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What a moment it was when Anil Kumble completed his first test hundred today at the Brit Oval. I have been following cricket very closely since 1989 and it was easily the most romantic moment on the cricket field that I have witnessed.

Here is a gentleman cricketer who never had the talent. All he had was his "never say die" attitude and his willingness to work hard. Somehow we human beings always get romanced by talent very easily. But talent in most cases flatters to deceive. Talent is a gift as well as a curse. Blessed are those who are able to make it work.

Anil Kumble's batting may not be very pleasing to the eye of a purist..but it proved to be pretty damn effective. Keep on batting in this free world, you smiling assassin and please pass on your grit and determination to the next generation of Indian cricketers, we need it badly.

And it happened...I mean Divine Intervention

Alright, I know there are plenty of atheists out there.

Roughly 10 days ago my dad was down with viral fever. The usual stuff (read high fever, body ache, weakness, congestion and the like). As it is highly contagious, my mom went down with viral fever 6 days ago. 3 days ago on a sunny Tuesday morning, I wake up with severe cold, congestion, body ache and all the typical viral fever symptoms.

This cocky mind of mine is just not ready to give into the thought of lying on the bed for a week with fever and do nothing, so I go to work wearing my exuberant hat. Just an hour before the end of the day I am running a pretty high fever and my colleagues are like "Vinayakan, you need a break...let this damn viral fever be the excuse". I say to myself "OK you arrogant idiot, party is over, time is up, rest it is". I come home and slip into Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep....'Dreamlessness' is something I have not experienced, whether I am sleeping or not is extremely irrelevant.

I am fascinated by rivers since the day I was born, right from Colorado to Kavery to Ganga, same with dams - Hoover to Mettur to Tehri. In my dream I take a holy dip in the mythical Brahmaputra River. Viola..when I wake up, I am fresh as a daisy!

Ah my darling science, can you explain someone recovering from viral fever overnight by taking a holy dip and that too while dreaming? Forget it, it is a rhetorical question, don't even try answering it.

Hey atheists, there is divine intervention out there too!

Chronicles of Vinayakan - I

I will be 25 this July 18. I thought I am headed for a quarter life crisis, but things just seem to be getting better. Really keen to recap some of the Highlights, lowlights, defining moments, shocking moments of my life till date.

Ladies and Gentlemen, here I roll :

Addition to the millennial clan - July 1982.

Thread ceremony - Didn't have a clue with what was happening. Those Vedic mantras were flying thick and fast - 1989.

Paatshaala - Seven year old Spartan sent away from family for 10 months to learn Yajur Veda - - 1989 to 1990.

Placed a rupee coin, stones on the railway track in my village backyard (my brother an able and willing accomplice) - I still have the flattened rupee coin in my wallet - 1991, my first crime.

Learnt five chapters of Bhagavat Gita - 1992 to 1993.

Hooked to an average of two newspapers a day, took to reading with a vengeance - 1993 till date.

Cricket years - It was all about timing and deception. Some match winning knocks, great saves and catches in there - 1995 to 1999, but very poor captaincy record. Too aggressive to inspire the best out of the team. Tendulkar is always there, but I always aspired to have Mark Waugh's silken grace and timing.

First letter published in the newspaper - May 1998. Some more follow over the years but guilty of not doing justice to this innate ability.

Chose hotel school over business economics and journalism and then got beaten up by seniors in college - All in the name of ragging/personality development program - August 1999, real low point of my life.

My good friends succumbed to peer pressure and meted out the same treatment to my juniors. I took a stand and did not repeat what my seniors did to me - Am I sounding boastful, yes you read it right. Stood up for something that I believed in, showed character for the first time in my life, when nobody was watching. In the process influenced couple of other guys to take a stand - August 2000.

Met Ankur Chopra & Saurabh Desai - 1999 - Close pals

My first bottle of beer - September 1999

Peeing from Hostel terrace after getting drunk - October 1999 - April 2002

Left ear pierced - March 2000

Suspended from college for 9 days - August 2001 - All hell broke loose. Caught in the hostel terrace for drinking Old Monk - Sounds absurd but it happened, maybe the person who suspended me never had Old Monkies.

WTC 9/11 - It affected all of us in some way or the other...Right?

Graduation from hotel school, no job in hand - April 2002 - What a shame.

Faced Vikram Oberoi for my first job's interview and cleared it - May 2002 - What a highlight.

Worked with some incredibly passionate professionals at The Oberoi Amarvilas and learnt first hand what world class service is all about : 2002 - 2004.

Indian - American girl grabbed me at the hotel, she was hot and she had a piercing eye contact - But me too naive, uptight and professional to make the next move - July 2002 - What a miss.

Met Kumarmangalam Birla - Fantastic human being - March 2003.

Met Raju Panjwani - I got inspired, ask me how and why? - August 2003.

Met Bob Willumstud - Politely refused a big tip - Do not remember the month and year.

Met David Cote, put the Mughal cap on his head - Do not remember the month and year.

Met Chris Tucker - Funny guy - I think it was November 2003.

Caught and jailed for 3 hours by railway flying squad for ticket less travel between Delhi & Agra - November 2003.

Change of Job - I am a taxpayer - January 2004.

Bike accident - got seven stitches and a scar for lifetime - July 2004.

My first credit card, American Express it is - September 2004.

Close, trusted friend makes a move on me - Wanted to save our friendship but at the same time did not want to get ass fucked. What a predicament, but achieved both - March 2004.

My first car - November 2004.

Scratched the blogosphere - November 2005.

Interviewer calls me 'cocky', ironically still chooses me for the job. I say 'no' and move on - December 2005.

Nailed a credit card fraudster - when there is a will there is a way - January 2006.

Sleep paralytic attack - April 2006, suffered it for 5 months without knowing the scientific explanation.

Beat a Mercedes CLS 350 with my humble hatchback - Automobile history created! Well alright, this guy was a lousy driver and I knew the road and my car better. At the same time I realise one can't win Tour de France with Tobu cycle.

Right ear pierced - Wannabe Me - May 2007.

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Hindi proverb when translated reads like this:

"To appreciate the brilliance of a diamond, one needs special set of eyes and not everyone is blessed with those set"


So am I a diamond? Not just yet...

Future lens

A conversation between a Jat and a Brahmin

Jat : What will you do in your retired life?

Brahmin : Hmmm...have not decided yet.

Jat : Let me suggest you, you have earned a lot of wealth, fame etc. You may want to buy a plot in a village in Haryana. And if you do that I will gift you three buffaloes. You can wash them, clean them, feed them, milk them and just disconnect yourself from this world. This should probably keep you busy for the most part of the day. It will also be a good exercise for you in your old age.

Brahmin : Oh my...he could not control his laughter. He neither agrees or disagrees but just laughs it away.

Point of reference or point of view can make such a difference!

In the conversation above, for a Jat, taking care of buffaloes is the greatest thing he can do on earth and he takes immense pride in the entire process. But whereas for a Brahmin, I am so sure he would have been taunted by his parents in his childhood that if he does not study well, he will be herding the buffaloes later on in life. Trust me, I have heard it and I surely will not mind milking buffaloes in a village in Haryana in my retired life. That is 35+ years from now..and that sure is long range planning! Moot point here is, what is wrong with herding buffaloes? It just needs a shift in point of view.

Heightened Sense of Being!

People resist the unusual..*I* included.

I have people asking me why I use '*' instead of " in my written communication. Here is why: " was used when only hand written communication was possible, whereas we guys, the *Millennials* are more of a keyboard generation than hand written. Don't get me started on how many times the fountain pen created fountains on my school uniform and in the semi-automatic washing machine(besides my mom's temper). She is on her way to Bangalore right now to be with her elder son. Aaah..the word *Bangalore* does not score a home run with my American friends..because it is unusual for them, I love them for their business acumen though. *Strategy* does not score a six with my Indian friends, because it is unusual for them, I love them for their compassion though. *Jack Welch* is a grumpy old man for incompetent people world over because the name is unusual for them. Umm...Do I love them at all?

*Heightened sense of being* is the state; when I see it all....see it so clearly, give me excess of it. Guess what, my friends call me drunk because it is unusual for them to see a control freak loosing control!

Unwired

Fringe benefits of having your friend working as a Bar Manager in a five star hotel.

• Different types of beer from different parts of the world.
• Endless tasting sessions of fine wines, single malts and scotch whiskey.
• Bartender doing pyrotechnics exclusively for you even when there are 150 other people in the bar.
  

Among other things, I was able to use the Wi-Fi network and it rocks. Think about it, no clumsy LAN cables, no broken clips, endless mobility.

I am so tempted to imagine a world where even electricity can be supplied without any wires. No dug up roads, no damage after natural disasters(cyclones, earthquake etc.), no transmission costs/wastage, no power thefts.

Yielding Enough?

Not in the high rollers club yet so I travel economy class. On my way to Bangalore there were twelve business class seats that were vacant. And on my way back from Chennai, business class was doing no-business..again. Interestingly none of the 180 economy class seats were vacant. I think the airlines can spend some thought and make these vacant seats earn some revenue, customer loyalty and the like for them.

What if, when the airline staff is issuing boarding passes to economy travelers, they pitch for upgrading them to business class at a nominal charge. If there are frequent flyers in economy class they should be given preference. They just need to hit a fairly easy success rate of 6.6% to fill up all the business class seats.(12/180*100). Once business class is taken care of, offer the 12 now-vacant economy class seats to last minute travelers at a premium. Of course, there can be million other combinations that airlines can work upon to ensure that all the seats in a plane does and means business.

These days when all the airlines are crying about high fuel prices, low margins etc. they need to first understand that a little bit of homework on their part will go a long way in helping their cause.

Opportunity missed is opportunity lost...right?

Starry Eeared

I run into this question often, I hate answering it and Burj al-Arab is responsible for my hatred. Yes, the luxury hotel in United Arab Emirates(we get to see its photographs in the newspaper often). When the construction of the hotel was completed, it was an architectural wonder(it still is) and it was a white elephant in many respects. To make the hotel a profitable business proposition, stakeholders needed an aggressive, never-heard-in-the-industry marketing plan. In order to deliver that, they marketed it as "the world's first seven-star hotel".

Cut right to the chase: I meet people in personal and professional life & I love talking about my days spent in the hotel. I have learnt so much in my stint there that I simply can write an EPIC(read Evolving Personal Information Construct). Once we converse about the luxe lifestyle and the like, *they* pop the burning question. "Did you work in a seven star hotel?". Hell 'No', I did not, it was just a marketing gimmick which worked way better than it was expected to work. Sometime ago The Grand Maratha Sheraton in Mumbai ran a ripped-off version of the same marketing gimmick to launch the hotel.

As far as I know, there are no hotel rating governing body, nowhere in the world which gives a seven-star rating to any hotel, anywhere. But these days with *we* blaming aliens for even our pet's digestive problems, the truth might just be 'out there' - tongue firmly in cheek!

P.S : (1) I did not work with Burj al-Arab (2) Aliens did not abduct and sodomize me. Ha ha ha...

I got César-ed

"Never say no when a client asks for something, even if it is the moon. You can always try, and anyhow there is plenty of time afterwards to explain that it was not possible"
- César Ritz

Not too long ago I used to live and die by the name above. I still believe there will never be a hotelier like him ever again, yes César Ritz nick named, "King of Hoteliers, and Hotelier to the Kings'.

Cut right to the chase, we are having a beer party on a Friday evening at a friends place. My friend yells 'César', 'César'..I am like "What the!?"..and there emerges a handsome cross breed between an Alsatian and a Pomeranian.

Psychobabble

On and Off I keep reading in newspapers about scientist in NASA to have found traces(or they suspect it to be traces) of water vapour in atmosphere of some celestial object 200 light years way. Hmm...great news but what is the relevance? Water is absolutely necessary for our(read Earth's) survival, but that may not true for all the other life forms which I am sure, exists somewhere, out there. Then, why focus space exploration only in search of water alone? Isn't it like putting blinders on when you are in an expedition?

There could be a 'life' form which is superior/inferior to us and has a different set of requirements for its survival. What if it survives on breathing Nitrogen, Carbon-di-oxide or some element which we are not even aware of?

I am no scientist and I want to keep things rank basic. Educated opinion says that Universe is so huge that even Sun is a tiny dot in it. Think about Mother Earth which is even smaller. It will be so naïve for us to believe that life can survive only if there is water, oxygen, optimum solar energy, photosynthesis and the like.

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Added on April 29, 2010

Search for water has definitely got to do with 'colonising' the celestial body so that its livable for earthlings. This is seriously bad intent.

Call for Overhaul

"Success has many godfathers, failure is an orphan!"

-J.F. Kennedy

Clobbered in the Caribbean, another one bites the dust. I heard some soundbites from my friends..."screw Rahul", "sack Greg Chappell", "play kabaddi now", "no hope", "its fixed". Is anybody listening?

For consistency, it is essential that we get 11 clinical men on the field. As things are right now we have a billion plus emotional people outside the field. Well...results are there for everyone to see, our World Cup campaign started on March 17 and it sank to abysmal depths on March 23. Media men, ex-cricketers all are calling for 11 new players and let me assure you, even if we do that the results are not going to be magical. A Tendulkar here, a Dravid & Ganguly there can only bring you moments of magic and not sustained brilliance/dominance in the sporting arena. Sporting glory(or for that matter any kind of 'glory') and discipline walk hand in hand. Poster *boys* are not the *men* for the job.

We have to plan fearlessly and execute remorselessly.. Form a National Sports Academy(NSA), I am fully aware it sounds dangerously close to National Defence Academy(NDA), but that is what we need. We need a regimental approach. I repeat regimental approach. For all this, the money has to come initially from BCCI(yes even for other sports), because it has to pay the price for marketing cricket to the billions without any results. And NSA should go on irrespective of which government is in power. At the outset we need to pick handful of sports that has the maximum fan following globally..Football, Lawn Tennis, Golf, Tour De France, Hockey, Chess, Formula 1 and Cricket for the obsessed billions.

Pick just few kids from orphanages from across the country. Ideal age should be less than five years. Hire the best trainers, coaches from anywhere in the world where they are available and blood new talent right from childhood for all the above mentioned sports. Give them the best, intense training. Manufacture lean, mean sporting machines on an assembly line. Have a 'rank' and 'yank' approach where there is no room for emotions. Cut out all the regional politics that goes behind team selections (Not too long ago a disgruntled individual in Orissa had hit Greg Chappell for not selecting Debashish Mohanty and Shiv Sundar Das! Educated opinion says, even these two do not possess any magic wand) Remember I am hinting at kids from orphanages who have no regional identity, no family background..Their only purpose of existence should be to bring sporting glory home. Also if the 'orphans' do not do well, angry fans have no homes to attack back home, which at best is a big distraction and nothing else.

With the current set up we have for sports in India do not expect anything spectacular for at least another 15-20 years. Mismatch between the public expectation and the competence of the people in the middle is ubiquitous. Olympics come and go, world cups come and go, reams and reams of newsprint is wasted but there are no medals/cups in the cabinet. I guess I am wasting a lot of cyberspace now. Passing thought..There is only one road to become a champion. Performance, performance...every time.

Rocking Posers!

What an oxymoronic title this one. Cut 'oxy' and you have 'Posers' who are absolutely 'moronic'!

In life we come across 'Rockers' & 'Posers'. I define 'Rocker' as someone who gets things done, makes *it* happen and does not make a big deal about it. I mean getting *it* done is his/her second skin. 'Rockers' by nature care less about brownie points. Aaah brownie points they call for a separate essay...As for 'Posers' - well less said the better.

Alright I funnel it down to our work life. The 3 types that we meet in workplace

Type 1: Absolutely sure of what they want, absolutely sure of their self worth. Before they start anything they have a clear picture of the outcome in their mind. They usually are ahead of their time and because of this very reason they make a lot of unwanted and unknown enemies - 'Rocker' is the breed. I aspire to be a 'Rocker', I know the road is long and hard but I will give my all to get there. If not anything, I will be satisfied that I at least tried...

Type 2: Slow of the blocks, unsure of what they want, do not understand the meaning of self worth, have a vague picture of the outcome. It is actually not their fault as these attributes are not in place because of the limited exposure they have had. All the right qualities can be inculcated in their DNA, what they need is the right coach, right mentor, right godfather! If they get timely attention/help they become 'Rockers'.

Type 3: Oh my God! they are basically 'Posers'. They pretend as if they are the blue eyed boys of the company, who make the needle move. They use office equipments, stationery, time and telephone for personal use with least bit of shame for all unofficial purposes. I consider it unethical. Try questioning them on these and their line of defence would be, "Oh this is a benefit/perk of the job"(Isn't it like an icing on a stale cake with a nice red cherry on top? Cynical, rhetoric me). For them coming to work is a mundane chore that they have to do in their life to get by. In an unfortunate/unlikely situation where they become bosses, a 'Poser' usually sucks up and kicks down. If you have a 'Poser' boss do not worry, the day he/she gets a 'Rocker' as their boss, they will be sorted out.

All said and done this is my opinion(I have an opinion everything, mind you). It is an opinion of a grungy, wannabe 'Rocker', so does anyone really care?

Indianised.. Punctuality

I am extremely particular about respecting others time and I expect the same in return. With no intention of blowing my own trumpet I would say the number of times I get disappointed are not few. Time is money, time is precious & time is not a renewable resource...In a 24 hour day every small delay here and there adds up. I am quite sure Indians as a demographic group can be singled out for absolute contempt for time. Why? for the life of me..Why? As if that is not enough one should see us beaming with pride whenever the acronym IST is thrown about..Indian Stretchable Time..Shouldn't we all take a hard look in the mirror and be ashamed of ourselves? Scheduled meetings never start on time, files do not move, construction of bridges/roads are delayed, implementation of plans never happen on time, court cases get postponed time after time. The are numerous examples and it is not humanly possible to count them all. Let me stop this tirade....and lets Indianise punctuality....

Way back in 1996 a prominent German firm's manager took control of its India operations. He was one of the best the company had and failure was not an option. In the beginning he would turn up for all social get together with the trademark German precision. For example if the party was at 2100 hrs, he will be there smack on the dot, only to find the embarrassed host still in the shower! Times changed he got a a little 'Indianised'. Fast forward to 2006....the firm is performing really well. He decides to host a party and the party starts at, well you guessed it, 2100 hrs. His Indian guest turn up at 2125-2130 hrs only to find him still in the shower!

I am baffled...instead of learning good habits from others we are teaching bad habits to others

De rigueur

Reading books is de rigueur...
Education for all is de rigueur...
Embracing 'change' is de rigueur...
Better Infrastructure is de rigueur...
Chilling out on weekends is de rigueur...
This season, wearing woolens is de rigueur...
Better tax regime in India today is de rigueur...
Sadly, a mobile phone these days is de rigueur...
In organizations, being politically correct is de rigueur...
Commanding respect more than demanding it is de rigueur...
Investing time in a relationship more than money is de rigueur...
Being ruthlessly passionate about attaining your dreams is de rigueur...
Elimination of the 'RED Brigade' from India's political theatre is de rigueur...
Contributing to the "India Wave" for the larger good of the world is de rigueur...
Saying personal things and loading it with "do not take it personally" is de rigueur...

Action Packed

Things that capture imagination...they happen un-announced and that precisely is the beauty of it. Monday, I was thinking I will exclusively make a blog post for the words that I have learnt new but not got an opportunity to use. Time Warp, Psychobabble, Brand Slut, Laundry Virgin, Past Master, Vertigo to list a few.

Tendulkar scores his 41st hundred, his knock pretty much sealed the match in the first 50 overs itself. His baiters will remain quiet for two more matches and then their tongues will wag again. Let me predict, it will be "he is not making enough runs, he should manage his restaurant business or do some advertisements in between". Tongues are meant to wag and Tendulkar's bat is meant to talk. I am glad it talks to the cricket ball alone.

100 years ago another tongue wagged. "Do you mean to say that Tatas propose to make steel rails to British specifications? Why, I will undertake to eat every pound of steel rail they succeed in making" - Sir Frederick Upcott (Chairman, Board of Indian Railways, in 1907 when Tatas proposed to make steel). Post Tata's takeover of Corus(ex-largest British steelmaker) I am sure Sir Upcott will be turning in his grave. He need not eat steel rails, he can eat his own words for the time being. He may upgrade to steel rails once he succeeds in digesting his own words...tough ask that one!

Between wagging tongues and learning new words I sneaked in some time to learn+play sudoku. I prefer playing it online at www.websudoku.com, try it you will like it too! If not anything it lets the logical juices flow freely.

Last but not the least, I learnt water boils at 212 degree Farenheit. I knew it along it was 100 degree in Celcius. Checkout this 212 degree inspiring video. www.212amovie.com. Go on get inspired!

Boss Tales

Annual performance review time and I really should not be writing this posting unless I want to commit a career limiting move. Let's call my boss Sabu(Diamond comics, Chacha Choudhary anyone..?) I am calling him Sabu with a reason. He has the same hairstyle, pretty much the same built and he is quite disciplined about getting things done. Put Chacha Choudhary's intelligence and Sabus's frame together you have a clear picture in front of your eyes of my boss. The fact that he does not roam around in black underwear like Sabu does is a different story altogether.

Here is a conversation, just when he is getting ready to go home on a foggy winter evening

Vinayakan : Sabu, what is happening with my annual rating?

Sabu : Do you fancy a good rating?

Vinayakan : Oh sure I fancy(under my breath, like I have always fancied Bo Derek)

Sabu : Not in so many clear words "we will discuss this later"

Vinayakan : Threatening tone "Boss you better tell me what it is now, or you will be risking a broken window pane, before you get home"

Jokes apart and ignore the word Sabu. This a real conversation that happened between me and my boss. How many bosses have spine enough to create this kind of an atmosphere? or how many even try to sincerely create one? Rare breed indeed. I am lucky and yes I am going to make the most of it.

Opinions, Perspectives et al

Enjoying my holidays and watching lot of television. Cricket of course takes the maximum share of my TV time now. For me, had it not been for cricket, Travel & Living channel would have walked away with the lion's share of my screen time! It is definitely one of the better channels out there. Disagree with me at your own risk. Grrrrrrr........

TV commercials have also come of age India: my favourite being HSBC's series of advertisements emphasizing 'different perspectives' and HSBC respecting it which enables them to call themselves "The world's local bank". It is by far the best I have seen by any financial services company.

A close second would have to be the MOTOFLIP advertisement. Compared to any Nokia advertisement, the sheer recall value it has is just phenomenal. It is so much about today's India: a hardworking young adult coming home late at night and his middle class parents having no idea as to what their son is doing. As a result his parents are disturbed about the 'more-than-he-could-afford' look of the phone. The best scene is when the mother takes her pallu and covers mouth portraying absolute dissapointment. Brilliant eye-for-detail on the director's part. Kudos!

Better Half....Indeed

I was having this general conversation with one of my friend about things that only girls can do and things that only guys can do etc. Somehow the conversation drifted towards, how each and every word any guy utters can be twisted and interpreted as a MCPisque statement. Out of nowhere she mentioned root cause of most problems are women...I was stunned to hear it from a girl but chose not to make it obvious.

Now when I sit back and think about it peacefully maybe she was right. Consider these examples; Mahabharata-Draupadi, Ramayana-Sita, Homer-Helen of Sparta/Troy(highly debatable which place she belongs to), Egypt-Cleopatra, Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky.......anyway. I strongly believe women are the most beautiful beings that God ever created. Dear God, if you are listening you have my vote of confidence.

Boss Told Me So..

This is a funny incident and foolish to say the least. Only I can get myself into such a situation. My boss invited close to sixty people(from all the divisions that report to him) to his house for a get together, as he was feeling very good about stepping into thrilling thirties. I drove down that evening and I was trusting on my instincts to find a nice parking place near his house. So I did.

I was having a chat with him at his terrace, he looked down and said "That is your car, right?". I said (under my breath) "Wow, he is got a good memory and he remebers my gleaming-red, sex on the wheels", (out loud) Yes you are right, you are looking at my darling 'Eleanor'. He replied, I have neighbours who are quite fussy and they are not particularly fond of seeing 'Eleanor' in front of their driveway. I sprinted downstairs and as I was approaching 'Eleanor' to park her elsewhere, there was a middle-aged man peeping out of his car and waiting for me to move 'Eleanor'. I turned back, and said "Boss has asked not to park the car here". He had a weird expression on his face which screamed, young man you are suffering from foot-in-mouth disease, he remarked I am the owner of the house in front of which you have your car parked. Do I have your boss's permission to park my car there..at least?

Vaninsh Vinayakan, Vanish....

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away....

Of late people close to me have casually remarked, "Vinayakan you are always in control, you need to let go yourself frequently and by doing so you will be able to enjoy life more"...I am trying my best to do the above but I still have doubts whether I am committed to doing so 100%. I think trying is at least is a good start.

Here goes the half-hearted attempt:

I have really forgotten the last time I engaged myself in a 'let's eye-ball each other' situation with a stranger in a public place. I have loved doing it since my hotel days. It is saying so many things without saying anything at all. I try to keep my eye-contact as disarming as possible(or so I believe it to be!). It is more of 'I appreciate your hairdo, dress-sense, smile etc...' Last evening at TGIF(near Priya theatre, New Delhi) there were two girls seated diagonally across the table I was sitting in. The one which was facing me had a simple yet really stylish hairdo with a nice toss of the same at regular intervals. It was nicely resting on her slender, denim clothed shoulders. Initially she was completely engrossed in a conversation with her friend, but when she noticed me *eyeing* her(just eyes..), she would have probably thought "well this guy is cute and there is this tinge of nicety about him, let me enjoy the evening and return the glance". Me and my fertile imagination! After 15-20 minutes we exchanged glances...sigh...sigh...sigh... We continued doing so for close to two hours. I somehow felt there was more to it than we looking at each other. I felt it and and I am sure she felt it too. OK let me hope against hope that she gets to read this post sometime!

I was accompanied by two of my old friends from my hotel days. The conversation was on the lines of we being so open about discussing a lot of things even though we have not met for close to three years and we enjoyed the camaraderie that was there. I talked about blogger and promised there is going to be one posting dedicated to the great evening we had...