Hungry ????

Guys (sorry gals, i m not a sexist but you would have better options :)), what do u do when, on a nice, sunny, lazy Sunday afternoon, you find yourself starving and craving for good, healthy, home cooked meal; something other than ready to eat meals, pastas, jacket potatoes, baked beans, curd-rice etc.

I was in one such dire straits (which unfortunately is the case every 6 hours with me here in Swansea :)) today ... and was contemplating to go to a nearby (so called) Indian restaurant. That’s when heavens decided to smile my way and help me out of today's craving. I was unexpectedly enlightened and like a programmed robot went to the kitchen and prepared a finger licking, hunger satisfying, scrumptious and healthy feast... I am jotting down the recipe below … so mates, go confront your hunger with this weapon …

Besides, friends, I am sure most of you all will be tempted to lift this recipe and post in your blogs or forward it to many others… (ceedy, I know that by now, you would have also thought of a nice title for posting this recipe on ambrosia ) … Don’t worry peepz, please feel free to spread this recipe without any fear of plagiarism … I believe that GOD has enlightened me so that I can pass this life saving message to as many hungry, helpless and lonely souls … I think I was the chosen ONE for this noble deed.

I request not that credit be given to me for this recipe when you guys spread it but I do request you all to ensure that my fiancé doesn’t come to know that I can do something in the kitchen. Hope you all understand the repercussions of that. :)

So, here goes the recipe:

• Take half an average sized onion and dice it finely,
• Take one average sized tomato and chop it into tiny pieces,
• Take half capsicum (green pepper) and chop that too finely,
• Take some cucumber and cut it into small thin pieces,
• Take 2 bowls of sev mamra* in a big salad bowl
• Add the chopped stuff into the salad bowl
• Sprinkle some salt and some chat masala to that
• Take 8-10 pieces of grapes (not too sour not too sweet ones) and chop it into small bits and add them to the salad bowl
• Mix the contents in the bowl well
• Squeeze half a lemon into the bowl (readymade lemon juice can be a substitute:)) (aint I talking like Sanjeev Kapoor ??? :P)
• Mix the contents in the bowl well again …
• Now sprinkle just a small amount of sev as garnishing (coriander leaves would be a good idea too but I didn’t have it at home:))
• Take a glass of Tropicana Orange Juice (not the plain one but the one with pieces of orange) to drink while relishing the feast.
  
  

Now savor your meal directly from the salad bowl. I repeat DO NOT transfer contents in another plate or bowl to eat; eat directly from the salad bowl. This enhances the taste and reduces the number of utensils to be washed :)

Well, the dish can be called as BHEL … actually SUKI BHEL (dry BHEL, since there are no chutneys). Remember that the grapes and lemon squeeze deliver the killer punch.

Cheers peepz,
~ hiren

*sev mamra = "kurmura + sev (in hindi)", "puffed rice + spicy dry indian gram noodles (in english) :D"

P.S. My naivety is so obvious in writing up recipes … I should have clicked a picture of the bhel to augment my recipe … but I was too starved to NOT to eat and click pictures for the blog :P Maybe next time when heavens decide to smile my way again :)

Imagination ....

"Only if one had the power of imagination ... the possibilities are simply endless ..."

I was watching a documentary today and realized that most of us would restrain our imaginations by weighing them down with the odds of getting them to life. However, the impediment can be our limited knowledge of things or our risk aversion nature ... whereas the realm of fantasy wouldn't be impossible after all...

Only if we had the power to overlook the feasibility aspect and let our imaginations run loose ... that would do wonders ... amazing wonders ...

Lucky are those who have the gift of pure imagination and vision.

ciao
hiren

P.S. I have said this hundred times ... and here i go again ... have been off blogger since long now ... but want to get back to it ... back to penning my thoughts ... back with narrations of the zillion things that have been happening in my life ... hopefully this post can be the stepping stone to the resumption ...

The Pulley ...

Since I am light on work nowadays; I am attending quite a few interesting and enriching training sessions that get conducted in my organization. The other day (a few weeks back) I was attending one such session on something related to business presentation skills.

After the initial introductions, expectations from the course etc, the instructor threw a sudden missile at us. She said that each one of us had to come to the podium and recite a poem. (What???? Are we here to read out poems?? Are you nuts???). Well, seemingly, this poem recital exercise would enable her to evaluate the vocal aspect of our presentation; she was trying to check the following five qualities of our voice – audibility, clarity, stability, modulation and control. (Did you ever know there were so many aspects about how the way we speak?? :))

Just as we all were staring at each other’s faces, not knowing how to react to this unexpected attack, she stated “I know all of you must be feeling weird; but trust me it will be fun.” she said with a smile, coming over to our chairs and handing each one of us print out of poems. “Take 5 minutes to read the poems, understand its message and mood and present it to rest of us.” In the following 10 minutes all of us were preparing for the recital, strategizing the pauses to be taken for emphasis, the pitch variation to be done as per the mood etc etc... and then actually reciting the poem multiple times in our heart :) it was a feeling akin to last minute revisions during the exam times.

After 10 mins, the instructor snapped, “So, who will go first? ... No volunteers? Okay, let me pick. Hiren ???.”

“Yea ... hmmmm .... yeaa ... sure...”, grrrrrrrrrr....

The other 7 people attending the course started giggling and I started my long walk towards the podium ... upon reaching there, I stood with my eyes refusing to see anywhere above the floor, for the first few seconds ... and then somehow, I managed to recite (read as narrate) the poem and there were claps all around. [That’s the benefit of a corporate crowd; you can get claps for craps too :))]

Okay, I won’t bore you all further with the session details. The intent of this post was to put up the poem that I had got to recite. It was a nice poem titled “The Pulley” by George Herbert. It has got a nice message and the simplicity of this message did strike me. Usually, I am not that much of a fan of poems, but liked this one [maybe because I had no option but to read and understand it :)]

The Pulley
by George Herbert

When God at first made man,
Having a glass of blessings standing by,
Let us (said He) pour on him all we can:
Let the world's riches, which dispersed lie,
Contract into a span.

So strength first made a way;
Then beauty flowed, then wisdom, honour, pleasure:
When almost all was out, God made a stay,
Perceiving that alone of all His treasure
Rest in the bottom lay.

For if I should (said He)
Bestow this jewel also on my creature,
He would adore My gifts instead of Me,
And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature:
So both should losers be.

Yet let him keep the rest,
But keep them with repining restlessness:
Let him be rich and weary, that, at least,
If goodness lead him not, yet weariness
May toss him to My breast.

p.s. Manallii reminded me of a quote, which describes this poem perfectly. Coincidentally, I had posted this quote around same time last year on my quotes blog.

“Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s Grace and
Your good days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s Grace ...”
~ Anonymous

Quiet & Relaxed ...

Since a few years now, I had my eyes on her. Her voluminous figure was repulsive. Moreover her meticulously detailed and sometime philosophical talks didn’t entice many. But I had fallen for her from the time I had heard about her chaste inner beauty from a few friends who had acquainted with her. For 3 long years, I tried many a times to get together with her but couldn’t succeed. But finally, our destinies converged a few weeks back; I saw her leaning prettily over a shelf at a bookstore. She was a bit overweight alright; but her striking face accentuated with hues of red was entrancing. I simply walked up to her, held her hand and got out of the store and the rest as they say is history ...

Okay, okay, gals don’t get upset or jealous!! I am just talking about a book here. I still am very much single and available :). Now, this is the first time I am writing a review of sorts for a book. Earlier I have recommended a couple of books as passing notes in my posts. But this entire post belongs to the book I just finished reading and which still has me under its binding spell.

In today’s fast paced world of short sophisticated stories, succinct narratives and innovative fictions, a 930+ pages epic based on a real life story might sound like a boring proposition. I guess I too would not pick up such a book unless I hoped to use it as a pillow (both literally and figuratively). But I had heard and read so much about this literary masterpiece that I had been itching badly to subject myself to the torture. And glad I am, that I did that to me.

Well, Shantaram is a real life inspired but fictitious account of memoirs of the author – Gregory David Roberts, an Australian fugitive who lands into Mumbai after escaping from a prison back home. Once into Mumbai he just falls in love with this city where he makes many friends, lives in Mumbai slums, deals in drugs, runs a first-aid clinic for the poor slum dwellers, finds a father figure in Mumbai's mafia, finds a few friends who could die for him and vice versa, makes a few enemies who entrap him, has near death experiences in Mumbai jail, joins the Mujahideen war in Afghanistan, becomes an important part of the mafia gang in Mumbai and zillion other things ... and did I say learns Hindi and Marathi?:) Okay, by now you must have at least realized that this book is a roller coaster ride of a plethora of emotions – trust, love, betrayal, respect, friendship, sympathy, blind faith, power, conviction etc etc etc

This one sure is right up there amongst the best prose (cant term is as the best since Bourne Identity is a tough competition :)) I have read. There are loads and loads of sentences and paragraphs in this gem that you would just want to engrave in your memory and quote them somewhere to impress others by its richness of literature and also some interesting philosophical focus. But the highlight of this book is the thoroughly detailed account of the writer’s adventures. Some of them are so comprehensive that you actually begin to feel the surroundings and start experiencing the feelings of the protagonist. For instance, after reading his ordeal at the Arthur Road prison in Mumbai; you will shudder even from the thought of spending a day in that jail. Similarly his depiction of the Mumbai slums and the entire south Mumbai area made me wonder sometimes whether I actually live in Mumbai or not.

This book is a must buy for book lovers, it is a captivating thriller sprinkled merrily with human emotions, interesting philosophy and descriptive writing. Mumbaikars will surely find a connection with this book owing to the scrupulous description of many of the city places with “Café Leopolds” being the prominent of all :).

On the flip side, in my view the book has two snags – firstly, it surely is HUGE, but, once you start this voluminous autobiography it starts growing on you and enchaining you in its grasps. Secondly, it has some open ends during the narration which might be a turn off. But most of them get clarified towards the end. Alas there are a couple of them still which I am wondering about (or did I just missed a few pages while reading the book in almost sleepy state)

Btw Warner Bros have bought the rights for making a film on this book in which Johnny Depp is slated to play the lead role while Amitabh Bachhan is slated to play the mafia head who becomes a father figure to the protagonist.

Lin Baba ki Jai Ho!!! :)

Ciao friends, tc,
hiren

p.s. the title of the post is the literal disintegration of the word “Shant - aaram” just in case you are still intrigued :)

p.p.s. now I have my eyes on another femme fatale and this one is not a book :)

Emotional Atyachaar

Friends,
I am glad to be ending my writers block with a short story. Well, here is my first attempt on writing a short story from a picture. Hope that it is at least bearable and sensible to some extent :) Earlier, a coupla times, I have tried to write something from 3WW word prompts ... but writing from a picture is a first of its kind for me. Looking forward to receiving honest comments from you guys...

I have been inspired for this post from stories by ceedy and sameera who have participated in the Ascension Short Fiction Contest running at the Jason Evan’s blog. The story cannot be of more than 250 words and has to be inspired from the given picture. So here is my rather naive attempt at it; and of course I am not submitting this amateurish entry to the contest. Although, just couldn't resist the urge to post it here.

Update: - Thanks to all your motivation and inspiration ... I did submit my story to the contest. It is entry #98 in the contest :-)

The below picture is the prompt given by Jason Evan for the Ascension contest.



Emotional Atyachaar
by Hiren

"Don’t ... I said Do NOT. Dare you step on the escalator!!!" shouted Karla at the top of her voice.

"Why are you doing this to me? You very well know that I have to get to her in time ... she ain’t going to wait for me even a minute after 9:30." I tried to plead with her while hopping on to the escalator...

"You have to make a choice today ... its her or me this time ... either you get down from the escalator or you don’t see me again..." she shouted beating her previous decibels record and ensuring that all nearby eyes gave me obtrusive glances.

"arggghhhhh .... GOD save this world from the emotional blackmail power of girls ..." I mumbled beneath my breath as I reached the first floor and got off the escalator only to take an about turn to the flight of stairs going down...

"Okay miss drama queen, happy now??" I teased her after sauntering down to the mezzanine floor where she was standing with a triumphant smirk on her otherwise innocent face.

"Darling, you are such a sweet heart!!!" she said restoring back her innocent smile.

"Anything for you dear; so which stupid hindi movie are we going for?" I mocked her again whilst thinking about the aftermath of missing the last Metra train to my town... 40 dollars cab fare to AMC, 50 dollars to drop her home, 100 dollars to reach my home :-(

Titanic ....

heyaa people,

Apologize to be absconding for so long ... was engulfed with many unavoidable agendas viz. umpteen weddings ... a couple of friends been back home from US for vacation... and yea work as usual... Now I am a bit eased out with all the weddings done with... albeit they have left me with another agenda of losing the kilos I gained during the last 3 weeks :)

My trip to north india was a pleasant one... will try to upload some pics from the trip ... special mention for two serene places that I visited in this trip – Golden Temple and Lotus Temple ... wonderful calming experience...

Thanks to all of you who were concerned about my well being during the Mumbai mishap... by gods grace all is fine with me and my near and dear ones ... I was in Delhi during that time ... just hooked on to the news channels all the time ... This terrorist attack was surely not just another one (as we Mumbaites seem to be used to them)... this one for sure has left back deep scars which will take time to heal...

Anyway, will catch up with all yaa blogs soooon... till then check this pic out... speaks a lot about the current recession and slump...

More later, till then take care !!!

ciao,
~ hiren

Season Update

heylo guys n gals ...

Just dropped in to provide a quick update – next few weeks; I will be totally engulfed in the wedding season ... and this, for sure is one of the biggest season for me ... with 7 weddings to attend in a span of just 3 weeks time.... and these are such weddings that I can miss only at the risk of getting amputated ... yea ... all of them of my friends ... well, suddenly seems everyone around me is getting hitched :)

But one good thing is that to kick start this wedding season, I am away on a 10 day trip to north India as the first wedding of the season is in Chandigarh. This is the wedding of the friend whose love story I had cited in one of my earlier posts – JoJhol. I have heard that the marriages in Chandigarh are awesome and full of fun ... so I am eagerly looking forward the experience the Punjabi style marriage...

Moreover, there are 4 of us who are leaving a bit early for spending a few days in Delhi, visiting Agra and finally a day in Amritsar to Chandigarh ... its hard to believe, but I have never visited Delhi earlier, so am excited about spending a few days there and experiencing Delhi life per se ... am also keen to visit the Golden Temple in Amritsar ... and of course to see Chandigarh as well - the only architecturally planned city in India :)...

So, people, I will be away for a while due to this trip and post that due to the numerous weddings where I will mostly spending the free time in driving from one venue to another :(

See yaa all soon .. till then take care and have fun !!!

ciao
~ hiren

Moving On ....

No friends, the current mania of quitting blogville hasn’t caught up with me; it’s just that, of late, a lot of people who affect me someway or the other are moving on in their lives. In the past few weeks; I was shocked & saddened at least 4-5 times by the unexpected avowals of people quitting blogging; jobs and cricketing careers. Believe me; this is creating a feeling of emptiness. The least I can say that all of you will surely be missed and wish you all good luck with the future endeavors.

The subsequent part of this post is my diminutive tribute to the charismatic Sourav Ganguly and the altruistic Anil Kumble; two of the very few cricketing legends of my generation who decided to end their careers. So, people who are averse to cricket can skip the below unexciting and emotional blabber :)



Yesterday, India won the coveted Border-Gavaskar trophy... by beating the hard nosed Aussies (not the Aussie countrymen per se ... but their cricket team for sure) by a thumping 2-0 margin ... Any other day such an astounding drubbing would have meant paramount pleasure and tremendous exultation ... But, with this test match being Dada’s last match and Jumbo already hanging his boots in the last test match; the victory celebrations were definitely sidelined by the emotional good-byes. This holds true for all the cricket lovers in India. Indian cricket has seen and end of an era with two of its prodigies calling it quits; whilst one can sense Jammy’s retirement too to be just around the corner.

Kumble, a fighter in true sense, a perfect gentlemen, an enviable team man, highest wicket taker for India and 3rd highest in the world, big hearted, a thinking bowler and someone whose commitment to the game was so infectious .... he will be remembered as someone who, never ever in his career spanning over 18 years, gave less than his 100% ...


Ganguly, controversy’s favorite child, most successful test captain for India, role model for the team, motivating and supportive leader (he did full justice to his nick name Dada), aggressive face of Indian Cricket, attacking batsman, affiliate of the most successful ODI opening partnership, god of off-side ... he will surely be remembered for decades to come for this contribution in taking Indian cricket forward.

Regardless of how the new look Indian team under MSD fares; Indian cricket will never be the same. I surely was lucky to be born in an era to witness the ‘god of off-side’ unleashing his sublime cover drives that effortlessly pierced packed off-side fields and the gallant leg spinner coming to take field for the sake of the team with his head wrapped in bandages owing to a broken jaw...

SG and AK, here is a heartfelt thank you to both of you for the gallant contribution and positive difference you have made to Indian cricket. God Bless!

~ hiren

Diwali Wishes ....

Friends,

May the divine light of Diwali illuminate your life with bright sparkles of joy, prosperity and peace ... wish you all a very happy and sparkling DIWALI !!!

Have been real tied up in the past few weeks, consequently, haven't been able to keep up with your blogs .... will try to catch up sooon ...

For now, its festive time here in India ... although, the festivity mood has been marred by a lot of frivolities viz. the sub-prime crisis in US, its adverse impact all over the world, stock market crashes (I should rather say collapses), forthcoming recession and subsequent pay-cuts, layoffs etc etc ..... but nevertheless Diwali has its own charm and anxiety ... so, people are still enjoying this festival with their loved ones albeit in a quite manner (literally, there are hardly 5% of fire crackers heard this time around) .... I too have managed to sneak in a week’s leave and am having a gala time with friends and family :) Hope that all of you too are enjoying this fest regardless the negativity hovering around...

Have fun and be safe ... avoid crackers and prevent noise pollution (those who want can read this as save money :))...

ciao for now,

Take Care.
~ hiren

Got no LOVE ???

Got no love ... don’t chaa worry now ... your problem ends right here...

Stumbled upon this smirky picture today ... seems that there is a desi version of the hitch budding somewhere in Karjat ... no, wait.... my apologies ... that position’s already taken by our Sallu miya ... okay maybe this guy (just a convenient assumption or writer’s liberty ... I am by no means a male chauvinist, this can very well be a gal :)) is an updated sophisticated version of the good old Baba Bengali ... “prem ki samasya? pyaar ka ijhaar? kisi bhi samasyaa ke liye sampark kare” types ;)

And come to think of it ... these guys are a touch better than our cinematic love gurus WS & SK ... they not only stop at getting two people in love.... but also guarantee the marriage ... talk about value added services :) Move away shaadi.com ... arranging a marriage is outdated ... :)

have fun friends !!!

ciao
~ hiren

P.S. if anyone of you actually end up using their services please let us know about the experience ... it would be very interesting to hear the customer testimonials ;)

** Disclaimer**
I haven’t started any such side business as an aftermath of the USA subprime crisis and this is not a marketing post :) I am in no way related to the business shown above ... for further details and clarifications please contact the numbers mentioned in the above photo... :)

a bag that wasnt a bomb ...

An incident that happened on Monday morning during my travel from Mumbai to Pune -

9:15am - Mumbai-Pune Volvo bus halts for its customary 10-15 min stop at Vashi.
9:16am - A dude gets in; places his luggage on the seat in front of me and besides an elderly uncle... then gets off the bus...
9:23am - Uncle is getting restless & anxious with the luggage in the bus and its owner missing ... so are a couple of other people.
9:26am - Uncle gets panicky; gets off the bus; calls the driver & cleaner (who were sipping tea at a stall alongside) and raises alarm ... “arey ek mulga tari aapla bag thevun gela aahe ... daha minute jaale ... kuthe disat nahi toh ... bagha tari .. bomb vomb tar nahi naa??” (A guy has left the bus after leaving his bag in the bus and cant be seen around since the past 10 mins... can it be a bomb?)
9:27am - many people get off the bus to join the commotion (including me)...
9:28am - looking at the hustle bustle, the dude who was about 50 mts away (and who btw was bidding sugary good byes to his girl friend, while waiting for the bus to start) comes rushing in ... so as to retrieve his luggage since he spotted people getting off the bus ... he thought that there was a breakdown or some other problem with the bus ....
9:30am - Everything settled, the bus resumes its journey ... the dude and the uncle have a hearty laugh over it...and I get back to reading “Road to Gandolfo”

This is the fear, that the flurry of terror attacks have created in the psyche of the people here ... I wont get into giving any sermons as to how should we retaliate ... or the terrorists’ point of view .... or HIS role ... or bitch about incompetent government & security measures ... or what is achieved by carnage of innocent lives etc etc ....

A lot has been said, shouted, cried and sighed about all these viewpoints ... the thing which enthused me to put this post up.... was a conversation with a friend who is a US national. We were discussing about the hurricane Ike, safety of her relatives etc and the topic turned to the recent bomb attacks in Delhi... my feeling of helplessness just made me blurt out to her that “at least for Ike you people have all the warnings and alerts ... and can take the precautionary measures.... here in India ... the bomb attacks come uninformed and take hundreds of innocent lives”.... (as an afterthought I realized that it was quite a rude (maybe selfish) comment on my part .... as there has been a lot of emotional and physical stress because of Ike)

Thankfully, she didn’t misunderstand my comment and her reply was pretty queer and left me at loss of words – “That is really sad. I remember when USA was attacked in 2001. I remember feeling so scared and unsure in my own home. At least one thing was a comfort that my own countrymen were not planning these attacks, which is not true for India. Indians themselves are causing the misery for their radical views.”

I could have given many counter arguments.... like not all terrorists are Indians ... there might be other countries involved etc etc ... but come to think of it ... she had got a valid point ... at the end there had to be countrymen involved at some or the other level ...I didn’t have a reply to her .... in fact I was experiencing the same helplessness that one feels when thinking about terror blasts ...

Anyways, one thing that I have pondered for years now ... is why do the terrorists have to kill innocent people to make a statement and get themselves heard??? There can be many other ways which wouldn’t involve loss of life.... and can probably have similar kind of impact ... (I will refrain from showcasing my vicious side by listing the alternatives... well ... yea i do have some wicked grey cells too ... well .... blame the numerous Robert Ludlum novels that I have read for that ... :)). No, friends ... I am in no way trying to support or justify the terrorists’ activities ... no ways, not even an iota of it ... my point is that if there is a group who can go to any length to get their points across .... why not assume a way which would not slay innocent people? This is genuinely a question that pesters me. Any idea?

ciao friends ... and take care !!!
~ hiren

P. S.: I would recommend you all to watch “Mumbai Meri Jaan” ... it’s a movie based on the 26 July train blasts in Mumbai and showcases the aftermath that a terror attack causes in the lives of common man ...

P. P. S: A couple of you have complained about me writing a lot of serious posts of late.... I agree to that and promise to try and get back to humor soon... :)

Three for thee ...

"What should we get as a present?"

"Yes, we need to figure that out ... and what are wearing for the celebration?"

"I think lets all decide on a color code ... how about black?"

"Naah ... I don’t have a good black dress ... can we go for red?"

"aaarrggghhh ... these girls ... now listen ... what do we gift him?"

"How about a big bouquet and a nice shirt??? I mean expensive one ... not real expensive but a bit ... you guys understand what I mean ... right??"

"That’s so common ... how about a nice, sexy watch?"

"I have an idea ... why not give him a sorry card?"

"Sorry Card ???"
"What ???"
"Are you nuts ????"

"Well, we all trouble him a lot ... don’t we? Yes or No ???"

"Ummm ... Yes .... "
"may be ... but not a lot .."
"Not me ... I never do that"
"Yes ... I think most of us do ..."

"So, why not take this as an opportunity to tell him we are sorry for all that trouble you have had to bear for us and because of us ... that will make him feel proud of us and we will also be benefited by seeking forgiveness for our misdoings till now ... wat say?"

"Yea ... sounds cool ... then we can start nagging him afresh from tomorrow ... wow, just like writing on clean slate... :)"

lols ...

"Cooooll ... and we will also give him an award.... because he is the best in the world ... we will thank him for caring about us so much.... I will get a nice award frame ..."

"Yep ... these two ideas sound perfect ... lets get these !!!"

Now, here is another proof that I am one favorite nephew of Uncle Murphy [nope I don’t have any NRI uncle ... this ones of the Murphy’s Law fame :)]  ... at times its months altogether and I cant think of anything more than zilch to write about [let alone write ... sometimes I cant even figure out any topic to rant about]... and today there were 3 topics in my mind tussling, scuffling & vying to get the much coveted print space on Serenity [well everyone loves their own child .. don't they ?? :-p] ... so in the end just came up with the above fictional [partly inspired from a real life incident] chat between a disobedient & nasty bunch of 10^th graders ... deliberating on the eve of Sep 5 - Teacher’s Day ...

This conversation kind of encompasses the three thoughts I wanted to pen ... viz.

1> Michhami Dukkadam:
In Jainism, we have an annual custom, where in after the last day of our sacred religious week [known as Paryushan]; we seek forgiveness from everyone [deities and human beings alike] for any intentional/unintentional hurt inflicted by our actions/words.... & “Michhami Dukkadam” is the phrase that’s used to say sorry and seek forgiveness ... genuinely ...

So, friends, if I have ever hurt you inadvertently by my posts or comments ... I sincerely apologize for it ...  “Michhami Dukkadam” ....

2> Teachers Day:
Nowadays Sep 5 goes unnoticed in most of our lives ... now that we are all into corporate world and busy with zillion things ... But rewind back to our skool/college days and all of us would have been eagerly looking forward to this day – Teachers Day !!! going to school sans uniform [of course wearing new dashing clothes], wishing our teachers, giving them flowers/gifts ... celebrating in school/tuitions ... etc etc ...

So, let’s reminisce our academic life ... and wish our teachers a very happy Teachers Day ... and thank them ... as they surely have played a decisive role in shaping up our success of today....

3> Award:
Last but not the least ... my second blog QQ was bestowed by Brilliant Weblog award from Keshi ... It’s my first blogging award ... Yipeeeeeee !!!!! Keshi, thanks a ton mate... I am really obliged and will cherish this award eternally...

ciao friends ... take good care and have a fab weekend ...
~ hiren

P.S:
"Now that the gift is taken care of ... can we decide the color code ???"

"Red ... please .... "

"Red will be too loud ... blue ??"

"aaarrggghhh ... these girls .... ;)"

Mera Bharat Jawaan

Come 15^th August and suddenly the entire nation is dressed in saffrons, whites, blues and greens ... One can spot the tirangaa hoisted ubiquitously.... sketches & photographs of our great freedom fighters & martyrs getting flashed incessantly... all the tv and radio channels become extremely patriotic... tricolor balloons, shirts, caps and what not for sale at every nook and corner .... every celebrity proudly boasting about what independence means to them .... and I must confess my own music play list also gets revamped to mostly patriotic songs (A R Rahman’s Vande Mataram leading the pack) ... [That’s a sad thing that one has to wait for about 5 months till 26^th Jan to see these feelings again :( well, lets not go there today]

Its celebration time in most of the organizations as well... mine was no exception; on the eve of Independence Day we had organized a cubicle decoration event and ethnic wear day. One thing I have noticed in the past few years; there is simply no limit to innovation and creative ideas... every time there is any such event; the ingenuity of people just oozes out which can be seen in the atypical decorative themes they come up with ... sometimes the final output even surprises the creators themselves.

I am not going to put up pics (sorry, I don’t have them as yet :() and describe the different themes. But one theme and presentation by a small group got our particular attention ... they didn’t have any flashy or abundant decorations/paintings etc ... but they presented their theme perfectly ... Their theme was not much detailed; just a teasing idea which got me pondering ...

Their theme was basically “Mera Bharat Jawan” ... they wanted to state that Independent India is not 61 years old ... but its 61 years young. Always during independence/republic day we get reminiscent of our great freedom fighters... Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, Nehru and the likes ... No doubt we should pay due homage to these legends; as they deserve every bit of it ... but now even after 61 years past our independence; we do not look forward ... we have many heroes (in their own way) in current era who are carrying forward the legacy of these great legends (viz. Abdul Kalam, Narayan Murthy, Mother Teressa, Lee/Hesh, Abhinav Bindra, Jhumpa Lahiri, Dr Homi Bhabha and several others.) These are the ones who symbolize current independent India and make it shine bright on the globe.

Sadly, despite being independent, our nation is still bounded by a strong chain of weedy bureaucracy, corruption, violence, poverty, terror attacks and several other disruptive links. It is these contemporary heroes from different parts of the nation who in their own ways are trying to cut this chain and make India break free from this captivity. The early inroads have been made through by these stars ... now its upto the youth and educated generation to help in their own ways to cut loose this chain completely and be a HERO in the history of our nation.

Reminds me of a nice punch line that I read yesterday - India Lies in YOU... googled it and found it to be an event organized by a group of students ... click the pic for more details

Earnest wishes on 61^st birthday of free India...

Vande Mataram !!!

~ hiren

P.S. A heartfelt salute and homage to the army martyrs who sacrificed their lives/families (and also those who risk their lives day in and out) for the peace & prosperity of the nation...

“That we do for ourselves we take to our graves ...
That we do for others lives in this world for eternity ...”

P.P.S. My team won the joint 2^nd prize with the above stated team. And also the best dressed female in ethnic wear was from my team...

Wordle Huddle ...

It's only words and words are all I have ...

wanna know what words you use to express yourself on your blogs ??? try this and know what your blog speaks !!!

my blog’s - graffiti wall looks awesome below and am I glad that the word "friends" is at the heart of it ?? :) and also its great to see CAN standing tall :)



Have a nice vknd ahead !!!

ciao,
- hiren

P.S. Thanks to Neo for the reference to this site ...

the "ing" tag ...

Here is another long awaiting tag ... this one was by Solitaire... so here I am completing the impending and interesting “ing” tag ... :-p


Watching: saw "Jaane Tu Yaa Jaane Naa" today … this one gets two thumbs up from me … a cool, juvenile, invigorating and vivacious movie … liked it very much … will go for it again next week :)

Listening: Nowadays my playlist comprises of Jaane tu yaa Jaane Naaa – AR Rahman rocks yet again; Boond – Jal's new album (not very new, latest would be the right word i think; nice songs); Dus Kahaniya (not many people know that this movie actually has 10 lounge tracks as well … and a few of them are simply awesome); Khuda Ke Liye; ... and actually many others like Kailash Kher, Fuzon, Atif, Rahat Ali Khan etc

Wearing: yea I have been having a quite wearing time lately :-p okay okay I know this one doesn’t mean that …. fine… at this moment I am wearing - shorts & a white t-shirt... and a big grin :-)

Missing: a few of my naalayak friends who are all having a merry time in US summers … the worst thing is that when I was in the US … I had been missing them then too since most of them were back in Mumbai that time …

Hoping: to catch up with a school friend next weekend for sure (unfortunately for some reasons or the other I have not been able to make it for abt last 6-7 weekends in a row now … and we will be catching up after years)

Craving: had been craving for a nice cuppa tea in the past 2 weeks … spent most of my time in office and was fed up with the vending machine and my office’s canteen tea …

Reading: hvnt been upto speed with reading (outside work of course) courtesy the ultra-busy days/nights that I have been having since the last few weeks. Consequently, I ended up reading a lot of back-dated news today … naah naah …. just in case you mistake me to be one of those smart geek who are up-to-date with all global, national, political news etc or the guy who is conversant with all the latest business and economic happenings (contrary to the general belief, I am one of those rare gujjus who suck at money matters … can someone give me no fuss tricks for saving and investments ??? :))…. by news I meant Sports news :-p got to know only today that Sania crashed out in the second round from Wimbledon :) …. Abt future reading … I am starting today (most probably) Chetan Bhagats "The 3 mistakes of my Life .." and am planning to get my hands on "Watch Out we are MBA …" (this one's written by a guy from my organization) and the only other thing that I have been reading recently are most of your blogs ... they have been refreshing me .. so thanks !!!:)

Finished Reading: As described in my post a few weeks back … finished reading "God's Debris" & "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" … I recommend the first one to those who (literally) like to get their head spun inside their skulls … very heavy but though provoking… and the second one is good too ... best i have read till date in terms of being unusual …

Thinking: at this point I am thinking about an answer for the below question ... [I have begun to get a lot candid nowadays on my blog]

Loving: For lack of a better answer; I am loving my blog … I mean both my blogs Serenity and QQ :)

Hating: the time when I can’t be in Bombay for the weekend ... [due to some unavoidable reasons] … oh yea …to give you all the background… I work in Pune; so I travel (almost) every Fri night to Mumbai and Monday morning back to work ...

ciao friends ...

- hiren

(I)ntrospection

Friends,

First of all, sorry for not visiting any of your blogs since the past few days as I have been having a torrid time at work this week; with situation as bad as sleeping for only 5-6 hrs in 3 days :) ... things are getting better now ...

And now here I am [this is me :)] breaking yet another sabbatical of sorts and taking up one of the two imminent tags ... this ones by ceedy ... and its kinda the myself essay we used to write during our Kindergarten days :) only a touch lengthier than that :) And this one also has also compelled me to come up with narcissism, self-introspection, confessions, candid avowals, immodesty, blabber etc etc :) so here I go ...

I am: a boy, my name is Hiren; I am 27 yrs old :)

I think: never consciously and never unnecessarily …

I know: that destiny has good things in store for me :) ...

I want: that all the people, whom I have acquainted with, to experience a gladdening emotion (like maybe a contented smile) whenever they think/talk about me...

I have: a bit of flab which I can and I should get away with :) [my weird habit related to gym is not helping this one though :-(]

I wish: *not able to express my exact emotion here* maybe just at a high level, I wish I can go back in time and prevent a cataclysm... [sorry peepz no details here]

I hate: people who are unkind to their parents, grand-parents, elders etc and ill-treat them or even talk ill about them.

I miss: my close friends as most of them have shifted base to Uncle Sam’s’ land ... and my maternal aunt, uncles, cousins …in the UK ... and nx nnn the most [crypted coz of the unable to express trait of me ...]

I fear: loneliness (not the literal one)

I feel: that no one can make (plan) life … it just happens !!! :)

I hear: nowadays, a lot of advice, recommendations and warnings to get married :)

I smell: scent of wet mud during the rain ...

I crave: for as much time possible (and more) with the people I care about...

I search: and hope for tranquility in life [this ones a cliché .. alright]

I wonder: how do so many people actually tolerate me and care for me :)

I regret: hmmm ... nothing as such ... no significant regrets !!!

I love: nature, adventure, serenity, get-together with friends, cricket, unix, challenging assignments, outdoors ... [sadly, none of these is the name of any girl :-(]

I ache: when I fail to live up to any expectations of anyone...

I am not: an atheist

I believe: A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be ...

I dance: with two left feet ... :) [except for garbas of course :)]

I sing: not to please others ... :)

I cry: only from within ... hvnt seen my tears at all since the time I can go back in my memory ...

I don’t always: lose my cool ... in fact never with my kins or friends …

I fight: a lot with my younger sister :-) … but she wins most of the times :-(

I write: yes … am a literate :)

I win: quite a few awards and recognitions at work :)

I lose: not without giving my best shot

I never: express my inner thoughts/tensions/apprehensions ... very very rarely can anyone make out when I am truly emotionally down ...

I always: trust my discretion and instincts

I confuse: my friends and family members with certain decisions of mine :)

I listen: a lot [per my friends I am a very good listener and problem solver (well, I am modest too … but for this post … I have kicked my modesty aside :)]]

I can usually be found: on the phone or internet or watching cricket when I am at home ...

I am scared: about not being able do all that I want to do for me and my near and dear ones.

I need: to find a soul mate :) [many people think it’s high time :)]

I am happy about: being born as hiren metalia ...

I imagine: this one is kinda weird … I do get lost in reveries but if u tell me to imagine a particular situation I cant do that impromptu … and while I am discussing my day dreaming here let me confess that sometimes I tend to hover down the fantasy lane....and visualize myself doing heroic things :) winning the man of the series in World Cup; preventing a catastrophic terror plot etc etc ...

pooooh ... I have never ever thought about myself so much ... :)

Let me know your impression about me after reading all this :)

ciao,
- hiren

itch ...

Frenz,

I was itching to post something thus am back again with an update :) I think you all must have got used to this lately.... but sadly I am here just to mention yet again that I am not getting enough time to write... last month or so has been very busy at work and with the onset of monsoon here weekends also end up in trekking expeditions or lazing around at some friends place sipping hot tea :) ...

So, peepz, please bear with me ... in the meantime you can read one of my old and personal favorite posts "Last Day of Your Life" ... i am sure many of you wouldn't have read this as the reader base I had then could have been counted on the fingers of just one hand :)

Other than that I am still actively posting on my other blog "QQ" ... so you all can keep visiting that page and seek some wonderful fundas of life :)

Also, will take up the impending tags soon...

Take Care.

ciao
- hiren

!**#$

This is one time of the year, when I feel very irritated with myself and helpless too ... the prime reason being that I have to resort to using the crappy means that I condemned so much a few years back.

I am talking about the managerial crap that I hated to receive from my managers .... But today how much ever I try to be objective, fair, transparent, and reasonable; there is no escape .... I do find myself resorting to some of that very crap while speaking to my subordinates ....

I have tried to reason this; haven’t got a very convincing explanation .... but I have at least understood that at times there is no way other than to beat around the bush .... am not trying to justify this but it’s a fact ... there are always a few situations when I have unwillingly had to just give fundas and no specific answers to the direct questions of my subordinates (sometimes I myself dont know the answers ... and sometimes its just not advisable or practical to share the answers wtih them ...)

Having said this I am not at all advocating for the managers who are walking stores of fundas :)

Anyways, during the last couple of days, I have received quite a few pearls of pathetic, creative and intellectual sms’s ... read those & njoi the same .. :)

My message to the world – "If you like me, raise your hand ... if not then raise your standards ..." ;) [full on attitude ... man .. awesome :-)]

Read on the fuel tank of a truck – "kam pi rani, bada mehenga hai yeh Iraq ka paani ..." [now who says truck wallahs are not intellectual and creative ???? In the light of the recent hullabaloo about the exorbitant hike in fuel prices .... it cant get more creative than this]

Aap aap ho toh kya aap ho, Hum hum hai toh kya hum hai
woh golgappa kya tasty hoga; jismein paani kum hai
isse bakwass sms bhejo; agar aap mein dum hai :)
[Can anyone of you beat this in the degree of its quotient content of pathetic ness???]

Lesson to learn from Vodafone: "job rotation"' the dog earlier with network has been now transferred to the customer care department :) [do we have a case-study here that can be used in the IIM curriculum??]

cheerio,
hiren

Weekend, Books, Movie ....

Sorry friends, no ideas and also a bit less time to write up anything good :(… so here are just some plain [maybe boring too:(] updates from my life … [I know its a long time now I have wrote anything meaningful ... guess will need to resort to 3ww soon for some prompts ...]

Weekend Update: -
had a nice weekend .... friday night went to witness MI vs KK IPL match @ Wankhede Stadium and yet again MI won ... seems like I have started to become a lucky mascot of sorts for my home team :) ... after the match just strolled around on Marine Lines [after a long long time …] ... had dinner at around 00:30 am there ... and then one of my friend's friend had got his Hero Honda Karizma to the stadium .... but started to feel a bit ill to drive the bike ... so I drove that mean machine .... wow ... driving a Karizmaaaa ... around 01:30 am in the night ... from Marine Lines to Sion .... aweeessommee .... drove at an average speed of 100 kmph and a top speed of 125 kmph .... simply blissfulllllll :) [not that I haven’t driven such mean machines at such speeds earlier … but never got a chance to do it in Mumbai .... driving a bike on the Marine Lines to Haji Ali strip at this speed was a ultra satiating experience] ... sadly had to depart with the bike at Sion as that dude lived there :( ... got into the car from there to home ... Sat was even better .... got together with some long-lost college friends and visited another friends place to congratulate him on becoming a dad ... then we all went to a sports bar to see the DD-XIP match ... played some pool [me unfortunately lost both the frames :(]... Sunday was a bit laid back... and for a change [and also to the surprise of my kins] did some work at home :) ... then saw the MI match on TV and caught up with a coupla friends in the evening ...

Books Update: -
Thankfully I am back to my book reading habit.... the current book I have laid my hands on is "God's Debris" .... just started it yesterday late night …. so not much comments except that it's a bit unusual & i found the premise good enuff [this book is described as a thought experiment written for people who enjoy having their brains spun inside their skulls :)] … And surprisingly the author of this humor devoid book is Scott Adams (Dilbert creator). And the earlier one which I finished reading has been one of the most atypical book I have read till now ... but I liked it a lot ... its title is "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" .... written by Mark Haddon .... its very differently (unusually) scripted … its about the life of a child suffering with 'Asperger Syndrome' ... not a thriller, no suspense, no romance …but then too a nice read ... a bit heavy to start with, but gets intriguing after a while ...

Movie Update: -
Saw the much famed Pakistani movie 'Khuda Ke Liye' .... i too liked it very much ... nice handling and portrayal of the subject ... some very excellent music numbers .... good acting by the star cast .... Overall a good movie ... those of you who don’t like the regular bollywood masala ... got to catch this movie for sure ...

Expectations from my wife ...

The latest innovative idea by Solitaire about coming up with a matrimonial ad for self prompted me to post this amazing forward that I had received sometime back.

Disclaimer: These are not my views ... (although I am not saying that i dont agree to them :p) ...

Now that I have seen almost 26 years of my life and most of it without anyone who I could in the true sense call as a friend ... I have been thinking now for a while as to how my spouse oughta be ... [i wud differ here ... by GODs grace i have got a few friends in true sense]

I am not looking for only a beautiful, slim and an intelligent girl....They are all clichés. [cliches are good to have too ... actually :)] The ones that matter are: -

--> The first prerequisite I expect of my wife --- No it isn't the ability to understand me, that's the second ---- the first one's a sense of humour for me and all my nonsense. [not sure abt the dude who wrote this but in my case this ones gonna be the toughest ask for her :)]

--> She must sleep in my lap and allow me into hers. She must run her hand into my hair and fight me with pillows as often as she can. [Pillow fights ... this one will be kinda first for me ... have been involved only in fists fights till now :)]

--> She must allow me to disturb her, Which I will, --- no matter how busy and serious she is and I am --- , while she goes about our household chores. [You can bet your fortune on this one ... she is gonna be ultra-irritated by me]

--> She must sit with me shoulder in shoulder when we watch the late night movie together and must oblige to have a midnight walk anytime in the night. [Midnight walk ... thoda problem hai ... no good place for a midnight walk arnd :( ]

--> When the curry isn't nice and I stare into her eyes, she must straight away go and make an omlette for me. [uh huh .. m a pure veggie ... so daal-bhaath or khichdi or sandwich too would be just fine :) .... on after thoughts .... I hope that she knows how to prepare curry in the first place]

--> When she is downright tired she must flirt with me to win a cup of tea or a glass of cold water. She must be ready to blow a kiss any time any day and any place. [It would surely take a lot of flirting for this :) and blowing kisses ... ahem ahem]

--> She should call me nicknames and how innovative she coins out new ones the better and must be prepared to confront some deadly ones in return. [Nick names .... yea why not ???]

--> She got every right to beat me up when I annoy her while she watches those dready serials. [Dready seials ... this ones the toughest ask for me to bear :)]

--> She can also extract what she wants of me on women's day. [Why only Women's day?? She can do it everyday :)]

--> And I am also ready to share her pre-marital crushes and secrets. [You know I would surely like to know about those lucky guys who didnt have to suffer for their lifetime like me :)]

--> On those rare occasions when we might fight and then go on a mourning spree, it can continue for the night. The next morning must again be normal. [Hmmmmm .... why wait till morning ???]

--> I aint promising her a paradise but yes she will always get more of my love than our children. [Dude ... paradise, more love than children ??? ... not sure i i get this sentiment of yours ??? doesn't make any sense to me ...]

--> And finally, she must have a higher life expectancy than me. I may not be able to live without her ... [hai naa ekdum filmy ??? But i guess yea i would like this tooo ... :)]

--> And the biggest expectation that this dude missed out ... she has to agree to live with my other loves ... cricket the most important of them :)

So people now that you know my expectations ... references are most welcome !!!!

Take care peepz !!!

cheerio,
Hiren

Duniyaa Hilaa Denge ....

Finally, last Sunday, the jinx has been busted …. I was in the stadium supporting my home team Mumbai Indians …. and they won the match vs the top team in the league Delhi Daredevils :) and that too playing outstandingly :) [I know its too early to elate after just a couple of wins and still the team very much unlikely to make it to the semis .... but then one should cherish every moment :)]

I won’t torture you all with any cricket blabber [as most of you got bored with my last post] …. Just enjoy the few pics below …. And let me know which one did you like the most?? [borrowed this idea from Keshi .... ty :)]

Sorry .. was tryin somethin and ended up with loads of white spaces between the pics ... its already 2 am and my brain is reluctant to work anymore ... will fix this tomm ... till then please bear with it :)

"The Gang" From L to R :- Sameer, Rumi, Bhavlo (Bhavesh), Urs Truly, Nitesh, Gugs (Ritesh)

"The misfit" .... well, all tees of my size were sold out .... so had to wear one that was a size shorter .... consequently making me look like "aspiring to be Salman Khan" :( ... but there was no option of not wearing the Mumbai Indian T-shirt ... was there ???? :) [let me hear an astounding Naaaah :)] so i decided to take this tarnishing :) and anyways no matter how many hours I spend in the gym .... I cant become Salman ..... coz I must be at least half a foot taller to him :p ... pooor he :) lol ...

"The Ground" .... players ironing out their skills with the "Last Minute Revisions" :) before the match

"The Mexican Wave" .... Can you spot "the Mexican Wave" going on in this pic??? tried many times ..but in vain to capture it properly ... finally took a video :) [btw ... can you also spot any empty place to accommodate any more people in da stadium ???? There was no space left unoccupied]

"Standing on the Edge" I think I said that a bit too early ... cricket enthusiasts can invent an empty place even when there is lack of it :)

"The Pretender" ... Nitesh wearing the MI t-shirt was actually rooting for the DDs.... his tongue out expression is more like a "Ohhhhhh" than a "Yeeaaaaaa" .... [this snap was after one of the sixes hit by Robin :) .... ]

"Dont you dare DareDevil me..." ... hmmm ... yea .... I can give that "I will beat the **** outta you" looks ... :)

"Taking your child to heights" ... is there anyway a team can afford to lose if it has supporters like this??? [the father gave his sweet little daughter an elevated view almost throughout the entire match and she seemed to be enjoying it thoroughly with incessantly clapping and waving her hands]

"MasterCard" …. There are some things that money can’t buy; for everything else there is Master Card :)

"Cowboy" ..... bang bang bang ....

"Bald Sachin" ... couldn't resist taking this one ... this kid sitting in front of us was very much engrossed in the game .... jumping at every possible ooohhs and aaahs with the crowd and then after jumping and all he would ask his sister whether it was a wicket or six or four :) .... amazing enthussiasm :)






"Child Labour" .... after all the political hullabaloo over cheerleaders ... while the DD team had banned cheerleaders altogether ... the MI team had a team of skool going kids [appeared to be so ...] performing as cheer leaders .... thus making many of us shout "Child Labour" cries time and again :)


"Save the World" .... and some compassionate guys also came up to the rescue of the cheerleaders citing a very noble cause .... any takers for this righteous cause ???









"Exit Nature Enter Virtual" ... a nice capture with the sun setting and the floodlights coming on …






"Time Please" …. we all taking a breather … [which didn’t last for more than 30 seconds though with Shaun Pollock getting rid of Mallik and getting us all up on our feet and dancing]

"Rockster kiddo" …. Now this kid sitting right behind us … was joining us in all our chants and antics … and moreover he was shouting and rooting at the top of his lungs …. Some of his comments were so innocent … "Arey Mcgrath raap raap …. Jaane de boundary" [urging Mcgrath to misfield and let the shot go for a boundary] ...

"Elated" … dancing in anticipation of the win ….

"Ecstatic" …. Jubilant after the win











"Victorious smiles" ….. Yes "V" rule :)










"Last and Best Shot" …. Showing our back to the world :) ….









Take Care yaaa alll ....
ciao,
- hiren

IPL Diaries - 1

Well, with the league already into its third week ... I am a touch late in scripting my first post about IPL [lots of things going on ... don’t get much peaceful time to jot down stuff :( ] ... but it’s never tooo late ... is it? :) After missing out on witnessing the inaugural match of my home team Mumbai Indians against the Blore RCs at the Wankhede stadium; I managed to catch the second home match against the Deccan Chargers last night at the newly built D Y Patil stadium. The MI team lost again :( that too cheaply without putting up a fight :( ... [somehow in all the matches that I have seen live in the stadium, the team I support always end up losing the match :( ... next Sunday I m planning to go the stadium & support Delhi Daredevils :) ... ].

There’s nothing notable to mention about the match, as MIs surrendered meekly to the DCs .... except that the innings played by Adam Gilchrist was simply awe-inspiring ... [me still ruing the fact that none of the sixes he hit came our way ] Most of the MI supporters got a jolt before the start of the game itself; as the captain and icon player Sachin Tendulkar wasn’t playing [still recuperating from his ‘GOD knows when it will heal’ injury ... aarrggghhhh] and the vice captain Harbhajan Singh was serving a suspension following his on field aggression getting a bit too far .... so the team mgmt decided to give Pollock the reins of the team .... who did his best to marshal the unresourceful troops .... Actually, I can go on and analyze each and every MI player ... but it will just unnecessarily make this post longer [and blasphemous and profane and uglier].

And yea, the Cheerleaders were the only entertainment source for the MI supporters :) ... they danced very well to the tunes of Hindi songs .... The DC cheergals were performing just in front of our stand. Have quite a few snaps [not only of the cheerleaders, there are quite a few of the players too :)]; but have forgotten the data transfer cable for my digicam @ home ... so will not be able to upload the snaps before weekend .... Also, the typical Mumbaiyaa music with lezims and all was too good and had all of us in the stands dancing to its tune whenever twas played ......

“Hum honge kaamyaab, hum honge kaamyaab, hum honge kaamyaan ek din !!!!” :) this was the jingle sung by our stand by the end of the match ... :) the jingle got pretty loud and was heard by the MI team players in the dug-out [we were in the pavilion stand the one that’s close to the players dug out]... from where we got a couple of irate glances and also a coupla apologizing glances :)

Now, some bytes for the new stadium that hosted its very first match of international level [figuratively]. The stadium is very well constructed and organized and moreover the pitch & the ground were looking awesome too [boundaries were a touch short though] ... Overall an excellent job done by the makers. And now that the Wankhede stadium will close down after the IPL finals, for a makeover; I am sure that the D Y Patil stadium will make up for the same. Only shortcoming is that you got to travel about an hour and a half outside the city ... and yes the usual parking crisis ensues too :)

Lastly, I am sorry for this substandard, boring, highly disconnected, news article type post ... Actually, I had quite a bit to write about viz. the build up to the match; the extreme efforts taken for getting my hands on the tickets; the eventful journey to & fro the stadium; other interesting tidbits at the stadium ... but this is all that I could come up for now ... hopefully, such dreary posts won’t become a habit.

Cheerio,
Hiren

No time for ......

aint able to get time for blogger these days :( am caught up with loads of work post my 2 week vacation :( so get absolutely no time during my (extended) office hours (am signed off on gtalk as well for most of the time :( so no stress buster at all ... ) and add to it never ending meetings :( ... late evenings are spent watching IPL matches and later some telecons ...

hope will get back to normalcy soon ...

btw here’s a good quote which i think will make most of us relate to it :)

“If it weren't for the fact that the TV set and the refrigerator are so far apart, some of us wouldn't get any exercise at all ...”
~ Joey Adams.

Take care yaaa’alll and have a splendid week ahead ...

ciao
~ hiren
(Korbo, Lodbo, Jeetbo …) :)

Back from the Expedition ...

Friends, I am back from my expedition ... but not in a state to write anything more as of now :) ... all I can say is that I have come back happy, fresh, satiated, pious, cognizant of more distant relatives/family friends, elated, erudite, blessed, energized and feeling great :)

but yeah all this at the cost of something ... the extreme (dry) heat there has been very kind and has tanned me twice as darker and also gifted me a couple of sun burns as souvenir :) ....

Lastly, I m glad that I have made it in time for the IPL matches ... it starts today :) ...

will soon catch up with all our blogs ... and also hopefully pen down the highlights of my trip ... till then take care ...

Native Expedition - prelude

After about 28 hrs from now (Sunday early morning IST to be precise); I will be leaving on a family expedition to my native; hence will be AWOL from the bloggerville for a week or so :) I am sure you all will miss me, but then don’t miss me much :-p

I have been looking forward to this trip for long .... firstly, as I needed a long and good break damn badly …. & secondly, this vacation is gonna be nice (trips to native with family always are) …. & thirdly, it has been over a coupla years since my last visit (which btw was after about 8 years since the earlier one :))

Although, its gonna be a bit tough as my native is still a characteristic village where there's no cell network, no internet access, intermittent electricity supply, water problems etc and add to that the scorching heat at this time of the year in Gujarat. But then there are many other incentives that outweigh these trivial impediments .... viz.

- the never ending planning & packing at home for the excursion (this has been going on and on @ my abode… but I was spared as I got back home just today ..... although I was shocked too to see the amount of luggage we ought to be taking with us :-));

- the pit-stops and the usual travel perquisites along with family masti;

- the picturesque vistas en route and the scenic backdrop of a hill @ my village,

- the peaceful strolls along the bank of the stream flowing by (just 400-500 meters away) our home there

- the serenity of the sedate afternoons & the silent nights ....

- the cooing of the birds

- the appetite quenching trips to the farms and eating freshly plucked fruits (corn, cucumber, guava, melons etc etc)

- the feeling of purity, un-adulteration .. all around …

- the feeling of amity by meeting various distant relatives and family-known people &

- most importantly the assurance, the contentment & the mental tranquility that will beckon on visiting our deities and other temples (seeking blessings all the while :-))

You peeps take care … and have a wonderful week ahead ... and yea if any of you want anything from Gujarat do let me know ....

ciao,

cya soon!

- hiren

Euthanasia

I came across an intriguing piece of news; which revived an anecdote during my youngistan days (cant say childhood days as it was during junior college and terming it as adolescence days gets a bit out of context :p). First, excerpts from the news article, “Germans have come up with a suicide machine which can be used for Mercy-Killing (what beats me even after weighing all the different point of view is that how can a killing be attributed as merciful?). This machine can execute people in seconds and as per the lawyers it’s not illegal as it’s the person himself who will push the button.” Some crazy researchers and their crazier inventions …

So, now getting back to the revived anecdote; during those days, courtesy one of dad's influential friends; we used to get invitation passes or privileged entry to a lot of movie/TV related things like film shooting locales, special movie screenings by producers for distributors/buyers (this one used to be the best; I had seen a few movies even 6-8 months before their official release … I remember one of such was "DIL" … while I had also seen a couple of crappy ones which aren't released even after decade now … remember one from such lot as well .. it was something like "Kaaghaz ki Naav"), television shows etc and quite other TV related stuffs … and such trips were quite exciting back in those days (arnd 10 years back). So, one such time, I got passes to participate in a talk show “Kiron Kher Today” which used to be aired on Star Plus on Saturday's prime time. Not that I had even an iota of IQ to take part in a debate of even any average topic; but who used to care then; we would be seen on TV ... on Star Plus … yeaaaa… So, me along with a couple of school friends got all dressed up in our then best pair of jeans & shirt and reached the shooting location on time.

After we reached the set, there were a few assistants explaining the topic of debate to all participating audience and a few also providing readymade questions :). We were told that the topic was “Euthansia” ... hmmm those days ... couldn't even pronounce this word properly ... forget about understanding the meaning of it. So, somehow the guys out there explained the concept of mercy-killing and told us that the debate was whether to support it or not. (btw they had to explain this to almost 90% of the participating audience :)). The experts’ panel did comprise of 4-5 proficient doctors and Mrs Kher hosted the show with aplomb. I don’t really remember the questions discussed there … and the final consensus; but I remember that I did ask 3 questions of which 2 were aired on the show and 1 got edited (btw getting edited doesn’t mean getting censored)

A few years later I did eventually begin to understand the profound implication of this term (and its different perceptions - suicide, murder, mercy-killing etc); and have been thinking over it a lot of times. Even after not taking into account the strong legal resistance and the radical moral views on this … it’s one of those topics that would always spark an endless debate … For a moment it seems logical; it’s given that the patient’s ailment is incurable … and sufferings unbearable … the eventual human fate is just around the corner … what’s the harm in relieving him of the torment … that too only with his acquiescence (this ones called voluntary euthanasia and there’s something like involuntary euthanasia too for patients who are in no state to take a decision…) But on the flip side … it seems simple considering the above facts from a third persons view … but just for a second put yourself in the victims place. An ailing person can consent anything that would end his intolerable ordeal; or even worse imagine you to be one of patient’s kin and it would hurt like nothing else when faced with such a situation (forget the decision, the mere idea of thinking on these lines will be like subjecting the kins to one of the euthanasia machines)

Its pretty tough to decide whether to support it or not … but I think I would end up on the non-supporters side… as miracles do happen … science has failed at times … whatever the medics envisage … you never know the subject might begin to lead normal life after all … (and with all the Hindi News channels nowadays showing umpteen number of unbelievable miracles … it seems that miracles are happening too many and too often these days) … no one should die before his destined death … but again what makes me so sure that euthanasia is not destined death … what makes me so sure that euthanasia is just not another way of natural death like cancer, accidents, heart attacks … well I don’t know .. maybe intuition … maybe yearning … maybe just beliefs …

That’s about it … I think I will stop this … apologize for this abrupt end … but its getting all too serious now … and someone’s said humor is my forte … so let me not venture into an unknown territory :)

Take care friends,

- hiren

P.S.: The term euthanasia comes from the Greek words "eu” and “thanatos” which combined means “well death” or "dying well".

Quandary time ...

Friends,

At present, I am faced with a crucial dilemma ... no wait ... a couple of crucial dilemmas ... and am just not able to arrive at the decision(s) ... think that i will need to resort to the penny technique that i posted sometime during the incpetion stages of my blog ... hope i will be able to make the right decision using it ...

sry, hvnt been able to write anything in the past coupla weeks ... for fillers u can chk out a post i wrote long time back which kind of goes with this situation of mine ...

take care guys,
ciao

Chai Time ...

The 3WW prompt for this Wednesday; viz Apartment, Began & Numb; took me down memory lane to almost a year back to sometime during late Jan 2007. Well, during peak winter in the States; the diminishing of sunlight as early as 4 pm itself makes a depressing surrounding... and moreover in Chicago; the killer chilly winds blowing across ur face don't even make it possible to wander (by foot) around even a few blocks; no matter how much you are geared up.

Twas one such typical cold, windy Chicago winter twilight; and moreover I didn't have much work (for a change) to see the day off... hence it was getting all the more boring. Consequently, I left office around 4 and hopped across to my abode (luckily, against all norms; I had rented an apartment (on 31st floor :)) in downtown itself just across the road from my office :p ); but even the meager 60 seconds that are required to cross the street are enough for the cold Chicago winds to make their presence felt. As usual, I opened the apartment door with my fingers all gone numb due to the chill; threw the laptop to a corner and turned on some desi muzik. Now such a setup (wintry day, depressing environment, desi music:)) is apt for nostalgia to creep in; and as it is people like me (away from hometown, family, friends) are sitting duck targets for the nostalgic melancholy.

Luckily, I had figured out a way to drive away such "feeling-low" times (which didn’t always work though :)) there were a few pals who were game anytime (like me) for a readymade cup of tea… :) so buzzed them up and told them to come by in another 5 minutes … and as expected no one said they couldn't make it :) So, I entered the rarely frequented cooking quarter in my kitchen and began to make the much famed "Hiren ke haath ki chai"… (I was certain; that this fame was only a ploy by my friends in order to get readymade tea; but then this was the only useful thing I could do in kitchen … moreover I ended up for my luncheons/dinners at their place more often than not) … And the smart me, to live up to the reputation; would put in adrakh, elaichi, chai masala (this one from home) and wat not :) and take somewhere close to an eternity to prepare the chai.

So, within another 15 mins or so; all of them arrive; one thanking me as she was also getting royally bored; other showing off as he was doing a favor by leaving his work and coming for the tea and the last one cursing her manager :) Now, we all get our hands on the tea-mugs and the khakras, chakris, theplas etc etc … and settle down in the living room …

The tête-à-tête starts gradually… "Arey yaar yeh kya music lagaya hai?? Change kar. ", "abey muzik bandh kar, TBS laga … ‘Friends’ aa raha hoga", "hiren tu har baar itni mast chai kaise banata hai? ", "aaj office mein Smith ki band baj gayee … John ne hum logon ke saamne usko mast daat diyaa …", "arey yaar aise mausam mein chai peene ka mazza hi alag hai", "chai peene ka majaa toh baarish ke time pe aata hai yaar… mast baarish aur garam chai ka glass .. ", "Bhatt na kandaa bhajjiyaa and chaa …nothing can beat that … howsoever unhygienic that was :) wat say hiren? ", "Don’t forget Shiva ki chai", "ppl, chai toh mere college canteen mein mast milti thi; the best I have ever had still (giving an apologizing glance to me)", "jab bhi mera sar dard karta tha .. my mom used to prepare mast masala chai and i did be alright within mins ... ", "hiren yaad hai? apna woh lohegaon waala trek ... wahan woh raastein par stove rakhke chai bana raha tha ..." . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . .... . . ... . . .. ..

And here we go… we ended up doing exactly what I wanted to stay away from, by calling these nuts …but believe me … "feeling nostalgic" with few friends around is far less distressing, and much better than standing by the apartment window all alone, sipping tea and getting drowned in reminiscences …

Give it a try !!!

Ciao friends, Take Care …

P.S.: - Now that I am back home, I no longer prepare tea; so all the requests for readymade tea will be forwarded to the nukkad waala chai tapri and he does make excellent chai … (you got to believe this as its coming from a pro himself) :)

Rest ...

I came across this blog where they publish three words as cues every Wednesday ... and one needs to come up with a write-up, story, sonnet, couplet or anything (expectantly meaningful :-) ) which includes the provided three words. Such an initiative is surely helpful to ppl like me who, in spite of wanting to write more often …, are challenged by the lack of topics/ideas (except cricket of course) to write about … so first kudos to the creator of the 3WW blog ... good idea dude :)

The 3WW words for this Wednesday are rest, twice and sidewalk. And here is my naïve attempt at this. Actually, I did try very hard at first to come up with some fictional, attention-grabbing, thrilling story; but the end product was a jumbled garb of sentences :-) so finally the saner half within me took control and just came up with my thoughts ... (having said that, if i would have published that jumbled garb ... it surely would have provided a good laugh to all of yaa :-) ) ... anyways let me begin now ...

The word rest straightaway brought the following quote by Sir John Lubbock to my mind “Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time…” … appealing thought eh ????

But then today’s fast paced corporate/metro life has made such rest as a much craved for, once or twice a year sporadic luxury that too can be achieved only when coupled with the cost of a vacation. Physical rest is managed somehow; but it’s the peaceful rest of mind that’s what eluding most of the metropolitan dwellers.

Going for a long stroll along the sidewalk under serene night skies has become just a topic of conversation & prose in today’s existence. The demands of life, society, career etc have increased manifold and after a hectic and stressed week; all people yearn for is some physical relaxation during weekends along with completing the other social commitments.

I was having a discussion with a couple of friends on this topic (gotcha right … there’s no other interesting matter to discuss nowadays … life has become so boring & routine :-( …) to identify the root cause for this transformation (although ditched the process of doing the Pareto Analysis or preparing the Ishikawa diagram :) …) and the final verdict was that majority of the civilization has accepted the fact (or myth that’s debatable) that life has to this fast paced … else you would miss out … but there is this diminishing minority too who still find out time for their mental tranquility …

Anyways, lemme conclude this serious (yea i can be serious and preachy sometimes :)) post of mine with another quote … “The time to relax is when you don't have time for it…” … another appealing & thought provoking quote eh ???

ciao and take care !!!

Benefits of blogging ...

All yaa fellow bloggers ... check this out - "Regular blogging could improve your social life ..."

Blogging is doubling up as social networking possibility ... in addition to a place where one can let go of his/her views, ideas, writing skills etc ... ah haan ...

Move away orkut, hi5, friendster … :)

Future of indian sports and Jodhaa Akbar ...

Firstly, sorry for this weird title .. but couldn't think of anything else ... if anyone gets some better ideas after reading the post ... please feel free to suggest ...

Secondly, I had penned down the below post on 19 Jan 2008 (the day when India won the Test match at WACA); just couldn't put it on the blog earlier. Many (not that i have many readers :)) will find this post totally out of context or even un-apprehend-able (for yaa all, check out my take on Jodhaa Akbar in the P.S. note) ... but I am sure that die hard cricket/tennis fans will be able to relive the exact feeling that i wanted to convey from this post a month back ...

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Today (that's 19 Jan 2008)... the present that the Indian cricket team has given to all us cricket fanatics is just inimitable ... am sure that there would have been many moms/grand moms etc asking "Su thayu ???" (for non gujjus, this translates to "what happened ???") when their kids must have simply started screaming their lungs out and dancing too... when R P Singh's yorker uprooted Shaun Taits off stump ...

And for once, I was delighted with Star (Hindi) News creativity ... they were airing a nice slide show of snaps from this memorable win with the background score of Lagaan's "Chale Chalo" ... and when the line "Toot Gayee jo ungli utthi ... " came, Ricky Ponting's snap, the one where he had raised his finger at SCG to (incorrectly, cheatingly, unsportsman likely) pronounce Saurav as OUT, was shown ... and this moment surely got me smirking with pride...

And yes ... Ek aur Karega ???? this simple question of Kumble to Ishant Sharma will surely become a lingo close to all cricket lovers for years and years (i think even generations) to come ...

and also today, 19 Jan 2008 saw two Indian stellar performances down under ... one at the WACA ended up on the winning side and other at Melbourne sadly on the losing end ... I am talking about Ishant Sharma and Sania Mirza ... somehow i found a lot of similarities between the contests that they were having ..

---> both were fighting out against the best in the business ... one vs ponting (in particular) & other vs Venus Williams ...
---> both are young and inexperienced
---> both gave their rivals a torrid time. Even though Sania ended up losing the game; this was one of the hard fought win for Venus. (Believe me, I had a tough time shuttling between the tennis and the cricket match; Sania was playing awesome tennis)

Today gave a satisfying feeling about the future of Indian Sports ... just hope that these talents are groomed properly ... AMEN !!!

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P.S.: saw Jodhaa Akbar yesterday night; it’s an okay movie, magnificent sets, costumes and all, great direction/cinematography for sure ... but somehow i didn’t find anything great that would justify the rave reviews it is getting on all sites. And I am sure most of you all will find this berry funny ... but I enjoyed watching Rohit Jugraj's SuperStar (the one in which Kunal Khemu plays a double role) more than Jodhaa Akbar ...

JoJhol

I am back to end another of self imposed exiles of sorts by writing about Jo-Jhol ... nay... this has got nothing to do with the "Namesake" character Gogol ... this is a creative union of names of my friend aka “Jhol” and his latest* love interest “Jo” (as he likes to call her) …

I won’t bore ya’all by writing the nitigrities of their love isstory (read as none of us “close” friends too were aware of any of the happenings until his avowal very recently :)) ... just that this incident has reinstated my faith in a couple of maxims; so jotting those down on ma blog for the benefit of rest of my single friends …

--> Keep trying unless you succeed ...

Almost on the verge of giving away his dream (the one that he was dreaming since his adolescence days) of a love marriage; to the extent that he had also seen 3-4 girls following the dreaded process of arranged marriage (add to it he had met girls from remote places outta mumbai too :))... but then this kamina was still trying to pataofy girls ... and (unfortunately for Jo :)) he finally succeeded after 10 years** …. So friends, never lose hope and give up; success might just be round the corner J … (Always have the story of King Bruce and the Spider going on at the back of your mind …)

--> Destiny can strike out of the blue ...

Things that are meant to be are just meant to be … and totally unexpected situations can lead to what is destined which in itself is unbelievable until it happens … like who would have thought that two people from vastly different cultures and backgrounds, who have met in person just for handful number of days and are sited about 650 kms apart would decide to spend the rest of their life together …

hmmmm … will end this post with hearty Congratulations to Jhol & Jo and wish them luck for an awesome life together.

ciao friends n take care,
hiren

* use of the word “latest” here is intended to mean recent just in context of time and not in numeric context; although people knowing Jhol might want to disagree :P

** 5 in college + 5 at workplace. Efforts below the age of 18 do not count, so school & junior college years not considered.

P.S. 1: Real identities concealed only after extreme pleading by Jhol :) (m writing this with a smirky & devilish smile on my face ;)) & all brutes who might get itchy to cash on this post for their sadistic pleasures are forewarned not to reveal true names in the comment section …else they might face severe consequences (jhol dost, don’t worry, I will set the comment section to be moderated:))

P.S. 2: Most important of all; no one is allowed to use this post and write comments to the effect of giving advice to me for settling down etc etc …. In short no comments about me getting married and all will be entertained. :)

Last day of your life ...

A few days ago, someone on my organization's bulletin board posted that she wanted some ideas for a write-up for a topic "What will you do if u come to know that today is the last day of your life?" ... At first it struck me as a senseless topic for a write-up for an event (must be some weird kind of event to have such a topic for write-up) ... but then gradually the topic started intriguing me ... I was busy with meetings the whole day but this question lingered in the back of my mind the entire time ... & by the time to bed I actually realized that there would be very few more thought-provocating topics than this. What if really you came to know that it was the last day of your life ??? There will be a zillion things that you would still want to do in life …

A couple of situations come to my mind straight away ...

• All the prisoners who have been sentenced to death. What must be going through their mind & heart too? Each moment after the sentence, they exactly know the number of moments they will continue to be real and then just a memory. When I talk about prisoners; don’t just think about the hoodlums and antisocial elements; but a lot of our freedom fighters were also given death sentences.

• Zaheer (Jimmy Shergill's character) in Munnabhai MBBS; the instant he comes to know that he is going to die soon, he realizes that there is nothing he has still done in his life ... was just busy taking care of all responsibilities and now he was facing death with still wanting to do so much in life.

Now getting back to the crux of this post ... what I would do if I knew today is the last day of my life ... hmmmm ... maybe play a cricket match for the last time (and perform like the man of the match of course :)) ... or maybe watch Andaz Apna Apna one last time (am sure it would already be over 100 times by then) … and identify some friend to beat the shit outta him .... (Gogo saab, main marne se pehle ek baar isko peetnaa chahtaa hoon ...) .... or maybe spam the scrap books of all my friends on orkut or send a virus to all of them (this one is bringing out the always curbed sadistic side of me ...) or maybe complete the project report that I have to deliver next day (I have always been very responsible & dedicated when it comes to work …(having a angelic smile on my face)) … or maybe … forget it …don’t want to get into the sentimental stuff…

I think the best way to avoid this situation is to believe that “Today is the last day of some of your life …” .... Doesn't this simple quote say a lot ???? (No no ... I am not the kind of guy who seeks art of living sessions :) ... just smitten by the genuineness of this quote ...

And yes .... calling someone a monkey is not a racist remark and Ponting is a cry baby and Steve Bucknor should retire ... (how could I not write something abt the biggest cricketing controversy?) ....

ciao friends,

tag - a weird post ...

When i saw a comment on ma blog stating that I was tagged; i took it to be yet another invitation of that social networking site where people tag each other ... and having ignored such tag invitations umpteen times already, i was all set to disregard this one too and visited my frenz blog (who tagged me) with the intention of writing a comment on his blog in a very decent language (yea yea .. you got that right) to stop spamming. That’s when i got to know what actually this tag is all about ... trust me i found it weird and senseless to be doing this; but hell … i found it to be interesting too ... so here i am giving it a go ...

the rules of this tag are as below

-->Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules on your blog. - The weirdo who got me into this is Viral and unfortunately I don’t have the luxury to decide whether or not to get linked to him :)

-->Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself. - really doubt if i will be able to come up with 7 weird facts about me ... you know i am so close to being perfect :)

-->Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs. - Again not sure if i will be able to come up with 7 bakra/bakris to do this weird thing :) god knows why did the inventor of this tag thingie came up with this number 7; he would have been better off doing some feasibility analysis ...

-->Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. - this one is not that difficult; if i can take care of the previous ones ...

now below are 7 weird (read as unusual) facts about me ... actually took me an eternity to think of these ...

1. Sleep has always alienated me; and i too keep the animosity burning by eluding it at every possible opportunity ... sleep is never into consideration at all in any of my planning ...

2. i despise a lot of vegetables (no hyperbole intended) and my family & roomies too have been at the end of their nerves to keep up with this peculiarity of mine ...

3. Any song that catches my attention - i can hear to it repeatedly in endless loop (rather than i can, i actually do this :)) ... and to add to the weirdosity (nice word ehh ???) even after hearing to the song countless times; i cant recollect the lyrics except for the couple of lines and the tune that might have caught my attention ...

4. i am a huge donor when it comes to Gyms; I have enrolled in gyms irrespective of my location and the gym costs (india, US etc) ... but i end up hitting the gym like a couple of days (on a higher side) per month :)

5. this one is more like a flaw in technique - in cricket while batting (of course on field and not on the comp), when i intend to hit big shots (which is almost every ball) my fore finger comes out of my grip and is stretched out on the backside handle and the neck of the bat ... (i know i run a risk of fracturing my finger like this ... but then that’s why it classifies as a weird habit) ... somehow this habit has its psychological effect on me ... (and all you buggers who are smirking now that they have got privy to this secret; they can use this to their advantage against me while bowling ... bring it on !!!)

6. my reading habit is really extreme; when i am onto it i finish a book in a matter of couple of nights ... and finish around 15-20 books in couple of months time ... and when somehow i stop reading i don’t read a book for months altogether ... currently i m into the not reading phase since last 5 months or so ... hope to switch to the other phase soon!!! Any suggestions to a good book???

7. now the last one ... and i hope ... actually, i pray … that my manager is not reading this ... i can come up with content for my blog posts only while working in office ... somehow even if i sit at home at leisure to write something i cannot come up with anything ... but while in office and amongst crunched schedule with meetings and other deadlines ... i tend to jot down stuff for the blog ... maybe stress & pressure gets the best out of me :)

now the bakra/bakris in alphabetical order ... although couldn’t think of 7 (didn’t want to tag people just for the sake of it… will add to this as and when I identify someone in the capacity to bring out his/her weird side :))

Ankush – pending
Avik – pending
Manali – pending
Kunal – pending

ciao juntaa,
hiren

Bad Luck ....

With a pile of 300 résumés on his desk and a need to pick someone quickly, my boss told me to make calls on the bottom 50 and toss the rest.

"Throw away 250 résumés?" I asked, shocked. "What if the best candidates are in there?"

"You have a point," he said. "But then again, I don't need people with bad luck here."

- Becky Horowitz (Reader's digest)

Amazing point of view; aint it ????

Catching Up on last 3 months ...

Several times during this self exile of sorts since my last post and today ... I did put pen to paper to write something (pen/paper sounds better than type .. ain't it ?) but somehow never did manage to go farther than a couple of lines ...

Anyways, a lot has ensued during the last few months ... so lemme summarize the important stuff point wise para wise … (those who require more details can get in touch with me ;))

Let me start with something that will give most of my friends sadistic pleasure ... Yes ... I have grown a year older ... on Oct 31^st, I completed 27 years on earth (naturally of this birth ... with all these reincarnation movies coming up nowadays its good to be precise) ...

Another milestone I stumbled upon is that 5 years have gone by of my professional life ... (and also of my loyalty to Infosys:)) ... Damn … can't digest the fact that it is more than 5 years since I made the drastic transition from the enjoyable grueling of academic days to the ever demanding & competitive world of IT services ... Even in this world, all is happening seemingly too fast ... I have transitioned rapidly from a fresher to Software Engg to Analyst to Team Lead and now toddling towards managerial chores ...

Amongst all this; I earned an Excellence Award in my organization for my performance in 2007 (this is the third consecutive year that I have won this award :-) ) ... The award was presented by the Chak De India girl - Vidya (for those who just paid attention to her looks and can't recollect who Vidya ??? – She was the captain/goal keeper of the team…)

And yes how can I not mention the most prolific thing that has been happening all this while; my family members, relatives, close friends, not so close friends, neighbours, neighbours relatives and many other shubh chintaks can not stop advising (along with expert opinions, analysis, and believe it or not case studies too) me to get married and settle down in life … The pressure sure is mounting day by day … seems like some girl is going to suffer soon :-)

Lot has transpired in the world of sports too… the young Indian team won the T20 WC title :); MSD got promoted to lead the ODI team along with T20s (think of it ... he now leads SRT whom he has been idolizing all his time while growing up ... some guys do actually live their dreams...) RD was dropped from the ODI side ... Aussies continued their dominance over the rest of the world ... and Dhoni's boys swept Pak in the ODI series ... and yes this one needs a mention too ... Kimi Raikkonen won the F1 championship despite all odds (life sure is full of surprises) ...

Our very own bollywood too has some updates … RGVs aag has ceased … SLB has tried to do an RGV with Sawariyaa but he has to accept the fact that its impossible to beat RGV... OSO is just so-so … the pick of the lot in the last 3 months or so have been Johnny Gaddar, Jab We Met, Dhamaal to an extent …

Signing off for now and hopefully not for another exile … cya soon !!

Cheerio !!!

(A)AGony !!!!!

Even after reading (g)rave reviews by all possible media mediums; I had to give in to pressure by a couple of good friends (i know its tough to digest that anyone other than a foe can take you for such a movie; but then my friends have always been unpredictable and adventurous). I agreed to make a FOOL of myself by going to watch the disaster (one in a century types) RGV ki AAG ... (although I agreed only after making a deal with ma friends that no matter what we will leave the theatre in the Intermission). It was all the more agonizing for me (being the cricket fanatic that I am); as for this movie I was missing England’s run chase from the Ind-Eng 5th ODI match ...

So, finally after beating the Sunday evening Mumbai traffic; we managed to enter the theatre just before the show was about to start; and believe me I have been to theatre for many many pathetic movies which most of you would never dare to watch on TV too... but never ever in my lifetime I have seen a theatre so empty … that too on a Sunday :-) Well, nonetheless we made up our minds to at least derive some sadistic pleasure from this movie; settled down in our seats with pop corn, samosas, pepsi and then the defining moment struck ... here was Mohanlal in his hybrid Hindi taking some cops into flashback where he got two taporis to help him in his vengeance against dreaded hoodlum Babban ...

I won’t be able to give a detailed review of the film because I hardly saw the film for 20-25 minutes (that too adding up all the time that I was in there eating popcorn as I spent most of my time in the theatre lobby :) ) … but whatever I saw is enough for me to pronounce this film as the best effort to make the worst film in the history of bollywood … whoever say that B-grade flicks are unwatchable should watch this movie for 30 mins (if I advise anyone to watch the entire film .. I run a risk of getting charged for attempted murder)

But then God is great ... the multiplex where I had ended up for a torturous suicide; had plasma TVs in their lobbies and they were playing the IND-ENG ODI :-) So, for most part of the movie I ended up standing in the lobby watching the match :) (those who don’t believe in GOD do take note … RGVs AAG has done at least one good thing; it did amplify my faith in GOD). My friends had more endurance and patience to watch the film for a good 90 minutes … before they broke up …

But I can say that the end of this film is a BIG suspense … more so because there are not many who lived to see the end of the film … so hardly any one would know the climax of AAG !!! Can you believe this; a good 4-5 people left the screen even before the entry of Amitabh Babban.

Even if the original SHOLAY is released into the multiplexes; I am absolutely sure that it will do much much much better business both commercially and of entertaining the people.

P.S: I have never reviewed any film before this … but this time I thought that if I can save even one soul from watching this movie after reading this post of mine ... it would add up to my good deeds in life and I would feel like a doctor who saves a life !!!

Luck ...

He worked by day And toiled by night.
He gave up play And some delight.
Dry books he read, New things to learn.
And forged ahead, Success to earn.
He plodded on with Faith and pluck;
And when he won, they called it luck …

A nice little sonnet by an anonymous writer ... I am sure at some point, all of us have been at the receiving end of this :)

A nice addendum in the comments section by Neo -

One was asked- "Do you believe in luck?"and he replied -" How else do you justify your rival's success!!!!!

Just like that ...

It might seem that I am getting obsessed with cartoon strips of late :) ... but this one presents predicament of thousands in a plain simple sentence.


BTW this ones from "Just Like That" featured in today's TOI.

Saddened by today's Media ...

Not that this is something new or unexpected ... but when you look at the articles and footage and the melodrama created after just one sentence of Zaheer Khan in an interview to a news channel; you are forced to smirk at the desperate measures that media are taking to thrive in today's throat cutting competition ... and reinforces the business strategy of any field ... Give more of what sells rather than what makes sense !!!

Any of you sensible guys out there who must have got a chance to see the interview .. can easily figure out that it was just an innocent sentence which said .."Not really ... I was not tired as such ..." (What do u expect him to answer a question "Were you Tired???" ... do you expect him to say that "Yea .. I was dead tired !!!") ... and voila ... the media got fodder for their cricket gossip ... with headlines "Zaheer contradicts Dravid", "Zaheer takes on Dravid", "Zaheer's disclosure brings more embarrassment for Dravid", "Zaheer's beamer to Dravid", "Zaheers bouncer: I was ready for follow on" ... whereas in the interview Zak also followed up his comment saying that the follow-on was a team decision and he definitely went with the team decision ... never during his interview does one get the feeling that he opposed Dravid's decision of not enforcing the follow on ...

But just imagine what the number of people who wouldn't have seen the interview; will start thinking after reading/seeing all these about ZK as a team man?? Many will think that just one good performance has gone to his head ... Wat repercussions will this have on Zaks and RD's working relationship???

I do understand the competitiveness of today’s media due to which each one trying to come up with something that can lure in audience ... but how I and million others just wish that they would spend the same amount of time, enthusiasm and resources and focus on some REAL news !!!!

P.S: Having said this I would like to duly mention that our media has been doing a lot of nice, extreme and real journalism too .. which has been a triggering force for lot of improvements nation wide ... but just that all of them give more than required footage to such gossips .. which is what gets annoying at times ... you are surfing the news channels to get some news and you are bombarded with BREAKING news like these :-( well ... rather than annoying it makes me sad ...

Addendum to the last post ....

Another cartoon by Rajneesh ... on the similar lines to the last post ... i wouldnt say that this one relates to me .... but its nevertheless entertaining ... :)

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P.S: - I had obtained the soft copy of the last cartoon strip from Rajneesh himself ... and today he sent this related one across to me on his own ...

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@ Rajneesh -> thanks man ... and keep up the good work of making people smile !!!!

My state of mind ... literally

An excerpt from a fundoo cartoon strip "This is our life" by Rajneesh Kapoor. I couldn't help but smile after reading this one ... relates to me cent percent :-)

Cheers !!!

Resume Gaffes

A nice read for linkedin members ...

http://www.linkedin.com/answers/career-education/resume-writing/CAR_RSW/76934-7009368?trk=mh_viewq_2

Hum kis gali jaa rahe hai ???

"Hum kis gali jaa rahein hai ... apna koi thikana nahin ...."

I have always wondered how everyone tries to relate to some song/movie/incident in others life to their own. And I bet that almost 90 % of entire human race will relate to the above quoted prologue of one of Atif Aslam's song from his new album Doorie.

I have always admired (secretly though ;)) my friends, colleagues who were so clear about what their objectives in life and planned according to their goals ... and I am glad that most of them have been successful in doing so and are doing pretty well ... (Actually it’s not just the big professional and personal goals in life; I am more amazed at how they are clear about far more trivial things in day to day life)

But damn I am very bad (worse actually) at it ... so I have always coin a nice little excuse for that ... "I like to take life as it comes …" ... well I think I actually do… and by gods grace have been doing well without planning as well !!!

P.S : - Relating to ones own life ("philosophical crap" as most of my friends would put it ...) part of the song aside; this song is awesome to listen to as well with nice guitaring (if there is such a word)... give it an ear sometime and I am sure you will like it ...

Can't make up your mind ????

Whenever you're called on to make up your mind, and you're hampered by not having any, the best way to solve the dilemma, you'll find, is simply by spinning a penny. No - not so that chance shall decide the affair while you're passively standing there moping; but the moment the penny is up in the air, you suddenly know what you're hoping ...

This has happened to me ... and it works !!!! :-)

One more beginning ...

well ... i hv been reading tonnes of blogs of friends, friend's friends, strangers ... and every time i would finish reading one i would be compelled to write one myself ... not that i do not want to be left out of this blogging trend ... but am convinced that jotting down the learning's, observations, experiences (good & bad) etc of owns real life incidents has a calming effect somewhere or the other ... so i m ready to showcase my terrible writing skills to all :) so ppl BEWARE and get prepared for some torture ...