THE STEP OUT!

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UPDATE : 25th JULY, 8:10PM

I had sent my pictures to Pitpass.com and Formula1.com and i check my email today...
lo and behold, there's an email from Chris Balfe the Editor of Pitpass saying :

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Dear Uditvanu,

Many thanks for that, much appreciated.

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=35512

Chris Balfe
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THEY ACTUALLY USED MY PICTURESSS!!!! AAAAHHH!!!

IT FEELS LIKE A WON AN OSCAR!
(my moment of shock, and tears of joy!)
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So finally after a 2 week long house arrest i got to step out of the house today.

For those who didnt know, I had the dreaded tropical disease DENGUE, and that led to my illness, and subsequent house arrest.

I realized that many things had changed:

1. The Santacruz flyover was ready (didnt mean that the traffic was sorted)

2. Rains always throw a monkey wrench into Mumbai's gears! (no matter what the BMC says)

3. It takes 2 hours to get from Walkeshwar to Powai! (and the car time makes for interesting observations of hoardings, and bus shelters)

I was craving social interaction, and viola, I got social and a lot more.

Before you jump to conclusions... the lot more was :

1. Aching back
2. Crushed toes
3. An autograph, many would kill for!

So I was at the Vodafone Meet Lewis Hamilton Event, at Hiranandani Gardens in Powai, Mumbai. He was going to drive some laps of the circuit there, and we would get a chance to meet our HERO! (my champion is practicing in Jerez and burning his ass off.. yes I am talking about the Kimi Raikonnen.)

So anyhoo, I dragged my friend Purab along, and he being an avid Lewis fan, kept yelling into my ears from the time he spotted Lewis!

I carried my SLR with me.
Yes it's the Canon Rebel XTi 10mp. IT WAS A DREAM TO USE!

So it was only necessitated that the following figures be prevalent.

600 pictures

1/4000th of a second

1.2 GB

5 MB per picture

I have coverage of the event, which I could probably sell to magazines, and make pots of money...
but I shant... it's a hobby!
(HONESTY SELLS!)

So why did i get the crushed toes? Well because I wanted Lewis' autograph. After all though I am a Ferrari fan, and am rooting for Kimi Raikonnen to beat Lewis' ass this year as well, F1 is universal, and any F1 superstar coming to India, is a big deal!

*****************And now on to the professional photos!******************

THE MP4 22 at the event

Me and the MP4-22 in the backdrop.

The rains hit mumbai... again.

Lewis gives a thumbs up to the crowd.

Purab Mehta, eagerly awaiting Lewis' arrival. (he arrived at 2pm)

Mr All Smiles at the event.

Lewis storms the track at Hakone. (9secs)

Lewis in the Vodafone cart.

The Autograph that got me crushed toes! Muhahahhah!

So after the event, we decided to head back to town (oh heavenly town), and my dear friend, Purab Mehta, feels hungry. So he dials JustDial (28888888).

Now while I endorse Google, as the answer to all of life's problems, thus is not the case with JustDial.

Our dear friend, wanted healthy fresh food, and thus a SUBWAY sandwich was apt. But little was he to know about the wild goose chase he was about to enter.

Such that when we reached the place of the "supposed SUBWAY", it was no where to be seen...

to which obviously my pat reply was:

"THEY MADE YOU A MAMU"
(Eng Trans : They fooled you!)

So Vodafone may have the most dropped calls and the worst network coverage there is..
but when it comes to F1, they surely know how to make a fan's day!


Thus trust not what you hear, but what you see, and on this note ends this rainy, exciting post.

Till next time.

The Lives of My Cellular Devices - My Moto

It's been an eventful 18 years. I at times feel, my life is very much like a movie. And I'm the lead actor. This preposterous notion, could probably be because, I am an actor in theatre, professionally and as a hobby.
But anyway, my life, is full of excitement, suspense, fear, comedy,romance(tends to be poofed as of now), action et all.

So what role do my cellphones play in this mega-blockbuster. Well other than connecting me to the rest of the co-actors, and strangers, they in a way become an integral part of my life. And they have all throughout the time I have had them.

Them... yes i've had more than one cellphone. Let me think now... around... 5!

And when did i get my first cellphone... that would be in May 2004, during the vacations after my 10th standard ICSE board examinations. I was exstatic. It was a Motorola V66,clamshell phone. It was Dad's previous fone. My love affair with Motorola began with that phone. It was sleek, it was stylish, and it looked cool! I mean black!WOW!

And to think Dad was almost about to give me one of those creepy Reliance phones, the white samsung ones.Yuck!

So when I got to college, I had that phone with me, and in college, well, that's when began my fascination with girls. And what a fascination that is!

Namrata was her name. She was sitting in front of me during the sociology lecture and i started talking to her. She looked cute, and well, me being me.. well i was instantly smitten. I started messaging her, and chatting, and talking and all that usual jazz. When I look back, I think, was it an infatuation, or love?

Anyhoo, she left college, went to a college in the suburbs, and so our cellular contact reduced. It became more online, and very hi-hey contact.

So then, I took part in this dramatics in college. A one act play. I guess at this point,began my tryst with stage acting, which has now been going strong for the last 2 years. This girl Aditi in the Arts division loved my acting. She said, I seemed like a true-blue romantic! And well, those who knew me then, knew that i was a sucker for compliments. And pretty face, then boy was i floored. Times have changed, compliments now, humble me.

So over my Motorola, i sent her many a flirtatious message. Professed my love. Sigh. Yes. And now, well we're just online buddies. That never really turned out to be anything.

Then there came a sad day in the life of my phone. Pizza Hut,VT. Purab, Saloni and some of our friends and me were sitting and eating at Pizza Hut. I suddenly got curious or as we call it in hindi 'keedas', to see what would happen if i put my cellphone in a glass of Coke.
And the results. Well Udit runs to loo, washes cellphone under faucet *wot i blundering fool i was!*, and then blows air into it. Then well it's time to decide the official version of what happened (this goes to parents) ... so the official version is.. Udit and Purab were walking on the road, Udit talking on his cellphone, when some of his schoolfriends passing by in a car, splashed them with water, as a result of which the cellphone got wet and conked and died.

And so, I thought i was going to be phoneless, for life! I was sad! :( My cellphone, even back then was my life. But it got fixed in a week, and it was back, but it was done for.

I remember i got it back. I was ecstatic. And then i switched it on.

I GOT A SHOCK! literally. It sparked and sent a charge threw me, and then started buzzing loudly. I somehow, removed the battery.

The Motorola V66, was done for.

It was time, for the next phone to enter my life.

And since I have a PR report to finish right now, I shall write about that, and much more in the next, romance and action filled post:

The Lives of My Cellular Devices - My Nokia