An Awakenining !!

I have never been as confused in writing as I am today. It’s not easy to write something about a movie which is so strong that it takes you a couple of hours to come to reality.


I could never believe that these three hours have an effect so strong. I was not perplexed watching movie like Bhagat Singh and the likes as I was today watching this movie.

This movie has a very realistic stand. People die. Die in army, navy, air force, police, border, commandos etc. But majority of time they die because of insanity of the politicians of this country. So many scams and scandals come out, so many people die. It must be pretty vivid in your memories, the recent killing of the IIM-A guy when he went for inspection of a petrol pump. Another killing was of Satyander Dubey , who was again killed for whistle blowing against the corruption taking place in Bihar. We forgot these incidences, spoke against the politicians, the government, at home, and on net and that were the end of it. But for someone, it was a loss never recoverable, someone's son; someone's brother is gone forever. This is the price those families have to pay for being honest; being true to their nation, being what is called a good citizen.

I know, it will not affect us, and why should it be? We are sitting at home, calmly watching Indo-Pak test match, we are surfing net, and we are eating pakoras...

But when something happens to us , one of our close relation, our blood relation, then we get awakened, then we feel the pinch, then we realize how helpless we are.

Rang De Basanti , had one line, which we hear often , "We have to change this country". And NDTV also has put it beautifully, "Tum Koshish toh karo , badlegaa India"( You start trying, country will change).

I am here in USA, watching this movie in a theatre here, feels for home, longes for home, for my country, for my nation. I do not want to get settled here in US, for I love my country. Even with all the corruption, the pollution and all the ills of this system, this country, I still want to be here, to be with us, to feel the pain and to enjoy with them. This is the place where I have lived and I want to die here. I will do my best to bring some good change in this country. I will put across my thoughts, my feelings, and my gratitude towards this country, because I believe in "Action speaks louder than words".

Do watch Rang De Basanti, but watch it with a purpose, with a responsibility towards your country. Remember, there were so many people who sacrificed their life to make India free. We can do something to make India better. It will not only be a tribute to those "Sons of India" but also a gift to the new generation.


Let the nation awaken.........


"sarfaroshi ki tamanna , ab hamaray dil mein hai,
dekhna hai zor kitna, bazoon katil mein hai ."

Jai Hind

And the tagging continues ....

Its a phenomenon which google had picked in the recent past. To make a selected few , feel important and develop curosity in others. As a marketing stunt, it works great. Oh well I forgot, blogger.com is also google's child.

Anyways, thanx to Emotions for tagging me.

Rules of the game are …
1. The tagged victim has to come up with 8 different points of their perfect lover.
2. Need to mention the sex of the target.
3. Tag 8 victims to join this game & leave a comment on their comments saying they’ve been tagged.
4. If tagged the 2nd time, there’s no need to post again.

Sex of the target :
Female.

PERFECT LOVER hmmmmm.......

1. She should laugh and smile a lot.
2. she should be intellectual yet witty.
3. She should be polite and has a feel of femininity in her personality.
4. She should be my best friend and should fight with me, also.
5. She should be honest,respect humanity and believe in punctuality.
6. She should have enough flexibility to change her mood from nagging wife to a romanitc date as the situation demands.
7. She should have a positive outlook to life.
8. She should have me as her perfect lover.


Wow, it wasn't that bad. Waiting for you my perfect lover.

Now let me do my part by fulfilling the last criterion. Fellas , its your time to tell us about yours perfect lover.
1. Priyanka Joshi
She is a journalist, playing with words is her profession.
2. Shruti
She is a blogger with good depth.Heavy topics, nice writeups.
3. Grafxgurl
She has just to sit and tell eight points about A.So simple, isnt !!
4. Silverline
I love her (writing) LOLZ !!
5. Neha V.
she is a wonderful blogger. Now thats another case that she never responded to my comments. Writes beautifully.
6. Reshmi
A bengali in OOmrika(America) , she has got a TA recently, now tell us about ur PL.
7. Rathna
Oh , she does theatre. I love theatre people.So here you go...
8. Alka
Another wonderful bogger with depth.

Now, you might wonder , I have tagged only girls, but then tell me , what was the tag topic ..... ha ha !!


Let the tradition continue........


-ATG

Silence of the man !!

Have you realized lately that you have stopped talking as much as you used to do in your childhood?

At least I have. And it has gone down drastically. And mind you, i am not talking about the crap (that is to kill time only) I am talking about the quality talks. There were times when I used to talk to my best friends and my parents and brother and sister, heart to heart. It was a talk about my life, their life, and the thoughts about the things around us.

It has changed now. I am away from home for last three years; most of my friends live in different time zones, calling my parents, brother and sister has become a ritual 5 minutes standard talk.

In this professional world, I did not find many takers for a deep thoughts talk. You can talk about the new chick in project or neighborhood, or the new bike, or the job offers coming your way. You can talk about Al Qaeda, about NR Narayana Murthy and Government. You can talk about the new movie releases, about the crime in Delhi and now Bangalore too, you can talk about stock market and investments, you can talk about how your company sucks, you can talk about so many mundane things in life, but there are no takers of your personal talks. I am not sure if I am an exception or it is a generalized statement, but I have found in so many chats with so many people and every chat revolved around the same mundane things. So, what happens now? You have to release your emotions, your feelings, and your inner self. Where do you go? Yes, for those fortunate souls who have a dedicated boy/girl friend, they have a person who can provide the solace, but what about others, they are left bewildered, a little helpless, they resort to this new medium called Internet, be it in the form of chat groups, messenger chatting, blogging, forums or surfing topics of their interest.

Earlier the things were not that bad, people used to talk, neighborhood was like an extended families, the whole town would know about each other. A happy occasion in one house would be reflected across the entire street.
Even now if I go to my grandpa's home in village, I see so much buzzing, people chatting, sharing jokes and anecdotes expressing their problems, crying, shouting, even fighting. I see human interactions. Real emotions in their faces.

Come back to my place here in US, I hardly talk with people whom I stay with. Everybody is busy with their laptops, or mobile phones. We just meet for lunch or dinner or sometimes cook together and then back to our laptops. How laptops have replaced humans. You really don’t feel a need to talk. Frankly speaking, I chat more on net than the real life chat. I do want to talk to people, share ideas and view with them, discuss life, discuss issues close to my heart, but again , find no takers. There is a whole lot of superficiality now. People talk you in a very calculated manner and unfortunately you also have to reply in a precisely calculated manner. Talks become so standard that at times you can guess what the person is going to ask next.

No, I am not frustrated but I am sad, I am just telling the truth. And I do not say that all of you would be feeling the same thing, but there is gloominess in the life now. Nobody seems happy, everyone has a pale face, sad story no friends , yet do not want to make friends, share life, because they think its too much of investment of time and emotions, they want to hide their emotions. I don’t recall when was the last time I cried, shouted, or fought with someone. Maybe a decade back. Now anything comes in my life, the biggest tragedy(god forbid), biggest happiness or some height of stupidity, all emotions are just the same, they have no varying degree of emotions, just a flicker on the face and the life is normal. I think people resort to movies to express their emotions, they cry , they laugh , the shout when they watch movies, because its not their emotions, its not their talks, so they can express themselves without feeling embarrassed. Pity, we need reel movies to express our real emotions!!

And this is the same thing happening in any section of society and any relationship, be it parents and children, be it husband and wife, be it neighbors, anybody and everybody.

I hate this living and wish to improve it. I talk to people even if they express interest, on the simple thought that probably they also wanted to talk but couldn’t do the first start, so let me make the first move. Sometimes it is good but mostly I have to go back, people do not feel comfortable talking to you.

I so much wish, I had spent hours talking to great friends and people than chatting with some unknown faces (on a priority basis I am saying). Looks like mode of communication has started to change, now only our hands will talk (chat), we can shut up our Mouth and speak only on special occasions.

ONE BEDROOM FLAT... AN INDIAN SOFTWARE ENGINEER'S LIFE...- A Bitter Reality

A very beautiful story for those who do not have any values for their Pride nation INDIA

I dont know if it is true but it does give us some message .....

As the dream of most parents I had acquired a degree in Software Engineer and joined a company based in USA, the land of braves and opportunity.When I arrived in the USA, it was as if a dream had come true.

Here at last I was in the place where I want to be. I decided I would be staying in this country for about Five years in which time I would have earned enough money to settle down in India.

My father was a government employee and after his retirement, the only asset he could acquire was a decent one bedroom flat.

I wanted to do some thing more than him. I started feeling homesick and lonely as the time passed. I used to call home and speak to my parents every week using cheap international phone cards. Two years passed, two years of Burgers at McDonald's and pizzas and discos and 2 years watching the foreign exchange rate getting happy whenever the Rupee value went down.

Finally I decided to get married. Told my parents that I have only 10 days of holidays and everything must be done within these 10 days. I got my ticket booked in the cheapest flight. Was jubilant and was actually enjoying hopping for gifts for all my friends back home. If I miss anyone then there will be talks. After reaching home I spent home one week going through all the photographs of girls and as the time was getting shorter I was forced to
select one candidate.

In-laws told me, to my surprise, that I would have to get married in 2-3 days, as I will not get anymore holidays. After the marriage, it was time to return to USA, after giving some money to my parents and telling the neighbors to look after them, we returned to USA.

My wife enjoyed this country for about two months and then she started feeling lonely. The frequency of calling India increased to twice in a week sometimes 3 times a week. Our savings started diminishing. After two more years we started to have kids. Two lovely kids, a boy and a girl, were gifted to us by the almighty. Every time I spoke to my parents, they asked me to come to India so that they can see their grand-children.

Every year I decide to go to India. But part work part monetary conditions prevented it. Years went by and visiting India was a distant dream. Then suddenly one day I got a message that my parents were seriously sick. I tried but I couldn't get any holidays and thus could not go to India. The next message I got was my parents had passed away and as there was no one to do the last rights the society members had done whatever they could. I was depressed. My parents had passed away without seeing their grand children.

After couple more years passed away, much to my children's dislike and my wife's joy we returned to India to settle down. I started to look for a suitable property, but to my dismay my savings were short and the property prices had gone up during all these years. I had to return to the USA.

My wife refused to come back with me and my children refused to stay in India. My 2 children and I returned to USA after promising my wife I would be back for good after two years.

Time passed by, my daughter decided to get married to an American and my son was happy living in USA. I decided that had enough and wound-up every thing and returned to India. I had just enough money to buy a decent 02 bedroom flat in a well-developed locality.

Now I am 60 years old and the only time I go out of the flat is for the routine visit to the nearby temple. My faithful wife has also left me and gone to the holy abode.

Sometimes I wondered was it worth all this? My father, even after staying in India, had a house to his name and I too have the same nothing more.

I lost my parents and children for just ONE EXTRA BEDROOM.

Looking out from the window I see a lot of children dancing. This damned cable TV has spoiled our new generation and these children are losing their values and culture because of it. I get occasional cards from my children asking I am alright. Well at least they remember me.

Now perhaps after I die it will be the neighbors again who will be
performing my last rights, God Bless them. But the question still remains 'Was all this worth it?'

Changing Times !!

I am asking this question now, what is tougher - "Earning bread and butter" or "Preparing bread and butter". I chose the latter for some reasons explained below. But yes, that doesn’t prevent me from taking such adventurous trips again.

Coming onsite makes you a cook for sure. Now the reasoning is simple, you cannot eat in buffet outside daily (harms your stomach and your wallet) and if you are a vegetarian, then you are left with very little options to eat outside (daily). So, I decide to cook my food. What I hate the most is cooking in the morning (waking up at 7:00am). So, I get frustrated when my cooking turn would come in the morning I would do one simple thing, cut onion, fry them and put the mixed vegetable pack (Safeway store) and let it boil for 10 min and I am through. Along with I would put a vessel of Rice in the microwave and would then rush for sleep again.

But other than morning sessions, I love to cook (as many "tagged" girls wished their husbands to cook). I can prepare most of the north vegetarian curries, quite well. But my all time favorite is always, Egg-plant curry (Baigan Ka Bharta) and I prepare it pretty well. But the next problem is getting chapattis. Now, I am from north India, where rice is not eaten day in and out and am used to chapattis. But the chapattis you get here mostly are not of good quality and if not kept properly (which we guys can’t manage) they become too stiff to eat. So I tried this time to experiment with preparing chapattis at home. I know its a very tough task, even for ladies, but I am an adventures guy (not in kitchen only), so I tried to prepare the dough. It looked a very simple act, pour water and keep mixing the wheat flour. But it’s a very slow process and I lost my patience and added a little good amount of water and there you go, I prepared dough good for dosa. So then I had to add more flour and kept on adding it. So, the new size of the dough was 3 times the original size. Anyways, prepared the dough, now time to use the mathematical geometry to make circles. Just understood one thing, keep rolling. But my pressure was varying so the chapatti started to show shapes which start resembling the maps of various countries and by the time I was through, it was pretty close to the map of my Bharat , except that it skipped the north east completely.














Anyways, I was improving with every coming chapatti and by the time I was through with the 4th chapatti , it looked pretty close to the map of Africa. Now this isn’t that bad. So, I was through with chapattis. Now final task, to bake them. Yes, I cannot do these two tasks simultaneously, preparing chapattis and baking them. It’s too risky. So, I started to bake the chapattis, but guess the flame was a little too high and the chapatti started burning but some edges were not baked properly. If I press too hard, the edges would burn. Forget the blown chapattis; I just wanted to save them from converting into ash. After wasting two chapattis, I got an idea. Let’s make it as a parantha, a normal parantha. So I would apply ghee and that did the trick. .The chapattis will not burn and it will get cooked properly and what more, it would even be soft.

So, after a tormenting exercise of 3.5 hours, I was able to prepare 4 chapattis which smelled good(its desi ghee effect). And so finally I had my dinner with Baigan Ka bhrata with my chapattis at around 11:40pm.


Preperation time: 4.5 hours
Serving: Chapattis(Self) , Baigan Ka Bhrata(5)




Ps: Recently, I met a few girls who have come to Bay area for onsite and I was surprised to find that none of them can prepare a cup of tea properly. Looks like all those girls have read a little too much about women liberation or their mothers would have. I guess, the time has really come when we guys have to start taking cooking seriously, as the times have changed and you don’t know, how many of us would end up becoming a permanent cooks, thanks to the "Women Liberation Era".

Time for celebration !!

Open the champagne, its time for celebrations!!

Occasion, I have completed three rocking years in Infosys. Yes, my dear, it was my first job and I have keep it going for three solid years. In times of today, three years seems to be a very long time in a single company. But those eras, things were different, when we joined.

Lemme try going down the memory lane. It was 20th Nov; I got a call from Infosys, for a written test. On 1st Dec was my written test and on 2nd Dec was my interview. Then on 16th Dec I got a mail from C&B congratulating my confirmation in Infosys. On 28th Dec I got my deputation letter. On 13th Jan was my Date on joining Infosys.
Oh BTW, I was the first guy from my college to secure a job in a real good firm.

I was to leave for Infosys, Mysore for my training. This was the first time, I was traveling to south , except on a small trip to Chennai with family. So, it was the good old Karnataka Exp, starting at 9:15pm from New Delhi. Days and nights passed, but Bangalore did not come, finally after 48 hours , I was in Bangalore. It was afternoon around 3:00pm and I was loaded with luggage. Now I was to go to Mysore and didn’t know the direction, so I enquired a few people and finally got into the bus for Mysore. It was a 2 hours trip, converted in 4 hours, courtesy private bus operators. I reached Mysore by around 7pm, and it was dead dark, given it was January month. Now, I had a tough task ahead. I tried asking people where was Hootagalli, but nobody gave me a satisfactory answer. I had forgotten to take the number of Infosys, so could not call them. I was really tired and angry on Infosys, for making DC (development center) in a place so unknown. Somewhere from the blues, a person came and said, he was going towards Hootagalli and asked me to join him. I chatted with him, trying to gauge the mood of the people in south. I still remembered what I asked him then, " aray bhaiya , log jayalalitha ko itni izzat kyin detay hain, jabki usnay abhi itnay ghotalay kiyay hain?". For me then, it was just south and north. He replied something junk, I recall. So, finally I reached a point, from where I had to walk, as the bus changed the route it normally used to take. So, I had to walk for 1 KM with 2 heavy suitcases on a completely dark road. I reached the office campus, and guess what, I was the first person to come from our batch and barring a few people from previous batch , who could not clear comprehensive exam , the whole campus was empty. It was a very huge campus, with most of the place utilized for greenery. I went to the FC (food court) which was almost empty. Tasting south Indian food was a very exciting thing at that time. I did not take any coupon, so after having my food, I went to express thanks to them for providing me such a nice food and they said, "sir, please pay for this coupon, Rs25". That was the day I realized that there are no free dinner in the outer world (had been a home boy till then).

Then I was shown my room and couldn’t believe what I saw, if you have seen a 5 star hotel room, it was a photocopy of the same . Big TV, AC, two well made bed, 3 lamps, shining floor, bathroom with bathtub, electric kettle. I was mesmerized, I went to take bath, but could not understand the working of the Switch and ended up having cold bath in the month of January. Then came to the room and got in the warm & cosy bed and started watching TV. Then got excited to see the whole campus and took the bicycle (was driving it after 4 years) and took a round of the whole campus. That day, I really fell in love with Infosys.

Well that was then , now the life has changed completely. I have personally changed drastically. Those who have not met me after college and see the new me, will be almost shocked. I have grown from a sukda(thin) guy to a motto(heavy) fellow. Personality-wise I have changed a lot, from a silent, insecure, quite introvert, non-confident guy to a almost opposite. I have groomed my communication skills, my way of thinking, my whole personality. I have grown, really. I have seen the management, the best practices of the company, the quarterly results and their rhetoric statement during their address to the employees, I have seen NRN (Nr Narayan Murthy) going and Nandan Nilekani taking over. I have seen the mega growth of IT (from recruiting some 100 employees per annum, to recreating almost around 15000 employees per annum). I look so old in Infosys, given my employee number is 19000 + and Infy has 50000 employees now. I have seen US, was there for 11 months, done driving here, met lot of american, see this capitalist country. I have seen a lot of world in these three years.

If I go down the memory lane, I think, I have taken birth again. I dont know, for how long I will stay in this company, for I don’t like to do the job and want to start my own business but it all requires money.

But, above anything, I have got enough strength (financially and mentally) to survive thought any circumstances in this world. I have gained enormous wisdom in these three years of professional world.

Today I will definitely raise a toast to this special occasion in my life.

Let’s live together !! (A)

WARNING: this is very, very long, in order to save us both time. If you are interested in this proposition, please send a photo with your first response, along with answer to the questions that I ask. Those that can’t follow simple instructions are not fit to date me, live with me, or otherwise spend anytime with me. Shall we begin?

The basics:
I’m looking to meet somebody special and now I am in the oh so fun position of having to find a new roommate. Since being efficient is extremely important to me, I thought: instead of posting two separate posts, I will just post one and see what happens. Here is the low down: rent is $650/month, plus shared bills. The following qualities are important to me in both a partner and a roommate: smart, honest, a great sense of humor and very, very neat and clean; well adjusted and a great cook. I’m vegetarian for moral reasons. I don’t cook, so I’d be willing to lower the rent if you were willing to cook me wonderful organic, vegetarian meals. I despise cigarette smoking, but I do enjoy 420 now and again. I drink socially. I have no interest in dating somebody with substance abuse issues. My politics are left, I do a lot of volunteer work and I hope my future partner will also care about giving back to the community, in the form of money, time or preferably, both. I’m the landlord. That freaks some people out. Trust me, I do not want to feel like a landlord. There will be a lease agreement. If you can’t comfortable afford $650/month in rent with shared bills, well, this probably is not the right situation for you.

I’m tall, so it would be great if you were over 5’10. You should have a car as the house is located off the beaten path. The 44 and 19 bus lines stop across the street, but really, it’s best if you have a car. Bonus points if you drive a hybrid. Negative 100 points if you drive an Iraqi baby-killing (i.e. gas) guzzler.

You must love cats and bunnies! There are six four legged furry friends who live in the house. The bunnies live downstairs, next to my room, in an enclosed area. I grew up with nine animals (cats, dogs and a bunny) in the house, so six is not a lot compared to what I grew up with, but I have learned that I’m not a dog person.

The house is located in India Basin. If you google it, the India Basin Neighborhood Assocation will come up. Click on “The Neighborhood” and “Map”
in order to see where the house is located. Also on that site, you can learn more about the community and all of the exciting things that are happening there. In the summer of 2003, my house was used in the Spike Lee directed Showtime movie, "Sucker Free City." It aired on Showtime in February 2005. The bedroom/bathroom for rent is located upstairs, with views of the bay and off street parking.


Dating, sex and the future:
My life is very full between friends, family, work and volunteering. I hope to meet somebody who also has a life. I need to be with an honest person, this is imperative. I think open communication is essential in order to have a successful partnership. I believe in full disclosure and helping the morons that populate this world become more educated. I have herpes. I got it in 2003 from a guy who claims he didn't know he had it. According to the ASHA website: "About 50 to 80 percent of American adults have oral herpes, which is commonly called cold sores or fever blisters. About one in four adults in the United States has genital herpes. However, most people don’t know they are infected because their symptoms are too mild to notice or mistaken for another condition." You may have it too! I take Valtrex so as not to have outbreaks. My doctor said I'm very lucky because I only have a very minor case - still, I wanted to take Valtrex so that the chances of me passing it on are even less. To learn more about herpes, google: ASHA herpes and click on the first link. Idealy, you will want to start a family in a few years. I am very pro adoption. If I can not have a bio child naturally, I will adopt. I think it’s extremely narcissistic for people to spend tens of thousands of dollars to try to have a bio child. There are millions of children in the world who need a good home and further, I believe in negative population growth.

Worst case scenario, our dating life doesn’t work out and we end up just being friends and roommates. That’s not so bad, right?!

Ok, now it’s your turn to share. Reminder: please send your photo with your first response, along with your answers to these questions: 1) Where do you live now and why are you moving? 2) Anal sex: a) “it’s a shitty way to fuck”, or b) “Girl, you got an ass like I never seen / And the ride.../ I say the ride is soooooooooo smooth / You must be a limousine…” 3) Why did you respond to this post? 4) What is your best feature? 5) You leave dishes in the sink: a) for a day; b) for two days; c) I don’t leave dishes in the sink; d) for a week; 6) What is your view on the death penalty? Finally, 7) Tell me about the last dream you had and what you think it means.

I look forward to hearing from you, be well!

Source : Dating website( A girl's requirement for a roommate and more ...)

Hey You !!

I'd like to be
The kind of dream you'd never share
To be your boss and to be your maid
Your shaving cream, your razor blade
The buttons of your shirt
Your favorite underwear

I'd like to be
The only thing on Earth that makes you cry
The only thing that makes you happy
Soon you will see
That no one else but me can take you this high
And soon you'll make your last name mine

Hey you
Makin' an offer that
No one could ever refuse
Don't play the adamant
Don't be so arrogant
Let me in
Let me be your muse tonight

I'd like to be
The first white hair upon your head
To be your cherry pie
Your daily bread
I'll cook for free
I'll make your bed
If I can know the things you've thought and never said

I'd like to be
The owner of the zipper on your jeans
And that thing that makes you happy
I'd like to be the beginning, the end
And the in between
And be your slave
And be your Queen


Source : Dating website ( A girl's way of expressing her love)

An Anecdote Of Self Made Genius !!

Have you ever come across a fellow who is a self made genius, who has heard of anything spoken in the world, whose some of the relative or friend is always in any place in the world or in any incidence spoken on?

Well, I have had met such people throughput my life, be it in School, neighborhood, college or the professional world. Now why I remembered this guy, was for a very amusing incidence which has happened with him. Once a few of my colleagues were discussing about the Kanishka air dissaster and then this self made genius dropped in and as usual in order to steal the show. Below is the conversation they had in this context:

SMG : Self Made Genius

SMG: “My uncle was flying in this fateful Kanishka flight".
Friends : “So sorry to hear that , loosing someone is really a very painful task".

But then he threw the googly again,

SMG: 'No, my uncle survived. "

Now quoting the link of Kanishka air dissaster saying "There were no survivors; all 329 people aboard had perished.”
So now my friends were really amused listening to this guy.

Friends “But there was no survivor left, it was in the reports."
SMG: (But our fellow was as adamant as always)"My uncle jumped from the aero plane and survived. "
Friends: "Even if someone jump from 31000 feet into an ocean , he will instantly die of the impact when hit with water".
SMG: "He was wearing a life jacket."
Friends: "Did your uncle knew of the attack that he was wearing a life jacket ?".
SMG: "I don’t know about that."
Friends: "You really have a good sense of humor, we must say."
SMG: “No I am seriously saying (with his eyebrows held high)."
Friends: Ok, guys lets go to work (all laughing aloud!!)."


I really could not get as to how come people go to such stupid level in order to get the attention of the people around them. They do not realize that while they are feeling proud of making fool of everyone, it is actually they themselves who are being making fool of themselves.

I just hope, they realize this sooner or later. Till then, I would thank them for providing us amusing anecdotes to remember and talk about.

Nat Geo Special (snaps!!)

NG Photos !!

Comfortably Numb !!

"There is no pain, you are receding.
A distant ship’s smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I can’t hear what you’re sayin’.
When I was a child I had a fever.
My hands felt just like two balloons.
Now I got that feeling once again.
I can’t explain, you would not understand.
This is not how I am.
I have become comfortably numb."

I remember this song whenever I see that guy whom I met during my first onsite trip.The fellow was young and energetic, full of positive thoughts and was an image of a child brimming with energy. He had a passion for life. He enjoyed simple things in life. He was another Indian from a middle class family.

But now I met him a few days back and he was a completely changed man. His face was sunken and swollen. It had lost all its sheen and luster. His thoughts were stark pessimistic, his passion for life had died. He had given into smoking and drinking vigorously. He started drinking and smoking to give company, to be called a "cool" guy and now his mind has taken control over his senses, he cannot understand what harm he is making to himself every coming day. He has completely changed from a fresh and young fellow to dull and dead one. And all this harm happened because he wanted to be in company of the "cool" crowd. So he started smoking and drinking slowly and later on in order to get attention he started smoking and drinking heavily, displaying his image as a natural smoker and drunkard. All this he was doing to be with the "cool" crowd, but now he has reached such a state that even otherwise, he cannot stop smoking every 20 min. He needs to taste alcohol daily. He has taken into drugs, though in low quantity. I can see the demise of a great human being whom I had known 1 year back.

I tried to understand what went wrong and I could find the strongest reason for such a calamity with him was his inability to "introspect", to understand what he wants from life and what he is doing is correct or not. He did not try to understand that drinking and smoking is not the way to make your mark in any crowd, its your thought process, your personality and your acumen which makes you an instant winner (center of attraction) in any crowd.

I can see that a similar fate happens to a lot of people who, from a middle class family wants to taste the big bad word, dying of instant fame and glory and end up living their life in Hell.

It’s a tragedy, which I wish I could undo for my friend.

-ATG

Xplore those eyes!!!

At 9490m in the sky, there is nothing much to be seen down except clouds and more clouds. Sitting at the window seat for last 8 hrs and 2 more hours left before we shall be landing at the SFO airport.

At this height , we are away from everything , from phone call, from emails and messengers, we are around 450 individuals sitting at the allocated seats waiting for the destination to arrive. Unknowingly, we have become a family, or at least we have made a small family of our neighbors and individuals sitting in front and back of own row.
We know what they like to eat , what type of books they read, what type of music they listen ,what type of TV serials do they watch and what do they love to talk about and what level of humor do they hold.
And the most interesting part is that it is all being known without a single word of interaction with them. Mostly people do not prefer to talk to others more so if they are not for same geographical backgrounds.

I feel fascinated looking at the people in such situations , they are sitting calm and quite , as serene as a river and as smiling as the smiling Buddha but the moment they land , they will break out of this hypnotic state ,their cell phones will keep buzzing , they will be using their favorite word f*** as often as possible, their voice pitch will try to compete with that of the owls and they will have an anger at an y trivial thing.

Apart from this point , another thing which fascinates me is the thought that behind those calm eyes , how many mysteires are stored , what all worries are waiting ahead the moment they land , what all excitement is in store for them after landing. For some it will be a life changing flight, for some it will be a tour which they were wishing to take for years altogether, for some it will be meeting their children or relatives after maybe years of gap, for some it might be a job assignment , for some it might be a job requirement which might change their lives forever. Maybe one of the people in this flight might some day become a famous model or cook or CEO or the likes.

Thinking about all this makes me so excited that I just try to look into the eyes of theses people trying to un-ravel the secrets, mysteries and adventures which those eyes have experienced "live". I wish I could talk to a lot of people and learn about them , their secrets and adventures but unfortunately the word "privacy/personal-space" prevents me from disturbing many others thought I do get my bits of conversation with the neighbors. I always have had this strong urge to talk to people , know them , know their mind , their way of thinking , their reasoning behind this thinking and the truth with which the spoke about everything. In short, I love to read human psychology , to know him better, and every person provides a different dimension in the human psychology. And sometimes I get fascinated by the observations which I can make about a person which even that person has nit thought of. That is , trying to explore his un-conscience mind and get some clue at his/her way of thinking. Trust me , its not very difficult to relate what a person speaks to the logic behind his particular thought and the advantage is that you get a complete picture of his/her thought process and become a better judge in selecting or rejecting his/her opinions/statements and thereby making your own thoughts stronger and enriched with the right contents.

We talk about a particular hobby or the way we express our thoughts about any topic, we never try to find the reason behind the way we expressed ourselves,we tend to think that whatever we are speaking is the absolute truth and it needs no change. But in majority of cases we sub-coincidently know that we are basing our arguments on lots of assumptions and prejudices and that what we know about them , may be totally incorrect. If we know this , we can save ourselves immensely from our false ego and add value to our life everyday. This is what is called "Introspection", looking inwards trying to find how our actions/thoughts are perceived from a third person PoV(Point of View). This enables us to correct ourselves and improve our life. Now isn’t that’s what is called a real growth !!.

Food for thought !!!!!!