Muggle world

I've been away..but nah, I haven't exactly been leading a team of brave soldiers on an expedition to reach the summit of the Himalayas. I've been doing something lot more braver..Work! (Don't you dare laugh, Mini.)

No, no seriously. Against the combined will of all the heavenly planets and against the expectations of most friends, I actually am working...just not hard enough. Work has, of course, been interspersed with long durations of sleep, reading Harry Potter, eating bhel-puri/sev-puri/masala-dosas and sleeping again.

In fact, some friends feel that I've become a HP freak! And why not; in the fortnight that I've been here, I've finished reading the 3rd, 4th and 5th installments of the series. And yes, I've already started reading the 'Half Blood Prince', so.....

A word here must be put up in the Defence of Writing Arts...err...J. K. Rowling's writing. Just last night I was talking to a friend in Cal and was irritated no end to find that he actually felt that she (Rowling..not the friend, the friend was a he..but anyway, on to the story again) wrote ultra-rubbish.

I personally feel the books are as good as any 'adult' (not that 'adult', idiot!, mature-buddhi wala adult) suspense novels. What the hell, if they can make me see dreams of playing Quidditch instead of Udita Goswami as a Kingfisher air-hostess, I think she (Rowling, not Udita Goswami) is damn good. (Oh well, just in case Udita Goswami happens to read this blog, you're damn good too, Udita. Of course, I'd be singing 'Ek baar aa jaa, aa jaa' to you instead of Rowling).

The fact remains that Rowling's got a wonderful imagination, writes beautiful plots, and keeps the reader guessing till the end with a wonderfully scripted suspense. What's even more, her books have sold 300 million copies (let's not even count the number of pirated copies that must have been sold in India, leave alone world-wide) and have been translated into 63 languages.

In a world dominated by cable television, the Internet and Sony Playstations, I'm thankful to the Rowling's of this world to have generated an interest in books, and more importantly, having generated that interest in the younger population of the world.

But, for the time being, I return to Muggle-world, and must return to the Ministry of Magi--no, the CNBC office to work my 'charm'.

Jab main chhota baccha tha

I bet 3 out of 4 of you who read the title will go "...bahut shararat karta tha".

The lines are from a very popular ad-jingle from my younger days (I put in 'younger days' since I believe my 'childhood' is far from over *evil grin*).

Here is that complete jingle for Bajaj bulbs..

"Jab main chhota baccha tha

Bahut shararat karta tha

Meri chori pakdi jaati...

Kyun ki roshni deta Bajaj.

Ab main bilkul buddha hoon

Goli khake jeeta hoon

Phir bhi chori pakdi jaati...

Kyun ki roshni deta Bajaj."

Now the reason why this ad rings in my memory more than any other is because I got into trouble because of this particular ad. No, not recently, but you know how kids are kids..and how they imitate anything that they see.

Now, it so happens that even at that age I was crazy about reading books, and my Mum and Dad would obviously tell me to stick to my study books during the day rather than novels/fiction books. So, while I was trying to think of novel ways (puns intended) to increase my reading hours..Bingo!! I saw the ad.

In the ad, the kid tried to read a comic under the blanket with the help of a torch when his room lights had been switched off by his parents, who very conveniently thought that the kid had gone off to sleep. Of course, the conspirator was caught and the camera was quick to point out that the bulb that had been switched on in the room was a Bajaj bulb.

The chota idiot that I was, I thought I could do better than the kid in the ad, and so I sneaked an Eveready torch and a 'Bobbsey Twins' adventure book (I'd borrowed it from the school library) into my room at night. Of course I got caught within ten minutes of the premiere show of 'The Adventures of Bobbsey Twins'. I don't remember getting any punishment for my foolishness, but I certainly do recall that I never ever again got the opportunity to be a badmaash and read books under the blanket again.

P.S. On a more positive note, the second part of the ad, where the old fellow tries to steal food from the refrigerator, only to be caught red-handed/pastry-tongued by his wife, was a GREAT learning experience. To this day, there has been no, and I repeat, NO occassion when I have been caught while helping myself to chocolates/pastry/Coke in the dead of the night. Touch wood. :)

Brand Ambassador

A change in the brand ambassador of this blog.

From FIDO DIDO.......................to ME !! :D

Great Quotes

Teachers will remain teachers...and from time to time, they'll prove to us that they are human after all. Making fun of what teachers/professors/faculty members say is nothing new. But just to prove the point that it is all very well deserved, I am quoting a few examples here.

These were a few fabulous quotes made by some of the faculty members at the Nirma Institute of Management. All of these statements were made with a serious intent and was meant to be some of the pearls of wisdom that we received. Unfortunately for them, we realized the obvious. A friend observed that a collection of such quotes would bring a smile everytime we recalled them, and so he started a thread at Nirma community on Orkut. These are just excerpts...

1. It is human for human beings to make errors.

2. Cost of goods sold is cost of goods sold.

3. The outcome is coming out. (This statement was made when a set of input data had been typed in and the class was seeing the output being displayed on the projector)

4. Are you boring? (The intention was to ask the student, in an angry tone, whether he was getting bored)

5. One year will be known to you after one years. (The faculty was trying to impress on us the value of one year's time in a student's life)

6. Most probably, we need to discuss and think with conscious or subconscious mind of ours. (I'm still confused on this one...)

7. Give me an example from recent example.

8. Contact your seniors who passed away 5 years ago... (Obviously, he later apologised, and corrected himself by saying he meant 'passed out 5 years ago')

*Sigh* Teachers will be teachers...and students will remain students....

Mee Mumbaikar

Well, I am a Mumbaikar at least for the next two months, i.e. till I complete my summer internship with CNBC TV18. Hmm..should be an activity filled 2 months, to say the least.

There were a number of things I wanted to write about, so here goes..

1. Ghar ki yaad

I know, I know..I have just come back from home. But I'm already homesick. In fact, on the night before I took the flight to Mumbai, I suddenly did something which could be very well be expected from a 5 year old (of course, there are scores of people who'd argue that THAT is my actual age, but that is a completely different debate).

I simply turned around from all the hectic activity, all the packing and re-packing and all the time calculations for leaving the next morning..and simply refused flat out to go!! "Mummy, main Bombay nahin jaunga...mujhe ghar pe rehna hai." If there is one thing I'm good at, it is throwing a tantrum. *devilish grin* I haven't grown up as much as people think, and obviously, I've become an expert at some things. I could very well give a lesson or two to kids who are novices in the field of khaoing bhaav.

*Sigh* Anyway, it finally took a lot of pampering from Mom, a confused look on Dad's face and a lot of coaxing from friends I called up in the dead of the night that convinced me that I had to go the next morning, irrespective of what I felt. And here I am, sitting typing a post titled 'Mee Mumbaikar', so you know what ultimately happened. *Deep sigh*

2. Hawaai udaan

The last time I was on a flight was 7 years ago. Like I've already mentioned, there doesn't seem to have been much of a mental development since then. However, I've definitely become more observant..or so I would like to believe (I do vaguely remember trying to memorize the clothes that girls' would wear to parties even then). But, I must say, flying was definitely a different experience this time around. For one, I was definitely not headed for a summer internship the last time I flew, I was off to take a vacation with my parents on that occassion.

I must say, it was fun the first few minutes of the flight. Soon after we took off, I was observing how the clouds below looked more like a comfortable 'razai' that I would just like to get under. Hmmm..that would really bring a deep, comfortable sleep; something that is a premium these days. A few minutes later, the flight attendants served breakfast but I quietly avoided the food. I feel giddy in an aeroplane and all the rumbling in the stomach is not the correct time to load yourself with food. So, I sweetly accepted the air-hostess' request (she was sweet to look at) for a cup of coffee. Mom was surprised when I gulped the half-filled cup of coffee without any sugar or milk; it's been some time ('some time' being a major understatement) since I had coffee with my parents at a coffee shop, or else, Mom would've known that I love black coffee.

3. 'Yeh hai Mumbai shahariya...tu dekh babuaaa'

Of course I've been to Mumbai before, but this is the first time I'm here on a professional assignement, the only other city where I've been on a 'professional assignment' (sounds as if I'm an FBI agent who gets to work at different locations) being Calcutta. After my first day of work at the CNBC TV18 office, when I walked towards the Lower Parel railway station, I must admit, for the first time in my life, I felt dwarfed.

I felt dwarfed by the crowds, the teeming hundreds who were headed back home, the crowds who were visiting the sabji mandi, the elegantly dressed Maharashtrian women who were selling their vegetables...everything. All of a sudden, I realised how I was just one of the million Indians who was headed back home from a day at work.

How was I ever going to stand out from the crowd?

How was I ever going to make a mark for myself?

How was I ever going to etch a name out for myself?

These and a number of other questions worried me..only till the time I reached home, to Mom and her simple home-made dinner.

4. You're watching CNBC TV-18...Profit from it...

The CNBC TV18 office is the 'coolest' office I've ever stepped into. The walls are not the conventional office types where everything is painted in the same 'cream' colours. The walls are actually a riot of colors, blue, red, and sometimes a shocking orange.

The people working there are again different from you would expect at an office; at least, that is the impression I got on 'half-day' Saturday. The folks wore jeans and a shirt. Some looked ready to be strolling the grounds of a golf-club. Of course, I saw the studio where the shooting actually takes place. In fact, do not be surprised if one of these days you spot me running across the screen behind Udayan Mukherjee... that would just be me making a dash for the cafeteria

Back home

Do not even ask me how and why I made the transition from “not blogging” to “ok fine, I’m blogging again”. There was just something within me which went ‘click’ and which said “Stop blogging, it’s not helping you”. Again, last night, something inside me just went “click” and said “Hmm..start blogging again, it will help you.” With all this ‘click’-ing happening inside me, I almost feel like an Anchor switch! How mischievous the human mind is! In fact, I almost contemplated starting an anonymous blog, but then I dropped the idea.

Finally though, I’m back home. I must admit that the first few days back in Calcutta didn’t feel like I was back home. I mean, where was the peaceful sigh that I was waiting for all along? Where was the peace of mind and peace of heart, which told me ‘Ok, you’re on a B-R-E-A-K..Chillax dude!!”

But yes, opening up to a certain extent in front of ‘her’ yesterday made me feel much better. I just let go and told her most of the problems/frustrations that had become a part of my life. And of course, I did the best thing today by going ahead and telling her of the reasons and places where I’d gotten upset with her during the last few months. Thank God I was finally honest and told her what I actually feel when she calls up at times when I’m busy with work. Of course, I must thank Providence…and ‘her’ too…for giving me the opportunity to vent my outburst. It was she who pointed out to me that I’d been rude to her a couple of times over the last few months when she’d called up. And then, I just told her what I felt. Unfortunately, I was cut short when Dad called up and reminded me that Mom’s dinner + neighbouring ghar ki aunty ka dosa were eagerly waiting for me back home. And the fact that she and I will be meeting tomorrow in the company of friends when we go for a movie really doesn’t help matters. I hope we can have a good complete conversation soon.

Ha ha. Surprisingly, she hasn’t yet made a comment about my long hair. No no, do not get me wrong. I don’t have a hairstyle which would remind you of Shabana Azmi in ‘Makdee’. Just that my hair is slightly long-er than what is normal for your run-of-the-mill dressed-in-formals, slick-gel-applied-hair and pin-striped-suit clad MBA.

My hair has been a constant source of consternation for people around me. The curls in my hair at unbelievable locations have always been a source of ‘head’ ache for the barbers. I still remember the confused look on Salim bhai’s face when he would have a scissor in one hand and a comb in another. He would turn towards my hair and would suddenly have the same look on his face that I used to have in school when my biology teacher asked me to draw an arthropod on the blackboard. Well, as for the current situation, I plan to just go in the next 3 days to a decent hair salon and ask the hair stylist to do what he feels best, given my intentions of keeping long hair.

I was just packing my bags for Mumbai a few minutes ago. It felt awkward. Never before in my life have I been packing my bag for another place barely 3 days after coming back home. But, I guess, I’d better get used to such a life. Ha!! Here comes the globetrotter…

One thing that the one year of Nirma hasn’t changed is my attitude towards the saas-bahu serials. I’m sure there must be some website dedicated to anti-‘saas-bahu’ soaps. I still get a headache when I so much as just listen to the dialogues that some of these serials spew out. God!! What nonsense. “…main uska dard samajh sakti hoon, kyun ki main bhi ek aurat hoon”, and “…maine tumhaare liye bahut balidaan diye hain, lekin main apni beti ki zindagi ko tabaah nahin hone doonga”. Yes, don’t stare in amazement; the second quote was made by the male protagonist, not the female lead.

There is one difference in me, however. Earlier, when I used to settle down for dinner and Mom used to switch the channels to one where such a soap was being aired, I used to walk away and have the dinner in my room. Now, I patiently continue to have the dinner on the dining table itself. To hell with the headache yaar, ek saal ke baad ghar pe hain, this is the least I can do for my parents i.e. give them the satisfaction that I’m ‘properly’ having a dinner in front of them.

Yaar, I just love my parents so much…even if I can hear Mom complaining right now to Dad in the other room how I refused to pack 2 shirts that she selected from my old pile of clothes. *Smiles*

Bachna e haseeno...

...lo main aa gaya !! :)

Balderdash....I AM BACK !!!!

'Aavjo' with a smile

'Aavjo' is the Gujarati equivalent of a 'phir aaiyega' in Hindi or a polite 'do return' in English. It is said at the time of parting or bidding goodbye.

It is time for this blog to take a break. (Nope, this ain't an April Fool's Joke.)

I'm not upset about anything in particular. Nor is it about this.

It is just that The Traveller needs to travel again, on a path where he might find it difficult to narrate stories. Make no mistake, I still love narrating stories; only that it is time for me to go about weaving another one.

Nor am I saying that I shall never return to the world of blogging. Just that I'm not sure whether I will, and if at all, when.

It has been an extremely satisfying journey over the last few months where I enjoyed narrating experiences as well as expressing my own doubts and fears.

This doesn't mean that I shall not be following the blogs that I so loved to read:

Abhinav Jain, whose blog I LOVE the most. At the end of every day, I would look forward to reading a new post on his blog just so that I could laugh away to glory in the dead of the night

Gosia and the absolutely glorious photographs that she takes

Sunshine, who hopefully, I will be meeting soon

Moonwalker aka fellow Martian aka the one who's going to send me chocolates from her first salary

Arpana, who deleted a post that I loved the most [ remember Arpana? :) ]

Sayesha, who writes her blogs with utmost honesty

Amit, a great sport and a fun person to interact with

Trash_u aka Saurav-ko-gussa-kyun-aata-hai. Although this fellow doesn't update his blogs often enough, he's good

Ani; all I can say is BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG JHAPPPPPPPI :)

Anant, a guy who I respect because he speaks his heart

Nitin, the (almost) ex-IIT dude, now ITC dude and the most trusted friend ever who's just started blogging. Dekhte hain banda kitne din tak naukri or blog dono sambhalta hai ;)

Anna who's become a good friend and has recently started blogging again

and last, but not the least 'her'.

AAVJO :)

Shame India !!

Absolutely horrified by this.

Do not know how to vent my anger. Is this the country that we're aiming to make one of the superpowers of tomorrow?
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updated on 29th February, 2006 @ 7:00 PM

Hopefully, the arm of justice will finally tighten its grip around the neck of the scoundrel. Here is some news which might keep our hopes alive in the system.

Obsessed

This post is not by the author of this blog. This is an Obsessed man speaking. For sometime now, people have been asking where I have been. For a long time now, people haven't known me. For a long time to come, people will remember me.

I am not one of you. I am he who walks against the crowd.

Some people do not like the color red. I Love The color red. It symbolises Blood....and at times, death. Blood is what sometimes people spill in order to get ahead of others.

I was not like this initially. I have become what you made me. Love me or hate me, I am what you turned me into.

Do not misunderstand this rage. It is neither misdirected, nor is it going to go useless. It is directed at you and it is going to tear you apart. Not because of anything else, only because you stand in my way. Nothing personal, just life.

Isn't that what you taught me to do when you did the same thing to me??

I listen to hard rock and gangster rap. But you will still not be able to spot me in a crowd. I'm not dressed like a punk; I don't have a goatee, I don't wear faded jeans, I don't wear torn shirts, I don't have wild, pink-colored hair. I'm dressed in a pin-striped suit, the same one that you saw me wearing today morning on television. Only difference is, I was smiling then, shaking hands with other 'important' people. Now, I'm staring hard at you, my deathly stare makes the hardest of men cringe and shift uneasily in their seats. They call it the stare of the fox.

I wasn't happy when I left my previous state of thinking. I hated myself for what I'd become. I hated the world of hatred, the world of stabbing knives in the back of people, of feasting by tearing flesh apart and quenching my thirst with blood. But I had no other option. You left me no other option. I had to become like this. It was a question of survival.

There are no Gods in my world; the only God here is me, and I control my own destiny.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST Ha !! No one knew it better. I've killed people, I've had them murdered, had them removed from my path. Only because they were in my way. And I did all this with the same sense of calmness with which I would pick up and throw away a pebble which happened to be in my path.

But, am I happy now? You bet!! Or perhaps, it cannot be defined as happiness. But at least, I'm alive. Isn't that what people told me to be? Alive?!! If this is what you define as alive, then alive I am.

I told them that this is not what I want to be. Give me another option, and I'll gladly take it. I wanted to be a truly happy man, with the sweet sun shining, sitting in the shade of a tree, writing sonnets for my sweetheart and reading them out to her as she lovingly gazed back at me. But it wasn't to be, it wasn't to be...

Remember the line that Eminem sings in the song "Loose yourself" - "Success is my only motherf****** option; failure's not." Well, that's the mantra in my world.

I will not apologise for a dark post. I intended it to be one ~ The Obsessed.

What would you do?

Another quick post before I hit the books.

Strolling around blogworld, I came across this interesting post. The post ended with a question that the blogger had been faced with:


What would you do in life if money wasn't a constraint?


I too was stumped for an answer for a couple of seconds. But immediately piped up, "Start my own company."

"Abe dhakkan," came back the reply from the 'saner' part of the brain, "company khol ke karega kya? Aata aur saabun bechega??"

*Deathly silence*

Well, truth be told, I really don't know. In fact, every time I've told people that I wanted to do something of my own, they've asked me what precisely I'd like to do. And that is where I've been stumped again.

Unfortunately, this MBA doesn't seem to be helping me answer those people back either.

This obviously remains a deep, deep regret with this MBA studies. I remember coming across a book in the library which was by a company which had been fed up with people with fancy college degrees but completely unable to do the most basic of managerial jobs. The book was very aptly titled "What we need: Managers, not MBAs"

I've realised one thing through this post. I really do not know how successful I shall be working for someone else, unless I have a position in the organisation which allows me the freedom to do my own thing in order to achieve their goals. The only other option would be to have my own startup. Which would again require money and lot of technical help in whichever field I decide to take a plunge in.

No matter what the outcome, I now know what I need to do. All the best to me.

And hey, selling 'saabun' doesn't seem to that bad an idea after all. Didn't Nirma's Karsan Bhai Patel start off on that very route? And today he's what, worth around 1,800 crores?? Not bad!!

The 2 'o clock madness

One of the great advantages of living in a boy's hostel is that you get to see the kind of madness you obviously wouldn't be able to be witness to in your own house. Don't believe me? Well, read on.

Two o' clock in the morning is when the chai-waala on the first floor of the boy's hostel shuts his shop. Hence, like a flock of migratory birds, most of the batch descends daily on the first floor at around quarter to 2 and shouts of 'Chotu ek chai', 'Chotu ek coffee', 'abe Chotu, zyada veg. puff kyun nahi mangvaate ho?' reverberate in the halls of the first, second and third floors (talk about MBAs with loud voices).

Today, there was a small difference. Well, a 5' 5" difference to be precise. One 'Don' of a student was at the scene of action too and was God-knows-when challenged to a Pepsi drinking competition by one of the guys.

Glug, glug, glug...even before we knew, the first 200ml Pepsi bottle was emptied. The bet was to finish 15 such bottles at a go. Although the guy was downing the drink at a good pace, it wasn't as if he were attacking the bottles with the same intensity with which, say, an American soldier would attack a bottle of beer in Iraq (is beer available in Iraq?).

Anyway, the strains were clearly visible on his face by the time he'd downed the first 5 bottles. As usual, a crowd had gathered and there were voices of encouragement as also shouts of "Idiot", "Gadhe" and "C********, kya kar raha hai?". All this, I guess, just added to the fun and the adrenalin rush which helped the guy drain another 2 bottles.

However, the shouts were loud enough to awaken the watchman sleeping on the ground floor. Up he came to the first floor, thinking there was trouble brewing. On being told that this was just a bet that we people were witness to, he too had a grin of uncertainty on his face. Of course, by now, the 9th bottle had been emptied (go five and a half footer!!!).

Good ol' common sense prevailed, and the security guard quickly stopped the show. Fortunately, there was a rush of practicality back to the Marketing Research stuffed-brains of the guys and we too stopped the guy from going ahead from completing his bet.

Although the bet was lost, the atmosphere that it was able to create was absolutely DHAMAAL types. All 9 bottles of it!!

The 'Don' in his 'Dil Mange More' act...

Year ending / Last Lap

"Year ending"..this used to be the reason why most dads would return home dead tired and not be able to play with kids; when Chunnu Munnu would gladly jump about the feet of the thaka-haara do bacchon ka baap who'd just returned from office and Mummy would come with a glass of water and shoo the kids away by saying "Chalo, ab bahar jaake khelo..papa thak gaye hain"...and when she would smilingly turn towards him and ask, "Kya baat hai, bade pareshaan lag rahe ho?", he would respond with just two dreaded words.."Year ending." Those two words encompassed all the shouting in the office, the mad dash for files, frantic search for bills long forgotten, a frenzied call to another department for help in technical matters...and the list goes on and on and on.

Well, a similar situation can be found here too. We're two weeks away from completing our 1st year MBA course; but instead of the jubilation of having almost become a manager, there's tension and worry and hectic work around the clock. I must admit that I've been lucky (or have I been foolish not to sense the danger early on?) for I've been getting my dose of sleep for the last couple of days. But I have a feeling that with the presentations and project report in each subject coming up coupled with an examination which is practically banging on the door with the brute force of a sumo wrestler, sleep will come at a premium in the coming few days.

Hence, mere doston, thoda yaar is off to a land called 'Where-harried-people-experience-what-hell-is". Do not know when the next post will come. Do not know whether I'll be able to snatch away snippets of time from the ongoing hectic activity and post on my blog, which has almost become a therapeutic habit.

And the next time you hear some person with drooping shoulders, unshaven face and dark circles mutter the words "Year ending"...just make way for the tired foot-soldier.

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An afterthought: Or should we take a more positive imagery and speak of a long-distance runner running his last lap? He runs the entire distance with the rest of the atheletes, sometimes ahead of the group and sometimes falling behind. Yet, in the final lap, the runner decides to give in his BEST...he runs the hardest and the fastest that ever knew..this inspite of all the pain and the exhaustion...the runner just shrugs it all off, empties his mind of all thoughts, negative or positive and all that he repeats to himself is "I've got to run."

Go Yuva, Go !!

Here is something really interesting which you must go through.

A newspaper article and the website.

Encouraging news for India.

A Melting Pot

Reading books is a passion. After coming to the Nirma Institute of Management, this passion found a creative output when I became the co-ordinator of the newly founded book club. We juggled with quite a few names for the club; Nitishastra and Papyrus to name a couple. However, we finally decided to call it 'Sumantra', since we felt that there were very few individuals from the Indian corporate world who were as passionate about learning as the late Sumantra Ghoshal.

Sumantra - The book club, I am extremely pleased to say, has almost completed a dignified one year. We've had 11 book reviews and a couple of book-related quizzes. The books that have been reviewed have been of very high class too. We've been able to find a good match between the fictional works (Fountainhead, Alchemist, Catch-22) and the non-fictional works (Blink, Freaknomics).

What has also been interesting is the development of industrial acceptance for a gathering such as a book club. 'Sumantra' has now had two outings to the Zydus Research Centre where two very different books have been reviewed - 'Who Moved My Cheese' and 'The Life of Mahatma Gandhi'.

The approaching academic year is filled with even more excitement. 'Sumantra' will be looking at a greater number of book reviews, a more interactive library website where a link to 'Sumantra' has already been provided, more quizzes and perhaps a few good guest lectures. We shall also be looking forward to conducting events in collaboration with other book clubs in and around Ahmedabad.

However, all this remains work where it is my duty to help provide a platform for sharing of information and knowledge that one receives from an activity as enriching as reading books. On a personal front, however, I just love reading books and encouraging others to read what I felt was particularly nice. It is with this in mind that I'd set up another blog titled 'My reviews'.

I felt, hoewever, that there would be many more friends who would perhaps be interested in expressing their views. I discussed this with a good friend of mine while we waited for a third friend to graciously arrive and give us her birthday treat. We explored a couple of options of whether the reviews should be in a blog format or whether we should start a new Yahoo! or Google group. Ultimately, it was the blog format that prevailed.

:)

Dear reader, I have much pleasure in letting you know about our new blog 'A Melting Pot'. We currently have 3 people on the team; myself, a thinner version of myself who prefers calling himself trash_u online and a mad, mad girl who's highly spirited and goes by the name of Ani. We're also eagerly awaiting a sweet friend to join us, who typically shies away from making a Powerpoint format book review and who, I'm sure, will be perfectly at ease when it comes down to simply 'writing' one.

The blog is just an outlet for us to express our thoughts about any good book that we've read. Of course, I wouldn't want to put any creative limits to our voice of expression; the team members are free to post a review of a music album, a movie or a concert that they greatly enjoyed.

This endeavor shall enrich us and we are also hopeful that you, the reader, will also have fun in the process.

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update at 2:51 AM: The expected fourth member has just joined the 'Melting Pot' blog. :)

Khamoshi

Quarter to 3 in the morning. My desk is covered with books, yesterday's newspaper, my cellphone, a coffee mug, library books and incomplete project submissions. A hush has enveloped the hostel. People who have partied hard during the day and have studied even harder in the evening are off to sleep. A few insomniacs (your's truly included) are still awake wondering how to complete that darned Operations Management project submission that must be made anyhow by 5 p.m. tomorrow evening. As the world of men pauses all its actions, the following song with the haunting voice of Hemant Kumar comes up on my media player and causes me to stop typing, stretch even as I sit on my chair...and smile.

Tum Pukaar Lo, Tumhaaraa Intazaar Hai,
Tum Pukaar Lo
Khvaab Chun Rahii Hai Raat, Beqaraar Hai
Tumhaaraa Intazaar Hai, Tum Pukaar Lo

Honth Pe Liye Hue Dil Kii Baat Ham
Jaagate Rahenge Aur Kitanii Raat Ham
Muqtasar Sii Baat Hai Tum Se Pyaar Hai
Tumhaaraa Intazaar Hai, Tum Pukaar Lo

Dil Bahal To Jaayegaa Is Khyaal Se
Haal Mil Gayaa Tumhaaraa Apane Haal Se
Raat Ye Qaraar Kii Beqaraar Hai
Tumhaaraa Intazaar Hai, Tum Pukaar Lo

- Khamoshi (1969)

Holi aaee re

Shatru (aside): Khaaamoshhhhhh....... abe o chapad ganju....is taraf kya taank raha hai. Jaanta nahin ki aaj holi hai..HOLI. Aaj to hum us Amit ki tarah Holi khelenge...

Meena: Arre o mere darling Shatru, itne gusse main kyun ho? Why you so angry hoying?

Shatru: Ab kya bataaunn...(slurp -- quick sip of 'wine')...uff, yeh angrezi daaru bahut kadvi hai..(to backstage helper) Oye !! Ek desi daaru ki botal laa...

(to Meena) Arre meri jaan, this Amit gives me a complex. Pata nahin kab se Rekha ke saath ghoom raha hai. Woh bhi Holi ke season mein.

Meena: Arre jaanu, tum kaun se zamaane ki baat kar rahe ho...

Shatru: Is zamaane ki, dekho....



Meena: Uff hoo....kab sudhroge !! Ab na to tum jawan ho, aur na hi Amit.

Shatru: Shut up !! Kiski itni jurrat ke Bihar ke is naujawan ko chunauti de..

Amit (in the background, a drunk voice): Haann.....Range barse....... haaan.....range barse.......

Shatru: Dekha, abhi tak gaa raha hai...

Meena: Arre darling, yeh remix version gaa raha hai, poora to sun lo..

[enter Amitabh]

Amit: Haannn....rang barse when holi kheling raghubeera ....

Shatru: What !!!!!

Amit: Arre haan bhai Shatru. Aaj kal bahut sudhar gaye hain.... ab ham Rekha ke saath nahin, Basanti ke saath Holi khelte hain.

Shatru (shocked): Kya ??!!!!

Amit: Haan yaar...bahut ho gaya yeh naatak-waatak..us Salim aur Javed ki baaton mein aa kar marna pad gaya tha Sholay mein. Tab se thaan li ke bhaad main gayi yaari-dosti...'apni akal lagao'. Yeh dekho...

Amit (continuing): arre holi kheling raghubeera awadh mein, holi kheling raghubeera...!!!

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Sorry for a MAD MAD post, but just had to have fun. :)

For a relatively saner view of Holi, go here.

And, oh yes, HAPPY HOLI

Think about it

Today, I glanced up for the umpteenth time at a poster put up in the institute library. It always puts me into deep thought.

"30 years from now, it won't matter what shoes you wore, how your hair looked, or the jeans you bought. What will matter is what you learned and how you used it."

What do you have to say?

The two factors

The other day, I was having a discussion with two close friends. The following just happened as a result of the conversation. Interesting point.

There are 2 things that a runner must decide.

One, what is the speed at which he must run to outdo the fastest and the best in the group. Only when he strategises at what speed he will run and how he will pace himself can the runner have any chance of winning the competition. He must remember that if he must outdo the best, he must run better than the best; the quality of his running must be absolutely top class.

But, what is even more important is point two.

HE MUST DECIDE WHICH DIRECTION HE MUST RUN IN.

This for him is even more decisive than the first factor, since in whichever direction he looks, he will find different grounds, different competitors running at different speeds. What is important therefore, is not to make a mad dash at the first finish line that the runner spots. He must first decide for himself which direction he wants to run in and which is the race that he wants to win.

LATENT 3: Sam Pitroda

Sam Pitroda, Chairman of the Knowledge Commission of India, addressed an audience of students on the 8th of March, 2006 at the Thakorbhai Desai Hall, Law Garden, Ahmedabad. That is where I found material for this post.

He narrated to us an incident about the time when he was in India and had invited a friend over for dinner. They agreed that the guest would come over at 7:30 in the evening. Sam made an entry into his diary, reminding him of his appointment.

At 7:30, however, two things happened. One, the guest did not arrive. Two, Sam forgot all about the dinner guest and settled down for his meal. At around 8, after Sam had finished his dinner, the guest arrived. Sam, being the good host that he is, settled down for a couple of drinks with the guy. When, after some time passed, the guest refused to budge, Sam inquired why he had come over. "But you invited me for dinner !!", the fellow retorted. Sam, in a fix, had to have his dinner a second time.

But this prompted Sam to think. "Why did this happen, I asked myself," says Sam. "And I realised that the problem was that although I'd made an entry into my diary, there was nothing which REMINDED ME of the fact that at 7:30, someone was due at my place. So, I did a very simple thing. I wrote a program for a circuit where it would check for a scheduled time against the current time, and if the two match, would notify the user. I filed for a patent and the world's first digital diary was born."

After a couple of years, things changed for the worse. Rajiv Gandhi, the then PM with whom Sam had a good understanding, was assassinated and Sam was without a job. In a desperate bid to get his life together, a penniless Sam had to go America, that too on a tourist visa. There, he saw various companies such as Sharp, Sony etc. selling digital diaries.

"'Wait a minute,' I said, 'this is my invention.' So, I wrote to the all the leading electronic firms saying that what they were selling was under patent and that they must pay me royalty. They saw the name, Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda, an Indian, and said nothin' doin'. I said 'Fine', went to my lawyer and filed a suit against each one of them. That is when they realised that I meant business and paid me the due amount. And that," Sam pauses for breath, "is how I got my life back on track."

Unbelievable. All the while that we've been using digital diaries, I do not think many of us knew that it came from the mind of an inspired Indian. Wow!

And even today, the guy isn't satisfied. "What is keeping you guys from being active?" he asked us. "Today, I'm 64 years of age, and just about yesterday I've finished filing for another 20-25 patents."

Everything around you is waiting for a change, you just need to look around with a questioning attitude - Sam Pitroda