Just a thought...

It all started with the Oscar award winning movie "The slumdog millionaire"....
Mr. Benjamin Franklin was noticed (maybe) for the first time around the world as he was the face on a $100 bill...


and then for me, the Gandhis were replaced by the American presidents in my wallet...

A thought just crossed my mind... what if there was a proposal to have the faces of past Indian Prime ministers on the rupee notes? There would had been another riot on the scale of 1992 for sure, if not more...

Our very own Mr. M.K. Gandhi would have been found on Re. 1 note (as George Washington is found on a $1 bill)... and then the other Gandhis (Mrs. I Gandhi and Mr R Gandhi) would have taken over the Rs. 100 and Rs. 500 notes... BJP/RSS would have stormed the assembly and rioted on the streets of the Indian cities... Congress would have come into negotiations (under the table kinds) and would have agreed to have Mr. Vajpayee be the face on the Rs. 500 note...

Mr. Nehru will get Rs.100, Mr. R Gandhi will get Rs.50, and then Mrs Gandhi would get a promotion to Rs. 1000 (the new note)... Notes of new denominations would be printed out to accomodate the other past PMs...

Ironically, our very own beloved Mahatma Gandhi (on the Re 1 note) will get phased out, along with his principles...

Damn!! The amount of free time that I have :P

(bu SH)OE Attack

One of the most hilarious thing happened earlier this week, when the outgoing president of the mighty United States of America, George Bush was attacked by an Iraqi journalist at a press conference in Baghdad...
This was his last visit to Iraq...

"This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog," he shouted.

One of the shoes narrowly missed the president's head and slammed into the wall behind him.
Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, tried to block the second with his arm.
Apparently, throwing shoes at somebody is considered as the supreme insult in the Middle East.



After watching the news, I was laughing my heart out..
I remembered a similar incident when I was a school kid in 6th standard. That year, my sister was in 10th, in the same school. On 26th January, which was our Annual day, after the function was over, the chief guest had just finished giving a speech. He said something that was not taken well by the students. I don't quite remember what it was, but mostly he had given the news that there was going to be no holiday on 27th January (27th was given a Holiday as everyone used to attend school for the function on 26th..).
And suddenly it happened... Out of the blues, one chappal came flying from the crowd...
Our chief guest, just like our beloved Bush, had tremendous reflexes.. He ducked and the misile missed him... but it found a different target... our Maths teacher, Mr. Bunder Laj (Name changed to protect his identity :D), smack on his cheeks...

And what happened the next was even hilarious..
The Principal canceled the class picnic of the 10th grade, as it was one of them who had hurled the missile.. Instead, the picnic was held in the school itself, the girls all sat and cooked in our hall, and then everyone cleaned the entire school, swept and mopped the floors of each and every classroom...

I still enjoy teasing my sister with the same... :D

Anyways, coming back to The Bush incident..
A couple of days back I read in the Mumbai mirror that a man in Florida was charged under a new law for throwing a hamburger at her girlfriend, and was sent to prison for one month... It was the first case of the new "Food Attack" Law been enacted..
I guess the first law Mr. Obama might see through is the "Shoe Attack" law... :D

But whatever happens, happens for the good..
Finally Mr. Bush found the "Weapons of Mass Destruction" that he had been searching for !! ;)

A Smiley in the sky :)

I exited the Malad station that evening, frowning... cursing the overweight Gujju ladies blocking my way...
It was a long and tiring day, full of frustration... Had to run in the college from one department to another, to get my paper work done, and in the end it was a complete waste of time and energy, and as Municipal offices work, I had been called again the next day...

All I could think of is hot mom-made ginger tea that would revitalize my senses... Damn these women... Wish I could just shove them off my path and move ahead!!

And out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at the sky... The sun was setting in the distant horizon... beautiful shades of orange intermingled with the pretty azure sky.. And something just caught my eye... There was a typical formation of the celestial bodies up in the sky... The Venus shone brightly, as it always does at dusk... but there was another bright star besides it, and coupled with the crescent moon over the 2 stars, it formed a perfect frowning sad smiley [:(] turned upside down... Duh!! The Gods are teasing me... I blurted and moved on... Oh God!! These ladies... *Shove* followed by *Curses in Gujju language*.... Blahhhh !!!

There is really some magic in mom-made ginger tea... and coupled with TLC (Tender Loving Care), it was the perfect therapy for a certain sulking Mr. Parag Mahale... all freshened up, I decided to go to my fav space, the terrace... N had sms ed me about a peculiar pattern of the stars and moon.. and I thought, yeah I had seen the frowning face already...

And there it was... right in front of my eye, the perfect Celestial Smiley... :)
I stared at it, Smiling.. It felt like I was smiling with God... Good ol' Lord.. some tricks he plays with us Humans eh??


I ran back home, to get my tripod and cam... and captured a series of pictures...
Meanwhile, I got an sms from K asking me to take the pics of the same... and I had already taken 20 shots by then..

It was difficult times for Mumbai, India and the world... terror stricken city was in shock and despair.. While Hindi news channels were calling this to be a "Shani ka prakop" (The Wrath of Saturn) and were calling out priests to pacify the enraged planet, seems like Venus, Jupiter and the Moon had some other plans... they brought a smile back to the faces of the lowly Human species... God surely is crazy !! :)

Its not just about lemon and water...

I wonder who had discovered... or rather made this drink for the first time...
Nimbu Paani... better known to the westerners as the Lemonade.. I feel its the perfect drink.. Nothing can better a glass full of cold lemonade.. No other drink, not even plain water can be that refreshing on a hot sunny day...

My fascination for lemonade started in childhood primary school days... At those times, the famous brand "Rasna" was in vogue... easy to prepare, all u needed to do was to prepare the concentration once, and then just add cold water and voila !!

Once in 2nd or 3rd grade, I happened to taste a glass of Nimbu Paani my Mom had made for herself... and then I made my mom prepare 3 more glasses of Nimbu paani for me, cause I had never had such a wonderful drink ever in my life... No Rasna flavour was as good as this one for sure..

Then One day I realized that this drink is more than just adding Lemon, water, sugar and salt... Just like any other delicacy, it needs to be prepared with care... each and every ingredient should be in the right concentration... I tried many places near my school, near my society, on the railway station, at my place... from my mom, my sister, my aaji... even at my friends' place... But I never found the right taste I was looking for... No doubt it tasted wonderful and refreshing, but I never had that satisfaction... Until one day, my experiments with the ingredients worked out perfectly :)

One summer vacation in school was spend in such experiments... my afternoons were spent in the kitchen... I used to sit on the chair with the entire kitchen spread all around me, which used to drive my Mom insane... I used to tell her I am working on some top secret experiment... she started believing I am like one of those mad scientists, who were trying to found the secret formula for everlasting youth... Alas, she Didnt know how much more important for me was to find out the perfect recipe for the Nimbu Paani...

And one such morning, I was finally successful... I wasn't in a bath tub or else I would have really ran out of it, completely nude... but would had been shouting "Aai aikla ka"... instead of "Eureka"... My mom tasted it.. she said... "Kharach changla banavla aahe re...", which I later came to know that she said it just for the sake of saying it... but she didnt realize what effect those words had on me... I bought about ten lemons from the roadside baniya, and made up almost 2 litres of the "Perfect" Nimbu Paani, and called up all my friends from the building to have a drink... (That was my very first "Drinks" party with my friends, back in 3rd grade :D)
I used to drink Nimbu Paani like anything, day in and day out... and i never used to drink it from the glass... rather I used to slowly take in small sips with a teaspoon like a baby who is getting spoon fed... I just loved to savour the taste of each and every drop of that refreshing drink... The Nimbu Paani drinking session actually used to last for almost half an hour, watching FunTime - Giant Robot and He Man on Doordarshan :)

Gone are the good old days... But Nimbu Paani still remains the best drink for me... All it requires is the perfect concentration of Cold water, the perfect amount of lemon juice, Sugar and salt, and a little bit of Jaljeera.. and yes plenty of love filled in it by the one who is making it... and voila !! The recipe for Perfect Nimbu Paani is ready :)

The Lucky Bamboo..

It will soon be one year since I have a Chinese bamboo plant at my home. My sister had sent me a 3- stalked chinese bamboo plant last year on Raksha Bandhan... It was a small sampling, and now is almost a foot high...

Chinese bamboo plants have a role to play in the Eastern practice of "Feng Shui".. or the bringing of natural elements of water, fire, earth, wood and metal into balance within the environment... Chinese bamboo (or Lucky Bamboo) is believed to be an ideal example of the thriving wood and water element, with the addition of a red ribbon tied around its stalks, is believed to represent "Fire", or the postive flow of energy or "Chi" in the room...
The number of stalks also has some meaning,
3 stalks - Happiness
5 stalks - Wealth
6 stalks - Health

4 stalks are avoided cause the word "four" in Chinese sounds too similar to the chinese word for "Death" !! :O

I have a 3-stalked plant... and lately I had been observing that its leaves are turning yellow, one by one as each day passes by...
This plant was supposed to bring "Happiness" in my house... and now it was dying...
err.... any sane person can interpret what that meant in Feng shui... :(
It had been a long time since my family had experienced Happy times together.. and this thing totally started depressing me further....

My aji is an expert in plants... she had a big garden in our old house at shivaji park... and also at goregaon... she had told me to plant the sappling in soil instead of marbles... also to keep it in sunlight...
well, that was the most stupidest thing I did... that is keeping the plant in sunlight...

Later, I searched the internet and found out that the chinses bamboo is an indoor plant and it needs plenty of indirect sunlight, and that it dies in direct sunlight... damn !!

Here are some of the things you can do to take care of your Lucky Bambo....

• Typically, they are grown in a few inches of clear water, perhaps supported by small pebbles, stones, or marbles. It is important that the water be kept clean and fresh and not allowed to stagnate.

• The Choline/Flurides in tap water is harmful to the plant. Allow the tap water to stand in an open container for 24 hours, allowing the chlorine and flouride to dissipate, before using it with your plants. Or you can use filtered or distilled water.

• The plant needs plenty of Indirect sunlight. Keep it away from direct sunlight.They will perform well under artificial lighting. Too much direct sun can cause burning of the leaves. Too little light will lead to weak growth, stretching and poor coloration. Normal household temperatures are ideal.

Hmm... I followed the instructions for a few days... and I saw that new shoots are coming out...
That surely did bring back a smile on my face.. :)
So you know guys, this Feng shui thing really works... Go get your Chinese bamboo plant :D


P.S. The Chinese Bamboo is not a Bamboo at all ;) It belongs to the Dracaena family (Dracaena sanderiana)

Sunday Morning Blues

Parag... get up... paani chala jaaega !!

Drat!! Can't even get a nice peaceful nap on a Sunday morning... Mom has to wake me up at 9 am (:O) to send me inside the bathroom... paani chala jaaega?? Damn it !!

That is the one place that I dread a lot... well, not like I am a hydrophobic or anything.. that I would develop a dreadful spasm as I pour water over my sleepy phenotypic self... nor am I averse to keeping myself clean, or a claustrophobic who is fearful of small enclosed spaces.... just that I am pure lazy, on a Sunday morning to enter that 10 x 10 feet enclosure...

The BMC officials should be screwed up royally... Cause they get only Sunday mornings to start their water shortage spree...

As I brush my teeth wearily, I try to open my swollen sleepless eyes cause of last night's Primera Liga matches... Mom has already thrown a fit and has lost it completely... its 9.30 am and I'm still brushing...

24 years old and still behaving like a kid... she tells me... what will you do once you start a family of your own? Your wife would swear on you, and also me for bringing up such a useless chap... Arre mom!! When I get married, there would be two of us lazing around... and then yeah.. we would definitely take a bath... together... hehehe... I smirked thinking about such a Sunday morning... wow... Then I would love to take a bath the whole day long :)

Enough of brushing you good for nothing fellow!! You are brushing your teeth, not scrubbing a basin... get hold of your towel and in the bathroom you go RIGHT NOW!!

Sigh!! Guess the time's up... A man's gotta do what he's gotta do !! Finally, my feet step inside the bathroom (helped by my mom's shove from behind)... Wish I had a Jacuzzi or a plain bath tub in which I could laze around a bit more... just a bit more...

One day, When I would be a great scientist.. I would invent a capsule... You just need to swallow it.. and Bingo!! The effect would be as good as you've taken a bath... all the dead cells of your skin would just shed off, you would be more freshened and alert and even kill all the bacteria and make you smell good...

Speaking about being a scientist, I suddenly thought about the episode in which Dexter (The child prodigy who owns a huge secret lab-- a cartoon of course!) who faced a similar problem like me, laminates himself so that he wouldn't have to take a bath or wash his hands often...

Great minds think alike, don't they?? ;)

Instructions at an ATM

Just came across this hilarious article while surfing... Thought I should share it with you all... :D

Instructions at an ATM for guys and for girls

Instructions for the guys:

1. Pull up to ATM
2. Insert Card
3. Enter PIN
4. Take cash, card and receipt
5. Drive away

Instructions for the Gals:

1. Pull up to ATM
2. Back up and pull forward to get closer
3. Shut off engine
4. Put keys in purse
5. Get out of car because you're too far from machine
6. Hunt for card in purse
7. Insert card
8. Hunt in purse for grocery receipt with PIN written on it
9. Enter PIN
10. Study instructions
11. Hit "CANCEL"
12. Re-enter correct PIN
13. Check balance
14. Look for envelope
15. Look in purse for pen
16. Make out deposit slip
17. Endorse checks
18. Make deposit
19. Study instructions
20. Make cash withdrawal
21. Get in car
22. Check makeup
23. Look for keys
24. Start car
25. Check makeup
26. Start pulling away
27. Stop
28. Back up to machine
29. Get out of car
30. Take card and receipt
31. Get back in car
32. Put card in wallet
33. Put receipt in checkbook
34. Enter deposits and withdrawals in checkbook
35. Clear area in purse for wallet and checkbook
36. Check makeup
37. Put car in reverse
38. Put car in drive
39. Drive away from machine
40. Drive 3 miles
41. Release parking brake

Batti Bandh !!

It was 15th December... the "Batti Bandh" day... Mumbai was supposed to blacken out for 1 hour from 7.30 in the evening, to save power consumption, to spread awareness against the Global Warming...

It was 7.30 pm, and I promptly lit up the candles for mom... switched off the lights and electrical appliances (except the refrigerator) and went out for a stroll...

The school kids from my building were looking dejected.. They had come in the morning to request us to switch off the lights during that one hour... It seemed that their pleas had fallen on deaf ears..

I walked upto them and asked them whats the matter...

"Bhaiyya, we had requested everyone, but nobody seemed to be interested... they all say that if noone is switching off, why should we... what difference am I gonna make alone.... now what should we do??"

I was with another friend of mine.. my school mate... we decided, it was time for us to take some action, at least for the sake of the efforts the school kids had taken...

We took some sheets of paper, and started visiting everyone's homes... asking them to write down the reasons and sign, stating why aren't they shutting down for an hour... each flat we used a single piece of paper... We were not surprised to see the same reason from all the 15 flats...

"Why should we switch off if everybody else is keeping it on?"

Now came the second part... we again went door-to-door... showing them all the papers from the 15 flats and asked them to comply... the kids were quite enthusiastic in this matter...

Embarrassed, people did finally switch off their appliances... and we had "Batti Bandh" in 10 out of the 15 flats in our building... (The other 5 slammed their doors on our faces!! We thought of cutting down the mains to their flats, but since this was a voluntary effort, we didn't...)
Then, we took a box of candles, and lit them in the entire corridor and the staircase upto the fourth floor and switched off the lights for the same... The kids suggested that one of them should stay at every floor, just in case some elderly person needs help in getting up and down the stairs...

In the end, the program at out place was a success!! And I was pretty satisfied, that in some way, I too was able to contribute towards it...

But I was quite disappointed at the callous and ignorant attitude shown by the Mumbaikars... From our terrace, I could see no change from what I see every evening, and that none of them had taken any efforts towards this awareness campaign... Global Warming, they say, won't be affecting them in any way... They don't realize that it would be their future generations that would be at an enormous loss if we at this moment, don't take any action...

I sincerely laud the efforts taken by the youth of Mumbai in trying to make this campaign a success... I think that even at least 1 hour load shedding in all areas in Mumbai would contribute a great deal towards power saving...

Been Rocked like a Hurricane!!

I was going through the newspaper in the evening when my Cell phone buzzed....

"Are You going for the Scorpions concert?" That was AM's SMS.

Wtf?? I thought they were playing in Shillong...

"Na... they are playing tomorrow at the MMRDA... didnt u know that?"

A frantic search thru the net, and I got the details... The Scorpions are really playing in Mumbai... Brilliant! Sadly, the tickets were out of stock at the CCD outlets, and hence i had to count on them being available at the venue, which they thankfully were...

It was a sad thing to notice that there were more volunteers than fans who have come to see the concert.. where as the Shakira and Beyonce (bull crap!!!) concerts go packed !! Wth, why am I complaining? No need to stand in a queue... :)

I was joined by Sumeet, and we got inside by 6.30 pm. It was a sorry sight... hardly any crowd in the front section (Rs.1500/-), and people were sitting and lying around lazily... A rock concert venue eh?! We had a quick bite and guzzled down some fluids as I replenished my vitals for the concert... It began at around 7, with the local band Bombay Boys playing a few acoustic numbers... and then the long frustrating wait when we were bombarded with Mind- fucking senseless Hero honda and Radio Mirchi ads!! The crappy hosting by the Channel V VJs just made the matters worse, and chants of "START THE FUCKING SHOW" started to pick up some momentum... The organizers were shrewd enough to start the music and began airing a few Scorpions and other rock numbers which assuaged the restless crowd...


And behold !! at the strike of 8, Klaus, Matthias, Rudolf, Pawel and James barged in with their "Weapons of Mass Destruction" (Read: Guitars) and started strumming with screams, whistles and chants trying to match the 50,000+ watts of pure electrical acoustics... and when Klaus went "Salaam Mumbai" the crowd went berserk....

Initially, they played a few of their songs from their new album, Humanity...

Then Klaus went... "All this time, we just tuning out vocals... Now its ur turn".... and then came the "Holiday"... My system lost it.. I got goose bumps like I have never had, not even when I had my first kiss... And as we all chanted "Let me take you far away...", my senses were already gone far far away...


And then came "Send Me an Angel" and "Always somewhere"... And my vocal cords started working overtime, reaching the amplitude and frequency so high, that Sumeet suffered from a temporary hearing loss!! Then Klaus started throwing autographed drum sticks into the crowd, sadly, none of them came our way... biased as he was, he threw them to the 2 extreme ends, while we were there bang in front in the centre...

In went the acoustic guitars and out again came the WMDs... what followed was an intense Hardcore metal/rock which the Scorpions are famous for... and all the head banging that follwed was interrupted by Some mind blowing strumming on the bass by Pawel !! He was ammmmmmazing to say the least... and to make the things exciting, he got the crowd involved too... And then came the jamming session between Matthias and Rudolf...


What followed was easily the best performance of the night... the solo on the drums by James... as he ripped apart his tee, stood up and played on the drums with his feet, guzzled down cans of beer and sprayed it in the air like the Triple-H and the crowd went mad with he hit the strings of the electric guitar with his drums sticks....

Then they played the "Humanity" number from their recent album... and after a quick farewell, disappeared backstage...

The crowd went restless... it was 9.30 pm and they still haven't played their famous numbers...
It was a gimmick, I thought... chants of "We want more" grew... and yo!! Out they came...

"We are a thousand miles away from home... and Still Loving you Mumbai......."

Fucking brilliant Music followed... my insanity levels reached their peaks...

Still Loving you... and then came their anthem "Wind of Change" which they sang with the crowd.... And this time, they started throwing their picks and some more drum sticks... they came at the centre stage together for the final farewell... we weren't satisfied... we wanted more.. and so we screamed our lungs out...

"You want more?? Ok... more you'll get..."

And then came "When the Smoke is Going Down"...

"And before we leave... we wanna make sure, we really did Rock you like a Hurricane..."

Whoppie... there came the one ppl were waiting for...
"Here I am... rock u like a hurricaaaaaaaaaaneeeeeeeeee...."

And then they went... And there I was.. totally famished... exhausted.. run out of air...
Parched throat... sore vocal cords... jammed stapes... and stiff paraspinal cervical muscles !!

Sumeet and me stopped at the Thai restaurant at lokhandwalla and ate hot and delicious Red chicken curry and rice in the cold December night, still not over with the euphoria of the concert...

It was easily the best concert that I had attended so far.. even better than the Bryan Adams, the Aerosmith, and the Pink Floyd one!!

Was a bit disappointed that they didn't play "No one like you"and "You and I" ... but over all.. it was Full Paisa wasool !!

Still Loving you scorpions... cuz u rocked me like a Hurricane !! :D

Video clips from my last trek with Zankhan -- Naneghat-Jeevdhan (18-19-20 May 04)

The 18-19 May 2004 trek to Naneghat-Jeevdhan was my last trek with my buddy, Zankhan.. I came across this vcd after months of shuffling and turning my entire home upside down, and managed to upload a few clips on youtube to share it with u all..

Zankhan, you may not be here with us, but we'll always miss my friend! The "Falcons'" wings have been clipped off forever...




1] Introduction - The morning after the climb


2] Watch Myself and Zankhan make our favourite JUNGLEE SANDWICH :)


3] The first view of Jeevdhan from the top of Naneghat


4] Climbing the final portion of the Jeevdhan Rock patch


5] Watch Zankhan guide me thru the rock patch


6] This is how we filter the water on our treks!! :)


7] Daktar babu...performing a minor surgery on his injured foot!!


8] The end of our journey

These Feet are meant for walking

One fine sunny day, myself and my friend were walking the streets of Bandra..

"You know, you should never make a lady walk... but u always make me walk, that too in this scorching sun... at least we shud ve ricked it up.."

"Rick? cmon.. its just a 15 min walk to the theatre... and whats wrong in walking?"

"Why dont you get a bike?? In that way, we can save so much money on travelling..."

"Well thats exactly what we are doing, saving money and saving fuel by walking... "

Yesterday, like every other day, my mom asks me...

"Take a rick to the station.. its too hot outside.."

"Why?? Have my legs been amputed?? Cant i walk??"

I dont understand.. People have become so dependant on their vehicles that they barely walk anywhere... Especially the guys of the younger generation... Driving a bike is considered to be cool ... and even use their bikes for even going to the nearby store...

Whats wrong in walking?? Ive walked places... Ive walked innumerable times down the 14 km walk to Kanheri... and not to miss out the 70 km 21 hr walk to Titwala, in scorching heat!!

Theres a particular purpose for each and every part of our body.. We ve been provided with eyes for seeing, fingers for holding, teeth for chewing.. and huh.. legs for walking...
As more and more humans grow dependant on their cars and bikes, a new species of humans will evolve..
Around the turn of the twenty-third century, I can see legless humans being born...

By then, of course, there will be flying wheel chairs....

Sasura sab confoosion hai re...

I was returning home by bus in the evening.. the Bus was stuck in traffic on the Andheri fly-over, besides the railway station, when 2 young bhaiyyas came and sat behind me..

"Idhar dekho..." said one, pointing to the station visible outside the window...

"Oo rightwa jo hai, ooka 'Easht' bolat hai... aur oo leftwa jo hai, ooka 'wesht'..."

"Par Gulbajiya mein to leftwa pe Easht bolat hai...."

"Abbe ee bambai hai bambai... Bho****ke, agar tujhe bambai ka eashtwa aur weshtwa naahi maalum, to tohar kuch naahi hone waala..."

"Haa.. ee baat to theek hai..."

The lights are green, and the bus starts again with a rumbling sound that sets up a series of borborygmi in my tummy... God im hungry...

"Par Misraji..." the other guy goes again...

"... agar hum oo taraf se dekhe.. to leftwa easht ban jaawat hai aur rightwa wesht..."

"Ee baat sasura humaar khopaddiya mein kaahe naahi ghusi??? sasura sab confoosion hai bhai..."

Haa ji... sasura hamaar khopaddiya bhi tohaar logic sunke ghumwat hui gawa... saala sab confoosion hai...

But it Rained...

I was sitting near my balcony, relishing a mug of hot coffee and the rains, when out of the blues, i remembered this song... "But it Rained" By India's best rock Band Parikrama...

Well this song has nothing to do with the rains as such.. Its their number 1 single, released in 1996..
The main theme of the song is about the kidnappings that were going around in the Kashmir valley in the mid nineties.. hundreds of people had simply disappeared, and even after years, their families , keeping hope against hopes.. that someday, their loved ones just might come back home...

A very catchy song and good lyrics.. watch it and hear it...

But it Rained - Parikrama

Wrapped in a polythene tucked away safe in my mind
A little goodbye maybe or just a passing smile

The birds fly away to the southern sky searching a home
A bunch of paper flowers or a little boy left all alone
Can somebody hear me I'm screaming from so far away
Morning who will calm you now, the evening is eclipsed again

Well does life get any better
More yesterday than today
How I thought the sun would shine tomorrow
But it rained . . .

They justified the cause for which Daddy might give up his life
It's been so long, so long a time, still I miss Daddy at night
The ache is long gone but the never keeps staring along
The waters in the seas are high
and all the sand castles have drowned

Well does life get any better
More yesterday than today
How I thought the sun would shine tomorrow
But it rained . . .

" ... Meanwhile, relatives of the four kidnapped tourists are back in the country to make yet another appeal. It has been a year now since the abduction, and the last seven months have seen little but a stony silence.”

"Amid reports of illness, injury and threats of death, was the uncertainty of not knowing what to believe ... she did not even get to say goodbye" said the wife of one of the hostages. More appeals have been made some even by other militant organisations, but the message is ..."

This is an excerpt from a magazine report published more than 5 years ago. It hit us in the face then, it still tingles in the spine each time. We wrote this song then, in an effort to feel the uncertainty, the futility, ourselves. To share the yet shimmering hope of those who are left waiting for a loved one. At times forever. It's worse still, not having even said a goodbye, or caught the last eye. As funerals are. Ceremonial farewells, perhaps?

Five long years, not a word, nor a trace. Some of them have still not given up, as we read in the papers recently. They wait, even today ... we can hear the strain ...

- Parikrama

Bad Hair days...

Hmm.. U must have heard those words from every other girl in town...

Oh God!! Im having a bad hair day... blah blah blah... and they sulk around the whole day..
Nothing what the guy says or does to cheer her up works.. Hair r the most precious things to girls, i must say..
Especially, when the new coiffure goes haywire.. U better be away from her at that moment..

But my blog is not about Girls and about their bad hair days... thts so hackneyed!!

Its about something more interesting.. Its about guys and their bad hair days!!

Yeah... we guys also do have bad hair days.. Its just that women dont seem to notice them, unless they give a medusa-head appearance, cuz they think that guys hair are too short to have bad hair days... or rather, they r too preoccupied with their own hair.. and with the hair-dos of the other so-called hep girls whom they're jealous off!!
They are absolutely wrong!!
In fact, a guys bad hair day gets accentuated cuz of his short hair...



Take my sad case for example..
Every time i get a haircut.. its a disaster in the making.. the kind of weird hair that ive inherited..

"Sir.. kaise cut karu??"... the barber asks... with a comb and a pair of scissors.. snipping away in his fingers.. and he looks at my hair and smirks.. concealing his joy in going for the kill...
But i can guess his diabolical intents... sigh!!!

"arre.. saamne se medium kaatna.. side se aur peeche se chhota karna.. lekin jyaada chhota nahi.. ye side se baal khade nahi rehne chahiye.. aur upar ke baal baraabar se kaatna... schiisel ghissel mumbaazool gunterostekal.........."

snip snip snip... He barely heard what i had to say.. merrily snipping away ... my precious hair fallen all over my sides.. I close my eyes.. I cant see the disaster unfolding in front of me in the mirror...

15 mins.. and its over...

"bas ho gaya sir?? ki aur chhota kaatu??"

I slowly open my eyes... gathering courage, a mm wide each time.. hoping against hope that not this time.....

There u go... just like like how it is every month.. a DISASTER!!

"arre mere bhai.. aur kitna chhota karega?? sir par machine hi ghooma deneka na yaar!!!"

There i was... a "GOLF BALL"... thats what someone once used to call me..
Time to stay indoors for a week till some hair grow back to keep them settled down...

Just another bad hair week rather...

Mr.Springsteen knows me well..

Heard this song after a long time, and i was amazed to realize that this is exactly my life that he's singing about...

Kudos Mr.Springteen.. Uve finally given a song that describes my life so well.. here it goes..



Dancing in the Dark

I get up in the evening
and I ain't got nothing to say
I come home in the morning
I go to bed feeling the same way
I ain't nothing but tired
Man I'm just tired and bored with myself
Hey there baby, I could use just a little help

You can't start a fire
You can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire
even if we're just dancing in the dark

Message keeps getting clearer
radio's on and I'm moving 'round the place
I check my look in the mirror
I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face
Man I ain't getting nowhere
I'm just living in a dump like this
There's something happening somewhere
baby I just know that there is

You can't start a fire
you can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire
even if we're just dancing in the dark

You sit around getting older
there's a joke here somewhere and it's on me
I'll shake this world off my shoulders
come on baby this laugh's on me

Stay on the streets of this town
and they'll be carving you up alright
They say you gotta stay hungry
hey baby I'm just about starving tonight
I'm dying for some action
I'm sick of sitting 'round here
trying to write this book
I need a love reaction
come on now baby gimme just one look

You can't start a fire
sitting 'round crying over a broken heart
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
You can't start a fire
worrying about your little world falling apart
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark

- Bruce Springsteen

Material Boy!!

Today, i was going through my Orkut profile.. (Have to cuz i know noone else does ;)..
and i came across this column in PERSONAL tab that said ... "5 things i can't live without"..
Hmm.. i wondered.. let me see.. What are those 5 things that "I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT"!!
Are there such "Things" that one cant live without???
I thought and it didnt take me long to enlist those things... 5 is too less a number of things to enlist..
So i thought, Blogger is a good medium to tell u guys what those things are...

Before i tell u what those things are, I would sincerely like to thank my sister ,Priti, for turning me into a "Material Boy".. as she has given me 99% of those paraphernalia...
So here they go...

1] Ipod Mini

Yeah.. Ive this Ipod Mini...
Its an antiquated player now, but when i got it, it was the latest around.. and i still prefer mini to those 60-80Gb video ipods..
Highly compact which fits into my jeans mini pocket.. no-nonsense music player...
True Nano is a similar one.. but I cant handle delicate things like Nano.. so Mini is better suited to my rugged life!!

This is the most important thing in my life.. as music is my life, i cant live without my ipod for sure... While eating, sleeping, travelling, peeing.. i need this baby!!




2] Sony Cybershot DSC P-72


Surprised to see my cam at number 2??? Cant help it... Music comes first for me... :)
Priti gave this to me when she got herself a new digicam.. So i truely began experimenting with my photography in 2005!! And i think ive done a good job..
Now out of production, DSC P-72 was the first 3.2 MP cam to enter the market... 3X optical zoom was unheard of..
I guess its lens has developed some problem now that i dont get good satisfactory pics and thinking of buying a new one.. But this will always be special for me..




3] Sony Playstation 2

Once a guy on the Orkut PS2 community had asked me...
"A doc playing on a PS2????!!!"

hahahahaha...

I would say, "Thats me!!"

And dont they say that doctors who are good at playing video games are better surgeons??!!

Again,Priti had gifted this to me in 2005 on my birthday... This is 3rd cuz its a major stress buster for me..
Whenever i get frustrated, i start plugging in my PS2 and start punching on the keys.. so be it thrashing the Undertaker in Smackdown vs Raw..
Or shooting away the aliens' brains.. Or racing the tracks of Spa and the streets of Monaco as Raikkonen.. Or piercing through the opposition defense and shooting goals as Kaka!!


4] Cyberhome DVD player

This compact DVD player is really a smart electronic item... It plays everything right from DVD-R to DVD-RW and CDs and mp3s etc...

Its so compact and light, that sometimes ive even carried it to my friends place in a plastic bag.. :)

Keeps me entertained .. as im a movie buff.. Ive this huge collection of Hollywood movies that we get on the road for 70 bucks..

And yeah.. also have downloaded quite a few ones since ive got the broadband!





5] Portable DVD player

Yeah ive got a DVD player.. so what???

This is my latest acquisition from Priti..

Have u ever watched ur favourite movie, sitting atop the terrace tank.. lying down below the stars and feeling the cool breeze?? Well ive done it quite a many times..

I also carry it to those roadside dvd sellers to see if the dvds i buy are actually working cuz id been duped quite a many times before.. but not now..

The same player has now been introduced in the Indian market but its shit costly..




6] Victorinox - Camping

This is the most handy thing that i have..
Its at number 6 cuz i havent used it much besides trekking and i havent trekked for looooong!! (3months)
But i guess this is one of my favourites...

This Original Victorinox Camping has a total of 21 essential attachments and uses..

Priti had bought this for me when she had gone to Switzerland for her Honeymoon! :)
And shes such a darling that she even got my name engraved on it!!! :)
And also an original handy pouch to attach it to my belt!!



7] Camelbak - Trailblazer , Trekking backpack

This is my one-day Trekking backpack...
Highly compact.. and with a 2.5 L Hydration system installed..
[Hydration system : a water-pack with a silicon tube with a hydro lock that prevents water leakage.. so that one can drink water on the go]

Though ive got a larger 60 L capacity version on the lines of this backpack made to suit my needs, i havent used it much till date..


8] Meade Binoculars

My birding binocs!!!! :)
For a change, Not Priti, but my Jiju had given this to me..

Excellent quality lens.. and very compact..
I carry it regularly on treks and my Nature walks in National park..

Once while i watching a cuckoo from my balcony with the binocs,
the girl staying in the building in front of me thought i was leeching at her and she came to complain to my parents... ;)
Thankfully they bought my explaination about the birding!!
anyways she wasnt soo pretty that i wud leech on her with
my binocs!!! ;)





9] Dell Inspiron E 1505

My laptop!!
Dad got it last yr from USA...
Voted the best laptop of 2006...
It has a Media centre OS Intel centrino duo processor and 120 GB hard drive with a 17.1" monitor...

My old comp had a 20 Gb hard drive and 128 mb ram and it was a PII!! :D
Now even Ipods come with an 80 gb memory!
For my blogging , orkutting , pic editing, music/movie downloading.. and for a change.. studying!! ;)


10] Sony Sports walkman


This was my main source of music before the Ipod..
Still use it to listen to old casettes and the radio..

It has got a hand strap behind so that we can hold it while jogging..
Id actually started jogging when id got this one to show it off!! :)

And it also has one of my fav colour.. Light orange!! :)

Id got a headphones instead of the earphones shown in the Pic on the right..



11] Head lamp and Nordic walking stick

Trekking material that ive just acquired... Havent used them much Cause ive been on just one trek after i got them...
The head lamp damn good.. keeps ur hands free while u are trekking at nights.. Quite powerful and it also has a distress signal light at the press of a button on the top..

Nordic walking stick was bought by my sister when she had gone on a trek in the swiss alps while on her honeymoon!! {I envy her for that!!}
This is my third leg when i trek.. to carry my load when im down and dusted.. helped a lot to climb a gradient on my last trek to Siddhagad, and i know it will help me in future treks too..
Its a telescopic stick that extends to a height of about 5.5 feet!!
While i was carrying it on the trek, the hand-grip used to jut out of my bag over my head..
A couple of locals also asked me if i was carrying a sword or something like that..
Thankfully the policemen patrolling the railway stations didnt think so!! ;)




12] Vivitar 1200 Tripod

For a change, something which I have bought!! :D

just bought it a month back.. havent used it much.. but am damn eager to use it.. Highly compact and light because of its aluminium body and telescopic lens, i intend to carry it on my night treks to get some good snaps at night..




Phew!!!
Done with the Major things that i cant live without..
Well there are many other things ranging from My rechargeable batteries and battery charger for my cam to my sony discman and cell phones.. But i could definitely do without them..

Thank you Priti.. I pray noone gets a sister like you!! :)

All those stuff were the latest when id got them, now they are antediluvian.. But dont electronics do get old???

Whoever said that materialistic people are not happy in life!!!
hahahahahahaha!!!

Nostradamus

For all those who still haven't read the predictions of Nostradamus, Here is the link.

Nostradamus - Writ...

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Speed Reading

This may sound as if im doing a bit of "PR giri".. but cant help it.. this concept really appealed to my grey cells and i know they would to yours too..

I had been attending this Clinical Research course in KEM hospital for 2 months. It was the last lecture, and being the optional guest lecture, many had thought of doin something else on a saturday evening.. I thought i was fortunate enough to attend it cuz i got to learn this new concept.

It was taken by some ex KEM pass out, Dr. Hozefa Bhinderwala, who is now a consultant psychiatrist in Prince Aly Khan and Saifee hospitals. Though the normal lecture which he was supposed to take was on communicatio skills, he slowly started digressing from the main topic to his beloved topic of "Speed Reading"!! Now this was something new to all of us.. and what followed for the next one hr was pretty interesting stuff...

I'll try and put together some of the excerpts from the lecture...

What is Speed Reading?? Simple... trying to read fast... with speed..taking less time to read the same topic than some other person reading normally... but mind you.. WITHOUT AFFECTING COMPREHENSION !!

Now thats interesting, cuz anyone can just zip-n-zap thru a page within a matter of a few seconds.. but the fact is .. does he comprehend it?? Heres what he told us..

The human mind is a great entity.. It has the capability to process about 400 words per minute. But we normally just feed them only 200 words per minute.. So what happens is, after the brain is feeded with those 200 words, It is still waiting for the other 200, which never come.. so it utilises itself by wandering away and thinking about other non-specific things.. and thats why we lose concentration... Once we lose our concentration, we dont comprehend the stuff which we'd just read and we go back to the same sentence and start all over again, this time reading more slowly, thinking that we may understand it better.. and hence we start the vicious cycle...

True, we may understand it better if we read it slowly... but why do we have to read the same stuff again and again and lose precious time, when we can speed read it with much better comprehension??

As medicos, we on an average spend 8-10 hrs/day reading new things.. Even non-medicos for that matter.. so that makes it more than 2920 hrs or about 122 days per year just reading!!!!!! that is 1/3rd of a year right??? If only i could have read it faster.. and then save those precious hrs so that i cud ve caught my favourite movie... or maybe saved a couple of days so that i would have gone for a small beach-side weekend vacation!!! Time is really precious!!

Now im not going to tell you about what precisely he told us in that 1 hr lecture.. but i'll just brush through some more interesting stuff...

Suppose You are driving on a road on a bike, wearing a bulky helmet and all... and u are approaching an intersection.. and you see a car approaching from the right.. You dont rotate your head the entire 90 degressto the right to see the car,then stop your bike, let the car pass and then start again, right?? you rely on your temporal field of vision to see the car, and then adjust your speed accordingly to let the car pass by and then pick your speed up again... or rather even increase your speed so that you pass the intersection before the car itself!! ;)

The temporal field of vision is roughly 120 degrees .. 90 degrees with a helmet on.. nasal 30-40, and superior and inferior 60-70 each... Each and every word you read requires just 1-2 degrees or even less ... so if you can trust your 100 degrees.. why dont you trust 2 degrees of your own vision??

Thats because we are trained from our chilhood days that we are supposed to read each and every word before proceeding ahead.. Before you can understand what is written.. But in fact its not so..

Take the example which i'll be giving below...

How will you read the sentence written below???

"Many people have taken this song and really felt like 'awww it's so romantic'"

You will read it as... "Many--pause--people--pause--have--pause-- etc"

That is you take a brief break of a fraction of a second after each and every word before you move onto the next word...

While reading, the human eye does two kinds of movements- Fixation and Sacchadic movement. When You are reading the word, its fixation, while when you jump onto the next word, its a sacchadic movement. The actual reading occurs only during the Fixation phase when the image on the retina sends the signals to the occipital cortex and then to other areas where comprehension occurs. During the sacchadic movement.. its a blank..

So the concept of speed reading revolves around minimising these sacchadic movements or the no. of skipping that we do while reading a particular sentence. Let me show you how...

take the same example as above..

"Many people have taken this song and really felt like 'awww it's so romantic'"

Previously , we had fixed our eyes on each and every individual word and then moved on to the next.. In speed reading, to minimise the skipping we'll concentrate on words like

"People--taken--song--really--awww--romantic"... the crux being relying on your vision.. your 2 degrees of vision that I'd mentioned before..

when you read "people", u'll also read "many" and "have" written besides them.. and so on..
Yeah!! I know it sounds damn simple.. but its really tough to begin with... but its not impossible. You just need to retrain your eyes.. trust what your eye is seeing.. It is capable of doing much more than what it is being used at the moment.

There are numerous articles on the internet regarding Speed-Reading. Just google /wikipedia Speed-Reading and see.. many softwares available too.. This concept has been introduced in India only in recent years. Not many people are aware of this. A few books have also been written. The First illustrated book on speed reading called "SPEED READ" was written by Dr.Hozefa Bhinderwala himself under the Birla publications and was available at the Mazgaon book depot when he took the lecture.

He also conducuts workshops on speed reading on a regular basis.
Last workshop i knew was being held near Nehru science centre, worli. Its a 4 hr workshop with many exercises on how to improve your reading speeds.. Many professionals have been benefitted.. though some have not, but it all depends on how you apply yourself right??

You can contact the following person for the same..

Tasneem : 98204 18407
1speedread@gmail.com

Dr. Hozefa Binderwala : hozefa07@yahoo.com

They charge Rs.800 for UG students and Rs.1500 for professionals..

Interesting concept, isnt it??

My Favourite Quotes from "The Wonder Years"

“All our young lives we search for someone to love. Someone who makes us complete. We choose partners and change partners. We dance to a song of heartbreak and hope... all the while wondering if somewhere, somehow, there's someone perfect... who might be searching for us.”


“Growing up is never easy. You hold on to things that were. You wonder what's to come. But that night, I think we knew it was time to let go of what had been, and look ahead to what would be. Other days. New days. Days to come. The thing is, we didn't have to hate each other for getting older. We just had to forgive ourselves... for growing up.”


“Once upon a time there was a girl I knew, who lived across the street. Brown hair, brown eyes. When she smiled, I smiled. When she cried, I cried. Every single thing that ever happened to me that mattered, in some way had to do with her. That day Winnie and I promised each other that no matter what, that we'd always be together. It was a promise full of passion and truth and wisdom. It was the kind of promise that can only come from the hearts of the very young.”


“I guess sometimes the ground can shift between your feet. Sometimes your footing slips. You stumble. And sometimes you grab what's close to you and hold on as tight as you can.”


“Over the course of the average lifetime you meet a lot of people. Some of them
stick with you through thick and thin. Some weave their way through your life
and disappear forever. But once in a while someone comes along who earns a permanent place in your heart”


Growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you're in diapers, the next day you're gone. But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul. I remember a place, a town, a house like a lot of other houses, a yard like a lot of other yards, on a street like a lot of other streets. And the thing is, after all these years, I still look back, with wonder.


Kevin: Margaret, can I ask you a question?
Margaret: Yes, Kegin.
Kevin: Why do you have 3 pigtails?
Margaret: Because you never know when you need an extra rubberband


I'm not sure how I did It, my memories begins with the crack of the bat, and the sight of the ball rising. Maybe that's not exactly what It happens. But that's the way It should have happen, and That's the way I like to remembering. And If dreams and memories sometimes get confused to well... That is It should be, because every kid deserves to be a hero... Every kid already is...

What if.....???

"TAXI...KEM hospital??"....

"Shit, I guess i'll be late for the morning lecture again..."

It was Akshay.. tall, fair guy in his early 20s.. a to-be-medico...and a brilliant one too! He had been working endless nights working on the ICMR research regarding decrease in morbidity after minimally invasive cardio-vascular-thoracic surgeries.. He wanted to make it big in life.. like all his other batch mates..

"Kitna hua ??... ye lo.."

Its Dr.Nadkarni's lecture.. I guess Im not late..

Akshay struggled the last few steps leading to the lecture theatre and was relieved to find that the professor hadnt arrived yet.
There were not many students for the early 8 am lecture. Akshay was happy to get the first seat. Dr. Nadkarni was his mentor..a brilliant cardio-vascular surgeon..

"One day.. I'll be like him.. maybe even better...." and then the front door opened and the professor entered..

"Todays lecture is pretty intersting.. Surgical techniques it says.. I hope he'll tell something about Robotic surgical techniques! Thats so cool!! Just with a controller like the controller of my PS2 .. i can perform a major surgery..."

Thud!! The front door opens ajar halfway through the lecture...

"Suresh?? aaah.. poor chap.. late as usual... Dr.Nadkarni wont allow him to take a step in the lecture theatre... Dunno whats wrong with him... What the.............................................. "

Akshay collapses on his notebook.. a bullet pierces right through his chest...

Bang bang bang bang bang.... khattaaakhat... bang bang bang bang bang bang...

Theres complete silence... Dr.Nadkarni's Fingers twitch for a while... and then they lay motionless, in a pool of blood on the floor.. just like ten others...

It was just another normal day in the life of eleven normal individuals.. who had their own dreams.. dreams to make it big in life.. And this maniac enters and takes them away in a matter of a few seconds and a couple of cartridges!!

Thats what happened in the recent Virginia shoot-out.. Normal human beings... Having their own dreams... Dreams that were taken away in a whiff! It can happen to you too...

Have you given a thought to it???