Dream Girl

It has been long, real long. The regular visitors, if I have any, even would not be able to recognize the last time that I wrote something or even the last topic that I wrote on. Well, here’s a small ordeal of my thoughts on the Fourteenth of February.

It’s in the air and it’s infectious. You know what – the good/evil, depending on whom you ask, that should not be named – I am talking about. It is like the stench coming out of an uncovered drain that all of us pass by on a fairly regular basis. Or, as the romantics would put it, it is that lovely smell of perfume, which leaves a blazing trail of intoxication, coming off a beautiful girl. Well, my point is that no matter how much you try you can never be in complete isolation from this madness.

My timid and hopelessly wandering brain, referenced in one of my earlier posts, gets swayed by the emotions around me as well. The clichéd statement – Every day’s a valentine day for me – does not work at all and sounds very lame and bogus, especially considering the follow-up question – “Who’s your girlfriend?”. In answer to this question, I am all at sea, can only grimace in deep pain and pose with a smile which leaves no doubt in anybody’s mind that it took a lot of effort to force that wretched and unconvincing smile on my dull face. To be perfectly honest, I am not in the remotest agony for lack of a girlfriend nor is this post an advertisement, unlike this one posted by my kid brother, for a girl. This post simply brings out the hopeless romantic in me which has been in deep slumber, akin to Kumbhkaran, since long.

Well, the thought of the kind of girlfriend I would want got kindled while I was listening to a sweet song by the present melody queen – Shreya Ghosal. The realization set in that I would want my girl to be a very quiet one and have a voice at least as sweet as hers. This would serve so many purposes – neither will I have to talk a lot nor will I have to hear more than the necessary, any voice even heard would be very sweet, even the anger tone would be so soft and sugar-coated that you would be confused whether you are being shouted upon or is it just another lovely conversation. There would be other obvious and similar advantages as well.

I continued to be in a state of trance (I do this very often and at random times during the day) while riding on the Delhi auto and thinking about my dream girl. All of a sudden I was jolted back to the satirical present by the auto driver who was either jealous of the serene smile on my dreamy face or a pragmatic who wanted to bring me back to the harsh reality. The elusive dream did get shattered but the hope for a brighter, more cheerful and serene future remains. Amen!!

There and Back Again

 

Welcome back – to all my readers (as if I hardly have any).

The title seems familiar, doesn’t it? For those who didn’t get it yet, the words are from the book/movie – “The Lord of the Rings” – one of my all time favorite book and movie.

The  blog is the story of my experiences since the deletion of my Facebook, Twitter and Google+ profiles, the reason behind the deletions and worst of it all, the reason behind reactivating the profiles. Sounds strange and, more importantly, dumb, right?

 

One fine day, you wake up and realize that you do several useless stuff. You spend unnecessarily large amount of time on things that don’t interest you at all. You have gone too far from your hobbies. It feels like going further away from the shore or the mountain that you want to row to or climb respectively. The idea that you would gain a lot of extra time by doing away with such frivolous activities lights up your brain like the thunderous lightning.

I felt pretty much the same as described above. Albeit, I had similar feelings deep into the night – a gentle reminder of the nocturnal animal that I have become. Those feelings were not primarily related to the social networking sites; however, these sites formed a small core of the reason behind those feelings.

 

Having slept over these ill-fated thoughts, I deleted/deactivated all my social networking accounts. Wow! Wasn’t that a big relief? Ah yes! It surely was. It was kind of relief not checking these pages multiple times during the day, not thinking of posting a tweet/what’s on your mind even if some striking things happen to you, etc.

The huge amount of extra time that I did get because of this made me wonder how best to utilize it. I started reading a book – A Certain Justice – after having bought it about four months ago. The phone bills have suddenly shot up. I am writing a blog after what seems like ages. I spend more time reading the newspapers. I have also been able to reduce the inventory of to-be-washed clothes. The phone doesn’t hang as much and its battery life has increased significantly. And then there are other things that can’t be mentioned publicly.

 

All these makes you wonder on the utilities of social networking sites. Yes, I had a realization – starkly different from my present perspective – too. The world seems to be dependent on these sites to stay in touch with others. Gmail – the old school thing – doesn’t work at all. Barring a few, nobody replied to my emails when I made an effort to stay in touch with them through the mails.

I started missing the chats that I had with my friends, the updates on their new photo albums, the funny and leg-pulling activities, etc. I lost contact with quite a few of my friends which does hurt the most. I have no idea if anyone would even read this blog if it wasn’t so greedily publicized over the social networking sites. Of course, there are several other aspects – both good and ugly – of staying away from these sites. I shall leave that for another time and another blog.

I received several (Shut Up! Don’t try to make yourself sound as someone important or cherished whom everyone would miss.) requests to join back. People will point out the merits of the social networks and my need to stay in touch with several people. I have refrained from joining back as yet.

 

Okay, as the title states and as anyone could had by now guessed, I have reactivated some of my accounts and probably, activate the rest in some more days. Well, these actions remind me of a coward and weak-hearted who could not stick to his own decisions. Done and dusted! Cheers to a new lease of life and to a new phase of activities.

 

The alter-ego chips in – Let us see how long till the fickle minded Pandey doesn’t do another turnaround.

Is This The Best Yet?

A post was definitely long due! My face was awash with shame and disappointment, as I accidently opened my blog today, for having missed out on writing anything since what seems like centuries. It’s not that I have buried or locked away all my creative energies; rather, it has more to do with hugely changed circumstances, lack of sufficient time and inherent laziness to pen my thoughts.

“Well, whom are you trying to bluff – you lazy, not-worthy-of-praise, and self-proclaimed writer?” – pitches in my often demeaning alter-ego. No wonder, I hate it the most in the entire world. Other motivation factors for coming up with a new post are – people being inappreciative of my decent writing skills at my new workplace, brushing up my writing skills, thereby, inflating my ego. Well, the dawn arrives finally!

Having decided to write down some of my thoughts in the form of a blog, I was in utter confusion as I could not decide upon what exactly to write upon. My present state is just the same as a person who has been hungry for days cannot decide on what to eat on being offered a free lunch buffet. Some of the things which have been at the back of my  mind since quite some time are – Obama’s visit to India, personal experiences, change and comparison of job and places, observations on people around me, and various sporting actions.

For a change, I decided to write on one of those things which are very close to me, i.e. Formula One. It would also help access if I have any readers who enjoy reading my posts and whether this type of articles even has any kind of readership value. Therefore, I request everybody to pitch in with your comments. 😉

I know the title is a little confusing; it is actually in reference to the 2010 season of Formula One. Ah! Is this the best ever season of Formula One? I am sure,  most regular followers of the sport would agree with the general verdict that this is definitely the best yet. Who would have imagined such drama throughout the season and such anticipation and suspense over the last race of the season, especially after the dour Bahrain GP (the opening race of the season). As the season draws to an end, the outcome of the driver’s championship is all that occupies my mind right now. In a short description, I would  like to cover my thoughts on this season. The blog would also help in getting a quick recap of the entire season. I hope to get all the  facts right even as I am pulling out incidents from my memory and not referring to any sources. “Oh! Please stop being narcissist and praising yourself” – speaks out the by now anticipated alter-ego.

For starters, FIA came up with a host of rule changes for this season, e.g. ban on refueling, removal of KERS, change in points system, limitation on testing and engines, and a host of other changes. This season was therefore, expected to be a great one due to the following reasons – maximum races in one season, changed F1 rules, three new teams for this season, change of teams for Alonso and Button – the defending champion, arrival of Schumacher at Brawn GP – now renamed as Mercedes GP, and arrival of the Indian driver – Chandhok at Hispania Racing, one of the three new teams in F1.

My predictions for the F1 season were – Alonso as the F1 champion (though, my heart did and does want Vettel to win it) and Red Bull as the constructor’s champion.

The season opening race in Bahrain became a procession of cars in line with very little overtaking and quality action for the  millions of F1 viewers. It led to many F1 journalists declaring that the rule changes had made the most glamorous and expensive sport in the world a boring spectacle. People had got skeptical and had already started declaring it to be the worst F1 season. What a turnaround since then, especially with the great races on the wet tracks of  Australian and Chinese GP! Who would had anticipated such a great finale then!

McLaren, with its innovation of the F-Duct system which helps increase the straight line speeds and great driving from Button, was the front runner during the initial races. However as the season wore on, Red Bull, in spite of its reliability problems, started putting a huge distance between it and all other teams. Ferrari hardly appeared to be out of fourth gear while Mercedes GP already appeared to be out of contention. Then came the Turkish GP which witnessed the spectacular crash between Webber and Vettel, and it changed the dimensions of the season and the moods withing the Red Bull camp.

Red Bull, and especially Mark Webber, left everybody else trailing in the RB6’s shadow with spectacular and eays wins at Monaco and Barcelona. The twist in the story came with the revival of Ferrari, courtesy the team orders at German GP where Massa was reluctantly asked to give way to Alonso and updates on the car, midway through the season. It has been a straight fight between the three teams ever since for both the championships.

I do not want to go in much detail about the various races during the season. I am confident I could write an entire book if I started describing or even mentioning the various racing incidents, controversies, etc. To remind the readers again and for those too concerned with numbers and not yet realizing why the season is best yet, here is some information for you to ponder on:

• It is for the first time that the driver’s crown was being fought vigorously between five drivers throughout the season, and four drivers are in hunt for the driver’s championship even at the final race of the season
• Continuous change of fortune and leadership positions for both the championships throughout the season
• Fighting or favoritism within teams (Ferrari and Red Bull) which led to confusion, derision and hatred
• Mesmerizing drives by renowned and not-so-famous rookie drivers at different races

As we head into the final race of the season, Alonso, Webber (-9), Vettel (-15) and Hamilton (-24) all have realistic chances of winning the driver’s championship. Another great thing is that all the four drivers have used up the full quota of their engine allocations and therefore engine reliability is a huge issue for all of them. It has led to a host of permutations and possible scenarios that could unfold during the last race at the beautifully and uniquely built Yas Marina Circuit of Abu Dhabi and on the final lap of the season. Even the once unthinkable – Vettel giving way to Webber and thus facilitating his championship chances – seems like a very possible outcome.

The world awaits with abated breadth – the qualifying on Saturday and the actual race on Sunday. People await in huge euphoria and anticipation of  the greatest ever F1 drama which would far surpass what any movie or TV show can offer.  No matter what happens during the course of Abu Dhabi race, the season is going to be forever etched in the memories of every F1 lover and I am sure I would be able to recite this season to my great-grandsons. 😉

My wishes for the season finale are – Vettel to win the race and the championships, Webber, if not Vettel to win the championship, Alonso to crash out (I know this would make me look bad due to my such solid predictions) – a far fetched idea; he is still the best bet for the championship, and I am not concerned about Hamilton.

Just to sum up, the highlights/most memorable incidents of the 2010 F1 season for me were:

• Webber-Vettel crash at the Turkish GP
• Super drives from Button during the wet races at Australian, Malaysian and Chinese GPs
• Great drive from Hamilton at Canadian GP
• Super stuff from Webber midway through the season at Monaco and Barcelona
• Engine troubles for Vettel at Bahrain, Korea, and I do not remember the other race (Great work from him throughout the season)
• Pole for Hulkenberg at Brazilian GP
• Smart overtaking from Hamilton and Alonso at various points during the season
• Truly spectacular crash (a double somersault in the air) of Webber at the race which I do not remember
• Several more, which I do not want to put here and bore the already tired readers (for those who had the patience to come up to this part of the blog)

For those who had the patience to read up to this point of the blog, sincere thanks; your comments, even if they are not encouraging, on the blog or the writing style are highly appreciated. Do post your views on the F1 season, your predictions and most memorable incidents of the season.