Betting on people

There should be a legal system to bet on people's success/failure. It will allow poor people like me to make some easy money.

You just know when you see certain people ( Priyanka Chopra, Paul Collingwood, Brendon McCullum ) that they are destined to make it big; however humble their beginnings.

You also know when u see certain other people ( countless boy/girl bands ) that, they are going to fade away from the limelight and from our collective consciousness, however aggressively they are marketed.

Very unfortunate that this cannot be translated into legal income in India (yet) :(

My Home Theater

... is almost complete.

It has been almost complete for 6 months now. First there is the cosy room, then there is the expensive 5.1 speaker system, and finally the obscenely expensive wiring. ( wonder how I fell for that one! )

Now all I need to complete the experience is... a f*****g TV !

Note to self: Be a man and do it this week...

Of phobias and nightmares

I've been having trouble sleeping at night for the last week or so... What better way to kill time than to add to the wealth of knowledge online :-)

A couple of months ago, my cousin, Sin, was narrating a disturbing dream that she had the previous night. Apparently, she dreamt that she was being attacked by a monstrous black cat. She woke up with a start, and couldnt sleep well for the remainder of the night. On the same topic, another cuz, Shu, started talking about some common nightmares that women frequently have( supposedly ). Seeing oneself with some physical deformity is the common theme of most of these nightmares. Eg. Loss of hair, teeth, scars on face etc. The psycho-analytic explanation of such dreams is apparently the insecurity of most people ( more so women than men ) about losing their physical attractiveness. Another common dream apparently concerns with the death of person(s) with whom one shares an emotional bond. Again, this is related to one's insecurities. Most other nightmares are apparently connected to recent events in one's life. For instance, the particular dream about a cat might have been due to the fact that she had just shut the window before sleeping, to keep a cat out.

I couldnt remember any nightmare I have ever had, and after some serious memory-digging, I realized that I had *never* had any nightmares in my entire life. My cousins were quite shocked, and also convinced that I was either lying thru my teeth, or was a very secure individual !

When I think about the same topic now, I still dont have a valid excuse(!) for not having nightmares, ever. The only plausible reason I can think of, is that I dont have any abnormal phobias.
I dont believe in ghosts or other evil supernatural forces ( which is quite strange, as I do believe in God ), and I would easily spend a night in a "haunted house" if required.
I love wildlife, and am particularly fascinated by reptiles. I have had too many close encounters with snakes to be scared of them. I have been charged by wild elephants and gotten dangerously close to a King Cobra and I still live to tell the tale.
I am not afraid of death or serious injury, nor of losing the people who really matter in my life.

Plus, I must've had a very happy childhood too...

All of this, or I might just be a very heavy sleeper with a bad memory ! :)

The ubiquitous liftman

I find it very annoying when I enter an elevator in a public building, and find a lift operator within. I just don't understand the value that this individual adds to the situation. How hard is it to lift up a finger and push a button ? Instead, one is now compelled to have a conversation(albeit brief) with a person, who invariably looks extremely bored. ( can you really blame him ? )

An American friend and me went to a restaurant today, and seeing a lift operator there, we got to talking about this situation. Apparently, this is something rare in the US, and my friend was aghast that someone would actually choose this as a profession. The conversation veered to other things, but this got me thinking on the way back home...

Why does a business establishment hire a lift operator ? And why does a person choose to be a lift operator?

The second Q is probably easier to answer; most parts of India are still not "shining", and this is as good a job as many others for the man to put food on his family's table. ( I know for a fact that the lift operator at my previous office gets around Rs 4000/pm for his efforts, and he must be struggling to make ends meet in Bangalore. )

But, I wonder why an organization would feel the need to hire a lift operator...
To me, it can only be because they feel it is beneath their employees' dignity to operate an elevator for themselves. (not sure if the employees concur on this; most of my acquaintances share my view on the situation.)
This, combined with the fact that it costs next to nothing to hire a lift operator, reflects poorly on the state of our nation.

In my mind, India would be a step closer to "shining" when I no longer see any lift operators around. To me, it would indicate two things :
1. Each one of us doesnt believe it is beneath his/her dignity to perform simple tasks such as operating an elevator.
2. There are so many better employment opportunities available, that nobody wants to be a lift operator.

I miss my bike !

I really do... I never should have parted with my 2000-model Suzuki Fiero 150cc ride...

I cant help reminiscing about all those long rides that we used to go on, mostly in the middle of the night, when the world was sleeping... And you always treated me well; had only 3 serious falls and just one near-death moment !
But we had to move on... u understand right?
The big bad guv-ment wants me to wear a helmet... And the ride wouldnt be as enjoyable with protection, u know that, right ?

Anyway, thanks for the memories and hope you are doing good with your new ride... For me, there probably never will be another one after you... The car's not as exciting, but she cares more about me...