Odds and Ends

Longish update, hence the various lj-cuts.


Bought a few cds the other day, but don't tell Sindha - Meesa Madhavan, Nammal, The Ragpicker's Dream and a compilation of 18 modern rock hits. The last one is pretty good, though I thought all the artistes sound very similar. I was impressed with bands like Linkin Park, GooGoo Dolls, Nickleback, etc.

Has anyone got the new Metallica album, by the way ? I saw an ad that mentioned Planet M (or was it MusicWorld) was giving away caps with each cd. I'd like to see a good review before I buy it.

All my listening gets done in the car these days, what with the baby and people around the house all the time. Sindha's sis and family are at home right now. The house has been having a steady stream of visitors for quite some time. My ma-in-law will return to Tvm on the 13th, the day my parents reach here. Achan will be in the Ashram mostly, but Amma plans to stay home till the end of July.

I'd like to move into a new apartment somewhere in Whitefield by the end of the month. Prestige Langleigh is what I have my eye on, but I heard that the rent for a 3 bedroom apt there is close to Rs 20,000, which is ridiculous. Out in the boondocks and 20k for a flat ? My budget is more in the 10-12k range. If anyone hears of a good flat in that area, please let me know. Much obliged.

I had tagged along with Kamalachitta and co when they visited a relative of Kunjachan. This chap has a son who has done pretty much the same thing as I - hooked up his pc to the music system and the tv. He had a nice collection of divx movies, mainly new ones though. I noticed two Monty Pythons (Life of Brian and the Holy Grail), seeing which I immediately asked for copies. He also had this movie called Pi which has been on my must-watch list. However I didn't get time to copy that.

The office folks continue their merry spree of downloading the latest movies. They do come up with a few good ones from time to time. I'm picking up Raiders of the Lost Ark and Bowling for Columbine from the Bombay office. Office Space was another movie that I copied over from a machine on the network here. Oh, Bandwidth !

The baby is keeping quite well. We have decided to name her Rachana as planned, despite strong resistance from the l-j community. I went to the Registration Office at Kamaraj Road to get her birth registered. I have this morbid fear of government offices. You have seedy looking characters loitering around the place, who approach you with an ingratiating smile and a promise to get the job done at a small fee. You don't know the language, you don't know which window/clerk to approach, you don't know which forms to sign. You give up and give the set of papers to the agent and pay him an exorbitant amount to get the job done. You exit with the certificate in your hand, happy to get what you wanted but guilty and embarassed over paying a bribe.

Thankfully this place wasn't anything like I imagined. I had a bit of trouble finding the location but once I went inside, it was smooth sailing. The gentleman at the desk wasn't overly friendly, but was professional and explained what exactly needs to be done. I filled up the form (in Kannada, but luckily I had a spare copy filled in earlier) and coughed up Rs 65 for the paperwork. I need to go there on Saturday to collect the birth certificate. Smooth and easy, no shady characters, no bribes. Nice.

And in case anyone's interested, here's what you need for registering a birth:
1. A certificate from the hospital
2. A couple of forms filled in, you can get this from the registration office or the SBO (Sub Health Office, or some such)
3. You should know the exact SBO to go to. The Karnataka govt has a nice website which gives details on where you need to go.
4. Rs 65
5. The name of the baby, if you want the certificate to include the name


And now for the weekend...!