Random thoughts and sights

Still around

2010-11-17T11:29:00.000+05:30

Ok I have not forgotten this blog. Its just that we have been busy with Gia (diapers, feeds and sleeping) is a time consuming job at least when I get home (Amrita is doing most of the work I take credit for). I have also been writing for other sites/blog like CHD.go as well as on GQ Digital and lets not forget Helmet Stories (which is part mine). I guess all that is going on I have to thank this blog for as it has giving me a place to vent my randomness.

Smiley happy person

2010-10-29T10:25:00.004+05:30

Be it in the harsh mumbi rain or the sweltering heat at juhu circle stands this guy with a board and a huge smile on his face. Propagating that everyone should follow their faith and love all.

Maybe one day I shall get a board of my own and stand with him on the crossing. Weirder things have happened.

Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel

Guest Blogger

2010-10-17T15:48:00.001+05:30

Guess who is a guest blogger on chdgo.com.. you guessed it ME check it out at http://chdgo.com/2010/10/vir-nakai-on-bikes-and-leh/

remember remember the 23rd of September

2010-10-03T11:43:00.001+05:30

Gia Nakai born on the 23rd of September 2010 in Lilavati hospital to Amrita and Vir Nakai… hmmmmm yes we are parents of a baby girl. She is the most awesome little thing i have ever put my eyes upon. Its hard to think that I had any role to play in creating such a little perfect human. Its true all your life you wander from place to place searching for things to love and its your choice but the moment you see this little thing in the hospital that is it.. Instant you don't care what who why how you just know that you are in completely and madly in love it it. Gia is a lucky girl she has been born into a world where she will be surrounded by lots and lots of people who will love her.

Well I was the first to see her that went down like so…

The room was not as hectic as i thought it would be. Amrita was owake and looking at me. I smiled and realized that she couldn't tell that i was because of the face mask that i was wearing. She looked up at me and said go see baby is here.

I thought the OT would be like out of a bollywood film big lights lots of people in scrubs staring at amrita. Turns out there were 3 docs working on amrita and a whole lot of machines beeping and blipping around here and that is it. Under the incubator was a doctor and our baby.

I walked over towards the baby and looked at it and wondered where has it come from. The doctor seeing me lifted the baby and said congratulations its a girl. Gia to be more precise (luckily we only had a girls name picked out. The boys name had come down to Vir the IInd, Jr Vir and other such retarded options) was hardly small for a baby 2 weeks early.

Getting into scrubs of my size (let me tell you there are not many docs my size) took a bit in that much time Gia's umbilical cord had been cut. So when i saw her the doctor had put her in the incubator. She slowly opening her eyes and started moving her hands, fingers, toes, feet and whatever else she could move (i can best describe it as when a computer wakes up and does a full diagnostic check of its self and its functions. That is what she looked like she was doing).. Eyes check , 10 fingers check, 2 hands check, neck check, 2 legs check, 2 feet check, 10 toes check , vocal cords ehhhhm ehhhm WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA check… ready to rumble…

Oh my god tears of happiness oh man… But at the same time amrita who is conscious was on the other side of the room. She didn't know the sex of the baby and i could hear her calling me. I walked over to a very calm person (considering on the other side of the sheet what was going on) and told her that she had given birth to baby Gia… ohh more tears of happiness…

I got to stay with both the girls in the OT till it was over. It seemed like an hour but was hardly 20 min I think.

Gia in now 9 days old and yet it feels like she was born an hour ago. Amrita recovers a bit every day and is up and about and I now know why people say that "I am the luckiest man alive" because I AM.

Portrait of a lady

2010-08-11T00:35:00.001+05:30

as seen in the tribune on 8th August 2010

R.I.P Shashank

2010-04-30T23:51:00.000+05:30

Its weird who you bond with in an office... people you hang out with every day because you are forced to. I mean they are not bad people but your paths would never have crossed if you had not worked for the same company.

Such a person was Shashank Patrale. One of the first few people that i did meet when I joined Metal. My first off impressions were he was funny, happy (never seemed to have a problem), full of life, dedicated to his work, full of praise and admiration for the people who started this new company that we were both a part of and just an all round great person willing to help you no matter what. The dal that his wife made was mindblowing I would dip into his lunch every day just for the dal. Two days ago we ordered lunch and he paid and when i asked him how much he told me next time you get it. Fine by me!!!

Today I will no longer be able to buy Shashank lunch or share chicken lollipop from sunrise while working late night in office. Shashank passed away today evening diagnosed with Jaundice he was being admitted into hospital is what i heard at lunch today. In the evening I got a call saying he is no longer with us. Shocked and speechless I am and the rest of the metal team has no idea what has hit them.

Shashank you have left a huge void in eveybodys life that you were a part of.

"Someone explain why the good die young "
"Why the bad die slow and outlive everyone"

-2 Pac

Shadow...

2010-04-18T11:56:00.003+05:30

R.L Stevenson wrote My Shadow in which he wrote

I HAVE a little shadow that goes in and out with me..
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see

years ago this discribed the black and white pointer puppy we got who used to follow me in and out of the house. We named her shadow because it was so fitting. Gentle and lady like she was hardly an animal she was a part of the Nakai's. She was a great hunter too she has caught birds in mid air and squirrels while jumping from one tree to anoother. She was heart broken when Hershey died and now they can be together and run and bark at anyone on the street in Doggy heaven...

Shadow died today an old and happy dog.

Shadow chuhaaa go get it .... good dog
we miss you

Questions Questions Questions

2010-04-14T12:26:00.000+05:30

When are you going to get married? When are you going to have children? two things we hear a lot of in our country over and over again. I go to a friends house and his mother says "Vir you are married and happy find a girl for your friend" trust me it is not easy to find someone specially for him (LMAO). But we are asked over and over again. My parents have not really put these questions to us ever i think it was more of a "What are your plans guys?" a more diplomatic way of doing so.

So then on the 24th of March Amrita and I announced that we are going to be parents come October. Us as parents is a whole different piece i shall have to put down later but day before yesterday Nitin and Kismet announced this week that they are engaged we are not asking any more questions as of yet other than when are we partying in chandigarh.

The four of us Amrita, Nitin, Kismet and Me seemed to have answered these questions quite well i say what about you?

THREE GENERATIONS OF THE GENTLER SEX.

2010-03-11T13:48:00.001+05:30

A lady by the name of Joyshri Lobo wrote this about the women in my family my Grandma, my Masi, my Mother and my Sister. This is not so random as all these people are a part of me in some way or the other they are a huge part of my life.. check it out
Sometimes, merely being in the company of ones peers energises us. We meet, interact, discuss and catch up on the years that have gone by, and often pick up strings from the moment where we had left off. None of us appear anything like we were three decades ago, but within the frame work of wrinkles, weight gains or losses, broken bones and arthritic knees, missing or broken teeth, we do find our selves and are joyous in the re-discovery of each other. At one such gathering, we caught up with three generations of remarkable women, who do not require an appointed day or a chronicled page to point out their achievements.
As Jewel looked out of the window, I recollected the beautiful, gentle English woman who made India her home. She sang and played the piano, creating music and pure joy amongst many children who passed through the portals of the school she had pioneered. They remember her still, those young men and women. She never raised her voice nor spoke a harsh word to a colleague or pupil and was kind to a fault. Her very life can be likened to the gem she was named after.
Bonnie, the eldest daughter, wears her mother’s mantle well. Gracious and soft spoken, she has nurtured her children, grand-children and students with care and selflessness. Still lovely and the perfect hostess, she accepts compliments with humility and grace. The care she extends towards her household spills over into extensive social work around the city. Age seems to pass her by, as it does her sister Amrita.
The tomboy of the family, Amrita has a wild sense of humour and the courage to take up challenges like car rallying and teaching, the skill inherited from Jewel. She looks ridiculously youthful and probably feels even younger. Where do these women get their exuberance from? We need to learn their secret family formula.
Amrita’s daughter Kismet is as lovely and willowy as her mother. Photography is her forte’ and she is happiest working on assignments, anywhere in the country. In a few years the world might be her oyster. Who knows? She is the image of unfettered, confident, involved, educated Indian womanhood.
These are three generations of erudite, progressive women who, every day of their lives. are breaking new grounds and courageously facing challenges.
Fourteen years after its inception, the Womens Reservation Bill has started its marathon run from the Rajya Sabha. It is a historic moment at a time when some women are reaching great heights and others are victims of gender bias, khaps, murder, rape and inequality. To some extent, the bill will allow leaders to come forth as role models and fighters for justice. But will the marathon path widen to encompass more or will it narrow down due to hurdles and hiccups fom men and women totally resistent to change in what they consider inherited comfort zones? A lot of my fraternity are opposed to the liberality this bill points towards. Should we be ashamed of ourselves? I think, the four women mentioned above, have raised the bar on their own steam, based on deep rooted convictions. They required no bills or laws to guide them. Education and explanation will help us understand the paradigms offered to us. I do hope the Government will offer a little of both.

A toast to fallen friends

2010-02-24T22:42:00.001+05:30

Death is a werid thing and all of us at some point will have to stare at it in the face. But its us who are left behind who have to deal with the loss of a person or a pet(who can be more of people than people its self).

On Monday morning I got news of a bike accident in Bangalore of an acquaintance (a friend) and that he never made itto the hospital. Naveen Jangid and I met briefly at a couple of Rider Mania and last I saw of him was in November in Goa. I dont know more than the fact that he was a great rider and we have had a few laughs at Rider Mania. But it hit me hard to know that he had passed away and that too on his bike. He will be missed and not forgotten.

Today we had to put down Hershey after she suffered two months with cancer and a rash that was literally eating her alive. She was 12 years old and was one of the greatest dogs we have ever had. When she came home 12 years ago she was so small that we made a sweater out of a sock for her to keep warm. She grew to a size where the sock was well just a sock. whether she was sleeping on my bed when I would come home from a mad night of partying or waiting at the gate because she had heard my bike at the corner her tail would always be wagging. A happier dog i have never seen. Hershey we will miss you.

Tonight I drink to the great lives of Naveen and Hershey both great friends and people i was glad to have come across and share some time with. You will be missed and never forgotten.

Great Quote had to share it...

2010-02-18T13:30:00.002+05:30

Dont tell me how educated you are, Tell me how much have you traveled ?- Prophet Muhammad

Mac D

2010-02-16T22:43:00.004+05:30

I must admit I do enjoy a fillet of fish at Mac D's every now and then but what gets me is they have just recently launched the Chicken Mc Nugget (I cant believe it took them so long to do it) any way you can either get it with BBQ sauce or mustard... If you want both then you need to pay Rs15 for a small pouch... Now this is the same company that everywhere else in the world has tubs of differnt sauces to use and all for free but no come to India lets make these idiots pay for it? Why I ask Why?

Here is another one that gets my goat... Why cant we get a free refill (i dont even drink coke anymore) but the principal if it all is why only in india do we not get free refills. I get it we are that kind of race that goes mad when we encounter the word free.. but come one how much coke can we drink man ....Again why us why ?

On a whole different topic for later why do KFC's fries suck every where in the world you eat em?

Housekeeping

2010-01-17T02:37:00.003+05:30

Ok so i never stay in real good hotels but when i do it seems house keeping is always trying to get into your room and if you don't dead lock your hotel door you can find them in your room because they thought you were out. ok whatever but what happened to the hot women in who work in housekeeping how come they are all men these days.Anyway that is a question for the ages.
Its coffee time and then to finish of that book i was reading its been a while since i read a book and now i need to finish it its nagging me.

Queenstown

2010-01-17T02:23:00.006+05:30

Maybe i have not been here long enough but its the second day since we got here but i love queenstown already it has to be one of the coolest places i have visited.

Watching the sun set at 11pm last night drinking a steinlager and walking the streets of Queenstown (yes you can drink your beer in public apparently the cops don't seem to have a problem.. The cops that is a whole different discussion once i see even one we shall have it) eating super Pizzas and Hamburgers to die for are just some of the reasons everyone should come to Queenstown for..

Trust me there are many more reasons to come for but for a start those should be enough to start with..

Easy as pie

2010-01-06T20:47:00.002+05:30

I was not such a bad smoker who am I kidding I was. 6 months ago I quit when I turned 30 (yea i turned 30) and I am not going to bore you with the why, the how and the who of it but I must just tell you this it was Easy As Pie.

2010

2010-01-05T20:36:00.000+05:30

Udaipur was a better place than Mumbai to celebrate the new year. Under the stars with Amrita, Sabrina, Nyma and the whole crew of a reality show that i care not talk about in a fantastic hotel on the top of a hill looking over Udaipur and the lake palace. I mean we could have been in Chandigarh and that may have been cooler but I am not complaining. The drive there and back was not so bad either but i must say Gujrat has to be one of my least favorite states (maybe its the fact that i cant get a cold beer whenever i feel like that bugs me). I dont want to spend a moment extra there its so werid any way we didnt so no complaints there.

Well its the new year and my mind is doing the usual "What does this year hold for me" and i must tell you it is exciting i have a few things I am working on and if they work well super.

I am going to New Zealand with the wife (she is shooting a new movie) and i must say i am quite kicked. I think i always wanted to go and well I just couldnt say no to it when Amrita told me she had got me tickets to go with her.. Actually I am quite excited.

I have promised my self this year to be better on this blog (no one really reads it but hey i think its kind of thereputic for my sanity or maybe i just enjoy it whatever it is), I plan to keep my website updated ( I shall not share the link now untill I get it to the place I want it to be) and a few more random things. Lets see how this fares...

As usual Random just like i like it straight out of my head...

Passport photographs

2009-12-23T15:41:00.002+05:30

Whenever we join a new course or open a new bank account or get our passports or get a new license made we are asked for passport sized photographs.

Passport size photographs are like the worst pictures of you that you can get taken... Never in my life have i got a great picture taken in this size (and trust me i have got lots taken). Funny how most of your life is documented with these images..

I hear that mug shots come out much better.. "oh police man can you help me .???"

yes i am feeling a bit random....

The Simple Life

2009-12-23T15:38:00.004+05:30

[As told to my sister by our Dad]
Back then-
Everyone wore shirts that said 'Make love,not war.' [as cliched as it may sound]You didn't say 'HI', you said 'PEACE'. 'You rode your bikes slow, so the girls could check you out.There were only about eight bikes and five scooters in Chandigarh.They called themselves the 'Dooks' and the 'Yanks' .A movie cost one rupee fifty, the chinese cost two rupees and a cola was fifty paise, so your date cost you about Rs.5.The movies changed every day, with one English movie showing on Wednesday.You could hear your friends bike from a mile away (literally).Bell bottoms were cool.Every one had a nickname- Fly, Flatty, Squeaky, Gooey.You got your jeans from Jean Junction.Walking was the way you got everywhere- to college and back, to sector seventeen and home.Yelling across the park for cold coffee was normal.So was the cow that lived in your friend-across-the-parks-house.Morni was exciting.Sitting on the round-abouts drinking rum for two rupees was the way to spend your evenings.It was all so simple.This is how it could've been.

What is a parantha?

2008-12-17T13:30:00.002+05:30

According to Wiki - A paratha (or parantha) is a flatbread that originated in the Indian subcontinent. It is usually made with whole-wheat flour, pan fried in ghee or ... simple no then explain in any form why it makes me feel great alive and ready to do something.
I dont get to eat them much these days but still i could eat parantha's for every meal and never get sick of them..
On the road its the best food, in chandigarh its the best food, in mumbai its superb food and at night with egg oh my god i only remember sitting at the bus stand at odd hours waiting for my tandoori parantha...
Parantha's have revived my blog too .... I love parantha's

Been a long time since I .....

2008-03-30T15:18:00.002+05:30

So its been a while since I wrote anything on the blog … its been a hectic mad couple of months from the wedding in November to the various trips I have taken ( Rajasthan, Bheemeshwari, Rider Mania 08, a drive from Chennai to Calcutta and now from the Ferrari Magic India Tour).

Also with Amrita’s movie and her trips to Miami.. it has been lots of work for both of us.

I guess instead of writing I will just upload some pics and hope that I will get back with another entry soon ..

Vrundas Residence

2008-01-06T10:18:00.001+05:30

The new Mumbai Nakai residence

Vrundas Residency

Chennai - Kodaikanal

2007-11-28T09:52:00.001+05:30

Hindustan Times - 21st November Mumbai

It has begun

2007-11-04T11:04:00.000+05:30

So it has begun Mumbai has been left and Amrita, Sabi, Nyma and me with our 15 bags have made it to chandigarh thanks to Jet Airways (I must thank them since it would have been a pain if we had to come thru Delhi) and every day people are arriving ... so its about time .. all the planning and running around has come to this... like Amrita says the biggest performance of our lives it has begun.

Amrita and Sabi passed out at the airport after an all night packing fiasco...

so i guess keep watching this space... all you guys who cant make it will be missed and I swear we shall dry and drink and party for you guys too .. I know its hard but what to do it has to be done ... and once we are married we go to start the parties all over again for Aastha and Ambers and Shiv and Himanshu and Simrit.. Someone recomend a Detox clinic in Mumbai, Delhi and Chandigarh we are all going to need it ...

Chennai - Pondicherry

2007-10-10T11:27:00.000+05:30

Hindustan Times 12th October 2007 - Chandigarh

Hindustan Times 10th October 2007 - Mumbai

So between mad wedding planning I got to make a trip out here it is ... I was alone for this one I thought it would be hard to travell for so many days but it turned out to be lots of fun .. met a great guy by the name of Gary Barnes he is travelling around India for a year. We shared quite a few kingfishers and maybe he will show up for the wedding if he is in that part of the world. Anyway here it is ...

Monsoon and Thunderbirds.

2007-08-08T14:04:00.001+05:30

Monsoon and thunderbirds

So Finally November it is

2007-06-26T11:50:00.000+05:30

So it is final the Nakai wedding is going to be in November this year.. dates have been changed from Feb 29th 2008 to November 2007. Final dates to be decided yet !!

The Latest Trip Article

2007-06-20T12:14:00.000+05:30

Chandigarh 29th June 2007

Delhi 26th June 2007

Mumbai 20th June 2007

So now I am a writer ?

2007-05-02T11:34:00.000+05:30

BIG BAD ASS BIKER

2007-04-20T21:36:00.000+05:30

So here i am the big bad ass biker who did a tango with a school bus a few days ago and well when had to make a decision do i hit the bus or do i brake hard and try turning the bike.. so i took the second option and guess what SLIP, CRASH , SKID, BOOM down I went.. Outside a hospital i must say so once Ouseph and Joy came from the office and saw that i had a problem while walking off i was sent to see the doctor who said "you need to wear the splint for three weeks and if there is a problem after that come see me"..

So that was what happened on Monday and since then I have been home hobbling around the house, playing video games and watching T.V. Let me tell you I AM BORED SHITLESS... Aghhhhhhhhh

More later ...:) this one was truly random

Bangalore - Ooty - Coonoor - Bangalore

2007-04-09T10:03:00.000+05:30

A day at the beach

2007-03-08T15:50:00.000+05:30

So I came back from Chandigarh on the 11th. Raghav's wedding was a blast it was 7 days of party it was great.

So i get back to Mumbai and get ready to get back to the grind. Nitin was still here doing his internship in town. So we hung out as much as we could partied one night and all that..

Ok now what happened while i was in chandigarh is that i resigned from my job in L'Officiel. Why you may ask? i mean i just started with them and it was a good place to work is a good magazine and all that... well here is your answer.. Autocar magazine offered me a job and now how the hell could i say no to Autocar. I mean its like a dream job for a nut like me to work in an magazine that deals with cars and bikes so that is the reason why i quit..

So i was supposed to start the job on the 15th and i got a call on the eve of the 14th that they wanted me to come to office on the 19th which was a monday. So now that gave me some time to kill. Now Amrita's movie had finished and she was free as well..! So whats the use of both of us sitting around at home for the weekend when both of us had some time off together. we decided to go for a holiday so out came the outlook traveller 52 holiday destinations around mumbai and the preperation began. It had to be a beach as I would consider my self to be a beach bum it had to fit the budget and well it had to be close enough to ride too because come on we had to ride there (Amrita has never been on a ride with me). So we pondered over the book and fught about places to see and then one place we agreed about GOA !!!!

630 odd kms from Mumbai a very long ride. Specially since we would leave friday and come back sunday and only have one day there .. but for Stella's, the cold beer and the beach where everyone know you what the hay.. The plan was made. I got out my Cramster's we packed them up and we were ready ..

16th morning 4:00 we were up and by 5:00 we were dressed had bid Nitin adieu (he was leaving for delhi that day on the 11:00 flight and then to chandigarh on the evening shatabdi) threw the Cramster's on the bike strapped on our helmets and our jackets and we were off.

It took us an hour to get out of Mumbai to Panvel and when we took the right to the Goa Road (NH - 17) we hit a traffic jam of mostly trucks (5:45 in the fucking morning only in mumbai) so i navigated thru and came to the front of the pack where there were people talking to some cops and that was the reason i thought the traffic was held up. So i gunned the bike and we were off once again.. Now i have travelled by this road before with Angat and Amber (when we travelled from Chandigarh to Goa in 2005 in a Maruti 800) so when i hit some fog on the road i was prepared for it. Now the fog started getting thicker and Amrita said something smelt funny well you know if you ride a bike you come across lots of funny smelling things when you are riding. So paying no heed to it i told her it was nothing and we carried on into the thick fog. The fog got thicker to the degree i could bearly see my front wheel and the smell(which was like a toxic smell) got to me and I could hear Amrita like coughing and wheezing and I felt like I wanted to throw up. This was also the same time i realised we were the only vehicle going that way all the traffic seemed to be going back toward Mumbai. So i decided to turn around becuase it was just weird. So we get to a dhaba and We need to stop becuase we were coughing and we needed a drink. We sipped our tea and wondered what the hell kind of fog we hit and I was thiniking is this the end of the holiday?

So we start off again and get back to where we had encountered the Jam. I speak to the cop there and he tells me that a chemical tanker had overturned on the road and it was impossible to go down that road at least for another 6 - 8 hours. But he gave me another route to follow to get to Goa.. So off we were again the two of us to Goa.

It is a great road a bit boring at times at least when you are riding in a straight line for hours on an end. The painfull part is you cant speak to the person who is riding becuase of the wind and thru the helmets it is virtually impossible.

Now what is virtually impossible is sleeping on a bike. Well not if you are Amrita!! At one point i feel the wheight of the bike shift to the right and feel Amrita start sliding to the right suddenly i realise she has fallen asleep. So put my hand back to hold her and jam the breaks and she come straight into my helmet with hers which must have woken her up real good. After a nice monolog from me on why she should stay awake and not sleep on the bike we were off again..We stopped for breakfast and then lunch in the ghats(which was pretty good). At some point Amrita has managed to put her head down and positioned her self in such a way that she slept for at least an hour. God knows how she did it and god knows how i was riding because i had no clue that she was asleep just thought she had her head down..

Anyway 4 in the evening we got into Goa at 5:00 we were at Stella's. Who on seeing us commented on how mad we were to ride down for a day and then gave us our keys and told us the beer was ready at the shack. So we cleaned up had baths got all the crap off us and went down to the beach to watch the sun set and drink some beer and eat some food.

After a few beers and a bite to eat we thought why not go back to the room and nap and then at like 9:30 we can get up and go to eat dinner and grab a drink in Baga yea like that was going to happen! Our nap turned out to be from 7:00 in the evening to 8:00 the next morning.

So the day we were in goa we spent true beach bum style started with breakfast on the beach, lunch on the beach and lots of beers in-between. Ingos night baazar in the evening and then dinner back on the beach.

Sunday we started our trip back at 6:00 in the morning the trip was much the same not much crazy stuff happening. Except i got Amrita to sing and stay awake all the way back. We stopped fewer time and I rode faster and for longer stretches. We made it back home by 4:00 all black, tired and real kicked with our trip.

I am sitting here over a week later peeling becuase I got so badly sunburnt in that one day. We did 1200 odd kms in 3 days not bad for my first ride alone with Amrita in a place where I knew no one to come for backup. The whole trip was worth it.. We may have missed Roger Waters show in Mumbai. But we learnt how to fly for sure...

we have a few pics of the trip mostly of me becuase they were taken from amrita's phone (since both of us lost our cameras).

The road is now calling and I think the next trip may be Bangalore in March for the Iron Maiden concert but with the Inddiethumpers...

Dinner time ..

Goa

The Wedding

2007-02-08T01:02:00.001+05:30

It is over here is the wedding ...

The Wedding

The Boys Sangeet and the after party

2007-02-05T11:01:00.001+05:30

Boys Sangeet and After Party

The Shagan

2007-02-04T19:13:00.001+05:30

The Shagan

The Girls Sangeet

2007-02-04T11:40:00.000+05:30

As the wedding continues so does the party..

The girls Sangeet

The First Party

2007-02-03T12:43:00.000+05:30

So it has begun and the party was at Raghav's and then it shifted to the girls house..

not everyone is here yet Angat is still to come... having problems with leave but he will be here. ok need to go shopping so here are some pics.. later

the wedding - the start

Raghav's final countdown

2007-02-01T14:51:00.000+05:30

11:47 on the night of the 31st of Jan 2007 and I am sitting in Mumbai International airport waiting for my flight(AI 432) to take me (why only me where is Amrita? well she is working on a short film with Mira Nair) to Delhi from where I shall go meet Aastha and Amber and then catch my train to Chandigarh at 7:20 A.M. Its going to be a hectic night but why am I doing this taking off to Chandigarh just randomly with 2 brand new suits in my bag. I shall tell you Raghav and Tulika are getting married.. Raghav who you ask ? Raghav is my best friend and has been since i remember and trust me i remember real far back... Nursery I think is where we met and since then it has been history. Hey I remember playing a hand in getting Tulika and him together back in Class 9 in Vivek High School. We seem to have done it all together from taking off on our cycles to the botanical gardens in the wee hours of the morning as kids, listing to Aerosmith in our torn jeans and feeling cool, helped each other buy birthday gifts for our girl friends (actually Tulika for him :)) to sitting and talking about crap this time when he came back from Copenhagen.

Its weird I never thought that we would all be so far from each other Raghav in Copenhagen, Angat in Delhi and me in Mumbai we were nuts when we were in school and then you don't realize once that is done and you join college and once work starts all hell will break loose and everyone will take off in different directions.

Anyway I am straying off the topic so i am here at the airport waiting for my flight at gate 19 where it seems the ac is not working full time and they seem to be lots of mosquitoes (only in an Indian airport).

So the party begins tomorrow Raghav your countdown has begun in the words of Angat "you are a looser" and in mine "ha ha you are getting married" (this is coming from a guy who is engaged).

Any who I guess the pics i will upload when i have some (if i am in any state to take any will also make a huge impact on the fact if there will be any pics)....

Now it is time for me to play some games and waste one hour until they board me on to this flight ... come on i need to get to Chandigarh...

Mumbai Address

2007-01-24T13:52:00.000+05:30

A/401 Bunch Berry
Yari Road (near yari road bus depot)
Versova
Andheri
Mumbai

cell phone -+91 9867639753

As for proper post it should come in a few days been trying to finish this months magazine so it can go for print. So that I can go for Raghav's wedding back to chandigarh..

Oh by the way since the last post I started work with L'Officiel. They are yet to tell me what my designation is but so far i have worked on 2 issues and apparently the Jan issue came out in record time (never in the history of the magazine has the magazine come out in the first week of the month on the stands) funny thing is that the art team was a whole new team when we did the January edition :) ..

A longer and detailed post later on Mumbai and the last 2 months.

Rider Creed

2007-01-23T21:17:00.000+05:30

Something I believe in and live by.. :) take a look...
Rider Creed

Mumbai firsts

2006-11-29T11:02:00.000+05:30

So my shift to my new life started with two Kismet and Angat dropping me to Delhi airport to catch the flight to Mumbai. This time I was not going for a 10 day holiday I was going to start my new life in Mumbai. So it has been over a month that I have been here and so what have I done in one month you may ask since I still dont have a job.

Well lets see I got to Mumbai and Amrita was still working on her movie Ta Ra Rum Pum so I hung around with here for the first few days at the set at Yash Raj saw some stars (Abhishek, Saif, Bobby Deol, Javed Jaffery et all).

Amrita lived in a nice One bedroom flat in 4 Bungalows which all of a sudden got very small as I got there as the occupants were Amrita, Sabrina (Amrita's sister), Nyma (Amrita's 12 year old niece), Shoba (the maid), Waffle (the mad cocker spaniel), Lou and Lara (two turtles) and me. So first order of business was to find a new house to shift too. Now Amrita and Sabrina had alreadys started hunting and had got a few places they liked and wanted me to see. So we went and saw 3 houses and the one that they liked i liked too and we decided to go for it. So it was a new building on Yari Road near a fishing village so we are near the sea like 10 meters away on the fourth floor and tow bedrooms and a huge sitting dining area and a nice kitchen and oh yea 2 loos (for the lack of images I am sorry I lost my camera on the train to Delhi so :( )

Now Amrita was working so was her sister and all of a sudden we had a new house that we needed to shift into by the 10th so Vir who was sitting at home started packing since we didnt have any time left. We met the new land lady and she said we could shift in anytime and we could start cleaning the place up and all that.

Now Amrita the Art Director that she is walked into our new empty house and said we needed to paint the sucker as it was all a horrid yellowish colour. So a call was made to her painters who came the next day to check out the house and Amrita told them what had to be done and they set out to work.

The dining room two walls were to be made an orangy dirty looking mediteranian wall ( you will get the drift when I have images to back it up). Our room got a nice deep red wall with a light grey on the rest and Saby's and Nyma got a Purplely wall while the rest a light green the rest of the house was painted white. The front door become a funky blue.

So the house was painted and cleaned and ready for all of us to move so the day came where the truck came to pick up all the stuff and move us into our new residence. So officially on the 11th of November Vir Nakai officially had his own place and was finally out of Chandigarh mentally as well as physically I had finally left home.

The next few days went in Carpenter, Electrician, Plumber getting the house up and running. Now I sit in the Living Room with VH1 blaring Oldies music chilling in my house.

Now dont get me wrong its not like I have not done anything else other than shift and get the house running and shit. Amrita and I partied with some friends some old chandi school mates, went partying to DJ Aqueel's club Poison which was not that hot but we went back to Joshi's house where we smoked a cigar he got us for our engagement drank way too much vodka and had one glass of single malt. One evening I made an Italian dinner with Amrita and ate way too much. One night Nakai (he is a cousin of Amrita's just shifted to Mumbai as well he is a designer and is hitting Mumbai as well. being a Nakai yea he is related to me but closer to Amrita dont ask man its damn complicated).So I have my nights out here as well just a start to a lot more :).

Today I finally got my self a new Airtel Mumbai number which will get active in like 5 days (I dont get that why it should take so long and all that but hey whatever). I have given an interview and have a good feeling about it will update you on that when I know. On the 28th I fly back to Delhi and then to Chandigarh Angad and Tara's wedding and will be back in Mumbai by the 5th.

I think it will be great to go back to Chandigarh now to holiday and not as a resident coming back from a holiday. Sure I miss Chandigarh there is a lot to miss like my roof and drinking beer with nitin and mad life I had there but her who said Mumbai is not as cool.

Well that is that for me.. I will update my new address with phone number later.

Bunch Berry

Vir has left the building!!

2006-10-24T16:54:00.000+05:30

I don't know where to start with this email that is weird because I could have sworn that it would be easy and all I would do is thank a few people curse some and viola I would have a farewell mail. Sadly most of the people I would have cursed are no longer here and there are quite a few to thank. So I guess I got to start somewhere so here goes....

July 2002 is when I came to Quark for an interview and trust me when I tell you I never thought I would get my job especially when I was handed a test for Java. So well I got the job and I came and joined a team called WPSI. It was quite freaky the first day here because I remember I walked into the office and thought to my self that damn that is a lot of nerds and there is no way I will be able to last here more than a month. That was like 4 years ago and I am still here well today is my last day here and let me tell you it was a tough decision for me to put my papers in because it was a good run and it is sad to see it end.

Well on a whole I got great memories of this place I have seen some real weird shit here but it feels like home. I am not going to start thanking people now because I don’t got all day to write this email.

To my team Creative Services rock you guys we do kick ass work, to the rest you ain't seen the last of me and to all the party animals you got my number next time you in my part of the world give me a buzz the kingfisher is always chilling as for now I am outta here.

My new number - +91 9316065611
Email – vir.nakai@gmail.com

leavin on a shit train

Good bye party 105

Bye Vir see ya later

Two weeks notice

2006-10-11T10:38:00.000+05:30

After four and a half years finally I took a hard call I resigned my position as Design Lead at Quark. I am moving on in life I am going to Mumbai to joing my Fiance so we can start our lives together.
It took a lot of courage but then it is time to move on. Mumbai ready or not here I come...

Yara Bikki Gets Hitched

2006-09-26T13:14:00.000+05:30

Last week I get a call from Varun(an old school friend of mine and a guy who is all over the world tending to his business you never know where he is best way to get in touch with him is let him call when he is free and you never know whent that will happen) and he says wanna get drunk on Monday the 25th. I was like hmm if that is the only day you are going to be in town sure.. So he is like perfect so on monday i am getting married see you there the card is in the mail ...

WOW ok .... Didnt think he would be the first one to get married out of the guys with Akal and Angad C on the verge of it themselves.

Well so I went and turned out I was to hang alone which I did but had a great time here are some pics from last night...

Congratulations Yara Bikki... Till the next time I get your call.

Varuns Wedding

Sep 26, 2006 - 18 Photos

GO WEST

2006-09-23T16:57:00.000+05:30

So Kismet and Nitin were planning to come home last weekened and Kismet calls me and says lets have a BBQ since Mithu is leaving for England and it is her 21st Birthday next week and i wont be here lets BBQ..
so i said get to chandigarh and we shall plan it. Nitin and Kismet get here friday night and we all sit around chill eat dinner and all that and decide to get up early and get up early to get some work done for Kismet and get this party planned..
Saturday morning bright and early at 9:00 (hey its a saturday what is brighter and earlier than that) we get up and decide lets do this kismet says lets do somthing different this time .. "lets use a new marinate and have Mojitos" sure says I.
So with our lists in hand of things to do and stuff to buy for the party Mom, Kismet and I took off to get everything done. Around lunch time Jai calls and well he wants to take us for lunch hmmm sure we tell him to come home and chill while we will take a bit as we got some bank work for Kismet to finish.
so we catch up with Jai get in his new Honda ZX take off to pick up nitin and then the age old question of where are we going comes up ... Ahhh Oriental Lounge no one has been there yet cool lets go.. ok this seems to be becoming about lunch when it is about the BBQ. so to cut lunch short we had a couple of beers and good food Oriental Lounge is definatly a cool place (yet another one in chandigarh I tell you it gets better here every week)..
So at 4 all of us get home to a shit load of work that needs to be done to start with the chicken needs to be marinated for atleast 4 hours and well we had to still get the stuff ready... Amrita will agree total Nakai chaos leaving everything to the last moment.
well we had jai stirring and sipping the marinate lol, one maid chopping the onions the other making coffee and Kismet and I making a mess in the rest of the kitchen with the rest of the ingredients :) ohh i for got to tell you what we were making.. well Buffallo Chilli Chicken and Cagun Barbecue Corn to which i promised people i would put the recipie up so here it is

Buffallo Chilli Chicken
Its a recipie out of a Book now not mine :)

1kg chicken,skinned
3 spring onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup(250 ml) tomato sauce
4 tablespoons beer (now you know why jai was sipping it)
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 table spoon tabasco sauce

Now apparently this serves 4-6 people as per the book so for a party of punjabis i did what i usually do i multiplied it by 4 since we had about 12 people coming :) hahah.
now all you need to do is Score the chicken at 2 cm intervals.
Put the onions, garlic, tomato sauce, beer, vinegar, honey and tabasco in a dish and mix to combine and add the chicken cover it and refrigerate for 3-4 hours and then throw it on the BBQ when you ready..

Cagun Barbecue Corn

you need as much corn as you want but still on the cob break it into half
Cajun spice mix
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
now all you got to do is take some butter and brush it on the corn and sprinkle the cajun spice mix over the corn and BBQ i did the same to Potato's which were cut to 1 cm thick slices hmmm how well they came out ...
ok now for the important part

Mojitos
Bacardi Lime Mint leaves lots of embrown sugarSoda and loads of crushed ice
basically the mint and sugar go in the bottom of the glass you got to crush em there and then add the lime and the ice and the bacardi and then little soda and wow a bomb ass drink ...

so anyway we get everything together while nitin brings the coal and the beer and then kismet goes upstairs to the roof to get the seating and shit ready.i get the BBQ ready and the coal is up now all we got to do is wait for the party to begin.

So Baaz calls and says should i get music and all we got are two small speakers so i tell him yea get it we can play it thru the laptop.. Now Baaz being Baaz did bring the music with just a little twist he got 2 woodstock speakers, his amp, his laptop and his mixer ok then :) seems this party was taking off already so once we were all set up BBQ music and the Mojitos going the party just got better and better..
Check out the pics for your self :) we packed up at 5 am sunday morning all night we were blasting the music and the creating a rukus.. it has been a while ...
But well then it was a party for a friend who is going away and well she was turning 21 the next week right ...
GO WEST MITHU
oh about her turning 21 she had a party a her home with some college friend and well let me tell you that was quite crazy as well ..shhh i came home at 5 then too :)
who says chandigarh is a quiet sleepy place huh ....

Go West

Sep 23, 2006 - 61 Photos

To the mountains we went

2006-07-20T13:20:00.001+05:30

Like a month ago Amber and I rode up into the Mountains where Mom, Dad, Kismet, Nitin and a whole lot of other people were as well . Here are some pics from the trip.

More pics here:
Kismets
Nitins

New York here comes Amrita

2006-07-18T01:27:00.001+05:30

Bye Amrita have a good trip and a great time in New York. Will miss you see you soon bring me back lots of presents.

Mumbai Finally

2006-07-18T01:01:00.002+05:30

So I started writing this blog while I was sitting in the cafeteria in Yash Raj Studio in Mumbai. Now I am on Spice Jet 118 Mumbai - Delhi (VTSPF) going home. Whats the point of this blog? Well it is like so.
Last Week there was an Adobe conference in Mumbai which I wanted to attend so I got permission from Matt ( my boss) who it just happens is on leave! So friday I get to the travel desk and get my tickets booked call amrita and tell her i am coming and since the conference is Tuesday - Wednesday (11th and 12th). I decided to take Monday off and leave on saturday and spend a few days with Amrita as she was leaving for New York to work on the new Yash Raj Movie Ta Ra Rum Pum.
Well after all these plans and stuff i get an email saying that Due to rain the conference was cancelled what sucks more was that in the last two days there was no rain in Mumbai.
OH CRAP this cant be happening ! So i get the travell desk to cancell the tickets F!@# this sucks I will never get to see Amrita before she leaves !! So that was the start to a very depressing Friday where not only was the Travel Desk guy giving me dirts but Amrita giving me hell.
So Saturday comes and goes and in the evening I couldnt handle it I had to go to mumbai even if it was just for a night I had to see amrita before she left .. so Sunday morning I get up and go to the airport to check on the flights. JET is full and the Air India counter is still closed. So I go in search of the office in chandigarh. Now the joy that day was it was cloudy and the sky was brown with mud for whatever reason. So on the way to the AI office it starts getting dark and by the time i get to the office i am driving with my lights on becuase it is like 9 at night. Screw that i am still going i am thinking. so i get to the office and I get the price of the ticket and am like yea what the hell i am going and i ask the guy will the flight take off? and the answer i get is NO. Should i book your ticket sir ??? Huh what he wanted to book the ticket even though the flight wouldnt take off weird. So the weather had it in for me that day so i would have to watch the world cup final and watch France beat the crap out of Italy at Vasila (I know i know France lost) fine not fair but fine. Anyway it seem that it was not meant to be becuase the air port was closed in Mumbai becuause of some bandh and shiv sena stuff in Mumbai so it means i would never have got to Amritas.
Monday I find out from Amrita that hey she is not leaving this week she is leaving on Monday. Good News for me i may still get to see her :) yea .... Well all thoughts went flying out of my head when 7 bombs rocked the railway system in Mumbai bringing Mumbai to a halt that night. Crap that was sencless violence on the people of Mumbai. Next day i am thinking there is no way getting to Mumbai will be easy this week at all with all hell breaking loose in Mumbai. What the hell let me try so I booked the tickets on flight 111 to Mumbai 5:40 A.M in the morning on Saturday. Got Nitin to get the train tickets from Chandi to Del.
The trip to mumbai from Chandi is also a story on its own the jist being I partied all night in Del with Kismet and Nitin went to the airport flew to Mumbai hung with Amrita went out partyin to town got home at 5am watched her pack and left.
So that brings me back to where i started I am on the flight back to delhi.
Happy that i made it to Mumbai to see Amrita satisfied with the trip it was more fun than I thought it would be maybe becuase I have been trying to get to see her for like a week and it seemed like the world was against me elements and all.

XPress 7.0 out of the door

2006-06-16T13:21:00.002+05:30

So XPress 7.0 came out "wow" after a long time and the great part of it is It looks great and works as well..
So we had a great huge party and they gave us medals. I dont think I have ever got a medal before that too a Gold wow. So here is a pic of the Creative Services Leads (Design and DP) with their medals wooohooo Go XPress 7.

Tequila

2006-06-01T13:02:00.002+05:30

Oh how my head aches today morning... I think it would be a better feeling to be dead... All it took to get me like this is Baaz who brought a few beers and some Tequila which we overkilled.

Funny how you drink for whatever reasons but the next morning you are bound to feel like shit. I dont get it ??

I know I shouldnt drink but whats the use I do but even when I dont want to !!! It must be all the booze in my blood that is getting me like this. But hey dont tell me you never thought of it either.. Look at people who dont drink they have as much fun as us when we are out.. Actually they probably are laughing at us and thinking look at all the money I save.. Sad but true.

My head still hurts...........

Shantaram

2006-05-30T22:36:00.002+05:30

Kismet told me to read Shantaram - Amrita Bought it in Mumbai and I started reading it. I had forgotten what it was like to read. I have not been able to put the book down. It is an excellent book one of the best I have read..

Everyone must read it take my word on it. Specially if you live in Mumbai it is like you can imagine Linbaba running around all over the place mindblasting.

Read it!! Believe me and tell me what you think ?

Nano's

2006-05-06T13:53:00.002+05:30

Check it out got my self a Nano and so did the rest of my team for working on QPS/QCM man these kind of perks i enjoy. Its pretty funky small and slim not as cool as Kismet's but hey its free and that makes it even cooler :).

Helmet's

2006-05-06T13:49:00.003+05:30

So how important are Helmets to a rider? Quite I believe so thats why i got my self yet another one. Hey better safe than sorry huh.

Here is looking at 2005

2006-04-27T16:12:00.002+05:30

In December the family went to Goa again to celebrate Mom's birthday. Karan, Shanti, Maya, Nitin, Kismet, Dad, Usha, god know how many more people were all there to party for Moms 50th.
Amrita who had just come back from New York where she was doing the sets of the Karan Johars new Movie Kabhi Alvida Na Kehina ( i doubt i spelt that correctly) came down for 2 days (basically new years). Well funny thing Amrita and I cant remember the last time we were together on New Years. This New Years was very special as we stood on the beach watching the firecrackers all along the beach I asked Amrita to marry me and she said yes so it was an end to a crazy year and a beginning of a insane year for us.

2005 was a great year and I am guessing 2006 is going to be nuts again as already so much has happened.
Well that was my 2005 for you in a nut shell.

Then Gunjan got married...

Amber, Angat and I drove to Goa in a beat up Maruti 800 in 36 hours mind blowing. That was an excellent trip. For more pics click here

Then Madhur Got married and there was this weird looking thing near where dinner was being served.

In Febuary Dad had his Hella Saag Party !

In January Manu and I went to Rider Mania 2005 in Panvel. For more pics click here

Playing with the camera

2006-04-27T14:50:00.002+05:30

What goes on behind the grill of a G5?

Manu's Smokes...

HMMM

2006-04-27T14:26:00.002+05:30

well i finally thought i would take a shot at Blogging.