Thoughts

I stare around me. I see people - faces, emotions, logic, disdain, faith, virtue, anger, happiness, peace and probably everything else you can think of. Sometimes I feel - Did I really sign up for these? Lessons or assignments… Was I meant to be the one to solve this mystery called life? I figure - "Yes ofcourse".

And guess what, I cannot leave this classroom till the assignments are over. How I fare, what I do, how I solve… well, I do not know if it matters. There was a time in childhood, when elders told me - it mattered. But then, there were two view points - few people brought past life into the equation as well. I was like - "what?" Confirm me if I deal with tasks for this life only or are there carry-forwards from the past as well? I doubt if anyone has the answer…

Sometimes I ask myself - how do I feel? And I smile and say - "I am happy…"

"I am happy because life gave me much more than I ever wanted. I am happy because I am more fortunate than a huge chunk of the world's population. I am fortunate that I can vent my views freely.   sometimes, I can vent some of my views freely. What is it with me? Am I scared? Am I timid? Scared of what - one might question. Scared of the unknown.

The unknown - Do you ever fear the unknown? Ever? Has it ever occurred to you that what you do not know yet might be the cause for your greatest misery and pain? And the worst part is, you are just helpless. There is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Does it erase my happiness? It does. Does it change my behavior? It does.

Sometimes I feel, if everybody thought the same way, what would happen? Person X thinks like Y and Y thinks like Z and just like that, every living human being thinks and acts identical. This can probably have two implications - either everyone will start fighting or everyone will be at peace and of course, the world would lack variety.

Variety of thoughts essential to make the world click. Thoughts are what make or break us.
Incoherent thoughts like this post of mine, for example, does not add any value. Oh wait, probably it does, it clears up the mind…


Image courtesy: Internet (no copyright infringements intended)

Miles to go...

Been away from the blogosphere for some time now and I decided to give it a shot today.


The reason was a dream I had in the afternoon today. I saw that I had walked to the cremation grounds and intended to speak to the officials for my own cremation. There was no one with me. It was just that I was to die in a few minutes and I was negotiating with the officials so that they can arrange volunteers to carry out the ritual. There were a heap of bodies lying nearby with family members of the deceased wailing relentlessly. At a distance, few people were singing hymns in praise of the all powerful.

A pungent smell was emanating out of the nearby electric burners where two dead bodies had been cast into. Was the smell of burnt flesh and skin in the red hot burners.

In any case, I was waiting for my time and suddenly I experienced death approach me and I was terrified. Felt a strange kind of suffocation and that is when I woke up.

I believe it was a one-off dream and probably a left over of a recent cremation I attended. I do not intend to read much into it.

I still have "miles to go before I sleep..."

Lull before the storm

I do not need to generally write in third person, coz. views expressed in this blog are public and I do appreciate and respect that. I have my own diary, which is a blog too, to which only one person has access and that is ME! lol! :D

So, matters too private, are left for that blog.

Now, you may have opened this post after reading the title "Lull before the storm". Well, why did I choose such a title? :-)
To be frank, the weather outside is bright and sunny here at King of Prussia, my current place of stay. So, it is more of an internal feeling, an intuition if I may say so.

You know, when I was a kid, I used to react to situations instantaneously, sometimes without thinking. And often I paid a heavy price for it. As I grew older, with time, I realized that one should never do or say things in haste, without thinking thoroughly each pro and con. In the process, decisions may get delayed, but chances are more that I would not make a wrong decision. When I look at myself today, I do try to maintain that.

So, whenever there is a situation that tends to provoke me, I try to stay calm, keep a cool head on my shoulder and then decide. Silence does help too, as I am able to do much soul searching and introspection.
In today's age of social networking, people tend to stay busy, looking at home pages, friend's status messages, 'liking' stuff, commenting etc. But in the process, we probably tend to think less. We do not invest the much needed time. Its as if OLTP (Online Transaction Processing) only and not OLAP (Online Analytical Processing). My friends from the Data Warehousing background would know well the difference between the two. LOL :D

Sometimes I feel, life was simpler during the pre-social networking era. Relationships tended to be less complex. People had lesser chance to peep at each others' personal lives, so everyone tended to be content.
Times have changed.

A study recently published said that people who spend maximum time on social networking sites tend to get more frustrated over time. You can read through the article with the hyperlink I provided.

Anyway, it seems that solitude would be ideal for now...

Sorry, I thought I could explain my title more in this post, but figured, it would best be left for my private blog.

Until next time...

At peace with myself

Hmm... a gradual home coming to the stability of my thoughts, feelings... a feeling of settling down... going back to my roots, going back to where I belong... the feeling of being grounded... accepting adversities to be a part and parcel of life... Its like that illusion of an obstacle I saw in a movie many years back... You see an obstacle, get terrified, limited by it... But someone tells you - go ahead, there is nothing there.. its only an illusion... The protagonist walks ahead, circumspect at first... But then he just transcends through it unaffected...

Obstacles in real life are just like that. They are obstacles as long as we make them as such. The moment we take them head-on, they let us pass through unaffected.

So, was there an obstacle that I faced? Probably not... probably yes.

My sense of justice and being fair to everyone does get the better of me at times, does leave me drained and strained. But that's how I am. Take it or leave it.

At the end of the day, the only feeling that I sincerely hate is the feeling of guilt - the feeling of doing wrong to someone. I would rather take the blow, than give it... :-)

I am finally at peace with myself...

Life here and the life there...

Life goes on...

I just wonder why everything is reverse out here.

List of things that are reverse (ultaa):

1. The chauffeur's seat is on the left side in a car.

2. The zip of jackets are attached to the right.

3. The switches get turned on in the reverse direction.

4. The plug sockets and pins are of a different kind altogether which ensures that gadgets bought here have to have a converter for them to work properly there.

5. These people need to save day light and all, which means that the difference between IST (Indian Standard Time) and EST(Eastern Standard Time) which was 9.5 hours till November mid, is now 10.5 hours. This will continue till around March next year.

However, I am really happy with the courtesy sense of people in general. Whoever, you meet, never mind you know or not, will greet you with a smiling face and say "Hi", "Hello". This really leaves you with a happy state of mind and you never feel that you are an alien.

Onsite life isn't easy by any stretch of imagination. You are in charge of your own life and be assured, your sense of responsibility will be thoroughly tested. If you have a tendency to be lethargic, all I can say is "Best of luck", coz., then only luck can save you.

I came to know after coming here, why USA is considered to be a developed nation while India (in spite of being a nation to watch out for) still has miles to go.

Let me jot down few of the points:

1. Work Ethics - People are not really bothered by what you wear. You do not need a costly suit to show that you work. But what matters is - how efficiently you work and how dedicated you are. No one knows the definition of a strike. Work needs to be done and that's it. Full stop. Time management is vital.

I wonder in India, when will people understand the importance of this. We still hear - strikes being called - no one knows why! Does it really make an impact? Ambulances are still being smashed. Office windows are being broken. Doctors are taken out of their vehicles and beaten up only because they wished to attend the need of an ailing patient on the day of strike!

Our so called 'leaders' - excuse me, I call them 'dealers'... most of them are pure illiterates, with scant regard for the common mass.

logon ko burbak banaye rakhne mein hi bhalayi hai -- their motto! And man power available for cheap. Throw cash, hire goons, buy power. Simple, eh?

2. Discipline - Law is a law - not meant to be broken. But, when breaking law is fashion, who can help! Burning buses, mob lynching, burning the national flag... we do have a long way to go. People respect law and order here, and there are far fewer mishaps and vandalism. Police is feared. I do not say, there is no corruption. Everywhere, there is.... But the extent of corruption is far lesser, which is why the whole system is far more organized. The only catch is -- too much system dependency sometimes come in the way of common sense.

3. Population - This should have been the first point. Hum do, humare do... is still not working for a humongous part of the population. The result - geometric growth of population. Add to that - the growth of illegal immigrants. Whatever be the GDP growth, every penny is being eaten up. USA does have stringent immigrant rules and they DO implement them properly. Not so in India. Bangladesh, Nepal especially have extremely porous borders - not to mention Pakistan and China.

4. Education - Let me give a simple example. If you go to a Big Bazaar or City Center in India, or any of the shopping malls, go to any section and start looking for items. In no time, you would see a sales 'associate' appearing from nowhere. Even if you don't ask for help, he or she will continue to notice your every movement. Come on, are we all kleptomaniacs? Besides, this is so disrespectful. However, it happens only in India. The reason.... mishaps happen, things are stolen. Remember? ...breaking law is the fashion. So, normal people bear the brunt of a few miscreants. Not so in the US. You are left alone. Do whatever shopping you want. They do have technology (read spy cams) to take care of the monitoring part. But at least, it is not disrespectful. The trust is very much there. Now, why did I write all of these under Education... because education alone instills moral values. When you have moral values, when you know - snatching and stealing things is immoral, everything has a value and needs to be paid, these things do not occur. I don't care - how many million graduates pass out every year. What I wish to see is - those disrespectful glances should not hinder me, when I am trying to decide which shirt would fit me better. Way to go.......

Back to onsite life. The good part is - I can cook confidently now! So, you won't understand how happy that makes me feel. I always felt handicapped, when my friends used to boast of their culinary abilities. I can confidently match them now. :P

However, all said.... do I miss my country? Oh yes, I definitely do...

Journey to US

Friends, it has been a long time, since I posted last. Actually the shift from India to US ensured that I did not have time for many of my favorite pastimes including 'blogging'. Its not been too long that I have landed here. Whereas the onsite life has its own challenges, it does present in front of you a gamut of opportunities. So, from here on, till the time I reach India again, every post would detail out my life here.

To start, let me tell you friends, that this was my first flight. haha!! Never ever did I fly before and that too a complex route - Kolkata-Dubai, Dubai-JFK, JFK-Philadelphia. Being alone, with two huge trolley bags and a hand luggage, it was quite a challenge... made worse by the fact that I was an absolute novice. Prior to this, I had hardly left my state West Bengal and here I was leaving India altogether for the land of a certain Mr Obama.

I would detail some interesting pieces of my journey - which I hope you people would like.

1. Air-hostesses of Emirates
Emirates is worth flying not only for the hospitality that they provide but also for the beautiful air-hostesses. Irrespective of the race, each one of them were special. Right - They are taught to smile, their profession demands it. But the beautiful aura exuded by them cannot be taught by any institute. From the Kolkata airport, I boarded the flight and was pleasantly surprised by the gadgetry. It took me some time and some sideways glances at other co-passengers to figure out how each of the devices worked. (Remember I was a first-time flier). A certain friend had suggested me to find the washroom first as that is the most important place to go while on air. As I could not figure that out, I had to ask one of those maidens as to the exact location of the place. She readily showed me the way. Incidentally there were two foreigners (not sure which country) sitting right in front of me. The lady gave me a look which suggested I had made a cardinal sin in asking that question! Any way... was good fun otherwise. The food was delicious - not too much, not too less, just what was required. The rest of the trip till Dubai - I browsed through the numerous playlists available and slept the rest of the time. Finally I arrived Dubai.


2. Ordeal at the Dubai airport
Dubai Airport is probably one of the best in business throughout the world. Not only because of the huge area but also because of the glitz and glamor associated. I was lucky enough to have a guy walking with me who incidentally hailed from Kolkata like me. Given the complexity of the route, it was only because of him that I could figure out the correct terminal within a short span of time. While at the Dubai airport, we strolled a little bit and admired the sales expo in progress. The local time was 2AM, but it was difficult to interpret seeing how busy people were.


3. Dubai to JFK
In the flight I had pre-selected a window seat, but had to give it up when an elderly man requested me through an air-hostess that he needed that seat as his old mother was seated next to me and was a first time flier. I agreed reluctantly and got placed in the middle seat in the next row in between a middle aged lady and a Thai guy. The seat had been swapped alright - but my lunch and dinner? This I found out later - My meal preferences were actually tagged to my seat, Since it was a completely unofficial arrangement, the beautiful air-hostesses completely forgot that the seat had been swapped. Resultant - My meals were being delivered to him. By the time, someone found this out - the guy had already eaten 2 puris out of the slotted 4 that the airline provide. When asked if he had touched the food, he said, "No" and I, in the spirit of sportsmanship said, "No probs, mate" :D. Later some extra delicacies were also served to my seat number (old) and I drank some water instead.


4. At the JFK Airport
After a hugely time taking journey of around 13 hours, I reached the JFK airport. Complied with the essential requirements - immigration checks etc etc, collected the luggage (as it was the port of entry), handed the luggage back over to Delta as they would transport them to my final destination and called home. I had bought calling cards from Kolkata. So, calling home was not supposed to be a big deal. However, I was unable to find the right telephone which would accept the calling card. Finally I was able to detect one and called home. Satisfied that an important task had been done, I decided to go to the terminal from where my flight to Philadelphia would commence. As I found out, I needed to board an air train which took me to the required terminal. By that time, I was already feeling something in my stomach (I was hungry, silly). Once I reached the terminal, I decided to have some snacks from Starbucks and water. Snacks was okay, but when I asked for water the lady handed me over another snacks and billed me. I was surprised because I had asked for water. Later when I looked for the label - the pronunciation of the thing was similar to 'water'!!! I had to actually finish the food, go back there and this time, I pulled up a bottle myself (didn't risk telling her again) and asked, "How much?"
I was back at my seat, waiting impatiently for when the flight would show up on the charter. The bottle was meanwhile stranded in my hand. I was extremely thirsty, but could not quench my thirst, because (you won't believe the reason), I was unable to open the seal !! Two elderly ladies looked at me and one of them commented, "You would need to open that.." ..(as if I did not know that). Bisleri or Kinley bottles in India are easy to open. But here it took me quite a while to drive a nail in between the seal and flip it open. Finally satisfied, I sipped into the water...

5. Reached Philadelphia airport.
The plane was hardly on air for 35 minutes, when the pilot announced to tie the seat belts again.
Everything was fine at the airport... only MY LUGGAGE HAD NOT ARRIVED!! It drove me crazy figuring out where to complain. First I knocked at the Continental Airlines office and they were surprised to hear about Emirates. Seemed they heard the name for the first time!! Then I found out Delta office (I was sweating profusely by then... after the numerous carousal checks and all) and reported the issue to them. They took down my complaint and as I was returning, I asked them, "Is there a point in looking for the luggage one last time?". One of the ladies replied, "Yes, please go ahead." And voila! It was there. My trolley bags were looking at me and smiling. :))


I took a cab and came to my apartment. Unfortunately the apartment was not ready. So, after staying over for 3 nights at 2 different hotels, I finally moved in to this apartment.

The Fat regime!

I was browsing my Igoogle page for the daily updates this morning and decided to add a new frame - guess what! The Fat Loss window! However, I am pissed off on seeing the tips! Whatever I love to gorge on are a strict NO NO! It's something like window shopping that I am doing right now - seeing the tips, appreciating it wholeheartedly, however I am apprehensive about trying them out.
Indian cuisine as such is very spicy and when we consider the subset Bengali cuisine which I am so fond of, things get hotter and spicier. Take the instance of the simply 'machher jhol' or fish curry in English. My mom is an artist when she cooks it for me. But take my word, it is spicy! Indian restaurants worldwide are a favorite destination for people from almost every nationality. However, many of them are either run by a Pakistani or SriLankan. Of course, food, in this part of the world is almost the same. Yet the name is in favor of "Indian" cuisine.
In a bid not to divert from the topic, today's tip in Igoogle tells me:
"No carbs after 9 p.m. Eat no bread, cereal, or pasta until morning. Extra carbs eaten at night often convert to fat."
Ironically, we follow sort of a reverse order. Our breakfast is the most light and this is the order.
BreakfastLunch>Dinner
We should have a heavy breakfast, then the body is able to burn out the calories gained during the entire day of movement. When we have a heavy dinner, and go to sleep immediately or sometime later, our body hardly gets the chance of burning down the calories, instead they get absorbed into the body and turn into fat.
With an work culture, such as mine, I hardly ever get a chance to exercise apart from the regular 20 minutes of walk that I do daily while getting back to home. Ahh.. I should not give an excuse, but really, that's the way things stand at the moment.

The Blogo-gloom?

Recently Alice commented on an earlier post of mine on the growing blogo-gloom! Now, what is that! For those who are not very accustomed with the term, well, it simply means 'a gloomy atmosphere in the blogosphere'. By gloomy, we mean, more and more people are feeling more and more reluctant than ever to write full fledged blog posts. Why is that? Let me take this opportunity to scrutinize it a bit further.

With the advent of high tech social networking sites and micro-blogging sites, are people more inclined to write within a sentence or two, whatever they feel like?

Facebook and Orkut, the two premiere social networking sites have n-number of features which make it easy to share thoughts, comments, pictures, videos, articles and what not! With the age of less time-more work, more and more people are hooking on to them. And yes, how can I forget Twitter. Of course it is the mother of micro-blogging!

The resultant, writing a long blog post and meticulously placing relevant photographs, making the content catchy and beautiful is not exactly the order of the day, any more!

However, there is a different kind of flavor in full fledged blogging and helps to bring out the true writer in you, which can never be accomplished through bits and pieces commenting and status updates.

Regarding the intermittent gloom in blogosphere, well, I am pretty sure that this is a temporary phase. Everyone needs varieties. [At least I need]. Life usually goes a full circle and would be true in this instance as well.

So, when the phase of Facebooking and Twittering is over, blogging will return. For me, it has already... that is exactly why, you are seeing this blog post.

Alice, I broke my jinx. Let us see when others break...

Khichdi...

Hi friends

How are you all? I regret not have written for quite some time now... guess it had to do with those 'trough' phases when I would just love to stay within me. Well, to compensate, I did paint two graffitis on Facebook, not the best you would see, say in a Public Gallery. But well, it felt nice to see that some creativity is still left, after the daily chores.

What about you all!! Recently Preposterous girl told me that my comment page is disabled. In fact those two graffitis had played havoc on my entire blog layout - a reason in part for me writing this post! ...to set this straight!

The last week:
Packed with work and training! I did find my solitude after a tiring day at work through social networking and chatting up with old friends and acquaintances and most importantly, music!
I have recently been listening more to the likes of Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and western evergreen music of Kenny G and Yanni!

The ideal way to listen to Music:
Here are the steps I follow (and you should :P) =>
1. Switch off all the lights. Make the room dark.
2. Tune in to the music you want to listen to.
3. Keep the volume low so that it soothes your soul, rather than pounding on your ear drums.
4. Close your eyes
5. Picture beautiful scenes in connection to the tunes and feel lost.
Before you know, you would fall into a silent sleep. Ahh!! the much awaited rest for the eyes, for the soul!!

The sweet-as-sugar guys

The sweet-as-sugar guys

There are various kinds of people in this world and today, I am tempted to write about one type. The type that is the most dangerous.
Well, these people are generally average built, have a calm disposition, always put down their heads and listen to superiors without as much as a word. But within, they curse them with all their might.

Friends, you should be particularly aware that these people can really stab at your back and make your life miserable if they get a single chance. Diplomatic to the core, they know how to appease men in high ranks. But look out for that scratch which you suffered.. still wondering, how it happened? Be assured, it's the work of that same average looking guy who smiled at you and gave a rose!! You saw the rose, you did not see the spike!!

But they have a BIG shortcoming. They think none can understand their true motive. They think they can fool all.

THEY DO NOT KNOW THEY ARE WRONG!!

I got a Padmasree

hahahahahahaha.. :D
The way the prestigious national awards are being distributed freely, the day is not far when even I may bag a Padmasree (or bhushan) for 'whatever' reason!!
Some of the choices these year were baffling to say the least! I agree that some of the choices were proper and apt, but there were others which raised questions. I would not take names here, but if such awards are distributed with so much ease, I have serious doubts on the value quotient. I am equally inquisitive about the quality of judges and panel who nominate and select the awardees.

2010 Resolutions

Hi people
I am back as promised. If the resolutions for 2009 were crazy, this year it would be simple, realistic!
1) I wish to have greater control over my emotions. I know I can control my mind, but I want it more.
2) I wanna get rid of my blocked nose.. no I don't want to cut it off, but may be, use a nasal strip for good amount of ventilation. Few people know that I am the biggest consumer of nasal drops in whole of India!
3) I have become a fan of 'raaz pichhle janam ka' (secret of the past life) regularly aired on weekdays on NDTV Imagine. If you ask me: Do you believe in past life? I would say "Yes". So, the resolution is: I would go and have a glimpse of my past life!
4) I have NOT taken anti-rabbies vaccine coz I was not bitten by any dog. But I may need to take one other type of vaccine, which, to my dismay, is yet to be manufactured worldwide. I may start a bit of research on it.
5) I need a bit of sleep. I can sleep. I will sleep. I must sleep.
6) Number 4 is even more important because I am thinking of pairing up. Say 'cheers' to the thought, at least!
7) I need some cash. My bank balances are at an all time low.
8) Some big challenges are likely to come my way. I think it would be cakewalk for me, though. (When I say "I think", read "I am DETERMINED to make it a cakewalk")
9) I need to catch some movies at a theatre. I watched the last movie in October'09. Now, would you believe that?

I don't think I wanna jot down any more. With the clock hitting 3AM, it's time to hit the sack.

What are your resolutions for 2010? Feel free to jot down in the comments section. The page is all yours!

My 2009 resolutions reportcard!

Finally, the year 2009 is coming to an end.. looking back there are few things which come to my mind. But before I really take a deep dive into what went right and what did not, let me reflect on my resolutions for 2009:

1. Promise everyone with a small 'conditions apply' tag. <-- Yes, I did it! So am happy and safe
   
2. Stay away from girls and dogs. Both bite and bite hard! It hurts! oooh! <-- Ab-so-lutely! 10 on 10 in this as well!
   
3. Laugh often and never cry. <-- I could not keep this promise totally!
   
4. Make friendships only with boys (in a strictly non-pervert and innocent sense, NOT what you think, you *****!) <-- Hmm.. well... yeah..
   
5. Feign to be intelligent. <-- Many idiots, one intelligent.. guess who!
   
6. Whenever in trouble, speak the truth. <-- I do that! But sorry, that has landed me in more trouble!
   
7. Whenever not in trouble, also speak the truth. Oh! both sound so similar, isn't it? <-- Followed totally..
   
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.<-- This is a pending task
   
9. Make money out of everything! Am short of cash! Seriously! <-- I have spent more than I have made, well, almost... a jackpot anyone?
   

So, friends, what do you make out of all that? A mixed year for me? huh?

This year's resolutions would be different. Keep your fingers crossed till I am back with my list. And oh, by the way, have you shortlisted your top 'n' movies, shows, books, blogs, blog posts, music tracks, events and etc etc etc for the year (almost) gone by? What did you say? "Not yet" "Time kahaan!" "Forget it"??

Oh come on! Write something! Take a bit of time out of your busy schedule and prepare a list - say of music tracks. Sort in descending order of preferences. Play the tracks on the night of 31st December. Have an I-Pod handy. Watch the night sky explode with fire crackers all around and play back the songs. See if each of the songs bring back a specific incident of the year gone by! ...science calls this "associated memory".. for example, the song "hua hai tujhe jo bhi jo bhi" may bring back memories of your first (or last) kiss! (not me)! Close your eyes. Think about it.

You would feel nostalgic, feel good, rejuvenated, ready to take on the new year with new hopes and expectations... you would feel all charged up. Friends, try it for a change...

I would come back shortly with my list of resolutions for 2010 and also what went right for me and what did not..

So, (in the classic style of reality TV shows) PLEASE DO NOT GO ANYWHERE! I WILL BE RIGHT BACK!

Until next time, ciao!!


Image source: http://nnhs.newton.k12.ma.us/go/content/view/413/

The strength within...

I have seen the past...
The crowning glory to the dusk of doomsday
The ecstasy of win to the heartbreak of failure
The wreckage of hope to the most hopeful of dreams
The feeling to stand atop the most daunting of challenges
The strength to withstand any and every kind of adversity
I embody all that is good
I embody all that glorifies humanity
And yet, people ridicule me..
But then, I am controlled by the brain, managed by the heart
So you can punch me once
I shall stand up
Punch me again
I will stand up
Punch me again and again
I must stand up
I love being tested again and again
only for the sheer pleasure of seeing you punching the walls
...in anguish, in disappointment

As Swami Vivekananda said:
"When I Asked God for Strength
He Gave Me Difficult Situations to Face

When I Asked God for Brain & Brown
He Gave Me Puzzles in Life to Solve

When I Asked God for Happiness
He Showed Me Some Unhappy People

When I Asked God for Wealth
He Showed Me How to Work Hard

When I Asked God for Favors
He Showed Me Opportunities to Work Hard

When I Asked God for Peace
He Showed Me How to Help Others

God Gave Me Nothing I Wanted
He Gave Me Everything I Needed "

So God, I am thankful to you for all that you gave me.
I curse myself for not being able to glorify you enough...

Calcutta mood - Winter!

Finally, it is that time of the year - the Christmas, the New Year... festival time! Holidays!
Yeah, I know, many of you are gearing up for this season. Even Kolkata is getting ready for the "silent night, holy night...". Cakes and pastries are already out - luring people like me! :P (just in case you did not know, I love cakes).

In addition to these, there are Christmas trees, decorative lights, stars. Kolkata is an emotional city. People were mad with excitement when Maradona (with the 'hand of God' fame) arrived in the city. They cried when celebs like Princess Diana or the Pop Superstar Michael Jackson left this world. The same city did not care to have a single look at the badly injured guy who was left to his fate at night near the VIP Road. They embraced the kindness of Mother Terresa (she was an angel, really!). But they also burnt the Eden Gardens stadium when India lost a test cricket match against Pakistan. Every emotion, every mood is on display. People show what they love and they show what they hate! Strong display... nothing hush hush..

But then, no city is perfect! Kolkata is not! And yet... it is the city of hope, city of dreams.. or the "city of Joy" (as is more popularly known). I even loved the name Calcutta. Kolkata is bong, but Calcutta sounded smart! :P [But guys, please don't say Kolkotta/Kolkatta, that is nether here, nor there]... oops I don't want to sound like that authoritarian guy.. what's his name! Oh I forgot! He is not in the news nowadays! [till he decides to create a new controversy]... Forget it friends, as Shakespeare said, "What's in a name!"

So, the celebrations have begun! Although there is a strong indication that the weather would betray the mood! With temperatures hovering on and around 19-25 degree Celsius, it sometimes seems tough to believe that the season is "winter"! In any case, people would still wear jackets, well, even with the chances of perspiration! Farmville fields would still be covered with snow, even for the users from Kolkata! Hey it's winter, man!! (at least going by the calendar).. So, time for celebrations!!!

And also another year almost comes to an end. 2009 was significant for me, for us, for India and also for the world in many ways. 2010 should be interesting as well! I would shortly come up with the pros and cons of the year 2009 and new resolutions for the new year! New hopes... new expectations... new dreams... new realizations...

Until next time......................



Image source: http://video.ilovekolkata.in/seyretfiles/uploads/thumbnails/user_62/santa_3612.jpg

A reason enough

A thorn, a prick and then, the blood
The connection is ethereal
And yet, I chose the thorn and the prick
The reason: Pain is sweeter than surrender and injustice!

Are we heading towards the dark ages?

My office was attacked by hooligans of the Bloody Jammers' Party today during the 12 hour strike!
Do we have any hope of a secure future?
Read the article here. You decide!
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Politics/Nation/BJPs-Bengal-strike-gets-partial-response-activists-run-amok/articleshow/5284933.cms

You are lucky you are only reading it. My friends faced it!

Sample these:
1) A doctor going to a hospital was not spared the agony. His car was badly damaged and he was verbally abused with the choicest of slang.
2) The DLF building (which houses my office) was attacked by bloody hooligans! Employees were not allowed to get in, even when they stressed the importance of the kind of work we do.. involving 24*7 support. Never before had the IT industry come under such an attack! Think about the kind of impression it gives to our prospective clients!
3) Patients being taken to the hospital were checked thoroughly. They almost had a 'pre-health' checkup in the hands of uneducated, brute, 'lathi' wielding 'doctors', prior to the actual medical checkup.
4) School buses were emptied of children and burnt.

At the end of the day, one of the leaders proudly announced on TV..."Ah... it was a successful strike.." So true. Isn't it?

Are we heading towards the dark ages? I am tired of criticizing politicians... Come on, someone give me a break!

A strike is supposed to be a tool to gauge voluntary people support on a particular issue. But here we saw petty hooliganism by criminals and musclemen, with no regard whatsoever for anyone. In a democratic country like ours, this sort of force and display of muscle power cannot and should not be supported.

Jago India, jago...
Rise India, rise...

Pay for your deeds

Hi friends

The last couple of days had been busy times for me with my dad getting hospitalized for a long ailment. But there were a few things that just left a sour taste in my mouth. Take the instance of the taxi refusal yesterday evening.

My aunt and mom accompanied by me planned to take a taxi to Tollygunge at her place. But the cabbies seemed to have a cunning laugh as each of them whizzed past us without any regret. I got hold of one guy and here is the conversation:

Me: Hey dada, wanna go to Tollygunge, Malancha?
Cabbie: What? Malancha? No way.
Me: But why? You know you can't refuse.
Cabbie: So? I won't go. That's final. What can you do here?
Me: Really? So tell me your number.
Cabbie: [Vehemently] Yes. Take down. WB 04C 10**.
He whooshed away.

I was out of my mind literally, vouching to take the guy to task.

Did some Googling and found the following link:
http://www.kolkatatrafficpolice.org/complain.html

Registered the complaint! Lets see what happens!

Hindsight: It is necessary to instill some sort of fear in these unruly people - those who harass commuters at the drop of a hat! People are afraid of the law enforcement officials and people like these just take the illegal benefit out of the whole affair!

Article published in peacekashmir.com

Hi friends

I was just planning to wind up for the day when I found out one of my old articles used in a website called PeaceKashmir.com, and that too, alongside some very eminent authors. The link is: http://peacekashmir.com/columnist/Kashmir-anintegralpartofIndia.htm

By the way, the site is interesting. The "Contact Us" tab states that it is maintained by the youth of Jammu and Kashmir who want peace in the land. I plan to read all the articles there some day or the other.

I am glad that they gave me the credits for being the author.

You can find the original article here: http://chiranjibmazumdar.blogspot.com/2009/05/kashmir-integral-part-of-india.html

By the way, for all those who had not read this article, this is a chance to read it afresh and please, pour your comments. This is a burning issue, undoubtedly and it would be nice to have your perspectives.

Ramblings...

The song which I am listening to right now:

...tum mile to mil gaya ye jahaan
tum mile to har pal hai naya
tum mile to jaadu chha gaya
tum mile to jeena aa gaya...

"Tum mile" is one movie I pan to catch sooner or later. The chemistry between Emraan and Soha would be interesting!

Peculiar way to start this post... isn't it? All because I am not sure what to write. But there are so many things that I want to share with you all. And yet, the pen just won't obey my orders.

...dil ibadat kar raha hai dhadkane meri sun
tujhko mai karlun haasil lagi hai yahi dhun...
zindagi ki shaakh se lun
kuchh hasin pal mai chun...

This is the second song that is playing right now. Wonderful lyrics - really! But again, see, I diverted from what I wanted to write.

Confusing... very confusing...

Am I doing it intentionally? playing with the reader's mind?...or is it just coming naturally... I wonder. Actually there's a thin line I am walking on right now. A little bit off line, this way or that way and I shall disappear forever..................

3:55 AM. I need to catch a bit of sleep.

See ya friends... soon..


Image source: http://s.chakpak.com