2010 In retrospect

2nd Jan 2010 was the day when my story got published in Pune mirror. My first fame :). It motivated me so much that I started writing a blog. The urge to write, that was inside me for so long, got catalysed by the encouragement I got when my story made me famous.

Chetan Bhagat's 3 idiot’s controversy which started in the end of December 2009 gave me my first blog topic. “An open letter to Aamir Khan”. Though I do not have many readers of the blog but, I feel it’s more for me rather than for anyone else,as I can go back and read it again and again. When I was small I used to write daily diary. I used to write day to day happenings in a dairy. I had a collection of about 10 diaries in 4-5 years time. But, later when I used to go back and read that stuff, I felt that it contained stuff which I do not like to read back. It feels so stupid that I wrote every small little thing. I later trashed all those diaries when I left my hometown Ankleshwar for further studies in Ahmedabad. But, when I go back and read my blog articles, I don’t feel the same. As it does not contain stupid day to day happenings. It is more in content revolving around a particular topic. For the first time I feel like I am wandering away from the topic. This blog is meant for summarizing 2010 and I feel like writing a blog about how I feel for my blog. Well it had to start this way as I feel the biggest achievement for me in this year is that I have penned down my thoughts, feelings and opinions by the way of blog which feels great really. :) Those few people, whom I forced to read this blog, did compliment me at times. :)

2010 has been an year to look back for me. It has been a milestone. First time in my entire life I have travelled so much in and around Pune on my bike. I enjoyed the company of my friends and hanged out with them quite so often. My search for owning a flat in Pune ended in 2010. I booked my first house in April 2010. It was and is a great feeling indeed. I am really looking forward to it getting finished and me getting the possession of…, Yes !! My own flat. It had been my dream since very long to settle down in Pune. It was in 2003 when I visited Pune for the first time and fell in love with the city. I had decided then only, that I want to be in Pune. And now after a period of 7 long years, I bought a flat in Pune. Isn’t that wonderful? It is going to make 2011 even more memorable for me as I will be shifting to my new flat in the New Year. Can one have a bigger feeling of self achievement? :)

Not everything was very good in 2010 though. End of April was the time when Shubhangi's (my sis in law) father got a brain stroke. Those were the worst 2 weeks of 2010. Life post stroke is full of pain and struggle for Anna as his right side got paralysed. When such things happen, one really tends to believe that sometimes God is merciless. I always keep saying that good people always get good rewards in life. But, these kinds of happenings defy all such good faith. Aai and Anna (Shubhangi's parents) have never done any wrong to anyone as far as I know. But, both of them are suffering from paralysis post brain stroke. Sometimes, I can’t understand the acts of the almighty. Why do such good human beings have to suffer for no real faults of them? No one has an answer really. Such things really shake your faith in the almighty.

In August, I participated in the poem as well as article competetion for the Independence day and I got the the recognition for the best article for writing the Mera bharat Mahan blog article. The good thing was that I realised that I can do word rhyming and it gave birth to my poetry writing. Yes a few of my blogs does have poetry as well. :) The motivation was the patriotic feeling for the Independence day and the excitement for participating in the poem competetion organized by organization that I work for. So it was another achievement of 2010 that I can write poetry as well.

August was also the time when I completed a decade of my professional career. I started working in August 2000. Time really flies. Dont really feel like I have completed 10 years. But, have to accept it as statistics say it.

Two of my closest friends Atul and Jayant got married in this year. Jayant infact got married in Dec 2009. But this was the first year of his marriage. Atul had been with me literally every weekend since the time I am in Pune and whenever he was in Pune. Their marriages to their respective spouses took them away from me. My weekends were now rarely with them. But, as they say, life goes on. Visiting Punjab for Atul's marriage was another very wonderful adventure for me. I had been to North India and Punjab for the first time in my life. The natural beauty of the forests and fields was mesmerizing. The rich food of Punjab was unforgettable. The hospitality of Punjabis has left a permanent impression. The bhangra in the wedding, the cycle rickshaws of Amritsar, mouthwatering Amritsari Kulchas, the Golden Temple, Wagah border, Jallianwalan Baug.... ooooohhhhhh tooo much really. Amazing is such a small word to describe Punjab. Atul's wedding gave me a wonderful opportunity to relish the beauty and hospitality of Punjab.

September was the time when I got back in touch with one of my very dear friend. It had been 20 years since we had seen each other. Such a long period really. We never talked when we were in school together but when I added her in my list of friends in gtalk, we got along like a house on fire. I have to thank all the technicians who were behind the creation of gtalk. Post September time really fled till December now. I could not even feel where all these days went. Getting back in touch with a childhood friend with whom you have so much in common is really an amazing feeling. Our thoughts, our interests and our love for Hindi Bollywood music has so much in common. When you have someone who has similar tastes and understands you it is really a great feeling indeed. Times really fly when you are in touch with such a wonderful friend. I call it our re-incarnated friendship :)

With such a wonderful 2010 I wish an even better 2011. Wishing myself and all those who are made to read my blogs (yes by hook or crook :)) a very Happy and satisfying 2011 just like 2010 has been quite satisfying.


HAVE A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR 2011 :)

The more I get... I still need you more and more and more....

I feel like writing you a letter
Just the thought brings jitter
Had I got the confidence earlier,
It would have been better.

With you life has become such a joy,
Like a child feels after getting his favorite toy,
U are the motivation for me to get up in the morning
and look forward to something exciting

Never had this feeling before..
the more I think the more I adore...
With u around I could never get bore...
The more I get... I still need you more and more and more....

For bringing me such wonderful pleasure...
O fairy of the wonderland... your treasure...
I don't have words to thank you...
Every moment of my life i just think of you....

One more small request O dear,
Come what may please stay near...
For I cant imagine life without you anymore
The more I get....I still need you more and more and more....!!!!

God bless you !!!

Nobody is Indispensable

Even the most modest of persons must have felt sometimes that he/she is the best in a particular area and could not be replaced. But, believe me you may be Amitabh Bachchan or a Sachin Tendulkar in your field, you are not indispensable. Off course Amitabh and Sachin do not have matched replacements, but there will be times when they are no longer doing what they are doing best now, and people who believe today that these personalities are indispensable will get adjusted to the fact that life goes on without them also. A very bitter truth to digest, but still, its a fact of life.

God has its own way to teach us lessons. I remember one such incident of my childhood. We all friends had joined a summer cricket camp for which we had to get up at 6 in the morning and be at the ground. The coach used to make us do rigorous exercises and fielding practises, a bit too long for our patience. The real thing i.e. the batting practise started only after the rigorous training. I used to be the only wicket keeper in the whole camp and I used to get really tired as I was involved in all the fielding sessions. Getting a batting session, the thing which was of real interest, always tested my patience. One fine day I got a bit agitated and asked the coach that whether we will at get a chance to play a match. He responded, that as a player you need to enjoy practise as much as you like to play a real match and he said that he will select the team for a match only based on our performance during practise. I was always sure that my place in the team is fixed as there is no other wicket keeper. Team selection never worried me. But, these practise sessions took a toll on me. One fine Saturday, I decided that I will skip the Sunday practise session. I was completely sure that in case there is match the coach will definitely send someone to call me at my home as they would need a wicket keeper for the match anyways. So, I skipped the session and got up late on Sunday morning. Since I missed the practise session I went late to the ground to check whether I can get a chance to play a Sunday cricket match.

I went to the ground and saw a match going on. I was surprised to see that it was a match of our own camp team. I was shocked to see someone else keeping the wickets. People among the spectators threw questions at me as to why I am not playing the match. I had no answer. It was so painful to see my team playing the match and I was not there. I was not even informed about the match. Suddenly, a thought came to my mind that I had been overconfident of the fact that I was indispensable. I realized that God has its own way of teaching lessons to us. God chose cricket to teach me this lesson. All my pains vanished and I had a smile on my face. I had learnt an important lesson of my life that day. Nobody is indispensable. The sooner you realize this fact the better it is. I was fortunate enough to learn this at a very tender age.

Since then I have always tried to grab an opportunity with both hands. Because, that day I realized that if you are ignoring an opportunity, it becomes someone else's opportunity. You might be the best in business, but you are not indispensable. Cricket has been a great teacher for me in this life.

A Masterpiece !!!

Sanjay leela Bhansali(SLB) is known for putting more than 100% into whatever he does. He has seen success and failure in his works (how can one forget Sawaariya?). But, its amazing how he has created a different genre of movies through his work. Khamoshi, Hum Dil De chuke sanam, Devdas, Black, Saawriya and Guzaarish are all different movies but have one common thing about them. All the movies have been created with a lot of passion. A lot truly means a lot.

Guzaarish is truly a masterpiece. Its not just a movie. I have never cried through out in a movie. Possibly, that could be because I could connect with it. People may find it stupid, but those who have seen similar sufferings from close quarters would understand. I really felt and believed, always that we should thank the almighty for everything that He has given us, but my belief and feelings have grown that much more stronger after watching Guzaarish. Hritik was marvellous as Ethan Masceranhas. Portraying someone who had seen so much applause and fame through his life, and then confined to his bed and being dependent entirely on his servant and nurse, he is just wonderful. Aishwarya seems to be a dream girl as always. Even in the dream of dreams the character played by Aish does not seem true, but still everyone watching would instantly fall in love with her. And please, I am not talking just about her looks here. People must take Aish seriously. She is a fantastic actor and a great dancer toooooo and she did do total justice to her talents in whatever limited scope she had.

With Guzaarish, SLB has started his career as a music director too, and boy! did he do a wonderful Job? All Songs are mesmerising and each one of them is a wonderful creation. After Black by SLB, and Tare zameen Par by Amol Gupte (Aamir Khan), this is one movie that seems to be just perfect. Guzaarish is not just a movie. For people watching movies just for entertainment, I would appeal to them to please stay away from Guzaarish. Guzaarish is a display of human emotions to the extreme. Did I say I cried throughout the movie? Yes, off course I did. Its painful but it still makes you smile. Its truly a masterpiece.

All I can say is

Life is good, Life is wonderful, Life is pain, It's all part of that game !
(A song from the movie, Guzaarish)

Sincere thanks to Sanjay Leela Bhansali for creating such a masterpiece.

Diwali 2010, A wake up call

When we all were kids, we used to look forward to Diwali as a grand festival. Specially for our gang it was big, really big. In ONGC colony Ankleshwar, there were only two places where Diwali was celebrated at its best. One was off course the Multi Storey buildings. Yes, around 20 years ago in a small town of Ankleshwar we had three 10 storey buildings which were called Multi Storey buildings. The second best place for Diwali was the lane where I used to stay. The RH-1 lane. This lane was decorated in lights for the most part of Diwali (for a total of seven to ten days) and appropriately this lane was called the Chandni Chowk of ONGC colony Ankleshwar. All the popular people (yours truly being no exception) were staying at this Chandni chowk. We played cricket the whole day and soon as it got dark, we used to celebrate Diwali by firing crackers. There was a competition as to who has got the most no of crackers and people used to do stunts with the crackers. Our Diwali never ended without firing the crackers at out school ground in ONGC. And then the whole gang visited everyone's house to have those amazing Diwali delicacies. We literally used to empty everything that was served to us by our Auntijies (Moms of our the gang members). Those were amazing days. Nostalgic really.

Diwali 2010 has been so very different. It is really true that as the age catches up we tend to think differently. Diwali celebrations has not been an exception. Its a complete contrast now. The only way to wish the friends on Diwali is sending SMS through mobile or writing on someone's wall for wishing him. Facebook has made things even more simple by allowing us to write what's on our mind and share it with all the friends. Just one line and we wished all our friends. So simple isn't it? Technology has changed everything. Huh !.

Well, I tried to connect to a lot of friends by calling them on the phone. That's only because I was in a very cheerful mood (I did this for the first time this Diwali). And believe me it really made my day. I spent around 3-4 hours talking to all the friends from school, college and my colleagues from ealier and current offices. It felt really nice. And by the time I was exhausted, my Diwali was over. What a strange way to celebrate Diwali one would say. But, believe me, I really enjoyed it. I connected with few of my friends whom I called after so many years. We enjoyed talking after such a long time. I had stopped bursting crackers long back when glory came into our life. (Glory is our 6 yrs old black lab dog and I have another blog post dedicated to him). We have stopped having too much of sweets now just to keep and eye on our calorie intake. No question of visiting anyone's house to have Diwali sweets as that tradition has died completely now a days.

There were certain things which really were of concern for me. I believe this is only because now we are grown ups and mature and we tend to think more rationally. when in the night I looked out of my balcony I could not see anything at a distance of even 50 meters. Reason, there was abundance of smoke in the air. So much smoke as if there was a snowfall. I felt choked. I really started cursing people for bursting so many crackers that the whole atmosphere got smoky. Just a few days ago winter had started in Pune. The Pune weather was getting better and now we ourselves are trying our best to spoil it completely. It was really painful to see all this. The second thing that really shocked me was the amount of electricity being wasted in the name of Diwali. On every floor of my building, people have not spared to illuminate lights in every possible way to attract Goddess Laxmi. So much was the wastage of electricity, that I wished that there should be a total blackout in pune to save wastage of electricity. In the age where global warming is an alarming concern, people are not ready to shed their age old superstitious belief. It was really shocking and painful to see all this from an educated class of people. How can educated people behave so irresponsibly, and that too in a place like pune where there is shortage of electricity. When I discussed this with one of my friends he said you should stop thinking all this. Its not going to help you. People those who can afford will always waste things and they will never care. I had to give up as I knew that common sense is not so common. You can take a thirsty horse to the pond but can't force it to drink the water. Education does the same. It can help you only when you use your common sense with it. I felt frustrated and helpless. But, I decided to write about it in my blog so whosoever reads it at least can give it a thought. Think about it the next time you waste electricity and pollute the environment by bursting unnecessary crackers.
Off course people will say you are the same person who used to waste electricity and burst crakers during Diwali in your childhood. But, my point is, now, that I can understand and can think rationally, I have given up on it completely. At least people who are educated can minimize it if not completely give it up. It would be through our efforts only, that the generations which are following us, will get to see and utilize the natural resources. We have already seen so much imbalance in our atmosphere why are we still not alarmed. Together we have to make an effort and jointly only we can fight to keep the environment healthy. Its all for our good health and for our comsumption only. Its really a wake up call. I hope and wish to see a better Diwali in the year 2011. Smokeless and without wasting too much electricity.

Change ! The only constant in Life

The first line of the article praising Sachin's 47th test ton in the Times of India sports column read, "The only thing constant in this world is change and Sachin Tendulkar". How true isn't it? Wait wait, for the benefit of those who breathe cricket as much as I do, and also for those who hate it, or are not affected by its charm, I must say, this isn't another blog post on cricket or Sachin. Really not. But, as one my best friend has rightly said : "PC ! you can't keep cricket out of anything." (PC is my childhood nickname and that's altogether a different story.) Seriously, I must agree: Yes, I can’t keep cricket out even when this isn't about cricket. It is about the constant in our life. CHANGE. The comparison drawn by the Times of India between change and Sachin has left a permanent impression on my mind and that's why I could not stop myself from starting this blog the way I did.

Change is indeed the constant in our life (I won’t say only constant as Mr. S.T. is also there :) . Even when the two words (change and constant) contradict each other so much, they really are the two sides of the same coin. People change in a course of few days and not to mention when the time period increases. Why to talk of others when we even find ourselves changed over a period of time. Sometimes change is inevitable. It’s a matter of survival. At some other times, it’s just a status symbol or a way to make you feel better. But, there is no doubt that people do change to a certain extent. Sometimes people change themselves, sometimes people get changed by the influence of others.
I have noticed a lot of change in myself over the years. Most will agree however not all of them would. (That’s when you can comment on the blog. :) )
1) I was complete introvert when it came to interacting with people in my childhood. To a certain extent I am still an introvert, but I have changed ever so slightly so that at least I am able to convey whatever I am thinking or feeling. (Mind you, blog is only one medium of conveying it. I do talk. I really do. :))
2) During childhood I always took my parents for granted, but, over the years I believe that it has changed.
3) I used to get upset with very small day to day matters and always fought to the almighty saying "Why me?" I have learnt to let go over the years and I no longer crib for petty issues anymore.
4) I used to get very angry easily when I was a child but I have learnt to control my anger. (By counting 100. Remember, when angry count a 100 :))
5) I was so self conscious about everything I did. But, I believe I have developed a “I Don’t care” attitude now. I can even dance publicly without caring at all about what people will think. To me that is a big change.
6) I did not like dogs, but glory (our pet dog in mumbai), changed it all.
7) I used to eat, drink and sleep cricket when I was a child, but believe it or not, even when I can't keep cricket out of anything, I can detach myself from cricket whenever I wish to. And mind you, that speaks volumes about how much I have changed. :)
8) I have learned to cook good enough food to survive for which I was completely dependent earlier in my life.

There are so many more minor as well as major changes in me, but this public medium of blog is not the right place to disclose everything. ;)

But, few things in life will not change. And they should never change. Like my love for having fun in life and enjoy it to the fullest extent. I used to think a lot since childhood (having a self communication) and that has still not changed and I don’t know whether it will ever change. The credit for all the good changes in me is by far due to my sister-in-law Shubhangi. I know however, that she will never take the credit of it, but, I must say that I would not have been what I am, if I would not have stayed with my Brother Anand, sis-in-law Shubhangi, my two lovely nieces Isha and Akanksha, and Goo-goo our pet dog.

To me most of the change in people is because of the surroundings, environment, the people they come in contact with and may be some other factors not known to me. But, most the time change is good and, no one, whosoever it may be can ever avoid change. After all change is the only constant in this world; and off course Sachin Tendulkar. Now, how can I keep cricket out? :)

P.S: People who read this are requested to add the changes they found in me over the years by adding comments. :)

I could never have enough of you !!

You had always been an eternal desire,

Without you life was like a forest fire,

It was a dream that you made true,

But, I could never have enough of you !

There is no better teacher in this world than life,

Every stage it takes your test as if walking on a sharp knife,

The best moments in life are always few,

That's why I say, I could never have enough of you !

Whatever I went through still seems like a dream,

As if the Cricket world cup was won by the Indian team,

It was destined and it was long overdue,

But, I could never have enough of you !

For planting roses one has to deal with thorn,

But when something has to happen life does not warn,

The society can never understand feelings of a few,

Thus, I could never have enough of you !


So many years it took me to get courageous,

But once the ice was broken, things were spontaneous,

Life in the fast lane always throws challenges at you,

But still, I could never have enough of you !


Years of prejudice ended and it was a fresh beginning,

It was destiny and could not be achieved by any training,

Enough is enough people will say under the sky that is blue,

But, seriously, I could never have enough of you !!!

I really could never have enough of you... !!!

-RB

Ishant Sharma's moment of glory.

The scoreboard read 124/8 when Ishant Sharma came into bat with the Very very Special batsmen India has ever produced. India still needed 92 runs for the improbable feat.The Aussie captain Ricky Ponting was just waiting for two more wickets to fall and celebrate his first ever test victory as captain on Indian soil. Who would have thought that a team like India can even think of winning from such a situation. It was the easiest of guesses that which side had the best chances to win the match from the situation India was in, even for Sir Jeffory Boycott's mom. But, destiny, VVS Laxman and Ishant Sharma had other thoughts. The sheer grit and determination with which Isant protected one end of the crease while the runs were coming thick and fast from Laxman's blade was amazing. As someone has very well quoted that in life the most important virtue one can possess is attitude. Ishant Sharma used this most important attribute of his personality to great effect against the mighty aussies in Mohali. Tuesday the 5th of October 2010 is a day to remember for Indian cricket. Never in the history of Indian cricket has such magic happened. And most importantly people will remember VVS but not many will remember Ishanst sharma. His gutsy innings of 31 in a partnership of 81 with VVS is worth remembering for a life time. All his past sins where he might have dropped a catch or conceeded too many runs of his bowlings have been completely washed out by this one special innings. For once Ishant Sharma came good to play a match winning role in a test match for India. And could you believe that it was not his bowling, but, his batting that helped India win a test match against the aussies. When a Very very special player was showing complete confidence in the batting abilities of Ishant, how could he not play a special innings for his team and his country India. . India won the test match finally by one wicket. Ricky Ponting has to wait for his first ever test win as a captain in India. Way to go Ishant Sharma !!! India is proud of you !! Wonderful display of sheer attitude shared with the brillance of VVS. Thanks for bringing this Joy to me and all the cricket fans in India.

Complete Details of this match can be found here http://www.cricinfo.com/india-v-australia-2010/engine/match/464526.html

That old young man

Old because of his age. He must be in his sixties. He is short and wears spectacles. I cant really tell from his face whether he recognizes me. But, everytime we see each other, there is a warm smile on his face and he waves his hand at me. I can't help myself but to reciprocate with a smile and a wave.
Young because of his body language. He is always smiling. I have not seen many people of his age behaving in the manner he does. He must have seen many ups and downs in his life and must have had his share of bad days as well. But, if you see or meet him, he seems to be enjoying life at its fullest.
It's an amazing feeling when someone whom you dont know does that to you on a regular basis. Suddenly, makes you feel so important. My funny little old young man does this to all the people he sees or meets. I have to walk about 500 meters to the place where I have to wait or my office bus. This person meets me in the way or I see him when I am waiting for my bus. Seeing and meeting him in the morning makes my day. The day I dont see him makes me feel like I am missing something. The whole lot of positive energy he sends across, really makes me smile. It really makes me feel like the world is a very happy place to live in. This man sends a strong message across; " Life is full of happiness, so enjoy it to the fullest extent !". Amazing it is, really.
He really is an inspiration to live and enjoy life. Full of positive energy, always smiling at everyone. If all human beings would have been like that, the world would have been much more happier place to live in. My little old young man displays humanity at its stupendous best. God does exist. This is how God shows us his existence in human form. If we open our eyes and observe, the world is full of such creations. Always keep your eyes open. God can be seen, felt or noticed in any form.

Note: Some people may find this a litte too abstract. But, my feelings about this man can only be understood completely, if you see him or someone similar to him.

Necessity is the mother of invention

This happened when we were staying in Baroda during the scorching summer of May 2004. Once when Isha (my younger niece) was about 8 years old, she came to me and asked that she needs help in her homework to write a Hindi Poem. This was a task given as a Hindi homework for the summer vacations. I believe she was in IInd then. I could not believe that this task of writing a poem was given to an 8 year old kid. Well in those days if there was some awkward homework task given to Isha she always used to come to me to get it done. And in those days I learned something from small children. They never think anything is impossible. When she asked for this hindi poem, I was like "Poem!!!, baby, It's not my cup of tea, impossible for me." Children never think anything is impossible. It’s only the up-bringing which teaches them that things are impossible. Isha could not take no for an answer. I was never able to convince her that it is impossible for me to write a poem. She was always so sweet that she would never throw tantrums in front of me, but I could always understand that if I could not fulfil her demand she is going to be upset.

The incident made me think a lot. I did remember that I had written short 4 liners when I was in class XIth for our seniors in Hindi for their farewell. It was a tradition that each of the senior was given a nickname and a short rhyming 4 liners were written in their honour and handed over to them after announcing them during the farewell. I do remember creating those 4 liners in Hindi for about 12-15 senior guys. Necessity was the mother of invention. Since no one else came forward to take the responsibility, I took the onus on me and did it that time. Same was the case now. I motivated myself to think that, "Man! You have done it before. If you try it can be done again."

So I was at the task and this poem was created when for some reason I was at the MS University of Baroda, waiting for someone and I had enough time with me. Suddenly out of nowhere this thought of using animal (as children love animal stories) as the central character of the poem came to mind and following is my creation.

********************************************************
सयाना हाथी

एक था हाथी बडा सयाना
उसके थे नानी और नाना
नाम का उसके नही ठिकाना
बहुत सारा वह खाता था खाना

एक दिन वह गया नदी पर
बहुत सारा था पानी वहा पर
पानी देख उसके मन में आया
चलो नहा लू पर घबराया
अगर पानी में होगा घडीयाल
तो मैं बचूंगा ना मेरे बाल

सूझभूझ उसने दिखालायी
जोर कि एक आवाज लागाई
सुनकर आवाज आया घडीयाल
हाथी बोला भैया वच गए बाल बाल

सही समय पर अकल लगाई
हाथी ने अपनी जान बचाई
*************************************************
It would be worthwhile to notice that when I gave this poem to Isha, she did not like it :) :). She had her own doubts whether her teacher would approve this funny little poem. I was shattered. My first creation and first reaction to it was disapproval :). But, I was so proud of my creation that I somehow convinced her, that this is the best I could write and she had to adjust with this for now. My sweet little niece agreed. But, I do not know whether after the summer vacations her Hindi teacher asked for the poem and whether Isha had the courage to hand over this poem to her teacher. I didn't even inquire about it.

Necessity is the mother of invention. How true?

Irresponsible Innovation

Volkswagen Vento Ad in Today's Times of India Pune Edition (Dated: Sep,21,2010)

Soon as I opened the newspaper today morning, I was startled as I could hear someone speaking. In that split second innumerable thoughts came to my mind, till I discovered a small piece of plastic attached to the Volkswagen ad that had a speaker and the sound was coming from it. All it was speaking was about the new Volkswagen Vento which was going on endlessly in a loop. The first thing that I tried with it was how to stop this irritating sound. Within seconds I found out that it has a light sensor attached to it so that when we close the opening of that sensor, it stopped. Cool, I got the mechanism of its working. But, as soon as I started reading the newspaper again, the irritating advertisement started all over again. Thanks to this ad, for the first time I read the news items of the Pune Times before the Main TOI newspaper. I had to finally tear out the piece of plastic from the paper and put it to rest by putting it upside down.

All the time a thought that came to my mind was how many TOI copies would have been supplied all over Pune today. The more the number, means the more tons of non biodegradable waste. True, that the advertisement was innovative and it must have caught everyone's attention, but, why could not anyone think about this simple thing. Volkswagen who talk about low emission or zero emission technology could not even think about the consequences their advertisement will have on the environment. This is such an irresponsible behavior. Having said that, I did not expect the renowned newspaper like Times of India to carry this ad and encourage such ventures. A German company creating an ad which would be having a huge impact on the environment in India and a respectable newspaper like TOI helping in such irresponsible behavior is something I could not believe. It should be strongly objected from all the quarters of people reading the newspaper. If this kind of things are encouraged, very soon we are all going to see audible newspapers and tons and tons of non-biodegradable waste. In today's time, when we are already facing so many consequences of Global warming, should this kind of irresponsible behavior be tolerated?

Mera Bharat Mahan

Mera Bharat Mahan

Mera Bharat Mahan. How many times have we heard of this phrase? Well every other day, so much so that it has lost its true meaning. We tend to be very patriotic in our childhood and slowly as we grow up other things take priority over this patriotic feeling. Well all said and done, one must not forget India is our country and there are millions of reasons to be proud of India.
We all have heard about the sacrifices of thousands for the freedom of India. Those were completely selfless people. What did they gain in doing what they did for the country? To a sane person, only death nothing else. Who would care what happens to the country after one dies? But, they were not to be undone by this small closed minded mentality. People like Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekar Aaazad, Maharani Laxmibai, Sarojini Naidu and so many more just thought about the benefit of the people living in the country. Their selfless attitude made the English people realize, what the people in India are made of. Truly, we must be proud to be in a country that had and still have such selfless people.
India has a cultural heritage of more than thousands of years. No other country would be having so many old age monuments and places of visit that India has. From Kashmir in the north to Kanyakumari in the south and from Gujarat in the west to Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya in the East there is a vast difference in the culture. People speak so many languages; they worship so many different GODs. But, still, when it comes to country they all feel proud to be an Indian. It’s amazing how all this variety of people can still stay together and respect each other's culture and religion. If you don’t believe it take an example of an Indian cricket match being played. You would see people from all nukes and corners of the society, be it any culture any religion or any language they speak, they all support one team, i.e. the Indian team. How truly amazing it is? Where else in the world you will find so many different people but still they are all together and respect each other.

In whichever field you want to find, be it music, sports, television, technology, politics, culture and whatever, you will surely find a personality you will feel proud of. Whosoever is respected by the whole country definitely must be having a lot of dedication in his field. But, every one of those people has done something or the other for the community for India to earn this respect.
There are personalities like Dr. Abdul Kalam Aazad, Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar, Lata Mangeshkar, A.R. Rehman and so many more who are a role model for every Indian. These people are reason enough to be feeling proud of India.

If you want to see the geographical beauty of India, there are lots and lots of places which one won’t be able to cover in one's entire lifespan. India is full of natural beauty and scenic places. Why otherwise do you think that India is favorite tourist destination for people around the world? It really has so much worth exploring. Within entire length and breadth of the country there are amazing beautiful destinations to see and relax. If this does not makes you feel proud of your country what else can. Seriously!
And to top it all, a normal person in India is a good human being from his heart. This is something very unique which one can't find in any other place in the world. How complicated are the routes for every place in India? Do you think it would have been possible without depending completely on the locals for asking the way to specific places? There have been so many examples where local residents have helped the tourists whenever they required. India treats their visitor like GOD (Atithi devo bhava as they say in Sanskrit). Where else in the world will you find this followed, except India?

Sure enough people have lost the importance of feeling proud about their own country and doing something for the country because of other priorities in their life. But, whenever there are incidents like earth quakes, bomb blasts, tsunamis and terrorist attacks people do come together to show that no one is alone. We all are always together in a crisis. Numerous examples can be cited from the history of India.

India is truly a unique country and the phrase "Mera Bharat Mahan" is more than 200% appropriate for a country like India. Every Indian feels the same for India. We do fight among each other for trivial issues, but we all are together always when it comes to showing our togetherness against outsiders. Let’s all be together and celebrate this 64th Independence Day of India.

Happy Independence Day. Vande matram. Jai Hind!

A Hindi Poem by me on occasion of 15th August 2010

मेरा भारत महान

एक था भारत बडा पुराना
सब चाहते थे उसे चुराना
लोग नही चाहते थे उसे छोड कर जाना
माहोल था वहा का बडा ही सुहाना

अंग्रेजो कि नियत डोली
सेंध लगा कर दागी गोली
सौ सालो में किए हजारो तुकड़े
अब भी मायें रोती है दुखड़े

लेकिन कहाँ वह जानते थे
कुछ लोग उनके नियमो को नही मानते थे
उनका था बस एक ही नारा
अंग्रेजो से है देश छुड़ाना

जान लगा दी दाव पे हर एक
गांधी, सुभाष, भगत, तिलक और बहुत से नेक
माताये और बहने भी कहाँ पीछे थी
लक्ष्मीबाई और सरोजिनी ने भी जंग जीती थी

१५ अगस्ट को मिली आजादी थी
नेहरु जी ने अज़ान दी थी
चारो और खुशिया ही खुशिया थी
हर किसी ने अपनी किमत दी थी

लेकिन आज कहाँ गया वोह जोश वोह खुशी
अब तो है केवल मदिरा और शुशी
जागो नागरिको, उठो, अब नशे में मत झुलो
हर एक का कुछ कर्तव्य है येह मत भुलो

आओ याद करे शाहिदो कि कुर्बानी
पाठ करे गीता, कुरान, बाइबल और गुरुबानी
कहाँ गया वोह भारत सुहाना
लौटा कर है उसे लाना

देश हमारा आज भी सोने कि चिडिया है
फ़र्क सिर्फ देखने के नज़रिये में है
सौ में से निन्यान्बे बेइमान भले हो
तुम उन सौ में से एक इमान्दार बनो

आओ करे प्रण इस चोसठवे वर्ष में
कोइ न होगा बेइमान इस देश में
लौट आए वोह भारत प्यारा
यही है इस १५ अगस्ट का नारा ......
यही है इस १५ अगस्ट का नारा ........

जयहिंद .....

Not my Job Syndrome

The Not my Job Syndrome.
How many times have we all come across this attitude? I can bet everyone who reads this has faced it at least once in his lifetime, and if I am not exaggerating, at least once everyone would have shown this attitude to others as well. Now, I am not a preacher of philosophy. But, I am firm believer in trying to give 100 percent in whatever I do. Even if that means I have to do things that are NOT MY JOB; and believe me this attitude has been highly rewarding so far. Off course not in monetary terms but it has made work life simpler for me. Let me explain it a bit with recent work life example.

While working on an recent assignment, I had to deal with few of the QA folks in North America. They needed my help in understanding how to do the initial configuration part of which was not included in my assignment. I could have easily said that it is not my Job, and nobody would have asked a question. I chose a different route. I not only helped them in setting it up, but also helped them understand some possible test cases. Those folks were so impressed that, since then whenever I needed even the slightest of help, they went out of the way to help me. For instance, once I was unable to reproduce a defect on dev environment. Immediately I asked the QA counterpart in NA and she helped me out getting the access to her environment (which I must say was not her Job), using which I was able to reproduce the defect and fix it. Similar thing happened when I worked with the QA folks in India. I helped them out whenever needed and they have reciprocated with the same enthusiasm always. See, how simple things are when you have a positive attitude and you are ready to go slightly out of your way to get others Job done. I have innumerable examples during my entire career that work life and personal life becomes a lot easy if you are ready to help someone. What goes around comes back around. Sounds familiar isn't it? Well, it is the truth of life.

It’s not easy to maintain this as there will be times when you are too busy with your own stuff. But at least you can pass on the person who needs help to someone who can help. Another important point is never do a spoon feeding when someone asks for help. Try to help him or her in such a way, that they would be able to do it on their own, if they want it done again. Even if you are yourself doing the stuff to help them out try to explain it. That way the person would get to learn something new and he would also get a sense of accomplishment. This attitude is very contagious. Just like the Not my Job attitude :). I can bet that the person whom you helped once would be more than happy to help you out if at all you need it.

The best things in life are free. Friends are at the top of that list. Every individual has some unique ability and every one should be given due respect, no matter who he or she is. So, one should never question the abilities of a person before helping him/her out. Life is very easy when lived with friends be it work life or personal life. The only way to make more friends is to get rid of the Not my Job syndrome. I had a very good real life experience to share about people going out of the way to help someone. 3 yrs back when I met with an accident in Mumbai, I was hurt very badly when two pedestrians helped me out and took me to the hospital. Off course that was NOT THEIR JOB. I would be grateful to them for my entire life even when I do not know their name and don’t know how they looked like. The helping attitude also has a spiritual aspect attached to it for those who believe in the Almighty. There are quite a few incidents in our life when we want to thank GOD. Well the best way to thank GOD is to help out any of HIS creations when they need it. So simple isn’t it?

How many of us will wait for the fire brigade when our own house is on fire and our own people caught in it? None, off course. So why then seeing a running tap from which water is being wasted we turn our back and think "This is not my Job"? All it takes is just a minute to close the running tap. Why do we want to wait for a time when there is shortage of water in our own house? I personally feel that this NOT MY JOB attitude can take us no where. I know that there will be people who would disagree and they would have their reasons for that. Help me out with your comments and your experiences on this topic (good or bad). Or would you still say NOT MY JOB? :) Choice is yours.

Ekla Chalo Re

I love this song.
Robindra Sangeet -- Ekla Chalo Re
Jodi tor đak shune keu na ashe tôbe êkla chôlo re,Êkla chôlo, êkla chôlo, êkla chôlo, êkla chôlo re.
Jodi keu kôtha na kôe, ore ore o ôbhaga,Jodi shôbai thake mukh firaee shôbai kôre bhôe---Tôbe pôran khuleO tui mukh fuţe tor moner kôtha êkla bôlo re.
Jodi shôbai fire jae, ore ore o ôbhaga,Jodi gôhon pôthe jabar kale keu fire na chae---Tôbe pôther kãţaO tui rôktomakha chôrontôle êkla dôlo re.
Jodi alo na dhôre, ore ore o ôbhaga,Jodi jhôŗ-badole ãdhar rate duar dêe ghôre---Tôbe bojranôleApon buker pãjor jalie nie êkla jôlo re.
Tagore's English translation
If they answer not to thy call walk alone,If they are afraid and cower mutely facing the wall,O thou of evil luck,open thy mind and speak out alone.
If they turn away, and desert you when crossing the wilderness,O thou of evil luck,trample the thorns under thy tread,and along the blood-lined track travel alone.
If they do not hold up the light when the night is troubled with storm,O thou of evil luck,with the thunder flame of pain ignite thy own heartand let it burn alone.

Courtesy : Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekla_Chalo_Re

If you want to listen to this song on You tube, following are the links.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmzvr3aZXQc by Kishore Da Kumar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPqdlR_X1Vk&NR=1 by Shreya Ghoshal

Thanks Maa !!!!!!

Aai, Maa, Amma, Mamma, Mom, one of the first words a child learns to speak. The connection between a mom and child is made long before it learns to speak and for that matter even long before the child sees the world. Somewhere I had read "God can't be everywhere so he created mother". How true? She is the person who is taken for granted in your life always. Its mother who is always there for you whenever you need to share the smallest of achievements and she is there to support you even when you make the biggest of blunder.

For me Aai has always been very very special. I did not realise her role in my life till I got mature enough. I would say I realised very late in my life, how important the role of a mother is. I give a lot of credit for this to Shubhangi (my sister in law). She made me realise that how I had been very good to the outside world but I have always taken my Mom for granted. There was never even a slightest of doubt in my mind that whatever I do my mom will support it whole hearteadly. My childhood friends use to say that my mom is a very warm and sweet person, but, I never realised it. She treated all my friends so well always, that it did not appear to me that it requires patience and application. I had been very close to my mother all through my life, but I did not realise it, till one day suddenly when I had to go away from her for my MCA studies. I used to miss her so much in the initials days, till I got used to the situation. During all the ups and downs in my life Aai was always there for me. Just a few years back when I met with a severe accident in Mumbai, when she heard the news she came to me wasting no time at all. During those 2 months all I had for me was my mother. I literally learned to walk again after being hurt so badly in my leg. She was always there to encourage me at every step of my recovery. She used to get excited when I started walking again without any support, just like a mom of a new born gets excited when her child learns to walk.

I have always learned from my mother to respect human being and for that matter any living thing. I have seen her feed the pigeons since a very long time. After I saw the world and understood it from my perspective, I have tried to be as good with all the creation of the Almighty as possible. I have become a firm believer that God has given us so much that we can't thank him in words. We have to find an opportunity to help someone in need and that's the only way to Thank God. The roots of this thinking comes from my mother. My mother firmly believes that if a person could not be a good human being, there is no point in being successful in all the other departments of life. Whenever I had problems in my life she is always there for me.

On the occasion of Mother's Day (9th May 2010), I want to say Thanks to my mother for being there. Thanks for showing me this wonderful world. Thanks for inculcating good habits and good thinking into me. Thank you Aai !!! I love you !!!!

GOO GOO

It seems just like yesterday that Glory(our 6 yrs old male black lab) came to our home @ Baroda. That's why they say time flies. Really time does fly, and how? The most memorable years of my life had been in Baroda and Glory was one of the many reasons for that. It was a very cute experience in the beginning which turned out to be quite painful one (to be honest) later. The earliest memories of Glory for me are those when we just brought him to our Baroda Shantidham residence and during the same time we had our sister and her two kids visiting from Delhi. Goo-goo as we fondly used to call him, was a very naughty child. He would wake up at 4 AM in the morning and the first thing he used to do was wake me up by climbing onto me and licking my face. He just did not respond to commands. He was a havoc in his initial days. Whatever objects he found, he had to chew it. Well that happens with most of the dogs in their growing days. But, our dear Goo goo never really grew up. He is still a child. Maturity is not a word in his dictionary. He was a spoiler. Anything that came in his range was always destroyed. We all were very angry with his behaviour and used to punish him a lot for his mistakes. But, slowly we realized that punishment is not a way for training a Dog. He was a real attention seeker and he would do anything to get our attention. Gradually, it became clear that one in thousand labs are hyper like him. But, one thing that sets the record straight is that even after being so hyper, even after being punished so many times, he never bit anybody. My little niece Akanksha was very fond of Glory from day one. I believe that Akanksha is the only person in our family who has given nothing but love to Glory. My younger niece Isha was just 8 years old when suddenly all the attention in the household was transferred to Goo goo. She was afraid of Glory in the initial days. I remember one incident when suddenly Isha started running away from Glory and he followed her thinking that she is playing with her till she fell and fractured her hand. After that day Glory was very careful with Isha. I could never understand how even being a Dog he could make out that Isha fears him and he used to be very careful not to scare Isha. Shows that animals can grasp a situation even much better then us humans. Slowly he won over Isha and one day to our surprise we saw Isha patting Goo goo in the morning and he was very very calm with her. Since that day Isha's best friend has a new name, Glory. If anyone in the family even tries to talk with Glory in a harsh tone, Isha is the first one to argue.

Times have changed. My brother's family along with Goo goo got shifted to Mumbai and later I shifted to Pune. Glory has also changed a lot with time. And can you believe it Goo goo has become obedient now. He has responded and understood the situation that he has to stay alone in the house when people are gone to school and work. He is not the old hyper dog now. Only thing he fears is sound of crackers. He would skip the dinner even if a single cracker goes off. Once our family learnt that Glory is so sensitive to crackers, we all have stopped firing crackers on Diwali. I even urge all my friends not to fire crackers which make loud sounds.

Glory has changed the way I used to look Dogs and animals. I sometimes even talk to stray dogs which my friends find ridiculous. If I have changed regarding my sensibility towards animals, Glory is the only one responsible for it. No one in this whole world can welcome me with such warmth when I visit their place. Goo goo gets so excited whenever I meet him, I start feeling very special indeed. That's how the mans best friend treats him. Once when a small child was asked the meaning of love, it responded "Love is when your dog licks you even after you have locked him inside the house for the whole day." That's love for you. Glory has taught us the true meaning of love i.e. unconditional love. Out of this world. Thank you Goo goo for coming into our life and teaching us the very basic lessons of life.

A humble request to the GOD of Cricket

To,
The GOD of Cricket,
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar,
India

Subject: A humble request.

Respected Mr. Sachin Tendulkar,

There is no doubt in my mind that you are the GOD of cricket. Cricket is a religion in India and for a religion there has to be a GOD to worship. You are being worshiped in every house where the religion of cricket is followed. I follow cricket and worship you for your brillance and the blessings you shower by scoring tons and tons of runs in every format of cricket.

So dear GOD here is a humble request from one of your millions of devotees. I want you to bless us cricket fans by playing the T20 world cup for India which is going to be held just after the IPL season in West Indies. I know that I am asking for a bit too much, but I need not convince you or anyone on this earth that your participation in the T20 world cup is going to make a world of difference to the Indian team. I know that you have decided to represent India only in one One dayers and Test Matches, but there are a few reasons why I among the millions of your devotees want you to forget your decision for once and play the world cup at least for this year.

1) You are in the peak of your form as a batsmen this year. Who can forget the 200 you scored in a One day match not very long ago against South Africa.
2) You are already playing the twenty twenty format of cricket in the IPL for your team Mumbai Indians and are giving all the opposition bowlers nightmare. I am sure that you will end up scoring the most runs in IPL as a batsmen and I am very sure that like all your records, that record will also be very difficult to beat.
3) The team our respected selectors have selected contains more unfit players than the players in form. So there is definitely a need of some miracle to happen if this team has to win the world cup again. You being the GOD can only bring that miracle to life.
4) I know that you want to be fit for the one dayers and tests and thats why you want to play less cricket. But, if you are fit enough to play the 14 matches in the IPL and may be a couple more if your team reaches the semi-finals and finals, then in the T20 world cup there are far less number of matches to be played. In fact the format of the first world cup was such that India won the cup by only playing 6 matches in all. So you are not going to wear out playing those 6 matches.
5) Who better than you would know that the biggest pride is representing the country in a tournament like a world cup. I promise you that if after the world cup you decide to take a break for @ least 3 series nobody will complain.
6) Even the great cricketer Sunil Gavaskar asked you to play for India in the Twenty Twenty world cup.
7) You would say that you are giving the chance to the youngsters in this tournament. But, I am sure that every true Indian would definitely agree with me that there is no one younger than you on the cricket field in terms of the form you are in and your ability as a cricketer. You are and always be the youngest cricketer my dear. So please dont think about the youngsters, think about the millions of your followers and think about our country India.
I am sure dear GOD that these are enough reasons for you to consider my humble request and think about it. I represent the followers of religion cricket and I pray to you that please bless all of us billion followers by accepting this request. GO FOR IT SACHIN. BRING HOME THE WORLD CUP. There is nothing more motivating for a cricketer than to win the world cup of cricket.

Looking forward to your kind consideration.
One of Your follower and Devotee (out of hundreds of millions)

Rushikesh Baiwar

Too much of anything is Bad.

Too much of anything is Bad. Cricket is the latest casualty. IPL the Indian Premiere League or Cricket is back in India and how? Amazing as it seems but cricket is indeed a religion in India. It's been just 2 weeks since it started but the IPL fever has caught all across India and possibly the world over, if I am not mistaken. Some enthusiast has already quoted "IPL to India is like soccer leagues in the European countries." How true? Indeed it is!!!! But as they say how long would it (the fever of IPL) last? Well most would agree that too much of anything is bad. The same will happen to cricket as well.
There was a time when I used to watch even the domestic cricket matches telecasted on the television. As on a regular doordarshan channel there was so little time for cricket. So if I saw any bit of cricket, I had to watch it, even if that meant fighting with my not so enthusiast brother. Having seen it evolve from a few hours on doordarshan to an entire sports channel like ESPN, STAR sports and from there to entire cricket channel on television like the Star cricket first and Neo Cricket now. Sony Max shows more cricket than anything in a calender year (really, not exaggerating).
I believe that the fever of IPL is definitely going to go down sooner than later, or they have to make so many changes to the game year after year to make it more exciting and to keep the interest alive. One thing that IPL is doing which should be taken care of very soon is making our key international Indian players sick and injured. The T20 world cup in West Indies is just round the corner. Key Players like Gautam Gambhir, Sehwag, Dhoni and even Yuvraaj Singh are injured or at least not completely fit. Can we put up a good performance with such a team of injured players? Players put their heart and soul to perform in an IPL match and no wonder they are left with one or the other injuries. No prices for guessing that IPL means BIG MONEY. But, these players already have tons of money from various sources. I believe they should take enough rest and should not wear out completely before they play the T20 world cup.
Another important sequence of events which I fail to understand it why is a player like Sachin Tendulkar denying to playing in T20 world cup, when he is in the peak of his form? We can understand that he wants to keep himself fit for the Test and One Day cricket and we all want him to play for India for as long as possible. But, my argument is if he can't represent India in an event like world cup why should he play for IPL. For a player like him the pride of playing for the country should always come ahead of playing for the franchisee Mumbai Indias.
With two more teams going to be added to the IPL from next year, I dont know where is all this going. Only positive outcome of this IPL is we have got so many new cricketers. Who can forget Yusuf Pathan ? No one knew much about him till IPL-I. This year Saurabh Tiwari has got the recognition. Finally, for a cricket fan I am totally confused whether it is good or bad. But still the conclusion is "Too much of anything is bad."

An Icon called NaMo !!!

To begin with, I am not a politics person. I do not follow too much of politics because of the kind of politicians India has. Politicians to me only do one thing. Make so much money for themselves during their tenure that they don’t have to think about earning their entire life. But, Narendra Damosardas Modi, the current Chief Minister of Gujarat has changed my thinking about politics. There is no doubt at all that this man is an exception. Not a single person staying in Gujarat is untouched by the Narendra Modi govt. What a spectacular change he has brought to Gujarat and its people. It was in 2001 when he got elected as CM of Gujarat and from there on there is no looking back. He has transformed Gujarat completely. I am not a fact and figures person, but I can say for sure that under Narendra Modi the progress Gujarat has done is matchless. Today Gujarat is way way ahead of all the other states of India in terms of Infrastructure, Agriculture, Technology, e-Governance, Industries, and you name it. Can you believe that today in Gujarat almost every single village has a non-stop supply of electricity for almost 20 hours a day? A person staying in Maharashtra Village will say it is impossible. Gujarat has non-stop supply of water for agriculture purpose and otherwise. Gujarat is the only state where interlinking of rivers has been done so as to provide the complete state with enough water. When the basic necessities for a common man are met, then only you can call a state progressing. People who earlier used to migrate to cities for Jobs are now starting their own business and Jobs in the village itself. Such is the condition of a Village in Gujarat. Thanks to NaMo (the abbreviation of his name) as he is lovingly called. He has the distinction of the only CM who has started e-governance in Gujarat. His system is the most transparent till date. When Gujarat faced the calamity of the earth quake in 2001, it was Narendra Modi’s government who did the restoration work for all the damaged villages in record no of days. The Gujarat government has also received UN award for that. He has done aggressive progress in all fields. His various plans like educate the girl child, save the girl child are big hit. The most intellectual people in India say that if Gujarat model is applied in all the states of India, then India will soon be a developed nation. Narendra Modi has received various awards and all the money he received for the awards has been added to the girl child education fund. Such is the greatness of this man. He is certainly a role model to all the politicians of India. When Tata nano was facing problems in West bengal, NaMo was the first person to offer the land for development of the Tata Nano to the Tatas. JRD Tata in his speech during the Vibrant Gujarat once said to all the industrialists that "if you are not investing in Gujarat then you are stupid".

During the post Godhra riots NaMo government was accused of killing the minorities and not providing protection to them. Well indeed yes that was the only bad patch for the Narendra modi government. However, it has still not been proved as the Nanavati commission had given a clean chit to NaMo. This government has started an Accident Emergency Service called 108. If you see any accident and you are in Gujarat, all you have to do is dial 108 and inform about the accident. Within 15 minutes an ambulance will come to take the victim to the hospital. People say that the 108 service saves many lives daily. Such a service is needed in all parts of the country. So many people die in an accident just because timely hospitalization could not be provided. This service saves more people in a day than those were killed in the post Godhra riots.

All young and old have become fans of Narendra Modi. When was the last time you have heard that youngsters are fan of a politician. Narendra Modi has changed the way people looked at politicians completely. One of the participants of Popular NDTV Imagine show, a gujarati girl has Narendra Modi wallpaper on her mobile. That probably says it all. In one of the latest development we heard that Amitabh Bachchan, the greatest icon of Indian Film industry has agreed to be a brand ambassador of Gujarat Tourism. Bachchan family's association with the Congress party and later with Amar Singh (Ex Samajwadi Party leader) is well known. Even then he chose to become a brand ambassador for tourism of a BJP led state cannot be taken lightly. It's all because of Narendra Modi.

I am really proud to be associated with Gujarat (My complete education and first 5 yrs of my career in Gujarat), on whose soil such a dynamic leader was born and is still doing every bit to take Gujarat ahead in terms of overall progress. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that India needs many more Narendra Modis. Thanks NaMo for all that you have done for Gujarat. You have made all of us so proud.

GOD BLESS YOU !!!!!!

Tendulkar @ 200

Wow !!!! Amazing !!! Fantastic !!! Stupendous !!! What a day it has been .. Thanks to the almighty that I could witness the record of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar today. Yet another record in One Day Cricket in sachin's name. Today he became the first person in the History of One Day International cricket to score 200 runs. And this was not against any oridnary bowling attack. It was against one of the most formidable side in One Day cricket. It was South Africa. The record was created on the Captain Roop Singh Stadium @ Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, India. Tendulkar achieved this feat in only 147 balls. Can you believe it? And people say he is getting old !!! Well this great player can give any 19 year old run for his money. Amazing feat !!! Made me proud to be an Indian once more. Only dream remaining for me and Sachin is to get india the World Cup in ODI's (once again after 83). We are eagerly waiting for it Tendlya... Lets hope this joy will become many fold when we win the 2011 ODI world cup. Long Live Sachin. God Bless You !!!!!!

Indian Republic Day 2010

26th January 2010 has been different. I do not remember the last time I had seen the Republic Day parade on television. It has been an amazing experience. It makes me proud to be an Indian. There is so much diversity in my country. Seeing the various jhanki's (life size model based on some theme) be it of all the states or of the various government departments, it was a mesmerising experience. The performance of the BSF troop on motorcycle was outstanding. The balance these guys show on motorcycle is unbelievable. I was completely taken aback by the efforts that has been put behind all those things. Says a lot about how much progress our country has made. I remember most of the republic days after my school days, I just used as another holiday. It was just by chance that I wake up early today and switched on the TV first for the awesome experience of 'Phir Mile Sur mera tumhara'. The patriotic song which had become the national anthem of the late 80's and 90's. Its back with a bang. With a lot more celebrities and singers/musicians added. It was a wonderful experience witnessing it. I could not stop myself to make "mile sur" my mobile ringtone. Our country is full of variety in music. I could see that right now on TV. These are the scenes post the republic day parade. Wonderful experience. I would recommend all the Indians to watch this Republic day telecast at least once. Like me you will wait for it whole year to watch it again. I got very emotional witnessing it and felt so proud that I am a part of this country which has so much variety in color, music, dance, culture and you name it.

Happy Republic Day !!! Vandematram !!! God Bless India !!!

Response to the Survival Story of the Nande couple by Pune Mirror

http://www.punemirror.in/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20Latest&sectid=62&contentid=2010012420100124004515607440dfa7a
This is in response to the story published in Pune Mirror Dt:Jan 24, 2010, Sunday (Cover Story, link above). Its really sad to see the smiling faces of Indians on the backdrop of the devastation. Fortunate were the couple who survived after such a mishap in the country, but how can one smile and get snapped for a picture when there is so much devastation all around? I am not sure whether the photograph was snapped earlier, but then its the responsibility of Pune Mirror not to publish such smiling pictures of the survivors when there are deaths and crying people in the background. I would have felt really proud if this Indian couple would have even tried to save a single life in such a situation. I am only saying this based on the fact that nowhere in your whole story the couple has tried to help anyone. These lucky survivors are feeling proud that GOD was kind to them (and I thank GOD for that) and they are sending you stories of death and devastation all around them. I really felt sad that Indians who are known to help others are behaving in such a way and I am further shocked to see that a daily newspaper your stature who is very famous to carry life saving campaigns like the Helment Campaign is publishing such things. These people had the time and courage to click the snaps of the rubble, people dying and crying but did they try to help anyone ? These kind of stories should not be entertained at all by the newspapers like yours. You should not encourage people doing stories when they should be actually helping save lives or do whatsoever is possible to them to help people in such a situation.

Why do women who have enormous talent stop their professional lives after marriage?

Its a personal decision one would say, but do they even realize the consequences the decision they are making would have on other people or a country as a whole? I have been a big advocate of, women should not stop working after marriage (at least the most talented ones). There are several examples in our country where women take such a drastic decision. They are not at all doing any justice to the immense talent they have. Most recently we have heard about Sania Mirza. After winning so many titles in women's tennis she has decided to stop playing professional tennis, after marriage that is. She had immerged as a single Indian women who had completely changed the attitude of Indian tennis lovers for women's tennis. And following her example are a lot more Indian women who were talented and were fearing to make it to the big scene, but for their role model Sania. Just being 22, she still has a lot of tennis left in her. India needs her and lot more like her. It's really painful to see immensely talented women like her taking such a drastic step. God knows now who will fill the void created by her absence. Even in my close circle I have seen extreamly talented women making such a decision. It's their life after all, but they dont understand the injustice they are doing to their talent.

Were the autorickshaw operators right in stopping their services, Pune?

Were the autorickshaw operators right in stopping their services?
The answer is absolutely not. Look at their demands. They dont want to wear a uniform and they want to rehike the basic fare by Re 1. Well according to me wearing a uniform only shows the solidarity of a union. Whats wrong in wearing a uniform when all the other cities and states rickshaw drivers wear it. Why is Pune rickshawala different? Talking about difference, well as a passenger I have seen a real difference in the rate they charge which is so very different. A person daily travelling by a richshaw in pune has to be millionaire. I was in Mumbai for 3 years and I did not need my own two wheeler there. The public transport including the auto rickshaw was so much affordable that I never needed one. But, when I landed in pune, I purchased a bike within 7 days. Reason, I had to spent more than a 1000 Rs in auto rickshaw alone. I would not say all the auto rickshaw drivers are so bad and they charge so heaviliy, but there are 80% auto rickshaw drivers who do charge quite heavily. And over and above this, these people go on strike at will, i.e. without any good reason. Coming back to the second demand to hike Re 1 as base fare, well I would say how does that matter to a auto rickshaw driver, as he is charging way too high anyway? Whats the difference this Re 1 will make to the auto rickshaw driver or to a passenger. I certainly feel that there should be some proper law made against this auto rickshaw unions so that they cant go on strike suddenly. There are a lot of patients, old people and others who still need an auto rickshaw as a public mode of transport. It is not at all justified for the auto rickshaw operators to suddenly go on a strike like this.

An Open letter to Aamir Khan

Dear Aamir,
I am a very big fan of you. But, mind you, I am deeply hurt with the recent controversy that has followed the release of your film 3 idiots between the makers of the film and Chetan Bhagat, the writer of Five point someone. Your behaviour at the press conference and repeatedly saying that all Chetan Bhagat is doing is a publicity stunt seems to be in a bad taste. I have read all the four books by Chetan Bhagat. I have also seen all your films (mind you all, I have seen all of them). So, my association with you has been even longer than with Chetan Bhagat (Same would be the case with all Chetan Bhagat readers). When I came to know that 3 idiots was being made on Five Point Someone, I was so excited to see it, just like a Harry Potter fan who wishes to see the Harry Potter movie first day first show. I had waited for this movie (3 idiots) from whenever I first heard about it. You would not believe it, I had a fight over the seats in the cinema screen with my own colleagues as I wanted to see 3 idiots in its entirity from a proper seat ( I did not want to miss any frame). Such was the excitement for the two of my idols coming together (you and Chetan Bhagat) I am not a voracious reader, but, whenever I read Chetan Bhagat, I cant do anything till I finish the book. It started for me with Five Point Someone (Chetan's First Book). I had finished the book in 6 hours and that day Chetan Bhagat got a new fan in me. I have read all his books in the same manner (At one go). When I was watching the movie 3 idiots I felt like watching the book Five Point Someone at a great pace. Still it was technically a brilliant movie with perfect music, perfect screenplay, perfect editing, perfect direction and perfect casting. I do not remember seeing the name of Chetan Bhagat anywhere even in the rolling credits and at that time I was so excited that, It did matter to me. All was well and I was too excited and decided to watch the movie once again the coming week. Meanwhile the controversy between the makers of 3 idiots and Chetan started. When I heard that, I realized that I could not see the name or mention of Chetan Bhagat anywhere even when the whole movie story and sequences has written Five Point Someone all over it. I felt bad for Chetan, but, I did not take that to heart. Then I read a breaking news "Aamir says its a publicity Stunt by Chetan Bhagat. 3 idiots is an Original Story by Abhijat Joshi and Chetan Bhagat is trying to seek undue credit for it." I was seriously hurt. I could not imagine my role model, my hero saying this. Then I realised and learnt that you have not read the book Five Point Someone. Firstly, I could not believe that a perfectionist that you are, has not read the book on which you were to work for a movie. If at all I blindly belive what you said (that you have not read the book), still you have technically no right to comment on the issue. That too commenting to the whole media that this is a publicity stunt and you are asking Abhijat joshi and VV Chopra to file a defamation suite againt Chetan. I must say this was least expected from a person like you. You have held a very high position in the hearts of your fans and this behaviour from you has hurt many. My personal suggestion, if you have not read the book, you must read it then you would realise why Chetan, me and thousands like me feel the way they do. I did not go to watch the movie 3 idiots second time which normally I would have done (if this ugly controversy would not have taken place). Aamir, I thought you were not like others in the film industry who simply make films for money. I thought you were different. You are on the verge of loosing a big fan ( off course if that matters at all to you). I just want you to read the book Five Point Someone, and truthfully, yes very truthfully comment on whether or not 3 idiots is an original story (not taken from Five Point Someone).

Your fan who you are on the verge of loosing

Rushikesh Baiwar