Rhythmic Dissonance » Happy

Brand New!

Raj — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 09:38:06 +0000

After spending 2 months on preparing for GMAT, taking it in October, then starting the long and tiresome application process and now after getting an admit in a school of my choice, I think its finally time to document my journey to a B school on my blog! I did write about how I felt going through the process in this and this post in a subtle manner.

My life is headed for a big change right now. A week from new I’ll be relieved from my job and next Saturday, I’ll be joining the business school . At a time when my life is about to go through such a major change, I decided to give the blog a well deserved makeover (along with a much needed upgrade from Wordpress 2.2.2 to 2.7). I hope the new theme looks good. According to me, the theme fits the blog very well and gives it a clean, crispy look while making a personal connection with the reader.

Becoming a student once again and not getting a monthly salary are some things I’m preparing myself for. And exams, of course! What makes this change bigger is that I’ll be moving to Hyderabad. The thought of leaving Bangalore makes me sad. I’ve spent a little less than five years here, after all. There is a possibiliy that I might come back after the programme ends next year but still. As I sell one peice of furniture after another, I feel like I am giving away a part of my life away. A life that I slowly built in four and a half years.

On the other hand, I am starting a new life with a clean slate and I feel like getting out of my comfort zone here was just the thing I needed to grow. And above all, I can finally experience the much hyped hostel life that I’ve only heard of till now. So wish me luck and brace yourself for new posts from a management student’s perspective!

Thoughts on a Lonely Afternoon After months of hard work and procrastination, I have finally...
Real, Soon It’s no secret that the frequency of my posts dropped...
The Lull before the Storm I feel a little bad that some of you come...

2008: Year Ender

Raj — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:52:20 +0000

Ah, the last day of the year! Always a good day for introspection. Fortunately for me, I’ve been introspecting for the past 1-2 months and though I am mostly satisfied with how things have been so far, I feel the need to do more in life. So the plan is to continue learning new things.

This means I’ll continue learning German (I recently completed German A1 level exam! Yay!), take up guitar lessons again, learn to swim, continue learning to cook and much more. Also, I had kinda loosened up on the fitness regime but no slacking from tomorrow. The fitness freak is back! The only new (and important) resolution for the new year is to spend as much money as necessary as opposed to spending as much as I can which is what I have been doing till now!

Coming to the things I liked about the year, there were some movies that I really liked: Wall-E (of course!), Iron Man, The Dark Knight, Aamir and Dasvidaniya.

I didn’t find as much great music as I found last year but some of it was awesome. Few soundtracks (Wall-E, Juno) , some new (for me!) bands (Hellogoodbye, Goldspot) and some good Hindi movie songs (Aamir, Ada, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, all songs sung by Mohit Chauhan) worked for me.

Television took a backseat this year for me. I think my TV watching time was less than halved. Lost remained at the top of its game. Family Guy and 30 Rock continued to entertain. I discovered The IT Crowd and Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia and ensured that I watched each and every episode available.

Like I wrote in my birthday post, it was a mixed bag as far as my life is concerned, but the sum total of everything that happened is definitely positive. Also, I travelled much more this year than previous years and my first journey was on 1st January. Maybe its true what they say. What you do on the first day the year….

I look forward to 2009 and I hope it will bring the best of everything with it.

Wish you a very Happy New Year!

2006: Year Ender This being my last post of the year, I’ve decided...
I’m No Superman! As has been the tradition on this blog, I wish...
In Pursuit of Happiness Its been almost three and a half years since I...

Looking Ahead

Raj — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 19:31:59 +0000

I wish myself a very happy birthday! You should too!!

Last year, I wrote how I planned a few things and changes for this year and fortunately for me, I was successful in carrying out most of those. I have mentioned my will to sponsor a child several times on this blog and just a few days ago, I finally did it. I sponsored a little girl from Tamil Nadu. Thats my birthday gift for myself.

As I grow older and wiser (I hope so!), the challenges keep getting bigger and complex. And all I can say is that I am prepared to face all the challenges.

I am 27 and single. Some of my relatives might run into depression!

It’s that time of the year again! Yes, its officially 7th December now which makes it my...
I’m No Superman! As has been the tradition on this blog, I wish...
Hope Some of the best birthday memories I have are of...

200 and Counting!

Raj — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 03:35:52 +0000

Yeah! It has finally happened! You are reading the 200th post of this blog. It may not seem like a big achievement to some but it certainly feels like one to me. So go out to the nearest cake shop, get a piece of your favorite cake and eat it cos its celebration time!

Whats funny is that I wrote this celebratory 100th post way back in November 2006 which means that it took me 17 months to write the second hundred posts when it only took me only 4 months to complete the first 100. But that’s okay! The post frequency had gone since last year, I took two 3 and 4 month long breaks from blogging last year and even came close to abandoning the blog but decided not to do so because my blog had helped me get through some tough times.

I’m happy that my blog is back on track and I have been sticking to my aim of at least 2 posts per month. I hope that I’ll celebrate a millennium soon. Okay, not soon but still!

I guess this would also be a good time to talk about what’s in store for my blog. Hmm, I plan to be more regular with the updates, write about a lot more diverse things and very soon, I plan to redesign the blog. Should be fun! So if you don’t find this blog to be the most boring, self-involved blog ever (heh!), stick around!

Now go get that cake please!

I’m No Superman! As has been the tradition on this blog, I wish...
Twenty Two, the third! First, a little background on the title. I wrote the...
Blog Status I became an active blogger about a month ago and...

In Pursuit of Happiness

Raj — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:22:50 +0000

Its been almost three and a half years since I stared working and to say that life’s become mundane and monotonous would be an understatement. Even going to the gym is part of the boring routine now. So I decided to try something new. Some things that I always wanted to do but never managed to get around doing. The major hurdle was that I didn’t want to be the guy who never finished what he started. But then I realized that not even giving things a try was much worse and so lately I’ve taken up not one but two things:

German language classes: The idea of learning a foreign language had been on my mind for quite some time and since I find German easier compared to most other languages and I found a teacher, I decided to go for it. The classes are held just once a week so the progress would be slow but I think I am picking it up rather well. I’ve even been complimented by the teacher a couple of times. I hope to become proficient in speaking, reading and writing German soon.
Guitar classes: Playing the guitar has been a childhood dream and I am really thrilled that it might become a reality soon. The classes are over the weekend and I’ve only been to three classes till now – most of which have been theoretical about musical notations. I did get to play a little bit in the last class though and I bought my first guitar yesterday. Its black, looks sexy and sounds good (in the hands of a friend, that is. I can’t play anything yet!)

I am determined to not give these up midway once the initial enthusiasm dies down. I would hate to disappoint myself. Wish me luck! Tschüs!

Instant Happiness 16th July, 2004 was when I came to Bangalore and...
2008: Year Ender Ah, the last day of the year! Always a good...
Life’s to-do list I’ve known about 43 things since its launch and lots...

I’m No Superman!

Raj — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 18:31:46 +0000

As has been the tradition on this blog, I wish myself a very happy birthday!!

It wouldn’t be entirely right to say that the last year was tough. Its just that whenever I think that I am finally living in the real world, things get a little more real and I feel lost.

In the last one year, I went through a lot of ups and downs and found myself looking for answers to a lot of questions but most importantly I learnt a lot of things about myself. That I am just a normal human who’s just as likely to falter and fall as the next person. That I will have to go through things that I once thought would never happen to me. Well, self awareness is always good! Plus, I did have my share of fun too.

There are few things that I plan to do in the coming year. Some changes that I hope to bring to my life. I’ll let this blog be the witness of how much I actually achieve.

Instant Happiness 16th July, 2004 was when I came to Bangalore and...
Smalltalk I don’t have anything major to write about so I...
Looking Back When I had to come to Bangalore last year, people...

The Wonder Years

Raj — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 03:43:52 +0000

As is common knowledge, I am a man with a mission. There’s always something I’m working on. I started my new mission of digitalizing all the old photos lying around the house as soon as I got home. Now, old photos can bring back a lot of memories. Especially yearly class photos from school. These photos helped me recall the names of so many people who I had completely forgotten or so I thought.

But one photo from kindergarten had in it my first crush if we don’t count Sridevi. What? Don’t you judge me! She was a superstar and I was a little kid! Anyways, I don’t even remember the name of my first crush now (Was it Rakshita?) but I do remember that I used to like her and wanted her to sit next to me in the classroom. And one day, my class teacher made her sit next to me which resulted in her crying a lot because she wanted to sit next to her friend. This totally saddened me but not for long. We were 5 after all! We became friends the same day and I don’t remember how long we stayed friends. The next year I moved to a different part of the city and started attending a different school.

Coming back to the present, there’s a new dry fruits store opening this week in Lucknow and its curiously titled “Hey Keshav Its Yours” (Keshav is a guy’s name, in case you didn’t know) . I have no clue what the name means. Let me know if you do.

I Don’t Like It It’s never easy to accept the truth especially when the...
A First I’m used to doing nothing special on New Year’s Eve...
Mumbai, the beach and very little else! Mumbai is the city I’ve seen in countless movies and...

Smalltalk

Raj — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 06:55:58 +0000

I don’t have anything major to write about so I decided to do something I think I’m good at. Make smalltalk! Its fun. It can lead to new friendships and is a handy tool for boredom avoidance. But it can be tough if the other person doesn’t respond. I’m hoping all you readers wouldn’t act like that.

So what better way to start it than talking about the weather! For the past two weeks now, Bangalore has been really wet. And the rain has amazing timing. It starts to rain every time I decide to go out. But I still don’t let the rain ruin my plans.

Also, I have noticed that I am mostly happier when I am alone compared to when I am with people. Not with all people but some of them. Does that mean something? Apart from the fact that I am more fun than those people.

In other unrelated news, I have a doubt in my mind. I wonder if my blog personality runs a risk of coming across as a mimbo. Fortunately, I don’t have any such fears in real life. So what do all of you think?

Update: I think I inadvertently became an accomplice to a suicide yesterday. I was on my my way home when I noticed a cockroach crossing the road. And before I could do anything, it got smashed under the front wheel. Now, this may seem like an accident but think about it. Why does a cockroach need to cross the road? It doesn’t! Which is why I think it was a suicide attempt. And well-timed too! I just hope that the police doesn’t investigate the case.

Instant Happiness 16th July, 2004 was when I came to Bangalore and...
A Tale of A Weird Evening Alright, so after writing many posts about how I don’t...

Of Accomplished Missions, iPhone Killer and Hateful Buses

Raj — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 06:18:31 +0000

On my last visit back home, I was told that I had gained some weight which was surprising because I had already joined the gym and I thought it was working for me. After hearing lots of similar comments, I decided to take matters into hand, went through lots of websites related to health & diet and came up with my own plan of eating healthy and staying fit. And thus began “Mission Hotness”! It was essentially a 2 month plan (which ends August 31) that required me to live under a new fitness regime – eating 6 balanced meals in a day, staying away from fatty food and of course, working out, exercising and walking. I followed the plan religiously and even though the mission is yet to end, I already have biceps and triceps just about visible to the naked eye, I can see the emergence of a v shaped torso, my waist has already gone down a size and I have lost around 1kg. I am ecstatic and want everyone to know that such plans do work!! This achievement did cause its own problems though. All my regular fitted jeans became loose and the loose ones became useless. I had to buy two new pairs of jeans in a hurry!! But thats all part of the game. I’m going to continue following the plan for now and hopefully, I’ll be in perfect shape soon!

I bought my second cellphone more than two years ago. I had just started regular blogging back then and I wrote this post about it. I had promised myself that I will use the new phone for 2 years and then buy a new phone. I kept my promise and two weeks ago, I bought a shiny new HTC Touch. Its been called an iPhone killer by few sections of the media but that doesn’t really matter to me. What I like is that its tiny (its codename was elf!), sleek, sexy and most of all a windows mobile phone which lets you do everything with just a finger. Honestly, I don’t have to use the stylus at all!

The morning bus to work hates me. I have to fight with the window for 2-5 mins to get it to open. And because it always loses to me, it decided to get back at me couple of days ago by spewing its venom on me. Sure, it was intelligent enough to disguise it as muddy, rain water but I know what it really was. If I had an open wound, I could have poisoned! But it isn’t the only evil bus I have to deal with. The new evening bus is the most sadistic bus ever. Its so uncomfortable that one can never sleep even for a second in it. And I have to spend close to 2 hours in it. It has made my life miserable. Its hard to resist the temptation of setting it on fire. And if you are wondering why I am writing about buses all of a sudden, I spend 3 hours in these buses everyday! What else do you expect?

Swirl Remember the quarter-life crisis I mentioned few months back? Well,...
A Series Of Accidents I went to the Airtel shop on Cunningham Road on...
Those Were The Days From mid 2001 right up to mid 2003, I was...

2006: Year Ender

Raj — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 16:58:00 +0000

This being my last post of the year, I’ve decided to write a really long one.

The end of the year also means that shows with the best/worst/top/bottom and everything are on TV. And I like such shows. I especially like the ones done by VH1. They’re almost always funny and entertaining.
I don’t think I’ve ever told you how much I like the US version of The Office. Oddly enough, I like it more than the original UK version. Speaking of which, I am now hooked to podcasts. Two podcasts that I like the most are Never Not Funny by Jimmy Pardo and The Ricky Gervais Show which stars Ricky Gervais who played the lead in the UK version of The Office. But most laughs on his podcast don’t come from him but from a really out-of-the-world funny guy, Karl Pilkington. He has apparently become a cult figure because of this podcast and I am left to wonder where I was when all of this was happening. Anyways, you all should give these two podcasts a try. You’ll like it.
Another show that I watch religiously these days is Bigg Boss, the Indian version of Big Brother. Well, its a reality show and has people making fools of themselves all day long so of course, I like it. I used to hate Rakhi Sawant before the show but this show changed that and I consider that a big achievement for the show.
Alright, enough about TV. Lets talk about something else. I don’t really make new year resolutions but I have decided to do few things differently in 2007. I have decided to eat healthier, start exercising regularly to stay fit and maybe even (finally!) join a gym. Lets see how much I actually do next year.
2007 would also bring lots of changes for the blog. If things go as planned, the blog would soon move to its new permanent home and its own domain. So wait for it.

Finally, I wish the blog and all my blog readers a very happy new year 2007. See you all next year.

2008: Year Ender Ah, the last day of the year! Always a good...
It’s that time of the year again! Yes, its officially 7th December now which makes it my...
A Different World Its now more than a week since I joined the...