The TimePass of India

Let the Games begin!

No one gave me a chance..
Winning is not for you mate.. you can just dream..
10 years of hard work so that we can live this dream..
They said you can try, but you can never win..
I had to prove them wrong, now let the games begin..

If I had won a silver, they would say
oh, it aint that great!
He must be lucky, must be an aftereffect of the eight-eight-eight
But what do you know! Today aint eight!
And its a gold, not a silver, man its fricking great!
Everyday aint Sunday, every season aint spring..
I did my best, now let the games begin..

One billion people... are jumping up their seats
The curtain closes... they throwing roses at my feet..
Thank you all.. you make me feel a star..
I am glad...glad that I could raise the bar..
I beat them all..all of them in the Dragon's den,
The tiger growls, now let the games begin..

Girls dont have my picture up their walls,
Dhoni neednt perform always to get the dolls..
Not many like a man with a gun,
the police, the gangster, either one..
But after everythings said and done
I just have a gun..
What can I do?
-give my best at the five rings..
I know you care, let the games begin..

Kapil is still on TV selling shoes, Milkha no one knows about..
I got us the gold, after a 28 year drought..
Its an achievement, its a new dawn..
I wonder if you will remember my name, after I m gone..
But its just one gold, I hope one day we get ten,
And now....ladies and gentlemen...let the games begin..

-Arshat Chaudhary (for Abhinav Bindra)


Dedicated to Abhinav Bindra, the winner of the Gold medal(10m air rifle) at the 2008 Olympics..
This is India's first Individual Gold at the Olympics ever..

P.S. The post derives its poetic inspiration from Eminem's "When I am gone"..
Let the games begin!

I have come to believe there are not as many good songs coming out nowadays like they used to when I was 15-16 yrs old.. I mean look at AR Rehman, even hes dishing out mediocre stuff like Jaane Tu(mediocre by Rehman stds). Even the English songs are not much to write home about.. No Shania Twain, no Eminem, no James Blunt, no nothing..

So I had a tough time trying to find 5 songs in the last 12 months which have echoed in the walls of my brain..(Echoing songs dont mean my brain is empty, its just an expression)
Here goes my list..

1. Rihanna:Umbrella
First heard on: July 14, 2007


This song always reminds me of Siemens.. I had just joined the company when this song was released.. Rihanna played in my head all day long I remember..
And when she went "Under my umberella..ella..ella..ae..ae.. Under my umberella", I couldnt help but drool...

2.Chamillionaire: Hip Hop Police
First heard on: Dec 4, 2008



"Go, Go , Go , Go , Go , Go
Keep runnin' homie"
He came, He rapped, He conquered.. One of the most stylist hip hop lyrics in the last year.. The video was well shot, just made you hip hop along with Chamillionaire..
"A big celebrity, a case we long for
You a pirate, Why you got that eyepatch on for?"
Dont miss this one mate..


3.Atif Aslam: Pehli Nazar
First heard on: Feb20, 2008


The only hindi song that has impressed me in the last one year.. I know its a direct lift from tht Korean song.. I mean how can we copy from Korean songs!! Didnt we detest anything thts made in Korea, Taiwan or China?

But still, the Korean version (as expected) is inferior to the Indian one.. What do we have that they dont? Well, we have Atif!!! Actually, we dont have him, Pakistan has him.. But Pakistan was formerly a part of India.. (Do I see Musharraf's planes heading for my house?)

When he went... "Wooo jaane jaaa.. dono jahan ... meri baahon mein aa.. bhul jaa.. woo..oo".. Time stopped.. My heart skipped a beat, or maybe two or maybe three..er.. well, u get the point..

4. Wyclef John feat Akon:Dollar dollar bill ya
First heard on: June 2, 2008


*OFFICIAL VIDEO* Sweetest Girl- Wyclef Jean, Akon, and Lil Wayne

The song is okay.. okay only till you dont have Akon starting to croon.. When he starts with his stanza.. - "See, I'm a tell you, like WU told me,
Cash rules everything, around me..
Singin dollar dollar bill ya..
dollar dollar bill ya.."
WU here is Western Union.. Yeah Lyrics actually make sense..


5.Nickelback: Rockstar
First heard on: July 10, 2008


The Lyrics, the Song, the band, the legend!
Nickelback does it again..
The Lyrics are what most sadhus in Hrishikesh are trying to find out..

So tell me how u gonna do it?
I'm gonna trade this life for fortune and fame
I'd even cut my hair and change my name


'Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars
And live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the d**** come cheap
We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat
And we'll hang out in the coolest bars
In the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger's
Gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny
With her bleach blond hair

Hey hey I wanna be a rockstar
Hey hey I wanna be a rockstar

If someone asked me 2 years ago..
What do you want in life?.. Er.. me? er.. i dunno..
If someone asked me 2day..
What do you want in life? Heya heya.. I wanna be a rockstar! Top 5: Songs in the last 12 months

A post was long overdue.. Largely coz I was engrossed in one of man's biggest quests!!

I have done it.. I have done the unthinkable.. For years together engineers have dreaded reading any book thats fatter than 4 fingers put together.. Infact we love thin anorexic books, that explains why Jigar and Easy solutions(God bless Techmax Publications) were such a hit! How they included the whole syllabus in 27 pages max still leaves me dumbfounded!

So, as I was saying I have done the unimaginable! I have read "Shantaram".. For those who came late, Shantaram is a book by Gregory David Roberts. This is a fat ass book with over 930 pages.. Thats more pages than most engineering students read in an entire semester!!!

Would I recommend it? Well hell yeah!

So how many days did it take me to finish it off? 60 days!!! Did it actually take me 60 days? Well hell Yeah! It did! And the fact that I didnt read it for anymore than an hour each day didnt help :P
Its a dumb book for starters.. There are like 177 characters in the book and for the first 30 chapters, the story goes no where!! The book has like 42 chapters, thats more chapters than all of ApMech, Metallurgy, SOM, DOM put together!!

So how to read Shantaram with minimum effort?(You like tht, dont u?)

#1. Dont try and remember any names..There are like 57 Muslim names, 22 German, Swiss and German-Swiss names and like 84 Hindu names. Ofcourse there are Algerian and Iranian and Afghan names too..

#2. Dont worry if you dont remember the names, Roberts describes the facial contours of every guy who has a dialogue in the book. He goes like "I looked into the Amber gold eyes of the handsome Afghan" and you know hes talking bout Abdel Khader Khan.. And you can be sure Abdel khan is gonna blurt something out..

#3. Dont read the description of facial expressions.. Roberts has this extremely annoying habit of describing the facial expressions and the colour of the eyes and hair and such admists a dialogue.. By the time you finish reading it, and come to the dialogue, you forget what topic were the characters speaking about in the first place!!
He describes "Kalra", who plays his love interest, like 13 times in the 900 pages.. and he doesnt do it like normal men who are in love go, he goes "and her green eyes, like the green of the sea, her black hair like the black of the sky.." - sheesh!!
I mean, its okay, but 13 times!! 13 times?!!!!?

#4. Dont miss the fight scenes!! They are the only reason why I kept reading the book. Also the jail and the slums are well depicted(not tht I have been there :P)..

#5. Dont expect too much funny from Roberts, there are a few instances when he extracts a chuckle or two from you, but thats all you gonna get.. No feel good book this :P

#6. Dont take Roberts too seriously.. He boasts of learning the local language when he was in Bombay for 4 years.. He also claims that he knows marathi and farsi and half a dozen other Asian languages.
Well, his Marathi is nothing to write home about. He goes "Kay pahije tum?" when the right usage is "Kay pahije tumhala?"(What do you want?).. Now dont mistake me for a Shiv Sainik or anything, I am glad that a gora Australian is trying to speak my language... But honestly mate, had I stayed in France for 4 years, I would speak better french than Roberts speaks Marathi..

#7. Dont miss the war in Afghanistan..Loved the war scenes at the end..(I make it sound like a movie!)

#8. Dont expect a story.. Its not like the Godfather or any other book you have read for that matter.. Shantaram is a memoir and is written like one writes a diary. Ofcourse a lot of stuff is made up by Roberts.. If I have to categorise the book, I would call it semi-fiction.

#9. Dont expect sophistication from Roberts.. As it is, its a mafia novel.. But there are more F words in the first 100 pages of Shantaram than there are in the whole of Godfather. Whats more? There are assorted choicest of Indian gaalis, used by him. I would have loved to list some of them here, but this blog has a PG-13 rating, so cant do it mate!!

#10. Dont lose patience, there is a lot to learn from the book. Every 19 pages he comes up with something wise which lingers on in your memory..
Reading 19 pages for that one wise thought is cruel!! Its like those technical reference books(by foreign authors ofcourse!) you get from the college library, where you have to read 30 pages to get one formula!! (Ah..Those were the days!!)

I so wish Jigar and easy solution would join hands in a quest to bring us this wonderfully weird book in an anorexic form!

But I am still recommending it.. not as strongly as Pushkar, Aroop, Sandy or Madhuri had recommended it to me, but its definite read :)

Theres a lot to learn from the book just like there was a lot to learn from those foreign authors' reference books..

Now only if we could have Shantaram enrolled in 27 pages!!



Dedicated to Techmax Publishers.. A lot of us owe our degrees to you 10 Donts while reading Shantaram!

Well, I had a lotta free time of late. So I decided to update you guys on my favourite women on Indian Television(not that you care much )

I have a kinda countdown here, but point to be noted here is that I like all of them almost equally (I am saying this so that none of the women mentioned on the countdown feel bad). Let me also clarify that I am not "rating" the women, so all those feminist organisations, please dont blacken my face...


5. Ahana Deol:
Coming up at #5 is Ahana Deol, Hema Malini's shy younger daughter.. Ahana is camera shy, which is evident from her ads, but it adds to her charm.. Its quite a heartbreak that Ahana wont act in movies, shes more interested in working behind the camera..



Check out her video below(Kent water purifier).. For the untrained eye, its difficult to identify whos Ahana and whos Esha, well, a piece of advice- The one who looks pretty is Ahana



4. Amrit Maghera:
At #4, we have the half brit-half punjabi supermodel Amrit Maghera.




She hosts "Top Ten Countdown" on Zee Cafe. So what makes her appear on my list..? Her Accent!! Love her accent. She was born and brought up in Britian, so she has this British accent.. So when she presents the show its more like - Welchum to the Tup Ten Countduwn... (Okay, I did a really bad imitation of her accent)..



But u get the point, dont u? And she sways from side to side when she presents, that again is very um..er.. whats the appropriate word here...um..haan..sexy..




3. Parizaad Kohla:
At #3, our very own Parizaad makes an entry.. The classiest of all presenters, this girl had a natural charm. She rose to fame when she compered "The Great Indian Laughter Challenge".. The show was male dominated, with the judges, the participants and even the band was all male.. In such a barren show, the only oasis was Parizaad...



Her dimples made men drool, her elegance, her looong legs, the way she talked, her broken hindi, her smile, her dimples(did i mention tht already?) made us men weak in the knees... Her innocence was charming.. Her inabilty to understand Suman's and Sidhu's double meaning jokes was actually liked by the conservative Indian...



Shes got married 2 years ago and is now expecting.. Now only if she gives birth to a daughter, 20 years down the line, I hope I can write bout her as I did for her mother (The fact tht 20 yrs down the line i will be 40 should not be considered)




2. Parineeta Sheth :
#2 on my list is Parineeta sheth...I first saw her when I was in the 11th grade. She presented some travel show on DD-1. Well, just for the record I had no cable TV for 2 yrs - the 11th and the 12th grade.. I found cable to be quite a distraction and asked my cablewala to cut the connection (which to my surprise he gladly agreed to..)



Back to the topic, well the thing is, I was in love with Parineeta Sheth... She was perfect.. Tall, curvy, classy... I dont like travel shows much, so it came as a surprise to my parents that their son was interested in some travel show on DoorDarshan!! But then nuthing escapes the seasoned eye of the parent, my mother realised that it was not Italy or Mauritius that I was interested in.. I was interested in the Presenter!!! For a 16 yr old, its difficult to accept that he likes someone, so what if she comes on TV!!



Parineeta can now be seen as a mom in some ads, she also plays a part in CID (Sony). She had a small part in Saif Ali Khan starrer HumTum
This is probably the longest affair I have had with a girl.. Its been 7 years now, and I still cant get over her...!! She would be the first on the list had it not been for the girl who takes the #1 spot...





1. Shriya Sharma
Finally the #1 spot.. The prettiest woman, (well, actually shes a girl) on Indian Television today. Shes one of the 5 kids on the new show - "Kya aap panchvi pass se tez hain?". While SRK is supposed to be the star on the show, he fades out when hes beside Shriya..



Though I believe having Shriya on this list is not fair to Parineeta and co., shes just too cute to resist.. Plus if you were to meet these 5 women/girls out on the street, I am sure Shriya would catch your attention before any of the other girls did..



Shriya is not just a doll btw, shes pretty intelligent too (judging from the way she answers the questions on the show..) And she can give SRK some serious competition when it comes to screen presence
____________________________________________

Hmm.. so there goes my list.. Readers are welcome to post their lists in the comments section Top 5 : Prettiest women on Indian Television

"Oh, I hate Maths, not that i m not good at it, I just dont like it.."
"hmm.. I kinda knew tht you were not a Maths girl.."
"Oh, whats a maths girl?"
"A Maths girl is the one who likes maths, they are kinda tomboyish and aggressive, u knw,they r not tht girlie.."
"hmm.. i see.. everything tht i am not?"
"Yeah :).. right! You are an Anti-Maths girl"
"hahaahahaha....And wht r they supposed to be like?"

hmm... Over that conversation, I realised I had identified one of species of the female kingdom.(bravo!)

Defn: An Anti- Maths girl is the one who is so by the virtue of not liking Maths, not necessarily because shes not good at it.. This kinda girl can be found outside most medical, biotech, bioinformatics colleges...Usually found where Biology rocks and Maths sucks, or simply where Maths sucks

I have come to like them over the years.. Now that maybe coz there arent a lotta maths girls around, even if there are they are pretty much like us, and lets accept it, "us" arent that interesting.. "Us" are geeks, we are emotionally dyslexic(wht a term, ah.. genius), films like Kuch Kuch hota hai are as boring as calculus, come to think of it, calculus aint half as boring as KKHH





So, I was wondering what makes me like the Anti-Maths girl..and this is what I came up with..

They are pretty! Yeah, very important trait tht
And not only they are pretty, even their handbags, cellphone covers, pens, nail-polish, notebooks are pretty.. There is an overdose of colour there, and most of it is pink.. Ofcourse, its not just pink, its called "baby pink".. Theres something with these girls, they have to actually identify the shade of the colour.. So the pendant that she is wearing is not blue, but "turquoise"... Now wasnt turquoise supposed to be an animal? The one which goes into its shell when it senses danger and stuff? Oh wait,... thts tortoise!!

The kurti that shes wearing isnt brown, its "peach".. Peach? Peach is a fruit girl, NOT a colour!
Talking bout colours, anti-maths girls are the ones who can carry off "electric green" nailpolish on Tuesday, and replace it with "shocking pink" on Wednesday.. Btw, it looks good on them..

While we are still on colour, dont take an anti-math girl to shop with u..
"What coloured T-shirts you like.."
"er.. me? Well.. black and white, then brown, navy blue.."
(Looks at you bewildered)
"Those are not even colours!!"
bwahahahaha..everyone(including the salesgirls) laugh laugh...

And whats with the rings these girls wear.. they can wear one in every finger of their hand(including the thumb) and it still doesnt look that bad.. Actually it looks nice.. there is something bout metal and girls, cant explain in words.. But metal touching a girls skin is such a er.. ahem.. sexy sight.. But seriously, when you see men wearing ear studs or thumb rings, they look like, well, ugly..



Its not just the way they dress that we like, its also how they make you feel when they are around.. Like when they laugh even at your silly jokes.. I dont know how, but evolution figured it out I guess, and somehow allowed men to access the hidden reserves of humour inside them when a girl is around..

Its weird, but I feel when a man says he misses a girl, he actually misses her laughing at his jokes.. Its the most wonderful sound, guys should be allowed to tape the laughs of the girls they like and listen to it when they are down or alone..


Its funny what maths can do to your Emotional Quotient.. It just messes the emotional part of the brain... There are times when you dont understand why are you feeling so messed up and they can actually tell you what you are feeling and why in words that you never had in your vocabulary..

Most of these girls are smarter than us for sure, but they will never make you realise that.. They let you win arguments and two-player xbox games that you force them to play.. They use "how cute" and "how sweet" in every 5th sentence, and you try and find out what statement of yours made her say tht.. You make a mental note of tht statement and say it everytime you meet her only so tht you can get a "how sweet" again..




hmm.. there... I said almost everything I know bout the Anti-maths girl.. One of my frds got into a Phd prog today.. Now only if they had Anti maths girl as a topic of research.. Research sounds more fun when you like the subject, nahi?
Dr.Arshat Chaudhary, and how cool wud that sound..

P.S.
I thank all my guy friends for sharing their experiences over the years..

Disclaimer: No girls, Anti-maths or otherwise have been hurt in the process of this research... Anti-maths Girl!

I finished reading Chetan Bhagat’s new offering “The 3 mistakes of my life”. It’s the story of one Govind Patel, a 25 yr old businessman. The story is set in Ahmedabad. Chetan’s story telling abilities come to the fore as he takes the story through different different episodes, spanning three years or so…

The reason why 5 point someone, Chetan’s first book, was such a hit, coz he made the story seem like his own. His writing is blog like, no hi-fi words, no phrases, just simple feel good stories… Btw, if you thought Chetan was actually a 5 pointer, u are mistaken..Chetan has always dodged questions related to his GPA in IIT.. But the point is, the fabulous characterization makes readers believe that he is incidents which actually took place.. This superb semi-fictional style of writing coupled with fantastic characterization makes Chetan such a favorite among twentysomethings..

Coming to 3 mistakes.. 3 mistakes, as far as characterization is considered is a sequel to 5 point… The characters Govind, Ishant, Omi and Vidya are photocopies of Hari, Ryan, Alok and Neha respectively.. Vidya whos Govind’s love interest is precariously close to Neha’s character.. She has the same smile,same hair, same round face.. She even wears the same clothes as Neha.. Sometimes I had to wonder if Vidya was actually wearing Neha’s hand-me-downs.

The story goes through many episodes- Bhuj earthquake, terrorist attack on the two towers, Godhra riots.. While it may be unnerving for any other writer to research and write about all this, Chetan does it with flair..

Would I recommend “3 mistakes..”?? Ofcourse I would, read it if you liked “5 point..”. If you didn’t like 5 point, which is weird, then don’t read it.. I think only if you read books like - The Alchemist and The Fountainhead in the 8^th grade, and don’t like light reading should you keep away from “3 mistakes..”, else, it’s a buy!

Like Govind would say -
Its a straight 6!..

the 3 mistakes of my life...

If we resort to lawlessness, the only thing we can hope for is civil war, untold bloodshed, and the end of our dreams.

A Sikh protestor was shot at by one Ram Rahim Singh's bodyguard near Nirmal Lifestyles, Mulund Watch the video here




The outraged sikhs blocked roads and stopped local trains and buses in mulund..


I was at home that day receiving calls from friends asking me to stay inside. One of my friends was caught up at some shop near Mulund station. Mulund station had seen most of the rioting since morning..They were showing clips of men with swords ransacking the station... I couldnt get through her on her cell, a sms later, she called me, she sounded tense.. She told me that she was walking from the station to her house.. I asked her where she was and if I should come and pick her up.. But it seemed that no private vehicles were allowed to run through the streets, I had to get there on foot... The place where she was stranded was downhill, and I knew if I run fast enough, I will reach there pretty quick...

I started outta my house, I havent felt this unsafe within 100mts from my house ever in my life.. And I have been on the these streets as late as 3 am... I could only see police vans all around. There were very few private vehicles... Pulsars and Indicas and most of them had Sardars riding it... While I was running along, someone threw a heavy metal box in my direction.. It wasnt meant to hurt or anything, I think.. I looked around there were sardars walking along..It couldnt be them, they were too far away... I contemplated going back home.. And I would have, had it not been for a friend..

I kept walking, my eyes searching for her everywhere.. I saw her, actually she saw me first and waved at me.. She gave me a smile that I have gotten used to over the years.. As I walked her to her house, she said between sobs..

"I thought they were a peace loving community..."
"Why so? coz Karan Johar has them in his movies, laughing and joking?", I said..

She always had prejudices(A friend explained, that this case is more of a stereotype).. all of us do, but its been preprejudice for her..
But as we were walking I wondered why I hadnt been shocked at the fury unleashed by them.. Aint I more prejudiced than her? And in a worse way...

We reached her house, she said thanks and I looked at her, I had respect for her. She was a brave girl. She saw people go beserk.. She saw men brandishing swords and knives.. She saw them rioting.. And her she was trying to put up a brave face, I could make out that she had been crying.. I wonder if I would have enough guts to walk all the way from the station to here like she did..

As I walked back to my house, I wondered if there was such a thing as a peace loving community..

Gujratis and Tamil are a peace loving communities.. I have some Gujrati friends... I love their dhoklas and the importance of colour in their lives, their flamboyance... And I like the fact that they are a peace loving community.. But werent Gujratis involved in Gujrat riots?
I have many Tamil friends, some of them very close to my heart... I have always seen them as peace loving community.. But isnt LTTE a tamil terrorist organisation?
Maybe the illiterate arent peace loving then.. But then what about the AIIMS doctors who when on strike dont attend patients.. Isnt that equivalent to rioting, taking people's lives?

1 billion people living in India.. The worlds most densely populated country.. Jam packed trains and buses.. Encroached footpaths, system abused , blatant twisting of rules... Even after all this we are able to live in harmony.. I read somewhere, "if so many Germans, Italians or French lived in a country this big, there would be bloodshed... "

I dont think there is any other country more tolerant than India.. And considering the number of people who are packed here and the poverty, I dont think theres a country more peace loving than India..

So what goes wrong in times like these? What happens to Indian who usually says "Chalta hai" when he doesnt get a place to sit in the trains or when there is no footpath to walk on or when manholes are left open without covers...?

Indians only get angry when you mess with their beliefs.. Even the Mutiny of 1857 took place coz the British tried to mess with our beliefs.. And they were smart enough not to do that again in the next 100 years that they ruled India!

I dont think anyone supports rioting, not even the ones who participate in it, unless they are paid for it...Riot is their way to get heard, which ofcourse is wrong, but is timetested and the easiest way to get the concerned people to take notice... As we grow more as a country and get ourselves educated, we will refrain from rioting.. There are other ways to be heard... And these ways are definitely more peaceful and in the long run, more rewarding...

The single clenched fist lifted and ready,
Or the open hand held out and waiting.
Choose:
For we meet by one or the other. Mulund riots..

Inspired from a mail that a friend mailed me...
This story is purely ficitional..
Update: Its not tht I believe in the story or anything.. I just developed a short story which a friend had mailed me..

Dated: 17 August 2047

As I sit at my desk by the window, I can see that its raining heavily outside.. The wind sprays raindrops on my e-writer as I scribble this story in..I can see the Queens necklace from my window. The waves lashing against the tetrapod barricades.. Its weird how much it rains nowadays.. Or maybe it just seems like that from my 24th floor 2BHK apartment on Marine drive. They had to demolish two colonial style old buildings that stood here to make way for this one..
















The day before, India celebrated its 100th anniversary of freedom.. Freedom..Its is such a word.. I remember when I wanted to be free. But that was long ago.. That was when I was 40 or maybe 30.. I am 62 now and I think I am free, but I dont feel free.. I feel incomplete, and I dont know why..

I did my Computer Engineering from the best college in my state.. I topped the university exams in the 3rd and the final year.. My mom and dad, both teachers in a govt. college had worked all their life to give me the best education they could. Their joy knew no bounds when I got selected in one of the most coveted universities in the US...

It was a dream for most middle class parents who stayed in 1BHK apartment in the central suburbs of the city... It was the middle class Indian dream to get settled in the US around the early 2000s. It was the love for everything foreign and dollars ofcourse when it was stronger.. Kids nowadays dont believe that there was a time when 1$ was equal to 40 Indian rupees.. Seems like such a joke now.. Another joke is the electric cars these people are selling nowadays. They dont even feel like cars. I miss the petrol cars they had in olden days.. But with petrol prices hitting Rs.1373/ litre, I dont think we can afford them anymore..

I worked for Apple once I got my MS degree... I remember my uncle telling me, "Beta, work in the US for a few years if you want, but come back to India once you earn enough dollars.. settle down here.. This is where the heart is..." He was right.. My heart was here in India.. But you know what? You never know how many dollars are enough dollars...

When I was working in Apple, I met a beautiful American girl.. Her name was Catherine... She had the nicest smile and prettiest blue eyes and long golden curls... Though her looks were American, she was very Indian in more than one way.. She was shy and was religious and she believed in a lot of things Indian girls believe in...

My parents didnt approve of her ofcourse, and her parents werent too excited bout me either.. The cultural divide started to show, and I decided in the favour of my family's wishes.." If I dont marry you, I wont marry at all...", Catherine once told me... I got married to a beautiful girl from my caste in the 12 days leave that I had been granted the next year.. I was amazed at the number of families who wanted their daughters married off to a engg in the US.. My dad started looking for a bride just a month before my marriage, and he says that there were a little over a hundred proposals that I had got in just the first week!!

Once we were back in the US, my wife, Ragini, found it difficult to get adjusted there.. I was getting promoted in office and I was setting up my own business, I rarely got time home.. My 8 to 10 routine irritated her.. But I had to do it for my future.. I was gonna have kids someday.. And education in the US is goddamn costly.. I wanted them to get the best possible education, just like my parents had wanted for me..

We were blessed with a baby girl-Revati and then in 4 years a baby boy-Arkaj.. I loved them so much and I so wanted to spend time with them, but I was a slave to my job and could never be around.. I became a Sunday dad..

My dad told me before I was leaving for the states, "Once you come back here, we can buy a 2BHK house, just like we always wanted.. And then you and your wife and me and my wife can live together.." I remember smiling sheepishly at the mention of my marriage... He winked at me with a mischievous smile.. He expired one year after Arkaj was born.. I kissed his hand and said, "Sorry, I couldnt buy that 2BHK flat... Sorry, me and my wife and you and your wife couldnt live together".
I left the evening they cremated him. I offered mom to come with me to the US.. She refused..

The years flew and Revati started dating, most of the guys were American and called her Revs or sumthing like that.. I didnt like any of them, they just didnt seem like the guys my daughter should be dating..

I lost my job in the recession of 2039. I was 54 then..I lost a lot of money in my business. But I still had enough reserves to last me 5 years till I figured out what to do next.. I chose to come back to India like I always wanted.. My wife was too happy. My kids werent. Revati was in love with an American Andrew who taught psychology at her university. He was a full 10 years older than her. We didnt approve of the match, but somehow we werent important anymore.. Arkaj was studying Engineering in Boston university and couldnt possibly join us here..

My dad always wanted to live by the sea and he always wanted a 2BHK, so with all the money I made in the last 20yrs, I put in a 2BHK apartment near Marine Drive. I was stunned to see how much the realty rates had gone up in these 30 years...

3 years ago Ragini expired.. She was diagnosed with cancer. I arranged for the best of doctors. They couldnt help much. Revati came to India when we cremated her, she stayed with me for a week... Arkaj had to leave the next evening..
Arkaj offered me to live with him in the US.. I refused...

Revati gave birth to a lovely baby girl, they say shes got Andrew's blue eyes. Arkaj got married two years ago. The girl is Indian. Things didnt go well between them..Arkaj tells me that he will soon be filing for divorce. Catherine expired from a heart attack last year, a friend told me. She had made a huge loss on the stock market crash.. She never did marry...

As I stroll around my empty apartment, I wonder what I have earned in all these years... I wonder if my dad earned any less than me.. My dad owned a 1BHK in Ghatkopar.. I own a 2BHK near Marine Drive.. As I look by all the lost years, I wonder where did the years go.. My kids had never known their dad.. I didnt give enough time to my wife.. I was with not with my parents when they wanted me..

And at the end of all this, do I own more than my parents did.. What do I have that my parents didnt? What did I get for doing all this...All this for what?All this for a 2BHK? All this for one bedroom extra?

The End. One bedroom extra...

Last week Mumbai got its first rains. We were playing cricket when it started to rain.. We continued to play in the rain. The musings (calling this a poem will be like calling Sunny deol a pole dancer..)below tht I have tried being poetic at are inspired from that evening and many other such evenings.

The ground I am talking about here is the Esis ground, though it isnt very big, its to me what Eden is to Ganguly. Its my home ground(in the true sense.. Its just outside my house..).



More Lightening More rain...



I love this ground... I have been here many years around..
I have played a zillion games here u know, I have a million bruises on my knee to show..

Love this ground more, when it rains and pours..
Its raining now and its good as it gets, mud rain grass and sweat..

(chorus)More Lightening more rain..
No pain, No pain(chorus)

Its a war here, am covered with cuts and scratches..
Take all those catches kid..coz Catches win matches..

Run saved, elbow bruised, I dont bowl a wide
Every ball bowled sends shivers (sic!) down their spine

(chorus)More Lightening more rain..
No pain, No pain(chorus)

I bowl with the aim at your heart.. The ball just skids off the wet pitch fast..
Bulls eye..Skid, slip hes on the ground.. Dont mess with me son, Right arm around..

Fast i m bowling ...130s down your throat..okay?
The ball kisses the stump off the ground.. It a wicket.. Die another day..

(chorus)More Lightening more rain..
No pain, No pain(chorus)

I am burning inside, the cold rain turns to steam,
When I run in to bowl, they say its a dream..

Is it sweat or is it rain?
I have been running from ages now, m drained.. m drained..

(chorus)More Lightening more rain..
No pain, No pain(chorus)

Ran the first run quickly, turn for the second one..
Gods seem to be watching, thunder on every run

The pitch is now slippery, as slippery as grease..
I still come down the wicket boy, I wont stay behind the crease..

(chorus)More Lightening more rain..
No pain, No pain(chorus)

Dancing down the wicket, to the pitch of the ball
you can catch the ball on the boundary dude, but u gotta be 13 feet tall

Over the top in the air the ball outta ground..
A lightening just strikes then, the second time around..

(chorus)More Lightening more rain..
No pain, No pain(chorus)

Inswing, out swing they all get hammered..
This match is just swinging our way, just the way we plannered..

I am what I am.. I try my best...
I got Reebok printed, right across my chest...

(chorus)More Lightening more rain..
No pain, No pain(chorus)

Strike here and a strike there, the winning runs get scored..
The opponents arent gonna play the next game, man they r sore..

Handshakes all around, well played mate..
off field we arent blood thirsty, we sure can be friends..

(chorus)More Lightening more rain..
No pain, No pain(chorus)

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

Post match chat:
Boy 1: kal aa raha hai kya?
Boy 2: nahi be.. exam hai
Boy 1: Shit! tera shirt dekh.. kitna dirty ho gaya hai..
Boy 2: Mummy daategi re..
Boy 1: Mujhe toh ghar ke andar bhi nahi lenge.. I just hope mujhe kapde na dhone bole!
Boy 2: hehehe.. Best of luck with that!

Dedicated to everyone who has played on the Esis ground: Pranay-Abhi, sonu-monu, babloo-papu, Deepak, sid-viraj, Prekshit-Apekshit, Swapnil, Abhishek, Tanay, Faraz-Sarim, Chetan, Pakshi, Tinu-Debu, sudhir, girish, swanand-pintu, tejas, pranav, rajas
Update:
Adding my cousins who have played a fair deal of matches on this ground: Aroop-chotu
Cricket in the rain......

Mumbai aapko jeena sikhati hai... -Manoj Bajpai (An excerpt from an interview)

I hated travelling to college..Its a long 2 hour travel one-way(subject of another post). It starts with finding a rickshaw to Mulund station and ends with you getting all sweaty and covered with grime and dirt as you reach Andheri. And your day hasnt even started yet...

Now that I have cribbed enough, let me start on my story. This story is dated 26 July 2005

9:44am-I enter the classroom. 44 mins late for the 9 am lecture.
9:47-Imran enters the classroom. Of all the days I have come late, this man has always topped my record. Btw, Imran stays in Lokhandwala and it takes him 10mins to reach college
10:05- There's been a light drizzle all morning. By now it has started raining as it does in July..
12:00-Its been raining in the true Mumbaiya style for the past 2 hrs... Some guys in the class are thinking of cancelling the practicals at 2:00pm
12:05-Calls are made to the lecturer concerned, he turns down all requests of a cancellation.
1:00- Lunch break. Some guys get down to the ground floor to the canteen and find water gushing in slowly.
1:15- Word spreads. Franctic calls all around. Calls made to the lecturer. It seems he hasnt made it to college yet. Hes out sumwhere in Andheri W running errands in office time ofcourse. Welcome to the only Govt Engineering college in Mumbai.
2:10-No sign of the lecturer. Some guys start leaving. More calls made.
2:30- Lecturer calls some guys cell, only to say tht he wont be coming today. Precious 20 mins lost.
2:35-Koli, Chetan and I start what will be the most unforgetable journey of our lives.
We wade through knee deep water outside college, but tth is normal in the month of July. Its not raining now, just a light drizzle. We dont really understand the gravity of the situation.
3:07- We take the train to dadar.
3:27- The train moves smoothly. We reach dadar. No one has the slightest idea that the journey from here will make us change our outlook towards life. This journey will test our will to fight. This journey will show us whether we are strong enough.
3:33- Dadar central. Trains are running awfully late. A train arrives ever so slowly. You could see ppl hanging out from the doors.Its raining cats and dogs now, and the ones hanging out are wet to the bone... Trains dont run this full at 3 pm in the afternoon. Something was wrong here..
Chetan got into the train, me and koli tried gettin in, but couldnt make it in..
3:35- Call Chetan - "Abbe tu ghus gaya kya?" "Haan.. chod next train se aa ja.." "thik hai..chal bye"
3:44- We get into the next train. As it turns out, this will be the last train to move out of dadar station tht day. The train moves ever so slowly through Matunga, Sion.. you could actually hear the train cutting through 1 feet of water on the tracks. Then it comes to a halt at Kurla station.
4:20- Its been 15 mins since the local has been standing there. Locals dont stand for more than 15 secs at any station. Something was definitely wrong. Call Chetan- No network available. All networks down.
4:30- Koli and I discuss the chances of this train moving. Ofcourse the downpour has to stop, and once it does the train will get out of here and we will reach home. We were cursing ourselves for waiting for the lecturers call. We shud hav left by 12 noon itself.
5:30- we are still inside the train, we are wet and hungry and tired. I go out to the station to take a leak, when I come back, I see tht the water level is only a feet below the level of the platform. Its still raining and doesnt look like its gonna stop anytime soon. Then it dawns on me, this train aint going nowhere... There is no way I m gonna spend the night in the train.



5:35-
We decide tht we will get out from the west side of Kurla to the bus depot. From there we will take a Bus to mulund. We got out of the station only to find water everywhere. Almost 3 feet deep. Change of plan, we will get out from Kurla E and then walk to the Eastern express highway. "Highway nahi doobega! Wahan se bus sure milega" Koli reasoned..
5:40-
The situation aint too good on east side of the station either. But we aint left no choice.
We walk through the 3 feet deep gutter water, wading through plastic, pieces of cloth, chappal, polythene bags.. You could see many other ppl wading through the muddy waters. We formed a Human chain when the force of the waters was too much to navigate through.
We could see half submerged Hondas and Santros along the sidelines.



Most shops were shut down except a few grocery store where some locals were buying loaves of bread.
Guys in our human chain, were exchanging numbers, so that if anything happens to any of us, atleast our folks at home could be informed.
That sent shivers down my spine.I realised that something bad could actually happen to one of us...sumthing bad could happen to me..

We reached the highway. It was relatively empty.. there were more ppl than cars on the highway and there was no sign of a best bus.


We walked through Ghatkopar, Vikhroli to Kanjurmarg. Thats 20kms for you. All along you could see ppl walking. Some who were as old as 50 walking. Some one asked a uncle who seemed really tired as to where he was walking from. "Lower parel"..That did it for me, if he can walk, so can I.

Sumwhere in between I lost Umesh. I was all alone now. The street light were not working, at it was around 9pm now. Out of the three lanes, 2 were completely submerged. I could only see water everywhere. It was not easy to makeout where the highway ended and the side trenches began. I kept walking, I could sense I was nearing Mulund. I kept walking till I was within 5 kms of my home, but I had lost the will to walk... Just then a God sent Best bus came through, i jumped in.. The bus left me at Mulund station. Mulund, which I can safely say is one of the best planned suburbs in mumbai was underwater too.. It was impossible to differentitate between the tracks and the platform. But thankfully the lights were on! It felt good to see the yellow of sodium lamps.. I got a bus from the station to my home. I reached home at 11:30. I came in and lied down on the floor in the living room with the wet clothes still on!! I had been walking for the past 6hrs. I had covered more than 30kms on foot.. I was tired, hungry and angry. Angry at the BMC, the college, the lecturer, at myself..
It could have been worse though.
Chetan spent the night on the Vidyavihar platform.
Navin and Prasad slept in the corridors of a call centre near Ghatkopar
Some guys spent the night in the college.
Some slept in Best buses, some others in local trains...

944mm of rainfall in one day.
Rs. 450 crores worth of property damaged.
Atleast 1000 dead. Hundreds missing.

Dedicated to everyone who witnessed the mayhem. Dedicated to the people who put up a fight against nature to come out victorious. Dedicated to the 1000 mothers whose sons didnt return home that day... It rained that night:26 July

This sunday I accompanied my office friends to this beautiful paradise called manori beach. For all my readers in Mumbai, this post can be quite useful.
So heres how it began. We have been doing 6 day weeks from like ages... Pallavi got this brainwave of arranging this outing. The problem with our office is tht we have absolutely no holidays whatsoever!! There are like 8 holidaysin an year, I suck at remembering dates, but these ones I do, there r only 8 to rem!!

We were looking at an outing which wouldnt take more than 1 day coz thts all we got.. Prajakta, the explorer tht she is, put in this idea about Manori.

After a few postponements, the day was finally decided.. This is how it goes - Mulund->Thane->Borivili->Gorai->Manori

We[Sharang, Shruti, Pallavi,Amit,Sachina and above all(heh heh)me!!] took an Asiad(I have no idea why it is called tht). For those who came late, Asiad is ST's so called luxury bus. Its better than ST which I believe has no shock absorbers. They have shock transferers, every lump on the road is felt by your spinal chord.. Your spinal chord cries like its been subjected to a lot of Himesh Reshamiyas songs..

So after 45 mins we reached Borivili(E). The organiser of this whole outing thingy, Prajakta, was to meet us at Borivili(W) in about 10 mins.

But as it goes with girls, these 10mins took about 30mins! Akshay aka aks aka sukhi was to meet us here with Prajakta.Now Aks crept up from sumwhere wearing nothing but his attitude(and clothes ofcourse). I mean he looked as cool as Saif in Tashan with those sunglasses and tht goatee(I am straight,I am trying to make a point here..Pls be patient) . As he nears I realise he has no backpack up his back(thts why he looks cool? Get it?)

Aks: Arre tu bag mein kya laya?
Me: Abbe? Change!!
Kya baat kar raha hai!! Prajakta toh boli sirf towel leke anaa!
Shruti:(with genuine concern)Tu towel leke aya hai kya?
(unable to control his laughter)Nahi!!

Crazy right? Thts aks for you!

Next, we take a rick to Gorai, you get a ferry every 15 mins to get you from this End of the creek to tht opp one.

As the mech engg in us took over, there questions floating in our heads..

Me:Arre is mein(ferry mein) bhi gear hai!!
Aks:Abbe har chalti cheej mein gears hote hai!!
Really?
Abbe isme Reverse bhi hai..
Haan be.. sahi na..
Merko bol arshat, Reverse mein ek hi gear kyun hota hai..I mean why dont you have like 2-3 reverse gears..
Coz you dont need it..
Oh!
Yeah! (Genius)

We decided to keep our mouth shut when an aunty sitting opp to us, gave us "The look" The look seemed to say, "Keep your puppy mouths shut or I ll kick you in the nuts"

The ferry took like 10 mins and we found us just one step away from Manori. But you know what they say, one small step for a man, one big step for a horse.. Some girl in the group had the brilliant idea to take the tanga(horse cart, you angrez ki aulads :P) I dont get why us guys have to take the front seats on the tanga, why cant the girls sit there in the front, it was them who thought this would be fun.. And I dont get why they r called the "front seats" they are right behind the horsie's behind!

Me:Is gaddi mein kitna horsepower hai? Two bhp? buwahahahah..

Somehow the horse didnt enjoy the joke and he/she lifted up his/her tail and let out half a kg of horse manure.. I decided to keep my silly jokes to myself..
10 mins into the travel..
Me:Aks, har chalti cheej mein gears hota hai na? Is ghoda gaddi mein kitna gears hai??
Everybody laugh.. bwahahahaha... Up went the tail, horse shit again..

Why cant I keep my mouth shut!!

Our cart rider though never kept his mouth shut.. He kept singing this songs which I suspect were from some C-grade Konkani movie.. "Tawa kela garam.. hmm hmm.. mulgi zali naram" some shit like tht.. He sweared at almost at every other cart driver on the way.. He had this stick with which was actually his acceletor.. There were 2-3 times when I was hit, I let out a neigh or two, if I remember correctly..



30 mins after the ride, we reached our resort, Dominica(Ph 022-24462161).. Its a nice place if you like peace and quiet.. The beach is like 2 mins from our cottage. Me and akshay were the first ones into the sea, other boys joined a lil late..
Girls took 1hr 12mins to get ready. Pray, tell me how do you get ready to get wet!!?

The water is okay, I mean dont expect Ganpatipule, but its relatively clean. 2 hrs in the afternoon sun and lazing around in the salt waters and it was time for some pet puja.. When I reached the resort, there was Aks in my six pockets, and Amits vest..

Me:Salee!
Aks:Ruk na, I hav left my pants to dry..
Mera pant tereko mila kahan se?
Prajakta ne diya!!
Towel kiska use kiya?
Patah nahi..shayad tera..
Abbe yeh mera nahi hai..
Prajakta:Arre yeh mera towel hai..
Wht goes around comes back around bwahahahaha....*evil grin*

Btw, I still havent figured out whose underwear he was wearing..

There not much to see around. The resort has got its swings, hammocks and see-saws on which we had the most fun!! This place is for you only if you are a water person and dont care about getting a tan, which makes u look like you have been to the sun and back!!

On the way back I realised how tired I was.. And how much I miss these guys.. And how much fun I had with them...

“I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.”
-Mark Twain

Twain couldnt be more correct... You guys rule...

Thank you for the memories.....


Castaway : Manori beach