Isn't it nice...

When things just..

Work...?

Well that is what this ad says...

I hear that this ad was shot live.. I mean no special effects....

It required around 500 takes to get it correct...

While simply looking at the ad, we look at it with absolute awe and with a smile..

It brings out the joy within us when we see how it starts with a small gear rolling on a plank and ends with the car rolling down..

Its simply amazing to watch how small things just click...

And it simply feels..... NICE!

Hmmmm... So why am I talking about this probably one of the most common forwarded video suddenly?

Well small things have been just falling into place regarding what is probably the greatest decision of my life...

And I do feel similarly..... NICE!

Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen...

I am engaged, now !!! :-)

Long time No C....

Long time since have written something...

Was busy first preparing for my trip back home..

Then went back to India on a nice loooooooooong trip...

Was it really long????

25 Days... Well time just flew.

I wish I had some more time..

But anyways, the 25 days can give me gud enuff food for thought to write one or two posts...

So, I shud be back soon...

Making my Mama and Kaku proud!!!

I have always been a foodie...

Talk about delicious food and I am at the foremost.

I remember I could guess what is cooking in the kitchen of our house exactly from a good distance...

I should say I have been pampered a bit as far as food is concerned.

Well I realised that till I actually started cooking...

Initially, it was a bit difficult.

Getting the right combi of salt, spices, etc.

I did screw up as well.. But then learnt my lessons as well.

I have always believed in putting some extra effort in the food that we eat.

Just so to get the complete satisfaction.

The food that I cook has always been inspired from what Mom and Kaku cook at home...

Whenever I'd decide on making a dish that would be made at home, I would think hard to remember how it looked, how it tasted.

Things like Did it have garlic?, Did it have green chillies?, How 'bout onions, How much Turmeric, etc....

And I could remember a lot of things.

I remember they put a bit of garlic in the bhindi ki sabzi, that they put curry leaves in some of the preparations, that they'd make the pulao in ghee, put in bay leaves in them and so on...

Even to the extent that they'd generally cook bhindi in kadhai. And there is a very good reason for that as well.. I have come to appreciate that as well.

I can remember the smell.

I can remember the taste.

I can remember the look.

I do hard to replicate that in the food that I cook.

And when I do get a good deal of success in doing so, I feel excited...

I mean it feels very nice.

I feel I am making them proud.

Believe me. When it comes to food, I am a very tough customer to please.

So today when I made baingan bharta at home and it was very close to what I would have it at home, I could sense the smile that Mom and Kaku would have when they hear this.

Seriously, ain't I making them proud???




Oh, Yeah!!!! :-D

The Great iPod

Yippppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....

I got my iPod!!!!

I so wanted to get one.. But did not want to spend much on it.

So finally got one. The new iPod shuffle.

Smaller than a match box size. 1GB memory.

Now that is you can call a gadget.

Had opted for the free delivery.

Booked it on 30th Oct night at 11.59pm.

Apple gave me a date for delivery as 13th Nov. I was a bit disappointed.

But the world is really fast.

Got my iPod on the 2nd Nov morn. Now that is customer delight.

First look at it and I was head on heels in love with the thing.

Obviously, being Apple, you'd expect the best sound quality which it does have.

And guess what??? I could get a message engraved on it.

So the words that I got on it were....

Tejas the Great

:-)

Anyways, while I listen to songs on my new funky iPod, I give people a chance to envy me. :-D.

Here's a peek at it.

Obviously, Tejas the Great should have an equally royal name for his iPod.

So the name is....

The Great iPod. :-)

The Silver Jubilee Post..

My 25th "published" post.
(Have got one in drafts for long. But somehow haven't completed it yet.)

The Silver Jubilee Post.

Probably right time to take this set of questionnaire. Checked 'em at Pavan's blog here.

Thought this'd help me to identify what the blog means to me.

So here I go.

1. Are you happy / satisfied with your blog, with its content and look?

Lookwise, I'd say currently yes. Being a slightly moody person, I need constant changes. Hence I'll keep changing it frequently compared to others. I'd prefer to keep it sober though throughout.

Contentwise, Yes. Completely satisfied. The only intention was to write whatever I wanted to. I do it. So no issues. Just hope that I probably get to write more often.

2. Does your family know about your blog?

Yes. They do. My Mom reads quite often. Recently, I was most surprised when my Kaku told she was very emotional when she read the Diwali post, wherein I wrote almost the smallest detail of my Diwali.

So far I have no reason why I need to keep my thoughts away from them.

3. Do u feel embarrassed to let your friends know about your blog or do you just consider it as a private thing?

Same holds true for friends. I don't feel embarassed at all. Rather I ask them to keep coming.

I feel that if at all there is a need for me to write something which I do not wish to share with anyone I know, I know I can simply open up a new blog and start writing. Big Deal, huh!

4. Did blogs cause positive changes in your thoughts?

Don't know about positive changes and all.

But somehow I feel a lot better. With a job where you keep moving and close friends not accessible at times, I think a blog is a good medium to vent out any frustrations, share any good news or even simply gibber some crap.

I feel good after writing a post. I feel like a burden off my back. Relaxed, you know.

5. Do you only open the blogs of those who comment on your blog or you love to go and discover more by yourself?

As it is, not many comment here. People know about my blog 'coz I comment on their blogs. But then I feel those, however few, comments are an inherent part of my blog.

Anyways, So I feel the second question is more apt here. I do keep scanning around for some folks with whom my frequency wud match.

6. What does visitors counter mean to you? Do you care about putting it in your blog?

It does mean something to me. It is definitely not the thing. I would not do something special to get attention of the world. I do not wish to set the counter on fire. A visitor a day is also fine. But it does bring me a smile knowing that someone in the other corner of the world spent a few seconds here. Maybe it was an accident.

But then it still feels nice.

7. Did you try to imagine your fellow bloggers and give them real pictures?

I would imagine as to how they would be. We all do that. Not just for bloggers but for all the people that we have interacted with and but not seen. We do create an impression of how they'd be.

But for real pictures, I am not for it.

Unless I have formed a serious friendship with someone.

Unless the bond is that strong.

8. Do you think there is a real benefit for blogging?

There is! There, indeed, is!

It helps u get a lot of things of your system.

You can call it a junkyard or a safety locker of thoughts.

Either you use it share ur precious memories or trash ur unpleasant ones. Choice is urs..

In any case, it helps.

9. Do you think that bloggers society is isolated from real world or interacts with events?

I don't the blogger society is isolated from real world. Rather it is a part of real world. Most of the times we talk about things from the real world.

Blogger world is highly influenced from the real world and its events. At an individual level, it may not look so b'coz anything outside one's life may seem like a fantasy.

10. Does criticism annoy you or do you feel it’s a normal thing?

Noone has criticised me on anything. But it would not annoy me. I generally look at it as a point of view of another person.

11. Do you fear some political blogs and avoid them?

Political blogs are not my type. I'd generally skip them. Not because of fear, but more because of lack of interest.

12. Did you get “shocked” by the arrest of some bloggers?

Who was arrested? When? Why? Sorry, No Idea.

13. Did you think about what will happen to your blog after you die?

I find this question very amusing. Don't know if I'd blog till then or not.

If I do, I'll leave it out for the whole world. I bet they wouldn't want to miss out on some pearls of wisdom. :)

14. What do you like to hear? What’s the song you might like to put a link to in your blog?

Have already put one of them on my blog here.

Here'z another one that's topping my charts right below.

Cook Cook Cook Cook... What to Cook?

What to cook for tonite's dinner??

A haunting question.

The same question haunts daily.

After a long tiring day at the office, the last thing that one would want to be worried about is this.

The problems go like

* Sabzi Nahi hai
* Sabzi hai to mirch nahi hai
* Sabzi hai lekin ye khaane ka mood nahi hai
* Kabhi namak nahi hai
* Kabhi pyaaz nahi hai
* Sab hai to Parathe nahi hai

Sometimes I wonder how does Mom manage at home.

I mean now when I cook, I appreciate the effort that she puts in for making food.

That too not once, but twice. Lunch and Dinner!

Maintaining the Kitchen is not easy at all.

You need to be continuously on your toes to see what is out of stock and what needs to be bought.

Rather its not about what is out of stock, but what would be out of stock in the near future.

Now that's not an easy thing.

What if you land in such a situation where you run out of options???

Well innovation time, it is then. Try out new things.

True, I agree necessity is indeed the mother of invention... or rather innovation.

Today after spending some time outside India, I have probably learned a thing or two about cooking.

Atleast can say that I can cook Ok, with an occassional "special" item on a weekend.

But then, all aside. The question still remains for now. What do I cook???

I think its time now to try the simplest and the best items.

Khichdi. :-)

So, off I go to the Kitchen to make my Khichdi. Well not exactly like the one which Birbal made.

Meanwhile, take a look at this ad which I found on Youtube. Splendid one.

Had me in splits.

Man, an amazing accent zis guy 'as... :-)

This is 'MY' Diwali...

From Today, Dhanteras or Dhanatrayodashi, Diwali has started.

Diwali, a time for celebrations.

Diwali, a time for sweets.

Diwali, a time for fireworks.

Diwali, a time for new clothes.

Diwali, a time for fun.

Diwali, a time for family.

I miss everything. Celebrations. Sweets. Fireworks. New clothes. Fun. And Family.

Diwali would be five days of total relaxation. Five days for family.

Today, when I am not in India, I am remembering each and every moment of how my Diwali would be.

Just before Diwali, we, the whole family, would go shopping. Ours being a joint family, we'd be a minimum of seven people going out shopping. Obviously, the most time consumimg would be the saree shopping for Mom and Kaku. And hence the most boring time for me, my dad, my Kaka and my brothers. We would be spend our time passing comments on the various so-called "in-fashion" sarees. Our shopping, mine and my brothers'. Well it used to be pretty quick as we generally did know what we wanted. The only problem with it used to be the budget. Normally, we'd definitely overshoot it by a handsome margin. We'd have some resistance from our Kaka and dad. But then such lovely guys they are. Either of them would always give in. Mom and Kaku would normally take care of Dad's and Kaka's shopping.

After shopping of clothes, the next item on the agenda would be firecrackers. For the last few years, we'd generally have a lot of crackers unburst from the last year's stock. But then that would always look insufficient for this year. So we would have to convince Dad and Kaka for almost an hour to get them agree to buy more. Sometimes I feel, they know that they'd buy more, but then they show some resistance just for fun sake. The arguments that we would have would be real entertaining. We would have to come up with innovative ideas to convince them. Then once we land up at the crackers shop, we'd literally pickup a sample of almost all the items. Kaka would do a review of the items. He would reduce a few of them, obviously which we would oppose. But then we'd reach a compromise and by then we'd get crackers worth a few thousands of rupees. Before Kaka would pay the bill, we have to convince him that this year we would finish almost all of them and not keep anything, except a few for the cricket matches which India would win. (I think that explains why we are left with so many crackers).

Meanwhile, Mom and Kaku would stock up the various Diwali Special snacks and sweets. Most of the snack items would be ordered from a sweetmart. But a few items would be always prepared at home. e.g. Karanji, Laddoos made of desi ghee, etc.

Just before Dhanteras would start, we'd light up the house with a lantern and the lighting of small bulbs along the perimeter of the roof. Mom and Kaku would draw very nice and colourful Rangoli in front of the house every morning.

This is how we used to get ready for the five days of Diwali.

On Dhanteras, we'd have pooja of the golden jewellery items in the evening. Everyone would sit down together for the pooja.

The next would be Narak Chaturdashi. Generally Narak Chaturdashi and Lakshmi Poojan would fall on the same day. Narak Chaturdashi would be in the morning. Everyone had to get ready by 6.00am in the morning. Being the most lazy folks of all, we, brothers, would be the last ones to get up. Uncle or Dad would come up to us and force us to get up, take bath and get ready. I dont know why we have to get up. But as a tradition for every year, we get up. We'd get up, light a few fancy crackers and then get back in the house for some Diwali snacks as the breakfast.

Lakshmi Poojan. Finally the time to wear the new clothes arrives in the evening. We get dressed up and get ready to go to Dad's and Kaka's offices. Mom and Kaku would go and light the diyas outside the office doors. Dad and Kaka would worship the account books. Coming home, we'd have to get ready for the pooja of Lakshmi devi at our home. Mom and Kaku would keep everything ready and they would sing the Aarti. We'd be forced a book of Aartis and made to read out loud from them. This would be the best time to play pranks. Me and my brother would keep pushing each other and then when Mom or Kaku would notice they'd give a cold stare indicating us to do the "needful". The most fun part of this would be when we all would be reciting the aarti of Durga. Kaka, who would otherwise keep mum for the whole aarti, would get into action. Of the whole aarti, he would speak out only one phrase loudly, which being "Taarak Sanjivani Jai Devi Jai Devi". The simple reason being my Kaku's name being Sanjivani. Everyone would be giggling at that moment. And that too in the midst of the Aarti.
After the Aarti, again it would be cracker time and then we would all go onto the terrace to see the different types of fireworks in the sky. That would be a very lovely scene. Colours of red, blue, green, white all around in the sky.

The next day would be Padwaa. Mom and Kaku would do an aarti of Dad and Kaka respectively.

After that on Bhaibeej, my aatya( My dad's sister) would come down at our place and all the sisters would do an aarti of their respective brothers.

This is how I celebrate every year. But not this year.

Diwali for me has been more than just a festival. It has been a time together with the family sharing the small joys.

Woh Kaka ka bhaav khaana..

Aur Humaara unhe manaana.

Woh Ghar ka Diwali special khaana...

Aur Saree ki shopping ke waqt Mom/Kaku ka maara hua taana.

Specially now when I am away, I remember each and every small thing. I miss each of the small thing that I wrote here on this blog.

Contrary to the current happenings in India, I am here in US avoiding to go to office that too on a weekend. I have been missing Diwali so much that I am now very eager to make up atleast a small bit of it. I want to celebrate my Diwali here. I dont want this Diwali to go as if it hasn't come at all this year. I have been thinking all day about the various things that I can probably do. Finally, I have got a few diyas to light along with some other pooja items.

Rarely ever I would do a pooja or even go to a temple. But somehow today I feel like doing it. It makes me feel how important is my culture, my values are to me. I may say I dont believe in God or so. But today I am considering doing a pooja or going to a temple 50 miles away on the eve of Dipawali. It makes me feel closer to India. Closer to my country. Closer to my roots. Closer to my family.

I got some stuff from an Indian store nearby with a determination to not let this Diwali pass by without a noise. Afterall, this is 'MY' Diwali and I am not used to a Diwali, where there is no noise. I'll do my best to celebrate in whatever way it is possible for me.

Finally, to sum up my feeling,

Lamps - $14
Incense Sticks - $1
Kumkum - $2
Agarbatti Stand - $3
Silver Kumkum and Haldi containers : $20
Lakshmi Coin - $5
Steel lamp - $2
Cotton Wasps - 50c

Feeling that Diwali is here and I am close to my family and country - PRICELESS!!!

WISHING EVERYONE A VERY HAPPY AND A PROSEPOROUS DIWALI....

Falling in love with the fall all over again...

If a handful of colourful trees got me to write a post, then I guess I should now be writing atleast a dozen of them now.

This weekend, I had been to New England to see the fall colours.

Had heard a lot about it. As far as that it is the second most beautiful place in the world to see the fall colours.

I had a few apprehensions, though. I thought I was a week late to go there. Had heard that the White Mountains area, the prime attraction for fall, was past its peak. So was sceptical as to how things would turn out.

But then, was I disappointed????

NO!!!!!!!!

Ok. Now.. let me try and sum up my feeling there.

Let me try putting it in words.

A curvilinear narrow road.

Slighty overcast cold weather.

A cosy comfortable but a fast car... Pontiac Grand Prix...

Four friends. Loaded with Cameras.

Tall trees close to each other on both side of the roads.

Trees with colors sprinkled all over.

Colors in all shades of red, yellow, orange and green.

How does that feel??

Bliss, right???

Hmmm.. here's a chance to experience a bit of it.

Such was the beauty of the place that we just kept on clicking the photos.

In all we might have shot 500+ snaps.

I took the liberty of experimenting with my camera and took this lovely pic.

Howzzat? :-)

Falling in Love with the Fall...

Yellow.

Orange.

Red.

Brown.

Green.

The various colours of fall.

Oh! I so love the fall.

Had been to Chicago this weekend. And wasn't it amazing? Oh, Yeah!!!

The weather was as obliging as it could be.

Clear Blue skies. Nice sunshine. Just a hint of chill in the air.

And to top it the colors of fall all around.

Trees in Yellow. Trees in Green. Trees in Orange. Trees in Yellow, Green, Orange and Red.

Man, It was such a pleasure.

The view was such a delight.

My friend's house was on the 17th Floor. High enuff to give a nice view of the area around.

I could see trees on both the sides of the road. A series of yellow trees on the borders of the road.

Words fall short of it.

It was probably the peak time in Chicago for the fall colours to be seen.

Managed to catch up a few good snaps of the natural splash of colors.









Now, this is something which I do not get to see in India!

Anyways, for now there should be one more place on my list.

A place with beautiful fall colours.

And guess what?? This weekend I am already going to go to such a place.

The state of New Hampshire.

Heard that this is probably one of the best places to see the fall colours.

Am already set for this weekend. The car is already booked. Just that the trivial details need to be worked out.

While I get ready to go to NH, check this video out.

The song "Tumhi dekho na" from the one and only one KANK.

Mr. Karan Johar has beautifully canned the fall of NY in this song.
(Check out Rani Mukherjee in Orange saree matching the colour of leaves)



Seriously, I am falling in love with the Fall!!!

Footprints...

I thought it was with me only..

But then I realised its not just me...

I saw a few posts in the blogger world and found out that I am not the only one.

This has not happened with me alone...

Guess just that its a part of life.

In our life, we meet people.

Some for a few seconds, some for a few hours, some for a few years and some for our entire life.

Knowingly or unknowingly, they shape our lives.

With some we spend a lot of time, but their absence does not bother us much.

But with some, a moment spent with them is a memory of a lifetime.

There have been some such people in my life as probably in any other's life.

I don't know how much importance I would hold in their life.

But for me, the times spent them with them have been one of my best ones.

Sadly, for me, all that is left with me is the memories of those times.

I am not sure if we would cross paths in the future.

Even if we do so, I am not sure if things can ever be the same.

My guess is they never can be. 'Coz building a relationship from scratch is very easy.

But rebuilding relationships is not at all easy. It needs time, initiatives from both sides and luck.

All Together. Something which is as good as impossible in real life.

Anyways, as of now, all I can do is wish the best of luck for them and hope to cross paths.

Hope, I do 'coz Life is quite long and you never know who you may bump into and in what circumstances.

Anyways, if at all, any of them happens to read this by any slightest of the chance,

I am just a phone call or a mail or even a scrap away.

What the heck!!!

Today was a usual day.

Work load was as usual. Sufficient enough to keep me rolling for the whole day.

Not much spare time to do browse any sites, to yawn, etc.

Not many urgent issues as well.

All in all a very routine day.

6.04.pm

Chetan came to my desk. We were to leave by the 6.12 bus for home and then head on to Deepak's party.

Chetan casually asked me, "Boss, when is your technical certification exam?"

Suddenly I was like

What the heck!!!!

Its sometime this week..

Its two days later...

Oh No.. Bugger Its on Thursday...

Today is what? Wednesday?

So when is Thursday?

Tomorrow???

Oh No!!! What the heck!!!!

Can I postpone it??

No.. Damn I could do it only 48 hrs before the exam...

Shit.. yaar I have to give the exam tomorrow..

Can't postpone it now..

I haven't read a line..

Resigned to my fate, I have decided to appear for it.

Two things that tell me I still can clear it...

1. The fact that it is related mostly to the area that I work in. (But still I need to study)

2. It is a multiple choice exam without negative markings. So "Akkad Bakkad Bambe Bo" strategies can work.

Hence I think I can give it a go and may clear the 70% cutoff.

Seriously hope that noone has changed the cutoff to 80%.

Anyways, will try my luck at it. Somehow I have a track record of getting lucky with such exams.

Hope the trend remains the same...

Update : (The next day 11.22 am)

I know that destiny can't see me fail at any time.
Same thing happened today.

Ok. So something like this happened.

I did not even bother to open the study material yesterday.

There is no point to start digging a well when your house is on fire.

You won't get the water on time. So better save your efforts.

Thats exactly what I did.

So I got up in the morning and reached the test centre at 10.00 am sharp.

The lady at the security said, "The centre has not opened yet. Please wait."

Few minutes later, The lady at the security got a call and said, "The person at the test centre fell sick and she is not coming. She said that you can get it rescheduled any time you want."

Before I could blink my eyes, I was out of the building.

Now I'll get a new date for the exam.

Then Hope to ride more on my efforts than my luck.

'Coz Lady Luck won't like me to take her for granted...

Afterall there's a loooong life ahead where I'll need her support.

Is the whole world but me getting married?

Not that I am in any kind of a hurry or so, but somehow I have started getting the feeling that everyone in this world is getting married but for me.

Ever since the final year of engineering, I have been hearing things like

* He got married last month..
* She has her marriage next month..
* They got engaged...
* Because she had an affair, her parents married her off...
* She had a kid...
* He became a dad...
* Even to the extent that she had her second baby a month back!!! :-O

Huh... Sometimes it goes to this level that maybe just to avoid getting irritated by such news, I wonder if I should ask the next female that I'd meet on the road to marry me.

I re-iterate that though this may sound like I am some kind of a psychotic desperate guy.

But I am not. Seriously, I am not.

It is simply because somehow I hate getting bugged by such stupid things.

And being the youngest or almost the youngest in the group of people around you does not help.

Yes. I have normally been the youngest in our school batch, college friends group, training batchmates, project mates, roommates, colleagues, etc.

The situation was so strange at a few times that I had people, elder to me, reporting to me as well, in a project.

In my immediate family, I am the eldest amongst my generation.
But a way down in the group of cousins.

So there is literally a herd of eligible bachelors/bachelorettes in the form of school friends, college friends, office friends, cousins who are in queue.

Being single also does not help. Atleast I think these things could have bugged a bit less if you atleast know whom u r marrying.

Right now, within a flash, I can think of atleast five people who are getting married in the very near future.

Anytime, I call up my relatives, they would always ask me,

"So when are you coming back to India?"
"Should we start looking for our daughter-in-law?"

That reminds me of a very common joke. One of those which you get in the mail forwards.

At weddings, old aunties would come up to me and poke a finger in my ribs and tease me saying " You are the next!!!".

They stopped doing so when I started doing the same to them at funerals.

Anyways, this is not some kind of frustration that I have because I am single or so.

Abhi to meri umr hi kya hai??? :-P

Abhi to mere khelne-kudne ki din hai..

Otherwise, I know that marriage would probably be the single most important decision that I'd take in my life.

And hence, am in no rush to take any decision on this.

Would prefer allowing things to take their own course.

Afterall, I don't keep telling the following to others for nothing.

Aakhir meri biwi achhi nahi hogi, to kiski hogi??? :-)

Early Morning Blues..

Time Now : 12.45 am

Alarm Set for : 6.30 am

Intended time to reach office : 8.00 am

I hope I reach office on time tomorrow (or today, whatever it may be).

Especially since the last few weeks, I have been reaching earliest by 10.00 am.

Indeed very difficult to make exceptions.

As of now, I am least bothered about sleeping.


Update at 8.30 am from the office :

Yes!!! I did it.. Did it.. Did it.. Did it...

Reached office at 8.01 am. (Now 1 min is I guess pardonable :P )

That to despite sleeping at around 2.00 am in the morning.. Huh...

Fahrenheit 9/11

Huh!!! A tiring day.. Two high priority tasks... Hmmph..

Anyways, got this piece of nostalgia in a mail from Harish..

It was during our project in London. We used to have lots of spare time.

One fine Friday, we were wondering what movies should we go to over the weekend at the Croydon Grant's Theatres.

So I sent a mail to the rest of the folks for suggestions and what followed later was just a sign how useless we had become.

We literally were on our way to become the best writers in Bollywood, even eclipsing the duo of Salim-Javed.

The Chain mail series consisted of 100+ mails exchanged over a span of just an hour.

Before you read this, a brief intro of two real-life characters, playing important characters in the mail below.
1. Chetan : One of our team mates. Despises Bhangra and everything associated with it. Luvs mainly Rock songs, metal, heavy metal, etc.

2. Vinod : The cooolest chap of our team. Either laughs or remains silent. Believes that everything in this world was discovered by 'Jorge'. e.g. Jorge Einstein, Jorge Newton, Jorge Edison, etc. (Mallu pronounciation of 'George').

Now the final thing. Like all email chains, read this (the section in the starred lines) from the bottom to the top. I am too lazy to edit it.

This is just an excerpt of the whole mail chain.

*********************************************************************************

From: Chetan
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 7:28 AM
To: Harish; Tejas; Anurag
Cc: Vinod
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

cool man...with my new system I'll freak out!!!
great weekend to u all as well!!!

-----Original Message-----
From: Harish
Sent: Friday 30 July 2004 12:27
To: Chetan; Tejas; Anurag
Cc: Vinod
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

hv a gr8 weekend...

-----Original Message-----
From: Chetan
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 12:26 PM
To: Harish; Tejas; Anurag
Cc: Vinod
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

and I'll be going home....cu guys... the movie is a hit...

-----Original Message-----
From: Harish
Sent: Friday 30 July 2004 12:25
To: Tejas; Chetan; Anurag
Cc: Vinod
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

chal.. abhi interval... hum log khaane chalte hain...

-----Original Message-----
From: Tejas
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 12:25 PM
To: Chetan; Harish; Anurag
Cc: Vinod
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

aNOTHER £100.. bOSS THIS MOVIE IS GOING TO B A BIG BUDGET MOVIE...

-----Original Message-----
From: Harish
Sent: Friday 30 July 2004 12:10
To: Chetan; Tejas; Anurag
Cc: Vinod
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

ohhhhh.. murderer leaves behind clues.. deliberate clues... inspired by Da Vinci...

-----Original Message-----
From: Chetan
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 12:09 PM
To: Tejas; Anurag; Harish
Cc: Vinod
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

ha ha ha ha good suspence...in between...we say Sangreal....
so dark the con of men..and stuff like that...

-----Original Message-----
From: Tejas
Sent: Friday 30 July 2004 12:07
To: Anurag; Chetan; Harish
Cc: Vinod
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

Yes. Thats a cool Idea...We won't show actual murder taking place...
We would give hints to the audience..
First a Punjabi Song.. PEople dancing..
Then a rock song Chetan Dancing..
Then The sound of Police van and then the dead body...

-----Original Message-----
From: Anurag
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 12:06 PM
To: Tejas; Chetan; Harish
Cc: Vinod
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

every murder will take place after a punjabi song and will be followed by rock

-----Original Message-----
From: Tejas
Sent: 30 July 2004 12:04
To: Chetan; Harish; Anurag
Cc: Vinod
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

Sorry boss, We don't want real life murders in the movie... ;-)

-----Original Message-----
From: Chetan
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 12:03 PM
To: Tejas; Harish; Anurag
Cc: Vinod
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

add a few Punjaabi songs in the movie!!!

-----Original Message-----

From: Tejas
Sent: Friday 30 July 2004 12:02
To: Harish; Anurag
Cc: Vinod; Chetan
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

Boss.. One question.. Finally apna story kya hai.. Kisi ko shurvaat se yaad bhi hai ke nahi??

-----Original Message-----
From: Harish
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 12:01 PM
To: Anurag; Tejas
Cc: Vinod; Chetan
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

yeh bhi sahi hai.. vinod is a cop.. but jorge is a match-fixer... tho amitabh pareshaan....

-----Original Message-----
From: Anurag
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 11:59 AM
To: Harish; Tejas
Cc: Vinod; Chetan
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

sahi hai....vinod amitabh ka junior cop....jorge match fixer.....

-----Original Message-----
From: Harish
Sent: 30 July 2004 11:59
To: Tejas; Anurag
Cc: Vinod; Chetan
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

no.... vinod ka split personality karne ka.... Jorge & Vinod..

-----Original Message-----
From: Tejas
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 11:58 AM
To: Harish; Anurag
Cc: Vinod; Chetan
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

Vinod ko hum dubbing ke liye use karenge... Chetan ke hasne ka dubbing Vinod karega.. USko hasi naturally aati hai...

-----Original Message-----
From: Harish
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 11:57 AM
To: Tejas; Anurag
Cc: Vinod; Chetan
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

vinod ko bhi kuch role dete hain..

-----Original Message-----
From: Tejas
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 11:56 AM
To: Harish; Anurag
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

Hum Chetan ka pehla khoon dikhaayenge.. Woh ek achha khaasa SE tha..
Lekin uske cubicle mein ek bandi Punjaabi Gaane lagaati hai... Aur chetan gussa ho jaata hai...
Gusse mein hosh kho baithta hai.. aur woh uska khoon kar deta hai...
Waha se woh serial killer ban gaya....

-----Original Message-----
From: Harish
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 11:54 AM
To: Anurag; Tejas
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11 no..

anyone who listens to punjabi songs will be in his hitlist..
top on his list will be punjabi singers... -

----Original Message-----
From: Anurag
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 11:52 AM
To: Tejas; Harish
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

sahi hai phir. anyone who does bhangra in cricket stadium or cries will be killed

-----Original Message-----
From: Tejas
Sent: 30 July 2004 11:51
To: Harish; Anurag
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

Usko.. Movie mein Aks ke Manojj Bajpai jaise hasne ko bhi bolte hai.. To give it a scary look...

-----Original Message-----
From: Harish
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 11:50 AM
To: Anurag; Tejas
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

yeh idea bhi shi hai... serial killer ka role..

-----Original Message-----
From: Anurag
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 11:50 AM
To: Harish; Tejas
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

abe chetan ko lete hain villain ke liye.
saare bhangra karne waale aur senti hone walon ko maar dega...

-----Original Message-----
From: Harish
Sent: 30 July 2004 11:48
To: Anurag; Tejas
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

nahi .. john abraham and amritha are his kids...
amritha royegi baap ke marne pe.... sahi emotional scene karti hai...

-----Original Message-----
From: Anurag
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 11:45 AM
To: Harish; Tejas
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

haan ye sahi hai. buddhe ke marne kissi ko shock nahin lagega.

-----Original Message-----
From: Harish
Sent: 30 July 2004 11:44
To: Anurag; Tejas
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

ohhh... theek hai.. ending mein.. Qurbaani shtyle....
woh vinod kambli ko leke marega... starting mein amitabh ko maarte hain..

-----Original Message-----
From: Anurag
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 11:43 AM
To: Harish; Tejas
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

yaar starting mein senti nahin chalega.....
die hard shahrukh fan depress ho ke chale jaayenge

-----Original Message-----
From: Harish
Sent: 30 July 2004 11:41
To: Anurag; Tejas
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

the movie shud open with Shahrukh ke marne ka scene.... phir flashback...

-----Original Message-----
From: Anurag
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 11:40 AM
To: Harish; Tejas
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

sabko lelo. sabko ek item number milega.....
hero ke liye saare flavors chahiye.
Amit ji by default rule of chetan (to give some thunderous dialog), shahrukh to make everyone cry in between,

-----Original Message-----
From: Harish
Sent: 30 July 2004 11:37
To: Anurag; Tejas
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

nahi yaar... matrix bore ho gaya..... apan ke movie mein nahi chalega...
thhoda senti bhi karneka naa.... how about Amritha Rao...???
Amritha Rao & Mallika.... these will be heroines.... hero..??
Isha puraani ho gayi... abhi tho Yana Gupta..

-----Original Message-----
From: Anurag
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 11:35 AM
To: Harish; Tejas
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

sab kuchh.... a perfect masala movie....
will be some fight action also in the end....matris ishtyle.....
neha dhupia and mallika sherrawat as actresses....one item number by isha kopikar....

-----Original Message-----
From: Harish
Sent: 30 July 2004 11:31
To: Tejas; Anurag
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

waise kaafi interesting title hai.... what do u think?? JO WAHAAN HAI... will this be a thriller??? or a horror flick??? or senti stuff..??? or skin stuff..??

-----Original Message-----
From: Tejas
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 11:30 AM
To: Anurag; Harish
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

Ye kahaani.. Do bando ki hai.. jo waha hai....

-----Original Message-----
From: Anurag
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 11:29 AM
To: Tejas; Harish
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

theek hai phir "jo waha hai" dekhenge. Naam nahin suna is movie ka.. Actors/Actresses kaun hain???.......

-----Original Message-----
From: Tejas
Sent: 30 July 2004 11:25
To: Anurag; Harish
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

Afsos.. Croydon, Grant's mein Julie nahi hai.. Hoti to pakka jaate..
Hum wohi movie dekhenge.. jo waha hai..

-----Original Message-----
From: Anurag
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 11:23 AM
To: Tejas; Harish
Subject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

Julie.....

-----Original Message-----
From: Tejas
Sent: 30 July 2004 11:22
To: Harish; AnuragS
ubject: RE: Fahrenheit 9/11

Woh baad mein.. Pehle Spidey2 jaate hai..


-----Original Message-----
From: Harish
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 11:21 AM
To: Tejas; Anurag
Subject: Fahrenheit 9/11


-----Original Message-----
From: Tejas
Sent: 30 July 2004 11:21
To: Harish; Anurag
Subject: IS weekend konsi movie dekhte hai...

Vote plz..

Regards,
Tejas.

*********************************************************************************

Finally, we saw Spidey 2...

My first tag... and a nice one to start with...

Saw this tag on SG's Blog here. A very interesting one..
So the index is as below

• The bold ones are the ones that I have already done.
• The asterisks ones are the ones that I'd like to do soon.

Ok. So the points are as below.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink

02. Swam with wild dolphins

03. Climbed a mountain - (I hope the size does not matter)

04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive* (There are two options to this.. Here in New York, I can get it for $1000 a day or have to wait to get to UK where I could drive them at Silverstone for £220. Guess will have to wait to go to UK.)

05. Been inside the Great Pyramid

06. Held a tarantula

07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone* (Hmmmmmm.. ;-D )

08. Said 'I love you' and meant it

09. Hugged a tree - (Don't remember doing it. But am pretty sure I must have done it)

10. Bungee jumped* - Would require a hell lot of guts from my side.

11. Visited Paris - (Been there, done that. Spent nice four days there and covered almost all the main places. Eiffel Tower Rocks!!!)

12. Watched a lightning storm at sea (Not much interesting in sea travel)

13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise (I don't remember doing both simultaneously)

14. Seen the Northern Lights (Where exactly in North are these lights?)

15. Gone to a huge sports game - Been to Silverstone F1 Grand Prix in UK and guess what Schumi won :-) . Even the Mini World Cup Final at the Oval between England and West Indies.. What a match it was.

16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa - Yeah baby, this too. Its hell of a fun going to the top.

17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables

18. Touched an iceberg

19. Slept under the stars - Many times

20. Changed a baby's diaper* - This would of course be due some time later.

21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon - Went up in a balloon at the Niagara. It looked like a hot air one.

22. Watched a meteor shower (I remember remaining awake very late during my engineering days to see the shower. Bugger meteor did not turn up!!!)

23. Gotten drunk on champagne - Got a little high. But champagne is not the best drink to get high on.

24. Given more than you can afford to charity

25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope

26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment - Well do so when we guys from 12/7 get on a conf call.

27. Had a food fight - Used to fight with my brother at home generally. Food used to be just one of the reasons.

28. Bet on a winning horse - Betting is not for me. I hardly even win at Tambolas.

29. Asked out a stranger

30. Had a snowball fight* - Haven't experienced snow. Hopefully this winter I'll get the chance

31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can - Did so during my Matheran trip with my cousin gang. Left me speechless for a couple of days.

32. Held a lamb

33. Seen a total eclipse - Remember seeing it during my school days.

34. Ridden a roller coaster - Have been on some. But not game for the extreme ones.. they are verrrry scary.

35. Hit a home run - Did so only in the video games.

36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking - Anytime I dance, its the same.

37. Adopted an accent for an entire day - I can't change my accent. But do pickup words from others

38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment - All the moments, till now.

39. Had two hard drives for your computer - That was one of the most common things in engineering. Had 2 hard disks and 2 CD drives as well.

40. Visited all 10 provinces - Provinces of where?

41. Taken care of someone who was drunk - Even I was drunk, then!!! :D

42. Had amazing friends - Lots of them

43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country

44. Watched wild whales

45. Stolen a sign - What sign?

46. Backpacked in Europe * - Yup.. on my list

47. Taken a road-trip * - Have had very small ones.. Guess will do one while here in US.

48. Gone rock climbing - Went with my mom when I was pretty young. Almost 3rd or 4th. Should do it again.

49. Midnight walk on the beach

50. Gone sky diving

51. Visited Ireland - This too is done... :-)

52. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love - Luckily, No

53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them

54. Visited Japan - Not inclined as well. Heard its very crammed and being a veggie, food is a major issue. If at all I go, would not want to go for more than a week.

55. Milked a cow

56. Alphabetized your cds - I am the most incorrect person for such orderly things.

57. Pretended to be a superhero - Haven't done that. But would like to be STUPENDOUS MAN!!! :-D

58. Sung karaoke - Now that's what I do in the bathroom

59. Lounged around in bed all day - Did this last Sunday.

60. Posed nude in front of strangers - Em Ummm Hmmm... Excuse me..

61. Gone scuba diving* - Would like to do it provided first I learn swimming

62. Kissed in the rain* - Waiting for the right person :-)

63. Played in the mud

64. Played in the rain - Did it yesterday. Played tennis in the rain.

65. Gone to a drive-in theater - Oh I so miss "Drive-In". I so miss Ahmedabad.

66. Visited the Great Wall of China* - Plan to.. Already on my list.

67. Started a business* - Hope to something on this sometime down the line.

68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken - I have rather been the heart-breaking kid.

69. Toured ancient sites - Yup. India has so many of them.. Me has been to Ajanta and Ellora.

70. Taken a martial arts class - Sensei Tejas is an orange belt holder in Judo :-)

71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight - What is D&D?

72. Gotten married* - I hope someone agrees to marry me.

73. Been in a movie

74. Crashed a party

75. Gotten divorced - Lemme first get married... Then will think about it.

76. Gone without food for 5 days - 5 days is tooooo long.

77. Made cookies from scratch

78. Won first prize in a costume contest - My best chance till now has been the consolation prize that I got in Kindergarten for dressing up as fisherman.

79. Ridden a gondola in Venice - Yipppppeeee....

80. Gotten a tattoo - I am not for getting a tattoo for myself. Instead prefer looking at them ;-)
81. Rafted the Snake River - May not do it at Snake River. Maybe somewhere closeby.

82. Been on television news programs as an "expert" - Me giving "expert" advice?? Are you kidding?? Don't you love ur own life??

83. Got flowers for no reason - :-(

84. Performed on stage - Did so in school days. I remember performing the role of Ravan's son Indrajit in the drama "Modern Ramayana". The next day, VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) sent a leaflet in all newspaper claiming that the drama made a mockery of gods, specially considering that our school was a convent school.

85. Been to Las Vegas - Very recently... Udaaoed $100 as well in the casinos.

86. Recorded music

87. Eaten shark - Please, I am a veggie.

88. Had a one-night stand - Not my cup of tea.

89. Gone to Thailand

90. Bought a house* - Plan to do it soon

91. Been in a combat zone

92. Buried one of your parents - How the hell did someone even think of such an idiotic point..

93. Been on a cruise ship - I could go. But it does not excite me much.

94. Spoken more than one language fluently - Heh Heh.. Almost all Indians can. For us it should be can we speak more than 3. For me, the count is 4.

95. Performed in Rocky Horror

96. Raised children* - Sometime I'll have to.

97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour

98. Created and named your own constellation of stars - Haven't stargazed much.

99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country* - Hope to do it here

100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over - Done it 'n' number of times.

101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge* - Rather than walking I'd luv to drive through

102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking - Done, but for the car.

103. Had plastic surgery - It is not possible for anyone to be any better. :-D

104. Survived an illness that you shouldn't have survived - Touchwood. Haven't been ill for more than a few days. The best was one week. Chicken Pox!!!

105. Wrote article for a large publication - I don't have much of writing skills. well atleast article writing skills.

106. Lost over 100 pounds - There is no scope for that. Me minus 100 pounds = Invisible Me. :-D

107. Held someone while they were having a flashback - Yes. If that means what I think it is.

108. Piloted an airplane - Chalo jis kise apni jaan pyaari nahi hai, plane mein baith jaao...

109. Petted a stingray

110. Broken someone's heart - Did that more than once.

111. Helped an animal give birth

112. Won money on a T.V. game show

113. Broken a bone - Again Lucky!!! No bones broken yet....

114. Gone on an African photo safari* - Wud like to go to South Africa

115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced

116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol - If you consider the ones which are used in the desi "mela" for shooting balloons.

117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild - I hate mushrooms!!!

118. Ridden a horse - Done that but not alone..

119. Had major surgery

120. Had a snake as a pet

121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon - If I define Bottom as "something not at the top" then yes. Went down the trail to the bottom. But returned back in an hour. The whole trail from bottom and back is supposedly for two days.

122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours

123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states - It will take a hell lot of time to complete more than 50 countries. Current count is at a mere 5 other than India.

124. Visited all 7 continents - Current Count is 3.

125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days

126. Eaten kangaroo meat - Eeeks. I am a pure veggie.

127. Eaten sushi

128. Had your picture in the newspaper

129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about

130. Gone back to school

131. Parasailed

132. Petted a cockroach

133. Eaten fried green tomatoes

134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey

135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read

136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

137. Skipped all your school reunions - Technically Yes. So far there has been only one official reunion and have missed it. Otherwise have mostly made to the ones which we friends had arranged for ourselves.

138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language - Chennai mein yehi to kiya..

139. Been elected to public office

140. Written your own computer language

141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream - Many times..

142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care

143. Built your own PC from parts - Have done the reverse though.. :)

144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you

145. Had a booth at a street fair

146. Dyed your hair - Just a couple of times..

147. Been a DJ - Haven't done so. But I think I have the talent. I can pick up a good playlist for a home party. My roomies in Engg. even nicknamed me DJ.

148. Shaved your head

149. Caused a car accident

150. Saved someone's life

Hell!!! And I thought my life is boring...

Four years later...

Hmm... Had this Long Post Long overdue. Many things kept coming up and it got delayed. Wasn't sure that this'd be so long. An exhaustive read, I guess.

August 12, 2002.

A very important day. The day from when I had to start taking control of my life gradually. It was when I started my professional career. The first day of my first job. At the head office of this company in Bangalore. It could not have been any more picture-perfect, well atleast for me. Got placed at my first ever interview for a job during the campus interviews in the final year and that too at one of the most reputed organisations in India.

August 12, 2006.

This day, I complete four years in my career. And I am still at my first job. And have no wish to move out of it atleast for sometime, unless anything "drastic" happens. Now that I consider is an achievement, specially when job-hopping in today's times is as common as Himesh Reshammiya songs on TV. It was easy for me to get lured by the extra money that the other companies would offer and probably hop on a better looking boat.

So this day, I look back and wonder what are the factors that have actually made me stay in this place. Rather than asking these questions to myself alone, I did ask a few friends of mine, who also happen to be my colleagues, the same question.

Name any three reasons why are you still in this organisation.

I got a lot of different answers. Almost every answer that I got makes up one of my reasons as well to stay in this organisation.

Anyways.. so here are the responses from them one by one....

1. A good friend from my London team, who also happens to be here.

a.Great work
b.Great work culture
c.Timely promotion
d.Onsite opportunities

2. My training batchmate and another close friend

a.Onsite Opportunities
b.Stock Options
c.Fair and Transaparent Working Environment

3. My roomie nicknamed "Newton"

a.Because he did not get a job anywhere :)
b.Relaxed Life
c.Onsite Opportunities

4. My "Mumbaikar" roomie

a.Great Office Campus and Great Infrastructure
b.Great people to work with
c.Salary
d.Onsite opportunities with spouse

5. A lady in my current project team

a.Employee Interest
b.Onsite Salary
c.Good Managers :)

6. Mr.Hasmukh Swamy of my current team.

a.Brand Name
b.He was one of the lucky folks to join the company during the recession in 2000-01.
c.The founder of our company :)

7. Monsieur Z.

a.Lethargy
b.Lethargy
c.Lethargy

8. The soon-to-be married guy in our group

a.Bangalore - That the office is in his hometown.

9. My Current Boss :)

a.Culture
b.Emotional Attachment considering that he has spent quite some time here.
c.Brand

10. One of the three ladies from whom I learnt a few lessons as to why ladies go shopping.

a.Joining this company was one of her million dreams. And as not all dreams are fulfilled, she loves being with it.
b.So far so good. No never thot of hopping
c.Gets world wide recognition for being an employee of this company

11. Finally, Boss. Not my boss, but a very close friend whom I call "Boss".

a.Inertia & Laziness to go out and find other options.
b.Onsite Opportunities
c.At home here - with the people and the environment here.

My Story of why I am here is almost the summary of all the points above.

1.Environment/Culture/Work
This has been the the most common answer from all. Well when I say culture, I talk about people, the warmth that these people bring along, the flexibility that I have had. I have got away with coming late to the office as long as I ensure my work is done on time. I have, during all these times, been blessed with good managers. None of those wicked or evil types that appear
on the Dilbert strips. Hence, so far have managed to keep my career graph at an acceptable growth.

2.People.
In these four years, I have made a lot of friends and quite a handful of close friends. I had an excellent time during my training days. It is one of the times in my life that I would like to relive. My first project has probably set the tone for my time here. It was all fun. We had a lot of parties during my first project. The motto of the project was "MTV mein just party, guys!!!" (The project was called MTV :D). Another of the most memorable of my times has been with the CustDB team in London. That was an amazing time. We used to play COWS and BULLS in office after lunch and that too at client's office. I have spent some real nice time, be it the short and sweet trip at Dublin or be it the trip to Chennai, specially when it was raining or even the time now in US.

All this has been due to the lots of friends that I have made over these four years.

3.Travelling
Before I started out on my job, the list of places travelled was mostly governed by the places where our relatives chose to stay. Usually it used to be a trip to the North of Maharashtra, which coincidentally is my native place, in the scorching summers. But things have changed since I have started working. I had my training in Bangalore, later moved to Pune for a project and
then to London for my first onsite and well almost since then I have kept on moving. In these four years, I have moved almost 14 times from one place to another which makes my average stay at a place for four months. Never ever had I imagined in my life during my engineering that I'll travel so much.

And now I enjoy travelling and hope to complete my list. :)

4.Pune
Now this is probably the most important one. That I can be in Pune is very important for me. Its a place where I am very close to my family and friends. During my engineering days, I used to travel every weekend home. Its that close. Most of my friends are planning to get settled in Pune. It is a place where I have spent a lot of time, been comfortable and loved it.

5.Financial Aspects
I have been able to make my own ground and stand on my own feet. I can say I am financially sound. The dreams of owning a decent car and a good house seem feasible in the near future.

6.Brand
The brand or the image that this company has created today simply makes you proud to be associated with it even if you know that you are just a tiny drop of the ocean.

7.Inertia/Lethargy
Despite these positives which keep me bound, there are times when I do want to move out. But then there is so much of inertia to take the effort of looking up for an alternative option that is better than what is now.

Finally quoting a part of what "Boss" wrote to me and with which I agree fully,

I know hundreds of people here; hundreds of people here know me for something… I can identify with the campus, bldgs, meeting rooms, processes, and so many such things.. The immediate higher mgmt knows me & what I’ve done… So, its more of a feeling of - At Home here in this company… And there is a certain reluctance to go out and make a home again..!!!!

With this, I do not say that this place where I work is the best place in the world. All I say is I have probably got more than what I had expected from this place.

I wish the best for this organization.

Hope that it goes even a longer way than what it has completed.

And I just hope to be a part of it till wherever I can...

Boooorrrrrrrriiiinnnggggg...

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnn.......

Hmmmmmmmmmmpppppppppphhhhhhhhhhhhh...............

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigggggggghhhhhhhh......

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh......

Huh....

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnn.......

That's almost what I feel right now...

The price of a teeny weeny bit of self-esteem

INCIDENT 1.

Where : Somewhere in US.

Once while returning from the office, a person, lets call him A, was walking along with a friend of his, back from the nearby rail stop to his home. On his way, along the footpath was group of 7-8 "Afro-American" boys roughly aged between 12-17. As A approached nearer, one of them offered his hand and said "Hi dude". Well looking at him, A thought that he did not exactly look friendly. Hence, ignoring him, they walked forward. It was then they passed some comments, which A conveniently ignored (probably his friend as well).

What followed was a couple of moments of silence and then resumption of the discussion that was going on.

INCIDENT 2.

Where : Somewhere in US.

Well, a few days back, A along with a few friends of his were returning from their shopping of groceries from the Indian Street, a guy again in an SUV was waiting at a traffic signal. He, too, was not what he could call as "friendly". They passed him on their way to the bus stop. He, too, passed some comment, which the guys conveniently chose to ignore. Obviously looking at the excitement of the guy in SUV, A and his friends were not expecting him to enquire about how well they were doing in US and whether they had any problems.

Again, what followed was a couple of moments of silence. But this time they did not resume our discussion. Instead, one of them (not A) replied how tame they had become, how they should have gone back to the guy and give him a mouthful back. Instead, others decided to keep walking on.

INCIDENT 3.

Where : On a famous street in Bangalore.

This was when A was in Bangalore early this year. A was thugged on what is probably one of the busiest and happening places in Bangalore. Two rowdies approached him saying that they were looking for a guy who had slashed their friend with a knife and A resembled like him. At the end of the whole talk during which A was desperately trying to get out of the "mis-understanding", A lost his cellphone to them. The guys maintained the "Fear Factor" throughout and hence were successful in pulling out the whole thing on him.

Two days later, A had put the incident behind him. Many people advised him that he should have gone to the police and lodged a complaint. But he did not.

Well that brings me to the question whether what A did was right or wrong.

Basically in such a situation, there are two ways that one would react.

The idealistic way

• Tit for Tat. Wherein you defend your self-esteem. You go back, return the "compliment" back to the person.

The submissive way

• Ignore them as if they have never happened to you. But you always know that it did happen and you are not comfortable with your own reaction to it.

So on paper, to put it in black and white, the second way appears much greyish compared to the first one.

Then why do most of us opt for the darker option?

Well the answer probably is that we are not ready to pay the possible price for being a HERO.

In the three incidents mentioned above, it could be simply that you could simply make the 'other' person keep quiet by giving a word or two back. But there is a chance that things could go worse. And that is where most of us falter and take a step backwards. We are more worried about the 'WHAT IF THE WORSE HAPPENS?'. So, is it wrong?

That takes us to another question.

What is the price of a teeny weeny bit of your self-esteem?

Now a confession. Yes, the above three incidents occurred with me.

Well, I don't feel like a hero after these things.
I know I have compromised.

So what did I gain?
Possibly saved on some physical damage to myself by avoiding confrontation.
And hence, some hospital bills.
But the most important, A litte peace of mind.

It requires a small spark to ignite a huge fire.
A huge fire that can possibly damage everything.
Hence, its always better to never to let the spark out in the first place.

I have always wanted to live my life peacefully with minimal troubles.
I've got only one life and am very careful about making the most of it.
For me, my peace of mind is much pricey than probably squabbling with some person for almost no reason.

So am I wrong?
Well, I think 'No'.

I think I may have just got a fair deal...

The "Hum" part of Hum-Tum...

Hmmm..

Have been reading a lot on Guy-Gal thing of late, sheerly through blogs.

Even happened to watch Hum-Tum as well yesterday.

Thought of writing about the 'men-are-from-mars-women-are-from-venus-thing'.

But could not build a chain of thoughts properly.

Just then, Read this article about Single guys by Smiling Girl.

Thought of commenting on a few points. But then, it became a good size.

Hence putting it up on my blog.

So here are my comments. Point - to - Point.

1. Actually the very opposite of it.. Gals are too much into dates.
If guys dont remember a date, they are *GONE* and I mean it very literally.
I think it flatters them if guys remember some important day. Well not just remember it but do *SOMETHING* special as well.

2. Agreed. Showing off does not work at all.
But such talent, if timed properly, can go a long way. Timing is the key.

3. I agree here.. SPEAKING OUT is the only solution. Silence seldom works.

4. Hmmm.. Yaa.. agreed again. I've seen similar fights as well during my 11th and 12th.And yes. It does happen mostly in small towns.

5. Being a nice guy *IS* a solution. I mean if the guy is not a nice guy, gals would not like them in the first place. Being Chivalrous always helps!!!

Again there are two types of gals

a. *GIRL* girl

b. *BOY* girl - commonly know as "Tomboy"

Now if it is a *GIRL* girl, well she'll think thousand times before agreeing to go to a movie with the guy *ALONE*, or going for shopping with him.

I feel now, if the girl asks for the guys opinion on the dress (Thats the only thing that girls buy), there is indeed some spark. More the girl asks for the guy's opinion, the bigger the fire is.

Well, if the girl's a Tomboy, well maybe then this point would not work.

6. I think the same applies to girls. Quite a lot of guys dont like their girls to be completely submissive types. (There are some who prefer it the cliched manner.) They would like the girls to stand tall on their feet. (I do accept here that almost all of the guys would prefer that the girl stand atleast an inch lower)

7. True. There is a limit for anyone's optimism.

8. That is one point where I nod with you. Thats a definite NO-NO.

9. Hmmm.. Cheating really not accepted. Guys do come back asking for forgiveness. But thats where the trap lies. Quite a few Girls, being the emotional fools they are, forgive them. I think they should ditch such guys. The reliability of such guys is very low.

10. Now that is one fact which is probably well known only in girls!!! :DIf at all guys do gossip, they do not do so when girls are around.

11. Hmmm.. Now in this case, its a thin line between TAKING CARE and EXTRA-CAUTION.Quite a lot of girls *DO* like this. In fact, they enjoy the attention they get from guys. But then, as I said, there's a thin line. If it is crossed, it becomes intrusion into privacy.

12. Weird. Do guys seriously discuss this??? At length?? Most of the guys would simply make a small comment. Thats it.

13. True. There is a risk that the girl may feel he is flirting with her friends. Again that is not acceptable.

14. Some things are better not divulged to girls. If at all guys use 'FAIR AND LOVELY', that should be a deep dark secret. It should be ensured that all the people who know about it swear by their blood.

15. Thats true. Guys, as it is, hate shopping and Chick-Flicks.

16. Hmmm.. true. But cribbing is something that is best when done over a bottle of Johnnie Walker :-)

17. Men cannot handle maids. Period. As it is, they don't like to do so. It's indeed for girls.

18. Guy with more girl friends than guy friends.. Very Rare!!!

19. Point taken. Specially when the joke is cracked on a guy by his girlfriend herself.

Well the point here is. Actually what drives guyz to do such things is that girls like guys to do such things. But then some like it and some don't.

It eventually boils down to "WHAT WOMEN WANT".

Hope some day, some guy gets the key to the most complex puzzle of the world, the female brain.

Till then the fun game continues.....

Dilbert Bosses in my organisation

Title : Dilbert Bosses in my organisation
(Based on a real life incident)

Cast :
A Software Engineer
A Project Manager
A Senior Project Manager

Scenario: A Software Engineer goes to Cafeteria where he meets his Project Manager and Senior Project Manager. Software engineer heats up his coffee in Microwave.

SPM: Hey SE, how long did u keep the coffee in microwave?

SE: 45 sec

SPM keeps it for 45 sec and then coffee overflows in oven...

PM: What SE, u just mislead people..

SE: But I generally keep for 45 sec

SPM: Hey PM, it must be because we had already kept it for 1 min earlier...!!!!


I seriously hope the characters in the above post do not read this.. Else I'll have to keep my resignation ready...

Copyrights © . All rights reserved with the SE and his team. These rights have been forcefully taken for the sake of publishing this post.

Places to visit before I die...

After all the josh that we got from the last weekend's trip, we started hunting out for a place to go for the coming weekend as well...

Started from places nearby to those far off...

I went on Googling for the locations..
(my gosh.. Seriously Google has become an integral part of my life.. guess sometime I'd also want to write a post on this.. may be the various things that I have googled for... sure the list'd be interesting..)

Searched on National Park sites.. but cud not get anything exciting..

So from there I went to our own very desi Kesari Tours.. hoping that there would be some *famous* place that I've missed out.. But then.. I could not find any.. atleast none that'd be fine for us to go this weekend...

But then looking at their website... I saw so many places... that I just loved simply looking at them... So thought.. maybe I'll write about them.. I don't know how many I'd write down.. But the places will come as I think...

Ok so here I go..

1. Rajasthan by Palace on Wheels

• This has been on my list for long... Visiting Rajasthan is not the main thing. But going there by the most luxurious train in India, Palace on Wheels is the main thing that interests me. I am damn sure the experience would be a helluva experience. Just now checked it out some details.. Good thing.. I should be able to afford it.. :-) And Bad thing.. Bookings are filled up very well in advance.. Booking for 2008 are also full!!! :-O

2. Switzerland

• Well for obviously obvious reasons... :-) What can be said about this place.. Paradise on earth. Jungfraujoch. Titlis are the MUST ones... Specially want to go when there's lot of snow.

3. Mauritius/Maldives/Lakshadweep/West Indies/Port Blair

• Either of these is fine.. But preference is in the order from Left to right. So if I visit Mauritius, I am skip the others. But if I visit, lets say, Port Blair, I still might want to go to Mauritius. Ok the reason of attraction being the blue water and white sand beaches. They look sooooo beautiful... All I have seen till now is some dirty beaches all around.. in India and out of India.. But I want something that is veryyy clean. Hence the list.. Just want to confirm if such beaches exist in the real world.. or is it just in Hindi Movies.. ;-)

4. God's own country - Kerala

• Sheerly for the natural beauty of the place.. Those backwaters.. the trees... Appam and Veg Stew.. and A houseboat.. Imagining all these together makes me smile.. I guess being at the place would be even more pleasing.. OnceI reach there, maybe I can think seriously on the plans of starting a business of houseboats.. A concept nurtured by me and Vinod(a friend of mine from office) ;-)

5. Taj Mahal

• Now actually.. This is an irony.. Whenever I go onsite, meet people there and talk about India, they'd say how they had been to India and how did they like India and all sorts.. How they went to Taj Mahal and the place was so beautiful.. Well at such times.. I feel bad that being in India, I haven't seen Taj Mahal.. Actually same holds true about people in other countries.. I came to know of this bus driver in Jersey City (where I am now) who hasn't been to the Statue of Liberty.. while my enthu made me visit the place within days of coming to US. The typical case of 'Ghar ki murgi Daal baraabar'. Anyways, coming to the main point, I want to see the place.. Afterall it ain't a Wonder just for nothing.

6. Great Wall of China

• Man's only creation on Earth to be visible from Moon... Seriously, The concept of the wall itself is too much... So looooooooooooong is it.. around 6.7K kms.. Was this guy crazy who built it? Kya duniya ka saara patthar khatam karna chaahta tha kya? Anyways.. its on my list.. And I have to go there to find out why do I not find a stone when I have shoo off Ramlal (Gali ka kutta,re...)

7. Europe - Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, France, Spain, Greece, Austria

• I have this wish since long (atleast since I have started working).. I should get a Schenghen Visa and should get posted to some country like Germany or France for an year or so. Then every weekend I would go to some place in any of these countries. Europe is indeed very beautiful. Have been to a few places in Europe like Paris, Venice, Rome. The flexibility that the Schenghen Visa offers is a boon for travellers like me. Otherwise getting a Visa for each country is a problem. Anyways.. My wishlist consists of visits to Frankfurt (heard a lot about it from Makarand), Berlin, Nice, Brussels, Amsterdam (specially during my bachelor life ;-D ), Milan, Madrid, Athens, Vienna.. (Have heard a lot about the beauty of Austria)

8. North India

• Now that is a very generic statement... But yes.. North India.. When I say that , I mean, Delhi, Himachal and Uttaranchal.. Specially watching the Roadies show on MTV, Their journey from Jaisalmer to Leh looked fantastic.. specially towards the end. Being a bike freak I am, I would love to go for a ride on such beautiful routes. Another reason for my fascination with the North is specially due to the fact that the most North in India I have been to is Mount Abu, a place just above the Gujarat Border in Rajasthan.

9. Golden Quadrilateral

• Well my list is not always about going to a certain place. Destination is not always what I am interested in. The journey also matters. Golden Quadrilateral, for sure, is one thing to ensure that it would make even the journey a pleasure.(Of course, the govt. permitting). I would be very much interested in taking a drive on these roads in an SUV, halting at dhabas for meals and adoring the beauty of my home country. Of course, that would also give me a point to boast about my country...

10. Others

• I could now actually go on and on.. But to cut short.. Few more places in the probable list are Pondicherry, Coorg, Darjeeling and others.
• I would like to go to Ahmedabad and Halol again sometime. Specially to the places where I lived, the schools that I went to and relive the old memories
• Well Sinhagad would have been on my list.. But just covered that some time back.. Seriously difficult to believe after being in Pune for almost 8 years, I hadn't been there..

Finally.. I guess I have prepared a very idealistic list.

Something which is very common and where most of the people would share interest in similar type of places..

Anyways, that hardly matters, so long as the list matters to me.

So far I think this is an optimistic list for me to complete.

And at the current rate of travelling that I am doing, I should be well in time to finish visiting these places during my lifetime, provided all goes on well..

Touchwood!!! :-D

Part 437....

People always notice an original, and it's certainly hard to miss our Original clean that won't leave your 2000 parts feeling dry.

So leave your impression, too, with the fresh smell of clean.

Not only will Part 437 notice, someone else's Part 437 will as well.

A couple of days back, I went to Stop N Shop, the nearby store, to buy a bar of soap... (Yes, I do take bath and I do buy new soaps...)

Was not sure of what should I buy.. Then I saw this one soap called.. LEVER 2000.

It had this amazing set of lines (mentioned above) on it...

On reading them, I immediately bought it..

Can you guess what PART 437 of the 2000 PARTS in the human body could be as specified in the lines?

What did the advertiser had in his mind while writing that?

That thing triggered some naughty thoughts in my mind..

Does it do the same for you??? ;-D