#1 Hypocrite?? Naah ... may be #1 Blogger ....

With lot of fanfare I would like to take this opportunity of introducing the first guest writer to this very special blog of mine ….. “Shruti Carol” …. Taliyan J J ….. A wonderful person and a very dear friend, Shruti is an extremely talented writer. She writes about fashion and enjoys a great fan following at her blog Ramp or' Not!. Recently she won ‘The Versatile Blogger’ award for the inspiring work she has been doing all this while. Pictures that are an essential part of all her writings (as you might have seen by now) make her blog come alive. Many thanks to her for she has been sport enough to add grace to my blog with yet another lively picture of hers. Now, without any more ado let us find what Shruti has written for us today …..

This post was planned about a week ago, except that there was no content. Considering the fact that I don't write that often I have been looking for some inspiration. Inspiration is a freckle thing, comes and goes. You'll find it when it is least expected like it has happened to me today. I got down from the warm layer of my blankets, slipped into my favorite sweatshirt, grabbed a big cup of coffee and walked around the balcony with nothing on my mind.

And then I thought I was bored with my life. It had turned monotonous. I wonder if it's just me or many other twenty-something people who look back at the years passed and feel that they haven't really done anything. The frustration of that moment runs through my veins and makes me restless. I feel I am wasting my days as if I could retrieve all those days I named ‘wasted’. Which were gone! I succumb to emotions and forget that I am wasting more time and energy pondering over things that are physically impossible to change. I, for a moment feel like running away from things around and not return for five years (just a random number, don't pay attention to my figures) as if that could get me freedom forever. But then, I do a favor on myself and stay back.

Freedom is so individualistic and changes with time. Right? When we were kids, a holiday from school would mean freedom for that day. Freedom was to not apologize for coming late to school or for not doing home work. As teenagers, getting away from scolding for scoring less in the exam or even spending a day at a friend's place away from home meant freedom. Spending all day playing video games and not fearing being watched was freedom. We joined college and became rebellions. We thought freedom was to bunk classes whenever we wanted and not be punished for it. We claimed freedom to speak our mind, freedom to protest a wrong doing, freedom to decide our future and what not. Then it all comes down to where we are now. Freedom from the angry boss, from overwhelming responsibilities, from marriage, from a nagging partner or anything and everything a general survey would bring up. This is us. This is our nature. Feeling dissatisfied with what we have and trying to grab things beyond

I want to run away from the monotony of life but what happens when I come back? It's the same me and my life. Who am I running away from, some silly problems? What about the other happy things? And I feel…you know.... sometimes random is good :)

I am not complaining. There are things that weigh heavily on everybody's minds.

Mine is just a lot heavier right now but trust me, there are many MANY times when my mind has weighed lighter that you can imagine. With the genetically inherited factory of mixed emotions I own, I get surprised every time I put up with myself. It is so easy for us to succumb to emotions, to speak/act without thinking, to get frustrated, to want to give up on life (translated - run away in my language).

I will move on… like I always have. Honestly, right at this moment it is this awesome cup of coffee I hold in my hands which I am grateful for ... it raised me all the questions about the purpose of my ‘existence’ and answered them for me. And guess what is written on the cup?


'If it is important for you

You’ll find a way

If not you'll find an excuse' 

That makes me look like a #1 Hypocrite! So, I will stop here and allow you to judge :)

Hypocrite?? Naah ... Read more from Shruti at Ramp or' Not!

Thanks Shruti for this wonderful post!! :) :)

Better Late than Never!

Who would have thought that a guy for whom Kannada music used to be nothing more than noise, just two years down the line, will spend more than half of his 32 hour long journey thinking ‘Wish I had just one more Sandalwood song in my play list!’. I always knew leaving Bengaluru was going to be tough but it was only after boarding the train that I realized how much the city meant to me. And what a city! Jitni taarif karo utni kam. They all say its the weather of Bengaluru that makes it so special but believe its not the weather; its the people of Bengaluru who make it the best city of India. Weather comes second!

Gaadi aage chali main peechey!

Bengaluru mein bitaya har ek din aankhon ke saamne tha. The first time I travelled by air, the first job offer I got, the first salary credit, first authentic South Indian dosa, first trip abroad, the city gave me everything I could have asked for. And of course ‘Pace’. You might have heard a lot of actors and politicians say that they have the best job in the world. But do you know even a single software engineer who does claim that? Well here is one. Cribbing apart, J being in Pace was a privilege. I don’t think there ever was a Monday when I found it tough heading to office. I have had some of the most memorable moments with Pace and made lots of good friends. Not just this. Weekends! It used to the best part. Catch up with your friends, eat out at your favorite places, watch movies, go to Forum or may be just sleep. Sounds like usual stuff. Doesn’t it? In fact you must be thinking ‘Why the hell is he pointing out such trivial things?’ Well, I know its usual stuff. But the same usual stuff looks so much more exciting and worth it when you land up in a position like mine. I mean 26^th of every month I can’t stop but check my account balance again and again. Who knows when Citibank may make a salary credit into my account by mistake? No matter it is no longer a salary account. After Bengaluru, its salary I miss the most.

Today as I sit and write all this, there is a strong desire to come back and be able to relive that entire time once again. Thanks to Rahul, Mohit, Nitin, Ayush,Kamal, Kanak, Jojo, Palaxa, everyone. Its because of you people that I had such a wonderful stay there. Wish all you guys’ dreams come true and God bless us all!

Wondering how life here is? Well it is fun. Kannada music has finally find a substitute and I have started developing a taste for Haryanvi songs ;). Last week we had a theatre festival in the nearby university. Heard a really nice song there. Unlike other Haryanvi songs it is a soft song with nostalgic lyrics that go like:

Bin tension ke thay din bachpan ke ...

Buddhi dadi ki kahani mein
Raja ka man tha Rani mein
Jab Rani nay Daanav kha jaata
Hamein neend ka jhoka aa jata

Ek master topi aala tha
Uska thappad bada chala tha ....

Abhi ke liye itna hi. Will write more about this place in my next post.

P.S: I were to post this around a month ago but got delayed cause of my laziness. Fir maine socha 'Better Late than Never!'. Hope you guys will like it.

Chup ek Biwi thi, Bol Maa rahi hai!

Kabhi kabhi life mein break lena kitna jaruri hota hai ye hamein tabtak pata nahi chalta jab tak ki hum asal mein break na le lein ..... Well I know its easier said than done given the never ending work pressure, ever increasing peer pressure and various other pressures we have in life(including the gastric ones for a few ;) ) but then kuch paane ke liye kuch khona toh padta hi hai. Meri mano toh is baar Diwali (or whenever you might be planning to take long off from your office) pe ghar mat jao, apne liye time nikalo and do all that you have not been able to do for so long. Its more than worth. Infact its superb!! Am all happy :) :)

hmm tob ab jab ki main khali hun ... ekdam vella .... kuch kaam nahi ... toh maine socha ki movie dekh li jaye ... magar kaun si?? Aaajkal Bollywood mein toh koi dhang ki movie aa nahi rahi ... khair main kaun bada bhari critic hoon ... apan ko toh jo free mein dekhne ko mil jaye wahi sahi. So I got a DVD (read pirated downloaded version) of Patiala House and started watching it. And to my surprise the movie is not really bad. Thodi dramatic hai but the subject is quite relevant especially in today's world of globalization. Waise bhi HiFi (Hindi Film Industry) movie dramatic na ho toh maza nhi aata. Coming back to the subject, the movie is about a big joint Punjabi family settled in England with Rishi Kapoor playing the dominant head. His son Akshay Kumar likes cricket and is a very good bowler. Infact he plays so well that he gets a chance to be a part of England's national cricket team. But Rishi Kapoor due to some unfortunate racial incidents he did face in past has a problem with the very idea of his own son playing for 'Goras'. Thereafter its the same old stuff like how the family convinces him and how everything falls into place eventually.

I think agar iski jagah yeh dikhaya hota ki kisi aur country se aayi family India mein settled hai aur unme se koi Indian National Cricket team ka part banne ke layak hai toh it could have had a far better impact on audience. Globalization has really changed things and changed them for good. On a personal level I don't think there is much difference in me getting settled in Bangalore or me getting settled in Europe. Thoda bahut discrimination toh kabhi kabhi apni country mein bhi face karna pad jata hai. I am sure most of you will disagree with me on this point. But as the world becomes more and more connected and as the boundaries fade it will become rather apparent.

Waise hamari country bhi ajib hai ... On one hand we talk about women empowerment and on the other hand we have dogmatic dialogues like "chup ek Biwi thi, bol Maa rahi hai"! This is the explanation that Dimple Kapadia gives to Rishi Kapoor as to why she was silent for so many years when Rishi Kapoor didn't let Akshay Kumar play for England cricket team. Arre main poochta hoon Biwi kab bolegi yaar. 70s ke decade ki movie hoti toh thik tha. Ab toh bol lene do yaar ussey. Pata nahi kis ne likhe thay dialogue. Ye bhi nahi sochte ki these films are seen across the countries. Anyways, jab itna kuch badal raha hai toh dheere dheere dialouge bhi badal hi jayenge. Meanwhile, picturization of the song "Beeba tere haathon mein ..." is quite innovative. Same song being played simultaneously on two floors of the same house in two different genres adressing two different generations; Good attempt! I must say.

Ab mujhe bhook lag rahi hai ... so I am gonna go grab some delicious burgers. Tab tak you keep listening to the song "fire ige mis use eni Miss Fire :) Miss amma Miss amma Miss misuse aagidrey big mistake" ... mast gana hai yaar ;)

Chak de India!!

Kehte hain ek achche din ki shuruat achchi subah se hoti hai. Probably that’s the reason, every morning we all do something special which marks the start of a perfect day. In fact over the time it becomes a habit and we don’t even realize we are practicing it until one day we forget to do that and end up saying ‘aaj maine Bhagwan ke aage hath nhi jode na isiliye sara din kharab ja rha hai’! Aisi hi choti choti aadatein, ummm my neice for example, she would not step out for school until she has said ‘bye’ to every single person in the home. Usey toh kirayedaaron ko bhi bye bolna hota hai. Probably that’s her way of starting a beautiful day. But not just her there are thousands of us jo nashta karna bhool sakte hain magar ek chammach misthi dahi khana nhi bhoolte. Similarly my ideal morning starts with an energy filled inspiring song. I indeed have a separate play list in my music player consisting of numbers I would start my day with. Aur is play list mein se bhi kuch gaane thode jyada khaas hain and comes first in them is ‘chak de India…’

Dhamakedar movie ka dhamakedar song, listen to it and within seconds you can feel the adrenalin rush. Remember, how this song had become the anthem in the sports world? Yes we have not been doing well for quite a while now, when it comes to the performance of India in international Hockey tournaments but still this movie had sowed some rays of hope in that small corner of our heart that one day we will also be able to win loads of medals in Olympics and various other events of similar repute. Ah! How I wished for the Commonwealth Games 2010 to start as soon as possible and see various sports persons of our country to come up with flying colors. I would listen to this song and imagine it being played on television with pictures of Indian players getting loads of medals, at the backdrop. But alas! We are about to miss the deadlines of completing the preparations itself. And above that there is plethora of useless debate going on whether we should be holding such events. Things couldn’t have gone worst than this. If no one else, we should have learnt something from our neighbor country China at least, which made full use one single opportunity and turned itself to the world’s second largest economy. Not sure how the players who would have been practicing day and night must be feeling. But amid all this chaos there is one more person who, if had taken a small step at the correct time, could have contributed to the success of this event however small that contribution though it might have been. A few months back I had got a mail from some educational institute to be one of the volunteer in CWG organization committee but I replied very late thinking whether I will get leaves or not, kuch aur kaam aa gaya toh and blah blah. Probably by that time they were done all the selection. Yesterday I read in newspaper that the volunteers and not well trained and it is a major hurdle that might hinder us from putting up a grand show. Wish I had been a bit more responsible and taken the initiative at correct time:(.

Anyways one small thing I am going to do now is to include “successful organization of this long awaited event” as one of my requests to God in my Morning Prayer. And I request you all to do the same kyonki hamare desh mein kai baar dawa se jyada dua kaam kar jati hai. So Chak de India…….. chak de!

PS: Kuch logon ka perfect day morning se jyada evening pe depend karta hai. For example hamari Makan Malkin jinka din tab tak poora nhi hota jab tak who Star Plus pe apna favourite show Pratigya na dekh le. Loll!

Paife ka Khel!

“How much money would I need to live in the US, without having to work for the rest of my life?” Well, before you start any calculations or reach any conclusion, let me clarify that my intention is not at all to find an answer to this question; rather this is one of the thousand of responses that you get when you search for the word ‘money’ in ‘Google’. Perhaps, even Google knows it well that no one is interested in thy definition or meaning.
After all it is Money – introduction not required.

We all know the importance of money and the power it brings with itself. That is the thing we are all running after and that’s what make the world go round. After all it’s all ‘paife ka khel’. Such is the charm of money that even the founder of the website ‘Secondlife.com’ (whose main intention was to provide a world where people can live a life of their dreams without giving a thought to the never ending rat race of real world) couldn’t do without a market place and of course – ‘money’.

But do you really think money is what makes a person rich? No doubt we can’t do without it as well, still how right is it to give it the utmost important and losing on the opportunity of enjoying various small moments of joy that come our way every now and then. Life is what happens to us while we are planning the future. So, let us all make it a point to appreciate the infinite small gifts that God gives us in the form of family, friends, nature etc.

And as far as becoming rich is concerned:

“If you really want to feel rich, count the things you own that can’t be bought by Money!”

ye hai Vividh Bharti..........

Damn it!! Again I forgot my earphones at my desk itself, now I’ll have to go all the way back to fifth floor, collect it and rush back to catch the bus. But there is no other choice; after this nine hour torturous job missing my favorite most show would be the last thing I want to do. God! Hardly five minutes are left and now this haunted lift will not let me go. Don’t know why everything has to go wrong at this time only. Finally, here it is. I quickly put on my earphones and started the radio. ‘Bengalurille bombat music station Radiooooooooo Pity’, ‘Minimum music Minimum choice Maximum ads Maximum noise’, ‘FM One-du Irudu Nura Nallaku’ etc. se hote huay I finally reached my sweet and sober radio channel – ‘Vividh Bharti’. Aur aayiye ab aapko sunwate hain Border film ka ek geet; Iski farmaish ki hai Rajasthan se Subedar Pahalwan Singh ji ne; aawajein hain Sonu Nigam aur Roop Kumar Rathore ki….and here it goes ………’Sandeshe aate hain….’. Thank God! I didn't miss it. Believe me pure din ki thakaan aur boriyat ek gaane mein door ho jati hai. You feel as if you are in some far away place listening to those few selective songs you always wanted to have in your play list. Not just one or two songs, there complete line up of songs is awesome. I mean seriously yaar once is a while getting to listen ‘Na kajre ki dhaar’ and all is actually pretty cool.

Pehle pehle main bhi Vividh Bharti kam hi sunta tha. And then I didn’t even realize when this whole thing changed and I become one of those loyal listeners. I think what makes Vividh Bharti stand out is the versatility in the programs being broadcasted by them. Their content relates to the lives of common men. They have programs targeting various sections of society e.g. ‘sakhi saheli for women’, ‘Youth express for the new generation’, ‘sms ke bahane vbs ke tarane for music lovers’, ‘chayageet’, ‘sadabahar nagme’ and many more. The one more program that I look forward to listening is ‘Hawa Mahal’ –featuring skits (Radio Play) based on various novels. Through these skits they try to find solutions of the various small problems that we face in day to day life.

In the present world where advertisements and marketing have reduced the value of meaningful content to such an extent that before getting to hear the song, we get to hear the brand who is presenting it, Vividh Bharti is the only Radio channel that values the listener’s preference. In fact they have a dedicated program in which they read the letters written to them by their listeners and try to take note of what their audiences like or dislike. The way Vividh Bharti has evolved over the 52 yrs of its existence is also worth appreciation. Providing healthy entertainment to everyone in a country which is developing so fast and still have more than sixty percent of its population in villages is no easy job. But they do it and do it really well. Kudos! to Vividhta in our country and kudos! to ‘Vividh Bharti’.

I got these lines somewhere and found interesting:

kucch aawaje hasaati hai.........kucch aawaje sikhati hai.........kucch sudur anchal mein lekar jati hai...kucch gudgudati hai.........barso se ye dhwaniyan hawan mein tair rahi hai........inhe aap ke gharo tak pahunchati hai.......VIVIDH BHARATI

trip to Malaysia........truly Asia!!

hardly five days in malaysia and I am dying to come back. Not that I didnt like the place, its the food that has taken toll on me. Matlab chirag leke bhi dhundne niklo toh jaldi se vegetarian food nahi milta......but then its a beautiful country as if someone might have pull in the weather of Dehradoon to Connaught Place.

Hmm...so my trip started as soon as I stepped out of airport. The first thing you will notice about Malaysia is its excellent transport system. Wide roads, fast running buses, easily available cab and efficient taxi services make it even more appreciable. Infact for the first time in my life I got to see a tunnel, meant for reducing the traffic jams, like the ones we generally see in hollywood flicks. It is known as the SMART Tunnel and is is the longest stormwatertunnel in South East Asia and second longest in Asia. It took me around one hour to reach the hotel. The very next day was a public holiday here and I got a three day long weekend to roam around and see the places. The first place I visited was none other than the famous PETRONAS Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur's biggest tourist attraction. I know we all have seem it in pictures and its beautiful. But believe me, when you actually see it then only you realise that its far more huge than how it looks like in the pictures, i mean huge as in 'really huge'. At the back side of twin towers is the KLCC Park. It contains a fountain with incorporated light show and is a nice place to be visited in the evenings. While returning I took a taxi and for the first time in my life it so happened that somebody thought that I belong to SriLanka. When I asked that taxi wala that what made him think so, he told that my face cut is like that. I just hope thats not true.

The next day one of my colleague and I went ot Batu Caves - the greatest murugun temple in Malaysia. Its situated in the hills and to reach the main temple one needs to climb a steep flight of around 300 steps. It being a Hindu temple there are a lot of south indian food restaurants nearby and hence I finally could manage to get a meal of my choice. We had south indian meal and yes ..it included Rasam as well. Khane ke baad we proceeded to the main temple and spent some time inside. The whole place looks marvellous from inside. And as in most of the Indian temples, monkeys can easily be spotted here also. Isn't it strange? Like as if there is some strange connection between monkeys and temples. Nearby the Murugun temple is a Ramayana Cave and a big statue of Hanuman ji. Evenings, it generally rains here in KL and while we were returning it started heavily. So while waiting for the rain to stop we had some coconut water,one other good thing you get near Batu caves. Finally, on our way back we stopped at One Utama City Center and booked the tickets for 'Genting Highlands'.Yep, 9:00 am package is what decide to take. I only know how I managed to wake up and reach in time. I actually put some 15 alarms and thank god! I reached in time.

'Genting Highlands' I was really looking forward to visit there, cause one of my friends had told me that if you are going to Malaysia and you dont go to Genting then its a waste. Also known as the Las Vegas of Malaysia the place features a lot of exciting things like 'Genting Skyway a 3.4 km ride in a cable car', 'indoor and outdoor amusement theme parks', 'casino' and 'First world Hotel which is the world's largest hotel'. Oh! did i mention 2002 IIFA awards ceremony was held in Genting Highlands only? Yeah mujhe bhi aane ke baad hi pata chala. Well....yes the place was extremely beautiful and we had a lot of fun. In fact some silly incidents happened as well. There was a ride named as space trip. The picture outside created an impression as if there will be a gravitation less chamber wherein you can go and experience the feel of being in space. So with lot of enthusiasm and expectation, I decided to go for it. Now, inside there were quite a few people, all left in doubt what exactly gonna happen, then finally they switched off all the lights and the show began. And you know what happened then, instead of rotating us they rotated the round chamber we all were seated in.........sheer torture of full ten minutes.........yep it actually was meant for small kids.In Genting there is one Indian restaurant as well. Its name is Spice Garden and they serve pretty decent food. Finally the three day weekend was over and we returned back to pavilion :).

There is a lot of self realization that has happened during this trip. I in fact believe that travel more than an opportunity of learning new cultures or things, is an opportunity of learning ourselves better. And the first thing I noticed about myself is that mujhe daily soaps dekhne ka keeda hai. Yeah I started watching a Malaysian tv serial there. Its name is Siong and it has got English subtitles. Believe me its good, quite like Mandira Bedi's Shanti. What? I am not talking about the female protagonist; the serial is good. Waise you may be surprised to hear that they play Bollywood songs in the background songs in their serials. In one of the programmes based on a love story they played Kuch Kuch Hota Hai while the hero was day dreaming about the heroine. Even bollywood radio stations are also there. And their song selection also is pretty awesome. I was thrilled to hear them taking about Deepika Padukone, Ranbir and Katrina. Well I don't know why but it really felt good.

When in Malaysia I used to feel very special about I being an Indian and would thank God every now and then. And there were a lot of reasons behind it. I generally don't watch news channels much but as there were no Hindi entertainment channels available, I would see BBC World at times. And it used to be heartening to see India being the highlight in many a special reports.

Isn't it nice to see our Finance minister's daughter writing an open letter demanding solutions from him on the eve of Union Budget. Its great! In Malaysia also the dropping attendance in Parliament is a concern these days. At least that's what I read in Strait Times one of the leading newspapers there. I felt proud when I read on net, the ruling party chair person in India is taking strict steps in this direction. Another programme on BBC talked about the nation wide competition to select a currency symbol. And again it was heart touching to see the sheer energy and passion with which people from all age groups were going gaga to tell their views about the same. Another great thing to be seen was Sandra Bullock receiving the Oscar at an age of 45 reiterating the fact that if you work hard you are bound get your dues some day or the other. And what an acceptance speech, still doing rounds all over the net.

Ok ab bahut ho gaya I don't think anything else is left to be written. Yeah that's it for today.