Stockings, 10 Degrees Below Zero

We, my wife and i, are from India. More specifically we hail from Kerala. We have spent most of our lifetime here in the southern states of India. We were taught that there are 4 main seasons – Summer, Winter, Autumn and Spring. Obviously these were added to the curriculum by the British and we still learn about these seasons in school. But, only we know about the actual seasons here. The 4 main seasons in Kerala would be – Hot, Hot and Humid, Hotter and Humid and Mildly Hot.

Having heard about winter all our lives, we were prepared with our jackets and boots to face the sub zero weather, when we land in Seoul. But in spite of all that, we walked back into the airport faster than we walked out. It was cold and freezing beyond our all imaginations. We would gladly state that, Hell is not hot, it is cold! Fucking cold!

One of the best things about Seoul are the women there. I’m not talking about women in their retirement age or the women who are less than a decade from meeting their maker, but women of the current generation. They are classy. You just can’t help, but notice the way they dress and how they accessories. It was quite natural that one of our favorite past time there, while on the road, was to check out these ladies. Let me show you a photo.

SeoulDay02 2 199x300 Stockings, 10 Degrees Below ZeroLook, how neatly and elegantly she is dressed. Like her, they all would dress in a classy way and it is a sight that you have to see for yourself. We on the other hand, the ones who came from the ‘hot’ land, would dress up in 3-layers of clothing inside, a jacket on the outside, cap, gloves, boots and would look like giant ugly fluffy dolls.

Now take a closer look at that photo again. Do you see something wrong. With all said and done, what we never understood, were those women who would dress up in mini-skirts or shorts and wear nothing but thin stockings and a shoe. While we would be freezing, they would happily stroll, like it’s the middle of the freaking summer. Stockings in winter, what we think, is like yet another fashion statement.

Sometimes, it is better to leave things the way they are and not derive any logic out of them.

Of Autos, Buses, Cabs, Drivers etc.

Driving in India is a challenge. It doesn’t matter if you are driving in Kashmir or in Kanyakumari, it’s damn challenging. First, you have the roads or let’s say what’s left of the road and then the way the traffic finds it’s way on the roads.

Getting a license in India is easy. A little bit of monetary persuasion and the Dept. of Motor Vehicles will issue you one right away. Well this process of getting a license is the best way to find whether a person can drive or not. Just ask them casually, “Do you know how to drive?” If they reply, “I have a license” and if they ever happen to drive a vehicle, the one they are in and the ones on the road better be insured.

Even if you’re a good driver, the rest of the traffic on the road makes you feel like Mario trying to dodge the obstacles and reach the Princess. You have buses, cabs, autos, cows, dogs, IT Engineers, traffic police, regular police, women, children … and the list goes on and on.

Let’s take the buses and its drivers for instance. The drivers are good human beings when they are off duty. But once they are behind the wheels of those buses, they take driving a bit too personally. They start to consider the buses as an extension of their prostate. Once that thought gets into their mind, they just need to show off. They attack every gap in the traffic like they are in heat. You better watch out for them. If you ever see ‘em coming your way it’s always better to move out of their way. If not you’ll get screwed.

The cab guys are a bit different. They have regular sized prostate but with a huge ego. They will always approach you from the rear, honking. Then they try to get ahead of you. Once they are in front of you, they will be driving in the middle of the road like they need both the lanes. It doesn’t really matter what you do, they won’t budge.

Ohh the poor auto (tuk-tuk) drivers! It’s like they have the smallest. The problem with a small ‘ding-dong’ is that it comes along with a really really huge… err… ego! People like that just want to go around, screw anything that moves, just so that their inferior manhood is satisfied. This quite explains the manner in which they drive and ‘attack’ on road. A small gap to fit a finger is all that they need to drive through. Now what does that leave one with? Anger, frustration and road-rage!

You think, you have a car and can get even with a puny li’l auto. No you can’t. Pick a fight with one and in a moment there will be a hundred that you have to fend off. Remember, at the end of it they will make you feel that it was all your fault!

Enough of complaining about other drivers!

Have you given a though of how big your dick size is while driving? Just give it a thought! Remember that each time you think you have a bigger dick than the driver in the next vehicle; he too is thinking the same!

Drive safe!

Free Hugs Campaign

This video never gets boring. The music is great and so is the video.

I first saw the video 3 years back. At around the same time the video, starring Juan Mann, became viral and was suspended based on piracy suspicion by YouTube. Sick Puppies, the band who made the song, was contacted and the genuinely of the video confirmed before the video was back on YouTube.

The ‘Free Hugs’ campaign spread to all other countries including India. Then A. R. Rahman comes out with the Jiya Se Jiya song and video. Anyone who has actually watched the video and the song would agree that both of it sucks big time!

Here i’m sharing this video again as it’s one of my favorite. Enjoy the video and let me know what you guys felt after watching it!

Namma Bengaluru Awards 2009

Have you ever felt the need to recognize a person from you locality for his or her contributions to the society, may that be big or small?nba logo Namma Bengaluru Awards 2009

Have you felt the need to recognize a Govt. employee that goes beyond his duties and sets an example by outright commitment to his work?

How about recognizing an NGO for its public service or a Residence association for its diligence in waste management, maintaining the greenery or its initiative in having a rain harvesting project?

Bangalore is a city that is vibrant because of its people that make so. There are ordinary people among us that do extra-ordinary work to help the society and each other. How about recognizing them? Wont that be an inspiration for them to continue doing what they were doing and for others to come forward, making The Garden City, truly a great place to live in.

Namma Bengaluru Awards 2009 is aimed to do that.

Straight out of their site  -

An initiative by Member of Parliament and Convener of ABIDe – Mr. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Namma Bengaluru Awards is launched with the vision to inculcate a sense of optimism and interest in the minds of the common man and bring to the limelight ordinary citizens for their extraordinary contributions, recognize exemplary contributions made by individuals who have contributed to Bengaluru’s developments, for those who have enriched the lives of common man, to the ordinary citizens for their extra ordinary contributions and to create Ambassadors of best practice who set standard for the rest to follow.

The citizens of Bangalore will be recognized under two major categories -

  • Namma Bengaluru Awards for Public Officials and AgenciesTo recognize public officials and government agencies (Like MPs, MLAs, MLCs, Officers & Staff of Civic agencies like BDA, Bescom, BBMP etc)
  • Namma Bengaluru Awards for Private Citizens and InstitutionsAimed at recognizing efforts of citizens and private institutions including NGOs, RWA, Companies, schools and others

I know what you’re thinking. Why would you ever want to recognize anyone from BDA, Bescom or BBMP or any Govt. Official for that matter. Thats where you’re missing the point. Inspite of the fact being that we all hate the govt. officials and brand them as lazy 9-4, job secure, bribe-demanding people there are some really gem-of-a-characters among them. Why cant we just recognize them? Why cant we honour them? Dont belive me?

Well if u ask me i would love to recommend the BMTC Volvo bus drivers and conductors for their courteous behavior. Every time i have travelled in one of them, they have always had service-with-a-smile motto. Same goes with the Bescom guy who turned up on a Sunday evening because there was power out-age at our area.nominate Namma Bengaluru Awards 2009

Last day i was at Namma Bengaluru Foundation‘s office, which is more or less the same as Mr. Rajeev’s office, to be briefed about the whole initiative. I was joined there by Balu and we were both surprised with the magnitude of responses that Namma Bengaluru Awards 2009 has received.

The nominations were opened on 14th of October and closes on 14th of November 2009. Guess how many nominations they got till now. Well Balu and me guessed somewhere around 250-300. No, they have so far got close to 2000 nominations. Yes thats right – 2000. And in one case, all the students of a class wanted to nominate their teacher for the award. Thats the beauty of this. Only two categories, Govt. or Private sector and you can nominate anyone!

Go ahead Nominate! Spread the Word!

Read more here about the awards and how to nominate.