Mr. Weird's World

waves

2005-08-11T18:21:00.000+02:00

I know, I know I have been out of touch. But how would you know how difficult and busy it is being unemployed and doing NOTHING! (yes partying, but then that’s a different story…)
The update so far is that I quit my company had a month long holiday in India which was a bit plagued by malaria but still it was an orgy of good food. Absolute gluttony!
Now as you can see I am back, about to start college in a few days. So am basically focusing myself about one tough year and a year closer to a few more dreams to come true. (must admit focussing does involve some alcohol for me, but then the vision is a bit blurred…)
What else ? umm… still getting in terms with the fact that I am not earning and taming myself not to waste money. It is hard I must say!
Some more random musings are that I am thinking of starting a new blog one about my one year of an MBA, but still am not sure. Will keep you updated.

(after thought) I still at times wonder how does one write a blog ? is it suppose to be in 3rd person ? or 2nd person ? or some information you are passing to others ? or “Dear Diary” ?

hmm

town hall

2005-06-03T11:23:00.000+02:00

Today at my visit to the town hall to get a couple of documents legalized i noticed that..

there were 12 counters that are suppose to work from 08h30 to 11h30 monday to Friday. (today is Friday)
in the 2 hours i was there at the town hall i also observed.
that on an average there were only 3 counters that were working at anytime.
3 counters had a "printer problem", (not the same ones during that time!)
at the busiest time i saw 5 counters working for 6 mins.
at the leanest time i saw 1 counter running out of 12. (for 8 minutes)
2 counters never even opened for service in the 2 hours!
number of people attended per 15 minutes is 2.

i showed these details to the town hall customer care officer, he was amazed. he took the sheet from me but said that this was pretty normal day!

how easy or difficult are public service counters in your place ?

interesting and scary stuff happened this weekend.

2005-05-30T11:51:00.000+02:00

i almost drowned in a lake! yes! i was strolling in the lake and encountered a sudden deep trench! i panicked and drowned. was coming on the surface and drowning again (as i had already had water in my mouth and nose etc) couldn't breathe or anything!!
couldn't call for help, somehow managed to later on. till that time others were thinking i was messing around (!!). i was even told off for splashing water!
anyways i am fine now, still unbelievable near death scare! still after two days keep thinking about it.
i can swim and everything, but i panicked. anyways, something, at least i, will remember for a long time!

peeps in

2005-05-19T21:41:00.000+02:00

sorry guys!
have been really busy. .
a few things have happend and kept be busy like me resigning, yes i finally did, no words spoken. no complains about anyone, just a graceful exit, if you may call it that way. boss is still getting to terms with the fact that i am going to leave, not good as i need to leave soon and needs to find a replacement!
Well.. i have got a certificate of good character from the government! can you believe that ?

What else, have booked for a new laptop!
rest all is just hectic! applying for visas etc is too bloody draining! so many documents to be signed and certified, every night i dream of documents.

yes i know, that is what my blog is called!

its proven!

2005-05-02T10:58:00.000+02:00

i come with a public health warning these days .. just as i got over with cold, now i am down with upset stomach!
gah!
i need to break the jinx, dunno how but have to.

*cough**sneeze*

2005-04-27T11:25:00.000+02:00

normally common cold disappers in 3 days, but it will take 5 days for me. It is agonizing.. gahh!!
my revenge is that i am going to infect loads more people than i would have done if it went away in 3 days.

gah!

Prom with a difference

2005-04-26T14:48:00.000+02:00

If you are in US, and are going to graduate, you might be required to supply a lot more info for the prom night, like your date's name, address, age, grades, Telephone numbers, sexual preference*.

Also beware, you might be faced with surprise "soberity tests".
So i wouldnt be surprised that you actually give up on the prom night to have a wild night in some hotel room with your friends..

Someone explain me, how forcing teenagers to do something would work ?? or how can autorities think it would ?

*i made that up

God!

2005-04-19T16:16:00.000+02:00

If you have sores and ulcers in your mouth, it is NOT necessarily because of some STD!Please could someone explain it to the pharmacist.

and BTW, the ointment, is the worst possible medication i have applied ! bleurgh.tastes like sand, feels like sand and you have to leave it overnight.

ooh and there is no white smoke yet from the chimney!

soo difficult!

2005-04-13T21:03:00.000+02:00

Life can be so difficult, when you know you are going to leave work but dont want to say now.
When your boss is being a uber twat (as usual) and you cant ask him to bugger off.

I was rehearsing my 'exit' lines from work today, when my manager asks 'what went wrong that you want to leave'
i am going to reply, 'actually i am quite thankful to you, if you hadn't come and been my boss, i never would have had the buring desire to NOT work undre you anymore. thank you, thank you very much'

cool, eh ?

Hisssssss

2005-04-12T14:56:00.000+02:00

last night i dreamt of snakes! was panting when i woke up.. slimy creatures. i am not too fond of them anyways.
When i tried to get back to sleep i couldnt manage, even was scared to put my feet down on the ground.

i guess it was one of those weird nights!
Things elsewise are kind of OK. dont give a shit at work.
trying to battle through the beaurocracy in Belgium.
Perfect!

So i am back.

2005-04-05T17:41:00.000+02:00

feet firmly back on ground. the trip on the moon was not for long !
The interview and tests went really well. the funniest episode was..
i hadn't slept lots the night before the tests, so was knackered by the time i had my last interview (past 5 pm)
During the course of the day i had become paddy with a half African, half Italian, Belgian! i was soo drained coming out of the interview, that when he asked me ' how did it went', i started to talk to him in Hindi, without even noticing!! only realized after 2-3 sentences!

And then later on, i got half pissed just having one beer. i am soo light weight these days!
ohh and another fellow student, had a very post car with a GPS and everything, which used to even talk to you.
'take 3rd left from now'
'keep going straight'
'cunt, you missed the turning'

ok, last one was his wife.

woohoo!

2005-04-01T12:41:00.000+02:00

~~Its a boy~~

err, no I HAVE BEEN ADMITTED INTO MBA in Vlerick MBA program!!
Vlerick is ranked 3rd in europe and 15th in the world. it was a really really knackering day yesterday, i would describe more later, when i manage to decend back to earth!

right now i can't believe it has happened. I have already comfirmed with the MBA institute 3 times my name.surreal experience.

:) :) :))

some excitement!

2005-03-24T09:47:00.000+01:00

a bomb scare at work today, so resulting we got to soak the sum for couple of hours in the morning :)
the stupid hoax caller calls a telecom company from his home phone! doh.

but nevertheless, enjoyed the time off!
have you ever been in a hoax bomb scare ?

Bowling and shoes

2005-03-15T17:50:00.000+01:00

last week as one of the team events we went for bowling and dinner.
Since it was on Thursday, we all were formally dressed. (some people too formally!)
looking at my boss and his secretary with posh suits and funky shoes made my day!

i actually wanted to get a pair home, i think they would be great for clubbing, except for the fact that they do not have any heels.

things like this upset me.

2005-03-06T13:35:00.000+01:00

most of you would have heard about the British brand of boxing sportswear Lonsdale?! Recently it has been under attack, as apparently this brand is very popular with racists, neo-nazi's.
why ?
because the words NSDA in loNSDAle are also abbreviation to Hitler's NSDAP Nazi party. Neo -nazis in Germany have taken to wearing Lonsdale with a jacket over the top and with the zip just so only the letters NSDA can be seen

So what has happened now is Lonsdale, to its own surprise has been linked to extreme right wing!
two clubs in north of Holland (i think) banned Lonsdale and Karl Kani clothing! because the people who were wearing those clothes, according to the owner, were inciting trouble to themselves and others.

The Lonsdale manager of Benelux is in quandary, one side is the maligning of the Lonsdale brand itself, which IMHO is quite unfortunate, Lonsdale is trying to resurrect the brand by slogans like "Lonsdale loves all colours". On the other side the extreme right wing has warned that they would boycott the brand if Lonsdale does not agree it is extreme right, they have already started burning Lonsdale clothes on streets! (15% of the sales in Belgium, Holland and Germany are from extreme right people)

another big attempt by Lonsdale to restore their image is sponsoring Berlin's gay pride. (quite cool, IMHO)

Let us do what we can to restore some sanity. Being a neo-nazi is sad, dragging someone or something that does not agree with it in the first place is disdain.

gone with the wind

2005-02-24T18:50:00.000+01:00

When the wind blows in Belgium....

....NOTHING stands in way!

love affair of the year

2005-02-14T10:12:00.000+01:00

goes to ..
Mahmud Abbas and Ariel Sharon.

they are just falling over themselves to please their "partner"

On the hour!

2005-02-10T14:29:00.000+01:00

OK four news headlines i read in 30 mins.

* UN gate crashing America's party of "successful" implementation of Democracy in Iraq.
* Condoleezza Rice returns back after her week long "pavement building" trip to EU and Middle east.
* N. Korea withdraws itself from the 6 nation nuclear talks. and publicly admits that it has weapons of mass destruction and plans to add more.
* Prince Charles will finally marry Camela Parker.

i am now wondering which one moved me most ? i think N. Korea withdrawing itself.
which one is most hypo critic ? Prince Charles re-marrying
which one was news waiting to happen ? Kofi Annan's speech
most understated news ? Condo Rice's visit.

Yulia Tymoshenko

2005-02-09T10:50:00.000+01:00

i wish we had a Prime Minister like her! wow!
no wonder she was elected unanimously 321-0 (i think). even the opposition party voted for her!

Brussels metro

2005-02-02T10:35:00.000+01:00

Brussels metro stations now play cheesy, popular music. The rationale behind this is that it helps and relaxes the passengers. Also a pickpocket would feel silly picking someone's wallet with Queen playing in the background!! (brilliant idea!)
The criteria for selection of music is basically reserved, except for that the music should not be in dutch, french or German (yeah right!), so as to cause regional conflicts. So you have cool Spanish, Italian and English, Arabic music. (i am going to offer them cheesy Bollywood music, it does not get better than that!)
It is better than metros of Paris and Barcelona, IMHO, which play classical music. BTW, i haven't been to London, what music can you hear in London underground ?
So if you are commuting in Brussels metro now, you can experience your favorite club music, and maybe even get jiggy with it. ;)

This is first post in the series

It happens only in Belgium

ps: Would like to know more about the metro-music from other cities.

money, money!

2005-02-01T10:20:00.000+01:00

I was going to blog from those topics, but then something happened.
after 2 years, belgium government finally decided to give me my tax refund!
so what they did a calculation mistake and i get only 50% of the amount i am suppose to get.
atleast i got to see euros, early in the morning! yay!

AWOL

2005-01-31T11:40:00.000+01:00

i am really sorry for not blogging for soo long, lot of things happening.
but promise i would blog about them.
my to-do list
* blog about Andre being here
* weasel boss
* Andre's jumper
* make a post in Hindi
* Pringle 80's jumper Andre was wearing
* write more recipies.
so, i'll be back soon.
How have you guys been ?

omnious ?

2005-01-16T14:32:00.000+01:00

what does it mean, if your company gives all its employees
:1) anti-stress ball (or cube in our case!), which has quotations about how great customer is, on everyside!
2) 2 very fancy wine/champagne vacuum corks.

i think the signs are omnious!

Ansh is missing!

2005-01-11T13:22:00.000+01:00

Yes i know i havent posted for a long time, have been busy, again!
whirl-wind life right now.
work catching up. and so is social life!
one of my oldest friends is in Europe now and i HOPE to catch him soon. so that is exciting bit!
rest all stuff is plain old. i will put up photos of India trip soon!
i have a life, you see ;)

a new beginning...

2005-01-03T11:08:00.000+01:00

so how was party ? and what are your resolutions ?
party was ok for me.. too big for my liking and way too many unknown people to socialize!
i found it hard to meet and remember names ! Came back from party around 6-7 in the morning, NOT a good start to the year!
slept most of the day .. evening went out for new year meal. Good.

Got upsetting news yesterday, my old landlord was in India and in Tsunami hit area!
he has survived but injured. aggravated from the fact that he is septogenarian!
I called him to wish New year yesterday, got the news from his Son. His son was also quite drained, by not hearing from his dad for 4-5 days and then coming to know he is injured. His dad is due to come back in a week's time to Belgium.

This all reminds me, HAVE YOU GUYS DONATED ??
I hope you all have. if not, please do it. Anything would do, cash/kind. but try helping.

Happy New Year!!

2004-12-31T13:04:00.000+01:00

So what are you guys upto today ?
Rememeber this is last day of 2004, so do what you havent done enough in the whole year, i think that would be sleep for me.
(there are other things too.. but i think sleep is easily available!)

Enjoy!
and hope you all have a great 2005

7th December, 2004

2004-12-27T18:38:00.000+01:00

So today is a day before the wedding. that means lots more panic and madness.
Today's events as planned for me are
8 am- go shopping for some vegetables
8 am- goto station to get some relatives arriving (yes i know there was a clash of timings!)
11 am - get ready for some ceremony
noon - supervise the lunch for the day
3 pm - arrange some cds and music system for the evening
5 pm - sangeet ("music night", closest word i can find!)

So Sangeet it was! traditionally it is suppose to be an evening before the marriage filled with some music and dancing and food of course!
Through the evening, my brother was playing dholak. But not doing a good job (he knows it!) The thing to notice was he was getting paid a lot of money, in blessings (Older people shower money on kids at the time of celebration). I took over the baton and planed for rest of the evening, resulting in bruised right index finger and generally swollen fingers!
The fiesta continued till 2.30 am in the morning when we realized collected money was not enough! So someone struck a plan. We went to wake Groom’s family at three in the morning and ask then ransom to let them sleep again.
So we loaded in 4 cars, one of them was also called as “moving disco”. For the kind of speakers and sound system it had. Also we packed in loads of firecrackers!
So we landed outside there house and blasted a few firecrackers and started playing music at top volume. Inherently scared that neighbours might call the police, but thankfully they didn’t!
Woke everyone up at groom’s place and partied with them and ofcourse collected “gifts”.
So we retired at around 4 am in the morning, with plans to get up at 8. As my dad was coming that day and he surely would wake us all up!
(Some pics would be attached when i go home and copy pics to my computer!)

6th December,2004

2004-12-26T14:11:00.000+01:00

Partially recovering from the cocktail party. More of aching limbs than hangover, thankfully!
Today was suppose to be Mehendi ceremony, (for those of you who don’t know what Mehendi is, look here.
Seeing my rold was not important today I went out to have lunch with another good friend G and his girlfriend/fiancée . Everyone in my family and my friends have been instructed that I am on a strict Indian food binge. Each meal I was eating and planned to eat as the last meal of my life!
We went to Dilli Durbar in L block Conaught Place. Have been there before, hasn’t changed a lot. So at the lunch table there were 4 of us, my friend G, who is on a very strict diet control. His girlfriend M, vegetarian and can put a bird to shame while eating. And M’s friend, S, COO of an Interior design company, nice person but also eats as much as a bird. And me ofcourse, who was all set to compensate for all of us.
Ate loads and then we went on to buy some sandals, as I had to buy them for some upcoming ceremony tomorrow. G’s g/f also got 2 pair of shoes to increase her running collection of shoes to 36.
I parted ways and went on to see another friend T. we chatted loads and then went out for dinner in ANOTHER Indian place, Chak De. Really great food! We had Raan and Tandoori Fish. Yumm!!
I over ate, again. And somehow managed to squeeze myself into an autorickshaw and go home!Misic, drums,money, dancing coming up in next issue!

Merry Christmas

2004-12-26T14:09:00.000+01:00

Merry Christmas everyone and your dear ones!
Hope you have a great time.

5th December, 2004

2004-12-23T19:38:00.000+01:00

After surviving the immense knowledge given on the flight, I took off from the airport to my friend's place. Of course not to mention, my luggage was the last to arrive in the trolley.
I stayed with my friend overnight because
a) She is wonderful and wanted to catch up with her (we have known each other for erm .. 14 years!)
b) My parents were busy in a party so no place to go to.

My friend T is works in an advertising firm, quite cool person and greatly talented too...
Her latest ventures are, T-shirt paintings, photography, painting and cooking.
I ate great North Indian meal after ages, and after that just chatted for ages, slept a couple of hours and then went home to see mum and bro.
Being in India every time is awe striking for me. Wonderful. It is great to see how this howsoever huge country is galloping! Pollution is Delhi has gone down remarkably, roads better /cleaner. Generally the urge of a lot of people is changing from being downright defeatist to 'we can do it'. People actually now want more and make moves towards that. Maybe it is just education or the increase in literacy, but it is working.
Any ways, back to my family, I quickly declared to my mum that I do not have anything to wear for tonight's cocktail party, the ceremonies tomorrow, day after. Only a suit for the wedding. After initial comments about how 'unplanned' I was we went shopping. NOT good.
If you are wondering what marriage I am talking about here, my cousin S got married while I was in India. She happens to be one of my favorite cousins. Great company. So after shopping and chatting for a while we migrated from my uncle's place to the marriage location.
The cocktail party was great! okish DJ, but good food and loads of people I caught up with.
More about next day later.. as my fingers hurt now!

India Trip 4th December, 2004

2004-12-22T08:33:00.000+01:00

To ensure that I wake up and can manage to catch the flight in time and neatly, I slept over at Zed and Q’s place. Come 5 am and was woken up by copacabana! Quickly dressed had a coffee with Q and watched and learnt more about the duel between Blair and David Blunkett ! anyways… fast forward 2 hours and I was sitting in a flight for Milan. Was extremely hungry and all I got served in the flight was a fucking muffin!
We reached Milan about 10 in the morning; I had connecting flight from Milan to Delhi at around noon. I boarded that after struggling through hoardes of people for immigration check.

The person accompanying me to India was a military pilot (!). Yes, you can guess the rest of the course of the flight. I was forced to learn about how airports work and how the fuel is filled in the Planes. Even if I said that I knew a bit about it, still I was told to revise! The one way information flow continued for a few hours after which Mr. fighter pilot said that there is no difference between helicopter and plane and they take off and land in the same way. I gathered courage and objected and there was hue and cry. Science books were taken out and diagrams drawn! We even had 4 onlookers to a fight. At the end I could convince him to say that ‘planes and helicopter work on different principles BUT they are air bourne so they are the same’!! (I did not want to quarrel with him any longer). But the good thing about all this was that he did not want to talk to me more so I watched iRobot and slept. Checked on Quickos a few times if he wanted to use the rest room or wanted to eat some thing. and changed his diapers.
Food on the flight was not good, at all!
We landed safely in Indra Gandhi Airport safely around 11:30 pm. Queued for about 40 mins for the immigration check and later I took a cab to a friend’s place.
More continued…

I AM BACK I AM BACK I AM BACK!!!

2004-12-21T11:15:00.000+01:00

had a great time. enjoyed loads, ate loads, danced loads, ate loads, earned money, ate loads!
more when i calm down a bit.
how have you guys been ?
am still a zombie, not a great flight home, travelling with ANNOYING 4 year old and still jet lagged!

adios!!

2004-12-03T17:23:00.000+01:00

as you can see it is under a day now when i go-to India!!
so good bye for 2 weeks with a promise to post more when i am back. Hope life is a bit more rosy on the other side!
take care you all and enjoy yourselves!

Can somebody tell i have been busy?

2004-11-28T18:19:00.000+01:00

- busy because i am going away for 2 weeks off in India (yes i am showing off :P)
- busy dealing with cold last week and throat infection, that didn't allow me to speak for more than 6 seconds (actually for a man that is a lot to be able to speak that much)
- busy with social life, which has had extreme makeover in past 2 weeks.
- and other general stuff that keeps anyone busy!

BTW, i also did lot of first times in past week.
- first time i bought expensive jewelery, DIAMONDS!! for my mother, as we would be celebrating her birthday together after around 8-10 years!! and she likes those small glittering stone pieces which cost loads!
- first time i went into kids section to buy clothes! for one of my favorite cousin in India.

i have lived 3 weeks in past 10 days!

My Weekend !

2004-11-22T09:54:00.000+01:00

out of 62 hours...
i slept 45 hours.
in the time i was up I..
- shopped a bit before i leave for India
- got my ATM card locked
- had more than half a bottle of brandy
- had about 8-10 paracetamols (sp?)- gallons of hot water, a bottle of honey and 4 lemons ( thanks Liz for tip!)
- dinner in a greek resto
- reading a book.
while i was sleeping i missed..(not in order of importance or any importance!)
- deadline at work
- catching up with friends
- pub hopping session on friday which costed my friends 350 euros (i think 6 of them!)
- a visit to strip bar.
how was yours ?

Diwali party!

2004-11-15T11:24:00.000+01:00

It was great, wonderful.
worked for a while last Friday and then i left to the venue to arrange some stuff. party started at 7. first thing people saw or noted was that there was no booze off the counter (only beer). so we went to buy booze from the supermarket..
there were in all i think over 50 people, Indians, Belgians and other interested people.
Indian food was catered, 4000 music system arranged and loads of disco lights and yes the glitterball too!

i did DJing for a bit, but when some people were getting on my nerves for 'put this song on' put this on.. and then you would see a 4 year old sneak out and ask for his/her favourite Las Ketchup song. gah! you can only play one song at a time!!
any ways .. rest of the time i just danced. the worrying thing was i did not even drink (had one drink in the whole evening!)
party ended around 2 in the morning, after which few of us settled to play cards till 7 in the morning. i won 5.5 euros. good sign for the year.

but shit. bugger. someone taped me. yes, i am on tape while dancing. i have never seen anything more embarrassing as that ever before. and the bastard said that he is going to sell it off on e-bay.
would you let me know if you see something like that ?!

Happy Diwali

2004-11-12T10:11:00.000+01:00

Happy diwali to all!!

and here have some virtual sweets on me.

God, i miss home.

hic!

2004-11-10T17:30:00.000+01:00

just back from pre-diwali celebrations at work.

all i can say is, champagne and tarts don't go well.
*hic* i should go home now and tomorrow plan for Friday party!

ta

Diwali

2004-11-09T10:37:00.000+01:00

It is diwali this Friday .. and unlike last year this year i am away from my family, ho hmm ...
kind of weird feeling creeping in now and just the thoughts of what all i used to do over diwali.

but then life is like this...
ohh, and my boss is back, so i myself again. *phew*

ohh POO!!!

2004-11-06T13:50:00.000+01:00

ok i finally get some time to blog as someone let me out of toilet.

i went to take crap at work today, in a ahem, hurry, i did not notice that there is no toilet paper!
i actually noticed that half way through the session and rest of the poo just did not want to come out!!(too much information, isn't it??)
anyways... what to do, what to do ??
i am call up my colleague from loo..
'D can you help me, stuck in shit'
sorry ansh, in a meet' *SHIT*
call up another colleague.. no reply
call up another one .. no reply...
start banging the door so some who is there to pee would notice, nope!
finally someone appears...actually the cleaning lady!
and the angel helps me with toilet paper, actually she did well to disguise laughs in coughs!

time taken to poo 5 mins
time waiting to wash 20 mins..
finally wiping off your arse... priceless!

ps:actually this was suppose to be posted yesterday, but due to blogger crap, i am doing it today.

i am my boss!

2004-10-27T16:48:00.000+02:00

yep i am my boss for next 10 days at work.. so that means i report to myself, vent to myself, other people vent to me, do my job, do some of my bosses job because my boss is on leave for 10 days!

Kind of funny, i have to ask myself "if i should do this" then reply "yes"
hehe!

ohh Joy ....

2004-10-26T10:33:00.000+02:00

this weekend i went to see a colleague, he has just come from india. So being as nosey as i am i was peeking through his stuff. ohh joy!what i find is a double pack of Maggi Noodles.

bliss food, and would you believe i had it after 2 and a half years!! earlier on i used to have a pack a day!

on the downside, only one is left. so i am counting days till i goto India and stock myself up.

Kylie.

2004-10-25T11:29:00.000+02:00

OK yes i admit i gave Q Kylie, but would you guys believe that there was a woman behind all this plotting ? Q is going to love it, said Liz and we should get it for him, and Zed was trying to strangle me. WHY ?
It was blissful to see the smile on Q's face, being a gentleman he is, he even agreed to SHARE Kylie!!! i mean how many men do that ?
and having said all that what is wrong with Kylie ? She looks great, dances well, dresses well... TV has a mute button.
My next mission is to buy this, just as Kylie has !!

mmmmmm Kylie mmmmmmm

News Snippets

2004-10-22T11:20:00.000+02:00

1) Did you know that EJB 3.0 has come out ? which makes using EJB's loads easier.
Quoted:

"The next release of the Enterprise JavaBeans architecture, EJB 3.0, focuses
primarily on making the technology easier for developers to use -- but not at
the expense of the technology's power and sophistication. "

2)Veerapan killed in a "police encounter", finally!

Corporate whore!

2004-10-17T09:40:00.000+02:00

Corporate dressing tips for men:
* Suits should always be Black or dark blue or Grey, casually you may wear Brown!
* watches should be metallic strap
* shoe colour should match belt colour.
* Tie should come down MID-WAY between the belt.
* shirt should be cotton or silk.
* chinos is a no-no
* slip-on shoes or moccasins (sp?) is a no-no.
* t-shirts without ant collar is a no-no
* sneakers is a BIG no-no.
* not more than one ring on your fingers (wonder what happens to Sultan of Brunei)
* no Piercing should be visible.
* Hair should be well-kept
* try not to have any no Facial hair, if having a beard, keep it neatly trimmed.

for women: i don't remember much, but
* bags should be in leather.
* skirts should be 2 inch below knee
* deep neck tops, translucent/transparent tops is a no-no.
others i forgot!
so now you see, such an educational training i am undergoing these days, to make me a corporate whore!

So to apply this in Real Life, i have applied for personal loan to change my wardrobe and had a haircut and shaved.

past week..

2004-10-15T10:44:00.000+02:00

has been annoyingly busy and stressful.
but the good news this week is..
1) India poised quite well in the 2nd test against Australia.
after facing a shocking defeat in the first one. Sehwag finally scored!
2) Had dinner in a veryy posh Resturant in Brussels yesterday after a training/conference, but i am still amazed they allowed me to enter as i was in sneakers!
3) The hangover i had after getting myself arseholed on tuesday is finally showing signs of disappearance.i hope in a week or two blood starts flowing in my body than alcohol.

ohh fucking great!!

2004-10-06T16:13:00.000+02:00

6 days in October and i have paid already 2000+ euros in bills. and still 25 more days to go.i am not sure i am ready to face those!

ho.hmm.

2004-10-06T10:43:00.000+02:00

Life can be soo mundane at times that you actually have to think what to post about, atleast my can be!
Ok so lets play a game, you ask questions and i answer.
easy, eh ?

i am getting this

2004-10-01T16:39:00.000+02:00

my new toy!!

now from Monday i will RIPPP IT!!

How do you explain ..

2004-09-30T15:17:00.000+02:00

Yesterday evening when I was returning from work.. En route I met one of my colleague's wife and their son. He is 3-4 years old and we get along well!(So you can imagine how old I really am!)
He asked me, "ansh, why does it rain?"
Ansh: "see water evaportaes forms these white clouds, they become heavy and collide.."
Kid: " why do they collide, they are not friends ?"
Ansh: "erm" dumbstruck.

FUCK

2004-09-29T09:46:00.000+02:00

I bought a pack of cigarettes yesterday!
I succumbed to the stress and pressure.

boo :(
although I smoked only 1 fag and had a weird after taste.

Coriander-Mint chicken curry, a-la-ansh

2004-09-27T17:58:00.000+02:00

I think I should post MY recipe for the chicken I cooked For Zoe and Q.
It is called Coriander-Mint chicken curry, a-la-Ansh
What you need is:
Boneless chicken erm... 500 grams
Finely chopped Onions 3 medium sized
Cooking Oil
For Marinating
2-3 bunches of coriander
1 bunch of Petunia
Yogurt
Chopped garlic
Chopped ginger
Green chilies, 4-6
Salt
Turmeric
Garam Masala
Spices
Cloves 4-6
Black pepper 4-6
Black Cardamom pops 3
Cinnamon Sticks 2
Bay Leaves 4
Cumin Seeds
Mustard seeds
"So how do you cook it Ansh?"
In a mixer put the bunches of coriander(taking out the stems), Mint leaves, Garlic, ginger, green chilies. grind it into a paste.
Take the paste out in a tray; add some yogurt, turmeric, salt and some garam masala powder.
Mix it well. yes use hands!
Chop the chicken pieces in small cubes and marinate the chicken with the mixture.
Now, *phew* and put away the dish for an hour at least.
Wash your fingers, which would be green and covered with the paste. Then...
smell it. Can you smell Garlic? Yes?
Wash it again.
Continue till your fingers drop off or you stop smelling garlic.
Chill down, open some wine, put on some music.
No, don't have drink wine, yet! You have work to do!
Chop the onions to smallest pieces you can. STOP CRYING!
Wash your hands and THEN your eyes.
Ansh's tip: split the onion in 2 pieces and wet it in water. The chances of you crying are decreased.
Now you can have some wine and chill.
After hour something, hopefully you would not be pissed and in state to continue with rest of the recipe.
On the gas put a deep frying pan, yes, switch on the gas. When pan is hot add some oil and put the gas to simmer. Now add cloves, black pepper, Cinnamon sticks, cumin seeds and Mustard seeds.
Heat till the cumin seeds start sputtering. Then add onions and stir fry. Add the bay leaves. Cover the lid and leave it till onions start turning brown and pulpy.
Done?
Now add the chicken pieces from the marinating tray. Mix it with the stir fried onions in the pan. Cover it for 5 mins on medium heat. Now add rest of the mix in the marinating tray. Mix it well and add a bit of water, maybe add it in tray to wash off the marinating paste.
Cover it and leave it for about 20 mins on medium-low heat. Normally after 20 mins the chicken pieces should be tender.
Cooked? Good!
If you want it with loads of gravy then add some more water and heat it for a few mins.
You can have it with Rice or naan.
After the meal don't forget to thank Ansh.
If something is confusing or not clear, let me know I would explain.
Bon Appetit, you lot!

Last few days

2004-09-26T14:07:00.000+02:00

Have been thinking of blogging for a few days, but did not have enough energy to leave the bed and blog. After NO sleep, down with cold-fever and a migrainish headache, Thursday night. I skipped work on Fridayand stayed dead the whole day. Except for talking to Quarsan and deciding plan for Saturday.
In the evening a good friend came over, I also mentioned in the other post. He cooked for me! This guy (D) and I have been friends since college. We did engineering in the same stream and work in the same company. So lot of things to talk about and loads of stuff to share.
We remembered the times when I used to be the president of Student Association and he was the general secretary, and we were the only people who used to even do all the work! right from the speeches to the cultural stuff to cleaning the auditorium after the evening.
Laughed at the plays we wrote, couple of them in 20 mins flat, which could easily have been labelled Explicit ,"Guys stuff". A play in which D was a drag queen and dressed up as a fictional female character.
There was this another play we created. The title if I translate in English means, “Lord Ganesha has arrived” (!!) I came out with the idea and we wrote the script together. We auditioned for the cast and organized practice sessions. Whole serious stuff! Play was outright comedy though. About God one fine day starts to speak to his followers. He is surprised and shocked with the kind of following he has and what do people actually ask his help for. The play was a huge success, people used to remember it years after!
We also make the questionaire for "personality contest", which is somekind of wit pagent. Quite clever!

He was telling me about my ex who is married and has a Kid and that she has passed regards to me. I looked at him seriously and asked “D, what did I see in her?”.
Our college dream was (and still is) to open a company together. An event management company. We know we are great at this stuff! After some talk we think the plan is still on for 2007. After our studies. Let’s see… The name is already decided, though.

Will put up a separate post for Saturday.

Who is it ?

2004-09-23T13:34:00.000+02:00

*acchhuu*
who has passed me cold ?
bastard!
*acchhuu*
grr
*acchhuu*

This week so far..

2004-09-22T17:49:00.000+02:00

This week so far has been amazing!

a very good friend at school mailed me after ages, wishing me belated birthday.. really really nice guy, and strange too, he ALWAYS and still wants to be a politician. thank god atleast we will have one well-educated politician!

two of my drinking buddings back in India mailed me and have regained contact with them. one of them is actually married to the girl when he started seeing when i came to Belgium. Other one is just back from 2 year stint in America where he lost 12000 $ in one night in Las Vegas!

My good friend from college and my roommate for a while is in Belgium for sometime.

So very nostalgic time.

YAY!!

2004-09-20T15:25:00.000+02:00

just saw that i have crossed over 10 € not smoking!

woohoo!

ps: i DID smoke this weekend, one day, but was too drunk to say NO and i am sure it was a one off. All set to become a "social smoker"

yawn

2004-09-20T15:07:00.000+02:00

sure i want to blog about something, but i am dead tired right now to do that!
maybe later, but then why i am blogging if i cannot blog ?
maybe because i just want to let you guys know i wanted to blog ?
but then how does it actually make a difference if i told you i wanted to blog and haven't.
maybe because if i blog about that i wanted or intended to blog, will make me feel better.
but then why blogging or not blogging will make any difference?
maybe it does not!
why am i thinking so much, i am knackered!
maybe because i am knackered that is why i am thinking,
but then when i am knackered how can i think?
maybe because that is how i am!
maybe, because i am weird.

i give up.

scary but true

2004-09-15T17:31:00.000+02:00

site nicked from another forum, scary but true!

so while typing this, 100 kids were born and 23 people died.
10,000 hours spend on internet,
2000 movie visitors,
800 million calories consumed
2,000 dollars spend on diet in USA
2 million ciggaretes produced.

ho hmm.

i want my MTV

2004-09-13T11:42:00.000+02:00

Yes I was watching MTV yesterday and pissing myself laughing!
There is this show on called 'globally dismissed'. The way it goes is that one man and two women or two men and one woman is called.
Two men have to 'woo' the woman, so she can choose him. Each contestant gets 20 mins to 'know' each other.
funny, no?
a few excerpts, an Indonesian guy 'hi, I am x, I am here to get laid'
an English woman, who was being wooed by 2 men, asks within 2 mins of meeting the first guy, 'What do you think about children?', guy kind of uneasy says 'they are nice', woman, 'so when do you think we can have ours!!!!'. guy leaves by 3rd minute.
I must be reallly sad to be laughing at this! there were soo many times I resisted myself shouting, 'you c*nt, what are you doing'
ho well, i gave up globally dismissed to watch Police Academy part VII!

I think I am getting Americanized! I was actually thinking about jackass yesterday, 'Friends' a few days back and have actually followed one of the series of The Bachelor.

Lunch Party

2004-09-12T13:09:00.000+02:00

yesterday i was out for a lunch party, basically a Work party, which is prganized every quarter. This time we went to an Indian Resturant in Antwerp.
So for starters we had
samosas, pakoras, chicken tikka
For main course..
lentils, spinach curry, allu gobi (potato-cailiflower curry), cottage cheese curry, lamb curry, chicken curry, naan, rice.
no wonder i overate!
day 3 of no-smoking going well, i did buckle a couple of times and had a drag from a friend's ciggie or summat. but rest am doing great!
sleeping better and waking up happier!

Anti-smoking

2004-09-09T16:15:00.000+02:00

OK Starting today i am quitting Smoking !!
it has been one day nearly and i think i am doing well. have had 3 cups coffee, 2 ice tea (my new obsession!).
yes i will make it happen this time!
Come to think of it, i am actually liking the feeling that i have a desire to do something and i can somehow surmount it! (so far at least!).
so lets wait and see.

Clothes

2004-09-06T11:01:00.000+02:00

Yesterday after getting the whole lot of clothes back from laundry, i realized i have LOADS of them. and for quite sometime i have been living under the misconception that i have too less and kept on buying more!
now my wardrobe is full!
doing laundry every week is an easier option than buying new clothes. i think!

Revolution Day1

2004-09-05T08:57:00.000+02:00

Was quite good, without divulging too many details so that Andre can write about them.
Everyone survived,barely!
The highlight was Andre defeating Zoe's sprog in Football, while having salted coffee.
Q and myself, we went to pick up cheap tarts!

iPod was playing, i will survive
:P

oops

2004-09-03T13:56:00.000+02:00

Was Talking to Zoe on phone yesterday and at some point i said FUCK OFF! (many points actually)
and there ...
CEO of my company confronts me, smirks, wishes a good evening and leaves!

I think i am OK here, as my access card was working this morning and i can still access office network!

BEWARE when you talk to Zoe!

Thursday Joke

2004-09-02T13:10:00.000+02:00

Sardarji (Indian equivalent of blonde intelligence) was parajumping from 10000 feet with a friend.
His friend opens the parachute at 8000 feet and says
'sardarji, you should also open the parachute'
Sardarji *sipping lassi (Indian equivalent of yogurt shake)* 'oye it is only 8000 feet, there is loads of time'
5000 feet
friend: 'Sardarji, it is 5000 feet now, you should open the parachute'
Sardarji: *sipping lassi* 'it is 5000 feet, still have loads of time'
1000 feet
friend: *getting scared* 'Sardarji, it is 1000 feet now, you should open the parachute, it is too dangerous'
Sardarji: *sipping lassi* 'it is 1000 feet, i will open it, let me finish lassi'
500 feet
friend: *getting very scared* 'Sardarji, it is 500 FEET NOW, open the parachute'
Sardarji: *sipping lassi, still cool as cucumber* 'it is 500 feet, i will open it, only a bit of lassi left'
100 feet
friend: *frantic* 'Sardarji, it is 100 FEET NOW, you MUST open the parachute'
Sardarji: *sipping lassi, still calm* 'i will open it, one last sip'
10 feet
friend: *almost mad* 'Sardarji, it is 10 FEET NOW, you WILL DIE!!'
Sardarji: 'nobody has ever died falling from 10 feet'

*thump*
Sardarji dies

ho hmm

2004-09-02T10:54:00.000+02:00

Ramdom musing..
1) i have to work from Sunday 2 am to Sunday 10 am. sounds only 8 hours, but have fucked up my weekend.
So the plans to clean the apartment this weekend get delayed by another week.

2) a work colleague (male) in on vacation for TWO YEARS!! to look after his kids, while his wife is working.so a house husband. Not sure what he would do all day apart from laundry, kids.. he might get used to watching Eastenders!

Will add more later..

What can i say

2004-08-31T11:00:00.000+02:00

Brussels: A particularly large pile of bricks and concrete located roughly in the middle of Belgium. Full of foreigners.
Atomium: An enormous rusting molecule that is visible for several miles from its location in northern Brussels. Contains an incredibly boring exhibition about something or other.

more here

which one is your favourite?

Mondays

2004-08-30T11:41:00.000+02:00

still cannot get my head around the fact that they are always crap!
actually some analysis show that better your weekend, crappier monday blues is!
This morning alarm goes off at 7.
buddhu: 'Fuck off'
alarm: 'no fuck you, trrriiiinnnnggggg'
7:10
buddhu: 'Shut the fuck up'
alarm: 'no i would not trrriiiinnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggggggggggggg'
*buddhu shuts up the alarm*
7:30
buddhu: 'Ohh Fuck, shit,bugger, cunt, arse i am late!'
grrrrr!
i cannot believe i have and will spend 1/7th of my life feeling crap on a Monday!

Holland trip

2004-08-29T21:36:00.000+02:00

Wonderful, absolutely wonderful trip!
Great hosts, wonderful time!
Will jump directly to Saturday evening where I was in charge of burning all the meat (available). Lots of wine consumed Hey and I also celebrated my birthday by cutting a cake (with 5 candles) and getting lots of gifts :)
Dutch cheese
Negerzoenen
Hopjes
Venz choco milk mix
Wilhelmina Mint
Waffles
Metertje drop

So this stuff comprises all the essential stuff required to live in Dutchland
But I think they forgot patience! most essential!

Fun, chat, quarrels, staggering, stammering and of course drinking continued till 2 am!
Today morning Zoe was down with headache, NOT hangover! Todd still high on coke and rest of us sipping champagne and having brunch in a park picnic

More stories, gossip will follow. depending on what you want to know about!

Birthday Gift

2004-08-29T21:13:00.000+02:00

I think i will gift myself a new woofer for my birthday!
coming back to a messy house is not a great feeling!!
ho.. hmm.. i think i am quite domesticated!
bah!

i am older, not wiser :(

2004-08-27T11:01:00.000+02:00

so i have become a year older today .. feel strange, older, wiser (!!) and nearing retirement and end of life!last year almost burnt Zoe's house down with the fire crackers!this year it seems it will be quite subdued!

[EDIT] If you want to read more about last year's adventures, here

WHY?

2004-08-26T10:21:00.000+02:00

Every year late summer, a dozen of women leave work for maternity leave?
Why is it end of summer always?
FIFTH colleague went on maternity leave yesterday!!
I somehow need to decode this.. Why end of summer at the same time??!!
Is for people in Belgium March April a mating season??

I think its only me..

2004-08-25T11:24:00.000+02:00

who while watching Olympics track and field events ..wonders about the softwares they would have in place to calculate and show the history etc of an athlete. how it would be organized, where do they get the data from, how do they show it on screen. How the data is updated the profiling etc etc..
I think i am going down the geek lane.. ho hmm.. too late!

Are you with me Kyra?

2004-08-24T13:14:00.000+02:00

Went to see Chronicles of Riddick this Sunday. Was amazed by the movie and awestruck on the guys who funded it and approved it come out on the theaters. Non stop nonsense! but then what else do you expect from a movie that is produced by Vin Diesel, a man with great body and a wind tunnel between his ears. I hope none of you have seen the movie to argue with me.

I am still wondering what did Judy Dench think to be in that movie??!!

HOWZZAT???!!!

2004-08-23T18:30:00.000+02:00

Cricket, yes I went to see CRICKET this weekend. It was an India Pakistan match in Amsterdam. Non Indian/Pakis would not realize what I am talking about or how BIG this thing is.
It is bigger than just a game. It is bigger than any war!
It is sooo big that I got up at unholy hour 5 am and got ready to leave for Amsterdam.
It is so big that I painted my face in Indian tricolor
It is soo big that Dutch didn’t organize for it!

Anyways, took at train at 6 and left for the match. But it rained!
The Dutch are crap at organizing a cricket match. They KNEW the match was sold out days before with 12000 seats; they knew or should expect 12000 people to come. Still they were not prepared!
We got in around noon, only to discover match has been delayed coz of rain!
There was a cool West Indian Steel band playing and people dancing. I actually resorted to drinking to calm my nerves. You know you have those before big matches?
It was electric atmosphere, fireworks and drums playing everywhere! Noise was deafening, and yes there were only 12,000 people!
OK India lost, quite cheaply though, but the adventure is too good to be missed, more action here.

What is the purpose?

2004-08-19T21:30:00.000+02:00

Liz asked me on msn, what is the purpose and why did i start a blog?
i said just for fun.
is that good enough a reason ?

alcohol. books. alcohol. learning. alcohol. geek. hic!

2004-08-19T19:30:00.000+02:00

Ok now i have a blog, a place where i can vent, rant, moan about how life is cruel to me( it isn't actually!). My punching bag!

I have been too busy for last three days trying to train on something that promises to make me a geek! or even more! The good thing about training for the last 3 days have been the lunch hours, as the training location did not have any canteen, we had to go out to eat. More interesting if your trainer is an alcoholic and a chain smoker! he has a brewery and distillery (illegal) in his backyard! so i know a lot more about making wines and how you can make wine out of everything! he did say making it out of water would be difficult, but rest of it is quite easy!
All three days for lunch we went to an Italian place. Food was yumm and haven't done it before to have boozy lunch!!last two days i had been sober, well only had amaretto as digestives! today our trainer served us "home made" aperitif! wicked!! followed by nice meal and 2 grappas to digest the meal!seems like i know everything now... at least about alcohol!

i dont have a reason to rhyme, so that is why i am out of prose!

2004-08-17T18:16:00.000+02:00

rhymes, no ?
I don't know why i am posting, i don't even know why i have a blog, come to think of it. Actually partially i have a blog because a LOT of my friends and close friends have a blog. So as it is i live in a Quasi BlogWorld!
BUT having said all this, you should not expect anything exclusive or interesting or attractive from this blog! maybe some tales of my weirdness and my dumbness!my biggest regret is that i am not a blonde, so a natural cushion some people have, i miss that!dammit!So welcome to the world of a weird dumb guy! who does not even know why is he setting up a blog and what to write in it.interesting, eh ?