Addicted...

Addiction continues...

2006-04-06T09:36:00.000+05:30

... but at a new place.
Catch me on my *nEW bLOG*
http://amitken.wordpress.com

Unreasonable...

2005-10-06T10:42:00.000+05:30

He was an integral part of her,
she never thought of them being two separate entities,
and she knew that even he felt the same.

...

He once accused her.
He said that she doesn't let him be himself,
that she thought that his life belonged to her,
and that he did not have a right to live his life without her.

It was true, but in a different way.

Different because she always felt that she is not herself without him,
because she had surrendered her life to him,
and because she believed that she had no reason to live without him.

...

She decided to let him be,
She allowed to let him go.

He thought of setting her free,
He forced himself away.

...

She knew that he'll be back.
He knew that she'll wait.

....

Void moments kept happening
nothing really happened in them
apart from their efforts to hold themselves back

....

She hoped him to be back.
He hoped her to give up waiting.

Let's Get Dirty

2005-10-01T21:55:00.000+05:30

Yes! Get Dirty.

Beware!!! Your underwear is being Googled.

2005-09-18T17:07:00.000+05:30

Google undoubtedly is a big part of online life of any netizen. And its influence on our virtual as well as real life is increasing day by day. Google Earth is a mind boggling application, which is keeping me hooked these days. You can see every street, nook and corner around the world and the quality of satellite pictures is quiet good. It didn't take me too long to find out my own house on Google earth. Wanna have a look? Here it is...

btw.. while looking at this application, I couldn't stop wondering that what level of information Intelligence Agencies of world superpowers must be having. If these public pictures on Google Earth, have the capacity to leave you shocked, imagine what level of detailed information is available to some selected coutries about the entire world. May be some spy satellite even has information on which brand and color of underwear is drying in my balcony today.. Ha!

-----------------------------------------------------

Another application Google came up with few days back is its much awaited Blog Search Engine. Now enter your subject of choice on the search tool, and you can know the openions of bloggers all over the world.

Though, Google is not the first when it comes to blog search. Some other Blog Search engines are Technorati, BlogDigger, Daypop, Feedster and Bloogz.

Chikadappo

2005-09-05T17:21:00.000+05:30

I am in a strange mood since past few days, what i've named as Chikadappo mood. If you put feelings of i-am-bored, i-feel-aloof, donno-wat-donno-why-feeling, wanna-hv-fun-but-how, i-wanna-dance, but i-wanna-be-alone, perhaps-sick-of-my-job all together in a mixer, what you get is Chikadappo. Now I do get these feelings individually once in a while, but these past few days all of them have come all together making the life so boring....

So this post is going to be about unrelated random things, which go well with my current strange mood - equally unrelated and random....

> 31st Aug was a Blog Day! Really??!! Now just like me if you too were totally unaware of this, it's not your fault. The fact is that this year saw the very first Blog Day being celebrated. and If you are wondering why 31st August? then the answer lies in the fact that figure 3108 looks like the word Blog. There are several things that you are supposed to do as a blogger on a blog day, but since i've already missed the bus, i think i can skip them this time. A belated Happy Blog Day guys.... :o) and no i don't want to get into those 'do we really need a blog day?' type of *wise* discussions... I am not in a mood to argue..

> Indian Cricket is fastly loosing its charm, thanks to the performance (or the lack of it) of Men in Blue. This season I am not at all following India's cricket tours, and it's Ashes, which has made me bite my nails.

> Iqbal is a wonderful movie. By looking at his bowling action in movie, Shreyas Talpade, looks like a good bowler in real life as well. Hats off to Kukunoor Dude, it is the first bollywood movie on cricket which has done justice to its subject. (though, Lagaan also did a good job in showcasing cricket).

> PVR Saket, is the worst place in Delhi to watch movies. In an attempt to squeeze as many people in theatres, they've sacrificed on leg space, and your knees always rub against the seat in front of you. To make the matters worse, they were showing Iqbal in Audi 2, which by any standards does not qualify to be called an Audi or cinema Hall. At the very best you can call it a Big Room, and I was seated in the front most row of this big room while my stretched feet almost touched the screen. You can imagine, I could see the cricket ball as big as a football... and the worst part about the entire experience is that even if you are seated in the front row, hardly (so) few feet away from the screen, you end up paying the same 150 bucks that the person in last row pays... PVR Saket sucks!

> I am a new F1 fan since yesterday. I saw an entire F1 Grand Prix, for the first time in my life on starsports and oh boy! how much I loved it. Though it was Montoya who won the race, I was most impressed with Kimi Raikkonen, who finished fourth even after all the trouble with his engine and tyre. The guy was so aggressive. So all you F1 fans, here I am, and Raikkonen is my guy.
afa our desi chap Narain is concerned, it seems he likes to spend more time in the pit rather than on tracks.

> My younger sister has come to stay with me in Delhi, and its most definitely a good thing for her (career wise) and me (personally). However since she is all new to Delhi, and does not have her own friend circle as of now, I also have to see that she does not get bored here. Her coming to Delhi has forced me to be more disciplined (ha!) and responsible (hahaha!!!) in life.
Now though we go quiet well with each other, we are surely not best-friends kind. I have that *elder-brother* image in her mind, specially because in all the time when she grew up from a being a kid into a mature(?) girl, and which was perhaps the best time to be all pally with her, I was away from her, first studying and then working.. only visiting home during vacations. So there was hardly any time to be that much friendly with each other.
I so much want to move from that typical 'big bro-lil sis' relationship between us to the friendly-siblings types. Where we both can share it all between us, just like two good friends do. Lets see if I can be her Dada Cool...

> A blog meet happened in Delhi, and thanks to my Chikadappo mood and some other stuff at hand, I could not make to it. Next time.. may be...

Blog, Lola. Blog.

2005-08-30T17:11:00.000+05:30

Okay .. so after a long time, today I have something to blog about. Yeah I have to confess, these days i don't have that urge to blog which i used to have almost everyday. I don't know, why is it so? may be these days my life is lot less happening that there is hardly anything to write home about. Then I do not want my blog to be discussing all the serious issues mankind or my city or my country is facing. Also these days I don't feel like writing about the way i spent my weekend (that is something i used to do a lot earlier). I wonder if my love affair with blogging is slowly headed towards a silent death?? I don't feel that much addicted towards blogging, though blogging has helped me a great deal, and specially it has helped me make a lot of new friends, both in the virtual world as well as in real world. I've met a lot of cool people thru DBM, and made some nice friends.

Diya, for instance, was my co-tripper on my recent visit to Teerthan valley. And you know, we hardly knew each other prior to that visit. We had met only once at a Bloggers meet and perhaps exchanged a few occasional sms's between us. Later, towards the end of our trip, both of us candidly accepted that in the beginning of the trip we both understandably had our doubts about the way this trip was going to go, given the fact that we hardly knew each other. But as it turned out, lack of knowing each other, added to the thrill of the trip and it turned out to be an awesome awesome trip, plus I found a big-hearted and very humble friend in Diya.
So you see, i really want my love affair with blogging to continue, but i don't know how to bring back that passion in this dying affair....

anyway, coming back to what gave me a reason to blog today...

Few days back a fellow blogger from Chennai, Sophia, left a comment on my blog, that she'll be in Delhi and would like to meet me.A couple of e-mails later we decided that Sophia would call me on staurday once she lands in Delhi, and then we'll fix up some time/place to meet. However entire weekend passed without any call from her, and it was only yesterday afternoon when she called up, and we decided about meeting today.

Now Sophia's favorite movie seems to be 'Kabhi Haan, Kabhi Na', as that is what kept happening on a number of calls between that we had between us this morning.... after oscillating between yes and no a number of times we finally were able to agree on a place to meet. After struggling thru the Delhi traffic at it's peak hour for about 1.5 hrs, I was finally able to meet her over a cup of coffee for around 30 minutes. In that short time Sophia came out to be a very warm person, a talkative girl, with lot of enthu and a person who cares and loves her friends a lot. Most of the time she spoke about her very good and protective friend, Ashvin. And you bet it, I now know so many things about Ashvin without even meeting him once, that if there was a Mastermind quiz on him, after Sophia, I'd be the most likely candidate to win it :D

Given my work constraints and thanks to 'Kabhi Haan, Kabhi Na', I could spend only 30 minutes with Sophia. But it surely was a time well spent... It was great to meet you, Sophia. Take care! keep Rocking!! Keep Blogging!!!

I forgive my Father

2005-08-18T16:31:00.000+05:30

A new ad airing on TV these days is of Bajaj Avenger motorbike, which starts like "I forgive my father" and then goes on to claim "I feel like God".. of course all of this while riding the Avenger. Now "I forgive my father" is the very first statement this ad makes, and it instantly catches your attention. Now in a typical Indian family environment this is a very bold statement, and the ad-men have caught it superbly, associating it with the boldness of their product.

How many of us would have actually made a statement like this? I am sure very very very few... and afa I am concerned I can never say something like that to my dad.

Forgiveness is a great trait, I agree, but with our parents we tend to be less forgiving, atleast through our words. On the other hand, I am sure our parents, even if they realize that they've done something wrong with us, would never expect us to tell them specifically that we've forgiven them. All this is just conveyed automatically, without saying a word, without hitting on their pride.

Haha... Also i wonders how many fathers will buy this motorbike to their young (and dependent) lads, with the risk that their son might actually have courage to forgive them... :o)

Bliss!

2005-08-10T16:24:00.000+05:30

In the last week of June, I was off to a wonderful place called Teerthan Valley in Himachal Pradesh. I had actually thought of writing a full length post describing my trip (which was a chance that I took, and today I am glad for having taken that chance). But now that it has been so long since the trip happened, and I am too lazy to find words to describe that indescribable experience, I'd rather just post some pictures for you all to see.

.... and yes! before you see the pictures of the trip, I must thank my fellow tripper Diya, for without her this trip would not have been possible.

nJoy!

Teerthan Valley - The View

2005-08-10T16:23:00.001+05:30

The Friendly Neighbourhood Waterfall

2005-08-10T16:23:00.000+05:30

Some day, I was not so naked....

2005-08-10T16:20:00.000+05:30

This picture was taken during my spiritual visit to Vaishno Devi, which happened right after the Teerthan Valley trip. As you can see the picture is blurred and hazy, but i still like it.... btw, just in case you are wondering about the creature in the picture.. it's me.

and then...

2005-08-05T15:06:00.000+05:30

I donno how
i donno when
but you'll be with me
very soon, and then...

the clouds will drip,
rivers will flow
at the end of sky
you see that rainbow?

the sun will rise
our fortunes shine
and you know what?
you will be mine.

red, green n blue
the colors will be bright
better days are due
it's gonna be alright

the 'downs' are done
now 'ups' will be here
together we shall
give life a cheer

have faith in us
our time is close
on top of thorns
there is a rose

impossibles happen
unthinkables do
if it needs a miracle
that'd happen too

i donno how
i donno when
our paths will merge
forever, and then...

Oh! Yeah.

My Student Life - IV

2005-08-01T16:16:00.000+05:30

Magar yeh to koi na jaane, ki meri manzil hai kahan...

By the time my graduation was over I had finally started taking my career very seriously, I knew I had to do something exceptionally well to lead my life the way I wanted. How I wished my dad to be a stinking-ly rich person, so that I can just be a spoilt rotten brat enjoying life with all the money that he made, or how i wished to have some distant relative who owned a diamond business somewhere in South Africa, and who named all his property to me in his will. :p

But both of these wishes were not even remotely close to reality... so I had no other choice but to make my own life the hard way. So I decided to do a masters in Computer Science, and took admission in Institute of Management, Research and Technology situated in lovely city of Nasik. Two years spent in Nasik, where I had to start from the scratch as far as my friend count was concerned, are till date the most memorable days of my student life. I enjoyed every bit of it... the fresh air of Nasik, the surrounding hills, drizzling rains, new new friends, hungama at college, the fights and loads of fun.

Going to Nasik, brought a lot of changes in my life. The first and most important one was the sense of freedom. Being away from home brought some home sickness initially but the joy of being on my own was tremendous, suddenly I was not answerable for my day to day activities to anybody but myself, I was not required to be back home in the evening within what is known as 'shareefon ke ghar aane ka samay'. How cool was that?!

In about 6 months of my being there, I met some like minded people, and we soon formed a group of 6 guys, and I really dont know how, but soon we were known as 'The Famous Six' in our institute. What made us famous was perhaps the attitude that we always wore on our sleeves. We dared, challenged and triumphed every thing that came our way.. be it studies, sports, cultural activities, intimidating others and what not.

Every moment spent in and around institute was lived king-size. There were very few moments in those two years when I felt down and out of place. I think there was something in that air of Nasik, which made every moment special celebration of life. The good thing about Nasik is that its a small sleepy town and very pretty. I mean on any given day if you pickup your motor bike, and start riding in any direction out of Nasik, within few minutes you'll be surrounded by beauty of Nature. I don't exactly remember how many times, we suddenly thought of going for an outing and soon found ourselves riding towards one of the nearby places like Trimbak, Someshwar, Vani, Pandavlene, Javhar or Kasara Ghat. Specially in the rainy season, the entire place becomes such a bliss.. it's green everywhere around, there are several waterfalls which just prop up during this season, and the feeling of drizzling rain against your face is simply awesome.

Among the many hilarious, daring, crazy, funny, stupid and enjoyable moments that i spent their, I can never forget this one act we indulged in, which is still one of the most daring, most serious yet extremely joyful and funny experience of my life. Want to know what this act was? then read on...

It was during our preparation leave before the final examinations, and just like every other student on earth, we too had plans to enjoy our preparatory vacations, when one of our Famous Six group told us the problems he and his girlfriend were facing at home, and the only option left with them was to get married secretively. We spent night planning and discussing all possible fallouts of them getting married. Since our Hero was still studying and without any financial stability it would have been a blunder to get married, specially when it was not ruled out that after their marriage they both might be thrown out of their families. But looking at the seriousness of the situation we decided to get our dear friend married. In an extremely secretively carried out mission, we planned everything, right from getting the girl out of her Pune house for two days, to arranging for a priest who'd perform the rituals and a lawyer to get the marriage registered.

On the night before D-day the girl was brought to Nasik, all the way from Pune. She told her parents she was going to Nasik for some project she was working on as a part of her studies. To bring some color to this secret wedding and to ensure that some rituals were followed, we bought a pack of MDH haldi powder, and played Holi with it. That was our way of performing haldi ceremony :o) Next morning with the first ray of light we were in a cab, driving towards temple town of Trimbakeshwara. We had prior appointment with a priest who performed the wedding ceremony. We all were puzzled when the priest asked 'who'll do the kanyadaan?', a few seconds later I sensed that everyone was looking at me and smiling. An answer to priest's question was found... It was fun to perform Kanyadaan of a girl just 1 year younger than me. I am sure, not many people get an opportunity to act as brides father in that age.. hahaha..

Our gift to the newly wed couple was a well decorated room in a hotel, for them to spend their first night. The next morning the couple separated to lead their individual lives as if nothing had happened, the girl was back in Pune and the guy was, well, with us trying to study for exams which were very near. Apart form six of us, and the priest, and the marriage registrar not a single soul on earth knew about this wedding.

Six month later, when our groom had passed the final exam and secured a decent job, the news was broken to their respective families. After some initial hiccups, fortunately the family members agreed, and today the lovely couple is leading a wonderful life.

With the end of my Masters education, I was all set to say bye to being a student and jump in big bad corporate world. Though very soon did I realize that you never stop being a student, never....

I wanted to show the world what I was capable of, and of course I wanted to earn money... My money. "The world is waiting for you" I told myself.

Blogging.. Blogging...

2005-07-22T11:15:00.000+05:30

Hiiiiii,

Since I am excessively busy these days at work (believe me!), and its hard to find time to blog regularly, I have been unable to update this place as often I'd like to. From the comment that I have
received on my previous few posts, I can happily believe there are at least *few people* who actually wait for me to post.. Thank You guys.. it really feels great to know that you exist :o)

Now, to revive my blogging instincts this saturday I am gonna attend the Delhi Blogger's Meet (DBM). The last DBM that I attended was a great experience, so I am kind of looking forward to meet some of the old blogger mates, whom I am in touch with, and some new bloggers. It should be exciting. IF you are a blogger and in Delhi this saturday... make it a point to Be There. It should be fun..

Here are the details...

Event : Delhi Blogger's Monsoon Meet (DBMM) or DBM-VII
Date : Saturday, 23rd July 2005
Time : 6.00 pm onwards
Venue : Cafe Coffee Day @ C.P.

(psst: the concluding part of 'My Student Life' series will be out soon, so keep looking for this space)

My Student Life - Part 3

2005-07-06T19:07:00.000+05:30

Purani Jeans aur Guitar...

Did I mention in my last article about my school, that apart from being boys-only school, it was also a science-only school. We did not have any art/commerce subjects taught in our school. So in std XII we had to choose between PCM (physics, chemistry, maths) and CBZ (chemistry, biology, zoology)... out of which I had very conveniently chosen PCM simply because I hated biology for it's a very theoretical and less logical subject as compared to physics or maths, and it required a lot of rattafication, of which I was not very fond.

This was a time when I was completely lost and had nothing planned in my head about my career, so I just started following others. Since almost all of my friends were preparing for IIT-JEE, I too followed them and started preparing for engineering. But as I can tell you today in those two years of preparing for engineering, I just wasted my time and did not take care of my studies, and as a result I failed to secure admission to IIT or any other good engineering college. Those years were too depressing, but I don't have anyone else but me to blame for it. Though I also feel that this failure served as a much needed wake-up call for me, and I started collecting pieces of strength from ground.

While preparing for engineering, as a backup I had joined B.Sc. at V.S.S.D. College, primarily because this college was not too strict about the attendance which also suited my engineering entrance exam preparation plan. After I gave-up trying for engineering, I continued with B.Sc. and started attending VSSD college, and very soon I had tens of reasons why I did not want to attend classes at my college regularly. The atmosphere of my college was heavily political. I mean, the guys their.... all they had to discuss was about the student politics, and forthcoming student body elections. Knowing the level of student politics we had in Kanpur University, was enough reason for me to stay away from college. So I started accompanying my friends who were in other colleges like Christchurch and PPN college. These visits to other colleges were purely for fun, and of course for the pretty girls in those colleges.

This was the time that along with B.Sc. I parallelly took admission to NIIT, a computer education institute. I thought it was wise to have some computer knowledge as it would perhaps help me in whatever I do with my career in future. Joining NIIT was a welcome change from my past three dark years academically. I started enjoying studying computer science, and Foxbase became the first software package I learnt programming in and started to communicate with my computer. Though I was supposed to be in NIIT just for 2 hours everyday, 3 days a week, very soon, I started spending a large amount of day there. Everyday I could be found in the computer lab or the so called study room at institute, and the reason was my love for programming..... hell no, I liked programming alright, but the real reason was every two hours the batch would change and so would the pretty girls in each batch. Very soon I knew all pretty girls in almost every batch.

In my own batch there were 3 girls worth mentioning.... two glamourous and one very simple. Among the glamourous, the first was sweet looking Shruti, and the sexy Ruby. The third simple girl was Anu, I'll talk about her a little later. I became friends with the Shruti & Ruby soon, however I never really could think of them as real good friends ever, and I am sure that this feeling was mutual. However I was surprised to know that some other guys thought that I had something going on with Ruby, and a few of them kind of threatened me to stay away from her.

As I was spending most of my time in computer institute I became friends with many people, and a guy named Ashish came up with an idea of starting a club for computer science students like us. Some of us like minded people came together and gave shape to this idea. We named our club Cyber Club. Soon we started signing people studying in various batches in NIIT as members, giving presentations and telling them about our small idea which would turn into something big one day. Thanks to cyber club I became friends with so many guys and oh-So-many girls, that I almost forgot about the 7 year drought I had suffered in school days. The various events that we organized like Quizzes, competitions, dance parties, fete etc. helped me see, interact and "try" to understand girls. Cyber club also gave me some long lasting friends like Vipul, Swati, Nitin and Anu. Yes, Anu the same simple girl in my batch I talked about earlier. Anu, though in same batch as mine, became my friend only after I met Swati, both of them being very close friends. Now Swati is some one whom I can keep writing about. She happens to be my first Girlfriend, and my friend for ever. In fact she is such a sweetheart that calling her just a girlfriend or best friend would be an understatement. Now our group in NIIT... Vipul, Swati, Anu & me did all the craziest things possible, played pranks on people and had a wonderfully wonderful time together. That was a great time.

I remember how this one guy, Siddhant (name changed to protect his identity), was interested in Anu, and his round face became as long as a horse every time Anu called him Siddhant Bhiya... hahaha.. One fine day me and Vipul caught hold of this chap and after a little effort he confessed to us that he had a liking for Anu, and he was so very disappointed with Anu calling him bhaiya. Our dirty minds worked overtime, and we promised him that we'll make Anu not call him bhaiya anymore, but for that he'll have to throw a party and I took upon the responsibility of making sure Anu was there at his party. Within hours the guy was all set to give us a party at the Little Chef restaurant. Me and Vipul conveyed our plan to Anu and Swati, and they were as sporting as always. We all had a great time at this guys expense, and at the end of it he got what we promised him when Anu publicly and very sweetly declared "what bhaiya? Siddhant is a nice friend". With this one statement the poor chap was more than delighted and so were we. I know it was very mean of us to do that to an unsuspecting Siddhant, but all this seemed fun.

There was also this another cute girl whom both me and Vipul noticed and both of us were kind of, you know, eyeing her. She was Anchal. Our combined and strategic efforts to woo her finally paid, and she very soon became friends with us, though both of us had no clue if she had any kind of feelings for any one of us. After a little confusion she made her choice clear and it was Vipul. Now this revelation was indeed a KLPD*, but Vipul was a great friend, and I gave Qurbani smilingly (*now if you dont already know what KLPD is, believe me, you don't wanna know it too).

The B.Sc. was coming to an end along with my course at NIIT, and with all the fun I was having with my lovely friends, I knew it was time to move on to serious things in life.. like..... a career.

Next: Concluding part .. My post graduation

My Student Life - Part 2

2005-06-01T22:16:00.000+05:30

Jhooth hai sab.. Tareekh Hamesha Apne ko Dohrati Hai..
Jhooth hai sab...

As soon as I passed out from Saraswati Shishu Mandir, my primary school, I was no more a shishu (kid), and I had to face the reality of this bad ugly world, where you are always in a race, you always need to compete with everyone just to prove your existence to the world. And so I was appearing in my first competitive exam for admission to one of the best high-school in Kanpur (or in fact entire state of U.P.). There were students like me from all over the state who aspired to be a part of this school. I do not quiet remember how hard i studied for it, but I remember that it was my first summer vacation when I was not allowed to play all day. Only a couple of hours in evening I was allowed to go out and play gully cricket. Also I believe my mom had to work even harder to make me study, and take this exam seriously.

And after these days of not playing all day long, the God had mercy on me, and I cleared the entrance exam, and took admission in Std VI at Pt. Deendayal Vidyalaya. Deendayal was considered the best school, for it had maximum no of students making it too the merit list for Std 10 & 10+2 UP board exams. As soon as I cleared this exam, I became the hero of our mohalla. All the Auntie's of the locality where I lived in told their kids, "see Amit cleared Deendayal, now start studying like that", while my mom looked on with pride in her eyes. From that day onwards I got the reputation of being the most studious baccha of our locality, something which I was not.. I mean i sincerely hated studying right from the beginning. But who doesn't like all the attention and admiration, so I also posed like being a studious guy in front of other kids in my locality. And as a matter of fact, it may sound a little self-praising, but I definitely was much better than all those guys in studies anyway.

On my day one in my new school, I was simply overwhelmed by the sheer size of the semicircular building. The huge circular lawn in the front, a huge play ground on the back, bigger class rooms, 700 students in all, a magnanimous Vishal Kaksha, where all 700 students assembled for Prarthana in the morning (morning prayer), for Bhojan Bela (Lunch Break) in the noon and then for 'Vande Mataram' signalling end of the day. There was a big big change from my previous school days though, here we no longer had to call our girl-calssmates as 'behens'. And this did not make me any happier coz this new school was an All Boys School :-( ... (now tell me what's better, having all girls around as sisters, or not having girls around at all?) At that time though I didn't really know if that was a good thing or not, it did not really make any difference to me.

In the next 7 years that I spent their I went through a roller coaster ride, affecting all aspects of my life. Study wise I was never a extremely brilliant student (though people in our locality still thought so, out of the reputation my school had), I always managed to get decent enough marks and I was more or less content with it. But other than study, Deendayal Vidyalaya gave me the power to think, to debate with myself, to build on the morals and values which I had got from my parents. Whatever I am today, as a person, I attribute a big big share of it to my schooling in Deendayal.

And needless to say I had great n grand fun in these 7 years, gradually moving from being a new comer to becoming a senior, gradually from being a extremely shy student who spoke very less with very few friends to becoming a guy who communicated extensively within his gang of friends, and reasonably with others. We played cricket using the broken leg of chair as a bat, We stole rubber chappals from school hostel (yes, didn't I tell you, our school had a hostel too, for students from other parts of state) and wore them on our hands using them as an alternative to Table Tennis Bat. We also played football with a plastic ball, mostly kicking legs of opponent team players rather than the tiny plastic ball. We also played the conventional games like eye-spy, janjeera, vish-amrit, kabaddi, kho-kho etc etc.

During my last two years at school, our entire batch had become very mischievous, as we had started enjoying our senior position in school. We had a group of about 10-12 friends, popularly known as 'Gang'. Our gang consisted right from the most brilliant student of our class, to the average/moderate types like me, to the dumb-asses of our class. What we had in common, was the last row of benches and a mischievous mind. Almost everyday we stole some front bencher's lunch boxes even when the class was going on, finished its contents and placed it back into the bag of the owner, without him having a clue about it. Sometimes our chemistry teacher caught us having food even as he was teaching, and then shunned us out of the classroom. We played Kabaddi inside classroom (yes.. believe it) when some teacher did not turn up. We bunked school to play Cricket matches with outside teams. Some of these matches had some very little money involved, and so often a Lbw or Run-Out decision would turn into a brawl. During my entire 7 years of schooling, during annual sports week of school, I ran out of school twice (only) to watch a bollywood movie. And you are free to laugh when you read the names of movies I watched... First, 'Tadipaar' starring Mithun (aaarrghh!!!!!) and Second, 'Raja Babu' starring Govinda :)) And know what? some gaddaar (who is still unknown to me) puked about it to our class teacher.

I sincerely thank all my teachers for giving in their best to make me what I am, and for tolerating me for seven whole years. Though all of them hold a special place in my heart, I would like to make special mention of Mahesh Ji, our very strict Mathematics teacher, today I am glad for all the punishments he gave me. and Anand Ji, our Art & Crafts teacher, for all his affection and the capability of putting up with our stupid demands.

Among the school time friends, I am still constantly in touch with many guys from our gang. Infact few of them are my langotiya yaars (if loosely translated in english it means 'underwear buddy'). If I were to list all of my friends from those days believe me the list would consist some 40-50 guys. So here is a list of some of my very close buddies from school and their nick names are given besides them. And believe me, every one's nick name has a story behind it, I may write another post someday to tell you those extremely funny stories. Ashish (kalloo), Rohit (annu/Bade Thakur), Shailendra (sheelu/Chote Thakur), Amit Gangwar(Gangu), Manish Singh (Taua), Amit Kumar (Katora), Vivek (Chikna), Sharad (soordas), Alok (katta), Amit Rai (rai babu), Divyesh (dibba), Amit Awasthi (pandit), Ambarish (ambu). (you might have noticed there are 4 Amit's in this list, there were 4 more Amit's in our batch who are not mentioned here.. ah it's such a comman name).

Believe me summing those seven days in few paragraphs was a very difficult task to me. Still I do not think I have done justice to those days with this post, but the fear of this post becoming too lengthy and boring n loosing my new friends (you readers) made me cut it short. Every moment of those days brings special memories, and a big smile.

In all those days were wonderful, kind of perfect I'd say...... except the fact that ours being a boys school we had no interaction with girls (poor me), and I was often jealous of my other friends who studied in co-ed schools and always had so many stories about girls in their class, about their love life and about the chocolate they shared with a pretty girl in their class. But frankly none of us gave it a damn about not having girls in our school, firstly because none of us school friends had a girl friend, and secondly we were too busy having fun to sulk about girls not being in our lives. Though it was in these years only, when i knew only as much about the girls, as much i knew about aliens, I did have my first crush and I also indulged in "letter writing" to another girl...... hehehe, yes believe me, those are also some tender, some stupid and some embarrassing moments of my life, about which I'll surely write once I am done with "my student Life" series of posts. I promise.

Wait for my next post to know about my next phase of student life.... the college life, in which I also embarked my journey with the other half of human species, known as Girls.

It's different

2005-05-27T16:36:00.000+05:30

World is a little different today
There is air in my veins
And blood in atmosphere.

World is a little different today
There is water in the sky
And clouds lie in the ocean

World is a little different today
There are stars on the road
And traffic jam in the space

World is a little different today
There is a blog where I live
And my house is empty

World is a little different today
There is only love in my heart
And ......

Yes, It indeed is different today!

- (c) Addicted... by AmitKen

My Student Life - Part 1

2005-05-19T12:13:00.000+05:30

Woh Kagaj ki Kashti .. woh barish ka pani...

Yeah you guessed it right, I am feeling nostalgic about my childhood. Not only childhood, in fact about my entire student life. right from nursery till my post graduation. I thought why not write down about my memories of good old school days. So this one post, and the next few are going to be my about my school/college days.... my yesterday, which built my today, and which will keep building my tomorrow.

I am gonna write about my memories of those times, my friends and non-friends of those times. I will also be very truthful about my life, and reveal even those things about my life which no one really knows till date..... ummm, being so much confessional is hard, Okay.. I'll try my best to be truthful, as I am typing this I don't really know if I'll have courage to press that Publish button, after writing some of those embarrassing truths about my life. It's a little hard thing to do, specially because I do not blog with a screen name like 'Deadly Punch' or 'Spoilt Dude' but with my original name, and also the fact that now a lot of people who know me in real life, also read this blog. In fact after i realized that perhaps some of my office colleagues also read my blog (something which i did not want to happen, i don't know why, i feel lil uncomfortable about it), i hv been thinking of blogging with some screen name, which does not reveal my identity.

Aaah!!!! I can so easily deviate from point. without wasting more time, I'll get back to the days of my primary education.

My Primary School days

My first school was St. John convent, I don't really have many memories left of my one year of schooling there. I only have a faint recollection that it was a 'L' shaped building with a huge ground. After this one year at St John, my parents moved to another house in another locality, and so my school had to be changed too, I am told at that time I was sent to a school for few days, but for some reason I did not like that school at all, and I always kept crying in my 2-3 days of being there. So finaly I was taken out of that school and put in another, which turned out to be my primary school for next 6 years.

Saraswati Shishu Mandir, that's the name of my school which actually laid the foundation on which I am standing today. It was a Hindi medium school, and the class names were also all in pure hindi. Shishu Varg (or nursery), Pratham (First), Dwiteeya (Second), Triteeya (Third), Chaturth (Fourth) and Pancham (Fifth). We called our male teachers as Acharya Ji, and female teachers as Behen Ji. All the Acharyas used to wear dhoti-kurta, and Behen Ji's wore... well what else but sari. We had a typical school dress with Navy blue half pant, White shirt, Black leather shoes and white socks, Girls also used to wear red ribbons to tie there long hair.

The school had a big enough assembly hall, which we called as Vishal Kaksha (vishal means big/huge, kaksha means room), I always found it extremely beautiful. It had a huge portrait of Goddess Saraswati - the goddess of knowledge. This Saraswati portrait was flanked by two man size portraits of Swami Vivekanada and a beautiful portrait of Bharat Mata (mother india). On all the four walls of this assembly hall were pictures of great figures from indian mythology and history, right from Godly figures of Lord Ram, Lord Krishna, Guru Nanak, Guru Gobing Singh to great humans like Shivaji, Maharana Pratap, Mahatma Gandhi, Pt. Nehru, Bhagat Singh, Azad, Veer Savarkar, Lokmanya Tilak, Subhash Chandra Bose, Taigore, Bankim Chandra etc etc.... Almost every well known freedom fighter, every respected historic personality had found place on one of the four walls of our vishal kaksha. There were also two huge painted boards, one having the lyrics of our national anthem - Jana Gana Mana, and another with Vande Mataram inscribed on it. The class rooms on the first floor were built on the periphery of vishal kaksha, and thru a balcony running around the walls of vishal kaksha, we could always have the top view of that beautiful hall.

I was an extremely shy and introvert boy then, I remember that once when I was perhaps in standard One (or Pratham) our class room was shifted from ground floor to first floor, for a good number of days I did not even know where the loo was on the first floor, and I was too shy to ask that to any body. I generally used to go all the way to ground floor to use loo, once some teacher who saw me using Ground floor loo, advised me to use the loo on first floor instead of ground floor. Now I took that advice as an order, and being the too shy guy that i was, i still did not ask any one about where the loo was on first floor. So next few days here I was following my teachers advice and controlling the 'calls of nature' with all my might till the school was over. But then came the black day.. when I could not hold it any more, and even as i rushed out of class room towards the ground floor loo, not worrying about what my teacher told me...... it was too late. On that day after the school was over, no body sat next to me in the school bus, every one who looked at me laughed, and some wicked boys even gave me a nick name, okay I am not gonna tell that to you guys. When I reached home I cried, cried and sobbed in my mom's lap, and told her about my teachers order. Next day i knew where the First floor loo was. Sometimes you learn things in life in a hard way. (now a warning: do not dare to comment about this episode, and if you know me do not ever mention this thing to me, the consequences may not be good for you.... yeah I am dead serious).

I do not know why... I mean WHY... the boys in school were termed as 'Bhaiya' and the girls as 'Behen'. And believe me in those days (I think our generation was so dumb as compared to todays kids) a day before Rakhi we used to celebrate rakhi in school, and used to take pride in the no of rakhi's we got tied on our wrist/forehand/arm from our fellow girl classmates proudly making them all our sisters. So dumb of us. When I look at todays kids, they are so much smarter, one of my cousin who is in class 5, already has more girlfriends than I ever had in my entire life time. A nephew of mine who is just in Second standard, needs privacy and takes the phone to another room when he talks to one of his girl classmates. His face turns red when we tease him about his class 2 girlfriend. And me... till the time i was in class 5, i did not make any girlfriends, i only made sisters... huh!!!

My favorite teacher was Arvind Acharya Ji, he was our maths teacher, he was very smart, handsome, and he used to like me too. I was most fearful of our Sanskrit lady teacher, Shakuntala Behen Ji. However later I realized that she was very loving, I once met her after 7-8 years of passing out from Shishu Mandir, and I loved that look in her eyes, I cant really describe that look in totality..... the look which a teacher has seeing his students growing up and doing well in life.

Hmmm.... my friends from those days. Well i remember three good friends from those days.. Dharmendra, Rishi and Umang. I lost touch totally with Dharmendra after we passed out of Shishu Mandir. He was a good friend very funny and well built. I remember him taking my side and saving me whenever we had some fight in school. I being a skinny, tiny boy was mostly at receiving end in these fights, though i always had a policy of 'hit and run', but whenever i was not able to run, there was always Dharmendra for my help.
Rishi, was also a good friend, I got along with him very well. After passing out of Shishu Mandir he took admission in a different school than mine. He in fact visited my place a couple of times after we passed class five. After a year or so we lost touch. Years later during graduation days I heard about him, he had become active in student politics. And knowing the level of student politics we had in our colleges I did not have a good feeling about it. Only a few days later, I saw his picture in a news paper, in which he was lying unconscious on the road, the heading read student leader attempted to suicide over some student welfare issue. Later i heard in college that it was all a drama to evoke sympathy as the student body elections were coming close. I thought he had lost it completely.
Umang, the only friend from those days, who is still in touch. After we took admissions in different schools in standard sixth, for about a year or so we kept in touch through letters, and then next 4 years we were out of touch. Then while in standard 11, he joined my school only, and we were again good friends. Today he runs his family business successfully, is married and is a father of a year old girl child.

Among the girls, I only recollect two of them, One named Vandana and another named Shalini. Vandana was this cute girl i liked, i often tied her long hair with the chair she was seated on. heheh... that seemed fun. The other girl Shalini was the class topper, and that was the reason why i had a liking towards her. Absolutely don't have any idea what these two girls are doing now.

Apart from the fact that I did not make any girl friends, I love those years of my life. I am really thankful to all my teachers, for they played a big role in laying a perfect foundation for my life. The values which they instilled in me are still very close to my heart. I want to go back to the same vishal kaksha right now, stand in front of that huge Saraswati portrait, and say school prayer with all school mates on top of my voice.

coming up... the next 7 years (class 6 to class 12)

Yaaaaaawn....

2005-05-06T16:39:00.000+05:30

Well.. well.... I am writing this post for no apparent reason. Not that all my earlier posts were written with some reason in mind, but this particular post is probably gonna be worst post of my life till now, so if u have any better things to do, just go ahead and do it, do not bother to waste your time here.

Really... I mean anyway Friday is the most difficult day to spend in office, right from the morning you have this weekend mood waiting to jump on your head, and all you want is to spend those 8/9 hours of office asap. Considering my friday productivity-at-work (that's one word), I did very impressive in the first half of the day. I replied to most of the important mails, ran some processes that i was supposed to, fixed some bugs in the programs i was working on, and resolved queries of my colleagues/business partners, and filled my timesheet for the day and last two weeks. Isn't that impressive? you bet that is. So after all this hard work, we (my team) decided to go out for lunch, like we do every friday, 'coz after 4 consecutive days of canteen food, we hate to even look towards the office canteen. So where was I? oh yes, i was going out for lunch with my team, so that's what we all did, and had some great kebabs and lot more. Since we didn't have to pay the bill for today's lunch, as one of the team member who had recently got promoted was treating us, we ate even more.. right from appetizers, to soft drinks (no hard drinks in office hours, we are all professionals you see), to more appetizers, to another mocktail, to main course, to deserts.... till the big BURP.

That was it... the big BURP was signalling the end of good times, nah not that we didn't have enough money and were made to wash the plates at restaurant.. that did not happen, thanks to the credit card industry that I work for. Credit card i believe is the best invention of our times, it has become part of our lifestyles. "Some people earn for a living, but I earn for paying my card bills." Now that was my statement for the day. Coming back to the 'end of good times' that i initially started with, IT was end of good times because after having filled my tummy with such wonderful food all I wanted to do was stretch my legs and arms, fall flat and go to sleep.

Magar yeh ho na saka... Magar yeh ho na saka, aur ab yeh aalam hai ki.... zzzzz....

Remember it was just a stretched lunch break between work hours, so we had to come back to work. Tooo Bad!!! Right now at this very moment if there is one thing which i want the most, it is my desire to sleeeeeeep. My Garfieldness wants to take over, but this bloody sense of work place ethics doesn't allow me to do so. My eyes are half shut, my tummy is full, i have no capacity of thinking about the analysis or the goddamn code that i've to write, I am yawning. It indeed is a bad time. I look at the time on the bottom right corner of my comp screen, then i look the same time in my mobile, then i look at the telephone instrument on my desk, it shows time too.. well the time on this instrument is 2 minutes ahead. Wow!!! i can save 2 minutes of being in office if I go by this time. (Just in case you've noticed I did not mention my wrist watch, and that is because from more than a year now I have stopped wearing one. The old one that i have needs a battery replacement, and I am too lazy to do that, also I have been thinking of buying a new watch, and the Tag Huer one, which i like the most is too damn costly, so you see it's getting delayed) However even if I go by this time, there are still 43 minutes before I can shut down my PC, and say bye-bye to office.

Now if i can't do any other thing being in office, what's the easiest thing that I can i do, without being bothered about anything.. anybody??? No prizes to guess, its BlOgGiNg. And that is why I am writing this post, to kill some time. This is the very reason I warned you all not to read this bored post. Still if you have actually read this post till here, you have very good patience, and you are my true blog-friend. I love you a lot for reading this post. Please say "I still love you and your blog" in the comments, if you have reached here. This way i'll know my friends of all (good/bad) times.

God Bless! Happy Weekend!!

Chauffeur Service and The DBM

2005-05-02T19:44:00.000+05:30

That was one hell of a weekend. A weekend which saw me getting up at 5 o clock in morning (yeah.. that's FIVE, can you believe that... ), welcoming and bye-bye'ing a lot of guests. Bye-bye'ing is a new word I invented just now, i know it sucks, but that is the feeling i want to convey by using this word. Basically for a change i was working as a Cab driver over this weekend, and I got paid heavily in terms of statements like....
- did i disturb your weekend schedule?
- good that you stay close to airport.
- you must be cursing me for spoiling your sleep.
- you drive very well.
- good that you bought a car, visiting Delhi is much easier now.

_________________________________________________

Another thing I did over this weekend was attending my first DelhiBloggersMeet(DBM). Yeah! I met a lot of bloggers from Delhi, and it was a different kind of experience to meet people which are known to you only through blogs and mails. Around 12 bloggers from Delhi and 1 from Jaipur attended this meet, which happened on Saturday. Apart from a few oldies, most of us were meeting for the first time. So I thought of posting my observations about each of the person who was present at DBM. First I thought that I'll write only nice things about everybody, coz in all it was a nice experience. But that is not the only way I think about them, besides how many times can you write 'he was a nice chap'/'she was wonderful' ....

So I decided to write both 'The Politically Correct' and 'Devilish' versions of my thoughts ....

Harneet:
One of the veterans in the group. A humble guy who always takes initiative and pains to organize DBM. He has his subtle style which wont let you realize that he has just pulled your leg. But sir, you seemed to be too comfortable in company of ppl you already knew, and were almost cutoff with other new guys who were also present. either that or it was your subtle way of conveying to us that we are boring or something like that ;-))

Priyanka:
A sweet and sincere girl. She was active, not just on the mail group, but also during the meet, the determination with which she conducted the quiz, making every one compulsorily listen/respond was awesome.
Tubelight Fairy..... errr.... Twilight Fairy, should have been a school masterni instead. She Screamed her lungs out to make sure that her Quiz questions are heard by everyone. I wont be surprised if you have a bad throat. Gargle with a cup of warm water and a spoonful of washing powder in it. :-p

Priya & Deepan:
The fact that I am mentioning them together is not to demean their individual existence, but to highlight the fact that they make such a wonderful couple. Deepan's outstanding sense of humor and Priya's witty comments were something to watch out for. Priya also indulged in some provocative stuff (which helped in breaking the ice) like initiating the great Delhi vs Mumbai debate and calling Pepsi's latest "oye bubbly" ad campaign as sexist.
I swear, moments before someone talked about two of you being a married couple, i was on the verge of asking you "so, are you brother-sister?". Now curse me if you want to, but that's the way I am, always thinking positive :o))

Sasha:
I really liked the fact that Sasha, though for a very short time, made it a point to attend the DBM. I couldn't have any discussion with Sasha, given that we were seated at opposite ends of the table. May be next time we'll get to talk.
Why the hell did you come to DBM? why didn't you let me live with my illusions?? My heart was shattered, when it dawned to me that Sasha is not a gorgeous, dusky bengali babe, but a GUY.... boohoohooo :-(

Akshat and Vivek:
No no... do not get to any hasty/nasty conclusions yet. These two guys are not being mentioned here together because they make a great couple or something like that. These two guys are together because after the DBM, three of us had dinner together, which gave me a chance to know them even better.

Vivek seemed to be a very nice, soft spoken and sensible person. But why do you keep creating those polls for every damn thing in the world?

Calm and Quiet are the words, which would come to your mind when you meet Akshat. He was so calm in the meet that I had almost thought of him as a excessively studious type boring person. But this otherwise quiet guy, was the one who did most of the talking while we dined. I have no regrets to say that my initial reading about him was wrong, and that he is THE DUDE. I call him 'The Dude' coz he has so much of adventurous action going on in his life. Almost every alternate month this guy goes on a trekking expedition, and most of the Himalayan treks have already been beneath his feet. No devilish thoughts about him since I made a mistake in judging him initially.

Ajay:
The 'Married Single' guy. He deserves a big thanks for putting in a lot of efforts in coming up with blog-quiz. I spare him from my Devilish thoughts for he was the one who also took pains to go thru my blog before coming to DBM, and that he included a good question about my blog in the quiz.

Sruthijith:
Nice Chap.
Poor Chap. The guy is on a month long vacation, coz... one, he has an exam to appear in, and two, he is experiencing a period of low productivity. All the best for your exams buddy, and I am sure you will bounce back on productivity front too. To shut people up, you may even want to come along with a proof or two of your productivity when we meet next. :D

Aseem:
He was thoughtful enough for calling me and making me realize that I was wrongly in GK-I, instead of GK-II, looking for fellow Delhi Bloggers. It was nice to meet him. After a while he looked very bored, perhaps he too was taken aback by the truth about Sasha. ;-p

Ravi:
He was the only guy other than me, who too reached GK-I instead of GK-II. Finally when he made it to the DBM, he could correctly guess names of many people he was meeting for the first time.

Diya:
When she walked into the venue with all her charm, her expressive eyes were looking for someone. She glanced at the people sitting at the first table, perhaps trying to locate someone, a confused expression took over her face, and she decided to look elsewhere. She took a few steps and looked at the corner table with some hope, she saw half dozen guys sitting there and discussing something. Even as she was trying to get some positive vibes from them, few of those guys noticed her too, and they also noticed that look on her face. More heads turned, she could sense that perhaps those guys were waiting for someone too. 'bbloggers.....' she murmured... multiple heads nodded, and lips curled to make a smiling expression on everyone's face.
Even as she joined them and took a seat on the same table, another expression tried to shadow her smiling face 'all guys.. not a single girl....chichichi'. ... :p

AmitKen:
What do I say about this guy? He is Fabulous, he made 12 new friends, and he loved being with them. Though he is a little mischievous and sometimes does indulge in leg pulling of his friends, but his friends have a good sense of humor and they know he is good at heart.
This guy is superfluous, and deserves a lot of nasty comments. Don't be surprised if he is bashed up by everybody in next DBM.

Howzzat?!?

2005-04-26T20:12:00.000+05:30

The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A death. What's that, a bonus?!? I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you go live in an old age home. You get kicked out for being too healthy. Go collect your pension, then, when you start work, you get a gold watch on your first day. You work forty years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You drink alcohol, you party, and you get ready for high-school. You go to primary school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a little baby, you go back, spend your last 9 months floating with luxuries like central heating, spa, room service on tap, then you finish off as an orgasm!! Amen.

(.... from yet another forwarded mail.)

London, 23rd April 2004

2005-04-22T15:14:00.000+05:30

Ah! its ONE year now. Happy Happy :o))

I don’t know if I should stay

2005-04-20T22:16:00.000+05:30

In the past one month or so, barring a very few exceptions I have not really been very happy about the contents of my posts. The lack of original and good writing ideas is still there. I thought of giving up blogging for some time, so that I can perhaps get refreshed and then write something more meaningful when i get some good and fresh writing ideas.

I generally (in fact always) blog from office, and this new addiction has resulted in significant decrease in my productivity. These days due to heavy workload, and a heavier state of mind that I am in I am not getting any time to think and write. I cant blog from home since I do not own a computer, and that is a conscious decision, since after sitting in front of a comp for at least 1/3rd of a day everyday I do not really want to spend more time in front of this machine. In fact I have always dismissed the devilish ideas of my present/prev bosses who offered to give me a office laptop. I call my boss's idea as devilish 'coz along with the laptop also comes a production pager and lot of expectations of working at unearthly hours, and I am much happier without these complications in my life.

I think I need a lot of fresh air, a vacation away from regular hustle-bustle of life, and some relaxed atmosphere to rejuvenate myself. Yes!... that should help, but I do not really see that happening soon. Till the time I write something better and original, here is poem that I received in a forwarded mail. If you are working (more so in software industry) you might be able to relate. Read on.....

Poetry by some unknown software engineer:

The name is good, the brand is big
But the work I do is that of a pig
The work or the brand, what is my way?
I don’t know if I should stay.

To work, they have set their own way
Nobody will care to hear what I say
My will be NULL, they wont change their way
I don’t know if I should stay.

The project is in a critical stage
But to do good work, this is the age
This dilemma is killing me day by day
I don’t know if I should stay.

The money is good, the place is great
But the development is at a very small rate
Should I go for the work, or wait for pay
I don’t know if I should stay.

The managers don’t know what they talk
The team doesn’t know where they walk
That's a bad situation, what say?
I don’t know if I should stay.

I can go to any other place
But what if I get the same disgrace
I cant keep switching day by day
I don’t know if I should stay.

"Brave kids do not cry"

2005-04-18T22:13:00.000+05:30

Haven't we heard this statement as a kid? I am sure we all did, and all of us will tell/have told this to our kids. This is even more applicable to men, as women can perhaps get away with crying, as for some reason crying is accepted as a feminine trait. That is why we men have also heard the statement 'don't cry like girls' quiet often when we were kids.

The point I want to raise here is that how big this misconception is about crying being a non-brave thing. As we grow older we are supposed to suppress our emotions whenever we feel like crying and prove our bravery. Just like laughter and anger, crying also comes to all of us naturally, then why do we suppress it?

I am sure almost all of us do have occasions in our lives as grown ups when we feel like crying, but we suppress is because of the fear of being branded weak. Remember those childhood days when we did something terribly wrong, or someone else did something wrong to us, and we could easily leap into mom's embrace and cry our anguish out of the system, only to emerge more calm, more content and more strong.

I believe it takes lot of courage to cry when we are grown up.

I know I have had situations when all I really wanted was to put my head in my mom's lap and cry... just cry. But I didn't do that.... 'coz I am brave. huh..

Tell me what do you do when you face such a situation? Act brave or show courage to cry....

Dead-line

2005-04-14T14:35:00.000+05:30

No matter what state of mind you are in, some incidents just make you laugh.

And so I have been laughing my lungs out from past 15 minutes or so. Way back in February my blog-buddy Animesh, had posted this, giving a link to a website hitman.

Its a real creepy website. After going through its contents I had forwarded the website link to a number of my friends.

Few minutes back after almost two months of the hitman post by Ani and my forwarded mail, a friend/colleague called me up. Here is how the conversation went...

She : Amit, I am gonna ask you something funny and stupid. But still I HAVE to ask you.
Me : (Well.. what's new) Shoot.
She : Remember you had sent a email with a link to a Hitman site few days back.
Me : (pretending that i am too busy to remember such pity things) ummm.. yeah may be i had sent. So ?
She : Actually I just recd a mail from Hitman, informing that I only have 24 hrs more to live.
Me : Yippeee!!! (the devil in me erupts)
She : Pls tell me that the site is a crap, and its a joke.
Me : (with all seriousness) I cant say that. The site looked very professional, it might be true.
She : Oh no! pleeeese... say that its crap. pleeeese..
Me : Okay... Hitman is a crap.
She : Say it genuinely.
Me : yaar.. it sounds so cool.
She : cool?? my foot... What do i do now?
Me : there is hardly anything you can do, all that needs to be done will be done by hitman.
She : I hope its a joke, i don't wanna die.
Me : we'll know by tomorrow.
Me : Can you fwd me that mail?
She : I was so nervous that I deleted it.
Me : As if deleting it would change something .. eh!
She : But why would anyone want to kill me?
Me : Its so exciting to know that you are so important to someone that (s)he gave a supari to get you killed. Its so cool.
She : If i remember correctly they charge $50 K per murder. and one, I don't have any enemies, and two i certainly do not have any rich enemies.
Me : See I am so useless, no body wants to kill me. But you are special, your life has a value, $ 50K. hahahaaa
She : you are laughing !! :-/ even my team mates are making fun, they have already distributed my assets among themselves, one wants my cellphone, another is eyeing my new wrist watch and so on.
Me : And you said you have 24 hrs, that means you'll die in office tomorrow, which could result in office being closed for a few days. So nice of you.
She : You...... !@@##$$
Me : Catch you tomorrow, dead or alive.

Hahahah.. poor girl.. she is real tense, and everyone around is rolling on the floor.

In English "A" is for 'Apple'

2005-04-12T18:24:00.000+05:30

What is "A" for in Bengali??

any guess....?
try
....
...
...

okey, In Bengali "A" is for "Orange".

hahahaha :-D :-x :-))))

Those who could not understand the joke, should atleast know that I am not finding any time to blog these days. I try and atleast read some blogs, but the time i need to devote for writing a good post (which I believe I have not done for some time), is hard to find. Too many (de)pressing deadlines, and at least a day off which i have taken in each of last 3 weeks have made sure that all my time on working days is already booked.

This last weekend+monday I was on a personal trip to Indore (they call it mini-mumbai!.. peh...) and Ujjain (the city of temples). I would bolg about the trip in detail as soon as I find some time.

till then...

New Blog Idea

2005-04-07T11:12:00.000+05:30

I came up with this idea of a dedicated blog for Ganguly Jokes. So here is another blog from me called
~ Ganguly Series ~

(http://gangulyseries.blogspot.com)

Visit this blog as well, Laugh your lungs out and share more funny Ganguly Jokes. I dont care if the jokes are stolen or original... all i care about is their ability to make us laugh. Join in guys!!!

nJoy!

Sentidental

2005-04-06T19:44:00.000+05:30

Q : What makes you drop your jaw for a time much longer than anticipated?
A : a *pretty* dental doc.

Well not to mention I enjoyed this whole Jaw dropping incident which happened exactly 20 mins after I got up today morning. Yeah!!! I must have been in some strange, weird mood when I got myself an appointment for 9 am today. Understandably I got up just 5 mins prior to 9, and then it was all chaos and panic which made me swear at the hospital and at the moment when I agreed to take an appointment so damn early in the morning. somehow 20 mins later I was in the hospital parking lot (din't i tell you i am so fast....) One good thing about dentists is that all they are concerned about is your dental health. So just brushing my teeth, washing my face and some spray on my body was all that i needed to get ready. But finally when I saw the doc, all my efforts suddenly seemed worthwhile.

Well I am not gonna get into details of how the pretty doc, put so many metallic instruments with spitting capability, in my mouth etc. etc., but one thing is sure, pretty doctors help one heal faster (and feel better).

Ganguly Series

2005-04-05T22:18:00.000+05:30

The inevitable has happened, George Bush jokes are passe, now Dada is in. Here are the latest Ganguly Series jokes that i received in my mailbox today.

> Shoaib Akhtar admits Ganguly is faster and quicker than him.
> "I haven't seen any one get out so fast. Man, I envy his speed. I am
> quick but he is quickest," he says, "I think I should now cut my
> run up short when I bowl to him. Or else, he might be gone when I
> am half way through my run up."

> Railways keen on Ganguly as brand embassador:
> "We'll be having someone who comes (back) before time. This will help us improve our image
> with the Indian public." says a Railway spokesperson.

> Q: Any guess which is Ganguly's favorite movie?
> A: Gone in 60 seconds.

:o)

My Only Asset

2005-04-04T15:42:00.000+05:30

The only worthwhile asset that I have made, maintained and worked towards its growth all my life is 'My Friends'. As long as this asset of mine is glowing and growing I am sure of always having a reason to smile :o)

Below is the my asset count for past 7 years (time since I left my hometown Kanpur, first for studies and then for work)

No of new good friends I made while I lived in Nasik (2.5 yrs) : 15
No of new good friends I made while I lived in Mumbai (2 yrs) : 25
No of new good friends I made while I lived in Pune (6 mths) : 10
No of new good friends I made since I am in Delhi (2 yrs almost) : 1

Only one new friend in last 2 years!!! That sounds so uncool, but the fact is that I spent most of my time with this "one" new friend, and whatever time I was left with went in making up with all my old friends who are already here in Delhi. So no time for making new friends. But slowly in last one year my total friend count present in Delhi has reduced drastically as most of them moved to various parts of India/world for personal/professional reasons.

So now I am back to doing something which always fascinated me, building my long lasting asset of friends. You are welcome too!

Cheers for Friends and Friendship!

Now I know ....

2005-03-31T09:51:00.000+05:30

that Addiction is bad, 'coz once you get addicted to something, you cant live without it, and it won't let you live.

that I have moved beyond Addiction. I am now 'Obsessed'.

that the fun of Life is in the ups and downs it brings with itself.

that the Joys and the Sorrows are not mutually exclusive. One is needed for another to survive.

that Life is a bitch, and it loves getting screwed.

that Death is easy, Life is not.

that Death is so boring, Life is adventure.

that DEATH ENDS FUN.

Coming back to life

2005-03-29T22:12:00.000+05:30

Where were you when I was burned and broken
While the days slipped by from my window watching
Where were you when I was hurt and I was helpless
Because the things you say and the things you do surround me
While you were hanging yourself on someone else's words
Dying to believe in what you heard
I was staring straight into the shining sun

Lost in thought and lost in time
While the seeds of life and the seeds of change were planted
Outside the rain fell dark and slow
While I pondered on this dangerous but irresistible pastime
I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the moment had arrived
For killing the past and coming back to life

I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the waiting had begun
And headed straight . . . into the shining sun

David Gilmour
PINK FLOYD . THE DIVISION BELL

2005-03-14T17:47:00.000+05:30

its official now...

I am Dead

Catch you if(?)/when I come back to life.

Matter of Choice...

2005-03-10T15:47:00.001+05:30

gurl: Today one lil beggar girl knocked on my car window, asking for money.
guy: huh..
gurl: I gave her Two rupees and told her 'dont buy cigarette, its bad' :) ... u know, I really felt good when I gave her money.
guy: yeah u may hv felt good but u know giving them money also means that you are encouraging begging.
gurl: hmm... but hey! u know wat? I dont mind that, this way I m also reducing competition. If they stop begging, and study and all, they might end up competing with me, and pose a threat to my job. :-p
guy: hahaha.... I'd rather apply this logic towards Gay relationships. I will love it if all the guys in the world became Gay, this way I won't have any competition, and I can tell all the girls 'Look I am the only one around, you dont have a choice'.
gurl: :-/
guy: what? :-D

Kshanikayein

2005-03-08T20:10:00.001+05:30

I saw a dream today,
I don't remember what.
It left me smiling,
Must have been your thought.

___

Pitar patter pitar patter
Rain drops on a tin platter
Wet water pearls
Touch n shatter.

___

Heart beats in rhythm
Eyes fixed into eyes
Breathing together
Inhaling in sync
We became One.

___

*(this one is for my bestest friend, S)

Oh! you just called me.
I feel good.
Talking to you about anything
Puts a smile on my face.
My life is still beautiful
Because of your presence,
Dear friend!

Do You Remember

2005-03-07T15:24:00.000+05:30

Do you remember
the day
when we met
the first time
and i didn't know
what exactly to tell you
so i just hugged you
and whispered in your ears
"I love you".

Do you remember
the day
when we met
the last time
and i didn't know
what exactly to tell you
so i just kissed you
and looked into your eyes to tell
"I love you".

Do you know
today
when you are
still away
and i do not know
what exactly to tell you
so i just blow a kiss in the air
and shout to the sky
"I LOVE YOU".

- (c) Addicted... by AmitKen

Captured Moments!

2005-03-02T19:19:00.001+05:30

Have a look at some of the snaps taken at Alwar.

Click Here!

Driver Side Decision

2005-02-28T19:52:00.000+05:30

What is one thing which you hate from the bottom of your guts and butts on a Saturday morning?

For me it's sound of alarm clock screaming in my ear, at FIVE O'CLOCK in morning.

Picture this:
@ 0500 hrs, Saturday 26th February 2005.
Me deeply sleeping in my warm bed, dreaming about *her* with a smile on my face.

After God-knows-how-many alarm rings, I somehow move my hand with eyes closed and BANG!!! the alarm clock goes silent, and I am back to sleep. Exactly 20 minutes later, it's the alarm in my mobile telling me to get up, I reach out to it only to switch it off completely and then putting it below my pillow, making sure it does not disturb me any more for any damn reason. Another twenty minutes pass away while I try to sleep again, changing postures, pulling the blanket over my head and then taking it away, and this time it's my cousin Sachin's mobile which starts buzzing.

That's it... I give up and curse the chef of the restaurant where I had dinner the night before. Yes! the chef, he is the one to be cursed. It has to be something in the food that I consumed previous night which made me take such an inhuman decision.

Last Friday night as I and Sachin were dining at this restaurant with another weekend staring in our faces. We were kinda bored with the typical visit-markets-n-malls-eat-out-watch-a-movie weekends.
Add to this bored feeling the enthusiasm of having bought a new car two weeks back and some yummy unda curry, jeera rice and you get a instant plan of driving down to Alwar. To restrict our trip to one day, it was necessary to get up early in the morning. Knowing that this was going to be a herculean task, we ourselves had put three alarms to ensure that we get up in time. (I still cant believe it !!! How can I torture myself so much?!!!).

Anyway we were only one hour late from our planned schedule and that was pretty much acceptable. We started our journey with the first rays of the sun dawning on us (well... lets be little realistic, 'the first rays of sun' mean 'the rays which first dawned on me').

Alwar is a small typical Rajasthan town about 150 Km away from Delhi, with an old fort in ruins, a couple of lovely lakes, a not so well maintained museum and Sariska Tiger Reserve forest. Sariska was not in our plans due to the one day limit we had imposed on our trip.

Alwar was good but it was the drive which amused and fascinated me much. As soon as we were out of Delhi-Gurgaon region the entire route was so scenic and beautiful. The entire route has no big towns or cities, you have to go through villages, which are so close to nature. A two lane state highway running through big farms in the backdrop of Aravali hill ranges make it all look so wonderful. The fragrance of soil, green fields, camel carts, women dressed in bright rajasthani outfits, the men sporting colorful turbans .. it was all so lovely.

One funny thing... If you are in Alwar and you have to ask for directions you should know this. The people in Alwar would not tell you to turn right or turn left, they would instead say 'Turn Driver Side' (for right turn) and 'Turn Conductor Side' (for left turn). :o))

In all it was a great trip, and all the torture that I made myself go through earlier in morning proved to be a "Driver Side decision" (or in pure english a Right Decision).
:o))

------
On Sunday, I also visited Mughal Gardens at Rashtrapati Bhavan (Yeah I finally did it!!! look I am so active these days, *impressed with myself*). Its so royal and beautiful. Unfortunately for security reasons they do not allow cell phones or cameras inside, but it was great to see Rashtrapati Bhavan from so close. I wonder what does Mr President Dr. Kalam do in such a huge overwhelming residence all alone? If you need company I can come over and stay there for a while Mr. President :))

------
In next one month I plan to go visit Jaipur and Taj Mahal at Agra.

Wanna join??

Could not resist posting this... :D

2005-02-23T17:15:00.000+05:30

Gabbar's mom slaps him hard, as soon as he is born.
Doc asks, "Why are you hitting him?"
Mom replies, "He is asking me 'Kitney Aadmi They?' "

phhephephee hehheheheh ...

Achievements this weekend (...or the lack of them)

2005-02-21T20:08:00.000+05:30

After lying around for a long long time feeling wasted away, a big heap of my dirty clothes took a holy dip in detergent mixed water, and came out all smiling and shining. Their Laundryfication Ceremony was proudly performed by me on Sunday. I felt the same spiritual high as a priest would when he performs 'Abhishek' on Lord Shiva.

---

The President's House is open for visitors. I wanted to visit there and capture the beauty of 'Mughal Gardens' over this weekend. However my Garfieldness prevailed over and above my all other materialistic and non-materialistic wishes, and I spent most of my time sleeping, watching TV (MTV, Channel [V], ESPN, Star Sports, Discovery, A1, ftv, Discovery Lifestyle & Nat Geo .. ONLY these channels and strictly in the same order of preference) and watching three movie CDs:
1. Scent of a woman
2. Lord of the rings - the fellowship of the ring
3. Lord of the rings - the two towers

---

Though the long afternoon nap did cost me the Mughal Garden visit, in the evening I visited the 'Garden of Five Senses'. Luckily they were hosting a Garden festival there, and I saw some awesome flower arrangements, some very innovative Flower 'Rangoli' designs. This was the first time i visited the Garden of five senses. Its a beautiful place, very well maintained and the best part is that its not too crowded. I have immediately enlisted it among my most favorite hangout places of Delhi.

The War Is On...

2005-02-18T12:44:00.000+05:30

What governs you? your mind or your heart. For me its generally a balanced portion of both, I generally take the consensual path between the two.

Mind is an analytical entity, it considers the past, and the present and decides what should be done about future. Heart absorbs past, consoles the present, evaluates emotions and shows a path to future, both in a way try and predict the future, and ask you to follow a path to reach that predicted future.
Life is little easier, when both heart and mind predict on somewhat similar lines, and you tend to take decisions easily, stick to them and be content about the outcome.

But what should you do when your mind and heart give you different signals? When mind says one thing and heart says exactly opposite of that, what should you do?

Mind has power of logic, and Heart has the might of emotions, and when they do not go along, emotions tend to defy every logic and the logic questions the mere existence of emotions.

I have experienced that the conflict occurs when mind says something about the matter which is very close to your heart. If I were to advice a friend about a certain situation, its easier to do, coz then the matter is not that close to heart, and in such a situation I can strike a balance between the voices of mind and heart and reach a good decision. But when it comes to me and that too about some thing i strongly feel about, the war is declared inside me.

Swirling swords, shooting arrows, blazing guns, marching troops, running horses..... Ouch !!!

:-)/o

~*~*
What if ....The heart did not have it's voice, what would happen then?
Think about it .. what does your mind say ? oh.. and what about your heart, did it say something as well??

honey means money, Honey!

2005-02-15T22:27:00.000+05:30

I went to Cafe Coffee Day with a friend and his girlfriend on a day which in every way was similar to any other day of year, but somehow everyone called that day to be Valentines Day.

Let me confess, I have never celebrated Valentine's Day. In my early teen days I did not even know if any such thing existed (I guess no one in India knew about it). In my college days it suddenly became a 'happening' and 'in' thing thanks to glamorous marketing by gifts n cards industry, and I too wanted to celebrate this day with someone special. But then I never had a designated Girlfriend, and the girls who were interested in going out with me, I was not interested in wasting my time with them just to have someone with me on V-day. I always preferred partying and flirting with many a friends (girls ofcourse) on a V-day instead of hooking up with one girl in particular with whom I don't really wanna be and then carry the burden at least for next few days, till I could find a nice non-offending way to say her good bye.
And by the time I actually fell flat in love, I had already realized that you do not need a V-Day to celebrate your love. I celebrated each and every moment.

Anyways.... so here I was in Cafe Coffee Day, which was all decorated with heart shaped balloons and all... I ordered a Cappuccino.
The Guy On Counter: "Sir, we are not serving our regular menu today, we have created some V-day special combo menu items and you can order any one of them"
Me : "But I am not celebrating V-day."
The Guy On Counter: "But Sir we are, please order something from this new menu."
Not wasting time with this guy, I looked into the new red menu card, and found one item closest to my choice of coffee. It read "Cappuccino with Honey".
...
Later while having that coffee I asked to no one in particular "what exceptional change did this honey bring to my coffee or to my love-thirsty heart or to any damn thing in the world?"
my friend pointed out "it changed the thickness of your wallet." :))

BLACK

2005-02-14T17:03:00.000+05:30

The darkness made way to the lights, and I could see the people clapping who had slowly started heading out of the theatre after watching one of the most wonderful movie Indian cinema has ever produced. Yes, I am talking about "Black".

I had gone to the movie with lesser expectations with thoughts that it might be a heavy emotional drama, but still as I did not want to miss out on some great performance from Amitabh Bacchan, i went ahead to watch the movie. But the movie proved me wrong, it was not a heavy stuff movie. It was a perfect example of a tight script executed in extremely wonderful manner. Some superb acting by Amitabh, Rani and the little kid. And most of all kudos to Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the director of the movie, for coming out with this wonderful movie.

The movie is about a deaf, dumb and blind girl who is fighting with the darkness. Her teacher (played by Amitabh) gives her a direction and makes her pursue her dreams come what may. Bhansali has made sure that he constantly sticks to the central theme of the movie and does not wander anywhere left or right. Perfect example of conveying more with less. You do not really feel anything for the lack of songs in the movie. In fact you don't even notice that there are no songs, because you are so much involved with the story. The background score, the color scheme used and the cinematography complements to the theme of movie.

Guys, do not miss out on this movie, 'coz very rarely do you get such fabulous movies made.

... (i can't find right title for this story)

2005-02-11T14:53:00.000+05:30

Though his fingers were little rusty, the number was still fresh in his mind. Even as he dialed the number, he felt a strange flow of current originating from where his finger tips touched the phone key pad, sending pleasant shivers through his entire body.

Zillions of emotions erupted in his heart. The last time they spoke was about 40 days ago, and the conversation they had was left incomplete. Earlier they never even had a gap of 40 hours between two calls and now it had been 40 days and they had not spoken a word to each other. It was an unspoken decision that they had reached, separately and together.

She wanted him to go away from her, because she was fearful. Fearful of the world, which was up against them being together. The world... her world, which contained people she respected and valued all through her life, and she had always done everything in her life to ensure their happiness. She feared that the same people would refuse to respect and value her existence, her individuality, her decisions, her happiness. She had decided to sacrifice her love to please the world, a world which did not really care.

He was of the thought that together they can overcome any obstacles which stood in their way. He believed that the strength of their love was enough to take on the world. But since he was not like rest of the world, he decided to respect her decision.

He was particularly happy about something today, he had a reason to celebrate and he was so much excited to share it with her. His happiness was incomplete without sharing it with her. His heart was beating faster with every ring of the phone, and then she answered. He could feel the butterflies in his stomach, her soft voice made way to his heart. He wanted to feel his heart melting with the warmth of her voice, but that was not to be. Her voice was cold. They did speak to each other asking those customary formal questions of each other's well being. He could not bear the coldness in their conversation, and decided that it was better to end it. "Where have all the emotions gone?" He wondered, which essentially bring that warmth that he was seeking.

His heart skipped a beat, he felt choking.

...

She could feel that she was smiling, forcing a dimple on her left cheek. Her phone was buzzing, displaying a number that she was so much familiar with. She happily grabbed the phone, and just as she was about to answer the call and pour her heart out all over it, something stopped her. She watched the phone buzzing two more times, and finally answered. She did not speak what her heart wanted her to. She was braving against her own emotions. The artificial coldness she was wearing worked, and the call ended pretty soon.

Tears started rolling down her cheeks, and they felt warm..... suppressed emotions had found a way out.

for the heck of it...

2005-02-10T16:03:00.000+05:30

- I bought a new car on Tuesday....

- My mom is in Delhi, with me these days...

- I am not very happy or excited or anything .... Am not feeling anything :(

- Spotted this slogan written somewhere near Pragati Maidan....Cant really understand what it means... :-/
Nari Samaj ka bhushan hai,
Karti door pradooshan hai.

what the heck.. i donno what to write :-
had never thought i'll post such crappy shit on my blog.... but still I am...

I Seek

2005-02-04T20:33:00.000+05:30

When I get up
Tomorrow
I wish to
Breath.

Fresh air
Filling up my lungs.
Un-itching tears
Flowing through my eyes.
Soothing music
To my ears.
Joyousness
Sticking to my lips.

All this time
I have felt
Stroke of your fingers
Through my hair
When naughty winds
Played with me.

For long hours
I have had
conversations un-had.

Smiling back to the sky
Seeing the clouds
Making curves
Like your lips
When you smile.

Drenched
From tip to toe
The wet raindrops
Wrap me in embrace
Like you do.

I have not
Missed you
A single bit.

How could I
When its your love
That my heart pumps
Into my body
To keep me alive.

Being comfortable
With discomfort,
Is what I have practiced.
Masked behind
This happy life
Is a wistful heart.

It needs fresh blood
Of your love
To actually feel
What I feel.
Turning an illusion
Into reality.

I am tired
Of being happy.
Joy,
Is what I seek.

Addicted... by AmitKen

..::~~::..

2005-02-03T10:19:00.000+05:30

Hmmmm..
I know I have not been posting from some time. I have been busy, I have been doing things, I have been waiting for things to happen....
And now I have a feeling that things have finally started moving in right direction, though I don't wanna jump the guns. Lets wait and watch how things turn out, hope they happen the way I want them to.

I've got a deadline of one of my projects approaching, I am getting back to the project, promise I'll be back to blogging soon. Already my boss is in some strange mood these days. God knows what has happened to him? I am avoiding getting into argument with him, if I get into that it can be little harsh for him. But yes, we certainly need to talk with open mind to get things straight.

Peace!

Celebrating the Democracy of India

2005-01-27T16:51:00.000+05:30

.
The Republic Day Parade.. An overwhelming view

Republic Day Rants

2005-01-27T16:36:00.000+05:30

We, The people of India, celebrated our 56th Republic Day, yesterday. I have just read the full text of address to the nation by The President of India on the eve of 56th Republic day, 2005. Its definitely not another boring speech by another political leader, it is in fact a mission statement, focussing on need and means of employment generation and there by transforming India into a developed nation by 2020.

Mr. President Dr. Kalam, undoubtedly is the most thoughtful and visionary leader India has seen in last few decades. He finished his address to the nation (like most of his speeches) with quoting following piece from Thirukkural:

People who elevate the thoughts,
through constant reflection,
and be steadfast in their action,
will positively achieve,
what they originally thought.

- Thirukkural (200 BC) 666

After reading these lines by Thiruvalluvar, I started thinking and then I elevated my thoughts, and there were reflections of those thoughts. These thoughts are non-sequential, random, unorganized, inconclusive, some rational and some perhaps irrational ... but they are what they are... they are what I am thinking today.

~.::.~
In school days it used to be a special day (along with Independence Day) for number of reasons...
-One, it was Indian Republic day, even if I did not really know what it meant, i felt very proud about this fact.
-Two, saluting The Tricolor being unfurled at school and singing national anthem with all enthusiasm and as loud as possible made me feel like a real patriot.
-Three, it was a day when i used to buy/steal from friends as many national flags as possible and decorate my study table.
-Four, listening to those speeches during Republic Day cultural program @ school about the great Indian freedom struggle, made me feel proud of freedom fighters. I also used to be sad thinking why was I born in independent India? if only I was born during those days I too would have given my life for nations cause, having little realization of what it actually means to leave every single thing you have.. (money, status, family, career), and dedicate all your life for your country.. nothing else but your country.
-Five, this day there were no boring classes, no homework, no tests in school.
-Six, somehow we were crazy about the sweets distributed in the school on this day.

~.::.~
Today 26th Jan.. its just a Holiday. A day when I perhaps do not feel any of the things that I felt in childhood, and why should I? I have grown up now, and its only natural that I do not react to this day in the fashion I used to as a kid. Okay I may not sing loudly the national anthem, I may not run around the streets holding Tricolor in my hands, but that does not make me lesser patriotic than what I was in my childhood.

But still there is something missing somewhere, even if I still feel strongly about my country, why don't I feel any enthusiasm about this day at all? Why is Republic day (or for that matter Independence Day) reduced to just another holiday, to a day when terrorist organizations always want to attack & disrupt govt celebrations in Delhi or other state capitals, to a day when police arrangements to prevent any terrorist action very ironically end up making us feel less independent.

~.::.~
In contradiction to what I used to think in my childhood days about giving away my life for country, today all I did when Tsunami occurred, was to donate some amount out of my pay cheque. Is that enough thing to do? I know even this small contribution will perhaps help bring a smile on someone's face, but again was that all I could have done???

I thought of taking few days vacation from my job and actually going to affected places and physically contributing to relief and rehab measures being taken post tsunami. As is the fact, there is no dearth of relief material, but what is lacking is the number of volunteers actually helping people with this money/material to build up their lives all over again. I thought of doing it, and within a day I was convinced that I can not really take work-off right in the beginning of the year because of professional compulsions, the project deadlines that i have to meet and all that bull shit...

Eh... so much from a person who once thought of giving away his life for country if he was born in british ruled India.

~.::.~
I those kid days, i used to paint my own paper tricolor, and also used to buy several tricolored flags from street kids of my age, and I never found anything strange about it. Now as I think about it... Those street kids are still there, making there day-to-day living by selling tricolor flags which celebrate our independence, our democratic fabric. But what does independence mean to that kid? what does India being republic mean to that kid?

....
I know there is lot more I can do, in fact by doing my job effectively too I am in someway contributing to the country. In fact this IT boom that India has witnessed over the past decade, which has done wonders to Indian economy, I am a part of it, and I am contributing my bit in making India one of the known and recognized forces in knowledge/IT industry.

But that alone is not enough if we really want to see changes in our life time, because changes wont come just by cribbing or talking or blogging about our problems, they need some action. An action in positive direction, an action with determination, why do we need to be under foreign rule for a true revolution to take place? Why cant we stop cribbing about our politicians, bureaucrats etc etc, and actually do something to change the scenario, which we all do not like.

Will I stop here? Will I forget about it? Will I work towards it? or will I again take shelter of my pressing work schedules, project deadlines etc etc to convince myself that I have already done my bit by writing this post?

Jai Hind!

Weekend, that was

2005-01-24T17:32:00.000+05:30

After much hue and cry in media over Kareena & Shahid smooching in public, I witnessed something even more bizarre last friday. I was at Priya, where I spotted a pretty girl licking Shahrukh Khan's lips, and even as she was doing it, a friend of her was taking pictures. Hold on... before you start crying for not being at Priya on friday evening, Shahrukh Khan is still there unphased, smiling, endorsing his brand as he does everyday looking out of the 'Tag Heuer' advertising board. Girls.... are you insane, there were so many dude's around, and yet you choose to smack a advertisement board with your lipstick. Think Beyond.... for Gods sake!!!

As if the kiss-SRK event was not enough, I ended up watching Kisna - The Warrier Poet. AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!! How can someone make such a movie?? It's such a crap. I don't even want to talk about it. Oh yes, it reminded me of the old doordarshan tv series 'Vikram aur Betaal', where Betaal used to dangle on a tree upside-down in every episode.

***
Met Swati yesterday after a long long long time. As she said, she narrowly missed giving me a 'Royal Ditch' before going back to Hyderabad :o) For once we thoroughly enjoyed her delayed flight, as this gave us a couple of hours to talk our heart out to each other. As usual two hours were way too less for that, given that we were meeting after more than a year. She has also promised (aaah!!) that she'll be letting me know her views on few things by posting comments on my blog. Swati, you better do it fast.... btw, it was wonderful to meet you. If you think I'm being modest, then you are absolutely right ;-)

Quotes from 'The Alchemist'

2005-01-24T15:52:00.000+05:30

"Its the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting."

"The dunes are changed by the wind, but the desert never changes, that's the way it will be with our love for each other."

"When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream."

A Shadow Lost In The Night

2005-01-19T19:36:00.000+05:30

Why do you want to get rid of me?
We are inseparable
I exist because of you
I exist for you
I am your shadow, am I lost in the night?

I don't fear the night
Coz night is just a phase
The darkness gives me fright
Oh! so tough to erase.

This night is no real
Coz nights come and go
The day arrives in between
Presenting my show.

Have you closed all the windows
Even the slits between doors
And confined yourself to darkness
Hoping that I would go.

This artificial night
Will never see a day
And I may eventually die
Though I really wanna stay.

If ever comes a time
When you'll need some light
I'll have a re-birth
When the candle shines bright.

Because.....
We are inseparable
I exist because of you
I exist for you
I am your shadow, and I am never lost in the night.

Hehe ... Well this certainly is not an attempt to outdo genious of Enembius. Reading the poem by E, which i posted in my prev post, set me thinking. And somehow this triggered flow of some of my rarest creative juices, which resulted in something which "I" prefer to call a poem. This is a very humble yet brave attempt, and it adds to my 'countable-on-fingers' collection of self written poems.

All you guys better write some rave comments about this attempted poetry. The poet in me needs encouragement. C'mmon what are you waiting for? Everyone atleast write 10 comments each..... hahaha :))

Praising E!

2005-01-19T18:48:00.000+05:30

My Blog-Yaar Enembius is a genius. He writes proses and poems, he draws wonderful sketches, he comments candidly, and the weird pictures that he posts on his blog are amazing. In all his blog is a collage depicting various moods and moments.. So colorful. Visit Him.

E!, I am borrowing one of your poems which I liked much and posting it here. Hoping that you wont mind. :-)

:~............:::::::............~:

Just you and the sky
A cave by the sea
Fire in your heart
and Ashes on your soul

Try try like youve never tried before
Climb climb even though your heart is torn
You cant kill an immortal soul
You cant reap what hasnt sown
The child inside has never grown
Some things just wont die

Does she cry when she thinks i cant see her
Does she hide from the fact that i need her
Does she want me at all or am I just nothing more
Than a shadow lost in the night

Is there a certain look in her eye
A crookedness in her smile
Does she know that im there
Does she know how i care
Does she dream about me at night?

- by Enembius.

Good Day

2005-01-12T22:20:00.000+05:30

It's a wonderful sunny morning. The winds still have that chill in them, and the sun is comforting. I am set to begin my day a little earlier than a usual Wednesday to complete some urgent work even before I get to office. All geared up to combat the chilled winds, with jacket, gloves and helmet I start vroooming rapidly in the busy streets of Delhi, riding bike in pure 'dilli ishtyle' with pace, swiftly changing lanes as per my convenience. The winds sometimes dodge my helmet, managing to sneak inside and touch my neck. They cause a sweetly painful feeling.

And finally the inevitable happens... I reach the dreaded traffic signal, and its showing Red. The red color annoys me, I slow down and finally halt cursing the truck driver who didn't give me enough side to cross the signal before it changed color.

The counter on the signal shows there are still 113 seconds for it to turn back to green. As i am waiting for 'green' thinking about i-donno-what, I suddenly realize that i dont really have any reason to get annoyed about anything. Its a perfect morning, and I am going to do some work which i wanted to get over with eagerly. 'Its going to be a good day' ... I tell myself, still wondering why was I annoyed at God-knows-what a few moments back. The pretty-girl-from-behind (alas! I could not see her face) who is on the wheel of the car ahead of me somehow strengthens my belief. 'it's already a good day' i tell myself again, this time with a smile.

I see a lightening somewhere, taking me out of my momentary visit to 'the LOST'.

He is just 7/8 years old(or rather young). And its his unusual smile which caused that lightening. He is wearing a navy blue loose trouser, dirty shirt which must have been white in color someday. The dirt is also visible on his face and the uncovered parts of his hands. He is holding a dirty cloth in his hand, rapidly moving between halted cars on the signal, wiping the dust on the car windshield and asking the car owner money in return of his service. Most of the car owners shoo him away, some perhaps fearing that the already dirty cloth in his hand will get their car dirtier, and some car owners with that look of disgust in their eyes which says that they hate the mere existence of half-naked, dirty kids asking for money on the roads. A very few car owners oblige, and take out a Rupee coin for him.

But the kid is unaffected by the looks that people give him. He has that innocent smile on his face almost constantly, which should be their on every kids face. He doesn't seem to be bothered by his poor state. He looks excited, vibrant, all charged up and that amusing innocent smile is shown through his body language. This kid perhaps should have been in a school, studying and playing with kids of his age, leading a pleasant childhood, being pampered by his parents. But here he is.. all ready to earn for his days living, and perhaps also for his younger bro/sis or a sick mom. And still he has that pure smile on his face....

His eyes finally meet mine, I cant help but smile at him, he smiles back, i can sense the spark and naughtiness in his eyes. He comes towards me, and asks 'Gaadi chamka doon?', and without waiting for my response he goes behind me towards another car. Perhaps he thought of making more money by cleaning a Car rather than a motorbike. I turn back and watch him disappear behind the cars waiting for the signal to turn green.

The colour finally changes to Green, I vroooom ahead, still thinking about that lightening smile, that spark in the eye....

Will 'he' have a Good Day today?

LOL

2005-01-10T18:51:00.000+05:30

Saturday night we(= Me+Sachin+Sheelu+Nitin+Pinky) had dinner at Sheelu's place. And it was a hillarious evening.. I dont remember laughing so much in recent past. All of us shared some stupid, crazy moments and incidents pulled from memory lanes, and all of us were rolling on the floor with lungs daring to come out of our mouth...

One of the incidents that made us laugh the most...

Cast--
TOAO : The One and Only (a dear friend of us, one of those high-on-muscles-low-on-brains-but-pure-of-heart guys)
AFGF: Another Friends' Girl Friend

Scene--
TOAO is riding his motorbike, with AFGF on pillion seat. They stop on a Traffic Signal, just then out of no where a Stray Bull - 'the Bail' comes strawling on the road and stops very near to the bike. AFGF, the poor girl, is terrified to find the four legged animal so close to her)

AFGF : "TOAO Bhaiya!! .... TOAO Bhaiyaaa!!!" (screaming)
TOAO : (no reaction - perhaps unable to hear anything because of traffic noice)
AFGF : "TOAO Bhaiya!! .... TOAO Bhaiyaaa!!!" (Again)
TOAO : (realises that something is wrong, turns back and sees the Bull, right behind him)
TOAO : "Why the hell are you shouting 'TOAO.. TOAO..' , when you should shout 'Bull.. Bull..' "
AFGF : (puzzled with this unexpected outburst of TOAO) "Is there a difference ?!?"

Maktub!!!

2005-01-07T10:53:00.000+05:30

I am reading 'Alchemist' these days. Initially I found it to be a very ordinary and perhaps overhyped book. But as I am reading through the pages, I am finding it interesting. I still have not finished it, but after my last nights reading, it set me thinking. I have not yet reached to any landmark in my thinking process, once I do will write more about it...

One thought though... If given a choice what would I like to be 'A Santiago' or 'An Alchemist'? I am still unable to decide. May be I need an 'omen'....

Maktub!

God, Gajar and Winters

2005-01-03T21:05:00.000+05:30

God has blessed us all with some really cool abilities, and the more we enjoy them the closer we get to God. I somehow believe that winter season is the right season to feel God.In winters the ability to create those mini-clouds from the breath-turned-smoke coming out of my mouth makes me feel closer of being 'The Creator'. However it's not exactly this 'creating' ability which is that close to my heart and it is certainly not something rest of my post will focus on.

Out of many things that God has blessed us with, two of my all time favorites are Sleeping and Eating. Wise men (and women) may argue that in case of both these abilities, its the quality which matters and not the quantity. However my 'Garfieldness' begs to differ ...

I believe that sleeping and eating both give immense pleasure when you have them in great quantity along with the all important quality. If one does accomplish these two activities the right way it brings us closer to God. Who can deny the heavenly pleasure one gets in sleeping a few minutes more in that warm n cozy blanket/rajai on a foggy winter morning. Similarly the variety of vegetables and food that winters offer is unmatched.

During the recent vacations and weekends I did my best to sleep a lot and cover for the deficiencies that were caused in prior months due to my hectic work schedules. And these days I feel pretty much content about the amount of sleep I get. However on this saturday morning a strange thing happened....

I was still in my warm blanket, half asleep - half awake, there were millions of thoughts coming in and going out of my mind indiscriminately at the same time, i was in that strange undescribable stage which i was probably enjoying. I was floating in a pond of laziness, hoping that Sachin - my cousin, who was perhaps reluctantly getting ready to go to office (courtesy his boss), would come and ask if I would like to have a cup of coffee or chai with him. And even as i was going through all this, i heard a distant voice and after a brief gap the same voice came again.. I tried to wake up little more and listen to that voice. Few moments passed and the voice seemed to be coming closer to me, and then finally i could hear it. It was a vegetable vendor, shouting aloud even as he was selling Carrots... "Gajar Le Lo....."

CARROTS!!!

I was suddenly as fresh as a bright red fresh carrot. Carrots brought the taste of 'Gajar Halwa' in my mouth. "Gajar Halwa" is to winters what Mango is to summers. That moment passed and I was feeling bad... feeling bad for not having visited home since Diwali and hence not having tasted 'Gajar Halwa' made by the best cook of the world - My Mom. The realization that its just two more months, Jan & Feb, and then winters will be over and I have not had any good Gajar Halwa this winter season, filled me with anxiety. I have already bought it from various sweets shops in town, and tried it in almost all wedding parties that i attended this winter season, but none of them came even close to Mom-made Gajar Halwa. Suddenly i felt home sick, i wanted to be back home in Kanpur, with my mom and dad (a great food lover). But i knew that it would be atleast two more week before i can go home over a weekend. It was on that moment that I made my first new year resolution.

On sunday evening I took up my biggest ever cooking project. After a long discussion with mom on how to's of preparing gajar halwa, i had bought all necessary ingredients. The chilling january winds and a gloomy weather made me even more determined. I had decided that it was time to act myself to satisfy my taste buds. I was dedicated to my mission. Even as I was very much within the walls of my kitchen, now smelling with fragrance of milk and carrots, outside the house a thick layer of fog had started covering the sky. After two and half hours the roads were covered with fog and the visibility had reduced to 100 meters, and inside my kitchen i was proudly seeing the completion of my project, with which i had loads of hopes. Final product was ready, it was looking and smelling good. I decided about being a bit religious this evening and offered Naivedya to Sri Ganesha. It's rather a funny ritual, on all auspicious occasions we offer Gods with some good food first, before we consume them ourselves. Do we do it just because we know that the idol of God is never actually going to consume that food? I wonder what will happen to this ritual if people find that God is actually eating the Naivedya offered to Him. However in my case if was even more funny.. I had prepared Gajar Halwa for the first time in my life, not knowing how it was going to taste, and I offered it to God. God must be thinking 'this guy is acting smart, he is testing his food on me' :-))

Anyways... I assumed that God has accepted my offering and then I gave it to Sachin to first taste it, he tasted a spoonful of Gajar Halwa, I was watching him closely, a moment passed and he finally said.. "Sahi hai Yaar!!! ... "

That was it, I had successfully accomplished my first project of the new year. It came out to be really tasty and delicious.

My first ever and unprecedented project of 2005 was a huge success. I hope the entire year is equally sweet, delicious and full of success.

Yum!!! my mouth is watering. I'll go have some more Gajar Halwa!

:o)

2005 ... The Beginning

2004-12-30T16:56:00.000+05:30

May all good things happen to you in the year 2005 ...

May all your camels have the best of humps ...

May all your cows have the maximim calcium in their milk ...

May their be no cavities in the canine teeth of your lions and may they remain sharp all year round ....

May your tigers never lose their stripes ...

May your Leopards never lose their spots ...

May your spiders weave the best of webs ...

May your cobras spit the most potent of venoms ....

May your chickens lay the biggest eggs in your respective towns/localities ... May there be peace on earth .....

and May God bless you and give you a great new year ahead ..
Happy New Year everybody ....

Ring out the old and ring in the New ....

Hehe... I know the previous post was supposed to be the last post of the year... but then i thought why not one more... (this is last one, I promise).

Love You All!

Last Blog of the Year

2004-12-30T16:35:00.000+05:30

Well.. this is going to be my last blog in this year. I'll be off & away from my PC next 3 days, and will get to blog only on 3rd Jan. I hope new year will bring better postings from me, I'll write better things, which will make more sense to me, which will make the readers smile, and which will make me grow my only most valuable asset ... i.e. my friends.

Yeah, In a small time since i started blogging I already feel friendly with some of the blogmates. I have met some very nice people, who help me think more and make me ponder about topics i never thought of. They are thinking people, they are fun loving, they have a beautiful mind. I feel blogging is also adding to my persona... I read various posts, i either agree with their thoughts or i don't (well.. isn't that obvious) and in this process i gain something.

Though I have very few regular people who visit my blog, but i would like to thank them all for contributing their thoughts. You all (Meta, Enembius & Shubhi) have a great grand new year 2005.

Catch ya folks in new year, which hopefully be more cheerful, more pleasant, more love-filled.

"Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah
Sarve Santu Niramaya
Sarve Bhadrani Pashyantu
Maa Kshchit Dukh Bhagbhavet"

May all be Happy
May all be Healthy
May all see Good
May No one has sorrows

Love!

How it happened?

2004-12-29T18:59:00.000+05:30

Checkout this Slideshow, it shows how the deadly Tsunami Waves invaded a Beach Resort..

Kahani mere Ghar ki...

2004-12-29T17:29:00.000+05:30

Well... We shifted to this new apartment on the day of Christmas. Its so much different than the place where we used to put up earlier. The earlier place was bang in middle of Lajpat Nagar market, so many people around in the area, so much noice, traffic jams, honking cars ... by standing in my balcony i could see what an urban Delhi life is... We shared one wall of our house with a Gurudwara, and every morning i used to get up with the sound of chanting Shabad in my ears. Every thing was so much accessible, get down the stairs and you have every possible thing that you need to get on with life accessible to you. The best part was we could walk down to the 3C's movie theatre as and when it came to our mind and watch a movie without really planning for it.

On the contrary the new apartment is Bigger, better and being in Vasant Kunj... quieter. it's also getting tougher to maintain such a big apartment, the fact that its new, makes me feel guilty if i create a mess all over the place. The flooring of light colour tiles looks dirty if we become even a little careless. I dont mean that i like to be messy and dirty (like lot of bachelors do!), but keeping things always in shape and make them look good takes lots of efforts.. and even if I am not messy and dirty.. i certainly am lazy (thats why I love Garfield... I can so easily relate to it ;-)). The new apartment looks very empty since we do not have much stuff to put in, and it has set us thinking about buying some more furniture and all. more expenses!

I want to confess... I had nothing interesting to write.. so i just wrote all the boring stuff.... dont read or you too will end up disappointed with this post, as I am myself..

Give Relief

2004-12-29T16:00:00.000+05:30

Check out these sites if you want to send some help to those who need it badly..

http://o3.indiatimes.com/primeministerrelieffund

http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com/

http://ssrdatta.blogspot.com/2004/12/walls-of-water-ii-recap-how-to-help.html

2004-12-27T17:30:00.000+05:30

Even as I was busy shifting to a new apartment in Vasant Kunj, and arranging things over this weekend, the nature has caused havoc in South East Asia including Southern part of India.. Shifting to new place and arranging things meant that we could not contact the local new paper vendor and the Cable guy. So in a way I was totally cut-off with rest of the world... and today I came to know about the dreaded Earthquake in Indonasia, which eventually caused 'Tsunami waves' and which has already caused about 6000 lives in southern part of India, and many more all over the S.E. Asia...
Aah!! I am having this very strange feeling ever since I've come to know this disturbing news. I dont feel good.
God Bless!

IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING

2004-12-23T11:42:00.000+05:30

Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than explore the power they have to change it.

Impossible is not fact. it's an opinion.

Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare.

Impossible is potential.

Impossible is temporary.

Impossible is nothing.

- Taken from an Adidas Campaign.

SanDiego

2004-12-21T16:19:00.000+05:30

Last Year in November i was in US. These are some snaps from my SanDiego trip.

nJoy!

Once More....

2004-12-20T16:25:00.000+05:30

"apne hi pani mein pighal jaana, yahi baraf ka mukaddar hota hai...."
(to melt in its own water, that is the destiny of ice....)

Tamanna , Swades & 'Baraf ka Mukaddar'

2004-12-20T16:14:00.000+05:30

Tamanna ... A special School for special kids. This was the first time I was directly involved with Tamanna's cause. The occasion was a Christmas Carnival for kids of Tamanna School. I manned one of the games stall which were put up for kids. It was great to see the lovely kids to whome God has not been fare, but still they have chosen to embrace life with its realities. It felt so great to see them competing on the game stalls, and to see the joy on their face when they won something and the momentorily disappointement when they failed.
They might be disabled mentally, but the emotions that were on their face were not disabled... expressions of joy, sadness and satisfaction which I could see on their faces was exactly similar to mine and every other human being, who by God's grace do not have any disabilities. All they need is love, just like i need, just like you need. Let the Love be everywhere.... Keep it up "Tamanna"!!!

We the People... that is what Swades is all about. I liked it, though the other two who accompanied me to the movie did not like it at all. The reason is clear... Swades is not an entertainer, its a movie with a social message. The movie seems too slow sometimes and lacks the grip to keep viewer engaged. Though SRK is superb in his role... very simple, very 'unlike typical shahrukh', without any over acting. Music is great and so are lyrics ..
My fav dialog from movie (people who meet me in next few days will have to listen to this dialog irrespective of its relevance.. hahaha):

"apne hi pani mein pighal jaana, yahi baraf ka mukaddar hota hai...."
(to melt in its own water, that is the destiny of ice....)

any thoughts??

Weekend that was....

2004-12-20T16:07:00.000+05:30

Things I did over the weekend ...

1) Got up at 8 am on a saturday morning ... (oh! such a pain)

2) Volunteered at "Tamanna Carnival" organised for disabled kids studying at Tamanna Special School.

3) Watched "Swades".

4) Sipped coffee on the staircase of Ansal's plaza with Sachin and Shernaz (my future Padosan ... hehe)

5) Dinner at Haldiram.... Surabhi and Kaustubh joined us too

6) All of us just "heard" surabhi for next 2 hours... coz when she is around only she talks & talks & talks, and u cant do much about it.

7) Dropped Kaustubh at Railway Station at 1 o'clock in night

8) Died on my bed at 1.30 o'clock on saturday night and wasnt alive untill 10 am next morning

9) Perfect start of sunday with "chai" & sunday times

10) Reached nitin's place, for lunch (finally I made him invite me.... haha :D ), Shikha prepared some yum food.

11) Also met Mr & Mrs. Preetam at nitin's.. Preetam hasn't changed a bit.. he still hasn't lost touch with his PJ's :))

12) Visited Surajkund on a micro trip, spent few minutes there, not a bad place to go for a day's trip... ( I'll be back )

13) In evening struggled to find some good birthday cards from Archie's. Somehow managed to pick only 3 cards from GK and Lajpat Ngr shops. Sweetu's birthday is approaching :o))

14) Had coffee at "Mocha" for the first time... nice place.. worth visiting again.

15) Travelled some 160 kms on my bike over the weekend....

16) Ah! what a weekend :o))

Emerging 'isms' and Cows

2004-12-16T16:29:00.000+05:30

I found this hilarious ppt on Economic Times... It talks about Emerging 'isms' of the new economy, and its analogy with 'Milking Cows'.

Three of my favorites 'isms' are..

MICROSOFTism
You have a cow. Force the world to buy milk from you. Spend a million dollars to feed poorer cows.

SUNism
You have a bull. It doesn't give milk. You hate Microsoft.

RELIANCEism
You don't yet have a cow. You sell empty cans to people for Rs. 501, because Dhirubhai wanted everyone to have milk.

To get a crashcourse in all the 'isms' have a look.. Click Here

WYSIWIG (What You SAY, Is What I Get)

2004-12-16T11:46:00.000+05:30

"I wont say 'may you get whatever you wish for', coz i know what you really want"

Life!!! Love!!! Destiny!!!

Some Funda on "Life"

2004-12-16T11:32:00.000+05:30

I had put a comment on Mae's blog... Today I read it again and kind of liked what i wrote... haha.. so thought of putting it here as well :-))

Read the complete Post with my comments right here.

Here is the part i wrote....

Your student has another name........"life!"

Life in its purest and raw form is 'absolute meaningless' and yet we try and find a meaning in it. It is 'strange' yet 'brilliant!'. It is 'the most creative' and at times 'destructively hyper' too.

Life has its own ways, which are often surprising and unjustifiable. Like the sound of piano when you play it with one finger, 'which allows sound to continue until the next note is played' , the Life is sometimes slow .... you can listen to every note, you can see every move and every step it takes ... every moment, every move, every step haunts you till the next moment, next move, next step is taken... And you cant do much but to be a mute spectator to each of these unending moments.... and then something somewhere happens, like a storm after lull, like a sudden high tide of the sea, and the piano starts playing so fast that you cant even locate the position of the finger, they do not push the keys one by one anymore, they just float over the keyboard making sounds that you never heard. By the time you get a breather, you find so much has happened in a flash .... days turn into nights, sky changes its colors and starts to cry and even as its crying, it laughs out loudly with lightening smile.. it all happens together, and it all happens so fast...

You find yourself smiling and then you notice some scars here and there... and the moment you notice them the smile goes away and you start feeling the pain.
And then you feel that you need to discipline it, for something which is so huge, so gigantic in itself, needs to be properly 'aligned', needs to be 'nurtured' to be 'creative' in true sense and not turn into something destructive and wasted away. if you can 'nurture' the life, derive some meaning out of it, you can certainly kick the ass.... else you get kicked instead!

Confusing? Meaningless? go kick some ass ;-)

A random observation....

2004-12-15T18:05:00.000+05:30

1. Why do most men spit while doing what they are supposed to do in the loo..... ?
2. Do women do the same ??

call me crazy... but its the truth, any one has any reasoning?

Hazaar Rahein..

2004-12-14T19:09:00.000+05:30

while on the way to office today heard this song by Gulzar. I had heard the song before as well, but today it seemed different, as always Gulzar is superb in lyrics, but today the song touched me so deep inside....

I miss you...
kya jaane wale kabhi lautate nahi ? kabhi bhi nahi ????

Hazaar rahein mud ke dekhi
Kahin se koi sada na aayi
Badi wafa se nibhayi tune
Hamari thodi si bewafayi

Jahan se tum mod mud gaye the
Yeh mod abhi wahi pade hai
Hum apne pairo mein jaane kitne
Bhawar lapete huye khade hue hai

Kahin kisi roz yun bhi hota
Hamare haalat tumhari hoti
Jo raatein humne guzari marke
Wo raatein tumne guzari hoti

Tumhe yeh zid thi ke hum bulate
Hume yeh umeed wo pukare
Hai naam hoton pe ab bhi lekin
Awaaz main pad gayi dararein

Right here next to me

2004-12-09T14:56:00.000+05:30

Right here next to me
That's where i want you to be
When i see you again
I'm gon'a hold your hand
And bring you right here next to me
That's where i wish you could be
I can't wait till i see you again

Happy Happy Day ..

2004-12-09T11:01:00.000+05:30

I realise that most of posts on this blog have been boring, cribbing and dull, and it gives an impression that I am a guy frustated with ways of life... (thanks to mae's post .. i realise this fact)
I want to assert that it is certainly not the case, I am not bored.. In general I am quiet ok with the life that I am leading... though life is never perfect and there is always something in your life that you can crib about. I have a very decent life, I have loving parents, caring and lovely brothers & sisters (cousins included), great and bankable friends (a lot of them), and a wonderful girl who has filled my life with loads of love and charm (though we are in a fighting mode these days and both of us are sticking to our respective guns.... i guess these tiny disputes are an integral part of love life).

So now I have decided that i would not use this blog only to take out my tensions and frustations but also share the vibrant side of my life... I like writing .. though I've never taken it seriously enough, It gives me pleasure when I write something that is in there in my mind, it kind of opens my mind up and brings in freshness. That is why whenever i m upset with a thing or another, I write... i write and put all my mental conflicts in words and there I am, relieved from tensions. earlier I used to write these tensions and used to mail them to someone close, who would understand.. but doing that sometimes can mean that you are overloading someone else with your emotions and burdens.... I find blogging, a nice place for this kind of stuff though, i can write as much i can, i can feel refreshed and at the same time I am not troubling anyone else... isn't that great ....
it is this quest of getting rid off my tensions that makes my blog a rather boring one ... but as i said now i m gonna share all... not just the bad and sad but also the gud and gr8 in my life... :-)

well.. to start with, the past weekend was good, on saturday me n sachin visitied the new apartment we are gonna shift to end of this month, it was really good, and now we need a lot of stuff to fill that big apartment... (any one wanna help with gifts is welcome ;-)) I also advised Sachin to get married, that ways his wife would make his life much fuller, though that would also result in my moving out of that apartment and give the couple some privacy, that is why i just did not press him that much to get married, who knows if he gets real serious and decides to go ahead ... hehehe.. selfish me ;-)
Guests in form of Sachin's parents, Leen Di and then Baa kept me busy till tuesday...

now the coming weekend looks promising too .. On friday we have a company townhall... that means some presentations from leaders and then a lavish lunch at Maurya ..... gee thats one of the few elite hotels in delhi i've not been to yet.. the good thing is that we have an option to come back home post lunch and not go back to work... year end brings a lot of fun on work front ... nJoy...
The saturday night is gonna be even bigger ... as we have company's year end party at 'Decibel' ... so lot of fun, food, drinks and dance is gonna be there... am looking forward to it too...

Ready to Groove!!!

Forever and Always

2004-12-02T11:02:00.000+05:30

I found this blog 'http://blinkmusic.blogspot.com' and it has some lovely poems, One of these poems perfectly describes my thoughts, my state of mind..So I am posting it here...

"Forever" by Steven Carr

Today i saw you
But you did not talk to me
I sat there and stared at you
And you never looked at me

I tried my best to get you to look
But you never saw one step i took
What do i do now
Where does this go now

I want to be there for you
Forever and always
I will be there for you
Forever and always
I care to much to let you slip away

Listen to me
I want to talk with you
I need you to talk to me
Please tell me what is trubleing you

When will you see
When will you look at me
I can't wait till then
But i got'a hold on till then

I want to be there for you
Forever and always
I will be there for youForever and always
I care to much to let you slip away

- posted by PnkPnthr

Skid..

2004-12-01T17:35:00.000+05:30

The day started on a Injurious note today. As I moved out of my house this morning and I was hardly few meters away from my home, my motorbike skid on the road causing a minor injury on my knee. after getting up from the road I had a good look at the road, at my bike and i could not find any good reason why my bike would skid??? I was very slow, the road was clean, the turn wasn't sharp, till that moment i was totally in control of the bike.... and still a moment later my knee was brushing against road and right after that i was off the bike.
one might say that I am thinking a bit too much about such a small incident, may be I am, but when you are not going thru one of your best days, every small infavorable thing seems so negative. anyways after that incident I have not had any more negatives till now. and i hope the day passes by peacefully. I should have a all new n fresh skin on my knee in about a weeks time.
I sincerely hope that with the fresh skin I also get a refreshed heart and mind, and all outstanding issues get resolved. Till now there is no progress. In all the life is going on without any excitement on any front.
Though I hate to lead such a boring life, but still that is the way life is these days.... I need some action, some adventure, some romance, some love, some fun, some loud laughters, some innocent smiles, some wild parties, some peaceful moments of togetherness. But hows that gonna happen ? that is a BIG BIG question...

Sharad's Wedding

2004-11-29T16:15:00.000+05:30

Well,that was a pretty hectic and enjoyable weekend.... I mean from past 4 nights I have not slept at all. And after four sleepless nights, It's monday and I am supposed to work, I have been telling all my freids over the weekend, that to make up for the lost sleep, I have to sleep during office hours this week. If only it was as easy as saying it...

~ Sigh ~

Things were not as bad as I had expected on thursday night, when i boarded Shramshakti express. Luckily my status had changed from waiting to RAC, and I had at least a seat to 'sit' (if not lie and sleep) thru the 7.5 hr journey to kanpur. But why on earth do i always end up with some strage guy or some old lady to share my RAC seat. I mean even the RAC experience can be better, if you have a pretty girl sharing the seat with you... I think Indian Raliway should be more youth friendly. Friday evening we (read Sharad's Baraat) started for Gorakhpur on a bus that was as bad as its driver. We completed the 10 hour journey in 14 hrs, with some adventurous life threatning moments on the way (thanks to the bad bus and its even worse driver).

Am I cribbing too much about everything? I mean yes I am cribbing, but that does not mean everything was bad. Along with frustation there were some light and adventourous moments as well that night which I really enjoyed. When we were stuck on that narroow bridge for almost 3 hrs, causing a traffic jam, we got an opportunity to do a job of traffice controller.. hehe .. imagine 1 am in night and you are dealing with truck and lorry drivers managing traffic movements. that was fun... though I would have liked it if that would not have happened at all.
After reaching Gorakhpur, we had a warm welcome by the bride's side, and we were in the wedding celebration mode. 27th nov, the night of wedding, we danced and danced and danced, to the tunes of 'Aj mere yaar ki shadi hai' at the guest house where we were staying, on the streets of gorakhpur and in the wedding hall, we danced like crazy and had great fun.

the night had just begun, after the dinner all the religious ceremonies begun, and we had a funny yet competitive sing-a-song session with Bride's sisters and friends. It was good fun, the girls were all good looking and were singing well too. They were prepared with all those traditional Banna-Banni songs (the girls are always better at that), and we had nothing but utter nonsense to give them a befitting reply. even if we did not fare that well.. we guys still managed well, and the naughty exchange of glances with girls on other side made the night even more beautiful.

Here I have to mention that girl (sharad's wife's sister), Juhi.. she was really good. I liked that girl, she was beautiful, with naughty eyes, lovely smile and she was the only girl on their side who could catch my attention.

Good Fun in all.. the night passed by just like that, and as soon as it was 5 o clock in morning it was time for me to go back. I had to give up those good moments and naughty exchanges with girls, and four of we friends reached gorakhpur station for our return journey.

It was the first time I travelled to Gorakhpur, and the only good thing about that place was that I was there to attend Sharad's wedding. and yes (how can I forget), another (and the only) good thing about that place was... Juhi. ;-)

I reached Kanpur at around 3 pm, and later in night I was on another RAC journey back to Delhi.

So after 4 sleepless nights, some 1000 km of travel and some good moments, I am back to delhi, on my workstation, and all of my body is sour. I need atleast 20 hrs of sound and continuous sleep to cover all the deficiencies....

Hey Boss, can i sleep while on work ??

2004-11-17T19:11:00.000+05:30

I have noticed a pleasant change, this time when i returned to work from this long vacation, I did not feel bored about coming back to this office life. Generally it takes a day or two to get back in groove and start working at your best after a vacation. Quiet surprisingly this vacation has been a refreshing one, and I am back all charged up.

Yesterday while on the way to office I was thinking about the kind of mails I would hv recd in all these days and was hoping that all is well. Luckily none of the mails were disturbing, all was well while i was away :) Though there was this mail, informing about the cancellation of Florida based position, to which I had applied. that was a little sad, but that's not a big deal.
I got back to work as usual, when in evening a manager from another team called me to ask if i was available to interview a candidate. It was sudden, and since it was the first time i was goin to take an interview, i was a little nervous. I asked the manager to give me 5 minutes, which i used to set my mind and think about the questions that I was gonna ask. The interview went OK (from my side), though i was not much impressed with the applicant.

Then I joined my team for dinner at cafeteria, and at time my Manager, informed me that while i was on vacation, in the staff meeting of our VP, one of my Phoenix based colleagues, Holly, recognized me for my out-of-the-way efforts in helping her completing one of the business processes before she went on a long vacation last month. That was a good thing to know. Though what i did was not something exceptional, but Holly, who is considered one of the hard working and dedicated members of our team, chose to praise me in staff meeting. Its a good feeling to know that I have actually done something which has put a smile on a senior colleagues face.
I have a lot of things to do before end of this month, and I hope I do it all, in fact i cant afford to miss any of my deadlines. On top of that Shan is coming to Delhi for his US visa stamping tomorrow, and I am planning to take half day off from office so that I can meet him before he goes back to Banglore tomorrow evening.

I think i will need some night-outs and weekends to be spent in office, to complete all my 'To Do' tasks.
Gear Up Amit Kendurkar, u cant afford to relax this month...

OOOOOOOOOHHH !!!

Diwali Dhoom

2004-11-17T18:48:00.000+05:30

well, Last few days, around 10 days have been good, I had a good Diwali vacation.
Ever since I have come to delhi, my frequency of going home has increased, now I do visit Kanpur at least once a month. and sometimes even more than that. But since I generally go home on any of the weekends, its always a hush hush affair. In last one year I had not been to Kanpur on a long vacation. So this diwali I made it a point to take a long vacation from work and I had a good time.
I realized being nearer to kanpur, resulted in more frequent trips, but i cud never really relish being at home with maa, pa n sis around me. You reach kanpur saturday morning, and by the time u actually start enjoying its sunday evening and time to go back. When i was studying in Nasik, or working in Bombay or Pune, i used to visit home at the most twice a year, but those used to be long vacations.
Anyways, so it was Diwali time, and Aai was expecting me to help her cleaning house and stuff like that. She knew that the kind of lazy person that I am (and that too in holiday mood... deadly combination), its really a tough call to make me work. But after all i m her son, and I am not that bad either, so I helped her. I cleaned all the three bathrooms, lil bit of kitchen and all the fans in the house. and after doing all this I was filled with that overwhelming feeling in my stomach... of doing something great, as if I had conquered Mt. Averest.
Another thing that I did (i cant skip mentioning this) was cooking, yeah one of these days Aai was busy doing something else, and that would have caused delay in preparing dinner, So I volunteered to prepare a Bhaji, and Amruta helped me do that. and needless to say, it was great in taste .... Yumm...

So the first 3-4 days of my 10 days vacation were mostly spent at home, I met Sharad, the only friend available in Kanpur. all others were expected to be in town around diwali.

Apart from my help in cleaning house, I listened to a lot of music, something which I have been missing from a long time. I heard all the Jagjeet Singh tapes and CD's that I have. Man.. what a voice God has gifted him with.
I also heard the latest album from AR Rehman, Swades... all the songs are great as expected and the lyrics are good too. My favorites are 'Yu hi chala chal' and 'Yeh jo des hai tera'. Rehamn's music has this speciality, the more you listen to his numbers, you keep discovering new sounds and beats in the same song. When i listen to his songs its like being on a discovery mission. I keep discovering new sounds in his music everytime.
and another thing i did during this vacation was a lot of sleeping and eating... my all time favorites :)
I think I have gained at least an inch on my waist. I was also planning to finish the Readers Digest book with four novels in it, but i cud not read more than 3 pages of it. Did not feel like concentrating on that book, and also the three odd pages that i read did not ask me to keep reading. A good book is the one which after one page of reading starts asking you to read more and more and more until you finish it.
Lets see may be i'll start reading it some other time, and hopefully finish it too ..hehe.
So as soon as Choti Diwali arrived, I started becoming busy, whole lot of friends were in town. In all I enjoyed my stay at home and most importantly, this time I was able to satisfy everyone. Aai was satisfied that I spent a good amount of time being at home, I also did some house hold work, did some shopping, I also spent good time with friends (almost all of them), and for a change visited all houses in vicinity to greet them Happy Diwali.
Now I am back in delhi, spending hrs in front of my office desk PC, and busy in my world of programming and all usual stuff. its Life As Usual....
Cheers!

True Friend....

2004-11-16T22:04:00.000+05:30

You're a true friend, that I want you to know
our love for each other has helped us grow
we've been through some tough times
but we've made it through
'cause the only one I trusted was you
You've helped me through the sadness
and dried all my tears
you stayed by my side
when the world turned away
you helped me see the joy
when the skies were all gray
you were the rainbow at the end of the storm
you helped me be different
when I shouldn't conform
you held my hand when you knew I would fall
every laugh and heartache
you were through it all
I know I'm not always the best friend to you
I know I'm not perfect but this much is true
When life gets you down
and there's nowhere to turn
I'll help you out, I'll share your concern
I'll do my best to try to return every favor
when you think you'll drown
I'll be your life saver
even if we both go down
I'll pull us out when life pulls us under
I'll be the sun when there's
lightning and thunder
and when it's all over
and we've fought every war
there's one thing I promise
of this I'm sure
when the time comes
And we're put down to rest
I want you to know
My friend you're the best

Bush wins.. I am happy

2004-11-04T10:11:00.000+05:30

I feel Good, infact I feel happy. Nah, not that who stays in White house for next 4 years is going to effect my life. Even if all the media worldwide was following US elections with so much enthusiasm as if it were their daughter's wedding (can u believe this... Times of India dedicated 3 pages to US elections, want more .... in Delhi they actually had Mock elections for US prez, and i m told Kerry won... really people have so much time & energy for such stupid things) , I personally do not give it a damn about who is going to rule USA and try to control the world like it was his personal property.

Then why am I so happy? I am happy as an Indian citizen. Because now with Bush winning the elections I feel relieved that its not just indian voter (so called uneducated ocean of people) who mindlessly elects a leader election after election.
So why complain about indian junta electing Laloo's and Rabri's again and again. Look the worlds richest and strongest and educated democracy just re-elected Bush. Cheers!

Mooshyness of a Panda

2004-11-03T11:25:00.001+05:30

Mooshyness of a Panda

I love this Panda for its Mooshyness... the refreshing way in which she writes her thoughts, is very nice ... i like such smart and true people.

digitalmind'z

2004-11-03T11:25:00.000+05:30

digitalmind'z

I really liked this Blog, for the pictures that it contains and some text that it contains... I thought it was worth it having this blog on my page... :o)

Khush Raho na Yaar

2004-10-28T13:48:00.000+05:30

I believe that Whatever happens, it happens for good.

so keep smiling, enjoy each and every moment of life..

khush raho yaar :o)