Show the world you are trying...

..like yesterday when i saw my bus running away from me and instinctively decided to chase it.Well,its not easy crossing a road amidst traffic,dodging street dogs and randomly (slow) moving people.The bus moved fairly quickly but I was equal to the task,knowing that its just a matter of pushing myself until the next speedbreaker (these are the only times when I love those).But fate had something else in store for me,the bus driver seemed to be in one of those moods when he imagines himself to be flying a plane,and the speed was not slow enough for me to risk trying to grab on the door handle.The bus gained speed and I lost,and it seemed like I would have to be content with the next bus.A gentleman on a motorbike stopped beside me.Seems like he had seen my 100 meter sprint and was convinced I will be the next Olympic medallist for India,he offered to drop me to the next bus stop after overtaking the bus.I got the bus I wanted,as Paulo Coelho says in The Alchemist, "when you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true"!!!

Theatre fest at IIT B

It was play time at iit with
the 2nd iit mumbai theater fest starting the day before yesterday. My expectations were moderate as we went in for the plays on the first day of the fest.

Day1 had three plays.It started with a 15 minute solo performance called "Kutte" by Pramod Pathak.He plays a man totally frustrated by dogs and goes on to describe their various kinds.So you have the "tapasvi" types who sleep on the stairs and when someone tries to shove them away mange to lift themselves up to a feet or two further and then continue with their meditation,and then you have the "shayar" types who send out a long squeak in the middle of midnight and other dogs from various corners appreciate with the "Waah waahs".It was funny actions and funny barkings all the way.

Then there was "Bade bhaisahab" from Munshi Premchand.Frankly I had presumed that it would be sad-type play but it turned out to be a laugh riot.Romi Jaspal and Girish Jain play two brothers studying at a hostel,one five years elder to the other but academically only 3 years ahead.The elder brother is studious and buried in books while the younger is to be mostly found on the playground.The elder scolds the younger every time he sees him not studying,and the younger cant utter a word in front of him.But it so happens that the elder fails in his exams yet again and the younger comes first in his class.The elder gets mad at the younger and starts telling him how difficult the subjects of his standard are.And here starts all the fun.He questions algebra ("Angle ABC aur ACB mein kya antar hai?Agar maine roti daal bhaat khaya ya fir roti bhaat daal kkaaya toh bhi baat toh ek hi hui").He questions history ("pata hai dus tereh ke henry hain aur terah tarah ke charles , ab kaun sa yudh kaun se henry ke waqt hua yeh bhala kaise yaad rakha jaaye").He questions essay-writing ("Ab 'samay ka sadupyog' is par 4 pannon ka nibandh kaise likha jaaye.Samay ka sadupyog karna chahiye aur yeh ek acchi baat hai.bas doh lines hi kaafi hain.Ab is par 4 fullscape panne rangna khud hi samay ka durupyog hai")...

The last one was the most hilarious."Mahroom ki yaad mein" (which at first I read as "Mushroom ki yaad mein") was all about how a friend manages to sell his old bicycle to this guy (Pramod Pathak again) who dreams about seeing the entire town on his new possession.But as he starts using it,he finds each "purja" is "dheela-dhaala" and starts breaking on its way.The best part is as he explains his ride, his "naukar" inacts his situation on the bicycle (with the bicycle being imaginary which made it all the more funny).SO at first the back wheel starts shaking sideways,then the right handle bends,then the seat comes down.....and finally the bicycle rides on him rather than the other way round...

Day 2 had a more serious play..."Ilhaam" (literally means revelation), about a middle aged man who starts behaving in a strange manner.Starts playing with children who don't exist,talking to birds and dancing on music which nobody can hear.It was creepy at times and the lighting effects were great.Frankly some parts were a bit difficult to understand ;).But few dialogues were phenomenal,one of them being..."Maine us hatash vyaqti ki taraf apna haath badhaya.Main us vyaqti ko nahi jaanta tha,par uski hatasha ko jaanta tha.Us vyqti ne mera badhe huey haath thama .Woh vyqti mujhe nahi jaanta tha,mere haath badhane ko jaanta tha.Hum donon saath chalne lage,hum ek doosre ko nahi jaante the,par saath chalne ko jaante the." It was nicely performed with patches of laughter scattered in between...

Nicely organised by the IIT guys,though we dint get the chai and biscuits on day 2 promised on day 1. :P

Back!

So here I am after a longish break,and what prompted me to get all happy-happy and write a post after almost a decade is that this blog now comes up in the first 3 results on google if u key in terms like refreshing mandar kulkarni , mandar kulkarni hamla , mandar kulkarni ducks ... thanks google ! ;)

..and heres a small neat puzzle to get back into the groove!

There are four matches in this figure, move just one of them and give me a square...

A roller coaster ride ...

"Why dont u let the lady sit?"

I opened my eyes and saw a guy my age standing beside me and pointing to a lady in her early 40s who was standing near an occupied "ladies seat" in the bus. She smiled in anticipation of the offer she was going to get. I got up,smiled,and asked her to sit,and gave a big long stare at the guy who did this to me.Why in the heavens world did this guy ask a peacefully sleeping me to surrender my legitimate "general seat" to a lady who looked perfectly healthy and capable of standing for sometime till one of the ladies got up.That i thought was against the ethics of traveling in a bus.The guy smiled back at me and moved ahead to get down the bus ,but i have registered his face in my memory to do the same to him if ever i get an opportunity.

Anyways,i still stood beside the seat which was mine a few minutes back,giving the tacit message to the lady that it still was MY seat."Claiming the seat" is the phrase i would use henceforth for "Standing beside the seat":) . Its now that a twist in the tale occurred.One of the females from the "ladies seats" got up!!!Now there was no other standing female in the bus,one seat was empty next to me (on which no male would want to sit, just in case a female got inside the bus on the next stop),and one lady was sitting on a "general seat"!!! A perfect opportunity for the lady to return my favor , i thought.She could get up from her seat,sit on the seat ahead,and let me sit on MY seat!!!But she dint.

A man in his late 40s was standing next to me,claiming the seat behind the lady's seat.The lady turned her head back and started talking to him,so lets assume he is her husband (!!).Now this made me feel that the lady is not only mean,she is dumb too.She could easily play a strategic move here to make sure that both she and her husband are seated.Either she is traveling in a bus for the first time,or she doesnt care about her husband,or..a hundred such random conclusions later at one such arbit bus stop, a new twist in the tale came in the form of an old lady in her 70s!!!!By this time some other female had occupied the empty "ladies seat".As the old lady moved towards the front of the bus searching for a seat,i sensed my opportunity to take revenge,i stopped her,and asked the lady who was sitting.."why dont u let the old lady sit?".The lady found herself in a situation similar to what i was in some 10 minutes back.Unwillingly she too got up and made way for the old lady to sit.I smiled the most wicked of my smiles at the lady who was now standing,and realized it was time for me to get down the bus!!!

A nail biting battle,i thought.The winner gets to sit!

"Writing" yet another blog..well..not really..

How much do you write these days? By "write" i mean the most conventional of all "writes",not about "writing code",or "writing to a CD/DVD",but writing with a pen/pencil on a piece of paper (not "scribbling",but making an attempt to put up a decent handwriting) .Well,recently i realized that i hardly do.(It's been six months since i have started working in a software company!!!)

The occasion was filling up my info in my school's Alumni register.My school (Kendriya Vidyalaya INS Hamla , Malad) didn't have an official Alumni Register yet,and although the info will soon go where it actually belongs (in digital format , that is),in order to make a start we used the more conventional means.(As an aside,it was great meeting old teachers after a long gap,glad that almost all of them still remember me!!!).

Coming back to the point,while filling up the form we had this column called 'contact no',as i started penning my cell no down,for a split second my inner voice screamed (!!!!!),"you are HARDCODING your cell no!!!!!Not a great programming practice"(Well..It's been six months since i have started working in a software company!!!;-) ),sanity prevailed soon though and i put down the remaining digits!!!


The world has become simpler!!!