LOLed my ass off!!

I found something that made me laugh like a madman, after so long. It was an ancient e-mail. Continue reading only if you can understand telugu. Well, maybe that wouldn't help either. I'm really really sorry for the torture nunu..

Written in the really early hours of 1st Feb, 2000...

From: Hiten Mehta
To: anu_15_84@usa.net
Date: 1 Feb 00 05:44:49 IST
Subject: Naaku kuda telugu vacchu!!

Priyamaina anu
Hi!!Ela unnavu?Ninna test jarigindi,chala manchiga rasanu.
Ee saari kuda subjective lo 100% vastadi ani ankunta.
Ninna ratri caddy phone chesindi,chala rojulu tarvata.
Hayiga matladina.
Niku gurtunda?
Aa roju nenu niku messenger lo atlane vodili velli poyanu?
It's a different story ani?
Aa roju ninchi nenu niku mail cheya le.
Nuvvu malli aa story gurinchi adugutavu emo.....
Kani,eroju sayintram nenu malli mail chesta.
Aa story chepte chepacchu.
Nito hide cheyalante chala kashtam.
Inka emi.....?
Ni annaiya ekkada unnaru asalu?Naku ardham kaale.
Bore kodtunda?
Ardham avvakpote naku cheppu.nenu english lo mail chesta.
Emmante,na telugu chala high-level telugu.
Niku ardham rakapovachhu.
Nenu,roju english period lo hayiga padkunta.
Aa period luch tarvata vastundi.Inkenti?
Malli 1hr tarvata Sai naku lepuutadu.
Next hour vadu padkuntadu.
Manchi kada?

Sare,ippatki intene,
sayintram malli chesta.
Bye
Luv
chichi,
Premam,no,ni premikudu,no,whatever...
Nivade.....
Hiten.

the hardest part..
was letting go.. not taking part..

and the strangest thing..
was waitin for that bell to ring.. it was the strangest start..

baatein bhul jaati hai,
yaadein.. yaad aati hai

Thanks MJ...

I've never really been a huge fan of Michael Jackson, although I do like his songs. Still, his passing does bring about a sadness.

I guess I'll always remember him for one special reason. I've only once in my life won any sort of prize for singing. We were in eighth grade then, and even though it was a only 2nd prize in a group singing competition at the Sainikpuri auditorium, I still am proud of it. We were even invited to sing at our school assembly the following week. It was for the song 'Heal the world' by MJ, and it remains my favorite song of his (along with 'Will you be there'). Listen to it sometime, watch the video, and tell me if it doesn't move you. I don't think we won that prize for our singing talents, I think it was for the message the song carried.

Despite the things he did with his body and all the controversies that he had gotten himself into, I think the world outside of the media will remember him for his music and dance, just like it should be, and for the things he did for peace. His music will really live on, and so will he. Thanks MJ!!

Flash of Genius

I was watching the movie Flash of Genius this last weekend. To be honest, it really was an inspiring story. The relentless pursuit, not just of technical brilliance, but also of honor and integrity has something in it for everyone to learn. There was this part where he describes how it all really came to him... his flash..

I was a student at a engineering college in Hyderabad. I rode 20km on a bike to get there. In the summer, the temperature would threaten to touch 50 degrees (yes, i feel all metric today). Since the ride was really long, at least by Indian standards, I'd have plenty to time to let my mind wander away and think of mostly irrelevant things. One day though, I thought... would it ever be possible to build a huge dome over the city that would protect us from the sun? Like have a city inside a house?

For the next few days,I would deliberately let my mind get lost trying to answer this stupid question. Maybe the dome would be made of a dark glass, or a dark plastic. Maybe it would be retractable so rain could still be allowed inside. Maybe it would be supported by a complex web of beams and trusses. Soon enough though, I gave up on this. The idea seemed too fantastic. The city is too big. Its an engineering impossibility. Even if it were possible, who would listen? Even if someone did, who would pay?

Last week... I was laying on my couch,watching Discovery. And suddenly, I see the dome.They wanna build a dome over Houston to protect it from the heavy rains and tornadoes. I felt sick. I had no idea that what I had thought about years ago, was infact nothing new, in concept. They're generally called Fuller's Domes (After the man who first thought about it).

I dug up a video that talks about the Houston idea (turn up the vol)..

So.. I felt like a loser after seeing this... a failed engineer.. someone who didn't take himself seriously.

Worse, this was not the first time it had happened with me. The 'Genesis' project, of which I have only very fond memories... was not so ingenious after all.. There was a thing called the Honda Canopy..



Even the now very common, backup camera in cars..

Will I ever be an inventor? Will I ever be remembered for something? Or will I just end up becoming another guy trapped in the corporate world obsessed with making money, if even that? While all these questions linger, there is a positive.. I realized I maybe I do have it in me to make that one thing which will change people's lives. Its just that I'm a few decades behind some others right now, but I surely will catch up. Its a matter of my flash of genius...

Bittersweet rain..

I wrote about the rain a couple of posts ago. That was an unequivocally pleasant experience. I'm not very sure it was the same this last weekend though. We bowled out the opposition (Greenville Hurricanes) for a mere 106 in a 35-over game.

We set out well chasing what seemed to be an easy target. We made 50 or so without much loss. And then it rained. Fifteen minutes, that's all. It destroyed the ground. The bowler's run-ups on either ends resembled Lake Jordan. It rained that heavy. It looked like a wet t-shirt contest, only with 22 clearly unfit guys though :p

It was fun getting drenched and then shivering in the cool breeze, but for company we also had the sinking feeling of having lost out on a chance to earn a hard-earned victory. We almost felt like the Kolkata Knight Riders team, only still poor.

Well... c'est la vie.

Conflict

I've always believed that you can't watch any sporting event without favoring one of the sides. What is the point of watching it anyway if you don't care who wins?

There have been very few times where I've had conflicts about whom I want to support. Maybe a Man Utd vs Liverpool game... or Celtics vs Spurs. But none of them really matched what happened twice in the past few weeks. The IPL has been largely entertaining, but then the games between Deccan and Mumbai created the super-conflicts. Now obviously I want Deccan to win, simply because they're my 'home' team. BUT... I just cant wish loss upon a team which has Sachin in it.

I took a convenient middle-path though... I wanted Sachin to play well and Deccan to win. Deccan won both games and Sachin played well in one of them.. all happy :)

When I wake up tomorrow..

I wish for life to be different when I wake up tomorrow.
I wish I have the same enthusiasm at work that I did on my first day.
I wish to be leaner and stronger, like I was 3yrs ago.
I wish to regain my (slapstick) sense of humor.
I wish to be able to inspire someone.
I wish all my closest friends be around me, and not on the internet.
I wish to be in a different city.. New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago.. anywhere.
I wish a good conversation with a real person is not an impossibility.
I wish to go out and rule the cricket ground again.
I wish for myself to not think so deeply all the time... I wanna be stupid too.

I don't know why I can't act on any of these. Who knows... maybe tomorrow when I wake up, I will know how to.

Rain...

I've been wondering for quite some time now... why, in this country, are people so scared of the rain? Why do they let weather forecasts plan their weekends?

I was thinking about the times we played soccer in really heavy downpour..rode back home from college on the bike, or even just stepped out on the terrace only to get wet. It was never something that bothered me, or slowed me down. I enjoyed it. And it had been so long since I had been drenched. That was until this weekend. It was pouring cats, dogs and lizards by the time the India Fest got over, and I had parked my car seemingly in Mexico.

I joined the dozens of people waiting in the shelters for the rain to stop. One look upwards confirmed it wasn't close to stopping. So I just walked. It was amazing, even though there was no garam chai at the end of it, not even the smell of the soil. Still, it was amazing.

I think people here should sometimes just let go... they're missing out on so much.

So many times...