Much of the blog-world in my proximity is getting pollinated by butterflies and how could I get missed?
For 4 consecutive days by 4 different bloggers, my website got awarded an “Award” each, which is really cool! The last time I remember getting awards was back in 2001-02 when I had a static website and there was no trace of blogs or other interactive web elements we see today (oh I almost sound like a grandfather.)
So a big jar of honey to my following blogmates: Gopinath (Butterfly award), Mavin (Proximity award), Odzer (Butterfly award) and Kiran (Friendship bracelet.)

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I am so lazy these days! In other funny story, last night I had a fantastic dream in which I was working as a double agent in one of those terrorist groups. Unfortunately, I made a mistake and the leader of that group suspected that there was something strange going on in his group. I swore to sacrifice my life and destroy India and pledged my allegiance to the group’s cause. Then he sent me to fight a ‘big’ enemy and I was alone in that skirmish. I couldn’t understand who my opponent was but as the enemy came closer, I discovered that it was a giant mosquito. I pointed my weapon towards the monster sized mosquito and felt a very sharp pain on my leg.
Then I woke up and swatted (swot?) the mosquito who had just bitten my leg.
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Didyouknow didyouknow didyouknow? This is post # 250 on this blog!
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Finally, an unrelated image:

Toronto downtown from Gardiner Expressway on a cloudy day. In the center is the CN Tower.
“So its been 21 months since you are left India. Don’t you miss it? Don’t you miss your family, your friends?” Someone asked him this question almost casually.
A brief pause. A straight face. A meek reply:
“No, I don’t.” he said.
He walked away grudgingly to some mall, almost as if that question ruined his mood. It was the international week, or something like that. He was pleasantly surprised to see the entire alley decorated with flags of various countries.

As he saw all these flags, his heart started beating faster…
He hurriedly scanned each and every flag. He was walking with his eyes focused on the flags above, desperately trying to find something. It was almost like a navigator looking for the North star among a hundred other stars in the sky.
And then he found it.
His eyes sparkled as if he found a treasure. His face glowed with a smile as if he was meeting his loved one.

“There it is!” some million anonymous voices screamed.
He stood there stupefied and stared at the flag for like a minute, or maybe more, that’s not important. He gulped down the saliva that accumulated in his mouth. He closed his eyes before they got too wet. He took a deep breath, and walked away.
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Congratulations to everyone who celebrates freedom, culture and peace. Happy Indian Independence day, August fifteenth.
A friend sent this link to an amazing video
Plot: A buffalo calf was captured by lions, the crocodiles tried to steal the catch, and finally, the buffaloes manage to save their kid. This reminded me of the videos ‘ek chidiya, anek chidiya’ with theme ‘unity is strength’ that Doordarshan (Indian national TV) used to broadcast when I was a kid. Awesome
glumbert.com – [tag]Battle of the Species[/tag]
Scene 1: A herd of wild buffaloes is passing. The leader is walking ahead of the herd, with his nose up in the air
Scene 2: A bunch of lions are crouching a little distance ahead, preparing to attach the herd
Scene 3: The head of the buffaloes’ herd senses that something is wrong, but continues to move ahead anyway. He is accompanied by a calf
Scene 4: ATTACK! The lions attach. Buffaloes turn back and run. The little calf cannot catch up with the speed and is promptly captured by the lions
Scene 5: This capture happens on the bank of a river and the calf slips into the river.
Scene 6: As the lions try to drag the calf out of the water, a number of crocodiles attack and try to pull the calf into the water
Scene 7: The lions somehow manage to save the calf from the crocodiles.
Scene 8: A huge herd of buffaloes is seen approaching the lions
Scene 9: The buffaloes surround the lions. The lions are trapped between the water with crocodiles one one side and a huge herd of buffaloes with sharp horns on the other
Scene 10: The buffaloes attack the lions. One of them tosses a lion up in the air with his horns. (ouch)
Scene 11: The buffaloes attack the lions one by one and chase them away
Scene 12: The calf happily returns to the herd.
As if we didn’t hear enough of Bambaiya-angrezi (English in Mumbai flavor), the other day I heard this new phrase:
“Rick it out.”
Stumped? Let me explain. ‘Rick’ is a common urban condensed form of the word ‘Auto Rickshaw’, which by the way is the preferred and most popular mode of transport (‘taxi’) in India. In Mumbai, the super fast city especially, you may miss an appointment if you patiently speak the whole word ‘Rickshaw’. So you just say ‘Rick’ and zap to your destination. Of course the English speaking uptown crowd (whom we call ‘angrez’) might consider saying ‘Rickshaw’ a bit too Indian, hence may prefer saying ‘Rick’. Whatever is the reason!
When you call for a rick and hire it, you are ricking it out, i.e. taking an auto rickshaw on hire.
The other day:
Me: I have to go to XYZ, do you know which bus I can take?
Other person: Better rick it out rather than taking a bus
That’s all. I love the new phrase, but doubt if I’ll ever use it.
