Lens

Hey! Looks like you are a new visitor, you may want to subscribe to my Lens RSS feed. Or my shared links Convex RSSThanks for visiting!

Today is Blog day. Or bloggers’ day. When there are dedicated days for
friends, lovers, fathers, mothers, teachers, children, labourers, consumers
and all, bloggers too thought to mark a day as their own. So today it is.
Why today ? Because 31 08 looks like Blog !

Finished reading Five point someone. It is a damn good book. Every sentence was good - thought provoking to funny simple one liners, contradictions to descriptions. All characters are adorable. The author (Chetan Bhagat) is like Nagesh Kukunoor and Farhan Akhtar rolled into one. And even Munna Bhai some times. Can’t forget Hip hip hurray (one of my fav tv serials) Don’t know how will the movie come out.

But my choices for the cast are like this
Alok - Tushar kapoor or that hip-hip hurray guy with the specs, Govinda difficult but ok) che..I am not getting a perfect cast for this one.
Ryan - Sanjay Dutt ( I know he is too old to be in IIT, but remembering unna bhai, he fits the bill) Even Aamir Khan (remembering DCH) should be fine.
Cherian - Boman Irani or Anupam Kher. Both will be amazingly good.
Another prof who helps them - This V tv vj..He was in hip hip hurray..I think his name is Vinay Pathak.
Neha- No one can do justice to Neha, and I am sure Hari would agree with me. Though the character is too sweet to be anyone, Rani fits I guess.(or is it bcoz I remember the slight resemblance of the character in KKHH) Gracy singh was also fine but Neha is more naughty. Even Priety would be good. Nandita Das too.
Hari - First person that comes to my mind is Akshay Khanna. (Possibly bcoz DCH)..but let me think other options-Nagesh Kukunoor won’t be bad. Saif would be good as well(DCH and Humtum)

There were few similarities I could draw. Salman in pyar to hona hi tha had shades of Ryan in that rich-parent-neglected-boy angle. Then there is this whole Munna bhai angle of hero loving prof’s daughter. KKHH (or Ghulam?) in SRK entering the girl’s bedroom in the night to give flowers.

Obviously I found several similarities with the circumstances, events and persons (Identify). Hari is a moderate fellow, most often dominated by Ryan. Ryan is undisputedly most adorable character in the novel. Always bashing the system. Getting the most ridiculous scores possible. Doing all sort of business before exams. Always trying to do something new.
I really envy all those who get to stay in hostel and study. It is a boon.With good room mates there is absolutely a great experience one can keep all his life. The school life falls way short of a hostel life, I guess.

During my week long holiday (= holiweek) last week I watched lotsa movies n few plays. Here goes the list with brief comments.

1) Notting Hill
Sk had long back given me this saying any romantically inclined person has kept a permanent copy of the movie. I did not have the inclination and time to watch it so far. The movie is cute. With the usual romantic ups-downs and few hilarious oments and most importantly with the happy ending, movie remains a candy.
Both the leads (Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant) put up a fine show and their fans would enjoy their chemistry on the screen.

2)Life is Beautiful
During one of those few(only when some Indian origin movie/person has a chance to win the award then do I watch and in ‘98 Elizabeth was doing rounds ) Oscar awards live functions I have watched, there was this person Roberto Begnini jumping & walking over the seats, dancing and replacing the customary thank-you speeches by blowing kisses and I love you all gestures. He had won three awards for the movie, direction and erformance. It took me so much time for myself to watch the movie, the creation that had touched the Oscar jury.
Not to mention, I too was moved and touched. It is so funny at times. So cruel at other. It portrays the victory of human convictions amidst the adversities. Triumph of happiness over the approaching sadness. Living and enjoying life before the inevitable. When a happy wave is riding on a sad note, the viewer is restricted to enjoy. At the same time, the gloom is delayed. Anand was another such movie which had the same tune.

My fav scenes include, in no particular order:
The girl falling from the sky; Doc asking puzzle when hero was hopeful of his freedom; the final tank scene; Many others.

3)Mission Impossible (1)
Just like that.

4)Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi
I had long wanted to see this. Have heard rave reviews. And after getting belittled by friends for not having known Sudhir Misra who directed this one, I _had_ to see this. My initial impressions are not that good. But after few thoughts and discussions I have bettered that.

Even then, my views are not that hailing. It is a different kind of movie and good. Movies like this and White noise might elevate the ways/nature/standard of movies in Bollywood. Audience cant just immerse themselves in popcorn, they have to sit up straight, notice, think and absorb.
But it was kind of dark. And to a person ignorant of situations in that place and time, it is not convincing. The actions are too less considering the intentions and intensity.
In the lighter view, it gets simple. It is about the person who loves a girl and does anything and everything for her. About a girl who chases something only to realise she had not wanted it and wanted something different.

5)Mangal Pandey
Total disappointment. Okay, I did shed all the expectations of a mega budget movie. Of Aamir khan. Of Lagaan. Of Ketan Mehta. Everything. No, it does not help.
I will tell you why. If you had named this some Bhuvan Pandey, I could have still taken it, I guess. Or no I guess. The problem is the story of Mangal Pandey is not that much to make a commercial bollywood movie. I read somewhere that he was just a normal soldier. It is good for a documentary or otherwise involve others (like Rani Laxmi Bai) and show us the complete war.
You show us few events (or was it only one??) and end it with only a narration ? I don’t like it when all the typical masala is added and most of it unwanted. Each song was a pain and an obstacle. Give me complete masala typical bollywood with as fictional a story, or give me honest and complete factual story that would move me. Not a pathetic mixture of both. Asoka pathetically tried and failed and now this.
A bit over rated but talented Aamir (and his hairs) had very few scenes to show themselves. His hairs marginally won over, I guess. Rani and Amisha had lot of free time and decided to be a part of this.
Now I see in how many ways Lagaan could have failed. I remember some statement like this “Best of content can be pulled down by a bad process but bad content can not be helped by best of process”.

Few movies I could not fit in: Sehar, 7 1/2 Phere, Kill Bill.

6)Play: Snakes and Ladders
I feared if this was “haavu mattu yeni” in English in which case I had already seen “Sleuth” in both the languages. Thankfully it was not. But I should say this was the disappointing play so far. The energy level was good. The message they wanted to convey was also ok. But it was too loud, chaos and disturbing. Only classmates and parents of the artists were among the audience other than us. For the first time I saw that theater was no near to full house. The lead artist’s accent and performance was good and also that of the cute girl who got to slap and kick everyone!
With this, Nbk’s jinx broke and finally he watched a play at RS.

7)Play: Chitrapata
This is one of those the traditional song and dance plus a story play. Jayashree was all there with her high pitch singing, energetic acting and direction. Other troupe members did their bit well.
The story is about Sita. About the argument of how right Rama was to lead her into Agnipariksha. About Shoorpanaki and her revenge. A fictional continuation of the story where Sita is forced to draw the picture of Ravana, which gets life and impersonates Ravana.
There is a display of pictures to aid the narration and the play. But the title refers to the picture of Ravana written by Sita. Taking a branch of mythological story and narrating it in a way we like and adding some stories to it have always been attracted story tellers and playwrights. The body language, song and dance were the nice things about the play.

With this, after the nth it-didn’t-happen, I will stop asking one person out for the play.

Along with these, I met up with few friends, re-worked on this site (thrice), played carrom, browsed a lot listening to lovely music. So much for a week long break. This is my 3rd week-long break in 6 months One more coming soon.

The tour started in tension and apprehension. One should never believe these ticket agents. They find all the ways to cheat you and have no botheration about your concerns. While waiting for the ticket at his place, there sat another fellow. Fellow-cheated-by-agent. Like me.

“You should be wise” he sounded as if he was. Any unnecessary usage of 2nd person instead of 1st person in a general statement indicates the person is either arrogant or he is defeated/hurt.
“I bought an open ticket to be converted into a confirmed seating by a person sent by this agent. The person never turned up and I cancelled the ticket. Next train is 4 hours later. Tension on one hand, disappointment on the other”
“You should never believe these crooks. They do their business and they know all the ways to make money. They are not bothered about you.”

I had a ticket at least with RAC. But the tensions, confusions, the way I am cheated, the way I was treated from the beginning have made me wiser. This, hopefully, will not repeat.

There are cheats everywhere. Some are in the form of breaking the queues. Some in the form of ticket agents. Those who bribe, those who get bribed. It will take an “Indian” or an “Anniyan” to stop all these. No, stop dreaming.

There are good souls, like the one who helped me in need, to send a sms.

The train is crowded. There were these 200 odd people returning from their Char Dham. I am vaguely reminded of Godhra. What if some people know that this compartment has people who were on a holy visit. What if they burn this train?

There is this blind hand kerchief seller. Who gives away whole of his bundle for us to select from. What if he is cheated either by paying wrong amount or by picking up more pieces. He has no means of knowing it I guess. He has more belief in this world and its people. Perhaps it is because, he is blind.

I easily buy a pair, but am uncomfortable in donating to other beggars who just run into us. Displaying their helplessness. Violent and irritating eunuchs – a nuisance.

My co-passenger is carrying a little puppy with him. Everyone is attracted to it.

The outside of train is beautiful. I should settle somewhere like here. Lush green, large fields.HydSecBad/Hyderabad033.jpg Mountains in the backdrop. A drizzle.

All Photos

Next: Lake, Birla Mandir, Imax

Babu accompanied me to marriage and in Hyderabad for a day. Nice fellow.

We went to Hussain Sagar Lake. Got down a stop earlier and walked along the lake. Nice roads. Beautiful, big lake. I tell “Babu, there are 2 points. I should visit a lake in the evening and preferably with a girl. Unluckily, it is 1 PM and you are with me.”
Oh!, a statue of BuddhaHydSecBad/Hyderabad002.jpg.In the middle of the lake. He might have disturbed by all the happenings on the land and has situated himself in the midst of the lake. Peace. We took a boat and were lighted near the statue. Just a few clicks and the showers came chasing us. I didn’t even have a complete look at the statue. At that face which is quiet. At the statue of a person who taught the mantra of peace to the world. And has made India proud.

The rains stopped as soon as we left the place. We then went to Birla Mandir. Nice templeHydSecBad/Hyderabad004.jpg. Not much crowded. Again the rain was after us. Drenched, we left from there and the rain stopped.

Next stop: Hyderabad Central. 5 storied shopping complex, spend more than a hour. Pick up a couple of books. I have put myself a rule. Spend at least the same amount of money on books as I spend on movies. I am forcing myself to read.

Go to Imax. Buy ticket for the 3D movie T-rex. There are few exciting joints like artificial rock climbing, hitting with hammer, scary house. Let me check out scary house, people are screaming from inside. Babu declines to get scared by paying money. There are better ways! Oh, there. Ramani, Nagi, Dutta. Let me join you guys. It is worth it. The Ramsay brothers have equipped me with the knowledge of make-ups of ghosts, diseased. But the sudden appearance and sounds, scare you. Ramani, Nagi took all the shocks as they were in front of me and being ever cautious and expecting I was, I was not surprised once. Expecting things make it easier.

But the fear carried to the movie where I shook twice or thrice! The 3D movie about a species T-rex was ok and special effects were good. Will a day come when all the movies would be made in 3D? That would be fun.

An eventful day.

All Photos

Next: Ramoji Film City

Some miscommunication and I am all alone. No complaints.
HydSecBad/Hyderabad016.jpgHydSecBad/Hyderabad005.jpg
The film city is spread around 2000 acres of land. Good facilities of sound recording, editing and sets are provided in side the city. We are taken in the bus for 2 trips. One showing us the different sets where films have been shot. Few buildings have different elevations. The bunglow-cum-highcourt, church-school-hospital-airport, bank buildings for example. The guide mentioned many film names or song sequences that were shot here, none do I recall. There are nice picturesque gardens, fountains as well.
HydSecBad/Hyderabad015.jpgHydSecBad/Hyderabad009.jpgHydSecBad/Hyderabad011.jpg
A Tajmahal too. The other tour took me to a park and a cave. Cave reminds me of scary house. Some games like rangerHydSecBad/Hyderabad006.jpg, electric cars are provided. Nice place for a single day family outing. There are few live shows – stunt show, Spirit of Ramoji show (dance and gymnastics) and a comedy show. Stunt show was good.HydSecBad/Hyderabad012.jpg Gymnastics and tricks at the other show was also very good. There were signs of rain and I left the scene soon.

All Photos

Next: Golkonda Fort, Salar Jung Museum and Charminar.

HydSecBad/Hyderabad027.jpgI went to fort, alone again. There were all the signs of rains spoiling my day. I sang “Rain rain go away. Please don’t spoil my day.” It worked.
HydSecBad/Hyderabad018.jpg
I liked the fort. Guide told me many stories. That the king had 360 queens. (A lady quipped “Daily one”). How the bedrooms of queens were lighted by pearls because the candle light would make the room dirty and when servants come to clean the room they might look at the queens. Why eunuchs were body guards of queens. How there were provisions for hot and cold water by providing two paths. That in the Nagina bagh, they were selling pearls and diamonds. They were countless in number and hence the name. Na-gina. That a Hindu king had built temple on the top of the hill next to which a mosque was constructed by the Muslim King after conquering. Disciples come to temple in large number even now during the auspicious festivals. How a soldier accepted bribe and let Aurangazeb inside the fort and that the soldier was cut into so many innumerable pieces by Aurangazeb and was buried in Na-gina bagh. Aurangazeb almost destroyed the fort. It took 8 months to destroy the fort which had taken 62 years for its construction. There are some whispering walls, echoing domes. How stones were used to keep the heat away from the roofs. How lifting a 240 kg weight was the selection process for the army.

360 steps take you to the top of the hill where there used to be assembly. Next to which is the temple.

I met two kids (yeah, let me call them like that..they made me uncle. Uncle, uncle, uncle!!) who accompanied me for the rest of the fort visit. They were innocent, curious, full of happiness and enthusiasm.
HydSecBad/Hyderabad031.jpg
I went to Salar jung museum next. Damodar accompanied me here. We were running out of time and I was really exhausted. Few paintings were good. There exists a clock, which consists of 60 different parts. It has day, date, time dials. At every hour, a toy comes out and dongs the bell. Another toy would tirelessly dong every second. Ivory, modern art, wooden exhibits were all present. Modern art varied from simple to unbelievably simple. I wonder what qualifies as art. One painting was named “abstract”. I would have known that without the title, tell me what the painting means. Another could not even be named, so was titled “Painting No 2”. The oil paintings were good. Ravivarma’s were there, as well as a Mona Lisa and few others which look different depending on the direction from which you see them. Among the wooden statues, there is a Man on the front and woman on the back. Actually it should be front and back but on one side and another. As Damodar noticed that the statue should have been standing sideways allowing us to see from both the directions instead of showing us the rear in the mirror.

Even though many asked me not to go to Charminar, for there is nothing worth, I still wanted to visit. Just for the heck of it.
HydSecBad/Hyderabad032.jpg
An hurried, quick meet with Amit who was equally busy, before winding up the tour.

Thanks all – Babu, Muktesh, Damodar, Amit, Nagi, Ramani, Dutta, Rizwan and Irfan.

All Photos

Next: A conversation with a co-passenger

While on back from Golkonda Fort to Museum, a passenger “Are you also an outsider?

“Yes, how about you?”

“I am from Delhi and you ?”

“Bangalore. Are you here for a visit?”

“I am a star!”

Some people give a first impression that would cloud over all the conversation and make you look at everything they say with a tinted glass. Even if it was not meant to be. I am too a victim of this normal behaviour. Anyways here I continue my discussion along with the notes and thoughts which I could not / did not utter to him

“Excuse me?!”

“I work for Star TV”.

“Oh! really. That is nice. What do you work as?”

“I am with news”. “I have come from Bangalore, want to go to Mumbai the trains are stopped.”

“Are you on official duty or personal?”

“Personal.” “I had 2 days and am visiting here”

“You have come here, just because trains are not there for 2 days?”

“I have free tickets/pass anytime to anywhere in Indian Railways.I always get a confirmed ticket, on the spot”. I am a star. “Company has bought me a yearly pass.”

“Your good name?”

“Bajaj, Kumar Bajaj”. Bond, James Bond.

“Do you carry and ID, pass?”

“No they are safely kept. You can look at this id”. He showed the medicard. Kumar Bajaj, News Television. Also pulled out a visiting card and put it in as fast as he pulled allowing me to see only the “Star” in corner.

“This is medicard. I can get hospitalization from 600 hospitals in India. I have a list of them. There are 4 here in Secunderabad.” I am a star.
“What exactly is your designation?”
“I am a freelance reporter”. Now I know that visiting card wasn’t yours.

“I know J Nagar”
“Sorry?”
“J Nagar, 4th Block, Bangalore. 4th Block”
“Oh! Jayanagar.”
“I have 2 houses in Bangalore. One in J nagar and one in JP Nagar”
“Have you stayed or plan to stay in Bangalore?”
“I do not like Bangalore”. I know where it is heading. I did not ask him the reasons.
“There are 3 reasons: It is costlier. Unnecessarily. Roads are too congested. No good north Indian food available”.

Let me look at these reasons. People have a tendency to look at the results rather than the causes. Costly. People want Bangalore. There is cash inflow. Inappropriate, yes. But the inhabitants of Bangalore have not become rich overnight and are able to hike the prices. We middle class men are neither hiking the prices nor are we able to afford them. Nor are we happy with that. It is mostly the inflow from other states, north India, business men, who have made it expensive. We the middle class people have not. It is not, also, by the so called IT people. They too are finding the cost of living expensive inside the city.
Second, congested roads. I have nothing to say here. Unfortunately, yes. After having looked at the three main cities of South India, I concluded that Bangalore needs roads. Better roads, more roads. But what has really led to this state of affairs. Lack of vision to look ahead, to anticipate by the administration. Sudden growth and population inflow.
Third, north Indian food. Hey, Bangalore is in south India, fyi. Very much. Why should you expect good north Indian food in the first place? Get me a good Idli, Dosa corner in North. If you name Kamath and Udipi, I have an easy answer. Necessity is the mother of invention. If there is demand, there would be supply. Most of those Kamaths, Udipis have at least one link back to south. Why don’t north Indians come and open some north Indian food joints and serve the food the way they would like. Or better still, adjust yourself. Be a Roman when you are in Rome. Don’t make it a reason. Don’t complain.

“Err…why do you have 2 houses in Bangalore?”

Why don’t you see yourself off from South India?

“Huh..that was a clever investment I made.” I am a star. “I bought a house for 34 Lakh an year ago which today quotes 58 lakhs” “Unnecessarily, there is a cost rise”.

Hello..why are you complaining dude ? Unnecessary? Basic rule of economics says, if there is high demand and shortage of supply, the price goes up.
And look how my thoughts are true. Who is able to afford 34 lakh and who is hiking the price. Not us, my dear. Who is making the profit, taking the advantage? And ironically, who is complaining ?

“You know in Delhi, this same flat should cost 8 lakh”.
Yes, put your 34 lakh in Delhi and then whine about not getting your returns.

“Here in Bangalore people park cars on the roads. In Delhi I can park 4 cars of mine in the basement. I have 4 cars”. I am a star.

“Unnecessary there is a costly life.”

You want your investment to double, but do not need a costly life. Pity who is paying for it all.

“There is a demand for Bangalore, which explains the raising cost”. I finally show courage.

“Demand? No one likes Bangalore. No one from India likes Bangalore. Only foreigners like Bangalore”

Yes sir, thanks! We run a black magic business to attract them, you see. What the heck? Who is forcing anyone to go against their wishes. When people spoke about the costlier life in Bombay there was a sense of pride. When they speak of Bangalore there is a sense of hatred. I am getting into this discussion too many times. Leave us alone! We were content. We didn’t welcome outsiders nor did we try to block them, as Shiv Sena wanted to do in Mumbai in eighties. Guess where all this leads to.

“I personally know people from Hyderabad, Chennai, North who want to settle in Bangalore but not in their towns.” These cities are a part of India.

“I think Chennai is far better than Bangalore”.

Oh! Not again. Go stay there for a month and get back to me. No, let me clarify, I have nothing against the city.

“There is good north Indian food in Chennai?”
“No”
“You have 2 houses in Chennai?”
“No”
“Have you stayed there for a day?”
“No”
“Have you…”
“I have never been to that place.”

No, let me clarify, I have nothing against the city. Nothing against anything. I don’t like blindfolded baseless accusation against Bangalore. I hate hatred. I hate jealousy.

“Do you know the issues with the city?”
“No”
“Do you know the advantages of the city?” No I am not talking about the cost of living.
“No”.

“There is climate problem, water problem. And few people from there prefer other cities”
“Water problem. That is why they fight for Cauvery water”.

Ok, so you have some awareness. But fight? We need to co-exist. We need harmony. Who wants to fight? We fought for our freedom. After that there was no need for fight. There is a lack of strong motive to resolve the issue amicably, and a stronger motive to keep the issue burning always. For reasons beyond and against the usefulness to general public. It is a trivial issue, if there is a will.

“How long have you been in this profession?”
I am more curious about your 4 cars and 34 lakhs. And I want to change the topic.
“8 years”
“Before that?”
“I wasn’t doing this”.
Of course I can understand that from your previous reply.

“I worked for National Geographic. You know National Geographic?” I am a star.

“I guess yes. How was the experience?”

“Good.” “But no food, only biscuits and chocolates.”

Thank god you are a vegetarian.

“The tiger you see so near in the TV is actually not as close as they show. It is very far. They use good lens”.

Of course yes. If the tiger was as near as you had wanted, you would not be alive here today explaining your star status.

“I covered Kargil too.” I am a star.

“Rajdeep Sardesai, has started his own TV, no?!”

….Do you have any such plans? I am cut short.

“Who ? There are many offices in Delhi.”

“No, he was in Mumbai”

“Then I don’t know him. There are many employees.”

“I will tell you the reason for all this. In India people want cities. Everyone wants Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad. Leave other parts like that and move towards the cities. This is the problem”.

He got back to the burning issues after some silent moments.

“My mother stays in California, 45 miles away from the city. Very happy.” With a pinch of anger, sorrow and disappointment.

Go 45 miles away from Bangalore and invest your 34 lakhs. Or 45 miles from Delhi, where you would get good north Indian food.
But anger apart, I feel, this was the most sensible statement made by the gentleman, without a tone of ‘I am a star’. Yes, there is a polarization of population towards the cities. We have forgotten that development of villages is development of India, Gandhiji’s belief. We are our own victims.

“Look what happened in Mumbai. 70k are ill and are going to die. Malaria. Diahorrea. I am carrying medicine from here today. All hospitals and chemists are empty.”

That is a good service.

“Look at what we have achieved in 50 years of Independence.” He pointed towards a rusted bus stop. Now his wrath seemed to turn against whole of India.

“Let me tell you. We are 1000 years behind other developed countries. One thousand years”.

I am not a reporter and I can’t be that accurate with numbers.

Yes, sir. That is an exaggeration, but yes. But look at the reason behind it. We were the richest and developed in the world. Before we were invaded. Looted. Followed by more than a century of foreign rule. America got lucky and got its independence approximately 2 centuries before we did.

We are coming back. But it takes time. We are not as fast as Japanese. We take time. Plus there are limitations. Population explosion, in the first place. Deep rooted corruption in the second. We lack a leader who can evoke a uniform patriotism or inspire people to work integrated, selflessly towards improving ourselves. Need for another movement like the Independence movement, may be. The poverty follows closely. Then there is brain drain.

“In California, there are no ticket counters in the entire nation. Not a single booking counter. Not a single TC.”

“Oh!”.

“There are vending machines every 200 yards.”

“In Mumbai the other day ‘There is a possibility of train, which was scheduled to leave at 11hours, to leave at 17 hours.’ Sambhavna hai. That also they are not sure. In California, everything is perfect”

“You plan to settle in California?”

My tone often hides my tone. I mean more than I say. Why don’t you run away to California? We won’t do worse without you.

“See, if you are not planning to start your own business, in which case any age is ok, you have to migrate before you are 35”. A scent of disappointment.

“You know in California, you can buy a car free of cost!”

“Ya ?!”

“I mean you can get a car without paying. Instead you can get paid”

Magic?! But you don’t need them You have 4 cars and you are a star.

“I had interviewed a mechanic who told me there are 2 ways to get an used car free of cost. If a car requires a minor repair, they don’t bother to get it repaired. Instead ask the mechanic to take that away from their garage, where it is using up their space and pay him 250$. It is just 2 months salary for them to buy a $10k car. Here you have to save atleast for 3 years to buy a car. Many Indian mechanics are repairing these used cars and make them look like brand new and then deport them to India for sale. They are making lot of money like that.

Another way is when they are fined 4 times for breaking the traffic rules, they disown the car the 4th time.”

“Except for a few people there, who earn $11k-$12k per month, the average is also very good $3500 per month”

“Is India ka kuch nahi hoga”

I don’t know about that. But this mentality doesn’t help either. I am an optimist and like to see the better face of everything. I do not accept that Indian cricket team involves in fixing the matches. I feel hard to digest that Supreme Court judgements are rigged. I don’t listen to those who say Sania Mirza is a bubble and will disappear as soon as she has appeared. I can’t take that the rising index of stock market is a hoax or an illusion. I would like to believe that we are getting better everyday. There are visionaries who have predicted good things happening to India in another 20-30 years. And I will be alive to witness all that. You poor soul, you are a bit early. Those who fought for our freedom, if saw us today, would not have been very happy with the state of affairs. Their efforts, sacrifice sure deserved better returns. I accept. They sure had better plans, thoughts, dreams, visions for us. I agree. But we are not that bad either. There is a potential. There is an urge. There is a necessity. We need to accept our shortcomings and strengthen our strengths.

However she is, this is my nation. I love her and am proud to be Indian. Jai Hind.

Jagger got himself a partner to run the marathon life along with him. I was there in Hyderabad to witness that. Happy long run, my friend.

Pradeep too tied the knot. On Independence day! Anyways, best wishes to him too!

Am back in Bangalore after 3 day tour to Hyderabad. I will try and post about Hyderabad tour. I want to do it in detail and I require time. Quite a lot of it.

I have been with jagger all the while from the beginning of this episode. He had told me about his plan to get married before a fixed time frame, unless no girl likes him which was not going to be the case, he had said.
As the time approached, his search began and was on. Once he was visibly tensed and was waiting for a call. “I like one girl man, I wish she likes me too!” I too wished.
Few phone calls later, the things progressed. He was on cloud nine after his meet with her. Bold men too get weak in their knees in front of women. “I was so nervous for the first time in my life. I just could not speak anything” he blushed like a teenager who had just returned from his first date. Or maybe, teenagers need not.
About the future plan, he said “I will try to change her and persuade my plan”. “Or work both the plans out”. Few days later, “Or may be, I will sacrifice my plans and will support her and become a good husband. Because I think she is more organized/determined than I am!”.
Looking back at the troubled past, with watery eyes, he once told “Looks like I will finally get all the happiness I have deserved”. You sure should.

. What is the best word that would describe you?
. Your Home Town:
. Your Hobbies:
. Favorite holiday spot:
. Which day of the week you like the most:
. Latest movie watched:
. The best commercial ad you like:

These were some of the questions that had to be answered (in written) on the day of joining in this company. I was wondering what would be the reason behind this questionnaire. Will it be referred to a psychologist and would my personality be assessed ? Or so on and so forth…I was cautious while replying.

It is not for anything like that! Today when there was a mail with similar questionnaire and answers, I realized ,it is simply used as an introduction and welcome of the new candidate, by sending out a mail to all employees with this information. Good, isn’t it?

What did I write anyways ?

.Confident.Including the full stop

.Bangalore Not exactly. But that is where my home is,
now.

.Reading books, computers. This has been my standard reply for many years…Do I really have a hobby? Do I do anything consistently ? …I was so tempted to write blogging, but didn’t. Firstly, not many understand. Second, it is not as serious to be considered a hobby. Or is it?

.Goa Wow..what a tour I had..If it was “spots” I would have even put Pondicherry, Yelagiri, Munnar, my grandfather’s place, Kanyakumari, Courtalam falls, Kovalam beach …

.Tuesday This was the most difficult..I don’t actually like any day in particular. Any day is ok if it is a holiday! I was tempted to put holiday Actually I like Sunday..not only because it is holiday, but it usually marks an end of a small phase and the beginning of another. Also, it
is embedded in mind to like the approach of Sunday, a rest day, from school days (Even though now it need not be a rest day and sometimes it happens to be the most eventful/hectic day). Also because I tend to like anything that is associated with Sun. Also I was born on a Sunday. Then there was a good competitor in Friday..the day of movie releases. And now more famous for the advent of weekend. If I write these days, I thought, it might send a signal that I am lazy to work ! I like Monday too. Any change is good. Sunday brings in the change from the routine school/office going, and Monday again changes it back. I am fresh and eager to get back to school/work on Mondays. Monday blues are not for me! The in-between days are actually boring and same. How can I differentiate between a Tuesday and say, Thursday? During school days, Wednesdays at least were good because we could wear colour dress! With all these confusions troubling me, I was putting too much thought just to select a favorite week and I selected Tuesday, randomly.

.Bunty aur Bubli I thought of mentioning a Jackie Chan movie whose name I don’t know Before Sunrise and Before Sunset but were the latest I had seen. Just within 48 hours ago. Again being afraid of the signals it would send out about my tastes, I thought of mentioning some really offbeat-message conveying movie, to make them not see any purpose, meaning behind my taste! I don’t want any one to create an opinion about me
looking at the name of the movies I watch. Oh..lot of time going here too and I ended up with Bunty. “Yeh world hain na..world..isme do tarah ke log hote hain…”

.HutchThis was second toughest. I do not watch TV you see. No ad came to my mind for a minute. There was that odd ad of a cooking oil (was it Sunflower?!) where a cute kid runs away from home. And his grandfather gets him back bribing the jalebis, and when asked whether he would run away from home again, he says “jana to hai…magar 25 saal baad”. That is too old. Then there was a Kads ad for Pepsi. There was “Imaandar Shirt” ad. Then there was Airtel jingle ad, which I liked probably only because of A R Rehman and the jingle. Nothing great about the ad per se. There are scores of email forwarded funny ads which I can’t name/remember. Uff! Not a good, recent ad in front of me? Finally I chose Hutch - for the dog, for the kid, for the creativity, for the simplicity, for those smiling faces that were put all over the city and for Rahul Dravid.

What’s your take ? Use the comments!
Post the experience of not-so successful Booktagging, I will not tag anyone.
Would be interested to know your tastes though!

Something I always felt but could not tell firmly - we achieve so less at the end of the day and that we need not come to office for work. And it was opined by a clearer way in one of those discussions by Anil. We actually need no human interaction. The office setup in earlier days was required because of the interaction with customers or other team members. Now all we need is a computer (with network goes without saying), a phone connection. If companies can provide that at our homes itself what is the need of coming to office? The work is defined and it is left to us how we actually go about doing it. This is true even if we are coming to office or not. At the end we need to show the output. If we can do all this from home, we can save so much of travelling time (some of my friends spend almost 3-4 hours daily in the chocking traffic). If there is so much need of interaction, then weekly once or monthly once we can have the meeting in the office. Companies can actually save the spending on offices and many other facilities!
Paul Graham essays in What Business Can Learn from Open Source about this, open source, startups, blogging and more: (Must read)

So these, I think, are the three big lessons open source and blogging have to teach business: (1) that people work harder on stuff they like, (2)that the standard office environment is very unproductive, and (3) that bottom-up often works better than top-down.

Dave Sifry notes some interesting in the periodic update of blogosphere growth.

Along with the facts like “A new blog is created every second” and “Approx 10 new posts every second”, these are the other findings:
55% of the blogs are active and 13% are updated at least weekly (I belong here!).
Weekends tend to be slower posting days. ( This is opposite to my posting!! Also, I had guessed that most bloggers make use of their office PC..oh! how true!!)

More here

On work life balance Brad Feld suggests some habits like
(1) Spend Time Away, (2) Life Dinner, (3) Segment Space, (4) Be Present,
and (5) Meditate
Examples