Quite a long time !!!!! Its like homecoming for me !!! Life is going fine, if not good. At times I stand to suspect my intentions of writing, am I becoming an escapist, it is when I lie down to introspect I feel that this virtual world o’ blogging has become an nice escape for me, especially when I feel really low.
Things are moving at its usual pace but still there is this intermittent feeling of having a big void in my life which keeps on creeping back from time to time. Work is going fine but still there is no feeling of Happiness, work has resumed its pace but still there is no satisfaction, it seems that this Happiness is still far away from me …………. Why is it called Happiness ??? what is its true meaning ??? We keep running after Happiness but it is such an elusive and mysterious thing that more you run after it, more farther it gets from us, moreover I feel that the term Happiness is not quite apt rather it should be Pursuit of Happiness, which is quite reasonably explained in the movie Pursuit of Happiness. This movie holds a special place in my heart as it shows a true story of a man’s ordeal with his life and destiny and his struggle against all odds in life.
Life takes many turns, many ups and downs but still probably the downs seems to be quite longer and it is an empirical truth that if things are not moving the right way in your life or in and around you it has a greater bearing on your life’s overall Happiness.
I am still running around searching for this elusive thing and probably this is my Pursuit of Happiness !!!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Saturday, January 12, 2008
HALLA BOL
After a long time I went for watching a movie, the movie being Halla Bol. The initial Hoopla and the Hype for the movie was the only compelling reason for us to go and watch the movie on the first day itself, with a star studded cast of Ajay Devgan, Pankaj Kapur, Darshan Jariwala and Vidya Balan was the other major push !!!!!!!!! Directed by Raj Kumar Santoshi, the movie is all about resurgence of the society against the necessary evil of the society !!!!!!!!!
The film starts with the upcoming of a small town guy to the Max City to realize his dreams. The main Protagonist, Sameer Khan, portrayed by Ajay Devgan comes from a middle class family of a small town and is interested in Theatre/Drama/Roadshow !!!!!! His Guru is the legendry Pankaj Kapur, who has proven his mantle in parallel cinema as well as commercial cinema; the Guru hosts Road Shows, the Nukkad Nataks and tries to awaken the Society, which is already in Deep Sleep or rather Dead !!!!!! He decides to come to Mumbai to give his non descript career a try and as usual in Hindi Cinema succeeds in his efforts and ultimately becomes a Super Star !!!!!!!!!! He marries his old time Love Vidya Balan and keeps the nation Rocking !!!!!!!!!!! Till now the story is loosely based on the life of Bollywood’s King Khan. Then with increasing popularity the protagonist adapts the ways and lifestyle of his very Filmi industry, learns how to use False Emotions, how to Tell a Lie, how to intermingle in the society where all friends are Fair Weather Friends. He climbs up the ladder of success and deserts every body belonging to his past, starting from his Guru to his Parents to his Wife !!!!!! Then suddenly his life takes a full circle and he witnesses a murder in a party he is attending and then starts the real movie. He fights for the victim after initial hesitation and fights against a Strong Lobby of Politician, Industrialist, Police and Power Brokers, who eventually happens to be the (you guessed it right) Father of the Victimizers (again that old “Ameer Baap ki Bigdi Aulaadein” Concept). The initially deserted Guruji comes to his recue when he is in grave danger and under threat of his life (uh oh, I forgot to tell you that the Guruji in Pankaj kapur plays the role of a Dacoit turned Saintly Man) and then Guruji encourages him to take the Fight to Streets, not in literal senses but in the form of Nukkad Nataks and saves him even by taking up the arms against the villains, which he have denounced long before !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ultimately the story turns in favour of the Hero and he wins despite of some Dhaansu Pitai Shitai of the Hero and finally the villains gets punished !!!!!!!!!
HURRAYYYYYY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well that was the film with all the Masala and full of Every Damn Formulae Santoshi could think of !!!!!!!!!!!!! I will tell you one interesting fact about the film that its a Big Spoof on every strata of the society and on many big personalities as well. To start with, the initial part of the protagonist’s life is based on King Khan’s Life. Then he fights against the villians, the Industrialist is based on the life of Dr. Vijay Mallya, Politician on the life of any damn politician you can think of and theres spoof on a Swami Ji, which I could not decide whether it was Baba Ramdev or Sri Sri Sri Ravi Shankar !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In filmy industry there was a spoof on Salman Khan (at least going by the physical appearance of one man who played Ajay devgan’s competitor), Vidya Balan in a role of Gauri Khan (in some sorts) and Pankaj Kapur in the form of Sri Asha Ram Ji Baapu !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Apart from it there was Verbal Slander or say Banter on many personalities and one memorable dialogue (or say the only one I could remember) was on Big B, the dialogue says “Jo star koi bhi product Endorse karta hai, kabhi Use nahi karta” (Amitabh Bachhan endorsing Navratan Tel) !!!!!!
The Biggest Drawback of the film is its Storyline, the story line being so Poor and Dull gives no chance to any damn actor to turn it around !!!!!!!!!!!! The movie in its totality, appears to be a desperate attempt to Mix all the Success Formulaes in one go and expect to come up with a Super Duper Hit Movie !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well the audience which came out was a bit confused and a lot frustrated because till the end they were not able to make out whether this movie should be called a good spoof or a movie with a message to Awaken the Society !!!!!!!!!!!
The Sore part of movie is its story line and the direction as there was little left to the actors to Strut their Stuff !!!!!!!!! Ajay Devgan quite didnt leave a mark on audience, Vidya Balan was merely & sheerly wasted, the only man who scored out well was the seasoned actor in Pankaj Kapur as Siddhu !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pankaj Kapur is the only one to watch out in movie !!!!!!!!!!!!!
In all the movie was a poor attempt and a Sheer Wastage of some Talented Actors, Sheer Wastage of Audience’s Time and above all Sheer Wastage of Rs. 200 of the movie goer and that too in the Times of Month of Tax !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The film starts with the upcoming of a small town guy to the Max City to realize his dreams. The main Protagonist, Sameer Khan, portrayed by Ajay Devgan comes from a middle class family of a small town and is interested in Theatre/Drama/Roadshow !!!!!! His Guru is the legendry Pankaj Kapur, who has proven his mantle in parallel cinema as well as commercial cinema; the Guru hosts Road Shows, the Nukkad Nataks and tries to awaken the Society, which is already in Deep Sleep or rather Dead !!!!!! He decides to come to Mumbai to give his non descript career a try and as usual in Hindi Cinema succeeds in his efforts and ultimately becomes a Super Star !!!!!!!!!! He marries his old time Love Vidya Balan and keeps the nation Rocking !!!!!!!!!!! Till now the story is loosely based on the life of Bollywood’s King Khan. Then with increasing popularity the protagonist adapts the ways and lifestyle of his very Filmi industry, learns how to use False Emotions, how to Tell a Lie, how to intermingle in the society where all friends are Fair Weather Friends. He climbs up the ladder of success and deserts every body belonging to his past, starting from his Guru to his Parents to his Wife !!!!!! Then suddenly his life takes a full circle and he witnesses a murder in a party he is attending and then starts the real movie. He fights for the victim after initial hesitation and fights against a Strong Lobby of Politician, Industrialist, Police and Power Brokers, who eventually happens to be the (you guessed it right) Father of the Victimizers (again that old “Ameer Baap ki Bigdi Aulaadein” Concept). The initially deserted Guruji comes to his recue when he is in grave danger and under threat of his life (uh oh, I forgot to tell you that the Guruji in Pankaj kapur plays the role of a Dacoit turned Saintly Man) and then Guruji encourages him to take the Fight to Streets, not in literal senses but in the form of Nukkad Nataks and saves him even by taking up the arms against the villains, which he have denounced long before !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ultimately the story turns in favour of the Hero and he wins despite of some Dhaansu Pitai Shitai of the Hero and finally the villains gets punished !!!!!!!!!
HURRAYYYYYY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well that was the film with all the Masala and full of Every Damn Formulae Santoshi could think of !!!!!!!!!!!!! I will tell you one interesting fact about the film that its a Big Spoof on every strata of the society and on many big personalities as well. To start with, the initial part of the protagonist’s life is based on King Khan’s Life. Then he fights against the villians, the Industrialist is based on the life of Dr. Vijay Mallya, Politician on the life of any damn politician you can think of and theres spoof on a Swami Ji, which I could not decide whether it was Baba Ramdev or Sri Sri Sri Ravi Shankar !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In filmy industry there was a spoof on Salman Khan (at least going by the physical appearance of one man who played Ajay devgan’s competitor), Vidya Balan in a role of Gauri Khan (in some sorts) and Pankaj Kapur in the form of Sri Asha Ram Ji Baapu !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Apart from it there was Verbal Slander or say Banter on many personalities and one memorable dialogue (or say the only one I could remember) was on Big B, the dialogue says “Jo star koi bhi product Endorse karta hai, kabhi Use nahi karta” (Amitabh Bachhan endorsing Navratan Tel) !!!!!!
The Biggest Drawback of the film is its Storyline, the story line being so Poor and Dull gives no chance to any damn actor to turn it around !!!!!!!!!!!! The movie in its totality, appears to be a desperate attempt to Mix all the Success Formulaes in one go and expect to come up with a Super Duper Hit Movie !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well the audience which came out was a bit confused and a lot frustrated because till the end they were not able to make out whether this movie should be called a good spoof or a movie with a message to Awaken the Society !!!!!!!!!!!
The Sore part of movie is its story line and the direction as there was little left to the actors to Strut their Stuff !!!!!!!!! Ajay Devgan quite didnt leave a mark on audience, Vidya Balan was merely & sheerly wasted, the only man who scored out well was the seasoned actor in Pankaj Kapur as Siddhu !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pankaj Kapur is the only one to watch out in movie !!!!!!!!!!!!!
In all the movie was a poor attempt and a Sheer Wastage of some Talented Actors, Sheer Wastage of Audience’s Time and above all Sheer Wastage of Rs. 200 of the movie goer and that too in the Times of Month of Tax !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
A Trip to the State of Prosperity stained with Crimson and Marred by its own Fundamentalism
The Beginning of the year witnessed my trip to the state of Gujarat, to Ahmedabad. My stay over there was of three days at a decent 3 Star hotel which was a Self Proclaimed 5 Star. Well I was lucky enough to get the Pool Side Room but Alas there was nobody (or shall I say No Birdies) to watch at the Pool Side. The weather was a bit colder in comparison to the warmer climes of our Max City. Travelling was even comfortable although taking the train route was a bit tad discomfort. Well still there was a bit of excitement as I was about to visit a new state although I was forewarned by my roomies that you will get bored in that city, as its a DRY State, ha ha ha ha ha they were right from the very beginning.
Well I went there for Training and hoped to see some places and above all the Gujarati Kudiyan (Immortalized by Jassi in his Peppy Number "Dil Le Gayi Kudi Gujarat Ki") but the training part of my trip loomed large on the whole trip. My Boss (Oh My Immortal Lord) used to start the day at 09.30 AM and used to end it by 10.00 or 11.00 PM singing the Perpetual Rhythm of Expletives and Chatting in a Language, so foreign to me or say too sweet for me, The Gujarati lingo. Hitherto frustrated and let down by the Sweet Beast in him, I surrendered on Day One and Two but Retaliated on third day and asked him to leave us by 5.00 PM (well honestly I got support from a guy who had his train at 6.00 PM) but that was the degree of Tiredness that I could not think of anything than Retiring to my Bed as I had to catch the train back to Mumbai at 10.00 pm.
The three days which passed by were really very Hectic, even as per the normal company standards, during these days apart from sitting for almost 12 to 14 hrs we were exposed with the Choicest Abuses and Constant Chattering and Blabbering at 220 kmph !!!!!!!!!!! To no avail we listened and listened and wondered when this blabbering, Lava Puking Audi A6 with Barbaric Onslaught will stop speaking and give our Asses a bit of rest to stretch !!!!!!!!! The second best thing ‘bout the Orator was his Inability to Realize a Single Fact that we the Poor Sons of Soil were not able to comprehend a Single Word of Gujarati !!!!!!!!!!!!! Half the time he was too Fast (no need to tell you, even Furious too) and the rest Half comprised of Gujarati !!!!!!!!!!!!! Now stop laughing at the irony and my helplessness !!!!!! The so called Teaher of Ours was a Self Styled Commando of some sorts, he told us about every nuance of business but forgot to tell us actually How to conduct the Business !!!!!!!!!!
On the last day of our stay in Gujarat, our Boss took us to a Gujarati Restaurant and gave us an opportunity to lay our hands on Ethnic Gujarati Thali, the Food itself elicited a mixed response from our side as half the food was sweet (the Quintessential Sweetened Gujarati Dal) and the other half was as per our taste !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well during my short stay in Ahmedabad I noticed two things in particular, first one was their Undying Fetish for Gold or say Jewellery and the second one was the Mobile Phone !!!!!!!!!! Just thinking about it sitting here I can easily deduce that outa 10 odd Gujaratis 9 wears Gold and 8 carries expensive mobiles !!!!!!!!! I love to call them Gold loving, mobile flashing Gujjus !!!!!!!!!! Well I have developed a new meaning “Gujjus: Gold is Just Us (a poor attempt, I know)”. Interacting with people around there I discovered a new thing and that was their praise for their Re Elected CM. I unearthed this very fact and on top of that substantiated by my Boss that they seem to forget or ignore the Darker Side of their Master !!!!!!!!!!! They seem to forget what has he perpetrated some years back !!!!!!!!!!! Furthermore I can see that Fundamentalism Seeping Down to the Bottom most planes of Societal Pyramid, as people has started taking it as very Normal !!!!!!!!!!! This is the beginning of a new Fanaticism which will probably go ahead to mark a Fatal Blow to the Intricate Fabrication of the Society as a whole !!!!!!!!!!!!! Although I agree that there is merit in his sort of administration with so much development and progress oriented policies, but one cannot just ignore the deepest sort of crime (or shall I say Treason Against State) in which he has been a Kingpin !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well I am not thinking of writing something Smeared by My Political Leanings or carrying some Negative Political Connotation so I should better Stop here.
Well I went there for Training and hoped to see some places and above all the Gujarati Kudiyan (Immortalized by Jassi in his Peppy Number "Dil Le Gayi Kudi Gujarat Ki") but the training part of my trip loomed large on the whole trip. My Boss (Oh My Immortal Lord) used to start the day at 09.30 AM and used to end it by 10.00 or 11.00 PM singing the Perpetual Rhythm of Expletives and Chatting in a Language, so foreign to me or say too sweet for me, The Gujarati lingo. Hitherto frustrated and let down by the Sweet Beast in him, I surrendered on Day One and Two but Retaliated on third day and asked him to leave us by 5.00 PM (well honestly I got support from a guy who had his train at 6.00 PM) but that was the degree of Tiredness that I could not think of anything than Retiring to my Bed as I had to catch the train back to Mumbai at 10.00 pm.
The three days which passed by were really very Hectic, even as per the normal company standards, during these days apart from sitting for almost 12 to 14 hrs we were exposed with the Choicest Abuses and Constant Chattering and Blabbering at 220 kmph !!!!!!!!!!! To no avail we listened and listened and wondered when this blabbering, Lava Puking Audi A6 with Barbaric Onslaught will stop speaking and give our Asses a bit of rest to stretch !!!!!!!!! The second best thing ‘bout the Orator was his Inability to Realize a Single Fact that we the Poor Sons of Soil were not able to comprehend a Single Word of Gujarati !!!!!!!!!!!!! Half the time he was too Fast (no need to tell you, even Furious too) and the rest Half comprised of Gujarati !!!!!!!!!!!!! Now stop laughing at the irony and my helplessness !!!!!! The so called Teaher of Ours was a Self Styled Commando of some sorts, he told us about every nuance of business but forgot to tell us actually How to conduct the Business !!!!!!!!!!
On the last day of our stay in Gujarat, our Boss took us to a Gujarati Restaurant and gave us an opportunity to lay our hands on Ethnic Gujarati Thali, the Food itself elicited a mixed response from our side as half the food was sweet (the Quintessential Sweetened Gujarati Dal) and the other half was as per our taste !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well during my short stay in Ahmedabad I noticed two things in particular, first one was their Undying Fetish for Gold or say Jewellery and the second one was the Mobile Phone !!!!!!!!!! Just thinking about it sitting here I can easily deduce that outa 10 odd Gujaratis 9 wears Gold and 8 carries expensive mobiles !!!!!!!!! I love to call them Gold loving, mobile flashing Gujjus !!!!!!!!!! Well I have developed a new meaning “Gujjus: Gold is Just Us (a poor attempt, I know)”. Interacting with people around there I discovered a new thing and that was their praise for their Re Elected CM. I unearthed this very fact and on top of that substantiated by my Boss that they seem to forget or ignore the Darker Side of their Master !!!!!!!!!!! They seem to forget what has he perpetrated some years back !!!!!!!!!!! Furthermore I can see that Fundamentalism Seeping Down to the Bottom most planes of Societal Pyramid, as people has started taking it as very Normal !!!!!!!!!!! This is the beginning of a new Fanaticism which will probably go ahead to mark a Fatal Blow to the Intricate Fabrication of the Society as a whole !!!!!!!!!!!!! Although I agree that there is merit in his sort of administration with so much development and progress oriented policies, but one cannot just ignore the deepest sort of crime (or shall I say Treason Against State) in which he has been a Kingpin !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well I am not thinking of writing something Smeared by My Political Leanings or carrying some Negative Political Connotation so I should better Stop here.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
A New Year – A New Dawn.......
Another year passed by leaving its Trail on the Dust road of my Life. A very eventful year, full of ups and downs, but I must be honest with myself as ups outnumbered downs. The year started with the last examinations (hope so) of my life, the fourth sem of MBA, followed by a big holiday as that was the period between the end of my academic life and starting of my professional life, a Wholesome Holiday of Four Months!!!!!!!!! Just returning back from Mumbai, I was on a Social Trail (me, the Big Social Monster) which started with attending my flat mate’s sister’s wedding, again a great fun as all friends were there in the Lake City of Udaipur. We had lot of Daaru-Shaaru at the Lake Side and had a gala time over there. Then the social monster in me proceeded to attend a second marriage, again of one my ol’ pal’s sister’s wedding in Kota, a place where I spent three fun filled years of my life, err..... those were my Graduation days. Again Daaru was Flowing like the river Ganges in full throttle at its origin in mountains, near Hrishikesh. The time initially passed out well but started getting tiresome and boresome in between the Holidays as majority of time I was just Orkutting. Pitying on me, my parents took me to Bikaner for a Dekko !!!!!!!!!! As the end was approaching nearby I got a fresh lease of life with my friends wedding, the Eternal Gruesome BANIYA (uh oh Sandeep Garg for some of you) on the last patch of the holidays, it was great fun and I was there in complete attendance and need not say the booze and all which followed generously !!!!!!!!!!
Around my “Happy Buddaayyyyyy” time I left for Mumbai again to start a new chapter in my life, my professional life. I arrived in Mumbai and went through all the required training shraining and induction and was provided with an accommodation in a Hotel, not so good – not so bad type !!!!!!!!! Around came the day when I entered my office and started working. There wasn’t as much work initially and was just acclimatizing to the working environs and slowly it picked up and I started on full throttle, feeling the Heat. The time passed by and I was enjoying it as I had a so called Good Profile in hand and had made a new set of friends at my workplace, a really nice small group and then suddenly came the MUNAMI (Merger Tsunami) Whoosh.......... gone was everything and I felt like I landed up somewhere on a Big Big Island, probably that was bigger than my Mainland; alienated I felt the pinch, the pain deep inside but kept my undying hopes up high and really high like on the top of the mast of my wrecked boat. Well today I won’t write about it anymore, otherwise I will sound like an eternal Cry Baby.
See the God’s Wrath!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well in between the time from my joining till the beginning of winters, I didn’t do much of great work but yes indulged myself in some Extraordinary Spending as now I had the power of Plastic Money, the Silent Killer, the Credit Card !!!!!!! Well between that I just did one good thing as I shopped for some presents for my family members. I enjoyed all the parties and threw quite a few gala parties even. A special mention goes to my trip to Lonavala/Khandala with my roomies (special reference and thanks to Bubu), it was an unplanned one but a good outing from the stressful life of Mumbai.
Around the year end came my Sister’s Wedding, the most Graceful, Challenging and Emotional Event of one’s life. The wedding was a Grand Occasion and turned out to be a Much Grander than Imagined Event. The turnout was unexpected from all side, meaning many people turned in to grace the occasion from my Father’s side, my Mother’s side, from my side and of course my Sisters side; everybody was in full attendance, be it Family friends or my friends. Feeling proud to say that many of my friends turned up despite their busy schedules and I appreciate their courage to face the Imminent Fearsome Monster of their Bosses.
Among the attendees Bhanu & Hemu deserve a special mention as they ferried others with great Enthu and equal warmness and came the retro funk, going by the name of Rohit Kaul or shall I say Rohit Cool with all his collection of Trance, revving up and making people groove to his tunes. From Bombay came the Party Animals, Anu and Mehul to liven and lighten up the moment, Grooving to Hip Hop, Spreading Cheers and Spilling Wine and along came Bubu, as usual at his funniest best. A Friend came in from Down South of country, Chennai, Nikin, a Man in Black or shall I say Man – All Black, enjoying and partying all the way !!!!!!!!! and I am still wondering why he took the flight, when he could Fly and save the Money. Friends came in from Fastidious Delhi, Racing Gurgaon, laid back Deoli, and good ol’ Kota, Ballu Dada from Delhi, looking sexy as ever but please don’t pay attention to his Receding Hairline leaving his Biwi Darling alone in the Capital; Devendra, The Bhow Bhow came, leaving his F****** Studies and all the Sister Darlings; Hitesh, our Garibon ka Salman Khan from Deoli again leaving his Biwi Darling and Daughter Darling back at Home and Manish from Kota bringing in his loads of Smile and spreading his Cheerful Smile all the way. The para, although quite a long one will remain totally incomplete if I forget to mention Surendra, The Baantu: King of Baantu Tribesmen who was by my side from day one, helping me in pursuing all the petty work.
The year has come to an end and please dont ask me about my New Year Party as I was F****** Pigeonholed in my Home, all thanks to my Party Pauper (really, i mean it..... who else my Saviour in Mud Laden Armour, the Great Bubu) apart from a short stint my Bachchi presented to me but even that to No Avail as we hit the road and came back as everybody else was feeling sleepy. Finally I spent my 31st reading a novel, in my bed.
A New Dawn...........
Although its not so bright outa here, sitting in Office and Writing but still a New Dawn has set in on the Horizon, bringing the Ray of Hopes, a Quantum of Hopes in all direction, in my personal life, my professional life and my social life.
This New Year, 2008; May the Almighty Shower Lots of Happiness and Prosperity in Lives of All !!!!!!!!!
Amen...............
Around my “Happy Buddaayyyyyy” time I left for Mumbai again to start a new chapter in my life, my professional life. I arrived in Mumbai and went through all the required training shraining and induction and was provided with an accommodation in a Hotel, not so good – not so bad type !!!!!!!!! Around came the day when I entered my office and started working. There wasn’t as much work initially and was just acclimatizing to the working environs and slowly it picked up and I started on full throttle, feeling the Heat. The time passed by and I was enjoying it as I had a so called Good Profile in hand and had made a new set of friends at my workplace, a really nice small group and then suddenly came the MUNAMI (Merger Tsunami) Whoosh.......... gone was everything and I felt like I landed up somewhere on a Big Big Island, probably that was bigger than my Mainland; alienated I felt the pinch, the pain deep inside but kept my undying hopes up high and really high like on the top of the mast of my wrecked boat. Well today I won’t write about it anymore, otherwise I will sound like an eternal Cry Baby.
See the God’s Wrath!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well in between the time from my joining till the beginning of winters, I didn’t do much of great work but yes indulged myself in some Extraordinary Spending as now I had the power of Plastic Money, the Silent Killer, the Credit Card !!!!!!! Well between that I just did one good thing as I shopped for some presents for my family members. I enjoyed all the parties and threw quite a few gala parties even. A special mention goes to my trip to Lonavala/Khandala with my roomies (special reference and thanks to Bubu), it was an unplanned one but a good outing from the stressful life of Mumbai.
Around the year end came my Sister’s Wedding, the most Graceful, Challenging and Emotional Event of one’s life. The wedding was a Grand Occasion and turned out to be a Much Grander than Imagined Event. The turnout was unexpected from all side, meaning many people turned in to grace the occasion from my Father’s side, my Mother’s side, from my side and of course my Sisters side; everybody was in full attendance, be it Family friends or my friends. Feeling proud to say that many of my friends turned up despite their busy schedules and I appreciate their courage to face the Imminent Fearsome Monster of their Bosses.
Among the attendees Bhanu & Hemu deserve a special mention as they ferried others with great Enthu and equal warmness and came the retro funk, going by the name of Rohit Kaul or shall I say Rohit Cool with all his collection of Trance, revving up and making people groove to his tunes. From Bombay came the Party Animals, Anu and Mehul to liven and lighten up the moment, Grooving to Hip Hop, Spreading Cheers and Spilling Wine and along came Bubu, as usual at his funniest best. A Friend came in from Down South of country, Chennai, Nikin, a Man in Black or shall I say Man – All Black, enjoying and partying all the way !!!!!!!!! and I am still wondering why he took the flight, when he could Fly and save the Money. Friends came in from Fastidious Delhi, Racing Gurgaon, laid back Deoli, and good ol’ Kota, Ballu Dada from Delhi, looking sexy as ever but please don’t pay attention to his Receding Hairline leaving his Biwi Darling alone in the Capital; Devendra, The Bhow Bhow came, leaving his F****** Studies and all the Sister Darlings; Hitesh, our Garibon ka Salman Khan from Deoli again leaving his Biwi Darling and Daughter Darling back at Home and Manish from Kota bringing in his loads of Smile and spreading his Cheerful Smile all the way. The para, although quite a long one will remain totally incomplete if I forget to mention Surendra, The Baantu: King of Baantu Tribesmen who was by my side from day one, helping me in pursuing all the petty work.
The year has come to an end and please dont ask me about my New Year Party as I was F****** Pigeonholed in my Home, all thanks to my Party Pauper (really, i mean it..... who else my Saviour in Mud Laden Armour, the Great Bubu) apart from a short stint my Bachchi presented to me but even that to No Avail as we hit the road and came back as everybody else was feeling sleepy. Finally I spent my 31st reading a novel, in my bed.
A New Dawn...........
Although its not so bright outa here, sitting in Office and Writing but still a New Dawn has set in on the Horizon, bringing the Ray of Hopes, a Quantum of Hopes in all direction, in my personal life, my professional life and my social life.
This New Year, 2008; May the Almighty Shower Lots of Happiness and Prosperity in Lives of All !!!!!!!!!
Amen...............
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Novel: Devil To Pay - Harrold Robbins
The first thing that comes to my mind is the author's grip on me and the second stark reality about this novel was the pace at which I read it, in flat two days !!! Well there were many contributing factors to it, like my Vellapan, Boredom and above all the Sexy, Saucy and Raunchy Narration by the author.
The novel is set against the deadly backdrop of Latin America and the deadliest among all, in Colombia, where the major export (and its major cash crop) of this country to the world is Cocaine apart from Coffee, the famous Coffee Arabica. The protagonist of the novel is an American Lady, going by the name of Nash Novak, a successful business woman and master strategist, who runs a successful coffee shop in US of A who inherits a coffee plantation in none other than deadly Colombia !!! She comes to claim her inheritance, left to her by her father, a genius coffee grower hoping that it will bail her out of her financial troubles back home, unknowingly drawn in by the Colombian Drug Cartel. The moment she lands up in Colombia, she is drawn into the deadliest battle against the Villian, a Colombian Drug Mafioso, Don Pablo Escobar who wants to use that place as a laboratory for Cocaine. From Colombia she lands up in China to sell her produce (Coffee re... whats on your mind ???) but again get entangled with Chinese Triad, again a Chinese underworld gang and running for her life she comes back to Colombia and start the ultimate fight with the billionaire mafia with the help of none other than our Hero (no need to say he is an American too) !!! Finally she wins the battle, despite being abducted, raped and thrashed with the help of our Hero, the American agencies like DEA, CIA, FBI, NSA and blah blah blah and what not ???
The moral of the story, there is always a Happy Ending, Come What May !!! The best part of the novel is the pace at which it is set........ A fast moving and taut storyline with lots of Crimson, lots of steamy sex escapades (truly Robinson type !!! I still cant forget his Novel The Betsy), lots of brutality and finally a palatable end. A good time pass for the weekend.
The novel has left me enriched with the History, Geography and Culture of Colombia and ya yes of course with deep insight of the world's favourite drink, the Coffee or Cafe and the world's famous smoke, the Cocaine. Otherwise I just knew the types of coffee on the menu card of Baristas, CCDs, Mochas. Well to share with you coffee is of two types, one is the famous Arabica and another is the inferior one Robusta. Furthermore not to forget the great deal of information on Cocaine and the Date Rape Drug, Scopalamine !!!
The novel is set against the deadly backdrop of Latin America and the deadliest among all, in Colombia, where the major export (and its major cash crop) of this country to the world is Cocaine apart from Coffee, the famous Coffee Arabica. The protagonist of the novel is an American Lady, going by the name of Nash Novak, a successful business woman and master strategist, who runs a successful coffee shop in US of A who inherits a coffee plantation in none other than deadly Colombia !!! She comes to claim her inheritance, left to her by her father, a genius coffee grower hoping that it will bail her out of her financial troubles back home, unknowingly drawn in by the Colombian Drug Cartel. The moment she lands up in Colombia, she is drawn into the deadliest battle against the Villian, a Colombian Drug Mafioso, Don Pablo Escobar who wants to use that place as a laboratory for Cocaine. From Colombia she lands up in China to sell her produce (Coffee re... whats on your mind ???) but again get entangled with Chinese Triad, again a Chinese underworld gang and running for her life she comes back to Colombia and start the ultimate fight with the billionaire mafia with the help of none other than our Hero (no need to say he is an American too) !!! Finally she wins the battle, despite being abducted, raped and thrashed with the help of our Hero, the American agencies like DEA, CIA, FBI, NSA and blah blah blah and what not ???
The moral of the story, there is always a Happy Ending, Come What May !!! The best part of the novel is the pace at which it is set........ A fast moving and taut storyline with lots of Crimson, lots of steamy sex escapades (truly Robinson type !!! I still cant forget his Novel The Betsy), lots of brutality and finally a palatable end. A good time pass for the weekend.
The novel has left me enriched with the History, Geography and Culture of Colombia and ya yes of course with deep insight of the world's favourite drink, the Coffee or Cafe and the world's famous smoke, the Cocaine. Otherwise I just knew the types of coffee on the menu card of Baristas, CCDs, Mochas. Well to share with you coffee is of two types, one is the famous Arabica and another is the inferior one Robusta. Furthermore not to forget the great deal of information on Cocaine and the Date Rape Drug, Scopalamine !!!
Monday, December 24, 2007
The Quintessential MBA: Pregnant with Ideas
The last week has been so tumultuous with such ups and downs that it seems my life has become a roller coaster ride of Walt Disney World. Fresh from a B-School, harbouring a full rainbow spectrum of Dreams (or shall I say Day Dreams), with all those vigour, passion, energy and above all Pregnant with Ideas type, joined a reputed organization with a plum profile or at least it seemed so in my initial days at the organization but suddenly as expected my life took full circle just like a roller coaster ride and I landed up in another famous vertical or notoriously infamous vertical, The Collections Department, infamously known as Recoveries section of the organization.
The transition from a plum profile to a rather low key profile was not that easy for me but let me be honest I enjoyed the second Honeymoon even more !!! because again there was a lull period in between the transition from one vertical to another vertical. Honeymoon as usual was a great time again and I was lucky that I got to go for a second Honeymoon in just Six Months of Time, which shows the Irony that in just six months you are thrown from one profile to another, on the contrary I was just starting to get the feel of the first profile and lo ! there came the dictum that your department has been merged and you have to move on !!!!!
The Unfortunate me was thrown to Collections, it was a sea change for me and yes of course was a shattering experience, just like the Mirror Breaking Scene of Hindi Cinema; "Is Dil ke tukde hazaar hue, koi yahaan gira koi vahaan gira". Well after all the desperate attempts to move into some relevant department and the developments thereupon, i.e. the imbroglio with super bosses and all, I finally gave up and joined my new assignment, new Boss - new people, I knew I had to start afresh !!! Furthermore no need to mention that all the work, I did in my previous profile got washed away and literally went down the drain.
It was a new day, a new dawn for me again, I joined despite repeated admonitions from my friends and colleagues. Initial two days were good as I was trying to adjust and relocate from one location to another, was in the process of getting a hint on what exactly am I supposed to do ??? My real ordeal started when I was asked to start the work and set roaring on full throttle !!! at this moment I came to understand that what actually I have to do. My JD (Job Description, not Jack Daniels re.... you tippler !!!) involves Calling up people and reminding them that they have to pay back the money they have taken (a shattering experience, just was thinking a MBA doing this calling thing, Naaaaaahh !!!), sending legal notices to them (am I a Law Graduate, I am the Quintessential MBA with Rainbow coloured Dreams, Naaaaaahh !!!) and lastly comes the Recovery part, visiting people's house and demanding the payback !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sounds like a typical recoveries agent as portrayed by our Fourth Pillar (which now desperately needs another pillar to support themselves, the TRPs) the same fearsome, ghoulish guy, who can involve in any type of skull drudgery to whip out money or your skin (the choice is yours type !!!). My current assignment is to call up people and remind them about the payback, as I have not graduated to that level where I become the spine chilling, fear inducing recoveries man, but even this is a task which I don't consider a MBA should be doing because my dreams are different and very colourful on top of that !!! I am the one who passed out from a mediocre B-School and cherish the dreams of becoming a CEO, one day; so I feel Calling is not my Cuppo' Tea. Treading and steering ahead on my path, some day I will reach the third level and graduate to become the recoveries man.
A passing thought crossed my mind that I will be the first person to go and watch the new Sanju Baba movie "EMI"; who else can connect to the movie in much better way than me !!!!
With so much things happening at one go, and the Helpless and Hapless me feels that I have to comply and compromise with the situations and again struggle for a new beginning; be it the new profile or the search for a new nest, means a new organization !!!
Today, sitting at home I feel there is a stark difference between Real life and the Utopian world in which we lived in our college days !!!!!!
Well today is X-MAS and I am enjoying it by lazying around in Home
MERRY X-MAS !!!!!!!!!!!
The transition from a plum profile to a rather low key profile was not that easy for me but let me be honest I enjoyed the second Honeymoon even more !!! because again there was a lull period in between the transition from one vertical to another vertical. Honeymoon as usual was a great time again and I was lucky that I got to go for a second Honeymoon in just Six Months of Time, which shows the Irony that in just six months you are thrown from one profile to another, on the contrary I was just starting to get the feel of the first profile and lo ! there came the dictum that your department has been merged and you have to move on !!!!!
The Unfortunate me was thrown to Collections, it was a sea change for me and yes of course was a shattering experience, just like the Mirror Breaking Scene of Hindi Cinema; "Is Dil ke tukde hazaar hue, koi yahaan gira koi vahaan gira". Well after all the desperate attempts to move into some relevant department and the developments thereupon, i.e. the imbroglio with super bosses and all, I finally gave up and joined my new assignment, new Boss - new people, I knew I had to start afresh !!! Furthermore no need to mention that all the work, I did in my previous profile got washed away and literally went down the drain.
It was a new day, a new dawn for me again, I joined despite repeated admonitions from my friends and colleagues. Initial two days were good as I was trying to adjust and relocate from one location to another, was in the process of getting a hint on what exactly am I supposed to do ??? My real ordeal started when I was asked to start the work and set roaring on full throttle !!! at this moment I came to understand that what actually I have to do. My JD (Job Description, not Jack Daniels re.... you tippler !!!) involves Calling up people and reminding them that they have to pay back the money they have taken (a shattering experience, just was thinking a MBA doing this calling thing, Naaaaaahh !!!), sending legal notices to them (am I a Law Graduate, I am the Quintessential MBA with Rainbow coloured Dreams, Naaaaaahh !!!) and lastly comes the Recovery part, visiting people's house and demanding the payback !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sounds like a typical recoveries agent as portrayed by our Fourth Pillar (which now desperately needs another pillar to support themselves, the TRPs) the same fearsome, ghoulish guy, who can involve in any type of skull drudgery to whip out money or your skin (the choice is yours type !!!). My current assignment is to call up people and remind them about the payback, as I have not graduated to that level where I become the spine chilling, fear inducing recoveries man, but even this is a task which I don't consider a MBA should be doing because my dreams are different and very colourful on top of that !!! I am the one who passed out from a mediocre B-School and cherish the dreams of becoming a CEO, one day; so I feel Calling is not my Cuppo' Tea. Treading and steering ahead on my path, some day I will reach the third level and graduate to become the recoveries man.
A passing thought crossed my mind that I will be the first person to go and watch the new Sanju Baba movie "EMI"; who else can connect to the movie in much better way than me !!!!
With so much things happening at one go, and the Helpless and Hapless me feels that I have to comply and compromise with the situations and again struggle for a new beginning; be it the new profile or the search for a new nest, means a new organization !!!
Today, sitting at home I feel there is a stark difference between Real life and the Utopian world in which we lived in our college days !!!!!!
Well today is X-MAS and I am enjoying it by lazying around in Home
MERRY X-MAS !!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, December 21, 2007
Being Single: Is it a Boon or a Bane for a Trained Underdog ???
The festive season has just started and the world is going ga-ga over their latesht fantansies for partyin around and painting the town red. Party circuit is buzzing, the swanky watering holes of the city is pouring their heart out, in terms of spirits and also in terms of letting their own holy spirit out !!! Everybody out there is set to make the most of their time and enjoy in the best possible way, be it the Hot(everytime i don't have to explain you the underlying terms) Beaches of Goa or be it the SoBo or Zenzy or Poison or the good old Enigma and God knows how many more such places.
Theres a basic rule in this city or I would like to call it the "Maximum City" (I love the name given to this city by Suketu Mehta), the rule of being SINGLE !!!!! If you are single in this city then you are as good as non existent, all the privileges all the beautifully hot places are not for you beacause they say you are a STAG, I can't tell you how many times I have come across this word in my life in this city. The moment I come across this word I feel we have again gone back to some Jungle era or the least set back by some 100-200 years. We are the inhabitants of the country's most advanced city, the so called Mumbaikars we talk a lot on gender equality, equal opportunity and blah blah blah but still we observe a bias against the darker sex (if they are the fairer sex then somebody ought to be darker so as to make the comparison happen) and this latest bias is often seen in nightclubs pubs discs. With the growing popularity of this biasness we, the lesser mortals are bereaved of the finesse of this max city !!!!! Its time when the people of Mumbai should understand that now with changing times our countrymen are understanding how to behave in such circuits and even if something unpleasant erupts out then every place has got their own herd of beefy bouncers to straighten up the issue so why don't they let us in or else how the quintessential stag of this city will survive in such a fast life ????
On top of it being single is a Bad Omen sorts as you are the trained underdog and you are at your level best in this psyche and feel proud of it. Being single invites the undesired attention of your boss and along comes the orders for working for a few hours on a holiday which eventually turns out to be a full fledged hectic day. Tell me honestly how many times have you heard the common phrase "Arey yaar tum to chhadey ho, kya karoge ghar pe ??" This same situation happened with me yesterday, my boss asked me to come for an hour or so on an holiday and as expected by observing little resistance from my side ordered me to come for an hour on the day of my festival but the subservient me nodded in an abiding manner like an school kid taking instructions from his Principal fearing the cane in his mighty hands !!!!! The next morning albeit unwillingly called up the boss to enquire about whether he is coming or not or rather should I say that I asked wheher I should go or not ??? Hurrayyyyyyy comes the surprise, boss says go enjoy your day theres no need to come to office today , go enjoy your festival just like legendry Amrish Puri thundering "Jaa Simran ja, Jee le apni Zindgi". The surpise and excitement in me even didn't fade up and lo!!! I was sorrounded by deep bitter feeling of being fooled and cajoled by allowing a day's leave and fucking up my trip back to home as a two day leave would have made the holiday package of five great days.
Here I am sitting here expressing my ire in words and posting it so as to let out my pent up anger and anguish !!!!
Well I think this is life !!! and we have to move on and search for Alternatives...... . . . . . . . . .
Theres a basic rule in this city or I would like to call it the "Maximum City" (I love the name given to this city by Suketu Mehta), the rule of being SINGLE !!!!! If you are single in this city then you are as good as non existent, all the privileges all the beautifully hot places are not for you beacause they say you are a STAG, I can't tell you how many times I have come across this word in my life in this city. The moment I come across this word I feel we have again gone back to some Jungle era or the least set back by some 100-200 years. We are the inhabitants of the country's most advanced city, the so called Mumbaikars we talk a lot on gender equality, equal opportunity and blah blah blah but still we observe a bias against the darker sex (if they are the fairer sex then somebody ought to be darker so as to make the comparison happen) and this latest bias is often seen in nightclubs pubs discs. With the growing popularity of this biasness we, the lesser mortals are bereaved of the finesse of this max city !!!!! Its time when the people of Mumbai should understand that now with changing times our countrymen are understanding how to behave in such circuits and even if something unpleasant erupts out then every place has got their own herd of beefy bouncers to straighten up the issue so why don't they let us in or else how the quintessential stag of this city will survive in such a fast life ????
On top of it being single is a Bad Omen sorts as you are the trained underdog and you are at your level best in this psyche and feel proud of it. Being single invites the undesired attention of your boss and along comes the orders for working for a few hours on a holiday which eventually turns out to be a full fledged hectic day. Tell me honestly how many times have you heard the common phrase "Arey yaar tum to chhadey ho, kya karoge ghar pe ??" This same situation happened with me yesterday, my boss asked me to come for an hour or so on an holiday and as expected by observing little resistance from my side ordered me to come for an hour on the day of my festival but the subservient me nodded in an abiding manner like an school kid taking instructions from his Principal fearing the cane in his mighty hands !!!!! The next morning albeit unwillingly called up the boss to enquire about whether he is coming or not or rather should I say that I asked wheher I should go or not ??? Hurrayyyyyyy comes the surprise, boss says go enjoy your day theres no need to come to office today , go enjoy your festival just like legendry Amrish Puri thundering "Jaa Simran ja, Jee le apni Zindgi". The surpise and excitement in me even didn't fade up and lo!!! I was sorrounded by deep bitter feeling of being fooled and cajoled by allowing a day's leave and fucking up my trip back to home as a two day leave would have made the holiday package of five great days.
Here I am sitting here expressing my ire in words and posting it so as to let out my pent up anger and anguish !!!!
Well I think this is life !!! and we have to move on and search for Alternatives...... . . . . . . . . .
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