Dream ON!!!

I was never too much of a supporter of "Copy-Paste" on blogs...
As in putting up stuff from someplace and putting across a point...

BUT, today I'm gonna do that....
I'm gonna paste the lyrics of a song here which has gotten into my head for few days now and just refuses to leave....
"Phir Dekhiye" from the movie Rock On!!!
Won't get into the details about the movie but here is a lil deal about the song...

Beautifully sung by Caralisa Monteiro, composed by Shankar Ehsaan Loy and words by none other than Javed Akhtar. The words - their simplicity, the music - its calmness, the voice - its uniqueness.... All these factors together make it an unforgettable song.

It somehow makes you feel good about the journey than to worry about the destination, the pleasure of dreaming and the process of achieving it than the joy of accomplishments...
Many a times the achievement doesn't render as much happiness as much one experiences while craving for it. Like during the Exams and PLs the urge to excel or for ppl like me (academically lesser ambitious lot)while competing in various events the restlessness was the BEST feeling.

One of my friends and I while discussing life and fundas (our MOST fav topic :D) over coffee were contemplating on this very issue and then it had struck me.... What I enjoy the most is this "betaab" (restless) feeling. Someday I might get all I ever wished for (Amen!!!) but then I will miss this feeling and I'm very sure of that. Till then I will enjoy it and you guys enjoy the song...

ITS BEAUTIFUL!!!

Aankhon Mein Jis Ke Koi To Khwaaab Hai
Khush Tha Wahin Jo Thoda Betaaab Hai
Zindagi Mein Koi Arzooo Kijiye
Phir Dekhiye ……

Hoton Pe Jis Ke Koi To Geeet Hai
Woh Haare Bhi To Us Ki Hi Jeeet Hai
Dil Mein Jo.. Geet Hai Gun Guna.. LijiyePhir Dekhiye……

Yaadon Mein Jis Ke Kisi Ka Naaam Hai
Sapno Ke Jaise Us Ki Har Shaaam Hai
Koi tho hai jise Apna Dil.. DijiyePhir Dekhiye…

Khwab Bhun Yeh Zara
Geet Sun Yeh Zara
Phool Chun Yeh Zara...
Phir Dekhiye…

CELEBRATIONS!! (Shrivardhan Trip and a lot more in between….)

CELEBRATIONS
(Shrivardhan Trip and a lot more in between….)

The best part of Hostel Life, undoubtedly was forming a new family. Family, whose members were chosen by me and then the beautiful institution came to life. An Extended Family called “ ANARS “.

ANARS means Anagha Neha Avanti/Aditi Rujuta Snehal/Surabhi. I know it’s a little clichéd for my creativity :P but once formed we never looked back to changing it just to make it sound cooler. Its like ones second name, love it or hate it, one has to shove it up every time one writes his/her full name [Names like P.K Gire, I. M Dukre and what not :P] I guess I’m digressing. The point is ANARS is the name of my Hostel Gang, My Extended Family.

Birthdays is a HUGE affair for we Anars. Its like a Family celebration. Like traditional families celebrates Diwali, Holi etc. My fly celebrates Birthdays religiously. And this time it was doubly celebration time as two birthdays fall on 28th Feb and 1st March, and as good as it could get it was a weekend. :D :D Life sometimes, just sometimes tries to behave well :P So, we decided to take full advantage of this opportunity and plan a get – away. After a lot of discussions and arguments the final place was decided to be KONKAN, Shrivardhan et al. All the Family members arriver from every nook and corner of India [I’m jus kidding, the 4 of us stay in Pune and 3 in Mumbai :P]

We decided to take off a little late on Saturday after some nice sleep and all. All bags packed and we were off in an AC TAVERA [this piece of info is just to make some of you jealous :P] The car had a very good music system even a DVD player n good display. The driver also seemed completely harmless and little did we know, it was just the lull before the storm. We asked him to play music and……..

“Tum tho thaire PARDESI…Saath kya nibhaoge.. eeeeee”
Change
“Aacha silla diya tune mere pyar ka…. Yaar ne hi loot liya ghar yaar ka”
Change
“Tu pyar hai kisi aur ka. Thujhe chata koi aur hai...”

I won’t disagree that initially we loved these B- grade songs, even sung along at the top of our voices but later it took a toll and we HAD to stop the music… We then demanded to start some DVD, it began with some chanting in the name of the Almighty!!! We waited patiently for it to finish and some real action to begin…. Five minutes passed … ten minutes passes but the chanting wont stop… Finally I succumbed to my impatience and mustered the courage to ask him what this jazz was???? The driver, unperturbed by my impatience, smiled back and replied “Chant in the name of the GOD!!! One should always take sharan to god and all shall be well”…… BEEP BEEP !!!! I mean we all do our religious and praying bit BUT we were here for an HOLIDAY for GOD’s sake. I, with all my due respect to him and his chanting asked him to shut it down.
Thanks to Scooby’s N73 we had some music backup, she has A- to B grade songs :P

The journey passed discussing some office gossips and the stories bout our NEWLY FOUND CORPORATE WORLD. [Friends from TCS were dumbfound as they still are to have a rendezvous with this world. There Corporate journey is limited to Carom and Cafeteria :P… Sorry Guys… Couldn’t avoid it!!! ] Its very fascinating to know how our conversation have slowly changed from College gossips to Office politics, from bitching about Matrons and profs. To bitching about our Managers and TLs, from SMSs to E Mails, from casuals to Business formals… Discussions changed but one thing will never change… We still have this irresistible urge to share each and every story of our day to day life… :D Wish it stays so for ever. Amen (Driver shall be happy to know, I believe in God.. :P)

We reached Shrivardhan at about 6 PM, and approached the place where our bookings were done. Disappointment and anger possessed me as soon as I saw the place. I mean I’ve been to Konkan so many times and always had the best of accommodations and this place was just short of being called a DUNGEON. I had a strong urge to strangle the B ‘day girl’s neck as she had done the bookings but only because it was HER birth day, she was saved from my wrath. We decided to spend as less time place in that dungeon as possible and hit the Beach as it was just an hour left before ‘Sunset’.

“Sea” always arises a concoction of complex (wow, alliteration.. :D) emotions within me. Awe, Fear, Respect, Ambition, Modesty and many more….. The Ocean has never failed to teach me a new thing every time I’m around one. Words have abandoned me as I try to explain what I learned, may be the experience is too inarticulate to explain. (Too philosophical eh….) Well, I learned I should wear tight pants so that I don’t have to hold and run races with my friends on the sea shore… :P :P

The sea venture ended and we were back at the Dungeon to spend the rest of the night. (YA, we had dinner at some place where we met, rather saw a Marathi actress, I had no clue who she was but my mom was elated to know I SAW her when I told her this over the phone :P) We began with a Cards session and what a session it was!!!! All laughter!!!! I lost some countless games in a row, Snehal, who with all her faith had betted on me lost all her money as well as her confidence on me…. Duh… I cannot I got so unlucky while playing “3 Cards” that I got a “2” while we were playing highest card wins and a “king” while playing the opposite [I’m NOT making up this shit, it actually happened to me!!!!] Night always makes one NOSTALGIC, and we were no exception. Our reminiscence session began to evoke all lost memories right from First year First sem to Farewell…. We went from tears to titters through this journey… But what a journey it has been so far….!!! [Words have been defying me too often in this post :P]

As always, we had decided to go to the beach early morning, which I’m sure all of is knew we won’t, but still we decided just for the heck of it and ended up sleeping till 9 L We got ready and left for HARIHARESWAR. The place has a Lord Shiva Temple [Don’t ask me for any detailed account, this is all I know and also that the Pedhas were too good there…] On the way back we fell a little silent partly due to fatigue and partly because it was time to say good bye YET again. I do it almost every other weekend but I still cant stop feeling bad about it…. Reached Pune at about 6 PM totally content with this itinerary and ourselves.

More Birth days, more achievements, more parties, more gossips, friends, family and CELEBRATION…. What more can I ask for ?????

An evening in the PMT…

It was a fine Thursday… [ Last to last week I guess… (Had written this 1 that time only but couldn’t crunch time to actually post it...) ]
Like any other day….
The only deviation from the 'Standard Format' of my Office life was I had absolutely no work…
Usually, I have lil work :P

Here, at John Deere we need to complete 8.5 hours a day or els the Automated Leave System deducts half day Privilege Leave from my account very ruthlessly :(
But, my bus starts from here at 6.45 while I complete 8.5 hours at 5.30 PM only.
So I decided to take-off on my own rather than finding innovative ways to kill time, like… (there r so many ways I've devised, will dedicate a mail to that some other time :P)
I was in a different sorta mood…

Ideally, I would have taken an auto or something (it costs 150 bucks but even then)…
But, not that day… I thought lets experiment…
So I walked out of Magarpatta City (that’s where my office is located..)
Took a Shared Auto till the main signal where you get all the buses n all…
The auto, which has a capacity of "3" was carrying 7 ppl.. The driver was keen on getting in more but to my luck didn't find more commuters….
The Indian vehicles are completely ROBUST must say… Who said India is way behind in the Automation Industry, its actually progressing in a different direction :P
I could barely breath, partly because there was no space and partly cos of the strange odor in there…
When I got down on my feet I thought an eternity has ended, little did I know there were many more eternities to come :P

I took some 7odd minutes to cross the signal and get on the other end, where I could board the bus….
Like I said, I was in a strange mood….
I spoke wid the kids waiting at the stop…
Asked them bout the gov. schools n all… How they travel, their families n stuff…
Couldn't stop thanking god enough for the blessed childhood I had….
I missed 2 buses as it was overcrowded…
So, a good guy walked upto me finding me totally lost and advised to take a bus to Swargate (the bus junction) and then change from there to my final location, KOTHRUD…
The next bus was Swargate and I was determined to get into this one….
And I DID :D

Inside the bus, it was worse than the Auto I had boarded an eternity ago :P
I could get a place on the reserved "Mahilansathi" (Only for ladies) .. Phew…
There was this completely haggard looking lady, probably she was a worker or something somewhere….
I still cant forget her hands…
One can get such hands only if one break rocks for one whole lifetime….
I felt terrible for her, for ppl like her, for India and for me too… Wish I could help…
She was so disconnected and distorted that she plainly ignored my efforts to strike up a conversation with her… :((
She got down mid-way and a college going girl (guess in some govt. college for Arts or something) replaced her…
I started off with another effort to strike up a conversation…
This time I was kind of successful, not completely though…
I asked her bout the college and teachers…
She was in 12th (10+2) class… Though she looked very old for a 12th class girl…
Suman (that’s her name) washes clothes and cleans at a household to support her studies and her family…
She was very content with whatever she had and didn't seem to care for any big career or something…
How I envied her for that… Satisfaction is something I cant even dream of :P
Finally, got down at Swargate, and to my surprise in 1 piece… :D
I bade Suman a good bye….
She said I was a real nice girl and I couldn’t stop grinning…

But that was short lived, my next task was to find a bus to Kothrud..
I could take an auto (would have costed 45 bucks max) but I was loving the PMT experience…
Found a Bus for my place and boarded it…
I was hoping to meet another interesting person but..
Well, all my journey couldn't be full of interesting ppl…
There was this lady working in some bank (forgot the name) sitting next to me…
She knew the entire PMT time table by heart, no kidding…
She had her whole house hold in a mini bag…
A lil eating packet, water, money, accounts, book, some vegetables to sort out n what not….
The bus took the longest route possible to kothrud from swargate… I almost dozed off due to the vibrations...

Finally, reached home in that semi hazy state... Feelin happy n peevish at the same time... A cherished evening and journey...

All in all...
If you want to roam around whole of Pune, meet some very interesting characters, get a free sauna massage [:P] and still reach the destination in single piece….
TRY PMT…
The best way of TRANSPORT :P
Peace...

Keep off the Grass and Catcher in the Rye!!

Just finished reading both these books 2 days ago.... Keep off the Grass by Karan Bajaj first and then Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, its one of the TIME 100 All time best Novels.

Keep off the grass:
Its is a story of a NRI who comes back to INDIA, kicking his million dollar job at the Wall Street. He is haunted by the thoughts of his 'roots'. He gets admitted to IIM B and begins his bizarre self-discovery journey with another crazy character, Sarkar (I was in awe with this person, except few of his eccentricities) and Vinod. The book comments a lot on the Indian Institute of Management, not in very good light though. In India, every ambitious student dreams of getting in the IIM and here is Karan Bajaz going completely ruthless with his comments and observations about the finest of B schools in the world, and to our dismay its quite true.
The story is pretty stereotype in the sense these guys make big goof ups, get the lowest of grades, do all kind of possible screwing up but ... at the end of the day they find what they always wished for..... A lil hard to believe... BUT, what makes this book keep away from monotony is the language which is completely engaging and the thoughts on self-discovery and happiness the author has come up with. Its like the author is articulating the thoughts you always wanted to express but didn't have the right words.
The confusions of today's youth, the fucked-up concepts of happiness, the ways of getting away from it and finding oneself going in deep shit..... All is very well explained by Karan Bajaj. BUT, he not only explains the problems but comes up wid a plausible solution.
A truly engaging and un-putdownable book. A journey with your own thoughts if you belong to the pool of lost and confused souls.

Catcher in the rye:
It was a pleasure meeting HOLDEN CAULFIELD(The Protagonist).
A weird narration style by Salinger which gives you a feel of being zonked. The book does not have a plot nor a story. The author establishes a first person dialogue with the reader and then there is no stopping. He goes on to explain every detail of Holden's life for 3 days and his thoughts. The language may be obnoxious to few as it uses words like "phony" "goddamn" "corny" "fuck" in huge amounts.
Holden wants to be the Catcher in the rye and wants to keep away his sister and other kids from the 'phonies' and 'goddamn world' but towards the end he realises that he cant do so and his sister, Phoebe MUST learn the hard way and on her own.Salinger leaves the actual events of Holden's presumed suicide attempt and hospitalization ambiguous; Holden only uses euphemisms such as "getting sick" to describe what has happened to him, but the implications are clear. Yet even more ambiguous than what happened to Holden is whether or not Holden will recover from his difficulties. Nevertheless, while looking back on his situation Holden still harbors some of the same suspicions and deep cynicism that afflicted him throughout the book. Salinger ends the novel inconclusively: he gives no strong indication what Holden has learned from his difficulties, if he has learned at all, and allows for a strong possibility that Holden will continue his self-destructive and suicidal behavior.
(Some part taken from official review.)

More than half a decade separates these books but what surprises me is the questions, the problems, the confusions and the SOLUTION still remains the same. BUT every individual will have to DISCOVER it on their own.... That's the FUN.....

Enjoy the self - discovery :P

Lite le!!!

After my last blog, I got a lot of worried e-mails and messages from friends (yes, few ppl still follow my blog, duh) about the 'sudden' outburst of my thoughts. But, let me make it clear, its NO sudden outburst, I've been thinking about this one for quite sometime now.

This does not mean I'm turning into some non-believer of humanity or something. I'm not gonna turn into a Hippie and smoke marijuana :P It was just a figment of my imagination, a reflection of my thoughts and the kind or reading and music I'm listening to. (Been reading and listening a lot of revolutionary stuff off late)

Howmuchever this system might suck, I like it here. May be we are adapted to it. I will find a way out through this shit. Its too bad, very bad like I've written but not so bad that we stop hoping. I know its contradicting my own thoughts but these are two different moods and philosophies. And like always, I'm confused which one to follow. Atleast, no harm writing, may be some day, I'll will know my own philosophy.

Plus, it was high time that I digressed from my usual comedy format and wrote something I really feel about. Here on I'll try and mix both forms of writing. So all of you take it lite and hang on :D

The Cosmic Conspiracy

All of your life, you've been lied to, been fucking lied to. You've been told what life is supposed to be about, what you are supposed in this life, birth fuck n die... A lil more here n there while doing so....

Grow up, do well in school - scholarships - merits - best colleges; make friends - hang out - coffees - nite outs - placements; get a girlfriend or boyfriend - seek love from him/her - try n love or act so if nothing works keep seeking all your life; get a good job - good means which gets you money and stability not satisfaction; get married - have kids; spend rest of your life taking crap from them.....

Watch tv, read books, to attain some peace go to some temple, talk n preach philosophical shit, attend crappy self-discovery courses, to keep up with everything and jazz bout work-life try and take up some extra activity. Work till your ass aches to earn money and then donate money to charity to feel good about it. Go on vacation to forget bout the pressures but end up getting haunted by the same worries. Get old, retire, spend time with the grandkids. Look back on your life with nostalgia, look forward with hope.

This is what you're supposed to do, this is what normal people do. This is what everyone else is doing. Oh sure, there are a few aberrations here and there, sometimes some people slip off this track, but they get back on at any time. They have to, there is no escaping it.

Well ya, sometimes you meet that young pretty couple who socialise so much that people go green. The wife cooks, irons, washes and does everything needed. The man works n earns, but she stopped sleeping with her husband several years ago, the love has drained and dies, possibly it never existed. But that's ok, cause he sneaks off a couple times a week and and gets his needs satisfied. He feels a bit guilty about the whole affair but thats OK too, he tips her extra and gets away with the guilt. The wife indulges in bhajans and kirtans and cares a fuck bout anythin, for her its her karma. For her the life is better than the girl in her village school whose own dad sold her off for 15oo Rs. She loves her son immensely, he loves her back too but cant express due to the Marijuana overdose he injects to stand his parents and the tormenting educational system. He is a bright kid, but the system doesn't spare one.

A girl across the hall tries every morning to shed few kilos off herself to attain the so called happy state, her brother slogs nights together to get a Medical degree only to realise its no good for him in the rat race. The widowed maid wets her pillow every night in memory of her husband who had beaten her up on several occasions. She spends time raising others' kids cos she didn't have any of her own only to know, for them she is just a maid servant.

The intelligent smart looking guy with solid values commits suicide as he can't stand loosing a job in the MNC while the kids he used to teach on Sundays cry for basic education and food. The girl in the BPO gets laid by her boss in a 5-star for a 2,000Rs raise while her mother visits every temple barefoot for her well-being. The homosexual who tries and hides his own identity to the limit of not himself acknowledging it to fit in the norms of normal happiness. Ends up distraught and spends a life with disharmony with himself, just to keep others happy.

While privileged few whine about standards of living, work culture, growth, next holiday plan, their Gucci watch and Armani suits..... For them the emptiness of the life is too much to handle, they seek the meaning in various ways. Get disappointed and live disillusioned lives.

These are just small problems. Often enough to happen at least once during the average human lifetime, all the most powerful nations of the world divide up into sides and begin slaughtering anyone they can find on the opposing side by the millions. This is agreed by all to be unfortunate but necessary.And the city you live in, if you're in a western country and living in a city, has already been targeted by some country's nuclear weaponry. A few pushes of the right buttons, and you'll be vaporized, or survive and live in some radioactive waste. But that's ok, because it probably won't happen in the immediate future, so you might as well go out and buy the week's groceries.

But this all keeps happening in the backdrop of your fucking life. You can convince yourself that once you lose that 3 kilos, get more money or become famous, or get your husband to stop beating you, or finally kick that addiction, you'll be a normal happy person like everyone else. Like everyone else looks. Happiness is an illusion, it will make you run as far as you can and as fast as you can. Other person looks happy until you meet him and when you know his story its another quest for happiness.

The problems of life are all symptoms of the same cause. The locks on your doors which you need to keep out burglars, the schoolyard bully, the serial killer, the drug addict, the drug dealer, the billionaire who thinks he's being exploited by the poor, poor who is exploited by the politician and your own unhappiness, all are interconnected. We're a fucked up species, striving to be healthy and happy while simultaneously destroying ourselves and all the happiness around. Quantifying happiness and loosing its essence.

But in the end, nothing matters, absolutely nothing. Once you die, it wont matter to you if you were fat or underpaid. Like someone rightly put it, its just one life in the ocean of lives. As inconsequential as it can get. Its a cosmic conspiracy to keep you chasing the non-existent.

I'm BESPECTACLED!!! :(

It happens to all and so I always thought, I will accept it with grace when it happens to me.... But, NOOOO... I found myself shouting (inside, as I couldn't do it in public :P).. "Why GOD why..? Why ME...? Why so soon !!!!"

NO, I'm not talking bout Death or marriage (both are almost equivalents :P), I'm still talking about my SPCTS only :(

Some History: My mom doesn't want me to divulge this in public ever as she thinks it will reduce my chances of becoming a prospective matrimonial stuff... Little does she know, this can never happen... :P
Crap apart, as a child I had a WEIRD philosophy.... Like one can "write" with only one hand, one can also "see" only with ONE EYE...... YES, I could not see properly with my left eye ever since I know, but always thought it was very normal... (DO NOT laugh, it can happen and is very LOGICAL) So, I never told my parents bout it, AND... when I did, they where shocked like I was blind... he he... After some diagnosis, it turned out it was Chronic... My mom refuses to accept though (that she produced a faulty piece :P) and still thinks, it was due to one of the KARATE tournament I participated in when very young....
To cut the long story short, I can see (properly) with only my RIGHT eye (like I can write) and the Docs said it won't cause any problems whatsoever....

THEN, I joined work and started spending more that 9 hour in front of the monitor... Moreover, I have a desktop and a laptop (YES, I DO :D) both and their brightness doesn't match so I ended up affecting my Right eye too and one fine day had to meet the Oculist.... She gave me a Positive 0.5 cylindrical power glasses for my right eye...
Nonetheless, I look really SMART in these glasses and I have to put them on only while working so I don't really mind, so all you feeling devilishly happy can shut up.... :P

GOD and his ways of inkling me to grow up, but lil does he know, I don't have any plans to... Come Glasses Come what may, I will be the same spoilt pampered and bratty kid inside....