Yez! I did it! I'm on the net!

I was expecting myself to keep away from any sort of work during vacation. What's happening is far from it.

First things first. My net connection didn't work. What a world without internet! I battled with my old comp for a day. Nope. My self-respect hit a rock in the bottom. I pick up the phone and dial the customer service. "Tata Indicom: What can I do for you" says a sweet voice. I'm tempted to say: "Hey, gimme a break. I'm sick of English". I recite the problem for half an hour - only to find out that I missed out a domainname while typing the username. So much for being 'called' a techie! My computer boots, works, hangs in two mins time. Windows 98. It boots the second time, works for 15 mins and the monitor slowly fades to black. Poor guy, it has served me for 5 long years. It's counting its days.

I try connecting with my laptop. Windows XP. Problems galore. Customer service again. English again. One hour chat this time. Sick of hearing "Click on My computer icon in desktop, click on control panel...". My laptop refuses. Memories of browsing center flashes in front of me. Suddenly I get enlightened and I change the dial mode from 'tone' to 'pulse' and the laptop logs onto the net. Restored my pride that I still am one of those confused techies. My sagging self-respect already knows how rock bottom looks like. It didn't have the depth to witness more.

Thus begins Home-alone part 1. I'm home. I'm alone - coz none of my friends are near my home. I thought I'd out be out of stuff to write during my vacation - but alas! I only have a lot of things to record.

Shot 1 from the train journey. We had to stay from midnight till 5 in the morning in the Bhopal railway station waiting for absolution (Titanic style) ... train, that is. Thanks to IIMI, I don't get sleep till 4 in the morning. Running out of choices, we saw a movie in the railway station. Must thank myself for carrying the laptop. And then the fun. 4 of my friends had booked the tickets for a train in August instead of September. Why worry, we told ourselves. We are in India. And the adjustment technology (trademark India) always works. It sure did. For a cool 100 more bucks for each, 4 additional people traveled from Bhopal to Chennai. No wonder BJP lost when it said India is shining. :)

My stay in Chennai was fun. Despite being hot, and contrary to what many people think and say, Chennai always captivates me. Everytime I go there it looks more developed. Then there are always so many friends. Anyway, lemme stop here. I'm thinking of taking a 'India after independence' book, for lack of a better thing to do...

BTW, it took 20 mins for posting the blog from home. Duh!