The TimePass of India

Crimson Lights..Oh so few,
Mumbai has a lot more, but this feels new...
Long flights bore me, but not today..
Fulltoo enthu I am, as my craft lands on the runway..
Cold mornings, Lazy afternoons wait along...
Home away from home, here I come.

I got to visit Nagpur this weekend. There was a wedding in the family. I reached Nagpur airport on Friday night 3 hrs late than scheduled!

I thought of these lines(calling it a poem would be like calling Sunny Deol a Pole dancer) when I was looking down the window of my Business class seat.. And the mention of the Business class is to..er..well..brag :P

I have been working(?) for the past 5 months and I needed a break big time...
So how was my trip? Well amazing and hectic!
2 days of my stay there involved a lot of travelling... We(my parents and me) had to rush to Wardha* as soon as we landed at Nagpur.
We reached there after the guests had left...The groom was slightly miffed..but wht to do! All the flights were late tht day!
(*Wardha is 75 kms from Nagpur. Wardha is known for Sewagram where Gandhiji spent a lot of time.)

I love the winters...esp when I dont have to get up early. So its fun when u get to visit some place coz then u can stay late in bed.


One of my friends who stays in the US once told me that she would find it difficult to stay in Mulund, coz she had grown up to the idea of living in a small town... Now I can decipher what she meant by tht... I mean, life here is so cool.. 9 am isnt rush hour,its just morning ... 5 pm isnt the time to drive into a traffic jam , its time to go home... No one seems to wanna get anywhere here. Life assumes a natural pace here.

Homes here are like they shud be...with a small lawn and a porch in front of the house... and a Bajaj Chetak or a Hero Honda splendor parked in the porch.And most of them have a terrace, from where u could see kids playing cricket (and blatantly twisting the rules in the favour of the kid who owns the bat and the stumps).
If you have time, which in all likelihood you do when you r in a small town, you can enjoy watching the sun set and wonder where does it go at night.. If you still manage to bore yourself, you can read the Marathi dailies tht u thought never existed. Or you could also watch Doordarshan and reminisce of the good old times when we didnt have a choice and waited an entire week for the Saturday night movie. I would be amazed if anyone says that they can watch an entire movie on TV nowadays..


One more thing I like love about my native is the kind of food you get... I mean, its not very rich or anything, but it tastes very different from the stuff we get here in Mumbai. Plus when you r touring your native, like I was, there r no fixed eating times. That means, every time is eating time. My mom, a doctor by profession, obviously doesnt approve of such a haphazard eating schedule, but wht to do...when u r driving from ur dad's friends place to ur aunt's place, u
have to go by their schedules...

Afternoons here are so lazy... You lay back in your chair and wonder why the sky's so blue...why is the grass so green...and why is it so cold outside at 3 in the afternoon..why is it tht I dont lie down like this more often..Why cant life be this simple...Why do I have to leave for mumbai tomorrow...Would I wanna stay here all my life...Is this how it feels when you are home? Am I home? Is this home..?



Crimson lights, they so many..
Aint I supposed to like tht? I find it so funny...
Phils and Philosophies I leave for another day..
I am now coming back home, my craft lands on the runway..
Cold mornings, Lazy afternoons long gone..
Ladies and gentlemen, I am back home... Nagpur-Wardha-Nagpur-Mumbai

If there's no drama and negativity in my life, all my songs will be really boring or something...
-Eminem


Its weird what ppl do when they are pushed...Like in engg in Mumbai university. I wont say engineering in Mumbai univ is more difficult than other universities. But there are many associated factors which make it difficult. Take for instance, travelling. 4 hrs of travelling to college is not a regular affair in every city. But in Mumbai its what most Tom, Dick and Patils do... There are many other distractions tht a city like Mumbai wud offer, but lets not go there...

My point is, we (engg students) tend to make our lives difficult by erratic planning and idiotic schedules... Our Professors dont help our case much...They screw us with even more erratic planning of their own... So u may have to complete 4 assignments in one day or complete two practicals in 2 hours with the readings and all....

Its weird what ppl do when they are pushed... Some of them fall...Others look for support... Some fall in love (which is not even love, subject of another post) , some take up nicotine, some alcohol and some others find solace in music...

Now this isnt the music they used to listen to as kids... This music is different...

The genre of music they listen to depends on wht engg they are doing, i mean the field they are specializing in and wht college r they doing it from...And obviously, it also depends on how f**ked up their life is..

If u r from a college in Western suburbs like Andheri, Bandra etc.(read SP{my college}, Tsec, Fr Agnel) there is a fair chance u wud like to listen to hard rock... The lower your grades, the harder your rock!

If u r from a college in Central suburbs, like Matunga, Vidyavihar etc.(read VJTI, Somaiya) u wud luv to listen to soft rock sumthin like Linkin Park..(provided u r able to keep up ur grades)

If u r from Navi mumbai college(read...well, there are about 20 coll here..), u wud probably listen to songs like summer of 69 and stuff..
Maybe when the grades decline they will shift to meaner stuff but its usually doesnt go beyond "Nothing else matters"..

If u r from Thane (read Johndale, Parshwanath etc.), there is a fair chance u like Himesh!

Well, most ppl reading this blog (u guys really read my blog?) know I am different! So I obviously wont fall into any of the above categories... Some of my friends listened to rock, but i didnt understand all the noise and the head banging... Plus I dont wanna end up with spondylitis when I grow old!

My cousin, Aroop intoduced me to rap when i was in 12th...the first song i heard was Eminem's "Lose your self"... I loved it when I first heard it, but the words didnt stick...

I guess it was in the 1st year of engg when Eminem's tracks started to sound interesting... I got hooked on to Dr. Dre, Snoop dogg, 50 cents and later Jay Z....
Most of Eminem's songs made sense...somehow u could relate to them...Back then I had written some lines myself.. Tell u what, Rap comes out much better if u r very screwed or very elated! Since I was normal(relatively :)) my poetry sucked!

It still sucks! The other day I was sitting in office thinking about the electricity crisis in Western Maharashtra and the water crisis in eastern Tamil Nadu... a song struck me...Jay Z's "99 problems"

I was humming it (coz singing is not allowed in office, plus the song has objectionable lyrics) and checking my mails(This was after I was done thinking about Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Alyssa Milano..er...i hav no idea why i mentioned her...)

I came across this mail...Its a story... Its in Hindi..Pls try and understand...
The English translation is given below anyway..

Pls click on the image to get a clearer view...




The (crude) English translation is -

Raju's father bought a Robot which could detect people lying... The robot wud slap anyone who lied...
One day Raju came late from school and when asked he lied about having extra classes..
The Robot slapped him. His dad(Raju's... not the robot's) asked him wht he really did... Raju told him about this mythological movie "Hanuman" he saw... The Robot slapped him again!
On being interrogated further, he told his father the truth about watching an erotic movie called "Katil Jawani"
Raju's dad got angry. He told Raju how when he was Raju's age he was all sincere and stuff... The robot slaps the father this time!- Implying tht this time he was lying...
Raju's mom now intervened saying tht since he was Raju's dad, Raju was bound to lie like him..
Hearing this the Robot slaps the mother, implying tht Raju's dad is not his real dad!
I hope u get this story...

Now read this…Same story in English!

To be sung on the tune of 99 problems –Jay Z (well, atleast some parts)

Once upon a time not a long ago,

Raju's dad brought a Roboto!

This Robot wasnt crude, get tht dude..

He slapped anyone who didnt say the truth...

Once Raju came late to home...

“U going out with ur Girlfriends son?”

“Er...no! Poppy u got it all wrong,

I got late coz i was studying, man I was on a song!

I cant help it if I get late,

I aint dating noone - Ashley, Mary or Kate..”

Hearing this the robot got activated,

He slapped Raju on his cheek,it knew he had dated!

“U lying boy, my robo knows,

When I was ur age son, I had no doves!”

The robo slapped the popa next,

I guess it liked this one best..

Moma now intervened,

Two slaps now it had been..

“Raju is ur son, him to lie we expect...

U got slapped in front of ur son, u lost all respect..

Like the father the son tends..”

The robo slapped the moma next, this is how the story ends!

I know..I know..its amatuerish but its an attempt...And I wrote it in my office..among the chaos..among designs and printouts and within the sight range of the German who sits right behind me...Hes pretty cool anyways, but hes not well versed with the art of rap, so..wht a waste..

I wasnt too elated or too screwed while writing this poem so considering all tht i guess it came out pretty well! :P

I got 99 problems....

I know everything except what women want!
-Anon

I am never gonna understand Women..er..Girls. Its girls till I get 32 or get married (whichever comes last!)

Now mankind (I mean the manly kind) has never been able to understand the womankind(is tht a word?). The other day I had coffee with one my sweetest female friends. The topic shifted to girls which is probably the only interesting topic we cud talk bout.

Me being a mech engg. have lost complete touch with the womankind. The girls in Engg werent my type so never really pursued any... The girls tht usually make it in engg are the tomboyish types while I like more of the girlie types and no, girlie doesnt necessarily mean those girls who spend hours in front of the mirror... My interpretition of girlie girls is tht they are simple, smart and shy...
Now dont judge me! (Btw, googling - simple, smart and shy shows 1,900,000 results. One question - Where the heck are they!?@#)

Back to the topic - So we were talkin bout why mech engineers suck at making female friends and it turns out tht its coz we dont understand girls...

Heres the conversation:-

Me: So u saying I dont understand girls?
She: Well dumbo, I feel u dont get it! You dont call ur girls, dont send them flowers...u dont even remember their Bdays!!!
Me: Oye? Girls expect me to call everyday?
She: Yes, donko! 10 times a day!
Me: But wudnt I be disturbing her if I call her 10 times a day?
She: Nope...We love it!
Me: U crazy!
She: (giggles) No, u crazy!


I dont get it!! I get disturbed even when my Mom calls me when I am in my office. Plus how am I supposed to express my feelings? ...We men! We hunt! We fight! We drink directly from the carton! We DONT express our feelings...Asking us to express our feelings is like asking Shoaib Akhtar to bowl leg-spin!

One wonders, if God made hormones (Ignoring wht Charles Darwin preaches) why didnt he put in the same ones in both guys and girls? I guess thts coz he knew opposites attract.

Maybe opposites do attract. So does tht make me - complicated, foolish and bold!?
Er..I dont think so...

Theres another twist...
I always thought these qualities tht I find attractive were necessarily physical (no, not sexual...physical..Theres a difference!!)
But in the last few weeks I have found tht its not all physical...

There is this girl, who was a yr junior to me in my school. She was a mixture of all the said qualities and more...She was all sweet and giggly and schoolgirlish... And obviously I did like her...But at 15, u dont try and analyze why u like sumone...

Now shes settled outside the country, and we chat almost everyday. Chattin is the next best thing to talkin... You can get to know a lot bout the person, how he/she would react to a situation, her wit, sense of humour etc. etc. And man, isnt she amazing!

The point here is , its been ages since we met in 3-D, but I still like her. There is a fair chance tht my brain still interprets her as a giggly girl who wore braces as a kid and maybe it(my brain) is surprised at the amount of maturity and wit she has... Maybe thts one of the reasons I like her so much...

So u see? My brain can solve calculus and mechanics but it is as lost as Schumacher in Mumbai traffic when it comes to feelings...
Its like tht movie - I,Robot in which the robot saves Will Smith and not the little girl coz it calculates tht Will has a 42% chance of survival and the girl has only a 12% chance. It lets her die.

12% wasnt less...

Only if we were hardwired better


Me: Ok, So you mean, I shud send her flowers and choclates? Tht sounds so High-Schoolish. Actually it is outright foolish!
She: Be as practical as u want with the outside world... But with a girl u gotta be foolish...
Me: Foolish?!
She: Yes donko!
Me: U crazy
She:(giggles) No, u crazy! Girls!! Will I ever understand them!

This is my 100th post. Now that I look at the days gone by(at the posts gone by rather) I cant help noticing that I love some post better than others. After a lot of analysis I now present 26 of my fav posts.

I have listed below my favourite post over the last 300 days that I have been blogging.

Most of these posts are very close to my heart for different reasons. Its amazing how much we learn about ourselves when we look back at the days gone by.

Here are the posts which have made you laugh, cry and sometimes even think.

My placements- When the vacations finally began

India Win T20 World cup

Its amazing what men can do!

Of Siemens, cookies and Damsels

Panner Hakka Noodles

Those were the days

The last day of Engineering

IIT JEE-Mumbai Tops!

A F1 driver

Hair I go again!

To prove a point

Schlumberger

The farewell

Ties and sarees

The Diary of...??

Of Gujus, colours and Holi

I just played my natural game

There is GOLD in Mulund

Games ppl play

Bhule toh nahi

The good life continues @ Juhu

In love with Sid Ashara

Nostalgia

SPCE Lingo

The curse of the Thief

There is something about Chetan! My Best Posts ever

I am not among those ppl who would post Urdu poems on their blog...Infact I hate sms shayaris...But there are some of my majnu friends who have blood relatives in Airtel....They somehow keep sending me all these "Tere naam" type shayaris.. Now, me being a nice guy tht I am, I cant ask them to remove me off their messaging lists.

But the other day, I read this sms tht my friend sent me...

I am gonna write it below...Read it slowly...Try and picture it, u wud like it tht way..



Uski ankho mein mohobbat ki chamak aaj bhi hai..

Use mere pyaar pe shak aaj bhi hai...

Naav mein baithkar dhoye the haath kabhi usne...

Saare talab mein mehndi ki mahek aaj bhi hai....




For my readers in the US, UK, France and Italy - here is the somewhat crude translation

Her eyes sparkle with my love still
She aint sure bout it though
Her hands touched the lake waters once
It fragrances of mehndi* still...

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehndi

Pardon my utter disregard for Urdu and English grammar.
Man, I suck at English poems..




Shayari

http://www.google.com/searc...india%27s+most+wanted+timepass

Sometimes I like to go on a ego trip...Actually, I love to go on ego trips..The reason - coz they are the only trips tht need no money and no sick leaves. I say sick leaves coz as Trainees we are not allowed casual leaves... So, sick or not, Sick leaves it is! I have already taken half of my alloted sick leaves... My colleagues must think what a sick person I am...

Coming back to the topic... I was just going on one of my trips when I came across this...

Search for india's most wanted timepass in Google... Who tops the list??? Yeah..yours truly! The Time Pass Of India.

I didnt think I wud make it to the top this soon... And I would like to thank my friends whose antics I have posted... I wud also like to thank all my readers who have too much free time and who are kind enough to read the gibberish tht I produce...

I wud also like to thank the idiots at WordPress. Had it not been for their stupidity I could have never been india's most wanted timepass! (If u wanna know wht happened at WordPress read this!)

This blogger knows this means nuthing...its just a bug in Google's algo... Phir bhi yaar, why waste a chance to blow ur trumpet!


india's most wanted timepass

I got this mail yesterday....I m sure all you engineering guys must have read this one...
I am pasting it here for all my non-engineering friends...there are not many...I guess they were pissed off by my not spending time with them...Sorry guys! This post will confirm tht we are basically lazy and jobless people who coz of their own Time mismanagement have no time when it comes to spending time with their friends....

There has been a lot of fiddling around by me with the original mail...This has lead to the ruining of a perfectly sane email...



Enjoy the Best Dialogues of Engineering!



On being Late

"I overslept" (this is a Arshat Chaudhary special)
"Was caught up in the Traffic at SV Road"(Most Profs who have seen SV Road buy this excuse)
(classic) " Train was late" (Everybody who stays more than 10 kms from the college in Mumbai is allowed this excuse)



During Lecture

"Biscuit hai kya? Bhook lagi hai" (This is a SPCE mech special)
"Rahul ka assignment 3 tere paas hai??"
"Yeh double lecture hai kya?"
"Yeh kya sikha raha hai??!"

(classic)"Journal sheet hai??"


Lab
"Practicals hone wala hai?" (Again a SPCE special)
"Expt. 1 likha??"
"Attendance ho gaya??"

(classic)"Karna kya hai??"



Unit Test
"Yeh kab sikha ke kab hua??"
(classic)"Aaj kounsa test hai?"


late submission of assignments

"SOM ka last date extend hua thaa"
(classic)"I didnt know the last date"



VIVA (b4 exam)
"submission ab tak hua nahi hai , VIVA kya ghanta doonga"
"Dekh Boss !! external bhi aadmi hai. Usko pata hai students ka ab tak preparation nahi hua hai......(ekdum emotional )"



VIVA (after exam)
"yeh bhi syllabus mein thaa kya?"
"achha !!! ye aise hota hai kya?"
"ye subject ka reference book kaunsa hai"
"Vidyalankar mein to alag hai"





VIVA (general)
"Dekh , tu jo bhi padhega , woh (external) tereko woh nahi poochhnewaala , then watz the point"
"Roll no. 1 aur 2 ko wapas bulaaya hai"
"External is asking Bermuda Triangle ka Magnetic force kitna hai"
"Ye kounse subject mein aata hai"

(Classic) "Aaj kounsa Viva hai?"
When is Sardar Patel's bday? (This ques was actually asked in SPCE..Sardar Patel College of Engg.)




Submission
" Ye bhi chhapna hai kya??"
"Iska bhi print-out lena hai kya?"

(classic)"Tujhe Sir ka sign aata hai kya?"

(classic conversation)

A: Ye tune kya likha hai / teri handwriting aisi kyun hai?

B: Jo word samajh mein aa raha hai woh likh , jo nahi samajh mein aa raha hai uska drawing nikal

maine Mahesh se likha hai, mera assignment check ho gaya , tu bhi wohi kar.

Jo word samajh mein aa raha hai woh likh , jo nah samajh mein aa raha hai woh chhod de.


EXAM
"Jo (mujhe)aata hai , woh (paper mein)aata nahi hai; jo nahi aata hai woh aata hai"
"ye question 2 saal se nahi poochha hai"
"ye last time hi poochha thaa"
"tere paas Daji ke notes hai??"
" nahi samjha to rat le "

(classic..... when someone is intensively doing his last revision) "Yeh nahi aayega !!!"

Enjoy the Best Dialogues of Engineering!

Its been ages since I posted. So here goes..
This post is bout my placements. SPCE is known for its amazing placements. This was one of the reasons why I joined SP.

Our placements began on the 19 June just 10 days after our 6 sem exams got over. I wanted to get selected as soon as possible, not because I wanted to get in the best cos (the best cos usually visit first) but because I wanted to enjoy my vacations. I didnt even wanna sit for the interviews...I didnt wanna work in a 9 to 5 job (btw I do tht nowadays..n its not tht bad!)...

The first company tht visited us was Bajaj Auto. Clearing the apti was the least of my worries. I am good at clearing Aptitude tests. The only apti I didnt clear was the Bajaj autowalla apti (Bajaj autowala- pun intended!) And tht was because of a wrong question in their apti...I missed by one question, and had to return home...

Next day it was LnT...Now, I had heard really bad things bout them (no offense meant) and was in no mood to attend their aptitude test...I gave the apti for the heck of it, cleared it, and gave the interview. The interview was the fun part...The interviewer asked me questions bout IC engine and mechanics(the fav of my subjects)...Then he asked me one question bout metallurgy...This is one of my worse subjects..I have an allergy of meta-allergy...I faltered...He smiled, just like Brett Lee smiled when he knew Sehwag couldnt play balls targeted into his rib-cage..!
He did it to me what Lee(How come an Australian is named Lee?) would do to Sehwag! He tested me in Metallurgy...Tht was the end of my innings...Btw Kunal(one of the my "dirty dozen" group) made it to LnT...
I went home feeling sorry for myself..Why? I have no idea!

The day after, on 22nd june, it was Siemens...Cleared the apti, waited for the interviews...About 20 of us had cleared the apti...Looking at the quality of guys nd girls selected for the interview I stood no chance...But I aint no quitter nd I was getting bored of travelling to the Andheri(my college) everyday for interviews...I wanted this job real bad...
I took the 17th spot for the interview...I wanted some time to brush up on my metallurgy...
The interviews took a lot of time...My chance came at 9 in the night...The interview did not go very well..The interviewers did to me what Sourav Ganguly does to left arm spinners!
I came out sure tht I wont be selected...But there were only 3 more guys to go, so I decided to wait...

By 9:30 all the interviews were over...They took half an hour to decide on whom they were gonna recruit...But it seemed lot more than half an hour! I was making myself think tht Tata Power is gonna come tomorrow... I wud make it tomorrow...I had completely given up on Siemens, after all they wanted only 3 students from mech...3 out of 20, wht chance did I stand?..

Then he came out of the TPO, the HR head from Siemens..Everybody gathered around him...I stood away from the crowd, near the doorway, so tht I cud leave as soon as he finished calling out the names.

The first name he called out was "Akshay Sukhtankar".Akshay almost leaped onto him...Hi fives all around...Next was "Rohit Apte". The next name he called out was "Komelabbas Lakhani"..Not selecting him would be such a mistake...

Thts it 3 names called out...thts all they wanted..3 guys frm SP...they were recruiting from Somaiya the next day...
I turned around and took a step towards the doorway...Thts when he called out the 4th name? What? 4th name? "Arshat Chaudhary".... What the?Who? me?how?they said they wanted only 3 guys!But he called my name out..loud and clear...Know how it is when u prick a balloon? It happened to me!

Navin shook hands with me, someone patted my back, ppl congratulated me, I dont remember if I answered...I had blacked out...

I remember breaking the news to my mother and my dad...I called up Aroop and Rohit and few more guys who were pretty close to me...Congratulatory messages started pouring in on my cell...

Even at 11 in the night I didnt get a place to sit in the train, but all of a sudden, it didnt matter
anymore..The Vacations had finally begun...

P.S.-They didnt recruit anyone from Somaiya mech the next day. For any Somaiya guys reading this post, you know whom to blame! My placements - When the Vacations finally begun...

We knocked out the daylights out of Pakistan to win the first ever T20 World cup...Cant find the words to express myself...the adrenaline is still flowing through my veins...My palms are hurting from all the clapping I have done in the last 2 hours...Not much blood going to my brain now...The noise of crackers is deafening here in Mulund...The crowd has gone berserk...There are kids on the street howling...though I hate so much noise nd howling, I just cant stop howling myself...


I ran the queue for the bus today while returning from office today so tht I wont lose the start of the match...Quite unlikely of me and others since recently the interest in cricket has decreased(there were a lot others who jumped the line). And what a match it has been...Some good bowling from Pakistani bowlers saw India scoring a mediocre score of 157. On on pitch tht was a belter anything less than 180 was gettable...
Pakistan got off to a flyer, lost its way in the middle overs and gave India the jitters in the final overs..Some good bowling from the Indians saw them through..

One thing tht you wud notice bout this side is tht it is Fearless... A good captain is the one who injects his personality into his team... Dhoni has done just tht!! Just makes me think if he is the captain tht India need...A young side whom no one gave a chance...today are the World Champions! Wonder when was the last time we looked tht good...2003 World Cup I guess...


Wonder what these two young men, the Pathan brothers must be thinking ... They must have led their team to victories in the gully matches tht they wud have played as kids...who wud hav thought they wud feature in the team tht wud win a world cup final!!!


Dhoni will tell his grandchildren tht he captained the side tht won the T20 World cup...Yuvraj would brag to his friends about his 6*6s while gulping down Patiala pegs when he gets 60 yrs old.. RP would narrate stories bout his line and length...

The best thing about this tournament is tht there is no single player responsible for this victory...Everyone has played a part somewhere...

Its was only a 20-20 tournament...But we really needed this cup...We really did...!!

India celebrate victory at the end of the ICC World Twenty20 final, Johannesburg, September 24, 2007

Dhoni and co - Thankyou for the memories....

India wins T20 world cup!!!

Top 5!

Today was one of the rare instances when I stood up and applauded a cricket player...
I dont remember the last time I was so exhilarated after watching a cricket match...There is still a high amount of adrenaline flowing through my veins as i write this post. Its been only 10 mins after Robin hit the winning boundary...

Robin Uthappa...! What a hero! Just goes to show what one man's conviction can do. Ever since he came on to bat, there was a strange belief in his eyes....Strange, not coz its strange for a player to believe tht he can cause a turnaround....Strange coz, we dont find tht belief in any player anymore...
(There is a reason I didnt title this post as "A star is born"...read on to know why....)



I dont know how many times we are gonna watch his winning stroke off Broad...But every time we do, it will make us applaud the fearlessness of this 21 yr old... He did not win the man of the match award...But in my books, Robin Uthappa is the Man of this match...

Hope he keeps up the good work. Hope he does not waste 3 overs for 6 runs to get to his century. Coz if he does, he might get the man-of-the-match award, he will be the star...but he will miss being the hero!



.....And they say that a hero could save us im not gonna stand here and wait
...oh hold on to the wings of a hero watches the hope fly away

- NICKLEBACK - hero (spiderman soundtrack) A hero is born...

Gail: What is life?
Howard Roark lifts up a fallen branch, bends it in the form of a bow and says - THIS
Gail: Strength?
Howard: no...the fact that I can make something useful with my hands...thts life...

-The Fountainhead(by Ayn Rand)

I am not a fan of this novel...But this is my favourite part in The fountainhead...
For the uninitiated, Howard Roark, an architect, is the hero of the novel. He looks for creative satisfaction. While Gail, a businessman, looks for power.




Its been more than a month in the factory...I have seen the transformer come to life. From the very first conductor being wound on the winding to the stacking of the core. The transformer is currently in the assembly stage.
Looking at it, I cant help think about what a bunch of men could do if they put their head and hands together. Ofcourse only a couple of men are gonna receive the accolades, but deep inside we all know tht it wudnt be possible without us...And I keep using the pronoun "us", inspite of the fact tht I haven't done anything tht wud add value to this transformer...I am trainee...I am expected to observe...Then why am I counting myself as one of them?

Even observing something come to life is exhilarating...
The thought tht this transformer would touch lives of thousands of people itself is so fulfilling...It might make electricity available to villages, It might help run an industry...There are endless possibilities...In every which way, it would help them to make their lives better...

Today,we(Akshay, Komel and me) were having a discussion with one of our seniors as to how ppl in the software industry were earning more than us. I stressed on the fact that core engineers should work in the core engg rather than in software...I would still give up a job in a software firm any day for a job in core engg.(no offence meant to the software guys)

Its not tht I enjoy the job or anything...I still hate gettin up early in the mornings (a lot of guys do..check out the comm on orkut! There r more than 2 lac ppl in the I-hate-waking up-early comm)...I still hate working 6 days a week...Maybe I wud do an MBA in future, maybe I wud start sumthing on my own, wht the heck, I might even join a software firm...But I would still maintain tht seeing something come to life in 3D will never cease to amaze man...

Tell me... as kids didn't you enjoy planting chili seeds or mango saplings...Tell me...didn't do rush to the balcony in the morning to check whether the bud has bloomed into a flower? I hope you do these things even now tht u hav grown up... If not, Pls do...
I have seen the windings and the core being assembled into a transformer...Some lifeless copper and iron getting converted into something really useful...really beautiful... I feel proud... I feel satisfied....I feel amazed...sometimes I feel like God.


Its amazing what men can do, isnt it? Its amazing what men can do!

I was checking my emails on Gmail when Pushkar buzzed me...

11Aug.

6:30 AM pushkarsheth: hello
6:31 AM me: heylo

6:32 AM pushkarsheth: go and see chak de india
6:33 AM me: is it gud?

6:38 AM pushkarsheth: awesome
every pessimistic indian needs to see it
me: SRK didnt overact?

pushkarsheth: na
6:45 AM me: rare..
for SRK not to overact...
hes not ur fav, is he?

6:46 AM pushkarsheth: umm............no but this movie has a few residues of Swades..........the Just Do It attitude
me: hmm...i liked swades
maybe i wud lik this too..



And as usual Pushkar was right... This is a movie recommended for every Indian who while sippin tea and eating bhajiyas thinks is desh ka kuch nahi ho sakta..
Its for every Indian who feels bad when countries with one tenth of India's population earn tons of medals and we dont! Its for every Indian who thinks it can't be done! Its for every Indian who thinks it can be done!

The movie is very much like all other sports movies but is brilliantly adapted to the Indian scenario.
Every minute detail is taken care of...Then it maybe the way rest of India treats north-eastern states and its people or the behaviour of senior team members with the rest of the team...



The screenplay is excellent. The character sketching is brilliant. Just think how difficult it must be sketching charcters of more than 15 girls and just think how brillantly it must be done for you to feel for them when they lose and rejoice with them when they win!

I am self professed Pro-man (is tht a word?). It means tht I believe tht men are better than women at most of the jobs (Maharashtra mahila sangh are gonna sue me after this). There is a scene when the girls beat up a half a dozen boys. There is another instance in which the women hockey team almost beats the mens hockey team. I found myself supporting the girls!!


Parallels will be drawn among Chak de and other Indian movies like Iqbal and Lagaan. Which one is better?- people will ask. I dont think they are comparable! I dont even think they belong to the same genre!
While Lagaan had better actors, it fell short on technology and Iqbal was made at a very small budget.



If you are still reading this, u must be wondering why nothing has been said bout SRK. I guess thts coz SRK himself didnt want to be in the limelight in this movie... Everytime SRK gives an endearing performance, the movie flops.(eg. Swades). So the next time he overacts to make his movies work.(eg. KANK) Thankfully hes done well this time.His performance is realistic and endearing. And when the reports last came in, CDI was declared a hit!

Watch it if you are an SRK fan! Watch it even if you are not! Watch it for SRK...Watch it for the girls...Watch it for the national sport of India...
WATCH IT! They dont come that often....

Girl Power Chak de

This post is dedicated to Santosh! He has tagged me and here are rules. (If you dont know wht a tag is and how it works read this.)

Rules for tagging :
*************************************************************
1. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.
2. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.
3. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged(subject to availability :))
*************************************************************

So here are my random 8 facts about myself...

1. I hate getting up early. This is one of the reasons I didnt wanna do a job. This is also the primary reason why I am tryin to start something of my own.

2. Pizza Hut and Dominos are my favourite eateries.

3. I believe a smile can do wonders.

4. I consider Hrishitaa Bhat to be my ideal match (a bit too ambitious I am)

5. Three qualities tht I look for in an individual are honesty, loyalty and innocence. If you find someone with these qualities, treasure him/her for life.

6. I love running. I feel there is nothing more liberating than a good run in the park.

7. I stopped reading the newspapers and watching the News on TV because it was too depressing for me.

8. I love watching American and British sitcoms. My love for sitcoms is second only to my love for sleep!

Here are the ppl whom I hav tagged

Abhijit

Sukhi

Simply sam

Pushkar

Bullshee

Tagged!

Its been a long time since I posted! I received many smses from ppl who allegedly read my blog and they thanked me for taking a break from all the crap tht I have been publishing all so religiously for the last 6 1/2 months.... But you know wht...the celebrations are over! Jack is Back...er..srry I got carried there...

So? Wht do you wanna talk about? (Dont even bother answering, I cant hear you!) Let me tell you about my workplace...

As you know I work in (beep)... Some names have been changed (or beeped) to protect their identity...
My company is the leader in er...actually they are the leaders in whtever they choose to do! Transformers, Power distribution, automation, etc. etc. They are World no.1 (or thts wht they tell us) in all the fields I mentioned above...

The factory where I work is the Salma Hayek of factories... Its so clean tht you can even sleep on the shopfloor! (Actually you can sleep anywhere if you can sleep in my room...)
The canteen is amazing! Its the Hilary duff of canteens... The food is provided by a mallu gentleman. And if we continue with the analogy it turns out tht Hillary's father is a mallu! Hillary Kotian!! hahaha....


But obviously you came here to read my rants! But you havent got any yet...Its like David Dhawan trying to direct Swades! So here are my ramblings...

There are somthings I wud lik to change here... Firstly I want the timings changed... I dont particularly like getting up early. Also I want a off on saturdays. Who made this rule about core companies workin on sats and Software cos gettin a holiday...

Oh, yeah! maybe the softys get real tired of typing on the PC... And we dont get tired of working on the shopfloor... Who do they think we are? Who am I ? Spiderman? Its my gift..its my curse... (oopsie! I wasnt supposed to reveal my identity on my blog)


Warning: Despo mechie talking crazy..
And yes! I want more girls on the shopfloor! And I dont mean the anjuman types...

It will be an insult to the pretty factory! I want girls like Courtney cox and Salma hayek working it out on the shopfloor... For Pete's sake, whatever happened to gender equality in this country! (I can see my face being blackened by Shiv sena's mahila mandal...)

And...hmm...How about increasing our salaries ? I mean, we are working for cashew nuts! I mean cashew nuts in Goa! (Cashew nuts are cheaper than peanuts in Goa)

And how about makin me the President of operations, India...er... maybe tht was too ambitious of me... k.. Vice President will do for now...

Btw, inorder tht you guys believe tht I work a lil bit...lemme tell you tht I have my own Dell
laptop (2 gb ram) and my own fone (all calls are free!). Maybe its time they gift me a car... Honda Civic is wht I want... But wht the heck? I can work with a Honda City too...

God...they are gonna kick me out after reading this....So much for blogging...





Salma Hayek of all factories...

The first week at Siemens was pretty good. I didnt really expect it to be so much fun. Everything at Siemens is so god damn lavish. The plush convention centre where we spent our days, the wooden ceiling (yes, wooden), the pretty canteen, the beautiful enviorn, did I mention the wooden ceiling?

Now, this is not my first time visit to a corporate office. I have been to Schlumberger's office and while it was pretty, it wasnt anything like Siemens.

We joined on Monday. We were asked to sign our names at the security centre. The security centre is wired and always has hip-hop songs playing.(Pretty cool, u wud think..Wait till u see the guard gyrate to the beats)

We were then asked to assemble at the convention centre.We were alloted table nos. At the tables we saw placards with our names inscribed on it.

I searched for "Arshat Chaudhary".

A rose was placed on the table along with a welcome message and a leather bag.

The hall was dressed in white! White tables,white chairs, white curtains...There was a big screen projector on the wall. There were two 43' LCD displays positioned halfway through the hall. The hall could seat more than 160 people!

Monday and Tuesday were spent attending lectures and getting a feel of the things around us.

On Wednesday, we visited the Kalwa factory which is actually situated near Airoli. This day was the only day I got really tired. But you might expect tht when you have to tour factories (five in no.) spread over 50000 sq mts of land.

Mine is a new factory,and its so new tht you can smell the paint! Most of the eqiupment was shipped from Germany. The doors are imported from Dubai and they open vertically (Like they show in sci-fi movies).
The storage area is airconditioned and its so large tht a 6 storeyed building would stand there! The shop floor is air pressurised. The girl:boy ratio was 1:137 when the reports last came in. There are 138 employees out of which only the receptionist is female!(subject to change without prior notice)
The project is top secret so I cant revel much data.

Thursday and Friday were real fun. We had settled down by then. All we did is sit on the last row and crack jokes all day long. Komel would come up would one good joke and 19 bad jokes every fifteen minutes. Abhijit should be proud!
I gotta learn a lot from Komel. Quite philosophical he is! Among all tht philosophy its good to have Akshay's cool attitude around.

I loved the breaks we got. The tea break being my fav, not coz of the tea but becoz they used to serve mouth watering cookies! We must have had atleast 12 different types of cookies - choclate chips, tuti-frooti, cocoa cookies etc. (And all tht free of charge! Mouth watering or what!)


Now the most imp question the mech guys must be dying to ask! "Were there any girls?" Lots! LOTS! Its been ages since we have been with with so many XX chromosomes in
one room. At all times (esp. during lectures) we had an option of admiring any of the 3 pretty HR ladies who were almost always present in the hall.We had both western and southern zone GTEs at worli. And since I have always had a weakness for Tamil girls, this place was to me what Lords is to Ganguly.

I was really smitten by this dusky damsel. But the loser tht I am, cudnt gather the courage to talk to her.

Saturday was an outbound training to Silent hills resort , Palgher. More on tht later.Will keep you wonderful people posted as Siemens happens.

Siemens, cookies and damsels!

A lot of words in this post are in marathi. But read on you, will get the main idea of the post.
This is one experiences that I wanna share with you.

I know tht some of the readers here know about my plan about the classes I wanted to start.

As you might know, one of the best method of advertising is through pamplets. So we decided to print some (800 copies) for our classes.

Once these copies were ready we had to distribute them to prospective students. This is where the fun starts. I and my cousin, Aroop, decided tht we choose K.J.Somaiya coll of engg. as the distribution site.

There was no security at the coll gate, so I went about my business, distributing pamplets to any kid with a hint of facial hair. In my entusiasm I forgot tht I was standing within the campus. Aroop, the law abiding citizen tht he is, was standing outside the gate, distributing pamplets.

All of a sudden, a kaka type guy (uniformed security) comes from god knows where and catches hold of the bag in which I had kept the pamplets.


kaka: Chalo, saab bulata hai.
Me: (realising tht kaka is surely marathi) Kaka pun zala kay?
kaka: te saheb tula saangtil...

Me: Alfa to Aroop..Alfa to Aroop...We have a Broken Arrow! Alfa is down! Alfa is down! This is not a drill! I repeat!This is not a drill!

Aroop came running. Aroop has a way with marathi kaka type guys.He has done his schooling from King george dadar(Sukhi's school). They give special training there.

But this time his charm didnt work. We were asked to sit near the security's cabin.

Kaka: Saab busy hai.
Aroop(to me):Tu tension mat le! BMC aur police mein apun ka bahut pechan hai(this was the King george in him talking)
I felt better after he said tht.

After 10 mins we got bored and started talking about our joining date, movies etc.

There was a bigger(in size and post) kaka who I thought was hinting at some chai pani.

Me:Bigger kaka, kahi tari kara na tumhi!!
Bigger kaka: Ata me kay karnar?? Tumchi pavti (receipt) fadnaar mothe saheb. Je karnar te saaheb karnar

What? there is an even bigger kaka?

After 5 more mins every body got bored but Aroop looked amazingly cool. He was like his father owned somaiya's. It was like it wasnt somaiya's but chaudhary's.

The original Kaka: Sahebaana thoda chaha-paani dya.
Aroop: Kay kaka? aamcha kade swatah nokri nahi!! aamhi kay denaar?

For the record, Aroop is placed in Infosys. And I am placed in Siemens.

Still, we gave him 50 bucks and got out of there.

Was a lot of fun!! We felt like we were a bunch of 22 yr olds(coz thts wht we are...)

One gyaan Aroop gave me was-No matter what happens, confidence lose nahi karne ka!
Point noted mate!



Of pamplets, kakas and Aroop!