CHENNAI REDEMPTION

  I vividly remember my first day in chennai. I landed up here for my first job with hopes in my heart and dreams in my eyes. (could I BE more corny???). I sort of imagined myself as some kinda code-king, who is gonna rock the software kingdom. After three months of bench, I was down to earth.But Then suddenly my life turned upside down. My project was a disaster. I sucked on so many levels. I was half confident that I became mentally retarded.

  If my professional life was in dumps,my personal life was in Mariana Trench! I lost my people skills. I isolated myself from all my friends.I stopped talking to people. I became an SCP. Chennai was indeed a rude shock for me. During those days, I fantasised about getting out of this city and getting a life....

   Now that dream came true.Here i am, Its half past twelve,My last day in chennai has just began. When I pictured this moment many times in my mind, everytime i saw myself jumping out with joy that i am finally outta this hell-hole. But in reality, I am more sombre. Not that i am glad, but i am equally sad. Am i a victim to some mutated version of stockholm syndrome??

  Although I hated Chennai vehemently, there are some things i am gonna miss about this city(in no particualar order of importance):

 My Beach- The biggest consolation for me during my stay.

 My Gang-  I remember ranting  in some previous post that i didn't had a gang. Well, i kinda have! After the debacle called my engineering life, I gotta really friendly colleagues whom i  really gonna miss. They almost made me reconsider my decision!!!

 My Room mate - I know how tough it  is to bear me. And i know i couldn't have achieved my CAT percentile without his support, and his material ;-)

 My Friend- If its not only for Charan, My life would have become a classic dilbert. He was my only friend out of my work. And I am glad he is my friend. Can't thank him enough!!!

Landmark - This was a temple for me.I can't calculate how many hours i spent in this bookshop reading away books for free!!

FM - Yes sir, FM radio.I love tamil songs!

  So why am i sombre? Its a mixture of all the above reasons and ofcourse,the fear of unknown. I am stepping out of my comfort zone and i don't know how my tomorrow is going to be.But i've started hoping again. I've started living again. Two years in chennai life made me a stronger person. I guess i've to thank Chennai for that.

Some more Free Range

Here are some more classics from my new favourite - Free Range. 

I've given some hints to make it simpler.

A date with frankenstein:

The age old "Dog ate my homework" excuse... Reloaded!

   

   A dig on the idiom - Running with scissors

        

  Come on! This one is a sitter!

ly 

This is your ultimate test! You've to do some research  and use some imagination to understand actually what is happening in the cartoon.... Try decoding!

A Laughing Matter

 

The thing with comic strips is, they make you smile. Well, some of them make u scratch ur head too. but the point i am trying to convey is that the most usual response u get after reading a comic strip is NOT a laugh, just an amused smile.

  But, now and then you see some comics and u burst out into a laughter. May be not a hysterical laughter; but it certainly is bigger than a smile. I encountered one few days ago...

 After reading 10950 Garfield comic strips,7300 dilbert strips,2555 Calvin and hobbes strips and 18250 Peanuts strips, i think i know a thing or two about comics.  The best of the cartoons are produced when the cartoonists take an everyday situation or sight, tweak them bigtime in their head and create the strip. The above strip precisely falls into this caterogy.

  In case you liked the strip and wondering where you can read more,Its a daily comic strip called "Free Range" created by Bill Whitehead. You can check his other strips here....

But let me warn you. Apparantly he doesn't believe in spoon feeding! Most of his cartoons are full of contemporary cultural references: Like this....

                                              

If you dont know  about what he is making fun of, chances are that  u end up scratching your head!

Try this one

                                     

  As Scott Adams once said, when a cartoon puzzles u for a moment and then unravels itself before u in all its glory, its a a bull's eye! You enjoy it more because you feel like you solved a riddle. Its that brief moment of puzzlement that does wonders. But if that brief moment stretches into a long one, The cartoon is a goner! High risk, high returns!

   And whitehead seems to be following this policy,risks not withstanding. Do check if his other ones if u feel confident that u can break the code! Bcoz , these cartoons are not for dummies!