Expectations

Princess and the Frog

2010-12-22T21:14:00.000+05:30

Heard of the story of Frog and Princess? Well, I saw a girl who believed in it TOTALLY today..!

So, how it works out is.. The Princess sees a Frog.. Remembers the story. Kisses the Frog. But the Frog, remains the Frog. But Princess decides to give the Frog time he needs to turn to Prince, and continues to kiss him..

As days go, Princess turns schizophrenic. She starts believing that the Frog is actually a Prince. So when the actual Prince (ME) walks by, she thinks of Prince as a Frog and the actual Frog as a Prince.

The fairy tales totally ruin my life!

The Best Day

2010-12-21T14:19:00.000+05:30

To my sis. Richu

Ravi was having a horrible day!!

It was his first day at school. His mother had left him at school. He cried so hard. He kicked, he wailed, he pleaded. Still she left him at school. The lady (Headmistress Sinha was her name) reminded him of Lion which comes before Tom & Jerry Cartoon. There was girl who came to sit next to him. That girl smelled like that irritating powder mother uses. She must be knowing mother for sure, and will complain about him. He is better off staying away from the girl. Then a teacher came to class. Told him he was Roll No 32. 32 was the number of NDTV. The channel which his father always wanted to see when it was time of The Road Runner Show.This number can never be good.

Teacher was treating him like a kid! He is 5 years old for Heaven's Sake!! Not a kid anymore. There was a professor who roamed with cane in his hand! He reminded Ravi of Mr Ramesh, his neighbor. Mr Ramesh had huge and bushy mustache and always scared him by stories of long and black snakes! He made no new friends. Also, he had missed out on so many Cartoons during the day!!

As soon as he reached home, his 2 years old sister came flying towards him and gave him a Huge hug, and squealed "Where were you all this time! I missed you my Best Friend"

I Wish

2010-12-20T22:15:00.003+05:30

I wish
I dint love you the way I do
I want my thoughts back to myself

I wish
I dint hate you the way I do
I dont have the power anymore

I wish
I could see you one more time
Before I forget what you look like

I wish
Never to see you again
I wont know whether to strangle you or hug you

I wish
To make you laugh
Cause thats the best sound on earth

I wish
To make you cry
Cause thats what I did

I wish
To hug you one more time
To relax in your arms

I wish
To let you go
Cause thats the only way I can live

I wish
To wipe your tears
I wish
To be reason of those tears

I wish
I could love who you are,
and not
Who I thought you are

Schrodinger's Cat

2010-12-19T20:43:00.000+05:30

Those of you are pretty much into scientific blogs and Big Bang Theory (The TV show), will know this term for sure. But for others,

Schrodinger's Cat refers to an experiment by a scientist. He put a cat inside a box. Performed some experiments around it. In the end, the cat could have been alive, or it could have been dead, with equal probability of both. How do you find it out? By opening the box.

The brilliance here is, that u cannot know about the status of life of cat without opening the box. No scientific equation, or previous history can lead you to the answer. You just have to take the plunge.

Keeping this in mind, there is no question of experience. There are certain things, which you just have to try.. You cant know if you could be a good swimmer unless you jump in the water. You cannot know if you will love booze unless you try it. You will not know the thrill of walking in dark unless you try it.

So, you think if you can do a certain new kind of job? I think the answer is pretty obvious!

Arise... and Fly!!!

2010-10-31T23:24:00.000+05:30

His mom always said
Arise..
Arise and open your arms
Embrace the air

His dad said
Breath
Breath as you are the only person
Breath in your senses

His friend told him
Run
Run as its your destiny
Run for its your freedom

His coach taught him
Fly
Fly and let yourself rise
Fly cause its freedom

"And he has done it! The world record for Olympics is broken. And its truly amazing that the new Long Jump Champion is blind..."

Based on a true story of pole vault champion.. My bro told me once... but i dont know the details...

My Dream

2010-10-05T19:22:00.000+05:30

I once had a dream
A small wish
It was simple, it was innocent

With years, the dream grew
Inch by Inch
Brick by brick

The dream is huge
Stands like monument
It's no longer small

It's no longer a dream
It's my passion, It's my reason
It's my breath, It's my soul

The dream has clashed
The dream is broken
The dream is shattered

There was no brick
There is only glass
And the broken glass hurts

I collect the pieces
Piece by piece
Wound by wound

There will be new building
In the same place
Taller, mightier

I start afresh
Inch by Inch
Brick by brick

I love my life.

2010-10-02T00:23:00.000+05:30

I love toys
They are sharp
They cut my hand
They break my heart
I still love toys

I love rains
They make me sneeze
They make me sick
They make me ill
I still love rains

I love my best friend
He smokes weed
He breaks chairs
But he calls me a bro
I do love my best friend

I love that girl
She breaks my heart
She keeps me dark
She makes me weak
I still love that girl

I love my life
It gives me Lemons
It gives me Cheats
It is all litters
I still love my life

PS: sorry for the noob attempt... but thats just spontaneous

That Pretty Girl

2010-09-21T12:18:00.000+05:30

How many times have you seen a really cute/hot/pretty girl sitting across you in a food court or something like that! And how many times have you wondered how wonderful it will be if you could just approach her like the hunk of the millennium and ask her out for a date, and then make out...

Well, Fantasies apart, such things, as far as i have seen, happen only in Movies. Admitted, I haven't seen many girls as it is, being in Nagpur (the fashion is to cover your face whenever you are outside with a long scarf. You are lucky if u get a glimpse of eyes!), Calicut (Coconut Oil is a BIG turnoff!!) and Trivandrum (The only good thing here is TCS training Centre!!)

Anyways, by some miracle of Almighty, I saw a really pretty girl the other day here. The cogs in my brain started doing overtime, and I imagined an entire scenario

"Hi"
"Hi"
"I am Sanyam"
"I am Katrina"
"Katrina! Wow, nice name. But I bet the famous version of you aint as pretty"
"Blush"
"Will you like to join us"
"I will be glad too"
At this point, I just move over, imagining that i get her, (and friends, if any) rolling over from laughter with my witty sense of humour. Details you ask. I don't know.

Soon, but tooo soon for my liking, its time to leave. This time I look at her, and she says first
"Wow, you are really funny"
"Thanks" and some witty line.
Sweet sound of her laughter and "Was nice talking to you."
Now even in imagination, I hardly get the guts to say the next line
"Would you like to go out with me some time"
"Yeah sure. Note down my number"
Whippie!!!!
Then I strut off, and all her friends converse how really awesome I am!!

But what really happens is
"Hi"
Disgusted Look
I walk away

or

"Hi"
"Hi"
"I am Sanyam btw"
"So?"
I Walk Away

or

"Hi"
SLAP
I RUN Away

or

"Hi"
"Hi"
Too Tongue tied to say anything after this
*Stammer idiotically*
I walk away with the fact that at-least she replied!! :P

In any case, in practicality, none of the real scenario might go on for more than 20 secs.

And thus the entire evening in food-court is spent calculating the probability of a successful talk. Its 20 minutes since the entire thing started, and a Funky Joker comes, and sits next to her, whispers in her ear, gets a smile.

And my friends Guffaw themselves to Death!

He is the love of her life

2010-09-16T19:13:00.026+05:30

"Just because someone doesnt love the way you want them to, doesnt mean that they dont love you with all they have!"

He is the love of her life
She feels heaven when with him
She feels like that for no one else
She knows he will never fall for her
She knows she will be rejected
She never confessed her love
She calls him and his phone is busy He must talking to Niti.
She feels lonely
She can see him walking with Priya. He must be flirting with Priya.
Priya is smart and funny. She is plain old her
She can see him available on gtalk. And he hasnt pinged her yet.
Obviously he doesnt have time for her
She sends him a text later. They used to text a lot.
But he doesnt reply for couple of hours. She switches off her phone and cries out to sleep
She is feeling rejected
She ignores him next day in class
She catches him staring at her and feels there is some hope afterall.
She ignores him further to get more attention.
She talks flirtatiously to Ravi when he is watching. He should be jealous.
He will come to her so that they can walk home together. They always walk home together
She watches him go away. She knows that now he does not want her company. She feels rejected
She thinks its a mistake to love him.
He is completely selfish.
She still wants to talk to him once.
But he is no where to be found.

She is her best friend
He can talk to her for hours
He trusts no one else
He knows she loves him to death
He knows he will hurt her like hell
He never needed confessing
He likes Niti. But he lies to her.
Lying is sin. But truth will break her heart
He is talking to Priya. She went on a date yesterday.
He was teasing her about it.
He is signed into chat. But is he watching a movie.
He reads her text. He was out with his friends for a drink.
He decides to call her up later. He calls her later that night. Her phone was switched off.
He feels they havent talked for long
He notices she is down and is clueless what to do
He sees her turning her face away. He is clueless to what he has done to be avoided
He sees her talking to Ravi and smiling. It is good she is talking to other guys and flirting.
Atlast she can getting over him. He starts walking home. He should give her the space
He walks back home alone. He is sad.
They always walked home together. Something is missing in their friendship.
He thinks he has to get away from her. He is hurting her a lot
That is the selfless thing to do.
He starts hiding from her.
But she manages to catch hold of him

She asks him what his wrong.
He says nothing is wrong

Things are not the same
Things will never be same

He was the love of her life
She was his best friend

Teachers

2010-08-31T11:47:00.000+05:30

To my Teachers.. The Reason I am here.

5 days from now, we have Teachers Day.. 5th Sept. I wonder how many of us remember the day.

Even I dint... Yesterday, a cousin of mine wanted some song for Teachers Day, on which he can perform during assembly. I was amazed that Google failed me miserably. The Search related to "Hindi Teachers Day Song" churns up miserable results (and related searches too)

It got me thinking... How much importance to we give to teachers in any case.. In the best case, once meeting an old friend, we might recall a teacher "Abey woh Physics ki maam thi na... Sahi Padhati thi".. But other than that.. almost nothing...

Hence it is not a wonder that Teaching is not that high on priorities of Individuals these days... As a career, it is not that attractive.. True, there have been some positive trends with many professionals opting for teaching as a line.. But the numbers still remain quite dismal.

For me, Teachers have been a guiding hand for every step of my life, both personally and professionally.

Be it in primary school when I was just out of home and teachers calmed and consoled me, or when I was taught the basics of maths-something I am proud of till date, or when the world opened to me via Social Studies and Science, or when in class VIIIth a teacher guided my parents when I was stepping into teens, or when in IXth when I thought studies are the last priority, or in XIIth when my ego got better of me, or during engineering for some of the best stories ever, or during Interview time of mba when a teacher helped me see who I really am, or during mba when a teacher guided me to the career path.

Not all the teachers were actively involved, and I learned a lot by just observing them.. A way almost all of us have been influenced by them

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my teachers, no matter if you remember me or not and convey that you are the reason I can look in the mirror, and recognize myself.

Lets go South!!!

2010-08-27T15:11:00.000+05:30

Once upon a time in Mumbai
"Pak raha hai be... Weekend ka kuch karo"
"chal bahar nikalte hain kahin"
"Kidhar"
"South Bombay chalte hain... raste mein decide karte hain"

And its quite obvious... South Bombay is blessed with all the awesomeness... Beach, marine drive, pubs, bars, discos, babes, malls, class...! U name it. "North" Bombay is more of boring weekday kind of place...

Onto Delhi..
"Abey!! South Delhi ke discos be!!! Its a crime you dint go to South Delhi while you were there... Has to be the best location ever"

For Hyderabadi Miya, North Hyd is just a place where Paradise is (and hence the coveted Biryani).. Otherwise, they just prefer being in southern part of city! Am not talking extreme south, but the location around Hussain Sagar Lake which many prefer.

Even in Bangalore.. baring the MG Road area (in central part of city), Kormanagla (Forum) and BTM Layout are among the best known chill-out places..

In Kolkata too, South City Mall is more famous than any other mall (barring City Center 1) and South Kolkata is supposed to be Posh compared to the Dumdum or other "northern" areas

Aint it too much of a coincidence!!!!

email ids

2010-08-17T15:43:00.000+05:30

Dedicated to so many contacts I have!!! You know who you are after reading this!! :D

Have you ever noticed how funny some people's email addresses are! When I say some people, I too am a part of the whole thing... But thats besides the point

1. The most common email address... Simple and boring... Name and Surname.. like my active one..

2. Name of celebrity.. I really hope this incites some of the characteristics in you.. I would really love to bat like Sachin, Rahul, Saurav and Bowl like bhajji and Zaheer at same time!!

3. Self Proclaimed Hunk.. handsomemale1990 is now busy!! I wonder with what!

4. Self Proclaimed Sweetheart... tanutheheartbeat is now offline.. My condolences!!

5. Random Years.. gautam_2003.. Ok I get it.. 7 years since you heard yahoo.com

6. Proclaimed Age.. satish23_4ever.. Thats so.. girly!! "How old are you?" "Check my email address" "uh... sweet_16 got a sex change!"

7. Playboys/Playgirls. loverboy2006 is now available.. Girls!!! Are you listening!!!

8. Last one.. To cheer you up! smilewidsakshi is now online! life4meenal are you listening?

PS. To all the perverts.. None of the email addresses are real... names are changed... So dont go on adding them on gtalk!! :P

PPS. No offenses meant..

History Repeats Itself

2010-08-12T17:55:00.000+05:30

Was just talking to a friend of mine.. His parents are thinking of getting him married....

I asked him... wat kind of girl is parents looking for...

"I just want some one who is matured and talkative types.."

"Mom-Dad want her to be well educated and pretty, and from a family of our stature"

"Dadaji says she should be UP brahmin"

This is pretty usual these days... right?

Some Couple of Thousand Years back, all a father wanted was

"My daughter in law should be from well-educated family"

Just that today we call that "well educated family" as brahmin, and that father as propagator of caste-ism..

PS: I am sorry if I offend anyone. This is just a thought...

Corruption and Us

2010-08-09T10:22:00.000+05:30

Common-Wealth-Games... Twitter and Facebook are littered with jokes of CWG, and rightly so. India is hosting an international level event, with funds worth Rs 50,000 Cr (nearly 10 billion USD) exchanged, and we are seeing bureaucracy at its best!

Corruption, as I see is a perfect example of Principal-Agent Problem. There is a person, who is an agent (or representative) of government. He, in ideal eyes, should act in the best interest of Government. But he is also an individual. He has a family. Salary, for govt officials, is never too high. His son wants to attend a Public School, wife wants foreign lipstick. So, he takes slight leeway and indulges in taking govt decisions which favour him slightly.

Now, on larger scale, salary is never enough. And we expect a person earning 60k a month at max to handle dealings worth 500cr plus. And that too with 100% efficiency. Isnt the idea a bit too far-fetched? Specially since he got to that level by bribing a few officials, dealing with a few judges and all?

I personally have accepted Corruption as Integral part of our society. All of us are corrupt at certain level. How many of us nominate for being in committees in graduate college so that we can get access to funds?

Then, what is the solution? Transparency? Too broad a term for me!

The thing is, no1 wants to make themselves accountable. So govt, who is incharge of change, wont make the change. And that is where our vote counts. The middle class and upper class should realize the importance of their vote. This can be done by atleast going to vote. When a prospective MP/MLA sees a sizable population from urban area coming out to vote (say 70-80%), his policy will change to suit them! This is a slow process.. But nonetheless will ensure change in atleast 20-30 years.

Our govt has given us One basic right. Vote. And we should always make total use of it!

Don

2010-08-04T12:20:00.000+05:30

Inspired the movie "Once upon a time in Mumbai" I started researching a bit on so called Dons in Indian History. We have had plenty... But Majorly 2... Their story resembles movies in every aspect... Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan.

Both the names are quite famous... but the striking thing was reason for their rivalry.

Dawood was the mastermind of 1993 serial blasts.. and this was the reason of rift. Chhota Rajan considered this to be against the nationality of India. Killing Civilians was not his business... But then, how many lives has his drug business cost..? And then there was Haji Mastan... Smuggler, but he donated loads to Anti-drug campaigns!

That got me wondering.. what is the business of these people.. Is it really all drug trafficking and murder, or as many movies have suggested, helping out the needy.. Bending government rules where necessary... Smuggling to meet the arbitrage by taxes...

Lets see a bit of history of major crimes...

till 1980s, smuggling was the major anti-govt act... but then the historic deregulation happened... and u can almost trace of net value of these dons decreasing in late 80s and early 90s...

Then in 1990s, came the era of betting... again very much illegal, along with sponsorships of movies... which has been driven down in recent times due to stricter regulations on match fixing and transparency in movie investments.

Almost at the same time came video piracy.. (and fortune of Chhota Rajan)... But it is also decreasing these days because most movie CDs are available at 50-100 Rs...

Currently, we are running high on Software Piracy, Games, etc... Some one in the backlines must be making huge money out of this... Only to come out in open maybe 5-10 years.... as the next don.. perhaps the next Dawood...

Wonder what the next big anti-government act will be!

But the question is.. Are these people really as anti-India as we portray, or are they anti-government, but nationalist none-the-less... If its later, I believe that it is a big, and repetitive failure on the part of government...

And if they are really anti-government.. are they supported by political parties? Or maybe some bureaucrats? And are the actions and inactions against certain Dons merely government's way of forwarding their agenda?

My Take on Apple (contd)

2010-07-29T10:40:00.000+05:30

I am just continuing here from my previous blog

Just the other day, I was wondering what does Apple Signifies. For me personally, it means Steve Jobs. I idolize that guy. He is one man who has had dreams, vision and all his life, has stood by them. He has made revolutionary products. and made them a hit!

But for a consumer, Apple mostly means being a trend-setter, and in some cases, exclusive. True, some of apple products like iPod Nano are quite frequently seen. But one cannot deny the innovation behind each apple product.

But often, we mistake Apple to be high-quality. Steve Jobs in his latest interview again reiterated that fact, while he was dealing with the bugs in iPhone 4.

Now getting to the main point, Apple for me is more of a Marketing Company than a product company. It has been clear on its positioning for a long time. And everything it does, is around that. That positioning I believe is "Exclusive" and "Snobbish"

If you have a iPhone or iPad or Macbook, you always show it off! (I even showoff my iPod a lot, but thats besides the point.). If you have Apple product, you shop at itunes store, you buy original of everything, you are decent with money, and hence every right to be "Exclusive" and "Snobbish"

(And this is why, I believe Apple goes for only one operator. It, at certain level maintains the Exclusivity and Snobbishness)

And I believe that there will always be space for such products. The upper middle class will want that brand. These people cant afford a BMW to flaunt. But they can always afford a Macbook. Open it at Airport just to play Minesweeper. Take out their iPhone to click away the world! Bring out iPod Touch and scroll thro songs while making faces as if you are enjoying every bit of it! Even if it comes at a cost. You cant show-off an Android based phone when some of them are available for 5-10 k rupees

And that is why Apple is so insistent on designs. All the versions of iPhone have to look the same. Why unnecessarily strain mind of people making them recall every new design as Nokia does. Keep it simple. If you see something sleek with a long screen and half eaten apple at back, its an iPhone.. If a laptop is having white glow from a half eaten apple from its back, its a Macbook. Simple.

"Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black" is what Henry Ford said while mass customization of cars. Steve Jobs is saying something similar to bring exclusivity.

He is definitely a Marketing Genius to me!

My Take on Apple

2010-07-28T12:04:00.000+05:30

I was just going through this piece from ibnlive

TOP 10 cool things about Android

Like any other article, this just talks from the application user perspective. Yes, as user, we dont like censorship. We dont like to pay for everything. We like many more choices.

But I have hardly seen any article talk from Developers perspective. In apple store, you can not do piracy. And piracy is the biggest deterrent for any quality application. Every one wants revenue for their hard work. and that is what Apple gives developers.

And this is where strength of Apple Lies. Every quality developer would rather work on IOS Platform. (assuming Apple has considerable market). And Apple Users will get quality, licensed products

Another Advantage is that the cost for license will be much less... you can still see a lot of good apps for as less as $3 on Apple Store. This happens because the number of people buying it is much more.. Application development is more of Fixed Cost... Thus, greater the number of people buying an apps, lower the cost is..

There are drawbacks with Apple too... Like Operator dependence. I dont know the reason Steve Jobs has behind this, but there should certainly be a good one.

Then there is this question of choices. But look at the current offerings. We have iPod, iPhone, iPad, iMac, Macbook.. (iPod, iPhone and iPad are truely pathbreaking..) we can easily expect 5 more within next 10 years from Apple. So that would definitely remove the question of choices. And with products like iPhone 3Gs currently @ $99, cost wont be that huge an issue.

Hence I do believe that in Products Market, and Net based Applications, Apple still has a lot to offer. We should not declare Google as the winner just yet!

More on Market of Apple in coming blog

One in the Million!

2010-07-28T11:16:00.000+05:30

Dedicated to Atty!! A considerable part here is from a msg u sent!
And Frooty... My lovely little sister! :)

I saw sand turn to castle
Back of hand change a tussle

Destiny written on the face of palm
A simple answer for all our qualms!

I have seen people change their fate
Felt love turn into hate

Known People look younger with age
and a crab stuck in an open cage

I have seen princesses fall for a toad
People owning half the town hit the road..

Met People devasted inside but outside funny
Seen Love Sold out for Money

I have seen victory come out of unexpected
Defected striving for being perfected

Some just hide the signs.. but everyone cries
For Gold in Fire, Time never flies

For world, you are a speck in billion
but for some, you are one in million!!

Mission in Life

2010-07-27T10:36:00.000+05:30

Dedicated to all Sensible Men, equally harassed by fake football fans and Twilight!!!

Of Late, I have just two missions in my life!!

1. Finding a girl who absolutely hates Twilight and Edward

2. Finding a girl who loves football for the Game and NOT for the Players!!!

and ofcourse, once I discover she is pretty, My ULTIMATE mission is to pataofy her!!!

wonder if Mayati Langer likes Twilight!!!

Hamara Bajaj

2010-07-22T19:55:00.000+05:30

This is more of my thoughts than a proper blog... Not very well thought of.. just something i wrote to pass my time

Recently Bajaj was on top of many marketing blogs... which reminded me of this age-old ad..

Where as, few months ago, Bajaj came up with this one..

This is a very significant shift over the years in the marketing strategy of Bajaj, and it can be traced step by step.. Pulsar has over 50% market share in premium segment, and Discover has 20% in the 100-125 cc segment, eventhough priced slightly higher than splendor..

Over last few years, Pulsar has been the icon of Bajaj auto. So much that the hits on "Pulsar" on google exceeded that of "Bajaj Pulsar". Thus Bajaj had decided to drop the name "Bajaj" from Pulsar (some 6 months back) and is due to do the same for Discover shortly... Other two-wheelers will have the "Bajaj" label though...

M not a genius enough to comment on that... Analysis of this step can only be done in hindsight.. But I cant help but feel that this is done to save the most selling product Bajaj has produced

With Mahindra entering last year in this market, it is becoming imperative for Bajaj to safeguard its stronghold in three-wheeler market. Recent years have seen extensive usage of auto-rickshaws... We can always expect other giants like Tata or Hero Honda to enter this market, but maybe under different name...

Maybe Bajaj will go back to its traditional branding.... That still remains to be seen..

Football, Cricket and us

2010-07-21T14:43:00.000+05:30

Dedicated to Fifa (the game).. I would be absolutely jobless without it!!! :D

Just the other day, I was wondering what makes football that is today.. And what makes cricket what it is. Luckily for me, from my balcony, I was watching 7-8 kids playing "tag" with the football. Some of the tricks they were doing were quite brilliant.

It reminded me of my childhood days when each evening, 4 30 to 6 30 was dedicated to cricket (3 matches of 8 over each) and 1 hour for discussion and bitching on other players... And the kind of hype around the games.. The post of "pellu" was the most coveted one. The best batsman had the coolest group (should mention Rudresh Bagchi here!). A member of school team was extremely revered!! I still remember how my entire school lunch sessions were spent watching class VIII bhaiyas play while I joined the group with other class V, VI to watch it.. hoping one day I will be on that pitch..

This hype makes Sachin the brand he is today.. Dhoni the icon he is.. This is what makes us idolize Ganguly when he guides India to World Cup Near Success in 2003 and curse him when he scores straight ducks...

It is this kind of passion that makes Indian Cricket team one of the best in world stage. And this is the kind of passion needed to see India in World Stage of Football... We need to encourage kids to run around that ball for hour and half, then stop and analyze themselves...

But therein lies the major problem.. We Indians, are inherently very LAZY... no offenses meant.. But we prefer keeping the wickets than to field on the boundary.. We prefer coming down one floor by lift rather than stairs.. We prefer to cross the tracks than take over-bridge..

And I believe that this very mentality has lead to India's less than impressive performance in world of sports.. For us, jogging is always an exercise and not a recreation.. Swimming a way to keep ourselves fit than to clear your mind..

And this is where parents come in.. It is how they behave in front of kids that molds them.. Mother's hatred to anything involving friends, Dad's curfew of reaching home before him.. This is what needs to be changed... Otherwise Football will just remain four-year passion for us...

Milenge Milenge

2010-07-20T12:16:00.001+05:30

Dedicated to Pooh... wrote while talking to u!

Nopes... i havent seen the movie... i mean, it had Himesh's song in its promos!!! definite signaling of wats in store!!! there is also another reason of it NOT releasing in Trivandrum.... But again, contrary to what most of my friends think, i do NOT watch each and every movie!!! :|

I always thought Shahid as a good actor.... but his last few movies including Pathshaala, have left me horribly disappointed... As for Kareena, Jab we met was the only bright spot... she did look hot in a few... but well, we have priyanka, shilpa, bipasha... wrong market... she looked gud in Punjabi type role.... but sadly, now Deepika has firm control over that!!

BTW.. this is kind of random... just blabbering... :D

Almost missed

2010-07-19T17:58:00.000+05:30

had a really happening trip to mumbai... had my flight at 1110... was meeting my sister at Mithibai.... then around 1010, i realized i misplaced my
ticket print out.... rushed and took one around that place... after finding a taxi who wheedled 150 bucks out of me!!! :(

somehow reached airport wid 20 mins to dept time... 30 mins before dept, they close the window... went to the main reporting officer or some1.. he got me boarding pass... then proceeded to security check/...

across security check saw my luggage, found my laptop missing... then realized some1 else had a similar bag, and mistook mine as his... airport authorities were not able to trace him... somehow, 15 min later,he realized bag was not his... (meantime, HDFC bank insisted i bought a health insurance) He came and returned to me!!
that had my laptop, hdd, passport and so many other things!

and all this, after i had slept just for 2 hrs!! (3 to 5). (world cup finals!!).. Slept the whole way... even though it was Kingfisher Red!!

Happy Independence Day

2009-08-15T00:28:00.000+05:30

Its around 0030, 15th August... So far, the only wishes concerning Independence Day have been those on FB status msges, or gtalk messages. This is quite unlike few days back, when ppl were so enthusiastic about friendship day...! Kind of gives u a real good insight as to how quickly we all forget a day so important.

Even I am guilty of this crime. There used to be a time, when each Independence Day would mean me drawing atleast 5-6 flags of India, eventhough it was never perfect. I never got those 24 spokes correctly or equidistant. even then, I used to make it.. But now, all Independence Day means for me is just another holiday. And the worst part is, m not feeling as guilty as I should..

There used to be a time when I would wake up with the crack of the dawn, cycle my way to the school for the flag hosting ceremony, come back as soon as possible, and here the PMs speech. I never missed one... But now, each one would have heard what Barrack Obama had to say when he got elected.. But no one cares what Manmohan Singh has in store for us.

Is it a sign that we have stopped caring..? Is it that for us, a national festival just means a National Holiday..? There are so many of us who blame ppl who have left the country for a better future.. but to neglect our country right on its birthday, is according to me, much worse...

Or is it, that celebrating Independence Day serves no purpose... It aint glamorous, it aint happening...? Or is it that it aint worth celebrating.. I dont know about you, but to me, each of this reason sounds as lame as it can get. The simple reason is that perhaps we have stopped caring.. For us, 15th August is just a national holiday, a day when we can sleep late..

Pity this year its on saturday, and pity it has to be a dry day...

A Reason to Celebrate

2009-08-03T02:04:00.000+05:30

Its 12 midnight and I get a msg... Some jazzy msg which ended up wid a Happy Friendship Day. I knew this wasnt written by the sender, and I never bothered to read it.. Just replied to it wid a polite "thnx and same to u" and was done wid it.

Honestly speaking, I never got the concept of celebrating Friendship Day. We celebrate bdays, anniversaries etc etc because they act as a milestone in our life. But why friendship day..? I asked the reason to a friend of mine who wished me, and i got a response, to remember all the friends u hv had and honour them..

2nd question.. how do u honour ur friends? by remembering them on just one day in an entire year, and that too often wid a forwarded msg..? if this is how u wish them, u might as well call it an acquaintance day... I wld look at it more as an insult u know...

The basic difference between a friend and acquaintance is that a friend makes u feel at home. You might not meet for years, but even then u know that the moment u guys see each other, the old closeness will return.. There is no message or call in this world which can mirror that feeling.

You might argue that u need to tell a friend how much they mean to u..? Again... why on that very specific day.. You say this the moment you realize this.. And most of the times, u neednt say this.. Your actions always prove the point..

Impulse

2009-07-29T21:50:00.000+05:30

Sale!! 50% off!!

Well, this sign is pretty common, specially in apparel stores... But when u come across similar sign hanging out from Levis Showroom, cant help but feel tempted..

So, the MBA in me did a quick maths.. A nice Jeans costs around 2000 bucks at Levis... I can get it in 1000... Good deal... ok ok.. i know getting 50% off on that jeans was a long shot, but well, i needed a reason to convince myself into goin into that showroom...

As I entered, the cashier looked at me as a hungry wolf... Must be thinking "Ek aur Bakra!!". Even inside the shop i cld see 30% or 40% off banners hanging... there must been a 50% banner too... but i missed it...

I carefully approached the Jeans section, but something else caught my eye... and it was a real cool black Tshirt... Now this wasnt my fault... It was strategically placed below the Jeans section u see... so instead, I made a bee-line for the T-shirts... Shortlisted couple of them, but then saw that they were only offering 20% off... and that black one wasnt that good in second look... so went back to my previous plan...

But then i noticed awesome shirts nearby... well, it never hurts to look.. Right?

Wrong! It does... Checking out is never Free!!! I liked a shirt, but it wasnt my size... aaand, my size in same design was not having any discount... Come to think of it, no shirt in my size had discount... But me being the impulse shopper that i am, decided to go for it... (Obviously i vowed to buy nothing else for next couple of months!!)

Then I went back to the Jeans section (That is what i came for..!) After few trials, me and my friend zeroed on a jeans, decided to buy it... But then, I came across another one which looked as good... Wanted to buy them both... But the sensible person in me kicked off and persuaded me that it was a bad idea...

Even then I ended up spending double of what i thought... Damn this tried and tested promotion schemes!!!

And on my way back, i spotted a Westlife showroom, which m not gonna visit ever in my life!!

An old poem

2009-07-12T12:57:00.000+05:30

Used to sing this song in my music class... one of my favs... thnx to bhaskar for posting this on orkut community.. and this is not the complete thing... still searching for it...

Insaaf Ki Dagar Pe,
Baccho Dikhao Chal K,
Ye Desh Hai Tumhara,
Neta Tumhi H Kal K!

Yeh Waqt Na Thehera Hai,
Yeh Waqt Na Theherega,
Doori Ye Guzar Jayegi,
Ghabrana Kaisa

Ye Sukh Dukh Jeevan Me ,
Aate Aur Jaate Hain
Dukh Pehele Aa Jaye To
Ghabrana Kaisa

Sagar Ke Sine Se
Moti Jab Paaye Hain
Ab Pathhar Mil Jaye To
Ghabrana Kaisa

Jab Kadam Badhaye Hain
Manzil Mil Jayeegi
Hai Rah Zara Mushkil
Ghabrana Kaisa.

Randomness

2009-07-09T19:48:00.000+05:30

Dedicated to DvD... he teaches me everytime before exams and even then somehow manages to get as poor grades as me!!! :P

Reasons why I hate writing exams..

1) There is no tool for checking my spelling mistakes.
2) I cant read my paper after I have written them.
3) I cant use a simple formula for finding average and std deviation.. I have to do it the hard way!! :(
4) I cant press Alt-Tab to check my orkut and Facebook time to time.
5) My fingers get stuck together after holding pen for so long!
6) For drawing diagrams, I have to pick up a scale and pencil.. Why cant i just do it by a click of mouse!!! :-|
7) I actually think that the time can be used to do something else... I mean, what good can ever come out of sitting idle for 2 hrs...?
8) I cant increase the font size to make it look like a larger answer after i find i am 2 pages short of allotted 4..!
9) If i make a mistake, I have to go back, erase the whole bloody thing and then rewrite it..! So much for efficiency!!
10) I feel stupid when i look around and see everyone writing as if there life is dependent on it..!

The Peak

2009-07-06T03:32:00.000+05:30

Dedicated to my Bua... she had me realize this...

For those of u who don’t know me, I am one of the biggest fan of Harry Potter. I hv read each book atleast 10 times and critically analysed each and every movie for hours…!! Harry Potter books have been my area of specialization for over six years now… Recently 7th and last book of the series was released. The book had its ups and downs… both good and bad guys dying…

But what made me saddest was when the main villain, Voldemort died. Coz it meant the end of a brilliant series… I just didn’t want him to die.

Ankit also went through similar experience while reading LOTR. And this is one thing which happens inevitably when u watch some movie which is extremely good, or when a really good football match cms to an end… and somehow this is linked with why u feel sad when Yuvraj Singh gets out after a really explosive innings.. You just don’t want the fun to end, and in the end, tht is what makes it memorable!

Imagine how it would be if Yuvraj Singh hit hell lot of runs but got tired and is not able to hit a single ball… How will this innings be remembered now? Or if Harry potter series went on to explain in painful details on to how each and every character lived happily ever after… will the charm remain?

And that is why, every good thing should end when they are just about to decline. Cause that is how they will be remembered… Don Bradman wouldn’t have been same had he decided to come out of his retirement and been on either side of 99.94. And all the Ganguly Supporters like me will remember him as a person who tried hard to prove his point even after being discarded like that… And he did it in the end…

Its just like Kurt Cobain said.. “Its better to die than to fade away in this world”

And that is why I think all the stars, be it bollywood, cricket or any field, should call it a day when they feel that they have started to decline… Dev Anand must have been a great actor.. But that is not how he is considered to be now… same goes for Rekha…

Even Tendulkar is dragging on now… just like Amitabh Bachhan, Rahul Dravid and so many other ppl. It is high time that they leave before they are squeezed out..! Atleast the vacuum their absence will create should be felt. Though not intentionally, but that’s what Kajol ended up doing.

The Good, the Bad and The Ugly

2009-07-01T03:16:00.000+05:30

Dedicated to Arpit. One of very few who seemed to agree with this viewpoint.

I often fail to see how we can classify old rulers or leaders as barbaric or revolutionary! Be it Ashoka, Akbar, Alenxander or Hitler. One might argue that what they did was wrong. We must not kill any one like this. But if they were this wrong, why did they have an entire empire of millions of people ready to do anything at their command? And are we in a better position to judge Alexanders deeds as compared to those who were alive at that point of time?

Genghis Khan took Mongols from a point of starvation to one of the largest empire on Earth. Was he wrong in doing that? We all say that what he indulged in was senseless murder. But don’t murders become senseless when all of us wanted India to wipe Pakistan from the face of this universe after 26-11?

Every powerful person, even Hitler, has had an entire army and population at his command. And I think that we should trust intelligence of those people to atleast judge what is justified. I don’t see a person whom we discard as barbaric or senseless rising to helm of an empire and making it the most glorious kingdom of that age. But that is what Alexander did, Genghis Khan did and Hitler did.

It is because we have been ruled by England for so long that we all think of any European expansionist as great and any non-European expansionist as barbaric. It has always been the winners or the more powerful ones who have written the history.

True, some of the things which they did are not concurrent by today’s rules because today we value human life more than anything else. But they were justified by rules of those days. How can we judge those who lived 1000 centuries or decades back on the basis of today’s values? And tomorrow, when future generations regard forests above all, will the era of industrialization considered as Dark Ages?

Betrayal!

2009-06-27T22:11:00.000+05:30

And my heart betrayed all emotions...
I could hear my breath even if I did not breathe.
Now the swooping tides wash over me...
And the freezing breath flies through me...

I cannot see...
Been ravaged by the mystic beauty,
Ruined by the unreal temptations...I cannot flee...
Betrayed by my own beliefs...

Ambitions

2009-06-18T20:08:00.000+05:30

Dedicated to my long lost friend Janak, with whom I share most of these dreams!

There was this time when I wanted to be a train driver. I love trains. And I was always intrigued by Indian Railways. I loved the sound of train changing a track, the sound of train going over a bridge, or train halting on a station and most importantly, the green field or jungles as they passed by! One day dad, mom, bro and I were on a scooter and I was standing just in front of my dad like little kids do. And a train was just passing by. Dad refused to stop the scooter when I wanted to watch the train go. I just turned off the key and a scooter going at 50 kmph halted to a stop!! They always let me watch a train go after that! This was some 15 years back when I was still a small boy.

In next few years, like anybody in my age, I wanted to be a cricketer. Well, not Sachin. I wanted more to be like Rahul Dravid. I absolutely loved the way he played. His determination, consistency and also the fact that he was one of the best fielders at that time. And obviously, the fact that he must be mighty rich!!

Next in line was becoming a Hero. And that too one without any flops in my career. How exciting it would be to be romantic wid all the hottest girls who are out there J And being so famous and again rich.

By this time, I was in class X and knew a bit abt how the “Real World”, but my dreams didn’t. I wanted to an army officer next. Not a high level one. An army officer who fought from the ground and brought down as many Pakistanis as they could. Or maybe a commando who fights ppl for homeland security and saves hostages from tricky situation.

I became an engg, but I wanted to be Prime Minister of the nation. To tell the truth, I still want to be a politician. Not necessarily PM, but some1 who has a say in administration. M sure ppl who know me well will laugh on this… but well…

And here I am.. doing my MBA from one of the most coveted institute in the nation. And to tell the truth, I love it. I love the thought of being a manager and earning millions by next year (assuming economy is good, of course J) I will be in one of the high up positions in the corporate (hopefully). Something worth dying for!

But sometimes I wonder if the 7 year old boy who loved trains would have wanted this! A office going and suited up person who has no fun in his life. But that’s how it is. As we grow up, things like Money, power and the Greed to do something for your nation or for the society become much more important in your life and you discard every ambition you have ever had as worthless or not feasible. And this makes me feel guilty of not being faithful to my younger self who wanted to love what he did to death. And this makes me love the kids more for their innocence and childish dreams which they will come to hate as they realize that when they grow up, they will be expected to contribute to the world and they will end up loving it!!

Quotations..!!

2009-03-08T11:07:00.000+05:30

Dedicated to Balli... yesterdays chat wid him compelled me to write this..!!

how often has it been that you do some act, which infuriates one of ur frnds, and u justify it by quoting some really jazzy line you heard somewhere..? Like, you have been very slow in your work, your coworker asks you to speed up, and you respond by a very nice little line "Slow and Steady wins the race"..!

I find it extremely irritating at times. Like, there was this time that certain habits of friend of mine wer quite irritating.. I said so, and in came the reply "My friends shouldnt try to change me, they should just accept me the way I am..!"

I sometimes just dont get the point of how can some1's experience, some1's thinking dictate the way YOU live. When each one of us is unique, our experiences ought to be unique. Giving quotations or jazzy lines as a reason is just like living some1 elses life.

Also, before quoting, one should have understood the context in which the line was said. Like in the Hare-Tortise story, the morale is not that if you are fast, you tend to falter. NO. At times, being fast is what is needed. The morale is, that much more important than speed is consistency. You have to be a consistent performer.

Like, you just cant say "Slow and steady wins the race" for a 100 m dash. Thats what you say for a 1500 m race or for a marathon. Same holds true for almost each and every quotations.

I was told yesterday that you just cannot go on doing things just coz every1 else is doing it. And I admit thats what most of us do. How many of us want to do MBA just coz every else wants to do it. I for 1, wanted it for same reason. It was only in the final yr that i found MY reason. Guess I was just lucky..

Similarly, each incident in your life is different. You just cant stop trying to better yourself by saying "Perfection cannot be achieved". There are FEW things in which it cant be achieved. But sometimes, it can be. Also, just coz you cant become perfect doesnt mean you shld stop trying.

Being stuck in the world of quotations is a mistake i made for a long time. Thankfully I grew over it. For me, now they are just a collection of well written lines. Nothing more. :)

Dreams

2009-02-28T22:53:00.000+05:30

Dedicated to all the heroes I fantasize abt!!! :)

Have you ever wondered of how cool it will be if you were one of the heroes of some great movie... Like Harry Potter, or Aragorn from Lord of the Rings? Or maybe Yuvraj Singh when he hits 6 sixes in an over? or maybe Messi when he beats 6 players to score a legendary goal?

Well, I do... I do that a lot... I keep imagining myself in their shoes... Keep imagining killing Voldemort, or summoning an army of dead... Bit stupid... But u know wat... It is fun... Big time fun... and i can spend hours thinking abt it...

I know its too random... but well, thts how i am... completely random thoughts.. :)

LIFE @ K

2009-02-28T15:47:00.000+05:30

Dedicated to Ankit, Abhinaba nd Nikhil sir.. Wldnt hv been here otherwise..

Its been more than 8 months since i joined IIM K... I still remember the first few days out here... I was so excited of what was ahead of me... Admittedly, I was bit afraid before joining... After all, this is one of the best colleges in the country. I was afraid of being too insignificant kind of. Of whether I will get any new friends out here...

But couple of weeks in the college, and I already had a new home. I had few good friends, also, I was able to cope up with the subjects and most important of all, i was enjoying it... I still am...

Also, this place is really really beautiful. I really wonder if I will ever be able to enjoy a hill station again. I mean, being in a college, situated on a hill top and you looking down almost everyday down to tree cover is something..!! This place is called Gods own Country for a reason u know...

This place is so very different from Nagpur. But even then, its good in its own way. There are many times when I wonder how much things have changed. I have become more talkative for one. My old friends will be so shocked to see the changes in me.. Dunno good or bad... Or maybe, they wont be... They have seen some more Radical Changes... :P

Every one out here has a focus. Something they want to do... Things are much more serious @ K. the stakes are much more higher.. It was never like that in Nagpur. We just used to live for the day... for the next DOTA game we were gonna play. We used to be awake just coz v wanted to eat the poha @ shankar nagar square. One of us felt like felt like not eating @ mess, and all of us will be trooping to CRC with so many more orders of rolls.

Here gaming is never a reason... Its just a way to pass next hour or so... Outings are much more rare. And to find a person outside speaking Hindi is like a Eureka moment!! But even then, its fun... seeing people fight like nething on IP, few debates on recession (I never thought I cld be part of such debates..!!) and analysing its affect on our placements, or preparing for a competition only to see being rejected at the very 1st stage. It is exciting...

Seniors hv finished their college... Next year, by this time, hopefully I will be a manager too..!! feels bit wierd u know... I am quite nervous abt how the next yr will be... will i get a good job..?

There are so many ifs... but guess they will always be there... Just the other day, I reminded myself of the dialouge of LOTR which i loved so much... "Remember this day.. coz today, Life's Good!!!" :) :)