Mid Year Update

My last entry had come in when the year began, now this one is coming in in the middle of the year...... My researchers' mind says that the next one is due sometime in December :) But its really a shame on my part to have behaved like this. Yet again, I broke my promise to be more regular on my blog. So learning from my past mistakes, I wont say that this time but try to do it.


That reminds me that I have been trying to do a lot of things of late...... Lets start with how these months went by;

What happened to my agenda - Things to do for 2008 (refer to my last blog)

To start off with, I did buy my dream bike - The Royal Enfield 350cc Electra on the 9th of May and I'm damn exhilarated whenever I drive it. I know its not a big deal but its like the first cycle for a child - nothing like it then (remember your first time :)). It cost me a hell lot on my pocket as the interest rates are also up but its okay, I did managed it and the wait was over.

Secondly, I am now writing this from Mumbai which means that I managed to get transfered to Mumbai as I had thought of - closer now to my loved ones and friends :) Another reason for me to have a big grin on my face. Got shifted in the middle of March and things have been good since then, better than Delhi in terms of my personal life. As for the most often debated subject of Delhi vs Mumbai - which is better, maybe on my next post.

Thirdly, my elder sister got married in April this year and things have been good for her as well since then. yet another reason for me to be happy. :) :)

So lots of positives till now apart from a few here and there type sad events but thats fine as I keep taking it as a part of the game. Its okay or else you tend to miss out on the fun ;)

Today is a special day for me as I have started off to quit smoking - at least reduce it considerably. I know that in one of my posts I had said that it would go down with me to my grave but that was out of the love for it. Today, I'm trying to quit for something which is more valuable to me than it. Fair trade I guess. You give some, you take some. Lets see how far I go, This is a serious attempt and I do plan to pull this act through. Wish me luck :)

More on my next post. Till then, enjoy and keep reading.......... :)

WELCOME 2008!!!!!

Pooh!!!!! That was indeed a long gap..... Nevertheless, I think I do not owe an explanation in my own webspace :) Jokes apart there were two main reasons for such a late attendance. Firstly, I could not think of anything on which I should write (nothing much happening or am I plain sulking) and secondly, as many of you would agree I was lazy :( Anyways whats gone is gone.

So whats new. 2008 is here. As usual at the start of this year we are expecting things to take a positive shape. All of us have a tendency to treat an upcoming year as the saviour grace to all of our problems and by the time half of it goes by, we find out that this was the worst year we ever had. Reason for this - not known. Why all the big hooplah over it. Its just another date yaar!!!! chill mar daru pee, naya bahana mila hai :)

On my front, a few things seem to be surfacing for the good. I'm all set to join a new organisation called Millward Brown International (http://www.millwardbrown.com/). No I havent changed jobs, not so early. Its a result of a collaborative relationship my organisation has with this company which is setting up in India. Its a good move because of the kind of work that would be coming my way, package and of course more future options in the area of marketing. Thats latest on the professional front.

There was an alumni meet that I recently attended at my alma mater IIFM, Bhopal. Although the alumni attendance was too sparce but I had other plans. The idea was to basically chill out and remind oneself of the good old days and that i did with utmost perfection. I would call it a trip to remember. Yes ofcourse the team was missing and had teh gang been there, it would have been not rocking, not fun but simply maddening and hysteric. At the end of the trip I realised I did myself a favour and am looking forward to more number of such visits back in campus.

The trip to Bhopal was also important as it made me realise what all I wasnt doing in my life and what all was missing and slowly fading away. The fun, bubblyness, charm, enthusiasm (in a nutshell kaminapan) seems to all fade out with time and lack of company. Am I too demanding as there are many other friends of mine who are in more challenging places without a lot that I already have and are not complaining. Maybe I am. But I just dont care. I am not perfect and I love it that ways :)

A lot of changes are expected in this year, maybe my location in Delhi; maybe no Delhi. All this is for time to tell. What makes it a happy note for me is the fact that the year has started on a good note and so again I like all others am expecting this year to be my saviour grace ;)

Here are a few things that I have planned to do this year;

1. Visit outside Delhi and meet friends more often

2. Indulge more in my own self in terms of the expenses that I incur on myself from my own earnings

3. Purchase a Royal Enfield motorcycle (something that I cant wait for)

4. Try my level best to move out of Delhi, probably to Mumbai

5. Be happy all the time no matter what comes my way.

6. Visit IIFM at least two more times this year

Well this list is very personalised so might not be interest to many but Hey dude, its my Blog ;)

Lets see how things shape up. As of now I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Assure you guys that my next post would be coming soon and not like the last one. Till then CIAO.

Of Weekends, Alumni Meets & EARTHQUAKES

Well Well Well........ This is as excited and happening as it can get. Weekends which were always the most sought after but yet the most boring and uneventful ones had a different story to tell this time round.

It all started off with the ever exciting, most awaited Friday evening with a dear friend of mine Tarique bhai who treated me with beer, crab, fish and more sumptous chinese delights, followed as usual by Old Monk which was like a topping on the cake.
I was looking forward to the following day (Saturday) as we had our Alumni Meet for the Delhi Chapter at IHC, Delhi.
It was a real treat to meet some old friends and lost lost seniors at the occasion which was indeed a remarkable effort by our juniors who took it on them to organise the entire event. The event started with some informal introductions and then some formal ones, interactions with some old and some very old seniors as well as juniors. The entire crowd could have been divided into different sets of people. Some trying to catch up with seniors who could be helpful in their career pursuit as they were working in the same industry or functional areas. The other half having a gala time with their own lost out batchmates with whom they lost touch with. A small fraction (esp the juniz) were busy with the arrangements and were aiming towards a prospective database of alumni who could be helpful for the institute in many aspects. It was strange that even in the midst of all this hullaballu everybody had a connection with everybody else. Some leg pulling from here, some taunts from there. It was pure fun. It all ended with some lovely dinner and the typical IIFM anthem sung with full pomp and unison.

That was as good as it could get and just when I started to think that the remaining weekend would be boring, up came Old Monk again and Saturday was past. I woke up surprisingly with a heavy head (had caught a cold - dont blame Old Monk), bid Tarique bhai good bye as he was to leave for Raipur that morning. I kept sleeping then till afternoon, did nothing all day as was not feeling like doing anything. The test match kept me busy and they were also screening Desperado on AXN. So came the evening. Old Monk resurfaced. My brother was supposed to come back with his family that night. They came, we chatted and caught up on the events that had taken place over tha past few days and went off to sleep early, in the hope of getting a good sleep.

Yeah i remember theres an EARTHQUAKE mentioned in the title of the post and i'm coming to it guys........ As i was saying, I slept off and in the middle of the chilly night came a tremor, I felt I was dreaming and suddenly the bottle of water beside me fell to the ground. It never struck to me that it could be an earthquake. It lasted for a few seconds and I didnt care about it as I was too drowsy to understand whats going on. Back to sleep again.

My phone rings at around 5 in the morning. Prashant (one of my juniors on his internship in Delhi) calls up and enquires how am I. I was furious, Why do have to call at 5 in the morning to ask me that when i left you at 9 in the night. Obviously I'm okay. He then told me that there was an earthquake shock that Delhi had experienced now. I started to regain conciousness....... remember what I thought as a dream????? Well thankfully I was fine and so was everybody else. I started thinking that what if it comes again but I was too lazy to get out of my bed. I thought "If it has to happen then be it, I dont wanna screw up my sleep" but I was staring at the ceiling of my room above which were 4 floors. This suddenly made me realise of the very vulnareable position that I was in just in case theres an earthquake. It also reminded me of all the tiny insects, flies, mosquitoes that I had squashed. It seemed that in the event of an earthquake all those insects would join forces and request to God to give me the same kind of treatment. All this made me realize that I did not want to die.... At least not like this!!!!! So unwanting though I got off my bed and the love to not die took me to the door from where I looked outside and saw that it was an empty scene. So I came back thinking all is well....... That marked the end of the eventful weekend that I had but it left me with some questions.....

1. What if Delhi would actually experience an earthquake??????
2. What happens to the country then??????
3. What happens to the economy??????
4. Will Pakistan suddenly launch an attack on India to seize this golden opportunity?????
5. Why cant we relocate the country's capital to a place which does not fall in the siesmic zone????
6. @ Alumni Meet - When will I go back to IIFM, Bhopal????? :(
(I know thoughts no 4, 5, 6 are really foolish and kiddish but remember I was sleeping, so I am allowed to think insane ;))

Well thats it folks!!!!!!! Catch you up on my next post!!!!!!!!!

This Ones to Alcohol!!!!! hic hic hic

Well its been really long since my last post...... Sorry blog.....

The motivation behind this post is an old love of mine...... OLD MONK..... I've been drinking it for close to more than 6 years now and it has never let me down..... Interestingly, I find it there in almost all of the wonderful moments that I cherish......

Some analysis of Old Monk.........

Advantages....
Cheap and Affordable.......
Starts working with the first gulp that you take
Doesnt give you a hangover
An excellent medicine just in case you have a throat problem (regular old monk rummies rarely have this problem ;))
Has a sweeter taste than the others
The bottle reminds you of the old age drunkards in a barn or an inn......
Gives you the rusty feel
Has a colour which ignites passion within you
Goes great with soda, water or coke
You can use the old monk bottles for growing money plants in your home (donno what the connection is but invariably everyone would have seen one)


Disadvantages.....
Hardly any......
Sucks up your liver (but who cares)
Has a tendency to take you out of bounds as you cant stop and the results of Old monk overdose can be catastrophic (leaves you with a wide variety to choose from....... superman, spiderman, shaktimannn, saint, devil....... you can turn into anything)
Not available everywhere

Old Monk in other words can be described as Pleasure Guaranteed..... We started off together during my Delhi University days and it seems to stick even till date. Back then it was the most affordable drink as we were always short of cash but now its graduated as being the most favourite. I would also like to mention about the magnificient correlation Old Monk and Wills Navy Cut ciggarates share...... Both are like husband and wife..... And these two have stayed with me for a considearbly long period of time......

Well I know the evils of smoking and drinking and I also know that had I been a sane person, I should not be doing it..... But hey......., who said that i was sane and if I aint, whats the point of mentoring an insane????? And moreover, everyone has a different set of priorities, ideas, likes and dislikes..........This is just to ward off any comments dealing with I should quit and stuff....... Sorry, I think these two will go down with me till my grave...........

To Alcohol....... The cause and the solution to all of lifes' problems..........

CHEERS!!!!!!!!!

Dil Dosti etc....

Well as the name suggests, this is about the recently released movie Dil Dosti etc by Manish Tiwary and Prakash Jha. There is just one thing I would say to it. BRILLIANT!!! Probably this review is more as a result of a bias that i have towards life @ Delhi University. Anyways, I personally think that this movie is a must watch for all Delhi University students who are non delhiites.

Other expert reviews of the movie have criticised it for slow pace but I disagree. Another reason why I particularly like the movie is because it can be very closely related to one of my all time fav movie "Hazaron Khwahishien Aisi". In a way i think Dil Dosti is a prelouge to Hazarron ...... In the most subtle manner, it depicts the various moods of Delhi University and the interaction of the atmosphere with the students' life (which already carries a baggage of cultures and ethos with it) therein. Such a movie could only have been made by a DU student and not much to my surprise, the director Manish Tiwary is was a student of Hindu College, Delhi University.

The character of Sanjay Mishra (Shreyas Talpade) can eb closely related to that of what Kay Kay Menon played in Hazaroon.... while that of Apoorva (Naseruddin Shah's son) is something I would attribute to Vikram Malhotra (Shyney Ahuja).

The movie is a good sail back into ones graduation days with all memories flshing back. Maybe among all characters in the movie, one can connect oneself with someone. It reminds one of all the many questions which seemed unanswerable, all challenges which seemed difficult, our priorities then and now........ A must watch.......

Ardh Satya: Half Truth

Well my obsession to this poem by the maratha maestro Dilip Chitre made many a friends laugh at me.... Those were good days when people kept looking for an opportunity to pull your leg. Still i think this poem deserves a mention and so here it is..... A really thought provoking work.


Chakravyuh mein ghusne se pehle kaun tha main, aur kaisa tha
Yeh mujhe yaad hi na rahe

Chakravyuh mein ghusne ke baad
Merey our chakravuyh ke beech sirf jaan leva nikatta (nearness) thi
Is ka mujhe patha he na chaley

Chakravyuh se bahar nikalney paar main mukth ho javun baley hi.
Fir bhi chakravyuh ke rachna mei farkh hi naa padega

Marun ya maaron mara javun ya jaan se mar doon
Iska faisla kabhi na ho payega

Soya hua admi jab neend mein se utkhar chalnaa shuru karta hai
Tab saapnon ka saansar usey dubara dhek hi nahi payega

Us roshni mei,
Jo nirnay ki roshni hai
Saab kuch saaman hoga kya?

Ek paladey mei napun sakta
Dusrey paladey par paarush
Aur theek tarazu ke kaantey paar

Ardh satya

By DILIP CHITRE

The Satanic God, The Godly Satan and Me

Here is something i wrote sometime back. Thought I might share it. Incidentally on reading it again today, I agree more to the title of my blog space....DISSENTED UNISONS.... Have a look.

They say there is god. They say there is evil. They say there is a good and they say there is a bad. The contests between the virtues and the vices have been age old and biased. The vices, evil and the bad have never been contested against the fair, even and the good on a plain ground. It has always had a biased contest with the so called and professed good where the latter had won before the contest. Who was he who marked these differences? Did we ever challenge his thought and prophesies as being a component of good or evil? I guess not. There are a million such questions which still stand unanswered and the common logic behind their acceptance is the fact that it has been agreed upon since generations. I refuse to agree to such reasoning if at all there is reasoning. I behold my right to think and to judge. I agree to give the evil a chance to prove its mettle.

The straight of Gibraltar was until long assumed to be the end of the world. No one ever questioned it as it was something being passed on through generations. The great Galileo was looked upon with disgust and was treated as an outcast and a rebel till the day the whole world started to worship his thoughts as one of the greatest revelations in the history of mankind. The point that I want to make here is anything assumed without a question is nothing but fallacy and an insult to mankind and its ability to think.

What is and who is god? The supreme power and the creator of this universe is the often heard answer. A few questions do still linger in my mind. If it was god who created this world which is one of his best creations, why is he not part of it? Is it so shameful or is it that it is not a great creation and we are living in hell which we assume to reach after we die? If he is a part of this world, he is mortal as we know that there is nothing immortal in this universe. If he is mortal, why do we worship him and regard him for being immortal. What is his age? When was he born? Why is he hiding? Why not do a life cycle assessment of god? These arguments might sound weird and disturbing for the brains which refuse to accept the fact that god is a non entity. I stand in the middle of god and Satan today and am asking these questions because I live by reason and logic and am providing the same opportunity for both god and Satan.

God as I see it is nothing but an extended version of ones fear. He is the living manifestation of our incompetence and lack of knowledge. I would like to take the reader to our prehistoric times wherein the wind, sea, water, thunder, jungles were worshipped. At that point in time there was no Christ, no Krishna, no Prophet, no Judas, no Nanak and no Buddha. These were the gods of the prehistoric times. These were worshipped because man was afraid of their fury, their anger and their power to destroy. He had been witness to incidents when he was exposed to the wrath of these natural forces. He had no answer to such phenomenon then and was helpless. Over the period of time, the meteorological sciences evolved, engineering sciences evolved which understood these forces and to a large extent invented and developed ways wherein man could be saved by the wrath of these forces. The fear is till there today but very minimal. This is because we have been successful in exploring the logic, science and reason behind these forces. They do not scare us anymore so we do not worship them anymore.

This analogy leads us to a point where we establish the fact that we worship things that we fear. All of us fear the evil, the Satan. He then under the reasoning established should be worshipped and is none different than god himself. Man is powerful and fear can only come down in one form. Fear is fear as A is A. There can be no other meaning to it. Fear cannot hold attributes like the good fear and the bad fear. If we start assigning attributes to fear, we start being biased again. The entire universe is an explanation of science. I would agree to a few of my friends who would pose questions on me regarding many unanswered issues and questions with regard to the creation and birth of this universe. To them, I would like to go back to the example of Galileo and say that our science is still not so developed to find answers to those questions. The growth of science would mean the death of god. An absolute panacea is something which will eliminate all fears from our minds and thereby eliminate the God as well as the Satan. There would be no one to blame them for our mistakes and no one to take credit for our successes. It would be only us, responsible for what we do. To some extent, even today we are in a manner quite similar to our pre historic godfathers who were apprehensive about various forces of nature. Even now we are apprehensive about many issues. I might be over estimating or talking in a language which reeks of over optimism and agree that the absolute evolution of science is more of an ideal situation as of date and does not seem very practically possible but this does not refute my reasoning that the day when it is achieved there would be no fear and no god or Satan. To assign all these scientific evolutions to someone called god is like taking credit away from someone deserving.

I myself believe in God and am not an atheist but a few questions still linger in my mind which I cannot ignore. These questions put me in a dilemma. Although being a believer in god, I have more faith in the power of mankind and the ability of the muscle and the brain. There is nothing more powerful and more beautiful than that. God is a sign of my weakness and I am not ashamed to confess it.