Ginnupotter gets a life!!

Kufri/Mashobra - Did someone order Snow!!

2012-01-31T22:42:00.000-08:00

I had decided last year, this winter I am going to see snow at least twice. So here is the first one.

Republic day holiday was just at right time, a one day leave meant we had 4 days with us. The place decided was Mashobra, a little town 15 kms from shimla. Always plan to stay outside of main tourist towns if you want to experience the peace and tranquility of hills.

Left Delhi at 6AM, thankfully no fog. Reached Savoy Greens near Karnal at around 8 for a breakfast at McD and Subway. Started again at around 9 and reached starting of hills around 12. The highway was in great shape all through. Even the diversions due to construction work are well made and you are able to cover up miles in good time. The roads on the mountains towards Shimla is wide and smooth. It is a good starting point if someone want to try their hand at driving to hills.

It was very sunny and quite hot. We were not sure if we were gonna get any kind of snow in such clear weather, especially when it had last snowed almost 10 days back. We took a left through the Victory tunnel as soon as we reached Shimla, and there it was, at the back side of the town, where Sun was not able to reach, snow, lots of it. The sight cheered us up and we were sure to find more at Kufri the next day.

On the way to Mashobra

Our destination for the trip, Mashobra, is a small town on the road from Shimla to Naldhera golf course. Our stay, Whistling Pines, a nice cozy hotel perched atop a hill 5 kms before the golf course.

Whistling Pines

View from our Window

The hotel is at a secluded location and thus no noise from anywhere excepts for monkeys and birds. The rooms are well insulated and staff really well behaved and courteous. The food served was very nice and homely or in other words, easy on stomach. Overall a great place to stay.

By the time we were done with our late lunch, it had already started to get dark. So we decked up like an arctic expedition with atleast 4-5 layers of clothing on each and got down to the lawn for a bon-fire with some hot soup and crispy pakoras. :)

Some shots around the sunset.

Since we did not have any snow around hotel, we decided to go to Kufri next day. Got up lazily and were ready to leave only around 11 AM. Had to drive back towards Shimla till the point where we have to take the road going up towards Kufri. Due to the bright sun, the snow was melting and the road was full of muddy water. Also it was quite bumpy and broken. We reached a point where we had two ways to go. One went towards Chail via Kufri, the other went towards Fagu. The road going to Fagu was in a very bad shape at that point, with a lot of mud and undulations. Still we could see quite a few cars going that way, so off we went.

Road to Fagu

Anybody needs a truck-full of snow?

We drove for sometime and we found a lot of snow all through. Frankly we had not expected so much snow and were really excited. We were wondering how great it would be if we stayed at Kufri or Fagu for the night, but our luggage was at Mashobra, so we drove further and stopped at a point where a walking path was going up towards Kufri Fun World. Parked the car, rented snowboots for everyone and started our walk up the hill.

The view from Fun World was amazing. Snow all around in bright sunshine.

There is a Karting track at Fun world, they say its the highest karting track in the world, but its not much as its just an oval track with Kart moving at glacial speeds. We took the entry only ticket for the fun world, which is 100/- per person. It was totally worth it since we got to make our first snow man(or snow-boy).

Meet Bablu

If we go further up the hill from fun world, we reach the same spot we would have come to had we continued toward kufri. Its a crowded dirty spot with lots of people and even more food vendors. Thank god we didn't climb from Kufri side.

On our way back to the car, stopped at a small shop for Maggi but as luck would have it, after waiting for almost half an hour, the stove mal-functioned and we had to leave.

As we had a majority of ladies on our trip so a shopping spree had to be included and thus we set out for the mall road. Had our fill of Maggi and Aloo tikki on the way in kufri itself. Reached the lift to the mall after a harrowing time finding place to park. At the mall, after a bit of shopping we went into the restaurant of Hotel Combermere. Its slightly over-priced but a great place to eat if you want some quality international cuisines. We tried Burritos, Quesadillas, Pasta and Sandwiches. Everything was tasty and after the meal, price won't pinch you at all. Started back for the hotel in dark and reached within an hour.

Next day was the return journey and we wanted it to start as early as possible. But some laziness in the morning again and we were able to leave only by 10AM. Drove at good speeds on the way down but due to traffic in Delhi and a long lunch stop, we were able to reach home by 9:30PM.

A special mention for my Car, this was its first stress test on hills with 5 adults and boot full of luggage. Punto never dissapointed in terms of power and pulling capacity on inclines. Especially the climb from road towards the hotel was a steep rocky path, still it was managed easily without a single hiccup both times.

A few pics clicked early morning at hotel:

Before Sunrise

Sunrise from Hotel Window

A Crow or a Raven

Enough monkeys around hotel for a takeover!

Thanks to BCMTouring.com for the inspiration and encouragement in helping me make these trips. I owe you a lot.

Thanks for your time :)

Dhanaulti - A Wandering Celebration

2011-12-28T20:24:00.000-08:00

Made our second trip to Hills on the occasion of our 2nd anniversary(second week of December).

The way for Dhanaulti cuts around 4-5 kms before Mussourie and the road from there till Dhanaulti is beautiful to say the least.

I'll let the images do the talking about the road:

There were clouds to the side of the mountain. Just the road was clear.

Need i say more

I call this a wandering trip coz all three nights we stayed at different places, that is when we wanted it to be a relaxing trip.

First day we stayed at GMVN's Hotel Dhanaulti heights. It was nice clean and very cold. The rooms were not exactly insulated and we could feel the cold air inside the room even with doors and windows closed. The food was above average and nominally charged. Overall the experience was nice.

Next day the plan was to go to Tehri and find another place to stay at. While leaving Dhanaulti we spent some time at the shop inside the Eco Park and got some really good woolens.

On the way to Tehri:

A nice view-point on the way to Chamba

Between Chamba and Tehri

The Tehri Reservoir from a distance

We were a bit hungry by the time we reached Tehri, so in search of a restaurant we moved towards New tehri and found a Chaat stall from heaven. We started it as appetizer for lunch and by the time we finished we had eaten 14 Aloo Tikki Plates, 4 Plate Gol Gappas and 2 Papadi Plates among 7 of us. All within 200 bucks :)

So after this sumptuous lunch, we headed towards the dam reservoir. There is a way to reach almost till the waters edge with a car. I didn't take the car to the edge coz the way was damp and i didn't want to risk it. Still we went near the lake and it was very serene and calm seeing such huge expanse of water. Although i must warn that it is also a makeshift cremation place, something we realized after sometime(didn't stay there very long after that).

The water:

Left Tehri in search for a place to stay, we had planned to look for places to stay on our way to Dhanaulti and in case of nothing on the way we planned to try the Apple Orchard Resort in Dhanaulti. Fortunately (or Unfortunately as we later found out) we found The Hermitage in kannatal. Its a cozy little 10 room hotel with a beautiful setting reasonable room charges. Since it was sunday evening and no rush was expected we were able to bargain for the rooms. Also as there were no other places around we had to have food there itself.

The place was great and to be frank the best part of our trip only spoiled by the exorbitant food bill we got in the end. We were in fact planning to stay another day if it weren't for the 5000 that we were charged for two meals. We paid more for food during a single night stay than what we paid for stay(3 deluxe rooms) itself.

Few pics of the hotel:
The small hut in left side of the above pic is the dining room. We had loads of fun singing songs during the night and since it was the eve of anniversary we sang till 12 in the night and it was the probably the best evening of the trip.

I would still recommend the place to anyone wanting to have a good time, but the only advice would be, get a package that includes the meals or order carefully and ask if anything extra is served :D

Monday morning we got up, had a great breakfast, paid an even greater food bill and left for Surkanda Devi. It is indeed a strenuous climb till the temple and one advice i would give is, take the short cuts to climb up wherever possible, it would save you a lot of distance and effort.

A few pics:

Still a long way to the top

The view from the top

Saw the only kind of snow at that time in the region, frozen dew. It was in the shadow of temple where sunlight could not reach.

Came down and moved towards Kempty village, our cost effective stay(complimentary actually, thanks to my bro in law). The place had a great view of the kempty falls and delicious food.

View from the balcony of our guest house

Stayed up late into the night talking about ghosts and mythology. Got up early in the morning and left for Delhi by 6:30 AM.

Another little trip completed. thanks for your time :)

Lansdowne - Come hear the Silence

2011-11-30T09:23:00.000-08:00

Wanted to take this trip since long. Cancelled last year when we planned to go via train, instead went to Kasauli. However two weeks back we were sure that we are going to Lansdowne. Asked all the couples we knew, but everyone was busy. We were a bit hesitant going alone since this was our first driving trip to the mountains and I am the only driver. But what the hell, i am planning to go to Leh next year and so Lansdowne should not be a worry. Fueled up on Friday night and we were off to Lansdowne at 5:30 AM in morning.

Encountered a fair bit of fog till Modinagar. Road conditions were fine with occasional potholes and lots of errant truck drivers. Still by 8:40 AM we were at Monty Millions restaurant near Meerapur. Had some butter toast and tea with the home made sandwich and we were off again in 20-25 minutes.

Reached Kotdwar around 10:45 AM and from there on the road was a bliss to drive on. From Kotdwar we went towards dugadda and then on to Pauri Road.

Just after Dugadda, there is a T junction with lots of hoardings of Lansdowne hotels(forgot to click a pic ) now you can either take a right straight towards Lansdowne or take a left on the pauri road. I took the pauri road as described in the directions for my accomodation - Oak Grove inn.

As you carry on towards pauri after around 15 kms you again get a U bend to your right with board again saying Lansdowne(10 kms from this point). Oak Grove inn is midway towards Lansdwone from this point in a small village called Jaiharikhal.

Oak Grove Inn

On the way to Dugadda

Oak Grove Inn, a little background about the place:

It is run by a Retired Col. Rawat and his wife. Located in a village called jaiharikhal at a very convenient distance from Lansdowne. City being 5 kms , when going towards Lansdowne you enter at a place from where the only two tourist spots, Bhulla lake and Tip n Top point, are just a stones throw away.

On reaching the guest house, you may feel disappointed at first but as soon as you take your first meal and chat a bit with the owners you would start feeling right at home. Rooms are basic but clean to say the least. There is a dining room where the meals are served (no room service for meals). All in all it was a great place to stay. Tip n Top point has unarguably the best location in Lansdowne, but it felt a bit desolated, still, may try it on the next trip.

A few pics from guest house:

Entrance to our room

The Front Porch of Colonel's house which has a sitting area to enjoy the sun. This is a part of the tree roots. Looked like a sculpture from distance:

Sitting Area to soak in the Sun


Trying my hand at some Photography

Colonel's wife has a great sense of decoration and she loves plants, they have a plant growing in possibly every kind of vessel from ceramic cups to plastic cups to old kettles

The first thing that struck us in Lansdowne was the silence. We could feel a loud beep in our ears which are accustomed to city noise. Anyways, had tea and an hour later lunch. Lunch is served in the dining room and it was a simple home like food, Dal, Palak Paneer and Aloo Gobhi, all tasted good(Charges 100/- per meal per person).

The weather had already made me forget any tiredness i had from driving, so we decided to go to Bhulla Lake and Tip n Top point. We took the road towards lansdowne from hotel, at the entry we had to pay a parking fee of 13 Rs. At the point we enter main road of lansdowne, we take a right for the Bhulla lake and Tip n top point and a left for the main city. Both are within a km from this spot.

Bhulla Lake:

Bhulla lake is a small man made resvoir lake which was built by Jawans of Garhwal Regiment. It is nice clean place with an option of boating (Charges: 30/- per person / half hour). The whole area is maintained by army and you can always see a few Jawans constantly working to keep the area clean.

One request to anyone who visits the lake, there is a cage full of rabbits near the lake, please do feed them some biscuits or food, they seem to be grossly underfed and were literally climbing over each other to get the biscuits we were offering them.

Hungry Rabbits

A Resident of Bhulla Lake

A rock which can be seen at distance from lake. We called it the Burger Rock

Couldn't resist posting a pic of my car coz i love the looks of it in this location

From Bhulla lake we went to Tip n Top Point:

Tip n Top point:

This is the other tourist attraction of lansdowne for the excellent view point, although all we saw was a white haze

The GMVN guest house is situated just above this point and seems to be a bit desolate but excellent location. We had a badly made maggi here clicked a few regulation pics and came back to Guest house.

View of the road from Tip n Top point

Back at the guest house by 5 PM, we had tea and chatted up with the owners at the sit out place. There was another family from Delhi whose kid was totally busy playing with Owner's dogs Archie and Fifi.

Owners left for some social engagement and we got a bonfire going sitting with the other family and just chatting at leisure.

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An interesting conversation we had:

We were talking about how women drivers have it easy in terms of they can get away with almost anything, the lady told us an incident of her in which she was stopped by a traffic policeman. Their conversation went something like this:

Policeman: Madam, Kagaz poore nahi hain, pollution kahan hai

Madam: Arre baki sab to poora hai bas ek pollution hi to nahi hai na.

Policeman: Arre Madam apke papers bhi original nahi hain, photocopy hain.

Madam: Arre to original kaun rakhta hai gaadi mein, matlab agar gaadi chori ho jaye to kagaz bhi jaye, wah ji.

Second Policeman: Arre madam aap jao, (to first policeman) yaar isliye main kehta hu, ladies ko mat roka kar.

Wonder what policeman's reaction would be if a guy said something like this.
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Anyways, had our dinner and went to sleep by 11 PM.Next morning left for Delhi by 1030 and reached home by 7:30, all thanks to Jam between Meerut And Modinagar.

Although this is a small trip but it gave us immense confidence in ourselves and the car.

Technical Details:

Car: Fiat Punto MJD

Total Diesel Used: 29 litres approx

Total Kms driven: 509 km

Total cost of trip including fuel, food and stay < 5000 Rs. :)

Untill we meet again

Jan-Lokpal and beyond....

2011-08-22T08:53:00.000-07:00

While coming home today, i noticed a few residents of my society standing outside the society gate and shouting slogans in support of jan-lokpal bill and Anna. I also joined them.

We were just raising slogans by the side of the road. Not blocking any way not asking people to join us or causing any inconvenience apart from the noise of our voices. And i could see a lot of people passing by the road were joining in the chants of Vande-Matram. A few slowed down and a couple joined in as well. While it was very heartening that people were showing solidarity for a cause, what stuck me were the things i observed people do.

- A car slowed down, the occupant raised slogans with us, a few meters ahead, he opened his car door and let out a stream of spit.

- Another car with doctor's symbol on windshield crossed us and went wrong side on the road to avoid a long but legitimate U-turn.

Everyday on road i see people throwing things out of their car widows, everyday we see people haggling with policeman for bribes over petty violations. How can a lokpal help India if people are glad to be let off with a 40 Rs bribe instead of a 100 Rs fine!

Will lokpal show effect at the grassroots where people are so habitual of bribes that no work is done without the extra-constitutional-fee. The state of Indian society with respect to corruption was aptly described by the CVC before Thomas, he said:

"When we were growing up I remember if somebody was corrupt, they were generally looked down upon. There was at least some social stigma attached to it. That is gone. So there is greater social acceptance."

"if somebody has a lot of money, he is respectable. Nobody questions by what means he has got the money."

With so much concentration on passing of lokpal bill, has anybody thought if such powerful position is possible in reality. How can we be sure that the lokpal would be incorruptible, how can we be sure that a lokpal would not sway from its principles. Anyways, this is not what i wanted to say. All i wanted to say is, if you really care about the country and want to do your bit to make it a better place, please start caring for it like your own house.

See the lawns around India Gate on a Sunday evening they are full of all kinds of garbage and things left by people who came for picnic. How can you spoil the very place to which you go to enjoy. Next time you have a choice between a short wrong side drive and a long U-turn please take the latter. Follow the traffic rules and if caught breaking them, please prefer to pay the fine with a receipt. Roll down the windows of your car only to get fresh air, not to throw empty wrappers or bottles, they might lead to an accident for some two wheeler rider behind you. Keep your cool on the road, if somebody brushes against your car, please don't start throwing abuses. There is no confrontation that can't be solved by a dialogue. When you need to get something done in a govt office, please take out time and get things done yourself.

India is a great country, but with very misguided people. I just hope that this new found nationalism and solidarity does bring some change and leads to a slightly better India.

2011-01-04T09:05:00.000-08:00

Dear SRK,

Thanks for the most boring interview ever!!!!

Yours Sincerely
Dissapointed Koffee With Karan viewer

INDIA.... Be a MAN!!

2010-10-08T12:37:00.000-07:00

India is generally considered as feminine, even among its citizens as Mother India. But considering the current scenarios where its territorial integrity is being questioned from various sides, no matter how small, it seriously needs to consider a sex change operation.

We had an instance of google maps depicting Arunachal Pradesh as a part of China, again it repeated the blunder by depicting POK as a part of Pakistan. Then we had iPhone 4 doing the same with Arunachal Pradesh again and now the most recent being FAO, a UN body, showing Arunachal and POK as independent entities.

Why hasn't anybody ever shown some chinese territory in India by mistake, why is it that while drawing borders on maps, the line invariably goes inside India rather than China or Pakistan. Well its more to do with our impotent government and self centered politicians than actual errors on part of Map makers. To be frank this should not matter if we are sure about our abilities of protecting our borders. No offense to our Armed forces, but in case China tries something audacious on the eastern border, our Government would hesitate to give a response and tie up our Armed force's hands, seriously affecting their ability to counter. Our soft spoken, spineless and immensely learned PM would look towards 10 Janpath for directions, where the Queen bee would probably be packing bags for the next Alitalia flight with the born to be PM prince in tow.

Our country, as it stands currently, is without a leader.

Even Kargil became a huge task for our Army as government chose to ignore credible intelligence and lingered on taking action thereby eventually increasing the causalities among our brave soldiers who had to pay for our politicians incompetence as Pakistan consolidated its positions.

If China can force Apple to show Arunachal as a part of it in lieu of letting it sell iPhone4, why can't India force similar conditions on it to make it show what is the truth. Why can't we impose restrictions on any company questioning our territory. It's time we did something concrete about such instances, it's time we barred chinese embassy from issuing stapled VISAs to Indian nationals from J&K and Arunachal via restrictions on its operation. For once think of country's pride rather than a possible backlash from Dragon. Show an iron resolve and some guts to let them know we won't take such things lying down. And most of all..

Be a MAN!!

Foreigner's Guide to India

2010-08-22T22:18:00.000-07:00

Planning to come to India in near future, may be for Common Wealth Games, well here's a ready reckoner to find your way around.

1. Try to have a mobile which has at least Google Maps with location finder feature. That might help you get an idea of where you are and where you are heading while commuting.

2. Try consuming Mineral Water to as much extent. Because unlike the developed world, in India... Tap water is not same as bottled water!!

3. Be careful about your luggage and belongings when outdoors.

4. Try wearing casual floaters or slippers as they would be the most comfortable in case it rains or even otherwise.

5. When you reach airport, rather than coming out and taking an Auto Rickshaw, for the feel of it, just book a cab from the terminal itself as the Auto Driver would surely overcharge you to the tune of a A/C taxi fare. You can find info about various radio cab services on Google for eg: Meru, easy-cabs etc.

6. Keep an Indian acquaintances number handy to help in case of an emergency or even just to ask directions. Don't hesitate to ask any passerby in English, if they know the language, they'll surely respond.

7. A lot of governments like Australia, have issued a long list of diseases prevalent in India, as if we are ogres living in swamps. Its not that bad at all. Just eat at proper places and drink clean water and you would be fine.

8. Our government suggested that you carry your own toilet paper or tissues as our public toilets are not clean enough. Well this is a problem even in western world, I rarely found a clean public toilet even in Amsterdam shopping malls during Christmas.

9. Don't worry about the health care in case its required. You would find world class health care facilities in India.

10. For any flight or Hotel bookings. try the travel sites rather than going through travel agents as they will surely try to rip you off.. There are a lot of good websites which may help.. For example: yatra.com, cleartrip.com(Train Booking Also), makemytrip.com etc. You'd find that in terms of Online services/bookings/shopping, India is far ahead then what you might think.

Let me know through comments in case you need any specific info... Enjoy your stay! :)

My Baby..

2010-04-09T12:07:00.000-07:00

Did you see “Baby Geniuses” or “Look who’s talking” or “Baby’s Day Out” all these movies had babies as the lead characters, thus giving us an experience of what a baby think of. Babies have not seen much world, their thoughts and perceptions are not cluttered by the pre-conceived notions or fears. And this fact makes a baby’s perspective as the freshest and least biased.

How wonderful it would be to get such a perspective from a baby itself. I am lucky enough to be living with one such baby. She looks at everything in terms of colors, freshness and her own parameters of good and bad. When she praises a mobile phone she saw somewhere and I ask her which one it was.. she says "A red one". When I ask her if she remembers the route she used last week.. she says " yes yes, there are green green trees on the sides and pink flowers on the road divider". She would anyday choose a pink nano over a white BMW.

All these little things keep me smiling even when I am not with her, there are not enough hours in the day I can spend with her.. :)

My music is music, Your music is noise!!

2010-04-09T02:49:00.000-07:00

What is music.. a sound which is pleasing to the senses.. Although this definition has remained same over the years, but its perception has changed drastically over the years. Especially in terms of Hindi film music.

Gone are the days when you could find meaning in each and every word of a song, when lyrics were as important as the rhythm, when song writers had enough words to put in between bits of music and when melody was enough to attract listeners.

Nowadays, all that a song needs to have is a catchy main tune, a few words related to love or lust and you have a winner at your hands. “Kaho na kaho” or "Bheege honth tere" from movie Murder are a case in point. The songs have only one tune which is repeatedly fit on all the stanzas and still the songs were major hits. Hard beats and Bass has become so prevalent in all sorts of songs that sometimes even rhythm doesn't matter if the song has loud enough beats.

There is another peculiar type of Hindi movie songs, one that seems to be melodious and deep(or atleast having some meaning), but when listened carefully is actually crap lyrics fit over a good tune, for ex. most of the songs of "Kuch kuch hota hai" and for the deep seeming song example, "Ya Rabba" from Salaam-e-Ishq.

There are still great songs being made, just that the frequency has reduced to hardly 10-15 an year. But.. if you want to savor the beauty of words meshing in with the tune along with minimalistic use of instruments, then listen to “Abhi na jao Chhodke” from movie Hum Dono. It’s a classic duet song with least amount of instruments involved and most playfully written lyrics. How I wish we had more writers like these, and less of music directors like we have today (except A.R Rehman).

The (NOT-SO) great act!!

2009-03-28T13:12:00.000-07:00

What the hell is happening to our politicians. They are bloody loosing their touch. Earlier around elections, they used to put up acts for public, but made it subtle or less obvious. But with this Varun Gandhi drama, the act has gone as bad as any RGV movie can go.

Even Varun is not sure about his making the alleged speech!! First he profusely said that he did not make the comments.. it went on like this for two days... slowly support started pouring from entities like Shiv Sena and SRS.. so now with prospects of gaining political mileage out of the issue, BJP has projected Varun as a hero of hindutva! But a few things aren't clear, why the hell is he courting arrest for his principals or faith when he is still maintaining that he didn't make that speech. Does his ideals tell him to go to jail for a crime he hasn't committed?? He says the CD is doctored, and then goes out to say that he can die for his faith!! Mr. Gandhi, pls explain how the two things are connected?

Anyways.... with this drama being made the big issue for this elections, i really don't see the point of BJP indulging in such an elaborate and obvious pretense. For i myself prefer BJP over congress, but with this useless indulgence i don't see BJP's popularity getting a push in the right direction among youngsters.

I just hope whatever government is formed, is formed with an absolute majority for a single party (Either BJP or Congress, NOT THE THIRD FRONT), so that politics of appeasement is given rest for atleast next five years!!

Shri Ram Sena k side effect!

2009-02-06T11:52:00.000-08:00

One of the best works of Jophy Joy, an accomplished cartoonist at Infosys,Pune.

The Last Rites (or wrongs)

2009-01-18T06:21:00.001-08:00

Recently a very dear aunt of mine passed away due to cancer. The death though imminent was a bit sudden. The various rituals performed and yet to be performed tasks made me think about the business of death which various priests run in the name of religion.

Death, in india or to be more specific in Hindus is as elaborate as wedding. As soon as the news spreads about the sad demise of an individual relatives, friends and neighbours start streaming in for mourning, to share the grief, often causing more grief by crying in front of immediate relatives who've already cried their hearts out. Even after the day of cremation, people will keep on visiting the family as per their own sweet convenience.

The family is required to perform various prayers for long period of time and provide an year's worth of food to the priest conducting prayers. The meeting(kriya) organised after 12 days of death is visited by most of known people and is an elaborate occassion requiring setting up a caterer for food. The family which has already lost a member is lighter by a few thousands before all the rituals are over.

Relatives or visiting people are the least of botheration that a family goes through, the botheration comes from the various rituals that are deemed mandatory by our religious scriptures, without which the deceased will not attain moksha or mukti!

So a recently widowed/orphaned person has to perform numerous tasks and chant umpteen verses before the pyre is lit with holy fire.

Death is the point where all scientific logic and reasoning becomes irrelevant. Almost every religion has some beliefs related to life after death, or the concept of heaven(swarg) and hell(nark). It is these beliefs from which these rituals are born.

The family of deceased may not be totally convinced by these beliefs but still most people prefer not to take chances in case some small effort from them might improve the afterlife of their loved one.

It is this fear of unknown or concern of ours which some godmen may take advantage of.

So at the cremation, after every little ritual, relatives are asked to pray and put some money at the feet of deceased. Money which the priest promptly picks up before next ritual.

At the time of flowing of ashes in the holy river ganges, the local priests will list out the denominations of prayers that they'l undertake for the deceased's well being in the afterlife. They'l unashamedly say that the costlier the prayer the more is the degree of moksha attained. I can't believe that our scriptures link attainment of moksha with amount of money spent by family on rituals, wasn't it all about Karma.

Death of a loved one is an emotional moment for us but for them its their livelyhood. Every ritual ends with some money going into a godmans pocket, so being the more scientific n logical generation, if indeed we want to do something for the peace of our minds and our loved one's souls then rather than maximizing godman's profits and earnings, its better to feed a few poor people whose true blessings might indeed help the deceased..

$ Slumdog Millionare $

2009-01-09T21:19:00.001-08:00

One of the best movies i've seen in a long time.. Slumdog millionare deserves every accolade its been receiving worldwide.. The director has made mumbai slums look artistic.. Although the movie could've been more researched but still the few holes in the plot are filled by exceptional performances, especially by the child artist playing jamal.. He was as convincing as any senior actor without resorting to overacting, something which every kid in indian movies does.

Its a story of slum dweller jamal.. Who catches nation frenzy as from a chaiwala in a call center.. He goes on to win a million rupees on game show..

He is suspected of cheating and picked up by police.. Then begins the movie where the boy explains how each question he answered had somehow been answered in his life..

The only noticeable flaw for dumb critics would be.. Jamal talking in hindi as a kid and in accented english when adult.. Anyways.. The movie is too gud for these minor niggles to stop u from enjoying it..

By all means.. Go for it.. :)

Somebody save me..

2009-01-09T07:44:00.001-08:00

M on my way to home and accompanied by the most irritating family i've ever met.. The lady keeps chatting up anyone and everyone about anything and everything. The gentleman keeps playing with the camera clicking pics of his wife or just lighting up the flash.. But the most annoying is their cute little 2.5 foot tall daughter who keeps on shouting from the depths of her lungs and bumbling here n there all the time.. Oh how i wish right now that female infanticide was still prevalent.. Just kidding.. But really.. This is really scaring me about my future n having kids.. There should be some school where the children could be sent once they reached this annoying age n brought back once they are again of sensible age..

Lets hope i'm not annoyed to the extent that i start pulling my hair (or little girl's)

May god give the kid some sense and calm.. Or atleast a volume control knob..!!

I'm posting this via mobile from a train.. So this is my live ordeal.. :(

Letter to Our PM

2008-12-01T20:59:00.000-08:00

Got this as a forward:

Dear Mr. Prime minister

I am a typical mouse from Mumbai. In the local train compartment which has capacity of 100 persons, I travel with 500 more mouse. Mouse at least squeak but we don't even do that.
Today I heard your speech. In which you said 'NO BODY WOULD BE SPARED'. I would like to remind you that fourteen years has passed since serial bomb blast in Mumbai took place. Dawood was the main conspirator. Till today he is not caught. All our bolywood actors, our builders, our Gutka king meets him but your Government can not catch him. Reason is simple; all your ministers are hand in glove with him. If any attempt is made to catch him everybody will be exposed. Your statement 'NOBODY WOULD BE SPARED' is nothing but a cruel joke on this unfortunate people of India.

Enough is enough. As such after seeing terrorist attack carried out by about a dozen young boys I realize that if same thing continues days are not away when terrorist will attack by air, destroy our nuclear reactor and there will be one more Hiroshima.
We the people are left with only one mantra. Womb to Bomb to Tomb. You promised Mumbaikar Shanghai what you have given us is Jalianwala Baug.
Today only your home minister resigned. What took you so long to kick out this joker? Only reason was that he was loyal to Gandhi family. Loyalty to Gandhi family is more important than blood of innocent people, isn't it?

I am born and bought up in Mumbai for last fifty eight years. Believe me corruption in Maharashtra is worse than that in Bihar. Look at all the politician, Sharad Pawar, Chagan Bhujbal, Narayan Rane, Bal Thackray , Gopinath Munde, Raj Thackray, Vilasrao Deshmukh all are rolling in money. Vilasrao Deshmukh is one of the worst Chief minister I have seen. His only business is to increase the FSI every other day, make money and send it to Delhi so Congress can fight next election. Now the clown has found new way and will increase FSI for fisherman so they can build concrete house right on sea shore. Next time terrorist can comfortably live in those house , enjoy the beauty of sea and then attack the Mumbai at their will.

Recently I had to purchase house in Mumbai. I met about two dozen builders. Everybody wanted about 30% in black. A common person like me knows this and with all your intelligent agency & CBI you and your finance minister are not aware of it. Where all the black money goes? To the underworld isn't it? Our politicians take help of these goondas to vacate people by force. I myself was victim of it. If you have time please come to me, I will tell you everything.
If this has been land of fools, idiots then I would not have ever cared to write you this letter. Just see the tragedy, on one side we are reaching moon, people are so intelligent and on other side you politician has converted nectar into deadly poison. I am everything Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Schedule caste, OBC, Muslim OBC, Christian Schedule caste, Creamy Schedule caste only what I am not is INDIAN. You politician have raped every part of mother India by your policy of divide and rule.

Take example of former president Abdul Kalam. Such a intelligent person, such a fine human being. You politician didn't even spare him. Your party along with opposition joined the hands, because politician feels they are supreme and there is no place for good person.
Dear Mr Prime minister you are one of the most intelligent person, most learned person. Just wake up, be a real SARDAR. First and foremost expose all selfish politician. Ask Swiss bank to give name of all Indian account holder. Give reins of CBI to independent agency. Let them find wolf among us. There will be political upheaval but that will better than dance of death which we are witnessing every day. Just give us ambient where we can work honestly and without fear. Let there be rule of law. Everything else will be taken care of.
Choice is yours Mr. Prime Minister. Do you want to be lead by one person or you want to lead the nation of 100 Crore people?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

PS: I wanted to write something very badly about the current situation, though this peice is too soft voiced, but still it puts forward my emotions very aptly.

I Miss...........

2008-02-08T03:44:00.000-08:00

I miss the familiarity of my home...

I miss my parents who are all alone at home!

I miss being carefree about meals...

I miss those weekends which meant mom made Aaloo k paranthe and Snacks in evening..whereas now its getting up late and having bread-butter with powdered milk tea!

I miss my car..... here its generally on foot or if i'm lucky then a pink Lady Bird cycle :D

I miss my gugu and her idiosyncracies....

I miss being with friends i really liked....Friends with whom i could be what i want to be...friends who would listen to what i'm saying..without compiling the errors in my speech and reporting them there and then!

I miss paying for watching movies!!(:P)

I miss Dilli ki Sardi!

I miss Indian Style Toilet Seats!

I miss living off a pocket money!(not that what company pays me is anything more than just a pocket money!)

I miss Pao bhaaji of kar kar dooma!:(

I miss Mc Donald's Veg Surprise with Lemon Ice Tea!

I miss nizaam's Egg Role with aloo masala.

I miss Delhi's traffic, Pollution and Metro!

I miss having the freedom to go wherever whenever i wanted!

I miss hanging around with frns doing nothing.

I miss the time when Friday, Saturday Sunday were just another days of the week!

I miss those mass bunks which i loved to initiate in college!

I miss my pathetically slow PC which has been with me since past 7 years!

I miss the noisy family get togethers!

I miss all the friends whom i don't know when i'l be able to meet!

I miss having so many places to go out to eat!

I miss drinking clean unsalty soft water.

I miss watching season by season of FRIENDS non stop and laughing my heart out!

I miss my daily dialogue with god when i used to switch off the light of the mandir at home at night!

And MOST OF ALL I MISS.....

:) :P :D :/ ('_') (::'_'::) (':') o(:-) ('@') ('*') :( :@

All the Monkey Business!

2008-01-07T19:21:00.000-08:00

Australians players have stooped to new lows in their pursuit of creating world records.. The way the 2nd test was played just shows that alongwith being the best playing team they are also best at cheating n manipulating. As for the racism row, i think that ponting should be banned for beinga racist as this monkey business is simply a figment of his imagination, and symonds i guess is in team not only for his batting prowses but also for being from colored origin, which gives australia the opportunity to blame others for being a racist.. Even in indiawhen people impersonated monkeys in a match i'm sure they were not aware of symonds being black, we just thought that he was simply a case of overtanning. People targeted him as he was the most aggressive of players and as indians don't know how to give it back onfield, the spectators were doing their bit to unsettle the aussie! His race must not have been on their minds at all. But alas, our authorities prefer to please the foreigners even if it means troublingthe local people.

All the events that took place during the last test have raised a lot of emotions among indians world over, one interesting mail i came across was about new rules of cricket prescribed by ICC, someone has put a lot of thought into it.. heres the mail:

(1) Ricky Ponting – (THE TRULY GENUINE CRICKETER OF THE CRICKET ERA AND WHOSE INTEGRITY SHOULD NOT BE DOUBTED) should be considered as the FOURTH UMPIRE. As per the new rules, FOURTH UMPIRE decision is final and will over ride any decisions taken by any other umpires. ON-FIELD umpires can seek the assistance of RICKY PONTING even if he is not on the field. This rule is to be made, so that every team should understand the importance of the FOURTH UMPIRE.

(2) While AUSTRALIAN TEAM is bowling, If the ball flies anywhere close to the AUSTRALIAN FIELDER(WITHIN 5 metre distance), the batsman is to be considered OUT irrelevant of whether the catch was taken cleanly or grassed. Any decision for further clarification should be seeked from the FOURTH UMPIRE. This is made to ensure that the cricket is played with SPORTIVE SPIRIT by all the teams.

(3) While BATTING, AUSTRALIAN players will wait for the ON-FIELD UMPIRE decisions only (even if the catch goes to the FIFTH SLIP as the ball might not have touched the bat). Each AUSTRALIAN batsman has to be out FOUR TIMES (minimum) before he can return to the pavilion. In case of THE CRICKETER WITH INTEGRITY, this can be higher.

(4) UMPIRES should consider a huge bonus if an AUSTRALIAN player scores a century. Any wrong decisions can be ignored as they will be paid huge bonus and will receive the backing of the AUSTRALIAN team and board.

(5) All AUSTRALIAN players are eligible to keep commenting about all players on the field and the OPPONENT TEAM should never comment as they will be spoiling the spirit of the AUSTRALIAN team. Any comments made in any other language are to be considered as RACIALISM only.

(6) MATCH REFREE decisions will be taken purely on the AUSTRALIAN TEAM advices only. Player views from the other teams decisions will not be considered for hearing. MATCH REFREES are to be given huge bonus if this rule is implemented.

(7) NO VISITING TEAM should plan to win in AUSTRALIA. This is to ensure that the sportive spirit of CRICKET is maintained.

(8) THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE: If any bowler gets RICKY PONTING - “THE UNDISPUTED CRICKETER WITH INTEGRITY IN THE GAME OF CRICKET” more than twice in a series, he will be banned for the REST OF THE SERIES. This is to ensure that the best batsman/Captain will be played to break records and create history in the game of CRICKET.

Well whatever Ponting might say, the truth was for all to see, lets hope that the rest of series is remembered just for good competitive cricket!

sCAR FACE!!

2007-10-27T01:42:00.000-07:00

Have you ever felt that your car smiles at you whenever you look. Have you ever felt that the headlights are kind of its eyes and the Grill is kindof a mouth. Well i do, everytime i see any car, i see a face, somehow the concept of eyes at the level of mouth is freaky but thats the way i see it. In the movie Cars it was shown that cars were alive with grill as mouth and windshield divided into two eyes. Well in real life the windshield is single piece so it has to be my way.

There are different types of faces for cars. Some are straight faced cars like Zen and Maruti800, these are the work horses who are just okay about there job of being a car. They feel there engines are not powerful enough to let them be taken for a spin and they are just plainly overloaded and overworked and they bear all this with a straight face!

Then there are smiley cars like Indica and Santro. These are in a slightly better position, they are new in styling, have better height in case of Santro and a good engine in case of Indica and thus they are happy about it.. While indica has a wide toothy smile santro(Xing) has a small rabbit like smile :p

Now comes the rich pack, these are the high end cars which are meant for speed and luxury, like Honda City, Toyota Camry. These are driven by and for the elite, they have the best of engines and features in them they know it and thats why they have a Snobbish Wry smile, as if mocking at other cars!! See for yourself!!

So much for the good and rich ones, now for the Baddies.. Most SUV's come in the baddy look, the big size, the menacing stare and the strong jaw line. The meaniest look is that of Scorpio with protruding grill resembling spaced teeth. Many movies like Khakee and Main Hu Na where it is shown as vehicle of choice for villians supports my inference!!

And now last but never the least.. the meanest of them all.. the Kings of the road.. The Moustached Monsters.. Blueline buses!! They are rugged in every way with lots of scratches all over there bodies from their infamous encounters and a Mustache which hides there mouths and has lights on both ends, huge glasses as the eyes with a mean guy sitting behind and controlling the monster! What we get is a killing machine which can make most movie villians look like little red riding hoods!

This was a crazy thought i have every time i look at a vehicle, and it feels great to have shared it with the world. I hope u have a tough time deciding the look of your car and may you be bothered with this thought for the rest of your lives!! :)

:D :D Kimi Rules!! :D :D

2007-10-21T23:44:00.000-07:00

Finally something i'v been praying for whole year.. Something that gives me a joy comparable to India's T20 cup victory.. Something that no expert could've predicted a month ago and something every Kimi fan was waiting to see for such a long time. Kimi Raikkonen has won the drivers championship by one point in the very last race of the season. Everyone was banking on Hamilton to win the title with ease this sunday, but an aggressive move by alonso saw him going out of the track and falling to 8th place before a gear box trouble put him further down to 18th place. His chance were over then and the it was left for Kimi and Alonso to fight it out.

Some might say that Massa helped kimi in winning the championship, well the only help he gave kimi was to come second and which meant depriving alonso of the extra two points. Massa did not give up his track position, Kimi took it by pure racing. A commentator said that after second pit stop massa didn't push harder but i don't think anybody on the track has what it takes to overtake Kimi when he has a car without any sort of trouble.

Now theres another controversy that the BMW and Williams cars were illegal and though they've been spared from a penalty, McLaren is going to appeal as a decision against BMW and Williams might mean that Hamilton can still become the champion. The likelihood of that happening is less but if that happens then this win for hamilton will be as farcical as some say is the ferraris constructor's championship victory.

Hamilton is a good driver and what he has already achieved is commendable, but its Kimi who really really deserved to win the championship. He has come from behind and done what Schumi couldn't do last season. This will surely be remembered as one of the best seasons of Formula 1 with the best end which was possible for it.

Hail Iceman!!!! :)

Mc Laren beware... The Iceman cometh!!

2007-10-08T09:47:00.000-07:00

The last two races had two of the most special moments in them. First in Japan we had the moment which every Ferrari fan craves for, Alonso crashing out of the race! :) Then came the Chinese Grand Prix where everybody was waiting for Hamilton to seal his championship, but instead we saw the rare mistake by Hamilton and McLaren which saw him sliding out of the race at the most inappropriate of places. This was the second moment i was talking about.

Well i have nothing against Hamilton, and i half heartedly agree that he might deserve (little bit) to win the championship, but one thing that everybody (including hamilton fans) will agree to is that if theres one other guy who deserves it and perhaps more than hamilton, its Kimi Raikkonen-The IceMan.

Kimi is one of the best drivers in Formula 1, he has been with the two most competitive teams in the sport in last two years and unfortunately let down by both of them. Formula 1 is about so much more than just driver skill and thats where Kimi has been unlucky. Last year McLaren were not able to provide a competitive car to him while this year he has had retirements due to Car trouble (Ferrari unreliability). Thats something Lewis has not had to face at McLaren. Just imagine how the situation would have been if Ferrari had done there work well.

Anyways Kimi is a great driver and i'm sure he'll get the championship soon.

So heres my prediction (deepest wish) for Interlagos, Alonso crashes into Hamilton at the first corner or some other part of race and Kimi and Felipe take P1 and P2 ( Even P2 is enough to give Kimi the title) and we will then have a fitting end to one of the most memorable season of Formula 1.

FIA Sucks!! Hamilton Cleared with no penalty!!!

2007-10-04T06:07:00.000-07:00

Have a look at a video from Japanese Grand Prix. To download click here.

Steve Slater was busy praising hamilton for the way he was slowing everybody down in the last sector of the lap at Japanese Grand Prix during safety car period, but now due to a well shot video from a spectator it can be clearly seen that Hamiltons erratic driving was a reason for the Webber-Vettle crash. In the video hamilton can be seen going wide of the racing line and very slow almost as if he's retiring from the race, prompting webber to brake hard as he wouldn't want to cross during safety car period, in this vettle was caught unaware and crashed into the back of Webber. From what i can see, two people are responsible for the crash, hamilton and webber but unfortunately the penalty was imposed on vettle instead for not seeing webber breaking hard in the spray that he was getting from him and crashing, leading to outster of both of them. Stewards are investigating the hamilton role now, i hope he's given something like vettle, but this time the punishment will be well deserved.(Hamilton cleared without any penalty, lifes so unfair!!)

Hamilton has said that he radioed his team to get the message to Red Bull to get Webber back off but still the way Hamilton was slowing down and accelerating according to his whims was not in right spirit as for people in the middle it was really difficult to see such sudden changes in speed in such treacherous conditions.

Hamilton said after the race,

When we were behind the second safety car, I was constantly on the radio to my engineers to tell the Red Bull team to get Mark [Webber] to make a little more of a gap because I couldn’t go any faster because the pace car was in front of me, so I was trying to keep the distance with him and then I’d move over because I couldn’t see Mark and then he’d just appear alongside me, so he kept out-braking himself. I felt something was going to happen, and I guess my instincts told me right.

Heres what Webber had to say about Hamilton's driving style,

It definitely contributed to Sebastian hitting me up the back because he [Hamilton] wasn’t doing what he was supposed to be doing, clearly.

Whatever these two might say the only one punished was Vettle, the one for whom the crash was most tragic as he lost the opportunity of Podium. Anyways, i hope he overtakes atleast one of the other two people in rest two Grand Prixes.

We are The Champions

2007-09-29T04:39:00.000-07:00

The Game of the Decade!

2007-09-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

It was a match unlike any match we've played against Australia for many years. Heres are some moments from a great game of cricket..

India started at a slow pace with just maintaining a RR of 6 in first few overs. Here Sehwag, injured within first two overs walks back to the pavillion after being caught behind. He scored 9 of 13 balls.

Yuvraj came at 2 down and showed Aussies the blitz he started with England. He was in pristine touch, middling every ball and hitting sixes on will. His innings of 70 of 30 balls was a major factor in India posting a fighting total on board.

MS Dhoni for the first time in the tournament played what can be called truly as a captains knock. He was his flambouyant best, sans the hesitancy he has shown in initial overs throughout this cup. He scored 36 of 18 balls.

India finished at 188/5 in 20 overs.

Australia started off well despite some fantastic bowling by Sreesanth and RP singh. Sreesanth first bowled Gilchrist and then later in this picture, he's reacting after dismissing Hayden in similar fashion. He put up his usual histrionics and finally got fined by match referee. He finished with just 12 runs in his 4 overs with two very important wickets.

After Sreesanth it was time for Irfan Pathan to pick another important scalp for India and thus we saw Symonds off-stump being hit as he tried to make some room for a shot. With this wicket India was back in the game.

After the Symonds wicket clark and hussey went within 11 runs being scored and India was in with a good chance to win by now. In the end with 3 overs to go and the required score looking within reach of Aussies, Harbhajan came up with a great over taking a wicket on the first ball and bowling a tight over. Then Dhoni showed excellent maturity and gave the penultimate over to RP Singh even though he had only Jogindar Sharma as the other option. So instead of keeping the best bowler for last over he gave RP the 19th over and the move payed brilliantly with RP bowling a gem of an over. Finally with six balls to go and 25 to get australia was in a bad position. Joginder bowled what probably was his first dot ball and gave what probably was his first smile in so many days. He finished the over with Aus still needing 15 runs. India had beaten the Aussies and set up a dream final for the first T20 world cup.

Glorious, Depressing and Fickle uncertainities of Cricket

2007-09-21T02:37:00.000-07:00

Who could've predicted the outcome of super 8 match between Ind and SA, not many people would put there money on India beating SA and that too so convincingly.

Now, the three words i'v used in the title are for three different teams, first Glorious is for India for their gritty batting which saw India recover from 38-3 to 153 in the end, some very accurate bowling by RP and Irfan and finally better fielding than what India does on most of the days.

Depressing is the word for the luck of South Africa in big tournaments, time n again success elude SA in the later stages of tournaments. They were playing brilliantly in this T20 cup, one loss and they'r out of the tournament. And who can forget the famous tied semifinal between SA and AUS where SA was again the team packing bags early. Anyways, SA is a great team, unarguably up there with AUS, n i'm sure luck can't dodge them forever. They'l get there due soon.

And now the fickle part, this refers to the sentiments of New Zealanders watching Ind Vs SA match. At the start of the match they would've been praying that SA simply win the match putting India out of the cup and securing the Semifinal berth for NZ. But soon into SA inning when they were 31-5, NZ must've started cheering for India to stop SA before 125 run mark, which would've put SA safely into semis. Now when Boucher and Morkel put up a 50 run partenership for 5th wicket, again the NZ allegiance would'v shifted to SA to just win the game. But India with some inspired bowling aided with pretty ok feilding made sure that NZ finished the day while cheering for them.

India had achieved what a few expected them to, a semifinal berth and a thumping victory to put SA out. Lets hope this good run continues and India fights against AUS in semis, coz zim and pak have shown that aussies are not unbeatable.

Good Luck India!!

Aye Aye Captain!!

2007-09-17T00:34:00.000-07:00

So Dravid finally( i use finally as i saw it coming) quit the job. Without giving any reasons whatsoever. People are smelling rat here, they say he was forced to quit by some board member. Whether that was the case or not, but it sure will be good for indian cricket in short as well as long run.

Dravid is no doubt an excellent player with skills to match the best in the business, but somehow he doesn't have what it takes to marshall a rowdy bunch of occassional performers that our cricketers are. Never during any match was dravid seen acting like a captain. Going to have a chat with a bowler who just had a couple of boundaries clobbered on initial deliveries of the over, making field changes or bowling changes. He could always be seen just standing with a tense expression on his face and letting things happen as they are. Rarely did we see a bold bowling change or a shuffle in batting line-up to bring about a flip in any game going away. He just didn't have the authority which a captain must command out of his players.

Anyways, i hope he sticks to his decision but that brings us to the new problem. Indian team has been going around without a coach for quite some time now, alas! that can't be done for a captain too. So the names of Tendulkar and Dhoni are being tossed up.

Lets take them one by one. First our little master, well he has been in excellent form off late and it'l be a crime to disturb that with the added burden of captaincy. That too when we know how badly affected his game when he was given the job last time.

Now for Dhoni, first of all if form is the sole reason for presenting a guy with the captaincy then Yuvraj is probably more deserving than Dhoni. His batting in Twenty20 WC has been so self centered, never taking an undue risk and just playing it safe to keep his strike rate above 100. He has never shown the consistency of the time when he was just brought into the team. So giving the ODI captaincy to Dhoni is not something i'l support.

But then somebody has to take the job, well as the board is saying that probably they'l select a captain just for two upcoming ODI series against AUS and Pakistan, my choice would be, none other than Dada himself. First he's indeed the best captain we'v ever had. Second, right now he's the only guy in the team who has experience as well as aggression befitting a captain.

I know this is the last thing to be discussed in the board meeting but still i think some might know this fact in the back of their heads but will be too scared to suggest it, as it will be a very bold move to give Ganguly back the captaincy after the way board treated him. And BCCI is not known to make bold moves if there is nothing monetary to gain in it.

May god give the airheads sitting in BCCI some brain and may they for once think about the country before they think about whats convenient for them.

Hey Ram!!!!

2007-09-12T03:17:00.000-07:00

Today congress finally put what is gonna be the last nail in its coffin. By saying that there is no proof of existence of RAM or Ramayana for that matter, it shows how insensitive it can be towards the religion which does not form its vote bank. Asking for a proof of God is the height of atheism. The Sethusamudram project no matter how profitable economically must not be built over sentiments of people. There could've been a more respectable way to put things in court, in a way that reinforced the beliefs rather than dismissing a complete religion in itself.

With due respect to all religions, can government produce a proof of existence of Allah or even suggest this!! Can they proove that Jesus existed or was indeed divine. By submitting such an affidavit congress has questioned the faith of thousands of Hindus and by seeking a proof for god they've shown a disregard for every religious man and woman, no matter which religion they may belong to.

Though what has happened is sad, still the protests and violence over it is not good. Ram for us is a faith, a guardian whom we keep in our hearts and we must not let these politicians feel that they can shake our faith by such frivolous statements.

Though this will give the opposition enough reason to raise hue and cry for some more days, the fact remains that they are no better than the ruling party. Our political system has degraded to such depths that there can be no return. Today public has no faith in any political party or politician. We have not even a single person in politics who can be looked up to as a leader.

What we need is, abolition of all political parties and starting the whole process afresh. The current system has outlived its period and maybe a Biparty system might prove better. Anyways, India needs all the blessing of all the gods if it has to survive through this century, otherwise these political vulture will eat away the country inside out.

The Inf(y)uriating wait......

2007-09-04T03:58:00.000-07:00

11th April'06 was perhaps one of the happiest days of my life. I had got a job that too with Infosys, the dream company of so many engineering graduates. As the results were declared i was ecstatic, my joy knew no bounds and i was jumping and screaming. Although it was disheartening to see some of my friends who didn't make it through, but still the joy of getting placed was quite a heady feeling. We celebrated with a dinner which included around 25 people. Afterall we had a job and that too with a reputed company.

The next company took time to come and so for a long time the few of us who were placed were seen with special admiration. With time many students from our batch got placed, some in good companies some in bit smaller ones. Some even got two jobs. The ones in infosys weren't allowed to sit for another company!! All said and done though the image of infosys had taken a beating with time and due to thier practice of mass recruitment, still it was considered among the best which came to our college. Our seniors in infosys told us about the rigours of training at infosys and how they didn't get time to unwind after exams, how they had to join within 15 days. All this made us anxious and we prayed for a breather between the exams and joining.

Today after more than 3 months of end of final sem exams, i'm still to join the company. The time we once prayed for has stretched so long that the wait has turned from anticipation to frustration.. The offer letter says that tentatively the date of joining will be intimated by month of may. A few people got it.. but a major proportion were left in the lurch. A mail from infy HR said that all will get DOJ by may end. May end came and went away without a word from the company. In june we got a reply that the joinings will be in the month of june/july. The june/july turned into july/aug which turned to aug/sept and finally into sept/oct/nov.

Right since may the company has created an uncertainity in the minds of recruits regarding the DOJ. All we ask for is a date of joining which may be in NOV or DEC, but a definite date of joining. So that i can plan my time and put it to some good use. Due to this uncertainity i couldn't join a two month foreign language course which was too expensive to be left in the middle in case joining came as per the mail from HR. IT companies have recruited so heavily from campuses that there is hardly anything left for freshers(from lesser known colleges) in off-campus recruitments.

Thus Infosys "powered by intellect, driven by values" has shown niether intellect in managing those recruited nor values by creating this confusion and robbing people of precious experience which would've helped immensely in furthering their career.

If u're a fresher recruited by infosys for 2008..get another job as an alternative in case infosys again Bites more than it can chew.....

I hope Mr. Narayan Murthy or someone higher up the ladder at infosys is reading this. I hope they do something concrete about it. In case they don't, all i can do is..again hope!!

Have we forgotten how to watch movies..???

2007-09-02T11:02:00.000-07:00

Its an experince of mine, of watching the same movie in two different environments. The movie here is Chak De. First i saw it at Raj Mandir in jaipur arguably the most beatiful cinema hall in our country. And next i saw it at a Multiplex in Delhi. Difference i’m talking about was not in the cinema halls but in the people watching the movie.

At Raj Mandir we had all kinds of people from all stratas of the society. It was like going back to the old times, standing in rows to get the ticket, waiting for the ticket window to open, fights with people trying to jump the qeue. Well all that aside, once we’re inside the hall, thats when the real story starts. Now the movie is an as-gud-as-it-gets patriotic flick. Every patriotic dialogue was cheered and clapped while every joke was heartily laughed upon. It was an emotionally charged atmosphere with people really feeling the movie. Now cut to the multiplex experience. Its inhabited by only middle and upper class people who in big cities are always trying to put up an act of fake sophistication. So there was no reaction for subtle jokes, only silent smiles for obvious ones and bit of muffled laughter for very good ones. I can’t believe that nobody understood or found it amusing when SRK said ” Humari hockey mein chakke nahi hote”. When india was winning matches in the second half of the movie nobody was cheering. Nobody clapped when SRK says “pehli baar kisi angrez ko tiranga lehrate dekha hai” and only in the end when india won the world cup that a few people managed a clap.

Did these people not like the movie?? or did they not enjoy the patriotic sentiments portrayed in the movie?? Well the answer to both questions is NO. People are just plain embarassed to laugh out loud or to clap when they feel like. And in this urge to behave sophisticated they’v forgotten to enjoy, the basic purpose of watching a movie. I won’t say i didnt enjoy the movie second time, but the level of excitement and joy was missing. And if i had seen it first at multiplex then i’m sure i wouldn’t have liked it this much!!

To all the people who supress emotions, are afraid to laugh loudly or clap or cheer, i’d just say that go to a cheap movie hall and learn again how to watch/enjoy a movie from a rickshaw wala..!!