Snapped-deal - naps on a dil ki deal

Bought this product from snapdeal - Sony Alpha SLT A58M. Of course its currently sold out. But the order was supposed to come with a combo kit as advertised. Screenshot below:

While the camera arrived, the combo kit never did. And the I had to follow up with a ticket to make the seller send the combo kit via DTDC. The sellet though, showed no remorse in trying to bargain with me into sending whatever tripod or SDHC card or screen guard he had at his disposal which I promptly refused, Talk about customer insensitivity! 

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Lucky Is Me ...

Over three months back, something happened around me, the disillusionment of which will be over only post April 11. But what has been obvious since those turn of events, is the rising expenses. That, it had to happen unabated, was something I had never imagined. Except me, all things around me are moving to a status - New. Be it my mobile, be it earphones for my Cowon D2, or the strap for my watch, or just the bare minimum batteries to run the dials at home. But what is certainly reassuring is that these expenses are the harbinger of a new life, a new dawn in an otherwise boring life I have had for a few months prior to that. The reassurance will be at the cost of my bachelorhood, but I have happily accepted my fate!

 But amidst these expenses, I have had the opportunity to explore a new mobile phone, the Sony Ericsson S312, and bought the Creative EP 630 earphones for my D2. I had to let go of my Sony K510i after 3.5 long years of amazingly good response, owing to its inevitable joystick issues and the fear of the depreciation it might go through beyond a certain point. The S312 boasts style, though its keypad looks crammed up. But it fit into my scheme of things, weight wise, affordability wise, and brand wise. I had initial problems with the S312 due to battery draining,had to fight with the dealer and had it sent to the Sony Service Center. I was told to format the memory card which came along with the pack and now things seem to be better with my S312. It sure is tempting to grab one of those smartphones though!

And then, my beloved D2 earphones started acting weird. The earphones which came along with the player would crackle up, and refused to work normally. I loved the earphones which came with the player, but did not want to spoil the rich audio experience of Cowon by purchasing just another earphone. I finally zeroed in on the Creative EP 630, for their affordabilty, noise isolation and quality. After I read some reviews, most of which were positive, I was happy to shell out 999 on Gadgets.in. I must say their service is more than impressive and extremely prompt too. I placed an order on Friday night and got it delivered by Monday morning. Thus far, I am very pleased with my purchase and impressed with the earphones.

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Rakhi Rocks Censor ...

Warning : Some portions in this post may not be offensive to readers who wish to be perverted and thus misinterpret the contents. To such readers, no discretion is advised. For all else I highly recommend a censored approach.

After all the hunger strike for the Telangana cause by TRS, now a unique cause is building steam. I mean, steam in a literal sense too, for the voluptuous Rakhi Sawant has taken on the censor board for censoring and banning her song,  Kameeni tera bhoot chad gaya re. Rakhi Sawant has now threatened to go on a hunger strike in front of the censor office. Rakhi has always been an over the top speaker with high decibels giving more than enough sound bytes for the ravenous media. This instance is no exception either.

To be fair to her, she is quite outspoken on various matters, and has been very honest about her opinions. This instance is no different and she has more than a valid point. There are songs and serials on television and movies, which display vulgar content and even have expletives being uncensored. In fact Vishal Bharadwaj even directed a movie called Kaminey. So, Rakhi Sawant certainly has a very valid point.

All of us males are Swayam-sevaks when it comes to self pleasure drawn out of watching such actresses as Rakhi Sawant. Rakhi's Swayamvar may have gotten rid of Elesh's swayam-sevak status, but he lost the opportunity due to differences with her. Is Rakhi coming back into the minds and heads (you know which head) of die'hard' Swayam-sevaks after veiling her assets during her hyped swayamvar ? Or probably she just wants some cheap publicity by shouting over the top. Oh well, in Rakhi's case any top is too small to be over!

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Indian Factionalism League ...

The first signs of differences between Dhoni and Sehwag came about during last year's World T20 tournament. It was more a case of Sehwag trying to come out of an injury he sustained during the IPL in South Africa prior to that which he failed to recover from. Dhoni famously paraded the entire team to show unanimity in front of a gossip hungry media. Funnily enough, another IPL issue seems to have appeared during the just concluded Bangladesh tour.

Dhoni who missed out the first test agains Bangladesh, seemed to have favoured Pragyan Ojha at the very last moment for the second test, ahead of Amit Mishra who performed more than decently in the first test. Media is always hungry for any potential controversies and groupism within teams is always a prime topic for sensationalism. Sehwag was the captain in the first test, while Dhoni came back to take the reins in the second. There was supposedly a heated discussion about the exclusion of Amit Mishra.

To be fair to Sehwag (who I am prejudiced for), Amit Mishra ha bowled well enough in the first test and deserved another chance. It is an open secret that South Africa struggle against quality leg spin and the second test would have been the right preparation for Amit Mishra to gain in confidence ahead of the visiting South Africans. I just hope there wasn't as much into this controversial selection as is being made out.

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Going Down Mullayanagiri Lane ...

Since my post way back last year about my memorable experience at Thekady, I haven't been on any trekking sojourns for various reasons. Prime amongst them was my vulnerable health which ebbed and flowed with the summer and then the winter season. Other personal and professional reasons did come in the way.

But what struck me as very demotivating was the lack of trekking companions which I had made over the past few years. It is difficult to replace a set gang of trekkers who tend to be on the same wave length and set off for on the fly treks. I lost such companions either to marital bonds or an increasing workload. It looks like an unavoidable transformation, as one gains in experience at the workplace and finds oneself at the altar of marital life (pun intended).

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Gowda Howled Da ...

Now I really can empathise with news hungry television channels. It truly is music to the media channels as it is for the thousands of bloggers not to mention those on twitter. But I so wish words such as "Bhosidi Maga" and "Bloody Bastard" could be given a tune to be made music out of. Unfortunately, Deve Gowda resorted only to these words and hurled them at the Karnataka Chief Minister, B.S. Yediyurappa. It obviously wasn't nice of Deve Gowda, to choose the NICE stir by farmers to air his more than frank views.

But Deve Gowda's remarks clearly show his skills of being multilingually adept at both Kannada and English. Not to mention his brief stint as prime minister of India, and thankfully a brief one in retrospect. It certainly is good education for the masses to learn from their leaders of the appropriate usage of words at appropriate moments. Unlike such multilingual capabilities which Indian ministers possess, the U.S counterparts are limited to just English.

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The Over(due)haul

I had been trying in vein to move my blogger template to the new version for the past 1 year or so. But, with little or no satisfying outcome. I had taken enormous pains to move it to the K2 template (by Gecko and Fly), shown below. That was somewhere in the first half of 2007. Few months following that make over I gave to my blogger template, I came to know of the layout view, which enabled simple adding of widgets or gadgets from the template in the blogger dashboard itself. I was stuck with the K2 classic template and did not have the time nor the energy to once again spend over a day or more for another blogger template update. I continued with the classic K2 template.

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2009 - News-i-verse in Terse

My personal top news of 2009 in terse with an Indian perspective.

• Picking up the pieces of a peaceful peace prize for president Obama can in no way justify the gatecrashing of his dinner party with Manmohan Singh, resulting in Tiger's crashing private life and sending more troops for justifying an already floundering Afpak policy

• Google's googlies left Apple grappling with its iPhone against an androidal invasion with Droids while Microsoft's bing could only launch against Google's chrome war on browsers

• Twitter's fluttering tweets twittered the internet with raging success culminating in being the most searched word the world over

• Swine Flu flew across continents and spread paranoia which glued people to guidelines and health advisories for an as yet unknown flu

• An electorally voted unanimous Congress asserted itself in India, giving much needed confidence for a worried Indian economy with much needed political stability in the face of a slowdown

• An Indian cricket team which predictably had a horrendous T20 Cricket World Cup in England, much as Pakistan came out of a scarred cricketing image because of terror strikes and lifted the T20 world cup.

• A bruised Indian T20 cricket team could not even cruise against a crusading and injured Aussie team, thus relinquishing a transient numero uno ODI spot in a matter of hours

• Tharoor's tweeting foray brought out open conflicts within the functioning of the Indian Government much to the chagrin of a Congress party in majority

• Maoist fears finally hit PC hard and now the Red Corridor is very much on guard

• Koda's corrupt Koka-ey revealed the malice plaguing Indian bureaucracy

• While Federer re-produced a double in his personal life, his double at the Grand Slams made him the best of all time with 15 slams, even as his dear friend Tiger Woods’s bootylicious flirtations left him poorer by more than a few million dollars

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Tiger drinks Gatorade for Accenture

Note: Some portions in the post may be offensive to some readers. Reader discretion is advised

To follow and know more about gossip on news channels can be quite addictive. The more spicy the news, the more eyeballs it gets. Rather sadly for Tiger Woods, its not his growls on the golf course, but his groans and moans of an otherwise guarded life which is being heard more. He may have hit a good ball with a golf stick, but he didn't need more than a pair of them to hit a dozen birdies. And birdies which have not ceased tumbling from the nests he secretly flew to. Birdies which were so free to fly anywhere but found great comfort in building nests in Tiger's Woods.

Isn't it the easiest thing on earth to have a chance to point fingers at someone ? It sure is, and when it is something sensational, media and bloggers like me feel it is our right to frame a celebrity as a scandalous man, an ill-worthy sportsman, and never a role model. As I did read, internet publications are attracting huge traffic, riding on the Woods controversy. On a self confession note, I wouldn't be too far behind either.

But I would like to acquit myself of using the controversy and ponder over what led the Tiger to moan in the birdies' nests and not growl in his own den. First and foremost, it goes without saying that his flings brought him a zing in his life, which probably helped him win 14 majors. Besides, he may have felt that he had to prove to himself of being a major (the adolescent one, silly) and so visited the birdies. On an empathetic note, one cannot blame a normal guy to not be visiting nests of experienced, bootylicious birdies, when there is a bottomless wallet to boot. If he hadn't been attracted, he may have been stamped as gay !

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Deliriously Deranged !

When cornucopia's conundrums can be multifariously interviewed with never ending antagonism, it is succinctly inane to conjure cannibalistic properties out of sheer ballistic systems vacillating between the ensconced and erudite to the prudent and prolific.

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Lowly Deception ..

They say I pester with my blogging updates. They say, I write pretty nonsensical stuff. Well, I don't want to get into denial mode, but some of these claims could be true :) Though I'd not want to prove these so called critics right, I sure am giving them ammunition for the future.

Once upon a time, a young man walked into a garment shop to buy a jeans pant for himself. He was badly in need of one, to adorn his handsome self to impress the supposedly available pretty young things. His need was so bad, he was keener on the attributes of the pant. And of course the waist size. Once the requirements were met, he went about altering the length, to suit his supposedly diminutive physique. Which he till date insists is not the case.

Once the length was altered, he was good to go and try it on. Which he did after a few days, when he was ready to impress some pretty young things. While the objective of impressions was still far away, what he did oversee was the trial he never had while purchasing the pant. When he realised the pant had a caveat of not sticking around for long, the realisation dawned that the jeans is supposed to drop off if left without any support whatsoever. A belt seemed to be the need of the hour to hide the blushes from the possibility of a dropping disorder !

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My High Deed Card - An Obituary

Well, the past 2 weeks have been difficult .. my ID card refusing to swipe on the access doors in my company. Scary thoughts of that pink slip on it's way to my desk sooner than later gathered storm, despite the fact that my antique 5.5 year old ID card has stood the test of time.

And what a time it has been through. Refusing to crack under constant swiping, which has been the only proof of my hard work (I earnestly request my supposedly sincere readers to NOT cough in jest), it has seen the evolution of my company, and the cracks on the old ID card are a testament to the rigours of working in the IT industry.

Dialogues apart, the scare of the pinkslip, gave way to the realistic thought of that emotional moment, which I always dreaded. Parting with my ID card, to make way for a new one, hopefully ushering in a new lease of life into an oasis-bereft desert I have been traversing (heavy stuff, huh ! Honestly, this was indeed meant to be a useless piece of art attempted at, though very earnestly !). My card bid good bye to me, with the last rites being performed at the security desk, where the guard was kind enough to hand me a replacement for it.

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All for HITS !

This is CHEAP .. to get hits on my blog. But hey, anything for Amitabh and his tummy !! Err.. FYI He Got HOSPOTALISED and that too on his birthday !!!! Equivalent to a Bihar flood, what say ?

Am I not right .. media ? So, here goes the list of links (just a sample !) with this news piece doing rounds in Headlines in India !!!!!!!!

http://in.news.yahoo.com/20/20081011/1416/tnl-bachchan-taken-ill-admitted-to-lilav_1.html

http://movies.ndtv.com/template/generic_movies.aspx?template=amitabhbachchan&pollrequired=n

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/actor-amitabh-bachchan-hospitalised-on-birthday/75580-8.html

http://www.hindu.com/2005/11/29/stories/2005112911080104.htm

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Amitabh-taken-ill-on-birthday-hospitalised/372101/

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/on-birthday-amitabh-bachchan-hospitalised-under-observation-second-lead_100106130.html

http://www.nowpublic.com/style/actor-amitabh-bachchan-hospitalised-birthday

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Smil-e

As I sit and type this post, I start wondering .. how much the world of web has netted the world. A transformation complete except for the elusive physical nature of human touch. All else is there on the internet today. Has the human touch gone, due to the advent of internet ? Far from it, it has led to more awareness, and more donations and volunteering for human touch.

A world, which is fast getting revolutionised, breaking myths of conservatism and orthodoxy. People meet and acquaint through the internet, and make for successful marriages. In stark contrast to the very mode of meeting someone without a physical identity, internet has provided the tools to express the true self that everyone is. When I try to spread the gospel of Sanity Restored Is Insanity Gained, I am scoffed at. Because, as much as there is truth in what I said, the true expression of feelings are still held in wraps in the mind.

Internet has in a sense given freedom of expression. Expression through just chats, or through blogs. Of course, no one can get away from those who misuse these tools and gain mileage out of it for ulterior motives. But the greater point to be noted is that a medium such as chat, brings out the funny side of one and all. And more often than not, the vulnerable side too. For what is spoken to in person, might be with strings attached, but what is communicated through a medium without the element of physical human interaction gives unlimited freedom. Freedom to sometimes be rude and get away. Freedom to be funny and yet be serious and sad.

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I Lay ..

I lay, thinking deep, thoughts meandering and playing randomly in my mind. The thoughts which refused to let me take those sweet moments of snoredom, and tied me in a never ending journey of musings. They played on my mind, in so haphazard a manner, I could not pinpoint, the one which concerned me the most.

I lay, sleep eluding me all night, wondering is there a light at the end of the tunnel. The gloom which threatened to shroud my moments of happiness and memories of joy gone by. The thoughts ranged from the present to the past, and settled into the future. What does future hold for me?

I lay, thinking further, entangled beyond disentanglement, at the predicament, of not able to close my eyes in peace. I was in an uneasy trance, accentuated by the eagerness to get up and do something, to break this train of inundating thoughts.

I lay, the deluge of thoughts never ceasing to disturb me, my mind going hither and thither, pleading my brain to break this shackle. When I did, it was with something unthinkable, which would induce a further sense of awakening, the dreaded coffee beckoned.

I lay, after a cup, dreaming when this would end. It was not long back, when I tried to break such a trend, singing and humming well past midnight. Madness, one might think, neither slept, nor did I blink. A break I wished, would wring in the calm. It never happened, and I lay disturbed.

I lay, thinking over, switching on the droning music for a change. Thinking over and over, this to be the balm, for the uneasy calm . If ever one was fatigued by uneasiness and thinking why sleep is deprived, then this was the time, this was the night. It seemed in the morning, how it might be tonight ?

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Olfactory Malfunction

If models can afford to have manmade maal-functions right in front of a jaw dropping audience, every human is entitled to his or her own malfunction derived out of sheer illness. The fact that my post alludes to the olfactory senses, is clear enough to indicate that I am indeed suffering a short term illness of the olfactory kind.

Weather Gods were not kind to me. Well, actually they were kind in as much as not sending in heavy showers, while I stomped in the rainy weather to Jayanagar 4th block. Since it was raining, all the autos were auto-full and it was getting difficult to get an auto. I normally keep walking towards my destination in anticipation of an auto stopping by for me to get in. Circumstantially handicapped, I kept on walking only to realise after 1.5 kms, that I'd rather walk all the way. After all, Banasankari 2nd Stage BDA to Jayanagar 4th block is hardly 3 kms away.

I did enjoy the light consistent drizzle, which I should add was forced upon me to enjoy. After the 3 km walk, I got my specs, and started back.6:30 in the evening, and still drizzling, I was a little tired after the walk, and thought it wise to hire an auto after all. Well, talk about consistency. The auto wallahs in Bangalore seldom disappoint you, and my humble enquiry of going to BDA in the rain was treated as if I am handicapped and cannot walk an inch. 40 bucks was the demand for a 20 buck drive. Reason was obviously the rain.

I got back to my walking and hand waving ways for stopping an auto. Finally one obliged and I headed back home. So much for collecting my specs, and my senses were all intact. Well, so far so good, and I woke up the next day, hale and healthy. Soon though, this was about to change ..

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Sometimes ..

Sometimes, the untold is told in a million gestures. Sometimes, the unintentional is told in a million words. Both leave the wrong impression. While the former leaves many a tale untold, the latter leaves many a heart hurt.

Sometimes, a look can convey the feeling of love. Sometimes, the same look is returned, and reciprocated without a word uttered. Sometimes, even a hundred attempts fail to win the heart. While both yearn for the same affection, one succeeds without a word, the other fails upon repeated attempts.

Sometimes, distances can be bridged by letters and mails. Sometimes, distances are purposefully maintained, even when in proximity. While the former relates to hundreds or thousands of miles, the latter embarrasses by being right in front of the other.

Sometimes, a heart doesn't realise the worth of the other. Sometimes, a hurtful feeling can end a relationship. But both eventually break a heart, one way or the other.

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Opportunities - Plus Or Minus

The land of opportunities, United States. Yes, it certainly has been for some years, and will be for a few more. That, is a reflection of the job market for all Indians coming to U.S. But it is a case of missed opportunities if you are planning to buy shirts from here. Though it is a U turn from job to shirts to purchase, it goes without saying that, it can be difficult getting the exact size shirts for those who are new to the U.S of A. Atleast that's what I found out.

After struggling to get a pair of sneakers in my last U.S visit, I wasn't hopeful of getting one this time. But, even after I bought FILA shoes from Bangalore after my last visit, I was sucked into the buy 2 get 1 offer at the Great Mall in San Jose. I got a Reebok pair, and thus I had broken the ice. I went on to get a pretty good mp3 player, the Cowon D2, which sports touchscreen interface and has loads of features. I bought the 4GB one, and thus my shopping spree had been initiated.

I have always been apprehensive of buying clothes from the U.S since the same variety, you end up getting in India as well. But, in India all of them are Made In India. So, for a change, I thought I should get clothes which are Made In Pakistan or Made In Cambodia. Where else to get these than in the land of opportunities ! Jokes apart, I shoved aside my apprehensions of getting the right size of shirt, and badly wanted to get some casual shirts. The prices too are similar to those in India. So, no big deal if I buy them from India or from U.S.

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Some random facts (About Me)

I have been blogging for more than 2 years now, and have seen how bloggers tag each other. It passes on from one blogger to the next, like passing a baton. I have been avoiding from getting tagged, but I guess it is time to surrender to Sakshi's tag, who I also write for at desidabba.

Here are some of my facts which could be as dull and dumb as they get !

1. Since childhood, I have been Mr. Confus(c)ious for everyone around me !

2. I have my roots in Tamil Nadu, upbringing in Kerala, though I tend to follow more of Hindi.(example of the confuscious nature). So I know Malayalam (spoken,written), Hindi (Spoken, Written), Tamil (spoken) and English of course ! But none of them well enough :D

3. I love taking pictures using my digital camera, at the cost of making people around me look awkward.

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Presidentially Silly

Pratibha Patil's comments about the purdah and the veil under which she wants to hide herself after the controversy could hopefully save the Atlantis in landing safely and thus rewarding the many who are praying for Sunita Williams' safe return into the earthly presence where 2 legged humans and 4 legged animals roam around in the shelter provided by the ever growing wealth of Indian Cricketers whose money will not stop growing after the ceiling cap on endorsements for cricketers were raised, not taking into account the surprise acceptance of Kalam to contest the presidential elections in India, which has now taken an interesting turn, albeit still not turning as much as the Monty Panesar delivery which dismissed Dinesh Ramdin in the 4th and final test match in England which cannot even stand a chance against the quite irresponsible way in which India's former spinner Maninder Singh disputed suicide accusations even while he was grappling with trying to avoid and evade the accusations of drug consumption which put him in the spotlight, but which has today been over shadowed by the new Italian Avtar of Durga taking shape in the form of Sonia Gandhi's depiction as Sonia Durga Gandhi, hogging the important headlines story in CNN IBN, which may get much publicity amidst growing ecological concerns over China's infrastructure plans of building a road till the base of Mt. Everest as a journey for carrying the Olympic Torch for the 2008 Olympics.

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