Pune Diaries : 14th March 2009 ..... KP is truly awesome !

One thing is for sure with personal issues (yea imagine a dumbass like me can also crib about them!) I couldn't catch up with Pune diaries for over a month since early February. This trip was long due with me not able to meet over with the best people in my circle at our favourite destination-Pune. My excitement knew no bounds with me booking Shivneri tickets well in advance for the journey. In the early hours of a beautifully drizzled Saturday morning me got down at University Circle. Believe me, everytime me gets down there, me has a strange feeling...something people called nostalgia...me calls it eternal love for the city that taught me everything from work to betrayal to love to friendships....nw its a part of me. Anyways moving ahead the occassional rains in the months of Feb-Mar maketh the city absolutely scenic and me loved every part of it. It was time for some reunionisin with old time chums like Manbhawan and Sahil over the their lively assortments. And then came by the original gurus of love...Amol (Santbaba) and Rajeev (Lucky Dog!). Yea dude, not the greatest description but yea me has to admit it was quite a riot with Divya joining us in the cafeteria. One of the best times of my college life, was spent like most of us at the cafeteria, whinning over the missed marks..checking the latest chic on the block to discussing abt class room dynamics (read politics). And it was no different then as well, with us starting off from where we left previously. Well Amol had just started taking on his seniors at his workplace for a very serious offence: they gave him work! Rajeev had just returned from Bangalore after his training and was enjoying his stay at the place to be KP (whatta place to live in!). Divya well, someone had again fallen for her, we were discussin plans to evade him.

This time we decided to crash over at Rajeev's latest pad . There are very few places in India where we get to find Jaguars and BMW's more than autorickshaws and KP sure wins the race hands down. His flat made our day for sure, it sure is amazing to be cuddled up in the lap of luzury with your best pals to fool around. As the eve descended we headed for some much needed KP darshan (no prizes for guessing our real motives). The crowd of Pune has always been a mix with great diversity owing to the number of foreign students flocking to Pune for a better tomorrow. This is quite evident at every corner of this upmarket area with a considerable number of eateries customized to the tastebuds of the goras. Also there is a certain level of comfort that surrounds them in a place like Pune where a fair skinned bloke would not invite the usual stares suggesting: "Oh my God he seems to be a foreigner". Our evening walk ended with some desi fare rounding up our Saturday.

Sunday mornings have always been a lazy affair and with two similar fellas around we slept in great style till we realized we were getting late for the morning show of Gulal. Besides the fact that we bonded over some common disliking for some fellow comrades, we have always believed that there is no second to KK Menon when it comes to acting in Bollywood. Gulal turned out to be much beyond our expectations, in short a complete Paisa Vasool. The fact that like most Anurag Kashyap films(excepting the very well recieved No Smoking) even this one was blessed with great music added to amazingly well scripted flow of the movie, Gulal is quite a watch. Once done with our lunch at Gold Adlabs(which is a shade of any Adlabs for Mumbaikar) we returned back to his place. As the evening drew by, we all knew it was time to bid adieu with the hope of reuniting in the near future.

However my journey was far from complete with Amol and me having to return back to the city which never sleeps before our routine began. Inter-City Express is quite a landmark train for commuters between Mumbai and Pune since its the fastest in this route. Sometimes I find it quite enthralling to meet people who actually embark on this journey every day of their lives for their livelihood. Its quite something, take my word for it, if you have to commute for over 350 kms for work every day of the year.

Gotta leave now, Thane station is up in 2 mins.......

Where has he gone?

Okay, my comeback blog after more than a month had to be special, which could be compared to the comeback tours of the all the famous bands across generations. Well hailing from Mumbai, over the pst 3-5 years there has been one man, who has made enough noises(from various places!) to stamp his authority as a force in Bollywood. As they say, like him or hate him you just can't ignore the Himesh Reshammaiya or HR as he likes to call himself. Since the early days of Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya he made a name for his peppy tracks which could easily be related to Indian audience  being re-introduced to Sufiana style of music with the likes of Kailash Kher, Atif, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. But somehow, limelight eluded him, despite belting out hits like Humraaz, Tere Naam, and many more(Okei, I may sound like a self professed HR fan, but his music was good in those days!) The real big change factor which impacted him was his launch vehicle as a rock star cum pop artist as he loves to potray himself in the movie Aashiq Banaya Aapne. And if things were not bad enough, we had to bear with the slew of cheap publicity gimmicks arising from disgruntled spirits tp insulting legends, to also adding up to become the messiah of all loverlorn people in the world,to his modest acceptance of the fact that he managed to deliver 36 hits over a period of 6 months! Wait there was more to come, he decided to launch himself, well quite expectedly, as himself, in the real "luv" story. My friend Karan, had returned back after watching the movie(Shows that his Gujju fan followers club managed to save the film somehow!) I asked him about the same. Quite animatedly he replied,"Jishnuda, what can I say, there were portions of the movie in which he over acted, and portions in which he under played so much, well I could not figure out till the end, what was the crap all about?" My sympathies with him for bearing through the 2.5 hours of non stop nasal bytes, but the fact remains he did watch the film. And if you though its over, its far from being over, there are rumours floating that by the end of this year, there are 4 more HR starrer's on the anvil...........

Pune Diaries: 31-08-2007 ... romancin....the city.....

Life down here has been one amazing journey so far. My initial days were plagued by emotions of me getting overtly esctatic even at the sight of a Shivneri headed to Bombay. However as time has passed by, I've slowly started kinda liking this city!

Yea I'm sure Pooja would be commenting "See, I told you so many times!" Pune has its own charm for sure, whether that be the slow frenzied lazy morning walks enjoyed by both young and old alike or the trips to E-Square (I still haven't been to KP much...so still to write about that....) The best part of this city is its weather. As rightly said by some, its centrally air conditioned as the weather remains pleasant thru most parts of the year, monsoons and winters being heavenly. After experiencing super duper heavy seasonal monsoons in Bombay I was expecting quite the same out there, however it was quite the opposite. Rains come down drizzling, never too harsh, yet touching your soul with mother earth calling out to you with its effervescent fragrance. There is something about it, seriously I mean it, even amongst the most mind boggling software engineering presentations and project submissions, the occassional drift in the air, just about made me feel,fall in love with life again. Is it possible in any other metropolis in India? I really doubt coz its something too personal a feeling that I'm beginning to share with this city. Yea, is quite the opposite of whatever I considered it to be. Life is short, and as my friend Amol often remarks with great propheze, that "Have no expectations with life, you shall remain always happy!" It holds true and I'm learning the same. I'm still getting to know my classmates, some of them have a great set of real life experiences, some are quite senior, have dabbled in jobs previously, so have a far greater insight of life, some have drifted along to this college just like me. I've got close to my roomies, its a lot of them, seven in totality, each one bring something unique in our stay. Our late night ventures into Uno and Monopoly, are sure folklore have spoken of, and great times we spend counselling each other, on handling the most complex intricacy of our times, women. Its exciting ragging the hell out of some of them as it sure brings out our innocence quite a rarity today. I recently visited Level-9, a coffee shop on top of the 9th floor of ICC tower(supposedly a big corporate park in Pune). I must admit the view was fabulous. I could not only view more than half of Pune, I could also see the airport from there. Quite a place, and it filled a great sense of pride to spot my college standing tall amidst the SB Road skyline. We all have a child to us, and it just about brought it out of me, the moment I spotted the drizzle on the terrace area and me felt like shaking a step or two. A sure stop for once, one of the best places to groove over some coffee and conversations in Pune, surely a must visit, for some golden moments to be cherished (Robin has this theory that all the so called coffee joints loot customers over their golden moments:)

Silsilay: The strange case of Neil Constantine

I was living out of my suitcase(literally) in the early 80's with me frequently travelling overseas on clientele meets. Often  these trips would leave me wanting to spend more time with my family but would be denied over months. Once I was enroute from the Heathrow, London to the JFK, NewYork. While waiting at the transit I happened to see an array of policemen surrounded around a thin frail man who somehow seemed vaguely similar to one of my old school friends. He was chained form top to bottom like one of those Fidayeen terrorists they showed in BBC the previous week. Just then, it hit me it was my old school chum, Neil 

Constantine, from my John Connon and Catherdal days back in Bombay. We were fairly good friends as I termed  "chums". But to see my old friend after 25 years being handcuffed across the terminal by a military of policemen sure seemed weird to me. After some initial inquiry, however there was little I could do to change anything neither find out anything, I decided to board my flight to JFK. Once I landed in JFK, I happened to find a huge commotion at the airport exit. I soon figured out it was some celebrity who was being whisked away in a limo. Not suprising till the moment I realized it was the same man,my old chum turned convict Neil Constantine, who was chained to the root a few hours back. It took me sometime to recover to my senses as I just was not able to make any sense of the weirdest situation which was just happening in fronta me. Since he left with the airs of a celebrity I was left with none to really find out about him and I returned home disappointed. Around 3 years later, I was enjoyin a mug of beer alone at a bar in Prague, when this gentlemen came and sat next to me. He seemed to vaguely familar to me, I couldn't make out who he exactly was. Just then he spoke and his baritone reminded me of the one and only Neil that I knew of in school, someone who had mastered the art of elocution, and also the same person who has keys to one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of my life. He then started narrating me his tale of ups and downs which made it look like even Mariana Trench was flat! He had been convicted of murder and deceit across Central Europe, no wonder he was chained by the police. He was being deported to US since he had become a US citizen and had applied for extradiction. 15 mins into the flight the pilot had joined the cabin crew for some small talk when the plane was set on auto pilot. All of a sudden the cockpit door bolted and the pilot was left stranded and clueless as to how to enter back into his mecca. There was no way one could break open into cockpit owing to its nature of built. Everyone in the flight were tensed to the hilt coz it was death on the radar. Just then the Police realized that they did have a propfessional safecracker and he could help them out. They turned to Neil for his expertise. Sensing an oppurtunity to escape Neil demanded his immediate release once they landed safely in JFK. Also in the flight was Mr. Onassis, one of the wealthiest blokes in that part of the world, who fearing the worst and overcome and stung by the situation on the anvil, proclaimed to bequeath 25% of his fortune,to to the man who would save his life. Neil, got down to work and broke all his previous records, everyone around stared in amazement. Within 10 mins he had broken open the door of the cockpit understandbly saving the lives of hundreds. When he left the airport one of the passengers in the flight gifted him his limo which he drove away with great pride and elan with all charges being dropped amidst the cheer of "Long live Neil! Our Saviour!" with his new multi millionaire status.....

Bombay Talkies: Jaane Tu Yaa Jaane Naa

"Kabhi kabhi aditi zindagi mein yuhi koi apna lagta hai,

Kabhi kabhi aditi wo bichad jaaye to ek sapna lagta hai,

Aise mein koi kaise apne aasuon ko behne se roke?

Aur kaise koi soch le everything’s gonna be ok?"

I had to write about the most refreshing movie I have seen in a very long time. I still remember the vivid happiness in our eyes when 12 of us bunked our lectures and headed to E2 for the matinee show of the already hit movie which had 2 promising youngsters, one Aamir Khan's nephew(Imran Khan) and the other one, who had us vowed with her cute Parker pen ads(Genelia D'Souza). The movie comes as a much needed break from stereotypical bollywood fare of action and romance with multiple starrers. With no superstars to boast of, Abbas Tyrewalla scores heavily on the simplicity of its storyline and the easy to relate characters amongst the general youth. Add to that the ever so youthful music of AR Rahman, its no suprise that even today we keep crooning to the tunes of Pappu can't dance. It captures the already treaded upon path of college friendship turning into love, but the predictable storyline as it unfolds sure keeps you wanting to know more. Not to forget, a special mention for a stellar performance by the highly talented Prateik Babbar who makes it quite a scene when he falls off his seat listening to Aditi say, that she is out to search a girlfriend for Jay! My personal fav tracks is the soulful "Kahin to hoga" and the title track "Tu bole" which you will be humming by the end of the movie. The movie stands out as a winner right from the onset which showcases Jay having weird dreams about his past to the ultra dramatic climax scene when he ends up winning his love over the famous Kishoreda track "Jaaaane tuu yaa jaaane naaa, Maane tuu yaa maaane naaaaa". So get your act right, if you still have had a boring day, its sure one movie you will remember for a very long time. 

Entrepreneurship diaries: The elusive start

It seems like the latest catchphrase everyone uses right from the road side baniya to Aravind Adiga's Booker winning hero. Its something that has just about caught the fascination of everyone around us speaking about entrepreneurship. I've been actively involved in some activities in my heydays(those days!) and sincerely believe that its no more an option, its a sheer compulsion to be an entrepreneur today. So what does entrepreneurship teach one? Well for starters it can be traced to Antar Prerna(Entre-preneur) which leads to the idea being enveloped. It sure needs materialization, which is enhanced upon by some serious research into the same. Why do we entrepreneurs? Our economy is in a turmoil and some believe this is the best time to enter into the same. Entrpreneurs have the ability to take risks, to venture into territories unheard of before, to question the written paradigms of business paraphernelia. Why is that we tend to remember a Narayana Murthy or a Dhirubhai Ambani even today? Its sure not for the x billion dollars they make every quarter, but for the fact they have established 

companies which employ more than 80000 people around the globe in turn affecting the lives of more than a million people directly. Tell me where else can you feel the ability to be more empowered? You sure control your own life more powerfully, than ever before and sure can impact the lives of many. Its been said that the greatest nation of the world,America was built 

over the efforts of some 50-100 entrepreneurs in the early 1900's. Entrepreneurship has never been more exciting and challenging, its time we the youth start believing in the same. My friends down in college have already begun their work. I would like to mention some of their commendable work :

1) Sahil Khan     - www.thetossedsalad.com (e-magazine)

2) Pheroze Verma  - www.smsyantra.com (online sms portal)

3) Ankit Das      - www.infinovo.com (outsourcing)

4) Shamsundar     - Brandzz(Branding and marketing solutions)

5) Jalay Pandya   - Full MarxX(Short films production, distribution, showcasing), 9m Knowledge Soldutions(Branding Solutions)

I often wonder at  amazement at their courage and faith in their abilities to have followed their dreams, their instincts despite all odds. Some have already made it big, Full Marzz celebrates its 2nd Short Films Fest this year with celebrated names likes Shyam Benegal and Markhand Deshpande lined up, Thetossedsalad in its completion of 6 months, went aboard with the

book reading session and panel discussion with likes of Vatsal Seth and noted novelist Mr. Anand Gore. Smsyantra already boasts of a clientele of above 500 people with over 200 hits per day. The others are also doing very welll for themselves. They sure did face their initial challenges but they have gone ahead with their plans. Its all about an idea in the true sense of the word 

that one needs to beleive in, that can really change the world. The rest as they say is a hardwork and a little bit of innovation that can one a long way being an entrepeneur. Mind you, being entrepreneurial needn't imply you start your busines s today  but change the way one thinks,its a way of life. You ought to get tired with your daily work at one point in your life and want to live a more fulfilling life. What better time, is it than to explore it today? I would love to start 

something of my own someday, till the elusive start, let me just work along and learn from my friends about their business venture and beyond......

Monday Blues........zzzzz.........

I hate Sunday evenings, they stare at you like an impending journey that stands ahead of you. Its something I have been faced with since eternal times. Its the "Monday Blues Syndrome". But you know the good part of it,more than half of the world suffer with the ignominy of waking up to a day which reminds you a week ahead full of challenges. So how does one make a difference to this sheer feeling of downgraded spirits? 

1) For starters, you look at life with a different perspective, go out to work with the sprint of an athlete, making the most of the day that lies ahead, ou sure need to take everyday like a new challenge(yea something like Mick Hussey that every cricket match is his last match!). 

2) You could date someone pretty/handsome, well the person needn't be that special one, just have fun!

3) Start your day with a dossier of Mumbai Mirror gossip(Believe me its more exciting than ne of the Taliban newsbytes)

4) Hang out with friends in the evenings and vent out your day's frustration on them!

5) Try doing things at work which are not characteristic of you, something like helping out someone, or maybe working your arse up to finish something before schedule (Unless you know you would be overloaded with something else!)

6) Try reading a book,nt something heavy like Salman Rushdie, go for the Chetan Bhagats on the weekdays.

7) Listening to motivating music, not mind stirring depressing music

8) Stop orkuting in office hours, move onto facebook you still not hooked onto it??

Before you even get off them,you would have realized that Freaky Friday has come, its time to get into your shoes and dance yourself to glory this weekend(okay, I agree the tips did sound like they would help a guy get over his broken heart in 7 days but it can be applied to this context as well!)

Korbo Korbo Korbo Re!

Well the IPL drama has grabbed the headlines for the past quite some weeks taking the shift of the Taliban! Woa, such great changes from Mumbai to Dharmashala to Johannesburg its been one helluva ride for the IPL organisers. If you ask me, its a monumental effort to hold a competition of its scale across a country as diverse as India. And then to pull out of India, 

convince the franchise owners about the same and move onto a different continent altogether requires bloody guts beyond greed as people often percieve IPL to be. Yea, its a disappointment for not having one of most exciting cricket round my city (DY Patil Stadium happened to be near, so my chances of witnessin finals r dampened again!) but in retrospect as many opposition members are touting it as a national shame, naa, don't think thats necessary. Just imagine the consequences of an attack similar to Lahore could to Indian cricket. Already we have half of the cricketing world is petrified of touring the sub continent thanks to Talibinsation and LTTE induced instabilty. We sure do not need a reason to further put ourselves down in fronta people citing our security issues. Managing the general elections of the biggest democracy in the world is no mere joke.  Coming to the other big controversy, Dada its time you move on, I mean cumon you sure don't match the agility of the younger lot (you never really did!) neither on the merit of your current form you're a direct entry. Stop playing the regional tomfoolery for sheer captaincy, we all have known you to be a man who led by example and wore his patriotism on his sleeves and given us hope. We would rather want to watch some good cricket played in and off the field in true sportsman. My favourites would be a sure tie between Chennai Superkings and Mumbai Warriors (its a tough tradeoff for my loyalties between Dhoni and Tendulkar!)

...........

Its been sometime me got back to working on my blogs. Well the last month has been quite tumulative for, with my illness having the better of me. Believe me nothing sucks more in our lives than planning to start things and not living upto the same. For the past few months all my plans have gone astray, I just don't quite know why the hell am I so damn frustrated with everything that's happening around me. None of whatever I thought I would have pursued has been fulfilled. Naa, I never really intended to vent my anger thru my blogs but sitting at home, for the past 2-3 days, I've just been thinking have I done anything in the past 3 months that I can recollect? Nothing of importance, I'm way to angry to say anything else and yes for the first time in my life I'm angry with myself. I hope I can get over it soon enough.........

Silsilay : The road less travelled

As an a chief auditor, my job required me travel across many parts of India.As an unmarried youth in the early thirties, I was enjoying my profession thoroughly with the perks that came along way. It was just the perfect bachelor life, that one could always dream of. It was much before the babudom decided to move forward, still maintaining a highly socialitarian approach towards the development of the nation. Those were the days of the Amabassador and Fiats, when Bajaj Chetak, was still a luxury. The country was still reeling under the loss to England in the semi finals of the Reliance World Cup Cup 1987. Yea, Sachin was still to make his debut after 2 years to the fearsome duo of Imran Khan and Wasim Akram. I was appaled by the conservative economy we were stagnating in, took least bit interested in matters pertaining to socio-cultural impact. Despite the fact that my family was actively involved social work, both my parents still working for the cause of education for the underprivileged, I was sure the blacksheep of the family, keeping myself at quite a distance from their activities. Somehow I could never really associate the idea of progress at the grass root level,perhaps I just didn't want to be acquainted by the truth. My parents scorned at my high handedness and my ability to remain aloof amidst it all. It was around the spring of 1988, me had landed up in Kolkatta, you sure guessed it right, the end of the fiscal year! After finishing some routine work we decided to transcend down to Park Street for some scrumptous Chinese cuisine. After finishing lunch, as we were leaving the restaurant did I notice some beggars suddenly being surrounded. I guessed there would have been some foreigners, being crowded for some easy alms. Just as I was about to board my car, did a hand touch me, with great tender and care, politely asked me to help her lift the beggar(who happened to be a leper) into the van. As I turned around, did I feel eternity for a while, before coming back to senses, as I was helping her without any disdain whatsoever, I had been touched by an angel...no, it was God. Once they were put onto the van, Mother Teresa turned around and said, "Thank you child, you made a difference to someone's life today". I was left speechless, numbed by my own ignorance at the fact that a parisian lady from a foreign land had to teach me one of the first lessons of my life, compassion within my own land....... 

Pune Diaries : 11th August 2007

Hi, the very fact that my 3rd mail is after more than 3 weeks is testimony to the fact that I'm busy studyin? Whopppppies!! Studyin??? Busy wid wat...8.00-6.30 college 7.00-8.30 German and studyin for change at times. Naaa all part of this gr8 world we livin in. My world is suddenly very packed wid ...well assignments presentations book reviews....n even movie 

appreciations.....Sounds excitin yea ser is as good as my techno presenatation of Red Tacton last week Dunt temme uall aint aware of Red Tacton. Human Area Networking. Data transfer with our body as the medium....Sounds gibberish dats precisely wat my classmates thought at first wen I registered my topic.....But then as they say the rest is history.........check out red tacton at gooogle.com ...... data transmission thru thin file of electrons in our body at speeds upto 10Mbps.......believe u me its gonna replace Bluetooth n Infrared in 2yrs. My presentation ws real good as in had loadsa fun handling questions as they were taken aback that we can actually get to do somethin so excitin......My book review well wudnt be too much of a suprise me dint get netime to prepare so decided to go for the safest one.....Fountainhead......holy bible of objectivism.....N my movie appreciation well thats somethin I simply love my choice for the 

week goin to 'Notting Hill ' written by Richard Curtis of Four weddings and a funeral fame it revolves round the life of Anna Scott (Julia Roberts),renowned Hollywood actress who accidentally meets William Thacker the suave Brit livin the northern district of London...Amazin chemistry b/w both n to add to the same gr8 songs rangin frm "When You say nothing at 

all"-Ronan Keating to "She-Elvis Costello" and then my latest venture my German classes they r fun to be....Its gr8 to learn a new language especially wen its a foreign one as u do hope that u wud be able to make use of it in the nearfuture.....German gt some real strange rules like masculine n feminine for objects which is unheard of in english ...... so wats the catch me needs to learn up all of dem ..........elseways its fun to make frds whether u consider that to be uar roomates or my german classmates ........ Suprisingly out of the 7 of us 6 of us are learning a language rangin frm deutsche to french to mandarin!!! Globalisin our place in the actual sense of the word.......What is also amazin is how quickly we get attached to ppl at times n seems like we hve known each other for a very long time....Same goes for me wid my roommates Karan n Feroze ..... real kewl fellas both in the their first years of bca /bba. Karan aka Gujju is plannin to move out since he is left wid no privacy in his room as it becumes the hall for us....This made me kinda sentu" but den me learnin to deal wid these things which till yestd seemed so alien to me......N how can I forgt bout my studiesss .... well it seems ppl want us to know perhaps everythin under the sun in this span of 2yrs actually 1.5yr considerin the fact that we wud end up our last 6 months in the project work for some company.....Evenins to get tirin at times especiallly the one like dis weekened when I'm not goin to bbay (Note:I did'nt say borin) So we get down to our pictionary n monolpoly or dumbsharades or antaksharis but then offlate its been tough to catch up wid all of these. We might be heading for some non veg cuisine down at FC Road 2nite......Pune as a city has its own charm nt excited me much but then ppl especially students all over the world come down to study here (They call it the Oxford of the East!). No wonder there is some difference that has been enveloped b/w the original inhabitants and the students coming down from outside. For some person belongin to the old school of thought it mite seem to be a place that has seriously lost it. Well this can just go n on but then me needa take a halt nw gt my midterm exams nearin so if poss do pass on a word of recommendation to God for the kid from bbay supposedly sloggin out in pune!

Till den Chyus!

There ain't no sunshine when she's gone

Well not really, I ain't recuperating from any break up. Its the whole world that is recovering from perhaps the greatest break up ever. Never before have we witnessed a meltdown of this proportion. Just the other day, I had gone to watch Delhi 6. The movie was well, definitely had greater expectations from the makers of RDB, but the point is it was around 11am in the morning, Sunday morning. For some strange reason as we entered the mall, I had this eerie feeling of it being closed down, since there was hardly anyone around. Sunday morning, and a mall is empty, can there be anything more startling? More than 30% of the shops out there had been closed and the ones operating were on their way out,with little or no enthusiasm amongst the people. It has been said that the depression of 1929 lasted for 729 days, this one is yet to complete a year. The consequences have been nothing short of catastrophic. Millions across the globe have been left shell shocked. It comes as no suprise that the bubble burst has finally taken place, however the last time it happened, during the early part of this century, things had just been hit.  Since then the market boomed and today it has boomeranged back to sanity. I was living in a hostel down in Pune, every second day, I was encountered with a fellow hostelite with the sulleness, yea the dude had just lost his job. There were some who took it on their stride, sadly some are still trying to come in terms with the same. All the great placement records at the premier institutions across the globe have gone for a toss. Some of my friends under the cloud, have suggested this is perhaps the best time to go for further education. Their take, the situation in 2 years would be back to normalcy, and jobs will be back. Its the greatest challenge that Obama is faced with, we sure need to give him time. Till then, as  Charles Boudlair said, "Let us go somewhere, anywhere, far from this wretched place we are living in......."

Thanks....

The past one year has taught me a lot about life like every other year. However for the very first time, I've had to aquaint myself with times which were unknown to most of us earlier. Recession, terrorism, Obama, all of this has certainly affected millions around the globe. But what has further reinforced my belief in life, love and beyond has been the coexistence of my family in the most difficult times. Perhaps I would have never realized what they mean to me, had I not met a few people outside my inner most circle. A family is not defined by its reunions alone, but its ability to wade through trying times. As someone said, its important to have people by your side atleast when the chips are down. I sure have had the privilege to be part of one family, which is nothing less than the Dekh Bhai Dekh gang. Most of my life I have had them for granted, never got much of a chance to acknowledge them but your support has been highly appreciated, something I'm indebted for the resta my life......

Pune Diaries : Looking ahead

So here I am thrown into this weird world of management studies wherein every person is supposed to be gulpin down Peter Drucker books and becumin the next Narayana Murthy!!!Welll lazy fella Im me never had ne such outrageous ambitions and always thut of somethin beyond the material wants of life (okie there is some element of truth involved in it). So I start of with my studies n try to present an insider view of the much touted about mba. Well for starters everyone is given lottta advice on the benefits of readin economic times. Duh! If everyone wudabeen able to make out wats written there im sure we wud be havin dozens of Manmohan Singh/Chidambaram frm every bskool. So what have I been doing since joining?....Well I'm still tryin to understd wat collaboration,merger,stakes,divestments really imply.....I'm sure I'll learn some of them at the end of my 2 yrs. Another point me learned is that at this level possibly ppl I mean the faculty has certain changes in their mindset. A lot of practicality comes into teachin which is good in a way but at the same time its can be a disadvantage if the basics are nt strong So right now I'm workin on my finance n management basics which are as alien to me as Australia losin the next world cup!!! But needa admit one thing we got some amazing professors who have completely mesmerised me wid their fundas of mgmt world n all. Lemme see if I can feed in some more thoughts in the days to come......

Ubuntu Zindabad!

Before you jump into any conclusion about my preferences for open source software, let me just say, this has got lots to do with saving my arse big time. I was completing my graduation in Mumbai, when I happened to realize Ubuntu's life saving capability (Quite aptly it's named Ubuntu for People!). My friend, Swapnil and I, usually returned from college together, that day for some strange reason, we decided to board a local train from Chembur. This sure was not normal coz we have always been devoit BEST users since our earliest days. It was around 6.45 in the evening when we boarded a Belapur Local, thanks to over poplation we got into the goods section of the train. Just when the train reached the next station did we realize that we had goofed up big time. We had actually boarded a Ladies Special Train which was special coz it rarely turned up. Thankfully we weren't the only ones fooled into the same and had some company. As expected no miracle really saved us and we landed up at the Railway Police Chowky. We weren't quite sure as to where the whole situation was really leading to so we decided to keep mum till the rest of the people completed their formalities. Slowly the interrogation began (read bargaining)  at round about Rs 500. Guess, there were some people who decided to pay up and leave. Slowly the RPF personnel reduced his fees to Rs 250 and then to Rs 120. One of the fellow passengers decided to play real cheap (till the time we decided to join the party!) and managed to escape with a meagre Rs 50. He sure was so delighted at his release that he touched the personnel's feet. In return, the personnel was grateful enough and said "Bhag re,me Bhagwan aahez kaa?"(Get the hell out of here man, u think I'm God or wat?). Well that left the Havildar with two young collegians who were just learning the art of negotiation. We decided further lower the bar, and started narrating our tale of despair, as to how we landed up in that dratted compartment purely out of misery. He sure wasn't the least excited and had his mind set on some more easy money. Just as we were lamenting our pathetic state of affairs, that he asked us to open our bags. His eyes fell upon some CD's of Ubuntu, that were kept inside.Besides its striking maroon color, the cover had some fairly graphic stuff on it, yea similar to the pic I've uploaded. Seemed like he sure had been awestruck by the same, and was hoping that it would be a porno film CD! He decided to barter our release if we handed over the porno CD to him. What could we say, no money, no court, nothing at all, in exchange for some Linux cd's! For the resta journey, we were left thanking our guardian angels who had taken to Ubuntu to save our souls and hoping those reasonable havildar's got something to cheer about.

Silsilay : IA 703

It was in the early 1970's when emergency had struck India. I was returning from Kolkatta back to home in Delhi when I realized, that even Indian Airlines had not been spared. The next morning,it was the wedding of my cousin and I had to be on time. Just when I reached the airport, did I realize that my flight IA 703 had been cancelled. The unions had decided it was about time they stop appeasing the central. This sure was a dampener,coz I had to reach over the same night. Bitterly disappointed and frustrated, all of us, stranded passengers, were lurking over the transit with the hope of some miracle. Just then some officals from IA, asked us to stay back and wait over for some more time. After about an hour, they brought in the good news, that an arrangement for an alternate flight,had been managed and it was about to leave in a shortwhile. I was pretty relieved to hear the same, also quite impressed with efficient management (talk of CRM today in IA!) even at the helm of emergency. Once, we boarded the flight, one of the crew members came and apologized for the lack of food available on the flight owing to the stop gap arrangement. That surely wasn't something we were going to brood over then. I had a lot of food items (read misthi~sweets) since I was returning from Kolkatta, it was a tradition to bribe my Dad with ounces of sweets for entry into house. I asked one of the air hostess' to distribute the same to all the passengers since most of them were famished owing to the delay. After some initial reluctance, she agreed to the same, serving the passengers, to my fulfilment. Sometime later, the pilot came up to me and thanked me profusely, for being understanding to their situation. The pilot somehow struck me, besides being a handsome lad in his mid 30's, as an extremely polite and courteous person, also someone who seemed kinda familiar to me. We landed uneventfully, at Palam,Delhi in the early hours of the next day. Just as we were boarding off the plane, the pilot met me again, this time even more grateful and poised in his talk, speaking about how rare it is to find passengers who co-operate with them in their trying times. I was already bowled over by the humility of this wonderful pilot, who despite having tough times, had helped us reach our destination. Out of sheer curiosity and plain innocence, I asked him, "You strike me as someone, I might have known already in my life, what is your name, Pilot?" . To which he replied politely "Dear Sir,you might have known me. My name is Rajiv Gandhi, and I work as a pilot with Indian Airlines."

Valentine's day ~ down the memory lane

Most of my earliest recollections of Valentine's Day would be the soothing number featuring Sammir Dattani and Raima Sen making their way into love, it sure made people want to fall in love. Well I was no exception, was taken by the same at the age of 14. But I had hard luck even talkin to girls my age, since I belonged to an all boys school, and conversing with girls was sure more complicated than understanding Trignometry! The urge to associate with someone didn't escape my heart though. The way young collegians strutted their partners, would definitely make none of us want to stay alone. One of the incidents that touched me was during vday, was when I was travelling on the bus. It was suprisingly empty and just in fronta me there was this young office going couple I used to encounter everyday. That day was no different and they were really happy in each other's company. And then the moment came when the girl,gifted the guy a really good watch as a remembrance of their eternal love. The guy's reaction, well I sure was left astounded, he took out from his pocket what then seemed like the most beautiful ring ever made, and proposed her for marriage. I've heard of Tom Cruise making it the perfect proposal for his ladylove at the top of Eiffel Tower, but sometimes I think its the most unexpected gestures, that really go long, and have the greatest effect. The girl was left speechless perhaps wanting to hear the same, since times immortal. Most of the people around were
amused and definitely wanted an early morning dekho into their love story. Quite expectedly, she was moist eyed, thanking her stars, reaffirmin the fact that dreams do come true, its all about believin in the same till the end.

Pune Diaries : The early days

The first day 11th June 2007 marked a new start for me. And a new start in every possible way ranging from the variety of students to the food, the weather, woa thats some change. Where do I stand in the class? For starters I'm the youngest of the lot which makes mosta people senior to me. Now dats sad considering the fact that most of the girls in my class are qualified 'seniors'(read didi) dampening my hopes further! Food seemed a major issue for me the first day considering the fact that we had no kitchen facility allowed in our place. But as luck would have it thats when I met one of my better friends Ankit(Jaipuria Jawan) with 4 yrs work experience behind him. And my first reaction was oh!he is even elder than bro!!!! My next stop was when we meet Alok (hyderabadi haula) and we make for good convos with Ankit leading the way for obvious reasons. The Jain Hostel has real good food for value with thalis available at noon-dinner with ghee-rotis (yum!). There is this Govt.Polytechnic college bang opposite my bedroom which has real good scenic value(u know similar to the IITstyle campus so lotta greneery n all) making it an absolute must for all young n old to jog round the place early morning. Feluda always maintained that morning walks in a new place gives you immense info about a new place its culture,its people. So there me goes down in my morning walks trying to reassure myself of a healthy living. Model Colony is a predominantly family based locality with all senior citizens joggin down the track in the mornings. But whoever said that jogging is meant for all, with me spraining my neck while giving the pushups. There goes my aspirations of leadin a healthier life! Student culture has gripped Pune to the hilt with every second person being a broker.  Hence it was no real suprise when I came to know that my cousin got his new flat thru Pravin Bananawala! Lectures haven't reallly started full on so far and wud be accelerating from tomorrow so me still quite unaware of the dynamix of our college but one things for sure the canteen food is pretty good and acceptable for a lunch.  Students, well they are a mixed breed ranging from btech to bcom grads which would sure make for some interesting discussions.

Bombay talkies: Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa

"Aye kaash ke hum hosh mein ab aane naa paayebas nagmein tere pyaar ke, gaate hee jaayekhilatee, mahakatee ye julfon kee shaamhasate, khanakate ye hothhon ke jaamaa zoom ke saath uthhaye, bas nagmein tere pyaar ke ..ho bas agar tum humaare sanamhum to sitaaron pe rakh de kadamsaaraa jahaan bhool jaaye, bas nagmein tere pyaar ke .."

The Kundan Shah directed, Shahrukh Khan starrer, is one of my personal SRK favs. The movie stands out for the simplicity of the story,revolving around the story of Sunil (struggling singer-dumbstruck lover), in his confusion dwindling away his youth, strangely one of the rare Bollywood movies, in which the hero ends up as a loser. Set in the town of Vasco in Goa, it captures the multi dimensional culture of the people living there and their day to day life. And can Goa be ever completed without a mention ofmusic. Jatin Lalit delivers perhaps one of their best albums ever, music which even todaymanages to stir many a heart. Right from casting the effervescent Deepak Tijori fresh from the success of Sadak, Jo jeeta woh sikandar to the freshness exuded by Suchitra Krishnamoorthy, the movie manages to capture the imagination of every moviegoer right until the last scene is over. An absolute cinematic delight to have the actors of the calibre of Satish Shah, Nasseruddin Shah, Anjan Srivastav, share the screen together. But the most memorable act came from the quintessential man, who reinvents himself almost every Wednesday, Nasseruddin Shah,who as the parish priest, delivers a near to perfect delivery. One of the best lines of the movie, came when Sunil confessed to him faking his marksheet. As the ever so just Father, he stood up for him, saying "Its the bravest people who take life, day by day. For them, the journey is all that really matters". Just about everytime I managed to fall in love did I reminsce the emotions of a young Sunil singing to glory, "Ae Kaash Kein Hum Hosh mein Ab Aane Naa paaye". What really stands out about the movie is the innocence of their lives which has been captured within the 70mm screen,something quite rare in today's cinema. All in all,a great movie for anyone, would be even better, with St.Valentine just knocking around your door.

Dasvidaniya~the best goodbye ever

One of the most endearing scenes you would ever come across are at any railway terminus. Once you think you have settled peacefully amidst the sea of people, quite often you're left for a breather and you head for exit door. That's when you feel the way I felt everytime someone in my family returned back home leavin behind a teary eyed kid wanting to prolong times. Things don't really change much, its just the people who take those places, and bring the same days back to your life. Its indeed those stoic silences, that two people share completely lost within each other, even with thousands of people in the backdrop. A son,destined to make it big,shouldering the hopes,of a better tomorrow. A winner for life,whose journey back home yet again,has been curtailed by his call of duty. Friends who met, reliving memoirs of forgotten days, promising to be there,as always once again. Its rare to feel life, amidst our busy lives, but most definitely, its the best goodbye,coz it ain't supposed to end there......

Raaga in classroom

"Shabada madhur bolein koyaleyain"
My class in MBA had always been diverse,global if I could say,considerin the foreign nationals
but there seemed to be one thing that united us,Raag Bhairaav. I'm sure till now we aren't quite sure about how its actually sung, but believe me it evoked such great pleasure to see our entire class sing along our Guruji. Right from day one,we felt that it had to be the most entertaining lecture of our entire time spent in college. Since Hindustani classical is completely Hindustani, there ain't any translation for the same. And that's where one of my friends from Uganda, asked the professor to translate the verses. Reaction, quite expectedly, dumbfounded, as to how to teach him classical music within a month's time. But it didn't end over there, Guruji, sure wanted us to acknowledge and appreciate the beauty of raagas, he not only made us listen to great music, he also made us watch videos of Bharat Ratna awardee Pt. Bhimsen Joshi. But the icing on the cake came during our farewell, when our juniors asked us to dedicate a song, all of us cried out in rejoice, Shabad da madhur, bolein koyalein.........

School days:521

ye daulat bhii le lo, ye shoharat bhii le lo,bhale chhiin lo mujhase merii javaanii,

magar mujhako lautaa do bachapan kaa saavan,vo kaagaz kii kashtii, vo baarish kaa paanii

Well I'm sure we all reminisce our childhood days through this song.Those days of innocence,sure had its effect on all.Perhaps for me the most memorable time came in the second half (after my 6th grade) when I boarded the BEST bus 521,while returning back home.During the initial days there were hardly any of the folks from my school living round my place.By the time,school was coming to an end, there were more than 6-7 of us boarding the same bus.All of us with different backgrounds,totally different personalities.

Harmeet aka Sunny-the eternal nice man,one who could always be your best friend for life,also someone who never gets charged up(a great son-in-law in the makin!)

Manmeet aka Sumit-Strikingly opposite in nature from his brother,easily the most entertaining of the group,also a very talented singer

Adrian-the giant in the group,also the typical padaku fella,who did little to enhance his repute being amongst us

Premal-Gujju bhai!One of the major reasons for multiplex culture in India still surviving,his tales of first day first show visits for every movie to Aurora(once famous movie screen in Matunga),have surely encouraged many a businessman to venture into multiplex business

Amlan-mystery man,someone none of us really understood till the end,had a calm effect on the group even while wading thru the monsoonal waters of King Circle

My life had tremendous value in those journeys,especially the wisecracks Manmeet made to take off the toil of commuting over 60 kms to school.

I distinctly remember,one such incident that took place once near Chembur.

Strangely,the 521,we boarded on that day was pretty empty and all of us were occupying window seats.

Just then devil struck our minds,and for Rs 2/- the bet was placed.

There were these pretty damsels(remember the ones that just seem to make you feel live life again....) seated just ahead of us,and Manmeet had to over go and ask them the time (wearing a watch)

Okay it went somewhat like this:

Manmeet:Aunty,time kya huan hain?

Girls:Auntiiiiiieeee!!!(Grumbles to glory) its 12.30 pm

Holie sharks you should have seen our reactions to Aunty,what on earth was he saying,I mean if not acknowledgding a pretty lady by glancing over once is bad enough,calling someone aunty is harakiri!

However Manmeet won the bet hands down and we had the best laugh of our lives and you can be sure those two girls,were red n white for the resta journey.......

Matrimony Monologues

Amongst the few most significant moments of our lives,our first job,our first kiss,the day we get married,our promotion,the day your first child is born,the one that makes you go weak on you knees,wobble the same feet,that might have delivered many a sales presentations to the Forbes 500 clients,is your wedding. Dude,how can you say that? Its the time to celebrate,to get a feel of the next big thing of your life,two great familes come together,and history is created! Well all said and accepted but what we tend to forget thatthere is more to getting married than giving your close ones a chance to rejoice. Lets face it,if you're born and brought up in India,(where unfortunantely Pati Vratha and dowry is still are still very much alive and kicking),you don't get married just for getting married. You embark on a journey expected to lasta few generations. If such is the case,why do we need to force people into getting married,just when they just start getting on the latter side of 20's? Isn't it supposed to be a thing of greatest importance to the couple who get married to each other,who have to stand by each other,live upto each others expectations? No,I'm not a crusader to the cause of the millions still searching for their soulmates. Neither am I being inducted into it.Its really strange if you ask me about this whole situation,you definitely need to be sure of the person,you're gonna get hooked to for life. Well,one of my bestest friend,Arvind is tying the knot this February. Never before have we had the same thoughts previously. What is life like when after your marriage? How much space do you really have? Do you actually becomeresponsible and mature overnight? Does your equation with your friends remain the same? That's something we call as speculation,something which never really leads to any conclusion,coz its best to have life takes its own course of action.......

Where do people go?

Okay,this might sound a little out of place for the Ram Sena,but there is a serious dearth of spaces in our cities for couples to spend time.Just today,when I was on my way back home,did I notice a couple trying to make the maximum of a corner seat in the bus.But hey,you think people out there in  the bus let them have any share of their golden moments?Bah!It really saddens me to believe that our country,the greatest democracy in the world,do not have anything to offer to people in love,especially in times of insurgency!Come on,give those poor chaps a chance to endeavour into love,who doesn't want to be in love?I'm sure there is a child even within all of us,asking to be loved.And as a society all we can do is hope to see more love,coz it radiates happiness,smiles all around,even when the world glooms over recession.

Don't look away.....

From the movie Mr & Mrs. Iyer,written and composed by the tabla maestro Zakir Hussain,its got a strange haunting feeling enveloping within us.The meaning of the song is something I'm yet to understand completely,but its something we all feel at some point of time in our lives.Well,guess there are times when we want things to subside our way,but hey,remember Jamal (read Slumdog Millionaire)"It's written".The thing they call destiny is often something we can't disregard.

Asalfa....

Every city has its own story.Infact every part of a city offers something different.The best way to understand the culture,the people out there,is to walk around the place.Mumbai,by anyone's admission is easily the biggest city in IndiaIt just manages to bring to life,the diversity of our country.Everyday I walk through the lanes of Asalpha(suburban Mumbai),a place unknown to many.Perhaps even  I would have never known it had I not been there.(I guess the name is derived from the pathetic Asphalt roads out there)But amongst the monstrous crowds of BEST buses, and the cramped roads thanks to the metro constructionsI'm left with no option but to walk through its hallowed lanes.It is here that I've meet people,bonded, and just a rememberance has been left behind.People who never asked my name,my religion,yet changed my lives forever.Most prominently,I can remember the Sardarji uncle,who ran half a mile for the bus and helped us into it when none of the buses were halting at the stop.And would you imagine he then got off the bus,he put up a fight for people like me,whom he didn't even know!Yea some great soul he sure is.Also Asalpha offers the best anda bhurji's around the corner(well you can be sure of that since Ghatkopar next door is mainly inhabited by Gujaratis who are vegetarians),though I'm still to try them....Maybe someday very soon I will stop by to have some of it......

The first of many.....

Well,I've been into maintaining a diary for sometime now,so thought of taking the next big leap now. I plan to quite emphatically live my dreams thru this.I'm starting off on a day which is by its own way a great one,the 60th anniversary of our republic status as an amazing nation.So cheers to the day,may we move on from being poised to being realized....