When you are confused about something.. things around you happen to move faster than you expected.. and there are incessant rains....

Eagerly waiting for the sun to shine..

Temple Trauma

From Tirupati's Balaji to Mumbai's SiddhiVinayak and Haji Ali,to Katra's Vaishno Devi,its an unavoidable,tiring journey of sorts till the sanctum sanctorum.Serpentine queues,arrogant security guards,ill-mannered volunteers,hordes of flower sellers running after you,lakhs and lakhs of people and after you manage through all this,just a glimpse of the reigning deity.Once you enter the inner abode,you have to be extraordinarily active, as you are in for some serious multitasking."Look at the god",which is quite a task, given the number of heads moving in every possible direction(worse if you are vertically challenged)."Say a quick prayer",in my case I have to recall one which is an overhead."Keep away all the other thoughts",despite the fact that you have left your cam and fav slippers with the mithai wala.So,you take a deep breath,try hard to concentrate, shut out the noise around you,you close your eyes,and voilaaaa!! you are out the of the temple.
Makes me wonder at the whole purpose of such visits.A stark contrast from the serene atmosphere at the famous Golden temple in Amritsar.Can't the huge funds be used in a more
effective manner?

Spent last night watching Q.G. Murugan..one of the best sattires ever..With cool oneliners and unbelievably simple plot..it sure has its moments..Go watch it I say!!
And if you are a member at your local gym, don't miss the steam bath for anything in the world..Awesome :-)

Half Book Prince

Just watched this movie, (made out of a book), "The Kite Runner". Can't help grumbling what a shoddy work the movie is, not even an inch close to one of the most emotional stories I have read so far. There is this particular wedding scene, which is one of my favourite in the book, where in, the main character Aamir, is getting betrothed to Suraiya and, according to Afghan tradition, they look at each other's image in a mirror. Suraiya asks her husband, 'what do you see?', to which Aamir replies, 'The rest of my life'. In the movie, this scene was so tasteless.I wish someone, one day, will bring this beautiful sequence alive on the screen. May be, Divyanshu can give it a try. Ditto with Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. They made it a half book prince. Dumbeldore's death is so easy in the movie. But as it is everytime, I loved Emma Watson..

MJ .. where are you?

I and my maid share a peculiar relationship. I don't understand what she says, and she does'nt understand what I say, and yet, we are amicable, dependent. 

One day I asked her, where she came from, and somehow she understood the question. 

Bangladesh, she said. Her daughters live here and they got her to Mumbai, so that she could work as domestic help and earn money to save her ailing husband, who, along with their son, is still in Bangladesh. "Woh dono ricsaw chalata hai"."Aurat log ko wahan kaam nahi karne dete". "Isliye hum yahan ayee". I was already thanking God for all the freedom I enjoy.

Yesterday, she bunked. Today morning, she came, looked dizzy, did some work and requested my room mate to allow her to go. Her husband died yesterday. "Main kal aaon, aapko dikkat tho nahi?". None of us replied.

Throughout the day , I was thinking of her. Tomorrow, I will open the door for her, with a different attitude.

Went to dapoli beach for 2 days and just came back with a wonderful fresh feeling, and a golden brown tan, some good memories and a lingering thought of bunking office on monday.

Thanks to Sharada, Narsimha, Dayanand and company.

Beach was awesome, dolphins, sunset, box cricket and all, along with a funny dumb charades game.I will never forget the scene where Saji asked all girls to leave when Narasimha gave him the film "Itte-faq" to act upon. And then Sharada tried so hard, translated it into coin + dent, hinting at coincindence, Labesh came up with a brilliant "condom".

What was he thinking, a film by that title? And the walk in the middle of night,only by moonlight, when Deven showed his bhoot avatar!  All the Kishore Kumar and Rafi songs we screamed during on our way back...

All you guys rock, absolutely!

In the middle of all this, I listened to a beautiful Bryan Adams unplugged - in concert song.This song has always been my fav, but the violin in the concert version, takes me to a different level.

Listen to this song.."18 till I die..", my prayer!!

The original:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl7E2MXSXlY&feature=channel_page

Unplugged:

http://www.4shared.com/dir/5485907/43af52ed/sharing.html

what a saturday !! perfect..12/24 spent sleeping..glorious..i got up at 5 in the evening..with an SMS on my cell phone asking me to go on a search mission. The task was to find the ever elusive, alluring, "Pachchatar lakh ki dakaiti" by "Surendra Pathak". For the lesser armed junta out there, this is a hindi novel by a hindi writer, apparently a major hit in the more hindi speaking parts of India. I was jolted out of sleep when saw the title. I blinked, and blinked,  and then laughed for a full five minutes imagining myself asking the shop keeper to give me "Pachchatar lakh ki dakaiti".

But reality is harsh. I went out from Crosswords to Odesseys to small book shops, but alas, I could'nt find it. One of the guys had an english translation of the same, "Sixty Lakhs Robbery", with a very graphical front cover of a saree clad women, a heavily moustached man and some blood. Picture this.. the original hindi book costs Rs 60 and the english translation costs Rs 120. Double the price, half the fun, quipped my friend.

I was troubled by the disinterest shown by book sellers towards hindi books. When I asked for Hindi section, I was either shown a tattered pile of old books or was directed to some adhyatmic stuff or shown the door. When did Sheldon, Grisham,  replace premchand, chauhan, 'dinkar' ? And I slept all through! The fact remains that I coudn't find the book.

Was listening to Sajjad Lone on NDTV speaking on why he is contesting Indian elections and clarifying(trying to clarify), how it is not a change in ideology but a change in strategy. Hurriyat ideology has always been boycotting Indian elections, boycotting Indian army, so much so that the name Hurriyat to me is synonomous with boycott. A seperate Kashmir, independent of India and Pak, is core to their agenda, although, if you  scratch the surface, a soft corner for Pak would reveal.

Sajjad told us on TV that boycott was not working, violence was not working, and so he decided to represent the people of Kashmir in the Parliament of India. I admire his courage, this guy has put his life at door. I hope the Indian Parliament does justice to his courage.

What I cannot understand is that he claims there is no change in their idea of having a separate Kashmir. Contest "Indian" elections to claim a separate Kashmir from "India"? Does that mean his party will contest elections in Pak too, and voice the same idea? 

What I can understand, is that whether Sajjad admits or not, with Pak becoming a sort of a banana republic, this is the best he could have done. Good luck to you Sajjad!

Terror Recipe!!

Ingredients: Non-State Actors from Pakistan, Some State Actors from Pak, 10-12 men aged 20-30, a misinterpreted version of the holy Quran, hand grenades, AK-47s or M-6s, videos from India, Google Maps, Satellite Phones, SIM cards from India, a target.

Method:
1) Select a working, powerful and desperate Non-State Actor from Pak. There is wide variety available like, Al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, D-Company and so-on.
2) Mix them with State Actors like ISI, for brainstorming sessions on targets in India. Just remember not to admit it later. A good chef never reveals his secrets.
3) Take the 10-12 and give them grenades, AK-47s. Try to include weapons newly purchased from the US and allies(meant for war on terror). This will give the recipe a taste of irony.
4) Put their brains to heat by exposing them to videos from India depicting communal violence. Again, not to mention, there is a wide variety that can be put to use. There's Babri, Mumbai, Godhra, Ahmadabad.
5) Misinterpret Quran in whatever ways possible.Apply evenly and steadily. Leave it for a month or so, to let it sink in.
6) Garnish with maps from India.
7) Sauces and salt to taste will be provided in India by their state actors in form of indifference.

Serve hot to international media.

I am lost listening to Bryan Adams, "you'll always get the best of me", and there is some activity on my right shoulder. Another hurried tight tap wakes me up from my song. The girl sitting next to me conciously whispers something into my ear. I am forced to pause Bryan Adams. What?, I say. Your bra strap is visible, she murmurs. Now, I am not quite surprised by what I replied to her. "Oh that..Not its fault..its meant to be seen..very very intentional." I get some disgusting stares, but i relax and go back to "best of me". Thats me. Its 35 deg C in mumbai, feeling like 50 deg C, i am in BEST bus no 523, so stocked with commuters, you can sense air trying very hard to permeate. On top of all this, people expect you to push and shove straps in-out else some male organism from the heavily perspiring crowd might notice, and notice what? A bra strap? Big deal..When will women be comfortable with what they are and what they wear??

Last night my friend Vinayak told me, he prays for my well being everyday. Thank you friend, I am overwhelmed and teary-eyed. Sniff Sniffffff....
In return for this, I promise you that I will provide you with a revised and updated list of wishes every morning positively, just before you start your prayers.This will reduce the time and effort you spend on the wish list and will increase productivity. And its absolutely free. I don't charge for brain utilization unless I am coding :-). Love the guy who invented Outsourcing :-)

Here's the one for tomorrow morning:

Hi God. Please stop the oil strike. No autos, no cabs, how will I reach office? Going back home is not an issue because I am still single and ready to mingle :-D . (P.S Here you can make it a generic demand for a dramatic effect, like, how will me, my colleagues, my boss reach office? Ignore the boss if you wish.)
Its weekend, so this wish needs be fulfilled on high priority. :-D . So try and see, if you can advance your prayer to today evening instead. That will be great!

And yes, just check on God's mood and if he/she can answer a question or two, you can put up this one, Why do we always have to pay for what we are, "Indians"?

I don't know why, but this incident that happened 2 years ago keeps coming back to me "every now and then". Probably because I hear of a case of sexual abuse, in particular, girl child abuse, "every now and then".
One of my colleagues' acquaintances was doing a research-survey on this subject with Tata Institute of Social Sciences. She requested me and some of my friends to let her interview us on our experience(s), if I can call it that, of abuse. I observed that she didn't even consider the fact that a few of us might not have had such an experience(s) and raised the same question. She replied saying it is a remote possibility, unfortunately.
That is the hard hitting truth.

So, I was not surprised when all of the girls turned up for the "interview". The questions had a wide range - from passing lewd comments to physical abuse of all types. Until then, I didn't know that passing lewd remark and showing pornographic or provocative material is also a form of abuse. Most of us took more than an hour to relate instances of abuse on a bus or train or a crowded place or worse at home, college and office.
We were also asked whether we approached our parents for help. Most of us replied in negative for obvious reasons.

As I sat down for the much needed coffee break that evening, I remember telling my friend that if the parents of all the girls and mine, had given enough space and freedom, been a little more observant, understanding and courageous(I believe educating the young on good and bad advances/touch/gesture is the toughest job on the earth), they could have made their home, schools and colleges cleaner.

My friend pointed out that, if her elders had asked her the same set of questions when she was younger, it would have made a lot of sense.Talking to a child on a sensitive issue is tough, but very important, she concluded.Sadly, most parents become over protective which results in too many restrictions on the movement to the child, particularly girls.

I wish all parents consider this a duty.Part of raising a child.Part of the child's education. Let the child tell you his feelings, his problems, openly. That will make things easy for you and for your kid. Teach them defense. Observe. Explain. Assure.

Trust me, recounting such an ordeal in front of an unknown person, for the first time in your life, for some survey on abuse, is unfortunate and horrifying.

very late but straight from heart wishes..HAPPY NEW YEAR!