Stranger in a StrangeLand

I have the Flu

2009-08-19T07:49:00.000-07:00

Well OK this isn't exactly something like the proclamation Prince Adam made before he turned to He-Man, but it is a fact nevertheless. However, it’s not a particularly memorable event in my life that I would wish to record in my blog, and most certainly not something that would drag me out of my year long blogosphere slumber; in fact my unpleasant “experience” so far has made me want to write about this despite the 101 F temperature(last measured) that it has brought along.

Ok, 1st things 1st, I don’t seem to have the swine flu yet. My local general physician told me I didn’t seem likely to have it and yet told me to get a throat/nasal swab test done-If I wanted to. However, with the way things are going in India in general, and Bangalore in particular, you can’t really blame me for being a bit cautious.

Flashback to last Friday night, I was as hale and hearty as I could be, and celebrated the onset of yet another weekend with a friend at a local watering hole. Next morning as I woke up with a stuffy nose I realized that I’d forgotten to slow down the fan at night, which, in this cold Bangalore weather, at least to me seemed to be the only plausible reason for it.
Now as luck would have it, my colleagues’ had already booked tickets for the noon show of “Kaminey”, and I figured when so many of us were going there could be no reason for me not to.

So knowing fully well the extent of the spread of Swine flu in the city, I went to a chemist and got myself a surgical mask(just in case), and went for the show. As soon as I stepped in, however, whatever little fear of ridicule I had in my mind over wearing that mask evaporated immediately since the whole theatre looked like a sea of green masks(wish I could take that pic).We all too wore our masks and watched the movie ( OK I agree the movie wasn’t really worth all that trouble, but what the heck- let’s not go there right now.)

So the point is I came back from the movie same as before, nothing but a nasal congestion.
Now I wake up late on Sunday and it’s yet another lazy Sunday for me, nothing out of the ordinary, had a late brunch, the usual siesta, talked to some friends and that’s about it.

Monday was back to office and the usual routine, however, by this time almost everyone was talking about the flu, maybe because the death of 2 more women from Bangalore had made it the city with 2nd most fatalities in India. Circulars were going around, our washrooms, cafeteria etc. - there were health advisory posters everywhere.
I tried to follow all safety norms as advised, washing my hands frequently-especially after touching door knobs etc. , not shaking hands with people etc. However, I noticed in the afternoon that there were 2 people in my immediate vicinity coughing and sneezing intermittently, and each time they did, it sent alarm bells ringing everywhere.
I too had a blocked nose till then, but their conditions seemed at least like a very bad cold, if nothing worse. I didn’t pay much attention to them and continued my work as usual, however, by late evening I noticed my voice getting hoarse(besides the stuffy nose) . Either ways, this day too passed as usual.
On Tuesday I woke up with a sore throat and the same nasal blockage, but otherwise was still feeling fine so never even paid it much attention. At work, those 2 colleagues were still present without any visible signs of improvements, making almost everyone around uncomfortable. By late noon (post lunch) I had a running nose, and that’s the 1st time I had any idea that there was something wrong. By 5 pm I found the cold getting worse so I told boss I would be leaving early.
I immediately rushed to the chemist(with my mask on), got a few paracetamols, a thermometer, some disposable masks, a strip of strepsils and a hand sanitizer, then ate some hot Mexican soup and reached home. I checked my fever to find it at fluctuating between 99-100 F, so wasn’t anything alarming. Yet I took the meds and went to sleep.
Today morning I wake up late again to the same fever (100F) accompanied by All the symptoms of this “Swine” flu- running nose, heavy breathing, congestion in the chest, sore throat, exhaustion as well as watery eyes. That almost all these symptoms are also common to the – well what else, “common” flu, is another matter.
I called up boss to tell him I wasn’t well and was taking an off, then had lunch home delivered, and then decided to visit the closest hospital- a private medical college where apparently they were conducting the swine flu test too.
Now this is where I had the experience that left me embittered.
I reached the hospital around 3 pm, went to the pharmacy 1st to get an N95 mask(since I was about to go into a room full of H1N1 suspects), then I asked my way around and was told to fill a form and submit it to the reception 1st.
This was the 1st jolt I got, out there in the open, there was a table with some stacks of forms with pens lying around, which people were supposed to come, fill up using those pens, out the pens back, and then submit those forms at the counter.
Now is it just me or is the hospital management blind to the most basic of precautionary measures to help prevent the spread of the flu?
Here were suspected H1N1 patients (such as myself), using those pens to write, which would be used again by some poor patient later. Now of course I disinfected my hands before/after using that pen with the sanitiser, but I’m sure not everyone visiting here would’ve been that cautious.
After filling in the form I was supposed to submit it at a counter, where again a poor lady was collecting the forms from everyone and manually feeding the information into a computer.
I was told to go to the general physician, where I was given a token (mine was #20 and #8 had just gone inside) and was told to wait for my turn. An hour passed and the counter had just moved to #10. There were patients with routine illnesses interspersed with swine flu suspects, most of them without any masks, and it was clearly just a matter of time before some poor chap would contract it. I waited for an excruciating 4.5 hours(with 100F fever) in the queue before my turn finally came.
The doctor enquired about my symptoms:
Running Nose-“Yes”,
Sore throat-“Yes”,
Headache-“No”,
Nausea-“No”,
Heavy Breathing-“Yes”,
Fever-“Yes”,
High fever for more than 3 days-“No”
Then he checked my BP and pulse and told me that most probably it was seasonal influenza, and it was upto me whether to get tested for swine flu or not.Then he prescribed some antibiotics and that was the end of it.

What I was really piqued by was not just that it took 4.5 hours for the doc to tell me there was nothing to indicate H1N1, but the lack of proper arrangements for people who might require immediate medical care.

When it’s a known fact how this virus is spreading like wild fire, and when this hospital claimed to be taking care of swine flu suspects, why couldn’t they have a separate doctor dedicated for swine flu suspects only? Not only would that insure swift diagnosis for flu suspects, it would shield the other patients from catching it!
Why couldn’t the patients be segregated to give a higher priority to those running a high fever/ chances of complications? Imagine some old person with H1N1 running a high fever having to wait it out for 4.5 hours, by the time he reaches the doc it just might be too late!

Now as I write this after having returned from that rather exhausting diagnosis, my fever has gone up to 101, still I’ve taken solace in the assurance of the doc that this is just another “common” flu. I sure hope that's what it remains!

7 Days in Ladakh - Day 3 - Keylong to Leh via Baralacha La and Tangalang La

2008-12-04T10:48:00.000-08:00

21st Oct,2008.

The first thing I realized on waking up in the freezing cold was the heart warming sight of bright sunshine peeping in through the window. As we came out in the balcony, the view of crystal clear blue skies and sunlit white peaks gave us the much required hope to carry on the trip.
As we met up with the driver, he too suggested it should be fine to move on.

We were in a surprisingly good mood today compared to the night before, perhaps something to do with the high altitude taking it's toll in the evenings. It's happened to me before at Gangotri in 2006, when I was terribly depressed and had a feeling of impending doom at night, but just like today it was gone the next morning.
Or our immunity could be the effect of Anti mountain sickness (Diamox) pills which we popped in last night, and on which I could write an entire post, but maybe i'll save that for later.

Though we were ready to leave by 5:30am(we wanted to cover the next 300 odd kms asap while the weather was still clear), the driver suggested we leave by 6:30 as he calculated that it would give sufficient time for any ice accumulated on the high pass to have melted when we reached there.
Soon after we started we crossed the next small settlement of Jispa and reached the final human habitation for next 300 kms, a village called Darcha where we halted for breakfast. Darcha is also the starting point for the famous 20 day Lamayuru trek.

(Approaching Darcha)

The next stop was just 16 km from Darcha at the most beautiful sight yet, a small high altitude lake (more of a pond) called DeepakTal, with a near perfect reflection of the ChandraBhaga peaks behind; and the picture we took here was perhaps among the best in the trip, which says a lot considering the fact that almost all were out of this world. Our driver also collected some mud from here to use on the icy roads later to prevent skidding.

(DeepakTal)

Now we started with our first real ascent and the views again changed dramatically as we entered the Greater Himalayas.
The Himalayas can be broadly categorised into following ranges in the North: The Dhauladhar range or Lesser Himalayas which includes Dharamshala,Dalhousie and uptil Patni top pass between Jammu and Srinagar, The Middle Himalayas or Pir Panjal range extending from Gulmarg in Kashmir to Lahaul and Rohtang in Himachal, and the Greater Himalayas beyond this which contain some of the world's highest peaks.

It takes some time to really appreciate the towering stature of Himalayas among the world's mountains -more than top 100 of world's highest peaks are located here, in fact the highest peak outside this region is Mt. Aconcagua in Andes in South America, which at 22,841 ft it's still 1000 ft shorter than the 100th ranking Himalayan peak(and Everest is 29,000!).
No wonder then that they're the Grand Daddy's of mountains, with a veritable embarassment of riches bestowed upon them.

Soon we entered the snow country of ChandraBhaga glacier, and the temperature dipped a few degrees further down.It was white as far as the eye could see, and the driver showed us the spot where 5 people had died in an avalanche just about a month back. We did feel a little nervous here since we could see the wind blowing off freshly fallen snow just above the road. As we reached the first major pass BaralachaLa at 16,400 ft, we got down for a quick photo op. The lake below the pass-SurajTal, had completely frozen over, though this was just the beginning of winters.

We quickly realised how deceptively deadly this otherwise beautiful view could be, since though we were out for just 3-4 minutes, yet our hands and faces had gone completely numb in the cold and had to be vigorously rubbed back to life.
I wondered how many minutes would it take for a person to get hypothermia here if stranded alone- not too many for sure.

Getting down the northern side of BaralachaLa we got our first glimpse of the dry high mountain desert that is Ladakh.

(Down from Baralach La)

We soon touched Sarchu in the Lingti plains, where we saw a completely different landscape at 13000 ft. This serves as a camping ground for travellers during peak season (though sleeping at this altitude without acclimatisation is a sureshot invitation to mountain sickness)

(Sarchu Plains)

Again there was no sign of life anywhere in this stretch, but our gasps of surprise and exclamations of delight at the vistas commenced here. Me and Hari kept shuffling the cameras between us depending on which side window offered a better view, and trust me it wasn't easy to decide !

The valley was divided by the Lingti river, and beautiful formations of stalagmite and stalactites accompanied us all along.

(Crossing Lingti Nallah)

As soon as we crossed the Lingti nallah we were officially inside the state of Jammu & Kashmir and India's largest district of Ladakh.

(Gatta Loops)

We begin climbing the circuitous 21 hairpin bends known as Gatta loops, which would eventually elevate us from valley floor to a height of 16,616 ft to the second pass LachulungLa.

The pass in itself was not very significant, and we descended from this peak again to the valley of Pang.

Here, for the first time in the trip, we saw a sign of habitation, a tent put up by group of 5-6 Ladakhi women to serve as a makeshift dhaba, where the ITBP jawans were enjoying themselves to a cup of tea and maggie. It was 2 pm and our driver also needed a break from driving, so we had lunch of hot maggie with traditional Ladakhi butter tea here, with the butter said to energize against the biting cold.

(Crossing over into Morre plains)

Ascending from here we soon entered the Morre plains, which is a flat plateau at 16,000 ft! The stunning views here were among the best in the entire 7 day trip, since we had snow capped peaks just in the immediate vicinity, which for a change were not towering above us but seemed to be almost approachable.

No wonder this route is said to be among the best for motorcycle rides in the world, I made a pledge here to be back some day, hopefully on my Thunderbird.

There's again an ascent to the second highest pass of the world, also the third and final barrier to Leh- TaglangLa at 17,582 ft. We got out and clicked some pics as it offered jaw dropping views to the valleys and peaks on both sides, with the Karakoram range also visible up North.This incidentally also happened to be the very place where the Kargil war in Lakshaya was filmed.

From here it was a descent and 2 hours drive to the first Ladakhi village Upshi, a whole new world altogether. The people, the housing style, the language, everything had changed by now. One could almost feel as if one was in Tibet.

(Yaks grazing at Upshi)

We reached Leh by 7 pm, and our driver took us to the Hotel Tso-Morri's, comfortably located in the heart of Leh, just across the main bazaar. It was dark already and the night temperature was dipping to -7 in Leh, so we just went to a Tibetan restaurant in the bazaar for some hot soup and momos, and settled down in our hotel for a much deserved night's sleep!

7 Days in Ladakh - Day 2 - Manali to Keylong via Rohtang

2008-11-24T12:16:00.000-08:00

The call from our reception at sharp 5:30 am announced the arrival our taxi and we had about an hour to check out and start for Rohtang, and to our surprise, we managed!
Our driver was a young Nepali (Sherpa) lad, who would later impress us with his grasp over the history, geography and even politics of Ladakh and Kashmir. Of course the fact that the Sherpas with their legendary immunity to severe cold and high altitudes (Nepal has the likes of Mt Everest in their backyard), are the best guides and drivers in such terrains did put us a bit at ease too.

It was a pleasant drive early in the morning, and in half an hour we reached the base of a mountain from where it was a constant steep climb to Rohtang, taking us from 7000 ft to 13000 ft in about 2 hours flat!

Soon we got stuck in a traffic jam (highest in the world?) as a car got stuck in the slush on the narrow highway, causing scores of tourist vehicles to queue up behind. Rohtang is an extremely popular spot tourists lining up to check out the snow which adorns it for almost 10 months round the year.

There was a huge contingent of tourists from a particular state (I won't say which!),whose sight was so hilarious it made me burst into peals of laughter - they were covered in like 10 layers of clothing causing them to walk like a robot - enough to embarrass an Eskimo, and we were not even near snow yet !

The view gradually changed from scenic to spectacular, as we left the pine tree forests and moved up above the tree line into rocky snow bound peaks.

Soon we reached RohtangLa top, our first pass as well as our first encounter with snow on the trip.

Rohtang, by the way, means - "The Pass of the heaps of corpses" in Tibetan - a deadly name for so beautiful a place. It also serves as a natural climate barrier between the fertile green valleys south to it, and the dry high altitude desert of Ladakh to the north.

This was my 4th visit to this Pass, the last being in 2005; still it felt as refreshing as the first time.
There was plenty of snow around and the locals were making good money by renting ski's to tourists who seemed content with walking 10 steps with the ski's on ( and falling down on 5 of them!)

We too trekked to a snow clad cliff and after frolicking in the snow for half an hour, we resumed our journey down the other side of the mountain towards Khoksar.

We could see the beautiful ChandraBhaga massif on the far opposite side, which was permafrost(PERMAnently FROzen for 12 months), and as it was shrouded in dark clouds our driver said it was snowing there right now, and if it snowed too heavily we may not be able to cross it the next day!

Descending on the other side of Rohtang, we could see the stark contrast in landscape, from green alpine meadows of the Pir Panjal range earlier, to the barren but majestic high peaks of the Great Himalayan chain, signaling our arrival in the tribal region of Lahaul.

We stopped for a cup of tea in the small village called Khoksar at the bottom of the mountain, where Mr. Driver quite "encouragingly" told us about him being stranded in this very village for a week, in 6 feet of snow just a month back. Charming!

As we continued further in the flat valley, we saw our first river of the trip, the enchanting emerald green waters of the Chandra(moon) river, coming down from the ChandraBhaga massif near BaralachaLa, and later we saw it's confluence with the Bhaga(Sun) river to form the ChandraBhaga or Chenab, as it's called in Kashmir and Pakistan.

The next stop was at a gas station to fill our tanks since a board proudly pronounced the fact that there was no gas station for the next 365 kms.... till Leh!

We reached the small town of Keylong(administrative center for Lahaul district) before sunset and checked into a small but strategically located hotel - our balcony gave us the best views I've ever had from anywhere - humongous snow capped peaks towering bang opposite forming a kind of semi circle around us(Video below). We had a cup of "High" tea sitting there, and just marveled at the beauty around for some time, though it was bitterly cold out there, and it still seemed to be snowing at the peaks around.

As we huddled into the restaurant later for some hot soup, we were informed that we were the only guests in the hotel, and also probably the town since it was off-season and they were about to shut down for winters in 2-3 days.

This was also the 1st time (not the last though!) that we were told in no uncertain terms that it was not worth risking our lives for some (mis)adventure since the weather was very unpredictable and heavy snowfall on the next 3 passes could trap us in 300 kms of 15,000 ft high freezing desert. Even the Army, having already cleared the highway 2 times in the last month and carrying out search and rescue operations for those stranded, had now declared that the highway would shut down after the next snowfall (would not be cleared).

We were "Shaken, not Stirred" on hearing all of this and decided not to give too much attention to the doomsayers. However, when we went out for a stroll in the small bazaar, a certain shopkeeper who seemed too keen to don the role of our guardian angel as he was hell bent on making us turn back! He said only a 4 wheel drive could get through the icy roads safely, and though the driver's risk was kind of an occupational hazard, we were risking it just for fun!

We returned to the hotel feeling a bit "stirred" now, and it was as if a pall of gloom had descended upon us - we mutually decided not to talk about it till next morning - and then take a call depending on the weather - whether or not to proceed !

7 Days in Ladakh - Day 1 - 19th Oct - Manali

2008-11-18T10:13:00.000-08:00

We allowed ourselves the luxury(?) of waking up at 9 am and ordered a cup of bed tea to help us overcome the drowsiness and cold. As soon as we unfurled the curtains we saw the first view of Manali(we had reached at dark); Alpine meadows with snow clad peaks as a backdrop made it seem like a painting hung on the wall - too good to be true - an expression which was used almost regularly on this trip !

(Checking out the view from our window)
We thought of taking a morning walk up the Mall and have breakfast before coming back and taking a shower.
I just loved this aimless walk around the main bazaar on this really sunny Sunday morning. How I wished every Sunday to be the same!
Time seemed to stand still as we sat on a bench on the sidewalk gazing at the passers-by; few old wrinkled faces, some smoking a beedi and all wearing their round Himachali caps, groups of gypsy womenfolk dressed in the their traditional attire with heavy silver jewellery, a bunch of kids giggling away with the innocence that only a child could have.

Philosophical thoughts aside, we lazily dragged ourselves to the nearest restaurant for traditional Punjabi breakfast - Stuffed paranthas with white butter. I can't begin to express how delighted I was to savour these delicacies in Manali(it's proximity to the state ensured most tourists were Punjabis') , though Bangalore had it's fair share of Punjabi joints but there was simply no comparison with the real deal.

Next we went back to the hotel, freshened up, and went to our hotel's terrace for a photoshoot.

The view was breathtaking to say the least, and it motivated me enough to pose as if I was getting my portfolio done.

Finally we decided to go for some local sight-seeing - Hidimba temple was the main destination which almost every visitor to Manali was supposed to visit.
It was a good 4 kms of walk from the Mall, and as we reached the gates we saw a couple of Yak-wallas and women with rabbits, all to entice the enthu tourist for an interesting pic.
Not a bad idea actually, since I quite liked the pics anyway.

The temple was said to be about 500 years old and built by the local king in honour of Hidimba, who was the sister of the Demon Hidimb but attained the status of a Goddess by her penance; also the wife of Bheem and the mother of Ghatotkacha.

The location of the temple is ideal, amidst huge pine trees and green meadows.

We found some more beautiful places to shoot on the way back

By the time we reached back it was almost 4 pm, so we grabbed a quick bite and proceeded for some shopping in the Mall for the trip ahead: gloves, woollen socks,caps etc. all could be had for much lower prices(by Bglore standards)

Next we went to a travel agent to get our tickets for the Manali -Leh trip for the next day; we had 2 options- A) Get a full taxi for 6000 and B) Get a shared one for 1500 per seat, with of course the problem being we couldn't know if we would get the window seats (which was a MUST), and if by a stroke of ill luck(of which we have plenty) had we gotten the rear end seats then even God couldn't have saved us from motion sickness ( on top of mountain sickness)

So we mutually agreed on A) being the only practical option, and we haggled the price to 5000 and also managed to have the journey broken down in 2 days rather than roughing it out in 18 hours flat.(which they had originally suggested)

All done we went to the local Tibetan market to shop for some gifts for the family - I bought 2 shawls for my mom and a stole for my sis - As with most north Indian bazaars bargaining was the order of the day and the thumb rule was to quote 60% of whatever the seller quoted.

After a heavy dinner we bought some eatables and vodka for the trip, put an alarm for 5 am and slept by 12 am.

7 Days in Ladakh - Planning and Day 0

2008-11-11T09:39:00.000-08:00

(Morning lights of The Tribune-Chandigarh- taken at slow shutter speed)

Ever since i'd heard the adventurous tales of wild enfield riders to the utterly remote and seemigly forbidden heights of Ladakh in my school years, i'd nurtured a deep desire to take the same route on my bike some day. However, being located in Bangalore and having regular bouts of neck pain for some time had made it an impracticle one to fulfill anytime soon now.

And yet the urge had to be satiated somehow, and finally, on 8th Sep 2008, the day of my birth, I made an impulsive decision to do it within the coming month.

Since I was to go home for Diwali anyways, I decided to take another week off and take off for Ladakh before visiting home.

Quick emails were dispathed to a few friends to get more travel mates, but ultimately only my colleague Hari responded and a plan was hatched.

We decided to take the road from Manali to Leh (If snowfall didn't shut it down for the season), and take the return flight from Leh to Delhi.

The status of the road, though, kept us on our tenterhooks literally till the last moment, since on 17th Oct, the day we were to fly to Delhi, we came to know the highway had closed down due to heavy snowfall, but also that the Army would clear it within the next 1-2 days.

We decided to take our chances and stuck to the original plan, reaching Delhi at 12 am midnight.

After having a quick dinner outside the airport we took the next available taxi for Chandigarh and reached my home at 5 am.

I was as usual ecstatic on meeting my parents after this long interval, and after introducing Hari to them and having a quick breakfast we both decided to catch a few hours of sleep.

On waking up at 12 noon, we had a scrumptious home-made lunch, bade our farewells and took the next Deluxe bus from Chandigarh to Manali(320 kms/10 hours drive) , and thus began the actual journey.

It took us through the Golden-Green fields of Punjab

which were quite amusing for Hari( He's a Keralite and this was his first trip to North).

Soon we entered the lower hills of Himalayas marking our entry into Himachal Pradesh.

One thing which we noticed during a chai break was that our bus driver(pic below) was actually more smartly dressed up than some senior most gentlemen in our company's management !

Yet another interesting incident which startled us during the trip was the entry of a Caucasian male in the bus, who when chased by hawkers retorted in chaste Hindi "Nahi main Gora hoon sirf isliye tum mujhe double rate bata rahey ho! "

- "You're charging me double the rate just because i'm White"

Soon the bus became virtually empty and it was just Me, Hari and Mr. Gora left, who came closer to our seat to start some chitchat.(Apparently he realised we were tourists)

We got to know he was an Austrian who was so impressed with the Asian culture that he's married a Thai woman and settled down in Manali! He was working as a tour operator in Manali which explained why he learnt Hindi too.

So the remaining journey was spent discussing the finer differences in the Orient and the Occident, and why he chose the former over the latter; while millions of Indians choose the other way around every year.

According to him the Western society had become too individualistic in their pursuit of wealth and thus had drifted away from the basic family structure which was ingrained in

the whole social fabric of the East. He said he hadn't got a word from his siblings for more than a decade now, and so he wanted at least his own children to grow up in an environment where they could know what having a family meant.

It's not for nothing that they say travelling makes you wiser - it does show you new ways of looking at things - this incident in particular did leave me with a lot of thoughts running across my mind - but to dwell on them would require a seperate post!

Anyways we reached Manali at 10 pm at night when the shops at the Mall were about to close for the day - luckily there was a restaurant open and we treated ourself to some lip smacking Punjabi fare - my evergreen Shahi Paneer as usual holding that oh-so-special place in the menu.

It was quite cold here since though we were at an altitude of 6,500 ft, we were in the lap of snow clad mountains around us - still the cold was Nothing compared to what we would encounter further down the trip!

We found the hotel my dad had made a reservation for us in( he had some friends here) very close to the Mall, checked in and took a well deserved sleep !

It's your Life....Make It Large!

2008-06-29T04:20:00.000-07:00

Everytime i visit Delhi or my hometown Chandigarh, i can't help but be amazed at the rapid pace with which their infrastructure and landscape is changing, for the better of course. While Delhi's Metro and the numerous flyovers have reduced traffic congestion to a fraction of what it was 5 years back, even Chandigarh and it's satellite towns of Mohali and Panchkula are evolving rapidly and emerging as the new IT hubs of the North, what with many major MNC's already developing their facilities there.

But what i want to talk about right now is an incredible story i heard from a friend on a recent trip to Chandigarh. Now recently there was news of an international airport coming up on the outskirts of Mohali, which made the villagers who owned land there go delirious as if they'd struck gold, and rightly so, since soon after the Government announced a proposal to buy land at a staggering Rs. 1 crore per acre!

Now rumour has it that one fine morning, the salesman at a leading luxury car showroom had a rather uncommon visitor. It was a farmer dressed in his usual rags, who demanded to be shown all their best models. The salesman obviously thought that the poor man was in the wrong place, and told him to go to the nearby economy car showroom, as this one was only for the luxury segment. When the farmer insisted, however, he grudgingly showed him around. But it was when the farmer zeroed in on the top most model, that the salesman laughed and told him it cost Rs. 70 Lakhs. Unfazed, the farmer persisted with his choice and told him he wanted an immediate delivery. Apparently he had been one of the beneficiaries of the land deal ! Now he was ushered to the branch manager's posh office, who explained to him that it would take a few days to get the paperwork done and even to encash the cheque for that large an amount. The farmer replied that they could keep all the papers and he was'nt paying by cheque, they could just send someone outside to bring the sack from his bicycle and could count the money from it!
So ultimately the 70 Lakh car was driven to his home by a driver who came back 12,000 bucks richer, while the farmer who didn't know how to drive peddled back modestly on his bicycle.

Though the narrator of this story had a "Fool and his money soon part ways" kind of contempt in his tone, i couldn't help but feel a strong sense of admiration for the farmer. I mean how many of us would dare to do something like this(even IF we had that kind of moolah). The famous middle class morality teaches us to save as much as possible, or invest all our profits back to gain more profits later, which ultimately becomes a vicious circle fuelled partly by greed and partly by an exaggerated concern for our future, such that we end up denying ourselves the well deserved pleasures of an occasional induldgence, labelling it as a moral sin.
However, having learnt my lesson from this story, i went and bought myself a pair of RayBan's I had been eyeing for sometime, and have decided to get a full body massage from an upmarket salon at least once a month.
So I guess the moral of the story for everyone is, stop worrying too much about the future, it wouldn't change it anyways, and rather spice up your present.
Or as Saif Ali Khan says in that commercial, "It's Your Life, Make it Large!"
:-)

Gangotri !

2007-01-15T22:13:00.000-08:00

A very Happy New Year to all who get to read this!A part of my NewYear resolutions is to quit my voluntary sanyas from Blogging and try to chip in something at least every once in a while.If there's anything i truly miss writing about in these last 6 or so months, then it has to be about 2 of my most memorable trips to date, both for different reasons though. It'd be a shame if i don't document them now - this is the stuff i started blogging for in the first place.

The 1st and certainly the best ever was my trip to Gomukh, the source of Ganga, the most sacred of our rivers and the cradle of the Hindu civilisation.The Gangotri-Gomukh-Tapovan trek is open only from mid May to mid Oct each year,(June-July ruled out due to monsoons), when the snow melts down making the highway accessible.I got the opportunity to make this happen thanks to a 2 week gap between switching my workplace.So on 25th August,2006, i took the early morning flight from Bangalore to Delhi and on landing took a bus to Rishikesh, which is the base point for most of the magnificent ranges of the Uttaranchal-Garhwal himalayas.Here i was joined by my childhood friend from Chandigarh, Gaurav who had earlier joined the Indian Army but had to quit due to medical reasons.We checked into a hotel, had lip-smacking dinner at a nearby dhaba and planned for the trip late into the night.We took the 1st and only bus leaving for Gangotri at 5 am next morning for a 13 hour long drive through high mountains and treacherous roads.There was a 3 hour long delay midway at Uttarkashi due to news of landslides blocking the highway up ahead, but luckily the B.R.O. (Border Roads Organisation) got them cleared and we reached Gangotri just after dark.

It was freezing cold and there was no electricity or mobile phone access in this small settlement amongst high mountains and icy-roaring Ganga.(Bhagirathi, to be precise)We quickly checked into a decent hotel run by the Birla trust which had a generator and more importantly-hot water. So after taking a relaxing shower we visited the shrine which most pilgrims come to Gangotri to visit, and very few of them actually do the 19 km trek from here to Gomukh, while we had plans to go upto 25 kms to Tapovan - a meadow situated amidst glaciers and snow mountains.So next morning we were again up at 5am and since everyone around warned us not to trek in the glacier without a guide, we hired a porter-cum-guide to carry our sleeping bags and tent up the trek.

As we started hiking up, i could hardly control the excitement building up inside me.I'd been dreaming of this trek for 2 years now, and finally i was walking in the larger than life surroundings that uptil now i'd only seen in photographs.It was a mild and pleasant trek for the 1st 5 kms with the sun shining bright and the mighty Ganga keeping us company throughout.I must add that one should not compare distances in hills with plains - a km in mountains with it's inclines and curves is anyday equivalent of 2 kms in the plains.After 8 kms of nonstop marching we reached a small pine forest called Chirbasa and stopped at a tea stall for refreshments and breakfast.The biggest advantage of an adventure at a pilgrimage place is that food and help is never too far. Yet we could only see a few firangs and sadhus on the trek.We 2 were almost the only Indian adventurers.Further up it kept getting more thrilling, with plenty of rough streams and tributaries on the way, that had to be crossed on makeshift wooden logs-if you slipped you could easily be washed away.

After 2 more hours we reached the last human habitation in the region called Bhojbasa,which had 8-10 small stalls, an ashram, a small guest house and a Geological Department's Glacier study camp.Also , it was here that we got our 1st clear view of the mighty Trishul peaks ahead of us.I'll never forget that formidable sight- 2 huge beautiful snow capped mountains floating above clouds- I couldn't fathom any man made structure to even stand in comparison with this towering beauty- no wonder countless rishis had meditated here since time immemorial.

We pitched our tent in the valley, just next to Ganga, and got in to relax a bit.The best part was when i opened the zipper of the tent to peek out, i could see the mighty peaks overlooking us.Whoever said "If there's heaven on earth, them it's here" must've meant this place.

Now was the time for some intro and retro-spection.Time to figure out our purpose in life and the why's, where's and how's of our mundane existence - easier said than done! ;)At night it was freezing cold outside - must be sub-zero - we couldn't take even our gloves off! Yet it was remarkably comfortable inside the tent.

We had a dinner of Maggie and khichdi at 1 of the stalls up on the hill, and then tried to sleep but in vein(inspite of the exhaustion).High altitude sickness was taking it's toll on us since we were at a height of 11,000 feet plus,(Shimla is 6,000 ft) and our bodies were not used to the lack of oxygen in the air.My friend got pretty sick and vomitted a couple of times and kept mumbling throughout the night.Even i had a piercing headache throughout the night.Anyhow, we got ourselves up next morning(with swollen faces), and continued the journey to Gomukh, stopping intermittently to shoot photos and videos.

Soon we reached Gomukh at 13,000 ft - literally "Cow's mouth" - the cave like edge of Gangotri glacier, from where Ganga comes rushing out, bearing testimony to the birth and progress of an entire civilisation.It's called Bhagirathi here, after the Rishi who's supposed to have brought it down from the heavens.

We decided to proceed to Tapovan and started climbing up the glacier, we could actually hear snow rumbling under our feet and thundering sounds of huge ice blocks crashing from the glacier somewhere nearby.My friend wanted to return from here and this caused a bit of an arguement between us since i'd been dreaming to go upto Tapovan all this while.Finally, i reluctantly agreed and we started on our way back, bidding farewell to the most beautiful place i'd ever seen - but with a resolve to be back and go upto Tapovan the next time!

Men and Shopping

2006-07-10T08:22:00.000-07:00

It’s been quite a while since I wrote anything here, and I’m sorry to all you friends out there who were still caring and sweet enough to make a check on me. It wasn’t really due to the world cup, though I was following it religiously all this while and it’s just a coincidence that I’m back after the Azzuri have won the cup yesterday. While Brazil losing out to France was a heartbreak, I’m happy the Romans took their revenge on the Gauls.
Most of this time (and even now) it’s just been too much work that’s kept me preoccupied, as I’ve been programming as a 1 man team for my current project. At times Life seemed to be limited to the dizzying routine of coding computer programs, and coming back here is like a scratching the long due creative itch.

Getting back to the theme for this write up, this pair might stand in the list of infamy as being next only to the ever elusive combo of Blondes and Brains. Predictably though, I beg to differ.

Well in case you’re talking about long, overstretched and pointless shopping sessions where the buyer goes to buy commodity X, bargains for commodity Y and brings home a totally different commodity Z (hmmm so there was P and Q free with it, huh ?), then I’d agree that Men are not half as adept at this art as the fairer sex is.( With all due respect to the ladies :p)
Hmmm but at least in my case, when I go “shopping”, more often than not I know when I like something I see, and then it’s as simple as paying for it and walking out. (Bargaining too in case the sum involved is substantial). But yea, I’ve had my fair share of annoyingly long shopping marathons with my mom, sister and friends, and honestly I never could decipher why most females would spend an hour deciding on something which a guy would in 2 minutes.

Now before I start practising to catch the online brickbats that would be coming my way, let me steer this to a related disturbing trend, which is the rise of the new breed of uninvited shopping critics.
Now I strongly believe that every person has his/her personal and unique taste while shopping ( specially clothes and accessories), and even though what’s fashionable for one might be outrageous for another, yet I really do feel that it’s quite rude to impose one’s biting opinion on another unless of course it has been specifically asked for.
Now I really do know what suits me and what doesn’t, yet the same has happened to me on quite a few occasions.
I remember shopping for a pair of black\white striped leather shoes a few months back, and a friend who accompanied me mocked saying I should act like a mature working guy now. Now I never really understood what that meant, coz I know for sure if and when I can carry something off, and I don’t think it’s anybody else’s business to decide what I should/should not wear.
Similar remarks were given when I got myself funky large brown shades and cowboy styled leather patched Wranglers.
Well my take on it is, this TIME is never going to come again. Do whatever makes you happy, wear what you feel like wearing, and never let anybody else’s comments prevent you from doing things the way you really wish to (as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone), coz the last thing you’d want is to someday look back on your life and regret not having done something you could but chose not to.

P.S. – Speaking of shopping…. After doing a lot of comparative analysis I recently got myself a new handset…the Sony Ericsson K750i… which doubles as a 2 MP camera with a 2 GB mp3 player that plays upto 1500 songs…. Going to and from the workplace isn’t boring anymore!

Bend It Like Ronaldinho

2006-06-09T02:45:00.000-07:00

Late night action is all set to take a new meaning as football widows the world over take a backseat while an estimated 30 billion people would keep their date with the idiot box.
It really doesn't matter whether one is a regular follower of premier league games between the likes of Arsenal,Real Madrid,Chelsea and Manchester United, but once every four years, one has to keep track of the progress of their favourite team in the world's biggest carnival,which in my case,as for most of the world,happens to be Brazil.

I mean it's as obvious as saying America has been screwed up in Iraq, or that Shiloh Jolie Pitt would grow up to be a bombshell.The whole country seems to play football for God's sake, and there's so much talent that the biggest challenge for them is not who to select but the other way round.

Ronaldo and Ronaldinho have,in true Brazilian style, transformed the game into an art,with seamless dribbles,dodges and passes that are as smooth as a baby's butt.As if they were not enough,Robinho,Adriano,Cicinho and Kaka further contribute towards a team that is as perfect as can be.It would be a sheer disaster if such overwhelming talent couldn't lift the cup.

A brief overview of the various groups:

Group A:
Germany,CostaRica,Poland,Ecuador

No doubt about who's going to top this group,almost everyone expects Germany to have a smooth sail to the next stage.Key players being their striker Michael Ballack,the legendry Oliver Kahn and the guy who's replaced him as the goalie....Jens Lehmann.Though whether they reach the finals is yet to be seen,but as they say,"Never underestimate the Germans!"

Group B:
England,Sweden,Paraguay,Trinidad

Again pretty much a 1-sided group....the English talent is most likely to emerge at the top.With stalwarts like David Beckham,the much talked about 20 yr old "injured" Wayne Rooney,Michael Owen,Aaron Lennon and John Terry.Also my 2nd favourites for the Cup.

Group C:
Argentina, Netherlands, Serbia, Ivory Coast

Though Argentina are the favourites here,Netherlands are close behind.Major talent here is Drogpa,Crespo,Messi the "New Maradona" and Marco Van Basten.

Group D:
Portugal,Angola,Mexico,Iran

Portugal and Mexico are said to have some real good talent, and Portugal even said to have serious chance at the finals.The main portugese talent lies with Deco and Cristiano Ronaldo.(Yea another lucky chum)

Group E:
Italy,Czech,Ghana,America

Italy remains the favourite here with Czech a close 2nd, and best Italian talent in Luca Toni,Fabio and Nesta.

Group F:
Brazil,Croatia,Australia,Japan

Do i have to say the words ?

Group G:
France,Switzerland,South Korea,Togo

It's France all the way with the star Arsenal striker Thierry Henry and '98 star Zinedine Zidane.

Group H:
Ukraine,Spain,Saudi Arabia,Tunisia

Though Spain is the favourite here,Ukraine are said to have a good chance in this round.Alonso and Villa form the major Spanish talent.

So that's about it. This promises to be a long month of good late night sporting action.My personal ranking:

Brazil
England
Germany
France
Spain
Argentina

6 6 6

2006-06-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

Now this is supposed to be my take on 1 of my 2 most eagerly awaited movies from Hollywood in recent times. Both belong to my favourite cinematic genre i.e. Thrillers, both have their roots in biblical literature and both have aroused public curiosity in their own unique ways. The other one I wanted to write about was The DaVinci Code, but already so much has been said about it that not much is left to be written. It’s not that I didn’t like it, but when you’ve read the book it’s impossible not to make comparisons between the two, and one should understand that it’s indeed a hard job to do justice to a 3-400 paged book in a 2 hour movie. In the case of 'The Omen', however, the movie was made first and then the script was novelised by it's author, and i found the movie so engrossing that i did read that book later.

So this would be a review of the cult Hollywood 1976 horror flick ‘The Omen’, often quoted as the best work of Horror from Hollywood and my personal favourite Horror movie cutting way above The Exorcist and even The Ring, and whose remake is about to be launched globally on the day that is associated with the mark of the Devil – 06/06/06.

“…From the Eternal Sea he rises
Creating armies on either side
Turning man against his brother
‘Till man exists no more”

The plot is based on this prophecy from the Book of Revelation, which is believed to point to the birth of the Anti-Christ, the son of Satan, who’s branded with the number 666 – the mark of the Beast, and who would receive his powers directly from Satan, and unless he’s stopped he would threaten the very existence of mankind, a plot brilliantly exploited by the scriptwriter David Seltzer.
Well no need of spoiler warning now, since most people would have seen the original movie, and even if you haven’t and you read on, trust me the movie(at least the original) still has the power to send a chill down your spine.
Robert Thorn (played brilliantly by Gregory Peck in the original) is a senior American diplomat whose wife Katherine who’s already suffered 2 previous miscarriages, undergoes a painful delivery in which their newborn child dies. The hospital priest presents him with another child born that night whose mother he says died during childbirth, and compels Thorn to present this child as their own to Katherine, to avoid any trauma for her. The child is named “Damien”.
Life for the Thorn family seems perfect and Thorn is promoted as the American ambassador to Britain and they settle in a mansion near London.
But soon events take an eerie turn, first with the birthday celebrations of Damien at a party in their lawns, everyone seems to be enjoying the upbeat mood, suddenly someone is heard screaming out for the attention of Damien, and to everyone’s horror his nanny is standing outside a window of the house, and with a terrifyingly lunatic smile on her face she says “It's All For You”, and jumps to hang herself from a rope.
Soon a new nanny Mrs. Baylock introduces herself to the family, whose credentials seem impeccable and her demeanour kind and soft spoken, soon followed by a mysterious ferocious Rottweiler, both of whom maintain a constant vigil on the young child.
Another weird incident happens when his mother drives the young kid to a zoo, and as soon as they enter all animals get freaked out and go berserk.
Events start taking a nasty turn and soon Thorn is contacted by a Father Brennan, who claims that Damien is the son of the devil, born of an animal and bearing the mark of the beast, and the only key to stop him lies with an old man called Bugenhagen who lives in Jerusalem.
Thorn refuses to believe and as soon as he’s gone, Father Brennan is impaled in a freak “accident” by a cross struck down by lightning.
Further down Damien becomes wildly hysterical when they try to take him for church, and then more and more people around him start dying in mysterious circumstances, arousing suspicion in his already scared mother.
Thorn is again contacted by a British photographer called Jennings this time, who shows him pattern of mysterious blurred pictures of all people who recently died, claiming this to be a clue to something much more horrendous.
They both now investigate the claim by Brennan of his real child being murdered by the hospital staff and buried in a cemetery, where they encounter a vicious attack by a pack of guarding dogs.

Does Damien succeed under the protection of the evil nanny and his mysterious guards ?

What happens to Katherine who has begun to openly doubt the origins of this child. ( Her end is among the most shocking scenes.)

Would Thorn and Jennings be able to contact Bugenhagen in Jerusalem and bring the evil to an end before it’s too late ?

Hehe …. this might sound like your average popcorn thriller, but trust me, whether or not you know it already, the movie (at least the original) was among the best horrors of all times. No ugly faced blood sucking ghosts, only a terrifying background music and the sheer impact of a story well told.

According to the the trivia by IMDB, there were a lot of freak accidents involved with the caste and crew while shooting for the original movie:

“Gregory Peck and screenwriter David Seltzer took separate planes to the UK...yet BOTH planes were struck by lightning. While producer 'Harvey Bernard' was in Rome, lightning just missed him. Rottweilers hired for the film attacked their trainers. A hotel at which director Richard Donner was staying got bombed by the IRA; he was also struck by a car. After Peck cancelled another flight, to Israel, the plane he would have chartered crashed...killing all on board. On day one of the shoot, several principal members of the crew survived a head-on car crash. The jinx appeared to persist well into post-production... when special effects artist John Richardson was injured and his girlfriend beheaded in an accident on the set of a movie.”

The spooky incidents seem to have followed into the production of the new movie as well. According to their official website, some prints of the movie were lost due to unexplained technical glitches, the visual affects supervisor when measuring a special shot realised that his meter read 666; a measurement it had never given before, one of the lights on the sets exploded mysteriously while shooting, then on Oct 6th (note the #) the whole crew came down with food poisoning, though no bacteria was found in the food on later tests, and the spookiest being when a still photographer developed a series of photographs, he found some images of the actor playing Father Brennan blurred with movements striking downwards, like a javelin.

Real spook or marketing gimmicks ? You never know, but one thing is for sure – come 06/06/06 and you get another opportunity to see some quality horror from Hollywood, and scare the hell out of yourself!

Reservation Blues

2006-05-18T08:24:00.000-07:00

I had a dream recently – well probably more of a nightmare. I dreamt that 25 years from now, my son (let’s call him Junior for now) had given his high school exams and topped his school. (talk about great expectations even in dreams!)
Now he wanted to apply to a medical college to get an MBBS….and this was the conversation we had:

Me : Well done, my lad! So how many seats do we have for this course in your desired college?
Junior : Umm about 10 but I guess I’ll just about manage….

Me : Hmmm hold your horses for now! Let’s do some simple calculations first. It seems there are lots of other brilliant and deserving candidates vying for those coveted seats! Ah do you remember your schoolmates Bubloo and Dubloo? Yea those same fine prodigies of 3 generations of IAS officers, who even though they failed each year, your school principal had the privilege to forcefully promote to the next class for the greater benefit of mankind. (Son of an IAS destined to be an IAS you see!)
Ah, so what if they scored only 10% marks in the entrance exam, our law says that 2 of those 10 seats should definitely go to the Scheduled Castes, which their certificates rightly identify them as, and hence as deserving as anyone can be! (Not to mention once they complete their MBBS, they’d be fine deserving candidates for IAS too!)

Now how can you forget that bright child Abracadabra – whose dad is a surgeon and who has a certificate claiming his ancestors jhingalala’d in the jungles of Andamans. Surely we can oversee a minor issue like him not writing the exam….well at least he filled the form! Since as per our constitution 1 seat has to go to a member of a Scheduled Tribe.

And in May 2006, the then honorable government passed a bill that ensured a seat for Other Backward Castes(OBC) too. Of course, Tommy fits that bill, and it doesn’t matter that his school uniform was designed by Donatella Versace, according to his certificate he’s still backward!

The 5th seat of course has to be given to the highly athletic and competitive Milk-Kha Singh, who represented our country in the World kabaddi championship and got us a gold medal. Err so what if there was just 1 team participating, he surely deserves that 1 seat for Sports quota.

Another seat, my child, is undoubtedly deserved by your Italian Indian friend Rah-Hool Gandhi, whose surname is sufficient proof that his great grand daddy must’ve fought in our freedom struggle, enabling him to be eligible for the freedom fighter quota.

And how can we be so cruel as to deny the claim for the 7th seat by your schoolmate Free-thick Roshan – whose disformity of having 2 thumbs on a hand is indisputable proof of his crippling handicap – hence the rightful candidate for the Handicapped persons’ quota.

Darn, the 8th seat would have to be given to Arj – June singh, whose daddy is a professor in that college, putting him up for the management quota.

Of course no one dare deny admission to your friend Lux-Me Mittal, considering his dad is a rich NRI businessman and more than willing to shell out a lakh pounds for that NRI quota seat.

Whoa, there’s still 1 seat left! Go get it Tiger.

Junior : I just called up and they said that it’s been taken up under the “No Reservation” reservation.
Me : Uff, how did we forget to get this certificate made ! Don’t worry my child….better luck next time!

P.S. - I’m sorry if I’ve offended anyone but I’m really taken aback by this reservation issue right now. For those who are not in touch with the latest news here our government is going forward to pass a bill that would reserve 50% of seats in top educational institutes for people based solely on their castes.(irrespective of their scores in the entrance exams)
It’s common knowledge that India is one of the most competitive countries in the world when it comes to education, and the cut-off percentages for the premier institutes keep getting higher each year. Imagine the plight of students like those in the medical profession, where lakhs of people appear for exams each year for sometimes as few as 10-15 seats, and what would happen to their morale when they would see some people walk off with more than half those seats just because they belong to a certain “caste”, and irrespective of their scores.
Nobody denies that the caste system has been a bane of the Indian society, but surely this would be the worst possible way to try to “uplift” the downtrodden, since majority of these seats are enjoyed by children of SC/ST’s who’re already enjoying the spoils of reservation by being in the highest of public sector jobs, leaving the rest in a status quo.
Even when reservations were started by B.R Ambedkar after our independence, he had asked for them to continue only for 10 years. Still they have been continuing for more than 60 years after our independence, primarily due to the votebank politics being played by each major political party which is trying to appease the voting population belonging to these particular castes, and in the process only further deepening the caste divide in this country.
A sensible approach would’ve been giving scholarships, fee-waivers and study material to the deserving candidates in these classes, yet the government wants to take the easy way of total appeasement out.

As if this wasn’t enough, peacefully protesting medical students in Mumbai were brutally lathi-charged by the police as if they were gangsters, reminding one of a similar scene in the recent RDB, and this has further flared up the protests in the student community all across India.

Well if vote bank politics is what a democracy is all about, then perhaps an autocracy might suit us better.

(Thank God at least The DaVinci Code is finally getting released here next week .... with a disclaimer and an A certificate)

Guilty As Charged

2006-05-11T07:21:00.000-07:00

YES your honour, I do plead guilty to the charge of taking up too many tags in recent times (* In Sunny Deol’s “Tareekh pe tareekh” ^4 dialogue’s tone *)
Now please allow the defendant to throw further light on some of the points mentioned by the public prosecutor-cum-tagger Ms. Ramblings :

Culinary Guilt:

Hmmm well yea kindof….though my entire khandaan is a vegetarian yet I’ve given in to the pleasures of the flesh on some occasions since last year, and yes I did find the “reshmi kababs” to taste better than anything I’d had in the vegetarian platter. Having said that, I still prefer vegetarian on 14 days in a fortnight, and my future culinary status would most probably depend on my partner, since I have no qualms about either foods right now.
Oh, and I still have to learn to cook stuff beyond Maggie noodles. I’ve promised my mom next time I visit home I’m gonna learn a minimum of ‘chapattis’, ‘paranthas’ and ‘pulao’ (a promise I’ve been making since the last 2 years).

Literary Guilt:
Well OF COURSE yes. I’m a self confessed bibliophile – all my friends would vouch for it. Whenever I visit any mall here the 1st shop I attack is the book store and normally my friends have to drag me out of it.
Such is the extent of this addiction that I’ve ended up buying at least 8 new books recently which have been piled up at home and I’m yet to start devouring them. Then there are some or the other amazing new titles I keep hearing about everyday….somehow I’ve managed to hold myself back till I finish the ones already pending.

Audiovisual Guilt:
Well this time I’m guilty of NOT seeing enough movies lately….even though I might’ve already seen enough for a lifetime (over 200 dvd-rips in my collection). Still I do manage 1 movie in a theatre per fortnight.
As for TV, I just hit 3 channels on my remote…. CNN-IBN for primetime news, VH1 for the classic videos, and History channel for the Biography show.

Musical Guilt:
Ummm nahh no guilts here. I know the kinda music I like(from almost all genres) and I have it both on my PC at home as well as at work. So no wonder I’m mostly found with my headphones on at work.
But yes, I do have to get myself either an IPod or an mp3 cellphone soon.

Celebrity Guilt:
Well I’m certainly not the kinds to go screaming if I see or meet any celebrity. Though I do look upto Mr. Amitabh Bachhan for his overpowering personality, his acting prowess and the way he speaks with his command over both English and Hindi.
In college I used to have only wallpapers of the supermodel Laetitia Casta on my desktop (around 200 of them!)…..and I’ve put up 1 of them here!

Shopping Guilt:
Hmmm well if I see something I like(and need), I don’t think too much about it and would go for it. But yes, I’m biased towards seasonal sales and discounts….and prefer to do most of my shopping during these times.

Clothes guilt:
Nahh….I’m satisfied with my wardrobe. Though I do feel guily that ever since I started working, I’ve been able to wear the ultra casuals only on weekends.

Is there more??...

Bad Critic Guilt:
I do find it hard to criticize anything/anyone…. And somehow always look for the good points even in the worst. I do realize that this is detrimental at times and sometimes you just have to be blunt with some people, but hey I’m working on it.

Procrastinating with job guilt:
YES. This is the single biggest guilt that I have right now - even though I know I have to switch my job, I don’t understand what is preventing me from applying to new companies, especially since the Indian IT sector is real Hot right now. On that note, I’ll go and at least update my CV right now.

Well with that I rest my case. I also refuse to divulge the names of other fellow bloggers who might be guilty of the same charge, and leave it to their conscience to surrender before the honourable court and declare their personal guilts.

The Motorcycle Diaries - Kudremukh Chapter

2006-05-03T04:56:00.000-07:00

The heat is on but I’m on a roll right now…what with a 2nd trip within 2 weeks I guess I must’ve been in a real vacationing mood.
The real trigger again was the long weekend as this Monday was off for labour day (funny name) but the plan actually materialized at the very last moment on Friday night.
Initially there were 4 of us planning to go for a trek to the famed Kodachadri peak in west Karnataka, but as usual being the procrastinators that we are, we found all tickets to the place had been sold out.
Still not being the kinds to admit defeat so easily, me and my college buddy Prabudh were positive about not letting this 3 day break go wasted. So we did a quick search on google for hills in Karnataka, zeroed in on a place called Kudremukh national park, downloaded the road map and made a spur of the moment decision to make it a 2 day road trip on my Thunderbird.
So on Saturday morning we left Bangalore just at the crack of dawn at 5:30 am for this place which was supposed to be a good 360 kms away. So abrupt was the decision that we even forgot to carry a spare set of camera batteries, a blunder that made us miss a lot of good photo-ops later on.

As soon as we got out of the city limits I was surprised to find a smooth, wide and almost empty highway unlike the bumpy and traffic infested Bangalore roads, and I easily started zipping at almost 110 kmph, something this cruiser is specially designed for.

It’s a very different feeling zipping for a long stretch of time on a bike at this speed, with the trees and the vast open fields swooshing by when seen from the corner of your eyes. It’s almost as if your life’s running past by you, and at occasional times one can easily loose the sense of time and perhaps even switch to a philosophical mode. It’s something hard to explain and maybe only another rider can relate to it.
Another remarkable difference that one notices while riding a bike is that unlike in a car, where you’re in relative rest with respect to your immediate surroundings as you’re kind of boxed inside an enclosure, on a bike you’re no longer a passive observer of your surroundings, but become a part of it. With the wind slapping in your face you can actually “feel” the changing landscape around you, and when this threshold is crossed, the journey becomes more pleasurable than the destination.

Also, with the power of a 350cc engine producing the pull of 19 horses thundering under your legs, you simply feel like the king of the road.
For the uninitiated, the cc(cubic centimeters) refers to the displacement of an engine, that is the amount of fuel mixture that the piston can sweep through from the top to bottom. So obviously the more fuel the engine can burn up in a cycle, the more power it can pack to the wheels.

Anyways, we kept taking breaks for snacks and to ask directions, and as usual I found that the humble villagers or small town people are always more than eager to help. The bike and it’s unusual registration no (CH- Chandigarh) invited a lot of curious questions though, and people assumed I was driving it down from Punjab! One restaurant owner even identified Chandigarh as the hometown of Yuvraj Singh and started citing examples of the brilliance of his own Karnataka boy Dravid as the captain, though all with an innocent rustic charm.

By the time we hit the hills after riding for 250 kms, we were already a bit exhausted and the steep inclines had to be carefully negotiated, however the beautiful greenery around soon made us forget all the fatigue and we reached our destination at the base of Kudremukh peak’s trek around late noon.

We asked a local shopkeeper about taking the bike up the mud track to the top of the peak, but he warned us that we shouldn’t go without taking permission from the wildlife officials, since this area was being combed for the Naxalite(Maoist) militants taking shelter in these forests. We were warned that the security forces had a shoot at sight order for anyone seen inside the forest without permission, and this was enough to deter us from going for another misadventure. Permission not forthcoming due to a holiday, we were a little disappointed, but then another localite came to our rescue and suggested that we pitch our tents at the camping grounds of a deluxe resort nearby.
So we finally got the necessary space within the boundaries of the beautiful “Silent Valley Resort”, and had an awesome stay at the resort where they’d organized a flute music program in their open lawns amidst a bonfire. Eating a 10-course scrumptious buffet, especially when you’re dead tired and in the middle of a forest is also a uniquely gratifying experience.
Next morning the resort guide took us to a small trek in the hills around the area, and after absorbing all the natural beauty we decided to start back, since in any case the main purpose of the trip was the ride itself.

The return ride saw me zigzagging with a renewed passion along the sharp and dangerous turns of the hills, sometimes tilting the bike to almost 30 degrees to negotiate the deadly turns. It was again a smooth and enjoyable ride till the last hour when darkness fell, and I had to ride in the glare of the high beams of the incoming traffic, which makes one literally blind to the road ahead, and then losing your concentration for even a second can mean the difference between life and a painful end.

Anyhow thanks to our guardian angels, we reached Bangalore in the evening after having covered almost 800 within 48 hours, and spent the next day discussing the trip and tending to our sore backs and bottoms.

Trip Info:-

Route: Bangalore - Hassan - Mudigere - Kalasa - Kudremukh

Distance: 360 kms (1 way)

Road Condition: Excellent

Close Calls: 3

In God's Own Country

2006-04-20T06:43:00.000-07:00

Indeed, that phrase befits the description of the beautiful state of Kerala to which I had a lucky chance to ‘escape’ to during this last weekend.
Kerala being only 1 of the 2 states (other being Gujarat) that I’d never traveled to, this 3 day weekend was a good time to satiate the traveler bug in me, as well as get away from the stress of city life.
So on Thursday night, I along with 2 of my friends, Prabudh and Jeetu, took a Volvo to Kochi. We reached there next morning and had a few hours before we could catch the next bus to Munnar, so we thought of checking out some local landmarks like Fort Kochi and the old Santa Cruz Basilica built in 1505.
We reached the beautiful hill station of Munnar late in the evening and checked in to a room in the “Kanan Devan Hills Club”.

‘Kannan Devan’ is the name of Munnar special brand of tea. There are tea estates spread around all hills in this region, and we were told Tata’s have tea estates in an estimated 37,000 hectares of land here.

We had a nice dining n chat session in the open lawns of the club late into the misty night where we discussed almost everything from Indian economics to Global politics to the entertainment industry!
The next morning we checked out and left for a place called Top Station which was supposedly the highest point in the region and where we intended to camp for the night. The drive to this place was absolutely stunning, and I would not be exaggerating if I said it was better than any other hill stations I’ve seen in South India(Ooty, Kodaikanal, Coorg).

On the way there was a dam with a huge lake on the other side almost 10 kilometers long, and it offered a stellar view, arguably even better than a similar lake in Nainitaal.
Though the destination “Top Station” in itself was a kind of disappointment since we couldn’t find an open grassland where we could pitch our tents. Since this was a dense forest area with no other hotels to stay, we decided to move back to Munnar.

I think there’s something about places near coastal areas; probably the moisture and humidity in the air, that gives brilliant shades of orange, red and purple during sunrise and sunsets here, and which I somehow managed to capture even though a little blurred due to the moving jeep. (These pics have all natural colours....no modifications!)

Back in Munnar we were faced with another problem, since we arrived late and it was a festival holiday season, all hotels were fully booked. By sheer luck we found a guide who told us he could take us to an isolated cabin in the forest just outside the town. We were told that this place was normally preferred by foreigners who’re never scared of trying a (mis)adventure of this sort, and since we were anyways out for some thrill, we decided to give it a shot.
When we reached the place, it actually did look like a haunted house in the middle of nowhere. 1 of my friends immediately backed out saying he would rather return to the town with the guide and look for a place there, moreover he had to leave back early next morning due to some urgent work.

Anyways we 2 stuck to our guns and decided to spend the night here itself. The guide arranged for a bonfire just outside the house and then they left for the town.
We even found a pickaxe in the house which we kept with us and somehow at this moment, all those long forgotten horror movies of a group of friends dying in old jungle rest houses came alive in our minds.(Friday the 13th, Evil Dead, Blair Witch, House on Haunted Hill etc. etc.) And we were not even a group… just 2… easy job for any killer. Lol.
Thankfully we were carrying some “Somras” (divine nectar :p ) with us and loads of snacks, which helped soothen our frayed nerves. Pretty soon we got engrossed in another discussion on life, the past and the future, and this kept us occupied till late into midnight.
When we finally decided to have lights out I saw an ancient looking b/w picture of an old man in the back room who must’ve lived here some looong time ago, and it did unnerve us a bit, but thankfully the room we slept in had a poster of Goddess Durga on the wall, which was reassuring indeed. So cracking jokes and laughing at ghost stories, we ultimately fell asleep.
Next morning we trekked back to Munnar across 4 hills, and were captivated by the stunning views all across the way.
Post lunch it was time to bid farewell to this beautiful place and back to the artificial city life…..though rejuvenated with a thrilling trip!

Escape

2006-04-13T00:23:00.000-07:00

A maddening city where tempers are flaring and your senses are being overpowered with extremities of all variations...

And all you want is to escape.

A vicious circle of lies,pretensions and false allegations where honesty is the name of the bird long extinct, and 'nice' guys are always meant to finish last...

And all you can do is escape.

A weird world where well intentioned concern is more likely to be seen as some cunning scheme with an ulterior motive or personal gain...

And all you think of is to escape.

A lifeless drudgery where days slip by with the uncanny knowledge that your untapped potential is going to a waste and that oh-so-helpless feeling that you can't do anything about it...

And all you crave is to escape.

A sickening feeling of seeing hypocrisy rule the roost all around, and standards being altered to suit the palate of the privileged few...

And you know the time has come to escape.

Da 4th TAG

2006-04-07T06:38:00.000-07:00

Hmmm 1 would imagine I’ve run out of ideas to write something, now that I’ve been taking up so many tags lately. But hey…I feel it’s fun and I enjoy doing them.
So Phoenix_Rises tagged me with this questionnaire and here I go…

1.Grab the book nearest to you, turn on page 18 and find line 4.
Ok I just have an e-book with me right now…Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.
“…Even when he cheated he couldn't win, because the people he cheated against were always better at cheating too.”

2.Stretch your left arm out as far as you can.
I can touch my clipboard. I don’t get the point.

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Bon Jovi on MTV Unplugged

4.Without looking, guess what time it is?
5:00 PM

5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?
5:05 PM.
Hmmm not bad…

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
The beeps of the electronic swiping instrument at the door near my cubicle

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
This afternoon went outside office campus for lunch

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
My current webshots desktop wallpaper…I’ve put it up here(It’s a painting!).

9. What are you wearing?
Ah…ThankGodIt’sFriday …. So I’m in my full fundoo casuals…cowboy styled leather patched Wrangler jeans and a black tee!

10. Did you dream last night?
I mostly do but I hardly remember what the exact dream was….except when I get woken up by the alarm and then put it on snooze and go back 2 sleep….
I often find myself dreaming about walking in snow covered mountains….wonder what it means….maybe I’ll do a whole post on it sometime!

11. When did you last laugh?
Saw the spoof Rendezvous with Simi Girebaal hosted by the hilarious Cyrus on MTV…. Guests were Funmohan Singh and George Tush…. Damn funny!

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?
On the wall of my cubicle there’s a pin-up that says “Bus stops at the bus station, rail stops at the railway station, and this is my workstation”. :D

13. Seen anything weird lately?
Saw “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” on my comp last week ….. damn weird movie I must say…. Still Johnny Depp makes it worth a watch.

14. What do you think of this quiz?
Good when you don’t have anything else to do.

15. What is the last film you saw?
“Being Cyrus”, again another dark movie …. Can’t say that I “enjoyed” it but Saif Ali Khan is a transformed actor now!

16. If you became a multimillionaire overnight, what would you buy?
A Harley Davidson, a Lamborghini Murcielago and a bungalow overlooking my own apple orchard somewhere high up in Himachal.

17. Tell me something about you that I dunno.
Hmmm… I have a teeny weeny goatee below my lower lip that I’ve been sporting off and on for 4 years now, also i make good chai.

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
There should be 1 universal religion where everyone worships a nameless God as I feel that’s the root cause of almost all conflicts worldwide.

19. Do you like to dance?
U kidding me…. OF COURSE I CAN PUT THE BLOODY DANCE FLOOR ON FIRE

20. George Bush:

My favourites amongst his gems:
"The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country."
"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure."
"The future will be better tomorrow."
“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
Ahaan now that’s interesting!
I lovee the traditional Indian Sanskrit names….but it wud have to be unique yet sound Kool.
Umm the girl wud be Naija – which means the daughter of wisdom ;)
But seriously I luv the name Lavanya (means a beautiful girl)

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
Arnav ( means the ocean)

23. Would you ever consider living abroad?
I don’t see any reason not to.

24.What do you want GOD to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?
“Ok dude you’ve been a reasonably nice guy down there….here u can have all the apsaras” ;)

25. People who may do this memo in their journal:
Hmmm now I won’t leave anyone this time !! All who’ve come here ….

(alphabetically)
Amy
Anand
Alive_n_Confused
Deepa
Dewdrop
DeVile
Ekta
Elle
Icyblue
Keshi
My_Ramblings
Nidhi
Sebia
Shikha
Shivangi
The_Ego_Has_Landed
White Forest

Just do it if you haven’t yet!

Work It Up !

2006-04-03T01:00:00.000-07:00

Yea finally after a gap of about 2 months I’ve managed to rejoin a gym, this time the one at my workplace itself. Even though working out without any company can be monotonous and difficult to maintain as a routine, yet the importance of some kind of a daily workout can just not be overemphasized, especially considering the sedentary lifestyle of most of today’s young generation.

I think I can trace my penchant for fitness to my roots – my great grandfather who expired last year at age 97 used to religiously take his morning walks till I saw him last. To the best of my knowledge he never suffered from any major ailment, used to read without using spectacles and best of all – took his tea with full 2 teaspoons of sugar…. A rarity beyond age 40 these days! My grandfather also continues uninterrupted with his Yoga and walks to this day…ever since my granny passed away he keeps touring around the country and on tough pilgrimages…all thanks to his fitness level. Though unfortunately my dad had to stop gymming after suffering a back injury during his body building days….. which shows how cautious one should be with heavy weight training.
So even while I wasn’t ‘working out’ in a gym, I used to ensure that I did my daily dose of the bare minimum activity required….using stairs instead of the lift at home and work, a nightly walk to the local restaurant for dinner etc. besides some basic simple exercises that I’ll share with you.
To begin with any kind of exercise, you must first know your body type and hence the category of workouts that would best suit your requirements. Those who’re fortunate enough to be blessed with a lean framed body that doesn’t accumulate much fat despite voracious eating habits, can easily concentrate more on weight training exercises to shapen up and strengthen the muscles, while those with a broader and heavier frame with tendency to gain weight should focus more on stamina building cardiovascular workouts that also help them to keep flexible, such as jogging(or treadmill), aerobics etc.
Ideal Height-Weight Chart
Again it depends on what’s your ultimate goal…pumping up those muscles or loosing that extra flab.

In case you’ve joined a gym there are any number of workouts that the instructor can help you out with, however I’ll discuss the ones you can do at home and still be fighting fit. You can do these at any time of the day (at least a 2 hour gap after a meal) and they just take around 30 to 45 minutes of your precious time.

1.Warm up/ Cardio :
To start off, just find any open space like your balcony/terrace and start with warming up by stretching and then jogging / skipping for a minimum of 10-15 minutes.

2.Push-Ups:
Lie flat on the ground with your stomach against the floor. Place you palms on the ground just below shoulder level and raise your entire body in a straight line, then back down and repeat. Females can take upto 2 sets of 20 each while guys should increase to about 100 – 2 sets of 50 each. Good for strengthening the arms and shoulders.

3.Crunches:
Lie flat on you back, keep both hands behind your head and slowly raise your upper half to a 45 degree angle, then move back and repeat in 2 sets of 20 each. Awesome for working up the upper abdominal muscles of your tummy.

4.Leg Raises:
Keep lying flat on your back, join both feet together and raise both your legs slowly upwards to a 90 degree angle with the floor, then slowly bring them down and keep them suspended just above the ground. Repeat in 2 sets of 20 each and you’ll feel that ugly fat on your lower abs melting away. Also good for hamstrings.

5.Sit-Ups:
Stand straight and hold a chair or any waist level object with 1 hand for support. Raise your left leg and fold it behind the erect right leg. Now bend your right knee and sit all the way down and then slowly raise yourself up. Repeat for about 20 times and then the same with the other leg. Great for knees and shins.

That’s It! Still it’s unfortunate that an overwhelming majority of us Indians continue to ignore the basic minimum workout needed by their body mostly citing excuses such as ‘unnecessary narcissism’ to paucity of time. Well my friend, if Anil Ambani can take out 1.5 hours daily from his schedule for his body, I’m sure we all can spare at least half an hour.
Remember your body is just another machine, and like any machine needs to be constantly oiled and checked to prevent repair by a mechanic, so should you work up this one to prevent damage control by a doctor later. It’s not just about a longer life, but a healthier one where you can make full use of this God given tool.

It’s your body.
Love it.
Pamper it.
Take care of it.
It just might be the only thing that would serve you till your last moment on this planet.

The 7 Song Tag

2006-03-27T01:30:00.000-08:00

Well i think tags are a fun thing to do.... specially when u feel like you're suffering from the blogger's block!
I was tagged by The_Ego_Has_Landed for the 7-songs-you've-heard-lately tag, and i'm only too glad to put it up. Some of them are older numbers....and most of them are Dance tracks.....as they lift up my mood whenever i'm feeling down! (You can download the tracks by right clicking links and clicking Save Target As)

7. Pump It - Black Eyed Peas (Download)
After the super success of 'Don't Phunk With My Heart' and 'My Humps' the funky group comes out with their own version of 1 of the best dance themes of all times - Theme of Pulp Fiction.

6. Axel F - Crazy Frog (Download)
Another remake of a superhit theme from the 1984 flick 'Beverly Hills Cop' in which Eddie Murphy played the role of funny cop Axel which shot him into superstardom.
The music is reallly catchy even if there are those annoying 'frog' sounds added to it!

5.Fix You - ColdPlay (Download)

A slow but nice song...typical Coldplay style.
Good lyrics too....
"When you try your best, but you don't succeed When you get what you want, but not what you need When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep Stuck in reverse When the tears come streaming down your face When you lose something you can't replace When you love someone, but it goes to waste... Could it be worse?"

4. Hung Up - Madonna (Download)

The dance queen is back... and with a bang.... now who can say she's 47 and a mother of 2! A strict practitioner of Ashtanga Yoga .... she has superbly managed to maintain her Hot Bod... which she flaunts in most of her videos for her new album 'Confessions on a Dance Floor'.
Though i'm listing it here for it's shake-your-booty dance beats.... 70's style !

3. PartyStarter - Will Smith
So, tell the DJ to play my song& we could dance all night to the early mornin"

2. Teri Deewani - Kailash Kher "Tune kya kar daala
marr gayi main
mitt gayi main
ho gayi main....
Teri Deewani...Teri Deewani "

1. Get Right - JLo (Download)

JLo got back with a very very contagious number...1 that you just can't resist dancing to. Though the lyrics aren't too great...this is the 1 i find myself listening to most often.

Standin' just a little too close to me
Ya sayin not quite enough to me
Ya sippin' just a little too slow for me
No doubt ya playin' real cool homie
Got me thinkin' what is it you do for me
Trippin' ova it, a little more than I should be
So let ya self go and get right with me"

HUNG UP (Madonna)

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Home Sweet Home

2006-03-21T01:29:00.000-08:00

Ok i'm back after a short but much needed break to my hometown.It would be an understatement if i just said that i missed this place and my co-bloggers here...and i'm certainly glad to be back doing what i enjoy doing most these days.
A brief update on the trip - Reached Delhi on 11th(Friday) and spent the next 2 days catching up with my college buddies there, and hanging around in Vasant Vihar,GK(M block) and Noida.
Thereafter reached home in Chandigarh on Sunday and enjoyed the usual royal treatment courtesy my doting mother.
On Monday i met up with 3 schooltime pals and almost immediately a plan was hatched up to do a trek to the closest hillstation to Chandigarh - Kasauli.
Chandigarh is basically a plain but is beautifully located right in the shadows of the Shivalik range of the mighty Himalayas.The hill station of Kasauli is actually visible from my rooftop at home...it's just a 2 hour drive away!
So on last Tuesday morning all friends gathered at my place at 6am (it was after ages that i woke up on tht unearthly hour) and i took dad's car and drove us down to Kalka which is a small town at the bottom of the hills on the Chandigarh-Shimla national highway.We left the car there and asked the locals for the mud track to Kasauli which was used under British rule as the only way to ferry goods.The track of about 20 kms meandered through thick vegetation and a steep gradient, and would've been pretty straightforward had it not been for the rough weather.
Initially no one felt the strain of the climb as we cracked jokes and recollected old memories along the way....the entire forest around us was lined up with himalayan monkeys and langurs...and an amusing incident was when 1 of them ran down and snatched a packet of Chips from my friend and went back up a tree...my friend had done the mistake of offering a few chips earlier. Afterall that's what the Chips' punchline in the ad says..."No one can eat just one." Lol
After about a third of the way, we were almost abruptly surrounded by a thick cloud cover all around us, so much so that the visibility was reduced to less than 10 feet.Though none of us was carrying any warm clothes, we were still enjoying that chilly walk in the clouds....but only until it started raining cats and dogs. We tried to take shelter under a rock on the hillside,but were soon dripping wet. The weather god's fury ended as soon as it had begun,but the damage was done and to make matters worse, icy cold gusts of wind kept blowing the remaining way, and when we finally reached our destination after the 5 hour long ordeal, we were all literally shivering in the freezing cold.
Kasauli being an army cantonement area, it's a small but extremely well maintained and beautiful place,untouched by commercialisation and most of the houses are legacies from the British Raj.Anyways we hurriedly found a decent resteaurant at the mall road and thought of warming up with some vodka. So we literally hogged at the piping hot lunch and washed it down with some Screwdrivers. Then we too tired for anymore sightseeing so simply took a cab down back to Kalka.
Wednesday was Holi...and after a loong rest,i was raring to go to celebrate the fest i was here for.
I got myself some gulal(coloured powder) of red,green and blue colours and after colouring my parents and elusive sister,i went straight to my friend Gaurav's place and we started the usual Holi plan...touring around the city visiting all old friend's homes and colouring everyone.Next Gaurav and i went to Rajneesh's place, then Amit,Shivani,Anshu,Radhika,Nishima and Sweety.
It being a rare cloudy Holi this time most people were not playing with water...but at Anshu's place it got different. We were looking for her when she crept up from behind carrying a bucket full of water to throw...i was quick to notice and caught hold of the bucket and poured it back on her! Lol. Suddenly her brother came out with another bucket and poured it on me...and then all hell broke loose and soon everyone was throwing water on everyone else.In the end we all were drenched and sat together enjoying sweet gujjia's with tea, and recollected which teachers we liked and hated in school...all the pranks we used to play etc.
Then we did some more rounds of the city and it was a joy to see the festive spirit around...guys and gals with unrecognisable multicoloured faces taking rounds and basking in the festive madness...it was like a desi version of Mardi Gras or the Rio carnival.
The remaining days were spent just checking out the old hangouts and meeting up other friends n relatives....most of whom seemed to have just 1 thing to talk about....my marriage plans. Lol, they seemed to be more interested than me!
Anyways i managed to escape unscathed this time too.Hehe...like i joked to them..."Abhi to mere hansne khelne ki umar hai!"
Another thing i noticed for the Nth number of time...why do these air-hostesses have to put up the biggest artificial smiles ever....it's amusing to see them change like a chameleon...grinning at 1 moment....frowning at each other the next!
Whatever said and done....one thing's for certain....there's nothing as sweet as Home.

(Pics - Top: Kasauli as seen from Chandigarh, Bottom: View from Kasauli)

Return To Innocence

2006-03-07T01:14:00.000-08:00

There are times in your life when you just want to be like the innocent kid that you once were. When you just want to enjoy the simple joys around you without having to worry about all the politics, jealousies, relationships and insecurities rattling the world around you.
I had a chance to relive that phase of my life this weekend as our entire project team went for a team outing to the new theme park near Bangalore touted as the best in India, called WonderLa.
Even though our complete project team had around 15 people - 9 singles and 6 married, yet when the idea of going to an entertainment park was first suggested most people just laughed it off and the seniors suggested going for a dinner to some 5-star instead. But the young crowd being in the majority, it was our choice that counted in the end, and soon everyone was to realize that far from being kiddish, many of the rides were scary enough to send a chill down the spines of the bravest of the bravehearts around.

So on Sunday morning the whole team got into our company bus and reached the venue which was around 40 kms outside Bangalore. Being a holiday there was a substantial crowd and most of them were IT people.
As soon as we entered the park, most of us were just raring to go. We soon split up into 2 groups – 8 of the ‘chicken hearted’ ones who went for the kiddish rides like bouncing cars etc. and around 6 of the so called ‘lionhearts’ (including yours truly) for the rollercoasters and other gut-wrenchers.

The very 1st ride we ran to instinctively was the 1 we heard most of the screams emerging from, aptly titled ‘Maverick’ which was Tom Cruise’s codename in Top Gun. People were buckled onto their seats on 2 rows on a platform. It first starts rotating in a circular motion up and down, then sideways and then it suddenly goes upside down…and then sideways up, and all this churning continues for at least 5 minutes!
Obviously most of the females were screaming their lungs out and 1 of my colleagues even started crying!

Next we all headed for the rollercoaster called WonderSplash(top and bottom), where everyone’s seated into a carriage resembling a raft, which goes twirling upto an elevated rail and then hurtles down a steep incline at an awesome speed before making a big splash in the water that drenches everyone to the core.
Another interesting ride was called the DropZone where everybody is seated on a platform that is raised to a giddying height of 17 metres and then makes a freefall to the ground! Before anyone got a chance to breath it rises up and falls again and again continuously for at least 5 minutes!
The last ride worth mentioning in the dry rides(and the scariest for me) was called the ‘Twister’. It looked almost like a Giant Wheel, but instead of the basket like cubes it had 2 seats at each point, where we were strapped on our shoulders, with our legs hanging in mid-air. Now as the wheel moved up, the seats swung to and fro like a pendulum, and just as each pair moved to the top, the seats went upsidedown! There we were at the top of the wheel looking down with all the blood rushing to our heads, and desperately clinging on to dear life with the support of only 2 straps on our shoulders! And then the wheel moves down with us in the same position facing the ground, and this goes on for at least 20 rounds. DAMN scary.
After some more of such freaky rides we decided to take a break for lunch before jumping into the water park.
Here most of the rides were water slides at various elevations and inclines. Obviously we went for the highest ones. The 1 that got me real claustrophobic was where we had to climb 4 stories high, and enter the mouth of a black pipe lying down on our stomachs and facing downwards. From here you go twisting and twirling into multiple circles in the pitch darkness around you, and your body catches a breakneck speed before splashing out of the pipe into a pool at the bottom.
This unbridled fun continued till late evening, and everyone was literally exhausted from all the frolicking around. However, everyone was unanimous on one thing….this was certainly the most fun team outing we had in a long time.

(Pics from Top: All raring to go for the rollercoaster....with me grinning from ear to ear as if posing for a toothpaste ad...lol.
2nd the platform in Maverick before turning upside down.
3rd the platform in DropZone while going all the way up.
Last all of us at the end of the coaster ride....i'm like man...wht the hell was that!
)

P.S. – I’ll be leaving for Delhi this Friday, and then move on to Chandigarh to celebrate Holi with my family next week. So might not be able to put up another post till end of next week. Hope you all have a rocking time!

RETURN TO INNOCENCE (Enigma)

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The Promised Land

2006-03-01T10:46:00.000-08:00

If there is any other country besides my own that I have gradually grown to respect, then it has to be Israel.
I do not have anything personal against the Palestinian muslims, in fact I support their demand for resettlement in the West Bank and the Gaza strip, but as long as it is done in a civilized manner, and not through Fidayeen suicide bombers.
But the reason why I admire the Israeli’s in particular is to see the resolve of a long suppressed and persecuted race to have a country of their own on the face of this planet.

At the heart of this struggle is the most bitterly fought for piece of land in the history of humanity – the ancient city of Jerusalem, which the Jews call the land of Zion (After Mount Zion) and which is deemed sacred by 3 prominent religions – Jews, Muslims and Christians.
Jews hold it sanctimonious as it contains the only remaining wall of the temple to Yahweh built by King David originally around 1000 BC and then destroyed through the ages by Babylonians, Greeks and lastly by Romans in 70 AD, aptly called the Wailing wall.
Muslims deem it pious as it contains the Dome of the Rock, the site from where Prophet Mohammed is said to have ascended to heaven.
Christians consider it holy as it is the place where Jesus Christ spent his last days, and the location of the Church of Holy Sepulchre built around 335 AD by Constantine the great over the site where Christ was crucified and buried.

For over 2000 years, Jews dispersed the world over harboured an innate desire to reassemble all Jews in their ancient homeland, and finally have a country of their own; a desire which came to be known as the Zionist movement.
These were also the millennia of unprecedented persecution for them, starting with their mass and systematic slaughter during the Crusades. They were barred from owning land in most countries. The Roman Catholic Church forbade Christians to live among Jews.
In 1215 a law was passed in Europe forcing all Jews to wear a distinguishing badge. Later French, British and Spanish kings expelled Jews from their countries and seized their properties.
A 100,000 Jews were wiped out within a decade during the Cossack revolt in mid 19th century in Poland. It became worse after the Czars took over, as Jewish women were not allowed to live in city centres without the badge of a prostitute.
After the assassination of a Czar, the mobs butchered all Jewish communities they could find – which later came to be called Pogroms.
Of course the last nail in the coffin would be the slaughter of more than 6 million of their kind in Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust.

So after the 2nd world war the Jews of Palestine had just 1 objective, to demand from U.N. their own separate country and to gather the survivors of the Holocaust there.

The Britishers had ruled Palestine after defeating the Turks in the 1st World War, and just like in India, after the 2nd world war they were only too keen to relinquish the burden of their weakened empire and push off any responsibility as early as possible.
They forwarded the task of dividing Palestine to U.N. which divided it into 2 parts – Israel for Jews and Palestine for Muslims, but as soon as the British left the muslims refused to acknowledge the existence of Israel and together with the support of 7 nations of the Arab league – Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Jordan, waged war on the newly formed Israel.
How the Israeli’s gathered people to fight that war – all able bodied girls, boys, men and women, how they trained them, how they gathered weapons and cash for their newly formed country, and how they eventually won, is a miraculous tale of human courage under fire.

Being a tiny island surrounded on all sides by hostile countries, they have since been attacked again and again, but unfortunately for the Palestinians, it has only resulted in giving Israel the moral right in international opinion to fight back to defend themselves, and in the process capture more land from the Palestinians – 3 times the originally allocated land after the 6 day war in 1967.
The peace process had gained momentum under Aerial Sharon, wherein he had initiated removal of his Jews from West Bank and Gaza strip, even though amidst protests from the hardliner division of his own community.
That process is now under peril like never before, with the terrorist group Hamas having been elected to power in Palestine, a group whose only claim to fame is Fidayeen attacks and bombings in public places, and whose charter itself calls for the complete annihilation of Israel.
Like Kashmir, I hope against hope that a final solution to this terrible conflict is reached, and no more blood is spilled on that ‘holy land’.

( I might write about 2 famous Israeli operations sometime later – the main reason I thought of writing this in the first place)

The Eye of The Tiger

2006-02-24T01:32:00.000-08:00

I’m not a violent person by nature, on the contrary, I see myself as among the most jovial and fun-loving persons around. But then calmness should not be misconstrued for weakness, and if I’m deliberately provoked and rubbed the wrong way, then I’d have to admit I’m not a Gandhi follower to simply turn the other cheek, and I would ensure that the inciter would get a swift and befitting reply.
Despite being physically capable, God knows I’ve never ever been a bully or tried to misuse my strength over anybody, but at the same time I can never be a passive witness to someone else bullying anybody.
The last time I remember losing my cool was in the summer of 2003 in my college hostel. Our college was quite close to the Delhi – Ghaziabad border, and Ghaziabad is notorious for it’s high crime rate and politico – criminal nexus.
Our college also had the best of the crowd from the country, and we had very popular parties every month which inevitably invited some unwanted attention from the local miscreants as well. On the eve of one such party I was casually taking a stroll down the college canteen when a speeding car screeched to a halt barely inches away from me. I walked upto the window thinking it might be a friend while it turned out to be two drunk guys who immediately started hurling a volley of abuses down my way and threatened me saying they were the nephews of one D.P. Yadav (A politician and local mafia don). Before I could react and pull them out they sped further inside the campus.
I had never been subjected to this kind of humiliation ever before, and it was enough to send all the testosterone in my blood pumping. I quickly ran to the only gate of our campus and asked the guard to immediately lock the gate and not let anybody out until I said so. Now the car came back to the gate in a few minutes where I already stood waiting for them. They both came out and stood bang opposite me staring me straight in the eye, and I too returned the favour.( proper filmi style)
They were careful not to utter one more offensive word this time, and I was determined that if they did, I would’ve immediately started pounding their heads. A crowd of students had already started gathering, but I was surprised that not even a one of those rich spoilt brats had the balls to join me against those hooligans. Two of my junior femmes from the crowd shouted they had misbehaved with them as well, besides roughing up a lot of guys earlier.
Now I asked the guard to call up the police which turned their faces pale and they started imploring to get the gate opened. It became obvious to me now that they were bluffing (Yadav’s kins would’ve had the police in their pockets) and I asked them to apologise to me and those females or else I would hand them over to the police.
This standoff continued till almost another half hour but the bloody police never arrived ( I guess they were scared of the mafia themselves) but ultimately those goons did publicly apologise and said they would never enter our campus again, and indeed they were never seen after that.
I was reminded of this incident now since I’m facing a similar situation at work these days which sometimes boils my blood to similar levels, though now the battle has taken a corporate angle.
My current nemesis who is a senior in my team is using similar bullying tactics on me and is mainly responsible for botching up my appraisal as well as the reason why I’m having to sip filter coffee here rather than French wine at a chateau near the French Riviera.
Until now he’s been engaging me in a verbal duel through scornful emails copied to our boss as well, and now that he’s coming back I can’t wait to have a tête-à-tête with him in the meeting with our boss next week.
So he can talk The Talk (so can I and maybe a gazillion times better than him), now let me see if he can walk The Walk!

Risin' up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive

So many times, it happens too fast
You change your Passion for Glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive

It's the Eye of the Tiger, it's the cream of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all in the Eye of The Tiger

(I cut this portion from my pic, enlarged it and converted it to black n white....lol it's funny how ferocious it looks now though it had a smile beneath!)

The Season of The TAG - 2

2006-02-19T23:48:00.000-08:00

I was tagged again by Shikha recently...so here i go...

Four jobs I have had

Software Engineer

(Unfortunately that's the only job I have ever had)

Four movies I would watch over and over again

DDLJ
Dil Chahta Hai
Troy
Dumb and Dumber

Four places I have lived

Chandigarh
Delhi
Bangalore
(that's it)

Four TV shows I love to watch

Friends
Fear Factor
The Great Indian Comedy show
That 70’s Show

Four places I have been on vacation

Andamans
Srinagar
Gangtok
Dalhousie

Four of my favourite foods

‘Makki(Maize flour) ki roti’ with ‘Sarson (mustard) ka saag’
Any variety of stuffed paranthas
Chocolate Soufle
Paneer – Any variety cooked with a luscious gravy.

Four places I'd rather be now

On my bike cruising to a faraway place
Anywhere in the Himalayan glaciers
Rio de Janeiro
Sleeping at home

Four sites I visit daily

Blogs
Indiatimes
Time.com
Ebay.co.in

I'm 4going tagging 4 others, so kindly 4give and 4get!

That 4 Letter Word

2006-02-13T05:22:00.000-08:00

ANYTHING FOR LOVE (Meat Loaf)

Video Code provided by VideoCodeZone.Com

It’s that time of the year again.
I agree that for those who’re really neck deep in love, almost every day should be a ‘Valentine’s Day’.
Anyways these days we have a ‘day’ for anything and everything…friendship day, father’s day, mother’s day, teacher’s day, smile day, blood donation day, aids day, earth day, fool’s day….hell coming to think of it….we might as well have a ‘today is nothing’ day for some days of the year when there is actually nothing happening.
But I’m not gonna be a spoilsport now, perhaps because this particular day is devoted to that most inexplicable of human emotions which has triggered the most creative of human talents throughout time, and continues to be the single largest driving force behind most poetry, music, drama and movies.

To describe something so complex, deep and beautiful is frankly beyond the grasp of a few words, but while scanning my old mailbox a few days back, I came across a mail sent to me by a friend around 4 years ago, which I’d incidentally not deleted maybe because of the beauty of it.
I think I’ll just put it up here as a token of my respect for this emotion called love:

My husband works at office a lot , I love him for his steady nature, and I love the warm feeling when I lean against his broad shoulders. Two years of courtship and now, three years into marriage, I would have to admit, that I am getting tired of it. The reasons of me loving him before, has now transformed into the cause of all my restlessness.

I am a sentimental woman and extremely sensitive when it comes to a relationship and my feelings, I yearn for the romantic moments, like a little girl yearning for candy. My husband, is my complete opposite, his lack of sensitivity, and the inability of bringing romantic moments into our marriage has disheartened me about love. One day, I finally decided to tell him my decision, that I wanted a divorce.

"Why?" he asked, shocked. "I am tired, there are no reasons for everything in the world!" I answered.

He kept silent the whole night, seems to be in deep thought with a lighted cigarette at all times. My feeling of disappointment only increased, here was a man who can't even express his predicament, what else can I hope from him? And finally he asked me:" What can I do to change your mind?"

Somebody said it right, it's hard to change a person's personality, and I guess, I have started losing faith in him. Looking deep into his eyes I slowly answered : "Here is the question, if you can answer and convince my heart, I will change my mind.
Let's say, I want a flower located on the face of a mountain cliff, and we both are sure that picking the flower will cause your death, will you do it for me?"

He said :" I will give you your answer tomorrow...." My hopes just sank by listening to his response.
I woke up the next morning to find him gone, and saw a piece of paper with his scratchy handwriting, underneath a milk glass, on the dining table near the front door, that goes....

My dear,
"I would not pick that flower for you, but please allow me to explain the reasons further.."
This first line was already breaking my heart. I continued reading.
"When you use the computer you always mess up the Software programs, and you cry in front of the screen, I have to save my fingers so that I can help to restore the programs.
You always leave the house keys behind, thus I have to save my legs to rush home to open the door for you.
You love travelling but always lose your way in a new city, I have to save my eyes to show you the way.
You always have the cramps whenever your "good friend" approaches every month, I have to save my palms so that I can calm the cramps in your tummy.
You like to stay indoors, and I worry that you will be infected by infantile autism. I have to save my mouth to tell you jokes and stories to cure your boredom.
You always stare at the computer, and that will do nothing good for your eyes, I have to save my eyes so that when we grow old, I can help to clip your nails, and help to remove those annoying white hairs. So I can also hold your hand while strolling down the beach, as you enjoy the sunshine and the beautiful sand... and tell you the colour of flowers, just like the colour of the glow on your young face...

Thus, my dear, unless I am sure that there is someone who loves you more than I do... I could not pick that flower yet, and die.. "
My tears fell on the letter, and blurred the ink of his handwriting... and as I continue reading...
"Now, that you have finished reading my answer, if you are satisfied, please open the front door for I am standing outside bringing your favorite bread and fresh milk...

I rush to pull open the door, and saw his anxious face, clutching tightly with his hands, the milk bottle and loaf of bread....
Now I am very sure that no one will ever love me as much as he does, and I have decided to leave the flower alone...
That's life, and love. When one is surrounded by love, the feeling of excitement fades away, and one tends to ignore the true love that lies in between the peace and dullness.

Love shows up in all forms, even very small and cheeky forms, it has never been a model, it could be the most dull and boring form.. .

I do not think it can be described in a better way than that.

It's really difficult to pick up just 1 favourite love song, but then after i analysed my list of fav's, this 1 just stood out with it's mesmerising lyrics .....check out the video :

TRULY MADLY DEEPLY (Savage Garden)

"Love is a hidden fire, A pleasant sore, A delicious poison, A delectable pain, An agreeable torment, A sweet and throbbing wound, A gentle death."

Color Me Mustard

2006-02-09T22:29:00.000-08:00

I always believed Hindi movies were of 2 types….1 where you come out of the theatre screaming and another where you come out of the theatre silently. And then I saw the 3rd kind.
If I were given just 1 word to describe the movie ‘Rang De Basanti’, it would have to be ‘Refreshing’ (even if that sounds cliché’d).
Yea, I know that with the movie already into it’s 2nd week, the review is a tad late, but then the mad scramble this flick has caused at the ticket windows coupled with my usual procrastination ensured that we couldn’t get the tickets for the weekends, so ultimately me and another friend had to settle for a late night show at PVR on a weekday(Wednesday).
The movie gets it’s name from the color of Basant(Spring), that refers to the bright yellow of Mustard flowers that beautify the vast fields of Punjab when the weather is midway during it’s transition from the biting winters to the sweltering summers.(Feb-Mar….right now!), and was often used to arouse the patriotic sentiments of the people under British rule.

Needless to say all the actors have done a great job, but Aamir Khan once again proves his acting superiority among the Khan’s and Non-Khan’s by getting under the skin of the character seamlessly.
Having spent the 1st 20 years of my life in Punjab, I can safely assure you that Aamir must’ve put in a substantial amount of effort and research to play the role of Dijjayy (DalJeet) to a perfection.
I tremendously enjoyed his antics as the quintessential Punjabi with a Devil-May-Care attitude, always ready to find fun out of the most difficult of situations. From his Beer-drinking entry, to the ‘Oye isko to Hindi aatti hai yaarr!’ and ‘Su kar mere mann ko’ as well as ‘Humare bachhe kaunse rang ke honge’, he’s simply superb.
Now for a low-down on some of the popular phrases used in the movie :-
Pan Dee Tukkee – Sounds like an abuse but is actually a harmless phrase invented by Punjabi’s to satisfy the eternal need to supplement any sentence with a prefix and suffix !
Chuk De Futtey – Literally means ‘Pick up the planks’, used like ‘Bring it on’ or ‘Just Do it’.
Wahe Guru Ji Da Khalsa, Wahe Guru Ji Di Fateh – War cry of the Sikhs, which means ‘ By the order of the Khalsa(Sikh) that belongs to the God, the victory too shall belong to him’.
Soni Kudi – What some call a ‘Babe’.
Tullee – Inebriated.

Soha Ali Khan is a refreshing new face and Alice surprises you with her sweet Hindi. The depiction of some Delhi University students loitering around the campus and inter-group clashes is quite realistic.
The movie tries to revitalize the dormant passion of the youth of the country and I feel it succeeds to quite an extent(the box-office vindicates me).
The soundtrack by AR Rehman is as good as he can get, and even though I’m no fan of Daler Mehndi yet I feel he’s done a good job with the title track.
Even the cinematography and direction are par excellence, and in fact the 1st half is an ideal blueprint of how a movie should be.
The 2nd half has a few minor glitches though, 1st with the Rapid Action Force opening Tianenmen Square styled Lathi-charge on a group of peaceful protestors, and then that being somewhat compared to Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Another is the abrupt decision of the group to assassinate the Defence minister without ever getting any direct proof of his involvement in the crash(Just coz he said a few harsh words on TV).
The last scene of the siege in the radio station is filmed well though, and adds an extra punch of shock value to the finale.
All in all, a fresh, stylish and brilliant piece of filmwork! I’ll get a DVD as soon as it’s out!

‘Ay Saala
Abhi abhi
Hua Yakeen
Ki Aag hai
Mujhmein Kaheen’

- A moment ago
have I realized,
That a fire burns
Somewhere deep inside.

The Best of Him

2006-02-05T23:02:00.000-08:00

This Canadian needs no introduction. His smooth soft rock ballads can be appreciated by anyone in any age group. I(and I’m sure most people in my contemporary generation) have grown up listening to his music as I still remember the 1st music album I ever bought out of my pocket money as a kid was his album ‘So Far So Good’.
I was there for his concert in 2004 at Delhi as well, so it was no surprise that when 4 other friends planned to attend the Bryan Adams’ 3rd Time Lucky concert yesterday evening in Bangalore, I also got myself pulled along.
A good thing about Bangalore(besides the weather) is that whenever an international star performs in India, Bangalore is sure to be a part of the itinerary, the other city mostly being either Bombay or Delhi.
So we reached the venue(Palace Grounds) around 6:00 pm yesterday, but the kilometer long queue at the entrance ensured that we could enter only around 7:30, and by that time the crowd inside had already started growing impatient having to watch the silly advertisements on the huge side screens, and some had started booing as well.
To be a part of a concert of this magnitude is always a treat for your senses. Firstly, the arrangements are state-of-the-art, specially since Mr. Bryan carries his own 10,000 kgs of equipment along in his jet. Next, the huge cheering crowd and the electric atmosphere adds that extra zeal to it. Good we got the front section tickets…bang in front of the stage!
So suddenly around 8:00 pm, the entire group jumped together onto the stage and started rocking. The crowd too abruptly broke into a hysteria, with the female majority breaking out into shrieks of ‘I love you Bryan’ and catcalls and whistles.
Among the 1st few songs he sang was ‘Open Road’ from his new album, and thereafter it was song after song of soulful numbers from his long list of chartbusters.

He showcased plenty of talent to mesmerize the 50,000 strong crowd, as apart from his youthful voice and soulful lyrics, he could easily juggle between 5 different guitars – 2 accoustic, 2 electric and a Bass guitar, as well as playing the harmonica in between.
An amusing part was when he pointed out to a girl in the crowd and called her up on stage to sing ‘Baby when you’re gone’ along with him. She introduced herself as Shweta and a Software Engineer(not surprising at all!) before breaking into a nervous rendition of the song, which was understandable considering the humungous crowd.

Expectedly, the strongest cheers from the guys came for the 2 numbers- “18 Till I Die” and “Summer of ’69 “
Other amazing numbers he crooned were Run to You, Cuts Like a Knife, The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me, Back to You, Best of Me, Can’t Stop this Thing we Started, Heaven, Cloud # 9, Let’s Make a Night To Remember, Straight from the Heart, and of course Please Forgive Me and Everything I Do.
Phew! Every single song a masterpiece! The guy sang for more than 2 hours non-stop.
The last song ‘Straight From the Heart’ was a beauty as he asked everyone to take out their cellphones and wave them in the dark while singing along, and the scene when viewed on the huge screens was like millions of bluish fireflies swaying to the music.

So which is your favourite Adams’ number?

P.S. – In keeping with my constant endeavor to enlighten the bourgeois with the crème de la crème from the world of entertainment, I’ve launched 2 new links on the right sidebar….1 would contain my favoured review of the last movie I watched, and another a downloadable link for a song along with it’s lyrics.
Since this has been a Bryan week, so I’m putting up my fav Bryan song for now.

Vaastu Shastra

2006-01-30T01:41:00.000-08:00

Or you can call it Feng Shui if you may. Arrey, nothing to do with that Ramu Verma’s jump in your seats horror flick. Though it’s a horror story alright. Let me cut to the chase…ever since I’d shifted to my previous house around six months back, things had not quite been going right for me. Apart from the fact that it was located in one of the busiest areas of Bangalore, from where I’d to spend an average of 3 hours in transit to and from work everyday, it’s disoriented architecture and lack of sunlight in the rooms didn’t quite help either. And wait, the silver lining of the cloud is yet to come.
My next door(or rather window) neighbours, whose bedroom balcony happened to be just a few merciful feet away from 1 of my bedroom’s window, seemed hell bent on proving their ‘happy married life’ status to me on quite a few occasions.(Now don’t ask me how!) And the baap of all irritations, it seemed their over enthusiastic children had signed a long term contract with some nemesis from my previous incarnation, and thus dutifully started bawling and crying themselves hoarse at dot 5 am every morning.
And to think this was the place I was supposed to return to from a hard day at work.
Charming, very freakin’ Charming!
So ultimately better sense dawned on me 2 weeks back and I along with another buddy of mine started looking for an apartment somewhere closer to work. We fortunately found a seemingly decent 2 bedroom-hall-kitchen in a good locality with 1 balcony facing a lake and another a coconut grove! So we met up with the landlord and lady, who happened to be a cute elderly Sikh couple. My friend started the talk, and was bluntly told that the rent was 10 grands. He tried to negotiate but to no avail. “Step aside and let ME handle the situation now”, I proudly proclaimed. Ahem.

Me: “Ohho Paaji! Tusi Kithon ? “
Translation: O Big Brother! Where art thou from ?
(The remaining conversation in the Queen’s language for your convenience)

Him: I’m from Jalandhar. You seem to know Punjabi too, are you from….
Me: Yes Sir! Straight from the heart of the capital city!
Him: (All smiles) Wah! Now we’re talking! So tell me, would you be staying with your family or….(eyes suspiciously)
Me: No way…just we two bachelors here.
Him: Hmmm…okk…well these are family apartments and we don’t generally give it to bachelors for obvious reasons.(Now I was wondering why everyone said that! I mean are bachelors some kind-of anti social elements for whom a marriage certificate is a pre-requisite to social acceptance!)
But since you’re ‘apna banda’, I’ll be considerate, and that too for 9.5 ! (grins)

Me: Umm sir, that’s really kind of you, but you see we’re kind of new to our jobs…blah blah blah….i’m new to the city….blah blah blah…
Note: Negotiation using sympathy ;)

Him: (It works!) Ohho, I can understand, I was new here once too, and I remember how difficult things were for me then…..hmm okk 9 grands then..
Me: (Pushing for more with my best innocent face) Frankly Sir, our budget was around 8.5, so if you can….
Him: (Tired look) Now I don’t know! Talk to my wife for the rest…..

Me: (To his wife) Oh ma’am….i’m sure you understand….

And of course charming her was easy! :> So we finally got it for 8.5 grands !
So that was how I negotiated an awesome deal and moved into this beautiful apartment, from where I now get this soothing view of a lake from my balcony as I sip my morning cup of tea everyday!

Later, my friend was astonished at how we managed to negotiate so much. “Dude, are you sure….you know…like the place is not haunted or something!”
Hmmm…. I never thought about that! Well, it doesn’t seem to be so far, but just in case it is, then I’ll get another interesting story to share!!
:D

(Pics: From Top – The lakeview from my balcony, middle – the coconut grove from the 2nd balcony, last – Sunset from our terrace)

For Your Eyes Only

2006-01-25T07:55:00.000-08:00

Yes, as I earlier said, sometimes a picture can say more than a thousand words. I’ve always been fascinated with beautiful images, and the first thing I invested in after getting my first salary was a good digital camera. Like they say, boys do love their toys, and for me there are just 2 of them right now…my Enfield Thunderbird and a Sony Cybershot P73.

“A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever”. The phrase couldn’t be more aptly applied to than beautiful Imagery – “Kodak Moments” that freeze all the special times of our lives in a frame, to be cherished and remembered time and again. It’s sometimes really fascinating to think how these images might probably outlast not just our lifetimes, but that of our entire generations, since technology has advanced so rapidly in the last few decades that humanity born a century ago wouldn’t have imagined in it’s wildest dreams. Imagine having to see real-life images of legends like Cleopatra, Marie Antoinette, Mumtaz Mahal or even the inspiring Napolean, Alexander or Ashoka.

I remember hearing somewhere that if you have to appreciate the gift of sight, try putting yourself in the shoes of a person who has been born blind, and who has never been able to see the flawless beauty of a coastal sunrise, the mesmerizing mist of mountains, the varied hues of a fully blossomed garden in spring, or just the elegance of a beautiful smile.
And maybe then, we would stop taking this God’s gift for granted and start appreciating the beauty in His most simple creations.

I’m not a photographer in any sense of the word, but ever since laying my hands on this wonderful technological toy and going through it’s manual, I’ve tried to make as optimum a use of it as possible.

I’m sharing some of the pictures I’ve been able to capture through this during the last year and a half.

Check them out at your expediency: My Collection so far
(There are 4 different albums in the link)

The Season of The TAG

2006-01-20T04:32:00.000-08:00

Ah, you can smell it in the air, can’t u! Yea right, I guess it’s a kind of trend in blogsville these days…..wherever u go someone or another has tagged someone else or another!
So when the entire cyberia seems to have caught the viral, how could I escape unscathed.
First by Ms. Ramblings and then Ms. UnVeilings for the-by-now-famous 8 point tag, and then by Ms. Kiran for the Wild Thoughts tag.
Hmmm, so I guess I’ll take up both the tags in one shot.

The rules(if you don't already know them!) are:
1. The tagged victim has to come up with 8 different points of their perfect lover.
2. Need to mention the sex of the target.
3. Tag 8 victims to join this game & leave a comment on their comments saying they’ve been tagged.
4. If tagged the 2nd time, there’s no need to post again

Target: Female

She should:

1. Be caring and affectionate(obviously!),
2. Have a pleasant personality (that includes decent looks, dressing sense and a warm and friendly attitude),
3. Be witty enough to carry an interesting conversation,
4. Cultivate faith in me and similarly should allow me to put my 100% trust in her,
5. Be mature and not throw tantrums and whims every now and then.(Once in a while should be fine),
6. Be well balanced - neither tooo conservative nor tooo liberal(That's the toughest i guess)
7. Be sensitive towards my sometimes possessive nature,
8. Love me like no other!!

Phew...God help me! :p

Ok now for the naughtier "Wild Thoughts" part.
Hmmm this might be even tougher...anyways...i'll give it a try...

First crush/gf/bf:
My English teacher in Class 5th. Sshhh....Lol.

First Kiss:
My playmate in KinderGarten...hehe...in fact her parents asked me to kiss her for a photograph!

Naughty is:
Being amusing without hurting anyone.It's NOT flirting and definitely NOT bad.

Most mischievous thing you have ever done:
Threw Diwali crackers inside the window of my school principal's office(and ran off) after he'd reprimanded me for some silly thing i hadn't even done.

Would love to go on a date with :
Tough choice.....ok Salma Hayek.

Deep dark fantasy:
Since it's deep n dark, let it b tht ways. ;)

Nightmare:
Losing my loved ones.

Ideal woman:
8 points mentioned above.

Would you ever indulge in a one-night-stand?
I don't think so.

Pre-marital sex:
I'm old-fashioned.

Love v/s Lust :
Love is beautiful and long-lasting, Lust is raw and transient.

If you could , you would :

1. Have 6-pack abs like Dino Morea,
2. Get a woman like Gayatri Joshi,
3. Get the job of Ian Wright(host of the Lonely Planet series on Discovery)

What attracts you most in a woman:

Her hair...
Wits...
Smile...

What turns you off:
Oily hair
Bad teeth

Your motto:
If you think, you can!

Ohkk...been there...done that.
As for tagging 8 others, in case anyone reading this hasn't been infected yet, please consider yourself attacked...err...tagged.

So until next week...Asta La Vista!

Dream On

2006-01-17T02:44:00.000-08:00

Darn ….i’m back neck deep in work now. But I just stole out enough time to share my FAVOURITE song of all time…..trust me if you haven’t heard this then you haven’t lived at all! :-p
I’ve set this song as the morning alarm on my Winamp for 4 years now(!) and though I still experiment with some others off and on, i keep coming back to this as it remains my ALL time favourite.
The most inspiring song ever, this can mean different things to different people, but never fails to motivate you to give your best in whatever dream or endeavor you’re pursuing.

It’s called Dream On by AeroSmith.

Check it Out: (Click To Play)

Dream On

Every time I look in the mirror
All these lines on my face getting clearer
The past is gone
It goes by, like dusk to dawn
Isn't that the way
Everybody's got their dues in life to pay

Yeah, I know what nobody knows
where it comes and where it goes
I know it's everybody's Sin
You got to Lose to know how to Win

Half my Life
is in books' written pages
Lived and Learned
from Fools and from Sages
You know it's True
All the things come Back to You

Sing with Me, Sing for the Year
Sing for the Laughter, Sing for the Tear
Sing with Me, if it's just for Today
Maybe Tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away

Yeah, Sing with me, Sing for the year
Sing for the laughter, Sing for the tear
Sing with me, if it's just for today
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you Away

Dream On Dream On Dream On
Dream until your dreams come true
Dream On Dream On Dream On
Dream Until your Dream comes through
Dream On Dream On Dream On
Dream On Dream On
Dream On Dream On

Sing with Me, Sing for the Year
Sing for the Laughter, Sing for the Tears
Sing with Me, if it's just for Today
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away
Sing with Me, Sing for the year
Sing for the laughter, Sing for the tears
Sing with Me, if it's just for today
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away......

Right Click the following link and click Save Target As to download…. Dream On(Original)

So Dream On people, Dream On until those Dreams Come True!!!

A Soft Corner

2006-01-13T02:26:00.000-08:00

Ok, well, how do I start ? This is about someone special, someone really really close to me.

If there is one thing I hate about myself then it’s the inability to freely express my emotions towards anyone I would really care for(especially face to face).
Nah it’s neither shyness nor snobbishness. I feel it’s a stupid “Guy” thing that’s got into my head from I-don’t-know-where. “Guys DO NOT get emotional.” A bunch of crap, I know, but crap that raises it’s ugly head almost always at the opportune moment. Maybe it’s a self-defence mechanism that I’ve unconsciously built up to save myself from the mental agony (once emotions get the better of me, they simply refuse to leave). Like I remember last year coming out of a theatre after watching the movie “Black” with my family, and while my mother and sister(and almost all females) were openly wiping their moist eyes with a handkerchief, I tried my best to keep a straight face. (Though earlier inside under the safe haven of darkness I’d allowed a drop or two to leave my eyes too! Darn how can I even admit that! )

Anyways, coming back to that special person, I love her so much and yet I don’t remember expressing it to her for a long time now, maybe we’ve started taking each other for granted – Not Anymore.
Today also happens to be the right day to express it – She’s my lovely, charming, amazing Little Sister!
Ah, how destiny has separated our lives onto it’s different paths! Till just a few years back we all used to be together, and now I’m working in Bangalore, she’s studying in Delhi, while our parents live on in Chandigarh.
Yet, how can I ever forget those growing up years when we used to fight it out over trivial things – from which TV channel to watch to who would take the biggest share of chocolates! I can only reminisce and smile over it now.
And the fact that I’ve always been ferociously protective of her (I’m sure any responsible brother would be!). I just recall this one incident when she was two years junior to me in the same school, and only once she told me that some guy in her class was constantly bugging her – I simply went to him and asked him if he knew she was MY sister. He literally went on his knees to apologize and and made her his ‘sister’ from the next day! Lol.
There are loads of other memories but pages and words would just not be sufficient to do justice to all of them. What matters is that those memories would be cherished by me forever.
And now in another year or two she would be married and happily settled somewhere, and then I would be too, and maybe we’ll get to see even less of each other.
But while I still can, let me take this opportunity to express my love for her on her special day – Here’s Wishing All The Joys In The World For You! Happy Birthday and Loads of HUGSSS!

We share the Bond of Blood,
And I shall Love and Protect you always,
To My Last Breath.
(Ok now before I get more senti I’ll mail this to her!)

(That's me and her with Dad on her birthday more than 20 years back.)

Style Vs. Substance

2006-01-09T08:08:00.000-08:00

The Eternal question. It’s amazing how the principle of Duality applies in so many places…. Chicken or Egg ? Black or White ? Adam or Eve ? Shaken or Stirred ? Science or Arts ? Pass or Fail ?
Style or Substance ?
- Both.
???

I like people who have some ‘depth’ in their words and actions, people with views that hold some ‘weight’; in other words, people with ‘Substance’.
Mostly such people can be inferred to have a logical and analytical bent of mind, with a precise and practical approach to getting things done. They can also be categorized as people who value the destination as the ultimate goal, even if it means missing out on the joys of the journey.

I shall make no bones about the fact that I hold an equal admiration for persons on the other end of the spectrum – people of STYLE. They’re the ones who’re endowed with a gift of weaving magic out of thin air. Like those who can go on talking for hours together(even though their message could’ve been conveyed in 2 sentences), and still end up in getting an applause from their audiences, all simply by virtue of their ‘Style’. These people have an artistic bent of mind, and mostly have a vague and dreamy way of doing things. In fact, they might not be interested in getting things done at all, as long as whatever is done “Looks Good”. Predictably for them, the journey holds much more significance than the destination.
(In extreme cases they might even miss it).

But the genre of people I admire as well as respect the most are the increasingly dwindling species of the rare kinds who can claim to have a heady combo of both – Style as well as Substance.
They know not just how to bake the ideal cake, but how to garnish it with a proper icing as well. They’re often smart enough to tilt the balance on either side depending on the circumstances. Not only do they get their job done quickly, they get it done gracefully as well.
Metaphorically speaking, they’re the ones who enjoy all the sightseeing during the journey, at the same time keeping a lookout for the destination.

I shall be immodest enough to say that it is this category that I often try to idolize and emulate.

Thinking of Style and Substance in their broader and generic terms, I tried to classify people(whoever came to my mind) from various spheres into 1 or both of these categories. (Just For Kicks).

Mostly Style:-

Hollywood: Jessica Alba, Cameron Diaz, Penelope Cruz, Tom Cruise, Steven Segal.
Bollywood: Celina Jaitley, Sanjay Dutt, Sameera Reddy, Salmaan Khan, Bipasha Basu
Music: Madonna, Jessica Simpson, Elvis, Britney
Writing: Shobha De, Sidney Sheldon, M&B’s.
Politics: Bill Clinton, Laloo Yadav( He’s gotta unique style a’ite!), Jyotiraditya Scindia, Renuka Chowdhary, Rahul Gandhi.
Others: Maharani Gayatri Devi, Vijaypat Singhania, Paris Hilton, Prince William.

Mostly Substance:-

Hollywood: Russell Crowe, Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster
Bollywood: Tabu, Rani Mukherjee, Ajay Devgan, Nana Patekar, Naseeruddin Shah
Music: REM , Phil Collins, The Cranberries, Alanis Morissette
Writing: Dominique Lapierre ,Gurcharan Das, Swaminathan Aiyar(Swaminomics)
Politics: Winston Churchill, A.Lincoln, Manmohan Singh, AB Vajpayee, Vladimir Putin
Others: Einstein, Gandhi, Laxmi Mittal, Serena Williams,Tiger Woods

Style & Substance:-

Hollywood: Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Al Pacino, Charlize Theron, Gwyneth Paltrow, Salma Hayek
Bollywood: Amitabh Bachan, Shabana Aazmi, Aamir Khan,Sushmita Sen
Music: Santana, Eric Clapton, Kishore Kumar, Shania Twain, Sting
Writing: Salmaan Rushdie, Frederick Forsyth
Politics: JawaharLal Nehru, Arun Jaitley, Nelson Mandela, John F. Kennedy
Others: Richard Branson, Sania Mirza, Muhammad Ali, Sachin Tendulkar

None:-

Hollywood: Kevin Costner
Bollywood: Mallika Sherawat
Music: Mick Jagger,Bjork
Writing: Umm Joseph Heller! (Try Catch-22)
Politics: George W. Bush (who else)
Others: Prince Charles, Camilla Parker Bowles

Maybe I missed out some….do you feel strongly about any people who fit the bill ?

Life is a BEACH !

2006-01-04T04:17:00.000-08:00

Well yea, literally(often) as well as phonetically(occasionally). Or at least that’s what it seems to me after spending the last week of last year by the seashores of Bombay and Goa. While Bombay’s beaches had an introspective effect on me (I guess every beach does that if u visit them alone), Goa’s beaches were simply rocking at this time of the year(with techno and trance playing all around, it was difficult to keep your feet still). Ok wait, let me start from the start. (!)

I had not intended this blog to be any kind of a biographical account, but I guess since I’ve had such a rocking time this last week, it would be a waste if I do not keep an account of it.
First a quick wrap-up of my time at Bombay(for the record) - I reached Bombay on Christmas day and put up at my college buddy Pushkar’s flat. Despite it being a lazy Sunday, we were out in almost in no time and I was shown around the Colaba area and we went pubbing at Café Mondegar. Later at dinner we met up with our common friend Tapasya and her sister Stuti, who were both absolutely thrilled with the idea of us going to Goa and insisted that they would like to tag along as well. The next day Stuti’s friend Shweta called up to confirm her seat in the gang as well. Apparently Goa was so popular with these Bombay’ites that they’d been celebrating New Year’s there for the last 4 years in a row. (After being there myself I can now understand why). So ultimately 5 tickets were booked for the Bombay-Goa Volvo for 28th night. The remaining 3 days in Bombay were spent visiting my buddies in Santa Cruz and Andheri, also some shopping as I bought myself a blazer styled leather jacket and some tees for Goa.
So finally the entire gang started from Bombay on 28th night and reached Goa early Thursday morning, then quickly checked in to Pushkar’s friend’s flat in Porvorim. The females were swift to pack themselves into 1 of the better rooms(obviously!) while we had to make do with a couch and mattress in the living room. Anyways, within an hour of our arrival we hired a cab for next 3 days, and the party was on!
I have to mention here that even though I’m not much of a party freak most of the time, yet I guess it was the exotic combination of the destination, the timing, and the contagious company of some serious clubbers that brought out the dormant wild party animal inside me.
The 1st destination that we hit was the popular Anjuna beach, where after some time of surfing the sand in the sun the females realized that this activity was non-hazardous only for the pigment free skins of the scores of firangs who were trying to soak in as much Vitamin D as possible, and so we moved to the shady shelter of a nearby shack for lunch. Post that we scanned the various stalls for some exotic Goan handicrafts, and even though I hate any kind of accessories yet I picked up a chain (just to go with the flow!).
Another noticeable thing about Goa was that wherever we went and at whatever time, the atmosphere was so lively and festive, that it was unlike anywhere I’d been before. No wonder there was the buzz of Amitabh, Shahrukh and Salmaan having checked in the town for Vijay Mallya’s famed party as well. We even spotted a black Hummer at Baga which according to my knowledgeable Bombay’ites belonged to Sanjay Dutt.
Next we reached Calangute and stopped over at a lounge called Kamaki. The ambience was neat though a bit expensive. Now we headed straight for the famous Zanzibar shack at Baga, where Nikhil Chinappa and DJ Pearl were jockeying from 29th to 31st from 5 pm to 10:30 pm( http://www.submerge.in/gallery.htm ). Ah, the first glimpse of those flickering Neon lights and the booming music was enough to send us like hungry tigers on scrumptious prey, and we literally kickstarted the dance mayhem.
After about 2 hours of dancing we took a break for dinner at a nearby shack called Oceanic and feasted on some seafood. (I tried a Pomfret but somehow didn’t like it.) Now we headed for the famous Tito’s where we again gyrated to some pulsating music till about 2 am, and then were so tired of the traveling and dancing that we decided to call it a day.

The 2nd day (30th) everybody got up around 12, and soon made a quick tour of Vagator, where the junta was bored with the same sand and sun so quickly found our way back to Baga. Here we had lunch at Oceanic, then tried some mouth watering desserts at Britto’s (best food in town), before launching ourselves back to the mania at Zanzibar.

Post dinner a quick plan was formulated to check out the No. 1 nightclub in Goa (and maybe in India) called Club Cabana. It was aptly located on the top of a hill from where a flickering searchlight proudly boasted it’s Numero Uno status to the whole of partying town below. It was definitely the highlight of the trip as the crowd was Crème-de-la-Crème, and plenty of models and TV actors could be spotted jiving around. We reluctantly left the place after sunrise around 6 am.

The 3rd day(31st) started with everyone getting up around 3 pm, and even though we were all simply burnt out with fatigue, we were still raring to go. We took a quick tour through Panjim around 5 pm but it was so crowded everywhere that we thought it was better to stay near the beaches. So we again started shopping around Calangute, and around dinner time decided to check out a rave party happening in a club called HillTop. But there was such a Jam of partyhoppers that our cab couldn’t move beyond 500 metres in half an hour, so we thought it better to spend the midnight hour at Baga rather than in the cab.In any case we were told it was useless to go to a rave if you don't do drugs, so i guess we didn't miss much.

So as the clock struck 12, we were dancing away at Zanzi while there were thousands and thousands of people all around as far as the eye could see. There were dazzling fireworks almost for an hour all along the coastline.
On 1st morning I bid a sad farewell to my group, and pushed off to another friend’s home in Panjim where I’d been invited for some delectable Goan lunch.
And then it was time to get back to Bangalore and the monotony of work life. (but I’m somehow sure I’ll be back there soon).

'Oh Milton, if you had ever visited Goa, you would never have written Paradise Lost'. – A popular Goan phrase.

(Some more pics at http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8IZN2LVuzbsRe )

From Dusk, Till Dawn

2005-12-23T02:06:00.000-08:00

This photograph known as "The Kiss" is famous as being among the classiest shots ever captured by a camera. It was taken on the eve of August 15,1945 after the Japanese surrender to American forces in World War 2, during the celebrations in the famous Times Square in New York city. It’s said that on that day every swabbie worth his bell-bottoms kissed every girl within reach. The pic shows 1 of those sailors and a nurse engaged in a moment of sheer ecstasy.
I love the natural, un-artificial beauty of it. The way her legs are positioned, with the grace of a ballerina, while his legs are firm and supportive. The way she seems to have completely submitted herself to the trustworthy embrace of his arms. The way those lips are locked, unperturbed by the presence of hundreds of prying eyes around them . “A picture can say more than a thousand words.” If the word ‘Passion’ was ever to be described by a picture, then this would be it. I’d been looking for an excuse to use this picture here for sometime, and I don’t think there can be a more apt time than Now.

The time has almost come to kiss another year goodbye. As has been true with almost all the previous years, this year too had it’s own share of ups and downs. Some dreams were fulfilled, some were not. Some really good friends were made, and some were lost. Some targets were achieved, others remain.

Yet whatever be the case, this is the time to look forward to new beginnings, new horizons, crossing new frontiers (maybe a new job ;) ).
This may/may not be my last post for this year, since I’m leaving for a well deserved vacation to Bombay and Goa tomorrow.(Though I would check for your posts). Whoa, I’ve been told Goa is among the top 5 destinations WORLDWIDE to celebrate the New Year’s! Moreover some really good friends have been real nice to forward me a lot of information on what to do and where to go. A Goan friend of mine has even promised to take me along to 1 of those exclusive ‘firang rave parties’ on Goan beaches. Let’s see how all this turns out !

So all you talented souls out there, it’s the time to let your hair down and boogie the nights away! I hope you all rejuvenate yourself and come back with a BANG next year! Here's wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Fantabulous New Year!!!
So till next year, Adios Amigos !!!

Shame

2005-12-20T04:03:00.000-08:00

These are the days of the debauchery of the senses and the death of innocence.

I usually would have avoided writing about a depressing or somber topic specially in this festive season, but the recent news of the rape and murder of a woman that is rocking Bangalore has made it inevitable that I vent my ire on the current state of affairs, especially more so in this case since the victim happened to belong to the BPO branch of my very own organization.
Apparently, around 2 a.m. on Tuesday last week, this lady got a call on her cell from this driver, who told her he had come as a replacement for her regular cab, and who then drove her to an isolated place, raped her, then slit her throat and dumped her body in a nearby ditch, and fled the scene, only to be caught by the police after 2 days.
I shudder to think what would’ve gone through the mind of her husband, (she’d only been married for a few months).
And that’s the reason I hate the Human Right’s activists who’re against capital punishment. The sad truth is that such vile and disgusting oversexed men can be controlled only by fear and sheer terror. I beg your pardon if I’m being too graphic, but I totally support the punishment given under the Shariat law in Islamic countries for such heinous crimes, to chop off the very tool which was the root cause of the crime, and then keep the perpetrator alive in solitary confinement for the rest of his life.
As was expected, the whole organization is now shook up and rattled with allegations and counter allegations, with the police claiming that she might’ve been saved with the timely action of the travel desk staff, since the regular driver had informed them about her absence that night.
It’s tragic that it took such a ghastly incident for the company to wake up from it’s slumber and issue new safety guidelines for all people who might have to stay back beyond normal working hours, be it BPO or the Software employees.
Had this been the U.S., the victim’s family could’ve sued the a** of the organization. Anyways these MNC’s earn more than 10 times their employee’s salaries from the outsourced countries, and the least they can do is ensure their safety and security.
Sadly, nothing can change the harsh truth for her family members, who’ve lost a loved 1 forever.

Even on a broader scale, crimes against women are gradually increasing by the day. Bihar and UP have always remained the badlands,(no disrespect intended), but the recent crime surge in metros like Delhi and Bombay(and now Bangalore) reflects a disturbing trend.
Though we take pride in calling ourselves the 2nd fastest growing economy in Asia, all that growth is meaningless if it’s not accompanied with an equally effective growth in law enforcement and a swift and just judicial system.(Now that’s a distant dream)

The state of a nation can be judged by gauging the state of it’s women. – Jawaharlal Nehru

The Complete Man?

2005-12-16T03:22:00.000-08:00

"Whatever their future, at the dawn of their lives, men seek a noble vision of man's nature and of life's potential." – The Fountainhead

Nah, this is obviously not about the Raymond’s ad or discussing the finer points of Fountainhead. This is about my drive for the pursuit of perfection(?, or is it striving to lead a fuller, comprehensive life, whatever that is supposed to mean), for as long as I can remember.

When I was a kid, a very deep sense of right and wrong were drilled into my gullible mind. I was told to follow an existing code of conduct, by following which I was to have achieved perfect manhood (or adulthood or whatever) one day.
It was all pretty straightforward, until the notion of ‘perfection’ started encompassing more and more prerequisites. E.g. What was an early liking to Tintins and Enid Blytons, soon graduated to Grishams and Sheldons and now Lapierres, was NOT considered at that time to be a manly (or boyish) pursuit, at least by my granny. “Why don’t you stop reading this trash and go out and play with the other boys?”, she would often remark. Anyways, like most Indian boys, I too tried my hands at the only game that drives this nation crazy, and soon realized that I was not to be the next Kapil Dev. (He was the icon from my city Chandigarh in the early 90’s)
And so I started hunting for alternate areas for achievement, and soon joined Karate classes. By the time I’d cleared the White and Orange levels, I didn’t see myself following Jackie Chan’s footsteps either. The same fate awaited Swimming, Horse Riding, BallRoom dancing, Roller Skating, Sketching and God knows what not. I was wild with the passion to discover my hidden talent(If there was ever any). Yet I was just glad that I was experimenting with anything and everything under the sun.
A proper masculine physique had always held a special place in the typical North Indian male mindset ( especially so in my case since my dad happened to have won quite a few Bodybuilding championships in his college days), so whenever his friends would visit, I would always be grilled on when would I start flexing my muscles. So as soon as I reached the 11th standard, I started hitting the gym regularly, shuttling it with my coaching classes. And Yessir, I did manage to pump them up, Sallu style, though when I flunked my Math exam during the mid-terms that year, I was forced to renounce my ‘Schwarzeneggerism’ and start hitting some books instead.

The last and the most enticing bug that bit me during that period was that of modeling. Oh Cmon now, how many of you have not, at one point or another, stood in front of the mirror and wondered if you were the next Brad Pitt(Lol, or Angelina Jolie!), so stop giggling. Anyways I’m digressing. So this real fast buddy of mine who happened to be a cool dude as well as the son of a hotshot IGP, claimed to have some amazing contacts with the who’s who of Bombay’s Glam industry. So one fine day (12th Standard) he tells me he’s going to Bombay for 15 days to get his portfolio done and circulated to his contacts and modeling agencies, and I was invited to come along. When I asked my folks I was simply told that there would be thousands like me already struggling there, and anyways I was not to miss precious days of my coaching classes (entrance exams were drawing near). Now this point struck a note with me( I wasn’t too confident with my dusky looks anyways) and so I somewhat reluctantly agreed. That friend of mine went on to get shortlisted for the final 7 in Grasim Mr. India next year! (Though I have to admit he was a REAL hunk).

So am I disappointed at ending up as yet another engineer in this ocean of techies? Hell No, this is my bread and butter at least for now.

The quest for a fuller life has definitely slowed down now, though not extinct. There are still many things I feel I have to experience before I either burn out or become too occupied – learning French, the Tango, Bungee jumping, biking to Ladakh, Scuba diving, just to name a few.

And the Million Dollar question – Do I feel like a ‘Complete’ Man yet?
To tell you the truth – I couldn’t care less.

Jack of all trades, Master of none?
- A Master can be boring, at least I’m having some fun.
;-)

Keep Walking

2005-12-13T17:41:00.000-08:00

So me'z back after a pretty long hiatus.
The truth is I’ve never had such a hectic period in my life as I had in these 2 months. 15 hour workdays for 2 weeks at a stretch are no jokes, yet when you come to know that all this hard work might not cause the least bit of change in either your appraisal ratings or your onsite chances(hence your remuneration), it does cause a little disappointment. To top it all, you’re supposedly given a paltry 100$ reward (!) for all your efforts while your colleagues who haven’t contributed 5 % of what you’ve done, are given 800$ just because they’re your so called ‘seniors’!
Duh, this world reeks of politics. Sometimes it’s disheartening to see the lengths to which some people would go to in order to serve their purpose. Ethics and morals seem to have ceased to exist anymore. I sometimes even wonder if these people have ever had something called conscience in them at any point of time, coz I bet if they did, they wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.
But then sensibility demands that one takes it all as just another lesson of life, and as Johnnie Walker says…”Keep Walking”.

I’m reading Dan Brown’s ‘Angels and Demons’ this week, and I’ve been really taken aback by this 1 particular dialogue that takes place between the leading characters in the book, Robert Langdon (the main protagonist who is a Harvard professor of religious iconology) and Vittoria Vetra (a pretty Italian scientist).
Vittoria: Do you believe in God?
Langdon: A spiritual conundrum. Well, I want to believe. (The intellectual suspension of disbelief that was imperative if one were truly going to believe had always proved to be too big an obstacle for his academic mind)
Vittoria: So why don’t you?
Langdon: Having faith requires leaps of faith, cerebral acceptance of miracles- immaculate conceptions and divine interventions. And then there are the codes of conduct. The Bible, The Koran, Buddhist scripture… they all carry similar requirements – and similar penalties. They claim that if I don’t live by a specific code I will go to hell. I can’t imagine a God who would rule that way.
Vittoria: Mr. Langdon, I did not ask if you believe what Man says about God. I asked if you believe in God. There is a difference. Holy scripture is stories….legends and history of man’s quest to understand his own need for meaning. I’m not asking you to pass judgment on literature. I’m asking if you believe in God. When you lie out under the stars, do you sense the divine? Do you feel in your gut that you’re staring up at the work of God’s hand?

Langdon: Well, as a scientist and the daughter of a priest, what do you think of religion?
Vittoria: Religion is like a language or dress. We gravitate towards the practices with which we were raised. In the end, though, we are all proclaiming the same thing. That life has meaning. That we are grateful for the power that created us.

Hmmmm….now that’s surely some food for thought! I’ve always been fascinated with theological history myself and have always been perplexed at why do people have to kill each other over something that has a universally common goal….to acknowledge and thank the higher power that created us. Be it the persecution of early Christians by the Jews, or the bloody massacres of entire villages of Jews and Muslims by the Christian Crusaders who were encouraged by the Roman Catholic church for over 400 years, or the holy war called 'Jehad' started by followers of Muhammad which called for the slaying of all 'Qafirs' or Infidels as the holy duty of every devout Muslim, and which continues to this day, or be it the mindless killings of Muslims in Gujarat by Hindu fanatics justifying it as revenge for the Godhra massacre; all of them are equally deplorable barbaric acts of a few twisted minds who bring a bad name to their entire communities. These people obviously miss the bigger picture, that all of them have been created by the same higher power which can never endorse the destruction of one part of it's creation by another.

Science and Religion have always externally been like the opposite sides of the same coin, with 1 using rationale and reasoning as the basis of all theories, and the other relying on faith, legends and beliefs to try and explain the workings of this world. Yet, these 2 cornerstones of human understanding do often come at crossroads where the postulates of 1 vindicates those of the other.

Every major religion agrees to the basic law popularly known as Karma, - “As you sow, so shall you reap”, “What goes around, comes around” etc. etc.
Newton’s 3rd Law is eerily similar in it’s proclamation – “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”.

Even science fails to explain the cause of the “Big Bang”, the cosmic explosion out of a miniscule subatomic particle, out of which this entire universe is supposed to be made of. Who or what caused that explosion and what was there before it, remains unanswered.

“Let there be Light”

E = mc^2

Energy and Mass are interconvertible. - Einstein

Your body is transient, only the soul is permanent. - Ancient Hindu saying

Bulla Ki Jana Main Kaun

2005-10-14T01:06:00.000-07:00

Normally i can't listen to a song more than 1-2 times a day no matter how much i like it,since i get bored by any kind of monotony pretty easily; but there's this 1 number which i find myself listening to again and again, innumerable times a day since i read it's translation sometime back.The song is the much popular no. 'Bulla ki Jaana' by Rabbi Shergill, though i doubt if most people take the trouble of understanding the mumbo-jumbo being mouthed by the sardar clad in all-white; they probably just like the guitar or maybe the out of the box video, and lo and behold, the song is a super success! That's the indian music industry for most of us !

Anyhow,this song was originally written around 300 years ago by the highly revered sufi poet called Bulleh Shah who lived in Multan(now in Pakistan),in Saraiki, which was the local spoken language of that time.His poetry usually reflects the eclectic fusion of the various cultures which made Punjab the most diverse region in the entire Indian sub-continent...from acting as the gateway of India for early Aryans to the Turks,Mongols and Mughals, and from acting as a breeding ground for Hinduism,Islam and the newly founded Sikhism.Even though the language is somewhat similar to Punjabi, yet i had to go through the translation to understand the meaning of each and every word penned by the great poet.Below is the translation i picked from a website:

Na maen momin vich maseet aan
Na maen vich kufar diyan reet aan
Na maen paakaan vich paleet aan
Na maen moosa na pharaun.
Bulleh! ki jaana maen kaun
(Not a believer inside the mosque, am I
Nor a pagan disciple of false rites
Not the pure amongst the impure
Neither Moses, nor the Pharoh
Bulleh! to me, I am not known)

Na maen andar ved kitaab aan,
Na vich bhangaan na sharaab aan
Na vich rindaan masat kharaab aan
Na vich jaagan na vich saun.
Bulleh! ki jaana maen kaun
(Not in the holy Vedas, am I
Nor in opium, neither in wine
Not in the drunkard`s craze
Niether awake, nor in a sleeping daze
Bulleh! to me, I am not known)

Na vich shaadi na ghamnaaki
Na maen vich paleeti paaki
Na maen aabi na maen khaki
Na maen aatish na maen paun
Bulleh! ki jaana maen kaun
(In happiness nor in sorrow, am I
Neither clean, nor a filthy mire
Not from water, nor from earth
Neither fire, nor from air, is my birth
Bulleh! to me, I am not known)

Na maen arabi na lahori
Na maen hindi shehar nagauri
Na hindu na turak peshawri
Na maen rehnda vich nadaun
Bulleh! ki jaana maen kaun
(Not an Arab, nor Lahori
Neither Hindi, nor Nagauri
Hindu, Turk (Muslim), nor Peshawari
Nor do I live in Nadaun
Bulleh! to me, I am not known)

Na maen bheth mazhab da paaya
Ne maen aadam havva jaaya
Na maen apna naam dharaaya
Na vich baitthan na vich bhaun
Bulleh! ki jaana maen kaun
(Secrets of religion, I have not known
From Adam and Eve, I am not born
I am not the name I assume
Not in stillness, nor on the move
Bulleh! to me, I am not known)

Avval aakhir aap nu jaana
Na koi dooja hor pehchaana
Maethon hor na koi siyaana
Bulla! ooh khadda hai kaun
Bulleh! ki jaana maen kaun
(I am the first, I am the last
None other, have I ever known
I am the wisest of them all
Bulleh! do I stand alone?
Bulleh! to me, I am not known )

Confessions of a Wandering Mind

2005-10-07T06:12:00.000-07:00

If there is 1 thing right now that i'm sure i feel too strongly about, then it's missing my student life; or more precisely, life at IMT.The 3 golden years spent at the campus have undoubtedly been the highpoint of whatever life i've seen so far.No wonder they used to call IMT 'The Resort'; life was all about eating,drinking,movies and partying.Studies used to happen only when semester exams got too close for comfort.

One can never forget the hostel life - absolutely no holds barred pure freedom.No wardens around to tell you whts right and wrong, no1 to stop you from playing blaring music at 2 am.Like they said-life in IMT started at midnite. And those ragging sessions - 1st year when v were the 'futchas'; thank god for those senior babes who hid me inside the girls' hostel on the pretext of 'ragging' me when the rest of my not so fortunate batchmates were being stripped and made to run around the campus by the senior guys.And the 2nd and 3rd year, when we enacted the roles of the mighty 'Seniors' pretty easily and undertook that oh so great responsibility to uphold the grand old tradition of the college. My first roomie, who i renamed 'grassie' for his marijuana addiction, and who i had to kick out of the room since i cudn't stand the overpowering stench of the 'weed'.Sorry for that bro, cudn't help it though.

And of course parties,parties and more parties. How can anyone ever forget that amphitheatre , which turned into a dance floor on many a Saturday nights, and which was a witness to the many flings and romances which blossomed under that intoxicating atmosphere. The same amphitheatre which got transformed into a swimming pool on Holi, full to the brim with colors of all hues.The fun we had pushing off friends into it who were already high on bhang,all laughing and crying at the same time.And that holi of 2002 when i had a full 2 litre bottle of Bhang and then passed out in my room for 2 whole days !
Or for that matter, how can 1 forget the annual college fests:Passion and Chakravuh, when the best crowd from all the best B-scools of India used to converge onto our campus. 3 days of non-stop fun, those babes participating in double meaning skits(lol), the fashion shows which v choreographed on our own. All those events which were organised a 100% by the students, with absolutely no interevention by the college authorities, resulting in a mad-mix of non stop fun.

So it's pretty obvious that work life here seems to be overwhelmingly bland and mundane when i compare it to the fun i had till just about 2 years back....IMT rocked !
I always associate the following song with IMT ;it's called Teenage Wasteland(Baba O' Reily) by The Who:

Out here in the fields
I fight for my meals
I get my back into my living

I don't need to fight
To prove I'm right
I don't need to be forgiven

Don't cry
Don't raise your eye
It's only teenage wasteland

Sally ,take my hand
We'll travel south crossland
Put out the fire
Don't look past my shoulder

The exodus is here
The happy ones are near
So let's get together
Before we get much older

Teenage wasteland
It's only teenage wasteland
Teenage wasteland
Oh..yeah
Teenage wasteland

They're all wasted

Musings on Attitude

2005-09-16T05:27:00.000-07:00

Though I don’t fancy myself as any kind of a philosopher, yet my mind has time and again ventured into the intricacies of human behavior and understanding their psychology…Lol I do wonder sometimes if I should have opted for Psychology rather than Computer Applications as my choice of career !

Anyways, I have often felt that the most decisive factor in determining the quality of our life is our Attitude towards people and situations.
The way we think and feel about things can imprison or liberate us from the captivity of our minds.
An aware mind, devoid of the illusion of success, is the one that can be called truly liberated. The fear of failure and the pleasure of success would pale into insignificance before such radiant awareness.
Our attitude determines the nature and amount of our suffering. It’s not developed overnight, but slowly, as the pearl in an oyster, through an analysis of other’s thoughts and philosophies, by keeping the company of more such ‘liberated minds’, through contemplation of the nature of things and through thoughtful suffering. Once it has taken shape, it helps us to view the world in a fresh and lucid way.
Such attitude would definitely empower us to cultivate a disinterestedness in the fruit of action.
There are examples aplenty in the legends and lore from all over. The 2 that immediately come to mind are:
1st forms the very foundation of The Geeta – Lord Krishna giving this exact sermon to Arjuna who is waivering on his task at hand – to go to war against his cousins and relatives. Here the act of going to war against his own kith and kin is regarded by scholars as a metaphor for the constant struggle between the mind and it’s inner evils.
The 2nd is that of the Greek king Sisyphus who had been condemned by Zeus to push a rock to a hill’s summit until it stayed there. Each time he tried, the rock would come rolling back down – but instead of despairing, his awareness led him to transform his struggle into a game. He realizes that his sense of duty and the unavoidable nature of the assignment leave no room for emotions.

The essence of all these ‘deep’ thoughts seem to be to “ Live life to the full and Let NOT the fear of pain deter you from the pleasures ! “

A Trek To Coorg

2005-06-06T03:09:00.000-07:00

The endless monotony of a routinely drab Bangalore work life compelled me to look for a weekend retreat away from civilization. The idea germinated on Wednesday(1st Jun,05) and any trek had to be done by the same weekend before the pending monsoons(due to arrive on 7th) made it impossible for the next few months.
So I contemplated a host of destinations, each 1 of which got cancelled due to some reason or the other – BR hills and Bandipur due to the inability to camp out, and then Kudremukh had to be cancelled due to Naxalite combing operations in full swing; just then on Thursday night a very helpful Mr. Madhusudan from Woody Adventures (woodyadventures.com) came to my rescue and suggested Tadiyandamol peak in Coorg.
Though the original plan was to catch the last Volvo on Fri night(as most ppl do), yet the unavailability of tickets for Fri turned to be a blessing in disguise, since it saved us from starting the trek in the hot early afternoon, and making to the top with the sun blazing with it’s wholesome fury.
So on Sat morning me and my 3 friends- Ratnakar Sinha, Jeetendra Melwani and Anantha started off at 5:45 am sharp.
We reached Virajpet at 12:00 and spent the next hour shopping for Bread, biscuits, booze etc. (we could not find butter anywhere here ! ) then had our lunch, and then caught a taxi to Kakkabe. It’s important to note here that you should buy whatever you need from from Virajpet itself, since hardly anything is available in Kakkabe.(mercifully water was available)
We saved 4 worthless kms of steep road climb as the taxi dropped us right to the foot of the trek at the palace lodge. We decided to drop a few unnecessary things in a house just next to the lodge(the old lady was really helpful) and then finally started off on the trek at 2:45 pm.

The initial stretch is relatively boring as it took us through a km of road upto a fork from where a jeep track began. Here we took the right side of the track which again led to a 2nd fork some distance ahead. This time we took the steeper left track and from here the foliage got more dense and definitely more interesting. We hardly took any breaks and carried the heavy tent by taking turns among each other.
Now at 5:30 pm we reached a really beautiful landscape with open grassland on either side and a huge rock on the left, and from here the track again forked into two, with the left going inside thick jungle and the right going further uphill. We decided to take the left this time to discover a bit in the jungle, and lo and behold, we reached a fresh water stream! Since our water resources were already almost depleted, we decided to drink to our fulfillment here, as the water at this height should be free from any contamination. Beware of the blood sucking leeches inside this forest trail – there were hundreds of them on the sides. An excellent way to get them off is to either sprinkle some salt on them or spray a Deodorant.
So after refilling our bottles we got back on the track and trudged further up the previous trail, but at around 6 pm there were clouds all around the area so we decided to pitch the tent for the night in an open area nearby and to reach for the top in the morning.

Now this part was the most exciting for me, since this was the 1st time I was staying out in the wild. Jeetu was the only 1 among us who knew how to put up a tent so the rest of us helped him with it. As soon as it was done we threw our backpacks inside to prevent it from being blown away in the wind. Now we all started off to hunt for some firewood, luckily there was a bush nearby and we got enough to last us 2 hours. Starting the fire could’ve been a problem due to the intense dew in the air (our hair looked thoroughly gelled) , had we not had the foresight to buy some diesel from virajpet.
Now we 1st had sumthing to munch – a few packs of biscuits and chocolates, and then decided to have the vodka near the bonfire.
As the sun set it got really cold with clouds covering us all around….the bonfire was very helpful 2 warm up now…..and getting ‘high’ in such an environment is a different feeling altogether – no words can do justice to it’s description.
After about an hour and a half of boozing and chatting aimlessly, it started to drizzle outside so we decided to get in. The tent was so cozy that it completely stopped the wind and cold out (though the space was a little cramped for 4 people) and we lit a candle for some candlelight dinner. Since we had 2 loaves of bread and some local namkeen (neither branded namkeen nor butter was available at Kakkabe), we decided to use the namkeen as the stuffing for our sandwiches. Jeetu’s spicy and delicious sauce saved the day here as we used it to garnish our dinner. After some more healthy banter we decided to have the lights out at 10 pm. Sleeping was a little difficult because of the uneven ground underneath and the a little leg space, yet the day’s efforts sent us all into a deep slumber in no time.
The funniest part was when one of us(let’s not say who :-P ) had to take a leak at night and had to wake the others up, since it was pitch dark outside( it was a moonless night- maybe amavasya) and the other person had to hold the torch while he relieved himself.
The next morning we got up at around 7:30 am( too bad i missed the sunrise but according to anantha it was cloudy earlier) and decided to leave our bags in the tent and climb to the top.
What we had anticipated as a 15-20 minutes climb turned out to be almost an hour more of tough trekking.
We started at 8 am and almost immediately we entered a very dense patch of forest. We tried to cover this part non-stop since it would surely have been full of leeches. As soon as we crossed this we were again in the open grassland and now was the steepest climb of the trek.
Finally at around 9 am we reached the summit and we all felt as if we’d climbed Everest or something! We spent half an hour admiring the scenery all around as we could see clouds and all other peaks at a level lower from us.
After taking in those beautiful sights we started downwards and reached our tent in about half an hour. Here I discovered 2 leeches on my socks and immediately removed them with the salt while Ratnakar had already been sucked on by a leech and his foot was still oozing blood – he used some Savlon and Bandage to cover it.
Anyways we packed the tent, collected the empty bottles and plastic wrappers, bid a goodbye to the peak and started our way down. The trek downhill seemed easier than the way up, though we had to be more careful to control our pace since one could easily slip or sprain an ankle.
As we reached the big rock we again stopped and refilled our bottles from the stream in the jungle. Then we paused by the rock to have breakfast with the remaining bread.
When we started again we met a hunter carrying a rifle and some wild hunting dogs, and he told us that there were tigers and wild animals in the jungle, though they rarely came out. I don’t know if he was telling the truth but it surely sent a chill among us.
Anyways from here it was an uneventful trek down to the foot of the hill where we decided to stop at one King’s lodge for some tasty Coorgy lunch.
After this we were told there were no more buses to Virajpet for an hour, so we took a bus to Madikeri. Even there the buses to Bangalore were full so we took a bus to Mysore and then reached Bangalore at 1:30 at night.
All in all it was an amazing trip and I would highly recommend it for anybody looking for a refreshing weekend break from Bangalore!