Thank You Terrorist!

This is my second contribution to the blog http://t-errorism.blogspot.com/
Please visit this blog and chip in with your views... Together , WE can make a difference!

We've been feeling the pinch from year 93,
For fear grips us as we walk around free,
We conveniently say it's Mumbai's resilience,
But to us its just, a part of our existence.
In our quest for life, we seem to neglect,
We are soft targets of a coward's bullet.

Our safety is a matter of grave concern,
for we've elected some mules to govern.
After every bomb-blast,they offer condolence,
the repeated attacks prove their impotence.
They play all tricks to garner some notes,
they divide us all to gain majority votes.

And, WE the people, fight amongst each other,
As external forces come in and conquer.
Shoot all in their vision at ramdom,
for WE fail to react in tandem.
If it was not for our defence personnel,
we'd have exhausted before their arsenel.

In your endeavour to cause irreparable harm,
you have evoked a feeling of unique charm.
By filling a billion minds, with true Indianness,
you have dampened your chance of causing more mess.
Thank you Terrorist! for uniting a great country,
By coming together, WE have booked you a cementery.

Bullet Proof???

Dear Readers,
If you find this article appealing enough, I request you all to direct yourselves to
http://t-errorism.blogspot.com/ and leave your suggestions and comments. Let's unite to wipe out Terrorism. Please note that the article below is the one I have contributed to the above mentioned blog.

Since times immemorial, India has constantly been attacked for innumerable reasons and it has invariably managed to produce heroes who rise to the occasion and lay down their lives. What drives them is the sheer love for their motherland and fellow countrymen. November 26th, we all know, was no different. Mumbai was under seige by the terrorist and the Police Force, Army, Navy, and the NSG rose to the occasion. Do we respect these martyrs? Is their valor an inspiration to us to do something for the country or just a topic of discussion for a day or two? As we are starting to come to terms with the trauma, will we remeber these martyrs or will our memory conveniently erase it to occupy absolutely irrational issues?
When three collegues of mine, namely Ashish Dave, Sandeep Chagger and Raksha Bhagat came forward with this idea of starting a blog (and a community down the line) to act against terrorism and asked me to join in, I felt really proud of them. Further, I feel really obliged to be asked to contribute to this blog. There is so much to talk, so many issues to raise, so much to do. The best way to go about it is to start the easy and the most necessary ones.
Back to that fateful day, Mumbai Police lost three of its best officers. Do you think two young terrorists were too much for them to handle... and we are talking about the likes of encounter specialists here? No, definitely not. Do you think our Police is incompetant to handle 10 terrorists? I don't think there are many who will answer this question in the affirmative. Then why did we have to pay such a heavy price to counter this attack? Reports suggest that bullet proof jackets could not stop the bullets from piercing the chest of these brave hearts nor were the helmets good enough to save the best brains in our poilce force. I thought we could have given them a better chance against these cowardly terrorists who needed human shield to fight the NSG.
I was deeply saddened by the lack of ammunition for our Police force who will happily take the bullets down their chest so as to ensure every Mumbaikars' safety. The reports I read the next day on this issue was even more startling. The police force had ordered bullet proof jackets way back in 1992 and still use the same ones. The same material was reordered in 2002 but have we taken into consideration the fact that the arsenal of terrorists is getting more sophisticated by the day. The answer is a big NO... we weren't bothered because we did not know perhaps... the politicians must have known but did not care. This very fact raises serious questions over our respect for valor, bravery and patriotism of these martyr. What every human being in our country including our politicians (you got to put them in the same class because of their appearance) tends to forget is that the more we take these sacrifices for granted, the more we are compromising on our safety. The bullets shot by these terrorists is moving towards you and me, we are saved just because the Karkares,Salaskars and Unnikrishnans are happily standing as a human shield in front of us.
The sad part : they are ensuring that our lives are bullet proof but we cant give them good quality bullet proof jackets.Its time we atleast do this. Lets give them a level playing field against a terrorist with AK-47s and grenades. I dont have much faith in our politicians and I am not too sure if our Policemen will get new jackets before the next 'n' attacks. I am even more sure of the fact that any Indian reading the post will echo the same sentiment. So, as we take our first steps towards a revolution to rectify (t)ERRORISM, we can begin by contributing, in our own humble way, to collect a decent sum of money to facilitate our Policemen with the best available bullet proof jackets. Let's not sacrifice any of our brave men (already very less in number) to these cowards from across the border.
If we, the stakeholders of this blog, unite as a community, we can definitely make the lives of our bravehearts BULLETPROOF... so I urge all readers to drop in a comment, just to let us know that you believe in this initiative ( if you truly do) and help us assess the strength of true Indians in bringing about a revolution!!!

Untitled

Guys, before I begin writing this post, let me tell you that I have incorporated a new verse in my post titled " Can't afford to miss her at any cost"... couldn't resist writing about Mr. Soumyadeep Das, a welcome addition to our already rocking group in the 7:19 train.
So, here I am... writing an article after more than a month. Frankly speaking, I wasn't busy at all and had all the time in the world to write a blogpost. I have been pondering about what to write and am still not clear on what I should about. I guess that justifies the rather odd title... Ok, let me begin before I drive my limited audience away.

Have you ever read about "Untitled"? I have read this in newspapers... for instance: Mani Ratnam begins shooting for his "Untitled" next venture. As the shooting of the film and other aspects progress, so will you read about a number of stories woven around it which are extremely well written. Things of the nature of :
"Himesh Reshammiya ate only tandoori rotis during the making of Karz and hence, the song Tandoori nights".... that's pathetic... it was easier to bear his songs...
"Imran Khan doesn't put on weight so he gorges on food whereas Minissha has to starve".. what nonsense!
"Asin, the new girl signed in for Ghajini had a heated argument with Aamir Khan"... I think Aamir khan is too intelligent to have an argument in public..

Now, you will read many such articles and they are so well written that people tend to believe that they are true. I have seen people discussing these articles in local trains. Whether these stories are true or not, they definitely help create a buzz around the movie and ensure great Viral marketing ( word-of-mouth). Right from the so called "Untitled" stage, these stories woven around films provide for excellent PR and branding of the venture. By the time the movie releases, there is great buzz and publicity created around it just by these news articles.

We have many MBA's around who will know all about the Kotler's and the Jack Trout's of marketing but all of them can take a leaf out of Bollywood. They may not be MBA's but they are brilliant marketers of their products. I genuinely believe, a movie like Om Shanti Om din't have much in it but for SRK's great marketing acumen which ensured great collections in the first week itself. The point here is that while Corporates spend so much on Marketing Strategies and their implementation, they can keenly watch the film industry's style and learn a lesson or two. Kudos to the film fraternity, they can definitely rewrite the marketing adage" No marketing effort can save a bad product"... they have changed this to ..." A great marketing effort can definitely turn a mediocre project into a bockbuster!"
Guys, if you have managed to read till here, just think back of the number of times you were fooled into believing that the Bombay Times(BT) article that you just read was true... and from now on, read it as if it is nothing more than a marketing gimmick... then and only then will you truly appreciate the film industry's ways of extracting the maximum out of print as a medium for a film... IT COULD,well, HELP YOU FORM GREAT STRATEGIES SOMEWHERE DOWN THE LINE AS A TOP MANAGEMENT EXECUTIVE.

A class apart!!!

In all walks of life, there are people and there are PEOPLE... but some simply stand out; they ... are a class apart. I am not necessarily talking about celebrities here. In my department in office , a good friend of mine named Ashish Dave stands out from the rest of us in terms of the way he dresses and carries himself, we all acknowledge it and call him "CLASS"... but let me tell you he puts in a lot of effort to keep the reputation in tact. Then, there are PEOPLE as I mentioned. They will stand out among a million others and their charm lies in the fact that they can do it effortlessly. This article of mine is about a guy who I truly believe is A CLASS APART.Now, I am not going to give away the name so easily. Let's have a build up to it. Just imagine yourself in a situation( say a discussion) with some poeple whose expertise about the topic of the discussion is unparelled. Are you sure you can stand your ground? Are you sure you can still impress and emerge a winner? I can bet my house on the fact that 95% of the people who read this article will not give an affirmative answer to both the above questions. Now, the person I am going to write about can claim this... actually he doesn't need to; for almost every Indian Cricket lover will vouch for this.
Saturday nights are normally TV time for me and I watch the Idiot box till late in the night. I am sure the TV feels happy because there is someone in the room to whom the adjective in the earlier sentence suits aptly. So, while surfing the channels,I happened to get a glimpse of IBN Lokmat. It is a Marathi news channel. I know no one will believe me when I say that I was watching a News channel at 12.30 in the night but the interview that was going on caught my attention. I have always admired this perosn's word power and usage of words-flawless, simple and elegant just like a diamond ring. The way in which he speaks is as smooth as a baby's bum ( please excuse the Sidhuism). But then, all this is in English, I never knew that he spoke Marathi. Frankly speaking, I know Marathi and can understand the language well but if you speak too fast and use very complicated words, it will become a bit tough for me to grasp. Nevertheless, the power of this genius' style and flow of the interview held my attention for the entire hour ( you should appreciate this considering the comment on my attention span in my previous post). I understood each and every word he spoke( hats off to me....). This time though, I was impressed by the man's outlook to life, the simplicity , the poise, the calm and a charm that is unique to him. I loved the way each question was answered- clear thought, good rationale and extremely humble mannerisms. The man I am talking about is none other than Mr. Harsha Bhogle... he truly is a class apart !!!!
The man with no experience in International cricket does stand his own in front of the modern day legends like Sunil Gavaskar , Wasim Akram etc. and all that with absolutely no effort whatsoever. I am not easily impressed by anyone nor do I want to be anyones fan but I truly respect and admire Harsha Bhogle far more than the cricketers themselves.
I am happy with the number of people who have read my blog and am in particular not interested in knowing who were the people who visited and read the posts. However, this article makes me think a bit differently.
I would simply love it if Mr. Harsha Bhogle were to read this article ever and comment on it for then my blog will also be what my title for the post suggests " A CLASS APART".

Roads

The title looks a bit unusual; especially if the person writing the post is someone as ignorant about worldly matters as me. After about 15 articles, I have realized that none of the posts have anything worth a thought. If anyone has read all these posts( I know I am being optimistic); please make it a point to let me know if any of my posts was thought-provoking. I would like to confess that ,if that was the case, it was purely unintentional.

So, let me make inroads into ROADS!! For all those who do not know me, my attention span is not more than 10 minutes. I can't remember any instance in my life where I have concentrated for more than 15 minutes at a stretch. Conversely, if I find a thing interesting enough to pay attention to ( thats as rare as Hailey's comet) , then I tend to remember that for the rest of my life. One such rare occurence happened in school when my geography teacher was teaching something about Indian states. She said," The ratio of the roads to the total area of the state of Kerala is 11 times better than that of Madhya Pradesh(MP)" and she related that to the literacy levels. I found the observation pretty interesting and it has stayed in my head ever since. I will come back to this later.

Now that I have completed my education(don't mistake it for knowledge), my day is all about going to office , coming back and sleeping. The distance from my house to office by road is about 40 kms, I am sure its less than that. However, if I take a bus, it would take me around an hour and a half to reach home. I happened to talk to my friend in the US once and he said he travels more than what I do, in terms of .However, the time he takes is a mere one- fourth of what I do. As a result, he has time to relax, and has enough energy left to spend the night with his girlfriend... ( one skype I mean... don't get any ideas). What about the people in Mumbai like me? I am zapped of all energy and enthusiasm by the time i reach home... so are the many Mumbaikars like me. Imagine a scenario if we could have had freeways here, I could reach home atleast an hour early and pursue some interesting hobby but that not being the case leads to frustration, and in general not much left in you by the time you reach home. This frustration , I am sure , creeps into the life of people who face a similar plight day in and day out... and definitely sows the seeds for some unhappiness. Did you ever believe " Good Raods could lead to a peaceful life?". If not, what's your take on it now.

Let me go back to the example given by my geography teacher. The literacy rate in kerala is almost 100% , MP is nowhere close. The fact that there are developed roads plays an important role in the development of these states... and ensures an educated next generation.

Recently, I read an article in the Mumbai Mirror ( A popular daily newspaper in Mumbai) ; that a pregnant lady lost her child because the Auto she was in ran into a pothole. I believe its high time, the authorities and the govt understands the plight and does a good job of the roads for " Good Roads mark the Road to our progress as a nation." This thought could be as stupid as the previous posts you have been subjected to; so please feel free to vent out the frustration for making you read such a long article in the form of comments... and let me assure you one thing; I won't go the MNC way and scan your comments before displaying them.

Oxymoron

For all those people who dont know me personally, let me tell you something about myself. In my all India CBSE exams in standard 10th, the least marks I scored were in a subject called Science... but I opted for the science stream.Thereafter, I have graduated with a course in IT and went on to get a masters in Marketing. Where am I working now? A technology company providing solutionsfor the financial markets. I have no qualms about admitting that I am not very Tech-savvy and finance is greek and latin to me... but then language has always fascinated me. I feel great if I read a well-written article or a good book.
When in school, I had some very knowledgable English teachers. You all might have attended lectures on figures of speech. Among the 20-odd that were there, one which caught my fancy was oxymoron. I still remeber the example the teacher gave... XYZis a gentle giant
An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines two normally contradictory terms. Over the years, I have heard a lot of examples of Oxymoron and i love hearing them in a line.
Let me quote some instances.
Sachin Tendulkar is insanely talented ... as told by a famous cricket commentator
Kareena Kapoor is brutually honest ... read this in a magazine
He is a dumb genius
I heard SRK saying in an interview " For that , you got to be obnoxiously handsome... just like me"

There are so many such fascinating ones... and i am sure the people who happen to read this will genuinely believe that I have gone berserk or I have become "the last five alphabets of the title of this article "... but there is a certain minority out there who are fascinated by such words. .. and to that certain minority ... pls feel free to add to the list above

Friendships day

I have spent some years in school and college and have seen students celebrate Friendship's day with great elan. All sorts of ribbons , the colors of which could put rainbow to shame are seen all over. Over the years , I saw it evolve. Students write things on their friend's arms and by the time, that day ends, you look like a totally different creature. I have seen people pledging to stay friends forever and being there for each other in times of need.
I am able to analyze this now that I am out of college. There are a lot of ribbons and stuff, but once you are out of college, these ribbons lose strength.But for a few SMS's, most of these great friends cease to even keep in touch.
I am not putting the celebrations in negetive light nor am I as tradational as some political parties, but I feel that TRUE FRIENDSHIPS are those which stand the test of time. I have realized that the friends that I have made in the early years in school are the ones who are always there. I ought to mention my friend SUBU with whom I have been friends for the last 22 years. We have been friends for so long that its almost like being twins. That to me is the greatness of friendship.
I am not a philosopher nor am I as wise as King Solomon to advice but one thing I can say for sure is that whether you are in school, college, graduation or PG, you will only make one or towo genuine friends, the earlier you know who they are the better for you. It is better for your own good to keep some so called friends at bay, who are acting friends just because you are of some use to them . The moment your utility ceases, so does the friendship.
So, if you have the ability to make the right kind of friends, they influence your life so much that you become a different person all together. My best buds are eternal optimists and over the years, there positivity has rubbed of on me to a great extent. So, make the right friends and you are automatically in good company and will lead a great life ( which is what I wish for all of you)...

08/08/08

Recently, I read an article about the upcoming Olympic games in China. The inaugration ceremony is planned on 8th August 2008 at 8 minutes and 8 seconds past 8. So, in all it makes a wonderful combination of 8/8/8/8/8/8. I like the Chinese for their way of doing things. They have ensured that this will stand out and brand this olympics. The efforts on their part for the games has been great as well. They have taken steps to ensure all facilities, keep pollution in check and so on.
I am not too sure if the Chinese have planned this based on numerology but I have heard that the number 8 is associated with extremes(either extremely good or disastrous). Going by that the Olympics will be either a GRAND SUCESS or a disaster. I wish that it turns out to be the former and Asia gets to host more and more events of International Recognition.
Another event as far as Indian movie buffs are concerned is the release of " SINGH IS KINNG" which is also on the 8th of August i.e 08/08/08 . If you go by the fate associated with 8 , this film will be either a Blockbuster or a dismal one. Again , I hope it is the former and going by the title, I am sure all my " Singh" friends would flock to their nearest multiplexes and ensure that it is a super success.
The eternal optimist that I am, I would wish well for both the events and hope that they attain unparelleled success.

"Tu kabhi khush nahi ho sakta"

Of late, good things have been happening in my life. Recently,after my appraisal, my salary has increased more than what normally happens as per industry standards. I told one of my best friends about this and he said"So, how do you feel about it?" My answer to it was " Thik hai" . His reaction to this " Tu kabhi khush nahi ho sakta". He cited many examples of so many good things that had happened in my life in the past few years and said that no amount of good happenings can make me happy.
I dint react to it and let him believe whatever he wanted. Frankly speaking, he misunderstood the statement.I am happy with things but I am not content. That for me is utmost essential. Have you ever heard your parents say that your score is good. They will always say" This is great but you can still do better." It all starts fron there. The feeling is inculcated that you can do better than what you are doing currently. As you grow older, this feeling grows with you.
Let me tell you that whether it is work, money or life in general, you should always seek to improve because being content with things means you cease to grow. In my office, I have seen some people who are content with what they are doing and do not want to learn new things in life.BEING CONTENT IS THE FIRST STEP TO BEING OBSOLETE. A content person is like a cell phone. It may be the best model but it will get obsolete in no time meaning he may be insanely talented but there should be a zeal and an enthuziasm that shouldn't be eclipsed by past laurels.
So , all I want to say is "Life mein sukhi rehna zaroori hai lekin khush as in santusht nahi rehna chahiye"... Always strive to be better!!!!

3000 papers cost a Tree

I am sure everyone who finds time to visit my blog will surely have a lot of time to kill ... so I am sure the people who read this are the ones who check their mails everyday. With such great knowledge of my Target audience and their surfing patterns on the net(its a delibrate effort to sound pompous and I amn't apologetic about it), let me write a small observation which made me put my brains to work.
If you have observed, our janta usually has a signature line attached to each mail. Some that I came across are:

• Don't give up because hard work pays
• Not by merits, but by mercy
• I like crying in the rains coz on one can see my tears

and so many more... but the important things is that none of them were impressive enough to make me think of signatures .
Last week, I got a mail from the Chief Marketing Officer of one of the group companies of Financial Technologies( the company which has bought my brains....loll!!). His signature line goes as: " 3000 papers cost a tree so don't take printouts unnecessarily."
I was really impressed by the line cause most lines I have seen are motivating stuff, religious beliefs or something the user finds interesting . But this was the first time that I saw some Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) message as a signature. We all can take a cue out of his book and come up with signatures as informative and action initiating ... and what better than a message to save the environment and take steps towards the already threatening problem of global warming .
I would like all readers of mine also to act like this top-level executive and write signature lines jo aam aadmi ke liye informative ho and usme kuch achcha karne ka junoon paida kar sake...
If you want to suggest signature lines of such calibre, feel free to drop in such comments here . We can surely use this platform and the highly underrated web medium to take up issues of such significance to the environment and mankind in general.

Cant afford to miss her!!! (at any cost )

There are some things in life which we love so much that we can do anything to get it. That is true love for me. It could be for a person, a dream or anything but we will give it our all if we LOVE something that badly... and Love makes the poet in you come to the fore... so let me pen down something for the LOVE of my life... for I cant afford to miss her...

Every morning at seven, I gotta leave my house.
My affinity for her is akin a man's for his spouse.
To make it on time, I walk, skip and run ,
but it is to get her, so the effort is all fun .
If you are getting ideas, give a break to your brain,
For what I can't afford to miss, is my 7:19 Andheri train.

As I reach the station, three people greet me there,
You will be glad to know, we all love her here.
As soon as she enters, we climb into her like Hare,
The fourth guy greets us inside,others give a cold stare.
We ensure to catch her up, come sunshine or rain,
For what we can't afford to miss, is our 7:19 Andheri train.

Let me introduce my friends, who love her just like me,
The guy who meets her first isn't as busy as a bee.
But every moment of life, he seems to really enjoy.
This Thierry-Henry-lookalike is aptly named Rijoy.
No matter what happens, he'll take all the pain ,
For what he can't afford to miss, is his 7:19 Andheri train.

The next guy I'll introduce... is a gentle six footer,
If you don't know Biology, he can be a great Tutor.
With him for company, it isn't difficult to pass samay,
This manager in the making is my friend named Amay.
He'll do daredevil stunts and escape without a sprain,
For what he can't afford to miss, is his 7:19 Andheri train.

One of my friends unlike us, is a guy rather quiet,
To all our co-passengers , he is a welcome respite.
His collegues vouch for him, they say he is the Best,
he takes these in his stride, for Mochesh is truly modest.
But he'll run a thousand mile and jump over a million drain,
For what he can't afford to miss, is his 7:19 Andheri train.

A guy unlike others was so impressed by our zest,
For joining our group, he simply couldn't resist .
With us, he has truly added flavour to the trip,
This truly friendly guy is rightly named Soumyadeep.
If you happen to be in his way, you ought to refrain,
For what he cant afford to miss, is his 7:19 train.



The one I din't introduce yet is someone I know for years,
For all the time we've lived, we have lent each other our ears.
The journey is great but he adds to all the thrill,
I refer to my brother as bhai ; his name is Sunil .
He'll clear all stumbling blocks, he'll jump over a crane,
For what he can't afford to miss, is his 7:19 Andheri train.

We shout, we scream, we laugh and we talk all crap ,
Our fellow passengers feel like a rhino in a trap.
We make our lives enjoyable without caring for the mass,
their expressions let us know, we are a pain in their ass.
We aren't sorry to them for capturing their reign,
For what we can't afford to miss, is our 7:19 Andheri train.

Mandatory Disclosure : Marked in red are the names of those people who ensure that the ever lasting journey from Nerul to Andheri is fun-filled and I just can't imagine travelling without them.
Cheers to the our Famous Five gang who are slowly but surely spreading their terror in their own humble way!!!

13...7

Superstitious?? Well if someone asks me this question, I definitely won't answer in the affirmative. For I would like to believe ( you are free to disagree) that I am a practical person.
However , there are things which happen repeatedly and you soon start believing that it is not a mere coincidence.
For all those who don't know , I was born on the 13th of September,1983. It can be written as 13/09/1983. Just add the day and the month...i.e 1+3+9= 13. Now if we add up the full thing ... 1+3+9+1+9+8+3= 34 and 3+4=7. Now this 7 is called the DESTINY NUMBER in numerology. I frankly don't believe much in these sciences...(sorry to disagree with people who do) but I am amazed by the instances when these numbers have done a number on me ( pun intended!!!)
Without irritating you guys more, let me list down some instances:

• The house that I stay in today is Flat no:13.
• In school , we had 4 different groups called house. Every student was a part of one house. I was in a house called Nalanda and my house number was N-85... now 8+5= 13.
• I have somehow managed to get an engineering degree and we had 8 sems in all. In my 7th semester exams, I scored more marks than I ever imagined I could...( to the extent that teachers started questioning my integrity...lol)
• In my final semester of engineering , my seat number was 8023. Add the digits and it comes up to 13. And believe it or not , I broke my own record and scored a distinction( sorry for being pompous). This feat of mine had my parents questioning my integrity. Jokes apart, I was amazed to see numbers 13 and 7 influencing my life in positive ways.
• My education din't stop there and so din't the influence of these numbers. After my first year of MMS, I worked for 2 months for my summer internships, May and June to be precise. On July 11th, I got a call from that company asking me to collect my salary for the two months. I was asked to go to their office two days later i.e 13th of July or 13/7/2007. My first salary way above expectations and the practical person in me was starting to succumb to the influence of these numbers and their influence on my life.
• After finishing summers and entering the 3rd semester of MMS, I came to know that my roll number was 94 which again adds to 13. I do discuss these things with very close friends and one person who is among the toppers in that list is Maneesh Sivadas. He brought it to my notice that my roll number added to 13 and it meant that I'll clear this sem with great marks. I laughed it off then but the results gave me a pleasant surprise. I had done well though I was having a tough time personally and wasn't expecting good results.
• Well, my first full fledged job is with Financial Technologies , the promoters of India's no.1 commodity exchange MCX. The offer came to me courtesy my then-professor-now-friend-philosopher-guide Mr. Surendra Phatak. So, after joining there and going through the painfully informative induction process, I finally got to my office. Believe it or not, my desk is assigned a number T-13. I am not aware what the "T" stands for and I am not really bothered either but again comes the inevitable 13
• My office is in a building called 349,Business point...a rather unusual name . But the point is( if u havent observed already) ... 349 adds upto 16 and 1+6=7...and to add to it , my office is on the 7th floor.

So, the magic of these numbers keep continuing but if any numerologist is reading this, dont try to make a business case out of me... lol!! On a serious note, though I have always believed that we control our destiny and lives , these instances have made me take notice and rethink...

PAPPU can't dance saala!!!!

I leave for home after my professional commitments are taken care of by 7 p.m. I walk past more people than that residing in some small island nations to reach Andheri Station. The superfast trains in our part of the world take forever to reach Nerul. Another 15 minutes to reach my home abode.
After being so damn tired, human beings, even the insane ones like me ( ... no I mnt making fun of me... I mean Insanely talented) would like to relax ,watch TV , probably some good music.
So, I was doing the same, having some snacks and surfing the channels and soon I hear"Pappu cant dance Saala!!!". I stopped at once and so did the moment ... I can't believe some great lyricist can write something like this.( but I take solace from the fact that its produced by AAMIR KHAN so there's definitely some thought that should have gone into such unusual lyrics... and the genius of A. R . Rehman can make anything look special...). In the land of Javed Akhtars and Gulzars, these lines seem too odd... even to the relatively young Hindi film watchers like me.
Now common, the state of my English is pathetic. I dont understand the Backstreet Boys, Boyzones and Justin Timberlakes of the world... nor do I make a dedicated effort to . I can count on my fingers the number of English tracks I have ever listened to . So , for such a Target audience , Hindi film songs is what they feed on. Now, no offence to the lyricist, but he can do better than "Pappu can't ....." . Though I must admit the other number Kabhi Kabhi..aditi. is great.
This is not the only one. A few years back , I heard something called" Tere sang, ek simple si coffee bhi kick deti hai". Now what is that??
Are we short of lyricists? Dont we have the talent to create masterpieces. I think its time our lyricist take their time to write a good song and not come up with something like " Aa khushi se khudkushi kar le"... for there are people who take Hindi films too seriously.
I dont have an iota of knowledge in music, hence my judgement of lyrics is completely unjustified...(now lyricists on my radar can take solace in that) but I am sure you must have found some lyrics which might have been over the top for you. If so , drop in some songs whose lyrics need serious revamping according to u?

Which Company has bought your Brains??

I am damn sure , people who are busy and serious about their lives wouldn't dare to visit my blog ( frankly , I like it that way) .

So a fair share of visitors here are either unemployed or working for peanuts. Once you are done with college, any damn thing which is remotely Human will ask you only two questions :
"Where are you working? " ...
" How much do they pay you ?"

These two questions can drive you nuts ( not only because they are the most frequently asked ... but also because their answers will often lead to atleast 10 question connected to them...
Some retired souls with no other work will ask atleast 45 questions before they let you go .)
I havent been spared of these questions and many a times have been at the mercy of some retired gentlemen and inquisitive housewives ,who have all the time in the world to undertake such extra- carricular activities.

But , I am sure sometimes the most irritating questions in Life sound pleasing when they are framed well. Without much further ado, I 'll get to the point ( lest I' ll drive my audience ... who are already so less in number away) .

I got in touch with one of my second cousins named Girish ( for all inquisitive minds out there, he is my father's younger brother's wife's elder sister's husband's elder brother's son...phew... that was tougher than Engineering and I am glad I got that right) . Thanks to the power of SNS ( Social Networking Sites) , I caught him online and after exchanging a few pleasantaries, he wasted no time in asking me the same old question that drives me nuts .

This time though for some strange reason , I was not at all pissed with the question. The reason: The way he framed it. Let me quote him here ( I am sure he won't charge royalty for it)
" Hey bro, Which Company has bought your brains??"

Now , let me tell you that sounds so good... though I feel my brains are priceless..lol
So that , my friends, is the genesis of this article .... put even the most irritating of questions in a pleasant manner and you will surely get the honest reply from the other person ... just as my bro Girish Nair got in this case.
Moral of the Story ( now thats childish .. but still ) is that it will help in both personal and professional life if you can frame your questions properly ... so getting the right answers is all about framing the questions right.
So , if you find this post worth commenting... Do answer a simple Question " Which company has bought your brains?".

Yashoda (uncut version)

All MMS batchmates of mine will know where this is leading to.For the rest ,I will explain...I mnt stopping my MMS batchmates from reading the explaination though....

There was a lecturer of our's who would make people sing for coming late to class.This punishment was something I was petrified of.
For all of you who don't know me,I don't sing even when I am alone at home.I am that confident of my singing abilities.So,I had to find a way out of this...if I went in late to class.
I thought of writing a poem just to save myself of the embarrasment of singing in class.

I managed to somehow write a poem for her ...(Gladly,it was accepted and I din't have to sing)and two friends of mine ( Richa Dubey and Keerthi Unni) told me to put it in a blog.They even offered to make a blog for me so they also share the blame for sowing the seeds of making a blog in my head and all the stupid content you are subjected to on this blog. So,this is for all the people who have too much time to waste.The poetry( if i may call it so) was initially written in seven verses which I edited to four .

Note: The name of the lecturer is in the last line.I have used the words and phrases she uses in class(marked them in blue) .The name of subjects she taught is in bold.Yamini and Rinaldi are the names of Retail stores

So here's the uncut version ....

Every fine Monday morning,
She walks in to teach Retail,
Her enthusiasm for the subject,
makes us pay attention to detail.
With her smile, gets closed her eyes,
to her lectures she adds ,a lot of spice.

Wednesday mornings she comes in for Strategy,
and ensures there's no dearth of energy,
She uses words like an English Missionary,
which sometimes makes us need a Dictionary,
She makes sure there's ample dose of real life gyaan,
So that bachchalog don't stray and lose their dhyaan.

There are no "Goodmornings",just a cheerful "hi",
which says she's friendly and you needn't be shy,
Her ways of punishing are effective and great ,
because your vocal chords pay for you being late ,
Her name symbolises fondness and Mamta,
true to it ,she calls all of us "Janta".

She does know all the tricks of the trade,
She's born and brought up in Cuffe parade.
She's up with the latest fashion trends,
Ratan Tata is one of her friends .
Her lectures are an absolute treat,
but if you don't attend,you're dead meat.

Very particular is she about our attendence,
Her birth day comes with Indian Independence.
Of her army background,she is very proud,
She can control a class without shouting aloud.
Talks about any topic under the sun,
and she ensures its all great fun.

Yamini and Rinaldi are a part of her life,
It's as integral to her as husband is to wife.
She's got amazing sense of style,
Don't get on her nerves ,u ll run a mile.
She does practice what she preaches,
I wish I remember all she teaches.

If u all feel these lines are a stupid notion,
Blame it on lack of talent and aspiration,
and If u liked it one bit,
then reserve the comments for the inspiration,
So,give all the cheers,applause and a bouquet,
To none other than Ms.Yashoda Durge

One-liners

If you talk to yourself a lot,you are bound to come up with one-liners.Its all in our minds,we just need to dig them out.
I will write down some I found interesting , as I keep doing on Orkut.I will keep adding to it as and when I discover new ones....

• It takes intelligence to appreciate creativity!
• Intelligence earns you respect ,Creativity earns you awe!
• Cry over spilt milk, you may get another glass!
• Arrogance has a special charm!
• Love isn't blind,correct your vision!
• No one on hell earth can write your horoscope better than you!
• If your profession and hobby coincide,the result is satisfaction.
• You can never be creatively satisfied in life
• The feeling of being lucky depends on whom you compare yourself with.
• Ego is like the slippers you wear;should know when to wear them and when not to!
• You can steal the idea but not the intellect
• Allow your brain to rule your heart
• Compromising isnt a good habit to get into.

Tell me your weakness?

"Tell me about your weaknesses,if any?"

A very normal question in most interviews and also the most irritating one of all. I have never found an answer to this question though I have given a fair bit of thought to it.I am sure there might be some shortcomings but I am a bit reluctant to see them as a weakness.

According to me "EVERY WEAKNESSES IS A STRENGTH,you just need to see it in a different context. Let me narrate to you a story:

There was a boy who was very keen on learning Judo (A martial Arts form). He fancied himself to win all the tournaments and go on to represent his country one day.His passion for the sport had convinced his coach about the boy and was sure that he would attain greatness in the sport. However,fate had other plans.He met with an accident and lost his left hand. The thought of being at a disadvantage if he would compete in a Judo match was far more painful than the physical pain he was enduring.His life,ambition,desire and dream all went for a toss in no time. His coach was not willing to give up on such a determined guy so easily.The coach hadn't taught him much but he knew that the boy had more determination to succeed than anyone else he had ever seen. He decided to train him.

He just taught him one move and made him master that move.The boy trained on that move and practiced it religiously day in and day out.The boy soon had mastered the move and it was getting monotonous.He told the coach that he knew this move like the back of his hand.The state level tournament was just a week away.Much to his disappointment,the coach asked him to continue practicing this move.

The tournament had begun and the boy managed to clear the preliminary rounds easily .He reached the semi-finals and surprised himself at his achievement.He din't want to leave any stone unturned.He went to his coach again and requested him to teach him some new moves to tackle the finalist.The coach persisted with his idea and asked him to practice the same move

The final was keenly contested but the boy won in the end.He was thrilled that he was on the right track and was optimistic of realizing his goals.

That evening on his way back home,he asked the coach "Why din't you teach me any other move?,I may have won the tournament but I am still surprised how I managed it without my left arm". The coach gave a slight smile and replied"I am not surprised at all .I was sure you will win".The boy asked him why he felt so. The coach replied" There is only one way to defend the move you have perfected and that is blocking your left arm".

For once,the boy realised losing his left arm was working to his advantage in the matches.

So, any weakness is an implied strength, in a different situation though.You just need to leverage these weaknesses to your advantage.

So, if you have a weakness,consider yourself to have a strategic advantage over others in some situations.

If poeple think you are not tall enough,just remind them that you are more down-to-earth than they are(pun intended).

I am extremely lazy but that works to my advantage because I never jot down things ,I just try to remember them. Thus,being consistently lazy for the last two decades has contributed to my (without being pompous)outstanding memory power.

So ,all of you who were kind enough to take time out of your busy schedules and waste it on my article,please send your comments and weaknesses along.We can discuss how it can become your strength and help you can gain an advantage over most people in some situations.

Wishing you all many more weaknesses in life!!

Inspiration

Happiness results from satisfaction.To humans, it could be money ,power ,position,love or various factors beyond my grasp. The fact that I am writing this article in itself shows that I am creatively uinsatisfied.For all those who bother to waste their valuable time to read this,you can never be creatively satisfied in life because if you have a creative bent of mind,it only gets better with age and time.You all might be wondering if I have made a blog only for creative satisfaction. The answer strangely is yes.If you bottle up your creative thoughts in your mind,you are bound to get frustrated so you should let it out if you take my word.

Having ideas is one thing,putting thoughts down is another art altogether.It requires not only writing skills but also knowledge and blessings of the Almighty.I say the latter because getting the right ideas and right lines at the right time is God's gift and you need that luck with lines,words,phrases etc to have a creative masterpiece.

So,to sum it up,we need knowledge and Almighty's blessing.I have a habit of observing things happening in my life and making a note of them(I never write them down..too lazy to do that) .So,if you know Hindi,Knowledge translates to "Vidya" and Almighty is "Parmeshwar". Very strangely,the person who encouraged me on to make a blog to dump my literary waste is none other than my friend Vidya Parmeshwaran or VP( Finance) . Isn't that worth observing?

So,I would like to thank Vidya for putting the idea of a blog into my head and would also like her to take the responsibility for all the insane stuff and stupidity that will follow in the form of articles ,poems and one-liners and the controversies that they may lead to.If you feel like praising my articles however,please keep Vidya out of the way. Jokes apart, I will make use of this space to the best of my ability and post stuff as entertaining and informative as possible.

Keep the comments and criticism pouring in.