tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48436981665668808502024-03-05T18:29:16.928-08:00Sunshine...Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-75297621862026917712014-06-13T06:57:00.000-07:002014-06-13T06:57:43.841-07:00Wonderwall!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As she walked along the backstage corridor, the chants and cheer grew louder and louder and she felt her pulse quickening! It was terrifying to face an audience as huge and electrifying as this. She was young and famous, probably not on the lines of a Madonna or Avril Lavigne but in her own way, she was a star! She had been the voice of some of the latest chartbusters in Bollywood and the crowd loved her versatility. But this was her first stage performance.<br />
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She had probably had an audience in hundreds in the past but most of the time she was used to hearing her voice within the premises of the studio or the walls of her home! The audience here was at least a twenty times more and this was her first attempt at capturing the heart of a university crowd that she had once been a part of. She had ten minutes to collect her thoughts, figure out what her opening number should be. A flurry of visuals crossed her imagination as she tried to calm herself down!<br />
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Scene 1: Fifteen years ago and she is a starry eyed-teenager, waiting for the band to arrive. Her enthusiasm is limitless as she stands in the front row, frantically searching for him. Every person in the ground was eagerly waiting for the lead singer but she was waiting for who she thought was the love of her life! As he gets on the stage, strikes a guitar chord, winks at her and calls over the mic "this is for someone special", she can feel herself floating away!<br />
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Scene 2: It's a perfect holiday and she is sitting on that beach side karaoke cafe, enjoying every sip of that beer and every bit of conversation with three of her closest friends! One of them urges her to go ahead and grab the mic and she responds jokingly, "Not enough beers down my friend!". Two hours later, she is facing a drunk audience, unsure of how she let herself be pursuaded when she hears one of her friends start the lyrics and after that the dias was her stage!<br />
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Scene 3: It's her 25th birthday and she has a bunch of friends around her, all of them having one thing in common - they know her! Her guests fail to make conversations among themselves for they are as strange to each other as the person on the next table. She is overcome by emotions as one of her closest friends is moving far far away but she can't let that show. She hates being called weak! But she silently enjoys her scotch and thinks of those years together when the club music suddenly stops and she hears "This one is for the birthday girl" and the last memory that night was of her dancing away to those tunes...<br />
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Scene 4: This was just a few weeks ago or may be months... It was a beautiful cozy party, about a dozen people gathered to celebrate the professional success of one of them. Their friendship was at least a decade old. They all remember how different they looked when they had met years before. They had gone through so much together that being with each other was the only way of life they knew! It's almost dawn and they are still reminiscing when someone says, "Hey! Long since you sang just for us!" And this time she needs no persuasion.<br />
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She feels all refreshed all of a sudden when someone calls out "You are on in five." There is a sudden flight in her steps as she bounces on to that stage, closes her eyes, hears the bass guitar at the back, and feels herself melting in those lyrics "And after all, you're my Wonderwall!"</div>
Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-17786635572775557142014-05-26T20:57:00.002-07:002014-05-26T20:57:39.243-07:00The Unforgiven<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
He stood there in the middle of a crowd of hundreds, lost in his own world, wondering how she will look in the beautiful wedding gown that they had together selected for her. There was chattering everywhere, a typical wedding venue, with the general atmosphere of merriment and celebration. For him, the noise was a mere whisper as his mind tried to filter out the sounds to focus on the one thought that mattered to him... the role that every man wanted to see the love of his life in... As a bride!<br />
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His eyes kept moving back and forth between the door and the ring in his hand. His mind wandered over the scattered memories of the last three years, which seemed a little more concrete than a dream at this moment. He struggled to recollect, though not with much success, the first moment when he had seen her. He snapped back to reality when his best friend, standing next to him, nudged him slightly, and he realized that he had been staring at the entrance for what seemed like an eternity.<br />
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And then she walked in, surrounded by flowers and giggling girls, but all he could see was her angelic face in that beautiful attire. He could hear people whispering that she looked like a princess, and he just wondered, "hadn't she looked this beautiful all along!?!" She lifted her head slightly and as if on cue, he turned and caught her eye. Even from this distance, he was confident that he could see tears in her eyes. He quickly averted his eyes, not sure how appropriate it was to stare at the bride, but then again, he noticed every eye fixated on her, and relaxed a bit.<br />
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She walked slowly towards him, and his mind did a quick re run of their memories together. In those two minutes, he lived the past three years. She stopped just short of the altar and looked up uncertainly at him, just a fleeting glance, as a hand reached out to her and she stepped up and stood opposite to him. He looked at her and then at the ring that he held in his hand, as he started welling up. His hand involuntarily reached forward, as his best friend took the ring from him and all he could see from his teary eyes were her lowered eyes and her wet cheeks!</div>
Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-53490414952045170782014-05-19T10:40:00.001-07:002014-05-19T10:42:15.950-07:00The Toblerone story<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption">The blank farewell note</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This time it's again one of those blogs where I try in best to describe someone close to me. It's an episode in a series of blogs that I have come to write to immortalize people through my words. And years down the line, when I read this blog, I'm sure I will be as confused about his personality as I am today!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This blog marks the end of a six year period (an "era" you might say if you are a fan of F.R.I.E.N.D.S!!) that I have known him as a super smart guy, then as an annoying buddy, then a colleague and then finally a fantastic friend! My vague memories of him as a classmate haven't been altered a lot over the years. He was a confused soul then and he continues to be one still. People might describe him as a difficult-to-comprehend person! He has his own set of principles, ideals I would call them, and lives in a world which probably he alone understands.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Nevertheless, his complicated world has never prevented me from admiring him. I remember rejoicing during my college days when I got a job alongside him in the same company! Silly as it may sound, to be employed alongside someone you hold in high esteem is kind of an honor, at least at a personal level. He was for a long time, sort of, like a role model for me (though not in that elevated godly sense of the word but a milder version :) ) until I realized that I can never have the kind of dedication and commitment that he has towards a task and henceforth had to stop trying to emulate him!!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">There is something very peculiar about him that needs a mention here. As I remember from a recent conversation, I had described him as someone closest to an idealist guy that I have seen in real life. While half his thoughts may not really connect with everyone, you need to understand him to absorb that bottom line of his personality. If there is a practical way and a right way to do something, he chooses the latter! I think the last time I came across a guy like that was Howard Roark in Fountainhead!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">At a point in time when I had given up trying to convince him that the right way won't take you much forward in this inexplicable world, he proved to me in his own subtle yet assertive way that I was indeed wrong! I hate him for doing that in his sarcastic, condescending way (but that's how he always has been!) and at the same time adore and even kind of envy his internal strength and level headed approach towards life. And now that he is on the other end of the world (almost the farthest time zone possible) I can't help but wonder how badly I am gonna miss that clarity of thought which he brought about in every conversation we had!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This guy, who has called me by a million senseless nicknames over the years including moron, nutcase and devil, just made my day today in the sweetest possible way. For someone who always seemed as non-caring and detached as humanly possible, the Toblerone bar with the blank post-it that he left on my desk as a farewell note said much more than he ever managed to convey in our six years of friendship! Someone lightheartedly teased me that he has no words of good-bye for you... Come to think of it, how poetically fitting that sounds!</span></div>
Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-10124583747504350652014-04-25T22:57:00.001-07:002014-04-25T23:06:41.276-07:00You’ve got a friend!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><em>10 sure-shot ways to become my friend at first sight!</em></span><br />
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I recently realized that there is a subtle yet prevalent pattern among the kind of people that I am really attached to. And there is a strong though often overseen differentiating factor between people who I prefer to call as my “confidantes” and others who range somewhere between plain acquaintances to buddies. The conclusion is that I have a strong sense of affinity towards people who have a close connection with books in particular and literature in general. Somehow, a person who is an avid reader or writer, has a special “aura” to the personality that is apparently a key differentiator for me. So that’s how I came up with a list of “first meeting episodes” that potentially act as a screening factor, more like a sign board that blinks the moment I come across such situation “Well, you’ve got a friend!”</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>A random acquaintance who starts following you on “good reads” and you realize that they happen to like the same kind of books that you read</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>Someone tells you that they had a perfect weekend because they could spend the entire time at home curled up in bed with a cup of coffee and a brilliant book to keep company</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>When you see someone getting annoyed because a book they lent to someone else came back “dog-eared” and he/she can’t stop cribbing about it all day, as if a long built trust had been lost on this one instance </div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>A discussion with the office colleagues where someone happens to quote one of your favorite authors, and you are the only one in the entire gang who responds with a knowing smile, while others are still figuring out the Latin words just spoken</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>Someone complaining that they have stopped buying books for the only reason that his/her bedroom does not provide the luxury of having any more books (this is so true for so many Mumbai residents!!!!)</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>Someone else picks up the same book that you have been searching for long, at a Crossword or a Landmark, and you end up having a 45 minutes conversation with that person, first on the book, then on the author and then on your respective collections in general</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>A friend’s friend who happens to mention in an introductory conversation that he/she is a fellow blogger and manages to squeeze some time out of the jam packed schedule of work to write, at least once a month</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>You go to someone’s place for the first time and they end up showing you the one thing you always wanted in your dream home – a floor-to-ceiling book shelf filled with a range of genres from classic to fiction to humor </div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>A travelling partner that you come across by chance who is as engrossed in his/her book as you are and better yet, the book turns out to be a preferred author or one that you have read already </div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10.<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>A person longing to get hold of a laptop as soon as he/she finishes a trip just so the memories of that trip can be captured into blogs or journal and thus immortalized through words forever</div>
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If you fall in any of the above categories, you are probably a friend already and if not, I will get to you soon! </div>
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PS: Many may find this blog too pretentious, but then when it comes to literature, I am a snob without doubts!</div>
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Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-18719475809262900522014-04-06T02:28:00.003-07:002014-04-06T02:29:15.907-07:00Coming back to life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;">She walked through the woods, all alone with only the whisper from the trees and the chirping of birds for company. And she didn't ask for more. Her mind was full of thoughts, so many that it was becoming harder by the minute to keep track of the tangential directions that her thoughts were taking. She stopped short in her path, for there was an unmistakeable presence of another person, or probably just another thought stream that was disturbing hers, she was unable to tell. But it was there and she could experience it as much as the breeze caressing her hair, or the leaves rustling against her bare feet.</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;"></span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;" />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;">She tried to focus, disentangle the multiple paradigms that the turmoil insider her was giving birth to. She chose a bench to sit on, trying desperately but in vain to streamline her confused mind - for her out-of-control mind began to wander, jumping from one world to another, unsettling her emotionally. Her soft sobs seemed to blend into the music of the woods. Her face buried in her palms, she tried to let go of the demons inside, clinging on to the ray of hope that peace will prevail at the other end of the agony. </span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;"></span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;" />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;">As she lost track of the time in the switching games being played by her mind, the world seemed to empty around her. Her twenty five years of life resembled a fading memory, as she struggled to recollect the faces of the people who mattered to her. Lately, she had been frequented by this experience of living in a parallel universe. She often found herself waking up, only to realize that she hadn't been sleeping at all. People around her had seen her go into a shell all of a sudden and then switch back, as if from a nightmare. She herself noticed her sweating palms and trembling fingers, unable to figure out where she had spent the last few minutes! </span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;"></span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;" />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;">But those minutes were real, so real that she ended up battling between illusions and reality to put her life story in place. She lifted her face to look at the rays of the sun that filtered through the leaves to touch her feet. As she dried her eyes, she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned with shock and fear clouding her, expecting to see a ghost or a spirit. It took her a few minutes to come to terms with what she saw, for there was nothing but the empty woods all around her. </span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;"></span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;" />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;">And then she heard it! Someone calling out, repeatedly her name as if from a distance. She snapped back to see a coffee mug in her hand, her mom yelling from the kitchen, "have you still not finished your coffee?"! She turned to look at the clock, remembering the last time she had noticed the time. Yes! It had been those same thirteen minutes! As it was every single time!</span></div>
Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-71382139594754419692014-03-12T00:12:00.003-07:002014-03-12T00:12:24.933-07:00Musings in office...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A world unknown when u stepped into<br />
This familiarity is a gift from a defined few<br />
I ran after time to keep up with the speed<br />
To catch up with that metaphorical success indeed<br />
Along the way, unknown to the self<br />
Unimaginable bonds of togetherness materialised in itself<br />
To this day it escaped the mind that this is for life to stay<br />
The comfort in a group of individuals so peculiar in every way<br />
Never before never after could a work setting be so flattering<br />
That empowered you to be yourself at the expense of the world's ridiculing.<br />
And as the circle spreads across the world reaching out far and wide<br />
The heart prays relentlessly for strength against an inevitable divide<br />
Did circumstances force us to rejoice in each other's company, probably so...<br />
But the irony of life made me whole heartedly adore<br />
Not just the jokes jibes teasing and fun<br />
But the most satisfying feeling of being a special one!<br />
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- Dedicated to my team</div>
Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-24159904213382045022014-01-12T07:44:00.000-08:002014-01-12T08:09:58.544-08:00Sisterhood!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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My first memory of her is a child who was much cuter than
what I see her now as! She used to look identical to these Cerelac TV
commercial kids, who all look the same by the way. And as minimum as I remember
of our early days together, we weren’t really the closest of buddies. I guess
most of the siblings aren’t for you always have the fear that the younger one
would blabber about your escapades (as few as they were) in front of your
parents! Long story short, I used to think of myself as the cool kinds, which I
certainly wasn’t for I was as much a geek that I considered her. And well, the
cooler kids don’t hang out with people younger to them! I guess the age
difference is too apparent when you are 10 and 8 and not so much when you turn
26 and 24!</div>
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The formative years were a love-hate relationship to say the
least! There are flashback-like-images in my mind, of us shouting the hell out
of each other and spending days as strangers at home, conversing in front of
parents to avoid the bashing. But nevertheless, staying out of each other’s
way, it was just convenient! I am not proud to say this, but there was a
satisfaction in just grouping up with my cousins, and teasing the little kid.
Which I realize now is pathetic and despite all my beliefs back then, it made
me look nowhere close to a bully! Thank god I grew up and learnt to behave once
I reached college. May be seeing a world outside, brings common sense, if not
intelligence, in you! I guess the unsaid pact between us was that we step up
for each other, irrespective of the situation. What started initially as
self-defense, more like you keep my secret and I keep yours, became a habit!
And to this day, we have that oath! </div>
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Our relationship took an unexpected turn when I left for my
MBA hostel. After years of sharing a room, and being annoyed by each others’
habits, me with how much of a nerd she was, and she with how obsessed I was
about dressing up to look all cool (being a jerk to be precise!), the clichéd
trick of being apart bringing people closer just worked! So from just
tolerating, to being protective, to missing each other was quite a pleasant
surprise! After that I guess, there was a couple of years of fallout, as we
lost track of each other, she busy in <st1:city w:st="on">Bangalore</st1:city>
with her masters and I with my first job in Mumbai. But the best thing that
destiny did for me was her Ph.D.! That brought us in the same city and that’s
when we actually became friends <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></div>
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So with all that background, today she is someone I look up
to. She has a life that I will trade any day for! She is pursuing doctorate in
a subject that I had struggle getting a decent score in, at high school level.
She lives in the most posh area in Mumbai. She almost has a poetic lifestyle
and she doesn’t have the most hated thing in my life – Monday blues!!! Of all
the things that figure in my fun-time list, shopping with her and cooking for
her are probably my favorites. </div>
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She is still that cute little kid, who used to hate wearing
glasses and be terrified of exams. But her sensible and thoughtful persona does
a good cover-up job! I adore her for all the emotions that she displays but
more so for those hidden ones which connect me to her more than anyone else! How
she became the most indispensable person in my life is something I have no
answer for, but probably the thing I am most thankful for!</div>
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From that annoying little brat to a wonderful, self-possessed,
judicious woman – that’s my baby sister for you! </div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->-<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]--><i>Dedicated to
Charanya Ravi<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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P.S.: When I re-read the blog, the pedantic and elderly tone
is impossible to miss! Not sure if it’s because I am writing about her or am I
really aging!!</div>
</div>
Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-76654887221514865992012-09-17T09:21:00.000-07:002012-09-17T09:21:16.371-07:00Challenge accepted<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I often wonder if growing up in any other country around the
world is as competitive as growing up in <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">India</st1:country>. Would I have had to go
through the countless imperceptible struggles that I went through if I had been born
in <st1:state w:st="on">New York</st1:state> or <st1:city w:st="on">London</st1:city>
or <st1:city w:st="on">Dubai</st1:city>? There
is no way of finding this out obviously, and that is not even the purpose of
raising this question. The truth here is that <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">India</st1:country> is so unique is so many ways
that it is hard to have an uneventful childhood here. </div>
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When I say that, I do not
refer to something spectacular or bizarre that you might have been subjected
to. It is a simple concept of economics that all starts with the
country’s population. A pure demand supply mismatch, which has ensured that at
every single juncture, we have to prove that we are in the top 5% of whatever
sample space we are representing, so as to achieve what we are being considered
for. This is applicable everywhere, be it education or job or even marriage. Because
there is abundance of options here but lack of opportunities!</div>
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This had actually led to Indians being a part of all the
major job markets of the world. There is a school of thought which believes
that talent migration is one of the biggest dangers facing our country. Whether
they are right or not, is not for me to opine about, but it just seems to be
the obvious solution to many of the problems that the educated population here
faces. During the formative years, everyone has a vision of their future and
when you see that you can’t get that within the boundaries to which you are
striped, you have to look out. This has been prevalent for ages now, with the
difference that instead of moving from villages to city, you now have to “go
global”. If not here, you have to make it big somewhere!</div>
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So what impact does this kind of a backdrop have on the way
you think? For starters, it makes you prepared. Because you have seen so many prospects
lost to preferences and reservations that you know what you have is not going
to stay. And this thought never leaves you, not when you land a job after years
of struggle, not when you become the best rated employee and not even when you
become the CEO… For there is always an equally qualified guy waiting around the
corner to prove he is better than you! </div>
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But more than that, it makes you so persistent, that beyond
a point if things come easy to you, you start doubting its genuineness! I do
not know how many of us have made this observation that Indians as a bunch are
bloody determined! Especially when it comes to the subject areas where mind
rules. Well I have noticed this and far too frequently now. </div>
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The Indian mind knows that the only form of survival is to
keep getting better at the game, to make sure that the opponent is always two
steps behind, trying to figure out how to catch up. It seems like we all take
up a challenge when we are born and are obstinate to let that go till the very
last day. So much so that, at some point of time, we may have overlooked the
fact that we have already won, but are still playing just for the fun of it!</div>
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Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-19977769570721368132012-07-15T07:03:00.000-07:002012-07-15T07:05:07.297-07:00The Dissociation Paradigm<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The
belongingness that you feel towards a city is a peculiar phenomenon. More often
than not, there is not much of a clear cut reason behind why you feel the way
you do about a particular place. For me, that city was <st1:city w:st="on">Delhi</st1:city> for a very long time. And after a
considerable amount of thought, I came to the conclusion that this attachment was
based on a single premise: Familiarity. I spent 20 years in that city and a part
of me began to be defined by <st1:city w:st="on">Delhi</st1:city>
itself. That is true of every place though! There is a certain trademark of
every city’s inhabitants. <st1:place w:st="on">Delhi</st1:place>
is for aggression, Mumbai for progressiveness, Kolkata for simplicity, Chennai
for conventionality and so on (these are my views and I am not typecasting
anyone). </div>
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So I was all <st1:city w:st="on">Delhi</st1:city> – aggressive, boisterous
and a bit egocentric (by using the word “bit”, I am just cutting myself some
slack to be honest!!!). I spent so many years getting each and every bit of <st1:city w:st="on">Delhi</st1:city> ingrained in me that even today the mention of the
name brings a sudden allegiance towards <st1:city w:st="on">Delhi</st1:city>
as if it is a long lost sibling! And when destiny took me to Mumbai, a city
that I had heard so much about but never really wanted to be a part of, I vowed
to myself that I will keep that <st1:city w:st="on">Delhi</st1:city>
spirit alive in me. There was no reason to have an aversion to Mumbai other
than the obstinate resolve to be addressed as a <i>“Delhite”</i> for life!</div>
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And then came
the transition phase of my life, when I moved to Mumbai some 30 months ago. There
is a compulsion within to keep yourself so fervently attached to your hometown
(which for me is <st1:city w:st="on">Delhi</st1:city>
for I have hardly spent any time in my birthplace Chennai). It is an emotion so
hard to describe. For one thing, that is where all your roots are – friends,
family and so many memories built out of years of growing up. And then you know
that, here in this <st1:city w:st="on">new city</st1:city>,
you are an outsider and you always will be. So you want to keep that bond with
the city you left alive, just so you have some place that you can call your
own. And for that, you keep going back to the memories that you have of
<i>Connaught place</i> and <i>Lajpat Nagar</i> where you have spent all your teenage days,
even as the memories become thinner and thinner as years progress. After a
point of time, you are forced to accept that you have gotten over the obsession
of wanting to be referred to as a <i>“Dilli
ki ladki”</i>!</div>
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For me that
moment of realization happened in the very near past. On my last visit to <st1:city w:st="on">Delhi</st1:city>, I became aware of
the change in me. I don’t speak the same language any more (I have a lot of
<i>Mumbaiya</i> slang in my Hindi). I don’t know what restaurants to go to and when
people ask me for suggestions my mind keeps going back to <i>Lokhandwala</i> or <i>Colaba</i>
or <i>Bandra</i>. I have considerable difficulty in remembering some of the “<i>galli</i> and
<i>raste</i>” that used to be at my fingertips. I feel a bit out of place when my
friends are talking about a new place that they have been to recently. And
above all, I feel like a visitor in the city! I find myself wanting to get back
to my life and that life is not in this city anymore!!!</div>
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It was
unsettling initially to feel so unconnected to <st1:city w:st="on">Delhi</st1:city>. But it was even more of a shocker to
think how less of a time it took me to move from one end to the other of the
spectrum! May be, I was not as fixated on <st1:city w:st="on">Delhi</st1:city>
as I thought I was. Or probably, the familiarity that makes one belong somewhere
developed between me and Mumbai! Perhaps, I was much better at adapting to a
newer territory that I ever imagined myself to be!</div>
</div>Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-89478885735036926922012-05-14T12:25:00.002-07:002012-05-14T12:25:51.768-07:00The love for politics<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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In most countries, politics is just a study of power, who
governs, who makes laws and what those laws are. But not in my country! In <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region>, politics
is a lot more than that. It’s the hottest topic of discussion, the bread and butter
of a millions of news channels and above all the livelihood of so many party
supporters. In my country, politics is larger than life itself and there is a
reason for that. We are the largest democracy in the world. No other country
has as many political parties as us. There is competition in every field in
this country and politics is no different.</div>
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Well everyone knows that “With great power comes great
responsibility”. But when you have the kind of power that politics bestows on
you, you have arrogance, pride, superiority, over-confidence and a lot more that
responsibility is forced to take a backstage. We are a democracy for the
namesake. But on the ground level, many still refer to the system as monarchy!
And why won’t they… what with generation after generation of the same family
controlling the government at the centre. And when you see it that way, it
turns out to be a pity. People here do not really have a choice in deciding who
should be their leader. It’s like giving a young boy a dozen barbie dolls and
telling him that he can play with whichever one of them he wants! The choice
here is a delusion. </div>
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It is sometimes hilarious to see how this system works. A
party comes to power on the strength of many, many false promises and then,
during the tenure does a million changes to the local laws, which forces so
many of us to change our ways of life because all of a sudden there might be
new traffic rules or tax policies. And then after five years of this happening,
the opposition swaps positions with the ruling party and what you see over the
first one year is the repealing of all the codes that were put in place by the
previous government! And this cycle continues with the only disturbance being
in the life of a common man. </div>
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But despite all this, we all love politics! Talking about
it, discussing at length with our colleagues, following newspaper columns
religiously and even watching each of those million channels that talk about
them! Of course I am writing this from personal experience but there is at
least a 50% of Indian population like me. I think after cricket, this is the
most common field of interest in <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region>. I remember distinctly a
particular period in my college life when I so wanted to join politics. There might
have been quite a bunch of enthusiastic youngsters like me. But, the field in
itself is intimidating! Not because it is dangerous, but if you really give it
a meaningful thought, it is an enormous task to be in a field where you have to
keep the common good before self. Not all can do that. And I definitely had my
doubts.</div>
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When you are from a middle class family that has no
political history, it is next to impossible for an Indian parent to encourage
his/her child to enter this field for here it is like entering a battle. You
leave your jobs, regular lives, families and friends and even your own
interests behind. So rather than do this, people choose the highway, that of
being a spectator. I am not blaming them for being this way. To be fair, there
is very limited precedent in the history of Indian polity of a person with
regular credentials and background making it big in the field. In a world where
everyone is out to prove oneself, why would you even try to do that in a field
where the odds are stacked up against you! The entries to barrier are
super-high here.</div>
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But when there occur these occasional social outbursts (for
e.g. the Anna Hazare episode), you realize the power that a common man in this
country can have. We still can’t make a huge difference as an individual for there
are these laws of politics that are always working against us. But as a
society, you still have that influence to make heads turn, to stop and take a
notice. We have the habit of finding impossible ways to keep our hope alive
(Like expecting a no ball and a six from that when Indian cricket team needs 7
runs to win of a ball<span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span>)!!! And is that not enough reason for all the
politics lovers to be so passionate about the subject!</div>
</div>Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-1807834307747597922012-02-09T23:12:00.000-08:002012-02-09T23:12:44.696-08:00The perplexity that is the arranged marriage!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">This is probably one of the most controversial topics that I have selected for a blog. But to be honest, everyone is entitled to an individualistic opinion on such subjective social issues and here is where I present mine. This blog is, per se, inspired by the millions of conversations that I have with friends, kin, parents and everyone else who has a bit of time to spare for they think that that is the only issue going on in the life of a 24-year old woman in the Indian society. It is a bewilderment why a 26-year old man does not get the same number of heads turned focusing on his age when the ideal age gap in an Indian couple is considered two years! Such double standards!!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I am not against marriage for I strongly believe in the concept of matrimony and how essential it is to the functioning of the society and human race in general. To put matters simply, it is beautiful when it happens the way it was planned… which I believe is a rarity to say the least. It is the whole idea behind arranging a marriage that seems a bit irrational to me. I am probably questioning one of the oldest prevailing Indian traditions but I just believe that like all other older rituals, that we have revamped over time to suit the changing trends, this one should be given a thought too.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I recently heard a very strong case in favor of arranged marriage which I actually did appreciate. A friend of mine pointed out that not all people are outgoing or forthcoming enough to find their own mates and if my logic of marriage necessitated by love was to be applied, some might remain single! This is a good way to look at the idea and I sincerely accept that in such a scenario, my reasoning fails. But if you look at the society of today, everyone (at least 99% of the population) has a successful/failed love affair, which only goes to show that my principle is easily applicable to the broader base, and that is what all theories are targeted at. Even hard sciences do not give a 100% success ratio.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I understand when people are eager to get married. But what baffles me is when a few of them say that their choice is an arranged marriage! How is arranged marriage a choice??? I can comprehend if it is the choice of your parents. But how can it be a voluntary decision on the part of the person getting married to go for a mate selected by some astrological matching!! There are further some cases where some of us are forced to go for an arranged matrimony for the simple reason that we do not want to go against the wishes of our family. This reasoning, I can accede to but even then not fully. You have to live with someone for 40 years of your life (on an average), raise kids with him/her, spend your old days together and plan your life together. It is a bit hard to compromise on all that. What if the astrology matches but the interests are poles apart!!! </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Some of the readers might find my thoughts too radical. This is not to criticize the people who think otherwise. This is only to put a case forward that there is no right or wrong here. You ridicule my way and I am puzzled by yours. I am not forcing you to get married only when you fall in love. By that logic, you cannot force me to go for an arrangement that I am not comfortable with. It often eludes me why people try to convince each other that theirs is the right stand. And that too in subjective issues as this one!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">For me, the only reason to go for matrimony is when you know that you want to spend your life with someone for whatever reasons! And without that realization, a marriage in itself is unnatural!</div></div>Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-53242117673325728172011-11-11T13:54:00.000-08:002011-11-11T13:58:08.271-08:00The Last Night<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Well, I started to write this blog so that I can keep it as a diary entry, an episode which I could go back to whenever I want to relive my days, here in UK, far far away from home. There is no clear line as to whether the feeling that I have today is good or bad, let’s just call it a grey area as of now for I am sure that the dark side of it is just temporary and will vanish as soon as I go back to my country.</span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have a huge slam book of memories to take with me, of the Emirates, the Theatre of Dreams, the city of Manchester, the UK Somerset country side, the sinfully frantic shopping experiences at the happening central London streets, the beautiful London architecture, the go-crazy intoxicating music in some of the legendary London clubs, riverside beer conversations with some unexpected yet very special friends and so many more picture perfect frames! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And as I sit here in my flat spending my last night here in London at home, I realise that the three months gone by have been as rewarding as anticipated in the beginning! The reason for the most part is my job though it gave a few rough days, sleepless nights and crazy stress, all impossible to handle but well, it’s a package. If you want the good part of it, you take the other side as well.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There were some breathtaking moments along the way, professionally as well as personally. And these made up for the countless nights that I spent in front of my system unable to figure out why I was doing all this. There comes a point in life when your mind starts playing tricks on you. And in my case, my brain was teasing me as if to say, “Isn’t this what you always wanted? So what are you crying about now?” But then things became better, which is primarily because you get used to even hangovers when they stay for more than a day! That’s what happened to me and once I got used to that, life was miraculously easy. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There was one extremely special moment, which was life-changing yet completely unexpected. I always thought that I was slogging to get that job, to be a part of this fraternity, to fulfil the next level of my well-thought out dream process. And finally the reward was there for the taking and when all should have fallen into place, they did but just not to form the same picture. I had to make one of the toughest choices apparently but it was not tough at all. So the most awaited words are spoken. “We would love for you to join us here.” And at that moment, it was spontaneous! I knew I had to go back, not because I don’t want this job. That was never the argument. But because there is something more important to look forward to! And now in hindsight, I probably realise that the only thing that was driving me to finish these three months here is the thought that my future is there, back in India waiting for me, where I left it! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now there is no more confusion. I leave this city only with fantastic experiences that will speak for themselves long after I leave this place. There are no regrets. Not even a remote sense of curiosity as to how different life would have been if I had said a yes to moving to London. Just a hidden nostalgia for I will surely miss this city and the independence that it gave me in terms of every single decision of my life. But that’s about it! All the tricks by the mind fail for there is a content feeling that getting this far in itself was a big feat. And if I have to feed to my ego, well I can always use the self effacing thought that “they did actually pick me and it was I who wanted to move along!” and that feeling is almost like winning a break-up!!!</span></div></div>Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-36659479982643474632011-09-10T18:57:00.000-07:002011-09-10T18:57:45.099-07:00The weeks gone by<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I had planned to write this piece before I even left India. Just did not know when I would befriend the city enough to be able to do justice to the culture that this city is so famously known for. And after the three weeks that have gone by getting to know London, there are mixed feelings. The positives are definitely attributable to London itself and the negative ones are nowhere related to it. I have no benchmarks because this is the only country that I have come to besides my own and needless to say, there is no comparison to India, not just because it is exemplary but because it is home and any expression about home is bound to be tainted with favoritism for obvious reasons...</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The enthusiasm that I had when I entered London was quite high just because I was longing so much for a change. Being the restless soul that I am, I get weary of my surroundings and people very easily and a change always does good. And besides, I was stepping into the actual career of my dreams, probably the closest that I can get to the real investment banking world in its magnanimous persona in the near future. So it was all supposed to be an adventure. And more or less, it has been that way! The city has done justice to all my expectations. If you are someone who loves to be alone, who enjoys personal time so much so that you prefer time with yourself over being in a crowd, well perhaps this city is one of the best options. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It takes no time to be part of the crowd, the crowd that I am referring to, being a part of a particular genre of people. If you go anywhere in the city of London (that is just one square mile at the center of the city, the rest being referred to as Greater London), you see the standard set of crowd, especially on a weekday morning. A sea of people who take the tube, a Starbucks in one hand, a newspaper/novel in the other, earphones making sure that people know you do not want to be disturbed from your personal space, looking up from their book once in a while to see if they reached Moorgate/Bank/Monument (tube stations), then walking at a speed from the station to their workplace that is enough to win a marathon, all the while mailing someone on their Blackberry or calling their bankers/bosses to tell that they have already mailed the work from yesterday at 4 in the morning!!! It's the same kind of people, whether man or woman and all of them dressed in exemplary fashion and looking super fit by the way! </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's easy to be part of that crowd because you need to know no one unlike back home where travelling by Mumbai local gives you a bunch of friends referred to as "Train buddies". This is not to say that people here are unfriendly. They are quite the opposite actually. I was impressed by so many gestures, a cab driver wishing you a good day, a driver stopping in the middle of the road to let the pedestrians cross first even at the peak hour, people willing to help newcomers get familiar with the city and lots more. But I have never seen personal space my entire life the way I have seen the past three weeks. You don't know if you like it or dislike it. You know you are a part of something big (holds true only if you have the same dream for a career as I had since I was 16!!!) but you also know that so are the thousands of others walking alongside you.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The city in itself is a paradise, the architecture of a shopping mall is no less than a castle and you sometimes get the out of the world feeling, when you look at a St.Paul's Cathedral from a Millennium Bridge at 3 in the morning. That's beauty at its best. You are always alone but you never feel alone for if you stop a moment and look around you see that there are so many like you. Hanging out as a group isn't the norm here which was a shocker for me. But you have to give this one to me. History has given me too many shared laughter and such strong bonds of camaraderie. And as far as I am concerned, misery and euphoria, both needs company!! </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I haven't seen much of London other that the fifth floor of 10, Aldermanbury, London Wall and to be honest, settling in was hard. I had a tough time getting used to this lifestyle because there are a few people that I always need to fall back on and they all are 4,500 miles away. My health didn't support much either and above all the work is taxing beyond levels. But things are falling into place now, because as my dearest friend said yesterday, when you have to be working 20 hours a day, meeting no one but your colleagues, struggling to take out couple of hours to do just anything besides work, you may as well do it with a smile!! And when you think of it that way, things seem all peaceful again. It's strange how much of a role perspective can play in your life.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
Well, giving it time did work! I am falling for this city.. Slowly but surely!</span></div></div>Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-34237917291466884482011-08-17T22:55:00.000-07:002011-08-17T22:55:14.502-07:00Of beliefs and of reality - A common man's perspective<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Jan Lokpal Bill has today reached a stage, where every Indian wants to be associated with it, every form of media talks about it (for like days together!) and every individual wants to have a say about it… so much so that people like me are willing to write blogs on it to share our views on one of the most talked about issues in the recent past of Indian politics. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span closure_uid_937lt7="116" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">For people who aren’t very familiar with the concept of the bill, it is an anti-corruption bill drafted by civil activists for the appointment of an independent body (to be called the Jan Lokpal or Citizen’s Ombudsman) which would investigate the corruption cases with the aim of finishing the trial within a period of one year so that there is justice for all and that too in a reasonable time frame. And by independent body here, we mean that the government has no influence on them. This independent body is to be made up of people selected by judges, citizens and other authorities and since the politicians have no say in the constitution of the body, the corruption angle within the Lokpal will be minimal and even if such a case of corruption happens within the body, there are ways to remove those people within a period of two months. That’s the summarized yet comprehensive version of the concept of Lokpal bill.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span closure_uid_937lt7="139" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This bill has time and again been proposed and there have been frequent controversies and oppositions. And my opinion is that these oppositions aren’t really unfounded. I know this statement may not be very well received by a major portion of the population which has shown its keenness in supporting the widespread revolution that started in the capital city but is spreading like a wildfire now. For people who have been victims of corruption and bureaucracy all through their lives (and trust me there are millions in this category) this is like a light at the end of the tunnel for they know that if there is any chance that this thing gets implemented, that would be like a fitting climax, what you see in a Bollywood movie where the good wins the evil and then everyone lives happily ever after. Let me make it clear that I am not being sarcastic about the concept of the bill in general but that being said, there are serious questions on the implementation and the understanding of this bill.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Being an Indian, I can very much empathize with these people who are trying to fight out corruption with all that they have in their hands. We all talk about it at workplace, trains, buses and any other place where we have two people to listen to us but no one takes any step forward and these people (the supporters of the bill) have done that and that’s an achievement and no wonder everyone wants to be a part of this because each one of them believes that they can fight it. They were all waiting for a trigger and they got it in the form of these people. We need to acknowledge their bravery and proactiveness because they are fighting for what they believed in.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But let’s not overlook the bigger picture here. On paper, everything looks perfect but what about the reality? Is it really a viable option to create a ‘larger than life’ body that will have so much power within its hands? Is that how the laws of a country with a billion people are supposed to be made? And when we talk about the power, we don’t even know clearly what all these powers encompass. The bill is not very clear in terms of the judicial authority that the Lokpal will have. There is a reason why the constitution of India separates the powers of executive, legislative and judiciary. Are we sure that we want to create a body that will tread within the borders of all these areas? How can we expect that kind of an organization to work? And who are these people who we think are qualified enough to judge on every other person in the country and be given irrevocable powers for that? Howsoever qualified that person might be, will it be unfair to assume that those ‘impartial people’ are not likely to be affected by the same conflicts of interest that every other person in power does? And above all, are we saying that a small body of a few individuals will have the capacity to handle loads of cases and then provide fair justice in all of them? Not unless these people we are talking about are some super-humans or mutants for the sheer volume makes it look like a gigantic task. All I am saying is that before creating unrest in social life through agitations and protests, for the implementation of a bill (which is likely to become like a parallel constitution) whose clauses are not even clear to the larger public like me who is going to be the beneficiary of the bill in the first place, should we not make sure that what we are fighting for is feasible and not just a concept that looks excellent on paper and is going to be failure when we see the practicality of it?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">No doubts that this is a good cause and an excellent act of courage, but let’s not fool ourselves. Let’s not be tempted by the longing dream of seeing a corruption-free country into believing that such a big change is going to happen just with a dream (howsoever strong and noble it may be). The patriotism inside me also cries out to fight for the good cause but let’s not let our emotion overpower the practicality that life is!</span></div><div closure_uid_937lt7="107"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div></div>Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-27601184880146947932011-07-18T08:24:00.000-07:002011-07-18T08:24:01.991-07:00The survival instincts<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mumbai city is one of the busiest cities of the world. It is home to almost 20 million people (increasing exponentially every year) and nearly 30,000 people live in every square kilometre which is a breath taking number. So no wonder this city is the focal point of so many terror activities. The idea behind any such activity is to create a fear in the minds of the people and larger the number of minds affected, greater is the impact. And if a person thinks logically, this is the place to target if you want to send out a message and if you want your message to reach out far and wide. Well that brings us to the question of who is really the intended recipient of the messages that such attacks convey.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is one question that I have never been able to understand completely. Are they (and I am going to use a pronoun throughout my blog and not use any provocative words to keep this least controversial) making a statement to the authoritative powers, the decision-makers of the country or is it directed towards the common man? Well, I don’t think the answer is a straight forward A or B here. Guess a bit of both is what I will settle for. The irony here is how many people who get directly affected by these blasts which are now infamously described as the “Mumbai terror attacks” (with a special wikipedia page being dedicated to each such attack) really know what is it that is happening at the global or country level that drives these operations. Again silence is the answer!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Well enough of trying to understand the larger picture. Let’s try to understand the subtleties here. What do you think goes on in the mind of every Indian citizen who might directly or indirectly get scarred by these happenings? How many families have their relatives working in this city (guess everyone has a friend or a kin working in Mumbai!!) and spend sleepless nights when they have to send their sons and daughters to pursue their career in Mumbai? It is a pain to think of the dilemma that they go through for they do not want to be the parents who act like roadblocks in the journey of a youngster’s dreams. If you ask me (I here represent the scores of people who move to Mumbai everyday because that’s where you have to be if you have to make it big in your life), I am fearless and indifferent to these attacks because that’s what happens in most of the “dream” cities of the world. Does that mean they have to think the same?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If you pity this category of people, then let me show you another set of wounded heroes. These are the people who have stayed in Mumbai all their lives, who cannot live in any other city for nothing compares to the commercial and free lifestyle that this city offers (I completely second them by the way!). These are the people who are referred to as the spirited Mumbaikars who have been through so much in their lifetime (even the younger generation has seen multiple disasters thanks to the periodic intervals in which these occur never letting them get over the last one completely…) that they have learnt it the hard way to be prepared for anything that might happen when they leave their homes in the morning for their livelihood. That is what, exactly, is the most depressing underlying fact!! Humans adapt to everything because they have to survive. And that everything is not just rains and traffic that this city is already so known for. That “everything” now includes even the traumatising experiences that they encounter time and again!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So where is the end to all this? This question is rhetorical. No amount of police can provide an exhaustive security to the 20 million people in this city because the idea itself is so out of imagination. At least, it escapes me how you can have an all-encompassing system to ensure no anti-social elements enter a city in which thousands enter everyday for a career. Mumbai is always going to be on the radar because of its biggest strength-its people- and well, the people know it as well. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Give a shot at making these people understand how dangerous this city is and try suggesting to anyone in this city to move to some other place and start a safer life there. There is hardly a soul you can convince and that’s not just because other places are also subject to the same threats. It’s just because Mumbai has a way to make people fall in love with it and after that it’s a one-side love story. You know you might end up getting hurt any day but then what’s the point in living if you haven’t lived your life to the fullest…. </span></div>Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-5282842604284934392011-07-17T12:04:00.000-07:002011-07-17T12:04:25.810-07:00To a lifetime friendship...<div class="MsoNormal">The universe of “friendship” has different kinds of species in it. There are some friends who are always ready to hang out with you so that you are never alone, you always have someone to celebrate the best of your times with and the broader picture of life looks like a scene from Hollywood with all laughter. There is yet another type who is there at your beck and call and you know that when you are in trouble, that is the number you need to save in your speed dial for that person has a solution to every problem in your mind. And a few more belonging to the group who probably never express what you mean to them but tell you with their smallest of actions and the rarest of smiles that you are safe in this world coz “I am there for you”. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Well, I found a gem who is all of these and much more. Six months ago things were so different in my world. I lived a life where I worked 80 hours a week, slept through the weekends and spent rest of my time in my beloved books and movies. And then on a day for which I thank my stars, I met two of the most influential people in my world till date but this column is just about one of them (the other needs a longer thinking process to fit in my blog and that we will save for some other day). Our friendship has been like a joy ride all along not because it’s just fun that matters in life, but because he has taught me that happiness is what we live for. When you get the privilege to be a part of group to which he belongs, you learn to live life the way it was meant to be… that “seize the day” motto that every third movie talks about and every philosophy class teaches you.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">There are so many things to be impressed about in a human but I can’t list any of that in this guy. Not because he has none but because that is an experience only a lucky few are entitled to and I am not certainly going to share that fortune with the readers of this blog. You have to meet him to know what a remarkable person he is and if you haven’t met him, well, that’s your bad luck! Don’t expect any descriptions from me here!! Thanks to him (along with a few others), I have learnt to appreciate so many things around me… What used to be lonely city where I have come just for my job leaving all my close friends behind became “The most adorable place” where I have come to love my freedom with a bunch of people who seem so much like my own.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I am keeping this one short for he knows how much I appreciate him being a part of my life and there is no need to write an essay for that. And if I know him correctly, he would already be welling up when he reaches these lines. It’s his b’day today and I wish him every single happiness in life. I hope (and Know) that this is one of the scores of such days that we are gonna celebrate together. May he get all he wanted in life including a shining career in advertising, a lifetime of happiness and unbridled success, a chance to travel around the world and visit all exotic places, a brilliant Jaguar (or Aston Marin or Mascerati whichever he likes more), and of course a bunch of precious people to enjoy all these with (including me!)… Happy b’day Nyukeit Thakkar and God bless you <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">PS: There is only one thing I would like to change about you but my gift will take care of that!!!!</div>Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-65855066309044148522011-06-23T12:43:00.000-07:002011-06-23T12:43:48.689-07:00Confusion at its best!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is going to be a weird blog for when I start with this I am clueless as to what’s going on through my mind. It is probably a blunt confession of thoughts as they flow, trying to form a picture but are still out of focus… no editing, no read-through and not even pauses for second thoughts. Mirrored here are the scribblings of an unrelenting restless mind that understands no emotions other than practicality, no expression other than laughter and no relationships other than great company….</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Let’s rewind the last couple of hours to where this turmoil all started… I finished reading a book by a person very close to me, that talks about his past life, that is so dedicated to his friends and that is an overwhelming flashback of some very special memories… Every word in that book was a simplistic encounter with reality and with friendship, as beautiful as it can be. But surprisingly (or rather shockingly!!) these words kindle in me no emotions, no memories and no fond remembrances. I take a breather to wonder if I haven’t myself had such remarkable friends in my college days… Or is it that those have failed to leave any mark in my life… Well, that can’t be it! I still have vague recollections of times when I used to be quite the opposite of what I am today…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Couple of years ago, this book would have made me all nostalgic, giving a providential feeling towards that bunch of guys that I used to hang out with. So what went wrong? Has the emotional betrayal (not one but many) along the way made me devoid of the emotions that so used to define me? That does seem to make sense but do you call that a positive development really? This small retrospection session has just driven home the fact that I have developed a shield of resentment around me that has made me impassive towards most forms of sentiments. I know it is a very heavy statement and I am not really proud to have reached this stage.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This state of mind has given new definitions to a lot of “concepts”. Being alone is now just the lack of an environment of celebration and all you need to overcome that is some loud music, a couple of drinks and a gang of friends who can make fun of each other and laugh on it… Missing someone is just another phrase for saying that I have been busy with life and not had a chance to catch up with you. Friendship is a state of mind where you have a bunch of people to call when you want to go clubbing or when you don’t feel like being within the four walls of the room. A date with a guy you like is just a good dinner, conversation and a nice long drive. And worst of all, love is just another term for getting addicted to someone’s company! The sad truth is that to reach this level was a conscious effort under the perception that “the grass is always greener on the other side” but it turned out to be a hard-hitting realization that the mind is still in an unstable trance!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The silver lining, if you really want to see it, is that this extreme end of the tunnel gives you a strength to face most of the trauma that comes your way (by trauma, I mean heart-breaks which have been the climax in most of the trusted relationships/friendships that I have been in…). But was it really worth going from one extreme to another, where you have lost the sincere warmth that you used to feel towards select people? Is it even fair on the people who really care for you to be affected by this detachment and lack of reciprocation? And worst still, what if it takes the few remaining kind-hearted souls from your life and by the time you start rediscovering those lost emotions, you are again left in a solitary duel? Scary thought isn’t it???</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Looks like life is going to be a prolonged quest for striking that balance of lucidity. Thank god for making me arrogant enough to not accept the existing state of affairs and keep fighting till you reach the level that you envisioned all along. As much fun as it is to fight these disputes between the heart and the mind, the bottom line remains that if either wins, you are on the losing side!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">PS for people who really care for me: I am not into any form of depression, just trying to better my perfection by thinking out aloud!!</span></i></div></div>Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-34886019693103646502011-05-01T00:43:00.000-07:002011-05-01T00:43:44.962-07:00A birthday note to a remarkable friend!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">It’s hard to believe that it all started almost seven years ago. Has it really been that long? Time does run quick especially when you are in the best of days. This was when I was a 16 year old college girl. And someone introduced me to this guy and it was one hell of an introduction! He was apparently called by the name of “Spidey”, an abbreviation of Spiderman which I still have no clue as to the origins of that nickname. I had a special fondness for his name “Abhishek” and I for one, used to be the single person who addressed him so for the most part of our college life, three years in that amazing place that still remains the reason why I am what I am today!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">There was nothing extraordinary about those three years. It’s a story that every person who has graduated from a mediocre college in Delhi University has to share. A flamboyant city, new college life, bunking of classes, sitting around with friends all day long, no money in the pocket, a profound love for the college bike parking area, those millions of hangout places, negotiations with parents for outings and night-outs, a feeling of being a part of a real group of friends and above all, that outstanding set of friends who have come to define my personality. This was a time when life was all good. Well…not actually throughout the three years but that year of 2006-07 was just out of this world! The reason? Most of them are mentioned above… Who will not love that kind of life? But there was something beyond all this! That’s the confidence and perspective that this set of friends gave me. The ability to take on life, at least half a dozen shoulders to lean on in times of crisis and wait! Am I forgetting the most important gift… A millions of memories to last a lifetime!!!!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">To write about all of them, I need at least a book of the size of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (if not more). But this column is dedicated to one of the crown jewel that I got and that’s where this passage started. I want to keep this short but there is no guarantee coz it’s going to be real hard. Not because he is some exemplary human being that needs such a wordy description (this blog is not being written to praise him for he knows exactly what I feel for him but to thank him for meeting me at the right time of life!!!) but because he is so much a part of my life that it’s hard to miss out on anything. So here goes the story which is very similar to many other friendships yet different... For the simple reason that it’s him and me and there are not many sets of such a beautiful bond that I have come across in life!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">I have never believed in destiny all my life for I think that concept is flawed in itself and definitely we did not meet coz we were meant to meet. I choose who to be friends with coz I cannot leave anything to fate! So he was among the chosen few <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span> Why? Because he was genuine. There are loads of people who are understanding, caring, smart, funny and all that you look for in a friend. But this guy was different for me because he was all that, he had the best of qualities and still behaved as if there was nothing special about it. People viewed him as a fun to be with guy, who makes people laugh but hardly has someone seen him the way I have. He says coolly, “Yeah so I make others laugh... What’s the big deal about it?” I don’t know how to answer him. May be, he doesn’t realize that he is giving the greatest gift to his friends. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Our friendship had the same initial hiccups that are seen in every movie. We were linked together as a couple and teased around so much for the simple reason that I used to adore him. That never bothered me though. If he is that way, I have to adore him. He didn’t leave me much option really. I spent so much of time with him (we used to travel together, hang around together, meet over weekends and so much more) that I got used to goodness. He was there to listen whenever I talked and better still, he was there to talk when I had only silence for company. He had the faith in me that no one other than my parents and sister showcased. He was one of the happiest human beings when I left for my MBA and then when I got a job which I wanted and moved to Mumbai. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">As of today, after seven years, nothing has changed except that we live in separate states. He is one of the very few persons that come to mind immediately when I have to share a success story or a troubling thought. He still gives me a hard time with his stupid jokes, annoying behaviour and childish pestering. And he is still a reason for me to smile when Mumbai gives me a hard time with all the estranged feeling that it has burdened me with. He is what Rahul Dravid was to the Indian team. He is my WALL and will continue to remain so. And if I do not stop writing about him here, the nostalgic feeling of memories and the tears will be inevitable…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">It’s been more than a year since I moved out of Delhi and I can still remember that farewell my friends gave me and the only thing running through my mind was whether I was going to find a bunch of jerks like this ever again in my life who care for me so much and make my life so easy and comfortable. The thought of leaving that comfort zone was terrifying but there were these four people who gave me the assurance to go ahead and the promise to stay there in the background whenever I need them. I don’t know whether they will be there my entire life but the belief that they will is enough to motivate me to keep moving on!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #ead1dc;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">This was meant to be a birthday tribute to the one guy (though I am four months late on it) but it turned out to be a remembrance of that entire bunch of friends that I am so proud to have found and no hard feelings Spidey but you have to agree that our friendship is incomplete if these guys are not a part of it!! Cheers and a very Happy Birthday... Wishing you the best of everything in life coz you deserve every bit of it <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><em><span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Dedicated to Abhishek, Anshul, Ankush, Supriya, Anant, Sakshi, Radhika, Meenakshi, Geetika, Isha, Indu and DCAC!!</span></em></div><span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"></span></div>Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-13753467067779640032011-04-10T04:03:00.000-07:002011-04-10T04:03:20.129-07:00A toast to the champion!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><strong>This blog is a week overdue but then this job of mine doesn’t give me freedom enough to think peacefully and write the masterpiece that this exemplary human being deserves. No article, no comments and no writing can in full describe what this man has been to our country but then as a true fan and specifically one who has witnessed most of his remarkable career, I owe him this and despite not doing the justice that this man is so worthy of, it is still a salute from me and every other ordinary cricket fan that I represent! Pardon me if any of my comments are offensive to anyone. But these are all personal opinions and a bias towards the master is unavoidable for I have been an ardent fan of this man throughout my life. </strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtt-PI6mVb8dH1NjdvgBkqG_GdlZrFLRpKKzKjgf51fpdG3BfrNBWHsyqWGfgnVz6z4KfLCQesjhWUF4oUIs4hBGS5X9xKfTwif7CFhPSrWJgJuDB6KocmZ4C56w09QIjhXZsx68k5x6a4/s1600/Sachin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtt-PI6mVb8dH1NjdvgBkqG_GdlZrFLRpKKzKjgf51fpdG3BfrNBWHsyqWGfgnVz6z4KfLCQesjhWUF4oUIs4hBGS5X9xKfTwif7CFhPSrWJgJuDB6KocmZ4C56w09QIjhXZsx68k5x6a4/s320/Sachin.jpg" width="304" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><strong>When Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was lifted up after India won the ICC World Cup 2011 and given a ride on the shoulders of one of the upcoming players of Indian cricket around the ground where it all started for this man, I knew that I was witnessing live, a history in making. The overwhelming feeling that overpowered every single fan who was watching that on television across the world is beyond imagination if you yourself haven’t been a witness to it. And when Virat Kohli said the words that “It is no pain to carry a man for 15 minutes who has carried the Indian cricket for 21 years”, you could see the emotions in the eyes of this genius cricketer who has indeed been the mainstay of this sport in this country over the past two decades.</strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><strong>Not to steal away any credit from the 100s of other gems that this sport has produced, but this man has become synonymous with the game itself and for that he deserved to be a part of a team that lifted the cup after 27 years. Every cricketer has at the back of his mind a dream to be a part of the championship winning team and this man has had that dream for two decades now! He has given his everything to the game and still has so much more left in him. Age has only made this man more classy, more stylish and more responsible towards his duties and it is an indefinable pleasure to watch his willow do the talking. </strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><strong>The Sachin straight drive is by far the best shot (a personal opinion of course) and every single one of those makes you think whether this man will ever become old for this game!! You still see him play every game with the same enthusiasm that a teenage boy has when he starts playing cricket with his local ‘gali’ friends. The World Cup was a crown jewel in the sparkling career of this prodigy and if this turns out to be the last major tournament that he has played, it was a fitting climax to an illustrious career. </strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><strong>Many felt that Dhoni was not given the credit that he deserved and the limelight was shifted to Sachin. I don’t really have to defend anyone here. (As a person very close to me says, you don’t have to defend when you know you are right. You just have to be indifferent to others!!). But old habits die hard and I have felt very strongly about this and I need a forum to express this. Sachin may not have won this for India and the team may not have won this for a single man… But all said and done, this man deserved to be a part of the celebration and to experience what it felt to be a part of the World Champion team. He has breathed cricket all his life and he owes this to himself! And all the cricket fans owe it to him!! What Dhoni did was a hearty gesture and if people feel that he didn’t get the praise that he deserved, well there is one thing that any Dhoni fan knows… The man with the Midas Touch has so much talent and so many years of cricket in him that a couple of more championships may definitely be on the cards. </strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><strong>As a finishing note, a salute to the Indian cricket team, the support staff, the rest of the cricketing community and above all, the cricket believers across the world who have been a part of this phenomenal effort on the part of Team India! No other team would have fitted the title better, not because they aren’t talented enough, but because this one made billions across the world feel proud of their country and I doubt there would have been an equal numbers of smiles (or even half of it), had it been anyone else!!!</strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><strong>Dedicated to Team India!!</strong></span></div><span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><strong></strong></span></div>Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-31278233225131802352011-03-20T12:20:00.000-07:002011-03-20T12:20:26.802-07:00Living out your priorities<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="color: #d9d2e9; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">This episode is inspired in part by the story of a close friend who has been in a constant struggle with his emotional composure for the past year or so and the rest by a midnight group discussion in the office premises with a bunch of confused colleagues and/or friends that lasted for almost four hours amidst high-running emotions…</span></em></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="color: #d9d2e9; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Well let’s start with a question! How many of us exactly know what we want to be seen as, say a decade down the line? When I ask that question, I am strictly referring to the professional aspect of life. Very few ‘Yes’ answers I expect and out of those few, how many are really in a place where they are actually taking some effort as a part of the game plan to accomplish what they want? This time I expect only a handful to stand up! Now I guess it’s easier to figure why so many of us hate our jobs… We all know that we Do Not want to do what we currently are doing but very few of us know what it is that we want to do! I am definitely not one of those few…..</span></em></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="color: #d9d2e9; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The modern India has so become that the so called Generation Next of fast thinkers with big dreams and strong ideologies end up working in jobs that seldom puts the mind to work. And it is not that they don’t realize that this is what is happening to them and perhaps, that is the sole reason that they want to leave the place that they are in right now. But then what is it that is stopping them from doing the same? No prizes for guessing the answers….Money! Every person with some amount of maturity and experience in life knows that money is not everything in life. But still it ends up being the deciding factor when it comes to selecting the kind of life that we want to live…</span></em></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="color: #d9d2e9; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The emotional trauma that every Indian youngster in the age group of 20-30 goes through in establishing the career that they have planned for themselves is unbelievable and nobody knows whether they will actually end up being what they want or the combined pressure of social pressure and the stronghold of money will force them to compromise… or even worse… make them believe that this is what they wanted in life and create an illusion where they forget what they planned in the first place..</span></em></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="color: #d9d2e9; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">A small brief on what goes through in the mind of an average person in our target population who have just completed their education and landed up in a job because that is the only thing that they were programmed to do ever since they can recall… “Here is what I am going to do. Get into the job that I want to in the next one year or so (which will for sure be a high paid job!!!) then work hard (by working hard, I mean for 100 odd hours on average over a week) for the next 10 years, I make the money that I wanted, and then I leave the job and take up a much lower-profile job, both in terms of money and the insane work hours, and then I will carry out all my passions of life for I will have the financial strength to back it up… (The passion may vary from person to person from travelling, adventure sports, photography, art or just being content with a family). Perfect!! Sounds like a plan…”</span></em></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="color: #d9d2e9; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">But will it really work that way?? Given that it is a high paid job, where you make so much money that you have gotten used to a lifestyle that cannot be altered so easily, how many of us will have the maturity and courage to stand up and say that this is it! Let’s stop here and do all the other things I wanted… Will that moment of dawn ever come? Will we not have reasons throughout life to stop us from taking up our dreams…? Giving the best to the people who love you, fame, power, money or in an improbable case, falling in love with your job, and many more millions of excuses that will convince us to say, “Let me just stay in the job for another couple of years!” And probably this “couple” will turn into a decade and by the time you sit one day to think of those dreams that you wanted to realize, they would actually have become just a dream!!!</span></em></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="color: #d9d2e9; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Guess the ideal time to live those out is never going to come, however strong your “game plan”!! So well…what’s the conclusion??? For me (and you all are allowed to make your opinions and share as well if you are interested!), there is never going to be a time to “live life”. It’s now! Your career may pan out the way you want in a few years or it may not. But to live out the aspects of life that you call as your dream or passion... this is the time. Let’s at least make an effort to kick start today! At least I am not going to wait for the right time to come :) </span></em></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><em><span style="color: #d9d2e9; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></em></div></div>Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-19738051112488680742011-03-07T10:31:00.000-08:002011-03-07T10:31:01.130-08:00The city of hope<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #d9ead3; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What is about Mumbai that is so different from the rest of the cities in India? Is it just a worldly image created by Bollywood, or is it really, like the people of Mumbai keep referring to, a city of dreams? Earlier I used to dismiss the argument as a useless one since, I, for one, hated this city. Close to a year now and still the feeling has shifted only from intolerable to somewhat bearable… Mind you, there is nothing particularly wrong with Mumbai for it is very similar to most of the Indian metros that I have visited in the general aspects. But when I came here, I left behind a place full of memories….the city that has given me everything-my personality, strength, freedom and beyond all that, a bunch of friends that is irreplaceable. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #d9ead3; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Every day I encounter an argument with my colleagues, that usually takes the same pattern. A couple of us on one side defending my home turf that is Delhi and a bunch of others supporting Mumbai. (There are a few in support of other metros as well but they are a minority and generally lose out!!!) Though the argument is unfounded and baseless, it at least triggered a thought in the line of whether one of these two cities is actually better than the other. The love affair with Delhi is like a predictable story…a comfortable companion that you have grown up with, the city has a charm and a force about it that is so magnetic that it is a pride in calling yourself a tough-to-handle, “I don’t care” attitude Delhiite!!! This is an obvious side of the story. But the hatred for Mumbai…well, that is biased for sure! Biased from the mindset that a place that does not have your family and friends is unacceptable as a place worth living…. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #d9ead3; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">From the outside, Mumbai just looks like a crowded city, with an enormous cost of living, where the density of population is increasing at an astronomical speed given that a small village size of people get added to this city everyday. As a friend of mine pointed out to me today, it is a city that has welcomed so many strangers with outstretched arms, that has made so many dreams come alive and that teaches you how to be someone on your own. The people here do not care for their neighbours; well… they don’t even know who their neighbours are!!! Because everyone is so busy running after a wild goose chase, trying to make their destiny that it becomes a crime to waste your time on socializing, specially when there is no personal gain out of it!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #d9ead3; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But is all this the fault of Mumbai? Is this the Mumbai culture? Apparently not! Take a few steps back and look at the people running that frenzied race… They are the same kind of people as I am… the people who chose Mumbai to build a career in this city and while doing so left their beloved homes. All of us have a shared hatred for this city just because it’s not our home and we take the frustration out by not wanting to mix with the people whose only sin is apparently that they are not from your city!!! So, this culture of selfishness is built by the refugees who have come here. The real Mumbai still lives the same way as every other city. This city has actually been generous enough to allow the people from across the country to come here, get a life, learn to live, and then spoil its culture and reputation as well! This generosity is in turn being viewed as degradation of social norms!!!! What an irony that is….</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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Just take a walk along the Marine Drive at 2AM in the night looking at the lights that are often referred to as queen’s necklace… Just keep watching the waves that hit the rocks on the Nariman Point… Just stand near the Land’s end in Bandra and look at the sea link… And you would realize that it is indeed a city of hopes… At least I did!</span></span></div><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;"></span></div></div>Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-41665485306121812442011-01-25T09:44:00.000-08:002011-01-25T09:47:55.427-08:00Letter from an insane mind<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><em><span style="color: #f4cccc;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Disclaimer: This is a purely fictitious blog written in first person only to give a touch of realism to the narration and any resemblance to any person is purely coincidental <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span></span></span></em></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Life presents you with such ironic turn of events that always leave you wondering whether there is actually someone above this world who is manoeuvring each and every move of ours and well in my case, plotting against me as well. The so called Supreme Being, if there is someone like that must hate me for he presents me with such fantastic examples of contrast in life of which I am clearly not a fan….. Here goes one such example….</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">We met two and a half years ago in a college cafeteria when you asked me if you could share the lunch table and you looked like such a jerk that I didn’t even bother to remember your name. Little did I even guess in my wildest dreams that a day will come when a couple of hours without hearing your voice would make life tough for me. There are some things that I can never tolerate in a person- laziness, lack of passion, overconfidence and the habit of criticizing people for the sake of entertainment. You had all that and much more of it and despite that we became the best of friends. Actually, if anyone spends as much time with each other as we spent over the last couple of years, they would become inseparable for that’s what human beings are: addicted to habits so badly that they never want to get out of it. In hindsight it’s hard to believe that people with such different ideologies can even stay in the same room with each other. I still hate all those about you-I hate your guts, your arrogance and the way you always try to prove me wrong just to win an argument. But despite that you remain my closest pal…. Well that’s an understatement for you are like the other side of me!!!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The turbulence in our relationship is nothing short of a joy ride in an amusement park except that the turns have been at the wrong places and the word joy does not do justice to the unbelievable strength that your presence has given me. But for the sadder part, there always comes the question of where this relationship is going especially when you are a girl!!! I have asked that question to myself so many times that I often think that I don’t even need an answer coz I never try to look for one. I wanted to take this relationship to the next level always for that seemed the logical part of it. Two people who know each other so well should stay together for the rest of their life; be it through matrimony or otherwise. I tried to convince myself that there is a line of difference between what we had and what is called being in love. But apparently that line is just imaginary…. When you care for someone the way I do for you, either you got to be in love or… well there is no OR!! That’s the only answer!!! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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<span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">And I have never failed to put this thought forward to you. But you…Well you have always thought that things wouldn’t work out. You have never given me a reason for your argument though which I assume is because you never had one!!! How much harder can it be to forget our differences and remain as friends, like we are today for the rest of our lives??? Harder than you going in a search of a beautiful looking girl, whom you can call your girlfriend, who might be a nice person (I don’t deny that) but who is a total stranger to you and with whom you have to spend years just to make her understand what you really are???? Definitely not!! But you chose the latter part for apparently, though I can know you inside out, probably even more than you yourself do, you cannot give me a chance for there is some reason so inexplicably hidden in this whole argument that eludes me. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">You keep saying that I am confusing myself by bringing baseless thoughts and imaginations into my mind. Well let’s be clear while we are on the subject. It’s not that I have spent days and nights dreaming about getting married to you and spending the rest of my life with you. If that’s your definition of being in love, well then again we share a difference of opinion like we always do. I have just started planning my future life and you inevitably became a part of it because you are already a part so many things going on in my life. You say my thinking has changed! Well I have no clue about that but I have just become so comfortable with you being there whenever I want that I can’t imagine a future where that does not exist. The irony that I mentioned above is that when everyone around us sees the “connect” and logical conclusion of our relationship, why do you not see it?? Or is it a conscious decision on your part to avoid it for you are too scared to face the reality? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">And today, I again ask you to come back out of that relationship which seems like more of a charade than some real bond, come back so that we can be together and in the name of god, I know that that will make us both happier in life!!! And what do you say? You can never hurt anyone and you have given her your commitment. The second part of the statement again impresses me (like every single thing about you) but the first part?? Sorry Mr. that’s where you are wrong… You hurt someone along the way, someone who was always there with you and who would have been there in future as well… And you know who that is!!!!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Regards,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Me!</span></div><span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: inherit;"></span></div>Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-49145645664393321722010-12-04T23:14:00.000-08:002010-12-04T23:19:45.250-08:00The religion that cricket is.....<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "AR CENA";"><span style="color: #ffe599;">Having had my childhood in the 1990s, I belong a particular special generation of Indians who know what it means to stay awake in the post midnight hours to watch the results of an India Pakistan one-day match in Canada!! I distinctly remember those years when we used to wait for these specific yearly cricketing events like Sharjah or the Sahara Cup in Toronto to watch India establish its supremacy over the archrivals. This was all just a decade ago but it seems like that era has passed when cricket was followed religiously by people like us for the sheer magnificence of the sport. And when I say magnificence, I mean the feeling and passion that you get from watching an Azharuddin leg glance, a Rahul Dravid square cut, a Sachin Tendulkar straight drive, a VVS Laxman on drive and above all a Sourav “Dada” Ganguly’s cover drive that earned him the tag “the god of the off-side”... This is just the Indian version of the fabulous game that I am talking about. The global scene has a longer list of tremendous exhibition of talent that is just impossible to list. But in any case, like 90% of the Indians, I am a fan of cricket but an aficionado when it comes to Indian cricket....</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "AR CENA";"><span style="color: #ffe599;">There are people who fail to understand what is so peculiar about this sport that it’s the most widely followed “religion” in India and as a friend of mine often says, it is probably the only sport where people get to stand in the field doing nothing or sit on the pavilion just watching for the most part of the game!!!! If you talk with logic and reasoning, there seems to be a point there. After all, compared to so many other sports like football, athletics or tennis, the stamina involved is much lower... But then, the charisma in this sport lies not in the game itself but the perception. Let me be a bit clearer. This game brings out the patriotism hidden inside every Indian and those who remember the night of the Indian win in the 2001 series against Aussies at home turf or the famous Natwest final, or the ICC championship (formerly called mini-world cup) will know what I’m talking about. Just to think of those moments gives an exhilarating feeling that only a true Indian cricketing fan can understand.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "AR CENA";"><span style="color: #ffe599;">It’s a sad state of affairs that the very concept of patriotism that used to define the Indian cricket is fading with the concept of IPL coming in. Not that I do not follow IPL (as I said, I’m a cricketing fan and any version of the game is appreciated!) but the speed with which test cricket is losing its charm among the “aam aadmi” is a bit worrisome. I don’t know how many people will agree with me but cricket in its purest form is losing its meaning. The sport has become a business... It hurts when you have to support one of the teams in a KKR vs. MI match.. Come on! I was the biggest admirer of the opening partnership of Dada and the little master. They are meant to play in the same team. Anything other than that seems absurd to me. If I choose to support MI for the master, how can I cheer when Sanath Jayasuriya takes a catch off Shaun Pollock to dismiss Sourav Ganguly.. What a fix a true Indian fan is in!!!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "AR CENA";"><span style="color: #ffe599;">That apart, it feels good to see that there is still that generation of people that I grew up with, who watch cricket for what it was a decade ago. This post was inspired by a morning call with my bro, my oldest pal when it comes to discussing cricket, where he reminded me of the Ashes series that still remains one of the most popular yearly events despite all the 20-20 buzz that has been gaining momentum consistently! There is still a bunch of cricketing buffs at my workplace where everyone gathers in front of the common TV area to watch VVS save a test match for India and to wait for Sachin to hit his 50<sup>th</sup> ton! It is moments like these that remind you of those days when you used to get up at 4 in the morning to watch a test match in Perth from the moment the coin is flipped in the air and this is when waking up in the morning is the most hated thing for a night person like me...</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "AR CENA";"><span style="color: #ffe599;">As busy as life has become giving you hardly any time to focus on anything other than the job at hand, cricket still remains the only distraction that can bring 100 odd people on a JP Morgan floor at a peak hour to leave their work to applaud for an Indian test match victory!!! Proud to be an Indian cricket fan.....</span></span></div>Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-89914818127554467322010-11-17T11:02:00.000-08:002010-11-17T11:04:16.030-08:00Mastery over mind<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: cyan; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>There are times when everything about your life seems out of place, somewhat mismatched, making no sense... These are times when you fail to realize how lucky you are compared to so many other people who are struggling to get places. No prizes for guessing that I am going through such a terrible patch currently! It’s not this feeling that disturbs me for I am pretty sure that all of us at some point or the other have quite a pain trying to make sense of the “bigger picture”. What is bothering is that this phase has continued on for quite a long period of time (close to a year now!!!!)...</em></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: cyan; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>I spend most of nights trying to figure out why everything seems to be so disconnected, what some people call as introspecting! And the reason I am writing today is that I think I have found my reason. I have been living alone in this beautiful city for the past eight months. The only thing that has been with me over this period is my job. That’s what life is all about now! Getting up in the morning, going to workplace, doing a job that is manageable though not very exciting, coming back almost at midnight hour and doing this same thing five days a week (often even seven days a week!!!). Not that there is anything particularly unsettling about the job part, but little else other than that is going smooth these days.</em></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: cyan; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>As wonderful and proud as I feel at the thought that I am one of the very few people in this country who manage to get an independent life at an age of 23, the point in living alone away from home in a city where I know a handful of people is slowly fading away. It’s hard to keep track of the number of nights that I have spent wondering whether I would be happier to be in a place where there is more to life than just job! Is it because of the fact that I am unable to settle into the new form of life that I entered into six months ago??? That still remains to be determined!</em></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: cyan; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>There is this craving inside the heart that longs for that someone special who can take of you and make sure that you never feel alienated, in whichever corner of the world you might be in... I don’t have that someone! At least I haven’t had him for the past one year... So this is the second reason (the first being away from family as stated above...) that I thought could be causing these unsettling emotions. The inability to get over a relationship that failed to exist almost a year earlier is quite a defeat and that was actually a part of the reason for this unrest in the mind and a constant feeling of being lost even when surrounded by friends or family.....</em></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: cyan; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>I don’t know whether it’s a perception or there is some truth to it but there is a creeping feeling inside that I am losing touch with myself. And finally today I have almost come to a conclusion. Actually after being in this phase of life for a little more than 7 months, this is what I realized. I have always enjoyed having a variety of things in life-dance, sports, reading, painting and the list goes on... But as of today, I hardly find time to do any of the things that I so used to love doing! That dynamic nature that used to define my character has gone missing. In the process of making myself suitable for the corporate role that I have always longed for, I have failed to grasp the fact that some of the softer things in life (that might often be ignored by many of us....) are slowly but surely taking a backstage! Guess bringing that back is the best way to bring back some of the lost colour in life...</em></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: cyan; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>With this realization, I proceed to the next phase of trying to revitalize the flavour of my day-to-day world. There is only one way to do that. Get out of the self-pitying state of mind and as a very dear person says to me constantly, “just need to remind yourself that you are lucky to be in a place where you have always wanted to be... a few minor hiccups on the way are inevitable!!!”</em></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: cyan; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>Hope to write my next blog in a much better state of mind <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span> Fingers crossed though!</em></span></div>Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843698166566880850.post-22227729961478831642010-10-02T12:37:00.000-07:002010-10-02T12:56:06.018-07:00A thinker among bankers<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">How many people do we come across who have the guts to go up to their manager within four months of landing in a job at a "coveted" investment bank and put in his papers?!? Guess not many.. But I recently met such a guy. A remarkable human being who happens to be a dear friend and one of the most self-possessed persons that I have ever come across... We meet people everyday and most of them share a common trait- a profound disliking for their job and a special pleasure derived from publicly discrediting their work-life (No offence but that's human mentality and yours truly falls within this club of ordinary human beings!)</span></i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">Not to say that this friend of mine is divine or something, but he is a stand-up enthusiast with a zeal for life that is seldom seen in a generation that is involved in the frenzied race to an unknown goalpost that often escapes my understanding! I met him in a training room six months ago on the first day of my new job but I really took notice when a week later, in a team introduction lunch he happened to mention that his hobby was Formula 3! And I immediately thought "Hey, that's kind of idiosyncratic in a spectacular way!" but well, that was just the beginning!</span></i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">We became great lunch-time buddies and I came to know that we share a common root- the city of Chennai and that somehow, for some inexplicable reason made me feel that I have known him long. A sports car racer for hobby and a thinker for profession, he exhibits a strong personality of a dynamite with the mischief in his eyes of a teenage boy.. His interests and ideology give a strange alacrity to his guise that is so compelling yet so charismatic!</span></i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">We were a bunch of enthusiasts who discussed over every conversation that we wanted to make it big in life. And somehow, I have always thought that I knew where I was going with my life... But then the day he said that he was quitting to take up a job that was much more saner than this and involved usage of not just time, but brains as well, I took a pause and wondered whether I was chasing a dream that when realized would seem meaningless! I admired him when he said that he was leaving to do something that he liked but when I learnt that it was half the pay that he was currently earning, I had a new-found respect for this man who was an aberration in this money-minded generation. All of us crib about what we are missing out in life but here is a guy who has set out to make his destiny rather than accept it!<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">It may seem like giving a demi-god status to a normal person but such courage needs appreciation and moreover, he was a wake-up call for me. He says everyday with a </span></i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">warm smile “Dude, quit this job! You are not meant for this!” And I smile silently, all the while knowing that he is right! He has made me question my 8-year long ambition and for that, he deserves this post :-)</span></i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">And when he cut his farewell cake yesterday that fittingly said “freedom at last” (which were actually my words!) I knew I was going to miss the camaraderie of a great pal – a motivating, pragmatic and lucid thinker – who is a treasure to the people that have gotten to know him! I can’t thank him enough for that….<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">Hats-off to the gallantry act of deviation from what is the accepted norm of life!!!</span></i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"> </span></i></span></span></div>Sunshine...http://www.blogger.com/profile/16545151426704234523noreply@blogger.com7