to all those people who profess to be my friends..

you fiends! yes i mean you! all those who say they are all proud of me for being a journalist n all... but NEVER seem to get around to actually reading any of my stories IN the paper unless i get the paper to u n make you read it...
now... abandoning my resolve to not put the name of my paper or any of my work on a forum like this.. i'll just give you dolts a step by step of how to read my stories.

Method 1: if i tell you that i have a story out TODAY!!!! go to www.indianexpress.com, click on city news, select Delhi and leaf through it till you find my name as byline..

Method 2: if u're too lazy n forgetful to remember to see my story the day i tell you its out.... go to www.expressindia.com and simply search my name... n for heaven's sake spell it right... and u can see all my old stories....

n while i'm at it... this is what finally went in the paper about rahul gandhi's visit to College..
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/384436.html


i'm pissed off with teh sheer number of people who saw that damned picture in TOI but didnt bother to see the story!!!!!

OH MY GOD!!!!!!

Rahul Gandhi came visiting at our beloved St. Stephen's in an oh so obvious attempt to clear his name... considering that he had told the media that asking questions was not a task that stephanians looked at with any favour.. it must have come as a shock to him how the assembled teachers and even the principal happily sat back and let the students ask the great scion any question they wished.... for some reason.. he kept repeating that asking questions was good, and the country needed more people who were unafraid to ask questions... it did not seem to occur to him though.. that he was there today to ANSWER the damned questions... instead.. he simply added rhetorical questions of his own to the questioners who by the end became totally befuddled by the man in white firing questions at them...

an example..
Student: sir i come from a village and there were no english or maths teachers in the school. however, i managed to pass and got through to St. Stephens... but theer were many students who could not get through any good college coz of the problem of no teachers.. We're talking about the nuclear deal and gas pipelines while there are large section sof the population deprived of the basics. Shouldn't the government take steps to help the villages?
Rahul Gandhi: i have travelled extensively in the villages.. and i see that there are several problems with education... why do you think are the reasons for that????
S: um.... sir.. in my village the sarpanch would simply take the government allocation of 5 lakhs and spend less than 50 thousand... but shows that the entire money has been spent.. they just swallow the money.. its the same with the district level officers...
RG: yes... but dont you think that the problem is that there aren't enough colleges to absorb the number of village students who come out of the schools?
S: err..... sir the children dont get enough facilities to pass school that they would come to college..
RG: yes well... we need to understand that the village is a very different environment. we need to empower the villages and they will then transform the future of the country...
(audience: huh??? what on earth is he even saying?? dude wake up!! there are no teachers at the guy's school!)

example 2
Student: sir we organised a peace march yesterday against the violence done by the ABVP at the public meeting where SAR Geelani was invited. but though we invited about 400 people.. only 50 came.. and that was because..
Rahul Gandhi: hey.. you organised a march and no one came.. so thats your failure isnt it..
S: but....
RG: no... dont deny it... everyone fails at something everyday... I fail at something every day too... u just get up, and say i gotta move on..
S: no sir... the reason why a large number of people stayed away wa because we were threatened by the ABVP people who said that they would throw acid on the women if we dared to take out teh march..
RG: well... you should design a confrontation in a manner that they cant threaten you... or have strength enough to not be threatened by them..
(Audience... WHA.................??????????????)


ohhoo... i have to now leave the internet centre coz the guy in charge wants to lock up... but rest assured ppl... this entry is gonna be longer...
there's so much more he said taht was outta this world.... i donno WHJAT i'll put in th epaper for tomorrow...

random pix..

well... as the title says... some pix ive taken....

.. these are ones i took on a day when the inverter had conked off and i had to light diyas in the house to walk around...

a woodpecker visited my garden....

random walk at lodhi garden..

generally......

one of those days when ii generally decided to stay in office till 1030 so i could take the cab back home... i'm done with work n its only 930 rt now so i have an hour to kill... n being in one of my silly moods.. i dont wanna read the only book that i have in my possession.. Robert Ludlum's The Aquitaine Progression.. which, though engrossing, like most of ludlum's work is.. is tooo slow moving for my taste right now... wat i WANt as of this moment is to sit in a movie theatre and watch some silly movie and munch popcornn,... i'm waiting for dostana... John abraham looks SO delicious in the promos.... damn it... why did i have to use that word.... ????
i'm HUNGRY!!! n there's nothing available in the office canteen n i'm too lazy to get up n go to the dhaba outside to have paranthas.. too bad they dont have a phone in delivery system... considering the number of over worked journos around. they'd do a roaring business... er.. MORE than they already do...
let me tell u sumthin bout this dhaba... its owned by this nice sardarji who somehow remenmbers EVERY person who eats there by face n the paper they work in... he may even remember your name if u eat there often enough.. n he makes all sorts of paranthas.. n is open till MIDNIGHT!!!! however... what i crave right now is a nice slice of cheeeeesssyyyy pizza... but slice of Italy, which seems to be the only ppl who deliver stuff to my office is a bit pricey for my wallet right now... havent had time to visit the ATM...bless whoever it was who invented the idea of an ATM machine... i bet she's dancing around in the elysian fields right now with even the furies showering blessings and money on her... it does sound like a woman's idea... why bother waiting in the interminable lines at the bank, or for dad/hubby to open his wallet when u can get money anytime anywhere with a lil swipe of the card..
speaking of cards... i just realised that the ONLY day i get free before Diwali... is teh sunday when my entire khandaan will descend upon the house to have the diwali lunch... dont get me wrong... i LOVE my family and will not be cribbing at all when they all come... but WHEN do i sleep n shop n do all the diwali kinda things???? my friends are having a party at Z's on saturday night... teh office party is the same night... but thanks to teh lunch, there is an unshakeable parental veto on saturday night partying... HOWEVER.....
I'M GOING FOR THUNDER ON FRIDAY!!!!!!!! i think... IF there is no pressing office work... AND my boss agress that going to school to do a 'story' on western music competitions in delhi schools is a good enough idea to claim attendance at work... dont think i'll be able to put this on teh office tab though.... its not even a good story in my own head... BUT i'm still gonna go... even though it involves a two hour bus ride.. coz i'll be meeting a few old frenz and will get the opprtunity to sit in ye olde school canteen n have the chole bhature that make my mouth water at the very memory... hm.... funny thing is that most ppl from school would probably roll their eyes n say that they weren't even that good... its just that i have fond memories of that canteenm n the chole bhature... AND the band room right next to teh canteen where i've spent most of 11th and 12th... ssssiiiiiggghhhh... wish sap n sid were there too... hopefully malik will be tehre... n sasthi n kalsi n bhumi... i'm drowning in nostalgia.......

talk tonight

sometimes adreadful lonliness takes over... despite a life full of things to do... u miss talking.. one thing that is missing seems like a gaping hole in life... staying up half the night... wondering what to do... just coz its a habit now... n i dont know how to get rid of it...
donno why i'm mentioning this song in particular... seems apt somehow..

Talk tonight- Oasis
Sittin' on my own
Chewin' on a bone
A thousand million
Miles from home
When Something hit me
Somewhere right between the eyes

Sleepin' on a plane
You know you can't complain
You took your last chance
Once again
I landed, stranded
Hardly even knew your name
I wanna talk tonight
Until the mornin' light'
Bout how you saved my life

You and me see how we are
You and me see how we are
All your dreams are made
Of Strawberry lemonade
And you make sure
I eat today
You take me walking
To where you played
When you were young I'll never say that I
Won't ever make you cry
And this I'll say
I don't know why
I know I'm leavin'
But I'll be back another day
I wanna talk tonight
Until the mornin' light'
Bout how you saved my life(You saved my life)
I wanna talk tonight(I wanna talk tonight)
'Bout how you saved my life(I wanna talk tonight)
'Bout how you saved my life(I wanna talk tonight)
'Bout how you saved my life(I wanna talk tonight)
'Bout how you saved my life I wanna talk tonight

realisation

i realised today just how far i can hate... and how much things change when you yank away the base on which they are built..

trust..
the shards of broken trust can pierce you at teh unlikeliest of times.. something that was so inherent a part of me is now gone.. and i cant recognise what i has been riped away from me..

doubt.. once banished.. now reigns supereme...