...and where were you on the eve of Dec 31st, 1999?

When the world was going nuts with the paranoia of Y2K, and giddy with 'New Millennium' stuff and how significant that specific night was to be (and of course pedantic about it not being the real millennium and no 0th year and all that).

I was with my best friends, at a wonderful, memorable party (which had 17 guys and 1 girl. No, it was not that kind of party - she was a dear friend. And remarkably well adjusted, which came in very handy during hugging time at 12.01). We guys did what guys do - drank a lot, made a lot of noise (oh God, I seem to remember a lot of Whigfield - oh the horror!) and emotional promises (I think there was Floyd involved), we lost a few brave comrades around 2 am (to gastrointestinal incompatibilities with excess alcohol), and the rest of us soldiered on till daylight, with the help of an especially extended showing of Titanic.

Morning broke beautifully for the two of us who were lucky enough to have girlfriends at the time (the ladies joined us around 7 am). We went for a ride. Life just could not have been better.

Weird how often years that start out wonderfully end so badly. And everything changes. And you wonder about the inevitability of it all.
But irreversibility? Really? Doth not Time heal all?


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No. 42

Did you see Tendulkar bat today? In the first test against New Zealand? When he got 160 of the absolute best? When he treated all the bowlers like little club chokras? When he had the commentators slipping into rapturous gasps? When words like 'sublime' only find space in the footnotes?
Now I can hear the naysayers pipe up with 'he only does that against lesser bowlers and lesser teams, like Zimbabwe, or Bangladesh, or New Zealand', and I've got to admit, I can see the point in that argument.
But you've got to not give a shit, really, when you get to watch something like that. You've got to admit - sometimes watching Tendulkar bat is better than sex.
By a few country miles.


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You know, a key factor in the world not descending into absolute anarchy sooner is deaths due to war, disease, drought and natural disasters.
Can you imagine what would happen if we eradicated malaria, TB, AIDS, poverty and all the rest of it - millions and millions more people fighting for the same, limited resources? People living longer due to medical advances?

Am I sounding like a crazy eugenist yet?


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Une annee nouvelle

How sudden, impulsive decisions can change your life.

An unnaturally early rising, an unexpected memory jolt to tune in, an uncommonly young show host with attitude, an uncanny alchemy catalysed by electromagnetic waves.
A typically impulsive response.

Eight years later, here we are. Still here. Still strong. Inspite of everything.

Happy Anniversary, love.


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