Van Chitgough- The Art of Life

kingfisher has officially gone into a new level of ruling for me...
sititng innocently at the mumbai airport right now, excited to open up an awesome birthday gift given to me by mr.seth - (the dvd of the deer hunter), i randomly check for wifi connections...

no shit, no shower, just full power 54mbps rocker wifi.... bliss...

after the fantastic party on saturday which saw generations of van chitgough's compadres come together for a night of debauchery, celebration, deep conversation and chilling; i never really got a chance to blog about it or take a breather.

(thats the pre-party booze display at the fabled patio of le kirti...)

yesterday was busy with delivering a session at the local aiesec congress followed by long and exciting discussions with anna (on next steps) and rishabh (pretty much everything under the sun)...'twas good. an unexpected call and your display of maturity also pleasantly surprised me...cheers. i appreciate it.

going back to the party, lots of good friends came by...

meeting shouvik after nearly 18 months was a heaven sent and apart from the fact that he drives even more insanely then the yesteryears, nothing much has changed (ok maybe the canadian accent has gotten a bit harsher...but in his true ganwar desi avatar, there is no equal:))

i sit here, observing the hustle and bustle around me in my favorite city. its comparitively lesser as im guessing not too many people are keen to fly on christmas day itself... karan is already in the land of sun, sand and beaches. I'm strongly considering catching up for a beer with him first thing i land and then head my way to KS' place...aaah decisions decisions..

spoke to AD last night as well, so good to hear your voice bro...sad that im missing u when you come down to delhi, but i have a feeling we will be catching up in europe sooner than you think;)
irrespective, i bet he's feeling good being back in the motherland after a year and a half! cheers dude.

chalo, enough random blogging. in an hour and a half i board the air sahara flight to goa. first time for NYE there...will be out of action the next couple of weeks so see you guys in 2007:)
have a merry xmas and an awesome new year. i know i will.

Posted by chitgo at 12/25/2006 10:08:00 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Karan’s nick: Goa: 24 hrs, no shit, no shower just full power.
What the hell does that mean? No idea. All I know is goa is around the corner.

In a chat with eva, I realized the simplest, most to the point mantra from a person as young as vibrant as myself, but with the insight into a reality much more intense than I have ever known.
Thank you eva, all I ever want to be able to answer with the clarity and truth of depiction is “am i happy?”

3 days till her exams finish. Thank frickin god….it’s like I was giving the damn things. No wonder I don’t want to go back to ‘school’ anytime soon. Even if I am, I know I’d rather be discussing global profit and sustainability issues in a classroom of like minded people.

Ck- flies in at an unearthly time on the morning of the 4th of jan. some 12 hours after my return from the big G. pure kickassery shall prevail. he has a thousand and one wedding parties to attend but im sure we will find time in between the chaos. we always did :)

The latest storyline from achewood is to die for…how this man comes up with this is just beyond me. I can see elements of it creeping into my daily parlance though.

New find: – Joe loves crappy movies. A brilliant webcomic based on our favorite ‘to-be-bitched’ about terrible movies… go through the archive and enjoy.

Partaeehh this Saturday. Good friends, alcohol, reunions with people about to get engaged. A sign of getting older? I actually have friends now that are getting engaged…damn.

Chat with Sneha : Aalekh is busy with photo shoots, modeling and dancing at celebrity shows.
I’m going to warn him that I shall be one of those screaming groupy-types yelling "AAEAAAAAAAAAAALeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekhhh…you used to sleep in the room next to me !!!!. I’m sure he will show some sign of acknowledgement as he signs my crumpled napkin of nothingness amidst his growing stardom. The dude is so modest though. The gladrags competition approaches, here’s wishing him the very best. I am so going to try and make it for that! (aalekh if you’re reading this- don’t worry, I wont ask for ‘passes’ , just gimme the damn dates)

Consistently increasing invitations to visit singaland. Heard a lot about the place half the size of the village (aka gurgaon) from vijit and with good friends roi, dhanur and paani destined to become roommates soon; I think it adds to the vote count as destination of choice. This ofcourse not to mention the fact that CK will kill me if I don’t visit him while he’s chilling asian style.

Cool alumni reunions (reconnect was brilliant) and more entertaining movie-watching. I don’t care what the critics say, I personally loved the guardian. Kevin Costner continues to amaze with bounce back efforts such as these…one line in the movie just delivered a knockout punch for me and I’m going to try and find the actual transcript for you guys to check out.

Can we really get enough of social software and its impact? Fast company does a killer round up of the effect ‘we’ shall have on the growing interface that is web 2.0.

Have finally got my Ali poster which is on its way to framing and am reveling in the brilliance that is kailash kher. Chris whitley (dave matthews mentor for those of you that don’t know him btw) cd is on its way and should reach me early jan. trip-hop mixed in with a banjo, countryesque vocals and some awesome melodic beat downs. Can’t really ask for much more.

Music lovers heaven has to be situated in the era of our generation. Listening to old classics that I once swayed to. Remember the band East 17? Yes, yes, I can see you all shocked and in anger of how I could remember those boy bandish/despicable in their existence/ - creatures…I don’t care. Catchy is catchy :) They had 2 brilliant tracks, (west end girls and deep). Heard the latter on VH1 classic the other weekend and fell in love all over again. The digital era is on-hand satisfaction guaranteed. Got the track and proceeded to hunt down the fiendishly wicked irish rock number from the action sequence of ‘the departed’. Yep, got that too. Mail me if you want to have a listen.

The time for thinking of new year resolutions begins as well.

over and out.

Posted by chitgo at 12/20/2006 11:55:00 AM | Permalink | Comments   

with every chance meeting
the intensity will deplete.
with every awkward glance
the pain will diminish.
one drop
one tear drop at a time.

with every raised voice
it'll continue
to matter less
with every heart wrenching
unsympathetic
obdurate thing we say..
we drive away
away from each other.

aching for the ability
the skill
of reticence,
of silence,
of patience,
and cold heartedness.

And yet i fail.
not surviving
the sight,
of you fighting away
your tears.
As they stream
down your face.
everytime.

Tears
no longer of happiness
but frustration
evolving
slowly,
into apathy.

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Posted by chitgo at 12/18/2006 02:02:00 PM | Permalink | Comments   

eM’s bday was nice. Bumped into a couple of old friends there. Strange it is, to meet someone you knew a long time ago completely unexpectedly. Yet, I don’t think we would want it any other way you know? I wouldn’t want to be prepared or alerted everytime i'd have a blast from the past because then there would be too much of an effort to link back at what the relationship/friendship was. This way, the mind is put to the test. The first thoughts of a person that you haven’t seen in ages…. What would those be? Damn she used to talk about macabre philosophies a lot or his parents and my parents were friends but some of his habits were quirky or just plain …”dude! So good to see you again” ..how’s life?

Pissed off with myself yesterday. As I left the party I turned to an old acquaintance, a meeting with whom corresponds to the above example. I said, lets keep in touch and we both knew we should exchange numbers but we didn’t. Why did I say that? I didn’t mean it…...being social doesn’t mean being one of those ‘talk for the sake of talking idiots’. It may be a small thing but it affronts my sense of basic honesty in everyday living.

The weather in delhi during the day is absolutely awesome. The winter chill breaks bread with the glimmering sun and that warm feeling on my face was missed. I count the days down to goa despite growing concerns of fricking al qaeda attacks. I guess we are just going to have to be a little careful of the larger raves and stay clear of gatherings…..I say this and think to myself “whats the bloody point then?”
It’s all good. The bloody point is KS and SS driving down from Baroda due to 40k Air Deccan tickets (you heard right:)) just to spend time with me and T. damn I cant wait to see those guys and get rocking and recapturing with nostalgia and future aspirations mixed up like an olla podrida.

I want to go out for a walk.

Another birthday on Friday along with a surprise awaits the bday girl…I cant let the cat out of the bag though.

This is arbid no?

Hmmm on other news, this week was also unique due to a reconnect with an old school friend. He sounds just the same and the mockery from school days had me in splits…general chitgo advice “try not to drive whilst talking to someone who knew u when u were 17. the stories and jibes are enough to cause a major traffic hazard”.

And then this happens....i don't even know what to say..sadness? laughter? pity?)

The living room is already on its way to some serious rocking. Last nights skype chats with dear friends was brilliant. Me and regi have made a solemn promise to do that more often....gosh it was good hearing her voice :)

Ive also got some very talented friends. upon being introduced to the brilliance that is xkcd, the dude himself decided to have a 'go'.
this is one of 5 and god damnit i was laughing my ass off. the others are more 'inside' jokes but i'm surely going to post those as well with detailed explanations:)
this one is by far my favorite, considering my well known hatred for orkut..



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anyways...I leave you guys with awesome quote for the day:

Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company

- Mark Twain

Posted by chitgo at 12/15/2006 09:02:00 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Sunday. Im at this beautiful wedding near chattarpur.
This Pretty young thing (from here on called PYT) is talking to this young dude (couldn’t have been older than 25) who is incidentally wearing a pink tie.

PYT: “ yeah then I got heavily interested into economics, think ill pursue that in various areas as a career”
Dude: why economics?
PYT: well I guess I find it rather interesting…
Dude: so what plans then after the bachelors?
PYT:” during my 2 months at Cambridge I realized this passion and consequently scouted out some excellent places for my phd although there are some hurdles..
Dude: aaah I guess your mom is all “shaadi karani hai!!” (we have to get her married)
PYT: “uhhh she’s standing right behind you”
Dude (sheepishly turns around): aarrre auntyji…zyaada padhai phd vagera mat karao…, ladka milne mein problem hogi!! (oh aunty, don’t let her study too much, you will have a problem in finding a suitable boy)
Polite laughter all around.

I walked pass this on my way to the desert counter with my dad. We both looked at each other in silent disbelief and mockery for the unbelievable state of affairs amongst the highest echelons of this ‘forward looking society’ that is India.

I swear to god, if I hadn’t been at my mom’s best friends daughters wedding, I would have turned around and told the guy :

“kind sir, just because your lack of a modern education, respect for women and their ambitions combined with a ridiculous sense of male machismo and patriarchy dating back to 200 B.C.; reject the right for a young girl to follow her passions, does not mean that there aren’t smarter, more evolved men on the planet that more than deserve an equal partner with whom they deserve to live a happy life.

Oh and by the way, did someone spit their chewing gum on your shirt ? ‘cos that’s the ugliest tie I’ve ever seen".

Meh. I hate idiots.
-----------------------------------------

Moving on, a killer week goes by. Wedding ceremonies, kickass one on one basketball, late night conversations, see-sawing between emotions...

Bharat’s bday was a blast, not to mention the losing of our (v’s and mine) apartments ‘virginity’ so to speak with the 25+ attendance impromptu house party last Tuesday. The @ DI corporate forum turned out to be a brilliantly organized affair with some excellent speakers and a phenomenal turn out.

Being the doting and much appreciative alumni that I am , I had to open the doors for a post event celebration and that’s really what it turned out to be. Random crazyness still runs amuck and boy it was fun to be part of that again. Arbid toasts, drinking games on the terrace, people bouncing around in the various rooms, champagne drenched fizz fights and starry eyed new recruits still grasping onto this new network with both hands….damn it wasn’t so long ago when the roles were oh-so-very reversed….

Anyway, the house is finally broken in. The neighbors did make a visiting call asking us to ‘keep it down’; much to our happiness….here’s to many more.


The next week is another killer – eM’s bday, reunions with Ekant and Geeta, more reunions with abhi and sidpaa, skype chats with luca and regi on Thursday and a weekend of fun with (hopefully) some clubbing on Saturday and an alumni get together on Sunday.

Decemberules.

Oh and P.S. we finally bought curtains for the living room. The ‘box’ (aka tv) arrives later this week along with some ‘gaddas’ (mattresses) and lamps for the ultimate in lounging experiences. The India SA test match series begins and I think ill remind V to stock up on the microwave popcorn and kingfishers…..

more later amigos. have a good week.

Posted by chitgo at 12/11/2006 10:13:00 AM | Permalink | Comments   

today, the man himself turns 22....what is unfortunate is that he is currently in some god-forsaken village off the jungles off the nether regions in the heartland of dhoti country hyderabad. yes, it is truly that remote. no offense to hyderabadis. it seems a lot of people close to me are building affiliations for that region:)

anyway, so in true tribute to one of my most chiller friends, here's wishing you an awesome birthday bro! We promise to celebrate with you on the return to the northside (the only home you truly belong in). I was strongly considering creating a 'best of quotations' of sethani/punjollar/liril/sethi meri beti/paneer... (usage of all nick names are registered trademarks of devkalrashikulaikrantihanda incorporated) but I need to get in touch with kalra for the same....hopefully the thakur will awaken from his slumber and provide some of the greatest moments from circa 2002-2004 spent in the hallowed grounds of sri venkateswaraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...


excerpts from a chat between dC and sethi: (note that my nickname in college was dev, reasons for which I shall not delve into here)

Dev: DUDE Sethi!! happy bday bro!
Sethi: thanks daaaaaaaaaaaaade
dev: so how are you celebrating man?
sethi: dude im working the whole day.
Dev: dude, get out for a bit man..go and chill.
Sethi: daaade, do u think this is ibiza?
Dev: ohhhhhhh
Sethi: silence
Dev: dude, we will party when u get back
Sethi : Daade...i am going to drink for 3 days straight, i am going to fly to go goa drunk, im going to arrive drunk, sleep drunk, wake up drunk.
dev: ok dude, you;'re in hyderabad, not jail.
Sethi: daaade..i miss you daaade...i miss DELHI daaade!
Dev: Sethi, its been 5 days
Sethi: DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADE
*end of conversation

if you dont have any idea what the hell you just read, please ignore.

thank you.

Posted by chitgo at 12/05/2006 03:39:00 PM | Permalink | Comments   

if i havent already said this, then may it be known...
xkcd rocks.

Posted by chitgo at 12/04/2006 12:21:00 PM | Permalink | Comments   

Another week draws to a close. Another exciting week beckons.
I met her ‘best friend’. Interesting and insightful to say the least …. There are some dialogues you’ve always delivered with panache and those semi undertones of gangster-like connotations. Ironic that for the first time (in a long time) van chitgough was on the receiving end. Much clapping ensues with the level of maturity attained and a wonderful night with stories, beers and more stories came to pass.

Rewinding rewinding. Chats with eva and ck were pleasurable to say the least. Friends and memories from across borders. Could I really ever get enough of that? Don’t think so. Got some awesome news from the genevans as well, looking forward to enthralling times for them in the coming weeks. Skype chats this week to populate the gaps in the information I received.

Rewind. Still need to meet up with her. Cant believe she is getting psyched out about going to Bombay. I guess I’ll just calmly wait for 6 months from now when I hear hearty laughter on just what a rocking time she is having in gods own city. For if creation was to embody every emotion and every sensibility known to man, Bombay would be the resting point….how can anyone not fall in love with that place.

I’ve been told im a patient man. I wonder. One aspect of my life continues to gnaw at me….van chitgough predicting some provocative stuff up ahead. a new element also enters to add to the chaos I have learnt to embrace. Welcome. As I told you ‘ I didn’t think about it till now, but it seems worth trying for’.

Changing lanes. Somewhere in Switzerland, in the past 4 days, 400 young leaders have come together to pull off another DO-IT. The first im missing In 3 years, truly a brand and institution across the world. I tip my hat to the inspiring moments, the ambition, the laughter, the camaraderie that must have ensued. Can’t wait to hear of the stories from these guys and these guys and him and her .
I want pictures!

Rocking music of the week:
- Tom Petty’s new offering – Highway Companion. A soulful country/blues/rock sojourn hitting some key notes in fans of his music from across generations. Jack and Turn this car around are tracks to die for. Have a listen.
- Ferry Corsten - L.E.F.- the once demi-god of electronic house returns to the turntables for a phenomenal offering of heart thumping kickassery known only to the league he is part of.

I met an old school teacher of mine at the gym. Couldn’t believe it was her and had to double check. She didn’t remember me when I ran up to her but jogging her memory proved successful. How it must feel huh? to see hundreds of kids pass under your eyes year in and year out and to have to them excitedly run up to you, half-breathless, hoping for some faint memory to spark off towards a student once extremely ordinary.

Ordinary no longer. Maybe that’s why her smile widened as the conversation went on.

That feeling rules.

New comic strip discoveries include this. 2 NASA laboratory test animals –a monkey and a sheep. That pretty much sets the base for some very witty and enjoyable strips. The closest thing to calvin and hobbes for me in a long time (when I say closest I mean maybe by a few galaxies). Nothing can ever really come near C&H…

Ekant. Our reunions continue. Every single time. Whilst the location changes, delhi is our city. Saddi dilli. It was so good seeing you man. Who would have thought you’d be managing mortgage securities for a major conglomerate, living it up in the big apple - 5 years ago? I did. And you did. Here’s too many more cheers and beers and toasts to successes gone by...

AIESEC DI organizes an event of considerable proportions. Pride. Looking forward to that tomorrow. Speaking of which, I’m sitting at the American diner at the IHC (India Habitat center) this last Saturday, knocking them beers and this party of 4 come in. the girl is wearing an aiesec kurta, so I just can’t resist.

DC: hey, AIESEC DI or DU?
girl: DU. do you know AIESEC?
DC: kind of…..

Hahahaha..:)

A big wedding this weekend….punjabi and hence in another league of fun. The second of the daughters. I missed the first , and I heard it was gorgeous. I’m sure this one shall live up to the expectations.

Calibrated celebrates a birthday the same weekend (Saturday) so much running around and toasting to a fast growing and dynamic entity...

mr seth’s 23rd , the man who taught me the basics and more of blues guitaring. I think he’s going to like what I got him. The autobiography of Bob Dylan can’t really go wrong now can it?

Next Wednesday is hers. I do hope she gets out of the dumps…im guessing turning 25 could rock party hard (have I let the cat out of the bag?)

December promised to be a kickass month. It delivers.

Posted by chitgo at 12/04/2006 10:22:00 AM | Permalink | Comments