Wonder Years

iDoodle

2011-06-07T15:48:00.000-07:00

Hungry Objects

2010-10-04T09:07:00.001-07:00

Digital Appetite

2010-09-23T13:13:00.000-07:00

To quench some of my never-ceasing creative thirst, I have decided to do some art work in my free time. The advantage of being an artist is: the ability to work outside the shackles of the world, the feel of freedom, and the sense of achievement. Art is something that you do for your-self, your soul, and your sub-conscious.

Digital Appetite - is the reflection of our ever-growing dependence on technology.

Technology has become so ubiquitous that even an ephemeral separation is an unachievable dream. As a matter of fact, we have become fond of it; it brings us joys and smiles. The more of it we devour, the hungrier we get. With every passing day our appetite for it increases a bit.

Who does not want to get immersed into its succulent, delicious, and mouthwatering treat.

iPhone is used as a metaphor for technology.

Please contact me if you are interested in buying or showcasing this art-work.

Eat Fresh - Stay Healthy

2010-09-22T18:01:00.000-07:00

This is a new poster from me on bad eating habits.

Do You Want to Become a Leader?

2010-05-14T18:49:00.001-07:00

Over the course of my career, I have come across, seen and heard many management people. For some strange reason, some of them really inspired and motivated me. If you are working in User Experience (UX) domain, then leadership really becomes an important trait for you. Selling and champion UX in the organization is part of our day-to-day job for all UXers.

Therefore, I decided to pen down my thoughts and definition of leadership. Here is my definition of true leader with which you may agree or disagree.

Mahatma Gandhi once said, "A true leader is someone who creates new leaders." This holds true for today's corporate context also.

A true leader mentors and provides exciting opportunities to others.

A true leader is never afraid of losing his position because he is continuously growing and educating himself with others.

A true leader is devoid of any ego, proud, or superiority complex.

A true leader understands the power of one-to-one human bond and believes in life-long personal relationships that go beyond professions.

A true leader knows you as a person and not as an employee/worker.

A true leader treats everyone equally and fairly.

A true leader is both a great listener and speaker.

A true leader does not command respect because he earns it.

And lastly, a true leader brings smiles, joy and hope.

As true User Experience professionals it is important for all of us to instill these leadership values to grow ourselves and the organization.

(Photo Courtesy: http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumb_416/1246919002m7z0lD.jpg)

One Fine Rainbow

2010-05-13T18:55:00.000-07:00

Weather Gods have not been treating Minneapolis with respect since last  week. Today evening, the Gods blessed me with a beautiful rainbow in  Saint Paul, MN sky.

I could not wait to get my camera and click some pictures. Here is the  visual treat for all of you.

Photo Journalism from 200 feet

2010-05-13T18:45:00.000-07:00

One Monday (May 10, 2010) morning, while getting ready for office, I looked outside my window to find lot of journalists, in the campus of federal court, taking someone's interview. Yes, I literally live opposite to federal court in Saint Paul. If it was not Robert Street between us, I would be living in the court itself.

I was curious about the interview so I rushed back to my living room and picked my 20X Nikon P90 camera to investigate further. I zoomed in 20X and clicked couple of shots, which informed me that the protest was about Fong Lee case in Minneapolis. I Googled Fong Lee and found this article: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/05/12/fong-lee/

Now you can read this article with the pictures from my camera. A budding journalist....aha!

The Motorcyclist by Martin Eden

2010-05-07T18:57:00.000-07:00

The Motorcyclist

"When you have crossed the most rugged and daunting peaks in utter darkness, while the heavens pour out their fury upon you and you grapple for control, the feeble ray of light before you barely visible;

When you have traversed the endless tracks of blistering deserts, the sands a roaring furnace all around,and the sun a burning torch above;

When you have prevailed upon the tortuous traces left by those who came before you, seeking to tame a wild land and forge a better life;

When you have stood alone in the vast and terrible chasms hewn and rent from living rock by the immutable forces of nature, and felt yourself so small as to disappear;
When you have merged in perfect union with a stunning, cloudless sky fueled by the fragrant wind alone, to follow the sinuous course of a thundering river to the mighty cataracts that form its source;

When you have felt the sublime and awesome hand of God in your every move, and in your soul a communion with the ineffable;

When you have clasped in desperation the hand of a comrade who has fallen, his machine a twisted, steaming wreck, as the very life flows from his bosom and he becomes still in your arms, never again to draw breath;

When you have done all this, not once but again, and still again, and can yet gaze with wonder in the quiescence of deepest night upon the machine that was your accomplice, partner, and associate in all this;

When you have come to regard it in your inmost reflections as sinister and seductive, soulless and transcendent, ordinary and ennobled;

When you have done this, and yet thrill to the promise of the unrisen sun that will soon shine upon the hook and crook of a gnarled mountain trace, fully apprehending the machines propensity to deal death or exalt life -- then will you have become a motorcyclist."

Amen!!!

- Martin Eden

The new clean and healthy Avatar of a dirty club

2010-04-29T13:21:00.000-07:00

Avatar is about changing the image. Metamorphosing to good from bad. Reincarnate to something more meaningful and useful. This picture explains the concept. How design Change Perceptions.

The Earth Hour - My Second Speech at Toastmasters

2010-04-27T07:18:00.000-07:00

How many of you flipped the switch during earth hour last weekend?

Hmm nice response.

Earth Hour 2010 took place on Saturday 27 March 2010. Look, the thing about Earth Hour is – it’s fun. You have dinner or a drink in the candlelight, or get to a viewpoint where you can watch your city’s lights go out, then blink back on 60 minutes later, or give your kids an excuse to run around the house with a flashlight. If you’re more ambitious, you go to an event in your home town. And if you don’t like any of those options, I’m sure you can come up with some other fun stuff to do in the dark ;) I know, you guys are very creative.

Like a lot of you, I also switched off my lights both in 2009 and in 2010. However, the earth hour in 2009 was quiet different for me than 2010.

In 2009, We enjoyed the earth hour with a candle light dinner and strawberry margaritas at home. And in 2010, we enjoyed our dinner with original lemon margaritas :) You are probably thinking, Oh! so the speech is about the Earth Hour. No it is about strawberry margaritas vs. lemon margaritas. Sorry for the disappointment! It is not about the margaritas but about the evolution of my perception for the earth hour.

Last year in 2009. Like many, I also thought that turning off the lights for one hour will make no difference. But I still participated. You know why? For three reasons:

To look cool.
To have a story to share when someone asked me if I turned off my lights.
and the biggest and most motivating - To drink margaritas and party.

After the earth hour was over, I was so excited to share my story that I shared it with my friends and colleagues even when they didnt ask about it. I was happy answering the "How did i participate" of earth hour but when I could not answer the "Why did i participate" of it, I decided to give it a closer look.

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million homes and businesses turned their lights off for one hour to make their stand against climate change. Only a year later and Earth Hour had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries participating. In March 2009, hundreds of millions of people took part in the third Earth Hour. Over 4000 cities in 88 countries officially switched off to pledge their support for the planet, making Earth Hour 2009 the world’s largest global climate change initiative. Reports show that the United States topped the Earth Hour participation with an estimated 80,000,000 people, 318 cities and 8 states participating.

In one corner are those who believe that Earth Hour is an important communal statement: up to a billion people flicking their switches to signal their commitment to energy efficiency as a way to lower our collective environmental footprint.

In the other are those who can’t believe so many suckers fall for the idea that Earth Hour is important, because they feel

Light brings safety. There are safer ways to make a statement and raise awareness than to create a controlled time when thieves will be harder to spot.
The energy spent raising awareness about Earth Hour just might cancel out the energy saved that hour
One hour out of 168 in a week, 720 in a month, and 8760 in a year will not make a significant dent in your energy use. People consume energy in many forms and not just electricity. Earth hour does not provide any insights on those important aspects.

I agree with anti earth hour folk's sentiment when they say that earth hour does not "really" save energy. And even if it does, it is negligible. But I disagree with them when they say that it is an exercise in vain. it's OK if the campaign does not save energy but it definitely helps politicizing against "climate change" at the global level. It is the hour when every body across the globe come together and join hands against climate change.

Climate change is essentially a political problem, and the language of politics is symbolism. Switching off lights together is a symbol to draw attention towards climate change. "Unlike most of the issues that we grapple with, climate change is global. The pressure is on us to do the right thing." If shutting off the lights for an hour and doing yoga in the dark makes that political support, well, then let us do it.

The environmental movement is reaching a delicate moment. We're well past the point where going green is novel. We've become inured to the existence of global warming, to its inconvenient truth. But this is the moment when we need to keep pushing in every way we can. The technologies that will help us decarbonize energy are developing, but they need a push — and that will only happen if we keep climate change near the top of our political agenda. Earth Hour, Earth Day, Earth Year — Yes, I am waiting for 2011. But next year it will be margaritas with real strong emotions against climate change and not just for fun.

Unpredictable Life - My Ice Breaker Speech at Toastmasters

2010-04-27T07:12:00.000-07:00

Mr. Toastmaster, fellow toastmasters and welcome guests…

I think all of you will agree that life is unpredictable. You may plan life for every hour but cannot stop it to take its own course.

I never planned standing here and speaking in front of you but it just happened.

Abraham – A jewish theologian and philosopher – said “The course of life is unpredictable. No one can write his autobiography in advance.”

This is so true. They were those unpredictable moments that shaped us in what we are today. Today, I would like to share some of those unpredictable moments from my life. Hopefully, you will know me better from today onwards.

Year 2000. I am a junior student of my 4 years degree program. I somehow survived 3 years of chemical engineering. Like a junior, I am also worried about my future. I hate chemical engineering so much that I do not want to become a chemical engineer. What else do I do? I want to become a computer engineer but it is too late. Today, my friend Tim will go to meet his cousin in the evening in his new Mercedes. Yes, his parents are doctors. Man, life sucks! Irrespective, I will get a ride in the brand new car. Jack, Tim’s cousin is 2 years older to us and has just returned from Germany. We all go to a bar. Jack sponsors us because he is making good money and has a great job. Jack introduces me about the Industrial Design course that he completed last year in his graduate school. Design? Designers? Ummm….So are you a designer? Hmm…Designers are cool. Oh Yea, I want to be one of them. Jack explains everything to me and I also become a designer. I never had planned to meet Jack. But it happened and changed me so much.

Year 2001. I am in design Graduate school. Online chatting is in vogue. All my friends spend days and nights chatting in their dorms and never go to college. The concept of finding a girl online is interesting and fascinating. You do not have to look like Leonardo DiCaprio to seduce her or you don’t have to have guts like Arnold Schwarzenegger to ask for a date. Anyway, like others, I go online one day and search for chat sites on Google when I land up with Smashhits.com. After hours of persuasion and denials, I end up finally with a girl that has interests like me. We talk and talk and talk and talk, and Oh yea, I can feel my heart pumping hard. Online friendship, online flirting, Online breakup, Real world meetings, Real world proposal, Real world marriage. Yes, Jan 29^th 2010 I got married to the same girl who I met 9 years ago. Again, I never predicted to be on smashhits.com, never predicted to go in that chat room, and never predicted to have found her there. But it just happened.

Jan 2010. Kellogg Apartments; Saint Paul: After a tiring day at work and a fight with my boss, I sit on my study desk and open my laptop again. Yes again! I cannot live without it for more than 60 minutes. I start to tweet, read news, visit face book, etc. Oh there is a Netflix move also sitting on my desk which I just picked on my way upstairs. I open it to see the title “Office Space”. I play it and get glued to my desk. Oh my! How do they know my frustrations about timesheets, bosses, and everything else? They must be spying on me. What a movie? I am so happy that I have not even looked at the pile of clothes waiting to go to the laundry room. It is kinda stuffy to watch a movie in shoes and office clothes so I get off my chair. Finally, I saw the pile. Oh god! I have no choice but to pause the movie and go to the laundry room. I throw my clothes in the washer and am about to leave the laundry room with the beaten face. Before I reach the door, somebody else pushes the door with such a force that it helps this paper on the notice board to dangle and grab my attention. I read about toastmasters for the first time. Being a glutton, I always wanted to join a food club. Yes, I want to master the toast - the voice comes from the deepest corners of my heart. Alas! I read more and find something else about the club. Despite of it being a personality development club and not a food club, I like the idea and decide to join it that very moment.

Once again that unpredictable moment has changed me a bit more. Perhaps, to become a better person.

Life will keep on surprising us with many more unpredictable moments. It does not give us a choice to accept or reject them, so embrace them with your widest smile.

Mr Toastmaster!

Image reference: http://www.thingsihavelearnedinmylife.com/files/imagecache/preview/files/UNPREDICTABLE1.jpg

Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows - Navy Pier, Chicago

2010-04-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

Couple of weeks back I spent my Sunday afternoon at Navy Pier in Chicago with my wife and Shaurya. We had a great time watching beautiful Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows.

The Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows is a permanent display of 150 stained glass windows housed in an 800-ft.-long series of galleries along the lower level terraces of Festival Hall. Open since February 2000, it is the first museum in the United States dedicated solely to stained glass windows. It showcases both secular and religious windows and is divided by artistic theme into four categories: Victorian, Prairie, Modern and Contemporary. All of the windows were designed by prominent local, national and European studios and most were originally installed in Chicago area residential, commercial and religious buildings.

More details: http://www.navypier.com/things2do/rides_attract/smith_museum.html

Marriage on cards....

2010-01-12T21:02:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

The joy of sharing a good news to near and dears is immense. And, for the same reason, we could not wait to share this happy news with you.

Marriage: Trust is the start of it, Joy is part of it, Love is the heart of it.

Our ( Jalshri Soni and Praveen Verma ) lives are changing this year on Jan 29th when we will be tying the nuptial knot.

We are still in the process of finalizing the venue and other arrangements as everything happened at a very short notice for us.

We will keep you posted.

Regards,
-------------------------------------------------------
Jalshri Soni and Praveen Verma
+1 - 612-644-7354

The Solar Eclipsed Bar at Sawatdee

2009-11-07T05:47:00.000-08:00

Look at the wall in the pic behind the bar @Sawatdee (Thai restaurant in St Paul, MN). It gives an appearance of solar eclipse. Damn neat!

Maggianos at Chicago with my GF

2009-11-05T21:40:00.000-08:00

Andrew Zimmern at Mall of America

2009-10-18T19:45:00.001-07:00

God Bless Mustache

2009-09-26T13:06:00.000-07:00

Other than a tourist taking a bus ride for leisure and fun, it is a trivial activity. For me, as a designer, it offers an opportunity to witness lot of interesting encounters.

These days, I am playing tennis over the weekends with my friend Kunal who lives in Minneapolis. Every Saturday and Sunday, I take Bus 94 to 2^nd Avenue and 2^nd Street. The trip time is around 30 minutes.

I do not prefer to carry a book, an ipod, or PSP for entertainment for such a short trip and end up spending time looking outside the window or observing people habits – mostly weird. It is funny to see people with bizarre fashionable clothes, piercings, and behavior.

Last weekend, a gentleman in his late thirties, wearing beige suit and a hat hopped on the bus I was traveling. Besides clothes, the other noticeable thing about this man was his “Dali” mustache. (A narrow mustache with long points bent or curved steeply upward. Named after artist Salvador Dali. More: http://www.americanmustacheinstitute.org/MustacheStyles.aspx)

The gentleman takes the seat and starts grooming his mustache. No, I am not objecting mustache grooming. It is his personal property and he has all the right to groom it in public. As far as I know, grooming mustache is certainly not a crime according to either Minnesota or Federal laws. However, the real problem started when grooming turned to obsession.

By his mustache’s appearance, I could see that it was gelled for perfect styling. He starts with pulling his mustache away from the cheeks, extending the middle section (including ends) upwards and finishing with pointing the ends. That act of pulling the mustache in itself was so gruesome that I - including other passengers – felt repulsive. It was difficult to see the cruelty that he was bestowing on himself. Perhaps, he was enjoying the act of pulling, therefore, continued it for almost 10 minutes. During these painful moments, he pulled the mustache to the extent of ripping it apart. Because of the sheer force of pulling, his upper lips would protrude out of his face and make him look like a chimpanzee showing his upper teeth. I wouldn’t have cared if the pain remained with him but he was spreading it to all of us through our locked stares. We all prayed to God to take off his pain and bless him including us.

Finally, the grooming ended and all of us took a sigh of relief to realize that there was more to come.

Within a minute, his hands went inside his bags and found a CD. I thought that he would play music. My assumption was horribly wrong. He took the CD out of its cover and started using its reflective surface as a mirror. This time he wanted to ensure that the grooming was perfect by examining it with his own eyes – instead of his fellow passengers. By this time we already had become fans of his exotic mustache style.

Mirror is a strange and powerful object. It forces people to groom themselves even when not required. This gentleman, the modern Dali, also could not resist his instincts of giving final touches to the perfect master piece displayed on his face. The grooming session started again with the same intensity, however, for a change, this time it lasted only for 5 minutes.

The moment, he kept the CD back into the cover; we passengers knew that the session had ended. Within next minute he went into deep sleep of peace and accomplishment. Of course, the excruciating pain and the herculean effort in the pursuit of perfection took a toll on his body.

I felt tremendously lucky and blessed to witness this artistic feat. Long live mustache. God bless mustache.

Cirque de Soleil

2009-07-05T19:21:00.000-07:00

Life is a circus involving strenuous and demanding situations and to successfully live through it require agility and perfection of an acrobat. Determination, dedication and deliberation define the key to the success of an acrobat; as much as they define it for a simple human being.

Cirque du Soleil’s Kooza is not just another show but a lifetime experience – a charismatic blend of motion, color and sound that engulfs the mind in the exquisite world of the supernatural – where dreams come true.

I decided to buy the tickets for 5^th of July show – the last day of the long weekend week in US. Praveen Shukla had talked about it a lot to me during my trip to Texas. He wanted all of us to go through the experience of Cirque du Soleil. 150 USD that I apprehensively spent for the tickets turned out to be a judicious investment and I realized it within the first 5 minutes of the show.

My seat was positioned in the central first row. Faces of performers were clearly visible from that distance. Faces with perfected expressions and sweat of success bedazzled the stage for over two hours.

Be it either kids or adults, everybody was immersed into the show. Acrobats and jokers, all were integrated gracefully in the presentation. With their elastic bodies, the acrobats performed the actions that wowed everybody; and with their wit and humor, the jokers captivated the audience till the end. Not only the performers but also the addition and removal of equipment from the stage seemed part of the same story. Nothing was disconnected, but a seamless experience.

The background music and songs for the performances engaged aural senses and complimented the show. To my amazement, one of the songs was in Hindi for rope walking trick.

Certainly, Cirque de Soleil is a show of the lifetime. It is one of the things that you would not want to miss in life. Take my words, “it is worth the money.”

USB Crack

2009-03-30T02:10:00.000-07:00

Enabling disabled USB drive handy when you are in real need of data transfer.

It involves two steps:

1. Changing values in regedit
2. Renaming certain files in C:\WINDOWS\inf

Please go through the attached images.

Window Desktop Recovery Crack

2009-03-30T02:08:00.001-07:00

Window's desktop is very fragile and requires frequent recovery. However, most of the times, the recover button does not work at all. Here is a simple procedure that involves regedit function to recover your desktop.

Of course, do not forget to refresh the desktop after you have made the edits.

Recession Creativity

2009-03-01T10:00:00.000-08:00

Another creative and humorous advertisement from Praveen Verma Studios.
This is a logo of an organization, and is protected by copyright and/or trademark.

Economic Crisis Survival 101

2008-12-27T16:50:00.000-08:00

Economic crisis has left no one untouched. In this post, I am going to amaze you by explaining that how much could you save in a year by following the advice mentioned here. You can end up saving up to $7,500 after reading this article. It is based on real facts and pragmatic assumptions. This figure might vary from case to case but the upside is its power to save money.

Walk whenever possible instead of driving car. It is good for health and pocket.
Smart driving and Green driving is good for us as well as for the environment.
Cut down on winter heating bills by practicing simple energy efficient measures.
Start cooking food from fresh groceries instead of buying cooked or going out to a restaurant. This is good for your health as well as pocket.
Be your own stylist. Instead of visiting parlors and spending hundreds of dollars learn to do it yourself. Cut your hair, apply makeup, do manicures and pedicures. Ask your friend to help you out with this and you can help her.
Start making your coffee instead of spending at Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks.
Stop going to malls unless absolutely necessary. At mall, people tend to buy things which they really do not need.
Say good bye to gyms. Start exercising outdoors. Healthy people are more immune to diseases. This will reduce your medical bills.
Get rid of cable TV. Instead visit your friend’s place if you want to watch a game.
Cut on mobile and telephone bills. Get you on the lowest plan with minimal features. You can read nytimes on your laptop than iphone. Buy magicjack.
Cut your lawn grass on your own.
Cut down on your electricity bills. Save electricity and make money – Be environmental friendly.
Cut down on your water bills. Save water and make money – Be environmental friendly.

Power of Saving Explained:

1. Walk if you could instead of driving car. It is good for your health and pocket. (16 Dollars)

Assuming that the nearest stores are 0.5 miles away from your home:
0.5 miles (to and fro) @ thrice a week for groceries and other small stuff
= 3 miles per week
= 3 x 52 miles in a year
= 156 miles / year
= 7.8 gallons of gas (@ 20 miles/gallon)
= 16 dollars/year (@ 2 dollars/ gallon)

Total Saving in a Year = $16

2. Smart driving and green driving is good for you and environment. (100 Dollars)

http://www.eot.state.ma.us/gastips/default.asp
http://www.eot.state.ma.us/gastips/hypermiler.asp
http://abcnews.go.com/wnt/story?id=3005890

….This saved UPS over 3.3 million gallons of fuel and 30 million miles in 2007. ... The company puts almost 92,000 trucks on the road every day. Switching off DRLs where their safety contribution is minimal (e.g., driving on a ... An example: approaching a fresh red traffic light that had no other .... For greater efficiency, switch the A/C on when under light engine loads or ...

Let us work out the maths:

Miles Saved: 30,000,00 = 150,000 Dollars (@ 20 miles/gallon)
Gas saved (gallons): 3,300,000 = 6,600,000 Dollars (@ 2 dollars/gallon)
Total Savings ($) = 150,000 + 6,600,000 = 6,750,000

Gas saved per truck: 6,750,000/92,000 = 73.36 Dollars

Dollars saved by smart driving and car pooling in a year = 73.36 + 25

Total Saving in a Year = $100

3. Cut your winter heating bills by practicing simple energy efficient measures (75 Dollars)

http://www.independent.co.uk/money/invest-save/how-to-cut-heating-bills-and-stay-warm-547513.html

…A family of four could save up to almost £200 a year on their bills…

If it could work in UK, it should work in US too.

Total Saving in a Year: $300 = $75 Dollars per person

4. Start cooking food from fresh groceries instead of buying readymade or going out (3000 Dollars)

http://www.bls.gov/cex/

…An average American spent $2,668 in 2007 on food outside the home and $3,468 at home…

Obviously, you cannot cut outside food to zero but how about spending only $668 and saving $2,000. For food at home, start eating cooking fresh instead of packed foods. This would certainly cut at least $1000. I am being very pragmatic while cutting down these numbers on food. It is not about sleeping hungry but staying healthy intelligently and smartly.

Total Saving in a Year: 2000 + 1000 = $3000

5. Be your own stylist (240 Dollars)

Hair cutting and visiting to a parlor for makeup is expensive. Ladies can save on their pedicure, manicure, facials, etc. by taking friend’s help. Since, your skin is on stake I am not even counting that dollars but hair can certainly be tried at home.

Total Saving in a Year: $240 (For Haircutting @20 Dollars/Month)

6. Start making your coffee at home (1000 Dollars)

I notice so many people around me spending lots of dollars on coffee. On an average people drink at least two cups of coffee everyday.

Regular medium coffee at Dunkin costs $1.5. Two cups a day cost $3.

Total Saving in a Year: $3 x 356 Days = $1,068

7. Stop going to malls unless absolutely necessary (500 Dollars)

http://www.kacperwrzesniewski.com/how-to-restrain-from-unnecessary-shopping/
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/04/05/15-ways-department-stores-try-to-trick-you-into-spending-more-than-you-need-to-and-10-ways-to-fight-back/

People tend to buy the item more for convenience than need, even when the item is not really needed in near future*. Focus on essentials only. Saving per year depends from person to person. I can save at least 500 dollars by not buying unnecessary stuff. (*www.metrosuburbia.com/2006NAAConference/How%20America%20Shops%20and%20Spends_stahl.pdf)

Total Saving in a Year: $500

8. Say Bye to Gyms (500 Dollars)

Gyms are good for health but not absolutely necessary. There are ways to stay healthy without going to gyms. Exercising outside in a park or jogging on a road is a good option to save money on gyms. The other option is to buy a DVD on fun aerobics.

Total Saving in a Year: $500 (Average gym yearly membership)

9. Get rid of cable TV (480 Dollars)

Cable TV is waste of time as well as expensive. Instead of being a couch potato, get up on your ass and start socializing, blogging, writing, etc. Find your hobby and start working on it.

Monthly cable expense: $40 (with two packages)
Yearly expense: $40 x 12 = $480

Total Saving in a Year: $480

10. Save on Phone bills (580 Dollars)

Don’t pick up calls on your mobile and wait until you reach home to use magicjack. It is an amazing device to eliminate your phone bills.

Before ($1020)
Monthly rental on mobile with added features: $50
Yearly rental = $50 x 12 = $600

Monthly rental on home phone: $35
Yearly rental = $35 x 12 = $420

After ($440)
Monthly rental on mobile without added features: $35
Yearly rental = $35 x 12 = $420

Monthly rental on home phone: $1.7
Yearly rental = $1.7 x 12 = $20
Total Saving in a Year: $1020 - $440 = $ 580

11. Cut lawn grass on your own (300 Dollars)
Cost of outsourcing to maintain your lawn grass: $50/month (Assuming that the lawn requires maintenance for at least six months)

Total Saving in a Year: $50 x 6 = $300

12. Cut down on bills ($240)

www.eei.org/industry_issues/retail_services_and_delivery/wise_energy_use/how_to_save_electricity_in_your_home
www.costofelectricity.com/10-Ways-to-Save-Electricity-at-Home.html

Go through the links above and the measures explained could save up to 40 dollars per month.

Total Saving in a Year: $20 x 12 = $240

13. Cut down on bills (120 Dollars)

www.eartheasy.com/live_water_saving.htm
http://www.h2ouse.org/
www.frugalliving.about.com/od/householdsavings/tp/Save_Money_On_Water_Bill.01.htm
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/cut-water-bills

Minimum monthly saving on water bill after following the advice in the above links: $10

Total Saving in a Year: $10 x 12 = $120

14. Cut down on entertainment ($500)

Movies, video games, theatre, casinos, lotteries, clubs, etc. contribute to lot of dollars in a year.

Average movies per month = 2 movies
Expenses in a year on movies = 25 movies x $8 = $ 200
Expenses on other entertainment modes = $300

Total Saving in a Year: $200 + $300 = $500

Tree of Life

2008-12-08T17:26:00.000-08:00

This is a creative use of boring board room white board.

Morning in US - Palisades Pkwy, Nanuet, NY, USA

2008-12-06T16:24:00.001-08:00

Bangalore Trip (Sep 02 - Sep 18, 2008)

2008-12-06T15:58:00.000-08:00

A trip to Corbett National Park

2008-04-16T02:19:00.000-07:00

I escaped to Corbett National park over the weekend of 12-13 Apr, 2008 with my colleagues. It was indeed a memorable trip to cherish for all the years to come by. The thematic tent-style one-night stay and glimpse of the tiger added more colors to the trip. Besides the sight seeing and amazing company, one thing that I would never forget was shooting of the movie. It was my first attempt to act and I failed miserably. One thing that I surely know now is my horrible acting skills and shall not try to venture next time. It is better for me to stay behind the camera rather facing it.

My colleagues shot some beautiful pictures of the entire trip and I thank them whole heartedly to make it available for me and everybody. Thanks Jai, Ritu, Manas, Surya, Sameer, and Sriram for uploading your beautiful pictures.

Jai’s Album: http://picasaweb.google.co.in/jai.chandra/CorbettTigerReserve11th13thApril2008

Ritu’s Album: http://picasaweb.google.com/ritumanas/Corbett2008/

Manas’s Album: http://picasaweb.google.com/manasarvind/CorbettApril08

Surya’s Album: http://picasaweb.google.com/surya.ginti

Sameer’s Album: http://picasaweb.google.co.in/sampuri/JimCorbettNationalPark

Vidya’s Album: http://picasaweb.google.com/aiyargirl/JimCorbettPicasa/

Vidoes

A Trip to Corbett

Directed by: Satpal Sharma

A group of people visited Corbett National Park in the month of April, 2007

Some of them never returned.

6 months later, this footage was found.

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=F3EE60BD8AEF2990

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Tip: For Viewing in Higher Quality

While watching the video, add &fmt=18 at the end of the url and press enter to reload in higher quality version.

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Bulbuk
Directed by: Sriram Suryanarayanan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uThWphY_2Ng

Some Good Links for Movie Buffs

2008-03-17T02:14:00.000-07:00

For serious movie buffs and film makers, I have found a site that has some philosophical movies listed on it. I have not seen them all but it definitely is a list to look at.

Best Philosophical Movies
http://www.philfilms.utm.edu/
http://www.philfilms.utm.edu/2/filmlist.htm

Best All Time Movies - TIME MAGAZINE
http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/the_complete_list.html

Best All Time Movies - IMDB TOP 250
http://www.imdb.com/chart/top

There is a good site about movie script writing for budding movie makers.
Screenwriting.info: www.screenwriting.info
Screen Writing Notes: www.geocities.com/MadisonAvenue/Boardroom/4278/screen.htm

Guitar Made Simple

2008-02-16T05:49:00.000-08:00

Often I find difficulty remembering guitar notes on the fret board. Yesterday, I decided to prepare a chart to make it easier for me to play it. Hope it would be useful to others also.

Take a print, paste it, and start jamming. What are you waiting for?

Lets JAM!!!

The Great Ocean Road

2007-11-26T00:59:00.000-08:00

Imagine what day light saving time could do to the fragile human planning. Unaware and unconcerned of man-made rules to control daylight I planned an early morning but a day long trip in Melbourne. I didn't know about the daylight time saving change, therefore I set my alarm for 6:15 am, thinking one hour would be enough for grooming. Lazily I tried hard to open my beer soaked heavy eyelids, rebelling against their will to continue sleeping. Last night’s beer session at the river Yarra was the culprit and had enslaved me. In the early morning hallucinating phase I suddenly realized to check my eagerly awaited important mail. I opened my laptop and my eyes were immediately drawn to Windows Date and Time. I felt butterflies in my stomach and my eyes rolled hysterically in astonishment. My computer clock was showing me 7:20 am but my mobile, landline, wrist watch, etc. showed 6:20 am. Suddenly, I the words by elderly lady at Melbourne tourist center echoed in my ears as she had told me about time change but I didn't understand and care about it. I realized my blunder. Yes, I had lost one hour and it was actually 7:20 am. The first thought that flashed to my mind was to return back to sleep and forget about my Great Ocean Road Trip. My bus was leaving at 7:45 am and I had just 25 minutes left to catch it. My $122 expenditure for the ticket motivated me to not to run it through the drain and give it a try. Moreover, I knew that this was the only weekend for me to go out. Had I stayed back, I would loose this weekend also. Therefore, I gathered all my courage to go for my quick dry clean. There was no time for shower, I changed my clothes, dumped stuff in my bag and left the hotel room for my great trip.

I coursed my way through the maze of unknown Melbourne downtown’s streets and lanes. Panting heavily, I barely managed to reach in time after sacrificing my shower and morning coffee. Obviously, it wasn't a great feeling to go on a long day trip with remnants of last night's food lying in your stomach but I learnt to live with it as the day progressed.

It was a double-decker bus and I was ushered to the upper deck by a beautiful young blonde dressed in her neat uniform. The bus had blue velvety seats with abstract images of starfish and sea-shells. The big glass windows in the bus rendered a terrific 180 degree panoramic view of the whole journey. In retrospect, I don’t regret shelling extra dollars for these extra big windows.

It was a long trip that lasted for more than twelve hours. The major attraction started with Melbourne's longest bridge – Gateway to the West – and continued until we reached a scenic place with immense ocean in view. The immensity combined with serenity had captivated the senses to forget the world around me. I was overwhelmed with this creation of nature that left me awe-struck. The driver broke my day-dream when he started serving us cakes, cookies, jam, and morning tea. The bus was fitted with a PA system for a guided tour by the driver. The driver was a handsome man in his forties, neatly dressed in formal blue pants and well creased white shirt. His goatee extended till his chin and created a natural anchor on his face, otherwise he was clean shaved. He was very amiable and cooperative through the trip. Apart from driving the bus he also guided us in real time, with his heavy Australian accented husky voice. He presented facts and history in a very exciting and interesting way with vivid descriptions and intricate details.

At 12:00 pm the bus stopped again at for lunch. Before this, we had already seen the grand entrance of Great Ocean Road. The road apparently was built by workers in 19^th century using hands and shovels. At the lunch venue, I stepped inside an old, aged, coffee shop. It seemed that the old lady, may be the owner, also grew up with her restaurant. The lines on her face were the reflection of the old furniture, dull walls, and aging floor of the restaurant. The wall at the entrance was made up of glass and the view through that opened in the vast ocean in the front. There was an old water filter kept on the wooden slab made in the front glass wall at the entrance. The water was continuously dripping through its old worn out tap. To prevent the wooden floor to get wet with unwanted water leakage, a glass was kept on a folded wet towel suggesting that the leakage is permanent and trivial for the owner. The whole ambience added unquestionable authenticity to the place. I was hungry and looked for something familiar in southern hemisphere exotic food menu. I ordered for bacon-tomatoes-scrambled egg with toast. Yes, they were serving breakfast all day long, and I didn't want to eat lunch. While waiting for the breakfast I could not resist the temptation for cappuccino and ordered one. The cappuccino surprisingly was served by a young lady with a wide and genuine smile of hospitability. The bus started again to take us back on the Great Ocean Road.

The seat in front of me was occupied by newly married Indian couple. May be they were not newly married but they were surely in deep love. They were more than a normal couple as I could see the profound love for each other in their eyes. I did not want to see their showers of cheek kisses, cheek hugs on each other as they talked right in each other's eyes. The girl was sitting diagonally to me; therefore I could see her shyness, cheek hugs, shoulder naps, and continuous giggling. That moment I missed someone so much that it is inexplicable in words. I need to create another dictionary to capture that immense and deep feeling of emotions and love. Not only this, since the couple was right in front of me, doing cute acts of love, I missed her more and more.

The bus traveled through a stretch of tall eucalyptus trees – naked but habitation of cute koalas. Cuddled against the branches and sitting innocently, they were too beautiful to be missed. The bus was rendered white with flashes of camera and clicks of cameras continued until no koalas were in sight.

Later, our bus moved to the coastal area with ocean on one side hugging beautiful hills on the other. Blades of lush green grass made the hills look even more beautiful and unreal. With blue on my left and green on my right, I felt myself as a painter drawing a dark gray line of the road to separate them as I cruised along. The beaches were amazingly clean but deserted, and abandoned. May be, I felt that because of the scarce population of Australia. Some beaches had sea weeds resting in the clean, shining sand and some had rocks protruding out of water and sand. The topography of the land was mesmerizing and engrossing and mind boggling.

The bus finally reached 12-Apostles where we had an option of Helicopter ride. I really wanted to do that, to see the sea and land from 1000 feet in the helicopter. I went for 15 minutes flight to 12-Apostles and London Bridge. It cost me $120 in a four-seater copter with the same couple from my bus, the pilot and I. Three of us got seated into the helicopter by the ground staff. I took the front seat, while the couple settled on the rear-seat. Head phones with microphone attached were provided to communicate with the pilot and fellow passengers. The helicopter left the lush green ground and as it gained the height I could feel butterflies in my tummy. Unlike airplane, helicopter was very unstable, shaky, and felt dangerous. However, the ride was breathtakingly awesome and left me amazed for days to come. The flight from the helipad to London Bridge through 12-Apostles went over the land with sea to my left, but while coming back, the copter was over the sea and the land was on my left. It was scary to ride the copter over the sea, especially when I am not a swimmer and hardly know the basic of swimming. Fortunately, god helped us and nothing happened as we landed safely on the ground to return back to Melbourne.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/72683485@N00/sets/72157602928065914/

Love an Engineer?

2007-07-30T04:22:00.000-07:00

Engineers are logical creatures who believe in coherence and order. Therefore they remain uninvolved and detached from heart and emotions which demand sensitivity and tenderness. Not that engineer suffers from a congenital disease which retards the growth of heart - rendering it numb for love - but the enforcement of brutal technical education definitely leaves no space for love.

Exceptions are part of our lives and one day something strange happened, I heard my heart beating. I thought I was unwell and ran to the doctor but he found me perfectly healthy.

Worried, I started retrospection. It took in only a fraction of second to make me realize that lately I had been interacting a lot with my good old friend. My friend - fortunately or unfortunately - an engineer like me without any place in heart for non-existent and alien feeling called love. How could she possibly make my heart beat when it was lying dormant and vegetating for years?

She was different to me – truly friendly, crazily impulsive, motherly caring, intensely enthusiastic, heartily concerned, innocently mad, and lovingly shy – all for me. It was a genuine friendly affection, bighearted and bountiful – but I made my heart believe more than that. The heart which remained so dry and juiceless that the tender walls chapped and cracked in the hope of rains of love, tasted the first shower of attraction. Yes, the engineer was in love with an engineer. How could not I fall for such a beautiful and intelligent girl?

Apprehensively and immaturely, I orchestrated my intense feelings of childish affection to my engineer after six years. As expected from an engineer, she respectfully rejected my deep reverence for her and declared me insane. She informed me about some non-engineer guy that she thought would be perfect as her soul mate. Non-Engineer guy for an engineer girl - wise decision it was to choose someone with the live and beating heart instead of a dead and numb heart. But by that time, she had already made me a sensitive and romantic poet lost in her world and the engineer in me had died long back. I had no choice but to fight back. I weaved a dazzling colorful and delicately soft fabric of my emotions, hope, and dreams and let her wrap it around herself to feel it. She could not resist the temptation of falling in love for it and finally surrendered her heart to me.

The naïve poet in me, hypnotized by her timeless beauty started painting her picture with words in adoration. She looked enchanting when I saw her in Red Indian suit which had picked up colors of the first fully blossomed rose of early winter with the golden highlights of the morning soon. She looked amazingly beautiful in her dress. She possessed magical beauty with the ability to charm and enchant the people around with her captivating personality. Her elegant and refined gestures and mannerisms implied magic, mystery, and intrigue. Her soft spoken ethereal melodies created ageless enchanting music of life where my heart sang on her tunes. And, when she beautifully wore her winsome smile on her sharply curved ruby-red lips and allured my heart, I found myself lost in her dream world.

I guess the poet was in love with the engineer. Love which was pious, sacred, and holy. Love which was timeless and heavenly. Love which was crazy and maddening. Love which was life-giving and life-taking at the same time.

And one fine day my destiny changed forever, when my engineer finally asked me out of the blue, “Love an Engineer?”

And I said, “Yes”.

Someone who is as beautiful as the shine of serenity in the eyes of god, good-hearted as a heavenly soul, wears the world’s best smile, and looks terrific in all dresses. Yes, I love my engineer with my life.

Start Thinking

2007-06-06T01:53:00.000-07:00

Here is a question for you. Guess the object in the picture and figure out the problem.

Assured treat for the best answer.

Now start thinking.

Insanity

2007-06-01T21:13:00.000-07:00

Insanity

My Fav Artists

2007-05-31T20:11:00.000-07:00

Am I still dreaming?

2007-05-20T05:03:00.000-07:00

After a very long time my heart has again started pumping fresh and tender dreams of beautiful life. Dreams - bright and colorful – that are dazzling my eyes to differentiate between the reality and fiction. Dreams - mad and frantic – that are tangling the sane thoughts to the extent of defying the logic. Dreams – young and vulnerable – that are ridiculing my intellect and mocking my reasoning. Dreams – sacred and holy – that are comforting my soul and soothing my senses.

From morning till evening, the sweet and the short time that I spent that day with the angel has still been tickling and thrilling my body. True, angels do come at night but, perhaps, I was blessed by the Ultimate to be able to found her in the beautiful summer morning. I was curious and excited like a nursery kid desperate to see the angel for the first time. I had heard a lot about them but I always thought that they did not exist until I met her. The moment my eyes met hers my body got stoned. For a second my heart stopped pumping blood, brain became numb, thoughts got frozen, and eye balls rolled down. I was completely hypnotized and transfixed by her mesmerizing and magnetic beauty. I was seeing a beautiful full moon on earth on a scorching summer day with the fierce and fiery sun in the sky. The comforting cool silver light of the full moon had overwhelmed the irritating hot rays of the sun and caused it to shy away. Confused and apprehensive about the uncertainty of the next moment and strangeness of the angel I took my first step towards her.

From close distance I could notice her moon white lustrous sheen of silver skin. And as she spoke, the words dropped off her mouth as musical notes and danced together to form a magical song that made my heart dance. As the angel smiled I could see the swirls and whirlpools on her cheeks that were sucking my heart and body without letting me loose or escape. I shook myself, came out from my stoned state to find my date. I could see the real world now, real people, and cars passing by and honking. I know I was not dreaming, but to my surprise the angel was still there. Am I dating an angel? I pinched my skin so hard that the eyes become watery but the angel was still there. I indeed was with an angel. Dream or reality? – Still figuring it out.

We sat together and the angel painted the picture of paradise in front of me. She started with canvass. She made a fine canvass by weaving the threads of hopes. She collected her hopes with mine in a bowl made of our hearts. If the thread of my hope was thin she would add her hope to make it perfect. She weaved a perfect canvass. The canvass was hanging in air between her and me, right in front of our faces, and was tied with our tacit promises that were still lingering in the air. She then plucked her and mine emotions and created a brush out of them. She asked for my dreams and used color of my dreams to color the picture. Red, green, blue, yellow, etc. all colors were there. I had given her all my dreams with none left to me. To add interest she added dabs of her exuberance and bubbliness here and there. And I kept seeing the angel working like a perfect magician without breathing. I was afraid that even the slightest puff of my breath could disturb the air, and the tacit promises might fall down, ultimately leading to the fall of paradise. I kept seeing and dreaming about the paradise with her sitting in the restaurant. The music was loud but with her magic wand she froze everybody and controlled it. I was not bothered about anything around as my eyes were immersed and indulged in the beauty of paradise.

And she spoke finally to tell me, that the paradise is not for human beings but for angels. I should not desire and long for it. She pulled away the tacit promises and the paradise fell down and disintegrated. She was in hurry to go to the real paradise else the door would close. She returned my colorful dreams and my stranded emotions that belonged to me. But, in hurry she took away the canvas to make me realize later that my threads of hopes were gone with hers. The angel still has my threads of hope with her.

I dream, I feel them, but without hopes. Do dreams have significance without hopes? Do they really exist without it? Dear Angel, when we meet again or whenever you come to earth again from paradise, please, return my hopes.

The angel disappeared and I was back again in the real world. The world that works on fake principles those are twisted and tweaked every other second. Shocked and lost, I pinched myself again to found me on bed. Was it a dream?

I checked my clothes and found a lean thread of hope on my collar. I easily recognized that it belonged to her. A gush of gentle evening breeze swayed the thread in front of my eyes and as it dangled past my eyes I read her hope, she indeed wanted me to join paradise with her but unlike earth rules in paradise are inflexible and stringent. Human beings are not allowed. And all drenched in profuse perspiration, I pinched myself again. Am I still dreaming?

Bhay - The Fear

2007-05-07T01:24:00.000-07:00

Dreams and reality are different. It is very easy to dream but difficult to implement. I always wanted to make films. By films, I mean story about real people. I love documentaries and aspire to have a few in my name one day.

After a lot of hustle and bustle of life I decided to go ahead with my first movie. I never wanted to do fiction but my friend Ritesh insisted to start with that. Osian talent campus hunt was another reason to choose 1 minute movie over others.

There was no scope for endless arguments as Ritesh and I unanimously selected a feasible story with least of the budget and time requirements.

Bhay – The Fear - did not turn out the way we wanted but I am satisfied with the way we completed it in just three days over two weekends. Arranging resources and managing everyone with different commitments was indeed a difficult task at hand. However, I could use my resources and contacts, and above all my rapport with various people around me. Everything went smooth and on time. We chose Sunday Apr 28, 2007 for shooting and May 05-06, 2007 for editing.

As expected, editing revealed our various flaws such as loose script, low quality direction and camera work, issues with the sound, and the final editing itself. However, the encouraging part was that we could deliver the product, even of an inferior scale. But there is no concept of a perfect product as there is always a room for improvement.

How many people actually step forward and realize their thoughts in reality. I am happy that I could do that even on a smaller scale. I am much more confident and better prepared for my next movie.

I did not get an opportunity to thank people in my film in such a small time frame but here on my blog I would certainly mention everybody’s name.

Thank you Ritesh for partnering with me. I am sure that we will make better and better movies with time. I would like to thank Pantji and Ravinder who spent their weekends away from their family with us working on the editing table. Special thanks to Ravinder for not only editing the movie but also teaching me and being a patient listener for my stupid editing related questions. Also, thankful to Dr. Ajit Kumar for being so helping, supportive, and confident about my endeavor.

I would like to extend my thanks to my friend Sriram for his honest critique, support, and encouragement. Mukesh Srivastava, Praveen Shukla, Sarvesh Chinagi, and Nitika Sood for their continuous support. Thanks for listening my stupid stories and giving your valuable inputs and suggestions.

Last but not the least, greatly thankful to my parents and my sisters who could instill me with positive thoughts, never dying energy, and confidence to realize the dream into reality. Thank you Mummy and Papa for the fantastic upbringing.

Please go through the movie. Criticize and make me better.

Date with the Dentist

2007-04-23T22:40:00.001-07:00

Being a Doctor is a noble profession as we consider them God avatars. Therefore, the relationship between a doctor and patient should be seen as professional and sacred. But what would one do if the doctor is a young and beautiful lady with a honey voice. After all we are humans, and on top of it, I am still single and not committed. I always try to restrain my feeling in such cases but sometimes the heart overpowers logic and objectivity. I am a writer and enjoy writing experiences. I could not stop myself writing about it.

On the advice of one of my beloved friend about the best hospitals in Delhi I decided to go to Fortis for my dental treatment. No doubt as I had heard, the hospital was spotlessly clean. But it was not the cleanliness that attracted me but the handpicked selection of staff which drew my attention.

The interesting journey started from the reception desk. Three beautiful and charming ladies in perfect shape, draped in bright red saris fixed my appointment with the doctor. I proceeded to the hallway after the appointment and saw a long row of doors lined up to my right. The room numbers were powered with dim blue light and were placed repeatedly till the end of the hallway. I stopped at the toilet to figure out the hygiene they maintained and I would say that it was definitely impressive. Finally I found the dentist room. I went inside to found a female doctor of around thirty years of age with a stern face. She asked me the purpose of visit and finally asked me to lie on the dental chair. She examined my teeth and finally asked another doctor to take the job.

This visit of mine to the dentist was almost after the gap of 8-9 years. Fortunately I never had any toothache or decay. However after this long gap, when I visited the dentist I figured out that how different this profession was from others. This profession required physical intimacy between the dentist and the patient as the dentist work close to the patient’s face and body for long hours. Normal doctors examine their patients for a minute closely and step back or if they are close to the body you are probably on anesthesia or feeling severe pain.

When I was waiting on the chair for the new doctor, the new doctor came as a surprise and bliss. A very beautiful girl in her late 20s, flaunting her short hair arrived and asked for my problem. She appeared calm and concerned unlike the other doctors. Girls in short hair have always been my weakness.

She started the procedure and the need of the profession brought her face close to mine. She was looking like an angel to me. An angel helping me out by solving my problems and this is what angels do. Her face effused milky aura and my pores of skin could feel the angelic warmth of her body. I had no other option but to either look at her face or close my eyes. I elected for the former one. While she was busy doing the treatment I surrendered my eyes to the captivating and comforting aura of her face and forgot all my pain and agony. My ear heard her engaging patterns of breath creating soothing symphonies that made my heart dance eternally.

I was completely drowned in her mystical mesmerizing eyes, blinded by the lucid luminescence of her scented skin, and completely lost in the carbon blackness of her curly black hair which was falling on her face time and again. I was totally indulged in her beauty with no pain, no sounds, and no feelings. Her beauty had defied the gravity and my body was levitating in the infinite vastness of the universe beyond the dentist’s chair, beyond the doctor’s room, beyond the hospital, and beyond everything perceptible.

At times I would see her lips moving and murmuring gracefully and her eyes making cushy contact with mine trying to communicate with me in my hypnotic stage. I would then force myself to come out of the trance of her beauty to listen to the still lingering odiferous words of hers. And I would find her face just six inches away from mine, looking directly into my eyes and waiting patiently for my replies.

Finally the treatment was over but the splendid memories stayed alive and engrossing. Never visit a beautiful dentist.

Blog 2.0

2007-04-20T03:08:00.000-07:00

Of late, people have started using technical terms in their personal lives. The impact of such an exercise could be irreversible and fatal to the language. But like everything else there are two schools of thoughts. One school wholeheartedly welcomes new words to the existing vocabulary of the language. The other type despises and prevents any new words to enter the language. I am not here to advocate either of them but to provide an insight about the consequences that could occur if the penetration is not stopped.

One such word is Web 2.0. It was first coined by Tim O'Reilly and has become so successful that everyone has started using it. Services 2.0, SaaS 2.0, RSS 2.0, HTML 2.0, ASP.NET 2.0, etc. The list is endless but the pattern is easily identifiable with 2.0 as the repetitive unit.

Diffusion of these words in our everyday language would make a lot of difference. 2.0 would make it simple for us to give explanations to others. Whatever you cannot explain is 2.0.

Executive 2.0 and Worker 2.0 for office 2.0 doing Work 2.0. Appraisals 2.0, Resignation 2.0

Mother 2.0 and Father 2.0 living with Kid 2.0. Mother in law 2.0, Father in law 2.0

Imagine Ram naming his new born baby as Ram 2.0 and Sheetal as Sheetal 2.0.

Imagine a guy saying, “I Love 2.0 you” instead of simple I love you.

Imagine writing Gita 2.0 and Ramayana 2.0

Begging 2.0, Teaching 2.0, Corruption 2.0, Media 2.0, etc.

Opportunities are many but we need to think creatively to use the term carefully and intelligently. Otherwise we would end up contaminating the language and there is no comeback after that.

Eight easy steps to become a successful designer

2007-04-12T22:06:00.000-07:00

Designers are a different breed and many of us aspire to be one of them. I would like to take the opportunity to explain you the different steps to be a successful designer. You would not take much time to identify this breed. They can be easily found in malls, coffee-shops, pubs and discs. Some of the identifiable traits and characteristics are their hair, earrings, tattoos, clothes, big-ego, and criticizing nature. Let’s pick each one by one.

High on Hair
If you are a male you are surely going to have long hair. Length can vary according to the quality of hair. It might vary from shoulder to hip’s length. From pony tail to a full grown long braided hair - long enough to advertise for the largest shampoo manufacturer if you would be a girl. Not all males are blessed with long hair but no worries; you can boast weird and eerie design of moustaches and beards. Having said that, I must assert the fact that it does require high level of creativity to devise interesting patterns and styles in hair grooming.

On the other hand if you are a female you need to go in opposite direction. You start decreasing the length of hair from hips to almost nothing. I have seen my female designer friends in short hair, very short hair, very very short hair, scalp kissing hair length, and bald.

These days you have to have strands of red, green, and blue to highlight the design. Match color with your dress and lipstick.

Breathe through Skin
Try choking a designer to death. You cannot because they can literally breathe through their skin. Skin piercing saves their lives in case of such an emergency.

Male designers have increasingly started picking earrings to be in vogue. They started from one ear, then both ears, later more than two earrings for the ears. I have seen people with seven piercing in just one ear. Some have gone beyond ears, and have reached till eyebrows, chins, etc. Let’s not discuss piercing beyond the face in this forum. You decide how much pain you can bear and plan accordingly.
Female designers are least interested in ear piercing. They don’t like anything in their ears. If they get something pierced it is most likely be their noses, lips, eyebrows, etc. If you wear anything in your ears please throw it right away before the attractive male in the next cubicle glance at you.

Paint your Body
No designer can live without tattoo. It can present virtually anywhere on the body but what’s the fun if the world is not seeing it. Most of the junta therefore go for shoulders and back where they can reveal their designs to the world. This tattoo design disclosure has been very progressive as the length of the clothes is diminishing day by day. This has left me confused and bewildered as to whether to concentrate on the design or somewhere else. Please decide the design and placement of tattoo on your comfort level of revealing your protected zones.

Dress to Kill
If you wear what everybody wears than certainly you are going to be kicked out of the community. You have to customize your clothes yourself. You should learn selecting the right fabric after watching the in vogue designs on FTV by European designers. Then you go to a boutique and ask the tailor to sew your design. If you are not good at designing clothes you can ask your fashion design friends to help you out. You can repay their debt when they go for interior design or to buy new furniture. The next step is to wear the design and explain your friends the whole story - from pattern of the clothes to selection of design. Also learn to insult your other friends who buy labeled clothes. The art of insulting is must to learn as it requires high degree of precision. An insult by a designer should be glib, smooth and sophisticated yet sarcastic and piercing.

Only Me, Myself, and I
You are the best person ever born on this planet. Nobody before you and nobody after you would be of the stature which you are at now. You are always right and everybody else is wrong. Your dress selection, furniture selection, mobile selection, etc are the best choices that anyone could make. People don’t dare to give you advice on these topics. Whatever you design is the best and it cannot be perfected anymore. There is no phrase like “taking suggestive inputs” in your dictionary. You always believe in giving them.

Be a good Critique
You are not a designer if you don’t have this quality. Please leave the design fraternity if you are down to earth kind of person. You must learn how to mock people on their behavior, dressing, interiors, selection of furniture, etc. You must start criticizing everything around you. If you go out to eat, the moment you enter in a restaurant, start criticizing the selection of furniture, then move on to curtains and drapery, then move on to cutlery selection, and you continue on and on and on. You exercise the same thing at your friends and relative’s houses.

Indulge in Life
Live life to the fullest is the mantra. Don’t care about tomorrow. There is no concept of saving money for the future. Live in present. Start lot of socializing. Start visiting local pubs and bars. Start trying new things if bars can’t quench your thirst and if you are looking for “high”. If you still think that grass is what cows eat than it is high time to increase your design vocabulary.

Break Norms
Start with short relationships. The more you had girlfriends and boyfriends in the past the better designer you are. If you are in a living-in relationship that is super cool. Being a gay or a lesbian increases your change manifolds for being selected as celebrity of the month or for a cover page interview in one of the leading fashion magazines. Suddenly you start getting name and fame.

I know that it is easier said than done but only persistently hard working person tastes the success. Go ahead and be a designer. Happy designing…

Collage

2007-03-04T04:39:00.001-08:00

Thanks Note: I was not writing my blog for sometime. Thousand and one lame excuses I can give but I was not writing for one reason or the other. My dear friend Khushi who is one of the biggest admirers of my blog and a great girl advised me to continue. She is one of my few friends who delight and nourish my soul after every interaction. Thanks Khushi for your support and encouragement for my writings.

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The ring tone

My brother in law is finally enlightened after initial 3-4 years of mushy-mushy talks with my sister. It seems that the initial emotional phase is over and finally like all men he also has found the ultimate truth about woman. And the truth is that all women are scary after marriage and create spine-chilling ambience for the poor husband.

I found out about his enlightenment only when my sister informed me about his new ring personalized ring tone that he had set for my sister’s calls. The ring tone is none other than the title music of our own super-hit ZEE HORROR SHOW which had successfully sown seeds of deadly fear in all of us. Now every time his mobile rings he is well aware and prepared about the caller. In fact the awareness has expanded to my brother in law’s office as well. People sitting around him in office express grave tacit sympathy and offer prayers for his well being. They are well aware what would happen if they opened their mouths. Well, every house has the same story.

Lucky I am still happily unmarried.

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The deal is closed

Since childhood I had been fostering a dream to own a Bullet. Every time I planned to buy it I was confronted by my parent’s parental wrath. Why bullet? Why not some cheap bike? Then buy a car….blah blah blah….
There questions were genuine. No sane person would buy an expensive, low-average two wheeler, which on top of all intrinsic faults is noisy also.

Car comes with a canopy to protect your body from air, water, and sun. To add more value to the car’s protection, let’s add local goons also. More protection and more security. The enclosed space in the car also offers privacy. More intimate talks, more fun, and more adventure. True the fuel consumption is equal to the bullet but the car has a better resale value unlike the big bulky bullet.

May be I was born insane that I could not digest these straightforward sane and logical explanations and finally signed the cheque for Bullet Electra 5S on 2nd March 2007.

I love independence and the bullet signifies it. I will let my soul float free which is being tied up with all trivia existing around us and our lives.

The soul which is free to fly in the sky beyond the horizon. Free to feel the warmth of the golden sunlight in the Himalayas. Free to smell the sweet lingering fragrance of the spring flowers in the Kashmir valley. Free to touch the crystal clear water of the river Brahmaputra. Free to wander endlessly in the mesmerizing backwaters of Kerala. Free to loose its way in the mystifying lush green beauty of Konkan. Free to hear the roars of the sand storms in the Thar till the end of the time...... And above all the soul which is so pure and virtuous that it touches the people's hearts.

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The Cab Experience

Going in an office cab is an experience in itself as it offers an opportunity to interact with the people who neither are friends nor co-workers. They are our office folks and we know them only because they are our cab mates. Everybody in the cab has its own whims and fancies.

Note: Names have been changed to keep the identity secret.

Vikas likes only Hindi music. He loathes Himesh Reshammaiyya, Punjabi, and English songs equally. He is like a spoilt brat who changes the channels by instinct and rarely by content if you had given them the remote of your TV. If he sits next to the driver than the average continuous time that every FM channel gets is less than three minutes. In between you will witness the moments of quick shuffle mode where the buttons are brutally pressed continuously as the index finger dances on different buttons relentlessly. He has gone beyond veteran perfection and has developed the sixth sense to predict the songs to be played in next 5 minutes by different stations. The other cab members silently bear the brunt of FM frenzy every day as if they did not have any taste for music. But at times it is better to adapt to a taste even if it’s bitter.

Kamakshi and I sat on the middle seat of Tavera one day. Vikas was sitting with the driver so only Kamakshi and I were left to sit in the middle. I kept my bag on the back seat behind me. Kamakshi entered with a small paper bag and purse and kept it in between her and me even when I was the most decent guy in the cab. It is quite normal for the girls to be overly obsessed for their belongings but it reached to an unbearable limit when she slid her hand through the handles of both the bags and folded her hands as if I was just about to snatch them from her. To add an injury to the indirect insult she instinctively pulled her purse and kept it on the other side of her lap. She ensured that my hands would never reach to her purse and it was in the safest ever position. I gaped and giggled silently for her. I still don’t know whether it was a deliberate act or was it sheer women instinct that was working in the rear seat of Tavera. Whatever it was, it was definitely bad for me.

There are so many experiences to pen down but I will stop myself here to go through more.

Nonsense of Google Adsense

2006-12-20T22:32:00.000-08:00

We all are aware of Google advertisements which are claimed to be context specific and content sensitive. This prompts the users to click on advertisements and thereby generating revenues for the site and Google.

Yesterday I wrote a letter (email of course) full of love to my girlfriend using gmail and got stunned after seeing the advertisements on the page.

Why Mommy is a democrat
The book George Bush doesn’t want your kids to read!
Gosh! This is a love letter before marriage. Where do the kids come from? I do not have any, need to ask her seriously this time if she has another affair and having kids. Google might be right. And also, who writes love letter to his wife? Do I look like a fool who would write a letter to my child’s Mom. And Mommy is neither a democrat nor republic we live in India fool. Did not you realize that?

Relationships
Predict the exact name of who you should have a relationship with
I already have the time of life with the girl I am writing to. Why would I repeat the same mistake again by predicting somebody else’s name? No more relationships as I had enough of it. If I were to predict something I would like to predict about good things.

Surrogacy Agency
Become a surrogate mother. Very generous compensation.
Mother f****r!! Why do not you ask your girlfriend to do this and give your compensation to her? God, is there any thing else to show me? No where in the article did I write about our kids (obviously would be) but still Google could predict my girlfriend would like to do this a hobby. Context Aware Advertisements, Huh!!!

The Money Savvy Pig
The piggy bank for the 21st century
This sounds bit logical but Yuk what a disgusting name for a bank. Yes, my bank is for the 16th century. You are the one. You are the one I was looking for just get your name right Mr. Pig. Is it a bank or some cheap commerce of thugs to loot our earnings?

Kid Allowance Contract
Parenting Help – Allowances system for children ages 6-18
This is too much of pressure now to have kids. I should ask my girlfriend to think about it seriously now. It is not only us but it is Google also who wants it. And Google also has a plan for allowancing till they are eighteen. I am amazed by the foresightedness and insight they have shown for my kids and my family. Thank you Google.

Chocolate Nursing Mother
Mother and child in fine chocolate. Goddesses sculptures in chocolate.
Now who needs it in India? I don’t have any child to gift him his sculpture in chocolate and feel elated about being the best father in the world. Even if I get it done for my girlfriend who is still not a mother (as far as I know her) and take that sculpture to India what is the guarantee that it wont melt and not got licked by a street dog? No this wont work for me.

Fire Your Boss
Own a dry cleaning bus. Name brand! Turnkey low $. No experience need – we train
I am fortunate that my boss does not read my blogs otherwise I would no longer be working as he would have fired me after reading this. This is the height of stupid advertisements one could bear. This is bizarre, this is inhuman, this is insane, and this is crazy. I don’t want to become a driver and don’t want to leave my white collar job. Is it clear to folks at Google?

And if that was not enough Google had more links for me to dig in:

Child Parents>>
Overweight Children>>
Marriage>>
Parenting Children>>

I never knew that writing an email to a girl friend invokes such a complicated program in Google’s server that it goes beyond the realm of context and starts pushing the boundaries where the future crushes the common sense and makes logical things look funny and stupid. And at Google they still say: “AdWords ads that are relevant to site content pages.”
Somebody please tell them.

Pancakes with Sauce – Yuk!!!

2006-12-13T14:33:00.000-08:00

My housemate Benai, one day during a causal chat revealed a surreal secret. She told me about Krishna my other housemate having a habit of eating pancakes with sauce. She was appalled by the awful act and wanted to validate from me whether it was a common practice in India? How someone could generalize somebody’s specific behavior and presume it as a nation wide phenomenon without any logical justifications and background. I found it bizarre and could not digest the story. “Why would someone do that?” was my reaction.

I closed my eyes and start contemplating the whole scenario. Bingo!!! Finally I got it right when a look through hole was formed in my gray matter because of the continuous stabbing of this off-the-wall thought. Yes it was not pan-cakes that he was eating with sauce but an Indian snack called Dosa.

I breathed a heavy sigh of relief after saving the nation and smiled to myself. Cultural differences huh!!!

US Trip Part – III (The Hospital Ordeal in US)

2006-11-26T08:40:00.000-08:00

Never in my life had I felt so pampered and important. Even my parents, friends, and girlfriend did not ever pay that much attention to me that I got on that fatal day of Nov 02, 2006. And the place where it happened was even more bizarre and would sound ridiculous if it was at Mount Auburn Hospital, Emergency Department, Boston.

I was not feeling well when I arrived from India. Fever, cold, and cough had grappled me and were not leaving me for long, despite of persistent medication which I took off the shelve. My condition was deteriorating day after day and I realized that it was high time to visit a doctor. No big deal. I have done it many a times in India when I visited doctors with the same symptoms - they listen to my story, and ultimately give me a dose of antibiotics - and got treated. That was my Indian experience of getting cured for the cold.

Welcome to US. I did not have a “primary doctor” and my condition was severe (just cold and fever) to take an appointment and visit a doctor the next day. I wanted the treatment to happen on the same day. I told my colleague and he helped me by taking me to the hospital in his car. Since there was no primary doctor for me and I did not have an appointment either, I had to enter the hospital through the emergency department.

My lifetime experience had started. At the counter I was asked my name, age, and the reason for the visit and the receptionist asked me to sit and wait on the sofas lying in the lobby. I thought I would soon see a doctor. Two minutes later a cute nurse of Japanese origin arrived and took me in a room. She introduced herself as my nurse and asked me whether I was on any medication, did or do drugs, had an allergy, etc. She examined my pulse, heart-beat, breath pattern, etc. using stethoscope and also noted the temperature with the thermometer. She asked me the type of medicines I was taking for the cold and finally asked me to proceed to the next adjacent room.

I entered into a small room with a computer and files all around. What kind of doctor is this? Entered another girl who started asking questions about my demographics. She asked about my address, origin, religion, insurance cover, etc. I don’t know how your religion or ethnicity affects your medication. She asked my phone number and since I did not remember mine I took out my new Sony 990i. “Oh, you have a nice mobile. Does it have a camera?” she said. Phew!!! Here I am dying with my condition and she is looking at my mobile! She printed a bar code on a wearable tag and put the tag on my wrist. Later I realized that the room was in fact like my office's HR office and she was working perhaps as a hospital HR. Thirty minutes are already over, however, the funny thing is that the doctor is still not in the picture.

I was again asked to sit in the lobby. A lady in her 40s entered and asked me to come inside. I walked in a small room with computers, probes, sensors, and machines. Looked more like a star-trek set than the hospital room. I felt happy that finally the doctor has called me for the check-up. But the ambience of the room was too much overwhelming and scary. I was in my thoughts contemplating about the room when the doctor asked me to remove my clothes. What??? Naked, in front of a lady doctor? I felt shivers in my body for the thought of being naked in front of an unknown woman, that too not for sex but cure. Soon she ended my worries by allowing me to leave the underwear and pointed me to the apron on the bed and asked to put it on. She knew I felt uncomfortable with all this, so she mitigated my fears by leaving me alone in the room. The apron or the robe was difficult to wear and I was feeling sick from the core of my heart after wearing that. It reminded me of the dresses in lunatic asylums in Hollywood movies. It also reminded me of intricate and difficult medical surgeries that I had seen on Discovery channel. My body went cold and wan as the thought of operations and surgeries passed by my thought window. The doctor came back and asked me to lie down on bed. Then she used her stethoscope and probes to check my pulse rate, heartbeat, and oxygen level in my blood. Gosh! never in my life I thought cold was such a dreadful disease. She asked me the same set of questions about my symptoms and disease which had already been asked many a times. From the drawer on the right she pulled out a file and handed me few papers to sign on. Yes, it was a consent form which would allow the hospital to walk free if I died during the procedure. Now I was almost terrified. Were they going to do a heart surgery for cold? May be US had a permanent solution for the cold by cutting off one of the valves in your heart. Who knows how would they save the earth this time? I was helpless and had no choice but to sign it and agree and abide to all the rules and regulations pertaining to the document. I signed it and passed to her.

“I will send you the doctor very soon?” She said.

The words lingered in my ears and resonated loud enough to shake my body. The doctor was still not in the picture. She left me alone in that research lab and I waited for the doctor to come. In the gallery I heard two nurses bitching about their boyfriends- one suggesting the other to not to go for divorce but to wait for some more time. God! Who cares for the patients? Boyfriends are more important anyways. I waited impatiently for the doctor but I was visited by a man and a woman who did not look like doctors at all. They told me that I would be X – Rayed and took me on the stretcher to the X-Ray room. I felt so embarrassed lying on the stretcher when the people sitting in the lobby gave me their weird looks as I passed the lobby next to the X – Ray room. The nurses only helped me to make me more embarrassed by asking if I could stand on my feet for the X – Ray. "What the hell?", I thought. I had cold not cancer. I told them that I had enough strength to stand on my feet. The female nurse came and asked me to open my chest and before I realized she had put two tiny sticky metallic discs (as small as the heads of smallest pins) on my tits. They shot the rays twice for my X – Rays. I did not know what the function of those metallic discs was but I felt the cold on my tits when she put it for the first time. I again lay on the stretcher and was sent back to my room.

After five minutes came the real doctor. PINA PATEL was my doctor in the hospital. "Indian doctors here also?", I thought. She must not be more than thirty - dusky but good looking, confident and professional. To my agony she again asked the same set of questions to enquire about the disease but her first question was very weird though.

Why are you here today Mr. Verma? She asked.

May be I was bored of going to pubs, discs, clubs, parks, etc. and decided to try hospital this time. What a stupid question one might ask from a patient in the hospital. I forgave her for her silly mistake as she was a gujju. She told me that I was perfectly fine and should continue the same medicine. If I had to hear this after two hours of tests why the hell did I go there? I insisted on antibiotics as my throat was paining. She cold heartedly declined to my request without showing any sympathy. In fact she proposed one more test for the throat and another examination by her colleague.

After fifteen minutes I saw another lady doctor raising the curtains from side and entering my room. She was white and again the same age as Pina. She repeated the Pina’s story with no additional changes and left my room.

Another ten minutes break and then came a lady to take throat swab. I didn’t understand there policy of giving 10-15 breaks in between the visits of these people. Were the breaks intentional to allow the patient to make few last calls to their relatives and pray to god or to plan an escape from the hospital. God knows the truth. She had a long peg with cotton on one end and she inserted it deep in my throat. I almost was on the verge of throwing up on her but her dress was pretty so I restrained myself.

This time the break went for thirty minutes but there was enough space between the curtain joints to allow the light signals from the lobby to enter my eyes. There was a beautiful blonde nurse who knew I was there on the bed but still was on the phone for all the time. It seems as if she worked for the call center rather than the hospital. She would steal glances at me and I did the same to tell her that I was not really happy hearing her voice since last three hours but I was completely ignored and she kept gabbling ceaselessly.

Pina came back again after thirty minutes and finally told me that my throat tests were negative and there was no bacterial growth, which meant that the time had come to leave the hospital. The nurse came in again and asked me to sign me on the discharge papers. I got the shock of my life when I figured out that I was actually admitted in the hospital for four hours. She offered me her good wishes and asked me to meet the receptionist in the lobby. There was no fees, no charges, nothing to do in the lobby and we headed to home. I was elated by the fact that no major surgery was performed on me and I was still in single piece without stitches.

US Trip - Part II (Picking a girl in US)

2006-11-05T18:06:00.000-08:00

Praveen Shukla had asked for my help in shifting his stuff when he decided to move from Pond Street house to Windsor apartment. How could I have denied a friend request? The whole experience happened to be so good that I started believing in God from that day. My uncle said once, “If you help others, god helps you.” I never believed it until that fateful day.

We were busy bringing the stuff from Shukla’s house to the ground floor – on the road near the truck – when I spotted a black hair girl sitting next door and smoking cigarettes. She was sitting on a folding chair with her legs resting on the wooden fence and was smoking cigarettes carelessly, casually, and ceaselessly one after the other. She was least bothered by our presence and was lost in her own world of smoke and her cell phone. One hand holding the cigarette with grace while the other working meticulously with the keys on her cell.

She was looking pretty in her curly black hair which was falling down from her shoulders and was touching her waist again and again with every gentle stroke of the evening breeze. Her Mexican-white skin looked flawless in the dusky sun and was glowing with the warmth of her youth. Her body was in shape and near to perfection. She was comfortably dressed in her white t-shirt and tight fitted blue jeans.

I did not like the injustice of god. How could such a beautiful girl sitting all lonely on such a wonderful summer evening in Boston. I decided to approach but I wanted some reason and I did not take time to find one. Cigarettes – Yes!!! The common thread between us. I went inside and picked a can of Heineken beer from the refrigerator and started walking towards her. “Hi, Can I have a cigarette please?” were my first words to her. She obliged me by offering me one. I put it in my mouth and asked for the lighter. I did not go away after lighting it but I kept standing there with her. After two-three puffs and a sip from the can I asked her whether she lived there. She negated and said that it was her aunt’s house. The discourse had started and I kept throwing questions and intelligent answers. She did not take time to realize that I am indeed an educated man. We exchanged our cell numbers and she had taken a promise from me to help her in purchasing a laptop which I happily agreed to.

Shukla was looking at me with a look of contempt and hatred. I had to say her good bye otherwise Shukla would have killed me. Instead of helping him out I was doing flirting – how would he accept it? With a very sad heart I bid her good bye and again went into labor shoes from Romeo’s shoes.

After two three days, I sent her an SMS and I did not get any reply. I waited for three days but of no use. Finally I called her up and left a voice message but again received no reply. I realized that my love story, like all the other love stories met a tragic end. However, the villain in my love story was nobody else but my dear friend Praveen Shukla. Only if he had not given me his censured glance while I was talking to her, only if he had given me few more minutes and not asked me to start work again, life would have been so different. I would have got some more golden moments to spare with my new found angel. I would have made all the promises of love and life, I would have discussed all my luck and destiny, I would have exchanged all the vibes and emotions, I would have felt her silky hair and kissed her cheeks but only if, only if.

Of course, how would you expect a girl to reply back when you spoilt her evening by leaving her all alone with the frightening darkness after the dusk? Certainly, that is not chivalry.

US trip - Part 1

2006-10-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, one day watching a TV, Doordarshan of course, I saw one show which really inspired me and motivated me to study. The show was about a man who comes back to India from West and shares his moments and gifts with his family as he got pampered by the folks around him. One of the kids around him asked him the mantra to go to a foreign land and he said to kid that the kid had to work study hard to go abroad. That day I decided that I would also go abroad one day. I started working towards my goal.

The moment I heard my CEED score for IIT entrance exam, I knew I got the visa to go abroad and that was true also. Everybody from our batch had gone to Europe or US. My moment came a bit late but for a longer duration. After three years of corporate job Aug 12, 2006 I got into the flight to Boston – sponsored by Keane India.

At the airport

First time international flying experience is like first time love because of the uncertainty of the experience – Good or bad. Fortunately I was lucky to have a good experience. While on the airport waiting for my flight, I felt thirsty and the urge made me to get up and grab a bottle of water. I was struggling finding two rupees change when a girl standing behind me helped and shocked me by putting two coins on the counter for me. I did not want to accept the help but could not deny the friendly gesture. She turned out to be a fashion designer - Jennifer Rai. Short, plumb, cute, and with specs on her face, she looked professional in her black dress. Since she was also alone and was waiting for the flight, we had mutually agreed tacitly within ourselves to be companions for the rest of the time. We did not talk much as most of the time she was busy on phone with her friends and family. However, we exchanged email ids and she told me that she was going to Austria on vacations.

In the flight

I had the ticket for window seat and found an old south Indian couple as my fellow passengers. We had 3-4-3 arrangement of seats per row. We never talked but I did not take a long time discovering that they were not happy with me. The moment they saw non-veg food in my hands, they got their first shock. To add to the sensitive situation I demanded scotch, followed by another, and followed by another one. Every time I pushed the bell to call the pretty air hostess for the drink I had to go through his insulting looks filled with ocular abuses such as “Greedy Pig!!!”, “Demon”, etc. I am sure he would never forget that night when his sacredness, religion, and values were tainted by my sinister tasks. He would have taken ablutions and prayed to god for several days to wash off the horrific experience from his old holy soul.

Next flight from Frankfurt

I was dazed and dreaming during the day after the deadening experience in the little cramped space of the flight. No wonder rich prefer business class over economy. The good thing about the second flight was that we had 2-3-2 arrangement of seats per row. There was a nice chick that I was eyeing on as she looked Indian to me. My prayers reached god and he made her sit next to me. Wow! Imagine a beautiful girl as your flight buddy. My body ache and tiredness disappeared in a fraction of second. I was wondering as to how to start the conversation with her. Finally my chemicals in the brain became active and got me the first response, “Which is this language in your book”? “German” she answered. “Oops, I thought you were Indian, you look like one.” I added another question and then another and then another until we knew each other. She was a 32 year old beautiful lady - Farsana, an Afghani settled in Germany. Her grandfather decided to leave Afghanistan after being badly beaten up by the civil war and came to Germany for refuge. Farsana had all the north Indian traits – Very fair skin, Dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, nice height, and nice curvy lines apparent in her tight fitted clothes. German culture was in her blood but she still had the Asian-Indian shyness in her eyes. We had a nice talk and we exchanged email ids also but neither had she written me nor did I. I was tired so could not talk much but whatever we talked it made sense. We discussed Afghanistan, India, and our cultures. We discussed her tensions and conflicts within herself as she didn’t have a country of her own. Her country, her motherland.

Logan Airport Boston – US

I opened the window flap when Boston was fifteen minutes away and I saw the yellow bright sun in the clear azure sky. The sky did not end but merged seamlessly with the blue ocean and created a mirage. I recognized ocean only after seeing big ships and boats in it. Finally I saw the runway extruding from the land into the Atlantic. It was a breath stopping beautiful sight. Boston sky line was visible and the city looked floating in the ocean. For a moment I thought that we were landing in the ocean but when the wheels touched the ground I took a sigh of relief. I wandered and wandered in the automated labyrinths of the Logan airport to figure out the exit terminal and to meet a friend of mine to pick me up from there. Finally I found Amit Taneja waving his hands to me. I was surprised as it was Praveen Shukla who was supposed to come. Amit said that Praveen was on the way and would be reaching any moment. He explained that he had come just to welcome me as anyway I would live with Praveen because of the proximity of his work place from my office. But I was touched to see him there, all the way from New Hampshire - without any motive, without any invitation, and without any selfishness. I had two good friends, from two different states, in two different cars, to welcome me. Ain’t I fortunate? Thanks God for being so kind with me.

You and I

2006-09-25T22:29:00.001-07:00

This letter is addressed to the special girl of my dreams whom I have not met yet. Read the letter and see whether you are the one whom I have been waiting for eternally?

Warning: This is a very personal and private letter. Please stop reading if this is not meant for you. Reading without consent and copying any of the parts will fall under plagiarism laws (Act. 123, 1976 Indian Penal Code)

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Dear Love,

I need somebody like you who love to get butterfly feeling in your tummy at this age as you felt when you were 16. Yes, you are that different.

You are different because you mean a lot to me. You are somebody who is more than my best friend because even with my best friend I feel incomplete, I feel empty, and I feel lonely. I want you to complement me with your wit, your fun, your humor, your sarcasm, and your love. I want you to fill in the empty space in my soul with your love like a perfect soul mate. I want you to justify the reason of my being on the earth by providing your beautiful company. Let you be a mate to fill me with joy, and to give me the most beloved company that I have only thought, cherished, and dreamt of.

A bit of humor and sarcasm zings up a life and I believe that you have it in you. You are like a bottle of wine which tastes good as it grows older and every sip of it takes me to cloud nine. I want you to be funny too to pep up our lives and I will be as funny as your best friend who tried to make you laugh hysterically by doing weird things when you were young.

I love to see you laugh and smile all the time because I love you. It gives me immense gratification and happiness to see you and to think about you wherever I am. Whatever the reason, if I could make you laugh and smile I would feel satisfied and content.

If you love to laugh and charge the people around you then you could fill in my heart with loads of laughter so that there is no space left for sadness. And sometimes we will sit and laugh and laugh together until the laughter gets our eyes wet. Your effervesce and bubbliness make me feel light and top of the world at all the places and all the times, so please be like this for eternity. I do not believe in cheesy romance but I do believe in respecting each others feeling and making others feel the importance that they behold in my life. Be blunt but soft and convey your compliments and complaints and I do the same by appreciating you. True, man is a social animal and deserves attention.

You never want to get old. You are always young, enthusiastic, and optimistic towards your life. You like to go to hikes; you want to spend a month in jungle away from everybody, just with the nature and me. You want to do a world tour and ready to live in different countries during different times in your life. You want to go out with me on a bike and do long tours for days.

You are social and confident to interact with my friends with grace in my presence and absence. You are independent to take care of the needs of the family when I am away. You do not take decisions on your own and so do I, unless it is a trivial decision.

You are sensitive towards people and emotions and respect them. You are intelligent enough to understand and interpret my thoughts related to life, profession, philosophy, etc. and to initiate and participate in such intellectual conversations sometimes. You are cleanliness and hygiene conscious (not a freak) and you are not messy in your manners.

You love nature and appreciate it. The flowers, the sun, the sea, the sand, the dawn, the dusk, and the moonlight.

You have the passion to live life and its every moment. And when I am down in life or traveling through troubled waters I look at you for your support and you are always there with me to hold my hand. Because you are my inspiration, my power, and my purpose. You are the world and you are the stars. You are infinite and you are absolute because you are just you.

Few words about me: I am as open minded as the open blue sky where the boundaries do not exist but still has the horizon to enclose the openness. I have dreams like stars in the sky, impossible to catch but bright and vibrant enough to keep me going and challenging me. I am down to earth also at the same time and do not make fun of people or discriminate between them on the basis of materialistic or other trivial things.

My sense of humor is something which I am indecisive about because I am bad at displaying it to new people but as I spend more and more time with them I tend to become wittier and funnier. I believe that my sense of humor is more personalized and contextual rather than cheap and trivial. I cannot talk bad puns as I consider myself a quite educate guy ;).
Brainy, hmmm I can say I am because the company I work for pays me for that stuff; I am not sure whether they have selected the right guy though.

Loyalty is mutual and if I love somebody by heart, I am hers by soul and body. Every cell and every tissue belongs to her and nobody else can claim it. That is my definition of loyalty. Is it your's too?

I am not a gay...I would like you to look as girly as you could so that you can melt my heart with your charm and magic. I would like you to look beautiful so that my friends envy me that I possess you. And I would ensure that you get the best of the dresses and the best of the perfumes to fill up my senses with your beauty and to make me feel proud of the woman who means a world to me.

I love hiking, nature, challenges, and adventure and know how to enjoy it. I want to do things which are sane but crazy. For e.g. going to antartica for vacations. Going to Leh on a bike, etc. I am not really fond of museums and religious places but if I have your company then the place doesn’t matter because I am lost in your world. I love swimming and I love water but I have never tried sea travel. Not sure whether I would get seasick, unless I go and try it.

Never tried Sushi but have heard a lot about it. I also love food and keep experimenting with new food from every part of the world. I love cooking and serving food on weekends and trying new and exotic recipes. I am an average cook but my friend says that I cook well. Whatever I cook I cook from my heart.

I try to do jog every alternate day to ensure that I could justify the beauty of my partner. I also hate fast food, that was the worst thing to happen on earth. I don’t even drink coke and Pepsi but just fruit juices.

I am liberal in my thoughts. I like watching, meeting, and talking to people and noticing details like kind of earrings, etc as I am a designer and was taught to be a detailing oriented professional. I am a good listener but I am not really into too much of talking. Sometimes I love silences because it can be comforting and give space to retrospect and introspect. But I can talk at lengths provided I am in a good mood. I am very inquisitive and ask many questions while talking. I literally create another person in my mind after getting all the answers and try to understand and predict their behaviors. I think helps me in my job where I have to understand users and clients mental models.

I love to travel with people whom I love, if that happens the journey becomes utopian.

I can come along shopping if you would like to. I am not really into movies and TV but I like to see parallel cinema. I like quality over quantity. I like all kinds of music until it sounds pleasing to my senses despite of its language. I love to read when I get free time. I don’t like fiction because I consider it as a waste of time, unless it is a book like Pride and Prejudice.

I like dark blue and metallic blue colors. I love animals though I feel sad to say that I eat them for food. I love children and they really look cute to me. I would like to have cute daughters one day.

I don’t do drugs unless doctor prescribes it :). I drink scotch and beer sometimes...I smoke occasionally.....but I have never taken drugs in life and nor do I have any intentions. I don’t wear glasses and I am a social drinker. I won’t take offence if I am not your type please don’t be upset if you are not of my type.

I don’t have a car and believe in public transport.

I am a good hearted person and will do everything to see your heart crushing smile. I am as adventurous as a lion who just rules despite of the territory and the shape and size of the prey. I am as patient as Himalayas, and will wait forever to read the reply of my mails, will wait for hours to meet you if we get along, will count all the people whom you kill consciously and unconsciously by your swift, charming moves in a fraction of second. If you have a test paper which I could write to prove that I have all such qualities then I would write it in blood to tell you that I care about you because I love you. And I would certainly get A+ in that.

I wrote whatever I had to say. I like the honesty and always return it back. You won’t regret meeting me at any point of time in your life. I think thoughts are above everything. Sex dies but emotions and thoughts are something that bind people together. Get back to me if you liked my honest opinion.

Things that we would do together: I love going out to have fun but not to a bar where I cannot look into your eyes in the smoky darkness, where I cannot listen your honey dew voice in the loud music, where I cannot feel you in the jungle of drunken human bodies. I would rather go out and watch a sunset with you, holding your hand and just looking at the sun so that I can mock him. “Look sun you are going but I still have somebody to lighten my life through the darkness that you are leaving behind.” We would go out together to plant saplings so that we can go every weekend to watch them grow as the love between us would grow. Yes we can do much better things than just cuddling and hugging each other on a couch....We can go out in a drizzle and just move our head upwards to taste the first rain..... We would write letters in hand and not in e-format like emails to add emotion to them....we will make our meals together rather than going out to dunkin donuts and buying it..... We would go to long drives just to ensure that you are there with me to share the distances.....sometimes we would just sit back and meditate to hear each other's souls.......We would sometimes go out and do social service together and come back with satisfaction and real happiness.

And when you would ask me to hold your hands in the fog worn winter evenings on the lonely road in our backyard, I would then just tease you with a light note........hey I am not 22 anymore :P

The Dusk

2006-07-27T03:03:00.000-07:00

I was waiting, to hear from you,
Came your call- honey, as a burst,
Now sipping together, a coffee or two,
Holding thou’ hands, celebrating the dusk.

Thy breaths are the winter rose,
Thy eyes are the holy ocean,
Thy hair is the china silk,
Thy talks are the magic potion.

Thy voice is the fresh honey,
Thy touch is the Midas touch
Thy smile is the spring season,
Thy words are the magic cut.

I’m scribbling and scrabbling hard,
To paint you real in my eyes,
Though colors you’ve taken away,
But my love for you never dies.

All these moments of tenderness,
Blue night and gentle breeze,
I wish if time could stop forever,
I wish if this world could freeze.

With two of us in virtual bliss,
I’d like to open my heart,
To speak out the truth and emotions,
Everything unhidden, playing my part.

But I’m bit afraid and scared,
In my moments of cloud nine,
Could upset and spoil your mood,
Saying love you one more time.

But you are the one, can’t loose you now
Where shall I go, where shall I dear?
You are my destiny and destination.
If not, let me drown myself in tears.

And when you’d go away from me,
When air would stink without musk,
When dreams of hope would shatter,
Dear I’ll cry and mourn for the dusk.

An Autobiography

2006-07-12T00:50:00.000-07:00

Suddenly I could feel the gentle-warm touch of another lady’s hand on me. She did a careful inspection from her soft nimble fingers and tried to feel me on her palms and hands. Her skin was soft and effused plentiful brightness of an afternoon sun. She looked into my body, and praised my beauty as mine eyes met her fun filled amber eyes. I shivered and felt the frenzy of excitement of finding a new home. The cheerful mood did not last long and I soon found myself in a profound state of despair. The amber eyed lady decided to not to take me home but a yellow and blue colored neighbor of mine. How could people buy cheap colors and leave maroon behind on the shelve?

I was hanging there, and I fluttered as I felt another strong gust of the freezing winter breeze on my body. Destiny seemed to show its back upon me once more and half of the winter had already gone just with a hope of finding a new home. I kept crying on that fateful chilly winter night and with each tear that parted my distressful eyes I lost one hope until I had none in my heart.

Sunrise brought me a new world of hope when Mrs. Biyani finally decided me to take home. It was a comfort ride in a new Corolla. The Biyani’s home was a small mansion in Indore. It was much better than the place I used to be. I spent my childhood days hanging on a road side small shop. I suffered all the atrocities and hostilities that no child would ever want to go through. Rash weather, air pollution, so many unwanted touches, vandalism, and the list is endless. As soon as I reached home Ms. Biyani (Later I found that her name was Khushboo) embraced me with the warmth that I had always wanted. She carefully felt me on her face and wrapped around her shoulders. I felt rattling quivers all over my body and the quest of finding my master seemed over. I was luckier to find a young girl like her. I named her as “Little Princess”. I spent my initial days in her intricately carved, neatly made, wooden cupboard. I was kept away from the sun, in the ever lingering smell of costly perfumes from Europe, in the cozy temperature of the lavish room. And I would always wait impatiently for my turn to be wrapped around to experience and sense the gentle warmth of her body. I despised the other wrap-arounds if they were chosen instead of me.

Luck always take turns and my happy days did not last long. Soon I heard that I would be going to Mumbai with my little princess. I had heard a lot about the place where the Indian peninsula kissed the Arabian Sea. Soon I found myself in a small house with two rooms. As I was hearing from the corner of the suitcase I could figure out that there were two other female voices – Nitika and Nidhi. The new place made my heart to pound with the obscure excitement mingled with subtle apprehension. I liked the place when I was taken out from the suitcase. Nidhi and Nitika quite liked my looks and I liked theirs. I knew they were in love with me the first time they saw me. Perhaps they were jealous of the princess for possessing me. At times Nidhi or Nitika would give a wishful glance at me in the solitude of the new acquired house of mine. They would come close to me, feel me, hold me, and wrap me around over their bodies in front of the mirror. I felt elated and found my soul on cloud number nine with so much of want and love all around me.

The two bedroom apartment soon got choked with the black smoke of conflicts and tensions amongst the three. The prominent personas of the three working girls clashed, cracked, shattered, and restructured themselves each time whenever they felt interference in their individualism. The new structure of the persona was always more accommodating from its predecessor. It was a kind of social evolution where personalities and individuals abrade each other and remove the acute, sharp, and penetrating traits to make everybody sociable and livable in a social structure. The girls also learned to live peacefully, in harmony, and in symbiosis. They had to…

I was brought to the office as the princess extra sensitive body and the soft tender skin could not bear the ruthless bursts of super cooled jets by the office’s AC system. I was ripped off of my home…sweet home…and had been placed in the alien corporate world. I saw managers, employees, professionals, support staff, and what not. The whole corporate dynamics became visible to me as I spent days…weeks….and months. The office was profusely bright outside but still gloomy inside, the sweet fragrance hanged around all the while but it was deadly suffocating, there were uproar and chaos during the peak hours but deep down it was silent, stoned, and cold as a dead body. I was hanged up on the back of the princess’s chair in that uncongenial chaotic space.

On their way to the canteen or to their friend’s place people would deliberately drop me down from the chair pitilessly when the princess was not around. Either they were jealous of my irresistible impressive looks or they had cultured a strange vengeance against me for no justifiable reason. They would inflict all sorts of tortures and barbarities on my vulnerable body and I suffered all the torments of the misfortunate - cleaning their dirty hands and face, stamping on my feeble body with dirty and filthy soles, treating me like a rag, using me to clean their desks and tables, or computer screens….and what not. The corporate inferno that was filled with infernals rendered me numb of pains, emotions, and fears. Nights were scary and chilly; the loneliness in the lonely hours was killing. I somehow waited for the nights though lonesome I was but still away from the infuriating experiences of the day. My tears dried and my heart metamorphosed to stone as I was left there to live my destined life.

All the while my princess had taken her eyes off me as she had found her world and her friends. She barely used me in the office.

I am still hanging there on the back of her chair with bruises all around, still trying to cruise through my cursed life, still I find a new hope every morning like a drop of dew. But as the day goes by and as I suffer through the devil’s hands once more, the hope fades away the same way as the drop of dew disappears in the rage of unforgiving sun. Anyway what I am just another shawl.

Hope that princess will read this and embrace me with love, once again.

Life In Delhi

2006-06-30T03:37:00.000-07:00

I finally started the lifeless life in Delhi. Finally I shifted to Saket, the happening place in Delhi but still the loneliness that crept in life has bleached my evenings and weekends. I realized the importance of friends around a man. Man is a social animal and everybody craves for company. I hope to have somebody soon around me, at least for the evenings, to interact, to talk to, to laugh with, to cry with, to share dreams, to have fun on Fridays.

Fridays remind me of TGIF that I explored alone in Gurgaon. The uncanny proximity of the guest house to the TGIF caused a tingling sensation in my body and my hypnotized footsteps just followed the way to it. It was a good hangout after coping with boredom in office and a good escape from the dead and depressing room in the guest house. I met some interesting people there. Sitting at the bar stool alone and wanting to talk to the other people sitting next to me I wondered if they also felt the same. We didn’t talk but I could hear the sad whispers of our loneliness talking with each other as they talked about our lives. Sometimes people cannot stop the urge to talk and we ended up talking trivial things or about the FIFA world cup 2006. Interesting it is that there are places where people can talk without knowing each other, without the formal introductions, without obligations, and without involving hearts and souls. It was good fun at TGIF and I made some friends including the bartenders. FIFA on big screen was good and the experience was enriched with the excellent environment at TGIF. The occasional bustling by the guests dispersed the thick cigarette cloud and replaced the perennial rustling whenever a goal is scored or missed. I missed so many people sitting there and I called them to feel protected and to overcome the insecurity that they were no more there for me. I missed Sriram, Anoop, Amol, Sarvesh, and all of them.

I met Alpi and I am heartily thankful to her for delaying her important task to meet me. That was my first evening in Delhi and I called her up to set up a dinner. We had some good talks and time over coffee and delicious Chinese food. I met Nitika also the following week. She looked pale, lean, and sounded low after she suffered typhoid for a month. Looked she was still recuperating from her weakness. She didn’t have anything because she was avoiding outside food for a few days. But it was good to meet her again and to talk to her.

28 June 2006 I met Sajag and Ritesh after two years and had good fun. Imagine meeting somebody after two years and loosing all the contact for those two years including mail ids and telephone numbers. Hats off to IIT Delhi that helped Sajag finding me in two days. No wonder that IIT is number one, their professional promptness really impressed me. We celebrated our get-together with VAT-69.

I am lucky and blessed to have great friends around me. Sarvesh, Khushboo, Nitika, and Nidhi have been so good to me and they have tried their best to help me out in fighting down with my solitude. Either they call me or I call them everyday and I get constant updates from them. I never felt that I am away from them. Sriram called me today from UK and we talked for 15 minutes. Finally he called after a long eon of silence.

Sarvesh called up on the eve of his last day at HFI. He sounded emotionally low and lost but I know that it happens with everybody. People go and people come but life goes on - sometimes affected, sometimes unaffected. He is still lucky to be around with friends in Mumbai.

Nidhi called up yesterday and it was good to hear her again. She was going to Chandigarh for a week to meet her parents. I wished if I could meet her here in Delhi but she landed today and it is Friday here and I am at office. Let me see if I could catch her while she would be going back. She has become such a good friend in such a short duration. Good thing about her is that she always sounded so friendly, positive, and full of life and energy. I could always sense the warmth and concern for me in her voice whenever I had a talk with her. It is always good to have such friends around you who make you to think about them because of their formidable traits.

I will never forget...

2006-06-15T03:28:00.000-07:00

The golden years are over…

After the big wave that swept everybody’s life including mine, life is settling down again and things are getting in order for one more time. Life in Gurgaon is boring but it would be too early to make such a radical decision. I miss life in Mumbai and the great friends that I had there. However, in retrospect, I think that it was my friends who made the place fun rather than the place itself. My two years in Mumbai was so exciting and fun that I am left enthralled every time I think about it.

The memories from Mumbai are so strong, powerful, and vivid that the imprints will remain embossed on the walls of my heart till the time it beats. I am indebted to my friends for the magnificent company that they provided during my two years of stay. As an expression of gratitude towards them I would like to write about all of them but I would restrict myself to few lines when time is the constraint.

I will never forget….

I will never forget Sarvesh Chinagi. Amazing man with magical powers and charisma, so simple yet so difficult to understand. He is somebody who will help you in all the possible ways with all the possible means around. I have already written about him in my previous blogs. Somehow he holds a magical resource for energy which continuously feeds him perpetual power and vigor to help people eternally. He is a great friend, somebody whom I can rely on, somebody who is trustworthy, somebody who is always smiling, and somebody who is always there for you. I can trust him blindly.

I will never forget Sriram Suryanarayanan. Another great friend who is always around you to help you out in your bad times and always there to celebrate in your good times. He is a fun company as he has the right mix of intellect and humor which makes him intellectual and interesting at the same time. He calls himself an experimenter but still keeps himself away from red meat. He is a great complainer and keeps grumbling about people, place, and relationships. We had many late night parties together where we partied till we got high over the drinks. The best thing about getting high is that it gets higher every next time.

I will never forget Neha Modgil. She is a great company to talk to. Bit snobbish and bit attitudinal but a long time friend of mine. I never had problems with her. She is very caring and smart. I have known her so much and have already written so much about her. She is one of the girls who have influenced me and my life. We have spent countless hours together talking philosophy, psychology, astrology, life, and relationships.

I will never forget Khushboo Biyani. She is another girl with whom I have spent maximum time in Mumbai. She is younger than most of us, just got out from the safe and caring shell of her family. She is more mature than her age but still have to learn a lot. She is great fun as she is adventurous, social, adaptable, and a great listener. She doesn’t talk much, so most of the times you are supposed to speak but she would lend you her ears. She is also a good company for parties but somehow thinks twice when it comes to expensive hangouts. What will you do with all the money you are saving Khushboo? She claims herself to be a good cook but will never invite you for food. I think she is too lazy to carry this hobby along. This is the perfect time for her to take up a new hobby else I keep on waiting for her lunch invitation.
She is admirable in her own ways. Her face exudes heart crushing cuteness which gets leveraged by the mole on her face. She has an amazing collection of earrings and dresses. This explains the fact that why do I like her dressing.
She is so different that she treated us with Krishana’s prasadam as her birthday treat. All the best BEE.

Your Words

2006-03-21T09:36:00.000-08:00

Your Words

Your words cut,
Your words heal.
Your words hide,
Your words reveal.

Your words ushered me,
To the silence of a dead soul.
Your words led me,
To the clamor of deafening ecstasy.
Your words walked me through,
Pangs of pains and heights of hope.
Your words made me,
Thoughtful, lively, cadaverous, and slushy.
Your words, your words, your words… matter a lot to me.

The Sanghai Weekend

2006-03-12T09:29:00.000-08:00

The Hot Dinner Served Coldly

Finally Neha invited me for the long awaited dinner. It was pending since her promotion. I had left asking her when I conjectured that she was in no mood of treating me. My speculation suffered the setback when she asked me about my availability for the dinner. I happily agreed and after pondering a lot she finally decided to treat me at Sheesha - a restaurant suggested by her friend. What a weird name for a restaurant. Sounds rather like dance bar than a restaurant to me. The 15 min auto trip extened to 25 when the auto stopped in the middle of the road. We had already expected such nuisances for our dinner trip. Mysteriously our dinner outings had a bad past attached to it.

Finally we reached Seesha, Huma. It was an open terrace restaurant with neatly done decor. The gray stone floor had high and low areas. Lower areas of the floor were filled with white marble gravels spread casually over to make the floor height even everywhere. It created a gray and white pattern on the floor and looked overly done. I could feel the gravels touching my toes and making a lousy sound as I made my way through the sea of gravels. The floor was different but definitely not impressive. As I sat on the table I could saw red napkins and traditionally designed heavy brass cutlery to serve the food. Neha was sitting on the chair kept next to mine on a table made for four. The breeze was gentle and cool but with a smell of gasoline pollutants to remind me that it was still a weekday. I asked Neha to place the order for me as well, because it was her treat. She delighted me with Mutton Korma, Mushrooms, Pineapple Raita, Tandoori Roti, and Sweet Lime. Food was definitely tasty.

We were together for the dinner but somehow we did not speak much. Most of the time both of us were silent and appeared contemplating about our own worlds. I tried reading her face by extending the length of my causal glance at her to figure out what was she thinking but I did not interpret much about her thoughts. I realized that her face was not exuding the affable warmth and the affectionate smile that she generally carried. Her body language was definitely not of a genial host's. I found her miles away from me in the physical proximity of three feet. Either the dinner was forced on her or she had something else going in her mind which made the dinner cold though it was served hot.

I dropped her at Jalvayu thinking that I would miss her for next ten days when she would be in Sanghai. Somehow, this time I did not like saying her good-bye for so long. Why do we need to say good-byes to our near and dears? Is there a way out of it? I was feeling forsaken by her. My heart was grave and grim. Was she becoming important to me?
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Unpredictable Saturday

3 p.m., my phone ring awakened me from the afternoon nap and the display read ‘Neha Calling’. My sleepy eyes came out from the sockets seeing her name. Not that she was calling me for the first time but the timing was unpredictable and unusual. She should have been flying over China at that time. I jumped off my bed in sheer disbelief as the sleepiness got conquered by anxiety. I found her on the line and she informed me how she missed the flight and could not pass the immigration. She had to come back and would fly again only on Monday. Somehow I felt happy about this bad news. The same corner of my heart which felt grave and grim a day before, had paroxysms of intense joy.

Afternoon I had personal work and went to Andheri. My friends left for town and when I came back at 5 p.m. nobody was around to sit and chat. Two hours 5-7 p.m., I was discovering ways to kill my solitude. For the fast time in Mumbai I felt lonely in this maximum city. There were numerous folks around me but there was nobody to talk to. There were places to go out but there was no company to ask for. I felt miserable and helpless in the deafening silence of solitude. There was nobody to break this eternal silence when I decided to call Neha. She was supposed to go to town but lucky I was because she did not. She was in the office and I was within fifty meters. I had never felt so happy after seeing her. Reasons were pretty obvious - firstly her being there with me when I was craving for a company, secondly I got the company I love to be with, though unexpectedly.

She looked elated as we greeted each other and exchanged smiles. We decided to go to our favorite place - CCD to grab a mug of coffee. We sat for two hours as time flew lightning fast. We have discussed so much about our lives over coffee that sometimes I wonder what had happened if coffee would not have been discovered. After a very long time I saw her in jovial mood that day. Her dulcet laughter echoed in the clamor of the coffee house and lingered in my ears till it was replaced by another one. As she drank the coffee, she untied, and again tied her hair with her hair pin clenched between her teeth.

We also talked about her long awaited music system and I suggested her to buy a Sony A-Z series. She was so much happy and lively that she unexpectedly decided to buy one - the very next day, and asked me to help her for this. I like shopping electronic equipment and gadgets. It keeps me updated about the electronics market. I welcomingly accepted the invitation. We finished our drinks and paid the bills. I left her home once again and she told me a new story once again as she always did whenever I left her back home. Kudos to her tenacious memory.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sunday Shopping

I reached her place at 11 a.m. and we set to Andheri to buy her music system. After a lot of discussion we decided for Sony AZ5DRS component system. Amazing quality and slick looks. The shopping finished so fast that the rest of the day looked long. Neha wanted to go to ISKON temple but I did not like her idea. Going to a temple with a girl looked like a Hindi movie script to me and I always hated it. Religious places to me are for married couples while singles should confine themselves to malls, movie theatres, coffee houses, and restaurants. Nobody should breach their territories. Luckily the temple was closed; perhaps God also had accepted this unwritten and unspoken law of territory distribution. Unanimously we agreed upon a movie and went to Fame Adlabs. We had not decided for any movie and we were open to any movie around 3’O clock – the time we reached there. Luckily we found ‘Crash’ at 3:30.

After finding that we had enough time for lunch we decided to have food at Pappi Parantha’s. What a horrible decision was that. Never in my life, I was sold a deep fried stuff as parantha. Those exorbitantly priced horrible paranthas were difficult to finish. Oil was dripping and trickling all around the paranthas and we actually used tissues at times to soak extra oil. But our attempts were rendered futile as we found more and more oil oozing out of the pores. I tried my hands at lassi that I had ordered, only to figure out that it was nothing but sweet curd. Unaware of the consistency, I used the straw to suck in but I had to try so hard that my lungs got squeezed and stuck to the walls of ribcage. Still I didn’t get anything in my mouth. Finally I had to use spoon to EAT the lassi. I cursed the place which was fooling poor Mumbaites by serving filthy stuff in the name of Punjabi food. Probably, the place had started giving nightmares to so many people who went there for Punjabi food. They would never touch Punjabi food again, thinking how lousy it was.

I lurched around the theatre before the movie when I was talking to my friend. I could not find Neha. I looked around everywhere but she had disappeared. Far in a remote corner I saw her sitting and enjoying music. Today again she looked jovial and gay and I felt happy for her. The clouds of darkness seemed to be disappearing giving way to the golden sunlight of life. And that day she was there with me mentally and physically in the proximity of three feet.

Disintegration

2006-02-24T08:34:00.000-08:00

Friday evening, I am sitting at home at 10'O clock. Two reasons - I wanted some solitude and some time for myself, to introspect, to retrospect, and to decide on my future course. The other reason is that I do not want to drink which was inevitable had I stayed at Sriram's place. I had no reason to say "No" to them. My two months resolution to abstain from alcohol got over the next day to valentine's. I celebrated it with wines and champagnes from Europe and how can I not mention one large peg of all time favorite Old Monk. Today I could have drunk once again had I not made my mind to come back home.

Anyway, I cannot avoid or prevent it for long. Anoop is leaving for US and I know I have to drink with him before he leaves. I could have broken my resolution to drink our last few drinks. We had drunk a lot together and had a quality time. Today when he is leaving our group and going to US we cannot avoid gettting together again to celebrate the good time that we had together.

It is a depressing moment that he is leaving our group and we are missing a friend. The best thing about coming to Mumbai and joining HFI is to get friends for life. For almost two years we have been living in different houses but sharing the same affable space. Living our own lives but concerned and cognizant about each other's life. Even the most trivial things had become special with them around. The bitter and sweet memories that we have had, have been rendered for eternity on the walls of my heart. He is leaving us - is something difficult to believe. The group is breaking, it's disintegrating and in the process friends are going away. Everybody wants to go for his new life and when he does, he leaves behind his past, which keeps hovering around the friends left behind. One by one everybody would leave and the group will disappear. I guess this is the last best group that I am seeing and experiencing. In a year or so most of us will be married and once you are married your wife becomes your first priority. The saddest part is that we will be living in different countries across various time zones. I guess within next six months the group would disappear and each of us would assume a new life and new group.

My guess as of today:
Anoop: USA
Sriram: Canada
Sarvesh: Europe -> India
Amol: USA
Praveen: Europe -> USA

Friends far apart but friends for life. Atleast we can go to any continent with confidence and for a reason, which is nothing better than meeting an old friend.

Had a chat with Neha today. She is coming for a week and leaving for Sanghai. I guess this would be her second last week in Mumbai and she will also leave to Bangalore. Though I did not spend much time with her in Mumbai but she was a good friend when I was in Delhi. We had different worlds here in Mumbai and we rarely met and talked. We thought not to disturb each other's life and we were happy that way. Except the past four months when we started talking again. Anyway, once she leaves Mumbai she will also start her life afresh like Anoop. Only the past that she would leave behind will keep hovering around me to realize that she is not there....

Life at Cross Roads

2006-02-19T23:09:00.000-08:00

Today when I am scribbling down, lots of changes have taken place in my life. Life is nothing but a synonym of uncertainty. We dream, we desire, we plan, we hope, and we start working towards it, thinking we have found our goal, soon to realize that destiny has something else to offer. All dreams shatter, all desires change, all plans fail, all hopes become despair and we fall down again to face the harsh cruel reality.

The weekend was not really exciting. I had movies to see but did not really get time to watch. Important matters of life overruled all trivia that had to happen. Saturday went lightening fast over the discussions of the script and a long rejuvenating sleep that ended with some tea at a dhaba opposite IITB. Saurabh, and Sriram accompanied me. We discussed grave matters about life. Luckily I had the right company at the right time. Life has come to crossroads now and everybody is worried as to where to go. There are two ways to live – follow your dreams or dump your dreams.

I have decided to choose the first option. I will follow my dreams and now do not care who is coming along with me and who is not. The conversation at the tea was really something important. Three guys determined to pursue their dreams. I am happy to see that we could muster the courage to take the risk and to give it a shot. 99% of the people otherwise dump their dreams in the pursuit of comfort and sustenance.

Sarvesh wants to start something of his own and is waiting for the right moment and opportunity.
Amol wants to go for MBA and perhaps later wants to start his own business to become a rich man.
Sriram wants to travel all around the world and in the process wants to capture his travel on his camera.
Anoop wants to go to US and wants to start his own life. He perhaps wants to be in Usability only.
Neha wants to do something for the society but I doubt it :). Money is something which is very difficult to get away with. Social service is not a good idea to make money. I hope she will find a mid-way.
I want to start my production house to produce documentaries for NatGeo, Discovery, etc... These are the dreams of today. Life is so unpredictable. It changes every moment and so our dreams.... Let’s see who gets what? May God bless all of us. We will win the world. :)

The major turnaround that happened last week was to get in touch with Sheetal Agarwal. She is a documentary filmmaker who is down to earth, without ego and attitude. I would be more than happy and grateful to assist her. Soon we are going to start something in that direction. I am waiting for her to get in touch with me with her itinerary about her film. Once I get my directions I will start working on it – something I am excited about.

The other small time fiction movie that we are trying “The loss of Golden Silence” is going good but has become slow. Our jobs eat up most of the time we get. I think we should be done with our script this week. I am excited about this project and in particular looking it as a learning. I am sure it would not be that easy as we had visualized when we started. The good thing is that the team is enthusiastic about its completion and it is really heartening to see such dedication, commitment, and energy in abundance. Akriti, Sriram, Shaurya, Saurabh, and I are making it possible by contributing in the best way we can.

Days have become so small that it leaves only a little time for me. My guitar practice, my jogging, and my reading, everything is suffering and have gone for a toss because of this time crunch. So many things to do in such a small life. I wish if I had a million years of life to follow my dreams.

Some people are important to me in my life. When they are not around me I feel restless and anxious. I wait for them, to hear them, to see them, to fill in my space with them. They on the other hand, do not even get the clue of this or sometimes just act ignorant and innocent. Sometimes I try to fool myself that they don’t matter to me and I don’t care about them. Fake consolations are a blindfold that can hide the memories from the past but cannot stop the outcries of the heart to reach our ears. We all are pretentious in some way or the other. We all are good actors to hide our emotions and to fake emotions when we react. And we bury our true emotions in the grave of ego, self-respect and pride. The persona we wear is not our true self but something which this world wants us to look like. How long would we live this false life for others and for what?

My Republic Day Weekend

2006-01-29T06:41:00.000-08:00

And Basanti did not get painted...

It is in human nature to do everything first and take pride in it. Same emotions motivated me to get the tickets for Rang De Basanti. I also wanted to see the movie the first day itself and to describe it later on to the people who are lethargic in taking actions. But sometimes you have to pay for it when you try to churn out things faster than the normal pace.
I wanted to make my Republic day different by starting my guitar classes and to make Rang De Basanti (RDB) possible. I was going to attend my first guitar class with Anoop and Sarvesh. On our way to the class around 10:30 am when we reached near Huma we decided to buy the tickets. Sarvesh and I rushed towards the counter. It was crowded with people desperate to get the tickets before they sold off. I found myself on cloud nine when I got the tickets in my hand.
At 11 pm everybody got assembled at the theatre. We walked to the gate wearing the arrogance of the first day movie watcher. The guard stopped us and gave us a shock of our life when he told us that there was no show at all at 11:30. I ran towards Sarvesh and tried to get the glimpse of the tickets that were visible through the small opening of the black blanket created by the anxious heads. Timing was same except the AM and PM indication, which was overlooked by our excited eyes in the morning. Eyes see what our mind wants to see. We did not get to see the Basanti but we got the experience to live for our lifetime.

Leave me alone!!!

Saturday I came to office as usual to charge my mobile but found Neha’s name in the muster. I as a good friend decided to go back home without disturbing her from her work. I asked the guard to get the charger for me. I did not go inside to disturb her. It is a bad habit to intrude and I never do that. I wanted to meet her and bid hello but refrained myself from it. Day before yesterday she had decided to be left alone on her own and not to be disturbed by anybody. I do not mind her finicky decisions, whimsical nature, impulsive attitude, and wavering temperament between cycles of bad, good, depressing, and happy moods. I know her state of mind. She is going through the hardest times of her life and finds it difficult to decide between good and bad. She needs a friend right now who can be just there with her, to listen her, to speak to her, to laugh with her, to cry with her, to consoler her, and to make her smile and happy. I try to do that whenever I go with her. I try to not to let our conversation dry, try hard to let it go, try to throw jokes and doing stupid things, try hard to not to leave her alone by having dinners and movies her. I wanted to do all this on Saturday also but I left her alone in the gloomy office working alone without even leaving a note of my presence. Did I do a right thing by taking her “leave me alone” advice seriously? Only time will tell…I have known her only for five years. Very short time to know somebody.

The Power of "No"

It was another causal evening walk with Neha when I asked her about “Rang De Basanti” for the weekend. Sometime back she only gave me the idea to watch this movie together. She gave me a firm “No” leaving me perplexed and baffled. Girls go by instincts rather than intellect. Though I could not see the rational in her reply but she justified it with philosophical words like, “stop pushing, leave alone, need time, don’t make it hard for me”. Sometimes I think whether she did psychology or architecture. God what did I do? Just asked for a movie, which was already planned. Since I asked for it, I invariably had given her the power of saying “No”. I realized the power of “No”. Infact she made me to realize that power. Not all “No’s” can become powerful. A “No” from an acquaintance is never powerful because you invariably prepare yourself to listen it. A “No” from a friend” is more powerful than an acquaintance. It gets powerful and more powerful as we hear it from a good friend, a very good friend, lover, fiancée, and ultimately our spouse. It becomes powerful, as the relationship with the person gets stronger. Strong relationship means more trust and dependence.
Powers if not used carefully and cautiously can be destructive and fatal. It goes with the power of saying “No” also. If there is only “No” in a relationship then it signals its end. It should be balanced with “Yes” to counter the power of “No”.
I realized from the experiences of my life that there is no power in saying “No”. You need to be powerful to say, “Yes” not a “No”. “No” is a quick escape route from a situation while “Yes” require you to fight and deal with the situation. “Yes” brings in love, respect, and trust while a “No” brings you hatred, shame and distrust. In your conscience also you feel good after making somebody happy and you feel bad after making him or her sad. You need not to be powerful to say a “No” but for a “Yes” you have to have the powers to control the situations that arise after that. Only a coward will say a “No” and runaway from the situation. A fighter will always accept the challenge.I knew that she needed some time for herself after looking into her eyes. I decided to give up. The good thing that I took out from the discourse that we had was the analysis of “Yes and No” - Two extremes but so close. She is a very sweet girl with a kind heart. She never hurt somebody knowingly. She will become the same person good person soon whom I knew once. It is just a matter of time.

The Golden Mango - Story of Life

2006-01-26T05:46:00.000-08:00

Piyush jumps off the bed. His face is all wet as a result of profuse perspiration. He is still perplexed and gasping. The dream was reality or the reality was dream? He is trying hard to get his answer. He pinches himself on his wrist and bellows in pain. “So, it was a dream.” He smiles as he thinks about it.

“Wake up my son. I have come here to give you a boon. Can you see this sapling in my hands?” says God.
“Yes, God” says Piyush after seeing a small sapling of a mango tree. It has three small leaves that look tender and small.
“Take this sapling and it will give you a golden mango when it becomes a tree, only if you planted it in the magical land.”
“But God, where is that magical land? And, and… how do I find it?” asks Piyush faltering in curiosity.
“Go north. Meet new people. Make new friends. One day you will certainly find your destination.” says God calmly with his eyes closed. “The owner of the magic land and you will be the most powerful and happy person on the earth. The person will provide you the magical land and you will provide the sapling. Together you will gain from it. But remember, the sapling will be ineffective at any other place until you find the right one. ” Continues God cautioning him from the perils of disobedience.
“Thank you God.” Piyush closes his eyes.
God’s aura starts growing. Getting more and more stronger and intense every second. God is no more visible and becomes a silhouette in the foreground of divine white blinding aura. The aura increases so much that the place becomes warm. He sees himself standing in the core of that hot and blazing aura. He starts perspiring heavily. It is getting hotter and hotter for him. He wants to run away from the place. He wants to open his eyes. His breaths have become faster and faster. He opens his eyes...

Piyush causally gets up to start his new day but his body becomes stoned as he sees something weird and uncanny. “Am I still seeing the dream?” he asks himself unable to believe his eyes. The wall opposite to the bed has a small temple. Today the temple has a new gift in it.
Afraid of touching it, he moves his finger gently to touch and feel the tender leaves to make sure that they are real.

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“ Megha, Megha, Megha…” She can feel her body trembling as she listens to her name. She opens her eyes lazily to find Meera’s face. Her younger sister is trying to wake her up by screaming aloud and shaking her vigorously at the same time. Megha gets angry with Meera. “You have spoiled my dream. I was conversing with God and I was in the middle of the conversation when you interrupted. Why did you want me to wake up?” asks Meera with a furious look. Meera tries to reason it out by saying that probably God wanted you to tell only half of the dream.
“What was the dream about?” asks Meera with an innocent look of a thirteen years old girl in her eyes.
“God told me about a place in our back yard just adjacent to the stable. He said that it has magical powers. He told me that I could plant a mango sapling on the magical land. The tree will bear the fruit only once. The fruit of the tree would be a golden mango. The golden mango would make me the most powerful and happy girl in this world. The God was completing his golden words but you woke me up. You are such a knotty girl,” says Megha teasingly. “Ok let’s go and see the magical land.” She finishes the sentence while running towards the stable.

Megha buys a mango sapling and plants it early in the morning only. She puts some water and manure to make sure that she gets the golden mango as a fruit. Megha religiously waters it, takes care of it, and makes sure that it is safe from cattle. Within three days the sapling gets it roots. She sees the leaves turning to golden green from green. Megha sits for hours there seeing the plant and leaves as they grow. Her eyes keep switching between reality and the dreams that she weaves sitting near the sapling. She thinks about her good future, happy life. She feels powerful and her heart fills in with conceit for a moment as she brisks away the momentary feeling of vanity away from herself. Taking care of the sapling and dreaming about her future with the golden mango becomes her daily routine. And the days go on…

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Piyush heads towards North. He keeps walking in unexplored places, meeting new people, and making new friends. The exile makes him self-dependent, mature, and an experienced person. He has known thousands of people; hundreds of people are his friends. He boasts hundreds of languages as he has seen half of the earth.
One fine day he sits in a garden to take a small break just to realize the fact that how fast he has spent his three years. He doubts himself, thinking whether he is going the right way by following the dream. A span of three years is quite a long time to test the endurance. The clouds of uncertainty surround him. He feels discomfort, dubiety, and fear about himself. Holding the sapling and looking at it he thinks about his conversation. Perhaps the God has listened him.
Sound of footsteps over the thin cover of autumn leaves across the path brings Piyush back to his senses. He sees a beautiful girl walking carelessly to her home. Her beauty mesmerizes him. The glow and color of her skin is as fresh and radiant as a newly blossomed rose. He runs after her and pats on her shoulder as he reaches behind her. Megha looks back at the Piyush and observe the mango sapling in his hand.
“Hello! My name is Piyush and I am new to this place. I am looking for an inn. Can you guide me lady?” he utters his words while panting.
“It is right there down the road. Go straight and ask for dharamshala. If you do not mind young man, who are you? What is this mango sapling for?” Megha asks interrogatively in a single breath. “By the way my name is Megha.” She completes her sentence.
“I am a traveler. I have been traveling for last three years. I am heading for an unknown destination. The sapling that I am holding is a special sapling. It will fructify and will give me a golden mango. I am looking for a magical land. God has asked me to find the magical land to plant it. Since then I have become a nomad and wandering in unknowns of my life.” explains Piyush.
“Good to know that. Is it fine if I meet you tomorrow in the evening? Your sapling story sounds interesting. I will like to hear more about it.” Says Megha as she becomes numb and petrified after hearing this. She gets insecure of her magical land.
“Sure, you are welcome any time.” says Piyush smiling and thinking about his newly discovered friend.

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As usual Megha walks to the backyard and sits there looking at the full-grown tree. She has been taking care of it daily without fail. The leaves are golden now and shine brightly in the sunlight. Megha is waiting for the spring after two years to come to see the first flower that will lead to the golden mango. Megha sits in front of the tree and adores it. All these three years she has been talking everything about herself and her life to the tree. They are like friends who sit together, share their laughter and pains and continue living life.
Today when Megha is sitting there she is insecure and afraid of the traveler. The traveler is looking for her magical land. She thinks that the traveler would take away the golden mango away from her. She decides to talk to the traveler the next day. She goes again in the utopian world of dreams of the golden mango.

Next day Piyush sees Megha walking towards him as she appears like a goddess of gold in the light of golden dusk.
“Hello! It is so nice to see you again, Megha.”
“Nice to see you. I have some questions for you. Will you answer those questions?” Asks Megha as she looks at Piyush in doubt.
“Sure. I will. The good news is that I have decided to stay in your village for sometime. What do you want to ask?” questions Piyush.
“I want to ask you about the sapling.” Megha makes herself clear.
”What about that? I have already told you the story of the sapling and my motive of being here. There is nothing beyond this.” Piyush shrugs his shoulder.
“Piyush if I would tell you that I have the magic land and I already have a tree which is going to be fructify soon, what will you say?” Megha finally reveals the secret.
“Oh my god! I have found my destiny finally. Let me thank god, the universe, and all the holy souls to make this possible.” Says Piyush in the deluge of excitement that overwhelms his senses and he starts crying. “Let us plant this sapling and get the golden mango to become the most powerful and happy duo. Take me to your house and show me the magical land.” asks Piyush looking into her eyes.
“Don’t get excited Piyush. I already have a full-grown tree in my house. It has golden leaves and within two years it will fructify to give me the golden mango. I do not want to share my golden mango with anybody. I don’t know who told you about the magical land but I am sure that you are trying to get a share in my golden mango. I have worked hard for three years and will wait for two more years. I am not going to share it with anyone. It is mine and only mine.” Says Megha possessively.
“No, Megha you are wrong. Only the sapling that I have and the magical land that you have can result in the golden mango. Cut the tree and plant the new sapling.” Piyush tries to reason it out.
“You want to kill me? I have put in my heart and soul for three years. It is not a tree for me. We lived together and we died together. It is my soul and you are asking me to part myself from it. If it is not a golden mango tree then why the leaves are golden? You are a beguiler. You are trying to make me fool. I am not going to listen to you. You have come here with wrong intentions and I am not going to believe you. Do not interfere in my life. Stay away and let me live waiting here for the golden mango. I have faith in God and I know that I will get what I want.” Speaks Megha crying and sobbing.
“Ok Megha, if you want you can wait. I respect your faith in God and hard work. I cannot justify the golden colors of the leaves. Perhaps your hard work and trust have made them golden. But I am sure that it will not give you the golden mango. I will still keep the sapling. Perhaps there may be more people with the magical land. I need to find them now.” Adds Piyush.

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He comes back to his new abode that is not far from Megha’s house. From the terrace he could see the stable and the golden mango tree adjacent to it shining white in full moon light. He cries and doubts the Almighty. He has wandered for three years and when today he was so close to the end he was parted by the destiny from his goal.
He goes to bed late in the night. He is thinking about Megha, her golden tree, his sapling, and the golden mango of power and happiness.

Piyush perspires again as he sees the aura coming down in his room. The God is back to console and to give him a new direction in the moments when he feels completely lost and unfocussed.
“I know what happened with you. Piyush you still keep the sapling, as tomorrow is uncertain. Take these keys. Seven seas and seven mountains away there is a country. The keys will help you in opening the palace in the country capital. People are waiting for their king to return with the keys. You will get power but I am not certain about happiness.” God says calmly.
“Uncertain? How can God be uncertain?” questions Piyush.
“Son, there exists numerous relationship between people. Every relationship is unique. Golden mango and keys are just a way to find these relationships. Since the ways of finding these relationships are different, they are going to be different. You were destined to get golden mango because the stars and the universe had set it for you. Keys to the palace are not your destiny but just an alternative to the golden mango. So you cannot expect everything from the keys. I hope you understand?” asks God.
“Yes I think so.” The God disappears as Piyush thanks him.

Piyush keeps the sapling aside in the morning and looks at the key. He dreams with the keys the same way Megha does with the tree. He dreams himself sitting in the palace ruling the world with treasures and diamonds.
He changes his way to his house to avoid any interaction with Megha. Megha also forgets Piyush soon and gets back into her life. She is getting impatient to see the golden mango. Two years have passed like a gust of wind.
Megha is excited today about the tomorrow, when the tree will fructify. She tries to sleep hard suppressing the exuberant feelings pumping her heart frantically. Her dream is going to fulfill soon.
Early morning she gets up and runs in the direction of tree. She yells at the top of her voice as the mango is missing. The tree was left with the small stem holding the mango. She searches the ground crying at the top of her voice but does not see the mango. The dreams shatter, the hard work and faith turn to mistrust. The five years of rewarding wait suddenly looks like a precious time flown away. Megha breaks down. She sits on the ground, as she feels too weak and powerless to stand. She loses her faith in this world. She keeps herself aloof and cries everyday for the golden mango.

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Mehga strongly believes that she has lost the golden mango. Though Piyush believes that it cannot be a golden mango because he has the original sapling. Since nobody has seen it nobody knows whether it was the golden mango or just another mango. Nobody knows the truth.
Megha tries to sleep as the tears are not stopping. The room becomes silent and she can hear her own breaths. She sees the aura descending in her room. The God is back.
“Why did you do this to me? I had put my golden years and I get back this. The mango is stolen. What will I do now? My heart says that it was the golden mango but Piyush denies it and says that it must be an ordinary mango. What do you say? God, please tell me the truth.” Cries Megha.
“Don’t cry Megha. The mango is gone. You have not seen it but you worked hard for it. You had put your self and soul in it and if you think that it was the golden mango then you must be right. I don’t know because sometimes God also misses few things. Piyush believes in his sapling that is why he thinks that the mango was normal. Since the mango is gone it does not matter whether it was golden or normal. You still have the magical land; there is a sapling within hundred kilometers that will give you the golden mango. If you can find it you will be powerful and happy again. But let me tell you that the person with the sapling will also become powerful and happy like you. You have to share it with that person.” And the God disappears.

Piyush and Megha start talking after this. Megha wants somebody who can understand the concept of the golden mango. Only Piyush understands it. They talk for hours and she finds solace as she slowly tries to recover from the debacle. They make a good company and they talk everything.
After a few days Piyush hesitatingly asks, “What would you do with the magical land?” He is really careful not to offer the sapling to her. He feels that he has already offered the sapling to her so this is her turn to ask for it. She has to feel the need for it from inside. Though somewhere in his heart he wants to offer his sapling. The mind defeats the heart as it reminds him of the keys to the kingdom and more magical lands. Piyush knows that the keys cannot bring him happiness. He is also unsure of finding more such lands. His soul is wavering between his mind and heart.
Megha knows that she still has the magical land and she just needs to find the sapling within hundred kilometers. Her heart wants to try the sapling that Piyush has but the mind reminds her that he is a cheat and above all asking for the sapling will label her as immature in making right decisions. Her mind thinks, “Why to go for a withered sapling when she can get a fresh new one.” Again the mind defeats the heart.

“I have the magical land. I will ask my father or look myself for it again. I am sure that my father will get me my golden mango sapling. I don’t have the patience to choose, test and try the sapling again. Let me tell you one more thing Piyush, do not remain in dark that I would ask for your sapling because I don’t trust you and also the sapling that you have is withered and of no use.” Megha makes her plans clear to Piyush. She is still uncertain of the new sapling that she will plant after she or her father gets one for her.

Piyush and Megha exchange their smiles. Bid good-bye to each other to start their new lives.

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Two God-man are seeing all this from the heaven. One becomes uncomfortable after seeing all this. He says, “Why people are so myopic and short-sighted? Both Piyush and Megha have been brought together for some reason. God has given them so many clues. One has magical land and the other has the mango sapling. Their vibes match. They do not repel each other. God has made them to live close to each other so that they can understand each other. Still both of them have different feelings and plans.
Piyush thinks that he will find more magical lands. He is also relying on the keys that would not bring him any happiness. Megha on the other hand thinks that she would find another sapling though still unsure of the golden mango. Nobody is listening to the voice of heart. What do people want? Do they want God to come and give the golden mango in hands”?
The other god-man smiles, “You are unnecessarily worrying. That is the reason why they are human and not god-man like us. They do not understand that if they have complementary dreams then there is a meaning and reason behind it. The day human will start listening to their hearts and defeat their evil and wicked brains they will become God-man like us.”

Things to do before 30

2006-01-24T00:31:00.000-08:00

My trip to home for 15 days justifies my absence from my blog. I came back and then became busy with trivia. I have got so many things to pen down after this absence.

Delhi & SPA Dinner (Jan 5, 2006)
To see Delhi after a long break was very pleasant and nostalgic. As I was taking the route from the airport to IIT I walked through my past. I saw myself strolling in the streets that I had left. I saw myself busy shopping for project in the market. I saw myself talking to Shakeel Bhai in Munirka, the welder guy who had helped me with my major project. I saw myself working out in the park opposite to IIT hostel gate. I saw myself having amazingly tasty hot paranthas with butter at small time makeshift shops adjacent to the IIT boundary. As auto entered IIT I saw myself walking carelessly hand in hand with my girl friend. I saw myself having late night chats with her on the library stairs in the cool gentle breeze and sipping coffee together. I saw myself working late night in studios and having beer with Blessen and Ashish in the junkyard using staff’s heater and utensils to boil eggs. I saw myself working on my computer and finishing assignments in the nick of time. I saw myself talking for hours on the hostel reception with my girl friend. And the list goes on. I lived the past again. The experience was so intense and overwhelming that the present became fuzzy and blurred. I hallucinated in the daylight.

In the evening I had my dinner plans with Alpi, Abhishek, and Nitika. I met them in Saket. I saw them after a year and a half. Nobody was changed except Abhishek who was sporting long hair with pony. Both Alpi and Nitika had put on woolen caps, jackets and sweater to keep them warm. The girls looked very cute in their woolen caps.I always liked and admired Nitika for some strange uncanny reasons. Probably she always looked guileless, craft less, and innocent to me. Earlier when I used to go to SPA I was involved emotionally with somebody else and could never saw her magic and charm. That day I looked her from a fresh eye as I was devoid of any relationship. She really looked beautiful to me. Her eyes were radiant and shiny and again looked sinless. Her face was glowing with the freshness that she disported all the time. She really made me to look at her again. I guess that she falls in the category of girls who would not come close to you but also would not go far, approachable yet maintaining distance.

We had dinner at a Chinese place - Buddha delight with steamed rice was really tasty. Out of an impulse Abhishek asked me my height because Nitika is taller than me. He then told me that I did not qualify for her because I was 5’ 7’’. I did not understand his motive to ask that. Was it to tease her or did he see the momentary likeliness that I had developed for her. Nitika was sitting next to me on the table. In fact Abhishek’s statement worked as a catalyst for the feeling that was lingering in my mind. I am somebody who is not worried of traditions. I am always ready to take liberties with age, height, caste, and creed. That moment I wished I should know her a little. In my heart I had answered the question to myself that it was not a matter of physical features but about understanding mental behaviors. Only if I knew her more than what I knew her that day. Only if I had realized that feeling sometime back when I was in Delhi, life could have been different. But life never gives you second chance. I knew that the moment was gone. I might never meet her again. But that day I felt weak and feeble. Why do we always take wrong decisions in life? Why do we run after people who show us attitudes and apathy? I need to look for an answer for these questions.

However, the momentary infatuation with Nitika ended the moment she left for her hostel. Alpi, Abhishek and I ended our dinner with a coffee at Barista.

At Home
Being at home is a nice feeling. Surrounded with your parents and siblings gives a feeling of security and warmth of love. I was showered with mouth-watering luscious delicacies for lunches and dinners. I was eating so much during my stay that my time in the toilet doubled.
It refreshed myself and gave me time to introspect. I chalked my life again from my parent’s perspective just to found that leaving them alone in India was not a good idea. I thought about myself to found that I should become stable and settled. I made a note of all the people who were there in my life and figured out my compliance with them. My friend Marie told me once that if your best friend is unmarried when you are 35 then you should ask her for marriage. Fortunately Marie had no intentions to marry till she was 35 so I was kind of safe. I liked her idea to get married to a friend. But in India no girl would wait till she is 35. As I thought about stability I thought about potential females around me.
I cooked up so many stories and dumped them. I planned so many plans and erased them. Every morning brought me a new idea and every evening signaled the end of the idea. It just went on and on till I returned here in Mumbai.

Bee kidnapped? (Jan 20, 2006)
I was sitting late in the office for a call. Sarvesh was sitting with Sarit and Saurabh when they were jamming. After the jamming session when we were leaving for our home, Khusboo requested us to drop her. Being gentlemen we agreed and while we were walking to get the car she proposed for a long drive. We hesitatingly agreed to this proposal also. By the time we left it was already 1 am in the morning. We set for an unplanned destination thinking aloud to make sure that we were following known routes. Think aloud lead us to Bandra. We were talking lazily half slept when the Khusboo’s mobile rang. Neetika had called her, as she was scared of her absence late in the night. Though I could not hear Nitika but the expressions left by Khushboo while attending the call were enough to tell me that Nitika was really pissed off. She scolded her for not picking up the phone and not intimating her about her Bandra excursion. Khusboo made and unsuccessful attempt to justify her. They reached a consensus and disconnected. Two seconds later Patrick called. Again worried about her disappearance late in the night. She explained him the situation. Saurabh made the last call enquiring about her. I was so carried away after these calls that I also wanted to call Khsuboo though she was sitting right with us. Sarvesh and I realized that we had just missed an opportunity to kidnap her.

Sarvesh and Khusboo were hungry and wanted to eat at 2 am in Bandra. We found a bunch of young freaks like us and asked for an eating joint. The guy jokingly told us about a restaurant called Sigri near Tava. I thought if Sigri and Tava could be possible then why not Patila and Baatli also. We managed to find the place and extinguished the burning appetite with some good food.

We headed to Bandstand to see the lazy sea tired of working through the waves the whole day. But it was high tide and the breeze was enough cool to make you shiver. It carried late night mumbai’s fragrance. There was nobody except us. Lonely roads, deserted pavements. The sea and we three were trying to communicate as we were hearing the crashing waves. A cleaner came later, whom did the girl label as criminal and kidnapper. Girls are very fast at judging people and I know that most of the times they are wrong. The girl who suggested long drive realized that she asked wrong people, as we were not ready to leave the place. Finally we were subdued and forced to come back. 3:30 am we left the sea alone though it wanted to continue the discourse. We also stole the fragrance of sea; she had decided to come with us.

Things to do before 30 (Jan 21-22, 2006)
Strange thing happens whenever I go out for dinner with Neha. I was fortunate that nothing happened on Saturday. Sunday dinner again proved to be eerie when we met an accident while coming back.
We had planned for a movie and a dinner. Movie was “Things to do before 30”. Though the title looked promising but the movie only upset us. Neha was late as usual and I had a quick snack in the meantime. She had worn a skirt and a shirt like top and looked beautiful in that. I was dressed up shabbily and it gave me complex. She was looking like a true corporate woman. She had picked up a sandwich and I was helping her to open the sauce sachet. I tried hard to make a small hole in it. She tried to force out the sauce but she failed. I also tried with extra power and spoiled my already shabby looking clothes when the sauce splashed all over my trousers and shirt. I was lucky to get the stains only in places where they were not looking so loud and obtrusive. She laughed on my agony and made fun of me. Instead of worrying about my clothes she got worried about the drops that fell on her new Hidesign purse for which she had spent 1200. She asked me to clean it sounding materialistic to me. Here I was struggling to clean my clothes and this girl was worried about the purse.
I always enjoyed her company. She thinks aloud most of the time. I like her because she fills in the space when I do not speak.
After finishing the movie we rented an auto to come back. Near Saki Naka we heard a sharp shriek as the auto tilted to its left. For a moment we saw death but finally the rumble and tumble got over as the auto stopped. I came out to see the damage. The wheel had come out of the axle and the axle rubbed off the ground for almost 10 mts. It was a miraculous escape. If there were a vehicle behind us it would have collided with us. The auto could have toppled over. Nothing that sort happened. Perhaps one of us saved the other.The dinner mystery yet remained unsolved. This time we saw the extremes of life and perhaps knew the things that we should do before 30.
Finally we had our dinner at Subway and bid good-bye to each other.

Good Bye 2005

2006-01-02T05:36:00.000-08:00

Finally the time has come to bid good bye to 2005. Interesting year it was with lots of profound memories to be cherished forever. I just start putting down the information to get some idea about it.

Jan: I Went to Goa and had a nice time. Covered Goa to its length – from North to South. Will write some other time.

Feb – Jun: Routine work

July: Konkan trip with Sarvesh, Amol & Milind

Konakan Delight

The trip that will remain in my memories for eternity. Never in my life I had seen such lush green pastures with Arabian Sea at one side and Western Ghats at the other. Intermittently, on our way we were welcomed by hundreds of water-bodies and falls all around dispersed sporadically. The air had such thick and intense natural aroma that it tingled my soul and clung to my senses with every breath I took there . The trip could become possible because of our beloved Maruti – 800. We cruised Konkan through the innermost roads, thereby experienced untouched, flawless, and virgin beauty of the ghats, unlike frequently visited places in Konkan made dirty by the filth and grime thrown by casual visitors.

The trip started around 6 pm after office and was delayed because we had to enroute our journey to Mulund to buy a pair of hunter shoes for Amol. However, weird it may sound but he did not buy it till the trip started. Perhaps he did not want to put on his old slippers for the trip. Somehow we managed to leave the place in an hour and the car touched the highway around eight in the night. Highway brought us a sigh of relief when the first gust of fresh breeze kissed our faces in a kind of foreplay that foretold us about the climax to be arrived later.

The car was speeding at its best and we were sitting cozily inside in the warmth of our torrid excitement of the trip. Around ten in the night we reached Panvel and I was reminded by Amol to get booze for the trip. Bachelor trips without booze are like a sandy beach without sun, where one can feel the sand, smell the air, touch the water, but cannot experience the sun. We had to ask a few people to get us to the liquor shop. We asked for Peter Scot but had to keep ourselves satisfied with Antiquity. We also got some plastic glasses and two bottles of beer. Beer bottles were opened when we got back in the car over the trifle issues as usual. The bottles touched each other and made a piercing gentle sound when we proposed the toast to the trip. Only a person who cherishes alcohol can value the context in which it was consumed. Consumption depends on context and company and everything was perfect for us that day. Good friends around and an endless streak of dark highway leading to paradise, except the few vehicles that were slicing the infinite darkness for seconds with their high wattage bright white headlights.

Sarvesh kept driving peacefully and patiently till twelve in the night when hunger had started knocking our heads. Unanimously we decided for a dhaba and looked for it. When we found one it was drizzling and we had to use our umbrellas to make our way from the car to the dhaba. It was a low profile, small, basic, but inviting small time restaurant. However, the aroma of food and spice was unusually rich and enough stimulating to coax our mind and try the place. The order for butter chicken and tandoori rotis did not prove our decision wrong because we hogged till every little space of our stomach had tasted the delight. Facing the dhaba was a hotel that had become our abode for the night. We shared a room with four beds laid down neatly parallel to each other. There was one window in the room with attached toilet. Soon we found ourselves deep in sleep. When we slept an alarm was set for six in the morning but the sound of alarm traveled so slowly that it had taken eons to reach our tired ears and kept on echoing in our dreams again and again till someone from us switched it off.

At 9 am we were ready to leave after a quick breakfast for a place called Murud – Janjeera our first destination in our itinerary. The journey was a treat to the eyes. The landscape around was interestingly mesmerizing and divinely beautiful. The flora had hundreds of shades of green, the terra firma was boasting numerous shades of brown and grays, and the sky was anything from sunny azure to dusky red in the late evenings and bright orange in the mornings. Though most of the time the sky was girly shy to come out and kept hiding behind the thick blanket of monsoon clouds that formed vivid and dynamic patterns in gray and black.

We reached Murud-Janjeera in the afternoon around 12 pm. I could see the eternal fort in the midst of the sea and listened its panegyric hum that was created by the sound of ceaselessly active but defeated waves. The never ending hum signified the victory of fort over the sea. The sea was rough and the waves were becoming worsen as the day was progressing. Later the boatman informed us that it was a high tide time.

Despite of the hostile conditions that God had created as a conspiracy against us, we wanted to win the fort and were charged with adamant exuberance to take over the fort that had defeated the sea. The sailboats looked small and humble in the soaring and roaring sea. Few other tourists came and succumbed their wills of visiting the fort to the unending fury. Challenge was thrown and the adrenaline in our blood made us to accept it. There was no going back from there. Finally we decided to go and rented the entire boat for three hundred. It was a test of perseverance between nature and us. It was a test of our limits and we stretched them till the very end. Beneath us was the rapacious Arabian Sea with its arm spreading far and wide waiting to engulf us in infinite darkness and above us were the gushing currents of air forcing their way through the sail. The boat surrendered to the strong air current and became inclined with the boatmen trying hard to keep the boat straight. The head boatman had already discussed the priority – Boat, Passenger, and then the boatman himself. Life is precious and loved by everybody, and all of us knew that such meaningless priorities could be rendered void anytime. And we knew that the priority in any case would be – I, myself, and only myself.

We reached the fort entrance and the boat kept thrown up and down by the waves as high as nine and ten feet. This made the task of entering the fort troublesome as the boat was not stable enough to fix our legs from the boat to stairs of the fort which were equally being beaten by the furious waves. When the waves jumped till their crests, we could see only top five steps and at other times when the waves dived till their troughs, we could see fifteen steps. The difference of ten steps was the difference between life or death to us. One wrong step we had taken and anyone from us could have sucked down in the brown darkness of the sea. The idea was to jump on the highest stair – fifth from the top when the was lifted by the crest of the wave. It was a situation that demanded highest perfection and precision in unfriendly condition, success was another life and even a slightest slip was fatal end. Finally we entered the fort and the battle was won. The sun peeped out behind the clould for a moment to acknowledge our achievement. The sea had become silent and accepted the defeat. The torrid wind had become humble and subsided to rename itself as gentle breeze.

We left Murud-Janjeera to Hariharehwar and Srivardhan. On our way I saw a huge and enormous tree. The tree trunk was so overwhelming that its enormity had made all the trees in the vicinity to look impoverished and deprived of nutrients. Seemed as if the tree had soaked all the nutrients from the earth to make it infertile for the rest of the clan. I could listen the mute mockery that every passerby made at the other trees after seeing the mammoth and I could see the trees shrinking more in shame and looking even smaller.

Around 5 pm in the evening the rain started pouring heavily and it became dark. The road was unknown and the cloudburst was flowing straight down from the sky. The wipers were making futile attempts to make way for our eyes to look through the windscreen on the road. Nothing was clearly visible and in those conditions of zero visibility Sarvesh kept driving by his instincts, gut feeling, and luck. It slowed us down and we reached Harihareshwar at 9 pm in the night. The rain rage had not stopped by then and forced us to take out our umbrellas to look out for our hotel. Nothing could protect us from getting drenched as umbrella proved out to be of psychological help only. That day after getting drenched nonstop for an hour I realized that dryness is also a feeling that some people long for. I felt great when we found a nice cozy, dry room with open but covered balcony. We made ourselves comfortable and had our first few sips of Antiquity over a mouth-watering chicken made in Konkani style. I could never forget that taste and it stills titillates my taste buds whenever it comes back to life in my vivid memories.

Next morning we made our way back home through Srivardhan. At Srivardhan the soiled and filthy beach disappointed us. Again the rains had ruined the beach and rendered it useless. Frustrated we started our journey to home but tried our luck at a small diversion from the highway. I knew that the prayers were answered when I saw a small waterfall cutting its way through the rocks to the bright green fields. We couldn’t resist the desire of our bodies, which were craving to feel the life in water.

In the sluggish drizzle, the four souls washed themselves tardily to cleanse all the tiredness and metal restlessness of city life. The ablution recuperated the body and infused vital energy to each and every pore and rejuvenated the soul of my body. I became live again - reincarnated. I opened my eyes in a new world.

We came back again in the dirt of city around 11 pm and ended our trip at Aakarshan in Vikhroli because Shera was too crowded to wait for.

Aug – Dec: Boring and nothing exciting

The Dinner Mystery

2005-12-28T06:48:00.000-08:00

Got some time to scribble today as I am sitting late in office. No, I am not working. Neha and I are going for dinner and she has some work. I am just waiting for her to finish.

I proposed the plan as I had an option to eat out. Though somewhere inside I was scared of proposing this to her. Not that she is a bad company but I uncannily had bad experiences over the dinner with her. Most of the time I return hungry for unexplainable reasons. There are plenty or reasons to corroborate the statement. During one of the dinners that we had, I found the quantity that she cooked was not enough for a person like me with humble appetite. In another she fell sick in the middle of dinner. One more is there where she kept eating at Café coffee Day and I kept chatting with her only to realize in the middle of the night that I was terribly hungry. However, the realization was bit late. I am excited and anxious to see the outcome of today’s dinner.

She told me that she would leave in Jan for Bangalore. It is difficult to imagine life without her after spending so much of time together. We have shared strange relationships. We started with acquaintances, moved to friends, and became good friends, then became colleagues. We also had fights as all friends do and we became enemies also. But I think enemies are dearer than your friends because you keep thinking about them unlike your friends. Three years that we spent together, I loved and hated her for some reason or the other. Now she is leaving and probably it will create a void, which will remain forever. She is just moving to Bangalore from Mumbai and probably our friendship will remain eternal but I still fear that I would miss her. Perhaps now I am accustomed of her presence around me. Life is certainly complex in nature. People come and walk away. You do not care about some of them and they do not care about you. But some of them care about you and you care about them. Only those people matter to you and are dearer. When they walk away you feel a void because they are not around you. Perhaps, God must have decided something good for her. I wish her good luck.

Missed my jog today. I will probably sleep at Sarvesh’s place only. Now he is another character who would make you feel small in front of his grandeur. I can write volumes describing him and even that would not suffice his magnanimity. I will write about him in lengths some other time but in my life span I have never met a man like him. Sometimes I wonder whether he is a human being or a divine spirit residing in a human body. And I am not writing this because he is my friend. As a matter of fact I cannot say that he is my friend. He is not somebody whom you can rely on in your bad times. No, he wont run away but you won’t find him because he might be busy helping others. I demand more commitment from my friends because I am selfish. I demand that commitment for me only. I want them to be there whenever I want them. Sarvesh on the other hand is everybody’s friend. He does not have a priority list unlike me. When I meet people I put them in my priority list that is complex, and have lot of categories. Therefore, my list is very exhaustive and complicate unlike Sarvesh’s. I think, act, and do things differently than Sarvesh. Still we are not friends. Perhaps I am too small by my heart for being his friend.

The Long Weekend of Christmas

2005-12-26T03:51:00.000-08:00

Delhi Trip
Finally I am going to Delhi after a long time. I really missed the city and was longing to go there for sometime. Delhi is a city, which changed my life and that is why it has a special place in my heart. It is a city that taught me the lessons of life, the city that made me to laugh and cry, the city that taught me to love and hate at the same time. How can I forget such a city and not miss such a city? I am really glad to get this chance to go there and to meet my friends. I will be having a crunch of time in Delhi but somehow I cannot avoid it. Now I need to stretch my twenty-four hours to get the maximum out of it. Looking forward to have a good time out there. Let me see, what do I get from it?

Dadar Excursion
I do not know whether the title “Dadar Excursion” is apt for the journey that I had on Sunday? It actually was not a pleasure trip because I had gone to cancel my ticket from Mumbai to Jhansi. I piled on with Sarvesh to Dadar to get the reservation cancelled. We got Sarvesh’s Maruti and ran it through the crowded streets of Dadar on the eve of Christmas. Unaware of the station location we had to ask a couple of people to reach our destination. One of the men who helped us was the taxi driver in his late 40s who had worn a Muslim prayer cap and a crisp white starched kurta-pajama. I caught his eye during heavy traffic and when he came right across my window I asked him about the station. He was so helpful that he not only told me the way to reach the station but also suggested that if we could follow him, he would take us there. We missed him in the swarm of vehicles but his face remained lingering for sometime. The initiative taken by him to give more that what had been asked really touched me somewhere deep in my soul.

I wonder sometimes that when it comes to ask for help from strangers, I do not accost anybody to ask for help. In fact I search for a stranger with same vibes and frequency, as I possess to make myself feel more comfortable and safe. Probably, I do not want to talk to somebody who looks crafty, artificial, and judgmental, rather a person who is eager to help me whole-heartedly without making mockery of my ignorance.

Despite of so much help, we could not make to the parking end of the reservation counter. The result of course is to make way for the car through the deluge of people leaving Dadar station. The numbers does not make sense because there were countless people. All seemed to be rushing for something or the other. Some to their homes, some to their jobs, and some to fulfill their commitments made with their friends and relatives.

Nobody was alone there and that was adding more people and more chaos. Most of them were with their well-wishers, friend, acquaintances, or relatives. Those who were alone were accompanied by their dreams that they were living with.

To me the place was like a popcorn maker with loads of corns jumping around up and down, though this was more interesting as it had colors and emotions to each individual unlike corns. The place was chaotic but followed an order. Everybody was aware where exactly he wanted to go and was able to find his way out. I was suffocating and chocking for space to get some fresh air but people around me were looking fresh and energetic. God knows where these people get the energy to live in Mumbai.

As I walked I looked around the street urchins begging for money. Street hawkers displaying their products, garden fresh vegetables, flowers, and fruits occupied both the sides of the narrow street. The freshness and colors were oozing out from the organic matter on the dark gray road adding streaks of contrasting bright colors. Everything was structured, placed with precision, and systematic - bunches of saturated red roses, marigolds, lilies and what not; groups of plums laid neatly on plastic mats; pyramids of vegetables stacked one over the other. Stairs displayed stacks of shirts for Rs. 20/- only; trousers for Rs. 60/- only, electronics, towels and socks, and what not. Name it and get it at dearth cheap rates. Sellers shouting witty & raunchy lines like, “Maal idhar hai, dhyaan kidhar hai”. I wondered whether to laugh or feel sad after hearing that.

The whole atmosphere was charged up. When I reached to the reservation counter I found to my dismal that it was closed. Sundays are till 1400 hours only. The trip went in vain but I was happy that I could name in an excursion in the end.

Corny Night
The word corny is not used for the intended meaning but to express the feeling of a person who had had only corns in the meal. I went to Corn club along with Rushikesh, Sarvesh, and Milind to have dinner. It was Rushikesh’s idea and I was protesting it with Milind. It was not a confident protest and that made us submissive and to go for it. The food was different but it had too much of corn. It started with the starters- corn salad, and baby corn fingers. Then came the main course with corn soup. The platter had one paneer - corn based curry, two chapattis, one vegetable fried rice obviously with corns, and corn salad again. It was in a true sense my first discourse with corns. Never in my life I had eaten such quantities of corns. After I finished my meal I started feeling corns all around in my body and mind. I decided not to go there again at least for a while. I need some time to get away with this newly acquired corn-phobia.

I ended the day at Mocha with Jamaican Blue Mountains.

God's Nectar

2005-12-23T02:35:00.000-08:00

Yes I am writing after such a long time. It is true that for sometime I was tardy and unmotivated to write in black and white. I have been busy for sometime with my work. Two-three days back only I decided that I would write my blog again and would continue doing that without break.

So, finally today I got the chance when Friday, 23 Dec, 2005 has been declared as holiday in my office. Now, I see the advantage of working with an American company. Christmas is on Sunday but the management has decided to prepone the holiday. I am really impressed by the benevolent gesture shown by the management. God knows what have they been cooking up in the back of their minds.

I had come to office to charge my phone. Sounds weird but I keep my charger in office most of the times. Weekend I rely on my friends who use sony mobiles or come to office for an hour or so to do the charging. It might sound completely stupid to someone reading this but bachelors have nothing much in their lives. We get bored working continuously for five days in office, in the same way we bachelors get bored spending two days without the office. Coming to office not only charges my mobile but also my lethargic nerves to stay alive till Monday.

I still have to say why I am writing this? Sometimes I wonder how can I talk so much despite of the fact that I am an introvert person. I guess writing is different from talking or speaking. Nobody listens to when one writes so I can write bullshit if I want.

Milind is not at Sarvesh's place and I was expecting him to be there. I walked all the way to find that the house was locked. I tried calling him but the mobile was unreachable. Somebody has said it rightly that when things start to become bad, they end up after it becomes worst. After making several futile attempts to connect him, finally I got to know that he would be late by an hour.

I did not know what to do. I had already left the office and going back meant to look into the eyes of the security guard and feel embarrassed. I left the office so confidently telling my security guards that I was leaving for the day. They had checked out my name from the muster. Going back was like walking on a burning road without any feet protection. I thought hundred times to give my security guards a good excuse and still not feel embarrassed. Finally I made my way to office after deciding that I had no other option but to come back. I entered the office trying to look as much confident as I can. Poor security guards! They do not even think so much unlike us so called intellectuals. They do not cook all these structured and crooked plans as we intellectuals do. They are very simple. They welcomed me with their ever-humane smile free of contempt, wickedness, and artificialness.

I sat on my seat started the computer and now writing this. That was my story. The story of the broken blog waiting to be assembled back.

I met Neha in the office. She was working as usual on weekends. She suspects that I would go and drink today, as it is Friday. Last Friday only I had made a decision to refrain myself from alcohol till Valentine’s Day except the New Year day when I am supposed to wet my throat a little. She is quite aware of this. Today she put forth a bet that If I could show her to refrain from alcohol for one month she would do whatever I wanted. I do not know why girls do this. Do they really like to take tests or is this a common thing that every Indian girl asks to a guy. This line "I would do anything for you" is so deceptive that you do not know how to respond. You just become speechless. Last time it was Jaya who had asked this. I won the promise also but I still have to ask that what could she do for me. She is out of my life now, but perhaps this bet is a due on her. Now I do not know what would happen if I won my bet again with Neha. Anyway there is nothing you can ask a girl to do even if you win. The sentence itself is so heavy that nothing can be done with it. It is better to have bets for dinner, parties, or icecreams rather than using all these heavy philosophical words that does not make any sense in real life but look good in books only.

Milind has called in the middle of the last paragraph and he is coming back in 15-20 mins. We are going to the hill (Tekri) in IIT. Yesterday I flunked jogging because my legs were paining and I was dying with pain. It seems that my shins are badly injured because of the continuous jogging for last 7-8 days. Therefore, I have decided today with Milind to go for a small trek rather than to jog and torture myself once again. I do not know how safe is this but I will try to take care of myself while going there.

Again I forgot to call my sister Deepa on her birthday. Such a jackass I am, I feel sometimes. I have not called her yet. I was supposed to call her late in the night yesterday but I was killing time at Sarvesh's place. Later in the night when I was coming back I went to Godrej colony with Milind and Sarvesh instead of coming back to my apartment. Sarvesh touched 100 on his speedometer on the connecting road. I felt so scared. It could have been our last journey also, who knows, but life is like this only. There is a thin line between stupidity and bravery. God knows, whether, what Sarvesh did yesterday was bravery or stupidity. The good thing is that I am still alive to write this blog.

On top of it when I reached back my home, I stayed in the car for one more hour. We talked endlessly during that hour with car parked in front of my building. It is true that sometimes we talk stupid nonsense stuff but I feel this is what keeps you alive and helps you keep going with life. It makes you feel light and playful. On the other hand if you start reading intellectual stuff you feel more heavy and lonely because then there is nobody around you to share your solitude. Intellectuals do not waste their time in trivia and keep themselves aloof from friends. Why do they wear this mask of artificiality when even they also somewhere deep in their hearts want to behave like a normal person. Anyway, had this been so simple to understand, life would not be so complex.

I feel now that I have written too much after being flown in this emotional paroxysm of blog writing. Taking off for today. Let me see how long can I refrain myself from God's nectar.

No Time for Long Time

2005-10-05T04:42:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time now and I have not written here. Now I resolve to update my blog daily. Today I am writing because I have nothing to do. Yes, absolutely nothing. The famous project which I had been working at, is finally going through finally stages. Sriram has taken up the charge and will continue the project with Sachin.

It seems that I will be working on ER for some time. I do not know, how the things will turn up.

All of a sudden my quench for documentary making is on the high. I really want to be serious about it. But, I am not much sure about it and therefore apprehensive at the same time. However, I am planning to give it a serious thinking by meeting professionals in the field.

The creativity which was there in my life has vanished. I want to get out of my present job asap. It has become mundane and boring over a period of time.

The only source of entertainment is the computer which suffice my intellectual and entertainment needs. I have been watching good movies these days. I hope this will continue for some time. This will somehow help me to abate my creative pangs. All movies like Amistad, The Lady Vanishes, Twister, The Bugs Life, etc. were good and had come from different genres.

Today I will watch another movie from Hitchcock.

The KV Reunion

2005-06-12T22:33:00.000-07:00

Reunions have always been cherished by all of us as they give us the pleasant opportunity to meet our beloved friends. Fortunately, I have had one last weekend, when I got a chance to meet my friend Robin. After being missed few chances of get-together during his earlier Mumbai visits, this time we were determinant to make it happen. With immaculate planning at both ends the result obviously was a plus.

Friday Evening

After the dull week that I had had at the office I went to Leela to meet Robin as decided over the phone. The phone call experience was good as the phone to his room was not direct but routed through reception on request. Every time I used to call him I would hear sweet and euphonic though mechanical answers from the other side.
It was my first visit to the Leela. After some initial debacles I finally reached his room 515. The room was grandeur as I was expecting to be and the beauty trapped me. It had a plasma display and a personal bar with liquors, selected with precision to evoke a desire to savor the taste. After our talks on topics of variety, covering the whole spectrum of our imagination, we decided to leave the place. Since it was Friday and Robin was with me I could not find another option but to have drinks at Aura a restro-bar in proximity of my house. We had some good talks over the beers ;). We returned back late in night.

Saturday Delight

Saturday was kind of hectic as Robin had a list of places to be seen with him. We started with Mumbai's life-line (locals) to Matunga. From there we caught a cab to Wadala. Imax – Dome was the first thing to be covered. The theatre has the largest dome screen in the world. (As per claims made by IMAX)
We saw a documentary on Dolphins. The narrative though was banal but the film had breath-taking shots, made more realistic by the IMAX technology. One can have vicarious feelings of motion and self-participation in a movie at IMAX.
After the movie is over we headed to town (VT). Since it was only 3 pm and Mumbai is too hot and humid to explore during these hours we unanimously decided to see Parineeta. I chose Liberty theatre because it gives AC at only 50 Rs. for upper stall. Also hindi movies give you an option to kill your time in the midst of emotional drama. The film proved to be a good option and did not disappoint us. It had an occupying story, with good songs and lyrics, spectacular cinematography, and appreciable performances; though the serious climax was overly done and had become melodramatic.

After the movie the duo moved to the Colaba – the heart of Mumbai and walked around the streets, catching the glimpses of Mumbai colors, tasting its rich flavors and breathing the scent of humid sea air. We headed towards Gateway of India – Monument of Shame rather than fame because it was build to commemorate the visit of the King George V and Queen Mary to Bombay. The desire of “to be in the sea” rather “to be at the sea” led us to take a ferry ride. The quality of ride can be estimated by the fact that the zephyrs from the sea were soothing enough to engulf Robin for a quick nap. I stood there on the railings facing towards the sea and enjoyed the vastness of the Arabian Sea. Though I was alone, it reminded me of the scene from the titanic where Leonardo was standing with Kate, hand in hand facing towards the sea. The completion of ride opened the doors for a new quest. The quest was to search for a good bar or pub. Since Mumbai is humid and hot we were looking for an AC pub.
We started from Leopold Pub. It is famous among firangs and you will find a lot of them. Surprisingly only first floor has AC fittings. We didn’t get the permission to enter, as stag entry was not allowed. How an AC can affect the entry at a pub is so obscure a topic that it is difficult to understand and beyond my rationale. Do you need cooler ambience when you walk around with opposite sex or you must have a partner to claim for luxuries? I do not understand the motive of the pub, perhaps should have asked then and there. We then went to Café Mondegar, again the attempt was futile as we it was already packed for the evening and we were asked to wait until some benevolent guest oblige us by leaving early at 8 pm from the pub, which was highly unlikely the situation. We finally found one sports bar with enough space to accommodate us and when we were settling down there my friend popped up the idea to move to TGIF. Since TGIF was in proximity we went there and savored some of the concocted cocktails and food there. We had a good dialogue and we finished late at 1 am. Later we realized that it was too late to get a local, but god saved us and sent an angel in the form of a bus to Santa Cruz, which we boarded to later catch a cab to Powai. We could make before 3 am, which was an achievement, worthy to be blogged. The next day we got up late and sluggish at 11 am. Robin had some anecdotes from Holland to share with us (my roomie and me) and at 1 30 pm he asked to leave. I realized that the party was over but had left many memories. Memories that linger forever and become vivid when contemplated.

Valediction

2005-06-06T17:45:00.000-07:00

Friday evening saw a meloncholic moment when Gautam left India. It was not really melancholic for me or for anybody of us who went there to bid him good bye but if it was then for his parents and siblings. I felt uneasy because I was witnessing the whole event. Whether I wanted to be or not, knowingly or unknowingly, I was sucked in the moment.

Test Drive - Maruti 800

It all started with me reaching at Sarvesh's place. We started late, around 9 pm to the airport. We were sure to miss Gautum as we had missed Charu the other day because of our 'COOL' attitude. The situation was adverse as we not only had to face the pathetic traffic of Saki Naka but also had to pick Shalaka from Vikhroli. Somehow we managed to pick Shalaka and later Amol from office. In the meanwhile Shalaka invited her friend Abhishek Thakkar from IITB. We were already packed in Maruti-800 and to accomodate one more seemed to be a tough task. The task became herculean once I saw Mr. Abhishek, a young man of 6 feet height and some odd 100+ kgs of weight. Since he could not be fitted in rear seat, I had to leave my front seat and moved back. Imagine Maruti-800 bearing load of 5 people. I would say 8 because most of us are blessed with good health. The car was undoubtly a winner as it not only left us at the airport right in time but also suffered us. Luckily the shockers were still intact and working fine.

The Photography Session

Mr. Thakkar was carrying his Canon so once we had introduced each other we could not over look the camera. Mr. Thakkar started displaying his photography skills. He took some nice shots. He put us in his frame with Gautam and Gautam's family. He also shoot a zoomed picture with his camera when Gautum was hard to see by naked eyes. I realized his dexterity when I saw his web site today. www.abhishekthakkar.com
Really good collection of images. He also took a photograph of the taxi stand at the airport and an Air India plane while we were leaving the place.

The Parting

Gautam started guiding his trolley with two suitcases and his thesis reports placed on it. I remember thesis reports because I know the hardwork that goes inside them. Everybody became silent as Gautam walked away not knowing what to do. All of us must be thinking drastically different for sure in our cerebrums.

His parents must be having benevolent thoughts for him in their minds while wearing benign smile on their aged faces. They would also be thinking of the void and the changes in life that had been created by his absence.

I felt sad because I could realte myself to the whole dismal episode. Because I could see the expression of gloom and lonesomeness on his parents faces. Parents would never like their child to leave them when they need him the most; but life is harsh and bitter. Perhaps I also wanted to leave and was apprehensive to go through the same ordeal which Gautam had been going through.

Lastly for Gautam, it must be really hard to leave India. At one end he would be feeling the warmth of the sunny days that he would see and on the other hand the coldness of leaving his parents alone. He must have meticulously worked out the delicate balence between his career and family before leaving. Being sensible and empathetic I think he will work his way out of this.

Finally.............. we could not see him any longer behind the glass wall. We waved till the time we got his last sight, even when he was not seeing us. Perhaps that is a kind of ritual that people perform to express their love to their parting friends.

And we left the place after exchanging tacit glances with his parents because nobody was sure whether it was a joyous moment or a melancholic one.

Should mention that we took a hault at Maharaja before we could make back to our places. :) I found that sometimes food also allays your pain.

2005-06-06T05:48:00.000-07:00

The Last Pic

2005-06-06T05:47:00.000-07:00

Zooooomed

Singhgad Seize - Oct 1, 2004

2005-02-06T23:34:00.000-08:00

I had a wonderful weekend last week. Though things were not planned but they went in sequence and rythmically. All it started when a good friend of mine showed his face Friday evening. Friday sets the alarm for weekends. After an arduous, heavy, loaded, and sulking weekdays work (even if you pretended like that, it is exhaustive) you get to see the gate to enjoyment and merry making. No wonder why TGIFs are doing good business and have profused extensibly.So my friend dropped in and as usual we had a get-together party with the nostalgia of the past and exchange of our recent additions in our biographies. During the merry-making process an idea popped up of going to Lonavala. And as we all know that an idea can change your life :) so it worked this time also.Saturday morning and we were well set for the trip. Faced and survived the turbulance of the people with the people flooded locals of Mumbai. Reached Dadar and took a MSRTC to Lonavala. A friend of mine was being already asked in the meantime to be there to join us to transform us two to a triplet. We joined and started the trip after exchanging hellos and light banters.LONAWALAA small place blessed by lovely mountains and hills blessed with lush green vegetation. The expressway gives you the opportunity to have the sight of the famous Khandala waterfall. The fall which though carry small water in this season and could be easily overlooked elsewhere but lives with prominance because of the contrast between green surrounding and the sparkling white froth of the water. It is like a thin white stroke of a brush on a green canvas but thick enough to be overlooked. Also the fall is endued with a great height which makes the effect of the fall eternal. The fall is in between mountains. It is like a big green vessel. The walls being four mountains and you get to see it from the top of one of the mountains. The vessel enough big to accomodate thousands of elephants and enough deep to take in a reasonable big river if to be filled to brim. Inside the vessel the ornamentation is perfect. Big trees are sporadic but the green carpet of velvet grass has been laid with the uncanny precision of a magician without an inch being left. Rocks are in abundance but not enough to hide the green beauty. Infact it seems that even the rocks there have fallen for the stimulating green beauty because even they look green not grey. The air on the mountain top is so fresh and pure that every pore of your body will rejuvenate. The golden sunlight just warm enough to make you cozy. The green beauty at its pinnacle soothing your senses to maximum.Had to leave for Karla Caves 10 kms from Lonavala.KARLA CAVES:Karla Caves was the first place where we got the first opportunity to test our physical fitness. The mountain had proper stairs to get you to the caves but we being adventuresome and elated by the euphoria of the fighting attitude chose the rocks. We took the challenge and faced the steeps. Got back to stairs only when we had no other option. The space next to the sides of the stairs as ususal being used up for small tarpaulin shops. As you walked nearer to the destination the frequency of occurance of the shops went on increasing. The shops might look same physically but each had its own distinct signature. All were selling different items and articles. From lemonade, fresh water, cucumber, prasad, idols, lassi, chhaach to lunch. You could see the caves openings from the base. The mountain again lush green and the opening of the caves looks like black spots. As you approached them nearer, the fuzziness would vanish into the amazingly dexterous cut stones revealing their true forms. You saw rooms, halls and idols carved out of a mammoth rock. Not only you saw that but you would also be amazed with the spectacle of the interiors which would linger in your memory forever. A big hall having a rectangular shape with an entrance at one end and the stupa at the farther end. The height so high as if it has touched the sky. The side walls are made interesting by placing pillars on both the sides. The pillars of rocks are sliced out to give them a form of polygon and at the top they all wear idols carved intricately. The firmness of the rock as if been chaged to the malleability of the gold to make it workable. They are lined with perfection and precision on both the sides of the halls. The sight from the door looks like a perspective of the inside of a long hollow cuboid adorned with small pillars with entrance at one end and the other end occupied with the mighty stupa. This is not all that makes the site impressive but the master wooden work which has survived the wrath of all the extremities of weather since 10th century is what makes it impressive. The wooden work is done on the ceiling making the task more difficult for the hall of the height given. The wooden work is staying there to make the ceiling look like an inverted U-shaped curve rather than a dull flat surface. The planks being fitted to the rocks with perfection at its best, exhibiting the developed craftsmanship of the ancient india. The planks as huge as a full grown teak placed flawlessly. The stupa on the other end again being carved out from the same mammoth rock. The stupa lying their like a solid inverted bowl for centuries still have the aura and energy to comfort your soul. It has no carvings on it except few small holes to place the earthen pot lights. The surface of it is otherwise plain, so plain that it would have been boring elsewhere but here it would perplex your thoughts in an intrestingly engrossing way. You feel if been taken away by the silence and by the glory of the place but would get disturbed by occasional intrusions of other visitors. The place is worth seeing.We also had a small trip to Bhushi Dam. It was also enjoyable but non uncommon. The best memorable part though was the water staircase where you see water flowing down the stairs. The water takes the shape of the stairs around and falls down on the stairs. The force of water breaks the water into small droplets giving way to the air to intrude inside it to give birth to innumerable bubbles in the form of froath. The froathy water while falling down renders the stairs in white color making it a magical staircase waiting to be explored. When you climb the stairs bare-feet the coolness of the water would make you shiver once but after a while you will get into the mode and enjoy the brisk flow.THE TOUGHEST PARTWe left to Pune to test our limits and to grill ourselves to the maximum. We decided to try Singhad. Sunday morning we left for it. The mountain was reaching to the sun as it was already 11 when we reached there. We had water and necessary stuff with us. The fort of Singhgad was lost in the clouds and was not visible from the ground. We went up trekking, taking the most challenging routes. The climbs were steep but we denied to give up. Not only we were trekking it but the other groups also. One by one we left past most the groups before us because of our impeccable speed. No one could overtake us, only a girl who later came to be named as 'Tripti'. She was the one with guts. I was impressed by the guts she had. She was almost competing with us. Though she was with her group of seven but happened to be alone because she tried to match our speed which she could do. We took occasional breaks and rest to got back our breaths. We managed to make the aim in 80 minutes.When we reached the top it was the time for the triumph. We had chai and kandha pakodis followed by our lunch of Besan and Bajre ki roti (Khadki if I am not wrong).We enjoyed on the top and came back trekking again with the same girl. The girl with the guts even motivated me sometimes.Phew!!! The trip was over. With broken and shaked up limbs. Got super exhausted and dehydrated but.............We killed the fort.We won Singhad.