My mindless Scribbles

Finally...........

2011-06-25T20:17:00.006+05:30

Picked and dusted myself up to come out of the long self imposed exile from the blogging world. Hope this time I can keep the wheel rolling.

God's own country - Invention of Japan ladder

2010-02-15T15:11:00.015+05:30

As my time draws near to go to God's own country I cannot help but to talk about it. It's a nice laid back place with beautiful back waters. I am really fascinated by the people there. They are very chilled, very relaxed and well mannered as far as I have seen. Though they did stare at me thinking I had forgotten my lungi when I went out venturing out in my shorts in the morning. People there do tend to get creative and incidentally I happened to notice with the help of my friend that their creativity tends to revolve around the coconut tree. Coconut is something they really love and tend to add them to everything. They even fry their food in coconut oil. I heard it has its own health benefits, though my taste buds don't understand that. I won't be surprised if they happen to invent an automobile that would run on coconut oil in the near future.
Once while traveling around in a car, my friend noticed that the trunk of the coconut tree in the middle were wrapped with aluminum foil. I assumed may be they had marked their trees with the foil to perhaps avoid confusions with neighbors but realized that even the neighbors followed suit. Out of curiosity I happened to ask what the purpose it served is. It seems that the coconut orchids have rodent problems which climb the trees and chew on the coconut and in order to prevent that, they had wrapped a portion of the trunk with an aluminum foil so that the rodents don't get a grip to climb up and voila the coconuts are safe. I had to say I was impressed with this solution of theirs. But what really caught my attention was the ladder like thing hanging from each tree. It was made of the coconut shells and the branches that fall of the tree. Again to feed my hungry mind I shot the question and immediately got a reply that it was "Japan ladder". I was shocked to find that people in Kerala were actually using something on their coconut tree not invented by them or even people from gulf but rather Japanese. Not wanting to make assumptions I asked them again and I got demonstrated on how it is used, I got to say it encouraged me to go ahead and try it though my survival instincts stopped me from doing so. I was pretty fascinated by this ladder and asked him how did Japanese people invent these for which they laughed saying it was not a Japan ladder and followed by more laughs. It is Japan ladder (pronounced as je-paan ladder) I was like, OK they have a funny way to pronounce Japan but it still did not clear my doubts. Not wanting to be ridiculed at, I kept quite. Walking ahead, I saw a guy actually making this ladder. Naturally I walked up to him and drew my friends along as well. That's when I came to know that this creative ladder was his piece of art and not the Japanese. Confused even more I asked why his affinity towards Japan? He looked bewildered. I rephrased my question asking why he chose to call it Japan ladder? He said in order to honor him people named it Japan ladder. I gave my best confused look. And then He introduced himself as Rajappan and the ladder was initially called Rajappan ladder which over the period of time became R.A Jappan ladder and eventually became Japan ladder.

The scribbler's curse - Calvin vs Jerry

2010-02-12T11:20:00.020+05:30

Finally I have decided to start writing/doodling on my blog, desperately trying to dust it and bring it back to life. Ok, Now that I'm back I really don't know what to write about. Mmmmm.........Let's see, Well it was lil more than 4 months since I last posted and now that I'm back I have decided to name the last four months as my sabbatical from blog(frankly I'm sick and tired of accepting that fact that I'm lazy) More than my laziness I'm really not finding time to finish the designs I started few months back. Even if I sit down to finish them I'm distracted with something more important. It feels like a bloody curse that I am just not able to complete the designs I have in my mind. When I was struggling with these thoughts, my life just decided to take its own course dragging me along. I was just a mere spectator when decisions were made and things happened too fast for me to take in.

In one such instance, Sitting at work and perhaps feeling really bored about this monotonous life I sat down to doodle my favorite comic character just to relax myself. It took me 3 pens, 2 pencils and 3 sheets of paper to finish this relatively simple cartoon because the curse was acting up. Half way down to completing the pic the pen stopped writing and I picked up another and found that it too ceased to function properly after few minutes. Picking up the third I sat down to finish what I had started and found that I had blotted the paper and ruined the cartoon. Not wanting to get frustrated and ruin the very objective of relaxing I took out a fresh paper and this time I switched over to pencil and smiling in my mind at the idea of how a pencil can possibly stop writing. That's when I realized I over estimated my fool proof plan when the lead broke and in frustration I crumpled the paper and threw it in the dustbin which bounced of the rim and fell outside. I calmed my nerves and decided to finish this cartoon of this problematic kid. Like my bro would have put in Calvin - 1, Jerry - 0. My office mails were growing in numbers and the work was piling up but I had my mind focused on this. It is me vs Calvin and right now Calvin is winning. Not wanting to get defeated by a cartoon, I took out a fresh sheet of paper and took out a refill pencil this time. Wielding it like a weapon and feeling confident that this time it can't possibly go wrong I set out to defeat the cartoon. Was rudely interrupted by a few phone calls on my extension but still I emerged victorious. I pushed my chair back and punched the air and screamed in jubilation only to find that the eyes of my peers which were so obediently looking only at their monitor screens were now fixed on me. I gave them a lame excuse of having worked out a piece of a complex code that can do wonders to save time and quickly sat down to check my mails. Stealing a glance at the cartoon again, I kinda realized that this is exactly how I was feeling. Confused, with my hands stretched out wondering what is happening around me?

Renaissance

2009-09-24T23:34:00.006+05:30

What?
This ambigram is my official entry for the ACAC.It is an ambigram of the word Renaissance (literally meaning rebirth) drawn in the shape of a cross.

Why?
I chose the word "Renaissance" because of it's associations with both history and art. The choice of drawing it in the shape of the Cross is to symbolize the Resurrection of Christ.

How?
This ambigram is completely hand drawn. What started as a rough sketch on my scribble pad got drawn with precision on graphing paper to achieve better symmetry. I then traced it out on a drawing chart. Scanning the ambigram proved to be quite a challenge because the scanned image did not look as good as the original. I had a tough time enhancing the image on the computer but thanks to my friends the finished product looks real good.

A big bear hug.
A big bear hug to thank all my friends who have supported and helped me in finishing this ambigram. Without each one of you this would not have made it here.

Old wine in older bottle

2009-08-21T17:33:00.010+05:30

Finally, after a long slump of non existence in the blog world I'm back. Basically this slump was due to the small disorder that was born with me which in other words can be described as laziness (I wish there was a scientific term to describe this and make it sound real cool).
Here are some cool and not so cool avatars of me that I created with the help of a very popular app in facebook (the result of spending too much time in front of the computer). Let me know what you guys think of it.

Something different

2009-06-22T20:10:00.006+05:30

In an attempt to do something different I created this. Even though this is not readable, it does give me great satisfaction for having created this one of a kind art for a very cool person. Hope it is liked and appreciated.

Jerry vs Beaucephalus

2009-05-21T15:30:00.015+05:30

Oh boy, am I in love? U bet I am. Finally the week long wait is over (phew it felt really long though) and I got my hands on a brand new FZ16 from the stables of Yamaha and it was a love a first sight. And it's only a day old as I write this blog and it continues as a love at every sight cuz every time I look at her my heart goes on a song.
Before I start singing, I ought to do one thing. Bid farewell to my ol sweetheart Vandana. She deserves much more, but at this point of time I can only give her a few lines from this blog. She has been with me for so many years. Day and night, rain of sun shine she would always be ready for a ride. We did have our own share of bitter experiences but that does not count. She was truly a magnificent machine even though a puny one but had terrific attitude and she did kick up dust on the bigger bikes when ever possible. Only time can answer if Beaucephalus can really live up to what Vandana has done for me. I'll really miss her and I'm sure I will occasionally wanna go out with her when my dad is not looking (:-P)
Now back to how it all happened I was still drowsy cuz most of the night I was awake and don't remember when I finally slipped into the other world and when it was morning I could barely keep my self awake but excitement made me jump off the bed and in a jiffy I was ready. I was counting down the minutes of the final hour to go to the showroom to collect my bike. I tried to watch tv to keep my self under control but I could not for long. Finally when the time came I rushed out of the house and hired an auto to the showroom. The auto walla demanded an exorbitant rate and I just order him to take less and jumped into the auto drumming in the seat with my fingers. I bet it was my lucky day cuz he did not whoop my ass but instead he did drive me to the showroom for the amount we had negotiated. The traffic was reasonable and I reached there on time and I jus rushed in and told the sales lady I'm here to collect my bike. The lady glanced at me in a casual way and I could guess she was used to seeing over excited guys like me on an everyday basis. She politely asked me to wait for a second and made some calls telling instructions here and there and fishing papers from now where while I was trying to settle down on a creaky chair. Seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours and finally after an hour and a half (I was surprised I did not loose my patience till then) my bike arrived and it took another half hour to get the crash guard, cool mesh and tank brassier (don't blame me cuz that is what it is called) to get on it. The lady tried to tell me some instructions and after hurrying through all the paper work I almost snatched the bike keys and ran out to get the bike.
Once I was on it, I quickly turned the bike on and shifted to the first gear. The Bike gently growled to life and I was on my way. I was really floating in my own sweet world and riding it was no problem at all. I shifted to the top gear and I was literally on the move leaving the traffic behind and the feeling was marvelous. I felt like I was GOD, and that is when I was rudely put back to my rightful place when a cop stopped me. I was too happy to get irritated. I was jus hoping it to be a routine check and move on but it was not the case. He asked me where the number plate was. I told him I jus took the bike from the showroom and I was heading to the sticker shop. He did not believe me. I even showed him the sticker shop that was located in the same road that I was heading out to. He insisted on booking a case. It frustrated me and I said go ahead and I'll handle this in the court. This really surprised him and he said pay what you can and leave. I was like why the hell should I pay when I have not done anything. Another cop came along and said sir, it's a good occasion that you had bought a bike. Don't let these small things trouble you. Jus give me 100 bucks and I'll take care of it. Damn me, he knew I'd fall for this rosy talk and guess what I did give him the money. But who cares I was on my bike again, headed straight for the sticker shop. Got the number plate stuck with the registration number and I headed straight to the church to get my bike blessed by the priest. It was already around 1 in the afternoon and I was hoping he was available to bless the bike. To my relief he was there and guess what? He liked my bike a lot. We were standing there talking about the bike's features and he was mightily impressed. He then blessed the bike and me and that is when I decided to officially name my bike. So by the powers bestowed upon me I here by name my bike as "BEAUCEPHALUS". Thus Beaucephalus was born and I, a mere mortal, born to ride her. And the self proclaimed sheriff has mounted his ride to check if everything is ok in town.

Only a biker knows why a dog sticks his head out of a car window

2009-05-15T14:55:00.009+05:30

If you have known me since I was a kid you would certainly know I've been a serious nut on anything on wheels and my favorite kind would of course be bikes and if you might ask me why I'd say "Four wheels move the body. Two wheels move the soul." Right from my childhood days, from my notebook labels and the stickers on the pencil box to my bedroom walls I'd have them proudly displayed. Things haven't changed much now because the notebook labels have been replaced with the desktop wallpapers in office and home computers. I've walked, slept, ate and even talked about bikes in the most inappropriate times and if you don't believe me then ask some of the girls who I have successfully managed to repel with my never ending bike talks in what could have been one of the most romantic dates of my life.
Now, this must have tingled a question why I have still not bought one? For me buying a bike is like falling in love. Ok ok it was a bit of a dialogue I know. The actual reason being I did not know to ride one because ever since I was young I never had an opportunity to learn to ride a proper bike. When I hit college I did get to ride some of my friend's bike and since I was obviously so pathetic at it they stopped lending their bikes to me. I had to be content riding my ol scooter which belonged to my dad. I had no regrets because it was a fun thing to ride, to be the first to head out of the traffic signal and lead the pack for the few meters until the big bikes would start over taking me. And then the moment of the truth, I fell in love with a bike. An RX100. It was my friend's beast. Nothing heroism about that bike just that it was an Yamaha and my friend knew nothing of the stuff of how pathetic I was on bikes. Ignorance was his bliss when he handed over the keys to me. I felt a tingle of fear along with excitement when I mounted that bike. I kicked it to life and knocked the gear down and the next instance the front wheel took of the ground and the bike took off. I was almost shit scared but the helmet hid my expression and I managed to bring the front wheel down and the beast rolled. I shifted to second gear and by that time I was in control of the bike and rode it for couple of mins before coming to a halt a little away from my friend. He came running to me and I thought he was going to whoop my ass for almost dropping his bike. My lucky stars he was impressed and congratulated me for God knows what and wanted to know how I did a wheelie. I had my time of fame and meekly told him I did not know how to ride a bike properly. He thought I was ridiculing him and till date does not believe that I could not ride the bike properly. I used it to my advantage and learned to ride the bike decently until I fell in love with THE BIKE. The Bike I was destined to own. The bike that would be an extension of me. The Bike that would be my trusted steed. After doing plenty of research on the internet I decided that it was the perfect choice for me and went ahead to book it. There again the sales person asked if I would like to test ride the bike. I readily agreed and this time thankfully I was in better control than the previous time and managed pretty decently. Once the formalities was completed I was told to collect the bike in about a weeks time. Gosh, I just can't wait that long.

Coming soon - THE BIKE vs JERRY

Great Indian Developer 2009 - We came, We combined, We compiled

2009-04-23T22:51:00.023+05:30

It came as a surprise when I was nominated in my office to go to the Great Indian developer 2009 summit held in IISC Bangalore organized by Saltmarch. I had my expectations under control and was expecting only what would usually happen in the other countless seminars and summits I had attended before, but I was wrong. It was an experience that was not only enlightening but also quite memorable.

To start with, the moment we were ushered in after the security check we were astonished with the way how things followed with a precision of a well greased machine without any hiccups in spite of the huge crowd. Thanks to volunteers who had organized things really well and gave no rooms for confusions. Having collected our id cards and completed the necessary formalities without having to break a sweat we prepared our selves to attend the first session and went into the hall hoping that we could have the best seats in the house. The first session was on the topic "5 hidden Gems Developer must know about SQL server" by Mr. Vinod Kumar in Hall 1. I was surprised to see that he was present an hour early than the required schedule and was breaking ice with the audience. This actually relaxed the mood and helped us mutually in diving into the session and immersing into the vast knowledge that was transferred from the speaker to the audience in an effective manner. His timely humor and his ability to pull surprises out of his sleeves really kept us going and before we even knew the allotted time was up. There was a 10 minute coffee break and trust me coffee was the last thing on our mind when we came out to find that there were stalls from most of the leading companies conducting interesting competitions to keep our minds busy and of course win handsome prizes. Too engrossed to win prizes we were almost late for the next session. Hurrying towards the Main hall we found our selves attending the session on "Visual studio 2008 tips and tricks" by Mr. Bijoy Singhal. A smooth talker with a good presence of mind shared his tips and tricks with us and much more. We were glad that we had chosen this session that was actually helping us with things that we would be using in our daily office life. The next session was really a good teaser when Mr. Amit Chatterjee showed us a sneak preview on what the "Next generation ALM tools from Microsoft has to offer under Visual studio team system 2010". We almost were sitting on the edge of our seats and clapping like crazy as he coolly demonstrated on how things would be much easier for us developers in the near future. Still dazed and dreamy about what all could be done with such a tool we hurried to Hall 1 to attend on what I would call as my favorite session of the day on the topic "SQL 2008 spatial data, Ajax and the virtual earth SDK" by Mr. Mike Benkovich. His lively demos and interactive session was highly informative and he had us begging for more by the end of the session. Finally when the lunch time came only then we did realize we were tired and hungry. Hats off to the event organizers in handling a crowd of hungry techies as effectively as possible. After helping ourselves with extra of everything available on the menu we headed to hall 1 to attend the next session on "Building rich user experience with Silverlight" by Mr. Mike Benkovich. He weaved his magic and had us glued in our seats and shared with us many demos which I just can't wait to get started on. In the next session Mr. Vijay Nag glided us through what we, developers could expect out of crystal reports and the penultimate session for the day was the continuation of where Mr. Mike Benkovich left in his previous session and carried forward with a demo that explained from Linq to Amazon to Silverlight to Web part to share point. Wish it would have lasted a little longer though. Finally, Mr. Stephen Forte took control of the main hall in spite the heavy showers from heavens and had us know more on Data access hacks and shortcuts. The highlight point was all the speakers were very easily approachable in case we required some assistance and this is something that really impressed me.

Finally, when the first day of GIDS 2009 came to an end, I was already thinking when would the next season begin? Quoting Leonardo Da Vinci "Details make perfection and perfection is not a detail". I would definitely say the learning experience was so much fun only because the way the whole event was organized by Saltmarch by taking care of little details that made this event a perfect get together for all the developers.

... and so the lonely songbird sang

2009-03-31T23:15:00.010+05:30

I’m a little songbird and in the wilderness I have grown,
Since the time I remember, all I did was live my life alone.
Day and night singing songs sitting by the river,
Thinking, is this all I have to do for ever?

I called my friends, they were always busy,
Playing with their mates, least bothered about me.
Wondering if someone ever felt the same somewhere,
Hoping there was somebody for me out there.

But it was a little different tonight,
Far in the distance, under the lovely moon light,
I could feel, but could not clearly see,
What is it that caught my curiosity?

Suddenly I heard a melodious tone,
It vibrated in my deepest bone,
I told myself to approach with caution,
And I flew towards it with great anticipation.

Lo, another songbird is what I see,
As pretty as the full moon was she,
Shining with her radiance so bright,
It was definitely a love at first sight.

I flew towards her feeling happy and glee,
She even smiled and gave a second glance towards me.
Together we flew in the sky so high away from the earth,
No words spoken, but it was certainly what it was worth.

I looked into her eyes with the deepest emotion,
And told her, on her command I’d cross the largest ocean.
Something was bothering her, for she could not say,
She hurriedly left promising she would return the next day.

I woke up early in the dawn,
And saw the sun rising in the far horizon.
I took a deep breath and began to sing,
A new song for the new beginning.

There, out of the blue she came at last,
I had gathered finest grains to break the morning fast.
Together we sat and ate in silence.
Emotions conveying feelings in millions.

Silence was broken when I asked her again,
Her non responsiveness put me in a great pain.
“That was a fine meal” is all she said,
I felt like I was almost dead.

I chased her to and fro and asked her what was wrong,
Put all my feelings together and even sang a song.
She turned and said “Bring me a drop of the golden sun”
“I’ll be in yours when the job is done”.

I took off immediately to prove my passion,
Bring her the drop and make her look in fashion.
Higher and higher I reached in the sky,
Watching the clouds calmly pass by.

I flapped my wings and cut across the blue,
Pumping my chest faster I flew.
The fiery sun rose high and it burned bright,
But I was not yet giving up and put up a tough fight.

It’s the golden drop of sun I seek,
Weary I grew and soon became weak.
My whole body began to quiver,
I passed out and fell into the river.

When I returned to my sense I cried,
For she was the reason for whom I tried,
Now she does not even look my way,
Taking my heart along, she flew away.

The bitter memories because of this love chase,
My chest aches because of the empty space.
Found a rock to put inside by the ribcage bone,
Now, All I’m left is with a heart of stone.

The rhyme of a confused teenager

2009-02-14T16:11:00.013+05:30

Am I unhappy? Not really,
Am I happy? Certainly not.
Am I being paranoid or why is it always this way?
Believing that in everything God has his final say.

Why is it that I'm unable to do what I really want to do?
and why is it that I never get what I want?
Is it because I'm not capable or I don't deserve it?
Or may be because I really don't know what I want?
Is this an excuse? I don’t know.

Why is it that when I want to learn nobody is there to teach me?
And why is it that when I have no interest to learn they compel me?
Not that I choose to be indifferent,
But why is it that others don’t see what I really want to be?
Is this the problem? I don’t know.

Why is it that sometimes I don’t realize what I do is wrong?
And why is it that at times I stop even though I know I’m right?
Is it because I lack the confidence?
Or may be because I really don’t have the guts?
Is this the reality? I don’t know.

Why is it that when I follow someone they say I have no individuality?
And why is it that when I choose my own path they say I‘m a recluse?
Why is it that they hate me so much?
Or may be because they are really trying to help me?
Is this the truth? I don’t know.

Why can't I do something about it?
Why can't I live my life the way I want to?
Am I doing that badly in life? Definitely not.
Then what is it that I’m complaining about?
Am I really looking for the answers? I don’t know.

Curiosity killed the cat but hey, I'm Jerry :-)

2009-01-14T15:42:00.026+05:30

On a fine Christmas afternoon, I had an errand to complete and dragged my friend along who had come to eat the plum cakes at my place. Feeling super drowsy after a very awesome meal prepared by my mom dear and granny dearest we were almost sleeping at every opportunity we had. Deciding this would not help the matter at hand, we decided to leave immediately to accomplish the mission we were assigned to do. Grabbing my scooter keys we almost started when I had some kinda gut feeling that we should give the much required rest to the ol scooter and take the public transport instead (the primary reason "Being lazy" though would like to call it as a gut feeling when things don't go wrong for personal satisfaction). We took the public transport namely the bus and calmly sat down having plenty of time to discuss everything under the sun. Doing this actually made me come to the conclusion that one of the best quality time to spend with your friend is to travel in a public transport. Call it our stupidity or a stroke of genius we actually got down couple of stops ahead of our destination. I was actually surprised by coming across the plenty of things that we normally miss when we dash to the destination without noticing what's in our path in our other wise busy lives. Oh come on, the mount road where I would have at least traversed more than 100 times in my life time but still makes me wonder where was this the last time I came. Sharing my thoughts and views with my friend when came across such a thing. An old sign board that said "Old curiosity shop". It was right opposite to the Spencer Plaza, the big shopping mall, the center of attraction for all the tourists and shoppers alike. I bet most of them who have visited Chennai for a vacation must have certainly visited this place at least once. For such people I ask a question, how many of you people have noticed this Old curiosity shop that is located opposite to it? We did, after arguing for about half a minute we decided we will go check out the place anyway. Even before we stepped into the shop we were nearly floored by the items displayed in the window. Stepping into the shop transported us into a different world where art was really appreciated unlike the times now. We were like two kids(I said "LIKE" two kids) running around yelling "hey look at this","hey look at this". The shopkeeper at first ignored us thinking these guys are just out of place and will not stick around for long. But as time went by we were just getting too much for him. By the time he approached us we had considerably calmed down and seriously considered buying something we could afford. After various debates and arguments we settled to buy a painting and that is when the shopkeeper took real close notice of us and decided to help us in look out for something better. I noticed that the more the time we spent in the shop we learned more about the artifacts, antiques and the ancient culture. Honestly, if you people might think I've lost it then you ought to have a look at this shop and strike a meaningful conversation with the shopkeeper. He is not just another shopkeeper you might encounter at other wanna be art shops. Surprisingly he had the patience to handle me and my friend together at the same time. This itself speaks volumes on his level of patience. My friend managed to strike a conversation with him about the painting we were supposed to buy and in just matter of minutes we three were talking as if we had been friends for a very long time. As we were speaking we learned a lot about him. He was a learned man who had the guts to stand against the system and is currently pursuing what he loves to do. As we were talking he showed us a German book that was more than 3 centuries old which he calmly placed it in my hands. I stood motionless and gaped at the book as if I was holding a radio active element which might explode even if I breath. I could imagine a man actually holding the same book some 3 centuries ago and here I am holding the same book. If I was him I would never let anyone near the book let alone hold it. I was lost in my own thoughts and slowly when I returned I found myself still talking to him. We had almost spent two hours in that shop and I really felt that I had learned one of the most valuable lessons in life from the shopkeeper. Which is, "When we were little kids we used to be happy most of the times until someone makes us unhappy. But now when we have grown we wait for someone to make us happy". Down the line the process has got reversed. And here I see a man who has the guts to pursuit his happiness and make other happy I feel really proud of him. That is the time when I decided I should make an Ambigram for the shop he owns as a sign of my appreciation to what he has done.

Few days later
I called him up to personally go there in person and hand him my ambigram to see his reaction and get his valuable feedback. He had another appointment and since I had to work I could not meet him in the evening. That night I had the feeling of butterflies in my stomach. The kind of feel I had back in the school days before my board exams. May be I was excited or may be it was just my figment of imagination but if it really was my imagination then darn it was a real good one. The next day I eagerly called him up and we agreed to meet in the afternoon which I conveniently agreed to suit me. I would drop there on the way to work. I reached there and found him right outside the shop. That was a coincidence as if he was there to receive me which he did. We walked into the shop and I straight away dived into the backpack and pulled out my scribble pad. I pulled out the sheet and held it out to him proudly. He had a long stare at it. I bet my heart beat could have been heard from anywhere in the room. He slowly turned to me and said that is "w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l". I don't know what went through me but it was really unlike me when I handed over my original work including the copy of my graphs to him. He really appreciated it and I was stunned when he wanted to give me a golden yellow zircon stone. The greedy half of me wanted to snatch it but I declined because it would give me a selfish feeling and honestly I cannot live with it. I bet that left him feeling obliged towards me but I really could not help it. I thank my stars for giving me this opportunity to create one of my best works to a man who deserves much more.

My tribute to the one of the best Indian custom chopper builders

2008-11-24T23:36:00.003+05:30

This is Vardenchi and Believe it or not these guys are the best custom chopper builders in India. Someday I hope to get one done from these guys. If you don't believe me check out their site. www.Vardenchi.com

“They don’t call me rain man for nothing, but still I’m not responsible for Cherrapunji.”

2008-11-10T21:18:00.008+05:30

Disclaimer Statement:
Information contained in this blog has nothing to do with religious beliefs or super natural phenomenon or even super hero powers. Any coincidence with any person other than me is just purely incidental and unintentional. Some of the quotes are just meant to be a figure of speech and does not intend to comment on any person living or dead or even any race or even minorities. No trees were cut, no animals were injured and no harm was done to the environment while writing this blog.

The bonding between the rain and me is kind of special though the relationship we share is still a little difficult to explain. There are numerous instances, out of which some of these I would like to share. Even though it would still be a little absurd to find any relation and even some of you might feel that similar things happen to every one but still there are some hidden meanings which I cannot tell you but leave it to the reader to at his own discretion.

At times I wake up I find the weather to sunny and full of energy with the song birds and even crows happily singing to their own tune. It would be like this until I leave for work and when the fateful time comes all of a sudden it turns gloomy. My mom as usual she worries too much warns me of the potential rain that might come and drench me making me sick and stuff and I in my typical Hollywood style reply back "I am not made of sugar or salt, a lil rain can’t harm me". And mom just gives up on hearing this mumbling away that I never listen to her. Still confident that and thinking it won’t start raining until late evening I plan to enjoy the afternoon weather by riding to office with my helmet visor up even though I very well know that the weather is like a woman’s mind, you never know when it rains. I would not even have crossed couple of streets it would start pouring. Bugged by similar such experiences, I would wait until it would actually start raining so that I can start to work wearing my rain gear from home and no matter how long I wait it would never start raining until I start to work and cross couple of streets. Confused I started carrying my rain gear always with me irrespective of the weather. Still Mother Nature always found ways to play pranks with me. Frustrated I have even tried wearing my rain gear when similar situation arises and it would never rain all the way till work and to top it all Mother Nature would make me look silly by giving a very bright sunny weather and picture this, me riding with my rain gear all the way to work in a very bright sunny weather and God knows where would all the dark clouds disappear all of a sudden when I try to tell my friends it was really going to rain. There are times when it would be raining like cats and dogs and I would happily wear my rain gear and start, to my dismay it would stop raining immediately. I wonder what fun does nature get, picking on a guy like me. These incidents have occurred number of times, how many I did not count but too many to be accounted as coincidences. However I also have been on the good side of the nature’s book when it rained real hard, actually it poured. It has always given me safe passage no matter how much it pours. These do not mean I hate rain and I’m cribbing about it. I do love the rain and at times when I lose my mind I do have my own kind of fun in the rain. Like once my friend and me ventured out in the rain on our bikes without any rain gear hunting for a subway outlet near our place just to satisfy our greed for eating a sub. Unfortunately, the restaurant was removed 6 months back and we had to opt for plan B instead which was again carried out in the rain without hesitating. The on lookers thought we were goners but who cares what others think. Even today afternoon, it started raining only after I left home and I had to make a quick pit stop under a tree to change into the rain gear. You still think it’s a coincidence?

Assumption is the mother of all screw ups

2008-10-13T21:30:00.004+05:30

No matter how many times you must have heard me say this I never seem to learn from it. This is why…

I just have a vague idea of how it all started, may be when my mom as usual was telling one of our family friends on how creative her son (that's me if you guys don't get it) is and how I create inversions and stuff and during one such conversations she happened to ask me if I can create one for our family friend. I simply nodded expecting it to just fade away during the course of time. As usual me being super lazy guy and I don't start to work unless I get a kick in my butt and that is what happened a few days ago when my mom asks what had happened to the ambigram I had said I would create? Only then I realized that she was pretty serious about it and said I was actually working on it avoiding eye contact. I had finally thought I would really start and the very next day I made a very essential progress on the ambigram by asking my mom what was the name I had to create. She gave the usual stare from peeking out of the glasses she uses to read and said "were you not working on it already?". I gave my best of dumb smiles I had stored up and she gave me the name to work without starting of her usual speech on how lazy I was and stuff. Phew, what a great escape. As I worked on the name I realized that it was a very beautiful name and I really had a chance to create a master piece that was already due for sometime now. I slowly realized it is not going to be a walk in the park. My work in office grew more and more hectic by the day. Everyday I returned home quarter dead (half dead would sound a little too much). Under these circumstances even reading a novel was becoming a task in want to do list. Still I stole time where ever possible and worked hard on the name and finally the end product was satisfactory that can be called one of my best works so far. To top it off my mom loved the work and she even was excited to send it asap and helped me with our friend's email id and stuff. Still basking in the glory of having created one of my best works (oh boy I just can't stop myself from saying this again and again) I mailed it to the concerned person hoping that she would like it. Two days gone and I had no reply or even a comment from her about my ambigram. It made me think if she had understood what an ambigram meant or she might have never received it. I thought I would call her up and check but idea went up the smoke when I realized I had not stored her phone number when she had messaged her email id to me. One more day later I receive a reply. She liked the ambigram and it was nice...blah blah and blah and rest of the things that made me soar to the cloud 9 and before I even had my moment, there came the missile (see my other blog "You will be shot when you fly too high") to put me back where I rightfully belong. There is a spelling mistake in the ambigram and she was sorry that she had not informed me the right spelling of her name earlier. I let out a blood curling scream (I actually did because no one was at home....well not really a blood curling scream but a scream nevertheless) and I had half a mind to tell....ahem....request her to change her name but if you really know me then you know I won't (don't have the guts) to do that. All I could do is think of the song "I tried so hard and got so far but in the end it doesn’t even matter...."

Y I can never be Batman?

2008-09-12T16:39:00.003+05:30

Y batman? Like all kids I grew up wishing to be a superhero and batman was my personal favorite just because he is just a normal human being with amazing intelligence and hell a lot of money. He is ultra cool as Bruce Wayne and deadly frightening as The Batman. I really wish I could be batman, but in reality I can't handle it. Here is why?
First and foremost thing, I can't wear skin tight costume and still be comfortable fighting crime. After some time the costume would obviously get sweaty and it would start to stink and I can't stand it. Well, I love the gadgets though. I'd be too absorbed in them that I would never pay attention to what it was primarily built for. Next most important thing is that I would obviously be in love with my bat mobile and I can't see it being showered with bullets. I'd rather let few people suffer than see my beloved bat mobile be ridden with holes and scratches. Quoting Joker from the movie "What happens when an unshakable force meets an immovable object?". The agent of chaos works brilliantly to inflict fear upon all the citizens of Gotham including Batman, killing many innocent people. But why does batman not choose to kill such a person? Why does he not choose to end it? Probably that is the main difference between me and him. I'd not hesitate to kill a person like Falcony or Scarecrow or even Joker as a matter of fact. But if I do then the batman story is over isn't it? Talking of all these differences I'm actually starting to wonder y can't I be Joker instead? Ha ha ha.....Y so serious?.....Lets put a smile upon that face... :-)

You will be shot when you fly too high...

2008-06-11T18:10:00.006+05:30

Few days ago, early in the morning.......well, not so early in the morning......I was up to my usual stuff designing ambigrams, though unusually sitting in the hall instead of sitting on my bed in my den, when my lovely 7 year old niece walked up and sat next to me wondering what I was doing with so many papers placed ......okie okie thrown all around me. I told her I was trying to write things differently thinking she would just get distracted with something else in just a few seconds any way but to my surprise she grew more interested and asked me how different? I placed my pencil and the scribble pad away and patiently explained to her about the fonts being different from each other, even though being the same language showing her different magazines from readers digest, Outlook, Times of India and what ever things I could get my hands on at that time to make her understand about different styles of writing. I was thinking I was taking this a bit too far trying to make a 7 year old understand things beyond her intellect when I followed this explanation with the concept of ambigrams and inversions. Realizing that she was not even looking at me and just flipping through my scribble pad, I came to a very slow halt completing my not so inspiring explanation. With full of grace, not even looking at me she stunned me by asking are you trying to explain to me about calligraphy? I saw a bubble appear over my head and in it I saw my head replaced with that of a donkey. Adding to my dismay she even picked up the scribbled papers lying around me that had my numerous attempts of creating the ambigrams and said calmly, I used to write like this when I was 2 years old. I quickly burst the bubble and gathered all my belongings put them away and successfully managed to distract her, preventing further damage to my already damaged self.

Answering Questions...

2008-05-15T20:28:00.001+05:30

Yes, I drew the ambigrams myself.
No, I don't copy them from any where.
No, I did not attend any kind of professional courses. I got inspired and I just started drawing them.
Yes, I can try and create an ambigram for you only if u treat me in Kabab factory.
No, Ambigrams don't come in default fonts, they are specially calligraphed for each word to make it appear as an ambigram, hence some of the letters might not look like a regular text book font.
It's not necessary that an ambigram should read the same way when it is inverted.

No matter what I say, people still continue to ask me weird and eccentric questions which at times I do accept it as a challenge and answer them all (only if within my patience level). So try me, ask me anything else you need to know....

Once apon a time....

2008-05-15T17:26:00.002+05:30

It all started after I finished reading the book that inspired many to create their own ambigrams, Angels & Demons. Truly, an inspiring novel for the book worms and artists. I fall into the later category. At least I can proudly say a wanna be artist. Mr. John Langdon's work for the book was really the turning point in my life. (For those of you who don't know, he is the one who created the ambigrams for the book Angels & Demons. For more information on him, check out - www.johnlangdon.net). At first the feeling was just ignored as I would ignore the feeling after I watched some super hero action flick and get inspired and stuff. But as the days went by in some corner of me this feeling still remained to go ahead and give it a shot. As I started out of boredom with nothing else to do, I grew more and more interested in it and I started doing more and more research(if u can call browsing on the net, research) on inversions and ambigrams. Still being very lazy, I just did not take it very seriously and managed to create my first ambigram out of my nick name "Jerry". I was surprised cuz it had really come out well. Feeling very proud of my first creation I started basking in its glory until I started to get busy in the rat race of life. Very recently out of frustration with such monotonous life, I took a piece of paper and vented out my frustrations on it with some random scribbles on a piece of paper. Something in me reminded the scribbles in the paper of my effort on my first ambigram and lo before I even realized, I had created an ambigram and since then I had taken this small fantasy of mine into realization and I never turned back.