My blog...My Life

Potty karro Saaf karro….

2012-02-14T10:08:00.001+05:30

Come Mumbai elections and the hopeful candidates who already think that your property is their Jagir start using it more for their election campaigning. Setting up tables near your building gates, putting up hoardings, visiting your premises at odd hours, asking for votes.
Last week was so bugged to see that at least two political parties had used my Housing Society Lift as a Notice Board to stick their campaigning stickers. Infact had even twitted about it.

Today again one more tweet caught my attention….here a Car Windshield Glass was used to put up a Sticker!!

These candidates, they put up stickers, hoardings etc all over and once the Elections are over, for the winner they are replaced with Congratulatory Hoardings and for the Losers, conveniently forgotten.
Why just elections, even otherwise, such political hoardings displaying congratulatory messages during religious festivals are conveniently forgotten and left for the Municipal Corporation of Mumbai to bring them down at the cost of tax payers money.
I have my doubts if these culprits are fined. Its like Potty woh logg karre…Saaf koi aur…aur saaf karne ka paisa bhare koi aur….!!!!

I have tried experimenting with embed tweets in this blog…but did not succeed much..will learn and rectify soon

Interesting Number Plates

2012-02-11T09:18:00.001+05:30

How often we find some interesting number plates, no I am not talking of a series of number, but the way the numbers are made to mean something.
Here I will try and put forth the number plates which I have seen either myself or in photos….DO NOT MISS THE LAST ONE ;)
4141 in marathi font to read दादा (brother) in marathi

8055 written in such format that it looks like BOSS
4129 written in marathi font to read दारू (alcohol)

One of my cousins car has 6C in its number and she loving calls it Sexy

7171 written in marathi font to read नाना

5171 written in such a way to read SAI

This one takes the cake B491 !! meant to read Badava!!

There are many more….but was not able to put up all….maybe next time….or maybe you could add your own :)

Disclaimer : All Images courtesy Google

Bhaag Bhaag……

2012-02-04T11:49:00.001+05:30

Idhar daud hai, udhar daud hai, yeh jina yaro daud hai, koyee aage hai, koyee pichhe hai, bas bhagam bhag hai daud hai

While going to my bank, happened to see school children, women, men just run…run for the bus….running across the road, running on the footpath, lest they miss their bus. I just stepped aside and let them pass. This gave me an opportunity to look around and see that almost everybody is running…either for the bus or to reach his or her destination on time. Even I for one was walking at a brisk pace to reach my bank, though I now that I think of it …I really did not need to.

So what is that makes us run…run for standing ahead in the queue, run to catch the bus, run to catch the train, run to reach our goals, whom are we competing with? Certainly not the people who are running ahead, behind or besides us, but we are certainly trying to compete with time. Time…one that waits for no one. And what will we be winning in the end. Nothing…we will just be just losing the time and opportunity to pause and look around us , to absorb the beauty of life around us. We are running in our lives, trying to earn, and in return losing out on quality time to be spent with our family and friends, before we reach a retirement age.

I paused today…I waited there on the side for a few seconds, if not minutes, and saw the hurried looks on each and every passerby…everybody just running at his pace…racing against time…bas bhagam bhag hai daud hai….

"Poor man runs for his daily food,
While a Rich man runs to digest his daily food"

Sell yourself on the Blog…

2012-02-03T12:54:00.001+05:30

Not an apt title, but thats the first thing that came to my mind. A friend wanted to know how to be a successful blogger, how to ensure the maximum readership, frankly I have no answer to that, because I myself am not aware of my position as a blogger. I believe in “Dance like no one is seeing you…blog/tweet like no one is reading you”.

But then why the title of the this blog??….If you start any business, you first have to sell your product, and then the product should be good enough to sell itself.

Similarly for your blog you will have to market yourself, and there should be no shame for that. Else how will the readers know that there is a new blogger. And then the future success as a blogger will depend on the quality of the content of the blog.

Nobody can define what content you can adhere to, variety is the spice of life. But nothing wrong in trying. I like reading a lot, blogs are one more source for me to carry out my passion. Every writer has his/her own style of writing, I might or might not like the blog, but then respect the sentiments put by the person in writing his ideas, emotions and putting it up publicly.

Just go and start selling your self to begin……blog your heart out…..

Death and the organized mind

2012-02-02T09:36:00.001+05:30

To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure – Dumbledore (J K Rowling)

Came to know of two deaths recently, one of a person who had crossed his 70s and one who had just crossed his 40s. My sympathies to the family of the second one because he has two school going kids.

Why no sympathies for the first one?? Because he lived to such a huge age? No….not for that …but because I happened to read his farewell letter to his family. Yes, a very beautiful farewell letter and that too now now but 18 years back.

18 years back, he had organized everything, and was ready for his next great adventure. Though (like he himself wrote in the letter) , not everybody would agree to his way of handling certain things after his death, but was laughing and amazed at such clear thoughts. I am not sure if the letter was written at a time when he might not have been well, but the clarity of thoughts certainly prove otherwise.

Death is inevitable. It can come anytime, anywhere, out of the blue. It is upto us to organize ourselves before our death, so that certain things or people are taken care of. When we have time, when we are clear in mind, organizing at such times will certainly help.

This letter was in no way a Will or distribution of assets….but it was distribution of love and thoughts, and ideologies. My personal interacting with this gentleman has been very minimal, infact might have met him hardly twice or thrice in my life, but my respect for him has certainly grown manifold.

The mellow Akbar – Hritik Roshan

2012-01-30T14:03:00.001+05:30

Whenever the name of Anarkali comes up, since childhood I can think of only one scene from the movie Mughal E Azam…..one of the best actors Prithviraj Kapoors booming voice shouting SALIM!!!!

Cut to Jodha Akbar, where Akbar is played by Hritik Roshan, so smitten by love of Jodha, it actually looked pathetic to me.

Seriously I have grown up reading what a great person Akbar was, then Prithviraj Kapoors rendition of the role had created a different persona about the kind of person Akbar might have been…and Hritik just screwed it up by playing a lover boy Akbar.

Infact he has got such soft voice, I cant even dare think of the way he might end up saying SALIM if the movie Mughal E Azam was to be remade with him Akbars role. It might end up like this character played by Deepak Malhotra in the movie Lamhe-starting Sridevi and Anil Kapoor, where he said “Pallo” in an otherwise serious scene, in such a way, the entire theater was in splits!!!

Agneepath….Lacked Amitabh Bachchans fire…..

2012-01-30T13:52:00.001+05:30

Saw Agneepath, the remake one obviously. Found the movie stretched too far to the point of being bored…maybe I did compare it to the Original Amitabh Bachchan film which actually rocked.

This movie had its moments…it was dark to begin with, Sanjay Dutts looks have been nicely worked on, found Hritik Roshan too mellow again( can never forgive him for playing the role of a romantic Akbar in Jodha Akbar….but thats for another time maybe..another blog ), Rishi Kapoor has played a role par excellence, but did not quite get the reason for other characters for being there.

Priyanka Chopra is totally wasted, and like any other Bollywood film, where dozens around her die in a gun fire immediately, she had to speak to Hritik before kicking the bucket…WTF!!!

Vijay(Hritik) and his sisters relationship initial scenes reminded of Anil Kapoors – Jeevan Ek Sangarsh. But then in Jeevan Ek Sangarsh they played a proper misunderstanding between the duo where Anil Kapoor is taken as a eve teaser. Here nobody bothers about it. Sad…

The place where Dinanath Chauhan is hanged on a tree, somehow reminded me of the Lion King Scene where Simba is held high by his father.

And one thing I did not get is why did Hritik have a Hijro ki fauj…anyone?????

Overall I thought the performances were good, but the story lagged behind….

Living within ones means

2012-01-28T15:14:00.001+05:30

There is an old saying in Hindi….”Pair itne hi failane chahiye jitni chaddar ho”, to which lately I am hearing a retort….”To kya….hum chaddar badalkar badi chaddar odh lenge”.

Not a bad idea, but then one needs to spend extra dough on the “badi chaddar” and also maintaining that “chaddar”

The point being…while you are being asked to live within your means, think wisely before putting your money in something which will increase your expense. It is easier to say we can do it….but implementing it in the right way and coming out of the mess is very important, you shouldnt be digging a grave so deep that you die in it.

I have always said, people wear masks, and why not, how many people would be interested in seeing your troubled faces daily. A smiling face to fight off the current situation is always good. But then when that Mask becomes a Lie, when you start using that Mask as a shield for influencing, or gaining certain favors, it is time to stop.

Time is a big turner, it can change without you even knowing it. But to tide over that time, during financial difficulties, is very important. That is where the saying comes in. The length of your bedsheet can change with time…when times are tougher deal with your expenses accordingly, when times are better, deal with your expenses but at the same time remembering that you cannot predict your future.

Just random thoughts today, which I am not sure a reader might agree or not…but nevertheless…posting it on the blog…..

Am I ever serious....???

2012-01-19T14:05:00.002+05:30

A friend asked me "Are you ever serious. All your posts on social networking sites are so funny". I retorted back....if i start posting my problems, will you follow my posts? Sorry for being crude mate...I know u are going to read this and understand.

For me being on a social networking site is like physically sociallising. One doesnt carry his troubles to a party or a social get-together. One goes there for enjoying. Ok you may discuss your problems on and off..but then there is a time and place for everything.

I do put up my serious thoughts....but then sometimes...what might be serious for me...might be light hearted humour for others, and when they comment back in good humour..it lightens up the mood further. So there you are. I am serious also..but open for nice and light chat, wherein the mood does not remain serious. One can even put it as ..... Online socialising is my de-stress media.....

Again recently I was asked what do I get from posting so much on Facebook and Twitter..my reply was simple, I know that somewhere someone might be smiling on reading this, not necessary that I get a like or comment for that, but it makes me happy...

P.s This post was lying in my drafts since more than a year...posting it today while cleaning my drafts :) The last para was added today....

Cost of owning a car

2012-01-17T09:24:00.001+05:30

Technorati Tags: Car,EMI,Loan,expenses,fuel

Got a mail stating that my Car Insurance is expiring soon. Made me once again realize how fast a year flies. Also reminded me of the words of a Gentleman who has been a guide to our family since years.

Once we both had purchased our cars around the same period, if I remember correctly this was around 12 years back. We were both discussing our respective cars when his words of wisdom started flowing in.

According to him, the best way to purchase a car is on installments, for according to him, where else will you get a loan at such a low rate of interest and also benefit in your taxes. However he had a word of caution over there. While getting the loan is easy, one should also have other factors in mind. According to him, in two to three years, you need to change your car battery, then depending on your usage change the tyres, annual expense of maintaining and servicing the car, normal expenses over wear and tear of the car, annual premium of Insurance, the worst case scenario of major accidental expense on the car, and last but not the least….the fuel expenses.

He said one should average these all costs over five years of usage of the car and add the amount to the EMI to understand if one is making the right choice while going in for the loan or no. The car should not become a white elephant for you.

Well buying a car is the easiest thing ever today….but do calculate the actual Cost of Owning the Car……

Heads I win…Tails you lose….

2012-01-14T09:29:00.001+05:30

The Govt of India thru the Delhi Court is slowly tightening its grip over Google, Facebook and the likes. While it was able to control the print and television media, it had offlate found itself unable to muzzle the general public opinion.
There are two sides of every story like there are two sides of every coin. What the Govt of India is interested in is keep the people of India limited to only one side ..their side.
Its like minting coins for India with only one side, but the problem is that there is still a blank side, and this blank side will be left to the imagination of many. Atleast with the two sides of the story, one could understand the facts and then decide which side is up or right.
But with the action being taken now the Govt is trying to tell the people of India… Heads I win…Tails you lose…

My experiment with the new Facebook cover picture

2012-01-13T09:48:00.001+05:30

Crossing the Limits

2012-01-06T17:08:00.001+05:30

Was just passing by Worli Seaface and saw a couple in a liplock(though it looked more like the boy pumping in air in the girls mouth), but more than that it, the sea in the background reminded me of the word 'Maryada' (Limit) which was once told to me by a lady who was travelling with us on the same route once.

She said that like humans who should remain within their Maryada or else lives will be ruined, so does the sea.

This sometimes calm sometimes ferocious sea remains within its limits. We human beings pollute it, throw things into it...it will calmly take a few things within itself or just reject it back by washing it ashore. It never protests. Never shows its anger of how things are thrown into it. Silently it is bearing reclamation. If this sea was to cross it Maryada and reclaim what is rightfully its think of the destruction it will cause, the lives it can ruin.

These words were spoken before 26th July deluge which we experienced in Mumbai. Stuck overnight it really looked like the sea is trying to reclaim its place back between the seven islands which comprised of Mumbai. Thank God its still not crossed its limit, though we Humans are crossing all such limits and taking aways its space.

Kudos to the Mumbai Police

2012-01-02T09:26:00.001+05:30

After having spent nearly 8 years at a stretch celebrating New Year Eve in our building parties, this year a certain action by some members ended as a boon to me.

This year I decided to take my wife and kids to Gateway of India to see the revelry at New Year Eve. Many people who heard my plans were warning me against it…too much of crowd…

drunk revelers, traffic, drunk drivers on the road while coming back home.

But finally we did land up at Gateway of India, and were in for a very pleasant surprise. The Mumbai Police had segregated the area around Gateway of India into two. Family Enclosure around the main structure of Gateway of India and Stags on the road outside Hotel Taj. They were putting in excellent efforts in seeing not a single stag was allowed in the family enclosure. Unluckily for boys who were expecting to see some eye candies, their plans certainly were not going as per their expectations. This ensured that there were no untoward incidences like eve teasing etc.

Even the roads were much safer, Police stationed at important accident spots, ensuring that we did not face any trouble by drunk drivers.

Kudos to our Mumbai Police who instead of Celebrating New Year Eve, were out there ensuring our safety. Hats off to them

New Year Greetings to all

2012-01-01T13:54:00.000+05:30

Dear All

I wanted to send some sort of holiday/new year greeting to my friends and colleagues, but it is difficult in today's world to know exactly what to say without offending someone.

So I met with my lawyer yesterday, and on her advice I wish to state the following :

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non addictive, gender neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday practiced with the most enjoyable traditions of religious persuasion or secular practices of your choice with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all .

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2012 , but not without due respect for the calendar of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make our country great (not to imply that Britain is necessarily greater than any other country ) and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee .

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms:

This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/him or others and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher.

The wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

Best Regards

Name withheld (Privacy Act)

The murder of Lokpal bill

2011-12-30T12:26:00.001+05:30

Lokpal Bill was like a newborn on ventilator,whose doctors kept arguing about the line of treatment and kept the Ventilator off. RIP Lokpal.

This is what I have tweeted after seeing the disgusting debate on Lokpal Bill in the Rajya Sabha on 29th of Dec, 2011.

It was a shameful display of the dirty politics which we keep on hearing about. The intention was clear midway thru the debate, that our politicians were just killing time and by the end of it nothing is going to come of it.

188 amendments demanded for by various parties….is this a joke…here you are to finalize the bill after so many months, and now you come up with not one or two but 188 amendments!!!

If there was a need for amendment, the bill could have been passed, and slowly after seeing the practicalities involved amended for better working. But no, the main intention was not to pass the bill itself…there was absolutely no political will.

Just by saying, we are For the bill, but we want these changes, does not make these politicians a Saint.

By passing the bill, they could have saved the newborn on Ventilator, and then carried out the correct treatment, unfortunately this was not to be…This was a cold blooded murder…

Un-Wanted

2011-12-17T08:13:00.001+05:30

Year after year I have been an active member for helping out in organising functions. During the functions it had become impossible for me to sit and enjoy with my wife and kids.

This year I was surprised and shocked at the attitude of others when I was approached for an upcoming function, where they asked me if I will come for the function, 'Come' not 'Help'!!! That everything has been finalised made me understand that meetings had been conducted without even me knowing about it. Inclusion of certain new organisers who dont see eye to eye with me might be the reason.

So now what should I take it as?? That my help is no longer required? I am actually taking that as the case. It feels insulting, after so many years of trying to give in the best for the very people who are now wanting you only as a guest. :(

Feel so unwanted.....Makes me feel I wasted my time all these years for nothing....

The Wolves are prowling on Twitter

2011-11-11T20:05:00.001+05:30

The format of Bigg Boss is simple, put in a bunch of page 3 people who for the first few days behave as if they are on page 3 but slowly find it difficult to remain goodie goodie.

Not that they are bad. It human nature to be angry, to protest, to err.

And then the true facets which they keep away from the public are visible to all.

Same is the case with celebrities and politicians on twitter. Here they have to take bouquets and brickbats. Sometimes these brickbats get out of hand and celebrities hit back only to have more brickbats if the celebrity goes overboard in replying. A few people who come in late latch on to the fact that a celebrity has used certain abusive words without verifying the start of the conversation.

Twitter thrives and actually its thriving on criticism. Any topic will have its bunch of jokers and criticizers. There are supporters but the human nature likes to thrive on spice. There is no spice on good news..the wolves are out waiting for the celebrities for one small slip... And then they will pounce....

Essence of Marriage

2011-11-10T19:07:00.001+05:30

Many a times we get to hear, I have sacrificed so much for my marriage...I am a compromising person...one has to keep on compromising and sacrificing to keep the relation intact.

I for one dont agree with this. I believe one needs understanding to be together. Compromise , sacrifice are trouble makers in the future, one use of this word and whatever good has been done is erased for ever.

Understanding never pops up ever in any argument, and where there is understanding the ego never come in.

Understanding and compromise may both solve the problem, but the latter is never reliable.

Baba Academy

2011-09-17T16:19:00.001+05:30

I am actually quite impressed by Baba Ramdev’s Assets of 1100 Crs. Though I would like to own similar of more of such assets, I am not interested in becoming a BABA. So another Idea has surfaced in my head.
I can start an Institution for Baba Aspirants. Train the students on how to become a Baba!! Instead of becoming a Baba and earning, why not train thousands and earn crores ;)
The training will involve various classes including Yoga, Accounts, Public Relations, Public Speaking etc.
The course will include providing minimum 100 followers( u scratch my back , i will scratch yours – students), who will attend the the Baba’s discourse, sing his praises, If the Baba aspirants wants, his photos can also be garlanded(even if he is alive) at all his followers homes(at an extra cost though). This process should fetch the aspirant another 100 followers and so on and so forth.
If the aspirant is willing to shell out more money, than a few aspiring TV stars, out of work film stars, a few politicians can also be added to the followers list with full media attention. This will ensure more followers.

this blog was written by me a long time back and today because of @rameshsrivats* article in Outlook, I dug it out from the drafts. Its incomplete…….maybe will finish it off one day :)))) . I am posting it today to express my liking to his article in Outlook where I did not comment because I was not in a mood to register myself on a new site*

9/11

2011-09-09T08:58:00.001+05:30

I have my own reasons to remember 9/11 anniversary.

Had a shocking experience with the Mumbai police that day. Infact got a call from home regarding the WTC crash while was at the police station.

My car stereo got stolen from my building in the evening and so went to the police station to file a complaint.

There the inspector on asking me what the problem was, pointed out to a father and son duo sitting in front of him, told me....ur stereo got stolen, these guys are here to lodge a stolen car complaint, and I am informing them that finding the car is impossible, so u better go home without filing the complaint!!!!

Was seriously shocked at hearing this but then the news of 9/11 attacks poured in, so rushed home to witness the worst ever terrorist attacks unfold live on TV, my stereo all forgotten that day.....

Twitter an uncontrolled bane

2011-08-25T10:36:00.001+05:30

In the past there have been trends on twitter like RIP Jackie Chan, there have been other rumors which circulated more faster than before even Media could get hold of it.
There was a bridge cavein in Mumbai recently…and Mumbaikarrs were tweeting about it like an entire bridge had fallen down…..
Yesterday Twitter was abuzz with tweets regarding possible end to Anna Hazare’s fast by use of force by the Government of India. There was nothing on NEWS about it….but slowly media started picking up the NEWS after more than 20 mins of this coming up on twitter.
My point is : Is Twitter faster than Media and is Media also just picking up titbits from Twitter. There was a lot of controversy later with both the Police and GOI denying any plans of forcefully arresting/ending Annas fast.
Twitter has become a very powerful medium. But it can also create a lot of problems. Some people who are used to passing out chain mails, or unverified information on emails, just start retweeting or posting on their on profiles about things they read without verifying.
It is difficult to control so many tweeters, but the only request is to verify the facts before passing out any information and not resort to spreading rumors……
IT IS GOOD TO BE SOCIALLY ACTIVE BUT BE SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE TOO……

The Emperors New Clothes

2011-08-23T11:55:00.001+05:30

We have all read or heard the the story of Emperors New Clothes. Indian Governments current situation is similar….everybody is able to see the corruption around except our leaders. Even a small child is taking part in the support of Anna Hazare and know that corruption is bad, but our shameless politicians are still undecided over the future of Lok Pal Bill.
Anna Hazare has acted like a small child in the story of Emperors New Clothes and raised his voice by declaring that our Government System is Corrupt…….and now everybody has come out into the open by supporting him.
In the story the Emperor realized his folly but will our Government do the same????????
I dedicate this blog to Mr. Bimal Maskara who tweeted this to me…

Why Annas fast is also scary…..

2011-08-20T13:16:00.001+05:30

It was always said the Cricket unites our Nation like nothing else. The last World cup victory and the celebrations all over India and also in other parts of the World proved it with people dancing on the streets and tri-colour being waved everywhere.
Now another “C” word has united India….its Corruption. People are actually tired of corruption, which unfortunately is too deep rooted to be removed immediately from our system.
But Anna Hazare movement is a start and I wish, along with thousands of Indians that its can be reduced if not completely eliminated. It has brought the public together for a cause, something which we had always heard of but never seen….Unity in Diversity…..and now getting to see.
But India is a country which along with corruption is also reeling under another threat that of terrorism. It is just a thought…what if someone(could be an insider could be an outsider) manages to create some security issue at Anna Hazare’s fasting place. Two things can happen…either the Government will get a chance to end this protest or the public might revolt badly in protest.
In both cases the cause will come to a back seat, but the worse is the second scenario, if public gets out of hand, it will be impossible to control an uprising. Hope I am wrong…….but yes I am scared…..

I hate you …like a love you…

2011-08-02T10:25:00.001+05:30

Lost my mobile phone last week and then bought an IPhone 3gs …more out of peer pressure(from my son and wife).
Dont know what to say about the phone….never seen such a fast thing in my life. With most apps coming only thru itunes…I think chances of the phone catching Virus is also very remote(hoping that most apps are going thru the stringent checks of Apple before being put up on the itunes store).
There are a few things I am still trying to figure out…will take time…but will get there I am sure.
But then there are certain things which I dont like about the phone…..
Very few apps are bundled along with the phone , and most apps you have to either download from itunes…or if they are free you have to waste your data on the stupid adverts displayed….better to pay one time and download if you dont have an unlimited plan…..
No flash for the camera…..seriously need one.
No editing options to the photos clicked….though there are others apps on itunes which you have to conveniently buy
No homescreen todo list…..somewhere during my years of using Nokia…I am so used to see my homescreen filled with my todo list….that I really miss it. I have downloaded an app from itunes for Todo(again the phone is shipped with just a plain calender which can have appointments…but no todo list….)but i have to enter the app to check out the list….
I miss the simple arrow key to go back in a sentence and edit it…..with this phone there is a magnifying glass which i have to take to the point of editing and then try and place the cursor there…..
There are many such other things which i do miss in this phone….but then am actually amazed at the convenience of most things in this phone…the speed…..
Its like I hate the phone….but yet I love it….

Random thoughts

2011-08-02T09:22:00.001+05:30

Wanted to open my windows live mail…some how my live writer got opened……
Now sitting and staring at the many posts in which are there in the Drafts but I have not completed them or just typed and not posted…..
Blogging was an outlet for my thoughts…it has now been replaced by twitter.
8 out of 10 times a thought converted into a 140 character tweet is responded to or retweeted……compared to blogs which are random being read(i think)….
but that doesnt mean i will stop blogging…..if a certain topic needs more than 140 characters and which i think will be injustice if tweeted will certainly find their way to my blog….till then cyao…have a nice day :)

Ganda hai parr Dhanda hai yeh….

2011-07-13T13:31:00.001+05:30

Seriously sometimes when I think of all the scams by Raja, Kalmadi, Kani and now Maran….I wonder what have they done wrong.
Think of it like a business person. Who wouldnt want to make more money. It was the Government and the system which was gullible. These scamsters(should we be even calling them that till proven guilty?) saw an opportunity like intelligent Business people and made an earning for themselves.
Maybe the profit sharing was not found appropriate by some who got the lesser amount of pie and thats where they got exposed, but otherwise I think now we should stop blaming them.
If our Government with all its capabilities feels that buying a thing for 100 rupees is the best rate they can procure it than why blame the contractor even if the same thing is available in the market for 10 rupees.
It is the system which is wrong, which gives a person the best opportunity to profit more if s/he has the brains to take advantage of the system to earn more. So why get jealous of them?
Agreed crores of money is going in some individuals pockets…but had the Individual decided to leave politics and do the same work than it would have been termed as business and not scam. Public would have invested in their firms and would have been happy to see the bottom line of crores of profit.

Being in touch

2011-07-13T13:12:00.001+05:30

Met a school friend on facebook after around 21 years. It was fun talking to him. Though we chatted on the fb chat…we both were down the memory lane talking of our school teachers, friends, places.
Now that I think of it wonder if our children will have that kind of fun to talk to friends after so many years. There will always be a difference between them and us. During our school time 20 years back we didnt have mobile phones, social networking sites, emails.
Passing on Telephone numbers then was also not always feasible more so because telephones were not available in all houses and kids were random allowed to make calls.
I remember I used to be in touch with one of friends who had to shift to another city thru letters. But then even that stopped over the time.
Now the kids have some many mediums to be in touch.
Anyways it was nice chatting to my friend after so many years….

My tweet birthday

2011-06-30T10:08:00.001+05:30

Yes today is my tweet birthday….thanks to @tinucherian who tweeted the link to @twbirthday on Twitter. I am also sharing my tweet birthday with Mr. Pritish Nandy @pritishnandy and Mr. Cherian TinuAbraham.
Found that I had joined Twitter on 30th of June, 2009. Here is my Twitter Birth Certificate…certainly better than the one Municipality gives ;)

So here’s a Very Happy Tweet Birthday to me and @tinucherian and @pritishnandy :) May we have many more tweet days ….

Publicity Stunt

2011-06-30T09:55:00.001+05:30

Recently film artist Anushka Sharma was in the news for being detained by customs for over 8 hours. She claimed she didnt know that she had to declare her jewelery before leaving. Odd…..when most Indians have already read and seen on news channels the way Minisha Lamba and Bipasha Basu were also detained for similar reasons, a person from the same fraternity claims ignorance.
This makes me seriously ask…are these people doing it for publicity?? Quite possible, since Bollywood is no strangers to negative publicity is the best publicity. Link ups, court cases etc so many times we see such news and then a movie releases and everything is forgotten.
Take the case of hue and cry over Shah Rukh Khan being frisked at an Airport…a few months down the line we had a similar scene in his movie My Name is Khan….
Even in the past we have had many such issues…out of sight is out of mind….these filmdom people need to be in the limelight…and might go to any lengths….maybe I am wrong…but i bet not :)

Technorati Tags: Customs,Anuskha Sharma,Bipasha Basu,Minisha Lamba,Shah Rukh Khan,Publicity Stunt

Main karoon to saala character dheela hai…

2011-06-20T14:05:00.001+05:30

Recently on fathers day, author Chetan Bhagat wrote a tweet which drew a lot of flak. His tweet was :
"Mothers give birth, but the coke belongs to the guy who puts the coin in the vending machine. Happy fathers day"
Personally I read the tweet, laughed and ignored it. It was an old joke heard many times. But then by evening Chetan Bhagat began to trend. Like every “coin” this too had two sides….those supporting him, and those against him, but most people started abusing him to the extent that in the end he had to delete the tweet.
It makes me wonder, I see so many people just shooting off anything they like, but just because they are not being followed much or unlike Chetan Bhagat who is in the public eye since long, their tweets are ignored. But when a person like Chetan Bhagat or any other well know person puts in such a tweet he is crucified!!
Ok..you dont like his books…he never asked you to like them. He writes, people who like his books read them. If they dont like it, they will trash it..if they like it its good for him. Not every author’s every written book is liked by one and all. So why the hell start abusing him about his books. about his social thinking?? He is an individual with his individual rights like every other tweeter.
And why just him, every few days our timelines are full of celebrities facing trolls. So should celebrities tweet actually what is in their minds or just tweet what their followers will like. Is this what twitter is about? Why do tweeples just jump at an opportunity to crucify the celebrities?
Every Tom, Dick and Harry posts some post which might be offensive to others once in a while, but when celebrities do it …..unka Character Dheela hai!!!!

Fleecing the traveller

2011-05-16T10:38:00.001+05:30

Having a very bad experience with Kolkatta taxis, during my initial visits, now I always head straight to the Pre-paid counter. During my last visit also I did the same, but the taxi driver was not happy to know the destination. Once he moved out of the airport, he is telling me, Sir I can take you through a shortcut, if you pay me 100 rupees extra. I put my foot down over the matter and told him, I have all the time in the world to reach my destination, and dont care if he takes the shortcut or the normal route. On the way, he tried many a times to tell me to get off some other place citing that he didnt know the route, but then again I stood my ground and finally he reluctantly dropped me off to my destination.
I thought this was the end of it, but had more in store ….and this time not at Kolkatta but at my home turf…ie. at Mumbai. My flight landed after 12 am, so i was quite aware that I will have to shell out night charges. Being tired I was mentally set to sit in the first cab/AC cab or autorickshaw whatever was available immediately. The first person I met was a Cool Cab driver who agreed to take me to the my home address. When I asked him to start the meter, his response was that his meter was not working and he would charge me 600 Rupees for a distance which would normally in a cool cab would have taken only 250 rupees even with night charges. I refused point blank. Got out and approached a normal taxi. Same response, I wont take you on meter, I will charge your 350!!!! I moved ahead, and was surprised to see same responses from most of the taxi drivers. I was not beginning to lose my patience and infact told one that I am not from Alibaug( a common term by most mumbaikars). There was one taxi driver who even went on to tell me….Sir I will take your from Highway which will be empty right now and not from SV Road. He is telling me..this is Mumbai saab…never sleeps in the night. I told him….tell me something I dont know!!!!
Finally I had walked all the way from the terminal to the Main Highway from where I caught a rickshaw and reached home by paying normal charges.
Since I am from Mumbai, and know the roads and the rates, I knew I was being fleeced. But I really pity people from outside who are not aware of such things :(

Sachin’s tons a jinx??? I dont think so…..

2011-04-16T11:41:00.001+05:30

Not being much interested in IPL, I seem to have missed a master century by the Master Blaster in yesterdays match of Mumbai Indians vs Kochi Tuskers.

Today the social networking sites are full of talks about the jinx of Sachins century which ultimately result his team in not winning the match. As a matter of fact, there were so many people during the World Cup final, who were happy to see him get out without getting his 100th Century(though I am well aware…had we lost the cup the public reaction would have been different)

Coming to the point of Sachins Tons being a jinx…I enquired around …is it really true….did a bit of groundswork…and the results are as under:

Sachin has scored 48 centuries in ODI and 51 in Test matches in his tally of 99 centuries.

Out of the 48 ODI matches in which Sachin scored centuries, India has one 33 matches and lost in 15.Winning % is 68.74%

Out of the 51 test matches in which Sachin scored centuries, India won 20, Drew 20, Lost 11. Winning % is 39%, but then how many results do we get in test matches?

So the jinx discussion is wrong. So let the man be…and let him enjoy his game…….

Being part of History….Part 2, the party spoilers

2011-04-06T09:48:00.001+05:30

Blogged about the WC 11 finals experience. But the party had its lows also. Drunken men on the road, coming out in front of the car, dancing , wanting to shake hands with all alike…
Wonder how many such cases might have occurred all over and how many actually got reported. Mumbai in particular has had its share during New Year Eve outside J W Marriot at Juhu and even during the T20 WC final celebrations on the road, when a few guys misbehaved in the crowd with a girl, resulting in the girl falling in a drench.
Holi and Ganpati are two more occasions where I have seen such people passing lewd comments and trying to act fresh.
Such party poopers are around everywhere, cant argue with them, have to use tact and move ahead.
Before ending this piece, I would like to share one interesting point told to me once…..
Why is it that a drunkard in his best of mood , call his neighbors wife “HELLO DARLING”, but at the same time if he sees his mother or wife, will fold his hands or put his fingers on the lips and say “SHHHH….I am ok”. If he can recognize his mother or wife, what makes him forget the tact that he should be knowing the neighbors wife also??

Being part of History

2011-04-05T08:58:00.001+05:30

Yes it was nothing less than being part of History being made. India winning the ICC World Cup 2011. It was during Holi, that our building people started having a discussion of seeing India Pakistan Match together. At that stage no one was sure, if they will be meeting in the Quarter Finals, Semi Finals or if at all.

But we were in for a very Big Game!!!. India Pak were to clash in nothing less than Semi Finals. Our frentic efforts to get a projector screen failed, since we were making our plans at the last moment. Most screens were booked, and those who had a few left were charging exorbitant rates. So all of us sat at our individual homes cheering our Team Blue as it won the semis to enter the Finals.

The talk of watching the Final again gained a lot of momentum. One of our member offered his 42 inch LCD, I offered my Sound system, one more offered his cable connection from his first floor flat. And all this just on the morning of the finals, a good 2 hours away from the toss. What to say, the idea was accepted like fire and we were all set in a few hours. Chairs were brought in from various flats, popcorn, colddrinks, bhel, etc…whatever one could get flowed through out the matches.

At the start of the game we were around 20-25 odd people, but the national anthem set the mood, when all of us stood along with the crowd at the stadium, ending the national anthem with shouts of Vande Mataram and Bharat Mata ki jai. Young and old alike, we all sat for seeing History in making. By the end of the match the crowd had grown to over 100 people.

The re-toss itself was a reason for us to raise our voices, shreesants bowling, jaheer khans 3 maidens, Tendulkar coming to bowl on a Mumbai pitch, everything was going crazy, every dot ball being cheered, every wicket being shouted at, whistles, dhols, daflis, horns.

The lowest point of the match was Tendulkar getting out immediately after Shewag got out. Silence. It was like everything had collapsed. But no, not a single person moved out. The general consensus was, if we are going down, better go down fighting. And then started Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli’s innings. The situation was that even their singles were being greeted by the loudest cheer. One of the member announced that in this world cup, Gambhir is due for a good inning, Virat is due for a good inning….but DHONI IS OVER-DUE!!!!!!

And overdue Dhoni was, when he walked out to bat there was a collective shout of expletives, as to why he didnt send Yuvraj. But the overdue was paid with lots of goodies along and Dhoni finally managed to play a Captains Knock in the all important game. During the last over, most of the elders didnt even get to see Dhoni hit the winning six, because all the people had already jumped out of their seats and were standing right in front of the tv screen.

And the celebrations…..Koli style dancing in circle, shouting WORLD CUP …..WORLD CUP……exhalting in front of the TV screen to Dhoni…..that was a scene to see, and will always remain in my mind for ever….the kids were bowing to Dhoni’s Image on the screen…..everybody was so happy……

and me?….well I was dancing on the compound wall with the whistle in my mouth, throughout the last over, because by then we were all confident that we are going to win…i didnt see Dhoni hit the winning Six!!!!!!!!

The victory celebrations later spilled on the roads, with all being packed in 4 cars with the tricolour and shouts of Vande Mataram and Bharat Mata ki Jai!!!!!!

Dear Mr. Finance Minister

2011-03-05T13:29:00.001+05:30

Sir,
I was listening to your budget speech and was not able to control myself from swearing out loud when you said that the Refund process is been made faster and simpler.
My wife is waiting for her Income Tax refunds of more than 5 assessment years. I have personally been following up with the department since more than 7 months now and have been able to get only refund till date.
This week I had the opportunity to sit with the Officer for more than 2 hours and the experience brought back memories of my travails over the past 7 months. The system is very clear. A person who comes asking for his refund the very first time is heard, his data checked and sent back saying that the refund will be released after a month. A person who comes back after a month is told that the refund should have come out by now, since it hasnt, it is better to put in a request in writing. On followup after giving the request in writing, the papers which are stored in “Bundles” are to be found. After one more visit to the Department, the Bundle is found, and the papers are found to be “Missing”. Next step is file an affidavit. Once the affidavit is filed, the person is again asked to come back after a week or so. During all these visits, I am not accounting the number of times the peon or the officer is not to be found on the table. Finally after a year the refund is released, if at all.
Btw…let me clarify, I am still to receive the refunds. The receipt of refund experience I am sharing of others.
Sir, you have not made e-filing mandatory for quick and easy refund. But even after e-filing the papers are still to be couriered to the Department in some place of our Country…as far as I know..to Bangalore.
These e-filing data’s are not “available” to the Income Tax officer for reasons best known to the department. My wifes last years returns are still not being shown on his computer, inspite of filing the returns electronically.
So all in all, some loophole is still there in the latest system also.
Yes I had the opportunity to visit an Higher Authority last week. He was very helpful. He has asked me to write a letter to the Department. So my saga continues………

Yours faithfully
A Citizen of India who is paying is Taxes so that your Department people can draw their salaries as per 6th Pay Commission

Jai Hind

Friends

2011-02-24T15:40:00.001+05:30

Who are they?????

The one who holds your hand in a crowd, which is against you and says
“Tu tension mat let. Apun sambhal lenge sab”
The one who taps your back, when you are wrong and says
“I knew it, aise ghaple bus tu hi karr sakta hai”
The one who does everything for you, but then refuses to take thanks and says
“Abbe yeh formality ka natak mat karr”
The one who message you saying
“Abbe reply to karr”
The one who make you smil and stops your tears and himself starts crying and says
“Aankh me bhi abhi hi kachra girna tha, aur tu saale band karr ab apna ye Radio”

FRIENDS ------ Dont ever forget them :)

Transit camps in Mumbai

2011-02-08T09:28:00.001+05:30

Mumbai is seeing a lot of Slum Redevelopment or chawl redevelopment. What the redevelopers are doing is building Transit Camps for the residents, breaking down their old houses, and constructing new buildings, before shifting them back to the new place.
However there is new trend nowadays…these transit camps are made of Iron girder framework and have cement sheets as walls. Not sure how safe they are. On top of it, these structures are going up as high as 7 storeys!!!!
Yesterday I saw one more such structure with shops on the ground floor. One of the shop was a Marble shop. I shudder to think what will happen if the load of Marbles fall on the side wall….will the cement sheet wall and iron girders be able to handle the weight of the marbles then or will the entire structure of seven storey fall down like a pack of cards. God only can save the people staying in transit there.

TV killed the Radio Star…….

2011-01-05T10:06:00.001+05:30

This was once a very popular song. Come to think of it, over the years so many things have vanished. The VCR by CD player, which in turn by the DVD player, the rotary telephone by modern day push button phones, the CRT TV by LCD and LED, the type writer by computers. I have blogged about this before also. So why am I writing abut it again???

Simply because I am missing out on Emails from friends and family. I miss the attachments in emails, the jokes, the pictures, the news from them. No my friends and family are not busy…..but they are doing the same thing on social networking sites. I am kept updated by them over there. So there you are……Social networking is slowly killing the Email…………

Dont know if I am writing about it a bit early….but I feel I will be missing out on emails soon………….

She’s got the look!!!!

2010-11-08T12:00:00.001+05:30

On Sunday, my daughter wanted to sit on the rides outside the restaurant where we had gone to have food. Now there was a small girl sitting on a ride which was inactive. No one was with her. I was looking around for her parents. Saw a female in all finery trying to avoid my gaze. After a few minutes she came ahead and instead of starting the ride or picking up her kid, she started combing her kids hair while the kid was sitting on the ride, inspite of seeing that I am losing my patience. In the end I had to request her to shift her kid to another ride…but not before I saw a look of ‘disgust’ on her face. Seriously the look got my mind thinking.My wifey was laughing at my experience, saying that this is norm with certain mothers and kids everywhere. Unless you dont open your mouth, they dont even remove their kids for others to use the rides.
Some mothers always tend to turn a blind eye. Inspite of their kids crying reaching the ears of every other person in the vicinity, surprising they lose their hearing capabilites while the howling is going on. And when finally they see that no other person is coming forward to quiten the kid, one should see the “Look” on their faces, when they have to drop the current gossip and go and attend their kids.
Then there are mothers, who “break” the queue. They will just walk ahead of the queue, start chatting with their family member/friend who is already in the queue, and next you will find that they have secured their place in the queue. I have seen this a lot many times in gardens, in school fees queues. Best is the school fee queue, mothers will come up to a mom already in the queue, ask about her kids acadamics, and then oh, i forgot to pay my kids fees too…..why dont you take this cash and pay my kids fees too!!!!!! Very rarely I have seen other moms object. Maybe they do the same thats why. But when anybody does object…..one gets to see the “look”……….
Mothers in finery,best dresses, best sarees, and the tiny tot comes running and is responsible for a crease which can only be seen by its mothers eyes….one gets to see the “look”:))))))
Any other observations are welcome;)

Overdose of Social Networking

2010-10-28T09:14:00.001+05:30

Lately I find myself just staring at my social networking web page, wondering what to do. Facebook or Twitter, I am just not able to know what is to be done. People have been asking me about where are my new posts, but frankly my mind is blank.
Infact, I am even tired of all new mobile phones being more inclined towards Social networking applications. Its making me sick now. There was a time, when I could not do with Facebook or Twitter, but now I dont even log on to them for hours together, without having to worry which friend is doing what. Being updated is good…but being constantly updated…………………………………
Maybe an overdose of being on the social networking sites has killed the fun, or maybe they are really losing their charm as time is going by……….
Whatever it maybe, but I have decided today to stop my mobile live updates of both Twitter and Facebook…….maybe the previous system of checking them once in a while will be worthwhile……….

Mumbai water woes

2010-10-28T09:05:00.001+05:30

Recently I read an article in the newspaper about how a Municipal Corporater almost came to tears in the Municipal house while describing her situation with the people in her constituency, who came to her residence at odd times complaining about the erratic water supply, this inspite the Municipal Corporation of Mumbai, withdrawing its water cut. The Hydraulic Department responsible for water supply responded back saying that if they tried rectifying the supply for one are, another area started suffering because of the way the entire network of pipeline was layed.

Frankly, I am not an expert at this, but it did made me recall a simulator game I used to play, Simcity 2000. As my city used to grow, I needed to connect more and more water pipelines, and as the web of pipelines started growing there were always areas which faced difficulties with the supply of water.

Mumbai’s growth I guess is something similar to my experience of Simcity, connections are just added and the loop of pipelines, just keep on adding to the mess. Our people in Municipal Corporation might be inexperienced like me, or are at loss at rectifying the problem, because somebody before them might have sanctioned laying of pipeline, without worrying about the future.

I dont thing this issue will ever get solved, unless the entire pipe network is re-layed……..

Some mobile applications I cant do without

2010-10-21T09:29:00.001+05:30

It took me more than 5 years to shift to Nokia phones, since i found them very common then, and then I have been using Nokia phones since past 8 years after my wifey gifted me one. What kept me attracted to them were the number of applications Nokia has and the ease of usage. So thought of jotting down the application which I have been using over the years…..
Nokia Sports Tracker : Very good application for recording your walks/cycling exercises. Needs GPS enabled phones. After shifting to touch screen mobile was saddened by the fact that there was no application available for it. But last year they launched the touch screen version and since then it has found a place on my cell.
Maps : Frankly I hate Nokia/Ovi Maps. They take too long to load, and most of the times are inaccurate. Been using Google Maps since past 4 years. Amazing accuracy. Though I wish it was intelligent enough to chose the shortest route possible, which many a times it fails to do.
Quickoffice : Seriously cant do without it and it needs no introduction over here.
Whatsapp : This is one messaging software which incorporates Blackberry, Android, Iphone and Symbian 60 phones. It doesnt require you to have a new messaging user id and password, just your phone number is sufficient for it. All the above phone uses just need to register their cell numbers once, and the application will go thru your contact list, find the people who are using the application and you are connected with them. The application doesnt hog the battery of your cell and is very useful.
Socially : Sadly for me, Nokia is having some issue with social networking applications for my current cell. I know they are working on it, but no results yet. So after going thru various other third party applications, I settled down with an application called Socially. It incorporates Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Linkedin. The only disadvantage with the software is that its not real time, the minimum time for auto update is 30 mins, which i feel is too much. Otherwise it has all the features one requires for social networking sites.
There are many other applications…….some I delete over the time…some I use randomly……….

The chance to earn….

2010-10-14T09:01:00.001+05:30

Due to urgent matters had to book airline tickets to Kolkatta. Actually were planning to go today, but were shocked to see the return fare totalling to Rs. 32000/- per person. In the end booked tickets for Monday, which is like only 3 days away, wherein we had to shell out the same amount for two people!!!!

The reason was simple….Durga Pooja and Kolkatta….the airlines have jacked up the prices seeing that its festive season. Infact while we got Mumbai-Kolkatta for reasonable price, the Kokatta Mumbai flight we thought was unreasonable. Again the reason was same…since Monday the festivities get over, there will be many people who are travelling back to Mumbai and so the prices are up.

Really made me think….these airlines always come out with catch lines like they care for the passengers…etc…etc…but when they see an opportunity to earn….they jack up the prices……….

The Ayodhya Issue

2010-09-28T14:59:00.001+05:30

Since past one week I am seeing fear again in the eyes and talk of many. This fear was witnessed by me during the Babri Masjid Demolition. I have always said, sometimes someone starts a thing which blows out of proportion for that person also to control. The political parties for their benefit tried to rake up the Ram Mandir issue then…for the vote bank….and it backfired badly on our Country. The riots which followed after that are still reason enough for everybody to be afraid of a reoccurrence.

Now our Court of Law is going to decided whom the land belongs to. Frankly I give a damn about the land, but yes I am worried by seeing so many people worried about it. Everywhere the topic is the same. It was politics then, and so it is now. Our Government would not like any problems during the CWG games, for which they are already facing a flak for reasons best known to all of us. If the verdict comes out now, and God forbid there is some problem because of it, then whatever face it has to save by running the games successfully will be in dumps.

The Supreme Court of India, today has rejected the appeal for deferment of verdict by the High court. Too late …i feel….too convenient for the Government I feel……since one of the judge is set to retire in two days. So will the High Court give out it judgment in the coming two days. Highly unlikely I feel, since the CWG games are to be held successfully by the Government of India. Politics….Sigh!!!!!

The Owl

2010-09-28T14:47:00.001+05:30

Yesterday turned out to be very interesting day. At around 10 am my factory worker excitedly called me inside the factory area….Quick bring your mobile and click the photos of an owl who has entered in the factory he said. When I reached there, I found two empty cans of 50kgs had fallen off from the overhead loft(the owl did this said my man). The owl had now hid itself below our big vessel. I clicked a few snaps and then asked my people to scare it out of the window. But instead of going towards the window, it ran into another machine. We opened the door of the machine to find it neatly hidden there. From there we managed to make it go upto not one but three windows. But it was just not ready to go out. The reason of which dawned on us soon. A lot of crows had accumulated outside the window now. We were now aware that if we let it out, then the crows would surely peck it to death. Slowly we made the owl reach one of our office rooms, the doors of which we closed once it was inside. We were able to see thru the glass doors, that the owl was now sitting on the window ledge, (the glass pane of the window was closed), while the crows were pecking at the glass trying to get to it.

My brother called up the Animal Hospital at Parel, from where he got a few other numbers. But mostly we got the reply that they did not have the facility to take it away. In the meanwhile our habit of posting every bit of our life on facebook started a series of comments and phone calls. Some people were informing us its auspicious, while others were informing us its bad. Whatever the case, the thoughts in my mind were to get it out safe.

By afternoon a new issue cropped up in the office. There was a lot of chirping sound in our office bathroom loft. We were now worried …what if the owl has given kids over there. Finally one person climbed up the loft to only confirm that they are pigeon kids.

Thru net, we got numbers of BNHS, who informed us that they have already been informed, but were not able to help us out, and PAWS. From there, I was asked to leave the bird out only in the evening, since that is when the owl would be able to see and fly away. The dilemma was , that my office shuts down at 5 pm. sun down normally is at 7 nowadays. We got a cardboard box, punched holes on all sides and then with the help of one labour put the owl in the box.

I took it our residence. In the evening all the kids of our building had accumulated on our terrace to see the release. On opening the box, it just gave a two second stare and flew off as if nothing has happened.

And Oh yes…my wife did some research in the night, and found that the Owl is the mode of transportation of Goddess Laxmi in the night. In the morning she uses Elephant. So it is supposed to be auspicious:)))

Art and craft bug

2010-09-17T09:55:00.001+05:30

This Ganpati the Art and craft bug had bitten me. I had seen a show on the TV once with my kids, where they were showing how to make a small cave. I decided to do away with the “small” and make a bigger cave for decoration to keep my Idol in this year.
I started off with a cardboard box, after having secured the back with thermocol, i started making newspaper balls and using diluted fevicol stuck those paper balls on the top of the box. In the show they had used craft paper and tissue paper to cover up the paper balls. I found it unfeasible after starting. Got stuck. So then I used hessian bags to cover up the entire box and started giving the shape of a cave by using Plaster of Paris. Not being used to it, I used hand gloves, but found that they hinder the working. So started doing so with my bear hands. Daily evening after putting in 2-3 days into it, i realised that once i had put plaster of paris inside the box my height was reduced and that my Idol wont fit in. Infact I had overlooked the height factor of the idol totally!!!!
So it was back to drawing board. Now I got 50 mm thermocol sheets. but them below the box, on two sides and started cutting the centre of the box. Not an expert in mixing Plaster of Paris, some parts were becoming soggy, some parts were cracking, and the major hurdle i was facing was to prevent the front top from sagging down because of the weight. I next placed the entire thermocol and box cave on a table and right from the top of the box to the floor, i started shaping the cave using Plaster of Paris.
Support from family members was there, but then even they had their doubts , if it will look good. Finally, the entire structure was brushed using White cement with the help of a local painter on the last day.
We brought in some plants from our terrace and placed them all around the structure, lights were added.But……the main beauty came out after placing the idol in it. Ganpati Bappa Morya!!!!

Tweet or blog

2010-09-17T09:39:00.001+05:30

Less action nowadays on my blog. I would blame it on tweeting actually. It much easier to express your thoughts sometimes in a single line. It helps in two ways…one ..its like a dairy you are maintaining…two…sometimes you express your feelings and the load is off your head.
Many people ask me if anybody reads the blogs or tweets…for me its just like noting down what is in my head. Sometimes friends/relatives read the blogs/tweets and give their opinions, which are always helpful.
Whatever it is….I am continuing with whatever is possible with me….tweet and blog………

One hour in a mall

2010-08-20T14:35:00.001+05:30

Yesterday spent one hour observing people in the mall while wife was on a shopping spree. Trying to reproduce a few observations over here….
There was some Karaoke competition going on in the mall. Either people love to sing or simply have the guts to stand in front of so many people and make a laughing stock out of themselves. They were singing confidently, infact too confidently, unfortunately their voices were not ready to support them at all.
One easily comes to understand what kind of couples there are. There is a courtship couple or recently married couple, walking side by side, hand in hand, and then there is a married for eternity couple, the husband walking far ahead of the wife. Made me think…..before courtship the boy walks behind the girl, after courtship the two walk next to each other, and after marriage, the boy walks far ahead of the girl!!!!
Then there are people who come in the mall only to spend time, they have no intentions of buying, they will roam around aimlessly, eat popcorn, and just crib, “Too much rush on a working day”.
Actually one gets to see a sea of humanity in malls, with varied interests, moods, anyways my one hour passed off with a good timepass;)

Comments on blogposts

2010-08-19T10:08:00.002+05:30

Twice it has happened that some people use the comments option on the blogposts to post advertisements. Frankly I am not liking it and so have activated comment moderation on my blogs. The comments will first come to me in email and only after accepting them will they appear on my blog.

The paper flags

2010-08-16T09:34:00.001+05:30

Every Independence or Republic day we see scores of hand held flags being waved. Its quite a sight. But every wondered what happens to these flags once the celebrations are over. One eighter finds them lying mutilated on the road side or in the bins. I am not blaming anybody. Afterall, these flags are not going to last for ever and there is no proper code for disposing such flags. Try putting such flags along with old newspapers, even the vendor will just refuse to take them.

But arent these flags a matter of pride for the country??? And isnt our pride being thrown away casually????

Personally I feel that these flags should be banned altogether. If we dont have the facility to have a proper disposal system, which infact is next to impossible, then we have no right whatsoever to use these flags.

Colours

2010-08-09T16:53:00.000+05:30

A girl from her childhood has colourful things around her in form of colourful bangles, lipstick, earrings,necklaces etc. She grows up with those colours around her. Her bridal dress is of the brightest colours. But when her husband dies...she is deprived of all these and more importantly...colours.Seriously .... I just hate this system...particularly in the hindu community. What are the changes the male has to undergo if his wife dies first? Nothing. Then why this discrimination, and why is this continuing in this day and age?

Kiddie talk

2010-07-28T14:24:00.001+05:30

Sometimes Kiddie talk is so much fun to hear, I really wish that it never ends. My 5 year old daughter was discussing her school roll number with my brothers 6 year old son. Her roll number is 22, and she thinks that 22 is better than roll number 1, because it is greater than 1!!! Then she is saying, my best friends number is 15, but she is smarter than me, wonder why her roll number is less than me. I am also smarter, but maybe my teacher knows why I am given a better number.

Real fun to hear….

No social networking – day 7

2010-07-27T14:03:00.001+05:30

Why is it that when you are so near to your goal, you get impatient. Very frankly, today is the last day of my being away from facebook and twitter, but hands itching to log on. Its like…i have been a good boy…one day wont make a difference!!!!

Always amazed with technology

2010-07-27T09:15:00.001+05:30

I always get jitters travelling anywhere, without knowing the directions, and particularly when I am traveling alone.
In the past, I have traversed across Goa on a motorbike with my wifey. It was our very first visit over there. We had purchased road maps and travelled accordingly, but still, there were times when we did have to stop and ask for directions, there were times when we actually went on the wrong route.
Yesterday I travelled for nearly 200 kms just with the aid of GPS on my mobile. It kept on giving me precise junctions for turning, and for the first time i reached a place without stopping and asking anybody for directions. Amazing thing this GPS. Though I am not sure if it did give me the best possible route to reach there, having had to travel thru market places and the sort, but it did take me to my destination and back properly. Amazing what technology can do.
There was only one point yesterday, where the GPS system made me take a turn, which led to a dead end. Actually it was an old bridge which was shut down, since a new one had come up, but the GPS led me to the old one. But hardly a distance of around 500 meters was what I had to travel back. Still no complaints about it.

Guru Poornima

2010-07-26T09:04:00.001+05:30

Yesterday was Guru Poornima. This a day in the hindu calender when people worship their teachers, mentors etc.
Got me thinking. Who is my GURU. Well frankly I feel everybody around me a is my GURU(pun intended). Seriously, I am learning everyday from people around me. They are teaching me the biggest lesson called life. Some by fooling me, some by loving me, some by arguing with me, some by siding me. It is a daily learning process. A GURU is not necessarily your school teacher or college professor, GURU can also be your mentor, your parents, your siblings, your better half, your children, your neighbors, infact every living being you encounter including animals. We are learning daily from everybody.
So I salute all the people , animals, things around me….Boss your are my GURU!!!!!!

No social networking –day 3 and 4

2010-07-26T08:59:00.001+05:30

Nothing to write about. Maybe I am not addicted to social networking. Maybe people are wrong. Who knows……

No social networking- day 3

2010-07-24T08:56:00.001+05:30

Not much to say, except that I am quite ok. But certainly noticed that my mobile battery life is lasting 2 hours longer than what it normally lasts. Some applications are really battery hoggers………

No social networking – day 2 (contd)…

2010-07-23T14:36:00.001+05:30

Yes….got to admit…facing withdrawal symptoms now. During free time….hands itching to go on the facebook/twitter site. Called up wifey during the free time…..was happy to hear from her… “where are you”, wow got to hear that after ages…….So summing it up as an advantage….instead of interacting with wifey on messenger, spoke to her directly…should have made her happy…and frankly even I feel elated…….

No social networking – day 2

2010-07-23T08:47:00.001+05:30

Its actually a lot easier then my fears. I haven't had the temptation to go online at all. There were two or three times, when I actually typed the facebook URL instead of some other site I wanted to go on, but then realized it on time and hit the stop button. What I would describe it is…no withdrawal symptoms.

Infact my sister was asking me, what I was still doing on MSN, now thinking about going offline in MSN too.

It actually made me wonder, what is it that requires us to be in touch 24x7. All these years, I used to check my emails once in a day, hardly log on to the messenger, but then, it became a different ball game altogether. After all people who are emailing you don't expect immediate answers, cause if they wanted immediate answers, they would certainly call up.

No social networking –day 1, contd…

2010-07-22T11:14:00.001+05:30

Ok logged off fring, skype and whatsapp on the mobile. No more alerts to tempt me more….This is like detoxicifaction. But then what the hell am i doing on the blog…….cant stop in one go man…….

Will try and cut down on this also for the week…….

No social networking – Day 1

2010-07-22T08:49:00.001+05:30

I have decided to avoid social networking sites for a week. The coming days will witness if I am successful or no.

Day 1 : First 12 hours I have spent at home and sleeping. In the past twelve hours, I have peeked in my facebook and twitter account 4 times. Was tempted to interact, but have restrained my self from doing so. The problem lies in my email notifications. Even the little birdy sound on my mobile tweet notifications keeps me wanting to go ahead and read and reply. They are really tempting me to reply back…….

Do I hate luv stories??

2010-07-06T16:46:00.001+05:30

Actually I hate luv stories with sad endings. Our literature, is full of luv stories with sad and tragic endings. Many Hollywood and Bollywood movies converted these stories into movies. Frankly, I dont see such movies. I hated Ek Duje Ke liye, or even Sadma. As a matter of fact I didnt like seeing Kamal Hassan cry in Saagar, his expression said it all in the song “Sach Mere Yaar hai” particularly at the point when he says “Apni to haar hai”. I was given rave reviews about Tere Naam, but when I came to know of the tragic ending….sorry mate… dont want to see it…..

I have my favourite Bollywood love stories, and surprisingly a few didn't click on the box office. So what. I liked them and still see them if i get a chance. Just thought of sharing a few of my favourite bollywood luv stories….

1. Lamhe : The movie was way way ahead of its time. The general public were not able to absorb the fact that a young boy could fall in a love with a girl double his age, or a young girl falling for a person who could have been her fathers age. Hats off to both Sridevi and Anil Kapoor for carrying out the roles of adolescence as well as that of mature age. Sadly the movie bombed at the box office, but nevertheless, one of my all time favs.

2. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai : This was certainly the best movie from the SRK, Karan Johar and Kajol combine.

3. Jab We Met : Refreshing, something different. The only Kareena Kapoor movie I have ever liked in my life till date

4. Dilwale Dulhaniyan Le Jayenge : Epic of our generation. Actually this was the first combination of SRK and Kajol which set the screen on cupid fire. It also changed the normal eloping strategy of many lovers.

5. Maine Pyaar Kiya : The movie which launched Salman Khan, the movie where every prospective mother-in-law wanted a bahu like Bhagyashree, and every prospective daughter in law wanted a mother in law like Reema Lagu.

6. Jane Tu Ya Jane Na : Like Jab We Met, found it very refreshing, young…..It was a perfect story of totals confused youngsters.

6. Chalte Chalte : It moved ahead of the luv stories. It started from where the luv stories ended. It moved into the world of marriages…. Sadly, this was one of those movies which didnt click on box office…

I Hate Luv Stories

2010-07-02T10:43:00.001+05:30

Mil gaye jo chora chori…Hui Masti Thodi Thodi…bus pyaar ka naam na lena …I hate love stories….

This is the anthem of current generation of Kids. Seriously, they are not interested in commitments. They dont want to marry. I have spoken at length with a few. Their take on the matter is very clear…we have seen our parents screw their lives….we have seen them fight like dogs…we dont want to go thru this mess….we dont want children. We dont want to go thru the tedious pressure of Divorces in future. We want to live life at our whim, not having to worry about our mate. We want to earn for ourselves first, and then again after earning, why should we settle down. Etc Etc…..

They want to enjoy life while its going good, and when they feel its getting bad, they just want to move on, without any commitments. Just Good friends. Who can meet again after a few months and hug each other.

Times are changing, good or bad only the future will tell……….

Sorry

2010-06-28T19:29:00.000+05:30

This is something I have never said to my granddad, whose tenth death anniversary falls today. During his last years, we both were not on cordial terms. The terminal illness he suffered, moved me enough to talk to him and enquire about his health, otherwise, it was mostly hi, bye, ok.

Now that I think of it, I feel foolish. I used to call it his arrogancy, my young blood, but no, it was totally foolish on my part. Till now I was only trying to find ways of making me feel good by blaming it on all such things.

Since childhood he was the one who had taken care of me and my two siblings. He was the driving force behind us for our upbringing. His knowledge was legendary in our relatives, but so was his temper. Maybe the same genes came into me, as I grew up. And that temper led to a lot of arguments. Young age is so foolish. Sigh!!!

But sometimes I wonder, was he really that hot tempered. One incidence is still bothering me. One of our cars was in a garage for a long time, since its body was to be changed totally. We got it after quite a few months. The day we got the car, he asked me to go with the mechanic to buy some parts for the car, and me...i took out the car on the road, and dashed it against another. But surprising he didnt say a word. So he had a temper in the right place? Now that I think of it. Maybe yes.

Today the similar things which I used to argue with him, are staring at my face, and I realise, it was his experience which was talking, which I like a fool was not able to understand then.

Unfortunately, till his death, I didnt tell him sorry, and now I guess its too late.........

Why am I writing this, I dont know....felt like saying sorry today......

School bags….

2010-06-24T13:10:00.001+05:30

Daily Morning I see my son struggle with putting up his school bag on his back. Seriously the weight is killing. He has around 8 subjects in day. All his text books are long book size. So are his notebooks. During our time, at least the books used small in size, and we could easily divide the books into two lots, side by side in the bag. Not anymore. The size of the books allows books to be kept in one single row, which bulges the bags out like a pregnant woman’s baby hump. Exactly what is being gained by this I dont understand. Kids of such small ages have to pick up more than 10 kgs daily on their backs. Serious thought should be given by the schools about this. They are playing with the developing spines of kids or developing brains of kids?

Automation killed the typewriter

2010-06-14T09:55:00.001+05:30

Today in the office, my attention fell on our typewriter. Sturdy old thing. Facet. Today my sisters and my own typing speeds are good , because our grandfather had insisted that we learn typing the old fashioned way. I still remember typing asdfg;lkjh on a single paper continuously. Then it struck me that last month during its service , the service person told me that he is not renewing his Annual maintenance contract. The reason being that he was finding it difficult to earn his bread and butter since more and more offices were discontinuing with typewriters. I spoke to him at length then. He said he has been offered a job as a office boy in one of the offices where he used to go to service the typewriters.

Now today I am wondering who will service my typewriter. Will have to search for some one. But automation has slowly killed many such things. Take for example the Pager. But unlike typewriters which have been in existence since long, Pagers had a very short life. There was a time, when every individual carried one, nicely attached to the belt. But in a short time, mobiles replaced the pagers.

There are many such examples, the gramophone replaced by the Tape Recorder, which in turn was replaced by Compact Disc, which in turn was replaced by MP3 players. The radio was lucky, it got a second lease of life because of FM channels, but still one doesn't see the big mono speaker radio players anymore. Moreover, one hardly sees a radio player at all, since mostly mobiles are used to access the FM channels.

Things have changed a lot in the recent times….my typewriter though old is still going good…though I only have to search for a good person to service it regularly…Long Live my Typewriter……

Friends, Numbers and social networking….

2010-06-14T09:06:00.001+05:30

Its becoming a number game on most social networking sites. People keep on adding ‘friends’ to their profile. Facebook which has limited the maximum number of friends to 5000, is facing a petition from its followers.

Frankly, how many friends can one have? Close friends are usually limited to les than 5. Other than that ones memory can at any particular point of time not remember more than 100 odd people,unless it is being written down. Others you can put down as acquaintances. So what does one achieve by having thousands of friends . You attend any party or function and you will come across a new person and the first thing you get to hear after speaking for more than 5 mins is that I am on XYZ social networking site, I will be sending you an invite tomorrow!!!!! Or an acquaintance asking you to add a person s/he has added thru another acquaintance. It is practically impossible to know so many people personally or up close. So what is being achieved? Frankly this is not a simple add and forget thing. Social responsibilities should be followed in virtual world also.

My memory cannot absorb so many friends nor the idea of adding unknown people……

Its a c-razy world

2010-06-07T13:27:00.001+05:30

Hey, there was a crazy idea in my head, which I have put into existence.Check out

http://c-razyworld.blogspot.com/

An amazing reunion

2010-06-07T12:08:00.001+05:30

Met my college friends after a gap of 14 years. 14!!!!. Actually I thought it might be 5-6 years, but they corrected me. And then I realized that time has flown faster than I have thought about it. We have spend 5 amazing years together in college. And then…each person went on his own way. But I loved meeting them all after so many years. The spirits were flowing in literal terms…with us being busy in our talks…and forgetting to shut off the beer tap…the glasses were overflowing in literal terms while being refilled.:)

The memories of college, the names we had kept for each other, were enough for the meet to last from 7 pm to 1 am, when we finally bid goodbye to each other. Now looking forward to the next meet….hope it not long way off………

Farmville on facebook and the false profiler

2010-06-02T09:10:00.001+05:30

What does one do, when s/he is addicted to the game farmville on Facebook, wants to add more friends to go ahead fast in the levels but still keep away unknown people from self. Simple create a false account, put a nice picture and add everybody left and right. This is what was told to me by a friend. He is saying that way you do not allow unknown people to access your true data, you can have more than 500 people on you friends list, most of who are already playing farmville, either in their true profile or maybe again a false profile and enjoying the game without worrying.

Wow . I am learning a lot nowadays:))))

Technorati Tags: false profile,facebook,farmville

What a weekend

2010-06-01T09:54:00.001+05:30

It all started on Thursday evening, when I had my tooth extracted. Hopelessly under sedation our doorbell started ringing ferociously in the night at 11.30. This made me also get out of the bed to see who it was. My sister had planned to surprise us by landing in Bombay a day before our fathers 60th birthday on Friday. We had planned for the party on Saturday.

On saturday, my family members received one more surprise in the party in form of live gazals……and so did the attendees. Nobody except myself and my brother in law knew about this plan. One of my cousins had gone to the extent of informing people that they were sure to get bored in the evening. But then the live gazals…set the mood and the party was rocking.

Sunday again was a bit of rest for us….but for me personally Monday was fun with my sister. She wanted to see the sea link. Morning we moved out at 7.30, and after seeing the sea link we came to our office. After setting up the work for the day we moved out again, now it was time to pay our childhood areas a visit. It started off with stopping at Ashok wada pav at prabhadevi, then a visit to our old building, reliving the memories. Called up a few friends from there, and though it was not possible to meet them, it was fun remembering the good ole days. We even went to the extent of clicking photographs of a crematorium behind our old house. For me and my sister it was full on fun. From there we went to a temple in Shivaji Park maidan, and then back home, since she had to catch a flight back home. In between this we stood at many places which hold a lot of memories for us. My extended weekend has ended today, here in the office, with me feeling totally out of place and wondering from where to begin work from:)))

Take no logic(Technology)

2010-05-24T10:34:00.001+05:30

Yesterday my Internet Service Provider sent its personal for collection of renewal amount, which was due in one day. The person, entered my account number in his cell, and all my account details were available to him immediately, wherein he filled the amount and pressed OK. Then he removed a small handheld printer and voila, out came a receipt duly printed with the details. On enquiring with him, if was in a position to accept my office internet payment also, since even that was due, he replied in affirmative, and continued with the same procedure. Really amazing at the way technology has progressed.

Recently my travel in Mumbai’s BEST AC bus made me encounter a similar system in ticket vending. Instead of the age old system of tickets, the conductor entered the details in his hand held machine and out came a printed ticket.

But this got me thinking, if my internet provider could have such a service why is it that our government does not have it. I am here talking of the census, which is being conducted throughout the nation. Instead of filling in the forms, which are later scanned, why cant the same be conducted on hand held machines. It will save the time of scanning, the data can be sorted out immediately. But no, we are still way behind in governance for which i think there is no logic at all!!!!

Summer vacation and native place….

2010-05-13T11:46:00.001+05:30

In India it is quite normal for most offices to be short of staff in Summers. Most of the staff take leaves and go to their native place. This is normally an annual affair. The best part is that since they have their own homes at their native places, the only expense they have to incur is the travelling part. Infact while returning back they bring loads of goodies from there.

Unfortunately for me, my ancestors decided to land directly at Mumbai(then Bombay) from Karachi during India Pakistan Partition. Had they given a thought that in future one of their generations might want to go to a “native” place, they would have done loads of good to me. So they came directly to Mumbai, my father was born and brought up in Mumbai. To make matters worse on the “native” place issue, he got married to my mom who’s parents had also migrated to Mumbai directly from Pakistan. So starts my agony, no paternal or maternal native place.

I got married….love marriage…which doesnt see “native” places….now i realise, even my wife doesnt have one. So from my fathers generation onwards, not a single of our generation can boast of a native place, where we can compulsorily go during vacations. Had my wife’s parents been in some other city, again it would have been to my advantage, visit my inlaws once in a year. But no….no native place …no inlaws in other part of the state, or country or world. But they are also based in Mumbai since long.

Now the only option for me is to have myself adopted by some village, wherein every year, I can also say I am going to my native place, wherein like others, I can also boast of booking tickets three months prior, because it the peak season, wherein I can also enjoy my vacations without having to worry about paying exorbitant prices for the hotel room. :))))))

A stitch in time….

2010-05-08T13:11:00.001+05:30

My personal experience with a 15 year old medical condition and finally a small stitch has made me realize, that things when done immediately can save you a lot of agony. Seriously it has given me so much relief, sometimes i feel why didnt I have it done before.

The same applies to all things other then that also in life. But unfortunately some things are not in our hands, and cause long lasting damage, inspite of being aware of it.

One Coconut tree in my residential building was in a very bad shape. Fortunately the rain gods had not been so kind of India last year, else it would have fallen off a year back. After numerous visits to the Tree Authority by our building people, the department finally sent its personal to cut it off. Unfortunately the tree fell down by it was being cut. Fortunately except for a car there was no other damage. Anyways better late than never.

Wish some action will be taken on the repairs of my office building also which is more than 50 years old. Total neglect by our landlord over the years has led to a lot of weakening of the structure to the extent that certain portions are now falling off. The collapse of a spiral staircase and death of one person which occurred last week,should hopefully act as wakeup call. But then there is always an element of argument. Tenants feel that they have been regularly paying their dues to the landlord since past 50 years. Had he even maintained the building every 10 years also, todays condition could have been avoided. I agree…things need to be maintained.

Now my residential building is around 6 years old, in need of painting…any new building needs to be repainted in 5 years…since the walls are cured with water during the construction. But the matter is being stretched. Some of the people in the building are saying why should we paint a building which is hardly 6 years old. When will everybody learn that A stitch in time……will save nine..

The IPL business

2010-04-21T10:30:00.001+05:30

I had to visit my family doctor yesterday for my daughter. The doc was busy on the phone, arranging for his ticket for IPL. He told me this is the fifth IPL match this season which he will be going to see in the stadium. What followed later amazed me. He has spend 35000 rupees including the current match for which he was making arrangement for. No the tickets are not priced at 7000 each…he is buying a 1500 rupees ticket for 7000 rupees. I was not able to stop myself from asking him…who is earning the extra 5500 rupees. For that he had no reply. His argument was that instead of spending on some tour he enjoys seeing the matches live, inspite of spending 350 rupees for cable tv on which he receives the matches. I can frankly understand the wishes of a diehard cricket fan to see a few matches live…but this as per my thinking is excessive!!!!

Cricketers are ready to be used as a commodity and sell themselves…why not …they are earning in crores. Team owners are spending crores to become franchisees….the BCCI is earning crores from selling the teams and advertisements….and the public money is being used to provide Police Protection for the games. Public money is being used to purchase the tickets. Public money is being used to pay for the advertisements shown on the TV. Companies are not paying for the advertisements from their pockets…..thats a fact. Still with every break we are showered with advertisements…asking us to spend more money on their products…or make them earn more by sending SMSes as to what will happen next.

This is big business….IPL business….the Indian Popat Lal business….

What happened to the Indian?

2010-04-09T10:28:00.001+05:30

AN AMERICAN VISITED INDIA AND WENT BACK TO AMERICA

WHERE HE MET HIS INDIAN FRIEND WHO ASKED HIM

HOW DID U FIND MY COUNTRY

THE AMERICAN SAID IT IS A GREAT COUNTRY

WITH SOLID ANCIENT HISTORY

AND IMMENSELY RICH WITH NATURAL RESOURCES.

THE INDIAN FRIEND THEN ASKED ….

HOW DID U FIND INDIANS …….??

INDIANS??

WHO INDIANS??

I DIDN'T FIND OR MET A SINGLE INDIAN

THERE IN INDIA…….

WHAT NONSENSE??

WHO ELSE COULD U MET IN INDIA THEN……??

THE AMERICAN SAID ……..

IN KASHMIR I MET A KASHMIRI–

IN PUNJAB A PUNJABI—–

IN BIHAR,MAHARASTRA, RAJASTHAN, BENGAL,TAMILNADU,KERALA

BIHARI,MARATHI, MARWADI, BENGALI,TAMILIAN, MALAYALI………

THEN I MET

A MUSLIM,

A HINDU

A CHRISTIAN,

A JAIN,

A BUDDHIST

AND MANY MANY MANY MORE

BUT NOT A SINGLE INDIAN DID I MEET

…………………………………………………………...

THINK HOW SERIOUS THIS JOKE IS……………..

THE DAY WOULD NOT BE FAR OFF WHEN INDEED WE WOULD

BECOME A COLLECTION OF NATION STATES AS SOME

REGIONAL ANTI-NATIONAL POLITICIANS WANT ...

FIGHT BACK -

ALWAYS SAY I AM INDIAN

Ask…and thou shall not receive

2010-03-22T10:41:00.001+05:30

I acknowledge my mothers visits to religious preaching for the following writing.

How many times does one fulfill the wishes of our children. Consider this scenario. Your child might ask you for chocolates on day 1. You will certainly buy it out for him/her. Day 2 again the demand will be fulfilled. Day 3 again, but then there might some thoughts in the mind. Day 4 onwards you might or might not buy it out.

Now consider this……People pray to God daily…asking for fulfillments of wishes. Will God fulfill those wishes daily????

And yet like small children we will ask God for fulfillments of wishes daily and then crib that God is not listening to us.

Worth thinking about:)

The way Indian mind works….

2010-03-05T12:08:00.001+05:30

My visit to the bank manager and casual discussion enlightened me to some amazing systems run by a group of passengers on suburban trains running in Mumbai. A monthly pass costs around Rs.255 to a daily traveler. What has been informed to me is an amazing trick played by commuters for travelling ticketless. A group of 50 people is formed. Every month this group pays Rs. 100 to the group leader, and all these 50 people travel without ticket or pass. If they are caught, they have to shell out Rs. 250 as a penalty. On producing the paid penalty receipt to the group leader, they are reimbursed the penalty amount from the kitty. At the end of the year, whatever amount is remaining in the kitty is divided and returned back equally amongst all the 50 people.

Considering that 50 people give 100 rupees for 12 months, then the annual collection amounts to Rs. 60000/-. On a rough edge, even if an average 5 people are caught per month(the probability is in the favour of not being caught, with 2 million people using the trains daily), the total outgoing per month is Rs. 1250, ie. Rs. 15000. By the end of the year, the amount in the kitty is 60000 less 15000, ie. Rs. 45000. So each person gets back Rs. 900. If he would have purchased a monthly pass his expense would have been Rs. 3060 in a year, whereas here he has to pay only Rs. 300 in the entire year, i.e less than 10%. Amazing. But works wonderfully. Incredible the way minds of certain people work.

The ageing tiger

2010-02-13T11:13:00.001+05:30

Mumbai has been seen as cowering under the tigers roar upto mid 90’s. This tiger goes by the name of Balasaheb Thakeray. He fought for the common man and common man supported him. But with age his roar has lost the touch. Yesterdays protests against Shah Rukh Khan’s movie have shown just that.

Yesterdays protests were a different ball game after a long time. Most of the active Shiv Sainiks have become too old to echo in to the Tigers roar or have quit Sena to join other parties. What is left in Sena is what I would like to describe as Hyenas. People who preyed on the leftover, after the stalwarts had created their damage. These hyenas dont scare the Mumbaikars anymore.

One more thing to note was the 24x7 New channels have come into picture only since the last 5 odd years. In Sena’s heydays, only a clarion call by Sena mouthpiece, that the protest has been successful was enough for people to believe it. Nowadays, the new channels are everywhere, showing that normal life is unaffected. People are more open about their criticism, unlike before, and this too is telecast openly. So everybody is aware of the real situation.

I feel pity for the ageing tiger, but unfortunately he has missed out on one point in his life, that inspite of being so many years into politics, his party has always been confined to being a regional party and never a national party. When you are protesting against a National Hero(sic) like SRK you need support from the Nation, not just from your state.

One more point of note in yesterdays protests was the adequate policing by our Police Department. Kudos to it. But it also makes me wonder, where was their active policing when Raj Thakeray’s MNS people were running riot on the Mumbai street. There seems to be more of political will over active policing over here that meets the eye. The State Government wasnt that keen at that time to rein in MNS then, as they were yesterday. Wonder why…..

SRK has sided the Pakistani Players over IPL. He is loved by Pakistanis for his movies, and for his moves. But those he have the GUTS to protest against the various attacks Pakistan has carried on India? If called for , will he lodge a protest about these attacks. He says he loves India. He should be asked to do it.

Not eating sugar wont kill you

2010-02-08T10:26:00.001+05:30

These words by our Agricultural minister Mr. Sharad Pawar, reminded me of a lesson in History. It has been a myth that the French Revolution got more push after the Queen on knowing that people cant afford bread had said….”If they cant eat bread, then let them eat cake”.

The price of sugar has almost trebled over the past two months. Frankly everybody knows that its just not the inflation or bad climatic conditions. Our agricultural minister is involved in the major sugar lobby of India , and that is a know fact. Hoarding of sugar during festival seasons is nothing new in India.

Yet people never complain. They buy at whatever rate it is available. So nothing wrong with our minister again saying that “People’s purchasing power has fueled the price rise”.

We Indians wont complain about the price rise. We will only complain to our bosses to increase the salaries, to face the price rise. The boss will increase the price of his products to cover the increase in salaries paid by him and to also pay for his own purchases. The cycle will just continue, and we will say…oh sugar used to be 1/3 of the price of what it is today…….

Save the tiger

2010-02-01T09:23:00.001+05:30

Mufasa: You see, Simba. Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance. As king, you need to understand that balance and respect all the creatures, from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope.

Simba: But dad, don't we eat the antelope?

Mufasa: Yes, Simba, but let me explain. When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connected in the great Circle of Life.

I start off with this dialogue from the movie The Lion King. Yesterday while watching Tv, I happened to see an commercial by a cellular company, which was informing us that there are only around 1400 odd tigers left in India. We have to save them.

My head had only one question in it……WHY???? I mean why should we save the tiger? How is it going to be helpful to us. What does the Tiger do for us?

Surprisingly the same question was also going on in my sons head, and he finally popped it to me and my wife.

I wont deny that even I would like to know why the tiger is to be saved? Just because it is our National Animal?

Frankly I wonder how many people care a damn. Deforestation is a priority today, jungles are being destroyed to make way for the Concrete jungle. So these last 1400 odd tigers need to be saved for what …..to be kept in the Zoo?

Priority should be given to save the forests, the trees, our nature. If the natural habitat is destroyed then what is the use of saving the tiger. Sadly no one is looking at that angle.

Mind games on what to write…

2010-01-30T12:37:00.001+05:30

Many a times, we just sit on the blog writer, with a fixed notion of what to write, and many a times, there is nothing in the mind. Today just for the heck of it, I am thinking of writing any nonsense or whatever comes in my mind. But need something to start with, from where I can pick up one word and write about it in the next thought……..hmmm…lets see….i can start of with the fact that today is my paternal and maternal grandfathers birthday. They shared their birthday on the same day. Both are dead. RIP. But both used to wish each other every year.

At that time , I used to like hearing them both speak on the phone, wishing each other. As I grew up, in college I met a friend, who shared his birth date with me. It was fun wishing each other in front of everybody. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! SAME TO YOU!!!

Time flew we got married, met each other one fine day in a friends marriage, were discussing our marriages and lo….we had got married on the same date!!! Now its like HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!! SAME TO YOU!!!!

While on birthdays, having just celebrated my daughters birthday, it reminds me of how, when my wife was due, I was hoping for the delivery to be on the 26th January, since it is a national holiday. I thought it would be great to have a birthday on a holiday, can enjoy more. But my daughter was born on the 25th. Having celebrated her birthday on 25th every year since then, i have realized my folly of wishing for a birthday on a holiday. A birthday on a day previous to a holiday is much better, since you can rest the following day!!!!!

Infact partying for this reason is done on saturdays and not on sundays. Party lovers can get over the hangover on Sundays!!!!!!

Sundays nowadays are becoming boring for me, particularly in the mornings, when my daughter goes for her drawing classes. She is my total timepass for sunday…keeps me occupied with her talks, her dances, her games……

Yesterday I made my wife, son and daughter play a very simple game. I was giving them an alphabet and asking them to name any 5 things starting with that alphabet. The amazing thing is that when one tries to do that fast, you simply cant think of 5 things at all. Surely will be incorporating this game in the next function, and will be keeping a time limit to it also…

Guess will limit this blog to this much only;)

Blog clearing

2010-01-30T12:05:00.001+05:30

Sitting on my Blog writer, I was going thru the number of blog drafts I have, ones which I had written but never posted. Its amazing the thoughts one has to certain things or events, the reactions one has at such times, of what could have been done etc etc. Some reminded me of bad things in the past, some amused me, as to there was no reason for such reaction. I read thru most of the drafts, deleted a few, kept a few for further references. Blog writing has become more of Mind clearing, though most of these thoughts dont make it to the publishing stage, but still its very helpful in sometimes taking out the frustration of mind, sometimes sharing the happier times. It has become more like a diary, which only I have access to, now I know my wife will certainly be curious to know what is in there, but unfortunately for her, I have deleted most of the drafts today, as I was on a blog clearing spree…..

Ayi re Ayi re Khushi!!!!

2010-01-25T08:59:00.001+05:30

After having a son as the first child, even though I wanted a daughter at that time, the second time round we were in suspense till the end, because the doctor had refused to give us information about the child during the pregnancy.

The elation and emotion I felt when I came to know that my wife has given birth to a girl is something which I will never forget in my life. We had decided quite a long time back that if its a girl , we will name her Khushi(our happiness). My sisters first congratulatory message came via sms…and she had quoted lines from a film song….”Ayi re Aye re Khushi”………….

Today my nani maa….dadi maa….. as i affectionately call her is all of 5 years. But I still remember the day she was born and the feelings of at last clutching in your arms the little bundle of joy which we were wanting since our first child.

Wish you a Very Happy Birthday…my love….lots and lots of kisses and love to you!!!!!!!

The Christmas Tree

2010-01-22T10:16:00.001+05:30

I have a Christmas tree on my terrace, since past more than 8-9 years. It was brought from Pune from my brother in laws place when he shifted back to Dubai.

At that time it was a small tree around 1-2 feet tall, in a small flowerpot. With time we increased the size of the flower pot on suggestion of our gardener. Its height increased more. Then the gardener again suggested a bigger pot. However for a 1-2 years we noticed that there was not much increase in the size. Last year, when the gardener again said change the flower pot, we were surprised to see that the previous pot was still intact in the new pot. The gardener pointed out that this is the reason it has not grown. The previous pot was restricting its growth of roots.

Today the height of the tree is around 6ft plus, and the gardener again has suggested increasing the size of the pot to make it grow more. Maybe plant it in the compound now is my opinion.

This has taught me one lesson. Give space to people around you to make them grow. Don't restrict their space. The more space you give the people around you, the more they can spread their roots and grow.

Delicate strings

2010-01-16T09:53:00.001+05:30

It was nicely windy in the morning, enough for my wind chimes to spread their sweet music. Only last week I had untangled it, because it had got tangled up very badly. Had to do it very patiently so as to not to break the strings.

Today while listening to it chime, i remembered the way I had to untangle it, and this in turn made me remember a very delicate gold chain I had gifted my wife during our courtship days. It was so delicate and thin, that every time during storage, it used to get entangled badly, and I had to work on it with a needle to set it right.

Relations are also like this. Very complicated and if they get entangled the wrong way, can break. One needs patience to untangle the strings of relationship slowly, one by one, to ensure that they are not broken. Fast or rash acts can only lead to damage which may or may not be irreversible.

Influence of TV and Movies

2010-01-13T10:30:00.001+05:30

Both have always influenced people, but the way it is influencing kids and adults, is amazing.

The latest movie 3 idiots has set a craze for the dialogue “All is well..All is well”. My 4 year old daughter fell down in the garden, bruised her knee, cried a little, but then said “All is well…All is well” and started playing again. One of my friends daughter was slapped by her mom in front of her cousins. She just turned to face her cousins….and said “All is well…All is well”.

Such influence has been from time immortal, be it kids moving around with belts in their hands, and spouting “Kitne Aadmi The” from Sholay to “Kya bolti tu” to the current “All is well”. Maine Pyaar Kiya’s signature whistle tune, to Tu Cheeze badi hai mast mast had been a regular item in public places much to the embarrassment of girls.

I have heard 8 and 9th standard students sing “Give me some sunshine” song from 3 idiots. The spate of suicides, 21 at the time of writing this blog, is alarming, though I am not sure if the suicides are happening because of the movie, or the number was always there, but being given extra publicity due to the movie.

For females, the dresses, sarees and accessories worn by various artists in movies and serials are always the trend setters. Merchandise based on Movies has also been a regular influence.Caps from Maine Pyaar Kiya, to Locket worn by Shah Rukh Khan in Main Hoon Na, some trend or the other always keeps on popping up.

One of the latest craze under influence of movies was the replacement of F with S in words, due to the movie Kaminey.

All said and done, now my daughter is insisting on changing her name to “Alisha” seeming the promos of the latest movie “Pyaar Impossible”, proving that sometimes names of kids are also kept as per the current trend of the hero or heroine in the movie:)

3 idiots – Rating 5 point something

2010-01-02T12:16:00.001+05:30

A lot of controversy is being raised at not acknowledging Chetan Bhagat and his book 5 point something in the credits of the movie 3 idiots.

The movie is a par excellence and the basic storyline is very frankly taken from Chetan Bhagats first book 5 Point Something, which also undoubtedly is good, as it also brought Chetan Bhagat into limelight as one of the best story tellers.

I frankly feel this is just a publicity gimmick, though I dont understand why!!!! The book was one of the bestsellers. The movie is raking in moolah!!!!

The makers of the film had initially announced that the 3 idiots is an adaptation of the novel. Are the book publishers so naive, that they have given away the rights for nothing at all? Is Chetan Bhagat so naive that he might not have earned in royalty from his publishers?

Chill out guys, we are not idiots!!!!!!!

In the meanwhile I am giving the movie a rating of 5 point something on a scale of 5.

Travel back in the past

2009-12-22T09:37:00.001+05:30

This is exactly how i felt yesterday. I had a flat tyre on my way to the office. This occurred at the Sea Link. Unfortunately my spare tyre was also flat, so asked one of my factory workers who was with me in the car to take the spare for repairing and get it back.

This was not that easy, as the cars were speeding across the sea link. We managed to request one of the drivers to take my person along with him. This reminded me of the days at the highway when even a small breakdown of the car meant difficulties galore. In fact he had trouble convincing cab drivers also to come to the sealink after having the tyre repaired.

While waiting in my car, I removed my cell phone from my pocket to call at the office. An lo, the cell phone battery had decided to ditch me. So there I was without any mode of communication, in the middle of the sea , quite literally. It was like in the past, when there were no cell phones, and one is totally cut off form the world in case of breakdowns. No PCO’s, no cell phones, no contact with anybody. For more than one hour I was just sitting over there, unaware of the time (because of my bad habit of depending on the cellphone watch, i dont wear a wrist watch), watching the cars zip thru. This was how the Mumbai Highways used to be around 25 years back.

Though here I would like to appreciate the fact that the sea-link CCTV’s were watching on me, and the towing van did infact turn up, after an hour or so, but during that period, I felt that I have travelled back in time.

Accident waiting to happen

2009-12-08T16:34:00.001+05:30

The curves on Worli Bandra Sea Link require good maneuverability by the car driver. Over speed often lead to crashing in the crash railings installed on the side of the sea route. However what has always scared me is that till the second carriageway of the sea link is commissioned, traffic is allowed from both sides on the current carriageway. What if some nerd is not able to control his vehicle and crashes into the approaching car from the other end. This is what I witnessed today. A driver was not able to control his car at a curve….and crashed into a car coming from the opposite direction. The accident had fatal results, but what I really thought was a saving grace(?) for the family of the deceased was the fact that the car didn't topple over and land in the water, because there I am sure our Mumbai Coast Guard would have found it very difficult to get the car out. I am sure we are not equipped for such tragedies. This brings me to my fear, what if an alive person goes down in the water along with the car. A sure shot watery grave. Scary. But I feel this is one accident waiting to happen, and we Mumbaikars are going to find that we were not able to save that person because there was no proper equipment ready at hand to do so.

After marriage life and technology

2009-12-04T09:15:00.001+05:30

Its marriage season and there is a marriage every other day. I was wondering whether like yesteryears, do the brides still cry during their marriages? Not as before I feel.

So what does that mean? Are they emotionally detached from their families unlike before?

Again I feel the real reason is not attachment or detachment. In the past the means of communications were very limited or hardly there. If the bride had to go to another town, then it was always difficult for her to be in touch with her family. An occasional letter(if the girl could read and write), a messenger in form of a visitor to the town, Long distance trunk calls, occasional snapping of photographs(if girls in-laws allowed that) etc etc. For meeting the family sometimes it would take as much as more than a year.

Nowadays, a must have item for the girl to take with her to her in-laws place is her private cell phone. Social networking will keep the family posted of everything from her first day in the new bedroom to her honeymoon to her different stages of life.

Girls nowadays laugh at the thought of crying during marriage, their normal retort is ….we will be in constant touch with each other…..so why cry.

Like always, technology has succeeded in reducing one more emotional moment in everybody’s life….but at the same time added new emotions one has , while sharing life LIVE…….

Games for the empty mind….

2009-12-01T09:16:00.001+05:30

Travelling daily for 60 km to my office and back, I have a lot of free time to empty my mind. And sometimes I find the I have emptied my mind totally. Yesterday while driving I was playing a game in my head. Simple but effective enough to spend the one and a half hour on the road.

I started off with my brother in law and his siblings names. My brother in law’s name is Vinod and his siblings are Harsha and Mayur. As per the hindi meaning of the name…all are related to each other by meaning also. I started racking my head over other such names. Didnt have to go far. My brother in laws cousins are named Jyoti, Deepak and Sandhya. Again all meanings related to light. Good way of relating the kids with names also. Then I remembered a family in my building, Deepak and his wife Deepali. Their two sons are aptly named Deep and Divesh. All of them indicate lamp.

I tried to rack my head over more such family names but was not able to , I am sure there might be more. So I shifted gears to families with name starting from the same alphabet. My immediate neigbour is Jeetu, his wife is Jagruti and their son is named Jash. So they have a common ‘J’ amongst them. I remember one more family I was acquainted with….Mac and Marie Machado, and their kids Manisha and Mihir!!! Again ‘M’ as a common link between them.

Frankly these many names took me the entire route of 30 kms with this mind game.:)

Might start more mind games while travelling now…..

Wedding Invitations….

2009-11-16T09:08:00.001+05:30

The best issue about wedding is taken up in a recent Vodaphone advertisement, where the character is ruing the fact that even after posting of wedding cards one still has to call up the relatives etc etc etc.

As far as the relatives and friends are staying at a far away places, posting the cards to them and then calling them is ok. But if they are staying in your own city or even in the neighboring cities…then posting the card is considered a definite way of breaking your relation with them in India.

The guardians of the boy or girl to be married move out in the morning and end their day in the night, distributing the cards. Sometimes they look like zombies during the marriages if this procedure is not ended atleast 3-4 days before marriage.

What I dont understand is why are we Indians are so hell bent on receiving the marriage cards personally. Why can the poor family of the bride and groom be spared this torture. What is wrong in receiving the cards by post or courier? After all the family has other chores to complete before the marriage. Shouldnt that be considered OK to accept the cards by post or courier.

Second is that why cant we accept the fact that if we receive the card with an additional card asking about the number of members who will be attending the marriage, it is ok. This is considered a BIG INSULT. Nothing wrong in it frankly….if the family of bride and groom are aware beforehand as to how many people will be attending the function, at least they can be assured that the food wont be more or less during the marriage. This system is followed in certain castes but is considered under no-no in majority of the castes. Some castes also mention that only a certain number of people are invited per card. Again nothing wrong.

But such issues are sufficient for severing off the ties amongst families and friends. Having a marriage in the house is a big thing, but it also is a major reason amongst many for make or break of relations.Things need to be changed…wonder if they will???

Nursery Rhymes

2009-11-09T08:51:00.001+05:30

How many times have repeated the Nursery Rhymes in our life. During our school time, out of fun in College and now teaching our kids the same thing. However once I was very much impressed by an article on nursery rhymes and also discussed the same with my family and friends.

The article proved how the nursery rhymes are full of pain and negativity.

Lets start with the most loved rhyme….

Jack and Jill…..jack fell down…broke his crown…and Jill came tumbling after. So by the end of the rhyme we know that both were injured!!!!

Lets take one more of the most recited rhyme….

Humpty Dumpty…..It had a great fall….all the kings horses and all the kings men…could not put him together again……Tragedy again.

The list continues…

Rock a by baby….when the bough breaks…the cradle will fall…down comes the baby …..cradle and all!!!!!!! Now if that isnt a tragedy with the baby falling down then what is?

One more…..London Bridge is falling down….

Why do all have to fall down in Ringa Ringa roses??

Itsy Bitsy spider washed down the drain….

Take the rhyme…Sing a song of six pence…..where four and twenty black birds are baked in the pie!!!!!!

Baa baa black sheep…..one third of the wool goes to the master…one third goes to the Dame(Dame again means an higher authority) thus two thirds have gone to the rich…while only one third is left for the little boy(Common Man?)….doesnt this compare with the taxes we pay from our hard work!!!!!

I can go on over here…but what i cant understand is that such dark rhymes are acceptable in schools all over the world !!

Were we being prepared mentally for the challenges of life and are we preparing our children also in the same way?

Monuments

2009-11-06T16:16:00.001+05:30

In the past I have written about the waste of money planned on building the Shivaji Maharaj Statue in Mumbai. Now with the Government which had planned for the statue back in power, for the next 5 years, the work will be starting soon on it. Recently I read the novel The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. Since I have not ever been to Washington, I saw the pictures of the monuments mentioned in the book on the net.

These monuments built ages ago are today a symbol for the city of Washington. That made me think of any monument present in Mumbai.

Well we do have some structures….under Heritage Structures….but I dont think they are taken good care of. We have age old gardens like Hanging Garden, Five Garden, National Park….but they are all in a very bad shape. We have structures like the Victoria Terminus, Central Library, Rajabai Tower(the less said about its condition the better). But are these monuments really looked upon as tourist attractions.

There are other places in India which are hardly taken care of …..Jalianwala Baug in Amritsar, one doesnt even come to know of the infamous well, which has now been covered up, and not a single signboard has been kept in its vicinity to indicate its history. The bullet marks on the wall are left to everybodies imagination.

So that again make me think, that if we dont want to take good care of such huge monuments why build them at all. Ofcourse a developing city like Mumbai needs tourist attractions, but first atleast take care of the existing ones. If we cant take care of our existing monuments, there is absolutely no need for additional ones.

Corruption

2009-10-15T11:43:00.001+05:30

While chatting casually with one person, he was ruing the fact that his wife who works in a government department is unable to get a loan on her pension. He says that when he went personally to meet the concerned officer in-charge, he was asked for some bribe.

What shocks me is that corruption is so deep rooted now, that colleagues are asking for money from each other also to do some work or another. It only gets more disgusting.

Corruption is so deeply etched, that one has to pay money for obtaining a Birth certificate…because its a good news…one has to pay money for obtaining a Death Certificate…not because its good news…but because the person sitting there also has to feed his family!!!!!!!

Forget getting a Death certificate, the crematorium people are so outright rude, you dont give them something extra, they will make you wait for hours to start the last rites.

What “might” have started as a goodwill after having work done has today blown into full fledged corruption. Infact even today, there are people who pay in goodwill after seeing that their work has been done. This goodwill has now become the “right” for doing any work.

The best example in India was MTNL phones. Till they didnt have competition, even a normal diwali gift was a prestige issue for its employees. Any haggling with the customer, and the customer would find that the line has been disconnected all of a sudden!!!! Today with competition and realization dawning on them that they can have problems with their basic salaries also, the service has improved a lot.

So in similarity, should there be competition in Government also. An alternate governing system. Actually not a bad idea. Let there be more than one Governing system. Like subscribers of Reliance Energy, going in for Tata Power, having their services changed, people should have an alternate option for Government also. Then maybe things can improve.

Elections

2009-10-15T11:20:00.001+05:30

Beggars cant be chosers……

Why should I care…..

My one vote does not count….

What benefit will I have…..

I have voted for the person who gave me money to build my slum…..

etc etc

The actual aim behind the elections is lost. We have forgotten that we are electing our representative. Without us the mandate is nothing. Yet we feel we have chosen the best amongst the worst…even though the person is not good enough. We have forgotten that we are the king makers. It is our vote that puts this particular person on a seat, which he later misuses against us only.

The basic funda behind choosing a representative has been lost. Initial purpose was for choosing a representative amongst us. Some who would represent us to sort our problems. Today if one goes to the representative with a problem, one has to go through a series of channels to be able to meet him. And even after that there is always a small give and take to sort out the issue. ODD. We are electing our representative and paying him to work for us.

I have seen people talk big after giving their vote…this is my first right as a citizen…i have done my duty, but unfortunately the thinking is limited to just electing. Nobody is aware of his right over the elected candidate and the elected candidate will express his submission to the people again during the next elections…..

Shiney Ahuja

2009-10-10T10:52:00.001+05:30

These are a few responses on an status update on Shiney Ahuja on a popular social networking site, , which i thought of sharing :) I have removed the names of the people who have commented….

"My brain... my second best organ!" ... (Shiney Ahuja?)

Tats a MAIDen dude.
LOL.. clean bowled by d MAIDen
another one -- What will Shiney do in Noida , now that he has no movies... Write a Bai-o-graphy
shiney might feel u all are bAI-sed against him...btw all of the above statements are real gems......
His Orientation is BAI-Sexual... *lol* (R.I.P. Shiney - peace)
hehehe, another sick one from me... his favorite sportsman is Bai Chung Bhutia
RIP? Is that ur way of telling shiney BAI-BAI
if shiney takes offence....the Gangster might send his BAI-log after us....
BAI God I never thought of that!!!
attaa ga bayaa jaraa ooge ooge challa
aaa bailla mujhe maaaar after reading this shiney will achieve insanity that to of the highest order....
bai-the bai-the kya kare...karna hai kuch KAAM...Shiney's motto
BAI GOD so many comments

Just a few stray thoughts..

2009-10-10T10:38:00.001+05:30

Its been quite a while since I have put up something. Not that life has been quite. Something or the other keeps on happening. So this time I trying to put down a few stray thoughts over here….

E-Book : I have downloaded for myself Dan Brown’s latest book, The Lost Symbol. Hardly I have been through 11 pages, and I am wondering what am I doing. I miss holding the book in my hands and reading it. I miss turning the pages. I miss lying down and reading the book. Dont know if I am old fashioned, but I am not able to adjust to this idea of Ebooks.

Water woes : Mumbai has been facing shortage of water since past 3 months due to the erratic rainfalls. Our building has one big support line in having a bore well, the water from which is used for flushing. Somehow I have noticed that since past 5 years, whenever the question comes of overhauling the bore pump, there are rumblings over the expenses. People tend to question the expenses involved in the process. Why they cant understand the only expenses they have to incur is the once in 2 years maintenance, while they have to pay for the Municipal water, is beyond my understanding. Whenever the pump fails, it has a tendency to do so every one to one and half years, our management people just start pumping in water from the Municipality for flushing purposes, thereby not having it repaired. Currently the pump is not working since 2 months, there is water shortage, and now after two months, it has been realized that the bore well is required. Its like digging for a well when the fire is out of control.

Diwali : It is odd that here I am typing a blog on a Saturday, and by next Saturday, Diwali will be over. Over the last few years, for me Diwali has been growing less and less glamorous or exciting as it used to be. Dont know why. Cant understand why. When we were small Diwali celebrations used to start 2 week before the actual D-Day. Now it has become more of a 4-5 days affair around the actual day. Dadar used to be full of hustle-bustle during diwali, and one would find it difficult to even find a place to put down ones foot. But now with malls and shopping complexes springing up in far flung areas, the crowd has got divided. There are no more Diwali shopping rushes to be actually seen. Not that people are not buying, but now there are so many places for them to go and shop, that there is less of overcrowding.

Obama wins the Nobel for Peace : My only question is for what? What has he done in that field? The fact is that he has just started his stint. Its tooooooo early I feel for Obama. The poor guy is already living under a shadow of expectations of “Change”. And now he will have to live under the heavy expectations of Peace Keeper. Can American policies make this person keep up with these expectations? I dont think so.

2012 – end of the world? : News channels are going overboard, saying that the current floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons are dress rehearsals for the predictions which state that 2012 will be the end of the world. I feel it is a clever publicity stunt for an upcoming movie by the title “2012”. No doubt, these disasters are taking place, but the publicity guys are having a field day promoting their movie.