Bangalore Rains..

I am in my balcony sipping a warm brew, as the rain falls over the rough tarmac, and the scent of the warm summer lights up the evening.

Away from the maddening trafffic of the city, I enjoy the beautiful moments between me and the rain.

Beautiful moments..right..that's what they are, when you are safe at home.

Loud blaring horns...bad drainage..heavy rain! A commuters nightmare! How bad can it get..You are stuck cause the traffic is worse than a sloth bear..and you have the rain sloshing you wet...Think you've handled the worst, time to think again, the sturdy looking tree next to you may just fall on you...Yeah..it cannot get worse than this...

Welcome to Namma Bengalooru

Looking for Progress?

Well son..what do you want to be when you grow up? ...Obviously a 'Software Pro' Dad!..Ah...so obvious….That's the next gen job! Easy to land up with one..GREAT pay and one helluva funtime.. (discounting the tiring night-outs in office..)

If you chance to go to PVR at Forum, during a weekend...try throwing a piece of rubbish down! Aha, you can be sure...90% of the time it's going to hit a software guy...Looks like fun, so many software guys at Forum! The flipside dude, aren't we losing out people..who can build industries! Where are all the entrepreneurs going...? Is everybody looking for the easy way out?

Well, the son continues with his Dad’s business..but what about new ones..isn’t there room for any? Who will build the next Reliance? Searchin’ for answers?

A scary thought…just for the heck of it..What’s goin to happen to all the NRI’s (Newly Rich Indians), if the software market crashes…surely..’Forum’ will be empty..and Bangalore’s real estate..is going to crash hard (deserves it)…but then…where are our own Indian Industries…Forget the shopping Malls and the restaurants…where are all the manufacturing Units..??

We NRI’s surely don’t want to be on bench minus the pay…

Time to put your thinking cap on! I am sure we’ll come to a logical conclusion, Cause..aren’t we a country high on intellectual capital? Hey..Anyone wanna THINK..?

Note: No offence to the Software pros..I too belong to the same herd

Mark their Words...

The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other,
as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood,
And I--I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference




If - Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Turn the wheel ...dammit..

The wheel can turn...but when?

As a young bangladeshi kissed the turf at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff....you could literally feel the energy vibrating through the entire Bangladeshi team..it was a sight to behold..they had played their hearts out..and beat all odds to come out trumps. You could feel the wheel was turning.....
Life ...life is a game of sorts...you win some..you lose some..but..it is important to make winning a habit..and come back stronger on losing..
Till yesterday..I presumed..Sania was just another media hype !! But at the 'Centre court' as she played..there was something..you couldn't help notice...there was this teenager knocking hard on the doors of stardom... If she hadn't played the first set so casually..maybe she would have won..maybe the doors would have opened up faster for her..! But at the end of the high energy drama ..you could feel...you could feel, she would be someone to reckon with..soon...

In our lives, we come across many moments..when we say to ourselves..'Had I put in a bit more effort ...I could have certainly done a lot more better'...Dont you feel that these are ways to spoil ourselves just a little more....! Remarks to console our sorry self...to pity ourselves. Instead..why dont we put in our best at the first oppurtunity! Why don't we say to ourself..'Whatever..I do, I am going to give it my best..each and every time'. Why don't WE ! ...May be this is human nature..

For those looking for some inspiration need not go far beyond Kiplings 'IF'..but..the scenario described is too theoritical to be true. But..if we can put in our best to follow what he says ...then..surely..'Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!' .

One of the short stories...

Main Hoon Naa!

The train rumbled to a halt at Ghoom railway station, Darjeeling. Whistling one last time it engulfed the railway platform in a cloud of dark heavy smoke. Major Ram emerged out of the darkness all set for a top secret mission - He was going to St. Paul's College to look for his long lost brother, protect the general's daughter and save the nation from an impending disaster. Typical filmi ishtyle!!

No prizes for guessing. I am talking about one of the top grosser of 2004 - the movie, Main Hoon Na and well... my relation with the same. With all my humility, of course! :)

Well, guess what!!... I too went to the same school long before Shahrukh came along :). Thankfully, I did not have the nation’s millstone on my small shoulders, but yes, had my own share of responsibilities. I never raced on rooftops like in the flick, but the red paint on it somewhere had my hard work. Painting them as part of social service towards the school was what flashed before me as I watched Shahrukh and Zayed racing on the roof.

1989 Admitted to St. Paul's School Darjeeling - standard III, I belonged to the Primary Wing (Only students from standard 1 to 5 belonged to this Wing).The primary wing was a safe haven, sheltered from the senior wings by quite a distance and a lot of rules. No senior could come and boss over us on normal days. That was cool! We had our GI Joe's, He-mans and a whole array of field sports to spend our Sundays. But the best part was definitely the tea time alias Tuck time.

Tea time, would food be left behind? Coke crates, Cartons of Wai Wai noodles, Ferro Roche chocolates, Danish cookies, whole lot of bhujia and tins of swalis. Each one of us used to get loads of food from home, especially the Marwadis and the guys from Nepal.

We could open our tuck lockers and eat as much as we could. Frankly, tuck was the most important, just as important as the toilet paper!

Whatever be the misgiving, early school days was a ball. Fun, food, games, torturous study timings and of course experiences. Where do you find them better than boarding schools? Let me relate an interesting incident...

It was Sunday and tea time! Double whammy! Half an hour of tuck time followed by a cartoon movie!! But today it was different. There were strong rumours floating that would have sparked a rebellion. But we, class 5 guys being seniors of the wing decided to hold on till we were sure. The rumours were confirmed. We were being served with laddos, bhujias, fanta and a whole load of delicacies.

Wait a minute......something was wrong out here...

The teacher in charge had ILLEGALLY opened our tuck lockers and distributed "OUR" food UNEQUALLY among all of us. How could he ever know the emotional value of our tucks!!!
Out of nowhere laddos whizzed across from one end to the other of the dining hall, accompanied by an emotional cry for justice. The 200 strong ‘primary wing’ rebelled. Samosas, fanta cans, Wai Wai's started to crash around everywhere. It was war!

A food fight!!!!!...a massive rebellion and tons of fun....!! However the teachers didn’t think so......and before we knew it.... a brigade of teachers marshalled by our most feared hostel warden paraded into the dining room...... The hostel warden’s thunderous voice roared like a hungry tiger - 'SILENCE'. Her roar did us all in.

I guess she too was hungry for our tasty tucks. We had enough of it from the teachers, we decided to unleash the might of 'George Bush' - a three and half feet giant of class II, who was always into fights. Time for action against the teachers!

The rebellion was growing till the teachers reached the quadrangle...however a bunch of tiny tots were no match for our beastly teachers... heavily armed with canes and loud voices ...crushing our rebellion at its prime :(.

One by one we were called to the quadrangle for justification... a more subtle name for caning... Caning was indeed painful, but we tried to hide our moist eyes, for weren’t we rebels? And how could rebels cry!..the rebellion cost us our regular - Sunday cartooooooonnnn :( !!!!

George was ‘furious...’and so were we...

Though the rebels were disbanded, our purpose was met. From that day onwards, no teacher tried to play truant with OUR tucks. Though we did not have a moment to bask in the success of our rebellion, I guess we put up a better show than Shahrukh in ‘Main Hoon Na’.

For those..who came in late..

Went recently to a movie - 'Parineeta', never been to a movie two times without being forced, until....I watched this one back to back ...and..the second time..the movie felt much better. A partisian crowd all rooting for the always popular 'Sanjay Dutt' and..downplaying Saif..was..quite unfair but still the movie was awesome! Seems like there is a huge talent that's finally arrived in Vidya Balan..unless..she goes the normal hindi cinema way..with the new genre of really terrible skin flicks..that has suddenly exploded..into bollywood (Thankfully it's receding...now)


Ever imagined the detailing..that goes into making a fine movie...the colours..the visuals ..the chemistry..that needs to be there..the emotional bonding..that it needs to create with the audience..it's just too vast..to much for me to think about..unless..i switch my career to film making!
Barring most documentaries ( I feel they are not a form of art..but just ..another piece of visual information)..Creating the magic of cinema requires..tremendous..capability..a clear imagination..and wonderful foresight..every frame..every visual has to be a masterpiece in itself...
We being the audience..could do our bit..by steering clear of pirated ...art creations..cause..when we're being given..a chance to view creative masterpieces...and enjoy it to the max...let's do our part also.

Still thinking...

I had a tough time getting a URL for my blogs..everything just seemed unavailable..if the start is so rocky..it sure goin to be fun..on "Still Thinking"...