'TRY'ing to get it?

WOKAY!
i do not know if this is even true...
be that as it may it surely beats the @#$& out of swimmingm biking and the running!

had to be a "bawa" wearing this Tee... and to wear it in broad daylight in public. Not that Pune is conservative or anything... but this was a bit much. ;-)

Jago Re!

Literally means - wake up! A brilliant ad campaign launched well ahead of the general elections facing the indian populace later his year shows a youth calling upon other youngsters to "awaken"... his point-of-view being that if you are NOT voting, you are sleeping... the metaphor for sloth/indifference and dereliction of a constitutional duty to vote and elect a suitable representative is well thought out and well executed. Indians are great at complaining about the lack of amenities or services and how things are so bad... because some one else is responsible for it. we are clever at demanding our rights but fail to perform our duties. the recent November terrorist attacks served to galvanise a lot of public angst and there was a mood of younger people feeling involved and wanting a change... desiring it more viscerally than we youngsters usually care about (believing in our hormone fuelled invincibility)I love Gandhiji's "You must be the change you wish to see in the world" quote. Obama appropriated the "change" tag as his slogan to good effect. You need a change? You want a change? get going... move and bring it about yourself!Start with your first pit-stop at Jagore.com
I ashamedly admit that i am not on an electoral roll. Yet.
I have downloaded and completed the form and shall submit it within this month... and you can be dammed sure to see me at a pooling booth soon!

'Coz PINK! is my color...

Aerosmith's colorful song... and bordering-on-hoarseness vocals make this one of my favorite songs... events in the last month seemed to bring out the true hue (as it were) of the varying shades of pink. Valentine's day was celebrated the world over... in India (a country of culture and old traditions) the trend to celebrate your "love" slipped into the mainstream a little over a decade ago. This seems to have coincided with the blossoming of the retail chain phenomenon revolving around cards... for birthdays, get well, anniversaries, sister, brother, other, father, friend, aliens? and other assorted relations (imagined or otherwise). This in turn gave way to hitherto 'new' concepts of 'celebrating' father's day and mother's day and friendships day and just-some-random-day-to-buy-a-card... the list goes on...In the light of that i would think that some anti-V day keepers of the conscience are justified in protesting against a capitalist for-profit exploitation of some very basic emotions.Love was now mainstream and young couples wanted to bowl their lovers over with bigger cards, larger gifts, mushier content and perhaps gave into the more expensive the better credo? Either that or then what commonly afflicts humans - the 'overkill' syndrome... just because a girl smiles back at you the guy is convinced she is hers... raging hormones interfere with incoming signals that clearly denote she's not THAT into you... So protestations against V-day are justified if {Aa} they are against the money driven celebration of the event which is advertisement fuelled {Bb} they are against youth getting carried away into obscene acts and behavior. That said... capitalism is now the way of live the world over... so can we reasonably expect any relief from MBAs wanting to make a buck for their employer by pinching our pennies? no matter that even pure true emotional bonds are game for manipulation... and who decides the moral code? this is the tricky part... The Indian cultural ethos does not NOT permit romantic liaisons... our social fabric perhaps frowns on overt male-female interactions till a person is married. this is true for large swathes of the country though not so for metros where love blooms in darkened alleys, deserted parks, lake fronts and any rendezvous possible. so are we being prudish? The educated, liberal, new-woman of india responded in a novel fashion. A facebook post started of a movement of reasonable large proportions that invited participation from all over the country... dubbed the "pink chaddi" brigade (Chaddi being the local for panties) these women donated their intimated to the office of a regional political organisation {NOTE: i avoid using the terms cultural/hindutva/hindu/other such moniker for i do NOT believe that they truly stand for what they claim}The good thing about this whole affair was that it received national coverage and displayed for the first time the common (wo)man's ability and desire to stand up for what (s)he thought was right. That they were able to find a voice and shout out is GREAT and calls for a round of applause... no taliban here.The bad thing was that they perhaps could have chosen another symbol instead of panties which to some women i have spoken to was a bit demeaning... initially the symbolism of women's emancipation or the "Lib"-era bra-burning was not lost on me... but was there an alternative way to show their ire?The best thing was that this motley crew had to tone down their rhetoric and i think free thought won the day.
Pink is the color... baby!yea...

Ending on a "high" note

It has been a roller coaster year by all standards.The indian sensex roared to 20,000 last Jan and ended the year tamely -50%. the big economies are facing recessionary times. huge corporate houses and financial institutions - once success stories and the envy of many - bit the dust. strife continued to rip apart the fabric of life in iraq, afghanistan, kenya, and sudan to name a few... mumbai was the target of a spectacular planned terrorist strike on 26/11.
but are we optimists or pessimists?
within the month the taj and trident were up and running. the mess we find ourselves in may force us to introspect. a wonderful piece i came across in the 'Economist" put across the truth pithily - wall street privatising the profits and now wanted the debts to be public. we need to be governed by equitable principles and while capitalism has weathered the test of time compared to other models of economy and the 'filter-down'/'trickle-down' seems to have worked wonders for millions around the globe the fear still remains that the yawning gap between the have and have-nots seems to worsen rather than bridging the divide. history shall revisit us time and again if we fail to learn its lessons.
on a personal note-I went running on New Year's Eve. Aprrox: 8.6Kms and then came home to cook a killer Pasta with red wine and fondue. throw in watchin 'The Darjeeling Express' with close friends and then really wanting to sleep! can it possibly get better? It did... played an excellent game of tennis the next day and had some really interesting cases lined up at work. all's well that ends well.

What is the Difference –II

What is the Difference
Between living a life that seems ordinary
And meeting death in blazing glory

What is the Difference
Between me and you
Only our skin being a different hue

What is the Difference
Between a pauper with nothing to loose
And the king’s dilemma – what to choose!

What is the Difference – I

What is the Difference
Between the pious And the religious

What is the Difference
Between the rich and the poor
Are they not humans, both?

On Death

Is death a great leveler?
Is death a part of the journey?
Or is it the destination?
The End.

Will I be able to greet the end of life
With a smile, or worse, with strife
All the while clawing -
Clutching to even a straw of hay
In the misplaced desire -
To live another day.

Some of us who were part of the winning team at the State Championships... those were the days...

It felt great to be champions and to captain the team was the icing... great guys all...

The Vagaries of Life

Early in the morning i went for my usual game of tennis. The started well. Pune's winter

chill, now well and truly set forcing me to tear myself away from the warm blanket... the

game was not too bad either... i came home, chatted with parents and we ate breakfast

together after i had a chilled bath. One of those days when you feel all is well with the

world... you start early... everything is planned out for the day... almost perfect...

A bawa friend called and he sounded muffled... knowing him i thought it was just 'one of

those' things... only seconds later the comprehension sank in that he was sobbing... and

taking the name of a common friend... this young lad - all of 25 - lost his life in the wee

hours in a road accident. he was a really sweet kid and did not drink/gamble/smoke/womanise.

He was not a malicious/insensitive person... as far as i know he was not a liar... and to my

mind i cannot fault him on any count... he loved his hobbies and his friends... in spite of

a hectic work schedule and gruelling hours he seemed to enjoy the work... in short he was

the usual everyday nice guy. this is not a "he was so full of zest-for-life rant... it just

seems unfair that a life like this should be snuffed out. just like that.

QUEEN - "only the good die young...
... they're only flying too close to the sun"


is it true?
does good triumph over evil only in fairy tales? in real life why does it seem that the good lose out...

On the other hand...
an hour later another long-lost friend called... she had good news to give... she wanted to invite me for her wedding... the start of a new life for her and her significant other... i was so happy for her... she is someone i have known for donkey's years... the kind of person that you spoke to for hours about all matters of things... significant, insignificant and everything in between. i was caught between that sinking feeling that just makes you feel really empty inside and you can literally really feel it weighing down at just about the right spot within your ribcage where the heart lies... silently pumping life into you... and then the feeling of a genuine warmth and happiness for someone you love and care about... the serene feeling that envelops you when you know they are headed for a better place...
it all seems so fleeting... yet the refrain is "life goes on"... that's how it is...
is it really?

Terror in Mumbai

It has been an unprecedented time in our history. Never have we seen so many armed personnel in action and such fierce 'gun battles' in living memory. Kargil is still fresh in memory but that qualified as an all out war. The theatre there was a 'battle front' in a far off region... not in our very own backyard! As the common citizen comes to terms with this horrendous reality - for it surely does make one scared and question ones own safety at any place at any time. the common refrain seems to be "it could have been me... it can happen to anyone of us... there is no certainty to life..." and so on.
Hobbes did say that life was short, nasty and brutish.

a few observations of my own.
# The media did a commendable job covering the event. They deserve a mention for being so brave... it surely requires courage to be in such a sensitive zone. of course this is hoping that none of them were foolhardy enough to put themselves at risk of being at the receiving end of a stray bullet or shrapnel. The intense desire to acquire that "EXCLUSIVE LIVE FOOTAGE" clip or to cover the "BREAKING NEWS" first and put it on screen is something that needs to be questioned.
CONCLUSION: try not to sensationalise things more that required. they are doing a good job but need to focus on galvanising public opinion and channeling in a fruitful direction

# It has been heartening to hear voices of sanity amidst the chaos. one person reportedly said he had overheard some shakha/mns members say "safai kar dete hain" (implying that a 'cleansing' was required of muslims) yet in the program on NDTV a sorrowful victim who was from the same community was proof that terrorists have no religion... and it is our duty to rise above these communistic/communal narrow views which have eroded our very secular fabric for more than a hundred years now. India was NEVER a country that welcomed these hindu-muslim tensions... yes we were ruled my the mughals and invaded... but as often been pointed out (and rightly so in my opinion) the flaring of communal tensions on religious lines has seen a dramatic increase after british rule in india (part of the divide and rule policy). this has naturally led to escalating tensions and religious extremism and violence if interpolated will surely show a log curve if plotted culminating in the horrendous tragedy of 1947 when an entire people and subcontinent were divided in an arbitrary manner.
CONCLUSION: this is the time for india to show the world our true secular colours. as patrick french in a gripping account of 1947 wrote and i paraphrase "being a hindu does not merely imply that it is your religion. a good muslim is a hindu. a good christian is a hindu. and a good hindu is a hindu." unfortunately the hindu right-wing extremists by this standard insult the very essence of the hindu dharma as much as do radical jihadis who do injustice to the prophet's vision of islam. no religion so much as preaches violence - it is our warped interpretation that we misuse. of course the less i say about PSEUDO-secular parties like the congress the better... in the guise of fighting communalism they have taken vote-bank politics to a nadir. they deserve all the flak and more. Bastards all!

# A celebrity made a wonderful point that there was no need to keep calling these people 'politicians' and 'leaders' for they do not deserve any respect. they are elected representatives of the people and 'public servants'. the idea mooted was brilliant. if our tax rupees are spent on their salary/lutyens' bungalow/car/NSG Z+security it is being misused... lets pul them up and take away their privileges that they take for status symbols.
COCNL: some have resigned... others were defiant in the face of such a crisis. what saddened me most was that none of our politicians is a statesman or a leader! apart from the solitary national address by the PM neither the CM/deputy/an other national leader come live on the TV to bolster the confidence of the people and even days after none seem to be offering solutions that we, the people can believe in

# A wonderful idea expressed was about how Mr. Raj Thackeray of the MNS did not protest against north indian jawans helping with the rescue operations... he indeed was conspicuous by his absence and sound bytes. can we begin to imagine what would have happened had the commandos said "lets not go to mumbai... we aren't welcome there". The karkare family also refused Mr. Modi's monetary gift... rightly so... the pressure and awful politicking that the BJP and it loose affiliates tried to indulge in from the hindutva angle against the ATS cops for doing their duty highlights how bad the situation is... this has been a kick in their balls! i hope it hurts.
CONCL: Did our real national heroes of the freedom struggle indulge is such disgraceful myopic regional or religious politics? did bose raise his INA consisting only of begalis? did gandhiji fight for the freedom of gujarat alone? did tilak talk incessantly about the marathi manoos and maharashtrian culture/ethos? we fought as one people. let us remain as one!

JAI HIND!

Just a Thought in passing

I think Gandhiji said - " an eye for an eye will make the world blind"
it counters the very common hindi/urdu saying "eent ka jawab patthar se"
why can we not learn to live in peace and harmony?
why can man not be left alone to simply go about the task of LIVING (or making a living) and leading his LIFE...
What happened in Mumbai over the last 24 hours has been a very sad day in our history... i wish there was more i could so than just sitting feeling a litle numbed... praying...