A guitar in hand is worth a song in the head

I've been wanting to add some music to my life since I moved to Bombay, and all i get to do is bathroom sing *sigh*, or perhaps the more free, *Street sing*. Yes that's true, I do tend to hum a tune rather loudly while I walk by my ownsome-lonesome. This though you can say is a substitute of my otherwise *Car singing*. Anyway, so as you may have figured out, music, my source of inspiration and sanity has eluded me since I moved to Bombay, for many reasons. So let's just jot them all down and begin moping.

1. I don't know too many musicians in Mumbai as I did in Delhi, and somehow I feel the musicians that I meet here are a little too pseudo for me (such a pseudo thing to say), but it's true. I've grown up listening to tonnes and tonnes of random music, starting off with a lot of slow ballads from the 50's-60's to the Beatles to the 80's Rock, 90's Pop and then finally a lot of Jazz n Funk. So now when I meet musicians who bob their head talking about the newest rock song they've just heard or they sing, I nod my head in equal enthusiasm but wonder in my head, I wish they would open up their minds to the music that makes music what it does. I find it strange how some peoples music tastes never evolve. It's like a stuck record, that plays over and over again. Some are stuck in college rage, as if they never grew out of it, or are perpetually trying to relive their childhood with utmost failure. To prove my case, I bring to you observation 1: Go to Cafe Mondegar's in Colaba and sit for a bare minimum of 20 minutes in the restaurant. If you do not hear Coming back to life or Another brick in the wall, please feel free to throw some bricks at me. I mean, come on! Stop playing those awfully over played songs. I'm sure these songs have played in Pink Floyd's own music players. And i can assure you, Roger Waters would really appreciate if someone removed those songs from that Jukebox.

2. I've been wanting to record and sing like i used to in Delhi, but i don't have the luxury of Anindo's studio, where i can just meet up and jam and be happy without having to think of anything. I am always guaranteed of good music and a good time. I'm pretty sure we together have composed enough songs to last us many seasons. It's times like these that I miss, sitting late night, recording endless tunes without the pressure of peering eyes of musicians who are trying to figure out whether you are worthy of their time. Music is fun, it should always be that way.

3. My guitar at home is unused. My vocal chords are doing pretty much the same thing, i'm getting depressed about it, and every time i try and belt out one of those ol' songs, I remember all the techniques and exercises I had learned that made sure I could sing for 60 days straight without losing my voice.

I wish I wasn't feeling so musically depressed today.

Communal India VS Communist China

We talk about Communist China and it's Humanitarian crisis. Look at us, democratic India, here killing in the name of God is something we do for fun. AND WE GET AWAY WITH IT!

How many more churches do you want to burn?

How many more innocent people do you want to kill?

Nature is already raging a war against mankind in the form of floods and earthquakes and hurricanes, and man kind needs all the resources to help its people against it. BUT the few selfish INDIAN'S choose to create more chaos by killing innocent people, and then we have the audacity to tell others about their humanitarian issues.

Perhaps we should all behave a little more human, and less animal. Sometimes I think animals behave better. It's not difficult to live peacefully. JUST FLUSH YOUR FRIGGING EGO'S.

Airtel online billing sucks

I wanted to apply for an online access account for Airtel, and the best part is that you cant get that account online. You need to fill up some stupid forms online and then take a print out of some other document and then submit it at an Airtel Center. The best part is, that all Airtel centers dont accept these forms. So you need to identify one center which most often than not is next to your place. Once you submit it there, they will send you a password in 3 days. Which is the biggest piece of bull crap i've ever heard.

Why can't the online registration process be as simple as Vodafone and Facebook etc. All i need to do is fill in a form there and the AUTOMATICALLY generated password is sent to my email id. I have no idea why Airtel makes people run around so much. TOTAL BABU attitude.

Now i know why i dropped my old Airtel number. Hope they don't mess around with my Landline billing process now.

The easiest way to set up a Linksys router with the Airtel Modem

So i finally purchased the brand new WRT54G2 Linksys Wireless router and unfortunately i decided to install it at night. which basically meant I didnt have a night. DAMN!

Anyway after reading a thousand blog and forum posts and wasting precious zzzz's, i stumbled upon the Call center number of Linksys in India in the morning while i was chatting with their customer care. Some lady suggested i call them up.

I read stuff about changing the IP address, I read about restarting computers etc etc. Man people have written a LOT of helpful things, but the problem is that when ever u have a problem, it happens to be unique. In my case i had a 110BX Beetel modem (am gonna get back at Airtel for giving me the older model) and i had a brand new Linksys WRT54G2 router. All night my head was spinning trying to figure out why the router wouldnt work. And while in office i some forum made me believe that probably my modem wasnt compatible with the new router. This created even more useless anxiety. I just couldnt NOT have fixed the router.

Anyway so i sat all day in office waiting to get home so that i could call us customer support and set up the damn router.

So i called them up and spoke to a guy called Akshay. He seemed to have predicted the problem, coz it seems that most Airtel modems have issues with Linksys routers. So in a jiffy he got me started and helped me sort out the problem. He helped me configure the entire thing so fast that i wish i hadnt wasted those precision zzzz's.

Anyway for all those who have an Airtel DSL connection and a Linksys router, all you need to do is dial 18004195797 (Toll free) and ask them. They'll help you real time. Forums are great and generally solve all our problems, but the fact is that these guys are faster and know the exact problem and the exact solution.

am so kicked!
Yay!

Doordarshan is quite cool

If you're looking to watch the olympics online.. and NBC or BBC don't allow you to watch it live. You could just log onto

http://www.ddinews.gov.in/DDNews/rplayer.htm

Though since it is DD, you have to bear with the the nonsense commentary and studio commentary. Though once they get over the discussion, they pretty much show the sporting events. At least they don't have issues to view their live feed.

The Guy rule that backfired

Ok, so i got this forward and decided to send to everyone i knew. My sister replied to the forward with this...
And i thought that i had a sense of humour.


The Guys' RULE!!!

FINALLY the guys' side of the story.
We always hear 'THE RULES'
From the female side.

Now here are the rules from the male side.
These are our rules!
Please note these are all numbered '1'
ON PURPOSE! …. So you admit you cant count beyond 1…..And I thought men were good with numbers.

1. Men are NOT mind readers. ….. yes that's true… you need a mind to be able to read.

1. Shopping is NOT a sport. …Neither is x boxing or ps 123xyz
And no, we are never going to think of it that way.

1. Crying is blackmail. …. So don't make us cry.

1. Ask for what you want.
Let us be clear on this one:
Subtle hints do not work!
Strong hints do not work!
Obvious hints do not work!
Just say it! …. I want a set of beautiful diamond solitares from de Beers. I want to go choose it myself with you in tow.

1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question. .... ok… 'no' you cant play golf tomorrow.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. …. Ok… I need to spend 3000 bucks in two hours to buy gifts I LIKE in one shop without getting physically tired. SOLVE
Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

1. A headache that lasts for 17 months is a Problem.

See a doctor. …… is the doctor handsome?

1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument.
In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 Days. ....please refer to rule 1 of your rule ones. (u need a mind to retain information….)

1. If you won't dress like the Victoria 's Secret girls,don't Expect us to act like soap opera guys. ....If u consider round a shape for the human male species don't expect Victoria's secret greeting you at your door once you get home. Expect a puddy tat.

1. If you think you're fat, you probably are.
Don't ask us. …. Who's us? I asked you …. Did you pass that on?

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one ….. if theres something we spent on your add on card that was way over your minds imagination, remember we were just adding points to the card for more air miles and not actually spending a whole lot of cash.

1. You can either ask us to do something
Or tell us how you want it done.
Not both.
If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself. ….. I think the best way to sort out bills is to stuff them in a dustbin… that's something I can do myself.

1. Whenever possible, Please say whatever you have to say during commercials. ….. please say whatever you have to in between phone calls.

1. Christopher Columbus didNOTneed directions and neither do we. ….. FACT… please note that he was looking for India and he found America

1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings.
Peach, for example, is a fruit, not Acolor. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is. … ......please refer to rule 1 of your rule ones…

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say 'nothing,' We will act like nothing's wrong.
We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle. ….why would you ask what is wrong then? You see we know you know whats wrong… you just don't have the balls to accept it. …. Or the brains… but whats the difference anyway.

1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, Expect an answer you don't want to hear. ….. Are you going to wake up now… or not?... answer carefully.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine. Really …..:) we have to have something fine to wear in order to wear it dummy!

1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as baseball, the shotgun formation,
or golf. ….and don't ask us what's for dinner or what our plans are for after dinner unless you're prepared to discuss topics such as frozen vegetables, raw meat, a good back massage by your husband after he comes home from work.

1. You have enough clothes. ….. but not the right jewellery

1. You have too many shoes. ….. and you have too many golf sets and golf balls.

1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape! .... so is a blimp… don't imagine you look anything better than it if that's what your shape is.

1. Thank you for reading this. …. You are welcome…. I enjoyed it.

2. Pass this to as many men as you can -
to give them a laugh.

Pass this to as many women as you can -

to give them a bigger laugh!

Jay walking at night

Listening to the radio (95FM) nowadays can leave an unnecessary plastered grin on your face. And well, you just feel generally funny, so cracking jokes to grin even wider is the norm.

It was already around 8PM and it was raining. I was just about to park the car next to my sisters place and i saw one little man shrouded under what looked like a plastic sack. He kept walking in the middle of the road and and i flashed my headlights repeatedly to get him to move out of the way.

Unfortunately he didn't want to. So my brother who was in the co-drivers seat told me to blow him up, and i promptly did. I blew the horn and he quickly stepped aside.

I said, "What the hell man, couldn't he see the light?"

just then, i corrected myself and said "Wait...I think he wanted to see the light"

My brother took a few seconds to get it.

Ok.. it was funny then... stop frowning...

Google needs to revamp its search technique

So I have moved home yet again... and hopefully this would be the last time for a long time now. I can't carry those things up and down the stairs once again.

Anyway moving home means getting a new broadband connection. So i set out for my quest to find the right broadband for me. I download a lot and i waste a lot of time online, so obviously need a service provider that's sort of efficient. Can't expect too much though because of the high level of incompetence and lack of consumer pandering. So i settled for Airtel broadband.

I have been searching all day for a contact for Airtel BB for Noida. And have not had any luck as yet. One of the main reasons is that all the results that i get on Google are over 3-4 years old. And i have to sift through all the content to find one measly piece of information. If there was a search option to not show blogs and articles that were more than a year old it would have helped. I would have saved a lot more time and maybe i would have found what i was lookign for.
Well i was looking for an Airtel broadband engineers contact number so that i could tell him to connect me to the world. But all i got was a "we'll get back to you" option on the Airtel site. Even customer care can only promise a 48 hr revert, and i don't have the time or the patience to wait so long. I want a connection now.

So if Google could just make search more specific and more relevant it would have been better. Most sub search engines have these facilities, so why should the Big guy be any different.

Anyway, if anyone knows one of the dude's numbers please let me know so that i can contact them and get online SOON!!!