Change

I'm at it again. Those of you who still check to see if I have come up with some crap again would have been disappointed over the last few months. So this post is to all (if any) of those, who still visit this forgotten(yeah even i had forgotten it exists!) page.

I won't make any excuses for not writing. It's not that I don't like to write. Believe me, I do. I admit I am no natural like some of my friends, but I can string a few words together which sometimes actually make sense. And it's not like that I haven't had anything to write about. In fact there's been a plenty of stuff. A new city, new friends and of course the first job. With all this come new adventures. Add to that family functions, which seem to be the flavour of the season, I have had enough on my palette. In fact if you need any convincing, all you need to do is to have a look at my itinerary beginning last week November: Mumbai, Baroda, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Delhi, Jaipur!

But right now I am not going to write about any of these. I am living a very satisfying life, trying to maintain a balance between work, pleasure and working for social causes. Amongst all this, I have somehow not been able to process the state of things as they stand around me. Let's look at it this way. Congress-NCP have been just voted back to power for the 3rd straight time. And just a day after the first news story i read in the morning reeks of government apathy. As two departments were busy playing turf wars and writing each other letters for the past 2years, a highly avoidable mishap claimed the lives of 2 and injured 11 others.

The rule of majority that our forefathers had envisioned has clearly failed. There are candidates in the newly elected Maharashtra Assembly who polled as few as 11% of the votes in their constituency. Couple this with the abysmal record of governance over the last 10 years and I am forced to wonder as to where are we headed? From where I see it, the pathetic rule is going to continue for the next 5 years. There will more accidents, possible even another 26/11. But nothing would really change, for in our country there is no way voters can call back the elected representatives.

A trend, that is disturbing to say the least, has emerged from these latest elections. It's the growth of MNS's influence. Shiv Sena had needed 6 years to get its first MLA. MNS has 12 after just 3 years of its inception. With Bal Thackeray's health declining steadily it would come as no surprise as MNS establishes a hold over the Marathi vote. Unless Uddhav improves dramatically, it seriously is a question of 'when' and not 'if'.

More than the apathy of the political class or for that matter the rise of another extremist outfit, it's the feeling of indifference that I sense in myself and indeed many like myself that discomforts me the most. Something would have to change. Otherwise all the promise of this century being India's century would remain just that; a dream. Gandhi had said, 'Be the change you want to see in the world'. I guess it's time we took notice.

The White Tiger

Ever so often comes a book that captures the soul of a civiliazation or that of a city. The romantic portrayal of Shantaram or the diversity captured by Suketu Mehta in Maximum City make you fall in love with Bombay. Nothing of that sorts is going to happen on reading The White Tiger. Romanitc is an adjective that would perhaps never be associated with it and by no stretch of imagination has Aravind Adiga captured the diversity of India. He has generalized more often than not and divided India into two: the 'Light' and the 'Darkness', a dichotomy that has often been associated with India.

I can relate to many who have raised their eyebrows on The White Tiger winning the Booker. I can see where they are coming from. For the grim portrayal of the hinterland that Adiga paints is not in the least bit remarkable for them. It's all too routine. It's the kind of news that dominates the local newspapers of a region, news about the hinterland that when presented to us in a book fails to excite us. And this is what perhaps won the Booker for Adiga: an almost brutal view of India's interior and, I daresay, reality.

While I do not completely agree with his dichotomy, it is something that has more than an element of truth about it. The condition in the states of Bihar, U.P., Jahrkhand etc, the 'Darkness' as Adiga puts it is not much different from what he has described. Roll back the last few years of reforms and you may find the description to be eerily true. The rampant corruption, the absence of development, the oppression it's all in there. Adiga has succeeded in bringing out the worst in his characters.

The lack of diversity in the book is one thing that stands out and that is perhaps due to the choice of the protagonist. I am not quite sure if the protagonist would have been able to comprehend India's diversity and since the book is written from hsi point of view the lack of diversity might be excused. And yes Adiga has generalized. But if the generalizations happen to be overwhelmingly true, is it such a big issue?

wtf facts

1. Rafa's outta French Open. Well thats what happens when you concentrate on making a stupid fashion statement by wearing a pink shirt with yellow headband! Federer, here's your chance to complete your career slam. Do it now or don't bother showing up in Paris again..
2. Bappi Lahiri is 7UP's brand ambassador. Come on now, give me a break! Wasn't 7UP supposed to be all cool and happening with that Fido guy as its mascot?Come to think of it, where the hell did Fido, or whatever his name was, vanish?
3. ohk I had in mind to post 3, but the 3rd one has jus slipped outta my mind. Who cares, 2 it is!!

French Open (?)

Ohk, I am totally wasted.. i have got nothing better to do than wonder as to what should I do... so well, I thought why not do a crappy post instead, you know the one where you don't have anything to actually wirte about but you still write. Well yeah, that's the sort of post this is. So you have been warned and if you continue to read, well, what can i say for you, except that perhaps, just perhaps, you are more wasted than me. No, not perhaps, you definitely are more wasted than me ;)

You know I have been following quite a bit of French Open since I don't have anything better to do and there's a limit to the number of good movies that HBO and Z-Studio can show in a day. Star Movies well is a different story alltogether. It seems to make new records of showing most number of crappy movies in a day. And it betters its record every single day!!

But let's not digress. French Open! Hmmm, well was watching Nadal's match and all that i could notice was his outfit. Gone were his trademark three-quarter shorts and his sleeveless tee. And what were they replaced with? Well if you don't know yet, please don't read further! It;s horrifying to say the least. A bright pink tee and a yellow headband!! Bright pinka nd yellow!! Seriously? Come on now, if he needed to be more colourful he could have gone in for the graceful and tradional Spanish colours: red and yellow. But no.. he had to make a statement.. and well he did make one.. but of all the wrong sorts.

Anyway, let's move on to something more sesible. Yeah I can't do a toal crappy post. Somehow I lack that talent. Having had a look at most of the leading players a few things are certain. Well almost certain. After all, barring death, what else is certain :)

Ana Ivanovic is not going to be able to defend her title. In fact I would be surprised if she makes it to the semis. Safina on the other hand is looking quite good for her maiden French Open title. On the men's side, it seems Federer's search for a career rand slam ain't gonna be over anytime soon. In fact I'll be bold enough to say that he won't even make the finals this year. And well, Sharapova, making her comeback after a long injury lay-off is as expected struggling. But she has shown some fight. And she is still in there, slogging it out and looking good for some more.

Till the next post, or death due to boredom, whichever is first.. :)

The End

It had been breezy earlier in the night. But now, as he stood in the balcony there was no hint of a breeze. Everything was eerily still as if waiting in anticipation. He stood there wondering whether to go ahead or not, contemplating whether to destroy or to preserve. But as on that morning a few weeks ago, he decided to destroy.

As he lifted the first page, he couldn't help but notice the pretty handwriting. He noticed the salutation. However he was past this stage. The phrases that had once brought a smile to his face, the phrases that were almost guaranteed to evoke a response from him no longer mattered.

He read each page slowly, maybe, just maybe, trying to see something that he hadn't seen earlier. As he finished each page he struck a match and watched as the hungry flame devoured the paper. He repeated the same ritual over and over again till there was nothing left. As he was nearingt he end of the letter his eyes wandered to the signing off. He smiled a rueful smile. And with the smile still on his face, he fed that worthless piece of paper to the waiting flame.

That was it. It was the end.

Being Indian: A matter of Pride or Disgust?

In Memoriam

NSG

Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan

Havildar Gajendra Singh

Mumbai Police

Jt. Commissioner (ATS) Hemant Karkare

Ad. Commissioner Ashoke Kamte

Inspector Vijay Salaskar

Sub-Inspector Bapusaheb Durgude

Sub-Inspector Prakash More

ASI Balasaheb Bhonsle

ASI tukaram Gopal Omble

Constable Ambadas Pawar

Constable Arun Chitte

Constable Jayawant Patil

Constable Vijay Khandekar

Constable Yogesh Patil

Other Security Personnel

Inspector Shashank Shinde

Head Constable M.C. Chowdhary

Home Guard Constable Mukesh Jadhav

Constable Rahul Shinde

Are you proud to be an Indian, posed with this question almost each and everyone of us is going to answer in the affirmative. After all don't we possess a rich cultural heritage, hail from a land that gave the world zero and the decimal point, are an emerging superpower with some of the best brains in the world? Indeed what all I said till now is true. But now I would urge you to stop for a moment and reflect. Reflect upon the fact that we hail from a country that has had it's Parliament attacked, doesn't care a bit about meritocracy, whose politicians are hell bent on deepening and indeed creating communal divides just so that they can retain their power, and to top it all, we hail from a country that was besieged by a handful of terrorists for 60 hours on 26/11. Feel disgusted yet? At least I do.

And this is not all. What disgusts me most is that we have come to such a situation that the politicians and the bureucracy of the country no longer care for the life of the citizens of this country. For them one more terrorist attack, more civilian casualties are just mere statistics. All goes as long as they can retain their vote banks.

Our internal security apparatus is a mess. And if we hadn't realized this till now, 26/11 proved it beyond any doubt. Critical intelligence had been ignored in the midst of the inter-agency squabbles. The RAW and the IB blamed the agencies such as the Coast Guard and the Navy for ignoring the intelligence provided while the latter said that intelligence was not actionable. Not actionable? Yeah right. As has been credibly proven, specific intelligence of an imminent attack on the 5 star hotels of the city via the sea route had been passed to the agencies. Intelligence becomes actionable by the ingenuity and the innovative attitude with which it is analyzed. We can't expect the terrorists to send us an invitation letter and requesting us to RSVP to the attack.

Moreover we have been guilty of pushing intelligence reports through just as if they were routine files, not beothering to follow up whether the intelligence has been processed and acted upon or not.

If anything, 26/11 also exposed our utter lack of preparedness to deal with an attack on our nation. With so many agencies around, there was bound to be confusion and it turned into chaos for nobody knew who was in charge! What we needed a cetral authority figure to coordinate our efforts against the terrorists but none was to be found. Our disaster management strategies showed up for what they were: crap.

Our Prime Minister, Dr. Singh, had stated just before 26/11 that we can not afford to be hit again. But we were. What we need now is to wake up from the slumber and realize the mess that we are in. We can't get into any more trouble because we already are in a big one! We need a well equipped and trained police force under the leadership of independent and visionary officers who realize and understand the gravity of the problem that confronts us. And we need to usher in meritocracy. At once! For as an individual who cherishes his life, I want to be sure that it's the best who's working to ensure my safety. I cretainly don't want any dimwit analyzing crucial intelligence just because he happened to be born in a certain family, with a certain lineage. If the powers that be are so concerned about social equlity and undoings the wrongs of the past, let them take a personal initiative. Let their security teams be manned and indeed led by those who ahve been wronged, let their attending doctors be the ones whose forefathers had been oppressed.

India has tremendous potential and the ability to be a world leader. But it remains just that: potential. To harness the potential we need to make certain choices. And it would be these choices that would determine our fate. For didn't Dumbledore, that old wise fellow, said, It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. We can choose to reform our system now, or wait till we are hit again and again, till we collapse. The choice, as I said, is ours. And ours only.

Ramblings

Nothing's left. Not anymore. Though it won't seem that way. You would have to scratch the surface for that. It all seems hunky dory, when the truth is that it's in shambles; held together by the wariness that accompanies destroying the status-quo with very little time left.

Yeah, that's what it is. A desire to let the illusion be. For then all could part pretending nothing was amiss. Then there won't have to be difficult conversations and painful confessions.

Sweeping the dust under the carpet never cleaned a room but it does provides a semblance of cleanliness in a short frame of time. Oh how right was the one who said, Ignorance is Bliss! If only, I was.

Death

All who have been born shall die. It's inevitable. Death visits us all and yet we live constantly fearing what is bound to happen, under the shadow of its dread, always fearing its arrival. I often wonder why.

A wise man had once said that death is always beside us and it is death that gives us the courage and the strength to perfrom difficult tasks. So go ahead and make the call that you have been psotponing for so long, have that conversation that you know you ought to have.

Let death be a reminder to us to live each moment of our life fully. Let it ensure that we behave normally but not lose the maverick inside us. Let it ensure that we remain crazy!

Till Death do us apart...

The Protege

He stirred the ice cubes in his vodka with a finger. As if not satisfied with what he felt, he picked up another couple of cubes and added them to the glass. The plonking of the ice cubes was the only sound that came out of the dark room. He resumed his stirring without as much as a second glance at the glass as if he were in a trance. He then picked the glass up and drained it in one gulp. Just then his cell phone beeped to signal the arrival of a message. He had no doubt it was her. His hand moved towards the table but it completely ignored the cell, instead he reached out to the near empty bottle lying there. He moved the bottle in his hands, gazing at the shimmering liquid inside. He put the bottle to hsi lips and drained its contents. And then, as was inevitable, he collapsed in his chair.

~

It was still dark outside when he woke up with chainsaws and jackhammers pounding in his head. The digital clock, displayed prominently on his desktop, showed the time to be 4:52:37 am. As he was trying to rouse himself  from the mires of slumber he was aware of an irritating buzz coming from somewhere near him.  He groped in the dark till he found the source of his irritation: it was his cellphone. Not yet fully awake, he pressed the answer button, and a groggy voice, that was not quite his own, said hello. 

Caller: Why have you been ignoring me?

It was her. The sound of her voice pierced through the alcohol induced sleep and suddenly his bloodshot eyes were wide open. As he spoke the next line, What do you think, the words themselves seemed to taste bitter, for he spat before continuing Are you sure that's the question that you want to ask?

to be continued

If you want something, look the other person in the eye.

The Witch

Shrouded in a veil of mystery she moves

Creeping up like the chill in autumn

Stealing those who are cherished

And are naive enough to trust

Dining together

Dancing away merrily ever after

All the time stroking Satan's fire 

Who's fault is it

Their's.. Her's..?

Or is it 

That of Satan himself?

alvidaa alvidaa...

Goodbyes are not forever.

 Goodbyes are not the end.

 They simply mean I'll miss you 

Until we meet again!

Breaking Free!!!

Sparks

Sparks were bound to fly when stubborness met the whims of satan. And they did!

Crap

This is going to be a crappy post. So readers, beware!!

I wanted to do something on the tradition of April the 1st being celebrated as the Fool's Day. But as it happens am too tired to do a proper post. And so am just gonna list down some random things...

These are the wrappers lying around in my half of the room (all of which have been consumed by yours truly over the last couple of months or so)

Britannia Bourbon cream (my childhood favourite.. :) )

Rasna fruitplus (lemon flavour!!)

Classic Elaichi cream

Lays Classic Salted

Sunfeast Dark Fantasy (love these!! an absolute delight!! )

Cadbury Dairy Milk

Dairy Milk fruit and nuts!!

Five star

Five star crunchy

Five start fruit and nuts!!

Monaco (now where did this come from :O)

Sunfeast Bourbon cream

Seven Up bottle

Coke bottle

An empty Real Juice 1L pack (I seriously need to clean my room!! )

Some loacl brand namkeen

Kit Kat

Thums Up bottle

Lots of Himalya Koflet wrappers

Small wrappers in which the beasn ke ladoos I brought from home were wrapped

ohk there's a lot more crap lying around my room but am bored of writing about it!! Blaaaahhhh!!

Narcissism, Oh yes!!

A narcissist is one who understands that to love onself is the beginning of a life long romance.

1. I love wearing kurtas. I can wear them all the time and to all sort of places: parties, college, dates, even project presentations! And no, wearing a kurta doesn't make me a neta!!
   

 

2. I like to shop but shopping isn't an obsession with me.

 

3. I am a big foodie. From the golgappas being sold at a thela to an exotic continental dish, I can eat any and everything as long as it suits my taste.

 

4. I need coffee to survive.

 

5. I continue to surprise myself and those around me. Count on me to do the unexpected!!

 

6. I do not like my authority being undermined.

 

7. I can truly open up to very few people only.

 

8. I do not have a lot of patience with dumb guys or for that matter people who speak rubbish 24*7.

 

9. I am full of contradictions.

 

10. I have a loyal rather than a meticulous memory. I will remember the important things but am prone to forget some little things. It's the Mad Cow!! Don't worry though, I won't forget your birthday :)

 

11. If I say something, I actually mean it.

 

12. I am fiercely loyal towards my friends and expect the same in return.  When that doesn't happen, I just hate it. I do not like my friends socializing with people whom I am not on talking terms with.

 

13. I am addicted to my cell phone and I do not like it. I want to be able to live without it for a couple of days without feeing uneasy.

 

14. Sometimes, just sometimes, I prefer to be left alone.

 

15. I prefer being in a smaller group of friends.

 

16. I suck at keeping up charades and doing things for social obligations.

 

17. I like listening to music but I don't actually remember the lyrics and all. It’s like a soothing uniform cover of noise that blocks out the irritating random noise in the environment.

 

18. I wish to settle down on a beach, near the ocean. I also want to own a villa in the mountains to which I can escape during the summers.

 

19. I read a lot.

 

20. I don't like people who are born with a silver spoon in their hands. Specially more so if they happen to be a jerk. Come on there's more to life than supporting Man Utd, being obsessed with dogs and acting like a complete idiot.

 

21. I daydream quite a bit. Anytime you want, I can give you at least three different versions of my future life.

 

22. I want a spectacular death. I just don't want to pass away without leaving a trace.

 

23. I am extremely lazy. But then as I said, I am full of contradictions and can surprise you with the energy I show for certain activities.

 

24. I don't think there's anybody in this world who gets me completely. I guess nobody knows  the entire story of my life. I am too reserved to share everything with one person.

 

25. I can write 25 more such things. I simply love talking or in this case writing about myself.

And now I tag

Sid aka Marvin, even though it's highly unlikely that he would do it...

Piper, another unlikely candidate to actually complete the tag!!

Prabhu, now he might actually do it if he gets time..

Mads, do it if you havent already done it..

youjus, you can copy paste the thing you did on FB.. that would count too :P

bhavjot, i know you havent been writing much recently but still..

Anybody else who wants to do it...

Oh btw, I did this coz Sakshi tagged me and I love to do tags..

Being Spiritual

Spirituality, the S word in vogue, is defined as the quality of being spiritual. And the very fact that the little used dictionary on my PC gives nine different definitions of the word spiritual is an indication of how difficult it has been to come to terms with the notion of spirituality. Being the trendy word that it has become, ask anybody about their religious views and there's a good chance that the answer thrown at you would be, i'm more of a spiritual person. So much so that the word is tossed here and there by any and everybody without even comprehending the meaning. Start to scratch the surface and out comes the truth: its fashionable to say i'm spiritual, specially among the upper classes of the society. 

Perhaps the most important reason behind this charade is the struggle between tradition and modernity that the great Indian Middle Class has found itself in the middle of. The upward mobility that came with economic liberalization created a desire in the hearts of many individuals to be different from the rest, you know that desire to be zara hatke. And well, they set upon it with the characteristic determination that has for so long been synonymous with the Indian Middle Class: the determination that their next generation would be better off than themselves. They took all possible avenues that would separate them from the others. They starting wearing designer clothes, started drinking vodka and wine, but it wasn't enough. These were mere superficial changes. They wanted something more profound and well, what could have been more porfound than religious inclination in a country that has given birth to as many as three religions and provided sanctuary to many more.

Spirituality as a notion of religious inclination gained ground as the upper echelons of the society, in a bid to diffrentiate themselves, tried to distance themselves from the taboos and superstitions that have for so long plagued the Indian society. While it could have been done within the scope of their own religion, it would have meant going against the established norms. And while they wanted to be diffrentiated, they didn't want to be termed as outcasts either. Enter spirituality.

The notion of spirituality has provided the ones who wanted to seem trendy and cool an easy way out of their reilgious dilemma. They all can claim to be spiritual and distance themselves from the customs that they find incovenient. Or for that matter repackage their atheism as spirituality. And of course, spirituality makes for a great cocktail conversation.

Random Noise

The same thing was repeated over and over again

Casualty, was Serenity yet again.

~

I had planned to do a post on the IPL moving out of India and its ramifications. But as it turns out, I ended up having quite a lengthy discussion on FB about it. Well, won't do the post, but would just say this: IPL belongs in India; in the streets of Delhi 6, in the chawls of Bombay, in the hearts of every Indian. It needs to return home, if not for the fans, for the sake of cricket it must.

Insomnia

Over the last few days I haven't been able to sleep for more than 6 hours at a stretch. My schedule has gone for a toss and while that isn't such a big deal it's the lack of a long sleep that's freaking me out. Hell, it's downright scary!!

Salt and Pepper

The action was along expected lines. And that's precisely why it shouldn't have hurt. And it didn't. It was just a disappointment of sorts as a part of me expected an offer to the contrary. 

~

Does he really think he is as well liked as he thinks and that nobody feels bad by his actions just because it is not said aloud? I wonder. 

How can one be so naive? But then is he really so, or is all this a pretense?

I thought about mentioning it to him. But then decided against it. Experience says saying the truth may not often be the right idea!

Medley

Being at home means a quite a bit of TV watching for me. Coz unlike in hostel, where u have to struggle to get a view of the screen amongst a lot of prespiring bodies in stuffy environs, its quite comfortable at home. And add to it the delicious snacks being served to you, while you sit and watch TV.. :D

Statistics can sure lie

I was watching this Champions League fixture between Real Madrid and Liverpool and I couldn't help but wonder at the irony.. Madrid were comprehensively beaten 4-0, and one would think that the Madrid goalie had a horrendous outing. Contrary to it Casillas, for me, was the best player on the pitch that day. Had it not been for him, Madrid could have well been defeated by something like 10-0!!

I don't know how often I have judged performances based on the scorecard alone.. Never Again!!!

Ahh.. my bad luck :(

The Indians had been in an ominous form in the Kiwiland. Sachin had already scored a masterful century and in the next match Sehwag has set the ground on fire with his shots as India chased down 200 odd without losing a single wicket! Well it was in this backdrop that I decided to wake up at 6:30 in the morning to catch the final ODI.. Can you even imagine it... Me, waking at that ungodly hour!! Anyways, wake i did. But unfortunately for me first the weather and then the Men in Blue chose to play spoilsport. After a delayed start, the Indian team managed to score a grand total of 149!! Can you believe it? The same team that didn't lose a wicket in nothcing up 200 had been bundled out for a platry 149!!

I jus couldn't believe my luck at that time and had it not been been for HBO, which thankfully was showing Into the Wild, the morning would have been a total disaster.. yay HBO!! :D

p.s. Am not a huge movie buff but a home somehow I do notch up quite a few of them.. these vacations accounted for Erin Brockowich, Into the Wild, Rocky Balboa, and a couple of others.. and haan, even rewatched the Matric and the Pirates... :)

Oh my dear IPL

We all loved the first edition and are eagerly awaiting for the 2nd! SET MAx, the broadcasters have already launched the promotional campagin. However, amongst all this, the very existence of the event remains in doubt. And with the recent reports that there wouldn't be any games in jaipur and Delhi, the very structure and format of the event has been jeopardised. Come on, how can you NOT have matches at these two places... Jaipur, the home of the winners Rajasthan royals. how would it feel if they are not playing their home macthes at Fortress Mansingh? And how would the Nawab of Najafgarh feel playing his home matches in some obscure place in Himachal!!

As the things stand right now, it would be very difficult for the IPL organizers to come up with an event similar to the hugely successful first edition. First and foremost the home and away format has been put in doubt because of the elections and the security concerns owing to the Lahore terrorist attacks.

What I am gonna say now may seem bizzare to some and preposterous to others. But there's a rationale from where its coming. The Elcetion commission could have been more realistic while announcing the schedule of the Lok Sabha elections. While at the face of it, the remark seems blasphemous, it's not. The IPL had already announced the schedule for the macthes. Would it have been too much to expect that the EC would consider the ground realities, both emotional and rational, and schedule the elections after the IPL window? Cricket is a religion in India. And if it comes to a choice between elections and IPL, you need not worry as to which side would this cricket crazy country vote. 

Had it been that the IPL would have announced a conflicting schedule with the Elections, they could and should have been taken to task for it. However what is happening right now is not fair. Its not fair to the players, to the fans and to the organizers. And all this because the EC wanted to be Holier than thou.. 

oops! I should be careful.. recently heard that u cud be sued for ur comments on a blog.. :O!! 

Beyawsum Thol...

Beyawsum.. thats the only word i can used to describe Thol, a lake situated some 50 kms from my coll. It also happens to be a place flocked by migratory birds in this season. And the experience of witnessing the sunrise over there was outta this world. With each passing moment, as the intensity of light increased, the chirping of the brids grew louder. and it was musical, different birds, all uniting to produce a kind of music that only they could. The only noise there was of our creation ( and considering that we had bhains and mio in our ranks, you can really imagine wat it wud have been like *sigh* :P ).

And well how can i forget wat happened before the trip... Chadda and I had decided that the two of us would go on tuesday morning. But events so happened that I was dead tired by monday night.. even then Chadda woke me up at 3 in the morning.. And Chadda. and Gol and Balu (the latter 2 dnt read the blog but still.. ) this one is for you, I don't like being woken up!! And Chadda, specially when i have said that IF i wake up.. it doesn't mean that you have to wake me up... And I don't like surprises when I have been roused from a deep slumber :|..To all those to whom the above few lines sounded like greek, don't bother.. it happens in a hostel.. where wat u have said, and even written on the door of ur room are blatantly ignored... :S

Anyways, wat had happened was that my plan had been hijacked.. Instead of the two of us going, a plan had been hatched behind my sleeping ass, wherein the number of travellers went up to six.. and they even took care of my 2 backup options for juggaroing a bike.. so as u cud imagine, that when i woke up, i didnt have a bike... anyways, somehow a bike was arranged.. but well, here's the twist in the tale, to call that piece of iron would be a gross injustice to the species called motorcycles.. :P 

Chadda still insisted, despite my persuasions to the contrary, that we should travel on that bike.. and well as anyone of you would have guessed by now, that piece of iron stopped midway and wouldnt budge.. and we had a hell of a time getting it back to college... so well.. the others enjoyed Thol.. while the original travellers were stuck...The only good thing to come out of it was that i once again got the opportunity to roam the streets of ahmedabad in the early hours of the morning... i somehow love doing that... 

however, if you think that I would have let things be, then you don't know me.. another plan wa shtached for the next day.. and boy... wat a trip it was... early hours of the day, more than 100 kms of biking, awesome weather, and a breathtaking view.. things don't get better than this... 

Even stopped over in Ahmedabad on the way back to get some books from Crossword... 

Stay off the Grass

The Great Indian Middle Class

Being Indian

I shall be well accounted for the coming vacations... 

Till next time...

p.s. for all those who couldn't understand wat beyawsum was; its beyond + awsum (awesome).. seriosuly guys.. :S

p.p.s. Have to go to Thol once again, it's the perfect place quench your thirst in a dry state.. ;P

Random Thoughts

It's hard to forgive

And equally hard to swear vengeance against a loved one..

But it's harder to decide

What would it be

Forgiveness or Revenge

Beyond Slumdog

I woke up today to find my ToI screaming at the top of its voice of the Slumdog glory at the Oscars. And since it was the Ahmedabad edition they, as usual, had found a Gujarati connection to Rahman's triumph :|

However that's not the point here. The point,in fact, is, why the hell are we all going crazy over Slumdog? It's a British movie about India made with Indian collaboration. To suggest otherwise is simply ridiculous. And what to say of the Congress' claim that termed Slumdog 'a film of India, for India, by India" . It goes beyond ridiculous.

A.R. Rahman is a genius. There is no doubt about it. And we didn't need an Oscar to validate this. Surely you don't think that Slumdog is his best work ever? If you do, I would suggest that you go and get a copy of Taal, Dil Se, Roza, RDB or for that matter Dilli 6. Over his illustrious career Rahman has come up with scores of compositions that have been forever etched in our conscience and would outlive Jai Ho and O Saya... 

The crazy appreciation that we have shown for Slumdog's Oscar triumph just goes on to highlight how much we crave Western recognition. It beats me as to why despite all the progress we can't shake the colonial mindset. Why we still need to seek approval from the powers that once ruled us?  

Tagged!!

Aah, it's not that I don't have anything to write about or that I don't have time to write... Have just finished my BTP report and Synapse has just got over.. so u wud know that I have both the time and raw material for an 'interesting' post.. ;P

It's just that am not in the mood to write right now.. and besides this Tag is long overdue.. picked it up from Sakshi's blog... 

Just answer the questions in the comments and take the Tag.. :)

1. Who are you?
2. Are we friends?
3.Something I have and you want?
4.Give me a nick name and explain why you picked it.
5.Describe me in one word.
6.What was your first impression of me?
7.Do you still think that way about me now?
8.What reminds you of me?
9.If you could ever give me one thing, what would it be?
10.How well do you know me?
11.How do you see me in the future?
12. Something you wanted to tell me but couldn't.
13.Are you going to put this on your blog to see what I say about you?

*Women Have Faces so that Men can't See their Souls...*

Emosanal Atyachar

ek do teen chaar.......... Well well, there certainly were a lotta emotions in the movie but atyachar, no! Dev D happens to be a hatke movie depicting a classic theme in a contemporary setup.

The acting is top notch, the directions fabulous. And as we already know, the music is outta this world! That doesn't mean though that there are no flaws in the movie. The beginning is a bit boring and the tempo doesnt really build up till Lenny aka Chanda comes in. Prior to that, it seems more like a movie depicting desperate sex-craving youngsters. On the other hand, Anurag Kashyap could have played out the ending a bit, he could afford stretching it. As of now its just too abrupt.

Abhay Deol has excelled in his role and looks comfortable carrying off the modern day Devdas' portrayal. Kalki has done justice to her role as well and while Paro is good, she could have done better.

The movie certainly doesn't deserve the 5 stars that ToI has awarded but it'd definitely a 3.5 star thing. No doubts about it. And maybe the reviewer had a bad break up the night before he saw Dev D.. that would explain the remaining 1.5 stars.. ;P

From the Pink City to that of the Nawabs, and everything in between... Where's the Wife!!!

Indian hill stations are still the destination of choice for a large number of newly weds for their honeymoon. Therefore it's not a surprise that most people you see on such places are newly wed couples. And even the locals market their products keeping this in mind. In fact their minds are so tuned to it, that they just don't expect anything else from the tourists. If you are in your 20s, your newly wed spuse is bound to be around! Don't agree with me yet? Well keep reading, and then make your call!

I had gone some 15-20 kms ahead from Manali, towards Rohtang. The pass itself was closed due to heavy snowfall. Anyways so I decided to try my hand at skiing while I was there. All suited up, I was just walking around slowly trying to get used to the skiis. That's when this local lady casually walked up and started showing me pics of couples in local dresses. I shook my head and perhaps having experienced this with all guys and knowing that females would be more likely to be susceptible to her offer, very matter-of-factly she asks me, biwi kahan hai teri.. I wish i knew.. ;P lolz...

Just Me

Yeah, that's what the post is going to be about, a few random things that have been on my mind..


I have a friend, no not a friend, an acquaintance is more like it.. and the bugger was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.. he has had everything in life.. a luxurious lifestyle, all his whims and desires fulfilled.. he alternates in b/w being proud of his life and being an emotional cry-baby... he happens to look like the male lead in slumdog.. and for the past week or so, he has been trying to be a smart ass about it.. hell who gives a fuck if u luk like that guy.. bloody loser.. all u have is wat ur parents have accomplished.. even ur looks u owe to ur parent's genes.. do something in ur life and then do all that talking.. go give ur jazz to some chick who might fall for it or sum dumbwit who wud be awed by u.. but not me.. please, please for heaven's sake spare me...

hell, why on earth did i write this? this wasn't supposed to be about any tom, dick and harry.. it was meant to be a post about me.. aarrghh..

i had been planning a trip to bombay on this weekend.. i should have been in bombay right now.. hell, i even booked the tickets.. but then, here i am, sitting and blogging in my hostel!! life sucks.. and i hate it when my vacation plans don't work out...

anyways, enough of sad stuff, time to move on.. after all life is not as dreary as am trying to portray it :P... and i guess one reason for it is that am back doing wat i like doing the most.. and i do it well mind u... it's planning and organizing events.. strategizing and shit.. working on ten different things at once...
all the effort that's going in right now is for Abhivyakti, the first edition of our theatre club's festival... even the story of how it came into being is an interesting one.. but most of u wouldn't be bothered to read about college politics and ego clashes.. so am not putting it down.. in case u wanna kno.. jus temme! :)

ohh and hey, i have been shoppin!!! had gone out looking for T-shirts for Abhivyakti.. was trying to finalize a deal with either with Rbk or Adidas... turned out the guys i was looking for weren't available that time.. so well, i just went from one store to another.. buying stuff and well, as u can guess, blowing a hole in my pocket.. :p
shopped loads of stuff... a wrangler shirt.. 3 casual Ts courtesy levi's and ofcourse the best buy of the day.. the iD floaters.. i jus luvv them.. hand stitched black leather.. epitomizing simplicity and elegance.. :D
ended up blowing more than the yet to be received first month's salary.. but hey, it was more than worth it.. and besides hadn't shopped for my bday and Diwali too.. hmmmmm...

guess the post been reflecting my mood as of late.. it's totally random! i can go from happiness to frustration and back in the blink of an eye.. something tells me i have got some unresolved issues in my mind.. need to sit down and reflect sometime...

I was thinking about how I perceive myself.. so i thought of this..

Take some of Jack Shepherd, quite a bit of Ted Mosby, add a bit of J.D. and a little bit of Alan Shore and mix it together.. wat you get is me!!

For all those to whom the previous line sounded like Greek, go watch Lost, HIMYM, Scrubs and Boston Legal.. and no am not telling wat HIMYM is.. hrrmmmmphh!!

I have been asked by Sid to write something or the other for Entelechy.. But I jus don't feel like doing it.. Sowwie mate.. i guess i am past that stage where i could will myself to write, now I have to be in that zone... otherwise all that i can manage is the crap like wat am dishing out now..

ohh yeah.. how can i forget this.. the original subject of the post! was talking to rachu a few days back when she said that she was feeling lost.. and then and there i came up with these lines..

anjaani raahon mein na jaane kahan hum kho gaye;
tanha tum, tanha hum reh gaye..

nice naa? i don't know where that poet in me keeps disappearing.. :P vaise just in case, if anybody of you has heard these lines somewhere b4, do lemme know.. have to sue the buggers for plagiarism!! ;)

The first day

Monday, 19th of January 2008, am always gonna remember this day. For this was my first day at office! Not any fancy corporate assignment but still, it was the first day of my paid labour! lol..

Now all those who are wondering what I have started doing, there's no need to be alarmed, it's just a TAship that am doing; TA bole toh Teaching Assistant.. the final year blokes who take labs for the juniors.. I know I know.. all those of you who know me personally are probably laughing their heads off right now.. Me?? a TA..lolz And that too Telecommunications.. I can imagine the look on ur faces people :P

And well the first day was interesting! For starters it happened to be the first communication lab in my B.Tech life that I actually spent 3 hours in the lab.. and God it was tiring!.. To top it, I was supposed to solve doubts about a software that I had never used before..lol..

It was actually fun though, to be on the other side of the line for a change.. people calling you Sir (it feels goood!!), and well if they happen to ask you doubts like the ones some of them expressed, it turns out to be even more fun..

There's this pretty chick in the group that I was assigned to, and we had even interacted a few times outside the lab.. I was carrying an impression that she was quite smart.. well it all changed during those 3 hours as i was subjected to the dumbest possible questions.. but hey, I have to be fair to her.. she did figure it out soon enough that I myself didn't know too much of that stuff, and just gave a lotta jazz to most students in response to their queries.. :P.. Hers were too basic.. even I could figure those out.. and most were just silly mistakes.. but the killer of all questions didn't come from her.. there was this gal who very casually asked a batch mate of hers to go and buy a lab notebook for her.. the poor soul came to me to ask permission to go and buy one.. and I was like.. dude y the hell do u need a lab notebook.. He got the look on my face and said mujhe nahi, use chahiye.. The gal then came up with a killer answer.. here it goes.. bookstore vaale se pucha tha, usne bola ki labs mein yeh notebook use hoti hai.. All I could do was stare at her in shock and say Grow up! u not in school anymore!

From the Pink City to that of the Nawabs, and everything in between... Part II

ON@TKS- The crazy 7 hours

Relax folks, I am not gonna do a Chetan Bhagat here... after all mera bhi kuch standard hai..lolz.. ;P

ON@TKS bole toh One Night at The Kalka Station... Again one of my fondest memories of the whole trip.. simply because I had never experienced something like this ever before.. and frankly had never even thought that I would...

Well we reached Kalka around 9 pm and had our dinner... Dad had non-veg for a change!! After all these years... :D (Am not recommending any restaurant coz there is only one decent place to eat in the town... a place called Shelly restaurant, a 5 minute walk from the rly station..)

Hmm so now we had about 7 hours to spend before we boarded the toy-train that was to take us to Simla... And so we obviously scouted for hotels... but to our dismay the ones near the station were full :( and the only room that was available wasn't worth all the trouble...

since it was just a matter of 7 hours, we decided to pass the time at the rly station itself.. and trust me on this, we couldn't have made a better choice... During the next 7 hours I explored the station as if I had to spend my entire life there, clicked loads of random and silly pics, even learnt the correct way of holding a kulhar containing hot tea... lolz...

And I cheat death...

We had been waiting at the Kalka station and having a look at the toy trains that were lined up. We were contemplating shifting our tickets to the 6 o'clock one instead of the 4 o'clock one; the seats were better and their was more leg space. But it meant two more hours of waiting. So in the end we decided to stick with the original plan.

Five hours later, when we disembarked at Simla, we came to know that the train coming behind us had derailed. It was the same 6 o'clock one. Even now I shiver to think that it was the same merry looking train in which i had clicked pics the night before...

I am the Boss!!!

One of the more adventurous things that I did on the trip. We were at Kufri, and the only means of transport there were the ponies. A guide used to accompany every two ponies, steering them. All was well initially. However suddenly my guide, apparently impressed by my riding skills ;P, decided that my pony no longer needed guidance!! For half the duration of the ride, I was actually riding the pony!! It was a liberating experience and tell u wat, it feels beyawesum :D ...

Ohh btw, the pony was named Tiku... :)

To the Anonymous Wanderer

This is my 100th post.. I never thought I would blog so much.. and well I had all but given up blogging, but then I rediscovered it, my blog was like a soothing balm that helped my scalding wound to heal..

O anonymous Wanderer, I don't know if you'll ever read this, but if you do, you'll understand what it means...

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

--Rudyard Kipling

Oh btw, I have decided to change the url of my blog.. the next post onwards, the musings shall be available at http://rozzville.blogspot.com

@ Lanky.. I know it's not imaginative, and tell u what.. i dnt care.. ;P

From the Pink City to that of the Nawabs, and everything in between... Part I

Safety Paranoia

I was travelling from Jaipur to Delhi and the bus had stopped at the Midway. When the customary twenty minutes were over, the driver started the bus and revved the engine. He was all set to go but there was a slight problem; a couple of passengers were missing. The conductor made his enquiries, the driver honked his horn but to no avail. The passengers were getting restless. It was then that the issue of the luggage of those passengers came up. Apparently there were a couple of unclaimed bags in the bus. And lo! The passengers were after the conductor to dump them off, who after his initial relucatace, complied with their wishes. For the first time I saw first-hand what the recent terror strikes had done; they had instilled fear in the people's mind. They were simply too afraid to proceed with some unclaimed baggage in their bus. It was only after the baggage was dumped and a call made to the nearest police station that the bus moved on. I wonder if this fuss had been there a few years back...

Cafe Bikaner

For all the foodies out there, do try out the new restaurant at Bikaner House. It's at Pandara road and serves excellent food. Rozz recommends paneer lababdar.

And hey, the hardcore non-veggies don't be disappointed.. for it serves non-veg too.. and jab paneer itna accha tha, toh socho chicken kitna accha hoga.. ;P

Su-do-ku chicklet

This is one of my best memories of the trip. I was in the Delhi-Kalka Shatabdi quite content reading my borrowed copy of Maximum City. The seat in front of me, on both sides of the aisle, was occupied by a Sikh family. There was this cute young chick, naa chick is not right, chicklet is more like it, the youngest member of the family, who was enjoying herself a lot. Hopping around from one side to the another, posing questions to her dad, she was the epitome of innocence and free spirit. Her dad was busy with his newspaper and I guess she caught sight of a su-do-ku in it and for some reason was fascinated by it. And there she was shouting suu-do-kuu, suu-do-kuuu on the top of her voice. I looked up from my book, grinning. Our eyes met, and suddenly she was conscious of herself. For the next couple of seconds we continued to gaze into each other's eyes even as her voice trailed off and she shied away and hid in her father's lap.

This little chicklet once again made me realize how much I like being around with kids. I would have loved to have her as my younger sis... she was cho chweet..... :)

97.89

97.89, for the uniniated, is my CAT percentile... I don't really know whether to be happy or sad.. I didn't actually prepare for it, so I guess I should be happy with what I have achieved... But no I am not happy.. and am not sad either.. nor do I regret not preparing... I am just indifferent to this whole thing.. it just doesn't bother me...the only thing that i regret is perhaps the reason for not preparing... I guess I am angry at myself only because of the stupid reason that I wasted the months of august and september..

I know what I am capable of... But then I have always known that... there are many out there who have been floored by my score... not here.. not in the environs I inhabit, here it's just another statisitic...

I know I can crack any exam if i really want.. but there's the catch.. if i really want... I am just too lazy.. And I hate entrance examinations... I am ready to slog for any cause.. but when it comes to entrances, I just become irrationally lazy...

However I have had enough of this... I guess the stupid reason that made me waste the precious two months alongwith the 97.89 statistic has rekindled the fire within... No more medicority... here's my promise to everyone.. friends, family, and moreover to myself... Come 2010, be it IAS or CAT, I'll crack the goddamn thing...

What's in a Name?

Yeah, that's what Shakespeare had said, What's in a name... well nothing much actually, or a lot, depends on how you look at it. You may change all the names you want, but you remain the same person. Or, you may look at it this way; a change in name brings about a new identity, a new beginning, maybe a change in the way you perceive yourself.

Well if you think that I have pondered on such things before changing my nick, you are mistaken! Hell, the change was way overdue! alien has been a good companion and would be cherished. But now it's time to move on. So gals and guys, please put your hands together ( for the dramatic effect!!) and welcome Rozz!!! lolz...

And this is for those inquisitive beings who are gonna pester me for the choice of my new nick: Rozz is what I have been nicked on a popular social networking site by a gorgeous lady.. :D So well.. you know.. the choice was pretty much obvious... lol.. :D

And yeah, the earlier lost in thoughts pic wasn't quite suiting Rozz.. so well a change in pic as well.. ;P