Year Three

Today is September 15th, 2009. I don't really need to tell you this because it shows up next to this post. Contrary to popular belief and urban legends, I am not stupid. I mention the date because it has a meaning. On September 14th, 2007 yours truly flew out of his home country to setup home in a foreign country. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, 2 years and 1 day ago, I officially "moved" to Canada (I can't say I "set foot" here because of the simple reason that I had come here on January 23, 2006 to complete the final formality to be granted immigration to this country).

I realize that it's been 2 years since I arrived here. 4 days ago, I also completed 18 months with my organization. And like every other idiot looking back at the past 2 years, I'd like to say "It's been one hell of a rollercoaster ride!". Apart from the fact that I've grown 2 years older and am now a part of The Rat Race, life has been good and bad. But unlike my previous posts, I'm not going to put up a list this time. Instead, I'll probably make a kind of timeline. I know it's another way of making a list, but I guess that's what I'm good at i.e. listing things out. So, here goes:

28 Jul 2007: Convocation. Finally, an engineer.
14 Sep 2007: Arrive in Toronto, Canada. Stay with cousins.
29 Sep 2007: Move out of cousin's condo, move into a condo shared with 2 guys.
11 Mar 2008: First day at work.
Sometime in Mar 2008: Buy myself an iPod Shuffle. My first ever iPod.
11 Apr 2008: 2-day winter camping trip in Algonquin National Park with roommates and a friend.
Sometime in May 2008: One roommate leaves for India. Get another roommate.
18 Apr 2008: 2-day trip to Montreal with cousins to celebrate the birthday of one of them.
10 Jul 2008: Sister arrives in Toronto. Put her up with cousins.
17 Jul 2008: Sister moves in with me.
31 Jul 2008: Another girl moves in with us. 4 people in a 2-bedroom condo. It's still all good. Couch is my new best friend.
14 Aug 2008: Go to my first rock concert. Eddie Vedder (from Pearl Jam).
16 Aug 2008: Raksha Bandhan with sis after 5 years. Gift her an iPod Shuffle.
5 Sep 2008: Take sister to her first rock concert. Bryan Adams. Take roommates out as well. Celebrating 1 year in Canada.
28 Sep 2008: Get a 10-year multiple entry visa for United States. Very happy!
6 Oct 2008: Roommate leaves. I cut off all relations with him. He is a bastard.
26 Dec 2008: First Boxing Day experience. Buy 2 iPod Classics for myself and sis. Buy a Macbook and gift it to sis for her upcoming birthday.
14 Jan 2009: Sister goes to India to finish her exams.
18 Jan 2009: First and only weekend all alone in this country. Decide to have a blast.
20 Jan 2009: See Cradle of Filth in concert. Dream come true :-)
22 Jan 2009: Parents arrive in Toronto, Canada. They start living with me.
11 Mar 2009: Complete 1 year with my organization.
25 Mar 2009: See Prodigy in concert. Realize that techno concerts aren't my cup of tea/coffee. Concert ticket was a birthday gift for a friend.
29 Mar 2009: Celebrate aforementioned friend's birthday. Best day out with friends after a long time.
21 Apr 2009: Sister comes back to Toronto. Starts living with us. 5 people in a 2-bedroom condo. Nightmare come true. Couch becomes my best friend again.
26 May 2009: Take sister for Disturbed in concert. Last rock concert we've been to till now.
31 May 2009: Move into a bigger new 2-bed condo. Feel happy.
11 Sep 2009: Complete 18 months with my organization.
14 Sep 2009: Complete 2 years in Canada i.e. PR requirements completed. 1 more year before I can apply for citizenship.

I guess that's pretty much everything. Life's not been very interesting really. I've made friends, I've lost most of them. Life's been going on and on. If anything interesting happens, I'll let you guys know. Till then, have fun!

My Power Song

I found my power song. It's called "This is Your Life" from the OST of the movie "Fight Club". Here is the video:



Here are the lyrics:

..And you open the door and you step inside
We're inside our hearts
Now imagine your pain as a white ball of healing light
That's right, your pain, the pain itself is a white ball of healing light
I don't think so

This is your life
Good to the last drop
Doesn't get any better than this
This is your life
And it's ending one minute at a time
This isn't a seminar
This isn't a weekend retreat
Where you are now you can't even imagine what the bottom will be like

Only after disaster can we be resurrected
It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything

Nothing is static
Everything is evolving
Everything is falling apart

You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake
You are the same decaying organic matter as everything else
We are all a part of the same compost heap
We are the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world

You are not your bank account
You are not the clothes you wear
You are not the contents of your wallet
You are not your bowel cancer
You are not your grande latte
You are not the car you drive
You are not your fucking khakis!

You have to give up
You have to realize that someday you will die
Until you know that, you are useless

I say: "Let me never be complete"
I say: "May I never be content"
I say: "Deliver me from Swedish furniture"
I say: "Deliver me from clever art"
I say: "Deliver me from clear skin and perfect teeth"
I say: "You have to give up"
I say: "Evolve, and let the chips fall where they may"

I want you to hit me as hard as you can!

Welcome to fight club
If this is your first night, you have to fight

:-)

Happy Fuckin' Easter

Once again, it's been a loooooooooong time since I last posted out here. Sorry about that folks! (As if anyone even reads this. Haha) Anyway, I had to make this post because I'm back from my li'l hiatus from metal again :-)

On April 16th 2009, I went for a concert. A 5-hour, 5-band metal concert! Fuck yea! The concert was part of Lamb of God's No Fear Music Tour. The featured bands were:

1. Lamb of God (obviously!)
2. Children of Bodom
3. As I Lay Dying
4. Municipal Waste
5. God Forbid

I had floor tickets for the concert. This means that I could be right under the bands' noses (and I practically was). Personally, I believe it's no use going to a metal concert if you have to stand in the "seating area". It just doesn't feel right!!

Anyway, since I had work till 5pm on that day and the doors were gonna open at 6pm, I managed to reach the concert only by 6:30pm, and so I missed God Forbid :-( But, I was right in front of the stage!! I was soooooo happy!! I stood right below the MASSIVE speakers! :-D Municipal Waste lived upto their name i.e. they sucked!! But As I Lay Dying was pretty AWESOME!! When Children of Bodom got on stage, I was just 10 feet away from Alexi Liaho at times. It was so fuckin' good!! You know the music is real fuckin' loud when the guitars for a song start feeling like they're coming from your head instead of the speakers!! When Lamb of God got on stage, you won't believe how the place erupted!! Every song was fuckin' AWESOME! It felt soooo good!! I had a silly smile on my face :-) I felt like this was it. The best day I've had yet.

Since I landed in Toronto, these are the artists I've seen live:

1. Eddie Vedder
2. Bryan Adams
3. In Flames, All that Remains, Gojira, 36 CrazyFists
4. The Australian Pink Floyd Show
   
5. Cradle of Filth, SepticFlesh, Satyricon
6. The Prodigy
7. Lamb of God, Children of Bodom, As I Lay Dying, Municipal Waste, God Forbid

Out of all these concerts, I thought Prodigy was the loudest as I was in The Pit for that. But the Lamb of God concert just raped The Prodigy repeatedly, killed it and then raped it again! It was soo fuckin' loud!! I could hear the Double Bass drum pound in my chest like it was gonna rip my heart out. I could feel the guitars in my head. I could hear the lead singer scream right in my face. It was insane! When I got outta the concert, my right ear was totally blown coz I was standing next to the speakers and looking left to see the stage i.e. my right ear was facing the speakers throughout. When I put my iPod in my ears and tried listening to Cradle of Filth on full volume, it felt like it was on 30% volume or something. I got home and tried talking to the building concierge and I felt like he was talking to me from across the lobby or something. I got home and went to sleep, texting a friend about how much louder this concert was compared to The Prodigy concer we went to and how great it made me feel. When she sent me a reply, I had the fone next to my right ear and felt like my fone was kept 20 feet away from me. I woke up in the morning, with the alarm on my cellfone sounding like it was still 20 feet away from me. On my way to work, I couldn't hear most of the people talking around me. It got worse at work coz I couldn't hear a thing all day. Only in the evening did I manage to start hearing better. I'm ok now. Though the whole concert gave me such a bad ear problem, I loved every bit of it. :-) It made me feel good, it made me feel alive, it made me feel invincible!!

During the concert (and like all other metal concerts I've been to), I realized once again that metal really is my religion. As a matter of fact, metal is my REAL fuckin' religion!! And this concert was my way of celebrating Easter. Just like Easter is celebrated to acknowledge the resurrection of Jesus, this was my way of celebrating the resurrection of metal. One of the things that the LoG lead singer talked about was how there was a time when Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax had played in the 80s or 90s once and sadly said "Metal is dead now". Then the LoG singer said, "Toronto! You prove to the world that metal is not dead yet. It's coming back! Thank you!" And I believe he was quite right! Metal IS making a comeback. (How else do you explain LoG's latest album debuting at No. 2 in US Billboard and No. 1 in Canada?)

So yea, Fuck you hip-hoppers and rappers! Time to pull up your underwears as high as you can, coz metal is coming back like fuckin' hell and it's gonna make you shit your pants pretty soon!

Fuck yea!! Metal forever!! \m/

Poem 1 - Livingness

Wake up every morning,
Breathe in the fresh air,
Feels good to be alive
Feels good to know we're still there

I look out my window
The sky is covered by clouds
Who will watch the watchmen
Who will save them when they scream and shout?

Get ready and head off to work
The same old boring job everyday
Where are the angels that I was promised
Where is my sunshine when I wanna make hay?

Done for the day going back home
Time to unwind time to relax
I don't want to be myself no more
Gimme my money, gimme my six-packs

Chopping vegetables to make my dinner
Cut my finger there is some blood
Wish I could punch him between the eyes
Would love to see his body hit the floor with a thud

Munching on the same food that I have everyday
Changing channels staring at the same old crap
Is this the kind of life they wanted me to have?
When she left me, I wonder why I didn't give her a slap.

End of the day, on the bed, about to go to sleep
May sweet dreams come to me
Life will go on tomorrow as another day
Maybe, after all, this was how it was meant to be

23

"I survived the world for 23 fuckin' years and I don't plan to give the fuck up too soon."

This was my motto on the 20th of August in the year 2008. That was 3 days ago. One more birthday, one more candle on the cake, one more chapter in the book of life. One less year to live, one less tension, one less part of life to look forward to.

Birthdays. One more reason for people to ask you your age. One more reason for them to ask you to take them out for a treat. One more reason for you to get gifts from them. One more reason to have cake. One more reason to "have your way for a day". As if!

I never really liked my birthday. I never like celebrating it. Why can't I just leave it as a day for myself? When all I want to do is be normal for a change? Let it be a day that starts and ends like every other day. It's just a milestone. All it tells you that you've survived another year and thus are one year closer to finally not surviving it. Anyway, for all those who want to know, this is how I spent my birthday:

Evening of 19th August: On my way back from work, I grabbed a cake from the local grocery store, for my colleagues. Then I went and got a take-out from Salad King (Thai food) and had dinner with my cousins. Got home and went straight to sleep. I didn't wanna talk to anyone. I wasn't planning on celebrating my birthday.

Midnight of 19th August: Arya calls up to wish. I'm sleeping on the couch, I wake up and answer the fone. My flatmates are making a lotta noise. Whatever happened to "basic decency to keep quiet when someone's on the fone"? Anyway, then they force me to cut the cake they've got for me. Get a call from parents. Call them back. Cut the cake. Flatmates gift me a Sony Cybershot camera and a set of Calvin Klein perfume and after-shave. I'm not a big cosmetics person. I don't think I'm using that too soon. But the camera is something I wanted for a long time. I thank them for that. Then we all pose for a pic. We go to sleep at around 2am.

6am on 20th August: I wake up. I get ready. I make tea for my flatmate. I leave for work.

Morning of 20th August: Work, work, work. Colleagues love the cake. Had to be. My choice. I always believe in getting the best. After all, I earn money to spend it lavishly on others. Get lotta fone calls.

Afternoon of 20th August: Met up didi for lunch. Had fish and chips at the li'l place near my office. The one my manager considers the 2nd best in the GTA. Didi loves it. I'm happy. Get back to office and then more and more work. Work's getting hectic now. It makes me feel good though. Keeps my mind off other things.

Evening of 20th August: I walk home. 12-13 kms, 2.5 hours. All along the lakeshore. It feels good. iPod in my ears, lake by my side, sun in the sky. This is the best part of my day. Smile across my face. I should do this more often. Maybe every Friday evening. Reach home, take flatmates out for dinner as they say they'll be all formal when we go out for dinner with my cousins. I'm sick and tired of Wheat Sheaf and Montana's. This time we try out Brazen Head, a pub near our place. Turns out to be a great choice. We play cards. I don't lose any game this time. Birthday Luck? I don't think so. We come back home and go to sleep.

Evening of 22nd August: Part 2 of celebrations. Taking cousins and flatmates out for dinner. Went to an Italian restaurant called Il Furnello on the Harbourfront. Next to the water. Nice place. Kinda classy. We were sitting in the back patio. It was nice. Went for Baskin Robbins after that. Walked home from there. Cousins gifted a $100 gift certificate for BestBuy (an electronics store). Thinking what to buy from there. Anyway, after coming home, went to sleep. End of birthday celebrations.

That's pretty much all that happened. Not that it interests many people. But just for the sake of it, I put it up here. After all, you needed a blog post, didn't you? So yea, Happy Birth-fuckin'-day to me! Bullshit!

:-)

Time Flies

Well, it seems that it's been a looooooooong time since my last post.

*checks the date of the last post*

Hmmm, March 13th, 2008. That makes today exactly 4 months 20 days or 142 days since my last posted. Time does fly, eh? There was the time when I was posting 2-3 times a day. Well, maybe that's what happens when you're part of the Rat Race. The only time you get, you try to spend it in relaxing, and I guess I never reached the "Blogging level" of my boredom. :-)

Anyway, today is August 2nd, 2008. Yesterday was my grandpa's birthday. He would have been 85 years old yesterday. Too bad he passed away 6 years ago. Wow! it's been 6 years, eh? I still remember the day. I saw 2 of my mentors for the last time ever that day. 6 years is a long time indeed. So much has changed in the last 6 years. What was I doing on this day 6 years ago? I don't even remember. But yes, I do remember what I was doing on this day 5 years ago. August 2, 2002 was the day I reached my college. I stayed at a small hotel in Warangal, India. Then I went to college. I met my seniors, I was ragged for the first time. So many things change, so much happens in 5-6 years. I was 17 then. I will be 23 now. I left home then, I left my home country now. I met new people, I made new friends, I had fun. Oh well, I guess, that's changed a bit. But then, there are many things that haven't changed. And I'm glad they haven't.

Maybe I should note down things that have changed, right? (Yes, I'm an engineer. Lists DO help!) So yea, here's my list:

Things that have changedin the last 5-6 years:

1. I'm an engineer
2. I'm not in India anymore.
3. I got more close friends than I ever had.
4. I got my own iPod!! :D
5. I can spend money without thinking how much I'm spending. After all, it's MY money now!
6. I'm fatter, balder and uglier than before. :-)
7. I've done one of the things I had vowed not to do: I've smoked.
8. I've changed my musical taste to more soothing music like Pink Floyd and Radiohead and sometimes even dance music.
9. I've learnt that I can cook pretty tasty food :D
10. I've fallen in and out of love more than once, but still hated each of them after that.
11. I've lost my temper reeeeeally bad once. (I take pride in the fact that I can control my temper) But I still regret it. But the bright side is that it was only once :-)
12. I've started sleeping less. I sleep only 5-6 hours a day now.
13. I've improved my people skills a lot. I'm a bit of an extrovert now :-)
14. I've gone into the depths of music and explored the darkest side I could, and still survived :-)
15. I've had a near-death experience.
16. I've crashed 3 cars.

Indian Superheroes 2

This is the continuation of my Indian Superheroes post. Here's the rest of my list of Indian Superheroes:

7. Inspector Steel - Unfortunately there is no wikipedia page on Inspector Steel, which is sad indeed. People should respect the Indian Robocop! He weighs approximately 450KGs and as far as I know isn't half-human half-cop who can change his mind according to his emotions. I haven't really read Inspector Steel comics, but what I can say is that "the only part of him that is human, is his brain, which is wired to the rest of his body" sounds like some kickass stuff to me. At least he has better weapons than Robocop (not just a stupid revolver).

8. Anthony - In a world where the dead are the bad guys and crows are terrifying, comes this guy who shows that it's just the mindset of people that terms these things "bad". Hats off to you, Raj Comics. How original a concept is making a dead man a superhero and his pet crow as the one who brings him back to life? And you thought a dead man with a pet crow was out to kill innocent people, eh? Think again. I can't stop praising the brilliance of this concept. It breaks all boundaries. An undead man who fights crime and cannot be killed. How superheroic/superhuman is that? Forget the Ghost Rider, Anthony is The Man (With the crow)!! Go Anthony go!! :-D

P.S. Anthony wears his underwear INSIDE his costume! :-P

9. Bhokal - In Indian culture, a teacher is considered equivalent to God. Bhokal shows that very respect. You may say that Bhokal is very similar to He-Man. Like He-Man, he is a prince and wields a sword that can cut through almost everything and also gains his superhero strength by reciting "magical words". The difference between Bhokal and He-Man is that Bhokal can fly, but only using shield (and not like Superman). The best thing about Bhokal is that he doesn't get his superpowers by taking the name of some stupid castle. Instead, he utters the name of his Guru (Teacher). Sets a good example to the kids, doesn't it? That's what Indian culture is all about, after all. Another thing about Bhokal is that he doesn't have a silly wimp of a tiger who turns into a roaring lion like stead, whenever he points a sword at him and screams, "I have the power!!". How immature would that be? :|

10. Shakti - Though there is a wikipedia page for Shakti, I found more info about her from the Raj Comics site. So, I have put that as the link for more info. Anyway, I don't know if there is a Western counterpart for Shakti. She's supposed to be the reincarnation of a Goddess. She possesses the "fire of anger of all the women in the world". She has a third eye that can release infernos to kill people. She can travel at the speed of light. She can melt all metals and use her mind power to mould them into whatever she wants. PHEW! I really wonder how anyone beats her at all, though I think they never do. After all, who can beat God(dess)?

11. Fighter Toads - Step aside Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Fighter Toads are in the house. Masterr is like Donatello, using a pole (stick) to fight enemies. Cutterr is like Leonardo, using a sword to fight enemies. Raphael and Michaelangelo aren't there. Instead we have Shooterr who shoots arrows with cup-shaped or duck-feet-shaped arrowheads and Computerr, who is always hooked to a PC. Just like the TMNT, they live in the gutters and hide themselves from humans. As a matter of fact you can say they are VERY similar to the TMNT, the only difference being that their fights are funnier than those of the TMNT.

12. Chacha Chaudhary - As promised, the best has been saved for the last. Chacha Chaudhary is the most unique and most loved Indian superhero of them all. He is so unique that I don't think there are or ever will be any Western counterparts for him. With a "brain that works faster than a computer" and a super human alien friend with him all the time, he has to be one of the most physically weakest yet best superheroes of India. I don't know of one person who has read a Chacha Chaudhury comic and disliked it. It' just amazing.Chacha Chaudhury hardly uses force to defeat villains. Instead he uses the power of the mind instead of muscles. This is another good lesson for kids. The best part about Chacha Chaudhary is that he is shown as an old middle-aged man with a wife and no kids and living in a small town. He doesn't need to wear any stupid costumes or have elaborate adventures. He has shown that anyone can be a superhero if they want to. All that is needed is the ability to think logically and come up with solutions fast. I guess I can go on and on about Chacha Chaudhary, but that would take up a full post. So, I'll leave this description here.

I hope all of you enjoyed the Indian Superheroes post. My personal favorite would be Chacha Chaudhary. I would recommend everyone read it at least one. There are too many comic characters that I haven't mentioned here. This si because I wanted to mention only the most common ones.Check out the next post, it may be a bit interesting too.