Scrabble...I luv this game!

I first started playing Scrabble when I was in the 4th or 5th grade. My grannie taught me how to play and I've loved the game ever since. Even managed to represent my school at an inter-school Scrabble tournament.

I didnt fare too well there...but it was the first time I was introduced to the official Scrabble words which, mind you, are nothing like the words which we use in our everyday sentences. Works like Qi, Jo and Aa are all acceptable and even have meanings!

Recently I've started playing online at www.isc.ro and tonight I managed to score my first online Bingo with the word 'Prelude' against some dude called 'Viswa'. I myself go by the nick 'ExNihilo' coz sadly, 'Switchblade' was already taken.

Note - A 'Bingo' is when you use all 7 letters(tiles) at once. You get an extra 50 points added to your score.

Above is a screenshot of my victory. I've uploaded it for everyone to behold!
The words in red have been made by me. After this game I got a cool 20 points added to my ranking bringing me to 557 points which isnt bad but its nowhere near the top players who have over 2000 points.

I've got a long way to go!

Beans?

Today I went out shopping for a bean bag. Always wanted to have one...ever since one of my friends got one in his room during our college days. Used to love sitting on his bag whenever I was over at his place. Now I'm gonna have my own...and its an XXL one at that!

So I'm in the shop deciding on the color of my new piece of furniture...and this guy is talking to the salesman next to me. Here's the conversation they had while I eavesdropped.

Customer: "How much do the beans cost?"

Salesman: (Showing him the foam) "They come free with the bag when you buy it."

Customer: "What if I want to fill my bag with actual beans?"

Salesman: "Yes sir, I assure you the foam we use is the actual filling that all branded companies use in their bags."

Customer: "No, I mean what about real beans?"

Salesman: "Sir, there is no such thing as 'real' beans...These are as real as they come."

Customer: "And if I want to fill my bag with real beans, How much will it cost me?"

Salesman: (Realizing that this doofus is talking about coffee beans) "Sir, filling a bag this size with 'real' beans would be too expensive!!"

HAHAHAHA!!!

I had to go outside the shop to catch my breath!

Overworked?

Its 11:50pm and I'm still in the office. Im coding for someone else's defect after having completed my work for the day. Just realised that the some more coding changes are required and I might have to stay on for some more time before leaving for home. Thats not all...I've come to work on my bike and its raining outside. So its a 20 km ride back home in the cold and rain only to come back early tomorrow morning and join the rat race once again....do you think Im frustrated??

The day I got assaulted...

Just finished another year in my life...I'm now well aged and nicely matured at the age of 22. I think since its been more than a year now I'll relate to you the most embarassing thing that has ever happened to me...I got assaulted by a man with a paralysed arm...on my 21st birthday!

So here's what happened....

It was just past midnight on the 11th of May and the birthday calls were flowing in from friends and family when two of my friends from church showed up at my flat to take me out for some early morning coffee...

Since it was like 12:30am I could think of only one place that would be open at that hour. It was a spurious restaurant which operated undercover into the wee hours of the morning, operating behind nearly closed shutters and mostly catering to students who plan on staying up the whole night studying. Not many people know of this joint and its whereabouts are only circulated by word of mouth from one student to another.

So we went inside and waited for a waiter to come and serve us. Apart from being the only eating joint open all night long, this place is also famous for Uttam Kamble aka UK. He is the head waiter at the restaurant and sports an engineering degree from one of Pune's most prestigious colleges. Sadly he has a paralysed arm and thats probably why he works as a waiter at the said restaurant. Hes quite famous among the college students coz he converses in fluent English and is quite friendly....so I thought!

As UK was taking our order, one of my friends thought it would be good to mention to him that its my birthday...UK was very pleased to hear this as his birthday was only a few days away and he said that they should get together and give me a couple of birthday bumps. We all laughed it off and placed our order.UK decided to change our order from 3 teas to 3 special coffees since it was a special day for me...and we didnt say anything so as not to seem ungrateful.

After we were done with the coffee and a few omletes, my friends waited outside the restaurant while I stayed back inside to clear the bill. Since UK wasnt around I decided to pay the bill at the main counter itself...this would mean UK wouldnt get a tip but I thought that would be alright (Id like to mention at this poitn that the special coffee wasnt 'on the house' as we thought it would be....UK charged us for it!).

As I was about to leave with the spare change after paying the bill, UK showed up demanding a birthday gift from me...which was quite ironic since it was my birthday. Seeing the change in my hand he asked me to buy him a cigarette with it...thus clearing his tip and taking care of the birthday gift at the same time. Even though I dont encourage smokers I bought him the cigarette and turned to leave. As I bent under the shutters to leave I felt a sharp pain in my butt! Thats coz UK decided to unceremoniously plant his knee there. I turned around in shock to see UK smiling at me. Then he shouted out "One!! Haha... I told you I'd give you birthday bumps!" as if to start the counting for 21 bumps that he was planning to give me....

I fled the place with what remained of my dignity and my 'friends' laughing their heads off.

Something New

I know its been long since Ive posted anything here...thats only coz Ive been a bit busy with a new blog at the side...its a pretty good idea and Im really having a lot of fun being a part of this group....

This blog is in no way shut down and I will be back...

Cheers

On the 9th Day of Christmas...

Seasons Greetings and a Happy New Year to all you peepz out there!

This year was one of my first carol singing experiences ever...and it was great. On the 23rd and 24th of December, a bus-full of us 'carollers' went out to serenade the commoners. After nearly 6 hours a day of singing out loud my throat was sore but it felt really amazing.

We even stopped over at my place to sing to my parents who had come down to India for a short vacation. Apparently our neighbours also overheard us and left their doors open so that they could hear us singing in what they described as 'Amazing Voices'!

We even came up with some carols of our own...dont remember any of them apart from 'I shot the Reindeer..but I didnt shoot Santa Clause' :)

Its really sad that most people tend to associate Christmas with Fat men in red suits and decorated trees without giving even a moments thought to Christ. I mean we would have no reason to celebreate if He hadnt come...
If even a single person would realise the true meaning of Christmas through our singing then our work is done.

So now I'm back at work after my 10 day Christmas vacation...the festive mood is yet to completely wear off...the holiday wieght is begging to be shed and feeble resolutions of going to the gym regularly are already on the verge of being broken.

Thats all for now...Today being the 9th day of Christmas I'm expecting my true love to show up any moment with 9 Drummers drumming and a whole lot of other goodies :)

PS - This is my 50th post so extra warm wishes to all my regular readers....Have a fabulous new year ahead.

My first FragFest

First things first....for all you n00bs out there...a FragFest is a gaming event.
And to all the laypersons out there...'n00b' is the shortform for newbie and its used to refer to all amateurs.(Its kinda derogatory too)

So I made my way to my first FF last night...Just a couple of guys working in the same company getting together for a few hours of unadulterated Counter Strike!!
Being an avid gamer I couldnt resist the offer when it came up on the bulletin board.
First thing i noticed was that everyone was introducing themselves only by their screen-names...

So I was like...
Hi Im Royston.
And He goes....
Pleased to meet you, Im RaxiS_ConnoR and this is Drakcul!

And Im thinking...what have I gotten myself into?? These guys are real pros! Im gonna get my butt kicked so badly Im prolly gonna give up gaming for life.
Another first timer, Josin aka :::PinDRopSileNcE>>> was also there.

What followed was 3 hours of amazing gameplay...stuff that Ive missed dearly after leaving the carefree trainee life back at Mysore.

All things said and done :::PinDRopSileNcE>>> and SwitchBlade (thats me) ended up making quite a good team together! Him with his trusted AK47 assault rifle and me armed with my ever present Magnum sniper rifle. Im not gonna boast but I did have the highest number of frags in nearly all the maps...(Guess I did boast just a little :P)

PS - If you n00bs are still wondering...a 'frag' is a kill.

Had to leave relatively early coz I had to be in the office by 8:30 today morning....cripes! Looking forward to my next one :)

Cheers!

"Always fear a sniper unless you encounter him from behind"

Run-in with the Mama

On my way to work I was stopped by a Mama near ShivajiNagar police station. Along with me another dude on a scooter was pulled over. I realised what the problem was when I saw his licence plate...it was from Madhya Pradesh...my bike is Karnataka registered...

I knew that Mama was going to try and make a quick buck from us. By the time I parked my bike and entered the police station, the other dude had already bribed his way outta the sticky situation.
Mama asked me to show him my NOC while he pocketed the 100 he had just received.

I told him that I didnt need one as its been not more than 2 months since I bought the bike and the law is that you can ride your vehicle without an NOC for 6 months in a foreign state.
Thinking I was unaware of this clause in the law he went on to describe in detail how the law works and how I should have a temporary NOC with me if not a permanent one.
Then hes like,"Ab bolo...1000 rupees ka fine hain...parchi de doon kya?" (Now tell me...its a Thousand bucks fine...do you want a receipt?)

I asked him to wait while I phone my friend who is a police commissioner...Mama got worried..."Yeh karne ki kya jaroorat hain? Woh toh Karnataka ka commissioner hain, Maharashtra ka nahi!"
(Why do you want to do that? He's the police commissioner of Karnataka and not of Maharashtra!)

I continued to let the phone ring...He relented saying."Kya tum yahaan permenently rehne ke liye aaye ho? Agar nahi toh NOC ki jaroorat nahi hain! Tam jaa sakte ho."
(If you're not gonna stay here permanently then you dont need an NOC! You can leave.)

He handed me back my licence and left as I walked away with my head held high and a broad grin on my face!

The score now stands...
Royston - 1 Mama - 0


PS - For those who are unaware of the term Mama...it is the fond name by which we refer to our traffic policemen here :)

Hello God

Here is a short poem written by a soldier while he was hiding in a shell hole during the Vietnam War.


Lord God, I have never spoken to You,
But now I want to say, "How do You do?"
You see God, they told me you didnt exist...
And like a fool I believed all this.

Last night from a shell hole I saw Your sky,
I figured right then they had told me a lie.
Had I taken time to see the things You made,
I'd have known they were not calling a spade a 'spade'

I wonder God, If You'll take my hand
Somehow I fell that You'll understand.
Funny I had to come to this Hellish place
Before I had time to see Your face

Well, I guess there isn't much more to say,
But Im sure glad God, I met You today.
I guess Zero hour will soon be here,
But Im not afraid since I know You're near.

The signal!...Well God, I'll have to go,
I like You lots... I want You to know.
Look now this will be a horrible fight,
Who knows I may come to Your house tonight.

Though I wasn't friendly to You before,
I wonder God, If You'd wait at Your door.
Look Im crying...Im shedding tears,
I'll have to go now God, goodbye!
Strange now since I met You Im not afraid to die...

Depravity!!

Greeting fellow netizens...Im Baaaack!! Back in Pune (relocated from Mysore) and back to blogging from my cubicle ;)
It is with a heavy heart that I recount the following incident....

Today morning as I rode my bike to Aurora Towers from where I catch the 9am bus I noticed something....Someone had stolen my speedometer!! I mean they unscrewed it and made off with it!!
I have an Red Avenger that is barely one month old and she has been violated so blatanly!!
The thief also took the time to bend my rear view mirror for good measure. Oh! the depravity of man's evil heart!!
Apparently such thefts are common as Avenger parts are hard to come by in the market. No consolation there...
Gonna take my baby to the service station tomorrow and pamper her. She deserves it after this horrible incident.

Grace

Can two people who believe in two completely different things ever see eye to eye? Is it possible for them to both be correct in their own way?

Consider Christianity...a 'religion' that has as many different denominations as there as stars in the sky. These denominations differ from one another on the basis of doctrine, traditions and beliefs. Can all of them be correct in their understanding of the Bible or is there just one denomination that has found the absolute truth while the others are living a lie...

If religion by definition is a means of finding God more than just a way of life than Christianity is by no means a religion...coz a Christian with the slightest Biblical knowledge would know that there is no way for a sinful human to ever come to know a Holy God without God sovereignly revealing himself.

So if God is the One who does the revealing, how is it that He reveals Himself to people in different ways? The answer is...He doesn’t. He reveals himself through his created works, which all can see, sense, touch and experience. But much more clearly than that, He reveals Himself through the Bible and through His son Jesus Christ.

So if there is only one inspired Bible (Apocrypha aside...) and only one Christ...then where does the difference of opinion arise? People belonging to different denominations don’t believe in different Christs do they?

It arises through the differences in interpretation of the Bible...Some verses are taken literally, some contextually and some are regarded as mere poetic phrases.
But is this the way God intended His word to be interpreted…in so many different ways? And if He is omnipotent and omniscient then how didn’t he foresee that people would misinterpret his perfect word? If believing a false doctrine can keep you captive to your sins and if it’s only the truth that can set you free then why didn’t God come up with a more foolproof plan of revealing himself?

The answer is Grace! God knows that we are human and far from perfect. He also knows that by our own means and relying on our own efforts we won’t be able to do diddly-squat! His word is perfect…it is we who in our imperfection misinterpret the word and create divisions in the universal church of God.
The Bible provides us everything we could ever need while on this earth, but if we could know Him only through His word then we would never know Him completely. In other words we cannot ever expect to know God completely while on this earth.
As the hymn says…”Were with ink the ocean filled or the sky of parchment made, were every stalk on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade; To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry nor could the scroll contain the whole though stretched from sky to sky.”
If only the love of God itself were so incomprehensible then comprehending all his attributes (His holiness, His righteousness, His wrath..) would certainly take more than an eternity!

The Bible says that you have to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and strength; to repent for your sins and trust that Christ alone is an all sufficient sacrifice…this is the gospel, that Christ had mercy on us, died for our sins and saved us by His Grace!

There are many other doctrines like speaking in tongues; the in-depth knowledge of which isn’t essential to attain salvation, though they are extremely important because it is on the basis of these doctrines that the denominations differ.I know believers who speak in tongues and I also know believers who dont.
Any ‘church’ that doesn’t believe in the core gospel is in fact not a church at all! I’m not claiming that it’s ok to believe in something that’s wrong. Its just that God is merciful regardless of who we are or what are beliefs are on certain matters.

God knew that there would be several denominations and He displays His Grace in that salvation belongs to Him alone and there can be believers in the Presbyterian church, the Charismatic church, the Methodist church or the Baptist church…all touched by One God who chose to reveal Himself to whomever He chooses.
The correct knowledge of His word is the difference between a mature believer and an immature one but God knows that not all of us can be Masters of Theology even though we are expected to learn His word and memorise it.
There is an absolute truth in the Bible, but we can only know God completely and absolutely when we stand before Him, face-to-face, and worship Him for the rest of Eternity.

Nanage Kannada Gothilla!

Its been two weeks since I got here and I've come to realise that its gonna take me more than 2 weeks to get familiar with this place. Still havent got the slightest clue what people around me are saying...but I have managed to learn one sentence in the local language...Nanage kannada gothilla...which means I dont know Kannada!

Mysore is a very quiet city and everyone goes to sleep at 8:30....hence the nightlife is practically non-existent. The laid back locals couldn't care less about whats happening around them. Rickshaw drivers will tell you to walk rather than make a few rupees taking you to your destination. Waiters wont bother themselves waiting on your table!

I have found a very nice place to stay since along with 6 of my college mates coz we haven't been provided accomodation on campus. Its a duplex bungalow and I can't help bragging about it coz at 10k a month its an absolute steal! A similar fully furnished bungalow in Pune would cost you half a year's salary and in Bombay....well no one could rent it coz not many people are that rich.

We also have a maid who is an absolute God-sent. She washes,cleans and sweeps without any complaining....actually she cant coz she only speaks Kannada and none of us can converse with her :)

Still havent got any wheels here. Planning to go book a bike one of these days coz public transport is a real pain!

The company campus seems too good to be true...with an expanse of 335 sprawling acres its one of the biggest campuses in Asia! There is only one multiplex in Mysore and it is in our campus! 4 screens and a new movie every Saturday :)
Ive taken quite a few pics of the place and I will be posting them soon.

The mosquitoes have returned....apparently they have unfinished business with me :(