Mesmerizing Summer of 2012 !!

Indeed we all had a mesmerizing summer in 2012 !! Special reason for this was the visit of my parents to US. They both retired from their respective Government service in June 2012 and I thought that it would be appropriate for them to spend the remaining summer and fall with us.

We began the preparation for the dreaded thing called - US Visa early in March and they had their Visa done in April. It was important to have it done when you are in active service. Everything went smooth and they were all clear to board the flight.

I had booked them for Air India as they had a connection to Newark which is more comfortable to travel from Harrisburg but unfortunately as is the case with them they had that flight cancelled. So the substitute arrangement was Jet Airways which I must say is THE best service compared to all other carriers.

Once here, it was the start of the party time. My project was finishing up in a week's time and I had already booked my vacation for 2 weeks. Once the vacation week started, all to be done was, Go North, Go South, Go East and Go West.

We traveled to Corning (Amazing Glass Museum), Niagara Falls (What more to say of it) in one trip. In another trip we traveled Washington D.C. In the next one it was the Big Apple and traditional India from NJ. And to the west it was Pittsburgh and Palace of Gold. To top it all was the Longwood Gardens fireworks.

And then there were Central Pennsylvania delights like, Dutch Wonderland, Hershey Park, Knoebels and Penns Cave. It was variety of food, bowling, mini golf, Chicken Wings and much much more.

Great satisfaction was that they really got some time to have rest and cool off. All the life it's been the same cycle day in and day out. And it became a forced rest against their nature since they had little avenues unlike Singapore visit where they could roam around on their own.

Youtube turned out to be a great boon for my father as all along he had been a great movie buff. He watched many a movies he always had wanted to watch from the 50's and 60's which are difficult to be seen even on Indian television.

And mother also didn't miss on her stuff, be it Balika Vadhu or of course shopping. She and Sharvari would visit all the range of shops - almost daily which was really crazy. Sometimes it was Window shopping and some times Real shopping. But she indeed had a great time with it which mattered the most to me.

Both of them have traveled extensively in India and hence are pretty open to trying different cuisines. They took an amazing liking to Chipotle and the last lunch they had in US before returning back was the Burrito Bowl. And of course all the recipes were noted so no wonder a India Burrito Bowl is on the way out from Aai's kitchen. Experimentation with American food also came out well with them. But the really praise was of course for good Indian Restaurants. Wherever during travel we encountered India Restaurants that was their numero uno choice.

Dussehra and Diwali was celebrated with great fervor and it was very satisfying to celebrate the most important festival to us with them in two consecutive years. All the home made stuff like Chivda, Ladoo and Chakali was simply amazing unlike the ones bought readymade from the stores. 

All in all, it was simply sensational visit and we all had such a great time together. Really wonderful to cherish all the time. Looking forward to take them to Europe as now Asia and US continents have been conquered. But beyond that more importantly looking to spend Diwali 2013 with them anywhere in the world and more favorably in Akola. 

Tour Diary - Diwali 2011 in Akola

2007 was the last Diwali I had celebrated at Akola and it was very grand since it was the first Diwali after marriage. Thereafter the Diwali's have been Global: 2008 - Singapore, 2009 - Beijing and 2010 - Raleigh,NC. And the frustration of having such a dry ones had worn me down completely.

So, I was hell bent that come what may 2011 Diwali has to be at Akola. Enough of the "Visit in Dec during Christmas" stuff..

S & S had already gone month and a half ahead to India and by the time I boarded the 15 hour flight from EWR to BOM they were at Akola. Flight landed fine but thanks to the Naxals, the train from BOM to Akola got delayed 8 hrs. What lay ahead was 8 sleepless hours at definitely the worst railway station ever - LTT. I bet even Akola station is 10 times better than it. Took Chetan Bhagat's book as companion for time pass but was more pissed off by the pedestrian writing. With all the hiccups finally reached Akola to a grand welcome.

First week of the vacation was meant for all travel. First visit was to "Ambejogai" our "Kuladaivat". Again it's been 4 years that a visit was due but 700 Kms in a day was little tough given the terrible road conditions.

Next lined up item was "Javla" function of my bhacha at Indore. And it was also the first time I was to see the 10 month old jewel. We decided to drive ourselves since the public transport facility to Indore have gone worse. And indeed it was a pleasurable ride with lots of Dhaba food along the way. Nothing in the city hotels can beat this raw taste on the dhaba.

Function was awesome and we had a special "Dal-Bafla" traeat for it, speciality of the Malwa region. Had some more visits to the relatives for rest of the time before finally catching some time at Indore Sarafa for some delicious street food in the late night.

After being back to Akola, had a visit planned to Nagpur and Durg. I had to visit my cousin sister since she is getting married few months later and I would be away in US during that time. It was a two day dash, first to Nagpur and then to Durg. Found Bhilai to be very interesting, quiet, clean and well planned town.

After all these rides, finally in Akola for the Diwali days. Nothing gets bigger than those 3-4 days at home. Pure fun, great food, excellent time with family and friends. It's really the place and time where your heart really belongs rather than all the superficial fanfare elsewhere. And we were joined by my sister and her family to add more sugar to the celebrations.

Sounds relaxing but Diwali days are also quite hectic but had a nice buffer of 3-4 days after the Diwali days to get relaxed and really charged up. And after that left for the last leg of the India tour which was Pune. My parents also accompanied us as they always do to Pune and Mumbai.

Reached Pune and had couple of days planned there. Caught up with some friends and also had some pending work to be get done.

Uncle who stays in Dombivli is the last destination on the route before the taxi rides to the Airport. As you are in Pune and Mumbai the rush is very crazy and hardly you find the time and peace to even talk at length. But that's how the life in urban cities is.

Finally the tour concluded as we boarded the same 15 hour rigour flight to US ..

Meritorious Child, Failing Value System and Hippocratic People

Many events in life made me think on this topic to a great deal. It's more related to parenting and how discrimination happens knowingly / unknowingly amongst children.

It's a common consensus that a child who scores 90% in exams is intelligent. Surely it's true. But the immediate interpretation is that it is talented in every aspect of life. This is where things start going wrong.

Now, whenever an opportunity is presented to learn news things which are not study it invariably goes to the meritorious student first. And if there is possibility for others then only they get the chance.

Another thing that happens is that parent themselves start promoting the bright student and thus inadvertently shun the others. That's where the other kids start losing confidence and gets the feeling of being neglected.

As a matter of fact, they slowly go so low on confidence that they start to bank on their siblings to perform their work.

I surely believe meritorious child is the one who doesn't make their parents to look down because of their deeds or choices. And our mindset is such that, even if meritorious student has done a wrong choice, parents instead of rebuking them tend to accept it. But had this been done by the other sibling they would just thrash them up.

It's indeed a deep rooted discrimination.

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I myself have gone through many of failing relations .. be it friends or relatives. I am just talking about personal relations here.

People have such a short sight and impatience that they make compromises uncalled for and thus devastating the relationship.

I believe every relationship is based on trust and being part of one side of it I expect consistent and truthful behavior.

But I had terrible experiences wherein people have cheated, plotted and abused the relationship forcing for extreme decision of shutting door on them.

And believe me, all these had been of planned behaviors and not plain unknown mistakes.

Very same people have seen better days very shortly but only after taking toll of a beautiful relationship. I hope that they had seen better situations because they most likely had improved upon their follies. Had they been patient and honest about things great relation could have been saved.

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In recent past, I have seen from close quarters that people have become Hippocratic very much like the politicians.

They blow the trumpet and express great spirit about different virtues like religion, caste and language. But fall flat when tested against these barometers.

In short, I believe people use these things just for their comfort and if conditions are favorable to them.

It's really upsetting that they compromise on such spirits carried over the years and settle for some sort of crap.

Why people can't be consistent in their approach instead of taking such U-turns.

If you carry these sort of spirits then stand by it even if it calls for harsh decisions else face the rightful wrath of people who are observing it.

July 2010 !!

@ WC Quarters - So they line up finally !! I want the Dutch to beat Brazil simply because Brazil's game is "functional" but not the "Joga Bonito". And on a personal note Dunga left out my player of the decade, Ronaldinho. I think going ahead Brazil might be hit in the midfield due to lack of creativity. And then on, Argentina has to beat Germany. I plead to Germany to please loose this one. I know they are good, but I want Argentina to proceed. Come on Maradona, make it 2.5 (WC record - 1 win, 0.5 runnerup, 1 as coach) as against Pele's 3. Such an ugly equation :). But one think is sure, WC winner would be one of the two winners of these two Quarters. They would have passed almost the Final test in these matches.

Otherwise, it looks straight forward for Spain unless they make a mess of it. And finally, hope Ghana somehow runs through Uruguay. If they do it will be a big fillip to the African continent. Simply would be tremendous.

Let's say - "Play on" !

@ Pele-Maradona feud - Again some salvo fired by Pele on Maradona. Till now in my book I always thought Pele to ne No.1 and Maradona to be No.2. But I think in Pele's book it seems to be opposite. He seems to be so insecure about his position that all the time this cross fire happens. It's really a classic case wherein people, media and administrators find it difficult to dislodge an already established "greatest" when some one comes to snatch it. I thought and thought, read and read and concluded that Maradona probably was inch ahead looking at the "single handed" impact he had on his generation of football. In Brazil's team there were other greats also, Alberta, Jarzinho etc but here he single handedly achieved it for Argentina. True, as a role model it would be difficult to recommend Maradona as an idol as against Pele who is like almost copybook but the performances on field by Maradona were simply tremendous. Goals scored cannot be contested since their playing positions were as Forward and Midfield. Now when Maradona is getting favourable results as coach insecure Pele is targetting him. Simply looks sham for player of his stature. (To Continue ..)

June 2010

I was intending to be back to blogging from long time and so I am now. Let me do the blogging in a tweet fashion with paragraphs style for different topics.

@ Elimination starts - Now the real fun of the tourney starts. Knock out's. Every day two teams will bow out. I wish Germany overpowers England and Spain thrashes Portugal. These two matches would be mouth watering. Let's see how it goes.

@Italy so sorry - Felt very bad when Italy owed out. But indeed their fault that in every match they always fell behind and then the climb up was very much against their natural instincts. But still they fought as against France who were humiliated in every aspect.

@World Cup choices - My line up of choices is always. Argentina, Italy, Brazil and Germany in that order. Argentina stands 1st because of their flair and commitment to give attractive football whatever the situation. I know they could have avoided some losses had they changed the style of play but they are charmers so that's commendable. Surprisingly Italy comes next because their style is exactly represents my mental make up in life. Protect and guard all the gaps and then get the offensive goal. I being lot conservative in my thoughts find a perfect match to this style. Brazil for their flair and solidity, like the big daddies. Germany is my favorite country from Europe and I somehow has a soft corner for them.

@ALM - ALM is the new buzz word that I get to hear so often now. I researched a lot on this and found that many of the ALM products I see are surrounding the software product/projects development concept. Instead it would be worth wondering how ALM can help to manage a Business system which is kind of heavily customized. Nonetheless, just to have a good glimpse of ALM check this vendor - http://www.rallydev.com/agile_products/integrations/

@ About Aamir Khan's "intelligence" - I think Aamir Khan is one of the best actors but sometimes his crazy views make me flat. Like recently he said "lyrics writers should not be credited because it's the actors on screen who make the song hit" and he had a big tiff with Javed Akhtar. I was left laughing at his thoughts and intelligence. Come on, lyricist is the first one to be credited and rest should follow. I mean Sahir and Shailendra had been the gods of pen and his views were so much insulting to the greats.

Famously known for doing a film a year, I wonder if he "wants" to do it or he "can" do it, because since being "perfectionist" he does numerous retakes. But isn't it about efficiency also like in the case of stage actors who cannot do retakes. Really sometimes once we establish someone as great whatever he does is swallowed with pride, even if it is crass.

Another example I recall of his intelligence is, he thrashed music of Rangeela to be ordinary and not that good. See .. how intelligent people we have.

@FIFA World Cup - I wonder why England play the world cup. Every player looked so disinterested in the proceedings and gave such a flop show. Everytime they have so much glamour but are total failures all the time. Don't know why France also came? To give such an ugly performance on and off the field. Ireland would have been better any day :) . Even though I like Henry, I wonder what have he really done in the "record" 4 world cups he has played now.

@BP's Oil spill - Bhopal Gas connection - All I want to say is US is getting paid in their own coin. Morally what should happen is Anderson should be sent to India and then BP's processing should start. That would settle a few ghosts. I must admit with my heart fully open that, I either have tears or cry whenever I see the symbolic image of the little boy's burial of Bhopal disaster. All I can say is it's really shameful of what we(Indians) are and how we have treated our poor countrymen. Let's hang our heads in shame for a while.

And in case of US same sequence of events is repeating as the case with Bhopal. US Govt is also seeing the power of capitalism that they can't withstand in common people's interest. I don't think anything more would have been done even if there had been sizeable fatal casualties.

@ESPNCricinfo - I am really liking the new series that cricinfo has introduced on Legends of Cricket. And recent one to feature is Sachin Tendulkar. Excellent watch - http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/site/451900.html

@Analyzing Abhishek Bachchan - Honestly, I feel this actor is a disaster. In 10 years of his career I don't recall even 5 good movies. Impressive in Yuva, Sarkar, Guru ...... ??? .. That's it. His real measure can be gauged by searching for keywords, "Guest appearance" or "Special appearance" at this link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abhishek_Bachchan . He is in almost every film but no where in your memory. Such appearances are made by big stars with big credentials not by someone who hasn't had anything yet. Mani Ratnam is a great director and can make anyone act so no surprise he extracted some performance from this dud. Honestly, like the Khans in the 90's, Hrithik Roshan is the flag bearer amongst actors for this decade. I wonder how long this bore will be hammered on us under the refuge of Big B.

SAURISH Has Come !

Saurish .... Our New Born .. Our First Born finally arrived on 16th Dec 2008. His arrival was a couple of weeks before the schedule as given by the Doctor.
16th Dec the Day got built slowly and slowly and finally got culminated with the great news.
I got a call at around 1 PM SGT from Sharvari that she is visiting the Doctor because of some pain. In another hour I got the news that these are labor pains and the day has arrived.
The next 4 hours were just restless for me. I was either giving a call back or receiving a call from Indore,India. Just no stability in the mind.
With all the flutter going on I left the Office at 6.30 PM SGT. As I was walking with my colleague Vinay I got a call from my mother in law that it's a baby BOY and the delivery had been normal. I was so ecstatic and just had tears in my eyes. I couldn't speak to Sharvari right then but in an hours my phone was flooded with calls and finally could talk to her after some time. She was so happy that she was just crying. I soothed her and finally we were proud and happy parents.

I had earlier decided not to immediately rush back when it happens but visit with some plan so that to attend the 'Barsa' function. But I had become too restless after it and with Vinay also asking me to jump on the bandwagon I got the flight tickets done. I called my bosses to seek their permission and luckily I was not working on something, so all went smooth. So I was going to leave the next day for India. Calls were still going on and it was just so tremendous. It immediately called for a party and some instant shopping. My parents also were irresistible and they had already started their journey for Indore the same night.

Certainly there was not going to be any sleep that night. I was just thinking and thinking all through but really don't know what. And indeed one feeling that was there was of 'Responsibility'.

Next day I hardly was at the Office. Collected by ticket,did some camera shopping,some sweets shopping and then had to leave early to catch my flight. Boarded the Jet Airways and at 11.00 landed in Mumbai. My connecting flight to Indore was in morning so had a sleepless night at Mumbai airport. But thanks to the airport ambience time flew thick and fast and in the morning I was onto the Kingfisher flight to Indore.

Landed in Indore at around 7.30. Father and my youngest Saali were there to receive me and we drove to no other place than the hospital. Just rushed through to the room and then finally was the moment of truth. My first encounter with "Balkrishna". It was just awesome. I sat on the sofa and my mother gave him in my lap. Truly Truly awesome feeling. Just fantastic !! Once in a lifetime moment. Environment was so much cheerful. Moment you always want to get freezed.

Jhampu Jholi has Arrived !

Finally !! Jhampu Jholi has arrived. My sister delivered a baby girl on 25th Sept. It was such a fantastic news that I just got overwhelmed by it. I just had tears in my news at the new promotion.

I won the bet that my sister would have a baby girl. And when saw her first pic it was so so awesome that I was really thrilled at it. Just kept on watching at it for so long.

My wife was there to see all live on my behalf since I had recently moved to Singapore. Aai Baba were really happy to have become Nana and Nani. And then everyday thereafter was filled with something new about the new born.It's really fantastic to know each and every details about then.

Then the photostream followed .. day by day .. week by week. She is just too good. All her antics and expresssions made to have a look at that every day .. And the satisfaction was absolute immense.

I like giving numerous names to kids and the title is one such. I will call them anything I like .. no set rules .. nothing. It's really entertaining.

Barsa followed on the 12th day and she was titled "HARSHITA". But for me she is just "Mani Mani".

Now all eyes are set to see her in actual. But it's gonna be a double whammy since I will be watching 2 kids at the same time. Since I am on the verge of parenthood :)

Some pics of her:

Losing the way !!

I think I had been losing some things all the time. And I realize why is that happening. I guess the best way God tells you about your misdoings is through some very rude hurt.

So far the major material losses that I had were:
1. Suitcase filled with stuff - 2006
2. And now my good old Splendor bike. - 2008

I really feel for it now. I know what wrong I had done and I had been punished for it.
I won't really repent much about it. I think I am lucky that I am paying for some mistake I had done.
Imagine some unlucky folks who face something even if they haven't done any wrong.

See how lucky I am.

I knew I had this blog listed somewhere about the material losses.

And now there is now addition to the list
3. iphone - 2017

5,400 KMS Roller Coaster !!

April 2008 presented an opportunity to travel multitude of distances and that too across varying cultures. Occasion was marriages of three friends all in succession with a gap of a day each. Attendance to all was quite mandatory since each one had been there on occasion of my D' day last year.
So, some additional places were included in the travel program to visit some relatives who are at quite some distance.

Below are the details of this travel:
Pune-Dhamangaon - Travel started as barati to attend dear friend Pushkar's wedding. Started off from Pune with ever so boring Maharashtra Exp but the journey was joyful since it was a barat.
Train reached Akola on time from where my parents also joined in along with some more baratis. Barat was welcomed nicely at Dhamagaon and we immediately moved into one of the rooms of the marriage venue. It was scorching sun on top and electricity issues in Vidarbha just compounded the misery due to heat. Nevertheless with such occasions one just forgets all these problems. Evening dossier had the ritual of Simanti and there happened to meet lots of old acquaintances.
Next morning was the D' day of Pushkar and we all got ready quite early. Marathi Turban on the head is just mandatory for me and I just got it. Then the ritual of asking to lose virginity to Lord Hanuman went on coupled with dances from all on the latest Bollywood tunes.

Cinema of 70's !

Of late there has been lot of talk about the cinema of 70's and lot's of remakes happening of the movies of this generation. So was the cinema's of 70's so good that people are copying it. Let's have a look with my point of view.

Cinema of 70's indeed was different from that of the 50's and 60's. In the previous era there were hardly any movies of the genre of Action and Thriller. They used to be either Family drama or Romantic movies with great great music.

So what 70's brought was really different and exciting. The look of the leading men was different. It was machismo with the presence of Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna. The style quotient was upped by Amitabh Bachchan and Shartughan Sinha. And then you had a real actor amongst them, Sanjeev Kumar. With such a battery of altogether different type of heroes, the hit brigade of good old romantic heroes, Rajesh Khanna, Jeetendra fell behind. This was helped by some new thought writers like Salim - Javed. The heroines were hardly to left behind. Zeenat Aman and Parveen Bobby represented the urban women with great elan. In between you had the beauties in the form of Hema and Rekha. So all in all it was great combination. With RD Burman leading the pack of musicians with some western stuff along with LP and KA the flavor had changed.

Even with such an advent of new genre movies masterpieces created by Gulzar, Hrishikesh Mukherjee were still appreciated with same gusto.

I think the reader of today won't appreciate what I am saying because I come across lot many new kids who like 'Don' of Shahrukh and not of Amitabh. It really pains me when they fail to appreciate the old cult classic. Since I get involved in the movie immensely I appreciate everything about it, all the dialogues and other minor things.

Also, hardly in the decade of 2000 I have seen something revolutionary except of a Munnabhai or Black. I just feel that there are no scripts at all. Although every year one gets one or two movies which has a concrete scripts .. else it's all haywire.

Will continue .. taking a break.

This is my time !

The title might just sound arrogant but yes that's what it is ... It's just my time ...
I am so much thrilled and excited with such a crucial addition to my life of Miss Vaibhavi Vilas Rahalkar. I am so much delighted with the way the decision about my life partner has been arrived. I have got everything what i had thought about my life partner in her.

And most importantly she is from Indore. I swear that I had expressed this great desire about my wife being from Indore long long back to my good friend Pavan while I was in Bangalore. And why Indore then ? Well after lot of thought and education I had a feeling that Marathi culture outside Maharashtra is best preserved in Indore. Yes, to a good extent it's there in Baroda,Gwalior,Hyderabad and Jabalpur but in Indore it's lot more. Well obviously, girl being from Indore was not a criteria for choice. It was kind of wishlist.

Also I had thoughtfully prepared what we used to have in 10th and 12th, "Ekvis Apekshit". 15 questions to the girl before i finalize on her and 6 to myself. And after qualifying with flying colours in both of these exams it's rollicking time. And yes, always wanted to give full opportunity to the girl to choose me and it indeed worked very well.

Honestly, for few days I just couldn't believe that all this is happening to me. With mundane life for the last 5/5.5 years with the focus on career, personal life was pretty dry. Just the couple of annual family associations with parents and close relatives. So kind of felt that, life is not flowing but has stagnated. But with this happening it's moving with F1's face and pretty difficult to maintain pace with it.

After quite a lot of interaction with her I am extremely happy to find out that it just matches to the 'T' with my expectations. All in all very much overwhelmed with this outcome Everything now looks so much charming and colorful. And the thrill is so analogous with the jump Adam Gilchrist makes after a stumping.

And yes song of the moment has to be :
"Dekha jo tujhe yaar Dil mein baji guitar .."
"Arre Arre main to gaya re ... dil bhi gaya re .."

Sensational, Stupendous, Scintillating ....

A Year, A Suitcase and A Table down the drain !

Won't you have a lump in your throat when in retrospect you see a year of your life gone to complete waste, some personal favourite stuff gone missing never to appear and a table you always enjoyed to work on gone forever. All this loss for absolutely nothing , just nothing.
This boiling of emotions and it's overflow is exactly what Othello goes through after he kills Desdemona and realizes the truth.

I think the worst thing in life is to trust somebody unconditionally. People are ready to sacrifice anything and everything for some sake but it hurts deep when people sabotage your sacrifices. But then, not being a Gandhian in my case people have to pay a hefty price .. I must admit here that if a victim of such type can forgive the culprit then he is just "GREAT". It will certainly take a long time for me to become that "GREAT".

And what's my punishment to such people ? Well simply, wrath for rest of the life. Infact complete banishment for some of those. Getting forgived has become too cheap these days. People claim that it's their mistake but when you see some matured people doing such things then definately it's not a mistake but a criminal act.

One thing anyone cannot revert is time. And it's such an emotional gammut to see you doing something else in history than what you actually did. The progression of your life hits a road block, for some they backtrace and for some they are in a state of helter skelter. If you are a happy go lucky kind of person then it's a lot easier to take such happenings in your stride. But if you are quite calculative , of a planner kind, then it's very difficult to come to terms.

Well, getting slaughtered for no mistake is such a depressing thing that it can just about change the course of your life. When you devote for the people you love and they backstab you it's such a hard thing to digest. And the biggest problem lies in mixing different contexts like say your personal and professional lives. Life is so much better when you keep them apart but as soon as they start intersecting it becomes very difficult. But yes there are instances when you need to mix them and i think personal life takes precedence here. And imagine when you get sabotaged in your personal life then how badly you are hit. You just have to pay dearly.

It's a very bitter feeling and leaves a bad taste in your mouth. It's as if the Spiderman I shot, when the rope Car and "MJ" moves down the 2 glasses of Spiderman. Salvage man ... Save your dreams ...

So to relate very closely with such a situation one needs to find the most depressing of the songs.
Here are a few which has helped me a lot :
1. " Yaad na jaye beete dino ki ... jake na aaye jo din ...." - *****
2. "Raha gardisho mein hardam .. mere ishq ka sitara ...." - *****
3. "Toote hue khwabone humko yeh sikhaya hain ...." - *****

So after enough pondering on such issues you must be feeling how saddist is this fellow. Yes i am very very disappointed but not out. There is just one way and that is to move ON ...

Again some songs of hope :
1. " Nazarana bheja kisine pyaar ka ....hain diwana jo bas tere ....." - Thanks a lot to Rajesh Roshan for this beauty.
2. " Tum jo mil gaye ho to yeh lagata hain ... ki jahan ... mil gaya ... " - RafiSaab at his best ...

Nothing is perfect and Life has started to paint it's colour on my Life's drawing board ...

A Sunday well spent !

The other sunday i really had a ball in my house. As usual got a bit late for it being a Sunday and switched on the TV. Now Star One has become a favourite and hence just rolled over it. And so much to my desire found the Laughter Champions going on. I thought it might be for an hour or so but it was for the whole day , in and out. I was indeed thrilled for had got a chance to see some of the missed moments.

And then after that, episode after episode i was bursting in laughter. It was some kind of laughter boughts. I knew that my day is made and it was really exhilarating to watch the talent this country has. Ten episodes from which they selected 12 candidates for the semis and again cut those to half for the finals. Sidhu ( through i feel he is a quite overboard) with his superb "kahavate" and Suman with his usual regal really captivated the judges chairs and they were very fair in their assesment.

To my liking all the ones whom i liked were in for the next round. Raju Srivastava,Ahsaan Quereshi,Sunil Pal and Navin Prabhakar but felt bad for the one from Rajkot. Now see the impact, i really don't remember his name but the contents ( incoming chalu hain , outgoing is blocked. Alag alag ringtones baj rahe hain ...). The other whom i liked but failed for the finals was Deepak Raja.

But let me recount some of the most memorable performances of these performers.
1. Sunil Pal : Verrappan capturing Madhuri ( Nasser Shah : kisi ko is tarah se pakad lana yeh Gunaah hain ..., Suneil Shetty : Ayehhhh ... Verrappan , Johny Lever : Tu Verrappan hain, kitni gandi shakal and finally Irrfan Khan : "Bhaiyya kya lagaya yeh .. and after seeing Gun : Are yaar tumne to marneka program bana liya. Bhaiyya hum to yahan kaam mangne aaye the ... )
2. Raju Srivastava : He impressed me the most really with his variety and his items :
a: Visiting places with Bill Clinton (Umm.. hmm... Nice arrangement)
b. Daku attacking village ( Buddhe tujhe to main nahi chodunga .. mera naam Gajodhar Pandey hain par log pyar se mujhe Sunita bulate hain)
c. And one of the best was about shaadi of the sister.He just reflected great emotions over there.
3. Ahaasn Quereshi : Very unique style of his own and very classy i felt. His potshots were very deep rooted and not so simplistic to understand. His outstanding item was the "Jabalpur-Nagpur bus journey".
4. Bhagwant Mann : I very very much liked the Punjabi and Haryanvi mix of his presentation.His item on the Policeman's recuitment process was very very funny.
5. Parag Kansara : "Tashrif ko Dil" says all about him. Very compulsive thinker of things i suppose. But very innovative in the process.
6. Pehchaan Kon : Navin Prabhakar. This introduction fits well. Really amazing in the sequence but didn't had good variety.

And some top notch stuff was , Deepak Raja's parody in the PagalKhana. Really superb performance.

And amongst visitiors , the small kid was tremendous. (Bipasha Basu in the mandir ..... )

Johny Lever just glimpsed us about why is one of the best comedians in the business.
And story told by Rajpal Yadav just manifested the fact that some uncut diamonds have got lucky to get chiselled by the cutter to perefection.

Big thanks to Star One to bring forth such amazing talent that this great country has.

Whip of fresh air in life !

Recently, i got an opportunity to make my second international travel. And the destination was Montreal, Canada. When the name struck, two things from the back of my mind came forth: 1. Nadia Comaceni's first perfect 10 & 2. Quebec's struggle to separate out from Canada.
So the journey was quite ardous since the flight was going to be a very long one.Went to Mumbai first and the by BA to London.I was very lucky to get a transit Visa in UK ( after 7/7 and me posing a french beard). I went outside along with my colleague who already had his program chalked out.So we went to his friend in a suburb named Milton Kenyes. I must say i was extremely impressed with London and UK.Tradition just oozes out, old taxies and many other things.

So after this good break we proceeded ahead to Montreal. Weather in Montreal was just perfect.Good sunshine and no rains.We were put up in downtown by mistake though(booking of the hotel was messed a bit) and hence everyday we commuted to the office by taxi....Hotel was really good ... and the evenings were also very nice since being in downtown.The week went fine ... and then the weekend. So on saturday we went out ... to the old port ... Took a 2 hours cruise in the river and the feel was exhilarating .... That was what we did on saturday as my colleague was to proceed on his return journey. He again had a stoppage of 2 days in London in which he covered, Mecca of Cricket and WIMBLEDON.

On sunday i changed my hotel close to the office. Had the first view of a Limousine but i repent that before i could take a pic it vanished.Then on monday ( it was a holiday there) got in touch with an Indian fella ( from the office we had visited). He was really enthusiastic and took me out. So we first went to the Olympic stadium.I was just lurking to get a snap of Nadia and i finally got it. From there on we went to the Casino .. but just like jokers.I was amazed with the amount of gamble that happens there. 12 floors .. all full ... pokers of different types .. machines, cards, roundtable ...And then my desi fella sprung a surprise ... by taking me to the F1 circuit. In a splash we arrived there and it was like a dream come true. It's a really nostalgic felling because when, what we follow we see in reality ... And so snaps were taken to make it a memoir....So that day was again great.

Then the next week started ... work and work ... and everyting went well During this week one day we went to another suburb and what was one more dream was fulfilled.Had a very long view of "Ferrari & Maserati" showrooms... Gorgeous it was .. Class it was People say and they say seriously "If i get this lady i won't want a wife".. Again i had a saturday in hand as my flight was on the sat night .. So again my indian fella joined me ... and took me on a trek .. Mount Royal ... Beautiful it was ... through the woods ... lots of green .. and then atop. Great view of montreal was captured ... it was really good .... So then my return journey kicked off ... and it was really cumbersome ... There was no good break in London ... But the big thing that riled me was the view of my fav aussies falling apart. I saw those pictures during my both journeys at the Heathrow... (4th & 5th tests).

Thus ended ... what i would really say a fantastic trip ... Everything was good ... And yes .. like i always wished to be someone like "International Cavalier" hope this is just the begining.

Tour Diary - Vaastu Visit - I

In this edition i want to capture the moments i had during the recent more than a week long visit to mumbai and pune, the occassion being the "vaastu pujan" of my new house. Here i will take stock of my visit starting bangalore - reaching mumbai - reaching pune.Pune story will be in next edition.
So i started for mumbai(rather kalyan) on 27th May with Udyan.I had gearerd up for the gruelling journey and indeed for dying for it to start.The travel was not so OK, since our S1 coach was a picture of a General compartment since our coach being first to the General coach, it was thumped like anything. Imagine my seat number to be 3. "Dushkalat teravva mahina". I reahced Kalyan on 28th at 7.00 PM. Instead of going home i decided to wait at the station for the big party to arrive from Nasik. They all have reached there for a Maha puja of the Lalingkar's household at "Saptashrungi". In between i being a "petu" went outside and had a bite of "Khadak" Paav bhaaji ...
Then i joined them at platform 5 and we headed for the house.
The program for mumbai was already chalked out. Next day i.e 29th it was Mumbai darshan. Since one of my aunt dropped out from Nasik i took that position.It was a very good programme from the travels.Crisp, short but a lot faster. At times it was like joining the 200m race. The highlight of the program being the "Nehru Planetorium" show, "boating in sea" and "houses of filmstar". I really wonder how hit would Dev Anand had been , since my father and uncle were "trupta" to see his house. That's why , it's "Evergreen Dev". So all in all the day was great. But since life being a balance, i lost my mobile functionality of the slaty waters of juhu beach and it went dead.
Next day was slated only for children, as they headed to Essel World. I already had decided against it as i wanted to leave for Pune. So in the morning, after the baccha party went i with my father and kaka went to prachi's place to invite her inlaws and then headed to Pune via Dadar. It was a boring journey as there was quarrel of the driver at the start. At around 6.00 i reached pune and called pushkar who came to collect me and we headed to Prasad's house. In between rain caught us and i alone went to prasad's place. I had to take charge of atleast a bike since it was needed to local travel. I had plans to see my house that evening as that was to be my debut there but as it was raining heavily i stayed back.
So tuesday morning i strated for my house ......

A thing of pride !

Bhartiya Rail ...... the most spread enterprise around the world . It covers so many thousands of kilometers and infact is the lifeline of India. Statistically they say that every day the railways carried some 1.5 crore people which is the population of say Australia. And forget the goods transport which would be equally the same in number.
From my childhood i had been in awe of the railways. My father used to take me to the railway station every sunday when i between 4-7 to see the Howrah Express . Such was my fascination that i had remembered the stoppages of Gitanjali Exp between Bombay and Howrah. And everything about this liking got fulfilled since my house is just 250 meters from the railway track. Visting the railway line in the evening has been some of the best moments. Putting a coin on the rail so that the train runs over it and one gets to see the "chaplela" coin.
Also i have been very fulfilled since i travelled with the railways to so many parts of India, meter guage,broad guage and narrow guage. Travelling to Khandwa by meter guage is such a beautiful journey.
In my late teens i started another type of journey which is "Up-Down" or commuting as is the name. Going to college some 100kms away every monday and returning every saturday made me a regular traveller. How economical it was to travel like that ....... And railways can offer one of the cheapest fares if you travel by a "Passenger". Imagine Rs.14 for a 100km journey and mind you it was done in just 3 hrs ... not so slow ... huh..
Travelling in mumbai in the local trains gave me some more joy. The ethos of the travel is just fabulous. The frequency of the trains, the different routes, different types of trains all is very captivating. Another journey that i relish is travelling through the ghats. Mostly i have travelled in the Kasara and Khandala ghats. It's truly majestic to be there.
And above all i enjoy travelling II class sleeper. It's such a common place environment with lots of people and importantly interactive people unlike in the AC. Well i do admit that travelling in summer in II class gives lot of problems but otherwise it's the best travel.
All in all the railways has been a big part of my life. My adulation for them grows each day. So many trains, so many routes to manage, complex time tables of the trains but they are doing a very good job i feel. And now with the outstanding reservation system in place ..... i think it has made travel a lot easy ....

Kudos to Railways ....

Chuck man ! It's a rule now !

The recent hearing of the ICC about the chucking rule has left many of the people from cricketing fraternity in the lurch. It's indeed a very disappointing outcome and ICC has really cold shouldered the whole issue instead of digging it deep.

Clearly i see a lot of trouble with this which is enlisted as follows :
1. It will be very difficult for the umpires to judge a chucker in a match situation wherein no hitech components will be there.
2. Bowlers can easily change their actions during scrutiny and during the actual match scenario.
3. No way a bend of 13,14,15 degress can be a legal delivery... it can be a throw also ...
4. How can teenagers be scrutinized at smaller cricketing centers where there are no hitech facilities.
5. How can old coaching methods be used , beacause a suspect may still continue hoping that he is below 15 degress.

It is going to make things very very difficult. Controversies would be much more in times to come.

I think the calling of Muralitharan started it all. My personal view is that , Murlitharan's action is not correct and may be that can be attributed to his shoulder deformity. But onc cannot allow somebody to bend the cricketing rules for the sake of deformity. Even at times i think Lee and Akhtar also ocassionally change their actions , for a express delivery.

All the powers about calling should be given to the umpires. They are the best judge because they see the bowler very closely and in match situation. Instead of reporting , umpire should be asked to call a bowler thus removing the biomechanics. Also, a committe of umpires should be formed to visualise the bowler in match situation to scrutinize the things.

The reason i am stressing on the visual test is that, this degress theory have "proved" that genuine bowlers like Lillee, Holding, Imran and Dev have been chuckers. Now it's a big no no ... instead i would like to point out that people like Griffith,Meckif were sidelined and certainly they didn't have correct bowling actions. Again it was a visual test that called them chuckers.

ICC is bending to pressures from some of the member countries since the people under scrutiny have been a lot successful. But i am sure there are lot of people who in private would admit about the legality of the suspect bowlers.

With such attitude, ICC is killing cricket and it would be very dangerous because it would cause lots of problems. So please don't do like that. Have an umpires panel and give them the total power. I feel it's the best foot forward else in future cricket would loose it's charm for the sake of few.

I am a Man now !

Recent visit back home was a great eye opener. I was there to attend the marraiage ceremony of my cousin sister (mama chi mulgi). I just couldn't believe it that she is getting married. All my childhood had been in her company as she is just six months younger to me. We had spent nearly 15 years together as everyday after school i was at my grandmother's place.
We played a lot together, fought a lot, slapped each other, shared gossips, riled each other for names and what not. We had such a time , that we will cherish for a long time. And for the company we had my younger sister, her younger sister and other brothers and sisters.
And i was aghast to see her getting married. Indeed the cruel time does fly. Seeing her getting married indeed made me realised that i am a man now. Even after graduation , joining companies, swapping companies i looked myself as a kid but now things are serious as it seems. And talks during the wedding were that "Sameer che kevva karta lagna ? ". And pretty obvious i felt as the time is coming closer.
But why does man want time to stop. I feel because, he has spent the best time and doesn't want to come out of it. In my case , i felt the same. 25 years of my life had been made beautiful by may parents, "Maaibai"(my aaji), uncles and aunts, bros and sis and ofcourse friends. Now since i can't go back, i want to make the next 25 equally good. And hope i get a life partner who will make that sure.
Life is indeed great but suddenly i am feeling that the time is not running but sprinting. Now i have very less time to fulfill my so many wishes. Somewhere everyone wants the time to stop, isn't it ?
My mind is very much turbulent with emotions and feelings which i cannot express.
And the great puzzle is there , "What's life ?, Why i am here ? Who am i ?", right questions at right time ? or too early... i am not a psycho please......
But otherwise i know one thing for sure that i am a MAN !

Appreciation - Damien Martyn in 2004 !

If there happens to be a feeling of spirit in the surrounding especially on a cricket field then the right candidate who seems to have such a characterisitic has to be Damien Martyn.When he is at the crease one hardly feeld he is out there. Such is his silent, sedate and serene presence.
Martyn has had a very topsy turvy career so far and recently ( 2 years back ) he has established himself in the star studded Aussie lineup. This has been possible only after the farewell to the junior Waugh. But then such turns has been deserving ones for his indifferent form and performances. He was almost crucified for one reckless shot against the Proteas way back in 1994 which cost the aussies the test. He was kept out of the side for fairly long time. The middle order was quite packed with the Waughs at 4&5 and Blewett and Punter grabbing the 3 & 6. Later Blewett was out of favour and it was then filled by Langer and untill Langer himself moved up at the top to fill in for Slater there was hadly any chance for Martyn. So around 2002, when Mark Waugh was dumped Martyn started to get regular look in. Obviously there was no doubt in his ability but a question mark remained on his temperament.
But the selectors persisted with him even after he started poorly but slowly he started to bloom. His class was quite evident with the offside strokes and the ease at which he played those. Also the fact that he was a better spin player along with Hayden in the side gave him a solid look at the crucial no.4 spot. Even the likes of Ponting and Langer have been found wanting against quality spin.
He played well in SA and NZ around 2002-2003 in both the versions and ofcourse extremly well against the Lankans. He got those crucial centuries in the emerald island which helped the Aussies thrash the Lankans 3-0. And later in the year came the much hyped 'Final Frontier' tour. The fact that the aussies were ready to stay the wicket, show patience was their secret when they changed 35 year old history. Indeed , 2001 team was far superior but their all out strategy was their undoing. But here the epitome of this new strategy was best displayed by Martyn. His knock in Chennai was something for which one gives a certificate. It was like a pure traditional test knowck. Concentration, shot selection, patience everything was perfect about it.This innings really stamped his profile for being a class player.
On the home soil he has been a decent and consistent performer. His contribution is indeed huge for the aussie juggernaut which is still rolling.
Also, he has been an excellent fielder especially in the outfield and very determined character. More than anything though he has become the mainstay of their batting with slide for Hayden and Ponting patchy at times. He turned out as the 2nd highest rungetter in 2004 and seems that will continue his good work for another 2-3 seasons.
And ofcourse he must have exorcised the ghosts of failures for himself more than for the Aussie team with tremendous showing in India.

Working against a Wall !!!

What do you think is the best test of motivation ? In my view , simulate a situation for someone to perform his duties when it's been made crystal clear to him that he is not going to achieve what he expects the most out of that particular exercise. And therein one can judge how much motivated one can be.
Life has been a lot easier for people who work as professionals who has numerous alternatives when things don't turn up the way they would like.But i really wonder what happens with sports-person in this kind of situation. If they get disappointed can they change in the same manner ?
I have a few examples to quote...One being Padmakar Shivalkar, a great spinner who couldn't play for India but has tons of wicktes in the domestic circuit. One would always feel that he deserved to play for India but a shade better spinner in Bishen Bedi kept him out. But then this was a very pure and rational comparision for the choice and not malicious as in some companies.So from where did he gain so much of motivation to carry on ? Same is the case with Rajinder Goel..... who had a very very brief stint.
I feel that it's not always the professional or calculated thinking but a very emmotional one. Sometimes people get emmottionally attached to their task and hence that keeps them going.
Also, i see people like Narendra Hirwani and Venkatpathy Raju who are in the same league.
People sometimes feel that they are the chosen ones to be a sucker like that but then to motivate oneself from that rut takes a huge heart.