A good article about the famous Roger-Nadal rivalry

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/matthew_syed/article5653849.ece

Roma

Is BEAUTIFUL... and that would be an understatement!
Believe me!!!

It is so different from the rest of Europe - where if you've seen
one, you've seen it all. It is for the exceptions like Rome that
you should explore all of Europe.. hehe now thats my convenient
excuse :) But truly, Europe is magnificent - and the biggest
incentive for taking up a job in my entire career.

So our trip to Rome started off pretty dicy. Since its almost 1000km
away from Munich it was a long ride ahead. That too on a weekend.
But fools go where angels fear to tread. Hehe.
So there we were, 18 of us in 2 big vans, in freezing fog and snow and
icy roads. The drive was pretty scenic - too bad we drove in the night.
Planning to do that trip in the day time some day to see the beauty of
Austrian Alps in broad daylight.

Rome was rainy on Saturday and it reminded me pretty much of the
lashing rains in Pune/Mumbai in monsoon. Colloseum and the Roman
Forum took most part of our Saturday. Awesome places, especially the
ruins of the forum. The magnitude of the structures there dwarfs you,
literally and figuratively. We then meandered (read lost) our way around
Rome and finally reached the Spanish Steps (which is very similar to the
Church in Panjim).

The next day was reserved for the Vatican which luckily was open and free
that Sunday (It is free last Sunday of every month). Started with the famous
St.Peter's square and St.Peter's church. Then moved to the Sistine Chapel
which amazed us all no end. It is just unbelievable and I have no words to
describe it. You have gotta see it to believe it. The paintings, the marble
figures, the floors, the tapestry - all is mind blowing. It took Michelangelo
4 years to complete the fresco's in the Chapel and 9 years just to do wall
behind the altar. He painted "The Last Judgement" on the wall. The details
leave you in awe. Like I said, no words to describe, its a show stopper !!

Then it was time to leave and on public demand half of us left for Pisa.
Leaning Tower of Pisa was not so much of a wonder after the Vatican.
(I tried getting the stamps/coins of the Vatican but couldn't. Was
disappointed.) Finally reached base at 6:30am on Monday morning and
surprisingly everyone was so charged with the trip, all were in office by
9:30 am! :)

Forgot to mention, the pizza's and pastas of Rome were a huge disappointment.
Surprised? I was too.

More later.

The fall of the Elephant

The image of - not just a visibly upset but - a verbally upset
Roger Federer moved a lot his fans. I am one among them.
Some more wait for him to match Sampras' record of 14
Grand Slam titles - and we hope it will not be a long wait.

Nevertheless, it was a truly well deserved win for the Spaniard.
The errors made by Federed in the last game helped bring in
his victory quicker.

Ofcourse I am Nadal fan as well, but my loyalties are currently
dominant with Federer and so I cant help but wish for Fedex to
race through in the French Open and Wimbledon.
Keeping my fingers crossed.

Life Quote

One of the best quotes I heard in recent times...
"Life is a sexually transmitted disease"

Lol....

2009 - first outing

Itching to write about my hectic weekend trip to Rome
and Pisa. Soon....

New experiences in life and new pleasures

My first post of this year is 22 days late.. thats a new experience, alright :)

Experiencing the fun in the small things in life - by looking at them differently
is the theme currently. Call it the side effect of the global recession, if you will!

Eating ice cream while freezing at -10 deg C is a cool thing to experience.
Finding 15 deg C as warm is hot and bashing up people is in ;)
Travel adventures are back and so is the sun (though rarely).

Whats new with you?

The world is catching up

Dont you sometimes wonder about this ever-changing world - and that it would
be difficult for oldies to match pace with it?

Well, I think so at times. Even at my age (which is not too much btw), I sometimes
find it difficult to relate to kids have boy/girlfriends in class 3 or class 5 (whats with
that!!??).. or to see hardly year old babies press the right buttons on the laptops.
The younger generations are moving way too fast. It must be really harder on
generations previous to mine to catch up with this speed.

But not so apparently. Well my mom shocked me during my vacation by asking me
to bring me a man home instead of a woman! lol Well, its not catching up in the true
sense - but she at her age understanding the pace at which we are running and that
we are susceptible to adapt to the changing tunes is amazing. It still is pretty much
taboo in India to talk about same-sex relationships and topics are not broached
normally in the living room with the entire clan present.

But I guess she has no choice than to move with the times and atleast acknowledge
the changes if not accept them. I think I would had a mild cardiac arrest had she said
she wouldn't mind my partner being a female as long as she was human... lol

So long...

Tell me how
do birds fly
Tell me when
will the earth come to an end
Tell me where
one doesnt feel scared
Tell me why
is blue the color of the sky
Tell me who
puts a smile on you,
when the day is gloom
Tell me why
do flowers bloom..
I will find these answers
on my own..
but will you tell me
why is a simple soul
so blown?

Coupla lines

I waited
for you to be online..
I waited
for you to sing me a line..
I waited
for you to coochie-coo
I waited
for you to say "i love you"

A weird place

the human mind. It automatically tunes in to the near future
and when it is reached - wants to go back in the recent past :-)

The new face

of Pune... my hometown.. where I grew up amidst
lush green trees and spacious gardens... where I
had peace with the sparse traffic.. where cultural
programs and musical dusks-to-dawn enthralled
the audiences.

The most striking change I saw over the weekend
were the amazing lounges, bars and discs that have
come up in the city. Went to this place called Kiva
and it was pretty decent (though not as good as some
of the lounges in good ol' Bangalore).. but yeah, good
when you dont expect them in that place.
And there are many such places around now.. so.. Njoi!

In an ideal world...

I would work 2 weeks and vacation 50!

Wishful thinking I know. But can't help wishing
a longer vacation.. and its just begun. hehe...
Anywho.. have fun.

First snow

first snow
a fresh season
the cold outside
aids cosy liaisons

black and grey
don the sky
a layer of white
questions why?!
Why is it a winter of despair
I will bring
the spring of hope!
Says snow
to leafless trees
coating them
with his cold heat

Cold stays
and so does snow
Spring crawls in
but a li'l slow

Forever Search

Forever a search
A wait forever
Looking for the last drop
to fill my ocean

A long walk
Some soothing silence
to find myself
in this lost world

Find her sitting
on the sand
staring at the sun
the ocean in her hand

Lost in herself
the wait over
another one starts
to find the reason

Every day is about...

Choices !

You are forced to make choices from the time to
wake up to the time you should be in bed!
Some of them you like, some (rather most) you dont!

Do you think life would be simpler if you didnt have to
make these choices - or atleast the important ones?!
Well, some of these decisions are really hard to make
and thinking about it even makes one procrastinate.

But what fun is life without challenges and tough choices, huh!

Just another day

A dry "Morning"
a quiet breakfast
the cold "bye"
left me cold

Were you mad
for the other night?
Were you sad
for the display of might?
No....
Thats not true
for the loving you
Crazy me forgot
what I fell for in you

He laughed
and drove my blues away
saying, its just another day

A poor attempt knows moi
Not a Sunday just another day :-)

Games people play :-)

They play the game
and wait
for Someone to say
the answer they want to hear

Does truth change
with the last petal?
Does love stop
with a hung up call?
Is it love if you need an answer.. ?
Is it faith if you need affirmation.. ?

"She loves me not"
says the last petal
"I love you"
says her heart
Take your pick
and choose your faith
whichever you choose
unless you believe
will be your myth

Flowers fade and people lie
days gone by, times spent together
never lie
They come back whom you let go
then you ask your flower
if she loves you

Is it Diwali??

Really?!Well, its not so obvious here..
No markets overflowing with people, no jostling for a parking
spot, no new clothes, no decorations, no diyas, no ear-shattering
fire-crackers.

For the first time in so many years (refraining from mentioning
my age, I guess you figured ;) ) I am not home for Diwali.
For the first time in so many years - none of us siblings are at
home for Diwali. Its a first for my parents too and they are not liking it.
Anyhow.

So its a boring time in Munich currently. Weather is dull and bad with
chances of snow soon, gets dark at 5 in the evening likes it 8.. So not a
good time to be here... and the best part is - the worst is yet to come ! :-)

Colleagues are going to the ISKCON temple in town to offer their prayers
on this day - but I am sure their hidden agenda is to hog the free food :-P
Anyhow.

Have a happy and safe Diwali and a prosperous and healthy year ahead!

London..

Had been to London over the weekend. Was a long
planned vacation which due to the usual chaos in the
software industry was almost canceled. But thanks to
a simple soul who prayed harder every passing day,
I finally made it :)

London is like Mumbai.. at first sight you would not like
it too much... but it grows on you. London is similar to
Mumbai in more ways than one. Since Mumbai was also
colonised by the British you will find a lot of resemblance
between the two cities - almost similar buildings, same red
buses, same crowd (yea almost every 3rd or 4th person you
see will be from the sub-continent), same traffic.. well the list
goes on.

What I liked most about London is that it being a cosmo city
you have amazing range of finding anything and everything.
From food to clothes to accomodation - you will find all sorts.
Yea a non-foodie mentioning food first is surprising but anybody
living in Germany will understand what the variety in food means!!
:) But yea like I mentioned I did not like London because
of the crowd and traffic .. and I like Munich for the exact opposite
reason - its so quiet, calm, sparsely populated and peaceful!
Its gonna be tough moving out of Munich to any other place -
but that we shall see.

Sight-seeing in London was the usual touristy thing I did. I enjoyed
my trip to Greenwich. Going through the history of why we needed
the concept of longitude and how it actually evolved was fascinating.
The other outing I enjoyed (more cos I went around on my own) was
to the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. Luckily I could catch a
glimpse of the tower bridge making way for a medium sized ship. Wish
I could catch this from the river bank, would have had some lovely pics.
Anyway, next time.

So overall was a short and sweet trip. Will upload some pics later.
Ciao till then..

I hope you feel the song..

But I hope that you feel the song. So now, sometimes, I pray.
I love you more than I can say. Love you more than yesterday.
But I wanna tell you baby. This time I am gonna be sure.
I am coming back for more. I think I love you anyway.

Status message on my friend's chat client. Lovely lines aren't they?