Destiny
Its been a long time since I have last posted. Kind of lost track of blog, orkut and all the other stuff.
Time is moving pretty fast and the challenges many, speeding up to you more faster than ever before. Yeah have some challenging times ahead, so hopefully things will all be good.
I will blog a lot more when targets are met. Perhaps then I can be out this shadow I have been living.
The journey has begun.
To have some freinds...
Today I miss my freinds a lot- actually been missing them like crazy since yesterday. All of them are either very far away from ; most in India and a few in UK, but away nonetheless.
I miss them a lot, and then this old song came up in my head and i just feel like putting it up:
Tere jaisa yaar kahan
Kahan aisa yaarana
Yaad karegi duniya
Tera mera afsana
Tere jaisa yaar kahan
Kahan aisa yaarana
Yaad karegi duniya
Tera mera afsana
Meri zindagi sawaari
Mujhko gale lagake
Baitha diya falak pe
Mujhe khaat se oothake
Meri zindagi sawaari
Mujhko gale lagake
Baitha diya falak pe
Mujhe khaat se oothake
Yaara teri yaari ko
Maine to khuda mana
Yaad karegi duniya
Tera mera afsana
Mere dil ki yeh dua hai
Kabhi door tu na jaaye
Tere bina ho jeena
Woh din kabhi na aaye
Mere dil ki yeh dua hai
Kabhi door tu na jaaye
Tere bina ho jeena
Woh din kabhi na aaye
Tere sung jeena yahan
Tere sung mar jaana
Yaad karegi duniya
Tera mera afsana
Tere jaisa yaar kahan
Kahan aisa yaarana
Yaad karegi duniya
Tera mera afsana
..I have been humming this song all yesterday and pretty much seem to continue for the rest of today. Well hope all the clowns are doing great.
A comedy of errors
hey alll...or perhaps just me again sometime in the future...
i have had so many embarrassing moments, i got into so many ridiculous situations, so many things i wish i had done differently- perhaps at that moment but not now, but yes so many errors that i just got to put it down- lest they be forgotten like the strangers face in daily tube !!
Well let me see, oh it began with the time i started in Indai for the UK and was at the airport. Now I never thought big me would feel anything, any emotions cause I dont feel much, sometimes i think i am too cold for my own good health but shit -thats just me and gotta get on with the show- bu anyways there was me getting all nervy and successfully manged to get all my luggage checked in properly without any issues..i was like this is nice...this is good shit..and so i am sitting in lounge with like 1 hout to go, it wass 9:30 and the flight was lie at 10:30..so me took my cell and started calling people, everybody in Hyderabad, all i can think, all in chennai, all in india, all i know!!! It felt nice, speak to all honchos . It was a sereis of good conversation till this guys comes up asks me whre r u goin- now i was in middle of a good conversation- a really good one,not the shitty be good there& tc nonsense eh? a good conversation and i was like ruddyl hell..me going to bluddy London via even bluddier sri lanka..so whatch prablum..its still 10:15..an =d then the blokes like sir evbudy has boarded...we have been looking fur u for past 10min..i thought he may be jokin..but hhe ruddy wasnt..i was centre star ther..well i thought i am going out in style...
allright i managed to get throug the rest of journey wihtout shitting in my pant s again.Well i got here and in a few weeks i gave the guys at this place i was put up a big scare and while i was at it, well my style managed to land up with the pie in my face before my TM.
Hell i started a FIRE ....!!!
I had gone to see my TM, poor bloke was suffereing from fever and since in the few days i been here i got to know himw well i went to say how de to the guy. While i chatting up with him the fire alarm went offf. Now when u been in wipro and seen the number of times the fire alram goes fo no purpose, u learn if not a bit foolishly to ignore them.So i was like, some poor fool probably was smoking and the fire alarma caught him..Well i soon went to my room and lo...well thre was a lot of soke from it....and it hit me..shit the Pizza ..i had put the pizza in the micowave..but why ??well apparantly as i found out from the hotel bloke trying his best to keep his composure..u dont try to microwave it for 25 min, 5 min will do ..well i just begun with cooking..so how do i know? ..well schuks..and my TM couldnt stop laughing....well what can i say ..all in a days work..;-)..
and as i started off workign...well we had some training ans they reckoned I was ready for some action..u know ...as for me ..when was i lacking in confidence..lets go..i am ready..for the first time.,..the guys said ..easy does it..i mean its ur first time..it will be a bit awkward..but you will get better as it goes...so i got ready ..i was goin to be a performer the first time..i am the star...yeah thats me..well i got my stuff ready..and then i made my first call...her name was Xanthe..yeah baby..and well i started off nicely....they wan it slow..they wan it fast..they wan it I am the man..and then she was like NO..i dont see it..what??..okiee i try again ...NO.I dont see it..what?? she cant see both my TRADES..the shits hit the floor with this...well they were worth like some couple of millions..we taking trades yo..yu all get no ideas..and then me ralize that I was looking..they concluded i wasnt looking..but i was looking at BNP Paribas trades ..adn talking to CitiGroup..holy cow...the shits on fire now...well ..i was officially branded the second worst debutant..there was this bum a while before who took the cream...as me always says..if you aint making a statement, u aint there at all... and i have gotten better.. well it takes some time...
that me ..folks...i like actions..i made a few mistakes ..well atleast it shows I am alive to somethin...if a bit tuned out..now and again.. hell life like that ..and these are the best moments..things get dreary sometime ..these moments lighten it up..even if u r the joke...!!
At the Oasis in the desert?
Hey I am leaving Hyderabad soon. Time will stand testimony to the fact whether I will be back here or not. I remember as it were yesterday, the day I came to Hyd to start my Wipro sojourn, and here I stand at middle ground, leaving for something truly unknown. Life's funny, it’s sad, its beautiful, its whimsical, its wicked, its like a very pretty child dancing in the rain muddying herself. I wonder why I said that- look at life as feminine- but it seems apt, so why bother.
Exactly a year back i left Chennai, and when I did, I knew, don’t know how, that my time in Chennai was coming to an end, It was weird, but it was a feeling, when i came to Hyderabad, I felt like I had come home, this is my state, these are my people, this is my culture and therein lay the greatest happiness, I felt like a prodigal son coming home, returning to his origins, I felt glad to be returning to Andhra. Kind of weird isn’t it- 21 years in Chennai and I still never felt like it was my city. I never did watch Tamil movies or channels, never felt comfortable with the language, never could get myself to like the people, never felt like it was home. I never did watch Telugu movies or channels for that matter. It always bothered me that no matter how much I wandered into English language and explored it environs, the feeling of being like a ship soaring the high seas without a port to call home. Well a year back i found here and I felt happy. I have had fun in Hyderabad. I have explored his city, I have made many good friends, I have read a lot of good stuff, I have liked my time in this city.
And now as the end of days here draws closer, I am looking back and taking stock. I have felt an unusual restlessness within me in the past few days, conflicting emotions, distant thoughts, I have felt an invisible hand telling my heart a new journey is about to begin. I guess to people who know me not the most will find this in the least whimsical. I guess I see myself like the alchemist, who is in a desert seeking his treasure, listening to his heart, and trying to always stay true to it. Life's a wonderful journey, in this I have learnt so much. People find me to be unusual and crazy, but I think I have tried to live my life by following my heart and I think as long as I follow my heart I wont stray of my path. The heart is always in touch with what the alchemist says the soul of the world. I think so. Maybe its just a fools belief and how the beliefs assume strength with time and power of the belief.
I think I will be back here one day, my heart tells me so, and maybe it’s like in the Alchemist, a Fatima waiting. Maybe it’s like the bakers daughter. ‘Maybe’:a word which imbibes the uncertainty of the world in it. This uncertainly that governs men’s life.
As i look back, It slowly dawns on, the old guruji's sayings, it seems to have been a long time since I have met guruji, but i remember what he told me, dream and believe and those dreams will unfold before your eyes. I dream, I don’t sit back on words, I work, I seek knowledge, I strive to make my own destiny the way my nature will it. I have met many people, people i have liked like James, people like my Fatima of spice,(spice- the land of dune), people to be wary of, people to look up to and envisage. I think my heart is still trying to figure out the nature of men. It’s still a very young heart.
I look at my life and I once again see a young child, a very pretty thin, dressed in white dress with laces, dancing, a slow graceful dance, she's lovely, the sun's out and its a very warm beautiful day. Life's delicious.
And again Emerson invades my thought's with his words,
"Thou art not gone being gone, where'er thou art,
Thou leav'st in her thy watchful eyes, in her thy
loving heart."
Time out from life .. .
The Goa Trip begins ... .... .
All the jokers in the auto -on way from WTO-1 to Gachibowli
We are all estatic - finally we r on our way .... yupiiiieeee......
We on Cloud 9 .... . .
Kamlesh,Kranthi ,Nish ,Naveen & me.
Waiting for the bus to come ... at Gachibowli.
Paulo travels delayed us by quite a bit .Bought us down to earth .. shit happens sometimes !
Finally we are here in GOA .. ready to hit the sights .... bring it on .
LETS GET THIS PARTY STARTED...
But before that some morsels of food for the starved journeymen.... 'Kebabs 'n Curries' obliges , Autie is a pain though.
wWE hit the beaches at calankut .
Above :Chilling out at the beach shack with a drink
Left : Me and naveen watch as the other guys head for the dive.
Below: The boys having a good time .
Below: "YO ! Who wants get clobbered ? " - my gait seems to suggest that.
Below :The boys ... having a blast
Beautiful... . .
WE get adventurous : below : Water surfing
Left : Sunday - we are at Anjuna Beach.We hired a couple of bikes and headed out there. Naveen and Nish shopped there a bit .
Below: CHapora Fort
Left : All of us on the rampants of Chapora fort - more popularly known as DCH fort.
Below : Dil chahta HAI ......
left : Outside the fort .Against the backwaters, It was breathtaking.
Below : The best part of the entire trip ---PARA GLIDING
All around: The other guys were put off by the price - 700 bucks. But for me it was worth each paisa. Up there it was pure exultion...
Below: Touch down!! The Smile never left me for the entire duration of the flight.
I loved every minute of it.... ..
Sunday Night: We went to the best eatout in the entire GOA - Britto's .
The guys later headed out to TITO's , to get a taste of the famous Gos nightlife
Below: Monday mornin' catching the sunrise at Calankut beach.
Left : The fisherman at work .WE actually saw a snake, still alive in their nets - Ughh - makes u wonder what else is out there in the sea.
Below : we Later went and got a tatoo each.Mine shown below was a scorpion.
A riposte to CFC criticism
Chelsea FC- 0:0 -Birmingham City FCfollowing this score this past weekend, a wave of flak has been directed at he Club and Management. In my riposte here , I talk-back on a few arguments and also remind a few hometruthsWhy is that that every time somebody raises a finger at us (us meaning -CFC & the fans ) a selection of us (us refering to 'The boo boo boys' - B2 Boys) always seem to find some merit in what we are being accused.There seems to be a perrinial problem among this selection to wail everytime we have a hick-up.This is the sign of a fan yet to mature.
Now if this were a Birmingham or a sunderland fan cursing their players, abusing their managers and speculating about who is going to lead them the next season -well i can accpet that.But i find that hard to comprehend when we are champions of last season, Champions in waiting for this season and still in the FA cup -in semifinals. Now when we are all that - I am talking about what we are rather than what we have been - then i find some of the criticism coming our way especially from the B2 Boys baffling.If somebody actually asked Fergie, if he would like to exchange places with us - I am sure he would promptly say "Yes". Now with that in mind why is the wailing so vitriolic and always directed at few individuals who have contributed more than everybody else to making the club the success story it is today. JM,Lamps,Gudjohnson etc - these guys are the reason Chelsea Football Club are the envy of the Football world and the most 'hated' club in the England.Now what you have to understand is that beings successful goes in hand with the envy and kvetching of the following pack-the MANYOO's and the Gooners : our most vociferous opponents.
Now when you are like constanlty talked about , written of , incessantly debated upon in like a seamless circle then after sometime people do get sick of it .I think people are tired about talking about Chelsea in the glowing terms that they had to -just had to - cause we have been awesome. In such an atmosphere all it needs for the Journos to turn sour is a hick-up here, a stumble there. And yes we like any normal club have had our share of run-ins and the press has gleefully pounced on that and built it up .
From the Columnist's mouth to the people's mind - the campaign has been well orchestrated. They first said we were 'boring' .When that vein was beginning to wear thin they pounced on the man who symbolizes this very club -Jose Mourinho . Its like this -Roman doesnt say much , Kenyon's too smart but hey -Jose is here.The guy wears his pride on his sleeve , talks straight and is an epitome of confidence. And they can't stand it. So that charade went on and now its like Chelsea's having a blip - are they raving mad? . Its more like hoping , wanting something so bad that at every faint sign they seems to be standing on their toes all tensed eagerly waiting . They are beggining to beleive their own lies and trying to convince anybody and everybody that there some credibility in their hogwash.
But the worst part is they are succeding -arent they ? No i dont think so . The true fan always knows that things arent always beautiful .Its when the times aren't particularly honky and dory that you need the fans behind the team . Its the bad times that determine which side of the fence you sit - the true fans or those there for the right to gloat as a fan of the champions and there only as the goings good. Crticism is healthy , its is welcome but not raving . Certainly not raving on basis of balderdash the press thinks up.
Now some of you think JM needs to go.Well all the top clubs in the world will snap him up in no time.Real Madrid will pounce. They are a fine example of having tons of money,spending loads of it , having a collage of good managers and still ending up with baloney.A very likely situation we could have been if JM hadnt transformed this club. Make no mistake -JM has transformed this club from one of the premiership yoo-yoo clubs(sometimes Europe sometimes not-much) to a clb of immense standing.Other clubs fear us now and they certainly respect us as a champion. I think we owe a lot to this man and given time he will lead us to many more credits.
Chelsea is living a dream that many conjure but few realise. We are a club on the top and going on to greater things .We should not doubt ourself ourselves so much. We are special and we have a very 'special' man leading us to better things, to greater things.
The thin red line
the fourth estate
The fouth estate playes an important part in the way the free society functions. Its responsible for the dissemination of information from the far corners to the farthest corners .It helps bridge the gap between the vast millions of a nation and indeed in todays world the global humanity . Despite the advent of different portals of propagation of news ,it has held its forte remarkably probably owing to the fondness with which its held by a vast majority who while accepting the new means still find justification to conserve and persist with the old ways.
I remember when i was in 6th grade and my father would encourage me to read the paper . Initially it was a bit daunting but my own natural curiosity and my father constant encouragement to read drove me into the habit of reading The Hindu . I have grown up with the paper becoming a part of my life. It had a very rigid and concise format. The news was always presented in a very precise manner which made reading for a beginner like me easy to start with . You always knew where to find your news; the front page carried the national news , the 2nd to 4th carried the local state news followed by other state's news , the international news and then opinions and finally the sports news .
Things always seemed simple back then .News was conveyed as it happened .It was an account of what happened rather than an account of what was perceived as to have happened. Journalists restricted their reports to relating the events and consigning their opionions to special write-ups which were published in the opinions section . People enjoyed their news reading and it was an important part of people's business.People were serious about the news and editors who managed these papers knew their responsibility was primarily to their readers; to present the happenings of the day in a succinct and honest manner above all else.
As all things in the course of time even the press has had to change , more papers are in circulation now alluding to wide variety of sections of public, they cove a wider range of issues and offer a wider repository of opinion. But along with changing times there has also been a sea change in the atitude . The empasis of the Editor has shifted from responsibility to the reader to responsibility to the shareholder. The paramount aim is to push up the circulation numbers and do all and everything to acheive the same . See , the focus has shifted . When you have an aim you work with that in mind ,towards it and for it . SO when the only aim is to push up the numbers, bring in the money your sensibilities change along with your targets.
So how do you acheive that ?
Well its easy to notice when you have a exclusive information regarding a burning issue of the day -that tends to push up your circulation.So exclusivity pays .So get exclusive , a dubious line added here , a rumour there , a punch line in between and well you have spiced the boring news everybody has - you've created a sensation- you are exclusive; oh you can give them the impression -create a facade u like, for sometime . Not too long though ,you have to replenesh it as people get bored of an issue after a certain time.
Cynicism and satire have taken the front seat . Everybody like the smart alec ;so give the people what they want .Who wants news as it is , give them as they will like it - racy ,paunchy and bitchy. Indeed this has a new term , tabloidism . Tabloidism where the lines between the occurence of events and the opinions of events gets blurred.A journalist's views , his private beleifs previously separate from his job of reporting increasingly creeping into his assesment of a event and the worst part such a style being accepted as the way forward.Infact give the guy a mass of baloney and if he's worth his tabloid salt he will turn it into an incredible yet credible story . The use of the ancient principles of rhetoric which Aristotle advocated have never been in such vast acceptance and application. The distortion of the thin red line between narration of an occurence and an assesment is now complete.A specail mention should be made of the western medai particularly the British and their American Media who must be credited for this discolourment- the indian media in past few years have been only too happy to follow.
Entertainment and Mass Media , today the latter has more and more assumed the role of the former also . Perhaps therein lies its greatest folly -purpose redefined , focus blurred , direction lost but then profits gained . Everybody happy ? I doubt it.
Shashank
Waiting for the bus to come ... at Gachibowli.
Finally we are here in GOA .. ready to hit the sights .... bring it on .
