Have they lost it?

Around the world, there have been so many instances recently where you see people throwing the current govt out because they were fed up of the current situation prevailing in the country(eg Egypt, I guess.).. Did they do it by going on a hunger strike. NO! U have to take the streets, be a little violent. Its not 1930's, when non violence worked. For Non violence to work, you need a nation behind you to show your strength. A few thousands out of a billion does not disturb the government. We are an impatient lot now. We do not have the patience of sitting on a hunger strike to change this country. At a time when we pay additional convenience charge to get a movie ticket booked online for a theater movie which is walking distance from our house just not to stand in the line for those 5 minutes, people are not going to be associated with such a slow process of reform. And personally I believe Anna movement was always politicized right from the beginning. Targeting Congress more than corruption. I know Congress and Corruption are synonyms but then by just targeting a party, you give wrong signals to not only public but other political parties (leading to wrong associations). And the first time they managed to draw such a large crowd (specially youth which gave team Anna the much needed confidence) was more of a fun thing than associating with the movement. Naujawaan got something new to try hands on, get clicked to be able to update FB and be cool about it. Sure, people were looking at this movement as a chance to vent out their anger, need was to use that to take it to the next level. Unfortunately, they missed on that opportunity. And the fact that they are now entering politics makes it more political now. I seriously feel, they have completely lost it now!

aiwe aiwe

I really dont know why i am starting to write this post... its 12.18AM in the night, i am sitting with my laptop in the drawing room, its a saturday night, everybody else is asleep in the house, the world cup match between sri lanka and pakistan has eneded, even sidhu's over excited talks over the proceedings of the match has ended, and i am sitting out here writing a blog on "NOTHING"... Oh yeah, you heard it right.... NOTHING!
Yep, my mind is completely blank right now but my fingers are in just no mood of not typing... maybe because i am putting my fingers to use on a keyboard after almost a week. yeah, i was without a system for almost a week... what a dreadful week it was. no gmail, no facebook, no google, god! it was scary.. back home at 6.30 from office, i didnt know what to do... it was like i had no purpose in life! Isn't this bad!
I mean, what happened to the time when there was no internet, less TV channels, no mobile phones, how did i manage to pass time then..i remember, i used to pass time nicely then, rather it was more fun then. i am not kidding... i was seriously missing my laptop. the one i had was returned to office when i resigned in from there (Now that i have mentioned about my previous company, I so miss my friends i made there! they are good people and i wish them all the goodness in life! god bless them all!)... It took almost a week before i was issued one from the new office.
and this one week, i was handicapped. i literally borrowed my friends system for a day or else i would have got sick. I am sure they named this behavior as some disease as well, where in a person feels sick if he is not on computer for some time. today as i write this, when my fingers are typing all these words which probably are not going to make much sense at the end of it, but still they feel like they are back home... they are fulflling their purpose of sheer existence.. i have spent almost 8 hours on computer today and i feel satisfied..

just as i end this i realize that there is this obnoxiously loud music from a farm house nearby playing at this hour.. Aren't they not allowed to play after 10!..... And the worst bit, there is a police station which is probably more near to the farm house in distance than my house. and if i can hear them, they sure can! and still nothing is done about it.... Oh! i forgot, this is mayawati's UP... here everything is allowed provided u have either paid or got a statue installed of hers somewhere!

Did i say i have no clue why i am writing this blog. Come on, if i write this much without reasons, then i should be running for the bookers prize (hope i have got the name right?) next year wherein i write something well thought off, turn it into a book and wait for my name to be announced!

but before that happens, i should first try and kill my inner urge to continue sitting on this system, and go sleep on that bed! Yeah right, as if even if i kill my inner urge, "sheila ki jawani" being played in the nearby farm would let me sleep!!

Yeh kya ho raha hai....

It was a Saturday morning, when these lines struck me for the first time. i was standing inside the post office and....

Flashback (1990's and early 2000):
Instance# 1:
Me: Why dont you invest in property and share market. They yield high returns and are more profitiable than your FD's and NSC's.
Dad: There is huge risk in share market and bank FDs are more safe.
Me: Come on Dad, the entire world invests in share market, it is a much better option to invest in there and earn some money. Look at Fufaji, he invests all his money in shares and is filthy rich.
Dad: When you earn, you can invest in share market. I am happy with my FDs and NSCs.
Me: I sure will. These FDs and post office monthly schemes are of no good. In six years the money is not even doubled.
And i maintained this thought process till i turned 29!

Today (2011)
Me: Dad, which offers better returns, post office monthly schemes or bank RD (Recurring deposit) account?

Instance# 2:
A kid in the society i live in, is a school going kid (probably in his boards) and has a kinetic honda gifted by his parents for his tutions and as his father is mostly on touring job, he probably takes care of house hold chores as well. Now as any young teenager, he drives it around like mad, fast, risky, doind stunts. I couldnt bear it after a few instances and told him one day, "beta, thodi aaram se chalaya karo, chot lag jaayegi nahi to kissi din!"
Reply: Arre, kuch nahi hoga uncle!
And i was thinking like, iske papa se bolunga ki isse samjhaaye!

Oye, yeh kya ho raha hai... What happened to me?

Post office schemes that would yield me 7.5% GAURANTEED RETURNS! Papa se bolunga ki isse samjhaaye!
Yeh sab to uncle log karte hai yaar... mein to abhi sirf...
oops! now how do i say this, "mein to abhi sirf 30 ka hua hoon!!!!"

kab hua yeh transition, mujhe nahi pata. Kab mein share market ki glamorous duniya ko chod kar post office ki dull life mein khush hone laga... Kab mein 90kmph ki speed par chalane waala, 70kmph ko tez samajhne laga. The share market must be probably smiling (rather laughing) at me as i fill the post office form with my credentials.

I dont know, i dont have answers to these questions. Narsimha jaisa feel kar raha hoon... Half young, half old!
I guess i would go catch that movie launched recently (satrring gul pananag).
What was its name?
Yeah... turning 30!

Relationship status - Ummm??

Lady: Why have you not turned up for work for the past 3 days and you did not even bother to inform me that you are not coming?
Maid: Madam, i had updated my facebook status that i am going to my home town for 3 days. And your husband had also commented on my status wishing me a safe and comfortable journey!

This might be a joke that is making the rounds on sms as of now but its not long when this would be a reality. An age, when parents would post wall message on kids facebook page to come down for dinner.

I guess, in the BF (Before Facebook!) era when wooing a girl meant chasing her on foot/cycle and occasionally on bike (hired from some friend), When approaching a girl took days of planning, unlimited push from friends stating "you can do it", numerous failed attempts, and then finally putting up all the courage to say "hi, wanna be friends?", a "yes" would mean janam janam ka saath! And today, all it takes is a click of a mouse to send a friend request to a girl!

And when relationships have become so easy, where is that bond that used to tie them together. Concepts of live in relationships are fast kicking in. It is not far when the big fat indian wedding would become extinct. People would meet each other, get comfy in a day, decide to stay together and in a month separate because she likes cricket and he likes movies (yes, the gender thing is deliberate!).
This is how relationship status will look like:
Monday: Relationship status - Unknown
Wednesday: Relationship status - committed (I so love this girl/guy! This is the best thing that could have happened to me!!!)
Friday: Relationship Status - Uncertain
Sunday: Relationship - Single (looking for serious long term commitment)!!!!

No more bonding, more heart breaks and with every second soul unhappy that he/she just broke with his partner, its not going to be a happy place to live in.

I dont have a very good feeling about all this! I dont see this good for the relationships that have for so long been the backbone of human mankind. The force which has kept us all sane and together. The feeling that is deep inside all of us to stay in love and harmony.
But the irnony is: As i write this, there are millions around the world who are sending new friend requests to people (they know or dont even know) on facebook and twitter and orkut and changing their relationship status to.....ummmm!

An idea can change your life!

"An Idea can change your life"!! I so agree with this statement....

And the reason behind this sudden acceptance towards this sentence does not come from the fact that i changed my mobile connection from Vodafone to Idea and have won myself a bumper lottery. Nor from the fact that i am huge fan of AbhishekB (I am of his father's though, immensely!) endorsing the connection (in the most absurd manner i can think of)... But yes a genuine idea that has actually changed my life.

The idea which struck us around Dec 2009 and became a reality on 2nd October, 2010.

Many would have guessed it who now understand the relevance of this date in my life and for others who are still running all the processors of your brain trying to figure out the reason, it is the day a new life came into this world and into my arms in the form of a SON!

Oh yes, the beautiful creature which all the forces of nature helped carve into a human being and laid down into our arms to cherish, to love, to admire, to smile and laugh about and to share the same happiness with all the loved ones around.

And yes, it is an idea only. An idea to have a new member into our family. I, despite the fact that have been so comfortable with kids everywhere and they seem to like me (genuinely, reason not known to me), i still used to fear having mine own. For someone who loves to travel, loves watching concerts and enjoys watching plays (theater), understood that he could forget all this for at least an year or so. And me with all these thoughts in mind did not consider myself to be a guy who would become a good father. Well! i sound like a selfish guy who is only concerned about his fun, dont I!

But then, it did happen as i was turning 30, the bua's and the bhabhi's and taiji's had to eat motichoor ke ladoo, everybody convincing me that its impo(r)tent to have them at a certain age and so on. And guess what, my life changed the day he came into our life... All that i had thought would happen above, actually happened. Wasnt i right? Wasnt i so goddam right about going to loose that freedom?

Nooooo! i was so wrong... Yes, it did happen but not because the new kid on the block was stopping me from moving out. But because i did not want to... Sitting with him, talking to him, playing with him, sleeping with him was so much more fun. Now moving out without him was something i would avoid as much as i could. I celebrate our marriage anniversary on 28th Jan and it was pretty cold outside. The only way we could have moved out to the market for some "fun" was by leaving him with somebody in our society. Well, initially we planned it so but the very next minute just one line thought made us drop the plan "Is it really worth it without him"?

Naaah! so, we stayed back, hugged him and slept and played and spent time together.

From a guy who was selfish to his travel needs, his life revolves around him now. The whole of it. Oh yes, an idea can change your life!

(Aditya birla group and Jr. AB - you can be happy for your own reasons, no issues!) :)

I dont get it... I just dont get it!!

What is the right way of living. I see 2 categories of people. One who are into meetings friends and people in the society they are staying on a very regular basis, ever ready to help anybody in times of need and sometimes even in times when they are not in need, arranging functions in the society, getting into good names of some and bad names for others. And the other category who stay @ home, not affected with what is happening around them. They will not attend the common society functions and would not like to get "disturbed". The other group which is always looking forward to doing something and ensuring that they know max people around are obviously not spending that much time with their own family than the ones who are all the time only consumed within themselves. But not being social is so darn boring... But then not spending time with your family is not so good as well...

Here many would claim to have a balance in life... It cannot be balanced. There is a new year celebration in the society and you cannot say you are a social animal but afford to stay in house all day long... you would move out and ensure that the function is perfect. but then u ignored ur family and there were people who were merrily sitting at home and spending time with their loved ones. Is it right to sacrifice time for such people. And what about the need of the hour... When such people who dont mingle get into trouble, the other crazy lot still reaches to help them out. Should they? These people dont want to be disturbed, then why now.

I just dont get it what is the right way of living... stay within myself and not be social at all or if i am being social then there would be times when i would not be with my family... is it a right thing to do... are those people who are always within their family better off than us who are more out of house than in house. And if everybody starts staying within themselves, then there would be no society, no fun, no celebrations, no hassi mazaak, no teen pattis, no "just like that" parties.

And whoever says that there needs to be a balance that needs to be maintained, if you have managed to achieve that balance, its fine or else dont give that crap!

Unfortunately i belong to the group who is utterly butterly social and have been able to figure out what is right and wrong in this regard. I need help!

-Sachin

Manali - A Holiday!

Its been an year and a half since I got married and got the chance to go on a holiday (the best part of getting married, you get yourself a holiday), I have not put my step out of Delhi except for going back to my home town a couple of times over the year. The job doesn’t really give me the liberty to go for long holidays and neither the bank balance supported me (given the fact that I am going to be under bank’s debt for another 18 years for the home loan).

But then destiny, they say makes things happen for you. The project we had been working for, for more than a year, finished and my manager gave me a weeks off all by herself (Software engineers who find it hard to believe that managers give a week off, I can understand. It was hard for me to digest it as well). But then, it did happen.

I was not really sure of where to go, all I knew was that I had to go some where. I just wanted to take my wife and parents along and go somewhere… And here enters my tour planner, Vidisha… She is a colleague of mine and a close friend as well. And has the love for mountains (especially Manali) as not even the local residents of hill stations would have for that place. She contacted her travel agent and knowing I have not been to Manali, got the quotation for a 4N/5D trip. I chose the accommodation in Hotel Snowline (a 3 start hotel) and got the booking done.

We set off for Ludhiana on a Saturday, took a day off in Ludhiana and started our journey for Manali on Monday morning. The driver was good, aware of the journey (having made numerous trips to Manali) and knew his car very well. The good part was that the mountainous region started in just over 2 hour journey from Ludhiana. The journey was long but enjoyable. The tunnel on the way to Manali is amazing (though we almost had an accident while passing through it), but otherwise that 2-3 min run was fun.

The moment we reached Manali, it was raining and the weather was just awesome. The hotel was just next to the Mall Road. We checked in and the rooms were spacious, neat, had everything one would need for a comfortable stay and to top that, a very humble and hospitable staff.

We freshened up and in an hour were roaring to go ahead. The driver was kind of surprised to see us with cameras and shades on, ready to hit the road after almost 11 hours of journey. But I guess it was the weather that had done the trick… We got the list of “places of visit” from the reception and decided to visit all the religious places in Manali for the remaining part of the day. The first stop was @ Hadimba temple (Wife of Bheem, Mahabharata Fame). The temple was unique, it lay under a huge rock and in case you have some back problems, you might not be able to do the Darshan. On the way out, there were a couple of ladies with white fur in their hands. On investigating, we found, it was white rabbit. We got hold of one and got a few snaps clicked with the Yak and Rabbit.

Next was ghatotkach temple (now everybody knows of him cause of the movie), right next to Hadimba’s. An open tree temple, nothing much to cherish about. Enjoyed fresh baked corn on charcoal and set ourselves towards Vashist temple. The temple was in the opposite direction and so took us some time in reaching there. Vashist was the guru of Lord Rama and the temple has hot springs coming out from below the ground. Many tourists and locals take bath out there and they say it relieves you of all your tiredness. However, we didn’t try it!

Right next to it is the Ram temple and that was the last visit to the temple for the day.
There are two things you will find anywhere you go in Manali:
- The most amazing part: You will find Beas River following you everywhere. The sound of clean water makes you feel fresh.
- The not so amazing part: “Sir, aapne Chingoo dekha hai?” The question we tried to avoid from every single shop keeper you come across, cause by now we had known that it is a blanket made out of some animal’s skin. The question followed more intensely than the river but by now we had become used to it and were replying back all the strange answers to these shopkeepers, “Haan dekha hai, kya tumne dekha hai”, or “Haan dekha hai, mere ghar par hi banta hai”…

The day ended with a dinner in the hotel and a good night sleep after a tiresome day. But the day was amazing.

Day two:
The morning was very chilly, probably due to a snowfall in some nearby region (as told to us by the hotel staff). We had a nice hefty breakfast (now what do you expect from a Punjabi), and decided to visit the Solang valley and Naggar for the day.
On a personal note, Naggar was just OK. You get to see the house of Roerich, with all doors and windows closed and you keep peeping in from the windows to get a glimpse of nothing! The 100 meter walk uphill is tiring and the end result, again not very impressive. The work of art on display didn’t catch my personal attention. However, the place was very serene, very quiet and this in itself was the best part of the deal.
We moved out of Naggar and headed straight for Solang valley, where the weather had cleared out to try paragliding. We reached the place and the first reaction was… WOW!!
You see a lots of people walking uphill and @ the same time a few flying down the hill…
I just wanted to be up there… We took our tickets and reached on top fully exhausted. The walk uphill was not as simple as it seemed from down. But still the joy of flying for the first time was more exciting… My wife was the first to go… And then came by turn. The pilot who was to go along with me was shorter than me… Anyways… we were all set and about to take off, when he suddenly stopped and we made an emergency stop… Reason: The wind thrust was not enough…
So, he suggests we move up a bit more, for that thrust…
Attempt 2: Same result… This time even worse… As we were about to take off, he again stopped. But this time we were in a higher momentum than last time and had a bad fall to stop ourselves from falling over the hill.
By now, I am not so excited about this paragliding thing… But I still wanted to do it and so agreed with the pilot to go to the highest point of the hill, from where it will be a smooth take off…
Attempt 3: And guess what… Same result. And this time, the fall did some damage… Again he complained of the thrust and we fell really badly this time… The problem was, he being shorter in height than me and the glider was also small. I had given all hopes to fly and was heading downhill (cursing this guy for the three falls and I knew the damage has been done… I was limping). The local guide ran up there seeing all this and asked some other guy who was taller and had a big glide to give it a shot. But I was not interested, probably with the fear of falling… But the pilot was very confident and he held my hand and said, “Sir, Is baar ho jaayega. Mera vishwaas karo!”
And I again believed him. We went to the highest point of that hill, got the gear ready… and he shouted, “Sir, Run, Run, Run!!” And I was running like mad to get that thrust and then that golden moment happened, when he said, “Sir Ji, bas karo” and I saw we were already flying… I cried out loud, “Yipee!!!” It was magnificent. I was flying! The flight was just 2 min long, but it was awesome. The landing was again not very exciting, it is just like a plane landing on a runway… But the difference is that this time it is our own back on which you are landing and sliding a few yards before you come to a still… my wife and folks ran towards me to enquire if I was fine, probably they had seen my first three failed attempts and 2 nasty falls. But I had got all over it and was still in heaven. :-)
It was almost evening and I was hungry… We all were hungry and to add to that hunger was the fragrance of fresh maggi being cooked all around. We enjoyed maggi and tea and started back for our hotel. The sun had settled down for the day as well, but we decided to take a walk on the Mall. It had been 2 days and we hadn’t seen the Mall road. But the damage was becoming more prominent now… I was limping very badly and the ankle was paining severely. We saw a lot of “Maalish Waalas” on the Mall road. We asked one of them to come over to the hotel for the leg massage. He took some oil and started targeting the area which was paining the most. We had dinner and retired for the day.

Day three:
My folks had decided in the night before going to sleep, to cancel the trip to Rohtang we were planning the next day looking at my condition. And I was doubtful towards going as well, knowing it is going to require a lot of walking. But the massage guy had done a miracle. The pain had just vanished. The massage had done the trick. Rohtang it was for the day. We started early morning as they say it gets really rushy otherwise and you don’t get the parking. It was like a convoy of cars going towards Rohtang… Cars and cars going uphill. We were often stuck in a traffic Jam, as the road to Rohtang was not only small but it was not in good shape as well… However, the journey was good, sun shining and fresh cool air falling on your face. “paise poore ho rahe the”.
We reached Rohtang and it was dark out there at 12 o’clock in the day. It was cloudy, foggy and it was chilling. My first experience of Snow… I could not wait to slide and roll and do that thing which every guy and gal and every uncle and aunt and every kid does the moment you step on snow for the first time, make snow balls and have fun throwing them on the people you know and on those, you don’t! :-)

We did exactly the same… Me and my wife walked to the top of the hill, while parents tried their hands on skiing. We slided down the hill on snow using an inflated big tyre tube. Bu now it had started drizzling and we were hoping this drizzle might convert into snow… But it didn’t happen. The drizzle converted into rainfall and we headed towards our cab. Moreover, the lack of oxygen was making folks a bit uncomfortable. We decided to move back. But again on the way back, we were mainly stuck in traffic Jams. We reached back home by evening and had a nice early dinner. Followed by a nice walk down to the Mall Road and a few rounds of card games back in the hotel room. That was it for the day.

Day Four:
The day four had a lazy start to it… No hurry of getting up early… Morning tea inside the bed, again a nice hefty breakfast. Now you don’t really get to see this in any hill station and full credits to the travel agent, he arranged for the local village visit. The path (there was hardly any path per se) was small and through the weirdest of places but exciting… The houses were made of wood and every house had its own set of vegetables and cereals plantation, enough to sustain them. We got to see the chakki (used to make flour out of wheat) which runs on water driven motor and also in house generation of electricity. A simple but effective technique enough to generate electricity to light 40 bulbs. We got the chance to speak to some of the villagers and they were more excited to know about the city than we were to know about them. The village visit for fun, something very different to your normal hill station visits. Next was the waterfall, for which we had to trek a lot. The trekking was really exhausting, especially for the folks and in some areas, I would say dangerous, but the exhaustion was all over the moment we stepped into the ice cold water. We stayed there for some while, when we got the call we were all waiting for: The Water Rifting! We quickly headed back to our cab and headed for the site from where the rafting had to take place. We all got into the gear, got the security tips and were in water. The flow was real quick and in no time we were rafting in grade 3. The guys who row the boat in that water are amazing. We were just having pure fun with ice cold water falling on us and us sailing through it… It was just pure fun, indescribable. We changed to dry clothes, had nice hot cup of tea and headed back for the mall road… It was evening… We did some shopping from there and headed back to the hotel. The evening ended with dinner and a few rounds of cards!

Day Five:
Its time to pack your bags and head back to Ludhiana. There was again no urgency to the day, got up, got ready, had a nice breakfast, I cleared the bills and we were out of the hotel, thanking all the staff for the wonderful time we had there… We started our journey back and as we were passing through the same roads to move out, I could remember all the time we had spent there!

We reached Ludhiana in the evening and we were tired. I guess, we just retired for the day and that was the end of the holiday! Yes, the holiday ended, but the memory of that holiday is going to stay in my heart for a long long time… :-)

And I guess I cannot end this without the final note: Thank You Vidisha!