Life is like that...

Moved..

2011-08-23T09:19:00.003Z

Got bored of this layout..and lethargic enough to change it.

Moving on to new space. From now on , you can find me here

Cheers!

From where I source my books?

2011-05-24T06:44:00.004Z

I have been an avid reader all my life. I still find it difficult to eat my lunch/dinner without any book in front of me. Bad habit I know. During my school days, I remember going through the same article of ‘Cricket Samrat’ umpteen number of time because of paucity of new magazines or books at home. I and my brother used to have a daily scuffle on who would read the newspaper first. Sharing its pages was a complete no no.

My taste of books has undergone sea of change if you compare it with those cricket samrat days but this post is not about my reading taste. It’s about where do I source my books from?

Beg, Borrow or Steal:
This was the mantra till I finished my engineering. Quite late I know. And the steal part is a bit exaggeration. As steal part didn’t materialize, I never really owned any books till I finished my college. Begged and borrowed ones had to be returned to the kings and the Queens who owned them.

Roadside vendors:
I discovered them during my stint in Bombay and boy more than me, my wallet loved them. Pirated books were every where. Next to VT station, Fort, Fashion Street, near CST, Bandra, Andheri. 3 books for 150 bucks! And when they came that cheap, I never really bothered about 4-5 missing pages after every 50 pages!

Crossroads/Landmark:
When you have means, you always tend to find ways to put an end to it (whatever it means). I started earning sometime in 2003 and suddenly I was seeing Crossroads, Landmarks and Odysseys all around me. I started spending a fortune there. Huge business they got from me! And then the online thing happened.

Indiaplaza:
One of my friends pointed me to Indiaplaza where you could find anything and everything under the sun at great discounts. How true it was. He never told me though how pathetic they were in delivering those goods. As they say, always try to learn from other’s experience rather than making your own mistakes. (One good thing about me, I remember these quotes I just don’t implement them) I ordered my books from Indiaplaza and used to wait till eternity for delivery after numerous calls. I am sure my cell phone bills must have superseded the price of the book. Anyways, I repeated the process quite a few times before Flipkart happened.

Flipkart:
Anyone with some business sense would have realized that the market for online book shopping was up for grabs. It took two guys from IIT-D to execute it to perfection. What a dream run it has been for the company since its inception three years ago.I must have ordered around 30 books from them till now and yet to see a delayed delivery. Their prompt delivery service is what sets them apart. Till the time they are here, I don’t see a reason to buy books from any other store or website. Their nearest competition? Apparently Indiaplaza (really?).

Cheers!

Commonwealth Games Bulletin

2010-08-30T12:42:00.001Z

25^th September 2010:

It was a busy day for all the people involved in the preparation of Commonwealth Games (CWG). Sheila Dixit assured the nation today that God willing, we will have the best Commonwealth Games ever. Final patch work is underway at a frantic pace at Jawaharlal Nehru and Talkatora Stadium while specialists from England are working round the clock to fix the leakages at Siri Fort Sports complex. These have just missed 7^th final deadline. This morning Sheila told the waiting reporters that the deadline has been extended for one final time by 15 days. Reporters reminded her that mathematically it cannot be extended by more than 7 days as we are scheduled to hold opening ceremony on 3^rd Oct. She settled for 7 days.

Another CWG scam broke out in electronic media today. It seems that Organising Committee (OC) decided to import pigeons for the opening ceremony from Australia instead of using home grown pigeons and the contract was given to a company owned by Michael Fennell’s son’s friend’s wife’s uncle. Rs 5, 00,000 for each bird were paid in advance for 1000 such pigeons. Kalmadi has rejected the allegation terming it as baseless and said he is ready for any enquiry. He said that the contract was given after employing a transparent process. He added that these pigeons are not normal Indian pigeons but well trained ones capable of handing over any letter anywhere in the world. To substantiate his claim, he told the reporters that the pigeon used in 1989 Hindi blockbuster ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ was also provided by the same firm and reminded them that he successfully delivered the letter to Salman Khan. Meanwhile, Menaka Gandhi slammed this entire practice of keeping the pigeons under the cage and termed it as cruelty against birds.

27^th September 2010:

Today it was decided that Jawaharlal Nehru, Talkatora Stadium and Siri Fort Sports Complex will not be handed over to CWG OC as there is no time to actually do a formal handover. These will now be handed over directly to the athletes in whatever state they will be on 3^rd of October. Final patchwork is on target i.e. on 8^th revised target. A decision has also been taken to wrap the entire Connaught place with thick white cloth to cover up the debris and the unfinished work. Apparently, project was on time but when it was about to complete, MTNL decided to dig the entire place to run telephone lines. It was done again but this time MCD decided to dig the same for laying cables. When it was done for the final time, NDMC workers dug all of it as protest because they were not paid their last month wages. CPM welcomed this approach of workers and called for a 3 day bandh in Kolkata. Sitaram Yechury asked for Sheila Dixit’s resignation. Sheila Dixit visited Akshardham temple today after a quick visit to all stadiums and was seen praying silently next to Lord Indra’s statue.

Jawaharlal Nehru, Talkatora Stadium and Siri Fort Sports Complex will have Athletics, Boxing and badminton competition respectively from 4^th to 9^th October. Final patchwork is in final stages now while landscaping has been abandoned for good. It has been decided that the athletes competing at these venues will be given a greeting card with only 3 words carved inside it, All Izz Well, suggesting the state of the stadium roofs. Till this afternoon, catering for the games was still not in place but Mr. Lalit Bhanot pulled a coup. He managed to get the agreement from Haldiram’s and Bikanerwala, in the interest of the nation, to take care of games catering in makeshift tents, stores and restaurants outside stadiums and CWG village. Prime Minister lauded this effort of Mr Bhanot and has forwarded his name for next year ‘Padma Awards’.

The day ended with Gauri the Cow, India’s answer to Paul the Octopus predicting that India will top the medals tally in these games. This has sent shock waves among the Indian athletes. Kalmadi has termed the allegation as baseless while Meneka Gandhi has protested the use of holy cow for such practices and termed it as cruelty against animals.

Oh Randiv! The Sehwag-No Ball Controversy

2010-08-18T15:25:00.001Z

Randiv has apologised. So has Sri Lanka Cricket. Are we still making too much out it? I surely don’t think so. There is no doubt about the fact that Randiv’s ‘no ball’ was deliberate to deny Sehwag a century. His apology to Sehwag has put it beyond just accusation.

More revealing was the fact that stump microphone actually caught captain Sangakkara reminding Randiv ‘if Sehwag touches the ball, he will get a century’. Let me be clear. It’s not about the laws. Both Sangakkara and Randiv are well within laws to bowl a ‘no ball’ even if it’s a deliberate one. People are questioning the spirit under which the cricket was played. Sri Lanka was nowhere close to winning the match and hence the sole purpose was to deny Sehwag a well deserved century. As per the rules, captain is supposed to ensure fair play on the field and here Randiv, who is barely 2 test matches old, was urged by none other than his skipper to bowl a ‘no ball’!

As one of my dear friend suggested, ‘what if the last Indian pair (Ojha and Ishant) batting in Murali's last test match had denied Murali his 800th test victim by running themselves out?’ Fair point. They would have been well within the rules then!

In defence of Randiv, I must say there have been similar instances where the line of fair play was blurred. Even by Sehwag. In one of the recent test matches against South Africa, Amla and Morkel were at the crease when one of the strokes was deliberately put beyond the boundary ropes when Sehwag kicked the ball. This was to stop Amla from retaining the strike. Atleast in this instance, Indians were in sight of a victory with the last pair on the crease. This wasn’t an act of deliberately stopping someone from a deserved personal milestone as it was in this case or it would have been in Murali’s case. Though in no way I am supporting the act of Sehwag here.

If Sangakkara is guilty, then it’s a blot on his career however illustrious it may have been. Like the one that Greg Chappell will always carry on his shoulders (though not of the same proportion). So where are we going from here. In all wrong directions. As I write this, Sangakkara has denied that he played any role in this incident and Sri Lankan Board has asked for a thorough report from the manager. It would have been better if Sangakkara would have acknowledged his brain freeze and apologised as Randiv did. Match referee could have played a role too and the matter could have been buried under the archives of cricinfo.

Movie Review : Peepli [LIVE]

2010-08-14T18:11:00.001Z

Let me set the tone of this review. Peepli [Live] is not a 'must watch'. It’s a good and different movie which you don’t see often in Hindi cinema. A commendable effort by Aamir Khan Productions and Anusha Rizvi, the debutante director. Anyways, if you watch only 'must watch' these days, you will end up seeing only a couple of movies or worse, none in entire year!

The movie is a slapstick drama set in a sleepy village called Peepli where Natha, a destitute farmer who is about to lose his land, decides (or rather coaxed by his brother) to commit suicide in anticipation of handsome compensation from government. The film depicts how the plight of a poor farmer become the TRP catching fodder for media and a tool to go one up among politicians.

Natha is played by one Omkar Das Manikpuri an outsider to anything remotely related to Bollywood. He fits the character to perfection. He may have very little dialogues but he brilliantly portrays a simple man who is just overawed by the occasion and the attention he gets from everyone ranging from media and local touts to national politicians. On the flip side, Rizvi never tried to explore the psyche of a man who was hounded by thousands just to capture his suicide, live.

Three characters stand out in the movie. Shalini Vatsa as Natha’s wife Dhaniya, Farrukh Jaffer as foul mouthed amma, and Vishal Sharma as television reporter Kumar Deepak (a cloned Deepak Chaurasia). Raghubir Yadav has done full justice to his part but a seasoned actor like him could have sleepwalked through a role which is his forte. All other characters fit the bill too and looked lively on the screen, be it TV reporter Nandita (Malaika Shenoy) or the local Journalist Rakesh (Nawazuddin). Almost entire cast has theatre background and you should not be amazed by their acting prowess. Such is the bar theatre people have set for themselves on big screen.

Though director has tried to keep the movie short (a little under 100 min) as per the script requirement, squabble among the journalists for a byte becomes a bit repetitive after the first half. Dialogues are crisp and the local dialect and accent makes them even more interesting. Rizvi has brilliantly captured the mood of a village and superbly portrayed the TRP hungry media houses. On music front, you will surely enjoy ‘Mehengai Dayan’ sung by Raghubir Yadav in his rustic base voice.

Films like Peepli [Live] come few and far between as the producers today simply don’t see any commercial viability in subjects like farmer suicide. It’s a film which has shades of black humour. You surely won’t be disappointed if you decide to visit a theatre near you to watch it.

MNS cleanup operation

2010-08-09T13:49:00.002Z

The self proclaimed messiah of Marathi Manoos opened his mouth again yesterday. Interestingly, he didn’t spit out some more garbage. Instead he chose to talk about cleaning it!

I would really love to see a follow up story on this one...

CWG

2010-08-06T18:20:00.002Z

...Sadly no one is talking about the athletes, their preparation and their upcoming performances!

Sad state of affairs indeed.

Cheers!

The power of Shivaji

2009-08-27T08:51:00.002Z

There is so much to write these days but then these statues keep popping from everywhere. I was just done with Mayawati's concrete avatar and now there is already competition to her. I wrote about him two years back. If it would have been a plan to do something good for the people, impacting them directly and adding some value to their lives, it would have surely been long forgotten. But then how can you forget Shivaji? Specially when elections are fast approaching. So the plan was taken out of the dust, file was cleaned and now they have taken the decision (Though a formal government's approval is still pending). It seems whenever a state grapples with fears of drought, they tackle it by planning the statues. First UP and now Maharashtra.

The entire project of putting Shivaji Maharaj in sea complete with plush gardens would cost the exchequer a cool 350 crores. Those who are not too fond of Shivaji can enjoy books at the library, if you are not too much of a 'sea' person you can visit the museum and the foodcourts there or if you are not into statues there would be a 200 seater amphitheatre.

What a monumental waste of money!

Cheers!

BJP At The Crossroads

2009-08-24T14:11:00.001Z

The party with a difference is surely a different party these days. It’s limping badly. One can draw parallels with Jinnah. The preacher of communal harmony in 1916 became the sole messiah of Muslim in 1946. Same way as BJP from the single largest party and the ruling one in 2001 is now, in 2009, an organisation that resembles more like Pakistan Cricket Board as far as infighting, bickering and power struggle is concerned. The change is swift and radical. The party which sells itself for its ideology is struggling to define it.

In the last 5 months, party has spent most of its time in defending venom spewing Varun Gandhi, trying to satisfy the ego of Jaitley and Rajnath Singh (remember Sudhanshu Mittal episode), ignoring the poll debacle, mishandling Vasundhra Raje episode and the expulsion of the veteran leader, Jaswant Singh. Yesterday, Sudheendra Kulkarni dissociated himself from BJP because of ideological differences. All these are clear signs of breakdown.

With A B Vajpayee out of active politics, at 81, Advani cannot be seen as the future of the party. In fact, many say that the decision to expel Jaswant Singh was taken to douse the chants (RSS chief among them) of instating younger leader at the helm. With no clear succession plan in place, this ego tussle between the individuals is bound to grow exponentially and there is no dearth of second string leaders in BJP. For every Rajnath Singh, there is Murali Manohar Joshi, for every Sushma Swaraj, there is Vankaya Naidu and for every Yashwant Sinha, there is Arun Jaitley. Not to forget the state stalwarts like Narendra Modi, Sushil Modi, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Kalraj Mishra, Ravi Shankar Prasad etc and then there is RSS burden to tackle.

BJP catapulted to the national scene with the emotive Hindutva issue and managed to encash it for few years. But, to be honest, the issue practically died down with the demolition of Babri masjid. Now there is a makeshift temple at the disputed site and everyone in the BJP knows in their hearts that the talks of proposed temple at Ayodhaya are mere fiction. They briefly tried to reignite same agenda on the name of Kashi and Mathura but realised that people don’t buy stale food. They then tried to tread the aggressive tone with the nuclear tests in Pokhran, Kargil and then Operation Parakram. Then there was the aggressive economic agenda which they tried to sell through much maligned 'India Shining' campaign and failed miserably. Since then, Congress has patented the idea of economic progress of India.

BJP now stands at crossroads, unable to decide what its core ideology is and what agenda to pursue. With only a handful of states in its bag and the ever diminishing seats in parliament, BJP now plays the role of opposition which can be passed as laughable at best. And with a herd of leaders with fat egos sitting at various influential positions within the party, their future looks bleak, atleast for the time being.

Cheers!

WTF!

2009-08-14T18:43:00.004Z

Read this.

The Cricket Board on Thursday cleared the deck for ex-ICL players, who have been granted amnesty, to take part in the third edition of the Indian Premier League with a cap on their payment being a maximum of Rs 20 lakhs.

Great!! I thought. First line of the article probably carried the best thing BCCI has done in recent past, amnesty to ICL players. By the time the line ended, BCCI was at it yet again proclaiming, “We are fools but love to flaunt it”. Cap on their fees, maximum being 20 Lakhs in a scenario where others including foreign players are minting money? Poor lads are still being discriminated. After being banned from playing any sort of serious cricket for more than 2 years, they are now being welcomed to IPL with the ICL tag firmly pasted on their purse by BCCI. If BCCI would have its way, they would have asked the ICL players to complete a period of 6 months rigorous imprisonment before being eligible for national selection or IPL. Niranjan Shah would have asked each player to polish his shoes one by one for a week before being given amnesty.

In 1869, Charles Darwin gave his theory, ‘Survival for the fittest’. These days, BCCI is. They are the ones who have the power and are calling all the shots in world cricket and the scenario is likely to remain unchanged for at least a decade. So we can expect more coming from them in near future. They are in world cricket what America used to be in the world for most part of last two decades.

Cheers!

Sab Maya(wati) Hai!

2009-08-04T18:52:00.002Z

On Monday, Mayawati has raised a fresh demand of Rs 556 crores from the supplementary budget of the state for the memorial projects. Not forgetting the state drought, she has asked for an additional sum of Rs 250 crores.

A prominent party functionary has asked behenji to review her demand. In a letter written to Mayawati, he has asked her to merge these 250 crores to 556 crores as the contractors working on these memorial projects are already managing all her statues and a large number of elephants on a shoestring budget. As per him, drought has become yearly phenomenon and there is no solution to it other than waiting for the next year rains. On the other hand, memorial parks and statues will remain there forever, reminding people of the glorious achievement of Behen Mayawati.

Update: The budget is now approved. Mayawati gets Rs 806 crores for memorials. Demand for the budget for drought has been dropped. In a separate letter to the above functionary, she has asked for the meaning of the word ‘shoestring’.

January 2010:
All the pending memorial projects are now complete but in the meantime 258 new memorial projects have been announced and now they are pending. Out of these, 105 are parks with statues of Mayawati, 65 are parks with statues of Mayawati along with Kanshiram, 30 are parks with statues of Mayawati, Kanshiram and B R Ambedkar, 40 are shopping malls with the statue of Mayawati with a designer bag at the entrance and 18 are women’s mega toilets where only dalit women will be allowed. All the parks will bear the name “Mayawati memorial parks” .These will be differentiated from each other only by the colour of the statues. All the malls will be christened as “Mayawati Malls”. These will be differentiated from each other by the brand of the hand bag her statue will hold. Fresh demand for budget has been made to the UP assembly.

July 2012:
All 258 projects are now completed as these were fast tracked and took priority before 27 bridges, 10 dams and electrification of 234 villages. As usual, 315 new projects have been announced. At the last count, UP has
26,512 elephants – 512 in flesh, 26,000 in concrete
6423 Mayawatis – 1 in flesh, 5000 in concrete and rest in bronze
2367 Kanshirams – All concrete
1215 Ambedkars – All concrete

December 2012:
Mayawati has just launched a ‘one of its kind project’. An order has been passed where all road dividers on state highways would be replaced by the statues of elephants. Elephant statues will be erected one behind the other and these will serve as road divider. Party supporters have expressed joy and have demanded “MTV innovative idea of the year award” for her.

May 2013:
Mayawati has made it compulsory for all the citizens of UP to display either an elephant or a Mayawati outside their houses. Citizens need to bear the cost of the statues as the state’s finances are in doldrums. In an unrelated announcement, she has banned the ‘laughing Buddha’. Instead there would be miniature ‘Laughing Kanshiram’ which people can buy from Mayawati stores after paying a ‘voluntary’ undisclosed sum. This money would be used for Mayawati’s birthday party.

April 2020:
Mayawati is serving her 6th term as Chief Minister now. Any influx of people from other city to Noida and Lucknow has been barred as there is severe space crunch in these cities. A recent census shows that the number of elephant statues have outnumbered the number for people below the age of 30 years in the state. In a new directive, Mayawati has declared that any new statues of elephants will be made hollow and big enough to accommodate one family inside it. These will be used to house dalit people who are currently staying in various shanties in slum areas. These shanties will be bulldozed and space for more such hollow elephants will be made. Party supporters have expressed joy and have demanded “MTV innovative idea of the year award” for her for 9th straight year. Fresh demand for the budget for these hollow elephant project has been made to the UP assembly.

Cheers!

Babudom and Netaland

2009-07-31T18:34:00.003Z

One thing that I badly missed during my two year stint in UK was books of my taste. Though there were government libraries providing books free of cost, I rarely found books of my liking. Now that I am back in India, I am on a reading spree since past 9 months. Ideally, I should write a review of at least half of them but the reviews are written best if you write them just after you finish the book. So let’s leave them at that.

Currently the book that is featuring on my pillow is a class 'Journeys Through Babudom And Netaland' by retired IAS officer T.S.R Subramanian who last served as cabinet secretary in Government of India. He is someone who has seen and worked with bureaucrats and politicians from close quarters. The book is a real insight and first hand account of the red tapism and the corruption which is prevalent till the roots in public sector. A perfect blend of humour and satire. It portrays the moment of frustrations he had during his 37 years of service most of which were spent as the collector or district magistrate of small districts in UP.

It’s a must read for nonfiction lovers. There are so many anecdotes that I can mention but this one takes the cake :

"Contrast this with K K Dass, who had been chief secretary of UP in 1960's, and retired from service sometime in 70's.When he served as secretary to the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, his minister was the late Uma Shankar Dikshit. Dikshit soon thereafter became the home minister of India, and his staff officer Rajgopal, a dear friend of mine, showed me a file with exchange of correspondence between Dikshit and KK Dass. On his retirement,Dass had written a polite letter thanking Dikshit for all the courtesies extended to him and formally bidding farewell to him.The next letter in the file was the copy of an acknowledgement from the home minister to Dass, with a paragraph added, asking whether Dass would be available for a gubernatorial assignment. It is the home minister who usually initiates the proposals for the post of governor in the various states; and it was not a casual offer. Dikshit had made a mention on the file that he had discussed the matter with prime minister. In his reply, which is on record, Dass said that he was flattered and overwhelmed by the kindness shown by the home minister.Then he went on to add "I have served the Government of India for nearly 40 years. During this time, I have neglected the two true loves of my life -- my wife and my rose garden. Could the home minister excuse me and allow me to spend the few remaining years of my life in the company of my wife and the roses"

Such men existed!

Cheers!

Where are students?

2009-07-29T15:28:00.000Z

About 5 years back I visited Hyderabad for the first time. One thing that caught my eye was the number of billboards advertising upcoming or ongoing Telugu/Tamil movies. Sheer number took me by surprise. Almost 80% of the billboards were displaying giant images of movies and it seemed as if whole city was painted by them. Cut to Pune, Oct'08. Here, movies were replaced by the advertisements of upcoming residential societies, Villas and and Apartments.

Two weeks back, I visited my hometown, Gwalior. For Geographically challenged (and I am one of them) its one of the city in Madhya Pradesh. Whole city was carrying large hoardings of new and existing colleges and institutes. Education is not new here. Gwalior had become an educational hub even 15 years back when coaching classes for PET, PMT and IIT mushroomed everywhere. This time I saw a number of hoardings attracting students for engineering, BBA, BCA, MBA, nursing, B. Ed, D. Ed etc. When I cleared my engineering entrance exam in 1999, there were 4 engineering colleges there and now I am told there are 25! I wondered who would be their potential students and wont they find it difficult to attract students. The other obvious question was the capability of the owners of these 'self financed' colleges and Institutes to cough up requisite facilities, campus and labs to start them.

I got my answer today when I read ' No students yet for 42 engineering colleges in Tamilnadu' on times website.

Only 27 colleges including Anna University's three constituent departments and government-run institutions have managed to fill up more than 96% of the available seats in various courses. "Less than 15 seats (1 to 10%) have been filled up in 177 engineering colleges, while 8 colleges have recorded an admission rate of 91 to 95%,"

So the situation is same everywhere. Now we have got a number of sub standard colleges owned by the rich and powerful but no students to join them. This too when every 'gali ka chora' is doing engineering and BCA these days. I heard that the same is happening even with the institutes as elite as IITs. With the number of IITs increased to 13 now, there is a dearth of students even there!

This is a glaring example when you start doing something just to showcase progress on paper. Education is the mirror of the society and the country and its high on every government's agenda be it central or state. Just to show that we are making progress permissions are being granted to all kinds of bogus institutes. This is to enable government to take the credit for opening so many colleges and institutes (needless to say these permissions are being granted in the most corrupt way) and we end up having colleges without students.

Soon we will see colleges distributing cash prizes to the student taking admissions in their institute and soon the headline ' Take admission and get two free tickets to Bangkok' wont be a joke!

Cheers!

Legend

2009-07-27T16:33:00.006Z

I am not sure why a sporting event as gruelling as Tour de France is not covered extensively either in print or in electronic media. I understand that an event which spreads over 23 days does not attract too much attention from public but then then a race which requires participants to cover 3,500 Kms through steep climbs and arduous terrains throughout France and bordering countries and a race which can be termed as the ultimate test of human stamina deserves a bit more respect. Tour de France 2009 concluded two days back and any of the 1000+ news channels hardly covered it. I dont want to write about the winner. The guy is supremely fit 26 year old.

Lance Armstrong, a seven time Tour de France champion, at the age of 37 years stood 3rd. Now thats an achievement. Now consider this. He retired from professional cycling 3 years back after winning the event consecutively between 1999 and 2006 and returned from retirement only this year.

That he battled life threatening cancer disease at the age of 25 ( before winning any of his titles) make him the stuff of a legend. Two years back I got a chance to read his autobiography, Its not about bike and it had a deep impact on me.

Those who are looking for some inspiration from real life heroes, this book is a must read.

PS: Dont read his second book, Every second counts. That was written only to milk the success of his first!

Cheers!

Tears...

2009-07-26T16:11:00.002Z

...sometimes its good to shed a tear or two...your gender not withstanding...

The Maestro

2009-01-21T17:58:00.002Z

You must have read hundreds of articles on him. I have.

This is one that touched me.

Yes. Bit long but then all good things don't come in small packages!

Cheers!

The mystery of 49-O

2008-12-07T05:58:00.002Z

Since the terror attacks, there is a flood of mails cursing the politicians, need for change and asking people to use Rule 49-O of ‘The Conduct of Election Rules’. There seems to be loads of myths associated with this rule. Even the websites on the net are providing wrong information (Check THIS and THIS) let alone social networking forums. This post is just to break a few myths associated with Rule 49-O.

49-O is not an article of Indian Constitution. Its one of the Rule of ‘The Conduct of election Rules .

Under this rule, you can visit the polling booth, identify yourself to the presiding officer at the booth and then inform him that you do not intend to vote anybody. Please note that in the process your identity will be revealed which is against the essence of Secret Ballot. This is just a way to indicate that you voted (So your vote cannot be misused) but not in favor of any candidate. Your vote would be a part of official counting numbers but it won’t have any impact on the outcome of the results.

Under no conditions there would be any re polling or cancellation of elections.

A few sites suggests if the no. of ‘ voted nobody’ is greater than the winning margin then the election would be declared void and there will be re-polling. Some even suggests that these candidates cannot be a part of re election process. These are baseless statements.

Cheers.

Terrorist Attack...2

2008-12-01T16:56:00.002Z

Indian media is terming the recent terror attacks in Mumbai as 'India's 9/11'. I agree, it was. Hundreds were killed at WTC and large number of people were injured. Same happened at Taj, Oberoi and Nariman house. But let me assure you that the similarity will end there. Don’t fool yourself thinking that there will be preventive measures or stringent actions against terrorist outfits as done by America. Political eyewash has already started. RR Patil has resigned, Shivraj Patil has been shown the door and Vilasrao Deshmukh has followed the suit.

This was not the first time when the ‘new age terror’ struck India nor it will be the last. Not so long ago, we have witnessed attack on the Parliament (which was also termed as attack on Indian soul or something), blasts in Jaipur, Bombay local trail serial blasts, operation B.A.D just to name a few. Every time we saw the rhetoric of politicians, blame game from the ones in opposition, promises of strong actions against terrorism and appeal to remain calm to the people of India in the hour of crisis. Needless to say, nothing concrete happens.

The problem lies elsewhere. These terrorists are not interested in killing a certain number of people. They make bold statements. That your parliament is vulnerable. That the life line of Mumbai can be cut. That the premier cities of India can be made to bleed at will with well planned serial blasts. Even they now know how soft we are on terror. Afzal Guru is a glaring example. What will come out of this Taj/Oberoi investigation? May be it will throw some names and a few arrests. What will we do with them when we cannot hang Afzal Guru even after Supreme Court ruling is a big question.

It’s been a decade since we are asking for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. Not sure how much we are going to add there when we have bigger security issues at home.

Much has been made of Mumbai’s undying spirit and its ability to bounce back. In this very spirit of Mumbai, politicians used to take shade in. For me, it’s not the spirit; it’s the hunger, the need to work for millions of Mumbaikars who cannot afford to sit back for a day or two as it would mean empty stomach at the end of the day. Is there any option left to the common man other than going to work and start doing the routine? This time even that spirit was broken. Mumbai didn’t bounce back for 4 days.

Whenever there are talks of national security, only two parties participate, Congress & BJP. Rest like NCP, SP, BSP, DMK, TDP, ABC, KBC, KKHH, HAHK goes into hibernation as if it’s not their headache. They come out of their hiding only when its time to form a coalition. In few days time, general elections will stare these political parties and all will get busy in deciding candidates, election rallies and India Shining campaigns. They will do what they can do best, Talks and Promises. As far as this media is concerned, somebody will fall into a bore well soon and they will be on their way to capture the ‘news of national importance’.

As for us, nothing will change.

Terrorist Attack...

2008-11-27T07:01:00.001Z

TERRORIST ATTACK—Civilians Dead—Policemen Dead—ISI—Lashkar-e tayaaba—Pakistan is a terrorist state—Prime Minister’s appeal for calm—Long face of Home Minister--Urgent Cabinet Meeting—Emergency meeting on Security—Opposition attacks Government for being too soft—Chants of ‘Bring POTA’ --Tight security at all places – Police arrests 6 suspects—Charge sheet/Court cases….

TERRORIST ATTACK AGAIN! —Civilians Dead—Policemen Dead—ISI—Lashkar-e tayaaba—Pakistan is a terrorist state—Prime Minister’s appeal for calm—Long face of Home Minister--Urgent Cabinet Meeting—Emergency meeting on Security—Opposition attacks Government for being too soft—Chants of ‘Bring POTA’ --Tight security at all places – Police arrests 6 suspects—Charge sheet/Court cases….

The transition

2008-04-29T21:02:00.005Z

Who doesn't get fascinated by the rags to riches stories? Stories of guys who made it big against all odds or those who rose from their humble background to become the Whos Who of their field.

Somehow, I find myself glued to such stories. I love autobiographies. Most of them tread this line. It fascinates me when I read about one Naresh Goyal who started as a cashier travel agent and now owns the biggest private sector airlines. I love the story of Lance Armstrong who battled his cancer, went through the rigours of chemeotherapy and then set the sporting scene ablaze with 7 Tour de France victories. The Dhirubhai Ambanis, the Oberois and the Kushalpals. List is endless.

A certain Christopher Gardener who once struggled in life so badly that he was left to sleep in public toilets along with his infant son but later became owner of one of the the best known stock broking firm. We love to watch a Hrithik Roshan winning mountain peaks in Kargil not because he was brave but because of what he became from what he was showed in the second reel of the movie.

All this blabbering because I just watched an interview of Milkha Singh on CNN IBN. The guy who till now , for me, was a headline who lost bronze in Rome Olympics by a whisker and whom I used to rate behind only Bishan Singh Bedi wen it comes to giving illogical views in media. This interview changed all that.

Cheers!

Congrats Preity Zinta and 'his' team

2008-04-25T19:50:00.001Z

Thanks to Harbhajan now there is a controversy regarding Zinta's gender!

Money Talks!

2008-04-22T19:43:00.006Z

IPL is a roaring success.

Players who are used to temperatures of 20 and 25 degrees are now lining up to play in the killing heat of Apr-May

Now no player would complain about 'too much cricket' and 'burnout' issues.

And now articles like this would become extinct!!

Money Talks!

Cheers!!

PS: Look, who's blogging!

Olympic Saga

2008-04-16T20:49:00.005Z

Unprecedented and Bizzare are two of many terms being used for the security arrangements that are in place for the Olympic torch run. All this for a 2.5 Kms stretch.

And they say politics and games are two separate issues!

Few days back, my friend Abhay pointed me to an article by Vir Sanghvi where he logically discussed why Politics and Games cannot be (and never were) separated.

Here is the excerpt:

South Africa was prevented from participating in the 1964 Olympics after India and other non-aligned nations threatened a boycott. The South Africans were only allowed back in 1992, when apartheid was being dismantled. In 1976, nearly all African nations, not content with a ban on South Africa and Rhodesia, boycotted the Olympics because New Zealand was taking part. New Zealand’s crime was that it had allowed its rugby team to tour South Africa. Rugby is not an Olympic sport, but that wasn’t the point. The Africans said that any country which engaged with South Africa would be shunned.

This is not a position peculiar to the non-aligned movement. The 1958 Olympics were boycotted by some European countries because the USSR was taking part. The Europeans were protesting the invasion of Hungary. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter declared that the US would boycott the Moscow Olympics to protest the Russian invasion of Afghanistan and 80 other countries followed suit. In 1984, the Soviets retaliated by boycotting the Los Angeles Olympics.

The Chinese themselves are no slouches when it comes to boycotting the Olympics. In 1976, they threatened to boycott the Montreal Games if Taiwan was allowed to compete as the Republic of China. (The Canadians threw the Taiwanese out.) In 1980, the Chinese joined the boycott of the Moscow Olympics.

Somehow I find myself unable to associate myself emotionally or in any why with the symbolic gestures like carrying an Olympic torch or for that matter something like this! Why not just go ahead with the opening ceremony and get on with the games? Why doing this merry-go-round in so many countries and attaching so much pride and honour in carrying the torch? This pride and honour is another issue which is beyond my head. The 70 odd guys who are supposed to carry the torch on 17th April in New Delhi are the prominent personalities of their fields and are already honourable. Its only them who are taking pride and feeling honoured and not the common man (Ask those guys who will be virtually locked between 1pm and 6pm inside the buildings where they are employed just because their building happens to face Rajpath!)

Anyways! Life goes on...

Will Power!

2008-04-14T20:45:00.003Z

So, how would you feel if your followers put up your statue while you are still alive? Probably the question is too hypothetical for most of us to answer. For some, it wont be. Ask Mayawati!

Amit Varma,on his blog,runs a series "Where your taxes go?" The series features the most absurd ways where the exchequers money is being wasted. Mayawati unveiling her statues alongside Kanshiram's would surely rank among the top if Amit decides to feature this one.

And here is the reason behind this deed.

"In his will, Kanshiramji stated that ‘Mayawati is my true follower, her statues shall also be installed,” she said while inaugurating the statues at the Rs 500-crore Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal.

Notice the eye-popping 500 crores!

Can somebody file an RTI to make Kanshiram's will public? I fear what all Kanshiram left in it for all of us!

Cheers!

Quote of the day

2008-04-09T17:24:00.004Z

"...you work in an Indian giant or an MNC, your company is as good as your immediate boss"

-- Overheard while standing in queue at the bus stop.

Cheers!

Discovery!

2008-02-27T21:47:00.001Z

Heard this song from the movie RACE and fell instantaneously in love with this simple but melodious song sung beautifully by Atif Aslam. Thanks Pritam.

Then I stumbled on this one. Congratulations Pritam for another discovery!!

Cheers!!

Manoos Vs Marathi Manoos-2

2008-02-23T19:38:00.003Z

I was in grade 9 and we used to have a history teacher, Mishra Maa'm. One day,while discussing the concept of British India and Princely states, she digressed a little and exclaimed, "Just look, we have a 'rashtra' within 'rashtra' and that too 'maha'rashtra! " Thackreys are known to take this too seriously. What Raj Thackery is saying now has been the bread and butter statement of the senior one, Bal Thackery since the formation of Shiv Sena in 1966.

Ever thought why this sudden spurt of statements and speeches about North Indians Vs Marathi Manoos? The answer lies in the identity crisis that MNS is facing not only in Maharashtra but even in Mumbai. With much fanfare Raj Thackery defected from Shiv Sena. This when Bal T. continued the great tradition of Indian politics by naming his little known and almost politically inactive/unknown (till that time) son Uddhav T as his successor and not the popular nephew Raj T. With no power and no mood to work at grass root level and with goons at various party positions, nothing happened for MNS. Many Shiv Sainiks who became part of MNS after the defection went back to the parent organisation in a matter of months and then the masses just accepted it as a small regional outfit somewhere between Congress, BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP. Subsequent By-elections told the same story. This marathi Manoos drama is just to make his presence felt by Raj T.

The basic ideology behind this call of 'North Indian's,Quit Maharashtra' call is so trash that even writing a blog on it seems like a waste of time. The notion that a particular city belongs to its natives and the people from other states or regions cannot work in that city is against the very essence of our Constitution and the concept of our national unity. Our Constitution has given the right to every citizen to work and earn living anywhere in the country. According to Mr Raj T, all North Indians should leave Maharashtra as they are eating up jobs of the native Marathis. Now, does that mean all Marathi Manoos all over the world leave their jobs and go back to Maharashtra as certainly they are also eating up somebody's job in their respective part of the world? Call Centres in Maharashtra should follow the same fate? In fact all those who are working abroad should be beaten and dragged on street (as MNS guys did to a few taxi drivers and street vendors) as they are taking jobs of natives? I am sorry Mr Raj, we live in a more civilised society.

And it would be interesting to see his dictum for the marathis who are settled in North India but are currently working in various IT companies in Mumbai/Pune? Do they need to go back too or will they get the benefit of doubt? Divide and Rule worked in 18th century but hopefully it wont work now. Even after spitting so much venom, Mumbai largely remained calm. Literate and employed people understand this gutter politics better but unfortunately these politicians, as always, underestimate common man's wisdom.

In a time when India is getting polarised with each passing day, where on the same page of a newspaper you can read mob lynching a person and Indra Nooyi being named among 10 best CEOs, nobody is ready to work to bring these two poles together. Not that anything is expected from outfits like MNS and Shiv Sena. They should stick to their basic principles namely tearing Valentine's day cards, digging cricket pitches and slapping the hapless taxi driver from UP.

Cheers!

Resemblance...

2008-02-18T18:16:00.002Z

Have you ever noticed this stark resemblance between Irfan Pathan and Monica Seles!

Manoos Vs Marathi Manoos -1

2008-02-12T22:49:00.002Z

Disturbing is NOT the fact that somebody named Raj Thackeray is making inflammatory speeches and doing the politics of regionalism, Thackeray's are known to do that since last 40 years.

Disturbing is the fact that State govt is taking ages to act and arrest him fearing that there will be clashes and vandalism by MNS sponsoerd goons!

Freedom of speech has so many shades!

Malai wala department

2008-02-09T21:40:00.000Z

During his stint as a journalist, my brother decided to take state civil services entrance. After a back breaking preparation, clearing prelims, then mains and finally interview, he was through the process. Ready to serve the civilians as the name 'civil servants' suggests.

The entire process took a little more than two and a half years, thanks to the snail paced MP Public Service Commission. More wait followed as he waited for his posting. A round of process and procedures started. Finally after 7 months of final results, postings were out. He became Area Organizer in one of the district in Schedule Tribe Welfare Dept. A class II post. Now it’s anybody’s guess that such departments receive loads of grants from govt for the upliftment of this section of society.

Relatives came to know about his selection, posting and subsequently his departments and the reactions followed.

One was legendry " Malai wala department mila hai. Upar ki kamai bahut hoti hai wahan".

Though I was not present there and came to know about this incident only through my brother, I could imagine the expression on the face of a guy who spent his last three years as upright journalist.

Talk about pleasures of life!

Fresh Innings!

2008-02-06T23:56:00.001Z

Looking at the last few posts made me realise that i have more or less not posted here since returning from my last visit to India. And now, after nearly 8 months, its time for another visit! Its been 16 months here among white babes! Quite a long time! Still, Bombabes are better ;-)

My flatmate is currently on a visit to India and I am all alone killing my time on this laptop and stock market analysis. This solitude made me realise that i enjoy spending time all alone more than with guys around me (I always had this doubt ;-) ) and considering that in all probability i will be a married guy in next two or three years, its a scary realisation.

I am almost out of touch as far as blogging is concerned and the effort that this post is taking is more or less equal to the struggle that Mcgrath used to do while in batting crease. I wonder i was an active blogger once! Almost every body from those days have stopped writing. Even the last man standing, Deepak, is not posting these days. In the last few days, met a few bloggers which rekindled my spirits. Lets see how this innings goes. Just hope future posts wont be as crap and as time consuming as this one.

So..This was just to start another innings.

Red??

2007-06-28T12:52:00.000Z

Oh!

So Wimbledon is tennis and more!

Loved this!

"They say red is the colour that proves that you're strong and you're confident so I'm happy with my red knickers."

Cheers!

Looking forward to...

2007-06-26T20:21:00.000Z

1. Playing guitar again. Yes, ordered a new one from amazon.

2. Dabble in equity trading ..Got the new password of my trading account after loosing the old one 8 months back!

3. Watching India vs England at Lords!

Not bad Mr. Rathore.

Back to UK

2007-06-24T08:57:00.000Z

Am back from my short, sweet and hot trip to India.

The temperatures back there in Delhi and Gwalior were touching 46 degrees thus making every minute as long as a day while the presence of the loved ones around me made sure that the day melted down in a minute. So,in the end,things neutralised and i enjoyed my 15 day trip.

Hope to resume regular blogging now...

Confessions online!

2007-05-28T23:16:00.000Z

Screwed up something?

Now you can confess here online!

Dont forget to read some interesting confessions there.

Sample this

"I've had eating disorders since I was 13. I always felt that anorexia took everything away from me. Before I was a good student and athlete. I was healthy and pretty. By sophomore year my hair was falling out, my period stopped (and would not start again for years), I could not hold my bladder, I coudln't sleep, I couldn't play soccer. I knew my body was dying at age 15.I'm 23 now. I survived that epidsode, but I've never been the same. I've been bulimic ever since. In some ways it's worse now, not physically. But emotionally. I feel so disgusting, so alone. I isolate myself completely (to the point where i've moved a hemisphere away!). I've never dated since anorexia. I feel too fat. Too ugly. Unworthy of anybody. Undeserving of love."

Cheers!

PS: Read a few confessions today (23rd June)...Disturbing...

What to write?

2007-05-27T02:19:00.000Z

Its really difficult to blog when you are abroad. More so when you are in UK. I mean in India, you have such vast amount of topics to write about. Right from hairy ears of Lalu to Mayawati's mimics, from Delhi's heat to Mumbai's Marine Drive and from Sachin's century to Kalam's haircut or something like this!. And if you realise that even this is not enough,just watch one interview of Rakhi Sawant or start watching Rajat Sharm's Channel 7. I bet,you will have plenty to write. Now compare this with the eternal dull face of Tony Blair or the forever injured Michael Vaughan. What to write about them?

Even the newspapers here don't have anything to write! Pick a 30 page tabloid. On 3 pages, you will have the photos of all sorts of soccer players. On 5 other pages,there will be half naked photos of the wives and girl friends of these soccer players. On page-3,there will be a nude model (the extravagant version of Mid-Day mate) followed up by many such beauties in the least of clothes in the following pages. Now guess what will be on page-1? There will be a sobbing women whose dog went missing last night and another will be a snap of a babe who is grim because she was kissed by 'only' three men during the last night out. The only time during the last 8 months of my stay in UK when these papers had something to write was when Jade Goody happened. Thanks to Shilpa!

Anyways,
I am busy packing my bags for my 15 day visit to India in June. So currently engrossed in deciding the type of chocolates to buy. I hope, once i am back, i will have plenty of stories and experiences to share. I am sure i will have a few words for Indian summer. A change from 10 to 45 degrees wont be pleasant!!
;-)

A Union Jack Doormat!

2007-05-27T01:15:00.000Z

So this is what you can get in United Kingdom!

A Union Jack Doormat.

Poor Mandira.

Your choice

2007-05-19T01:30:00.000Z

The last time when I updated this space was in March. It’s been a month and a half and lots of things happened during this duration. Now we know that the alternate professions of Member of Parliament includes smuggling women and kids to other countries (courtesy Mr. Babubhai Katara), we know that Mr Narayan Murthy is a terrorist (courtesy his Anthem statement), we know that Sachin Tendulkar is anti nationalist too (courtesy his cake cutting ceremony in WI) and we know that even Mandira Bedi is not a patriot either!! (This time her saree (and not the blouse) with the flags of all participant nations in WC).

Now we know that the next big thing in cricket are Ireland and Bangladesh. We know that the reasons behind Gilchrist brilliant innings of 149 in WC final were not his capabilities and potential but the squash balls inside his gloves and most importantly we know that we cannot get AIDS if we kiss a girl on stage who is not remotely HIV +ve (courtesy Mr Gere and Shilpa Shetty).

Probably the only thing we still don’t know is “Who killed Bob Woolmer?” Don’t worry; Jamaican police, Pakistani Police, Scotland Yard and London police, Mumbai Police, chinchpokli Police are investigating the issue.

And during all these days, I was badly missing updates on Rakhi Sawant. Finally I stumbled on a few video clips on Youtube where she appeared on Kofee with Karan. Poor chap was so nervous during the whole show! It was a welcome respite from all those sauve gentlemen and sophisticated ladies. The lady was shooting from the lip, from the hip and from whatever she was able to shoot! Her take on Mika was the best.

Not much updates from my side as the only thing that I am waiting for now is a 15 day visit to India in June. It’s been 8 months here now and its high time to recharge the batteries.

Anyways, I have got a new room mate here in UK. He is as close to Paresh Rawal in ‘Judai’ as you can get in real life. Remember his question marked forehead? Same is the case with this guy. Be it anything, from weather to cricket, from mayawati to balram jakhad , from cameras to laptops, for everything he has his questionnaire ready and suddenly you find yourself helpless in that barrage of questions.

On top of this, he doesn’t even breathe without looking for the auspicious occasion. Thanks to him, we have got that panchang wala calendar in our flat now. Although I already have 57 hilarious incidents in the last 15 days involving him,here is one which takes the cake.

He ordered a laptop from Amazon and got it on Thursday. Panchang was checked and it was declared that Sunday is the auspicious day to start the laptop. Next thing, he was found playing with his laptop just after 2 hours of that statement. I asked him whether any planet changed its position so drastically that Thursday has become auspicious now in a matter of 2 hours?

His reply was legendry…

“No, I am not logged in as ‘administrator’,I have logged in as a ‘guest user’. So,this login doesn’t count”

Talk about manipulations!!!

Cheers…

Winning and Loosing

2007-03-27T23:56:00.000Z

Loosing a match is not a crime. Even loosing against Bangladesh is not a crime. After all it’s just a game and this is not the first time we surrendered to them. Even the mighty Australians were humiliated in a one day game by Bangladesh in their own backyard. So that way loosing a one day game is just a matter of one bad day on the field. I mean any day this Indian team is better than Bangladesh.

The painful part is the platform which they chose to perform badly or chose not to perform at all. World Cup is the ultimate test and recognition of any sport. History proves that the individuals and teams tend to raise their standard when it comes to world championships and Olympics. Be it any sport. An Oliver Kahn inspires whole of Germany to achieve the impossible by reaching Football world cup finals, A Mark Phelps breaks all the swimming records in world championships, then you see a free kick from the mid line crashing into the goal post by one Ronaldinho, again in WC Most athletes tends to save their best for the Olympics and give their best performance when it matters most. It’s a matter of raising the bar a little higher when it comes to the showpiece event.

Sadly India was never a team who realised this. Barring a 20 month period under the Ganguly era, Indian cricket team never looked threatening. It’s only us who are raising the bar of expectations whenever Indian team is playing and not the players. It’s only us who consider our team as a threat to others and not the opponents! Fact still remains the same. A bunch of naturally gifted and highly potential players loosing to a team whose wins can still be counted on fingers.

People have already started looking at 2011 WC. And remember, we have an edge there. We have got one extra month for preparation. The other teams are still fighting in the Super-8!!!

Come-on Ireland!

Why should we love Kabaddi?

2007-03-24T18:19:00.000Z

I love Kabaddi. Since yesterday, I have started loving it more. There is no reason why I shouldn't. The game has its origin in India. For many years, we were the only ones who played the game and hence we were the best. Now there are few others, Timbuktu, Chinchpokli and Jhumritallaiya to name a few. With some internal fixing, we managed to put the game as a part of Asian games Menu in 1990. It's been 5 Asian games since then and we have collected 5 gold medals. 100% success rate. There are stronger reasons too.

1.Australians and South Africans don't play Kabaddi. Hence probability of our winning increases.

2.Apart from the Asian Games (which we win comfortably each time), there is hardly any tournament of note. Hence no disappointment every other day.

3.Even if they start organising tournaments for Kabaddi, they won't be telecast on TV (live or recorded). Hence saves our time and enhances the efficiency of the entire nation.

4.Kabaddi has to cover a lot of distance to entice match fixers/ Bookies. So, in those terms it promises to stay a clean game at least for the next 100 years.

5.No dope tainted individuals.

6.Nobody knows the name of out Kabaddi team's Captain and coach. Hence they are not answerable to anybody even if they loose.

7.Nobody knows the names or the faces of the players either. Hence, even if they loose to some country, they cannot be manhandled (as you need to recognise them to do that) and there wont be slogans against them (for that you need to know the name).

8.Their residences won't be gheroed as nobody knows where they reside.

9.Their restaurants won't be pelted as they don't own any.

10.New Zealanders and West Indians don't play kabaddi either!

Cheers!!

Time to deliver...

2007-03-23T13:12:00.000Z

In a few minutes from now, India will be taking on Srilanka,in a do-or-die battle with their back firmly pasted to the wall.

A look at the Indian team on paper and you back yourself that this is the best one day outfit india can produce.Atleast i am not seeing better bunch of players in the next few years to come.

Apart from the rest, we have the big 3s. Ganguly, Dravid and first among equals,Sachin. All proven performers. Its next to impossible to find an adjective which is yet to be used for them. Still if you insist on using one, am sure you need to look beyond English language.

Time to justify atleast one-fourth of those. Time to deliver...

Cheers...

Bob Woolmer is dead...

2007-03-18T23:49:00.000Z

Not sure about the quality and competitiveness but cricket touched the pinnacle today as far as tension and pressure is concerned. Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer is dead.

Minnows...who?

2007-03-17T23:37:00.000Z

In a pre match interview between India and Bangladesh, an irritated Dave Whatmore,coach of Bangladesh,asked "I would like to know what's the meaning of minnows is in [the] Oxford Dictionary. We have secured important triumphs. But yes we are ninth in order so in that sense the other big teams are ahead of us. India is one of them and they are the first one we have to contend with..."

Here is the meaning of Minnows according to Dictionary.com

"a person or thing that is comparatively small or insignificant."

From 17th march onwards, either this word should be used more judiciously or should be banned at least from one day cricket lingo.

26...

2007-03-16T17:42:00.000Z

...and i am stepping into wrong side of twenties today...

Cheers!!

My days...

2007-03-06T14:37:00.000Z

Make no mistake. Life can be boring at times. Correction. Life of a bachelor can also be boring at times.

Ask me. Spent another monotonous weekend. My third in succession. I mean getting up at 11:30 indeed gives you immense pleasure and satisfaction, far more than da vinci might have experienced after painting Monalisa, but what follows after that makes you a dull boy.

As soon as I finished my morning/afternoon tea on Saturday, it was almost the time to prepare lunch. Although I am just a helping hand for my flatmate in such chores, still I feel enough sense of responsibility on my shoulders you know. My life these days can be divided in two parts in the ratio 75:25. Office: Cooking. I envy Sanjeev Kapoor. At least he is getting paid for whatever crap he cooks.

Anyways, after lunch, it was time for the customary visit to Sainsbury’s to bring weekly grocery. Now this is one place that I have visited most after coming to UK apart from my office and loo. Even if you blindfold me, I can pick things of my interest from the racks!

By the time I was back, it was time for tea. Then dinner. A little surfing on the net, few pages of “The Google story” and few small voice chats with friends completed the monotonous day. Its been the same story since past few weeks.

Writing about Sunday is almost like pulling my own pants down. It was holi on Sunday and guess what I was doing? I spent the day in office running between my office desk and Lab whole day. Bullshit.

But all is not dark and gloomy. I can see the silver lines in the cloudy sky. A paris trip in march end and a visit to Holland and Belgium in April first week is really something to look forward to.

Hurray…I will be alive again!

Cricket, Government and National interest!!

2007-02-19T00:00:00.000Z

A few weeks back, Nimbus, which had bagged the four-year BCCI, telecast rights last year for $612 million, was asked to share cricket telecast with national broadcaster in the ‘interest of the nation’.

I couldn’t decide whether to be feel happy that the common man with no cable connection at home would be able to watch the men in blue playing World Cup or to question the decision of the government which is forcing a private company, who bought the rights to telecast the matches ‘exclusively’ in a multi-million bidding!

How fair it is on the part of the government in this open economy to force a private player that too by the way of an ordinance to share its business with government?

While surfing got hold of this article by Karan Thapar. A thought provoking conversation there.

An excerpt:

“And what about the right to food, education and healthcare? No one can deny that they are more important than cricket. So, now, is the government going to force restaurants to provide free food, hospitals to admit patients without charge and schools to waive their fees? In terms of the government’s logic that should have happened first!”

Cheers!!

My brush with Jade Goody...

2007-02-11T23:09:00.000Z

Thursday was just another day for me. I started from the office to the bus stop from where I usually take route 66 bus. It was already dark and as soon as I boarded the bus I sank on my favorite last seat of the bus and immersed myself in the music filled in my ears by my mp3 player. 15 minutes later the bus stopped at one of its numerous stops along the route and a bunch of 5 boys aged not more than 14 got down from the bus. Nothing unusual! As the bus was about to leave from the stop, one of those boys came to the back of the bus and knocked the window to grab my attention. And what he did? I got the middle finger! Before I could react, the bus was on its way. This is just one of the milder incident with an Indian but my first brush with so called ‘racism’.

Not the gesture but the thing that baffled me was the age of the boy. I am sure, given a chance, he could not have pointed out where India is on the world map and surely he would not have any idea whether Asia is a continent or a Russian actress. But he somehow concluded that we (read Indians or Asians) are there on his land and are responsible for depriving some of the things that could have been his or his elder brother’s or for that matter his father’s!

The organization in which I am working here employ around 1000 Indians, all from different IT majors from India and at a place where total no. of employees is not more than 3000, it’s a big number. Since the time I have landed here, there have been two drives when the English contractors were laid off and were replaced by Indians. They are loosing their jobs with alarming regularity. Same is happening in other organizations too and in large numbers. This is the other side of the coin which we tend to miss while assessing their behavior towards us. In my view, their frustration is not entirely unjustified.

The buses here are crowed with Indians. Almost every day, they get packed at the first stop itself from where most of us board it. That leaves no option for the English guys to stand all along the route.

Think of the same scenario in Mumbai or Delhi. Foreigners all around you. Snatching your jobs overnight leaving you or your father jobless (Hunting for a new job at the age of 40 is not a feel which everybody look forward to). DTC or best buses full of them with you barely finding a place to stand. So, hows the thought?

I remember the time when I was a kid, a large no. of students from Africa (mainly Nigeria) flocked Gwalior (my home town). They were there to do some degree courses. And I remember each one from our colony used to see all of them with great suspicion.

So we should not be surprised when we are being watched by the same spects now in this alien land. More than the racism, I guess this is the sense of insecurity they have developed against us. A feeling that the hard working, weekend slogging breed of Indians will slowly throw them out of their jobs and would slowly stand with them on the podium of economic growth.

Cheers

Timepass...

2007-02-04T18:46:00.000Z

A little cloudy day with the temperature hovering between a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 8 degrees. A perfect setting for sipping a ginger tea while watching a Chashme Buddoor or a Katha. Sadly, this 25 year old moron is sitting in his office supposedly giving support to some other teams in their testing. The fact that not a single representative of those teams have turned up till now to ask for support completes the misery. Mind you, it’s a Sunday!!

Welcome to the corporate world. The world in which you earn more than you deserve, you sleep less than you need, you save more than you think and in a nutshell, you live less than you wish. You will realise this when you miss the marriage of your close friends coz you are 4500 miles away from them.

(4th Feb. This is somebody’s anniversary in my family. Trying to recollect the couple’s name but failing. Murphy is playing with me again and I know as soon as the clock would strike 12 midnight and it would be 5th, I would have the names!)

Okie...4th Feb. Today I completed my 4 months stay in UK. Not comparing the life here with India, admittedly, its been easier here. Easier to the extent of being monotonous. Roads are so smooth and straight that you can actually finish a novel while driving before taking another turn. The gas cylinder would never finish at the odd time coz you have electric stove at your disposal. Even the trucks and buses would stop near the zebra crossing pleading you to cross the road first and there is no need to go to vegetable market after finishing you grocery shopping coz you have the ‘you-name-it-we-have-it stores’ like Sainsbury and TESCO!

Still the country is alien (no, I am not sympathising with Shilpa Shetty and I have not watched any of the Big Brother episodes). I mean, something is missing. Where is the excitement of penetrating the crowd all the way from platform 1 to platform 7 at Andheri station to catch 8:57 local? Where are those bumpy rides in Pune’s non existing roads? Where is the fun of running to neighbour’s house asking for the spare gas cylinder when yours is finished with half cooked curry on the burner? Where is the feeling of achievement when you bargain successfully and get kilo potatoes in Rs 9.50 instead of 10! What is the use of taste buds when you have all but tasty food in English restaurants! (My taste buds are all packed and locked in the drawer. Asking for the taste in English food is like demanding a six from Courtney Walsh).

All things are not bad either. Weather is something to die for. Although it’s a little fickle and too cold at times but personally I like winters no matter you are all packed with two sweaters and 3 jackets giving competition to Shammi Kapoor. And the place is just too beautiful to ignore. The folks are extra courteous and start the sentence with please and then stuff it with 253 sorrys and 562 thankus.

The analysis will continue…

A little conversation..

2007-01-25T00:40:00.000Z

My room mate works in the same office as mine. A new girl joined her team a few days back. Yesterday, he shared a few thoughts with me in office on the Instant messenger. The conversation was brief and is produced verbatim below (I have done some formatting)

Friend (My room mate):
U know

Friend:
The new girl

Me:
Hmm…What about her?

Friend:
Her skill sets

Friend:
Huge smile

Friend:
Sweet talk

Friend:
Nice pleasant face

Me:
Hehehe!!

Friend:
Constant questions

Friend:
To keep ppl thinking she is not sleeping but involved

Friend:
One question 2 each

Friend:
Walk in a hurried way

Friend:
Needless run 2 collect printouts

Friend:
Results…

Friend:
No test case is being run so far

Friend:
No work is being done for last 5 days

Friend:
Forget to add

Friend:
One more skill set

Me:
What’s that?

Friend:
Laugh or at least smile for every joke played by all

Friend:
However bulshit it is

Friend:
Stupidest jokes 2 make ppl comfortable and warmth

Friend:
And 3 ppl r still assisting her to her questions and sorting things for her accommodation

Friend:
2 guys have brought lunch for her. List is endless!!

And he concluded the conversation a little later when we met in the evening:

Conclusion: A girl’s smile is equivalent to 4 days of a guy’s hard work!

Disclaimer :
The above conversation is a figment of our ( me and my friend's imagination). No such person exists on the face of the earth or for that matter, on Jupiter.
Even if the person in question identifies herself and comes back running to me, my above statement will hold good.

Cheers!!

The weekend..

2007-01-22T21:56:00.000Z

After a 15 day respite from the cold weather when the temperature was 6-7 degrees (yes, this is termed as ‘respite’ in UK) the weather gods are again showing their colors. It’s been pretty cold since last three days and the next few days are not looking too great. Mercury is threatening to dip further and there is this BBC site to put an authentication stamp on mercury’s threats. During the next 5 days, maximum temperature is 5 degrees while the minimum is touching -2!

This weekend was eventful. Not that I climbed mount Everest and met Lalu Prasad Yadav but yeah,visited London for the third time and covered many places. There is a certain London eye, which looks like a replica giant wheel which I used to ride as a kid. It takes a whopping 45 minutes to cover one round! What a boring stuff.

Then there a London bridge which is famous by mistake. Actually parallel to London Bridge, there is Tower Bridge which opens up when a ship passes. Most of the people believe that this function is done by London Bridge. So London Bridge takes all the credit while Tower Bridge does the actual job. Similar instances can be seen in office when a guy and a girl work in the same team!

I had a chance to visit Greenwich on Sunday.We all know this place for GMT. I don’t know what excitement people get when they stand across a line claiming that they are standing with one foot in each hemisphere. The line is imaginary (latitude and longitude), hemispheres are imaginary even the whole concept is imaginary!!
Anyways, I proudly stood across the line and got my snap clicked.

In London, there are around 1,25,12,567 museums. The likes of Lord Curzon, Cornwallis and Wavell and their counterparts in many other countries Britishers ruled bought/stole so many things that they had to convert half of the London into museum to make place for these stuff. Need another life to see all the paintings in National Gallery at Trafalgar square.

All in all an entertaining weekend. Sadly the grind in office started today. Waiting for Saturday….

Cheers!!

Murphy and Me...

2007-01-20T00:41:00.000Z

My life is full of incidents, accidents, situations and circumstances which can be faithfully explained only by Murphy’s laws. This guy is practically dictating my life.

Just a snapshot…

Whenever I watched any of my stock booming and decided in the night about selling it, the stock either crashed with the opening bell of the stock exchange next day or the entire set of bulls converted into wild bears over night converting my share into a penny stock.

Whenever I felt cramps on my body or had a disturbed sleep and I went to office praying for a ‘light’ day in office, I had entirely new set of loads to finish and I ended up doing donkey’s job.

If I target 8:55 bus in the morning and reach bus stop at 8:54, the bus will turn up at 9:15. Next day, if I target the same 8:55 bus and reach there at 8:56, it would have left at 8:54.

No matter how hard I search for the best deal in the market, after I buy something, it will definitely end up ‘on sale’ everywhere in a few days time. Take this, I bought my Sony cell phone after surfing many, for 130 pounds. Five days later, it was available in 99 all over!!

The probability that my shoe lace will open up is maximum when I am visiting a peak in Switzerland packed with all warm clothes and three set of hand gloves.

My camera roll will get exhausted at most obscure places at the time when I just find/experience the best location/sunset during the entire visit.

There are hundreds such incidents that happen with me….Atleast 2 a day!! Infact Murphy got pretty active during last few months so I thought of documenting these.

Am sure my life will continue to be governed by his laws, so more will follow.

Cheers..

Away from India...

2007-01-14T23:17:00.000Z

I got a chance to read a conversation which I had with somebody more than a year back and it reminded of my days when I used to blog regularly. I have been posting with alarming irregularity now and infact the year 2006 was quite barren with 19 posts in all. This place seems more or less dead. But this is one place where I made numerous friends, got to know many wonderful human beings and agreed and disagreed on their thoughts, got their thoughts on mine and this place provided me a space where I vent out my feelings, be it personal life, political issues or my travels and now once again there is a burning desire to make this space lively. I know this is my umpteenth attempt and even this attempt does not guarantee a success!

The last time I updated my blog when I switched my company and when I uprooted myself from Bombay to settle in Pune. I was beginning to indulge myself in the pleasures which one can have only when he is on bench (read last post), I guess my project manager managed to get a picture of what I wrote. He decided to put an end to my honeymoon and packed me immediately to UK on some project. It’s been more than three months now.

Last 100 days were quite happening and I am pretty satisfied with the way things are shaping up here. I am quite content on the travel front. I visited Scotland, Switzerland a little of France and a city, Blackforest in Germany. Add to this list London and Cambridge and I can say that the traveler in me is highly satisfied. Switzerland is truly next to heaven and visiting a mountain peak in -10 degrees is an experience in itself.

Since the day I have landed here, more or less everybody is asking me one question. Are you missing something there? Now I am a sort of a guy who can be happy in almost all circumstances. I can spend time in Sahara desert thinking about Mallika Sheravat and can survive in Antarctica discussing the problem with Sehwag’s batting. But the two things that I can think of and can actually put into ‘missing’ list is the hard copy of Times of Times of India every morning and Rajat Sharma’s channel 7. Really missing all those Rakhi Savant’s scoops. So please keep me updated with every minute detail on that front and flood the comment box with the latest developments.

Hope the flow will continue…

Cheers…

IT...I see...

2006-09-14T07:47:00.000Z

Two more days and I will be a month old in Pune and two more days and I will be a month old in this company too. In this one month, I have worked for the company as much as Mallika Sherawat did in “Myth” and a little more than what Lara Dutta had in “Fanaa”! So that way, I have contributed as much as Mohammad kaif had contributed in his last 4 innings for India.

In the last one month, I became familier with the term called “bench”. For the non-IT guys (Like I was till a month back), it is a harmless piece of wooden furniture languishing in all government schools and offices. But for the IT guys, it has a different meaning altogether. For “kuch karke dikhana hai” type of employees, bench is far more dreaded than asking them to drive in death well while for the laid back kinda guys, it’s an official status accorded to them and they are blessed to get the salary for surfing, chatting and spending plenty of time in food-court ogling at the girls of all dimensions discussing their lipstick color and the size of heel!

And in such a privileged period, I had a change to have a glance at the monitors of others and here are the exclusive results of the study (I thought of giving these ‘exclusive’ results to Aaj Tak or Channel 7 then dropped the idea because they might run the news with captions like “IT companies ka pardafaash” or more innovative “Nanga sach IT ka”)

On the monitors of 20% of the guys, you can see the homepage of intranet all the time. It seems it’s the only URL their explorer permits. They are so glued to that homepage as if it is hosting the revealing pics of the latest bombshell in the campus!

Then there guys who are busy shooting mails to all the females they know within the campus with the hope that someday he will get a chance to have a coffee with one of the ladies all alone and not with the group of other 10 guys. Then there are other fellows busy chatting on the internal messenger to the guys and gals who are sitting at a stones throw from their desk. These constitute another 20%.

15% are hooked to their cell phones or the landlines. If they are just holding the phone and not saying a word, wife is there on the other side. If there is complete silence from both the parties on either side of the telephone and if the parties have a ‘Julia Roberts’ smile on their face, they are the lovers and if they are shouting their heart out you can guess that either someone is trying to sell a credit card or trying to stuff some loan!

10% don’t have any idea what to do while sitting on their desk in front of their computers. They try to click on all possible pixels a screen has to offer with a deadpan look.

5% don’t know what’s their role in the project.
5% don’t know why they are in the company
5% don’t know why they exist on this planet.

Above three varieties constitute a total of 15%. They spend their time doing pee, sipping tea and taking photocopies of articles such as ‘speaking tree’ and ‘teachings of Osho’.

Rest is 20%. These are those morons who can breathe but their souls are dead. They work with a “Tsunami swept away my home yesterday” look. They earn for themselves, for the company and for the rest 80%.

I am yet to figure out where do I fit in this company!!!

The drama of Vande Mataram

2006-09-08T06:11:00.000Z

Do you believe in God? If yes, have you made it a point to light a lamp in the morning in front of the idols?

Do you love your parents? Silly huh? But do you go to them everyday in the morning to say that you actually love them?

Do you think a soldier sings Vande Mataram everyday, without fail, just to prove that patriotism flows in his veins?

If No, then why this drama of making Vande Mataram mandatory in schools? Do you think that those who will sing Vande Mataram from now onwards will be more patriotic than those who choose not to sing it at all? If yes, then check your credentials. Have you sung whole of the national song, at one go, in your entire life, ever! And above all, do you know the Sanskrit lyrics and the meaning of the song?

Singing a song cannot make you a patriot. Same way, not singing it doesn’t make you antinationalist.

It’s a feeling which resides in ones heart, his love for the country and respect for the motherland.

And for all those who want to make it mandatory citing that it’s our ‘national’ song, here is the argument. Hockey is our ‘national’ game run by one maverick called KPS Gill. Anyone bothered?

Cheers

Change again!!

2006-08-31T06:15:00.000Z

Last 3 months were like a roller coaster ride for Mumbai. Rains were so bad on some days that we kept on getting messages from BMC (Bombay Municipal Corporation) Commissioner that heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected in next 48 hours and all the news channels kept on flashing "Milan subway dooba" & "Khar subway main paani bhara". These incessant rains made Milan and Khar subway household names along with Kurla, Kaleena and Sakinaka!

Quite predictably though, every time after the BMC Commissioner's message, rains stopped and a dry patch followed.

During one such dry patch, I read this on rediff.com,"Monsoon not likely to revive in next 8-10 days". Predictably again, it rained non-stop for next 5 days and again Milan and Khar subway managed to come into limelight on TV although the lion's share of the limelight was taken by Rakhi Sawant-Mika kisses. On India TV, it was (Lion's +Tiger's + Elephant's) share.

Then there was a sudden Shiv Sena band for one day. The effect of the band was severe. Cruel guys announced band in such a short span that this poor soul had to spent the entire day on 2 cups of tea as all the hotels and restaurants were affected.

Two days later, bomb blasts took place in 7 local trains. I was fortunate enough not to be on one of those trains as I was supposed to take one of the same trains and on the same route. Many innocent souls lost their lives that day.

Then one fine day, sea water in Mahim creek turned sweet and as this was the effect of one mazaar of one of the Muslim saint near to that place, Hindu gods didn't lag far behind. They started drinking milk! Look, even Gods have healthy competition going between them! ( For more sexclusiveand exclusives on Rakhi Sawant's day to day life, pls watch Rajat Sharma's India TV..Non Stop)

Amidst all this, I switched my job..Yes,again! And with this I left my beloved Mumbai. Am no more a Mumbaikar. Am a Puneite now!

To be continued...

Moonie: look, I kept my promise!

COMING BACK ..SOON

2006-08-12T05:02:00.000Z

The writer of this blog was sleeping since March..
Somebody just woke him up..
Now he is itching to write crap again...

LIFE IS LIKE THAT is coming back...SOON...

but the memory remains!

2006-03-25T16:25:00.000Z

I was without any project for whole of February and half of March. My honeymoon period ended abruptly four days back when I got the call from my boss who assigned me one of the most ‘hopeless’ projects on earth. From now onwards my office will be in Churchgate. I know, the crowd of that place is such that a 25-year-old guy like me can make his day just by roaming on the streets whole day, watching Bombabes, but this poor soul will be slogging hard in the office to earn his livelihood. God...Why don’t have Gates as my surname!

It was around 2:15 PM when I started for my lunch today. I was strolling on the road in search of a decent restaurant. But this Mumbai heat can sometimes be too harsh on you. I know, Delhi is much worse. Still the humidity here can make you feel as if you are soaked in a jug full of boiling water. I barely walked for 50 metres when the heat forced me to a shady restaurant nearby. He was serving in ‘thali system’. It means you cannot order the food of your choice and you are forced to eat what is being served. No matter if it contains the most alien vegetables on the planet and two tea spoon full curd which can be mistaken as slightly thick form of butter milk and not to forget half cooked chapattis and a glass of water straight out of municipal water tank added with a few drops of soya oil!

Anyways, after the thali system, it was the coupon system. You need to buy a coupon from the counter before you can fill your tummy. The thali was costing an amazing 18 Rs! Imagine..in 18 Rs he was promising a dal, two vegetables, curd, papad, pickle, 5 puris (Yes not chapattis) and full plate rice! I was totally amazed at the price and that amazement lasted for exactly 7 minutes when I realized that the only thing on which the guy compromised was ‘quality’. Yes, quality stuff along with quantity exists only in Chor Bazaar of Delhi.

This cheap thali reminded me of my engineering days. All through four years of college, there was a constant competition between all of us on who can find the cheapest place to eat. Every month or two, one of us used to announce proudly the name of one shady reatsurant after another where we could fill our stomach in as little as 20 Rs, 18 Rs and even 15 Rs! (No,we were not regular at such places! It was just for fun and visit to such places were one-off) The price kept on dropping till Rs 15 after which we thought we touched the limits until this guy, Ankit, came up with a steller 12 Rs thali! And yes! He became regular at that place too! Just to save money for his astronomical cell bills! The guy is printing dollars in US now!

Memories refreshed…

Any Idea?

2006-03-19T06:35:00.000Z

Just realised that i have lost all the 'haloscan' comments (made by u and replied by me) from all the archieve posts...

Any idea how to retrieve them?

Kalyugi Swyamwar!

2006-03-17T18:35:00.000Z

When did you hear about a 'Swayamwar' last?

I watched it last on television. Yes! I was about 7 years old then and it was in Ramanand Sagar's 'Ramayana' where Rama broke Shiva's bow to win Sita's heart.

But this is an era of reality television and the Real Swayamwar is here!

Cheers!

The naked truth!

2006-03-15T22:12:00.000Z

Now this is something interesting!

Naked wedding photos are the hot new trend among young couples in once deeply
conservative China."Some photo studios are just going too far. They allow young
women to have their photos taken in bikinis or with nothing on at all," said an
irate woman from the Anhui capital of Hefei. "I hope the authorities will do
something."

Something too hot to handle for conservative chinese!

Read the full story here.

Cheers..

CRAP...

2006-03-15T21:56:00.000Z

It’s my B’day today. Yes its no. 25. You all can pour your wishes in the comments column! Going by the piece of statistics that an Indian male’s average life expectancy is 65 years, I have already lived 38.46% of my life! And yes..i am actually feeling that i am growing old!

But what am I doing at 3:25 AM? Because the friends who celebrated my B’day at 12 are already in the third hour of their sleep! One showing his 'not so graceful' tummy in full view while the other is having his mouth wide open. The reason is my buddy Anurag. Yes! My mate on all the bike trips! The guy will be landing in another two hours after 8 months of exile in Saudi Arabia. I know I cannot get up at such inhuman time like 4 AM, I decided to give sleep a slip! And what better way to keep myself up than to write this crappy post! ;-). But one thing is fore sure, we will definitely be heading for some place this weekend!

Hope you all enjoyed your holi..
Cheers..

PS: Here is last year's B'day post!

Being Narain Karthikeyan...

2006-03-15T15:57:00.000Z

Being Narain Karthikeyan : I had a chance of watching this interview of Narain this noon with Anuradha SenGupta on CNN-IBN and once again I realized what this ordinary looking guy from Coimbatore has managed to achieve. I know, an 18th place finish in the over all driver’s race and ending up among the points in just one race, that too because of sheer luck does not make a good score card.

And why I am writing all this when he wont be driving any of the F1 cars on the race day this season and is just the second test driver with Williams and is having a pretty uncertain future in the sport?

Now consider that the guy comes from a country where till 5 years back F-1 was as alien sport as Sepak Takraw and where the infrastructure for the sport is still negligible ( if one is sane enough to exclude Go-Carting as the preparation ground for F-1), this guy has already achieved a lot. Now take this, there are more astraunauts than F1 drivers till date. Now this shows how difficult is the task to break into that elite group belonging to a country where all the sports, barring tennis and cricket, are as extensively covered as Kabaddi by the media. He has managed to put India on F1 map singlehandedly.

I just hope he will manage to impress the right people with his stint as second test driver with Williams and will be on track again next season.

Irony

2006-03-14T20:43:00.000Z

I was surfing cricinfo site today and this thought crossed my mind!

13th March'2001, the day when VVS Laxman started the ground work for his epic 281. And on 15th March'2001, India scripted one of the most improbable wins ever in test cricket.

Ironically, after 5 years, the same guy was warming the bench in Mohali!

Must Read...

2006-02-23T09:02:00.000Z

..Just finished another chapter of the novel, Maximum City, by Suketu Mehta. And with it, finished Part-I of the book.

Now i can say its a must read for any non fiction lover. A remarkable account of BOMBAY.

Thanks RS.

Low waists and Tank tops!

2006-02-21T13:45:00.000Z

31st Januray. The day when I finished my project in Hyderabad and landed in Mumbai after 18 days. Cut to 20th Feb, 20 days since then and I am really an employed berozgaar! I am not doing any project as there is still some time for the new one to start. Nowhere to go (Not even office), No big “To Do” list, No real work apart from sending a few official mails and couriers and drooling over Bombabes (the word which I read in ‘Maximum City’ and instantly fell in love with!) on the road.

Mumbai changes so much in so little time. I was at Phoneix mills yesterday and before that I was there on 14th of this month. Statistically, I was visiting the place for the second time in 6 days and in a span of 6 days, the number of Sheravats and Dhupias around me doubled! May be it was the weekend effect. The most intriguing subject for me these days is the low waist jeans (Look what berozgarri can do to you). Yes, I am talking about the apparel in which you find it hard to conclude whether it is worn at the start of the waist or at the end of it. Most of the time the ‘Low waist’ ended up as the ‘Lowest of waist’, atleast in Bombay. You don’t trust me? Go and check the phoenix mills compound!

Then there is another member of this family of clothing called Tank Tops! This is another variety where the apparel manufacturers have come out with amazing precision as far as the length of the top is concerned. They are just long enough to force these females to adopt various positions while sitting and walking to show you that glimpse of their waist and they are just short enough to make them uncomfortable at times and force them to stretch it a little long, leaving all the males in “Yeh dil maange more” mode!

And on personal front, I have successfully added 45 days to my life per year. And considering that this Mumbai pollution and population will allow me to live for 40 more years, then I have literally added 4.93 years in my life! How? Pretty simple, for the past 3 days I am getting up at 7 and going on a walk instead of the usual 10! That’s like saving 3 hrs a day! I am leaving rest of the calculation to you as homework. ;-)

Cheers..

Vande Mataram

2006-02-01T17:50:00.000Z

Yesterday, I had a chance of watching this short programme on Channel [V] called I[V]Q. In this, the lady was asking a simple question to the public on street. She was asking public about our national song. And here is what I saw.

1. 90% of the public replied Jan Gan Man. 89% of them were dead sure.
2. Jan Gan Man was closely followed by Saare Jahan se accha.
3. One of the female’s reply was Mile sur mera tumhaara
4. Some so called elite find even these questions funny. One such guy’s reply was Kajra re!

And here is the winner…

This lady described how Saare Jahan se accha used to be our national song till the time mile sur mera tumhaara came into the picture and robbed its status. Currently latter one is our national song!

Alas! Only a handful replied Vande Mataram!

Hats off to Bharat ki Janta.

Back in Bombay..

2006-01-31T13:25:00.000Z

* This post was written two days back when I was in Hyderabad. Now back in Bombay.

Date: 28th Jan’06

Another post after another long break but this was a pretty justified break. During December and January, I practically lived in a suitcase. It all started with an official visit to Chennai which lasted for 9 days and ended on 15th Dec. After that I was on leave and visited Delhi, Gwalior and Indore for 2, 6 and 3 days respectively and now writing this post from Hyderabad where I am stuck since 14th Jan! I hope to touch Bombay this Tuesday or Wednesday. All in all, these were interesting two months, which saw me visiting 6 cities and even touching three metros in a single day!

Let me add that although I love traveling and seeing various places, these visits were nowhere near the fun I had with Anurag during all those bike trips! Anurag will be back from Saudi Arabia sometime in March and he has already conveyed his crazy idea of traveling to Pushkar on bike from Bombay, a journey of 2200 Kms to and fro. I know I will be dragged too!

Chennai was an interesting city. My hotel was very close to Marina Beach. Yeah, the same beach where deadly Tsunami struck. The language problem grabbed me as soon as I landed there. Most of the guys understood English but not the Taxi and autowalas and although I knew a few words in Tamil, they were more of “ Naan Unnai kadalikerein “ (I love you) and “ Nee rumba aragha iraka” (You are very beautiful) kinds which I could not use with Autowalas for obvious reasons. If any one is planning to visit Chennai in near future, beware of these autowalas. They are ever ready to charge you an astronomical sum for any diatance greater than 10 meters and they don’t even hesitate to ask you more than the agreed sum as soon as you get down from their aero plane. I had this experience with atleast 4 of them and atleast two of them ended up abusing me for not succumbing to their demand, which I didn’t mind because the language was all Tamil stuff! But it was a different story altogether at my workplace where I met a number of genuinely helpful guys. I didn’t get much time to explore Chennai but I did enjoy my stroll on Marina beach on a lazy Sunday where I managed to click a few snaps too. So, for sight seeing and other stuff, Chennai will have to wait. Till then, it will remain a metro for me just because it was a part of “Chaar mahanagron ka taapmaan” at the end of news on doordarshan when I used to watch it.

And finally I bought “Maximum City” by Suketu Mehta, suggested by RS in one of her comments on this blog ages ago. Bought it after paying a ‘phenomenal’ sum of 600 bucks. ‘Phenomenal’ cause this afternoon I received an SMS from my dear friend Abhay that he got the same book in 200 bucks from the streets of Bombay! (Of course the pirated version) Some people have strange ways of making you feel idiotic and jealous! I just hope his is not a hardbound version!

Cheers…

For all the cricket buffs...

2006-01-08T07:45:00.000Z

Most of you must be familiar with Amit Varma’s blog India Uncut.

He is in Pakistan for the next one and a half month to cover Indo-Pak cricket test series.

And yes, he has already started churning out his interesting, first hand stories on his blog. So, all you cricket buffs out there, stay tuned.

Life is beautiful...

2006-01-08T07:36:00.000Z

One of the best things that can happen to you during your stint as a bachelor and staying away from your family is your parents / your flat partner’s parents visit to your city. Right now, my flat mate’s parents are here on a short visit and man what a turn around they are doing to our messy flat. I can see a whole lot of new things right from bed sheets to new chairs, from dustbin and brand new broom stick to a whole new setup of kitchen! Even the Loo’s hopeless 60 watt bulb has been replaced with a glowing white light beauty! It’s been just three days and I am already feeling as if I am staying at somebody else’s place! What more, there are still 3 days to go!

How come I was staying in such a mess before they visited us!

Black in TIME's Top 10 movies of 2005

2006-01-05T17:32:00.000Z

I got this link from Sambhar Mafia's Blog.

Black has made it to the top 10 movies for the year 2005 in TIME magazine.

For me, it was easily the best movie of the year, miles ahead from other movies.

Strangely, few wise men thought of sending 'Paheli' to the Oscars.

One last chance...

2006-01-05T14:55:00.000Z

The owner of this blog is one of the most irregular blogger around.

I guess he should write and obituary to this blog soon...

On second thoughts, i guess he deserves one last chance. He just conveyed to me that he will be regular from now onwards...

Cheers...

New year on road!

2005-12-31T12:42:00.000Z

I will be leaving for Pune in another 2 and a half hours from now for the new year bash. Some friends have booked some place for the party..dont know the details!

But most probably i will be on road travelling towards Pune when the clock would strike 12!

Isnt it the best way (for me) to celebrate new year and the saying adieu to an year where i spent the most beautiful time of 2005 traversing various roads and routes of Maharashtra..from Alibagh to Kashid..from Mahabaleshwar-Panchgani to Ganpatiphule!

Happy new year to all of u..

Cheers...

Hashmi again...

2005-12-29T16:41:00.000Z

Since last night I have seen short interviews of 3 beautiful, yet to be launched heroines. Their names are as forgettable as all of Ijaz Ahmed’s centuries. All of them are working with Emraan Hashmi in one film or the other. I am sure all of them must be having very ‘challenging’ roles in the movies.

All the best to all of them.

Home Delivery...Not delivered.

2005-12-04T12:06:00.000Z

Somehow i survived but believe me this movie can proved to be fatal for anyone of you. Its deadly. Even the presence of Ayesha Takia couldn't light up the movie!

And if anyone of you decides to take the suicidal step of watching this movie, pls tell me after watching it, how creatively satisfying Mahima Chowdhary's role was for her?

PS: Dont raise eyebrows on my selection of movie. I started for Apaharan but couldn't get the tickets for the second consecutive day. My friend dragged me for this one. He is already dead.

Cheers...

Sleeveless Question!

2005-12-02T18:18:00.000Z

Ever wondered how all 30-plus ladies of Delhi (or for that matter all north) manage to smile in 5 degree temperature in their sleeveless blouses during marriages while all the gentlemen continue to shiver in their suits!

Me jealous...

2005-11-27T07:35:00.000Z

Its a sunday..the day when i can watch TV without thinking of how the rest of the day will go..

My day started exactly 3 hours ago and while i am surfing on net, surfing is going on the TV too. But what i get to see is this chap, Emran Hashmi all over the channels. Same leather jackets, same type of picturisation of songs and similar songs..probably only difference are the lyrics but to me they sound similar too! Every producer is trying to churn out one more "bheege honth" or "woh lamhe" or an " Aashiq banaya aapne".

I have not seen many of his films but i just hate this guy. I mean he is terrible. First, coz of his face. He looks like a total 'mawali' type! When i go out on street, i can see atleast 2 to 3 better faces standing at a pan stall chewing tobacco or smoking cigrette! And secondly (I guess this is THE reason) he get to kiss all the beautiful babes around and he does not stop at that, he get the smooches too...and he get to.....i guess i shud shut my mouth now and continue to surf channes...

Take Care..

Stats never lie...

2005-11-25T13:23:00.000Z

A few moments back i was surfing cricinfo site when i found out a rather disappointing piece of statistic. Disappointing coz it is related to the god of Indian cricket, Sachin Tendulkar.

Its about the dismal performances of batsmen in the 4th innings in their test career and sadly enough, Sachin is featuring in that list. Against a splendid career average of 57.25, the maestro has managed a paltry 34.88 in the 35 4th innings he has played in his career. On top of that he just has 2 centuries and 2 half centuries in the fourth innings compared to 34 centuries and 41 half centuries overall!

A sad scorecard for a great batsman. Also, he has 14 single digit scores in those 35 innings! Surely he is cutting a sorry figure as far as fourth innings performance is concerned and nobody is more disappointed than the writer of this post.

You can check the stats here

Salute..

2005-11-24T07:00:00.000Z

Here is the story of a young guy who lost his life just for doing his job with the honesty of highest order. IIM-L graduate, Manjunath was an official with PSU IOC.

My Salute to the man and condolences to the family.

Read more Here.

And he is back...

2005-11-23T19:25:00.000Z

And the man is back in the team and I am puzzled. It’s beyond my imagination to understand what prompted Kiran More and co. to re-induct him in the team. Ganguly’s forte has always been the shorter version of the game. He never looked ominous or ‘in touch’ in the longer version atleast during any outing in the last 3 years barring a century in first test against Australia down under.

I wonder what has he done in the last one month after being dropped from the one-day squad to force his selection in the test team? Did I hear a century against Zimbabwe XI in Duleep Trophy? I beg to differ. Zimbabwe’s attack is not even at par with any club level attack and one should not read too much in such performances.

Also I wonder what shape the dressing room will take place now with clear differences between Chappell and Ganguly. Was it necessary for the selectors to mess up with things in the dressing room by including Ganguly at the time when the team is performing well under Dravid and is again looking a dangerous and cohesive outfit after a long gap of 2 years?

I am not a Ganguly basher. I praised him whole-heartedly for all the runs he scored for the team all these years and I vehemently supported his aggressive and innovative captaincy in all my discussions with friends. He nurtured a bunch of talented young lads and converted them into world-beaters. But in the process, his willow stopped making runs. His bat was not talking but his mouth was and he paid the price with his exit from the team.

After taking all the bold decisions in the last few days, the selectors blundered at this juncture. I would have been happier if Ganguly would have been included in the team after 2-3 good knocks in the domestic circuit. Still he can prove me and the likes horribly wrong by scoring tons of runs against the lankans and I will be more than happy to see the ‘old’ Ganguly but going by the present form I don’t think he deserves a place in the 15 atleast in the longer version of the game.

All the best to him.

PS: And just read the news thet he is picked as an 'allrounder'. An allrounder with 25 wickets in 84 tests! and with 5 wickets in the last 5 years! Good job done Mr. Kiran More!

Types of beggers...

2005-11-23T08:16:00.000Z

At a traffic signal one can expect two kinds of beggars. Type-1 have nothing to wear and eat, Type-2 have government uniform. Type-1 runs around your vehicles while vehicles runs around Type-2. Type –1 deals in multiples of 50 Paise, Type-2 deals in multiples of 50 Rs.

Hats off to our traffic police wallas….Corruption at its best.

Please forgive me..

2005-11-02T18:19:00.000Z

I love politicians. I just love them. More so, the politicians from Maharashtra although the thinking men from UP and Bihar are always in the fray, giving a neck-to-neck fight to Maharashtra guys for the top spot. This morning a news item in the newspaper captured my attention. Maharashtra government is contemplating the idea of putting a huge Shivaji statue in the middle of the sea. The whole drama will cost the exchequer a cool 100 crores. I want to meet the consultant of this government. I mean, I just want to know the brain behind such ideas.

This is nothing new from this government. One fine day, one Mr. R R Patil woke up from his sleep and decided to ban the dance bars and actually did it. Poor girls are still finding it difficult to cope with the situation. Then came the July flood and the poor polythene was made to suffer this time. Reason? As given by the CM of the state, polythene blocked sewer and hence prevented the water outflow. Consequently, the polythene was banned. Poor ‘P’, it cannot even appeal in any court like the bar girls! Between these, there was a suggestion from none other than the environment minister of the state to sell the open available spaces, like mahalaxmi racecourse, in the city’s heart to pay heavy debt of Maharashtra. As if the existing concrete jungle is not enough for him.

Now comes Shivaji. No offence intended but I fail to understand what is he supposed to do in the middle of the sea. In Mumbai, we already have Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Chatrapati Shivaji Park, Chatrapati Shivaji stadium, Chatrapati Shivaji Airport, Chatrapati Shivaji Vaastu Sangrahlaya and what not. The only man, living or dead, ahead of Shivaji is Mr. Ambedker (again, no offence intended) we can see the total collection of Ambedkar’s in Uttar Pradesh. He was in full vogue when Mayawati was chief minister there but still you can find places named after Ambedker right from schools to parks, colleges to bus stands, streets to stations and infact an entire district is named after him there in the form of Ambedker Nagar!

I don’t know when the day will come when these politicians will realize that there is more to do than naming a building and putting a statue! There are starving people dying of hunger, under nutritious children, uneducated population, non-existent health facilities, invisible roads and unemployed youth. When they will realize that for every 100 crores spent on a statue, there are millions of homeless people who are spending freezing nights under the open skies!

God! When they will realize that there are better ways to make Mumbai, next Shanghai, than putting Shivaji Maharaj in deep waters….

Random Post...

2005-10-17T05:41:00.000Z

Its been a long time since I posted last. A gap of over a month. A month that saw me changing my job, two quick trips to Gurgaon and finally settling into the groove in this new company. It was a hectic month to say the least. I barely got the time to open even my blog and I must say I missed your posts and lovely comments. But I guess things are taking a settled look now. Although the days here are longer than my previous job but at least now I know what is expected out of me here and what I need to put in here.

It was a long sleepy day after a long time and that it was Sunday served as icing on the cake. I just came back after a long lazy walk. I started my stroll with a big glass of sugarcane juice. Then after piercing through the crowded streets with vegetable market on footpath and all kinds of jewellary and cloths shops around me I had another Mumbai delicacy, Samosa Pav, stepbrother of vada pav. Now this is one thing that I have noticed in Mumbai’s roadside restaurants. They have the habit of stuffing either pav or coconut chutney in your plate. I guess they believe that the dish is of no use without either one of the things in the plate. Samosa Pav was followed by a ‘cuttin’ chai. Now I must accept that tea is something that gives a strange kick to this teetotaler. In my list, it is far above the cappuccinos. After covering some more distance, I reached Shivaji Park. It is one of the many colorful places in Mumbai and this is one place where you don’t complain about the crowd in Mumbai. After all who will complain when there are Oo-La-La gals all around you! After spending some time around the couples (who were holding hands as if they have been glued together) I started my walk back to my flat.

This wayward post marks my return to blog world. Thanks to my new company I am a proud owner of a laptop and in a matter of two days I will be having net connection at my flat. I hope to post regularly after that and hope to have YM sessions with you all.

Closing this post while listening to a version of “Summer of 69” sung by a guy from Manipal and its just brilliant.

Take Care…

PS: This post was written on Sunday evening and posted today.

2 Years 43 Days!

2005-09-14T05:06:00.000Z

Four more days and it will be the closure of first chapter of my professional career. On 4th Aug'03, my foray into professional life started & exactly after 2 years & 43 days, it will be curtains to my first job experience. Yes..I am joining another company on 20th of this month but i will remain in the city of dreams..Mumbai!

Things have changed a lot in these two years and from this experience behind me, I can say that doing a job is a different ball game altogether than scoring marks in school and college! In these two years I haven't applied a single thing learnt/grasped/understood during four years of my engg.! Spending 21 years in school/college preparing yourself for the job and then actually doing the job are two entirely different things. As different as theory classes and the practicals; as different as mugging up the formulae and then actually cracking the numericals in IIT-JEE exam; as different as your girlfriend and wife! ;-)

So, once in job, what are the things you actually achieve? Experience? Learn new things? become a mature person? sense of responsibility? Yes, Yes..you do gain experience, you actually learn new things, you become mature ( this can be argued..some tends to go the other way!) and you actually shoulder some responsibilities but apart from all this crap, you achieve financial independence. Now you can go to a REEBOK showroom with a fair probability that you will come out with a pair of t-shirts, now you can go to a decent restaurant and can order without looking at the right hand side column and now you can actually go for back to back movies...that too in a multiplex with popcorn and pepsi in the intervals on both the days! ;-) Now compare this with the engg. days when there used to be a dog-fight on who will pay the bill, all of Rs 16 for 8 'cuttin'...Compare this with the days when we used to go to the petrol pump after pushing empty tanked old two wheeler for half a kilometer and get a refill of Rs 15! Still..those days were better...

With this post i complete one year in the blog world and in this past one year I have met/interacted with many wonderful souls. I would like to thank all those who commented and all those who didnt comment for various reasons or various degrees of laziness but appreciated my posts.

As far as statistics are concerned, this one is my 79th post in one year which makes 1 post every 4.6 days! Not bad..

The counter is showing 13122, which indicates 36 visitors per day..Not bad at all considering that there were 300 odd visitors in the first 3 months!

Thanx all of you..

Cheers...

The Cycle...

2005-09-09T13:44:00.000Z

A series with Zimbabwe/Bangladesh/Uganda/ Tongo/Papua New Guinea and he will blast the opposition scoring countless runs maintaining his average in early forties.

He will play the next on the basis of his performance in the last series and a series of low scores will follow.

He will still play the next one on the basis of his records and past performances. Another string of low scores will follow.

Then again he will be the automatic choice for the next as he is the captain of the team. He will do all kind of acrobatics on the field facing the short pitch stuff from anybody ranging from genuine pace of Bond and Lee to military medium of Styris!

Then he will sit out of some games serving some ban for slow over rate or Excessive appealing or not cleaning his clothes or not brushing his teeth and what not.

He will make a comeback after the ban and another series of low scores!

Then…..A series with Zimbabwe/Bangladesh/Uganda/ Congo/Papua New Guinea…..
And the cycle continues….

And they are shining brightly...

2005-08-23T09:24:00.000Z

Away from all the glitter of cttthroat advertising & expensive coaching institutes, two men are doing their bit for the society, for the country. The men, whose actual jobs are as distince as nabbing the criminals & educating the students!

I first read about them in an article published in 'India Today' last year. It really touched me. The news appeared in front of my eyes again in June this year in TOI. They were doing their dury, quietly, and the results were there to see.

Three years back, Abhayanand, Bihar's Additional Director-General of Police (Special wing) envisioned a dream; a dream to prepare the hidden gems from Bihar to clear arguably the toughest exam in this country, IIT-JEE. He joined hands with another teacher of Mathematics, Anand Kumar. Later, Neeraj Pratap Singh (Chemistry) joined in and the faculty was complete as the cop himself took the task of teaching Physics.

Now have a look at the students: Son of a rickshaw puller, Son of a brick kiln worker, Son of a vegetable vendor and so on.

The strategy is simple. They handpick 30 students from the govt. schools of Bihar after a screening test and bring them to patna. Not a single penny is charged to the students. Even the food and shelter is provided by these mentors, out of their own pockets. And the results? In the first year itself 18 out of 30 students cracked IIT. In the second year the figure was 22 and this year 26 out of 30 students made it to IIT. The boys who were struggling to gather the bare minimum amenities for life are now a part of one of the most prestigious institutes of the country.

My salute to the vision and to the three men.

Read the full story

1.www.rediff.com/news/2005/jun/20iit.htm

2. http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=76655

Classical Dilemma!!

2005-08-21T14:10:00.000Z

It was yet another rakhi for me away from my family. Its been a little more than 6 years now since i left my hometown. The distance which was approx. 550 kms for the first 4 years during my engg. days streatched to more than 1100 kms in the last two years. Out of the last three years, i could make it to Gwalior only once on rakhi. Coming out of the statistics, I received my rakhi well on time. To be precise, i got it on 17th, good two days before the festival and as an ideal brother, i dispatched my sister's gift on the same day.

After receiving it, everything boiled down to finding someone to do the honors on the D-day. For this purpose, female species were kept out of the question for all the obvious reasons. The only two targets in my mind were my two flat mates. As soon as i came out of the bed on 19th, i realised that i will have to wait till late in the evening as both of my flat mates were already off to their offices! The first of them, 'A' came back at 8 PM and i pounced on him to get the rakhi tied.

Now here is the scenerio that has prevailed!

1. He is officially my sister and i will have to protect him.

2. Going by the customs and traditions, I am also his sister as i tied the rakhi sent by his sister.

3. Two males are now sister to each other.

Now have a look at this..

4. My wife will have the option of calling him either 'Jeth' or 'Nanad'.

5. I can be his wife's 'devar' or 'Nanad'.

6. My children will have the liberty of calling him either 'Tauji' or 'Buaji'.

7. And I can play the dual role of 'Chacha' or 'Bua' at the same time for his children.

And i thought its just a matter of tying a thread on wrist!!

Happy Independence Day...Part-2

2005-08-20T06:22:00.000Z

I never thought of writing part-2 of the previous post. But i am not the one who just turn deaf ears to such a statement by an innocent boy of that age. I decided to confront him again at his hotel. I couldn't do it that day itself as i was too surprised by his statement to react.

I was there at his place again day before yesterday. He came to take my order and i started:

Me: "Haan bhai...Gaye the kahin 15th ko?"
" Arre maine bola tha na..main nahin jaata.."
Me: Zara samjhaoge kyun nahi jaate?"

At this point another 13-14 year old, Jai, who is also working there (Came to know about his story too..That later) intervened and an entirely different story came up.

Jai informed me that the muslim boy is not an Indian! "Then who is he?" I asked. "He is a Bagladeshi"

So the boy turned out to be an illegal immigrant! (Thats a different issue altogether..) and he informed me that he is returning to his country next month.

So probably, in a way, the boy was justified when he said he doesn't go for flag hoisting. Probably he wanted to convey the message that he is a Bangladeshi and not an Indian. But in the process, he just took an entirely different way to convey the same!

Cheers!

Happy Independence Day...

2005-08-15T14:18:00.000Z

I am a regular at a hotel ( a small one ) as far as my dinner is concerned. He serves delicious paranthas. The chap, who actually serves us, is a little boy with dark complexion and of medium height. He must be all of 14 years.

Last night i was at the same place along with my friend 'A'. Now, he is very good at striking conversation with anybody and anybody around. As soon as the chap took our order, 'A' asked him "Aur beta, kya plans hain kal ke? kahin jaa rahe ho jhanda lehraane?"

His reply " Nahin nahin, hum nahin jaate na..."

Here i joined. "Jao na..jaana chahiye..dekh kar toh aao kahin.."

and he replied "Arre..main muslim hoon na!"

I found myself devoid of any reaction.

This is what lack of knowledge, lack of awareness, complete ignorance and external influences can do to you.

Happy Independence Day...

Passwords!!!

2005-08-13T07:15:00.000Z

1 Computer password

2 Lotus Notes Password

3 Clarity Password

4 Sap Password

5 U drive password

6 Yahoo mail Password

7 Rediffmail Password

8 37 mail password

9 Blogspot password

10 HDFC net banking password

11 ICICI net banking password

12 HDFC ATM Pin

13 ICICI ATM Pin

14 Demat account Password

15 ESS portal password

16 Naukri.com Password

17 Monster.com Password

18 Sify net Password

19 Gyanmandir portal Password

How the hell one can remember all these!!
This poor soul has lost 4 of the above listed 19 in the last two days!

Come here to pay the condolences...

Rains!

2005-07-26T13:31:00.000Z

Its raining cats and dogs for the past two days..(or four?). And if it continues to rain in this fashion (I mean cats and dogs types) for two more days, the population of Cats and Dogs will easily beat the count of homosapians on earth!

PS: The Meteorological Department has predicted 'heavy' to 'very heavy' rainfall during the next 24 hours. I guess we humans will become minority in a day or two.

Cheers...

Upadtes....

2005-07-22T09:48:00.000Z

1.
Hurray!!
Another trip is on cards and for a change its not a bike trip. This time i am going with 6 of my engg. friends. It will be a visit to Kihim, Kashid, Alibagh etc...Its been sometime since we had a get together. To be precise, last one was in January'05. So i am excited!

And yes, there will be no travelogue this time. Even i am finding them monotonous now! ;-)

2. For the first time in my life, today, i was trapped in the lift! I was on my way to ground floor when electricity decides to give a slip...and there i was...neither on ground floor nor on 1st floor! I could see the ground floor as well as the 1st as i was hanging between the two..Then there was this innocent aunty with the brain of Einstein. She was hell bent on breaking the door to rescue me. After all the futile attempts of breaking the door, she came up with "Its not opening!" I asked her to give a break to her head and call the watchman. The God cum Engg. cum Watchman came in time to save me. And let me tell u that 4 minute ordeal was not funny at all. In those 4 minutes i must have poked my nose in atleast 5 places just to have a feel of fresh air!

But i am alive and kicking.

Cheers!

And the season starts...

2005-07-19T10:24:00.000Z

The selection committee finally picked the squad for the triangular series in Srilanka which will mark the start of cricketing season for our players. After all the hooplah, Dravid was given the responsibility of leading the team.

The team was picked on expected lines barring the omission of Dinesh Mongia. Poor lad was once again ignored by the 5 wise men. 2-3 years back he was failing to make the cut because of some indifferent performances in whatever chances he got and now when he is doing all correct things in english county, our selectors dropped him in favour of youngsters (Dinesh is 28).

Dada will be travelling with the team as the 16th man.

The silverlining in the team was the selection of two young turks namely Suresh Raina from UP and Y Venugopal Rao from AP. There is a whiff of fresh air with the inclusion of young blood in the team.These two youngsters deservedly got the reward after a series of consistent performances in the domestic circuit. Another youngster who is waiting in the wings is Delhi's Shikhar Dhawan.

Suresh Raina is all of 18 but he has played some gutsy and matured innings in domestic matches. Coming from a state which is not known for producing cricketers ( Suresh is only the 6th player representing the country from UP), he has already come a long way. Venugopal Rao is another batsman who literally forced his selection in the team with some big knocks. He performed consistently in the last season too. What more, they both can bowl a bit too!

Now that they have got the chance ( hope they will get the chance to be in playing 11), its up to them to rise up to the occassion and grab the chance with both hands. Infact sharing the dressing room with the likes of Dravid, Saurav and Sehwag is a coaching in itself.

With all the youngsters in the team and without Sachin and probably Saurav, Greg has his task cut out. This will be the tour on th basis of which he will be rated. This is a new beginning for the team after tasting all the success under John Wright.

Hope they will comeout with flying colours...

My Sunday...

2005-07-18T11:06:00.000Z

1. Got up at 6:45 AM.
2. Off to Lonavala at 8:30AM.
3. Reached at 9:45AM
4. Near/around/beside/in the waterfall till 2:30PM.
5. Feel of drizzle at 3:30PM.
6. Back in Mumbai at 6:30PM
7. On the road for a bike trip at 7:00 PM
8. Packed burger and coke from McD at 7:30PM
9. Aimless drive on Palm Beach road.
10. Had burger/coke sitting roadside.
11. Saw "Pretty Woman" on Zee studio till 11:00 PM.
12. A round of Maggie and tea.
13. A leisurely walk on a highway bridge near the residence at 12:00 midnight
14. A peaceful sleep till 8 in the morning.

What else do u want from life Mr. Rathore?
Ans: 365 Sundays!

Break...

2005-07-14T06:42:00.001Z

Wanted to write this few days back..
Taking a break from blogging..
It will be atleast a month long..(I hope it will not stretch longer than that)
Reasons are entirely professional...

Will try to keep visiting your pages.. :-)

And I will be back..

Cheers..

PS: Will try to complete part-2 soon.

Another One!!

2005-06-30T12:09:00.000Z

It was not the first time we were going on a trip. We are now a grade above the amature riders as this was our 5th bike trip (Previous ones were Murud-Janzira, Lonavala, Mahabaleshwar-Panchgani & Ganpatipule). Still we were as excited as a 4 year old kid when he is about to get the toy for which he longed for 3 months!

Yes i never experienced such desparation for the rains. Blame it on high humidity content of Mumbai or my excitement to go on a trip in monsoons, i was just too excited. Destination this time? Regarding this Anurag wrote in his curtain raiser.... "The destination yet again is immaterial. Its the fun of riding again ...that has kept me and rathore on the edge of our seats all this week..." This says it all...But for the matter of fact, it was the waters of Kashid, a beautiful beach between Alibagh and Murud. Pretty clean with minimum decibel levels.

As always, we hit the bed late on saturday night with a resolution to get up in the mid-night at 5:30am. As always, both of us ignored the alarm for an extended sleep and for a change, this time it was Anurag who was kicking my ass to get up at 6:10am. It was totally overcast and the clouds were too heavy with the weight of water and ready to pour at anytime. We were out of my flat at 6:30 and it was the time to burn some rubber again (not exactly, weather was too cool for that! ;-) )

Rain gods were not too excited with our idea of this adventure ride in monsoons as if we were challenging their superemacy! They took it as a challenge ..so do we ;-). Barely 3 kms after the start, the downpour started. We were not even wearing out windcheaters! The rain lasted for 3 minutes to be precise. As soon as we covered ourselves,it stopped and we were drenched (Ok.That was an exaggeration..but we were wet) This 3 minute rain ensured that we will remain wet throughout our onward journey although we will not encounter rains anywhere else.

This 3 minute rain didnt hamper our progress. We were zooming on the road in full flow, above us the clouds were making different patterns and below, it was the wet clean road with occassional dry patches. The weather was something which was best when felt.

Just before we reached Pen (58 kms from Vashi) I was feeling the hunger.We didnt have our customary tea before rolling on the road and without tea i am like a piece of flesh without life. We decided to fuel our tanks at Pen. 4 cup tea, 4 vada pav and a plate of bhajiya later we were on road again. Now near Pen, you will encounter strange kind of speed breakers which the sign boards prefer to call as "Rumbling Strips ahead" Believe me, the sign boards should read as "Pain in the ass ahead" You must have the ass of Suniel Shetty to survive that torture. and there are planty of such strips there...dont know what purpose do they serve apart from causing..yeah...exactly..pain in the ass!

Now we have the habit of forgetting one thing or the other. In one trip i forgot my spects somewhere ( since then i am without them! ) on another trip it was the turn of Anurag's gogs and this time we forgot to buy the camera roll. Half of the trip was already over (Kashid is just 120 kms from Mumbai) when we realised that we have to buy a roll. I dont remember the place but fortunately we got the roll from a shop and there itself anurag posed on his bike insisting me to take his snap. I obliged. This was the second time we were traversing this route (first one was during our Murud-Janzira trip) and we made it a point to click the snaps where we took during our first visit. Like one narrow "kaccha road" with coconut trees all around...an off road sea shore...although mud prevented us to reach the exact spot still we managed to click the snaps somehow...

On the road it was total fun...We were enjoying the weather thoroughly and were doing all kinds of tantrum on road. Like this one..He clicked one of my snap in which i am sitting in the middle of the road and when his turn came i clicked when he was literally lying down on the road (Dont think we are mad caps..it was pure fun). We managed to reach Kashid at around 9:30am.

One of our common friend of our engg. days, Abhay, was supposed to be in Kashid during that day as a part of his companys tour. He mailed me the name of the resort along with its website in which he was staying and i comfortably managed to erase the name of that resort from my memory. Remember there was no reliance coverage in that part of india so the mobiles were mere toys. From there on our search of Abhay started. Imagine..no idea about the place where he is staying, no contact number and no mobiles!

PS: Abhi abhi max kaam aa gaya hai and i have to finish it before leaving office...will write the second post soon....Till then enjoy this one...

"Book Tagged"

2005-06-22T07:01:00.000Z

I have already been tagged by Deepak, Rhicha and Ricky and now before anybody could even think of tagging me, i would like to finish off this one. I just love books but seeing the progress of my reading curve, i can easily say that i read in patches. Like 3 books in 12-15 days and then a gap of 3 months! No particular reason for this one.

I am an out and out non-fiction guy although in due course, i have read some fiction too like Lajja and Shodh by Taslima Nasreen, Alchemist and Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho, Chetan Bhagat's Five Point Some one, Segal's Love Story, Puzo's Godfather etc..but the number is limited. Most of the rest are non fiction works only.

I have read a fair share of Biographies..I love to know about someone inside out. This is a long list...have read Hitler's Mein Kempf, Jack Welch Straight from the gut, Kiran Bedi's I Dare, Sam Walton's Made in America, Akio Morita's Made in Japan, Abdul Kalam's etc...and trust me, each and every one of them is worth reading apart from probably Hitler's. I mean how can you expect a moderate guy like me to be in sync with his extremist approach!

Total Number of Books I Own:

Not many...Probably around 20 books here in Mumbai and around the same no. at my native place. You must know the reason if u have spent the engg. days in a paltry sum of money. Buying a book of 250 bucks was really a big deal in those hostel days! and like Manish, i also started buying books after i started earning.

The Last Book I Bought:

4-5 days back i bought Catch-22 by Joseph Heller which i am currently reading. I have read thouands of good reviews about this one so i though of checking it myself. I have just finished 40 odd pages so not in a position to give an opinion about it as of now.

The Last Book I Read:

It was Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. A book which keeps burning the desire in you to make it big (moneywise). Although this book can be summarized in 2 paragraphs , it was good to read the whole 250 pages because of the interesting way in which it was written. Not a 'must' read but a 'good' read if money fascinates you.

Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me:

(Its difficult to pick just 5 books from so many but as i have mentioned some of them above, I will try to stick to 5 books here)

1. My Experiments with truth:Mahatma Gandhi -- One of the most honest autobiographies i have ever read. Although even he avoided discussing some of his controversial decisions and stands on political front, i dont think he hided anything from his personal life.. even the mistakes. To write an honest autobiography is one of the most difficult task one can ever have. If you want to learn discipline...read it.

2. Why I assassinated Mahatma Gandhi: Nathuram Godse -- After reading MEWT, i was very keen to read about someone who assassinated the great man. Afterall, Godse was not a petty criminal who killed Gandhi just like that. He was a well learned man with his own ideology and believe me, the book gave us a complete account of his views and at times he is successful in convincing you what he did was correct!

3. Iacocca: Lee Iacocca -- Another autobiography which impressed me a lot. He is the guy who was fired from the post of president in FORD and who later joined Chrysler Corp. He turned around the company and brought it out from the brink of bankruptcy. A splendid read indeed.

4. Train to Pakistan: Khushwant Singh -- A heart-rending story of a sleepy willage called Mano Majra on the border of India alongside Pakistan. Khushwant Singh beautifully captured the human dimension and the emotions at the time of partition.

5. Five Point Someone: Chetan Bhagat -- I know this is the odd-one out here. But believe me, this is one of the funniest book ever written. I mean it was more than successful in tickling my funny bone. Liked it coz it reminds me of my engineering days and my college buddies. and yes...I started writing (blogging) after reading this one only!

Tag Five People:

5 is a small number and there are so many to tag. I guess this queationaire is good enough to compel each and everyone of you to come up with your own list of favourites. So those who are still waiting, post soon..(Look how easy it is to preach!);-)

Cheers...

HOT n COOL

2005-06-14T11:42:00.000Z

Ever wondered why gals are 'hot' and guys are not..err.. I mean gals are always mentioned as 'hot' while guys as 'cool'...These two terms for the two gender goes hand in hand...I know, they are used the other way too...but seldom.

In 99% of the cases we hear of 'hot gals' and "cool guys'. I stumbled on this mystery yesterday and tried to scrath my head looking of probably digging for an answer. But i was horribly out of ideas! Probably bcause there are somethings which are beyond explanations and reasonings! Like this one.. "Why the wives are always called the better half and not the husband!" Ever cared to think about it?

Now let me tell you how this 'hot' and 'cool' stuff struck me.

I was at my friends flat yesterday for dinner when she let out her observation " Yaar tumhaara flat ekdum thanda rehta hai aur hamaare flat main garmi rehti hai..Aisa kyun?" And this was my spontaneous reply " This is because we guys are cool and you gals are hot!" And with this we started our conversation on 'hot' and 'cool'.

If a girl wears her attitude, she is HOT, If a guy does the same, he is COOL.

If a girl wears revealing clothes, she is HOT, If a guy wears unbutton shirt, he is COOL.

I guess it has something to do with temper.

What say??

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

2005-06-09T11:33:00.000Z

These days, i am not posting as regularly as i used to. I guess i have posted just 4 or 5 posts during the last two months. Any special reasons? NO REASONS. I guess " no reason" is again a reason big enough not to write! Probably i didnt coz life was/is not happening enough to force me to write. I hate to write "not happening enough" but i have to coz these days its actually not happening! I know, nobody goes for bungee jumping or scale everest every other day to infuse adventure in his/her life. Still i feel there is scope for many things that i can stuff in my 24 hrs long day.

Last of my flatmates left day before yesterday. So from 5 occupants just a month back, the walls of my flat are now observing just one soul there! To add to the misery, i have been asked to vacate this flat by 30th June. No No..i am paying my rent on time. But u cannot go against the wishes of the owner! So its time again for the hunt of a new 'palace'.

Last few days were so occupying that reading was on back burner. After Gurcharan Das' INDIA UNBOUND ( a splendid book indeed) i have started a new book yesterday, "Eleven Minutes" by Paul Coelho. I hate to write about a book unless it is finished. So i will restrain myself from writing about it.

Rest all is as dull as you can imagine (or you cant even imagine!)

I have been tagged!!

2005-06-06T14:48:00.000Z

After being tagged by Anz, Ricky, Kaush, Neetie, Preeti, Sum...final nail came from DJ..

So here goes my "THREES.."

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
My parents and friends kept it simple for me..I mean no silly pet names! ;-)
1.RATHORE
2.GAURAV

THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD:
Simple again...Never used any fake or fancy name even for chatting...plus no anonimity ever!
1. rathore_81@yahoo.co.in
2. gaurav_r@37.com
3. Maverick

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
C'mon..what do u think...i am brad pitt or what? Even after scratching my head for half an hour, i could think of just two!
1. My eyes..Nobody ever praised them but i like them...They never reflected a lie no matter what my mouth uttered...
2. My hair...there is complete democracy there..I comb them with a frequency like..Once a month (its true). and every hair is free to join any party or move anywhere depending on the flow of the wind! Still i love them!

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU DON'T LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
So what if i am not a Brad Pitt! I am still Okay kind of! Again tried hard and i could come up with just two.
1. My height- Yeah..am not AB..So what..even he walks on ground..so do I! So those who think that 5' 7"s and 5'8"s are cute..Pls continue to think that way!
2. My hair- Yeah yet again..sometimes they can take weirdest of look!

THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE:
Very confusing..still trying..
1. Mera bhartiya hona..
2. Mera Rajput hona..(Now dont think that i go on hunting lions and kill bad guys with my sword every other day!)

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
I guess the only thing that scares me is FAILURE...Nothing else.

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
1. Lots of tea or coffee.
2. A news bulletin
3. Am not too demanding..am ok with the above two.

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
Ek dum official pehnawa
1. Shirt- Black & Gray checks
2. Black trousers
3. Black leather formal shoes

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP:
Now here one should be given a chance to write atleast five. Afterall, a perfect relationship is not a matter of 5 things.
1. TRUST ( This is must..otherwise your life is hell!)
2. Complete understanding ( This is not possible)
3. Space (Another important ingredient in a relationship)

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE (in no particular order):
I love you.
I have never been to a dance bar.
I have seen Ambani's residence.

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX THAT APPEAL TO YOU:
Physical? Do you really want me to write the truth? Okie..let me control myself..
1. Her eyes..I just love them..preferably brown!
2. A good smile..A good smile is enough to steal my heart...
3. Long straight hair...(they appeal me ..but not a must condition)
now give me a waiver here...and let me write the 4th one..THANKS..
4. The way of talking and not just the voice ( I have interacted with gals with sweetest of voices and weirdest of ways of talking!)

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW:
1. Want to buy a lappie.
2. Want to play electric guitar in front of a jam packed audience.
3. Want to go to Rohtang pass from mumbai on bike.

THREE CAREERS YOU'RE CONSIDERING:
Bit late to answer this question..I am already into a profession...
1. Traveller..I want to explore all the places..just hope that a travel magazine will hire me for that purpose.
2. Photographer with Discovery channel...purpose is same as above.
3. Still thinking...

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
Easiest question.
1. Sikkim and whole of north east
2. Egypt
3. Norway

THREE KIDS NAMES YOU LIKE:
I love most of the muslim female names.

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
Let me limit myself to one again.
1. I want to die as a successful man. (I guess this sums it all..and yes,..dont ask me what i mean by 'successful'. The list is long and cannot be finished in '3 things')

THREE PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO TAKE THIS QUIZ NOW:
I guess by now everybody is covered...still those who havent..do as soon as possible..Believe me..its far more exciting than u actually think it is.

Cheers!!

Just for the sake of posting...

2005-06-02T09:16:00.000Z

Let me warn you. This is going to be a very ‘rookha’ post. But it’s high time now to update. Last few days were too hectic plus a little (??) depressing. I was spending a lot of time these days in office! Nice way to kill your life na?

Updates from my end? Okie let me start…

1. I will be residing alone in my flat from 4th June as the last of my four flat mates is scheduled to leave this place on that day. Getting separated from the guys with whom u have spent one or two good years of your life is just not easy.

2. I was about to join a new company in Goa on 13th June. Somehow things derailed at the last moment and that chapter is close now.

3. Attended a few online mini meets in the last few days and it was nice talking to you all although it’s a pain to get the mic work in a cyber café!

4. Planning to pick up guitar again. It’s been close to three months since I played the strings last…

5. Enjoying the emergence of Raefel Nadal in French open. I predicted about him in my post “ Incredible Open” during this years Australian Open.

6. I hate monotonous life..Desperately waiting for the first rains and dying to hit the road for a short trip with Anurag.

7. Hope to write something interesting soon.