Ava tagged me in this, some gazillion years ago. Here it goes:

8 TV shows I like

- The Big Bang Theory
- That 70’s Show
- F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
- So you think you can dance
- Roadies
- Bigg Boss
- Cut
- The Big Fat Indian Wedding

8 Favorite Places to Eat

Not a big fan of food but one has to eat to survive. Any place will do, Still:

- Coconut Grove (Bangalore)
- MTR (Bangalore)
- 13th Floor (Bangalore)
- TGIF (Bangalore)
- Molly Malones (Goa)
- Vie Lounge (Mumbai)
- Bengali Market (Delhi)
- Forgot name, a very fine restaurant in Jaipur.

8 Things That Happened Yesterday

- Got up early, which rarely happens (10:10 AM)
- Had breakfast (once again something which rarely happens)
- Had work like ‘there’s no tomorrow’ in office, so skipped lunch
- Also, did not smoke whole day
- Had a pint at home after work with cousin
- Played agony aunt to a friend
- Saw 2 movies: ‘The Murder of Princess Diana’ and ‘The Purple Rose of Cairo’
- Slept at 5 in morning

8 Things I Look Forward To

- A day off from work. As it is quarter end, I am asked to work 12 days at stretch. Its been 11 days now, 1 more day to go. My next off is 3rd October
- Trip to a resort on outskirts of Bangalore in 1st week (a much needed)
- My Brother’s return from US in 2nd week of October
- Start of Klueless during Diwali. It’s an online game organized by students of IIM every year since 2005. It’s open to whoever has access to net. Last year me and mystiquedew were in Hall of Fame.
- Trip to Alleepey in 4th week of October
- Trip to Mumbai and Indore in 3rd week of November
- My niece’s 1st b’day in 2nd week of December
- Trip to Bangkok in last week of December

8 Things I Love About Winter

- X’mas holidays
- New year’s eve
- No sweat
- Long rides on bike
- Jackets
- Sweaters (like wearing sweaters)
- A walk (anywhere)
- An outing for sure

8 Things on My Wish List

- Longines or Audemars Piguet Watch
- Car for myself
- Brown/Blue contact lenses (current ones are damn plain)
- Home Gym
- Treadmill
- Write a Book
- Make a Movie
- Fly a Plane

8 Things I am Passionate About

- Cinema
- Travel (alone, all by myself)
- Good reads (Books, Mags, anything)
- Cricket
- Conversation on Cinema/Politics/Cricket
- Watching people (can spend hours just watching)
- Writing
- Partying/Clubbing/Socializing

8 Words or Phrases I use Often

- Fuck
- Ainvayee
- Yeah, right!
- Seriously
- Kuchh bhi haan?
- Shucks
- Shuru Tera? (When someone starts bragging, I say ‘Shuru Tera?’ or ‘Started?’)
- Hows the yous, takes the cares

8 Things I have Learnt From My Past

- Fuck, learnt from past? Seriously? Kuchh bhi haan?

8 Places I would Love to Go or See or Visit

- Istanbul
- Jerusalem
- Bhutan
- Moscow
- Rishikesh
- Kashmir
- Amsterdam
- Mecca

8 Things I currently Need or Want

- Same as Wish list above

8 People to Tag

None in particular, Pick it up if you want to.

Ava tagged me in another one.

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn on page 18 and find line 4.

'Sorry to ask again, but a cricket shop in a temple complex? Who will buy?'

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can & catch air?

Office Guidelines sheet stuck in my cubicle.

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?

Sleepy Hollow (7 days ago). Haven’t watched TV since then. Missing those reality shows I love.

4. Without looking, guess what time it is?

23.45

5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?

23.57

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?

Girl in next bay talking on her cell phone (Damn, can’t hear what exactly she is yakking)

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?

I came to work. At work, I stepped outside cubicle to bring water.

8. Before you started this Q&As, what did you look at?

Browsed through various News websites (a routine)

9. What are you wearing?

T-Shirt and Jeans (Shawl kept aside in case it gets cold)

10. When did you last laugh?

This morning at a PJ. I love PJs. PJ was: Teacher: Sam, What is skin of tree called? Sam: No idea Sir. Teacher: Bark, Sam Bark. Sam: Bow, Wow, Wow!!!

11. What is on the walls of the room you are in?

In Cubicle I have many sheets pinned. At home in my room, nothing except a huge mirror.

12. Seen anything weird lately?

An IDOL with a mask (A Swine Flu Joke)

13. What do you think of this quiz?

Total fun. I love Quizzes.

14. What is the last film you saw?

Gran Torino

15. If you became a multimillionaire overnight, what would you buy?

A Private Jet and a Home in Istanbul.

16. Tell me something about you that I dunno!

U r one of my Close and Best friends. Yes, U did not know this yet.

17. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?

Poverty and chauvinism.

18. Do you like to Dance?

Absolutely

19. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?

Vivein or Ava

20. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call her?

Agastya

21. Would you ever consider living abroad?

Yes, Istanbul, Israel or Russia.

22. What do you want GOD to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?

I want you to go back.

I Tag Mystique, Bhargav and Poonam.

I was busy. Very busy. I am back. Have many posts to read (if possible comment). I have no enthu to write on anything. Have decided to do the tags for sometime... So, please tag me wherever you feel like... Bring it on.

Ava tagged me in this:

A – Available/Single?
Available for one night sit/stands…Single forever.

B – Best friend?
Close - 4 friends, Best - Don’t know, Keeps changing per situation amongst those 4 close ones.

C – Cake or Pie?
None.

D – Drink of choice?
In order of preference: Water, Bacardi, Chivas, Vodka, All Beers, Red Wines.

E – Essential item you use every day?
Cell Phone.

F – Favorite colour?
Black.

G – Gummy Bears or Worms?
Gummy Worms...Heehaw.

H – Hometown
Bangalore, Patna, Delhi, and Varanasi.

I – Indulgence?
Movies, Books, Drinks while doing any of them.

J – Jealous or Benign?
Benign.

K – Kids & their names?
No Kids.

L – Life is incomplete without?
Me of course…. My life is incomplete without me (Ava said same).

M – Marriage date?
Not married and won’t happen.

N – Name? Your real name!
Vivek.

O – Oranges or Apples?
Neither. I like only Guavas in fruits.

P – Phobias/Fears?
Getting Paunch, Losing limbs/eyes, oh there are many.

Q – Quote for today?
I am alive, I am happy.

R – Reason to smile?
Depends.

S – Season?
Winter.

T – Tag 3 People?
Rakesh Bhai, Rakesh V, and Abhishek

U – Unknown fact about me?
I walk in sleep (sometimes)

V – Vegetable you don’t like?
All except Potato and Brinjal

W – Worst habit?
Lazy and Restless. How’s that for oxymoronic

X – X-rays?
Yes. Both Hands, Backbone.

Y – Your favorite food?
None in particular. Eating is waste of time.

Z – Zodiac sign?
Aquarius.

My posts in recent past have been about the MovieManiax Awards. The response has been tremendous. Close to 250 people have voted so far and coming to think of it, it’s just been 7 days since the voting went live. I thank each one of you for the support and spreading the word. Those who still have not voted, please click here to choose the Best in Hindi Cinema for 2008.

Now, below are the gazillion things you really would not be interested in knowing about me. However, I have been tagged to do so by friends and I myself am quite eager to do it. Somewhere, some kind soul I hope would be really interested in knowing about me. What you see below are the two tags; 25 Random Things and 100 Things About Me. And I thought of doing both at one go.

25 Random Things

1) I eat very less. I eat twice a day with no in-between snacks/juices.

2) I sleep even lesser. I sleep 5-6 hours on an average basis.

3) I sleep with six pillows to be exact; all positioned tactically at right places.

4) I suffer from mild OCD when it comes to CDs, books, shoes and in particular pillows. They have to be arranged in a particular manner. That’s why I find it hard to sleep at others place if I am not given the room to myself.

5) When I get drunk:

• I dance till I am lifted and taken away or the music is stopped OR
• I start giving a sheepish smile to everyone I come across OR
• I start singing aloud

6) I do not like gifting or receiving flowers/chocolates, candle-light dinner or any such fad. I am romantic person in my own way. All my ex-lovers will vouch for that.

7) I made my first buck when I was 10. The amount was 150 Rupees.

8) When I was 10 or 11, I used to hit kids younger than me for no reasons. I was sent back home more than dozen times for this crime.

9) I once watched movies nonstop for 72 Hours plus with just 15-16 hours of sleep in-between. (Of course on DVDs)

10) I watch 90% of the new releases First Day First Show and for the rest I have no qualms in knowing the story/climax; in fact I ask for it. For me, it doesn’t ruin the fun. Similarly, I have no uneasiness in knowing the bottom line of any book.

11) I have seen Dev.D 5 times in theater since its release for the reason that I loved the movie and I believe if you love the movie, you should watch it as many times as possible in theater. Once, it’s gone from theaters you will never experience the same anywhere. You buy home theater, or whatever, a theater experience is unique. The last such movie was Company that I saw 7 times in theater.

12) I absolutely love Abhay Deol, Kareena Kapoor and Rakhi Sawant (in that order).

13) My brother and I made 1000 plus bucks by selling the tickets of Titanic in black.

14) I was voted ‘The Best Junior’ by seniors in my first year of Engineering. For my birthday that year, I received gifts every hour. I did not sleep a wink that day.

15) Knowingly or unknowingly I have played match-maker amongst my friends (Mind it, not a pimp) with a success-to-failure ratio of 5-to-2.

16) I am University Gold Medalist in B.E. (Instrumentation Technology). (This I told as this is one thing every one gets freaked out at whenever I tell; my own family laughed it off when I called and told them. So, there is something for you to LOL too… hehe)

17) I was addicted to Dope and Popeye in my last year of Engineering.

18) I once walked 12 KMs in monstrous rain with no rain coat or umbrella at 4 in morning.

19) I am a live wire, Party Ki Jaan (as friends say).

20) I quit my first job at a whim and traveled across India for three months.

21) I am extremely good with numbers. I see number plate of the vehicle in front of me and I start fiddling with them in mind. I am completely obsessed with numbers 3 and 7.

22) I have to listen to any song just twice and I can sing-along from third time even after a gap of a decade or more of listening to them.

23) I get impatient when I am doing anything apart from watching movies or any human. I can watch people anywhere continuously for hours without doing anything else. Even if it is one person I am watching I can do it for hours together.

24) I have been hit-on by both the sexes.

25) I got indulged in orgy (more than once).


100 Things

1. Last beverage → Vodka with Sprite & Ice.
2. Last phone call--> 30 minutes ago
3. Last text message→ An hour ago
4. Last song you listened to→ Dhoop Ke Sikke from Sikandar
5. Last time you cried→ 2 months ago

SIX HAVE YOU EVER:

1. Dated someone twice → Yes, I never had sad-break up ever.
2. Been cheated on? → Yes
3. Kissed someone & regretted it? → Yes, my lips touched a dog's (or was it bitch) lips and I almost puked.
4. Lost someone special? → Yes
5. Been depressed?→ Yes
6. Been drunk and threw up? → Yes, twice and out of that once was on my brother's lap.

HAVE YOU:

1. Made new friends → Yes. And currently I have new ones only
2. Fallen out of love → Yes.
3. Laughed until you cried → No
4. Met someone who changed you → No. Initially I feel I am changed but I am back to my normal self and eventually they all get changed.
5. Found out who your true friends were → Yes
6. Found out someone was talking about you → Yes, Very often I get update on that. I have my loyalists spread over
7. Kissed anyone on your friend's list → Yes, so many of them. And I stopped using Orkut much cuz of the confusion n chaos I was getting into.
8. Made the first Move → Yes
10. Do you have any pets → Nopes, and will never have and I hate other's pets as well. Don't ever ask me to mollycoddle your pet please.
11. Do you want to change your name → No
12. What did you do for your last birthday → Had all-night party with friends, Danced, Got drunk, danced more and did a strip show on request.
13. What time did you wake up today – 12:30 PM
14. What were you doing at midnight last night→ Watching ‘Milk’.
15. Name something you CANNOT wait for → Friday
16. Last time you saw your father → Yesterday
17. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life → Be more patient and forgiving
18. Most visited webpage → News Sites, Facebook and PassionForCinema apart from personal ones

ABOUT U:

1. What's your name→ Vivek
2. Nicknames→ Veekey, Vee and Monu.
4. Zodiac sign → Aquarius
5. Male or female or transgendered → Male
6. Elementary→ Kendriya Vidyalaya Gurgaon
7. Schools → Kendriya Vidyalaya Kasauli (Himachal) and KV ASC (S) Bangalore
8. Colleges → UBDT College of Engineering, Davangere, Karnataka
10. Hair color → Originally Black, now Copper Brown
11. Long or short → Keeps changing. Now long
16. Height → 5'8”
17. Do you have a crush on someone? → Yes, The current count is 2.
18: Ever been in love? Yes, twice
19. Piercings → Left Ear
20. Tattoos → Yes, Dragon on left arm
21. Righty or lefty → Righty

FIRSTS :

23. First piercing → Left Ear
24. First best friends → Sanjay
26. First sport you joined: Cricket and Kabaddi (either one of them)
27. First pet → Never had
28. First vacation → Don’t remember exactly, my ancestral home in Patna I guess.
29. First concert → Don’t remember exactly, Either Parikrama or Indian Ocean. Loads after that
30. First crush --> Sarita
49. Eating → ? What can I say for first eating?
50. Drinking → ? again….??? Same as above.
52. I'm about to → watch a movie
53. Listening to--> First would be songs of Aashiqui, currently Gulaal and Sikandar

YOUR FUTURE :

58. Want kids? --> No
59. Want to get married ? --> No
60. Careers in mind? --> Writing, Actor, Gigolo
68. Lips or eyes → Lips
69. Hugs or kisses→ Kisses
70. Shorter or taller → Any
71. Older or Younger → Any
72. Romantic or spontaneous → Whichever as long as good in bed
73. Nice stomach or nice arms → Any
74. Sensitive or loud → BOTH
75. Hook-up or relationship → Hook-Ups
77. Trouble maker or hesitant → Trouble maker

HAVE YOU EVER:

78. Kissed a stranger → Yes, Bus and Train journeys used to be so awesome.
79. Lost glasses/contacts → Yes both Glasses and contacts, many times.
81. Sex on first date → Yes, if mutual.
82. Broken someone's heart → Yes, Why do you think I dated someone twice.
83. Had your own heart broken → Yes, Someone else dated me twice for that very reason
85. Been arrested → No
86. Turned someone down → Yes
87. Cried when someone died → Yes
88. Liked a friend that is a girl/boy? → Made friends with both the sexes

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

89. Yourself → Of course, Yes
90. Miracles → Never experienced. So, No
91. Love at first sight → No
92. Heaven → No.
93. Santa Clause → No
94. Peace in this lifetime→ No
95. Kissing on the first date? → Why not, if date is too mouth-watering
96. Angels → No
97. Is there one person you want to be with right now? --> No.
98. Had more than one boyfriend/girlfriend at one time in the past? --> Yes
99. You will die Young→ Yes, I have that fear.
100. You will end with the one you love and learn to love the one you are with – What? So confusing.

P.S. This one was actually more than 100.
P.S. 2 - 25 Random Things I guess most have finished, so for the 100 Things one (129 actually), I tag Vimal, Poonam, Varun, Rakesh, V and Reema.
P.S. 3 - I watched Gulaal twice already and I guess I will go for at least one more viewing before I write on it.

Reema. Wooyay. Applause, Claps, Trumpets, Gun-Shots, Red Carpet.

The answer is: It's the flower of Guava (or Amrood in Hindi) tree.

So, the floor is now yours Reema for the next 'Riddle Me This'.

P.S. After Dev.D, Anurag is ready with his next offering 'Gulaal'. Click here to watch the trailer. Oh Gosh!!! What A Trailer. Jack and Jill went up the hill, To fetch a pail of BHOSADI-KA! (I will clarify later that I am not saying 'what a trailer' for that phrase in particular). Watch it to believe what Anurag is made of. 13th March, there I wait for you.

P.S.1 - Read Shobhaa's this entry and my comment there (4th comment). Don't I make sense there? Isn't she losing it completely these days, Brains I mean!!!

P.S.2 - My 'twin brother' is celebrating his 28th Birth-Day today. And I am damn excited about it. So, no more rant and it's fucking party time.

=========-
The Tag
=========-
I was tagged by Vicky. And I went for this without two thoughts as this was on movies. A pretty easy and neat.

1. Name five of your all time favorite movies.

Hindi Ones:
Arth
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron
Masoom (old)
Maqbool
Black Friday


English Ones:
Casablanca
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Motorcycle Diaries
Scent of a Woman
Schindler’s List

2. Name one movie which you recommend as a "must see".
Life Is Beautiful

3. One and only one movie that you have seen many times. [Watching on TV won’t count]
Rock On (The movie which I have seen more than 2 times in theater; for various reasons though)

4. Which movie comes to your mind when I say funniest?
Shoot the Piano Player (French)

5. Which movie(s) made you really emotional?
The Lives of Others (German) and How Green Was My Valley (English)

6. Which movie series was as interesting as the first part?
Godfather Series (Without any doubt)

7. Which movie didn’t, according to you, live up to your expectations?
The Da Vinci Code.

8. Which movie surprised you?
13 Tzameti (French)


=========-
The Rant
=========-

A quick look at the movies I saw over the weekend.

The Wizard of Oz: (1939)
Supposedly second in the list of Top 5 Hollywood Movies (Classic) of all time, the movie is a musical and fantasy film. The story is about an Orphan Dorothy (Judy Garland). Her dog Toto once bit a certain Miss Gulch who gets an order from court to take the dog away. The dog any how runs back to Dorothy upon which she decides to run away from the village. And there starts a fun journey wherein a coward lion, a scarecrow, a tin man join her. I find the movie just about ok. I wanted to watch this as now only 1 movie is left to be seen out of that list. That it is in top 5 of all time classic is actually attributed to the fact that the movie was hugely loved when shown as TV series as it was not very commercially hit when released.

Rating – 3 n half

Gentleman’s Agreement: (1947)
Gregory Peck stars in this drama as a Journalist who wishes to unravel the Anti-Semitism (resentment against Jews) outlook by posing himself as a Jew. What he unearths upsets him a great deal. As a Jew, he realizes to what extent people actually go and the hostility doesn’t stop at the work. His fiancée too is in tight spot concerning all this hara-kiri.

Rating – 3 n half

Roman Holiday: (1953)
I have always ranted (whenever given prospect) of my love for Audrey Hepburn so much so that I started digging for all her movies after I watched Breakfast At Tiffany’s, but her debut movie (Roman Holiday) always eluded me. And the fact that it had my other favorite Gregory Peck made me restless beyond control. I got it through a friend finally. Audrey went on to win Academy Award in her debut film where she portrayed a role of Royal Princess. Rome is the last destination on her tour of European cities. Upon reaching there, she runs away from her palace and roams around the street of Rome as a commoner. She meets a Journalist (Gregory as a Journalist yet again) and falls in love. But beware; the climax is not what our Bollywood guys would have made out of such story.

Rating – 4

Chariots of Fire: (1981)
The story based in year 1924 talks of 5 athletes preparing for upcoming Olympics. Zero down and you have two protagonists who are aiming for the 100 meter Gold. One of them is Jewish who would go to any extent to prove his detractors wrong and other is Christian who would not run on Sunday as running on Sabbath (religious day of rest) is sacrilege.

Rating – 4

Ain’t you guys tired of reading numerous posts on this tag? I am. If you too are, then stop reading right away and visit when I write my next. :) No offenses.

I remember, (few of you might too) I (along with my twin brother) was pulled in many times to play ghar-ghar by my sister. Sister’s saheli and my brother were always first selection for Maa-Papa; I was their child and Sister played teacher and I was to do all the tasks every time whilst they all sat and just ordered. Anyways, that was long time ago. After some gazillion years I feel the same. Vimmuuu and Anniyan sat and just ordered. I acted ignorant but I wasn’t to be spared. So here I go and play tag-tag this time.


1. If your lover betrayed you, what will your reaction be?
Well, I almost killed one in past (last minute savior popped up from nowhere). Next time, I will be a lot faster.

2. If you can have a dream to come true, what would it be?
I wish to appear on any famous magazine along with Uma Thurman (of course, semi-nude).

3. Whose butt would you like to kick?
Raj Thackeray.

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?
I will give a part to Rakhi Sawant so that this time at least she goes under the blade entirely and gets her assets and assortments in proportion. I don’t know what I will do with the rest.

5. Will you fall in love with your best friend?
Yeah, it happened once. And now, no. I will never. I can for sure say it’s good to fall in love and then become good friends (in my case at least).

6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?
???? If you ask the same question to my partner and suppose we both reply ‘loving someone’ then what would you call it? How would you reach any conclusion?

7. How long do you intend to wait for someone you really love?
A week or two. Ok, 3 weeks max.

8. If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do?
Ah, lovely situation. Well, no issues. Let her be attached. I will attach myself too.

9. If you like to act with someone, who will it be? Your gf/bf or an actress/actor?
Oh, I always act. I mean at least half of the times in the beginning of dating. Don’t we all? Oh, you mean in theater/movies and all that jazz. Well, anyone except Rakhi Sawant. I adore her too much to be seen in the same frame. She is my idol.

10. What takes you down the fastest?
Wrong mix in my Rum/Whiskey.

11. How would you see yourself in ten years time?
I had no answer to this when I was filling the slam books of my friends in school exactly ten years ago to this year and I do not have it now. Or may be I would be responding to this question somewhere once again ten years from now as the trend seems to suggest.

12. What’s your fear?
Rakhi Sawant proposing me. I mean who in right sense would say no to something as raunchy as her. Come on, she is my idol and let me be like Meera and do idol worship.

13. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
God only knows. Or maybe God too doesn’t. :)

14. Would you rather be single and rich or married but poor?
Single and ANYTHING (poor or rich doesn’t matter)

15. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
I thank my stars that I did not wake up next to my idol.

16. Would you give all in a relationship?
I would give just what is needed.

17. If you fall in love with two people simultaneously, who would you pick?
Ah, another lovely situation. I like such situations. I would pick both if they are ready to live in harmony. We all can live like a nice family a la those in K serials or K-Jo movies.


18. Would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing that special someone has done?
I will try to strangle them once. If I fail, I would forgive and forget..

19. Your favorite pick up line (Original Question: What are your three most important expectations in love?)
Nice dress, how about a fuck?

20. List 6 people to tag:
I guess by now almost everyone is either tagged or got bored of reading it. So I tag none in particular.

S tagged me to write a poem, haha. That was enough to laugh. I warned her but she was ready to bear the onslaught. What I had to loose, but I hope RJ doesn't lose his senses after this. Go on, get murdered.

Jack and Jill,
Came up to Me,
Said Jill, "Give me a Pill",
Else I'll be a Mommy.

The Other day I met RGV,
And we discussed his 'Aag',
So rotten felt He,
But I told, Please don't Nag.

Harman came crying, "Why Me"?,
You make faces as if u have to Pee,
He continued, "But we tried so hard,
Wonder where the surgery went wrong",
I said, cuz your dad is not bald,
And you should clear your bowels before you break into song.

PS The poet has tried his best to rhyme. Isn't poetry all about that?

Vimmuuu and RJ, they both tagged me and there was no escape.