Don't Be Late

10th Class:
As I sat in english class, I stared at the girl next to me.
She was my so called best friend,
I started at her long silky hair and wished she was mine.
but she didn't know it and I knew that.
After class she walked upto me and asked me for the notes, she had missed the day before.
I handed them to her she said thanks
and gave me a kiss on the cheek,
I want to tell her, I want her to know
that I dont want to be just friends,
I love her but I am just too shy
and I dont know why.

11th Class:
The phone rang on the other end,
it was her, she was in tears mumbling on and on about how her love had broke her heart
she asked me to come over
because she didnt want to be alone so I did
as I sat next to her on the sofa,
I stared at her soft eyes,
wishing she was mine,
after 2 hours one Drew Barrymore movie and 3 bags of chips
she decided to go home,
she looked at me and said thanks
and gave me a kiss on the cheek,
I want to tell her, I want her to know
that I dont want to be just friends,
I love her but I am just too shy
and I dont know why.

12th Class: Senior Year
One fine day she walked to my locker
"my state is sick" she said,
"he is not gonna go well"
I didnt have a date ,

and in the class 7th we made a promise
that if neither of us had dates, we would go together
just as best friends, so we did
that night after everything was over
I was standing at her front door step
stared at her and she smiled at me and stared at me with her crystal eye
then she said I had the best time, thanks
and gave me a kiss on the cheek,
I want to tell her, I want her to know
that I dont want to be just friends,
I love her but i am just too shy
and I dont know why.

Graduation:
A day passed then a week and then a month
before i could blink it was graduation day
I watched at her perfect body floated like an angel
up on stage to get her diploma
I wanted her to be mine
but she didnt notice me like that and I knew it
before everyone went home she came to me in her smock and hat
and cried as I hugged her
then she lifted her head from my shoulder and said
you are my best friend thanks
and gave me a kiss on the cheek,
I want to tell her, I want her to know
that I dont want to be just friends,
I love her but I am just too shy
and I dont know why.

Marriage:
Now I sit in the pews of church
that girl is getting married now
and drive her to her new life,
married to another man
I wanted her to be mine
but she didnt see me like that and I knew it.
but before she drove away she came to me and said
"you came!" she said thanks
and gave me a kiss on the cheek,
I want to tell her, I want her to know
that I dont want to be just friends,
I love her but i am just too shy
and I dont know why.

Death:
Years passed, I look down at the coffin of a girl who used to my best friend
at the service they read a diary
she had wriiten in her high school years
this is what it read
"I STARED AT HIM WISHING HE WAS MINE

BUT HE NEVER NOTICED ME LIKED THAT AND I KNOW IT
I WANT TO TELL HIM, I WANT HIM TO KNOW
THAT I DONT WANT TO BE JUST FRIENDS,
I LOVE HIM BUT I AM JUST TOO SHY
AND I DONT KNOW WHY.
I WISH HE WOULD TELL ME HE LOVED ME!"

'I wish I did it too............'
I thought to myself and cried.

Yogesh Kumar is Engaged

I had written a blogpost on 31st July 2010 which I never published. I have published it now, it was the day when it all started and day before yesterday Yogesh got engaged. It has been a thing that is long awaited and finally it happened. It was a very pleasant moment for all us and we all are so very happy for him. He was the most eligible bachelor in our friend cirlce and he got what he deserved.

We all are very happy for him and wish him continued success throughout his life. We all are eagerly awaiting for the marriage date to get finalized. It is such a amazing feeling when your dear friend get all the happiness in the world. The couple looks good together and I wish they have a very happy married life ahead.

I have tried to spread the news as much as possible but if I could not reach anyone of you consider this a way that I chose to make you aware of the news. You may want to wish him. We all are eagerly awaiting a big party :)

Common Wealth Games 2010

The much talked about and discussed about event for the last few months is over and I can very easily say that it has been a great event. It has made us all feel proud of ourselves. It was one spectacular event and it is sure to change India's reputation at the world level.

It started in the grandest way of all with an amazing opening ceremony and continued for a period of almost 2 weeks and then ended in style as well. It saw some really good performances from Indians and some really shocking results. The Indian athletes winning the 4X100 mts race was a revelation and no one expected it. We had some sound performances in Wrestling, Shooting and Archery. Badminton got us gold as expected, we won in the men's single tennis tournament. The final medal tally saw India on the second spot.

It has been a great event, it may have got criticism and all but it has been successful and let us accept it. We have just witnessed a great event and we should feel proud about it. The closing ceremony, featuring martial arts and then the massed pipe and drum bands of the Indian military, was very different in tone from the opening one, which had emphasised religious and artistic heritage. Children danced in the colours of the national flag and huge images of horseman carrying the Indian tricolour played across the £5m giant blimp floating above the stadium. Officials are now talking about India launching its own Olympic bid. However, the current event has cost up to £6bn and many say India could not afford an investment of the scale needed to prepare its poor infrastructure for an even larger sporting event. Nor, according to analysts, does the developing country yet have the organisational resources required


I am very proud with the way we hosted the event and I am really happy that we pulled it off so beautifully. It is an incredible feeling to be a part of this wonderful event. I would have volunteered to help but my professional obligations did not allow me to. I thoroughly enjoyed the games and for me it is a life time experience that is here to stay forever.

Test Cricket at its Best

I am talking about the recently concluded India - Australia Test Cricket series. I am sure this was the most closely fought test series that I have ever seen. It had some real good performances from both the sides some real close games. India won both the matches making the series even more memorable. Also I hate the Aussies for their attitude so it was good to see them bite the dust. Sachin once again showed his true character and proved himself on the biggest stage of all. I am still in awe and so hung up in the series.

Test cricket has always excited me, it is according to me the best test of your cricketing abilities and is still the best and the toughest form of cricket played. It shows the true character of the players and their mental strengths. It allows the players to plan things and then execute it to perfection. Dhoni is blessed with a great batting line up and for a change some good bowlers. India has always struggled to find good fast bowlers. I loved the comment of Dhoni when he was speaking after being named the Captain of the Test Team of the Year in ICC Awards. He said that he would love to play 5 bowlers as that is something you cannot do being the captain of India.

The innings of Laxman, Raina, Sachin and even the cameo played by Ishant Sharma will remain in our hearts for long. It has been one hell of a series. The last day of the second test match saw a full house in Bangalore and I guess it is not often that you see a full house for a test match. Both the matches were very close and the atmosphere was electric. The game was so evenly balanced that it could have gone either ways, but the Indians held their nerves and came on top. Well done guys we are proud of you.

The Husband Store

A brand new store has just opened in New York City that sells Husbands.
When women go to choose a husband, they have to follow the instructions at the entrance:

You may visit this store ONLY ONCE! There are 6 floors and the value of
the products increase as you ascend the flights. You may choose any item
from a particular floor, or may choose to go up to the next floor, but you
CANNOT go back down except to exit the building.

So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband.
The 1st floor sign on the door reads:
Floor 1: These men have jobs.
The 2nd floor sign reads:
Floor 2: These men have Jobs and Love Kids.
The 3rd floor sign reads:
Floor 3: These men have Jobs, Love Kids and are extremely good looking. "Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going.
She goes to the 4th floor and the sign reads:
Floor 4: These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, are Drop-dead Good Looking and help with Housework. "Oh, mercy me!" she exclaims, "I can hardly stand it!"
Still, she goes to the 5th floor and sign reads:
Floor 5: These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, are Drop-dead Gorgeous, help with Housework and Have a Strong Romantic Streak.
She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the 6th floor and the sign reads:
Floor 6: You are visitor 31,456,012 to this floor.
There are no men on this floor.
This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please.
Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store.

To avoid gender bias charges, the store's owner opens a New Wives store just across the street.
The 1st first floor has wives that love sex.
The 2nd floor has wives that love sex and have money.
The 3rd,4th, 5th and 6th floors have never been visited.

Tri Series Final : Is India Ready ?

India finally managed to reach the finals thanks to the brilliant batting effort by Virendra Sehwag and some really positive bowling by the seamers. But the question is whether this team is ready for the Finals that will start in some time from now. I am afraid the answer is no. Team India is not at all in form specially in batting they have not done anything so far and that for me is the major concern. If you take out Sehwag from the equation then all the others are struggling for form. Even the opening slot is missing the sting with Dinesh having a very ordinary series with the bat. Overall the batting looks bad inspite of it being very good on paper.

If we talk about the bowling then also we don't have much to boost about but for the impressive show in the last match against New Zealand. On the other hand I find Sri Lankan's having a better and in form team for the finals with the likes of Sangakara, Malinga and company. They have had a consistent run through the series and are sure more prepared for the finals. But having said that we can never predict the Indian team and what they may do on a given day.

So I am waiting with my fingers crossed and hoping that things turn out good for us. Although we have started winning some finals recently but our record in finals has been bad and we have that tag of loosing the big games. I hope that today we win and for that we will need the team to perform as a team. I am also worried about the form of Yuvraj, it has been a while since he has played properly. I hope today is his day and he hits himself into form and also helps India win. He is a match winner and Indians will need his services if they had to perform well in the upcoming World Cup. Let us hope that our team wins today.

Vaishno Devi Trip

I am just back from an amazing trip to the Mata Vaishno Devi, it was a trip that was planned a few months back and it all went according to plan and I thank god for making that possible. This was my first time at the Vaishno devi and I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Although I must confess that after visiting the Holy Amarnath, I didn't find this trip very hectic and tiring, in fact I have been through so much that I actually enjoyed the trek of 14 odd kilometers. I also did not find the scenes around as beautiful as others did because I had witnessed more scenes that any one can possibly do unless they visit the Holy Amarnath.

The weather was hot and it was raining heavily which made the way a lot messy but still we were lucky enough as we had rain coats and umbrellas with us. I completed the entire path on foot while others with me took ponies. It was a very satisfying trip and I enjoyed the yatra as well the actual mandir. I also enjoyed the Atka Aarti that happens twice daily and you to register for it. I found myself completely lost in the aarti and I was singing the bhajans and aarti that the pandits there were telling. I could feel myself in another world and it was a devine feeling. I also enjoyed being on television, yes I was the Atka aarti is covered live on MH1 channel and my parents and relatives saw me and others there.

I was a bit disappointed with the way things were being managed, it was all in a mess with no proper arrangements for the devotees who have come there to pay their heritage. The management of things and how the officials there treat public was disheartening. I also don't like people throwing wastes into the valley and I could see so many things thrown that were all plastics and other non bio degradable items. A bit of common sense should prevail. It was a great trip to say the least. I went there with my sister, brother-in-law and the family of a friend, we were 6 people altogether and we enjoyed ourselves.

Peepli [Live]

The best part about the movie is that it is a short movie of around 1 hour 40 mins which means that no sequences in the movie look like they have been dragged. I would say it is a movie that tries at highlighting the condition of our farmers and the corrupt government officials and the politicians who always try to get benefit from such events. The movie evolves around the main character 'Natha' and his suicide and the story is very well paced, it moves constantly and there are some real good punches to add humor and also to reveal the secrets of the Media industry. There is a sequence in the movie where the reporters analyse the excreta of Natha and link it to Psychology and try to infer what the man had in his mind while he was excreting.

There are some brilliant performances in the movie with the lady playing the mother of Natha standing tall. Naseeruddin Shah has done superbly in the small role that he had. I always like the acting of Raghuvir who plays 'Budhiya' in the movie and he proves his worth yet again. The songs in the movie are scarce but are good. I personally liked the desi song 'Mahangayi Dayan Kahye Jaat Hai.'. Overall an OK movie, I expected the movie to be better just because it was an Aamir Khan production. The movie is well researched, well written but I felt something was missing. But still it is a watch worthy film which has some heart touching sequences and praise worthy performances.

Once Upon a time in Mumbai

I had seen this movie last weekend but did not get time to write about it. I guess you need 2 basic things to be on your side before you can write a review about a movie, first obviously is that you should have the time to write a review and second that the movie should be worth a review. But today both the conditions are fulfilled and so here I am writing a review for this movie. The movie got mixed reactions from the crowd, here is my side of things and my reaction to this movie.

It is a good movie and I thoroughly enjoyed it, Ajay Devgan stands out and his performance leaves the audience in awe. He has reached a point where he can do no wrong and whatever the role may be he simply stands out. He has simply overshadowed all the others in the movie and the only thing that people take out of the movie was the brilliant performance of Ajay Devgan.

We all know that the movie showcases the don and the underworld concepts as they were earlier in Mumbai. But the story is pretty clear and it conveys so many good things to the audience who want to take them. The character of Sultan Mirza is the one which keeps you attached to the movie and you feel so very connected to this character. I specially liked the concept of helping others and requesting them to remember him in their prayers. "बस दुआओ में याद रखना ". I liked the movie and it is definitely a one time watch and worth the 200 odd rupees that you may have to pay for it. The ladies don't have important roles and they are more or less there to add glamour to the movie. The songs are beautiful and lovely with great music and lyrics. The song Pee Loon and Tum Jo Aaye Zindagi mein are the best 2 songs and you are sure to like them. Overall a good movie which deserves to be watched, attest it will not let you down.

Very Very Special (Laxman) Win

India won the 3rd and final cricket test match against Sri Lanka thanks to a very very special innings by the very very special Laxman. It is as good a win as we see in test matches. It feels good when your team wins under difficult situations, today was no different and Indians won when almost everybody had written them off. On a crumbling pitch Indians showed their metal and it took a brilliant innings from VVS Laxman and solid support from Sachin Tendulkar for them to pull this victory.

After a humiliating loss in the first test match, Indians came back strongly to draw the second test match and then they took the momentum forward in the third test match and won it to draw the series. Well this is what we expect from the No 1 test team which boosts of the worlds most formidable batting line up that includes the likes of Sachin, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag, Gambhir, Yuvraj, Raina and Dhoni. The bowling department was the weak link with the likes of Zaheer and Nehra missing from it. But the end result was satisfactory. Well Done guys.


This win can easily be attributed to the valiant batting efforts of VVS Laxman, the way he played was simply superb and it looked like he was tailor made for the situation and every shot was measured and executed to perfection. He had a back ache and scores almost 50 runs with a runner. But this was one of the better innings I have seen under pressure, the innings he played against Australia while India was following on still remains his best innings ever. I guess the Lankans missed the experience of Murali in the spin department but nevertheless it was a superb batting effort from the Indians to pull it off.

Today will be remembered in History as ...

... the day I got a great news from one of my friends. Things are still not clear but by the looks of it I am pretty sure my friend is going to achieve the feat that he has been nominated for. If things shape up as I expect them to then today the 31st of July 2010 shall certainly go into my history books as the day one of my best friends gor the gift of his life, If I can say so, and God what an achievement. I am really happy for my friend and wish he gets to his target. He has been working hard for this and now he is almost there.

I have always wanted that all of my friends and relatives should get what they want and what they deserve. I am very very happy at the ways things have shaped up. I can actually feel myself dancing and literally I feel like dancing and more over dancing in the rain outside. Luckily for me it has been raining pretty heavily throught the day here in Delhi and the atmosphere is electric and this good news has come just at the correct time.

May God bless him and help him cross the final hurdle. I am very very happy and hope to celebrate it in style. But till things finally shape up and he actually gets the thing I am waiting in anticipation.

Khatta Meetha Experience

I had watched this movie with my parents in Allahabad. I was excited to know that PVR cinemas had opened in Allahabad and I wanted to take my parents to the theatre. It is the first mall in Allahabad and draws lots of people. I got the tickets to this movie which had released just a day earlier. My mother hates action movies so I thought this is the best option as generally you tend to associate good humor when a movie involves Akshay Kumar. Also the promos had suggested so. So we finally went to see the movie.

The movie was overall OK but I was clearly disappointed, the acting of Akshay was the saving grace but that was the only thing. All other aspects be it story, supporting characters were all disappointing. There were some good punches here and there that made us laugh but overall I would rate it is a 2.5 star movie. The movie also does not have lovely songs. Although I liked the role of Rajpal yadav but some actors seemed to have over done their roles, The tractor sequence was also dragged a bit too much for my liking.

But overall experience was good, I was satisfied that finally there is some visible modernization in Allahabad and personally I liked the atmosphere all around the cineplex. There is a food court that has lots of things to offer to is customers at a fairly reasonable price. Overall a good experience and a good sign for my Hometown and I wish the same continues.

Story of a Tree

Once upon a time there was a tree. Most stories start like this so I thought let me start it this way as well. There was this tree near the IBM building in Gurgaon just by the side of NH 8. It was comfortably placed at one end of the road and was living happily. Until one day the government decided to create a new passage for people who want to turn left and decided they will cut a road through the empty grounds. Doing this the tree suddenly came under the spot light as it came right in the center of the newly laid road. The tree was happy and enjoying the popularity, everyone who passed by had a word or two for the tree.

The officials could not cut down the tree as that was against Go Green slogan that we are following. So the tree was left there. As time passed by the tree started feeling the trouble as every day or two a new vehicle would come and crash into it giving the tree bruises. At first the tree did not consider it as a threat and smiled at every person that hit it and asked if the person was ok. As more days passed more people got attracted to the tree and started kissing it. Some even ran directly into it with the intention to hug it. Every time I passed by I thought why has this tree been left in the center of the road.

Finally one day the government officials decided that the accident rate on that road has increased significantly and they ordered that the tree be cut down in order to save human lives. When the tree was in its last leg of life, it could clearly hear the words that each passer by said for it. The tree felt sad and surprised at the comments that were made and excepted its end gleefully.

What I am trying to emphasize here is that when the road was being planned should not have anybody thought about the tree and how to handle it. It is a very bad practice to just leave it in the centre of a turning road where there is not even adequate lighting. It was very easy to predict that the tree would cause several accidents. There should have been proper thinking before the implementation itself. If there was no other option available, then the tree should have been cut down even before the start of the road. Eventually the tree was cut down but not before it got involved in several accidents many of which were serious. I leave the question to you, What would you have done if you were the decision maker here ?

Purani Jeans

Remember that song by Ali Haider, purani jeans aur guitar, (watch it here) which was so hit at that time. I still remember the year 1998 when this song was released and I was in school and how crazy I was about this song. But now when I hear this song, I can actually understand and connect to each and every line of the song. It is so true and makes me feel as if this was written keeping me in mind and I am sure you will feel the same if you listen to this song.

I was cleaning my cupboard when I hit upon a bag that was full of my old clothes and therein I found a pair of Jeans that I had purchased with my first salary. It is a Killer blue monkey wash jeans and it took me back 5 years and refreshed all the memories. It is so refreshing to walk the memory lane and remember so many beautiful things that had happened then and which are still fresh in my memory.

One of my favourite past time is watching photographs and that for this very reason that they take me back in time and then I can live in my dreams and that enlightens me and makes me happy. I want that phase to return but alas that is not possible. Nevertheless it is a good dream to live. I will share one such photograph with you which takes me down the memory lane and rejuvenates me. This is a pic taken in 2000 when I was in class 12th and features my friends and batch mates. I am no more in touch with most of them. I am connected to them virtually through Facebook/Orkut but I miss each one of them and the times that spent with them.

Indian Idol Top 5

So we finally have the top 5 contestants in Indian Idol, the name that is missing is Naushad I was really shocked last week when he was eliminated. I believed and still maintain that he should be there in top 5. For me he was in the third place after Sreeram and Rakesh. I also would have loved to see Shashi in top 5 that was not to be. But I was satisfied with the elimination of Tia, I personally believe that she was the weakest amongst the 6 contestants.

I also liked the comment that Bhoomi made that the real competition starts now. It is not going to be easy for any of the contestants and it is going to be an exciting event from here on. If I was asked to pick the Indian Idol I would be confused but my top 2 will certainly have Sreeram and Rakesh. Rakesh is the person who has improved the most with time and Sreeram has been really consistent. Let us hope for the best and may the best and most deserving person win the Idol.

I Hate Luv Storys

I had heard so many bad things about the movie which I could not digest. My conception was that the movie may not be a superhit but it would surely be an entertainer. I was very excited about watching the movie but could not get time to watch it. I liked the tangy title specially 'Luv' and 'Storys' and was interested to see what the movie wanted to show. I had seen the promos hence I was sure it was a romantic film but with a different flavour.

I must say that I believe in Love Stories and that made me more inclined to watch the movie. So last Sunday I watched the movie and I liked it. Well it is a OK movie with the first half being far far far more enjoyable than the second. I thought the movie was dragged and stretched a bit in the second half. I loved the songs and really liked the cool T-Shirts that were presented. I also enjoyed the pairing of Imran and Sonam. Imran, I believe has now matured as an actor and this was evident from the movie. I somehow don't seem to agree with the concept that a boy and girl cannot remain just friends but then I had no other choice than to swallow it.

The movie could have been more enjoyable had the second half been a bit more precise. The songs are really superb and I loved almost all of them. Overall I was not disappointed at the movie but I was not thrilled as well. As a matter of fact even after hearing so many criticism, I still thought that the movie was worth a try. Remember I also had the option to watch Milenge Milenge but I went for this movie because I wanted to see it from the very first day the promos were aired on television. The concept was the same as all other love stories (even the fact that Sonam was reading Love Stories by Erich Segal) but still there was something different, New Zealand for instance (pun intended). I enjoyed myself and had fun what about you ?

Amarnathji Yatra : the experience

I have had several experience in this trip that I had never experienced before. To start with I boarded a flight for the first time in my life and it was a great experience to fly for the first time. I actually felt what I used to imagine when I saw people fly. It was a good experience. Although the journey was almost an hour long but still I enjoyed it. The other experience that was first time for me was we spent a whole night on the glacier, tried to pee on a mountain that was completely covered with ice and also excreted on a glacier. I could still not believe that fact that we actually slept on a glacier with a layer of thermocol and a thin bedding between us and the ice. It was a great experience.

Another thing that needs a special mention is the barefoot walk that we took for around an hour just before entering the holy cave. Barely a few meters before the actual shiv ling we were asked to take off our shoes and walk barefoot. The temperature was close to 0 and there was water flowing down the steps that originated because of the melting of ice on the same hill. The water was freezing and it was running under our bare foot. Within a matter of seconds, we could not feel our leg. I felt some pointed thing on my foot and when I looked down I found a person had his walking stick completely stationed on my foot and my foot was bleeding.

We also witnessed some tension in SriNagar when some people started pelting stones on the vehicles and the car just in front of us lost its glasses. We also witnessed tension in Anantnag and hence we crossed it in very early hours of the morning approx 4 am. I also had the experience of riding a horse in the worst paths that one could imagine. I rode my horse through a very dense layer of ice where the horse's legs went deep inside and we almost fell down. We also rode through passage that were as narrow as about a feet and half and water was flowing through them which made the rocks slippery and it was a very horrifying ride.

We also walked through a 7 km long stretch of ice which was a completely new experience for me. This was the first time I had witnessed so much snow in my life and it was a great experience. But after the Darshan everything seemed so justified and true. Every effort that we made and every hurdle that we crossed seemed justified. The amount of satisfaction that we had once we had the holy darshan was beyond comparison. It was a complete feeling and a very good one. It was a once in a lifetime and a life changing experience. It had everything, it was a great experience.

Amarnathji Yatra : the scenic beauty

The entire way from Pahalgam to the Holy Cave is full of beautiful and picturesque scenes. At every point you can see something so pretty that makes you feel as if you are actually in heaven. I actually came to know why people call Kashmir the heaven on Earth. There are mountain peaks covered by snow and when sun's ray fall on them they glow like anything.

A points we even walked alongside clouds and we could actually see helicopters flying under us as we were on the top of mountains and the helicopters were flying just over the valley. We saw glaciers, mountains that looked likes figures, shashenag mountains are prime examples. We experienced snow fall, we experienced direct rays of sun that completely destroyed our skins. The cold water flowing between the valleys, the lovely sound they were making when they hit the rocks and other resistances in their way sounded like jingle.

We also saw some really good flowers though they were really sparse but still in Panchtarni we saw some flowers. It was lovely to see the sheep grazing on top of mountains, standing on slides which looks stunning. Even the road trip from SriNagar to Baltal and from Chandanwari to Pahalgam was awesome. There were such beautiful scenes on both sides of the road that we were glued to the windows. The beautiful Dull Lake of Srinagar and the Betab Park in Pahalgam were really awesome. Although the lake in Srinagar is very polluted and needs to be cleaned. The entire trip is full of scenes that are sure to blow your mind and have an everlasting impression on you.

Amarnathji Yatra : the arrangements

I was really shocked at the arrangements made by the government for the most difficult yatra to the holy Amarnath cave. We reached the holy cave on the very first day of the start of yatra but still we found things were in mess. The arrangements at Baltal were really bad, all the tents and other shelters that were there were just trying to earn money without providing any services to the yatris. There was no adequate arrangement for satisfying the basic needs of the people there. There was no clear cut communication from the security staff and personals regarding the start time etc of the yatra, everybody had a different answer. The major emphasis was on making money through ponies and helpers.

I was although impresses by the services that the Indian army officers were providing to the yatris, they were working out of their skin to help the yatris in all possible ways. They were even willing to carry your child for some distance if they found that the person/child was having trouble walking the difficult paths leading to the holy cave. The arrangement just near the holy cave was absolutely stunning and I was really surprised at the level of sophistication that the military maintained at the holy cave and the way they performed their duties was unparalleled.

I was also disappointed by the Langers that we encountered and the services that were provided there. Generally we associate great service and respect with each Langar but this time the Langers looked more like they were doing their job more than anything else. The best Langar that I found where the service was really like I have seen at different places was the Langer by some Delhi Association at the Mahagun Top which is about 14800 feet above sea level. There were a few other that really felt as if they wanted to serve the Yatris but most of them were disappointing.

Overall I would say that the arrangements were not as one expects them to be in such pious and auspicious environment. Even the people were not helping the cause due to their silly activities which included throwing crap on the main path of the Yatra. We could even see so many poly bags and plastic bottles being thrown into the valley and thus disrupting the nature and atmosphere out there. But the treatment we got from the civilians was exceptional, every one was so very calm and full of respect, they actually treated us as their guests and gave us a very warm welcome. Still I expected more specially from the Governments side to assist the Yatris who have come there.

Amarnathji Yatra : a lifetime achievement

It has been the best 4 days of my life. I have lived a entirely different life in the last few days and I am sure that I will remember each part of this trip my entire life. In such a short time I have witnessed so many things that most people don't see in their entire life. We went through a highly tensed Srinagar and saw stone pelting, we ran over several rivers, climbed various mountains, felt scorching sun at 14800 feet(Mahagun/Ganesha Top), walked over 7 kms on snow, found a Delhi sewa samiti langar on a snow peek at about 14500 feet over sea level which served 56 items(bhog), Walked down 3 kms on a single hill(Pissu Top), visited the the most holy place, the holy Amarnathji and came back safe and sound to Delhi.

This has been the best trip of my life so far and all the colleagues who were with me on the trip would agree with me on this. It was full of tension, excitement and dedication. It was a tough trip that took everything we had from us and in return gave us a memorable trip. After the holy darshan it felt like we had reached the top of the world and everything else seemed small. We could not believe that we had actually achieved what many people can only wish for. I am still in awe of the great yatra and trek that we are just back from.

There were so many events and situations that I want to share with you that it is virtually impossible for me to compile them into a single post, so I will be posting few posts to actually describe the whole trip.

Just as we start...

It has been a well planned and thought after trip. You should be well aware of it as I have posted several posts on the build up to the holy amarnathji yatra. Today is the day we have been planning for since the last few weeks. Everything seems to be in place, we are all ready and packed to go. The excitement has made me start my day early and I wish that the trip goes well. We will miss Ritesh who could not join us due to some family issues so finally we are 9 people who are going the distance.

We have been in touch with people who are well aware of the yatra and we have taken advice from all of them, compiled them and then finalized upon a plan. We have planned to start the journey from Baltal and end it at the Pahalgam. Generally people do it from Pahalgam, but that total distance from Pahalgam to the Holy Cave is approx 40 kms and that from Baltal to the Holy Cave is approx 14 kms. So we have decided to take the shorter root to reach the Holy Cave and then we will take the long distance to be back. The Pahalgam route is more picturesque and beautiful in terms of the scenic beauty. The total trekking is approx 55 kms which we have to cover in 3 days so understandably it is going to be a very tiring and strenuous trip but nevertheless we are prepared for it and we believe that when God has opened all the gates for us to reach that place, he will also guide us through.


JAI BHOLE NATH !!!

Finally we win a Final: Asia Cup

Finally India won a tournament final, it was not expected as they were totally outclassed by Sri Lanka in the league match which was basically a dress rehearsal of the final. But to every body's surprise India played great cricket to beat Sri Lanka. In fact the win was important because the bowlers won it for India and there are not many occasions in the Indian cricketting history when the bowlers have won a match for the country. I was amazed to see the likes of Zaheer and Ashish being almost unplayable. It was a satisfying victory to say the least. India won the Asia cup after 6 long years so it was a victory that was awaited for long now.

Even though India won the match comprehensively but there are a few things that we need to work on if we want to do well in the upcoming world cup. We still need our batsmen to carry on after they get starts, getting out after scoring 30-40 will not help the team at all. Also we seriously need to look at our bowling attack specially the fast bowling. We need more consistency from our bowlers and need them to perform better during the powerplays. One more thing that baffles me is the inclusion of Ravindra Jadeja in the team. Why the hell is he there in the team. Please if someone can justify please let me know.

I am also worried about the form of Yuvraj Singh and the fitness of Sehwag. I would love to be in a situation where I have a hard time picking my final 15 and this can be done only if all the players are fit and in form. I would like to see Yusuf Pathan performing more consistently as he can be very handy when chasing big totals. Hope things shape up well and we have a full star studded in form players before the World Cup.

Good Bye Rohit Madhok

In a major change in FirstRain engineering team, the evergreen and ever ready Rohit bid adieu and moved to the Royal Bank of Scotland. His move has left us all in awe and we cannot believe that Rohit would not be working with us any more. I have been working closely with Rohit for the last year or so and I owe him a lot. He has taught me how to handle complex problems related to Databases. Query writing, optimizations and even designing better modules. He always kept pushing me and I some times even got frustrated but still I learnt a lot from him. The amount of knowledge and experience that he had, he would be hard to replace. When I was questioned by our VP Technology about my reactions on Rohit's departure, I just said that you can replace the talent but you cannot replace the experience. But we all are very happy for Rohit and we honor his decision and wish him continued success.

He was the one who was always ready for party and used to party hard. He was our party planner and he had so many restaurants menu card in his memory. His favourite cuisine was Chinese and he remembered all the dishes that were served by Golden Dragon, Bercos and Yo China and also knew the prices for most of them. He had this special talent where he just had to be told how many people are vegetarian and how many are Non vegetarian and he would order food for all. He was really fast and mostly he ordered brilliant food. He deserved a good Farewell party so we decided to take him to a disco and treat him to some really good food. We wanted to treat him with Chinese but then we could get a combination of Chinese and Disc together so we decided to go for disc and compromise on Chinese and go for Mughlai.

We booked the Last Chance in Sahara Mall Gurgaon and we had a great party. We drank, danced and drank again. It was a Monday night but we enjoyed ourselves like hell. It was so satisfying when Rohit labelled that party as one of the best official parties he has been to. That statement made our day and we were satisfied that the treat we gave Rohit has been effective and he has enjoyed it. It was a great time and we will cherish the memories for long. We are still to believe that Rohit is not there working with us and we miss him. He has been a great leader and definitely a great Engineer. He has debugging skills second to none and we will sure miss his services. We also gave him a small gift as our token of love and admiration that we had for him. Having said so much it is still hard to imagine that Rohit has moved on. He would have been my last guess if I were to guess the name of the person who will leave FR. But I guess this is life which is always full of surprises and keeps you on your feet always.

Build up to Holy Amarnath Yatra Phase 5

We are into the last few days before we start our Holy Yatra. Everything has been planned. We have submitted our forms and got them stamped from the Jammu and Kashmir Bank. To our surprise the stamp has used URDU as a language. We have our list of items ready, we are going to do the shopping for common things this weekend. We have also talked and booked a Tata Winger to take us to Baltal from Srinagar and also bring us back. We have also talked to several hotels in Srinagar and we will be finalizing one of them. So everything is ready and we all are set to go to this pious and adventurous trip to the holy Amarnathji.

It is going to be a great trip and I can already feel my feet paining for walking long distances, my body shivering with cold. I could imagine myself in a tent on top of a hill with temperature touching almost Zero degree. It is going to be a great trip especially with 10 people we are sure to have a good time. I can also feel more connected to the Yatra and I have been reading over Google and other sites regarding what to do and what not to during the course of Yatra. I hope to see the Holy Shiv Ling soon and also take blessings of the almighty and satisfy myself.

We have been planning to go to Amarnath since last year but things did not shape us properly for us and now when we are all set for the holy Yatra I just pray and wish that we accomplish what we have wished for and have a great time. May God bless us all and be with us always.

JAI BHOLE NATH!!!

Build up to Holy Amarnath Yatra Phase 4

Finally there is good news we have got the Yatra passes for the 1st of July and now our plan to travel is confirmed and we are almost sure that we will indeed be visiting the holy cave and we will be blessed by the darshan of the eternal Amarnath ji. There were lots of if and buts but now things are resolved and we are all set to go. For this we must thank Ajay and his brother-in-law who has arranged the passes for us.

This was not expected but it happened. It is a result of the trust we had in the almighty and his wishes. We wish that as he has helped us climb the first rock, he continues to guide us through the trip and ever after. May God shower his blessings on us always.

So the final plan is we will leave Delhi around 13:30 on Wednesday 30th June and proceed to Srinagar. From there we will reach Baltal and start our Yatra early on the 1st of July. We plan to be back latest by 3rd afternoon so we will have half of 3rd and half of 4th if we want to go around in Srinagar somewhere. We have our return flight somewhere around 16:00 hrs on the 4th July.

JAI BHOLE NATH !!!

Asia Cup : India beat Pakistan

India, Pakistan cricket matches are always very intensive and today's match was no different. It was a thrilling encounter and finally India emerged victorious. The match was keenly contested and went down to the wire before it was decided. The match swung both sides before Harbhajan shot India to a victory. Pakistan won a very good toss and decided to bat, they scored a good decent total of 267 which meant India would need to bat really well to chase down the total which by God they did and did that in style.

The match was nicely poised with both teams having equal opportunities. It was a thriller and the last over was a sort of repeat of history of what Javed Miadad did when he hit the last ball for six and won the game for Pakistan. Similarly Harbhajan Singh hit a six of the penultimate delivery and took India to victory. I am really impressed by the way the team performed. The most important thing was beating Pakistan which is always a special thing to do.

I have not watched any match of this Asia cup, the cup has been eclipsed by the FIFA World Cup but still I decided to watch the India Pakistan encounter and I must say that it was worth the time I invested and I was satisfied with the result. But keeping in mind the future of Indian cricket I am not sure why does Ravindra Jadeja play in the Indian team. Dhoni in the post match presentation said that he bowled well, if we are playing him as a bowler then I am sorry we have better bowlers and if we are playing him as a batsman then also I am sorry because we have better option than him. It is really hard to understand what role and responsibility Jadeja has in the team. With very little time left before the world cup we should find a balanced team else this will hurt us badly in the World Cup. The team selection confuses me like hell.

My Top 5 contestants of Indian Idol 5

Indian Idol 5 has already matured and reached a level where almost every contestant is equally good and it is a tough job to choose from the top 9 that are there at this moment. I would certainly not like to be in a position where I have to choose the top 5 as I would really have nothing against the contestants that I do not choose. But still on my personal selection criteria and what I have made after watching so many episodes my top 5 will have Rakesh Maini, Naushad Ali, Shashi Suman, Sreeram Chandra and Shivam Pathak in random order. I actually tried to order them but failed I have lots of confusion. I also like Bhumi Trivedi specially the 'rap' but I guess she will not be in my top 5.

If things have to shape up as I am expecting them to, then here are my eliminations for the next few weeks. This is just my guess and I am sorry if you people think otherwise. So for me the next candidate to be eliminated should be Arpita Khan followed by Tia, Swaroop Khan and Bhumi. But looking at the past results that the people give I am sure that this is not going to happen. Having taken the names of these 4 contestant I do not mean to say that they are bad it is just that the other 5 are stronger contestants than these.

I truly believe that Rakesh is the best singer from the 9 remaining today and he is my choice for the Indian Idol 5. The way he has improved and the stunning back to back performances that he has been giving is really appreciable and he deserves to win. Let us hope that the best singer wins. I would also request the people who are voting to vote sensibly I was really shocked to see Shashi standing in the danger zone yesterday. I mean, come on, how can a person of the caliber of Shashi be there when visibly he is better than atleast 3 contestants if not more. Let us wait and watch how things unfold and who is crowned the Indian Idol.

Indian Idol 5

I have been following Indian Idol 5 from the very first day and I must say that I have really loved the show. I am really impressed by the singing of the contestants and I thoroughly enjoy each and every moment of the show. I actually wait for Monday and specially Tuesday to watch this beautiful program. This post was long due but somehow I could not compile enough facts and situations to write here. I personally am a great fan of songs and good singers although I do not enough knowledge of music but can make out music from noise. So finally I have decided to summarize my experience with the Indian Idol so far.

I am a great fan of Sunidhi Chauhan, I really like the coolness of Salim and seriously hate Annu Malik. So now you see the combination of judges itself is a good combination for me to enjoy. I also appreciate the concept of bringing music legends to the show, the likes of Preetam and the great Pyarelal ji. I was filled with Awe when Mr. Pyarelal ji ran his band of musicians, I really felt that was the best episode of Indian Idol till date. I also have my personal favourites from amongst the contestants and have secretly voted for 2 of them. This is the first time ever that I have voted for any such show.

I really liked the way the show treated Meghna(who was partially blind) and it made me feel proud. The variety of singer that the show has also speaks volume about the talents. Also the fact that there are contestants from small cities like Lakhimpur emphasises that the talent hunts are no more limited to the main cities and the metros, it has now taken almost all of the country into contention. I really appreciate the show. I would also like to congratulate Hussain for being a superb host I really admire the way he presents the show. The cool atmosphere that the show creates is simply admirable. I really love this show. Thanks Sony for providing us with such a lovely show.

Build up to the Holy Amarnath Yatra - Phase 3

Finally we have some good news. We have got Yatra passes for 3rd July for 5 people. This may not be enough but atleast this comes a spark and it shows that God is with us. It has also given our confidence a boost and we have again started believing that we will go the distance. We are still hoping to get the passes for the 1st or 2nd of July and we may actually get it in couple of days. I must say that Ajay deserves a big pat on the back for arranging the Yatra passes through his contacts and family members.

Today we have atleast something in our hand and I guess this is a signal by the almighty to us that he is with us and is helping us along. It would be great if we can actually get passes for the first two days for the Yatra. Rest is upon God and we firmly believe that he will help us as he has been doing upto now. My mother said that these things come to you naturally and they all need to be stamped by the almighty and without his wishes and blessing nothing happens. So looking forward for the Yatra with folded hands.


JAI BHOLE NATH !!!

35 Priceless Minutes

I was in my office just back from lunch when my cell phone buzzed and I saw a unknown number calling. I am sick and tired of these people calling me from banks, funds and other things that I have no interest in. I thought it would be one of those calls so I thought not to pick it up at all. My cell sang the Summer of 69 which I have as ring tone and then went quite but within a matter of seconds it started again, this time I picked it up and took it close to my ears. Even before I could say hello, I heard a voice so familiar and so pleasant that I trembled. Within a split second I ran down my entire life to match this beautiful voice with the person and finally I did. I said hello with my eyes almost filled with tears and a sweet little smile on face.

I couldn't feel anything around me, I left my seat and walked into a meeting room, closed the door and made myself comfortable on the chair. I could almost feel that the chair has engulfed me and I am on its lap. I talked for about 35 mins and then I had to cut the line as I had a meeting scheduled at 14:30 pm. But those 35 odd minutes made yesterday a very memorable day for me. That call came as a surprise to me and I heard that voice after a period of at least 9 - 10 months.

It was wonderful feeling but now it is over and life is back to normal, I spent the rest of the day pondering over the call but now I do not even know if yesterday was the last time I heard that voice or will there be any other day when I will get a call that will shake me and make me feel like GOD. It was a very pleasant surprise and I thank GOD from the bottom of my heart for this wonderful moment. I will preserve and cherish it for a very very long time.

Build up to the Holy Amarnath Yatra - Phase 2

We got ourselves registered for the Amarnath Yatra on the day the registrations began. But we have been faced with a problem, we have got the Yatra date as the 11th of July as opposed to the 1st or 2nd July which we wanted. This has shaken us a bit. It also made us think that we might not be able to go ahead with the plan of the Yatra. We are dejected. This has actually spoiled the enthusiasm that we had.

We called up a few people who have been to Amarnath lately and they opined that the date should not be a problem, it is there just to control excessive amount of devotees. The government officials give dates in order to distribute the crowd of devotees but they do not stop any person who has a registration and reaches before the given date. The same words were voiced by a couple of other people who are either directly or indirectly associated with the Holy Yatra. This gave us a big relief and we all welcomed it.

But still we are not very sure that we would be able to visit the holy cave of Amarnath. We are waiting with fingers crossed and I guess this will be our situation till the time we actually reach Srinagar as till then we can only speculate things but cannot conclude. We have a meeting planned to discuss the next steps on Monday morning. Let us pray and hope that we can go ahead with our program and visit the holy Amarnath. Let Bhole Baba decide our fate.

JAI BHOLE NATH !!!

Raajneeti : Review

The movie is a compilation of brilliant individual performances with Manoj Bajpai standing out. Nana Patekar has the best role in the movie and he portrayed it with grace. His brilliance once again gave the moving a new dimension. Manoj Bajpai once again proves his worth with a stunning performance. He is one character that would move out with you from the movie. Ajay Devgan is good as always and deserves a mention whenever we talk about this movie. Katrina and Sarah complete the icing on the cake. Overall a good film. Having said so I would like to point out that Ranbeer is the lead actor in the movie but his role and his acting is overshadowed by some brilliant performances around him.

The movie does not have a very clear message that it wants to convey. It keeps the audience swinging between the different possible motives for creating the movie. One remarkable thing about the movie is that it keeps you glued to it with some complicated though interesting story. I enjoyed the movie though the general opinion was against me. I had walked into this movie having heard really bad reviews so I was not expecting anything from the movie but the movie did not dissappoint me a bit.

The movie is very intense and takes a bit of concentration to throughly enjoy the movie. It is not a light hearted movie that you can watch you tickle your funny bone. Prakash Jha very cleverly introduces action, sex and drama just to provide that masala touch to the movie which at times looked unnecassary and uncalled for. But overall it is a good movie if you take my personal call. I really enjoyed the role of Nana Patekar and really appreciated the role of Manoj Bajpai. I would say you should watch this movie and you may like it.

Criticism ...

...is the easiest thing to do in this world today. It does not require you be a genius to criticise anybody after all it is just a statement that you need to make. It is very easy to criticise a person for the steps that he has taken to come out of a difficult situation or maybe handle a difficult situation but when you are actually faced with the same situation that you realise how difficult it is to manage things at that point of time.

Let me tell you a little story that my Grand Father used to tell me when I was dejected or displeased by some criticism that was targeted at me. The story is about a painter. There was this person who was a very good painter and wanted to improve his painting and drawing skills. He also wanted people to point out his mistakes in order to learn more. After he completed any painting he used to put it up on display and ask people for their comments. When he used to return to his painting he would find thousands of comments on his paintings and the flaws that people noticed in it. He used to correct his mistakes as much as possible and then again put the painting on display only to come back and see several more comments on it. This thing went on for over a week and that literally disheartened the painter and he thought that painting was not his cup of tea. With these thoughts in mind he went to his master and told him his story and his master gave him some tips. He followed what the master had said and again put his painting on display. That day when he came back he was shocked to see no comments were made on his painting. He thought that people may have not seen the painting or may be there was some sort of holiday so he decided to let the painting be there as is for another day. Eventually after a week or so he could still not see any comments on his paintings. He went to his master and thanked him.

Wondering what the master told his student. The master asked the painter to put up his painting and ask people for their comments. He also asked the painter to put a plain paper alongside the painting and ask the commenter to rectify the mistake in the painting on the paper attached along side. Moral of the story is it is easy to criticise the act of a person but if you are faced with the same situation you may behave even badly. So next time before you criticise a person look at yourself first.

Build up to the Holy Amarnath Yatra - Phase 1

I along with some office colleagues have decided to visit the Holy Amarnath this season. We are total 10 people and few more probable candidates. We had planned this trip few months earlier and we have our flight tickets booked to Srinagar. We had sensed that the holy yatra would start by the end of June so we had booked our tickets accordingly. We leave Delhi on the 30th of June for Srinagar and then head for the holy Amarnath and hope to get a sneak at the holy shrine.

Yes I know that there is still over a months time before we start our yatra, but yesterday we had our first meeting to decide and discuss about the yatra. The prime objective was to make sure that we get the forms for the yatra filled and get our insurances done as that is mandatory. We also discussed that we would need a passport size photograph of each of the member. This may sound funny but without naming naming anybody I can say that there are people who do not have a passport photograph and they need to get it done in about a weeks time. Deepak don't feel bad I have not taken your name.

We also discussed the amount and type of luggage that we should carry with us as we understand that whatever we take with us, we will have to carry it along with us the entire way. So we do not want to overburden ourselves in the same time we also do not want to miss anything that would make us feel miserable out there. I have been given the duty to pen down every single update on my blog. So you will find a series of posts with the same title in days to come. To conclude I would like to list down the names of the people who have already confirmed their participation in the yatra and also those who may join us.

Ajay Sharma

Binay Mohanty

Deepak Kumar

Gaurav Khera

Kushagra Deep

Pratyush Nath

Ritesh Srivastava

Saurabh Juneja

Vipin Gupta

Yogesh Kumar

Amrit Kumar - a probable participant

JAI BHOLE NATH !!!

How many times do you laugh at a joke ?

This may sound weird but is true and you may even find that this has happened to you as well. So coming to the point straight away I would like to say that are two types of people in the audience when you crack a joke or something. You will always find the audience divided on your jokes i.e. some of them laugh immediately and others after a while and some never laugh at all. I have analyzed the same and found two basic reasons behind the same. One is that your joke is so bad that people don't feel like laughing at it rather laugh at you. Other reason could be that they did not get your joke.

I am assuming that my jokes are worth the laugh so I am eliminating the first reason. So that leaves me with just the option that people do not understand the jokes that I crack. The point to be noted here is that everyone laughs at the jokes that I crack. Only difference being that some laugh once and some laugh thrice. Confused ?

When I crack a joke, those who understand it laugh instantly. Others who do not understand also laugh just to show that they have understood and nobody makes fool of them. Then later sometimes when they actually understand what the joke was all about they laugh again. They laugh once again only that this time they laugh upon themselves that they could not understand this joke at the first instance. So next time when you hear a joke or something, count the number of times you laughed.

Kites : Review

The woman is hot, that's pretty much about it. This would be a one sentence to sum up Kites. The movie is a hard core romance thing and you do not get to see anything new. The only change that you will notice is Spanish being used in a Bollywood movie (pun intended). The movie runs at a very slow pace and is pretty predictable. The story is also no different so overall an o.k. movie.

But I personally enjoyed the movie though I did not like it as much. The movie had set high expectation levels which it failed to achieve and thus disappointed the viewers. The good part about the movie is the good job done by Hrithik and team. I liked the acting of most of the stars in the movie and also liked the emotional touch they provided to the movie. I some how enjoyed the way they kept on unfolding the story although it was very obvious.

The story is ok and so is the plot and cinematography. The foreign locations, beautiful cars, casino do not seem to excite the audiences and they have seen enough of these. We wanted to see something different which we did not get. But still I liked the concept and the movie. It is short and sweet love story that lasts for something over 2 hours and I guess there is enough *masala* in the movie to keep you happy for 2 hours.

Don't Be Serious, Be Sincere : Chetan Bhagat

So true... Click on the picture to view a enlarged version of it.

My Team won the T20 World Cup

Yes I am a die hard Indian supporter and no matter how the team plays I would support my team in the next series that they feature. Does my saying this add to the mystery that how come my team won the T20 World Cup ? when it was England who won the World Cup. So let me explain, I support India and any team that plays against Australia hence the victory of England was the victory of my team.

I have this thing against Australia and it keeps on growing with every match that I see them play. I find the Australian players snobbish and egoistic, but then I am told that they have worked for it and they deserve all the pride that they show. But I think otherwise, there are a selected few that are down to earth even after achieving great heights the likes of Shane Warne and Gilchrist are examples. I simply hate the shrewdness of the Pontings, the Symonds, the Clarks and above all the filth of Shane Watson. I find these people really disgusting and opposed to the spirit of any game. They may be excellent players but I hate them and this hatred keeps me in opposition to Australia always.

I really enjoyed the semi final match between Australia and Pakistan and I must say that it was the best T20 match I have seen in some time. I was really shocked by the amazing run chase but disappointed as well as Australia won. I do not like Pakistan at all even then I wanted them to win just because they were playing against Australia. You may call me a maniac or whatever but this is exactly how it is with me when it comes to Australia and Australian players.

T20 World Cup 2010

There is just nothing about the T20 world cup this year for us to remember. It has been a dreadful journey to say the least. We are almost done in this years world cup and if they do not improve substantially they will be good on paper only. I was shocked at the team selection for today's match, how can you go into a match with just 3 proper bowlers and 4 part time spinners on a juicy and bouncy pitch when you have been taken to the cleaners a couple of days earlier by the Australians. How does the Indian team selection justify playing Ravindra Jadeja shouldn't he have been replaced with another fast bowler preferably Praveen Kumar if he was fit to play.

I was shocked at the team they selected for the World cup in the first place. They left out Robin Uthappa, Ojha and even Amit Mishra who were the inform players in the recently concluded IPL. I guess cricket was all about form wasn't it ? then what made you select Piyush Chawla specially when you are not going to play him. Even if I leave all these selection issues, still if a team who boosts of players like Yuvraj, Gambhir, Yusuf Pathan, MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina with 8 batsman and cannot chase 170 odd then my friend there is some serious problem.

I am really depressed and shocked at the dismal performance of the Indian team and seriously I didn't want to waste my time in writing anything about this subject but my very dear friend and room mate who has to watch all the matches even when he is least interested because of me asked me to write something on this subject. Believe me he was also pissed off at the show that our team put up so when he said I should write I could not say no and I honestly believe that I owe him this post for all the times he has had to watch a cricket match just because I do. Yogesh, this one is for you mate.

Movie Review : Badmash Company

I had not watched a movie in months and when I was asked out to watch a movie I agreed. The choice was obvious and we went to watch Badmash Company. Mark my words when I say that you need to be in good company when you are watching badmash company otherwise you are sure to suffer. The movie has nothing new to offer, it is the same old story where a person chases money and in due courses loses touch of his family and friends and then one bright day when he is convicted and jailed that he realises the importance of friend and family and then comes back to them and they live happily ever after. The only difference that is obvious in this movie is the role of Anushka Sharma which is starkly different from what we saw in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

The movie showcases a bunch of dudes planning on going against the system and making quick money. The story is very predictable, full of good for nothing plans that keep on giving results. These 4 people go all around the world fooling people and nobody seems to catch them. There are a few punches here and there that bring a smile to your face but most of the time you will be reciting the next scene. Yes it is that predictable. The movie boosts of good foreign locations and some good music but then that is not enough to make a movie work.

So my final verdict would be that the movie is really bad and it is a crime if you decide to waste your money and time watching this movie. I leave you with an interesting line on one of reviews to this movie and it read "Insulting audiences with 'Housefull' and 'Badmash Company' on consecutive weekends threatens to split the lucrative, undiscriminating dumb-ass demographic. "

Jai Ho !

Each one of us remember the track Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire that got A.R. Rahman the Oscar and did us all proud. Yes it has been time since that has happened but the memories are still fresh in our minds. The song Jai Ho suddenly has gained impetus and is known to and loved by everybody. If you have seen the IPL closing ceremony just before the finals in Mumbai, you must have seen Rahman performing live and he selected Jai Ho. I really liked Rahul's status message on Facebook which read "A.R. Rahman needs to be reminded that Jai Ho isn't the only song he's composed.. there are many more.. better ones, I dare say.." I completely agree with Rahul, but the fact that this song has achieved what no other song could makes it better than the rest.

Today I witnessed something that I had never witnessed ever before. I watched a video on YouTube that has some Spanish singers singing Jai Ho in Hindi somewhere in Spain. This is just amazing and I don't remember the last time a Hindi song was sung in foreign countries and in Hindi itself and this dragged me to write this post. You must watch this video and judge for yourself. It is simply amazing and one could address Gulzar sahib and A.R. Rahman ji and say JAI HO !!! for creating such a lovely song and making India and all the Indians proud.

Click here to watch the video

Lost Generation by Jonathan Reed

I am part of a lost generation
and I refuse to believe that
I can change the world
I realize this may be a shock but
“Happiness comes from within.”
is a lie, and
“Money will make me happy.”
So in 30 years I will tell my children
they are not the most important thing in my life
My employer will know that
I have my priorities straight because
work
is more important than
family
I tell you this
Once upon a time
Families stayed together
but this will not be true in my era
This is a quick fix society
Experts tell me
30 years from now, I will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of my divorce
I do not concede that
I will live in a country of my own making
In the future
Environmental destruction will be the norm
No longer can it be said that
My peers and I care about this earth
It will be evident that
My generation is apathetic and lethargic
It is foolish to presume that
There is hope.

And all of this will come true unless we choose to reverse it .

Read the message, then read it again in reverse. This is absolutely brilliant. You can watch the video here. I recommend that you must watch the video.

Salesmanship in this Modern World

Click on the picture to see it properly

Know yourself

जो जानता है और जानता है की वो जानता है उससे सीखो,
जो नहीं जानता और जानता है की वो नहीं जानता है उसको सिखाओ,
जो नहीं जानता है और नहीं जानता है की वो नहीं जानता है उससे बचो।

I heard these lines yesterday, at the first go I laughed at it saying is this a puzzle where we have to guess the number of times the word 'जानता' appears in the sentence. My second question was what to do with a person जो जानता है औए नहीं जानता है की वो जानता है। But after reading the lines over again I understood the real meaning of it and then I realised these lines are so true and if followed religiously they would help one succeed in life.

It is amazing how some simple things have a big impact on the life of people and how these simple things could help us make the most out of things in life. It also showed me the sorry fact that people often just laugh at things and let them pass rather than trying to analyse them and give them what they deserve. If you try to match people with the qualities advocated by these lines, you are sure to end up finding people who are exactly as described. I actually did and then when I summarized I found that most people fall in the third category, I somehow also feel sometimes that I know a particular thing when actually I don't. I guess we will be more successful if we can somehow fall in the first or second category (as mentioned in lines). Amazing.

Shifted

Finally I have shifted to my new rented apartment and I guess this should be the last one as my house is almost ready and I should have the possession by end of this year. Everything that looked in place was first messed up, stuffed into cartons, bags etc. and then again set straight. It has been a hectic day and it has taken a lot out of me. I am hardly able to move and am feeling very comfortable at this point on my bed.

I would also like to thank the WiFi guys for creating such a great thing, it would take another 2 days or so to get my Internet connection shifted to my new residence and I was almost sure to be deprived of the Internet access for the next few days but thanks to this friend of mine who also lives in the same apartment and also the WiFi I am now connected using his Internet connection and it feels great.

But the job is not done as yet, I have some things still lying in my older house that I have to move tomorrow. I also have to prepare for my presentation in office on Monday and then I also need to rest a bit to relax my muscles. But it is sad to note that after a days work even the sleep seems like an alien and is afraid to come near. But I am satisfied with the efforts throughout the day and that is the most important thing amongst all. Good Night.

A Spark at the End of the Tunnel

I will not call this as a light at the end of the tunnel, I would rather call this a spark considering the complexities surrounding me these days. I had a discussion with the owner of a flat in the same society where I am presently living and it seems that we are almost through the deal and I will end up shifting from the 9th floor to the 4th floor in the same society. This possibility has got a great welcome as this basically allows me to let go of atleast one big tension that I have been in. Although I will have to pay a big amount as rent to keep things cool but then that is a price that we room mates have decided is worth paying for.

When I read my last post it somehow made me feel that I have not done full justice to my dearest friend just by writing that he is moving to Chennai. I appologize mate and I am sure he will understand. So here is the complete story, my dearest friend Yashpal has decided to move on in his life and is joining CSC Chennai as a Senior Software Engineer. I am very happy for him and wish him all the success in his future ventures. But the fact that he will move away from us also instills the fear of loosing him. I did not intend to take any credit away from him. I hope this is the inset of the good things, still my fingers crossed.

Head over Heels

This has been my situation for the last 2 weeks, I have been so occupied with things that I have made a mess out of my life. I have not witnessed sunset for long now, it has been a terrible 10 days of my life. As I sit down now to write this post, I am feeling broken and drenched. I have been exhausted and I badly need a good long break to come back to my normal self but then things don't go the way you wish them to.

To add assault to my injuries, my landlord gave me a visit last Friday evening and asked me to vacate the house within a period of 40 days or so. This made my life more complicated and my mind started another process and that has taken the shape of daemon thread (running in the background) and troubling me continuously. If this was not enough I also got the news that one of my closet friend is moving to Chennai in about a months time. I am not able to take all this and it has shaken my confidence and moral and I do not know what to do.

I have left it all to the almighty with the perception that he will fix all the problems. I also am a firm believer of that fact that whatever happens happens for good. I wish this was a bad dream and would vanish as soon as I wake up but I am afraid that is not how life treats you. To motivate myself I would like to conclude with a little story that my mother told me several times and I have told the same to one of my best friend when she was very depressed. The story is called FOOT PRINTS IN THE SAND and it really helps.

Cricket and Mahabharata

You must be wondering what could be the connection between the Mahabharata and Cricket. But trust me they are very similar to each other and only have a slight difference. You will be convinced by the time you read through this post. There was a time when test cricket was played timelessly and the match would continue till it got over. It was in March 1934 when a match started on the 3rd of March and ended on the 14th of March and it only ended because the English cricketers had to go from Durban to Capetown which was a 2 hours train journey to catch a ship that left on the 17th and there were no ships in a long time. So the match was ended in between and one of the English batsman said, you know what another half an hour and we would have won.

But the incident mentioned above made India fall in love with cricket because we had about the same pace of life. The Mahabharata was like this wasn't it? fought by the day and then it was sunset so every one went home. Then they made few more strategies, came back to fight the next day and went back again. The only difference between Mahabharata and cricket was that in cricket every one was alive to come back and fight the next day whereas this does not hold true for Mahabharata.

Things have changed with time and every thing has gained pace, everyone is running, people have almost forgotten to walk and so the face of cricket has also changed. The advent and popularity of the T20 cricket.

Those Three Hours..

It is about 3 in the morning and I am just back after meeting a very dear friend of mine. I had planned to meet this person from the time he had shifted to Gurgaon but somehow I could find the time to co-ordinate with him and meet him. Just yesterday I got a call from him and he asked me if we can meet tomorrow. I wanted to meet him but the problem is he has office hours from 5 in the evening to 2 in the morning and that makes it difficult for us to meet. But today as I was about to leave my office at around 11 pm, I gave him a call to tell him that I am now moving, to my surprise he was also free and we decided to meet up.

I went to his office in Cyber City Gurgaon and we met, he has not changed a bit and we had a great time. I then also dropped him to his home and then came back home. I am so happy to have met him after such a long time and it was a great feeling. So what I have done tonight is I have actually stretched myself to meet the deadline that I have set for myself which says before the end of this month, I have to catch up with all my close friends. I was not sure if I would be able to achieve this but the start that I have got makes me feel confident about it. Someone please read my fortune and let me know if I will succeed.

It is so strange that when you meet a person after a long time gap, you have so many things on your mind that you want to talk about but when you actually meet the person all that goes off the window and whatever you wanted to talk does not even get a mention in the entire meeting. Same thing has happened to me, I had to ask him certain things which I forgot when I met him and I remember them now. I guess it the excitement that makes you do funny things. But these 3 hours or so have been a great 3 hours in my life.