No smoking ? !

So since Oct 2nd , smoking has been officially banned at well defined public places , and that includes the reserved for smoking spaces in our campus also. This place is now well guarded , not just by a security guard but a sign board bearing the amount one can be fined for smoking there. So that helps ? Am not really sure . The EGL campus , has a lovely golf course and the walk along it is just an awesome feeling , I guess it is not going to be so anymore. For a stretch of about 50 mts along it , all that one can see now is plastic cups , chloromint wrappers , and cig stubs. Yes ,that is the new habitat of all the smokers in the campus. And despite a huge bin sitting there (it was installed after observing all this litter there ) , I doubt anyone uses it since it is actually open space and unlike the closed smoking area within the office premises that we earlier had.
I have no idea if the new rule helps/does not help , active/passive smoking , but if this is what is going to be the consequence , definitely not anticipated for. Makes sense to revert back then , atleast public places would be a lot more cleaner !
On a completely different note , most of my friends have left for their diwali vacation , me is the last to go , missing the gang already :) Suddenly had a feel of how days would be without these folks around !!

The new face of terror , operation BAD , more bombs diffused ... and on and on , we have seen all of it grabbing most newspaper front pages and TV channels breaking news off late. I must admit it hit really close in the last few months. Whether it was the Bangalore serial blasts or the ones in Delhi market or just watching how security has been tightened all around .. at times brings a feeling of helplessness. Especially the thought of so many people losing lives or possibly handicapped for the rest of their lives , just coz a bunch of inhuman people wanted to prove a point , a point that no one really understands . Panic , fear , distrust.. is wide spread. Suddenly one is safe nowhere. This definitely is not the even remotely ideal world we want out future generations to be a part of. I can see the change right now , we think a lot more before visiting any mall in the weekend , weekdays is less crowded , so lesser chance of someone blowing it up.
The victims of 9/11 or the London/Mumbai/Delhi bombings bear physical and mental scars that might never fade. Wonder how many more people are going to bear them.Wonder if there is a solution at all. I am reminded of an MTV mock interview of a Mr. Terrorist , who when asked on why they revert to bombings had absoultely no answer . All that he stammered was we will keep doing it , but we dont know why. If thats in reality , it certainly leaves us with a sad and scary picture of how things are going to be...

Ps: I wrote this post after having read what Anu and Rahul had to share on similar topics..

This one is funny!

Someone forwarded this to me , hmmm.....

whats in a name..

Thats what people say , but then a name does matter ! Lipi Tripathy , now how difficult is that to spell /pronounce ? I would say quite simple , short and simple in fact. Apparently Airtel folks have a problem with this , how else does my name transform into Mr. Lee Tirupathi one fine day !! The dude on phone drastically changed my gender , nationality ...
Or the polite lady who wanted to speak to Mr. Lips , ahem ahem . commonsense please madam , what is the probability of a Mr.Lips existing on this planet ?
I have seen quite a few modifications of my name , lips,lipsy,lipsiku but Lee Tirupathi beats them all !

Drunk Tales

All characters mentioned in this post are very much real , and you could find a lot of resemblance to someone you know well or even yourself ;) , but lets declare the norm here .No names please !!
The first incident that comes to my mind is while we were still on PS in Bangalore and this pg-mate of mine decided to gulp down much more that she could take . Problem was to get her to the room which was on the first floor from the car with the pg aunty sitting right across the hall. Somehow we managed to send aunty off for a while and 2 of us were helping this very much on-the-high friend up the stairs with all hush hush , when suddenly in full spirits she shouts " where is aunty ?"
And to think of all our efforts in making this a not so obvious affair ! But we managed and aunty did not have the slightest doubt.
The next episode has to be the most hilarious one , it involved the subject locking up a friend in the balcony , almost ransacking someone else's house and swearing all the time that 'I am fine , F.I.N.E fine .. " I should also mention that we had a movie to catch after that , and on the way also caught up with a lot more confessions from the subject very much to our amusement.
A long and happening day, that had completely drained out this person and a friend suggested a drink , the subject's first ever .A baby's dose , as termed by mr. bartender , but enough to make sure our subject was tipsy and drove the rest out of the house with "you will have to get out now !!"
There is also the case of a friend who in a royally washed out state was kinda violent , kicking the poor soul who carried her , and throwing the bucket at the rest of us.Well , the acts of violence did end with few hugs though :D
It is pure entertainment for those watching , I still remember when a friend had a sip or 2 of kerosene mistaking it for something else !Not much fun though when the person is all quiet with a look that says "just dont come anywhere close to me or talk to me" . This guy never admits it , but me and a friend can very much imitate this pose and look ! Another friend was quite a bit out after few drinks at a party and would just not let us drive him home , he was adamant on biking along while the rest of us just kept praying .
A lot more incidents that flash across now , more later . .... :)

Ugly Aur Pagli , neither actually. Watched this one last weekend , expectations were quite high , something along the lines of Pyar Ke Side Effects and it was such a damn squib comparatively.Well , the comedy was damn good in most parts , the expressions of the lead pair , especially Ranvir , just priceless but then I thought we needed something more concrete to hold all this in place . Perhaps a script . Some of the reviews on this movie have claimed this is a remake (read copy) of My Sassy Girl , I haven't watched that one but would like to believe it was a better original.
Nevertheless it was entertaining at times despite the absolutely-not-needed-and-pathetic-songs .My eyes were more glued to the awesome and smart bags Ms.Sherawat carried ;) Oh yea , if you are wondering about the 99 slaps bit as in the promos , it pretty much lives up to that mark , I was actually wondering if the guy had become immune to them after a while !!

Had been to Jayadev's place today to see him and Deepa off , they will soon be moving to Sunnyvale and officially join the gang there. Gang coz apart from few of us here , I can't seem to find anyone in my friends circle who hasn't relocated or atleast applied for the same , and it is a matter for some months before latter category folks set off as well . As Kalro says quite a few times ,"lets all move there and retain the group" , wish it was that easy. Things change , friends move on , and what is a little depressing for me is the thought of being the only one remaining here and that too just coz I cannot take a decision well. Yahoo! isnt going to be the same place without some of these folks , we will all miss Jayadev especially at the All-Hands gatherings and year-end parties , his so successful attempts at irritating us with his hindi , the non stop chatter and masti and all the fun.
I really think I need a high in life right now , the last blog post and this one too , in not so great spirits. Oh yeah, work wise it has been on a roll as another friend remarked :) , but yes its been good , just that I have learnt quite well not to entangle work related stuff in my personal space . So all the on-the-roll stuff fades out by the time it is home.
And also Shweta is leaving tomorrow for Singapore , weather is dull with rains on and off and with the recent happenings at Bangalore it is mostly sit-at-home. Hmmm , learning to live with all of this :)