Goa - The Time of Life!

GOA – truly the paradise of peace. Probably the best and the most exhilarating journey of our entire lifetime. Goa doesn't disappoint anyone. We were just 4 of us – me, Rahul, Vaidya and Shree - the roomie gang. We left from Mumbai and we were already charged up for the matter of fact that finally, our months of fruitless planning bore the sweet fruits and we were finally on our way to enjoy which seemed to be our last joy of life. We were so zenned up right from the beginning of the journey that we did not give anything even a single second thought. As we all were tired after a day's work on Wednesday we slept as soon as we boarded the train from Thane. We had to anyhow preserve our energies for the fore coming days.

 

Day 1

We reached Goa at around 11am on Friday and after some effort in the heat we found a room to stay, but somehow it was a bad deal. The best part about being in Goa is you are always enthusiastic and so were we. Not enough rest but who cares and we started with some shopping followed with a heavy lunch (obviously whenever we opened our mouth to feed ourselves we had a b***e; so needless to mention having b***e every time coz believe me we had countless numbers in our four days journey ;). Within no time we all were set ready for the action.

Now after a heavy lunch in scorching heat what a normal person would die for? Yes some rest, but these insane guys, yes I mean enthusiastic guys wanted to roam some more and so they headed towards Panaji and I moved towards our room (I was damn sure raat tak inka sab enthu nikal jaayega :P)

It was a lovely evening & by default we had to feed ourselves :-), then applying a tattoo which as always our Shree uncle had a unique design on the back of his neck and we all headed off to our room to get ready to party. Sometimes I would think whether our day started at night :P. Had a quick bath and though not preplanned but black was our theme of that night. All set to party and how could I forget this part; Goa without skunk (w**d or g**ja) is incomplete. Had some of it and we zoomed ourselves to Mambos near Baga beach but were quite unaware that we were AGAIN to face the worst part which most of the guys would have faced 'STAGS NOT ALLOWED'. But we were not the ones to give up, started looking for some girls to get us in but to no avail (as I & Sagar always say G***DU naseeb ;). After a bit of searching we headed near Anjuna beach to a place called Paradiso. Once there, we were relieved that we were not so unlucky, there were some generous disc owners in Goa :). As we reached early we headed to a place called Zooris, exactly adjacent to Paradiso. This was the place at which I had a lovely evening on my last trip some 4 years back. Now as I said earlier I knew the enthu in these guys would be lost and here I was having some drinks before the actual party with my 3 over-enthusiastic friends :P. This place Zooris means a lot to me & I always wanted to enjoy this time but I forgot it's not a place where you can enjoy with guys :(. But the party was yet to begin at Paradiso so I knew for sure as soon as these guys would see some chicks around they would be back to normal.

It was 10pm & we were all set to party. This club had an entry charge and then the drinks inside were 'On the House'. As soon as I learnt this I knew this was going to be a rocking party; not for we don't have to spend anymore but because everyone had already spent at the entry and hence no one would be without booze, hence I always liked places with Unlimited B**ze motto :) Within an hour we were all back in our happy senses (I have my own levels of senses when it comes to B**zing) and here I was standing at the bar ordering a few more drinks a lovely lady with the cutest smile (I was still in some senses so I knew it was the cutest smile ;)) was too ordering stuffs. I do believe in love at first sight coz I have fallen so many times and I just could not let go this chance to get introduced to her; but as always it was short lived. By the way she was Alice from Australia with Dad from England & Mom from Australia (people who know a bit of history would surely find it funny). Had few more drinks until we all were fully high and at 3 am we left that place.

Btw what happened in between was another funny little love story between our very own uncle Shree and the bartender Rajendar; yeah he was a guy :P. It was almost 2 am & we 3 (I, Sagar & Vaidya) decided to leave but Shree was busy chatting to his soul mate. We told him that we had to leave but he insisted to stay for 5-10 mins more. Again after some time when Shree was asked to leave we got the same reply. Believe me we could have waited for another hour had it been a company of a girl for Shree; but he was too high to know what he was doing (he puked too :P). Finally we had to wait until the club was closed.

But it wasn't the end of our day or rather night; we had plans to have some more b***e. After some info we got to know that a place called Kamaki's near Baga beach was a 24 hour pub, now that's what people like us would expect in Goa. Off we zoomed on our bikes and it was truly an amazing ride back. Soon we reached Kamaki's and instead of having b***e we settled in br***ers; believe me we already had a lot. Had amazing burgers in the joint opposite to Kamaki's and left for home around 7am. Now we had a bit of a conversation with a lady called Helen while we were having burger but I am not interested in describing that. After reaching home I was not feeling sleepy so I stepped out and it was a lovely morning, had a bit of a stroll on the beach and had to return back in 15-20 mins coz of nature's call. Now that was surely the end of my first day ;-P

 

Day 2

Second day began for us, quite possibly as it could be, very late. We all had Goan hangover of our first day and that restricted us in our enthusiasm. We had to get out of our beds unwillingly and so we ordered our lunch in the shack itself. By every means it was a bad food. But we ate it to neutralize our body acids. After that tough job we strained our brains a lot as how to arrange our remaining day but alas a failure to all of us. We decided to go in for water sports but somehow delayed to do it on our third day.

After gaining the power shots, we got ready for the so called life in Goa for yet another day. And guys, believe me, this feeling, of partying again when you had a rock-solid party a day before, is truly amazing and mind blowing. I more than love this feeling. The only thought of it, rode us all with a pleasant gesture. We all were ready in white as the theme of the day and off on our bikes, we headed to Baga beach in search of some wild parties. Unable to find anything, clearly due to lack of gurlz with us, we went for ourselves to enjoy, had some (some = too much) b**ze and JD shots. Then we strolled to Curlis and then to Paradiso. By now, we were known by the Curlis guys. We drank our hearts out, danced till our last breaths, and enjoyed till the last moment. This time more wildly and lost. Without caring about the world or may I say without cribbing for not having girls with us. :P

After getting in total mood, pace and swing, we were too undesired to end the night so soon. It was 4 am then :). So we took our march to Kamaki's, the sole bread provider to Goans I think. Else, which damn pub would be open at 4am with loud music and swirling dance floors with firangis and hotties swinging all over.

And the story still is unchanged. We ordered for the same delicious burger and I couldn't eat it being too full on high doses. Kamakis was fun, with a peaceful corner to sit with our pints and chit chatting about who-care topics. With countless b**zes, noodles, burgers and fries, it was like what more could we ask for from life. It was the end of our 2^nd day in the heaven as we managed our ways back to our shack.

I have started believing in the saying, "Love wild life. Throw a party." :-)

 

Day 3

3^rd day saw us all half drenched in enthusiasm and our bodies sheerly with lack of H2O. As per the protocol, we woke up late. Still in only half of our senses we had our suits on and off we went for water sports on the Baga beach as pre decided. We were totally hungry and had to speed off our lunch as it was already late for the water sports. Water sports was the most fun part of the entire Goa trip. We had to do 3 water sports – motor boat, para sailing and banana ride. Rahul denied being on banana ride as he was a bit scared. I wanted to experience it. And my fear knew no bounds when that f**king boat threw me inside the sea and I went 10 feet under the water. I was completely galloped and shocked with fear factor bursting out of me. And when I survived and came up, it was like rising to life again. It was the single most exhilarating moment of my entire life that shook me off right from my toe to the tip of my hair. I was dumbstruck. It was worth the dare. Para sailing was more romantic – in the way sun was settling down, it was a peaceful arena with no chitchats and no fuss. It was all clear. It was the most beautiful scene of nature and life could not be better than this.

Then we had ourselves submerged in water for almost an hour in a calm and composed way just to enjoy the beautiful water and nature in Goa thinking when we could be back here. Then we headed to our shack for changing. Then we headed to hill top Hill top was something which took our senses off our heads. It was a dreadly encounter and we were totally set back by the very location and view of it. Thought it did not provide anything to our expectations, it was worth a try.

We then headed to Gregorian Café. Gregorian café was the most amazing party I encountered. The crowd, the atmosphere was mind blowing as I had not seen such kind of wild party in my life. The music, the smoke, the ambience was breath taking. After toddling for couple of hours we moved to our very own Kamakis. There we met Remi – a guy from England. He was in Goa for 3 months now and had plans to be in India for another 2 years just on a holiday. Lucky chap. Had an interesting chat with him which was very soon disturbed by a heavy fuss about a firangi who was forcibly offered drugs at Tito's. He was allegedly forced to buy drugs from some Goan locale which freaked him out to hell. After minutes of witnessing the yelling back at the Goan guy and the f***ing club owner we decided to return back to our beds.

 

Day 4

Day 4 began for us in quite a lazy and disappointing manner with the very thought of returning back to our homes. After getting up late we packed our bags and planned to go for some shopping. Then we headed to Mapusa, shopped for cashew and all other stuff. It was a hot afternoon which took my glucose away and I started feeling the heat waves. After winding it up we decided to go for a chill out session on Baga beach. We just sat there for couple of hours, listening to soft music and watching people enjoying a typical lazy Sunday afternoon in Goa. Our bodies were dull and aching with all the fun we had on all these days. It was somehow a pain-n-pleasure kinda feeling. After winding it from there, we headed to the railway station with our luggage just in time to find the train. With some quick relieving snacks we boarded our train to end the most exhilarating journey of our lives.

 

All in all, it was the time of our life. Life was indeed a blessing for all those 4 days. It was infact more than life to us. After all the tortures, work pressures, house hold tensions, relationship hues, Goa was a boon for all of us. No doubt we were dampened by the very thought of returning back home, but had to do it. An awesome and a reigning period came to an end. But it still lives inside our hearts – fresh, green and high :-)

 

PS: Day 1 has been compiled by Rahul and day 2,3 and 4 by Vaidya, Shree and myself. This blog is a joint venture by we four. We had tough times accumulating the accurate data after so many months of the actual trip. Thanks to all of you for your patience.

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When the poison reaches your home

It was a chilly winter night. Just a regular December night. Everyone sat huddled beneath their shawls and blankets. Staving off the cold. Trying to stay alive. And then it happened. 42 tonnes of lethal methyl-iso-cyanate changed the course of history. 10,000 people died within 72 hours. 25,000 over the next 20 years. The date was 2nd December 1984. The place was Bhopal. We looked. We wept. And as screams and cries echoed from anguished mothers whose children has just stopped breathing, we promised ourselves: this will never happen again. Never.

We were wrong. Exactly twenty years later, we were informed of a mighty French warship, the Clemenceau, heading towards India. 22,000 tonnes of steel. 300 tonnes of lethal asbestos, to be dismantled on the shores of Alang, Gujarat. Alang, the graveyard of ships, considered to be the most dangerous business destination in India. Ill-equipped and barefoot laborers were going to dismantle the ship that had been refused entry in most of Europe due to its toxic components.

 

But if it's good for business, it's good for India, they said. We disagreed. The ship was boarded by Greenpeace activists in France and off the coast of Egypt, but they were forcibly removed by the French special forces. It was denied entry to the Suez Canal. The Supreme Court of India ordered the ship to stay away from the Indian coastline. But the 22,000 tonne monster kept coming. We blocked, we protested and we pleaded. But it kept just kept coming. We moved the French Supreme Court. We protested outside French embassies. People all over India joined us in putting garbage outside the French embassy.

And then, the tide turned. On 15th January 2006, French President Jaques Chirac agreed to take back the Clemenceau and decontaminate it in France. Just as the ship was entering the Indian Ocean, it was told to turn back and head back home. A small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

 

However, the celebrations were short-lived. Every year, every day, every hour, every minute, toxic products continue to leach into our society, into our bloodstream, into our drinking water, into our children. The toxic French warship has been sent back, but the fight to keep away toxic chemicals out of our washing machines, computers, cell phones and microwaves must go on. We might fail, but we must try. It is our job, to make sure that companies swear by high standards and zero toxics in their products. Our job. Not your job, not my job. But our job.

And the only way we can finish this job is by getting lots of people to work on it. Click here to turn our solitary mission into an national movement.

Love. Peace Justice.

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13 Interesting facts about Google

1.       The prime reason the Google home page is so bare is due to the fact that the founders didn’t know HTML and just wanted a quick interface. In fact it was noted that the submit button had a long time coming and hitting the RETURN key was the only way to burst Google into life.

2.       Due to the sparseness of the homepage, in early user tests they noted people just sitting looking at the screen. After a minute of nothingness, the tester intervened and asked ‘What’s up?’ to which they replied “We are waiting for the rest of it”. To solve that particular problem the Google Copyright message was inserted to act as a crude end of page marker.

3.       One of the biggest leap in search usage came about when they introduced their much improved spell checker giving birth to the “Did you mean…” feature. This instantly doubled their traffic, but they had some interesting discussions on how best to place that information, as most people simply tuned that out. But they discovered the placement at the bottom of the results was the most effective area.

4.       The infamous “I’m feeling lucky” (When a user clicks on this button the user is taken directly to the first search result, bypassing the search engine results page) is nearly never used. However, in trials it was found that removing it would somehow reduce the Google experience. Users wanted it kept. It was a comfort button.

5.       Orkut is very popular in Brazil. Orkut was the brainchild of a very intelligent Google engineer who was pretty much given free reign to run with it, without having to go through the normal Google UI procedures, hence the reason it doesn’t look or feel like a Google application.

6.       Google makes changes small-and-often. They will sometimes trial a particular feature with a set of users from a given network subnet; for example Excite@Home users often get to see new features. They aren’t told of this, just presented with the new UI and observed how they use it.

7.       Google has the largest network of translators in the world.

8.       They use the 20% / 5% rules. If at least 20% of people use a feature, then it will be included. At least 5% of people need to use a particular search preference before it will make it into the ‘Advanced Preferences’.

9.       They have found in user testing, that a small number of people are very typical of the larger user base. They run labs continually and always monitoring how people use a page of results.

10.    Gmail was used internally for nearly 2years prior to launch to the public. They discovered there was approximately 6 types of email users, and Gmail has been designed to accommodate these 6.

11.    They listen to feedback actively. Emailing Google isn’t emailing a blackhole.

12.    Employees are encouraged to use 20% of their time working on their own projects. Google News, Orkut are both examples of projects that grew from this working model.

13.    Quote: Give Users What They Want When They Want It.

Growing Up?

I remember when I was a kid I was so much excited about the Diwali celebrations and all the fuss around it. I used to go shopping with dad, wear new clothes on the auspicious occasion, take snaps, perform pooja, visit relatives, fire crackers, play around; it was fun all the way. But as years passed, I have stopped lighting crackers. I do celebrate it but probably not with even half of the zeal I used to in past years. It has become a mere formality now. What has happened?

And here, I am not talking just about me, but about the entire generation in all. We could see for ourselves how low was the enthusiasm level for Ganapati and Holi celebrations this year (may be Swine Flu was just the reason of time), then the new years? I remember I used to get enthralled during new year eves by some or the other thing – may be it the all night drives on our bikes, eating Chinese, watching movies or just laying off and goofing up. But lately, I don’t even go out. Moreover, I don’t even watch a lot of TV on that day (yes, TV is the ultimate time pass on new year’s eve). All the excitement has been dampened by God knows what. Is it the increased wisdom, or just a lull in this phase of life I call it as quarter-life crisis(http://goneintothewild.blogspot.com/2009/09/quarter-life-crisis.html), or is it just the matter of fact that we are grownups now? I don’t know what, but surely I am not happy with all these things.

I mean, yesterday while returning from office, I saw some kids lighting fire crackers, running around and having absolute fun. They were totally engrossed with the ‘Diwali’ thing. I mean what more a kid can ask for – the exams are over, they have got a decent 18 day Diwali vacation, they have got new clothes; it is all exciting. Looking at them I was kind of bemused as to why I can’t be the same way they are. Why can’t I leave back all my worries and just go and enjoy.  And I was clueless. I laid on bed thinking about this which made me all the more depressed. Had some ‘Arrested Development’ episodes to change my mood and then I ended my day.

Also during my last birthday few months back when I turned 24, I felt the same. I had all my friends, relatives, parents having a ball party for this occasion and probably I was only person who was least excited about it. I also had a mention of this in (http://goneintothewild.blogspot.com/2009/04/happy-birthday.html).

It is a down trend in all the things. Whether it’s shopping or visiting relatives, or celebrating occasions. Or is it the change in the season after your teenage is over? I mean, the things I used to like, I don’t like them anymore. And now, I like new things. I love watching movies, I love partying with age old friends, I love blogging; which I used to do it earlier too but not in the volume as I do it now.

Right :-) So here I get the equation of life. Probably, this is a phase where we tend to shed our old values, thoughts, hobbies and move on to a new life. A new beginning with a new thought ideology, a new wisdom, a new process, new dreams. Probably much bigger than we earlier had.

This is probably what they call - ‘growing up’.

Happy Diwali !

It's the "Festival of Lights",
It's again the day of Diwali,
It's time to dress up folks,
It's time to adorn the thali.

It's the occasion to throng the temples,
Pray to the Gods and give them offerings,
It's an opportunity to entreat the deities,
To bless us all and rid us of sufferings.

It's the day to light the diyas,
Ignite the rockets and burst crackers,
But it's also the time to be safe,
From the fireworks and all the sparklers.

It's the season to pay a visit,
To all our friends and relations,
To hand them over sweets and presents,
Diwali is a splendid occasion.
But while you spend a time of joy,
Don't think it's merriment all the way,
Out there wait many of those,
For whom it's no time to be gay.

Denied of laughter and smiles for days,
They know not what it is to enjoy,
Can you not share something you have,
Can you not bring them a little joy?
When you can make someone else smile
When you can be someone's ally
That's when you can yourself be glad
That's when you'll have a HAPPY DIWALI!

CEO's vs our Mantris

Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has endorsed the warning issued by corporate affairs minister Salman Khursheed that the sarkar is thinking of regulating the vulgar salaries and perks currently enjoyed by some private sector CEOs in India. The minister added that the allegedly overpaid fat cats of India Inc should take a tip from the sarkar and learn a few lessons about austerity, the official new buzzword in official circles. So, should the salary slips of India Inc be slashed? The workmen must be worthy of their wages. But are they, in this case Mukesh Ambani reportedly paid himself a salary of Rs 44.02 crore in 2007-08 , his brother Anil, lashed out Rs 30.02 crore for his own salary over the same period. Other top salaried CEOs were Sunil Mittal of Bharti Airtel (Rs 22.89 crore), Pawan Munjal of Hero Honda (Rs 15.73 crore) and A M Naik of Larsen & Toubro (Rs 8.39 crore).

Compared with these figures, sarkari salaries including those drawn by ministers do seem laudably modest at first squint. Your average mantriji gets an MPs basic salary of Rs 1,92,000 per annum, plus Rs 24,000. In addition, however, a minister gets a slew of perks: a bungalow in the poshest part of city, plus allowances which, together with salary, reportedly total up to some Rs 11lakh per month. Plus a personal staff of 16 (for cabinet ministers) and 13 (for deputy ministers). Plus security guards, a fleet of at least three cars (with petrol thrown in, naturally), and unlimited domestic and international phone calls. Plus free train and air travel. That is a lot of pluses. Even taking into account the political charade that has downgraded air travel to economy class, our mantrijis live on the saturated fat of the land. Particularly so when you consider that none of these perks which frequently include a Lutyens bungalow, which at an estimated market value of between Rs 150 and Rs 200 crore would command a rental upward of Rs 60 lakh a month, minimum invites the fringe benefit tax that the private sector is obliged to pay when it provides comparable facilities to its employees, including CEOs.

But unarguably the biggest perk enjoyed by ministers and MPs is that of unaccountability. A private sector CEO is accountable to shareholders and to the laws of the marketplace: if the company goes bust, for whatever reason, the CEO is out of a job, and thats an end to all pay and perks. This is not the case with our sarkari CEOs, our mantris. No matter however badly managed and unprofitable it is, sarkari India can never go bust: all it has to do is add to its already humungous fiscal deficit (the difference between earnings and outgoings) which in January 2009 was an estimated Rs 2,10,000 crore, and counting.

Thats the perk literally beyond price which sarkari CEOs enjoy and private sector CEOs dont : freedom from fiscal accountability . Of course, in a democracy particularly one such as Indias where the so-called anti-incumbency factor is particularly assertive sarkari CEOs who are deemed by voters to be bad managers can and are voted out of office. But this, generally speaking, happens only once in five years. And five years in politics, particularly Indian politics, is a long time: according to the National Election Watch, in five years Haryana MLAs, on an average, each added five crore to their net asset values. In the meantime, the projected revenue deficit for Haryana (i.e. the loss the state will make) for 2009-10 is over Rs 3,380 crore. Nice going, guys. Bankrupt the state, while filling your own pockets . Thats the biggest perk of sarkari office.

So, should private sector salaries and perks be regulated by the sarkar Sure. But only after the sarkar has learnt to regulate its own inestimable perk of unaccountability, which allows it to live so hugely beyond its means. And till you can do that, mantriji, please perk down about others salaries and perks.

PS: An excellent article from TOI.

The twist of fate and the stroke of luck!

Can you imagine your fate beating you ruthlessly every single time you play a game against it? What if one probe or idea does not work; you come out with another. What if that too does not work; you probably get stressed up and after burning the grey cells of your brain you decide to come up with yet another one. And what if that too does not work; (enough is enough), atleast I would give up being a normal human being. Thomas Alva Edison after his stint in inventing the light bulb, once said, “I did not fail, I just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” And by that I mean to say that he was truly a revolutionary and a great figure to have attempted a single stupid thing for over 10,000 times (if really true).

For me, the entire week was like a run in marathon, extremely tensed, tiring, drooling and unpredictable. Having my cards gamble with fate for even the slightest and simplest of things to get worked out, I was more than bemused by the stroke of luck totally against my favor.

My HTC Touch Pro went on for a toss sitting idle on my office desk. Had it been struck with the tornado and got off would be quite an understandable reason. But all of a sudden when your touch screen stops working is quite shocking and more of a turn off. I got pissed off when it did not work even after restarting for a couple of times. So I decided to Google out the possible solutions for my problem. I found 2 solutions - removing the screen guard and hard reset of the device. So I decided to try these solutions. First I removed the screen guard but no success. So I decided to go for the ultimate hard reset of the device. Very painfully I took the necessary backup of the data from my cell and went in for hard reset. It restarted with a disappointing message saying 'tap the screen to setup your windows device', and I got screwed. The touch screen isn’t working and how come for God’s sake am I going to tap the screen. I was stuck in a deadlock situation, not even able to receive calls. Finally I gave it to a vendor and then another vendor and still have not received it in a functioning state. I mean, is it rocket science that it is so difficult to fix a non working touch screen of a god dam cell phone? I just don’t understand the mechanics.

Like that wasn’t enough that I had to get into another serious crap. My home loan agent called me early in the morning saying that my sanction letter would be getting expired and that I need to re-apply for it. What if I need to re-apply for a home loan? Are you insane? Apply for one and you would come to know what pain in the neck the entire procedure is, probably even serious, irritating and frustrating than labor pains. Filing in all the documents from your salary slips to bank account statements, to your qualification certificates and what not. This also meant, I would need to pay all the processing fees as well as the transaction fees all over again, without even getting a penny from the bank. Isn’t this awful? That is still an un-decided fate, no wonder I need to bend down yet again against the unruly and unfair outlaws of nature.

And as if, this was quite a less to hang up with, my code had to screw it up big time. I had put in an almost 40 hrs stretch for that piece of crap to work in the simplest of ways, but it didn’t. IT JUST DIDNT. And finally when I discovered an alternate workaround on Thursday to silence the tsunami of my code, what do I get to hear on Friday morning? That my project contract would not be renewed by my client from November this year due to change in their organizational policies. I mean, let me be cool here without getting into shitty business of outsourcing. But we are typical donkeys, just to follow the masters even if we are brainier than them. It is more like a wish well. You wish and you pay a few bucks and outsource a project to a land called India and when you are out of all your wish or excitement or in terms money just call off the project. What does this mean to me? No, I certainly won’t be signed off as they have guaranteed me, but now everything would be at stake. My unbeaten experience in this technology, my promotion, my Amsterdam, and above all my morale and confidence.

Such has been my week, tiring, hectic , saddening and a time when everything is going wrong. And I am being nothing more than useless about the situation waiting and hoping for the starts to shine back at me again at some stroke of luck.

Sentimental fools!

I have always thought and disliked the fact that Indians are such sentimental fools at times. But then I realized that I am no different than such people.

I was just returning from a movie on my bike and suddenly I was so attracted to my bike. Having rode it for almost 7 years now, I sometime tend to ignore its condition, but today I realized that it has stood beside me for all these years whenever I needed it. And I did not give my 100% to it.

There were times when I needed to reach a place within no time and during the wee hours. There were times, when I was late for my engineering exams, there were times it was a medical urgency, there were times it was a friendly request, and it was only my bike that helped me to achieve my goals. Racing with friends in Mumbai, wheelies on the straight and quiet roads of Pune, skidding and dribbing during midnights on the lonely weekends, trips to Marine Drive and Sinhgad during the early skies, long drives on the Satara road with just 3/4^th and sneakers, night drives to Siddhivinayak temple, I had it a lot. And while writing this blog, I understand we Indians are really sentimental, possessive about our things; may be it our cell phones, cars, bikes, bicycles, our office desks, our laptops, our iPods. And nothing is wrong about it.

I was possessive about my working place too when I was in Infy. I sat on the same chair, in the same cubicle for more than 2 years. At times, I was more than bored. I always thought that it is more than 2 year I climbed the same stairs, came in the same cubicle and sat on the same machine. People around me changed, their projects changed. But I remained stuck to my place, only to realize when I was about to quit Infy, that my place was my face, meri pehchaan. During a small speech on my last day in Infosys, I was more than proud not to forget to mention that, people came, people went, their places changed almost once in 2 months, but I sat at the same place for 2 years. I felt I have achieved a herculean goal. I was a man of pride at that time.

We sometimes tend to be so simple and stupid in life, but then too it feels good. It is like, nothing is wrong in it. And then I smile to myself, Indians are real sentimental fools, and I love to be one J

Au Revoir Rahul !

Why always me, and then I get my answer. This is life and life goes on. And believe me I more than hate these 3 words.

Rahul is off for New Zealand. And you must be thinking why am I sad. It is not that I am sad about it, but parting ways is a theory which I have never understood in my life and hence never been able to digest it so easily. The very fact that I won’t be seeing him atleast for a year, makes me sick. But it is like, dil ki sunoge to kahi ke nahi rahoge. That is why I am not going to say anything more.

I love you brotha, keep rocking in New Zealand, which I am sure you will. And I am going to miss you like hell.

Pata nahi fir kab milenge :-(

Au Revoir!

Reverse - ageing?

We go to school only to find out at a later stage that life is not only about completing homework and getting thrashed up by teachers and mom. Then we go to college to enjoy the so called freedom of life. Its more than bemuses everyone that its upto each one how to choose the path of freedom. No one is going to force you to attend lectures. Sometimes, even the terms are not mandatory. That period is only to make you realize that life is not so much freedom everytime and everywhere.

Sometimes, I wonder, why do we first attend kindergarten, then schools, then colleges, then work, and then retire. Why can’t we retire at the very beginning, then after we are bored of the retirement, work a bit. Now when we have a bit of money we have ourselves admitted to the colleges. And having learnt wisdom, we can then attend schools to have all the fun and relaxation and then die peacefully without any tensions and burdens. Life would be so hilarious then!

The whole concept of life, or for that matter, any individual thing in aspect, is based on advancement. We call it as revolution or may be invention. First we make the wheel, and then we make rolling carts and then finally a car and then a better car. And this is the sole reason, why we go to school first and not retire. So that we know how to talk, walk, dress up. And then to college, so that we know how to use the freedom, how to judge the world outside. And then to work so that we can try to materialize everything we have learnt for all these years. And then finally retire after having the satisfaction of knowing and doing all the things we were supposed to do in a lifetime.

Yet I guarantee you that almost 99% of the people including me, will realize only at the end that it is not done yet. We would still be pining for more time, more money, and more of life. But life is on its way to the heaven. I have read it many a times that the “life is now” but have seldom been able to feel it, imbibe it and reveal it. It is so, so difficult. To read, it’s the simplest of thing and when it comes to practice what has been preached, it’s the most complex thing in the universe.

Life is a gift from God. Its upto us how we live it. Be a kid in the kindergarten or be an oldie in the old age home, wisdom seeks it all. The smallest (kid) and the oldest (oldie) are the people who donate nothing to the nation as such but are still the wisest of all.

If only I could seek retirement at this age (infact in the very childhood), I would have known why it is not so as I think.

If Cricket is Religion, Sachin is God !!!

What a wonderful day it was for all the cricket lovers and Sachin fans.

While in the office, I was surfing the Tendulkar Opus (http://tendulkaropus.com/static.php?page=index2) and reading some comments on Sachin Tendulkar, watching his statistics, viewing his records up-to-date and let me tell you, they are just marvelous. Sachin is a kind of personality, its more than a treat reading his stories, interviews and looking at his profile. When he flashes the news or newspapers, every Indian has a reason to smile no matter what life hails for them.

While I was reading, 43 ODI centuries and 42 Test centuries were already in his basket. Some of the hair-raising comments on him by maestros like Sir Don Bradman, Steve Waugh, Shane Warne, Brian Lara, etc were more than making my reading exciting. I also came along many (and by this I literally mean innumerable) websites/blogs/pages dedicated to the God of cricket, created by his diehard fans all throughout the world.

And when I went home, yet another tonne was knocked by the little master (little exemplifies only his height, he is bigger than the biggest when it comes to glory). I was so happy from within. I just forgot how my day went at the office and was enjoying the game. And it was a match and a series winning knock of hundred by the God himself.

It is so easy for him to beat the runs under any given circumstances, on any field, in any country, against any team with sheer determination and with the zeal to succeed even himself everytime. Otherwise, how would you justify a man (he is more than just a man, he is GOD) knocking yet another century when being in his 20^th year in the game, when almost 4^rd generations of cricket has been mortalized in front of him. Back when he was just 17, he hit his first century and down the line, even after 20 years he delivers world class cricket by hitting his 44^th ODI century.

His records are remarkable in the field of sports. His dedication, involvement and gift to the entire nation in particular and to the entire world in general is tremendous. He is someone, the entire India is proud of. No matter of caste, color or creed, no matter of whether you are a student or worker, no matter if you even don’t watch the game, every individual is fond of this man. Such is his aura. People respect him and there can be riots when anything goes against him.

Had it not been for him, probably the love for cricket wouldn’t grow to such an extent for all of us. Its more than a privilege to belong to a generation when GOD himself played for India.

To sum it all, I'll just say one statement about Sachin what Einstein had said about Gandhi: "Generations to come will scarcely believe that such a one as This, ever in flesh and blood, walked the Earth".

Hail Sachin :-)

Leaf's departure is because of Wind's pursuit. Or because Tree didn't ask her to stay !

I would like to share with you a very romantic Chinese article about leaf, tree & wind. The article is in Cantonese. And for all the readers a direct broken English translation is present to the rescue. It's a very long read. I really love the verse "Leaf departure is because of Wind pursuit. Or because Tree didn't ask her to stay". If you fall for somebody don't pretend that it didn't matter. Love is something that t you can’t afford to have mind games. Quickly tell your love, you love him/her so much.

Tree

People call me "Tree".

I had dated 5 girls when I was in Pre-U. There is one girl who I love a lot but never dared to go after. She didn't have a pretty face, good figure or an outstanding charm. She was just a very ordinary girl. I liked her. I really liked her. I liked her innocence, her frankness, her intelligence and her fragility. Reason for not going after her was that I felt somebody so ordinary like her was not a good match for me. I was also afraid that after we were together all the feelings would vanish. I was also afraid other's gossip would hurt her.

I felt that if she were my girl, she'd be mine ultimately & I didn't have to give up everything just for her. The last reason, made her accompanying me for 3 years. She watched me chase other girls, and I have made her heart cry for 3 years. She was a good actor, and me a demanding director. When I kissed my second girlfriend, she bumped into us. She was embarrassed but smiled & said, "Go on!" before running off.

The next day, her eyes were swollen like a walnut. I did not want to know what caused her to cry. Later that day, I returned from soccer training to get something & watched her cry in the classroom for an hour or so. My fourth girlfriend did not like her.

There was once when both of them quarreled. I know that based on her character she is not the type that will start the quarrel. However, I still sided my girlfriend. I shouted at her & ignored her feelings and walked off with my girlfriend. The next day, she was laughing & joking with me like nothing happened. I know she was hurt but she did not know deep down inside I was hurt too.

When I broke up with my fifth girlfriend, I asked her out. Later that day, I told her I had something to tell her. I told her about my break up.

Coincidentally, she has something to tell me too, about her getting together. I knew who the person was. His pursuit for her had been the talk of the School. I did not show her my heartache, just smiles & best wishes. Once I reached home, I could not breathe. Tears rolled & I broke down. How many times have I seen her cry for the man who did not acknowledge her presence?

During graduation, I read a SMS in my hp. It said, "Leaf's departure is because of Wind's pursuit. Or because Tree didn't ask her to stay"

Leaf

People call me “Leaf”.

During the 3 years of Pre-U, I was on very close terms with a guy as buddy kind. However, when he had his first girlfriend, I learnt a feeling I never should have learnt - Jealousy. Sourness to the extreme limit. They were only together for 2 months. When they broke up, I hid my happiness. But after a month, he got together with another girl.

I liked him & I know he liked me. But why won't he pursue me? Since he loves me why didn't he make the first move? Whenever he had a new girlfriend, my heart would hurt. After some time, I began to suspect that this was one-sided love. If he didn't like me, why did he treat me so well? It's beyond what you will normally do for a friend. I know his likes, his habits. But his feelings towards me I can never figure out. You can't expect me a girl, to ask him. Despite that, I still wanted to be by his side. Care for him, accompany him, and love him. Hoping that one day, he will come to love me. Because of this, I waited for him. Sometimes, I wondered if I should continue waiting. The pain, the dilemma accompanied me for 3 years.

At the end of my 3rd year, a junior pursued me. He pursued me every day. He's like the cool & gentle wind, trying to blow off a leaf from a tree.

In the end, I realized that I wanted to give this wind a small footing in my heart. I know the wind will bring the leaf to a better land. Finally, leaf left the tree, but the tree only smiled & didn't ask me to stay.

Leaf's departure is because of Wind's pursuit. Or cause Tree didn't ask her to stay.

Wind

Because I like a girl called leaf. Because she's so dependent on tree, so I have to be a gust wind. A wind that will blow her away. When I first met her, it was 1 month after I was transferred to this new school. I saw a petite person looking at my seniors & me playing soccer. During ECA time, she always sat there. Be it alone or with her friends, looking at him. When he talked with girls, there was jealousy in her eyes. When he looked at her, there was a smile in her eyes. Looking at her became my habit.

One day, she didn't appear. I felt something missing. I can't explain the feeling except it's a kind of uneasiness. The senior was also not there as well. I went to their classroom, hid outside and saw my senior scolding her. Tears were in her eyes while he left. The next day, I saw her at her usual place, looking at him. I walked over and smiled to her. Took out a note & gave to her. She was surprised. She looked at me, smiled & accepted the note.

The next day, she appeared & passed me a note and left. It read, "Leaf's heart is too heavy and wind couldn't blow her away."

"It's not that leaf’s heart is too heavy. It’s because leaf never wanted to leave the tree." I replied her note with this statement and slowly she started to talk to me & accepted my presents & phone calls. I knew that the person she loved was not me. But I had this perseverance that one day I will make her like me. Within 4 months, I had declared my love for her no less than 20 times. Every time, she would divert away from the topic. But I never gave up. Although I knew, she would try to divert but I still bore a small ray of hope. Hoping that she will agree to be my girlfriend. I didn't hear any reply from her over the phone. I asked, "What are you doing? How come you didn't want to reply?" She said, "I'm nodding my head". "Ah?" I couldn't believe my ears. "I'm nodding my head" She replied loudly. I hung up the phone, quickly changed and took a taxi and rushed to her place & pressed her doorbell. As soon as she opened the door, I hugged her tightly.

Leaf’s departure is because of Wind’s pursuit. Or because Tree didn't ask her to stay...

PS: This story was forwarded as an email and its actual source is unknown.

"Quarter Life Crisis"

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job... and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start from the bottom and that scares the hell out of you.

Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't. One minute, you are secure and then at the next moment, insecure.

You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are and move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such a damage to you. You lie in your bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you're doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person. You want to settle down for good because now all of a sudden that becomes top priority. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You begin to think a companion for life is better than a hundred in the shack and for once you would not mind standing tall for that special someone which otherwise you had never thought of until now.

You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself... and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!

 

We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

 

We call it the "Quarter-life Crisis."

People are really mean

People are really mean out here. And by that I mean LITERALLY.

They have a work with you and you are God to them. And that work is done, you are no more than a piece of flesh. It is really a mean and selfish world out here. I might be exaggerating just because I got to experience it, out of many experiences, but this is a fact for most of the times.

I just don’t know what do people get by being so rude, mean and selfish in life. I just don’t understand the hell of it. And I am bloody pissed off.

May be see you later when I am in a good mood.

Happy Independence Day !!!

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high

Where knowledge is free

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments

By narrow domestic walls

Where words come out from the depth of truth

Where tireless striving stretches its arm towards perfection

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way

Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

Where the mind is led forward by thee

Into ever-widening thought and action

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

-          Rabindranath Tagore

Freedom at the stroke of midnight was not something that was achieved by fluke 62 years ago. It was a well pre-planned and life straining effort. The effort of thousands of people, planning of the master minds, at the stake of lives of several innocent fellows, bills actions and movements of varied individuals and aspirations, without saying a word against anyone, on the path of Satyagraha and led by a thin man who barely had any clothes on his body drove us to the path of Freedom. We as young citizens can just imagine (probably can’t even do that) what freedom could mean and that too only on days like 26^th January and 15^th August. The next day arises and the same old story continues.

But it probably took much MUCH more than what we have read, thought or imagined by ourselves or for that matter any movie or book might have illustrated. It took their entire life. It is probably the costliest thing we are bearing while taking a breath in an independent India. Woh kehte hai na, hume viraasat mein mili hai Aazaadi. But do we truly respect this independence? I don’t think so. I am not here to debate on this topic. Only grave concern is we just don’t know what is the true spirit of freedom. Probably every aspect of today’s modern life is governed by this independence even if we have no (even the slightest) clue of it. There are still ill practices all throughout India in some corner or the other. There are still many things in this nation which seeks our attention. Corruption, child labor, bribes, dowry, child marriage and probably many more which we are not even aware of. Right? We (and I mean a literal WE; as in united) need to do something in this path to stand true to be called as an Indian. Just by writing our nationality as Indian in our resumes and by boasting of being an Indian when India-Pak match is going on, only makes us an Indian and not a true Indian. A thing done is worth more than thousand things said. I would die happily if I do one thing in my entire life before I die that would please me and my nation in some or the other way. And then imagine, if all of us have similar goals like this what would 1.15 billion junta of India would be able to do. We need a RDB scheme in some aspects of today’s modern world to make India grow better. And then I would be proud to say that I love my country.

Let us be proud of our country, let’s show respect in its success. Let’s keep our head high in glory for its developments. Let’s be boastful about its metros in Kolkata and Delhi, the backwaters and nature in Kerala, the IT hub in Bangalore, the BSEs and NSEs in Mumbai, the infrastructure in Andhra, the strong government in Gujarat, the tactics is J&K, the legislature in Chandigarh, the scenic beauty in Himachal,  Assam and Kashmir and about all other states and UTs which form our motherland. Lets stand united against every evil pointing to us and make India grow long, strong and prosperous.

A grande salaam to all those who devoted their lives so that today we can breathe free air. What a cost they have paid for liberating us.

I would like to quote few lines here:

A brief candle; both ends burning

An endless mile; a bus wheel turning

A friend to share the lonesome times

A handshake and a sip of wine

So say it loud and let it ring

We are all a part of everything

The future, present and the past

Fly on proud bird

You are free at last.

JAI HIND

5 Reasons not to Panic about Swine Flu

The world has learnt a lot about swine flu - much more than was known about previous pandemics, and much more rapidly. And technology allows instant sharing across the globe. Based on worldwide experience documented by scientists, here are 5 solid reasons why you should not panic:

1 Low Fatality: Out of over 2 lakh cases worldwide, the number of deaths is just short of 1,900, or, less than 1%. WHO says many countries are no longer recording confirmed cases. Actual number of cases might run into many more, which would bring down the number of people dying of swine flu to much lower than 1%. Many of the deaths are also due to underlying conditions or complications. In short, swine flu is not a killer disease like TB (death rate 3.5%) or respiratory diseases (death rate 11%). There is more likelihood of death in a traffic accident (1.8%) or a fire (1.4%) than by catching swine flu

2 Moderate Symptoms: Fear of suffering is next only to fear of death. Swine flu causes aches, fever, sore throat, cough, runny nose and in some cases vomiting. All this will make you (and your family) pretty miserable if you do get infected. But it's no different from having a severe case of common flu or cold. And, the symptoms can be reduced by taking (under doctor's guidance!) suitable painkillers and analgesics. Compare this to the suffering caused by diseases like malaria or cancer or by a stroke

3 Short Duration: The illness lasts up to a week in most cases. In some cases it may be shorter. It won't haunt you for a month or two like jaundice or typhoid. For this week you will suffer some isolation, but mainly you will be resting throughout, and having lots of fluids. No injections, no drips, no constant testing. Tamiflu is there, but studies show it only reduces the duration by one to two days

4 Complete Recovery: After the fever goes away on its own, you will feel weak for a few days — then back to normal. There are no lingering effects, no scars, no slow road to recovery. No future complication — in fact, you would have strengthened your immunity to the flu. You can start interacting with others within 24 hours

5 Panic Creates Problems: If you panic, rush around, crowd hospitals at the slightest sneeze, you might end up increasing the chances of actually getting swine flu. Besides, you will be unnecessarily choking the stretched medical system. Swine flu is a disease, not the end of the world. Treat it with respect and deal with it

 

 

Source - http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/Private-hospitals-reluctant-to-join-battle-against-H1N1/articleshow/4884102.cms?curpg=2

 

Get Going ....

Too many times we stand aside and let lean waters slip away,

What we have put off till tomorrow has now become today,

So don’t you sit upon the shore line and say you are satisfied,

Chose to change the rapids and dare to dance the tide!