Happy Teachers' Day

Happy Teachers' Day to all who have shown me the lights of wisdom and I am here, where I am today. It includes my parents, family members, all the teachers of my primary school, high school, 10+2 college, engineering college and to all those who have taught me and shown me directions. It includes even my friends and colleagues. Remembering one of the greatest teachers ever born in Indian Soil, I wish all my teachers a Happy Teachers' Day !!! You give me the confidence in a complex world... Hats Off !!!

Dish TV Outage !!!

Sometimes, I get "302 : Signal Unavailable" message flashed in my TV screen. I called up the customer care and was told that because of heavy rains it happens. But, later I found the reason to be different. hehehe :-)

Working Class Hero

Last week, when I along with some other colleagues of mine were assisting the workers of a movers and packers company in the recent shifting of my group to a new site, I could observe the true spirit of a common man. Although, I mentioned in one of my previous posts that the whole shifting days were real pain in the a**, but from a different angle, it was truly inspirational. I could see labors working for 16-18 hrs. a day, sacrificing sleeps at night, that too for a meager salary of a few thousand rupees per month !!! I interacted with some of them, and one of them said he can work for 4 days without any sleep but after that it becomes difficult for him. Tired and Exhausted, yet I did not see any arrogance in their voice or behavior. I will say that these are the Working Class Heroes. They may not have the knowledge of how delicate a server is or how to handle a storage disk adequately, but was not at all reluctant to hear our advices as well. It was a good exercise for me, I could see a live example of Work Is Worship.

Although the actual interpretation may be different, but just from the context of words, I remember John Lennon in his classic "Working Class Hero":

Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV
And you think you're so clever and class less and free
But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see
A working class hero is something to be...

Dur Ki Soch...

IN JUST A FEW YEARS EVERY DESTINATION MAY BE OUT OF REACH

I see this ad every now and then in newspapers, magazines, portals. Issued in public interest by Indian Oil. Seriously, the thought of a day without fuel make me and may be every other person to shiver and an unknown fear runs through the nerves. Its high time that we start conserving fuel through our own awareness for our own interest. As it's been said... Charity Begins At Home; some steps which we can follow are :

• Car-pool to save fuel. As observed, Indians usually owns a car which gives an average mileage of 14-15 kmpl. So, if atleast 2 people start using one car for daily commutation to & from office, it helps save 1 liter of petrol per 15 km traveled. Adoption of this will help saving thousands of litres of petrol everyday.
• Switch off engines at traffic signals / traffic jams. Idling of engines also consumes fuel, so if everyone starts switching off the car engines at traffic signals or jams, one can imagine how much amount of fuel can be saved. **
• Ensure right tyre pressure. Cars with lesser air in the tyres gives lower mileage, and leads to wastage of fuel. Filling tyres with the right amount of air atleast every 10 days is enough to save considerable amount of fuel. It takes just 10 minutes of our time to fill the tyres with air which comes free of cost in every gas station. **
• Drive between 45-55 kmph. An average car gives the best possible mileage in this speed range. And this is an optimum range for city driving. **
• Maximise the use 5th gear as much as you can. For 1.0L to 1.4L petrol engines, which majority of Indians own, 5th gear can be applied just at the speed of 40 kmph. Optimum use of gears can help save fuel to a great extent. **
• Reduce use of car a/c as much as you can. **
  
• Service and tune your engines regularly. Regular servicing helps engines operate at the best possible state, hence help in saving fuel. **

As they say, Example is better than percepts. I would like to say that I strongly follow the points marked with ** above. Car-pooling is usually not possible for me. Being a bachelor, I don't have any specified time of going to and coming from office.

Even if we are a damn care type and we don't want to think about the future, following the above mentioned points will help save our own money. So, Just Do It.

Pain In the A**

Last 5 days were real pain in the a**. It was shifting time for my office group to a new location/site and taking into the voluminous amount of hardware my group possess, it was like "My God". I can still feel the pain in almost all parts and joints of my body. Hopefully everything will be fine by beginning of next week. Now I realize, how brittle our body has become with the current life style. In absence of any physical activity, the body just can't bear any sudden physical activity. My fingers are also aching. Closing the post. :-)

9th Studio Album of the God of Metal

Death Magnetic. All the metal fans around the globe are eagerly waiting for this upcoming album of Metallica. This will be their 9th studio album after St. Anger in 2003. The new album will have 10 fresh and totally new tracks.

1. "That Was Just Your Life"
2. "The End of the Line"
3. "Broken, Beat & Scarred"
4. "The Day That Never Comes"
5. "All Nightmare Long"
6. "Cyanide"
7. "The Unforgiven III"
8. "The Judas Kiss"
9. "Suicide & Redemption"
10. "My Apocalypse"

I have already heard a live version of Cyanide (from Live in Dallas - 2008) and I find it too promising. But, I am eagerly waiting for The Unforgiven III. The last two Unforgiven tracks rocked the world like anything and both are truly known among the classics.

When Techies and Terror Embrace...

Finally, the cops could find some clue about the recent serial blasts which rocked the city of Ahmedabad. Along with the usual religious goons, a software professional got caught, convicted of hacking into someone's computer system and sending the fraudulent emails just before the ghastly blasts. This is where the techies and terror met. As I read in the newspaper, the fucker is an ex-employee of one of the noted software company. He used his brain to kill people in the name of the God. If asked, he would justify that whatever he did was for the well being of his community, in the name of his God, however misinterpreted it may be. But little did he think that his actions will someway or the other will sow the seeds in ruining the careers of the talented people of his community. As his name got flashed in the media as the ex-employee of a reputed company, I am very much sure that in future this company will look at the resumes of the people belonging to his community with a raised eye-brow and will do a lot of cross verificiation while recruitment. And, in the process no one knows how many deserved young people will get eliminated. As the saying goes, one fish can ruin a complete pond, this guy played with the future of many young people. And, I dont find anything wrong in the company's point of view. The company is doing business, rather than organising army for any f**king Holy War. Gandhiji was right to say that "An eye for an eye, makes the whole world blind".

Yet Another Independence Day !!!

Tomorrow will be the 61st Birthday of free India. A day to remember and pay homage to all the sacrifices of our fore fathers for freeing us from the atrocities of the Whites. Atrocities still exist, but probably the color has changed from white to brown. But, anyways, no country is perfect. For me, tomorrow will be another holiday. I will wake up late, cook my lunch, afternoon nap; just like any other normal off day. As long as I am paying taxes to the country, leading my life in a legal way, obeying the laws of the country, I don't have to worry much about the country. Probably, instead of trying to be better, we can try to not to be worse. We keep on saying that India is progressing, but we still sees beggars in the road, hungry children in a naked attire roaming in the chilly rain, mother f**ker politicians roaming ruthlessly in their SUVs' loitering public money, the f**king mob culture destroying public property... etc. etc. the list goes on. Lets all forget these problems our country is facing every passing moment and enjoy a holiday in the name of Independence Day. As I feel, an Indian enjoy full freedom in scenarios like:

1. Giving birth to children, no thoughts... if they really can bring them up.
2. Chewing gutkha, pan-supari and spitting anywhere.
3. Get angry and destroy public property.
4. Demarcating people on the place of their birth, North Indian, South Indian, Chinkies and what not ? Son of the soil funda !!!
5. A lot many other freedom, I just can't recollect.
6. Last, but not least, FREEDOM OF BEING THE ULTIMATE HYPOCRITES.

Happy Independence Day, my dear fellow country men, You Guys Really Rock !!!

The Old Man & His Sinking Feelings

Today evening, I was in the local electricity office for some matter related to my monthly bill cycles. As I was waiting for my turn, I happen to chat with a man in his late sixties. He was a daily wage earner as a contract labor with Military Engineering Service. I happen to talk with him for around 15-20 minutes and I really felt so awkward and sad after the conversation. He was not having electricity in his house for the last 1 week, not because he didn't pay the bill in time, but because of some technical fault with the connection. All his efforts to get the required help from the electricity dept. was in vain. He is a poor man, but I believe he is richer than many of us, because I found him honest. He told that he always pays his bill on the very next day of getting the bill even though he may not have enough money to buy food, because he belives that its his duty to pay the bill for the electricity which he has consumed. He told me he is supposed to get Rs. 7000 per month as salary but gets only Rs. 3500. Thanks to all the corrupted officials, contractors and other middle men, who first take their shares from the livelihood of a poor man. When I told the old man, why they don't complaint? He told its of no use as whoever raises his voice will end up losing his job. Because, there are so many poor people who is willing to work even for a sum lesser than Rs. 3500. The next few sentences, which the old man said made me feel worse. Ofcourse it was not his fault either. He mentioned, people who deprieve the poor men from their hard earned money, buys flats, apartments, cars which costs lakhs and lakhs of rupees. But, the poor man was probably not aware of people like us, who pays 33% of their hard earned income as tax to the filthy Government and lead their rest of lives with Home Loan, Car Loan, Personal Loan and all sorts of debts. I didn't try to correct the old man, because I know, if I had to live a life with just Rs. 3500 per month, I would also have a similar state of mind. Then he told me, life would have been better if British were still in India. He had led some years of his childhood before independence, and he still feels that life was far better then. We got INDEPENDENCE 61 years back, but just in papers. 61 years back we were slave to British and now we are slaves of our own country men. Mann, all these conversation was just too much to digest for me. By that time, my turn to meet the electricty official came and I left.

But, I believe the story of this man is just like the other stories which are heard or read in newspaper and soon forgotten. I remembered it probably just to fill up another post for my blog and tomorrow I will continue my life again with "#include stdio.h". May be, like any other coward, I also believe in the anthem of "Who Cares?" and conclude everything with a fucking punchline called "Life Moves On..." I remember the dialogues by Nana Patekar in the movie Krantiveer:



Find it so true and realistic.

Top 50 Greatest Rock/Metal Covers

So, after some research, here comes the list of Top 50 covers of Rock/Metal. I restricted this list to just 50 as I found it extremely difficult to make a list of 100 such songs. I could find many such lists in the internet with 100+ covers, but I found most of the songs are less popular. While compiling this list, I gathered a lot of knowledge about the original works of all those songs which soothes our heart and mind now and then. Like, I never knew that The Man Who Sold the World by Nirvana is actually a cover of David Bowie. Anyways, both the songs are equally great. So, here is my list of 50 Greatest Covers of all time in Rock & Metal. Again, the numbers beside each song carries no meaning.

1. Hallowed Be Thy Name (Iron Maiden Cover by Cradle of Filth)
2. Paranoid (Black Sabath Cover by Megadeth)
3. Turn the Page (Bob Segar Cover by Metallica)
4. The Man Who Sold the World (David Bowie Cover by Nirvana)
5. One (Metallica Cover by Korn)
6. Tuesday's Gone (Lynard Skynard Cover by Metallica)
7. Sweet Dreams (Eurythimics Cover by Marilyn Manson)
8. All Along the Watchtower (Bob Dylan Cover by Jimi Hendrix)
9. You Give Love a Bad Name (Jon Bon Jovi Cover by Atreyu)
10. The Ghost of Tom Joad (Bruce Springsteen Cover by Rage Against the Machine)
11. Iron Man (Black Sabath cover by The Cardigans)
12. Higher Ground (Stevie Wonder Cover by Red Hot Chilli Peppers)
13. Come Together (The Beatles Cover by Aerosmith)
14. Knocking on Heaven's Door (Bob Dylan Cover by Guns N' Roses)
15. Knocking on Heaven's Door (Bob Dylan Cover by Avril Lavigne)
16. Hurt (Johny Cash Cover by Nine Inch Nails)
17. You Really Got Me (The Kinks cover by Van Halen)
18. American Woman (The Guess Who Cover by Lenny Kravitz)
19. Another Brick in the Wall (Pink Floyd Cover by Korn)
20. Overdose (Exodus Cover by AC/DC)
21, Message In A Bottle (Police Cover by Machine Head)
22. Whisky In The Jar (Thin Lizzy Cover by Metallica)
23. Highway to hell (ACDC cover by Marilyn Manson)
24. Holy Diver (Dio Cover by Killswitch Engage)
25. Master Of Puppets (Metallica cover by Trivium)
26. Crazy (Seal Cover by Mushroomhead)
27. Black Magic Woman (Fleetwood Mac Cover by Santana)
28. Break on Through (Doors Cover by Stone Temple Pilots)
29. No Quarter (Led Zeppelin Cover by Tool)
30. Sabbra Cadabra (Black Sabbath Cover by Metallica)
31. Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd cover by Widespread Panic)
32. War Pigs (Black Sabbath Cover by Faith No More)
33. The Ripper (Judas Priest Cover by Iron Maiden)
34. Aces High (Iron Maiden Cover by Children of Bodom)
35. Losing My Religion (REM Cover by Graveworm)
36. Solitary Man (Neil Diamond Cover by Johny Cash)
37. Smooth Criminal (Michael Jackson Cover by Alien Ant Farm)
38. Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne Cover by Bullets for My Valentine)
39. Wonderwall (Oasis Cover by Ryan Adams)
40. Live and Let Die (Wings Cover by Guns N' Roses)
41. Paint It Black (The Rolling Stones Cover by U2)
42. Last Kiss (Wayne Cochran Cover by Pearl Jam)
43. I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself (Dusty Springfield Cover by The White Stripes)
44. Planet Caravan (Black Sabath Cover by Pantera)
45. Working Class Hero (John Lennon Cover by Green Day)
46. Stairway to Heaven (Dolly Parton Cover by Led Zeppelin)
47. Cocaine (JJ Cale Cover by Eric Clapton)
48. I Shot the Sheriff (Bob Marley Cover By Eric Clapton)
49. You Really Got Me (Kinks Cover by Van Halen)
50. Maggie's Farm (Bob Dylan Cover by Rage Against the Machine)

Top 100 Greatest Metal Numbers

I was thinking of making a mp3 CD with assorted metals for my car. So, I thought of putting the greatest metal numbers till date. After some research, I compiled the list of 100 greatest metal songs till date. I have included only metal and heavy metal in this list and other genres or variants of metal like thrash, death, Gothic etc are totally omitted. Frankly speaking, the top 100 can be completed only with the 4 Gods of Metal... Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Metallica. But, I have taken care to have equal representations from less popular bands as well. Although, I have put numbers beside each song names, but these numbers don't necessarily mean rank. I am not at all eligible to give ranks to these Gods. Some factors which influenced this chart include my likeness for the songs, its appearance in professionals charts like VH1 or Billboard and also likness of people across the globe (known from their blogs). Here is the list:

01 - Hallowed Be Thy Name (Iron Maiden)
02 - Paranoid (Black Sabath)
03 - Master Of Puppets (Metallica)
04 - Back In Black (AC/DC)
05 - Ace of Spades (Motorhead)
06 - Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne)
07 - One (Metallica)
08 - War Pigs (Black Sabath)
09 - Raining blood (Slayer)
10 - Powerslave (Iron Maiden)
11 - Painkiller (Judas Priest)
12 - Iron Man (Black Sabath)
13 - Heaven and Hell (Black Sabath)
14 - The Number Of The Beast (Iron Maiden)
15 - Highway star (Deep Purple)
16 - Black Sabbath (Black Sabbath)
17 - Holy Wars (Megadeth)
18 - Victim of Changes (Judas Priest)
19 - Welcome to the jungle (Guns & Roses)
20 - Creeping Death (Metallica)
21 - Fade To Black (Metallica)
22 - Highway to hell (AC/DC)
23 - The Trooper (Iron Maiden)
24 - Smoke On The Water (Deep Purple)
25 - Peace Sells (Megadeth)
26 - Enter Sandman (Metallica)
27 - Cowboys From Hell (Pantera)
28 - Beyond the Realms of Death (Judas Priest)
29 - N.I.B. (Black Sabath)
30 - Walk (Pantera)
31 - Seek And Destroy (Metallica)
32 - Run To The Hills (Iron Maiden)
33 - Keeper Of The Seven Keys (Helloween)
34 - Stargazer (Rainbow)
35 - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (Black Sabath)
36 - Hell Bent for Leather (Judas Priest)
37 - Deathrider (Anthrax)
38 - Countdown To Extinction (Megadeth)
39 - Practice What You Preach (Testament)
40 - Freak On the Leash (Korn)
41 - Accident Of Birth (Bruce Dickinson)
42 - Bloodsucker (Deep Purple)
43 - Blackout (Scorpions)
44 - Welcome Home Sanitarium (Metallica)
45 - Your Sweet 666 (HIM)
46 - Du Hast (Rammstein)
47 - Battery (Metallica)
48 - The Legacy (Testament)
49 - South of Heaven (Slayer)
50 - Fear Of The Dark (Iron Maiden)
51 - Halloween (Halloween)
52 - Burnt Offerings (Iced Earth)
53 - Stillborn (Black Label Society)
54 - Sober (Tool)
55 - Electric Funeral (Black Sabath)
56 - This Love (Pantera)
57 - Wait and Bleed (Slipknot)
58 - The beautiful people (Marilyn Manson)
59 - Man In The Box (Alice In Chains)
60 - Blind (Korn)
61 - C.I.U [CriminaIs In Uniform] (Sepultura)
62 - I Stand Alone (Godsmack)
63 - The Unnamed Feeling (Metallica)
64 - Fairies Wear Boots (Black Sabath)
65 - Phantom Of The Opera (Iron Maiden)
66 - Breaking the Law (Judas Priest)
67 - Children of the Grave (Black Sabath)
68 - Symphony Of Destruction (Megadeth)
69 - Eyes of a Stranger (Queensryche)
70 - Under the sun (Soulfly)
71 - Down With The Sickness (Disturbed)
72 - Greed (Godsmack)
73 - Forty Six & 2 (Tool)
74 - Iron Head [Ft. Ozzy] (Rob Zombie)
75 - Bloodline (Slayer)
76 - Living Dead Girl (Rob Zombie)
77 - Wasted Years (Iron Maiden)
78 - Pull Me Under (Dream Theater)
79 - Roots Bloody Roots (Sepultura)
80 - Angel of Death (Slayer)
81 - A Touch of Evil (Judas Priest)
82 - Holy Diver (Dio)
83 - Fast As A Shark (Accept)
84 - Mother (Danzing)
85 - Tom Sawyer (Rush)
86 - Bullet Ride (In Flames)
87 - Hail And Kill (Manowar)
88 - Rock You Like A Hurricane (Scorpions)
89 - Meloncholy (Iced Earth)
90 - Serenity In Murder (Slayer)
91 - Wasted Time (Skid Row)
92 - Dirt (Alice In Chains)
93 - A Tout Le Monde (Megadeth)
94 - Aces High (Iron Maiden)
95 - You could be mine (Guns & Roses)
96 - Madhouse (Anthrax)
97 - Into The Pit (Testament)
98 - Now I Lay Thee Down (MachineHead)
99 - Pleasure To Kill (Kreator)
100 - The funeral of hearts (HIM)

Readers' comments are welcome.

You Need it ? or, You Just Creating the Need ?

As we walk through our life with the so called tag of modern lifestyles, some portion of our times are wasted because of fulfilling some silly needs or, just thinking about fulfilling it. And, most of these are really not needs but simply we create those needs. We needs something just for the sake of needing it. As I look into my case, till 1 year ago, I used to have a maid in my house for cleaning my house and some other house hold chores. But, although I disregarded this need following some unfortunate incidents, 1 year have passed and I realized that I really don't need a maid, neither probably I needed those days. This is just a silly example which I am quoting. If we think deeply, many such other needs will appear, which actually require no fulfillment. So, lets not create needs, if we don't really need something. Cheers ...

Where's the Goal ?

Manzilon se rahe dhondte chali
Aur kho gai hai manzil kahin rahon mein...

this verse, taken from a contemporary songs of a Bollywood movie translates as ...

As I search my way through my Goal,
My Goal got lost in my way...

15 years ago, when someone asks me what is my goal in life, I used to say... I wanna be a computer engineer or may be an MBA. But if the same question is asked today, literally I don't have an answer. I really don't know what do I want to do in my life. And, life is just a rudderless boat, just sailing around. When I used to write essay on "Aim In Life" in my 7th or 8th standard, I used to write this quotation in the introductory part... "An Aimless Life is Like a Rudderless Boat." and the same quotation is probably getting its life in me. I have to find a goal soon, else I will be just a wasted creature. I just found some goals, I need to finish the pending works of the project at office; then I have to follow up with electricity office; I need to search through Google for the download links of Cradle Of Filth's latest album. Aah... too much of goals for a week.

And life is just moving at its own pace with these silly goals.

Eat Here, Drink Here & Kill Here...

So, the terror strikes again. 2 days, 2 cities, more than 30 blasts. A big blow to the sovereignty, integrity of our country. But, probably everyone of us will forget it as an another brick in the wall. Terror is as though our next door neighbor. And, some f**king terror organization calling themselves as Indian Mujaheddin claims the responsibility. I can see a great flaw over the name of this mother-f**ker organization. If they are Mujaheddin, they can't be Indians. Because an Indian will never kill another Indian, just in the name of God. Mann, these people eat the food of this country, drink the water of this country... but will also kill the people of this country, destroy the country's property. I wish, their God did not exist, how many lives would have been spared !!! If they are so much irritated in this country, if they feels that their fundamental rights are getting violated here, why the f**k they are here? Go to your own countries. We dont want you. But dudes, one thing is for sure, some blasts will never relief you from the filths where your are now. You have to improve yourself, rather than try to change your surroundings by killing innocent people in the name of God.

Struggle for Survival

"In a drive to save on electricity consumption, the light at the end of the tunnel has been switched off till further notice. We apologize for any inconvenience caused. Kindly postpone all your hopes and dreams..."

May be someone wrote this quote just for fun or just for the sake of making a quote. But, atleast this year I am seeing this to be true every passing day. If I just look back, I remember about incidents of RIFs in companies, then rise in food grains, followed by the biggest blow of this year - the increase in crude oil prices, then sky soaring inflation, increase in prices of literally everything. Mann, whats going on? At least in this part of the country we had electricity and water to a sufficient level. Now, mother natured kicked our asses and the monsoon played truant this year. The month of July saw zero rainfall. So, here comes the consequences... 3 hrs. of load shedding everyday and 20% cut in water supply. The local electricity distribution firm declared 24hrs. of power cut for industrial connections every Thursday. These things are really frightening me and may be every other individuals. In the race of being the most advanced living beings in the universe, probably our survival is getting questioned !

Socha nahi to socho abhi...

Got to listen to the numbers from the upcoming movie of Farhan Akhtar called Rock On. Seems like a movie based on some rock band. I liked the music. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, once again did a splendid job. Most of the songs are sung by Farhan Akhtar himself and the songs have a more or less rock genre. I love the Socha Hain and the title track the most. Loved the lyrics of the Socha Hain song.

aasma hai neela kyun
paani geela geela kyun
gol kyun hai zameen
silk mein hai narmi kyun
aag mein hai garmi kyun
do aur do paanch kyun nahi

ped ho gaye kam kyun
teen hain ye mausam kyun
chaand do kyun nahi
duniya mein hai jung kyun
behta laal rang kyun
sarhaden hain kyun har kahin
socha hai… ye tumne kya kabhi
socha hai… ki hain ye kya sabhi
socha nahi to socho abhi

behti kyun hai har nadi
hoti kya hai roshni
barf girti hai kyun
dost kyun hain roothte
taare kyun hain toot-te
baadlon mein bijli hai kyun
socha hai… ye tumne kya kabhi
socha hai… ki hain ye kya sabhi
socha nahi to socho abhi

sannata sunai nahi deta
aur hawayen dikhayi nahi deti
scha hai kya kabhi
hota hai ye kyun…………

aasma hai neela kyun
paani geela geela kyun
gol kyu hai zamee
silk mein hai narmi kyun
aag mein hai garmi kyun
do aur do paanch kyun nahi

ped ho gaye kam kyun
teen hain ye mausam kyun
chaand do kyun nahi
duniya mein hai jung kyun
behta laal rang kyun
sarhaden hain kyun har kahin
socha hai… ye tumne kya kabhi
socha hai… ki hain ye kya sabhi
socha nahi to socho abhi……

Last Kiss

I knew about this song, but for last few days I am listening to this song more than once. Well. the song is Last Kiss by Pearl Jam. Last Kiss was originally written by Wayne Cochran in 1962 and performed by Wayne Cochran & the C.C. Riders. The lyric was inspired by an incident in which several teens were killed and two seriously injured when their car struck a flatbed logging truck. The cover performed by Pearl Jam was the greatest hit of all time. It was released in 1999 as an aid for the Kosovo War victim. The song helped collect $11,000,000 for Kosovo relief. Pearl Jam included this song in their album Lost Dogs in 2003.

I simply love the lyrics...

Oh, where oh where can my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me
She's gone to heaven, so I got to be good
So I can see my baby when I leave this world.

We were out on a date in my daddy's car
We hadn't driven very far
There in the road, up straight ahead
A car was stalled, the engine was dead
I couldn't stop, so I swerved to the right
I'll never forget the sound that night
The screamin' tires, the bustin' glass
The painful scream that I heard last.

Oh, where oh where can my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me
She's gone to heaven, so I got to be good
So I can see my baby when I leave this world.

When I woke up, the rain was pourin' down
There were people standing all around
Something warm rollin' through my eyes
But somehow I found my baby that night
I lifted her head, she looked at me and said
"Hold me darling just a little while."
I held her close, I kissed her our last kiss
I found the love that I knew I would miss
But now she's gone, even though I hold her tight
I lost my love, my life that night.

Oh, where oh where can my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me
She's gone to heaven, so I got to be good
So I can see my baby when I leave this world.
Oooh... ooooh...

A Symbol for Communion with the Divine ...

Paulo Coelho always presents SEX as a sacred and divine act. In Eleven Minutes, he explained the spiritual nature of it, and in Brida he presents how Sex is a symbolic means of communion with The God.
Through sex, it means a force, a re-encounter with the meaning of life. Having sex with someone in bed isn't the same as knowing it as a force. Both men and women are extremely vulnerable to the force of sex, because, during sex, pleasure and fear are present in equal measure. Because anyone who comes into contact with sex knows that they are dealing with something which only happens in all its intensity when they lose control. When we are in bed with someone, we're giving permission to that person not only to commune with the body, but the whole being. The pure forces of life are in communication with each other, independently of us, and then we can't hide who we are. During sex, its difficult to deceive the other person...
It doesn't matter whether you're seeking wisdom or pleasure through the force of sex, it will always be a total experience, because its the only experience that touches all five senses at once. All out channels with the other person are wide open.... At the moment of orgasm, the five senses vanish and you enter the world of magic; you can no longer see, hear, taste or smell. During these long seconds, everything disappears, to be replaced by ecstasy. It is exactly the same ecstasy as that attained by mystics after years of renunciation and discipline.
Make sure that when you touch the other person, all your five senses are working, because sex has a life of its own. The moment you begin, you're no longer in control; it takes control of you. And whatever you bring to it - your fears, your desires, your sensibility - will remain...
When you have sex, take with you to bed only love and your senses, all five of them. Only then will you experience communion with GOD...

Courtesy: BRIDA by Paulo Coelho

Lack of Originality or just inspired by ?

Recently, I got a mail about Bollywood music director Pritam's list of copied songs. It seems like he has never composed music himself till date but copied or got inspired by music from all over the world. And to the irony, this guy has won many awards for his copied music. If you see the list, you can conclude this moron is the baap of Anu Malik, who was once famous for copying music. And, people like Pritam comes for judging talents in the reality shows in Indian TV channels. Mann, this is totally unacceptable. But, looking at the positive side of this, probably we can say that Music is a universal religion, so just spread it. Be it in Hindi Language or in Korean Language. But the only ill effects of this, as I see is, atleast Pritam should acknowledge the original artist. Whatever, as long as I get to listen to some good soothing music, I have no issues about who composed it 1st and who copied it.

Brida

These days I am reading Paulo Coelho's new offering to the world (In English). Its called Brida. This was the 3rd novel by him after The Alchemist and released in Brazil in 1990. The book is about a young girl Brida in the city of Dublin, her quest for knowledge, wisdom and her journey in bridging the visible and the invisible world. Just finished 85 pages or so and I loved it. A girl, who is enthusiastic in learning magic to find out the supreme truths of life and as she seeks her destiny, how she balances between her normal life, relationships and her urge to transform herself. In between the pages I read so far, I found a sentence too much soothing and inspiring. It says...

"Nothing in the world is ever completely wrong... Even the clock which has stopped working shows correct time twice a day..."

I can feel the gravity of this sentence, and for all these Paulo Coelho is my one of the most favorite author. He writes in such a philosophical genre that even the obvious stuffs look so spiritual, so inspiring. Lets see, what Brida has in store for me.

Cut that Crap !!!

Pune Mirror posted a news item in its 26th June - '08 edition about some so-called obscene/vulgar or not-acceptable pictures of some girl students of Symbiosis, Pune (I am not sure about it) been posted in the internet. The newspaper has put this news item it's 1st page by blurring all the objectionable positions or body parts. Thats the sorry state of Indian media. Anyways, I don't have any problems with that as long as Pune Mirror keeps coming free of cost with TOI. However, in the news item, the newspaper has reported as some senior student of Symbiosis, Pune quoting on anonymity that these types of obscenity are common in Symbiosis Hostels and are mostly done by students from the North East India. Now, who is that anonymous moron ? I have seen those pictures in the internet and nowhere those girls look like they belong to the North East. So, how the f**k can he generalize it ? I am born and brought-up in the North East of India and I know low-waist jeans or cleavage baring t-shirts will come as a shock for the main stream India. Mann, look at it from the style factor, you won't get an erection and you will never feel frustrated or desperate. Dude, calling yourself as a pass out from such a premier institute like Symbiosis, and make such types of double standard comments !!! Cut that crap and try to grow up. Think twice before making such comments to the media. Take it as a mere advice or suggestion.

Viva La Vida (Spanish for Long Live Life or Live the life)

"Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends" - the fourth studio album of Coldplay, released a few days back. Happen to listen to the numbers, but did not like them much. I Felt a bit betrayed by Coldplay after this. I was a die hard fan for them after Parachutes, A Rush of Blood to Head and X&Y. Mann... they were awesome. But, somehow this 4th album did not attract me much. However they could successfully try the alternative rock genre in this album. Of all the songs, I like Violet Hill which is being played in VH1 very often these days. The title song is also okay type and Life in Technicolor, I like its music. But, not liking just one album or some of their songs don't really repel me from the music of ColdPlay. X&Y was #1 in both UK and US charts for many weeks in 2005. Hope this new album also get the similar response.

Khuda Ke Liye ... In The Name of God

Last night, I got to watch the much acclaimed movie Khuda Ke Liye. I had heard a lot about it, but when I actually watched it, I was really spellbound. It was a too good movie and I think it should be watched once by all. The movie has captured some of plots which are actually happening in and around us. The direction and the performances of the actors was great. More than anything I liked the theme of it. The movie actually awakens some of the thoughts and beliefs which many of us (including me) had taken for granted and had generalized for all. Seriously, a must watch.

Lets' Exorcise...

Evils are a part of life and I believe this thought is the most simple relief we can think of while bad omens haunt our lives. After all, life moves on and we can just christen those bad happenings as lessons for a better future. At this point of time, lets practice exorcism to drive away the evil which invaded our lives, stayed with us and sucked our blood. And the only way to do it is to wipe off a part of our lives from Nov '05 to Feb '08. Lets wipe out all those moments in professional as well as personal lives which remind us of the evil demon and start a fresh. And lets pray to the all mighty that no one else in this world come under the demonic influence of this iniquity. I know many are still under its influence, knowingly or unknowingly. I wish, they get the will power and the energy to come out of it. And last but not the least, lets hope that our lives will be free from such evils in the future which malign the scared things in life like friendship, relationships and above all people's trust and faith. Amen...

The Days were clear, I was blind ...

Note:: All characters and incidents in this post are real. Any resemblance to a person or people is purely intentional.

...people says I am a pessimist. I believed I was a pessimist. Then why did I use to see flowers even in a cradle of filth ? Probably I was too good to see dark sides of people or I was a mere chutiya. Not able to identify the actual image of someone at the right time actually screwed me for sometime. And the consequences were trust and faith getting betrayed, waste of valuable metabolic as well as natural energy, and more than all these are repentances I would face. Why was I so good ? This question will haunt me for sometime now and I will surely get nightmares. God, I know that you are aware that I am not religious but I am not an atheist also. Today, I curse you. I am asking you why do you make people so filthy and so scuzzy ? Even if you make such people, why do you send them to live with good people ? To teach us a lesson or what ... ??? Is it a joke for you to see the consequences people like me face because of being good to people? But, you know something... you have no right to do so. But there is no use blaming you. You have given me a brain to think. And I did not make use of it. Although the days were clear, I was a subterfuge. I feel so yucky, so rueful... mind is filled with remorse and regret. I wish I could realize some time back ...

"lifes just a blast,
its movin really fast
better stay on top
or life will kick you in the ass "

And, I wanna dedicate the following few lines to the real characters involved in this post...

"aare ruk ja re bandhe
aare thum ja re bandhe
ki kudrat has padegi ho..."

Kab tak dusro ke g***d maroge? Stop Now... Enough is Enough.

Shit

Some recent developments in the recent times are actually forcing me to denounce a part of my professional as well as personal life from Nov. 2005 to Feb. 2008. If I think about those parts of life in this period of time, I wish I could wipe it off from the calendar. The phrase Past Is Gone is probably the only relief. If I don't think about the shock and trauma, I can only say that some people are not good at anything. If they are not being good, they are also not expert in being bad. These people are like parasites, blood suckers. Wherever they go, they carry diseases. With all these words, I am not trying to be a moral cop; but yes ... in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holi Spirit, I denounce this shit. Filthy people like this have no right to betray other's trust, faith... whom they call friends. For personal pleasures (physical or any other) or profit, these f**king people are ready to ruin any body's life. Be it for getting good perks in professional life or for getting daily tasks done or for just grabbing opportunities, they are at the forefront of screwing others. Another aspect is the trouble other people face by their deeds. Putting more stress on the view that "some people are not good at anything", I will say, if you are doing something do in the right spirit. Doing something might mean writing a piece of code to doing something for the entertainment industry. Holy Shit !!!

Everyday I want to fly...

The new Vodafone Ad for its customer service with the punch line "Happy To Help". It is one of the cutest video I have seen. The little girl as well as the cute pug is awesome. So, is the lyrics. It says...

(pum pum..pupum pum)

Everyday I want to fly, stay by my side
Everyday I want to dream, stay by my side
Every morning I wish I could just play
Wish the mornings would just stay…..

(pum pum..pupum pum)

Everyday I want to fly, stay by my side
Everyday I want to dream, stay by my side

The video is available in YouTube - http://youtube.com/watch?v=vqsjXh5yNLQ

Those 2.5 months

In my 10th as well as my 12th, while preparing for my board exam I remember those 2.5 months. Exams were usually scheduled for mid February and all school / college exams were over by end of November. So, December, January and half of February were very crucial for the final preparation. But the chilly winters of Shillong was a big curse for this. Mann, you feel so sleepy in the evenings, but still you have to study. There is no other choice. I used to wake up by 7:00 AM, and start studying by 7:30 till 10:00 type. Dad goes to office by that time, so have the morning food with dad at that time. Then I take break, read newspapers and play with my dog. I had a dog named Kalu those days and he was a great source of entertainment for me. I used to read 2 newspapers, The Sentinel which is a English regional paper of the North-East and The Hindustan Times. Then start my next phase of study by 11:30 and study till 2:00. The afternoon time I used to concentrate on subjects which involved problem solving rather than theory, so that I don't feel sleepy. In back ground I used to listen to Lunch Hour Western Music telecasted in AIR - Shillong. Mom will supply me with sweet oranges during this time. The winters in Shillong is very famous for oranges. I swear such tasty oranges can't be found in any other parts of the country. The I would take a nap by 2:00 to 3:00 followed by a cup of kadak chai. Then, I will again start for study, study for 1.5 or 2.0 hrs. During winters, it used to get dark by 4:30 or 5:00. So, I will just come out of my house by 4:15 or so... to meet my friends. There was a Newspaper stand where we used to meet everyday and do gossip. Mann, sometimes the gossips will last till 1 hrs or so and the topics included everything from politics to study matters to girls in the colony. Return home by 5:30, and after having evening snacks, I will sit for studying till 10:30. 10:30 was our usual dinner time and the same time is still followed by my parent till today. Then I will start with my final phase of study at 11:00 and continue till 12:30 max. By that time parent were fast asleep. Those days, we did not have cable connection in our house, but we used to get 3 channels in our TV for some signal leakage or so. MTV, Star Sports and Start Movies. I will watch MTV Grind for 10 - 15 minutes in mute volume and go for sleep before 1AM. The above was almost the same routine for preparation leave days for those 4 years, yet I never felt bored or annoying. And, when I recollect those days, I really feel a great deal of nostalgia. I remember, we used to burn charcoal to keep the room warm during these months and I will put some potatoes and 1 brinjal to burn. I used to eat this almost everyday and it was so yummy. My dog, whom I remember till today, was a great source of zeal and enthusiasm. It was such a simple life, yet so great and worth remembering for years to come.

Some rememberings...

As I was loitering down memory lane, I recollected my days as a student during '97 - '00 days. These four years were crucial for me and for what I am today. Those days, the SSLC (10th Board) Exam constituted the syllabus of 9th as well as 10th class. So preparation for 10th Board actually started from beginning of 9th class itself. These days the as aspirants are relived of such a huge syllabus. I was a very studious guy, studying all the time. I believe I used to study on average 7-8 hrs everyday. This increased to 12-14 hrs. during the preparation leave days. I remember few days when I had a record of 16 hrs. study in a day. But, studying was not always magging. It was a very constructive study. The same style continued in my 10+2 also. I know, what I am today is not because of me being intelligent or of high caliber. All was because of hard work, constructive use of time and of course devotion & dedication. I still believe that 3 D's in life can overcome any hurdles. Determination, Dedication and Devotion. My Dad, My Mom and My Bro... three greatest blessings for me. Mann, I still think how my dad could manage to give a good life with proper education to me and my bro just with single digit salary. Hats Off to you Mom and Dad. I want parents like you in my next life and all the lives I get down the line.

Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na

Heard the songs of this upcoming movie... AR Rahman rocks !!! I love 3 songs of this movie and listening them in loops these days .... Kabhi Kabhi Aditi Zindagi sung my Rashid Ali is my most favorite. Then Kahin To Hogi Woh by Rashid Ali & Vasundhara Das and Jaane Tu Meri Kya Hai by Sukhwinder Singh are cool ones. A R Rahman is again mesmerizing in Tu Bole Main Boloon. I don't know if this movie will rock the box office but music will surely be loved and appreciated. Another attraction of this movie for me is the girl, Genelia D'Souza. I was a fan of her big big eyes since I saw her in a Tamil movie called Boys. She also appeared in another Hindi movie Masti some years back. As I can make out from trailers in tv, she is also doing a Priyadarshan movie to be released this June.
Meanwhile, I loved the lyrics of the Kabhi Kabhi Aditi Zindagi song ... The wordings are so cool and lively...

Kabhi kabhi Aditi zindagi mein yuhi koi apna lagta hai.
Kabhi kabhi Aditi wo bichhar jaaye to ek sapna lagta hai.
Aise mei koi kaise apne aansu o ko behne se roke?
Aur kaise koi sochle everything's gonna be ok?

Kabhi kabhi to lage zindagi mein rahi naa khushi aur naa mazaa.
Kabhi kabhi to lage har din mushkil aur har pal ek sazaa.
Aise mein koi kaise mushkuraye, kaise hasde khush hoke?
Aur kaise koi soch de everything gonna be ok?


Soch jara jaaneja tujhko hum kitna chahte hai.
Rotein hai hum bhi aggar teri ankhon mein aansu aate hai.
Gaane to aata nahi hai magar phir bhi hum gaate hai.
Ke Aditi maan kabhi, kabhi saare jahan mein andhera hota hai;
Lekin raat ke baad hi to sabera hota hai.

Kabhi kabhi Aditi zindagi mei yuhi koi apna lagta hai.
Kabhi kabhi Aditi wo bichhar jaaye to ek sapna lagta hai.
Hey Aditi Hasde hasde hasde hasde hasde, hasde tu zara.
Nahi to bus thora thora thora thora thora, thora mushkura.


Tu khush hai to lage ke jahan mein chhaayi hai khushi.
Suraj nikle baadlon se aur baatein zindagi.
Suun to jara madhosh hawa tujhse kehne lagi.
Ke Aditi wo jo bichhad-te hai ek na ek din phir mil jaate hai;
Aditi jaane tu ya jaane na phool phir khil jaate hai.

Kabhi kabhi Aditi zindagi mei yuhi koi apna lagta hai.
Kabhi kabhi Aditi wo bichhar jaaye to ek sapna lagta hai.
( Hey Aditi Hasde hasde hasde hasde hasde, hasde tu zara.
Nahi to bus thora thora thora thora thora, thora mushkura. )-5

The name Aditi can be replaced with own beloved name. :-)


It Happens Only in Shillong ....

Bob Dylan's birthday bash in Shillong

The birthday boy was missing but not the fanfare as his songs sung in the early 60s are still 'blowin' in the wind' for folk enthusiasts here.

No other city in India has perhaps been celebrating legendary folk singer Bob Dylan's birthday without a break for the past 37 years. And today, it was no different in Shillong.

Hundreds of fans of the freewheeling poet-cum-singer who inspired a whole generation, poured in at the All Saints Hall here to celebrate the event with much fanfare.

The musical soiree organized by the Great Society and the Ace of Spades, witnessed performances by local artistes amid the participation of school students for the first time as well as fans from outside the state.

Shillong's very own Bob Dylan - Lou Majaw and his colleagues rendered haunting Dylan numbers at the venue.

The programme showcased Dylan's songs.

"Why Dylan? "Why not Dylan?" Lou shoots back when asked why Dylan alone and goes on to narrate how Dylan captured his imagination in the prime of his youth. "He started as a nobody and went on to become one of the greatest men alive in the world of music."

"We don't do it because we are fans but out of respect and admiration for the man," says Lou, the founder member of the legendary Shillong band, The Great Society.

"He has given so much to the world through his soul-stirring poetry and music. We want more and more people to know about Dylan, his life, poetry and music," he said.

The visionary poet and singer made folk-rock into a baroque art and inspired the 'baby boom generation' to point an accusatory finger at 'the masters of war'.

Known as the prophet of Neo-Christianity, Dylan's message became the new liturgy for a secular society.

The first Bob Dylan birthday celebration began with a performance in front of an audience of 30 to 40 people in Shillong in 1972. Ever since, it grew into an annual event drawing fans from across the country and the world.

Shillong, which has truly emerged as the 'Western music capital' of the North East, is one of the few places in the world, where Dylan's birthday is celebrated every year with such fanfare.

courtesy: Press Trust of India

"Size Zero"... A boon to Food Crisis ?

Recently, after the bollywood movie "Tashan", I have seen a lot of articles about SIZE ZERO appearing in newspapers and magazines. People are talking about it after seeing Kareena Kapoor's rickets laden body in the movie. So, I did some findings about what this myth is all about. Size Zero is basically women's vital statistics bearing the numbers 32-24-32 as per US catalog. There was a time when 36-28-36 used to rule the fantasy of men, and now women are trying hard to get the Size Zero figure. Size Zero got much hype, after World Health Organization classified body mass index below 18 as unhealthy and Madrid Fashion Week - 2006 actually debarred models with such body from participating in the event. Whatever, lets look at the positive sides. If majority of the women started thinking about attaining size zero, then in the current scenario when the food grains price is sky soaring, it will be a relive for poor people like me :-) Except for that I wont get to see a idle figure matching my fantasy in malls and multiplexes, I feel Size Zero is a boon to today's world... Models are starving themselves to feed the world. Thats great... after all everybody should try to contribute one way or the other for the welfare of mankind. I am proud of all you ladies... Hats and whatever clothings I have... everything off to you ... ;-)

100th Post...

In search of Serenity...
With a mind to scream out loud...
Sometime dreaming out loud...
To puke out the frustrations...
Just feeling good about something...
wanna rebuke myself ....

this is the 100th post... 3 years of blogging ....

"MTV - wassup" - WTF !!!

there are three types of people. People who indulge in crappy works, people who silently watch the crappy stuffs going on around us and keep numb (more or less, I fall into this category) and there are people who criticizes the craps happening and make money. Few days back, I happen to watch a newly launched programme in MTV, called wassup sponsored by Pepsi with their f**king one liner - "Yeh Hai Youngistan, Meri Jaan". Mann, this programme sucks big time. The programme is hosted by some bull shit people (one of the female host was probably a roadies winner or runners up last year or so). If the motto of this show is just for commercial interest, then its well and good. Else , it sucks !!! If you people, really want to make a difference around you then you got to do something else dear. The content shown in this programme... oh.... Dude, grow up.. 1st clear up the shits from your a** , India will be clean automatically. In gist, whenever I get to see the name of this show in MTV, I feel like screaming "What The F**K !!!"

The Fate of the House Sparrow

50 years from now, the production house 22nd Century Fox will make a movie called Passer Domesticus. In this movie, some big shot scientist will make a park similar to Jurassic Park of our time. But this park will not be inhabited by Dinosaurs, but by a small cute bird called "House Sparrow". Its all because, the most common bird of our time, the house sparrow will be extinct by that time and we will need some way to tell our grand-children about them. I recently read some articles about the fate of this bird. Thanks to modernization and the concrete jungle we are building, that these birds are finding it difficult to survive. House Sparrows are very reluctant to changes in the environment. They are not very efficient in the struggle for survival. In this era, they are not finding proper place to build nest, they are not getting enough food to feed their children as sparrows mainly survive with insects and human kill the insects with pesticides. And in this struggle for food and habitation, they are not as competent to pigeons and other similar birds. And, the result is, sparrows are drastically declined in number day by day. So, these sparrows are also becoming another brick in the wall of extinction. I am proud to belong to the species homo sapiens. I am again successful in wiping out someone from this planet.

3 years of loyality...

recently, I completed three years of employment with my current employer. With such a high rate of attrition in IT Industry, I can call it an achievement or a slowdown in my career. I don't know if its a myth or a fact, but there is a general belief that one should keep changing job profile in order to grow in this industry. In fact, I have seen that trend in real life. But, take it as my apathy to face newer challenge or just any other reason, I am still loyal to my employer. In this period of 3 years, I have seen so many changes around me. I was hired by a different company, but now I am known to belong to a different company. Its all about acquisition. There is a drastic change in the faces I see around me. New people, newer faces. And, life is just going on ...

Heading for the days without power ...

The Pune Zero Load Shedding Policy has finally come to an end on 31st March, 2008. Pune was enjoying a load shedding free life since June-'06. Thanks to the joint collaboration between Maharashtra chapter of CII and Maharashtra Electricity Distribution Company. But, with Pune expanding in such an alarming rate, the shortfall of electricity was inevitable. And, finally from 1st April, Puneites will suffer from a minimum 1.5 hrs. of load shedding everyday.
Modern living has contributed the fourth element to the Roti, Kapda, Makan philosophy, and thats power. So, how can we imagine a life with such power crisis. When I was young, I did not remember even a minute load shedding in my home town Shillong. But, when I was in there last year, Shillong was experiencing a 3 hrs. load shedding everyday. Power crisis has become now a big question mark in the eyes of everyone. People talk about renewable source of energy, energy conservation, but how much of that is being implemented? I see, all malls and multiplexes in Pune illuminated with more than required amount of lights. When I go to office, I see street lights glowing till 9AM in the morning. How many of us switch of their monitors before leaving office for home ? As the saying goes, Charity begins at home, everyone of us must understand the importance of this fourth element of our lives. Else, days are not far when we have to experience not 1.5 but 15 hrs. of load shedding everyday, and everyone of us can well imagine how miserable our lives will be with such a situation.
Aaah, I just see a power crisis. As I am writing this post in my blog in a load shedding period, my laptop is giving warning of Low Battery. I should stop here before my lappu dies.

Happy Bakra Din to me !!!

Sometimes, I make bakra of myself. There are many instances of it but this is just a new one. A few days back I went to Reliance Fresh for buying some essential commodities... I was looking for Carton Wala Doodh, and found Amul Taaza. I looked at the manufacture date and to my astonishment, the date was 13-01-2008. I asked the salesman there, why they keep so old stock for something like milk. The person told me that, milk packed in TetraPak (boleto carton wala doodh) is intact for six months. I looked at the pack and it was written there Best Before 180 Days from the Date of Packing. But. for some reason, it was coming to my mind that 180 days is 3 months and the milk pack is almost nearing its expiry. So, I called the salesman again and told that its only some days left for the expiry and asked him if he will replace it with a fresh pack if I find milk to be spoiled. The person had to actually use simple arithmetic that 180 days is six months. In his words, "Sir, 30 days boleto Ek Mahina, toh 180 din matlab... Six months hua na?" I realized my mistake immediately and just passed him a smile. The person got a bit irritated and said "kya ... Sir ...". Later I thought over the incident and laughed a lot. Seriously, sometimes we are so much out of our mind that we do hard core silly stuffs. Its like Thomas Alva Edison, the famous scientist, forgetting his own name in the electricity bills queue. He later remembered it when someone among his friends called him by his name.

Loneliness of a different kind

These days I am getting too much emails with marriage invitations from my old friends, engineering days' friends and colleagues in my current company and in the previous one. And, I am getting deaf with the sounds of these wedding bells. It came to my mind that although, wedding is one of the most auspicious day in the lives of my buddies, but is it the day when we are losing the grip of our friendship ? Friendship among people, before marriage and after marriage is quite different. After marriage, the priorities change and what was essential once become a no no afterwards. As of instance, once my best buddy gets married, I have to think twice before I call him for a sip of beer in the pub which used to be our favorite haunt. It gives me a feel that indeed good old days are passing away and I am just left behind in the midst of the road, alone and solitary. If we think in a casual way, all these will look like craps, but a little more thinking just says that its true. Not only in my life, but its happening in every other's life. Someway or the other, a gulf is being developed among us, which used to be poorani jeans friendships. But, what does all these mean ? It means we are just rowing through the flow of life without much noticing that we have cross passed all those beautiful terrains where the waters of our life had once touched and rejuvenated us.

a day, after 4 years...

So, after 4 years finally 29th Feb has arrived. As I recollect, 4 years ago... in 2004 during this time I was busy in my engineering college with the annual fest, INCIDENT - 2004. I was the convenor of the food-committee and I still recollect how all the 4th year ppl were happy with my work. All those are now just sweet memories. 4 years just flew through the window. Time and Tide seriously dont wait for anyone.

What is Democracy ?

Courtesy : Metallica [One]

The cerebrum has suffered massive and irreparable damage
You can never know what has happened to him
If I have not been sure of this, I would not have permitted him to live
Where am I?
Father
What happened?
I need help
What is democracy?
What is democracy?
It got something to do with young men killing each other, Arthur
When it’s comes my turn, will you want me to go?
For democracy, any man would give his only begotten son

It is impossible for any severed individual to experience pain
Pleasure
Memory
Dreams or thought of any kind
This young man will be as unfeeling
As unthinking as the dead
Until the day he joins them

I don’t know weather I’m alive or dreaming or dead or remembering
How can you tell what’s a dream and what’s real
When you can’t even tell when you’re awake and when you’re asleep

Where am I?

I can’t remember anything
Can't tell if this is true or dream
Deep down inside I feel to scream
This terrible silence stops with me

Now that the war is through with me
I'm waking up, I cannot see
That there's not much left of me
Nothing is real but pain now

Hold my breath as I wish for death
Oh please God, wake me

They kept my head and chopped off everything
Oh god, please make them hear me
They won’t listen, they won’t hear me
They got to wake me up I’ll be like this for years
Hear me

Back in the womb it's much too real
In pumps life that I must feel
But can't look forward to reveal
Look to the time when I'll live

Fed through the tube that sticks in me
Just like a wartime novelty
Tied to machines that make me be
Cut this life off from me

Hold my breath as I wish for death
Oh please God, wake me

It’s like a piece of me that keeps on living
It won’t always be like this, will it?

I can’t live like this!
I-I can’t!
Please no
I can’t! I can’t!
Help me, help me, help me!
Mother where are ya?
Mommy, mother, I’m having a nightmare and I can’t wake up

Now the world is gone I'm just one
Oh God help me

Hold my breath as I wish for death
Oh please God, help me

Me lying here like, like some freak in a carnival show
Here is the armless
Legless
Wonder of the twentieth century

Death has a dignity of its own
Father!
I need help
I’m in terrible trouble and I need help
Don’t you remember when you were little?
How and you and Bill Harper use to string a wire between the two houses
So you could telegraph to each other
You’ll remember the Morse code

Darkness
Imprisoning me
All that I see
Absolute horror
I cannot live
I cannot die
Trapped in myself
Body my holding cell

It’s Morse code
For what?
S.O.S.
Help

Landmine
Has taken my sight
Taken my speech
Taken my hearing
Taken my arms
Taken my legs
Taken my soul
Left me with life in Hell

What’s he saying?
Said kill me
Over and over again
Kill me
Oh god, please make them hear me
Don’t you have any message for him Arthur?
He’s the product of your profession
Not mine

Kill me
I’m asking you to kill me

Thank you

Save me please
Father

Each man faces death by himself
Alone
Good-bye father

Inside me I’m screaming nobody pays any attention
If I had arms, I could kill myself
If I had legs, I could run away
If I had a voice, I could talk and be some kind of company for myself
How do I know they’ll kill me?
I could yell for help, but nobody’d help me
I just got to do some kind of, see how I can go on like this

S.O.S. help me
S.O.S. help me

Keep the home fires burning
While our hearts are yearning

A Concert of a Lifetime !!!

10 years ago, when I started getting the taste of Rock & Metal, I never imagined that someday somewhere I would see IRON MAIDEN performing LIVE!!! The legends, ruling the scene of Metal since late 70s are truly the God for the music lovers. But patience always pays. I finally got the opportunity to see them perform Live in Mumbai on the evening of 1st February. 2008. The concert started with a local band from Mumbai, followed by performance by Lauren Harris (daughter of Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris). She was simply superb. The concert was finally opened by the great Indian Rock Band - Parikrama. Parikrama performed most of their originals including the classic "But It Rained". Then come the Legends. The Somewhere Back in Time, World Tour 2008 had its 1st concert in India. I was spell bound to see Bruce just in front of my eyes. A guy 60+ in age, so energetic ... it was simply mind blowing. They performed all those world hits like "Fear of the Dark", "Aces High", "Wasted Years", "Powerslave", "2 Minutes to Midnight","Clairvoyant", "Can I Play With Madness", "The Troopers", "Hallowed Be Thy Name" etc etc . The crowd was simply amazing. I suppose around 15K people turned up for the show. It was my 1st visit to an International Band's performance, and a memorable one for the lifetime. Hats Off to Maidens !!!!

Somewhere Back In Time ...

Iron Maiden - World Tour 2008

1st Feb '08 - Mumbai (India)
waiting eagerly...

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

Stanford Report, June 14, 2005

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

Taare Zameen Par...

Muhaley Ki Raunak, Galiyan Hain Jaise
Khilney Ki Zid Par, Kaliyan Hain Jaise

!!! Kho Na Jaaye Ye Taare Zameen Par !!!

1st post of the Year - 2008

New year's eve celebration was a cool one. Not much noise, just chillax type of dinner with some of the best buddies.Hoping to have a similar chill type year ahead. Kerala trip was more than refreshing, with new energy, aspirations and determination to make 2008 better than 2007. 2007 will be remembered as one of the worst year in my life. A year full of just craps. But, gone is gone. Hope everything will be fine this year ...

Dude's Day out ....

Yesterday, we went to Ponmudi, a place 80Km away from Trivandrum and is at the mountain top of Western Ghat. We took food along with us and so it was more a picnic for us. The drive to the table top was awesome. 22 Hair-Pin Curves and 60 degree elevation of the roads will make anyone get scared for the first time. It took around 2 hrs. to reach there and the view from there was too good. It was green all around and was a retreat for the eyes. One can actually feel the pressure difference and the cool wind added to the serenity of the place. It was a great feeling being there. Took a lot of pictures, had our lunch there. On the way back we visited the house of one of my friend's relative. He was an old person of 90 years, but age was not a limiting factor for him. He was running a charity organization for the spastic children, a totally nonprofit institution. I was amazed to see the complex of his institution and his house with hundreds of different varieties of plants. Looking at all those, it made me believe that determination is the root of all great deeds. Finally, towards the evening we returned home. A day full of fun and great feelings.

Pune to Trivandrum

A vacation is like love - anticipated with pleasure, experienced with discomfort, and remembered with nostalgia. ~Anonymous

When it feels like that we can no longer take what we've been taking, we decide to take a vacation. With crappy stuffs going all around and getting bored with all the daily mechanical life, myself and my friend decided to go for a vacation. But a vacation will be incomplete if it is not crazy. So we made up our mind to drive down from Pune to Trivandrum, a distance of around 1500 Kms. With all necessary stuffs packed up, we started at around 11PM of 19th Dec. 2007 from Pune. The road was known to us and Kerala being the native place of my friend, there was no problem finding the correct routes. We reached Mangalore the next day around 1PM. Mangalore being the place where I spent 4 yrs. of my engineering, we dropped by my college. It was a surprise to see the changed scene of the college. There was developments all around, with newer hostels, new department buildings. I met the HOD of computer engineering. It was a real pleasure. Then we had our lunch in the most favorite resturent of my college days. Then we again headed for the next part of our journey. But 24 hrs. of continous driving was getting just too much for both of us. So we dropped by Calicut in a hotel for the night and then started for Trivandrum the next day again. Finally, by afternoon we reached our destination. Except for 2 small incidents, the whole journey was safe and sound. We travelled 1500 Kms by car, burnt 100 litres of petrol in 1.5 days; reaching Trivandrun by afternoon of 21st Dec. 2007. It will be one of the memorable trip for both me and my friend. Now enjoying nice homely food in my friend's place. A lot of plans in store for the next few days.