Revisiting IMT...

I had made it a point on March 18th, 2008 only, that, I won’t go back to my Alma mater just for the heck of it. Would go back there only when I would be invited! Now, that’s unreasonable n sounds mean…but I don’t knw then, why I decided that…

N so the invite came knocking last week when I got a call from the coordinators of the All India IT Conclave’09 which was to be held at the campus. I thought it was an invite to attend the conclave, so I just took it lightly but when I got to know that they wanted me to be one of the panelist for panel discussion, I was left wondering. I just told them, I need some time to come back on that. But, the call came again and this time I had to give in…after all how could I reject such an invite…

N so, today was the day when I went back to walk those lanes again, the roads where I’ve walked hand in hand with friends, where I hav rushed running to the exam halls, where I’ve drunk my nights out, where I’ve even fought some battles, where I’ve been ragged, where the nights hav got cozier, where I’ve prepared for my job interviews, where I’ve sung songs together, where we used to dance all night out, n where I’ve learnt several aspects of life…

As I’ve ushered in several delegates and HRs into the campus during my post-grad, today, I had several juniors ushering me in and the feeling, believe me, was quite different in itself. I thought, it was just yesterday only, when I was doing all this and was wondering at the same time whether I’m in for all this. But anyhow, the feeling was pleasant. I saw the same enthusiasm and zest in the eyes of the juniors…the same very intent…the same positive energy n similar competitive spirit...wow how different those days were…

So the first place where I walked in (or rather barged in) after reaching IMT was the Placecom, well, I must say that I have spent maximum time of my 2 years stint in IMT inside those four walls of the Placement Committee office. Met Pappachan sir who was still so kind and humble as always, it was pleasure sitting back at my computer where I used to track my sector for batch placements. It was heartening to see more computers and more phone-lines there. I remember we had to fight for phones to call up companies during our times (6 phones for 14 people), while now a dedicated phone and a computer for each JPC, well m sure this bigger, neater arrangement n this infra was at least commendable. It was nice to get the feelers from the Junior Placement Committee (JPC) members on how the JPC selection process is still that same terrific 5 round process with the first one definitely in a dark room ;). Mahn, loved that place.

Next I went to the mess (dining hall) and yeah, it has four Sony Bravias now while we used to have only one for us. But the smell in the mess was still the same old tinge. No comments on that!!! Also, was surprised to see that most of the faculty bunch was new and that was a little disappointing. In fact no Renu ma’am and Nilanjan Sir around the Placement committee affairs was definitely amiss. But then, as they say, show goes on!

While I was having my fun campus tour, I was reminded of the task at hand and the panel discussion was soon to begin. So the place for the Panel discussion was Kapilmohan, the same audi where we had held several Open houses. The panel was studded with eminent industry champions to name Mr. R.I.S Sodhi (CIO, PNB), Mr. Makhija (Country Manager, IBM, IMT’93), Mr. Singhal (President, Sai Synergy), Mr. Davar or Radhey (Services Sales-North zone, Wipro, my IMT’07 senior) and yeah I was overjoyed n excited to be the part of this eminent panel.

And so we began with Mr. Makhija’s impressive keynote address on the topic “IT as a sustainable competitive advantage”. Well all was going hunky-dory till I started being the Devil’s Advocate to bring some flavor to the discussion and to discuss the length and breadth of the topic. Gave some conclusive pointers on Innovation, Cloud Computing, and IT for SMEs to steer the discussion closer to the theme at stake. And so, the discussion went really well and the junta was excited with a flurry of questions, thanks to our panel.

Next we had a high-tea or a networking break and then I had to judge the B-Plan competition as a jury member which was again organized by SummIT, the IT club at IMT. I remember, this club was the legacy we started as our batch and it was surely a pleasure to see our juniors continuing and taking the legacy forward. The Bplan competition made me realize how things change and how I used to think in the same way during my B-school days as the participants of the competition and how thinking and perceptions change while you spend even some time in the corporate world.

But I guess it’s better to keep the two worlds separate only and things should better remain the same as they are, coz after all those small mistakes and crazy experiments at B-School only make us learn and have fun at the same time all the more.

N finally, I would like to conclude with what I used to tell my mom every-time she used to ask me my grades at IMT, my reply was always used to be the same ki “Chinta mat karo…mai IMT padhne nahi aaya hu, mai to IMT sirf seekhne aaya hu” and I was happy today that I lived upto my words :-).

Video of the Month...

Now since m getting lesser time and ideas 2 write these days...so I thot why not start 2 new series here on my blog which wud keep me connected wid all of u even when m goin thru a writer's block ;)

A. Ad of the month: This will present the best ad I came across during the month. I have been thinking of starting this one from quite some time...but finally I thot besides just talking why not evn share readymade stuff sometimes wid u all...


B. Video of the month: This will present the best video of the month...this wont b just any video...this wud b properly scrutinized and selected video after watching hundreds of video on the internet (Courtesy: youtube) ;). So this post is basically the Video of the Month and here it is...I hope yaa'll njoy this new series...




Liked it??? Well, I loved it out n out...wat a talent...adorable...cute...sweet...confident...she is just amazing...isn't it?

Now for the two new series...ya'll can also share ur nominations offline or here in the comments section only and the ones get finally selected and featured on the blog will get a sure shot hamper frm my end ;)...so keep watching...n keep posting...!!!

Ftanding Ovafun!!!

O yes, i loved Love Aaj Kal and i think its not out of the world, its completely practical and completely sane in the world of today when we all are so confused about being in love or not with some1 or the other that all these circumstances are a possibility and we'll c a lot more of this happening in the recent times to come...chahe hamare parents ko yeh acchha lage yaa nahi...! Love of our times is different n yeah its practical to be in love and more practical to get ur love in ur own way!

So, Imtiaz ur work was gud and defnitely a fun filled 2 hours spent...but this one is for someone else...n yeah truly deserves all the hoopla and excitement and energy of this post is none other than another BIG one, Vishal saab!!!

The last time when I was mesmerized by any movie this much from a bollywood director was none other than Anurag Kashyap for his movie "Gulaal". But this time when I sat down to pen my thoughts, there was so much to write with my mind full of so much that I knew already that i will hav too lill that I can remember...hence info 2 this post might even b added later...

Well, Kaminey is not revolutionary if you are a Hollywood follower like me...we all have seen many of similar tales like Snatch, Lock Stock, RocknRolla and the likes where so many gangwars culminate to a twist in the end or a maxican standoff like a situation giving a sollid climax to finally get the movie to the credits. But, what I liked about Kaminey was the way Vishal successfully generated the Indian version with a great screenplay, with amazingly intertwined and complex characters, with a lot of rivetting motion, with ripping dialogues, with motion cameras (unlike any other bollywood movie for the first time), and definitely with rocking performances from each and every of his characters!

The thing which is commendable about these Directors of our times and how they pick up non-stars from theatres and conceive such a commendable act which actually suits the role so much that u sometimes start feeling that we are not watching a movie but a real life drama...may b coz u hav never seen these guys act before, so they appear so real, cut out for the job well done for Vishal...

Well, it wud b a real injustice to not write about Shahid and Priyanka...boss, wat a performance by Charlie and Guddu, u cud defintely relate to both of them and the way u cud laugh at their speech disorders was a work of art which will be long lived in the Indian cinema now...Priyanka, the alltime Sweety, was again a sollid act in her cute little non-makeup yet lovable role, where she might hav really made people want such a "forward" girlfriend in their lives who was even ready to call the pundit for the shaadi thing...and yet was a diehard lover begging police to leave his h..hh..h.hufband!

I will now have to come back to the way Vishal has written those dialogues and given them to all his characters...these dialogues were the heart of the movie and they literally make u laugh lukin at the person next to u (just to chk whether he undetrstood the implication)!...I loved the "Life me do raaste hote hai...ek fortcut aur doosra chota fortcut" as the most! In fact the "dishoom-dhaaye dhaaye" bope-tope act was a hilarious watch!

This movie was rivetting in terms of the way it was delivered, Vishal easily cud hav made a simpler film by making it a 3 hour movie where he was explaining everything, but may b he personally made it a shorter fast paced movie so that audience wud remain sitting on the edge of their seats and kept confused and juggling with their brain for the entire 2 hours right from the word go. Else, may b some of u wud agree wid me on this that if he wud hav put the last credit song sung my Mohit Chauhan in the first half to show the chemistry between Guddu and Sweety, it might have worked better. In fact a lot of scenes went so fast that many of our Indian audience might defnitely not appreciate tht as they are really not used to that (I think and u all can disagree on this if u wish!).

Finally, I was too much maniaced from a long time with my status msgs with all the "F's" everywhere...and I think it has proved to be a fucceff for me...hence "Well done Kaminey, very well done Fahid and awefomely well done Vifaal"!!! U've joined at least my top league of extraordinary bollywood directors along with Anurag saab.




PS: Wish the times of "no-mind-needed-movies" like those of David Dhawans and Akshay Kumars are finally over wid this one!!!

HFD...the effortless way... :)

I believe one thing which has to be completely EFFORTLESS in this world has to friendship...and hence, lemme b a lill effortless today and share the best SMS I received on this friendship day to raise a toast to all o you wonderful friends of mine...here we go thn...

"Friends are like crayons...they color ur life! I may not b ur favorite color but hope u need me somewhr 2 complete ur picture."

Happy friendship day!!!



PS: M I not right when I say tht friendship has to effortless...try sharing ur insight :)

Dedicated to the Singing Sensation of our times…

There was a time when only Kumar Sanu used to be the ‘singing voice’ of all our bollywood actors, then came the time of Udit Narayan who had taken us by storm, n then it was just Sonu Nigam who made us fall in love with music again and all this happened after the reigning legends (Kishore, RD, Mukesh and the likes) who lived their times creating their musical legacy…

But times change soon, bollywood evolved and competition has grown enormous, now the times of single singer living his own era has bygone and the times of multiple singers has come up all luking for a small pie. With so many talent search contests luking for the voice of the nation…every year around 10-15 voices get the nation’s attention but it takes weeks rather than months for them to vanish in thin air…poor them…!

But this one post is truly dedicated to the one who came from nowhere, and very slowly and steadily, while creating a niche with his magical voice, he has quietly (don’t get to the literal meaning of the word) become one of the most sought after singers of our times. Many of us still don’t even know, who this guy is, but somewhere down the lane with our sweetheart, sometimes driving between a row of green trees, sometimes on FM on a nice dark evening, somewhere walking in the park, when we listen to his songs, they strike a chord in us and we start drooling…and all this happens subtly…very very subtly…

We know what a magic music can create in itself, but the best part about this singer is that he is not over-exploiting his best times. He knows his importance and is aware of his magic. He is being very strategically selective and he knows his niche. By just giving his voice to one song in almost all of the movies, he is slowly making us all chimered by his romantic voice. The point is that some songs twist us for some time and then they become so boring that we start running away from them, but this guy and all his numbers are what we call in our parlance, “lambi race ke ghode!!!”.

Now, enough of foreplay for you people, let’s just cut out the long build-up and though I know, many of you have correctly guessed the name and for those very few of you who are still clueless and getting restless (I’m lovin it!), the name is “Mohit Chauhan”, the ultimate singer with his niche-silky-romantic-voice which makes u just fall in love with the songs he sings. Now, refraining myself by sharing any more gyaan on wat it does to me…lemme just keep this one crisp by gifting him this post from this small blog of mine ;).

Some facts (as part of my research on MC):
• The guy is a pahadi, born and brought up in Himachal Pradesh. Started his early years in a small cottage in Nahan. N yeah he is an amazing pahadi singer for obvious reasons.
• He is so very down to earth, at least not smitten by the moh-maaya till now. Not like those celeb types. And as a friend of mine (ky), who's met him a few times being from the same place as he is, shared with me, “he is really shy of girls”.
• As all of us know, he started his singing with his first album “Boondein” as the Silk Route band with the unforgettable beautiful under water video number, “Dooba Dooba”. Believe me, this song has always been in my best songs playlist right from the day I heard it for the first time.
• His amazing n successful experiment with Masakalli has already been shared with all of you in an elaborate entry earlier…

Interested to get more info…here I wud like 2 share three important must-track-links-if-u-r-Mohit’s-fan:
• His Wiki entry
• His Homepage
• His Facebook page

I would love to share his Bollywood journey till date, n u all would be surprised 2 know tht there are still a lot of his beautiful numbers which we u even didn’t knw abt…so go thru the list below n grab all of these amazing renditions of the magician:

• "Pehli Nazar Mein" - Road (2002)
• "Rumi Sahab" - Main Madhuri Dixit banna Chahati Hoon (2003)
• "Sabse Peeche Hum Khade" - Lets Enjoy (2004)
• "Khoon Chala" - Rang De Basanti (2005)
• "Guncha Koi" - Main, Meri Patni aur Woh (2005)
• "Paintra " -Main, Meri Patni aur Woh (2005)
• "Tum Se Hi" - Jab We Met (2007)
• "Is This Love (Kahin Na Laage)" - Kismat Konnection (2008)
• "Yaad Teri Aaye" - Ugly Aur Pagli (2008)
• "Ek meetha marz de ne" -Welcome to sajjanpur (2008)
• "Kuch khaas" - Fashion (2008)
• "Aankhon hi aankhon mein" - EMI (2008)
• "Masakali" - Delhi 6 (2009)
• "Gulon Mein" - Sikandar (2009)
• "Kuchh Is Tarah" - 8 X 10 Tasveer (2009)
• "Haafiz Khuda" - 8 X 10 Tasveer (2009)
• "Jaana Hai" – Let’s Dance (2009)
• "Tune Jo Na Kaha" – New York (2009)
• "Ye Dooriyan" – Love Aaj Kal (2009)
• "Pehli Baar Mohobbat" - Kaminey (2009)
• Coming soon - Kites (2009)

Now, once u have all of the above in your kitty, just put all of them in a single playlist and put the shuffle on…n believe u me, u have a perfect recipe for a perfect lovely moment ready…;)

While, I’ll collect my consultation fee for the same sometime later, here’s more for you frm my end…I am sharing some unplugged moments I had with the super singer in Delhi sometime ago…and here they go…








Lastly, your last task of the day, you have to tell me which one is your all time favorite song from all the creations of Mohit Chauhan…I know it might be the toughest ask, but be a sport and share your coolest pic from the most sensational singer of our times in the comments section…Njoy!!!

The Deadly M Word !!!

Let me narrate what happened last Wednesday while I was in Jaipur. It was my cousin’s engagement, a full family, big time gala party with about 500 people at a 5 star. Festive moment, fun evening, I was enjoying my time with my cousins and relatives...and pop came the call from Paa. Asked me to meet one of my uncles whom I call as Doctor Mama.

Now, let me give a brief description about Dr Mama of mine. He has a kid who is in his Class 10th or 11th, so till date mainly the discussions we have had in the past surround his school, his subjects and his career counseling, etc. etc. like what subjects he should opt for, what are the various career permutations and combinations which he can pursue and all…

So, you can imagine, during that party, who would like such a discussion, yet again! But then Paa’s order and so I followed. There sounded nothing sneaky about the meeting at the outset. Doc Mama was sitting with my Mausaji and another uncle whom I hav met before, but I didn’t remember, when and where?

Doc Mama (With an astounding energy and smile on his face): Hey Akash! Wassup! Just pull a chair! Sit Sit!

(N so I did, sat down facing the three of them, smiling socially. Doc mama introduced me to the unknown uncle, his name was Sitaramji…:))

After the normal Namastes n all.

Sitaramji: So Akash, Where are you working?

Me: I’m working with Perot Systems in Noida, unc…(He didn’t let me finish :()

Sitaramji: Acchha, kya karti hai aapki company? (I hate that question, as always)

Me: It’s an IT company, unc…(He didn’t let me finish yet again :()

Sitaramji (With all the more excitement): Acchha, aur tumne MBA kaha se kiya hai?

(And there I thought, finally we are again heading towards another career counseling session)

Me: Uncle, IMT Ghaziabad se, it’s been a year now. (This time I smartly put the word in the start only, I win! :-))

Sitaramji (came the next question): Acchha, age kitni ho gai aapki?

(Wat the F? ^^&*&$^…Those were the first words which came up in my mind and I soon realized that boss this is leading towards a big trap…beta Akash jaldi se yaha se bhaag le…nai to pata chala Sitaram Ji ban gaye aapke Uncle se Relative…!)

I mean everything was fine till the MBA question, but this last one took the all steam away from my smile. And it took me a fraction of a second to realize that this is leading somewhere else, this is not one of those normal career counseling sessions which I used to give. Yaha to boss koi apni hi lene pe tula hai…

Me: Uncle, abhi poore 2 saal aur hai…! Tension naa lo!

And as they all broke into a big laughter, I was vanished from the scene in no time, much before they could come back to being normal selves.

______________________________________________________

So now you can imagine, what life is turning into. It’s quite wierd...I mean I don't belong to all this...Why the hell...!!!

To be very frank, I just don’t understand the logic of arranged marriages, I mean I think I am not cut out for all of these arrangements. I don’t know what’s in store in the future, but one thing which I don’t want to happen is this important decision to be an arrangement for me and there are reasons for my saying that and explaining the same to my relatives.

Marriage I think is a sacred phenomenon; it’s something which can’t be imposed on anyone. Also, I believe it’s a trap in which one should fall only when he or she wants to be fallen into the same. I mean when I see people around me, the married ones somehow don’t look that happy and the unmarried ones are always so full of so much more, so I just think that why is it that I get into that loop and kill the happiness which surrounds the unmarried, at least for now, when I can be single and happy.

Let me make it clear that it doesn’t mean that I won’t get married, Yes I will, Yes definitely. But that will happen, when I would make a decision to get into the mould of not being just happy but where I would rather start giving happiness to the girl who would give me the responsibility for keeping her happy for life.

Ideally, as they say, when I would make myself necessary for someone and would have someone without whom life will be nothing, that’s the time, when I should be tying the knot and that’s the person with whom I should decide to spend my life. But before that, I am sorry. All my relatives, mom-dad, mamas and their Sitaramjis of the world, it is not gonna happen so easily!



PS: On deep thought I realize the reason for this anxiety for getting me join "the league of married gentlemen" is just that all the married ones in the family are somewhat jealous of my freedom ;-)…hmmmmmm…caught the motive folks…I won’t let u guys catch me so young!!!


PS2: The highest record age of any male getting married in my Rajanthani family stands at 23 and guess what, I’m the “Change Agent”, having survived 25 years of happiness, I would say, my education saved me till last year. But, now the talk of the town is, “you’re next!!!” And I loathe even the shape and size of this M word completely! My success depends on how far I can evade it n still live Happily Freely Smilingly Livingly 'Unmarried'!

the lovely PAIN is back!!!

(Think of a dull mellow boring music in the background while u r reading this part)!

IPL is over :(…life seems 2 b on an all time low…nothings left…those 37 days were so full of life, excitement, discussions, ice-creams (1 sponsored after each match on the basis of result) and what not!!! Now, there is no zeal going back home frm office except on the weekends (for obvious reasons). When I come 2 office in the morning, it feels like “abhi to gaya thaa!” while during IPL, there used to be a different world at home too….N now, the differentiation has vanished.

N on top of it, the game of politics is almost over too, settled well for the next 5 years, I suppose…to ab hum naujawaan kare kya!!!

(Think of a sudden fast pace background music like Rocky to gain volume while u r reading this)!!!

Getting bugged wid evything, I decided to hit back again at the place which has always enthused me, The Gym. Not a big time body builder, but yeah, this is my fourth credible attempt at the coveted place. The first one: When I was in school, and believe u me, it was love at first sight, the only issue was that, I could never indulge in this adrenaline rush love due to the persistent exams and studies…u knw!!!

The second and third attempts were fruitful 2-month stretches of gymming, which I have talked abt in my previous post. So, finally comes the fourth attempt and so comes the PAIN…Five regular days in the gym and every muscle of my body is paining like anything, every move I make like even raising my neck stretches the side muscle and I feel IT, but believe me there are only a few kinds of pain which one can love. And this one for me is lovable to the core. Even right now, while m writing, my elbow is pressing against the handle of the chair which triggers the pain, but nay, soon I get my elbow again over to get the same sweet feeling again and again ;-)

I knw its sounding weird, like a masochist, but its not that at all. If u’ve never paid a visit to The Gym, there is something which u will never experience and that is called as the lovely pain of the working out…the only pain which will might make you smile...as they say, "u hav to feel it to believe it..."

Some are sufferers of the pain of the heart,
Some are bugged by the pain in the a#^%,
Some have it in the soul; some have it near the broken bone,
Some experience it mentally, some loathe it physically,
Some run away from it, some wish to never chase it,
But all I m sayin, is jst experience it once…the pain of a work-out sane…!

:)


PS: I told my trainer at the Gym abt this pain, n he told me tht it stays jst for a week…:(…some1 just overheard and said, “Yeh meetha dard hai miyaan…!” N popped the other one, “Nay, how can it b meetha dard…! Meetha dard to kuch aur hota hai!”, n there was a laugh riot at the gym!

Here comes the PM...

With no Bollywood flicks around, the only three things which I’m engrossed with these days are nothing but IPL, Zoozoo ads and Elections…

Having already created a lot of buzz on the former two via Facebook messages, Gtalk lines, blogs n what not …, today, I’m making an attempt to talk about the latter one, which actually is a story that’s gonna impact the maximum part (hopefully next 5 years) of our upcoming lives…n yes, it is more influential than any of the Zoozoo’s antics and Cheerleader’s latka-jhatka…

So, the match or the mis-match begins this Saturday i.e. the May 16th and believe me or not, I am waiting to watch this one much more than even the next Rajasthan Royals match…

But let me get this straight right away, that I call myself a nobody when it comes to politics and I even couldn’t vote this year because of our sheer archaic system where even if someone who wants to vote, he/she can’t since they have a Voter id card which belongs to their hometown, but beyond all that, still I can say it out loud that it is the first time in my life that I hav found myself having a newfound interest in the Indian elections and this is first time I hav a real enthu to know its outcome too…!

So whatever gyaan I hav borrowed with this diligent followership, I wish to rage a young debate to know who will be the better PM of our country, some say that the current elections makes us choose the best amongst the worst two candidates which I don’t really agree to…

So, out of the options we have on cards, the following can be the PM of our country this year…

1. Singh Saab: Some call him weak, some the best economist, some a rubber stamp…whatever he might be, I think he and PC are still the two best economists in the country…wasssay? However, they can form govt. only with Left’s support or if they can manage a single majority party. The second option even sounds like a distant dream and the first one will again be like “a bird dying to fly yet caged”…end result…no reforms…a repeat of last 5-years dismal performance???

2. L K Uncle: He can come with the support of Mayaji and Jayaji only. And believe me or not, it might be worse than Option 1. These guys might try to act bold in the beginning but with Jayaji and Mayaji’s persistent tantrums for becoming the PM, the govt. might even not last its full term…what say?

3. Lefty Karat: Faaaaaaaar chance, but believe me, if any of the leftists come to power, than our economy will be down to the drains and the first thing I will do is to sell of all my stocks…:)

4. Five PMs in 5-years: Oh yes, that will happen if Third Front comes to power…Oh, you guys don’t know what third front is…even I don’t know…so plz…don’t take ur slippers out…, lets say, this is NOT happening, for now!

So, while we wait for our own Obama of Change, I think that’s what’s on cards for this year. Now, I wish to understand what do you guys think, is the sentiment against the incumbent orrr the Gandhian Surd will rule the game again orrrrrrrr there will be some1 else, the unexpected, who will make us Dance on the tune of Democracy…what’s your best bet?

Whatever it might be, m ready with my popcorns n couch to watch this piece of action which starts this Saturday…what about u…???

IPL Top 3 Battle !!!

IPL Fever has started givin us sleepless nights already...and as we all know the IPL Season 2 has begun with a bang. Yeah, its gonna b keeping many of us completely hooked onto the television for the coming 35 days...thankfully after a long time there's something worth watching for us too...;)

So, here I m picking my Top 3 for the IPL2...n request all of u to do the same...we have done this Top 3 selection already at my home among my flatmates...n guess what, the in-house battles & chearing hav begun...the house stands completely divided...(Wish the government won't b...;))

Here r my Top 3...right frm my heart...

1) Rajasthan Royals (Die Hard Rajasthani!!!)
2) Kolkata Night Riders (Soft Heart 4 Bongs ;))
3) Delhi Daredevils (NCR is taking gud care of me these days..)

So, its now ur turn 2 pick your Top 3. Lets start the battles here...think before u make ur choices...n u can also state ur reasons in the braces just next 2 ur team...many ppl wud like 2 knw tht too ;)

Those of u who have a Facebook account...click here...rest of u can make ur selections here only in the comments section...but 4 sure...this battle is more fierce on Facebook only...

So think...but try 2 make sure tht u don't join this bandwagon on the day of the finals...:P...coz u neva knw thr might b some cheers in the offing 2 the winners too...;)

Parent's Day Out...Shock n Surprise...!

Imagine it’s a Saturday morning and u r drop dead (asleep) as expected on ur bed and suddenly u receive ur Dad’s call that he is standing outside ur door...guys I know u wud think tht it’s a wild nightmare tht u r in and u wud continue sleeping…phewwwwwwwwww!!!

But that’s how my weekend almost started this Saturday. The only sollid difference was just tht even after my mom’s persistent asking me for my Noida address over the phone calls frm last 8 months, I somehow managed to dodge the question abt my exact address in the city…n that’s what actually saved my a^$e…;)

Received the call at 10:15 AM, midnight was in full swing and that was the time when all my frens at my place were cozily sleeping in their own dreams…but not any more…within 30 seconds of my informing thm abt the situation at hand…everyone was running…here n there…koi kuch utha raha tha to koi kuch theek kar raha tha…Kahi se kuch nikal raha tha…to kahi se kuch gayab ho raha tha…

Just 10 minutes after I received the call frm Paa, I called him back again, n was relieved to know tht thr were still 20 more minutes for them to reach my place…courtesy the Delhi traffic…I loved it for a moment…! Khair, sparing no more time, the mobilized frens and the “munnabhaish” hullaballo and the running around paid me a fortune in the end…

By the time my mom n dad stepped out of the car, we all had taken our bath in our own ways and the place was spic n span…literally…kudos to my frens support and our righteous actions at the spur of the moment. N so…here they were, started with a Charan Sparsh!!!

So, after the initial introductions, as I had imagined, all flat-mates went quickly in their own rooms, nobody wanted to talk much, I don’t knw whether they were shy or what but m sure they were being really very careful. Must hav been their planned strategic move so tht even a shudder of our lingo doesn’t comes out. The restraint for them, yeah, I can imagine what they might hav been goin thru…kudos again!!! :)

So, the time was running quite quickly, with lot of talking and with the mixed n more positive shocking surprise sentiments which I was going thru. Knowing my mom, I had already warned my frens, tht she wud definitely take an inspection round of every nook and corner of our place n their rooms n so she did…but we were all very well prepared for the ‘worst’ n so the inspection round too went smooth…we had a smirky winky smile on face…yipppie…we won…!

N believe me, the lunch tht we had at home was one of the most sane lunches which I was having for the first time post my coming to Noida…the plates were all flowing properly, there was a lot of passing of dishes around, there were meaningful discussions on the table and what not? We all had kept my mom (even after her several attempts) stay away from the kitchen and had served the maid-prepared food on our own…which I shud quote here as a commendable gesture frm our side…

The evening was full of showing around the Noida place with full zeal and zest, wanted to show thm around everything I cud, everything which has actually been a part of my recent past life. N yeah, I concluded the day with a visit to a nice temple which definitely had set the best possible holy chord. But this was my choice only, so no pun intended here.

The next day of “Parents day out” started with another surprise but this time, not a shocking one but a highly pleasant one. Guess a dream came true! My mom decided, that she wud cook the breakfast for us, so she asked the maid to leave tht part of the cooking for her only. N believe me tht was a TREAT for all of us! We had an amazing round of “Bread-rolls” as our breakfast, after a long long time…kudos to mom n the magic of her hands, as always!

The high point of the day was also the visit to my office, which was to let my mom-dad know, tht my company not only exists, but it rests on a nice green lush green well maintained 25-acre campus, and yeah, I hav been well taken care of, courtesy all your wishes.

Believe me what started with a shock, ended with a lot of emotions…Firstly, I had not imagined tht they wud leave my place with a smile, but they did leave with a smile. N yeah, the smile was accompanied with my mom’s characteristic tears which always trickle down at the time of parting. I guess moms are blessed to bless us with them.

But after coming back home, even I felt too lonely again and was a lill jittery definitely for the ntire evening, the smalltime which they spent here with me definitely was great, it was as if even Noida was a complete home, for some time...Having the same food which I daily have, visiting the same places where I visit, walking the same lanes where I walk…they lived a piece of my life, n even I tasted a piece of home life here at Noida...

Kudos this time, to my mom n dad for showing up with the stylish surprise…I truly loved it and thankfully made the most of it!!!

. . . . . . . . . . . Professional Life. . . . . . . . . . . A life full of colons : and closed braces )

We are living in a life:

Where we get more “pings” than ‘hello’s or ‘hi’s,
Where we get more of : ) than ‘real smiles’…
Where kiss has become a 5 letter word (muaah) and it has to be read not felt…
Where we have our conversations over Orkut’s scraps or Facebook’s walls, rather than over actual face to face talk which our ‘ancestors’ used to do…
Where if we are not “Online” or havn’t “Logged in” for a few days, than news starts flowing in the wired world on scraps saying…’mar gaya shayad’…
Where the long letters which people used to write have become small lettered hinglish SMSs where one can make multiple sentences with the letters i, n, u, 4, c, b...

Oh yes, we have advanced so much:

So much so…that weeks and months and ages go by, but we don’t get time to meet our friends living in the same city…
So much so…that we wait for them to come online one day rather than just picking up our phones and have a 2-minute chit chat only…
So much so…that we forget their birthdays since we didn’t login our favorite social networking site on their birthday…
So much so…that we even sometimes can’t attend our fren’s weddings as we were hooked onto some “highly important” official deadline that day…
So much so…that we actually run away from the one small phone call which our parents make everyday from a faraway place to just say Hi beta/i…as we were planning a night out in the office…

The professional life changes us…it cripples us…it takes away the life which used to run through our veins...I knw many of you won’t like this…but it makes us selfish…it makes us politically correct at every instance of life…it teaches us how to lie…how to bluff…how to dodge…and yeah, it teaches us not “how to run!” but “how to run away!”

The long and lovely discussions about the football or cricket matches in college canteen becomes the discussion about a persistent backache, the layoffs/pink slips, the recent cost-cutting campaign in the company over the same stale coffee-break which we take once every hour…

The physical stress which we used to have after our PT session in school becomes the mental tension…courtesy those daiiiiim deadlines, those COBs, those EODs, which haunt us, always…

The treat which we used to love at a roadside hangout place or a restaurant during our MBA days becomes a slice of cheesy Domino’s pizza in the office meeting room…”30 minutes...nai to gaye”…

Over and above all this, if you are an “MBA” too, than you are nothing but chained for life. You have to be over professional…at all times…in the lift, in the conference room, in your cubicle, while luking at a girl and even during the time when you are in the loo…

And if you are an “MBA in an IT company”, tab to aapko bhagwaan nai par ek presentation hi bacha sakta hai…The prize which an MBA gets in an IT company is a laptop which comes wid ur availability quotient at all times…on all days…at every occasion…on every call…and in every meeting. Ur deadlines are set according to the speed of the processor in your laptop…

Such instances are aplenty and we all think about thm some time or the other...But the end result remains the same...nobody is happy with his/her job...no point wondering why???...but lets try n do something abt it.

Lets stop worrying about appraisals/no appraisals, the swipe-ins/swipe-outs, the unread mails/forwards, the bad food/stale coffee in cafeterias, the status on gtalk/facebook. Stop worrying about everything…go offline for once and stand up on that 4x4 cubicle, luk around and you wud find eyes dying to do the same…

Break the shackles…come out of the norm of those colons and closed braces...
SMILE…
Meet a friend…
Make a call to your home…
Organize a reunion…
Shake hands with the person sitting next to you…
Plan a holiday trip…
Hug ur beloved…
Do one thing which the professional life has curbed u in doing…& believe you me…life will be different…!!!

PS: The above thoughts are inspired by a lot of conversations, chat sessions, scraps, pings, missed calls, emails, and other forms of communication, which I have come across over the past 9 months of my corporate life…They are not personal to anyone but they definitely affect the personal life of a lot of persons in the professional world...

Aaarambh hai Prachand…

"After a long time someone comes in the world and with him…the world changes forever…

He is the one who changes the rules of the game, who rips you from within, who forces you to think, who takes you into a different world, a world which is actually the actual place where you live in. He is the person who doesn’t follow any myth, any superstition, any game-plan, he is the one who creates the truth of his own, and changes the view of everyone else, forces u to rethink, rethink n rethink again…until u understand what the he wants to say…

But when u understand what he wants to say…u can’t go back anywhere…u r mystified…u r mesmerized…u r hypnotized…all u have to do…is to submit n to accept…n then stand up and bow down with a standing ovation."

All these words are nothing but a tribute to the most revolutionary directors of our time…the man who knows nothing but the passion for his movie making…his portrayal…his out of the box storyline, approach, and narration of what he wants to communicate…yes the name is, Anurag Kashyap.

N hey guys don’t read this anymore…just get out of the shitholes where you might be wasting your lives at the moment and grab the taste of the above words in HIS latest creation, “GULAAL”…coz right now it’s running in a theatre near u. Or else, when your kid will ask you, “Have you watched the most revolutionary movies from the most revolutionary directors of your times?” All you would be doing is sulk and ask your kid to study and concentrate for his exams rather than having a hard-hitting mature discussion with him about life which you would have actually not even experienced.

The movie is insane, ripping, gross, hard-hitting, with nerve wrenching music, sensational performances, gripping lyrics...overall its God level.
___________________________________________________

Trivia: Anurag Kashyap's other directorial movies are Black Friday, No Smoking & Dev D. Don't miss them after you watch Gulaal. N yeah, don't call any movie crap until and unless you understand them fully... ;)

FYI, HE has already bagged a filmfare for screenplay in award winning movie Satya (1999), and don't be surprised if he gets another filmfare soon ;). I am ready to give him an Oscar too provided I'm a part of the jury :(

For more aficionados like me...catch more about him here and don't forget to share, if you know more...

The WOoMANiaaaaa !

I know, WE all are really very bad!
But today, on behalf of all of us...















I wish to thank all of you ALL beautiful out there for being part of our lives...for being there for us in all ur avatars...always!


HAPPY WOMEN's DAY!!!

…egnahC

To be very frank this feeling came up while I was watching Dev D…I was mesmerized for sometime while watching the movie and it hit me strong when I realized I was having an O with the word called Change…it is a powerful feeling and it can reverberate you and make you feel happy at the same time. When I drilled deep down to find out the reason for my sudden happiness with life even when the life was having nothing much in store for me from quite some time..(;))..the simple answer which came up rested actually was...“the time” in which I am living…the current era…the everyday revolution around us which, believe me, is really awesome!!!

Don’t you also feel the same that the times are changing around us and they are changing so quickly? I mean it’s ecstatic that the time in which we were born, the time in which we are living and the time when we will die would be so very different…they will not be years but literally be ages apart…I feel that this is the time when the world is changing the fastest and we are the only ones who are witnessing this sweeping change.

I know I might not be making much sense but this is a feeling which is reely very tough to put into words, but here I would try and give my best shot in portraying the same emotions so that I cud atleast make myself clear…

Look, the best thing is that, when we were born during early eighties, the world was in shambles, India was nowhere, our economy was small, peoples' mind were not as thirsty, we were all so slow, we were restrained, we were far less emotive, we generally had scooters, the kids were so different or duffers, technology was least around us, people were not even creative, they had a lanky and dull attitude towards life, the quest for life was missing, there were no reality shows, no PDAs, no IT companies, no experimental movies, no malls and multiplexes, no O(b/s)amas, no MTVs and above all no realtime competitiveness...

But, today is so different, today’s youth is miraculous, we are damn fucking 'change agents', and over and above that, we are changing lives everywhere around us…youth is always unsatisfied, they are creative, they have a quest for experimentation, they have the 'never say die' attitude, they are lovely, they are insane, they are effervescent, they are low waisted/pierced/tattooed/fucked-up n yet chilled n yet ready for having more of it, they are very bad, they are very good, they want more and more, they are selfish too, but they want to have a different life everyday and that is what is the characteristic change which stands out in current times from the past... We are changing every moment and the reason is that we are damn experimentalists, no nonsense weirdos waiting for a new world order. We try different things everyday n we learn from our new mistakes everyday.

Post our generation, I am not saying that change won’t happen, it will happen but the amount of change happening would be minuscule…it won’t be like in this ‘epic style’. The answer to this lies in history. History goes for only a few dynamic changes and such changes happens in centuries which changes world forever. We have witnessed only three major changes in mankind. When man was an ape he wanted to change badly like today and so we became humans and then came era of kingdoms, from there again there was a long standstill and when change happened, what came was the end of kingdom and democracies were born, so, a new world order formed up and from then it’s the present age which has emerged. These are times again when maximum new things are happening, when men and women are changing, we are ones who will do all kind of good or bad experiments and then again will come another phase of adoption, another age of satisfaction, again an age of lesser reverberations, lesser competitiveness coz all that rage which is needed to change the time in which you live would have been done by us in the present tense of our lives...

A real taste of our changing times can be the kids of today, compare them with the kids of our parents (;)), don't you think that the present day kids are revolutionary, they are damn different, so hostile, so intelligent, so smart, so weird. They are the visible example of the change which we are bringing to the world. I think our grandchildren would be just like our children and so they won’t be so radical and that’s where life will settle down again, waiting for another change which might happen after a long time when the world again will be filled with the reverberations of today…

Why I was happy was only coz I am a part of this great revolutionary change which is happening around us and yeah, I feel happy coz I am at the right place at the right time. I wish the youth of today also realize ‘what’ they are going through and do something cheesy, something radical, something experimental each day so that yes, we are a part of this sexy revolution called change which comes in only sometimes and once it goes away, things change and they don’t remain the same forever.

I don't wanna by a prophesier by stating whats gonna happen in the future, all I wanna say is that I am happy to be a part of this new world orderchange. Keep experimenting, try something different everyday, do things differently coz we are living in age of CHANGE aka EGNAHC…agar is samay nahi kiya to life me kiya kya???

Awesome 3some!!! (Vol.1)

BTW…lemme make it clear straight away that this one is a TAG. First one from my side…coz in the past I’ve restricted myself in inflicting the tag pain on my fellow bloggers…but enough of sparing from my end. Hey, don’t worry coz you wud love this tag for the following “3” reasons:

• it’s simple
• it lets others know about u
• it give a chance to you to know u

So what the hell is this actually? "Awesome 3some” is a series of posts about so many things we see around, about so many moments we feel around, about so many people we meet around, about so many places we hang around, about so many activities we follow around…but the only catch is that you have to drill down from all those “so many-ies” to just 3. Hmmmmmm...matlab bete itna bhi simple nahi hai...!

N believe u me, I too faced some instances where I just wished there were more than 3 placeholders…buy that’s the most important rule of game…hav 2 pick just 3 of ur most favorites in all the below mentioned 25 categories…n u r done.

Well, I’m done with the intriguing but amazingly engaging list from my end. N here it goes:

1. 3 Favorite Actors
• Christian Bale
• Tom Cruise
• Shah Rukh Khan

2. 3 Favorite Actresses
• Penelope Cruz
• Angelina Jolie
• Liv Tyler

3. 3 Favorite New Stars (Bollywood)
• Abhay Deol
• Sonam Kapoor
• Darsheel Zafari ;)

4. 3 Favorite Sports
• Cricket
• Tennis
• Volleyball

5. 3 Favorite Sportspersons
• Sachin Tendulkar
• Rafael Nadal
• Mahendra Singh Dhoni

6. 3 Favorite Politicians
• Barack Obama
• P Chidambaram
• Atal Bihari Vajpayee

7. 3 Favorite Comedians
• Raju Srivastava
• Cyrus
• Vinay Pathak

8. 3 Favorite Indian Male singers
• Mohit Chauhan
• Atif
• KK

9. 3 Favorite Indian Female singers
• Shreya Ghoshal
• Alisha Chinoy
• Lata Mangeshkar

10. 3 Favorite Corporate Honchos
• Dhirubhai Ambani
• Jack Welch
• N R Narayanamurthy

11. 3 Favorite News channels
• CNBC TV18
• NDTV 24x7
• CNN IBN

12. 3 Favorite News anchors
• Rajdeep Sardesai
• Pranoy Roy
• Barkha Dutt

13. 3 Favorite Hindi Entertainment channels
• MTV
• Channel V
• Sony

14. 3 Favorite English entertainment channels
• HBO
• Star Movies
• AXN

15. 3 Favorite TV Shows
• Roadies
• Young Turks
• Nach Baliye

16. 3 Favorite Writers
• Ayn Rand
• Chetan Bhagat
• Sydney Sheldon

17. 3 Favorite Movies
• Matrix
• Before Sunrise
• The Bourne Series

18. 3 Favorite Indian Holiday destinations
• Goa
• Mysore
• Rajasthan

19. 3 Favorite Professions
• IT
• Doctor
• Architect

20. 3 Favorite Mobile Brands
• Nokia
• I-Mate
• Blackberry

21. 3 Favorite Laptop Brands
• HP
• Dell
• Sony

22. 3 Favorite Cars
• BMW
• Mercedes
• Honda

23. 3 Favorite Apparel brands
• Blackberry
• Levi's
• Versace

24. 3 Favorite Deserts
• Rasgulla
• Besan ke Laddu
• Halwa

25. 3 Favorite Cuisines
• Indian
• Mexican
• Italian

So thats it for now...but now the most important part...who all shud i inflict my first tag on...? Here is the list...Guppi, Richa, Divya, DD, Nidhi and all of you who wud lov 2 start blogging wid this or the ones who wud like ur TWB's run away far off wid this r also welcome...

N hey dont forget ur thoughts on my list? Any comparisons? Khair…we’ll do all that, but right now, it’s time for all of you to start ur set of thinking and introspection. Also, do tell me which ones were ur toughest set of “3some” selections when u r done! ;)

A Holy Tribute to “The Writer’s Block!”

These days whenever I talk to a blogger in town, all they have to talk about is a disease which to my knowledge is attributed to be the most common disease in the blogworld…well, they call it “The Writers Block-The HIV of Blogspace”. ;-)

While even I was also infected by this cyber disease, I thought why not shove it off by tributing a post to this bimaaari only. Meanwhile, this would also give me a chance to make my wonderful netizens and followers aware of this bugger, so that they stay away from this emosanal attyachaar. And they also understand the real cause of inconsistencies of the posts on this blog.

Well, TWB had struck me last in December for almost 4 weeks when I had not written a single post, and I was hiding my face from everyone. Over and above that, my few beautiful followers who still exist here n thr had started asking me the question… “Kya bi, no new posts!!!”… “Long time…stopped writing???” Some sarcastic ones even didn’t stop commenting, “Toh finally…the Blog JOSH is over?”

The feeling is painful…My fellow bloggers would agree with me on this. It’s like actually asking a capable batsman going through a rough patch, why is he not been able to score runs. An accentuated analogy wud be like asking a man to use the “V” :Pill.

Is it a crime for not getting ideas enough to write? Frens, lemme tell you, sometimes this bimaaari of writer’s block struck us so hard that even when you have so many ideas to write about, still, when you sit down in front of your computer…you feel paralyzed…you find urself unable to be able to press a single key on the board.

Some of the most crazy responses and symptoms which I’ve come across from people suffering from “The Writer’s Block (TWB)” are:

• TWB for a few weeks
o It always starts with the Time Factor…easiest excuse… “Not getting enough time these days…too busy with work mahn…!”
o Sister/friend’s wedding come handy as an easy excuse…

• TWB for a month or two
o “Yaar ideas hi band ho gaye hai…mai likhne baithti hoon aur dimaag se words hi chale jaate hai…”…lolz…
o “Oh! Just had a break-up…giving myself some time to get over it…plz understand.”
o “Life is &*^%ing mundane re…why don’t you bring back spice in my life…I promise I’ll get back blogging!” Well, that’s desperate call…;)

• TWB persisting for Six months n over
o “Saale…abhi bhi us blog par jaata hai kya…Could you tell me my URL? Just forgot it still exists?”
o “Stop asking me…itna hi hai to khud likh le…&**&^&^%&^%&^%...”.
(SPOILER: The state of such a blogger in the end is like that of Kangna Ranaut in the end of any of her movies…)

All that any blogger wants to say while suffering from TWB is this, “I can write, haven’t I proven before, haven’t I been making your life readable through some of my crafty blogs here n there.” Par woh kya hai naa, ek blogger ka dard ek blogger hi samajh sakta hai.

Well, I know when I am done writing this post...one SOtheB who would be smiling and basking out there in the glory of the sun would be none other than the bacteria named, “The Writer’s Block”!!! Also, even I am feeling a lill more relaxed here by finally giving a TIT for TAT lesson to this worm or weed by using its own name to get away from it…;-). Not a bad idea sirjee… Kyon…???

Jai Ho...!

Why the debate? It’s a given that we are definitely way far away from Hollywood…definitely their cinema is much more advanced n classy than ours… Howmuchsoever our very own Aamir keeps trying, it will still take us much more time to win that coveted something christened as ‘Oscar’.

But mahn, watched Slumdog Millionaire just sometime back and cudn’t stop myself write the title of the blog “Jai Ho” coz the words are still echoing in my ears as they will surely do when you will come out of the theaters watching this movie. I truly loved it and it purely touched my Indian heart.

Watching Slumdog was just like eating the delicious “Bombay ki bhelpuri” with a lot of masala which makes u relish its taste till the very last bite. The characters picked have acted so realistically and have been depicted so believably…u start feeling that u r actually watching some Jamaal’s life and that’s what makes this movie truly magical.

An Indian writer, an Indian setting, mostly Indian cast, the ace Indian music director, Indian co-director Loveleen…the complete package is truly a tribute to India from the creative filmmakers of Hollywood. It is definitely the style & portrayal where these Americans steal the show away from us. The screenplay and the depiction of their movies is always so mesmerizing which keeps their movies so much more engaging and mature… Even in this movie, the way Jamaal’s life unfolds with each question of KBC is truly loved by me as an amazing concept.

I wish to sight just one scene from this movie which every Indian will hate but still contemplate a lot about it. This is scene where “a bit of real India” is being compared with “a bit of real America” through an American tourist couple. I personally feel that they got a lill overboard with ths one! Not sharing the scene to avoid spoilers, but all of you who have seen the movie, any comments on this ;)?

There is no point why there is a debate going on about what’s been depicted in this movie. It’s a shame to slam the Slumdog by setting the thought that it depicts only the slums of our lovely country, if u have the balls to either remove this dark truth or depict the better part of our country to the world, then the world…an open stage…is waiting to get entertained, show them that we are much more than this. We have not been able to do that from past 50 years and when one foreigner comes down to depict his thought of entertainment, all we argumentative Indians can do is to slam them…it’s shameful. Guys, this movie uses the slums of our country as the setting coz a guy from slum can’t be shown living his life in a five star, please grow up at least in your thoughts. Fine, slums are a part of ours only whether it’s fractured or burnt, but it’s our body part…isn’t it?

May be Danny Boyle himself has to come down again sometime to shoot another movie which depicts the non-slum part of our country coz we still can’t do that…is that what we want to say…I mean how many times we have told the small kids that the movies are meant for entertainment and not to set debates and arguments…

Khair, chuck the debates…enuf of it…lemme “Jai-Ho” Slumdog Millionaire for the beautiful entertainer to the core which it is,

• Jai Ho…to the truly miraculous love story based on the premise of “Destiny”…being a true believer of destiny…I truly worship the words…“It is written” which sum up this movie for us.• Jai Ho…to India coz it is for our country and the existing slums of Mumbai which made this movie possible. We are a long way to go and for the love of our country it calls for a Jai Ho…

• Jai Ho…to the amazing original score by A R Rahman, I think his music has put in the life in the movie…and that calls for a celebration for India.

• Jai Ho…to the small kids who have played Jamaal and Salim, their innocent yet naughty faces can’t be forgotten for a long time even after watching this movie. Their acting was truly brilliant.

• Jai Ho…to Danny Boyle for making such a true to heart movie depicting India and a part of its Indianness.

• Jai Ho…to Anil Kapoor, Irfaan Khan, Mahesh Manjhrekar, Saurabh Shukla, Frieda Pinto and every Indian who got a chance to act this movie not for their presence but for their true blue acting making all characters appear for real.

• Jai Ho…to Dev Patel who has played the character of Jamaal, the guy’s expressions were flawless and the love in his eyes was so true.

• Jai Ho…especially to the Indianness which keeps us apart and which is also portrayed as a very true subject of the movie which says…”Never say die and always keep trying!” and so shall we.

I am truly waiting and still trying to make my destiny work for me so that even I can say with élan one day that, “It was written!”.

"Masakalli" - Simply Maddening...!

Oh guys...there have been only a few moments when I’ve waited tirelessly everyday in front of my television waiting for a chance to get a glimpse of just a 1 minute 32 seconds trailer and believe me…after a long long time. is dil ne kisi ko firse, dil se chaha hai...;)

Now stop getting ur mind rolling and start reading further...the amazing yet mysteriously simple beauty which I m talking abt is none other than MASAKALLI...Now, don’t tell me u don’t know what I’m talking abt…PUHLEEEEEEEEZ…the latest promo of the movie Dilli-6…Its strong…its simple…its fantastic…it works slowly…its catchy…its rustic…its down to the earth…its melodious…its charismatic…its insane…its brave…its Indian…its rahmanian…O one suitable word for it is that Its Masakalli…catch it asap…u definitely are missing something…Now, if you think I m exaggerating…I have tried to dig the video for you…find it below…

Now you shud be saying…’What an amazing compilation...!’ The beautiful selection of lyrics, the magical music of A R Rahman, the perfect setting, the ever pouting Abhishek and the “definitely making u crazy” Sonam Kapoor who is surely driving at least me crazy...BIGTIME...:)

Not denying that Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a good director (after all ‘Black’ was awesome), but maybe he liked Sonam so much that he purposely made sure that in his 3 hour long movie, the world won’t even have a look at her...maybe that’s why he made the movie Saanwariya completely dark...n Sonam remained Black n Blue...that’s a sad luck for the nation yaar...

But, thanks to our RBD director, Rakesh Omprakash Mehra, who finally made Anil's daughter visible...n visible…come what may…but she has bowled over everyone (at least me) in her very very simple still super super sexy look in this beautiful number...

The first time I had seen this trailer, it had taken me by a huge surprise and from then on, I hav been searching on channels to have its dose again...Well, there are some things which words might not be able to capture and even if you make an attempt for words to capture the same, you definitely come out as a failure…words try to capture, they might do an injustice…well the case over here is a ditto :)…Simply Maddening…!!! N another thing...it works...n works very slowly...but when it does...u can't let it run away from u...:)

Oh btw, I’m running out of time here…and no points for guessing what’s next on my agenda…obviously another dose…hmmmmmm?

The Satyam(?) Saga and Me: :) & :(

A lot of hullabaloo happened over the Satyam fiasco last week, many lives have been affected due to the entire crap that happened. I wish to share my story associated with Satyam(?).

As mentioned in the title there are two parts to this story: A Happy part :)…and a Sad part :(. Since, I don’t have the option like the movie stars do have in asking people, “Which one should I start with, the SAD part or the HAPPY one”? I will start with the HAPPY part; after all, it’s my first blog of the year 2009, isn’t it!

The Satyam Saga and Me: The Happy Part :)

It was the Day 0, Slot 2 of our placements, back on 19th December’07. The campus was all charged up, after all the Day Zero of placements in IMT Ghaziabad brings with it a war of emotions. Those few days of placements are marked with joy, celebration, tears, hatred, jealousy, fight, gloom and what not; in fact, you name the emotion and you can find loads of it exhibited.

Oh btw!...don’t lemme digress from the topic and rather hit straight out that the first day when I sat for my placements, I had two offers in my kitty :), but the number two always comes with a dilemma, when you have to make a choice out of them. Khair, the offers I had were from Perot Systems and from Satyam (Can U Imagine?).

Back then, both were very pretty identical offers on various standards, hence the choosing part was helluva tough. Naturally, I had to consult several people to guide me on my decision. The first person definitely was my Chairman Placements who surely shares deep respect from my side. I remember his words, “Chose Satyam…aankhen band karke”!

I was just thinking that today, after the mad Satyam burst, if I would have chosen Satyam offer that day, aaj meri aankhen band hi ho chuki hoti. But my thanks to everyone, who had asked me to join Perot Systems, oh yeah, all of you deserve a treat from me...;)

The Satyam Saga and Me: The Sad Part :(

Well, as you might have read in my previous post, I have started dribbling in the stock market, was pretty satisfied with the kind of investment decisions I had made till Jan 5th. I was making a slow and steady rise in my portfolio. But the storm pounded upon me right at 12 noon on the 6th of January.

I had received a call from a close person asking me to sell my Satyam stocks coz I was earning a small profit, but sheeeeeeet, I just said, “Let’s wait!” and went straight into a meeting. What was profit at 10:30 AM the same morning had converted into a big…mind you…BIG loss. :( :( :(

Down by definitely a few thousands, I was reeling with just one satisfactory story on my part, that Thank God, I had not joined Satyam back then. Well, a lesson for life…stock markets is a ZERO SUM game, U win some and one fine day, you lose all of it!...Hehe better stay away from them ;)

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Now, this is just my story and I can relate to it. But, can you imagine how many similar stories might be floating into the fathoms of the world. All because of just ONE BAD APPLE, just one person full of greed!

There are some 53000 employees in Satyam, out of them many are my friends who had accepted the Satyam offer that day. I definitely can imagine the grief and uncertainties through which they might be going at the moment. Studies say that there is one person associated with every three employees in an IT company. With a company of such a stature going burst, it is gonna effect the peaceful lives of so many effected ones. The entire ecosystem will be badly affected.

I wish to call this a heinous crime, how can someone go so much insane out of greed. Someone who is the CEO of the fourth largest IT company of the country, who is a celebrated public figure, who shares respect in the eyes of the world, who is a self made man. How can he not foresee what affect his greed can create in so many lives? It’s shameful Mr. Ramalinga Raju…may be you’ll get bail in few days, but I wish the corporate world learns from the nuances of the effect such an act has on the ecosystem from the Satyam example so that at least that hinders the future in not seeing such a ghastly act again.

I appreciate whatever government is doing to get the situation in control and I wish Satyam gets back to normalcy with the power of its associates, their talent and their ongoing hope. I am with them, after all being part of the affected, I wish all our hopes bring something positive in the end.


Wish to end this with a celebrated beautiful line from the movie Spiderman which I love, “With big powers, comes big responsibilities”!