Saraswati Puja

Hey, it is Vasant Panchami today and in Kolkata, we have the Saraswati Puja. For those who do not know about it, in Hindu mythology, Goddess Saraswati is considered to be the eternal power who blesses one and all with education, music, knowledge and wisdom. The 'Puja' is organized in schools, colleges and most households. The weather at this time of the year is also at its very best making it possible for young and old alike, to join in the celebrations. Even we had our own 'Puja' in our flat today morning. And do you know who was the priest?

Guess.. guess...


Yes it was ME!


Not that I am a learned person in Sanskrit or I understand much of the 'stotras' and 'slokas' (scriptures), but the manuals helped a lot. Literally everything was documented and with a bit of help from my parents, I was able to accomplish it well enough! The 'Puja' also required me to be dressed in a different manner with a 'dhoti' and 'kurta'. Those who do not know how to wear a 'dhoti' or do not wear it regularly (like myself) would agree that keeping the whole cloth in place is difficult. It is not at all compact. But believe me, as far as comfort goes, 'dhoti' is the clear winner amongst bermudas, trousers, cargoes and jeans! After the 'Puja' was over, all of us quickly gobbled up the 'prasad'. I was very hungry and was the first to finish whatever was offered to me!

By now, you must have known that I am a BIG foodaholic!


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Image source: www.stanford.edu

Yummy!

I have made a pretty bad reputation for myself! Yeah it's true. It haunts me wherever I go, whatever I do. I cannot sleep at night. I cannot relax. I cannot be at peace with myself. The reason is:

I HAVE STARTED EATING TOO MUCH!

And to make matters worse, the input output ratio is not balanced as well. So you can imagine! Don't worry, people around me are safe and can breathe freely as of now. But I haven't seen the future and neither have they.

Anyways, I tell myself, "Hey man, its your stomach, your mouth, your spoon, your plate, your rice, your chicken, everything is yours! Then why inhibitions? After all 'sab papi pet ke liye hi hai naa'!" But there are morons, thin as a stick, who keep on budging me and irritating me with all sort of comments! They have no appetite and they feel, none should have! They walk around in the office, in the park, on the highway... two dimensional figures... am bored of them, SERIOUSLY!

If Mr Amir Khan can eat 15 egg whites every day to sculpt a physique that make women swoon over him, what's wrong with me?

Forget it, it's lunch time and I am already feeling it.... yummy!!!

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Image source: http://www.salomon-online.com

Farmer and his donkey

Hey friends,

I got hold of a beautiful story today through an email forward by one of my school mates, Mr Abhijit Ghosh. Read it. It's inspiring, for sure!

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him.
They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to every one's amazement he became quiet. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw.
With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing.
He would shake it off and take a step up.
As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

MORAL :
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

PS. Kudos to the person who originally wrote it!

Slumdog Millionaire saga: Am I happy?

The blog world is abuzz with Slumdog Millionaire. The only blog which probably missed it was Blah blah blah..., so I thought what the heck! Let me put an entry! Please note that this is not a film review that I am writing here. I haven't seen the film as of today, neither have I listened to the music. I have only read and read about it. Whatever little I got, I am sharing here.

A lot of buzz is on about the film. It has already received 4 Golden globes and now has its name glittering for no less than 10 Oscar nominations. People who have seen the film are already pitching high hopes on it! But I just wonder, is everything still okay? Should we consider this as Hollywood embracing Bollywood (which like Mr Big B, I prefer to call The Indian Film Industry)? Remember that the film's director is not an Indian. The film is only a snapshot of a foreigner's views of India - Its poverty, the lifestyle of the common man, India as a poor third world country dreaming to make it large! And voila! It makes its mark on the world platform!

But I am worried. You know why? There's a typical category of Indian (or pseudo Indian, like Slumdog) films which get nominated for the Oscars year on year. I do not mean to say that Bollywood masala movies should be there where a Slumdog is! No! I mean to say that there's more to India than the slums, the cricket, the freedom movement, the Gandhi, the poverty, the snake charmers, the tantriks and the pottery! Where the world is reeling with recession, India still has NOT buckled under economic pressure! This has some meaning! There are developed countries where the GDP is running a negative temperature till date! In India it is not the case (as yet)! Forget Satyam, that's an anomaly. It would bounce back!

Getting back to films, somehow the western world still feels good and realistic to think of India as a poor third world nation. The things that Lagaan and Slumdog Millionaire have in common are: poverty, illiteracy and struggle. The keywords only portray a sorry picture of India and its people. And the world viewers gobble up every bit on display like a hot cake! I do not intend to say that India does not have poverty, India does not have its people struggling for bread, India does not have snake charmers...

What I intend to say is, there's a lot more to India than just that! It's time that the Oscar juries (and the world population) admitted that! Slumdog may win an Oscar this year. But am I happy? Are you happy?

A tribute to the immortal

One of the few people whom I blindly admire! He is Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose! Today is his birthday. A true son of Mother India, Netaji was one of the few souls who were responsible for India's freedom. Today, when people fight in the name of caste, creed, religion and blah blah blah... we truly miss a leader of his stature and dynamics! He did not live long to see India flourish, but he is someone to whom we would be eternally grateful. There is still a mist surrounding his mysterious disappearance. People are divided on opinion as to whether he really died in the fated air-crash. There are doubts in people's mind about his way of taking on the tyrants or even his political ideology. But there is no doubt about one thing. He is an immorta! He is the only man who could say, "Give me blood. I will give you freedom!"

Netaji amar rahe! Jai Hind!

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Image source: http://banglapedia.search.com.bd

Almost there!

Oh! Did I tell you about my *almost* visit to the other world? Actually, it happened few days back while I was going somewhere with my parents in a hired cab. Anyone who has visited Kolkata must have driven through the VIP road which connects the Airport to the city. Now we were silently relaxing in the cab, with the cold breeze flowing gently outside. I was feeling sleepy and my parents were quiet as well. The cab was speeding at 70 km/hr. Suddenly there was a loud noise and no, there was no accident! What I saw was, the front bonnet of the cab had been flung open and the road in front had been completely blocked from our view. The cab had screeched to a halt! And my sleep had vanished in thin air! It looked something like this!

I doubt if any of you have seen or heard of such a scenario! "Khataras" in Kolkata are a common sight and my cab was no exception! And it was *luck by chance* that there were no speeding vehicles immediately after the cab. Else, you can imagine !!!

So, lesson for you?

Next time you visit the city of joy, please ensure that:

1. the cab you hire is relatively new


2. and the bonnet is locked well enough so as not to open accidentally!

In search of peace

So much sorrow, so much tears, so much pain, so much injustice... the world over...
The more I think about it all, the more I get inclined towards... spirituality!

William Shakespeare said long ago,

"All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players:

They have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts,

His acts being seven ages."

I am not sure about the number of ages. That can probably differ. But the main essence is that we are merely playing our parts. Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, Lover, Spouse and all other relations that we get entangled with daily are for a very short term. After that each will go in his/her own way, never ever to return again. Yet we cry for others, yet we fight for others, yet we die for others. But all in all, it's maya! It is essential that we recognize the one and only Him! There are people who do not believe in God, who do not believe in spirituality, who do not believe in souls! I know everyone has the right to think and feel in individual ways! But believe me, there's no other alternative to finding peace and tranquility other than taking shelter under the Divine! And that does not merely mean chanting hymns day in and day out! That means each one of us should ensure that our actions put a smile on at least one face every day - easier said than done. That also means getting rid of the mohas (attractions)! Not easy!
Probably I am not the best person in the world to preach all these, but I feel it's high time that we start practising! Preaching without practising is meaningless! The root of all problems, all sadness, all bitterness, all envy and every negative emotion that you can possibly think of, is moha (attraction, greed). If one can win over it, then he/she is well on the way to eternal bliss and happiness!

The dialogue ;)

I: Hi

You: Hi

I: Yes?

You: Why?

I: Please..

You: No

I: Ok.. I go..

You: ...

I[sad]: going..

You: Wait.. Don't go

I: Why?

You: Please..

I: ??

You: So?

I: Yes?

You: I said NO

I: Then I go

You: ...

You: Wait...

I: No

That was imaginary.

I and You are fictitious. Confused? Well, even I am...

Bullshit

Even my enemy would admit that this is an extremely difficult phase of life that I am going through. Each and every moment a new challenge is being thrown up. This is applicable both on the professional as well as the personal front. Not that I want to bore you with petty details from my life, but thought this was an information which could enable you to know about the true state of my mind. Do you know what hurts me the most? It is "being misunderstood". You do a task thinking it would do good to kith and kin and then when you find out that the same people, for whom you had sacrificed, are stabbing you behind your back, it really hurts! And personally I feel, people should never ever speak ill at the back of others. It is sheer hypocrisy to do so. Even today I feel guilty about the one or two incidents where I myself had been involved in such deeds, though I also remember having apologized to the concerned people later on. Then again I am tired of playing the same roles on the stage of life and the director (read God) is adamant on me continuing with those roles. He just would not give me anything new to try my hands on. I am also tired and disgusted at the 'oh-so-goody-goody' image that I have (or rather people say)! From experience I can tell, these 'goody-goody' sorts are forever showered with brotherly affection, not something that I am in strict denial of! But you must agree, too much or too less of a particular ingredient does not make a dish particularly tasty! Varieties need to exist and I need varieties!

I am also horribly tired of the missed calls that I occasionally get on my cell from unknown numbers at unearthly times. I just want to let these *ssholes know that if you have the guts (or balls), come in front and show your face, else just f*** off!

Please excuse me for the raw language that is in use today in this post. Probably it is required to denote the exact state of my mind as well as my temperament. I am disgusted at a lot of other things, but I do not feel it safe to vent those out in this public forum. Rather I would save them for my diary, which I update occasionally! Sorry for boring you with all sort of bullshit! Next time, I would come back with something for enjoyable for all of you! Take care, friends!

The extraordinary conference

Bingo!

Got an idea! Hey all you guys and gals out there, I have got an absolutely hot idea here.

Tell me how many of you are heart broken. There are many, right? So why don't all of us team up together and see if we can get something viable out of it. A conference where each speaker would be given appropriate chance to spit out his or her thoughts (or stories) and there would be others to listen. There would be separate rooms for unloading your tears and proper drainage mechanisms in place so that the area does not get flooded. There would be stalls providing various varieties of adhesives (mild, strong, quick fix) which would be used to mend the broken hearts. In case adhesives do not work, you can always go for welding, that way the fix would be better. There would be a cafeteria where you can relax after a gloomy day out. The theme music would consist of lots of soulful and sad numbers from Rafi and others who have made a mark in this specialised domain. In case a pair is formed from among the visitors, immediately they would be rusticated and would need to leave the conference. Presently I am looking for a good Guru to spark all of it off! Refer some one's name if you think he / she is capable of handling such a gigantic event! If all else fails, I would nominate people as per my own judgements.

So all you brokes (strictly by heart) out there! ENjoY! It's time to rock and roll!

Let the party begin!!!

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PS. This idea is an extended and fun version of this.

Hush hush

Do you use a chat client in your office? Yes, I mean for official communications? I hope many of you do, right? Now, have you thought how much of it is really productive?
Let me tell you a story. There were two individuals - X and Y. X is female and Y is male. Suddenly it became evident to us all that there was something cooking among the two. Both are colleagues. So I thought, let me sort this out! So I decided to talk to them and X, out of sheer shyness, denied the allegations. In given circumstances, Y also backtracked. The case, I thought, was closed. But, somehow my highly intelligent brain (next only to err... Holmes) could not digest it!

So I decided to keep a watch on both of them. No communication whatsoever! Whatever little, was purely official! So I thought, well well... may be... may be not...
And then what I found out was:
Every day, from dawn to dusk these people would chat on the chat client although they sat next to each other! Can you believe it? Somehow they feel we are all idiots and nothing would be evident!

Now this is what they would typically call "Love for technology" and I would call "Technology for love" ! LOL


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Image source: http://www.eycbrant.ca

Graphical tagging :)

Hi friends

I got tagged by Varun. The words he gave me were:
Mumbai, Satyam, Blog, Friend, Movies
and I needed to use MS Paint and depict the words graphically.

So after much struggle, finally I could complete. Here they are. I admit there are hundreds of flaws, and somehow I was able to complete them. Hopefully you would be able to make out the words from the pictures. :)

Object of imagination

I was sitting idle in the evening today, when I thought about creating this with Windows paint. As you know, the idle brain is a devil's workshop... :)

Waiting...

Confused is my state of mind

Currently undergoing a horrible grind

Am unable to decide which one to go

Who is a friend or who is a foe

Never know when someone will stab at the back

I shall stay still, lying on some rock

The eyes would stay frozen

The world would seem calm

It would all be over

Once and for all

But the day doesn't seem near

Though I have no fear

Of consequences or tragedies

I have seen it all

Have been there, done that

Still the end seems far

The journey seems long

There would be more blood

There would be more pain

There would be more tears

But the show must go on

The journey must not end

The legs must not rest

The eyes need to stay ever alert

Fight till the very end

Toil hard and show character

Go on soldier, go on

The war is not yet over

Never mind whether it would be victory or defeat

Struggle till the very end

Till the last breath is exhaled

Till the last drop of blood is shed

Till...

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Image source: http://www.sneakeasysjoint.com

Will this Titanic sink?

A Titanic in the tech domain. The name itself was enough to command respect and was counted among the 4 giants of the present Indian IT industry. You know who I am talking about. Right?

Yes, Satyam it is!

Did you know that the Sanskrit meaning for Satyam is ‘Truth’? And see what the truth is!

The ruckus has already taken its toll on the psyche of the Indian tech population. So many prints and web pages have already been dedicated to this event. Enough has been said about the letter Mr Raju sent to his Board of Directors. There are many who are already affected: the stakeholders, current employees and many more. However, please spare a thought also for the hundreds of students who had been handpicked from campus earlier this year and were all set to join the bandwagon. There are many who are staring blankly at their future. It is very well known that this is not exactly a boom time for techies. There are many unknown fears lurking in the background and amidst all of these, this new problem would only add salt to the injury.
I only hope and wish that a merger or acquisition would be able to bail the sinking ship out of trouble. After all, there are lots at stake! I will keep fingers crossed and see how the future unfolds!

Feeling...

The feeling is mixed, truly.

I remember the MonteCarlo ad...

"It's the way you make me feel..."
Nope... my feeling is not associated or because of 'anybody', but it is something which is neither happy, nor sad, not even gloomy. It's mixed, a confused feeling. Probably am irritated with life. I wanna break the shackles. There are compulsions which must be got rid off and done away with. But how? That's the million dollar question I ask myself. Typically whenever I feel like this, I have a tip to solve it...

It's like:

I ask myself 5 exactly same questions.

Why?

Why?

Why?

Why?

Why?

As I get the answer to my first question, the second question follows and so on and so forth. This helps me in getting to the root of the problem. I am able to know what lies beyond the surface which was not obvious before. But today, this simple trick is also not able to resolve the mystery. 'Peace of mind' is what is missing in me but then again, it's all relative. If I think, I am happy, I am. If I think, I am sad, I am. The mind thinks and feels only what it wants to. It has always been that way. So, I wonder if I feel that I am at peace with myself, I shall be at peace.

Hmm... let me try...

Image source: http://www.chromasia.com

Our past lives?

Hello friends,

Today again I felt the urge to jot down my thoughts on my blog. First of all, let me tell you that I updated my story "The Crush" (a romantic fiction) with two new parts. You can read it here. Please note that I am not an established author of stories like few of my blogger friends, rather it's a humble try from my end at writing something new.

Next, I thought about reincarnation again. I found quite a few web resources this time around and went through them in an urge to know more about it! The summary of what I found out is:
Reincarnation is an established phenomena. There are much more evidences in favor of it than I previously thought. As the soul leaves a body forever after death, it either wanders in subtle astral form or looks to reincarnate. Most of the times, when we are born, we do not have the capability to speak or denote our thoughts through gestures. Even if we do, it would be considered as a baby's natural playfulness. Whereas, it seems we are able to remember whatever little possible about our past lives during those formative years. As we grow old , we forget those incidents from the past and our new life memories get etched. It is then that we learn to speak. So, most of us have no clue what had been our deeds in our previous human form. It is almost like a dream. How many times have you dreamt and later on forgotten about it? "Yeah I dreamt about a whale, umm but don't remember exactly what it was..." It is almost like that! There comes the question of memorable death, as I had told in one of my earlier posts. If and only if you have had a memorable death, you are able to remember details of it.

Then there comes the question of past life regression techniques. These techniques typically help you go through your past lives as you attain a super conscious state. I found one here which is a self regression technique. The technique seemed to be pretty similar to a self hypnotherapy session. The body is relaxed and we tend to forget who we are in this life. It is in this super relaxed mode that there is a possibility of us remembering who we had been.
I also came across several startling theories put forward in this regard:

1. There is life between lives in the sense that after the soul leaves a body, before taking a new human form, it stays somewhere.
2. A soul can exist in two different bodies at the same time!
3. As people carry the pain suffered earlier in current life to their late years, they also carry unresolved pain from one life to another which create blocks in proper functioning in current life. Past life healing is said to rectify it!

Skeptics do not believe in these. I met a man few months back who said souls do not exist. Well, it depends on what you believe or do not believe. But truth is always the truth. Otherwise how could one possibly explain the phenomena described in my earlier posts on reincarnation? I wonder what I had been in my earlier life! Will the question stay unanswered? Time will tell!

Image source: http://theunexplainedmysteries.com

Random Strokes 3

My new year resolutions

Hey... so, finally we are in 2009!

The new year has arrived and guess what! For the first time in my history of existence, I have decided to go for New Year Resolutions.

And here are they:

1. Promise everyone with a small 'conditions apply' tag.
2. Stay away from girls and dogs. Both bite and bite hard! It hurts! oooh!
3. Laugh often and never cry.
4. Make friendships only with boys (in a strictly non-pervert and innocent sense, NOT what you think, you *****!)
5. Feign to be intelligent.
6. Whenever in trouble, speak the truth.
7. Whenever not in trouble, also speak the truth. Oh! both sound so similar, isn't it?
8. Research on how to increase the limits of blogger, so that I may never have to switch to another account and am able to write 90 years of blah blah blah.
9. Make money out of everything! Am short of cash! Seriously!
   

Aaahhh... so hopefully that's it and all!

PS. All in a strictly humorous sense!

Image source: http://www.cyarena.com/