Low key or no New Year Celebrations.

Mumbai Police has issued diktats that the new year celebrations have to be wound up by 12.30 am. No boat parties, and if there are parties, then they revelers will be allowed to return back only broad daylight. Couples caught by Mumbai Police will be "seperated" by the Mumbai Police. Though how they will be "seperated" is not clear. Similarly, parties in Dubai have suffered a setback with Sheikh Mohammad announcing that people should support Palestine. Many people who were expecting to make money during the recession by hosting parties, will now suffer another setback. At the most the sales which will pick up are of alcohol which will flow in private parties. One more advantage will be of less number of drunken driving's and accidents in Mumbai for sure. And ofcourse, the shameful incidence of J W Marriott, at Juhu last year. People having such ideas on spur of a moment will hopefully be wary of enacting it again.

Regarding Dubai, there is more to be seen in this, it is more or less a very open support for Palestine and a signal to Israel, that someone is against them.

Merry Christmas

I had the opportunity to visit IC colony at Borivali, Mumbai, during Christmas. This picture was clicked over there. It has been dedicated in the memory of Martyrs of 26th November, Mumbai attacks.

What stuck me most about IC colony is the way it was decorated for Christmas. For Diwali, mostly I have seen, individual houses lit up and decorated. Here entire buildings, parking lots, roads, crossroads, everything was lit up and decorated. Most of the shops had people standing in red caps. The entire mood was so festive, it was amazing the zeal with which Christmas is celebrated there. There were no fireworks, but then there were people over there, in large groups enjoying the celebrations.

I am looking forward to visiting it again next year. It really got me in a festive mood.

About Women!!!!!

Any arguments over this?

Disaster ready?

Mumbai has had its shares of disasters. The biggest it has had was the 26th July rains, because of which it was thrown out of gear for almost a week. It was totally cut off from the rest of the country, as all roads in and out were flooded with water. It has lately faced a terror attack.

Everytime, we come out of it, and a new disaster management cell is formed. We hear about the cell being prepared to tackle such events. But are we really ready for disasters other than flooding or terror attacks such as those faced in the past. Every time is not the same. Disasters are very rarely similar. And unfortunately, we shall again hear, that we were not prepared for such type of disaster.

The preparedness might be good for a flood like situation or a terror attack like we faced, but will it be good in other circumstances. Why can the people managing such cells, think differently? Why can they get their heads together and say, ok we are prepared for floods, now lets be prepared for storms, or for any other goddamn natural calamity. Why cant they say, we are prepared for 26/11 type terror attacks, why cant they say, we are ready for several other type of terror attacks?

Why cant we think of the future, and be prepared for it. Why do we have to wait for tomorrow to show us our unpreparedness. Every time we have to face a disaster to then start preparing to avoid it the next time. Why do we have to face trouble the next time? Lets be ready for the next time, which is unavoidable, but for which we can be prepared to face in a better way.

The Tales of the Beetle the Bard

I just completed the book. Just 5 stories. Most of the Rowling fans, have already read the Tale of the Three Brothers. What I found about the book was the the stories are small, simple but mind blowingly effective. The normal "Moral of the story" part has been done away, with Dumbledores(Rowlings) notes. In the modern day and age, where fairy tales and bed time stories are repeated over and over again, I found this fresh and worth reading. But frankly I was yearning for more. The stories, in normal font wont even last for 5 pages. So you have a short story, easily readable to the kids for bed time. Way to go Rowling.

When You Divorce Me, Carry Me Out in Your Arms

 SINGLE, MARRIED, or PLANNING TO GET MARRIED? Gotta read this... Very Touching & Inspiring...When You Divorce Me, Carry Me Out in Your Arms
On my wedding day, I carried my wife in my arms. The bridal car stopped in front of our one-room flat. My buddies insisted that I carry her out of the car in my arms. So I carried her into our home. She was then plump and shy. I was a strong and happy bridegroom.
This was the scene ten years ago.
The following days were as simple as a cup of pure water: we had a kid; I went into business and tried to make more money. When the assets were steadily increasing, the affection between us seemed to ebb. She was a civil servant. Every morning we left home together and got home almost at the same time. Our kid was studying in a boarding school.
Our marriage life seemed to be enviably happy. But the calm life was more likely to be affected by unpredictable changes.
Dew came into my life.
It was a sunny day. I stood on a spacious balcony. Dew hugged me from behind. My heart once again was immersed in her stream of love. This was the apartment I bought for her.
Dew said, you are the kind of man who best draws girls eyeballs. Her words suddenly reminded me of my wife. When we were just married, my wife said, Men like you, once successful, will be very attractive to girls.
Thinking of this, I became somewhat hesitant. I knew I had betrayed my wife. But I couldn’t help doing so.
I moved Dew's hands aside and said you go to select some furniture, O.K.? I've got something to do in the company. Obviously she was unhappy, because I had promised to do it together with her. At the moment, the idea of divorce became clearer in my mind a l though it used to be something impossible to me.
However, I found it rather difficult to tell my wife about it. No matter how mildly I mentioned it to her, she would be deeply hurt.
Honestly, she was a good wife. Every evening she was busy preparing dinner. I was sitting in front of the TV. The dinner was ready soon. Then we watched TV together. Or, I was lounging before the computer, visualizing Dew's body. This was the means of my entertainment.
One day I said to her in a slightly joking way, suppose we divorce, what will you do? She stared at me for a few seconds without a word. Apparently she believed that divorce was something too far away from her. I couldn't imagine how she would react once she got to know I was serious.
When my wife went to my office, Dew had just stepped out. Almost all the staff looked at my wife with a sympathetic eye and tried to hide something while talking to her. She seemed to have got some hint. She gently smiled at my subordinates. But I read some hurt in her eyes.
Once again, Dew said to me, He Ning, divorce her, O.K.? Then we live together. I nodded. I knew I could not hesitate any more.
When my wife served the last dish, I held her hand. I've got something to tell you, I said. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes. Suddenly I didn't know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the serious topic calmly.
She didn't seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why? I'm serious. I avoided her question. This so-called answer made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man!
That night, we didn't talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer, because my heart had gone to Dew.
With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. I felt a pain in my heart. The woman who had been living ten years with me would become a stranger one day. But I could not take back what I had said.
Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer.
Late that night, I came back home after entertaining my clients. I saw her writing something at the tab l e. I fall asleep fast. When I woke up, I found she was still there. I turned over and was asleep again.
She brought up her divorce conditions: she didn't want anything from me, but I was supposed to give her one month s time before divorce, and in the month's time we must live as normal a life as possible. Her reason was simple: our son would finish his summer vacation a month later and she didn't want him to see our marriage was broken.
She passed me the agreement she drafted, and then asked me, He Ning, do you still remember how I entered our bridal l room on the wedding day? This question suddenly brought back all those wonderful memories to me. I nodded and said, I remember. You carried me in your arms, she continued, so, I have a requirement, that is, you carry me out in your arms on the day when we divorce. >From now to the end of this month, you must carry me out from the bedroom to the door every morning.
I accepted with a smile. I knew she missed those sweet days and wished to end her marriage romantically.
I to l d Dew about my wife s divorce conditions. She laughed loud l y and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she does, she has to face the result of divorce, she said scornfully. Her words more or less made me feel uncomfortable.
My wife and I hadn't had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. We even treated each other as a stranger. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is ho l ding mummy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. >From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly, Let us start from today, don't tell our son. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for a bus, I drove to the office.
On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. We were so close that I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn't looked at this intimate woman carefully for a long time. I found she was not young any more. There were some fine wrinkles on her face.
On the third day, she whispered to me, the outside garden is being demolished. Be careful when you pass there.
On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I seemed to feel that we were still an intimate coup l e and I was holding my sweetheart in my arms. The visualization of Dew became vague.
On the fifth and sixth day, she kept reminding me something, such as, where she put the ironed shirts, I should be careful while cooking, etc. I nodded. The sense of intimacy was even stronger. I didn't tell Dew about this.
I felt it was easier to carry her. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger. I said to her, It seems not difficult to carry you now. She was picking her dresses. I was waiting to carry her out. She tried quite a few but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I smiled. But I suddenly realized that it was because she was thinner that I could carry her more easily, not because I was stronger. I knew she had buried all the bitterness in her heart. Again, I felt a sense of pain. Subconsciously I reached out a hand to touch her head.
Our son came in at the moment. Dad, it's time to carry mum out. He said. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had been an essential part of his life. She gestured our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face because I was afraid I would change my mind at the last minute. I held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly, as if we came back to our wedding day. But her much lighter weight made me sad.
On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. She said, actually I hope you will ho l d me in your arms until we are old.
I he l d her tightly and said, both you and I didn't notice that our life lacked intimacy.
I jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my decision. I walked upstairs. Dew opened the door. I said to her, Sorry, Dew, I won't divorce. I'm serious.
She looked at me, astonished. The she touched my forehead. You got no fever. She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Dew, I said, I can only say sorry to you, I won't divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn't value the details of life, not because we didn't love each other any more. Now I understand that since I carried her into the home, she gave birth to our child, I am supposed to ho l d her until I am o l d. So I have to say sorry to you.
Dew seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove to the office.
When I passed the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet for my wife which was her favorite. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I'll carry you out every morning until we are old.

Inaction by our Government

It is really frustrating, how after every terror attack, we do nothing, except introducing new laws. Personally I want India to go on war with Pakistan. I agree it is a very complicated issue. War is not easy for countries and its population.

But the best thing I heard or rather read while chatting with my brother-in-law is that war is not the solution. He said, if a thief enters our house, what do we do. If we are able to catch him, we give him a fitting reply. Everybody has got his own idea of fitting reply. Beat the thief black and blue yourself or see to it that he is handed over to the police. This we do to send a message to others in line. If you are caught, this will be your condition also.

Similarly, instead of going on war, we should deal very sharply with the caught terrorist. We should give them such a punishment that others would be afraid to do the same mistake. Might sound easy. But aren't we dealing with hardcore terrorists. So the punishment should also be equally harsh.

Our police was "afraid" of taking Qasab to the court, "fearing" that he might be attacked on the way. They were not fearing his escape. They were fearing his death. Are we so soft hearted that we are "afraid" of a terrorist dying. Are we so afraid, that our judicial system had to lift its butt out of the chair and go and meet the terrorist in jail.

We shouldn't be the one who should be afraid. We should create a fear psychosis in the mind of such people, see some is out there to lynch you, to kill you. Some one, maybe even your own friends, would love to see you dead. We Indians, as it is want to see you dead, so your safety is of least importance to us.

But unfortunately, he is our priced catch, we have to present him to US and UK, but not to the Indians, who have suffered mentally, that this attack by him, could have been right next to us. We Indians had lost our sleep, glued to the Television in the night of the attack. For US and UK it was a bright Thanksgiving Day. Their Governments went into action. Their federal agencies were quick to come and interrogate Mr. Qasab. Who knows, if they wanted to know about the Mumbai attack, or if Qasab knows about any future attacks in their territory. But what has our Government done, except to change the Chief Minister, Home Minister? What happened to the ultimatum given to Pakistan or has our IST(INDIAN STANDARD TIME) being brought into effect. The ultimatum might not be over by the next attack also. And it will be only because of Government inaction.

But I do agree with my brother-in-law, if a stranger attacks our house, we should be ready to guard it first, we should teach him a lesson. Maybe the next time, if we are lucky enough, we should get hold of these terrorists and teach them what this country means to us.

Politics of Arms

One of the highest incomes of the Great US comes from its Arms factories. Many a great leaders like Kennedy , Lincoln have supposedly lost their lives over this.

At a time , when tensions between two countries are high, and almost on the brink of war, some manufacturers might already be rubbing their hands in glee.

It is surprising, that two great countries, like the US and UK have got only words for the Indians, who are sufferers due to the terrorism, and on the other hand, they are funding Pakistan with terror combat aids worth millions of dollars. It is surprising, that the people of Pakistan, US and UK are turning a blind eye towards this. This money, part of which will be pocketed by the politicians, the balance will be routed back to these countries, to buy arms and ammunition. By "combating terrorism", what exactly can one mean while giving the fund. This money is not going to be used by Pakistani's to educated their people, nor is it going to be used to eradicate poverty. When it comes to "combating terrorism", it will mean purchase and upgradation of its stock of weapons. And for US and UK, they get back their money, their stocks are exhausted, and they get to play BIG BROTHER. So ultimately they lose nothing, and gain a lot. After all, can a country in Recession, give away millions of dollars in funding, without batting an eyelid.

US has always supported such countries, and then, when the juice has been drained from them, when they know that now, these countries are totally bankrupt, they attack these very countries by saying that they are world enemies. They have a heavy artillery of weaponery...weapons of mass destruction....etc etc. The examples have been there for all to see. Iraq and Afganistan, Vietnam in their backyard....

Now they have trained their eyes on Iran. Wasn't the attack on Iran, by Iraq, the reason America landed over there to fight. At that time, Iran was their ally. Now it is its enemy.

Today Pakistan is its friend, tomorrow it will be its enemy.

Then to counter Pakistan, India will be its friend. It is to be seen, if we fall for this Politics of Arms.

Really great !!! Hats off to India !!!!

 

An Olympic shooter wins Gold (for just a game) & Government gives him 3 Crores

Another Shooter dies, fighting with terrorists (Saving our country and our lives) & government pays his family 5 lakhs....

Really great !!! Hats off to India and its values !!!!

Two Choices

This was an email forwarded to me......and was touched by it.....

Two  Choices
What would you do? ....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch
line, there  isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have
made the same  choice?
At a  fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with
learning  disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a
speech that  would never be forgotten by all who attended. After
extolling the school  and its
dedicated staff, he offered a question:
'When not interfered  with by outside influences, everything nature
does, is done with  perfection.
Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do.  He cannot
understand things as other children do.
Where  is the natural order of things in my son?'
The  audience was stilled by the query.
The father continued. 'I believe  that when a child like Shay, who was
mentally and physically disabled  comes into the world, an opportunity
to realize true human nature presents  itself, and it comes in the way
other people treat that child.'
Then he  told the following story:
Shay and I had walked past a park where  some boys Shay knew were
playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think  they'll let me play?' I
knew that most of the boys would not want someone  like Shay on their
team, but as a father I also understood that if  my son were allowed
to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of  belonging and some
confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his  handicaps.
I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not  expecting
much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and
said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning.
I  guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in
the  ninth inning.'
Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a  broad smile, put
on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye  and warmth in
my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being  accepted.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few  runs but
was still behind by three.
In the top of the ninth inning,  Shay put on a glove and played in the
right field. Even though no hits  came his way, he was obviously
ecstatic just to be in the game and on the  field, grinning from ear
to ear as I waved to him from the stands.
In  the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.
Now, with two  outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run
was on base and Shay  was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay  bat and give away their chance to
win the game?
Surprisingly, Shay was  given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was
all but impossible because  Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat
properly, much less connect with  the ball.
However, as Shay stepped up to the
plate, the pitcher,  recognizing that the other team was putting
winning aside for this moment  in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to
lob the ball in softly so Shay  could at least make contact.
The first pitch came and Shay swung  clumsily and missed.
The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss  the ball softly
towards Shay.
As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the  ball and hit a slow ground
ball right back to the pitcher.
The game  would now be over.
The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could  have easily thrown
the ball to the first baseman.
Shay would have been  out and that would have been the end of the game.
Instead, the  pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's
head, out of reach  of all team mates.
Everyone from the stands and both teams started  yelling, 'Shay, run to
first!
Run to first!'
Never in his life had  Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.
He scampered down  the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, 'Run to  second, run to second!'
Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards  second, gleaming and
struggling to make it to the base.
B y the time  Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had
the ball . the  smallest guy on their team who now had his first
chance to be the hero for  his team.
He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the  tag, but
he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally
threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.
Shay ran  toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him
circled the  bases toward home.
All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the  Way Shay'
Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop  ran to help
him by turning him in the direction of third base, and  shouted, 'Run
to third!
Shay, run to third!'
As Shay rounded  third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators,
were on their feet  screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'
Shay ran to home, stepped on the  plate, and was cheered as the hero
who hit the grand slam and won the game  for his team
'That day', said the father softly with tears now  rolling down his
face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of  true love and
humanity into this world'.
Shay didn't make it to  another summer. He died that winter, having
never forgotten being the hero  and making me so happy, and coming
home and seeing his Mother tearfully  embrace her little hero of the
day!
AND NOW A LITTLE FOOT NOTE TO  THIS STORY:
We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a  second
thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices,
people hesitate.
The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely  through cyberspace,
but public discussion about decency is too often  suppressed in our
schools and workplaces.
If  you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that
you're  probably sorting out the people in your address book who
aren't the  'appropriate' ones to receive this type of message Well,
the person who  sent you this believes that we all can make a
difference.
We  all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help
realize the  'natural order of things.'
So many seemingly trivial interactions  between two people present us
with a choice:
Do we pass along a little  spark of love and humanity or do we pass up
those opportunities and leave  the world a little bit colder in the
process?
A wise man once said  every society is judged by how it treats it's
least fortunate amongst  them.
You now have two choices:
1. Delete
2.  Forward
May your day, be a Shay Day.

Salaam Jawans !!

What a shame and disgrace to every citizen of India that the elite NSG Force was transported into ordinary BEST buses, whereas our cricketers are transported into state of the art luxury buses, these Jawans lay down their lives to protect every Indian and these cricketers get paid even if they lose a match, we worship these cricketers and forget the martyrdom of these brave Jawans.
The Jawans should be paid the salaries of the cricketers and the cricketers should be paid the salaries of the Jawans.

• An ace shooter shoots and gets gold medal, govt gives 3cr, another shooter dies while shooting terrorist, govt gives 5 lakh. WHO DESERVES MORE? Huh.. This is our India....

Really great!!!!!!!!!!! Hats off to India!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Missing Harry Potter

For years together, I was always looking forward for the next release of eighter the book or the movie. Now that the story has ended, frankly it has created a void in my life. Currently, I am looking forward for some suggestion for a good book, but none are coming forth.

The delay in the releasing the movie, and subsequent pushing of the release date of The Half Blood Prince to a 2009 release is not going to help much. Infact now that I know the end of the story, am I really looking forward to see the movie? I might see the movie only out of curiosity, but somewhere I fear, that if it is not up to the expectations, than I might skip the last movie, which might take another 2-3 years for release. Wish they had speeded up the production like Lord of the Rings.

What about Mosche....Mr Qasab

The media is gaga over Qasab missing his mom and his request to write to him. Why are we making an issue over it. Why should he be allowed to do.

Will Mosche get a chance to meet his dead parents, who were killed by Qasabs friends at Nariman house, again. Will he get to meet his Imma(thats what he called his mother) again.

What about others who have lost their relatives, friends......

What we have here is a hardcore terrorist, who didn't even inform the interrogators about one unexploded bomb lying at VT Station.

He shouldn't be allowed to write at all. Once his interrogation is over, he should be hanged. There should be no two thoughts about it.

 

**EVEN GOD HAS GOOD SENSE OF HUMOUR ............ ....!!!**

God was in the process of creating the universe.

And he was explaining to his subordinates

"Look everything should be in balance.

For example, after every 10 deer there should be a lion.

Look here my fellow angels; here is the country of the United States.

I have blessed them with prosperity and money.

But at the same time I have given them insecurity and tension....

And here is Africa.

I have given them beautiful nature.

But at the same time, I have given them climatic extremes.

And here is South America.

I have given them lots of forests.

But at the same time, I have given them lesser land so that they would

have to cut off the forests...

So you see fellows, everything should be in balance.

One of the angels
asked...

"God, what is this extremely beautiful country here?"

God said....... "Ahah...that is the crown piece of all.

" INDIA "

My most precious creation.

It has understanding and friendly People.

Sparkling streams and serene mountains.

A culture which speaks of the great tradition that they live.

Technologically brilliant and with a heart of gold.....

The angel was quite surprised:

"But god you said everything should be in balance."

God replied --

"Look at the neighbors I gave them."

Where is the security?

I came to know about unconfirmed reports of firing at IGI airport at Delhi, before moving out for Domestic Airport in Mumbai. Expecting the security to be still tighter, I decided to move out 30 mins earlier than my planned time. Nobody from the security even bothered to see inside my rickshaw. At the Airport terminal gate, we were made to show our tickets and our ID cards. The tickets and and ID cards were just given a glance, I dont even think they saw the date of travel or if indeed the tickets were valid. We were again made to show our Id cards while obtaining our boarding passes. From there we proceeded for security check.

I feel, the security is totally lax between issue of boarding pass and security check. Because till the security check, our bags were not checked at all. Anybody who wants to wreak mayhem will be quite content to do so over here, with hundred of people waiting in queues for their boarding passes.

The authorities need to do something about this ASAP.

Looking forward to my trip to Kolkatta....

Though I have visited Kolkatta twice before, the trip has been always limited to pure business. Once I stepped out of the Airport, it was directly to my principle suppliers factory and evening it was back to the airport.

This time though, since I am there for two days, I want to make it a point to travel on The Metro, travel on Tram and see the Howrah Bridge. I am also looking forward to see the worlds largest Banyan tree, spread over 5 acres, as per the information given to me.

In the next two days, I will know if the elusive sights will be available to me or not.

In the name of father, son and RGV

So our Chief Minister Mr. Vilasrao Deskhmukh has been shown the door. More than anything, he faced maximum embarrassment for taking along his son and RGV to TAJ.

On a day when most of Mumbaikars were glued to TV for more than 24 hours, a Son, by the name of Ritesh Deshmukh, who, because of his profession,  is more well known nationally than his father, is also at home seeing the action. Which son would let go of an opportunity provided because of his fathers seat to actually go and see the real scene of action. He might have jumped at the very first opportunity on coming to know of his fathers visit to TAJ. RGV for reasons best known to the son and himself is present also wouldn't want to miss the chance to visit TAJ. It is human nature after all.

Vilasrao Deskhmukh's other sons were also present in the entourage. But they being lesser known faces have been spared the brickbats. Had Ritesh Deshmukh not been an actor, would there would have been so much hue and cry. Had Ritesh Deshmukh not been an actor, would RGV had been in the entourage.

Both are just paying the penalty of being famous.

Would it have been different if I would have interfered...

This is one question which I always ask when things go wrong, and knowing it very well that I knew that this is going to happen. I know I can still set it right, but will the person in front of me allow me to set it right. I know, he wont, and I know, a few months down the line, I will again be ruing the fact, that what I have thought today, would have prevent the problem again.

I regret not being given a chance to say, I tried. Because, failing after trying and failing without trying is different. Not that I will fail, no, but still the regret of not being able to do anything will always be there.

I am sick of this overdose....

First there is no strict action from the Government, next the TV and media people are going overboard with their analysis for the terror attack on Mumbai. Frankly, I am getting sick of this. Yesterday, while tuning into FM channels on the radio, I almost felt like tearing my hair. I heard atleast 2 different FM channels with their own signature tune song about the terror. There was absolutely no rhyme to it, the music tones were hopeless and to add more to the woes they even had incorporated their own channel names to the songs.

We are losing hope with this more overkill. Please stop it now.

What next......?

Interesting and shocking observation...Are the dates pre-planned or mere coincidence
13 May -------- JAIPUR
June            -------------------
26 July ------------ AHMEDABAD
August ---------------------------
13 September ------------ DELHI
October -------------------------
26 November --------------- MUMBAI
December ----------------------------
13 January ----------------- What Next?

These are the dates on which terror has struck India in different cities.

Though personally I would peg the date to around 26th of January as it also coincides with our Republic Day. I just pray nothing of this sort happens and that the above dates are pure coincidences and not methodical plans.

Wish this turns out to be true....

Nobody.........not a single politician has the guts to say, lets go and fight a war with our neighbouring country. Every time we just say we have proof against them and do nothing except shutting down trade and transportation. after a few months it business as usual.

Sometimes I really wish that our Navy, Army and Airforce people should say, we have only one lifetime, and have seen enough, now we want to end this in our lifetime and go on a war. it is better to die a Heroes death, than to die daily by seeing such attacks.

I really wish they give a befitting slap on the politicians face by telling them .... We are tired of you....your corrupt practices, your substandard and obsolete arms and ammunition.

i really wish this comes true.......

The start...

The various operations of flushing out terrorists from Trident, Oberoi, Nariman House and Taj are over.

Now will begin the investigations, but one of the most important question after the planning part is the import of arms and ammunition in Mumbai. Be is the Coast Guard or the Police, everybody is involved in some way in overlooking or maybe turning a blind eye while this consignment was coming in.

The corruption started by traders and businessmen to avoid taxes and levies, made them start corrupting the very people who are responsible for checking every thing that comes into a city. These officials are so used to turning a blind eye towards normal consignments that they dont even realize that the consignments they are allowing through might be of dangerous kinds. For them, it might be a "regular" trading item on which the taxes are to be saved for their clients and pocket the money.

This level of corruption needs to be halted at ground level. Everybody needs to understand that one day, the seeds which they are sowing might turn out to be that of a nasty weed. Trading and business community needs to understand that while bribing the officials, they have set such a precedent that has blown up badly in their faces also. Businesses have suffered because of the recent attacks. Everybody is so jittery that even a small rumour is leading to shutting down of establishments for the day.

The officials need to understand, that they have been put up to prevent something, and it is because of their lapse that such huge consignment might have entered Mumbai.

RIP Mumbai heroes from ATS and police deparment

I am leaving the blog empty......as no words are enough to salute these heroes.....

Falling property prices and the sane mentality of the purchaser...

Daily, we are reading about the fall in the prices of property and the further expected falls. While speaking to a gentleman who stays in my building, and happens to be a doctor, I asked him about the progress of his plans to shift from rented place where he runs his dispensary to a place of his own. He informed me that he has put off the plan as of now. He explained that he had infact seen a place for 32 lacs. But now that the expected fall is to be in a range of 25-30%, he feels it is better to sit on his money and save atleast 10 lac rupees. Not a bad saving. So the old saying of cash is the king surely works for this gentleman. Saving 10 lac is not an easy thing and is certainly a big thing. He says even if I pay around 20000 rent per month, I am shelling out only 2.4 lacs. So still I save 7.6 lacs. Smart guy.

Recession and Vacations.....

I have written in the past also how recession is affecting vacations, not to the point of people not ready to spend, but because people are afraid of facing pink slips. Though that was totally my point of view, now it seems, it if seriously affecting a  broad spectrum of people.

Outings, shopping, everything is on a fall nowadays. The malls which normally are fully lit and colourful....have reduced jazz as they are trying to cope up badly with the falling sales. I have had an opportunity to visit two big malls, and was surprised to see such a low foot fall on Sunday. Infact one of the shops has partitioned its premise into half and shut down the other half. I wouldnt be typing this without seeing it myself. But now people are coming out in the open and admitting drastic fall in sales.

But one mistake most shopkeepers are doing is increase the cost of the product to cover up the fall in the turnover, and cover the profits. This is a very wrong thing to do. Ok agreed that your volumes are down, but by increasing the prices of your items and trying to cover up for the fall in profits is certainly a very wrong thing to do. What one is doing is losing out not only on a regular customer, who is aware of your rates, but also on a prospective new customer.

So finally do I agree to the fact that we are in recession????? Our Government doesnt agree so. Hope they are right and hope the same government presents the years balance sheet and confirming that their targets have been met. Otherwise.....Lord save the common man......

Short term memory and Marketing

It is said that the general public has got very short term memory. And this is used to full advantage by the biggest marketing man of Bollywood......i.e Shah Rukh Khan. If one notices a pattern, than most of his movies are always released by the year end. Nothing much to it except for the fact the most of the Award functions take place in the end of the year or in the first few months of the next year.

Public voting always goes in favour of the latest movie which they have seen. And with due respect to the great SRK, his movies work more on marketing strategy, which he carries forward to the award functions.

Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar have also realised this potential, though personally, Aamir Khan has always shown disinterest in the awards. This year we are going to see their movies compete with each other. Lets see how the short term memory of public is going to help them in the award functions.

A fuel and his money are never parted

Traveling daily for nearly 60 kilometers, the best form of entertainment other than listening to music or reading is see what's new on the roads. Be it new shops coming up, or old shops having their name weirdly spelt in local language, or infrastructures development or hoarding's.

But of late, companies seem to be cutting down on their expenses on hoarding's. My estimate would be that 60-70% hoarding's in Mumbai are currently without advertises.Most are painted with "available" tag. Is it the effect of recession? I am not an expert to quote on it. But it does seem so. And if it so, then why is the Government still trying to paint a rosy picture.

Automobile Industries, are shutting down their plants for weeks together to avoid buildup of inventory. Banks are laying off staff. In real estate, where builders were putting up 2-3 slabs in a month, are currently going slow and completing only 1 slab in a month. Crude is falling down, but our Government is saying they want to cover the losses. But at the same time the Government is reducing the cost of fuel for airplanes. What percentage of people travel in plane compared to people using road transport?

The best joke I have read about the Finance minister is "A fuel and his money are never parted", after his stand of refusing to reduce the fuel prices in India. It is very apt in the current scenario.

Recession and vacations

One thing which recession has done is increase the number of job cuts in most of the firms. There is fear amongst employees, as to who will be the next in line. My neighbor's son is working as a Software Engineer in USA. He was supposed to come home during December for vacation, having spent his last 2 years over there. But now as the neighbor informs me, his son has decided against traveling. He is afraid that there might be a chance that they might not take him back at all. He is afraid that he might receive his termination notice against the leave application which he has to file.

My wife's cousin sister is one more example I came to know of, having a similar fear. Though she is coming for her brother's marriage in December, her husband has expressed inability to come , and the reason being the same which has been stated above.

Forget thinking of vacations, my mom's aunt was telling me, her son is in tension daily. Daily morning he prays to God that he should not receive a termination notice once he reaches office. Daily before leaving his office, he thanks God that he has not received it.

God Bless all.

Updating my family tree

On Saturday, I found myself having some free time and started updating my family tree. With the help of Facebook, I was able to add birthdays and many more members to tree and it was quite an enjoyable experience. While searching for other data, I happened to land on one more family tree and really admired the efforts put in my that gentleman to update the family tree of our community, with his list containing more than 4000 names. It made me realise that I am infact missing out on many names.

Behenji and Obama

Obama's victory in the US has created history...the first black man to preside over the Americans. It has certainly started a debate in India....regarding a Dalit Prime Minister.

Bhartiya Janata Party's alliance with Mayawati is certainly heading towards it. If the Indians vote against the ruling Congress Party considering factors like inflations, recession etc....though personally I am more sure of a hung parliament, who has got a brighter chance of becoming the next Prime Minister?

Advani is an old war horse now, Modi is too dicey for ruling the entire country. But then the question of electing a BJP prime minister will never arise, should the BJP-Mayawati combine stake claim in forming the Government. And this time Behenji will surely be driving the nail in the coffin for the premier seat.

So what we are facing at is .... at a possibility of having the first Dalit Prime Minister of India in the next elections .....i.e if again this time we have a hung verdict.....

Ghosts and spirits

My first tryst with them was way back in 1992. My brother said that we can call spirits by using a paper and a coin. My sister, my brother, and myself set upon calling the "Holy" spirit. Not trusting my brother, we asked him to keep his eyes closed. Me and my brother started calling for whatever spirits were there around us to answer back. All of a sudden the coin started moving around, and when my sister asked "Are you there", the coin just went to where we had written YES. She started crying and my grandmother, hearing the commotion came in and made us tear the paper, scolding us for believing in something like that. However since our age was one which could be termed as rebellious, we did it again and again and again.

There were times, when I wanted to believe in it and times when I felt that my brother is doing some mischief. However there were two incidences against which I dont have any rational explanation....

Having completed our meeting with one particular spirit, we sent him back. This one was always difficult to send back. Later in the night, four of us, me, my brother and two of his friends who had attended the calling of the spirit, were walking down a dark lane, wanting to go to a xerox shop. And I am not exaggerating by saying it was dark. Personally, I was feeling kind of ODD. As if someone was following us or was with us. I dont remember which one of us all of a sudden said that someone is following us, and immediately everybody agreed. My brother removed the coin used for calling the spirit, kept in on a car hood and asked "ARE U THERE". The coin shot in the upward direction. It really scared the sh@# out of us and we just threw the coin on road and moved out from there. But the feeling of someone following us was no more there.

The next issue is something which is very close to my heart. A day before proposing to a girl who today after 15 years is my wife and mother of my two kids, I had asked the spirit, what will be the reaction if I propose to her. Running all around the paper, it started spelling out....She will feel like dancing.

The next day when I did propose her, her first words were...I FEEL LIKE DANCING. Call it coincidence(which my wife is ready to support) or a truth to prove that spirits do exist, it was the last of my encounter with the dear departed. I dont remember why we stopped all of a sudden, or how we stopped, infact I have no memory of that. But I havent even given it a thought to sit back and think if spirits do exist. ODD.

Mobile - A boon or???

Recently one of our acquaintance called up for help in tracing her daughters lost mobile. Inspite of telling her it of no use, she was quite hyper. She wanted the phone to be blocked so that it could be rendered useless.

All her efforts were coming to a naught, with the service provider and the mobile manufacturers call center stating quite clearly that they have no authority to block the mobile using the IMEI number, inspite of the the lady even getting a letter from the police. The police infact stated that in a day, 10000 mobiles are misplace/robbed or lost.

While talking to her, I understood a far graver concern she had regarding the mobile. She agreed with me that a new mobile could be purchased, the same number could be obtained from the service provider. However, she was more concerned about her daughters photos in the phone. SHE WAS APPREHENSIVE THAT THEY SHOULD NOT BE MISUSED. This is one thing even I had not considered. Even if she would have suceeded in blocking the phone by IMEI number, the memory card is still one thing which can be accessed without a proper password. And even if one does put a password on the memory card, it is quite easy to hack into it.

We click our photos, but how safe are they incase of the cell being misplace or lost or stolen. With the technology advancing fast, it is not a difficult thing to superimpose ones face on any other photo.

Atleast I have decided to transfer my photos immediately to my computer and keep my memory card free.

Taxis on strike

Day before yesterday, I was happy. No taxis or autos on the road. The roads were a bliss to drive on. Yesterday, it took me 2 hours to cover the distance which I traveled in 45 mins day before yesterday. It only makes me say again, that taxi and auto drivers are also responsible for the traffic snarls. They have no respect for lanes, for signals, for vehicles behind them. They will slow down the last lane, trying to get customers, will make sudden lane changes. Autos with their ease of turning even the steepest turns care a damn of giving the signals also. Now in the morning, I have heard that they are going on strike again since their demands have not been met. Looking forward for another snarl free road. Chief Minister sir....please delay the meeting with them, we will get one more day of bliss.

The so called experts

With the markets falling down, "experts" are saying this is the best time to buy. What makes me laugh is that they were the same people who were shouting at the their loudest during the Jan 2008 falls, that now is the best time to buy.

So if that was the best time to buy, what will be the current time called? In India, we always play with vocabulary and say "bestest". And say if we fall further, then what will that time be called. I am waiting to hear them at that time too.

Taxis off the road

It was a bliss....trust me. With over 55000 cabs and equal amount of rickshaws off the road on 16th of October, traffic was so smooth. No parallel parking on the roads by these people for picking up customers, no drastic lane changing, no driving slowly to pick up customers.AHHHH...it was lovely. Hope they go on strike again soon.:)

A Wife's Poem

Technology

Telecommunications has advanced so much and is touching lives of even a small laborer. Today you will find even the person who comes for your  household work carrying a mobile. One can just go into any shop nowadays, give ones papers, and get a SIM card activated in a few minutes.

Cut to 2o years back. Getting a telephone line in your house was a privilege. Waiting period was years and years. Arrival of phone in the house was greeted by the entire household as well as by the neighbors. In some cases there used to be just one phone in the entire building. People used to give their neighbors numbers to their friends and relatives. And those who had the connections were more than happy to call their neighbors if a call was received. Sometimes, the caller used to disconnect the phone or a fixed time was always predecided. While waiting for the call, the two neighbors used to share a hot cup of tea or coffee, with hot snacks over a lot of gossip about the other neighbors. Particularly since the entire conversation was being overheard by the person with the phone, gossip rarely died down.

Outstation conversations were heard all over the building. People used to shout down the phone, as if their voices were traveling around the world. The entire neighborhood would come to know that an outstation call has been made or received. Everybody used to share each others happiness or grief.

Today neighbors dont even have each others telephone numbers. Each house has a telephone. Technology doesn't make people shout over long distance calls anymore. Infact lovers can even whisper sweet nothings to each other without missing even a single word.

Television also had the same effect. Initially a privileged few had TV sets. Evenings used be a get-together for everybody in the building to see "Chitrahar" or the weekly favorite "Saptahiki". But then TV was available to everybody. Then came the video. Not everybody had a video cassette player. Movies were always a joint fun. But with new age devices, costs started coming down. It was available to everybody.

Technology has been a boon for everybody but it has also increased the distance between people.

The latest example of technology being a boon but increasing the distance is the INTERNET. Going to each others houses is no more on the cards. Social networking sites are enough. You can wish each other on Facebook, Orkut, and many other such sites. Whats the use of going to anybodies house when you can see what is happening in others lives, just by one click. It has its benefits, no doubt....It has made people who are staying at greater distances...say different countries...interact....but at the same time, the general tendency is... do we need to visit?

Taare Zameen Pe

Bejan Daruwala in his 2008 annual horoscope books had predicted that 2008 will be a good year for the Indian Cinema, with India winning an Oscar for sure. Infact he has gone one step ahead by saying that the movie will be made by Aamir Khan.

With Taare Zameen Pe being selected for the Oscars, one more prediction by this great Parsi gentleman might be on its way to becoming true. That the movie is outstanding need not be reiterated. Aamir Khan with his past experience at the Oscars because of another of his outstanding movie Lagaan, will be more prepared to market it well at the Oscars.

Now we can only keep our fingers crossed and see if the prediction comes right.

Sweet Innocence

I have people of almost all age groups in my family. From toddlers, to childs, to middle age, to grown up , to old. And yesterday, my daughter of three was in a mood to dance and make others dance. One by one she danced with me, my parents, my grandmother. It was a very beautiful moment to see my daughter of 3 yrs and my grandmother of 78 yrs dance together. Infact I have never seen my grandmother dance and the smile on the faces of both. This will certainly be etched in my heart for ever.

Google Earth

I just love going on Google Earth and checking out places I know....mainly, see how my residence building looks like etc etc. But one thing I have observed is that the images are not latest images. Infact, they are not even a week or month old. They are older than that. The most practical examples I have are one my own building, which has my car parked in the parking lot. I have disposed this car 2 years back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The second is the Bandra Worli sealink in Mumbai, which is to be inaugurated in Jan 2009 and is near completion. A marvel by itself, though it has taken so many years to build, Google Earth is still showing the bridge built only halfway.

So the next time you think that you are seeing some latest view from Google Earth, dont depend on it.

But yes, I do have to admit, that getting satellite pictures of the entire earth and giving access to a layman also for it is a very good effort.

Delhi Bomb blast accused killed in police encounter...

Timely action by the police has led to killing of two terrorist and capture of one. Though it is sad to know that one of the Police Inspector was killed by the terrorist. However what bugs me the most is the reaction of the people staying in the neighborhood where the action took place. They have protested that the religious place was targeted. One person even has gone on record saying that the police should have first verified the credentials, because he felt that the accused were ordinary college going students.http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.aspx?Page=article&sectid=3&contentid=20080920200809200212225795b77a47f

GREAT....College going students start showering bullets the moment police knocks on their doors??????????????

Religious places allow people to have arms of destruction in their places???????????

College students will pump three bullets into a valiant officers stomach???????????

Is this illiteracy or is it lack of patriotism? What should one understand from such peoples thinking.

May officers Sharma's soul rest in peace.....and may this encounter trouble the souls of alive terrorists....

Life is like this only.....

This is a very interesting SMS I received....

First, I was dying to finish my High School and start College. Then I was dying to finish college and start working. Then dying to marry and have children.Then I was dying for my children to grow old enough to stand on their own feet. Then I was dying to retire. Now I am dying.

And suddenly I have realized: "I forgot to live".

These words have got so much of truth in them. But life is like this only.....

Singur everywhere

I dont want to enter deep into what went wrong in TATA's project at Singur. How much the Madame of Kolkata is responsible I have no idea. But with my personal experience I know one thing, that villagers should be educated regarding progress. I have personally ran a factory in one of the villages near Mumbai, and I know for the fact, that except for their annual donation collections, these people are not at all interested in helping the industry run in their village. They always tend to trouble you the most. Firstly they wont allow outside labour to work over there, and they also themselves dont want to work.

They need to understand, with one Industry coming up and thriving, more will soon come up. This will lead to good infrastructure by way of road, electricity and water. With more Industries, will come more number of people. This will lead to development of residences. With residences will come schools, hospitals. It will take time, but such a village will certainly grow in long term. The villagers life will certainly improve by a little patience.

What Singur people are loosing out is a path to progress. and if the Madame of Kolkata is fighting against such progress, then God help the state if she comes to power.

Politically correct jokes

 

1

The prime Minister of China called President Bush to console him after the attack on the Pentagon:
'I'm sorry to hear about the attack.It is a very big tragedy. But in case you are missing any documents from the Pentagon, we have copies of
everything.'
============ ========= ========= ========= =====

2
Musharraf calls Bush on 11th sept:
Musharraf: Mr President, I would like to express my
condolences to you. It is a real tragedy. So many people, such great bldgs... I would like to ensure that we had nothing in connection with that..
Bush: What buildings? What people??
Musharraf: Oh, and what time is it in America now?
Bush: It's eight in the morning.
Musharraf: Oops...Will call back in an hour!

============ ========= ========= ========= ====

3
Vajpayee and Bush are sitting in a bar. A guy walks in and asks the bar man, 'Isn't that Bush and Vajpayee?'
The bar man says 'Yep, that's them.' So the guy walks over and says, 'Hello, what are you guys doing?'
Bush says, 'We're planning world war 3'
The guy says, 'Really? What's going to happen?'
And Vajpayee says, 'Well, we're going to kill 14 million Pakistanis and one bicycle repairman.'
And the guy exclaimed, 'A bicycle repairman?!! !'
Vajpayee turns to Bush and says, 'See, I told you no-one would worry about the 14 million Pakistanis!'
============ ========= ========= ========= =====
4

Pakistani on the moon:
Q: What do you call 1 Pakistani on the moon?
A: Problem...
Q: What do you call 10 Pakistanis on the moon?
A: Problem...
Q: What do you call a 100 Pakistanis on the moon?
A: Problem...
Q: What do you call ALL the Pakistanis on the moon?
A: ...... Problem Solved!!!

============ ========= ========= ========= =====
5
A man is! taking a walk in Central park in New York . Suddenly he sees a little girl being attacked by a pit bull dog.
He runs over and starts fighting with the dog. He succeeds in killing the dog and saving the girl's life.
A policeman who was watching the scene walks over and says: 'You are a hero, tomorrow you can read it in all the newspapers:
'Brave New Yorker saves the life of little girl'.
The man says: 'But I am not a New Yorker!'
Oh then it will say in newspapers in the morning:
'Brave American saves life of little girl' the policeman answers.
'But I am not an American!' - says the man. Oh, what are you then?'
The man says: 'I am a Pakistani!'
The next day the newspapers say: 'Extremist kills innocent American dog '

And we are hit once more....

So there were serial blasts in Delhi. Seeing the population in India, one can understand that it will be very difficult to prevent such attacks. But more than that, what really irritates me is the inaction by our so called secular government. It is their inaction which is embolding these assholes to do more. There is no fear of punishment in these people who are commiting these hideous acts. I am not saying that our opposition leaders will do a good job by enforcing POTA. Such acts have been misused in the past by the authorities to settle personal scores also. So in the end, personally I feel, that it is dirty politics which is making the terrorists get stronger by the day. One needs to set aside politics and seriously start punishing the terrorists, one needs to make them understand that even if they are caught, they might not live for more than a month, instead of the current system, where the cases drag for more than 10 years. Our secular government needs to realize that they are not protecting the minority vote bank(even the minority is dying in these blasts), infact it is creating an atmosphere of doubt against the same minority. The terrorists are a handful of people who have no guts to come out in open. They are just using the name of religion to cover their crimes. If they really have a cause, then they should come out in open against it. They are using recent incidences like the ATS grilling of a Maulana as a reason. But would that incident have happened if the previous bomb blast had not occured. So a cycle has started, where no one remembers from where it started. And sadly now no one knows where it will end.

Visit to different dieties.....

During the past two months I have been on a pilgrimage mode.....people who sin like me have to do this to balance our lives....:).....anyways, I have visited Golden Temple, Shirdi Sai Baba, Haji Ali Dargah at Mumbai, Mahalaxmi Mandir at Mumbai, Lalbaugcha Raja.

Each place has got its own charm. At Golden Temple we didnt encounter security at all unlike other places, where  the only place their prober doesnt enter is up your a%$e. The Gurbani being played soothed your nerves the moment you enter the premises. It was only after entering the main temple, one realised that it is being sang live over there.

While going to Haji Ali Dargah,  it was raining, and what an experience it was.  I found the place really clean as compared to the temples we visit. We were even allowed to click a few snaps, and the people inside were more than helpful in suggesting from which angle we should be taking the snaps. I hope to visit it again soon.

 

 

What amazes me about Lalbaugcha Raja is the NAVAS(wish and if it fullfilled you have carry out whatever you had offered against the wish). The number of people in the line. My God. I dont know if my wish will be fufilled, since I always take the darshan by breaking the queue. But as long as I can avail this facility of taking the darshan without the queue, I will without any inhibitions continue to do so. Yes, if my wish is fulfilled, then I am ready to stand in the line till my patience permits me. Lets hope it does get fulfilled. It will give me an opportunity to know if I am strong enough like lakhs of devotees who stand in the queue for more than 24 hours.

July and August

Well two months of fun and frolic...that is what I have done. Visited Amritsar, Shirdi, had lots of fun in Mumbai. Now life if getting back to normal after my brother-in-law has returned back to Dubai.

Amritsar I will always remember for its rich food and also for Golden Temple and Wagah Border. The people certainly knew how to make you feel patriotic at Wagah Border. Shouting our lungs out , thinking that our neighboring country can hear us shouting VANDE MATARAM. In my 33 years of existence on this earth, I have never felt so patriotic as I felt then. The common gate of India and Pakistan, clearly demarcated the two countries. The flags being fluttered by all, the colorful dresses of people from different states. But then all had one agenda, to shout the best for our country. However, I was surprised to see Pakistani Currency being so openly exchanged on the Dhabbas situated just outside the Border gate. It was scorching hot and we are almost bathed in sweat, but once the entire ritual of getting the flag down started, we just forgot about the heat. I have no doubt the our friends sitting on the other side of the gate were also feeling equally patriotic about their country. But I would still say BHARAT MATA KI JAI.

India a soft target

So many years of turmoil, be it Punjab, or Kashmir. Be it Bombay blast or latest in Jaipur, Banglore or Ahmedabad. The terrorists are just getting bolder by the day. Never has India seen two consequtive days of such attacks, in two different cities. I dont want to get into the what or who is doing all this. But the need of time is strict action. The Government is too soft of the culprits. It has to stop. Let everybody know, we are capable of fighting terror. What is the use of trying them in the courts. What are we waiting for ? Another Kandahar, where again these assholes will be freed? or a plea to the president for avoiding the gallows. Such people have no religion. Such people deserve death. They have stooped low in their ideas. Attacking a place like hospital, just after the initial attacks, which were said to be of low intensity. The hospital attack had the maximum toll I guess. Doesnt the Goverment understand, these people are ruthless, and we need to deal with them in their own way. Gandhiji has preached non-violence, agreed, we are the land of Gandhi, but we have bled enough. Gallows is the the only option now and should be done without delay. Delays are making these basards more bolder. Action if not taken now, will lead to further damage. Our soldiers are capable of attacking the terror camps, and finishing them in a matter of hours, after all how many are there inthe terror camps, and arent the same on our land and our soil which is being coloured red, with our blood.

Just a random conversation

Sometimes sitting in a cab, if you pick up a conversation with the drivers, one always is surprised at the variety of topics they offer to pass your time. From, finance, to domestic, to global, anything and everything.

Yesterday while travelling, I happened to encounter one such person....his topic....girls are more forward than boys nowadays. He gave a number of examples to prove his point. I am just reproducing the same..

He says, in the past one used to see boys very confident, with girls tagging along, quitely, or sobbing or anything. Nowadays, the boys are always standing with their heads down, listening to a list of choicest expletives that girls treat them with. One very rarely sees the girls crying, but more often than not, sees the boys eyes moist.

In the past, girls were afraid of the social stigma, if their affairs would break. Nowadays, the girls change boyfriends with every dress change. He even went a step further in saying , that these contraceptive pills have given the girls overconfidence.

Drinks and fags, were a definite no. The boys were asked to stop it. Nowadays, the girls themselves feel, that its not wrong to indulge in it personally, leave alone stop their boyfriends from drinking or smoking.

To prove his point he pointed out a cab in front of ours, where the girl was leaning on the boy and the boy....well if the door of the cab wouldnt have been there, he wouldnt have been in the cab at all. On further elaboration, the taxi driver pointed out, look at the boys head, stiff as a board, staring straight ahead, while the girl is busy trying to nibble his ears!!!!!!

He says, in the past, they used to see such scenes, with the girls just uttering, "the driver can see in the mirror", maybe a sign to the driver to concentrate on the road. But nowadays, the driver is totally non-existent...as if the taxi is on auto mode. He asks, sirji, are taxi drivers supposed to have no emotions!!!!!!!!!

But truly, he ends....kudiyon ka hai jamana......

Time is being wasted on the road

Nowadays, its taking me 2 to 2 and a half hours in travelling from my residence to the office and on the way back, on a strech which shouldnt be taking more than 40 mins. Really bugs me a lot. I know(read it a number of time), its all for a good future, but then this future is having a time limit. Our government digs up roads, for laying of utility pipes, water pipes, telephone lines, etc, . They put up the same boards, for your better future. But then within a span of 2 years, we see the same boards again.

This is nothing but short sighted nature of our government. They cannot see beyond their greased palms. If they really plan for a better future, then they will see to it that for the next 25 years, there will be no more digging, the underground utilities should at least last for that much.

Take the far sightedness of the Britishers. Their drainage systems are still intact , or a few about to collapse now, but after more than 100 years of building them.

Why cant we have such a governance. A government, which when it builds roads, see ahead of 5 years-10 years and builds new cities, with broader roads. Vehicular traffic is always going to increase, do what you can do, Population is rising up fast, we need better infrastructure, an infrastructure, which at the time of upgradation also shouldnt be a cause of hinderance to the regular flow of travel.

We need visionaries, who can work without the babudom hinderances of pocketing the funds for upgradations.

But is it possible, I can only day dream about it.......maybe the day will come...whats stopping me from dreaming while sitting in my car for 2-2 and half hours.:)

Oil spikes

The Power of Backflow!

A man eats two eggs each morning for breakfast. When he goes to the grocery store he pays 60 cents a dozen. Since a dozen eggs won't last a week he normally buys two dozens at a time. One day while buying eggs he notices that the price has risen to 72 cents. The next time he buys groceries, eggs are 76 cents a dozen. When asked to explain the price of eggs the store owner says, "The price has gone up and I have to raise my price accordingly". This store buys 100 dozen eggs a day. He checked around for a better price and all the distributors have raised their prices. The distributors have begun to buy from the huge egg farms. The small egg farms have been driven out of business. The huge egg farms sell 100,000 dozen eggs a day to distributors. With no competition, they can set the price as they see fit. The distributors then have to raise their prices to the grocery stores. And on and on and on. As the man kept buying eggs the price kept going up. He saw the big egg trucks delivering 100 dozen eggs each day. Nothing changed there. He checked out the huge egg farms and found they were selling 100,000 dozen eggs to the distributors daily. Nothing had changed but the price of eggs. Then week before Thanksgiving the price of eggs shot up to $1.00 a dozen. Again he asked the grocery owner why and was told, "Cakes and baking for the holiday". The huge egg farmers know there will be a lot of baking going on and more eggs will be used. Hence, the price of eggs goes up. Expect the same thing at Christmas and other times when family cooking, baking, etc. happen. This pattern continues until the price of eggs is 2.00 a dozen. The man says, " There must be something we can do about the price of eggs". He starts talking to all the people in his town and they decide to stop buying eggs. This didn't work because everyone needed eggs. Finally, the man suggested only buying what you need. He ate 2 eggs a day. On the way home from work he would stop at the grocery and buy two eggs. Everyone in town started buying 2 or 3 eggs a day. The grocery store owner began complaining that he had too many eggs in his cooler. He told the distributor that he didn't need any eggs. Maybe wouldn't need any all week. The distributor had eggs piling up at his warehouse. He told the huge egg farms that he didn't have any room for eggs would not need any for at least two weeks. At the egg farm, the chickens just kept on laying eggs. To relieve the pressure, the huge egg farm told the distributor that they could buy the eggs at a lower price. The distributor said, " I don't have the room for the %$&^*&% eggs even if they were free". The distributor told the grocery store owner that he would lower the price of the eggs if the store would start buying again. The grocery store owner said, "I don't have room for more eggs. The customers are only buying 2 or 3 eggs at a time. Now if you were to drop the price of eggs back down to the original price, the customers would start buying by the dozen again". The distributors sent that proposal to the huge egg farmers but the egg farmers liked the price they were getting for their eggs but, those chickens just kept on laying. Finally, the egg farmers lowered the price of their eggs. But only a few cents. The customers still bought 2 or 3 eggs at a time. They said, "when the price of eggs gets down to where it was before, we will start buying by the dozen." Slowly the price of eggs started dropping. The distributors had to slash their prices to make room for the eggs coming from the egg farmers. The egg farmers cut their prices because the distributors wouldn't buy at a higher price than they were selling eggs for. Anyway, they had full warehouses and wouldn't need eggs for quite a while. And those chickens kept on laying. Eventually, the egg farmers cut their prices because they were throwing away eggs they couldn't sell. The distributors started buying again because the eggs were priced to where the stores could afford to sell them at the lower price. And the customers starting buying by the dozen again. Now, transpose this analogy to the gasoline industry. What if everyone only bought $10.00 worth of gas each time they pulled to the pump? The dealer's tanks would stay semi full all the time. The dealers wouldn't have room for the gas coming from the huge tank farms. The tank farms wouldn't have room for the gas coming from the refining plants. And the refining plants wouldn't have room for the oil being off loaded from the huge tankers coming from the oil fiends. Just $10.00 each time you buy gas. Don't fill it up. You may have to stop for gas twice a week but, the price should come down. Think about it. As an added note...When I buy $10.00 worth of gas that leaves my tank a little under quarter full. The way prices are jumping around, you can buy gas for $2.65 a gallon and then the next morning it can be $2.15. If you have your tank full of $2.65 gas you don't have room for the $2.15 gas. You might not understand the economics of only buying two eggs at a time but, you can't buy cheaper gas if your tank is full of the high priced stuff. Also, don't buy anything else at the gas station; don't give them any more of your hard earned money than what you spend on gas, until the prices come down..." Dear Friends!Petrol in Pakistan Rs17 per litrMalaysia Rs 18 per litr In India it's Rs 57 per litr Why this difference in Asia itself? World Market CRUDE Oil is not the reason for this. It's all Gain for private owners? As we are thegeneral public, or Common Man as R.K.Laxman wud hv said, we have toraise our voice, let's raise thru Emails.Forward this to all Indians who care. IT HAS BEEN CALCULATED THAT IF EVERYONE DID NOT PURCHASE A DROP OFPETROL FOR ONE DAY AND ALL AT THE SAME TIME, THE OIL COMPANIES WOULD CHOKE ON THEIR STOCKPILES.AT THE SAME TIME IT WOULD HIT THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY WITH A NET LOSS OVER 4.6 BILLION DOLLARS WHICH AFFECTS THE BOTTOM LINES OF THE OILCOMPANIES.THEREFORE "TUESDAY june 17th" HAS BEEN DECLARED "STICK IT UP THEIR BEHIND" DAY AND THE PEOPLE OF THIS NATION SHOULD NOT BUY A SINGLE DROP OF PETROL THAT DAY.THE ONLY WAY THIS CAN BE DONE IS IF YOU FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN AND AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN TO GET THE WORD OUT. WAITING ON THE GOVERNMENT TO STEP IN AND CONTROL THE PRICES IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REDUCTION AND CONTROLIN PRICES THAT THE ARAB NATIONS PROMISED TWO WEEKS AGO? REMEMBER ONE THING, NOT ONLY IS THE PRICE OF PETROL GOING UP BUT AT THE SAME TIME AIRLINES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES, TRUCKING COMPANIES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES WHICH AFFECTSPRICES ON EVERYTHING THAT IS SHIPPED. THINGS LIKE FOOD, CLOTHING, BUILDING SUPPLIES MEDICAL SUPPLIES ETC. WHO PAYS IN THE END? WE DO!WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.IF THEY DON'T GET THE MESSAGE AFTER ONEDAY, WE WILL DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN. SO DO YOUR PART AND SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. MARK YOURCALENDARS AND MAKE june 17th A DAY THAT THE CITIZENS SAY "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH"

Needs and Wants

This started as a discussion between me and my wife, while stuck in traffic, and then very sportingly, we converted it into a game. Our distance of over 30 mins was well spend, and we were really amazed by the results.
It started with our wishlists. What material things we require, and out of fun, we started segregating the things into NEED and WANT.
After having disposed of my car, the main wish has always been buying a car again. Travelling in rikshaws and taxis has now made us both realise, that we WANT a car, but dont NEED a car.
The best example can be taken from our recent trip to Juhu beach, where we were lucky to go in a rickshaw. Seeing people stuck over there in long queues, waiting for their chance to park their cars, certainly made us think it was a wise decision not to bring a car(as if i have one right now). But it certainly make me feel energetic not having to drive the distance of 20 km for more than one and half hour to reach there. It certainly makes me feel more in a good mood, just getting off near the entrance to the beach, without having to travel round and round in the car, searching for a good parking place. With good cabs also coming out, i really think I dont need a car. But i do WANT a car. Status symbol....kids growing up, ease of moving out without having to hail a rikshaw or a cab.
Similary, Gold always comes in the catergory of WANT. I can never say, I NEED gold. So what do we need? Simple , I NEED ........ :) still thinking what I NEED. I am currently infested by WANTS only. Can anybody help. What do we need and what do we want. I am certainly going to put up my needs up soon, if i have any.....

George Bush and the missing food link

George Bush says, that while the world is facing a food shortage, Indians are eating more and more. I feel there is more than what meets the eye. So, now after gaining control on most oil and petrol rich places, where should the great US of A poke its nose in.
Agriculture is one of the biggest assets of India, and its sucess not only in agriculture but also in other sectors is bringing it in frontline.
So now do they want to take control of the Agriculture rich countries also. Iraq war is a thing of past. Attacking Iran or Pakistan is not going to gain much. Arms are being produced by a dozen in the factories of USA. Unless there is a war at some place, where can USA offload these weapons.
It is just a thought, but maybe I am right. Asian countries, so far have been away from BIG BROTHERS problems. But maybe now it wants a share of agricultural pie.

One more year

So, celebrating one more year of life. Here i would like to share an interesting topic I had heard on a very Intelligent and saintly persons birthday. He says, he was never interested in celebrating birthdays. He says, if you keep a parrot in a Gold Cage, laden with diamonds, feed him the best of nuts, the parrot will still try to break the cage and fly away. Even Humans are similar to parrots, they will have everything, still they are not satisfied. Something inside them is still not happy. Humans get acquire everything, but there is some satisfaction which is still lacking. It is not want for more, it is our soul which is not happy. Our souls are like the parrot, wanting to leave our body and fly away to God. It is trapped in our body. It is atma(soul), which wants to meet Parmatma(GOD). With each birthday our souls keep on getting happy, because, now it has got one year less to approach God. It has gone closer to meeting God. So we should be happy and celebrate our birthdays, because our soul is getting happy.

Though it is good to hear, I still feel, before my atma goes and meets Parmatma, I have to fulfill certain duties. And till then I have to keep my soul in this cage called body. Sorry God, sorry soul, I will not be happy to make your union so early. Let me fulfill my duties, then I have no objections.

Self replicating emails

The spurt of self replicating emails on the net is on the rise. You are asked to click on the link and bang, the email is sent to all your contacts. While there is not much to talk about it, I am actually wondering what makes the people so curious to know what the link contains. As long as the email contains, "Who has added you", "Who has deleted you", it is ok. But when the email contains sexually explicit stuff, then I feel like laughing, because then your contacts know, that you were trying to be naughty. The same thing has happened with me on Orkut. I received a video on scrap showing some #$@@ video. Knowing that it is trouble, i didnt click on the video. What made me understand this, is the fact that the video was sent to me by a person I least expected to send it to me. I have now come to understand that the poor person, out of curiousity just clicked on video out of curiosity, and now is subject to jabs and pokes from all her contacts. Poor female is shocked not knowing what to do.

The Best is to just delete such scraps, links, emails sent by your contacts. Do it now, before, you are in a big soup.

Agricultural Land in India

I had an opportunity to hear this chatter while travelling in a share cab. Two gentlemen were discussing why agriculture production is reducing year after year. Their reasoning is as follows....

A farmer is very happy with his 16 acres of farm land. He distributes his land equally to his four sons. So each gets 4 acres. There four sons have two sons each, so they distribute their land equally. So each gets 2 acres. This land is further distributed down the generation to two sons. The new generation gets 1 acre of land. Now in this 1 acres, is the person going to build a house, do farming or what. No, the new generation farmer will give the land on annual lease to his villager and go to the city to do a job. He is quite happy being called a city person. And the villager... how much will he work on the land.

Not bad, but sadly this is the fact of life. Down the generations, India's main production is being wiped off.

Short trip to Chota Kashmir-Goregoan

Kabhi kabhi....mere boat main....vidya...kabhi khushi





Yeh train kab start hogi bhai

HOLI OVER

Holi is over...cho chad. Enjoyed it a lot. But having its side effects now. A bad cold and a headache which is not ready to go. But it is always worth it. The colours, the water, and ofcourse the BHANG. Awaiting the next holi eagerly now.

A stray thought

Holi is just a few days away now, but the kids in the building are already enjoying themselves. And I am enjoying with them. But then, come to think about it, I can currently go and play with them because of Khushi. Vikrant has grown old enough to play on his own. Khushi will also grow up soon.

Once she grows up, will i get a reason to play with the children. Frankly, I know, it will look weird. And will my own children accept the fact that their father is playing childish pranks in holi. Playing holi on the day of Holi is a norm, but this pre-holi fun is something different. And I am really going to miss this all.

Guess....age is finally going to deter me from this kind of fun in a year or two

Khushi and Dhruv's Annual Day at School

Chak dhoom dhoom, chak dhoom dhoom... Dhruv Dancing on the song

Khushi had become a mushroom

Sorry for so bad photos, the lights in the auditorium were dimmed.

Google Image of my Residence

This is the Google Earth image of my Residence. What really amazes me is the fact the my terrace tiles are so cleary showing in a separate colour. Amazing .. the technology nowadays. Just because of my terrace tiles, I feel as if my house is standing out. That is why this image is very special to me.

Khushi's Third Birthday....Hmmm..Time is flying

The kids shouting their hearts out for Khushi.

Krishna's naming ceremony

Angel and Poornima got a son again. Wondering if Dhruv is Dennis the Menace, what will this one be like








After much yes/no/maybe, they finally decided on the name Krishna. Poor Poornima, how is she gonna shout at Krishna now. Krishna is the name of God after all







Currently the youngest and the eldest of Mosara's alive. A real photop








Yes this is me, Jai Maharashtra









Is it in the Mosara genes??? How come both look similar