Cuff and Cold

It hasn't been the best of weeks for me, atleast on the health front. The troika of soar throat, cough and cold has taken toll on my body. Sounds ironical and difficult to believe, but this bout of illness juts struck me when I was boasting about my well-being to myself.
Sleepless nights have become order of the day and cold gusts of wind lashing the Pune-city do not make things more clement to my fragile, ailing body...

While this is the most vital factors to sag my spirits, it is not the only thing at the back of my mind. They say what you think reflects on your body, and perhaps this diktat is not false. Life is surely not a bed of roses and this manifests itself day-in and day-out as the Sun of life rises to shine brighter. What accompanies brightness for free is the heat, which sounds so warm and cosy during childhood (shielded from parents and well wishers), only to become scorching as time progresses.

My blogs are more intense and replete with the so-called 'gyan' which people do not care a farthing about. And so, its my pre-mature new year resolution to make it more narrative than instructive.
A huge bunch of 73 papers are sitting home welcoming me to visit them and appraise them just like my own appraisal in office is around the corner. One sweet outcome of this exercise is that it makes your pocket feel heavy for a while and forget one's mundane musings...

Planning another outing this weekend, within a fortnight's span this time towards North-East, unlike South-West last time. No, I am not going to quasi-Chinki land, the land of seven sisters. Its just that direction relative to Pune within the confines of Maharshtra Mazha, that I am venturing into this time around. While I would have loved to go to Guwahati for campus recruitments, those plans didn't materialize for the better ! All for the best, they say !!!!!!!!

Welcome vacation

The last month was very eventful @office, and I was thoroughly enjoying being a part of the development cycle, where punctures and deflated tyres are part and parcel. And veri alike Forest Gump, its ecstasy to complete the race and emerge victorious having treaded the path thru sun and sand, thru mist and hue and finally having settled down at a nice rendezvous, chewing upon nostalgic elements of the past and taking a sun bath in those fond memories !

This time the timing was a perfect 10, akin to what Madame Nadia accomplished more than a score ago at the Olympics. Nik , Ram and I set sail southwards to this beautiful, virgin sea-resort in the realms of Ratnagiri. Well, since water-ways are not our forte, we stuck to more routine and predictable means of our jaunt by taking NH-4 going towards Bangalore. If I were writing this blog a year from now, the Kannadigas would be jeering and mocking at my contemptous bliss( ignorance is bliss, reads a famous English quote) or rather maliciously witch-crafted anti-Karnataka stance; since Bangalore would be cut-pasted by Bengaluru by then.

The IT population sitting in Silicon valley and other habitats of the US would heave a sigh of relief, for once atleast, since their bread-butter would no longer be Bangalored.
Anyway, popping my stack of thoughts back to the Ganapatipule trip, it turned out to be really successful and refreshing to say the least. Konkan is called the land of Lord Parshuram and grabbing the opportunity to see it twice within a span of 2 months was a record of sorts by itself. It not only duplicated my joy, but actually quadrupled it.

Light at the end of the tunnel

Its spectacularly true that efforts are means to an end, the final destination. But its imperative to thorougly sweat it out to purify the blood; just like the massochist pleasure we derive during a harsh and enduring work-out. Its a conscious choice to make our body go thru the grind, for even the noble metal cannot be spared the flames of fire before getting that 24 carat certification.
What comes out at the end is so divine, very difficult to put on paper, or even on this web log ...
Its like errotica they say, you got to reach that orgasm , the flashpoint of benediction.
But isn't foreplay equally important ??..This para dedicated to pop-queen Madonna for "Erotica' !

Aurum and Argentum are at close to life time highs and looks like the bullion trade there is relentless, and is now under a new bout of momentum, when money chases gold rather than the other way round. Rationale and pure wisdom are set to rest, when speculation becomes order of the day. I thought these are niche areas for just the stock market, but recent news rounds have proved otherwise. Even commodities like channa or pepper are subject to this chequered cycle of ups and downs, depending on the flavor of spices that punters like....

Life itself is a journey that we embark upon and keep running all life like an endless infinite hurdle race, where embargos are order of the day, whether it is social norms or pleasantries or ettiquetes or that big 'decorum' factor. Isn't the animal kingdom not happier following the jungle raj where 'might is right'. But without being too agnostic of these factors, we need to be like Pied Pipers from that famous Scottish legend, who play to guide the lost and forlorn shipwrecked people around us....Entering the gates of Paradise after leading such a utopian life would be worth every ounce of troubleshooting, I guess. But when things are out of control and incomprehensible, the motivation factor drops down rapidly. Even in a marathon, the Kenyans know that the distance is no more than 42.195 kms, after which victory is guaranteed, but what about death ? Probably being philanthropic in a small way may provide us our small passage to the land of bliss, Heaven, the kingdom of GOD, the light at the end of this dark, murky tunnel !!!!

Big Bad World

Morning was great today; waking up to the chirping tunes of the aviators was so refreshing indeed.
Some bad memories of last evening were almost erased with hopes of a better today.
The jog-yog routine was at its ultimate best.
On top of that I had doned my new shirt sent to us by our US manager...

Unexpectedly, I received good help from diametrically opposite me, in a totally skewed time zone; things looked like they were on a roll. And then this chirpy, bubbly image of the near-perfect rosy life was pricked with thorns.
Why do roses have to follow thorns ? It seems that the law of nature needs to get its due credit and respect.
But when thorns prick from close quarters it hurts hard.

Can't help but getting spiritual; it seems to have answers to allqueries that have been pestering mankind since time immemorial. Why are we so selfish ? Why are we so pre-occupied with ourselves so much so as to forget the parts make the whole... I hate whims and fancies; I would rather prefer someone to be openly animos rather than make a false pretense of solidarity and camaraderie...If wishes were horses, Akshay would fly....

Is this a big bad world, fast collapsing under its own weight; under the influence of the unknown entrophy. How else can we attribute victory of the evil and the setbacks suffered by men of virtue.

Here's Robert Frost quoted 'Asking for Roses'

A house that lacks, seemingly, mistress and master,
With doors that none but the wind ever closes,
Its floor all littered with glass and with plaster;
It stands in a garden of old-fashioned roses.

I pass by that way in the gloaming with Mary;
'I wonder,' I say, 'who the owner of those is.'
'Oh, no one you know,' she answers me airy,
'But one we must ask if we want any roses.'

So we must join hands in the dew coming coldly
There in the hush of the wood that reposes,
And turn and go up to the open door boldly,
And knock to the echoes as beggars for roses.

'Pray, are you within there, Mistress Who-were-you?'
'Tis Mary that speaks and our errand discloses.
'Pray, are you within there? Bestir you, bestir you!
'Tis summer again; there's two come for roses.

'A word with you, that of the singer recalling--
Old Herrick: a saying that every maid knows is
A flower unplucked is but left to the falling,
And nothing is gained by not gathering roses.'

We do not loosen our hands' intertwining
(Not caring so very much what she supposes),
There when she comes on us mistily shining
And grants us by silence the boon of her roses.

Blogosphere

Coined this term off the cuff, without much prior thought or deliberation.
Perhaps reflects the impact of the record ingrained upon my mind by Vijaypat Singhania, by conquering the skys using a tool that even toddlers would relate to and use as a trinket at times.
If he made it past the troposphere, I wish my blog makes it's to the blogosphere, where blogging has reached meteoric proportions !
What I liked best about the event was that it was done at a ripe old age when people get less risk averse and want to lead a life of bliss and solitute rather than try such stunts, which maketh the 'Yuva'..His son, Gautam seemed to be glowing with pride and was beaming with pleasure..

Its been about a decade since I moved to the new office . Well, isn't decade supposed to stand for 10 years, but when things are not exactly as expected, a day sounds like a year..
Some good news was in store today morning as I opened my mailbox, the Patent's dinner is finally being scheduled in Jan. and the best part is its Go-GOA; so its going to be just about the perfect time to go there and have a blast.

Fan club

The other day, I caught up some movie action on ZMZ, and my grey cells fail to generate correct nervous impulses to retrieve that name; now since when have I become forgetful ? Are these the first signs of ageing ? I don't think so, giving myself the benefit of doubt, since I dream well these days. That has marked a paradigm shift in my thought process, since my sub-conscious is feeling the positive vibes and the glow of radiance which the Winter is trying to camouflage !

Mornings in winter are the best, and while Occidental springs bring out the best in people, its winter in India that gives people a chance to flaunt their in vogue shawls, sweaters and what have u ?
I liked this 'what have u' phrase, picked it up from a stock analyst on CNBC. Its truly amazing to see the great strides that Eves of the 21st century have made, especially in the arena of economics, the territory considered the monopoly of Warren Buffet and the hegemony of the folks from Mars...

I have always considered women to be far more superior in their language skills, very few males educated in convents are able to maintain that charm and dignity when they step out of the cosy confines of their Alma Mater. Its probably got to do with the ruff-tuff image that they need to live with all their life, its one of the many burdens that they need to shoulder.

Just snapping off this one, since I need to send one mail pretty soon........

Movers and Shakers !

Stability is precious to mankind if not the thing dearest to heart. Civilization finds its roots deeply buried into this basic instinct of mankind, when leading a nomadic, bohemian life had caused his worries to multiple and manifest manifold. Well, this alliteration was partly instinctive and partly deliberate, for the purists of the Windsor age, believing in jewels called Figures of Speech.
From the hustle-bustle that is the trademark of any 21st century cosmopolitan city, to the outskirts, this journey tomorrow is, as always, not without that pang in the heart.More often than not, its the fear psychosis, of the unknown. Mankind doesn't like too many surprises, atleast discounting the ones who can be branded as ravagely ambitious.

Baner is not too much of a well known sub-urb, atleast until the recent past. But ever since the floorspace hungry IT population set its eye on this area, the spotlight has been too bright to ignore. One may call it a glow of numerous 100 W bulbs and nowhere close to the Sun or Moon; but one thing is certain, the bhumiputras there have raked in a lot of moolah. If realty costs Rs 2100 per sq ft there, then u know what I am aiming at....

So tomorrow will be time to bid adieu to Pune-1, so close to the GPO and move on to Baner, Pune-something....As some poet has fondly said,
Ring out the old and ring in the new !!

Let the Movers and Shakers come and make merry tomorrow !!

Weepy Wednesday

The day began on sound note.
Getting up when my mobile alarm chimes doesn't sound like fighting a battle of panipat any longer. Probably my subconscious has been fine tuned to the biological clock that my exterior is used to.
The ceremonious walk/jog, followed by pranayam etc, almost sounds too perfect to be true for me. But it only proves that 'where there is a will, there is a way" !
Those extra kilos which are piggybacking on my stomach (aare, pounds for you Amrus), must be exhumed from my body; since I believe its not a deserving abode for them....

The week started on a rather rusty note, and the Diwali vacation hangover was too heavy to shed in a hurry. It has taken a couple of days to move from a bohemian, rustic Konkani habitat to the truly urbane Puneri requiem.

Some bad news was brewing in office, and the coffee beans got spilt out today. Its just that, when things are about to sound rosy, some thorn pricks you and brings you from Cloud No 9 to Seventh heaven to the humble earth...And Mother earth is so loving, she preaches the slemn virtues of introspection, the laws of karma and reignites the 'never-say-die' attitude that is my hallmark.
I wouldn't like to be labelled a narcassist, but I genuinely believe I am the Phoenix, who needs to go to the ashes every now and then to be reborn as a better, more evolved and mature individual. Take the world in your stride, not Dinesh, but Akshay !

So, its not that weepy after all, India are doing well in Cricket.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going. But the semi-tough still see lurking shadows of uncertainty, and that makes a gullible guy like me fall into the habit of drawing superstitious conclusions. Its almost like whenever India does well in cricket, I suffer temporary setbacks in life. That's why I live and breathe Australia, rather than India. Go Aussie GO !!!!!!!!

Shanghai Noon

Noon is perhaps the best time of the day. Its when a hearty meal has satiated one's appetite and every microcosm of our body is in a slumberous mood. Things around us are generally sombre and peaceful. Important thing, unlike the night blues, broad daylight gives a sense of comfort and safety to the perenially unsecure Homo Sapien.

Whether it be Shanghai or Shirdi, noon is probably no different. WHat really differentiates geographies is the people and perhaps the weather there.
Of course one of these is a commercial hub and the other is a divine abode, a confluence of religious ideologies, perhaps call it a spiritual hub.

Jackie Chan has been romancing Mallika Sherawat off-late, and she seems to doing her PR in full swing. For Mallika, the path is well chalked out, and she seems to have an impeccable roadmap to guide her all the way to Beverly Hills; she dreams big that lady, and she isn't daydreaming for sure. No wonder, her 'efforts' seem to be bearing fruits, which ripen very soon. But remember, don't ripe fruits run the risk of decaying a tad too early...Whatever.

Office-humor is the flavor of the season for me, and shamelessly, it is at the expense of a 'few good men'.
Here are excerpts of something that we managed to conjure for the 'do na' man.

His favorite Bank :- ICICI (Hum hain na)
His favorite film :- Main hun na
His Nike punch line:- Just do it na !

Looking fwd to make this a full fledged collection involving all spheres of life...

German touch

Don't have much to say today, but I just visited blogger in the early hrs of nite.
Some cc_info seems to have hit upon my postings and seems to congratulate me for that...

Well-well, today's day wasn't exactly bad at work , but not so fruitful either.
Clusters are making me flustered and u bet, I am sick of them already. They seem to e more unreliable and capricious than women...Now isn't that some comparison ??

Have to go home and correct the Q papers too. That means work from home.
The bears r now looking strong in our stock markets. So better watch out.
Need to give them some honey to please them..
Sorry if this did not make nay sense, but that's a mirror reflection of my psyche at this moment of time..

Schus..
AUf Wierdersehen !!

Work is worship !!

Getting up in the morning to rushing to the workplace is nothing unusual. Its rather too mundane, too pedestrian...But there r books on "What drives you to work ?"
And there are lots of witty answers spruced with humor, satire, like "MY wife drives me to work"..Jokes apart, for me DLE drives me to work.
Its playing , juggling with these funny structures that is making my life feel like a frying pan. Its tasty, but not without feeling the heat. And better be timely and punctual, lest you face the wrath of fire. Fire is a good slave, but a bad master they say.
But its fun feeling a part of the team and contributing my $0.02.

Getting to set question papers is another lovely thrill, without frills.
Its the best possible chance to seek sweet revenge on unmindful bunch of students, and feels good to be on the greener side of the grass , if there is a thing like that !
Of course, triumph wud have been supreme if I ever got the rare dubious distinction of making the likes of Barry, VJ (not a video-jocky, but the class of 2001 wud know for sure.) go thru the grind and enjoy the foreplay of intimidating them with syllabus. Wonder if that is the sarcastic , bad guy in me, hidden under the garb of the unsuspecting, pedantic look that my face exudes...

On hindsight, all of us are hypocrites, and its better to admit that we are, rather than project a false sense of philantrophy to this WORLD. Even the Mahatma, with due respect to him, had his share of experiences in a chequered life, before making this nation iridiscent with his non-violence mantra. My obesience to him on his recent birthday !!

From work ---> worship. Ganpati has bid adieu to us for the year, but bappa will come back next year for sure. It was a rather silent bye-bye to him this year by virtue of the honorable Supreme court judgement.
And the inauspicious period was not a trifle unlucky for the bourses, which have ringed in lots of coins and raked the yens and kroners and what not.....
Navratri is here now, and its like a series of festivities are going to follow suit now...

Saturday 'Day' Out

On NTDV, we have Saturday Night-out fever. Today was Sat 'day' out for me, since I was not in the cosy confines of my lare, but in office for a change.
Spending a weekend is very unlike me, I disapprove of it , as a matter of principle.

Why call it a holiday and then expect people to come-in and slog out for the 6th day in a row ?
But that's the way things are, and i suddenly discovered and experienced a phenomenon called as peer-pressure. When too many ppl around you are frequent revellers in the office cubicles on Sat, how can I be left out ?

When I started off with the task at hand, it sounded peanuts to me, or Ok, call it cashewnuts. A rather nutty-job, so to say. I even expressed this as a concern, before shouldering te responsibility.
While I would not call it Rocket Science by any stretch of imagination, its not child's play either. The situation being aggravated by a BFS traversal of our product. Every single day I wake up, its thinking about how to cross the next hurdle. Well, let me not keep blabbering abt that..

I have become a great fan of Britney Spears . The number "Oops I did it again" keeps my WinAmp busy all the time, and sounds exhilirating to me. Probably, purists of Western music might not consider this choice numero uno, but I don't care. Its for the masses, and my conviction says "Be with the masses, if you please" After all that's what democracy is all about.
Old Mr Lincoln picked up randomly selectly prepositions and constructed this institution of democracy, which has its firm roots in America and with its desi-flavor in India.

Nowadays, I don't like the word India so much. Bharat sounds much closer to heart, and while Hindustan sounds communal to a 'select coterie', it comes from the river Sindhu, whose nomenclature was changed to Indus by the British Raj.

The empire reminds me of our own emperor in the cricket fraternity, Ganguly.
While I think he deserved accolades in the past, this is the right time for brickbats. Greggie has stirred the hornet's nest. Any guesses who the Hornet is ? One businessman, having a cornucopia of wealth, sitting in East India, Kolkata, Jaggu Dalmia.
When he's around, no need to worry since, Dal me definitely kuch mila hua hai :-)

Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar is trying hard to wrest that crown, which is like the Kohinoor of World cricket. Since the hand that rocks the BCCI, rules the ICC, stakes are too high....

Meeting friends last week provided much respite to a mundane routine that I am used to now.
We had Pizza and stuff in truly Amru style.
The middle of the week was a nadir of sorts, with not good news from office. It almost felt like betrayal; giving a whiff of what heart broken couples might be going thru. Each experience makes us richer, that way or the other. Samazhe wale ko ishara kaffi hai ..........

Google talk

Its Saturday night here, atleast in India, and almost the right time to get a good night's sleep.
But fortunately, my net connection at home is rocking at the moment, and I am involved in downloading a bit of s/w which seems to take hours here, rather than a quantum of few seconds, if it were office.

Anyways, Google talk was the flavor of the week.
Google Talk is really as lite as promised, and all Google fans will be hooked into this in a few days time.
I already used it across India and it seems to deliver what it promises and I guess, that's what customers really want.
This should definitely have set the warning bells ringing in the Yahoos of the world and also for M/S Bill Gates at Redmond, WA.
Sleepless in Seatle would truely sum up the state of mind of Mr Gates at the moment. The news that's making the rounds is that Google wud soon have their own web browser, and that must have not passed without a chill down the spine.

Today, Hindustan is jubiliant with the Dahi-Handi celebrations
and Mumbai usually leads the honors. Lots of pride and money is at stake and its quite eventful to watch the human pyramid scale great heights. Long live the human spirit

The struggle within

I sometimes think of titles to my blog, without a true reflection of my state of mind, and then start writing abt it, I prefer it that way since it puts no obligations on what and how muhc to write.
I guess it improves the flow and the fluency as well.
More often than not, its a manifestation of the sub-conscious , which is eager to express itself.

I am still to read Hitler's Mein Kampf, which approx translates to 'My Struggle'.
For some occult reason, I don't like to buy books, I wud rather prefer a library which has tons of books that one can borrow, without the onus to maintain them in cupboards ans treasure them for a lifetime....Probably just an iota of the kind of person I think I am, who doesn't want to carry the past baggage around...

My internal struggle is happening incessantly for the past few months, and its all the more difficult to decipher the root cause. Its more like an assorted bunch of niggles that cricketers live with and then sound lacking cent percent fitness.
Its probably got to do with the nature of mankind, to always want welcome change in life. Sometimes, it helps, since we all know that a rolling stone gathereth no moss. Of course, the roller ocaster ride and the ultimate destination are also equally important !

Ramdev Maharaj is doing some fabulous work with his pranayam discourses and truly contributing to a stronger India, by helping ppl get rid of their woes. I admire him quite a lot. And he seems to have that charisma that glues me to his lectures and demos, whenever I see him on TV.

India are beginning another uneventful tour and I guess its no brainer that an India-NZ match is on cards with India scrapping thru to the finals and then losing to NZ. The only way Indian team can surprise its fans is negatively, by failing to qualify for the finals !!! Don't mistake this for pessemism, its more of realism ....

Ta ta

TODAY

Today is a friday, and I am abt to rush home for a nice long weekend.
It has been quite hectic at work , after a long time, and I seem to be enjoying it.
Hoping to contribute some good stuff in the release this time...though that means less time for exercise. Need to watch the weighing scale more closely.

Ajit was at my place yesterday and we chatted for a couple of hours, remembering nostalgic moments and discussing future plans. It was fun in general.
MSN audio has proved to be an excellent voice over IP technology and I am using it regularly to talk to my bro sitting 9 and 1/2 hours behind me.
My parents coming to Pune meant some upbeatness in my mood and good home food , that they brought along :-)

Monday is our holiday and may our country make great strides of progress.
Jai Hind !!

A long week ahead

Its yet another Monday evening, and life is at its monotonous best !
My brother has left for his MS and that leaves me all alone at home for the rest of the week.
I gotta get used to this pretty soon.

While Abhi has left for US for doing Master's, I got my degree this weekend and so I have finally completed graduation...It feels good and gives a sense of personal satisfaction...

Yesterday's Ashes test was simply a beauty and has setup the tone for the next 3 matches.
India, as usual have scrapped thru the finals and will manage nothing more than a drubbing at the hands of Sri Lanka in the finals tomorrow. Its almost habitual for our team to build up false expectations and bring ppl down from cloud no 9 bang on the earth in a jiffy !
But as u might guess, I wud still religiously follow the match till the debacle sounds irreversible.

At work, I am having to look into and work on some networking issues, so I hope it helps add to my domain knowledge there. Let's see !!

I got the VISA power

When Sachin says 'I have got VISA power' I would just tend to overlook that.
After all, was it a great achievement for the master blaster to get a VISA.
Last time, I got VISA power, there was this Pandora's box, rather the drop box, which made things so simple.

But the war against terror has also turned into a game of suspicion, where flawless people are also under the vigilant microscope of the West. And so the elaborate process of personal interview bla-bla.Anyways, all is well that ends well, to summarize on this.
Braving the Mumbai rain, things have reached their good logical conclusion !
Another delight was watching the plus South Mumbai area, and the lovely gilttering , glimmering Queen's necklace at Marine Lines. Wish I had a sea-facing bungalow there.
If wishes were horses...u know what I wanna blabber ....

Being politically incorrect seems to be in vogue for politicians of 2005.
Advani's faux paus on Jinnah was followed by another classic entertainer from the Turbanator himself, well our PM Manmohan Singh. Showering words of praise on our rulers of yester-years was in poor taste. I mean, we all know how advanced the British were, but for a state-head to say so, was quite perturbing.

I have been orkutting a lot these days, trying to get some networking going...
Signing off this Wednesday, since my fingers refuse to type any further :-)

Dhamakas

After the rains stopped lashing Pune and other parts of Maharashtra, something else has come up.
There was an attempt of arson planned at the holy Ayodhya site. And then today even the old man of Europe, England was not spared.
Perhaps London's joy of winning the 2012 Olympic bid was too ephemeral.
At Russell Square, there were a series of blasts by some hooligans.

To me, there is always a delicate balance between the 5 forces of nature. Looked like water had had its time-slice and it was the turn of the 'fire' element to ignite revengful passions in the mind of terrorists.

At work, things have reached a 'nadir' of sorts, but every time I say so, something even darker and murkier seems to crop up. So this time I am putting up a brave front and smiling thru the sea of turbulence. Luckily a protocol called 'NDMP' has been a messiah and I seem to be relishing it in bits and bytes ( Now that sounds like a computer geek, ain't it ? )

Roger Fed-Ex, as he is fondly called nowadays, was an absolute delight to watch last weekend at Center Court. Well, i am sure the Brits wud be unhappy with the way I spelt 'Center', but isn't this spelling much more intuitive than what the conservative Englishmen think it to be !!

Tomorrow our office gang has planned a fun-riot at exotic Splendor Country, but suddenly most of my pals have dropped out, and this Thursday evening, I find myself in a state of ambivalence.
Do be or not to be ? That's the question posed by Shakespeare, and today by Akshay ;-)
Looks like I have started fancing the UK a lot these days. This is surprising, since those who know me well enuff might also remember my obsession with the country down Under, the arch-rivals of Britain. Well, not exactly in an Indo-Pak sense, but more historical.

Crude is already above $61, and I know its going to kill ppl around the globe for sure.
Gives me a reality check of sorts. Nothing is 'Akshay' in this world, and defintiely not natural resources like oil, metals and other goods..

What to say ?

There are days when you have time , but don't know what to do or write.
And there are some others when there is no time to catch up with thoughts and pen them down.
Today, I find myself in the prior situation !!

I have started orkut-ing regularly now. Still haven't really tracked someone who was "bichda hu dost" etc. or Bollywood ishtyle "Kumbh ke mele me bichade the types" folks; but I am losing no heart yet.

One of my friends who quit last month, or perhaps a couple of months ago, is coming over this weekend, and plans have been made in advance to hang-out. So don't be surprised to find me at E-Square on Sunday morning. It's surprising that though I stay so close to the place, it has hardly increased the frequency of my trips there...

When I go home this Friday evening, I would be walking out of VERITAS and when I enter office on Monday, it will be a new company. Well, this is absolutely no magic..nor am I quitting my job. Its just that our company would officially merge into this security giant from California, named Symantec, and so I would become a Symantec employee, by default.
Guess, there is slight emotional turbulence, since VERITAS has been my first job and close to my heart.

Rain has been lashing hard at Punekars and India in general, incessantly for the last week or so, and it's good that the Khadakwasla dam has become 100% full i n June itself.
Its raining hard at the stock market too, with every all-time highs falling like nine-pins.
I don't know whether to become a BullishBear or a BearishBull..
I keep pondering, what does it mean anyways ? What to say............

Monsoon Masti again

I was almost aestivating all summer, atleast as far as blogging is concerned.
Frogs had some company for sure..
Today I had the time and inclination to do some blogging and so here I am again !

It rains 9-10 months a year in Pune.
Ok, hold on before u start firing salvos at me; let me defend this postulate.
In any given calendar year, running Jan thru Dec, I count every single month having even a single drizzle / shower of rain as a 'rainy' month. And the statistics I revealed over the past 18 months of intense research ( I am sure that would bring shame to professors of repute or even the local weathermen) is that, Pune has 9-10 months of rain. I am sure this should go into Ripley's believe it or not !!!!

Well, jokes apart, the real Monsoon showers have made their presence felt and the weather is excellent here, just in case ppl from other places are planning a visit during the season.
We know that Pune is called Oxford of the East, but it is so in more than one way.
Of course for the pedagocial comparison.
But there is another connection which I discovered and wouldn'd mind patenting..its as follows:-
Pune enjoys a West European kind of weather (alike Britain, alike Oxford of the West).
Agree with me, folks ?

Near the real Oxford, sporting fever is peaking in sync with the summer.
The Aussies still seem to be in a deep slumber and are in no mood to trouble even Bangla players, let alone the gentlemen with the white flannels from England !
Our own Sania was playing well at Wimbledon, but unfortunately she lost in a closely fought match.

Few F-1 races were as intriguing as the previous one at Indiana, marred by the Michellin controversy. Anyways, probably , it gave a lease of life to Schumi and Ferrari. But I hope that is it....

This Monday evening

This Monday evening is special, just because I choose to make it that way !
Well, one can really exercise the choice of remaining happy or gloomy, and in this ephemeral life, why not lvie every moment to the fullest....
Recently, an acquaintance of mine advised me to practise some meditation and pranayam, and I have tried to follow suit ever since, as far as possible; I must admit that I am feeling much more relaxed after that...Though some other +ve vibes have also been around, I am taking no credit away from these recommended therapies.
I must feel like watching the movie Godfather, and hopefully, I should be able to catch hold of it pretty soon.
Sometimes, I wonder, can't one progress without a Godfather. And yes, by godfather, I do not mean one who will condone my mistakes or fight a lost cause for me. Its more like one who will be like Lord Shir krisha in Mahabharat, who sided with the dharma against adharma...

We need somebody in life, who empathizes with us and acts as a true friend, philospoher and guide. Most of all, he trusts our ability and is willing to channelize our efforts in the right direction. I feel I have re-discovered such a force in my life, and it's gonna take me miles ahead.

Its the year end , well the financial one this time, and I must mention it in all fairness to pay due respects to my blog , called bullish bear. So finance is at the core of affairs. The crashing stock market is the flavor of ths season.....and India has lost today's match, they have been Bangalored by Pak...

Nice wednesday

It was a nice Wednesday yesterday.
One of my friends and colleagues will be leaving for US soon, and so he threw a party , or gave a treat, wud be more pat. It was at Pizza Hut and that was good fun.
Pitchers of Pepsi and garlic bread added to the aroma of the evening.
As if this was not enuff for the evening, we decided to watch a film at night at E-Square.

Since the show was to begin close to the middle of the night, we made ourselves comfortable at the malls inside. Visited Crossword for the first time at this place, though my previous visit to any crossword store was just 2 months new :-).

Window-shopping for the books was great fun and then we just sat back to watch a game of pool that some guyz were playing.
The film began around 12 midnight and it enthralled us from the first shot itself.
It was great humor, but completely adult stuff. This kind of disappointed me, since I expected "Meet the Fockers" to be inline with "Meet the parents", a family movie.

Nevertheless, the film was paisa vasool. and so I wasn't complaining a bit.

Marchester United !

Don't ask me what the meaning of this title is, for I don't know myself.
Just thought of it and coined the title without bothering about the meaning a lot.
Probably we can treat it as a hybrid of this month and the illustrious football team of the EPL, Manchester United.

Life is not a bed of roses, and this has proved itself time and again for me, more so in the last few months. Being tossed from one project to another hasn't been the best for my career. I should say destiny has taken me for a toss, and any amount of reassuring words do not give solace to my heartburn in this regard.
The equanimous, tranquil person, that I have known myself to be, is facing tremendous pressure. Truely, time is the best healer and so the only thing to do is to let the tough get going.

The work on Linux was looking promising, and would have turned out to be a great learning experience. But nature had something else in store for me, perhaps !! So, bottomline is I am back to the Bill Gates camp. Can't help saying "Ghar ka bhula agar shaam ko laute to use bhoola nahi kehte". :-)

It isn't that things are completely out of place as such. Some positive vibes can also be felt, but the warm hearth of positivity is not heating my spirits enough.