Once in 2009, First in 2010

This is my first post in 2010. I am a frequent visitor of many blogs except to that of my own. I accidentally visited my blog and was shocked to see just a single post during the year 2009, that too a snapshot of my own blog sarcastically criticising my laziness to update the blog. I have more than 15 posts queued up in the draft, some of which I do not even know how to complete. I have not run short of topics or time (definitely NOT), its just that I have become lazy to think about something to post. Not sure if Jo, Meenu, Supreeth and Prashanth (once upon a time visitors) will even remember this URL :(

Anyways I am planning to post more topics this year and I am happy that this post has not joined the queue of drafts :)

One night at Airport

Though not as interesting as Chetan's "One night @ call centre", this post is all about my experience at the Delhi airport between 20:45, 14th October 2008 to 09:45, 15th October 2008. Wondering what I was doing the whole night at the Delhi airport? Well, even am wondering why? I had gone to Noida for a project work and stayed in a guest house at Noida sector 55, for about 10 days. After finishing my work, I deliberately wanted to return home and have some curd rice. I really missed the south Indian food there. Though, somehow I managed with fruits and little of the north Indain food for nearly 2 weeks. On sunday, the 12th of October, I suddenly fell ill, definitely only because of the water that I drank in the guest house. I took some medicines and proceeded to the office on monday morning to handover the completed work. I couldn't manage to stay there till night. So my TL asked me to leave back home and take rest. He also told that my return ticket would me mailed to my office mail id. I was waiting for a call from him the next day and was very curious about my return to Chennai. But I didn't get any call till evening, since he was very busy with some meetings. Even I couldn't contact him on his mobile because the International outgoing call from my mobile was barred on roaming. Then he called me by about 4 Pm and informed that he has asked the traveldesk to book my return ticket as soon as possible. After many discussions and calls from my office, and considering my health issue, they have booked my return ticket for 14th October 2008, 20:15 flight. By the time I received the confirmation about my ticket, it was 6:30Pm and I just had 1 hour and 45 minutes to catch the flight. I had called up the cab driver and informed him to be at the guest house before 6:45Pm. I caught a rickshaw and went to the nearest browsing centre to take a printout of my e-ticket and came back to the guest house in 10 minutes. I took my baggages and was waiting outside for the cab driver to come. But he came there only by 7:00Pm. I didn't even had time to argue with him. I just got into the car and asked him to go to the airport. Even though I knew that I could not make it to the airport in time, I had a belief that I would atleast reach there by 8:00Pm. But it was only red signal, not only to my belief but also throughout my journey to the airport.

My TL called me and asked whether I could catch the flight in time. I said that its impossible and asked him if he could cancel the ticket. He said that its not possible to cancel the ticket as everyone would have left the office by 6:45 itself and now the time was 7:30Pm. But he didn't give up trying to contact the travel desk at offshore. Finally I got a call by 7:45 Pm saying that the ticket has been re-scheduled for the next day morning 9:30 flight. It was a great sigh of relief. But wait, where will I stay tonight? I have checked out from the guest house. I made up my mind and decided to stay in the airport the whole night. Till then the time which was running fast began to crawl. I reached the airport and got permission from the airport security to stay there till morning. I went inside the airport and walked towards the kingfisher counter. I asked them if there was any waiting room available so that I could wait till the next day. But to my surprise, there was nothing called a waiting room available there. Even the chennai central and egmore railway station has retiring rooms which can be paid and used. I sat on the chair and began to watch all the passengers moving in and out of the airport. I couldn't sleep because I didn't have my dinner :(

Since it was a domestic airport, there were no flights after 11pm. My only time pass came to an end. All the workers had left the airport except for few policemen, sweeper and the coffee day shop guy. The main lights in the airport were switched off, but it was still bright inside. I kept on looking at my watch and wondered if the time moves faster only when we sleep. I could hear the noise of the aeroplanes landing at the international airport which is about 4 kms from the domestic airport. A maruti suzuki SX4 car was kept on display inside the airport. I even thought of opening the door and lying on the car seat and sleep till morning. The chair was so uncomfortable that I could not even sleep for 10 minutes. I was walking from one end to the other, sat in different places, watched the automatic floor cleaner mechanism, drank water, but nothing seemed to help me push the time.
Somehow I managed till 4:30 am and went to the rest room to wash my face. I was stunned on seeing my eyes at the mirror. Only then I remembered that I had fever the previous day. I didnt care about it because my only intention was to go back home. The first flight at morning was at 5:30am. People began to walk in the airport. I was looking at the tv for the check-in time for my flight. I could not find my flight in the list, because the time was only 5:15am. I refreshed myself and went to have a coffee. The shop keeper didnt have change even for Rs100. I didnt have the coffee.

I proceeded to the ticket counter to collect my ticket and handed over my baggage for check-in. I was waiting for the security check-in announcement for my flight. There was no sign of announcement for my flight. I was really annoyed and asked the Kingfisher staff regarding this. He said that there was some delay because the flight has not yet arrived from chennai(Naasama pochu). The same flight was to fly back to chennai at 9:30am. I couldn't do anything but smile at him and say a fake Thankyou(Podaaaa).
Atlast I heard an announcement requesting all passengers travelling to chennai by Kingfisher airlines to proceed for boarding. Thank God. I ran and joined the queue, got my ticket verified and got into the bus which took us to the flight which was waiting about half a kilometer from the airport. I was so tired that I could not even enjoy the in-flight entertainment and the take-off. I just closed my eyes and sat for sometime after which the brunch was served. I had the food and began to sleep again. The journey time to chennai was about 2 and a half hours. I was peeping throught the window and shot a few snaps. Then heard the announcement from the pilot asking us to fasten our seatbelts because we were nearing the chennai airport. I was the first person to get off the flight as soon as it landed at chennai airport. I rushed to collect my baggage and called up my dad to inform that I have arrived.

It was all like a dream. I could not believe whether it was me who was spending a whole sleepless night at the airport. I was recollecting everything on my way back to home. It was a different experience and I would never forget it.

Old wine in new bottle

After a long hibernation, I decided to do something new to my blog. Didn't get any topic to post, so I thought of re-skinning my page. Tried a lot of different templates and finally arrived at this one. Pour in your suggestions if any, regarding the ambiance, font and also anything more that can be added to this page.

Well I couldn't stop myself from telling something about Dasavatharam. Though this page is not enough to explain about a master-piece. The beautiful screenplay and the way in which all the characters are interlinked is simply amazing. Coming to the story, a subtle and easy way of explaining the 'butterfly effect' and 'chaos theory'. A story base-line of how the Tsunami was caused because of the disturbance caused to the Tectonic plates, a many hundred years ago, by the huge idol of Ranganathan. Beautifully mixing it with the story of how the Tsunami saves tamilnadu, from a even more big disaster that was to be caused by the bio-weapon, with the Sodium Chloride(NaCl) present in sea water.

Story, screenplay, thriller, action, stunt, etc etc, Dasavatharam has it all. In short, Dasavatharam is a movie for everyone.

PS: The title given to this post is only for the re-skinning part . It does not hold good for the Dasavatharam film review.

Not just a tree...

A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it everyday. He climbed to the tree top, ate the apples, took a nap under the shadow... He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him. Time went by... the little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree everyday. One day, the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad. "Come and play with me," the tree asked the boy.

"I am no longer a kid, I don't play around trees anymore." The boy replied, "I want toys. I need money to buy them." "Sorry, but I don't have money...but you can pick all my apples and sell them. Then you will have money." The boy was so excited. He grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy never came back after he picked the apples. The tree was sad.

One day, the boy returned and the tree was so excited. "Come and play with me" the tree said. "I don't have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?" "Sorry, but I don't have a house. But you can chop off my branches to build your house." So the boy cut all the branches of the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy never came back since then. The tree was again lonely and sad.

One hot summer day, the boy returned and the tree was delighted. "Come and play with me!" the tree said. "I am sad and getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give mea boat?" "Use my trunk to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy." So the boy cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and never showed up for a long time.

Finally, the boy returned after he left for so many years. "Sorry,my boy. But I don't have anything for you anymore.

No more apples for you..." the tree said.

"I don't have teeth to bite" the boy replied.

"No more trunk for you to climb on"

"I am too old for that now" the boy said.

"I really can't give you anything ... the only thing left is my dying roots" the tree said with tears.

"I don't need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years." The boy replied.

"Good! Old tree roots is the best place to lean on and rest. Come, Come sit down with me and rest."

The boy sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears.......

This is a story for everyone. The tree is our parents. When we were young, we loved to play with Mom and Dad...When we grew up, we left them... only come to them when we need something or when we are in trouble. No matter what, parents will always be there and give everything they can to make you happy.

You may think the boy is cruel to the tree but that is how all of us are treating our parents.

Truth of life

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $500 Note.In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $500 note? "Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this note to one of you but first let me do this".He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air. Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now all crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air.

"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $500/-

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. You are special. Don't ever forget it that This is Truth of Life "Never let yesterday's disappointments overshadow tomorrow's dreams".

Some funny one-liners

• When I was born, I was so surprised I didn't Talk for a year and a half.
• The army, see the world, meet interesting people, and kill them.
• Until I was 13, I thought my name was 'Shut Up.'
• I'm not afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens.
• Always and never are two words you should always remember never to use.
• I've never been drunk, but often I've been over served.
• The road to success is always under construction.
• I say no to drugs -- they just don't listen!
• Marriage is one of the chief causes of divorce.
• Work is fine if it doesn't take up too much of your time.
• When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
• Born free; Taxed to death.
• Everyone has a photographic memory; some people just don't have film.
• Life is unsure; always eat your dessert first.
• Smile -- it makes people wonder what you're up to.
• I love being a writer... What I can't stand is the paperwork.
• A printer consists of 3 main parts: the case, the jammed paper tray and the blinking red light.
• The hardest part of skating is the ice.
• The guy who invented the first wheel was an idiot; the guy who invented the other three, he was the genius.
• The trouble with being punctual is that there's no one there to appreciate it.
• If our constitution allows us free speech, why are there phone bills?
• If you tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe, he'll believe you. But if you tell him a park bench has just been painted, he has to touch it to be sure.
• Beat the 5 O'clock rush: leave work at noon!
• If you can't convince them, confuse them.
• It's not the fall that kills you; it's the sudden stop at the end.
• I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.
• Hot glass looks same as cold glass. (Cunino's Law of Burnt Fingers)