Wednesday

Fundas@DCH

I found this an interesting fwd talking about the learnings from movie 'Dil Chahta hai'. Personally I liked this movie a lot and agree with all of these...

*Freaking out and enjoying life doesn't need drugs or cigarettes.

*There are relationships apart from bf/gf, marriage, siblings, friendship or Sex that can be very emotional and true. which is beyond the understanding of many people.

*And yeah even though u may be the best of friends there is always a limit which shud never never be crossed. Then it starts hurting...

*Improving ur imperfections after you realize it, always take some time.

*You always don't need to show or prove your gf how much u love or care about her, which can sound very boring and finally u r dumped.

*Believe in Love, true love will never let you down.

*Never be ashamed to go back to your old friends,friends are there to understand your mistakes.

*Whenever you need your friend , remember that he is just a phone call away... distances can't separate friends

*What a woman wants in life is some one who can make her smile. Be true in all your relationships, be it friend, wife, or a stranger.

*In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

*It's the friends you can call up at 4 A. M. that matter.

*The only unchangeable certainty is that nothing is certain or unchangeable.

*Happiness is an attitude. If you are used to being unhappy, even in the best of situations you'll still grumble and be unhappy. Nothing can make you happy in the world.

*The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with - never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.

Tuesday

Memorable Moments

I have experienced it at times, and these are some of my memorable moments of life. The moments when the mind stops playing havoc and dances in tune with the heart. The moments where the rationale of things are gone, and all that left is a zest to do the things and the submission to its course. The moments when the thoughts stop, and the spirits begin. The moments when the existence of self ceases and the experience with the life conceives. This is what I term as love and the energy that goes with the life. Here are some of those moments from my treasure of memories that you may cherish...

- To listen to my favorite song in the FM while waking up in the morning.
- To have a ginger tea with samosas on a rainy day.
- To get a head massage from my sis at the cost of her scoldings.
- To wake up and realize it is still possible to sleep a couple of hours
when I was having exams in the Morning.
- To start studying just couple of nights before exams hoping to get passing
marks and getting unexpected results.
- To pass a while with my best friends when time is not permitting us to do
so.
- To see an old friend again and to feel that the things didn't change.
- To see both sun and moon together and clouds in between them just next to
my plane window.
- To look at an evening with all its beautiful colors on a sea beach.
- To find mails by the hundreds after returning from a vacation.
- To say something that doesn't mean anything at the moment and later on
discover a special meaning to that.
- To hear a song that makes me remember someone special.
- To know that a 50%(from my side) crush can turn into 51%.
- To wait for audience to stop applauding so that I can continue my talk.
- To take 3 semester exams of MBA in a row without any preparations
beforehand.
- To see the expressions of the prometric centre incharge when he looked at
my scea result card.
- To watch one of the old movies (Anand, Golmal, Bawarchi..) and recall how
innocently I used to get inspired from them in my childhood.
- A close conversation with a good friend while taking a stroll, while
sipping a coeffee.
....the list goes on.

Those who happen to read this, I'll be glad to know some of yours...

Saturday

Random

This seemingly was a long break and part of which I can blame to my hectic schedule. The good thing is that I am enjoying the work. Finally I got a car...a jet black camery. A simple, just another car in US, but a dashing luxary in India. I bought it 'coz it was another deal not meant to be missed. So my cycle is giving me a deserted look now-a-days with brakes screeching and pedals demanding a harder push. Or may be its just my perception that's woving a fine excuse to get away with it without bearing a guilt of abondoning it. May be I should think of exchanging it as a white elephant gift in some christmas party. This week office was having a holiday mood with people dropping in to exchange gifts. I myself got couple of them. I just got a call from home. Delhi is so cold now-a-days. Here the weather is as nice as it could be in Pune. Days are short but warm, and its pleasant to take a walk along the riverside in the sun. We have also started playing a lot of criket these days in our tennis court. But I still miss badi sometimes.

Thursday

In Quest

In the design docs and java codes
in the meeting minutes and discussion notes
i search for an existence
each morning in the office
my eyes scan the inbox
filter builds and fwd trails
searching for the 'hello' mails
each evening i take a walk
with no one but myself to talk
each night at home
my msg goes online
to wait for a buzz to happen
to see a popup with smile
this is the way I spend a day,
and the life moves on
in quest of something
that I am yet to know.

Tuesday

Murphy's laws

Malgudi Days

Sunday I watched Hyd Blues 2. A good movie worth your time and money, if you liked p1. I also happened to read some of the short stories from Malgudi Days. The astrologer, The pickpocketer, Lawre Karzen Statue, and The postman all depicting life and bringing out the emotions so beautifully that you feel a part of it. This also reminds me of the old time, when we used to wake up till night (9 pm) just to watch these serials. Nukad, Ye jo hai jindgi, Hum Log, Malgudi Days, Vyomkesh Bakshi, Mr Yogi, Mungeri Lal....were some of my favourite serials, which I never could afford to miss even during my exams. The craze for saturday movie was altogether different in those days and we used to make guess the whole week for the movie. And if it's anyone of Amitabh's, it was a jackpot. Some of you might remember that in old election days, during couting phase they used to show movies late night and in between used to announce the results. That time was best. Mr. and Mrs 55, Sahab biwi aur Gulam, Shaukeen are some of moviesI remember seeing in that time. And the sunday serials. The whole day full of play and serials from 8.30 (He-Man) till 5.30(Spider-Man) and followed by a movie was the best holiday time I think I used to have. I still have fun watching good movies. I don't know why, but that time it was a different fun.

Saturday

Land of Abundance

It's been over a month and the box of almond cookies is still half full inspite of offering graciously to every guest at home.
My roomy has a simple philosphy on this matter, "Trash-can is a better place than stomach for all such rich fat stuff". He just needs to know that none of us wants it and you are assured to find it at the right place. He's infact one step ahead. Other day, he didn't let me buy kesar rasgullas 'coz he likes it to the extent of denying his own philosphy :(  If you wonder why cookies are safe so far, there is some egg content in them and he's a pure herbivore.
 
But there is more to it...
I got another laptop, not 'coz I needed it; but 'coz it was a deal not meant to be missed.
I had to buy a pack of 5 toothbrushes, simply because they won't let me tear the pack to just pick one.
If we have to take refuge at our home, for next 2 years we can keep our hands, teeth and toilet clean.
Perhaps people plan for a home team for soccer, or these stores want them to.
 
Welcome to the land of abundance. I wish I were in India with this abundance.

Friday

Bachelor's dilemma

I am at this junction of life where I am forced to face it. Almost every second talk about me questions my right to remain a bachelor, including the talks I indulge with myself. These are some of the interesting facts I found might be causing the stir.

Reasons why people want me to get married -
Married friends - You cann't be happy alone. And we don't want you to be happy alone. Whichever way you like.
Unmarried friends - If you survive, we'll think.
Mom - So that when she stays with me, she won't have to worry about taking care of me.
Dad - Time for encashment. High depreciation. Sooner the better.
Sisters - They will have someone to talk to about me.
Brother - Side please!
GFs - Thank God! Now I can move on without feeling guilty conscious.
Others - Do we have anything else interesting to talk about you?

Reasons why I am a bachelor yet -
Employment opportunities will have to bear a location constraint or a transfer overhead.
I'll miss the fun of all those big excursions where she is willing to join me.
I'll have to think twice before cooking khichdi with someone else in our overnight expeditions.
If my in-laws are nearby, I'll have to visit them frequently. If they are far, she won't visit them frequently.
While taking a stroll at F.C. road, the topic of coversation will change to cars and home loans.
I'll have to check my bank balance before taking a break.
I'll have to start appreciating the cover not the content (dress, not the girls).
I'll lose the liberty to chose, once I exercise it.
Everyone wants to do it in his own way, not in my way.
No one has said 'Yes' to me yet.
..and finally a little hope -
I overheard a father saying to his beautiful daughter, "If you don't follow what I ask you to do, I'll marry you with a dumb and duffer guy".
I hope the girl is not obedient.


Halloween

Morning, I saw William in office dressed up like a surgeon, looking for an opr theatre and that reminds me it's Halloween today. I still remember William dressed up like Charie Chaplin smiling behind his half cut moustaches while trying to walk zigzag. That was the best costume of 2002 party and Sam getting best scaryman award not 'coz of his mask but his face. But this time not too many enthusiastic. Only a couple of surgeons cleaning the cakes after their kills, a plumber and a fairy. No witches or horror man like Daisy or Scott this time. And top of that, I forgot to bring my camera :( Nevertheless, the party was amazing and so were the candies. But I would have loved more to be in pune off at our traditional day event. Yesterday it was Poo b'd and she got a big surprise party at her place and I missed that too, and Sarang's and now this PEB trek and then Diwali. Sometimes I question, if it's worth missing all that fun.

Wednesday

AASMAAN (Hindi Poem)

TV sent me this beautiful poem from one of his collection. I am sure, this is one of the reason he's at microsoft. Anyway..enjoy it. Hope I get to hear more often from him.

aasmaan jhukta nahin
khaDa rahta hai apni jagah
aDig, achal aur sthir
maano sabhi mushkilon aur baadhaaon ko,
sabhi aapdaaon ko,
muh chida raha ho....

aisa nahi, ki ye musibaton se parey hai
amaavas, is par bhi aati hai
har shaam, iska bhi suraj Dubta hai
taare, iske bhi TuTte hain
rang, iske bhi Dubte hain....

lekin, fir bhi,
ye sabhi rangon ko
apne andar samaa leta hai
aur har subah, bhor ki lalimaa me
aur bhi sajeev ho uthta hai
use apne andar ramaa leta hai....

sochta hun aisa aasmaan
bhale thoda hi sahi
mai apne andar bhi sanjoye hue hun
kahin na kahin chupaaye baitha hun
jise mai DhunDta rahata hun
nirantar, aviraam....


----------------------------------

Sunday

Coeffee Talks

After satsang, Anl and Sandy and me decided to make a coeffee stop @ Italia. Nice spot, in the middle of University Avenue with most of the crowd from Standford, typically a serendipity place of hollywood movies where Harry and Sally usually meet. Nothing like this happened to us, but the cappuccino was good. While we're sipping our coeffee, sandy started doing calculation of their business profits. And then our attention went to this cute, little baby who was busy picking up coeffee bags from the counter nearby, making a welcoming interrupt at the tables and offering it graciously to others. There was a complaining sign in his innocent eyes when sandy refused to take it. It was a guilt no one could afford to live with. So the packet was on our table the next moment. I was sure, if it was me I would have got a finger or a slap with those f* words. Just because I don't reflect the same innocence in my actions; or may be they cann't figure out the meaning behind it. For a child, it's always an excuse 'coz he doesn't have a meaning for his actions in our contexts and that's what we call innocence. Anway I am one among those and I like it.
Life doesn't need to mean something. All it needs is to be.

Friday

Breaking day

The promise to go to gym was postponed for another tomorrow just because I got up late (as usual). The fire alarm yelled at me just 'coz I liked a hot shower today. Left the laundry last night, so the wrinkles were wooing with my clothes. An important document got filed in lost list. This is how my day started.
But there is more to it. Outlook wasn't up till lunch time. Desk phone was dead with an important voice mail sitting in it. Build is broken since last night. The little consolation I found so far were in the crisp of Scott's home made cookies. Still not in mood to work. Weather is good, its started getting cold here. May be I'll just sit and do some thinking work today. Btw I watched 'Die Hard 3' yesterday, and liked the game puzzles Simon was throwing at Macklane and the Smartian guy. May be if I get some free time, I'll post them here.

Tuesday

Aish

  

Raining...

It's raining since morning, or should I say since last night. San Jose and rain, a rare combination. I got my my jacket and jeans muddy but cycling was fun anyway. I am missing the tapri chai and bhajia. Listening to "Mai koi aisa geet gaon, ki aarzoo jagaaon - agar tum kahon"

Wednesday

Pleasure and Pain

Wondering in the dusk hour
should I go or grapes are sour
all prepared still scared

I want this to happen for a long time
the thought is alluring me like an old wine
so here I am standing in front of the room
finally decided to make my move

slooooooooooowly I open the door
and walk in without making a row
no one there, besides me and she
I put on some music to ease the situation
and take out my sweater in anticipation..

I know it's time now,
We start off slow
Feeling good We pick up speed
Our bodies move in perfect symmetry
My temperature rising,
My heart begins to beat rapidly
My pulse starts to race
Feeling lightheaded
My muscles burn

There’s no stopping now.

Sweat glistening on my aching body
Steady motion of my limbs
Deep breaths
carry on till the music last
or better till the body blasts

Finally finished, a deep sigh.
Motionless, Eyes closed.
Exhausted, Satisfied.

I abolish the signs,
drops of me lying on her
we both stand in silence
I put on my sweater.
Without uttering a word
I walk out of the room

- A close encounter of pleasure and pain. This was when I went to run on 'The Treadmill' in Mansion Groove Gym. BTW I like the way you think :)

Tuesday

Game to ponder...

You do whatever produces the optimal final outcome for you - First rule of game theory.

"Are we playing a game?"
But ofcourse we are. I make a decision that influences your decision and vice versa. Our actions are interdependent. It's a game. Everything in life where it happens is a game.

"But what is this about?"
It's between you and some fictitious person(him) who is nothing but rational. You have a choice: cooperate or defect. If both of you cooperate, you each get five hundred dollars. If both of you defect, you each get one hundred dollars. However if one defects and the other cooperates, the bad guy gets one thousand dollars and the nice guy gets nothing. Standard Prisoner's Dilemenma. BTW you will be playing the game four times.

Ok. let's start with you. Make a choice.

Since I assume that you and your fictitious opponent are equally rational, so I can give you access to what he thinks rationally.

Opponent's Decision context - Rational
Sensory context - seeking the collaboration in your eyes that was forbidden otherwise.
His decision - (You don't know)
Your decision - (?)

so we can go for the next round. Just a slight change..we will play this game only one more time.

Opponent's decision context - Rational
His decision - (You don't know)
Your decision (?)

Pondering Thoughts - Four times changed everything. Repetition gave an opportunity to prove trust. Repetition makes us long-term allies, not one-off unknowns. Repetition gave maximum joint gains through cooperation of $4000: so much more that $800 availale through defection. But what if this suddenly goes off. Be honest and try thinking what will be your stand for these two situations, considering yourself a rational person, and see how do you apply it in your relationships.

Monday

Bigsur


"The happiness is along the journey, not at the end of the road."
What more I can say about today's drive to Bigsur. The so called 'destination' was never achieved, but who cares as long as we had fun. Well....may be someone who chose it. But missing 'Julia'(Pfeiffer Burns State Park), wasn't expected from him at all. The joy of the morning was to drive on freeway, may be because it was my one of the first time. California Highway 1 is the most scenic route on west coast. That means an opportunity to see some good points, click some good pictures. We had lunch in a forest, saw a sea-lion eating fish, get soaked in the tide while searching for shells. Isha did some stunts with her stone climbing. But the real adventure was Sumi getting trapped in an unknown trail. I hope Amtbh is not that much upset with his rucksack. With a promise to come again for left unachieved, we returned enjoying the music and the cappuccino on our way back.

My first day...

We were already 5 minutes late. The class was full packed. No chair left without a butt. Caught before the crime was the first thought that crossed my mind. Nevertheless spirits were high and so I entered with pride and marched towards one of the front corners. As soon as I put cappuccino on the table by my side, I felt a sense of belonging, an urge to be there.

Those who are still wondering, this was my first day at CSU Hayward school for an MBA program. And yes, it was unofficial. But now when I am there, let me share wht did I experience. The very first thing I liked was the intellectual smile shining behind the gray beard of Prof. Camateros, Spyros. By now you should guess that the crowd was a bit disappointing. No cross-legs..no...u know. His comments were humorous yet threathening to the extent of spice in the vegetable. In a matter of minute, I was sitting just in front of him preparing myself for the unwanted roll-call, which went smooth by. Now the teaching part. Linear Programming techniques - Simplex, Graphics, Algebra, and he was going thru them one by one..invalidating them against his favoritee Excel. He took a simple practical problem and demonstrated the various techniques to arrive at the optimal solution. Hey wait, this was something I had done in my 9th standard..the graphics...the maths. Only thing they didn't tell me was why the hack I am doing it. Now I know, that was most important of all. The CONTEXT. The applicability of the technology. And that's what the education system here seem to be good at. At times the over-explanation of seemingly simple steps seemed to make mockery of my so called intellect, but most his straightforward, humor and expertise made the somewhat boring lecture like a breeze. Overall the joy of attending the class was more than the learnings I got. It was like dream come true trailer. Thanks to Anl for giving me this opportunity. May his carpool grow more and more.

Tuesday

Mind Game

One way to look at an emotion is as the product of any discrepancy between our expectation and actuality. That is why happiness, love and delight wear off, even if the stimuli that initially caused them are still present. We start to expect what we are getting. When everything happens perfectly in alignment with our expectations(as opposed to our hopes, which may be fulfilled against our expectation, causing happiness) then there is no emotion, except perhaps boredom. To me, this is the most profoundly depressing conclusion, but at least it starts to provide an evolutionary explanation for some of the emotions: they are the body's way of alerting us to an unexpected situation or event.
- excerpt from 'Mind Game' by Hector Macdonanld.

Sunday

Babyish Thrill


Not before the dusk settles,
while walking along the shore,
I watch how the life battles.
Four diminutive birds in quest of their meals,
with a constant pattern of advance and retreat,
marching their feet like a happy child,
dancing in tune with the tides.
how blissful the life is,
if I see it from their eyes.
Spirits of life as eyewitnessed in Halfmoon bay by me and binod, on 18 September 2004.

Friday

Hours of solitude

Back home early. My roomy not there. Dinner done. TV bored. No one on chat. No urgency to take care. Void of spirit to continue with 'Mind Game'. So what to do? What to do in these very hours of confinement. Mind stops thinking. Void fills the vaccum. It's like for these hours I don't like to exist anymore. Now the mind strives for its identity. I am observing and simply trying to pen down what all tricks it's implying on me to bring me back into action -
Its making me nostalgic, reminding me that I have a home and I am far away from it.
Sounds standard and most effective. I let it go. See what next.
Oh gosh, lot of pending things to take care at work and at home. Am I a fool to waste time thinkn on these absurds?
hmm, may be I am..atleast for the time being.
Am I not hungry...? How about trying a new recipe today..and for now a ginger tea.
Thanks but no thanks.
I haven't gone for jog for long. No gym, no play. I know I m not in mood...but atleast a stroll?
I want to go, but I don't want to go.
Hey bind's gallary was awesome, shouldn't I explore some photographic features in my camera.

Will do but not now.
How about the site porting I wanted to do..
I haven't yet started anything on my SCEA 2..
Yet to get a licence..
Haven't callled up a lot of folks here and there..
I haven't written a blog for so many days..
What have I thought abt my plans for settlement..
...
...
..

Someone trying on my lock, door opens. My roomy comes in.
Hey hi..eeeeeee. How was your day.
blah..blah...blah...
Me again back to my typing pad, trying to spin back my web of thoughts.
...I know its Amtbh this time, came to pickup dvd.
V indulge in talks, me forgets this intellectual fight with mind.
...and the life goes on.

Who won finally, I dunno. And on whose side am I, I am yet to know.

Wednesday

NY vs Mumbai

Ever wonder why our mind loves wandering in past so much. The first thing it does on seeing something new is to relate it to something old. And based on that it decides whether the present is enjoyable or not. May be that's how it survives.
So how was NY, if someone asks me, the first thing in my mind will come Mumbai. No difference between 'Metero' and 'Subway' except the name change & little bit more crowd in former. Ground zero in reality has now nothing to offer except memories. Executives with BMW and Mercedes have to commute by public transport 'coz they cann't afford for parking. This reminds me of the story where a famous millionarie goes to a bank in manhatten to borrow 1000$ and surrenders his car as a security, only to return the money back after 15 days. You can guess, for what.
The interesting part of the whole trip was to sketch myself. Sitting in a pose for what seems to be hour looking in the eyes of artist with a hope and 'make me interesting' kind-a plead. I was expecting a cartoon face, but he came up with something altogether different. Anyway whatever it was, looking better than me, so I was happy :) The other thing that I enjoyed was photography, which includes a shoot with Prez Bush and Clinton of all of us. Shooting @ statue of liberty was equally refreshing and worth for all the waits to get there. Had I not gone to LasVegas before, I might have given a 'wow' to times square. But now it was looking more like a hanging out place, and instantly resemble to me like MG road@banglore I went with chin2. Actually I enjoyed MG road much more than times square.
Llt was missin Aj a lot, while chin3 were busy in their own world. That left me & Trn most of the time wondering over life and our solitude.

Thursday

Alum Rock


One more hike plan. Had to fight a little bit in wee hours to get up myself and wake up Anl. But it was worth considering the fact that no place can beat CA weather and that too at dawn hours. It is such a beautiful place. Walking on the edge of river among the deers and birds was refreshing. We made our way on a 0.9 vs 9 miles hiking trail. The view from the top was marvellous and trying shortcuts was fun....and not to forgot the slidings anl had on those shortcuts. The best part was to decide which way to go whenever we encountered any junction. The coming back was a bit boring party 'coz we were parting away from it and mainly 'coz I could not find any alums there :)

Monday

Wisdom with pain

Wisdom comes at a price, but in my case it came with pain too. It was lying in my tiny, sprouting tooth for ages in dormant mode and suddenly decided to popup. For a couple of days I sort of enjoyed it, but after a while it started demanding my full attention. Had to visit a doctor for the first time in US. If you are here and haven't yet seen a doctor, I tell you are lucky. Advancement causes perversion and medical system in US is a perfect example for that. Imagine you are deep engrossed in pain and have to call a doctor first for an appointment. And if you are lucky to get the same day appointment, a big obligation. In india, I never had to care about getting an appointment. Anway I took the day off and went with Sumi to see the doctor. After a cursory examination, I was advised to part away with my wisdom asap that too at a cost of a couple of thousand dollars. But guess, I am wise enough not to decide to part away with it, unless I am forced to. Anway doc was kind enough not to charge me just 'coz my insurance wasn't good for her.
Wonder why people call it a wisdom tooth. Can anyone enlighten me on this so called wisdom? BTW who says wisdom lies in gray hairs, for me it lies in teeth :)

Thursday

Khichdi Pulav

Cooking is an adventure here. After play was feeling hungry. Didn't have much stuff at home, only rice. So what...Khichdi Pulav. Something I have learnt preparing here to cover the risk of both khichdi and pulav...& everytime it's like I am cooking it for the first time. Whatever masalaas are available I try with guess work qty. And you may not believe but it comes out to be perfect everytime. Atleast for guys like us :) Wanna have something!

Tuesday

Guitaar

Was playing tennis with Syg when I saw Sct playing guitaar with Krshna. He's marvelous with the chords. Had I learnt some basics in Pune and been upto some practice, I could have join 'em. Luck is when preparations meet the opportunity ;(

Sunday

Dear Diary

Once more I am all set to start having dates with you. And promise, no ditching this time...as always ;). Hey..you can rely on me this time, I don't have other dates anyway!I moved into my new place yesterday and seems like all set except for a few items on my shopping list. My new roomy Anl is nice fellow working @cisco and doin his MBA. I am sure, will enjoy his company and will get a chance to learn from him. I doubt, it will be the same kind of exp for him or not ;) I landed here on 18th July so that means 2 weeks completed today. Thank God, Amtbh was here. So no big hurry...for searchin accmd and other stuff. Spent nice 2 weeks @ his place, courtsey Sumi. Felt back in routine here as soon as I picked up some books from the library. Hope to start one (My Best Friend) soon...

Monday

The work

Very first day I learnt that I have been assigned some task back in Prcr. Also we talked about the framework for Sltc automation which seem to be a full fledged project for eagle if I get a chance to pursue that. Prm also asked me to get involved with MES and BPML stuff. Looks like I'm getting an opportunity in the areas I wanted, to what extent yet to see. Much depends on what is the push behind it.

"Want to live happy forever, learn to love what you do!!"


Tuesday

Walking adventure

There is no pedestrian walk or cross signals at the expressway parting my home from the office. It is like a river without a bridge for me to cross. Guys, believe me India is much better in this case. You can walk in any damn place in your own way ofcourse @ your own risk. First day I took a ride in Imrn boat (by all means I can call it a cruise) and at night managed to cross it like the bowfinger guy. Tell you what, I didn't believe it was fun when I was watching him in the movie and for sure till I was on the other side of the road waiting for 'Action' to begin. Anyway second day...not again. Waited @ crossing for almost 15 minutes. I was like praying to 'The unknown' atleast for emptying the river meanwhile he makes the bridge. But I guess it was heard only by the clouds raining more and more cars -(...may be another -X effect of murphy's law. Ok enough, cann't wait anymore. Better call a cab or will ask sumi to give me the ride. I turned back...and there was this pretty girl walking down the street. I waited to see how will she manage to cross. But she didn't cross it @all, rather walked along the edge till the far end crossing where there was a pedestrian walk. With much dare, I was after her. She might have felt koi gunda peecche laga hai 'coz she fastened her pace. And that scared me a lot 'coz she could have called the cop. Those who are thinking I am back on my single track mind, better know that she was a chennaiese. Poo can explain well wht does that mean.
"What is life, if not full of adventure,
in daily routine we live, like a machine!
What is future, if we stick to the past,
its like living the past repeated with new cast!"

Got a call from Amtbh. That means a tennis break. Check out the space for more later.

Monday

The journey

Once more, I was in A's amchi mumbai. The one whom I still miss at times. Anyway the best part was that I met with Raj at mumbai airport. At first glance I wasn't too sure if it was him. I followed him for a while checking my instincts. There he is. I introduced myself. He didn't remember me ;( We spent a nice time talking about Sltc, old timers, good time (he was so excited to talk about hawaii), who is doing what stuff, his plans, his trips, his meets with big shots. I felt the same kind of pride in listening to him, as he was having while talking to me about his meet with prez of india. Rest of time, we didn't see much of each other. A little bit of movies bundled with sleep and interrupted by Asian special Veg meal marked most of the time of my journey.

Musical Meet


This was the musical meet once we had at my place in pune. Shenoj 'The guitaar guru' and Sarng 'The Singer'. I really miss the fun and ofcourse my dates with guitaar.

Sunday

Passion for life

It's been more than 3 months since I started learning guitaar and I still don't see myself holding it with a promise of even a single tune. Well, if you ask me 'I want to learn' and 'I am taking classes for it'....then wht's missing! Ya...I need to practice....practice a lot...tht's my instructor tells me everytime....& my justification...I don't have time to do that...but the fact is that I can spare time for so many things I even don't like to do...then why not this. And isn't true for so many things in my life, your life.....THE LIFE? PASSION - that's all I can see missing in me. That's what I clearly saw in my next door neighbour I met today. I found Rohit so much passionate about his guitaar...his music...that nothing else matters to him. But hasn't he got what matters to him. He is such a perfect guitarist, that music was radiating from his fingers, the moment he held my guitaar. He offered to teach me everything. But Passion was the one thing I could identify in our half an hour conversation that I *must* need to have and he cann't teach me. The only variance between me as a novice & me as a master ...rest I know I can learn.PASSION is the only thing that I feel cann't be learnt. It comes from within. It shapes our life, our destiny. This is on which I see life moves on.....

Give it a thought...tell me what is your passion for life? Mine is to observe life & to learn.


Monday

Made a difference

I would like to quote a small incident which though hasn't come from my life but which had a lasting impact on my attitude towards life. I see myself in this type of dilemma whenever it comes to passion vs. practicality and this little begining has always been my inspiration to work for my passion. Here it goes...

A friend of ours was walking down a deserted Marina Beach at sunset. As he walked along, he began to see another man in the distance. As he grew nearer, he noticed that the local native kept leaning down, picking something up and throwing it out into the water. Time and again he kept hurling things out into the ocean. As our friend approached even closer, he noticed that the man was picking up starfish that had been washed up on the beach and, one at a time, he was throwing them back into the water.
Our friend was puzzled. He approached the man and said, "Good Evening, friend. I was wondering what you are doing."
"I'm throwing these starfish back into the ocean. You see, it's low tide right now and all of these star fish have been washed up onto the shore. If I don't throw them back into the sea, they'll die up here from lack of oxygen".
"I understand," my friend replied, "but there must be thousands of starfish on this beach. You can't possibly get to all of them. There are simply too many. And don't you realize this is probably happening on hundreds of beaches all up and down this coast. Can't you see that you can't possibly make a difference?"
The local native smiled, bent down and picked up yet another starfish, and as he threw it back into the sea, he replied, "Made a difference to that one!"