Home is where the heart is :)

New Life, New Universe, New Everything

Tomorrow afternoon, I will leave Jaipur, my home for the past 23 years.....and I am going to miss each and everything related to it. My life has been great and I have been a really lucky guy so far, I had all the luxuries of life, went to one of the finest schools in Jaipur, studied in a very reputed college (at least in Rajasthan :) :P) ; but most importantly I had a great family and some excellent friends one can only dream of.

I really thank god for all that He has given me. Many people are not so fortunate as I have been. Speaking of friends, I think I am very very lucky. I met some people who were real gems from the heart. Be it joy or misery, they were always there to hold my hand, to support me, to guide me. They laughed with me when I was happy, celebrated my success as if it was their own, supported me when I was down, scolded me when I did something wrong and, even shouted at me when I did not share my sorrows with them. I count myself amongst the blessed ones. Some others, even though they can't be classified as friends, really made a mark upon my life, influenced(positively) it in more than one ways.

From tomorrow onwards, most of it is going to be left behind. I'll begin a new life, meet new people, make new relations, work in new conditions. I hope that I'll meet as good people I have met so far, if not better. I hope that I'll enjoy with them as much as I have enjoyed with my friends from school and college. I hope that I'll be able to fulfill some promises I had made to myself, my family and friends. I hope......

Swades & Shahrukh Khan

There are some movies that over a period of time I have watched over and over again. One factor common among them all is that they all have been really very simple, nothing larger than life in them, have an excellent presentation of a very simple story(one you can relate to) and yes ....none of them have been major blockbuster hits.

Swades is one such movie. I normally don't watch Shahrukh Khan movies, simply because the basic story revolves mostly around his 'lover boy' image. The sole motive of the movie and Shahrukh Khan remains mainly(and quite simply) to earn as much money as it can, making young and not so young girls love him through his mannerism (often wrongly labelled as his charm and charisma). Swades is one big exception.

Shahrukh Khan, portrayed as a scientist working in NASA, comes back to his motherland in search of himself. The movie carries patriotism as the message it is trying to convey(read sell). But it is done in a very subtle manner. No shouting slogans like those in Sunny Deol movies or long emotional dialogues (akin to Manoj Kumar's movies) are there in the movie. He is not fighting terrorism or some corrupt politician (jisne chand chandi ke sikko ke liye apne desh ko bech diya ho). In fact, he tries to counter the basic problems that still plague the society even after 60 years of independence. He comes back to India to fulfil his duties towards Kaveri Amma, his nanny in his childhood. It is here that he realizes what he can do for his country and his people, trying to bring an improvement in society through education and by empowering the lower sections of society.

The greatness of the movie lies in its simplicity. No extrovert display of patriotism (or love for the girl) is used by Ashutosh Govarikar to deliver the message. Music is amazing as is expected of A R Rahman (Udit Narayan actually won National Award for Ye Tara! Vo tara!)The hero does not need to do dhishum dhishum with any villain, does not dance in the rain (or for that matter otherwise as well) doing stupid moves with his girl. He is a very common and simple man, a young guy who went abroad to study, worked there and in his adulthood realized his love for his motherland. Unlike other patriotic movies, he does not come back to village and takes farming as his occupation, rather becomes a project manager at Vikram Sarabhai Space Research Center.

Shahrukh Khan is undoubtedly the most popular man in India. But, unfortunately he is NOT a great actor. He is a good actor alright, but not in the league of Dileep Kumar, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Amitabh Bachchan and among his contemporaries Irrfan Khan. But that is how he is. In the past decade or so, Shahrukh Khan the businessman has taken precedence over Shahrukh Khan, the actor. He does not experiment with his roles, works with the directors/production houses of his choice, in the process makes crores of rupees strengthening the image of Lover Boy that he carries and now even runs an IPL team full of stars but unfortunately is a bunch of losers.

In Swades, he tries to achieve the greatness that eludes him. But regrettably, falls back to a pathetic movie like Om Shanti Om which, to the misfortune of Indian Cinema, is the biggest money making movie ever (I actually became a huge fan of SRK after this movie. Jo aadmi aisi movie ko super hit kara sakta hai, vo desh me kuchh bhi kar sakta hai). It is really disappointing that Swades did not become a block buster hit. But Indian cinema goers still love Masala more than the main ingredient. The generation ahead of us will probably remember Shahrukh Khan as the most popular man(and definitely not as a great actor) India saw in the two decade of '90s and '2000s. I would like to remember him for Swades and Chak De! India...

HUMILITY

People sometimes call me humble...I know I am not...People confuse 'not bragging' with humility and probably that's where I think people make a major mistake. I know my limitations and many a time I get irritated when people think I am better than what I actually am. But does 'not bragging' make one humble..I don't think so...

I have failed many times in many things that I have tried. Biggest among them have been not getting through JEE and CAT as of now. There can be many reasons why I failed and probably the most important one is not preparing well enough. Putting in long hours is way different from hard work.

Some time back I met a friend of mine who had scored better than me in CAT. I know that he was not as passionate and enthusiastic about CAT as I had been, neither had he put in as much effort. But the end result for both of us was pretty much same. 'Not Selected'. We laughed about it when me met. I remember his exact words....'Dekh yaar! prepare tune bhi nahi kiya aur maine bhi nahi!!! ye to hona hi tha...agli baar prepare karke denge to badhiya hoga aur call bhi aa jayegi".

To him it did not make much of a difference since it was not something he had seriously tried. But to me it did. And that was precisely the time when my ego took a hit. Had he said the same thing again or had repeated it in some other way, I would have definitely told him..."Mujhe tera nahi pata...maine to bahut mehnat ki thi". I did not say that but I would have for sure. That would have satisfied my ego even if it was for a very short moment. But probably he had said a bitter truth I had refused to accept. Had I been well prepared, I would have got through at least one entrance exam among many that I wrote. It was not him that I was trying to convince. It was me all the way.

I know people who would not utter a word about their achievements. Humility reflects in their attitude and behaviour. They don't need the world to know who/what they are. Humility is about being brave and accepting the truth. More importantly it is definitely not about self deprecation. To me, Shahrukh Khan is more humble than Amitabh Bachchan. It may appear otherwise, but that is what I feel.

Random Bakwaas

Sometimes in life, when we try to get too close to some people, we push them far away...

Pyar Wyar and All That

There are people who want to let the world know that they are committed, that they are in love. They'll put up weird status msgs on social networking sites. They'll pen poems about love and write them in the "Notes" section of Facebook inviting everybody to read. Some even upload their pics together, not one or two pics but a whole album of just the two of them (sadly in the backgrounds, generally there is nothing else to see). I wonder if they really are in love or it is the feeling of insecurity that drives them into doing such things. Can't they be discreet???I may be wrong. But, is love for display??

A debate and some disagreement

Recently Ricky Ponting crossed Allan Border as the highest test run scorer for Australia. My congratulations to him. He has been a prolific run scorer for his team and has won a lot of matches single handedly for his team. Undoubtedly he stands alongwith Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Jacques Kallis as one of the best batsmen of this era.

A nice article was written about him on Cricinfo. You can read it here. However, what followed was a nasty debate between the australian and Indian cricket fans as to who has been a better batsman over the past years. Heated arguments flowed from both sides. Some Australians and to my shock some Indians as well went on to say that Ponting is the greatest batsman of this era and Sachin Tendulkar is the most over rated batsman world cricket has seen. He has been hyped by media and is no more than a flat track bully making runs against the weakest of opposition like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

I'm not going to provide any statistics, neither am I going to compare the three. But I just want to ask these people how can they be such poor judges of batmanship. Even if we agree that Sachin has been hyped by media, he would not have been lauded by the greatest batsman of all time, Sir Don himself; by the greatest spinner of all time, Shane Warne; by some of the greatest fast bowlers of modern era, including Allan Donald and Wasim Akram. It is one thing to sit in commentary or press boxes to scribble articles heaping praise/criticism on a batsman and it is another to have a first hand experience being out there in the field playing alongside/against him. People may have difference of opinion regarding who was the best, was it the maestro from Mumbai or was it the prince from Trinidad& Tobago and it is appropriate as well. But to label him as a flat track bully makes one wonder if these people really follow cricket or are fully loaded with prejudice.

Again, it is not his records or centuries that make him the greatest batsman (he is for me, if not for anybody else), it is the humility and the grace with which he has carried himself over the past 20 years or so. To live under the eyes of media, carrying the expectations of millions and still be able to maintain the composure is something which is quite unheard of in the sporting world.

Honestly, after Tendulkar, it is only Brian Lara and Mark Waugh whose batting I have enjoyed watching on TV. Ponting may have won more matches than Sachin or Lara did for their respective teams. He may go on to make most centuries and become the highest test run scorer. Ponting is undoubtedly one of the best batsmen of this generation. Nobody can take that away from him.But he failed to win one important thing which both Tendulkar and Lara won in plenty.....hearts of spectators all over the world.

Confusion Confusion

In a few days from now, I will be embarking upon a new journey. The long awaited 'joining date' as arrived. It had been postponed from July 14 to January 4 and now it has been preponed. When I got the news I was not sure if I should be happy. I am still not sure. If there is one thing that I have dreaded in my engineering, it has been coding and this is precisely the thing that I am going to do as job. Unlike my some other friends, I was not highly affected by the delay in joining because somewhere deep in my heart I never wanted to be a software engineer.

Being the lazy person I am, how am I going to survive in the competitive environment, remains to be seen. I am not sure if I am going to last long in this job, even if they increase my salary significantly. 23 years have passed and I still don't know what I want from my life. Money is important but so is the time needed to enjoy it. Money is important but so is ego. Money is important but so is peace of mind. I wanted to do MBA from a good college as soon as I graduated from my college. But it was more of peer pressure I guess and more importantly a long cherished dream of studying in an elite institution. Why MBA, and why me??? I am still searching for answers. I don't think many people know the answers either but they 'Just Do It'. Because this is what we're supposed to do. This is what leads to high paying jobs, isn't it?? And in our present society money means both success and security. kya karte ho ye chhodo, kitna kama rahe ho????

A friend of mine did only what she wanted to do. Undeterred by everybody(including me) who told her otherwise. Amongst all my friends, she is the only one who always seems to be enjoying, always with a smile on her face. She was the topper of her college, won gold medal for the best allrounder, but chose to go in a field which is full of struggle, in which money and recognition comes very late(If it comes, that is) until and unless you are very lucky or have loads of money or have great contacts. It's not money that she's after, nor recognition either. It is the satisfaction that she gets from her work that always leads to a smile on her face. Lot of times, I read and heard that it is the fear of failure that is the biggest hindrance in a man's success. I realise now what that means. We are too afraid to break away from the well trodden path, too afraid to come out of our comfort zones. I wish I had my friend's guts.....

Fact for the Day 10

In our childhood the boys mostly used to read Hardy Boys by Franklin W Dixon while the girls used to read Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene. However, no person by the name of Franklin W Dixon or Carolyn Keene ever existed. There were a number of authors who used these as pen names, both for Stratemeyer Syndicate. Read more here and here.

ek chhoti si list....aur bahut saari yaadein...

Walkman/Xerox

Cosco

Bisleri

Maggi

Luna

Good knight

Flotters

Aspirin

Scooty

Ranger Cycle

Surf

Rin

Kachhua Chhap

Pilot pen

Rasna

Vim

No explanations for whatever is written above. This list was compiled by Ankush, Chetna, Mayuri and yours truly in canteen with a single but highly valuable input from Anirudh Jain (Gujju).

Much hue and cry was raised when this list was lost because it was written on a very important piece of paper. Reminds of the good old times, actually the best days of engineering while working(read not working) on project. Missing all the friends today.

Happy Friendship Day

Tolerance and Success

Our will of not tolerating Rakhi Sawant is far outweighed by her will of making us tolerate her.

Isn't this the secret of success....."To have your way, come what may"