tohamsan.  After checking out the Buddha behind the glass wall at Seokguram we took a bus down the hill. It was time for lunch.

For lunch, Sashi had specially researched about a vegetarian restaurant. When we reached the restaurant it was full and they closed the door on our face. Luckily there was a restaurant nearby that served chicken items (we saw a photo of chicken on the sign-board). Even though the menu was in Korean we could recognize which items were chicken related. How? Well we knew that the Korean word for chicken –Tak/dalk contains a character that resembles the number “27”. So we ordered something that had a “27” in it and luckily got curry chicken. For the vegetarian folk we had a write up in Korean which explained to the chef what to cook and more importantly what not to cook. It goes something like “I am a vegetarian. Please cook something for me that has only vegetables. I do not eat animals. Please do not put any of the following in my food – egg, chicken, fish, beef, pork, seafood, dog or any other meat. Thank You.”  Listing down the types of meat is highly important – because Koreans consider seafood & egg to be vegetarian. When we passed this writeup to the person taking the order, she looked baffled, stood in shock for a few seconds, gave us a disgusted look and went into the kitchen. But ultimately they did manage to cook something edible for our herbivorous friends.

We ate for 2 hours. After this we and our massive bellies were in no mood for sightseeing. So we took a bus into downtown Gyeongju which went past all the major attractions of the city. At Gyeongju train station we booked tickets for the 6pm express train (Saemaul) and headed home.

1530 hrs
10^th September 2012, Monday
HHI Office, Ulsan

Pam, Tteok and World’s Largest Department Store

1400 hrs
27th August 2012, Monday
HHI Office, Ulsan.

HHI engineers sitting around us have just departed for their weekly meeting with BP. We were not invited for which we are immensely grateful. Nothing can get more boring than a meeting involving Koreans and Britishers. It takes ages for each party to put their point across and it gets irritating and quite soporific. So I am happy to sit at my desk sipping at the vending machine coffee and tell you about our splendid weekend.

On Friday night we (me, Umang, Chintan, Sashi & Amit) had a small gathering at Chintan’s (HHI colleague living in our apartment building) house. A grand feast was prepared which was consumed in the following order – Khandvi (or patudi) , Batata Vada , rice, dal and cakes. We washed all of this down with coke, cider, beer and whisky. After dinner we sat down and watched a classic Hindi comedy – Chupke Chupke.

Saturday morning at around 1030 am we got into Chintan’s car, set the Korean GPS (Gini) to guide us to Haeundae Beach (in Busan) and drove off. Ten minutes later our car gave up. We got off the main road and entered a side road looking for a garage. Luckily there was one just 100 meters inside. The mechanic told us that there was a problem with the clutch. It took around an hour to get the car fixed. We were still around 65km from our destination. We bought some sweet chestnuts (pam) from a roadside vendor at the next traffic signal and got onto the Busan-Ulsan expressway (No 65). After an hour or so we reached Korea’s most popular beach – Haeundae Beach. We took a stroll along the beach under the scorching afternoon sun and admired among various things – the sheer number of beach umbrellas (this beach actually holds the world record), the white sand, the bikini-clad crowd and the sexy female lifeguards. With great difficulty we dragged Umang off the beach and had lunch at an Indian restaurant (Namaste) nearby.

After this we went to the World’s Largest Department Store – Shinsegae at Centum City (Busan). We had planned to meet an old colleague & friend of ours (Jainendra) at this place. We met him and his wife Neha and talked over coffee at Au Bon Pain. It was good to catch up with him after almost 15 months.

After this we drove to Taejongdae Resort Park. We reached there around sunset. The internal tram service was closed by the time we reached the ticket counter; so we decided to walk. We walked down (literally) to a pebble beach for a serene view of the ocean. After it grew dark we climbed the 50 or so steep rock steps up to the main road; and walked another kilometer uphill to reach the car park. From here we drove directly back home. At home we had dinner and watched Bourne Identity.

Sunday as usual started on a lazy note. In the evening we went to a local attraction in Ulsan – Daewangam Park. It was nice spot to relax – windy, great views of Ulsan and the sea and lots of material for photography. The highlight of this visit was that a Korean female (probably drunk) flirted with Umang. From here we went for dinner to Hotel Good Morning. After dinner we went for a game of bowling at Hyundai Arts Center. I scored 145 – not too bad given the fact that my fingers didn’t fit properly in any of the balls.

As I finish writing this entry: Umang is busy planning for our long holiday (Chuseok) in September, Sashi is apparently getting bored and I am still relishing the aftertaste of Korean Rice Cakes (Tteok) which were distributed in the office a while back.

1530 hrs
27th August 2012, Monday
HHI Office, Ulsan.

Photos are on my FB Page.

Chicken Soup for the Seoul

1030 hrs
21^st August 2012, Tuesday
HHI Office, Ulsan.

Umang finally got his VPN connection working this morning. As I write this, he is happily chatting away on communicator.  Sashi and I are still having some password issues and will hopefully get access to VPN later this afternoon. As I wait for that to happen let me briefly update all of you with the happenings of the last few days.

Saturday, 18^th Aug:
Went back home at around 4:30pm. Went to the gym and played squash. Discovered that gym had a stereo system – so played an Eric Clapton CD while working out. Umang watched some Bollywood movie on the treadmill media player. In the evening we had chicken curry and Tandoori chicken for dinner.

Sunday, 19^th Aug:
Woke up at 12:30pm. Had lunch at Sashi’s place. Lazed around all day. Had some sausages, eggs & bread for dinner.

Monday, 20^th Aug:
Terrible start to the day: internet is down, we are paralyzed. I pass my time by typing old hindi songs from memory into a text document. Once I got bored of that I started organizing my email archive file. Somehow remained sane till end of day. Evening played squash again. 

For the sake of brevity I have ignored grammatical rules in the paragraphs above. And the reason for brevity is that we have contributions from guest writers (Umang & Sashi) in this post. Firstly, Sashi provides an in-depth account of what we have been eating for the last week or so. Then MasterChef Umang shares with all of you recipes for his signature dishes – Gujju’s Chicken Curry™ & Chicken Soup for the Seoul™.

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SO WHAT DID WE EAT (and cook)?
Special Correspondent- Y.R.Sashikumar

13^th, Monday
Dinner –          Thepla (Gujju staple bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner), Dhokla (No its not Khaman Dhokla..the other one) (sponsored by Umang)

14^th, Tuesday
Lunch –           Remaining Thepla, Dhokla (sponsored by Umang)
Dinner –          Turkish Restaurant

15^th,Wednesday
Lunch –           Plain Rice, Puliogara (Ready made), Tomato Pickle (By Sashi)
Dinner –          Cabbage & Potatoes Vege; Paratha (By Umang)

16^th, Thursday
Lunch –           Pain Rice, Rassam (By Sashi)
Dinner –          Poha with Aloo (By Sashi)

17^th, Friday
Lunch –           No Lunch
Dinner –           Turkish Restaurant

18^th, Saturday
Lunch –           Vegetable Masala Rice (By Sashi)
Dinner –          Tandoori Chicken (By Srini), Gujju’s Curry Chicken™ (By Umang); Plain Rice, Aloo Baingan & Rasam (By Sashi)

19^th, Sunday
Lunch –            Remaining Rice, Chicken, Rasam & Baingan
Dinner –           Diet – Fruits

20^th, Monday
Lunch –            Khichdi (Aloo & Moongdhal)  + curd (By Sashi)
Dinner –           Aloo & Broccoli Vege,& Chicken Soup for the Seoul™; Paratha  (By Umang)

Deepak: As you might have observed, I have been the freeloader who only eats and doesn’t cook. 😀

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FROM MASTERCHEF UMANG’s COOKBOOK

By His excellence, Sir Umang Naik 

Gujju’s Chicken Curry™ (Dedicated to all the gujjus who love chicken – sinners like me!)

Ingredients list: For Marinating – Chicken (1 whole), Plain Yogurt (6-7 tablespoon), Ginger (1 big piece), Garlic (10-12 small cloves or 5-6 big cloves), Turmeric power, Red chilli powder, Coriander powder, Green chilli paste, half Lemon, Salt

Gravy and Seasoning – Cumin seeds (1/2 to 1 tablespoon), Bay leaves (2 bay leaves cut into half), Cinnamon pieces (4 small pieces), 2 big black cardamom (smash it a bit so while cooking the smell oozes out), Cloves (few pieces), Coriander powder (little bit), Red chilli powder (little bit), Turmeric powder (little bit), Green chilli paste (little bit), Salt to taste, 2 large Onions, 2 big Tomatoes. I didn’t have Aniseed powder (my secret ingredient!!) It gives a great aroma

Method: First wash the chicken in warm water and remove skin if necessary. Wash it twice so that it is properly cleaned. Grate the Ginger and make Garlic paste and add to the Chicken in the mixing bowl. Add all the ingredients in the mixing bowl, add lemon and give a good hand mix. Add just a bit of salt as we will be adding some to the gravy. Keep the chicken to marinate for 6-7 hours or in my case I left it overnight in the refrigerator.

For the gravy, a non-stick vessel would be great but since we did not have one we had to do with a stainless steel one. Finely chop the Onions and Tomatoes so that it makes better gravy. I am good at chopping… my wife agrees with it. Put the vessel on medium flame and pour 2-3 tablespoon oil (Yea.. I am not a fitness freak!!). Add 1 tablespoon cumin seed. I love cumin seed and I like to add more of it. Add pieces of Bay leaves, Cinnamon pieces, Cardamom, Cloves. When the seeds begin to crackle add the Onions. No don’t add the Tomatoes now. Add a bit of salt now. This help to bring out the moisture from the Onions and it cooks well. Sauté the Onions till they turn golden brown. Add the Tomatoes to this and let them cook till the rawness in the Tomatoes goes away. After the Tomatoes are half cooked, add the spices and stir. Then add the marinated chicken into the vessel. Mix everything properly. You may not need to add water as the chicken will ooze out moisture while cooking. If you add water then the spice balance would be gone. Cover the vessel with the lid and let it simmer (low heat) for 15-20 minutes. After about 15 mins check, using a fork, if the chicken has cooked properly. If not then let it cook for 5 more minutes. When it is cooked turn of the flame and enjoy the delicious Gujju’s Curry Chicken. See how easy it was..!! So get started with cooking!!

Chicken Soup for the Seoul™ (Soul)

Ingredients list: Chicken stock (makes your job easy!!), Water, Macaroni, Bean sprouts, Broccoli, Spring Onions, Salt and Pepper. The vegetables listed here are what I could get hold of. You may add anything that suits your taste – carrots, cabbage, bell peppers. I’d love to add grated ginger too but I didn’t have that.

Method: This is very simple. Add water to the cooking pot. If you want 2 bowls of soup add 2-1/2 bowls of water. Then add Chicken stock. I use the liquid Chicken stock. Easy to store. For liquid stock add 1 tablespoon stock for 1 bowl of soup. Chop all the vegges and add to the pot except the Spring Onions. Add Macaroni and check the salt. If needed add some salt. Put it on medium flame for 10-15 mins or till the soup begins to boil. Ohh…. I forgot… add some black pepper powder for hotness. After the soup is ready turn off the flame and add the chopped Spring Onions and voila..! Your yummy soup is ready to be devoured.

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1200 hrs
21^st August 2012, Tuesday
HHI Office, Ulsan.

What is the word for toilet in Korean?

1430 hrs
18^th August 2012, Saturday
HHI Office, Ulsan. 

Yes, I am at office on a Saturday. There has been a lot of confusion over whether we should be working on Saturdays or not. When we signed our deputation contract it was told that we would be working overtime on Saturdays (and hence we and KBR would make more money). When we started working here, HHI told us that they didn’t want us to work on Saturdays (they want to save money I guess). Friday night arrived and there was no resolution to this issue and we received instructions from Singapore to go and do our 7 hours for Saturday (also, our timesheets are not approved yet). So here I am in office on a Saturday afternoon with no real work to do.

Let me quickly recap what we have been up to since my last entry. On 15^th (Wednesday) evening, Srini and I decided to check out the clubhouse after work. We knew from going through the HHI website that they had a gym and two squash courts; and we wanted to make full use of these during our stay (we had therefore brought squash racquets from Singapore). So for a mere 10,000 Won (refundable) we got access cards to the gym and the squash courts. We then played squash for an hour or so. It was good to get some exercise after a break of few weeks. (I hadn’t been to the gym or got any real exercise since 29^th July).

16^th (Thursday) was pretty uneventful, so I would like to use up this space to talk about some other random stuff. Firstly, I would like to discuss the office culture over here. Quite simply put -this place reminds me of primary school. Work starts at 8am and everyone is expected to be at their desks by 7:45am. At around 7:50am the small televisions installed all around the floor suddenly turn on and start an exercise video. Almost all the employees follow the woman on the screen and do some stretching exercises. At 7:56am the video stops. At 8am sharp every department has a meeting to kick off their day. At this point let me briefly explain to you the generic floor plan of their office (see figure below).

There are no cubicles or cabins. The only person on the floor who sits in a room is the senior vice president (he actually sits in a meeting room). Everyone sits on open desks. The arrangement of these desks is in the same fashion as that of a classroom. Departments are arranged in columns with the lead engineers (class teachers) seated at the front facing the rest of the engineers (students). Each department has around 4 to 5 columns (executing multiple projects). We are currently seated in the last row. Behind us is the meeting table. Around 10am there is a coffee/cigarette break. 12 to 1pm is the lunch break. At around 3 pm there is another coffee/cigarette break. Around 4:30pm some Korean snacks are delivered for our nourishment. And on the last working day of the week (which was Thursday this week) everyone has to clean their own working area. Brooms and mops are given to all engineers to clean their working area. I kind of liked the philosophy behind this routine – “You made the mess, so you have to clean it.” In the evening I played squash again. In the evening we watched the movie Se7en in Sashi’s room (connected laptop to the TV and sound system).

Friday (17^th) was a holiday. The Liberation Day (15^th) holiday from earlier in the week had been shifted to Friday by HHI. After a week of waking up at 6am, it was a welcome relief to laze in bed till noon. In the afternoon we decided to go to E-mart for shopping. This mall was around 10km from our place and we decided to take a taxi. Calling a cab is pretty simple at our apartment. We just go to the guard and tell him that we need a cab. He helps us call the cab company and it takes no more than 5 minutes for our ride to arrive. There were 5 of us, so we took two taxis. As expected the taxi driver didn’t know any English. Luckily we were ready for this scenario. We had the address of the shopping mall in Korean – we showed him the sheet and we were off. On the way to the mall I opened my Lonely Planet Korean phrasebook and tried learning a few new words. Toilet in Korean is “Hwajangshil”. We shopped for around 3 hours and then made our way back home with carton boxes full of stuff (in a taxi; we had our apartment’s address in Korean too). For dinner we revisited the Turkish restaurant we had been to a couple of days ago.

This morning we came to office at 9am. We have to do only 7 hours for the day. This evening Umang is cooking up a feast. There is chicken curry and Tandoori chicken on the menu. Right now, I am just waiting for evening to come.

Countdown: 90 days to go

1530 hrs
18^th August 2012, Saturday
HHI Office, Ulsan.

Settling In

1730 hrs
15^th August 2012, Wednesday
HHI Office, Ulsan.

Last evening, after finishing work, we decided to go grocery shopping at Homeplus (the nearest supermarket, 5 minute drive). A colleague who also lives in the same apartment block as ours, kindly volunteered to take us there in his car. We already had a shopping list ready (made earlier in the day as an activity to kill time in the office) too. We made a quick stop at the apartment (to get changed into shorts and slippers) and then headed to the supermarket.

The supermarket was spread over 5 stories and had almost all sorts of sections – apparel, shoes, grocery, toiletries, books etc. The shopping carts (rented at a refundable 100 Won) were high tech – they gave you mileage – indicating how much you had walked while doing your shopping. Our main objective was to shop for fruits and vegetables. The choice of vegetables and fruits was limited and they were even more expensive than Singapore. We still bought some essentials – onions, potatoes, tomatoes, bananas, apples and so on. We actually managed to fill two large carts full. An interesting aspect of Korean shops is the reluctance to provide you with plastic bags for you to carry your purchase in (or you may chose to buy plastic bags at a heavy price). This obviously is a great achievement of this society in moving towards a “greener” lifestyle. So we had to take our products in the carts up to the car park. One particular corner of the car park had a packing section where you could make cardboard cartons (available in varying sizes). Once you had made them (taped them up to be precise), you put your stuff in them and took it to your car. So we also followed this practice; and while doing it wondered if this would ever work in Singapore?

From Homeplus we drove to a Turkish restaurant (called White House) to have our dinner. It was 9 pm then, most of the streets were deserted, it was drizzling and we were the only patrons at the restaurant. Our waiter (who was probably the owner too) was pretty friendly and courteous. We ordered the usual Turkish fare – hummus, pides, donor kebabs, Turkish tea etc. After having a stomach filling meal and making friends with the restaurant owner we headed home. Conveniently a shopping cart was provided at the apartment car park to transfer goods to our respective houses. I live on the 3^rd storey, Sashi and Umang on the 5^th storey, Srini and Sajeev on the 2^nd.

At the office, today was pretty much like yesterday. We walked to the office building (a 15 min uphill hike) and reached our desks at 7:50am. There is a coffee machine in the common area of each level of the 5-storey building. We took a coffee break at 10 am and 3 pm like everyone else in the office. We went back home to have our lunch. And even as the day draws to end there are no signs of us getting internet connectivity on our laptops. Patience is key.

The only work related activity for the day was a 5 minute meeting with Ikhwan where he told us what we would be doing over the next three months. Nothing new, everything we already knew. I need to end here as it’s already 6 and Umang’s pestering me to leave for home!

Countdown: 93 days to go.

1800hrs
15^th August 2012, Wednesday
HHI Office, Ulsan

From Singapore to Ulsan

1600 hrs

14^th August 2012, Tuesday

HHI Office, Ulsan.

After an extremely tiring and circuitous journey we finally made it to Ulsan yesterday evening at around 6:30pm. Our journey was smooth till Seoul – we landed at Incheon Airport on time (around 7:30am), sailed through immigration and easily made our way to Gimpo Domestic Airport to catch our next flight. This is where the problem started.

We found out from the Korean Air ground staff that Ulsan airport was probably closed due to adverse weather and our flight at 12:50pm was put on “HOLD”. They told us to come at 1140am to check if the weather had improved for the flight to go ahead. We started brainstorming alternate ways of reaching our destination. Suggestions ranging from a 6-hour road trip to taking the KTX (bullet train) were thrown into the discussion. In the mean time we also tried out Starbucks Korea – we needed the caffeine. As we waited we noticed that an Asiana Airlines flight to Ulsan had taken off- an indication that the weather had improved in Ulsan? The display board also indicated sunny weather at Ulsan Airport. Hope!

At 11:35am we approached the Korean Air staff again. This time the news was positive and we were told to check-in our baggage and get our boarding passes. So we and our 70 kg luggage stood in line to check-in. At this point I would like to describe an interesting aspect of Korean Air Check-in procedure. Right behind the walls of the check-in counters are some baggage scanners. The staff doesn’t give you your boarding passes until your luggage is accepted by the airport security monitoring these scanners. A few of us were called inside this room to open our bags and display the contents which the security personnel felt suspicious. After this we proceeded through the security check to the departure gate. We then boarded the flight. The flight left the gate on time and moved towards the runway to takeoff. We were all smiling at our good fate. A couple of minutes later the flight stopped a few meters from the runway. An announcement in Korean from the flight captain and a loud collective sigh from the Korean contingent of the passengers was enough for us to interpret that we were not going to Ulsan (and obviously there was an English announcement after that). We got off the plane and took a bus to the arrival centre, collected our bags from the belts and made our way to the Korean Air help desk yet again. It was 1:35pm.

One of the Korean Air employees suggested a solution: fly to Busan and subsequently take a bus or taxi to Ulsan. We all agreed that this was a good idea. We then called Singapore and informed them the same. We went through the same process of checking in and security checks and made it to the 3pm flight to Busan. This time there was no delay and the flight took off on time. We were exhausted and took a small nap on the flight, but the journey wasn’t over yet.

By the time we exited Busan Airport it was 4:30pm. It was dark and cloudy, but luckily it wasn’t raining. The information counter recommended us to take jumbo taxis to accommodate all of us and our bags. We negotiated two SUV taxis to take us directly to the apartment in Ulsan. The drivers needed the full address of the apartment in Korean for entering it into the GPS. So we called the apartment office and found this out. What followed was a 2 hour drive to Ulsan through Busan, its suburbs and its traffic. At the apartment we settled in pretty swiftly, thanks to the help from KBR veterans already living there and the Apartment Manager Kim.

This morning we woke up early and made it to the office by 8am. It has been a rather sluggish day – we are still trying to tune ourselves to the office culture, get our computers in shape, waiting to get network connections for our laptops and struggling to stay awake. But I am sure everything will be back to normal tomorrow.

Countdown: 94 days to go.

1620hrs

HHI Office, Ulsan

Deepak Pitta

Been a while

0052 hrs

Study Table, Home (Cantonment Close).

Well, its been quite a while since I last blogged, hasn’t it!? 🙂 Since I have started working I have become so busy that I dont know what to do and what not to do! There are so many things happening in my life and I think its high time I prioritize. I remember that as a student I used to set weekly or monthly goals and more often than not achive those targets.

But since I have started working I have realized how much less time I have to myself! Working a 8 to 5 job sucks so much time out of your life! But slowly I am learning how to maximize the time I have and instead of weekly goals or monthly ones, I have set myself half yearly goals! :p

And I am happy to announce that I have successfully achieved my first one. I got my first DSLR. After a lot of intensive research I bought the Nikon D7000. I hope I get time to use it though! 🙂

So anyways, I will keep it short for this time & hopefully my next post wont be too far away.

Gong Xi Fa Cai 🙂

0103 hrs

Study Table, half sleepy.

Wanderer

2040hrs,  April 21 , 2010.

Thinklab ,NUS.

————————————————————————————————–

NOMAD

Pronunciation: \ˈnō-ˌmad, British also ˈnä-\

Function: noun

Etymology: Latin nomad-, nomas member of a wandering pastoral people, from Greek, from nemein

Date: 1579

1 : a member of a people who have no fixed residence but move from place to place usually seasonally and within a well-defined territory
2 : an individual who roams about

———————————————————————————————-

There are an estimated 40 million nomads in the world.

Now there are 40 million + 1.

Yes. I have become a nomad.

The term nomadic is now a common metaphor for aimless wandering. In fact the movement of traditional nomadic people is far from haphazard: it is both predetermined and systematic. Most nomads live in marginal areas like deserts, steppes and tundra, where mobility becomes a logical and efficient strategy for harvesting scarce resources spread unevenly across wide territories.

Now, lets put the above explanation into context (of my nomadic behaviour):

Predetermined : Yes, I knew it quite well in advance that from April 1st 2010 onwards I would be a nomad.

Marginal Areas : Not really. But I did live in yo:HA Boon Lay. I guess that counts!

Strategy : Similar to other nomads my mobility is due to availability of certain resources at the places I have wandered to. Some of the main resources being:  free& fast internet, no rental, 24hr food court nearby, IPL on TV (if possible or youtube also if fine), vending machines, other stuff needed to survive in a civilized manner (washroom, washing etc..) .

So my journey started off after I handed over the keys to the owner of my old place on March 31st. Since then I have lived in Boon Lay hostel, Chiang’s place, GSS room @NUS , Computing lab@NUS etc.  All the time making sure I stick to my strategy.

But to become this mobile, I had to dump all of my luggage somewhere! I have a lot of luggage, accumulated over the last 6 years..I found this storage container in Ayer Rajah Crescent which is very convenient. If any of you are interested check here:

http://www.singpost.com.sg/S3/index.html

What else is happening in my life? —> IPL, Fantasy cricket, Job applications (no interviews though), Sleep, Subway ( its open 24hrs here), TV shows (watching 18 shows).

Thats about it for now. Will blog soon.

0057hrs,  April 22 , 2010.

School of Computing, NUS.

(notice my nomadic nature…where I started this post & where I ended it :p)

Sachin is a genius. I’m a mere mortal

Great words about the great man.

Hashim Amla:
“Nothing bad can happen to us if we’re on a plane in India with Sachin
Tendulkar on it.”
Hashim Amla, the South African batsman, reassures himself as he boards a
flight

Yaseer Hameed:
“Sometimes you get so engrossed in watching batsmen like Rahul Dravid and
Sachin Tendulkar that you lose focus on your job.”

“To Sachin, the man we all want to be”
– What Andrew Symonds wrote on an aussie t-shirt he autographed specially
for Sachin

BBC on Sachin:
Beneath the helmet, under that unruly curly hair, inside the cranium, there
is something we don’t know, something beyond scientific measure. Something
that allows him to soar, to roam a territory of sport that, forget us, even
those who are gifted enough to play alongside him cannot even fathom. When
he goes out to bat, people switch on their TV sets and switch off their
lives ”

“But the finest compliment must be that bookmakers would not fix the odds –
or a game – until Tendulkar was out.”

“Tuzhe pata hai tune kiska catch chhoda hai?” Wasim Akram to Abdul Razzaq
when the latter dropped Sachin’s catch.

Brian Charles Lara:
“Sachin is a genius. I’m a mere mortal.”

Mark Taylor:
“We did not lose to a team called India…we lost to a man called Sachin” –
Mark Taylor, during the test match in Chennai (1997)

M. L. Jaisimha:
“The more I see of him the more confused I’m getting to which is his best
knock.”

Glenn McGrath:
“The joy he brings to the millions of his countrymen, the grace with which
he handles all the adulation and the expectations and his innate humility –
all make for a one-in-a-billion individual,”

Anjali
“I can be hundred per cent sure that Sachin will not play for a minute
longer when he is not enjoying himself. He is still so eager to go out
there and play. He will play as long as he feels he can play,”

Matt HAYDEN:
“I HAVE SEEN GOD, HE BATS AT NO.4 FOR INDIA”

“Even my father’s name is Sachin Tendulkar.”
— Tendulkar’s daughter, Sara, tells her class her father’s name after the
teacher informs them of a restaurant of the same name in Mumbai

KUMBLE:
“I am fortunate that I’ve to bowl at him only in the nets!”

Shahrukh (quoting Shahrukh from an interview)
“Que: Who do you think as most important celebrity ?
Shahrukh: There was a big party where stars from bollywood and cricket were
invited. Suddenly, there was a big noise, all wanted to see approaching Amitabh Bachhan.
Then Sachin entered the hall and Amitabh was leading the queue to get a grab of the GENIUS!!”

Navjot Singh Sidhu:
“India me aap PrimeMinister ko ek Baar Katghare me khada kar sakte hain..Par
Sachin Tendulkar par Ungli nahi utha Sakte..”

Waqar Younis
“He can play that leg glance with a walking stick also.”

A banner once said-‘ I WILL SEE GOD WHEN I DIE BUT TILL THEN I WILL SEE
SACHIN ‘ that quiet defines Sachin-The greatest.

Allan Donald:
“Sachin Tendulkar has often reminded me of a veteran army colonel who has
many medals on his chest to show how he has conquered bowlers all over the
world”

And i remember reading in one of Allan Donald’s interview.
This interview was in Cricket Talk 7-8 yrs ago.

“I was bowling to Sachin and he hit me for two fours in a row. One from
point and the other in between point and gully. That was the last two balls of the over and the
over after that we (SA) took a wicket and during the group meeting i told Jonty (Rhodes) to
be alert and i know a way to pin Sachin. And i delivered the first ball of my next over
and it was a fuller length delevery outside offstump. And i shouted catch. To my
astonishment the ball was hit to the cover boundary. Such was the brilliance of Sachin.
His reflex time is the best I have ever seen. Its like 1/20th of a sec.
To get his wicket better not prepare. Atleast u wont regret if he hits you for boundaries.”

Peter Rebouck, Aussie journalist
“On a train from Shimla to Delhi, there was a halt in one of the stations.
The train stopped by for few minutes as usual. Sachin was nearing century, batting on 98. The passengers, railway officials, everyone on the train waited for Sachin to complete the century.
This Genius can stop time in India!!”

NKP Salve, former Union Minister (This was when he was accused of ball tempering)
“Sachin cannot cheat. He is to cricket what (Mahatma) Gandhiji was to
politics. It’s clear discrimination. ”

Andy Flower:
“There are 2 kind of batsmen in the world. One Sachin Tendulkar. Two all the
others.”

Back in Business

0037 hrs ,  09-09-09

Bedroom, Home ( I live in Tanglin now).

It has been quite sometime since I blogged hasnt it!

Anyways yesterday I was making my resume ( its job hunting season again) in which I mentioned somewhere about my blog ( boasting my writing skills! I hope the companies dont actually check this place!). I felt guilt about putting it in my resume; afterall I have’nt blogged in so long. So the resume was the  reason to resume blogging again. (Sorry for the horrible pun-usage!).

So what have I been upto lately? Lots of things….Firstly, I am obsessed with this version of Rock you Like a Hurricane! Check it out:

There is something so good about orchestra and Heavy Metal together !

I have been quite busy with GSS work and academics and job hunting! Well…my tenure as VP is over at GSS but I havent abandoned it. I am still working as a mentor to the committee! Just trying to contribute something more in the last 6 months that I have at NUS. There are lots of issues that we grad students need to fight for at NUS! Anyways there is so much on that..maybe I can write a separate post on the state of the Graduate Student at NUS.

Next to academics. I screwed up my grades royally last sem. My GPA plummeted from 4.5 to 3.9. I can kiss my chances of a first class goodbye yet again! So I just want to cross the 4.0 mark at the end of this semester ( my last one). For that I am targeting to get three A’s. For that very reason I picked up what I thought were the three easiest modules. But sadly fate was playing its dirty tricks on me again. In one of the ostensibly ‘easier’ modules the instructor changed and now its  a ‘ not-so-easy-to-get-A ‘  module. Anyways that means more effort needs to go into studies. I am not playing cricket this semester, so that does save up some time.

Oh ! Btw I totally forgot…I bought a new laptop! Yeah the old Toshiba finally died & I am back to good old Fujitsu. My dad is still using my 6 yr old Fujitsu and strongly encouraged ( read ordered) me to buy a Fujitsu again.

Job! Job! Job!

Yes its J hunting season for me now and I am exploring all possible career choices from: PHd to Photography to Engineering Consultant to Novelist(??!!?) to Work for Agastya (oh yeah…Agas is CEO of a company now..talk of accelerated career growth!!). So yeah..I am still not sure what I want to do, but one thing is for sure…whatever I do …I want to get rich and get there fast….so that I can retire at 40. 🙂

And then do what I like the most – nothing!

Anyways time for bed. Need to get to bed. Assignment deadline tomorrow and need to get up and do that! Hopefully this enthusiasm to blog is sustained and I will see you tomorrow.

0104hrs, 09-09-09

Still there on the bed. (I dont have a study table!! grrr…)

Best of Bill Maher on Religion

100 truths, religion and IPL.

Tuesday, April 7th 2009.

0807hrs, NUS Thinklab, Computer Centre.

Yes, its true that I am in univeristy so early in the morning.

April and May are the months of exams, assignments, stress, IPL etc in most parts of the world. Side-effects of these are varied. Depending on who you are (I guess you will identify few of yours here) it maybe facebook addiction (latest trend), excessive sleeping, insomnia, smoking ,drinking, porn, movie or tv-show marathons, getting addicted to some music and anything else to distract you from what you are actually supposed to be doing.

I have been having some of the above mentioned effects and some more peculiar ones. But before I talk about that I would like to start of with FaceBook (FB) addiction. FB being dominated by students worldwide is a very good indicator of stress levels in student communities around the world. If you have a FB account and have 50+ friends you must have noticed the recent high activity rate on the website, a very good indicator of the April-May zone. Let me talk of three most popular trends I have seen over the last month.

It started with people tagging their friends on one picture, which has like many smaller images of variety of characters we encounter (eg. the flirt, the cutie, the jerk etc… I guess you get which one I mean). Then came the quizzes, with so many random-shit questions – when will you get married? when will I get cancer? and equally shitty answers. And then came tagging lists of things you do and passing them on – the ipod quiz, the other randomly self-indulging- chance of making yourself -look-good-which you are actually not- lists etc.

So anyways yesterday night my friends started doing this 100 truths list and tagged me to do it as well. Some of them cited exam-stress as reason for doing the list, others stated joblessness as the reason. Whatever it is I am not here to analyse the reason behind their doing it. The list itself interested me a lot.

Before I touch on the reason of my interest for the 100 truth list I think I need to lay some more foundation.

I was watching the documentary Religulous yesterday night. Last saturday (earth hour night) I was involved in a fierce debate over definition of religion with some friends and I have been reading Bhagavad Gita. So you can see that I have been spending a lot of time on religion and understanding it (side-effect 1?) . If you are a namesake-Hindu like me (one who doesnt go to temple,eats beef etc etc – which I am not saying are true requirements of being a Hindu, but merely stating social norms) , and you probably are looked at in a condescending manner by your staunch Hindu parents,friends etc then what I say will be similar to what you feel !  I hate those so called religious-people who judge others in that fashion. First of all do they really understand their religion? More importantly do they understand the idea behind religion? Or do they blindly follow what other people have told them to be religious or non-religious? Whatever minute knowledge I have gained through my readings clearly indicates that what people perceive today as being religion is not true. What is it then? – Right now I dont know. There are some ideas I have, but they are not cultivated enough.

Is religion a way of life? Is it a guide to reach god? Is it just an idea? – I dont know. Or may be as one of my friends stated – ” Religion is sum of all egos. ” (for more details ask me  personally on the explanation :p). Anyways I can write a book if I keep talking about religion and even put the hardcore-insomniac to sleep with this discussion, but what I wanted to point out is this:

Religion should be our intuition, an experience. It should not be what someone said. If you look into history of Hinduism (accurately, Sanatana dharma) in the vedic period this is what religion was, an experience. You live your life, experience it , learn what is right and wrong. It was the process that was important ,not the destination. So, say if my friend smokes or drinks or whatever, its his intuition to do so, and I should not be judging him to be non-religious or a sinner.

When Avinash wrote in his 100 truths :

” Do you want to get married? – Yes…..maybe i cannot sustain myself properly currently but will make sure to give my family the highest standards to live in.”

 unlike Agastya who found it funny (not judging you buddy 🙂 ) , I found it very heart-warming.  The fact that we dont associate such a response from a guy like Avi might make it funny, but I look at it as what he desires, what his instinct says . Knowing him personally, I highly doubt that while answering that question he mentally referred to any religious teachings or scripts to reach that conclusion. Through his experience and what he has learnt in life and through “thinking” himself he reached this conclusion! I would say thats religion ,not accurately, but in a crude sense. That is probably just a small example from day to day life.

Now moving to something interesting! – Did you know there is a Cannabis Religion??? Their tagline – “We use cannabis religiously and you can, too.”  I personally dont find it stupid, because  ” Realty is unique, wise men see it (achieve it) in different ways. ” (Rig-Veda)  If Cannabis is your way to the truth, so be it (right Shanty?)

From all the intense religious stuff to some light stuff – CRICKET – IPL.

18th April , saturday is the day of the season opener for Indian Premier League Season 2 . Great match to start off with: MUMBAI INDIANS VS CHENNAI SUPERKINGS. Where are all you guys watching (if you are)? Avinash has indicated to me that he might live at  Ankur’s place throughout the season! So do you want to watch the season openers at Ankur-Agastya’s place??  Also guys I have sent you invites for the NTULC Season 2 IPL fantasy (cricinfo). Lots of players to choose this time over and more transfers than last season as well! So Do join! If you havent got the invite let me know your email address– will send again!

Anyways I better get started (my instinct speaking!) on the 3 assignments I need to submit by today evening. I hope Agastya gets his remote working by tonight, I tried helping him over the phone yesterday night, but chances look bleak! As for others keep the facebook traffic alive, its stupid, but entertaining.

0915hrs, 7th April 2009.

 PS: Sorry for the horribly unstructured writing! Havent blogged in a while…hopefully more blogs during the exam period. 🙂

 

GULAAL – yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai??

Really looking forward to this movie! Kya cast hai!! Lets hope Kashyap delivers well again with Gulaal! He supposedly got inspired by the song “yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai” from “Pyaasa” and made this movie :

Your Song

Brilliant song by Elton John!!

It’s a little bit funny this feeling inside

I’m not one of those who can easily hide

I don’t have much money but boy if I did

I’d buy a big house where we both could live

If I was a sculptor, but then again, no

Or a man who makes potions in a travelling show

I know it’s not much but it’s the best I can do

My gift is my song and this one’s for you

And you can tell everybody this is your song

It may be quite simple but now that it’s done

I hope you don’t mind

I hope you don’t mind that I put down in words

How wonderful life is while you’re in the world

I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss

Well a few of the verses well they’ve got me quite cross

But the sun’s been quite kind while I wrote this song

It’s for people like you that keep it turned on

So excuse me forgetting but these things I do

You see I’ve forgotten if they’re green or they’re blue

Anyway the thing is what I really mean

Yours are the sweetest eyes I’ve ever seen

Every Dog has his day & NTULC INtl. Pvt. Ltd.

Tuesday, 24th February 2009

0215hrs, Home.

Firstly. Sorry for the long break I took off my blog. Mid term break at uni now, so I am back!

Secondly. Sorry for not having done the shuffle quiz which I was tagged by Ranajay to do. I will do it soon, promise.

Thirdly. Lets move on from the apologies.

Lastly. Today’ s headlines. Crorepati JhopadPatti ka Kutta ( A.k.A SlumDog Millionaire) wins 8 Oscars. I woke up to Rahman winning the Oscar. I was happy for him like many other Indians around the world.  I thought about it. Slumdog is not even among his best 5 albums in my opinion. If a mediocre album by Rahman’s standards (btw Jaye Ho was rejected by Subash Ghai for his film Yuvraaj) can win 2 Academy Awards, imagine how many he would have won say hypothetically if he was either born in England or the US! Also a not so great ‘ Indian’ album  winnimg an Oscar, says something about the standard of Indian Music. 🙂 In my personal opinion it didnt deserve to win 8 Oscars, but thats my personal opinion. I guess it was a favorite among critics and masses equally and so it won. So yeah, every dog has its day, happens to be a slumdog this time.

Enough of dog talk, some updates on what happened over the last month or so, during which i took a break from blogging.

In one of my posts- The week gone by -an update , I had listed out the books I had been reading. Now a progress report on those books. The locations of all those books has changed from my books shelf to my cupboard where they have been untouched since that day. More updates in future posts. 🙂

Was away at Outward Bound Singapore on 7th-8th February.( All PHOTOS here)

Notable activities there :

1. Failed attempt at being messenger boy .(relevant parties know about this,limited disclosure here)

2. Looked like a fool wearing long kurtas and shorts. (you can see in the photos and have a laugh)

3. Led the GSS team in building a raft and paddling it into the ocean!

4.  And this…..

5. Singing on the bus back from OBS like mad ‘dogs’. Agastya was dignified as usual, chose not to sing. Hisham barked as loud as me. Naveed doesnt do singing. Others all contributed in a way or other. Notable song performed by Michael urf Michelle : I am a Barbie Girl ( on someone’s demand :p)

Apart from OBS, at GSS we have been pretty occupied. Launched New Website. Have few new events coming up over next few weeks- Free Weekend Movie Screening Marathons,  SALSA classes, Trip to Malaysia and a Sports Week.

Talking of Salsa, another update. A russian girl asked me to be her partner for Salsa 🙂 . She said she would attend our classes if and only if I dance with her. Exciting??  Dont get excited, turns out she is already married ! Par kuch tho progress hai! I guess that event makes me lose a couple of NTULC credits! Damn! Oh and yeah- NTULC is back – bigger and better– we have gone International – NTULC Intl. Pvt. Ltld (NTULC IPL). And I have been asked to be International Liason.

International just reminded me something else, I am going to tour Australia (northern Territory) this summer (winter there). I have been selected on a cricket tour as part of the NUS cricket team! Best part is almost 60-70% of the cost is sponsored by NUS :))) . Once back from Australia I will be off for the GSS Summer Trip ( place still undecided – Volcano Diving trip to Krakatoa, Diving in Phillipines?, Angkor Wat / diving?) You might notice that diving is there in all the options, thanks to Agastya. He really wants to dive I guess,but then he is try to overcome his fear (deep water), so its justified! He and Naveed are taking swimming classes also in NUS btw!

Talking of Agastya and Naveed, just reminded me to do an update on my friends. Most of them are pretty busy and are rarely in touch. But of whatever I know they have been upto, here is a brief update.

Agastya has been comfortably drunk/high/numb/asleep and learning chinese (kyun?)/swimming/MTbing/bodybuilding etc.

Suchit has been  racist, giving excuses for his rapidly increasing weight, learning German (kiske liye?) /Guitar/ GRE words (3 G’s)

Vanga has been Vanga. Only difference, now  in India.

Avinash has got room in NTU finally, applied for tuition fee loan in his last semester (spent money drinking to celebrate approval of his loan, smart boy 🙂 ) , planning to work as Insurance Agent soon.

Ranajay has been BLOGGINGabout cockblocking/DevD/Super CNY/ Legen-motherfucking-dary drinking escapades. and yeah going to Work.

Shantanu has been stuck in a viscious cycle :  Broke ->Hibernating -> Designing -> Money-> Beer + Smoke + Carls Jr ->Broke -> Hibernati……..

Ankur has become NTULC IPL Emperor.

Deepak has been making a fool of himself, 2 of his ex-gfs got married, has been attempting to build muscles (1.618), recovering from gym fatigue and has now been blogging for more than an hour!!!!!!

The End.

0329hrs, 24th Feb 2009

Home.