Remembering Home...

Remebring about the place I once belonged,
The place I called home,
Of the people I called my own
The faces that I knew
Of love and of warmth

Where childhood grew
And the youth got a name
Where I learnt to walk
Where I spoke my first words

Where I fell in love
Where I had my first heart break
Where I had people I still call my friends
Where every person I knew had a relation with me....

It still is in my heart,
And will always be...
And will be carried to my grave
And lay beside me as I sleep forever

Lost and Found....

An alphabet lost a word. The word lost its meaning
A meaning lost life. It was going nowhere
A direction lost a traveler. The traveler chose the road less trodden
A love lost two hearts. They were lost in each other before that
An innocence lost a child. He grew up to be a man
A melody lost its song. Never did we hear it hummed
A follower lost religion. He is free
A road lost its way. Now it goes everywhere
Losing is a journey, gaining is the destiny
I lost 'Me', to find 'We'
And 'We' lived happily ever after...

The Wanderers - I

I was not willing to let go off her hand. It was the final paging call for me and I knew this is the last time I would be holding her hand the way I did.

Two days ago when I landed at the Mumbai airport, she was already there. She had come to pick me up. I had booked a hotel for myself and didn’t want to bother her, but she insisted. I came out the airport and was welcomed with a warm hug. I knew them from a long time. I had their company at the weakest and the happiest moments of my life. I hanged on for little more time and so did she. Then I flung my bag to the rear of her car and placed myself on the passenger seat. I didn’t want to drive; she asked me “So, where is the master wishing to be driven?”, ‘Someplace where a hot cup of tea and a friend would be present’, I replied.

“So what about your Hotel?”

“There’s a booking and I can walk in anytime I want to, but not now”
I was tired and she understood, she didn’t speak all through the journey upto her apartment.

Only when I got down, did she tell “Apu passed away, last week”, her voice was quivering and I knew how much she loved him, her pet puppy. She had told me the day he passed away but I think people, when they are brooding, tend to forget stuffs.

Ali was at the lift, he has been managing the lifts ever since Mia moved into the apartment. Must be 6-7 years. I at times wonder, do these guys have anything like promotion. I mean what would be promotion for a lift guy, something like; Mr Ali is promoted and from tomorrow he would be working from 1st floor and upward only, no more ground job for him.

I walked into the lift behind Mia. He looked at me and smiled, I smiled back, no words exchanged. ‘Fourth Floor’ the mechanical voice of the lift announced. We walked out of the lift. Mia was walking infront of me. She was always in a hurry and I was dragging myself. Too much of work over the week had drained out all of my energy.

She rang the bell of her apartment, Bina Kaki was there. She has been taking care of her since her childhood days, almost a mom-like figure for both of us. She hugged me with that motherly affection of her, that I was very accustomed with. “Kitna dubla ho gaya hai(How thin are you looking)” she said, she is always like that. Very caring and very sweet. I just smiled and said “Iss baar lambi chhuti pe aaya hun, mota hoke hi jaunga (This time I am here for a longer time, I won’t leave before I am fat enough)” and both of us laughed.

Mia had been uncharacteristically quite since the morning. I knew there must be something bothering her but I waited for the right time to ask her.
Mia showed me the room I was meant to be in. I took a shower, changed my clothes and came out. The breakfast was ready and there was Bina Kaki’s special tea. Mia joined for the breakfast and tea.

“So how you feeling now?” she asked. “Fine, infact much better”, I replied. “I spoke to your mom, she was complaining that you have not been calling her up regularly?” she was a bit angry, trying to be my mom. She has been like that all the while.“Actually I have been a lot busy”“I think you just try to be irresponsible”, that was short and sharp.

I didn’t dare to speak more. We finished our breakfast. Carried our cup and went to our fav spot. It was her balcony. It opened to an artificial lake and greenery, a rarity in Mumbai. And something for which you pay an heavenly price.

We sat there for sometime filling ourselves with the serenity of the atmosphere around us. We knew, inside there was a turmoil that was building. She moved closer, laid her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes. I didn’t want to disturb her, I didn’t move a muscle.

“So how is your job treating you”, she broke the silence, without moving“I am liking it” I said. “And how have you been doing?”“Not bad either”, she said.“What are you reading now?”, she asked“Nothing, in fact not getting enough time”

I just loved it when she rested on my shoulder, and that fragrance of her body filled me with a sense of pride.

....To be continued....

Delhi Destiny...

After a long time there was going to be this long weekend and to add to that there was no client deliverables, so I had a long weekend and all for me… Swati was here. She was coming to Delhi for the first time and she wanted to be a tourist. I chose to be the guide. But unfortunately the weather played the villains and she decided not to roam around much. So we went to Old Delhi, I took her to Chandi Chowk. She was really thrilled to see the old Delhi, Love Aaj Kal had actually left a deep mark… Then we moved into the Love Kal mode, I mean we went to Amby Mal Gurgaon. And by the time we were through with one movie and a game of bowling, it was time to go to station. She had a train to catch to Shimla. I dropped her there and returned home…. It was a day well spent. We have been friends for more than 12 years and every time we meet, the kid within us surfaces and we let it play…

Its true, you can be yourself with your friends…

The Jaipur Trip...

This was one of the time when there was no planning before I embarked on this trip to Jaipur. It was one of the most impromptu decisions taken for a trip. Last weekend was a long one and thts when me and K decided to go on a trip. Shimla, Jaipur, Chandigarh and even Delhi trip were al discussed, a few friends were asked to join us but all denied and thts when we decided that come what may we would be going.
It was not one of the pleasant beginnings. We started with a hit on the road, by hit I mean we met with an accident as soon as we hit the road. But it was a minor one and I didn’t let tht affect K. She chose to drive and chose to drive her mad all the way with my sense of humor and choice of music. It was a long way to Jaipur, and the rain and beautiful weather just made the things better.
It was a wonderful road trip. Driving among the lush green fields, between hills and at times on the road between no where. Our first stop was at Midway, where we halted to have some tea and samosa. Then we again got rolling, this time me handling the wheels.
We reached Jaipur around 3-30 pm and headed straight for the Amer fort. It was drizzling and touring the whole fort on foot, with drizzle and cloud giving company was bliss. It helped us to enjoy it thoroughly. Where else would you have the pleasure of watching the fort in the dune city in the hues of greenery, but when it rains. I had heard tht a girls charms can help you achieve things, and k made me believe that, when she got both of us get into this boutique kinda place inside the fort, which is reserved for some serious buyers and must I say the things inside were real royal and royally expensive too. Your charms did the magic babe...
Then we moved to Chokhi Dhaani and it was an awesome place. With all those old world charm and everything around it felt like a walk into the past...
Jhoola, camel ride, bio scope, chuski, dal bhati, gatte, bullock carts and what not...
And when the time came to get back to the concrete jungle... We had no choice but to bundle up the memories in a safely treasured corner of the heart and keep it for eternity.
One of the most enjoyed trips in my life...

Kaminey: Awe'f'ome movie

There have been many times when we come across a path breaking movie, the one that doesn't go with the flow but tries to break the mould and try something different.
Kaminey is a movie that does exactly that. It makes people think, this certainly is not a movie that would have too many followers. Probably the mass connect of the movie is lacking. But then you can never sideline the fact that you are watching a movie that makes you sit on the edge of the seat all the time.
Well when we talk about the story, its about twin brothers, who happen to be chalk-and-cheese, then they are caught up in a crossroads, where they change lanes and how things take a turn from there on.
The ensemble of brilliant actors is just a beginning. Where would you have had Amol Gupte acting as Bhope Bhau. There is a long list of first time actors, Chandan Roy as Mikhail does a memorable act.
Shahid pitches in with one of his career's best performance and Priyanka just adds range to her already versatile acting prowess.
But at the end the movie is a vision of the director. The director, who has given us Indian version of some of William Shakespearen tales. With this one Vishal Bharadwaj stamps his authority at telling intelligent story, making himself stand out in the crowd of movie makers.
The movie would have been incomplete without the cuttting edge cinematography and brilliant music. The dark and dull look makes this movie look morbid which adds to the story line...
Watch out for the petrol pump scene between Shahid and Priyanka, Face off between the twins at the end, Amol Gupte (Bhope) and Chandan Roy (Mikhails) childish banter and of course the final action scene....
A must watch recommendation from my side.....

A Shortlived Vacation....

It was a cool evening yesterday and to my surprise the pleasantness stayed on till the morning. It was such a wonderful thing to see the sun wearing shades and not scaring you with its wrath. I love a day when it starts with an out-of-office message from sun and cool breeze blowing across. Its just an icing on the cake to know that the day happens to be a holiday... what else do you need.
No clients, no bosses, only bliss; sitting on the balcony sipping tea out of the zodiac mug (the one with your zodiac sign) and stretching lazily... Reading newspaper is a luxury tht hard working souls like us can rarely afford in the morning, but today was a different thing... I had sometime to flip through a morbid newspaper. Yes, morbid since you find swine flu written everywhere.

Well now that I have to rush to office, yes it was a shortlive one... and i tried to squeeze in some time for myself....

Love You Maa

I am off to home, not been long when I was last there but then whenever I feel exhausted or need to rejuvinate, nothing better than home comes to my mind.



I still remember long time back, a couple of decade ago i presume, when i was a little boy, i remember falling off a swing and banging my head against an iron rod. I had done some major damage near the right eye, tears had tricked down those eyes then, she had felt the pain more than me and she still does, when I am hurt. Yes Maa. She is always there for me and always loves mewithout telling me how much she loves me and how much I mean to her.

As children we all thought our mothers to be nothing sort of a super human, i mean where else would you find someone doing so many things and not even once thinking about herself.

Every exams we take are like her exams, she would stay up all night only to ensure that we dont fall asleep. And I doubt if we match her excitement every time we succeed in our life, she is the first one to celebrate our successes. And she is the first shoulder that we all like to hang on to at every small or big failures in our life. She is the emotional balance that we all cling on to.

I remember the day I left my home for further studies, she had emotions flowing down her eyes, and I know she still misses my presence. But she will never let me feel that. She is a strength that I always rely on.

I miss those hot cup of tea she used to serve me during the exam times, late in the night. I miss those shouting at me when I used to keep my room unclean. I miss her hand made food. I miss her pep talks when I am down. I miss my antakshari sessions with her. I miss her lullaby.



Maa this is for you: telling you that all that you have done to me and all that you would be doing I love you, I respect you and I miss you. I know you would be there for me when I need you the most and even when no one would be there to hold my hand, you would be there to take care of me...



LOVE YOU MAA

Sketch

याद है इक दिन -
मेरे मेज़ पे बैठे - बैठे,
सिगरेट की डिबिया पर तुमने,
छोटे से इक पौधे का,
एक स्केच बनाया था -

आकर देखो,
उस पौधे पर फूल आया है !

Mumbai Rain

Wet Wet Roads...
Woh Bheegi Bheegi Yaadein...

The promise of togetherness...

The romantic rain...

Why did u go away...

My weekend in Mumbai

I had one of the most wonderful weekend this week in Mumbai. Its fun to be in Mumbai with friends. But this time round there was a new visitor too. The rain, coming from Delhi, the heat had me in and I was in a dire need for something as refreshing and cool as rain and thats what I got in Mumbai.
Walking on sea beach, going to Colaba, are something that I am used to doing in Mumbai. But this time round I was more on an official visit and thats why I got to do this that I have not done. I went to places that I had not been to. It started with Lokhandwala. Now this is a place that I always thought to be a shabby li’l place with all those SEC C people and lo! I was in for a shock. I don’t know where this thing came into my mind but now I know that the myth is busted.
I had some really memorable moments: Walking from Colaba to CST, Taking a local train all alone, doing FW and visiting people in door-to-door interviews. Meeting a Lech who constantly ogled at the EIC. Meeting the most talkative girl I have ever seen in my life and if she is reading then she definitely gonna kill me.
All in all it was rejuvenating and refreshing for me. The rain, the people and the time in Mumbai was something that would keep me going for a long time.
And the usuals: Swati, Santanu and Vishal were their usual selfs. Swati and Santanu being busy in their exams, I had to wait till Sunday evening till we could do with something remotely close to partying, which we did atlast but I think that was really late. We had dinner at Vihangs and then watched movie, roamed around on the streets and reached airport at 2-30 so that I could check in before the flight departs...
P.S.: Guys there is a new story that I am writing so soon you are gonna have a nice read, I hope u gonna like it...

Women I would like to think about...

With 95% (Well the remaining 5% is reserved for Karan Johar and Co.) of male thinking about women all the time I was thinking who would be the women that I would like think about... So here comes the chart of top five women I would like to think about:
5.Fizz: Did I hear a who, well she is the character in Tarun Tejpal's 'Alchemy of Desire' cannot help but think about her, she is right now taking up almost 12% of my braind space, a very individualistic, independent and opinionated woman. Well, might not be as big as Scarlett O'hara but definitely more believable than her...
4. Priyanka Gandhi: Has been trying a lot to know her for a long time. She was a long time crush but then Aishwarya out lasted her and then there was Alicia Silverstone and so on... but now that she is making all the right noises I would definitely like to know her.
3. Megan Fox: You have seen her on the maxim cover and then she blew you off with her performance in Transformer, with tattoos all over her body, I would definitely like to know her, rather closely
2. Suu Kyi: Of course with the power that she has and the respect that she gets from her followers and the conviction she has shown in the cause that she believes in I would be definitely thinking about her
1. Jhumpa Lahiri: Never thought she was this hot untill I saw a picture of her, with tht bod and a brain to die for I don't find anyone better than her to top the list

Maniac Sunday

I don’t plan my Sundays but then there are exceptions, this was one of them I had my book full: Morning to be spent loitering lazily across the nai sarak second hand book stores and then get some books for myself. I am used to getting books and not finishing them, I am thru tht phase so the books no more worry me. Then I would have a very special lunch laid down by Hari Bhai, where I would play guess-what-it-is with the food that he would have prepared and then I would go catch a movie, been a long long time since I have done that and now that the theatres have opened their doors to new releases I think I should make myself available to their services. But then there was no such luck. I opened my eyes to the alarm of my mobile phone which was set to 7-30, cursing myself I re-adjusted the time to 8-00 half hour doesn’t make a difference. But then it did, I forgot to save it and by the time I woke up it was 10-30. Deepti messaged tht she won’t be able to join me at Nai Sarak, and not to so enthu me thought to scrap the first plan of the day. Some genius has said that Morning Shows the Day, he was referring to me. I was soon reminded of a pending work at the office and rushed to finish it off and then when I was almost done with the work I realized my mailbox ain’t working and the mail was not sent.

Now that I have been half way thru the Sunday and think that the movie might just go well without any hiccups I am trying to waste my time in the office… show at 3-45 pm and I have got exactly 1 hr and 29 minutes to waste…

Language Portability

There is a problem that we all, by that I mean the people from East, face when we come to a more refined and accent-deprived Delhi it is called language portability. So for someone from my part of the woods there is no difference between, say Leave and Live and we use them very liberally. Similarly when we say Jade we actually mean ‘Z’ and ‘sss’ and ‘sshhh’ have got similar pronunciation.

The aforementioned are few basic mistakes that we make apart from more gross ones where we make a sentence sound completely different from what we intended to. For example when we say: Leave and let Leave, we mean the famous dialogue ‘Live and let Live’.

We don’t stop there we have peculiar sense of Hindi too. In oriya we don’t have a gender defined grammar, so we usually end up mixing it in Hindi too. So we have a ‘ka’ at a place where ‘ki’ would have been appropriate and vice versa. And while we speak we simply change their genders, thereby making things that we want to convey doubly difficult for people around us to understand. But then we have some evolved set among us who would take the charge of explaining the understood parts in their own understanding of Hindi and I pray for the souls of the hapless ones who have to bear the brunt.

So people who have been thru this rough ride of jee / Zee and sss / sshh please bear with us and we definitely would make you pick our accent very soon.

MIss You Dear Friend

A couple of year down the memory lane,
things were slightly different, with you by my side.
You remember sipping those hot cups of tea
Sitting on the railings of the French window,of your room.

Evenings used to long chat sessions,
Some nights were spent watching movies,
Or some talking to an unwelcomed friend.

Mornings were rush hours,
We rarely got to see each other then.
But the evenings were slightly laid back,
And we never missed a moment.

But then it wasn’t to be forever,
And then one day, you went away,
Not a single word was spoken,
No tears, Not even a good bye,
You just went away...

Miss you dear friend...

Let Them Be...

Sometime its really difficult to make choices and with people being so very judgemental all around us, we get into a doubly difficult situation. Getting into a relationship, staying in a relationship, continuing one or even thinking about moving out of one has so many more elements involved in it than the two most important people (The ones who complete it).

So you never know whether the smiling couple coming out of the theatre or sitting next to you are actually smiling in their relationship. And when these couples take the decision of moving out of the relationship which is hitting rock bottom, tongues start wagging and fingers pointed. I don’t understand why can’t we let these two grieving / otherwise souls on their own. And what right have we earned for ourselves to pass any kind of judgement against them.
Please let these people stay in peace, nobody wants to kill a relationship, it dies on its own and if we don’t know the whole truth then we shouldn’t speculate one.

Some Achievements

200 visitors... thanks guys for making this blog.. 200 people big...

Professional Hazards

Professional hazards is a term that we use very loosely, but do we always understand the meaning, no I don’t think so. Everyone has certain professional hazards or other, so do I and it comes in a 5 feet something size of completely dark skinned and very close to something called human being (which his actions refuses to acknowledge), a boss. Now we all are aware how bad can a boss be, but then you gotta be in my place to understand the agony that I go thru.

He has this fantasy of catching all his juniors on the back foot and hurl jaw breaking bouncers at them with Shoaib Akhtar’s ruthless pace. And me being adapt with Dhoniesque technology at times find it difficult to handle him with cautious ease, that a man (if we can say so) of his stature(if he has any) deserves. At times I loose my mind and give it back to him which I know is not a good sign for the curve called Career Growth. But there are so many things that you can learn from him, I have infact learnt a lot more from him than my Management Books:

1. Boss is always right: I mean with Papa (his nickname), he can never be wrong. I at times don’t understand how can God make such a perfect creature.

2. My Boss is a visionary: I mean just look at him, he is such a great person. Infront of client he can promise to build a bridge even where there is no river. Need guts man!!!

3. My Boss is perfectionist: So much so, that when first time he saw Monalisa, he pointed his finger and said “The smile is not perfect”. I mean he has an eye to pick faults, I mean nothing can be perfect without his approval. So now they have a higher order of quality check and they call it the Salt n Pepper Check, it has only .0000001% of error in every 1 billion.

4. My Boss believes in giving you complete ‘freedoom’: You either have to make yourself ‘free’ly available to his torture else he will ‘Doom’ your career.

5. He knows no Bias: My boss knows no bias, you are either good or bad, okay he decides that on the basis of your non-performance-oriented-skills which ranges from your looks to your openness to his building-castle-in-thin-air ideas.

6. My Boss believes in fun at work: He always has fun when we work our ass off.

Now that I have written so much and I am sure, I am gonna get fired the moment he reads this blog, I better switch window to naukri or monster.com... c ya guys...

Wet Wet Delhi

Carefree Childhood: Playing in the rain

Cleaning the roads for MCD: Thnk God, Thnk Rain God

A Watery Fair

Riding in the rain

A Blissfully Rainy Day

Busy Traffic Clean Roads Gloomy Sky.... of course good music

Atlast a good stretch without traffic: Rain Incentive

Welcome Rain: Bye Bye Traffic

Courtesy: Nitant Kohli & Plaban Mohanty

Politically- (in)Correct

As we draw close to one of the most impact making summers of Indian political history, we are now quite sure that a certain person called Mr. Ma’am-Mohan Singh… I mean Mr Manmohan Singh is going to be taking the reins in her… oops I did it again… his hand. So we are looking at a Congress led UPA Govt. As all the hoopla over the UP going to BJP settle down, and Congress lauds the effort of their God-Son, Mr. Rahul Gandhi (naam to suna hi hoga) we are definitely looking at a election that makes me feel that not only have we grown as a democracy but also evolved. Beyond the realms of cast voting (take for example Mayawati in UP) and religion. Of course, we have not thrown them out of the window for good, but of course we have made a move. So as the NDA strongly hopes and prays that the initial trends take a u-turn and the Left with no hopes 'left' are cooling heels, UPA is probably having the last laugh, with everything going right for them, starting with the Jay Ho! campaign, deciding not to align with anyone in UP and even allowing Ma'am Mohan to be vocal (locking horns with L.K. Advani). So Mr Advani now needs to look at making post poll alliances and bend more than his back, if he wants to realise his dream of making it to the PM seat this time...
One of the most heartening thing for me in this election was the 44% turn up in places like Kashmir. But equally saddening thing was the low turn out, even after a lot of campaign, in bigger cities like Mumbai. As I flip windows, between work, blog, TOI site and poll results: a much clearer look of the Lok Sabha emerges with every passing minute.

On behalf of all of India, I would pray for a stable, sensible and effective Govt that sails us through these trying times of global recession and economic slowdown.

Jaye Ho!

The first rain of the season...

Delhi is very mercurial, and when I say that I mean both people and weather. You see tempers flying and People not shying away from a fight, and when it comes to weather you see the extremities quite clearly. The summer this year has been no different, it has been a hot oven for the last few days. But then God was in a lighter mood yesterday and that’s why he tried to give us a discount from the deadly heat by opening up the sky for us.

Okay after all those here, there and everywhere lines were just to show the philosophical side of me, I would rather put it in straight words, it rained yesterday. Thank God.
I was to meet Tamo in the evening and therefore was waiting for an auto outside the office. And it started raining. I am the kind of person who love to have a fair share of getting-wet-in-the-rain moments every year and this being the first rain of the year I didn’t want to miss the chance.

Rain brings with it the fresh fragrance of the earth and the sweet music of the nature; the pitter-patter of rain drops on the window panes, the metallic tone of the drops hitting the tin roof or the simple gushing of the wind, everything is so musical.

Rain is always nostalgic; it brings back a lot of memories, some sweet some not so sweet ones. The naughtiness of the childhood days, the football matches with friends, samosa and chai in the adda, dance on the terrace to the beat of rain, holding her hand, bike rides, teenage romance, Shubha Mudgal’s Abb Ke Saawan, paper boat races, garam jalebis, hot pakoras, giving your umbrella to the prettiest girl in the school and reaching home completely drenched, playing in the mud or simply listening to the sweet music of falling water. Rain was so much more than just getting drenched.

Rain has always been associated with romance, and romance it is that the rain brings with it. Bollywood always has a soft corner towards rain, let it be the romantic pyaar hua ikraar hua or sensuous tip tip barsa paani. They have always been a part of bollywood. There was a time when a movie was incomplete without their share of rain dance. Rain was metaphored for every emotion may it be happiness or sorrow. May it be love or betryal, rain is wonderful, rain is blissful.

Life has become hectic and somewhere, we have alienated ourselves from the pleasure of indulging in the rain. Here’s to falling in love with rain all over again...

RAIN RAIN RAIN

Rain Rain Rain,
On those tinted window panes.
Pitter patter pitter patter

Rain Rain Rain,
Take me down those memory lane,
May it be sweet or bitter.

Rain Rain Rain,
Of those love stories and pain,
some smile some tear.

Rain Rain Rain,
Promise me you will come again,
Promise you will be the same.

How to kill a 'meeting' bird...

Meetings are never my cup of tea, I usually doze off half way through. I never understand why do we have a meeting when we can all be fine with just a call. I seriously do not understand. Yesterday this client of ours called us to their office just to ask us the progress of the study, I mean in which part of the world are you, haven’t you heard of an invention called E-MAIL or for that matter PHONE. Graham Bell must fuming at his own invention, we don’t need your stuff Mr Bell, please take it back and return that Noble.

Then you run into these gyaan sessions where the best you can do is shut your brain and dream about any PYT sitting near you. But then be careful, these Gyaan Gurus can sense your absence and turn to you with a question that even they find difficult understanding, let alone answering. So what would people like me do. Okay so this is one is for those people who think meetings to be a sheer waste of their time.

Carry a note pad with you, this is your weapon for mass destruction (read, killing time). If you are artistic kind you can use your time sketching all people in the room. If you are just words then scribble down any peculiar behaviour that you see in the people around and wow the time will just fly away. Okay you are like me, then just play tic-tac-toe. But for that you need to find an equally disgusted-with-the-meeting kinda person next to you, well thats not difficult.

You can always impress a girl in such meetings. Just look around for the most boring expression on the most beautiful face during the session, and when there is a session break try to move close to her or better just start with a hello or something like ‘What a boring session’, if she agrees and smiles, then find a place near her seat. What next? Simple, make your writing pad a yahoo messenger. Start with simple things like what do you do? And then try to make it funny, girls always fall for good humour. Then go on to ask her out for coffee after the session. If she agrees then atleast there would be some outcome of the meeting. If she denies, don’t loose heart there would definitely be more meetings and thus more opportunity.

P.S.: Find a sample on top right, of how to kill time
P.P.S.: There is no chats with PYTs in the sample, as they are classifieds
P.P.P.S.: Boss, if you are reading this article, all I wanna say is “It wasn’t me”

What is KKR doing????

Nothing is going right for KKR, I mean they had the match in their grip for the major part of the first half but then things started changing and I think only those team who have nerves to stand in the face of adversities and act fast and wisely have the capability to win. McCullum has been a disappointment for KKR all thru the IPL Season2. And he didn’t try to change the image this time round too.
The bowlers did their job to the perfection in the first 15 overs, but then they let the things slip from their hand. McCullum is not a good captain when it comes to tight situations and he has proved the same again and again. That leaves dada as the next option but then is he the right choice or not. I am not sure I certainly feel that Dada is the answer for the situation in hand but then would that impact the team’s fortune anyway, well I doubt that.
Playing Mumbai Indians, who are on a roll, is a tough game but then when you get Sachin and Sanath out cheaply, you definitely fancy your chances and go for the kill. McCullum went with the follow and let the batsmen do the mistake rather than forcing them to get out. And then when it came to batting letting Dada open was a good choice but it didn’t fire. Calypso king didn’t fire this time, this farewell was not well enough. The team was on a downslide and then Hodge and Shukla start the resurrection. But the twist was somewhere hiding, and as soon as the match seemed to be under control Hodge and Shukla departed and that left McCullum who brought himself at 6th number to lead the team to victory. He failed again and so did the KKR.
More than winning I think the team needs to believe in themselves first. Every move of the team shows how badly they have accepted defeat, every time Mc speaks you hear a lost captain’s mumble. Time for some soul searching and major over-hauling....

The Beginning of my book...

Its been a long time since I am thinking about writing a story, after many an unsuccessful and half hearted attempts, I have thought of putting together a few short stories, this is one of the few that might get into the book. So I need your help and inputs for the story. You can leave a comment if you like it dislike it or think I should go ahead with this... Waiting for your responses:

11th September 2008:

The rain was insistent since the morning. Rahul was getting late for his office. All the buses were going full. No bus seems to have a single seat. After letting four buses go by, he found a bus with one empty seat in the back row. He dashed in and as he was about to sit on it he dashed into Asha, the books she was carrying fell in a heap. He apologised to her and picked the books, she simply nodded.
The rain had picked up the pace and there was no way it was going to calm down. The bus moved.
Rahul works in an MNC in Noida, his company bus picks him up everyday from Nehru Place, but today he missed it by a couple of minute and therefore had to do with Blueline. Asha goes to her college in Noida everyday in the same bus.
As they settled down, the conductor came and they paid for their tickets. For the first time Rahul looked sideways and his eyes saw one of the most innocent faces that he had ever seen in his life. Asha was looking outside, fresh wet air was playing with her hair, at times they would bring a strand on her face and then she would flip them back with her hand. He got lost in her. The bus stopped at sector 18, Asha stood up to get down, so did Rahul. It was not raining anymore. Asha took an auto, Rahul stood there for sometime and then he walked to his office.

12th September 2008:

RAHUL:
I reached the stop on time, the company bus was right there but I didn’t want to take it. So I hid behind a tea stall, SMSed a colleague that I would be late and they need not wait for me. The bus took off at the scheduled time. I waited at the Noida bus terminus, I was looking for her. I saw her, she was wearing a white top and blue denim, she was carrying some books. Probably she goes to college. She looked at me for a moment, probably she didn’t recognise me. She entered the bus no. 493. I followed her. I went upto her and asked if I could sit next to her, she smiled and then nodded, probably she recognised me. Her name is Asha, it’s written on her book.

ASHA:
I reached the bus stop on time, the guy who had dashed into me yesterday was there too. I feel he was waiting for me. I took the usual 493, he followed me too. I was bit scared, thinking him to be like usual guys who follow every other girl. But he is not like others, he came near my seat and asked whether he could sit next to me. I nodded in affirmation. He is working in some company, I don’t remember the name, it was written on his i-card, his name is Rahul Sharma, I remember that. He is decent looking and seems to be having a good job. I got down at my stop in Noida, and took an auto to the college.

13th September 2008:

RAHUL:
By the time I reached, Bus no.493 was already there, I took my position behind the tea stall, waiting for her. She came from Kalka temple side. She was looking even more beautiful than yesterday. I was dreaming about her whole day yesterday, I don’t know what has happened to me. Am I falling in love? She went in to the bus I followed her, she had taken the seat right behind the driver’s but the seat next to her was occupied. I stood there. She seemed to have noticed me. But she didn’t look at me. She was looking outside the window. The bus reached Noida, we got down and like yesterday she took an auto and went. I walked towards my office.

ASHA:
He was there again, I saw him. But didn’t look at him, I didn’t want to give any signal to him. The bus was half filled when I entered the bus. But I took the seat behind the driver’s as it had another passenger an elderly woman already sitting, I was hoping he would find a seat for himself and sit somewhere else. But he didn’t, he rather stayed there. It’s nice to get attention of a guy but I am a bit nervous. Only I know the secret...

My visit to Lucknow

A train journey atlast. Its been more than a couple of years when I last been on a train. Time crunch and long distances have all contributed to me not being able to take a train journey. But the opportunity came, when we were to visit Lucknow for Manisha’s wedding.

Tickets were booked in advance and we were ready to hit to road, rather tracks. The wedding was on 28th and we had booked our tickets for 27th. Nupur and me were to meet at the station itself. It was KKR match night and I didn’t want to miss the match. But the KKR guys are so accommodating, they played to their potential and by 10th over the match was decided. I rushed to the station and reached well before time. That’s the good thing about the Indian Railways they always have a hedging with the time. So you can never be late.

Nupur reached soon after and as we settled in, the train moved and we were on our way to Lucknow. Night was of course dedicated to some office talks and some planning for the next day,. We talked into the wee hours of the morning and then slept took over and we were deeply into our sleeps. The train was 2 hours late and we reached Lucknow around 9 am. Fatima and her sister, Mariam, were there to pick us. Mariam enlightened us with her knowledge on politics and Mayawati. We reached their place, had our breakfast there. Some hot jalebis, breads, butter and makhan… what a breakfast. Jalebi anytime is welcome. So breakfast was done and now we were to move to Manisha’s wedding venue. Rajesh never says no to food and therefore when he was offered breakfast once again he didn’t shy away. All full he lied down and slept.

By the time he woke up, it was 1 pm. We were running late, we needed to go to Rahul’s place and in a new city its always a tough task to find a proper location. After much search and research we were able to find his place. We were served what I call a deliciously homely lunch, I think Rahul’s mom would be right up there in my top 5 all time fav cooks. She definitely made me eat till I die. Thanks Aunty the food was simply great. We were dead tired by then and so we fell on the bed and slept.

We woke up at 5:30 pm. I was new to the city and had asked Hadia, Fatima’s sis, to show me the city. So she did exactly that. She picked me up and we roamed around the nawabi city. It’s the culture of the city that you can see in every single person you meet. By the time we were done it was evening and time to rush to the wedding and that’s exactly what we did. Our stay at the wedding was brief as we had to take a late night train to Delhi. So we left the venue before the wedding take place and reached the station in time. The journey back home was quite, as we fell asleep even before the wheels moved.
It was a great journey I must say. One day is not enough to know Lucknow and therefore we might be revisiting the place, the culture, the people and the food will always pull us to this city, again and again… One of my most memorable journeys.

Lucknow...

You are the Lucknow for me.
The lehza and the tehzeeb,
The white chikan salwaar-kameez,
The Urdu that never sounded
The way it did
When you spoke.
The talks, the smile,
And the silence that it broke.

You are the Lucknow for me,
The toe rings and the nose pins,
The glitter and the large earrings,
The kohl around your eyes,
The love of wearing bangles,
The folklore and the folk music,
The loud weddings.

You are the Lucknow for me,
The way you say aap to me,
And say hum when you mean I,
The shukriyas and the aadabs,
And of course the ‘wah janab’s,

You are the Lucknow for me,
The glitz of Hazratganj,
The traditions of the Chungis,
The mehendis on the hand
And the beautiful bindis.
Hand pump water with metal-tanginess,
Sugarcanes eaten on terraces.

You are the Lucknow for me,
The love of literature,
the nerd, the scholar,
the wannabe journalist in you,
the show-off-I-got-100-out-of-100 in you,

You are the Lucknow for me,
The sweetness of hot jalebis,
The spicy kachori and samosas,
Hot like the CCD cappuccinos.

You will be forever in a sweet corner of the heart.
The forgotten, pushed away,
Hidden parts of me,
The lekins and the agars in me,
The shayaads and kaashs in me…

Gully Cricket: I Relieved my childhood days

Gully cricket used to be one of the most important part of my childhood days. I still remember fighting for those dubious decisions, sulking for the missed catches and jeering at the losers… those were the days of innocence and freedom.

A few days back Ankur and Me were out on a fieldwork. While going to meet a respondent, thru a gully, we came across these kids playing cricket and couldn’t stop ourselves from asking them to give us a chance to relive those childhood days. So we took our sides. The game began, I know we were not playing to win or loose, as we used to do those days, but it was great fighting for the outs and going for those short singles, not letting your bat when your out and making the most of being a captain by going out to bat first and bowl first. It must have been quite a sight for few passersby who watched two 25 plus (Okay for Ankur it is plus plus plus…) guys in their office formals, playing cricket with kids and acting like them too….

I relived my childhood days in the gullies of Masjid Moth with kids I had never met in my life. It was fun and more than that it was like going back in times.

There’s nothing that can stop you from having fun and living your life, the only thing that stands between you and life is you; yourself. Go ahead and live it!

Somethings Do not Change

Back in the 12th, asking a girl out for a movie was a big deal.. Since the advent of puberty, your voice had already started to crack.. It cracked even more when you had to ask that cute girl out for a movie.. Now this is 1999 I am talking about.. It wasnt easy to get the girl u like to go out with you then,..... to be honest, its still difficult..

So you knew this cute girl, long hair, lovely eyes you could lose yourself in, got dimples everytime she smiled.. So if you wanted to ask her out for a movie, the conversation with her would go something like this -
"umm.. did you watch that movie - Dil Se?"
Note that SRK was her favourite actor, so it made sense to mention his movie, even though you thought the movie was a dud and you better spend the evening watching Undertaker wrestle Bam-bam-Bigalo..
"not yet"
"oh.. would you.. I mean.. like to"(the voice cracks up here) "I mean.. watch it with me..er.. this Sunday.."
She suddenly realises that hes asking her out.. she turns on her girlie radar, which essentially means shes gonna act full bhavkhao..
"umm.. I dont know.. My dad wont allow..you know.. alone.."

Somethings will not change...

You wanna ask, how can we be alone if we are together.. But you dont..
"Oh.. but we are not going alone..Your friends are coming too" An obvious lie.. But good thinking nevertheless..
"Who all?"
Think of names.. names..
"Shweta, and Rajesh.. and Anshul and..." You name 5-6 names that you know are her friends.."thats good, I think I can ask my dad then.."
Whoopieee...

What follows next is trying to convince the 6 friends of her(whose names you mentioned) to come with you.. You lure them with free popcorn (kamine kahin ke) and they finally agree.

Then comes the booking of tickets.. Note that this is the time when there was no online booking.. So you had to stand in a long queue to get the advance booking.. You manage to get 8 tickets.. You take great care to ensure that two out of them are corner seats..

"Uncle corner seats diya na?"
"Haan yaar.." You hear him telling the next in line - "Aaj-kal bacche bhi corner seat maangte hain" hehehe..

Finally Sunday arrives.. You get up early(which you rarely do), take a bath(which you at times don't), apply half a bottle of perfume and reach the theatre.. She comes on time, but with her Dad in tow. Her dad drives his Maruti 800(we had only Maruti and Fiat back then) in through the theatre parking and almost runs you down.. Now these dads are the villainous types.. The problem is they had been teenagers once and know exactly what dirty things go on in the scum brain of the testosterone driven monster who asked his daughter out.. Her dad steps out of the door of the car and slams it.. These dad types work as managers in a MNC usually, and wear a tie to work, but when it comes to meeting his daughters male friend, he wears the unshaven look and polo neck t-shirt, to look cool..."Pappa, he's my friend"
You look at pretty her, then look at her Dad.. And you wonder, how could someone like him make something this beautiful..
"Hello"
"Hello sir.."
Women enjoy this.. They want you to meet their dads.. Its their way of saying - "See, this man is my favourite person in the world, and if you can stand up to him, only then you have a chance with me.."

Somethings will not change...

You enter the hall, you make sure that you get the corner seats for yourself..You buy enough popcorn for her friends to be occupied... The lights dim.. Vicco Vajradanti ad plays.. The movie starts.. SRK starts jumping on a train.. Chal Chaiyaan Chaiyaan.. You are least interested in the song or in the movie for that matter.. You are interested in the cute girl sitting next to you.. You want to hold her hand.. no, not hold, just touch initially..

Clouds of nervousness loom over you, your palms become sweaty.. you wipe them on the thigh your jeans.. then all of a sudden, in a moment of gutsy drive, you touch her hand..

She pulls it back, almost like a reflex, then looks at you with wide eyes and a smile playing on her lips.. like she's amused, and she didnt expect you to do something like that.. Even in that dark hall, her eyes twinkle..

Somethings will not change...

The movie ends, you saw the movie only in bits and pieces, still it will be one of the best remembered movies of your life.. You start walking out of the dimly lit hall into the dimly lit parking.. When all her friends have left, she stands on her toes to reach your ear and whispers "thank you"..

It will be ages before you understand the meaning...

Its 2009 and a lotta things have changed.. There are no single theatres now, Maruti has stopped manufacturing 800, popcorn is costlier than what was the ticket those days, even SRK sometimes comes up with meaningful cinema, but one thing hasn't changed, its still damn difficult to ask her out..

"Wanna..er.. watch a movie on Sunday?"
"Lemme see if I am free"
There she goes again..
"Oh com'n"
"He he.. okay, which one?"
"How does it matter? hahaha"
It takes her a full two minutes to understand the joke behind that one...
She lands 4-5 playful punches, out of which two hurt..

Anyway, the movie starts.. Now that you are 25, you think it must get easier for you.. But it doesnt!..

You still get all nervous, your palms become sweaty.. It is still needs a lotta planning to put your arm across her shoulder.. You touch her hand.. this time she doesnt pull it away.. But she still gives that amused-mischievous look...Like after all these years she still doesnt expect you to hold her hand..

Somethings do not change...

The movie ends and the credits start rolling. You leave the hall with her.. You two walk through the huge driveway, sparsely crowded at this time of the night.. She walks closer to you than she normally does.. She holds your hand.. Theres something amazing bout that touch.. It seems to say that she trusts you and has complete faith in you... And it says that she knows you will keep her happy..

Her touch makes you feel strong.. responsible.. pure.. loved.. all at the same time.. as she walks close to you, holding your arm, she rests her head on your shoulder.. And you have the world..

"Thank you"... is all you can whisper in her ear..She looks at you...smiles.. her eyes swell up with love... a drop finds its way to her cheek..

Somethings do not change...

Dada shines when the rest fails...

Its 1:30 am and KKR has lost the match.. not a nice thing... But then I just cannot wait to update my blog...

We cudnt have asked for a better match. I think only God could have scripted such things. I mean it was a humdinger from the start till the end.

So when it seemed all very down the hill for KKR, Dada put his head down and resurrected the innings. Munaf Patel almost gave away the match when Dada hit him for two consecutive sixes and brought the match into KKR’s clutch and when it seemed that ‘Dadagiri’ has done the miracle, there was a twist, Yashpal Singh fell to a rash shot. Last over and 7 runs, Kamran Khan (a rank new comer) was asked to bowl, he held his nerves right, with just 2 runs required from last two balls Dada got out. Two runs required from last ball, Ishant Sharma managed to make the bat meet the ball and ran a single and got out attempting the second.

Super over: Chris Gayle and Mc Cullum walked out to the middle and Chris Gayle justified his presence in the middle, by making 16 out of the super over against Kamran Khan. For KKR Ajantha Mendis was handed the ball and Yusuf and Ravinder walked out in the middle to hit the KKR out. Yusuf made it look all very simple with his clinical execution, first ball a 6, second a miscued hit that Hodge could not hang on to resulting in 2, third another 6 over the mid off and the fourth one over the square leg for a 4. Match was decided.

Yusuf Pathan was adjudged Man of the Match, but for me the match belonged to two people, Dada and Kamran Khan. Big match and big hearts... A great match...

A Vella Day in the office

A vella day in the office. This morning when I woke up, I thought theres a lot to do, so I came office a bit early, finished my 10:30, and then on I am left with nothing else to do…

Ankur, Nitant and Me, the trio is completely vella. Wanted to do something productive but then I realized I am in office so being productive is not an option. Nitant and me have joined the ‘Ankur ki le li’ gang, the only motto of this gang is to take Ankur's trip on every single chance. We have been sincere in our effort so far.

One thing about not working is feel like there is no work, and that is no fun. The best fun as Anuj had mentioned in his blog is, when you have loads to do and still don’t do anything. It gives a sense of supreme power. That reminds me of something that I was thinking for a long time, what is the best job in the whole world. That must be watching other people working for you and you need not do a single thing. You just order and they place it right infront of you. That makes me think of Aladin, did ever work. I mean other than chasing Princess Jasmine, fighting the odd villains and roaming on the QALEEN the carpet did ever do anything and if he did he must be crazy. Which guy would like to work when he has a genie to do everything at the snap of fingers. Wow! What a life that must be.

Sometimes when I think, and that happens rarely, I think of superpowers. I mean in movie, some unassuming guy gets some superpower and becomes a neighbourhood superhero, I wonder why can’t a spider bite me into a superhero, or a scientist make a batman, a radioactive ray turn me into a hulk. I would love to be more responsible and of course powerful.

Being a Jumper would definitely help, I hope u all are aware of jumpers (not the wearable one’s), these are the guys who can go to anyplace the wish to by just thinking about it. What life!

I asked Ankur what super power he wants, he wanted an X-ray vision, and guys must understand the reason. Saurabh wanted to travel into the past. Nitant as usual couldn’t comprehend the question: I asked “What superpower you want to be”. He replied “US of A”, I don’t blame him, he is suffering from ABCD: Acute Brain Cell Deficiency. Poor chap, but as Aamir Uncle said “Every child is special”….

Move on...

The question keeps coming to me. It was always there, but more so now. I don’t know whether I have been able to provide right answer or not. Cause I know that the question still lies there and I need to face it every single morning. I have woke up and the first thing that comes to my mind is the question.
It’s a rat race and we have named it life and the way of living. We have accepted everything that we see and believe that whatever is happening is all a part of life and they need to go that way. Dreams have been confined to sojourn of lonely mind in deep sleeps only. Are we happy with ourself? Is the face in the mirror the same that I want to see? Am I smiling coz I need to or coz I have to? Is every action of mine is a reaction or synchronised? Monotony, pressure, demands and aspirations have taken the front seat and all that mattered for living, love, happiness, friends and friendship have all been nicely pushed under the carpet. I think I have had enough of all these and now the time has come to wake up, probably move on...

Frustrated

Frustration,
like tide, is growing,
On a fullmoon night.

Life,
Like a flower half bloomed,
Is waiting for the storm to blow the petals away.

Love,
Like a meandering river,
has lost its way.

Friends,
Like moisture on parched lips,
Have dried out.

Destiny,
Is an excuse I use,
For everything ‘not done’

Desire,
Like a candle in the wind,
is still burning, but for how long....

Music in the Hills

The thrill of road trip lies in the journey more than the destination and when you have an equally breath taking place that you are visiting then you are surely looking for a great time. The time was a long weekend and we had booked ourselves for Music in the hills in Naukuchiatal.
Naukuchiatal is some 300 kms from Delhi and the road post Moradabad is beautiful. And once you begin the uphill drive on the road towards bhimtal, you are greeted by fresh air (which by Delhi standard, is a very rare commodity) and some picture perfect natural beauty.
We had booked an Innova. It was an early morning drive from Noida, where we all had gathered, to Naukuchiatal. It was going to be a 9 hour drive with two tea breaks in between. We were however unexpectedly held up at Moradabad due to an accident and had to stay put for half an hour. But that didn’t make much difference as we moved towards the hill. And as the wheels started rolling we started chatting, playing cards, etc and with people like Navneet, Sudhanshu and Richa in the trip we are never going to have a mute moment, of course me included in that group.
The drive up the hills was of course an uphill task, with a few of us feeling the hill sickness. Navneet’s medical advice fell on deaf ears, however the matter were under control and we all reached safely. The rooms were decent, we threw our bags in the rooms allotted and rushed for the food. The food was okay. Post our food session some of us went for boating. The resort had a beautiful lake, and the boating experience was very cool. Post boating we all got ready for the first event in the evening, performance by the Galat Family. It was an awesome performance with some great music and new songs and some re-worked ones. And as I think of that night the song ‘Sabse peeche hum khade’ starts humming in the background. Somehow I think the song has been with us ever since we left the hills, probably a memento sort of thing that we are carrying from there. Hectic drive took its toll and post the performances we all went to our respective rooms and fell asleep. Next morning I woke up early and was expecting Navneet and Richa to join me for a nature walk, but their promises fell flat, exactly the way they were on the beds and I had to go on a lone journey.
Naukuchiatal, like any other hill station is beautiful in morning. The rising sun definitely has some effect on everything that it showers its rays on, they start glowing like gold. The far mountains were wonderful. As me, AV and Tamo sat on the bank of the lake sipping our tea, we couldn’t stop talking about the beauty of this wonderful place. And thus the camera started clicking and by the time we were done, there were around 50 snaps of the very place seen thru our eyes. For me this was probably one of the most wonderful morning teas I ever had.
Next stop we had our breakfast and again, Richa, Navneet, Nitant, Ankur, Monika, Sudhanshu, Ritika and myself went out for boating. It was wonderful time. Simply sitting in the middle of lake all quite and not thinking about anything. Bliss.
We did play some pool. It was a good time. Some good game and some bad ones, but more importantly it was good time to learn some pool. The match was interrupted by some bad light and so we were to leave the game unfinished.
The evening was going to be special with Parikrama playing. And all of us were really excited, some knew about the band and the rest were really curious. The evening started with a new band Rock Shop playing but soon enuf the big daddy of Rocks in India took over and once they played, the house was literally on fire. Everyone going frenzy. So the cheers for once more kept chanting post every single performance. Though not much new numbers and almost all of them being re worked ones, it was still very well performed and the energy was what got to every one.
And post that we sat for sometime by the bonfire. Sudhanshu, Monika and myself returned to our rooms, while Richa, Nitant, Ankur and Navneet spent some more time by the fire.
It was dumb charade time in the room and it lasted till early hours of the morning. Then Yogya, Saurabh and myself took what we call our last nature walk in the valley. Post that we went to bed. By the time I woke up it was time to return. We had our breakfast, took some snaps. Packed our bags and bid adieu to this wonderful place.
The journey back was a bit tiring. We halted at Ginger to have some tea and refreshments and then we moved on. Richa entertained all of us with her lively performance of “Sabse peeche hum khade”. And as the wheel kept rolling a few wickets fell into the bed of sleep and that left Navneet, Sudhanshu and me to fight over movies. But soon tireness had its grip strong on us and we too succumbed. And as we reached home, we had brought back with us freshness of the hills, the energy of the bands and lots of memories, some captured thru cameras and some beautiful etched in our heart...
Goodbye hills...

My Visit Home

Its been quite sometime since I last wrote. Must owe this to some hectic travels in the weekends. Lets start with my visit to home. I went home around the Navratra times. Since childhood days its been one of my fav times. We have this beautiful Ram Mandir infront our house and during navratras they have these pravachans going on and Baba, maa and myself, we sit in the garden sipping our tea and chatting about anything and everything with the backdrop of Ramayan. It feels divine, to me atleast. So this time was certainly going to be special.
It was a lonely Bhubaneswar, with not much of my friends there. I had my cousin’s wedding to attend, my reason for visit. The wedding was fun and with friends and family the time speeds away.
I took some time out to visit my old adda, the place where I spent most of my time during my college days. New faces have taken over the old ones, even the chai wala bhaiya is no more there. I think the guy is his younger brother. Things have changed, but they still have the shadow of yesterdays. Shweta has opened a new restaurant and I visited that also, its a cool joint. I was there last time also. Anup would be coming to India next month, probably I would be planning visit then.
We all behave like birds, we all learnt how to fly together, spent times talking about our successes and failures, our dreams and fears and today... we all have flown away... far away from each other. Now when I look back to those old days when DJ used to be the big entertainer enacting every other guy on the road, or Saurav whom we used to tease a lot... and Dada whose wise old guy look was butt of all jokes. Five days went away like a jiffy and when I woke up on Sunday it was time for me to leave.

Not All Good Deeds have Good Consequences

Every time we pass through those heavy traffic signals, we definitely find some street kids asking for money. Some give them money, some don’t. I don’t. I am sure all of us have there own logics. I sure do have my own. I came across this thing while working for an NGO in Noida that worked for Slum Kids. I just wanted to write this to make people aware that not all the right deeds have right consequences.

The kids that we used to teach were of age 3 – 12 years old. In the weekends we used to organize classes as all of us were working, with off on weekends. So we used to teach this bunch of 13 odd students. While interacting with them we came to know that a few of them are street beggars. Although they don’t want to beg, but their parents force them to do so to have an extra source of income. So at the time when they should be learning they are made to earn on the street. And for those who think that begging is the safest thing in the world then I would like to correct them that this is not the reality, on the street you are left all alone and there are goons who would steal money from these kids and beat them up. There are elder beggars who bully these small kids. They are also subjected to physical harassments. Begging is a very easy way of earning money and these professional beggars have found out that kids are most suited for this kind of roles and that’s where the exploitation starts from. And every time we give money we are actually strengthening the belief of those heartless people who make these kids beg.

So the next time you say no to a street kid while begging, you are doing more good than bad…

Fun At Work!!!

Its been long time since I wrote something interesting, not only that it has been really boring. So I thought to write something interesting and for that I thought of putting on my creative hat on but it didn’t fit, so I am back to my non-sense self.
Well let’s talk about my office, they have these clubs kinda thing that we used to have in our colleges where they do all sort of things, quizzes, competitions, festivities, etc. So this week they are celebrating the women’s day and for that they have this competition where you have to choose the most inspiring women in the office.
I was about to vote when I realised that there are so many women and they inspire me so much in so many different ways that I really got confused and decided not to vote. I mean I have this girl in the office, so hot looking that she inspires me to come to office everyday. Then there are girls in my bay who inspire me to work, you have girls in other bays who inspire me to take break from the work and then there are others who make me leave the office... with so many inspiring personalities around I was in a soup over the decision for the most Inspiring one of them all...

Who Am I?

I took this self administered personality test that helps you understand know who you are, what would have happened to me, I mean I would have never know who I am. These tests are as good as they are bad, I mean they are good only if they are able to tell you what you want to hear. If they tell things like you are cheesy little pervert you would down right reject the test, but if the same one tells you that you are the Prince Charming then even I would say that this is the best TEST EVER. So I took this MBTI test and the results showed that I am a promoter, don’t know what that mean, but I am a Promoter and of course it says a lot of nice things and I am damn sure that I must be a promoter, gotta start promoting something right away.

Gulaal: Powerplay

Anurag Kashyap is certainly riding high on his Dev D success, but Gulaal is a different genre altogether. It’s a story about power, politics and all that takes to make it big.
The movie starts on a truly powerful note. Kay Kay Menon, delivering a long but inspiring monologue, which sets the tone for the movie.
The movie talks about Rajputs who want to have their own share of land and rule, separate country called Rajputana. Kay Kay Menon being the flag bearer of the cause. He starts with college politics, as that’s the breeding ground for every politically awakened youth. Raja Choudhry plays the part of a simpleton who is forced into this world of powerplay after murder of his roommate Abhimanyu Singh who was contesting for the position of GS. Ayesha Menon debuts in this movie, she plays the role of a guitar strumming, blood spewing seductive vixen, for whom power means everything. Aditya Srivastav as Ayesha Mohan’s brother is the person who tries to dethrone Kay Kay Menon and tries all the tricks in the book, including getting Kay Kay Menon seduced by his sister, to get what he wants. Then there are brilliant cameos played by Jessy Randhawa, Piyush Sinha and others.
A special mention Deepak Dobriyal’s portrayal of Bhati is awesome, he is one actor to watch out for in this movie and movies to come. After a brilliant performance in Delhi 6, he backs it up with another power packed one.
The movie was made even before Dev D and probably that suggests the starcast with a high dose of Anurag Kashyap entourage with Kay Kay Menon and Aditya Srivastav again locking horns. This is a tale of political battle brewing up in Rajasthan where the Rajputs want to fight for their own country and as they feel that they are wronged by the Govt of India. It also tells the story of a young college going youth who gets entwined in this battle of power.
What we see then is a long and winding road to power and deceit. The movie is brought to life by the casts who perform their characters as if they are living out of their skins. The music is great and lyrics set the tone of the movie. Piyush SInha’s lyrics are what brings a refreshingly new feel to the movie. Even the dialogues are of high standard, and no unnecessary foul mouthing.
Anurag Kashyap is a new age director and his brilliance at handling difficult subjects is nothing new. The movie leaves with lots of images, the ragging sequence where Jessy and Raj are forced into a room, when Kay Kay addresses all Rajputs in the opening sequence or the college election speech by Raj where he acts completely clueless and controlled by others, you are made to think.
Its a brilliant movie and a must watch.

The Best Bargain....

This weekend it was great, I mean we(Thulthul, Sudo and Me) watched two movies and paid for just one. We went to see this movie GULAL, it was scheduled at 10-30 and we were there till 11 and still no doors opened nor any sign of the movie, that’s when we came to know that due to some technical snags the movie is not going to be screened. What the F?
That’s when our Thulthul got into act. He acted like out-of-engineering-college-working-in-an-IT-firm guy who screams at every single thing, but this time he was right. I mean he made sure that the PVR guys pay for their faults. So we vexed them till they gave us free tickets for Curios Case of Benjamin Button and refunded for the GULAL tickets. We won, Mission Accomplished.
The next day we went and got our movie: GULAL. It is wonderful, I loved the movie.
But THULTHUL my man you rock!

...Let's Play Holi

Holi is the festivals of colours and its one of those festivals that I love to enjoy. Probably the only festival that goes across color, gender and religion. So you have everyone looking as good or as bad as everyone else, that’s the beauty of the festival. I usually go home on Holi but this was fidderent i was not able to go.
Nirepinder had plans for Holi at his place and he had informed a long time back. So the holi-day was booked for the Anita-Nirepinder party. Anuj and Komal picked me up from my place. We reached Nirepinder,s place at 12:00. We were joined by a Richa, Sud, Monika and a few other friends of Nirep and Anita. Good food, good drinks and good people to chat around what else do you need. Of course colors, so those who didn’t want to play colours like Sud, Monika and Richa had to do away with their inhibitions for color and indulge in some holi-work. Richa was treated sparingly with colors, while Monika was doused with colors. So we had a messy house, chatty people and lots of vodka shots, and for teetotallers like me and Richa, coke and grape juices. Food is always food at Nirep’s place and today was no different.
So the holi was fun and by the time we departed, we were all completely soaked with the holi fervour.
It was a wonderful holi, thanks Nirep and Anita... Cheers!

13B - A Good Concept Going Wrong

When a director has a good script he can do two things, either screw it up completely or make beautiful movie out of it. But with 13B I think the third angle comes infront, if ever a movie has been let down by its second line of command then this is the one, by second line of command I mean Editing, Screenplay and Soundtrack. Any movie dealing with this genre of horror/thriller needs to have a soundtrack that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. Shankar Eshaan Loy are a brilliant lot of music directors but then when it comes to thriller they have not been able to hold on. My personal choice for music for such genre would be Salim Suleimann.
The movie talks about a close knot family, of two brothers, a sister, a mother and their wives. They move into this new house that the two brothers buy after saving a lot of money. Like any other household, yeah pretty much the same. But then things start working differently. The milk gets spoilt everyday, the puja room is not able to be set up and then there is a daily soap that is shown only in this house. Creepy, well thats just the beginning, then there is the lift that won’t work when Madhavan tries it, the neighbour’s dog won’t be enter the house and to top it all the address is 13/B, by the way if you think B is infact 1 and 3 joined together, so double whammy. So we are set for a good thriller, well the actors don’t disappoint. Madhavan is his usual self, which is good. Neetu Chandra’s looks works well for her homly image of a bahu. Poonam Dhillon, her comeback, is good. The movie talks about role of TV in our life and how we are falling victim to this machine.
The movie goes for a toss with lack of good editing, when you are making a thriller you cannot compromise on the length and the camera angles need to have cutting edge feel to it. The D.O.P needs to take a few cues from the Ram Gopal Verma thriller BHOOT, one of my fav bollywood horror movie. The flash back could have been trimmed a bit and the song sequences could have been done away with. Screenplay is poor, thats all I need to say.

Night of Desires

It was a night of desires,
And our bodies a puzzle,
Wetness and hardness
Soft and Wild
Hair and flesh
Love and Lust.

As the moments passed by
And we climbed the new heights
We fell panting and breathless
In the arms of each other,
And as we lay there, all spent,
We discovered what keeps two people glued
No not love, but desires.

The New Me!!!

Thanks Swati for the wonderful watch, I really love it...
Hey I was thinking of buying a new mobile phone for a long time now, at last I got one. Yeppiee I have a new mobile phone Nokia 5800 Xpress music, wonderfully loaded and brilliant package of needs, wants and desires.
And whats new with the new look, well I was kinda bored with the old coffee look so this one was just to make the page look a bit jazzed up and add some spunk to the blog...

Delhi 6 - Sensible Movie

A sensible movie from a sensible director that’s what I got to say about this movie. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is a new age director who knows how to convert a good movie into a commercially successful one too. The only time he went wrong was when he made AKS, he was probably carried away by this creative juices, though the movie was a good attempt but never got the recognition that it needed. Then he came up with Rang De Basanti, a superb movie. Now with Delhi 6, he again tries to reach the mass with his socially responsible message with brilliant inter-weaving Ramayana as a backdrop to the movie.
Abhishek Bachchan as Roshan enacts an ABCD with good conviction. Waheeda Rehmann and Rishi Kapoor bring the old world charm with them. Sonam Kapoor is refreshingly different in the movie and pitches in with a good performance.
The first 15 minute of the movie feels like it is all over the place, but then the movie settles down with the song Arziyaan, the whole namaaz reading sequence have been wonderfully shot. The song is choreographed beautifully.
The movie makes you think that is the country that we take pride in as the largest democratic and secular nation truly so? I think the movie starts with the dialogues which ended Rang De Basanti “Koi bhi desh perfect nahin hota, use perfect banana padta hai”. So you have a wide range of societal problems and taboos being handled in this movie. You have two brothers having a dispute over parental properties, you have hindu-muslim riot, you have caste-ism and you have the search for individual identity all woven into this brilliantly made movie. Giving a Kala Bandar angle to bring out the demon in all of us is brilliantly done by Rakeysh, he masters the act of using intelligent metaphors in the movie, which appeals to intelligent audiences. May it be the dead soul of Manoj Bajpai to depict Evil in AKS or the Bhagat Singh angle in RDB to show the need for a revolutionary in today’s India.
There are ofcourse a few glitches in the script. Amitabh Bachchan could have been spared his last minute entry which does not do any good to the movie.
But talking about the cast, the casting director needs to be given a special acknowledgement for the movie. Brilliant ensemble of casts. I thought Om Puri was unduly treated in RDB by giving him a very miniscule role, but in Delhi 6 ROM gives the veteran actor his due credit. The other cast member consists of Pawan Malhotra, Prem Chopra, Vijay Raaz, Supriya Pathak, Cyrus Sahukar, ROM regular Atul Kulkarni,et al. A special mention for the actress who portrays the character of Rama Chachi, she is just brilliant.
The movie handles some of the most contemporary topics of Indian society with acumen of a seasoned director. The music of the movie has already been climbing the charts.
And as the movie ends with everything being alright, it gives hope that everything will be fine, no matter what all we need to do is kill the evil within us.

Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! - Fun On the Roll

Oye Lucky Lucky Oye is not the usual run of the mill movie that you watch, but it is also not the parallel cinema that we are used to either. Oye Lucky! Is actually your very own new wave cinema that has engulfed the whole of Indian Film Industry. Indian Film Industry is infact going thru a similar phase that Hollywood went thru in early 70s and late 60s, a phase of parallel cinema, dominated by some of the path breaking movies of that time. Probably we are going to see more of such things in Indian film industry.
Abhay Deol seems to be toast of the tinsel town now-a-days, with so many off track movies that hits off well with class. But Oye Lucky! is different from his other movies, he not only woos the class but this time round manages to elicit appreciation from the front benchers also.
This is a story of a suave thief, who believes in stealing not coz he needs something but just to steal it, ala Sean Connery in ENTRAPMENT. But as always Abhay Deol convinces you as a person who might be one of us, a very real life one. Paresh Rawal, for the first time in Indian Film Industry plays three different characters in the same movie.
Dibakar Banerjee, post Khosla ka Ghosla had a repute to save and with this movies he does more good to his repute. A crisp script, smooth editing and brilliant screenplay makes this movie a treat to watch. Add to that some fine dialogue writing by Manu Rishi and you have a near perfect movie. Manu Rishi (Bangali) doubles up with a character backed role, doing complete justice with his performance. The ensemble of the cast is also good, Neetu Chandra, Archana Puran Singh and other casts are brilliant.
The movie starts in dingy lanes of Delhi, capturing the childhood days of Lucky. Manjot Singh (Lucky,young sardar) comes up with an award winning performance and shows us what we should be expecting from the movie in first few reels itself.
The movie is fast paced, and with some exemplary performances the movie holds on to your interest. Abhay and Paresh carry the movie on their able shoulders and deliver just what the doctor ordered.
So if you want to have a laugh-riot and at the same time see a sensible movie do see this movie...

The Anniversary Month

It’s been 2 years in IMRB International and one year writing the blog. So this is the anniversary month.
Know what when I came to Delhi I had this pre-conceived notion that this is not the right place to be, probably I was too prejudiced with the capital city. The city has not been too rude with me, rather I must say I have had some of the beautiful moments of my life here.
Given my easily-bored-to-death nature nobody thought that I would last more than a year in a company, I have been here for two years now. Though I think it’s time for me to move now, but has there ever been a right time, I need to figure that out. Nobody thought that I can pursue anything as close as a regular hobby other than watching movie (as that does not require any effort apart from opening your eyes and closing your minds) but hey all I have been writing this blog for a year now, beat that.
So what has these two years in IMRB been: I had some of my best experiences here in this office. Starting from the day when I joined it till day, it has always been a learning experience for me and I think there can never be a better way to learn than to learn on the job, and that’s what IMRB International has provided me with. A wonderful team that makes you feel wanted and great friends at work. Its been a very cool experience in IMRB International so far, touchwood.
Now talking about the blog; it has been a very god let out for me, it has helped me to settle down in more ways than one, I think this is a stable place for me and gives me a lot of sanity. Made some good friends and some strangers who have voiced their feelings over my blogs, some kind ones and some not so kind.
Two years in Delhi has been a long pleasing one, but I think the time to move has come. Don’t know where don’t when...

MATHERAN: An awesome place to visit

This weekend I was in Mumbai. Swati, Danisha and myself went to MATHERAN. Its a small hill station, infact the tiniest one in the world. We took a toy train from Neral, where we parked our car as no motored vehicle is allowed to MATHERAN.
The toy train ride was a great experience with all the scenic beauty of nature all around you. I think such things are better etched in your memory than capturing them in camera. The rawness of these untouched part of earth gets eroded when you see it thru the mechanised eye of an aperture. We did take a few snaps but preferred to look around and enjoy them. As the train moved at a snail pace, it seemed as if we are getting transformed to a different world slowly and steadily, away from the concrete jungle to civilised world of serenity and nature.
When we got down at MATHERAN, we found that it has not many options in mode of transportations, the only options are Horse ride and Hand-pulled cart. We chose neither, we preferred to walk. We had no bookings as it was a very spur-of-the-moment kind of decision to come over here. So went on this hotel hunting and at last we find this hotel with two rooms. It was all that we needed. We were tired after a day long masti at Saguna baug, but the spirits were still high and thats why post dinner we decided to hit the dance floor and not bed. The Hotel DJ sucked but we were no mood to give up and danced even to the Himesh Reshammiya numbers, there were quite a few Foreigners around and even they didn’t mind our HImesh Bhai crooning in his nasal tone. By the time we were done with our dance routine we were dead tired and had to sleep. The next morning, we woke up early, saw SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE walk away with glory at OSCARs. Then we started our roaming. The place is full of mountain views and you need to walk thru the city to understand how beautiful this place is.
We walked a lot from one point to another, but the fresh air in the lungs helped us not to get tired. It has something in the place that makes you feel so very fresh. We were thru with our sight seeing by afternoon. Then we had lunch and bid goodbye to nature, MATHERAN.
Its not a place that promises you with great places to visit but then I would still recommend this place to all. For this is a place that is so very different to all the places that we visit, another thing, this place does not have a mobile tower, so once you are here, you are virtually off reach. What a place to get away from the bustling cities and polluting atmosphere. Life moves at such a pace that you wish you had a life here.

A much needed break

I was not able to be there in Mumbai last weekend, so this weekend I had to be there, before the volcano exploded (read, Swati’s anger). The weekend was long and I added one comp off to that, and I had a 4 day off, jealous, well that’s my luck!
We still fight like small kids, she was late by 15 minutes and right at the airport we started shouting at each other. The same way as we do always, but then it got a slightly higher TRP than usual (airport being a public place) and that was not the only time we fought so lets not talk about it. Post the last weekend ditching, Swati decided not to plan the weekend. So we had four days and no plans. Google searches and maps came to our help. The first day was fully dedicated to planning, DAY 1: I started my Mumbai darshan with watching ‘Delhi 6’, what an irony. Next we had lunch at a restaurant in Vashi. Swati had some shopping to do and I was pulled into the ordeal. Then we had to go to a party, in fact it was Suku’s send off party. He is leaving Mumbai next month, got a job in Chennai. In my last visit to Mumbai I have been quite a good friend with Swati’s office colleagues, so I was also invited to the party. Post party we returned to Swati’s place. We decided that we would be going to SAGUNA BAUG the next day, its a resort kind of place and from whatever we had searched it seemed to be a village made into a resort, where you can live like a villager, I mean you can take a dip in river, go fishing, milking a cow and a lots of other activities, and Swati was damn excited about it. Danisha (Sawti’s flattie) was to come with us. DAY 2: So the next morning we were to leave at 7:30 and as usual we got late and left at 12:00. Post a few consultations with the google map, we found our way out of the city and then hit the road to SAGUNA BAUG. It was not an easy ride, with none of us having inkling about the way, but we somehow managed to find the place. It was a great place. From there on we went to this hill station called MATHERAN, its infact the tiniest hill station in the world. We had a night over at that place. Its a very small place and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly here. The details about this will be written in another blog. By the way no motored vehicle is allowed in MATHERAN and we had to take a toy train to the place and it is one of the best thing about the place. So do visit the place if you want to have a quite time with nature. DAY 3: The next day by afternoon we had seen all the important places that we need to see, and we returned. We reached Mumbai late in the evening. First we went home, took a warm shower and then went out for dinner. It was late by then and fav hangout had to be BADE MIYAN. After the dinner, there was the only place to hit GATEWAY of INDIA. Santanu, Vishal, Nitin, Jolly, Deepa, Mayur & his wife and Suraj joined us at marine drive. We all mere meeting after a long time. It’s great to meet friends after long time, you have so much to talk about and you wish that time should stop by. So we as we went on chatting with the cool sea breeze completing the beautiful atmosphere. We lost our tab on time, and when Suraj shouted that we are late, the clock read 3:30 am. We bid a quick good bye. Returned home and crashed. DAY 4: Swati had some meetings in the first half, so I dropped her at her office and then went to THEOBROMA with Santanu, to get brownies (read, bribe) for Pinki, Z, Chheenku, Meera, Dinki and Boss. By the time we returned home, Swati had also reached home. She had prepared lunch for all of us. This was the first time since I came to Mumbai that I was having food at home. It was good and she had also made my fav kheer. I was to leave in the evening and got started with my packing part, I packed all the stuffs. In the evening, Vishal and Santanu also came along to drop me at the airport. The flight was delayed by an hour. So we were outside the airport, when I mentioned about this place called MAHESH Lunch Home. I still don’t know what happened, but fifteen minutes post that, I was in the car, my ticket was cancelled and I was now flying next morning. That’s how impromptu plans happen when it’s Swati and me, so it was not surprising. We reached MAHESH, I had never been to this place. Its an awesome place if you like seafood. And if you are lucky, like we were that night you can run into a few celebrities, we met Boman Irani, rather saw him. And we kept looking at his table every now and then, until he felt so awkward that he had to smile back at us, the one out of desperation and we stopped bothering him with our glances. We all had to our fill and then we returned home. By the time we reached home it was 1:00am. I was to fly out at 5:00am. So I booked a cab. Since I was leaving I was not allowed to sleep, we chatted up till the time cab came. Coffee and photographs from our childhood kept us awake all thru the night.
And that’s how my weekend got over. One of the best one ever with my best friend. 14 years and nothing has changed, not even an ounce. We still fight and we still love each other so much. We still look for that shoulder to lean on to and we still have a say in each other’s life.