The Contemplation Juxtapose !

Some stunners !! that i have clicked :)

2009-08-30T11:53:00.000-07:00

THE BEACH !

2009-08-30T11:21:00.000-07:00

long time since i posted some pics ! here they are ....

confused - is the state of mind

2009-06-28T22:38:00.001-07:00

thats the state of mind again.... have had such weird experiences lately that you never know....
someone seems to be someone but it is someone else.... someone says something but it is doing something else.. god.. WHY ME ????.... who to trust who not to trust.... and how the F do you really know that someone is genuine.... PHEW !!!!... and i said sometime back that confusion is good...
Help !!!!
Does anyone have the all mighty's phone no .. i need to talk to him now :)

Its time !!!!

2009-06-24T11:30:00.000-07:00

getting myself to write again requires such amount of effort is unbelievable.. i have to literally push myself with all the force i have and make an effort .. yet when i start writing i have a laundry list of what i should write about .... as Sid says "bloody picture quality" :)... thanks to someone for reminding me that I had a blog :)

Its time ! yes it is and for an eternity i have thought that things are so bloody stagnant... everything is on hold in life... that its time now for a lotta things....

Maybe a change in routine .. maybe get into a fitness regime .. maybe get a new job .. maybe go somewhere to meet someone ... maybe i should get back to my old thing ... maybe i should just quit everything and get back home .... In the past few months i have seriously lost it and i am working like a dog (who isnt ??).... but yeah thats not me ... i need to be me .. its time !

The other day was talking to bhai and he said he was missing Chennai .. so do i :(... fearless we were caring about no one doing what we liked .. driving out at 11 in the night to have a coconut pudding in fruit shop ... watching movie at 12 in the night when i used to doze off 10 min into the movie everytime and bhai used to kick me into my bedroom... Driving our bikes in the first rain to Mahabs... go to office at 8 in the morning and play loud music and turn it off suddenly when the MD entered the office... wanna be fearless ... its time !

that one call from a friend is priceless nowadays... you know you wanna speak to all the junta but you dont have time .... even if you meet them once a month its not enough .... that point in life when you need friends around you .. should get back in touch ... its time !

In my own way i am trying to change the world (that i live in) and sometimes i fail most times i win .... why should someone dictate the way i work .. why should i work for somebody who is not even worth it ! ... Either i work for myself or work for someone smarter than me ... its time !

Its actually time for a lot of new things in life .. and now i feel that i am actually ready for it .. its that feeling, when nothing is actually happening but you still feel something is gonna happen ... due for long .. its time !

The economy of loyalties !

2008-12-18T09:41:00.000-08:00

This is a glimpse from a wholesale market in Guntur. If some of you who have lived ever in small towns will know what this is. The bull here is called "Nandi Bull" in Maharashtra. I dont know what it is called elsewhere. This is a tradition where a guy accompanying the bull asks him questions (obviously those whose answers delight people ex: will the shopkeeper become a lakhpati) and then the bull who is trained to nod, keeps on nodding. And his master gets the moolah. Nice way to earn a living !

Two reasons why i started this post with this story. One, this brought back my childhood memories where i have spent about 14 years of my childhood in small town where this was a regular feature and the second is to tell you another interesting story.

I interact with a lot of distributors who are handling varied businesses and its interesting to know how exactly each business operates. A month back i was terminating a distributors services for my company (we parted amicably though) due to conflict in business objectives. There i learnt he had been recrutied for distribution of a dog food brand. Now listen to this interesting part.

This is an area near to where i live and it is one of the upmarket areas in the city. He (the distributor) was also handling a baby food brand. Now this area has around 6-7 big hospitals where maternity wards are present. So the sales of baby food has been very good (say x lac). Interestingly the dog food sales in the same area is 4 x lac. Look at the contrast, i am sure if you get down to more details the number of babies will be double than the number of dogs in the area. So people are spending more per dog than per baby (agreed that the consumers will be different, but still). I also agree that the rate of dog food per kg is much higher than baby food per kg and even the consumption will be high. But still the spending is more on dog food. i was astonished to hear this.

So next time you buy food for your baby (if you have one) and you buy food for your dog (if you have one) just look at how much you spend monthly, would be interesting. No disrespect to dogs as i myself love them and i think they deserve this and more for being a loyal friend to the humans.

Thats why the economy of loyalties :-)

till next time adios !

As always the contrarion view ! some numbers ...

2008-12-06T10:26:00.000-08:00

Well i was compelled to express my anger so many times during the terrorist attacks that rocked MY city last week but i held my horses and was just observing the proceedings during and after the event ... Just to take a helicopter view .. my batch mates will understand this...:-)
I am still following the happenings and have decided to take a contrarion view, as always .. i know this annoys a lot of people but it throws out a lot of interesting perspectives for me ....
Well to start with the very issue of Mumbai and what its worth ... the city which contributes to 40% of taxes gets back nothing .. if you just put numbers on paper (this is my new hobby since i have moved to sales) you can see that it gets very little for what it is worth... with almost 23 million residents Mumbai is second largest city in the world... beat that !!! did you know this ???.. only Tokyo, Japan is larger than Mumbai... does the government know this .. i dont think so .... so does the city get the financial and infrastructural support that it needs .. its very easy to blame the BMC and the state government but the central government who is one big sucker of Mumbai's money gives little back to the city .. glaring examples are the city trains which are running at around 250% of their capacity utlilisation... So this is MY city for you ....
Coming back to the attacks and the aftermath well its been over a week now and life is as usual .. yes you can say that there is a movement which has started and all but its all bull shit !!!!
I just want to know that out of the 1 lakh people who were present at the rally at the Gateway of India last week how many voted in the last election .. how many of them know that who is the industries minister of maharashtra .. i bet, and anybody can challenge me on that, not 1000 or more will qualify.. so all the revolt is ok if you choose your own leader.. if you have not voted there is no freakin way in this whole god damn world you can even say anything about the leaders... The other day there was this debate on the TV on one of the over enthusiastic news channel where 4 people called "citizens of India" were screwing spokeperson of the incumbent party for VIP security .. one of the gentlemen was a guy who has started a new party called the Professional party of India.. he had his own agenda of spreading awareness about his new party's manifesto ... i bet he doesnt even have the clue what is happening in the government .. he was talking about road being blocked and stuff when politicians go around the city.. well, i have lived in 5 cities now and have been fortunate or unfortunate to have high profile politicians as my next door neighbours and believe me not once has my road been blocked .. i think that guy must be staying just outside Mantralaya then :P.... I am angry .. frustrated because these guys are just opportunistic , ask them which city was attacked before Mumbai and they will be like a deer standing in front of head lights of a car.... the problem is no one wants to get their hands dirty and this attitude is seen across, even in the corporate.... its an attitude problem.. everyone wants to be a part of India story but there are very few who are contributing to it, really !
My only point is show patriotism in the right way ... dont blame politicians, either get into politics and be the change or vote your own politicians...
The other side of this is India's so called succesfull democracy is actually digging its own grave .. with almost 730 registered pollitical parties it is nothing less than a mess... any Indian voter who wants to choose his leader cannot expect him to do anything because he is so confident that his electorate cannot make any difference because he carries no decision power in the parliament where alliances matter.... There is a dying need for the system to immediately move to a 3 -4 party system where at least there is a sure chance of your vote getting counted and making a difference... other than this, the money that is laundered due to this barrage of parties is phenomenal ... 90% of the donations that are made to political parties are tax free and about 95% of this money in not accounted ... as Kareena says in jab we met .. Just Imagine !!!!
How many people in this country would like to join the army or the intelligence department, forget that the Chandrayan mission recently did not have a single IITian working on it (the fact that i am an engineer and a MBA from IIT doesnt make me a less sinner) ... so what are we crying for ?? why are we so angry that the government doesnt do anything .. I think politics is a very good career option today for anybody, because you just have to represent a particular caste or religion or an ignored state and you will have minimum 10000 votes in your pocket .. the rest you can buy out and there you are you have earned yourself a seat in the premier legislative assembly.... for those whose caste / religion / state does not have so many people .. tough luck, try your hand at something else ...
So lets vote in the next election and then see who we choose to run our country and protect our city.. till then shut up and move on .. you dont have a choice ...

2008-11-05T22:58:00.000-08:00

She was holding a mans hand

standing on the road side.....

Her big, beautiful black eyes

searching something familiar......

She had a smile on her face greeting everybody in the race....

But yet there was something missing...

The man was a stranger but she was brave

Not an expression of worry on her face ...

Unperturbed she searched for the familiar

looking at everybody and asking questions silently...

finally she saw that face and then she went away in her own grace....

Take a Bow - Dada !!!!

2008-10-07T10:43:00.000-07:00

" Breaking News !!!! " Sourav Ganguly announces his retirement, well well well the day has finally come when one of the fab four has decided to step down or shall we say has been forced to step down .... i will leave that to you ...
"The god of off side" as he was called by "the wall" has been an inspiration for many and the bad boy of Indian cricket ... But i will always remember him as the man who made the world sit back and notice that Indian cricket had arrived and how .. remember all the bad incidences he was infamous from .. from arriving late for tosses and wasting time on field by slow over rate and the famous shirt waving at the mecca of cricket The lords.... He gave TASHAN to the biggies...
His ability to support young lads like lakhsmi ratan shukla, ritendar sodhi, yuvi, irfan, viru and many more out of which some clicked some not but atleast there was always fresh blood flowing through the Indian Cricket team.. He dared to back young talent while beautifully handling big ol guns like Srinath. Kumble, Sachin, Dravid and Laxman.. there was never an issue of juniors overshadowing seniors or any ego clashes... his leadership and team skills have been a learning for many....
His career has been anything but a steady cruising ship, no one else has made famous come backs and seen lows and highs like him in this game.. from getting dropped after first australia tour coming back in team to score century on debut at lords.. reaching the world cup final .. almost winning a test series in OZ... Spat with greg chappell whereas working like a TEAM with John Wright... the list just goes on ....
There can be a long debate over wether he was really a good player or not , but i think he was the best captain the Indian Cricket team ever had ... With his agression, PR skills and team management techniques i dont think no one else has reached anywhere near what he has done for Indian cricket... SO i will not present a debate on that cause i just want to say for whatever he has done and for his utterly butterly off drives .....

Dada - Take a Bow !!!!

of Taxi drivers, Aam aadmi and Singur

2008-09-06T03:45:00.000-07:00

i have been getting a chance to travel on work for almost 2 yrs now .. and lately a bit more as i have moved into sales ... while doing so i have come across a breed of human beings the "taxi drivers", very peculiar and exhibit characteristics common to none ...

i have met around 14 drivers in a span of 5 months and had a good meaningful conversation with almost all of them on varied topics from girlfriends to politics to inflation to bitching about anybody and everybody..... and its super fun :)

a thumb rule that works with these guys is ... if a guy drives a taxi and his name is Raju he has to be a nepali (believe me it works.. try it !!)... i have hit the nail twice ... these nepali drivers are super confident they will bitch about the local drivers , they will help you going out of their way , they will drive faster than the locals do and know the roads better than them and they will always trust you if you are from Mumbai ... Now thats strange , i couldnt figure out the reason why , but yeah they do !

Now coming to the aam aadmi part, recently i was on my way to the swanky new Hyd airport and i again met an interesting taxi driver.. we struck a conversation on the recent party started by Chiranjeevi in AP. The guy was confident that this time round the actor will win and was furios about Inflation !!! yeah he knew what inflation was and explained to me how it was affecting him. he said , sahab "They give only 10 kg rice per ration card and a family or 4 or more cannot survive on 10 kg, the price in retail shop is 30 / kg while ration is 3 / kg. How are we supposed to survive ??"

He said in his village where he does farming he has stopped growing fruits which used to give him more money and has gone back to growing rice which they can at least use to eat themselves. So its basically food for Survival...... this was my first brush with inflation hitting the AAM AADMI.....

Now coming to the Singur story... i met this waiter in a hotel in HYD where i am currently stayin.. i was watching TV with interest in the restaurant and the news was about the Nano car plant in Singur... he suddenly came up to me and started " Shir, aapko pota hai (mujhe kaise pata hoga .. i was meeting him for the first time) mai Shingur se hoon (all 'h' are his typical bangla style).... bahut taklif hota yeh news sunkar..." he then started explaining me what the exact situation was... he continued "problem yeh hai ki jomin pe farming karte hai, ek ghar mai 4 bhai hai jo us jamin ke nikli fasal se khaate hai, govt ne ek Bhai ko hi naukri diya hai, jomin to chala gaya baki 3 bhai kya karega ?? ..... isliye problem hai ".... then he explained me the Tata side also with same passion ... "Lekin Bangal mai phactory bhi chahiye... tata ka bhi golti nahi hai usko transport bachane ke liye woh jagah shahi hai.... to dono appne jagah sahi hai.. kya karega kaise debelopment hoga...."

So the aam aadmi in India is really not that happy huh.. on one hand he is happy about development on other hand he is worried about his food and shelter too.....

More of my interesting people interactions will follow till then

Asta la vista...

CONFUSION

2008-08-13T18:51:00.000-07:00

Confusion is good sometimes, actually most of the time…. It makes you think.. It makes you weigh your options … and then puts you on to the right path.. Or the wrong one … but what the hell, anyways you go on a path … if it’s wrong you will correct yourselves and if it’s right you will obviously be happy. Right?

Confusion can be lethal sometimes but most of the times that I have seen…. both when I am confused and I see other people getting confused, they end up making the right choice… It is that state of mind when your grey cell activity is maximum so next time you are confused don’t panic let the feeling linger and enjoy it ….

According to me confusion can be of two types active and passive.. Active confusion is super fun because you are so confused you don’t know what’s happening, don’t know what to do and don’t want to do anything … But there is a flash at the end of it and BINGO!!! You have sorted out the confusion (Ex: Which car do I buy or which shirt do I buy)… Passive confusion is more of sedate one where in the back of the mind there is unanswered question or you don’t want to answer it … this confusion is always there in your mind (Ex: which girl do I marry?) dont worry i am not looking for one ...

You cannot live without it …. So be confused always … its good …

I am back and after a BANG !!!!

2008-07-28T01:54:00.000-07:00

I am Back after a BANG !!!!

Phew!!! I was amazed how the terrorists managed to shatter the two cities in two days ... and what planned execution!
I think this is a lesson for the people sitting in the highest office of our country about meticulous planning. Take a leaf out of the execution of blasts guys and follow the same while you blabber about driving economic reforms and overtaking China (which Mr. Chidambaram thought that Leftists were not favouring, not that I like the red bandwagon, but think before you speak Mr. FM). I have tremendous respect for Mr. Manmohan Singh being a MBA and a student of economics, but I am sure he also knows that these reforms can only ride on a strong foundation of a secure and peaceful nation.
Just keenly observe how the events have unfolded starting with 26th July which is an important date in Indian chronology. The day of Kargil victory (Vijaya Divas), to that add the fiasco which the parliament went through during the past entire week. When all the netaji’s were busy counting notes or negotiating portfolios. The anti peace forces had a good enough reason to strike at this moment because the attention of entire country was on increasing the TRP’s of news channel and ya the lonely Lok Sabha TV which no one cares about. So it was open grounds for them to strike.
Another key happening was the meeting of Indo – Pak foreign secy’s which also coincided with these events. And what a surprise or not a surprise that Pakistan started firing across the borders breaching the treaty just after this meeting (maybe they have excess inventory of ammunition).

Are you guys connecting the dots????

Well you should not; it is the job of the intelligence agencies who are supposed to be intelligent enough to foresee these things. Maybe the government can head hunt some of the terrorists into the agencies that may help!
So my only point is when we are so gung ho about 9 % GDP growth and India going global where the F@#$ are the funds which go into strengthening the Intelligence agencies going ??? Look at the countries around be it Pak where the agency works as an anti peace organisation sometimes or the US of A or Russia or even small countries like Spain and Germany. Even they have ecnomic reforms and high GDP growths but they still manage to have a good intelligence system at least one which their citizens can be proud of. I think the incumbent and the future governments should strike a balance between both economic growth and internal security for India or else we will end becoming a test market for all future launches of terrorist attacks. So for some time now the PM can go back to becoming and FM or wherever he wants to go, and can be replaced by a proper statesman who understands what exactly the country is going through.

Until next time Asta la Vista !

Its been a long time....

2008-04-15T04:38:00.001-07:00

Its been long time since I picked up a pen to write now.. oops not picked up the pen but hit the keyboard after a long time :-). Not that I was preoccupied with my work, but didn’t write that’s it !

Wanted to write about many things happening in my life since I last posted. It seems like there is a hell lot happening in life but still sometimes it feels nothing is happening quite a confused feelin I must say.

Like the reunion with my school pals in Pune where we had a blast visiting all those nostalgic places; Kaavre ice cream on Laxmi road or Marz o rin in the camp and Poorna’s House and then just walking on the roads in Pune in that freaking cold.

And then the typical Banglorean weekend which is ever so laid back. We ganged up yet again, 4 guys and a babe (who rocks at Bowling). The same ol CCD then Chinese lunch and then the Bowling bit. It was fun after a longtime I had a good weekend and chatted about life and career with my friends.

And then followed by a visit to Home Sweet Home where I chilled out for 5 days. This was my first vacation in 2 yrs of work and it felt guuuud …..

Well all this is happening and something more is also happening. But nothing in my personal life :( . It’s a new territory this time to be conquered professionally. Its that time when you move on, face a new world to learn new things and take up a higher responsibility…. So all geared up for that and totally looking forward to it…

Hmmm I will write bout my feelings in the next post soon…

Its been a long time ....

2008-04-15T04:35:00.000-07:00

Its been long time since I picked up a pen to write now.. oops not picked up the pen but hit the keyboard after a long time :-). Not that I was preoccupied with my work, but didn’t write that’s it !
Wanted to write about many things happening in my life since I last posted. It seems like there is a hell lot happening in life but still sometimes it feels nothing is happening quite a confused feelin I must say.
Like the reunion with my school pals in Pune where we had a blast visiting all those nostalgic places; Kaavre ice cream on Laxmi road or Marz o rin in the camp and Poorna’s House and then just walking on the roads in Pune in that freaking cold.
And then the typical Banglorean weekend which is ever so laid back. We ganged up yet again, 4 guys and a babe (who rocks at Bowling). The same ol CCD then Chinese lunch and then the Bowling bit. It was fun after a longtime I had a good weekend and chatted about life and career with my friends.
And then followed by a visit to Home Sweet Home where I chilled out for 5 days. This was my first vacation in 2 yrs of work and it felt guuuud …..
Well all this is happening and something more is also happening. But nothing in my personal life :( . It’s a new territory this time to be conquered professionally. Its that time when you move on, face a new world to learn new things and take up a higher responsibility…. So all geared up for that and totally looking forward to it…

Hmmm I will write bout my feelings of leaving Chennai and some interesting in the next post soon…

2007-10-09T01:06:00.000-07:00

hazaaron khwaishain 'aisee ke har khwaish pe dam nikle
bohot nikle mere armaan lekin fir bhee kam nikle

khuda ke waaste parda na kaabe se uthaa zaalim
kaheen 'aisa na ho... yaan bhee wohee kaafir sanam nikle

Ghalib

Where is the YOUTH ?

2007-10-07T02:45:00.000-07:00

Proud to be an Indian

Proud to be a Young Indian

But where is the Young India going. All the senior people one generation above us are saying that they are investing on Youth of India because they know that the Young India will take this country to the next level.

Is the young India only visible in Sports, Music and Films. Is it visible where it should be ? The Corporate, Education, Social work or POLITICS..... sometime back there was a deliberate campaign by the incumbent ruling party saying that they are proud to have young politicians. Likes of Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot, Milind Deora and others were promoted on the media saying they will be the future of India.... but now where are they and what are they doing....

I was just yapping with my room mate as to when will see the Young India at the helm of affairs, he had a fair point "there is one more generation between the Youth and the people who are currently governing the country until these guys go, the youth will have to wait..." then how are they expected to make a difference when they are not given a chance....

History ... Indian, European or any other... has evidences where the young leaders are made when they are given responsibility... and not by just saying that they are there and give them power when they are old..... i have two very good school friends who are in active politics and they are doing well... they are as old as me.... but both of them are said to be very good leaders in their constituencies... and strangely both of them are not groomed or made to undergo any traning... they are in politics because of their legacy and their was a void created due to some unfortunate happenings... they were in that position suddenly and still they are doing well.... i am proud of them both....

Is the youth to be blamed to a certain extent ?

A majority part of youth are content with what they have maybe they dont want to make a difference to the society they dont want more responsibilities... i know even i am a young Indian.... but its true that majority youth today would not want to be a politician, would not want to be a revoltionary, would not want to go to jail for a cause... the youth is spoilt with opportunity choices they have currently....

Just a small mention that the youth also needs proper mentoring and guidance.. shunning away the experienced lot saying they are oldies will not help.... you will always need a hand to hold and they are the ones ... talk to them learn from them take them with you .... (that is why i strongly believe even if young Indian team has won the T20 WC... Sachin, Dada and The Wall are still needed to guide the youngsters and make them temperamentally strong)....

The youth needs to be hungry and ask for more responsibility if they are to make any difference... the youth needs to tell the world that they are ready to lead ... its ok if we make mistakes ... learn form them and move ahead .. if you are not doing mistakes then you are doing nothing....

and one more thing dont just read this post and write another blog on young India and talk about it with your friends... go out get your bottoms up and make a difference.. do something that will make India proud..... lets see what the youth of India is capable of...

Hope n Faith / Strength n Honour

2007-10-07T02:19:00.001-07:00

Hope and Faith – two things you can’t own.
Strength and Honour – two things which you can own

It’s funny why majority of people rely on the first than the second. Hope and faith are things that are so imaginary that you just imagine that somebody is keeping your faith and have a hope that some things happen. And believe me you can be as wrong as you can. But still people hope and have faith in lot of things. Take god for instance nobody has seen it nobody knows who it is but still they have faith in god. You hope that the person whom you love secretly will like you someday; you hope that you will become the richest guy in the world.

Strength and honour are things that are seriously lacking in people today. Today you find people who don’t have the strength to stand up and say what they feel is right or have the honour for themselves or others. People find it difficult to honour other people’s feelings. Indians historically have been argumentative, even I am like that but sometimes I realise that I should stop arguing and listen and try things from somebody else’s perspective and it helps. Strength and Honour, I find in very few people that I have met till date.... and it is a clear indicator of successful people.

Inner strength is also an imaginary thing but at least it is under your control unlike hope and faith.

Imagine a situation. Two people who want to get married, and are not able to do so for more than one reasons what do you think will be useful in this situation “Hope & Faith” or “Strength & Honour”?? Or probably both, I don’t know. But what I feel is strength and honour are the one that will take you through, hope and faith are comforters that can give you a cushion for sometime but will not take you through. And it’s important that both people have them or else it ends up as a disaster at one end and a happy story at other.

I will leave this here let’s see if anyone can come up with some different take on this....

Random !

2007-08-06T00:19:00.000-07:00

This post is all about the snapshots of the conversations that I had over the weekend with my friends which made me think very deeply about some things…

In Focus / out of focus?

The picture personifies in some way my life when one thing suddenly goes out of focus and gets blurred, the other thing comes into focus in a flash….

Friday night…. In office… Bhai and me were talking about focus in life.. and I said that I would not want to get into a relationship for a long time now because the focus in my life has shifted … he said your focus in life was something else 6 months ago now it is different it might be different tomorrow … I argued saying it cannot be, but really when I went back home and thought … my focus in life can actually change, depending on what’s happening TODAY …. So what exactly is my focus in life now?? … it made me think ……

About me

This one is from a conversation that I had with a person who I know professionally and would be safe to say is becoming a friend of mine… The other day we were having a good long chat, not about work thankfully!!!! … We were just trying to guess each others sun signs and she could guess mine correctly and said she could do that because she thought I was a glib or smooth talker which is a mark of my sun sign …. Again…. I thought about what she said … did she mean I just talk non sense without any persuasiveness and purpose or I talk very well ??? I wonder what?

The etymology of GLIB is

1593, possibly shortening of obsolete glibbery "slippery," from Low Ger. glibberig "smooth, slippery," from M.L.G. glibberich, from glibber "jelly."

1.Performed with a natural, offhand ease: glib conversation.
2. Showing little thought, preparation, or concern: a glib response to a complex question.
Marked by ease and fluency of speech or writing that often suggests or stems from insincerity, superficiality, or deceitfulness.

I thought my sun sign was one where people had integrity and genuineness as their most common and possessed traits ….and I firmly believe I posses them… Which one of these am I??? .. Don’t I think too much … I know that…

Fear of the unknown??

“It’s the way I work and I don’t want to be sticking to a routine or be predictable in my way of thinking”, I said …. Me and Nals were having a conversation on our reading habits and were saying that lately we haven’t been able to catch up with our reading.. I myself am not a voracious reader, was never one.... I have this strange fear that if I don’t read (anything from magazines, comics, articles, text books etc) I get a feeling of emptiness and my thought process becomes linear and i can predict it myself i.e I myself am able to realize that I start reacting to things and make decision in a set pattern…. Which scares the shit out of me…. And then I also feel disconnected…. What he suggested was that I should make a list of the pending readings and then try and finish it because then I will have a target in front of me… will try doing that … consumption of words and ideas is necessary for me to have randomness and variety in my thinking is what I realized …..

Thoughts come and thoughts go .. A lot of them are still floating in my mind, prolly I will write another one once I am able to put them on paper …..

2007-07-09T04:53:00.000-07:00

Mushrooming Dreams….

Dreams are like Mushrooms. They start off with a seed and then they grow into an umbrella where you have a handle which is THE DREAM, which you hold close to your heart …. and then the body of the umbrella which are all the people and the events related to your dream.

One of my very dear friend says “Sapney dekho … lekin unke poora hone ki tamanna mat rakho” (Dream but don’t expect them to come true) … I argue with him every time he says that … I say “Sapnay dekho aur unke poora hone ki tamanna bhi rakho… warna woh kabhi poore nahi honge”… (dream.. and expect that they come true or else they will never come true)….

Many people have many dreams which sometimes come true and sometimes don’t. It depends on how you chase your dream and not on what is your dream. A dream is just a destination and the journey between today and your dream matters…. What matters is YOU… you might feel a zillion times in between that your dream wont come true but then if you have the passion and the zest to chase your dreams than no one can stop you….

I dedicate this one to a dear friend and a colleague (I call him “Mere Laal”) … Both of us have a common favorite song, Dream On by Aerosmith….. I leave you with the beautiful lyrics of that song … I wonder how all these lyricists read our minds .. or everybody has the same mind ????

Everytime that I look in the mirror

All these lines on my face gettin clearer

The past is goneIt went by like dust to dawn

Isnt that the wayEverybodys got their dues in life to pay
I know what nobody knows

Where it comes and where it goes

I know its everybodys sin

You got to lose to know how to win

Half my life is in books written pages

Live and learn from fools and from sages

You know its trueAll the things come back to you

Sing with me, sing for the yearsSing for the laughter,

sing for the tearsSing with me,

if its just for todayMaybe tomorrow the good lord will take you away

Dream on, dream onDream yourself a dream come true

Dream on, dream onDream until your dream come true

Dream on, dream on, dream on...

Sing with me, sing for the yearsSing for the laughter and sing for the tears

Sing with me, if its just for todayMaybe tomorrow the good lord will take you away

The tale of three cities .... And a gut feeling

2007-04-19T06:42:00.000-07:00

The tale of three cities …. And a gut feeling

Generally I post when I travel, probably I shall write often and also when I am not traveling, don’t want this blog to be segmented as a photo blog or a travel blog ….

It was a hectic day when I left office on Thursday to go to home sweet home (Mumbai) after three long months ….. very tired but then when you go home the excitement grips you more than anything else … This trip back home was very special for more reasons than one … Parents were visiting my sis for the first time after she got married (out of India) so they were excited and also for me because I was shooting the first ever TVC of my life as a young brand manager, and I was going to be there … it has been one of the most amazing experiences of my lifetime to learn how a film is produced, shot and directed…. As I have been a part of it right from the idea generation for which we had done a good research then scripting then storyboarding then media planning and finally the shooting …… man it has been a long journey seeing this baby get to its final form and hope it works ….

The title of this post comes from the fact that I was shuttling between the three cities Chennai – Mumbai first then from Mumbai – Bangalore then Bangalore – Mumbai back and then Finally Mumbai – Chennai …. Was hectic trip but was a memorable one ….. I had a gut feeling that I would meet someone on this trip someone whom I hadn’t met for a long long time …. Started this with mom and dad whom I was meeting after three months … then I met a very good friend of mine who now will become my competitor in another month professionally had a good time with him visiting some retail stores in Mumbai …. I thought I had met that someone and that gut feeling was done with … but then I met another set of my very good friends form Bangalore who are probably the nicest guys and gals on this earth …..

Then the moment came I was flying back from bang to bom and I see this dude who is entering the boarding bus .. at first I didn’t recognize then it suddenly struck me that this guy was my good friend in junior college whom I had lost touch with … after the initial surprises and mandatory “abe tu” “abe tu“ we started talking about what we were doing and stuff like that … there were a few ATR’s parked as we were approaching our flight I asked him “ So what have you been upto ?” and then the dude replies “ I fly one of those “ ….. I was amazed and happy at the same time to know that he followed his dream to fly and that he was doing something I dreamt of as a small boy to do … but even I am pursuing one of my dreams.. I have many I am an avid dreamer…. Many come true many don’t but I still believe in “Follow your dreams and the rest will follow” ……

Ok coming back to the point that my gut feeling of meeting someone I hadn’t met for a long time I landed in Bombay and on my way back home I saw “you know who” (my close friends will understand this) no more comments on this because that person is dead for me so I take it as if I saw a spirit ……. Then on the next after seeing my parents off I was on my way to the domestic airport …. just a quick glance of my watch and I thought I could squeeze in sometime to meet one of my best friends in MBA who for strange reasons drifted apart from me for a brief period of time …. So I just called him up he was in office and said I was in town nearby and asked him to come down to meet me .. and he did what best friends do … so I met him tooo …. So my gut feeling was right and was too strong I believe …..

So that’s the story of three cities and my gut feeling …..

New Frontiers

2007-03-27T23:31:00.000-07:00

New Frontiers

Exploring new frontiers has always been the agenda of my life and I am right now exploring a lot of new frontiers in a true sense…. Don’t know what’s in store for me ;-) …. This time that frontier was geographic … and the place was PULICAT lagoon …It was more of an adventure trip than a leisure one … It all started on the Saturday night when seven of us decided when the clock struck midnight that we will visit Pulicat which had been pending for a long time now … and as a true marketer I believed that I had to sell this destination to the lazy buggers to get their bottoms up and rising at 5 am in the morning so I took the help of a banker friend of mine and went all the way to a browsing station in the wee hours of night.. and downloaded a travel guide to this place, came back and read it to these guys and showed them pictures.. Some agreed some didn’t and finally we all went to sleep….. 5 am in the morning me Guns and Du woke up and started moving others also… and we managed to leave … we just knew this place was 60 kms away from Chennai and was somewhere near Ponneri … we rode on our mean machines and then after a gruesome ride managed to reach at this place where there was nothing absolutely nothing no place to eat it was just a HUGE lagoon and some boats parked on the shore … we had given up saying that there will be nothing else to see there but then a fisherman came upto us and said that he would take us on his boat and show us around .. The Bird Sanctuary.. The Mouth of the lagoon and An island … and thank god we decided to go.. See it to believe it..
Enjoi the pics……….

New fronteirs.... The Starting Point....

Next Robinson Crusoe ?? Probably or Possibly :-)

Lets get something Fishy ......

Do you see what i See ??? its a loong loong way to go pal ...

Again ... at another Peninsula in my life .. looking for another new fronteir .... Thanks to BABA for this Pic...

TRANQUILITY "you ignore it most of the times"

2007-02-24T22:14:00.000-08:00

TRANQUILITY "you ignore it most of the times"

“When the Going gets tough ..Call DAD “ that’s what one of my girlfriends t shirt says … but when the going gets really tough then Tranquility is what you need. I needed it badly. This was sometime in Dec week 3 '06 when the going was really tough but sadly dad was away at home and he could not do much so I opted for tranquility and went in search for it .. As usual took off on my Dhanno (my bike n my first and TRUE love) and drove on the ever so calm and cool ECR. Just went on driving till I thought I would reach eternity... believe me if I had not stopped that day I would have gone miles and miles away ….. Pondicherry and the Road to Pondi are very near to my heart as I have spent some of the most beautiful days of my life there .. On the way to Pondi some 20 kms before, I would always see this green board on my left which said “Alamara Fort and back waters”. Due to strange reasons I always ignored it and went straight to Pondi.... but life took a U turn suddenly and I took that left turn that day …. And to my surprise I had missed this beautiful place god knows so many times just because someone wanted to enjoy the LIFE in Pondi … This place was as full of life as is gud’ol Pondi… You miss a lot of beautiful things in pursuit of many other “Heavenly Indulgences”…. And yeah I found my small burst of the much needed Tranquility there and also called up DAD for help … but sadly... still he could not do much ...

Enjoy the pics …..

"Feeling the Ripples"

"Looking for something"

"There's a hole in my Heart"

"Broken Walls"

"Tanquility...."

Anonymous

2006-03-18T09:58:00.001-08:00

ANONYMOUS

Rock Steady

Searching for Infinity

astalavista....

On the go ....

2006-03-16T11:14:00.000-08:00

ON THE GO

Here are some pics that i clicked when i pack my bags and get away from the human jungle.....

Yellow Treat -
Captured this one from the train somewhere in AP

Night Queen -
This is the pondicherry sea view (no special effects) from the promenade in the night time...

astalavista.....

COINCIDENCE

2006-03-14T22:53:00.000-08:00

COINCIDENCE

my previous post was about the sun god ... and what a coincidence!!!! as soon as i posted it i recieved a call for a trip to the Sun temple at Konark ... i wont write much ... just enjoy the beautiful pictures... its an awesome place, visit it if you can ...

This is the view when we enter the temple .. you are just amazed by its sheer size its about 127 feet high and rests on some 12 wheels around and seven horses in front .. much of it is ruined now but still its unbelivable...
This is the dance temple in front .. there are actually 3 temples one is a dance temple another is a bhog temple and the third temple is the main sun temple ... there is one more temple of suns wife sandhya...

This is one of the mighty wheels at konark ... it has 8 spokes which represents 8 prahars or parts of a day .. each wheel is a sun dial and you can tell time by the shadows.... there are 60 small pebbles inbetween two spokes they represent a minute..

This is the temple of suns wife sandhya .. you can get this view when you climb a quarter hieght of the sun temple...

will post some more pictures in coming posts ... till the astalavista ....

Independent or Dependent

2006-03-09T21:04:00.000-08:00

Independent or Dependent which side are you ?

This question has been troubling me since long time now... what exactly is independence or is it "in - dependence" with something else... i dont know... they say man is social animal then how can a man be independent by himself.... for any synergy to work there has to dependence on something else or someone else.. when you are a baby till you "grow up"(again cannot be quantified) you are dependent pretty much on your parents .. just imagine a situation where you want your so called independence as soon as you are born and your parents give it you, you are not capable of doing anything you will DIE .. who will feed you who will protect you ... even when you grow up and are in your teenage or beyond that you are not independent you are dependent on a lot of things ... nature, your friends, your teachers, your boyfriends, your girlfriends, your spouses, your servants.... if all of them would have to be independent then this whole bloody damn world wouldnt exist..... This Society would just be a zilch with robots moving around...

Another way some people re-phrase it is "i need my space" what space they are talking about again they are not sure (you know its good to have all these words in your dictionary they sound in and hep ; ) )... accepting change in life is another big difficult thing... when people get into relationships they say they loose their "independence" which i think again is total bullshit because you get into a relationship, the reason being you can "depend" on your partner other wise there is no trust... imagine a relationship with both of them independent both the man and woman doing their own things with no dependence... is that a relationship ?? i agree that total dependence is unhealthy but why dont people accept that you are dependent why does the ME (I) come in between.....

Dependence can be on living things and non living things too... what if tommorrow your computer stops working or your cell phone goes kaput ... then are you independent ????

Another perspective is mergers and acquisitions its a business thing, their again their is a dependence on someone else .. you cannot survive being independent, you grow when you depend on something and you take all positive things out of it and you accept that you are dependent and respect that feeling.... then what is independence ??? i still dont know and i am still searching for it ....

Is independent being on your own , ok then i will have to cook my own food but then i have to depend on someone to grow those veggies or grains that i use right?? ok even then if i go forward and do it myself .. NOW am i independent ??? .. i still have to depend on nature for the rains to come and my crop to grow ... then when do i become independent ???? only god knows ....

i know some people will not like what i have written and they will disagree totally but thats healthy conflict .... i feel very strongly about this .. its a bit serious this one.. if i am missing something just let me know....

I chose this picture because imagine you are on this side of the picture and the world is on the other side and in between is the shield ... this side is total independence while the other side is dependence.... think ......

until next time astalavista ....

SURYA - The god of light

2006-02-26T20:09:00.000-08:00

Surya - The god of light

Yesterday morning when i was taking a walk inside the campus i saw the suns rays piercing through the thick jungle inside IIT they almost said ..." nothing is above me i am the greatest and no one can stop me ....", this one is dedicated to the greatest source of energy .. The SUN.

The Sun possesses Seven horses (Seven rays)

Jaya : The first ray bestows firm conviction, mental and physical strength generosity domination of others and benevolence.

Ajaya : gives Compassion, tranquility and intelligence, inward understanding.

Vijaya : Voracious reading, high thinking and spiritual base.

Jita prana : Deep thinking, extremely kind, merciful.

Jita krama : grants high quality discipline, very knowledgeble and scientific evaluators.

Manojapa : Dedication and devotion, sincere and pursues the path of truth.

Jita krodha : In depth evaluation, artistic taste in fine arts and adoration of beauty, love for display.

Lord Surya has Seven rays :

“Susumna”: This is equivalent to the brightness of thousand rays. This ray with this name make Candra (Moon) the most beautiful one. The Nectar given by the fullmoon to all the panis bestows on them all happiness and pleasure.

“Surandana” : The moon has originated from this ray. Even the rays of are only the rays of Surya (Sun) alone.

“Udannvasu” : From this the Kuja graha (planet) is originated. This ray of Surya will protect the living being from the defects of blood, and gives them health, brilliance and wealth.

“Visva karma” : This constructs the Budhagraha (planet). This ray will remove the mental agitations of the people and grants all auspiciousness and peace.

“Udavasu” : This ray constructs Bruhaspati planet. This planet grants pleasures and liberation to all living beings. By worshipping this planet all hurdles, obstructions, opposition will be removed and success is achieved.

“Visva vyaca” : From this ray Sukra and Sani have originated. Among them sukra is responsible for Virya (sperm) Sukra is incharge of humans procreation and also his ray brings death. Hence by worshipping this ray one will get complete longevity.

“Harikesa” : Due to this ray, all Stars (Nakshatras) are born. These come to be known as Nashatra because they are protecting the human bodies from the loss of strength, virya, and teja.

Let there be light in everyone's lives. Until next time astalavista...

CoLoRs

2006-02-22T22:31:00.000-08:00

CoLoRs

Just trying to see how different colors react with green .... and watch what they convey...

GrEeN - represents nature, environment, health, good luck, renewal, youth, vigor, spring, generosity, fertility, jealousy, inexperience, envy, misfortune.

YeLlOw - represents joy, happiness, optimism, idealism, imagination, hope, sunshine, summer, gold, philosophy, dishonesty, cowardice, betrayal, jealousy, covetousness, deceit, illness, hazard, spirtuality and inspiration.

WhItE - is what we see when all colors come together in perfect balance.
It represents reverence, purity, simplicity, cleanliness, peace, humility, precision, innocence, youth, birth, winter, snow, good, sterility, and marriage.

PuRpLe - represents royalty, spirituality, nobility, ceremony, mystery, transformation, wisdom, enlightenment, cruelty, arrogance, mourning. Purple is considered an exotic color.

Purple dye was made from the mucous gland of a snail. It required thousands of snails to yield 1 gram of dye causing it to be a color only nobles could afford. Today purple is a trendy color targeting creative types.

Until next time astalavista.......

"IF"

2006-02-19T10:52:00.000-08:00

"IF"

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

---- Rudyard Kipling

Inspiring ..... just plain inspiring ......

a Rich God and a Ruined Fort

2006-02-18T21:16:00.000-08:00

a Rich God & a Ruined Fort

recently i had the previlege to visit tirupati yet again but this time had some time on my hands to visit nearby places too... went to the "chandragiri" fort ... amazing place but unfortunately in ruins, it was shocking to see a god so affluent and the road to him was such a nice ride ... the road to this fort... difficult... there wasnt even a proper road... i think its high time that our govt understood that we need to treasure all these historic monuments otherwise someday there will be no History to look back upon ... IMAGINE

This is where i started my journey to the fort this is a small lake at the foothill ... a beautiful rock and the contrasting colors mother nature has .. mind blowing .. in search of the fort i went ....

This was the road ahead a difficult almost 45 degrees... but i could see some light behind the hill .. i went ahead....

The sun was going down fast and i had to atleast get a glimpse of the fort ...

and on the other side of the hill the sun was shining upon this fort which was totally ruined .. couldnt get there due to lack of time ... a beauty in its haydays now just a pile of rocks... i started my decline to visit the Rich God ....

Going wild .. inside IIT

2006-02-16T01:31:00.000-08:00

This one is inside IIT ... Its a jungle out there !!!! normally this place is dry but due to the heavy rains the water is STILL there and its really STILL...

This creature was a surprise !!!! It looked really scary .... anyone know whats this????

Another view of the extension of the famous lake ...

Next time will try and get some human interventions till then ... astalavista....