And the rest was HISTORY...

Its 2.47 PM on Monday morning I.E 29th September 2008 and I am happy to see that I was a witness to a piece of Formula One history being made. The first Night race ever in Formula One was held last night and I was there, watching it all at turn 5. And writing a blog just CANNOT give words to what I felt. It was the single most amazing thing to have happened to me in my 22 Yrs on this planet.




I left home at 3.15 noon. It looked like it would rain, was very cloudy and I messaged Divya and Kalyan (My jijaji) that it looks like it would rain. Kalyan, the local weatherman as I have started to call him, said it wouldn't rain. I was at the Marina Bay Circuit at 4.15 and was searching the Gate 7 entry. I heard cars whizzing by. That was the Formula BMW Pacific that was taking place. I walked along the roads and found an entry to Gate 2. I asked one of the police personnels where I could enter gate 7 from. He said I could get into Gate 2 and walk around till Gate 7 internally. So I did. One thing I got to say is the hospitability of the Singaporeans. Everything is answered with a bright smile on their face.





I entered Gate 2 and found a nice place to sit. I had walkabout tickets so I could walk around anywhere in the Gate 2-7 vicinity. And I am so glad I just stayed put at Gate 2 for most of the race. As soon as the Formula BMW Pacific event concluded, there was the other support event of Porsche Carrera Cup Asia. Once that was done, I just sat there listening to songs on my iPod when I saw people pointing out to something. I just about managed to take the ear plugs off in time when I heard them shout "Go Felipe!!". The driver's parade had begun. Each driver was placed in a vintage car with their names written on the cars, and they were being taken around the track. One driver in each car. When I saw Felipe Massa go by, I knew the next would be Raikkonen. I quickly fumbled to switch on my camera which I was using in Video mode, coz I could hardly take any good pics in motion.


And there he was. 50 feet away from me, separated by a barrier. If there were no barriers there and if Kimi just stood there, I could have walked up to him in less than 50 steps. And that is no exaggeration. That is how close I was to the race track. I managed to switch on the Camera just as he was passing by and I noticed I wasnt concentrating on the camera at all. My eyes were stuck on him. My heart was pounding and my hands were shivering. And I saw him, as clear as daylight. There he was. The most amazing looking man I'd seen. And he looks much much better than his pics. Oh I cant tell you how I felt at that moment. I was so awe-struck that I had gone numb for a moment. Probably the happiest that I have felt.



Then the others driver went by. I caught them on the camera but the cars were going too fast for my camera. Not as fast as the F1 cars of course..they are vintage cars. But my camera wasnt accustomed to sports photography I guess. So the video isnt all that great. Lewis Hamilton had the warmest smile of all the drivers. He is such a pleaser. But his arrogance has put me off quite a bit and hence I wont talk about him too much. Robert Kubica had the loudest of cheer after Kimi Raikkonen. (P.S. In a local newspaper there was a compilation of list of reasons why Singaporeans will watch F1 at the Marina Bay circuit...and one of the reason was "TO WATCH KIMI RAIKKONEN").




The race started and it was just awesome. The crowd was cheering and people went crazy. The loud noise of the roaring engines...WOW!!! I had ear plugs on for a while and then I removed those to "hear" F1 at its best. It was an amazing feeling to hear the cars whizz by. Just across from me, like 50 feet away. I am not going to write much about the race, except that Kimi Raikkonen crashed out and there was the biggest groan from the crowd when that announcement was made. There was non stop commentary that was going on at the circuit and between the roaring sounds we could hear little.



All in all, I had the time of my life...and I've never felt this way before :P ...going a little musical am I?? Why not?? After all I saw Kimi. And Wow...I am more in love with him now than ever before :P

I leave from Singapore tomorrow i.e 30th September. It was a visit I'll never forget. In my lifetime. The only thing that can top this right now is meeting Kimi in person. I was yakking all the way home with Appu about Kimi. I said If I become a good sports journalist, I can meet him :P...hehehe...I'd be too tongue tied I said. But I swear, I cant tell you how I'm feeling. :)







Peace out everyone...I'll sign off for now. Happiness all around!! :)

Singapore DAY 1



Its 7.21 PM and me and Kalyan just came back from a whole day's walking walking walking... Phew!! Haven't walked this much in months...seriously speaking my toes hurt right now, but it was all worth it.

I woke up at 10.30 in the morning today and then went about doing morning LOITERING ...unsure what I was supposed to do. Appu prepared Aloo Ka Parathas and that's what we had to fill our tummies. Got ready around 12.30 PM and Me, Appu and Kalyan took the train (they call it MRTs here) to Dhoby Ghaut. From there we changed trains and went to City Hall. And walking walking it was all the way.

Saw a BMW F1 car....not bad...I quite like it :) Went around , basically covered most of the track (roads closed so went about walking around it...see picture for the parts we covered).



Marked with red are the areas we covered of the track. Saw the starting grid from the Singapore Flyer...that was really good. Got to observe the Singapore skyline from there...was real real real fun.



Hmmm... I'm really tired now...For those of you, who'd like to see pics, I've uploaded them on my Picasa Album...link as follows.
http://picasaweb.google.com/smriti.dolls/SingaporeDay1#


Will keep updating more..Hope everyone is doing well...Resting time...Peace!! :)

SINGAPORE..Here I am!! :)

Hey Everyone,

I'm FINALLY in Singapore. Its 11.06 PM (minus 2.5 Hrs for IST). Appu came to pick me up at the airport and now she's cooking a tasty meal for me (Palak Paneer, Black Dal, Parathas...thats what I saw her making ...yummmy). Kalyan isn't back home yet and we are sort of waiting for him to come (I'm hungry...but wanted to update here as well).

I started from home at 4.00 AM morning and took the bus to SHAMSHABAD AIRPORT. Reached airport, my first visit to the new airport which is exactly 1 hr away early morning time (no wonder it takes 2-3 hrs to reach there in peak hours). Its huuuuuge...but not quite as impressive as everyone talks about. But its good.

I took the 6.30 AM flight from Hyderabad and reached Chennai at 7.30. An Aerial view of Chennai made me realise how densely populated it was. I haven't been to Chennai in the longest of while and I guess the last time I went, I didnt have a window seat. Well this time I did :) And Chennai seems dense but planned. Mom's colleague picked me up from the airport, took me to his home, where his wife made some really yummy dosas for me. I rested there for a while and left for Chennai Airport at 11.00 AM.

Took my boarding pass (lucky enough to get Executive class tickets!!!) and proceeded for immigration check and other formalities. Then boarded IC 557 at 1.25 PM afternoon. The four hour flight was a pleasure..AIR INDIA has in-flight entertainment system so I saw a yucky "De Taali" and a few sitcoms (King of Queens, Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai). Appu was there at the airport and we are at her place now (Dont ask me the name...I dont know how to pronounce or spell it as yet, but tomorrow onwards, I think I'll get a hang...right now toooo hungry and tired!! :P)

Kalyan has taken an off tomorrow, Appu has to work. He'll be showing me around the city and the Circuit...cant wait....:D

Will Upload pics real soon.

Will keep you guys updated!! CHEERS!!!

Failure to Launch??

Firstly, APOLOGIES for being out of action/not checking blogs/not being able to take calls/respond back.

REASONS: A crashed PC, problem with Broadband connection and a minor
health hiccup.

CURRENT STATUS: PC still non-functional, cant seem to set up broadband on mom's laptop (what the hell is error 769...?? All the techie
bloggers, help me out here) and no more health hiccups.

Special apologies to PRASHANTH and HEMANTH. Was asleep most of the time you guys used the mobile network to connect to me. I am "going Nithin"
as far as cellular balance is concerned. Will recharge first thing this
monday and you can expect an "Unexpected call" from moi. :P

(NO OFFENCE NITHIN :P)

Well so the news from my end is I got my visa for Singapore (yay!! It
was so damn hard to get one I tell you :P). I'm leaving on 20th-21st of
September so the next few days would be a little hectic with all the
preparations.

I would try my best to get my PC fixed before I leave, read as many
blogs as I can, and turn a commentator once again ;) [Using a painfully slow dial-up connection...should give you an idea of how despo I am to connect to you guys!!). Will keep you
guys updated on the preparations and other stuff.

RECENT PREAPARATION UPDATES: I was gonna get something unique for the
race and show my support for Kimi, but I think considering his form, I
think it would be better to keep it low profile. Most of my shopping is
done, a little more left. Of course, last minute shopping is our forte,
aint it? ;)

Chalo, I'll sign off now, considering the unreliable dial-up connection
I'm using. See you all, with interruptions :( :(
Cheers!!

P.S. Special note of mention to Priya, Crystal, Anoop, Alok, Aparna and
Vishesh... will be reading all of your blogs...I've seen quite a few
updates from you guys recently...Phew!! :)

Already missing you all!! :( :( Darn! Why does technology have to be
such an addiction!!

I AM IN LOVE!!!


NOTE: I've written two blogs today (An achievement by my standards you see :P) ..Do check out both of them.

YES.

Coming back to the topic in discussion. I cant tell you guys how it feels to be in love again. :) It is such an amazing feeling. Today I declare it out to the world that I AM IN LOVE...

So who is it? Right?? You wanna know?? Seriously??

Its good ol' BLOGSVILLE. :))

Found ample time today to check out some really good blogs, chatting with a few blogger buddies and getting their perspective on anything and everything. It is amazing to see such good writers out there... :)

Add to this, Hemanth gave all his blogger friend the BFF (BLOGGER FRIENDS FOREVER) award. I'm putting up what he gave me, on the side panel.

I wont be following the same tag in that exact same fashion, but here's a link up of my awards:

Kindly note that all awards mentioned here are a reflection of my views and do not necessarily reflect yours too. These are without any bias or prejudice. Read on:

MOST INSPIRING BLOGGERS :
ALOK PADHI and PRASHANT SREE


BLOGGERS WITH A DIFFERENCE :
HEMANTH POTLURI and PRIYA JOYCE


COOLEST BLOGGER:
ANOOP

BLOGS THAT BLOW AWAY MY MIND ALL THE TIME :
CHEMERICAL THOUGHTS
CHASING RATIONALITY

FINALLY,
Last award, but not the least in any sense,



MY FAVOURITE BLOGGER :
NITHIN JAYAN
(Without a doubt)



So here are my blog LOVES for the time being. Do check them out!! ;)

Cheers!!

PEE-mancipate....

NOTE: I MIGHT RECIEVE SOME FLAK FOR THIS BUT I'M READY...BRING IT ON!! :P


All thanks to dear young Nithin Jayan who inspired me write about the nuances of the bladder activity. :P This is about a conversation I had with mom and dad on our way back home today.

It all started out with the familiar sight of a man, standing in a desolate corner of a near empty street in the Secunderabad Cantonment area. Why pay attention?? He was relieving himself. It reminded me of this ad I saw on SAHARA FILMY a few days ago. It spoke about Gandhigiri.

THE AD:
Q: to Munnabhai : People relieve themselves anywhere and everywhere, what can we do to stop this?

Munnabhai's answer : Simple. When you find a man relieving himself, just go and stand behind him and wait for him to finish. When he is done, put a garland around his neck, clap and whistle loudly and congratulate him. Then give him a sapling and say "Now that you have provided the water, why dont you plant a sapling too. That way, there'll be greenery at least."

The Ad was funny for sure. You may not see it in my narration. Anyways, as I narrated this ad to my mom, and thus started our debate :

Mom: One cant really help when there are no public toilets around. If its urgent, then its ok.

Me: Mom, we have a lot of Public toilets...those sulabh thingys these days. Why cant they go in there?

Mom: People worry about hygiene at such places.

Me: Mom, its fairly clean. People just dont want to part with Rs 2 to pee.

Mom: No it isnt like that. These toilets arent available everywhere....take for instance this area. Its in the Secunderabad Cantonment board, absolutely secluded, wild bushes and trees all around and no public rest room in sight. What other option do they have?

Me: Does that mean they relieve themselves anywhere?

Mom: Its not all bad. It is going into the soil or to the plants. Its like fertilizer. (huh???)

Me: Whatever, but it gives out a bad smell.

Mom: Ya if too many people relieve themselves at one place. Not in such cases where it is all going to the plants.

Me: Even so...cant men have restraint? I mean, we dont dare do it. Why cant men stop doing it?? Its totally uncivilised the way men relieve themselves in the open. Its embaressing and totally unhygienic.

Mom: I dont completely agree with you. If its urgent then there's no option.

And we changed the topic...while I counted 6 such men relieving themselves as we had this conversation.


I had an American lady staying with us last year. She was on her first trip to India and was baffled to see the crowded streets, cows on the road and people relieving themselves in the open. In her Words : This is the 27th Man I've counted from Delhi to here...I need to take back a picture of the next one I find. How can they do it so openly?

(By the way, her boyfriend had something to add to it : Baby, if you'd counted properly, it would have been three times that number)

(Her boyfriend is an Indian who settled abroad long ago!!)


Just want to know what you think about it. And do you think this will ever stop??
 
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