Truth Unleashed

A Travelogue: From Bokaro To Delhi

2011-11-11T04:13:00.000-08:00

“Train number 12801 from Puri to New Delhi is shortly arriving on platform number one”, a loud, hurrying voice boomed and echoed at Bokaro Steel City station. The train had arrived half an hour late at 10 AM, I, on the other hand, was an hour early of the scheduled time. Being early sucks as much as being late. The wait was annoying. I was alone and every minute yawned like an hour. The announcement came as a great relief. With Indian Railways, a delay of 30 minutes is no delay; I would take that happily any day.

I checked my ticket for one last time, “B4/33”, and I boarded the train. My coach was crowded and I, practically, had to jostle my way out to get to my seat. While on my way, I was praying in a rather beseeching tone- “Dear God, Please. No kids, of any age, of any gender”. Holy fuck! You wouldn't believe, seated in my section of the bogey were two newly-wed couples with two babies. My atheism got redefined, God doesn’t exist. And if He does, I’m sure He looks away when we pray.

By now, you must have guessed where this is going, haven’t you? The two ladies looked quite pretty. Here’s a confession- I like married women. There‘s a tenderness and completeness about Indian women, draped in their sari-attire, which is more intimating and fascinating than some skimpily dressed young girls. Their men were stocky and well built. As I took my seat, one of them gave me a don’t-stare-at-my-wife’s-tits look. The 19-hour long journey thus started.

The kids have an uncanny knack of drawing attention. No matter how unfunny and mundane they behave; their parents always find it uproariously hilarious. Every time something similar happened, I, as in all my niceties of conduct, had to pretend as if I was interested. One lady kept telling her baby, named Yuvika that she shouldn’t shout otherwise the lady would give the chocolate to me instead of her. And believe me friends, that Dairy Milk eluded me throughout the journey! The bitch never gave me one. Unlike what I had apprehended, the journey was less noisy amidst the ridicule of the people around.

“Where’re you going?” asked one gentleman.

“Delhi” I replied.

“Do you work there?”

“Yes, I work at TCS” I said, anticipating the fact that he would have next asked for the company’s name. His wife looked up at me. I paid her the attention. She looked desirable, voluptuous and rosy in her dark blue sari. I got a crush on her. Her eyes had so much eyeliner that it created a variety of pleasing illusions. Her slim appealing lips, like wet cherries, kept closing over her teeth. (You see, I am slowly moving down, from eyes to lips. What next?). I, slyly, leered at her curves. Oops! God is an artist, and good at Geometry.

“Ah! Great, I have heard TCS is a very good company” he interrupted at my romanticization.

I grinned and nodded in disbelief. "A very good company?" Somehow I resisted the urge to ask how far his planet from the Earth was. “How much ignorant can one be? Or is he being sarcastic?” I mumbled to myself.

“And your berth is?” he dished out another question.

“Number 33, Lower berth” I could almost guess his next question. He, then, requested me to shift to the upper berth, the reason being his wife and their kid.

The world knows Rajesh Choudhary is generous. “Alright, not a problem” I said. And thank God, he didn’t ask any other question. A talkative co-passenger spells as much trouble as a muted one does. I plugged in the earphones. Music can transport you to a different world. It is that faithful friend to whom one can come to, anytime- for it works as a healer and provides a soothing ambiance. The train had crossed Koderma. Everyone became inactive and sleepy. By the time lunch was served, the train had crossed Gaya Junction at around 2 PM. I had few snacks, cupcakes and I climbed to the upper berth. A nap after the meal is most recommended.

The noise of bawling kids woke me up. It was 5 PM. I have learned a thing or two about baby care now. Like, I know how often is one supposed to feed a baby in a span of 19 hours? How often does a baby pee in 19 hours? And how much does it stink when shit happens (and quite frequently) right in front of your nose? What goes in must come out. Getting married stinks!

The dinner arrived at 9 PM. I had ordered for a chicken meal. The food reminded me of ILP days at Haldia. It was unhygienic, yucky and not enough to fill one’s tank. I was at home 24 hours before and this fall from grace landed me right where a fall from grace should have landed me. The train was slated to reach Delhi at 4:30 in the morning. The good part was I could skip the morning ablutions in the train. I hate using public lavatories; even the thought of touching the door-handle to open and to get out is creepy. And let us not talk about how much it reeks. Nonetheless, I made a brief, habitual visit to it before going to bed. A long held piss, when released, gives an orgasmic pleasure. Almost everyone was ready to sleep. Arranging bed-sheets has always been quite a task for me. I was at the Upper berth, the farthest those men could keep me from their wives. I just stare unabashedly, otherwise I am a gentleman.

I fell asleep very soon. The shrill of horns and the cacophony of noise filled the apartment. The train had arrived. I checked my watch, 5 AM- half an hour late. Time flies when we sleep. It, otherwise, crawls. I took my only luggage, looked at “that lady” for the last time, she reciprocated; I could see a tacit affection in her eyes. I wanted to kiss her. No words of praise can express the affection that a passionate kiss can do. But I killed the thought and stepped out. Oh my girl, my soul, my all, but not mine! Metro service doesn't start before 6, means I had a job to arrange for an auto-rickshaw. The weather, as in October, was so like Bangalore, a gentle cool breeze followed my skin. Why do we love someone to the extent that it starts hurting? Why can’t the love be unconditional, selfless and forgiving? Oh, how much I loved her! Believe me friends, there's always a boy who loves the girl more than the boy she's actually with. Anyways, I took the auto. It was already carrying two people, a girl and her father. The girl was stunningly gorgeous, as like most of the Delhi girls. It was then I realized that the lady in the train was just my infatuation; and the girl in the auto was my true love. Yes! Love never ends; it only changes its partner.

Yes, No or Maybe

2011-09-10T04:10:00.000-07:00

Apparently, everyone who has read JD Salinger’s “The Catcher In The Rye”, would feel the epiphany of what I am going to jabber about. For those who haven’t read- the book is a decent and intricately honest presentation of a teenager’s cry of anguish and his behavioral tendencies midst myriad thoughts. While reading, I, for most of the time lost myself in the pages and felt like a protagonist who could sense the indecisiveness and egotism of the character. It is a recommended read for all the book-lovers and for those dunderheads as well who, for some reason, believe that every novel has to be written to serve the purpose of a banal Bollywood script (CC: Chetan Bhagat).

Of course, the book jogged my memory back to the days of my irresolute behavior as well. I once wrote a piece “Not Happy” on the similar lines expressing grief and angst when I was in Final year of Engineering. That was the time when I used to dodge responsibilities, procrastinate, and often ignore reality. I feigned and lied to make my version of reality seem logical. I sulked when confronted about my inability to live up to my promises and obligations. I wanted people to be there for me and at the same time didn’t like them to come too close and burden me with their needs or expectations. The other post that reflected the quirks and foibles of my character was “Just A Zilch”, when I was at home waiting impatiently for the call letter of TCS, getting restless and apprehensive about my career, and being absolute heedless of what I actually dreamed to be.

Doesn't it happen with everyone? I mean, living with a certain hesitancy, thereby, creating an abiding sense of insecurity and doubt in one’s mind? Ask a kid and he is never sure of which flavor of ice-cream he wants; a Black Current, maybe? Girls live with a doubt of what dress they should put on for a date; a mini-skirt or jeans, plausibly spending half an hour or more, preening themselves in front of the mirror. Boys, on the other hand, (See, I am not being a sexist) are always uncertain of their choice of career. What about engineering, maybe with Computer Science or IT? (I would say, “No”). Team Anna doesn’t know what it wants; the Government doesn't know what it doesn’t want; thereby leaving people of India bewildered. Cricketers, coupled with their ambiguousness, half-revealing and half-concealing, don’t know whom to choose, IPL or the nation? Dhoni doesn’t know when to take Batting Power-play and BCCI has no idea what governance is about. Politicians like Manish Tiwari, Kapil Sibbal and Digvijay Singh babble foolishly and apologize. Chetan Bhagat tweets foolishly and apologizes. Everyone is in a muddle. I used to believe that the vague sense of insecurity accompanying a conviction of ignorance fades with time- for prudence comes with age but the fact is we live with our idiosyncrasies and we’re always surrounded with the questions, the answer of which could be any of the three; Yes, No or Maybe.

7 Facebook Futilities

2011-06-25T03:50:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: If you are bashful, get easily offended and don't understand sarcasm, please move your ass out of this blogpage. If you're still reading it, I take no responsibility if you get hurt.

This post is slightly inspired by my cousin Rajeev Choudhary's Tips to get popular on facebook. Here are 7 things you must try on Facebook before you die.

Open Lifebox or Luckybox. It has become a cult among my friends and somehow they assume that they are playing it cool. I promise I will like that post the day it asks you to "Get A Life".
Copy and paste Love quotes or some insipid philosophies of yours. It will earn you likes, 90% of them will be girls. And, you'll feel that your chances of getting laid with any one of them has doubled.
Use more and more applications. This is my favourite. You will know who likes you most and who admires you most. And I bet, it would not show my name. Ever.
Tag friends. Download a funny photo from Google and tag your friends whom you think would like and comment. Most of them would go a step further and will share it. Before this, I thought there's a limit to stupidity.
Update Shayari, jokes or lyrics of songs. The number of likes will tell you why stereotype movie like "Ready" was a runaway hit. Or even MTV Roadies. Oops, did I hit a nerve somewhere?
Ask questions, answer questions. Yeah friends, how should I tell you that I always wanted to know whether you like Maggi or Sandwich most.
Make Groups and add your friends. Anyone remembers creating Communities in Orkut days. Should I say, Facebook is the new Orkut?

If you have missed any of the aforesaid things, you haven't lived a Facebook life. And, I am one beleaguered soul who doesn't have a life on Facebook. God, I don't want to try, I want to die.

Rants And Raves

2011-06-02T21:29:00.000-07:00

Five months. Yeah, it has been five months since I put pen to paper. Instead, I have been tweeting but sometimes things get too heavy and jagged to be burdened upon 140 characters (sorry I can’t help your ignorance if you ain’t Twitter friendly). At one point, I thought of shutting down this blog as it has invaded my privacy to a certain extent, but then what’s the fun in writing something and keeping it secret to oneself, without letting others know about one’s views and experiences. This post contains some random scribbling and I would deal with one topic at a time. I don’t consider myself as a writer. To me, blogging is just a way to draft my memories into texts to embrace forever, before I get too old and my memory falters to serve me right. At the age of 60, when I will retire from TCS just after doing night shift for the last time, I will sit on my armchair surrounded by my grandchildren, and when I will have no story to hark back to, then I will go through some of my old posts and would tell them how overjoyed I was when I became the branch topper in college, how fucking freaking was the TCS-Training in Haldia, how captivating it was to fly for the first time, how I cried when my first love broke my heart for the first time and how petrified I was when the people, I never thought from the start, showed their fake side in the end.

Facebook Is Spambook

For the last 20 days, I was temporarily quiescent on social sites. Facebook has become spammer’s paradise and those who can’t recognise a spam link, I believe, are the serious case of dyslexia. Dear spammers, Osama's death video ain't luring me to click it. Show me what he did with 70 virgins up above and maybe I'll change my mind. And how come none of the spammers have yet come up with link of “Leaked honeymoon video of Prince William and Kate Middleton”? Besides this, people who are desperate to know who visits their profile often shouldn’t actually be on Facebook, get back to Orkut nerds! And then we have people who want to know whom they would look like when they get old, I say Wayne Rooney. Now, fuck off. Enough said.

Not Just Another Birthday

This June, I turn 24. Had I been in Maharashtra, I would have been denied alcohols. On a serious note, the last 12 months were as bitter as Barista’s double Espresso coffee. I was happy till 23 and I wanted time to swing back. No, I am not going to get all sentimental now and go reflecting over the whole year, but when you been through a lot and look back on all the craps you pulled yourself out of and all the sufferings you lived through, you suddenly realise that it has built your character to undertake adversities and hardships. Every time when I queried, “Can it get worse?” I got an affirmative response from life, “Yes man, it always can.”

Once Bitten, Twice Shy

I was on a road to recovery. But lately, I have interacted with some people who do a volte-face oftenest and for the little time that I have observed them, they ostensibly tried to cook up a persona of decent, caring, extremely polite and impressionable person but the fact is they define the word ugly in the true sense of its meaning. They are so obsessed with their culture, caste and region that one fails to give a damn. And what is more perplexing is the false facade they put on, pretending to be a well-wisher. These people are, first, the young minds and talking so cheap in this era is so fucking passé and unacceptable. Why hang on to old things – old thoughts? They must clear their head of unreal philosophy that just doesn’t work anymore. The second, they judge people on the basis of culture; not by character, a weirdo or an Indian mumbo-jumbo as it may sound. The last, they are the canker in our midst and ruin of many relationships; which, in process of time, breeds immense hatred. Those people don’t exist in my world. I put an end to such relationships as soon as I sniff disloyalty. The way I perceive people dictates the way I treat them. I may forget what they said but I will never forget how they made me feel. I don’t repent, I live with my injuries. Dear God, if you have sent me to respect those mindsets, I decry. I will let you down.

Life is a lousy teacher. Love is over-hyped. Relationships are lemons. Friendship is a caveat emptor. People change, from a sweetheart to an ungrateful friend, from a confidant to a mere acquaintance and from a believer to a cynic. Things allure, they elude much more when we are in dire need of a particular thing. Some people have the uncanny knack of pulling things back together out of chars and ashes, out of dust and coals but some rely on destiny for redemption, and this attitude eventually demarcates the winners and the losers.

PS: Always put a comment otherwise the author will never know that readers didn’t like the post.

Q & A

2011-01-17T04:19:00.000-08:00

The way 2011 has started, it has left so many questions unanswered in the mind of people. I am taking this pain to answers few of them to the best of my ability.

Q: Why Ravindra Jadeja was considered the smartest bid at IPL Auction?

A: Because he is the best man to blame for a loss.

Q: Dada was snubbed by KKR. Apart from politics, what else do you think can take Ganguly out of cricket?

A: Some short and fast bowling.

Q: Why wasn't Lara picked up by any IPL Franchise?

A: Because Lara was already picked up by Mahesh Bhupati.

Q: What's the similarity between participants of Mumbai Marathon and Australian batsmen?

A: In the end, all they could manage was a run.

Q: Who was the only person not allowed to run in Mumbai Marathon?

A: Jet Airways pilot Vikas Agarwal because he doesn't run, he just runs over.

Q: What's new about Sania Mirza losing out in First Round of Australian Open?

A: She won the first set.

Q: Hrithik celebrated his birthday last week. What were the gifts he received?

A: His fans gave him flowers bouquet, critics - DVD of Guzaarish.

Q: Mayawati also celebrated her birthday last week, third time in three years. What's so good and bad about that?

A: She has become an year older but her statues haven't.

Q: Fincher's "The Social Network" got 4 Golden Globes. What does this mean to Inception team?

A: A robust kick.

Q: Why was Nehra preferred over Sreesanth in the 15 member World Cup squad?

A: Because the former provides the extra "teeth" to the bowling line-up.

An Intended Pun

2011-01-15T03:47:00.000-08:00

If on any day Congress fails to embarrass us, chances are BJP will do. Here's a sarcastic view on why Congress outplays BJP :

Congress was formed in 1885 and is over 100 years old. The BJP in turn was formed in 1999 but its leaders are well over 100 years old.
The Congress has young and dynamic leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Pilot and Milind Deora. The BJP on the other hand has only one youth icon - Rahul Mahajan, a huge star!
The one point where the BJP could have an edge, of course over the congress is the fact that Congress leader Sonia Gandhi is born in a foreign country - Italy. Unfortunately, BJP leader LK Advani is also born in foreign country, the worst possible kind of it - Pakistan.
Congress has people who have nothing sensible to say and they do just that, sensibly enough. No, I'm not talking about Dr. Manmohan Singh this time. Ain’t nothing funny about a joke that falls flat.
Above all, Congress has BJP as an opposition party which makes them look good regardless of all flaws.

Politics is not within my domain of interest but sometimes lack of topic over-weighs the lack of interest.

My 10 - Take 4

2010-12-31T02:14:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: Dear readers, if you think you are wittier than me, read this. By the end of it you'll know you were right.

Here's my take on the people who ruled newspaper headlines and covered most part of breaking news in 2010 but for wrong reasons.

Yaana Gupta : She did it Hollywood style and people raised fingers at her. Not sure for what purpose.
Lalit Modi : You cannot lead the field when ICC President is the Agriculture Minister, if you know what I mean.
Rahul Gandhi : Another Wikileaks cable has revealed that the number of tigers in India is more than those who see him as our future PM. His genes are certainly in doubt.
Manmohan Singh : Much ado about Nothing. My blog is the only place he is in news this year.
Nira Radia : Radia tapes is as famous as Reshma ki Jawani in the porn market. Guess who is more bothered, Tatas!
Suresh Kalmadi : CWG was as exciting as Sex. Those who made it were as happy as those who pulled out. And this man enjoyed all the orgasms.
A Raja : It is only after 2G scam that people came to know that he was our Telecom Minister. And see, he resigned and we again don't know who the new appointment is?
Ricky Ponting : There are two kinds of people in this world : 1> those who hate Ponting, and 2> the Ponting himself.
Sania Mirza : Advantage Shoaib. Pakistan, you can take her but you won't get kashmir ever. Fuck you (I mean, Pakistan).
Digvijay Singh : Instead, I was planning to include Ratan Tata. I called both of them. Digvijay obliged gleefully, Tata didn't. Privacy, you know!!

PS: You are free to disagree and criticize. God has given me all the right to delete discourteous comments put by you.

My 10 - Take 3

2010-09-10T02:01:00.000-07:00

I have given words to some of my thoughts and I hope you'll relish reading them. Welcome to the wisdom quotes by Rajesh Choudhary.

My 1 : The belief in god is a gift to people which I've denied as yet.
My 2 : There is one big similarity between football and sex, the handballs seldom go unnoticed.
My 3 : It is only when you master the art of telling a lie that you can handle the girls better.
My 4 : It is good to dream as long as the dream is good.
My 5 : I don't like to climb one step at a time, I love stepping on to an escalator.
My 6 : It’s not always good to pull the legs; sometimes we should try spreading them.
My 7 : It's written everywhere "Don't Drink and Drive" and that's why I don't drive.
My 8 : I never drink unless the pegs are large, expensive and concentrated.
My 9 : If there is anything worth to lose, virginity tops the list. Next comes prejudice.
My 10 : Any problem has 3 aspects: What is the problem? What is the cause? What is the solution? Sitting pretty will leave it all unanswered.

Copyright (c) 2010 Rajesh Choudhary
All Rights Reserved

This product is protected by copyright and distributed under licenses restricting copying, distribution and decompilation.

Night Shift Blues

2010-09-03T16:24:00.000-07:00

My night shift schedules are taking its toll on my body. I don't have muscles, so I'm losing on my bones.

2PM : I wake up and get ready for lunch after finishing with my "morning" ablutions. The good news is I have the home-cooked food anyways I take it in a semi-conscious state.

3PM : I check my cell phone for calls and messages and I ignore most of them. I fall flat on my bed again, dead like a silent sea.

6PM : I wake up again. This time I'm more in my senses. I try to enjoy few hours of my stay at home by watching sports, movies or even the repeats of it. I ignore news channels. They suck like a parasite.

9PM : I take dinner. I wish the clock to freeze but that bloody shit keeps on ticking. Time flies, I get to know.

9:30PM : Time to go to office. I put on my jeans and T-shirt (fuck business formals !!) and I leave disgracefully.

10PM : I occupy my desk. I look around for some familiar faces but end up feeling sorry for myself. I mourn as if I'm dead. RIP Rajesh.

12 Midnight: I log into my gmail account and try to find someone worth to chat. If its a male I pretend to be busy otherwise you all know me, don't you?

2AM : I go to pantry and order for some snacks. The snacks and beverages worth upto Rs 50 are made free, call it a night shift perks! I make sure that I lose minimum.

4AM : I make another visit to pantry only to get a glimpse of a beautiful girl I find on the way. She looks exhausted as she lays on her desk revealing all her curves. She looks irresistible. I like the way she carries herself but I'm sure she wouldn't like if I let her know my intentions.

5AM : I become desperate to leave but that bloody emails keep coming. What the heck I'm doing here? Is this what I always wanted? I give it a thought everyday.

6AM : Time has come. Before it gets to 6:01 AM, I'm out of the building. I feel sleepy and find my eyelids the heaviest thing in this world. I wish buses have beds.

6:30AM : I ring the doorbell. My roommate takes a while to open the door. It is those little annoying times I feel like screaming, come on! Get up.

7AM : Sweet bed! Sweet bed! Where are you? I get lost into dreams in seconds. Make a note I'm happiest at 7 in the morning.

8AM : Let me tell you, my roommate doesn't have a heart. He wakes me up while he leaves for the office. Shit man! I close the door though temporarily devoid of consciousness.

1AM : Time for my cook to arrive. I doze off immediately for another hour. But at some corner of my mind I know what is there to follow; Night Shift Blues!!!

This schedule isn't just for a day or two. I follow it for two continuous weeks in a month. The trouble with night shifts is that whenever I say I make money at night, people feel offended and every time I've to add that I don't make it on bed. There is a brighter side of everything and working in shifts isn't any exception. Now I'm not afraid of life after death because I'm living Hell.

My Whims And Fancies

2010-08-10T13:44:00.001-07:00

There are few places on the Earth which fascinate me more than anything. Sometimes the drift I feel is so strong that I can't resist the temptation at all. I always wanted to visit the beaches of Mauritius, a place where one can spend the whole day by just watching how small a bikini can be made. But the goddamn money, it always ends up making me blue as hell. And it seems my quest for the smallest bikini will only remain a mission and I will have to build my own imagination to find the answer. Give me a break! I'm getting deviated to something that cannot be explained through texts.

I have been to the Digha beach and Mandarmani beach once, both situated on the Bay of Bengal. The sunsets and sunrises reflecting off the salty waters of the Bay of Bengal were something straight from an artist's canvas. When I was under the cold waters of the ocean, I felt like the gladdest thing basking under the Sun. Of course, there was no luxury of watching babes in bikini but I still relished in what was offered to me. It was so eye-catching to see the tides getting continuously smashed when they struck against the rocks and mountains. I don't have words to draw the picture of the sultry scenic beauty (it's not the words in the dictionary but my vocabulary that is falling short !!). Whoever has a doubt, let me demystify that there's nothing more beautiful than nature.

Besides that, Las Vegas and its casinos have always eluded me. I want to be dressed in the wardrobe by Versace holding the most expensive alcohol in my hand with paparazzi all around me. Ravishing, isn't it? I agree to the point that money can't buy happiness but I would rather love to cry in a Ferrari. So many things can drive you nuts, at the end of the day it is the ultimate satisfaction that matters. People may call this post a bit exaggerated and farfetched, I call it my whims and fancies !!

The Woeful Plight Of Indian Football

2010-07-17T01:48:00.000-07:00

I consider FIFA as the greatest sporting event on the earth. Even in FIFA 2010 South Africa which recently folded up in the soccer city Johannesburg, I followed every game diligently but with a heavy heart as India, a nation of teeming millions, didn't had anything at stake. The only time we qualified for the World Cup was way back in 1950 but FIFA didn't let us play barefoot as we didn't know to play with football boots. Isn't that silly? The answer is yes but may be it wasn't that silly 60 years back. Since then the only thing that we have learned in football is to play with the boots on. According to the current FIFA rankings, India is comfortably placed at 132. I used the word "comfortably" because there isn't any competition when someone is this much down and we are hitting a new low every year just to avoid any rivalry if one arises.

Sometimes I wonder who is responsible for this. Is it government or us? In India, the easiest way to get out of blame is to put it on the government. Be it inflation, unemployment or any social evils, we put the onus on the government without giving a second thought to it. Let me tell you in most of the scenarios, we are absolutely right but there are some areas where to witness a revolution, people's effort is required. We should drive the change instead of just following it. Questions galore in mind like-

Don't we have eleven men -

Who have the hunger to prove their mettle with their undauntable heroism on the football ground?
Who can match (if not outperform) the likes of Diego Armando Maradona, Thierry Henry and Edison Arantes aka Pele?
Who can trust each other and do miracles at the centre stage of football, the World Cup?
Who can carry the expectations of billions of Indians on their mighty shoulders and bring glory to the nation?
Who can take the beautiful game of football to a level unsurpassed by any other nation in this world?

The endless struggle between my heart and my mind finally comes to an end with the answer No. Unlike Cricket, we don't see the name and fame, the money and status, the glitz and glamour in this game. Everyone feels that a dark and ugly future awaits for those who want to make a career out of it. Remember that only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet and We Indians are smart, we don't take risks unless the success is guaranteed. It is obvious that a law cannot be enforced when everyone is an offender. All we can do is wait, wait until a hero is born and mind you we need eleven of them. A day will come when oracle octopus, Paul will predict our victory in the Finals and Indian Flag will fly high in the arena of International Football.

My Life My Love

2010-06-27T01:46:00.000-07:00

I don’t know from where I should start writing this post. Should I begin narrating the gloomy tale of my screwed professional life or should I go reflecting the blues that linger in my mind for my inability to love things and people in my personal life. Should I crib about the broken relationships that somehow remain feebly alive in my heart and soul or should I beseech the presence of someone special in my life’s pursuit of happiness. It is said that happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling. I can’t agree more. Life is what happens to you when you are planning to do something else. And these things have taught me to be more humanitarian and not lay too much emphasis on material things. It drives my mind to both the gift and fragility of life. So much can change in so little time and yet, unfortunately we spend most of our time bickering and worrying about life’s petty things.

Professional Life: Screwed !!

My life at TCS has just begun and it seems the voyage is self-discovery. The job is boring and the ambience is biased. Yes, regionalism persists. North Indians are victimized, it’s sad but true! Good that monsoon arrives in India from South; no one would have allowed one from North. A line from Robin Sharma’s A Monk Who Sold His Ferrari says, “It is only when you master the art of loving yourself that you can truly love others”. Indians need to learn such things. Lately, we have heard few cries over Indians being ill-treated in countries like Australia and USA. That’s painful. But the hatred among the Indians for the Indians (be it for North or South) is somewhat itchy. And believe me! One can stand the pain but not the itch.

Apart from that, the work is hateful. I cannot give my 100% commitment to it unless the work excites me. I hope it does but I know it won’t. The road to success is always under construction, my friend! I must strive hard to reach my destiny, against my fate.

Personal Life: Messed up !!

These lines by Bob Dylan reflects the mindset I’m in-

How does it feel

To be on your own

With no direction home

Like a complete unknown

Like a rolling stone - Like A Rolling Stone

Loneliness is a special moment when chosen by ourselves but hard to digest when gifted by others. Being single is self-explanatory (though my attempts at girls have gone all in vain and I fear I’ll die single) but being alone is irksome. Besides friends, I seek the august presence of my girl, my love. The greatest thing this heart can achieve is to find someone worth to dream. Every time I go to bed, I dream about her. Her smile is contagious and her face shines bright in the darkest of the night. She is the one. Everyone is someone’s dream and she’s mine.

I wish I could hold her in my arms and never let go.
I wish the whole world rests in her palms. For the taking.
I wish she always carries a never-ending intriguing smile on her face.
I wish life pours on her the taste of glory, beauty and joy, and keeps her away from the pain and agony of the world.
I wish her love.

Proposing someone you don’t want to lose is very tough. And you see, I fear losing her even in the dreams. I feel her presence in every sunrise, every flower’s unfolding petals, every mother’s blessing, every droplet of rain and every baby’s innocent smile. I pray for her good health and good luck for all her future endeavours. But reality is the only obstacle to happiness and I am dreaming the impossible dream.

Up In The Air

2010-06-06T01:54:00.000-07:00

It would be like restating the obvious that humans are the most superior creations of God. We are bestowed with imagination, power and intelligence. We dream, we think and we make it true. On the contrary, there is one fine art that humans are deprived of and that is flying. Having said that, I am still happy being human and feel absolutely blessed about it. When I was a kid, I felt ecstatic to see birds. God, you should have given us wings!!! I used to wish. When I realized that I couldn’t fly; my fantasy took a new shape in form of aeroplanes. I used to stare at the sky every time I saw planes whizzing pass above my home’s roof. There is something unknown and untold about few things until you experience it and I wanted to fly. As the demand for wings from God was not feasible, I made my mind to travel by flight one day. The day arrived, 1st June 2010; I realized one of my dreams. I was flying.

Flying is the second greatest experience known to me. Landing is the first. Without being hand-held or tranquilised, I can’t stomach the thought of cruising thousands of feet up there. It was SpiceJet’s flight number SG 872 from Kolkata to Bengaluru (I don’t know what naming-convention they follow) that set my nerves to freak. The plane took-off and within minutes I was 38,000 feet high soaring with a speed of 800 kilometres per hour. I was spell-bound to find the cluster of clouds under my feet. The reality seemed better than the dreams. The outer view was dazzling with brilliance and at the same time the inner view wasn’t bad either. The pretty looking air-hostesses possessing the seducing figure of 36-24-36 in their perfect attire and apparel were so mesmerizing that I changed the priorities to keep my eyes busy. The journey was going smoothly and I wasn’t lamenting over the absence of wings anymore.

The irony of life is that when everything seems to be going your way, you find few things baffling with bullshit around you. There was a baby who was crying like hell (may be she expected everyone to see her and not the air-hostess). I got the headache. She made me realize that happy moments are short-lived (okay! I’m considering the baby as a girl). Not only that, the person seated next to me spared no pains to add to my agony. He started talking about his struggling career and business not realizing that I’m least interested in knowing what he went through all his life. But then, he offered me few sweets and that was the only time I liked him. Somehow I got over both the menace…huh !!

We were to reach Bengaluru soon. The pilot announced the pleasant weather outside and the plane landed safely. I was reluctant to move out but had no choice. I exchanged the last glance from the air-hostess. It is said that one should not look down at someone unless you’re getting a beautiful view of the cleavage. I got the view and let me clarify that it was purely intentional. I stepped down and my dream run was over. The traffic at Bengaluru was waiting for me. Oh! I missed my plane dearly.

Coming Back To Life

2010-03-17T10:44:00.000-07:00

Lately I feel like coming back to life, albeit slowly, out of the fog, out of the darkness of solitude and boredom, out of the craps that held me tightly for the past six months. Yes! The self imposed exile is over. I feel like I can handle a bit more, not a lot but just enough to give me hope that the things will get easier. I feel like taking the bull by the horn, living my life my way - KING size (of course my salary doesn't support me!). I'm so glad to relive the days somewhat like the ones I had in my college. The luxuries of laying eyes on the hot babes, the fun of hanging around with friends, drinking and nattering about rubbish things, the trauma of exams and poor results which happen with such regularity that one hardly pays any heed to them....yippee! My college days are back. I should have written this post earlier but I was so involved that I didn't get any time to script it down.

I arrived at Haldia on 20th Jan and soon realized that training would be great fun here. Well, to be honest upfront, the career-oriented Rajesh in me was not happy at all by the faculties, facilities and fallacies (Experience Certainty is a myth) promised by TCS but the lascivious Rajesh in me was pretty much enthralled. Reasons, there were girls, good girls, hot girls and to my delight, I got the room from where I could easily stare at the beauties living on the other side of my window. I loved intruding in their Personal Space (but the closed window panes proved that they didn't love it!!!). Three things in particular always create a sense of alacrity in me.

Crushes: Crushes are like seasons. They come and go. They happen anywhere (the only place where I don't have a crush is Men's Washroom). More so, it says "c rushes" which means she doesn't stay for long. Wish I could tell how much I love them and wish I could make-love with them: P

Exams: Exam time is that time of the year when you start doubting your career choice. The minute you get your exam results, you get your doubts cleared as well. Having said that, I was lucky to clear all exams of ILP phase-I (apparently my doubts still persist). However, the CAT result assured me that Management is not my domain. I read a tweet which said CAT should be renamed as CANT, I found it amusing but the thing is even I can't. Fuck! The dream is gone. CAT eludes.

Drinks: I drink but I'm not addicted, neither I am a big time drunkard. At the same time I love to stay drunk and I take it gleefully when offered. Trust me! It's not that bad unless you are paying for it. We always have a wild and crazy Saturday nights. It involves Whisky, Vodka, Wine, tons of good girl talks, songs and so much laughter that my throat hurts the next day. Freaking fabulous we booze and are left with the hangover on Sunday mornings.

I wanted to write a humorous piece. But accepting HIT Haldia as TCS Training Centre, I realized the joke was on me. My disappointment with the Haldia stems not from the fact that it is a dismal place but a NOT-happening TCS ILP Centre. Then the most awaited day of my professional life came on 26th Feb, that day I got my first salary. And you know what, from that very day I have never complained...!

A Suicidal Shower

2009-12-27T23:02:00.000-08:00

I was sleeping. My phone rang at 8 but I ignored. It rang again after a brief pause, I was still unmoved. But I obliged reluctantly after it happened for the third time. It was my friend and I finished him as soon as I could though not all in my senses. I hate such calls, be it anyone’s. A technology should be devised to shun those ill-timed calls. I thought that was surely one of the shortcomings of otherwise spectacular Nokia N72. I dozed-off again.

If you’re living in North India by this time of the year, you don’t feel guilty of getting up as late as 10 AM. Moreover, if you wake up early, nobody’s awake to appreciate it. The mercury is dipping invariably and the temperature is inversely proportional to the days elapsed between my two successive baths. I would be sorry if I’m too abstruse as I didn’t want to say that bluntly. Nonetheless, I had a bath today. The bathroom felt like an ice-cube and the water was icy-cool but I still went for it only to please myself. It consisted of dunking my head under cold water and washing other parts as quickly as possible. It made me scream like a little school girl for about the first 30 seconds (just until I lost all the feelings in my extremities). And I’m still not man enough to go straight cold from the next time.

I absolutely love the winter, but I can’t stand showering in it. A cold-shower is the worst thing that can happen to you in that season; it is a sudden, nasty and unpleasant shock to the system at best. I think a word should be invented to describe the feeling of the first few seconds, oh! It was so harsh that it deserved its own adjective, really! Having that suicidal shower is just another unique experience that I’ll remember for the rest of my life. And it won’t be too bad thinking back on it than actually going for it.

Most of my brothers and friends fall in the category who takes a bath once in a week only. I used to perform it with no or little intermittence. But after being here in Delhi, I always give it a second thought. A good sex or a good shower rejuvenates the soul from within and coincidentally both the activities are executed nakedly. The only difference is the contrasting mood they bring about in winter, the former sets it up and the latter upsets it. But at this point what I want most from now is to bathe under properly-hot water. It’s sad how low our expectations become sometime, isn’t it?

I Dream

2009-12-27T22:47:00.000-08:00

“Sapne bhi samundar ki lahron ki tarah, haqeeqat ki chattanon se takra kar toot jate hain” (English- Dreams are like the tides of an ocean, they get smashed when they strike against the mountains of reality.) - Amitabh Bachchan in the movie Deewar.

Everybody has a wild fancy for something or the other. We all have a wistful look when we think about our unfulfilled dreams. And when it is achieved, we move on to the higher plane of new dreams. Here I feel a need to clarify the difference between a goal and a dream. They are the elements of two different domains. A goal is an ambition, a dream is an aspiration. If one wants to become a businessman then that is one’s goal but being as successful as Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani is one’s dream. A goal is mostly achieved but a very few people realise their dreams because many people quit after they achieve their goal. But that shouldn’t be the case; the dreams should always be chased.

Here are some of the dreams we people dream of -

Common Man: A happy family with the basic needs of Roti, Kapda aur Makaan.
Bollywood Actors & Directors: Oscar awards for their films.
A RGV film: To get even a nomination in any category.
Cricketers: To do more ads and to become most expensive player at the IPL auction.
Cricket Lovers: India wins every match and Sachin scores a century every time.
A Bachelor: A beautiful, slim, convent, educated, professionally qualified bride.
A Bachelorette: A tall, fair, handsome, well-educated, well-settled, only son, affluent family, NRI as groom.
A Student: Get admission in a premier institute a la IIT or an IIM.
Parents: Kids become either doctor or engineer.
Politicians: Be the Prime Minister of India, one day!
An Investor: The Stock market to remain bullish, always.
A Delhiite: A bigger car, a bigger home, more diamonds and gold jewellery than the neighbour.
MCD: Successful organization of Common Wealth Games, Delhi 2010.
A Mumbaikar: To catch the Local train with a window seat.
MNS: Reserving that window seat for the Mumbaikars only.
A Blogger: Number of comments hit a century for every post, followers increase by a dozen every day. And churn out amazing posts every now and then.
Every Indian: A peaceful, prosperous, terror-free, poverty-free, crime-free, clean and green, united India.

Nothing happens unless first a dream. And to accomplish great things, we must not only dream but also act; not only plan but also believe; not only think but also execute. At the same time it is unrealistic to hope that all one’s dreams can be fulfilled. Paulo Coelho says,” Only one thing makes a dream impossible, the fear of failure.” So, let us weed out the deep rooted fear from our heart. Let us dream.

Just A Zilch

2009-11-09T19:57:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: This post might be a bit depressing ‘coz I have a long list of things to crib about. So, all you, bright, happy, cheerful guys n gals, please click on the ‘cross’ at the top right corner of this web page or read at your own risk!

“Every decision you make is a mistake” said Edward Dahlberg. And I’m in sync with his thoughts today. Today is the day of indecisiveness. I’m not able to decide on anything. I used to be indecisive earlier as well but now I am not quite sure.

I have rejected at least 5 ideas (my own, of course!) for today’s blog post. It’s one of those days when everything seems to be in a muddle, no clarity of thoughts, and no vision. Am I suffering from mental fatigue? Writing fatigue? Chronic fatigue? Am I bone-weary or am I soul-weary? I guess it’s all and this is bugging me to no end. I’m stuck! I’ve been sitting in front of my laptop (it’s my brother’s but I can pretend it to be mine.) for the last few hours and have come up with NOTHING! So far, so bad and yes! I’m not confident of even finishing this post in the way I would have liked.

Myriad of thoughts are going through, but none is getting crystallized. What about a post on Sachin’s blitzkrieg knock of 175...uh-huh no cricket please! (Yeah! it’s the 8th wonder of the world for me...or I don’t know which wonder...nowadays they keep changing the wonders, in our school days we just had seven!)

Should it be This or That?
Past or Present or Future?
Fact or Mystery?
Fake or Real?
Post or No Post?
Yes or No?

I tried my best but I failed miserably. Here I can recall the words of Samuel Beckett- Winner of Nobel Prize in Literature who once said, “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” I promise for a livelier post next time around...a gentleman’s promise it is! I am bitterly disappointed at this effort of mine of churning out a nice, interesting, and funny or a witty post, but the end result is Just A Zilch.

Do-ing No-thing

2009-11-02T20:52:00.000-08:00

I used to wonder what doing nothing would be like but let me tell you it is certainly not the situation you would love yourself to get involved into. I have been doing nothing for the past few months and trust me....there was nothing I could do about it. The greatest trouble you face is that the minute you wake up in the morning you are on the job and you never know when you are finished, and then the job becomes so petrifying that your likes and dislikes lose their importance. Suddenly you start liking hanging out with your friends (who perhaps themselves are caught in the same job) on social communities like orkut, facebook, twitter...blah, blah...blah, you don't mind giving a try to any movie (at times even a rgv film seems helpful.....no it's not a joke, it really helps!), you begin loving even the repeats of MTv Roadies, Splitsvilla et cetera and et cetera. And the likes of blogging looks awful (you see this is my first post in the last 2-3 months), I used to love listening songs but the careless whisper by George Michael, comfortably numb by Pink Floyd & like a rolling stone by Bob Dylan seem like just an another composition by Anu Malik (I feel sorry for his fans if he has got any). It is like a new disease, the symptoms are when you feel aimless, helpless, useless, worthless and jobless....the cure is not known to me but I am desperate.

My 10- Take 2

2009-07-28T21:02:00.000-07:00

One line thrasher for the reality shows which are becoming more spurious and newsworthy... than the reality itself.

1. MTV Roadies: The irony of each round is that if you ask a junior to do this kind of thing in college, it's called 'ragging' and you could go to jail.

2. 10 ka dum: A rare place where Salman can be seen with his shirts on but then you cannot bet on him for that. This show is exclusively for celebrities and is not a common man's show like you and me...!

3. Big Boss: It may be trivial, perfectly "yeow" in parts. But even discussing how much you supposedly hate it... is fodder for canteen conversation.

4. Rakhi Ka Swaymwar: 16 guys from different cities and towns are selected to compete for the item girl of the Bollywood, Rakhi Sawant. The show is complete bullshit and the Drama Queen just piles on the agony. And like other reality shows, Rakhi Ka Swaymwar- Season II won't come as a surprise to me.

5. Splitsvilla: The I & B ministry recently issued a notice to MTV for denigrating women. In my opinion 15 girls to seduce 2 boys is really cat fight not to miss by any guy at home alone. Truly, all of them are one more step ahead for vulgar language and dirty politics on idiot box. And all things are done in the name of reality.

6. Sach Ka Samana: Even though this is all about sach, there is lot of lying on the show. Every contestant is asked whether they were lying in bed with others or not. And eventually, 70% of the winning amount by the contestants is spent to hire a lawyer to fight his/her divorce case later.

7. The Great Indian Laughter Challenge: There is no skin show but still has got the stuffs for adults only. In case you are watching with the family, it is hard to suppress the laughter and if you laugh it suddenly becomes as embarrassing as the time you were caught watching porn.

8. Rock n Roll Family: They flirt shamelessly with the judges, and debate on saali being aadhi or poori gharwali. All scripted for sure but there is no sharam or lihaaj in either the banter or the matkas and jhatkas.

9. Ish Jungle se mujhe bachao: I don't want to be foul-mouthed recalling the idea behind this show. I appreciate the Sony Entertainment for having a strong stomach to air this crap.

10.Nach Baliye: 10 small screen couples participate in a dance competition and you are expected to see them invariably again and again after their never-ending saas-bahu saga......WTF!

Missing Friends

2009-07-28T20:51:00.000-07:00

I am feeling like living in exile or alienation although in contact with friends virtually through internet. I've been thinking lately about how I'm missing so many of my good friends lately just because our exulting college life is over now. That made me think of many of my friends who live just far enough away that I don't see them nearly as often as I wish I could. And some are here in town and I still don't visit them as regularly as I would have liked because of our busy lives. I began to wonder if 'face time is imperative to keeping a relationship going. In this age of cell phones, email, facebook, twitter, etc., it's easy enough to stay in touch even when we can't be in touch. When I want to be with my friends, though, I find it most satisfying when I can lay eyes on them, lay hands on them, give and get hugs, kisses, and slaps on the back. It's a realization that all of these hands-off ways of staying in touch simply aren't satisfying, or nurturing in a way I expect a friendship to be.

Good friends are priceless. Good friends are those you call when you're upset, when you're happy, when you're confused, when you're sick. Good friends have been where you are and have "ears to listen"; they'll also tell you how it felt to them and how they made it through. If you're lucky, you have good friends who, for some unknown reasons, have immense confidence in you and aren't afraid to tell you. Friends who aren't afraid to let emotion or tears creep into the conversation.

I am so lucky to be loved and appreciated by a few priceless friends. With no fakes and no pretensions, they are all transparent. I am missing my college days, missing the love crushes- They never care about me as you people have. Just missing you friends....sanjay, sachish, anil, anshu(mota), amit(guru), vivek, ishank, varun, sweta rani, rekha, milan, lovely and many more not named here. I feel absolutely blessed for having friends like you all.

Wimbledon-09

2009-07-19T05:20:00.000-07:00

Oh it’s been two weeks now. But the memory of that improbable match is still fresh and alive in my mind and heart. I am sure it would remain forever. It was a true delight to watch the two geniuses at play matching stroke by stroke. What was delightful to see the way two handled themselves post match. One man was the reigning champion, the untouchable who has caught hold of the famous Wimbledon trophy for the last five years now. The other was the lion hearted genius, trying relentlessly to catch the same for the past few years. But there was no bad taste after the match and both of them complimented each other like true champions. They are true idols for everyone around.

The match started with an early break in favour of Roddick, Though Federer had his chances, Roddick definitely was the better player in the first set. He won it 7-5. Second set was a bit dramatic and after the 6-2 lead for the American in the tie-breaker, he missed an easy backhand on full, no one would have imagined the eventual score line 6-8 in the tie-breaker, in favour of Federer. I have hardly seen Roddick squandering his chances this way. The third set was pretty much same like the second one, and Federer again managed to squeeze the win with some "Federer-like" moments in the tie-breaker. The scoreboard read 7-5, 6-7, 6-7 in favour of Federer. It felt at that time Federer would rout past Roddick in the fourth set. But in Tennis you have to always expect the unexpected. Roddick raised his game and managed to break the serve in the fourth set, it was 3-1. Federer got a chance to break back but Roddick's brilliance was on display here as he managed to save them. But, the most memorable short to save the break-point was the back hand pass by the American. That was truly remarkable. Roddick finally managed to win the set 6-3. The tides seemed to be turning but Federer did not give up and put all his muscular power in the final set. Finally his physical and mental strength proved to be too strong for Andy Roddick. Roger Federer won his 15th Grand Slam title, The Wimbledon-09, as the final score was 7-5, 6-7, 6-7, 6-3, 14-16.......would you believe!

There were some magic moments in this match and some of it was truly delectable. The battle lasted for an astonishing 4 hour and a quarter but that could neither manage the delirious fans to fade away from the centre court nor the billions watching on television (I, being the one!). It was all worth watching as eventually the champion was reborn out of the ashes of the last year's final here at the All England's Club where he lost to Rafael Nadal. The flashing cameras could not quite match the happiness and joy exuberating out of Federer’s face. I was backing Federer all the way, and seeing him with the trophy propelled tears out of my eyes. But I am sure, it was out of happiness. And, another thing I am sure of is that this was by far the best performance by Andy Roddick I have ever seen. Sometimes it becomes quiet a task to judge the best among the Equals....!

3 Idiots

2009-07-19T05:15:00.000-07:00

A new movie is directed by Raj Kumar Hirani which is based on the novel "Five Point Someone" written by Chetan Bhagat. I hope that some decency will be maintained by Hirani in the movie, i.e.exact representation of certain scene will cause turbulence in young generation. Certainly, all of us know that this novel is best seller by Indian Standard and based on the backdrop of IIT campus. This movie will remove the myth that only studious student can make it top notch. The idiots are students of mechanical engineering, a branch of Engineering where the gender ratio is much to worry about.

Perfectionist Aamir Khan, Cool R. Madhvan and cheeky Sharman Joshi are there for full fun of audience. I am dying to see Boman Irani as HOD, Mechanical. My only complaint is Kareena Kapoor as heroine of the film. But, you have to make lot of compromises in making bollywood film. By the way, rumours are on the rise that Aamir Khan’s character in 3 Idiots is named Rancho (this needs confirmation).

The idiots will definitely have something meaningful to say, with gentle humor and zero pretension. Aamir Khan has been quoted as saying that 3 Idiots is very different from 5 Point Someone. I don’t know why, but that makes me very happy. Maybe because Bhagat’s One Night at a Call Center filmed as 'hello' bored me to death. Moreover, student life is not all about uni-dimensional thinking about grades.

Sachin Tendulkar

2009-07-16T23:07:00.000-07:00

A legend, a man, often of divine ancestry, who is endowed with great courage and strength, celebrated for his bold exploits and an obvious Synonym to Champion. The peak of Mount Everest in terms of cricket has been redefined so many times by so many greats but this man is so special because he has engraved his name forever in the History Books for the most prestigious records in World Cricket. Sachin said that he had to throw a lot of stone to reach the milestone! What a quote from the great man who is not known for letting his emotion known in public.

Inspiration and Respect are the things which comes automatically deep down from heart. I am sure everyone from our generation look out to Sachin for the two. He inspires millions by his act both on and off the field. An eighteen year old kid touring his first Australian series and hitting a century on the conventional bouncy wicket of Perth is something which speaks volumes about the little master. It tells to people like us that if someone has the guts and the hunger to prove his or her mettle then nothing is impossible. It might sound like a cliche but that’s the way it is. The respect for the little master compounds by his off field examples. I have never seen or heard about a genuinely humble person like sachin. His Modesty and discipline inspires me and tells me that a down to earth man irrespective of whatever he has achieved in his life is the real champion.

Watching cricket has become one of my habits now because watching Geniuses like Sachin bat inspires you to do it over and over again and convert it into a habit! Though he has given me a lot of sleepless nights on the overseas tours, and that just shows how much I adore him. Sachin is great not only because the way he plays but also because of the kind of person he is. The way he conducts himself is a lesson for everyone around. The way he showers his happiness and praise on a youngster doing well is something really refreshing. He redefines the words Modesty and Humbleness to me.

There are times when he has faltered but on all those occasions he has come back with a bang like a true champion. So all you critics please leave him alone not because he would prove you wrong again but also because he is the reason why there is an overflow of money with BCCI and you are getting paid!!

The sight of seeing him under his Blue Helmet on a cricket ground and hitting Glenn Mcgrath for a straight drive on a day with blue sky has to be one of the best things which can happen on a Cricket Ground. The other would be Sachin hitting Mcgrath for another four on the very next delivery. The difference here would be that Mcgrath would sputter something this time to Sachin, while Sachin would just give a stare at him and follow his normal routine. That to me is the Ultimate Sight on a Cricket ground because that defines a true Champion named “ Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar”.

Nothing is Constant in life but one thing which can never change is my respect, adulation and admiration for “Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar”.

Keep the Spark Alive - Chetan Bhagat

2009-07-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

Keep the Spark Alive

Inaugural Speech for the new batch at the Symbiosis BBA program, Pune 23rd June, 2008

Following is the speech by Chetan Bhagat given at the orientation programme for the new batch of MBA students at Symbiosis, Pune.

Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you. This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your life. I am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when one is truly elated. The first day in college is one of them. When you were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates - there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the time.

Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old twin boys have a million sparks. A little Spiderman toy can make them jump on the bed. They get thrills from creaky swings in the park. A story from daddy gets them excited. They do a daily countdown for birthday party – several months in advance – just for the day they will cut their own birthday cake.

I see students like you, and I still see some sparks. But when I see older people, the spark is difficult to find. That means as we age, the spark fades. People whose spark has faded too much are dull, dejected, aimless and bitter. Remember Kareena in the first half of Jab We Met vs the second half? That is what happens when the spark is lost. So how to save the spark?

Imagine the spark to be a lamp’s flame. The first aspect is nurturing - to give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against storms.

To nurture, always have goals. It is human nature to strive, improve and achieve full potential. In fact, that is success. It is what is possible for you. It isn’t any external measure - a certain cost to company pay package, a particular car or house.

Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material landmarks is success and rightly so. When you have grown up where money constraints force everyday choices, financial freedom is a big achievement. But it isn’t the purpose of life. If that was the case, Mr. Ambani would not show up for work. Shah Rukh Khan would stay at home and not dance anymore. Steve Jobs won’t be working hard to make a better iPhone, as he sold Pixar for billions of dollars already. Why do they do it? What makes them come to work everyday? They do it because it makes them happy. They do it because it makes them feel alive Just getting better from current levels feels good. If you study hard, you can improve your rank. If you make an effort to interact with people, you will do better in interviews. If you practice, your cricket will get better. You may also know that you cannot become Tendulkar, yet. But you can get to the next level. Striving for that next level is important.

Nature designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we were born. To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature’s design. Are you? Goals will help you do that. I must add, don’t just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order.

There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.

You must have read some quotes - Life is a tough race, it is a marathon or whatever. No, from what I have seen so far, life is one of those races in nursery school, where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One last thing about nurturing the spark - don’t take life seriously. One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One student asked him if these jokes would take away something from the yoga practice. The teacher said - don’t be serious, be sincere. This quote has defined my work ever since. Whether its my writing, my job, my relationships or any of my goals. I get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is heaps of praise, there is intense criticism. If I take it all seriously, how will I write? Or rather, how will I live? Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? It’s ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices.

I’ve told you three things - reasonable goals, balance and not taking it too seriously that will nurture the spark. However, there are four storms in life that will threaten to completely put out the flame. These must be guarded against. These are disappointment, frustration, unfairness and loneliness of purpose.

Disappointment will come when your effort does not give you the expected return. If things don’t go as planned or if you face failure. Failure is extremely difficult to handle, but those that do come out stronger. What did this failure teach me? is the question you will need to ask. You will feel miserable. You will want to quit, like I wanted to when nine publishers rejected my first book. Some IITians kill themselves over low grades – how silly is that? But that is how much failure can hurt you. But it’s life. If challenges could always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge. And remember - if you are failing at something, that means you are at your limit or potential. And that’s where you want to be.

Disappointment’ s cousin is Frustration, the second storm. Have you ever been frustrated? It happens when things are stuck. This is especially relevant in India. From traffic jams to getting that job you deserve, sometimes things take so long that you don’t know if you chose the right goal. After books, I set the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought they needed writers. I am called extremely lucky, but it took me five years to get close to a release. Frustration saps excitement, and turns your initial energy into something negative, making you a bitter person. How did I deal with it? A realistic assessment of the time involved – movies take a long time to make even though they are watched quickly, seeking a certain enjoyment in the process rather than the end result – at least I was learning how to write scripts, having a side plan – I had my third book to write and even something as simple as pleasurable distractions in your life - friends, food, travel can help you overcome it. Remember, nothing is to be taken seriously. Frustration is a sign somewhere, you took it too seriously.

Unfairness - this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how our country works. People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces, pedigree find it easier to make it – not just in Bollywood, but everywhere. And sometimes it is just plain luck. There are so few opportunities in India, so many stars need to be aligned for you to make it happen. Merit and hard work is not always linked to achievement in the short term, but the long term correlation is high, and ultimately things do work out. But realize, there will be some people luckier than you. In fact, to have an opportunity to go to college and understand this speech in English means you are pretty damm lucky by Indian standards. Let’s be grateful for what we have and get the strength to accept what we don’t. I have so much love from my readers that other writers cannot even imagine it. However, I don’t get literary praise. It’s ok. I don’t look like Aishwarya Rai, but I have two boys who I think are more beautiful than her. It’s ok. Don’t let unfairness kill your spark.

Finally, the last point that can kill your spark is Isolation. As you grow older you will realize you are unique. When you are little, all kids want Ice cream and Spiderman. As you grow older to college, you still are a lot like your friends. But ten years later and you realize you are unique. What you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from even the people closest to you. This can create conflict as your goals may not match with others. And you may drop some of them. Basketball captains in college invariably stop playing basketball by the time they have their second child. They give up something that meant so much to them. They do it for their family. But in doing that, the spark dies. Never, ever make that compromise. Love yourself first, and then others.

There you go. I’ve told you the four thunderstorms - disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation. You cannot avoid them, as like the monsoon they will come into your life at regular intervals. You just need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.

I welcome you again to the most wonderful years of your life. If someone gave me the choice to go back in time, I will surely choose college. But I also hope that ten years later as well, your eyes will shine the same way as they do today. That you will Keep the Spark alive, not only through college, but through the next 2,500 weekends. And I hope not just you, but my whole country will keep that spark alive, as we really need it now more than any moment in history. And there is something cool about saying - I come from the land of a billion sparks.

Thank You.

Not Happy

2009-03-15T07:39:00.000-07:00

I am deeply saddened by how things go lately. So many unfortunate news flooding up my senses (I mean global recession and my company being most affected, I guess). I don't know why is it so hard for me to let a thought come and go without me going nuts over it for days and nights.

The little things that make me happy ain't working out anymore. Guess that's what adulthood all about. Seeing is believing. Recently I'm just so fed up with people. Some are just plain annoying and some, I don't know how they live with themselves. Maybe it's just me; with my unusually strong and perceived convictions on what's GOOD and BAD in life.

None of these matter in near future, I know. But it takes time to heal. And the time is now. Bad timing it is. I don't know why I feel so strongly against some behaviours and some mentalities that people possess. I'm not a narcissistic either; so what am I? A hater?

I am quite fed up with myself already. I shouldn't think too much. Life isn't about others afterall. It's all about me being able to face myself against the reflection in the mirror every morning. Now, I'm a narcissistic.

Roger Federer

2009-02-26T20:44:00.000-08:00

In case you have been living under a rock, asleep in a coma or lost in the deserts for the last ten years I thought I would give you a bit of background into who this man is. Roger Federer is widely known as the greatest tennis player ever to have lived. Born in Switzerland, Roger is renowned for his cool temperament and his fiery self discipline. The best way to illustrate who this man is to see some of his “Federer-like” moments. Only then will you be able to appreciate the man’s skill and finesse.

There has been quite a debate on who is the best tennis player ever to have lived on The Earth but when a player has won 13 Grand Slams, 14 Masters Series and has been ranked number one for a record 237 consecutive weeks then there shouldn't be any more doubts. He has won 3 Australian Opens, 5 Wimbledons and 5 US Opens. The only Grand Slam title that has eluded him for years is the French Open at Rolland Garros. He needs just one more Grand Slam title to equal the record of most Grand Slams by any Tennis player i.e. 14, currently held by Pete Samprass. I'm a great fan of Roger Federer as he never shows emotion after losing, he takes it as a challenge to excel in future. The only time I saw him crying was in the final of Australian Open 2009 where he lost to Rafael Nadal as he said, "God! it's killing me" at the Presentation Ceremony which restrained him from winning his 14th Grand Slam. Recently, there has been a decline in his performance as he slipped to No.2 position superseded by Rafael Nadal of Spain. But still I consider him the best in Tennis court....I hope many would agree!

Greatness is possible for everyone. Each and every human being has it within him/her to be something or someone special. In truth it takes a lot of hard work, discipline and mental toughness. But, if you can inculcate these things into your “game” as Federer has done you too will rise to great heights.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-06T08:45:00.000-08:00

I don't qualify even by the slightest margin to write a post on V day, that's your Valentine's day, February the 14th. But taking into account the fact that I have read a book to understand the relationship between boys and girls, I am considering myself as an expert revealing few tips and tactics that must be followed on V-Day or you may call it a D-Day. The tips are applicable for both the genders preferably with a little inclination to men, on what they should be doing ideally on this day.

DO's:
1. Put on your best possible dress in which you felt glamorous, handsome and like the superstar of the world. Remember the day you received the best compliments for wearing that dress.

2. Eye contact is very important. And girls do observe that. Yes, they are the first ones to look for assurance. So sit on your chair and don't take your eyes off even if you fear from inside.

3. Strike a conversation first up. Put your male ego aside for once and make the atmosphere pleasant for her. Pretend to be submissive. You will have your turn to unveil your manly side.

4. Patience. Whatever is your motive, let it not be an ulterior one. If it's not happening today it will happen some day because you made her feel special this day. Girls don't forget things as easily as men do.

5. Praise her a little less than what you'd normally do. It will show her how matured you are.

DONT's:
1. Don't try your traditional clothing. It's freaking weird. This is not your country's Independence day. Be casual and contemporary in style.

2. Stop staring at her attire, atleast on this day and involve in a meaningful conversation. Action - Sports - Gadgets - are definitely not her domain.

3. Don't touch on issues that she feels is sensitive. Don't get into debates. You are surely not there to discuss why Government is not taking steps to curb inflation.

4. Don't invite her for dinner to your home with your parents. If there is none in your home then home is heaven.

5. Don't gulp your drinks as if this is the last time you are going out with her. I know you are elated that she came out, but that doesn't mean you should be out of your senses.

Valentines day has never been special for me. Not expecting it to change anything on this day in the future. It has just been a day in the school, college, office or at home. But people who know me anticipate that there is some activity buzzing around me on this day, however I admit there is none. I've been putting that to off for quite sometime now. I know how it feels to be all alone on a Valentine's Day. Yeah, I am looking for some consolations, I mean where are the comments? Its just that nothing makes me feel the way these do.

Ana Ivanovic

2009-02-06T08:39:00.000-08:00

I knew sooner or later I had to come up with a post on her and this is it now. Could not control the emotions after seeing this pic of hers. What a gorgeous looking woman is she ! She plays good, her heart is good, her face is good, her.........err,,,her hairstyle is good. What did you think you morons?

Very rarely God makes beauty with brains and this woman is an exception. She is this 20 year old from Serbia, Ana Ivanovic. Even the best of Saints and Sadhus shall arise from their coffins and graveyards to admire her beauty. Lo and behold !
Some stats about her. Not that it will matter to you now after seeing her pics, but still....
Nickname : Anci

Country : Serbia

Date of birth : November 6, 1987

Place of birth : Belgrade, Serbia

Height : 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)

Weight : 69 kg

Plays : Right; Double-handed backhand
After knowing and seeing all these, you still haven't seen her smile !

A Worthless Walk

2009-01-28T05:57:00.000-08:00

A journey of thousand miles begins with a single step but literally it has still miles to go. The trip to Parashnath was more or less the same. It was 24th January 2009 that I, infact we started the purposeless and endless journey. We were ten who dared to climb the highest peak of Bihar and Jharkhand, few retracted but the majority conquered the apex. You must be wondering whether I was in the majority or not but I'll keep you guessing untill I unleash the truth later in the post. While I take you through the worthless walk of 27 kilometer, till then relish the confusion.

The journey began. Everybody was excited. With hearty laughs, a sly wit and flashes of malice all of us traversed through the first few kms pretty well. The talk was overflowing with the punches of the funny one liners which induced a sense of laughter every now and then. Even if we didn't make an effort anything we said was constructed as funny and buddy buddy ambience was thus created. I was enjoying as well. As we moved up the slope we gradually felt the stretch and eventually were divided into two groups; the very energetic and not so energetic. Not surprisingly I found myself with the later. We were four together, Amit, Anshu and Varun being the other three. We took the help of walk-stick to escape the pain which turned out to be the strongest leg at the end. After the two hours of continuous and fiendish march we found ourselves only halfway through. We were cursing each other for planning this event and the only time we four were in unison when we decided to take rest, no one opposed then.

When the going gets tough, then the tough gets going. The very energetic group swarmed up quiet comfortably and quickly but we were struggling. To recall the last hour of climbing is like returning to one's own vomit. It was tough, trust me! We reached the first landmark "Gautum Dhara", undoubtedly a milestone achieved by all of us. The groups united there but split again. Now the very energetic group was seven in numbers and my group faced a decrement by one, Varun being the traitor, not a traitor exactly but I was surprised to hear from him, I mean from where the hell he got the stamina to go further. Nevertheless, I was not alone, Anshu and Amit were still with me. Considering the fact that we people are young and still have lot to see, we gracefully took the decision to retract. And with no second thought the three of us followed the decision. The rest seven conquered the peak which was about 2kms from Gautum Dhara, " The Parashnath".

I was happy returning. With no repentance, we were cruising down. We found it relatively easy but the ease was only for few kilometers. The slope was so steep that going down suddenly looked panicking. It required quiet an effort from us and there again the walk stick (our strongest leg) played its role. The life was pretty fucked up, there was no easy way out. There were short-cuts involving risks but we wanted to cover the shortest distance possible if not all mathematically. We got down after two and half hours. The greatest pleasure lies in doing what people say you cannot do. But I was pleased to return alive (we were once so close to heaven, 2kms approx.). We didn't reach The Parashnath but that just didn't make us any less blissful. We went to a restaurant to celebrate our new birth. Before planning this trip I was even warned by Sanjay (he has done it thrice) but the fact is that I don't learn from other's mistakes, I make it on my own and learn then. It was indeed a worthless walk.

I would have loved to forget this trip for every reason but the time we spent together, the laugh we had was just awesome. It is another thing that the laugh didn't last long and when it came to end we smiled only for photographs. I am lying on my bed .....can somebody help me publish this post?, I am still feeling the pain!

Dying Test Cricket

2009-01-22T09:04:00.000-08:00

I will remember 2008 as the year when I heard the cry of ‘test cricket is dying’ most often, TV commentators, Indian, English, Australian and what not, said it – the print media repeatedly dwelt upon it – from what I can remember, even some current cricketers viewed test cricket to be in irreversible decline. So what has changed over the past 15 years? Why are the stadiums, especially the packed out Indian stadiums, suddenly bereft of people? Is it the fast food diet of one-day and 20 over matches that have ruined our palate for the fine cuisine of test cricket? Has the pace of our lives changed, so that we no longer have 5 days to spare on cricket, no matter how thrilling the contest? Do we demand more comfort and facilities than the amphitheatres of cricket can offer?? Is there too much cricket?? Is it the television? We must ofcourse identify the problems before we propose a cure.

The T20 game is becoming increasingly popular in both the domestic and international arena, Closer inspection of this phenomenon shows that in the near future it may well out-perform one-day internationals in terms of financial returns and crowd numbers. This format provides excitement in the form of big-hitting and the likelihood of a large number of wickets in a short period of time and ofcourse the concept of introducing cheer-leaders can attract more people to the stadium (even those who are least interesed in the cricket). I acknowledge that one-day cricket has been instrumental in changing test match cricket for the better, leading to some of the best test cricket I have seen in recent years. However, the growing number of meaningless one-day tournaments that clog up the cricketing calendar are fast making this form of the game a burden rather than a benefit, a fact that is increasingly being commented on in the media by both players and spectators. So let’s do away with these meaningless one-day tournaments and get more people watch 20/20. It’ll have the likes of big-hitting, excellent fielding, and exciting finishes. The people can see the whole match in three hours and fit it into their tight schedules. The best thing what I like about T20 is the certainty of a winner, the bowl-out, its not everyday that you win a Cricket match in that style. T20 provides a convenient way to maintain the financial health of the game, while at the same time reducing the match time of the players and ensuring that the game is marketed to a broad section of the population. The only true test of a nation's cricketers is a Test match, so who really cares what the form the shorter matches take? I don't....!

My 10

2009-01-02T03:10:00.001-08:00

Boring year end lists you should avoid reading :-

My 1 : 10 best films of the year - You know a list is hopeless when You have to include 'Fashion' because there is nothing else.

My 2 : 10 worst films of the year - Wait, Fashion can make it to this list as well. 2008 has been worse than I thought.

My 3 : 10 best moments of the year - This will include things like 'Victory' not releasing in '08.

My 4 : 10 worst moments of the year - Haha, You can't fit this into a list of just 10.

My 5 : 10 best sporting moments of the year - does not include Harbhajan winning dancing competitions, may include Symonds finally realising what he really is!

My 6 : 10 worst sporting moments of the year - Harbhajan playing for Mumbai and Ishant playing for Kolkata, doesn't include Buckner going jobless before recession.

My 7 : 10 best political moments of the year - It sounds funny, readers can suggest me if there is one.

My 8 : 10 worst political moments of the year - George Bush not included, he has a separate list.

My 9 : 10 greatest songs of the year - In '08 even Rahman's best has ben Yuvvraj, so clearly....!

My 10 : 10 things to look forward in 2009 - more recession, more Harman films, Golmaal 3....stop!

Now Wi-Fied!

2008-12-29T03:11:00.000-08:00

Wi-Fi in BIT Sindri!, foxed??? Even I was when I heard it for the first time. And this was perhaps the only thing I liked about my college. But now even this has disappointed me (I'll tell you Why, later), thanks to some poor administration which has always been the case with the college.

Wireless wave has struck India in recent past. While it cannot be denied that cables are still very much the preferred means for data communications today, Wi-Fi, both as a technology and as a means to communicate has made the strong inroads in our comparatively emerging market. To the home users, Wi-Fi a.k.a Wireless Fidelity represents convenience in its simplest sense. Freedom from sitting in front of your PC and surfing, when you could be in the bed, chatting with your significant other and your friends online simultaneously! The biggest advantage of Wi-Fi is, of course freedom from ugly, restricting wires. You could be surfing the net for your projects (or whatever, better if unsaid) while your dad browse on the laptop lounging in his lawn chair.

But what forced the think tank of my college to go for it? It must be something related to the monetary gains they could make out of, or I may be wrong, they might have thought about us..... but the odds are in favour of the former. And the man behind this is our honourable Director sir, Mr. S.K.Singh (I guess I am right with the name). He left no stone unturned for this project and it happened, much to our delight. And as one of our Professor said," BIT is going Hi-Tech, very soon we will see students sitting everywhere in the campus with their laptops", I must congratulate him for being so instinctive in nature. They really find many sitting here and there with their laptops but in serch of some signal which is very intermittently available.

There has always been a friction between the adminisration and the boys.......be it either internal marks or the behaviour of professors, it's the innocent boys (like me!) who suffer. Even in this case the cold war has taken its toll and the third party (girls here) is getting advantage. Although, I'm not sure about the conditions there (I don't have any sources to confirm, poor chap!) but still I've a feeling that girls are enjoying the luxuries of it (am I jealous??? well, the answer is no but in doubtful taste!). In my hostel, out of four corridors only two receives the signal and mine one is not that lucky. I have been so nice to others throughout my life and I really don't know why these signals refrain from me (I have already had my thoughts over the network of BSNL in my older posts). Anyways, till I console my bereaved heart, you carry on by posting a comment.

King Khan VS Ace Khan

2008-12-29T02:55:00.000-08:00

The war is on and this time, like never before, the sarcastic comments from both sides have added the fuel to the fire. Earlier it was Khan vs Khan vs Khan but a series of flops given by Salman Khan (like his hairs, his good days are gone) have eliminated him from the race to number one spot. And now the question often strikes the mind of people that who is the best, SRK or Aamir? I am here with the answer.

Coming to their recent releases, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi was weak in its content but the sweet love story between the two and the innocence of Mr. Suri have managed to bind the audience till last. Acting-wise, it was again a character fully justified by SRK and rightly complimented by his Tanni partner. Ghajini on the other hand has it all, a beautiful chemistry shared by Aamir and Aashin (this is perhaps the only place where I love the word 'chemistry'), a nerve-racking action scenes, a spy thriller, a murder mystery and what else you expect from a film. The macho look of Aamir and the cool Ghajini hairstyle has become a craze among the youths. It can be undoubtedly said that Ghajini is the clear winner over RNBDJ. But does that mean that we have got an answer to the question, well absolutely not. Both are the living legends. Aamir rocks, SRK endures. But having gone through the whole irrelevant things the question is still very much the same. Who is the best? or should I say who is the best among equals? Who is the biggest brand of the country? Who is ruling the Bollywood? Well, if you are expecting a name from me then I am sorry I'll disappoint you. But according to me, "Its all about how good you are on Fridays".

Dear Friend

2008-12-29T02:53:00.000-08:00

what is a friend? A confidant? A shoulder to cry on? An ear to listen? A heart to feel? A friend is someone with whom you can dare to be yorself. A friend is someone with whom we can share the depest details of our lives, things we don't even share with our families. A friend is someone who can feel the pain and more importantly, cure it. A friend is all of these things and much more. No matter where we met, no matter how long we've been together ... I call you a friend. A word so small, yet so large in feeling, a word filled with emotion, a word overflowing with love.

Truly, great things come in small packages. Once the package of friendship is opened, it can never be closed. It is a constant book always waiting to be read ... and enjoyed. Friendship is a unique bond that lasts through all tribulations. A part of each of us goes into our friendships, our humor, our experiences, our tears. Friendships are foundations necessary for life and love. Friends like you and me. You brought another friend and then there were three (wow! it rhymes. I am good at Shayari, strange!). And it is justly said that in friendship, there is no beginning ... there is no end.

A friend is always there with a helping hand and a warm smile, although it doesn't quite express everything that's felt about you, I just wanted to say, I am....Always Grateful. THANKS A MILLION.

Bye-Bye 2008

2008-12-14T06:28:00.000-08:00

There's something I respect myself alot for. No matter how busy things get, no matter how much I get invovlved in all sorts of insanities and no matter what the situation is, I still manage to get a post up a week. I know it's a lame thing to be proud of. But....I am anyway.

2008's ending kinda soon and I realised time really passed extremely quickly. No, I'm not going to get all sentimental now and go reflecting over the whole year, but when you been through alot and look back on all the craps you pulled yourself out of, you suddenly realise it passed real fast, and it wasn't so bad after all. The year includes triumphs like me getting the job and then becoming the branch topper (yeah! I got second-time lucky) and tragedies like terror attacks, bomb blasts and the unkind news of the illness of my mother.....and from the determination of cracking CAT to the CAT cracking me back infact, this year has been quite an experience for me. obviously there are few days left and that will be spent in the sweet home snoring loudly inside the blanket with the chilling ambience all around.

Apart from experiences, the year 2008 was full of tours and journeys. I went to visit New Delhi twice on different ocassions, then I traversed all the important cities of Bihar and Jharkhand like Patna, Rajgir, Bihar Sharif, Jamshedpur, Ranchi. The new year is approaching so briskly and so are the new thoughts, new wishes and new ways of analysing and getting things done. And, being the author of this column I must appreciate myself for taking this time out from my very busy schedule which is mostly spent in doing nothing. Lets bid the farwell to 2008 cherishing all the moments of joy and welcome 2009 with lots and lots and lots of excitement as never before. May each day of the readers (especially those who post comments) be decorated with just the perfect touch of beauty, success and happiness....!

November 21, 2008

2008-11-21T03:56:00.000-08:00

Looked like nothing will change today. The same water shortage, the same unhealthy food taken unwillingly. The same fear of having just another poor exam and the same relief after the exam thanks to the same questions asked this year too. The same power shortage in the evening and the same old story of early to bed. As i sensed in the morning, it really changed nothing.

The best news is that the season of exams will end after tomorrow and I'll have more fun to do. I am leaving for Delhi tomorrow, so I can bet that the coming days will be full of enthusiasm and ecstacy. As the winter is approaching so briskly, there is always a feeling of dozing-off for another couple of hours and attending the first lecture of the morning session seems next to impossible. So, let's see how I react to this situation.......I love it though!!!

Exams...The Next Shit

2008-11-07T04:46:00.000-08:00

Here comes that part of the year when most college students will be glued to their books and will die hard to get the best marks and grades. Our Terminal exams are scheduled to start next week. From this week you will see most of the guys doing 'night-outs' to complete their preparations. You can't find a single soul in BIT who don't look totally worn-out n exhausted. It is indeed a difficult time. But I am still home as in terminals the questions are more or less repeated and that's the pleasure of giving Terminal exams in BIT.

A few guys seem to have been preparing for the exams right from the day they were born. These are the 'know-it-all' group of guys. You can always rely upon them to gather information. Of course there are a few guys who will keep their rooms locked and make us guessing, a truly dangerous aspect. Most of the other guys (that includes me) will begin the preparations from the eleventh hour as we were prevented from doing that due to a long list of reasons.

Starting prepartations hopefully from even this very minute will not do. So,it is going to be hectic and tiring. It is gonna be full of books, notes, xerox materials, detailed discussions, doubts, clarifications, unclarified doubts and much more. I think I will screw my marks this time around and I need lots and lots and lots of best wishes. It needs no exaggeration to say that exams are the worst part of life......every now and then you will find yourself getting fucked by this hateful thing and the only way to get out of all these craps is by getting used to it!!!

When I Am Online

2008-11-06T23:59:00.000-08:00

What I do Online....??? This question was put up before me by Ashish when that guy and me used to have our usual conversations. I thought about it and thought of posting on that. I would like to tell that by dividing it into various categories.

When I started coming ONLINE

I was introduced to this wonderful (this depends on one's perspective) world of Internet when I was in 9th Std. The person who did this was my elder brother...Sanjeev Bhaiya. He told me how to use the net and what stuff we can do with it. I used to visit various websites like Yahoo!, Google, Sify.com, rediffmail.com and various other sites. All I used to do was create Mail IDs wherever i could and then forget either the password or the user id itself.

When I joined Orkut

This occurred when I passed 12th. I was invited to Orkut by him again (I have been his partner in all the crimes...!). At that time I didn't know much about the site. So rarely visited it. By the end of the year when I was ready to go college, I logged on to Orkut just to check what has happened in the interval. I had received numerous scraps and friend requests mostly from friends and a few from strangers and quite a few from spammers. I started replying to scraps and then scraps came flying back the next instant. Thats when I started chatting in Orkut.

Then I started joining Communities. These are crappy places you need not visit at all - They are just used to show that you are interested in that and Of course there are people who join communities for nothing at all and also there exist people in this world who create meaningless communities. There are other communities where you can join to show that you are a fan of someone/something. Like I'm a member of Linkin Park, KFC Lovers, Sachin Tendulkar, Funny One Liners etc,etc..

When I got the job I used to scrap everybody (I had all the time of the world for replying on silly scraps). And people are always there to reply to the posts(24*7). Orkut was the greatest time pass. You have loads of friends who stay online and scrap you all the time. I'm grateful to Orkut that i found many of my School friends with whom I never had any contact for many years. I also found many new people through this site. I started adding more friends to my ever increasing 'Orkut Friend List'.

When I started to read and write blogs

Then I started reading 'blogs'. I started reading blogs of my brother Rajeev (My brothers are always responsible for forcing me into acts....be it either legal or illegal). Then I got the GREAT idea of starting my own blog. I started to post on 21st June 2008 and then random scribblings continued. As any amateur blogger would try - I wanted people to read my blog. I would join various blogging Communities in Orkut and give my blog link over there and wait for people to comment ( So people reading this do leave a comment about the post.)

When I got net in my house

This was when I started considering Internet as a good time pass. I started using Yahoo! Messenger, Gtalk, 160by2 and started disturbing other people's lives by sending free messages, unasked advice and useless links. I started downloading novels (but never read), softwares, videos from Yuotube and Hot n Wild kinda pics and videos and deliberately deleted the links from the History (I wanted no one to know my intentions of course.)

Present

At present I spend most of my time online in reading blogs and downloading useless things. It consumes most of the time you spend online. Nowadays I do nothing other than this and occasionally checking Orkut for any rarely coming scraps. (Yes!! Orkut is nowadays very boring since people have started spamming others' scrapbooks with SEND TO ALL forwards which used to come only in messages). None of my fellow BITians have started blogging and I am perhaps the single person.

Future

I'm going to make my blog posts appear on my blog more frequently. Yes..! I'll try my best to post more regularly. I have a really long list of things to be done online.

Network Busy!

2008-09-24T05:39:00.000-07:00

Network Busy....No Network Coverage....Connection Error....! These are some of the most agonising words the BSNL subscribers come across daily while making a call. I don't think that I need to mention that I am one of those frustrated, embittered and beleaguered soul. Half of my life was screwed on the day I preferred BSNL to others and the rest half doesn't seem to have any better future either. I was even alarmed by my very intelligent brothers but they didn't know that their brother was a big damn fool. I almost sensed my obnoxious future when that bloody SIM took seven full days to get activated. That mistake has now turned into blunder and nobody but I am to be blamed for it.

For the last ten days making a call seems next to impossible, i am really finding myself in deep shit. If you are lucky you may succeed to connect but soon the very short period of good luck ends and you are left with a loud beep noise from the other side which means you need to make another thousand attempts or more to continue the conversation. Don't you think that is ridiculously inappropriate, ridiculously intolerable and ridiculously ridiculous!Let me tell you that there is no kind news when it comes to sending SMSes, the amount deducted from the balance assures that the message has been sent successfully but the pending report reassures that it has not been delivered yet. It's not that only the BSNL customers are annoyed by this rather their friends and relatives are also sufferers and this is what makes me feel better, I am sure my brothers didn't have a great time calling me. Here I may sound a bit malevolent but I am sorry for that.

The punch line of BSNL says, "Connecting India" and I don't have any problem with that as it always says "connecting" and never really get connected....and sometime I wonder is it what they actually wanted to convey and we didn't understand??? Anyways, jokes apart, one more thing I wanted to say I haven't activated GPRS on it and I dare not as it may take ages and who knows what the speed would be?.....I mean everybody knows it! Well friends that's BSNL for you.........if you don't trust me then call me, you will feel what I have said or better go for BSNL, you will feel what I have felt.

Present Perfect Future Tense

2008-09-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

Definitely its all about me, my perfect present and my tense future. Having said that I consider myself as the remains of a glorious past, not because I was great in academics (I just wanted to mention that) but I was a kid then, there was no pain to suffer and no tension to handle, I used to laugh when others laugh and used to laugh when they didn't. That was me. But now things have changed or is it me who has?.....I still cannot make this out. Oh god! Am I getting emotional? Am I sounding like a philosopher? or am I asking too much questions this time? I should stop now.

I am happy with my present though....it may not be perfect but certainly not monotonous. I am eager to mention that I am the Branch Topper.....obviously it sounds great and feels great unless you have to bear the strong legs of your friends on your back, unless the professors expects you to answer his query and you just disappoint him every time and unless you are asked to pay the bills for the treat and you don't have a single penny in your wallet. I faced this even on the day I got selected in TCS but that was more like a delight and less like a dismay!

I call my future tensed because I can see myself struggling in the strenuous outer world after such a contented college life. Getting up every morning (I mean getting up late) and still wishing to doze-off for another couple of hours and living a life of ease, that's how I have spoiled the last three years of my college, the things have not changed even in the final year. Considering the knowledge that I have gained in the college, I fear that life would be hell in TCS and please don't be surprised if I get kicked out right in the training session. But the amazing thing is that I am not losing my sleep over it....I dream big and do absolutely nothing to realize it. I just wish that everything would be fine at the end of the day.

My five wishes are:

I wish to gain some weight in the coming future.
I wish i could look like Salman, act like Shah Rukh, dance like Hrithik and live happily like Abhishek with his Aishwariya.
I wish to crack CAT this year which seems unlikely to happen.
I wish TCS could surpass all its rivals and increase the pay scale of freshers.
I wish all my wishes come true.

It is said that braving obstacles and hardships is always nobler than retreat to tranquility. I need to steel myself to face the adversity. Desire is endless and so are the wishes......everything you achieve is already destined, the bottom line is that God's grace must be maintained.

Features That Take BITS Apart

2008-08-17T22:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, this is BIT Sindri I am talking about. Whenever I say BIT, people often interpret it as BIT Mesra or Pilani and I really feel annoyed then, that’s not their fault actually but that’s how I am and that’s how my college is. It needs no exaggeration to say that BIT Sindri is more known for wrong reasons and I am here to highlight the few best things (I’d be happy if it had more) about it. My prime motive behind this is to lessen the fear (not completely remove, mind it!)that resides in the heart of local people and other college students, to say the least.

Having faced sine-die twice in the last ten months, the college is redefining itself. The campus recruitment process is on its peak and there are ample job opportunities, one could easily end up with a job while leaving BIT (I mean BIT Sindri), even I got one without much effort. But the ultimate aim of most of the BITians is to go for management; they really don’t need any Dan Brown to tell them that the password to success is “MBA”. My English is poor but I am also preparing for CAT. Let’s not have any cheap jokes, I am damn serious about it!

Well that’s enough in the context of academic performance and future goals. Let’s now come to a more abstruse topic, Love, here it seems that pairs are not made in heaven, the place is BIT. Yeah I am talking about the lovebirds; I am in final year and still couldn’t make out what they talk so long and why they talk so long and how they talk so long but that’s how it goes here. That remains a mystery and will perhaps get unfolded when I’ll fall in love. There is one thing that strikes my mind very often; why people fall in love? Why don’t they think of rising in love? May be this will make their lives more pleasurable…..I don’t know.

And then there are other features like:

You don’t need any authentic notice from administration for any vacations, the decision is collectively taken by the students themselves and the candor with which they follow it, is rather endearing.
You can protest for the poor marks in exams just to blame the University for not being a bit liberal even if you got more than you deserved.
The fee is nominal, even if one has backlogs or year back, the person will not be ruined economically, and one can afford it.
There is no pressure of attending all practicals (the machines are dead), so one can have the luxury of watching ftv in the hostels.

I think I managed to build an impression, a good impression of my college. Let me tell you that I have not been asked to advertise the profile of BIT Sindri by the Jharkhand Government or by any other….I know I’ll not be paid for this, it’s just that I felt for it and I wrote it.

My visit to Delhi

2008-07-24T09:59:00.000-07:00

I consider home a place where you come to when you have nothing better to do. But i found a better way of wasting my holidays and i chose Delhi in this summer.....isn't it very daring??? and i stuck to my plans even after listening the news of mercury rise in North India....even more daring. I was with my brother and the journey to Delhi was so-so. I don't think anybody will take interest in knowing how i performed morning ablutions on the train. Anyways we reached Delhi.

Not surprisingly bhaiya first took me to visit the malls (it should actually be 'maals') of Delhi. We went to Rajouri Garden and had the delicious Mc.D burger....actually i had all the mouth-watering items like KFC chicken, pizzas and many more during my stay....whose credit goes to my brother and bill to my father and i thank them both for giving me many such memorable dines.

Unlike Chetan Bhagat' only three, i have made many mistakes in my life and the one was when we went to watch the movie LOVE STORY 2050 without seeing the reviews and ratings of it and had the worst time in one of the PVRs. The thing that i liked most about the capital was the Delhi Metro, fully a.c., affordable and most importantly a perfect time-saver which is not jammed by any of the red lights. I cannot forget the two hours that i spent in one of the blueline bus on my way to Nehru place from Nazafgarh. About the blueline, it keeps all guessing about its next sudden move on the road......effortlessly creates a smothering ambiance and it never stops unless there is a red light ahead, hence nicknamed the killer-lines.

I don't know how those 10 days passed off so briskly and it was time to return to my own business. I will always cherish the moments of joy that i had in the last vacation......thanks brother.... I was reluctantly on my way to the New Delhi station as i knew that there is no metro waiting on the platform...."Welcome to the Indian Railways Rajesh..."!

An Introduction

2008-06-21T23:46:00.000-07:00

As a matter of courtesy, I should reveal the fact that I got the inspiration of creating my blogs from none other than Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav, not because we share the same birth date but the thing that both of us are poor in English and we pretend we are good....so I was like....if he can create his blogs so can i. Anyways my blogs will not highlight any of the political issues like inflation, reservation, terrorism, poverty, population...blah, blah....blah. Moreover, i can’t have my thoughts over population growth...u know I haven’t contributed to it yet.

Now its time to formally introduce myself....i m Rajesh Kumar Choudhary...a final year Comp. Sc. Engineer...i have just finished with the third year examination and the results of it will be out very soon...so till then I m pretty confident of being a final year student and like other students whenever I think of the exams and studies, I just cannot restrain myself from saying the three words “what the f**k”?