Of Alphabet (Tags) and Awards

Aug 19, 2009
5:35 pm

First of all, I must inform you that I just nominated my blog for Indiblogger of the Month award for the month of August, 2009. This month, the category is Original Literature - Short Stories. So, whenever, the voting begins, do consider my blog while exercising your Indiblogger enfranchisement.

Taking a cue from the politics, each voter will receive a bundle of the following currency notes; so in short its my version of Notes for Votes.

UPDATE: The Indiblogger of the Month contest is over. I received nine votes. So a heartfelt thanks to all those who voted for me. Click here to see the results.

Now coming back to the tags, these are some tags which have been doing the rounds of blogosphere recently and curiously, they are all related to Alphabets and Numbers. I started untagging myself of the following one at night, so will continue with it, for the time being.


Aug 19, 2009
12:15 am - 01:00 am and 5:45 pm - 6:30 am

TAG - I

The ABC Tag is from Anjan who tagged me on Jul 21, 2009. Sadly, Anjan left the blogosphere all of a sudden, some days after that.

Rules! Rules! Rules!

1. Link the person who tagged you..
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share the ABCs of you.
4. Tag 3 people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let the 3 tagged people know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6. Do not tag the same person repeatedly but try to tag different people, so that there is a big network of bloggers doing this tag!

Please bear with my ABC's... Here it goes:

A	Available/Single?	Absolutely Single (actually freshly single). So not sure if ready to Mingle. Maybe, I am. Give it a shot, who knows!
B	Best Friend?	Rachna ofcourse. She also happens to be my rakhi sister. Among the guys though there is a clear favourite among around 4-5 of them but I'll prefer to keep it under wraps.
C	Cake or Pie?	I'll love an Apple Pie for a change after too much of the Chocolate Cake.
D	Drink of choice?	Its water of course; a necessity, choice or no choice.
E	Essential item you use every day?	Lets start from the time I wake up; Mobile (alarm), Tubelight switch, Slippers, News paper, Shit Pot, Tooth Brush... blah blah blah!
F	Favorite color?	Red, Blue, Black.. Starting from my tricycle, bicycle, geared bicycle, non-geared Scooty and finally the Pulsar bike; all have been red. Definitely, the car won't be red. When it comes to clothes, I essentially have a blue wardrobe followed by red and black. And yeah, just check, the colour scheme of my other blog, Blog-a-Ton to get an idea.
G	Gummy Bears Or Worms?	Deepika Padukone
H	Hometown?	Chandigarh, the City Beautiful. Check this post to know more about it.
I	Indulgence?	Blogging, I believe and more particularly taking up such tags. This is a big indulgence for a Civil Services aspirant.
J	January or February?	The period between 2359 hours on Jan 31 to 0001 hours on Feb 1. I remember when in school, both the months sucked. January because, then the schools opened after Winter holidays and February because, then Final Examinations got closer.
K	Kids & their names?	Of course, no kid. However name for a boy is decided - Mrityunjay.
L	Life is incomplete without?	Family and Friends
M	Marriage date?	Lets see. I am not even sure of the year yet or for that matter the prospective bride yet.
N	Number of siblings?	One and only one, an elder sinister, I mean sister! Just kidding, don't tell her *wink*
O	Oranges or Apples?	Apple as a fruit, Orange as the juice.
P	Phobias/Fears?	Well already told in previous tag post - I have fear of height and ... check that post.
Q	Quote for today?	My favourite one - Hope for the Best and Prepare for the Worst.
R	Reason to smile?	It can be anything, just anything - To see a baby smile To see a parrot fly To feel a loving hug To have a beer mug To get a nice comment To feel her mesmerising scent To indulge with the friends Just smile at life's every bend.
S	Season?	That is a tough one. Can't choose between the ice-cream and shakes in summers and dry-fruits in winters.
T	Tag 3 People?	This is such an old tag that I am last on Blogosphere to take it up. If still there is some one who is left, please take it up and do let me know when you post it.
U	Unknown fact about me?	Well, I already divulged 5 of them in the previous post. Another one, if you want, here it comes - I don't smoke but drink occasionally, very very occasionally.
V	Vegetable you don't like?	Vegetable, I hate the most is Ridged Gourd, better known as Tori in Hindi. Other translations Peerkankai (Tamil) Jhinga (Bengali) Dodaka or Ghosavala (Marathi) Beera Kaya (Telugu) Heeray Kayi (Kannada) Bhol (Assamese)
W	Worst habit?	Eating finger nails; actually just bite them off, don't eat them literally; and also pulling my hair (now that might be a reason behind my balding).
X	X-rays you've had?	Of teeth, way back!
Y	Your favorite food?	Punjabi, Kashmiri, South Indian, Chinese, Italian, American, Continental..... The favourite dishes are Rajmah-Chawal and Mutton-Chawal.
Z	Zodiac sign?	Cancer; the so-called romantic emotional fool.

Aug 25, 2009
12:15 am

TAG - II

Here is another tag related to alphabets, The Favorite Alphabet Tag. It is from Shilpa who tagged me on Jul 24, 2009.

The tag wants to know my favourite alphabet and asks me to share my favourite beginnings with that alphabet.

Frankly speaking, I never thought of choosing between the 26 beautiful alphabets of English. Each plays its role to perfection in order to make English such a beautiful language. So I'll have to forego this one.

P.S. This is the way to take up a tag of a blogger buddy without taking it up :)

Talking of Shilpa, she honoured me with the Zombie Chicken Award yesterday. Yeah, I know it sounds too zombie. Read about it to know the reason behind this peculiar name.

The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken – excellence, grace and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse.

These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words.

As a recipient of this world-renowned award, you now have the task of passing it on to at least 5 other worthy bloggers. Do not risk the wrath of the zombie chickens by choosing unwisely or not choosing at all.

So now, do I want to risk the wrath of the zombie chickens. Yes, I am ready to do that. I won't be awarding it to 5 but only one blogger buddy and mind you this is the first award I am awarding till date.

It goes to my dear Blogger Buddy Bharathi, whom I once gave the title of Empathic Libertarian. Actually at that time, I mistook him for a girl and was just trying to impress her.. oops, I mean him. Jokes apart, he is a great thinker but too ideological at times. This difference between our perceptions feed our mammoth debates. He also happens to be the top reflector, i.e. commentator on my blog while I am trying hard to become one on his blog.

So, in short, I am very happy to pass on this award to him. And ofcourse, thanks to Shilpa for passing it to me.

And yeah, number tags, some other day.

Image Courtesy:
From Personal Collection created on http://www.photofunia.com/ (edited)
http://shilpaagarg.blogspot.com (original)

The Epic 'Untagging' Post - III

Aug 13, 2009
4:20 pm

Its been some time since I wrote any long post, much dreaded by my blogger buddies like Bharathi, who even dedicated a 55-Fiction recently to his fear for my lengthy posts. Fact remains that I am a little busy these days with my studies and these lengthy posts not just drain out my readers but me too.

Any way, I decided to take up all the pending tags which will satisfy my thirst for long posts, give me a breather in between study time, keep me jumping back up on your blogrolls and help you to know me better for sure.


Aug 13, 2009
4:30 pm

TAG - I

This tag, Mind Game is the latest one from Dhiman and Shankar. Both of them tagged me today.

Tag Rules: It’s harder than it looks! Copy to your own note, erase my answers, enter yours, and tag your friends. Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real… nothing made up! If the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers. You cannot use any word twice and you can’t use your name for the boy/girl name question. Have Fun!!

1. What is your name: Vipul (It literally means Abundant, just like my weight and hopefully, the grey cells too.)
   
2. A four Letter Word: Vent
3. A boy’s Name: Vikrant
4. A girl’s Name: Vipula (That doesn't mean Abundant with an 'A' as indeed it is with an 'A' only; it means Earth.)
   
5. An occupation: Vallet (My dream job outside the Taj; can run away with some luxury car one day)
   
6. A color: Violet
   
7. Something you wear: Vest (and a V in the brand too - VIP Bonus)
8. A food: Vanilla Ice-cream (Do suggest something better starting with V)
9. Something found in the bathroom: Ventilator
   
10. A place: Venice
11. A reason for being late: Very unpunctual by nature (However, I am very punctual and two things I hate the most in any person are irresponsibility and unpunctuality.)
12. Something you shout: Voila (I never shout that word. Its too western for an Indian to exclaim. Actually when I shout, its just that the decibel level in the surrounding atmosphere goes up but no one understands what I am shouting. Sometimes even I fail to understand what I shout.)
13. A movie title: Vishwatma (of सात समुन्दर पार मैं तेरे पीछे पीछे आ गई fame)
14. Something you drink: Vodka (with soda and lime cordial; I drink such stuff just once in a blue moon.)
15. A musical group: Viva ( [V] Popstars, couldn't think of anyone else)
16. An animal: Viper Snake
17. A Street name: Vidya Path (Chandigarh)
18. A type of car: Van (Maruti Omni)
19. A song title: Vande Mataram (This one I couldn't think of instantaneously, shame on me!)
20. A verb: Vacate

Aug 17, 2009
03:15 pm

TAG - II

This one, 5 lesser known things about me is the oldest of the lot. It is from Subhayan who tagged me on Jul 14, 2009. I doubt if he will even read this one as he is temporarily off the blogosphere. Any way, here I go, spilling some beans about myself, keeping the deep dark ones to myself.

1. Food is my biggest weakness. My emotions are directly related to the kind of food I have. I live to eat or I eat to live is an unsolved mystery to me.
   
2. Thanks to the above point, my weight has been fluctuating around a quintal for last 8 years or so. Whenever it goes past it, I go on a strict regime of walking and dieting. Once it comes down by some kilograms, I go back on my dirty habits. I just love this routine.
3. I am a hirsute. Friends and family can't resist calling me a bhalu (bear) when I decide to go half monty. The pity is that despite this, I have started balding. God is Great!
   
4. I am Acrophobic. Yes, I have an intrinsic fear of heights but not very acute.
5. Continuing with the phobias; till the age of 18, i.e. till I entered my graduation; I had an acute fear of talking to girls, all thanks to my all-boys schooling. So, in short, its only been about 6 years since I started interacting with unrelated girls. My girl-friends (don't read it as just GF's) find it difficult to believe. Even I've started doubting its authenticity. But alas, its a truth. I know, it sucks big time!

As you can see in these images, I've made many strides in the past 6 years. Today, women just can't get over me and I just can't get over them. They cherish my images and dream about me while I can't help my eyes from wandering here and there *wink*. But we prefer to maintain a healthy distance. A mutual symbiotic relation, we have developed.



Aug 17, 2009
03:45 pm

That's it for the time being. As always, I tag all my blogger buddies who have not taken up this tag before. I'll soon return with the remaining ones too.

The Epic 'Untagging' Post - II

Jul 13, 2009; 04:00 a.m.

I straight away continue from where I left in my previous post.

TAG-IV

I have been tagged by this Questions Tag by both Shankar and Roshmi Sinha on Jul 2, 2009 and Jul 10, 2009 respectively.
I have reordered the sequence of the questions a bit to offer some continuity.

Q: What is your current desktop picture?
A: Well, as you can see, I replaced Johnny Depp in the forthcoming Pirates of Curry-bean IV. Its even more action-packed and has some great twists thanks to the new directing duo of Abbas-Mustan. I'll be killing Orlando Bloom in the movie and have some intimate scenes with Keira Knightley. So just fasten your seat belts.

Q: The last song you listened to?
A: Just play this song. It goes best with this wallpaper and incidentally this is the song I last heard.

Q: Where did you live in 1987?

A: In Chandigarh, though in a different house and in a different sector.

Q: What’s your favourite town/city?
A: My City Beautiful, Chandigarh of course. Do read my post Chandigarh Unabridged to know about some interesting facets of my city.

Q: Are you jealous of anyone?
A: Can't think of anyone particular among my acquaintances.

Q: Is anyone jealous of you?
A: Not sure. Moreover, why should anyone be!

Q: When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it?
A: I am not sure if I ever did it in my life. Maybe long time back, for fun sake, I might have written few lines on a letter, my mother was posting to someone.

Q: Can you change the oil on a car?
A: No. But I recently replaced a punctured tyre. My mother was with me at that time. How proud she felt of her son, soon to turn 24, finally doing something manly enough. But the bigger revelation is that; for a week, my body ached big time.

Q: Name three things that you have on you at all times?
A: The following three; which I hope just end somehow.

1. My balding hair (Ending it means, getting it under control)
2. Craze to blog
3. Craze to find an excuse for not studying

Q: Does anything hurt on your body right now?
A: My own weight and the heat being generated by my laptop.

Q: Have you been burnt by love?

A: As I just said, I am being burnt by my laptop right now.
Anyway, coming back to this question, these lines written long back can give you a clue:

छुपा सकता अगर जज़्बात तो फिर बात क्या थी,
इस रोशन ज़माने में अँधेरी रात क्या थी!
ज़ुबाँ चुप रह भी जाए पर यह दिल बोलता है,
तनहाई में पुराने ज़ख्म फिर खोलता है!
यूँ मायूस होना कहाँ तक लाज़मी है,
अंधेरे में उजाला खोजना भी दिल्लगी है!
समझ पाती वो हमें तो फिर बात क्या थी,
इस रोशन ज़माने में अँधेरी रात क्या थी!

Don't worry, as I said, this was written long back, about 4 years ago. Read my post The Sophomore Days to know more about all this.

Q: Your first love/big crush: what is the last thing you heard about him/her?
A: Pursuing her higher studies.

Q:When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?

A: Now that the new day has already dawned (see the time stamp in the beginning), I just saw myself in mirror while applying mouth ulcer gel and pitied myself for having this painful malady attached to me since childhood.
Once I had to be rushed to the Doctor's place and then to Emergency (just the chemist shop of Emergency) at the middle of the night to get some medicines as I had kept my bruised tongue hanging out of my mouth for too long and it had dried up like a piece of wood.

Q: How much cash do you have in your wallet right now?

A: Wallet is downstairs and I am in no mood to check it. As it is, whenever the cash goes down in my wallet, I get it instantly recharged from my dad's or mom's kitty. There's nothing to be ashamed of that, right?

Q: What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR?
A: POUR. And well, light rain is just pouring outside. Monsoon is having a great time playing hide and seek with us.

Q: What is your favourite ring tone on your phone?
A: Well I just have a beep as I don't use the cell phone much. And on my landline phone, its the normal tring tring.

Q: Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone?
A: Its Shashaank. By now my regular readers must be knowing him pretty well.

Q: What are you wearing right now?
A: A two-piece. I mean a collared striped-T and a khaki shorts.

Q: Do you label yourself?
A: What does that mean? If it's anything to do with Brand-consciousness; then yes, when it comes to outdoors, I do go for good brands, not for the sake of their names but because of quality. However, at home local stuff is cool.

Q: Name the brand of the shoes you currently own?
A: Adidas and Reebok casuals, Lee Cooper formals and one more formals of some desi brand.

Q: Bright or Dark Room?
A: Somewhere in between tending more towards brighter. However, when it comes to sleep, I prefer pitch darkness, something thats not possible these days as I go to bed around the same time as my mother leaves for her morning walk.

Q: What do you think about the person who took this survey before you?
A: Shankar and Roshmi! Two more crazy bloggers like me. Will take some more time to know them better. Great to have both amongst my Blogger Friends.

Q: What does your watch look like?
A: Its a cool one, gifted by my sister and brother-in-law; the one with perpetual date technology. It has a large white dial and has a broad silver chain. Very elegant and 'manly'.

So by changing the punctured tyre the other day, I proved my right to possess it.

Q: What were you doing at midnight last night?
A: I am on my Blog usually at the midnight. Posted my previous tag post around that time.

Q: What did your last text message you received on your cell say?
A: Now that's a long one from Airtel about some recharge offer. These are the messages I usually receive.

Q: What’s a word that you say a lot?
A: No swearing words usually though in front of friends, especially college ones, I rant all my dirty vocabulary.

Q: Who told you he/she loved you last? (Please exclude spouse, family and children)
A: My 'ex' ofcourse, in that case. And yeah, I am a bachelor (just a bachelor, not बीमार like Akshaye Khanna in his debut movie) and have not adopted any children.

Q: Last furry thing you touched?
A: My beard.

Q: Favourite age you have been so far?
A: No particular. Life is fun all the way if we take it that way, each stage has something great to offer.

Q: What was the last thing you said to someone?
A: 'Life is fun all the way if we take it that way, each stage has something great to offer.'
Now that was an easy one!

Hey, my mother just left for her morning walk. So time to go to bed. I'll be taking the last tag later in the day, hopefully.

Jul 13, 2009; 08:15 p.m.

TAG-V

Finally, this 5 things I love about myself tag is once again from Subhayan Wrahool Mukerjee (his previous one has been taken up as TAG-I in the previous post) as he tagged me twice on Jul 5, 2009.

It would have been so simpler, if I had to enumerate 5 things about me that I hate. In that case, even a greater number like 10, 15 or 20 things would not have been a problem. Anyway, coming back to the task at hand, I'll enumerate some things randomly

1. Empathy towards others. Theoretically, I've reached the saturation point but in practical terms there is a long way to go.
2. Ability to impress others, especially the parents of my girl friends (including 'friends who are girls'). Most of them think that I am the most decent guy in the world and I let them live under this illusion.
3. Creativity that reflects in most of the things I undertake.
4. Confidence to undo some shortcomings. Despite my acute stammering problem at times, I did not hesitate to pick up the microphone at public gatherings.
5. Thirst to lead from the front. I'll be posting my Rotaract (Club) experiences soon. To know how it all started in the college, read my post The Sophomore Days.

Jul 13, 2009; 08:30 p.m.

With that I come to an end of all the tags.

As you can see, The Cupid Me once again has decided to tag everyone who ends up reading this post.

However, I'll be tagging one person in particular and she is Nicky because while untagging herself of my TAG-I today, this is what she had written

Here is my first tagged post. I wasn't tagged personally but it seems people fear tagging me personally or something.

So Nicky, Cupid loves everyone and could not see your agony.

Images Courtesy:

From Personal Collection created on http://www.photofunia.com/ (edited)

The Epic 'Untagging' Post - I

Irrelevant to this post, this image talks about my rising popularity. Men will be men, you see!

Jul 7, 2009; 04:45 a.m.

Finally, I decided to untag myself of all the tags that have accumulated since last 10 days or so. There are four in all but I'll be posting them all together; once they are done, in a day, in a couple of days, in a week or in a month, I have no idea! So I'll be applying a time stamp to each of them.

[Update (Jul 11, 2009) : I ended up posting only three in this post]

I hope they help you to know me better, i.e. if you decide to waste your time reading them ;)


Jul 7, 2009; 05:00 a.m.

TAG-I

This first one, rather the latest one is from Subhayan "Wrahool" Mukerjee, who tagged me on Jul 5, 2009.

1. How tall are you barefoot?
Just above 5'11''

2. Have you ever smoked before?
Tried half a dozen times just for fun sake.. Coughed at the very first puff every time :)

3. Do you own a gun?
Not a gun, but a pen. As they say, "A pen is mightier than the gun."

4. If you had a mental disorder, what would it be?
Blogging is one, I believe!

5. How many letters are in your crush's name?
No crush these days. Or maybe, if you consider Deepika Padukone, then the answer is 7. But she's not a serious one, like Kareena was till she chose Saifu over my cousin Shahid. Let it be, no crush these days only.

6. What's your favourite silly song?
My self written song - I wrote it when I was a kid, imagining Govinda and Karishma(she was not Kari's'ma back then) dancing on it- It went like

छोडूं ना, छोडूं ना,
मैं तेरा पीछा छोडूं ना।
मैं तेरा राजा, तू मेरी रानी,
आजा बनाएं इक प्रेम कहानी।

It would have been fun, if I could tell you the tune too:)

7. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Juice, i.e. if I wake up in the morning, which is rare.

8. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up?
Tarak Mehta ka Ooltah Chashmah Time! (Now that was at half past eight after a nap in the evening and TMKOC on Sab TV is on my must watch list.)

9. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?
I wish I knew it for myself :(

10. Do you own a knife?
No, we employ our finger nails for cutting vegetables and stuff at home.

11. Name the last thing you have bought today.
Its been just 5 hours since the day started and I do not visit the market that late or should I say that early?

12. Name five drinks you regularly drink.
Water; Orange Juice, Guava Juice, Pomegranate Juice, Mixed Fruit Juice, Litchi Juice, in short any Real juice. Now, if you are waiting for Milk, Tea or Coffee, then I'll have to say that I don't drink them regularly. However when I drink milk, I prefer Cold Coffee. And yeah I drink soft-drinks only occasionally.

13. What time did you wake up today?
I haven't slept as yet! As for yesterday, it was half past one in the afternoon. Hopefully, I will beat it today;)

14. What song do you want played at your funeral?
I'll prefer none.

15. What song did you last hear?
Just went downstairs to watch T.V. Wasted some time watching a useless movie 'Iqrar by Chance' on Zee Premiere. Heard two forgetable songs in the process.

16. Favourite place to be?
Alone in my room.

17. Least favourite place to be?
Out under the summer sun.

18. Do you own slippers?
I neither walk barefoot at home, nor in shoes, nor in Gandhi chappals. In short, I do own slippers!

19. Where do you think you'll be in 10 yrs?
I have stopped thinking about that.

20. Do you burn or tan?
C'mon I am not a firangi.

21. Yellow and blue?
Sun and Sky

22. What songs do you sing in the shower?
Multitude of Songs!

23. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?
A Ghost from the nearby cemetry. Chandigarh's oldest cemetry is situated less than a minute flying distance, i.e. if the spirits fly at a rate of about 60 kmph.

24. What's in your pockets right now?
Handkerchief on which I just unloaded. Want to see it?

25. Last thing that made you laugh?
I think some scene from Tarak Mehta ka Ooltah Chashmah.

26. Best bed sheets you had as a child?
I didn't care!

27. Worst injury you've ever had?
Stung by swarm of bees back in kindergarten.

28. Do you wish on stars?
No, I wish on superstars!

29. What were you doing 1 AM last night??
Wasting my time as I am doing right now.

30. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment.
1 thought, 2 thought, 3 thought!

Cousin Shahid? You are still stuck at that answer, right? Well let me explain.

Shahid Kapoor's ex-step father; with whom his mother got married when Shahid was a kid and hence Shahid lived with them since childhood till he moved out and later his mother again got divorced; happens to be the son of my mother's sister's husband's mother's sister. So you see, Shahid is my cousin;)


Jul 8, 2009; 08:15 p.m.

TAG-II

Now coming to the second one, The 15 Books Tag. It was indeed the first tag I ever received. It is from Shilpa Garg from Jammu, who tagged me on Jun 26, 2009.

[Update (Jul 11, 2009) Shilpa has graciously included me among her bunch of F.B.'s, an abbreviation for Fellow Bloggers or as she puts it, Friends from the Blogosphere. Thanks a lot, Shilpaji.]

As an extra bit of information, Jammu is like a home away from home for me, being my maternal home-town. One thing I love about being in Jammu is hopping from one home to another; having so many uncles, aunts and cousins staying there in close vicinity. However, the thing I hate about the city is the long power-cuts which used to make my childhood summer vacations a hellish experience at times. Now, its been around three years since I visited but will be making a trip soon, hopefully.

Now coming back to the tag, the rules are;

"Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. Tag up to 15 friends, including me because I'm interested in seeing what books my friends choose."

Here I go:

1. My Life - Bill Clinton (My favourite Non-Fiction)
2. Long Walk to Freedom - Nelson Madela
3. Unfinished Revolution - Ajit Bhattacharjea (Biography of J.P., a great socialist.)
4. Angels and Demons - Dan Brown (My Favourite Fiction)
5. Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
6. Indira Gandhi - Pupul Jayakar
7. The Insider - P.V. Narsimha Rao
8. The Children of Cherry Tree Farm - Enid Blyton (My favourite Childhood Novel)
9. The Children of Willow Farm - Enid Blyton (Second in the series)
10. More Adventures on Willow Farm - Enid Blyton (Third in the Series)
11. Kalam Effect - P.M. Nair (A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's days as the President.)
12. My Bleeding Punjab - Khushwant Singh
13. Digital Fortress - Dan Brown
14. Five Point Someone - Chetan Bhagat
15. Deception Point - Dan Brown

I jotted down the books randomly as they occurred to me. I might have failed to include some which I like more than some mentioned here. Moreover, I failed to mention the numerous Hardy Boys and abridged English Classics, I read in my childhood.
Read my post In the World of Words to know more about my love for books and a brief review of all the non-fiction books I possess (six of them have been mentioned in this list).

Jul 11, 2009; 11:30 p.m.

TAG-III

Now this happens to be the latest one, My Wishlist Tag, not one of the original 4 with which I started off this post four days ago. Since then, I've been tagged twice; luckily, one of them being the same as a pending one, hence, an effort-saver. This one is from Shilpa again and she tagged me just about 6 hours ago. The rules are;

So what you need to do is….Show us something you want, but would never spend the money to buy.

An easy one indeed. Of course, I want an intelligent, educated, beautiful and loving wife and I'll never spend money to buy her. I am quite unmaterialistic you see; so don't have cars, bikes, mansions, freaky gadgets or world-tours on my wish-list.

Now coming back to my wish, the next line is specially meant to impress my feminist readers; 'Women are not a commodity that can be bought or sold in the market.'

And now to impress my anti-feminist readers, I'll add; 'In the Indian society, its the men who have been reduced to a commodity, sold to the highest bidder.'

Anyways social jokes apart, if anything I'll spend to 'buy' such a prospective wife, then that will be my love and not money. So mushy mushy, right? As I am getting quite filmy now; I should end this tag here.
But before that, let me clarify, that unmaterialistic stuff was just for fun sake. In case you want to send any gifts, do not hesitate; you are most welcome.

Jul 11 , 2009; 11:45 p.m.

As I try to untag myself further, I have decided to post the three completed ones first. The other two (three pending with two of them being common) will be posted soon. After all why should I miss such an opportunity to increase my post count. Moreover, with two separate posts, there is a possibility of someone reading atleast one ;)

As for tagging further, I tag all those in my blog's followers list who end up reading this post because I believe these tags have been revolving within our bunch of F.B.'s for long now. So, if you haven't been tagged by any other mutual F.B. then consider yourself tagged by me.

For those who are not following me, start following and then get tagged;)
You can take up any one of the tag and do leave the link to your post once you publish it, in my comments' section.

Image Courtesy:
From Personal Collection created on http://www.photofunia.com/ (edited)