:: naazita ::

Monday, February 28, 2005 at 16:36

Spotted!!!

Britney Spears in Oslo??? Could it be??? :D

at 15:49

After five cooped up days in the confines of the office and hotel in Bygd�y Alle, we had our first taste of Oslo by day on Saturday. Pristine crisp air. Oslo is quite compact. You can literally walk past all the major sights in an hour : ) We strolled past the Royal Palace and blew King Harald and Queen Sonja a few kisses. Saw the Nobel Institute, where the Nobel Prizes are given each year. The City Hall, that ubiquitous part of every European capital. Passed the Radisson SAS hotel building which according to Julius is the tallest building in Northern Europe. Which, if you ask me, is a bit funny. Given that it's about as tall at the LIC building in Chennai : ) Walked by the pretty Oslofjord pier. Blues sky. Podgy white coulds. Quite lovely.

at 14:37

On Thin Ice

On Saturday, I discovered that I am not a natural at ice skating. Feels kind of stupid when you're hanging on to the railing... struggling to just stand up straight... while these four year olds glide like future stars of the Winter Olympics. I must have fallen about forty times. No kidding. My body still hurts all over. And it's a wonder I don't have pnuemonia from all the ice that kept getting into my pants everytime I fell backwards (39 to be precise). What fun what fun. Gotta do this again :)

at 13:57

Viking Nightlife

Thanks to highly prohibitive prices, nightlife in Oslo primarily revolves around the 'vorspiel' and the 'nachspiel' aka the pre-party and the post-party. It doesn't matter where you go and what you wear and all that. So long as the vorspiel rocks. For most people, the rest of the evening is a blur anyway. Haha. Of course, a good alternative to those who wish to avoid the high prices in Oslo is a place we went to on Thursday night. John's. Yep, it's just called plain old 'Johns'. No pretensions here. No trendy people. No Moroccan lounge music. And importantly, beers for 29 kroner. And mind you, this place ain't for the faint hearted. An eclectic mix of um... well... just truly mad people dancing to songs by Prince and what not. I always thought I was quite open-minded, but the level of promiscuity at this place had me seriously culture shocked... haha... anways... was a great evening... made for some priceless laughs...

Couple of photos...one with Alfredo, a very cool Colombian chico... one of the founders of Global Entrepreneurs... now working for a consultancy in Oslo... that's him with us... (on the left) at a cheap burger joint..cheap always being the key word in Oslo.. and the next one... of Eirik and Endre... very very happy indeed...

at 13:06

Living Diversity

The global meeting in Oslo has been fun. Things are bound to be crazy, when you have 9 people from 4 countries. Norway - Colombia - India - Kenya. So much madness : ) I think I�m gonna like this job...

Wednesday, February 23, 2005 at 02:58

Bygd�y Alle Babble

Day three in Oslo. Just stepped out of the refrigerator that is the great outdoors and feeling my fingers slowly defrost and come alive again. Oslo is lovely. Quaint. And very very quiet (where is everyone, btw). I cannot get over how the cars all stop and wait paitently till you saunter across the road. Makes me want to run across and give the driver a BIG HUG and a rowdy 'cheers mate!', but something tells me that sort of thing might be a bit hardcore for the average Scandinavian. Yes, its rather cold here, but I've promised myself that I shan't rant about the weather (or the prices, but let me just slip in a quick #&?%&#!!!, hehe ) Good news is I finally got to prance around while it snowed (Eirik I hope I never see that video!). So that's a first. Very light snow though, apparently it's a 'mild' winter. Hmm.

Was really good catching up with Aloke over reindeer meat, caramel custard and hansas... hadn't seen Aloke since the good old Vikhroli days.

The Tusker-Tandoori (our little Kenya-India joint venture)party was quite a hit. Venkat and I managed to lay out quite a spread. From masala paapad and ruchi pickle to butter chicken and raita (even ghee soaked tortilla 'rotis' mind you!) The Kenyans provided the drinks and much titillation with Norbert's dance moves.

Ok, its time for yet another Norwegian lunch spread. The bread extravaganza. Bread and cheese. Bread and cold cuts. Bread and eggs. Bread and jam. And if you feel adventurous, you might even want to choose a combination of toppings. Ooh. So as you can imagine, it's quite exciting ;)

Saturday, February 19, 2005 at 08:34

Leaving on a jet plane

Tomorrow will be my first taste of Europe. Boy, am I gonna freeze my tropical butt off in Norway. Will be really interesting though. The sheer contrast from my current environ of coconut trees and blaring autorickshaw horns. From hot and sticky 30 degree c to subzero cold. From 25,000 people per sq km to 100 people per sq km. Another interesting statistic. Was taking a look at the UN's Human Development Report 2004, and Norway is the highest ranked country in the world. (While on the subject of contrast, may as well mention, India is ranked 127). I wonder what it must be like to live in a country that is considered the quintessence of human development. Guess I'll soon find out : )

For now its goodbye India. It's been such a good few months. I'll miss the mayhem and the goodtimes. Will miss everyone, esp Rat, my no.1 homie...

Thursday, February 17, 2005 at 13:09

Get up and go time

Its that time again. When I stash my world into a measly 20kg suitcase (not to mention the 7kg carry-on) and get ready to move all the way across the globe. Saturday night I fly to Norway, where I spend a month before I finally get to Colombia, my new home for the next one year. The preparation, the packing, even the goodbyes transpire with an ease that seems almost mechanical. I guess it would, when its your third move in three years. Ah the bane of the nomad. Sorry, I meant 'joy' ;)
Very excited.

"For mine is a generation that circles the globe
in search of something we haven't tried before
so never refuse an invitation
never resist the unfamiliar
never fail to be polite
and never outstay your welcome

just keep your mind open and
suck in the experience
and if it hurts
you know what... it's probably worth it"

Orbital's 'Beached'... on the soundtrack to 'The Beach'... stuck in my head.

Monday, February 14, 2005 at 05:39

Grammys Go Doof Doof

Looking at this years list of Grammy nominees, I realise I'm a bit out of it. Can't quite say I'm well acquainted with that list of winners.I have to say, I was a lot more 'with it' when I was twelve. Hmm. Signs of old age. Perhaps its time to modify this done-to-death and much hyped iPod repertoire.

Really happy about the new category introduced at the Grammys this year - Best Electronic/Dance album. Interesting, as 2004 was my year of discovering and falling in love with electronic music. Pretty far out for someone who grew up on rock music and thought 'electronic/dance' music (aka DOOF-DOOF) was for retards. I seemed to have 'cultivated' a taste for it now, and find it fantastically uplifting and subtle - in a cerebral, addictive way.

Basement Jaxx beat Oakenfold, Paul Van Dyk, Prodigy and The Crystal Method to win the Grammy for Elec/Dance album. Pretty darned pleased that I got to see two of the nominees (PVD, Crystal Method) during their 2004 tours. Disappointed that Sasha's 'Involver' wasn't nominated. His nomination for best remixed recording (watching the cars go by) should pacify me, but that doesn't seem good enough. 'Involver' is a brilliant piece of work by an absolute magician.

Saturday, February 12, 2005 at 01:36

Def tones

Alright. Enough. Got to do something about this noise pollution. It's making a mockery of my painstakingly created iPod playlists! So much for my fantasy of 'music on the go'. Try sitting in an autorickshaw any where in this city, volume at 90% on your iPod and playing 'guess the song' on shuffle.

Who are all these people. Where are they all going to. What is the friggin hurry. And must they really go beserk with their horns. Ugh. I'm finding, much to my dismay, that perhaps the iPod and Chennai don't go so well together. I recede to The Great Indoors, with my mammoth DJ100 headphones. Ah, so much better. Hmm, I know this song... Chocolate City by Deep Dish :)

Thursday, February 10, 2005 at 11:33

Who am I sleeping with?

Meet Potty & Boo Boo. Potty is my cool AFL (Port Adelaide) mascot bear, and Boo Boo is just one of those smooth-operator bears who sits around looking cool and gettin' the women to fall all over him.

I love that they'll always be with me. I love how they make me smile :)

Ok. So I'm a bit of a peanut.

Wednesday, February 09, 2005 at 05:13

Miss my Red & Gold Chinese New Year

Glittering Hong Kong.

Kung Hei Fat Choi! Gong Xi Fa Chai! I miss Hong Kong and the madness of Chinese New Year. The red & gold, the mandarin oranges, the fireworks, the festive mayhem and most importantly, the LAI SEE... that fantastic tradition where all the 'elders' give the young folks little red envelopes of MONEY!!! I remember sitting at my desk at work last year, and receiving a stream of these little red envelopes. 500 HKD for some 'Kung Hei Fat Choi' and a big smile! Now that's a sweeeet deal!!!!!

Ah, I'm reminiscing. CNY 04 was pretty darned special. Takin' the evening train to Shenzen, the foot massage, that yucky 'shlop', dancing till 4am to Paul Van Dyk spinnin' live, high as kites, now those are some great memories.

I miss Hong Kong. It is the bestest city in the world. What I would give to be strolling down Bak Ko, eating my tea-boiled eggs, dodgin' old ladies on the street, makin' my way to the MTR for another Sheung Wan 'friendship rooftop' evening under the stars and glittering lights of Hong Kong... sigh... :)

Tuesday, February 08, 2005 at 04:14

Some Kind of Superstar

Ok. After harping on endlessly about why Chennai is better than Bangalore, I finally give up. After passionately defending my hometown to every ultrayuppie-hipnhappenin-pubcrawling Bangalorean who can't stop about the weather and the gardens and the concerts and what not... I GIVE UP! This wonderfully decadent yet exciting weekend, I found three reasons why Bangalore really kicks Chennai butt.

1. Blue Ginger
2. Tai Ka
3. The Exim House Legacy

Blue Ginger is the most chilled out lounge bar with the best doorman ever. Tai Ka proves that Bangalore is not all hip-hop, and the Dj played some wicked wicked tunes..best I've heard since I got back to India (hed kandi rocks!). And as for the Exim House Legacy, what can I say, you have to experience it to believe it! :D

at 03:34

De Do Do Do De Da Da Da

Sting, Live, Feb 4th, Bangalore. I was there!!!

Finally some substance to my international gig-list, which till Feb 3rd 2005, read
1. Rolling Stones 'Licks Tour' 2003 Brabourne Stadium, Bombay
--The End--

Frankly, much as I love an over-the-hill Mick Jagger (how can you not ;)), that list was getting a bit embarassing, making Sting a welcome #2!

Now, I can't say Sting's concert was phenomenal, especially since my limited experience with big live acts gives me little to benchmark against. But screw all that, I'm a bit biased here. This is Sting we're talking about. I grew up listening to this stuff. I'd get excited when a Sting video came on MTV - jumpin' up to press record on the VCR (remember them thingys?) when 'Love Is The Seventh Wave' came on (yes, I'm a sissy). Swapping tapes with Arjun Vajalla, 'cos how could we not have 'Regatta de Blanc'??? Summer holidays at Azhar's place spinning his 'Dream of the Blue Turtles' LP and recording tapes to take home. Listening to my brother's band murder hits of The Police. Convincing my team in college that we HAD to use 'Dessert Rose' for the Fashion Show (which we won, of course!). Friggin' hell I own every single album of Sting & The Police (ok, maybe not 'Sacred Love') There you go, so I am a bit biased, but what the hey - it was a great concert!!!

And Rat, I've still not forgiven you for throwing up in the middle of 'Roxanne'. How WUDE!!!! ; )

Thursday, February 03, 2005 at 09:29

342 Days to Go?

Alright Paulie, I'm not gonna be left out of the lingo-challenge!!!

By the end of 2005, Naaz will:

a. Speak Spanish like a true mamasita
b. Dance salsa like a true mamasita
c. And...er...um... whatever else it is that true mamasitas do? :D

Ok, I'm serious about the Spanish, so this is me, makin' my pledge (with all nomads as my witness) :D

Good luck Paulie, and keep the stories comin'!

Tuesday, February 01, 2005 at 09:14

Most Expensive Visa Ever

This has to be the most expensive visa I've ever applied for. Or even heard of!!! 400 USD for a Colombian work visa, what the hell is that about????
Thank God the company pays for it :D