Nagin

Got thoroughly bored and was browsing through YouTube when I came across this.



Just couldn't stop thinking about Neetika, Motee and Mistha. Miss you folks a lot...

Don ko pakadna...

Don ka record todne ka koshish to 10 test-playing mulko ke batsman kar rahe hain, magar ek baat samajh lo.... Don ke jitna mahaan banna mushkil hi nahi, namumkin hai !!

Happy 100th Birthday, Sir Donald Bradman.

Of Pain and Suffering

While browsing through a bookstore yesterday, I came across a book called "What I talk about when I talk about running" by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. Since I have always loved running long distances myself, I instantly started browsing through it. One very interesting thought was presented in the prologue of the book itself.

The author had spoken to several marathon runners and had asked them the same question: what do they think about while they are running? Obviously, one thought which would cross an individual's mind when undertaking a strenuous task such as running a marathon is the constant pain that never leaves one's side after having run a few kilometres.

The marathon runner's answer made for interesting food for thought, in the perspective of marathon running in general and for life in particular.

The runner replied: Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional.

What a profound idea. If I keep telling myself about the constant pain, I'm only adding to the suffering. The pain is gonna be there anyway. However, if I tell myself that every step that I take takes me closer to my final destination, in that case I choose NOT to opt for the suffering and accept the pain that in any case was part of the deal.

78mm Adventures

A couple of days ago, I spotted this guy wearing a Kshitij 2007 (IIT Kharagpur fest) t-shirt. What instantly caught my attention was the tag line: “Nothing else exists except atoms and empty space. Everything else is opinion.”

And it is our opinions which decide how we choose to look at things. More often than not, our environment conditions us into believing certain things and we start looking and thinking along a pre-defined path.

There are some, however, who are different.

I have been fortunate to have met people who have a refreshingly different opinion about matters. To most of us, job security is a worry and perhaps only the most desperate of circumstances would encourage us to forego this blanket of security. Yet, there are some who know that they were meant to do something different and every thing else in life is just a compromise. Some people choose to take the highway to their dreams.

Jeet, Jagrit and Rathore are three such friends from my MBA days at Nirma. Having decided that a different world and a different destiny were calling out to them, they’ve now hung up their corporate suits only to put on their t-shirts and ragged jeans which allow them to be their own self. And in this self, they found that they were adventurers first, hot-shots later.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m proud to introduce to you 78mm Adventures.

Follow your heart, click the link.

Double Bash

Happy Independence Day to all Indians everywhere !! Jai Hind !!

And dear blog.... belated 3rd Happy Birthday (11th August). :))

Now that's a car !!

On a day when Lewis Hamilton must sit back and blame his car tyres for not allowing him to challenge Massa for the leadership position at the Hungarian Grand Prix, I went photograph hunting for the McLaren Mercedes F1 car that was on display at the South City Mall.

Mama I'm comin' home !!

All right. Here I am, back home in Calcutta.

The last week of stay in Bangalore involved hectic activity. Things needed to be packed (this usually leaves me looking around the room helplessly), people needed to be informed that I was leaving, office work had to be delegated and most importantly, I had to meet all the friends in the city.

For the first time in my adult life, the packing wasn’t as big a nightmare as it usually is for me. I had enough suitcases to pack my stuff into, although Motee made her presence felt at the last minute and did a much better job than I could’ve ever done myself.

I had three different send-offs and each of them was very special.

The first was when I met up with Charul, Bipasha ‘Ben’, Jeet and Motee at Qwiky’s. The second one was much later in the week with the group that I’ve now started referring to as the ‘78 mm gang’… (B-I-G post on this gang coming up next). Of course, this gathering couldn’t have happened anywhere else but at ‘The Jukebox’.

The third one was an ‘office’ gathering since it involved a few of the office guys and their respective better halves. It was great to go out for dinner with them and to realise that even in a short span of time, I’d grown very fond of these folks.

By the end of the week, all the packing and unpacking had really caught up with me. Had it not been for Mistha who very sweetly decided to host me at her place for yet another night at her place, I would’ve been only more harassed. Oh what a fun night it was. Motee came over and we spent the night watching TV, eating pizzas, playing antakshari during the power failure and having some awesome coffee. (The ‘antakshari’ was my idea and trust me, I had absolutely no idea that Mistha and Motee would immediately agree to the plan. Played antakshari after AGES and it was good fun.)

The next morning was even more fun. Bulla came to receive me at the airport and we both were very excited about how my parents would react. I was giving them a surprise and they had no clue that I had packed up my bags and was headed home.

When I did finally stand before him, Dad was just v-e-r-y surprised to see me. I think for a couple of moments he just couldn’t come to terms with the fact that I’d actually managed to pack all my belongings and come over from Bangalore to Calcutta without informing him and taking any sort of help from him. As for Mom…well, Moms are just awesome, aren’t they? Mom just kept smiling and hugging me. There was just too much joy to be expressed by words, I guess.

I have met up with almost all my friends since I’ve come back and it feels so great to catch up with Bulla, Lambu, Raj, Budhau, Konal and Horse.

Oh yes, that reminds me.

The dude that Horse is, he SMSes me last Friday at 1:30 in the morning to ask me if I’m awake. When I replied that I indeed was and when he didn’t reply for about 5 minutes, I very seriously thought that the dude was in trouble. Just when I was about to call him back, he calls and asks me if I had office the next day (Saturday). I said that I did. “Cool,” he says, “I don’t know what you do tomorrow; you take a half-day, call in sick and don’t go at all…I don’t care. Just make sure you’re at my place at three tomorrow.” And before I can go “Dude, wtf?”, he makes me drop my jaws by adding casually, “I’m getting engaged.”

Imagine my surprise!! I sat bolt upright in bed. Obviously, I was very excited for him. We chatted for about twenty minutes and then decided that this called for a celebration. True to our nature, we walked out of our respective houses at 2 in the morning and headed for…where else? Our favourite haunt, The Atrium !! Over a couple of beers, he told me how just earlier in the evening the girl and her family had come down from Nagpur and when both of them gave their assent, the families decided to have a small ceremony the very next day.

Well, my movie watching spree has definitely come to a halt, but I did manage to catch ‘The Dark Knight’ with Horse and Bulla. We went to the South City Mall and barely managed to get three seats in the second row from the front. This on a Monday night at ten o’ clock!! Wow !! Calcutta seems to be really catching up on the movie scene.

I haven’t managed to get a broadband connection for myself yet. I promise posts will get more regular once that happens. Let’s hope I can get a connection by the end of next week.

Namma Bengaluru

Quick post before I shutdown my laptop for the last time in Bangalore.

It has been a wonderful time here in Bangalore and I've loved every minute of it.

Like I can't get tired of telling friends.... if there ever were one city after Calcutta which could make me feel at home, it could only have been Bangalore.

I Love this city from the bottom of my heart and the people of Bangalore will always have a special place in my memories. Every body, all my colleagues at office to the shop-owner who sold me all those Maggi packets...all of you have helped me create some magical memories which I shall treasure forever.

Love you all so much...

And yes...at the end of these 6 months... I can only smile and proudly proclaim...you are... "Namma Bengaluru".

Cheers !!

The Empire strikes back

News which I'm not sure whether to be proud of or be worried about: 30 inch trousers no longer fit me !!

Went to a store yesterday to buy a new pair of trousers, only to discover that I now have a 32 inch waist. This from a guy who spent most of his college and MBA years wearing 28 inch trousers. It has only been in the last year or so that I had graduated to 30 inch trousers. Apparently, they are nearing their expiry date too.

Perfect start to the weekend

Rainy Saturday afternoon giving way to a cool evening breeze... rum and Coke in hand... and watching the first James Bond film 'Dr. No' for the umpteenth time.

A perfect start to a long awaited weekend break !!

Inshallah

I came across the following passage while reading 'They Came to Baghdad' by Agatha Christie. I found the idea quite fascinating.
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"That is as Allah decrees. It is in his hands."

"Inshallah," the other repeated.

For a moment he longed intensely to be a man of Eastern and not Western blood. Not to worry over the chances of success or of failure, not to calculate again and again the hazards, repeatedly asking himself if he had planned wisely and with forethought. To throw responsibility on the All Merciful, the All Wise. Inshallah, I shall succeed!

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A couple of days after reading this, Motee and I also struck up a similar conversation. We generally agreed that perhaps human beings are better off at times leaving it all in the hands of an almighty power, even if there actually is none. Just the belief that there is someone there up above who is keeping a watch out for you is a peaceful thought.

And as if that weren't enough, I came across this on Ridhi's blog.

Reclaim your life

After a truly amazing weekend, I happened to be at the new Bangalore airport yesterday. My friend and I decided that a quick cup of coffee before she took her flight was a good idea. Settling down on a chair, I reflected on the beauty of the evening when I, as I am wont to, noticed two kids.

These fellas were seated on a baggage trolley and were grinning from ear to ear as their father pushed the trolley around. The mother followed a short distance behind, a faint smile on her face. The li'l chaps had their hands in the air and were shouting with glee, unmindful of the happy audience around them.

I paused and thought to myself that perhaps this is the reason why we must keep meeting kids...keep observing kids: they remind us of the simple joys of life and how we ourselves once were. They remind us of how little it takes to have a great time...how little it takes to reclaim your life.

Issues with Time

I was speaking to a friend yesterday and conversation generally revolved around how our lives have changed (she is a friend from college days) and how the nature of things which demand our attention have changed over time.

Earlier, life was all about attending college, tuitions, some work (at dad's office) and meeting up with friends.

Somewhere down the line, things have gotten slightly more complicated.

Me being me, I started categorising the various 'lives' that we need to lead. These could primarily be broken-up into five categories:

1. Work life

This portion, obviously, starts dominating a majority of our hours that we are awake for (in some cases, also our sleeping hours; in fact, I have been regularly dreaming about work the last couple of months). We slowly gravitate towards becoming the major bread-earning member of the family and phrases such as 'CTC', 'in-hand salary' and the works start being repeated. Hushed conversations about people switching jobs and who is in who's good books are also part of the daily rigmarole.

2. Social life

Weekends (and hurriedly organised week-night dinners) are for friends. These occassions keep us in touch with 'the good ol' days' stories and also stop the grapevine from dying a natural death. Stories abound of corporate snakes-and-ladders here too.

3. Love life / Married life

Not everybody is stupid: some stay single. The other group, however, needs to spend some time attending to 'sweetheart' issues as well. As relationships mature, the following cascade of comments make an appearance:

"We need to spend quality time together in order to know where we're going" --> "Where ARE we going????" --> "We need to spend more time together with the family"

4. Family life

We also need to keep our parents happy. No matter how different we've grown up to become since the time they held our hands and taught us how to walk, we need to be there and understand their needs in their ageing years. Which means that we need to spend more time with them than we were previously bluffing ourselves into believing. Clearly, they should be getting very good quality attention time, even if the amount of time gets sacrificed because of work-related issues.

5. Personal life

~exhales loudly~

And if we can finally find time out for ourselves, only then can we do some amount of introspection and think in what direction OUR lives are really going. Only then can we ask ourselves those niggling, uncomfortable questions that we know we have been putting away. Or even if nothing else, this is the only time when we have nobody, and I repeat, NOBODY around us and can then hope to R-E-L-A-X in every sense of the word. Ironically, although this is the time we need in order to do well in our other aspects of our life, THIS is the one which we keep postponing all the time.

Don't believe me? Ok, try this. When was the last time you sat down in a chair or lay down on a bed and:

a. did NOT have the TV on

b. did NOT have a song playing on the radio / laptop / computer

c. were NOT thinking about the slow speed of the movie you were downloading

d. were NOT waiting for a phone call which you dreaded or which you just wanted to get through with

e. were NOT making a mental list of things that you wanted to do/buy

When was the last time you just breathed in deeply and with a contented smile said to yourself "Ok! I have lots of things happening around me...some good...others not so good... but all in all, I think I'm doing the best I can...and if not, here's how I plan to do the best that I can..." and then proceed to have a meaningful conversation with the one person who matters the most in your life....YOU !!!

When was the last time ???

Author's suggestion: Start writing a diary, my friend, and find some time for yourself.

Beating melancholy

I don't know what captured my spirit today afternoon but I started feeling very melancholic. If there were one dialogue that suited me well (as it has suited me perfectly many times), it was Antonio's opening words from 'The Merchant of Venice': In sooth I know not what why I am so sad.

There's one thing that I do most often when I'm feeling a little low.

I buy books.

Most people I know have often heard this story. It is a story which I'm pretty proud of. It dates back to the time when I was in college and had a job which paid me a princely salary of 3,000 rupees a month. One fine day, I was in a similar mood and I dragged my good friend Ravi to College Street. We spent the entire day browsing through bookstores, carefully peering into musty second-hand books, squatting at road-side stalls which sold books we wouldn't have found in any organized retail book stores, had our lunch at road-side dhabas and yes, we had coffee at the Indian Coffee House. Anyway, by the time we two returned home, we both held a carton full of books in each of our hands (that's four cartons of books; for those readers who are either bad at basic mathematics or have been too confused by my style of writing). All in all, we'd spent Rs. 18,000 on a combination of new and second-hand books.

Finding myself in a similar mood today, I switched off my cell after office and left for the Landmark Store at Forum. These are what help me beat my melancholic mood:

1. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
2. Alexander: Book One - Child of a Dream by Valerio Massimo Manfredi
3. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
4. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
5. The McKinsey Way by Ethan M. Rasiel
6. Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh

Simplicity

I left my house early for work today morning. On my way, I spotted something which I thought I'd share here.

At the corner milk shop, four school-kids, none of them more than 7-8 years old, had lined up and were slowly counting coins to buy their packets of flavoured milk. All the kids had a school-bag on their back and looked smart in their white shirt and blue shorts. One or two of them were so small that they were peering over the short display window.

The shop-owner, a good 6-ft tall and with a bushy moustache, towered over the kids and smiled down at them and their efforts of getting the number of coins right. A moment later, he bent down to help the youngest of them since the child could not hold all the coins in his palm. The little kid looked at the shop-owner with wide-eyed amazement at how easily he could count the coins and do the math in his head, all at the same time.

I shook my head and with a smile, continued my walk to office.

Schools

Schools make me nervous. Everything about schools make me nervous.

What is there not to be nervous about? The playground with kids running about reminds me of the time I would run around a playground carefully, lest I got my clothes dirty. Quiet corridors remind me of classes in progress. The harsh ring of the bell reminds me of 'tiffin breaks', both the official and unofficial ones (the latter being between classes).

I went to a school day before yesterday on a work-related activity. The brothers in their white robes, quietly shuffling through the hallways and keeping a keen eyes on the classes in progress, made me nervous.

Let me just say that I heaved a sigh of relief when I wasn't pulled up for not having a decent hair-cut and not having polished my shoes that morning.

IPL + Indy = Super Sunday

The IPL is over, the Rajasthan Royals have won and a day later, here I am eating an apple and wondering what to write.

Couple of things. Don't hate me for not being regular on this blog. I know you aren't too regular either, but then what the hell, it's my blog.

Second, I saw the second innings of the IPL final (don't be so eager to strangle me... give me a moment.. there's a perfectly simple reason for missing the first innings) and completely enjoyed it.

By the way, I'm a huge fan of Warne, and have been awestruck by the manner in which he has captained the Rajasthan Royals team. In fact, yesterday afternoon, I was all rooting for them. But having seen the way in which Dhoni and his band of merry yellow men went about defending that seemingly low total of 163, I feel that yesterday Dhoni was the better captain. It all went down to the last ball and you must give credit where it's due, i.e. to the Chennai Super Kings. Had the Rajasthan Royals been fielding second, I would've perhaps been more in favour of Warne, but as of now, Mr. Dhoni, I thought you were the better captain yesterday. Just bad luck that:

a) Raina couldn't hold on to the catch of Yusuf Pathan when he was on 13 (Pathan, obviously, went on to make a quick-fire 56 and winning the Man of the Match award); and

b) Balaji couldn't do a Joginder Sharma.

But no complaints. All said and done, the IPL has been a source of much entertainment (cricket + cheerleaders combined) and yesterday we were witness to a battle between the two best teams of the tournament.

Finally, the reason why I missed the first innings.

I went to see 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull'. I'd heard there were negative reviews about the film but trust me folks, this is one helluva enjoyable film. I loved it !! Indiana Jones is back...and how !! There was just the right amount of action, fun and romance in the film (In fact, today morning I commented to a friend that the film was almost like a blockbuster Hindi film minus the song and dance sequences).

Go watch it. It is AWESOME !!

An Old Samurai Saying

I was browsing through an old book when I came across an old Samurai saying which I thought I'd share here:

"No matter what it is, there is nothing you cannot overcome"

Hector Ruiz's father's advice

Just watched this video on TED. This is the first time I've heard Hector Ruiz, the head of AMD, and I like the way he talks about his two passions in life, children and education. In fact, his rise from modest beginnings reminded me of our very own Subroto Bagchi of MindTree Consulting.

I particularly liked the way he ended his speech by talking about how his father inspired him to constantly improve. He says his father used to tell him that for mankind to move ahead, every generation must do better than the previous one. So, when Hector went to college, his father advised him to do well. Later on in life, when he was getting married, his father reminded him of the old advice and told him that now he must be a better husband than what his father was. A few years down the line, when Hector became a dad, his dad just walked up to him and reminded him the same thing; that he must now become a better father than what his father was.

Simple, yet sagacious.

P.S. Kinda busy these days, so posts might be sporadic. I do plan to get regular in a few days and also plan to update the blogroll and the links on the right.

Dreams vs. Vision

Dream is what you see in your sleep.

Vision is when you wake up and attempt to make that dream a reality.