पुन्हा गारवा, गारवा रीलोडेड

आपल्या आवडत्या गारवा ऍल्बम च्या एका क्लासिक गाण्याच्या कवितेपासुन प्रवृत्त होउन माहिती तंत्रद्न्यानातल्या कामगारांची ही गाथा:

मूळ कविता:
कवी: सौमित्र
 
ऊन जरा जास्त आहे, दर वर्षी वाटतं
भर उन्हात पाऊस घेउन, आभाळ मनात दाटतं
तरी पावलं चालत राहतात, मन चालत नाही
घामा शिवाय शरीरा मध्ये कोणीच बोलत नाही

तितक्यात कुठुन एक ढग सूर्या समोर येतो,
तितक्यात कुठुन एक ढग सूर्या समोर येतो,
उन्हा मधला काही भाग, पंखांखाली घेतो
वारा उनाड मुला सारखा, सैरा वैरा पळत राहतो
पाना फुला झाडांवरती, छपरावरती चढून पाहतो

दुपार टळून संध्याकाळचा सुरु होतो पुन्हा खेळ,
उन्हा मागून चालत येते, गार गार कातरवेल
चक्क डोळ्यांसमोर ऋतु कूस बदलून घेतो,
पावसा आधी ढगांमध्ये कुठुन गारवा येतो ?
 
 
(मूळ कवीची माफी मागुन) विडंबन:


काम जरा जास्त आहे, रोज ऑफिस मध्ये वाटतं
चाल ढकल करत करत, काम वाढत राहतं
जरी डेडलाईन फिक्स असते, तरी काळजी वाटत नाही
कारण आळसा शिवाय शरीरा मध्ये कोणीच बोलत नाही


तितक्यात कुठुन एक ईमेल इन्बॉक्स मध्ये येतो,
तितक्यात कुठुन एक ईमेल इन्बॉक्स मध्ये येतो,
प्रोडक्टिव टाइम चा काही भाग, ईमेल वाचण्यात जातो
जिथून तिथून फॉर्वर्ड होउन, ईमेल नुसता फिरत राहतो
फायरवॉल स्पॅम ची बंधनं मोडत, इतरांचा वेळ खात राहतो


ईमेल नंतर सुरु होतो वेळ घालवण्याचा दुसरा खेळ,
चाहा कॉफी चा आस्वाद घेत, वाया जातो आपला वेळ
चक्कं डोळ्यांसमोर डेडलाईन मिस होताना पाहतो,
तरी चांगल्या अपरेझल ची आपण, कशी अपेक्शा ठेवतो ?

Rendezvous with Rajnikanth

OK, I’ve been away for a while from blogging and watching movies, respecting other priorities. I watched Dabangg recently, but that didn’t really impress me enough to write a blog on. Yesterday I watched Robot, and this definitely set my cells racing to pen down how I felt it.


I was hitherto never too inclined towards watching a Rajnikant movie, not that its anathema to me, but watching his action on youtube was enough to be entertained. I recently saw “Shivaji, the Boss”- another cult Tamil movie with Rajni’s patented action sequences, never had action been so hilarious to me before :).

Yesterday was the first time I saw a Rajni movie in a theatre- hoping a hilarious Sunday morning after a busy Saturday. To my surprise though, I found this movie to be truly interesting. It is hilarious, where it should be; at the same time it keeps the interest aroused throughout.

This movie directed by Shankar portrays Vasi (Superstar Rajnikant) as the protagonist- who creates Chitti after 10 years of rigorous efforts. Chitti is an obedient Robot, has knowledge of everything under the sun, yet smart enough not to reveal whatever’s meant to be top secret; is physically as powerful as 100 men, yet a feeling / emotion less machine. Danny plays the antagonist- getting into loggerheads with Vasi out of jealousy. Danny misuses his authority to reject Chitti’s use in helping armed forces. Danny refers Chitti as an emotion less piece of iron who cannot take decisions based on emotions, hence could prove more dangerous than being helpful. Vasi infuses emotions in Chitti, gets him closest to being a human being, but this backfires as Chitti falls in love with Sana (Aishwarya Rai)- Vasi’s girlfriend. Danny plays his cards to influence Chitti against Vasi, and makes him an absolute destroyer. Chitti multiplies himself to form an army of Robots, and finally Vasi works all his ways to save the city and get Chitti back to being a “Good Robot”.

Movie maintains a decent pace and interest till the intermission, brevity in action at a few instances is a welcome change (I believe Rajnikant’s ageing bones are revolting these days :)). Post intermission the movie does lose its pace for a while, but the “Bad” Chitti makes sure you stay seated. Movie runs for 3 complete hours, but could have been more interesting had the director cut a few songs and script writer trim a few unwanted sequences (the mosquito chase for example.) Apart from all these, I believe Shankar has pretty well managed to make his virgin attempt in sci-fi genre, a success (much better than how Rakesh Roshan would have managed). This movie has some amazing sets, (finally laboratories in Indian movies are getting modern and no more show boiling chemicals and flickering LEDs :)); Songs are mediocre, lyrics are senseless off-course :) but are picturised at some beautiful locations, and movie can definitely boast of some good graphics.

All in all, this movie carries all the elements that truly have worked together over years to help Shivajirao Gaikwad take a leap above mediocrity and dwell among the stars as Rajnikant. Mind it- its not surprising that “Superstar” apltly forms an Esquire for Rajnikant, naturally :).

Note: (read: Warning for Microsoft) While typing this blog I realized that MS Word doesn’t recognize “Rajnikant” and suggests it as a possible mis- spell. High time Microsoft realizes and corrects it, before the wrath of Rajni harms them ;).

A lovely affair

“To the light in your eyes and sun in your smile!”- Karan raised his wine, admiring the dimple formed on a blushing cheek. He was happy; a beautiful day spent with his fiancée didn’t tire him. Alisha was happy too; nothing more could she ask from this day which would conclude on a beautiful evening, spent on a candle light dinner with the one she loved.


Alisha and Karan had recently been engaged. It was just a couple of months back that they first met each other, that one too was a similar evening. Cool breeze swept the lawns while the two families introduced each other. Alisha and Karan were two absolutely different souls- racing on different professional tracks, with different paths and different tastes. Soon they discovered a few common traits; Both were candid in their communication, thought well to decide, maintained a huge friend circle, and had consciously managed to believe that were to go for an arranged marriage. These traits, however, didn’t make their personalities parallel; but then- parallels never intersect, do they? Three meetings were enough to get them betrothed for life, they got engaged the traditional way, and now they had some quality time to spend before both said- “I do.”

Their courtship had just begun; and monsoon being round the corner, boasted of the right atmosphere for the right moments. Today was the first time they were to spend the whole day together. It was a busy Saturday early morning while Karan had his car all geared up. Alisha was ready when Karan picked her up at her residence, an orange T shirt over black jeans, and an aroma that instantly spread around, he found her mesmerizing. Driving and chatting with music played around, they never realized when they crossed the city limits. They were now on a lonely road, driving patiently and enjoying the countryside, the track on the audio CD read a marathi track- "Gaarwa..varyavar bhir bhir bhir paarwa....". The mood was just getting right, the lush greenery around would bet- how green can your green get??

They chatted a lot- from books to movies, Dev Anand to Aamir Khan, from India to America :)- all facts and pep talk, what was romantic- was only the music coming from the car audio- it now read - “Bol na halke halke…”. They soon discovered that the mist in the air and greenery around deserved more attention than they were offering. A few halts on the way, a few photo clicks and the breeze- all they enjoyed before halting for a cup of tea; a brew in the mist with “Pyaar hua ikraar hua hai…” on the track, things couldn’t get better. They moved on, halting occasionally at a few waterfalls to get wet, just as the Yuva track suggested- “Ho ne do, dil ko…Fanaaa….udd ne do, har ek who tamannaa……”.

A decent resort on the way seemed to offer a great lunch. After all the fun, they needed some good food, he enjoyed chicken and she didn’t mind. Resort offered a soothing ambience, to make things better was the instrumental music in background, coincidently and rightly it played the tune for- “Dil kya kare jab kisise…kisiko pyaar ho jaye..”. Both felt comfortable, chatting along and discovering each other was interesting- “Who was the first person you had a crush on?”, “Did you ever feel infatuated?”, “What made you choose me?” and so on…

Returning back was equally enjoyable, monsoon showers were heavier than before, and music better. “Chupke se..lag ja gale..” on the track didn’t wary Alisha…she wasn’t as filmy as Karan was :). It was a long drive they had covered, which got them back in the city by dinner time. A shot of wine was what Karan demanded; Alisha had no objections, as she believed he deserved it, after having made her day.

“What are you thinking about?”- Karan interrupted Alisha. “About the good times”- Alisha replied. “You mean Kingfisher Strong?” Karan winked.

It had been a fruitful day, and definitely one they both would cherish. Promising each other of more such weekends and making a commitment for a better courtship and even better life together, Karan smiled while Alisha bid a farewell for the day…the dark silence around reverberated the mood, while the car audio played the Kismat Connection track which read- “Is this love…maine na jaana….”.

Benevolent India

A few khadi figures in New Delhi get way too benevolent when any natural calamity strikes South East Asia. They are the first ones to feel the quakes, the first ones to bleed and cry blood whenever something pinches our neighbours, esp. Pakistan.


Pakistan these days is hit by the worst floods in 80 years. Indians had announced an aid of USD 5 million to help rehabilitate (themselves and) those hit by the flood. Our honourable external affairs minister Mr. S M Krishna (after being recently humiliated in Pakistan) has shamelessly forgotten all bygone, and says- "As a more concrete assessment of the damage inflicted by this natural disaster and the urgent needs of the people of Pakistan emerges, government has decided to increase its assistance to Pakistan from USD 5 million, announced earlier, to USD 25 million". I wonder how in 60 years they haven’t been able to concretize their assessment of poverty within India.

Helping our neighbours will only hold good when we ourselves are self-sufficient. When we aren’t responsible for the natural calamity, and aren’t self sufficient ourselves, why on earth do we need to spend so much money in helping a neighbour like Pakistan?

I feel India is plagued with nurturing ostentatious mannerisms at the cost of tax-payers’ hard earned money. Rearing one the poorest populace on earth, we take pride in housing the largest Presidential residence in the world, spending (wasting?) crores in its monthly maintenance. We get to gather lot of (money and) pride by boasting the abilities to host the Commonwealth games. We spend crores in directing the drama of Ajmal Kasab, when the whole country knows that he will never be hanged, and will lead a secure life in India, while his petition will remain dust ridden with our honourable President for decades to come. All in all- a great show depicting the greatness of Indian democracy gets presented in front of the whole world, while Mahatma Gandhi’s (who open heartedly contributed Rs. 56 crores to “rebuild” Jinnah’s Pakistan) soul remains happy. The fact that half the population of India is half naked and sleeps hungry every night, stays comfortably ignored.

I believe the next line of action of our Pak-hearted politicians should be to make every attempt to get the Pakistani cricketers clean out of the match fixing allegations slapped on them. Every small help extended to our neighbours shall add on the credit side of their balance sheet meant for the “ultimate justice” (in hell).

Helping Pakistan is like feeding milk to a snake, Indian politicians don’t mind it, as long as it (as they assume) helps them gather the minority votes. Chanakya- one of the greatest philosophers and politicians of all times- suggests that- “It’s a snake’s trait to bite, so even if you feed it with milk, it will leave no chance to bite you”.

“Love thy neighbour” is what every religion teaches, but “Charity begins at home”, is what should matter more. It’s high time we follow Chanakya in Politics, rather than Gandhi.

When fate saves...

Have you ever experienced this? Sometimes a thought strikes from nowhere, and your mind unconsciously follows it, without asking- why? You act instantly, least bothered to think deeper and being absolutely unaware that you are actually being taken away from a nemesis.

It happened with me this weekend. With nothing major to do and an official tour coming up for my brother, my family decided to spend the weekend with my uncle in Thane. Saturday passed faster than I anticipated and spending half of our day in Nirmal Lifestyle- Mulund, we (my parents and I) started back to Pune, leaving my brother behind to finish his official work and return the next day.

It was when we hit the Mumbai-Pune expressway that my father suggested we take the older highway. I was excited, I’d never been through it and was told its at its best in monsoon. I took the Khopoli exit and started on the older highway. With lush greenery all around, we enjoyed the smooth climb on Khandala ghat.

A wrong turn led us back on the expressway. I thought to continue the rest of my journey on the expressway, as the exciting ghat was over and we could reach home faster. I paid no heed to the Khandala exit and continued on the expressway, driving my Santro at around 100 kms an hour. It was now that a thought came to my mind- driving on the extreme right lane, I saw a board which said- “Lonavala Exit- 500 m ahead”, I told my father- “Let’s take the exit and continue on the older one, why pay another toll?” About 150 – 200 meters prior to the exit, I cut my speed and started cutting the lanes to get to the left exit lane.

While Lonavala exit was at a stone’s throw, I suddenly saw a Honda City- skidding across the highway it made a complete 360 degree horizontal turn, cutting lanes from left to right and finally hitting hard on the back on the road divider. All this happened barely 60 - 80 metres from where I was, and no vehicle between my Santro and the battered Honda City. Thankfully, there was no other vehicle in vicinity in the 2 right lanes, and accident wasn’t fatal. The driver was the lone traveler in that car, and he seemed safe- absolutely bewildered though.

What could have possibly happened is (out of what I observed there)- the driver of Honda City was about to take the Lonavala exit, but changed his mind at the eleventh hour to remain on the expressway. A Tempo Trax (or something similar) that was driving in the extreme left lane could have unintentionally pushed the Honda City, being unaware that it may continue on the expressway. A slight push on the back at around 80 – 90 kmph matters a lot. Thankfully Honda City wasn’t fast enough to get itself tumbled on the road.

Made me think- what would have happened had I not thought of getting off the expressway to hit the older highway? Being in the extreme right lane, and driving at approximately 100 kms an hour, I could have either rammed the skidding car at 90 degrees, or maybe the car skid could have rammed my car into the road divider- losses not to be estimated. At the end of all this- I was happy my parents and I (also my car :-)) were safe.

Whatever made me get off the expressway, definitely saved me from losses. But what is it? Call it my fate or my good luck? I believe there are certain things which cannot be proven, why they happen- cannot be explained. But at times it definitely makes you appreciate what the situation presently is, as it is much better than what it could’ve been.

Working from home..

Its rare that I work from home, coz. working from home is not well penetrated in Indian way of working yet, and I find it a burden to carry my laptop home everyday. Today I did, and this was a planned one. The planned palkhi (a religious procession once a year) route was right next to where my office is, road block notice released by Pune traffic control was to affect my way directly, thus- I had a reason to convince my manager. He allowed me to work from home today.

Although I sincerely worked for 8 hours, I happened to discover a few advantages I can derive by occasionally working from home:

• Avoid the traffic chaos (this obviously is the major one...)
• Avoid going through that pathetic Nagar Road and the depressing Kharadi- Mundhwa bypass (yuck...that area sucks. :(... )
• I can be at ease, wearing my bermuda shorts at work
• Spend more time playing with my baby niece
• Have a complete meal at lunch (which only happens n weekends...)
• Ocassionally watch television, work with music turned on and loud
• Chat on Gtalk, without worrying if my manager watches out..
• Spend more "official" time on Facebook
• Maybe even have a short nap after lunch (although I've not tried yet, but seems a good option :)..)
• Speak on my phone without rushing to search an empty meeting room
• Be flexible with my time and actions, as no one is watching :)

This list can keep on updating, maybe my readers suggest a few more which I can implement next time I work from home. I only pray my manager doesn't read this post, I may have a tough time convincing him next time. :)

A tryst with monsoon...

"उद्या राजगड ला कार ने जाणार आहेस का?" (Will you be driving down to Rajgad tomorrow?) Aai asked me while I was busy packing things for my trek next day. "नाही, बाईक ने". "आणि पाउस पडला तर?" (What if it rains??) - a concerned mom. "भिजायलाच तर चाललो आहे :)"- I chuckled- we had planned to get wet in the rains.

So much I love roaming on weekends in monsoon, thanking my parents for having raised me in this beautiful city- whose surroundings only get better with every shower. I've always loved Pune for this- whichever way you go- pass 25 kms and you enter what could well qualify a countryside. The magnificent Sahyadris welcome you with open arms, lonely plain roads cutting through the hills, hosting a few tiny villages on the way...fresh air and lush greenery all around, and occasional showers only add to the fun. All you need is a free Saturday / Sunday, a bunch of pals, bikes / car and loads of exuberance. No planned destinations needed, as the drive itself is worthwhile. Not to miss a cup of steaming hot tea and a plate of "pohe" in some makeshift restaurant on the way.

2009 was a rather lean year for my monsoon trails- courtesy- my neck deep pile of work in Zensar Technologies- that had me spend (read- waste) most of my weekends in office. This year is much better for many reasons, and I plan not to waste any weekend and leave behind more monsoon memoirs, while covering up the time wasted last year. I only wish it starts raining again....sooner than later..:)

Mahabharat and Bollywood

Mahabharat finds a place among the best of classics and the most respected mythological epics of India. Hardly anyone can remain out of the charismatic sphere it builds- be it the Bhagvad Gita, the larger than life characters, the situations, the principles, the ethics, the morals and the politics. Mahabharat has inspired a few Bollywood directors- who could base a modern day story on it. Apart from the recent Rajneeti, Kalyug is a rather forgotten classic that inherits from Mahabharat. This 1981 classic directed by Shyam Benegal is a modern day adaptation of Mahabharat. Although a different script entirely, the characters and situations pose a striking similarity with it.


A race to grab government contracts emerges an age old feud between two rival business families- owned by first cousins Dhanraj and BharatRaj. Karan Singh (Shashi Kapoor) plays the protagonist, his role being parallel to that of Karna- the most chivalrous and respected, yet fate deprived character of Mahabharat.

Bhishmachand (Bhishma pitamah) is a life-long bachelor and rears the sons of Ramchand- Khubchand (a physically disabled “Dhritrashtra”) and Puranchand (the impotent “Pandu”). Khubchand begets two sons- Dhanraj (“Duryodhan” played by Victor Banerjee) and SandeepRaj (“Dushasan” played by Akash Khurana).
Dharamraj (“Yudhishtir” played by Raj Babbar), Balraj (a Pandav played by Kulbhushan Kharbanda ) and BharatRaj (“Arjun” played by Anant Nag) are sons of Puranchand (although later discovered to be biologically fathered by “Swamiji”). Karan is an orphan raised by Bhishmachand. Kishan uncle (“Krishna” played by Amrish Puri) is BharatRaj’s proposed father in law and business advisor.

Story begins with Dhanraj (with the help of his trusted and business smart lieutenant Karan) gaining a lucrative government contract defeating his cousins. BharatRaj, unlike his brothers, takes the matter very seriously and smartly grabs the contract through a legal way out. Situation unfurls for worse and this triggers a series of events. Bhishmachand’s futile attempts to mediate make the matters out of control and lead to a tragic turn.

Karan Singh out smarts BharatRaj almost all the time, getting him on BharatRaj’s hit list. Dhanraj, despite Karan Singh’s opposition on moral terms, plots to kill BharatRaj, but his men accidently kill the young son of Balraj. BharatRaj’s hate and prejudice makes him believe it as an act of Karan Singh, and finally BharatRaj’s men kill Karan when he is busy fixing his car tyre (again- Karna was killed by Arjun when the wheel of his chariot got stuck in the mud). Meanwhile a tensed Dhanraj ends himself, and BharatRaj breaks emotionally when he discovers that he had killed his own kin, Karan being the child bore by BharatRaj’s mother out of wedlock. Story finally ends with the destruction of the two families, posing a question over the brittleness of our moral fabric.

Haven't seen a better adaptation of an age old epic in "Kalyug".

Prisoner of Stars

These days, most of the Indians planning to get married (the traditional way) seem to be "Prisoners of Stars". I call them so for their sheer over dependence on stars / astrology for taking life’s most important decision- marriage.

A typical Indian arranged marriage begins with the horoscope match, which is the first and possibly the hardest criteria to filter “good” prospective partners. Stars decide the compatibility, what the intellect suggests, comes later. Loads of dependencies follow suit- you cannot marry a partner who descends from your “Gothra”, if you are a “Dev” gan, you cannot marry a “Rakshas” gan, if you are a non-Manglik, you cannot marry a Manglik, etc. Being Manglik is a taboo, it’s like being HIV +ve, everyone runs away from marrying you :). Although perfectly normal in regular life, Mangliks risk the partner's life by transferring misfortune (if not sexually transmitted virus ;)), at times to the extent of causing an untimely death.

It would be incorrect for me to comment negative about Astrology as a science, unless I know everything about it (little knowledge is a dangerous thing, isn’t it?), but then, if it is a science, it should have a standard result. E.g. A certain set of astrological (star) positions should result in a common outcome, whoever on earth reads it, so how is it that each astrologer (guruji) reads it and comes up with his own set of results? Is there any measure to validate the exactness of an astrologer’s predictions? To me, it’s nothing more than a few blind men observing an elephant by their sense of touch- one who touches the legs, calls it a pillar, and another touching the tail, calls it a rope :).

They say the most important decisions in life should be taken by placing your head above your heart. Only your own sane intellect, and not an emotional heart can decide what is best for you. Even nature has placed our head above our heart. (But nature has also placed the stars way above our mortal heads, maybe that gives it an upper hand.)

I truly wonder how people base the most important decisions of their lives, not on what their eyes see, brain thinks and intellect suggests, but on matters they don’t even understand completely. More practical we get in this, more successful marriages we may produce.

Maa Kasam, Filmi hai… :)

Each one of us loves Bollywood for various reasons, be it the movies, songs, dances or the sheer glamour attached to it. Some people are absolute Bollywood maniacs. Remembering situational filmi dialogues gets into their reflexes and living the movie characters and enacting dialogues sometimes becomes an unconscious and effortless action.

One such maniac named Amit and I would often get into situations where our regular conversation would unconsciously become a collage of filmi dialogues from different movies. We had mastered the art of comfortably chipping in these dialogues in apt situations :). Such was the influence that even Farooq (who was our room mate and hitherto wasn’t “filmi” enough) got inspired and one day delivered a situational dialogue that had us ROTFLOL. It was the fabricated version of "क्रोध को पालना सीख, बेटा काशी" from the movie- “Ghatak” (the actual words Farooq said and the situation is censored :)).

Bollywood mania runs to the bone in some extraordinary human beings- they can form a filmi stance even in serious practical situations. I’ve heard out raged people saying “अगर तुमने माँ का दूध पिया है तो...”, or an overly romantic one saying – “We share a very good Chemistry among us…”. Some arrogant ones say- “अपना इस्तीफा मैं जेब में लिए घूमता हूँ”, while some overly hurt ones use- “मैं तुम्हे मरते दम तक माफ़ नहीं करूँगा / करुँगी” :D. That is simply hillarious.

A normal Software engineer comes across various situations in his professional day when he can comfortably chip in some really cool movie dialogues.
Imagine Mr. X is a software engineer with Cabbage Software Pvt. Ltd, Pest Avenue- Nathaninagar. A slightly arrogant (and absolutely “Filmi”) Mr. X’s typical day would begin by checking his corporate email. He finds a list of bugs from the tester along with a filmi comment: “तुम एक fix दोगे, तो हम 4 bugs देंगे..” (source: Sholay).

Slightly annoyed over the comment, X rushes to the conference room to attend the SCRUM stand up meeting. When the tester starts boasting of and highlighting the high bug count, the filmy Mr. X reacts- "तू सिर्फ अपनी गिनती (bug count) बढ़ा रहा है". (Source: Ab Tak Chhappan). Out of excitement, he accepts the challenge to fix all bugs in a day, and makes a filmi statement- “एक बार जो मैंने commitment कर दी,  फिर तो मैं खुद की भी नहीं सुनता...” (source: Wanted).

X dons his thinking cap and starts working. A colleague approaches Mr. X for a smoke, and compels him to join- “सुट्टा मारा करो मियां, coding तो चलता रहता है...” (source: Maqbool).

By lunch time, X has fixed all the bugs. This is his time to serve against the tester, and he makes sure he scores an ace through- “यह लो-  तुम्हारा एक एक bug, मेरे दो दो fix, bug 1, fix 2” (source: Andaz Apna Apna).

Since X has taken the matter personally, tester runs a smoke test and rejects the build. DM calls Mr. X in his cabin and demands an explanation, X replies- “मुझे जो सही लगता है मैं करता हूँ, फिर वो चाहे test case के खिलाफ हो, project plan के खिलाफ हो, या फिर original requirements के ही खिलाफ हो...” (source: Sarkar). DM is in no mood of entertaining this “नौटंकी”, and Mr. X gets the music. Frustrated he comes out saying- “कभी tester तो कभी manager, हम कोई मंदिर का घंटा हैं के कोई भी आता है और बजा जाता है...” (source: Hungama)

He starts working again and gets irritated when the watch strikes 9. It’s again a longer day for him, he gets irritated and complains- “Deadline पे deadline, deadline पे deadline मिलती है, बस appraisal कभी नहीं मिलता...” (source: Damini). Finally he starts to wind up the day.

After a tough day it’s his last time to face the music- this time from his wife. She gets him black and blue (verbal only), but that too compels him to end his day in a filmi way- “हे भगवान…यह पत्नी है के पनौती है ? ” (source: Hungama).

After all this do I realize- how much Bollywood has penetrated in our life. Bollywood truly has a say, or should I say- a “literal say” in our everyday life, don’t you feel so? :).

A series of incidents...

Not sure if this is some sort of a nature's rule, but from what I have observed in past few days, the frequency of certain incidents happening around, suddenly increases. Sadly though, most of these incidents are negative.

These days almost daily we read about Indians being attacked in Australia and students commiting suicides across Maharashtra. Is it that such incidents didn't happen as much in the past? Or is the media more active in covering such reports these days??
Few days back we would also read reports of suicide bomb blasts in various Pakistani cities, almost everyday. Another negative incident on the fire.

The only positive series that I've observed is the series of good marathi movie being released these days :-) I sincerely envisage to see more such positive incidents happening in series, like:

• A series where more govt babus are being punished against corruption
• A series of more terrorists executed by Indian law
• Sensex constantly on the rise (easier dreamt though :-))
• A series of new scientific inventions

I believe one incident encourages the next one, next one further to a third one, and that begins a series.But in the brighter sense, if one negative incident fosters the next one, same should also be true with positive incidents.

Its a major responsibility with our media in such cases to cover and highlight more positive stories and spread more positiveness around.

Typical civic / traffic habits of Indians

Indian civic habits may very well suffice for a lengthy paperback. Although a small blog like this one will not cover the topic in its entirety, this is an attempt to highlight the major concerns faced by Indians, and most importantly- BECAUSE OF INDIANS.

These habits may more or less be similar in all major relatively uncivilized populace of undeveloped countries like India. My comments here come purely out of my experience in India and the US (and with contributions from television documentaries) and may not be a good read for pseudo-patriots.

Some strikingly noticeable civic rules formed by Indians (as these cannot officially form a part of any government rule book) at a high level:

• Lack of civic sense
• No responsibility towards the society one lives in
• Self favour, no concerns for fellow beings

Now for the things better explained:

• Unnecessary use of horns

• Use of polluting / honking horns- no control over its frequency, decibels, etc.

• Minimal / no use of indicators- I wonder why they use less necessary accessories more than the necessary ones, and vice-versa.

• Parking 2 wheelers on side stand- this way 1 vehicle consumes the space equivalent to two, and utmost care is taken that the next one who tries to park his 2 wheeler faces trouble in doing so.

• A horn when red signal turns green- assuming that all others are blind, or colour blind at least.

• Vehicles over Zebra crossing- an attempt to save the smallest moment lost when signal turns green.

• Spitting on roads- India is my country and I have every right to f**k it.

• Stopping vehicle wherever one feels like- what is the road tax paid for??

• No concern if it causes problem to others- who cares? We are in India…

• No concern over clearing roads for ambulance, fire brigade, etc.- Again, who cares??

• Cross a busy road wherever one likes to- we follow the "pedestrian first" rule anywhere and anytime.

• Night driving on high beam (dipper)- Everyone curses the opposite driver, no one cares to switch to dimmer himself.
  
  Can’t blame the politicians for anything and everything that goes wrong in society, but who does the introspection? It’s really hard for Indians to grow up to the likes of their laterals in developed nations, in civic / traffic sense, coz that would call for a compromise, and more importantly- a CHANGE IN SELF, which is not something “Indian”.

2009, the year it was…

It’s been 10 whole days that 2010 has commenced, another year becoming a yesteryear. Each 31st December we realize- we put behind an entire year, a bunch of moments that affected us somehow, some made us happy, and some penetrated deeper to change our lives entirely.

2009 was a very fruitful year for me. It began with me working on the year-end eve in office till 11 pm, and spending a half day alone in office on Jan 1, cursing my company (Cybage) as much as I could :-). Cybage HR policies were at its worst, market conditions were far from the hope of a quick revival, and to follow suit were my project deadlines. I was desperate to quit Cybage and it was in March, when I received a hard earned offer from Zensar Technologies; I didn’t think twice to switch my job.

My 5 month stint with Zensar began in April 2009, not knowing it was a sprint track that I was put on, and only thing expected from me was- to RUN, and keep running without getting tired. I had overcome the financial loss I would have otherwise encountered in Cybage, but that came with a price- I was to sacrifice my personal life to Zensar- NG ODC in particular. There was hardly a weekend I didn’t attend office, and not a day I reached home before 9 pm, things would SUCK.

Finally, just as vCustomer, Zensar proved to be a stepping stone, and finally I got into a company that I admired not only for its posh office and impressive growth, also for its typical “Marathi” culture- Persistent Systems Ltd. I didn’t think twice before accepting the offer. Life so far, is very good here and I have no regrets for the nights spent working hard in Zensar.

2009 was a year to make hay in the stocks as the sun was shining bright. One couldn’t expect a better time when succulent stocks were available in mouth watering prices. I was “investment literate” at the right time, and had great opportunities to put my theory into practice. Sometimes I feel- global recession started at the right time- it all began with Lehman Brothers getting bankrupt, and that happened just 4 days after I returned from 4 months’ stay in the US :-). I wasn’t short of my savings from US trip, thankfully, that made me an aggressive investor in stock markets.

This year also came with a lot of ups and downs in my personal life, from a few strained family matters to some of the most joyous moments. Many good friends got added, some of my best friends got married, some relations got stronger, some got weaker, a bit of “Emotional Atyachaar” towards the end of 2009, but all in all- more credit than debit :-) And, just like every year, I grew a year older in December, and this year I stepped into my late 20s (that means I came a year closer to 30 :-(.)

But finally, as it is said that all’s well that ends well, nothing better could happen than our family being blessed with a baby girl, my niece, on 6th December. After all these great gains and teachings, I have nothing but to thank God and 2009 for making my life better :-).