Is it bad to be a lil selfish... ? I guess not ! I'm happy !

Just trying to figure out when I had written this post, which laid buried in the drafts till I discovered it today ! hmmm probably about 3 years back when people whom I "thought" as best friends flew away abroad, got married etc with out even calling me to say something... It seems I was really heart then, but now, In retrospection, I am not, this is probably called maturity I suppose!  Read on... 

This is a long post and something you probably never thought you would hear from me. This could change people's opinion about me, but I am true to my blog and to my friends. You deserve to know the real me but at the same time you have to understand that I am not a cold hearted robot. I am still the same Chichi u know me as. I am still learning the meaning of life and I have learnt that not everything is or can be perfect. Life is not a fairy tale, it is more like a horror movie with a lot of humor and a good ending.

Times change, many things change with time, people around you change with time. What do you do? Nature has provided you with the answer and it has worked for thousands of years. You evolve, you adopt. I have been in that process for sometime now, knowingly or unknowingly I have been evolving. Might sound a little unscrupulous, but in today's world the evolution principle of "survival of the fittest' has became really important and that is to live a little selfishly.

Be generous and give something to others and they will keep asking for more. Not just materialistic things but emotional stuff like your love and attention. Some people are never satisfied. Try to be a goodie-goodie and before you know they are the center of your universe and your life revolves around them. I am not advising you against this, just do it for those who really really deserve it.

As far as charity goes, I am not an extremely generous guy but I am not stingy or a penny pinching guy. I am a practically generous guy. I say give away when you have just enough for yourself. Yes you can argue against it saying all nice stuff but hey... that is how I think.

I was very nice to everybody and NEVER lost my temper, and what did I get in return? People took advantage of the fact that there is nothing that would make me angry and I would just shut up at everything they do. They made me wait long hours, never listened to me, played some real cruel jokes with me, took me for granted in everything. Friends can have that liberty with me all right but everything, EVERYTHING has a limit. I have had enough and I have evolved to the situation. I speak my mind out now. I express my anger, sadness, disappointment and annoyance when and where I need to. Sure some sparks fly but there is no fire. They would probably feel a little bad, but so do I and the best part is that these kind of things don't happen again.

Did I help everybody who asked for help? Yes, I did. Do I still do? Well, to most of them! Those few who were excluded during the evolution process are 'takers' and not givers. I don’t help others for something else in return. Least I can expect in return is appreciation. Don't even have to say thanks, there are other ways of showing it. I know some people who after doing a lot for them shamelessly ask me what I did for them. They deserve a slap rite across the face but my moral ethics hold me back. Gratitude is what separates humans from chimps and those who don't have it should be picking fleas from others backs and eating bananas.

Friends, good friends, best friends. I never had these 'classifications' all my life, until recently. All my life I treated all my friends the same, the only difference being, spending more time with a few than others, which I couldn't really do much about. I treated everybody like my close friends. God gave me this gift, that people easily confide in me. I have always mistaken that trust to be a sign of them being my close friends and it hit me hard when I knew it wasn't true. Call somebody your best friend and the other person sometimes doesn’t even want to talk or meet you coz their priority is somebody else, that could be one of the worst feeling you can have.

You get what you give as far as your "love, attention and care for somebody" goes, I say give what you can get back. I have given too much attention and care to a few people. I don't regret it but it is sad that I didn't get back as much.

Live life ( jussssssst a little selfishly) .... Love life ( a lot selfishly ) !!

Got problems...? Welcome to the club !!

Yes! My friends, there is a club and the not-so-secretive undeniable fact is that every one of us is a member. Let us call it the 'I got problems club'. Membership is free and entry, for everybody, you are more than welcome, irrespective of caste, creed, sex, age, height, weight, deaf, dumb, hot-or-not, nothing matters, Entrance is from the front door. Now, what differentiates one from the other are our membership levels.

The first one is the “Frustu” association, and I know 99.999 % of people would have no doubt in obtaining the membership in to this. This is a bunch of folks, who love their loved ones from behind the walls, standing countless hours in front of the college tree, dying for just one full glance at her girl, and never dare to tell it straight to her! “aaj mere valee aayee nahee hain yaar” types. These people go through dire situations, fighting against their patience most of the time.

'Whiner' status group, these are also the regular faces at the club, who cry about everything that has ever happened to them since their birth. Such people complain about things from their chocolate milk not being chocolaty enough, about a hot summer day being hot, about the sun not coming out of hiding on a cloudy day, about a movie being bad because the seats were not cozy enough and the list goes on. If you are one of those who think that you are the most unfortunate person in the world coz your dad gave u a bike with unlimited petrol, a cell phone whose bill can feed an entire middle class family for a month but gives u a 100 bucks less than your friend, then you're going to feel like ‘at home’ in this club.

Then there are the 'Dejected', the bummed-out people of the society who believe life has never been fair to them and punish themselves for everything that happens to them. Sad, gloomy, mopish, shabby and with dark circles around their eyes and an unshaven face, they are not that hard to find. They look like devdas from the movies minus the dhoti and in rare cases minus the liquor. Lost pair and lost everything in life is what they believe and they can be a little vulnerable to suicide at times. If you have lost somebody or something and buy the idea that life has no other goal, then welcome rite in!

The “emotionally demure” are those who have problems but do not complain. These people accept responsibility for their actions. They do not look for excuses for their behavior. They talk about it to their closed ones. Some looking for some kind of a solution, some for help or support and some just to comfort and relieve their heart and the burden of living with the problem. People of this kind are relatively matured. They know when to talk and when to cry and they usually have good friends who listen to them. Still the signs of their troubled mind are not unnoticeable.

Finally, the “nonchalant variety”, carefree, happy and always cheerful to themselves and to others, no small problem will wipe 'the glow' off their faces and even during the worst of times their cheerful disposition always sees the light of the next day without a scratch. They know how to deal with their problems and how to do it without complaining. They live life, love life and learn from it.

BTW I feel I am the group owner of at least 3 of the above mentioned groups depending on situations doing full justification of Eric Bern’s theory of Transactional analysis. I welcome you too, feel free, I know you relate to more than one, o common ! This is a pretty long post. I know ! The main point of this post is that Life's all about choices, how you live your life now and how your life flows, in the future depending on where you chose to be. You got only one life, make it worth living., it's yours., no one will do it for you. Cheers !!!

Zzzzz...

Hibernating !

Will be back soon, keep waiting

Cognitive content - profound conversation

Shishir : (in Bed with one early morning resolution.) I want to write again, don't know what about!
Inner self :(Enthusiastically) Type something!! May be you'll come up with something to say and astonish the world and make it sit up and look at you in new found admiration!
Shishir : Scratches head, yawns and looks around the room.
Inner self : Well said ! Your work is done! You have changed the world beyond repair.
Shishir: Grunts in satisfaction, turns over in bed and drifts back to sleep.

Tomb Writer

It was an Emotional Intelligence lecture and we were asked to write two lines on what one would like to write on his/her burial tomb. I managed to come up with more than two. These are the ones.
1. I am more than willing to meet you now.
2. Please do not cry here, I might come back alive.
3. Every visit here brings you closer to me.
4. Never ever fight with your wife.
5. Do not try this at home.
6. I will scare children who try to play here.
7. If you come here daily, we shall exchange our positions.
8. I presume we still are not on talking terms.
9. Marriage has its own benefits.
10. Above every man here, there is a woman.
11. Do not confuse me with my neighbor.
12. For assistance, feel free to contact my wife.
13. Don’t try acting smart, my neighbor is watching you.
14. Sixth sense is a funny movie.
15. Ghosts do exist. Just look behind.
16. Don’t reflect in HR classes, you will get bored here.
17. If you are still reading, I assume you are alive.

Thought of the day

The power of the man is in the power of his mind. The power of his mind is in the power of his subconscious mind. The power of his subconscious mind is in the power of his subconscious beliefs. And, it is these subconscious beliefs that lift man to his greatness.

ZooZoos: Inspiration or Imitation

Note: Issued in Public Interest :p
The Zoozoo series of ads is one of the most successful running campaigns for telecom giant Vodafone which had an equal (if not less) amount of success with their 'pug' ads. These eggshell like cute white funny creatures have become all the rage in India so much so that Vodafone plans to air 30 different commercials. Just like in television, you can find them everywhere online too, especially on social networking websites like Facebook and YouTube in the form of
applications, quizzes, micro sites, etc.

But yesterday, I came across an interesting link which changed my lookout on these Zoozoos completely. I stumbled upon a series of graphics on popular stock imagery website stockxpert by user Huebi (real name: Alexander Hübert from Wuppertal, Germany) which were made
available in 2007. The interesting part about these graphics is that they resemble the Zoozoos to quite an extent. In fact, I first thought that these Zoozoos even made it to stock imagery sites… LOL!

Follow the links below to check out each of these graphics:
http://www.stockxpert.com/browse_image/view/6573451
http://www.stockxpert.com/browse_image/view/6573401
http://www.stockxpert.com/browse_image/view/6573461
http://www.stockxpert.com/browse_image/view/8422672
http://www.stockxpert.com/browse_image/view/6574501
http://www.stockxpert.com/browse_image/view/6573711

So the question still remains… are the Zoozoos an inspiration or are they just a cut-copy-paste idea? I leave that for you to decide

Helloooo Check Check ...

Testing posting through email to blogger! Way to procrastination and
utter dependence on google mail.. :D

JayaHo Rehman

A R Rehman(Allah Rakkha Rahman) proved again the best musician in the world; holding two Oscars in his hands in the 81 Acadamy Oscar Awards function for categories Best Original score and Best Original song.

No Doubt!!!
He is the “Legend”
He is the Music Magician.
He is Music Maestro.

What not; as a whole he is the glory to My India. He is humble in his thanks speech even,How great? And sensible he is!

“Though I have nothing; but I have a mother and her blessings”
“God is great” he said this in his regional language Tamil.

It reveals and reminds us the perfection of our life and dedication in work.

"All my life I had a choice between hate and love. I chose love and I am here," said Rahman after receiving his second golden statuette.

There may be 1000 critics to talk about “Slumdog Millionaire”, but I strongly feel it unveiled many true facts about India, What’s wrong in that? We are like that hence we are...I am strong enough to accept the true fact. Why should we hide ourselves? Keeping all these discussions aside A British director - Danny Boyle’s Vision about India in the form of “Slumdog Millionaire” won the 8 Oscars out of 10 nominations in best categories including Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score and Best Original Song.

When A R Rehman got Golden globe award for his “Jayho” song from this movie and when I came to know that he was nominated for 3 Oscars for this film I strongly decided that; he will definitely get at least one. But I am pretty sure; all this happened only due to a British Director for this film. If it would have been directed by other than British man; keeping the technical crew for the film as same as now I don’t think it would have happened. But what ever the reason our talent got reputation globally. Rehman is the first man who received 2 Oscars in a same Acadamy awards function. This is enough! He proved it.

He conveyed this message in an interview. I felt those are really pleasing and inspiring.
“Be open and Do some thing Original” – this is the best message to young talents.
According to me Rehman has given so many better scores in many Indian films prior to Jayho; But this time laurels pored in because of British director, the arena he choose and the prodecers Warner Bros. Rehman has spelled his music combining Kawaali and sufi tunes.Every body are pleased with his rocking scores.

Here is a list of scores which we can’t forget for our life...I bet! No music lover leaves his Tune “Chayyaa Chayya from Dile se movie” Not only Chayya Chayya... There are many more Gajini – Behka Behka;Tu meri Aduri;Roja,Sakhi,Guru,Mumbai ,Jeans,Taal,Rangeli – Tanhai ,Premikudu,Premadesam – Mustafa, Hello doctor,Iddaru – Sasivadane, (Narumugane -Tamil) This list goes on and on.

Slumdog Millionaire – Oscar Award details

1. Best Picture: ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. “It has been collaboration between hundreds of people. All of us are here to share this moment. This was an extraordinary journey,” says the Slumdog... team.
2. Best Direction: Danny Boyle for ‘Slumdog Millionaire’
3. Best Original Song: A R Rahman for ‘Jai Ho...’ (Slumdog Millionarie)
The Indian music maestro, AR Rahman wooed the audience while performing ‘Jai Ho’ on stage as a nominee for Best Original Song.
4. Best Original Score: A R Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire . “I have nothing but my mother and she is there with me. I thank her for making me coming all this way with her blessings,” said a proud Rahman.
5. Best Film Editing: Chris Dickens for Slumdog Millionaire
6. Best Sound Mixing: Ian Tapp, Resul Pookutty, Richard Pryke for Slumdog Millionaire. “This is just not a sound award, but a history being handed over,” said Indian receiver Pookutty.
7. Best Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle for Slumdog Millionaire
8. Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy for Slumdog Millionaire. “The cast and crew of the film told me so much about India and writing,” said a proud Beaufoy.
From bottom of my heart this is my hearty congratulations to Rehman and this post is dedicated to you.

Is it Moral Policing ??

Well, woke up on the wrong side of my bed again! My mobile silently spoke, its 13, the count of the no of missed calls for today, before I woke up to another hectic day. Routine calls except one, from Bharat, my senior at college who was quiet a sensation after he proposed a girl on the final farewell day in front of our college gate, It was so romantic.. But the girl felt embarrassed, we were told, by Bharat anna. The good news was they were blessed with a baby boy now. Thank God!, it was four years back, the moral policing team was not that active then. Had it been the case today, he would not have dared to propose her in front of the hostel gate.

After the forgettable episodes of Kushbu snippets in Tamilnadu, the activists have shown their rouge face once again in Mangalore. This time just before the Valentine ’s Day. They even threatened to play spoil brats if they see couples outside cuddling, smooching or even walking together on V-Day.

If you see who's behind most if not all of these incidents it always ends up at these extremist organisations -- such as DPI, PMK, RSS & VHP which play a major role in Indian political system. PMK is even part of the central government.

A posse of hard-line Hindu activists barged into a pub in Mangalore last month and roughed up young women clients who were enjoying a quiet drink. This assault — by members of a little-known organization called the Sri Ram Sena, or Lord Ram's Army — caused outrage among many Indians. This barbarian act triggered a national debate on the rights of women in a fast-changing society where traditions still run deep. There were serious voices heard everywhere. The Indian media carried indignant headlines condemning the "Talibanization" of India. But the hard-liners justified their pub attack. They deliberately publicized it as an effort to stop the "un-Indian" and "loose" behaviour and to prevent India from falling prey to "Western deviations" (such as allowing women into watering holes clearly meant for men) to protect and safeguard the Indian culture

I am not here to delve in to the, what is right, or, is it right? debate. We need answers to solve these problems. My take on this with the small amount of brain I have.
----> If you analyze the system and scenario closely then we see a lot of factors and actors involved in it. It can be observed that neither pub culture nor moral policing are the root causes of these incidents. These are just the side effects of the disturbed family life of modern India. When the young force does not get the culture and family value at the family level, then these kinds of incidents are bound to happen. When both the parents are busy in money making and parties, how do they expect their children to learn social life and their cultures? The joint family system has gone and so is the family bonding. Parents do not have time for their kids and mostly think of giving pocket money instead of quality time, and the kids have enough pocket money to get into such kind of activities. In most of the cases the differences in the family life and the disturbances in everyday life results in further disturbances in social relations. Now the question of what should be done!
Counter-publicity like counter-terrorism is one way. Whenever moral policing happens a forum should be formed that is able to protest as much to generate equal publicity. This will enable people to see both sides of the coin.

----> Citizens should be imparted the motive and ill effects of so called Moral Policing else we won't be different from Muslim countries where religion is more important than growth of country, freedom and residents.

---->We should make the general public aware of what's really happening here and tell them they shouldn't let this happen. Grass root level education & exposure-to-the-real-forces-behind would be a good start.

---->Having mixed elements in the government results in a distorted outlook towards the society. what stars off as a clash of ideologies or sometimes ego, culminates as moral policing... take the ban of the movie "FIRE" while shooting for "WATER" it was merely a clash of egos between the director and the so called "moral police"... or sometimes the government pitches the idea of ancient Indian culture or the "HINDU" culture to twist arms... this all is done because a majority of the society still has the narrow outlook. so, a confused government leads to anarchy at the grass root level.
Any takers!! Suggestions welcome :)

The Yekkonaamic Crisis :)

So basically, governments across the world are injecting money into their economies and lowering interest rates to counter the current economic slowdown. I figure lowering interest rates lowers WACC and makes a lot of hitherto unprofitable projects, NPV positive which in turn help to drive economic growth. Lekin, but, parantu, they are only NPV positive when the expected return is seen as a premium on the risk-free rate which is not inflation adjusted. The government is also 'injecting money' (god knows into what), but that is obviously going to increase inflation, no? So in real terms, there may be no incentive to start new projects, depending on how much inflation rises, right? This whole macroeconomic situation is evidently beyond my grasp. Saala people want to work, they want to trade, but somehow, still the economy is forced to slow down and come to a stand-still. What is the opposing force that is causing all this? The fact that people are not getting the right price for their goods/services is not because demand has deteriorated across the board. It is only because demand was articially inflated for certain goods/services (bubbles - mortgages, interwebs), is now suffering a correction and prices of other googs/services (parapraxis?) dependent or related, are following them in their downfall. Many people acquired insane amounts of wealth during the bubbles and have exited with their cash. So the force driving the economy down is not that people have suddenly gotten lazy, it's that these sophisticated conmen (aka bastard-sons-of-bitches) won't let their wealth redistribute. This anti-redistributive force is what is driving the economy down. Large packets of wealth are stuck in their bank accounts. They sold people something that wasn't worth its price and got away with it. Nothing the governments do, other than forcing that wealth to go back to where it belongs, will ever stop the depression.

What can we do as individuals?

1. Startups - create employment, create wealth. Somebody, please. Of course this is only for those who have the nerve, the know-how, the will.
2. Charity - actively seek out those affected by the depression and share your wealth with them. (In fact I have been exercising Robin Hoodism myself, by stealing from the wealthy corporations and putting the money in my bank account.)
3. Forced Correction - stop buying houses you can't afford, stop clicking on stupid online ads for stuff you're not going to buy anyway, stop using so much gas - force the prices to bottom as quickly as possible. (This one I'm not sure about at all actually - I mean, shopping online does save gas right? And how do we know how much of a correction is enough?)
4. Stop revealing your ignorance on your blog and do some productive work.

Static...Static

Noun: Static
A crackling or hissing noise caused by electrical interference
Adjective: Static
Not active or moving
Not in physical motion
Showing little if any change
State of Mind: Static Static
A painfully loud crackling and hissing noise in the head that refuses to go away. Take two tablespoons of oil in a frying pan, heat it for 5.33249587 minutes exactly, and then bring it close to your ear. Ask a friend if you have one, or pay the hooker on your bed an extra 20 Rupees to scratch her nails against a slate near your other ear while she pours water into the frying pan. Now imagine what that would sound like in the middle of a movie theatre on a DolbyTM Surround Sound system with the volume on full, repeating endlessly while you sit tied to the chair, alone, in the dark, except for the screen which flashes blinding white light every 4-6 seconds. That is Static Static. Imagine having your eyes shut as tightly as possible. Imagine living each day with your eyes shut and the Static Static Soundtrack from Hell in the background, with just the flashes of white light to remind you that your eyes are well… not physically shut, and you’re not really hearing that sound.

Purpose. Choice. Aspiration. All pretty meaningless when the white light shatters your illusions of control over… any thing. It’s a scary place to be. Not that the illusions are too comforting either, with the noise overshadowing every voice – internal and external.

Random Thought #1: What is the acoustical analogue of shadows in optics? The sound wave is absorbed, transmitted and reflected (echo) just like a light wave encountering an obstacle. Why can’t I hear a sound-shadow? Shadows depend on physical dimensions of the obstacle, what do sound shadows depend on?

know thyself

In the controversy about whether artificial intelligence can ever be realized to the extent where it is even comparable with human intelligence, it is argued that the term artificial, requires the existence of formal system which governs its so called 'thought-process'. This in turn requires that the formal system either be inconsistent or be unaware of itself - which some argue makes it inferior to human intelligence, in the sense that credit of the intelligence goes to the maker and not the machine.

In this sense awareness of one's condition is somehow believed to elevate one's intelligence to a higher level inconceivable at one's current level. So, know thyself.

Of Time, Distance, and Love

This should really be a blog about love, given the number of posts I dedicate to it. I saw another relationship crumble today under the pressures of time and distance. That's the third this month. It's like somebody's out to disprove everything I knew or believed about love. First, G and Delta2, then R and O, and now NPCWD and S. Also, B and two others were having trouble, last I heard - again, thanks to time and distance. It's sad that I cease to be amazed now. Does nothing last forever, not even cold November rain?

Well there were some upsides - P and D got married, Sh and Simone hooked up, and Delta2 found someone else (upside for her, I guess). Will they survive against time and distance? I hope so. From where I stand right now, the odds are heavily in their favor - not all the relationships around me can fail, can they? I guess all I can do is wait and watch.

For now, let's evaluate the laws...

Distance makes the heart grow fonder. Time is the greatest healer. But a long distance, for a long time, and you might as well say your goodbyes.

I guess everyone knows this already. Love is the real bitch here. When you love someone, it makes you stupider than you ever thought possible, you think it'll be alright, that you can weather any storm, you plan your entire life around that one person, and you think that time and distance can't touch you, but the moment you look away... bam! It hits you in the back of the head and says "Ha Ha, gotcha!".

Anyway. What can you do? Put on your happy face, and keep putting it on, until it's worn out.

A day off ...

Listening to the water flow, beside an empty road..
Watching the sun set, on the summit of the Kakatiya dome ..

Remembering.. Without a hint of sadness..

A day off..
Finally :-)

60 Hours of T'error'

Every one has been talking of the resilience of the Mumbaikars and the way they have bounced back after the Ghastly attack of the terrorists on Mumbai which cost us some of our brave police men and soldiers.The goons were on the killing spree and were the cause of ghastly incidences of rampage at three places in Mumbai, The Taj, The Oberoi and the Nariman house.Every terrorist knew he is going to be killed and the chances of his survival are negligible in this encounter.Think from a different frame of reference, that of the Fidaeen's, one can imagine what has prompted them at such early age to turn as suicide attackers. It is most probably either inspired by the preachings of the anti social elements against the society claiming as fight against the discrimination of Muslims ( tenets of LeT, which is thought of as the main Kin pin organization behind the attack ) or lured and trapped for money to over come the grim situations of their families. Either way they were wrong to have committed such a ghastly crime which had taken more than 180 lives. I, same as Mr Tata the chairman of The Taj also opine, that the attack could not have been avoided in its final stage. But It could have been avoided if spotted earlier by the intelligence agencies. The prima faci cause which was thought of, was pretty conspicuous, the loopholes in the security at the coast line through which the militants infiltrated. There is lack of coordination between the security guards and the patrolling men. In one of the TV shows I was shocked to see that there were no patrolling guards at all in many of the places along the coast line and how easy it was to smuggle goods or even RDX through international waters.This, I think made the passage of these terrorists in to the country easier. Today the papers are full of pictures of people attending to their duties and papers lauding the way in which they sprang back to their routines.I am not amazed by this coz, I think they had to attend to their routines and had no choice.The failure on part of the politicians and the home ministry department is clearly visible to every one. One can find the answers if they question themselves, Why only India and not USA or England ! ( 9/11 was the last terror attack in the US) its a complete failure in every department This can't be denied, only thing that can be done now is to work to our potentials in avoiding any further losses, stop being called as brazen people and ensure the implementation of stringent rules that our constitution has laid for the safety of us, after all, we want to live in safe India.

Loosing my First Love !

How much would the current emerging cricketers make up for the departing legends who served the country with such passion, excellence, dedication, commitment (short of any no of adjectives here) that our Heros Sourav Dada and Kumble accomplished in their international arena. Despite the victories of Indian cricket team, the fact that we are going to miss our beloved cricketers dada and jumbo hurts. I have grown up watching them play and always tried to mimic their signature shots while practicing, if not in the matches. Don’t know how it is going to be when Sachin hangs up his boots :( which I think is not too far given the frequent recurrences of injuries to his body! The events of the last few weeks are freaking me out. Anil and Sourav are gone and the other three may not be far behind. I assume there is a large group of cricket fans in their mid-to-late 20s, like me, who are grappling with the implications. This transition is messing with our minds. I remember the early days hmmm I Think the 1996 world cup which Lanka won, when TV sets were new in my place and We skipped a class or two, took long breaks between special classes while preparing for board exams of 7th class in the evening, to watch matches in the house beside our school wall. I remember Shantan and I literally weeping when India lost the match in the Semis ( The Desilva factor which came Between India and Victory! ).Sachin Tendulkar spoilt us. He commanded that we sit in front of the television sets. He ensured we got late with homework, he took care of our lunch-break discussions. He was not all that much older than us, and some of us naive schoolboys thought we would achieve similar feats when we were 16. We got to 16 and continued to struggle with homework. Then came Kumble and the two undertook a teenager-pampering mission not seen in India before. Sachin walked on water, Jumbo parted seas. Our mothers were happy that we had nice heroes - One down-to-earth prodigy and the other studious brilliant bespectacled engineer. They were honest, industrious sportsmen, embodying the middle class. We were such spoil brats that we pined for openers and fast bowlers. We cursed the side for not winning abroad.We thought India would win only if Sachin scores, and it was so many a time, we chided them when they did not perform. Such greed. Economists would probably have predicted the bursting of the bubble. We had a deluge instead. One fine day at Lord's we got a glimpse of two new saviors: Delicate Timing and Immaculate Technique. Suddenly my group of eight friends was split into two camps. You were either with Ganguly or Dravid. In that period we even took Kumble and Tendulkar for granted. It was adolescent indulgence taken to the extreme. When we played cricket on the streets, we had a number of choices. Left-handers were thrilled, defensive batsmen were happy, extravagant stroke-makers were delighted, the short boys didn't need to feel left out anymore, spectacles became cool, and freaky bowling actions were no more laughed at. Now, after close to 20 years, my generation needs to brace itself for this exodus. Some of my friends, crazy as this sounds, have been talking of needing to reevaluate their own careers. Others are realizing they need to recalibrate their childhood definitions of cricket. "Part of me just died," said a college friend who was the kind of extreme cricket buff who memorized scorecards. "No Dada, no Jumbo. I'm positive I'll stop watching after Sachin and Rahul retire." These players were not only outstanding cricketers but also great statesmen. However hard they competed, they were always exceptional role models. "Our childhood is ending," said a friend from school, and in some way he was probably spot on. Tendulkar's retirement may mean a lot of things to a lot of people, but for a generation of 25- to 30-year-olds it will mark the end of the first part of their lives. Switching on the television the day after will be a serious challenge. All this Bragging about cricket would seem senseless to some one who do not know how people in India have cricket attached to their hearts ( John and dave its for you !) (bechaaraa US friends,chood doo !) .It’s time to say goodbye to the best bowler India has ever had. Anil Kumble was not born a spinner. But it’s his never say die attitude that has resulted in most Indian test victories. If Sachin is God, Kumble is my favorite cricketer. I am greatly inspired by his determination to bowl until the match is over; most give up when opposition is heading to victory. This has been an era of remarkable spinners topped by Warne and Muralitharan but Kumble isn’t far away from them. Hope the young Indian bowling guns follow in his footsteps. Goodbye Jumbo! A special mention to Saurav Chandidas Ganguly, aka Dada! He must be the most controversial Indian cricketer ever but also he is arguably the most successful captain we’ve ever had. He may be blamed for losing his position in the team on his row with former coach Greg Chappell. But one cannot simply ignore a batsman who has over 7k runs in tests and over 11k runs in one-dayers. I will never forget the sixes he would hit straight down the ground off the spinners. Half of my heart is broken and I can't imagine the day when the rest of them call it a day specially Sachin ! Yes! Cricket is a religion here and I feel like loosing my religion. Two legends depart, more to follow?

Whatt-a Beauty :)

This line of the day, which I picked up risking the accusation of plagiarism:) comes from an Industrial Management textbook’s opening notes about advertising. ” Running a business without advertising is just like winking at a beautiful girl in the dark - you know what you are doing but she does not know it.”
Well, most times, its in your best interest that the beautiful girl doesn’t know.Hmmm...

Quotes From My Favourite Book

The quotes from the book 'The Alchemist' have constantly motivated me. Thought of sharing it with fellow bloggers. Enjoy !

Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself, and that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity.

It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.

When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it...

To realize one's destiny is a person's only obligation.

When each day is the same as the next, it's because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises

Making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision

Because I don't live in either my past or my future. I'm interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man. .... Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we're living right now.

Because you will never again be able to keep it (heart) quiet. Even if you pretend not to have heard what it tells you, it will always be there inside you, repeating to you what you're thinking about life and about the world

God only rarely reveals the future. When he does so, it is for one reason: it's a future that was written so as to be altered.

It's not what enters men's mouths that's evil, it's what comes out of their mouths that is.

The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon.

Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.

...at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That's the worlds greatest lie.

...there is one great truth on this planet: whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, its because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. Its your mission on earth.

We have to take advantage when luck is on our side, and do as much to help it as its doing to help us. Its called the principle of favorability. Or beginners luck.

No matter what he does, every person on earth plays a central role in the history of the world. And normally he doesn't know it.

One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.

If you start out by promising what you don't even have yet, you'll lose your desire to work toward getting it

A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such speed. It feels an impulsion ... this is the place to go now. But the sky knows the reasons and the patterns behind all clouds, and you will know, too, when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond the horizons.

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, do it - boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

Every search begins with beginners luck and ends with the victor's being severely tested.

Courage is the quality most essential to understanding the Language of the World.

Maa Tujhe Salaam

Maa Tujhe Salaam ! Wish all the Indians a Happy Independance day. Well this is what I have to say for each Republic day or Independence day, the reality is that despite 61 years of Independence we are still in the clutches of terrorism which does not reflect the Real Independence.