A load of crap from an idle brain

The new year has not been off to a great start, at least blogging wise for me.  For some strange reason, iam not even checking my blog, visiting any other blogs or even commenting on them. Contrary to the economic conditions worldwide, am swamped with work.  On my way back home, am so tired that i hardly can open a book and read.

The songs in my Creative Zen play in my head as i doze off.  Fortunately, i haven’t missed out on my bus stop.  Eitherway, the bus interchange is quite close to my home and even if i don’t wake up, the driver will kick me out once the bus reaches the interchange.

Before i could realise, the 4 day weekend passed by.  Did nothing constructive. Just lazed around at home and watched 6 movies.  Some of them i have updated at the Movies page.

I have almost stopped reading the newspapers thoroughly.  With layoffs to the emergence of Talibans in Mangalore, the Thuggerays in Bombay to the incessant coverage of Manmohan Singh’s health conditions, its getting routine and boring.  With so much of bad news around, i hardly need any more in the papers to feel more glum.  So, i have made it a point to no longer read any news in detail that sounds negative.

The only positive thing that happened is that South Africa beat the hell out of the Aussies both in the test and one-dayers.  Pricky Ricky Ponting’s face was well worth watching during the match.  Everything that he is laying his hands on is turning into cow dung.  Looks like Australia committed the same mistakes that West Indies did in the 90s after a superb 80s.  By not managing to get effective players to replace the likes of Waugh brothers, Taylor, Warne, McGrath, Slater, Hayden etc the Aus team is now in a serious rut.

Warner and Shaun Marsh are great prospects, but Aus doesnt have a bowling lineup that can bowl out an opposition twice in a test match.  In McGrath and Warne they had 2 of the most lethal and consistent bowlers.  Of course such players are born only once in a generation, but for sure there has been no good nurturing of the kids to replace the giants.

Compared to them, i believe the Indian team has done a better transition.  With Kumble and Ganguly gone and with Dravid almost out, India has lost a majority of the Fab 5 that it boasted of.  The one day team has no one from the Fab 5 except Sachin Tendulkar and unlike the past when we switched off the TV when Sachin got out, today hardly anyone blinks.

From the boring domination of the Aussies at the beginning of this decade to a much more rounded competition (South Africa, India and Australia), i believe we could be looking at much better matches ahead.

Also once Muralitharan and Jayasuriya hang their gloves, Sri Lanka would also be on their way down.

So, what have i been doing in the past 2 months ever since the markets crashed and the economic gloom all around? Invest in the stock markets of course.  Some of the best companies are available at dirt cheap prices or at the lowest ever prices in their lifetime.  I know of a lot of people who are staying away and waiting for the markets to stabilize (am not sure what that means), but am buying.

I have started buying small amounts in L&T even though am not really appreciative of the L&T management trying its luck in the Satyam muck.  I have also started buying into Tata Motors.  Also have averaged out my investments in Reliance Communications, Punj Lloyd, Suzlon & Praj Industries.

Disclaimer:  I would like to hereby declare that all the investments that i write in my posts are not to be taken as an advice.  Iam not responsible for any losses that you might make by following  what i have mentioned in this blog. Please approach a Certified Financial Advisor for more info or do your own research before investing.

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Just 15 days to go and the mind has started playing its games. Its actually a strange mix of excitement and nervousness. The final days of my bachelorhood are here. It feels strange that my status will finally change after 32 years. Am sure its going to be an interesting 2nd half of my life.  Honestly, am itching to get started.

Met up with a couple of friends over dinner on Friday.  As we lazed at the beach watching the waves and the ships in the background, my friends mercilessly kept ribbing me over my soon to be ex-single life. It was good fun.  Both of them are married and it was good to hear their experiences.  We went for dinner at a Kerala restaurant.  It was a funny bachelor’s party as hardly any booze flowed.  All of us had just one glass of beer each keeping in mind the tradition.  As one was working the next morning and the other was driving, none wanted to increase the intake of alcohol.  And i love such a scenario. Cost effective too, u see

My colleagues and friends are so surprised that my wedding is close by and iam so cool with no visible stress signs. They dont realise that all the tension of arranging stuff for my wedding has been outsourced to my parents and brother back home.  All i need is to do is to just laze my way into the wedding.  Will shop for my clothes in Hyderabad.  Clothes are damn costly in Singapore and also there is not much choice unlike in India.  Unless i want to shop for brands, which i dont.  Anyway the stuff you buy for the wedding just rots away in the cupboard once the D day is over.  That’s why i love the whole concept in Europe and America where people like to rent their suits, tuxedo, wedding gown etc for the day.  That’s very cost-effective.

Meanwhile, an interaction with Nandan Nilekani, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of Infosys on CNBC’s “Young Turks Tutorial”.  I cant seem to be able embed the video.  Click on the links here and here to watch it.  Quite a nice watch.

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Its more than a month since i got engaged. Have 60 more days to my marriage. Wish i could have a counter on the blog that will remind me of the countdown. The countdown to the end of my bachelorhood. The end of my freedom

Its precisely why i wanted a break in between the engagement and the marriage. 3 months is a good time. It allows for affection to start building up and by the time you start missing each other, its perfect time to get married. At least the intervening period leaves both of us with some time for introspection. Think and reminisce about the great bachelor days we had. Fantasise about the great days we might have in the future. And also get ready for the petty fights and tensions that might creep up in the relation inadvertently.

More than 7 years of a bachelor living, all alone, away from my family in distant Singapore has conditioned my mind to a certain type of thinking. Over that, i have been living alone for more than 3 years now. I have a whole house to myself. I have no problems walking around naked, sleeping wherever i like (on the couch, bed and sometimes on the floor too). Fortunately, i dont have the habit of throwing the wet towel on the bed (an oft mentioned reason for a fight between partners). Iam a firm believer in keeping things in their right places. Other than a few books, which would be strewn around, am pretty much an organised person.

Other than that there are not much vices. I don’t drink, smoke, gamble or womanise. And ya, that does mean that i manage to save quite a good portion of my salary. Probably my only weakness is the fact that i buy a lot of books and have a constant look at the stock market and am always reading up stuff that would help me save more and multiply it.

Most of my friends believe that living alone means that i have a very colourful life. But trust me, i probably live the most boring life you would have ever encountered. Friday evenings after work are for gym or a movie all alone or i just go back home, do the laundry, watch TV, surf net, have dinner and retire to bed early. Saturdays, i cook, clean, catch up on sleep or visit some friends or watch a movie/sports on TV. Sundays fly by before i can even realise. Its more than 4 years since i stepped into a pub/disco and more than a year since i even had a sip of a beer. That explains. Its not that i have never done it. There have been times when i smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish. Just that i have left those days far behind.

Am so accustomed to living alone that i would need some time to adjust and be able to share my private space with someone special. It would take time, but i hope to give it my best shot. Living alone has made me independent, confident and capable of making my own decisions, which am sure wouldn’t have been possible had i been staying with my family. So, its an advise i give anyone who asks, to stay alone, away from the family. You start to develop new facets of your personality. Makes you grow as a person. Try it out sometime.

If you are asking if iam excited? Of course, iam. Everyone marries at least once in their life time and am also going to experience it. There is some nervousness and excitement. A mixed feeling. No one has seen the future, so i rather not comment. But ya, i hope everything works out for the best.

Meanwhile, i keep my fingers crossed.

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