I *heart* Bombay (and well..Boston)

I'm urban..in the way other people are mountain-people or tunafish junkies. I love city life...something about dreary concrete blocks and grumpy people totally gets my juices flowing. Ergo, this will be a blog about me, my two favourite cities (Bombay and Boston), my addiction to Vietnamese coffee and my views on Gregorian chant and it's efficacy in curing some types of tympannic membrane rupture. Enjoy!

Monday, May 22, 2006

Geeking out is so much fun!

This Sunday was Mahaquizzer 2006 in 8 cities around India..Bombay being one of them. Since I won this the last year, I figured it's worth "defending my title" this year even if it means waking up at 8.30 am on a Sunday morning to head to town. Oh who am I kidding! I'm wicked geeky when it comes to quizzing. I watched almost every episode of Jeopardy (and taped the ones I missed to watch later), I took part in the Weakest Link, I won quiz after quiz all through school and college...I even won the Bournvita quiz contest on radio WAY back when (Damn! I'm old! I was actually on radio! AM at that!!).

Anyhoo, after a night partying at the GB party ; where for a change they played about an hour of house music (leading to the queens stalking out claiming they will never hang out at a place that replaces "Kua maan doob jaoongi" with Paul van Dyke); I stumbled into bed around 2 am and found I couldn't sleep...so in goes my favourite "Before Sunset" into the DVD player and out come the Pringles, custard and hankie...my usual requirements when I watch this movie on my bi-monthly viewings. I finally dropped of to sleep about 5 am only to be rudely awakened at 8 am by my sidey alarm ringtone (I have "Carnival" for all you Nokia phone people). Spent about 10 minutes trying to decide between my lucky Superman shirt or M.'s Taz shirt. Finally decided on my PETA shirt (which I got free...I'm such a whore for free stuff) and jumped into a cab to Sophia's. I got there a bit early and looked around at assorted "competition" - all of who fit very nicely into the "I went to IIT and am a Tam Brahm" box (Check here please). I sat my non-IIT, non-TamBrahm ass way back and surprise surprise. A good omen! The desk I sat at belonged to a Mithun fan....the surface was scarred with "I love you Mithunda" and "I love Mimoh". Fantastic, I thought, this person understands why "Disco Dancer" and "Gun Master G9" were the defining moment of our lives in the mid 80's! With MithunDa's blessings, I opened up the quiz..150 questions to be answered in 90 minutes. So I'll be lying if I claimed I knew them all. I'll be lying if I claimed I even knew the answers to half. So technically, I only answered 75 questions...the other questions all got my standard fake answer - Stanley Kubrick.

What's the difference in lifespan of a Komodo dragon on the island of Flores as opposed to one on the island of Ternate?*
-Stanley Kubrick.

Where would you find Ching shi-weh and Bee-boppidy-boom?*
-Stanley Kubrick.

What, in the Bible, is equivalent to 3 lengths of rough undyed wool as woven by a daughter of Israel?*
-Stanley Kubrick.

See? He fits every question! "Do you like me Vikster?"..."err...Stanley Kubrick?"
(* - Actual questions may vary. All memories of actual questions have been obliterated by liberal doses of Heineken)

Anyhoo, I won. 54 points out of a possible 150. And my prize? A grand in voucers to Crosswords...which of course means that after a meal of Reshmi Tikka biryani at Noorani's (Honestly, at this rate, I'm going to have to give up ever fitting into my jeans again!), I headed off to Kemps Corner toute-suite.

People of Bombay. Lend me your ears. I bring you information.

There are HOT MEN who read! They hang out at Crosswords at Kemps Corner on Sunday afternoons! I almost sobbed for joy when I saw 3 of them clustered about the history section! Does this mean Bombay has the capacity to surprise cynical ol' me after all these years? I was forced to hang out in the Business and Marketing section for 15 minutes while a guy with the most divine grey eyes checked out the display (Meanwhile, I checked out his display...hot!) Snooped into his book bag at the checkout counter. Spotted "An analysis of the Zulu wars" (very do-able, pity about the wife), "Bathrooms and Kitchens" (decorating? gay? rich?), "The Da Vinci Code" (err..moving on..)...
All I know is, I thnk I know where I'm going to be hanging out Sunday afternoons now.

Current music:
Hit me baby ( one more time) - Mrs. Federline

My loneliness is killing me, and I...
I must confess I still believe (still believe)..

How awesome is this song! (OK, I know about 50% of you have now lost all respect for me!)

29 Comments:

  • At 6:02 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    absoultely love your blog
    absolutely love you
    absolutely love your life

    You write very well. Just
    wish it was more often.
    withdrawl symptoms.

    Jay from california

     
  • At 7:44 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Hooray for Vikster. The Quizzing Genius!

    Congrats to you~ See books did lead you to men! Now get them to come hang out at Crosswords Bandra so it can be in your turf!! Plan it out- study the design of crosswords so you can be standing at the perfect angle showing your ASS and the title of the muy inteligente book in your hand!

    Hee hee
    Meenu

     
  • At 3:21 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    not bad at all!!!

    Since I cant answer even one question in quizzes most of the time...I very well appreciate geeks who can! :)

    BTW long time, no c!! Just stumbled upon ur blog and was surprised!! the orkutting days r over or wht?

     
  • At 5:50 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    "What, in the Bible, is equivalent to 3 lengths of rough undyed wool as woven by a daughter of Israel?"
    --Please Vikster, given your, ahem, experience, I am fairly sure you could have given a better answer than that as to the length of Jewish instruments ;)

    As for "Before Sunset," a favorite film of mine too, this bit of dialogue seemed apt.

    Jesse: What do you think were the chances of us ever meeting again?

    Celine: After that December, I'd say almost zero. But we're not real anyway, right? We're just, uh, characters in that old lady's dream. She's on her deathbed, fantasizing about her youth. So of course we had to meet again.

    IGC

     
  • At 8:47 PM, Blogger Ameet said…

    Here's Mrs Federline almost hitting baby one more time:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/chicmommy/149108071/

     
  • At 9:40 PM, Blogger roswitha said…

    I sat beside him. And copied all his answers! But of course they all turned out to be the Stanley Kubrick ones. :p

     
  • At 9:59 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Congrats Vik

     
  • At 10:46 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Congratulations Mr. Quizzer, more so for the Crosswords discovery. Grey eyes?? Are you sure this wasn't the Pike Place Crosswords? Kemps Corner's too far away for these two! ;)

    Rohan

     
  • At 10:56 PM, Blogger Vikster said…

    J from C: Thank you! I'll try to write more often..Work keeps me busy sometimes..OK so I'm lying, I have nothing to write about!

    Meenu: What to do men? I know the best location for showing off my ass at the Bandra Crosswords..the one at Kemps Corner is WAY to spread out...then again, my ass is getting to be like that as well! LOL!

    Chandni: I'm very much Orkutting..how are you? (OK..more to the point, we've met? I know 3 Chandnis and none in NYC!..)

    IGC: Did you want me to embarress you? Time to blow that "loooooong" shofar methinks ;-)
    I miss the children of Israel so much..(well, just the one Aaronic descendant though)

    Ameet: I love how Mrs. Federline is SO like what I thought she'd be as a mom..Madonna on the other hand? I'm disappointed hasn't dropped Loourdes on her head!

    Roswitha: Stanley Kubrick!

    RP: Thank you kindly!

     
  • At 11:09 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Congratulations, Vikster! I second J's comment. More power to your writing (and bitching!! Not that I do any less). Crossword, eh? Not sure whether Dalhi's Halthy-walthy man read book-shooks. Haanji, will Chack out the bookstores this weekend.

    Sandeep, roasting in Hell...err..Delhi

     
  • At 2:03 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Statement:I know of this Komodo dragon living in Chennai who is going to have a longer lifespan because he reads your blog!
    Q. Do komodo Dragons have a crush on the Vikster?
    A.erm..Stanley Kubrick?...(Does a bear shit in the woods?)

    @ Hit me baby one more time :............ slap!

    lol...and congratulations on defending your title...

     
  • At 4:17 AM, Blogger Just Kiddin said…

    Salutations to his Mahaquizzness !!

    I shall say with pride that we were teammates.

    jk

     
  • At 4:19 AM, Blogger Just Kiddin said…

    Whats common to Brittney Spears and Vik's Mahaquizzer title defence?

    Oops ... did it again .

     
  • At 8:28 AM, Blogger roswitha said…

    heh. it feels like you're saying 'ni!'. you're like the knight who says stanli.

     
  • At 8:18 PM, Blogger Vivek Tejuja said…

    Lets go to Crossword. Come with Emily while she does her thing. It will be fun!! Lets drink coffee at Moshe and read and lech and do all nice things that people have forgotten...

     
  • At 12:47 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    oh no no. now you get respect for the song!!!

     
  • At 3:57 AM, Blogger Wild Reeds said…

    I take it 'voucer' is a new Viksterism, just like 'dilemna'.
    :-)
    The former is a voucHer that is not 'etched'.
    The latter is a dilemMA without oedipal connotations.

    Ayyo.

     
  • At 4:34 AM, Blogger Vikster said…

    Sandeep in Hell (Delhi): OMG! You said Hallty-Waalthy and Helloji just like I do! Move to Bombay and we'll make fun of the Paajis together.

    Kindred Spirit: Hit me baby = text me baby. And thank you ! ;-)

    jk: It's Garv se kaho ki hum partner hain!

    AllesKlarHerrKomissar: Yep. Will see you when I get to Pune mebbe. Well, I was just checking him out. G-d knows my confidence level has gone to shit to try anything else..

    Ros: HAHAHAH! Good reference. Now I must go thrown the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch at the Killer Rabbit.

    SexAndTheCity: Coolio! Let's do so...Computer says? Yesssssss!

    Quix: Are you Mrs. Federline?

    WildReeds: I'm spelling challenged. Now no one will love me.

     
  • At 7:08 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    euh...je suis une desi française....and i got on ur blog by chance...nice blog...;-)

     
  • At 12:13 PM, Blogger Unknown said…

    Ah, I'm a game show nut and I just love jeopardy and who want to a M.

     
  • At 4:53 AM, Blogger kage said…

    chanced upon your blog... quick question... were u at vesit? and while there did you organize the "literary" quizes n all? you look and sound very familiar...

     
  • At 6:55 PM, Blogger The Dancing Writer said…

    Hi All!

    I have finally stopped renting space at Vikster's and started my own blog.

    Do stop by! Meenu

    http://transformintobeauty.blogspot.com/

     
  • At 11:17 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Haanji Viksterji,

    I am from ammchi Mumbai but moved to Dalhi six months ago. why dont you come to Dalhi sometime. I am sure the Punju studs will have you in splits.

    Sandeep.

     
  • At 5:46 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Where are you?

    -Mandar

     
  • At 7:46 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    mar gaya kya?

     
  • At 10:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    So you really can't remember the questions? To obad, I'd have loved a sample of those...

    And yes, I do remember the days of BQC on radio... we comepted against each other, even if you don't remember ;)

    - Milind

     
  • At 11:42 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Update dammit!

    Irshad

     
  • At 12:30 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    hi there your bog is marvelous, i am coming to mumbai soon. want to meet you. contact me at letusdonow@yahoo.com

     
  • At 10:18 AM, Blogger Pushpendra said…

    truly amazing let meet up man,chal miltey hai sunday ko! but where to? i think crossroads will be great.hehehe man one thng i really i like bout you blogs is that your vocab. so very good.keep up the good work.whats is your orkut id or name i just want to add you in my list,.....
    cheers mate
    jai hind :p

     

Post a Comment

<< Home