My Life

Mental Anguish

2010-08-16T09:05:00.000+05:30

Lately, I am undergoing a lot of mental anguish where I am constantly thinking about the things that are happening in my professional life. It has reached a point where I am now mentally stressed out and just feel like leaving everything for a while and heading out somewhere far. I have also been thinking about how my life has taken shape over the last decade. The opportunities I had and how I let it slip out of my hand. Just thinking about all those things is making me feel really sad and stressed out. There are so many things which I want to do, but I am not able to do because I am so dogged down with the current obligations. Almost half of my pay goes in paying the EMI's and I am yet to buy a house. Every morning I wake up just thinking about all these things and saying to myself that things will get better. I know, only I can make them better, however, I dont know why I am not even trying. Whenever Geeta tells me to do something abt it, I say I do not have the time. I always keep putting things away even though those are things that I should be doing. May be I am too used to living this way. May be this stress is an integral part of me. May be I am too afraid to take a chance to change things for the better. I dont know.

Trip to Aarey

2010-07-05T17:28:00.000+05:30

Finally got myself registered for PMP mandatory training at PMI Mumbai Chapter. The PMI office has moved from Wadala to Royal Palms in Goregaon which gave us (me and Geeta) to explore Aarey Milk Colony. The whole place looks really beautiful during rains, the green and gray complement very well. We decided by checking out some sample offices/ flats in the building where the PMI office is located and took some pics of the view from the same. The next we decided to walk down the Aarey road and it was worth the walk. On the way we saw some amazing trees, snails and also went paddle boat riding in the Chota Kashmir club. While boating, it started raining really heavily and it added all the more the charm to the place. I havent been boating in a really long time and really had a good time with Geeta. I really feel lucky to have someone like her in my life as she helps me rediscover myself. There have been a lot of changes in me, which has led me to exist and not live my life. These times with her make me live my life again. Hoping for such times to continue for a long time to come.

Long time no write

2010-06-19T21:40:00.000+05:30

It has been a while since I have written anything. There are a lot of things which have happened which I would have wanted to share, but due to too much work pressure have not been able to do the same. Lately I have been working like there is nothing. It seems like I have been demoted from a manager to a worker class employee. The current project which I have been working on is going on from last one year with no sight in the end for the same. I am finally realizing that transitioning a project of this magnitude (15000+) employees is not a piece of cake. The entire project has just kept me busy with no time to pursue anything else. I am finally writing after such a long time because of persistent efforts of my fiancé who has been insisting I write something. Even this post I am writing while traveling in the flight and now in the taxi. I am not sure if it is just me or even others in mid-management level are also going through the same. As of right now I am hoping that I keep writing more often and write on more subjects other than just work.

Busy week

2010-02-18T18:00:00.000+05:30

This week has been very busy for me since we are launching a software next week. I have been running around in meetings, getting final requirements, closing quite a few things and tomorrow I am off to Gurgaon to train the Helpdesk Team over there to use the software. In some ways, I am kinda nervous since we are finally going live with the software which we have been working on for the last 6 months. It is going to be very interesting times for the entire team. Lets hope that things work out for the best.

Visit to Kolkata

2010-02-09T18:34:00.000+05:30

The last weekend I had the opportunity to visit Kolkata to attend a friend's wedding. It was after a year and half that I was visiting the city again and I was nostalgic about almost everything.. right from the roads to various locations and on seeing my friends. It was absolutely great meeting friends after such a long time. However the morning was spent visiting my in-laws relatives in Kol. They are pretty nice people and it was good to spend some time with them. Just that they fed me too much for breakfast starting for chips, dry fruits to paratha's, sabji etc. It was just too much for me to handle at 10:30am in the morning after eating mysore masala dosa and wadas in the flight. I left their home at 11:30 or so and then headed to meet my friend Zoohie at her house. I was staying at her house.

It was so good to see her after such a long time. It was even more awesome to see her son Parth who has grown so much since I last saw him. I played with Parth in the meanwhile Chaitali, Arindam, Indranil and Sudha also arrived. I was feeling so good that I was meeting with my team members with whom I had worked 18 months ago. It felt good and bad to know how they were doing in their personal and professional lives. In a way, I do feel somewhat responsible for the situation they are in currently in their professional lives. I wish I had done some things differently. Zoohie had prepared delicious biryani which we all enjoyed while discussing our lives, interspersed with movie songs and who is the hottest actress currently etc. After speaking with everyone for sometime Arindam, Indranil & Sudha decided to leave, while rest of us decided to head to City Center to get a gift for my friend who was getting married. We got her a couple of things from City Center and had dinner there and returned home. I was dead exhausted when I reached home and just went to sleep while Chaitali and Zoohie chit chatted.

Day 2

The next morning me and Zoohie had to go Priyanka's house to attend her wedding function, while Chaitali was at home and we asked her to stay back saying we would be back in an hour. It was a typical Punjabi wedding function where the bride was gifted with bangles and "kalires". I was the camera man and thank god for that else I would have got really bored with so many unknown people. I think people become more friendly when they see someone clicking snaps. The function was good. At one point Priyanka and Zoohie were crying together.. the whole scene was very moving. The ceremony took longer than we anticipated and at one point we wanted to skip lunch so that we could return back and be with Chaitali who was waiting for us. However, we did have lunch and left for home. We reached home and left again for Mani Square mall in another 30 mins. The mall is huge. It had started in a few days after I had left Kolkata for good. We spent some time there and decided to leave since we had to attend Priyanka's wedding. I bid good bye to Chaitali as she left for home.

We reached home and changed into the wedding "costumes" and headed to Calcutta Boating Club. The venue was awesome, open ground next to water, though I felt the stage could have been bigger and grander. But then it was good and thats what it matters. We greeted the bride and the groom and then went about speaking to the bride's relatives. The dinner was sumptuous and there were a lot of different food varieties, chinese, italian, chaat, amritsari etc. The desserts included jalebi, carrot halwa, malpua, baked rossogollas and ice cream. We thoroughly enjoyed the dinner and then spent quite some talking to the bride's relatives. It felt very strange and good sharing so many things with them. We finally left for home at around 10.45pm. After reaching home, I packed for my morning flight and called it a night.

I woke up with a cough at around 230am and since then couldn't sleep at all due to very terrible cough. Zoohie gave me some cough medicine, then advised me to take steam. I was not sure that I wanted to take steam at 2:30am in the morning, however I decided to go ahead with it. It was very strange to take steam at 2:30am in the morning, however coupled with D'cold and Vicks it proved very effective. I fell asleep in sometime only to be woken up by my alarm. Sadly it was time to go. The cab arrived at its designated time and there was waving good bye to Zoohie, not knowing when next I would be meeting her. Overall the trip was very good and I enjoyed a lot. Hoping to go there soon.

Been a long time

2010-02-04T16:41:00.002+05:30

Its been a very long time since I have written anything. I dont know if it was my writer's block or plain laziness or being really busy because of which I was not able to post anything. I think it is a combination of all 3. Anyways, here I am posting after a very long time. A lot of things have happened since the last post. I got the opportunity to spend some quality time with my family by traveling to Rajasthan. Also the trip gave me an opportunity to see what I was doing with my life and how I was moving away from all the things that I really liked doing like blogging, photography etc. I think sometimes too much emphasis on something is not good and can lead to losing the importance of the rest. In my case, I have just been tied up with work, sometimes too much work, which has led to me not being able to write anything on the blog, or write short stories. However, after today, I will be more regular on this space.

The other news is that I am finally engaged to the person whom I want to spend the rest of my life with. The feeling is just great. The day of engagement and previous evening, I still couldn't believe that I was taking the first steps towards settling down. Also it didn't help that after engagement got over, we kind off ran into my ex. We haven't seen each other since last 3years, but we saw each other on that day. I guess this is karma. Either ways, I am feeling good and relaxed after a very long time. Hoping to remain the same in the coming days.

Swine flu

2009-08-09T18:12:00.002+05:30

Swine flu has finally claimed the life of one person in Mumbai. It seems like we have hit the first pandemics of the century. It is very difficult for Swine Flu to stop spreading in India with so many people. Lets hope it passes by without taking too many lives.

Poetic Justice

2009-06-27T15:50:00.004+05:30

This is one of the stories that I had written a few months back..

It was an unusually chilly night in Mumbai. The temperature had dropped below 10 degrees. Mahapalika Marg was fast getting empty of people and animals. The few people present were standing by the fire trying to keep warm. They were discussing their normal day when they heard shots being fired around St. Xavier’s College. Frightened, they started running in all directions. Sanity prevailed after a few minutes and a few people decided to check what had happened. When they reached the gates of St. Xavier’s College, they found two dead bodies, both of them shot between their eyes. They immediately called the cops.

Inspector Amol Mhatre was one of the best cops had been serving the Mumbai police. In his 10 years of work experience, he had never seen someone so brutally murdered. He approached the people who had called the cops.

‘What happened here?’
‘We don’t know sir. We were standing by the fire near the Metro Cinema, when we heard two gunshots. We thought we have been attacked by the terrorists and took cover. But after a few minutes, when we didn’t hear any more shots, we decided to check out what had happened’. ‘That’s when we came across these bodies.’
‘Did any one of you touch anything around here?’
‘No sir.’
‘Did you see anyone walk by or drive by when the shooting happened?’
‘No sir. We were discussing our normal day when we heard the gun shots.’
‘How long ago did you hear the gunshots? Were there only 2 gunshots?’
‘Around 15 minutes back sir. We only heard 2 gunshots’

Inspector Amol looked towards the bodies. The victims were two boys. Next to their bodies, he could see their books getting mixed with their blood. The bullet had gone right through, making a hole in the back of the head. In the meanwhile, other students from the college also gathered. They were shocked at seeing the bodies. Some of them fainted, many cried. Inspector Amol asked a few students if they knew the victims.

‘They are Shivam and Dweep, studying in first year MBA’ answered one of them.

Amol looked at the bullet wound and he knew that a sniper rifle was used. In the mean time, the photographer started to take pictures of the crime scene while other police officers drew a chalk line around the dead bodies. While checking out the surrounding area, they found two bullets some distance away. Soon the siren of the ambulance broke the quietness of the night and took the bodies to JJ hospital for post mortem.

It was well past midnight when Inspector Amol returned back to his station. He entered an FIR of the incident, after which he ran some background checks on the victims. They didn’t have any police cases or records. He went over to JJ hospital to get post mortem reports of the victims. The post mortem report confirmed that they had been shot by a sniper gun with a range of 1500 meters or 1.5 kms. Amol knew that such rifles were only used by the Indian Army or terrorists.

It was 6:30am when he received a report of a woman being shot dead at Marine Drive near Marine Lines station. He reached the crime scene and found a lot of people standing around the dead body and a few people taking pictures. Amol looked at the victim. She was a middle aged woman wearing track pants and a t-shirt. She was probably out on an early morning jog. She had been shot in the same manner, right between the eyes, with the bullet hole making another bindi on her forehead. She had fallen on her back making it distinctly possible that she was running or walking towards Churchgate. Also from the initial observations, it appeared that she was shot by someone standing on the nearby flyover or on the terraces of the nearby buildings. He asked a few locals who were standing around, if they had heard or seen anything. But they had no information.

Amol, along with his colleague Inspector Patil decided to investigate the flyover coming from the Marine Lines. He reached at the center of flyover overlooking the Marine Drive. The woman’s dead body was at a 60 degree angle from where he was standing.
‘This is where he must have been standing’ said Amol to Inspector Patil.
Amol looked on the ground to see if he could find any clues.
‘Take a look at this Patil. I think we have something’ said Amol picking a piece of crumbled paper. He opened the paper and it had words ‘I AM GOD’.
‘What does this mean?’ asked Patil.
‘I think he feels he has the power to take lives’ replied Amol.

They looked around to see if they could find some more clues. But there were none. Amol realized the killer had deliberately dropped the paper so that investigating parties could find it. He knew he was dealing with someone who was very smart, and highly professional. He collected the piece of paper as evidence and headed back towards the crime scene. The dead body had been taken away. On the sidewalk one could see a chalk drawing of where the body was previously. Like in the murder of the two students, the police were able to find the bullet.

Amol had just entered his jeep when he got a message on his police radio, that a man and his dog where shot dead near Kemps Corner. By the time he reached there, a large crowd had gathered and even the media was present. Amol guessed the man would have been shot in the same manner as the previous victims. He was correct, but what horrified him was the sight of dog. The impact of the bullet was so powerful that his head was blown away to pieces. Amol had never seen anything so gruesome before. He felt like vomiting while looking at the dead bodies. He turned away from the crime scene and looked towards the neighboring buildings and then saw the Kemps Corner flyover.

Amol and Patil reached the top of the flyover and looked behind them. They could see the dead man along with his dog right in front of them at a distance of approx 400m. They started looking around for any possible clues and like in the previous murder found a crumbled paper on the side of the road.
‘Sir take a look at this’ said Patil
Amol opened the paper and it had the same words ‘I AM GOD’.
‘Those are the same words. What is this bastard trying to prove?’ asked Patil.
‘I don’t know’ replied Amol

They returned to the crime scene and were surrounded by the media.
‘Sir, this is the 3rd murder in the last 12 hours. Are they related?’ asked one journalist.
‘No comments’
‘Sir, is this a gang or one person?’ asked another journalist.
‘We are still investigating and cannot answer any of your questions. No more questions’ ordered Amol.

He, along with Patil drove away to the JJ hospital where all bodies had been sent for post mortem. The post mortem report for all the bodies had arrived after a couple of hours. Just as Amol thought, all of them had been shot with the same gun. The killer was at a distance of 20-30 feet above when he shot them. Bullets have a serial number from which the manufacturer could be identified. In this case, all identification marks on the bullets were removed.

It was 4:00pm, 6 hours since the last murder. Amol wasn’t sure if the killer had stopped. He was feeling very helpless for the fact that there was nothing he could do. The killer had been a thorough professional. Leaving behind no clues, not a single soul observing him or able to provide any description about him. In the mean time, the television media was running story of serial killings repeatedly. The murders had sent a chill down everyone’s spine. Everyone was talking about it. The residents there were scared as to who could be next.

It was around 8:00pm in the evening, when Patil called Amol to turn on the station television. The killer had sent an audio tape to the television media. They switched on the news and heard the killer speak.

‘Before I begin, I want to say that I am not sorry for killing those people. My name, religion, caste are not important. They have got nothing to do with the killings. I killed them because they had committed a crime. The killings were not random. I had observed the victims for the last 6 months before deciding to kill them. You might be thinking what possible crime could they have committed. So let me start case by case.’

The voice on TV was cold. There was no emotion in it.
‘The two boys who I shot dead last night didn’t commit murder or stole anything. However, they would spit anywhere on the street, on the buildings making the walls look brick red. They would throw litter on the roads, paint drawings on heritage buildings and ruin my city. I approached them once and asked them not to litter, but they started pushing and jostling me and threatened to beat me up. They said “They could do anything they wanted, after all everybody else was doing it.” I tried to explain them that it is not necessary for them to do what others have been doing. But they called me an idealistic and a fool who had lost his mind. I gave them a chance to mend their ways but they didn’t after which I decided to kill them.’

‘I decided to kill the housewife because she was dumping garbage on the road. Every morning after her jog, she would walk up to the balcony with a garbage bag in the hand and then just throw it on the road. Many times the garbage would land on some poor innocent person. One day it landed right next to me. I decided to confront her while she was out on her daily walks. I asked why she was polluting my city. She asked me to buzz off and mind my own business. I persisted. I asked why she could not empty the garbage in the garbage bin. She said it was easier for her to dispose things this way. It didn’t matter since other people did the same. “Why should I walk 15 minutes to dispose garbage? It gets collected every 3 days even if I dump it outside my building.” I told her her actions were not right. She just shrugged me off and went her away. It was then I decided to kill her.’

‘I decided to kill the man and his dog because the man was owner of a chemical industry in Sion. His factory would dump chemical waste in surrounding lands which was causing the land to go arid. Many environmentalists had also spoken to him about the same but he didn’t seem to care. I approached him one day while he was walking his dog in the morning. I asked him if he was aware of the environmental damage his factory was causing. He said there was nothing wrong in destroying something as long as he was gaining something. I told him that the damage he was causing had significant long term implications. He didn’t listen to what I was saying. Just then his dog started to poop on the street. I decided this guy should not be allowed to live anymore and thus killed him and his dog.’

And then the transmission ended.

The entire city had come to a standstill hearing the confession. Everyone was glued to their televisions hearing every word this unknown person was saying. The killer had striked fear in everyone’s heart and minds. Amol was stunned on hearing the revelations. He had never seen anything like this before and knew he would not see anything like this ever again.

Update

2009-06-14T19:30:00.004+05:30

A lot of things have been happening on the professional front. The project on which I have been working on for quite sometime is finally taking shape. I feels projects are like babies.. you feel really good when they start, grow and finally stabilize. It feels very good to see something grow right in front of your eyes especially when you have been involved in it since its very inception.

Lastly, I have rediscovered my passion for playing the Age of Empires. I spent the entire weekend playing this game. This is one of the best strategy games that I have known. I remember spending the weekends during the summer playing this game during college in the US. I am hoping to play this game everyday and use this as my stress buster. Anyways have some relatives at home now, so ending the post here only.

Song in my head

2009-05-24T23:48:00.003+05:30

As observed from my last two posts, I have been thinking about way too many things and have been feeling kind of depressed. Today I was going through my songs library and found this gem of a song and have been playing ever since. It is Stuck in a moment by U2. One of their best songs ever.

I'm not afraid
Of anything in this world
There's nothing you can throw at me
That I haven't already heard
I'm just trying to find
A decent melody
A song that I can sing
In my own company

I never thought you were a fool
But darling, look at you. Ooh.
You gotta stand up straight, carry your own weight
'Cause tears are going nowhere baby

You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment
And now you can't get out of it
Don't say that later will be better
Now you're stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it

I will not forsake
The colors that you bring
The nights you filled with fireworks
They left you with nothing
I am still enchanted
By the light you brought to me
I listen through your ears
Through your eyes I can see

You are such a fool
To worry like you do.. Oh
I know it's tough
And you can never get enough
Of what you don't really need now
My, oh my

You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it
Oh love, look at you now
You've got yourself stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it
Oh lord look at you now
You've got yourself stuck in a moment
And you cant gt out of it

I was unconscious, half asleep
The water is warm 'til you discover how deep
I wasn't jumping, for me it was a fall
It's a long way down to nothing at all

You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it
Don't say that later will be better
Now you're stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it

And if the night runs over
And if the day won't last
And if your way should falter
Along this stony pass

It's just a moment
This time will pass

Dont feel like writing

2009-05-22T17:08:00.000+05:30

I dont feel like writing anymore. I am just not in the right frame of mind to write. I have been thinking about a lot of things lately and have realized that I am probably just existing in my life not living it. As of right now, I am concerned about what the future holds for me. I hope that something positive comes out of this low phase.

Life has changed

2009-05-18T16:22:00.000+05:30

A lot of things have changed since the last post. Things have changed for the worst. My life is stuck in the wrong lane and i dont see it changing any time soon.

Rickshaw pooling incident

2009-04-22T11:12:00.004+05:30

Everyday while going to work, I go to the main road outside my complex and get a autorickshaw from there. The ricks are usually lined up one after the other picking up fares and going towards their destination. Yesterday when I reached the road, there were two ricks idly standing by, before I could approach them a lady approached the first rick. Assuming that it was already taken, I went to the 2nd rick and told him where I wanted to go. He agreed. The first rick was not interested in going where the lady wanted to go.. usually in the morning most people head towards Borivali station. I saw the lady, our eyes met, so I asked her if she was going towards station. She said yes, so we decided to rickshaw pool towards the station.

Today also the same thing happened, there was only one rick. I saw the same lady reach the rick before me. I anticipated that she would recognize me from yesterday and atleast ask if I was heading in the same direction as her.

The lady totally ignored me.

I was pissed off. But then luckily got another rick quickly and reached the station on time. Sometimes it is just too much to expect courtesy in return from people whom you have helped.

Feeling hot hot hot!!!

2009-04-02T16:16:00.004+05:30

The last couple of days Mumbai actually feels like inside of an oven. It is very freaking hot. The temperature over the last few days has been hovering around 40C and it is only April. I wonder how things will be when we will be in the midst of May and summer is at its peak.

Incest

2009-03-30T12:55:00.002+05:30

Lately, I have been reading a lot of news about father's raping their daughters in India and also in other parts of the world. To be honest, it is pretty sick. I mean how come people do such things. Don't they ever realize that it is their own child that they are killing? What about people who actually go through the entire trauma? I cant even imagine what they must have gone through. It is just sad to know such things are being practiced in this world.

Death by Stoning

2009-03-09T14:43:00.004+05:30

I was reading this article and found it extremely sad. I dont have any words to describe the emotions that I have in my mind right now.

H1B's

2009-03-04T20:36:00.003+05:30

I was going through an article on Businessweek regarding how stricter H1B laws are going to affect the US in the long run and how the program is actually a scam for replacing American jobs. To be very honest, I feel the latter is true.

3 years ago while I was in the US, applying for a job as a Business Analyst, I was contacted by a consulting company located in Herndon, VA. whose name I do not remember. They had invited me for an interview at their office. When I reached address provided, it turned out to be an apartment complex. As I entered the given apartment, I could see the living room lined up with about 5-6 workstations, 2 bedrooms occupied by 3-4 people. I was told that the living room served as a training center, where consultants are given training. I gave my resume to the interviewer. He went through it and asked me simple questions about C++ regarding pointers etc. He then called up a project manager who then asked me a few more questions which were even more simpler. Then the interviewer suggested that we change my resume a bit. I had sent him a soft copy earlier and he started modifying the same. He showed me my "modified" resume when he was done. I was shocked. He had added skills which I didnt possess. I told him, I don't have the skills which you have mentioned here. He was like thats ok, we will train you for 30 days, provide you accommodation here and pay you $50K. I told him I needed time to think. After that, I never contacted that firm again.

I agree that H1B visas are abused. They not only displace American citizens but also lower the wage of existing work force. I am not saying this because I didn't get a H1B, but because it is true. Instead of becoming the back-office of the world (somehow we are so proud of this), why cant we be the innovators? Why can't we design the next generation of computers, airplanes etc? Why do companies like Wipro, TCS, Infosys depend so much on back-office work? I think with such attitude, we will never be a first world country.

Busy Bee and future plans

2009-02-02T16:43:00.004+05:30

The last two and half weeks have been very busy for me. I have been juggling work, attending classes and writing stories. A lot of you may be aware that I have joined a Creative Writing Certification course at St. Xaviers College. The course will last for a period of 6 weeks with classes being conducted every Thursday from 6:30pm-8:30pm. The first two weeks have been really good. I am getting to know the different ways to write a story, how to creafte a scene, how to write a dialogue etc. My personal goal is to be able to write a short story by the end of this course. I am also thinking of joining Symbiosis for a Creative Writing course which lasts for a year. It all depends on what I am able to achieve in this course. I hope it goes well.

I am still expecting the results for CISA exam which I had given about 6 weeks ago. I was hoping that the results would have been out last week, but haven't received anything in the mail. I am just hoping all turns out well.

The last two weeks, especially over the last week, I have undergone a lot of changes in terms of my behavior. For some reason unknown to me, I have become a lot more aggressive and get depressed equally soon. I don't know what is bothering me so much. I know I have been thinking a lot lately about my career and personal life. I hope I get over this phase soon as I don't really like myself this way and in the last couple of weeks may have ended up hurting a few people.

Mumbai Marathon

2009-01-19T17:01:00.004+05:30

Warning Long Post

As you know from the previous post, I was running late for the Marathon. The train finally arrived at the CST station at 6:40am, just 4 minutes before the event starts. We got across the street and started to look for the holding area at Azad Maidan. To our surprise, we had to go all the way towards Metro station and then enter the grounds from Gate 3. By the time we got there, it was already 6:50am. I put on my number "5200", gave my bag to Sid, who was of the opinion that we should carry our bags and run. Finally better sense prevailed and they decided to keep the bags at the counter. After giving them the bags, I decided to start running. As soon as I got near the start line, there were plenty of people still ahead of me, behind me, music playing loudly and a lot of people cheering us runners. Before I get going, I want to let you know that I have not practiced running since the time I have left Kolkata which is 6 months back. So anyways, I started running from CST at around 7:05am. Initially I was very much ok..reached Flora Fountain in like 2-3 mins, then the Pizzeria and then Trident, took a U turn from there and kept running until I got to Chowpatty. I decided to stop running and then walk for a few minutes since I felt I was getting tired. The lack of practice had started to show up. After walking for a few minutes, I ran until Kemps Corner flyover and then walked up the flyover.. started to run, going downhill. The footpaths were full of people cheering us on.. clapping for us. It really felt good. All these people taking time out of their normal Sunday morning, coming down and cheering common people like me running/ walking for a cause. I kept running until I reached Heera Panna, assuming that I will be going back very soon. I soon went past by Race Course and reached 10km mark. It was there that I realized I was cramping up big time. So I started stretching my legs and walked until flyover at the Atria Mall, turned around and started running. After 12km mark, every step that I was taking was actually amplifying my pain. With my legs cramped, I wanted to give up. I don’t know what kept me going. May be cheering of my friends, with whom I was in constant touch with, may it was my cousin who asked me not to give up or maybe it was me.. I dont know. On reaching the race course on my way back I started running and ran until I reach Pedder Road flyover. There again there were people who gave us Parle G biscuits and water. I had a couple of biscuits and got a few pats on my back and encouragement to keep running. I walked up the flyover and started to run on reaching the midway part and kept running until I hit Wilson College at Chowpatty. I think there I had breached the 16km mark. It was then that I realized that my body cannot take it anymore. I was very badly cramped up. I did a few stretches again and settled down at a chair where I was given an icepack. I kept the icepack on my legs for a couple of mins and started to walk again. The next 2.5kms were a mixture of walk, brisk walk and run in total agony. On reaching the 19km mark, I started to run again. A lot of people were telling, that it is just 2 more kms, you can do it. Finally on reaching the 20 km mark, I slowed down, kept running and finished at 10:15am. A total time of 3hrs 10 mins. I know it is not great.. but I am really proud of this feat.

I finally realized how much stress I had put my body under when I was standing to collect the certificate of participation. I could barely stand. I took my certificate and looked at it with a certain amount of pride and satisfaction. I know what I had endured to get that, the amount of pain I went through (still going through), the way I pushed myself to my limits.. so considering all this.. I was really happy.

On a side note, I don’t want this to sound like sour grapes.. I read a lot of news reports about the Marathon and almost all of them carried news about celebrities. I feel the Marathon should not about the celebrities who just come out to support or do whatever they are there to do. It should be about common people. While I was running, there was this 65+ yr old lady who was carrying the Indian flag and ran all the way through the half marathon. There was this girl, was extremely tired and exhausted, but kept going. This old uncle, who was way in his 70's running the senior marathon. These are the stories which people need to be told, instead of flashing celebrities to sell the paper.

Azad Maiden at the end of the Marathon looked like a 'Kachra Maiden'. There were so many orange peels, banana peels etc on the ground..people just throwing them anywhere instead of the garbage cans, which I didn’t see much of.

All in all it was an awesome event. I really enjoyed running the race and look forward to running it next year again.

Running late for marathon

2009-01-18T05:38:00.000+05:30

My first mobile post. I am running late for my first ever marathon. Lets hope i make it before the event registeration closes.

A hard place

2009-01-16T15:45:00.003+05:30

Mumbai, as I have observed over the last 6 months, is a very difficult place for someone who is new to the city. The sheer pace of life, the number of people on the streets, the traffic etc.. can take a toll on anyone who is not used to such frenetic life. I encountered one such person today in the train. This boy was sitting on the 4th seat and was feeling uncomfortable, so he was moving his arms, head around and constantly irking his fellow passengers. He finally got up at Bandra to get down at Dadar. Once the station arrived, the crowd got empty and this fellow went to the other side of the door. After a few seconds, I heard a girl cry out a name. On hearing the name, the boy responded but it was too late for him to get down. By that time, the people had already started boarding the train. He tried to move against the crowd and get down.. but it was an impossible task. The train started moving... the shouts of the girl for that boy kept on increasing.. until the train moved out of the station. The boy, even though new in the city, kept his composure and asked where the next station would come. Unfortunately for him, he was in the fast train and thus he would have only got down at Mumbai Central. I didnt see him get down at that station. I hope he is ok and reunites with the people he left behind at Dadar station. In some ways this city is very cruel. May be in some other city, people might have made way for him to get down.. but not today, not in Mumbai where everyone is running to get somewhere.

Happy New Year

2008-12-31T16:50:00.003+05:30

Wishing all my readers, if any, A Very Happy New Year 2009 in advance.

For all the people who are going out tonight, be safe and don't drink and drive. Enjoy!!! Cheers!!

Good lyrics

2008-12-18T17:36:00.002+05:30

I have been listening to this song, since yesterday. It is called Maahi, from the movie Raaz II.

Tujhe milke laga hai
Yeh tujhe dhundh raha tha main

Tujhe milke laga hai
Yeh tujhe dhundh raha tha main

Tujh mein hai kuch aise subah sa
Jiski khaatir main tha jaga sa
Aa tu mere Khwab sajaa ja re

maahi aaja re maahi aaja re

Tujh mein hai kuch aisi subah sa
Jiski Khaatir main tha jaga sa
Aa tu mere khwab sajaa ja re

Dil roye ya ilahi Tu aaja mere maahi
Dil roye ya ilahi Tu aaja mere maahi
Dil roye ya ilahi Tu aaja mere maahi
LyricsMasti.com
Mere maahi Mere maahi
Tu aaja mere maahi

Tujhe milke laga hai
Yeh tujhe dhundh raha tha main

Tujhe milke laga hai
Yeh tujhe dhundh raha tha main

Tujh mein hai kuch aise subah sa
Jisko khaatir main tha jaga sa
Aa tu mere Khwab sajaa ja re

Dil roye ya ilahi,Tu aaja mere maahi
Dil roye ya ilahi,tu aaja mere maahi
Mere maahi mere maahi Tu aaja mere maahi
Dil roye ya ilahi tu aja mere maahi

Maahi maahi maahi
Maahi maahi maahi

Dhadkano mein maahi saaanson mein hai maahi

Tu hi hai mere dil ki tamanna
Teri hi yaadein har lamha
De Mujhe de apna aanchal
Dhoop mein jalta main harpal
LyricsMasti.com
Tujh mein hai kuch aisi ghata sa
Jiske Liye Hoon mein pyaasa sa
Aa Tu Meri Pyaar bujha ja re

Dil Roye ya ilahi tu aaja mere maahi
Dil ROya ya ilahi tu aaja mere maahi

Mere maahi Mere maahi
ho Aaja mere maahi Dil Roye ya ilahi
Tu Aaja mere maahi Dil Roye ya ilahi

maahi maahi maahi maahi maahi maahi

Bas Mera tu maahi saaanso mein hai maahi
Hain mujhe hai tera armaan hai tuhe hai mera banna
Har ghadi teri dil mein aahat ttu mile mil jaaye raahat

Jud Ke bhi tu mujhse juda sa
Mulke bhi tu kya hai khafaa sa
Aaaja meri baahon mein saja re

Jud Ke bhi tu mujhse juda sa
Milke bhi tu kya hai khafaa sa
Aaaja meri baaho mein saja re

Dil roye ya ilahi,tu aaja mere maahi
Dil roye ya ilahi,tu aaja mere maahi
Dil roye ya ilahi,tu aaja mere maahi
Dil roye ya ilahi,tu aaja mere maahi

A City of Discrimination

2008-12-06T11:52:00.005+05:30

This thought stuck to me while I was traveling in the train. The people in the city are the most cosmopolitan as well as most discriminating. Right from the train travel where we have 2 types of compartments, 1st and 2nd class. In 1st class people are dressed well, sharp, look sophisticated and generally have an attitude of superiority. While in 2nd class, you will see people of all types. I wonder why do we have such classes? Why cant all citizens be treated as equals? I have used public transport in quite a few cities around North America and there I didn't see any divide between suit wearing hippie and a construction guy. They all travel in the same manner. I guess even after dividing people based on their religions, caste, sub-castes etc. we are still not satisfied. We want more division. We just want to live with "our" type of people. Nowadays even housing societies in this city are dictating which "type" of people should stay, what kind of food they are allowed to have? This is just plain ridiculous. There are pure-veg societies. Some only allow people from one particular religion, caste, sub-caste to stay/ buy the property etc. If this was not enough, there is now discrimination between outsider and natives. This is just so backward. No wonder the Britishers were able to rule us for such a long time. I dont think we have learned anything in the last 60 years of our independence. This is the state in India's most cosmopolitan city, I fear how things might be in other cities or small towns across the country.

Life moves on or does it?

2008-12-01T17:51:00.003+05:30

So finally after 60 hours the siege over Mumbai ended. There was celebration in some streets, people mourning in some, for some it was relief, for some were overcome by grief, but for a lot of them it was rage, anger that their city, country had to go through this.I wait and hope that this anger is constructive and something positive comes out of it. As I sit here and write this, I know that we may move on, the city might come back to normal, but we will not forget what happened on 26/11/2008.

Terrorist Strike Mumbai Again

2008-11-27T19:53:00.006+05:30

Update Almost 31 hours and the crisis are still not over. This is just frustrating.

I am very sad and angered after following the events on the TV for more than last 12 hours. Ever since the first sms I saw at 6:30am, until the time of writing this post.. the favorite part of my city has become a virtual war zone. The Taj hotel, The Trident, Leopold Cafe, CST are some of the places which are very close to me since I spent most of my college life in these areas. Just a couple of weeks back, I was sitting bang opposite Hilton towers and discussing life with a friend of mine.

I am really angered by the apathy shown by the government. Just a few months ago, when blasts were going off in every city, the government should have done something. Mumbai is a sitting duck for any dick, tom and harry to attack. Once again we will have the politicians come and go, give speeches, etc. But after a couple of days/ weeks nothing will have changed. People will be back to their normal lives and "Mumbai" spirit will be saluted. A friend had her away status "Mumbai is living a nightmare", I would say "Mumbai is a living nightmare".

My condolences to families who lost their loved ones today, My prayers are with the people who are still holed up as hostages.I hope you are rescued soon.

This is just awesome.. check it out

2008-11-24T14:50:00.000+05:30

Economy and Markets

2008-11-20T16:52:00.003+05:30

The last few weeks have been very tumultuous for everyone. The global market melt down has affected almost everyone in same way or the other. The collapse of major financial institutions has caused a worry in the market as to who is safe? It seems like all industries have been effected by this. Two days ago, Europe officially admitted that st it is under recession and so did Japan. US, we already know is under recession but they wont accept it. The global oil prices, have also fallen down. In India, we see the sensex has crashed, the rupee is struggling, construction industry is bust, and credit is not easily available in the market.

I think for long term investors this is the perfect time to invest. For people who have savings, this is the best time since there is a lot of panic and fear in the market. Also the prices for the housing market will come back to earth in the next few months and it will be a very good time to get a house. The basic principle of the market economy is supply and demand. Currently there is abundant supply and the demand is very few and this is going to bring down the prices, since the inventory has to be cleared. If this does not happen, there wont be new products launched.

I dont know what I am trying to say here and why I am dishing out all this "gyaan". I guess in someways I am myself affected by this market crash. Some of my investments have lost 40% of their value and I am not sure if I will ever regain the lost value. Only time will tell. But I truly wish I had some money on hand because now is the best time to invest and reap profits for the future.

Phone: Lost and Found

2008-11-15T14:33:00.003+05:30

Yeah. I know I know. I am posting after quite a long time (15 days since last post). To be honest, too many things have happened in my life since I last posted. I will write about them soon. I promise.

A couple of days ago, I was waiting at the Mumbai Central station waiting to catch the train back home. A Virar train had just entered into the station and after the mad scramble to get in the train got over, the train started moving. As the ladies compartment neared, a girl standing on the footboard lost her grip on her cell phone and it dropped on the station, sliding and landing right near my feet. A few onlookers were looking as I picked up the phone and I didn't know what I should do with it. The phone was Samsung and must have cost around 5-7K. A couple of fellow passengers suggested I give the phone to local police men who are nowadays found on every platform. I decided to hand it over to the cops.

While walking with the phone one part of me really didnt want to return the phone, since I had lost a couple of phones and they had never been returned. I was like it is payback time. While thinking about this, I also realized how sad I had felt when I lost my phones and how this person might be feeling. What she must be going through, the nervousness, the fear and the hope that someone might return the phone back to her. I decided to do the right thing and decided to hand over the phone to her. I called a couple of people from her contact list and gave them my details, so they could get in touch with her and she could retrieve her phone.

After waiting for her to call on her cell for about 15 mins, I decided to board the train and head home. So when I had just boarded, her brother called and in a very accusatory tone asked me "This phone is with you". At that very moment I felt like throwing the phone from the window. Bugger, here I am trying to return your sisters lost phone and you are accusing me of stealing the phone. I asked him to collect the phone from Borivali since I have already boarded the train and have no intentions to get down and make my journey more uncomfortable. After speaking with her brother, the owner of the cell phone called and said she was at Bandra and would appreciate it if I can get down and hand it over to her there. I agreed after much deliberation.

I got down at Bandra and located her and gave her the phone. It turns out she was working for Lufthansa Airlines ground crew. The relief and joy on her face was quite watchable. She thanked me and I moved on. The funny part was even after losing her phone once, she decided to travel on the footboard of the train, the way she lost it initially. I just looked up.. sighed and boarded a very crowded train to home.

Moral of the story: Nice guys always get crushed.

The Politicization of Rahul Raj Singh

2008-11-01T16:17:00.004+05:30

I am just amazed to see the reaction of the people and politicians in the newspaper articles, news channels and other forums where most of them are saying the boy was innocent. How can they say this, even after he shot a passenger in his thigh and tried to strangulate the conductor of the bus. The worst part is most of them are saying that the encounter is fake or cops should have somehow overpowered him. I dont know how this would have been possible. Here is a person with a live weapon and firing randomly, what is the police supposed to do? Approach him and be like pls lay down your weapon, wait for him to shoot/ kill a cop or wait for him to shoot more people. I believe the Mumbai police did the right thing. Instead of criticizing the police, they should be thankful to them that no innocent lives were lost. I dont consider the dead boy an innocent person since he had already committed a crime by shooting one person, trying to strangulate another one and hijacking the bus. The politicians from Bihar, North India should stop politicizing such issues and rub salt to the wounds of the family members of Rahul Raj.

Inflation hits home

2008-10-30T14:41:00.002+05:30

The prices of quite a few commodities have risen up in the last few days just when the overall inflation is coming down. Yesterday, when I Natural's Ice Cream parlor a half kg tub of ice cream cost me Rs. 150, when a few weeks ago the same tub would have cost me Rs. 140. Today, I went down to get lunch in the afternoon and guess what the prices have risen at the Bollywood cafe, outside Big Bazaar at Phoenix Mills. The grill sandwich was costing 50 bucks now costs Rs. 60, a 500 ml Pepsi/ Coke which would have cost me Rs. 20 a couple of weeks ago now costs me Rs. 24. Clearly the prices have risen and has hurting me. I wonder where shall I go to eat the next time I am at my Lower Parel office.

Interesting Monday

2008-10-29T20:29:00.004+05:30

I have been itching to write this post since Monday morning, but I just havent had the time to sit and write it. This past Monday wasn't like all other Mondays. In fact when I woke up in the morning, I could somehow feel it was going to be different. May be anticipation of the coming holidays made me feel that way or something else, I dont know. So I left my house a little later than usual in the morning and was thinking if I should take the bus or the train. Since I was traveling to Chembur that day, I didn't really want to change two trains and get there. I thought since it is almost a holiday, I might as well take the bus to Kurla and then hop onto the train.

I waited at the bus stop for like 20 mins and every minute while I waited there, I felt like "I should have taken the train, may be I will catch the 8:20 AM local, if I leave now." Finally the bus arrived and luckily it wasn't so crowded. I got a seat and was thinking the wait was worth it. As anticipated, there wasn't much traffic on the WE highway and I was at Bail Bazaar on Andheri-Kurla Road around 9:30-9:35am. Then the bus came to a standstill. Since I had traveled on this road before, I knew the traffic gets really bad here. After 5-10 mins the bus was still not moving, the traffic from the opposite direction had also stopped, as in there were no vehicles going. Also in the mean time, a steady stream of people were heading in just one direction emphasizing that something was going on ahead. I decided to sit in the bus and wait out whatever was going on, but then I saw people who were standing ahead running helter-skelter. I was like this does not look good. I decided to step down from the bus, in case the mob turns angry and decides to break the bus.

I started walking in direction where all action was taking place. On reaching there, I saw a double decker BEST bus standing in the middle of the road, it looked empty to me. There was a police van standing near it and a lot of cops standing around the bus. Behind the cops, there were people, who had formed a circle. I tried to go on the other side of the circle, but the people and then the cops wont allow me to. I asked some folks as to what was going on, they couldn't provide me with a clear answer. Just then I heard a couple of shots being fired. I thought it was must be some Diwali cracker, but I saw people running and definitely realized it was a shot. I decided to get away from there, since I didn't want to get crushed in a stampede which could have occurred. I moved into a small lane and started asking for directions to get to Kurla. After walking for about 45 mins and asking at least half dozen people + 2 cops for directions, I finally reached the Kurla station only to realize that the trains were running 20-25 mins late. Kurla station was a sea of humanity. I decided to skip the first train that arrived and boarded the next one with some ease. After about 3 hours since I had left home, I managed to reach office.

For what happened at the Double Decker bus click here.

Happy Diwali

2008-10-28T09:28:00.004+05:30

'Thamasoma Jyothirgamaya' (lead me from darkness to light). There is no room for Thamas (darkness) in the presence of Jyothi (light). The lamp of wisdom dispels the darkness of ignorance.

Let this Diwali bring the light of hope, wisdom and happiness to dispel the gloom around us. Wishing you all A Very Happy Diwali and A Prosperous New Year.

Priceless

2008-10-23T12:57:00.002+05:30

This is just too good.

Frustration

2008-10-21T14:45:00.001+05:30

12:27:49 PM Akshay: to be honest, when all spoke abt india shining etc
12:27:49 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: no wonder such a great state is jst goin to the dogs
12:28:06 PM Akshay: i was hoping things have changed for good
12:28:21 PM Akshay: but to be honest, i am very disappointed
12:28:25 PM Akshay: it is the same old BS
12:28:30 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: it has...jst tht it will take time coming
12:28:34 PM Akshay: there is no bloody life here
12:28:47 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: what we are witnessing is the beginning on the renaissance
12:29:01 PM Akshay: u work, u come home, eat, if u are married- fuck and then sleep
12:29:32 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: all that is required is positive minds at the highest level
12:29:47 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: that is where young guns like rahul gandhi need to take over
12:30:01 PM Akshay: he is never going to take over
12:30:11 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: not so long now
12:30:21 PM Akshay: he will also do the same old BS that his family has been following
12:30:23 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: we need a few more grass-root politicians like him
12:30:37 PM Akshay: see the thing is, even if you want o change something, others wont allow
12:30:40 PM Akshay: india is like this
12:30:43 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: corruption is in our blood, but what we really require is young blood
12:31:10 PM Akshay: like crabs or cockroaches, who pull down anyone who climbs up
12:31:12 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: the change lies in the young blood, not the ones who are jst surviving
12:31:16 PM Akshay: Raj is young
12:31:25 PM Akshay: but look at what he is doing
12:31:35 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: if India needs to climb the oldies have to sit back n watch the ride instead of being in the driver's seat
12:31:35 PM Akshay: instead of finding something which is worthwhile
12:31:48 PM Akshay: all he does is creates more trouble
12:31:53 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: there are alwyz going to be the rotten apples in the basket
12:32:07 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: i had great expectations when he set of on his own
12:32:08 PM Akshay: he does not care if someone misses out on a day's pay
12:32:17 PM Akshay: or losses his property because his men attacked
12:32:26 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: i thought he had development on his mind
12:32:33 PM Akshay: in this case, the entire basket is rotten
12:32:43 PM Akshay: well he had initially
12:32:46 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: but it is very evident now tht its mumbai & publicity on his mind
12:32:54 PM Akshay: but he lost those muncipality elections
12:33:01 PM Akshay: so fuck development
12:33:17 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: he s a power-hungry politician
12:33:21 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: the dangerous lot
12:33:44 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: and the govt has been feeding him, by not acting before
12:33:54 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: abhi bhi kuch bhigada nahi hai
12:34:02 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: show him whose the boss
12:34:10 PM Akshay: what i feel is.. nothing is going to change
12:34:13 PM Akshay: nothing has changed
12:34:15 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: but tht wont happen
12:34:21 PM Akshay: we may be shining economically
12:34:29 PM Akshay: but the life we are leading is the same
12:34:31 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: in the name of law-n-order he will be let off again
12:34:37 PM Akshay: my father did the same thing, worked 9-7
12:34:42 PM Akshay: i am doing the same thing
12:35:12 PM Akshay: only the rich are getting richer and poor are getting poorer
12:35:18 PM Akshay: this is india for u in nutshell
12:35:18 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: well tht my friend isnt going to change
12:35:35 PM Akshay: worked in the same conditions
12:35:39 PM Akshay: over crowded trains
12:35:41 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: so live with it or stay unhappy for the rest of ur life
12:35:43 PM Akshay: roads full of traffic
12:35:56 PM Akshay: pollution everywhere
12:36:06 PM Akshay: where is india shining?
12:36:14 PM Akshay: no where
12:36:26 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: in the political parties's manifesto
12:36:26 PM Akshay: fucking disappointing it is
12:36:27 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: :D
12:36:47 PM Akshay: u know.. only in the last few days.. i am regretting being here
12:36:51 PM Akshay: honestly
12:37:12 PM Akshay: it has nothing to do with raj etc
12:37:18 PM Akshay: but just watching things around me
12:39:27 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: frustrated huh?
12:40:10 PM Akshay: well when u have to jostle for little space in the train every day of your working life, even you would feel the same
12:40:31 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: i do it dude
12:40:36 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: almst everyday
12:40:39 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: i knw the pain
12:40:52 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: but thts the price u pay for being with the family
12:41:17 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: well i knw it sounds irritating but, i ve learnt to live with this crap
12:41:36 PM Akshay: hmm
12:41:42 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: i can do precious little to change things around significantly
12:42:14 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: but i prefer enjoying my stay out here while i still am here
12:42:38 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: losing even a single day to the madness around is unacceptable
12:43:05 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: i try hard not to carry my daily frustrations back home, except for the ocassional outbursts
12:43:14 PM Back after an amazing trek!!!: so i recommend u try the same

Yeh tumhari meri baatein

2008-10-19T21:13:00.003+05:30

Yeh Tumhari Meri Baathein, Hamesha Yuhin... Chalti Rahe..
Yeh Hamari Mulakate, Hamesha Yuhin... Chalti Rahe..
Beete Yuhin Apne Saare Din Raaat
Baaton Se Nikalti Rahe Nayi Baaat

Phir Wahin Baathein Leke Geet Koi... Hum Likhe..
Jo Dil Ko Haan Sab Ke Dil Ko.. Chu Le..
Baathein Suron Mein Yuhin Pighalti Rahen..
Baathein Geeton Mein Yuhin Dalti Rahen..

Oooo..Na Na Na Na Na Na…Oooo

Geeton Mein Haan Humko.. Khusiyon Se Haan Saja De
Jo Sune Gaaye Woh Hum Se Gaaoon Na

Yeh Tumhari Meri Baathein, Hamesha Yuhin... Chalti Rahe..
Yeh Hamari Mulakate, Hamesha Yuhin... Chalti Rahe..

Beete Yuhin Apne Saare Din Raaat
Baaton Se Nikalti Rahe Nayi Baaat
Phir Wahin Baathein Leke Geet Koi... Hum Likhe..
Jo Dil Ko Haan Sab Ke Dil Ko.. Chu Le..
Baathein Suron Mein Yuhin Pighalti Rahen..
Baathein Geeton Mein Yuhin Dalti Rahen..

I like this song.. been listening to it since over an hour now..

Tired

2008-10-15T14:15:00.005+05:30

Exhausted is the correct word.. I would like to say.. I am dead tired. Been commuting every day in the past week from Vikhroli to Borivali, getting up early, around 6:30am, commuting an hour and half and leaving work late, around 7pm and again commuting for another couple of hours.. All I can say right now is I need some break. Reminds me of the Queen song, I want to break free.

Someone Special

2008-10-02T23:25:00.003+05:30

Ladies and Gentlemen, It is with great happiness and pleasure I am introducing my niece Radhika. Here she is...

Rock on

2008-10-01T16:54:00.003+05:30

Finally, I got a chance to watch Rock On on the big screen and to be honest, it was awesome. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Farhan Akhtar is seriously talented. The music was also awesome. I really liked the closing number, it was really full of "Magik". The best part about the movie was.. the message. You live only once, so do what you really like doing. There are so many people who are in jobs in which are totally in opposite to what they would want to be doing. I was speaking to my Bhabhs after watching the movie, and told her that I just want to enjoy my life and not worry about anything else. Just live my life to the fullest and enjoy every moment of it. Do what I want to do rather than do something which I hate. I really hope I could end up doing that.

Life in a busy lane

2008-09-22T15:05:00.000+05:30

The last week has been pretty hectic for me work wise. I am now working from the Chembur office in Mumbai and have been shuttling between 3 offices. A lot of work has been thrown in my direction right from driving a certain process to developing a certain process and handling a new process. So a lot of things are there to be done. Right now, my number one concern is the commute. The commute is a bitch to be honest, both by car and train. It takes a minimum of one and half hours either by train or by car. The traffic in the city is horrible. There are way too many cars, buses, autos, animals and humans on the street. It takes forever to get from one end of the city to another. The train journey is also not any better. I have to change 3 trains to get to Chembur and traveling during the rush hour is just a train too many. Anyways, I guess this is how life is going to go on until I am here in this city. Really looking forward to going somewhere else.

Interesting

2008-09-15T16:17:00.000+05:30

If all you ever do is all you’ve ever done, then all you’ll ever get is all you ever got.

A comment

2008-09-13T10:37:00.005+05:30

The other day a me and a friend of mine were discussing about work and she commented that you have to struggle so much to get to the office. While at that moment I didn't really understand what she meant by struggle, since being in Mumbai and traveling regularly in the trains here, I am quite used to the daily pushing and jostling for tiniest of spaces. But after a while when the comment really sinked in, I realized commute was much better when I was in Washington DC. I didn't have any jump in the entering train just to get a better place to stand, neither did I get crowded in, or drenched in someone else' sweat and there no pushing and fighting or arguing. Just everyone going about their business in a very comfortable manner.

Even in Kolkata, the commute was much better. I didn't have to take the train here, the auto rickshaw journey was comfortable as again there was not "struggle" to get to office. Getting to work place for only tough some days when I used to travel by the overcrowded "killer" blue buses.

Enter Mumbai. I can now understand how much struggle it is to get to work. By the time you have reached office, almost half of your energy is drained. This by far is the biggest challenge a new comer might face when he/ she arrives here. May be Raj Thackeray should take up such issues, rather than focusing on who said what. A lot of Marathi manoos also travel in the trains. I am sure he will get their votes if he makes their, and with them, our commute comfortable.

I wish...

2008-09-10T11:02:00.004+05:30

Yesterday was 7th day of Ganapati celebrations and it was also a day of visarjan. As usual, there was a lot of traffic, along with the rains, and getting a bus or an auto was extremely difficult. So I decided to walk home from Kandivali station and while walking I saw so many people walking together with their loved ones, holding hands, sharing the same umbrella with smiles on their faces. I just felt incomplete while watching them..I wished someone was there with me too.

Desktop at work

2008-09-09T17:50:00.002+05:30

Quite a statement isn't it?

Google search results

2008-09-08T12:57:00.002+05:30

My website now shows up on the top of the 2nd page in Google results for "Akshay V". If you just search for "Akshay", almost all the results display something related to Akshay Kumar. I really hate Akshay Kumar for hogging all the limelight. This reminds me I need to add some meta data in the website.

Should he wait or not wait?

2008-09-04T10:17:00.000+05:30

A friend of mine is going through this situation right now.. He is deeply in love with a girl and they have been dating for quite some time. The girl is also deeply in love with the guy. The guy's parents have no issues with the girl, but the girl's parents are not agreeing to their alliance since the kundli's dont match. Now the girl has moved to a different country and her parents refuse to speak about the guy or the relationship. For them it is a closed chapter. They have been warning the girl that if she takes any steps towards the guy, like marry against our wishes etc, then they will cut off all ties with her. The girl does not want to go against her parents, but at the same time does not want to lose the guy. In the mean time, the guys parents are now asking what happened with the girl's parents? Have they approved or disapproved? If they have disapproved, do you want us to start looking for you? So far the guy has told them he will let them know. But it seems like his patience is losing. The girl is not willing to commit to him that in case her parents are still against this after some period she is willing to go against them. Obviously, the guy knows that he cant force her to be with him. The girl does not know when she is going to return back to the country, while her parents refuse to speak about this matter on the phone or email. The guy does not know how much longer he should wait for the girl. Should he even wait at all? He was asking me all this and I couldn't answer anything, hence this post. I hope the girl and guy get to be together, but from what it appears the chances of that happening are very low.

This is freaky and cool

2008-09-02T15:17:00.001+05:30

Aankhon ke Saagar

2008-09-02T11:21:00.003+05:30

This song has been playing in my head since today morning.. couldnt resist posting the lyrics.

Aankhon ke Saagar
Hotthon ke Saagar
Aankhon ke Saagar
Hotthon ke Saagar

Le doobe Hame
Le Doobe Hame

Aankhon ke Saagar
Hotthon ke Saagar

Le doobe Hame
Le Doobe Hame

Palkon ko aise
Palkon se chchoo le
Ke jab dil mile
toh manzil mile
Tum bhi naa bhoole
Hum bhi naa bhoole
ke jab dil mile
toh manzil mile

Aaankhon ke saagar...

tadapna meraaa
hasna tera...
tadapna meraaa
hasna tera...

neende meri
sapna tera

Aankhon ke saagar
hothon ke saagar
Le doobe Hame
Le Doobe Hame

sabhi dooriyaan
woh majbooriyaan
sabhi dooriyaan
woh majbooriyaan
bhulado unhe
ke main hoon yahaan

palkon ko aise
palkon se chchoo le
ke jab dil mile
toh manzil mile
tum bhi naa bhoolo
hum bhi naa bhoole
ke jab dil mile
toh manzil mile

Aankhon ke Saagar
Hotthon ke Saagar

Le doobe Hame
Le Doobe Hame

Aankhon ke Saagar
Hotthon ke Saagar.

Uninteresting phase of life

2008-08-30T06:48:00.002+05:30

I believe the current phase of my life is very uninteresting. The reason I say this is because working 6 days a week in the office does not leave with anything to do. The entire Sunday, I spend either playing computer games or watch TV. I don't feel like doing anything. It can get very frustrating. The same old life routine during the week also gets to me. Wake up, gym, shower, work, come home, dinner, sleep everyday. Nothing changes in between. period.

A touching video

2008-08-24T17:36:00.001+05:30

Hilarious

2008-08-22T10:18:00.001+05:30

I found this on the Pune Times.. this is just funny..

PUNE: It was a sleepless Wednesday night for many citizens in the Pimpri-Chinchwad township and some Pune suburbs, following a rumour that people were dying in their sleep. The ‘reasons’ for the rumoured deaths were many - planetary effect, fast spreading illness and earthquake.

The rumours started spreading around 2 am on Thursday, as people started receiving calls on their phones informing them about the sudden deaths and warning them not to sleep.

Panic and anxiety spread among the people, mostly staying in chawls and hutments. The rumours spread fast as people started calling others on their mobiles.

Sunita Kamble, a resident of Sangvi, said she and her two children stayed awake outside the house after her husband received a phone call around 4 am, saying that people were dying in their sleep.

Another resident Tarabai Janrao too was awake, along with her children and family members, since early morning. Nanda Adhav of Kothrud also said she had heard about the panic that had spread in the locality.

The Pimpri police confirmed that a rumour had spread among the citizens. The rumour also caused anxiety among parents and in some institutions. “We received three- four calls in the morning from some students, a college and a bank employee asking whether the situation is normal and whether people can travel,” the duty officer at Pimpri police station said.

Chandrakant Shendkar of Balajinagar in Katraj told TOI that many residents in the locality did not sleep in the wee hours.

Chetan Chavale, who stays at the hospital quarters near Aundh, said he had received two calls from his relatives staying in Barshi and Tuljapur. “I was told that people were dying in their sleep due to some planetary effect. However, I did not believe it and had a good sleep,” he said.

Sukhdev Bachute of Sangvi said that although he did not believe in the rumour, children were the most sufferers as they were made to stay awake by their parents.

This is the second such rumour that has spread among people since Saturday, when Rakshabandhan was celebrated. As there was a lunar eclipse on Saturday, a rumour had spread among a section of females that if the rakhi was tied then the brother would die. Despite the rumours, the festival was celebrated with much fervour and gaiety.

Random Ramblings

2008-08-07T12:34:00.003+05:30

The last few days all of a sudden have gotten very busy. I have been running around from one place to another. Currently, I am working on 3 different projects and all 3 require to me work in 3 different areas. Just last week, I was complaining to my cousin that I don’t have enough work and this week I am overwhelmed with work. But the best part is, I am thoroughly enjoying what I am doing. I think when you are working in a start-up, you get to put your hands in all the areas and learn about everything. At the same time, I may end up becoming Jack of all Trades and Master of none or may be one. I don’t know. Right now, I am currently thinking of starting my studies again. It has been 3 years since I have graduated and I think it is the correct time for me to have a Management degree. I have been doing some basic research about the institutions and courses, but haven’t been able to find a right one yet. But hopefully, will find something soon. In the mean time, I will be giving CISA exam on Dec 13th. I will be doing the early bird registration this week.

Btw, I have started going to the gym again. Well I have been going since last 3 weeks and it feels good to workout. My mornings are really packed, with gym from 6:15am-7:30am and then catching the train at 8:30am with breakfast, shower etc in between. Sometimes it gets really hectic but then it is worth it. I have also registered for Mumbai Marathon. I will be participating in the half marathon. I have never run in one before, so have no idea if I can even run so much. But today was a very good start on the treadmill. I finished 2kms in about 12 minutes. I know treadmill and streets are different but still it felt good. I am aiming to improve the running stamina to 5kms by the end of this month and then another 5 by the end of September. I know high hopes, but then one can’t do anything without planning.

Anyways I have written a lot on this post.. I am going to shut up now and get back to work.

To abort or not to abort?

2008-08-05T10:40:00.002+05:30

I am sure most of you are aware of the case, where the Mehta's decided to approach the high court to allow them to abort their child/ fetus of 26 weeks old on the grounds that the unborn child has been diagnosed with heart complications. Yesterday, the Bombay high court rejected their plea on the grounds that they were not sure that the child could suffer from heart complications. Now, I am no one to comment on this case, but I feel that if such a situation has been diagnosed before the birth of the child, it is best to abort. Just today while returning from the gym, I saw a mentally challenged kid/ young man walking with his grandfather. This person could not even speak or walk properly. All the time while stumbling/ walking, he kept making a peculiar sound. After seeing him, my heart just felt for his parents and grandparents. I don’t know this kid, but even then I was feeling sad for him.. I wonder how sad is family would feel for him. I hope/ know they love him unconditionally, but at the same time I know they must be bleeding a thousand hearts when they see him struggle/ suffer. I guess this is life.. but a person should have the freedom to abort in such cases. What is the use of bringing life to earth when we know he/ she is going to suffer??

6 days work week

2008-07-30T10:11:00.003+05:30

I have started working 6 days a week, since I have joined the new company. It is quite a change when you are so used to working 5 days a week and eagerly await for Friday to come. In my case, I don't really get excited about Saturday since by the time half of Sunday is over, I am thinking about going to office the next day. Also it becomes terribly hard to get up early in the morning on a Saturday. Plus, if I have to attend social obligations on Sunday..then God only help me. Having a Saturday off I think is essential.. since it allows people to have a night out on Friday and Saturday and then relax on Sunday. I guess I can always have a night out on Saturday but...The positives about working 6 days a week is that I get to go to the gym 6 days a week instead of 5. I guess I will get fitter more quickly. I seriously need to lose some weight.. I am about 5kgs over the ideal weight. Hopefully working out 6 days a week will help me reduce down quickly. Lets see how it goes.

For all my ex-team members

2008-07-24T10:01:00.002+05:30

Warning Long Post

This post has been long over due. I have been wanting to write it for a very long time but have been delaying it or getting delayed for some reason or the other. I also know Aabu has been pushing me a lot to write this post since a month and half ago.. so here it goes.

To be honest, I have been really lucky to work with such a talented group of individuals. People who know how to have fun and do the work at the same time, while meeting the production as well as the quality levels expected by the client. We have had some really good times while working together, the memories of which will be embedded in me for a really long time. I would like to mention a word about all my team members, may be this could be their unofficial mid-year review. As per my blog rules, I am not going to take names here..just use their LH initials. I also know some of you may not agree with what I have to say or may not get a chance to view this post.

ARP: I would always be thankful to you for the way you helped me out during my initial days in Kolkata, be it coming along to check an apartment with me or our boys night out or going around in Chandni Chowk and taking me around places. You were a great friend until you changed. I still dont know why you did things that you did. It felt really sad that I lost you as a friend. In the your last few days CG, your behavior was not worthy of a team lead. Anyways, I hope you are doing well wherever you are and grow up further in the corporate chain.

CSG: The 'Mamata Banerjee' of the team, always feisty. I remember all the arguments we have had on the smallest matter. I think it is because of those arguments initially, that we became a lot closer later on. I dont have much to say to you except, just be the way you are. May be you need to get married soon. :P and obviously invite me to it.

SC: Again, I would like to thankful to you for all the help that I got while finding an apartment for myself. I remember the times we went looking for a house and finally deciding on the right one. We have had our fair share of arguments, which have been very interesting to say the least. I remember how sad it was for us, when you had to move to Bangalore and how interesting it was for me to manage your working from there. It was sad that in spite of you working on LH for such a long time, we got to see very little of you in Kolkata.

ZB: To be honest, I dont know what I should say about you. You have been my closest friend, my confidante, my advisor everything. I will always remember the trust you have shown in me. Right from the first day our wavelengths matched. I remember how we would be telling the rest of the guys to speak in English or Hindi, while in the office to all the little things that we shared, personal and professional. I miss you a lot.

The post has already become too long. I will write about the rest of the guys in the next post(s). Until then adios.

The Door Mentality

2008-07-19T10:38:00.002+05:30

I usually refer to this phenomenon as crowding at the doors. I believe most Indians have this mentality. Be it bus or train, they will always crowd at the doors even though there is plenty of room inside to sit or stand. Previously I used to think it was just Mumbaikars who have this habit from traveling in the trains, but then after flying for approximately 75 times in last 20 odd months, I have come to realize this effect is all over India. I wonder why people do that.. I mean it only causes inconvenience to others. Every morning I have to push people out so I can get in, since all the doorways are crowded. I wish people do have some common sense and learn to utilize the space more appropriately.

Hair Tickling Ride

2008-07-16T10:03:00.003+05:30

Yesterday was my first day of official commute (commuting to office) during rush hours in Mumbai. Took the 8:22 fast from Borivali. As usual it was packed with people. It seems that the state government or the Center, none of them actually care how the people of Mumbai travel in the local trains. Even animals like cows and buffaloes are treated better by the Railways. Anyways, so here I was in the train packed with people sweating myself to glory. The passenger standing in front of me was shorter in height, but had long hair. The funny part was my nose was directly above his hair which were jumping up and down as the train was moving. So all the time, his hair kept tickling my nose and made me sneeze a lot. The ordeal finally got over at Bandra, a good 35 mins later, when there was some space inside the compartment. I just wish I dont have to go through such rides again.

Good Bye City of Joy

2008-07-12T23:08:00.003+05:30

Today is my last day in the City of Joy.. I dont know what to say except I am leaving with a heavy heart from here. I stayed here for almost 22 months and to be honest I have not discovered most of the city as I should have. I will always regret not venturing out too much in this city. I have made quite a few friends here and I am feeling sad that I will be leaving them and going back to Mumbai. But as they say, life moves on and so do we..

When I initially came to Kolkata, I was under the impression that this is probably the worst city in India. There were just too many people, too much pollution and too much poverty in city. Initially the language was a big hindrance in this part of the country.. I would say something in hindi and I would get a reply in bengali. My team mates would speak in Bengali and I would have no freaking clue as to what was going on. But slowly, I could understand a bit of the language, speak a bit to get the daily chores done. It was then that I realized that bengali is a very sweet or misthi language as they would say. After getting over the initial hindrances, I found the city quite liveable and likeable. I have enjoyed most of my stay here. I was fortunate to have very good team members, who helped me a lot in my initial days, something I would always remember for the rest of my life. Overall, it has been a very good experience for me and I am definitely looking forward to visit Kolkata and my friends soon.

The last bit of packing is almost done. I didn't know I had so much stuff until I started packing. I am pretty sure I am going to overrun my maximum baggage allowance tomorrow. I honestly dont know how much luggage I am carrying, but it definitely feels more than 45kgs. I dont know how much more I am going to end up paying. The next post is going to be from Mumbai..the city that never sleeps, my home. Until then good night and good luck.

Load Shedding

2008-07-11T00:29:00.002+05:30

I write this post sitting in the darkness waiting for the electricity to arrive. Since the last few days whenever I have been home, there has been load shedding every day for a couple of hours. I used to think West Bengal was a power surplus state, but it turns out it is not. I assume politicians like Mr. Karat etc, never lose power in their houses, hence they are opposing this nuclear deal. One of the major advantages of this deal could be the use to nuclear power to generate electricity. I believe this state clearly needs it the most, since they have the frequent power cuts. All over India, the demand for electricity is rising and these leftists buggers along with BJP (who has now just become used to playing politics) are against these deal. The Left, I believe cares more about China, than our own people. I really salute our Prime Minister for having balls to stand up against such parties and be like do hell with them, I am going to go ahead with the deal.

Just as I have finished writing this post, the power is back. I am going to try and get some sleep before the power goes off again and I wake up to the buzz of mosquitoes and their bites.

My train route

2008-06-28T19:36:00.002+05:30

View Larger Map

Tomorrow I am starting my journey from Mumbai CST to Howrah. I have mapped the route along with this post. According to Indian Railways, I should reach Howrah in 36 hours. Lets see how long it actually takes. It should be fun and interesting.

Shibuya Metro Station

2008-06-20T07:31:00.005+05:30

This is interesting.. it could be like solving a puzzle everyday until you have figured it.

Kingfisher First

2008-06-17T08:52:00.002+05:30

A couple of weeks ago I travelled Kingfisher first class. The experience was sudden and at the same time very much awesome. It so happened that I had booked my tickets on late Friday night for Saturday morning flight. When I got to the airport, I was told that the flight has been overbooked and since I am a Gold card member with them, I have been bumped up to first class. I was very much surprised. Usually I don't wear anything extraordinary while traveling, just jeans and some t-shirt. The t-shirt that I was wearing that day was very much faded out and I had not even shaved. So I did feel like I am a bit out of place, since in first class you expect a lot of business types with suits etc or some famous celebrity (today every celebrity is famous). I tried to protest the bumping up from economy to first class, but sensing that it would look stupid on my part decided to just board the flight.

As soon as I seated, I got served with a drink called Sparkle (I think it was just Appy Fizz with cherry popped in). The best part about first class is the seating, you get plenty of leg space + extra recliner seats. Ohh and I forgot to add the headphones which they provided, I think they were noise reduction ones. Once the flight took off, the air-hostess came and handed me a big menu card, which had plenty of food options (veg and non-veg). The size of the menu card was almost 20 times as huge as the one they hand out in the economy. So after a while, the air-hostess came and asked me if I wanted to have corn flakes for breakfast and something from the main menu. I was like hell yeah!! So I ordered my milk and cereal breakfast along with fruits and then something vegetarian from the main menu. The tray in the first class is almost twice as wide as the trays in the economy. The food was very good and I enjoyed eating Cinnamon buns. After the sumptuous meal, I just decided I have had enough, when the air-hostess asked if I wanted any hot chocolate.. I wanted to have it, but then I was too full from the meal and declined the drink. The rest of the journey was spent relaxing in the recliner chair and sleeping. They really treat you like kings on Kingfisher. Btw, my return trip was also bumped to first class. It is also true that once you go first class, you dont feel like going back.

Wednesday

2008-05-23T08:54:00.004+05:30

Wendesday, May 21st was not a good day for two of the teams that I support. Firstly, Mumbai Indians (MI) lost the game to Punjab Kings XI by 1 run. It was such a close game. I was expecting MI to go ahead and win the game easily when Sachin was still batting, but then everything went haywire and we ended up losing with the smallest of the margins. The feeling of defeat that evening had just sunk in when around 3am, my brother sends me a message saying that Chelsea lost to Manchester United 5-6 in penalties. This was not something which I wanted to hear first thing in the morning. I headed out to gym and started to watch the game, which was being replayed, while working out. I saw John Terry take the penalty and slip and the ball went wide. For that one moment, my hands were on my face and I was almost in tears, feeling the pain that JT felt on missing that penalty. I have never gotten emotional after watching any game, and I really dont know what happened when I saw that penalty. Sometimes luck plays such a huge role. Chelsea could have won the match, but they hit the bar like 2-3 times. Cristiano Ronaldo from Man U even missed his penalty shot, but Chelsea were not meant to be European Champions.. Luck.. Bad Luck to be honest.

Check out this article in honor of JT.

Bad Luck hi Kharab hai

2008-05-20T12:58:00.002+05:30

The last couple of weeks in April and this month so far have been financially very bad for me. It seems like the Lords of Bad Luck have finally caught up with me. First, I forget my sunglasses in the office on a Friday, realize that on a Saturday, call the office guys to check if they are still on my desk and guess what?? Obviously they are not there.. someone took them.

Then on May 1st, I lost my N73 Music Edition. I was speaking on the phone with a friend when I saw an autorickshaw, with seating available in front. I got in the rick and hung up the phone and kept it in the pant pocket. I thought I had kept it properly, but guess what.. when I got down from the rick, I felt like I was missing something, and then realized the phone is gone. Either it fell down in the rick or on the road somewhere. I turned around to look for the rick, the rick was gone. I figured may be it has not fallen in the rick and decided to walk back the entire distance traveled checking on the road, in case I found the phone lying there. But it turned out, I could not find it. I reached my gym and immediately dialed my mobile number, and I got the message, "This number is currently unavailable." So I assumed that some bugger has found the phone and removed the SIM. All this happened in the 20 mins, since I realized the phone was gone and I dialed the number.

And today someone stole my Adidas shoes from the Gym. I, along with other regular members, keep my shoes in a dedicated shoe rack. One of the fellow members also lost his shoes last week. I was in two minds on Friday, if I should leave the shoes in the shoe rack or take them with me. So when I went to the gym in the morning.. I got this nasty surprise, that my shoes have been stolen. I just wonder why would someone steal someone's shoes. May be the robber has shoe festish or something, but still why would you steal someone else's shoes. Now that I think of Friday, taking the shoes with me would have been the best option.

I believe in all I have lost stuff worth Rs. 18000 ($450 USD) in the last month or so. This has never happened to me and I have been staying alone since I was 18. According to mom, I should take more precaution in the next couple of months. May be Satan has finally caught up with me. All I can say is that Mera Bad Luck Kharab chal raha hai.

Bomb blasts in Jaipur

2008-05-14T08:45:00.003+05:30

Another terrorist attack in India. This time the city targeted was Jaipur, the Pink City, in Rajasthan. The city, I believe has no past history of communal violence. It is very sad that 80 people died and countless other lives affected for absolutely no reason. Every year there is atleast one terrorist attack in India. I find it very surprising that inspite of such increased terrorist activity, the government is not able to do anything. This is a major problem and it requires a very different way of solving. I dont think the Intelligence Bureau or Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in India are any good or do they have sufficient funding to fight something like this. I am also sure if confronted, they will come and show us statistics that we have prevented so and so attacks and will also tell us, we cant stop all attacks (which I agree too). What I am more worried about is the frequency of such attacks. 9/11/2001 was a major terrorist attack. It will be 7 years since that day this September and America has gone ahead and turned half the world against them, but still we don't see terrorist attacks reported in that country. Some of the steps they have taken are pretty drastic, but I guess drastic problems require drastic solutions. I would just like to end this post by offering my condolences to the people and their families who lost their near and dear ones yesterday. May Peace be upon us, really soon.

The Dark Knight

2008-05-13T09:14:00.002+05:30

I am eagerly awaiting for this batman sequel to release. It should be awesome. Christian Bale does justice to do the role of Bruce Wayne/ Batman. I especially like this voice.. kind of gruff and heavy. Also from the promos, the Joker is really awesome. Heath Ledger's last movie and he looks terrifying and the scariest joker ever. Enjoy the trailer below.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystall Skull

2008-05-12T16:01:00.001+05:30

I am eagerly waiting for this movie.. releases May 22nd world wide. I have been a huge fan of Indiana Jones, seen all three movies atleast 3-4 times. Enjoy the trailer until the movie comes out.

Life in a Metro

2008-05-12T08:57:00.004+05:30

So last evening, I decided to watch the movie, Life in a Metro. I kind of enjoyed the movie, but at the same time I could not relate to the life that the movie shows. The movie shows that almost everyone sleeps with someone else to get to somewhere else. The boss sleeps with his secretary so as to get some peace in his life. The secretary sleeps with the boss to get some additional perks. The bosses wife starts to like someone else but cant go ahead with it because she has a family and according to her lost it for one minute, while the guy really falls for her. Another guy lends his apartment to his bosses so that they can fuck at his place, instead of a hotel and at the same time this guy moves the corporate ladder pretty quickly. A girl gets duped by the guy so that he can hide from the world and family that he is gay and so forth and so on.

While watching the movie, I was like in which world does such things exist, since I didnt know any of my friends, colleagues etc indulge in such kind of behavior. I know some of the people who have sucked up to the boss like anything to get promoted. I have also heard rumors about married people have an extra-martial affair, but that is the extent of knowledge that I know or have. I would be very surprised if I found people who would actually go to such lengths as depicted in the movie. But then again such is life.. you never know who you can end up meeting.

Life at a Juncture

2008-05-07T09:08:00.004+05:30

Everyone, sometime or the other, comes across a phase in life which could be called as the most defining moment of their life. I believe I am currently going through that phase. I have been working on a project since almost three years and now it is going to end at the end of this month. To be honest, I dont know what I am going to do next. So far in my life I have only been unemployed once, I started working part-time while in the University. The very thought of becoming unemployed in the next few days is terrifying me to no end. It has been stressful to say the least. My way of reacting things has changed, situations where I would usually be calm, I now get panicked or snap too soon. The options currently in front of me are few. I could either chose to seek employment here in India or go on a 6 month sabbatical and study for my MBA exams.

To be honest, I don't think staying unemployed is going to be a very good idea since I do have to support my family, plus need to save enough to go to the grad school. At the same time, if I chose employment here, there is no way any of the companies will match my existing (soon to expire) offer. At the most, I could get is companies matching around 70% of current offer. The reason I don't want to have a reduction in salary is because I have to manage some of investments I have and also to keep repaying the student loans etc. But the way it is right now, I don't see any other option but to take a cut in salary and keep working.

The other option that I am working towards is giving my GMAT and apply to MBA schools. The only problem I have here is that I don't believe I have saved enough to cover my tuition and living costs to wherever I apply. Also this would mean I cant work any more and thus have no way to support my family. This makes me realize that I should have planned for long term. If I had decided two-three years ago that when this project ends, I want to go for a MBA, I could have saved enough to attend any school I wanted. All this makes me feel like I am a big loser.

Sometimes I dont really like such instability in my life. I have worked very hard to get to where I am but at the same time I feel I am not good enough, especially when things like this come into the picture of life. At this point in life, I am just not sure where I should be heading next.

Given up on meat

2008-04-27T23:41:00.003+05:30

I have turned vegetarian (eat eggs though) again. I don't know for how long I am going to remain one, but hopefully for a long long time. The reason for this change is.. yesterday when I was returning home, I passed through a butcher's shop and saw 2 goats tied outside. They were very quiet, not bleating or anything, perhaps sensing their end was near. The very thought of those two goats being killed just to satisfy my stomach was the turning point for me. So I am hoping to not eat any more animals. After all, even they have one life and I want them to live it to their fullest.

Now pay more to book your tickets

2008-04-08T17:46:00.001+05:30

I just read that airlines are now levying charges to book the tickets via internet. This is being followed by low cost airlines like SpiceJet and Indigo. According to the news report, some of these low cost airlines are already charging for booking tickets via phone and now this. Already with increasing fuel prices, air travel is getting more and more expensive and these guys are making travel even more expensive by adding all these weird surcharges. I feel, people should just stop traveling for a day on such flights, may be then they will realize that the consumer cannot and should not be taken for such rides.

Enter if you believe in reincarnation

2008-03-29T09:03:00.003+05:30

I found this on the web.. Needless to say, I was ROFL after I saw this.

Up and running

2008-03-27T08:58:00.002+05:30

So after suffering for 5 days from acute viral conjunctivitis, I am, finally, up and running. I have still been advised to keep taking drops but instead of 4 times a day, just 2 times a day. Hopefully, I wont have any eye problems going in the future.

Interesting news

2008-03-18T09:25:00.003+05:30

Just saw this in the The Times of India. I don't know what to comment on this one.

Trip to Nathdwara

2008-03-14T21:05:00.003+05:30

So I am back from my trip to Nathdwara. This time we decided to take a different way altogether to get there. Usually we take a train to Falna and then get take an hour and a half cab ride to get to Nathdwara. This time, since we could not reserve the tickets on time, we decided to bus-it all the way to Nathdwara. To be honest, the bus journey was not all that bad. The route from Surat to Vadodara (Baroda) on NH-8 is where we experienced the worst roads on the entire journey. I should definitely say that an awesome job has been done along NH-8, the roads are in prime condition and it feels wonderful to sit in the bus and enjoy the (almost) bump free ride.

The thing about Nathdwara is no matter what time of the year you visit, you will always find people. No such thing as an off season here. This time I have been very fortunate to witness such beautiful darshans. Since the festival of colors, Holi, is around the corner, the mood was pretty colorful with plenty of colors thrown in the air, lots of singing and dancing. They have also increased the praying time for certain darshans from 20 mins to 45 mins, which sort of helps. But then if you are late, be prepared to miss the aarti, which is the best part of the darshan.

A few more irritating things have popped up lately. Mobiles are no longer allowed in the temple complex. I have no issues with that, but just the whole thing of handing your expensive phones over to the security guy outside who barely makes enough is a pretty discomforting thought to me. I am not saying that they are cheats, but just that I preferred to leave mine in the hotel room, rather than hand it over to the security guide. Another irritating thing that I have found is this whole thing about the VIP darshans. This is basically paying some amount and get to view the darshans, before rest of the common junta joins in. I dont think God told these temple authorities, I am willing to give a more better darshan if you charge 100 bucks from this guy. Just more way of making money for the temple people. Another thing I observed that while doing the service (seva), doodh seva (milk service), phool and shaak sevaf (ruits and vegetable service), the people who collected these things from us started asking for more money. I personally got very much annoyed with all these constant demands of money everyone around.

The food as usual was great, nothing beats Kathiawadi food other than mother's cooking. We also shopped a lot, dresses, food, salts, herbal products, photo frames, etc. It was all very tiring. But overall the trip was excellent. Mom enjoyed a lot, she had been saving quite a bit for this trip and it felt good that she enjoyed it thoroughly.

Now my next trip is going to be somewhere in North East or Vaishnodevi. It is about time I explore India fully before heading out anywhere.

We won We won

2008-03-04T17:36:00.000+05:30

Yes, we beat the best team in the world cricket, twice in a row now and in their own den. After getting abused by the Aussie players, their media and their public, to defeat them in their own tournament, it does not get any better than this. Go Team India.

Black hooded Oriole

2008-02-18T15:53:00.003+05:30

Posting this after quite a long time. I am trying this posting by email thingy. It may or may not work. The reason for it being I don’t have internet at home and I can’t access blogger etc from office. So this is probably one of the only few ways, I can blog. Well the bird below is, Black hooded Oriole, (thanks Kits). I took this picture last week when I saw this colorful bird outside my balcony and I was like hang on a minute, I have not seen a bird like this before. I wish I had a better camera with a more powerful zoom, than I could have taken a more close-up shot.

Lately..

2008-02-11T09:44:00.000+05:30

I have been very much depressed with the way things are turning up around me. It is more or less got to do with the current work environment that is around me. A lot of people are feeling that they have not been treated properly by their employers and thus do not seem to have that motivation to work. This is sort of created a very negative atmosphere in the team, which makes my life more difficult than before. Secondly, what has been bothering me is an office romance between two of my colleagues. I am a firm believer of the saying "one should not dip his pen in the company ink". I just feel that if you are going to have an affair with a colleague, you might as well keep it under wraps. But here I have people busy chatting on their office IM's or dialing each others extension numbers and chatting during office hours. This is what I hate about an office romance. It just becomes a distraction for everyone else.

I hope that the involved couple realizes this and takes this affair outside the office. Other than that, I have been suffering from a minor chest infection because of the cold. Been taking medication for that and feeling better than last week. Other than this.. I think I dont have anything much to share.

January

2008-01-26T00:18:00.000+05:30

This month has been very interesting for me so far. The first two weeks were sort of entirely spent in the office. Starting January 2nd, until Jan 10th, I can probably say that I spent around 75% of my time in the office. It is good that we dont have such deadlines very often.. just once a quarter, better than many jobs though. The difference between working during deadlines in the US and here, is that people over here tend to get kind of bitchy and pissed off because they want to go back to their families. While working in the US, I did work with people who stayed with their families.. but they never got bitchy. These guys would be in the office until 4am in the morning and still show up at 10-11am the same day. Overall, I am pretty satisfied with the level of effort with the way the team functioned during the deadline. No major hiccups, no issues, everything went pretty much smoothly. The best thing usually happens after the deadline, when we get to party and get a couple of days off. We had the same deal this time also and it was well utilized.

The weekend after the deadline was pretty much relaxing. I got a chance to catch up with a few friends. Last weekend my grandfather, from my mom's side, passed away. He was quite old and was suffering from throat cancer since last 6 months. It was quite tragic when it happened. But in hindsight, we kinda knew it was for the best. He had suffered quite a bit during those 6 months. He went from someone who could walk, speak, eat on his own, to someone who was bedridden, had to be tube fed and could not even write. In the end he passed away peacefully, looking at my grandmom. It was so hard to believe he was gone. It really hit me when I was at the funeral, that I would no longer be seeing him. He would no longer be coming to our house and sit in his favorite chair and read the newspaper. I just hope he is happy where he is now and watching me, guiding me and helping me make the right decisions.

The month is almost over.. it has been an eventful year so far.. lets see how the rest of year goes.

New Year Hoopla

2008-01-01T09:58:00.000+05:30

I really fail to understand all this hoopla about the New Year. I mean what is so special about this day. It is not like, the beginning of New Year washes all your sins, frustrations, etc away. It is not like on the 1st Jan every year, the slate is clean and we have to begin fresh. I mean if that was the case, then I would understand all the revelry associated with the New Year. But thats not the case. It is not like, I woke up today morning with super powers in me and now I am a Superman. I still have the same life, same job, same tensions. Nothing is new. According to some people it is just one night to enjoy, well if thats the case, then I enjoy almost every other Friday/ Saturday. So I simply fail to understand what is the hoopla about New Year's about. It is very surprising to see almost 6 billion people on the planet be so happy about being served with old wine in a new bottle.

Anyways for those who believe in New Year's.. Happy New Year to all of you. And for those who dont, Happy Tuesday :).

2007-12-30T20:48:00.000+05:30

So it turns out I am not able to motivate some of my team members to work for me. This sort of didn't really come as a surprise to me. I know I am not a great motivational speaker or generally don't know how to motivate someone. For me motivation has always been more of an internal thing. Every time I mess up something, it motivates me to not repeat the same thing again. I usually get motivated by watching other people. So it becomes very hard for me to motivate anyone. The reason I am writing all this down is because I got told this on Friday by one of my team members. Now usually, they all share a love-hate relationship with me, because sometimes I know I dont act right. After all a team lead/ manager has to keep his cool and have patience all the time. Unfortunately, I dont have that. I tend to say stuff, which I should not say or act in a manner in which I should not act. I let my instincts/ emotions take over me, which I know is not good for business. Thus, according to my team members, I am acting my age and have risen up too fast. Sometimes I wish I didn't have this position. I was more happy working by myself, coming to office, putting in my 9-10 hours and heading home. I have learned a lot at this level, but at the same time I need to learn a few things at a mental level. May be, time is the greatest teacher, and I will learn all these things as I move up and grow.

The other thing that got pointed out to me is that I have answers for everything. I find it hard to just take the blame. I have a reason which is why I acted in a certain manner. I am not saying that the reason is correct, but atleast I should be heard be out. I also get, I should stop trying to change everyone into me. This is last thing on the planet I want. I definitely want people to take the good things I have, but that does not mean I am asking them to change. Some people tell me for them family comes first and work comes next. I believe it is the same for most of us. But what is funny is team members want me to see their sacrifices, while none see mine. For them their family is family and my family is not. There are so many times when I have to change my plans to accommodate their reasons, but then that is expected I guess. But asking them to change their plans is a big NO-NO. Then I have to deal with sobbing team members (girls) or supremely pissed off people, which again is a problem in itself.

At times, I really wonder, if I am good enough for this job. Sometimes, I just feel like quitting and finding something better, or going back to Grad school and then find something else for myself. But then I realize, I am not the kind who gives up, so I am going to keep working on it, until it works out and gets better. I dont know why I have written this.. probably just a lot of pent up frustration which needed to come out. Hopefully things will get better in the coming new year. :). Lets see.

Clinic, Work, Wedding, Traffic etc

2007-12-25T20:36:00.000+05:30

The last few days have been very hectic for me. I was supposed to fly to Mumbai on Friday, but a colleague of mine suffered from severe headache issues and had to be taken to the hospital. I was having lunch, when another colleague of mine called me and said 'S' has fallen on the floor and we dont know what is wrong. So I left everything and then went to check on her and decided to get her checked in a clinic. After we got to the clinic, the doctor said the headaches could be a possible result of migraine and that he advised us to get a CT scan done. He gave her a shot and told us we can take her home, but we should get the CT scan done soon. By the time, I dropped her home and returned back to the office, it was already 5:30pm and I had tons of work pending, so I decided it would be best for me to head to Mumbai on Saturday. Got my flights rescheduled and kept working until midnight on Friday.

The next morning woke up at 7:00am and got ready to head to the airport. The taxi drivers in Kolkata are real thieves. First of all, they dont charge by the meter and even when they do charge by the meter, they will always ask for Rs.10-20 more. They always assume that 10-20 bucks dont mean much to us. As a result, I have refrained from taking taxis to airport, usually prefer traveling by the public bus. Anyways I reached airport on-time and found a super long line, holiday travelers. I didn't know holiday travel was this huge in India. The flight was pretty uneventful and I reached home on time. In the evening went out with R and B to get the wedding gift for my friends S and N, who were tying knot the next day.

Sunday, the day of all rest days, I was up by 5am and ready by 6:30am to leave for S and N's wedding. Since me and R were the grooms men, we were required to get there early and help with the things. The wedding was a very simple, gracious and an elegant affair. I felt very honored standing next to the groom through out the wedding. Then we went to S's house, after wedding and had a good time with his family. As I sit here and reflect the time spent in the wedding, I couldn't help but realise that one by one all my friends are getting married and my number is going to come soon. Anyways, I finally returned home around 6:00pm. Was exhausted like anything. but then decided to head out and meet another friend.

The traffic in Mumbai has become really terrible. Almost every single main street or road is choc-a-block with cars, buses, taxis and rickshaws. I wonder, if we will ever get traffic free roads. The sad thing is the width of the roads keeps increasing, but the number of vehicles on the roads also keep increasing. In these days, anyone can go ahead and buy a car. I believe some sort of premium has to be associated with buying cars, so that streets are not crowded like this. May be a heavy road tax should do the trick. Also I feel all rickshaws should be cleared from the streets. I know a lot of people will lose their livelihood, but we can't have any more people destroying our city. At the same time public transportation should be improved, more luxury and handicap friendly buses should be introduced. Trains should be made more passenger friendly. We can probably have trains leaving from their origins at every 2-3 mins rather than every 5 mins. Have different train routes, may be some stopping at alternate stations. I feel these are some of the things can be made to improve the traffic situation in the city.

Oh well, a super long post.. I just kept ranting on and on. There are many things that I want to keep to ranting about.. will do more laterz. Until then take it easy..

The week so far...

2007-12-20T08:49:00.000+05:30

I have never had a week in my work life which has been as stressful as this one. The past few days have been really bad for me and my team. Just, last week we were awarded the Super Team of the Year and this week, it seems like the Super Team is without it's power. We are just a team. I understand that work also has its highs and lows, but believe me being on lower end is no good. Anyways, I guess I should take it as a learning curve and not worry too much about it. The good part is we are getting better day by day and getting our powers back :). This weekend I am flying to Mumbai to attend a wedding, my best friend is getting married to this wonderful girl and I wish them A Very Happy Future.

Beautiful words

2007-12-17T11:40:00.000+05:30

Har Ghadi Badal Raha Hai Roop Zindagi
Chaav Hai Kahhi Hai Dhoop Zidnagi
Har Pal Yahan
Jee Bhar Jiyo Jo Hai Sama
Kal Ho Na Ho
Har Ghadi Badal Raha Hai Roop Zindagi
Chaav Hai Kahhi Hai Dhoop Zidnagi
Har Pal Yahan
Jee Bhar Jiyo Jo Hai Sama
Kal Ho Na Ho

Chaahe Jo Tumhe Poore Dil Se
Milta Hai Woh Mushkil Se
Aisa Jo Koi Kahin Hai
Bas Vahi Sabse Hasin Hai
Us Haath Ko Tum Thaam Lo
Woh Meherbaan Kal Ho Na Ho
Har Pal Yahan
Jee Bhar Jiyo Jo Hai Sama
Kal Ho Na Ho

Palko Ke Leke Saaye
Paas Koi Jo Aaye
Lakh Sambhalo Paagal Dil Ko
Dil Dhadke Hi Jaaye
Par Sochlo Is Pal Hai Jo
Woh Dastan Kal Ho Na Ho
Har Pal Yahan
Jee Bhar Jiyo Jo Hai Sama
Kal Ho Na Ho
Har Pal Yahan
Jee Bhar Jiyo Jo Hai Sama
Kal Ho Na Ho

Cant get no sleep

2007-11-06T06:03:00.000+05:30

Slept at 2:30am, woke up at 5:30am.. dont know what I am thinking about or worried about, but I cant get no sleep. This usually happens to me when I am under stress and usually I know what is bothering me. This time I have no clue. Maybe it is just one of things, but all it means is today is going to be a long long day. Well atleast I get to see the sunrise :).

Blogging has taken a back seat

2007-10-31T09:32:00.000+05:30

Due to immense work pressure and the need to relax, blogging has taken a back seat. There have been many times when I felt like I wanted to write.. but then something else would take over my mind and I will get engrossed doing that. The last few days have been a huge learning curve for myself. I realised that people change after you give them power. I also realised that some people are never happy no matter how much you do for them. I feel lost in this world of politics and backbiting. As of now, I just want to break free and fly away.

Dream

2007-09-22T10:44:00.000+05:30

I had a very strange dream today.. I was dreamt I was going to Paris..to see my lady love. The immigration person asked me purpose of visiting France and I said love. That reply brought a big smile on his face and he was super happy, stamped my passport with no questions. It was a very interesting dream and then I woke up all happy and smiling. I wish things were really so easy.

Interesting observation

2007-09-08T22:40:00.000+05:30

The other day I decided to put on my India t-shirt and headed out to the gym. It takes me about 25 mins to walk from home to the gym and throughout the way people were giving very strange and weird looks. At first I thought there must be something wrong with me, may be there is something on my face or something is wrong with my hair or may be the shorts are too low. After thinking for a while, I realised nothing was wrong with me, it was just that I was wearing an India t-shirt. I was kind of stunned to see people giving me such weird looks. I am sure those same people would have been totally fine, if I was wearing a Yankees t-shirt or may be an England t-shirt. Strange people we have in our country.

Blogging taking a back seat

2007-08-14T09:41:00.000+05:30

The last couple of months have been the busiest of my life. I feel I have been stretched too thin and I don't know what to do. This has come as a very pleasant shock to me. I thought after getting more people on board, I will be able to relax, but as it turns out, I have been working more than before. My mornings start at around 11am and I don't come home until 2am, the next day. According to a couple of people whom I know, I am going to spoil my health by working like this. I kind of agree with them, but then I don't really know what else to do. The people whom I have delegated the work are unable to achieve the required results and thus I end up doing their work also. I believe this schedule is going to last until the end of this month and only after it, I may be getting a breather.

Work aside, I celebrated my 25th birthday last Saturday. It was one of the best days of my life. I got home at around 1:30am and found my family awake. They had kept a cake with a candle at the center of the table. We had the cake cutting ceremony and then in the afternoon, I went shopping, got myself some needed clothes. According to someone close to me, I need to change my entire wardrobe, so I indulged in a bit of extra shopping. In the evening, Dad got me an iPod (80GB Video) and mom made some wonderful dinner which included my favorite sabzi and dessert. Overall it was a wonderful birthday and I really enjoyed spending time with my loved ones. I just wish I can spend some more time with my family.. but then I am going to write about it some other time.

Maximum City, Maximum Rains, Maximum Fun

2007-06-30T22:22:00.000+05:30

It all started this morning at around 3-4am. I got up at around at 7 am and saw the sky was grey as ever and it was steadily pouring. At around 8:15am, my brother called saying that the trains are not working and he is coming home. He had left for college early in the morning only to go two thirds of the distance and then return home wet. My colleague was supposed to fly down to Mumbai today morning and she had to cancel her flight. She was on the call with me all through out. I told her that the trains are not working but so far nothing else seems to be effected. Slowly the reports started to come by and certain low lying areas were flooded. My bro was back home and he said lets go to the nearby mall and catch the 10am show. I was like sure. We left our houses only to be surrounded by knee deep water in our area. We decided to watch Awarapan (the movie sucked). After the interval the electricity went off and so after waiting a while, we got our refunded for the movie. In a wa, I feel lucky.. i got to watch half the movie and got paid full money back. While returning we decided to walk through the effected areas to get the first hand view of how bad the things were. What we saw, was something which was very different. Today being saturday, most people had decided to stay home and once the street were flooded almost every one was down enjoying the rains. I guess this only happens in Bombay. Streets had turned into open rivers. There were kids, men, women, husbands, wives, grandmom, grandpa's all out in the rain enjoying the water filled streets. Some people used to the street to play cricket. It was a festive atmosphere all throught out. The chaiwalas (tea vendors), bhajiawalas did brisk business today. We could see people standing outside at the local eatery grabbing a bite of the hot samosas and bhajias. Inspite of all the fun and frolic, I do feel sad for the people whose houses were filled up with water and also for poor who had basically nothing but a plastic roof on their heads. I saw one man just holding his head and sitting in his little hut with water all around. It is true when a calamity happens, the people who get affected the most are going to be poor.

I took some pictures while we were out in the rain. I forgot to change the resolution and thus the images may appear grainy.

Maximum city

2007-06-28T16:31:00.000+05:30

I am currently in the Maximum City a.k.a Bombay for the weekend and it rains here all day. The temperature is kind of pleasant, not too hot or too old. Just about right. Right now I feel like sitting at the window and enjoying my coffee. Oh well, I am enjoying the rains here. Happy weekend everyone :)

Rain is gone

2007-06-27T09:49:00.000+05:30

Well it is no longer raining here.. i wish it rains like it rains in Mumbai. Here it rains for 10 mins and then stops. I don't understand what the funda is. Locals say that it will start pouring cats and dogs once we get into July. So now I am waiting for that. In the meanwhile, the fan in my room does not work, so everyday I lift the mattress, move it to the living room and sleep there. The fan guy was supposed to get here yesterday, but I am not sure if he had come or no, because i was away in the office recruiting people. Life in the office has become very hectic. I dont know how many things I can manage at the same time. I have new people who are undergoing training, I am getting more people on the board, plus there is regular work and then there is added work in terms of reports and etc. Thus, I have had no time for practically anything else. To be honest, I am enjoying this kind of pressure. Tonight I am hoping I will get the much needed break. I am looking fwd to fly to Mumbai tonight and take a break for 2 days, before I get back on Monday and then prepare for more work. This is not confirmed yet, since it all depends on how things work out today. If everything goes well, I will be on my way back home else I will be staying for another couple of days and then heading back on Friday. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Rain is here

2007-06-13T07:28:00.000+05:30

The rain gods have finally made it to Kolkata. The season's first official heavy rainfall has begun and there looks no sign of it ending anytime soon. The clouds look grey and dark and it is pouring like anything. The arrival of rains has also brought a fresh set of problem for me. Apparently none of the lights and fans in the bedroom, kitchen and bathroom work, while everything in the living room works perfectly ok. I am writing this post from the bedroom where I still have power to my laptop, but no power for anything else. I will have to call an electrician soon to fix this problem or atleast know what exactly is going on. Also this reminds me that I have to buy an umbrella else life is going to get very wet.

Evening sky

2007-05-09T15:13:00.000+05:30

One evening..

Weekend

2007-04-24T21:19:00.000+05:30

This weekend was one of the bestest weekends I have had in a long time. I reached home Saturday morning at 1:30am, thanks to late arrival at the Mumbai airport. Sometimes I wonder why do I keep flying the 8:30PM flight every 2 weeks?

Saturday was awesome, spent time with my bro, played cricket, got my ass whoooped by him. Then a few friends stopped by in the afternoon and evening. I actually wanted to go out shopping with mom.. but I am broke and thus had to change plans.

Sunday, early morning me and bro, along with other friends, went for a day picnic/trip to Kelwa Beach Resort. We decided to take the bike since bro had to come home for a night cricket game. Along with us, a good friend of mine and his gf also came on the bike. The rest of the guys came by the train. The resort was abt 120-140kms away, so it was a long ride. We reached the resort at around 8:45am in the morning. The resort was very calm and serene. Once we got there, we changed, had breakfast etc and then decided to head to the beach. The beach was very clean. Nothing like Juhu beach or Chowpatty beach with litter thrown around. We entered the water right away, were playing games like water football and frisbee. Some people even started singing later on. After enjoying the salty water of the sea, we decided to the check out the swimming pool in the resort. It was occupied by a beer drinking yuppie group. At first, we decided to wait for them to check out, but then we decided that it isn't their pool and we should also go in and enjoy. The yuppie group left soon after we entered.

After that we decided to go have lunch and we ran the same yuppie group once again. This time we overheard one female saying how she spend $500 on McLaren and Ferrari souveniers. I think she was kinda showing off that she was a F-1 fan etc.. who knows. But I kinda hate people like that, the ones who think having money makes them special. Anyways, after lunch, some of us dozed off, while some of us got to playing table tennis. It was fun to stay undefeated 7 games in a row. After that we just decided to relax for sometime and then ride home.

The ride back home was equally exhilarating. My bro does not like riding in the dark on the highways and decided he was going to cover as much distance as possible before it got dark. Right from the time we hit the roads, he was flying. I think the top speed he touched was 105-110Kmph/around 70 mph. It was truly an awesome experience, seeing my bro go zig-zag at such high speeds. By the time we got home, I was dead tired.. while bro was super excited to go for his game (which he lost). After having dinner, I packed my bag for the flight back to Kolkata next morning and then just crashed on the bed. All in all it was an awesome weekend.

So much anger in the world...

2007-04-19T18:10:00.000+05:30

As I go sifting through the newspaper, all I see is violence, bloodshed, crying parents, distraught wives and orphaned children. Everyday there is some killing or another. Somewhere there is a genocide being committed, somewhere there is a war being fought, somewhere there is a civil war going on, somewhere there is a jihad going on, and somewhere we have a psycho going nuts.. The end result is the same, innocent blood is being spilled everywhere. As I sit here and write this, I wonder why is there so much anger in our world? I wonder will we ever have peace? According to the historians, this is most peaceful the world has ever been, how is this ever possible I dont understand? May be the time before now was bloody as hell..perhaps life was cheap then and life is cheap now.

Couldn't help but post this

2007-04-16T15:51:00.000+05:30

I know many of you must have received this as a forward in their emails or must have read it somewhere. I read this on Reddit and couldn't help but post it here. :)

Why I gave up beans
One day I met a sweet gentleman and fell in love.

When it became apparent that we would marry, I made the supreme sacrifice and gave up beans.

Some months later, on my birthday, my car broke down on the way home from work.

Since I lived in the countryside I called my husband and told him that I would be late because I had to walk home.

On my way, I passed by a small diner and the odor of baked beans was more than I could stand.

With miles to walk, I figured that I would walk off any ill effects by the time I reached home, so I stopped at the diner and before I knew it, I had consumed three large orders of baked beans.

All the way home, I made sure that I released all the gas.

Upon my arrival, my husband seemed excited to see me and exclaimed delightedly: "Darling I have a surprise for dinner tonight."

He then blindfolded me and led me to my chair at the dinner table.

I took a seat and just as he was about to remove my blindfold, the telephone rang.

He made me promise not to touch the blindfold until he returned and went to answer the call.

The baked beans I had consumed were still affecting me and the pressure was becoming most unbearable, so while my husband was out of the room I seized the opportunity, shifted my weight to one leg and let one go.

It was not only loud, but it smelled like a fertilizer truck running over a skunk in front of a pulpwood mill.

I took my napkin from my lap and fanned the air around me vigorously.

Then, shifting to the other cheek, I ripped off three more. The stink was worse than cooked cabbage.

Keeping my ears carefully tuned to the conversation in the other room, I went on like this for another few minutes.

The pleasure was indescribable.
When eventually the telephone farewells signaled the end of my freedom, I quickly fanned the air a few more times with my napkin, placed it on my lap and folded my hands back on it feeling very relieved and pleased with myself.

My face must have been the picture of innocence when my husband returned, apologizing for taking so long.

He asked me if I had peeked through the blindfold, and I assured him I had not.

At this point, he removed the blindfold, and twelve dinner guests seated around the table chorused: "Happy Birthday!"

I fainted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Funny

2007-04-13T14:39:00.000+05:30

I am sure most of you have heard of the song "Aap jaisa koi" from movie Qurbani. A colleague of mine used to sing.. "Aap jaise koi meri zindagi mein aaye toh BAAP ban jaye" (If someone like you enters my life, you will become a father). The other day she was singing this and we all burst out laughing and I couldn't resist posting this on the blog. Have a good weekend everyone :).

Too much on my plate

2007-03-30T07:22:00.000+05:30

Too many reports to make. Not sleeping enough. Feeling very tired. Need a vacation.

Three things I miss about the US

2007-03-27T18:22:00.000+05:30

Its been 9 months since I left United States and I should say that while I am happy here, some part of me still wants to be there. Here are three things that I miss the most about the US..

1. New York City: I have been here quite a few times and to be honest every single trip has been awesome. I have enjoyed a lot whenever I have been to New York, be it just for enjoyment with friends or serious job interviews. I like the pace of the city, the wealth, the power, the night lights.. everything associated with NY.

2. Starbucks coffee: I am not a huge fan of coffee, but I really liked the atmosphere at Starbucks. I would usually just go there after work in the evening with a novel or my laptop, order a frappuccino and sit there for hours without being bothered. The other reason I like this place is I interviewed for my current job here.. hehe

3. Chiptole: The most satisfying burrito for $5.95. I was introduced to it by my roomies and since then it has been one of my favorite places to grab a bite. The food is not only good but extremely filling also. The good part for me was a buddy of mine was a manager at one of the Chipotle outlets and he would get me free burrito coupons and when he moved he would even send me those coupons via mail. I wish they had a Chipotle here.. man would it make some awesome business.