Phreaking Thoughts

Random status messages from one Facebook profile

2011-04-20T13:13:00.000+05:30

1. "हीरों की बस्ती में हमने काँच-काँच बटोरे हैं,कितना लिखा फ़साना फिर भी सारे काग़ज़ कोरे हैं ।" : म. सिंह

2. ‎"रात की ओस दरख्तों पे गिरी होगी ज़रूर,. ज़िन्दगी अपनी भी कुछ यूँ ही कटी होगी ज़रूर|
ज़िक्र आता है तो झुक जाती हैं आँखें उसकी, मुझसे मिलने की खलिश दिल में छुपी होगी ज़रूर||" - ज़ैदी जाफ़र

3. "कहानी में तो किरदारों को जो चाहे बना दीजे | हक़ीक़त भी कहानी कार हो ऐसा नहीं होता ||" : निदा फ़ाज़ली

4. "अभी न पर्दा गिराओ, ठहरो कि दास्ताँ आगे और भी है" - Guljar

5. "जो वादा तूने किया नहीं, मुझे उस पे क्यों कर यकीन था।

ये तेरे हुनर की हद थी, यामेरे जुनू का था वाकया।।" - शार्दुला

6. वो तकता रहता है हर वक़्त आसमाँ की तरफ़, खला में जाने उसे क्या दिखाई देता है |

करोड़ों लोग हैं दुनिया में यूँ तो कहने कोकहीं –कहीं कोई कोई इन्साँ दिखाई देता है ||

7. "सूरत से जो सीरत को छिपाये फिरते हैंवो कभी सादा चेहरों में दिखते नहीं हैं" : नज़

8. ‎"बाँधो न नाव इस ठाँव, बंधु!पूछेगा सारा गाँव, बंधु!" : निराला

9. ‎"फ़िक्र क्या तुझको कहाँ तक जाएगा यह कारवाँ |

बाँध ले बिस्तर, मुसाफिर! तेरा घर आने को है ||" : गुलाब

10. "वहां भी पेट ही का मसला है, जहाँ पैरों में घुँघरू बोलते हैं |

जिधर घोडों ने चुप्पी साध ली है, वहीं भाड़े के टट्टू बोलते हैं || -Jamal

11. ‎"उनसे कई बार मिला, बहुत-सी बातें कहीं |

पर संकोच में
या बुद्धिमानी की ओट में, वे चुप रहे |
महज़ कहा
हूँ, हाँ और एक नहीं" : अग्रवाल

12. "मैं इतना ही तय करता हूँ

कि आज सड़क पर एक क़दम
चलूँगा
पैर उठाते हीकोई पीछे से कालर पकड़ कर खींचता है
किस से पूछ कर पैर उठाया।" : साही

13. ‎"ये अंजुमन, ये क़हक़हे, ये महवशों की भीड़ |फिर भी उदास,फिर भी अकेली है ज़िंदगी ||" : नक़्श

14. ‎"कब पता था साथ होंगीं इस कदर आसानियाँ |

पाँव रखूंगा जहाँ मैं पंथ बनता जाएगा ||" : वाते

15. ‎"वो गुलेलें तो फिर भी बना लें मगर |

अब वो नज़रें गईं वो निशाने गए ||

16. "शराफ़त यूँ है जैसे एक लड़की, भरे बाज़ार में तन्हा खड़ी है"

17. ‎"जीवन अस्थिर अनजाने ही, हो जाता पथ पर मेल कहीं,

सीमित पग डग, लम्बी मंज़िल, तय कर लेना कुछ खेल नहीं।
दाएँ-बाएँ सुख-दुख चलते, सम्मुख चलता पथ का प्रसाद –
जिस-जिस से पथ पर स्नेह मिला, उस-उस राही को धन्यवाद।"
: Shivmangal Singh 'Suman'

ठहरो, कि दास्ताँ आगे और भी है

2010-09-05T15:32:00.005+05:30

I used to be a voracious reader. Not that I don't read anymore, but the frequency of books has dipped to a all time low, barely managing a book each month. Especially I miss reading good Hindi literature. Good books are not available in nearby bookshops. Pity, the city Mumbai is. But just few weeks back, I found one website called Kavita Kosh, which is a great collection of Hindi proses and poems, hence this post. I read few of my favorite books such as Rashmirathi etc on the website. I'll recommend this if you are really into Hindi literature.

One more thing. Despite spending a whole lot of good part of the day on internet, I still feel that reading a book in hard-copy is a completely different experience. I don't get the same feeling while reading books online. No upgrade of the e-book reader will be ever come close to that experience. I genuinely hope that technology gets defeated in this race and the hardcopies of books reign. I may not be a big believer of libraries, but I don't want them to disappear either.

Anyways, following is a piece written by Guljar. I liked it a lot and even put the first line as my Facebook status message for the day :P. Hope you will enjoy this too. To Hindi poetries................

"अभी न पर्दा गिराओ, ठहरो, कि दास्ताँ आगे और भी है

अभी न पर्दा गिराओ, ठहरो!

अभी तो टूटी है कच्ची मिट्टी, अभी तो बस जिस्म ही गिरे हैं

अभी तो किरदार ही बुझे हैं।

अभी सुलगते हैं रूह के ग़म, अभी धड़कते हैं दर्द दिल के

अभी तो एहसास जी रहा है।

यह लौ बचा लो जो थक के किरदार की हथेली से गिर पड़ी है

यह लौ बचा लो यहीं से उठेगी जुस्तजू फिर बगूला बनकर

यहीं से उठेगा कोई किरदार फिर इसी रोशनी को लेकर

कहीं तो अंजाम-ओ-जुस्तजू के सिरे मिलेंगे

अभी न पर्दा गिराओ, ठहरो!"

You are beautiful

2010-08-21T12:56:00.004+05:30

James blunt music, I was listening for last one hour. And this one was the best of lot..

"You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.

Yeah, she caught my eye,
As we walked on by.
She could see from my face that I was,
Fucking high,
And I don't think that I'll see her again,
But we shared a moment that will last till the end"

Few lines from the hindi books,

2010-07-21T22:32:00.001+05:30

I am reading for last few days,

"टुकड़े-टुकड़े दिन बीता, धज्जी-धज्जी रात मिली।

जिसका जितना आंचल था, उतनी ही सौग़ात मिली।।

जब चाहा दिल को समझें, हंसने की आवाज़ सुनी।

जैसे कोई कहता हो, लो फिर तुमको अब मात मिली।।

बातें कैसी ? घातें क्या ? चलते रहना आठ पहर।

दिल-सा साथी जब पाया, बेचैनी भी साथ मिली।।

Some more,

नहीं चाहता, आगे बढ़कर छीनूँ औरों की हाला,
नहीं चाहता, धक्के देकर, छीनूँ औरों का प्याला,
साकी, मेरी ओर न देखो मुझको तनिक मलाल नहीं,
इतना ही क्या कम आँखों से देख रहा हूँ मधुशाला।

Freakonomics,

2010-03-06T21:52:00.000+05:30

....Super freakonomics, What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money-That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not! and Simply fly are the four books in line to read this week. What else, two episodes of LOST are also there to watch.

There are as many nights as days

2010-02-12T14:23:00.000+05:30

“There are as many nights as days, and the one is just as long as the other in the year's course. Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word 'happy' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.” : Random thoughts from internet

Don't look back

2010-01-17T21:40:00.001+05:30

...is the second episode of first season of the TV series called HEROES. It has only been two episodes and I have begun to think that its going to be a fun like LOST. Even though the first two seasons were sitting on my idle harddisk for very long time, I couldn't find myself watching this before.

So lets hope that it turns out to be as great as I have heard from friends.

To heroes.........

Bihar was never a case of bad governance;

2010-01-13T22:03:00.001+05:30

.... it was a case of absence of governance. This was one of the lines spoken by Chief Minister of Bihar while accepting the Economic Times Business Reformer of the Year award. Without naming his predecessor, he so eloquently put his request for more funding, giving the business community a larger sense of assurance on safety and better investment opportunity.

Whether Bihar will get the attention of buisness leaders or not. Whether the 11% growth rate will be a one time wonder or it will be sustained. Whether Nalanda university will get its due reputation or not. Whether the land of Goddess Sita will shine or not. Answers to these questions will unfold only in future. My take on all this is : "Last 2-3 years have brought hope for a better future, hope that things can change and its only the matter of time". Hope is biggest thing which, Nitish goverment has given to us.

Remember what Rancho baba (or Ingdu :P) said in three idiots. He meant that hope is the only thing which gives that extra strength and belief to your heart to fight the odds in toughest of situations and fools you to think that "AAL IZZ WELL".

Outsiders in Mumbai

2010-01-10T10:23:00.002+05:30

Posted by AJ on September 14, 2008

Mumbai is awake. Atleast some of the people here think they are. That’s why few sons of soil have taken it upon themselves to protect “Marathi Asmita”. How will they do it?? By ensuring that every person staying in Mumbai should speak marathi, by beating the north Indian taxi drivers, by forcing McDonald to write its name in Marathi, by halting the movie releases of A Bachhan.

I won’t discard the whole idea as there is a good angle in it. Still it’s unreasonable from all the other angles. Let’s talk about some of the good aspects of this fight.

1. Going just by the fact that Mumbai is in Maharashtra, Marathi people should get bigger pie of its success. They have all the right to be respected here, same with their language too.

2. Marathi people should get the major chunk of the employment opportunities first.

3. Its state’s responsibility to ensure that these first citizens should be considered first for everything and then only they should consider any outsider.

All agreed, these are very good intentions. But I don’t think that they should be the sole agenda of a political party which aspires to form a government here. But limiting myself to this issue alone, let’s see its dark side too.

1. If central government is allotting 3000 times more money to Mumbai than any other second tier city anywhere in India and that too from a source which collects taxes from whole of the country, I don’t consider it as a fair idea. I have a very strong feeling that if they spend even half of that amount on city like Bhopal, Raigarh or for that matter Jahanabad too; people wont leave those cities to come to Mumbai. These people have to come here as you are collecting money from their places and spending it here, so how can one expect exclusivity in all the other things here. – Not fair.

2. I think that there are far many important issues in Mumbai today other than just ensuring that shop names should be written in Marathi first. Some of them are terrorism, food, infrastructure etc etc. I read somewhere that the number of farmers in Maharashtra going on suicide roll is increasing every year and this issue is not being addressed properly. So guys, if its only for cooking your political breads, then its our fate. If not, then please do something constructive to help a true maharashtriyan. – Anything but constructive and in people’s interest.

3. Money allotted for the poor farmers of Vidarbha, RTI has just cleared that majority of it has went to to some well off family members of the politicians. So where is justice? — This I think is an issue.

4. How can one person assume that he can stop a movie release after the approval from censor board, or stop a train coming inside approved by railways in this sovereign country? — Ridiculous

5. I heard that children of these so called guardians of Marathi asmita go to American schools in town and choose German or French as their first language. — No Comments on this.

So my request to all the citizens here will be that they should carefully think about the real issues and then only follow any political streams. The fact is that Shiv sena, BJP, Congress and NCP – they all have ruled Maharashtra in last decade with their supposedly different and promising agenda. But look at the progress state has made. You saw the examples of dying farmers, there are plenty more. So please awaken and don’t let anybody fool you on religious or regional sentiments. Use your wisdom….

2 books and 3 idiots

2010-01-09T19:45:00.001+05:30

Watched "3 idiots" few days back and thoroughly enjoyed it. One of the best movies this year, I'd say. Considering that it is based on the book "Five point someone" and the media rounds about the ugly spat between the author and the lead actor from the movie; my verdict is that the movie has done full justice to the spirit of the book, not sure about the credit/compensation given to the author. This movie has few over-the-board moments ( will be appreciated only by the guys who have not been to a college like ICE) which have been over-shadowed by the numerous fantabulous scenes.

I have never considered it practical for a movie director to show all the things at the screen , which have been imagined/written by the story teller. Many movies based on the bestseller books have done quite well in the past and 3 idiots is one more addition to them. However, you ask the one who has read the book before watching the movie. Chances of his replying in favour of the book are much more. The ready examples are "Jurrasic Park" and the "Da-vinci Code". Even though, these movies were fantasic, but can never be compared to the book. Simply put, they were not able to depict the detailed imagination of author on the screen. Having said all that, I did enjoy the movies too.

I have also bought two books, "अँधेरे बंद कमरे" by Mohan Rakesh and "राग दरबारी " by S.Lal, hoping that
it will keep the link alive with the hindi literature. I used to be an avid reader of the hindi literature till my graduation days when I started reading english literatures too. Call it an apathy of we Indians towards our national language or my laziness for reaching to the limited hindi book stores in Mumbai; I haven't read many after graduation.

Same goes for Sanskrit too. In distant past, I used to be good in Sanskrit literature and was able to read the sanskrit books with very little help from outside. But all of that is a past now and now I find it difficult to even differentiate between "समास" and "संधि". Reading good sanskrit literature will always remain in my long term to-do list.

Update on last post : Stared going to gym and ran 6 km in two days (Total) and then the inevitable happened. Bunked for next three days including today. Have to make another go from next week. Also, "Suitable boy" is not that suitable for continuous reading. One need to have countless reading sessions spread over numerous days to finish this book.

ho0h0ohidshrp'hwrepegwljbsdk...

2010-01-03T18:15:00.003+05:30

ho0h0ohidshrp'hwrepegwljbsdk... That was why there are no entries made on this blog for this long. I am back, like so many other times. 2010 is just on the brink and will come with lots of promises. The next week will be the one where many resolutions at personal front will be made. Some would like to loose 6 kg, some would like to stop procrastinating, some would like to learn swimming and some others will take a resolution to hit the gym regularly. There is no dearth of ideas, resolutions. The more you try to find out , the more amused you will get. Personally, I'll try to pursue some of them :P.

Now that, I am in the midst of a quarter-life-crisis and struggling with the increasing waistline and decreasing hairline, it appears a time for thinking, thinking and some more thinking. The mantra for new year will be not only to think, rather to bring some of the ideas to reality. Not that I am planning to make a nuke, but whatever you plan, needs some amount of action. So that's the resolution for new year. Nothing specific.

Now that the new year resolution is almost set, its time to say about other things. The last "the movie" which I saw, was AVATAR. Watching it in 3D was just great experience, that too in a heritage theater (Of course, it
has been renovated by the big reliance guys ). On the books front, read few good books. "Two states" from Chetan bhagat was a good one, it deserves a separate post. Then there was one from great Mario Puzo, ".............".Did i forget the name, yeah. Then it doesn't worth a mention here. Currently I am deep inside the realms of "A suitable boy".

More will come and things will be more regular now onwards.

I wish a very happy and prosperous new year to the very few readers of my blog.

Cheers

Allergy advice

2009-09-06T16:17:00.003+05:30

Allergy advise written on some buscuit wrap. "मुझे तो समझ में नहीं आया; आपको समझ आवे, तो हमें भी समझावें...". Please explain if you understand the advice.

Different takes

2009-09-06T15:29:00.002+05:30

Just to show, how people on two opposite sides of war perceive the history of war. I clicked this picture at trafalgar square in London. This shows the british take on the 1857 sepoy mutiny. Remember the history lessons, you attended in school; they never suggested that somebody will ever commemorate the heroes/villains from other side. Found one intereting one line british description of the mutiny, which goes like..

" To live in India, now, was like standing on the verge of a volcanic crater, the sides of which were fast crumbling away from our feet, while the boiling lava was ready to erupt and consume us...The infanticide Rajput, the bigoted Brahmin, the fanatic Mussalman, had joined together in the cause; cow-killer and the cow-worshipper, the pig-hater and the pig-eater... had revolted together." - Thomas Lowe, British Chronicler, 1860

Some thoughts to ponder upon..

Sultry days

2009-08-26T17:37:00.001+05:30

Trying to make an attempt to come out of the realm of inconsistency, here it goes. Things were happening over last few months and are still continued. There were distribution of pink slips, abundance of green masks all around you, dancing of sensex on some unfamiliar tune, people confronting the truths (sach ka samna) and then people trying to save themselves from some jungle in sony world and so many other things.

Amongst all this, as always, I read few books. Mentioning books here is the easiest of ways to fill some space in this phreaking thought's portal. So there was "Sultry day" by Sobha De. I felt that this book had an ok story, but was unnecessarily painted a sultry look. Also, I never had any penchant for this type of writing. Nevertheless some people may like it.

Another was “If God was a banker” by Ravi Subramaniam. The best way to describe is like you are reading another Sobha De piece with some MBA jargon thrown in between” – comment made by anonymous. Personally I liked it. It will be a good read for anybody interested in an MBA roadmap.

Next in the line are:

“I bought the Monk’s Ferrari”

“Those small lil things”

“How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life”

Indian memsaab

2009-06-07T01:31:00.000+05:30

Sorry for the long abscence. Now, there can be plethora of views why I am so irregular about things. Some things in particular, this blog being one of them.

It's not that I didn't have anything to write. Infact, so many things happened inbetween that I cant keep track of them. But come on, its only me...

Will try to be a bit more regular.

Today I read a fantastic Novel "Indian Memshab" by Suchita malik. It narrates the whole world of a beaurocrat's life through his wife's eyes, a fascinating world.

Will leave on that note..

Cheers

Books

2008-11-29T12:46:00.001+05:30

This week, it will be books. My last read was "Hotel" by Arthur Halley. It was unique in terms of it's fantastic detailed description of a Hotel.

Schedule for next week is,

"You are here" by Meenakshi Reddy

"The Google Story" by David Vise

"Sign of the Cross" by Chris Kuzneski

If possible I'll also try to understand some of the theories behind the demography of the world by reading "Human Geaography" by Majjid Hussain.

Definitely Maybe -N- Yuvraj

2008-11-29T12:02:00.002+05:30

Movies seen over last six days,

Yuvraj : Went all the way to Inorbit to watch this gem. Six other people in the group expressed their dislike, in and out of theatre, in low to medium voices. Don't know why, but I did not dislike it. I wont say that it was a great movie, but it was okay to watch. I liked it's esthetics. Though somebody suggested that its a movie for people who like the art of filmmaking, not the film necessarily :P

What happened in Vegas : So-so types.

The Kingdom : A good movie. Watched this movie on my laptop while the TV was simultaneously showing the muted visuals of our NSG commandos fighting the battle against the terror attack on Taj hotel. (Will write more about it on my other blog).

Definitely Maybe : It was a good movie, not surprising when the same people had made movies like Notting Hill and Love Actually.

Naya Daur : Amazing movie given the changes country was going through in those times. I think this movie was "Lagaan" of old times.

Roadside Romeo

2008-10-26T00:03:00.001+05:30

Just returned after watching “Roadside Romeo”. It was an OKAY experience, if not great. Earlier, we reached Oberoi with no hopes of getting the tickets for this movie, today being Saturday evening. To our surprise, we got the tickets and soon realized that you can count the number of people on your fingertip, again not expected for a Yashraj movie. The animation was excellent and there is no denial this movie will initiate high quality animation import to Bollywood and very soon we can expect “Finding Nemo” and “Ratatouille” in Hindi, made in India though. Considering that it was first of its kind, I tried to overlook the overdone Clichés and its straight line plot.

It has the best animation seen in Indian cinema so far. If the plot had been as good, the film would have been world class. I liked the repeated telecast of Big Boss on Colors though.

A few * SENTI * dialogues... and A google trap

2008-09-13T10:07:00.002+05:30

GTalk... Everybody knows about it. I mean everybody who is using internet. Its very hard for anyone to use internet and not fall in the google trap. It happened with me too.

Back in college when GMail account was available only on invitation, it used to be a good thing to have one. Quite reasonable given that it was offering 1GB mail-space compared to meagre 15MB hotmail that time. I don't remember which came next Orkut or Gtalk or this blogger. But somehow it happened that I used the same id to open orkut account, then to talk on Gtalk and then to write blogs too.

Sometimes it comes to my mind how vulnerable we are becoming on internet giving so much data to one particular company. (Food for thoughts ??) Anyways thats not why I am writing this blog.

Yesterday I was chatting with one of my old schoolmate on GTalk and got surprised by seeing his status message on the same. It was..

When They Asked Me What I Love Most About My Life, I Smiled And Said YOU!

Knowing that he cant write this kind of heavy stuff by his own and also after ending my curiosity about his being Mr. Lovelace, I did some google and in process read some of the most amazing one liners, which I thought to share with you on this blog space. I call them SENTI stuff and am pretty sure even you feel the same whenever you witness something similar in any movie or any romantic novel.

Some of them are....

One day u will ask me: Wat is more important to u, me or ur life? I will say: My life… u will walk away from me without knowing that U R MY LIFE!

"Sometimes the world gives me so many reasons to hate it...but whenever it happens.... I just stop and think of u n say, "How can I hate this world when you are a part of it..."

"Someone askd me if I MISS U..i didnt answer i just closed my eyes, smiled & walked away..then i whispered...SO MUCH...!!!"

If the only possible way we can be together is in my dreams, then I'll sleep forever!!!

And the most recent one, which was again a status message for someone on Gtalk is..

Love has always been in the air, but lazy people like me take care for only oxygen !!!

NBA : First time

2008-09-03T17:35:00.001+05:30

Accidently deleted the post, so just pasting the cached image of the same.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30

NBA : First time

My first time watching any kind of live game in a big stadium and this was a great game to start with.

Before the game, I didn't know any of the rules of basketball. But in 5 minutes, my friend explained the basic rules and all was set for a good match (viewing). Houston Rocket was playing Utah Jazz at their own ground. Result was not that important for me. But I was amazed by the overall package (including all the other non-game activities). What followed next was two hours of packed entertainment.

2 COMMENTS:

Anonymous said...: Hey Anand, Whats up?!?!? you didn't tell me that ur a houston rockets fan :p me too when I went to houston, I had the chance to see them... I have a picture with their cheerleaders :$ do u have one? :D; April 13, 2008 2:50 AM
Anand said...: Man, they won so many in a row just after that match. I have not one, but many more. If you write ur name, it'll help.; May 25, 2008 3:07 AM

Rashomon

2008-09-03T16:05:00.001+05:30

........ is a nice Japanese movie made in 1950. I watched this movie today (Holiday here, Ganesh Chaturthi). I was surfing through my movie collection and then I saw this movie "Rashomon" there. The next logical step was to check the ranking on IMDB and I think it is safe to assume that everybody here knows about this. If not, then you should better check this. It has loads of information on every movie.

So it was a Japanese movie rated very highly at IMDB (8.5/10 and all-time rank of 69th), therefore decided to watch it. You all agree that its painful to watch a foreign language movie with subtitles. But this movie was not that bad on this front as there were very few dialogues, which is quite understandable considering the transition of movies from silent to present era during that period.

This movie is a beautiful depiction of how truth varies as per one's own perception and beliefs and it reiterates that truth is not objective , its subjective and I liked that subjectivity. Watching a movie made for 1950's audience and that too in a Japanese feudal village, in 2008 doesn't do full justice to the movie. I really appreciate how different director's thinking was in those times and overall I can say that its a good watch for any movie buff.

One quote which I really liked,

"Commoner: But is there anyone who's really good? Maybe goodness is just make-believe.

Priest: What a frightening...

Commoner: Man just wants to forget the bad stuff, and believe in the made-up good stuff. It's easier that way."

The story goes like ..

"The story told by Rashomon is both surprisingly simple and deceptively complex. The central tale, which tells of the rape of a woman (Machiko Kyo) and the murder of a man (Masayuki Mori), possibly by a bandit (Toshiro Mifune), is presented entirely in flashbacks from the perspectives of four narrators. The framing portions of the movie transpire at Kyoto's crumbling Rashomon gate, where several people seek shelter from a pelting rain storm and discuss the recent crime, which has shocked the region. One of the men, a woodcutter (Takashi Shimura), was a witness to the events, and, with the help of a priest (Minoru Chiaki), he puzzles over what really happened, and what such a horrible occurrence says about human nature.

In each of the four versions of the story, the characters are the same, as are many of the details. But much is different, as well. In the first account, that of the bandit, the criminal accepts culpability for the murder but refutes the charge of rape, saying that it was an act of mutual consent. The woman's story affirms that the bandit attacked her, but indicates that she may have been the murderess. The dead man's tale (told through a medium) claims rape and suicide. The only "impartial" witness, the woodcutter, weaves a story that intertwines elements of the other three, leaving the viewer wondering if he truly saw anything at all."

Everything happens for a reason

2008-08-14T23:55:00.002+05:30

The last 3-4 books which I have read in July were so different from each other. First was "Three mistakes of my life" from Mr. Chetan Bhagat. I don't know whether he is doing it purposely (to keep 5 point something as his best) or else; but the quality and and his famouus punches are slowly drying up in his novels. The second book of his was "One night at call centre" was pretty good except the last 5-6 pages. And the last one- its kind of horrible, given his standards(I shouldn't say this, but 5 point something has raised the bar). It was a good timepass book, but certainly my expectations were much more.

Of course I read one from Jeffery Archer and, as always, it touched the right cords. Then came this refreshing book from Ms Kavita Daswani. This was not a super-duper book, but I really liked the way she has written it. Storyline is pretty simple and being a cinema freak, the end didn't surprize me. But I liked the INDIANNESS..yes thats the word (Is this a correct word !!). The books name was "Everything happens for a reason".

Priya is the main character who gets married to a conservative NRI family based in east coast of US of A. She has got a great job, new friend and an exciting new life, without her in-laws knowing about. Question is why should she keep it a secret, and its answered in the best possible way in this book. I recommend this, if you have to kill some 7-8 hours and also feel good about the time you spent.

Quite a day …. Kris Dayanti, Marcella and the Idols

2008-08-03T12:47:00.003+05:30

I have had an ordinary day till 3 PM when I decided to go to swimming pool. I don’t know how to swim and also I don’t know why but many of my friends just can’t believe it. Anyways I came to the swimming pool just to find out that hotel staffs were preparing for a press conference. Upon further enquiry, we were told that American Idols will be coming here for the interviews. What option I had, just waited there poolside with my friend checking the features of his new semi professional Panasonic camera. Also we just had a brief history of how Chinese traditional weddings are, from one of our Chinese friend.

After I finished sipping the cola, around 4:40 ish, five smart men (American idols, I have to say that for the sheer number of girls present there) arrived in the arena. After a quick photo session, they started answering the questions to the media persons. As I was not at all interested in what these idols have to say, so I swiftly make my way to have a good photograph with them and quickly move to join the Chinese wedding discussion going on one of the poolside table. I often wonder , if there wouldn’t have been Indian Idol on Sony Television, how uninformed I was about another sets of idols, in this case American.

So after this little rendezvous, I headed to the pool. After one and half hours of learning the basics of swimming (which I have to admit was very relaxing) swimming, I gave up. In the evening, we went to the new FX mall in Jakarta and had a full three course dinner in one of the Italian restaurant. Later one guy revealed that he was hungry even after the gluttonous dinner –which was quite a revelation to us.

After returning to the hotel and before heading to the CJ bar in the same Muliya hotel, we were standing in the hotel lobby chatting about nonsense stuff. One of our Indonesian friend also returned after dinner and spotted us and I can say that his face was beaming with the excitement. Very soon after the little conversation, I realized that the most famous diva of Indonesia was present in the hotel lobby,
talking to somebody on phone. She was really beautiful and later I found out her name being Kris Dayanti. I had an instant urge to go and meet her. So after some fifty five seconds long thinking, I went to her, said Hi and requested for a photograph with her (Photo is on Orkut).

Nevertheless my Indonesian friend was so delighted, as I asked Kris for one moreShe agreed. It was so blasé from my side and so drawn-in from hers; still I was like “Umm..My friends have told me how … .umm.. how… good a singer you are, uh.. um… and of course I can see how.. ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ... beautiful you are”. Dumbest thing to say, I guess, but I said it. But historically I never have been good on the opening lines as well as the subsequent lines in social circuits (At least that’s what I think).

Nevertheless my Indonesian friend was so delighted, as I asked Kris for one more photograph with my friend. I can understand his excitement, how envious all the other Indonesian guys will be after realizing that they lost that opportunity (I am not sure whether it fits here or not). Continuing to all other happenings of the day, we also bumped into the other famous Indonesian sweetheart (Best movie actress last year in this country) Marcella Zalianty and similar things followed. I had a photograph with her and just admired how pretty she looked in her pink outfit. I told her that pink really suits her and she just smiled.

Afterwards we went to CJ, spend around 2-3 hours there listening to the same songs, which the band was repeating since the day I arrived. But I really liked the female singer, how she sang, how she looked, how she danced and how she dressed..blah..Blah…blah.

Quite a day…… isn’t it.

Loo, Monas and Rupiyah in Jakarta

2008-07-21T16:18:00.003+05:30

Monas is a national monument, built to celebrate the freedom of Indonesia (Ofcourse in Indonesia, Jakarta). I don't know much history behind it, except one thing from my history books that it stands for the people's determination to achieve freedom and the crowning of their efforts in the Proclamation of Independence in August 1945. Anyways, we happened to go there on a sunny sunday afternoon. After taking the tickets and waiting in the queue for 2 hours, our turn came and the lift took us to the top of the MONAS, which was 130 odd meters tall. Seeing the world from those heights has always fascinated me. Last week only, I got the chance to see the KL skyline from a height of 430 meters. And yes, one thing; this is much different than looking down from the plane (As I think it lacks sense of control, however I even enjoy that too.)

One interesting thing happened there. I had to to take a loo break; so I found one toilet. Their system (bole to paisa dene ka system, bakin sab to default hi rahta hai) was similar to the sulabh sauchalayas in India. So I asked How much for the smaller loo break. And his answer was "1000 rupiyah" - SHOCKER. Now this is the problem if you are not aware of the currency conversion factor and you visit a new place. It used to be
one indian rupee back in Mumbai for the same, how can it be 1000 rupiya here. After some head scratching and expert NRI consulting, I came to know that I USD is near about 9000 indonesian rupiyah and that will make the loo charge some four indian rupees which was kind of ok. Needless to say that I paid 1000 rupiyah and completed the ritual.

So two things to note here if you visit this part of the world. Be ready to pay 1000 rupiya for a loo break, if need be and always take the consultancy from a NRI there, which may be a Non Reliable Indian or any of your Non resident Indian friends there. And don't forget to put this MONAS a must watch in your "to do" list.

Euro cup, Wimbledon etc etc...

2008-07-19T07:05:00.001+05:30

Past few months have been different with respect to the choices I have made in selecting the sports quota on TV. For the first time after Italy beat Germany in the world cup final, I watched a full game of football starting from the sensational quarterfinal win of Russians. Then came the tame defeat of Russians followed by the all-round performance of Spain in the final against germany. I enjoyed the Euro final as it was the fight among equals and finally the better team won. So that was my rendezvous with football last month.

And then came Wimbledon. For little background, just want to update that I saw the french open final - full match on my 29" LG tv and then I decided to watch the Wimbledon final. It was a great effort from my side as this place KL's time is two hours and thirty minutes behind the Indian time, which in turn is 5:30 hrs behind the UK time. I heard Federer complaining before the match that Nadal is too slow between the points and
takes undue advantage. On the other hand, heard Nadal saying that he is ready and someday his time will come.

Everybody wished that this day come today but nobody was ready for that. With some extraordinary forehands and better stamina , Nadal took a tame lead of 2-0. And then-after everybody witnesses why Federer had won last four wimbeldons. In the midst of clouds and rain, federar took the game right to the last point of last set. Nadal finally won, as he has too, but I think this win came one or two season earlier than it should have been.

Anyways, It was a good time for spanish sport. They won a fabulous match against Germany at Euro cup (And that was after 40 odd years) and then came Nadal truimphment at grass. They must be wishing that Alonso shouldn't have left McLauren. At the end, I keep on wondering when will one see India's name in these lists..

A Prisoner of Birth and No 2050 Love story

2008-07-05T11:24:00.001+05:30

Last few months had been pretty hectic, never got a chance to read books; so today I'll start a new book "A Prisoner of Birth" by Jeffery Archer and there will not be any Love story 2050 this weekend (reason being the two shining stars it has received in Times and also I'll be leaving for KL this evening).

This will be in addition to the few novels of Mr Archer, which I have alrady read and are ...

Not a penny more, not a penny less.

Shall we tell the president.

The Prodigal daughter

First among equals

The fourth estate

Sons of fortune

False impression

Kane and Abel - only the first 100 pages :P

Jaane Tu........... ya jane na

2008-07-04T23:29:00.001+05:30

After an operose compaign towards the finalization of phase 1 at school, this week came as a relief. School (:P) was closed due to the rainy day on tuesday and all the other remaining days were short too. On the cloudy friday evening, we went to watch a movie in Oberoi's. Choice was difficult this time, because of the clash between 2050 and "Jane tu"; anyways we decided in favor of "Jane tu ya Jane na" (JTYJN). I must say that it was a complete waste. Apart from some small moments of brilliance (which are too few by the way), this movie didn't stand up to the expectation and one is forced to say that Amir could have done better(may be script writing or something I don't know). May be It was because of the high expectation. My friend said that the lead protagonist can give a tough fight to Hugh Grant, if only they start making films like that in India. All in all, the best part of the day was the Chicken Teriyaki on the third floor.

Following sensex this week would have been more fun, I think. Lets see how 2050 opens today. I'll go for it only if it gets three and half star in Times tomorrow.

Why do we call Doctor's work as PRACTICE???

2008-05-19T19:24:00.002+05:30

Was listening to one soundtrack featuring Shahrukh Khan, made for the promos of KBC and found this line real interesting - डॉक्टर के पेशे को प्रैक्टिस क्यों कहते हैं ??? (Why do we call Doctor's work as PRACTICE??? )

Why do doctors call what they do practice? Shouldn't they be good at it by now?? ?

Its funny. Ever though about that?? I bet , you haven't.

May be they are just practicing the art of medicine and they have not perfected it yet. Day will come when they will eventually perfect the art and stop calling their occupation as practice. Also, I am not sure weather "patient" has got its name from patience, who has to wait and watch all the Doctor's trials and errors - which they call as Practice. :P

Bay of Bengal is in which state?

2008-05-17T12:41:00.002+05:30

Some old set of questions, which were supposedly asked in the IAS interviews and replied in this manner.........

Q. How can you drop a raw egg onto a concrete floor without cracking it?
A.Concrete floors are very hard to crack!

Q.If it took eight men ten hours to build a wall, how long would it take for four men to build it?

A. No time at all it is already built.

Q.If you had three apples and four oranges in one hand and four apples and three oranges in the other hand, what would you have?

A. Very large hands.(Good one)

Q. How can you lift an elephant with one hand?

A. It is not a problem, since you will never find an elephant with one hand.

Q. How can a man go eight days without sleep?

A. No Probs , He sleeps at night.

Q. If you throw a red stone into the blue sea what it will become?

A. It will Wet or Sink as simple as that.

Q. What looks like half apple ?

A : The other half.

Q. What can you never eat for breakfast ?

A: Lunch

Q. What happened when wheel was invented ?

A : It caused a revolution.

Q. Bay of Bengal is in which state?

A : Liquid

Padma Shri n Manoj N Shyamlan

2008-05-15T21:21:00.003+05:30

What a weird system?? Padma Shri was given to a man for his contributions to the film industry who has supposedly seen only 3 Indian movies and was not even aware of what the award is all about. They say that this award stands fourth in the hierarchy of civilian awards after Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan.

And the man this time was M N Shyamlan. Seems like its becoming more like a craze to give these honors to Indian born foreign nationals and somehow we are taking pride in that. I am pretty sure that Indian government can find more deserving Indian nationals if they search honestly for them. Just wondering about all the civics and political science books I have read till now, which had given me a wrong (:P) info about the award.

Anyways, the Padma Shri goes to Mr. Shyamlan. Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!

Teerthyatra : 1 of the 12 Jyotirlingas : Trayambakeshwar

2008-05-10T16:38:00.001+05:30

Trayambakeshwar : Visited last month with my grandparents.

A good design

2008-05-02T23:39:00.001+05:30

Some doors have signs on them: pull, push, slide, lift, ring bell, insert card, type password, smile, rotate, bow, dance or, perhaps, just ask. Somehow, when a device as simple as a door has to come with an instruction manual—even a one word manual—then it is a failure, poorly designed.

The ASS Family

2008-02-20T14:40:00.001+05:30

Award winning Photograph of 2006 : "Photograph on run"

Source : msn

If you don't understand, you might consider yourself among one of these.

The picture tells everything..

2008-02-01T22:48:00.002+05:30

Colored clothes. 9 players in one frame near the batsman. Surprised????

Probably not.

This is a pic from the 20-20 played last night between Australia and India. As the match was played in Australia, it was an absurd timing here in US of A. I was planning to watch the match in the night from 2:30 AM. Somehow (luckily), I couldn't. After reading the results in news today morning, I was happy that I didn't waste the time and had a good sleep.

India lost miserably. The picture tells everything..

Rajnikant @ his best

2007-12-23T16:26:00.001+05:30

Classic one

शहर की इस दौड़ में दौड़ के करना क्या है?

2007-12-22T20:57:00.002+05:30

शहर की इस दौड़ में दौड़ के करना क्या है?
जब यही जीना है दोस्तों तो फ़िर मरना क्या है?

पहली बारिश में ट्रेन लेट होने की फ़िक्र है
भूल गये भीगते हुए टहलना क्या है?

सीरियल्स् के किर्दारों का सारा हाल है मालूम
पर माँ का हाल पूछ्ने की फ़ुर्सत कहाँ है?

अब रेत पे नंगे पाँव टहलते क्यूं नहीं?

108 हैं चैनल् फ़िर दिल बहलते क्यूं नहीं?

इन्टरनैट से दुनिया के तो टच में हैं,
लेकिन पडोस में कौन रहता है जानते तक नहीं.

मोबाइल, लैन्डलाइन सब की भरमार है,
लेकिन जिग्ररी दोस्त तक पहुँचे ऐसे तार कहाँ हैं?

कब डूबते हुए सुरज को देखा त, याद है?
कब जाना था शाम का गुज़रना क्या है?

तो दोस्तों शहर की इस दौड़ में दौड़् के करना क्या है
जब् यही जीना है तो फ़िर मरना क्या है !!!

*somewhere from the internet

Nostalgia

2007-12-15T19:05:00.001+05:30

गुनाहों का देवता

2007-12-15T11:13:00.004+05:30

कौन सा गुनाह कैसा गुनाह!

किसी से ज़िंदगी भर स्नेह रखने का.. ..और जब वो स्नेह अप्नी पराकास्था पर पहुचने लगे तो उसका त्याग करने का ..

हैं न अजीब बात!

पर यही तो किया चंदर ने अपनी सुधा के साथ

इस भुलावे में की दुनिया प्यार की ऐसी पवित्रता के गीत जायेगी

प्यार भी कैसा ...

सुधा घर भर में अल्हड़ पुरवाई की तेरह तोड़ फोड़ मचने वाली सुधा , चंदर की आँख के एक इशारे से सुबह की नसीम की तेरह शांत हो जाती थी . .

कब और क्यूँ उसने चंदर के इशारों का यह मौन अनुशाशन स्वीकार कार लिया था , ये उसे खुद भी मालूम नाहीं था और ये सब इतने स्वाभाविक ढंग से इतना अपने आप होता गया की कोई इस प्रक्रिया से वाकिफ नाहीं था …

दोनों का एक दुसरे के प्रति अधिकार और आकर्षण इतना स्वाभाविक था जैसे शरद की पवित्रता या सुबह की रौशनी .

और अपनी इस सुधा को न चाहते हुए भी उसने उस राह में झोंक दिया जिस पर वो कभी नाहीं चलना चाहती थी. सुधा तो चुप चाप दुखी मन से ही सही उस राह पे चल पड़ी .

और चंदर…..

क्या चंदर का बलिदान उसे देवता बना पाया ?

जो समाज के सामने अपने प्यार को एक आदर्श एक मिसाल साबित करना चाहता था , वो अपने खुद के अंतर्मन से न जीत सका . और जब अपने आप को खुद से हारता पाया तो अपना सारा गुस्सा , सारा क्रोध उन पे निकाला जिनके स्नेह , जिनका प्रेम से वो अपने व्यक्तित्वा की उचैयों तक पहुँच पाया था .
तो क्या चंदर को अपनी भूल का एहसास हुआ ?

क्या वो कभी पता कर पाया की कहाँ उसका जीवन दर्शन उसे धोखा दे गया ?

पर ये भी तो सच है न की ज़िंदगी में बहुत सी बातें वक़्त रहते समझ नाहीं आतीं .
और जब समझ आती हैं तब तक बहुत डे हो चुकी होती है …..

चंदर हम में से अलग तो नाहीं !

Differences

2007-10-25T18:37:00.000+05:30

"There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative." - W. Clement Stone

A small trouble is like a pebble.

2007-10-25T18:24:00.000+05:30

"A small trouble is like a pebble. Hold it too close to your eye and it fills the whole world and puts everything out of focus. Hold it at a proper distance and it can be examined and properly classified. Throw it at your feet and it can be seen in its true setting, just one more tiny bump on the pathway of life." - Celia Luce

Onze Minutos

2007-07-30T15:30:00.007+05:30

Yesterday I read this fantastic (was it ?) book "Eleven Minutes" by Paulo Coelho - A surprize change from the Alchemist। I was told by many of my friends that "The Alchemist" was a terrific book. But when I read that last year, I didn't find it very interesting (it was not very different compared to many other self-help books, which in general I do not like).

In contrast "Eleven minutes" was a free flowing, easy read and a vivid story of a young girl coming to the luxurious city of Geneva from a very small distant town in Brasil (not the Brazil as per Maria) searching for the true love, fame and a meaningful life (which according to her was denied to her till that time)। This book peeps through the tender thoughts of maria who lived her life on the very edge of the society by choosing prostitution as her livelihood.

This blog is not the review of Eleven minutes। But I just thought to write about it as I found this book reallly interesting , which one can read in 6-7 hours while watching Tendulkar, ganguly and Laxman, all hitting half centuries against england and missing their hundreds at the same time. Also if you happen to read any of the book by Mr. Coelho, you will most probably end up reading all his books (even though majority of that sounds self help type).

I am going to read "Fifth mountain" very soon hoping that it will have the signature of eleven minutes. Also hope that the indian ballers do something today and win a match in England.

I am not only in cricket

2007-07-13T18:38:00.004+05:30

Just happened to open my blogs and it looked like someone is only interested in cricket. But stop, thats not true. I watched Federer beating nadal in the second straight Wimbledon final. I also watched underperforming Raikonnen showing the glimpse of excellence which he commands on F1 circuit.

See, I am not only in cricket. I watch some soccer too (but don't remember the name of the clubs). I also watch little bit of golf, little bit of pool. And I do play Age of Empires.

Now, when I am out of cricket, Let me spend some time with other sports. Will write the next blog very soon.

Hoping for something better

2007-06-28T14:10:00.001+05:30

After the dismal performance at world cup, the Indian cricket team seems to be losing it's way. Last week, it was really difficult to find the schedule of matches in Ireland on any news channel (in contrast to what media was doing before world cup).

Nevertheless, I saw the first two matches and was really sad watching Tendulkar got out on 99. Hope to see something better from him in the upcoming series.

....

World cup exit - reasons

2007-03-28T16:44:00.001+05:30

Was chatting with some friend about the dismal performance of India in the cricket world cup, and he came up with this strange and wierd expanation for this . Here it goes..

Two people to blame for India's failure: 1.Indira Gandhi, for creating Bangladesh and 2.SriHanuman, for not destroying Lanka completely.

I don't know where the hell he read or listened about about this, but its funny. Don't you agree to that.

***Just a humor, nothing derogatory about anything/person.

Lookalikes

2007-03-27T11:23:00.002+05:30

Though I am not happy with the way in which the Indian team got knocked out from the ICC world cup, still don't want to comment on that at this place. But found this article very funny and thought to share it with you guys.

Australia finally lost.....

2007-02-21T17:44:00.003+05:30

Australia finally lost, and that too in two consecutive series. Bad for Australia, South Africa is now the number one team in the Cricket world. They have not put Australians down, rather these Australians have fallen down themselves.

I think everybody was fed up with Australians winning practically all the matches and people were hoping for Australia to lose. First, they lost against an England side which was missing their five key players, and then to a 3-0 loss to a resurgent Kiwis which ensured two great weeks of cricket for the game lovers.

I remember when South africa chased the mammoth 434, when Astle hit a double century of 153 (both

against Kangaroos) and I will surely remember the recent loss to England and Kiwis for some time. This coupled with a great turnaround for Indian team gave everybody hope to expect a good tournament in West Indies.

Also we know about the love between tendulkar and world cup, so I am expecting atleast a repeat of last time.....

हजारों ख्वाहिशें ऐसी

2007-02-03T14:26:00.001+05:30

हजारों ख्वाहिशें ऐसी कि हर ख्वाहिश पे दम निकले
बहुत निकले मेरे अरमाँ, लेकिन फिर भी कम निकले

डरे क्यों मेरा कातिल क्या रहेगा उसकी गर्दन पर
वो खून जो चश्म-ऐ-तर से उम्र भर यूं दम-ब-दम निकले
निकलना खुल्द से आदम का सुनते आये हैं लेकिन
बहुत बे-आबरू होकर तेरे कूचे से हम निकले
भ्रम खुल जाये जालीम तेरे कामत कि दराजी का
अगर इस तुर्रा-ए-पुरपेच-ओ-खम का पेच-ओ-खम निकले
मगर लिखवाये कोई उसको खत तो हमसे लिखवाये
हुई सुबह और घर से कान पर रखकर कलम निकले
हुई इस दौर में मनसूब मुझसे बादा-आशामी
फिर आया वो जमाना जो जहाँ से जाम-ए-जम निकले
हुई जिनसे तव्वको खस्तगी की दाद पाने की

वो हमसे भी ज्यादा खस्ता-ए-तेग-ए-सितम निकले
मुहब्बत में नहीं है फ़र्क जीने और मरने का
उसी को देख कर जीते हैं जिस काफिर पे दम निकले
जरा कर जोर सिने पर कि तीर-ऐ-पुरसितम निकले
जो वो निकले तो दिल निकले, जो दिल निकले तो दम निकले
खुदा के बासते पर्दा ना काबे से उठा जालिम
कहीं ऐसा न हो याँ भी वही काफिर सनम निकले
कहाँ मयखाने का दरवाजा 'गालिब' और कहाँ वाइज़
पर इतना जानते हैं, कल वो जाता था के हम निकले
*Just thought to share some of the Ghalib's stuff with you people.

Newton's first law

2007-01-26T18:35:00.001+05:30

Do I need to explain this???

Kaun Banega Champu

2007-01-23T20:13:00.002+05:30

I was very impressed by the KBC advertisement where a little kid from delhi, questioning practically everything goes on becoming the King of the Bollywood(Or should I say Mumbai). The 130-second long clip shows a highly inquisitive kid based in Delhi, played by four-year old Shrey Bawa. The most amazing thing is the simplicity and innocence of the advertisement, which manages to keep viewers watching the whole of it (which is a real good length of time) wondering who this boy is going to be. It turns out to be the preliminary advertisement for KBC (Not Champu, its Crorepati here) with the new host Mr. Khan.

But yesterday, I saw something similar on FILMY channel. These guys have taken the same concept, but in little weird sense to promote their new programme, called KAUN BANEGA CHAMPU. And the funniest part in my view is when the security guard answers the first question of the little
boy.

In a big city, a small boy goes to one building near the electricity panel and asks a question to the guard that what will happen if he will pull that lever down. The guard gets amused by the question and tells him not to do that. Still the boy pulls that lever down and damn, the entire building becomes dark. This curiosity (and the innocence) of him leads him to be the King Khan who eventually gets to host for KAUN BANEGA CROREPATI. I don't need to explain what makes the other boy in the FILMY advertisement a big CHAMPU. You have to see these advertisements to really understand what I was saying.

Here are some more excerpts from a different source,

The kid cannot stop himself from asking questions. For instance, one part of the advertisement shows the child asking for permission to do the deed. Similarly, the child continues to ask questions in every given scenario and annoys everyone around him. The kid leaves the capital in search of answers to his questions and reaches Mumbai! Finally his dreams start turning into reality. Finally he will ask, and people will answer. The ad then shows the boy grown up to be Shah Rukh Khan- the perfect host for KBC 3. This commercial has a tinge of humour and fun , and therefore caters to a wider audience. The campaign is estimated to be a huge success not only because of Shah Rukh but also due to the mischievous looking Shrey. His lopsided grin, ruffled hair and sheer innocence are sure to win over hearts.

Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Temple

2007-01-03T18:01:00.001+05:30

Three years ago, when I first came to Mumbai for three days (called Bombay that time), we traveled across the city like anything. Be it local trains, or the BMC buses or the black & yellow taxis, we used everything just to have the glimpse of all the things listed in the tourism booklet. Sometimes it used to be little more than just a glimpse (e.g. we spent more time in Mahalaxmi Temple). That time we were in the university and came here for the training.

We reached Prabhadevi at 10 AM on a bright tuesday only to see a seemingly endless queue of devotees in front of Siddhi Vinayak Temple. Logically we dropped the idea to visit the temple that day. Something very similar to this happened early in 2006, when I couldn't visit this temple due to the time constrains.

But this time, we decided not to couple this long awaited visit to the prestigious temple with any of our new year plans. We went there in the evening around 7 PM and still found a very very long queue. As we were not sure about the alternate arrangement for a smaller queue (You have to pay something for that), we found
ourselves at the wrong entrance and wasted around one and half hours in that queue.

Finally we happened to get inside the temple and offer our pooja (prayers). This time there was no shortage of time and we sat in the temple for sometime. It felt really good to visit this temple after so long. Hope this to be proved a good start of new year.

American beauty

2006-12-09T12:52:00.001+05:30

If you are in the habit of watching every movie which comes in the the nearby theatre (or you have the access to some very rich library like ours in the university) , then you must be finding it very difficult to remember that you have watched a particular movie or not. Same thing also happens with me. This time it was about American beauty.

Nevertheless I decided to watch the movie and after the end of movie it was not very hard to figure out why it was awarded the Oscar. Even if you are not an American, you will be more than happy to see the true beauty of American lives. This movie shows all the grey aspect of the life.

And the one good line among so many goes like....

It was one of those days when it's a minute away from snowing and there's this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it. And this bag was, like, dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. And that's the day I knew there was this entire life behind things, and... this incredibly benevolent force, that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. Video's a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember... and I need to remember... Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in.

This line says so many things, contains so many emotions inside. I felt good during that scene. Also another good thing in the movie was the depiction of some deep rooted american psychology. For example the perception of success, somebody says in the movie..if you want to succeed, you always have to seem successful. Now it's debatable, but good to hear.

In our bollywood also they make good movies like this and Page 3 is a very good example for that. Don't try to extract some message out of these texts, just go and enjoy the movie.

HANABI

2006-11-21T17:34:00.001+05:30

HANABI - Its just in the next corner to our famous Coffee bean. This small Japanese
restaurant makes it's presence felt strongly to everybody.

So it will not be hard to guess that last night we decided to have some sushi there.
After my first encounter with a authentic Japanese cuisine in Dubai, I was very
skeptic about the idea. But finally we went. Rather strangely, it turned out to be a
beautiful evening with a very good ambiance around and the "cool" company of my
colleagues. The staff were good and alive (more importantly, after the last dinner in
NAWAB ) in their service.

Though I tried four different types of Sushi, but they all failed in their ultimate tryst to make me
happy. On the top of that the two sticks (Wallah, started thinking that some Chinese,
japanese and all are really blessed) made it more difficult to give 100% attention to
the sushi. Though some of my colleagues including me dont want to go there again, but I am still willing to give this japanese cuisine another chance, but definitely not in KL.

Rather I will sure try the indianized version of Japanese cuisine when I will be back to Mumbai (and the reason behind this is obvious. I like even Chinese food made in India. Hehehhe)

Nara jeng

2006-11-18T22:41:00.002+05:30

Though I am very fond of watching the tv serials (any kind, just any thing on the idiot box - my friends say), but lately here in KL I hardly watch any. The foremost reason is the lack of any familiar channel (Remember, we are not talking about movies here), and also the lack of time.

Yesterday my friend called me and then told (infact instructed) me to tune in some channel (he was also not sure about it's name, just the serial no. ). I changed the TV channel to the right one, only to get surprised. It
was showing some kind of chinese or local malay serial. Thereafter he told me that he likes the face of one particular actress and wants to know her name(he asked me because that time I was connected with internet).

You will not believe how difficult this task proved to be. First of all, I didn't know the name of channel as it was showing a logo similar to "8" without ant word in english or hindi. After some googling, found the name to be TV 8. Second problem was that every single entity present on that channel was in chinese (It was my guess), which made it difficult to know about that programme name. However after searching the TV schedule in the paper and with the help of one of my chinese friend we figured out the name, which happened to be "The Wedding".

After some more googling, I found the cast which goes something like.. Jang Nara, Ryoo Shi-won, Lee Hyun-woo, Myung Se-bin. Another difficulty now was to identify the female names among them, which pushed me to do some further googling. Finally I found that the name and photos of the girl, who made my friend blushed.

Though this process only took me three to four minute, but the sequence of the events made me laugh afterwards. Our chinese friend suggested that she is a Korean actoress not a chinese one. Wanna have a look of the girl, here it is.. Here

Also I am not sure about the use of "google" as a verb. If possible then just try to locate it in some standard dictionary and let me know.

The most beautiful Island,

2006-11-16T19:55:00.001+05:30

The island where I spent my last weekend. It was just the most beautiful beach I have ever seen (Though I have seen very few and thats also only in India). Now for more info..

"Pangkor Island, the paradise island, is one of the famous and well known islands in Malaysia. It is located approxiamely 90 km southwest of Ipoh. Pangkor Island is an idyllic and beautiful island resort for a carefree and relaxing holiday. Its natural scenery of green hills and palm-friged beaches of fine white sand lapped by the warm blue waters of the Straits of Malacca is truly magnificent.

The main island of Pangkor is mainly populated by fisherfolk who occupy the eastern coastline. The island is famous for its 'ikan bilis' (anchovies) and squids. The real attraction here however are the enchanting beaches on the western coastline Pantai Puteri Dewi , Teluk Belanga, Teluk Nipah, and Teluk Cempedak are marvellous for swimming or just basking in the sun, in complete privacy admist tranqull surroundings."

Will write about the details of the trip tomorrow sometime.

Is there anything better than that

2006-10-24T14:56:00.002+05:30

Just a question for you,

Is there anything better than that,

Hhehehe

Sleep is the state of natural rest observed in all mammals, birds, and fish.

2006-09-19T19:22:00.002+05:30

Sleep, sleep and sleep. Sleeping is very important part of our life. People spend their one third time in sleeping. My friend was trying to explain the importance of sleep to me. According to him, the number of sleeping hours and the wealth will make a hyperbola when plotted on a cartesian plot.

errrr.....

But I am planning to watch a movie now and then I will go to sleep. May be tomorrow I will think about the old saying - "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."

Just to keep this page active.......never mind.. here is the complete story of sleep....

Sleep is one of those funny things about being a human being -- you just have to do it. Have you ever wondered why? And what about the crazy dreams, like the one where a bad person is chasing you and you can't run or yell. Does that make any sense?

Wikipedia says: Sleep is the state of natural rest observed in all mammals, birds, and fish. It is characterized by a reduction in voluntary body movement, decreased reaction to external stimuli, an increased rate of anabolism (the synthesis of cell structures), and a decreased rate of catabolism (the breakdown of cell structures).

Also, on dreaming wikipedia goes like,

Dreaming involves an involuntary conjuring up of images in a sequence in which the sleeper/dreamer is usually more a participant than an observer. Most scientists agree that dreaming is stimulated by the pons and occurs during the REM phase of sleep.

Many functions have been hypothesized for dreaming. Freud postulated that dreams are the symbolic expression of frustrated desires that had been relegated to the subconscious, and used dream interpretation in the form of psychoanalysis he pioneered. Scientists today have generally become more skeptical about details of Freudian interpretation, and place more emphasis on dreaming as a requirement for organization and consolidation of recent memory and experience. Another hypothesis is that dreaming allows an animal to play out scenarios that may help the animal avoid dangers when awake. For example, a rabbit might dream about being cornered by a fox and may play out different scenarios that might increase its chances of survival should it come across a fox in reality.

Hobson and McCarley's activation synthesis theory proposes that dreams are caused by random firings of neurons in the cerebral cortex during the REM period. According to the theory, the forebrain then creates a story in an attempt to reconcile and make sense of the nonsensical sensory information presented to it, hence the odd nature of many dreams. Critics of this theory, however, resent the implicit notion that reason and emotion are necessarily absent from dreams, and point out that not all dreams are entirely random; some individuals and cultures value their dreams and see dreaming as a meaningful, important part of life. Also, this theory has difficulty accounting for the demonstrable phenomenon of recurring dreams.

Butterflies are free

2006-09-15T21:03:00.001+05:30

I haven't set any butterflies free. Rather I haven't catched any to make them free. Its just a movie which I saw yesterday on PIX. For a movie made in 1972, it has not lost any touch in 2006 also. Even though the appearance of the character may seem little old, but the content and the flow of the movie is fresh enough to make you watch this for almost two hours on a channel like PIX (I am saying so because this channel seems to have a license for all the old movies). Its a very touchy movie, which sometimes feel like our own Indian masala movie.

The story is revolving around a blind guy Don. All Don Baker wants is a place of his own away from his over-protective mother. Don has been blind since birth, but that
doesn't stop him from setting up in a San Francisco apartment and making the acquaintance of his off-the-wall, liberated, actress neighbor Jill. Don learns the kind of things from Jill that his mother would never have taught him! And Jill learns from Don what growing up and being free is really all about. (*Copied from a movie website).

Its a beautiful movie. Just see some of its odd dialogues...

Mrs. Baker: [talking about Ralph's play] I do not intend to pay money to see nudity, obscenity and degeneracy.

Ralph: Mrs. Baker, these things are all a part of life.

Mrs. Baker: I know, Mr. Santori. So is diarrhea, but I wouldn't classify it as entertainment.

If you are not able to see the humor in the above dialogue, then you have to see the whole film. I liked this movie as it belogs to adifferent league, just like "Good bye Lenin" (I am not sure how many of you have seen this movie and appreciated it).

One more quote was :

"I could love you, if you' let me" - Too good.

All ni(gh)ters

2006-08-30T11:31:00.002+05:30

The very thought of sleeping late at nights makes some people uncomfortable. But we, some of the distinguished citizens of this strange world somehow used to sleep very late in the night. But this seems to be a distant past, when we were in college and where life used to be be very simple. Returning from the class, then some BC(Codeword, though not very hard to crack), after that some sport (again the type was not fixed, as it was wont to include the game of cricket, both on the field and off the field, i.e EA sport on my 2.6 GHz personal computer and then 6 over matches in the physical world in front of the hostels.) and there are so many things...I don't remember them all.

After all this, spending some time(15 minutes to one full hour, depending upon any plan of watching some late night cinema) in the mess hall and then some limited shows of english, hindi or hinglish ...... on our own personal computer and then some personalized BC with some friends was the usual way to push the coveted
time of sleeping further. Sometimes this process was also facilitated by reading some novels.

In the normal course, it was resulting in missing few 8 o'clock classes which further was the cause of lower number of students and thus greater number of proxies in the morning classes. The examination time used to be the golden period for these All Ni(gh)ters, as they had no other option except studying whole night , if they genuinely want to pass those.

OOoooohhhhh....I just wanted to say here that I haven't slept last night and experienced the hidden joy of this all ni(gh)ter usance. I chatted with friends, done some BC, watched the long legs and powerful stroke of some ****pova in an US open match. And believe me she was not Maria Sharapova. Of course we also watched some old hindi movies to fill in the time. And guess what, I am back in the office and that also at right time. Now I am filling very sleepy. Time to cut all this crap and do some real work.

Mom, I'll wear miniskirt today.

2006-08-28T20:07:00.001+05:30

I read this joke on some website, which I thought to share with you people. It's a simple two line conversation between mother and daughter, but in different times. It goes like..

1980's
Daughter: Mom, can I wear jeans today?
Mother: No darling, what will people think.

2006
Daughter: Mom, I'll wear miniskirt today.
Mother: Pahan le beti, kuch to pahan le.

This is a perfect example of changing values in the society. I am not saying that it's bad, but it really amazes me how quick these changes are.

Times are changing, people are changing, their values are changing..
Now I have to leave. So I'll complete this some other time.

The most beautiful woman on the earth

2006-07-14T19:08:00.001+05:30

I heard somebody saying "You show me the most beautiful woman on the earth and I'll show you atleast one person who doesn't want to sleep with her." The very first impression of this sentence may make you think about the cynicism of that particular person; but after reading the following lines, you may feel little different.

“The grass is always greener on other side.”

“And those grapes are sour.”

Still you are not thinking differently. I can’t help. Just enjoy the good humor.

What a pity?

2006-06-13T15:34:00.002+05:30

Jamhuriyat tarje wah huqumat hai ki jismain;
Bandon ko gina karte hain, taula nahi karte.

Till the time I was in class nine, this used to be a frequently used couplet in the essays written by me during exams (Never thought why elections are such a frequent entry there, both in Hindi as well as English literature). If you are not a Hindi speaking junta, don’t expect me to translate it in English (hehehehe). Again coming to the reservation issue, I am having one point, which is very simple to understand; but I don’t understand the reason why many people don’t want to understand this. The logic goes like..

If a person from a reserved category (regardless of any particular one like SC, ST or OBS) avails the reservation and get in to financial condition so that he can support his children, educate them and prepare them for the real life; then in my opinion his next generation should not avail the reservation. But the real life situation is quite different. Even if a person becomes an IAS officer, his children are getting the benefit of
reservation. So are we assuming that even an IAS officer can’t support his children? Are we assuming that a person from supposedly backward society can’t raise his children in spite of having all the necessary amenities?

No we are no more living in 1950’s. Even then Mr. Ambedkar had visualized this fact and restricted this reservation only for twenty years. But our politicians don’t seem to be planning for a long term vibrant and opulent India of equal opportunities.That’s my way of thinking about reservation. But as numbers governs this democracy, sometime the qualitative part is neglected and looks like this time exactly same thing is happening. Moreover this time even numbers are being extrapolated from a census carried out in early thirties.

What a pity.

The question asked was like "can a handful of us change the scenario?".

2006-05-31T15:34:00.002+05:30

This is the part of a mail, in which I was trying to give this strong funda to one of my batchmate. When I read this afterwards, thought it would be a good idea to put it at this phreaking place.

"Atleast you can try and initiate the things. It seems like a funda but remember, "A journey of thousand miles begin with a single step". Somebody has to take that first step. Also remember if you change, if you do your little bit, if you think little about it, if you try to initiate the reforms at only your level; the whole society is going to change, even if the results will not be visible very shortly.

Also regarding the few good men present in the modern india; I think there are some ordinary people
who do not think about it at all, some good people who want to do the good but couldn't do it, some better people who actually do the good things for others to ultimately acheive a good for themselves, and some even better people who do these good things selflessly; and there are always various bad people to balance the world. But you will be amazed to know about the effect of these few good men who balance the remaining evil things which are ubiquitous now a days.

Have you ever thought that what a mighty river think about the fate of the first silt particle which falls in it. The river doesn't care, even they look dismally on these silt. But the history is witness of many such rivers who lost their existence due the persistent nature of falling silts.

Just watching the movie "Rang de basanti" is not going to do anything. Even just doing what Amir Khan did in the movie thinking that you will be appriciated just like him in the real life and society will response just like it did in the movie, is not going to do any good. Even thinking in these llines is a severe naivety. But yes your effort may go unnoticed, but somewhere it will give rise to some more positive thinking.

Do you think that Magal Pandey was the very first soldier of our freedom struggle. Atleast I don't think so. Rather I think that there must had been many before him, who must had tried very hard to push that idea of freedom, which ultimately created legend like Mangal Pandey and in turn leed to the freedom.

So what next? Just do your little part for making india brighter and gain the age old position in the world.

Do try. "

The question asked was like "can a handful of us change the scenario?".

Hai re Reservation

2006-05-31T15:28:00.001+05:30

I found this somewhere on the internet.

Manmohan Singh to Bush - We are sending Indians to the moon next year.

Bush - Wow! How Many?

Manmohan Singh - 100
25 - OBC
25 - SC
20 - ST
5 - Handicapped
5 - Sports Persons
5 - Terrorist Affected
5 - Kashmiri Migrants
9 - Politicians
and if possible
1 - Astronnaut

Marriage interpretation

2006-05-29T14:03:00.002+05:30

Yesterday I saw Da Vinci Code. Its a blurred depiction of the original novel, which I understand is very difficult to portray on a two hour reel. Nonetheless I liked Audre Tautou [So paise wasool]. After that I returned home and chatted with a friend for sometime. Then I watched "Shall we dance" in night. Now this was a good movie, better than the Da Vinci atleast. Its not like, its the best of this genre, but atleast one can enjoy during the one and half hour movie. There was a dialogue, which I thought was the best in the film. Just go through it and please let me know if it matches with the correct definition of marriage. Here it goes...

"We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet... I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad
things, the terrible things, the mundane things... all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness'."

Rendezvous

2006-05-01T16:22:00.003+05:30

You are invited to a special evening! An intimate evening of warm smiles and shared confidences... of rekindled memories and recounted experiences... of unashamed tears and infectious laughter. You are invited to a rendezvous. A Rendezvous with Simi Garewal.

Last night while watching King Arthur on star movies, probably fourth time; I got to see some parts of this spectacular program on Star world. Simi was doing the ‘rondi^voo with Mr. L N Mittal at his residence in UK. I was always uncomfortable with this word, but now I can pronounce it correctly (thanks Simi).

Now coming to Mr. Mittal, he lives in a house which is estimated to be valued at 500 Crores. Glimpse of that house coupled with the name of his was a very good reason for me to postpone my night voyage for one hour. Mr. Mittal seemed to be a very confident man, whose thoughts are very clear and who always keeps an eye on his ultimate goal. I was very impressed with the way he answered most of the questions. And Simi was fantastic as always.

I don’t know what change or impact this can have on my thinking, but it was a very good episode to watch. I am waiting for its second part, which is supposed to be aired next week.

At the end I can think of only one thing that now I am able to pronounce the word RENDEZVOUS quite confidently.

Inquiring minds

2006-04-28T10:20:00.001+05:30

What do people want from newspapers?

I was reading an old article, where I found that the percent of the adult reading newspapers fall to 55 from 70 in last three decades. Various agencies have been continuously trying to figure out the reason. Most of the times it appears that people want better services, more local news, reader-friendly presentations involving graphics and narrative-style articles and advertising.

“Intensely local, people-centered news ranks at the top of the list of content items with the greatest potential to increase overall readership, ” says an American university, which is conducting the research. Better coverage of national and international events and more investigative journalism are not necessarily what readers want. And newspapers feel pressured to give people more of what they want.

Now the question is what I want from these newspapers. Seriously, I have never given a thought to this. After quickly reading the headlines on the first page, my habit is to start reading the news from last page, which generally covers M S Dhoni and Sania Mirza, sometimes Schumacher also. After going through the sport pages, I quickly flip through the pages and stop at the second page where all the movie timings are listed for television or for the theaters. The whole process also involves some reading about the proposed f**king reservation policy.

Yesterday I spent seven minutes on the newspaper. I admired the beauty with brains, which was there on the first page (She looked like a doctor protesting against the proposed reservation policy). I read why Zidane is considered to be such a high value sportsman for his country, what are the implications of Dhoni being at the top of ODI ranking, what are the future plans of Sania Mirza and Sikha Oberoi, what Sachin thinks about the number of ODI’s played annually and also what is the future of Schumacer with Ferari.

But its not like I am totally dumb about all the issues. I listen to the discussions regarding the business issues, social issues, and current socio-political issues also. I want to read other news in the paper, but somehow I can’t. Therefore I am asking you all, what are the points you think which should be taken care by newspapers.

There is no doubt that a democracy like us need the newspapers to make the people aware of every activity going all around them and also to give them a platform to express their views regarding all those issues/ activities. It’s also the collective responsibility of all the educated citizens to learn about all the happenings, and then to contribute, criticize and I think that the newspaper is a very ideal platform for that.

What do you think?

Long time. Almost forgot that

2006-04-25T18:22:00.001+05:30

Long time. Almost forgot that I am having some place at the internet called anandz.blogspot.com. But now onward I will try to be little bit more consistent.

In-between, I am now out of the tale of two cities. It’s a third city called Mumbai.Will post some more updates afterwards.

Girl with fair cheeks

2006-02-06T18:03:00.003+05:30

To a very different note, here is the story of a man which can be symbolized as the final goal of a MAN. Note that this man holds a great repute in the Greek mythology. It's none other than Achilles. To be very honest, I had never heard the story of troy and Trojan horse, before I saw the movie TROY two years back. But what a fantastic movie. This movie portrays the life of Achilles in a very exhaustive manner.

If you have seen that movie or you are aware of his story; can you guess what the two important things in his life were. By the way, there will be no prizes for guessing that. Do have a look on a brief summary of Achille's life.

"The ancient beach smoked with campfires, hecatombs,
and funeral pyres. And there sat Achilles
weeping like a girl, gesturing to his mother,
who slipped her arms around Zeus's knees

just before her son stood up, chased down Hector
like a wounded dog and dragged the corpse
off into the distance. All he wanted out of life
was an immortal name and a girl with fair cheeks.

What he got was a bad--fitting pair of sandals
and a name given to weakness. "

There is no doubt about this fact that most of the wars happened in past were more or less related with these two things only i.e. immortal name and girl with fair cheeks. All of the men's activities are somehow directed towards these two goals only. That's why I am wondering that the situation will remain the same in the future as well.

Now don't say that you have never thought about these. Even if you do, now give some thought to it.

A tale of two cities

2006-01-21T16:59:00.001+05:30

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.

This is not the blog of Charles Dicken, so don't expect the summary of his book here. I have just borrowed the name of his book and opening lines as well (Though I must tell you these are among the very best, you will ever read). The name of this book just clicked, as I thought to write about my workplaces. After joining the present company, it so happened that I am continuously moving between two places Baroda and Surat. Now often or then I found myself comparing the two cities. Whenever anybody asks me about my place then the answer comes without a second thought, I am living in Baroda. But to be honest, I have spent more time in Surat.

But the reason behind my proclaimed affiliation with Baroda seems to be the apartment, which I have been
using while in Baroda. Certainly this apartment has a greater impact on me than what I thought. So I was talking about the comparison of two cities. I can't say which one is better, as both have their own ..............uniqueness ( I am finding myself short of words here). Let's leave the tale of two cities for Mr. Dicken.

Next time I'll try to write about the pursuit of excellence.

Confused thoughts about public reaction

2006-01-15T18:35:00.002+05:30

Overreactions of the public have been often identified as the major reason behind any of the controversial issues ( sometimes doing good, some other times doing no good to the society), which can be regularly found in the newspapers and 24 x 7 news channels. Weather it be the case of Ganguly's exclusion from the Indian cricket team, khooshboo's idea on premarital sex or the discussion on the length of skirt worn by Sania, everytime some self-proclaimed contractors of social justice and euphemism try to use these as the tool to make themselves alive in the memory of general masses. If you are putting various politicians in this category, then you are pretty close to whom I am actually referring to.

An incident, which can be irrelevant to everybody except those who are directly involved; is being blown out of proportion. You must have witnessed the various interpretations made by some media geeks regarding the mute discussion between Dravid and Ganguly just before the start of the first test match in Lahore. Everybody is having their own opinions about everything which they see, observe or feel. If people are expressing it, sometimes this is categorized in the overreaction category as in the case of Ganguly's exclusion and Swami
Ramdev's episode as well.

Living in a democracy should be accompanied by these type of public awareness. People should express their feelings for the proper functioning of democracy. Sometimes it doesn't seem rational but slowly it will make the leaders more responsible to the people. Mind you, I am not advocating the cases like Khoosboo's. Also the public should not be prejudiced to anything like religion , caste or any political interest, while expressing their anger.

Most of the politicians are using the public emotions, feeling to fulfill their own dreams. First they create situations, controversies and then they are faking their philanthropic interests. So do express your feeling, but with a caution. Sometimes you will be heard, sometimes you will not. But keep on expressing your feelings, suggestions, ideas. And why not, after-all we are the one who are ultimately get affected by all these happenings around us. Shakespeare wrote in one of his plays,

If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?

In similar fashion, if we feel something, should we not express it. But while doing so, always be in the limits associated with the fundamental right of speech and information, as per our great constitution.

Vegetarian Engineer

2006-01-11T19:58:00.002+05:30

"I am working in energy sector and it's my moral responsibility to save energy. Now onwards I will not eat chicken; so that it can have a natural death and in future, will generate some hydrocarbon." - reply of a young engineer, when being asked about the reason behind his vegetarianism.

Hats off to the fantastic thought.

But even if you eat it my dear friend, I guess it will ultimately convert in hydrocarbon only, subject to many other favorable conditions.

Swami Ramdev

2006-01-09T14:57:00.001+05:30

These types of things make me laugh. I am referring to the current Swami Ramdev episode. Let me tell you that I am not an ardent fan of him, but yes respect comes naturally for the people who are serving the people selflessly. Now the CPI leader has alleged him of selling drugs, which contains animal residue. I don’t know weather there is any truth in the allegations made by Ms Brinda Karat, but I do know that there are many more important works, which should take precedence over this whole issue.

Most of the followers of Swami are attached with him due to his wonderful knowledge of Yoga, which cured many of them, and not because of any religious reason. He is giving the Hindutva some weightage, but only after the full course of Pranayam coupled with many more yogas. So he is developing himself as a secular practitioner of Yoga and Ayurved, who is trying to restore the lost pride to this age old form of medicines.

Significant drop has been observed in the soft drink consumption, majority of which is being seen as the Swami’s contribution. A significant percentage of the Indian population has realized the importance of health consciousness, only because of him.

Okay, the government should establish certain standards for Ayurvedic medicines as well, but they should also ensure the development of the lost art. Currently only 3.5% of the total budgetary amount is being given to Ayurved while rest is for Allopathy. So these points should also be taken care of while making the regulation policy.

Let’s hope that all this drama will take us towards a much more healthy society, providing the health care to all at nominal cost.

To serve, not to be served

2006-01-06T14:08:00.001+05:30

Education and literacy are two totally different things, albeit many people don't know the difference between them. Literacy refers to the ability to read and write, while education is the whole process of imparting or acquiring knowledge and skills. Though it's a very limiting definition of the word education, but you must have understood the basic difference.

Now , for understanding the situation in context of our country, lets go through the census results. The total population of India as at 0:00 hours on 1st March 2001 stood at 1,027,015,247 persons. With this, India became only the second country in the world after China to cross the one billion mark. The population of the country rose by 21.34 % between 1991 - 2001. The sex ratio (i.e., number of females per thousand males) of population was 933, rising from 927 as at the 1991 Census. Total literacy rate was returned as 65.38%.

In the light of this census report, let us take a closer look on the literacy statistics.

Number of Literates:

Persons 566,714,995
Males 339,969,048
Females 226,745,947

Percentage of Literates to Total population:

Persons : 65.38 %
Males : 75.85 %
Females : 54.16 %

Once you understood the basic difference between two words, you can figure out the percentage of educated people in India. Surprisingly its very less compared to the literacy rate (Some citizens may not agree to this.). We also know that education is one of of the most effective tool for the allround development of any country. That is why our ministers used to put a very large amount of money for the education in different five-year and ten-year plans. But it is the misfortune of us that due to various other infamous reasons we were never able to achieve these targets.

Now what are the agencies which impart the education to the people. Traditionally middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities are involved in this process. In some distant past, people used to go to GURUKULS. Being a teacher was supposed to be a honorary thing in the society. In those times the process of education did not involve the discrete give & take actions. There were much more ethical and emotional angles associated with the education. Gurukul were the places where teachers used to work hard for preaparing the bright future for thousand of students. In return they only want the knowledge to be spread all over the world. Their motto were not only related with the well being of the teachers and gurukul only, instead they strive to impart the knowledge to as many people for earning a respectable and meaningful life, which can also help their society and country to prosper.

But in our times, there is a genuine lack of such educational institutes. Going back to Gurukul system of education is not my point here, as it will not be feasible as well as fruitful in modern times. But yes we should try to inherit the mottoes and the principles from our glorious past. Though there are still some good institutes in term of quality education which help people moulding there professional as well as their personal growth in the most desirable form. But the present rate of Dollarlization (This word is coined by me right now to define the excessive involvement of money or dollar in anything) is leading us to a situation where we have to face a serious dearth of good education centers.

You must have come across various one liner mottoes of the different educational institutes. Some of them are really eye catching and will lead to a very good upbringing of the students, if followed in ethical sense. Now these institutes should try to lift them from a level where teachers are involved only in money making and students are involved only in getting degrees. Sometimes it doesn't seem reasonable, but if we want a better future for our country, these type of initiatives has to be taken. Right at this moment it will be difficult for me to write the exact steps which should be taken to prevent the dollarization of the education and restore the glory of teaching.

Not only in the field of education, this dollarization is showing its effect on practically everything like medicine, police , municipality etc. These are the agencies whose prime responsibility is to make the life of a common man more systematic, comfortable and enjoyable. Initially the things were okay, but slowly they lost their prime focus and start finding ways to achieve some personal goals, wealth which is eventually taking the form of corruption and putrefaction.

Primary concern of these public institutions should be serving the people not to be served by people. A hospital is not built for the purpose of taking the services of people in any form, rather it's purpose is to serve people, to cure people, to treat the sick. But nowadays the treatment cost, doctor's behavior and management's interests do not display their primary purpose, rather they are driven by the secondary purpose, to be served. But they are forgetting that if a hospital will give good services to the people at considerable cost and in good will; then both will be served mutually.

That is why, I want all the public institutions to inherit the above stated motto and try to practice in real life. Then only we will be able to achieve the long awaited goal of establishing India as the leader of the world and ourselves as the citizens of The Great India.

The motto should be,

TO SERVE, NOT TO BE SERVED

One night @ call centre.

2006-01-05T19:06:00.002+05:30

After reading the last few blogs of mine, you might be thinking that, this blog will condemn the harrasment of the woman working at call centres, which the country has witnessed recently in Banglore. But no, that's not my intention here. As nobody can write about all the bad things happening in society all the time, so its altogether a different blog. "One night @ the call centre" is the name of the latest book read by me. It was written by the same author, who had written "Five Point Someone". Both the books are great, but I particularly liked the later one.

There was only one confusion about this five point thing. In IIT Kanpur the grading is based on a ten point scale, which nearly characterizes the students having five point something (Though many people believe that grades are not the true reflection of the intelligence). In my college, grading was based on a five point scale. So I guess that if the author had been a student of my college, the name of the book had been "Two Point Something". Though I should tell you very frankly that it's tougher to get two point something grade as compared to five out of five, because you have to pass in all the subjects while maintaining a perfect D in all the subjects (I know that many four pointers will not agree to that, but I am).

Sorry man, here I was supposed to write some thing about his other book. I'll not write any comment on this book, rather I'll try to give the brief introduction to that book, which may help you to make your mind for
reading this book; because I know that there are only few good books out there and you have to select those ones for the best utilization of your reading time.

This book explores the various issues faced by the call centre employees. It delves in their lifestyle. In one line the book is about a riotous relationship, a bad boss and a phone call from God. It explores a diverse set of characters -- the self-doubting Shyam; his ex-girlfriend, Priyanka, whose mother would do anything to see her married to a rich NRI; the brash and impulsive Vroom; Esha, who is desperate to make it big in the world of fashion; and Radhika, a dutiful wife whose relationship with her husband takes a disastrous turn. I have read this one paragraph analysis of the book on internet.

So what are you waiting for. You only know as you are waiting after all. I am also going home.

Signing off......

Concept of NON - MALE

2006-01-04T15:28:00.001+05:30

Hey, you shouldn't worry, as I am not going to write anything about the 50:50 public or stuff anywhere related to that world. In this article I'll write about the empowerment of woman in highly technical fields especially in engineering side.

When I search my database for the name of the women who established themselves as the leaders in this field, I found that there are very few entries. You can blame it to the traditionally male dominated society or to my poor general knowledge. I have left this decision to you only. The very first name which strike my mind is Kalpana Chawala. Some others are ......... no, there is no other name in my database. Even if I will try to do this recalling exercise for rest of the world, Marie Curie is the only name. Even she is a chemist by profession, whereas we will limit ourselves to the core engineering only.

Nevertheless, hats off to these ladies. Also I don't think, if the similar question will be asked to any normal citizen of this world (a.k.a. normal IQ, normal EQ and normal SQ), he will be able to tell about more ladies.
Don't be surprise. This is a fact.

I was unaware of this fact till 2001. At that time I was in school and had not spent any time for this specific research. But in the same year, after completing my 12th from the Xavier's, I appeared for the IIT JEE. Unfortunately, or fortunately (Subject to individual's perception) I got through this and took admission in the elite university, ISM Dhanbad. The very first day, demography of the class shocked me. There were only six girls in our batch(Total strength was 125). Later I came to know about the major reason of this imbalance which is the nature of the major engineering subjects taught at the university.

When I enquired about this demographic imbalance to some of my friends studying at some other good engineering institutions like IIT or NITs, the result was unbelievable. The ratio is more or less same in all the good colleges. After going through more details, I come to a theory, which is as follows.

The number of girls studying in engineering institutions is inversely proportional to the quality of the respective institution.
Studying medicine and engineering are entirely discrete phenomenon, which uses different cells of human mind.

These facts can be well supported by the comparison of number of female students in different colleges. Here I do not want to comment on the level of intelligence, as per related with the engineering skills, among the boys and girls. But you can easily figure this out after going through the detailed demographical data.

People are talking about women empowerment in India. But is it really happening in the engineering field. I don't think so. Also I don't think that women reservation policy will work here, as they are trying in Indian parliament. Also this will be a totally wrong strategy, if this idea will materialize in future. We should better find out some other reasons and then some other steps to...(What are we trying to do here.)

Two days before I was reading about some college fest held in IIT Bombay, in a leading newspaper. Some boys had been found referring their female batchmates as NON- MALES. They didn't think that girls studying at premier engineering institute fall under female category. Remember all this was said in a jolly and non-teasing atmosphere. This is one of the universal statements, which has been used for making fun of each other. As I have also witnessed, there is a humor associated with this. This treatment is not related with any specific girl; rather this is an indication of the low percentage of female students in premier engineering colleges. Nevertheless, it has been observed, according to the newspaper, that the girls coming out of these colleges are more confident and more successful in the life as compared to other girls.

Whatever be the case, but the use of this word NON-MALE in this context makes me laugh and think weather anybody outside of these colleges has ever noticed the low turn out of female engineers(I am referring to good engineers from some of the esteemed engineering colleges). Hey, don't put this idea in front of a lady politician. Otherwise very soon Government has to provide the reservation to girls in the top bracket engineering college.

I was just kidding. Don't think that I am a male chauvinist, rather I am an avid supporter of the feminism and want to contribute something for the upliftment of the fair sex.

We, the people of India

2006-01-02T14:36:00.001+05:30

Before saying anything, I just want to say that I do not consider myself to be an acute critic of whatever is happening in society. But the sole reason of writing here is to express my view in front of others.

You people must have seen the major news covered on the news channels during last few days. Previous year ended with a rape involving a South African model in Mumbai and new year started with the flurry of sexual harassment cases against the women in New Delhi. It is shameful for our society. Rather I should say that it is shame on we, PEOPLE OF INDIA, being the part of this society.

If you are a regular listener of prime time news on any of the national news channel, you must have heard about the series of murders of elderly couples in New Delhi. Two days back, a family was burnt alive in Raghopur, just because they were suspect in a case of missing buffalo. Two person were shot dead in a
running train in MP, just because they were refusing to pay 200 bucks for nothing. 200 bucks is still a very big amount, people are ready to kill someone for 100 rupees. What does this signify.

There are lots and lots of example which will make us think that weather we people are really civilized. Yes I agree that there had not been any single civilization, free of crime. But the quantum of these evil and disgraceful activities is so big in this present case, that the very word "civilization" started losing its meaning.

Regarding the very recent women harassment case in Delhi, I saw one of the ruling party leader of Delhi assembly at television stating his limitation in insuring the safety of women in Delhi mainly because of two reasons.

The size of Delhi, both in terms of its area as well as the diverse population, which makes it difficult to trace the culprits.
The openness present in the society which makes some of the supposedly innocent people practice some of their malefic dreams.

Now by putting my feet in the shoes of that leader, I find myself with very limited options to insure the law & order in such a huge state. You can't expect every single person or every single square foot of the land covered by a policeman. No it's definitely not possible. But atleast we should try to ensure that once the crime is reportted, the police should take a quick and rational step. It should be ideally followed by the quick judgment by the court, if the case reaches to that stage. The transparency of the system as well as its willingness to readily serve the people will make the society safer from the evilness. It will also ensure the security feeling in the society.

Another point raised by that leader was the openness present in the modern society. I do not agree to this point. But one can't rule out this point as it has been proved by some statistical data. The openness is inevitable in today's world. You can't stop it . Infact you shouldn't. But the thing is that education should be provided to everybody so that one can think about the limitations associated with the openness. One should judge all of his activities, before actually doing that. Now this openness has a very wide meaning which circles our ideas, our dressing, eating, public behavior and so many things. We can't authorize a single person to decide all the boundaries.

But we should follow the similar standards for everyone. I want no distinction being made on the basis of gender, caste, color or nationality. Then only we will be able to survive as a dignified society for a larger time. Take an example. The entire stubborn self-acclaimed mentor of Muslims are busy giving their opinion about the suitable length of Sania mirza. God knows weather they have taken a single step towards improving the poor literacy rate among the Muslims. They have not done anything to uplift the status of women in a middle class family. This was just an example. This type of psyche is omnipresent in the present society. So we have to get rid of this psyche first, we have to avoid using double standard; then only we can expect a safer and prosperous society.

Sometimes I wonder what are the reasons behind the continuous degradation of the moral values. Some of the gaudy and flashy answers which come in my mind are poverty, illiteracy, communalism, stubborn psyche and lack of opportunities.

Now one can't say that the high rate of literacy will ensure low crime rate, as people in the western countries are witnessing. But yes education will make people differentiating between good and bad, and the crime rate will certainly fall. Similar is the case with poverty. Long-term plans should be undertaken under continuous surveillance to remove poverty. But it has been seen that even in rich countries, crime rates are high. But atleast the current rate and form of crime will decrease.

Yup, I know that it's easier said than done. But in reality I want to do something for the society. I want to positively contribute in the system which is involved in the upliftment of the masses and the society. In today's world, if a child aspires for being a politician; his intentions are doubted as if he just want to do it for money and the corruption. The situation has to be changed. And nobody will come from different planet to do it. We, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA have to take the responsibility and try to contribute our part to improve the society and help India to reclaim its supremacy in the world, about which we have only read in history books.

I believe I can fly

2006-01-02T12:15:00.001+05:30

Writing down my new year's resolutions on a paper has never been there in my scheme of doing things. I tried to write it here, but again it seems that this will not be possible to pen down so many things. So again I will take the help of a beautiful song written by Mr. xyz, to define what and how I want to do in 2006..

I believe I can fly

I believe I can touch the sky

I think about it every night and day

Spread my wings and fly away

I believe I can soar

I see me running through that open door

I believe I can fly

There are miracles in life I must achieve

But first I know it starts inside of me, oh

If I can see it, then I can do it

If I just believe it, there's nothing to it

Hey, cuz I believe in me, oh

Hey, if I just spread my wings

I can fly

I can fly,

Fly-I-I

After reading all this, don't say that I cannot fly. I can do whatever I want to do. Rather anybody can do whatever he wants.

Bye bye 2005.

2005-12-30T18:51:00.000+05:30

Today is the last working day of this year. So office hours had been reduced upto 15:30 hrs. But I am still sitting on the chair in front of a computer in my office writing one useless blog. But the actual reason for this prolonged stay in office was something different, some genuine work was there.

But now I am free. I can go.

So better call it a day, infact a year.

Signing off from 2005.

Will be back in 2006.

Signing off...

.............
......
...
.

Yahoo messenger

2005-12-30T11:03:00.001+05:30

I guess, the very name of Yahoo is getting synonymous with the internet. No internet savvy can deny that. So I don't see the need to explain about the services offered by the yahoo messenger. I can say that yahoo messenger is the best IM service offered till date, atleast for me. In some distant past I used to like MSN messenger as well, but most of my friends are not using this; so I failed to carry out my interest in it any further.

Now you will ask, what made me write about it. The thing is, recently YM has developed some problems in

proxy setting at my computer. Therefore I could not logged in YM for last couple of weeks and finding myself missing something in office hrs. It doesn't mean that I am wasting my office hrs for useless chat on YM, rather it gives me a feeling that I am connected to other people as well while working in my office. One can't deny the importance of mobile phone in this regard, but Yahoo messenger is something different.

I remember the days, when I was in the first year of university; the number of hours which I spent on YM is countless. Albeit most of these hours involved chatting uselessly with some total strangers, but it made me happy at that time. We used to rush to the computer centre after the last period of the day, just to get a compuer having messenger installed on it. The plot was little different in night when there were only two computers in the computer room at our hostel for the entire hostel populataion. But I remember that I used to be in selected few who wait till the morning 4 o'clock to get their bit.

Eventually we got the internet connection at our room in later part of the third year, but till that time we were saturated with the useless chatting on YM. So at that time onwards we have started using YM to chat with friends only. In-between a dispiriting phase came when YM was blocked by the administration due to the heavy traffic and problems of IP conflict. But boys at our college (It should be same for other colleges, I guess.) are very smart, as they found some way to overcome that restriction with the help of two other softwares like hopster and gaim. But I can assure you of one thing that people had really googled (This usage is correct, if I am not wrong) hard to find out this solution. That's precisely what some of of our bright software professionals (batchmates) have to do in the future. Overall we were never devoid of the pleasure and services offered by YM.

So here it was, the story of YM. I will tell you about my first encounter with internet some other time.

24 x 7 News channels

2005-12-29T11:04:00.001+05:30

I am writing this particular blog just because I freaked out when I saw this news coverage on some channel which is trying real hard to fill the slots in its 24 x 7 non stop service.

It was a news involving the biggest star of the millennium, none other than Amitabh Bacchan. AB has been suffering from some bad health for last one month or so. No, I didn't gross out due the extensive coverage of his hospital stay on the mass media. He is having such a stature that this type of things bound to happen.

This particular news was related to his visit to TIRUPATI temple alongwith his family, after he was released from the hospital. And the direct correspondent of the esteemed news channel was giving the live coverage of that, answering the following questions of his colleague present in the headquarters..

1. What is AB thinking while entering the temple premises.

2. What prayer he has offered there.

3. Was there any reason to visit the temple.

4. Was there something speacial in the assistance offered by Pujaris.

5. Is there any contribution of Anil Ambani in the planning of this trip.

6. Weather people were happy to see AB in temple premises or they were just involved in their prayers.

7. Lots and lots of question like that..

I am not against this type of news reporting. Also I am not complaining why AB is getting this type of media treatment. Instead I am a big fan of him. Is there anything wrong if I expect something more meaningful from these news channels. Okay, they informed the public about AB's visit to TIRUPATI, but it should be left to that only. In my view they shouldn't try to analyze what prayers anybody is offering in a temple.

One fortnight ago, I read in Times of India, that Mr. Murthy has requested to the editor that only positive news should be covered on the frontpage of the newspaper, as it is the first thing we see in the morning. I like that idea. Yes, reporting of bad or evil things present in the society is also the responsibilty of media. But these news should be presented in such a way that it should give an overall positive impact on any mind. The presentation should be in such a way so that people will try to refrain from evilness.

The whole idea of this blog is to express my expectation from the media. I want the news coverage to be more positive, more meaningful and more helpful in building a good society. I don't want to see only crime reports or some useless crap, whenever I switch my TV on after returning home after working whole day in the office.

I don't know weather you people agree to this point or not, or I have presented my views clearly or not; but I know one thing for sure that some changes are necessary in the present working of media to make it more beneficial to the society as well as the country.

NOISE or MUSIC

2005-12-28T17:05:00.004+05:30

Again today morning, it so happened that I got up early in the morning, switched the 7800 W Sony system on and put in one of my favorite CD. The music played by the system was very pleasant. This was a pretty classic collection of pop music.

Boxing day test match was going on in Melbourne. South Africa was fighting hard to establish its resurgent image in world cricket. On the other side Australian bowlers were trying hard to reclaim their lost supremacy in the world cricket. Nope I was not in Melbourne. I was just watching the match on the television relaxing on the sofa in the living room of our flat on the sixth floor of a tall building in Baroda; the volume of the TV was muted and Marvin Gaye was singing something on the music system.

Don’t worry if you have not heard about Marvin Gaye. You need not to know everybody on the earth. But he had sung one of my favorite songs, that’s how I know his name.

I can’t explain my feelings regarding the lyrics of this particular song, as I am very bad on expressing my true
feelings to others, particularly on paper. It was just a fabulous song, having a very touchy lyrics and a pleasant music. In short, the song being played at that time is one of my favorites.

Slowly the sound level started increasing. Of course I was pressing the volume button on the remote. For me it was still good music, but somebody else residing in the same tall building had an entirely different perception. That gentleman came to our flat and started knocking the door. After opening the door, within a matter of few seconds; I found myself explaining to that gentleman that Marvin Gaye is not crying, instead he is singing. Sometimes it becomes real hard to judge that weather a particular sound falls under NOISE category or MUSIC category. The discussion also gave me an insight of the difficulties faced by the teachers in explaining certain ethical things to the students. Till now you must have understood the intentions of that gentleman.

The bottom line is, one can’t imagine that this type of music can be unpleasant for anybody. So please have a look on few lines of that song and try to listen it, if u can.

Listen, baby
Ain't no mountain high
Ain't no valley low
Ain't no river wide enough, baby

If you need me, call me
No matter where you are
No matter how far
Just call my name
I'll be there in a hurry
You don't have to worry

'Cause baby,
There ain't no mountain high enough
Ain't no valley low enough
Ain't no river wide enough
To keep me from getting to you

Please let me know how you feel about this particular song. In-between I’ll let you know about the outcome of that discussion sometime in the future.

P.S. – Do not ever try to refer this healthy discussion between the neighbors as quarrel or wrangle or something like that. You just need to understand that the same sound will act like a soothing music sometimes and acerbic noise at some other times, depending upon your own perception.

Days of our lives : Long break

2005-12-28T15:14:00.001+05:30

Due to some unavoidable reasons, I have taken this long break from this series. This will be continued after some time.

Inbetween I'll try to write something other than this series.

Days of our lives : Part II

2005-12-01T19:26:00.002+05:30

It was something around two o’clock in the night. We, the group of ten young “To be engineers” had boarded the train. Everybody was too excited about the training cum vacation period. After all, it had come only after seven days of grueling semester exams. For most of the people this operose period begins much before the actual exam. Nevertheless, the exams were finished.

As we entered the train, we found that some of our reserved berths had been occupied by other respected elderly citizens of India (I was confused about one of them, weather he is a senior citizen or...). They did have the tickets till Dhanbad only, but they wanted to continue their journey till next station (which will come only after one full hour). Also they are not willing to vacate the seats till next station.

In-between one of THE ANGRY YOUNG BOY from our group had tried to put his luggage on the seat; and in this process hit that elderly person on his face. This is the peak point of half an hour long heated discussion and clapper-clawing. Now this elderly citizen of India lost all his morality and started abusing us. But he didn’t know that we were master in that language also. But nobody from us had uttered a single derogatory word towards that elderly man except Mr. H. Mr. H is a good friend of mine, but some time he loses his control over the words he is speaking. (Overall He was a close pal of mine during my graduation. It doesn’t mean that he is the only one, but I don’t want to discuss about my other friends here in this blog).

We were ten at that time and they were only five. But we didn’t want the fight. Slowly the heat in the boggy kept on increasing. Better I say that boggy started boiling (Not in the physical sense like in Godhara, what an unfortunate incident that was). Suddenly everybody got stunned after hearing one of the most notorious “one liners” in the world. Somebody amongst us claimed that he is the son of the SP (Superintendent of police) of Bokaro district and by the virtue of that he will screw all those in the opposition. This can happen only in india.

So the most coveted white lie of the century was being told in front of our eyes only. After lots of effort, we digested that fact. Momentarily silence and again the similar shouting started. After lots of hiss and hustle, we finally succeeded to get all of our seats. Some of us started to sleep. Some others tried to explain their contribution in sorting out the whole issue. Next 38 hours were full of amusement. Discussion on weird topics, lots of gossip, playing cards etc continued for rest of the journey. Finally, after that eventful journey we reached Bombay (Or Mumbai… I guess it was Dadar).

We took a bus (after long discussions about hiring two private taxis) for Uran and reached there after two hours, somewhere around four o’clock in the afternoon.

Rest of the story will follow in next posts.

To be continued…

Days of our lives : Part I

2005-11-27T19:12:00.003+05:30

Here I will try to go down the memory lane and try to jot down some of the experiences I had during the summer training (or internship, whatever) one and half year back. I still have some vivid memories of that trip.

Time was nearing the end of third year of graduation. We had just submitted our junior project, a real time physical working model of Dynamic Positioning System. The completion of this project is itself a very big story, which I will tell some other time. But I must tell you something, that people were saying that our project has increased the expectations of professors from the students. In a course, where traditionally (barring some exceptions) people had been submitting only the wooden models of machines, our model was a revelation. It was also an alarming signal for the juniors, because they have to prepare some real good projects(As told by some of them :P). I don’t know how far the above things are true regarding the project, but yes rumors were everywhere.

Hold on, this post is about the training, not the project. Two places where we were supposed to spend next six weeks, were Bombay and Surat. There were twenty five of us. Some people (I will not call them lucky) got internship in so called MNC’s. But they are very few and rest of us including me, got a chance to complete our internship at the Indian MNC, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited. Yes this is the most profitable Navaratna Company of Indian government.

So we had formed two groups, and divided ourselves in these groups. The division of the group was pretty obvious. One group (my group) was little bit more sophisticated whereas the second group was not so sophisticated. Our group has decided first to go to Uran, which is a place near Bombay. So we booked our tickets in Howrah – Bombay Mail. And the very same day, on which our semester exam has finished, we boarded the train.

To be continued…………......

The butterfly effect

2005-11-25T18:18:00.001+05:30

Few days back, I was having a little gab with one of my elderly colleague. We have discussed something regarding the power of imagination. Everybody is having different levels of imagination. But in order to feel happy, to feel meaningful, you have to imagine, you have to give colors to every dimension of you thoughts. And you should also try to materialize those imaginations, whenever possible.

Coming to the point, try to imagine, a white piece of paper that has a sketch of a butterfly. Five different people were given ten different color crayons each and were asked to color the butterfly.

It’s almost certain that you get five entirely different butterflies at the end. Some individuals may have imagined the colorful butterfly, even before starting the painting assignment. Some others may start by using their favorite color and follow it up with the best match afterwards. Some others may color their last memory of a butterfly while some of them have not even started. So you can see how different people are from each other.

Also, it’s not just about the coloring of the butterflies. Similar type of instincts and thought processes are being followed in every sphere of our lives. So only we can decide, in what category we are falling. And what category is the best is a debatable topic. So I am leaving that.

Previous example has demonstrated about the different dimensions of imagination and the next example will demonstrate about the different levels of imagination. Put those five people in a close room having some furniture, flowers and paintings, and tell them to describe that room. You may find some of them referring to the furniture and paintings only in their description. Some others may go deeper and describe the paintings also in addition to the regular description. Some of them may go little bit further and explain their feeling while being in that room in addition to all other earthly things. Sometimes they force you to think that you are also sitting with them in the same room, just by their writings.

So you can see the different levels of imagination, people are having. So dare to imagine and make your thinking sphere more colorful. Try to involve your heart in the decision making, as it will make your life more meaningful. Still mind should be the one which should give the final nod. If you can develop your imagination to the fullest and try to make them materialized, then it will certainly enrich your inner self. Also, please remember, no matter what the final outcome is, the most important thing is that you tried for that.

Some body, I don’t remember his name, had said the following lines hundreds of years before; but it feels really great to feel in that way even now.

Some men see things as they are and say, why;
I dream of things that never were and say, why not.

Let's get started.

2005-11-23T19:53:00.001+05:30

Why do people do certain things and not certain other things, why they like one particular person and not some other, have you ever tried to find an answer to this question? Why people are happy sometime and not so happy on some other time. Have you ever tried?

Why do people live? There has to be some specific reason. Everybody has his own reasons, which are entirely different from each others. That’s precisely what makes the people so different after being constituted by the similar type of bones, nose, ear, mouth and other stuff. Okay, I agree that there are some differences in the color, height or texture of the people, but it’s the reason or aim of the life which makes all the other differences. So everybody should try to explore the very reason, why he is living in this beautiful world or this ugly world.

Okay you have identified the basic reason why you are alive. But the one thing which will decide the course of actions for you, is your target or goal. Weather it’s a short-term goal or a long term goal; you do certain things and you avoid certain other things to achieve that goal only. If it is so, then why not we should try to discover the very goal, for which we are spending the days of our lives.

So you know the very reason, for which you are living and the goal which you want to do. Now you have to find out the various tools which may be needed to accomplish your goal. So first plan for the actions and find out the different tools. The earlier you find these tools, the easier it will be to accomplish the goal.

Finally, you have to start somewhere executing these plans with the available tools, because if you will not start, then you will go nowhere. Also it’s impossible to achieve any goal without starting working towards it. Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So let’s get started.

What you are right now is not the cause of what happened to you in the past; it is what you decided to be happened with you. So learn the lessons, cherish the experiences and try to acknowledge that failure is just another opportunity to begin again, with more efficiently.

You might feel that I am being slightly philosophical here. But believe me, half an hour back, I have read three pages full of preaching which prompted me to write something. And the above is the summary of all that. So if you feel anything special (bad or good) about this piece, do give your comments.

When you say nothing at all.

2005-11-22T19:00:00.001+05:30

Have you ever wonder, what the significance of the language in our life is. The actual meaning of language is perceived differently by various people. But the dictionary meaning of the word is “A systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols” or “The cognitive processes involved in producing and understanding linguistic communication”.

It’s the very language which separates the human kind from the other species. That’s why first the language was developed and then came the civilizations followed by the culture. Language has been the starting tool which has been used for the development of the history of the mankind. I never knew what the first language spoken on the earth was.

People say that the very first tool used for the communication was the human emotions. Human emotions somehow are related with the different lines on the human face. Just by looking on the face, anybody can guess what is the state of mind of that particular person at that particular instant. Weather it is joy, happiness, ecstasy, wonder or it is sadness, tension, whatever it is, the very face of that person speaks of his feelings.

Sometimes you will be surrounded by lots of people, lots of loud voices, but you may not be getting a single word what the public wants to convey. But at many instances you understand whole world of feelings or emotion, without hearing a single word from a person in front of him. Yes it happens, when a child smiles in front of a mother and similar type of selfless relationships. So here it goes,

It's amazing
How you can speak right to my heart
Without saying a word, you can light up the dark
Try as I may, I could never explain
What I hear when you don't say a thing

And after that, one of my favorite lyrics

The smile on your face
Lets me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes, saying you'll never leave me
The touch of your hand says, you'll catch me whenever I fall

You say it best
When you say Nothing at all.

I N I

2005-11-21T18:22:00.001+05:30

I N I … These words are not the initials of some ordinary association or institutes. I heard somewhere that Government is using this word as a very important category of institutes. INI refers to the Institutes of National Importance. But I found one very strange usage of INI, in which JANTA is referring those institutes as Institutes NOT Important.

One another abbreviation was PTPS. There was a school named PTPS School, whom the public was referring like Pagal Teacher Pagal Student.

Height of ridiculous imagination.

So is there any point in writing this stuff on this dashboard. Nope, I guess. So I’ll not write anymore of these any longer. I’ll write something else, but tomorrow only.

I am back.

2005-11-14T16:21:00.002+05:30

I AM BACK.

After all this is not the only thing where I am showing this much of inconsistency. I had also started diary writing sometime back, but I don’t remember when the last time I have written something in a diary was. So this time I’ll try to be little bit more consistent.

As in my previous post also, I am not sure, on what topic I should write and what should I write. But here it goes….

There was a humanities course in my undergraduate studies, named effective communication. In that particular course, our professor tried to teach us so many things, but the only line I remember now goes like that.. That’s ridiculous, you can’t say like that. After that course, it so happened that I used so many lines based on the same format for rest of my stay in the college.

I have written these things here, because right now I am thinking that how ridiculous the life can be. From past few days, nothing is going in proper manner. Before I can write any further, I have to complete another small assignment as it’s my office from where I am trying to blog. So, will write more next time..

No rose, no diamond ring

2005-10-14T17:53:00.003+05:30

Hi folks, this is the very first time I am writing here. A cool blog, which I have read today morning, made me share some of my thoughts with you.

Right now, sitting in the office in the closing hours of the day, I am trying to write something. But the only thing I can think of writing this time is little bit wierd. And its because, today I recieved a mail containing a photograph having the following caption,

No rose, no diamond ring, but if this is not love, what is love?

Photograph is the same. I don't know what thought comes in your mind after watching this picture and reading its caption, but it will certainly make you feel that we people are really lucky.

I don't know who they are, where are they from, but the picture has some effect which is more than just something . First of all, is this photograph really portraying love? Sometimes I get an yes for the question, no at other times. I just don't know what to write here. So I will look forward for your comments on the same. Till that time, follow the second line of the caption which says...

With enthusiasm, love your life! Love the people around you!

And the clock is hitting 7 which means I have spent more than 1 hour past the normal office closure time. So I should leave now....

I am leaving..........

leaving...

left.