This can usually be found on Twitter.
A blogfection from New York has stuck WorldzUnlimited, and given rise to the following:
- Living arrangement?
Four agonizing stories about ground floor, exactly halfway between the washroom and kitchen, and with a pretty enough view of Extension A^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H Tower Block (sunrise looks pretty, but with a lack of high rises out west, I think all Singaporean sunrises look pretty!). My room is perenially messy, but I think it's doing much better this sem than the last (or any other previous one, I guess). Right now, it's a little icky around the corners, messy when it comes to books and papers all over the place, and the laundry "bin" is overflowing ... but home is always home :).
- WHAT BOOK(S) ARE YOU READING NOW?
"Business: The American Challenge for Global Competitiveness" by Zikmund, Middlemist and Middlemist, "Islam" by Alfred Guillaume, and - on and off - "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift. Yeah, need to get more interesting stuff from the library, I know.
- WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
My mouse. Well, in my lab, atleast. At home, I have a widdle touchpoint-type mouse.
- FAVORITE MAGAZINE?
Don't have one right now ... would love to read Time magazine or Reader's Digest, but I'm just a pore coll'ge stud'nt. Of course, with any luck, this will change by the 1st of March :).
- FAVORITE SMELLS?
Ha! I can't say the real answer on this blog. People smells, I guess. I'm starting to really like the smell of sausages. Anything sweet, I guess.
- FAVORITE SOUNDS?
Songs and poetry - anything where you can close your eyes and listen to the flow of the words themselves, walking slowly through your mind. Among music, I like anything with meaningful lyrics, a good tune, and most of all, a good beat.
Okay, that's not really what was asked, was it? Lemme try again - bird sounds. I love bird sounds - it's one of the reasons I loved my first year in KE. I love the crickets and birds and things waking up in the early morning. If I'm outside, I love the perfect silence which can completely pervade a forest sometimes - happens on Kent Ridge road a lot, if you happen to live around here. And I love the sound of conversation too, just the general buzz of activity and people around me. Well, sometimes.
Oh, almost forgot ... friends calling to say "let's go out" (hint, hint) :D.
- WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD?
Feeling left out. Feeling incompetent or incapable. Mostly, feeling left out, of almost anything, anywhere, anyhow.
- WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING?
I am incapable of thinking after I wake up. My first rational thought generally hits me halfway between my room and school, and it's generally something along the lines of, "Hey, did I forgot to get my ... ah. Oh, dear ...".
- ROLLER COASTER, SCARY OR EXCITING?
I honestly don't know :). I used to be something like scared/ambivalent towards them. Now, I think I might enjoy them more, but I honestly don't know. If I go to an amusement park, I'll probably try and talk my way out of riding one.
- HOW MANY RINGS BEFORE YOU ANSWER THE PHONE?
Two if I don't know who's calling or things between us are okay, three if I'm giving myself one extra, "okay, deep breath Gaurav, right ..." ring.
- FUTURE DAUGHTER/SON'S NAME?
Ask my wife. My family is pretty crap at naming people (c'mon ... "Gaurav"?!). Plus, I suspect my wife will already have given this more than enough thought.
- WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT IN LIFE?
Having fun. Serving a purpose. Making people happy. In that order.
- FAVORITE FOODS?
I love food. 'nuff said. Don't wanna gross anybody out by enumerating my preferences. I love well made coffees, long, cold, icy, creamy. I like crumbly stuff too. Of course, all Maharashtrians love Maharashtrian food first and foremost - as far as I know, my subcaste has a unique cuisine, which is delicious. But then again, it's home-food, so I might just be biased ... :).
- CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?
Vanilla, by a fraction of an inch. No, wait ... chocolate. Never mind.
- DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST?
I can't drive. I don't think I'd like to drive fast, but I'm not going to find out. (Ha! Figure that answer out!)
- DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?
No. I am not secure enough in my masculinity to do that yet. One day, I will.
- STORMS: COOL OR SCARY?
AWESOME. Simply awesome. Having grown up in Mumbai, storms have always been these incredibly powerful things, both extremely scary - and intimidating! - in a little-kid-kinda way (lots of people die in Bombay storms), as well as a seasonal thing - and how beautiful everything looks after a good rainstorm! So, yes: awesome, awesome, awesome.
- WHAT IS YOUR PERSONAL THEME SONG?
Keeps changing. At this moment, it's a rather complex combination of Eminem songs, I guess. In the tradition of the blogfection, I shall attempt to sing a few verses I like ...
His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy,
There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti,
He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready,
To drop bombs, but he keeps on forgettin',
What he wrote down, the whole crowd goes so loud,
He opens his mouth, but the words won't come out,
He's chokin, how everybody's jokin now,
The clock's run out, time's up over, bloah!
Snap back to reality, Oh, there goes gravity,
Oh, there goes Rabbit, he choked!
He's so mad, but he won't
Give up that easy, no
He won't have it, he knows
his whole back's to these ropes
It don't matter, he's dope
He knows that, but he's broke
He's so stacked that he knows
When he goes back to his mo-
bile home, that's when it's back
to the lab again, yo
This whole rap shit, he better go
capture this moment and hope
it don't pass him
-- Eminem, Lose Yourself
Too much for me to wanna stay in one spot,
Another day of monotony has gotten me,
To the point I'm like a snail,
I've got to formulate a plot 'fore I end up in jail or shot,
Success is my only m***********g option, failure's not,
Mom, I love you, but this trailer's got to go,
I cannot grow old in Salem's lot,
So here I go, this is my shot,
Feet fail me not, this may be the only opportunity that I got
You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo
-- Eminem, Lose Yourself
That's why we
Seize the moment, try to freeze it and own it,
Squeeze it and hold it, 'cos we consider these minutes golden
And maybe they'll admit it when we're gone,
Just let our spirits live on,
Through our lyrics that you hear in our songs and we can...
Sing with me,
Sing for the year
Sing for the laughter
and sing for the tears
Sing it with me,
Just for today,
Maybe tomorrow
The good Lord will take you away...
-- Eminem, Sing for the Moment
(Toldja)
- GREATEST REGRET?
Can't say. It's probably way too late to think about me ... ermm ... not taking the opportunities I had as well. Not taking the chance to learn, sometimes, many times. Being less than I could be, because I was scared. Being scared. Not being able to let go, sometimes.
- WHAT TYPE WAS YOUR FIRST CAR?
The first car I remember was this enormous, ugly Ambassador in Calcutta. Huge, fat, ugly looking thing, though it does have a sort of grand elegance because of its size, like an elephant. In Bombay, we had a Contessa (long, sleek, pretty looking thing) and a 118NE (cute! Seriously, seriously cute. And very comfy). Most of my memories from Bombay are tied up with the Contessa. And my Grandad had this little red Maruti 800 ... I believe it was #47 or #48 off the line in India, and he had a certificate of which he was immensely proud (or so my Mum says). That car, which I can remember him driving around, has taken him, my mum and my aunt from Pune to Kanyakumari, the southernmost point of India, on a somewhat insane adventure-trip (oh, they had maps - it wasn't totally insane. Alas :). Was lots of fun listening to my mum reminiscing about it when, last year, we went to one of the places they visited (Halebid). A few photos are up on my website.
- IF YOU COULD MEET ONE PERSON ALIVE?
I really don't know. My grandad? My mum's mum ... my dad's dad, I didn't know at all, but my mum's dad I still have a lot of memories of. I'm a lot like him, what with the hackerness and entrepreneuristic bent of mind and whatnot.
- FAVORITE ALCOHOLIC DRINK?
Gin and Tonic :). I don't like beer, but I'd love to try more cocktail-type drinks.
- IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB YOU WANTED WHAT WOULD IT BE?
CEO of a startup. Of a fun, exciting startup. With very little capital :P.
- IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY COLOR?
Ermmm, can't say, don't know. I'll leave it as it is. It has been turning white since I was twelve, so I don't honestly see the point of stopping now.
- EVER BEEN IN LOVE?
Yes. No. Maybe. God, okay: I think I have been in love. Atleast twice, possibly more. My definition of love might change, but that's what I think right now.
- IS THE GLASS HALF EMPTY OR HALF FULL?
*Glug* *glug* *glug* ... I'm sorry, what was the question again?
- FAVORITE MOVIE?
Hmmmm ... can't say ... from a romantic/relationship point of view, I think Annie Hall is pretty cool. I love tragic movies, like Schindler's List, Life is Beautiful and Osama (the Afghan movie). I love any movie which doesn't take itself too seriously. Most of all, I get a big kick out of certain crappy Hindi movies, as long as I'm watching them with someone.
- WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED?
Drawers :|. I love old KR.
If you're trying to ask about monsters, nope. They exist in real life and outside my room, but inside I'm pretty safe and untouchable. And no, none under my bed or in the cupboard.
- PHOBIAS?
Ha! Cockroaches, indecision (okay, not a phobia exactly), any non-mammal which might bite or sting me, big dogs, and I guess most of all appearing scared.
- DO YOU HOLD GRUDGES?
Hmmmm ... hard to say. I don't generally hold emotions against people I guess ... the way I feel about people are sort-of constantly in flux anyway. I am more sarcastic with people who piss me off.
- WHAT WAS THE LAST DREAM YOU HAD?
Can't remember. Had a weird dream a coupla weeks back about something being wrong back home in Bangalore, but everybody was fine.
Okay, that's the end of the survey. I'm going to add five more questions. I'll ask anyone who copies this blog to add five more of their own, and make a comment in my blog so I can answer their five questions as well.
- What is your greatest inspiration?
I think the purpose of life is to make something of it, and that's what I'm working towards right now. I'd also love to have the whole married-with-kids thing sometime in the future, and I'd like to make enough money to make sure I (we?) can provide for my (our?) kids. So yeah, trying to work towards that as well. Most of all, I think life should be fun, and I'm hoping to wrap all of the above into one ideal profession. Will keep you updated.
- What is your most angry/emotional memory?
Australia ... well, that's the archetypal answer for me, I guess. Basically, I got picked on a lot and got really lonely in the one year that I lived there. A combination of racism, not fitting in and sort-of growing up alone, I guess. I'm not sure how true that is any more, however. I managed to exorcise some of my demons a year and a half ago. Maybe last semester - there was a lot of anger, frustration and sheer confusion going on for me. Lot of stuff which I needed to figure out, but I couldn't think straight, and forces pulling all ways at once. This sem is much better already, and it's getting better. So that's good, then :).
The Australia experience has left me with a real hatred of prejudice (yeah, I know ... I'm prejudiced against prejudice ...), a love of the book Bridge to Terabithia (which seems to get more beautiful every time I read it), and a long unfulfilled wish to swim with dolphins. Oh, okay, fine, I admit it. It still makes me mad if I reach out and touch some of those memories. I think everybody has a little river of pure anger running down their heart somewhere, and there's always something - some memory, some emotion, some words - which can turn it into a bubbling river of lava in minutes. For me, Australia'll always be that. But I did exorcise some demons, and hopefully one day I'll be able to face it with an open mind and look at the good sides as well as the bad of that year.
- What do you think your friends hate about you most?
Okay, first off, I think I come off as being either too smart for my own good (in either sense) or too stuck up to be approachable. I think they come to realise that while I am obsessed with the sound of my own voice (hey, when you've got it ... !) and do love to tell people things, that I'm not doing it to look down on anyone (I only look down on people who I think unjustly look down on my abilities with computers), that I don't really have an ego problem (except as above), and that I'm relatively harmless otherwise. :)
- Your five best qualities.
- Can be somewhat insightful when it comes to other people's emotions. There are some notable exceptions.
- Can be quite adventuresome on occasion. I have a pretty good sense of direction, so I love going somewhere and just wandering around.
- Can be surprisingly patient about some things.
- Genuinely love good music (good by my definition, naturally). Not that that matters explicitly, but I like being able to love something just because it's beautiful.
- Can be creative. I think.
- Your five worst qualities.
- Procastinates like crazy about stuff he don't like as much.
- Can be very lazy - partially out of laziness, partially cos he's scared of what the research might uncover.
- Is absolutely crap at talking to people.
- Finds it very hard to get close to someone (is that a good thing?)
- No self discipline.
This post was posted by Unknown at 5:28 am
