India Calling ...

I have been so much of an Indian , that I forget I have not visited India for ages now. Last time I was in India ,  I was a bachelor, weighed 40 pounds less , understood Celcius ( and not F ) , and 100 F was only when I had fever , drove Right hand , and was used to cows on the roads, never followed traffic signals, lanes were never visible, and shouting and howling were a part of life. Nothing much as changed since, I now have someone who will be with me forever ,to be with those will be forever for us. Last time I was in India, I had no clue about stock market, have nothing saved, was a new bee in industry, followed cricket all over the world, discussed F1 , kept in touch , fell in love over times , Fed-ex was a force to reckon with, Nadal was still to defeat Fed-ex, Sachin was nowhere close to 100 centuries, Monty was future of English Cricket and I was still waiting for my future to take off. I am still waiting for it.
A changed person now does not remember cricket , but another insane thing as stock market, one who monitors his servers more than the run scored, watches the gold as much as pennies remaining, boasts of a life which has a 50% shareholder in it, and imagines it to improve over time and ages.  This time it has been a while, and its been a long time. Iam not sure if I am prepared for it, but there is really no excitement other than my sister's wedding.
I hope this India wedding trip makes everyone happy, and happier in their lives (touchwood)

Difficult Times

How easy is it for us to be happy and same at the same time. How easy it is to forget the past relationship and how difficult is it to get out of it on the mention of the same. Well , last month or so have been lots of fun , and this is probably the fifth time I had a group with which I did have lots of fun. Rhythm and Anand , we still rock , even though it has been 3 years since we last met , but we will re-join some day. Sameer and Fateh comes in second close and remaining comes after.
Well, this all started with Nandi Hills. The wonderful climate, the chilling morning dew , and above all the company of a friend. We really rocked that day. It was sort of fun. And it was cool too. What followed the next week was a trip to Palace Grounds for Sukhwinder Singh concert , and there were 9 girls and 2 guys. Well , pleasing it was as it might sound , but it took a lot of effort for 2 security guards protecting a treasure. Though sure about two gals , were really particular about a Friend and Namita. Neha was in her own stride ,and it really did matter was she would give a stare or two and come back in the group, sooner or later. It was fun to be in this group after a long time. Probably it came closer to training batch DJ nights.
The way back home was still more happening , where Ashu was drilled in the bus and it went on for a long time.
The following week was Ajit’s night. And invitees were Me and Himanshu, but it was decided other can just push in. Most of them were ready , and we decided to move. But to get a TT to Whitefield was not possible that day. It was virtually impossible to arrange a vehicle for the girls , and it was suggested they can come on their own, and then MS would arrange them to get back. But as I read between the lines , it will again not be possible. So I decided to have a work around . We went to places , after no TT in BTM, went to Madivala. And with all the possible bargains , settled for a Qualis and Indica, sufficient in capacity to carry 13 people , and just 100 bucks more than TT. The group will possibly be divided , but still girls can go and come back comfortably. Why is it I am pestering so much , because safety also happens to be one of the reasons. If there is some mishap then we have to be answerable. So lets spend sometime to draw out a plan, and absence of Soumya was a big worry. She is one of those who would carry the girls well, keeping in mind small things which generally girls would overlook. Well that  was also fun, and we danced to tunes of KK , and also had a hearty dinner. Its another matter we had to prepare dinner for Himanshu as he was busy dancing he didn’t have the time to have the dinner.
Next week was a

Palace Grounds...

Ever heard of Palace Grounds bangalore. After this possibly you will start having a good knowledge of wonderful experience i am going to share with all of you. Though the first part is basically two-third strength of chamatkaari guys , still lets start.

So it starts with Soumya that free tickets are available for Sukhwinder Singh's night in Bangalore , and if we can join. And outing and i say No ... no way. So it was decided we will be going in for sukhwinfer night on 4th Oct. I have attended a similar concert by same person in DU , so was excited and wanted to stand close to speakers to enjoy to the max. So we decided to have a blast. Himanshu was sure and so was Ajit. But it came to knowledge , there are a few friends of Soumya also joining us in the palace grounds. So we had divided the passes amongst ourselves. Ever since i came and met these two @#@#@@ guys , i really never thought about other friends of mine in bangalore, which are abundant every here and there. We 3 make a GANG , a fun frolic one , which shines most with all three coming together. So it was decided that we will start for palace grounds at 5 PM , and possibly will have a few friends on bikes. But then it came to knowledge that she will be joining her PG friends. Palace grounds is not near , then i asked if we want a cab for her firends to go safely. I purely had no intentions of joining her friends, and just wanted them to just be safe. For there will be many girls all alone. Possibly we will join Soumya but we still were not sure , as Ajit was preparing for one MS nite , the following week. 

I was informed TT would cost 2400 for the trip of 8 hours , and feasible analysis said it might just not work out. But i wanted to be sure , so i went to a few shops and agents. All said 2300 + driver fees. But then i knew one local guy , Pradeep who arranged one TT for us. It was indeed a favor from him in return of one help i did 2 years ago. Good deeds dont die down.

Now i informed Soumya , and we were ready. 4th Oct was going to be a big day. More than having fun with girls was security concern. someone said it correctly that , with more number of girls you are turned into security guards. 

Well , finally i leaked out secret that all girls are coming in black , so we all will also come in the same code. Dress Code ... Black . Little we had knowledge , what the full code meant. 

Then we informed Soumya and the concert is well on the way, and major tension of coming back from there is solved. I had not known any girl other than Dheera by then. First came , then second , and then in no time entire bus was filled. So it took some time to break the ice. Names of all the girls came 30 min into the journey , but one thing was sure. All girls had black polished nails other than Ashu , who was rule breaker. There were shouts for us to stop the TT for the girls to buy the nail polish. In a city like Bangalore , stopping a TT in front of Forum would mean a big taffic jam behind you, and so we decided to continue. I didnt know how it was , but to just bark in front of an audience dominated by girls , who really dont know you , and your time going in to make them comfortable was not easy. But then Himanshu raised demand on my behalf for introduction. After first round of introduction , what max i remembered were Pinky , A friend and Princey. Though i was not sure who is poochi and who is princey. I had a very faint sight of Namita and Neha was one who looked most unintersted in my futile attempts, Ashu tried some heroism and some comments which brought cheers ... but still it was me and Himanshu trying to get all smiles together. 

We finally reached and parked the vehicle. What started was first round of eating, few decided 

Mysore Trip

Trip Date : 26-10-2008

Proposed Trip Time : 6 AM - 5 PM

Total Members : 8

Partners in Crime : A Friend, Neha Gupta , Soumya, Deepak , Neha Jain , Himanshu, Ajit , Princy

Vehicle Planned to be Used: A Tata Sumo. 

Actual Vehicle Delivered : A Qualis with wonderful system

Flashback To Crime Scene ... 

Time : 130 AM 

The phone is ringing. "Haan bhai , kaisa hai", I said as I heard Ajit on call. 

" Hope no plans for weekend. Want to rest." said Ajit. 

"Yes , no big plans , just to Mysore. Onboard at 6 AM.", and he started laughing wickedly. 

"You not kidding , I am going to kill you", was followed by a long stream of single rolled in abuses. "Come on. Think of me, I get tired.". 

"Its fine , you don’t want to come along , I am gonna cancel this thing. I am also not going in then., or we postpone it to Sunday." 

Ok fine ! its 2 AM now , sleep a few hours before we get ready." Ajit nearly scream. 

Time : 4 AM 

Knock knock ... Blast . Two roaring laughter, and I cover my face with the bed sheet. I want to sleep a bit more, but with trio at home , this has been a thing of rarity. Repeated pleading and little carelessness on part of Ajit and Himanshu gave me a heavenly sleep of 30 more minutes. 

"Get up . You want to leave by 6 AM , so get ready", mocked Himanshu.

"Get a sleep man. I died down at 330 AM only. it’s hardly 90 minutes I have slept", I was frustrated. 

"Haan bhai , I gave you permission to sleep at 2 , what the hell were you doing till this time. Chalo , time to get up". And then we started talking about the day that went by. The hectic client call , and the demo completed, at last minute. It has been 2 days in office, and this week I clocked 70 hours in 5 days ... 

------------------------ 

Time: 6 AM 

Members Present: Ajit Himanshu Deepak 

who is going to bath first. Hey Himanshu you go bhai. I and Ajit will have a cup of tea, first. 

Ajit smiled and Himanshu retalitated, and so we had a nice ginger tea, i taking honours to make one. Finally pushing Himanshu , and getting all ready. Its 630 , and we are still fighting over the clothes to wear. 

Time : 7 AM

So here we are ready, and with only one of us getting ready. Deepak has always been a reason for others to be late. He would be ready and raring to go. Another 20 minutes, and Deepak goes up to driver.

"Haan bhaiya , where are you planning to take us", asked Deepak. Ajit and Himanshu still getting ready. "I think , we are going to Hogennakal Falls". said driver. Deepak looks at the number plate , and says, no. We have to go somewhere in Karnataka , as you have brought a yellow number plate. The driver proposed many names, and still undecided, Ajit and Himanshu came out. 

After a brief conversation , Mysore was place decided. With silky smooth roads, it was decided to have a go at the destination, Mysore. It has been the same place a few months ago, in which Deepak has met with the bike accident at very high speeds. But then times have changed and we are ready to go for party. 

Time: 800 AM 

Delay: Only 2 hours 

As all others got into groove, the road to bangalore mysore highway is a peculiar maze. Around an hour drive and we were on a spot , the same where we had lost the way. And i shouted out ... Hey we gonna stop here. And asked the driver to stop.

As they all were out , i pointed out to the T point where me , AJ and Himanshu nearly crossed the limit. There was then a fencing , and as usual , three of us sat to have a pic. After successful persuasion A friend took the pic. But then Neha Gupta tried to do the heroics and climb the fence. She nearly broke her leg bone, Somu was successful , but i dont know if all sat. 

The trip was then overtaken by the joys of the day. Sun rose sharply and threatened to spoil the mood, but was not to. It took us around 30 minutes to get going. ( the details of emotional turmoil in this trip are out of scope of this blog post. Wait for Golden Fields for those details). 

So here in the middle of the ride, permutation and combinations of sittings galore. we three were not permitted to sit together for a havoc and hell we created. It has been real tough times for someone to adjust to the down to street cheap jokes cracked and songs sung. So First seat was Himanshu and Somu. Second was Ajit , Neha Jain and Princy. and then remaining in the last. suddenly remembering no one has brought the money, and it was fun to look out for ATMs on the highway. This time around , we were not looking for the Petrol bunks but the ATMs. There has been strong liking for Petrol bunks many times, sometimes for Gasoline , or otherwise. 

Try it !!!!

When was the last time you broke apart your inhibitions and tried something new. Like singing in public, learn dancing , pick up a music record, read a book , shout at someone , keep quiet for a day , eat lots of noodles .... dont shy away from chocolates as to hit the gym relentlessly daily ..... there are so many things which are abundant , and we end up packing ourselves to the small portion of the world of same boring routine. Its good to have a discipline, but change is the way of life. While being in same schedule try something different , something new, something which no one other than you will have eyes set on ... a different person. Don't stop thinking you will fail or not complete it, at least give it a try. You will be pleasantly surprised to see how wonderfully it works in your favor to make you strong , powerful and radiates your inner self with the luminosity of a thousand sun. But none of it is going out of the window , but straight in the trash can unless you just try it. So dont think too much, get the first thing that comes in your mind , and just Try it ....

kaash ...

kaash ki tu original hota,
kaash ki mein fake nahi hota,
kaash ki chal paata apni soch per ,
kaash ki hoti ek soch nok per ,
kaash ki status tera chori ka na hota ,
kaash tu original hota ,
kaash mein fake nahi hota ...
kaash mein sach ka saathi hota,
kaash tu jhoot pe sawar na hota,
kaash mil paati hum dono ki raahein ,
kaash tu aag aur mein barf na hota ,
kaash ki tera mera milna ek sapna na hota,
kaash ki teri meri mazil ek hi hoti ,
kaash ki raastein bhi ek hi hote ,
kaash ki tu aur mein ek saath hi kerte saffar,
kaash ki manzil peeche na choot jaati ,
kaash ki tu aagey na nikal jaata ,
kaash ki kabhi tujhe pata chale ki mein bhi hoon,
kaash ki tujhe kabhi ilm ko ki tera saya mein hi hoon,
kaash ki tu mud ke dekhe aur mein na milun,
kaash ki tu chale aur dhaal mein banu ,
kaash ki tu dushmani kerke bhula deta ,
kaash ki mein dosti kerke bhula na paata,
kaash ek din tu aur mein fir se mile ,
kaash ki hum baith ke fir se taare gine ,
kaash ki gine fir se ki paanch saal baad kahan honge,
kaash ki yaad kerke aankho mein aasun aaye tere ,
kaash ki tujhe yaad aaye ki aagey hum nahi ,
kaash ki tujhe yaad aaye ki peeche tum nahi ,
kaash ki bata de tumhe ki hum hai bahut door ek doosre se,
kaash kisi tarah kam ho jaayein yeh dooriya ...
kaash ki tum aur mein ban jaaye hum kisi tarah ...

Silence of the Entertainer

More than once has the world come across the silent entertainer, the one who makes the world around him spin around his axis, but is not as solid from inside as is the Earth. The world is elated at his attendance, delighted to have him around and mourn when he is gone.
The silent entertainer is possibly not the happiest soul on earth, but is like the "light", an invisible thing that makes other things visible. The one who makes everyone around them smile, while reaching the zenith in the life.
The verbose entertainer never stops , the silent one never exits. There has to be one certain thing that differentiates between success and successful people. Success is one time phenomenon and being successful is a characteristic of a person. Like it is easy to make money one time in stocks, but to consistently make a million out of it, one needs to understand the deep details. Similarly to make someone smile for once is possible, but to consistently make someone happy is another dimension.

The way things go around the world is each group has its own entertainer, one who would drive the group to its peak , keep it intact, gel it well and reach its end point. Its like a supernova , which is charismatic , brightens to light most part of universe, and ends up in silence forever. Each human that ever existed on earth , is an entertainer. Each entertainer plays his part in this world, and one day goes off in his style. The style may differ over a period of time , but it will vary a lot over an age. The silent entertainer is as different from silence of entertainer as the concept of Success and Successful . The biggest of them all always go out loudest, few of them are remembered by all , others are never forgotten.

Silence of entertainer is full of laughs, smiles and happiness which he has gifted to human race, the small packets that made the big difference. The silence is deafening, the noise is loud, the voices muffled and dreams shattered. The higher they fly, harder they fall ... more they laugh longer is the silence ...

Lost World

There is a son born in the house. Party !!! Celebrations .... The son is not keeping well , well get the high class doctors. Save his life. Send the kid to the best school. The kid is under pressure to perform well. He does. He is then expected to be free, make his decisions, showed a path which will help him forever. The ability to judge between right and wrong, to pursue his heart over his mind. He sacrifices his desire to be a writer, or a painter and end up being an engineer. He is strongest of the lot but not the bravest of them all. He is successful but not rebel. He is labelled a rebel , careless and  irresponsible.
He is pursued to go out in the world, tackle it in his style , and come out a winner. He is taught not to be sad, to be strong. Ever since his high school education, only thing that ever was asked him was his studies. He was tired of comparison, he went out to world. His below par salary was an issue. He was forced to find a girl to marry, and made to think he was not the best of bachelors around. He was encouraged to do all he could not. He was heavy and not liked by anyone he knew.
He went for job in an alien city with foreign languages, and hostile people. He worked hard to make an impression. He could not deny the fact the urge to write never left him, nor did the urge to make a difference in the world. He tried hard to be home, whenever he got an option. He was crushed between paternal and maternal families, and with multiple responsibilities. Overloaded, over-worked and over-questioned, he finally did fell in love. The love was as elusive, a feeling that never was. He was in the best of worst times. He was earning less, saving negligible and mining nothing for future.
He had to be more successful financially.He was  deported abroad . He was reluctant for the love was in India. The love will be lost , but the parents might be happy.
He was sent off to a far place, from where to come back to home will take long time. He is away in wonderland, passing each day under pressure, with little hope and high dreams, which don't seem to meet. The economy of the alien country has been wrecked, and those in the industry for a long time are not having a job to sustain, so he starts a new business. The business is not a success. Two months down the line he gets a job. The torment is not over. The boy moves to a remote place, in an alien land, all alone, all lonely. They seldom say, "Those who are used to party, walks in silence". The hollow is deep, the walls are scary. He could have talked to them, but then they also changed.  The boy is asked to be on vigil to find a good girl, and marry if possible. He does that. He tries in his stride to go to his homeland to marry, but the destiny won't let it happen. The urge to have a correct decision, with the practical aspects taught to him, with the confidence he is bestowed upon , he marries.
The married son is now another guy. By marrying out, he has destroyed the trust, the feeling of one of them. He is no longer counted in MUST - BE present list, nor does anyone mind if he is not calling. He is amazed at people complaining about not calling for months, when they themselves are not upto mark. Why is it so difficult to call the son when you talk the whole day with someone or the other. When your phone bills and call length run through the day, how expensive is one call to alien son. How difficult has this come out to be, to start the world with family, grew up trying to compete and success , and end up in the lost world.  He doesn't want to , but more than destiny , the society and relatives have put him in a world, lost to hundreds of other similar people, whi can but dont have time to or come back to the world. They walk with me , carelessly roaming , wandering in lightly lit, brightly misspelled Lost World

Sketches I made ...

New Year Bash - 2012

Well this is time of year when you wave good-bye to last year and welcome new one. This year we decided to go for a bollywood style party. After lots of discussions, we finalized ICC Milpitas (sold out), then took Avalon Lounge . Well Gold member passes got us a private booth.
Partners in Crime: Me, Anshu , Nimi , Suhaas, Geet
Possible people to meet : Jas Arora, Anusha (nonsense not-good looking) Dandekar

The long queue at enterance was the first evidence of heights of mismanagement people can have, long queue for appetizers (which unfortunately was dinner as well) was ridiculous , one hour open bar was made a mockery since the bands were not provided till 8 25 PM , when it was only till 8 : 30 PM. Food was OK (Peacock was providing the food, making sure the demand and supply are never met, most of the trays were empty, and possibly caterer had not sufficient supply to keep on filling it).

Finally the music started, with Harjeet Mehndi (real brother to Daler Mehndi) sang a few Mika songs, and then came some Zaheer Abbas. We were already out dancing , and this singer kept on doind improper lip syncing. I really would have appreciated if he would have stopped faking it in front of an audience 10 feet away, and easily recognized that he was not singing. Well, I suppose if he would have sang it, then people on the floor would be less. Nevertheless , he played same song 3 times in a row, reminding of a hindi movie sequence "Pyar ke side effects" in which the DJ was made to play the same song 17 times.
Well , after an hour of dancing ,we went back only to meet Jas Arora. At first he looked the same as he did 20 years ago, just a few extra pounds, a heavy chin .. He looked like mixture of Jas Arora 20 years ago , and Jeetender 40 years ago. Well,  after we had our photos , Nimi Suhaas and Geet had their share of pic with the handsome guy.
While Anshu took the pic and Jas moved out , Anusha stood (looked like posing for the pic), but these three moved out. I think she got offended, but the look on her face was astonished. I told Suhaas about the incident, and Geet went back to ask for a photograph. She was already offended , and promised pic after her "too boring, too feeble, useless" performance.  Whatever be the case, Anusha didnt let anyone take a pic after that, and I think she didn't have too many takers after the performance.
But we did have a lot of fun dancing with our friends, till our legs broke and each muscle in the body pleaded to go home. We went back , welcoming new year 2012 with dance ...

Don't remember

As much as I try to remember you , I am reminded of the pain. I don't really remember your face, nor your name , neither the place we met or where we separated. I don't remember the first time we met, and the first flowers I sent. I don't remember those daily late night phone calls or the gifts we exchanged. I don't carry your name or number in my wallet, nor I remember if we ever were friends. I don't remember if we went to a dinner together or had an evening walk. I don't remember you making to my birthday party nor I remember the help you seeked at each phase. No, I don't remember that I used to think it will be impossible for you to survive without me. No , I don't remember any of those stories you shared with me, nor the time when my friends asked me to distance from you. I don't remember those friends either. I don't remember the fun we had, I don't remember we went to office together. I don't remember telling any of them your name, I don't remember.
I have managed a big amnesia in myself, the hole is bigger than the pot. The darkness is immense like a big cup in a dark room. Like two de-motivated armies fighting for victory over a dead territory. I know you feel the same as I feel for you , and there is nothing we can ever remember about each other.
Its just blank now , a piece of paper where nothing was ever attempted. A lone forest, which is still uninhabited,  untamed and unleashed. A white pure paper which is blank on both sides but watermarked Love.

The Flat Road

It has happened well over a dozen times, but to have this fate on Freeway was an experience in itself.
Nov 18, 2011 - I got up at 5:30 AM to reach the office on time, so I can come home a bit early to avoid peak time traffic which is insane at regular time.
The drive to the office was smooth, and made a presentation for the day. Completing the other stuff, I hit the road after completing the job. Concerned about not hitting the road after the carpool lanes turn green, I took the exit for San Mateo bridge.
There was a peculiar gushing sound as I went through it. The sound was disturbing, but the car didn't show any loss in air pressure, and I thinking it to be a normal road condition noise, I rushed through. The noise dropped and I cleared off the San Mateo Bridge, and to 880 South . Few miles before I would turn for my house, the car starting dwindling. A loud noise and unbalanced car at over 70 mph, in high speed traffic. The challenge was tough , it was a split second decision.
Steps I took :
1. Put on the hazard lights , the person behind me slowed down and rushed off.
2. Opened the moon roof (with single push) , and took my right hand out of it, grabbing the attention of person behind me , and pointing to fact I need his help.
3. Now I slowly applied breaks , and veered off to the other side ( emergency stop).

I was on the other side , went out and saw a foot long cut right in the tire, with a steam of smoke coming out of it. I knew it was friction heat, but not sure whether it could have lead to a fire. I had to go and empty a water bottle to cool it down.

Next was calling for help, thanks to Anshu for getting the roadside assistance, and Suhaas for picking me up. He traveled all the way from San Fran to pick me up, on a busy day. Well , guess that's what friends are for. It was followed by an epic game of AOE , nice dinner and playing cards. Piyush and Kavita joined me , Ansh, Suhaas and Nimi for a rocking end to a day that rocked the air out of my car.

PS: The guy who replaced the tire was assertive it was a sabotage attempt ;)

waqt ki chaal ...

ab waqt ki jhuriya chehre per aur rang baalo mein .... dikhne ka waqt kareeb aa raha hai , ya khuda , kuch aisa ker ki her kadam per mera ateet mere aaj ke saath kadam mila ker chale. Woh jaise kal ki hi baat thi jab hum bori bistar liye school college mein yaar dosto ke saath pade rehte the. kabhi kisi class mein bhi chale jaate the, to kabhi bhool bhi jaate the. waqt tab bhi dheere chal raha tha, waqt ab bhi dheere hi chal raha hai ... hum kahin ateet mein kabhi kabhi ruk bhi jaate hai , per waqt chalta rehta hai, aur saath chalta hai humara yeh nashwar shareer. Aatma shayad ajar amar ho, per yeh dhancha jo poori aatma per hai woh waqt ka hi saathi hai. waqt ke saath bada, jawaan huwa aur ab uske saath hi rang bhi badal raha hai. Iska ab yeh aisa saathi ho gaya hai ki humari bhi nahi sunta , apni marzi se kahin se ek safed baal nikal deta hai, to kabhi aise hi bimaar pad jaata hai. Kabhi chidchida ho ker khud ko haani pahuncha deta hai to kabhi khush ho ke duniya ko pyar. Ajeeb sa hi hai yeh waqt, aur is waqt ke saath chalta humara shareer ....  ajeeb sa

test google

Life as a Stock Market

Lets play Stock Market with life. I had this curious feeling of going to stock market, every now and then. Study the market for sometime, and come out of it. But in last three years, I have realized , the stock market is so much as the life we life, unpredictable yet stable. Being aggressive is fine, being greedy is dangerous. Instincts lead to glory, as they do to misery. Flowing with the traffic might assure of safe sailing, but then neither life or stocks are meant for that kind. You need to have a partner in crime in life, and if that ends up as one for your stocks too, the more glory.
Faith works best in both these situation, while blind faith works only in life. The stocks like life go up to a high , and come down to a low. Stocks go a long way in the style you live your life. A pessimistic approach in stocks is most common nowadays, but thats not what you have come to stocks for. Take a risk , judge the water. Remember when you buy a stock, you are purchasing a part of company. Purchase the one in which you would like to work given an option. Don't go by advise everyone tells you, go with your brainpower with a pure heart and clear sight. Remember , stocks can be played with and life is what plays with it.