Dealing with boredom...

I used to think it's a curse to be bored. I used to chide myself and yell at myself mentally saying, how can you be bored, when there are so many interesting things to learn? Then I'd open some newspaper website and start concentrating on the day's events. For the past two days though, I've been bored beyond belief and beyond relief. No matter how much I tried to coax myself to study, I just couldn't do it. 

I decided to throw caution to the winds, and do whatever I felt like. I started watching Russell Peters shows on youtube. That guy is hilarious! After watching about 10 video clips, I thought that I was sufficiently entertained. It dawned on me much later that, in the process of entertaining myself, I'd come across quite a lot of new information. While watching his videos, one link led to another and I ended up watching his interview with Riz Khan. It's in two parts and you can see it here and here.

I came to know a lot of things about him and about stand-up comedians in general. Moreover, when he said that religion is something he never jokes about or messes with, I had an "Oh yeah" moment. Till that point, I'd never noticed that when he makes fun of peculiarities of cultures and accents, he never makes any references to a religious peculiarity. It made me think, is he scared? The reason he gave is, religion is a personal thing, and he is nobody to tell which religious habits are peculiar and which aren't.

When we watch stand-up comedians perform, we rarely realize the kind of efforts that go into making up the act. They've to always be prepared to get booed down. Or worse, they've to be prepared for no laughter at all. They're under constant pressure to come up with good jokes. And of course, each comedian is only as good as their last performance. Therefore, I was quite amazed to know that Russell has been at this for more than twenty years now, and is still going strong.

I also felt proud when I saw the vast crowds that came to watch him do his act. That struck me as very unusual. Russell is an Indian of Canadian origin. He has never been to India while growing up. In fact, he came to India for the first time to perform when he gained fame. Therefore, it is quite possible that India or Indians had very little to do with his success. Why do we feel pride for Indians based out of India? Ours has been this sort of rags to riches story, where post Independence we were a poor and developing country, with a very low self-confidence. As Indians started becoming visible in the global spotlight, our self-esteem grew, both individually and as a nation. This practice of collective victory for individual achievement is still continuing, as we take every Indian's success as a measure of every Indian's capability to become successful. Every Indian's victory is a personal victory. If he can, then I can too, irrespective of where he has come from.

So I'm happy that I got bored. It made me realize that everything you do, whether its for work or entertainment, has the potential to change your perspective and teach you something new.

I think I should really get back to work now, or else as Russell Peters says, Soma buddy gonna get hurt real baaad! Lol :D

Image source: http://www.indianlifeandstyle.com/ILS-May-June05/fast%20lane.htm

Indo-US Youth Dialogue by GatewayHouse Part 2

Refer to previous post

Climate change was next on the agenda. Dr Craig said that US is the 2nd largest polluter in the world, and India is the 4th. However, the per person carbon footprint of the US is much higher than that of India. US is often accused of being hypocritical in this aspect as it refuses to reduce it's own emissions but urges developing nations to reduce their carbon footprints. 

According to Russell, the public opinion in the US largely seems to be in favour of reducing carbon emissions. Obama had also tried to pass a bill that would severely restrict carbon emissions by industries. However, the bill didn't make it through the Parliament. To retain their seats, members of the Parliament are/were refusing to pass bills or take steps that would make them unpopular with corporations contributing to climate change. Instead of terming the US as hypocritical, it is important to note that Obama alone cannot do much. He took the first step by introducing the bill. The final decisions are taken by the Parliament. 

Ms. Akanksha Mohla, a panelist from India, said that in order to effectively curb carbon emissions, incentives needed to be given to corporations, not governments, since corporations cause pollution. According to her - and this view was shared by almost all the panelists - climate change cannot be countered unless immediate financial incentives are provided to corporations to reduce their carbon footprint.

On the topic of terrorism, the most pertinent question asked was, "Do India and US share the same agenda?". The overall view was, India mostly faced internal threats, whereas the US faced threats from agents outside the US territory. Although the question of huge military aid to Pakistan and subsequently endangering India's security did arise, this wasn't addressed in a satisfactory manner. US's hesitancy to share intel and information about David Coleman Headly was also brought up for discussion. The panelists felt that US had the world's best interests at heart and was doing the best it could in terms of sharing intelligence reports.

A concern raised by an Indian student in the audience was, Obama is losing popularity in the US and with the mid-term elections, the Democrats are likely to lose more seats. In such a scenario, will Obama be able to live up to the promises he makes to India? The panelists agreed that foreign policy is rarely related to domestic concerns and that the result of the mid-term elections would have possibly no effect on Indo US relations. 

US was accused of being hypocritical in the matter of human rights violations. The US government perpetrated human rights violations during war with Afghanistan and Iraq.What right did it have to ask other nations to clean up their human rights records? A member of the panel pointed out that almost every US citizen was ashamed of the human rights violations by the US government. Moreover, a distinction was made between wartime violations and violations in day to day life. American citizens (not necessarily represented by the state), raised objections to day-to-day human rights violations like domestic violence in developing countries.

An American student from the audience asked how the so-called benefits of President Obama's visit to India would trickle down to a large number of Indians living below the poverty line. Also, how will India fund it's development now that United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funding has been stopped. One of the suggestions to help India's poor was to invite the large majority of Nobel Laureates to India and encourage them to propose solutions to problems that plague the common man. Another solution was to make it easy to set up B2B solutions between medium and small level entrepreneurs in India and in the US.This would include lifting the visa restrictions imposed recently by the 2 countries. 

I will post the full text of the agenda as soon as it is available. In the meantime, I would request Mumbaikars to invite Obama with an open heart and not curse him for restricting their Diwali celebrations.

Update: Click here for the agenda.

Indo-US Youth Dialogue by GatewayHouse Part 1

 India passed the RTE (Right to Education Act) which makes school education compulsory for children between 6 and 14 years. President Obama's Race to the Top program, urges Americans to study harder and surpass India and China in the race for the top jobs and educational opportunities. Keeping President Obama's forthcoming visit to Delhi in mind, are Indians and Americans competing against each other or collaborating with each other in the field of education?

Several such issues were raised in the Indo Us Youth Dialogue organized by Gateway House in HR College, Mumbai on Tuesday, October 26, 2010.  A panel of youth interested in international politics was chosen for the discussion, which was headed by Dr. Craig Johnson. The primary aim was to formulate an agenda that contained issues which should be discussed by Dr. Manmohan Singh and Mr. Barak Obama during the latter's stay here from November 6-9, 2010. 

The panelists consisted of 3 representatives from the US and 3 from India. A member of Gateway House told me that they had purposely chosen young people with interest in international affairs but no affiliation with any government or foreign relations offices. The reason behind this was, they didn't want any panelists with biases or vested interests. Although the panel discussion took place at a slightly immature level, it was nonetheless interesting for students and people like me who knew considerably less about Indo US relations. The discussion also saw attendance from other US students and during the open round, many biases and preconceived notions on both sides were apparent. 

In response to a question about collaboration on education, Ms. Ali Rosen, a panelist from the US side pointed out that while there were a 100,000 Indian students studying in the US, the number of American students studying in India was barely 3000. The change needed to be in two directions. First, visa restrictions need to be lifted to make access easier. Second, on the Indian side, only the elites were able to afford education in the US. By means of grants and scholarships, this opportunity should be extended to students from poorer backgrounds as well. Also, in order to increase number of US students studying in India, American students need to be taught about India in their school curriculum. Ali recounted that during her school education, while she was taught about the middle east, Europe, China and Japan, there were no dedicated lessons about India. Thus, by introducing India as a specific topic, students would learn more about India and would gradually feel like coming here to study.

Another interesting point that came up was, in the near future, nearly half of US high school education will be conducted online. What will be the implications on US and India? One of the American panelists, Mr. Russell Mason said that US educational resources are good and aid in faster understanding. Hence, if it is available online, it will  be crowd sourced and will benefit students from other countries as well. By 2016, he hoped India too would put up it's educational content online and allow US students to benefit. 

Contd in next post..

Ranting and raving..

Nowadays, whenever faced with a difficult situation, I laugh. Not the forced-nervous Dr. J Asthana kind of laughter. Real bubbling laughter. Noisy aunty elbowing me out of the way to get into the local, I laugh. Students cutting across the line to get food before me, I laugh. I've genuinely started laughing in circumstances that would otherwise make me hopping mad. However, Shivneri just took away my calm. I was ready to burn down the entire Shivneri bus stand, not before stoning down a few buses.

I'd bought the ticket for 6:15 pm asiad. The boarding point was Swargate. Till 7:00 pm, there was no sign of the bus. The officials refused to tell us where it was and when it would come. Finally, we decided to cancel the ticket. It took us fifteen minutes, just to find the person who would give us our complete refund. He had the audacity to go and check whether the bus had really not come. I mean, come on! There should be some compensation for a bus that is an hour late! After filling out some form, he sent us towards the cash counter which was safely tucked away in one corner of that damned big maze called the Asiad bus depo.

It took us about forty five minutes to get our refund. I then booked a ticket for the next day 6:00 am. As usual, the bus came at 6:25 am. At 9:45, the driver asked all the passengers going to Mumbai Central to get down and sit in an ST he had flagged down. Reason? The bus had broken down. Somehow, the bus magically repaired itself and the driver dropped off the remaining passengers at Dadar. I mean, what the f!! Just because they were too lazy to drive the bus beyond Dadar, they shipped off the passengers to another bus! Worse, the bus drove right past where it would have been convenient for me to get down but the driver refused to stop there. They could waste 10 mins shuttling passengers from 1 bus to the other, but couldn't stop 2 mins away from their designated bus stop.

Insensitivity is a word we've all come to associate with government workers. For some reason, I thought Shivneri is more reliable. This incident just proves how wrong I was. I've sworn to myself, I'll never ever travel by Shivneri again. Damned nonsense!

Quarter century complete!

My 25th birthday started off with a looong chat with my best friend of 10 years. Voice chatting with her till 2 am in the night was as usual very entertaining and it felt so good to catch up! As I blissfully crashed into bed, envisioning a late morning, little did I know that my sleep would be mercilessly shattered at the crack of dawn by a shrill ringing tone. Well, not dawn really, early morning. 8:30 am! It was my Grandpa wishing me a very happy birthday! I was the sweetest grand-daughter as I accepted his wishes and hung up in a civil manner. At exactly 8:45 my Grandpa called again and said, "here talk to Grandma". Argghhhh.. I still didn't give up though. Numerous calls came through but I kept my eyes shut through all of them and got out of bed not a minute before 10:00 am! 

Then it was time to prepare for the huge get-together at my place. I'd invited all my college friends and a couple of new friends. The morning flew by in preparations and soon it was time to meet my cousin and grandparents. The birthday girl was quickly forgiven for turning up fifteen minutes late. Much talk ensued about my driving skills (my cousin actually convinced my Grandpa that people were safe when I drive since I only target donkeys :P) and adjusting to the fast-paced Mumbai life. A quick imaginary candle-blowing and real yummy pineapple cake cutting later, I left to start dressing up for the partieeeee...

Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, due to bad time management, I reached home late and a few of my friends had already turned up. One friend actually dared to show up in a kurta! A pretty kurta, no doubt, but still! After giving her a fashionable top, I also slapped on some make-up on her.. Now she looked ready to party! Soon, all my guests arrived and the first thing I did was to open all the gifts. A totally insanely funny diary cracked me up (I've already started writing in it) and an original Parkar pen had me oohing and aahing. A pretty kurta from my college gang ensured that I was totally set up for a journo-college life! 

Next, A suggested that we should all play Mafia. Since a few people didn't know the rules, one trial game ensued in which a stupid villager gave away the identity of the Sheriff! Really silly girl I tell you. Of course it wasn't me, don't believe what all my friends tell you :P Since the game includes a lot of arguing and fighting, the next few hours just zoomed past in which contrary to the aim of the game, the Mafia won in each round! They were very sly, I tell you. Then Mom started worrying that no one will eat all the delicious food that we prepared (I helped!), so we put Mafia on hold, and began the cake-cutting ceremony.

My very mature, 25 year old friends lit up candles that don't go out in one blow. Very mature guys, really :P Anyway, I tried a couple of times, got bored and then finally cut the cake with the candles still lit up! At the end of the cake cutting ceremony, this is what I looked like:

After the beautiful chocolate face-pack, we all hit the dance floor for some groovin! Everybody had to pick a song and perform a short solo. At the end, we all expressed our happiness in the most primitive dance-form known to man.. Tribal Dance! Veera veera veera! Soon it was time to send the guys on their way home, since it was a girls-only pyjama party! A looong drive to Baner via the highway was especially eventful as we all belted out Dooooori in our most awful voices. Anyone shy enough not to sing was instantly pinched (thanks P :D). Suhana safar aur ye mausam hasin, humein dar hai hum kho na jaaye kahin! Wonderful drive with my closest friends! 

We dropped off A and then headed towards CCD to enjoy a midnight sojourn. However, tab tak sabke wicket gir chuki thi and everyone was yawning away to glory. Still, not a single person complained or made a fuss about hitting the sack. After returning home, I was in no mood to sleep. It's a wonder that my friends haven't denounced me yet since I kept them up with my gibberish way past their usual bedtime. It was fun nevertheless. For me at least :D

At 4:00 am we finally turned off the lights. At 8:00 am two of my friends were fully dressed and ready to leave. It is a great achievement that I remember which of my two friends left. I was completely lost and barely able to stand. Sending off the other two friends with chai and biskut, I dived right back into bed.. Ahh what a 25th!

Feral distraction

Scene: My maushi's place.
Witnesses: Cat and Dog
Crime: Not listening!

Mom: Listen carefully to what maushi is saying. She is giving suggestions for accommodation in Mumbai. I'll just freshen up.

Maushi (from what I remember): Blah blah blah....

Me: Yes yes.. Sure!

Later in the day..

Mom: So what did Maushi say?

Me: Errr... I don't remember.. I was too busy pulling out all the chairs to find out which one the cat was hiding under. When I pulled out the right chair, the cat jumped off and started running around the kitchen. The dog got excited and started following the cat. With great difficulty I caught the cat and picked it up to play with it. The dog then got jealous and started trying to bite off the cat's tail.. Amidst so much of drama, do you really expect me to pay attention to what maushi was saying?

Mom: X-(

Success - a ladder

1.... 2..... 3.... breathe! 

1.... 2.... 3.... breathe!! 

Yeah this blog is not all that dead..

Doctor's diagnosis: A simple case of writer's block. 

First off, updates. All the newspaper reading finally paid off. On 3rd June, I got an admit from Xavier Institute of Communications in Mumbai! Needless to say I'm on cloud 9. Most importantly though, I realized, this is just a step towards what I really want.

While I was waiting with baited breath for the results to come through, my entire focus was on getting an admit from the college of my dreams. I kept thinking, once I get this, I'll be happy. What I didn't realize was that it was just a small part of the larger picture. This became evident when, along with my admission letter, I was given a list of suitable accommodation. Now I'm thinking, once I get a decent accommodation with good roommates, I'll be happy. I'm sure once I join college, there'll be another 'once I do xxxx, I'll be happy'. It never ends.

I guess this is how life works. You conquer one Everest, and there is another one right around the corner. Most importantly, only those who don't keep gloating on the first Everest ever become really successful in life. However, life cannot be a dreary trek of climbing one Everest after the other. Some celebration is surely due for all the small and big victories achieved. What I've learned though is, when the next Everest comes, face it with a big smile instead of a "Sigh! Not again!" ;D

My mind - A poem

The mighty Atlas,

Bent on one knee,

Back arched painfully,

Holding the entire world on his shoulders,

My mind wanders,

From one trouble to the other,

And finally bends on one knee,

With back arched painfully,

Weighed down by worries,

As heavy as the Earth,

Or so my heart feels,

As it believes my mind,

Along comes a friend,

To share my troubles,

My burden isn't halved,

But easier to bear,

With a heart full of hope,

And a face with a smile,

The burden still exists,

But easier to bear...

Image source: http://cottoneozvc.spaces.live.com/

Reading Habits...

As most of you know, I co-author a blog which exclusively contains book reviews of all the books that I've read. For the uninitiated, here's the link:

http://esolitmaniac.wordpress.com

I started reading books during my preteens. Or maybe even before that. My parents bought illustrated classics for me at an age when I didn't even know the meaning of the word "classic". I was simply happy reading about the adventures of Robinson Crusoe and following Hans in his Journey to the Centre of the Earth. While Captain Nemo intrigued me with his SS Nautilus in 20,000 leagues under the sea, I hoped for Edmond and Mercedes' love to conquer all in the Count of Monte Christo. Although I've only read illustrated classics and I'm raring to get my hands on the original unabridged versions, I still feel as if knowing those stories is a very important part of my life.

I've observed that people usually like 2 kinds of literature. The first is one they can relate to. Though this seems to be the easiest to write (you just have to tell what's happening to you right?), it is the rarest to come by. At least one that touches your heart. The other is total make-believe fantasy fiction. This can be Harry Potter style or even Science Fiction. It HAS to be out of this world! Stories that you can relate to soothe the heart whereas out-of-this-world fiction challenges your mind and forces you to imagine and think. For some reason I strongly stand by stuff I can relate to, though I secretly love imaginary-fictional stuff.

I have never been too fond of descriptions. Usually supporters of reading say that it is better than watching television because with the help of words, you can create the scene in your mind as opposed to being "spoon fed" via tv. Although this argument is true to some extent, I encourage reading for an altogether different reason. Reading is a very personal hobby. It helps you to develop your thought process in your own personal space. Its much more enjoyable to read a twist than to see it. The "Oh my God!" for me is more impactful while reading. Reading also improves your vocabulary (unless you're reading Chetan Bhagat... no offense, I really like his work, but its not the best in terms of vocab). 

It seems a bit unfair to compare reading to watching tv. Both have their own advantages. When you picture any scene written in a book, you unconsciously try to match it to some image that you've already seen. This would either be something that you've seen with your own eyes, or watched on tv or internet. I would say, both complement each other. Just like we find time to watch tv and surf, it is very necessary to find time to read a good book. Currently my time is half an before I sleep, which is not the best but its better than nothing. Its a must for me to at least read one chapter before I sleep. So, when's your reading time?

Note: I haven't mentioned about non-fiction because I haven't read much of it. This post is related to reading fiction only.

In loving memory of Tiger

 

This is a picture of our tom cat in Dubai. His name is Tiger and he was the sweetest cat I ever knew. He used to hate being cuddled (like almost all tom cats) but he never ever scratched or bit any of my family members no matter how much we troubled him. He also said sorry to me once when he hurt my feelings by kicking me in the stomach and running away as I was trying to cuddle him. He used to hate tuna food and wouldn't even smell it if it was put in his bowl. He was the most pampered member of our family as Dad used to say "give the poor thing what he likes to eat" whereas if we ever called such hunger strikes, we were sent to bed hungry. When he was young, he used to love playing football with a piece of french bean. 

When Dad would come home in the afternoons, he would play with my Dad's tie. Most often than not his claws would get stuck in the tie and pull out a few threads, but Dad never used to mind. Tiger would patiently sit on the microwave when Mom used to cook and Mom would say to me and my brother "See? He's the only one who cares that I'm cooking alone here in this heat!". Whenever we used to trouble him, he would push his ears back, bare his fangs and give the most plaintive yowl he could give. One day though his puberty was much more than he could handle and he ran away. We all missed him very much and hoped to get a glimpse of him somewhere, anywhere, happily catching rats or chasing pigeons. But it wasn't meant to be. He really was the sweetest cat ever and I hope wherever he is, he is happy.

My first cribby post

Ok so maybe not first. Its the first one to have this title though! So the first thing I want to crib about is mine and God's fight against my weight loss. It seems recently whenever I look at myself in the mirror and decide, hell I'm going to do something about this! God says "We'll see". A few days ago I went to play table tennis with my mom and immediately contracted a cold. Yes, I got a cold WHILE playing tt. It started off with a very weird throat infection and turned into a full blown cold a couple of days later. Needless to say, I needed no greater excuse to keep sleeping for hours on an end. 

The next time when this happened was when I decided to go for my aerobics class. Yes, I've finally joined my aerobics class! I went for 2 days and precisely at the end of the 2nd day, I started suffering from stomach ache. I think I had a mild case of food poisoning. So I'm back to not walking, not playing. Although I am eating less too so that should compensate for some loss of activity. Even so, I am tired of falling sick all the time! I've just been bogged down by 1 disease or the other and ironically right when I'm trying to get some semblance of regular physical activity in my life... Yeah God, we'll see! Hmpf!

Next in my list of cribbing is my age. I'm almost 25! I feel like I'm suffering from mid-life crisis. Everything will go downhill from here! Its so strange to hear myself say things which I've heard from 40 year old people before. As they say though, 30s is the new 20s and by extension of that definition, 20s must be the new teens so I have quite a lot of time before I start trying to brake my downhill process. Time seems to have flown! I guess this is just because I am sitting at home whole day. I can literally count every minute passing away. Scary feeling, that is...

Last on my crib list today is Holi. "Bura na mano, holi hai" never ever works on me. Mujhe hamesha bura lagta hai if someone comes and smears colors on my face when I am in no mood to play. Plus, this article by Indian Express makes me say "seeeee!"

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/protect-your-eyes-during-holi/585451/

Alright so its not so bad, its kind of fun too. In the past few years though I have been extremely averse to playing Holi. The color just doesn't go out from your hair. In some cases, I've seen people walking around with yellow eyes. The hours and hours and days and days of baths are just not worth it for a few hours of "fun". I think it is just an excuse to beat up people you have a strong grudge against, or even a mild one for that matter. I regret to say that I've played with eggs and Subja once and walked around like an urchin for hours after that. Oh God, but that was years ago! Anyway, tomorrow is Holi and I am for sure going to flout the "no-scarf" rule. I am going out covered from head to toe! My dearest friends, please forget my home address till end of tomorrow...

A touch of nostalgia

I recently had to visit my college to persuade a teacher to provide me with a recommendation letter. She was sweet enough to agree, and I was pleasantly surprised to have all my work finished within a matter of few hours. Quite in contrast to my college days when I had to wait hours on an end because the office was closed, or the stationery staff was having lunch. Patience was the most tested virtue and on several occasions I remember running out of it. When I was in college, I had the privilege of attending one alumni meet because I was on the students panel. I heard all ex-students telling me to enjoy my college life because it won't last forever. And I was like, enjoy what? Such pressure during submissions, the stress of exams? I believe there really was nothing much to enjoy. Coming back to the present, by chance I landed up in college during the annual college fest Gandhar. I was very graciously invited to the final eve of the week-long event.

Two years in the professional world have made me see things in a completely different perspective. Throughout the week-long Gandhar, there is tremendous amount of noise coming from the open air auditorium in between buildings, which does not allow anybody to hear a single word anybody else is saying. The college staff not only tolerates this, they also join in to enjoy. Apart from that, while as students we ambled into lectures at 8:45, all teachers had to and still have to report at 8 am sharp. We never really gave that a thought. I made up my mind to come for Gandhar eve, just to see if it was done as it used to be done in the good ol' days (yeah yeah it was 3 years ago!). I reached college and the audi was jam packed. I made my way to the 2nd floor and sat on the balcony with my legs dangling down, head bent low and watching the stage almost in top view(our college has 4 buildings joined in a square and the audi is in between). Just like a student. I felt too shy to go and visit all the teachers. I had the best time though.

The performances were amazing as usual and this time the staff had also joined in for putting up skits and dances. I think I have always been immensely proud of the fact that I have come from an all girls college. We did and still do EVERYTHING by ourselves. Finally, I can relate to what my alumni were saying. Its not a very good feeling. It seems I have missed out on enjoying the best of my years. I wish I had cribbed less or laughed more. Its like a filter has been put on all my college-related memories. I can only remember all the good times. Nevertheless, I still have the best that my college had to offer. My awesome friends. Hey guys, remember when we... ?

Creativity v/s Memory

I read an article in a newspaper some time back, which stated that, women can be trained to be better chess players than men. The difference, the author cited, was in the way men and women play chess. Men regard every game as a new battle to conquer and hence think of innovative ways to win a tournament. Women, on the other hand, play by memory. If they realize that the status of a game is the same as some other game they had played before, they will try to imitate the moves that had led them to win the previous game. Women generally have good memory (refer to jokes about husband-bashing for forgetting birthdays n anniversaries ;)), so if they are taught several possible game strategies, they can remember those and can win a large number of tournaments. This was the author's hypothesis and I have no idea whether anyone found out if it was true or not. However, it has made for an interesting comparison in my head and I now present it before you. 

I've lamented a million times about lack of rules and order in India, particularly in Pune. Traffic is the best example where every person applies his own set of laws. Traffic lights are missing or off at so many junctions and the impatient people of Pune rarely give way to anybody, leading to congestion and chaos. At times like these I've wondered, why can't they make the system such that it is impossible to break the law? For e.g. now they've started putting dividers on the road for people who want to take a right turn. However, people not in that section of the road still manage to cut across and take a right turn. Especially when one is stuck in a traffic jam, you tend to curse the government for not implementing stricter traffic rules. Every time you need to have a new strategy to find your way out of the mess. Dodge the bus here, cut that rikshawala there, honk at the car and you're through! A sense of achievement prevails, no doubt, but at the cost of mental health!

When I went to Dubai this time, I got a shock! Dubai has completely changed face. It almost looks like US right now. There are a hundred roads leading God knows where and they have used the "Exit" system. When you're on a road, if you want to go to a destination, you choose the correct "Exit", or else you need to go for some 10 miles before you can take a U turn and come back! Very efficient apparently, with accurate road signs, the flow of traffic is extremely smooth. However, you need to be extremely sure of where you want to go. 10 miles to take a U-turn is extremely annoying if you are in a hurry to reach somewhere. The roads are almost impossible to remember and you need to choose your lane a few kilometers in advance to head in the right direction. This is not just the case on major roads, even internal roads have no U-turn signs. So obviously, you need to have an extremely good memory of where all the important roads go. No scope for creativity here. 

So, now the question comes, which one would I prefer? Would I prefer creatively battling my way through a million vehicles, or having a proper rule system, where if I make a mistake, I have to drive around in circles? Obviously there are other alternatives, but after seeing the state my Dad is in when he is driving around in Dubai, I have started cribbing less. At least there is no chance of anyone getting lost in Pune, but it is a real possibility in Dubai. You could end up miles away from your intended destination with no way of knowing how to actually get there. I'm quite grateful that Pune isn't going the Dubai way. I'll battle my way "creatively" through all the mess, oh traffic policemen, but I will hand out chocolates every time you are there to direct the traffic when our red-amber-greens break down. More signals in working order please! Oh, and of course, drive safely dear readers...

Second to none..

I really enjoy dancing and at one point of life I seriously considered taking it up as a profession. In one of the dance seminars that I attended, I remember somebody referring to dance as a sport. Somehow, I never thought of dance as a sport. I mean, dance is dance, and I hate sports! However, I have to admit, there are many similarities between the two. Just like any sport, dance also teaches character-building. I learnt a very important fact about myself while dancing...

A few years ago, I used to go for Bollywood dance classes at an institute. I had completed the basic course and was learning in the advance batch. One day, our dance instructor asked me to step back from the second row to the third row of the dance group. The formation in which we were practising was the one in which we would perform on the final day, in front of friends and family. Although I never really cared about being in the second row before, I felt deeply insulted about being transferred to the third row. Nobody would be able to see me! Besides, I considered myself to be a decent dancer, very worthy of the second row, not at all third row material! Alas the difference in perceptions!

I sulked and sulked for the rest of the class. However, in the next class I resolved to dance so well that I would come, not just back to the second row, but to the first row, in the centre position. I paid careful attention to all new steps and danced, danced with all my energy. I felt drained and exhausted, but Sir noticed my enthusiasm and pulled me to the front row. I didn't get the centre position, but at least I came to the front row. Needless to say, I was immensely happy and danced really hard for the next few classes, lest I be thrown back to the third row again.

Gradually though, I came to realize that its not just about dancing in the front row. It is about dancing your best, no matter where you are. If you are good, you'll get noticed. Moreover, I realized that the burning desire to prove myself, came only when I felt insulted about being relegated to the third row. Had I been left to dance in the second row, I would have never improved. I guess, in life, sometimes you need that extra sting, that push, which makes you go over the edge, give it your best shot. However, the push might not always come, the sting might not always hurt. The determination to succeed should come first from within. The motivation to be the best should be present from the beginning.

Language Boundary

For a while now, I've been asked to descend from my ivory-tower-philosophical-mind-over-matter topics and come down to the real world and talk about the real stuff. Although I firmly believe that mind-over-matter helps more in day-to-day life than talking about BT brinjal, today I would like to take up a topic that is very important to me because I have seen people very close to me suffer as a result of this.

I have grown up in Dubai, which has an extremely metropolitan culture, in terms of not only people of different states of India living together but having neighbours who are Chinese, African, Arabs etc too. I've seen my parents interact with people of different nationalities with the same respect as they do with our relatives. In the backdrop of this upbringing, I assumed that all educated people in Pune, Maharashtra would be horrified with the MNS beating up anyone remotely non-Maharastran and Shiv Sena proclaiming that Mumbai belongs to Maharashtrans. I am sorry to say that I was way off the mark.

In private circles, a war far more emotional and damaging is being waged. In a supposedly metropolitan environment, Maharashtrans in Pune tend to always stick together. Their easiest and most potent weapon is Marathi. They refuse to talk in any language other than Marathi with their Maharashtran friends. Lakhs of students come from every corner of the country to the "Oxford of India" in order to pursue their higher studies. Thousands of them stay back here to pursue jobs and improve our IT industry. I have lived alone for 4 years in Pune before Mom and bro came back. Even though I was living in my home town, surrounded by ALL my relatives (20 in all), I used to feel lonely. Just imagine, how people from Rajasthan, Delhi etc feel in Pune? They have no one here. The only people they can rely on for companionship is their friends at college, their colleagues at work...

Why do we isolate them? Why do we refuse to talk in any language understandable by them? If we want them to learn Marathi and respect our culture, taking them into our conversations and lives would have a better impact rather than isolating them and forcing them to make their own non-Maharashtran groups. My best friends are from Bengal, Rajasthan, Delhi. They are witty, intelligent people and it pains me to see that they never understand the conversation or jokes going on around them. I implore you, my Maharashtran friends, at least consider speaking in Hindi when some non-Maharashtran is around. This psychological warfare is not going to be of any use to anyone.

Anger Management

At some point in our lives, we have all been furious enough to throw things around, yell at someone or break something. Maybe even hit someone. Or say something really hurtful which we end up regretting later. At that time however, it seems like the most accurate thing to do. What happens after we calm down? We regret. Regret about the feelings that we hurt. My head starts hurting from all the buzzing going on inside it. But you know what? I never feel bad about it. I always feel that it was justified. Why?

I have realized that nearly all kinds of anger is one or the other form of righteous indignation. When this phrase "righteous indignation" is used in novels, it paints a very funny picture of Charlie Chaplin glaring at me. Its not scary, its silly n funny. Not at all relateable to how you feel when you're angry right? Its true though, if you think about it. Anger in any form is just righteous indignation. It could be for yourself or for others. Getting pissed off about somebody holding up the queue? RI (Righteous indignation) about how my time is important. Upset about someone making fun of your dressing sense? Someone making fun of your mom? Someone making you wait? Someone breaking your favorite pen? Someone calling your religion names? All this is one or the other form of righteous indignation. This in turn stems from ego. If you remove ego, there is no anger.

It sounds really simple doesn't it? And like all simple-sounding-things, very hard to implement in real life. Ego is within us, at its simplest it is self respect. However, it is also a fact that you do not necessarily need to react to everyone and everything around you. Is it necessary to speak harsh words in haste which you know you'll regret later? Is it necessary to hit someone? Best part is, it is very easy to control and manipulate someone who is angry. This doesn't mean that we should never get angry. We should be angry about injustice of any form. We should be angry about rights denied to us. But, never let anger get the better of you. Use your anger in a positive manner. I leave you with one quote.

"Anger is like a hot burning coal. You pick it up with the intention of throwing it at someone, but it ends up charring your inner self"

Now, who put smudges on my beautiful DBB!! I'm going to kill my brother!!!! ;D

Last Day at Work

I've been talking about this and blogging about this since a very long time, but today I took my very first step in the direction of my dream. I quit my job at a software company. The decision was made eons ago but it came to fruition today. I wrote 4 different LDAP (last day at persistent, geeky right?) mails to 4 different groups of people. I tried hard to put my feelings and affection for those people in a few words but it wasn't very successful. Most of the people exist on my gtalk list so there was no real final goodbye. I would pride myself about the fact that I am leaving with so many friends from here and not mere acquaintances.

It's strange really that something so positive has started off with saying goodbye to so many people. If not people, at least to the office building. The routine of finding parking, calling the lift, settling down in office, getting up after 5 mins to fill up the water bottle.. I left all this about 3 months ago. Yet as I entered the premises, I just felt like I am leaving behind a very important part of my life. When I removed the access card from over my neck and gave it back, I felt a sense of loss. It was quite surprising because I have been looking forward to this for months. I guess some incidents just have an emotional impact on you. Whether you think about them or not.

Another strange thing is that, apart from the work (which is totally my fault), Persistent gave me so many opportunities. I danced, acted and was a part of the creative writing group. I was also the Hinjewadi events team head. I explored a side of myself that I didn't know existed and I am deeply grateful for that. Anyway, all good things do come to an end and fortunately I have something better to look forward to. I will be working in the capacity of an editor at a finance based website. Cheers to new horizons!

*clink*

Best Laid Plans..

I just had a terribly scary experience which in retrospect now seems comical. You know the rolling-eyes-will-find-this-funny-in-ten-years funny? I just wanted a couple of things to fall into place at a particular time and well I just realized that when someone very "consistent" is involved, it is highly unlikely that things will go as planned. Nothing life threatening really, just a few hiccups in a seemingly simple procedure. No point harping on it especially since I can't do so. At least not here.

What I HAVE learnt is that sometimes the best laid plans get messed up. Most delicately planned, down to the last intricate detail, eagerly looked forward to.. all kinds of plans are waylaid and tossed aside. A very wise man who wrote an excellent book called "What makes you not a buddhist" said, this is the rule more than the exception. The most basic principle to be remembered is "Everything in this universe is compounded". Each and every thing that you see on this planet, can be broken down into its assembling components. Moreover, a specific set of circumstances and people coming together at a specific time has allowed that entity to be assembled. Take something as simple as a cupboard. It is made of nuts, bolts and planks of woods. If you take a single bolt, it is made of steel which was pressed into that precise shape by several machines. I can go on and on. If any one of these parts was not present, there would probably not be that cupboard. Or maybe a different cupboard. It is mind boggling to think about the alternatives. And here we are, hoping that things will go exactly as decided by our fanciful whimsical minds! Seems like a 1 in a million chance? You bet it is!

This does not mean that we should never make any plans or be pessimistic about the future. Plan. Plan by all means and with all the good intentions of your heart. But if something does not work out, you should be objective enough to not feel like your whole life has come crashing down. Most often than not I've noticed, when something doesn't go as planned, there is either a very important lesson to be learnt or something much better waiting to happen. The lesson has been learnt, now waiting to see the silver lining in this dark cloud...

Back Home.. At last!

My heart aches at the sight of my dwindling readership as can be evidently seen from google-analytics. I sincerely thank the people who kept lingering around for something new and did not let the readership count touch 0 on any given day. Unfortunately, getting digitally pampered in terms of having a laptop and wireless internet makes one quite incapable of blogging with a 512mb RAM desktop and 50 kbps dial up internet connection. Having given sufficient excuses for my laziness and utter lack of will to move my ass in any direction whatsoever while getting thoroughly indulged by my parents, I will now attempt to re-engage your interest in my self-indulgent chatter.

Going to the 124th floor of the 160 storeys tall Burj Dubai (or Burj Khalifa, I do not care to argue), was a real treat. 100 dhs (1400 rupees) per head entry charge is a bit too steep but the whole thing is kind of worth it because there are super cool telescopes with attached digital screens as a result of which you do not have to pretend to be a pirate while trying to make your one eye focus on something obscure and blurred. As is our luck, that day was extremely hazy and we could barely see a few kilometers away. The telescopes once again came to the rescue with static day and night images already present. The fastest lift in the world (10 m/s) took us straight up to the 124th floor and my ears were popping trying to adjust to the height so quickly. Once up there, the viewing deck was out in the open but fully protected by glass so no chance of anybody having a historic suicide. Me and my Dad went crazy with 2 cameras and took loads of pics. To conclude, I still think that its better to look AT the Burj Dubai than to look FROM the Burj Dubai.

I also managed to catch up with a few friends to go to Ceramique Cafe. There are plenty of mugs, plates, bowls, dishes made in ceramic which you need to buy. The waiters then provide you with paints and a pencil with which you can destroy the pristine white thing (I did :D) and then they put it in the flame so that the paint shines and you have something really fancy to use as a showpiece. In this photo, I have showed the backside of the plate because the front side looks like it has been painted by a lunatic. I hope my Mom manages to get the plate back safe and sound without "accidentally" breaking it :P It was fun to unleash my creative side and go wild with the paints and my imagination :D

The best part about this trip is that the Dubai Metro has started. I used to hate going to Dubai because it is impossible to commute there without a car. The taxi fares are ridiculous and the buses were infrequent. Now, however, the metro goes far n wide for very cheap rates and is very convenient to use. As a result I crashed into my best friend's place at least twice and landed up at her office too. Ok this is a girl friend and I am not some crazy stalker. We ended up having the best time and I was really glad that I could commute without having to rely on my Dad. Mom and me went to malls far and wide to shop to our heart's content. Just when I was completely about to write off Dubai..

This is one trip I'll definitely not forget in a hurry.

Prisoner

I sincerely apologize to my readers and friends.. Avatar and 3 idiots reviews are long overdue.

However, I have a feeling that you already know from 1 source or the other that they are great movies.

I will write reviews very soon. Right now though, my mind is troubled and I want to share my thoughts with you.

When I see something extremely creative like this

http://www.thevigilidiot.com/

I end up grappling with 2 extreme emotions. One of course is jealousy. But that's not the bigger emotion of the 2. More overwhelming is awe. Awe at the fact that the artist could think of something like that and give such justice to its execution. Awe at the thought that maybe, just maybe, even I could have come up with something so simple, but I didn't. Awe at the wonder, that what if, what if I let my mind a little free? Would I be able to explore the limits of my creativity?

How often do you realize, that your perception and thinking is so limited? How much of will power does it take to break a routine, and do something a little differently? Do it better, or more efficiently? Our thoughts and actions make up the person we are. But what if we bend our thoughts a little? Paint instead of doing chores today, dance instead of reading the newspaper, or ride the crazy bull in Gold Adlabs instead of the air-hockey? (Ok I admit, I chickened out of the last one).. This bending of the mind, getting rid of the entrapments that make us do a before b before c.. This is responsible for out-of-the-box thinking. Resourceful thinking. Like in 3 idiots...

There have been so many times when I've predicted the way a story will twist. I'm not talking about Nancy Drew, or Bollywood masala movies. A little more complicated that that (hopefully). I feel that if I put my mind to it, I can write the most complicated, jaw-dropping novel ever! So, what am I waiting for? Reminds me of the story where all employees of an office are sent to a room to meet the person who is standing in their way to success, and there they see a mirror..

So, my new year's resolution is going to be, to start writing this novel. The complicated, jaw-dropping one. And yeah, do check out that website. It usually takes me a 4th visit to start following a blog, but this one I immediately subscribed to! Really hilarious awesome stuff. Good work Rizwan :)