At the station I overheard a bunch of going boys discussing football. Kya shot tha! The guy slid so well. He was 2 nil up. In extra time I whacked it in. what an idiot you are. I can beat you any time.
Its monsoon season in Mumbai. Monsson in Mumbai invariably means football. Tons of it. Playing in the school, on the road, playing billa football. Billa football is actually playing football with a cola crown (cap). Usally played over smooth tiles ground and usauuly played when you have too much rains outside and get into class completely wet. The crown by its very nature and boys by their nature define the game. You can’t do too much dribbling but you sure can put your foot right on the crown and drag it till as far as you can. All the other guys can kick your leg like crazy trying to get it off the god dam billa. You can use your arms to fend of attackers and maintain your bvalance but you can’t wrestle with the players – that is rugby while we were playing football (soccer). But hell we played a lot and came home stinking and mucky. That was the entire point ofcourse.
Coming back to the bunch at the station. They animatedly discussing the game. ‘He was 2 nil up and then as soon as he scored I hit the ball directly and it went as a goal’. “arre, I was pressing A continuously. Man I was giving him a thrashing. I can take you anyt…” Wait a minute, wait a minute, ‘pressing A continuously’. Oh shit, they were playing football on play station or a computer. What whimps. What a bunch of losers. Complete wasters.
Monday, August 04, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Water water everywhere, not a single drop to drink
There is this great drinking water place at flora fountain sponsored by the Rotary or the lions club. I would not know the exact details. It is horrendously designed and ugly to look at. It has no character and is designed to alienate people and is highly uninviting. I don’t remember ever wanting to drink water or anyone actually dinking water from the place. I wish it was a better designed structure that was inviting and open for the people to drink water. But due crdit to the organizers for keeping the place clean. In fact every morning the keeper washes the places thoroughly and scrubs it clean. The cynic in me one day was wondering… how much water does this guy use to wash the place? He uses a pipe and washes the dam thing for 30 minutes I assume, wasting tones of water. While I applaud the effort to keep it clean I really see it as a waste of time. Also not to mention that the water being washed down makes the place around it dirty. I am not a big fan of the drainage system.
See the below photo. I cant think of anyone putting his head through the white things trying to drink water. The guy using lots of water scrubbing it clean. The barricade actually stopping people to freely access the place. Public stuctures like public art must not have barricades.
See the below photo. I cant think of anyone putting his head through the white things trying to drink water. The guy using lots of water scrubbing it clean. The barricade actually stopping people to freely access the place. Public stuctures like public art must not have barricades.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
the attack of the republicans
We got this email yesterday from IT ...
"Dear Users,
Internet access is available to many of the employees in ba nk. This exposes various risks like confidential information theft, virus outbreak etc. A new trend that is emerging is that hackers are downloading malware (malicious software) onto the user desktops through infected websites on the Internet. Some of these malware are designed amongst other things to capture userid/passwords and automatically send them to attackers.
So Information Security Committee has decided to Grant Internet access to employees on a strictly "need basis". Some of business heads have already provided the list of users who will have access to Internet.
From 31st July onwards Internet access will be available only to the employees for whom approvals have been obtained. However many ba nk related website will be open to all users. List of such website is attached in the mail"
------ wow, pretty cool. i just cant undersatnd this stuff. Are we all getting too right winged? sometimes I think that as organisations get larger they get more and more right winged. there rae tons of stuff that completely drive the employess up the wall. the employees cant figure whats happening, they get teh feeling of being controlled by a larger force, typically the HO. the HO mostly does not have a clue on whats happening on the ground and their policies are wierd and mostly scare inducing. i am sure they have thier reasons but for the man on the ground working hard. I inclination is to let it be! freedom is always good. As a book on parenting once said - Permit where you can and protect where you must!
"Dear Users,
Internet access is available to many of the employees in ba nk. This exposes various risks like confidential information theft, virus outbreak etc. A new trend that is emerging is that hackers are downloading malware (malicious software) onto the user desktops through infected websites on the Internet. Some of these malware are designed amongst other things to capture userid/passwords and automatically send them to attackers.
So Information Security Committee has decided to Grant Internet access to employees on a strictly "need basis". Some of business heads have already provided the list of users who will have access to Internet.
From 31st July onwards Internet access will be available only to the employees for whom approvals have been obtained. However many ba nk related website will be open to all users. List of such website is attached in the mail"
------ wow, pretty cool. i just cant undersatnd this stuff. Are we all getting too right winged? sometimes I think that as organisations get larger they get more and more right winged. there rae tons of stuff that completely drive the employess up the wall. the employees cant figure whats happening, they get teh feeling of being controlled by a larger force, typically the HO. the HO mostly does not have a clue on whats happening on the ground and their policies are wierd and mostly scare inducing. i am sure they have thier reasons but for the man on the ground working hard. I inclination is to let it be! freedom is always good. As a book on parenting once said - Permit where you can and protect where you must!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
AAKRAMAN
Sometimes too much work gets piled on. My standard response – I take my time and think and write it down. Then once written I aggressively go for it, finishing, delegating and butchering it till it gets over. No respite. The work will slowly disappear and you win!
This applies to personal and professional work.
PS: sometimes I wonder if I might just rapidly spontaneously combust. Poof... I am just no more.
Monday, July 21, 2008
book & fight
I am reading this amazing book on behavioral economics – ‘predictably irrational’ by Dan Ariely. It’s quite a fascinating book on how people behave, and quite irrationally. Probably turning the classical economist theory on its head. It’s a sure mind opener. One book cannot truly influence the mind in a positive manner. One needs to read a lot to form opinions one synapse at a time. Some books have more to give and some less.
Sometimes you don’t know what the book gives but its so beautiful. ‘Blankets’ by Craig Thomson is one such book. It’s an absolute beauty. It’s an autobiographical graphic novel. He so captures the feeling of growing up, of love and of the complex process of learning / coming to term with one’s belief’s values etc. It is as valuable a tome on parenting as any other. Really a top class read. Is it something that a teenager can learn, enjoy as much as a parent – maybe not, but I would guess as much.
I have always wondered if I should interfere in a street fight. But I hesitate. Who is right and who is wrong. Who started it? I am always paralyzed by analysis. My first reaction is to just take a blow at the superior guy and favor the underdog but that’s not the best justice dispensing mechanism. I still don’t know what’s the right thing to do?
Sometimes you don’t know what the book gives but its so beautiful. ‘Blankets’ by Craig Thomson is one such book. It’s an absolute beauty. It’s an autobiographical graphic novel. He so captures the feeling of growing up, of love and of the complex process of learning / coming to term with one’s belief’s values etc. It is as valuable a tome on parenting as any other. Really a top class read. Is it something that a teenager can learn, enjoy as much as a parent – maybe not, but I would guess as much.
I have always wondered if I should interfere in a street fight. But I hesitate. Who is right and who is wrong. Who started it? I am always paralyzed by analysis. My first reaction is to just take a blow at the superior guy and favor the underdog but that’s not the best justice dispensing mechanism. I still don’t know what’s the right thing to do?
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Cell Cameras Capture Crazy
I have taken doodling to anew art form. 3 D doodling. This was a meeting where we had saunf/variari or I think its called fennel seeds in english.
ain't i holy?
A ha - my angel, flanked by her two cars
Easily among my favourite pics. We were walking arounf regal/colaba and we entered National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA). A photo echibition of Raghu rai was on. Quite pretty pics all over. This one was Jispa looking at a picture. She liked the NGMA. I think because of the grand layout more than anything else.
But I really love this pic. And if anyone cares to ask, "which camera?" - hahahaha. Its my humble cell phone camera. Anyone's camera.
ain't i holy?
A ha - my angel, flanked by her two cars
Easily among my favourite pics. We were walking arounf regal/colaba and we entered National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA). A photo echibition of Raghu rai was on. Quite pretty pics all over. This one was Jispa looking at a picture. She liked the NGMA. I think because of the grand layout more than anything else.But I really love this pic. And if anyone cares to ask, "which camera?" - hahahaha. Its my humble cell phone camera. Anyone's camera.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Gandhi, my father, my daughter
My interest and my understanding in Gandhiji’s philosophy and way of life had largely been triggered by Freedom at Midnight and then through his own ‘Satyagraha in South Africa’ finally culminating (for the present) in ‘the life of Mahatma Gandhi’ by Louis Fisher. All three have made great profound impact in my life. Layer that with the movie Gandhi that we must have seen umpteen times in childhood, and what I have is a vivid image in my mind about his life, mission, ideals and what not. I am trying to understand his ideals I am truly impressed with what he stood for.
I got my hands on the movie recently again. Yesterday I watched Gandhi with Jispa. Jispa (5 and a half) is normally quite sensitive and can’t even watch a Disney classic without being moved. She does not like sad animations. Violence in movies is just not her. Nevertheless when she came by my side, I let watch after warning her that this has a lot of fighting. She has learnt about Independence struggle in school so I guess she was curious.
I kept explaining to her what was happening. She followed a lot on her own. She kept encapsulating what she understood from the movie. The speech in South Africa declaring non violence as the chosen path. She kept counting the number of times he went to jail. Around four times I think (in the movie).I then tried to explain to her the defiance of the Salt act. I was explaining to her the importance of Salt. Funnily this was the first time she realized that mummy puts salt in all the food. She did not believe it at first. Mummy had to confirm the same to her. She realized the power of styagraha when the Indians bravely took the blows while trying to get to the salt pans. She saw jallianwalla baug as well. For a sensitive kid she did a lot of growing up. She was then completely freaked out when she realized that after Independence Indians were fighting amongst themselves. She knew Gandhiji taught not to fight and that is being more stranger than hitting back, but she did not know how to react when we Indians were fighting amongst ourselves.
In the end when Ghandhiji was shot she asked ‘who shot him? Was he a foreigner’, no I replied. “he was an Indian?” “ya” I replied again. “why did an Indian kill Gandhi?” she always thought it was the British who beat him, jailed him and more or less hated him. “because he did not like him” I answered. “but I thought all Indians liked Gandhi”. “no sweetie, some didn’t. So he shot him”. “Gandhiji died?” she asked emotionally choked. “Ya” I was choking my self. We looked at each other, half choking half holding back tears. We both tried a brave smile, looking at each other for support. We were actually supporting each other. Jispa grew up a bit, I grew up a bit. It was a truly special moment for me.
Trivia - I first understood the power of Gandhi from my dad. I remember having a long conversation with him on non violence before I was converted.
I got my hands on the movie recently again. Yesterday I watched Gandhi with Jispa. Jispa (5 and a half) is normally quite sensitive and can’t even watch a Disney classic without being moved. She does not like sad animations. Violence in movies is just not her. Nevertheless when she came by my side, I let watch after warning her that this has a lot of fighting. She has learnt about Independence struggle in school so I guess she was curious.
I kept explaining to her what was happening. She followed a lot on her own. She kept encapsulating what she understood from the movie. The speech in South Africa declaring non violence as the chosen path. She kept counting the number of times he went to jail. Around four times I think (in the movie).I then tried to explain to her the defiance of the Salt act. I was explaining to her the importance of Salt. Funnily this was the first time she realized that mummy puts salt in all the food. She did not believe it at first. Mummy had to confirm the same to her. She realized the power of styagraha when the Indians bravely took the blows while trying to get to the salt pans. She saw jallianwalla baug as well. For a sensitive kid she did a lot of growing up. She was then completely freaked out when she realized that after Independence Indians were fighting amongst themselves. She knew Gandhiji taught not to fight and that is being more stranger than hitting back, but she did not know how to react when we Indians were fighting amongst ourselves.
In the end when Ghandhiji was shot she asked ‘who shot him? Was he a foreigner’, no I replied. “he was an Indian?” “ya” I replied again. “why did an Indian kill Gandhi?” she always thought it was the British who beat him, jailed him and more or less hated him. “because he did not like him” I answered. “but I thought all Indians liked Gandhi”. “no sweetie, some didn’t. So he shot him”. “Gandhiji died?” she asked emotionally choked. “Ya” I was choking my self. We looked at each other, half choking half holding back tears. We both tried a brave smile, looking at each other for support. We were actually supporting each other. Jispa grew up a bit, I grew up a bit. It was a truly special moment for me.
Trivia - I first understood the power of Gandhi from my dad. I remember having a long conversation with him on non violence before I was converted.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Look ma... Double Decker
Yesterday after a long time, I got an opportunity to sit right ahead on the top floor of the famous Bombay double-decker bus. Actually not that the opportunity is too hard to come by but generally sitting right up there in front is perfect for making your face an oily pollution trapper. Its monsoon time, the air is highly ionized and therefore the pollution is generally much lower. The air feels cleaner (yes – FEELS). So I got in and sat in front. It reminded me of the time when we were kids and we used to sit right up there with our head almost out and our mouths wide open with tongue sticking out. Luckily Bombay is not a largely bug flying zone. Pollution was not that big an issue as well 25 years ago. Sitting there brought back some interesting memories. Here is a faltu photo essay of the lovely journey
Top deck perpective of the road ahead
The beautiful flora fountain contrating against the ugly top side of the bus
A ha - the bus number - the opposite perspective.
Such a small space and a double decker wanting to squeeze through. Will it succeed, will it knock over the bikes like dominoes.
Men about to get off the magical journey and start their drudgery.
Waiting at the traffic signal. Amazing to get a top view!
Top deck perpective of the road ahead
The beautiful flora fountain contrating against the ugly top side of the bus
A ha - the bus number - the opposite perspective.
Such a small space and a double decker wanting to squeeze through. Will it succeed, will it knock over the bikes like dominoes.
Just... I like the Oval maidan that you can see
the greens that you miss from the ground floor but which you notice from the top
the actual view if you are seated with your back resting against the... well... backrest
the women coming out of the women's only bus that was ahead of us.
Men about to get off the magical journey and start their drudgery.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Random Photos
when you want to update your blog adn you dont have time to write ( i always have ideas though!) you just update the photos.
The book on parenting under the Adventure section. Hmmmmm.... crosswords trying to prove POINT.
A to Z on one shelf. Pretty Useful I assume. Crosswords again.
Jispa arranging her food and saying - look a butterfly. I loved doing that as well. I still love it.
Monsoon outside my home window from my humble cell phone 2 megapixel camera. SO next time someone sees a pretty photo and asks 'which camera'- answer them - 'does it matter?'
Jispa at play. I think she was playing teacher teacher.
The book on parenting under the Adventure section. Hmmmmm.... crosswords trying to prove POINT.
A to Z on one shelf. Pretty Useful I assume. Crosswords again.
Jispa arranging her food and saying - look a butterfly. I loved doing that as well. I still love it.
Monsoon outside my home window from my humble cell phone 2 megapixel camera. SO next time someone sees a pretty photo and asks 'which camera'- answer them - 'does it matter?'
Jispa at play. I think she was playing teacher teacher.
Friday, June 06, 2008
BORED
I am normally sooo bored at pub parties. I must be really really bored to take these pictures from a colleague’s cell phone. SEE THE DEPTH OF FIELD :) (depth, ya sure, hahahhahahahah)
cheapo papa
I have been using air travel for the last four odd years now. I see a few parents wanting to buy something for their young ones from their travels. No it’s not a souvenir, its more like a bribe, or rather a guilt elevation program. I have no such guilt. Of course I rather stay at home but I have no guilt traveling. On time I did feel bad was when I received a message from Jasmine – “you broke the record this year. You were out of town for all three b’days and anniversary … Jasmine.” Ok Smarty pants that was nice and straight.
But I am not that bad a guy. When Jispa was around three, I used to get something for her from my travels. That was typically the 250 ml water bottle served on the flight! Wowwwww. Then I used to get her the Free tiny plastic spoon. Or sometimes the wet wipes. Boy am I cheap or am I cheap. But I guess it was good fun. I did not want her to get the “what did you get me” habit. So even if I did pick up some book or the other, I would be quiet about it. Then as she grew older I stopped getting her stuff. Recently I got her a bottle again. She looked at me and laughing said, “daddy, this is so useless. We have so many bottles.” Yeah yeah… I am sure. Then I got her the spoon. She laughed again. Then I reminded her about the fun she used to have as a kid with it. Jispa is now 5 and a half and now she goes all nostalgic and loves the spoon, when I get it.
This time while travelling, I thought I might click this stuff and showcase what a complete cheapo I am.
Life comes a full circle. Doesn’t it?
But I am not that bad a guy. When Jispa was around three, I used to get something for her from my travels. That was typically the 250 ml water bottle served on the flight! Wowwwww. Then I used to get her the Free tiny plastic spoon. Or sometimes the wet wipes. Boy am I cheap or am I cheap. But I guess it was good fun. I did not want her to get the “what did you get me” habit. So even if I did pick up some book or the other, I would be quiet about it. Then as she grew older I stopped getting her stuff. Recently I got her a bottle again. She looked at me and laughing said, “daddy, this is so useless. We have so many bottles.” Yeah yeah… I am sure. Then I got her the spoon. She laughed again. Then I reminded her about the fun she used to have as a kid with it. Jispa is now 5 and a half and now she goes all nostalgic and loves the spoon, when I get it.
This time while travelling, I thought I might click this stuff and showcase what a complete cheapo I am.
Life comes a full circle. Doesn’t it?
Friday, May 23, 2008
mobile blog
Just got myself a mobile phone with internet access device. Let me see how good I am. No excuses any more. Anywhere bloggoing! A little tedious for sure
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
me brutus?
Yesterday I had the great fortune of listening to a panel discussion on cricket. Amongst them was the coach of the team Tom Moody. It was a revelation. That guy was amazing. it is the insight that you get from his cricketing brain that is amazing. the entire panel on one side and Tom on the other. The others I came out impressed with are the Sri Lankans. They have imboibed with their interactions with the aussies the sense of discipline and clean thinking. Sangakkara and Jayawardena are clearly very very sharp guys. No doubt about it. Wow.
Another thing I came across while researching the phrase “et tu, brute” in the wikipedia:-
While the words are very emotionally moving as an expression of shock and betrayal towards Brutus, it has recently been argued that the phrase was instead uttered as a threat. Caesar is thought to have adapted the words of a Greek sentence which to the Romans had long since become proverbial. The complete phrase is said to have been "You too my son, will have a taste of power," of which Caesar only needed to invoke the opening words to foreshadow Brutus' own violent death, in response to his assassination.
The other day Jispa was having a nice long conversation with me on why she should be staying at her cousin’s place as opposed to coming with us for a play. Hmmm… she is like me. I can engage in conversation till eternity if I know I am correct at a fundamental level. Well she was correct but then I was not wrong on my stand so we had an infinite deadlock. Mommy really helps in these situations.
On Saturday evening we saw “khuda ke liye”. Nice movie. One of the story lines involves a dad doing something for her daughter that was obviously very wrong. But from the dad’s perspective it was very correct. (of course in the movie its an absurd unbelievable exaggeration) . The point is that as a dad I would take a decision that I believe is in the kids interest. But from the other perspective it could be so horribly wrong. There is no guarantee against this. Dads will always take decisions. I think the trick is to do a few things right – listen to your daughter’s point of view, think if you can live with it, see how bad it could get, know when to let go (and when not to). There.
Another thing I came across while researching the phrase “et tu, brute” in the wikipedia:-
While the words are very emotionally moving as an expression of shock and betrayal towards Brutus, it has recently been argued that the phrase was instead uttered as a threat. Caesar is thought to have adapted the words of a Greek sentence which to the Romans had long since become proverbial. The complete phrase is said to have been "You too my son, will have a taste of power," of which Caesar only needed to invoke the opening words to foreshadow Brutus' own violent death, in response to his assassination.
The other day Jispa was having a nice long conversation with me on why she should be staying at her cousin’s place as opposed to coming with us for a play. Hmmm… she is like me. I can engage in conversation till eternity if I know I am correct at a fundamental level. Well she was correct but then I was not wrong on my stand so we had an infinite deadlock. Mommy really helps in these situations.
On Saturday evening we saw “khuda ke liye”. Nice movie. One of the story lines involves a dad doing something for her daughter that was obviously very wrong. But from the dad’s perspective it was very correct. (of course in the movie its an absurd unbelievable exaggeration) . The point is that as a dad I would take a decision that I believe is in the kids interest. But from the other perspective it could be so horribly wrong. There is no guarantee against this. Dads will always take decisions. I think the trick is to do a few things right – listen to your daughter’s point of view, think if you can live with it, see how bad it could get, know when to let go (and when not to). There.
Friday, May 16, 2008
It's all about the energy dude
Of all my jobs the one at Momentum Consulting was the most intense for me. It gave me soo much but also took a piece of my soul. I was there for only 9 months but it gave me a treasure tove of wisdom to last a lifetime. Today one can easily say that it shaped me and my thinking and will remain one of the bedrocks of whatever I manage to achieve. There I worked on the strategy for one of the most irritating large companies. It was a cement company by the name of FCC. (Actually if you substitute the F with the A you will get the real name. This is all done to avoid the idiots in the company who put google alerts). So FCC is the biggest dickhead of a company with a management that is allows politics and decision making steeped in bullshit. No wonder there are consultants hovering over the company at all points of time including M/s McK etc. There was so much thought in the strategy that we had presented. The whole place had negative energy and way to weigh down any person trying to do a good job. You get a fair idea on the guys by simply looking at them talk in office. If you notice in places there is no trust, the guys talk in hused voices, there will be closed doors and no coffee conversations on each others desks. You will see the shifty eyes. Yes don’t miss those shifty eyes constantly looking around to see if any body is listening. The guys turning back again and again to make sure. Man it sure is a piss off. I had a chance to go back to this place again yesterday. It took all my resolve and my patience to talk and understand. I can’t do consulting. I can’t do this shit for sure. I like to see consultants as evil vultures seen in Disney movies that hover around near dying animals waiting to feast of them. Of course there are genuine guys in the business as well and momentum was as genuine as it gets, but then that’s the issue. With a genuine intent and work ethic Momentum took more out of you and you really lost it when the company would not be able to uplift themselves over petty issues and run the strategy.
Going back there was to relive some of those awfull memories, those awful feelings. I would never want to step inside that office building ever …ever. I wonder how people work there day in and day out. The archaic furniture, the closed wooden cabins, the silently working staff, the reluctance to smile/laugh, I would just die out slowly but surely. Laughter – its so important in anything that you do. LAUGH, take yourself a little less serious and enjoy whatever you do. No matter what! I want to die laughing! heheheheh
Going back there was to relive some of those awfull memories, those awful feelings. I would never want to step inside that office building ever …ever. I wonder how people work there day in and day out. The archaic furniture, the closed wooden cabins, the silently working staff, the reluctance to smile/laugh, I would just die out slowly but surely. Laughter – its so important in anything that you do. LAUGH, take yourself a little less serious and enjoy whatever you do. No matter what! I want to die laughing! heheheheh
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
random photos
summer time... Jispa's cousin coming over. burger is for dinner and i am the designer chef... i only do the designing
Chakram on the plate as well...
how rickety can a stool get... i wonder who gets to sit on this one...
just like that. thats the under constuction bandra worli sea link. I WAS THERE!!!!! putting this up on social networking sites might be a better idea than the ones in front of eiffel tower or the big ben. those photos are soooo wanna be. I dont think we have gotton over the 'i was there' syndrome.Tuesday, May 06, 2008
silence
The most overrated skill in the world is oratory skill. I have no clue why people go gaga and reinforce this skill from childhood. We clap when the child speaks up, we clap when she goes on stage and speaks and we keep pushing them to speak. But the bigger skill is actually keeping quiet. So many people have so much opinion so little information. The more the opinionated the person clearly the lesser the knowledge he/she has. I was thinking today, that after reading quite a bit in the last few years, I have actually spoken less than I would have. In the face of knowledge, I keep quite, greedy to assimilate more and more. In the face of ignorance I keep quite, the quite confidence of knowing and of understanding the futility. There are more reasons to hold your tongue than to let it exercise. Yet we glorify speech. We must glorify silence. If you are smart, be quiet. If you are dumb even more reason to be quiet. But if you think you are smart and you open your mouth, then you are truly ……
Body language is also words. While we use body language some of us are conscious about it while the others are not so. Of course conscious is better than ignorance but here to the winner is the poker face. The ability to not use body language at all is a skill few posses. The silent assassin is the most effective one. Not showing your response in the short run can be the most power inducing strategy of all times.
Body language is also words. While we use body language some of us are conscious about it while the others are not so. Of course conscious is better than ignorance but here to the winner is the poker face. The ability to not use body language at all is a skill few posses. The silent assassin is the most effective one. Not showing your response in the short run can be the most power inducing strategy of all times.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
aye wai
Running… I so love it. I love to run. And its even more fun in cities with tons of obstacles in your way. Who needs big time parkour training? Running to catch your bus is enough. The other day coming out of a movie hall, it was fun to run out between taxis, carts, people etc and dart towards McDonalds for Jispa’s burger. Today I ran fast enough to catch the bus. The best part is feeling nice while running because after a point you realize that you can easily catch the bus at 80% efficiency. I remember the last year when i twisted my knee. I was afraid that I might never be able to run that fast and crazy again.
Today morning was Jispa’s blood test. Man it sure hurts. She gets so pissed. She thinks we have no idea how hard it hurts her. She wanted a pin to poke us and show us how hard it hurts. But I had to keep talking to her after the syringe to get mind off the thing. I can really out talk her. Heheheheheheh. She finally forgot about the poke and there…good mood once again.
Five star food – some body decode this for me – is this veg/ non veg, what the hell is this?
Today morning was Jispa’s blood test. Man it sure hurts. She gets so pissed. She thinks we have no idea how hard it hurts her. She wanted a pin to poke us and show us how hard it hurts. But I had to keep talking to her after the syringe to get mind off the thing. I can really out talk her. Heheheheheheh. She finally forgot about the poke and there…good mood once again.
Five star food – some body decode this for me – is this veg/ non veg, what the hell is this?
Thursday, April 10, 2008
100% attendance
Jispa got an award I never did get. An award for 100% attendance in school. Pretty cool I think. This award is dedicated to her and her mommy. I don’t think I played any part in it. If it were up to me I surely would have made her miss a few days of school for a silly thing like a vacation! But then Jispa loves going to school and her mommy also loves sending her so I am out voted 2 is to 1 and there, she wins the god dam award. Now next time it’s going to be impossible for any bunking!
I studied in Dubai till the 3rd standard post which we shifted to India. In Mumbai from the fourth standard the monsoon never did suit me. Every monsson I would down with tonsils or something or the other. I was quite a skinny kid in school. I remember never being short of power, I ran fast, I even qualified for the shot put finals once but just a kid that kept falling ill. I had chicken pox, jaundice, malaria and the works! Well that was life. That shit kept going right till the college ended. I was finally happy when a few monsoons went by without me on the sick parade. Wonder how I manage dot get through the NCC.
I studied in Dubai till the 3rd standard post which we shifted to India. In Mumbai from the fourth standard the monsoon never did suit me. Every monsson I would down with tonsils or something or the other. I was quite a skinny kid in school. I remember never being short of power, I ran fast, I even qualified for the shot put finals once but just a kid that kept falling ill. I had chicken pox, jaundice, malaria and the works! Well that was life. That shit kept going right till the college ended. I was finally happy when a few monsoons went by without me on the sick parade. Wonder how I manage dot get through the NCC.
Monday, April 07, 2008
lessons from the Mahatma
Gandhi did two things. He made the British people aware that they were cruelly subjugating India, and he gave Indians the conviction that they could, by lifting their heads and straightening their spines, lift the yoke from their shoulders. After that, it was inevitable that Britain should someday refuse to rule India and that India should some day refuse to be ruled.
The British beat the Indians with batons and rifles butts. The Indians neither cringed nor complained nor retreated. That made England powerless and India invincible.
I have lifted the lines from the book “the life of Mahatma Gandhi’ by Louis fisher. The autobiography is a n amazing account of an even more amazing life. What a book. The book ranks high amongst the books that could change your life! Better than the screwball/ cornball philosophy that Paoulo or his ilk dish out. This book must be read as a part of a four part series, I think. The four being ‘freedom at midnight’, this one, ‘Satyagraha in South Africa’ and ‘My experiments with truth’. The last two being Gandhiji’s own.
Its amazing how we learnt the history of independence and about Gandhi’s life without really understanding it. No history teacher could teach us his life, history, passion and ideals. We learnt little, understood nothing. Another line I read somewhere - Those who don’t learn from history are condemmed to repeat it.
While reading the books I think of two movies. One of course is Gandhi by Richard Attenbourogh, and the other funnily enough is lage raho Munnabhai. The first brilliantly portrays his life and second one is exactly what one goes through after reading a lot of his works and understanding his life. It cannot but move, it cannot but plant a seed of change in you and it cannot but force you to think.
I have always believed that every book gives you one key message. That’s all. One key message. One cannot hope to understand more than that. The key message from this book is- ‘supreme clarity of thought’. It is amazing how one man with supreme clarity of thought can accomplish so much. Wow.
I remember in school days I had a big debate on non violence v/s violence with dad. He got me convinced on non violence. This was in 9th standard. I used the argument to write a much appreciated debate speech on the same topic. There is a big reason why I never got to make the speech in public, but then that’s another blog. If Jispa ever has the debate topic, she definitely knows the books to refer to!
The British beat the Indians with batons and rifles butts. The Indians neither cringed nor complained nor retreated. That made England powerless and India invincible.
I have lifted the lines from the book “the life of Mahatma Gandhi’ by Louis fisher. The autobiography is a n amazing account of an even more amazing life. What a book. The book ranks high amongst the books that could change your life! Better than the screwball/ cornball philosophy that Paoulo or his ilk dish out. This book must be read as a part of a four part series, I think. The four being ‘freedom at midnight’, this one, ‘Satyagraha in South Africa’ and ‘My experiments with truth’. The last two being Gandhiji’s own.
Its amazing how we learnt the history of independence and about Gandhi’s life without really understanding it. No history teacher could teach us his life, history, passion and ideals. We learnt little, understood nothing. Another line I read somewhere - Those who don’t learn from history are condemmed to repeat it.
While reading the books I think of two movies. One of course is Gandhi by Richard Attenbourogh, and the other funnily enough is lage raho Munnabhai. The first brilliantly portrays his life and second one is exactly what one goes through after reading a lot of his works and understanding his life. It cannot but move, it cannot but plant a seed of change in you and it cannot but force you to think.
I have always believed that every book gives you one key message. That’s all. One key message. One cannot hope to understand more than that. The key message from this book is- ‘supreme clarity of thought’. It is amazing how one man with supreme clarity of thought can accomplish so much. Wow.
I remember in school days I had a big debate on non violence v/s violence with dad. He got me convinced on non violence. This was in 9th standard. I used the argument to write a much appreciated debate speech on the same topic. There is a big reason why I never got to make the speech in public, but then that’s another blog. If Jispa ever has the debate topic, she definitely knows the books to refer to!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Doodler's delight
I have been doodling rather than writing these days. I suddenly realized that my doodling is pretty decent. Now I remember that I was always pretty decent at this stuff but was really bad at the realistic kind of drawing.
So here you are – the adventures of chakram – http://funnychakram.blogspot.com . The product of my doodling. I love these a lot, and I want to do 30 of them, print a book and give to Jispa. As of now, I have done 18. Will have to manage many more.
So here you are – the adventures of chakram – http://funnychakram.blogspot.com . The product of my doodling. I love these a lot, and I want to do 30 of them, print a book and give to Jispa. As of now, I have done 18. Will have to manage many more.
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