Me, Myself and Quarky

An office dinner

2011-03-27T23:39:00.001+05:30

For some time now, I used to think that office dinners do not mean anything more than extensions of the same mundane office talk, seeing the same faces which you see every working day 10 odd hours, cutting off time with your own set of friends or your loved ones.

But today was a refreshing change that came about not just in my thoughts, but in the experience too. Some times you need a different company, a new space, a new identity. You need expand the network and understand that the same folks you hang out with, may not always be there, may have different dependencies, different set of people to take care of. This is when you have to break free - so to speak from the comfort zone and seek a new zone. I set out to find a new zone today and it was a refreshing change.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Mundhwa Rd,Pune,India

Just a test

2011-03-13T16:44:00.001+05:30

This is a story of my first post from the iPad. One lazy Saturday morning I was trying to do some household chore and did not want to do at all. With this blogpress app, i got to do something that I really like.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Mundhwa Rd,Pune,India

2010-02-21T18:09:00.001+05:30

Eklavya
2010

Entrepreneur of the year Awards.
New Delhi.

Ajinkya Girme stepped up to collect the next award, He was a tall man in his early thirties and wearing a slightly overused blazer, dark trousers and well polished shoes.His walk to the stage was slow, as if he was absorbing every moment on the way - maybe like how a debutant would walk to get his first Oscar. For people who knew Ajinkya well- this was his Oscar! He moved to the stage and collected the award from Mr Anil Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Infocomm. Ajinkya looked very overawed by the situation and seemed out of place, but as he spoke to the media and the crowd present at the event, his inhibitions slowly shook off.

   " I am really happy to be here in front of all of you today. Before I even start talking any more, I have to thank one person who got me on this stage here. Its Arun Jayaram. He is a software engineer working with an IT company in Pune and he was the guru who made me think differently, made me spread my wings, gave me the dreams which I worked hard for, and got here.
   Seven years back, I used to work as a security guard in an IT company. My role was pretty simple. Stand at the Wing B entrance, monitor who goes out and who comes in. I had studied upto the 12th Grade after situations forced me to accept whatever odd job came my way. Working my way up, I finally made it to be a security guard with Walsons Security Systems. It was a decent pay and a secure job with not a lot of hard work. This is where I first saw Arun Jayaram.
   He was a software engineer with the company and his cubicle was just next to the door. Since I had a lot of free time and did not know how to use it, I used to observe people around me and I used to observe Arun too. Arun was a very meticulous worker, who had a routine when he came in to office. He would reach office at 9:30 am sharp and then connect his laptop and stare into the white board in front of him.
After about 5 minutes, He would write something on the whiteboard and then go wash his face and come back. Since I was literate, I could read his message. Everyday he would write down, how he wanted to grow in his work that day. how we wanted to do something new, something which makes him happy and makes the company benefit from him. Like some days he would write, Finish ordinary work in 4 hours and make my weekly new tool. Or he would write, Focus on product usability for home customers. Or sometimes something which even I could directly understand. -Work 200% for today, no breaks allowed.
   I slowly started relating to his every day sayings. I used to observe him working also. He used to be completely focussed on his goal every single minute. Whenever he was tired, he used to put his head down and sleep for 2-3 mins and then get back to his work. I would walk past him and see how he sits, he talks to people. His office desk had a lot of awards, many of those were for Innovation and exemplary achievements.
   I used to ask Balu Shevate some of the doubts I had about the sayings. Balu was a diploma in mechanical engineering and used to work in a huge automobile company. He had an understanding of the market and the company. He used to explain what Arun's whiteboard meant. I started thinking in my free time, what do I want to do in life. Am I just going to be a security guard all my life or will I do something more in life. I was moderately educated and I should not be cursing my family background for my situation.
Can I also ' do more, do something new, do something that makes me happy.' I decided that I can definitely do something about my life. I started getting old English textbooks that I procured from the local Raddi store.
I started reading while I was sitting, waiting for the door to open and while I noted down every employee's name passing by. My medium of education was vernacular and I was determined to know the language more.
Somedays I used to wish Arun Good morning, and some days I would ask him, How are you? . He was pleasantly surprised but would always reply with a wide smile. I used to look at his neatly arranged desk and see the books he used to refer to. I wrote down the names of the books on a piece of paper, and asked Balu.
Balu told me that these books were about motivating oneself and becoming more successful. I started thinking how can I become more successful. One of the days, the message on his whiteboard was ' Focus on your strengths, and enhance them further'. I wrote down the words in my notebook and referred a Marathi- English dictionary and understood completely what he meant. I tried to ask people around me, what I was good at. My mother said, I was a very bright child and I would always come up with simple ideas for complicated problems - like how once I used a huge knife to cut the palm tree branch and make a cricket bat for my brother. - how I made a greeting card from cut outs of wedding cards thrown outside the local marriage hall - my friends told me how I used to be the first person to approach the police mama with a creative lie to get off with a meagre fine for triple ride on a Luna. My brother told me that you have a knack of creating something new, of coming up with simple solutions for complex problems, you can sense the root of the problem and then apply your mind. I smiled. And I started dreaming. Probably those awards at Arun's desk can be mine too. For the next 2 weeks, I did not see Arun. I never talked to him more than the 2-3 lines of English, and did not know his phone number. I so wanted to call him and ask him where he was, and when would he come back.
   After two weeks, he returned, and I was overjoyed to see him. I greeted him with a ' Hope everything is fine with you' He smiled and said. 'Oh yes, I got married. And was away on a trip'. I said. 'Very Nice. Congratulations to you and Mrs.' He thanked me. That day he wrote on his whiteboard. - If you have started dreaming, - its good, its the first step to making it come true-. I felt great that day. He was speaking my mind. He had sowed the seeds of a dream in me, and I was going to make it come true. Now, my English was getting better, I used to speak to Balu and Rajaram in English and also used to talk to Saxena saab, in English. My father used to drive Saxena Saab's car. While all this was happening, I did not lose track of my primary role as a security guard. I used to interact with all employees in English and speak random lines in English. Everyone started knowing me as Girme- The english speaking guard.
   In my off time, I started work as an apprentice at Shah Fabricators near my house. Since my shift in office was 7 am - 3pm. I could work from 4- 11pm. Ajaybhai Shah used to value my father very much and agreed to my request to take me in his firm. Of course, the money he paid me was pittance. Much lesser than what I got as a security guard. But I did not mind. I started understanding the nuances of Steel fabrication and also started involving myself in Glass and Mirror works. I learnt fast and I used to accompany his carpenter to some sites. Seeing the different ideas I had in the field, I started getting a little more money. I also enrolled in a part time diploma course in mechanical engineering. All this while, I used to keep observing Arun and his ways and the whiteboard. One of the days, he had a message - Am down but not out. I read it and asked him- Sir? Feeling low? He was shocked and said. Yes! How did you know?
I pointed to his whiteboard. He smiled and said - Yes that is right. But I am not going to lose it. Its tough, But I am tougher. This was very helpful for me in my struggle to work and study. I used to cycle at full speed and report for my 7 am duty and rush out at 3:05 pm for my work and study. In one year, I had now become a permanent Junior Fabricator at Shah Fabricators.
   Soon the big day in my life came by. I was at a site where a new bungalow needed to be done. Since the contact was a big name, there were 2-3 architects also at the place. Shahbhai was famous in his work which is why, he had been asked to come with his boys for assistance.There was a problem with the client's terrace. He wanted a swing, but he did not want to use up a lot of space. The architects suggested a frame and a cane swing and different other ideas, but the client was not so happy. I don't know what happened, but I just started speaking about an idea. I did not think whether I should have spoken or not. I said- why not a walking stick kind of a frame against the pillar and then hang the swing. It won't consume a lot of space and since I had a knowledge of fabrication - I knew it would look good. Everyone turned to look at me. I was scared for some time. The client started looking in the air and drawing lines in free space and closing his eyes. He kept thinking and drawing more lines. He opened his eyes and looked around the terrace.
After 2-3 minutes, he smiled and said. 'That is a very nice idea - I really like it. In all ways it works out good, I want to see sketches of this idea. ' The architect gulped a glassful of air. She looked at me - first as if I just stole her thunder, and then with an encouraging smile.
   The next day Ajaybhai called me aside and told me that he had got a call from the architect in the morning. She wanted me to assist her in her own firm. I did not know how to react. The next evening, she came and talked to me, she told me that she saw a spark in me and wanted me to assist her in her enterprise.
She said, but you'd have to leave your job as a security guard. I told her, I was ready only if she pays me as much as my salary as the security guard. She smiled. That indicated an affirmative.
   The next day, I met Arun sir for the last time in my life. I told him that I was leaving the job to join an architect firm and I thanked him. I told him that I had created an email address with the help of Balu - girmewillwin@gmail.com and I wanted him to email me his whiteboard lines every day. I requested him to please do this for me. He was very surprised and did not know what I had requested. Since he had seen me around for a long time and I had always smiled and talked well with him, he did not refuse. Thank god.
   Every day I used to accompany Sudhir to the nearby cybercafe and pay 15 rupees for half an hour to check my email. I used to reply to Arun email and thank him for the effort he would take. We would share 7.5 rupees and would ask Sudhir to use the internet also. He would watch pictures of Bollywood heroines and be happy. I worked with architect Gina Mendes for 5 years. Because she was famous, I got a lot of visibility. Her firm used to do the big offices, banks, houses and hotels. For almost 3 and a half years, almost regularly, I used to get an email from Arun. It kept me moving. After some time, I did not get any mails from him, but kept thinking about how, he would spend his day, achieve his goal and worked harder than before.
   After 5 years, I now felt I can start slowly on my own. I started my firm in a small unused garage. And slowly moved up. I worked 20 hours a day meeting people, studying their needs, researching on the problems , creating solutions. I had 2 workers with me. 1 year later, I stand here in front of you - a proud owner of Ajinkya Associates with a workforce of 36 people and a brand name in Pimpri Pune. Every one needs to find their own Dronacharya. I found mine and I would be indebted to him the entire life."

   "Arun! Arun! where are you?? , oh there you are! reading in the terrace. I kept looking for you all over.Oh! what happened, why are you crying? You have tears in your eyes. What happened?
I handed over a newspaper to my wife, and pointed to full page article in the Times of India., She read the article, kissed me on the forehead and picked up the empty cup of tea and walked away.

2010-02-17T20:20:00.010+05:30

The UAE Tour (26th September 2009 - 4th October 2009)

This tour was a sole result of the imaginative minds of two indivduals who dream even they are awake! One August night, Deepti and I were just talking about a vacation - a short one - somewhere around Maharashtra. Soon we both started climbing the flights of fantasy and moved on to Kerala. Every time, we would think of a destination, Both of us were already there, seeing the place, buying stuff, enjoying the beautiful landscapes. It would normally take a while for us to realize the effects of the spell - Then we would think of a new place and dream on. Kerala soon was out of the window and we started zeroing in on Thailand! Yeah! Do dreams have boundaries (national or international) ? Then even before the research started, Both of us were already lounging in the sand on Pattaya, Phuket beaches. Soon the research followed and we realized that September is a rainy, wet month in Thailand. Aah! Now what?

Then a bolt of lightning struck us. I have a cousin in Sharjah. Why not make a trip to his place? Then we can see Dubai too!! That is it, another episode followed, we were on the beaches, the huge buildings and the desert. Now nothing could stop us. My cousin's agreement to our plans boosted our spirits further.
And our research followed. Days and Days of Googling (Thank you Larry and Sergey), and we were ready with a tour plan. The following is an account of how it materialized.

Day 1 : 26th September 2009.

We were scheduled for a 2:45 PM Air India flight from Mumbai to Dubai. I was very excited since it was my first trip abroad, Deepti was jumping with joy too - her list of destinations visited abroad would now have a new name - UAE! We had hired a K.K Travels car to pick us up from home at 8:00 am. The time was 9:00 am and no one was to be seen. The thrill had begun early. Then after some more time, Raosaheb (what a royal name!) came to pick us up. Raosaheb was our driver.I like observing people around me and their mannerisms - and the more they differ from the mean, the more you remember them. One such person was Jaykumar (Name changed to protect identities ☺ ). Jaykumar was 'healthy', intelligent, uber confident and a hard taskmaster. He got into Raosaheb's mind and reminded him every nano second how late he was, and how he should now rush. And when Raosaheb tried to rush, he missed turns, entered No-entries. This made JK's blood boil further. We just smiled at each other and enjoyed the JK show. After all - we shared JK's cause. The next guy in our share-a-car was a Captain from the Army , the exact oppposite of our dude JK. Calm , composed even though he had a flight at 1:20pm and it was already 9 45 when we picked him up. Raosaheb tried a lot, but could just not get into JK's good books. Wonder if he carried a good book? Finally - to cut the crap- Sorry JK, We reached the airport just in time to check-in our bags. It is here we learnt our first overseas travel lesson -

We converted 30 Grand of Indian Currency to UAE dirhams and felt satisfied of staying ahead of the game. We were prepared even before the race began. We realized later, at the Dubai airport that we could have got more Dirhams if we'd have converted currency there! Sour grapes! - So what! lessons are expensive sometimes isn't it? We paid for it. Our flight journey was not eventful. Do middle-aged air hostesses make you turn your head at all? After some movie and music and decent food- We landed at the Dubai airport. This was a special feeling for me. We had landed at a foreign land. I was going to set foot on my first piece of land outside India.

The airport was majestic and gave us the first taste of the grandeur of Dubai. There were palm trees and a sea of escalators and huge chandeliers. My cousin was waiting for me and then we started the taxi ride from Dubai to Sharjah. The distance between Dubai and Sharjah is about 17km and the roads are so awesomely wide and smooth, You could reach in 10 minutes in a free flow. We just sat and soaked in the view. Tall buildings, Buildings of all shapes, mosques, fantastic sports cars, flyovers and gardens gave us a super feel of a cosmopolitan city. We reached his house, changed clothes and set out on our first destination.- The Sharjah Aquarium.

Sharjah Aquarium:

Sharjah Aquarium with Suri Ettan & Gayathri

This was a beautiful aquarium, with hundreds of different species of colorful aquatic life. Some flat headed ray fishes, some round and ugly, some huge. It was a great place. The underwater tunnel concept was lovely. We could see huge fishes above us, just on the ceiling of the glass. Thank god for the high strength glass. After which we went to the Central Souq. Souq - means market. Central Souq is a famous market in Sharjah. And this adjoins the corniche - Corniche means a Sea / beach on one side and a garden on the other. The corniche is a great view. A kind of a place where friends can meet over a cup of coffee or a sandwich. The Central souq was like a Pune mall, lot of shops big and small. Many entrances. But still this was called just a Souq (just a market?) and not a mall. We wondered why! We were to find out some days later.

We hogged on home-cooked dinner and slept off right away. Tomorrow was to be a big day and we were tired from the journey. Sleep like always cuddled into my arms instantly.

Day 2: 27th September 2009

Abu Dhabi:

We hired a car to take us to places far off from Sharjah. The places that we had identified were - Abu Dhabi, Al-Ain, Fujairah. At 9 sharp, the driver called us and we went down and located him. Another best part about the stay was that, my cousin, bhabhi and their little 5 year old kid would leave the house before 8 am, for work, school etc and would give us a spare key. Due to this, we got a hotel kind of a feeling - exclusive and private. Our rented car was a Toyota Corolla and the driver owned that car. Wow! Our journey to Abu Dhabi began. The distance from Sharjah to Abu Dhabhi is about 240 km. And the journey took about 2 odd hours. The ride was amazingly smooth on the freeway. This is when we saw all the super big cars. We saw a Porshe Cayenne, Infinity FX 35, 50 , BMWs, Mercs, Range Rovers, Path Finders and Land Cruisers.

Most of the cars were huge SUVs, and a few sedans. There was just a single hatchback brand that we saw on our entire trip. A Toyota Yaris - equivalent of an Indian Hyundai Santro.

Our first stop at Abu Dhabhi was the Grand Mosque. We got there close to 12, and the weather was pretty sultry. We were just thinking how hot it would have been in the months of June-July. Luckily we got in, since the mosque was to close for prayers at 12pm. And a Grand Mosque it was!! The carpets in the mosque were supposedly imported from Iran. The ceiling was as good as any we have seen. It had huge chandeliers hanging from a majestic height. The interiors of the mosque aptly justified the name of the Mosque. It was Grand in the truest sense of the word. This is the first mosque Deepti had visited, and the second for me. She also got to wear the Abaya - the traditional black Arab dress worn by the women. It was funny to see the foreigners, some Japanese folk who came in super tiny shorts but then had to change to the Abaya to get in. The mosque was also super cool, a stark contrast to the heat outside. The loos were really far off from the main area of the mosque, but were very artistic and beautiful too.

After a religious start to our day, we next started searching for Al-Hosn palace, our marked destination before we had set off. We went round and round in circles for a long time, but could not locate it. Even a missed turn and we had to go around the entire street to return. Finally we found it and it was very below par. 'Tai Tai Fish' . The palace was not only under renovation, but even what we saw was not even worth capturing with our cameras.And there was also a museum close to the palace, but this was in the list of 'Things we Hate' for both of us. By this time, our stomachs had started the growl marathon, and we had to find a place to eat. Then in one of the lanes, we found The Airlines Hotel . This was where Deepti started calling the land - Mallu Land. Oh ya!, I forgot to mention - our driver was a Mallu - yarab. The theme song for him was - Ya ali , Yarab Ali ☺☺. Back to where we were - The Airlines hotel also had Mallu food and Mallu waiters. She was amazed at how easily I could ' balbalballoo' (her interpretation) away and get things done.

This was our first food stop outside. After some burps, we went to the Marina Mall. The first mall we saw in the UAE and it was Huuuuuuuuuuge! There was a North entrance, South Entrance etc. and we wondered why are there so many entrances. We got lost in the vast areas multiple times.The names of the brands in the mall, were a new lesson in Brandology . "Burberry, Dior, Fendi, Iceberg, Roberto Cavalli, Rodeo Drive, Ralph Lauren, Tatuum, Rage Bike shop, La Martina" were just some of the exorbitantly priced brands where would we just get in to get a feel of the place, see the price tag, sigh and come out. And how I used to think - Nike, Adidas and Reebok, Lee, Levi, Woodland is almost everything in brands. This was when we had no understanding of the map culture. We realized later that every mall has a Map of all possible kinds of shops grouped together into all possible categories and neat diagrams of their locations. This is some knowledge that we used to great effect in our future Mall Travels.

After this, we visited the Abu Dhabi Corniche. It was a wonderful sight to stand by the sea and watch the blue waters, luxurious yachts, water scooters all against a rich sky scrapered background. The look was straight out of a Hollywood movie. We spent some good time sitting and savoring the view. One of the views looked like Melbourne from my favorite movie - Dil Chahta Hai. I also sang the song ' Jaane Kyu log pyaar karte hai' against the backdrop. Felt real joy.

By this time, it was already 6 pm local time and the sun had set. We then visited the Abu Dhabi Mall. The oldest and the biggest mall in Abu Dhabi. We were soon getting used to the -est- culture. Everything was either the biggest or largest or oldest or prettiest or fastest. ☺. This truly was the land of the superlatives.After visiting some more shops in the mall, we took the long drive home.We were very tired after a real long day and were famished too. We hogged on some very tasty home made food - Thank you Seema chechi - and crashed immediately. Our mantra in the UAE was soon to be called - Eat like a dog, Sleep like a log. Deepti forgot her low carb diet and we dropped dead at 12 am.

Day 3: 28th September 2009

A Brand new day - And our next destination was Khor Fakkan, Khor Kalba and Fujairah. Our Googling research told us that these places on the east coast of the UAE (Dubai and Sharjah being on the West Coast) is a wonderful site for clear blue waters and the site where almost all of the water sports and snorkelling takes place. But, our reactions were mixed. To start with, the driver Yarab, got along a fellow passenger - without telling us- and had bought Heineken cans, a Handycam etc. Was he going for a picnic or were we? This was a drive to a very remote part of UAE, where human civilization is not so easy to find and now we have to contend with not one but two strangers. Deepti was a little worried and this time, we both took turns in sleeping. Not for one moment did we both sleep. We did have my cousin calling frequently and asking us to call 999 in case of any mischief. Thankfully we did not need to. We reached the Khor Fakkan beach at about 12 pm.The place was very picturesque but our timing was not good. It was Noon and hot. And since Deepti couldn't swim and would'nt snorkel, I gave up that idea too. The waters were blue like how a painter would paint the sea. The corniche was prettier than Abu Dhabi but less cosmopolitan. The horizon was made up of only water and no tall buildings. We then visited the Fujairah Fort and Museum. This was an ordinary sight, for we can find much better forts in India. The museum was decent.

By now, our stomachs spoke the language we knew very well. The hunger pangs language. We moved round and round the area for a decent vegetarian stop, and finally found Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut and McDonalds proved to be our best companions during the tour. This was the most economical place to find sure shot vegetarian food. We ate to our heart's content and moved to our next stop -Khor Kalba - known to be the home of the rare white breasted king fisher bird and the most northern area to spot mangrove forests in the world. This was a great view. We saw the mangrove forests in the inland sea, but could not find the birds. We could have, if we hired a local boat guided by local fishermen, but the driver and his friend advised against it. Since the area was very remote and the inland sea extended quite a bit. We clicked pictures and videos of live snails and jumping fishes and left from there.

After this we headed towards Dubai. It was evening time and by the time we reached Dubai - It was about 7:30pm. Our plan was to take the cable car across the Dubai Creek, but the cable car was not functioning due to more winds that day, We then moved to the Hyper Panda Mall, and by now we were very comfortable with the Mall shopping. We looked at the map - chose the areas to visit and did some channelized shopping - rather viewing. Oh yes! Deepti bought some gifts from here. She also bought herself a pretty, girly, colorful pen drive. Next we went to Dragon Mart. Situated in the International City in Dubai - this is a mart where you'd get all Chinese items under the sun - except the people. Different phones, gadgets and electronic items - which were weirdly colorful and cheap. The variety of things to be found here was staggering. We would have stayed more, but we had to head home, The next hour or so was not new. Hog and Drop! We had a long day coming up.

Day 4: 29th September 2009

The Dubai Mall

The previous night, we had called up the driver and categorically told him to not get any fellow passengers. In the morning, he did not pick up his phone and after a while it was switched off. Probably he did not like our comment the previous night! Bah!, But that put our Al-Ain plans out of place. This is where, Suri Ettan calmly told us -"So what if the driver did not come, I ll arrange one for tomorrow, Today you take a self tour of the Dubai City." He gave us the bus numbers, informations about the taxis, the landmarks and the fares. He told us to head to Dubai Mall first and gave us some more destinations to visit. Where did he know or even we know that this one place would fill the day completely. ☺

We took a taxi to get to the nearest Bus stand. The taxi like all other vehicles was a grand sedan. Very comfortable and cool. I wondered if the drivers have the best job in this hot sultry country. Then we took a Double decker bus to our next destination. We sat in the top tier and loved the ride. We saw golf courses, skyscrapers and a sea of interwining roads. The journey was long. but we did not mind it one bit. From our next stop, we took another taxi to alight at the Dubai Mall - The biggest mall in the world. This mall had an aquarium and an underwater zoo. WOW! Can you call this a mall? We first saw the underwater aquarium and the zoo. This aquarium was better than the Sharjah aquarium.There were giant sharks and some other huge fishes. The underwater zoo was a great view too. We found the 'Finding Nemo'. fish tank which had Dory and Nemo and Bloat. Was fun to watch. Also watched some really ugly species of penguins and a lot of other animals. We also took a ride on the glass bottom boat. We could see the fishes and aquatic life right below our feet. Great new experience. Food was again with our friend - McDonalds. For a budget struck vegetarian - this was a boon.We also saw a pair of jeans from some brand called Lafayette which touched 4 figures in Dirhams!! That was astounding. 1200 Dirhams means 15600 in Indian Rupees. The pair of jeans did not look that inviting too. Sour Grapes maybe!

Our next few hours resulted in the moment of extreme happiness for Deepti. We bought the Panasonic DMC FZ 28 Digital camera from Jacky Electronics at the mall. But it was not easy. It meant conferencing Rajesh and Zuber and talking for about an hour discussing the good and the bad of buying the camera from there. Inspite of the cunning salesman who was trying to spoil the deal, we eventually got a good deal. The salesman had lured us with an extra memory card which was actually not a part of the deal. When the store manager demanded that back, Deepti 's face made an awesome inverted smile and he let us keep it. The power of Expressions! The next few minutes - Deepti was walking on air, and her smile lit the Dubai Mall beyond the already super bright surroundings. After the camera conquest, we stepped out of the Dubai Mall at about 7:30 pm. After some 9-10 hours of the marathon mall experience, we had stepped out feeling absolutely exhausted but happy. We were delighted to know that there was a fountain show with lights and the best part was that it was free!. The show was ordinary, not out of the world. I have seen more creativity at the local Ganpati pandals.But the area where the fountain show was held was a dream place.

On one side was the Burj Dubai - The tallest manmade structure on Earth is 818 metres high and can sprain even a giraffe's neck and the other side was a beautiful building which we mistook for the Burj Al Arab - The most expensive hotel on earth! But it wasn't. Was some other building. Nevertheless, we were in total awe of the place and started our return journey back to Sharjah.

8 pm is a peak traffic time in Dubai and we got into a taxi from the Dubai Mall to the Bur Dubai bus terminus from where we would take a bus to Sharjah. Our driver was a Pakistani - He was very good natured and gentle, Initially he mentioned that 'we' (Pakistan) managed to beat 'you' (India) in the Champions Trophy. I did not say anything much, We were in an unknown land and it was not a good time to pick up the patriotism and nationality conversations. But he was warm and shared a lot of information about the city. He also stopped and helped us cross the road to the Bur Dubai bus stand. Perhaps he was sending the message that, our perception of a Pakistani should not be universal. We felt touched. Then we got into the double decker bus and headed home. We were seated in the front seat of the top tier and enjoyed the journey even though it was in heavy traffic conditions. It was difficult to get an idea of the turning radius of the bus or the closeness to other vehicles, because of the huge size of the bus. We almost thought, our monster bus was giving birth to small cars. This was because every few minutes, we would feel a car is coming out from underneath our bus. ☺. We reached home at about 10:30 pm local time - somewhat our time to return every day. This made it difficult to talk to folks back home coz, it would be 12 am there. Deepti still managed to talk to her father and grandmother. From then on, we 'd call our folks in the morning before we left for our tour.

Day 5: 30th September 2009

Al Ain

The following day, our driver made his appearance and we took the scheduled trip to Al Ain. The sites at Al Ain were an Oasis, A zoo and the Jebel Hafeet mountains.The drive to Al Ain was completely cutting through the desert. We were zooming on the highway with the desert on both sides. This was our first look of a desert. We were to see more of the desert in the days to come. After some hours of smooth driving we reached the Hili Oasis. This was a maze of roads with hundreds of palm trees and a rare sight in that area - shade. The area was cooler compared to the heat of the surroundings. There were also some water canals in the oasis. This was a good sight, but for a Mallu like me, hundreds of coconut trees and a lot of shade in Kerala seemed a similar scene.Then we stumbled upon the Al Ain oasis, the one we wanted to see. This was similar to the Hili oasis, but for more signboards. After this we had food at (Guess!) ... ☺ Mcdonalds! and headed to the Al Ain zoo.

The Al Ain zoo is a huge area of land. Again there was a map of areas with different animals. We first headed to Deepti's second love - Birds. This is where she used the new camera to great effect.She got some great shots of the birds. It was very hot in the afternoon and to walk in the sun took its toll on Deepti. We did not see as many animals that we had set out to see, but did sit on a toy train to ride a bit around the zoo. It was really very ordinary. Much like a Matheran phoolrani. We got some awesome giraffe pics with the new camera. One pic had its long tongue jutting out.Our driver did not seem to have the same enthusiasm about the animals and kept calling us. This and the heat blew Deepti off. In the mean time, we did see some interesting reptiles and a turtle pair in a scintillating intercourse.I wanted to see the zebra but that area was closed that day.After some hours at the zoo, we traveled to our next destination.

The Jebel Hafeet mountain was atop a long winding road which though ascending steadily- was flawless in terms of road construction and markings. It is commendable on the part of the RTA - The Road and Transport Authority in UAE to have clean, smooth, divider roads all across the width and breadth of the UAE, whether it was a desert or the mountain.Cheers!. The mountain was a truly grand site. Easily in the top three sites in UAE for me. The golden mountains colored by the setting sun resembled the scene from Makenna' Gold - An old Hollywood movie.Got a great view of the sun ready to shut his shop for the day.The drive back home was like traveling in a dark, 100 km long tunnel. This was because there was just the desert of both sides and our car cutting through it. We were traveling at a speed of 120kmph, but it did not feel that much because of the big car and smooth roads. We also saw that only Dubai is big, rich and grandiose. The other parts are small, but culturally very beautiful.This was the last of the days with our driver and in spite of his absence the previous day, I gave him a tip, though he did not expect it. I don't know why, but - like the Pakistani driver - I wanted him to treat a Mallu tourist well, in the future.

Day 6: 1st October 2009.

Palm Jumeirah and the Desert Safari

We had seen all of the far-off places by now and we were all set to explore the extremely cosmopolitan area of the Jumeirah Beach and surroundings. We were also comfortable with the taxi and the bus rides and had started recognizing landmarks. In some areas, instead of a bus ticket, you have to buy a Red card, which can be shown at the entry of the bus and much like a PrePaid card, can be used again on future journeys.At the Bur Dubai bus stand, there was some problem with the machine that generates the Red cards, so the guy there told us to get into the bus without it. We were wondering what to do, when the driver said that the ride is free!! This was awesome. Just because it was their fault in not having the machine operational, they gave us a free ride. WOW! Cool!. In the bus, we met a fellow passenger who had to go to Atlantis hotel and we decided to share a taxi since that was one of our areas to see too.

We got down and hired a taxi as though we were together and shared the cost and saved 10 Dirhams. Atlantis is a majestic hotel and is rumoured to be one of the few sites which never hit a slowdown in spite of the recession. Money just flowed in for the construction and it showed. The lobby and the adjoining areas were very royal. We could not explore much coz, the other parts were open only to the guests who lived there. So we could not see the the rooms which were actually under water. But we did click photos of the Lost chambers - an aquarium even bigger than the one at the Dubai mall.

Our next stop was the Jumeirah Beach.This was the

cosmopolitan beach we were waiting to see. It looked like a beach in the US, with women sun bathing with their small nothings on. The white waves and the Burj Al Arab hotel to the side was the biggest out of India experience. The hotel looked stunning in the middle of the sea and though we chose not to take a tour inside, we clicked some photographs with the hotel in the background. This location is the signature shot of any Dubai calendar or postcard or tour guide.Deepti also collected some sea shells from the beach.

After this we were scheduled for a Desert Safari ride. We asked them to pick us up from the Mall of the Emirates. Another upmarket mall. This gave us a chance to see another big mall. We spent some time at the mall, eating and seeing some areas. This mall also has the Ski Dubai. An artifical snow land with snow rides and skating experiences. We did not enter this area, just saw how it looked from the outside.

By now, it was time for driver of One World tours to pick us up for the Desert Safari. The driver was an Arab- named Aziz. - our first close encounter with an Arab. He was a tall dude, good looking, in the traditional white dress and head gear and driving a Toyota Landcruiser. He took us to the desert from where our ride would begin. On the way he picked up a Bengali family of four who were on a tour too. Aziz then started this story of how the desert safari makes people puke and how people have to pay a lot of money if they do puke in the car. He also said, that he ll try his best to make everyone puke. His sarcastic humor really scared the Bong uncle who now wanted to go home. Aziz kept mentioning how the ride can mess up people's stomachs. By the time we reached the place, the family wanted to just go back. The desert safari began. There was a group of One World Tours cars which followed each other through the sand dunes. We went up and down and skid sideways in the sand. Apart from one heart in the mouth moment, when the driver plunged his car down the sand, the ride was pretty smooth. We then stopped at a point to click sunset pictures with the desert filling the horizon in all directions.We were in the middle of the desert and looking at the sun setting. This sight is not an everyday sight and we just were too amazed to speak. I started singing the Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam song Jhonka hawa ka Aaj bhi while viewing the spectacular sight. After the sunset, we drove to their camp. Here we were offered a welcome drink, tea and coffee and some snacks. There were seats to relax. After a while a belly dancer came into our midst and start wriggling her belly to the tune of some nice Arab music. The lady was a little old, probably why I was not leering at her, as much as some middle aged men were. In fact one of the men found a strong liking for the women's body and remained close to her till she finished her performance.We also had food during this performance and also clicked snaps in the traditional Arab costume. Good memories to savor.

After our desert safari,Aziz dropped us home.We spent some good time talking to my cousin, bhabhi and the kid and then slept off.

Day 7: 2nd October 2009

Dragon Mart, Ibn Batoota Mall and the Metro

This was a Friday, when everyone at home had a holiday. After days of roaming around on our own, we were now going out on a family picnic. Suri Ettan, Seema Chechi, Gayatri, Deepti and I ventured out to Dragon Mart first. This was a place which we had seen partly seen on our way back from Fujairah and we lured my cousin to come, see the place too. It took us a while to reach the place after switching taxis.

We reached the place at about 11am. That is when we saw the mall timings. On Fridays, it opens at 2pm. Arr!! Now what! Our next stop was really far from Dragon Mart. We then found that the super market is the only place open. The actual shops would open at 2. We decided to stay around. It was a huge supermarket (Wasn't it obvious?). We looked around and bought some chocolates and dates. Then sat and snacked a bit, talked a bit. Time flew away fast and it was soon 2 pm. We explored the China Market to its fullest. Bought some bright, cheap phones and music players for people back home. It was tough for Gayatri to remain steady. She would become very restless when we would enter a shop and be there for a long time. A kid would not understand the fun in shopping. These are not just Deepti's words, they are mine too. But we know that soon she ll grow up to be someone who'd enjoy shopping like any girl would do. ☺. After a delayed lunch, we headed to the Rashidiya Metro station, from where we would travel by a Metro train. The Metro services had started in Dubai, very recently on 9/9/9. 9th of September 2009. And since it was just 3 odd weeks since, it was still a relatively new experience for most people there too. And we realized this from the ticket counters, and the setup in place. We could sense the newness in the staff still coming to terms with the various areas in administration and management of a new transport system. We took a ticket to Nakheel Harbour, the furthest station on the Metro line yet. The journey was a new experience in land travel. We went under the ground and also above the ground during our journey. While we were above, we could directly look down at the city roads and the cars and buildings.When underground, it was just like a tunnel.After 10-12 odd stations, we alighted at Nakheel Harbour.

The reason we got down at the Nakheel Harbour was because of one of the taxi drivers mentioning the Ibn Batoota Mall, which is famous for its sky like ceilings. That is it. That is all we had to hear to embark on this destination. And though it was not in the list of places to see- when we left for the UAE, we were not disappointed at all.This mall was different from the other malls we had seen so far.It was grouped into various courts - The China Court, The Egypt Court, The Indian, Tunisian and the Andalusian courts. And each of the courts had a unique setting that brilliantly described the place. The China court had Chinese kind of architecture, it also had a huge dome - painted probably in a Chinese style. The colors of the walls and ceiling was more Red than any other color. Then we moved on to the India Court. This place also had a huge dome and a giant sized elephant with a king sitting atop it. Then we entered the Egypt court and this is where we saw the sky ceiling. The ceiling was colored white and sky blue and we almost felt it was open.

The walls were adorned with paintings of Pharaohs and palm trees. By this time, bhabhi was also getting a little tired and frustrated with the aimless walking and shopping. We can't blame them, even though we had gained a lot of experience in roaming gigantic malls, we were tired too. Probably our enthusiasm of seeing a new place and country was giving us the extra drive. Just when we were to spot an exit and get out, We saw a sign which read out SKY Dubai. It was a hot air balloon ride. Yahoo!. This was a very lucky find. We zipped to the ticket place with new found zeal. It was a huge air balloon and we started ascending slowly into the air. The view of the Dubai city from the top was magnificent. With the lights, the night life of Dubai looked glamorous. It was not scary or racy at all, Just a slow ascent and a slow descent. It was a new 15 minute experience. And we love soaking in new experiences. And this tour gave us many of those. After another Metro, bus, taxi journey we met another of my cousin - Biju ettan, who works in Cairo but was in the UAE for some days on official duty. We had dinner at an Indian vegetarian hotel called Woodland and reached home and crashed.

Day 8: 3rd October 2009

This was our first relax singh day on the trip.This was also the day, when we were to leave back to India. This day, we got up without a plan to wake us up. We got up without the sound of the alarm, had a nice slow breakfast,watched a bit of TV and chatted with my cousins. And after an equally lavish and delicious lunch, we set out to the local market, bought an MP4 player for my brother, some talcum powders, creams, shampoos for parents and some more chocolates.Deepti also bought some stoles for friends back home. By the time we were back, we did not have a lot of time. We just had a quick snack and packed our new purchases and left for the airport. The Air India flight to Mumbai was at 11:20 PM from Dubai and we reached Dubai by 7:30 PM. After we checked in our baggages, we had our dinner at the airport. Suri ettan had packed Rotis and Palak sabzee, which tasted very good. After this also, we had a lot of time on our hands. All that time flew when we got into the Duty Free shops at the airport. We had exhausted all our Dirhams and converted some Indian money into Dirhams and shopped a bit more. The place had a lot of exquisite chocolates, most of the flavors which Deepti recognized instantly and we bought some of those. Soon it was time to bid Dubai and the Tour of the UAE goodbye. It was time to board our flight back home. We were very satisfied with our trip. The trip was fulfilling and gave us all the elements that we had dreamt about, before we took off to Dubai and much more - The beach, the desert, the mountains, the grand malls and hotels, the metro, some adventure with the hot air balloon, the oasis, the zoo, the corniches and aquariums and the mosque. We loved the trip completely and vowed to capture these experiences in a Travelogue. We are glad that we kept our word.

The flight back was pretty ordinary, We caught up on some Hindi movie and decent food and landed at Mumbai at 3 :30 AM on the 4th of October 2009. Our KK travels guy was waiting for us, and took us home. By about 7:30 AM, we were at home in Magarpatta, back after a wonderful trip with memories to savor for a really long time. We hope you liked our account of the trip as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Nikhil and Deepti.

2010-02-12T13:41:00.003+05:30

Andy - Its all in the mind! Not just the body!

"I know I can cry like Federer but its a shame I can't play like him "
After his Australian Open debacle at Melbourne this January- The Scot sensation Andy Murray quoted the above line. And that really shows why he cannot bridge the gap to greatness - read Feder-ness. To beat a magician, a poet, a ballet dancer, a smiling assasin (One word for all this - Roger Robert Federer) you have to have a mind of a suicide bomber , who will pull the detonator come what may, you have to think you will climb the Pyrennes mountains in one single breath, you have to believe that IT IS POSSIBLE.
The problem with the current crop of players, is that they live in Roger's shadow who feel awed to stand on the same court as him and admire the elegance of his shots and his composure. Like Hewitt who has now lost more than 15 times consecutively to Roger. Like Andy Roddick who is the most underachieving player in tennis - compared to his awesome potential. Only Nadal believed he could beat federer and he did even on Federer's own backyard.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/wimbledon08/news/story?id=3475473

Sadly for Nadal, his 200% speed on court every single minute of play - did not go down well with his body, and now it will take a huge effort for him to get back to the supreme fit form he once was.

Andy! Even though the ball sails past you through unbelievable angles every single time - you have to believe that Roger is not God! he can be beaten, YOU can BEAT him. It is not easy to emulate Fred Perry - But Andy. you have it in you. Just a bit more of self-belief and you ll be there.

2009-12-08T09:08:00.001+05:30

The world is looking brighter with the news that we are slowly moving out of the global meltdown.

Let us all hope we take a left turn on this joboway.

2009-07-14T00:38:00.008+05:30

Colors of Life.

Its been a while, that I have had no color in my posts. How about some colors of friendship - of free will - of expression - of life

2009-07-13T14:34:00.003+05:30

July the 13th

Today is July the 13th - 13/7. A special day! When the day dawned on me, I had no idea - how powerful this day is, and the impact it can have on me. But then, just as I was lost in my Monday blues - killing time and swatting flies ; a bolt of lightning - read enlightenment, struck me.

The date read 13/7 - One of the numbers is an unlucky number - A number which evokes fear,despair and a sense of failure or misfortune lurking around the corner.
There have been many movies or phrases depicting this number - House No.13, Friday the 13th, 13B.

And on the other hand is 7 - A number that symbolizes luck. Every Gambling den or a school fete would have a 'Lucky 7' game zone. There are seven wonders of the world, seven musical notes, seven days of the week, A number every young footballer would dream of - after Cristiano Ronaldo. God, the Bible says, created the Universe in 7 days.

What happens when these 2 days combine into one. Like the 2 sides of the coin were now on the same side or like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. It probably signifies that good luck and bad luck just cancels each other out - Leaving no luck behind.

What does that mean? I guess, it means that whatever we do, Luck - good or bad - would not influence the actions. We are completely responsible for our actions and the failure or success of the action lies completely in the way we execute or approach it.

Sounds great isn't it? I wish every day was July the 13th - Then we'd do our jobs with complete committment without thinking about the external forces.

Chuck the luck!

2009-07-11T09:54:00.003+05:30

A Saturday morning

Saturday - The wikipedia says this about this day.

Saturday (pronounced /ˈsætərdeɪ/ or /ˈsætərdi/ ( listen)) is the day of the week between Friday and Sunday. Saturday is considered either the sixth or seventh day of the week.

Sounds pretty plain and boring. But what the Wikipedia fails to understand is the emotion connected to this '6th day of the week'. For me - This day has always been the best day of the week. Once the Friday is done and dusted - The sleep flows into a beautiful morning called Saturday morning where clocks, alarm bells and time pieces do not exist ; Where bed linen - blankets and pillows are the dearest friends; where dreams have more wings to fly, more space in the sky ; It is the day - which when begins, all plans turn to zilch, All I 'd think of is to bask in the golden glory of this day and feel happy to have reached the end of the week.
A Saturday morning would find me spending more time stretching my arms wide, tossing around the entire perimeter of the bed, with a calm satisfied smile as if I had the password to Alibaba's cave

I do not get the same feeling about a Sunday - strange - coz, this day is a holiday too, but nothing is more special than the magic of a Saturday morning.
Jon Bon Jovi probably feels the same about Saturday - though its about a Saturday night - A saturday nonetheless.

"Someday I'll be Saturday night" - One of my favorite songs.

Hey, man Im alive Im takin each day and night at a time
Im feelin like a monday but someday Ill be saturday night

Hey, my name is jim, where did I go wrong
My lifes a bargain basement, all the good shits gone
I just cant hold a job, where do I belong
Im sleeping in my car, my dreams move on

My name is billy jean, my love was bought and sold
Im only sixteen, I feel a hundred years old
My foster daddy went, took my innocence away
The street life aint much better, but at least I get paid

And tuesday just might go my way
It cant get worse than yesterday
Thursdays, fridays aint been kind
But somehow Ill survive

Hey man Im alive Im takin each day and night at a time
Yeah Im down, but I know Ill get by
Hey hey hey hey, man gotta live my life
Like I aint got nothin but this roll of the dice
Im feelin like a monday, but someday Ill be saturday night

Now I cant say my name, and tell you where I am
I want to roll myself away, dont know if I can

I wish that I could be in some other time and place
With someone elses soul, someone elses face

Oh, tuesday just might go my way
It cant get worse than yesterday
Thursdays, fridays aint been kind
But somehow Ill survive

Hey, man Im alive Im takin each day and night at a time
Yeah Im down, but I know Ill get by
Hey hey hey hey, man gotta live my life
Im gonna pick up all the pieces and whats left of my pride
Im feelin like a monday, but someday Ill be saturday night

Saturday night here we go
Some day Ill be saturday night
Ill be back on my feet, Ill be doin alright
It may not be tomorrow baby, thats ok
I aint goin down, gonna find a way, hey hey hey

Hey man Im alive Im takin each day and night at a time
Yeah, Im down, but I know Ill get by
Hey hey hey hey, man, gotta live my life
Like I aint got nothin but this roll of the dice
Im feelin like a monday, but someday Ill be saturday night
Im feelin like a monday, but someday Ill be saturday night
Saturday night __________,all right, all right
Saturday night

2008-07-28T00:12:00.006+05:30

Money Rules.

This is a story of Arjun Sharma. Aged 30, This man is a loyal son of his parents and is highly devoted to providing them all the happiness in the world.He works as a sales manager for a leading newspaper daily. He performs his jobs with the dedication of the highest order, Due to which the respect he commands in the professional circles is huge.

Arjun's family is by all means a reputed family. They have lived a life of unwavering integrity and though they do not have a whole lot of money to show for it, the peace of mind that they have, is their biggest fixed deposit.He has a younger brother - Nakul, who is aspiring to be a aeronautical engineering expert and wishes to pursue his postgraduate education in the United States. A great dream to have, isn't it. But dreams come at a price. The family wants his dream fulfilled, and no one more than Arjun.

Arjun is doing well in his career, and is saving for his brother's educational journey. All the foundations laid for a cliched -I will work my sweat off, but fulfill all his dreams - kind of a story. Maybe, or maybe not.

On an ordinary sultry day in July, Arjun finished his day at work and returned home tired. He was listening to some music - and knowing Arjun - the music was loud and would burst any living man's eardrum. After almost an hour of high DB entertainment - he started surfing, checking his mails, paying bills.
which is when he noticed something

His bank account showed a credit of Rs 20,000. The strange thing was that he could not explain its source. It just said- Bank of India.
After checking all his accounts and his income/expenditure sheet he maintained, he was stumped. There was no friend who owed him money. He was not into gambling and lottery tickets. Neither had he filled coupons at any lucky draw.

Soon his hunger pangs filled his mind and he assumed his gluttony self.Then while getting to bed, he started banging his head on the money again. Where did that money come from ?. His mind kept going round in circles. Should he use the money? After all he needed it. Very much. Admissions to universities were already giving him sleepless nights, His savings were being completely spent on the home and for his brother.

This looked like a mistake. No one need know about it. This 20 grand windfall would be the best thing to happen to him, He could probably live his own life. He could stop using the calculator to see how much he could spend everyday. He could order a sizzler without seeing how much it would cost. It was already 2am and he needed to be up early. The next 6 hours of sleep were his best in months.

He woke up and sang while in the bathroom, He strained his memory to remember when was the last time he sang loud. AS soon as he got off work, he strode into a mall, without even looking at his favourite 4 letter word anywhere -'Sale'
And bought items which were in his must have list for close to a year.
His smile sparkled more than his brand new denims.

He checked his debit card account to see how much of the windfall was still to be used up. His eyeballs hit the ground when he saw that Rs 50,000 was credited to his account. Again by the Bank of India. This did not look like a mistake.
An occurence like this,more than once is either planned well or really dumb.
He was sure, this was not a gross error where someone was accidentally pumping happiness into his life. This was not an accident!
He looked up all his accounts again, called up friends and colleagues and everyone he knew. He even asked his father if he had helped some relative in the past who is now returning the favor. There was nothing that answered the cause of this new lottery fund.

He then chucked the thoughts and went off to sleep. He didn't sleep as well this night.He was still thinking who transformed his life with one thing he always was short of. Money. The day after work was no different from his new routine.Spend and smile. No price tags. No discounts. Pick off the shelf, straight into the bag.
He even got himself a new Handycam, It was on his list of 'Things to buy-before I die'. He was sure, his lottery experience was over, which is why he had saved some money to be used for his brother's admission formalities.
He casually checked his debit account while munching on an apple after dinner - and!
The dream was not over. This time, his account showed a credit of 1 lakh rupees from the Bank of India. For the first time in 2 days, he was a little concerned, Will this lead him into trouble? Is he correct in spending someone else's money? Would someone find this out. Will he get his peace of mind back?

His father would always tell him - ' I have been a little strict with my living, never borrowed when I did not have, never reached for more than what I could jump, never looked beyond my window to the sky - But I have slept well every day I have lived' Could he say that about himself?

Now - he had to do something about it. His integrity was in the way of the seemingly endless treasure.
What should he do? Should he go to the police? What answers would he give on why he spend the money if he knew it wasn't his? After a lot of arm wrestling with his morals, he decided to start with the bank and take it from there.

The next day, at the stroke of 10 in the morning, Arjun reached the main branch of the Bank of India. He met the clerk and wished to know the source of the funds. He was told that account numbers and names are normally given out, but in this case - the contact wished to keep this undisclosed.

Wow! Now this was moving somewhere. In spite of the Banking Regulations Act Section 45D that was quoted to him - which mentions the secrecy of the transaction - Arjun was nowhere close to feeling good about things around him. Somehow he could not muster the courage to go to the police, he had always been scared of the police station. He used to read reports of how the police would twist the laws for their convenience and harass people. His sane mind did remind him that these are one-off cases and should be disregarded, but when you have a phobia - you fight everything but your fears.

He had to know who his benefactor was; and the intention behind this windfall. Was it really a windfall for something good he did unknowingly OR was there something sinister in this entire scheme of things?
He looked up his account and the routine was on!. Two Lakhs! Man! Would he become a millionaire soon? He decided to talk to Mr. Adiverkar his senior in his office whose wife was a Reserve Bank Employee. Mr Adiverkar was Arjun's mentor since he finished his education and spotted Arjun's flair for sales and marketing, and guided him into the current role. Arjun could be honest with him and hoped he would get help. Mrs Adiverkar was a little hesitant, Of course she would be - this was not right to do.
But she did agree to source the name and address. She said that this would be the end of things she can handle. Arjun was happy with what he noted down.

Mr. Xavier Erasmus
23rd Perry Cross Lane
Bangalore

Arjun had never believed that his life had any twists or turns and always thought that his, was one of the scripts, God wrote in a bunch. Next rmorning, he got on the Bangalore metro and got down at South End Circle.He was breathing faster than normal and was experiencing goosebumps on a humid August morning.
He reached the residence and found it locked. He looked around for a guard and asked when he could meet the owners. The guard said that this house had been locked for years and that they do not live here anymore.
Damn! Arjun was getting restless, He tried speaking to a few neighbours, and did not get a lot of information, except that they were in Mumbai. Arjun pulled out some envelopes from the Erasmus lettter box to know more and found a Movers and Packers receipt for moving home stuff to a Mumbai address, 7 years ago.

The trail was getting longer. He could not travel to Mumbai anytime soon due to a company expo. In the next one week, when he was working 16 hour days, he got no more credits. He wondered if the story was over and if there was a need to pursue this further. But there were some loose ends and he wanted to make sure that there are no nasty surprises in the future. Two weeks after he had visited the Erasmus home in Bangalore - he traveled to Mumbai, man on a mission.He found an elderly man in his sixties who did not look surprised to see him. He did not seem to react when Arjun told him of his journey to Mumbai and the questions he needed answers for.

Mr. Xavier Erasmus sat down and offered him a coffee and sipped at his coffee himself. He took Arjun back 15 odd years when he used to study at Bishops Cotton and had a friend Reuben Fernanades. Arjun immediately sat up, remembering his friend Reuben. They used to be good friends and on one eventful day, Reuben got hit by a vehicle and was bleeding profusely. Arjun had run around asking passersby to get Reuben to a hospital, but seeing no response - he had fought with a rickshaw driver and got Reuben to a hospital. He had informed Rueben's parents and was in the hospital for the next week when Reuben lost his battle for life. Reuben's parents had since passed away too and Mr Erasmus was his uncle.

Mr. Erasmus said that it took him a while to trace Arjun and had wanted to express his gratitude secretly.
And handed over an envelope. Arjun stood up, wiped a tear, thanked Mr. Erasmus and said that he had to leave, but could not accept anything and had to return what he received. Mr Erasmus said that this was gesture to not repay the goodness but acknowledge the support Arjun had been, in the testing times. And that this was something Reuben' parents wanted to do personally. He also said that he knew the importance of the money in Arjun's life and how this would be a way for Reuben to say 'Thank you'. Somehow despite all he said, he still walked away with the envelope in his pocket and a tinge of sadness.

Still lost in the thoughts - he was about to land in Bangalore when he remembered about the envelope and opened it. There was a 10 Lakh, Bank of India cheque addressed to him and a photograph of Reuben and Arjun, back in time. There are times in life when you have mixed feelings - of satisfaction, happiness and sadness. As he began to unfasten his seat belt, he told himself that he would go out of his way to help people around him, better their lives and fill them with happiness. And of course - he would not stop dreaming.

2008-07-26T00:43:00.003+05:30

The mind of a married man.

A few years ago, when this serial used to hit the air on television, I d wonder whats in the mind of a married man. Why should this be a prime time serial and why does it command so many advertisements.

After March, this year. some of those questions are being answered on its own.
The mind of a married man is a complete mix of emotions. It is at one point completely focused on the work and on the means of livelihood and it is also completely focused on the partner and her every breath, to ensure that the air around her is pure when she breathes, It is also completely focused on idling and sleeping and not shaving till you are warned of being killed.And at this time, the mind if completely focused on this post.The mind of a married man, as you see has just intensified in its functions, It now processes more instructions per second than a military supercomputer. The mind of a MM (married man) senses a small crease on the partners forehead, and at times, surprisingly misses the most obvious tower of information or instruction. Sometimes the mind appears to think beyond its capacity and in turn falters. Who said geometry and algebra was the most difficult thing in the world to decipher.The mind loves to be taken care of, being pampered, and made to stretch its imaginary feet on an imaginary hammock. At times, this mind does not think hammock, but thinks hammock for every one else, a rock for itself. It loads itself and burdens it to the hilt like the loyal son in the Casablanca poem. And then again, before you begin to script this story with a evil - I know it all - smile ; The mind freefalls into outer space and spaces itself there.

What was all this, Do you think this was difficult to comprehend, Did you think every word was a disjointed lyric in a silly school choir? Wait till you read about the upcoming series.

Its called - The mind of a married woman.

2007-08-12T00:58:00.003+05:30

The P-F-D Bell

During an afternoon slumber after an unusually heavy meal, I slipped into the dream zone, and was reading an inscription on a huge tower.
It read like this!

Ambition.. Whatever you do - go all out in doing it.
Half hearted attempts only waste time. Do not try - Do it.

Discipline yourself. - Everything needs to happen at a correct time and in a correct way.

Prioritize tasks.. - Some tasks are more important than the others and need to be done , regardless of the mood, will etc.

One task cannot take the time slotted for the other. - Once in a task , keep in mind that there are other things to be done and the earlier work has to stop.You cannot be an engine that takes hours to start and hours to stop.

Start and stop at an instant..

Forget the bullock cart - Become the jet plane. Do not wait for things to happen, make things happen.

Understand that there are some things that will happen at a later time. Do not fret over something that you want to do now, which will happen eventually later. There is a time for everything. and once you have set your priorities right, you will realise that the things that you missed out were not actually missed out, but were only a little later on the priority list.

Do not get miffed by things not going your way, things have a way of sorting out all by itself, if you give it a chance, if you meddle you can make it more difficult to resolve. If you have to take steps towards an issue, there will be some task that will present itself before you.

If too many things occupy your mind, breathe slowly and get one thought out at a time. Anything that happens in a fit of anger or stress will not be a good outcome.

No tasks come at a higher priority than health. In good health anything can be done.

Focus on a task at hand. When on a task, the integrity on that task should be unwavering.

Kill out multitasking. Understand that even when you multitask- for a small instance of time, you are doing only one thing. Concentrate on that one thing and do it well.
Multitasking kills concentration, it kills focus. Work on one thing and do it well.

Become the Jack of all trades and master of most.

Imbibe the P - F - D principle.

Prioritize every task you have. at every single point in time.
Always uni task, dont multi task, If there are 10 things you need to do, think which one is the most important at a current point in time, and understand why that task is the most important at that point. Once the understanding is clear. the importance of the task becomes clear and you would be able to devote more energy to it.

Once the task is decided according to the priority, ---

Focus. - Concentrate, become the magnifying glass and burn the task apart.
When on the task you should see only the task.
No way should you be looking elsewhere.

Look at the way Nadal plays his tennis. He has a single minded goal of winning.
You should not be thinking of your other goals while working on a current goal.
That will only make your job harder. Look at your goal only and then you ll find that the destination is one straight road rather than a crossroad of multiple highways.

Once the Focus is there - You need Discipline to finish it in the time that you decided. If there is no discipline , any task will go on for ever and then there will be no value if the task was finished or not.

Here You have to take special efforts to make sure that you keep your time lines correct. Time is the most important part in the Discipline wheel. If you respect it, your task will happen beautifully, else, they will only happen. If you are taking the effort, you d also want the dividends. You dont cut open a juicy apple only to test your strength. Results matter.

At difficult moments, when all seems lost and the will seems broken, keep the faith.
Have hope, since that can get you out of your greatest despair.
With hope your perspective changes, the half empty glass seems half full.

Believe in yourself,trust yourself, you can do it only if you yourself believe in it.

When you begin a task thinking that it is a priority and you need to do it,
ensure that you have the focus and the discipline to finish it and finish it the way you desired. Not the way it finally turns out.

Once you have made up your mind about something, do not look back on it and circumspect. Firmness is an important part of a great personality.
Think twice before committing. But once you have committed, there is no looking back.

Relate this entire anthem as a bell that keeps ringing for you and keeps reminding you to work hard. Only if you can keep this bell ringing, can you be successful in life.

Yeaaaaaaaaaaoooooooooaaaaaaaaaaah! With a groan resembling a wild boar, I woke up and stretched about, The dream was still vividly imprinted in my mind.

As I slipped out of bed and watched the sun set from my balcony - I just hoped then, that this dream stays on with me for ever.

P - F - D

2007-07-01T01:42:00.001+05:30

Control + S

The other day, I was watching a computer game review show where they were reviewing the different games currently in the market. They had different varieties of games where people could muscle their way through, guns in hand or would race their way ahead with the best car of the lot.

Its a great way to live your life, isnt it? Fight your problems the best way you know, the daredevil approach. Face it head on and destroy your opposition. If there is something/someone troubling you, just pull out your .32 bore pistol and shoot the problem down. Now there is another thing to this. If the opposition kills you/wounds you, you just go back to the menu and reload from the previous saved version of the game and begin bam! bam! again.

How wonderful it would be if I could stretch this concept to real life. if I could Control+ S my life and blast my way ahead and not worry if my choices are irrational or outright silly. I could rewind and come back to the last saved version and nothing would ever go wrong, I d be in control.
Picture this! I have 10 minutes to reach a place and I am late. (The usual thing with me, you d say!) And I cannot miss this appointment and cannot be late. What would my normal course of action be? Practice an imploring line and beg for forgiveness for being late. Sounds wise? I d have rather driven my pulsar at 120 kmph through busy traffic screaming past citizens and vehicles alike. And if d hit a rampaging truck, I d do a reload and from the saved version, roadrash my way again.

But then there is one thing to note here. When you age, they say you become wiser and smarter and cleverer since you experience life, commit mistakes, suffer setbacks and learn. Learning makes a man wiser and such issues do not worry him anymore. He knows it from his previous lessons. So a Control + S may not teach you much. It may entertain you but not enrich you. Which is probably why, we d say - Life 's much more than a game.

2007-07-01T00:08:00.001+05:30

The Hour Glass.

Sometimes I wonder who is your greatest strength and at the same time is your greatest weakness. Is it your confidence, your loved ones, your will ? At this point my mind is a little biased, My answer is Zeit or Time.

It can be your greatest strength if you can master it. befriend it and respect it. It can be your greatest weakness if you dont. But what should happen, if you befriend and respect it and understand it's value but you cannot master it. We are mere mortals and only incarnations would possibly hope to master it. But is being a good slave, an obedient one a bad thing at all? It should not be, isn't it? . But Hell! It is. The moment you are a slave of time,the word suddenly highlights itself like this - SLAVE.

There have been so many times that I have wondered, how did God come up with this 24 hour day algorithm and why didnt someone review his code and change the duration?
To say - 72 hours? Would I have mastered time then? Maybe not. I would still be upset that I cannot fit in what I want to, and keep praying that the sand from the hour glass falls slowly, But the sand granules rush through the small neck and Voila! A days is over and there are many things undone. Where you d want to take more care of your loved ones, work more for them, make them feel more special than they feel right now, do things close to your heart. Look at the azure sky and breathe a few breaths without having to think if this will compromise on the time meant to do something else.

All right! Enough said. So what do I do then? There is something called Zeit or Time management in which I would score zilch out of hundred seven days a week and twice on Sundays. I guess, am being harsh on myself, am not so worse off, But then if a diplomat would graciously address my concerns he would probably say ' A Development Area'. How I wish I could have various forms and each form could be assigned a role which would mean, My scheme of things would fit in Gods 24 hour algorithm. Or If I could live life by the Clock and not by my heart. Since both these options hit the wrong answer light: there is something which I ll have to do to conquer Time. I ll have to sharpen my will and will need to balance all types of food in smaller quantities, will need to find a way to eat a spoonful of each kind of food than eating a bowl of one and missing out on the other since I have no room. Will need to break my tasks into smaller chunks and try and get all tasks enough small chunks in a day. There is a saying that goes like this " Life s battles are not won by the faster or stronger man, but sooner or later the man who wins is the man who thinks he can. I think I can. One day! someday!

2007-02-20T00:20:00.001+05:30

Punefied Unification.

This is a story of 2 ducks - Tilu and Dilu. They were well known in the ducking circles -- whatever that means -- as cheerful and unique. They had this awesome friendship between them and used to go hunting together, eat the fishes together and look at the rainbow together. Tilu was a drake and just like Dilu the duck, was a true vagabond. He loved seeing new places, doing new things and taking care of Dilu. And Dilu was this truely talented duck with artistic hunting talents.She liked Tilu too and they used to happily spend hours together, enjoying the warmth and the fun.
One day, while doing a play at the All Ducks Water Festival titled "When Tilu met Dilu", they realized that there was more to this chemistry, than just buddyship. Both Tilu and Dilu explored this thought further and realized that both of them were in love with each other, love that cannot be measured by their Quackometers. Both of them professed their love for each other and the bliss was there for all at Duckland to see.

Just to complete the story, Tilu and Dilu lived happily ever after.

2007-01-31T23:14:00.001+05:30

The Great Indian Spoofomania.

There are times when I watch television, and am amazed at the sheer silly creativity of the script writers, the absolute audacious way of giving birth to a crazy idea and the patience in stretching it five hundred times beyond its tensile limit.

Three cheers or rather jeers to Indian television -

The best or the funniest part is in watching Crime serials, which feature investigation trails. Now picture this!

Mr Ratan Ramsukhani is murdered in broad daylight at his palatial bungalow in Bandra. Before the first commercial break, The CID team reaches there. Now bear in mind, this is a team of 8 to 9 people all dressed to kill and with a keen talent to ask the most unexpected questions just before the next commercial break.This team will have so many ego hassles and individual compatibility issues that you 'd doubt, whether its just the producer's paycheck that glues them together.

With this team, you will have a forensic expert who dabbles with as many pipettes, colored waters,microscopes,and powders as would your neighbourhood pathologist.
And gullible viewers are taken back to a school chemistry ride.
"Sir, If we put his adipose tissue in potassium permanganate and it turns cadmium red, it means that he took the ecstacy drug 7 and a half hours before suicide"

What would you call that? Switch channels and come to the soaps, you now see so much color that, even a blind man can be bedazzled by the grandeur and the pomp of the fabrics.You 'd love the respect and the love oozing out of the huge studio bungalows, only that the respect fuels envy which fuels jealousy which fuels hatred which fuels villany which fuels repentance which fuels forgiveness which fuels love which fuels respect. Phew! After three hundred more episodes, its time for this cycle to repeat with a different character, and knowing that you 'd have more than a hundred such protagonists with several thousand distant relatives, the script writers can churn out stuff till seventeen generations after Eternity.

For people with sports on their mind, you have games/sports of any kind, always on.However I wouldn't be able to spoof away much here - am a true sports enthusiast, but I wonder who would care to watch a football match in far off Manipur, especially if, apart from the players, there are 2 people watching the game - the two football coaches - Isn't Sports about the crowd, the spirit, the fervour, the excitement and the noise? But maybe Doordarshan Sports, follows a different dictionary.

Television cannot be complete without the mention of The news. This is a view of the the world from within our homes, Our window to the vast unparalleled space outside us, The real or reel picture of everything that can be an event or probably not.Here we have men in gelled hair speaking to revered leaders, sportspersons, spiritual gurus - like they 'd address their dog, We have every News channel screaming that this piece of news is exclusively captured only on this one channel. If everyone shows you the same picture as an exclusive report, The word 'exclusive is a gross misnomer'. To get their news channel higher on the ladder, We see journalists treading on the sensibilities of the hapless victims, where the news is not about them - They are the News!. Oh yes! You also have very hairy bearded men who scream like their lungs dont care, like the microphones were not invented and go on about how a crime was committed giving you the most grisly details, killing your appetite for the day.

There 's so much more to spoof upon, but the lights have just gone out and with the television switched off, Sleep wants to spend time with me. And to her, I must listen, and I whfdjdf dfegedg , zzz zzz zzz zzz !

2007-01-10T00:04:00.001+05:30

Inji and her story

A true story that never happened.

"Mom, I'm leaving for work; and will be late".Before her mom could react, Inji had galloped down the stairs of her fourth floor apartment. You wouldn't call her a workaholic, but a talkaholic or a eataholic.A day in the life of Inji would revolve around gossip, food, sleep and little or no work. When the day began, she thought that this would be one of her stereotyped days.. But!
Inji was 22, a thin, tall young girl who liked wearing heels the shape of stilettoes. Her height would give any man an inferiority complex and so would, her attitude. She was this -in your face- kind of a girl, who had an answer to every question, and if not, She had a question for every answer. Inji vroomed away on her scooterette, a bright red machine, which rarely saw speeds of less than fifty.
The speedometer was her adrenaline rush in the morning and even today, barely ten minutes after leaving her house, she had screeched into her office parking space.
People at the workplace greeted her with loud hellos, something which was commonplace. Everything around Inji had to be loud and noisy. And there was a special reason for the noise too. It was her birthday today. Inji had loads of sweets to be given off to her folks at work. This was her fun day.After a whole day of answering the phone, and the cake smearing ceremony- Inji decided to leave for the day .
But the day had not ended for her, she was to meet her other friends whom she had promised for dinner.
The dinner was just as she had planned.Music playing in the background, sumptuous food and an even better company. It was just getting better.Star sign talk was the order of the day, it seemed. "Injo!, But whatever you say, you are not a Scorpion - I mean, the characteristics do not match", said Arpita. "Oh, yeah Madam Linda Goodman you are the original" That was Shaurya, with a sarcastic smile. "That was rude, Shaurya, I do not get into the Schumachers and the Alonsos, Do I?" "Hey, Hey, Hey- Why are we fighting" interrupted Inji. "And such a trivial topic at that!"
"This isn't trivial Injo!, Seriously, you dont fit the part - You should have been a Libran, everything about you is so so Libran!". But one thing was certain, nobody could dispute the fact that after Linda Goodman and her shadow, if it was anyone closer to the signs - it was Arpita Chattopadhyay. A bookie to the core, and with a special inclination towards stars, tarots, numbers, palms. Her character analysis was immaculate. Inji smiled, "You are right, my birthday is actually on the 5th of October." There was deathly silence all around. Even the singer with his guitar on the stage paused, he was actually finding his next song. "Heehaaha", guffawed Inji. "Wait a minute, Jo - What is the 18th of November then"? "People, there was an incident that happened years back", said Inji, barely able to contain her chaotic laughter. "My school records show my birthday as the 5th of October, a definite mistake". Even the 200 pounder Arijit was now listening intently, having stopped slurping now. "What 's going on?, 5th October"? That voice was Tiara's, the detective in the group. She was not much of a reader, but the criminal psychology major had had too much of an effect on her. She loved the killer movies and forensics was one of her pet interests. "Let me explain" said Inji, who had now regained her composure."We had a goof-up, the birth certificate got exchanged with a certain Mr Pinto's daughter". And you all know the absent minded Mr Rasmus Pinto , my dad. He never checked the birth certificate until I was in the second grade". Stunned silence again. No one spoke a word. "What! Why are you people staring at me. That's the story. So in school, I wore colored dresses on the 5th of October. Children sang me the Happy birthday song on this day. That was school.." Tiara was the first one to break the silence. "There is something fishy here, This is not as transparent as it looks. What if, you are actually born on the 5th of October and not on the 18th of November"? Arijit moved the plate away to keep both hands on the table. Knowing him, this meant a serious moment. "Come on, folks - there was a goof-up, but you all know me since college right?" she paused for effect. "18th it is!". "But the Libran characteristics?" I dont have to tell you who that was. "I guess, your parents owe you a creditable explanation Miss Inji, No absent minded parent forgets to look at the birth certificate until his kid is 7 years old." Tiara seemed agitated and excited as if she had just started off on a murder trail.
Oops. That was some statement. Symbolically, the singer announced a 10 minute break from the live music and left for a pint of beer.That did set Inji thinking, If you see Inji and not hear her, she 's definitely thinking hard. The rest of the dinner saw Inji very subdued. "You may well, be Inji Ramanathan for all you know", remarked Arijit. Those words were not well chosen, Inji smiled a wry smile."Or What if, you are the maid's daughter and you were adopted by the Pintos ". "Oh, stop it! Tiara, Jo! Have the tortillas, You seem to have stopped eating".
Inji reached home and found her parents away. The plot thickens. Her parents were away on a late night movie show. She spent the next 2 hours like a prisoner doomed to walk to the gallows. Needless to say, the doorbell was louder than ever before.She waited for her parents to settle down and then confronted them. "What was the birth certificate issue, Dad?, Why the 5th of October?". "Err, Why this question, now?". Dad questioned. His forehead was all wrinkled now.Mom smiled a very casual smile. "Inji, We have to tell you this, It had to be out someday". "Bring it out, Mom" Inji almost shrieked."See, its not a case of absentmindedness on your Dad's part. We were warned that your birth had to be in an odd numbered month or your school career would have a lot of issues. October was even, so we got the ceritificate doctored to make it November. This was suggested as a way out for this problem" "And we did not want you to get worried about this unnecessarily". Dad added.
Inji was not entirely convinced, but was relieved. She reached her room and soon enough, Sleep conquered her- She had had a long day.
The next morning, while she was getting ready for work, she saw that her mom's bedroom was latched. Her Mom would normally not close the door. She heard her Mom talking on the phone, very very softly. She tried to put her ears to the door.
She heard her Mom speak, "We should not have lied to her yesterday".

2006-12-29T13:08:00.001+05:30

S. K . Warne - Cricket will miss you mate!

Another sports quote from yours truly - thought that I will pay tributes to one of the sports' most colorful personalities - Shane Warne.

Its been a privilege of the highest order to just watch the man weave his magic on unsuspecting victims - read batsman - ala guinea pigs before they become the next discovery or the next find of the century.

I still remember the Old trafford incident when a certain great Mike Gatting was flummoxed by 'The Ball of the Century', a delivery that defied all possible laws of physics and deified him right there! The man almost lived in a purple patch all through his cricketing career, never a dull moment, always committed, and a complete team player. Sadly Life is known as a great leveller and his personal life balanced it and his happiness was more on the field than off it.

His career is now drawing to a close and there must be millions who will want to thank him for making cricket as exciting as it is now, and for filling the game with flamboyance, committment and pure unadulterated class! So many budding cricketers who wanted to pick up leg spin bowling only because of the glamor that one man brought to the game- His career will soon be over, but the legacy he leaves behind,

Will never be !

2006-12-09T12:44:00.001+05:30

What if God was one of us?

Thats a stupefying question isnt it?

Seriously, if this was true, there would be so many questions in our mind

Let me give you the excerpts of this Joan Osbourne song

What if God was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home

What if, he was the guy who suddenly braked right in front of you and you slam into his car screaming out profanities?

What if, he is your local cafetaria vendor, handing out snacks to you with a smile?

What if, he actually is Saurav Ganguly (no specific loyalties to the man: but respect his cricketing skills) coming back into the Indian cricket team?

It is difficult to answer such questions, at a time when some people are confirmed atheists, some devoted believers and some who believe in the supreme existence of the almighty - as an envelope, not as a body.

But for a moment, assuming, that he/she is a body - the most difficult question would be to know who is God??
From billions of living individuals, how does one know, that this is God.
We are not in an age, where God would display his true picture to the one who penanced, or begged for forgiveness..

Or as said in the scriptures, God is in us, with us, so God is not 'one' of us as Joan Osbourne says, God is 'all' of us.

Food for thought?

2006-12-09T12:35:00.002+05:30

Quarky meets Poddy

It is about time for a new character to enter our lives, Quarky and me have been traveling places - landscapes, valley crossings, jungles and have had a good time. We ve met many people in our journeys,but none who caused as much an impact as this man we are going to describe.

His name is Poddy- a thin lean guy like me and we share similar tastes. Both of us love music- sorry , we live music.
He came into our lives a week back, and since then it has never been the same.Life is now more musical, more upbeat and more plugged. I just have to ask him to sing a song for me and he does that with no hesitation.

Quarky loves Poddy too.. Quarky tells him stories of his erstwhile merman life and how the aqua world was his own and how he killed an eel out of sheer bravado when it tried to kill his folks. - And Poddy sings him songs, enacts movies - loud, happy and living his life on his own terms. The two buddies have now become the most inseparable duo, we have known. Now I am not lonely when I drive, Poddy is there with me. And in spite of being the most technologically advanced among his generation - he is as humble as me [:D] No chest beating, no false ego.

Long live Poddy

P.S. Poddy is my new I-Pod

2006-09-23T02:10:00.000+05:30

The Rearview Mirror

The other day, I was riding my bike and at a traffic signal, stopped and looked into the rearview mirror. Saw vehicles behind. I peered deeper and I was getting sucked into the past. The rearview mirror was showing me things that had happened with me over time.

I pinched myself and it hurt! It was not my typical afternoon slumber. The rearview mirror was indeed giving me a different view! Saw my friends with me, laughing with me,crying with me. Saw my Mom making me my favourite dish and how I could not thank her enough, how my Dad bought me a new carrom board and how I was as crazy as Marilyn Monroe would have been -with an Oscar-, Saw myself as a 2 year old with long hair resembling a rock star, Saw the school principal praising the speech I had delivered- the time when my voice had just broken.Saw myself falling off a steep mountain side partly on the rocks and partly on a friend, when I ate pizzas at a friends' place till my tummy almost burst, my first crush way back when I was about 9,when I was slapped by Dad for buying chocolates pinching away money without his knowledge,when me and brother cheered Manchester United goals like crazy,when I slept 17 and a half hours and wondered if I was a zombie, saw all my pranks in school- for which I was hit on the hand;blasted by my the teacher;the principal,when I sang a song in a concert and people said was well tried not well done,when my swimming instructor pushed me off the diving board,when I lost my bicycle because I hadn't locked the rusty lock, when I would change my beard style every week and the barber would think I am crazy, when I went ahead for rock climbing and realised that there are easier things to do,when I spent 7 days in a school camp,when I danced 3 hours without a break and discovered muscular pain all over,when I hit my first tennis forehand,when my cellphone and I went on for hours and hours till the battery gave way,when I cried after England lost a football match,when I travelled in a car long distance full of people and no space at all,when I bought home stuff from my first salary -- --- ---- And on and on!

I wanted to see if the front view mirror had some magic too! Maybe it would show me the things to come. But alas! All I could see was my bony face and glittering yellow toothed smile. It was time to ride home. My Mom was waiting for me!

2006-09-23T01:24:00.001+05:30

Riding away from the mundane highway

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

This is an excerpt of a Robert Frost poem - The Road not taken

When I reach a crossroad, this poem comes to my mind sometimes.
Do you want to travel the road less travelled because it looks less worn out or you do not want to gamble and you take the oft travelled path - and miss out on the 'The Road not Taken'

One road is the same mundane road, where you know what's ahead, like a typical potboiler movie, the other one is enticing, you do not know what is in store and is not used much!

Not that, I like to do everything differently, but the mundane does not thrill me enough and no thrills, no frills is not my idea of life!
I want to travel the grassy path, where the fresh autumn leaves have not been trampled upon, where I can get unmatched satisfaction of having done something new,different,challenging and satiating.

So reiterating the saying "Life's well lived when you have expressed what you felt and did what you wanted to" by the great Arthur Bossueman Tolson.
Do not ask me who this man is! Maybe he does not exist or maybe he does!

A.B.Tolson
(1981 - ?)

2006-09-05T19:51:00.001+05:30

The contents in this post can have adverse effects on the appetite and the eating pattern of the readers.
Readers' discretion is advised.

Quarky and the Mucus factory

Sometimes I have wondered, how does the flu factory work? Millions of flu virus workers fighting against the body to produce unending tonnes of mucus, which fail to subside on an Antibiotic attack, yogic exercises or unending physical exercise or was it something else?

One of my close friends - Quarky wanted answers to these questions too. With a lot of investigative traits in him, he volunteered to venture into the unknown - the erstwhile unsolved mysteries of mankind.

This is his account when he entered my body for what he later called - the out of body - experience in a sarcastic way!

I entered the oral tract and made my way down. From the books I read, I knew that I had to make a real fast move over to the trachea.
For newbies in human anatomy- the alimentary canal is the passage straight up to the stomach and much before I reach the stomach, there is a flap called the epiglottis which covers the wind pipe or the trachea from the food pipe

To make the long story short while the food passes down the food pipe, I have to force open the epiglottis and make my way down the trachea and I know -- I would have to make it fast. Probably some James Bondesque stunts - hmm. Lets see.

It wasn't easy: Nik swallowed me with some fluids, I was gushing down like a Grade 6 Waterfall and the moment of truth arrived. In a swift turn of events, I swung and held the epi(that's what I ll call it now on)and arched my fin around it. Turned the flap 180 degrees and jumped in. Some fluid mad e its way in with me too- forcing Nik to regurgitate. I had not anticipated this and I was being forced out, before the mission even began. But I held on to the epi for dear life.

That passed and I was relieved that it did.But the going was going to get tougher.
I had just entered the mucus factory and it was slimy and slippery and I just went sliding down the trachea and hit the division into the 2 lungs.I put on my Magnifying glasses with a 100X Optical zoom and what I saw was some experience!

There were these thin tooth-pick like creatures, innumerable ones which were slowly carrying around this mucus and putting it all over the layers- So these are the good workers isn't it? After all Mucus is a protective substance.Just then! some kind of a particle appeared to get into the tract. Probably dust, and then I saw these Tooth-pickies panic, They started attacking the dust, and in the process - spraying the mucus around. This excess mucus was being thrown off through Nik's nose. Yuck!!
It was a difficult span of time for me, when every sneeze caused by the efforts of these good pickies to throw out the dusties - seemed to blast me out- But I was not going to give up.

And then I saw the baddies too! Tooth-picks again but dark in color, these were the bad men. They were holding the mucus membrane to ransom and squeezing mucus out of it. What fun were they deriving from this was beyond my understanding! They were many more in number than the good pickies and they were stretching the mucus membrane to its limit. Gosh!

So the flu factory has the good guys and the baddies both equal contributors. My research had finished Phase 1 and it was time to leave!
I could be called Quarky the MucusMan after this trip! On one of the next sneezes, I let myself go like I would during a free fall, and there!

I was out into the open again!

2006-09-04T16:08:00.002+05:30

Quarky goes to New York

Quarky was a vagabond. Even in the seas below,the merman did not have a home. He would keep wandering, a true wanderlust. He believed in nothing stationary or still.
He loved change. And change for him was travel.

This time around, he landed up at New York,to watch some tennis at the Flushing Meadows. He had heard that today could be another day in the tennis life of Andre Agassi or it could be his Swansong. Quarky was not going to miss this moment.

This was Andre Agassi's playground, or as a fan had it on a placard, this was Andre's house. For 21 long years, Andre had made the US Open his home, where the world saw him as a long haired, punk with dangling earrings and a service return which is known as the best in the game, The US open saw him mature into a class act, He lost his hair, but won over his fans and became one of the games greatest ambassadors.

Its always overwhelming when all this ends in a flash, and Andre could not control it. His tears said it all and Quarky had tears in his eyes too. Quarky would always feel very strongly for such moments in sport and this was no different.Andre Agassi lived the life of a Roman gladiator and in the end died the same way. Never one to give up easily, he fought till the realisation dawned that the mind alone was no longer enough to win. The body had given up. Age showed its weak frame, when Andre would lunge and bend, but the body would think otherwise. The writing was on the wall.

But there is no denying the fact that, as long as tennis is played, the Glamour god will be remembered for his style and substance.

Quarky's stories would continue..

Till then,

2006-09-01T20:15:00.001+05:30

Quarky the Merman

Its been a while, haven't been to the Land,
Water and the world below, suits me just fine
Thought, I ll see whats happening this side
I am Quarky, the Merman

Sprung out in exotic Hawaii
And what a sight it was to see
Maria Sharapova being photographed
For the Swimsuit Calendar Edition : Oooh!

Took a dip and came up, alongside a place called Gujarat
Shuddered at the noise, the blood and the gore
People fainting on exhaustion
This was what they called the hunger strike.

Wanted to see this country,
Had heard so much
The culture, the Diversity, the color
Bare Hands or whatever, Travelling was on.

It wasn't that easy, Not as cool as the waters
Sweat dripping down my brow
Stopped by for a drink
Some thing they call Pepsi here

Throw it off! Said a voice above
DDT and Ammonium Phosphate it has,
Kills pests and insects alike
Do you want to die as well?

To be continued...

The adventures of Quarky, the Merman will continue... Watch this space

2006-08-20T23:48:00.001+05:30

9 PM, Albuquerque.

Shania and me were having a quite dinner. Was meant to be a romantic dinner, but was not turning out to be one. There was a bright yellow daffodil on our table and the water from the Miraha Beach was making its presence felt. To top it all, we could hear some nice music from the La Nimbatona club some yards away at the beach - What a setting you would say - Hardly!

Shania was looking very irritated, and this was one thing about her. If she was upset over something, she would remain silent, It was difficult to know what was wrong.
I did a rewind on my behaviour today, thinking if I had angered her in any sense.Nothing very obvious, but she wouldn't smile, Her face was only into the caviar and the octopus delicacies. Was she starving? Aah, no! That could not be a reason at all.
What was it then? There was one thing that was spoiling the show though- mosquitoes.
Swarming over our heads, making merry music-not the music we'd like now.
Strange to find such a number at these times, here. And my arms were busy fending them off, instead of holding Shania. And then I let out a scream of exasperation.

"For gods' sake - These Mosquitoes"!!!

She looked up and shrieked - "Yeah baby, They are freaking me out"!

A smile appeared on my lips- So all that was spoiling my perfect evening with the special someone was this!

All I needed on a romantic evening to complete our dinner and a wonderful time - was a MOSQUITO REPELLENT!!!!

2006-08-19T03:49:00.001+05:30

Jesus' Crucifixion

That fateful night arrived.
Sin cast its evil shadow
Some terrible news beckoned
Why? Why on earth why?

It was time for the last supper.
All disciples and he
Mistrust was never on his mind
Why? Why on earth why?

And there was Mary Magdalene
No one thought a woman was in the supper too
She could not sense the tragedy to come
Why? Why on earth why?

The bearded guy was put on poles.
Blood oozing out from his nailed palms
So much pain, for fellow humankind
Why? Why on earth why?

He perished, but his words didn't
He left the world but his aura didn't
He lived on in us, forever.
A moment so poignant - Jesus' Crucifixion

2006-08-19T01:52:00.001+05:30

Purani Jeans aur guitar.. That says it all! Doesn't it?

2006-08-15T00:42:00.001+05:30

“One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius” (Simone de Beauvoir).

Simone's sayings must be the most followed saying for the urban metro parents who want to paint their kids with a tinge of genius - from the moment they are born -
This is a sad story prevalent in New-Age India where, a genius child is a sureshot way to fame, name and glory to the parents and people around them.

So the young kid learns C programming, Servlets and JSPs, Network Topologies when he should be learning how to tie his shoelaces. He is into Quantum physics and the Theory of relativity when he should be making paper boats and sailing them in the water puddles after the monsoon showers.

I read about a 15 year old kid today who has secured admission into the IIT for his Masters. MTech i.e. which people normally reach at the age of 22 or more.
We should ask his parents if he can distingush a marigold from a lily - or if he ever went to a friend's dance party.
There was another instance of a young genius - who was this master of physics who could understand complex formulae and put any research fellow to shame- This guy was 11 years old... And apparently he had no friends.. How could he, if he was cramming up information/knowledge into his tiny brain more than 16 hours a day??
He would probably prove e=mc^2 forwards, backwards and in any other direction, but would he know who Mother Teresa was?

The bottomline is that in this genius production factory - we are missing something -
Childhood. It is precious and it is not to be killed for mere parental satisfaction and glory.

2006-08-11T23:51:00.001+05:30

I was just chatting up with a colleague at work, and he was telling me of his trip to Coimbatore that he would make on the 15th of August and how he was a little worried about the trip.
He was told to be earlier than usual to facilitate extra security checks and scrutinies before boarding the flight.

He said that on the day of independence, Is he really free. Is this liberated India?

I smiled and he walked off, but it set me thinking - How ironic is that? Its Independence day and we are still living a life of fear, mistrust, anxiety and everything around us has to be monitored,what we say has to be moderated, what we write has to be edited, We are shackled by so many chains - Do we represent a free India - Are we the India that our heroes dreamt about?

"At the stroke of midnight hour when the world sleeps, India will awake to freedom" said Pandit Nehru - Have we awoken to freedom is a tricky question, something that I am too short statured to answer

But I guess, If we are alive the next day, we can still be free. So Partha will have to go earlier than usual and follow all security guidelines. Life - is more precious than freedom.

2006-08-10T16:17:00.001+05:30

Kabhi to Alvida Kehdo!

This should have been the title for Karan Johar's latest film. For me , this is one of the least awaited movies of the year, coz I have never been a man who likes cliches.

'Oh it was so much fun working with Karan- he is like my brother'

'Amit uncle makes it so comfortable in the shoots, that I feel I am at home'

'I get along with Rani just like I do with my sister'

'We are one big happy family -- plastic smile' Enough!!!!!!!!!!!

I hate the stereotyped starcast and the colors and the all-too-similar songs, tears, attire....
Yeah people! I am not a Karan Johar fan. I used to be - when I saw Kuch Kuch hota hai, but not anymore. Too much of honey is poison and too much of the same old Karan Johar formula is even worse. And to top it all - his haunting background music which reverberates throughout the movie Aaahh!!! Give me a god damn break.

Its also his self professed love for Shahrukh Khan - no puns intended :) - which makes the plot even more nauseating. Shahrukh has to be central, He has to be everyone's good son, he has to dance well, wear expensive clothes, sing well, run around trees and famous bridges across the world as elegantly as the most graceful ballet dancer ever born. All this is too much to take.

When will you grow up Mr. Johar and churn out something atleast a little different from the run of the mill crap that you have become so used to creating?

2006-08-10T01:54:00.001+05:30

1:50 AM
Place: Home

After a long time of staring at the screen, I have finally decided to call it a day- sorry call it a night- or rather call it morning. The shrill whistle of the watchman interrupts my thoughts and makes me realise that its time to sleep. coz irrespective of the 13 1/2 hour sleep I had last night, its time to put the still-awake brain to rest. For tomorrow is a Brand new day. And so, sleep I shall now and you know what? The mention of the word sleep has brought a yawn on my erstwhile fresh, vibrant face.

To people of the world, I bid you goodnight.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

2006-08-08T14:07:00.001+05:30

Today im going to dabble a bit into poetry - unchartered territory for me. Except for some silly schoolboy poem which found its way to a children newspaper once.

Probably the sorry events of today are best described musically.

So here goes - And please forgive my poetic skills - There 's always a second time.

What a wonderful morning,
An Early start for me,
Unusual others would say
Yeah, getting up early!! No way..

So there I was singing U2- its a Beautiful day
No rain for now, I thought
Dad said, lets go by car
Hey no! I have a class today, what about the guitar?

So Mister Determined guitar guy
Says - i ll take the Bike dad,
And anyways the weather is clear.
Or so i thought.. Oh dear!!!

Out on the bike, with the wind in my face
And then suddenly ----- WATER too!
A smile appeared on my lips
No time for Nature games this.

But it was :) . It sure was.
I could see the clouds smirking with anticipation
Oh they would,
The Rain God's hand was on them firm.

The next part of the story
was WET WET WET...
The rain party was on.
Just that I didnt know the tune for the song.

I reached work - all dripping.
Wondering if I could get wetter.
and then I also had the AC to contend with
Staying at home - Wasnt that better?

That was the poem - I call the RainGod Song

2006-08-07T16:24:00.001+05:30

There are times in the lives of we-the-mortals, when the mind or rather the brain becomes so sluggish that you feel, that you are brain-dead. Thousand things and more are on your mind and you dont remember the second. Nothing is moving, No new thoughts, actions. Stagnant - something that I hate being. Something has to happen -

which is when --- 'Born in the USA' makes me alive again- The zombie is reborn :) As I like to call myself. This Bruce Springstein song which is such a high energy song makes your heart throb again, and suddenly you have more blood pumping into your body. I have just started tapping my feet in the rhythm and suddenly am feeling like a space shuttle waiting to explode into the stratosphere.

Did I ever say, I felt sluggish? Ideas have started streaming back slowly and I know what my next step is. Bruce - Thou art my Energy capsule for the day.

2006-07-28T14:34:00.001+05:30

AN ELEGY OF A SICK MACHINE

'Chacha Chaudhary's brain works faster than a computer'

This is an excerpt from a comic called Chacha Chaudhary which I used to read as a kid.
If you know my office computer - you would definitely call me Chacha Chaudhary.
My brain would always work faster than my machine - or rather anyone's brain would, coz it only crawls, looks at me innocently with its huge eyes (hourglass), keeps thinking and stops responding.
It is now, that I know that even machines age. Poor guy keeps wanting to shut down to breathe, and once he is up, just a few moments are enough to see him panting again.

Alas! If this was my old horse at the farm, I would have traded him for a younger more energetic one, but here i am destined to live with this oldie (sob! why in the world does every company have a budget!!!)

Its sad that the computer (especially mine) is not like Wine -- It does not get better with age.

2006-07-26T16:27:00.001+05:30

Office cubicle
4:26PM

There are some moments when, Sleep becomes your best friend, embracing you as much as you want to run away. It pulls your eyelids shut, so much so, that try as you might you cannot open it.
The subconscious and the conscious mind becomes like milk and water and jhdkljlfs jfu890./sdf kjklsjf lk;lsf . dsf 239 err.. did i just give in? . He just vanquished me and I was like this mute lame animal with no choice but to accept the inevitable.

There's loud music blasting in my ear, am moving my feet continuously but hey! this adversary is stronger, He has this narcissist smirk and just waves his wand and there you go! am his baby completely.

But I accept defeat. I am a true sportsman, I respect the victors, I respect his triumph and I will never be able to have the last laugh against him. He surely is 'the one'

2006-07-24T22:50:00.001+05:30

Its not been a good time to blog lately, - a lot of controversies have been cropping up over blog censorship - with some blogs being removed from the portal since they were explosive, offensive and more food for action than food for thought.

A blog is like a free birds' open sky, flying unfettered- no boundaries, no restrictions , no questions asked, no answers given! There's one word which kills all that though, we know it as censorship. You got what I mean dont you!

Its like telling Bryan Adams to stop singing Summer of 69 midway, its like stifling the screams of exhilaration of an olympic winner, its killing freedom, its chaining expressions, limiting you, showing a part of the ocean thats yours and obscuring the part that isnt.I strongly believe that we dont need censorship in any form : image, motion picture,print or internet.

What is needed though, is to express yourself to the point, that it does not provoke, hurt, cause distress to the masses, fly unchartered territory, but no cruel intentions anywhere! Have a concern for the race you represent, act responsibly and keep the ''Freedom of Expression" flag flying high. And lets pledge for the 'We dont need Censorship' movement all across.

2006-07-17T00:28:00.001+05:30

There is a very sweet neighbour of mine - And this post is about him. He is Deshpande kaka, a sweet oldie uncle who is in his 70s. He is one man with a zest for life. I love his character, as cheerful as the morning flower and so positive. There is also an intelligence about this septuagenarian which is reflected in his conversations.He reads a lot, I believe, which is why his range is wide.And the best part about him is his concern for all around him.He will want to know about everybody, irrespective of how he feels that particular day. Isnt that amazing? How many of us will want to know about the other's well-being when we are besieged with innumerable issues of our own.
He proves to us, that zest and happiness do not fade with age.

I wish him the best of health always.

2006-07-16T18:12:00.001+05:30

Some years back I had written an article for the college dashboard, and that was on " After Death". Its something which has fascinated me over the period of time. Mysterious and enchanting, the unfortunate part is that no one alive can tell this tale. All we have are theories, And I love to theorize on what can be, speculate on the unreal.

I dont quite recollect the article exactly now, but it was kind of a fictitious account/ or rather my theory of my journey. I m just trying to put down, approximately what my article said.

I passed away yesterday, I could see my near and dear ones crying. Felt a little satisfied that I had made atleast an impact.And after a while, I realised that I could not hear them, and felt very very light.I did not know what was happening, it was kind of a zero gravity feeling, the kind that you would experience just before a flight takes off / just before the giant wheel zooms down. I guess, I was just experiencing the out of body experience - saw some movies on it - but here it was- the reality.

I could feel that I have started moving, and move I certainly did with ferocious pace. Was I just shot out of a cannon? I dont know, but this went on for a while, it must have been long enough after which there was a sudden explosion of light, so bright than even a supernova would have felt pale.

It was then that something truly astonishing happened. I saw 'him'. As they say in the Matrix movies - He was "the one". I guess I was truly very very blessed to be able to look at him.
His face - aah! No words in the English Dictionary yet to describe that, yeah No words! The face had an unmistakable aura around it.There was no halo (our movies represented God differently). But yes,the robe was all white, as bright as the face itself.

To say that I was excited was a rank understatement. I could just not stand still.In all the shivering, I posed him a barrage of questions, Where was I, What am I, Why, and many others. He stood calm, the face was absolutely still. He just spoke a sentence - an everlasting truth -
"Body is what is dead and gone, the soul never dies".

This was my article then... But I have more interpretations of this 'after death' thought, some a little different from this article then, its too vast for a post or two. Maybe sometime later...

2006-07-16T14:47:00.001+05:30

I read this interesting article in the newspapers today, about how the soccer world cup had gripped the nation for the entire month, where soccer lovers bunked work, came into office with foggy eyes, with cough lozenges in hand and also had parched throats after screaming hoarse after every game. This did get me laughing, since this article was also describing yours truly here! I was also in this crazy enthusiasts club, where my office times were pushed back, my TV would automatically get switched on just to the 2 football channels, where sleep was a relaxation mechanism only after 3 am everyday.

And i must say, the hangover stays. Sleeping earlier makes me feel a little empty now - as if I was one of those footballers myself. I managed to watch almost all of the matches and there were some heart rending moments with my team being ousted early! But Soccer won in the end and big time! Have always believed that movies have not moved me as emotionally as sport. There are fewer moments where movies have overwhelmed me, than sports which is such a huge beautifully painted canvas, where each shade is as mesmeric as the other.
The agony of disaster and the ecstasy of triumph moves me to tears many a times.

One of those moments was D Becham sitting on the sidelines, hurt physically and heart bleeding, for his Cup was over and so was his country's and all he could do was watch.Be a spectator - Sad! A moment on the other end of the spectrum was Fabio Grosso's goal in the semifinals and his celebration. It was an undefinable emotion
One of pure unadulterated joy, of sheer disbelief and unbelievable energy. One of the games' great scenes, something that proves that if 'u think u can, u will'

I have learnt a lot of life's lessons watching sport, of how David can tame Goliath, how its always mind over matter and how expressing your emotions is good for the system :) which is why I m close to it!

To one of my teachers - Sports!

2006-07-11T21:15:00.003+05:30

This was going to be a post on the Azurris winning the cup, but instead its the terror story - Mumbai 7/11

The terror story is a sad face of terrorism, of cowardice, of idiosyncrasies of a bent mind, of courage of the people, of the protectors-the cops who have been silent spectators in this hour of need.And again Mumbai rises in unison for its people, where people fought against the police to go, help its bloodied brethren -(Yes, this is not a grammatical mistake, the police were actually preventing the crowd from helping the victims, wanting to follow some rules-) bah! when so much of life is at stake? If ever there was a time to bend the rules, it is now!
And the people behind this! Where sily ideas rule their heart and kill innocent unsuspecting citizens. And what do they want to prove by encouraging terror, what will make them stop, whether they will ever be terrorized themselves - to know the pain- ?

Your guess is as good as mine--

2006-07-11T21:15:00.002+05:30

This one is about an Algerian great.No this is not about Mother Teresa, this is about another Algerian, this one who played football, He moved to france, and we also know this man as Zizou - Zinedine Zidane.

There is one reason I love his style - and nothing, even the head butt will not lower his esteem in my hearts- and that is FLAIR. There are few people across sports who are so stylish, so skilled and who play as though they compose music, as though they are on a paragliding course across the pacific ocean, where breaking a sweat would be as rare as Rain in Sahara.Magicians in the game - i pronounce them as.

Mark Waugh, Roger federer,nick faldo - people of the same class. I love to see them in action. Like a mark Knofler song that i'd want to go on and on.

Zizou! Thou shall live on in the hearts of soccer lovers and symphony lovers for ever.

2006-07-05T02:11:00.001+05:30

A great quizzing link. Which I have browsed often.
http://www.kcircle.com
Some intelligent quizzes.

2006-07-05T02:05:00.001+05:30

Some days back, I happened to see the movie Superman Returns, and it set me thinking a bit! No, not the actress who played Lois Lane, no she didnt catch my attention much. Its the superhero concept, of someone who rises above the masses,someone with extraordinary powers.In this contemporary world, you would think,you needed that Clark Kent, that Bruce Wayne, that Peter parker to change the wrong, to call in our needs, a more approachable version of God perhaps.We keep grumbling and complaining with our problems and hope that someone could just wave that magic wand and bring light.I guess that is unfair, like Lois Lane says 'Why the world does not need a Superman'. Its Us who have to make the change, if something has to move, we have to move as well. I shall let you know in some of my next posts whether I changed or I am still waiting for Superman!

2006-06-28T00:20:00.006+05:30

Another soccer post from me today.
Its been fascinating to watch the soccer world cup unfold. Big teams unfurling their skill on smaller hapless teams.
Some smaller teams fighting it out till their last breath not giving up at all.And some biggies showing some carelessness, some arrogance and being thrown out of the ultimate prize in soccer history.
It must certainly be a super feeling to be a part of the crowd at Germany, a feeling no less than stepping on the moon for me! , But i must say its only a slightly lesser feeling in being a part of the tournament as a TV viewer, one of 3 billion enthusiasts
The national anthem is one proud moment for any player. Any patriot will rise to the ocassion that the stage demands - living up to the expectation of the entire country may be a huge task - but just being a part of the chosen few to represent the country and to make them proud is an incredible feeling.
If you ask me, the team of my choice - I have this to say
"Heart says england and Head says Brazil"
Brazil so far have played some delightful Sambatronics in patches and have looked just good enough to win their matches. - (At the time of writing this post Brazil have reached the quarter finals).But then this is the scary part isnt it? Without breaking a sweat , they have defeated the opposition and its the fact that they can play better - much better is what worries me! Will a semifinal showdown between Brazil and England (its possible, the way the draw is shaping up) Will it be a teary day again for me? After all, I cannot forget that fateful quarter-final where Ronaldinho killed David Seaman and England with a blistering kick and of course - killed my hopes too -
But I hope this edition is different. after all a team has to have an off day isnt it? an off-tournament and i shall pray and hope that this tournament is not Brazil's but ENGLAND'S.

2006-06-28T00:20:00.005+05:30

Just a thought on a great debate that is brewing."Who is a better guitarist- Mark Knofler or Eric Clapton"
I read about this somewhere and could not help but add my views. It is a difficult choice surely.Its like asking me if u d like a sapphire or an emerald - or whether you like your father or your mother.:)Very bad analogies - but anyways Here s what i feel-
If Mark Knofler and Eric Clapton run a 100 metre dash, it will be a photo finish with Mark edging out Eric by 1 millionth of a second. Well there you have it! Knofler is better than Clapton but only just. - for me that is -
But both of them have enchanted me with some captivating strumming. Their guitaring i guess cannot be compared. They have different styles. Clapton plucks more and Marky uses his thumb more - i may be wrong - but thats how I see them at work.Clapton sings better, but Knofler was never a singer who strums, he s a guitarist who also sings - or for that matter - speaks his songs. but I love his songs too. 'Romeo and Juliet' is my all time Knofler favourite.And Clapton who by the way is also known as Slowhand since he normally breaks the guitar strings as he performs.and then replaces the strings as the crowd clap their hands slowly...
I d like to clap for him too, for all of his songs, especially for my favourite clapton song - 'Tears in Heaven'
They both rock for me!

2006-06-28T00:20:00.004+05:30

England lifting the World cup of football - Year 1966
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/photos/index.html?aid=263439&d=1

Will it happen again??

2006-06-25T16:38:00.001+05:30

With the soccer season in full swing now, i dedicate all my sleepless soccer nights to the skill, technique, pace, stamina, guile and the will to win of the socceroos.
My wishes to the underachievers - england.
Wish that D. Becham lifts the Jules Rimet trophy