(I guess its fair that i start calling Andhra Pradesh as Telengana and Andhra Pradesh (TELandHRA) now itself when ever we talk of a united AP)
There have been various incidents in 2009 which have put India down as a country, but yet there have been a lot of other positives which sort of made up for the negatives. But the state that had one of its worst years in the recent times could be none other than Andhra Pradesh. A state that looked to be one of the fastest developing ones, one which attracted people and money from across the world for the resources it had to offer. Everything was going on well, lots of money, employment, tourism and what not.
But as the saying goes ‘Well begun is like Half done’ (here obviously it dint begin well so this worked out in the opposite way!), Andhra kicked off its year with the disclosure of one of the biggest Corporate frauds of India in ages. The company that used to be pride of Hyderabad was involved in a huge accounting fraud. It pulled down the high flying flag of not only IT but also of Hyderabad! If there was any company that would come to anyone’s mind if u mentioned Andhra/Hyderabad, it would be none other than ‘Satyam’. This was assumed to be a one off bad thing that happened at AP.
But who was to know that this was just the beginning of a, to be not so good year. The first half of the year went on with news reports claiming different stories and figures about the Satyam scam, people were scared about their jobs, many even tried to leave Hyderabad to get a better job elsewhere. By the time the State and Central government tried to bring some sense back and got things resolved in the state who was to know that the state would lose its savior (to say so!). The second half of the year gave AP an even bigger shock in the form of the demise of Mr.YSR, which was another blow to the state which hadn’t completely recovered from the Satyam fiasco.
Hundreds of suicides happened across the state which who knew was to be followed by protests across the state to push Mr.YSR’s son as the next CM. The race for the next CM began and the number of MLA’s and leaders flying to and fro to 10 Janpath increased manifold as the state started facing what was to be another wasteful political clash within the alliance that was running the government. Centre kept its cool and has remained with its make shift CM till date.
The race to the hot seat hadn’t resolved and the state was still having a lot of unrest going on, while there were a lot of like minded people with vested interests who wanted to make use of this situation to bring back a five decade old issue which could have been on hold for another 10-15 decades per say. The state is seeing clashes day in and day out while the year is yet to end.
The separation of Andhra into 2 states would create a lot of operational and other issues which could do more harm to the state than the violence that these parties are doing to make their point. Our Home minister did a blunder by making an announcement without consulting the concerned parties and the larger interest of the state. He seemed to have succumbed to the fast that Mr.Rao managed to pull off with well planned violent acts across the state using students and other forces.
There couldn’t be a year in recent times when Andhra had such huge lows and we haven’t even dealt with their Maoist and other issues per say while thinking about other macro things that have popped out at may be a not so good time.
To me, it seems like the start of the fall of a great state that Andhra Pradesh has been and to be more precise the happening city that Hyderabad used to be. I guess that would go to the newly formed state of Telangana( sort of seems to be unavoidable to me looking at the political stakes and scenario in the state now, though I wish it never happens and AP remains united) and who knows what lies ahead for Hyderabad? A round of many other problems( Various international companies are already rethinking about their plans of Hyderabad and AP as such) or some stabilization in due course!
Today’s Favorite Line – If everyone cared and nobody cried, If everyone loved and nobody lied, If everyone shared and swallowed their pride, Then we'd see the day when nobody died…
Today’s Favorite Song – Everything I do, I do it for u ( Bryan Adams)
Just a random thought and an urge to write something and I ended up with this basic question.
Why do we need friends?
You’d say ‘a friend in need is a friend indeed’
You’ll say we need someone to talk to, someone to share our thoughts/feelings and so on.
You’d say you need company to go out, to shop, to explore places, so a friend could be the best person to fill this place
You may also befriend someone because you have similar likes/dislikes
You always get to here goodie goodie stuff when u talk about friends and having friends. You’d also boast for the kind of/number of friends you have.
These same friends though are really essential part of our lives, they aren’t at the best of their behavior and attitude some time or the other. You take a lot of shit.. from different people in different ways at different times. Its about how patient you are, how long are you ready to hold on and give your best. Through these ups and downs you still try to continue being good/best/nice friends.
Like above I ve put up a few lines that come to ones mind when you think of friends in a positive (normal) way. What if I play around a bit with my thinking process and try to recollect instances and ways when I haven’t really liked or understood these specimens whom I call friends.
These specimens show the maximum attitude, at times even more than they possess.
All their ego comes into forefront with you, as if they were Sachin Tendulkar of Cricket or Aishwarya Rai of bollywood.. reality check pleaaaaaaseee!!!!!
Talk about the word ignorance and I bet the dictionaries of the world can rephrase the meaning some how and include the word friend in its explanation. They’d ignore you as if you never existed or were never noticed and then pounce back on you accusing you of being ignorant! Crap…!!
If there is a last person from whom you must expect something, then it cant be anyone else than for a friend. Do all that you can, be as good a friend tat u can be and whatever, but never ever except something, that is if u don’t wanna be disappointed..!
Remember the last time someone hung up a call on u? I can bet it would have been a friend!! No one else in the world would be nice enough to do this.. They can hang up on u whenever they like, as many times they like! All u get to do is take it!!
Wait a minute, hanging up is just one part of the story, the other part is even more funny.. they wont take ur call, fine they are busy, they wont return back that missed call also!!
Did I say missed calls just now? Ouch. Wait…!! Where do I fit in unanswered text msgs and gtalk pings? And what about those BRB’s which at times seems to one like ‘Bye!! REALLY BYE!!!!’ and not whatever u thought it meant all this while, cos they never come back! They are so damn busy tat they don’t even afford to answer you back.. True enough.. it’s a waste of time and energy to respond to some crap you’ve sent. They rather not do formality..
You could have had the best of the times of ur life with them but at times you also tend to get the worst of the treatment u ever deserved. You try, u try hard, u give ur 100% every time, u get taken advantage of, u get diplomatic answers, u get ignored and u end up seeing them changing over time (obviously for the not so good) and all u get to do is, Take it all! Just sit back and watch… and what do u do finally?? Give UP!! Either the friendship or your own ego/attitude/ self respect (now this is exaggeration)!!!
Someday people will realize your worth. They have always needed u and they’ll need u. and then u show them!! Wat it takes!!! But why would you? If u wanted to, u would have already..!! So u just go with the flow, and understand that its FREE ENDS!! Meaning either of the person are free to do whatever they like, how ever they like from their end!! No questions asked! If required only answered or better put explained.
Anyways everything is not just one sided, there are various things above tat even you do at times and even you receive from these over valued people called Friends. Anyways world cant change, you got to have friends and live with what you are and what they are.. Rest is individual traits.
P.S – Just an out of the ordinary way of venting it out, held this in drafts for quite long. Finally thought its ok to post it, anyways who cares?? :D and for heaven sake don’t ask me questions like what/who triggered this post, am not gonna answer. To check out a couple o f other posts I’ve put up on friends, use these links.
1)
Rabba kabhi kisiko, kisike karib na karna
Rabba kabhi kisiko, kisike karib na karna
Dooriyan Bahut tadpati hai
Aur jo kar dia agar karib, toh phir kabhi door na karna
Aur jo kar dia agar karib, toh phir kabhi door na karna
Tanhaiyaan bada rulati hai..
Bada rulati hai…!
2)
Har haal mein haste rahenge hum..
Har haal mein haste rahenge hum..
Chahe khushi ho ya gum
Har haal mein haste rahenge hum..
Woh bhi bina piye whiskey ya rum
Har haal mein haste rahenge hum..
Kya hua agar hamari aankhen hai nam
Hamari baazuon mein abhi bhi hai dum
Har haal mein haste rahenge hum…!
3)
Mat kijiye itni meherbani
Humne dekhi hai aapki beimaani
Haan in sabki wajah hai hamari naadani
Phir bhi dil hai Hindustani
Phir bhi dil hai hindustani
Phir bhi dil hai hindustani
P.S - Written long back, wanted to add a few more, but couldnt.. will some time later.. And though all the above may sound too senti and lousy kinda stuff.. its ok at times to just pour down watever.. will try and come up with better ones sometime.. and FYI am in no Gham to have written all this...!! bas it just got written :D
Today's Favorite Line - Actions Speak Louder Than Words
When’s the last time you heard/said something like this…
-Hey it’s Friday, time to booze. Let’s go!!
-Its 3(pm), why hasn’t the tea come yet? My head will tear apart, I can’t work!
-I need to fag. Too much tension today!!
-Let’s have pan/gutka before going back to office.
-Wake up, its 8!!!!! I always wake up at 6 sharp!! You are a lazy/good for nothing
-Its 2(pm)! U haven’t had lunch yet?? I always do lunch at 1
The list can go on, but the point I am trying to make is, there are small small things we do in our day to day life and we, over time become so adamant over them, that we forget why we actually did it the first time or over a period of time.
Let me answer (back answer) each of the above statements the way I see it. Though I wouldn’t be able to say the same to someone on face, cos am not expected to be rude, but here I have the freedom to do what I like, so I better take advantage ;)
-Why be so fizzy about a Friday night?? U have the whole weekend just in case u need to booze. U sound like, it’s the last Friday in ur life when u say u wanna booze cos its Friday! Life is yet to go.. Things are yet to happen! Booze as and when you want to, no ones stopping you!! And just to remind u there are 6 other days in a week apart from THE Friday!
-Oh you mean if u don’t get the usual cup of tea at 3, ur brain stops working? Get a life! If u want a break ask for it… don’t blame the poor brain.. its anyways hardly used.. why waste a cup of milk and that black color thing into your body? Just go have a break!!
-Go burn the buck in ur wallet if u want to. Why create imaginary tensions just cos u wanna burn some freaking thing and make some circles in the air? Anyways the tension u r talking about is not present now.. Will come soon, if things remain this way!
-How will that betel powder help the delicious meal tat u just had? Or how much better will u be at work if u have that green leaf? Ur tongue deserves better things and do u still remember the last visit to the dentist? Guess ur planning another visit soon!
-Now who is to blame if u aren’t sleepy past 6?? At least let me catch up a few more dreams! Anyways nothing great is happening in real life.. let me be happy in the dream world at least. Anyways will have to wake up once the happy dream gets worse…
-In which book of history is it mentioned tat lunch should be done by 1pm? I guess we eat cos we are hungry and not cos something was cooked in the morning and is gonna be thrown out if I don’t eat by 1. So ill eat when am feeling like. What’s the hurry anyways?
Though the above back answers seem to be rude and stupid.. The point I am trying to make is, in life when we like to do the things the way we like to, then why condition our brain in certain ways? Why cant we be open minded always and do things the way we like at that very moment? Why fix things like ‘I booze only on Friday’s’, ‘I drink tea 3 times a day’, ‘I have 3 meals a day’, ‘I leave for office sharp at 8.37’. Why cant one booze on a Monday at times? Why cant one have tea as per the mood on a particular day? Why 3 meals a day? Cant I eat 4 times someday? Or 2 times when I don’t feel like? And why do we give this crap that I leave for office at X hour and Y min, why cant I leave for office as and when am ready and feeling like with some deviation now and then.
It’s good to be disciplined, I don’t deny that. But the point is, we condition our brain so much that we forget the basic motivation behind doing something. Life is not too long to be so adamant and rigid, lets be a little flexible. Let’s wake up at 6 some day, at 6.45 some day and if there’s not much to do at 8 that day. I think we kill creativity by being so inflexible, we kill our own likings and priorities in life due to our stiff attitude.
More over if one is used/ addicted to something; it brings a lot of disadvantages with it. For instance if someone has the habit of having tea 3 times a day, though its just a matter of 5 rupees per cup/time, it means one ends up spending 450 bucks for sure on tea in a month (tea is just an example, u can substitute anything else and calculate accordingly) which means 5400 bucks on tea in a year. Just for instance if I say, what if at times u have tea only 2 times a day or even once when ever u don’t really think u need it? What if u have coffee instead of tea sometime? And how about a pack of biscuit at times with the tea/coffee? Think how every other day would be different! U get saved of that boring cup of tea which even the person who makes it, makes it half hearted! U don’t even know if he/she made it long back and served u now.. Knowing for sure that ur anyways going to have it!
I think when we start thinking this way, we may end up saving a lot of money if we don’t get used to certain things in life. Plus we also get to have variety in life and anyways no ones really bothered if u r perfect or not in having tea at 3! I guess things in life should be done out of genuine need or wish and not because someone else does it this way
While thinking about all this, I just got a counter argument from some corner of my brain. Is it good to be moody? What about discipline? What about planning? Can being an instant person lead to disappointment in certain things?
All said and done, I feel it’s worth giving ones brain a chance, to think and do even small things in day to day life. It’s at least better than blindly doing something without even knowing why! As far as we can do things as required without much deviation and without getting addicted to anything I guess its fair enough to let the brain decide what’s to be done and what not every now and then.
P.S – I guess I lost track of something I wanted to convey somewhere in between, anyways the main point am trying to make is, lets keep our life Addiction free!! Be it consuming habits or for that matter even people or money… Live life every moment…!!
Today’s Favorite Line – Sometimes u feel like giving a damn!! But when u feel tat way, tats not deserved!! Even tats too much to give!
Today’s Favorite Song – He could be the one (Miley Cyrus)
With the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to the Prez of the US of A, the world seems to have changed to one, where one gets rewarded based on promises and manifests rather than performance.
Since when have we started trusting people just based on their words? Even corporate houses pay huge bonuses based on performance to their employees. Nobel Peace Prize being one of the top honors in the world, bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel. Such an honorable award being given just based on hope & expectations and not based on past work, and it now being justified by the recipient as ‘call for action’ is all really surprising.
Anyways you would have read a lot in the media about how surprising and blah blah this is. I have a different view on the total thing. Though even my view is of a critic but with a little out of the box thinking! Let me get to the point straight!!
How about giving the Nobel Peace Prize to Mr.Osama (yes u read it right ‘oSama’). Since Mr.oBama has been awarded the same based only on hope and as a call for action.
Can’t we start expecting that Mr.oSama and his troops would stop terrorism and will promote peace instead? Can’t this work even for Mr.oSama as a call for action to stop terrorism and start making efforts towards making this world a better place to live in?
May be such an award can work as some kind of a motivation for him and his camp as well. After all it is THE ‘Nobel Peace Prize’! Honor me with the same and I shall work all my life to make this world a better place to live in.
May be, just may be, it rings a bell in Mr.oSama’s head and he starts working towards peace rather than Jehad and all that. He must be having links with other top terrorists of the world and he can also help in dealing with them to promote peace. Anyways all this cant be expected out of Mr.oBama, cos he wont be having contacts and good terms with all such anti social elements. So I feel such an award for ‘call for action’ should be conferred on someone who really has the resources and capability to act.
I would rather have voted for Mr.oSama if the award had to be conferred on someone based on expectations and call for action (per se)! I guess he would act and act faster than Mr.oBama could! Remember, he has a lot to take care with respect to the US economy and the Wall Street turmoil, including giving jobs to all, health care, and so on. Where is the time to promote peace??
Today’s Favorite Line – If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion
If you are thinking this piece of writing has got anything to do with the movie, then STOP right away. It was just a trick to catch your attention... Am not yet that smart to write a movie review (though I know your expectations about my potential are high ;) read on and am sure you are going to be disappointed)..
Now if as per the title if it’s not about the movie then what is it about..? Haha guess what? Unfortunately this time its about me (:P since am out of news for long now, thought may be this is some way to get back ;)). Anyways I am sure by now you’ve decided to close this page. But wait a min!! What harm if u go on reading a little more since you’ve already tolerated me for so long. So better stay tuned for a little more (I guess, now tats some marketing ;))
Now coming to the point. It’s been more than 2 months, since I am having the pleasure of dictating the terms of my own life. No pressure, no deadlines, no office (I know the first 2 take care of this.. Still.. Having to go to office itself is such a task!), to sum it up.. No control or discipline or monitoring of any kind.
One hardly gets such kind of an opportunity. I have never been so free and useless in over 2 decades of my life (as a kid I used to be controlled by my parents for everything I did, at least now that’s not applicable as much).
So what does one do when he has nothing to do??? No plans, no where to go, no commitments, and most importantly no immediate expectations!! You'd probably say.. I'd go for a vacation and have fun, refresh and all that... But I like always chose to differ (just for the sake of it to say so ;))
I preferred staying back at home.. Doing nothing.. Obviously if u wake up at the time when others are having lunch.. What do u think u can probably do??? Yea I know you'd suggest me to go and have lunch! Haha smart u r, tats exactly what I do ;) (Now don't start assuming I do that straight out of bed, I obviously do the basic things one does every morning). Now you must be thinking, woke up.. Lunch done.. What next??
Did I a few weeks back say I never spend time watching the idiot box?? Hah just for a change I‘ve started wasting/investing time watching the idiot box.. Sigh..!
Then what?? Since eyes are tired after having watched living Dracula’s on the stupid box (why call it idiot always??) its time for a quick nap! (Does 2hrs also mean quick?? ;), to me it does!)
Now since u know almost everything about my usual day... Let me tell you one incident that triggered this post... One not so fine evening (about 6pm) my phone rang. Dreaming big time, during a usual quick nap. I thought it was a Saturday, then realized no it’s not cos I went for a movie on Saturday. So I concluded it was a Sunday. But then got reminded that on Sunday I wasn't at home at all!! So how can I be having a nap?? Now with no other option left, had to assure myself that it was a freaking Monday!
Getting back to the ringing phone, I took the call. It was from an authoritative person and I picked it after it rang for long, that too after so much confusion about what the day was (and why & how was I so free that I was having a nap?!). I ended up saying 'Good Morning Sir'!! The dumbest thing I ever done in my life!! Though the authoritative person was dumb enough to care or pay attention to what I said. I felt freaked out! And thought its time to 'Wake up Kid', enough of the laziness. Also recollected that I was doing things I hated most when I used to be occupied.. Including watching the idiot box and taking a stupid afternoon nap! Cos am some one who believes, afternoon nap is an indication that either you have gotten old or you are a housewife or a kid. And since I got my senses back, I thought I’d post this thing here!! And hence it’s titled Wake up Kid!!
Today’s Favorite Line – Being frank is always better than being falsely sweet.
Today’s Favorite Song – Hey there Delilah (Plain white T’s)
No am not talking about interpersonal conversation.. use whatever language u want to.. uh uh… sorry pardon me.. use only marathi when ur in Maharashtra!! (Apologies to the ones whose sentiments got hurt when I said ‘use what ever language u want to..’ ) I forgot that though we have the freedom of speech we still have ardent leaders (don’t be surprised am calling such a loser, a leader. he/she is still the leader of some front) who insist we speak the language they want us to when in their territory or context.
Infact one is also not allowed to use old names of their own city when the new name is in existence. Poor Mr.Coffee with diKAshAN (now don’t tell me the spelling is wrong!!, I know u r smart enough), was witty enough to apologize immediately (obviously he dint want any of his latest films getting banned or whatever, mind you I used the word banned and nothing else tat is illegal ;)… I have to play safe too u see :P). So better watch your words, you never know when, where, who is listening to your crap!!
Now this was about anyone speaking and one person retaliating. And then you fear for life and livelihood. There is another place and context where you need to measure each and every letter you communicate.. And in this place one person speaks and a thousand retaliate… ironic but that’s the fact of today’s high tech life we live…
No business class tickets for the ones who guessed it right! Yeah.. am talking about our dearest Mr.Twitter!! ( I don’t think anyone else whom I know/heard of ever deserves this name more than this person). One thing that he could do to increase his pay cheque every month is ask twitter to pay him some royalty/goodwill.. for the publicity and name that twitter got cos of him. It is just tremendous!! (though it generally is the other way round.. but in this case he helped promote twitter more than the marketing honchos sitting in that multi storied headquarter)
Anyways getting to the point.. Does any other top official in the country have the GUTS (in bold) to speak their mind in a public forum? Tat too in writing?!! This person does, obviously thanks to twitter for such a facility and a fraction of a million people following each and every character he writes. Be it a humorous comment on austerity or on the teachings of the father of the nation or on the amount of work pending in his office… ( is any of tat ur business??!! Get a life!)
But does that mean we also need to draw a line somewhere? Not necessarily!! We are a democratic country with ‘freedom of speech’ (at least tats what I learnt in my civics classes!). As far as one is not hurting anyone (obviously that doesn’t mean you can’t say what u feel cos someone else feels otherwise), not just ending up doing just the talking and no work at the end of the day!
By the way before I close this piece of writing, I must make you aware that am not following this person on twitter! I feel its too much an effort for me to log on to twitter and follow the process to follow him, I’d rather get the latest updates with the latest comments on those updates and the analysis of all this in the leading dailies every morning (how convenient you see!! Thank u media! ;) ). Sometimes I just wonder, is it the media using Mr.Twitter to fill their slots or is Mr.Twitter using the media to be one of the most well known Twister.. oops Minister!!
Anyways all I would say is “Mind Your Lingo!!”, someone somewhere is watching you and u never know when u get bashed up for any word tat u blurt out intentionally or otherwise.. Hope some media takes notice of me too… I ve not been careful at all!! Why would one be if that increases the probability of getting free publicity ;)
Today’s Favorite Line - You try from your side... If you feel they are not responding then chuck it.. they just don’t deserve it…
Today’s Favorite Song – More than a friend (Michael Learns to Rock)
Never seen, felt or known… just heard and nothing else but brainwashed…!!
What if for once I say there is no god?!?! Universe runs on its own.. there is nothing called luck, prayer makes no sense.. what has to happen happens.. what we do or be decides the outcome and nothing else..
We have been cheated all our life just to assume there’s someone watching and creating whatever.. all these miracles that we never understood are no miracles, they just happen because they are bound to. Now don’t ask me who decided that X or Y was bound to happen.. sometimes people do feel miracles happened or god appeared or whatever… its just like a magician fools us by his tricks.. some human is playing the same game and giving all credit to god and indirectly brainwashing us.
What if we stop praying and start believing that there’s no god (are there not atheist in the world? Don’t they have luck? Don’t they live life happily/sadly just like you and me do??).. its all an illusion!! All these days we were fooling ourselves..!! Tough thought but there is still some sense in this piece of nonsense.. why always think conventionally and as taught by others.. world is out there only to cheat u… once u start believing there is god then u need to chose of which religion/caste, what subdivision in tat caste/religion and so on.. its all too complex.. lets just assume there’s nothing called god…
People say there is only one god.. Jesus, Ram, Allah are all one! Then why do different people call them by different names? And pray in different ways? And fight over things like, should there be a temple or a mosque here?? Let me tell you, all this is done by we humans, some human tells us ‘ram is our god’ and we follow ram. Some other day some one else says ‘Jesus is our god’ and we try to find reasons to believe him.. its all stupidity!! Utter nonsense!! If its one super power (god) then why a million names? Or if its multiple super powers.. Who is the biggest one? Who decides? Who over rules the other and why? Does it depend on ones fan following? Or do we need to send some sms to ‘55995’ (or some crappy number) with our option and the one getting the highest number of votes wins and proclaims the throne of being ‘THE GOD’. Its all we humans who have created these brands called ‘Ram’, ‘Allah’, ‘Jesus’ and million other such small and big brands.
Yes agreed all these mega brands were humans some day (even this is something heard and known from people, may be we can accept at least this, no proof required ;) ) and they lived their lives in a really good way, did nice things, sacrificed worldly pleasures, did meditation or other such things. But how did the other humans living along with them or after them come to know or decide that these super humans became god? (did they visit heaven or hell to find out if X or Y is there or not?? Or did these super humans come back from hell or heaven to inform the world that “Yeah!! I am your GOD, pray to me” or what ever) Even they were just another set of humans like you and me. Even you and me do great things in our day to day life and may be what we are doing and did is also great, so will even I be called or known as god, if am able to convince a huge chunk of population that the things I am doing, the powers that I have are extra ordinary.. So will I also be pronounced as god?? (LOL :D, super weird thought :D)
When something good happens or when we succeed we thank god.. we say.. god u ve been so nice to me and so on… we thank him in different ways… why don’t we curse him when we are sad, when things go against us and when the world seems to be against us.. why cant we say ‘god you are a loser, u dint give me something I think I deserved…’( we were never taught to do that by those people who brainwashed us, as that will start affecting that particular god’s brand u see). Am not saying we don’t complain, we do complain, we don’t show the other extreme way of reacting like we do when we are happy and good things happen to us.. why does god always get thanked for the good that happens while when something bad or wrong happens.. people say its your karma u have to face it.. so cant we say its your karma also when something good happens instead of thanking god..?? When its only about the karma.. why all that importance to this illusion called god?? Why do we offer material things to god? (Prasad, flowers and many other things including Vitamin ‘M’) does it mean we are trying to please or bribe that super power when we need something? If the super power is really bothered you’ll get what ever u want/deserve! We do lot of such nonsense, just assuming and presuming what ever some priest says… why wont he ask you to offer such things when he would get a decent ‘Dakshina’ at the end of all that (no offense meant) and many such material benefits (needless to mention)
There’s no incentive or rationale for me to think that there’s someone called ‘GOD’ sitting somewhere there in the blue sky. May be if the so called god can wave to me some day from the sky, ill try and think of ways to convince myself that there is someone sitting there, watching us! But Nah! Wait a minute, in this era of science and technology, where going to moon is a hobby a million people have developed, may be some human will reach the blue blue sky and wave to e from there, am I supposed to take him as god?? Lol in tat case Neil Armstrong and many such others can claim having been god for a while.
This is such a weird thought I can keep on going with arguments endlessly because there is no rationale or scientific evidence to convince me on this!! Am just plain simple confused.. not that I don’t pray (infact I did just before I started writing this piece :D) or am not an atheist, its just that its all weird!!
P.S – I hope this piece of writing is being taken lightly, I still have my senses in place.. thought I could make this one a lil humorous while making my point.. but failed in tat attempt.. still.. its been fun thinking differently for a change.. really helps at times!!
Today’s Favorite Line - I'm gonna try in the future, not to live in the past..
Today’s Favorite Song – You are my only one (Yellowcard)
The answer to the above may be both yes and no by almost an equal number of people. Though the truth is that, we Indians are sort of bored with the number of lousy shows being aired day and night. But still we seem to pretend to others and to ourselves that we really miss X or Y show.
Let me get to the point.. Its been quite a while since I stopped watching television ( but for times when I don’t have any other lousy thing to do in the world or may be lets assume checking cricket scores or news headlines once in a while as an exception). I may be an extreme case, its just that I don’t buy all that hype and drama which is made up to fool u and me (mind it, I don’t watch so I am still not a fool ;) ). I was just wondering what has happened to Indian television, every second channel I tune in to either shows some female Dracula or some reality show which makes its participants/judges portray things the way they aren’t ( am not getting into swayamvars at all). And this is when I started missing days of my childhood when I used to watch shows like ‘Bonkesh Bakshi’, ‘Hum Paanch’ and so on.
One lousy evening I finally had nothing lousier to do, so as expected I switched on the Reality box (I guess its time we changed televisions name from idiot box to reality box!!! :D, now I know tats an out of the box idea.. appreciation welcome :P). So while trying to get the best out of the gun used to shoot as many channels we can per second I ended up at this channel which actually changed the face of television a decade ago. Yea am talking abt Star Plus, it launched a show called ‘Aap ki kachari’ a couple of months back and trust me, for a change I stopped firing!!! I placed the gun beside me for a while to see, what actually is the first top Women Cop of the country doing on the reality box?!! Is this another reality show?! Is this another show doing some swayamvar?! (:D) and yes all the above questions had a half yes as the answer!!
Kiran Bedi is back, this time being the first one on Indian television giving judgment, giving justice. Must be sounding weird!! Justice and judgment on television?! Tat too in a reality show kinda set up, such a brilliant concept and most importantly the outcome. Aap ki Kachari is the first ever indian television show which does something ideally a court would do. It calls people having problems in their life, be it a domestic problem, problem with neighbors, marriages at the verge of coming to an end and many such issues we see and hear day in and day out in our life and the Indian courts with more than multi million cases pending not being able to pronounce justice. Aap ki kachari is acting like a fast track court, taking arguments from both sides, people representing themselves instead of appointing lawyers.
Kiran Bedi acts as a devils advocate and tries to talk out the differences of the concerned parties and more often than not helps in working out an amicable solution. One good thing about the show is, it does not impose any judgment on the people participating. Bedi makes sure that both the parties are mutually convinced about the solution worked out. The icing on the cake is Aap ki kachari also provides financial and NGO help to make sure that the solution worked out is being carried on as discussed by the concerned people.
One would argue that, there is already a show called Aap ki adalat being aired on Indian television for many years now hosted by one of the most versatile journalist of the country Rajat Sharma. There is a major difference in the format and deliverables of both these shows, as Aap ki adalat ends up more like a talk show in a court room kind of set up while Aap ki kachari goes much beyond discussion. It educates the viewers about important acts relating to certain issues after each show and so on.
One would also argue tat, may be most of the cases aired are set up (fixed) or may be on the show people agree to the solution provided while in real life they don’t follow the same. But I still guess it’s worth the effort to make people solve their problems much quicker than one would be able to if they knocked the doors of Indian courts otherwise.
It feels nice to see this show, to see the problems aired live on television which we otherwise see at times in our neighborhood, most importantly coshere we see them getting solved. That’s what matters at the end of the day! Hats off Kiran Bedi and the producers, for a change I try to watch tv at times when this show is being aired on Star Plus at 8pm on weekdays.
Today's Favorite Line - A lot of trouble in the world would disappear, If people were talking TO each other instead of ABOUT each other.
Today's Favorite Song - Ye Dooriyan (Love Aaj Kal)
For a change i ll start with a sport other than cricket...
I think we should seriously consider using the word "Boltning" instead of the word "lightning". This guy(Usain Bolt) is just amazing!!! he breaks his own record in 100 meters(by a big margin) and says he never thought he'll be able to do that on the day the race was conducted.
Then he takes part in the 200 meters race in which after having broken another world record he says i was not really prepared(fit) for the race, wasn't even sure of winning. Now am not sure if its his modesty or what?! but man this guy is just too too good!! breaking record after record when he says he isnt really fit!! then what if he was fit and prepared?!! I first noticed him during the last olympics and was eagerly waiting for the current games and there he is.. back to get the record writers busy changing details. its just Boltning!! like federer became fedex i guess lightning will slowly become boltning.. atleast for me...!! (more cos i am the one who coined this name :P)
Now lets talk a lil about cricket!! As the decider of the ashes is on... i heard this game is one of the highest bet game of all time... Like many others even i wish Freddie ends his career on a winning note with a winning performace but i'd like Aussies to retain the ashes. though this aussie team doesnt have any of my favorites except Hussey who went back to the pavilion after scoring a beautiful duck. I miss watching Haydo and Gillu. Anyways Aussies are on a backfoot now and its certain that this test is going to produce a result, sitting besides the tv am not sure whom to support, all i know is i wanna see Freddie firing all his guns in the second innings both by bat and ball. Its gonna be an action packed game for the rest of the 2 days... till then fingers crossed!!
Today's Favorite Line - 'You cheat me once, shame on you; you cheat me twice, shame on me' Today's Favorite Song - Masakali (Delhi-6)
Now this post is triggered by a book that am currently reading “Games Indians Play” (now this is one way I say am reading something ;)). Though in the book the author uses a lot of tools like economics, mathematics, statistics, psychology, finance, game theory, behavioral finance and lot of other such subjects and concepts that I never understood, I am gonna just use 2 tools – Reality and Assumption (yea I know u’ll say assumption is one thing most of the above subjects use, but its ok, I have to copy at least something from the book right?!)
So let’s see what kind of good/ bad/ funny games friends play!!
(I’ll use he instead of always saying he/she, though it may be a specific he or she in certain cases, still let me just stick to he… it’s a lot easier to abuse a he than a she u see :P)
- When he says “fine”… its simple, he just wants to say – lets not talk about it anymore… whatever!!
- When he says “I’ll try”, he means “am sure I won’t”.
- When he says I’ll call u back – he just means “why did u call??, anyways bye!! And don’t call back!!”
- This friend wanted to convey that he got engaged (met him after a long time at a party)
He – hey so u engaged??
Me – no not yet..
He – oh!! Y??
Me – nah I just finished my mba… so (now come on, am not over age, that u r Y’ing it like that)
Me – oh congrats!! Nice ur engaged (now I know why u Y’ed me like that)
- When he says “ill be there in ten mins, just left home”. It means - I just thought about getting ready so how about seeing u there after an hour (at least) or so?!!
- When he says “keep in touch”, it just means – I won’t, so keep in touch if u like to.
- When he says “I don’t give a damn!!”. This time he means what he says :D :D
- This friend wanted to know if I had a girl friend!! (I wish!! :P)
He – how’s life dude
Me – usual yaar, nothing much.. ok ok
He – so wat else?? wat r u doing these days??
Me - not much yaar! routine life, office-home (as if u dint know!)
He – oh!! So how many girl friends do u have??
Me – LOL!! I wish!! Why would I be talking to u now, if I had even one?! So do u have any??
He – yea man I have 2 -3 !!
Me – oh wow gr8!! (now I know, u just wanted to rub it in!! and at least be sure if the no. is 2 or 3 dude!! :D)
- When he says “sorry I forgot”, he means “what if I remembered?, I just dint want to …..!!”
- When he says “nothing much”, it just means – there’s a lot, but nothing worth telling u!
Will try and add more of these soon, just a short peek into friends mind this one ;) I have just read few pages of the book so far, so will be able to add more once I get more things to copy from the book!! :D
P.S – Any statements resemblance to any one either friend or foe is purely coincidental. You should have read it at ur own discretion ;) and now don’t start interpreting each statement I make the next time we talk!! I am no game!! :D
Today’s Favorite Line – When all eyes are on u, don’t close ur eyes, instead put on ur coolers! U’ll look cool!! :D
Just after sunset he left home, riding at the speed of 60kmph on one of the busiest roads in the city on a Sunday, not expecting to see a cop on the signal on a Honda Activa. He still made sure he wore a helmet, had his ears filled with headphones and music full on.
He wanted to forget the world all along his ride and just listen to the lovely song by Akon “Beautiful”. To his surprise he saw a cop waving his hand exactly to him amidst many other passing vehicles, while he was moving his head and feet with the beats of the song when the lyrics went as “I wanna get with u…..”. He thought to himself for the 1 second he got to think and react tat why was the cop stopping him while he was wearing the helmet and also looked one of the age who could drive.
He just obliged to the gesture of the cop and slowed down not sure why but he dint want to flee cos he had all the documents just in case the cop wanted to make a quick buck. But to his surprise the cop with a tomato shaped belly and complexion so dark tat his face and his cop shirt looked to be in perfect contrast, he still looked like just another traffic cop in the city with a moustache tat was the only other sign apart from his belly and uniform tat he was a cop asking for a lift.
No the surprise was not the fact that the cop asked for a lift, that’s something usual, he had given lift to cops plenty a times. While he had his headphones plugged into his ears he hardly could hear the cop, and obviously he forgot that he had to take the headphones off to listen to the cop cos he was totally tuned to the lyrics of akon’s beautiful, but he still managed to understand that the cop wanted him to take a left immediately. To his fortune even he wanted to go left so he dint mind taking a left, but then the cop showed him a car, a dark red Honda Civic, the look of which would make anyone envious. And then the cop said “I want you to follow that car!!!”
He was amazed for a second, he dint know what to do. Though by this time he had managed to pull out the headphones from his ears so that he could listen carefully to whatever the cop had to say, he still dint know what to do, whether to speed up like Abhishek Bachchan does in Dhoom or to drive normally (under 40kmph as per the rules) as a cop was his pillion rider. Anyways he chose to do neither and stay in between speeding and normal driving.
He dint have to drive a lot, just a few hundred meters and there was a signal and fortunately for him the signal was red and the car that caught his eye from long distance stood right there at the signal. And even more fortunately for the cop there was no other vehicle adjacent to the car he wanted to catch hold of, so the cop asked him to stop just next to the car and got down without saying a word (not that he expected anything, still).
Now it was time for him to see some drama which usually one gets to see in a movie, as he stood waiting for the signal to turn green he kept looking back at the cop and the car.He saw 3 guys in the car, all of them looking about 18-20, tall thin guys who are out seeing the city around. No need to mention they looked rich dad’s kids, one of them sitting next to the one driving held a hi fi mobile in his hand wearing a grey round neck tshirt, the one sitting behind was moving his head to some music in the car with a stylish hairstyle copied from some bolly flick. The guy driving the car wore a dark striped shirt, his hair looked nicely gelled and the concern in his eye as soon as the cop knocked the window of the car confirmed the fact that it was his car and not of the other 2 in the car.
30 seconds still to go for the signal to turn green, other vehicles piled up around the car, everyone looking at the drama going around, no one even looking at the signal. The cop kept knocking at the window asking the guys to open the door. They kept looking at each other to figure out what to do, at once they dint understand what was going on, as the music in the car was loud enough for them to get their senses back in a moment. The guy sitting behind stopped jumping to the music, the cop tried to open the door himself but as expected it was centrally locked from the drivers’ seat.
The guy driving the car tried to turn quickly to look at signal just in case he had a chance to flee, his eyes told that he was looking just to find if that opportunity existed but unfortunately for him there were 2 other bikes in front of his sedan, so he decided to lower the mirror of the round neck tshirt friends end as that’s where the cop stood, but the cop just kept shouting, asking him to open the door as if he wanted to pull the guys out of the car. Looked like those guys either broke a law or the cop suspected something else, he thought it could be anything, may be they are underage, may be drunk, could be anything.
While these thoughts filled his eyes and all the other vehicle riders standing by had their eyes glued on that car. He kept looking back and forth from the car to the signal and vice versa, the signal turned green, 2 seconds passed and no other vehicle seemed to move or even bother that the signal turned green. But he chose to leave the spot as he wasn’t interested in the drama, he already was having a mixed feeling, cos he put those guys into trouble, though it was none of his business to bother about having put them in trouble, he still dint feel nice staying there anymore, so he just opted to move on.
He pulled the throttle of his bike and kept an eye on his rear view mirror, and figured that he was some 200 meters past the signal and not a single vehicle waiting at the signal moved from the spot. He thought he was the one who was a part of this drama, at least in getting the cop there and he himself missed all the action. But that’s how it is, he just wasn’t interested, he stopped by after another 100 meters or so and plugged the headphones back into his ears and now the song was “Let her cry” by Hootie & Blowfish.
He sunk his mind back to the song just thinking he helped the police, though it was just a lift he gave, which ideally he wouldn’t have given if it was any other common unknown man… and finally he forgot the incident wishing he stood there and found out why the cop wanted to stop that car and what happened and all that, but then he just thought if there was something really worth it, it’ll get published in tomorrows daily ;) and he can boast about the same to everyone he knew!!!!
P.S - Its yet another try to say things as a third person.. not sure if its up to some mark yet...
Today's Favorite Line - "And all I really want is some patience....."
Today's Favorite Song - Papa Kehte Hain (Qayamat se qayamat tak)
I grew up reading about corrupt politicians, scams, hatred speeches and all sort of things which would make any sane human hate the political system or better put the politicians. Amidst all this I had to choose some political party, some leader as my favorite. I couldn’t live ignorant all my life thinking all of them are the same. So as I started understanding things better as I was in high school I started developing a liking for the party that has been trying to change the leadership in the country away from family owned kind of setup which has been building over the years after independence. That’s one reason I never developed a liking for this party who kept using a family name to gain peoples acceptance term after term. More than that I obviously won’t support someone whom I hardly know about, who doesn’t have any track record! So I started supporting this veteran who was respected by one and all. But then his party ruled the country for a few years and then it was time again for family legacy to continue. But to everyone’s surprise that dint happen and one of the most deserving person got the hot seat and still continues at the top job!! I have been feeling good since the day this job came to hands of this person irrespective of people calling him just a puppet. With his wisdom and commitment am sure even if he has been used as a puppet he’ll do the right things and as seen for the last few years he has!
Now coming to the key aspect of this article… and being a management student the kind of emphasis I lay on building the organization one belongs to rather than worrying about its leadership. This youngster (at least in terms of politics) has actually caught my attention in the last one year. He has done things that have changed the way his organization works, he has almost become pretty close to someone whom I’d like to be updated about, may be learn something from his skills and ideologies. Let me just try to scribble a few things that made me actually write about this person and think highly of him.
Recently as the top leader of one of the organizational units he barred people with criminal records from contesting local organizational elections. (Strong signal of building an organization with people of good background right at the bottom)
He also advised/directedparty members not to use red/ orange lights unnecessarily, and made it explicit that action will be taken against people who use/misuse the same. (If implemented as per his words this would help in cutting down a lot of attitude and ego that a ruling party member carries with him, making the life of common man miserable)
Won congress the electon, single handedly, took charge of states like UP where Mayawati and SP have always fought the battle and congress was always trying to find the right match for an alliance. Due to his sheer hard work congress was able to give them a huge shock, which normally wasn’t thought as possible over the years.
He simply ditched the option to be a cabinet minsiter, which people across his party and country hoped for. But he chose to be an organization person than a leader. (That’s the sign I see of a person who doesn’t need power to change things, he just could make things work by building the organization with right kind of people and a proper vision for the same)
He was also touted as the to bePM of the country for a long time by various fronts, but he simply rejected the rumors regarding the same too and simply made the point clear that he wanted to build the organization first. (I strongly feel this is right kind of leadership, this is the kind of leaders/politicians our country needs.)
Now I can say this is the kind of people the country has to find and groom!! And when? Spot them YOUNG!!!
P.S – I don’t think there’s a need for me to even name the person I am talking about, its just clear!!
Today’s Favorite Line – I am lost but am hopeful!!
Age 03 - Sang a bollywood song to the school principal during the admission interview when asked "what is your name?".
Age 07 - saluted using both hands posing for every photo.
Age 11 - played divide and rule with a pretty girl who shared the desk in school.
Age 13 - failed the first test in school.
Age 15 - overtook a bus riding a bicylce on a highroad, got kissed by a van and lost senses for a day.
Age 17 - parents were called at school for the first time ever and to everyones surprise was pronounced as a notorious guy.
Age 19 - was specially treated at college for not having seen the classrooms for over 7 months, cos i was busy seeing the city around.
Age 21 - Gave a once in a life time kinda speech and stones and brick bats having been pouring since then ;)
Age 23 - quit a well paying reputable job to do just nothing...
Age 25 - Did just nothing (as planned ;)). Finished training about 20000 unique individuals.
Am no super hero... but I've been trying hard you see!!!
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