Birthday Bumps

"Happy bumping day" was the message most of my friends conveyed even before happy birthday as I turned one more year older to stay at, "male 24" :) But baring all the brunt of my roomies in the night was one horrendous task I have never ever experienced in my entire 24 years of life; the physical endurance that I had to display for the Bumps session was very very hectic and tiresome. Every one was taking their vengeance for all the birthday bumps that they had taken on their bdays, it was giveback time, and sadly for me, every one was at their best of forms. Absence of a few more people in the room was some sought of relief in one way, but never the less I got enough of beating to die down with those pain staking blows on my rump. Some entertainment section followed the cake cutting and bumps ceremony where I was made to narrate an innovative love story, recommend some LP* tips that every one knew already :p and some expressive dialogues to show how to propose a girl to win her love. It was fun really! I could not sleep or sit on my butt all day, it was like swollen lumps hanging, I would have to book an ambulance in advance if Vinil,Seeku,Dattu and Bunny were also present in the night, thank God for that! It was wishes, wishes and more wishes all day flooding from my friends. A few unexpected pals have called me which made me happy and at the same time felt sad for my mobile not to have rung on some expected numbers. The trivia that I had to face on every call was to recognize the caller as I lost most of the phone numbers with my old handset. Man that was real quizzing time, every time! i have to admit that it ended in a bash, thanks for all the love you showered on me dear friends ( am I sounding too much senti? ), the thought of each of you itself makes me stronger and fills the blank of the purpose to live! You are wonderfully sweet :)

* ladki pataanaa :)

Things, I am ashamed of

I have been thinking ! Well that’s what I do when I save a lot of time and end up am doing nothing with what I saved.One thought, what are the things that I am really ashamed of having done and will never do again, the things that keep lurking with skepticism in my mind?

a) Cheating in my exams? well I am not all that ashamed of it in the first place, so the second part does not arise at all :p b) The lies I told to my parents/family? Hey get real dude! are you joking. Consider the lies I did not tell. Ashamed, no way! c) Picking on those weaker than me? Of course not, that’s what every one does. In History books they call it war and in present day it changed name to politics. d) Infidelity, well I have not yet got the opportunity and when I do, believe me that It would be a proud moment for me. e) Being dishonest, Now that’s a tough one, but considering that we have already got lies and infidelity out of the way, that takes away most of the dishonesty part with it, does it not? I think it does. Believe me its my honest opinion :)

This confession isn’t working; let’s try to turn it around (it is at this point that the lawyer will dramatically turn to the Judge and say, “My lord, please note my client’s sincerity”).I have beaten up others. But then, I have got beaten up a lot more, so it should cancel itself out and there’s no reason for me to be ashamed of it. having said everything, I guess I can proudly stand up and say that I have done nothing that I am ashamed of entire life, or will not do it again. Then do I need such a lengthy rant to boast of :p. For a change, let us see, what are the things I cannot tell my mom or my child in future do I see the list forming? unfortunately yes,and its growing. Huh! now let’s cut this crap, and do something for a change. This thinking stuff puts me to shame.

Passwords, Passwords Passwords !

You idiot Dumbo, "your password should have a least count of 8 alphanumerics sequence with a minimum of three numbers in it, which is not similar to your login and does not start with a number and which was not used for the past three times and also which is not so very obvious string for others to guess with at least two upper case letters and with out three consecutive alphabets or numbers as part of the string". this is what my PC yells out every time I give a password or change it when ever I forget one on my computer. This has become a very strict norm to be followed and keep in mind for hell a lot of things that I come across every day which requires a password to access it. There was one last chance to do it right. Else, my gadget would inevitably self-destruct. Sure, the password cue was easily remembered. My mother's maiden name was an easy one. But for heaven's sake, what was the answer to the back-up question? Already, the previous test had ended in failure,Leave alone computers, unfortunately, everything needs a password these days; from opening my own mail account on Gmail,lotusnotes,Yahoo,Hotmail etc to pages on transactions in trading accounts, ATM cards, Airtel site,Bank accounts,Secured sites in my projects, and even entry in to my own cubicle at office. Why, do we need to enter those secret digits on the cell phone to make a local call [8-)] It is a hell to remember the login names and passwords for every petty thing these days. Forgot one! and you are dead. Be ready to face the more tougher challenge of retrieving it by answering some irritating security questions which you are not even sure what you gave when you created the password! I don't know how many times I clicked the "Forgot Password?" link on the login pages, I even ended up loosing access to one of my mail accounts since I forgot the password and could not retrieve it.What I found as a very useful technique to handle these challenges is by jotting all the logins and passwords for everything and meticulously updating it in a single Word file and protecting it again with a password :p to deny access to this file and ensuring the information is safe from the prying eyes of the world. I just have to remember the password of the word file alone, this has made my life much easier.The threat of loosing the file is always there but putting multiple copies online as well as on my local system ensures it is accessible anytime. No more emoticons with their eye blinking posers threatening to deny access inside :)

King on Court "Roger Federer"

The Lion Roared, and made his Opponent shiver with a whine.The shock trembled through the back bone and Nadal submitted himself for the definitive dialect of the King Roger Federer,and now Federer has made it a habit to win Wimbledon. His win on Sunday was, however, something special. He has now equaled fellow country man legendary Bjorn Borg's 27-year-old record of five consecutive Wimbledon titles. He has also taken his Grand Slam tally to 11, now eying on Sampras's 14.The expression on Rogers face after the match spoke it all, though it was not new of winning titles for him, he felt a great relief after rendering Nadal to submission in the 5th and final set, Federer knew he was facing a hard task in the final against Nadal who beat him at the Rolland Garros. He was in the center court for vengeance and to defend his Wimbledon title. There is already talk of Federer being a candidate for the best tennis player ever.Sampras for one has backed Federer to emulate his long period of domination.That prediction might well come true. But on current form is Federer the best all-time tennis player? That is a question that could keep tennis fans occupied for hours. There can, however, be no clear answer to such hypothetical questions. For instance, how do you compare Federer to Rod Laver or Boris becker?,The playing conditions, fitness levels of the former players and the topical players are so completely different.The problem of comparing different eras is common to most games. In cricket, the perennial question of who is the greatest batsman runs into similar problems. How do you compare Don Bradman, who played a majority of his 52 Test matches against England over a span of 20 years with Sachin Tendulkar, who has played 137 matches in 17 years against nine countries? As of now in this era, with their sheer talent, showmanship and cool temperament I feel Roger Federer and Sachin Tendulkar are two divas in their respective games. There will be players who may takeover the regime of these players at some point of time in the future, (for that matter Roger himself said Nadal has lot of potential talent and the age for him to be a dominant player in the coming years) but as of now the King is a King and the others have to pay him his due respects !