So when I came to know that my college offers optional language courses, I jumped onto the opportunity and joined the language course for German. What I didn’t however anticipate is the workload that I would have here. The first few classes were great. They were just such a welcome change from all the lectures of all those heavy subjects which you must study if you wish to survive. The first time I spoke a sentence in German, I felt as if that was it! I felt as if I was the most German man ever! More German that all those Maximilians, Alexanders and Lukas(es?) in back in Germany. And then, grammar happened. The problem with me is, I’m the kinda guy who does everything according to his gut-feeling. That’s how I’ve been doing my English grammar since childhood. That is also how I do my Maths . But this gut-feeling doesn’t work with German grammar AT ALL! Have you ever paid a second thought to whether a table is masculine or feminine? Well, try learning German and you’ll know what I mean. The entire sentence changes so fast that only Dhanush‘s (of the “Why This Kolaveri Di?” fame) father-in-law can see it coming! Anyhow, I scraped through all of that and finally did manage to clear the exam. So now, I can finally add another language to my Facebook page. I still haven’t done that, by the way, because I haven’t quite been able to find the time for it. I did manage to find time for a blog post though. Please to not doubt my commitment.

It sucks that despite having cleared the exam, I still had to use Google Translate to translate “Just another post” into German.

The fact that typing “is” in Google Chrome suggests isohunt.com in place of ishmeet.wordpress.com makes me sad.

The fact that life has changed so much since I last wrote here makes me very sad.

It’s been way too long. It’s time to return.

And return I shall.

Watch this space for more *. Just watch. Trust me on this one.

* I've always wanted to say this. It's kinda cool.

P.S. – Extremely long post ahead. Consider yourself warned.

Anyway, last month I embarked on my first ever airplane journey. And it was FUN! I’ve been fascinated by these huge flying machines ever since I was a kid, but until last month, I hadn’t even seen one from up close. The thing with air travel is that even though it’s the safest mode of travel, you just can’t avoid having that nagging feeling that the plane might crash. I don’t know if it happens with others, but it definitely happens with me. Trains and road travel seem safer that way, though with all the idiots on the roads, they’re really not. So yeah, with that nagging feeling in my mind, I left from my home for the airport quite early in the morning. But of course, I wasn’t alone.

I’m sure you’ve laughed countless number of times at those scenes in Bollywood movies where emotional families accompany their kids to the airport as if they’re leaving for the battle of Mahabharata. They all seem so made up, but they’re really not. I realised that when three of my family members decided to accompany me to the airport. Sure there wasn’t any crying, but there were a lot of best of lucks and take cares. And beyond a point, it just starts to look stupid, but then since this was my first time, I was willing to ignore all of it. I had booked tickets with Yatra.com, and I ended up with a Go Air flight which was to stop at Mumbai in between before heading on to Bangalore.  Now, a few days before my flight, I talked to people regarding it, and was given different kinds of advice and feedback. One person told me to be careful during take-off, because the plane “rattles a lot” at that time. This person didn’t have very nice things to say about Go Air and its pilots. And the fact that when I was checking in my baggage, this guy decided to come up and create a ruckus about how he’d lost his baggage the last two times he’d travelled with Go Air, didn’t leave a very warm and fuzzy feeling in my stomach.

I proceeded on towards the security check, and I must confess that I’ve never really been a big fan of all the frisking, but the most irritating part here was the way they handle your baggage. I was asked to put my laptop and phone in a plastic tray, and so I handed it over to this attendant dude, who pretty much just dropped it into the tray. I mean, dude, this is a MacBook Pro you’re dropping here. I clean that thing more often than I clean myself, so, you know, show some respect and everything. But he didn’t look like the guy who’d appreciate that kind of advice, so I just cursed under my breath and moved on. And then there was the long wait before you’re actually asked to board the aircraft, and that was pretty uneventful. When we were finally asked to board, I was as excited as that Ranveer Singh was when he won some award. I didn’t cry like him, of course. So we moved on towards the aircraft, and man, was it beautiful or what! It wasn’t huge or anything, but it was just cool in a flying machine sort of a way. I went in and was greeted with wide smiles from the aircraft crew. Man, are those dudes tall or what? And what’s with the air hostesses wearing SO much of make-up? That said, a few of them weren’t half-bad, so I figured that the flight wasn’t gonna be so boring after all . I had also been told that one should get the window seat in an aircraft because the view outside is quite something. I wasn’t so lucky however, and ended up with an aisle seat. There was a newly married Punjabi couple sitting next to me, and the female was funny. Now I’m not the kind of guy who’d chat up random strangers but the husband did enquire where I was headed to and stuff. And it’s just funny how every family has someone who’s done an MBA, and even funnier how everyone thinks all of those entrance exams are bullshit, because, you know, every other person you see on the road these days has an MBA degree, so how difficult can it possibly be? Considering I managed to crack one of the tests too, now I’m thinking it’s really not that difficult after all .

The next part was the one I was most excited and most worried about. The take-off. And I must confess, this has become my favorite part of flying now. The feeling when those jet-engines kick in is so bloody exhilarating, it’s awesome! And remember how I mentioned that the newly wed female was funny? Well, it was because she closed her eyes, clutched on to her husband’s hand and almost shrieked when the plane took off. It was funny and creepy at the same time. So with the take-off done, I was slowly becoming more confident about the entire idea of flying, and just right then we got a message from the pilot requesting us to fasten the seat belts as we’d run into turbulent weather. When I heard that announcement, I had pretty much mentally prepared myself that the plane was going to crash. In hindsight, it seems pretty stupid, but hey, I was in an aircraft for the first time, and there’s two things you don’t want when you’re travelling by air the first time. 1. Turbulent weather, and 2. Samuel L. Jackson and motherfucking snakes on the motherfucking plane. So as it turned out later, the plane didn’t crash and we made it to Mumbai safely, which I must add, looks huge from inside the plane. And the guy sitting next to me was kind enough to point out the slums and inform me that they are the biggest in the world. I, quite frankly, was more interested in the skyscrapers. Mumbai and Delhi look very, very different from up in the air. I really wish I had more time so I could get off here, but oh well. Another thing that I noticed is that despite reminding people to switch off their phones, nobody really does it. Nobody other than me, of course. But then I make it a point to stop at every red light too, unlike most people. Anyway, later the plane took off again, and I had a new dude accompanying me this time around. He was a foreigner, and looked quite like Bruce Willis. I was wondering if he was transporting people inside his baggage. But that was about it, the rest of the flight was quite uneventful, too. We landed at the Bengaluru International Airport in about 50 minutes, and man, that is one huge airport. Later I went on to collect my baggage from the conveyer belt, and to my absolute horror, there were three identical looking bags moving around happily. I picked up the wrong one the first time, and later realised that they have your name written on them on the tag thing. Managed to find mine a bit later and headed on to catch the bus to wherever I was headed. I must put in a few good words for the buses in Bangalore. The Volvos are kick ass. They’re no less than aircrafts themselves!

I’ll skip the part where I’m supposed to talk about whatever happened in Bangalore. I’ll keep that for a later post. We move on to the part where I was to take my flight back to Punjab. Yes, I’m not gonna tell you where I live. Do you think I’m an idiot? Go find it out for yourself! It’s not really difficult anyway .

So I’d booked Jetlite for my return flight, and I was very happy when the attendant asked me my seat preference when I was checking in my baggage. I was quite excited about the window seat and everything. Anyway, in all of my excitement, I ended up at the airport a couple of hours before the flight was supposed to take off. Thankfully, I found this Punjabi guy who was travelling on the same flight, and he somehow found one of his friends at the airport who was heading to Goa. And guess what the guy had done for his post graduation? MBA, of course! The number of people pursuing this course is just insane, I’m telling you. Anyway, we chatted about a lot of crazy things, including a detailed discussion about which airlines has the best air hostesses. The answer, as many others have also told me, is Kingfisher. And I’m not surprised at all. I had expected nothing less from Vijay Mallya. He bought Deepika Padukone for his son, surely he can afford a couple of hot air-hostesses for people who are travelling with his airline.

Later we got into the plane, and I was wondering who would sit next to me this time. And in comes this very serious looking South Indian guy. He was so serious it looked like he was some kind of supervisor or quality control guy. I was wondering if showing him a Rajinikanth movie on my laptop would cheer him up. Anyway, I was glad that I had the window seat this time, because I could see what was going on outside, but I also immediately realised the negatives of having the window seat. Since domestic aircrafts have no entertainment system, the people sitting on the aisle seat have very limited entertainment options. They can either stare at the air hostesses or stare out the windows. The Jetlite air hostesses probably weren’t up to the serious guy’s standards, and so he decided that he would stare out the window. The only issue was that I was obstructing his view. He didn’t care and kept staring, and it was extremely weird. Maybe he was trying to see through me or something. And remember how I told you this guy looked like some quality control guy? I have a feeling he really was, because he would keep staring at everything in the plane, and would then take out his little notebook and start scribbling on it. He was particularly observant when the plane was taking off. I’m sure he was noting down as to how many centimetres off track the airplane was when it took off or something. Things went on like that, and soon we were about to land at Delhi for refeulling, and I was very happy, since I thought my companion would get off here. I mean, what business would a South Indian guy have in a flamboyant place like Punjab? But well, that wasn’t to be, and this guy decided to carry on. Here, I should also mention that Delhi looks quite stunning from up in the air. The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium really stands out. The aircraft landed at the much talked about Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport, and I really wanted to get down and have a look at it, but we weren’t allowed that. Here I must also put in a word or two about how IndianOil Skytanking refuels the planes. I found it quite interesting. Subsequently the plane took off again and landed where it was supposed to land, and I was just happy to get off and not be stared at. I managed to find my baggage quite easily this time. And the feeling was quite different from the one when I’d taken off from this very airport for the first time. I was all warm and fuzzy inside this time. I was also wondering if I should take up a job as a flight steward. But I realised quite soon that it won’t work out. Why, you ask? Well, mostly because I’m so short that I couldn’t even reach the luggage compartment on top of the seats to close it shut .

Yay for air travel!

And phew.

And of course, the child who just got the toy he’d been wanting for quite a while – Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

It was about time India repeated 1983. And so they did. In style. This post really couldn’t have waited till the morning. MS Dhoni must be a proud man. Who thought this guy with the atrocious hairdo and a really weird batting style would one day be the captain of the Indian team? And one of the most successful ones at that. Under his leadership, India won the 2020 World Cup, this WORLD CUP, and of course, he’s also won the IPL with Chennai Super Kings. All I can say is, Sakshi Rawat, kya badhiya haath maara hai!

And that’s about it from me. I’ll let the Rajdeep Sardesai-s and the Arnab Goswami-s of the world do the rest of the talking, because, well, they love to talk. I wonder why they even have expert panels and stuff, because all they do is talk and scream and shout and not let others talk. Why not just do it alone, you know? Anyway, what the hell, we just won the damned World Cup! Partaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Anyway, when I reached Bangalore, I noticed it was quite different from Delhi and other north Indian cities, which, well, it had to be. I liked the wide roads, and the awesome public transport system. It’s amazing how every single shop in Bangalore has it’s name written both in English and in Kannada. It is a practice out here, too, but I’ve never seen Cafe Coffee Day being written in Hindi or Punjabi. But right there it was, written in Kannada. I tried deciphering the language and identifying letters and symbols during my 2-hour journey from the airport to where I was supposed to be staying, but I couldn’t figure out anything. It was all jalebis to me. Robert Langdon is lucky that he isn’t sent to missions in India. I’m sure deciphering Kannada is much more difficult than deciphering all of them symbols he keeps screwing around with.

Anyhow, here are a few pointers that you should keep in mind if you wish to get noticed by people. A lot of personal experience and effort has gone into coming up with this. Here goes:-

• Be short in height.
• Be a sardar who is short in height. A proper sardar complete with a beard and turban, mind you.
• Be a short sardar in South India.
• Be a short sardar in South India, and be wearing a suit.
• Be a short sardar in South India, wearing a suit, when the temperature outside is over 33 degrees celsius.
• Be a short sardar in South India, wearing a suit, when the temperature outside is over 33 degrees celsius, and insist on asking your way around from random strangers.
• Be a short sardar in South India, wearing a suit, when the temperature outside is over 33 degrees celsius, and insist on asking your way around from random strangers, in HINDI.
• Be a short sardar in South India, wearing a suit, when the temperature outside is over 33 degrees celsius, and insist on asking your way around from random strangers, in HINDI, and have the ringtone on your phone as the opening theme of the very popular game, Mario ( listen here ).

And if this doesn’t work, I promise you I’ll hang posters of Twilight, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga and the likes on all the walls of my bedroom. Yes, it’s tried and tested. Very successfully, if you must know.

P.S. – India beat Australia in the quarter-final of the World Cup 2011! I felt a weird sense of satisfaction running through my body when I saw Ricky Ponting in tears. I feel he finally got what he deserved. India should really get this World Cup now. Just for Sachin Tendulkar, if for nothing else, because that would be like a cherry on the cake for his already outstanding career. I think the guy just deserves it. And it would be great if he can score his 100th ton, too! Man, is this World Cup fun or what?!

However, that isn’t what this post is supposed to be about.

The other day, my cousin asked me to burn a couple of CDs containing latest Hindi and English music so that he could use them in his car. So while I was going about doing that, I realised that I really don’t have any latest music on me. And I went on to realise that I haven’t really tried any new artist in quite a while. I’ve heard people raving about the Lady Gagas and the Katy Perrys of the world, but I haven’t heard even one of their songs. And Lady Gaga’s atrocious dressing sense doesn’t really help matters much, either.

Now, being the self-proclaimed thinker that I am, I didn’t stop at just realising that I haven’t tried any new music. I went on to wonder why I haven’t. I consider myself to be quite a psychiatrist, you know? And in situations like these, I always end up without any answers. And yet I continue to believe that I’m good with figuring things out. I always see the glass half full, as they say. A glass of alcohol, however, always seems quite empty.

So yep, while I didn’t come up with any concrete answers, there are always possibilities. One of them is one that has been haunting me for quite a while now. I have a really short attention span and I easily forget the things I’m passionate about. Blogging is an example of this. There was a time when I used to be all over the place, writing long posts and even longer comments, but now, I’m just unable to find the kind of time for it. I was very passionate about learning to play the keyboard at one point in my life, but then it just fizzed out. The same thing happened to my magnificent plans to guitar away to glory. If this indeed is the reason for my not looking for new artists, I’d like to change that. I want to pursue my passions. I must.

Another reason could be that my music taste has become fairly static now. I don’t really like much of the new stuff that I come across. However, in case Green Day or Coldplay, or any of the other artists I listen to, come out with an album, I’ll end up liking it instantly. Heck, half of my favorite songs right now are from Green Day’s American Idiot musical! If this is the reason, then I don’t know what I’ma do about it, because I haven’t figured out if this is a good thing, or a bad thing.

Anyway, people who are reading this, recommend me some music, I think it’s time to try something new. And yeah, also tell me your current favorite song. I can at least make sure that I check that one out.

Mine is When It’s Time. I never thought Green Day could do something romantic. Somehow, the image of Billie Joe saying “I love you” to someone just makes me want to laugh . Here, check it out, I think it’s awesome. No, really.

Password-protecting this blog has been a mistake that I’ve made often. I keep forgetting that this blog is me. This is what I am. This is where I really say what I feel, and don’t give a shit about what others think about me. I can’t deny the existence of this blog. I can’t deny everything I’ve written here, and I don’t want to. I don’t regret any of this. I’m sorry for trying to hide this blog. I shouldn’t have.

This is me. Take it or leave it.

There are things to be written about. Things like meeting her, her, and him. Things like interviews. Things like future plans, and backup plans. Things like cooling pads and convertor cables. Things like kick ass softwares. Things like the iPad 2. Things like dying (or maybe not) legends. Things like confusion, uncertainity, introspection, and an inferiority complex. Things like jealousy. Things like love.

So much to talk about! So much to say! I’m glad I’m back.

So the other day I figured I really need to start blogging more. Yes, I do realise that I’ve figured that out quite a few times before, but this was different. It was like a stroke of brilliance, like enlightenment suddenly struck me. Oh well, only kidding. But my horrific performance at the CAT did make me realise that I really need to get my life together, find some aim, and really do something about it. I’m constantly asked this question, “Where do you see yourself 20 years from now?”, and I have a pre-prepared answer for that. Something along the lines of being an entrepreneur and stuff like that. But what I’d really like to see myself doing is playing in a band or being an extremely popular blogger. While I think it’s too late for the band thing to happen, I sure do think that I can give the blogging thing a try. It sounds like a good thing to do for a living. As somebody said to me, “If Chetan Bhagat can, why can’t you?”. So I’ve decided to do something. What that is exactly, I don’t know right now, but I hope to find out in the future.

Also, Green Day is launching a new live CD! How cool is that? And guess what they decided to call it! It’s called Awesome as F**K. Now this is why I love this band! And I’ve got to give them credit for their Broadway play, too. The songs are awesome! You really must listen to their rendition of Whatsername. I find it even better than the original. Especially when they ditch the piano and break into the guitars. I really, really want to be there for one of the shows. Oh, and did I tell you Billie Joe Armstrong is in the play as St. Jimmy? DUDE.

I’ve been noticing that I have quite a reputation of being an Apple fanboy. While I do love Apple products, and do claim that Steve Jobs is my role model in every other interview, it really doesn’t mean that I’m a fanboy. Sure I’m quite knowledgeable about their products and can be found saying that they are usually better than the other stuff around, it still doesn’t quite make me a fanboy. But when someone goes around saying that Android has pretty much destroyed the iPhone, I can’t be expected to stay quiet, can I? And when someone goes even further to say that nobody is buying iPhones anymore, I really had to say something. And I did. And since then, from my previous nickname “Laptop”, I’ll probably be christened “Apple Laptop”. Cool, good for me, I just appreciated in value. And got a backlit keyboard! Wheeeee!

Another thing that’s been making the news is the IPL Auctions. So the Kolkata Knight Riders decided to buy Gautam Gambhir for a whopping fees. Gautam Gambhir for that much? Really? Quite frankly, I’ve never really been able to understand SRK’s strategy. While buying Jacques Kallis seems like a step in the positive direction, but even he’s injured, so I don’t know where that is headed. Anyway, just like every year, I think I’ll still be supporting them in the beginning and shift my loyalties later when they start throwing matches away. Just another day in the life and times of yours truly.

Also, college has started. This is going to be my last semester, and boy, has this moment arrived quickly or what? Anyway, I’m really liking this semester because there are very few lectures and the time-table is reasonable enough. And the best part! Saturdays are off! That is like insane! Yeah, I know most of the engineering people take this for granted, but I’ve never had a Saturday off in my entire life! So it’s almost an exhilarating feeling! Now the fact that I still have to go to the coaching center for my preparations is an entirely different issue altogether.

And now I’m off to some or the other forum to help people out. Yep, that’s my new fad.

Also, I’ma leave you with the YouTube of what is my favorite Bazinga.

And of course, INSTANT BAZINGA! I absolutely love this website!

I’ve noticed a pattern about my blogging habits. And I almost congratulated myself for noticing it. Everyone is not as bright as Sheldon Cooper, you know? So yea, the pattern I noticed is that every new month, I get really excited about blogging and make posts in quick succession. And then all that excitement dies and I don’t make any posts at all after, say, the first 10 days of the month. I’m not too sure about the reasons behind this, but maybe it’s because college and exams catch up with me as the month progresses or something. Actually, I just checked out the dates of my previous posts and I have realised that this isn’t really a pattern at all. It just happened in November and December, but hey, you didn’t need to know that.

So anyway, 2011 has arrived, and till now, it’s going pretty much the same way as 2010 did. Also, I’ve turned 21 now. That scares me sometimes, because 24 is approaching. What’s so special about 24? Well, that’s my deadline. After I’m 24, my folks will throw me out of the house irrespective of whether I’ve completed my post graduation by then or not. Maybe after they throw me out, I’ll make a career out featuring in the many shows they have on Bindass, MTV, and Channel V. Sometimes I really wonder where they find so many damaged young human beings. Nandan Nilekani, in his book, ‘Imagining India’ was all gung ho about India’s young population, but watching shows like Emotional Atyachaar, Big Switch, Dare 2 Date, is increasingly making me want to e-mail him and ask him to start working again. The other day, my mum, after watching one such show, looked at me and said, “I hope you’re not like that guy right there.”. Yeah mom, I hope so, too.

And what’s up with the weather these days? It’s insane! I’ve been thinking about blogging since like the end of December, but never really got around to doing it, because I don’t even feel like taking my hands out of the blanket these days. They get cold. So, so cold! Anyhow, I decided a couple of days back that I’d had enough and decided to get around to writing this. Of course I needed two days of convincing myself to finally do it, but here I am, this is me, there’s nowhere else on earth I’d rather be. And that’s how my brain works. When I can’t complete my sentences, I just append songs at the end. Just how cool am I?

Oh also, the other day I visited the academy where I prepared for my engineering entrance examinations. It had been almost 2 years since I’d last visited the place. I never really felt like going and visiting the teachers like everyone else did because I never really did get into an engineering college. It was a very ‘Main unko kya muh dikhaunga?‘ moment. Ultimately I just decided to show them whatever muh I had. I felt great after meeting my chemistry teacher. He’s a gem of a guy! And he’s still as hilarious as ever! I sometimes miss my days there. We had joys, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun. Oops, i did it again!

Also, I’ve been really bored lately, because with these winters, there’s really not much one can do. And when I’m bored, I get all creative and rape Green Day songs. The last time I was bored, I translated Boulevard of Broken Dreams into Toote Sapnon ka Chauraaha. This time, I’ve made a Java program out of Whatsername, which is like my current all-time favorite Green Day song. And no, you’re not gonna be able to execute it. Why did I make it then? Simple, I was really, really bored, and because I’m really, really lame.

import world.music.rock.punk.bands.GreenDay.*;
class BillieJoeArmstrong extends GreenDay
{
public void run(string s)
{
if (s == “singBJ1″)
{
BillieJoe.voice();
System.out.sing(
“Thought I ran into you down on the street,
\n Then it turned out to only be a dream,
\n I made a point to burn all of the photographs,
\n She went away and then I took a different path,
\n I remember the face, but I can’t recall the name,
\n Now I wonder how whatsername has been…”);
}

if (s == “singBJ2″)
{
BillieJoe.voice();
System.out.sing(
“Seems that she disappeared without a trace,
\n Did she ever marry old whatshisface,
\n    I made a point to burn all of the photographs,
\n She went away and then I took a different path,
\n I remember the face, but I can’t recall the name,
\n Now I wonder how whatsername has been…”);
}

……………….

If you’re bored enough to check out the entire thing, I uploaded it as a text file. You can download it here >> WhatsernameJava. And don’t find faults. I’m no Java expert, aiight? I just have a very teeny weeny basic knowledge of the basic concepts. It is an interesting language, though.

This is my entry into the Life changing device contest! over at BlogAdda. The deal is that we have to write about some device that has changed our life for the better in some or the other way. So it got me thinking. Many devices came to mind. That Sony Discman that was gifted to me by my maternal aunt, that iPod Nano that was gifted to me by my cousin, the Lady in Red aka the Dell Inspiron, and of course, the MacBook Pro – Agalia. But at the end of the day, that one device that completely changed my device is not one of these. It is my desktop computer, which was actually the first computer I ever owned.

I still remember how much I had to beg and grind to get my parents to buy me a computer. This was back when I was in 6th grade. It was the time when computers were increasingly becoming a household device, and every kid in school was getting one, and bragging about how Smackdown/Road Rash/Midtown Madness were so awesome. So needless to say, I was pretty excited when the beast finally got home. Of course at that time, I was completely new to all of it and didn’t have a clue what a processor or RAM meant. It was a Celeron with 128 MB of RAM. Not that great a configuration, even in those days, but quite enough for my needs. It opened my world to so many things! It had been assembled by one of dad’s colleagues and he was kind enough to pre-load WinAmp into it, and with WinAmp came some nice Bryan Adams, Boyzone, and Enrique songs. That was the point where I started listening to English music. I also vividly remember how I wanted to change my desktop wallpaper once, and I couldn’t figure out how to do it, so I went to school and asked this cool guy who’d owned a computer for more than a year to give me step by step instructions. And then I came home and changed my wallpaper from Stonehenge to Vinca. It was like magic. It was so exciting!

And then there were the games. I remember how I completely grossed my mum out with Unreal Tournament and Carmaggedon. And how I scared my dad with my driving skills in Midtown Madness. I remember how I used to pretend to be this life savior bus driver who would drive rash to get people to their destination in time, even if it meant trashing a couple of hundred vehicles. And how I used to rename the Unreal Tournament characters to people I didn’t like, and then go around blowing their heads off with rocket launchers and sniper rifles. Ah, those were beautiful times. Also, that was the time when I got into football. It all started with the FIFA 2002 CD that my friend got from the local video store one day. And I played that like crazy. It even made me interested in real football, and that’s the only game I ever even remotely considered pursuing. Since then I’ve played just about every version of FIFA that has been released, and have loved them all. This time also reminds me of my sexy fluorescent blue keyboard. It was the coolest looking keyboard and I was so bloody proud of it! I also remember the time I watched my first movie on the computer. It was Rush Hour, and since then, I’ve watched that movie at least 20 more times. It also reminds me how I’d renamed my CD-ROM drive to “CD Eater”, because anything that went in didn’t come out for days.

And then of course, there was the internet. That truly was the game changer. My dad got us a 56-K dial up connection that I used so much that we got a humongous phone bill, all of which I shamelessly blamed on my dad. As a result, he didn’t renew the connection next month. But by that time, I’d gotten so addicted that I picked up money from here and there, and bought it on my own. I was careful to use it only at night so that the folks won’t realise. It opened my world to so many new things! There were forums, chat rooms, flash games, and of course, porn. I remember how my classmates would discover new websites every other day and animatedly discuss them and share links the next day. Those were such funny times. I met some great people online on Yahoo! Messenger, and I still haven’t forgotten them, even though I’m not really in touch with them anymore. An entire fraction of my life was spent in the Tennis:1 room in the Yahoo chat rooms. I still remember how we used to talk everything except Tennis in that room. That room is where the title of this blog first originated as a screen name. I remember hiding under the table to save my ass, and I also remember getting caught at least a couple of times, too. My parents used to take away the power supply wire as a punishment, and I used to feel crippled, and so powerless! I was addicted then, and have been ever since. And I don’t regret any of it. It’s been a great journey.

And it wouldn’t have been possible without that one piece of technology that was my first computer. I had to reluctantly give it away ultimately because we had no place for it, but I’ll never forget the time it stayed in our house, and was my best pal, who’d always do what I asked it to do. Those were good times. No, they were great times.

I tried looking for pictures of it, but as it turns out, I don’t have many. But whatever I do have, I’m putting up here.

And that’s it!

Check out Buytheprice.com and connect with Indian Bloggers at BlogAdda.