The TimePass of India

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...