'B' as in ball

At lunch time I decided to order food over the phone. The lady at the other end quite presumably asian asked for my name and thats when the fun started.
For some strange when I say 'Pradyot' some people hear 'Bra..whatever I lost u'.
So I started to spell out my name the usual P as in Paul R as in razor etc.
Now this has never happened to me. The lady at the other end repeats 'B' as in Ball . After screamin 'P' enuf times to attract attention at work, I quitely handed over the phone to my chinese co-worked who procceded to tell the lady my name. And this time she did'nt have to spell it out.

So you like to Sudoku

Well here are some free online sudoku puzzles that you can print out.

For programmers only

And for those who think they are programmers as well.

Victims of B61 unite.

Consider this as an option walk in the cold for a little over 20mins or wait for the bus in the cold for 10mins. There is no winning here. Should you choose to walk after exactly 10 mins when u are half way home , the bus whizzes past you. Should you choose to wait the bus will unfailingly show up after half an hour, which means that you have not only frozen ur b*#$s off but you are also kicking yourself for not having walked.
You have to salute the B61 the bus route in question that never follows any other pattern.
The tardiness of MTA finally pissed me off enough to ask the bus driver how come the bus was half an hour late. Instead of a half decent reponse he retorts how do u know i am not on my schedule. As would be expected from any arrogant and uncaring government employee. We got into a shouting match which ended in the only way possible, with him asking me to get off the bus if I did'nt stop talking. I did get off after getting close enough. Hey I did'nt want him driving past my bus stop when i rang the bell now did I?

White Water rafting in Ocee River

I took my time posting this one considering that it was taken during the Labor day weekend. But can u really blame me? You can't even see my face. I have the black shirt on with the face turned away.

New Jersey: It's cheaper than New York ....

When I first started working in NYC, my residence was over in New Jersey. The commute to work was 45 mins and it seemed to make a lot of sense since you did'nt have to pay City tax unlike NYC. But I always noted the kind of caste system that existed. Manhattanite's looked down upon everyone else and city dweller's in general frowned upon New Jersey. Quite likely the reputation was undeserved. In order to promote New Jersey, Gov. Cody decided to have a slogan contest. Here were some of the pearls that emerged.
"New Jersey: Got a problem With that?"
"Come to New Jersey -- Its not as bad as it smells"
"New Jersey we tax the $#!@ out of you"
"New Jersey and you going broke Together"
"You're from New Jersey What exit"
When I forwarded this story to friends another gem emerged. A collaborative effort between my friends Parth vasa and Deepak Rao.
"New Jersey , Its Cheaper than New York, But it still ain't worth it."
Lets see you come up with a better one.

Rage against the ipod

As technology makes it easier for us to connect to others, are we ending up isolating ourselves even further?
This thought crossed my mind recently. Anywhere you go in New York u see people with an ipod, the two most common places would be the gym and the subway. I imagine most new yorkers spend a large part of their non-working/non-sleeping hours at either of these two places. One would imagine that any place where many individuals congregate would be a place where individuals communicate. But the ipod ensures that most people come to the gym , leave the gym without having uttered a single world to anyone(yeah I know that's what gym buddies are for).
Throw isn't the personal TV's attatched to every cardio machine, and there is absolutely no reason to glance at someone else.
The subway is no better. I have found myself in the subway, listening to music and reading a magazine simultaneously as do so many others. Shutting out the rest of the world.
What about the days when I don't carry a magazine or a cd player? I look around and then immediately look away when met with a blank stare.
I feel almost scared of looking at someone lest they take offense. I wonder why its so hard to even smile at someone.
There was an interesting take on technology I read sometime back. Referring to the internet mostly, I am paraphrasing,:"technology has made it easier to connect and also easier to isolate oneself. Ultimately it just accentuates our basic tendencies.

Cindrella Man Premiere

This was taken at the prmiere of Cindrella Man starring Russel Crowe. I am posing next to a mock newspaper stand with newspapers extolling the virtues of the protagonist Jim Braddock. I can't believe I screwed this photo up. But ah well, u have to work with what you have.
 
 

Hilarious poem

This is what I consider a hilarious poem by my good friend Anoop Kulkarni. See if you agree. I feel compelled to add that, as I performed a spell check, the spell checker in all its wisdom suggested that I replace 'Anoop' with 'amoeba' , I decided to resist that temptation however strong.
How about cake: I wanna play tag tag

A public service announcement

For all those many legions who read my blog(1 or 2 if u insist on the numbers), I would like to make a humble suggestion. Try to avoid the use of plastic when and where possible. Try taking along a cloth bag to shop, lunch in a brown bag, refill water bottles from the water fountain etc. No amount of reading urging etc will change people's behavior. It hits you when it hits you. Isn't it time to do our bit for the planet?

Quite right Vijay

This is response to my friend Vijay leaving a comment on my last post. Vijay's point is that I am being harsh when it comes to saying let the Pakistani's look after their own after their earthquake, while India sits on the sidelines. Yes it is harsh but it has a basis. The Pakistani Leaderships mindset can be ascertained from one famous statement that Zulfikar Bhutto made when he was PM. "We will eat grass, but we will make the bomb."
Rather than looking after the well being of their people they want to buy bigger and better guns to beat India with. I know this is a great diplomatic opportunity.(not to speak of the humanitarian or moral aspect)
But do we really want the money we give them to end up as bullets in Indian bodies? or rdx in delhi's bazaar's? In an ideal world India would help Pakistan and we'd become friends. Do u really see that happening?