Musings of an Eternal Wanderer...

World Champions!

2011-04-04T22:39:00.018+05:30

What a weekend that was - India winning the World Cup; witnessing the same with some of your closest friends; celebrating like mad on the streets in the middle of the night; having an unfortunate incident transforming what would have been a good dinner into a memorable dinner that never was; and if that wasn't enough, add the usual tomfoolery that happens when close friends meet and record those moments in HD ;) The match! What can I say about it that hasn't already been said. It was supposed to be a magnum opus - a final showdown between the world's greatest batsman and the best off-spinner to ever play the game. Instead, it ended being a coming of age moment for the next generation of the Indian cricket and the battle scarred class of 2003 alike.

Despite the beating he took at the hands of a sublime Jayawardhande towards the end of the innings, Zaheer should be re-christened Saint Zak. His opening spell was serenity, calmness, control epitomized. Unlike his oepning burst in 2003 where he let the occassion get the better of him, this time it was he who conquered his nerves. His reaction after dismissing Tharanga just said it all. He knew what he had to do, and more importantly, how to do it.

The way the Indians fielded and the way Gambhir and Dhoni batted, it was obvious that they were here to win. They were ready to put everything on the line - their bodies, their reputation, they would have probably traded their souls with the devil, to win the cup for a man who in Virat Kohli's words had carried the burden of the entire nation for 21 years. When the win came, it was as if it had been so ordained - India's favourite son winning the World Cup on his home ground. The reactions after the win were cathartic - not only for the players but for an entire generation which had grown up hearing of the triumph of '83 - a generation that had cried with Kambli in '96 - a generation that had its heart broken in 2003.

What followed the win was one of those I was there moments. We headed to a popular night spot in Mumbai for a late night dinner. Instead of having dinner, we danced on the streets, shrieked with joy till our throats were sore, high-fived strangers. As we chanted Sachin Sachin and India India, we became part of something that would live forever. We saw foreigners with the tricolor painted on their cheeks joining in, absorbing everything in. To use a cliche, it was what dreams are made of... :)

p.s. Another post on all the tomfoolery of the weekend!

Just Another Monday

2011-02-10T13:15:00.002+05:30

It's that time of the year again - the colour red is all around, love is in the air and messages about proclaiming eternal love abound. Wherever you go, you would be hounded by advertisers trying to make a quick buck in this season of love. If you happen to be single, God help you! Or not. Given the fact that I too don't have the special one to shower with gifts and express my undying and eternal love to, I decided not to wait for God and rather do something to help myself.

For starters, you need to convince yourself that there's nothing special about 14th February 2011 even though all that you read and watch are telling you otherwise. And it won't take a lot of convincing when you realize that it's not a special occassion rather just another Monday, with its accompanying Monday Blues. It's a day where after a fun filled/dreamy lazy weekend, depending upon your preference, you would head back to the drudgery of work - to the same old 9-6 routine. Bleary eyed, you would sit at your desk staring at your laptop, questioning the very purpose of your life on this earth while a bad instant coffee would go cold in a styrofoam cup. The day doesn't sound so special now, does it?

And well, you are not a cynic now, are you? So of course you'll make a concession to the spirit of the day. Go ahead and pamper yourself. Go for that new gizmo you have had your eyes on or for that matter go for that road trip you had been planning for so long. That's one benefit of not dating - you get to splurge on things that you like.

All said and done if you aren't narcissistic enough to shower only yourself with love, go hang out with your buddies. A night out on the town would be the perfect way to blow away those Monday Blues. Yes, come Tuesday, you might be even more hungover and bleary eyed, but then that's a small price to pay for the company of your buddies.

I was planinng to close this post at this note, when I became aware that the guy sitting next to me was worrying himself sick over what to gift his girlfriend. Thank your stars you don't have to suffer that ordeal at least 3 times a year - valentines, her b'day, your anniversary; and many more if your girl happened to be the one who keeps track of your first date, your first kiss, the first time you had uttered the magical three words that doomed you forever and what not! Thank God that you are not such a lucky guy; God bless you and your wallet otherwise!

The King Returns...

2011-01-01T01:50:00.001+05:30

2011 - the Year of the King!
~ Arthur

Home Advantage

2010-03-18T13:56:00.000+05:30

One of the most intimidating places to play cricket is Eden Gardens. With a capacity of 100,000 it isn't easy for visiting teams to play as the home crowd often doubles up as the 12th man for the hosts. The idea behind IPL was to create city based loyalties akin to the English Premier League. And it has been successful to a great extent. In the first season, Sawai Man Singh stadium in Jaipur felt more like a cauldron to the visitors as they wilted in face of a hostile crowd and some great performances by the Rajasthan Royals. The combination was so effective that the Royals went undefeated at home in their succesfull 2008 campaign. And that's why the idea of teams holding their matches at adopted venues in 2010 is so mind boggling. Sample this, defending champions Decaan Chargers were treating D.Y.Patil stadium in Navi mumbai as their home for the opening encounter of this season. That they had no home advantage was obvious as the crowd couldn't feel a connect with them the same way that the Hyderabad crowd would have.

A similar scenario took place in Ahmedabad last night. Royals having given up Fort Mansingh as their home, due to some changed political equations, just didn 't have the sort of support that they would have liked. In fact when Sehwag took the attack to the Royals, the crowd literally switched sides and began cheering for him rather than getting behind the Royals.Would this have been the case in say EPL? One can't imagine ManUtd supports ditching thir team and start cheering for Lampard.

The idea of rooting for one's home team has actually started to materialize. The way Bangalore crowd was chanting 'RCB... RCB...' was phenomenal. The decibel levels being generated were simply surreal. So was the crowd support that one got to witness for the Mumbai Indians. Perhaps the IPL organizers, in their bid to massage some egos or to accommodate changed political realities, have missed a trick to firmly entrench the teams in the fans' hearts and ensure their loyalty towards their city teams. Let's hope IPL 4 recognizes the need of playing the home matches at one's own home and we don't have to worry about figuring out who the home team is in a fixture at Nagpur!

Reservation Road

2010-03-16T00:59:00.002+05:30

It has been 12 years since Sonia Gandhi took over an ailing Congress. And what a turn around she has scripted in these 12 years. A decade is a long time no matter which way you see it. It is even longer in the political space where equations change too often. As she moves into her 13th year at the helm of Congress, she has geared up to push through another landmark judgement; the Women's Reservation Bill. It has already been passed by the Rajya Sabha and could be presented in the Lok Sabha any day now. The question as to whether we really need this reservation is something that should have been debated a lot more than the structure and provisions of the bill itself. However seeing as that point is out of scope of the political debate, I too would focus on an issue that's being raised by a number of leaders, namely reservation within reservation.

To assume that women from all strata of the society are on the same level would be a mistake. However to provide for a quota within a quota for women of these categories would be an even bigger mistake. Whose fault is it after all that the women from these communities are still socially backward, that their rights are still repressed? Is it not a creation of society itself? Or to be more precise, aren't the very men who are demanding this quota responsible for the current state of affairs?

Their demand does not emanate out of any concern for the women belonging to the supposedly backward communities. It is another ploy to deepen the already existing communal fault lines in the country. A female friend of mine recently spoke out against the institution of marriage. In particular her ire was directed against marriage as institutionalised in her religion; a religion whose women would be allegedy at a disadvantage following the Reservation Bill. Her piece was nothing if not an indictment of the men who have been running things in our country for a long time. What has been happening to these women is wrong, but providing for a quota withing the quota would be wrong too. And two wrongs don't make a right.

We are already suffering from the effects of reservation. Growing up, I wasn't aware of any distinction of caste of religion. Yet as I matured, I realized that we had been taken for a ride. The various reservations had failed to have the desired impact. The benefits didn't really reach to those who needed them the most. What it in fact had succeeded in doing was denying me and millions others like me our right; the right that emanated from meritocracy. Today, when we look at people who have taken adantage of the various reservations, we can not treat them as equal. It's not that we don't want to. It's just that the fact that resrevation has played a role in someone's accomplishments leads to a tinge of doubt and anger in our minds. While the women's reservation bill may be needed,and it is debatable min you, creating quotas within it would ensure that another generation or two would be destined to grow up feeling cheated and wronged. Do we really want that?

It's raining colours!!!

2010-01-09T14:56:00.002+05:30

Dear Facebook users,

Most, if not all, of you would have been puzzled to see a 'colourful' facebook over the last couple of days as many in our friend lists decided to put a colour as their status message. It was cryptic to say the least. Why would a seemingly sane person put a colour as his/her status message? And even if one would decide to do it, how come so many of them decided to flaunt their favorite colour all of a sudden? And then, suddenly I observed a pattern. All those who had these colourful statuses were members of the fairer sex! There's definitely something going on here, I thought. The suspense was added to by the knowing comments that were being made on these statuses.

And so there I was, googling away to glory, till I discovered what the fuss was all about. And to say that I was surprised would be an understatement. Here was a group of women showcasing their support for a worthy cause in a unique fashion! I could not help but wonder as to how far we have come from the days, when these same women were not even allowed to show their face in public, let alone put up their bra color as their facebook status. It is a telling statement of the freedom that exists in our society. And for a change, the self-proclaimed custodians of morality haven't raised a ruckus over the issue; probably because their breed ain't well acquainted with facebook and more so because of the mystery around the movement.

As women all over facebook showcase their support and celebrate their femininity, we can just step back and soak in all the colors!

Change

2009-10-24T20:34:00.003+05:30

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

2009-06-06T02:34:00.004+05:30

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

2009-06-02T02:09:00.002+05:30

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..
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?
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 (?)

2009-05-29T00:52:00.001+05:30

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

2009-05-20T04:37:00.003+05:30

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?

2009-05-02T09:15:00.003+05:30

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

2009-04-25T09:20:00.003+05:30

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

2009-04-20T20:07:00.008+05:30

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

2009-04-18T00:49:00.001+05:30

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

2009-04-16T01:33:00.003+05:30

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

The Witch

2009-04-13T00:26:00.003+05:30

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...

2009-04-11T05:01:00.005+05:30

Goodbyes are not forever.

Goodbyes are not the end.

They simply mean I'll miss you

Until we meet again!

2009-04-05T12:38:00.001+05:30

Breaking Free!!!

Sparks

2009-04-02T23:30:00.002+05:30

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

Crap

2009-04-01T20:39:00.003+05:30

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!!

2009-03-28T20:39:00.004+05:30

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

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!!

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

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.

I need coffee to survive.

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

I do not like my authority being undermined.

I can truly open up to very few people only.

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

I am full of contradictions.

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 :)

If I say something, I actually mean it.

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.

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.

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

I prefer being in a smaller group of friends.

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

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.

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.

I read a lot.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

2009-03-25T08:38:00.002+05:30

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

2009-03-23T01:49:00.004+05:30

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

2009-03-21T05:22:00.002+05:30

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

2009-03-18T22:09:00.003+05:30

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

2009-03-17T21:56:00.005+05:30

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...

2009-03-05T11:57:00.005+05:30

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

2009-02-27T23:15:00.003+05:30

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

2009-02-24T11:17:00.002+05:30

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!!

2009-02-16T12:53:00.003+05:30

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

2009-02-10T10:58:00.007+05:30

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!!!

2009-02-01T18:27:00.006+05:30

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

2009-01-26T04:11:00.003+05:30

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

2009-01-21T00:32:00.002+05:30

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

2009-01-18T06:22:00.001+05:30

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

2009-01-15T21:38:00.004+05:30

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 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

2009-01-13T00:51:00.003+05:30

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

2009-01-12T01:49:00.003+05:30

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?

2009-01-11T00:02:00.004+05:30

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

Hmmm Home...

2008-12-13T23:43:00.001+05:30

Just some random things that make homecoming so special.. :)

Its 4:30 in the morning. I lean out of the fast moving train as it slows down to stop at the outer signal. After a brief hiatus it moves on again, gaining speed and I stand there enjoying the pleasant chill against my face even as the wind blows through my hair, pushing them back in the way I like. As it enters the terminal I lean even further, hoping to catch a glimpse of my parents. And there they are, both of them, ready to take me home. Let me be honest with you. No sight in the world beats the sight of seeing your parents after a long time.

Its 5 in the morning as you drive out of the station. The roads are almost empty. Papa has brought his own car ( he assumed I was bringing back lots of luggage..lolz :P) and not my (ohk it's not mine. Technically it's mom's.. ;P) cute little 800. As we move to Ajmer Road, I put the car into the 5th gear and press down the accelerator. The speedometer crosses 100. Wow!

Hardly ten minutes later I am home. And guess what? Bua has cooked me awesome methi ke paranthein ... yummm!!!

I have been to a couple of weddings in the short stay here. And hey, weddings are fun this time of the year. Pleasant weather, good food, and oh well, this time the chicks weren't half bad either.. ;P. Ok but that wasn't the main point (however important and relevant it might be ;) ). The thing is, I get to spend some quality time with my family away from home. Oh that reminds me, am heading to simla for a week!! :D Finally a vacation with my family after nearly six and a half years!

Hot water baths!!! you can't even begin to imagine how much I like these. And ghar pe I don't even have to wake up early to have one (unlike the hostel, where the hot water runs out at 10 in the morning, that is, if there was any at all )

Breakfast in bed!! :D

I like to read a newspaper first thing in the morning. It hardly ever happens in the hostel. At home, I wake up daily to find my ToI lying besides me.. :)

And oh, how can I not mention home cooked food! Seriously people before heading to college I was fed up of it. Now I just can't get enough of it. I guess that's the same with everyone though...

When you want to write on too many things...

2008-12-11T17:48:00.007+05:30

Islamic Terrorism and Indian Muslims

Muslims the world over celebrated Eid a couple of days back. It was heartening to see that the Indian ones were quite subdued in their celebrations and that Imams of leading mosques around the country spoke against what is being done in the name of their religion.

India has the largest number of Muslims in any country after Indonesia; yes, even more than Pakistan, the supposed homeland of the Muslims. Indian Muslims are really unique. In any other country, except China, a number of 130 odd million would make them the majority, in India they constitute the minority.

Indian Muslims are also in a position to counter the extremist ideology that forms the foundation of the Islamic terrorism. For quite sometime there has been search for an ideology to counter the extremist one being preached by the Taliban and its likes. The more tolerant, sectarian-violence free Indian Muslim way might just be the answer that we have been looking for.

Of Chief Ministers

I had been following the news about Congress victory in the Rajasthan Assembly elections. It didn't come as a surprise as in the recent past the trend has been to oust the incumbent whenever the opportunity arises. Three days have passed and still there's no consensus on the Chief-Ministerial candidate. Ex-CM Ashok Geholt, the person who led the victorious campaign is the firm favourite. Though he is being opposed by the likes of Sheesh Raam Ola, on the grounds that Gehlot ain't a Jaat. Well now, I don't have any problems as to whether a Jaat becomes the CM or a non-Jaat becomes the CM. The only thing that I got problems with is that the Congress is considering to appoint a Jaat as a deputy CM. Pray tell me, why as the tax payer should I fund the cost of this political gimmick? As if we don't have too many ministers already! The 15% limit that has been put on the size of the Cabinet is being seriously abused. It's high time we brought some structure to our executive.

Another thing which I find ridiculous is Sheesh Raam Ola contesting for the CMship. An 82 year old guy as a first time CM? For Christ's sake, gimme a break! If 60 is deemed old enough for our public servants, shouldn't there be an age bar on the politicians as well? Hon'ble Supreme Court, are we listening?

Civil Services

I had been going through the structure of the Civil Services examination and was surprised by the choice of the optional subjects available. While 23 options to choose from for one optional may sound enough, even a slightly closer look would reveal that they are grossly inadequate. For starters, Computer Science graduates like yours truly are on a disadvantage before we even start the process. Reason: Computer Science is not one of the electives. And neither is EC or IT for that matter. Apparently we don't exist.

Somebody called IAS as the mother of all exams. And indeed it is so. For unlike JEE or CAT, where genius might suffice, IAS examination pattern ensures that you need to have the capacity to carry encyclopedic knowledge in your head if you have to have even the slightest chance of succeding. While it could have been a must-have quality in the earlier days, I don't see any relevance of it now, when all the information is just a click away and when you can generate n number of simulation scenarios as per your requirements. Oh sorry, I forgot, how are the powers to be supposed to know that. After all how can we expect them to know of the internet, when they haven't even heard of Computer Engineers.

Tagged!!

2008-12-08T10:21:00.004+05:30

So here I am.. taggeing myself... because I have nothing better to do...

1. What does your user name mean?
alien: go back to school if u dnt know this.. lolz..

2. Elaborate on your user photo.
taken a long time back.. i look as if i am lost in thoughts.. philosophical kinds..

3. How many comments do you have?
on wat dude?

4. What's your current relationship status?
all of you.. join facebook.. i jus joined the group...'awesome people who are single for no apparent reason' .. well, does that answer your question?

5. What exactly are you wearing right now?
a red tee and boxers..

6. What is your current problem?
i wanted to bathe but there's no hot water in the hostel.. :(

7. What do you love the most?
if it's what/who, then the answer is my family... else, spending time with my friends..

8. What makes you most happy?
hmmm.. a good coffee, when am with friends, eating good food, reading a good book, listening to music... you get the drift, don't you?

9. Are you musically inclined?
i think so.. currently listening to Hold on Hope..

10. What would you do if you woke up one morning and found out you were on cocaine?
finally i wud be able to compare the effects of cocaine and marijuana.. ;)

11. If you could go back in time and change something, what would it be?
wouldn't take science in 11th..

12. If you MUST be an animal for ONE day, what would you be?
tiger..

13. Ever had a near-death experience?
not yet...

14. Name an obvious quality you have.
am a good speaker..

15. What's the name of the song that's stuck in your head right now?
Never Too Late... 3 Days Grace

16. Are you happy today?
yeah.. leaving for home in a few hours.. :D

17. Who will cut and paste this first?
i guess Sid, though he'll curse me a lot.. ;P

18. Name someone with the same birthday as you.
salmaan khan..

19. Do you have a secret crush on someone?
not as of now, ask again in a couple of hours or so.. ;P

20. Do you have a garbage disposal in your kitchen sink?
mere hostel mein na toh kitchen hai aur na hi kitchen sink.. :|

21. Have you ever been in a fight?
yeah..

22. Have you ever sung in front of a large audience?
ohh yes...!! 3rd grade mein :P.. i still rem the song.. jee haan main hun khalnayak.. lolz..

23. What's the first thing you notice about the OPPOSITE sex?
physically: face, otherwise: their manner of speaking...

24. What's your biggest mistake?
bola toh re.. 11th mein science le li..

25. Say something totally random about you.
i am totally awesome.. ;)

26. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celebrity?
yeah..

27. Are you comfortable with your height?
yups..

28. What is the most romantic thing someone has ever done for you?
Wrong time dude...

29. What are your favourite smells?
baarish ke baad mitti ki smell, petrol, whenever my mom's cooking something good, of freshly brewed coffee...

30. What's something that really annoys you?
hypocrisy

31. What's something you really like?
spending time with my friends..

32. Do you give random hugs and kisses?
hugs: yes, kisses: i wish.. ;P

33. What's the latest you have ever stayed up?
10:30 am

34. Have you ever been rushed to the emergency room?
naah..

And I tag you:

Marvin

Piper

Anvita

Prabhu

Mads

Youjus..

Home Calling!!!

2008-12-06T17:10:00.003+05:30

ohk fellas... am off to home finally.......

come this monday, and i wud be off to my favourite place.. to my favourite city....

And as quite a few of you were expecting, no these are NOT my last days in college.. don't know wat the future has in store... but one thing is for certain.. would be coming back.. whether for the last time or not.. dunno...

48 hours to deaprture.. yipee!! :)

Of Food and Faculty

2008-12-05T00:22:00.005+05:30

It's not often that you get to know the blokes who teach you outside the classrooms. More often than not, our interactions are just limited to the classrooms. I have been quite lucky in this respect that I have got to interact with a couple of faculty members outside the classroom environment over the last three and a half years. But what happened a couple of nights ago ws truly amazing. All of us sitting in the cafeteria, it being our last such get-together. A number of us were leaving for home the next day, and more importantly Sobu wasn't returning to college. He had been offered an internship at Qualcomm and would be in Hyderabad for the next semester. Anyways, lets not digress from the topic. So yeah, there we were sitting in the cafetaria talking from anything to everything under the sun when Manu, the guy who runs the cafe at night joined us. And well, he had some insight to offer on the food habits of our faculty members...

prof. shiv

A pretty fixed lunch... generally includes a daal, bhindi and jeera aloo.. just 2 chapatis (surprise surprise!!).. and lots of green salad... and yeah a strong coffee to top it off...

prof. mathuria

A daal a day is the motto for him... 30 days-30 daals... no deviation whatsoever... gets his veggies from home only..

prof. srivastava

Never eats in campus.. always goes home...

prof. banerjee

Well well... yeh to subah ka doodh bhi brajwasi se hi lene aate hain.. so u can guess ki khane ka to kya haal hoga.. no wonder raat ko bhi cafeteria mein hi dikhte hai... apparently, mrs. banerjee, doesn't like to cook..

Next we asked Manu kis sabse zyada kaun khata hai.. and well.. the list wasn't surprising at all...

pk chopra, prof. anil roy, kumbar....

prof. sinha (Daddu) and prof. Jotwani were among the rare eaters... while rest everybody was almost a regular..

I wonder what happens next, now that brajwasi has finally decided to close its shop...

Mixed Bag

2008-11-30T03:45:00.005+05:30

Hmmm.. its nearly four in the morning. I should be asleep, have a presentation in the morning. But I just cant go to sleep, no, not yet. In what has become almost a ritual, i spend hours on the blogosphere, reading, commenting, reading some more and yeah a bit of writing...

I felt something about quite a few things in the past 24 hours or so. This is going to be a mixed bag of sorts. A few lines of this, a few of that....

Joined a group on FB. Something to do with bringing about social change in the wake of the recent attacks. A good initiative. But I have my doubts as to how successful it would be. Anyways, I hope that I am wrong...

Sid and I had an account running that stretched back to our second year. Finally its settled today.. :D

The wait is finally over.. yeyeyye.. ;P

The past couple of days, my mood threatened to go off again.. again the issues involved were similar. Not even similar, they were the same. I wonder when some people would learn and start to give life it's due...

Live it up folks, you just get one shot at it!!

My blog has had an influx of new readers over the last 24 hours... :)

All those who have been reading my ramblings, thank you for your patience and persevearance.. :)

And the ones who have just started.. Welcome.. :)

Am loaded!! and loaded bole toh seriously loaded... after a loooonnngg time.. :D

Feels so good... :biggrin:

Had a great dinner... more than the food it was the atmosphere. The not so quiet and frank talks. Almost rivalled the fun that I had a couple of days back. Didn't write about it.. but hey.. doesn't 60 pics on one's FB account say something .. ;P

At least one of my dinner companions is bound to read this.. lets keep these dinners rolling.. :)

It's finally over in Mumbai. I mourn those who lost their lives in this mindless carnage. But more than that, my heart goes out to those who lost a loved one in these attacks. Death is a one time tyrant, but agony and grief are lifelong plagues... :(

Our armed forces did a commendable job in Mumbai...

I salute the Heroes in Uniform..

Also,

I salute the spirit of the Maximum City... Salaam Bombay!!!

Hmm..

2008-11-29T01:00:00.001+05:30

Had my first hot water bath of the winters yesterday morning... :)

Yet Again

2008-11-27T07:39:00.004+05:30

They strike again
We bleed again
How long is this gonna last, I wonder
The answer comes,
A scary thought I dread to voice
Until we learn to value human life...

Muted spectators,
That's what we have become
What can we do
Is all we ask
We shrug and move on
That's all we do
But oh, there's a lot more we can do
If only we believe, that
Yes, we can!

Resilience, often mentioned
Would be needed again,
For Bombay bleeds
It's time to grieve
But not to kneel

And here she comes...

2008-11-23T17:06:00.005+05:30

Had been observing this phenomenon on the blogosphere for quite a while and was wondering as to when the bug would find its way to my immediate neighbourhood in the blogosphere. Well, didn't have to wait for too long. For the bug has arrived or shall we say, the butterfly has arrived!

The Butterfly Award :)

It's a special one, for it happens to be my first since school, and also, my first in the virtual world...

Thank you Prabhu for the same...

And before i pass upon the baton, here are a few rules...

Put the award on your blog.

Add a link to the person who presented it to you.

Pass on the award to those you think deserve it.

And most importantly, keep the words flowing...

Assuming, I can still pass it on to those who have already been visited by the butterfly, I send the butterfly to..

Lanky

You jus...

Lost...

2008-11-22T18:57:00.005+05:30

Something's wrong with me

I don't know what, but something is

Definitely wrong with me

I no longer care for anything

Nothing bothers me anymore

It's not as if I stopped caring,

For I never cared anyway

I sometimes wonder what have I become

It wasn't supposed to be like this

And now I sit and think

Of what I want to be

And the answer scares me

This change, whatever it is

Is freaking me out

I no longer find any comfort,

Nor solace in my solitude

Am floating away

But not going anywhere

Unknown to all,

Am floating away

All I wanted was to live

Not anymore, Now

I wish to escape

I wish to die

The Date with Destiny

2008-11-15T18:58:00.006+05:30

Most of you who take the pain to go through the random assortment of my musings already know this story. But then I had told someone that I will write it. And here it is, for that person, and of course for the sake of the writer in me :). It's a coincidence of sorts that I am writing this a day after I have received an interesting offer from the same set of people; a day before an exam which till some time ago was of the most concern to me. However it all changed that day, for that day was nothing less than a date with destiny.

It was the 4th of October 2008. Deloitte had come to our campus to recruit. It was the first time that they had come and I was quite keen on working with them. Finally here was the kind of a company that i really wanted to join. So they started the placement process with the usual presentation about the company and that was followed by a written test. The test was quite easy and I was confident of clearing it. I did.

We were then divided into groups and given a case study. It was a unique experience for all of us as none of us had ever done that sort of thing before. After the case study, there was a presentation. On the basis of the case study and our presentation, they shortlisted 27 people. My name wasn't there. And I was feeling pretty bad about it. The case study had gone well and the presentation, though not perfect, had been above average.

I came back to my room, pretty disappointed at blowing this fabulous opportunity. I still couldn't believe that I hadn't made it. Anyways Gol suggested that since we were free for the day we might as well head to Ahmedabad. Those were the days of Durga Puja and I had been looking for an opportunity to attend one and so I said yes to him. After the usual delays, courtesy Sobu et all, we were finally ready to leave. Just then Khyati called and asked us to wait for her. I just couldn't believe it. It was already past 5, and we hadn't even started our journey. As we were waiting for Khyati to get ready ( now all those who know her, or for that matter know any female, know how long that wait is ;P) G suggested that we go to the Club House to watch the Ramleela practice. Having nothing better to do, I said fine and so we both headed to the Club House.

While I was there I got a call from Mundra saying that come fast you have an interview right now. I told him to shove it as I was in no mood to joke. And he was like mazaak nahi kar raha, seriously hai. Well, I raced back to my room, changed back into formals and rushed to the CEP, that is the place where the interviews were being held. All this in two minutes! ( and people say I'm lazy!! lolz ;P )

Chadda was there with my resume and I handed the same to the HR lady. Fine so I gave my interview. By now it was too late to go for the Puja, so we all just decided to head to Sanjha Chulha for dinner. It was while I was waiting at GH0 for some conveyance that i recevied a call from Saru saying that I had made it!! :D

Now that we know the story, let's move to the most interesting part of all. How did I get that phone call... I don't even know if i actually remember what i was told about it. I was so outta this world. Anyways I guess it was something along these lines..

One of the guys from Deloitte was talking to Mundra after his interview, asking for his feedback on the process and all. He said that all was fine except for the fact that some of the guys who should have made it, didn't. Mine was among the few names he took. Fortunately for me, the guy was the same one who had observed my case study and my name must have struck some chord ( another benefit of having a unique name ;) )Well so he goes inside the room where all the Deloitte people were and a couple of minutes later their HR lady comes out and said that there had been an error on their part, somehow my name had been omitted while copying the list of names from one page to the other. She asked our placement officer if it was possible to contact me. That's when Mundra called!!

I have always believed in luck. What happened that evening simply reinforced my belief in Destiny. If not for the delays caused by Sobu and others we would have left for the Durga Puja a long time back. Had it not been for Khayti's call, I wouldn't have been in campus after 5. Had it been anyone else, other than the guy who had observed me during the case study, talking to Mundra, I probably wouldn't have made it. It was as if the entire Universe conspired to make sure that what was destined happened. It was like the various pieces of the jigsaw fitting in just the perfect fashion. I do believe that to an extent you can shape your own life, but then there's Fate!

Living Randomness

2008-11-03T00:13:00.006+05:30

I don't know where to begin this one. There is so much that can be said so much that can be written, and to compound the problem even further am not sure what I want to write. Synapse, if ever I would be asked to name an event that would define my four years in this institute, it would undoubtedly be Synapse.

Ohk, for the uninitiated, Synapse is the annual techno-cultural megafest of DA-IICT. Synapse 08 was a 3 day affair and took place from 29th February to 2nd March 2008. There were a lot of things that separated this edition of Synapse from the previous ones. After the financial fiasco in '06, Synapse 2008 built upon the platform established by the previous edition. The budget for the festival almost doubled to breach the 10L barrier. However more than anything, it was the introduction of events like Inc. and Rekriti, and Agnee's live in concert that made Synapse 08 special for me. While Inc. and Rekriti added a whole new dimension to Synapse, Agnee marked the return of celebrity quotient to Synapse.

The journey that culminated in the 3 day extravaganza started way back in March of the previous year. We had just witnessed a successful annual festival and people were keen to build upon the platform. The enthusiasm was particularly high among my batchmates as next year, the onus was going to be on us to deliver a memorable festival. It was in such times that I was approached to contest the election. The situation was so similar to my first year in college. Then too, I had been asked to throw my hat in the ring, and at that time having volunteered for Synapse 06, I was very keen to do so. However I lost, owing to a sad truth I came to realize then; college elections do not ensure that the best person for the job gets the job. A subsequent rejection as an event coordinator, in favour of a more connected team, ensured that I detached myself from Synapse 07 completely. It was a successful event and I had nothing to contribute to it, apart from as a member of the audience. And thus when I was asked again to file in my nomination I wasn't that keen. An year had passed. And I had gained enough experience of my own to know that I could contribute significantly to Synapse. However I wasn't sure that I wanted to do this. The desire to contribute was there, but the motivation to put myself through another election process was not. Anyways, I did throw my hat in and got through after a close battle. Thereafter there was no reluctance, no doubts; only passion and commitment.

Soon it was August, the beginning of my 5th semester. As is the norm, the month of April and the summer vacations had passed without nay significant progress. However now it was time to start dreaming about what we wanted for Synapse 08. Some pointers emerged after the initial discussions. There was a need to rope in at least one celebrity artist and to add a business leg to Synapse. Today am very happy that both of these were successfully achieved. Another thing which, in hindsight, makes me proud of working of our Committee was the transparent selection of the event coordinators. I guess it had much to do with my personal experience last year.

The theme for Synapse 08 was Living Randomness. It was a conscious decision to move away from a serious sounding 3 word theme of the previous edition. Agreed that an annual festival is an expression of the potential of the students of an institute, but more than that, its about fun. The theme was chosen to represent the inherent randomness in our lives.

No matter how good the planning be, if there aren't any people to implement and execute those plans all your planning amounts to zilch. I was blessed that I got to work with some real good people during the run up to Synapse. In no particular order, let me list a few of them. Hmm lets see, there was Chito, responsible for keeping Re-Kriti on track. He was reluctant to be a part of the organising team, but finally my persuasive powers proved to be too much for him :satan: . But seriously, his presence ensured that I was free from the burden of looking into Re-Kriti. Then there was Sai Gopal, briliant designer. All credit to him for an awesome sponsorship brochure. Vasu, for managing the website and looking after other technical stuff of which, frankly, I have no knowledge. Appy, for the liveliness she brought to Synapse through Synapcity. I still remember how we used to plead with Mundra to let us gorge at McD or at Dominos on those innumerable trips to Ahmedabad ;P.

All that Synapse 08 was, the standards it set, the benchmarks it bettered, wouldn’t have been possible without the dedicated team that I had the privilege of leading. Saurabh, a calm young man. He rarely ever raised his voice and always put forth his views in a composed manner. Excellent at executing tasks assigned to him. Sandy, a lazy man with potential. Was instrumental in securing sponsorship from the Govt. companies but had to be pushed and prodded a lot. Ankit, hmm, he could aptly be named as the lieutenant of our organization. Single handedly managed logistics and all the ground work during Synapse. He is around this time too, hoping quite a bit from him. Bharat, ahha, the enthu cutlet of our team. He achieved a hell lot of things during Synapse by the sheer magnitude of the effort he put in. We had our disagreements, but on the whole a great guy to work with. Finally only one guy remains. The person with whom I worked the most. Mundra. Indeed the story of Synapse could be told as a string of episodes comprising of our visits to Ahmedabad.

Synapse meant a lot of things. It meant staying back in college in the month to figure out sponsorship deals, it meant 10 o' clock appointments with our then placement officer, Col. Kanetkar. Indeed he played an important role in establishing initial contact with the various IT firms and helped us save a hell lot of money on telephone calls! Synapse meant innumerable visits to Ahmedabad, it meant a desktop littered with word docs and excel files dealing with something or the other related to Synapse, it meant hour long sessions with our faculty counselors that drained more energy out of me than any number of calls to prospective sponsors. The only thing that made it possible for me to make it through those was that at the end of those, more often than not, we used to get what we wanted.

I don’t remember much of those three days. However there are a few incidents that would forever remain etched in my memory. It was a few days before Synapse. In house prelims were being held in the Club House and I too was there looking over things. That's when I got the call that a couple of sponsorship deals had come through. It was a moment that I had been dreaming of for quite a while, for with those deals, my dream of breaching the 10L sponsorship mark had been realized. We had succeeded in raising bloody f***in 10 lakhs!!

Another was the day before Synapse kicked off. I had gone to the Director's office to invite him to kick start Synapse. That's when I came to know, that someone had completely ignored my instructions and a few things were horribly wrong. I still remember the moment when the Director said, 'Give me one reason why I shouldn't call of your festival?'

The next one came on the morning of the 29th. I was sleeping at the Synapse room, as we had somehow managed to misplace the keys. It was 8ish in the morning, and having just woken up, I had decided to head back to my room to get ready. That's when I saw the jeeps coming in with the participants. Synapse had begun!

Those 3 days passed in a blur. I have no recollections of the details though certain things remain unchanged. Everyday I slept at the Synapse room, somehow it felt more comfortable despite the chill and lack of a proper bed. Everyday I slept after 4 and was awake by 8 in the morning. Those four hours charged not only my body but also my cell phone. I used to start my day with a fully charged mobile and by the afternoon I was reduced to carrying my phone in one pocket and the charger in the other.

For several months Synapse came to define the purpose of my existence and it was but natural when I felt at sea when it was all over. I was exhausted. I had achieved what I had set out to achieve. There was nothing more to do. But somehow there was this desire within me, to live those days again. I had come to like the pressure, the tension that comes with it.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since Synapse. My life has changed a lot from those days, but the memories remain. And its these memories that shall define what Synapse was all about. I still remember the trips that Mundra and I undertook in December, his wake up calls once he had met with Col. Kanetkar. I remember us hanging on to a jeep for dear life, those burgers at McD, those exhausting walks up and down Ashram Road. I remember the innumerable phone calls, the days when I could have talked to sponsors half asleep. I remember the drink that I had with the guys from Agnee the night they had arrived, and the ones post their concert. Synapse brought a lot of people in my life, some are still here, some have moved on and some will still be around in the future. It's the latter that matter. People come and go, events take place, things change but the memories linger…

Random Thoughts...

2008-10-31T05:30:00.004+05:30

Came across the following lines somewhere... don't remember exactly where... maybe in some book.. more likely on a blog...

Shake off the "why's" and the "what if's" and rid yourself of confusion. Whatever was - is in the past. Whatever is? That’s what's important. The past is a brief reflection, and the future is yet to be realized.

There comes a point in your life, when you realize who matters, who never did, who won’t anymore, and who always will. So I am not worrying about the people from my past, there’s a good reason they didn’t make it to my future.

Diwali..

2008-10-29T01:32:00.005+05:30

Hmmm.. so finally the day is over. And with it ends my first Diwali away from home. It was a day of firsts. My first Diwali away from my parents; my first Diwali outside Jaipur; my first Diwali in the hostel....

It was interesting to say the least. The day started like no other Diwali. Usually am woken up relatively early and have to take my bath and get ready and everything. This time round it was different. I was still sleeping when my parents gave me a call at 3 in the afternoon ;P

After watching the latest episode of Heroes and cursing over the non availability of those of PB and HIMYM, I decided that it was time that I went and had a bath. After all you can't afford not having a bath on the day of a major festival... ( ab itna gaya guzra bhi nahin hun main :P... vaise another secret.. the bath would have probably been delayed even more, had it not been for the fact ki hostels mein garam pani nahi hai... :X .. aur mujhe beemar hone ka koi shauk nahi )

Anyways, Sobu and I had decided that we would go to CCD... Server was asleep, and after contemplating for a while, both of us decided that it was best that he be allowed to rest, lest the Server become unstable and start querying everyone in sight ;P ( something worth mentioning here... yours truly had, the day before, observed signs of instability and heightened activity when Server started querying about Sobu in the bathroom... not the washroom.. but the lil cubicles with a shower and 2 taps in it :P )

Anyways.. coll se nikalte hue, the two of us saw a banner advertising the opening of The Chocolate Room at Infocity... u r tempted, isn't it.. well so were we... after gorging upon the delicacies at CCD, we decided to look for it... we went as far as CP... but our efforts were in vain... sala mil hi nahi raha tha... thinking that it was probably towards the offices, we decided to turn back.. (G ne beech mein phone aur sms pe Sobu ko garyana shuru kar diya tha.. :P) And lo.. there was the Chocolate Room, right beside CCD... Sobu had an interesting observation to make.. ' bekaar marketing and placement strategy... jab hum dhundne nikle the, tab nahi dikha, to logon ko vaise kaise dikhega...' hmmm.. i wonder....

By the time we returned, it was time to light the firecrackers... That was a lot of fun.. As expected not everyone got hold of the firecrackers.. and the admin got quite a bit of verbal stick for giving us sub standard crackers... a pleasant surprise was that like me, there were quite a few who voluntarily said No to crackers... yeye... We going Green.. :)

Now we come to the most interesting part of the day... After playing cards for a while, we decided that it was time to hit the roads and check out the Diwali decorations ( Infocity had already disappointed us by the lack of the same). I had bugged Sobu enough about the magnificent illumination back home... We managed to obtain a Kinetic and began our journey... Our initial plans of going to Ahmedabad were put to rest by the mileage of the vehicle... So we decided to hit the capital city itself... Considering that it houses quite a few govt. offices, there were enough reasons to expect it to be well decorated... but man.. we were in for a surprise... there was hardly any decoration and illumination! You had to see it to believe the lack of it... We hit one sector after another... 11, 16, 24, 21... but the result was the same... no decoration! Even the main market of Sector 21 was without any decoration. In fact the most decorated places were the petrol pumps!! The brilliantly decorated images of Joahri and Bapu Bazaar back home flash in my mind... It was such a shock that it has got me wondering if Diwali is indeed the Festival of Lights...

We still could afford to travel quite a few kilometers, so we decided to hit City Pulse... Bhains auntie had once told me that the City Pulse vala road ends in a broken bridge or something which is quite a spot... so well we decided to check that out.... we kept on going.. par no broken bridge was in sight... finally we came upon a semi haunted temple... ;P ... seemed like a palce worth checking out sometime... we had encountered an auto on our way and it had told us ki twas just a village ahead... maybe Bhains aunite had meant some other road... maybe Bridge ke upar road ban gayi ho.. who knows... but yeah... we discovered a new place... that semi haunted temple... and how can i forget... we also came across one of the few decorated buildings.. a radhaswamy ashram :)... did u know that a such a place existed in our vicinity? i didn't!

We decided to head back towards college... On our way back we came across the Swaminarayan temple and it too was decently decorated... We were planning to hit Shrey Ashram next when it happened... the kinetic wobbled a bit... i felt something was wrong with the front tyre... Sobu got down to examine... he decalred the tyre to be hit... but alas! everything can;t be so perfect.. something had to be wrong... and it was... I was right about something being wrong with the tyre.. the only thing was that it was the rear one... :S

Well the next phase of the journey involved Sobu and I taking turns to drag the Kinetic back to the college... Thankfully it happened just around a kilometer away from the campus.... And that brings an end to the tale of my first Diwali away from home... one of the more interesting ones to say the least... but yeah.. i missed the decorations...

Happy Diwali...

2008-10-28T01:40:00.002+05:30

So finally its Diwali time. This happens to be my first Diwali away from home, away from the company of my loved ones, away from those who care for me. But somehow I don't really miss the festive spirit. Maybe because it's still close to midnight and the real deal would start only in the evening. Maybe coz I prefer it this way, in the company of a couple of friends, away from everyone. Is that so? No, I don't think so. At least not yet.

Despite all this a few things have emerged over the last couple of days. I now understand why people crave to be with their families at the time of the festivals. At the same time it has got me thinking of those who, by a quirk of fate, are forever destined to stay away from their families even on days like today. Just think of those soldiers who patrol the borders so that we all could celebrate a prosperous Diwali. I wonder if their hearts don't ache for their loved ones, or if they don't feel a longing to be with their families on this day. Then there are millions of those who have nobody whom they could call their own in this world but themselves. I wonder what Diwali means to them.

I am away from my family on Diwali by choice and not by compulsion. And now i realize what a lot that choice means. There are so many out there who would give anything to just have that kind of choice. Its strange that i never thought of these things all this while. All these years when i was with my family celbrating Diwali, these thoughts never crossed my mind. I guess sometimes you just need a different setting, a different sort of environment to stimulate your mind. You tend to appreciate and cherish things more when they aren't with you.

And one more thing. Try going Green this Diwali. For a change let us celebrate Diwali and allow Mother Nature to enjoy the occasion as well. Say no to crackers.

And when you are gorging upon all those sweets and mindlessly forwarding text messages to those scores of numbers in your phonebook, do spare a thought for all those for whom Diwali is just another day at the office, for whom Diwali is just like another day, a day that has to be survived, for whom Diwali is yet another challenge to be overcome...

Happy Diwali :)

In the pipeline...

2008-10-25T15:16:00.002+05:30

I have been meaning to write upon these for quite some time now, but somehow it just keeps getting delayed. I guess putting it out there in front of my loyal readership would goad me into writing at least some, if not all of them. So here's the list..

Synapse: This one should have been written a long time back. I have learnt a lot from it and some of my happiest memories relate to Synapse. Quite committed to writing it.. :)

The Chosen One: This would be a piece on Sachin Tendulkar. Since I have to in any case write it for Entelechy, so I guess this too would be done!

The Date with Destiny: Most of my loyal readership already knows the story. But just for the sake of the writer in me, would write it...

Hmmm... dunno wat else ! ;P

The Off-Side God

2008-10-18T03:57:00.001+05:30

The upcoming test series against Australia would mark the end of the career of India's most successful captain, the Prince of Kolkata, Sourav Ganguly. Sourav Ganguly, the man who along with John Wright transformed the face of Indian cricket; the man whose cover drives could find the fence even with a 7-2 field; the man who along with Sachin Tendulkar formed one of the most potent opening partnerships that the world of cricket has ever witnessed.

After a forgettable ODI debut on the tour of 1992 in Australia, Ganguly spent the next four years in the wilderness till he was chosen for the Indian team to tour England in 1996. Ganguly made his Test debut at Lords and oh boy what a debut it was! After making an imperious century at Lords, he followed it up with an equally impressive one at Trent Bridge in the next test. Later that year, in an ODI at Jaipur against the Proteas, the world, for the first time, witnessed the greatest opening pair of all times in action. Both Sachin and Ganguly helped themselves to fifties as they put up first of their many several century plus stands.

The next couple of years saw Ganguly at his imperious best as bowlers all around the world watched in awe as Ganguly threaded the off side field with nonchalance and deported spinning deliveries over the bowlers' heads and into the stands. However more than Ganguly the batsman, its Ganguly the captain that the fans would cherish. In Ganguly, India was lucky to have a captain who wasn't afraid, who had the self-belief to go out there and beat any and everyone in the world. Most importantly he was a captain who galvanized a number of talented individuals into a competitive outfit.

Ganguly was passionate and wore his heart on his sleeve. Though it would be feats like stopping Steve Waugh's juggernaut in 2001 and leading India to the World Cup final a couple of years down the line that would define his career. It were small things like making Waugh wait for a toss and waving his tee shirt at the Lord's balcony that endeared him to his fans.

Ganguly came from Bengal, and was made captain in times when Indian cricket was dominated by the troika of Mumbai, Delhi and Karnataka. The fact that today a young lad from Ranchi is leading the Indian one day side wouldn't have been possible had the Ganguly era not unfolded. Under his captaincy Indians became better travelers. He backed the youngsters in his team to the hilt. Harbhajan, Yuvraj and many others owe their positions in the Indian team to their then charismatic captain, Sourav Ganguly. He ushered in what could rightly be called the Golden Age of Indian cricket.

Ganguly was perhaps at the nadir of his career when Greg Chappell was India's coach. Ganguly wouldn't have imagined in the wildest of his dreams the impact that his decision to support Chappell against the wish of his teammates would have on his career. The last year of his captaincy was marked with batting failures and more batting failures. Captaincy was wrested from him and in no time he found himself out of the Indian team. But Ganguly was a determined man, determined to win his place back, determined to prove that he still deserved a place in the team he had so patiently built.

The determination was for all to see when Ganguly made his comeback in South Africa. He was composed against England, and when South Africa and Pakistan visited India, he was once again at his imperious best. He notched up his maiden hundred at the Eden Gardens and followed it up with a magnificent double hundred.

After an indifferent summer in Australia and a forgettable failure in Sri Lanka earlier this year, doubts began to surface again. His ODI career had been brought to an end in Australia and there was a question mark if Ganguly still had the hunger to go on. It's ironical that the last chapter in the Ganguly saga would perhaps be written at Nagpur, where he drove the first nail in the coffin of his captaincy by withdrawing from the Test against Australia. He has one last chance to do what he does best, getting under the Australians' skin. But no matter what happens in the series, his legacy would remain intact.

Good Bye Dada...

Musings...

2008-10-03T04:17:00.002+05:30

I never actually got to penning it down. Perhaps I thought that it would do more harm than good. Perhaps I thought that it was better left unsaid. Perhaps that’s the way it was meant to be. But then, are things ever the way they are meant to be ?

Why am I doing this now? Now, after all this time; when it's all over, or at least that's what I am made to believe. What I have been forced to believe. Forced to accept as truth something I know is wrong. But then, just because it's right doesn't make it true, isn't it?

I never really expected it. In most cases you know what is coming and when it happens, there's a sense of inevitability about it. But with me it was the proverbial bolt from the sky. I never knew what hit me. I never knew why it happened. What I knew, was that this was not how it was supposed to end. But then, we don't always get what we want.

There were pitfalls. But then there always are. For most part they were negotiated without any damage. Hardly any in fact. And that made it even more hard to believe. What I believed in, what to an extent defined me, completed my existence was no longer around. Exactly one month after that memorable morning I found myself alone, out at the high seas, with the lights of the life boat getting dimmer and dimmer. But then, I wasn't supposed to drown, not yet anyway.

Over the next couple of days I alternated between trying to cry and salvaging the dream. And at neither did I succeed. The eyes had dried, how and what for purpose I don’t know and I guess I never will. While the non-existent yet ever-present tears had run dry, my efforts encountered a wall of steel on the other hand. The voice was cold, the emotions absent. It was as if there had been a transformation overnight. I screamed that it was wrong; I pleaded. But then, all pleas are not meant to be answered, all screams not meant to be heard; some of them fall on deaf ears.

What was it ? Was it a beautiful dream with a tragic end ? Was it a betrayal ? Would I ever be able to forget, and more importantly, forgive ? I wish I had the answers to these questions and many more like them that keep rearing their heads. But then, all wishes are not meant to be granted.

I have come to accept it in a way. But not in a way it was hoped I would accept. That could never happen for that would have meant that everything that led to it was nothing but a bunch of lies. And that is not the case. But I have changed. Rather, I have been changed. A part of me died that evening. Faith has been shattered, trust has been broken, beliefs have been belied. More than anything, love was denied. But then I ask myself, what really is love ?

Ridiculous

2008-10-01T15:49:00.002+05:30

Had been home the past few days and thus had the opportunity to feast upon the newspaper every morning., and that's when I came upon these ridiculously ridiculous statements made by people no less distinguished than the members of the Government of India...

In the wake of the recent terrorist strikes, our hon'ble Home Minister was in the limelight quite often. And you just couldn't help getting pissed at his comments. Strike after strike he came up with comments like 'we will not tolerate this..' , 'they will be punished' and blah blah blah... Again and again he repeated those statements without ever bothering to back them up with actions. Hail the Home Minister!

Recently it was in the news that a mob of fired employees atatcked and killed a CEO of an MNC. Guess what one of our Ministers had to say? According to him the CEO had it coming! Oops!!

And yeah this is the biggie! Its not exactly a statement but more of a decision taken by our Telecom ministry. A few months back they sold 2G spectrum licences at the prices determined in 2001. And you don't need to be an Einstein to guess that the private companies who got those licences are not making a killing. Recently a private operator sold its licence at a premium of 600%. Estimated loss to the exchequerer: a whopping 44,000 crores.

Statements...

2008-09-08T02:19:00.003+05:30

These are the statements that I have made over a period of time.. and being the narcissist I am, I couldn't help but complie them...

What is Life is not a Risk?

Sometimes the people who teach us how to love are the same ones who end up teaching us how to hate...

I know the questions. Answers are what I am looking for...

Even Mathematics, the most rational of sciences, has Irrational entities...

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

Forgetting a problem doesn't make it go away.

In the end it all comes down to the people we love the most; they are the ones who matter and it's all about them.

Isn't Life all about looking for a solution? There always are problems, and we always look for solutions. If the problems end, so does life...

Why......

2008-09-06T15:52:00.003+05:30

Why would a person drive at over 100 Km/hr after consuming certain unmentionables?

Why would a person go and just sit in front of a building ?

Why would a person do all these at 4 in the morning?

These are the questions...

The answers are what I am looking for....

Last Night...

2008-09-06T15:17:00.004+05:30

Hmm.. last night was nothing if not interesting... from the roof of the club house to the stairs of F wing... from liquids to fumes... from the college to Adalaj... from bottles to packs.. from a certain hostel to Pathika...from 0 to 100 km/hr.... from 12 am to 5 am.... and conversations.. conversations during which stories closest to our hearts were told... the pain was shared... grief was reduced... conversations which showcased the often hidden side of people... stereotypes were broken....

There are some things you never forget... some things that always stay with you... this night was one of those...

My take on Narcissism

2008-09-05T10:08:00.002+05:30

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

I am a NaRCiSSiST...

Am lovin it !

2008-09-03T23:19:00.002+05:30

Ahh.. there's nothing like a great mock to boost your confidence and to urge you to start being serious about your preparation.. AIMCAT 0909 was one such mock... city rank 1 after all :D

this one's even more satisfying... the rage, the fury, that had threatened to destroy everything was overcome... naah not overcome rather channelized in the right direction...

for a fleeting moment today i actually thought what it would feel like to be in those exalted institutions... living a life, that i must be honest in admitting, i have always dreamt of living...

guess the Renaissance has begun...

Cheers to Life...

Tag... :)

2008-08-31T06:11:00.003+05:30

I had promised someone that I will answer the tag as soon as I am sure of all the answers. I don't know if that would ever come. But now seems as good a time as any. So here is goes...

Biggest Joy at the moment: The fact that I have rediscovered what life is all about. I have realized the futility of all that I had undergone the past couple of weeks. The fact that I'm ready to go out and achieve what I want to.

Biggest Insecurity at the moment: I hope that its not a false dawn. Let the resistance not crumble again. What if I don't achieve what i want to?

One thing you could undo if given an option: Ahh... probably would go back and take commerce in 11th. I guess that would pretty much sort everything out. Would have then gone on to either DU or done law.

5 things life taught you the hard way:

Life gives you only one chance at somethings, if you miss that, that's it, you have missed it.
Don't assume that everyone thinks like you do.
In relationships, giving your 100% may not be sufficient.
Don't give so much importance to someone that you can't live without them.
People whom you least expect would hurt you the most.

5 people who make life kickass (except family): A couple of old school friends, a close female friend, and my close group of college friends....

What are the qualities you imagine in your dream gal: I don't want to answer this... and you know why...

One thing you wanna tell the world in general: Live this life to the fullest. You have got only one shot at it. Let there be no regrets. And most importantly live it for yourself, as you want it.

And now i pass on the tag to Piper, Marvin and Prabhu ...

The Age of the Phoenix

2008-08-31T05:33:00.005+05:30

Phoenix symbolizes immortality, the ability to resurrect, to rise from its own ashes. For a long time I have made people a priority in life, people for whom I wasn't a priority, but an option. For too long a time I have lived my life for such people. But today it all changes. From now on I will live for those for whom I am a priority. More than anything, I will live for myself.

A phoenix, when it burns, symbolizes leaving the past behind, marking a new beginning. Today I hail the beginning of the Age of the Phoenix. Some people have tried breaking me, breaking my spirit. They took away my dreams but they weren't able to break my spirit. Today I leave all that behind to start a journey, the sole aim of which, is pursuit of my endeavours.

The Renaissance begins..

Day 13: 29th August 2008

2008-08-30T09:09:00.002+05:30

Ahh my faithful readers... you would have thought that just when it was getting interesting, I didn't show up... naah don't worry... am not going to leave you in there... without any quality crap accounts to read :P...

So the question seems inevitable.. why am i so late.. the reason is the pathetic internet of my college... I couldn't log into blogger! blah...

Anyways so day 13... hmmm again characterized by a lot of wasitng of time... nowadays it seems as if time itself has stopped... i mean the dates keep changing but then nothing else does! its as if we have been suspended in a very thick medium... we are just not moving... nothign seems to matter... nor does it make a difference.. somehow this has to change... i don't like living life this way... and it IS going to change... starting today... right as of this moment I have decided that this would be the last post under the series... you might still get to hear my daily accounts but they would be different, they have to be different...

anyways back to day 13... apart from attending a lecture and a meeting of the long forgotten press club, i don't think i did anything wort mentioning yesterday...

so that is that...

n-13 days to go...

ohh no.. hold it hold it... its over... the countdown ends.....

0 days to go...

The Conversation

2008-08-29T01:15:00.002+05:30

As promised ( i happen to be quite good at keeping them btw :P ), here is the conversation... a conversation between two persons, virtual strangers, brought together by chance, by quirk of fate...

[A]: interesting blog...

[R]: thnks...
so wat u doing these days?

[A]: law....

[R]: hmmm k... which law skl? nd how many yrs more till u become a lawyer...

[A]: i m in National Law University, Jodhpur, n arnd 2 yrs to become a lawyer....

[R]: was jus browsin through ur blog.. there seems to be a lot of anger and disappointment, disillusionment maybe, in there... i know how it can feel.. jus recovered from a similar phase myself... but guess the betrayal is much stronger in ur case...

[A]: yes it is.. but there is still hope to see the brighter side....

[R]: ahh.. thats good..

[A]: but havn't been lucky till now...

[R]: for the past several days, have been trying to convinve myself to stop wasting life... you only get one shot at it... seems logical and reasonable... but somehow cant implement it... the day ones does it... that when we get lucky...

[A]: n everyone wants that day to come soon.. but is not easy to deal your own self with an iron hand...

[R]: agreed...

[A]: so we still looking for the solution....

[R]: isnt life all about looking for a soluiton?there always are problems... and we always look for solutions... if the problems end, so does life...

[A]: true... but once in a while forgetting every problem is more desirable...

[R]: forgetting a problem doesn't make it go away...

[A]: not forgetting rather keeping aside for a while....

[R]: hmm.. that should help.. clearing your mind of all the clutter there is...

[A]: yes... n the sparkling liquid in the bottle with red cap does it the best....

[R]: haha... absolutely...

Day 12: 28th August 2008

2008-08-29T00:49:00.004+05:30

It came and would have gone without bothering me had it not been for two facts:
a.) it was dad's bday...
b.) had an interesting conversation. (yeah another one.. these days it seems all i am doing is having conversations, inconsequential or interesting, doesn't matter :P.. )

My inverse routine coninued for the 2nd consectuive day: sleeping time: 10 am... wake up time: 8:30 pm...

have asked kaka to sudharofy his pota and he has consented... something to look forward to at last .. :)

apart from all this it was just another waste of time day.. God i must be the biggest idiot alive.. realizing am wasting time and not doing anything about it...

And yeah am going to post that conversation of mine here... most probably in the next few mins ( internet gods willing... )

I still have to answer a tag that i have agreed to answer.. but want to do justice with it.. answer as truthfully as i can.. so you know.. just hang on..

And how can i forget... health is improving :) :)

n-12 days to go...

Day 11: 27th August 2008

2008-08-28T02:34:00.004+05:30

Now this is interesting... a few days back i had decided to change my schedule, so as to gradually adjust to the timing of the test on the D- day because as of now, my mind ain't at its peak during 10 am - 1 pm to slot. And since IIMs aren't going to conduct CAT at 3 in the morning, the only option for me was to change. Well I did manage to change my schedule but there's a slight twist here... yesterday i slept at 12 pm and woke at 8 pm :S

So that's wat day 11 was pretty much all about... sleeping :D .. though did manage 15 mins of studies :satan: and some gruellling accounting work...

n-11 days to go...

Day 10: 26th August 2008

2008-08-27T00:29:00.005+05:30

Baah.. that's the word for this day.. the dreaded common cold has arrived :( ... the giant drums from the Beijing's bird nest have been transferred to their new location... my head... and my tummy thinks its a good time to throw some tantrums too... :( :(

Why do I fall sick everytime the season changes ...

Had slept early in the night owing to the meds.. woke up at 8ish... filled my CAT form.. the only worthwhile thing i did in the day btw... was looking fwd to Shiv's lecture when i got to know that it has been cancelled..

thnx to a good soul named Mundra... didnt have to go to ahmedabad to deposit the CAT form.. another highlight of an otherwise forgettable day... you rock dude :)

assured that the from was in safe hands, slept off again.. courtesy the meds once more...

from evening to midnight... don't really know what i did... watched some episodes of 24... dinner time came and went.. with my bad luck again prevented me from having what i had desired... baah.. that sounds too corny :P

anyways settled for another junk meal..... have been doing that for last 3 days... junk junk and junk.. barring today's breakfast of course.. aloo ki sabzi and puri... yummm :)

The net's been screwed all day.. can't even book my damm ticket...

that pretty much sums it up.. i kno its quite long.. and not very interesting.. but then i don't care.. i write for myself.. and i write what i want.. if you have a problem with that, that's exactly what it is... your problem!

n-10 days to go...

Things I hate...

2008-08-27T00:12:00.003+05:30

Ah... the list is quite varied and long... and I can never expect myself to be able to compile it in its entirety.. but here's what has been bothering me a lot recently..

Mobiles: Thsi technological wonder has solved a lot of problems, but has created some too. The problems that it creates are not actually it's fault, it is the people who use cell phones who are to blame. Manners and courtesy are many a times thrown out of the window without even realizing. And its not that am just repeating what I have read here and there... its what you get to experience daily that causes you this much discomfort. Why don't people realize that their conversations over the phone might bother those around them, and have the courtesy to go outside the room and attend that all important call during which any and everything ranging from stock prices to phone recharge to your food habits are discussed? It just gets disgusting after a point of time to bear with all this crap.

Eating styles: Now don't get me wrong here. I don't give a shit whether you are a veggie or a non veggie, spend most of your day eating junk and have the unhealthiest possible eating habits. Its the manner in which you eat, that is a problem. Chips manufacturers advertise their products to be crunchy, but that doesn't give you a right to eat it while producing a loud crunch crunch sound.. hell even the bovines are better than this; even they don't produce this much sound!

thats it for the time being... let something happen that pisses me of more, and i'll give my 2 cents to it...

Day 9: 25th August 2008

2008-08-26T00:48:00.002+05:30

Just another day.. routine... boring... no studies... feeling totally wasted right now.. and on top of it all, feels like my persistent annoyer, the dreaded zukaam is going to catch up with me .. :(

Don't even feel lik writing anythin..

n-9 days to go...

Day 8: 24th August 2008

2008-08-25T01:23:00.002+05:30

Hmm... my regular post is delayed a bit today as was busy with some work in the field of high finance :P . Anyways who cares? As if you have been checking my blog since midnight, waiting for this post to arrive!

God, its already been eight days! It can be a small time or a long duration depending upon how you look at it. Over the lasty couple of days have managed to convince myself of my course of action.

Day 8 was a bit different. An AIMCAT, followed by solid four hours of sleep, and finally a quiz. Must say it was refreshing to attend one after such a long time. It was a bit hectic what with all the finance work thrown in. And things not looking any better for today. Have got two submissions and a test and yah CAT preparation is always there, if I choose to acknowledge its existence!

That reminds me, even started filling the CAT form yesterday. Have to wind that up too. And oh how can i forget the inconsequential phone conversation!!

Anyways have to go now. Assignments are waiting, a test is looming...

n-8 days to go...

A Conversation of Inconsequence

2008-08-24T21:12:00.004+05:30

Imagine an inconsequential conversation, with people whom you can't refuse to talk coz of social obligations, a conversation which for you holds no meaning, is irrelevant in the scheme of things. A conversation during which you would be asked a lot of questions that you would be forced to answer; a conversation during which people would try to gauge your physical and emotional well being through these questions. The questions seem to go on and on, even when your answers get shorter and shorter till they are reduced to being mere monosyllables.

They don't realize that there isn't a lot that I can tell them, can I? How would they understand, for they have never experienced what I am experiencing? It just blows my lid when I have to carry on these conversations, forced to carry on because the norm of the society would deem it inappropriate if I don't. Not that I give a damm about that, but then some things are just meant to be.

Day 7: 23rd August 2008

2008-08-24T00:20:00.004+05:30

Ahh.. midnight... its fast becoming my favourite time of the day as i look forward to add something to my chronicles...

yesterday was day 7... and well a tough one... i nearly broke the promise i had made to myself.. but somehow.. it didn't happen.. whether it was for the good or the bad.. only time will tell...

have to go now.. promised someone I am going to comment once the meaning of her most recent post sinks in...

till tomorrow..

n-7 days to go..

Day 6: 22nd August 2008

2008-08-23T00:10:00.005+05:30

Ahh.. now here's what I like most about college life... its keeps moving... the 24 hour time limit of a day doesn't seem to bother the continuous flow of time.. yesterday was one such day.. (i know i know its paradoxical :) ).

Around my usual sleeping time (read 5 am) was pondering over my life.. my future.. my last AIMCAT %ile was bad.. so needed something to cheer me up.. decided to give a mock.. hadn't been able to tak AIMCAT 0912 for some reasons... and had heard that it was quite easy.. so well at 5:30 i started my test and finished at 8..

by now it was way past my sleeping time.. so i thought what the heck.. lets get some work done.. and will sleep after Devy's lecture.. submitted an application for my CPI certification thingie.. went to the bank with DM saab to get our internet banking pwd.. (ahh.. that reminds me.. forgot to book my tickets.. shit!)

anyways.. post all this went to attend Devy's lecture at the end of which I managed to get myself a book to be read till monday.. baah.. And then i slept.. :D

This is an addition to the post.. I realized even though I slept in the afternoon, the fresher's I attended still technically happened yesterday.. so well.. had to mention it..

I have actually started to look forward to these daily chronicles.. somehow they provide a semblance of control where there is none..

Anyways I have to be honest here... this might as well be the last.. nobody knows for sure..

I was born on a Saturday
Today too is a Saturday
And it will change my life either way..

n-6 days to go..

Day 5: 21st August 2008

2008-08-22T02:39:00.004+05:30

Things have started falling into a pattern. Someone needs to realize I am in no shape of providing emotional support at the moment.

n-5 days to go..

Day 4: 20th August 2008

2008-08-21T01:20:00.002+05:30

I so love normal days!! But as it happens to be.. they are a rarity in my life! The only good thing about today was that managed to put in a couple of hours of study. Not enough i know.. but at least its a beginning...

The dreams continue to torment.. but.. I will survive!!

n-4 days to go...

Day3: 19th August 2008

2008-08-20T00:18:00.003+05:30

Ahh.. a strange day.. in many ways.. had a couple of interesting phone conversations... one with an old friend.. who in a way is responsible for my recent activity :) ... and another during which well lets just say, got to hear some real nice stuff :D

But then it was tough.. seeing someone online jus does something.. and then there are the dreams that just refuse to go away...

Another weird thing.. like a good boy went to the RC to study.. only to find it closed :S... reason: it was a holiday.. baah

n-3 days to go..

Something worth remembering

2008-08-19T03:57:00.000+05:30

From the backstabbing co-worker to the meddling sister-in-law, you are in charge of how you react to the people and events in your life. You can either give negativity power over your life or you can choose happiness instead. Take control and choose to focus on what is important in your life. Those who cannot live fully often become destroyers of life.

Anais Nin

Day 2: 18th August 2008

2008-08-19T00:17:00.002+05:30

The 2nd day is over. Pretty much like the first one. Blogged after a long time. For those interested in symbolism, the link is broken. Started with analysis of the papers..

n-2 days to go...

Answering that Tag...

2008-08-18T22:03:00.005+05:30

Once upon a time there lived a guy called Lanky ( i guess he's still alive! ;) ). When the world was young and the Sun shone bright he tagged Piper who dutifully accepted it. Piper in turn tagged me, but then I wasn't seen in blogosphere for a looonnnnnnnnngggg time. Now that I am back, and have nothing else to do, I will accept that tag and give my 2 cents to whatever crap is being talked about.. :)

Last movie seen in theatre: Dark Knight... simply awesome... Nolan rules!!

Book being read: Not in our genes by R.C. Lewontin, Steven Rose, Leon J. Kamin; Yuganta by Irawati Karve.

Favourite Board Game: snakes and ladders, known as sanp seedhi in local dialect. Ludo is a close second followed by chess, a distant third.

Favourite magazine: Reader's Digest.

Favourite smells: the aroma originating from mom's kitchen and that of fresh rain.

Favourite sounds: Ummm.. Ummm... Can't think of any!!

What is the first thing you think when you wake up: What is it time to get up already?

Worst feeling in the world: Not being able to cry when you really want to...

Favourite fast food place: a lounge called mr. beans in Jaipur. Among the internationally renowned ones, McD...

Future child's name: know what Piper? you aren't the only silly one around! And no am not answering this..

Finish this statement, “If I had a lot of money I’d.. spend it!!

Do you drive fast? yeah..

Do you sleep with a stuffed animal nope... never have in fact.

Storms- cool or scary? cool...

Do you eat the stems on broccoli? huh? what was that..?

If you could dye your hair any colour, what would be your choice? hmm i guess auburn..

All towns/cities you have lived in jaipur and gandhinagar. Want to experience Pune and Blore at least!!

Favourite Sport to watch: Cricket!!! And not only T20.. ODIs... test matches.. anything would do... God bless Star ppl for coming up with Star Cricket!!

One nice thing about the person who sent this to you I don lie on my blog :P

What’s under your bed? broken slippers, discarded shoes, some wrappers and lot of dirt.

Would you like to be born as yourself again? yeah..

Morning person or night owl? is morning the time when the sky starts brightening just before I go to sleep?

Over easy or sunny side up? yeah angrezon vaale sawaal puchna band karo...

Favourite place to relax: my living room..

Favourite pie: Again my predicament is like Piper's.. aware only of chocolate pie.. so by default that's the facourite..

Favourite Ice Cream: Butterscotch and choco-chips... love them!

Ahh.. the bad thing about accepting a tag so late in the day is that almost everyone you know has already been tagged... Hmmm.. Wait I guess Chadda is left!!! So here it goes.. I pass on the tag to Chadda!! :satan:

Day 1 : 17th August 2008

2008-08-18T01:17:00.006+05:30

Yesterday was the first day. Wasn't as tough as i had thought it would be. Wrote an AIMCAT, pathetic performance, read, slept, ate a bit... n-1 more days to go.

All You Need is Perspective

2008-08-17T15:33:00.005+05:30

Over the last few days, had a couple of conversations with people who were similar to one another, yet so different. Its keeping those conversations in backgorund that I put forth my take on the things that one takes for grnated in life, or in other words one's outlook towards life.

Ohk so before me move further, lets get some things clarified. The focus group, for the want of a better term, of this post is that of Indian students in their late teens and early twenties. The views that follow are mine, though as metnioned above, are influenced by my recent experiences. And finally, if you think you disagree, you are most welcome to share your thoughts.

Life is a journey, and during this journey we travel along a road that's unique for each one of us. The places that this road take us to are to an extent in our hands, for it can not be denied that we make our own destiny. However more often than not, the people who shape their own destiny are far outnumbered by those who are just happy to trudge along the road. They wander aimlessly on this road of life. During this journey called life, we experience a lot of things, some good some not so good. All is hunky dory as long as the experiences are good, but the real test comes when things aren't to our liking, when the going is tough. Its then that the true nature of individuals and indeed a society is revealed.

Lets consider a scenario. Most of us fail in one thing or the other. And its through these failures that we learn and indeed succeed in due course of time. Had everything been like this, life would have been so simple. Alas, it isn't so simple. No matter how successful we are, no matter what our accompalishments be, we'll find excuses to crib about things. 'Man I am such a loser, I didn't make it to the IIMs' , 'I have not been granted schloarship from MIT, i have failed my parents' are some of the common utterances of today's youth. Be it academic failure or heartbreak in a relationship, we tend to think of ourselves as the worst off person in the world. So much so that we aren't ready to listen when somebody tries to show us that all's not lost and life still has meaning. Its then that we really need to reflect and decide, are we really in such a pathetic condition? I think not.

In pursuit of materialistic goals we have neglected things that really matter in life, things that we take for granted. The next time you start to say that life couldn't be worse, pause for a moment and think, is my life in such shambles, that no matter what happens, my condition can't get any worse? If your answer is yes, then you need a reality check.

When was the last you acknowledged your family's support and indeed felt secure knowing that no matter what happens, my parents would always be there for me? Now think of all those millions who do not have families or whose parents don't love them. When you pray next, say thanks to God for your family.

Money is another factor that makes us crib a lot. It deosn't matter if we are wearing branded clothes, sporting a new cell phone and driving a fast bike. If there is something that we want but don't have money for, we'll crib. The next time you complain about something similar think of all those who don't have enough money to feed their families.

I don't want to sound all philosophical and say that since we are better than a lot of people we shouldn't be ambitious. No that's not the point. Being ambitious is a good thing but its also necessary to realize that these things are not the end of the world. Failure in an examination doesn't make you a total loser. As long as you are learning from you past mistakes, its enough.

Sometimes all what's needed is to put things in perspective.

End of an Era

2008-08-15T16:47:00.005+05:30

Come Monday and the world of tennis fans would be engulfed in two contrasting emotions. For a large number it would be day of heartbreak, but for an equally large group, it would be a day of rejoice. Monday, 18th August 2008, marks the end of an era in the world of tennis, an era that we have been fortunate to witness. After nearly four and a half years of domination, for the most part of which he was unchallenged, Roger Federer would hand over he number one spot to his nemesis, Rafael Nadal.

This Monday we would witness something that had seemed impossible at the end of the previous year. Federer had ended 2007 by winning the Masters in addtion to his usual troika of Grand Slams; being defied only in Paris by the sultan of clay, Rafael Nadal. Rafael Nadal, it seemed was destined to be the number two forever. In fact he faced the danger of losing that spot to Djokovich.

However as 2008 dawned a different Rafa emerged from what we had known. He had added to his armoury a deadly backhand slice, he was even more focussed and more adapted to play at grass. At wimbledon he ended Federer's reign at grass and symbolically that in itself was the signal for the change of guard. ATP rankings and points were mere formalities, an official confirmation of what we all had known; Rafa had truly arrived! Even the most ardent Federer supporters would acknowledge, that if there was a person who deserved to dislodge Federer, it was Nadal.

Nobody is quite sure what led to Federer's decline. Some attribute it to a viral infection, some to slowing of reflexes and some simply to lack of motivation. Whatever may be the reason, it would be premature to write off the genius that Federer is. He will bounce back though it seems highly unlikely, if not impossible , that he would be able to dominate like he did in the last four and a half years.

Stress..

2008-07-16T03:15:00.003+05:30

Deny it all you want, but the truth of the matter is that sooner or later it gets to you. Have been acting all calm and composed over the last so many days regarding the so called placement fair, but today i guess it just crossed the threshhold. And hence, the sings of the inevitable, stress! Guess its to do with the inherent insecurity that one has, apprehension about new things, fear of the unknown.

I wouldn't have accpeted it unless I realised that what the hell, its but human to feel stressed and a bit nervous, is it not? And it manisfested itself in quite a peculiar way too! I wasn't in the mood to study so decided to watch a couple of episodes of Boston Legal. I picked up my headphones, put them on and started watching. A couple of hours later, a friend of mine commented, "Why do you have your headphones on, when you have got the speakers plugged in? " Bingo!

Come to think of it, there's no point in actually denying that you are feeling stressed when you actually are. Nothing good comes out of it. Instead once you have accepted it, you can take corrective measures to reduce your stress levels, do weird things in the name of calming yourself :P. Guess that's what led me to decide to do a bit of laundry at 3 in the morning! Oh and yeah, seems even our placement cell is stressed out! Buggers have sent the same mail six times in two hours!

Big Bashing

2008-06-13T03:37:00.003+05:30

Big B has a blog... and he's using it to bash any and everyone... so lets jus tak a leaf outta his book and bash someone! :satan:

a.) The Common Cold virus: the bloody bugger... one of the worst of its kind... why do i have to fall ill everytime i'm home? :S and yeah... u guys guessed it right... its the frustration of dragging a mop everywhere that has led to this bashing.

b.) The Union Govt. : Hmmm... now this is more serious stuff... read recently in the papers that afzal ( the mastermind behind the parliament attack) wants Advani to be the P.M. so that he gets executed and be done with it. This brings us to the question as to why it hasn't happened till now?

Ans: The Union Govt. is appeasing a particular community by procrastinating the execution... Does this mean that the Union Govt. identify that particular community with terrorism? your guess is as good as mine...

Its really a shame that the fellow hasn't been executed yet. And I don't say this because I feel pity towards him. Think of those who lost their loved ones saving the asses of our politicians. the govt. has disrespected and dishonored their memory. Perhaps its would have been better had one of the politicians been hit in the attack. Then they would have realized what it feels like. Wonder how Congress would have reacted had one of their cherished members of the Gandhi clan been injured, or God forbid died in the attack. Would they still have been dilly-dallying? I don't quite think so...

Jaipur Terrorized!

2008-05-14T13:38:00.001+05:30

As a dust storm rages through the city, I can not help reflecting upon the much more destructive and threatening storm that had raged through the city yesterday. It was a pleasant evening, slightly cooler than what the norm is during the summer, and I was with my friends, sitting in one of the numerous coffee lounges of the city. Like many others, they too had set up a screen, courtesy the IPL. As we waited for the match to commence, somebody changed the channel to one of the 24 hour news networks. There were a few sighs and protests, but then almost everybody’s attention was drawn to the news flash at the bottom of the screen: ‘2 blasts outside Hanuman Mandir’. Disbelief turned into shock as over the fifteen minutes the number rose from two to five, and the magnitude of what had happened started sinking in. For the first time in its almost three century old history had Jaipur been terrorized. Cell phones started buzzing with anxious parents and relatives enquiring about our whereabouts and asking us to return home immediately. We were among the fortunate few whose calls managed to go through. As the clock ticked, the networks became jammed. The lounge emptied within minutes, and a place buzzing with youngsters had a deserted look in no time. Orders were cancelled, snacks left uneaten as one and all headed to the relative safety of their homes.

Outside it was entire story all together. Coinciding with the office hours, the heavy rush of traffic clogged the roads. A journey that would normally take fifteen minutes took almost double of that time. However even in this madness one thing stood out; Jaipurites hadn’t forgotten how to help fellow beings. At a couple of places where the heavy traffic resulted in minor accidents, the onlookers were ready to step forward and lend a helping hand.

Jaipur had always been a peaceful city. Having lived outside Jaipur for the better part of last three years, I always welcomed the easy going Jaipur life. It had just the right blend. You could enjoy as if in a metro, without being bothered by the hectic pace. Parents didn’t feel alarmed if you returned at 11 or twelve in the night. However it has been going downhill for the past couple of years. Crime has steadily increased, and yesterday’s incident would prove to be the final nail in the coffin.

In hindsight one could say that one should have seen this coming. Its proximity to Delhi, and lax security coupled with a booming economy made Jaipur an ideal target. The most disheartening fact about yesterday was the reaction by the security forces. Though at par with most other places in India, there was a lot of scope for improvement. Till 2 hours after the blasts the major exits out of the city had not been blocked. No directives were issued by the administration as guidelines to the citizens.

Another fact that’s worth mentioning is the strategizing that must have gone in planning these blasts. By no means was it a casual show. The details had been meticulously chalked out. The blasts shook the heart of the Old City and had been aimed at creating communal tension. Hanuman Mandir was chosen on a Tuesday, a day guaranteed to attract the largest number of devotees; and the time of the blasts again in sync with the time of the evening aarti. Though the bombs targeted a number of major areas of the walled city, Ramgunj, a locality densely populated by members of a particular faith was conveniently out of range.

The aura that had surrounded Jaipur has been shattered. Its not that night life would come to an end or the citizens would alter their life style drastically. No, it’s not that. It’s just that it would never be the same again.

Choice

2008-02-11T02:48:00.000+05:30

Choice is the fundamental element of human nature. Where you currently lie, you choose to be!
If you happen to be cribbing about something, STOP, and make a CHOICE!

If only Life was like that....

2007-11-21T17:47:00.000+05:30

The Children of Hurin: Book Review

2007-11-15T03:11:00.000+05:30

"A man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a short cut to meet it."

Many of us have read ( or seen ) the Lord of the Rings. Most of us would agree that J.R.R. Tolkien was a genius. But it’s The Children of Hurin that will separate the true fans from those who have just put up LOTR among their list of favourite books and movies on Orkut. The Children of Hurin throws more light on the genius that was J.R.R. Tolkien.

The book is as different as it could be from The Hobbit and LOTR. First and foremost its set in the day of the Eldar or the First Age while the former are set in the Third Age. First Age was the period in Middle Earth when the original Dark Lord, Morgoth was the 'Great Enemy'.

The book had been written by J.R.R. Tolkien before LOTR or The Hobbit. It was conceived during that days of the First World War, and that’s perhaps the reason that the book is so grim and humourless. It has been edited by his youngest son Christopher Tolkien who had earlier presented us with arguably the best book on Middle Earth, 'The Silmarilion'.

The story starts on an optimistic note as Men and Elves assemble a huge army to overthrow the Dark Lord. However the optimism and hope soon end and the book follows the course of Hurin's son, Turin's joyless life. Hurin bravely tries defy the Dark Lord and is taken prisoner, a curse laid upon his children. Turin finds the curse laid upon him and tries everything from denying his identity to hiding in distant lands to evade it. But the curse somehow manages to catch up with him at every turn.

Despite all odds Turin refuses to be bogged down, to bow down to his doom, instead he assumes the name Tarumbar meaning 'the master of his doom' and his determination to fight on is evident. In what could be the last book on Middle Earth, Tolkien has painted a sombre picture and the book is not everyone's cup of tea.

OSO

2007-11-13T12:46:00.000+05:30

Ahha its Diwali! And is the trend Diwali tends to see some of the most anticipated releases in Bollywood. While it was Veer-Zara a couple of years back, this time it were OSO and Saawariya that were doing the rounds.

Well orders from high command (read my mom) had made it absolutely clear that i was going with the family for at leats one flick this diwali. Which one was left up to me. And well, i chose OSO simply coz of one reason: Deepika Padukone! Any ways will deliberate upon this angle a little later, first let me put forth some of my observations and opinions regarding the movie:

As with most of the bollywood movies, you would do well if you don't think a lot during the movie. In fact it would be great if you could switch your mind off before watching it!
SRK has no doubt worked hard in the gym but his much anticipated six pack fails to impress. He would have been better off keeping his shirt on.
If you have not been in touch with bollywood and have forgotten who are the movers and shakers, go and watch OSO right now! From Subhas Ghai to Farah Khan to Amitabh Bachchan to Priyanka Chopra, every one is in there. Farah must have called in favours by truckloads!
Though around 40 stars have been showcased in the movie, there's a glaring omission: the sensuous Sush. After her breath taking performance in Main Hoon Na, i was waiting for Sush to appear again in a Farah flick, just to see as to how would Sush be portrayed this time. Alas, it was Shilpa Shetty in the red saari this time.
Although the movie wasn't meant to provide any food for thought, it inadvertently did so. Though you would have to read between the lines for this. The showcasing of the irresponsible attitude of big stars, the pampering and unnecessary attention that all star kids tend to get is a case in point. I was particularly touched by SRK's observation to his dad "Agar main Om Kapoor na hoke sirf Om hota to..."
70s have always been a sort of enigma with our generation. We often end having conversations with our parents "hamare zamane mein..." . For the first time we got to see that zamana form a different angle. Those long side burns, bell bottoms et all.
A couple of tracks are simply great. A taste of the enigmatic 70s once again. Its refreshing.

Hmmm... Now i return to my favourite aspect of the movie; Deepika Padukone! Boy is she hot ? You bet she is! And not only hot, she is sizzling hot! Blessed with grace and poise, this beauty has an ethereal feel to her. Barring Sush, I haven't seen such grace in any of the present day actresses. Hope she betters the achievements of the other Liril gal in bollyowwd, namely Preity Zinta.

Dil, Dosti etc.

2007-10-27T02:28:00.001+05:30

Disclaimer: This is not a movie review rather my views on certain issues raised by the movie. The ideas expressed may not go down well with everyone. Please use your discretion.

Just watched the movie Dil, Dosti etc, a couple of hours back. There's not a lot that would strike you in the beginning. It sounds just as another movie that portrays the changing lifestyle of our youth. However if you think about it a bit, just a bit, what comes up starts to bother you (well it at least bothered me!).

I would but pick a few instances form the movie to act as pointers along the way.

Take 1: Prerna asks her dad his opinion of Sanjay: "...middle class values in place..."

Take 2: Snajay "What about my values, my struggle..."

The question that we, and the Indian society as a whole faces today has been brilliantly put forth in the movie. Unlike RDB, where the message was obvious, Prakash Jha has put the art of subtlety to great use.

The issue of westernization its negative impact on the Indian issue has been debated a lot. However we need to understand that its not westernization that is the problem rather the problem is the blind copying of all western practices. Are we ready to live in a society with high infidelity? Are we ready to accept extra-marital relations as a norm rather than exception?

How many of us so called westernized generation next are comfortable with their spouse sleeping with their friends or worse still siblings? What Prerna and Apoorv did may have happened because of the circumstances, but wasn't their one act of betrayal enough to end Sanjay's life? How many of us would be willing to pardon our spouse if we found that he/she was sleeping around with their best friend?

There is no reversing of the process of westernization. It has taken grip of today's youth and wouldn't be stopped. What we need to realize is that all that we are trying to accept is not good. There are a lot of good things inherent in our culture and present social structure and these traditions need to be preserved. If not then we would be heading towards the same society with skewed relationships, high divorce rates among couples and increasing insecurity among the children. What Prerna's father scoffed at wasn't the middle class values but the Indian traditions, values that have been preserved over centuries which no doubt has it flaws but is certainly better than the social environment we are trying to adopt.

The Days Ahead...

2007-10-23T17:40:00.001+05:30

Its been almost 3 months into the semester. And naturally, after such a long stint away from home, you start feeling nostalgic once in a while. Well thank God! The Diwali break is just round the corner, where I would get a chance to get back to the one place which i like the most, my home!

And well what an itinerary I have before that! A weekend of music at MICA, followed by a possible one day trip to Abu! It doesn't get better than that. I guess its the perfect way to recharge all my batteries ( and spare ones too) coz the coming days are going to be challenging to say the least.

End sems would be looming large when I return form the vacations and would have to hit the ground running. And then when for most the work would be over, and it would be time to enjoy the winter sunshine, we, the Synapse team members would tighten our belts and get into the nitty gritty of things.

Hmmm... Interesting things are up ahead to say the least! Anyways will handle them as and when they come. For now it is time to let down my hair (which unfortunately are no longer as long as they used to be :S) and unwind!

Saru...

2007-10-20T01:02:00.001+05:30

Once upon a time there was a boy. A fun loving light hearted guy who used to enjoy life to the fullest. And then, he took VLSI [:P][:D]

Time!

2007-10-17T19:46:00.000+05:30

The insems got over today. In what has almost become a ritual, I went for an haircut. While I was waiting for my turn, I thought of something and decided that it would make for good blogging material.

Alas! By the time I had returned back to college, my brain's scheduling algorithm had already scheduled other priority items (yeah guys I had my CNS paper today :S ). And then as i log into orkut, what do i see? Things are not going well for the eternal blogger, Sid too! Frustrated by the low turnout and cliched title of his blog, he has decided to rename it!

Anyways this post wasn't meant to discuss all this stuff. I just wanted to let everybody know that i still like to blog. its just that a combination of factors make it quite difficult, not least of them is the ever decreasing speed of the internet.

Well for anybody who has happened to read this crap, don't worry am coming out with crappier stuff soon!

Need a Reason to Blog?

2007-09-08T02:45:00.001+05:30

If you fall among those who still are looking for a reason to enter into the world of blogging, here's one which am sure would motivate you and get you started in the world of blogs.

If recent HR trends are to be believed HR managers and recruiters are increasingly looking at a prospective employee's blog before hiring. One of the main reasons for the same is to get an insight into the personality of the candidate.

Many have believed that one can't judge a person well enough in an interview and so nowadays recruiters are trying to build an image of their prospective candidated via their blogs.

Pretty innovative, isn't it? :)

Random thoughts

2007-08-27T16:16:00.000+05:30

Hola people!!! Well this one is a special one... for one i am posting when the sun still's out there, or rather not there.... well the weather is what one would call the quintessential monsson weather... its been more than 2 hours since its been raining and the Rain God hasn't eased on the pedal in the entire duration...

All my wing mates... members of our thalua gang have gone for labs... labs... how can one think of them in such a weather man... thats totally against the spirit of...spirit of... spirit of everything dammit :D.....

Well nothing much happening except the open structure of our hostel taking a nice bath... the common area at the junction of the wings in first floor is already flooded... and well i am looking at the prospect of having to remove water from my room if this doesnt stop soon... but then there's another part of me... who just wants the rain to go on and on... i guess spending your entire life in Rajasthan can do that to you....

Apna Budhau Kaka

2007-08-25T02:50:00.001+05:30

its quite late... 2:52 am to be exact. I have got a lecture in the morning... yeah a lecture on a damn saturday..... and i as usual have just returned form an interesting session of bak... yup... bak, bakar... the quintessential time pass of all teenagers.

Chalo now lets come to the point... our very own... Budhau kaka... which as is the norm, was the subject of our bak :D

As we discussed Sid, and hiz laziness in great and amusing detail, i thought why not share some of it over here. And so here i am writing this post... which am sure would again not qualify as a blog post in Balu's eyes ;)

Ever since he has returned from his internship he seems to have aged more. Aj to had hi ho gayi... Sid actually sent Saru and me to get him a pack of biscuits from Daddu's... and why? coz dear Sid kaka was too tired to put on a t-shirt over his vest :P I guess this comment pretty much sums it all "Nowadays Sid is too tired even to talk."

So people come lets celebrate LaZiNesS...