“To those who are present and those who have been permitted to remain absent, I now confer upon you, this degree of Bachelor of Computer Applications.”
These words will remain in my memory etched permanently. It was my Convocation day yesterday, a day when I finally graduated, a day when I crossed a barrier but also one when I acquired new responsibilities. Graduation is merely a stopover because there are so many heights that still remain to be scaled. However, the euphoric feeling of being a graduate, of wearing the Italian gown and flinging the hat up in the air, of rising from your seat as your degree is conferred upon you; ah! It is unparallel!
Youth is no more about being rashly independent or devoid of responsibilities. Youth is about independence, youth is about innate power and potential. With independence comes responsibilities, towards one’s nation, towards one’s family and friends but most significantly, towards oneself. The greatest injustice you can do to yourself is probably to mar your capabilities and end up as an under-achiever. This, when it comes from one of the most lethargic, complacent and under-achievers you shall ever know, is to make you take a pause. Take that pause and think. Forget your country, parents, everything; for it is a moment just meant for self-analysis. There are so many scientists, warriors, sportsmen; who have achieved fame, wealth, adulation, everything. Am I asking you to tread the path they have had? No. These things may matter for some and hold no meaning for others. Your contentment and peace of mind matters most to you and rightly so. My question to you is, will you be at peace if you remain where you are? Youth needs to be impatient, for humanity respects that impatience. Youth has to crave for more, scale new heights, make their own goals and achieve them. Gone are the days when a mere 9 to 5 job and a lucrative salary meant end of your desires. These things still do matter but self-actualization has taken the front seat.
We live in an age, in an era where probably the most significant thing for us is ourselves. We love challenges, we love bets, we are audacious enough to hope and bet against the odds. That is what makes us different from our forefathers for we have the bottom-to-top approach, unlike our ancestors. We believe in shaping our lives first and trust me, that is the right way to go. Unless you have built the smallest unit right, the entire machine will never work properly. Unless your smallest pipe isn’t clog-free, water shall not flow out even from the largest of your canals. What I am hinting here is to make sure that we are hungry, we are passionate, we go all out to achieve goals for ourselves; for only after then can we do some service to our country. Our country is made up of us, we are its future. Let us put one piece on its place at a time.
As Dr. Shashi Tharoor said yesterday-“the impatience of youth needs to be respected, for there lies the key to the progress of a growing nation.” The thing is, we need to be impatient first. With these thoughts and the euphoria of having graduated, I now set upon, first to celebrate my graduation and then to higher destinations.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
From the eyes of a beholder..
It was a warm Tuesday morning, like any other in that part of the city. The railway station being one of the busiest in the country, it was no surprise that at any given moment, thousands of travelers thronged in and out of the various platforms. A normal morning and an even more normal sight. Yet, for one particular passenger coming out of platform no.16, that morning was special, for how often do the people on streets welcome you before the first rays from the sun hit the streets? That passenger was me, coming out of Howrah station and I was in Calcutta, at long, last!
To be honest, I had gone to Calcutta with a set of prejudices, those being the exploding population and the smuttiness on the roads. However, one hour in the city and I was ready to look at it with an unbiased point of view, not because I fell head over heels in love with the city but courtesy a simple rationale. A city whose inhabitants have had the senses to maintain their heritage right from the Victorian era have to be given the credit due to them and this is precisely why it wasn’t a surprise to find out the little but important things about the city I eventually did.
Probably one of the best things about Calcutta is that the minute you step out of the railway station, the Howrah Bridge welcomes you. It feels like a homecoming of sorts, what with arguably the city’s most important construction greeting you. One may stand beneath it and admire it at bay. For someone like me with an intensive love for architectural marvels, this and the Victoria Memorial present a very pleasing sight for I can spend a lifetime there and you have to experience looking at the Ganges from atop the bridge to know what I am talking about.
Calcutta is any tourists’ delight. You have a variety of places to visit and you can pick and choose them depending on your tastes. You have Howrah Bridge, Vidyasagar Setu, Victoria Memorial, High Court, the Indian Museum, Queen’s Mansion etc. for the heritage buffs, Science city for the geeks, Belur Math, Dakshineshwar temple and Kalighat etc. for the spirituals and the Eden Gardens for the cricket lovers. I was lucky enough to be able to go in and it was more than a pilgrimage of sorts. Having said that, the real Calcutta doesn’t lie in places I have mentioned for you cannot know what the city has in store for you by merely visiting these places. The real Calcutta lies in places like Babughat or Gariahat for these have the spirit of joy we know Calcutta for. People may have little or more than what they need, yet you will find the sense of contentment in both the cases.
At best, I can define Calcutta as a city of paradoxes. There is a strange sense of calm even in the loudest of clutter. There is beauty on every nook and corner despite the filth on the streets. The life is slow but the buses are fast enough to scare the living delights out of you. There is variety even in the most mundane of activities. There is spice in the sweetest of things. You are alone in the most crowded of places and even when you are alone, you are in sync with what is around you. You sit with a thousand others inside Belur Math and yet you are alone with your God. You go with a select few to watch a movie at Menoka and yet the entire theatre watches it together, echoing the same comments, same sentiments. People maybe divided between Mamta Banerjee and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee but are united as one when inside the Eden Gardens.
Calcutta is an eclectic mix of present and past, good and bad, slow and fast. It becomes very difficult for me to talk about this city, to rate it or worse still, to echo what I feel for this city; for how do you explain something that is best understood when experienced, best felt when you are a part of it and best seen yourself and not through someone else’s eyes? Calcutta is an experience, a beauty to behold and a memory to treasure. It is ‘madlee bangaliii’ as they say and therefore it isn’t a wonder that it is the ‘city of joy’.
To be honest, I had gone to Calcutta with a set of prejudices, those being the exploding population and the smuttiness on the roads. However, one hour in the city and I was ready to look at it with an unbiased point of view, not because I fell head over heels in love with the city but courtesy a simple rationale. A city whose inhabitants have had the senses to maintain their heritage right from the Victorian era have to be given the credit due to them and this is precisely why it wasn’t a surprise to find out the little but important things about the city I eventually did.
Probably one of the best things about Calcutta is that the minute you step out of the railway station, the Howrah Bridge welcomes you. It feels like a homecoming of sorts, what with arguably the city’s most important construction greeting you. One may stand beneath it and admire it at bay. For someone like me with an intensive love for architectural marvels, this and the Victoria Memorial present a very pleasing sight for I can spend a lifetime there and you have to experience looking at the Ganges from atop the bridge to know what I am talking about.
Calcutta is any tourists’ delight. You have a variety of places to visit and you can pick and choose them depending on your tastes. You have Howrah Bridge, Vidyasagar Setu, Victoria Memorial, High Court, the Indian Museum, Queen’s Mansion etc. for the heritage buffs, Science city for the geeks, Belur Math, Dakshineshwar temple and Kalighat etc. for the spirituals and the Eden Gardens for the cricket lovers. I was lucky enough to be able to go in and it was more than a pilgrimage of sorts. Having said that, the real Calcutta doesn’t lie in places I have mentioned for you cannot know what the city has in store for you by merely visiting these places. The real Calcutta lies in places like Babughat or Gariahat for these have the spirit of joy we know Calcutta for. People may have little or more than what they need, yet you will find the sense of contentment in both the cases.
At best, I can define Calcutta as a city of paradoxes. There is a strange sense of calm even in the loudest of clutter. There is beauty on every nook and corner despite the filth on the streets. The life is slow but the buses are fast enough to scare the living delights out of you. There is variety even in the most mundane of activities. There is spice in the sweetest of things. You are alone in the most crowded of places and even when you are alone, you are in sync with what is around you. You sit with a thousand others inside Belur Math and yet you are alone with your God. You go with a select few to watch a movie at Menoka and yet the entire theatre watches it together, echoing the same comments, same sentiments. People maybe divided between Mamta Banerjee and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee but are united as one when inside the Eden Gardens.
Calcutta is an eclectic mix of present and past, good and bad, slow and fast. It becomes very difficult for me to talk about this city, to rate it or worse still, to echo what I feel for this city; for how do you explain something that is best understood when experienced, best felt when you are a part of it and best seen yourself and not through someone else’s eyes? Calcutta is an experience, a beauty to behold and a memory to treasure. It is ‘madlee bangaliii’ as they say and therefore it isn’t a wonder that it is the ‘city of joy’.
Friday, October 30, 2009
101 Things to do in Pune
There are some things which you cannot explain. Love is one of those. No matter how much I crib, I love Pune to the core. This is a city that accepted me some three and a half years ago when I had no clue about my life (not that I have today either), a city where I found love, life and laughter (quite in that order too!), a place where I found friends for lifetime, joy in little things. Pune has been the crux of my life and aptly so. So when I’m given a chance, I can’t stop raving about Pune and as a tribute to this city, here I am with a list of 101 things you must do, when you stay here. Give Pune a chance. It made my life better, may the luck shine on you as well!
1) Find yourself friends like I did. Pune is no fun without your friends.
2) Take as many auto-rides as you can. You’ll crib about the rates, the attitude of the drivers but it’s worth every penny and more! It’s simply magical.
3) Sing Indian classical film songs loudly and hoarsely during the auto-rides, especially when passing by busy streets.
4) Play cards on Law College Road Barista.
5) Smoke at ‘the Wall’.
6) Sleep at 6 in the morning; wake up when you feel like.
7) Spend countless hours at a coffee shop of your choice (I recommend Barista), studying, spending time with your companions or doing nothing.
8) Watch the sun rise in Khadakwasla dam.
9) Watch Durga Pooja celebration at Congress Bhawan and Koregaon Park, lane no.7.
10) Pass by Prabhat Road after ten in night and smell the fragrance in the air.
11) Travel to places like Lonavla by train, walk miles from the station to drink a cup of tea from a particular tapri and back, and catch the next local back to Pune.
12) Trek up Singhgad Fort.
13) Shut yourself away from the world, stock up food/booze/fag and spend a day doing abstract things like reading Fyodor Doestovski’s White Nights from cover to cover or watching vernacular movies at length.
14) Walk down to places like High Spirits, Hard Rock Café, not drink and walk back.
15) Walk miles with friends, yet hire an auto for a 2 minute distance.
16) Go to crossword/landmark and spend an entire day reading.
17) Convert into a fabOHOLIC! (For those who didn’t get it, be a fab India patron).
18) Have Coffee Stop’s cold coffee at midnight (they close down by 11 30 now!).
19) Live in a space of your own, like a flat or a row-house.
20) Bike-ride on the Mumbai-Bangalore Expressway over a 100 km/hr.
21) Fight with the auto-drivers over the fare.
22) Watch every movie seated first row from the screen.
23) Travel to Mumbai by road.
24) Book a cab to Kashid, spend a leisurely day away from the world.
25) Cad B ice-cream at Kamla Nehru Park.
26) Walk on law college road at 4 in the morning.
27) Sit at om super market.
28) U have the toughest paper the next day,yet dnt study the entire nyt.
29) Spend lazy afternoons in kamla Nehru park.
30) Go mall hopping.
31) Watch people play cricket in law college cricket ground.
32) Take a train from pune to any place where you pass by the chambal ghati. It’s a journey worth every penny.
33) Go jogging early morning, in the busiest of streets like S.B. Road, law college road, bhandarkar n F.C. Rod.
34) Travel by the PMPML buses.
35) Force the auto guy to take wrong routes, get caught by the traffic police and pay the fine.
36) Stand in the long, seemingly unending and absolutely irritating queues outside the ATMs.
37) Go to far off places like Camp and Koregaon to eat the food of your choice.
38) Walk when there is an auto strike but don’t pay excess fare.
39) Visit the temples, the gurudwaras, the churches and the mosques.
40) Discover new routes to same destination.
41) Play in the Mulla river water.
42) Experience the fun of Water sports at Panshet.
43) Have the audacity to live the last week of month with last 100 Rs in pocket and no balance in the cell.
44) Stand up for yourself and the city during a disturbance like Feb,08 and the more recent swine flu.
45) Watch horror movies all night and get scary dreams.
46) Install a T.V. and the cable at home just to watch IPL.
47) Night outs!
48) Eat at Veer da Dhaba at midnight.
49) Walk a couple of miles at midnight to fetch coke from e-square and in order to eat anda-bhurji opposite jaayka in S.B. Road.
50) For a class of 8 30, reach at 9 30, get the attendance and rush back home to catch up on the sleep you had to forego.
51) Have the ‘Chaat’ at Canal Road and Manmeet.
52) Be a regular at places like Subway, Foodiez etc.etc.
53) Survive solely on junk food.
54) Never, ever make your own notes but be smart enough to get the best ones photocopied well in advance.
55) Stay in Pune for a festival or two. The city is at its best.
56) Enjoy the craze of Ganpati Festival.
57) Watch the moon from your balcony and while the entire night just like that.
58) Get wet in the Pune rains.
59) Join the best and the most expensive gym, only to end up watching TV all the time.
60) Go shopping at Tulsibaug.
61) Dream big, join IMS and CareerForum etc. only to never go there.
62) Surprise the people who mean the most to you and see the glimmer in their eyes.
63) Go to Pune station 2 have anda bhurji, chaai etc. at the oddest of hours.
64) Walk someone home.
65) Take odd trips alone!
66) Listen to the same song in loop at home when you are down.
67) Go to Essel World/Water Kingdom.
68) Trek up Hanuman Tekri.
69) Be an Airtel customer. It’s a lot cheaper to connect through this and comes in handy during the ‘recession’ week of the month.
70) Play chess at Barista.
71) Own a bike, car anything(preferably a bike).
72) If and when you have to buy books, buy from Appa Balwant Chauk. They have the cheapest rates.
73) Go to the most expensive of hospitals even when you have a trivial cough.
74) Eat road-side food, fall sick, crib, and vow never to eat there again, recover, only to eat there again.
75) Play street cricket.
76) If you drink, visit places like Apache.
77) Watch football matches at Toons.
78) Visit wonder funkey.
79) An evening at 3D destination.
80) If you are into clubbing, visit all the clubs on the nights when couple entry is free. Don’t worry about a partner, you will find many at the entrance looking for one.
81) Work or get an internship. Pune is a fab place to work.
82) Take frequent bike trips to places like Lonavla at 3 in the night(this one is specially for guys).
83) Experience random and abstract photography.
84) Navigate the city during Sant Gyaneshwar’s Paduka festival.
85) Sway to the beats of the Nashik Dhol.
86) Visit ABC Farms.
87) Sit on the footpaths and have a cup of tea/coffee. It’s a student’s prerogative here.
88) Specially wake up in the morning to have breakfast at places like Goodluck or in Karve Road.
89) Wander around the city. There’s so much to see.
90) If you are a history buff, visit places like Aga Khan Palace and Shanivarwaada.
91) Frequently visit DagruSheth Halwai Ganpati in Laxmi Road.
92) Go for evening walks in Range Hills.
93) Find out places/areas where you can get the cheapest and most durable stuff.
94) Discover the romantic in you.
95) Learn to live without electricity. Pune faces acute power crunch at times.
96) Live near a hyper-market. Half the times you will remember to buy a thing only exactly when you need it.
97) Shop! Splurge! If not here, then where?
98) Learn to play pool.
99) Live everyday here to the fullest. You won’t get the same life elsewhere.
100) Discover the innate potential you have.
101) Find that perfect companion to do all this with!
1) Find yourself friends like I did. Pune is no fun without your friends.
2) Take as many auto-rides as you can. You’ll crib about the rates, the attitude of the drivers but it’s worth every penny and more! It’s simply magical.
3) Sing Indian classical film songs loudly and hoarsely during the auto-rides, especially when passing by busy streets.
4) Play cards on Law College Road Barista.
5) Smoke at ‘the Wall’.
6) Sleep at 6 in the morning; wake up when you feel like.
7) Spend countless hours at a coffee shop of your choice (I recommend Barista), studying, spending time with your companions or doing nothing.
8) Watch the sun rise in Khadakwasla dam.
9) Watch Durga Pooja celebration at Congress Bhawan and Koregaon Park, lane no.7.
10) Pass by Prabhat Road after ten in night and smell the fragrance in the air.
11) Travel to places like Lonavla by train, walk miles from the station to drink a cup of tea from a particular tapri and back, and catch the next local back to Pune.
12) Trek up Singhgad Fort.
13) Shut yourself away from the world, stock up food/booze/fag and spend a day doing abstract things like reading Fyodor Doestovski’s White Nights from cover to cover or watching vernacular movies at length.
14) Walk down to places like High Spirits, Hard Rock Café, not drink and walk back.
15) Walk miles with friends, yet hire an auto for a 2 minute distance.
16) Go to crossword/landmark and spend an entire day reading.
17) Convert into a fabOHOLIC! (For those who didn’t get it, be a fab India patron).
18) Have Coffee Stop’s cold coffee at midnight (they close down by 11 30 now!).
19) Live in a space of your own, like a flat or a row-house.
20) Bike-ride on the Mumbai-Bangalore Expressway over a 100 km/hr.
21) Fight with the auto-drivers over the fare.
22) Watch every movie seated first row from the screen.
23) Travel to Mumbai by road.
24) Book a cab to Kashid, spend a leisurely day away from the world.
25) Cad B ice-cream at Kamla Nehru Park.
26) Walk on law college road at 4 in the morning.
27) Sit at om super market.
28) U have the toughest paper the next day,yet dnt study the entire nyt.
29) Spend lazy afternoons in kamla Nehru park.
30) Go mall hopping.
31) Watch people play cricket in law college cricket ground.
32) Take a train from pune to any place where you pass by the chambal ghati. It’s a journey worth every penny.
33) Go jogging early morning, in the busiest of streets like S.B. Road, law college road, bhandarkar n F.C. Rod.
34) Travel by the PMPML buses.
35) Force the auto guy to take wrong routes, get caught by the traffic police and pay the fine.
36) Stand in the long, seemingly unending and absolutely irritating queues outside the ATMs.
37) Go to far off places like Camp and Koregaon to eat the food of your choice.
38) Walk when there is an auto strike but don’t pay excess fare.
39) Visit the temples, the gurudwaras, the churches and the mosques.
40) Discover new routes to same destination.
41) Play in the Mulla river water.
42) Experience the fun of Water sports at Panshet.
43) Have the audacity to live the last week of month with last 100 Rs in pocket and no balance in the cell.
44) Stand up for yourself and the city during a disturbance like Feb,08 and the more recent swine flu.
45) Watch horror movies all night and get scary dreams.
46) Install a T.V. and the cable at home just to watch IPL.
47) Night outs!
48) Eat at Veer da Dhaba at midnight.
49) Walk a couple of miles at midnight to fetch coke from e-square and in order to eat anda-bhurji opposite jaayka in S.B. Road.
50) For a class of 8 30, reach at 9 30, get the attendance and rush back home to catch up on the sleep you had to forego.
51) Have the ‘Chaat’ at Canal Road and Manmeet.
52) Be a regular at places like Subway, Foodiez etc.etc.
53) Survive solely on junk food.
54) Never, ever make your own notes but be smart enough to get the best ones photocopied well in advance.
55) Stay in Pune for a festival or two. The city is at its best.
56) Enjoy the craze of Ganpati Festival.
57) Watch the moon from your balcony and while the entire night just like that.
58) Get wet in the Pune rains.
59) Join the best and the most expensive gym, only to end up watching TV all the time.
60) Go shopping at Tulsibaug.
61) Dream big, join IMS and CareerForum etc. only to never go there.
62) Surprise the people who mean the most to you and see the glimmer in their eyes.
63) Go to Pune station 2 have anda bhurji, chaai etc. at the oddest of hours.
64) Walk someone home.
65) Take odd trips alone!
66) Listen to the same song in loop at home when you are down.
67) Go to Essel World/Water Kingdom.
68) Trek up Hanuman Tekri.
69) Be an Airtel customer. It’s a lot cheaper to connect through this and comes in handy during the ‘recession’ week of the month.
70) Play chess at Barista.
71) Own a bike, car anything(preferably a bike).
72) If and when you have to buy books, buy from Appa Balwant Chauk. They have the cheapest rates.
73) Go to the most expensive of hospitals even when you have a trivial cough.
74) Eat road-side food, fall sick, crib, and vow never to eat there again, recover, only to eat there again.
75) Play street cricket.
76) If you drink, visit places like Apache.
77) Watch football matches at Toons.
78) Visit wonder funkey.
79) An evening at 3D destination.
80) If you are into clubbing, visit all the clubs on the nights when couple entry is free. Don’t worry about a partner, you will find many at the entrance looking for one.
81) Work or get an internship. Pune is a fab place to work.
82) Take frequent bike trips to places like Lonavla at 3 in the night(this one is specially for guys).
83) Experience random and abstract photography.
84) Navigate the city during Sant Gyaneshwar’s Paduka festival.
85) Sway to the beats of the Nashik Dhol.
86) Visit ABC Farms.
87) Sit on the footpaths and have a cup of tea/coffee. It’s a student’s prerogative here.
88) Specially wake up in the morning to have breakfast at places like Goodluck or in Karve Road.
89) Wander around the city. There’s so much to see.
90) If you are a history buff, visit places like Aga Khan Palace and Shanivarwaada.
91) Frequently visit DagruSheth Halwai Ganpati in Laxmi Road.
92) Go for evening walks in Range Hills.
93) Find out places/areas where you can get the cheapest and most durable stuff.
94) Discover the romantic in you.
95) Learn to live without electricity. Pune faces acute power crunch at times.
96) Live near a hyper-market. Half the times you will remember to buy a thing only exactly when you need it.
97) Shop! Splurge! If not here, then where?
98) Learn to play pool.
99) Live everyday here to the fullest. You won’t get the same life elsewhere.
100) Discover the innate potential you have.
101) Find that perfect companion to do all this with!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Mutual Benefits Agreement
A hallmark day! We finally finished with our internal evaluations. it was a time when ideally, I should have gone out partying but one when I actually sat down thinking. With no impending assignments, this was a day i had been eagerly waiting for because I needed a much-needed break from studying. This, coming from me is quite rich. So I sat in my room which overlooks the
My life has turned upside down over the past few months, least for good. This has been perhaps one of the toughest and most challenging periods of my life wherein I seem to have matured dramatically fast. I see more logic than before and even though this era has not been high in terms of contentment, it is so in terms of learning.
One of the most different things I have learnt over a couple of months is the concept of Mutual Benefits Agreement (read: MBA). Not that I was earlier totally unaware of it, but seeing it here and living right in the middle of it is altogether a different ball-game. It’s very complex in implementation and yet so very simplistic in its approach. Allow me to enlighten the ignorant lot, if any. According to this concept, two or people mutually agree to be in each other’s company because:
i. They have no other company because of whatever is the reason.
ii. They each see some benefit in being with each other. This could be platonic, romantic, academic or simply because they like being with each other.
iii. They need a climber (know what I mean?)
iv. They are comfortable with each other because somewhere their thought is at the same plane and their thinking matches.
It can be easily assumed that almost everyone adopts this concept, more so in a B-school. This might easily be prevalent elsewhere also but because I am in one, I can see and relate to it better. This is not friendship as some of you might want to argue, this is merely a way to survive the two year imprisonment each one of us has granted ourselves willingly.
You are very lucky if you find a true friend in a B-school. It happens to very few. Most of the people I live around go by the philosophy of selective interaction. They talk to each other if and only if they need a job done, an errand run or if they are in the same assignment/presentation group. They’ll have a plastic smile fixed on their face, almost as irritating as the stewardesses of Jet Airways. They’ll strategize and put any politician to shame, screw people left and right; without so much of even batting an eyelid. You have got to see the finesse. You have to admire the thinking, the devotion given to planning and the smooth, sleek execution of a perfectly crafted plan. What is perhaps the disturbing fact here is the fact that many innocent people fall a prey to this and do not come out of the Utopian world, till the very end. Anyways, I am no social worker, so all I can realistically do, is to empathize with their plight, for they know not, what doom actually beckons them.
There are two ways of surviving these two years. First and the simpler way is to be what people want you to be and the second one is to be what you actually are. Till date I fail to understand the aura, the magic behind acting as something or someone you actually are not. I mean, how difficult is to be your real self? Each one of us is born special, different from the rest and better than the best. Still people crave to be what they actually are not and I have not been able to find any rhyme to that. This is a decision each one takes for himself and I have no qualms about it. But I do wonder whether it actually is worth the efforts.
You have got to be smart enough to know and realize what is right and what is wrong, you have to have the courage of not running behind the mirage. You have to be bold enough to be what you are and face the world. And if you can’t then I fail to see the purpose behind your degree, your education. Yes, you might land up with a great job, a great salary but what about your peace of mind? It may sound downright philosophical and straight out of an Ayn Rand novel but it’s a question each one of us faces at some point of time. Is a pretentious life what you came here for? Are you made for running behind elusive and absolutely worthless baubles? Is this your quest, your ultimate goal?
It’s easy to fall a prey to circumstances and hurdles that come your way but as Rabindranath Tagore said, the mind should be led forward by ever-widening thought and action. It is difficult, not to trod along a path that has already been traversed by millions but if you cannot dare to be different, if you cannot stand up to your own beliefs, if you do not have a philosophy for you life, what a waste of a great life!
In the end, the decision is ours, to be what others want us to or to be what we are. Education is not supposed to ruin us. It is supposed to give us a clarity of thought and to enable us to determine what is wrong and what is right. At the end, you should be able to stand up for your own self, for your own beliefs, for your own principles. What is right for me, may not be right for you. Find out what is right for you. Education is an endless pursuit, an ongoing quest to know yourself and your horizons.
So, I end the day, sipping a coke with the select few people whose thought matches mine, instead of painting the town red. That’s because I have found that it’s right for me and I have a quest for life. And as I walk back towards my room, Tagore’s words come floating by again.
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free ;( and not according to MBA)
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action;
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father,
Let my fellow-men awake.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Masters of Baniyagiri Administration
as i sit in my room while some of my colleagues are struggling with the recruiters from Goldman Sachs in a building just few steps away..i cannot help wonder that what is it that makes you join the rat race.MBA today is just not enough.you need to have a degree from a reputed college and in order to make your CV attractive,a good internship is a must.That is why when names like this visit the campus,its total pandemonium.People do not talk to another because each one is busy preparing for the interview secretly.the crowd in the mess thins down,so does the one that otherwise keeps loitering in and around the campus.people are locked in their rooms either strategizing or slogging and toiling(really???or mugging up formulae for the aptitude test?)it is a sight to behold,at best from an arm's length because the minute you are a part of this mud-slinging,nerve-wrecking rat race,you will,at some point or the other,curse your decision to join this.the amount of strategy that goes into each day,each minor 10-mark test can put any politician to shame,can give any john buchanan, any gary kirsten a run for his money.who says indians cannot be good coaches.please try the crowd here first.i'm sure the lot shall not disappoint you.
what is perhaps even more amusing to an extent of being disturbing is the CGPA system.we all have our own views for and against the system and i am strictly against the system.yes,the system does save us when we all(the entire class)fares badly in a subject. the drawback here is that it leaves ur future in the hand of others.so gone are the days when giving your best shot at something was considered the mantra for success.now your future is in my hand and vice versa.you cannot be good enough.you have to be as good as the next person and the next and the next.it leaves a large chunk of your fate on luck factor where you fare as well as your class of 40 permits you to be.the marks system in my opinion was much better where they tested you what percentage of the questions asked were known by you.the same pattern is followed here,only with an added spice of comparative scoring(read:CGPA). i have no clue when the educationists shall be able to come up with a full-proof system,if at all..but this one is not a very well-though solution.you get 90% marks only to be given a C-grade because of the CGPA system.does that necessarily mean you ARE a C-grade student??i shall leave the answer open to debate.
so while i sip a cup of coffee and rebuke myself at having scalded my tongue for the umpteenth time..n wait for a set of recruiters who think that 3-year graduation courses can yield personnel who are eligible for their company..i also leave you with a question.."where shall this rat race take our generation?"..n do not,for one second presume that i am not a part of it;for where else shall you get insights like these?
please vote,if you are eligible.that is one initiative which each one of you should take.
Cheers!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
dis one is for yu!!
jaagte mein bhi soti hai
kuch aankhein aisi hoti hai
bemausam kaliyon ki maanoos
kisi lamha haule haule khilti hai
humne bhi ek roz dekhi thi
aisi gahri mashaal aankhein
duniya ki iis bheed me jaise
sangeen akele wo aankhein thi
yun to ab tak jitni guzri thi
bade hi khushfahmiyo me guzri thi
par wo aankhein
aye gahre sagar, aye uche aasmaan
yu laga ki meri ruuh me raasta bana jayengi
ek us saanjh ke saaye tale
baithe rahey hum der tak
dil se to ki baatein bahut
muh se kaha kuch bhi nahi
maanga khuda se raat din
tere siwa kuch bhi nahi
socha kabhi kuch bhi nahi
achha bura kuch bhi nahi
maanga khuda se raat din
tere siwa kuch bhi nahi
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
0.09 seconds v/s 2 hrs.!!!
we all are aware of the SRK fiasco..it is simply unbelievable..but wat is harder 2 fathom is the ruckus that has been created around dis incident..too much of mud-slinging...ppl who have no business with this jumping in uninvitedly and giving their expert but uncalled comments...it was an entire circus show...without any ticket of course...i m all for security and taking all the reqd.steps 2 ensure that..but finding n establishing SRK's identity took 2 hrs??i m sorry amigoes!!!u need 2 speed up ur system then...u have computers..u hav all the database...everything...it takes less than 0.1 seconds(0.09 to be precise) to find out on google(guess americans should know how to use google!!!its their baby after all!!) who SRK is and what does he look like...u hav already issued him a visa..he has a valid passport..still if u need a re-check..2 hrs???time is money,my friends..dis is american philosophy..nt mine..n u most certainly don't ask a person 2 step aside for questioning if u hav lost his luggage...u 'apologize'..u r courteous 2 him..n u make sure that u leave no stone unturned as far as hospitality is concerned..so dis "luggage-lost" theory is hard 2 believe...
y just SRK was asked 2 step aside..if u r doing dis for security..i m sure there were other passengers who were foreigners..n who wre NOT questioned...n if it was done cuz he is KHAN..well..i l refrain frm commenting..u can't typecast people..much less someone who is adored by 1/6th of the world's population..those who say even bob dylan was questioned..allow me 2 inform u that mr.dylan was nt carrying ny identity proof whereas SRK had a legal n valid passport with a visa stamped..issued by USA embassy of course..
another section of people say that even the-then defence minister george fernandes was frisked at moscow airport,our beloved ex-president dr.kalam was searched..then why such hue and cry abt SRK being questioned...my point is...ask SRK 2 pass thru all the detectors..frisk him..he is such a gentleman that he will never object...scan him..make him go thru all types of x-rays n y-rays...but 2 humiliate someone for 2 full hours who has every document required..is uncalled for..no matter who he is..whether SRK,dr.kalam or a common person like me..do u question every passenger for 2 hrs?if u dnt,then y single out him?
cuz SRk is a star..n cuz it happened 2 him..we hav got an opportunity 2 know abt the loopholes wid their system..if it wud hav hpnd 2 a common man..it wudnt hav cm 2 our notice..so i m glad it hpnd 2 him..at least nw ppl knw wat happens..hw ppl are segregated and targeted..n wat r d loopholes wid der system..guys stand up!!i dnt hear victoria beckham being questioned...i dnt hear jude law being questioned..y an indian then?do they question jackie chan?michelle yoh?n SRK is a common man after all..he felt humiliated..has a right 2 bring it 2 every1's notice..did dat exactly..if he is fortunate enuf..or has that aura that the media dances around even if he sneezes..then i m glad he brought dis 2 every1's notice..if a common man rises 2 a level..faces injustice n makes it a public knowledge..i dnt see where is d pblm afterall..make me understand if u feel otherwise..to tolerate injustice is a bigger crime..salman khan wnt object 2 it cuz..lets face it..half the time his passport will be confiscated n locked safely in the police department..on other occasions his shootings(however much he has nowadays) will be indoors...i wish we needed 2 have a visa if we were to travel 2 one state frm another..then i wud luv 2 see the no.of times he wud be detained in rajasthan for questioning(for the security of black-bucks of crse!!) n the level of tolerance he wud show..all for security,aren't u mr.salman khan?wat abt security of those poor animals whu dnt hav a voice??whu r helpless against ur mighty gun?wat abt those poor ppl whu sleep on the footpath n ur car just happens 2 take the footpath route n kill them?they dnt need 2 be secure?is safety of a human being no concern in ur otherwise very "MATURE" mind??mend ur own ways first..b4 taking a go at someone who is way better a human being than you..maybe u need 2 assault another girl friend of yours or threaten another colleague b4 u get some sense..dnt try plz..u might be held for questioning on SECURITY CONCERNS!!!
dis unfortunate incident happened 2 a common man..who happens 2 be well knwn..n luckily the media covers him well..dis man thot of bringing the loophole of a system 2 every1's notice..cuz he is noticed..result??hunting hounds pounce upon him..a whole lot of mud-slinging starts..n every tom,dick and harry throws in his expert comment..u forget the pblm..join in the mud-bath..n forget..that it could hav easily been you..if it were you,then i would simply ask-"HOW U DOIN'?"maybe then i would find u smiling,co-operating,n saying that its all ffor security n nt cuz u r being segregated n detained..find the answer within urselves..
y just SRK was asked 2 step aside..if u r doing dis for security..i m sure there were other passengers who were foreigners..n who wre NOT questioned...n if it was done cuz he is KHAN..well..i l refrain frm commenting..u can't typecast people..much less someone who is adored by 1/6th of the world's population..those who say even bob dylan was questioned..allow me 2 inform u that mr.dylan was nt carrying ny identity proof whereas SRK had a legal n valid passport with a visa stamped..issued by USA embassy of course..
another section of people say that even the-then defence minister george fernandes was frisked at moscow airport,our beloved ex-president dr.kalam was searched..then why such hue and cry abt SRK being questioned...my point is...ask SRK 2 pass thru all the detectors..frisk him..he is such a gentleman that he will never object...scan him..make him go thru all types of x-rays n y-rays...but 2 humiliate someone for 2 full hours who has every document required..is uncalled for..no matter who he is..whether SRK,dr.kalam or a common person like me..do u question every passenger for 2 hrs?if u dnt,then y single out him?
cuz SRk is a star..n cuz it happened 2 him..we hav got an opportunity 2 know abt the loopholes wid their system..if it wud hav hpnd 2 a common man..it wudnt hav cm 2 our notice..so i m glad it hpnd 2 him..at least nw ppl knw wat happens..hw ppl are segregated and targeted..n wat r d loopholes wid der system..guys stand up!!i dnt hear victoria beckham being questioned...i dnt hear jude law being questioned..y an indian then?do they question jackie chan?michelle yoh?n SRK is a common man after all..he felt humiliated..has a right 2 bring it 2 every1's notice..did dat exactly..if he is fortunate enuf..or has that aura that the media dances around even if he sneezes..then i m glad he brought dis 2 every1's notice..if a common man rises 2 a level..faces injustice n makes it a public knowledge..i dnt see where is d pblm afterall..make me understand if u feel otherwise..to tolerate injustice is a bigger crime..salman khan wnt object 2 it cuz..lets face it..half the time his passport will be confiscated n locked safely in the police department..on other occasions his shootings(however much he has nowadays) will be indoors...i wish we needed 2 have a visa if we were to travel 2 one state frm another..then i wud luv 2 see the no.of times he wud be detained in rajasthan for questioning(for the security of black-bucks of crse!!) n the level of tolerance he wud show..all for security,aren't u mr.salman khan?wat abt security of those poor animals whu dnt hav a voice??whu r helpless against ur mighty gun?wat abt those poor ppl whu sleep on the footpath n ur car just happens 2 take the footpath route n kill them?they dnt need 2 be secure?is safety of a human being no concern in ur otherwise very "MATURE" mind??mend ur own ways first..b4 taking a go at someone who is way better a human being than you..maybe u need 2 assault another girl friend of yours or threaten another colleague b4 u get some sense..dnt try plz..u might be held for questioning on SECURITY CONCERNS!!!
dis unfortunate incident happened 2 a common man..who happens 2 be well knwn..n luckily the media covers him well..dis man thot of bringing the loophole of a system 2 every1's notice..cuz he is noticed..result??hunting hounds pounce upon him..a whole lot of mud-slinging starts..n every tom,dick and harry throws in his expert comment..u forget the pblm..join in the mud-bath..n forget..that it could hav easily been you..if it were you,then i would simply ask-"HOW U DOIN'?"maybe then i would find u smiling,co-operating,n saying that its all ffor security n nt cuz u r being segregated n detained..find the answer within urselves..
hosh ki hadd behoshi se guzar ke dekhte hai
kahte hai aag ka dariyaa utar ke dekhte hai
hame sametne waala bhi koi hai ki nahi
yah dekhne ke liye hum bikhar ke dekhte hai
suna hai ishq ibaadat bhi hai,museebat bhi
yah baat hai to chalo ishq kar ke dekhte hai
koi to baat hai yakeenan us mein sabse alag
varna log usse kyu thahar ke dekhte hai
fir zindagi bhi hosh me nahi rahti
wo jab nazrein utha kar hame dekhte hai
kahte hai aag ka dariyaa utar ke dekhte hai
hame sametne waala bhi koi hai ki nahi
yah dekhne ke liye hum bikhar ke dekhte hai
suna hai ishq ibaadat bhi hai,museebat bhi
yah baat hai to chalo ishq kar ke dekhte hai
koi to baat hai yakeenan us mein sabse alag
varna log usse kyu thahar ke dekhte hai
fir zindagi bhi hosh me nahi rahti
wo jab nazrein utha kar hame dekhte hai
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
ek kami si
ek kami si
ek nami si
chaaro or phail rahi hai
kayi jamaane ek hi pal me
aaj mil kar bheeg rahe hai
andar sab kuch sookh raha hai
baahar manzar bheeg rahe hai
ek nami si
chaaro or phail rahi hai
kayi jamaane ek hi pal me
aaj mil kar bheeg rahe hai
andar sab kuch sookh raha hai
baahar manzar bheeg rahe hai
a journey frm pune 2 delhi
I m sweating it out in delhi…well…quite literally..on 12/08/09..with no idea wen I shall be able 2 go bk 2 d city of love pune..i m enduring the delhi heat..more so..cuz there’s no electricity here..i m in the outer area of nazafgarh..where amenities like power n water r prone 2 fluctuation …cnt do much there..can we? I hav no access to internet here..n I feel “cut-off” from the civilization in a way.but dats life..unpredictable 2 d core..2 days back I was wrecking my brains over an article on ‘emotional intelligence’..nw..i feel like a refugee..dunno wen I shall b bk 2 pune..much less..wen shall I be able 2 post dis.. lets rewind a bit...cuz i m gng 2 take u thru my journey 2 delhi..n d journey starts in pune..ryt then..on 10th..a one week break was declared n on dat nyt at abt 11 p.m. or so..it was decided that i l go 2 delhi..after booking the tickets online frm mumbai 2 delhi...there was only one way 2 go 2 mumbai frm pune..by road..i was apprehensive abt gng via volvos..too much crowd..greater risk of infection n more significantly...my negligible knowledge abt the roads of mumbai..so i wanted a sure shot coveyance that took me directly 2 d airport..n dats where KK travels cab came 2 my rescue..so i booked a cab at abt 2 a.m. n then went abt my packing...whch wasnt gng 2 b much considering i was gng 4 a week...but more importantly...i packed everythn inside the cupboard..my room..specially my area..had never looked so clean since the fateful day i had moved in...i wrote a couple of mails...n at 7 30 am..wid my eyes ready 2 drop dead ny minute..i took the college bus 2 city..cuz i intended 2 meet m friends b4 i set sails.. the city was oddly deserted..nt many ppl on the streets...no it wsnt cuz of the early hours..attribute it 2 d swine flu..ppl whu were der...were covered like assassins on a mission..nt a pleasant sight 4 sm1 whu is used 2 seeing the 100 autos per minute passing ny gvn point on S.B.Road..i painfully missed the urchins..the hawkers..the autos...the pulsar 220s n the karizmas zooming by...none of it wre 2 b seen..i reached law college road frm atur centre in flat 4 minutes..smthng unthnkble normally... my cab picked me up at 5 min to 11..n by the time i was on the flyover 2 pashan..where he hd 2 pik the next passenger up..i was as sleepy as i cud ever remember..but i was sitting on the passenger seat whch i did nt wanna gv up for smthn as trivial as sleep..more so cuz i wanted 2 enjoy the picturesque mumbai-pune expressway...so i fought my sleep galiantly...smtyms my eyes dropped...smtyms i managed 2 fight my sleep off...after picking up all the 4 passengers(n 2 xtra..whu wud b nthng less than a pain..)..my cab was finally on the expressway..nw i hv a soft corner 4 nature..personally i prefer water but hills r welcome nonetheless...for nature lovers...the stretch of the highway frm lonavla till the khopoli exit is a sight 2 behold...u gotta see it 2 knw wat i mean..no..its nthng compared 2 mussourie..or even patratu valley...but u tend 2 xperience a calm u hav hitherto nt cm across...wid radio city playing sm good music..specially ye dooriyan frm love aj kal..u tend 2 go back down the memory lane..get in2 dat whole nostalgic mode..u tend 2 rewind a lot of stuff..sm of it is bitter-sweet...some of it is pleasant n brings dat same smile bk on ur face..the ride is worth it...n u tend 2 believe dat dis break...no matter under wat circumstances it has cm..is something dat u needed..n smthn dat shud do u a lot of gud..hw much of dat is true,remains 2 be seen.. the bandra worli sea link is a masterpiece..i was completely in awe of it..no it wasnt the golden gate..but fr me..smthn far superior n dear..reached the airport way b4 tym..n had nthng 2 do..didnt wanna watch the swine flu updts whch i heard nywayz cuz dats all ppl were talking abt..ppl wre masked up..but strangely..there was no chking like i had xpected..a lady searched me..n chided me for carrying a couple of coins in my pocket..but the more pressing thng at d moment..there ws no temperature detection 2 b seen..its sad 2 see the government's apathy 2 dis pandemic..how many deaths do they need 2 spring in2 action..wat count of infected ppl will instill sm sense in them?even the ppl were nt covering themselves whle sneezing occasionally..n it irritated a common indian like me 2 no extent..i m still nt a tax-paying citizen..but my parents are..n as an indian..i expect sm civic sense frm my fellow-men..n sm solid,sound action frm the government when we are facing a pandemic lyk swine-flu..wake up india!b4 its too late!! cribbing abt the government's apathy 2wards swine flu 2 Arundhati..n a bit apprehensive abt the 1.5 hr air-journey..i sat in the plane..had nt been air-borne for the past 9 odd yrs..n suddenly i was apprehensive..almost like a toddler..after countless reassurances frm Arundhati...i held my breath..prayed ..n left my plight at the hand of the pilot..oh laugh all u want 2..but if u r cynical like me..a whole lot of complex thots invade ur normal,rational thnkng...add 2 dat the lady on my side...whu 2 my dismay was frm patna..n wanted 2 knw every tiny change dat patna has undergone since her days almost 15 yrs bak...(m nt against co-passengers whu talk...but tk a hint wen the other person shows a disinterest)...i even faked sleeping...2 no avail..still..all dis did nt take away the shine frm my 1.5 hr flight...the rush in the gut wen the plane just gets air-borne frm the runway...the almost 45 degree ascent...frm the slums of dharavi 2 bandra-worli sea link,frm the runway 2 d sea..everythn lukd so miniscule...i was flying!!!beyond the clouds...almost reaching the sun..the euphoric feeling was one i had nt felt since adolescence..in ny case..at my age..its tuff 2 feel nythn so innocent n pure..with an exception of a thng or 2..ryt then..the flight was pretty uneventful..till the captain announced that we wud be descending..the contrast was noteworthy...the area arnd delhi airport is pretty much uninhabited..loadsa empty fields..i even caught a few cows grazing lazily..delhi is nt my hometown..but is one thats dear 2 me..the spunk..the vibes...the attitude 2 live life king size..mahn!!!its hard 2 find d same spirit elsewhere...u l counter me by saying dat every city has its USP whch is hard 2 find elsewhere...say wat u want to..."par saddi dilli da jawaab nahi".. i had nt even stepped down frm the plane..but the feeling of being in delhi was already gripping me..i ws looking forward 2 spending some time in delhi..despite the humid conditions..the weather remains one of the major drawbacks of being in delhi..but then somewhere it fades in comparison to the advantages of being in delhi...easy and flexible transport..amiable people..language u knw n understand..cheaper living..(talk about it!!)..on my way home frm the airport..i breathed in the familiar delhi air as much as i could...so wat if it was somewhat stale wid pollution..it was worth it..it had been 4 years..i remembered my evenings in mayur vihar phase 2...in centrestage mall n wave cinemas..in PVRs n connaught place..in palika bazaar n sarojini nagar...in a DTC bus to rohini 2 go 2 my cousin's in-laws' place n in the metro 2 dwarka frm yamuna bank n return..in bikaner house 2 catch a bus back 2 boarding(arghhh..)n in dhaula kuan...delhi is nt just abt india gate n qutub minar folks!!!the real delhi lies in paschim vihar..in kalindi kunj(yup!!)..in hauz khas..in mayur vihar..rohini n countless places like dis..delhi here i come..i l crib later..abt power n water..abt heat n having nothing 2 do...but for nw..i was mesmerized wid Delhi...yet again..for the umpteenth tym...
Monday, August 10, 2009
terrorized!!!
i m doing the thng i least wanted...running away!!!
deserting the city i luv...my friends...like an absolute bloody coward..who is selfishly smhw trying 2 save his skin..the college closed down abruptly and the event of thngs made it compulsory for me 2 catch a flight out...so m outta pune...for a week at least...gonna b moving like a vagabond...dis is so nt hw i wanted 2 go home..leaving...well quite honestly another home...it may sound unnecessary n quite dramatic too...but my apologies 2 all of u whom i hav let down with my act of cowardice...just a day after pledging i wud nt leave pune..i had 2..rather i am..i am at a loss 2 describe wat i am going through..but its certainly not pleasant..
i sincerely hope n pray all of you remain safe n healthy..plz use mask..it helps more than being widout ny protective covering..n nt the ordinary 10 rs or 2 rs one...the proper 3 M or N 95 ones..else its as gud as using an ordinary handkerchief..
be safe..be healthy...tk precautions..
god bless pune n puneites...god spare humanity now!!!
enough!!
deserting the city i luv...my friends...like an absolute bloody coward..who is selfishly smhw trying 2 save his skin..the college closed down abruptly and the event of thngs made it compulsory for me 2 catch a flight out...so m outta pune...for a week at least...gonna b moving like a vagabond...dis is so nt hw i wanted 2 go home..leaving...well quite honestly another home...it may sound unnecessary n quite dramatic too...but my apologies 2 all of u whom i hav let down with my act of cowardice...just a day after pledging i wud nt leave pune..i had 2..rather i am..i am at a loss 2 describe wat i am going through..but its certainly not pleasant..
i sincerely hope n pray all of you remain safe n healthy..plz use mask..it helps more than being widout ny protective covering..n nt the ordinary 10 rs or 2 rs one...the proper 3 M or N 95 ones..else its as gud as using an ordinary handkerchief..
be safe..be healthy...tk precautions..
god bless pune n puneites...god spare humanity now!!!
enough!!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
oxford of east
it hurts 2 see the trauma puneites are gng thru...swine flu has caused such a terror among the ppl of pune...dat ppl r fleeing the city at d 1st chance they get..its mayhem here...ppl r lining up at Naidu hospital...chaos..confusion everywhere
pune has a special place in my heart...nt only has dis plce been my home for the past 3 yrs..(n d next 2 at least)...but its d place where i v had the best days of my life...i found my life here..my identity...the essence of my life...luv...friends...family...everythng here...frm peace 2 contentment..this place has virtually gvn me everythn i desired...n dats y it hurts 2 see pune traumatised...i may nt b a "marathi manoos" cuz despite several attempts...i cud nt learn the language..but m a punekar 2 d core...i did nt flee the city wen north indians were under attack...n hopefully i wnt hav 2 desert the city cuz of swine flu..the oxford of east is suffering due to the terror of a beast...lesser mortals like me live in constant hope...may god shower his blessings on punekars n humanity as a whole n end dis ordeal soon
dunno hw it shall be tomorrow...but hopefully this ends asap...
be careful...stay safe...n if u can...use a mask...
pune has a special place in my heart...nt only has dis plce been my home for the past 3 yrs..(n d next 2 at least)...but its d place where i v had the best days of my life...i found my life here..my identity...the essence of my life...luv...friends...family...everythng here...frm peace 2 contentment..this place has virtually gvn me everythn i desired...n dats y it hurts 2 see pune traumatised...i may nt b a "marathi manoos" cuz despite several attempts...i cud nt learn the language..but m a punekar 2 d core...i did nt flee the city wen north indians were under attack...n hopefully i wnt hav 2 desert the city cuz of swine flu..the oxford of east is suffering due to the terror of a beast...lesser mortals like me live in constant hope...may god shower his blessings on punekars n humanity as a whole n end dis ordeal soon
dunno hw it shall be tomorrow...but hopefully this ends asap...
be careful...stay safe...n if u can...use a mask...
Adam Gilchrist
arguably the most devastating wicket-keeper batsman,he is doubtlessly the most dangerous batsman 2 hav ever walked on the pitch at no.7..dressed in whites or colors...every bowler dreaded running up frm his mark 2 bowl 2 him...afterall how many batsman hav scored an undefeated century at no.7 only in his 2nd test wen ur team faces a mammothian target of over 370 on a hostile 5th day WACA pitch...is 116/5 and yet wins the test against a pace battery of wasim akram, shoaib akhtar n waqar younis by 4 wickets..??he scored a double century in 216 balls..blasted the lankan attack in the 09 world cup final...single handedly crushed the delhi daredevils in IPL09 semis...etc.etc.etc..add to this...his immense value behind the stumps n u get a package hitherto unknown in the cricket arena..this man finds his name in ny dream-team...he was one of the players who found themselves in the coveted wisden's list of "players of the century"...who "walked" wen he knew he was out..even after the umpire had r uled him not out...dat too in a world cup semis...this man brought an honesty to the game..n more significantly...2 the aussie team..dat at his time was lacking...he became an icon for lesser models like me cuz of his savage batting...but created a place for himself in history cuz of his honesty...i v followed his entire career..n v never found him lacking in upholding the spirit of the game...he was a player par comparison...as teams found out yet again in the recently concluded IPL..sure..he does nt hav as many runs as ponting or sachin..the arrogance of hayden...the records like lara or a technique like dravid...but he made up for all these with the sheer confidence with whch he backed himself up...he was as invaluable as any in the history of the game..and wud hav found a place in ny team at ny gvn time...being a part of three consecutive world cup winning teams is no mean a task...n certainly not..wen u hav played a mercurial part as he did..sure..he had his own weaknesses..as flintoff bothered him wid the "just outside the off stump line frm round the wicket"...but he successfully covered it up by hoisting everythn over midwidket...wat he lacked in technique was made up with aggression...i m nt sure hw many coaches will actually train u 2 build ur batting like his...but m sure that none will ask u to alter it if u alrdy bat like him..2 hav a package like him happens once in a lifetime...n we are lucky enuf 2 witness it all in our generation...sure...great cricketers come in every generation...but there never was...nor will there ever be...another...Adam Craig Gilchrist!!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
i had initially thot of rytng abt the much-talked abt "swine flu" but so much is alrdy been takd abt it dat i hv lost my inclination abt it...folks may nt b able 2 tell u who the governor of maharashtra is...but they can easily tell u the variety of masks available in the market...i mean sure...the problem is too grave to be summarized in mere words...but i also feel dat the media hype coupled wid government lethargy has multiplied the effect manifolds...ppl are freaking out...scared 2 d core..terrorized 2 d hilt..(that includes yours sincerely)..watever happend 2 responsible journalism...well watta say abt it?tk all the precautionary measures...keep ur surroundings clean...n pray fervently that neither u or ur loved ones fall a prey 2 it...also 4 sm days...let us all nt try 2 b heroic...agreed ki "jab jab jo jo hona hai...tab tab so so hoega"...but it still doesnt mk ny sense to invite trouble...does it???so tk the precautions...report ny symptoms immediately...n b safe...may god be wid us all...
ryt then...wid swine flu outta consideration...wat else cn v talk abt?there r no movies worth discussing...(sorry imtiaz ali....i was a bit too disappointed wd ur "love aaj kal"...)..i havent read ny books for a while now..i indeed hav started reading...hold ur breath..."Pride n Prejudice" for the 1st tym in my life...n 2 b blatantly honest...its way 2 heavy for me..not just the archaic english..but the plot and the grammar...its tkn a toll on me...i m quite ashamed to call myself a "voracious reader" anymore...but 2moro i m gng 2 gv another sincere n honest shot...
my college fest has been postponed indefinitely...n almost every1 is a tad disappointed...ryt nw it remains 2 b seen whethr v can actually fit it in our acad calendar or nt..but i feel dat it was a justified decision..wen ppl r panicking left n ryt...der is no point holding a fest where the zeitgeist will nt be wat it shud be...like it or nt...swine flu has engulfed one of my fav cities...n sadly its gng 2 stay dat way for a while...all v can do is hope n pray...n as i said earlier...tk the precautions...for me...i m gng 2 keep battling till i can...n ask u all 2 do the same...
stay healthy...be safe..
fickle
shall i hear the lament of the nightingale, submissively lending my ear?
am i the rose to suffer its cry in silence, year after year?
the fire of my verses gives me courage and bids me no more to be faint
with dust in my mouth, i am abject: to you i make my complaint
sometimes you favor my rivals then sometimes with me you are free
i am sorry to say it so boldly, you are no less fickle than me!
am i the rose to suffer its cry in silence, year after year?
the fire of my verses gives me courage and bids me no more to be faint
with dust in my mouth, i am abject: to you i make my complaint
sometimes you favor my rivals then sometimes with me you are free
i am sorry to say it so boldly, you are no less fickle than me!
Friday, August 7, 2009
blog aaj kal
i had been planning 2 start a blog since ages..but smhw it never materialized b4 2day...07/08/09 seemed as auspicious a day as i was ever gng 2 get...ppl blog for a variety of reasns but i hav no specific reasn 2 start blogging..its a mix of loads of reasns...n it certainly does nt involve a few reasns...my peers told me regular blogging improves the hold on the language...so daat was certainly one...then i also wanted 2 express my views abt certain thngs...discuss a few things wid fellow bloggers..i never wanted 2 blog 2 take digs at ny1...the way a ceratin mr.khan often tries 2 rip apart Shah Rukh Khan..but always in vain...y waste ur energy n tym trying 2 rip sm1 apart wen he cares a damn...is n shall remain beyond my limited scope of understanding...
i m a born cricket fanatic n a ferocious reader(fiction only)..n A R Rahman's music is one of the things i swear by...so most of the times i l be found talking abt these thngs...feel free 2 comment on my posts..n on my views...we apparently live in democracy...
that shall be it for now...
cheers!!!
i m a born cricket fanatic n a ferocious reader(fiction only)..n A R Rahman's music is one of the things i swear by...so most of the times i l be found talking abt these thngs...feel free 2 comment on my posts..n on my views...we apparently live in democracy...
that shall be it for now...
cheers!!!
intro
well...finally after a hell lot of deliberation n thinking...m here wid my blog...
gotta rush ryt nw...but shall be bk soon enuf...
gotta rush ryt nw...but shall be bk soon enuf...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
