Simply ME unravelled

2008-11-28T22:18:00.000-08:00

Love you Mumbai!!

The horrific 60 hour drama, during which Mumbai city was held hostage is finally over and the people can heave a sigh of relief. But, at what Cost?

Having lived in Mumbai for the past 26 years, my heart bleeds to see the TAJ being destroyed so blatantly. The grenade launcher used at TAJ shows how critical the mission was.I was and am still proud of being a Mumbaikar not just because of its financial powress, but Mumbai is a place that offered its citizen a way to lead their own life, a place that is most secure for women, and a place where every individual irrespective of their nationality, religion was welcomed with open arms. Mumbai disappointed nobody. And to see such a City being brought down to its knees is really heart breaking. The indomitable spirit of Mumbai is broken. The city has always bounced back after every incident that has threatened it, may it be the 93 blast, the train blast in 2006, blast outside the Gateway or the flood situation. But today the scenario is different. Its so, unlike Mumbai.

The siege is over thanks to our brave officers in Uniform. We lost many of our finest personnel, who laid down their lives in the line of duty. I salute their spirit and their heroism. The reactions of the people can be gauged from the scenario, we saw in Nariman House, where the people hailed the NSG commandoes. The Officers in Uniform are our real Heroes, our saviours. The only thing that we can do, so that, their sacrifice doesn’t go in vain, is to take every effort to ensure that such incidents are not repeated.

But truly speaking, I fear that even this incident will soon fade away and people will go on their task as usual. Politicians will use this incident to their benefit. We have already seen it happening. I hope that better sense prevails upon them so that instead of dividing us, on the basis of religion or language, let them come together, at least for the sake of our country.
Since the attack on Mumbai this time has also affected the high profile sections of the country, hopefully some actions will be taken, I really pray that this doesn’t go as the 93 blast case , where the trial are still going on, and we still don’t have a definite result. At least for the sake of all the innocent people who lost their lives, let’s pray that we get to the root of it.

I know that Mumbai will bounce back again and it will be business as usual but this incident has left a permanent scar on the hearts of every mumbaikar.

2006-11-06T02:07:00.000-08:00

(UN)Reality shows

Reality shows are currently the flavour of the television industry.
Let it be dance shows, singing or peeping into the personal life of a celebrity, the Indian television industry is ready for it. It started off with Indian idol part 1.
Even I was seriously hooked into the television set, rooting for Rahul Vaidya.. 
Then as the episode came to the end, the program lost its initial charm. It has started off as something that we common people can relate to but then it changed its format to adjust itself to the TRP business of the television industry and there I stopped watching it..
Nowadays all reality shows are mixed with unwanted emotions, dramas that it’s so clear that everything is made up. The celebrities cry for the stupidest and the silliest of the reasons. And with that, I feel it has lost its bonding with the common man.
Now there is nothing that the normal middle class people can relate to. We obviously watch the celebrity dancing on screen so what the heck in watching them in different shows. Also the dances in such shows, and the dresses worn are such that, you cannot enjoy them watching with your family around.
And the worst thing that I dislike about such shows is when they say that “pure Hindustan ke log, dil tame baithe hai “,.. Oh my God, that’s exactly how the anchors put it. The country’s name is dragged into, after each and every statement the anchors make before announcing the results.
This is something that I personally feel shouldn’t be used or said.
There is no need to say “Hindustan, the whole of India or something like that.
It’s just a TV show and not even 25 % of the population of India will be watching such program. Where does the poor people have time after a day’s work to watch TV, there is still a large chunk of Indian population where the TV sets haven’t found their way into their homes.
So putting it across as something that all Indians are hooked into, is absolutely wrong. I am not trying to be very patriotic or trying to be too rigid, but still when you take the name of the country , I feel it should be for more proper reason and a proper cause and it should do justice to it.
Taking country’s name alongside such dance shows, is really insulting..

2006-07-24T03:29:00.000-07:00

HATS OFF TO U!!!- SWEETHEART!!!

This is the blog that I am writing for my sweet little angel, my younger brother.
He is going to scream out saying I M NOT A KID, on reading this.
Well, true enough, since you cannot call a 21 year old guy a kid anymore.
I m writing this because his B.E. results are out, and he has passed with flying colours. His certificate says B.E. with DISTINCTION!!!!
This is really a thing to be proud of. I know it by experience, getting a distinction in engineering and that too from Mumbai University is really a thing to be boasted about!!! Not everyone can do that!!! I agree that there would be quite a worthwhile people who must have secured distinction, but then still I will say, the thing that he has achieved is something to be counted as unique. Let me put it like this>

How many of the engineering students can boast of a distinction (Mumbai university – this is just for Mumbai university) along with a inter-collegiate first prize in Dance competition, prize in dramas, awards for cricket team adventure sports like Rappling, and finally have a huge fan following. I guess this narrows down the number a lot. This is whom you call an all-rounder I guess!!

Knowing him since the time he is born, even I don’t recollect much of my childhood days, but have just some sort of memories here and there. Well, no doubt there was a bit of jealousy in mind, when I used to see people pampering him instead of me.
But, when did my affection for him overrode my jealousy, I don’t recollect. All that I remember is that we had a great childhood.
We are more like buddies, we talk about every topic under the sun, and nothing is hidden amongst us. It can be either something funny about his college or more mature topics like relationships! He is the one, who is always there on my side and whom I can count on at all times to come by. A true scorpion, is he, has a good lot of memory about things when people have said something bad about him. A hard working person, determined, and very person. As he now begins a new phase in his life , leaving away from the safe cocoon of home and college, ready to face the harsh realities of life, I wish him all the best.

A few lines for you bro,

Wishing that success be your constant companion everywhere
Let love and happiness always be on your side
Fill your mind always with thoughts pure and clear
And may your fame spread far and wide.

It is important to work hard
But necessary to work smart
Learn to give, listen and understand
But at the same time be firm and fair.

Life will treat u with many twists and turn
It would be too harsh and you might get your fingers burn
Learn from your mistakes and stick to your goal.
A failure sometimes will only strengthen you.

The last lines doesn’t seem to go well, nyways , ALL THE BEST FOR YOUR FUTURE!!

2006-07-12T03:07:00.000-07:00

SPIRIT OF MUMBAIKARS!!!!!!!!--BUT WE 2 ARE HUMANS!!

The spirit of Mumbaikars, this is the constant term that has been said time and again whenever the city of Mumbai has faced any tragedy!!! The newspaper and media have always reported that how after a tragedy Mumbaikars always seem to go about their routine. They praise the strength and the resilience of the people. But frankly speaking, it’s just the survival instinct of ours that make us go about our work as if nothing has happened. We are not as strong as we are made to be. We are as fragile and weak in our hearts as our foreign counterparts. When we leave home, we very well know that anything can happen to us. The city that we live in is always ready to burst. We live on a day to day basis, with no idea about what will happen tomorrow. The reason that we are back the next day, is not, because of our never-say die spirit but because we are forced to do that. People come out from the safe shelter of their homes to earn their daily bread. There are scores of thousands of people in Mumbai who are daily wage earner; One day of absence will result in more than one empty stomach. Who will want to do this to his/her family? That is why, people are out on streets. Each and every minute is important to survive here. If you aren’t present then, there are thousands behind you to snatch your opportunity. Situations like this have taught mumbaikars to take any things in their stride as if it is destined on them. Never will this question be asked: WHY ONLY MUMBAI!!!

It is this understanding that makes Mumbaikars come forward to help others, because they very well know that tomorrow it will be they themselves who will be at the receiving end. This feeling of empathy makes mumbaikars help complete strangers.
The last year flood, the bomblast that has happening around since 2003, the recent downpour and yesterday’s blast are just some evidences.

Here in Mumbai, we have learnt not to have any expectations from anyone. After any incident, blames are just passed around with nobody willing to rectify the situation. An enquiry committee will be setup, some reports written and the thing is forgotten unless another tragedy strikes. A bitter proof of this is, that no verdict has been given and no persons punished for the gruesome blast of March 1992. The case is still on with the criminals at large. This just indicates how Mumbai is taken for a ride by the anti-social elements. The victims are easily forgotten by everyone finally it’s just the fight for survival. One who has the will and the strength to endure this emerges the winner.

As everyone, even we wants to lead a peaceful life, a life that is devoid of such tensions, but since the people in Mumbai are torn between the politicians and the mafia, such things remains a Dream!!!

2006-05-26T05:17:00.000-07:00

FOR the people TO AGAINST the People.

In our school days, the Civics teacher used to teach us that Republic mean for the people, by the people and to the people. Looking at the action of the present government, I m doubting this.
The way the Government passed the bill on Wednesday evening for 27 % OBC reservation when the common people are out in the streets protesting the action- is really an action that can be termed only as back-stabbing. Without meeting any of the students, or the protest groups or giving any assurance, how can the government do this? Is this Democracy??? I

2006-05-25T01:41:00.000-07:00

On the comments expressed by the Vatican , I just have this to say, that we have got one more power house on top of our Supreme Court i.e POPE.

2006-05-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

OPEN MINDS BUT RESERVED POLITICIANS

For a long time, I suppressed myself not to write on this topic, because this is something which is a never ending debate. But the recent actions of the government have forced me to write on it.
The atrocities that happened in Mumbai, why was it necessary? Those were students who were just protesting and they were not at all violent. But the way the police hit them, was cruel. Is this the way the government treats the future? What’s the difference then, between the treatment meted out to a criminal and a student? If the Government thinks that protesting is against the law, then they should remember that strikes, protests were one of the main reasons for India’s Independence.
Coming back to the main issue i.e. reservation. I really wonder what prompted the government to take up this issue right now. There are so many other important things that the country is facing currently, instead of focusing on it, the government is simply trying to mislead the people. Presently there is 50 % reservation. The government wants to increase it further. I don’t understand why it is biased to Open Category students?
I really feel bad differentiating between Open and Reserved category. As kids we are taught to treat everyone equal. But, later on as we grow up, we realise that’s not the truth. This is not what we expect from a democratic country like India. Why don’t we look at Nepal- our neighbour? Nepal is the only Hindu country in the whole world. They follow Hindu religion, but there is no caste system. The caste system that existed was abolished in 1960. In the eyes of law, everyone is equal; there is no reservation for education. Then why even after 59 years of Independence we are still hanging onto reservations.

It’s high time that we really look into the main issue. The main issue is not of how much percentage of seats should be reserved for the backward category, but the issue is do we really need Reservation? Why don’t we treat everyone equal? If we want India to progress, then the caste system needs to be abolished. Let there by financial reservations. Let the Government, Society help people who are financially backward to come up by providing them help, but let us not distinguish people based on their birth.

I am not against Reserved Category. In today’s society, everyone thinks the same way then why we should distinguish among ourselves. We don’t distinguish between caste/religion when we make friends nor we do when we fall in love, then why we need Reservation.
More than 70% of people will be against reservations, but whom do we go to. Where do we voice our opinions? Even if we think likewise, who has the time to work on it? Well, then why don’t I make a start? But I have very limited power. / When it comes to challenging the entire political system, I know where I stand. What we require today is a leader who is ready to take up this issue, but ALAS, politics doesn’t have any good leader left! Well this further strengthens my resolve to give my IAS exams.

2006-05-09T02:16:00.000-07:00

Just ME!!!!!!!!!!!

One more of my Creations

I am fed up of the ever ready smile
That I had to wear on my face
To avoid my problems being
Noticed by people in case

I want to leave aside my maturity
And Let the child in me take control
Let me just forget my trouble
And just be carefree at least once.

I m tried of being a patient listener
Let me speak my heart out
At least for once, let me feel
I too am a human

I have hidden the real me
And have always shed silent tears
I want to stop this disguise
And just be the fragile person I am

The stupid jokes, silly behaviour of other
Do pierce my heart and leave their wounds
Why should I keep on forgiving them without?
Letting them know what they did.

Why should I act always mature and sensible?
Can’t I be innocent and dependent?
But where can I get a shoulder to cry on
And who will allow me to be “JUST ME “

2006-01-26T23:46:00.000-08:00

Does GOD EXIST

Well, this is a billion dollar question. Before anybody gets the idea that i am atheist ,let me make it clear tht i m not.
Its just that when i was going through all the recent events in my life, this question popped up in my mind and was trying hard to answer this question. My arguments are as below:

If i go by the saying"seeing is believing" then sure i havent seen God. so God doesnt exist. Am i right... does the debate end here itself?

I guess NO!! Because if i imagine God to be in the human form ,someone with 7-8 arms,each holding a peculiar weapon or in the form of a devi, so beautiful and fiery at the same time, then definitely i m yet to come across someone like this. But then, why i assume God to have a human form- jus because right from the beginning, i have seen people doing that . The moment i question this logic of depicting God as a human being, i get to see an entirely different concept.

Lets for argument sake- consider God to be a variable ( the way programmers think). Variable is something that can take on any value as per the way u want them to.
So if God is a variable- then it can take any values or forms ( here to be precise). That means his way of making his presence felt can be through some words, actions, some strange events and turns.., something totally unexpectable. By variable i also mean that he can take a human form as well...
When i consider this part of the argument- i very well know that the above thing also supplements the common saying of "God's presence is felt in each and every moment".
But my inquisitive mind, never the one to be satisfied, agains refuses to accept defeat so easily.I had to deal with my mind in the following way.

Mind: "I agree strange events happen in life, but y attribute it to something related to God , of all things- a variable...!!!

Myself : The way i look at this is , some strange events happens with me, and before i can react , the repercusions of the events follow. The thing tht i thought till now to be impossible, seems perfectly easy and a child's play and that too with a very little effort from my end. so, i obviously think that there is god's hand in that... what do you say in this ??

Mind: nooooo why should u allow the credits to go to someone else. Dont you realise after reading the so called inspirational and motivational books, tht the mind ( thts me) is the so called super entity , it me that guides u.. So if something happens as per your wish or as per the way you wanted, its basically me ( mind) who should be appreciated.I had the power to think, to think positive and it happened. And of all things you are giving credits to God !!

Myself : But then again, who tell you to think??

Mind: Your brain tells me to think

Myself : If thts it, then who controlls my brain??

Mind: All I can say is that we are interdependent.

Myself : But what is the common thing tht guides both of you, obviously since each system, whether its a machine or anything else has something that drives them.In your case, since there is nothing visible, then there has to be someone invisible, someone so powerful and i guess thats GOD.

Mind: No answer/no comments..

The conversation ended here.

Is this how God's existence came into being. I dont know ??

The other thing that favours God's existence i believe is that it is so easy to blame a third person when something goes wrong with our life.
How often we have heard of such common lines,

" Its God's wish,he wanted to happen it this way"
"If only God had supported me, i could have passed thrugh this event" and so on....

We need somone to put a blame on, so that our conscious ,feel that we have done everything that we could have done, the fault happenned because of God, so we are in no way to be blamed. So all we can do is to forget the past, and look into the future... Its so easy to move ahead and think positive by handing over the bag of failures to God.. Else, it would have been too difficult to live..

All said this and done, , i also do the same thing. I blame HIM for everything that goes wrong in my life, maybe the one who has blamed him many more times.
But at the same time, i guess i remember him everytime something strange happens, At times when i find no pausible explanation ,its HIM i look upto
And needless to say , i m being lucky enough to get an answer everytime (maybe sometimes its very very late,) but the thing is that, i get an answer and the answer is always the one that i want to listen.
Right from the time i remember, till this very moment, for each and every thing that happenned with me, i had asked him reasons, and he has being kind enough to answer me.
I dont care, what the world says about his existence, for me, it jus a special relation thts unique.Its a special strenght that helps me face the world, its so easy to live your life by believing that there is someone who will take care of you...
I believe u God, thanks for everything..

2006-01-23T01:32:00.000-08:00

Some SMS, which I liked…. So posting it..

Times doesn’t wait for you and me.
Days pass and years pass.
U lose your loved ones,
U move away from your loved ones.
Ur life changes, friends changes, people change!!
But your heart has those precious moments etched in it whether u want it or not.
It is there making u happy, sad at times and making you even more painful at times.

I hide my tears when I say your name.
But the pain in my heart is still the same.
Although I smile and seem free,
There’s no one who misses you more than me.

We never have what we like,
We never like what we have,
Still we live, love and hope that some day
We will get what we love or love what we have.
That’s life…

2006-01-19T21:55:00.000-08:00

TWENTY FIFTH BIRTHDAY

Well, a birthday is one of the special day in everyone's life, and i really look forward to it. Its not that i do something special on that day, but still i get very much excited about it. And when its your twenty fifth birthday, it just adds to your excitement. As one of my friend suggested that " Its my silver jubilee of Life".. Well i liked that.
So since 25th birthday has to be special, i started my day with a very great bang. I had a nice fall while getting into the local train. With a broken bag, sandal , swollen arms and a few bruises here and there, i guess it was a great way to start the day : ).
Since i had a meeting, there was no way i could have avoided going to the office, so had to go on..

A formal celebration in the office resulted in a cake being cut, received a card and 2 temptations as a gift..
The evening was good!!!My friends gave me a surprise by coming to my home, a sort of surprise party, arranged with the help of my brother.The more surprising part of the celebration was , my friends have come with all preparations to prepare a pizza at home. So there we were, preparing pizzas at a very great speed and it turned out to be simply great..................
The party ended with me cutting another cake , receiving gifts ( thts the best part on a birthday ), few photosessions and mom- made sevaiya kheer. Well, i guess, a nice way to end a 25th birthday

So , as i grow one more year older, i jus added one more special day to my memories.. : )

2006-01-17T04:14:00.000-08:00

SOME ENGINEERING DEFINITIONS

Engineering College : Place where you're punished for getting good HSC marks.

Senior : Guy who got ragged as junior and wanna get some payback...

Fresher : Guy who has to ask where the canteen is...

Really Dumb Fresher : Guy who asks a senior where the canteen is.

Really Really Dumb fresher : Guy who follows the senior to the canteen.

Ragging : The unfortunate fate of the previous idiot.

Evasive action : Watch the juniors when any seniors come nearby. (No one runs faster than a fresher. NO ONE.)

Lectures : Waste of time. Physical presence is a must...only meant for sleeping, completing assignments & general TP

Tuitions : What you take when you don't waste enough time....

Professor : Person paid to put students to sleep.

Vernacular Prof : Unusual variant of previous individual who comes packaged with his own brand of English ("Now you check me our journal." "You Out get from class." "Are you Understand, Beta?" )

The Truth about exams....

Irony : The one who copied your entire paper passes and you flunk.

Critical Calculation : Summing up the marks you attempted worth in the exam...

Re-verification : A cruel joke. (results of which come after you give the KT exam).

An engineer's 10 engineering commandments of Life

1. Thou shall study only during the preparatory leave.
2. Thou shall never write thy assignments thyself.
3. Thou shall begin writing thy journals only on the morning of submission.
4. Thou shall treat all marks above 40 as bonus.
5. Thou shall have at least 70 per cent attendance in the canteen.
6. Thou shall pass GRACEfully.
7. Thou shall always be an OUTstanding student.
8. Thou shall give thy attendance without being present...PROXY is a MUST
9. If thou can't convince them , confuse them.
10. Thou shall start every sentence with a four-lettered word.

The Years of Engineering

F.E. Fond of Engineering
S.E . Sick Of Engineering
T.E. Tired of Engineering
B.E. Balls to Engineering

Engineers Anthem:

Hum Honge All Clear, Honge All Clear, Honge All Clear Ek Din, OH-HO, Mann me hai vishwas, pura hai vishwas, hum honge all clear ek din

Top two Engineering Rumors:

'Did you hear the results are being put up today at 5:30pm'
'Did you hear the exams are postponed by two weeks, its been put up at VJTI'

The most dreaded acronym for Engineers:

ATKT( After Trying Keep Trying)

The most important criteria while selecting an engineering college:

Girl to Boy ratio ( if more than0 .025% then that college is engineers dream come true)

Engineers at work:
Assignments solved by one and then carrying out mass transfer operations throughout the class

The most important machine for Engineers:

Xerox Machine(Without which assignment completion wouldn't be possible)

The most important table in an Engineer's House:
The glass table( to carry out GT operations, during Night Duty.)

The only queue an Engineer is familiar with:
Submission Queue

An Engineer's favourite watch:

Bird Watch !

Common Engineering Dialogues after a paper:
'What is this yaar, more than 70% of the paper was out of the syllabus'
'This was the worst paper set in the entire engineering history'
'I am failing....I got screwed royally'

Feeling after Completing Engineering:

Survived Engineering !!!!!!!!!!!

2006-01-16T21:30:00.000-08:00

THE MONK WHO SOLD HIS FERRARI

A book worth reading atleast once. For people who love to read inspirational and motivational books, this is one of the best. The author has succeeded in keeping the reader interested till the end. Although i never read such motivational books, i went for this one only because i have heard lot about it so wanted to check it out. .
For a person like me who is used to stuffs like suspense, mystery, fiction , the direct conversation between the monk and the author was pretty interesting. Nowhere during the book, did i feel my interest waning.
All in all, a good book, that makes you reflect back on your actions and your goals. The success of this book can be purely attributed to the fact that it makes you think .

2006-01-13T00:14:00.000-08:00

GOOGLE!!

Many thanks to the Sergey Brin and Larry Page- the inventor of google search engine. My life has become so simple by this bizaare thing.
Its simply amazing – its a treasure trove of information.
In today's age, this is something that I can truly rely on to provide me with accurate information
From the latest technological news to anything bizaare as “how to drape a saree”: google has it all. : )
Whenever I want to know about something new, I jus “google it “ ..
Bill Gates has said that he will make a much powerful search engine than google, I m wondering how that is gonna be…

2006-01-10T07:35:00.000-08:00

This is something pretty interesting, a hindi poem written by me. The inspiration for this was the long 1 hour 15 mins train journey from my way back to home from office, with neither nothing to do and nor anything to read, these lines came incidentally and i think i m happy with the result : )

Zaruri nahin ki pyaar mein hamesha hum saath ho
zaruri yeh hai ki dur rehkar bhi hum saath ho
Us pyaar ka kya matlab jahan
saath rehkar bhi duriyan ho

Jud jaata hai ek ajeeb rishta
achanak ek aise ajnabi se ki
uske liye agar hum mar bhi jaye
toh bhi lagta hai ki humne kuch na kiya

kehne ke liye toh hai
yeh sirf dhaai akshar
lekin jisne pyaar kiya wohi
jane kitne bemisal hai yeh akshar

pyaar ke hai bahut roop
khushi, dukh, jalan aur tadap hai kehne ke liye kuch
aisa nahin ki, kiya hai isne sabko aabad
kahi hon ko toh isne bhi kiya hai barbad

haasta hai kum, rulata hai zyada
Usi ka naam yaad dilata hai sada
aata nahin hai ise bulana
aata hai toh sirf dard mein bhi muskurana

kehte hai pyar mein log andhe hote hai
lekin jab band ankhon se duniya khubsurat lage, toh kya gila hai
zaruri nahin ki har pyarkarne walon ka naam ho
zaruri yeh hai ki har pyar ka anjaam ho.

2006-01-09T21:39:00.000-08:00

WEEKEND TRIP

This weekend trip was somewhat different, I went to Shirdi. No early palnning was done, everything got fixed on Thursday and before I knew I was on my way to shirdi on Friday night.
This was my first visit to Shirdi. I have heard a lot about Sai baba from his devotess, so I was pretty excited about the trip. The very fact that the trip was a mere coincidence is still hard for me to believe. Well, from chembur to shridi 6 hours by bus. Its a long journey but since I had booked my ticket in a VOLVO bus, it was not tiring. Reached shirdi early morning, then went to have darshan at 8.00 a.m.. Well to say, I was pleased to see the ambience in the temple. The temple is well maintained, there was decorum and the temple premises were clean. This was something that I had not yet seen in the temples that I visited in Mumbai. So needless to say, I liked the place. After Darshan, there was an Abhishek at 9.00.. This was something very different. The abhishek that normally happens in the temple, are always done by the pujaris and the devotees don’t get to see them, Over here, the statue of sai baba was placed in a big hall . For abhishek, we get a thali which containts a coconut, flower petals, and other puja items. The people sat in the hall and the pujaris sang the shlokas and devotes were asked to repeat them, it was as similar to the devotee himself doing a abhishek for Sai baba. I liked this concept. It was a enriching experience, although I couldn’t understand most of the Sanskrit shlokas, I made a point to repeat it nicely to my best effort : )

After the darshan, did some shopping and was on my way back home by the 1.00 bus. Overall, it was a nice short break.

2006-01-05T00:05:00.000-08:00

New year

Happy new year to everyone who is going to read this. The new year, this time was too much of fun . Full 2 days of enjoyment. Watched the movie "bluffmaster", then did some shopping, then went to worli seaface with friends . This was the first time i m going to worli seaface. Its a nice quiet place but the only problem is that there are hardly any stalls. The only thing that u will find is bhelpuri, and nariyal pani. From worli-seaface , i went to vashi- to celebrate new year with my college friends. We all had a great time, enjoyed a nice dinner, then played dumb charades, truth and dare . How time flew, i didnt realise, i then dozed off at 6 am : )
Its always in the back of our mind, abt what new things the new year will bring to us. With hardly 5 days gone and some strange incidents happening to me, i am left with no doubt that this year for me will be a year of surprises . 3 strange incidents in 5 days, not a bad way to start a year : )
on the 2nd day of the year , my boss asked me whether i m interested in development and coding. This was something that i always wanted to do. And before i knew , what was happening, i already got a project asigned and now i am learninng asp. net. : )

The very next day, while coming back home, somebody called my name loudly from behind,i turned back to see and it was someone whom i didnt know. He introduced himself as one of my school mate, i recognised him when he told his name. From then on it was a walk down the memory lane almost 10 years back. Discussing old school friends, finding their wherabouts, our school teachers and then ending up to the most difficult question "hows life going on ". : ) Is this incident strange, i dont know, but somehow it made me renew my memories, something similar to dumbledore picking up one of his silver strand of hair from his pensive : )

The 3rd incident is something that i dont want to write now , will update in the next blog : )

2006-01-04T23:47:00.000-08:00

Its christmas holidays going on, with schools closed and no homeworks to do, the children are doing what they like doing it- watching television!!! I found it strange, because for me no schools meant playing hide and seek, carroms and sleeping . Looking at today's life style , i jus cant stop writing down a few lines... here i go,.,

Gone are the days when as little ones
We used to listen to stories of fairies and ghosts
Now as grown-ups, we know they are all false one
With only money matters running through our mind the most

Gone are the days when in school days
Free period was something we eagerly waited for
Now in the time of serious job overlays
Free time is something we despise of

Gone are the days when the letters came
Bringing along with it the news of everyone in the village
Now what with emails and mobiles
Its just Hi and bye in the modern age.

Gone are the days when evenings meant
Time to go out in groups for playing and get together
Now with no time to spare, evenings are something
That I have stopped noticing altogether

Ohh- how I wish that I get my good old days back
With no troubles and tensions to worry about
but with maturity ruling over innocence
The days are something that has become the past.

2005-12-29T20:55:00.000-08:00

AMCHI MUMBAI

Mumbai, the land of opportunities
Where time is till eternity
Come 26/7 or 9/11
This city stands tall and even

The hustle bustle, the crowded trains in station
This city is the top revenue producer of the nation
The posh bungalows. the tall mansions, the hutments and the shanties
The city where coexist the weak and the mighties

Life in Mumbai is described in one word -traveling
Leaving people hardly any time to start thinking
The best of friends are not found in the family or in relatives
But are often the one we make in trains and buses

Money, power, fame and lights that's the city's Highlight
The crazy mumbaities never sleep at night,
The stock index sores high or low
People here always greet guest with a bow.

From beggars to the don
Everybody here sings some song
Sometimes it's a street fight with locked horns
Other times we run for Mumbai Marathon

Adversity thy name is life
Where else other than Mumbai is this clear and nice
Problems are not less what with space, land and water cut
Add to this a new problem called power cut'

Why do I stay here then- this is the question I ask myself
With all on my own, why to face the problems with nobody to help
But I know why still I love this place
It’s nothing to do with its glamour and its pace

I love the city only for one simple thing
This is the city that thrives on hope
Teaching everyone to face the
Biggest challenge called –LIFE

2005-12-29T00:28:00.000-08:00

HOPE

When all seems away
When u have no one
Don’t let your life sway
Remember hope stays on!!!

When everything you believed till
Seems now to be a dream gone
Don’t let your life to be still
Remember hope stays on!!!

When all u wanted was true ove
And what u got in return was a false one
Don’t let your life in blue
Remember hope stays on.!!!

2005-12-29T00:25:00.000-08:00

LOVE
Love is a mystery
Even when it had a great history
Still love remains a mystery!!!

People says Love is above all
Even if u had a great fall
Still love is above all!!!

People says Love is everything
Even when it leaves you behind with nothing
Still love is everything!!!

People says Love is life
Even when it hurts you like a knife
Still love is life!!!

2005-12-22T23:41:00.000-08:00

TO MY BEST FRIEND ON HER BDAY!!

Every morning with a beautiful smile
She gets into the company bus
And greets everyone in her own style
Finally settling in the bus.

Her beautiful long hair
Her face neat and clear
But be careful not to
Mess with her lipstick.

A perfect friend is she with a gentle and caring nature
Over the life experiences she has matured
The way she has taken the path to the future
Hope everything happens for the better.

For her, family and friends come first
And her hidden wishes the last
Cooking and dressing up is her passion
Always the first to come out in fashion.

People like you we come across once in a lifetime
There is so much to learn from you
Wishing that we be in touch always
For ever and ever.

I wish her a Happy Birthday,
with a prayer in my mind.
that the best friend of mine,
be lovely and cheerful all the while.......

Tried my hand in writing poem, hope that I come out with something better next time :

2005-12-22T20:58:00.000-08:00

The crowded compartment

Sometimes, something happen that forces you to think about what we are doing. The things are always there at the back of our mind, but in a bit to avoid thinking on it, we tend to just keep it somewhere.

It was as usual a very normal day and the same crowded first class ladies compartment. Everybody jumped in to catch a seat and then settled themselves. The entire seat gets filled up within 2 stations. A very thin, old lady then got into the train. Nobody offered her a seat, I couldn’t take it anymore- I offered her a seat.
But this incident left me thinking.
Have we become so inhumane that we have forgotten to respect our elders also?
We are so insensitive that even when we know that the lady is old and she don’t have the strength or the stamina to face the crowd, then too we just sit and stare.
The mentality has become such that it’s the old lady’s fault that she got into the early morning crowded train- at such an age its best for her to sit at home and relax.
We tend to blame the younger generation for not having any respect to elders, but when we ourselves have forgotten that – how can we expect them to learn it ??
I don’t know- am I becoming too idealistic ??

2005-12-15T23:12:00.000-08:00

Why SUICIDE??

As per the reports, he was the brightest ever computer wizard in the IIT. He was so intelligent and smart that the students and teachers are still shocked to hear that he committed suicide

Of all the suicides, that happen there are only a few of the people whose condition are really pitiable, miserable and they have no one to take care of them. The remaining are the people who are actually blessed with some qualities, and they end up losing their life.
Take the case of the IIT students, last year a VJ has committed suicide after a failed relationship and the list goes on.
Why people end their life?? I have still not got an answer to this.

There is so much in life to explore, I don’t understand why someone would ever think of harming oneself.. Failing in one arena, or not getting what we actually wanted are too silly a reason to end life. I myself have gone through a lot of situations where I felt there’s no way out but never did such a thought crossed my mind. I was thinking of how to come out of these situations. People say that they are lonely and they are too stressed – that suicide is the only thing that they can think off. But I guess its all in the mind. We know ourselves the best-. It all depends on what’s our approach to life.

If just a small conversation can help change somebody’s thought of ending his/her life, then please my dear friends, do spare your time when someone tells you that he/she wants to speak to you. No matter how busy you are, if a 2 mins discussion can relieve someone of his/her pains, then why not. Maybe unknowingly we may end up doing some good. Nowadays, we hardly have time to help people.

2005-11-14T03:34:00.000-08:00

Review of Chetan Bhagat;s one night@ call centre:

Finished the book yesterday night. Had heard a lot of noise on the way the call-centre life has been depicted, so I thought why not know it first-hand.

The author narrates the story throught 6 characters (3 girls and 3 guys) who work for a call centre in Gurgaon. The call centre is in the midst of close down.
The author main aim was to try to bring to the front the dual life a call-centre employee lives. Shyam became Sam. During the only time Shyam is awake he is either answering calls from foreign customers speaking their language and accent or trying to please his evil boss. The other half when he is Shyam, he is sleeping. So Shyam becomes SAM for everybody.
But somewhere in bringing their problems to the front, the author forgets that working in a call-centre is one’s own decision, So maybe out of compulsions, or some other need, if someone is working in a call-centre then he or she is aware of the problems and is ready to face it. It’s the approach that one has for life. In the book, none among the 6 characters lead a peaceful life, one or the other has some problem. . There are many people who are working in call-centre, who has no problems either in the marital life or anywhwere, and who, r happy. The author has left this group of people, and has seen the call-centre life through a section of people who have not thought seriously about life. Its only when they get a call from GOD ( i.e when they listen to their conscience), they realize wht is the way they need to go. But this happens in every sector, every field of life. It’s not limited to only call-centre employees.

There are some parts wherein u can connect the characters with urself, like the part wherein God explains the 6 characters about the inner call, and wherin the character Vroom speaks about patriotism, and the youth of today is brilliant. Written in simple English, it enables the layman to think on the lines.

Over and above, as per me, it’s a good book, to read but as per popular notions, doesn’t really depict the call-centre life.