Thursday, December 3, 2009

LOVE......EVIL......BAPTISM OF JOY (The Evil That Men Do by Iron Maiden)


Love is a razor and I walked the line on that silver blade
Slept in the dust with his daughter, her eyes red with
The slaughter of innocence
But I will pray for her
I will call her name out loud
I would bleed for her
If only I could see her now

Living on a razors edge
Balancing on a ledge
Living on a razors edge

The evil that men do lives on and on.....
The evil that men do lives on and on.....
The evil that men do lives on and on.....
The evil that men do lives on and on.....

Circle of fire my baptism of joy at an end it seems
The seventh lamb slain, the book of life opens before me
But I will pray for you
And some day I may return
Don't you cry for me
Beyond is where I learn

Sunday, October 11, 2009

SOME PICS I CLICKED OVER THE WEEKEND

THIS BEAUTIFUL MOTH WAS SITTING ON MY MAIN DOOR



A BUTTERFLY IN MY GARDEN ...










Thursday, September 24, 2009

BEAUTIFULL LYRICS....WONDERFULL SONG..LOVE IT

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat, but always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed

Chorus: I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
and when you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance, I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Livin’ might mean takin’ chances, but they're worth takin’
Lovin’ might be a mistake but it's worth makin’
Don't let some hell bent heart leave you bitter
When you come close to selling out, reconsider
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance (time is a wheel in constant motion always)
I hope you dance (rolling us along)
I hope you dance (tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder)
I hope you dance (where those years have gone)

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance,


dance ................................, I hope you dance,
I hope you dance (time is wheel in constant motion always)
I hope you dance (rolling us along)
I hope you dance (tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder)
I hope you dance (where those years have gone)
(tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder)
(where those years have gone)

Monday, September 7, 2009

Baz Luhrman - Sunscreen Speech

================================
Baz Luhrman - Sunscreen Speech
================================

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ?9...Wear sunscreen


If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years youll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you cant grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked...Youre not as fat as you imagine.

Dont worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you

Sing

Dont be reckless with other peoples hearts, dont put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss

Dont waste your time on jealousy; sometimes youre ahead, sometimes youre behind...the race is long, and in the end its only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch

Dont feel guilty if you dont know what to do with your life...the most interesting people I know didnt know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still dont.

Get plenty of calcium

Be kind to your knees, youll miss them when theyre gone.

Maybe youll marry, maybe you wont, maybe youll have children, maybe you wont, maybe youll divorce at 40, maybe youll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary...what ever you do, dont congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either - your choices are half chance, so are everybody elses.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can...dont be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, its the greatest instrument youll ever own.

Dance...even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you dont follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, youll never know when theyll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography in lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, price will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do youll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Dont expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Dont mess too much with your hair, or by the time its 40, it will look 85.

Be careful who advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than its worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen...

Monday, August 31, 2009

LOVE


I read this story quite some time ago..but somehow i have this sudden urge to post it here..here it goes..


Once upon a time, on a lonely island there lived all feelings...Richness,sadness,love,vanity etc.....One day they suddenly realized that the island was sinking.All prepared their boats and started to fleet towards the dry land.Love decided to stay back till the last moment.

When finally the last moment came,love requested richness to take her across to dry land.Richness said it had too much of gold & silver that there was no place for love in that boat.....Love then requested sadness but sadness said that she was so sad that she wanted to be left alone....Love then asked vanity to take her in her beautiful boat but vanity refused as it felt that love was dirty and would spoil the beauty of its boat....Happiness just passed by & was so happy that it could not hear love calling for help.

Then all of a sudden,a boat came and asked love to come over.Love in all excitement forgot to ask who it was.It was only when it met an elder "knowledge" on dry land that love asked who had helped her??? Knowledge replied it was "Time" ,another elder.Love,full of surprise,inquired that why time had helped her.Knowledge ,smiled a deep smile of wisdom and replied :
"It is only time which realizes how great love is"

How come a sardonic creature like me talking about love is what u might say. Well..just care to be in love nd i m sure u ll find an answer..

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon -- dalai lama

Thursday, August 27, 2009

DEAR BOSS (PAATRAO)

I, on behalf of my fellow design engineers, want to tell my dear GM the following points to remember.

Hope my fellow mates will understand . Hail designing. hail calculations, hell blah blah blah

1. Never give me work in the morning. Always wait until 4:00 and then bring it to me. The challenge of a deadline is refreshing.

2. Always leave without telling anyone where you’re going. It gives me a chance to be creative when someone asks where you are.

3. If you give me more than one job to do, don’t tell me which is priority. I am psychic.

4. Do your best to keep me late. I adore this office and really have nowhere to go or anything to do. I have no life beyond work.

5. If a job I do pleases you, keep it a secret. If that gets out, it could mean a promotion.

6. If you have special instructions for a job, don’t write them down. In fact, save them until the job is almost done. No use confusing me with useful information.

7. Be nice to me only when the job I’m doing for you could really change your life and send you straight up the corporate ladder.

8. Tell me all your little problems. No one else has any and it’s nice to know someone is less fortunate. I especially like the story about having to pay so much taxes on the bonus check you received for being such a good General manager n how u have to weave through traffic evryday in your air conditioned car with customised music system .

9. Wait until my yearly review and THEN tell me what my goals SHOULD have been. Give me a great performance rating BUT with ONLY a cost of living increase. I’m not here for the money anyway.

10.Feed me all the sweets YOUR wife packs FOR you in your lunch box thus forcing me to change my wardrobe twice yearly .

RANTTTTTTTT ....BORROWED ONE

This rant was written for the Wharton Undergraduate Journal

This is a tribute to the nice guys. The nice guys that finish last, that never become more than friends, that endure hours of whining and bitching about what assholes guys are, while disproving the very point. This is dedicated to those guys who always provide a shoulder to lean on but restrain themselves to tentative hugs, those guys who hold open doors and give reassuring pats on the back and sit patiently outside the changing room at department stores. This is in honor of the guys that obligingly reiterate how cute/beautiful/smart/funny/sexy their female friends are at the appropriate moment, because they know most girls need that litany of support. This is in honor of the guys with open minds, with laid-back attitudes, with honest concern. This is in honor of the guys who respect a girl’s every facet, from her privacy to her theology to her clothing style.
This is for the guys who escort their drunk, bewildered female friends back from parties and never take advantage once they’re at her door, for the guys who accompany girls to bars as buffers against the rest of the creepy male population, for the guys who know a girl is fishing for compliments but give them out anyway, for the guys who always play by the rules in a game where the rules favor cheaters, for the guys who are accredited as boyfriend material but somehow don’t end up being boyfriends, for all the nice guys who are overlooked, underestimated, and unappreciated, for all the nice guys who are manipulated, misled, and unjustly abandoned, this is for you.
This is for that time she left 40 urgent messages on your cell phone, and when you called her back, she spent three hours painstakingly dissecting two sentences her boyfriend said to her over dinner. And even though you thought her boyfriend was a chump and a jerk, you assured her that it was all ok and she shouldn’t worry about it. This is for that time she interrupted the best killing spree you’d ever orchestrated in GTA3 to rant about a rumor that romantically linked her and the guy she thinks is the most repulsive person in the world. And even though you thought it was immature and you had nothing against the guy, you paused the game for two hours and helped her concoct a counter-rumor to spread around the floor. This is also for that time she didn’t have a date, so after numerous vows that there was nothing “serious” between the two of you, she dragged you to a party where you knew nobody, the beer was awful, and she flirted shamelessly with you, justifying each fit of reckless teasing by announcing to everyone: “oh, but we’re just friends!” And even though you were invited purely as a symbolic warm body for her ego, you went anyways. Because you’re nice like that.
The nice guys don’t often get credit where credit is due. And perhaps more disturbing, the nice guys don’t seem to get laid as often as they should. And I wish I could logically explain this trend, but I can’t. From what I have observed on campus and what I have learned from talking to friends at other schools and in the workplace, the only conclusion I can form is that many girls are just illogical, manipulative bitches. Many of them claim they just want to date a nice guy, but when presented with such a specimen, they say irrational, confusing things such as “oh, he’s too nice to date” or “he would be a good boyfriend but he’s not for me” or “he already puts up with so much from me, I couldn’t possibly ask him out!” or the most frustrating of all: “no, it would ruin our friendship.” Yet, they continue to lament the lack of datable men in the world, and they expect their too-nice-to-date male friends to sympathize and apologize for the men that are jerks. Sorry, guys, girls like that are beyond my ability to fathom. I can’t figure out why the connection breaks down between what they say (I want a nice guy!) and what they do (I’m going to sleep with this complete ass now!). But one thing I can do is say that the nice-guy-finishes-last phenomenon doesn’t last forever. There are definitely many girls who grow out of that train of thought and realize they should be dating the nice guys, not taking them for granted. The tricky part is finding those girls, and even trickier, finding the ones that are single.
So, until those girls are found, I propose a toast to all the nice guys. You know who you are, and I know you’re sick of hearing yourself described as ubiquitously nice. But the truth of the matter is, the world needs your patience in the department store, your holding open of doors, your party escorting services, and your propensity to be a sucker for a pretty smile. For all the crazy, insane, absurd things you tolerate, for all the situations where you are the faceless, nameless hero, my accolades, my acknowledgement, and my gratitude go out to you. You do have credibility in this society, and your well deserved vindication is coming.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

How I feel has nothing to do with how much I have

A freind forwarded this message to me ....liked it...so posting it over here ...

Money has no memory. Experience has. You will never know what the total cost of your education was, but for a lifetime you will recall and relive the memories of schools and colleges. Few years from now, you will forget the amount you paid to settle the hospitalization bill, but will ever cherish having saved your mother's life or the life you get to live with the just born. You won't remember the cost of your honeymoon, but to the last breath remember the experiences of the bliss of togetherness. Money has no memory. Experience has.

Good times and bad times, times of prosperity and times of poverty, times when the future looked so secure and times when you didn't know from where the tomorrow will come… life has been in one way or the other a roller-coaster ride for everyone. Beyond all that abundance and beyond all that deprivation, what remains is the memory of experiences. Sometimes the wallet was full… sometimes even the pocket was empty. There was enough and you still had reasons to frown. There wasn't enough and you still had reasons to smile. Today, you can look back with tears of gratitude for all the times you had laughed together, and also look back with a smile at all the times you cried alone. All in all, life filled you with experiences to create a history of your own self, and you alone can remember them all.

The first time you balanced yourself on your cycle without support…
The first time she said 'yes' and it was two years since you proposed…
The first cry… the first steps… the first word… the first kiss… all of your child…
The first gift you bought for your parents and the first gift your daughter gave you…
The first award… the first public appreciation… the first stage performance…
And the list is endless… Experiences, with timeless memory…

No denying that anything that's material cost money, but the fact remains the cost of the material will be forgotten, but the experience never.

So, what if it's economic recession? Let it be, but let there not be a recession to the quality of your life. You can still take your parents, if not on a pilgrimage, at least to the local temple. You can still play with your children, if not on an international holiday, at least in the local park. It doesn't cost money to lie down or to take a loved one onto your lap. Nice time to train the employees, create leadership availability and be ready for the wonderful times when they arrive. Hey! Aspects like your health, knowledge development and spiritual growth are not economy dependent.

Time will pass… economy will revive… currency will soon be in current… and in all this, I don't want you to look back and realise you did nothing but stayed in gloom. Recession can make you lose out on money. Let it not make you lose out on experiences… If you are not happy with what you have, no matter how much more you have, you will still not be happy.
Make a statement with the way you live your life: How I feel has nothing to do with how much I have.

"The best way to predict future is to create it!"

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

THE KID WITH GOLDEN SIGHT


Recently I had gone to a hospital with my mom to visit a sick relative of ours. After exchanging some pleasantries with me she became engrossed chatting with my mom. I decided to leave both of them alone and went for a walk in the adjoining garden which thankfully was maintained very well. I went and sat on a concrete bench besides a small tree bearing tiny but beautiful purple flowers and started listening to Akon singing about.

Just then a young kid all tired from play and out of breath approached me. He looked at me and with great excitement said “look what I have found”. I looked at his muddied hands and at the half dried rose that lay in it. I faked a smile and leaned back my head on the bench hoping that he would go away.
But instead of going away he sat next to me and placing the flower on his nose enthusiastically chimed “It smells great, see how beautiful it is. Here I picked it for you”. Thinking that at least after I take it he will go away I decided to accept it. I reached my hand forward and said “Thanks yaar, it looks great”. But instead of placing the rose in my hands he just held it in thin air.
And then it HIT me, it HIT me BIG TIME. THE KID WAS BLIND.
I heard my voice quiver and could see the tears shining in the setting evening sun as I thanked him for picking such a beautiful rose. “You’re welcome” he smiled and scrambled off to play in the garden totally unaware of the crater that he had made in my heart ……

As I sat there in the garden I pondered how we all move and live in this beautiful world like we are blind. Silently offering a prayer to the almighty for sending this little angel who opened my eyes I wondered that perhaps he was the one who was blessed with the true sight .I silently vowed to see and appreciate the beauty that lies hidden in every corner of this world as we go about our busy days.
I took the dried, wilted rose to my nose and breathed in the sweet essence and smiled as I watched that young kid with another weed in his hand about to change the life of an unsuspecting old patient sitting forlornly some distance away.

Monday, July 6, 2009

MICHAEL JACKSON'S GHOST ....SEE IT HERE ...

yeah yeah yeah I was skeptical too ..but this was filmed while shooting Larry King Live and hosted by Larry King a respected and widely watched T.V Presenter on CNN and not by any Tom Dick or Harry of a paparazzi ....so all u skeptical people out there watch the video carefully and if ur darned impatient like me ;) ..u can fast fwd it to somewhere in the middle when a caption appears on the screen to watch out for Michael Jackson's ghost ...you can ACTUALLY see a shadow of someone passing through the end of the corridor .......this is as real as it can get ....

Monday, June 29, 2009

BEST ENGINEERING DIALOGUES

Best Engineering memories!There’s a thing called viva (orals) in engineering that most public (I mean the students) abhor ….why? Firstly we aren’t prepared at all for it, what with all the journals and assignments to write, and the dreaded submissions, and practicals to attend and “other” important work to do (come to think of it we are NEVER prepared!!!!!)

Secondly there’s a creature that goes by the name of external (lunatic out of work profs from other colleges), who conducts the viva, and who are hell bent on making our lives miserable by asking stupid idiotic questions which mostly are out of the syllabus (I mean asking when is Rajiv Gandhi’s birthday in a Fluid Mechanics oral just because our college is named after the leader can only be termed as the height a lunatic can reach, and trust me there WERE plenty of heights reached by members of this tribe)

Thirdly the oral is a process which gives instant feedback to a student on his fate. He comes to know right there -on the basis of questions asked by the lunatic-weather he is passed or if his fate has been sealed because the lunatic prof. who has come to conduct the orals has had a major fight with his wife the morning of the said day!!!

I’ve seen students studying for the orals like their life depended on it. These folks may not take the book in their hands for the written exams but they will learn their hearts out for the orals!!!

Our great mechanical department was mostly based in the basement .so on the day of the viva you would see folks in various body positions sitting on the stairs leading down mugging. The most tensed up items would be roll number one and two (orals are mostly conducted in batches of two).so the first of the two warriors would be getting ready ,reading furiously from 4 books spread before them , asking questions to fellow warriors in rapid static bursts …what’s the Knudsen number? Whats the Navier-Stokes equations? Whats the Bernoulli’s equation? Whats the difference between the two equations? When is Rajiv Gandhi’s birthday?!!!!!!!!!!
Answers are fired back in similar static bursts from all around …the atmosphere is tense the air thick with mystery and tension ….and suddenly someone asks in all seriousness “aaj kounse subject ka viva hai yaar?” there are peels of laughter from all over. This is our in-house official clown cum prankster cum everything –satta.I forgot his real name but even our professors used to call him that.

Once I had the real fortune of going for the Fluid Mechanics viva with this guy (was paired with him because some VJTI prof. had come and he decided to pair the junta randomly according to roll numbers) .Now both of us are as prepared as we can be (read: we aren’t prepared at all) and are really scared to our b@#$$% coz we have come to know via our local prof. that this fellow is a real khadus guy. We go inside wish the external and get prepared to be badgered. He takes my journal in his hand and starts going through the stuff that ive written.

External: nice handwriting

Me (thank god): thank you sir.
He just rushes through the pages n comes back to the first page which is the certificate page and has my name written on it.

External: so your name’s LEONARDO??

Me: Leonard sir

External: ohh so Ur just ‘o’ short from becoming the great Leonardo da Vinci huh? hahahahahah heheheheheheh

Me and satta (both of us thought this was a stupid joke but what the hell the external is laughing for god’s sake so while in lunatic land do as the lunatics do !!!): hahahahahah heheheheheheh

External: so Leonardo what are your hobbies? Do you paint?

Me: yes yes of course sir (I do I really do)

External: Great yaar, nice to know that.

He then proceeds to Sign my journal……End of viva!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Satta who is sitting besides me is elated .He thinks the oral is over for the BOTH of us. But his joy is short lived .External takes satta’s journal in his hand, flips through it and comes to some assignment satta, like the most of us, has copied from some other guy.

External (squinting hard to read what satta has written): Terrible handwriting you have .Tell me the Bernoulli’s equation?

Satta just stares at him like he has been hit by a ton of bricks ….

Satta (what the f#$% is that???): sir uhhhh huhhhhh uhhh Bernoulli’s equation????

External: ok fine tell me the difference between Newtonian vs. non-Newtonian fluids.

Satta (W.t.f??): uhhhh huhhhhh

External: ok write down the Bernoulli’s equation here on this paper

Satta doesn’t know what the hell he is talking; he just stares at him with his mouth wide open …

External: ok tell me which chapters have you studied for your orals today?

Satta (the ever clever genius in making excuses): sir I have a K.T paper tomorrow morning, I was studying that sir for the past three days.

External: ohh ok .which subject is it?

Satta: Applied Thermodynamics-1 third SEM sir

External: thik hain I will ask you on that!!!!!!!!!!

Satta who hasn’t studied a word of that subject either knows that he is in serious shit now …he grabs my hand with his by now sweating hand from under the table and looks pleadingly at me.

External: Tell me the properties of a fluid

Satta: uhhh huhhh properties of a fluid???

External (getting irritated): you don’t know the properties of a fluid???

Satta: uhh huhhhh uhhh hhhhh …………….

External (pissed): get out of here and please come prepared the next time (indirectly saying you’re failed)

External (looking at me): Leonardo teach him some things will you??

Me: yes sir yes sir...

So now that you get a general idea about how our orals are conducted, am gonna give you the choicest of picks from the most commonly used dialogues and phrases from engineering …here goes …


VIVA (b4 going for the orals)

"viva?? Are baba Submission he kiya nahin hain toh VIVA kya ghanta dega??"
“Aaj kounsa viva hain yaar ?”

“Anna aur tholya ko wapaas andar bulaya hain’’
“pagal ye iis subject mein nahin atta !!!!!’’
“External is asking coefficient of viscosity of sea water!!!”

VIVA (after oral)
“daji ke notes mein se puch rahan hain’’
"Salla sab syllabus ke bahar se pucch rahan hain"

" ye aise solve karte hai kya? Maine udhar kuch dusra kiya !!!"
"library mein ye book khatam ho gayi hain "

During Lecture
"Baba (our class scholi) ke tiffin main se wafer nikal… Bahot Bhook lagi hai" (This by the way is a RGIT mechanical special)
"Gaurav tera DOM ka assignment 3 de dal , muje likhna hain !!"
”Journal paper hai?? Assignment likhna hain!!!!"
"Yeh Gadekar ka bhi lecture lene wala hain kya?"
"Yeh kya padha raha hai yaar??????!!"(This is common patented mechanical stuff)

On being Late
(This is a classic..Can be used anytime)
“Train was late"
"Was caught up in the Traffic at four bungalows"(Most Profs who came via this junction would buy this excuse)

SOM/ATD/FMC/MEMC Lab
"Practicals kab hone wala hai?" Maine last time ka Exp. Nahin likha…
(This is a classic)"calculations mein Karna kya hai??"

" sir ne Attendance liya kya ??"

Monthly Test
(on the day of the test)"Aaj kounsa test hai?"
“Attendance compulsory hain kya?”
"Yeh usne kab sikhaya??"

Assignments
KOM ka dusra assg de ….nahin hain? Tisra dein daaal …nahin hain? Choutha de!!!!!!!!"
"Sir Ne MEMC ka last date extend kiya tha"
"extend kiya tha? Lekin mujhe last date pata nahin thi "

Submission
student 1: ye word kya hain? Aise kiv likha hain ?
Student 2: Maine gaurav ka copy kiya hain ...mera assignment chk ho gaya hain …jyada sawal mat puch..chup chap likh daal"

" Ye bhi chhapna hai kya??"
"Iska graph chipkana hai kya?"
(RGIT mechanical special) "Tujhe Sir ka sign aata hai kya?"

EXAM
"ye mat padh ye last time hi poochha thaa”
"Jo main learn karke jata hun , woh paper mein aata hi nahi aur jo nahi karta hai wohi aata hai"

"tere paas Daji ke notes hai??"
"ye question isbar ayega …past paper mein har 2 saal ke baad poocha hai"

" nahi samjha??? Ratta maar "
(RGIT mech special.... when a guy is intensely solving a prblm other guy goes there and tries to understand what he is doing and upon NOT understanding)…. "Yeh nahi aayega !!!"

Friday, June 26, 2009

You know you are from Mumbai when.....



You spend more time traveling than you spend at home.
9:47 fast means something to you.
You know what the term "video coach" stands for in the local trains...

You have hung on to your dear life at the local door.

When there's no place to breathe in the trains but there's place to play cards and sing bhajans

You consider the local train "empty" when you find a spot for your two feet to stand on.

It takes longer to get off from your house to the station than from one end of Mumbai to another by train.

Crorepati, Lakhpati, Hazarpati, Chillarpati all travel in local Trains daily-together!.

U think that Delhi copied INDIA GATE from Mumbai’s GATEWAY OF INDIA...

You're suspicious of strangers who are actually nice to you.

You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression.

You refer to the city as Mumbai and not Bombay.

You say that Pani Puri is waayy better than Gol Gappa's even when they're the same thing

Every three months you look at your street and say "Why're they digging the road again?"

You aren't surprised when somebody throws a water balloon at you while you're walking on the streets during March.

Every time you speak Hindi in front of a Delhitite they have the WTF expression on their face.

Every time a Delhite speaks to you in Hindi YOU have a WTF expression

When while giving directions you say "Right MARO aur wahan pe ek bridge GIREGA…….

You have the following sets of friends: school friends, college friends, neighborhood friends, office friends and train friends, a species unique to Mumbai

When you think everyone who lives to the south(Mumbai) of you is a snob and to the north of you sucks

when u c movie names like "shootout at Lokhandwala" & 'Ek chalis ki last local" & don't have to ask what the name means

when "chalta hai" is the most commonly used word

Everything to the north of Mumbai is UP-Bihar and everything below is Madras
If someone calls u "aap"-- u start laughing on their faces...

when you call the BEST bus, BST, even though BEST is painted on every single public transport bus operational in Bombay

Being truly alone makes you nervous.

You have learnt how to stand in a queue
Stock market quotes are the only other thing besides cricket which you follow passionately.
You prefer saying 'kaanda' and 'batata' rather than 'aaloo' or 'pyaaz'.

You don’t dare stand near the entrance of a virar fast EVEN when you want to get down in fear of being crushed by the deluge that’s just gonna pour in at the next station.

When you enter the train and see that the bench is occupied by just three people (which IS actually meant to accommodate three people) you tell them to “khisak” a little to make place for u to sit.

You think of Chowpatty and Juhu beaches as 'nature'

You haven't heard the sound of true, absolute silence since 1977, and when you did, it terrified you

u treat Mumbai as a country in itself

when you actually see random people coming to help you when u have a problem

u want to get into the train that is already in motion & u have 5 hands taking u in..

You are back to work next day after the city is bombed - Truly the spirit of Mumbai

When you allow complete strangers to spend the night in your house because its raining outside and half the city is submerged...

Friday, May 29, 2009

WORDLY WISDOM

In the movie Scent of a Woman, there's a scene where Al Pacino who plays a blind retired general asks a girl to dance and she replies, "I can't, my boyfriend will be here any minute now". To which Al responds, "A life is lived in an instant". Then they dance to a magnificent tango. (Al Pacino plays the blind general so convincingly you would be amazed at his acting powers .I saw an interview in which he was asked how could he play the character so accurately and he replied that he did not focus his eyes on anything, but he just put it through his glace so as to make it look like he was blind!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Many of us live our lives running behind time, but we only reach it when we die of a heart attack or in a car accident rushing to be on time. Others are so anxious of living the future that they forget to live the present, which is the only time that truly exists. We all have equal time throughout the world. No one has more or less. The difference lies in what each one of us does with our time. We need to live each moment. As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".

Congratulations for getting to the end of this message. There are many who would've stopped in the middle so as not to waste time in this "globalized world”.

Stumbled on this poem somewhere…… reproducing it below…

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,

And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;

Don't give up though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,

Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

Don't Quit --- Author Unknown

As a post script reproducing some excellent points from the book “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho……real pearls of wisdom here…..
* "When you want something, all the world conspires in helping you to achieve it."
* "There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure." (The Old King)
* "At a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fates. That's the world's greatest lie. Whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it." (Melchizedek, the Old King)
* "There is one great truth on this planet: whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe... The soul of the world is nourished by people's happiness." (The Old King)
* "Don't think about what you've left behind" (The Alchemist)
* "It's not often that money saves a person's life." (The Alchemist)
* "It is said that the darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn."
* "What happens once will never happen again. But what happens twice will surely happen a third time."
* "The fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself."
* "If I am really part of your dream, you will come back one day." (Fatima)
I love this song...

from the movie Spirit: The stallion of cimarron...

LOVE THE LYRICS ...LOVE THE MUSIC

Bryan Adams- You can't take me!

Got to fight another fight - I gotta run another night
Get it out - check it out
I'm on my way and I don't feel right
I gotta get me back - I can't be beat and that's a fact
It's OK - I'll find a way
You ain't gonna take me down no way
Don't judge a thing until you know what's inside it
Dont' push me - I'll fight it
Never gonna give in - never gonna give it up no
If you can't catch a wave then your'e never gonna ride
You can't come uninvited
Never gonna give in - never gonna give up no
You can't take me I'm free

Why did it all go wrong? - I wanna know what's going on
And what's this holding me?
I'm not where I supposed to be
I gotta fight another fight
I gotta fight will all my might
I'm getting out , so check it out
Ya, you're in my way
So you better watch out

Friday, April 24, 2009

SOME MORE PICTURES FROM MY GARDEN CLICKED FRESH JUST THIS MORNING

ENJOY AND HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND !!!! :)



















INCREDIBLE INDIA

Yesterday on my way back from work, I was crossing the railway over bridge to catch the local train back home. My attention was drawn to this tall young sardar striding ahead in his traditional dress which was bright orange in color. What made me and the people around take notice, was that besides the ‘kirpan’ which all Sikhs are obliged to carry this guy was carrying a huge sword (you can see it in the picture on his right side) I managed to click a couple pictures from my mobile camera before he disappeared in to the crowds.

I am Hobbes.
I am ALWAYS Hobbes.
H . O. B. B. E. S .....
I AM HOBBES

"Everything happens for a reason..."


In the pic its written in Latin ….

Monday, April 20, 2009

“Tomorrow never comes. Because when it comes, it’s today again.”



Once upon a time, a poor peasant heard that the princess of his country was looking for a husband. The old king was getting very old, and the kingdom was starting to desperately look for a heir.
So the peasant set out to ask for the princess’ hand in marriage. When he arrived at the palace, he found out he will have to compete with several other peasants to prove his worth as the next king.
The night before the competition, he went to buy some food.
“You look worried young man.”“Yeah. Tomorrow, I’ll be competing for the princess’ hand in marriage. Of course I’m worried. When it’s done, then I’ll be able to relax.”
And the next day comes, and the peasant competes with the others, in a long day of traditional disciplines, devised to test his worth as the next king. The disciplines include such gems as throwing pitchforks into moving targets, and taming an angry boar with only his bare hands and a length of rope.
(That’s quite a ridiculous way to choose the next king, but hey. It’s tradition.)
And the peasant emerges victorious, and everybody celebrates, the princess rewards him with a kiss, and they retire into the princess’ private chambers.
“You look worried, my dear.”“Yeah, I know.”“What’s wrong? You just won my hand in marriage!”“Yeah, I still can’t quite believe it’s real. When we’re standing together at the altar, a week from now, and say our vows, then I will finally believe it and be able to relax and be happy.”
A week passes, the marriage takes place, and the newly crowned prince retires into his private chambers with the princess.
“You look worried, husband.”“Yeah. I would really love to help the people of this country, your old father is no longer able to rule properly. But my hands are tied. I can’t do anything while he’s still alive. When he dies, then I will be able to help our people, and I will be happy.”
A few months pass. The old king dies. The whole country mourns for a week, and then goes about its business as usual.
“You look worried, my lord.”“Yeah, there are unrests in the border regions. When I’ll dealt with those, then I will be happy.”
So he deals with the unrests. And then a dragon attacks the country, and the new king bravely fights him off. And then plague comes, but the king smartly manages to contain it and cure his people. And then there’s drought, and then floods, and fires and storms, locusts, invading armies, ingrown toenails…
Eventually, the king finds himself on his own death bed. The royal scribe comes to see him.
“You will soon die, my lord. Do you have any parting words of wisdom you would like to share with the next generations?”“It’s about bloody time. My whole life has been one catastrophe followed by another. When I die and enter the afterlife, THEN I will finally be happy…”
***
So many people focus on happiness ever _after_.
“After I get my degree, then I will be happy.”“After I start earning a Million Rupees a year, then I will be happy.”“After I retire, _then_ I will be happy!”
And like the peasant in the above story, they end up chasing the ever elusive “after”, but never actually reach it.
There is no happiness in the after. The happiness is in the NOW! As the old saying goes:
“Tomorrow never comes. Because when it comes, it’s today again.”
Don’t make the same mistake as the peasant. Stop looking for happiness in the future, and instead savour everything you already have. Happiness is already with you. You just need to tap into it.
Pause to smell the proverbial roses along the way….
Right now, just slowly breathe all the way out, and take a deeee-ee-eep slooo-ooo-oow breath in. Then breathe all the way out, through your nose, even slower than you breathed in.
Good!
Just pick an area of your life. Any area of your life. Could be your work, or your family life, or your car, or the room you’re in right now. Then simply make a mental list of “3 Simple Things I love about [……….].”
The “3 Simple things I love about…” is a great quick exercise if you ever find yourself bored, like in traffic or in the checkout line at the grocery store. It instantly annihilates the boredom, and fills your life with happiness.
Do it right now! Pick one area of your life, and list 3 Simple things you love about it.
There’s no happiness in the “after”. So enjoy the now!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

REWINDED INNOCENCE

The little bully, the loner,the dreamer,the leader,and the big always-happy-ever smiling-guy.

None reminds me of me, but in each I can see a part of me .

But still I recognize all of their faces, even the shy little one who trailed me and almost became my shadow.

It was as though I had found an old journal while cleaning up my room - the pages crisp and yellowed by the passage of time : A little crispier than what was meant to be, and the writing a little faded than it once used to be.

Some memories have names, and some do not, but they are all hazy, warm, and dirty from the days of carefree play.

Anything and evrything is reason enough to trigger the memories of those golden days.

I miss the plays, the fights, the Camaraderie, a life where you did not know ,did'nt even have a wiff of what ego was,a life which was carefree and where only worry,if ever,was of which new game to play tomorrow.

I miss school.

I miss school .

........MISS IT ......

(These pictures were taken when I went to visit a island fort and quite accidently and thankfully met these simlpe kids-children of local fishermen ,who became my guide to the whole fort .....showed me around,explained to me various underground tunnels and shared whatever they knew very large heartedly.Innocence flows from these guys faces)

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

BUNDLE OF JOY.....

He is 4 and half and goes to school. He says there are all small kids in his class. Ask him to recite the alphabets from A to Z and he will invariably give a couple of them a miss during the recital. Ask him to name shows he watches on cartoon network and he won’t miss a beat before answering all of them in a row.

He calls me big brother or dada .He is actually my cousin .Almost always prefers the company of elders rather then children his age .whenever he comes visiting my house he will first make a beeline for our refrigerator to have some almonds. Second stop is our store room where he just stares at the various assortments of bottles and jars my mom has stacked.

He will watch cartoon network till late into the night and then sleep with me in my bed.
Of course that’s not a problem till he wakes you up at odd timings in the middle of the night cause he has to do either shoo or shee….

This guy is a terror if he accompanies you anywhere. You better be prepared to answer all his questions, which come at the rate of about 100/sec ;) and by all I mean ALL. If you fail to answer back there a subtle and NOT so subtle hints dropped by this big guy.
This guy rarely takes no for an answer .Typical conversation between us ….

boin dada

Bol what happened?

Iam bored...Can you play with me?

No...

Why not?

Iam tired...

Why are you tired? You did not work since morning.

But I did go to work the whole week. So iam tired.

But today you have holiday. And if you continue sitting like this you will put on more weight

@$#%## you go and ask mama (my dad) he will play with you

No he is busy. You play with me.

Why don’t you go and watch cartoons?

No I want to play…

But iam tired .I want to rest.

But you did not work today, you must have some exercise.

Ok ill play with you ….

Once I was reading the Sunday newspaper while having breakfast with the family .There was some model's picture on the front page.
This big guy tells me "girls are bad… "

Huh?? Pray tell me why I ask him…

Because it seems they kiss boys and they remove their clothes …….. (Trails off)

Who told you this?

I know.

How you know? (I persist because by now everyone around the table is giving me nasty looks ….common folks I DID NOT TELL HIM)

I know I know (that’s all I can draw out from him)

Of course there is a much nicer side to this little big dodo…. I take him to the shopping centre D’mart (his favorite place currently) There he finds the prettiest girls around and tells them this is my big brother ….he is going to buy me that big truck because he has a very good job ….
The girls look at me, take him in their arms, Cuddle this cute little bundle of joy and flash me a smile ……what a bloody introduction. All the pick up lines in the world would fail but not this guys innocent babbling …..What a sweetheart he is …

Thursday, March 12, 2009

MY GARDEN

One of the first things that we did after moving to our new house was start planning for a garden in the vacant plot adjoining our house .First we moved the potted plants from our old house terrace garden here and had them arranged them in a row to be planted (as exact places the plants were to be planted hadn’t been decided)…..then we kept adding to the collection as when we wanted …but still proper planning of the layout is still to be made and though I do have a rough idea of what and where I want things to be I haven’t thought about the details as yet …will have to get the details ready before this monsoon begins as that’s the best time to plant …posting some pictures of the flowers and some plants we presently have …will keep adding to the collections as and when it happens…enjoy

HUGE SHADY MANGO TREES SURROUND THE GARDEN .......

A KINGFISHER ..ONE OF THE MANY REGULAR VISITORS

A TINY YELLOW BIRD ...ANOTHER REGULAR
....PERCHED ITSELF ON A JACKFRUIT TREE
A BUTTERFLY HOVERING OVER A TINY FLOWER
DRINKING SWEET NECTAR ....






































MEDICINAL ALOE VERA ......

GREEN CHILLIES
GREEN CHILLIES....THE LARGER KASHMIRI VARIETY....


WHITE BRINJALS OR EGG PLANT.....