Work hard, party harder!

After a long time, yesterday we got some free time in office. Initially the whole group was a bit confused! No one was sure about the things to do during the day. By lunch time, I started my normal work routine. And suddenly, my friends came to me with an innovative lunch proposal.

They wanted me to join them for lunch on “Sinhagad”. Boy! Initially, I just could not digest the idea. But they forced me to join them. And after around 5 minutes, we five were on our way to a fascinating lunch on “Sinhagad”.

Even after my 6 years stay in Pune, I had never visited “Sinhagad”. So I was a bit more excited then others, but at the same time, I was confused about the decision of going there on a working day.

On our way to “Sinhagad”, we passed by “Khadakwasla” dam. The water level was very high. That was the first exciting scene we saw, other than the usual “Pune Levels”. We saw many big trees submerged in the water. The water had a different glitter due to small waves created by nice breeze.

When we got the first glimpse of “Sinhagad”, we were very excited. We saw a nice cloud cover surrounding the fort. Unfortunately, by the time we reached there, the clouds were on their forward journey and we were left with a thin layer of clouds.

That was a bit of a disappointment. But “pithha-bhakar” + “kanda bhaji” + “dahi” + “taak”, helped us to get over it. That was an AMAZING lunch and it has to be, especially with constant supply of taak, dahi and kanda-bhaji.

The time we realized that the food was actually enough for us for almost a whole day, we stopped eating :-)

After a small stroll, we reached “dev-taaka”. It’s a small tank with a small fresh water stream filling it 24/7. That water had an amazing taste. It was very refreshing.

After dev-taaka, we started for the three small points, “kalavantinicha buruj”. “tanaji kada” and “wind point”. And when we were going towards these points, weather started changing its mood. Slowly, a thick cloud cover started approaching these points.

And by the time we reached the “wind point”, strong winds started blowing. The whole valley got covered by THICK CLOUDS. WOW!!! That was the EXACT weather we all wished to see there. And finally it was there.

Strong wind and streams of white clouds started coming towards us. The clouds had lots of water in them and we could feel it on our palms, face, hair and just everywhere :-) It was really great fun to seat there and just enjoy the wind and the clouds. Finally we were in the clouds!

It was really great fun out there and no one wanted to leave that place. But it was getting a bit too late. We were already out for almost three and a half hours. So we started walking back to our car. Our lunch break was just over five hours! :-)

That was an amazing lunch break! It will be hard to forget this special lunch. Thanks a lot guys for forcing me to join you all.

I think, once in a while, companies should let people enjoy this kind of lunch. And if the group is like my group, they should definitely allow them to enjoy at least one lunch per quarter. Because, when its time to work, my all team members work really very hard!

Good show guys! I enjoy working with you all. Work hard and party even harder!

My first marathi poem

This is my first marathi poem. When I was in 8th standard, our class wanted to give some material for the school magazine. And for that, I wrote this poem.

Yesterday when I was cleaning my room (yup, the festival season is coming :-) ), I got this in one of the old diary.

Yakeen

One more from my collection. This one is also amazing! Don't know the author and I hope I am not violating any copyright laws.


Na jaane uspar itna yakeen kyu hai
Uska khayal itna hassen kyu hai.
Suna hai pyar ka dard meetha hota hai,
Toa fir aankhon se nikla hua aansu namkeen kyu hai

Imtihaan

Just one sheer today!

Wo aa Ke Ponchh Den Aansu Hamari Aankhon se
Itna bhi Hamare Haq Mein Naseeb Hamara Nahin
Jaanay Kyun Har Imtihaan Kay Liye
Zindagi Ko Hamara Pata Yaad hai

(I am nost sure about the author. But this is really good one.)

Shine on you crazy diamond

Today I am not in a mood to write! And its already very late in the night. So I will sleep now. Please read the lyrics of one of my favorite songs:


Artist: Pink Floyd
Album: Wish You Were Here
Song: Shine on you crazy diamond


Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
You were caught on the crossfire of childhood and stardom, blown on the
steel breeze.
Come on you target for faraway laughter, come on you stranger, you legend,
you martyr, and shine!

You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Threatened by shadows at night, and exposed in the light.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Well you wore out your welcome with random precision, rode on the
steel breeze.
Come on you raver, you seer of visions, come on you painter, you piper,
you prisoner, and shine!

My encounters with stars! (Final Part)

My US visit had already started on a very sweet note. I was praying for it to be the same during my stay in US. I was very excited about my stay here as this was my first visit to our headquarters.

Thought I was in US a couple of time before, but that was for the last job. This time it was, new job, new people. And I was eager to meet all those folks with whom I was interacting only over mails and phone calls for last almost one and a half year.

And in just two days, I realized that the wait was really worth it! I found that each and everyone in my new office was very sweet. They were really good folks. Trust me, it was totally different fun!

It will be bad to take only few names. Just each and every person was special. I will require a complete new series for my new friends. And I will surely write one soon.

But for this title, I choose that one very special experience that I just can not forget for rest of my life!

Around a week after I reached there, one new person joined our organization. This was a giant fellow with a passion for bike riding and N number of licenses for doing various things like; license for handling explosives, testing small rockets etc. etc. You just name some exotic topic in adventure and he will give you details of everything in and around that activity. But he has a heart of a child. Very innocent person!

Once he told me about his passion for stargazing and invited me to join him for one star party. And tell me just how I can reject such an interesting invitation!

Honestly, that night will remain as one of THE MOST memorable night in my life. Stargazing is really very, very interesting activity.

For the first time in my life, I clearly saw surface of Moon, Giant Jupiter displaying proudly that Big Red Spot, cute Saturn, Majestic Mars and beautiful Venus.

Looking at star clusters was a totally different experience. The Smoke Ring, the Butterfly, were few of the star clusters I enjoyed most.

For the first time in my life I heard that “The Plough” i.e. “Big Dipper” has EIGHT stars AND NOT SEVEN as we studied in our geography book! The central star in that three star arm is actually twin star. And when I saw that through the telescope, Boy, I just could not believe my eyes.

Looking at Epsilon Lyra I and Epsilon Lyra II was a totally different experience. Two star pairs in one view, just too much!!!

And when I saw one of Jupiter’s Moons rising from the dark and shadow of one other Moon moving on its surface, I was just could not control the excitement!

Andromeda galaxy and many others galaxies I saw, looked really great!

But the cutest of all was Saturn. Trust me guys, Saturn looks impossibly CUTE!

Oh, I can just keep on writing about this VERY, VERY special ENCOUNTER with STARS. That day I wished the night to stay forever and I just keep on enjoying those celestial beauties!!!

That was my real encounter with STARS. And I want to thank Mike for bringing those really precious moments in my life!

Thanks a lot Mike. You are the real Star!

I will end this topic (My Encounters with Stars) with this post. But I have many more things to write about the actual experience during stargazing and about all those new and really good friends I got to make during my last US visit. So keep watching this space for some more excitement :-)

My encounters with stars! (Part II)

On flight, we made one more friend. He was on the seat next to alley. When, I was getting down with my second friend, I got separated from my first friend (Yes, from an unwanted neighbor, when he took that extra space from me, he became my friend by the end of first leg of the journey). While we were taking our next boarding pass, I saw my first friend with 5-6 folks. I thought they may be his friends from industry.

And to my surprise, that beautiful face was in that crowd. She was impossibly pretty looking, slim-trim girl. WOW! For a moment I went blank! ;-) Trust me! I was absolutely blank for a moment or two!!!

But then, I tried to control the excitement. And we started walking towards our next departure gate. We both (me and my second friend) were walking without saying any word. Mostly, he was also in the same mood after he saw that beauty. Finally he broke the silence and asked me, “Do you think she is Amrita Rao?”

And now, few things that my friend told me onboard, started looking real! My first friend was indeed associated with film actress “Amrita Rao”.

BOY!!! I could not believe my luck. Trust me guys, she is VERY BEAUTIFUL!!!

While we were waiting for the flight, my first friend joined us. And the first question I asked him was, “Is she Amrita???” He realized that doubt in my tone and finally he showed me few papers for proof :-)

I wanted to go and talk to her, but as always, I thought a bit too much. And decided, not to disturb her privacy. But she behaved like a very normal girl. And in the end got a personalized autograph :-) and one contact number ;-)+++

On that tour, her family was with her. Got to meet her sister (yup, she is also very beautiful) and her mother (she looked very much down to earth lady). And her secretary became really good friend.

During the second leg of journey, Amrita with her mother and sister was seating in the same row with me. Guys don’t get jealous. That unfriendly alley was separating our seats :-) Still, during that leg of journey, I was really in the seventh heaven.

In the end when we waved good bye to each other, I was thinking:

“Chaanda kaaliyaan nishaat ki chun kaar,

Mudaato meheere raas raheta hun |

Teera milanaa khushiki baat saahi,

Tuzse milkaar udaas rahetaa hun ||”

(nishaat = joy; meheer = affection; raas = to one’s liking)

Still, I would love to meet Amrita once again!

This was just my first encounter with star. There were still more stars to come, and this time, they were real!

(+++ => Everything mentioned here may or may not be true ;-) )

My encounters with stars!

My last visit to US was really special in many ways. It all started with the first leg of my journey. I was among the first few passengers who got to enter the plane first. The reason was simple; my seat was almost in the tail of that plane.

So the total wait time after boarding the plane was a bit too much. But the only good part was the empty adjacent seat. It was like that dream come true situation. The thought of a relaxed flight was just amazing.

But then, it was just a dream. It got shattered in another 2 minutes time when one chubby man came and sat besides me. He must have emptied complete bottle of perfume.

Without wasting any time, he started talking to me as if we know each other for a long time. While we were chatting, one beautiful looking and some what familiar face just zip passed the alley and sat two rows behind me. (Whenever I see any beautiful face, I feel as if I know her :-) )

And the same usual thought came to my mind, “I wish the adjacent seat was empty” :-)

To make me feel worst, the gentle man seating besides me seemed to know that lady.

While we were chatting, I realized that my neighbor was very friendly and a real gentleman. He told me few things about his connections with film industry but I could not believe that. I asked him just one question, “how can a person like you stay in this line?”

The first leg of journey was really good and chatty.

Second hand casualties! (final part)

One of the businesses that got affected by 9/11 was the Concorde. From the time Concorde’s idea was first put forward, it faced criticism. The concept with which Concord started was just amazing, but the cost involved and the risk it carried got many to question about its very existence.

The crash of Concorde on Paris runway in 2000, forced the authority to remove the certificate of airworthiness of Concorde. This forced British Airways and Air France to withdraw Concorde from service.

After lots of investigation and with some design changes, Concorde successfully completed its test runs. After all the verification flights, Concorde got the certificate of airworthiness on 5^th September. And on 9/11/2001, Concorde resumed its flight carrying passengers.

That was the same day when US got hit and the two WTC towers came down crashing, taking with it a large section of regular passengers of Concorde. That was like the final nail in the coffin.

With its large business base getting wiped out and other persistent technical problems, it became more and more difficult to carryon. And in the end, in November 2003, Concorde was retired from service.

Even with all the drama, Concorde’s journey was a flight of fantasy. It was one of my dreams to board Concorde once in my life time that can never materialized.

Let’s pay tribute to all such cases which got affected by 9/11.

Second hand casualties!

In 2001, on this day, 9/11, world witnessed one more face of terror when US was attacked by five hijacked civilian planes. Two world trade center towers were completely destroyed in these attacks.

These buildings had many important offices and important businesses. Few of them got wiped out from world business map forever. Hundreds people got killed in these attacks. Many more got injured. The whole world mourned the loss of life!

But they were all first hand deaths, first hand casualties! Everyone in the world prayed for them. Let’s remember those who lost their life on this fateful day five years back.

But, did you ever thought about the effect this tragedy had on others who were connected directly or indirectly with these first hand casualties? Imagine about their condition. Imagine about those who lost their dear ones!

Let’s think about those living dead! Let’s pray to god for their wellbeing. May god give them strength!

(End of Part I)

Some nice marathi sms.

These are few good marathi sms I got.

------------X------------

Maitri che naate hee pimpalachya paana saarkhe aasayela haave,

Tyaachi kitihi jaali zhali taripaan

Jivaannaachay pustakaat jaapun thevaaila haave.

------------X------------

Tuzhya aathvani hyaa tuzhyaa saarkhyaach aastaat,

Naako mhantala taari athavataat,

Ani aatahvu mhantla ki haaluch nisatataat.

------------X------------

Sakaalchya gaarvyaat,

Tula mi aathaavla.

Maitricha ek paan

Manaat saathla.

Mhanayecha hoota "Suprabhaat",

Mhanun hee paatra pathaavla.

------------X------------

Tyacha kaade kaai magayecha,

Heech aaplyaala kalaat nahi.

Mhanun saagla milaat rahaata,

Paan je haava teech mnemka kaadhi milaat nahi.

------------X------------

Shaakya hoot nahi saara samul mitaavna,

Saarech swaarthi aastaat aasa maanaalaa pataavna,

Maazhi naa nahi koonala aapla mhanayela,

Paan nidaan tyaani taari haavyet aaplya bhaavna janayela.

------------X------------

Maala faar kahii naako,

Kuni aapla aasnaaraa haava,

Saari dukkha bhogli mii,

Kuni sobaat baasnaara haava.

------------X------------

Rookhale naainaat aasun,

Mi shaabda oothi rookhlee,

Baaghitle naahi tula mi,

Naazrees maazhyaa rookhle.

Kai mhanu yaa sayaanmala,

Kaa aasa mi sosaala,

Hooti aamha jaaniv,

Aamha inkaar naasta sooslaa.

------------X------------

Should every thing start with a reference?

I have one ghazal cassette that has recording of one of the live concerts of “Mehandi Hasan & Ghulam Ali”. In the afternoon, I wanted to listen to that cassette, but was not sure if the time was right and if my parents would enjoy them.

But after listening to the first song’s first part, where Mehandi Hasan explains the concept of “Kharja ka laagana”, my mom started enjoying the cassette! She has seen Ghulam Ali on TV a couple of times. So when she heard his voice, she was able to identify him. But she does not know Mehandi Hasan Ji.

So she started asking me about Mehandi Hasan. As always, I was trying to remind her about few old programs where there was a reference to Mehandi Hasan Ji. But she was not able to remember them. So I told her to just identify that voice as that of the great Mehandi Hasan Ji.

But that made me think about the question, “Should everything start with a reference?”

To some extent, we do find this principle being followed in our day to day life as well. Somehow, we always need some reference before accepting a new thing. That can be a new person in our life or a new concept. We always feel comfortable with references.

Was that true all the times?

Don’t you remember the school days when for the first time we made some new friends? That time, we had no references for them. Or may be we never asked for any references from anyone.

But as we start growing old, we tend to become over cautious when it comes to making new connections, new acquaintances.

One of the reasons is the result of insecurity feeling. This feeling does not affect the young one so much. With age, this feeling starts growing within us. And that makes us demand the references before making any new connections.

To some extent, there is not much problem with this. But just take some time and think about this issue. Why do we always need a reference? Because of this habit, we are loosing the opportunity of venturing into some new territory. May be some new connections may end up changing our life for good!

Just think about it, at least once in your life time!

That little pause!

Today in the morning, I was watching last quarter final match of US Open 2006 in men’s group between James Blake and Roger Federer. The match was dominated by Roger Federer for most of the time. But then that is expected of him. He managed to carry this year’s form in US Open also. His consistency is just amazing. His game is marvelous and dominating, but not ruthless.

Roger Federer is my current favorite in men’s tennis. Before Roger, I liked Pete Sampras’s game. I think, they have lot of similarities between them. Both have emotionless, blank face. They enjoy their game. Their celebrations after a win are very controlled. Very mature personality and a much matured game. Their calm and quiet nature adds to that maturity.

On the other hand, James Blake is a new kid on the block. His game is also amazing. I liked his attitude too. But then, he still has few things to learn. But the signs that he showed in today’s game were remarkable.

Blake managed to win one set in the five setter quarter final match. In the fourth set, Roger was 5-1 ahead and Blake was serving in the 7^th game of this fourth set. The battle was almost won by Roger. All he was required was to break James’s service and take the set 6-1 and in turn advance to the semifinal.

But Blake showed lots of character today. He managed to save his own serve. And the set was 5-2 and it was time for that small break. I am not sure what all was going through his head during that break. But he was very quiet. As he sat on his chair, he must have thought about breaking Roger’s server in the next game and keep the match still alive for him. On the other hand, Roger was same old calm but confident fellow. He got up from his chair before Blake and was ready to serve. Even then, Blake was still on his chair. May be he was trying to boost his self confidence.

And when he got up from his chair, I felt a different confidence level in him. The difference was the way he walked to his part of the court with some extra confidence and that “never to say die” attitude, that was evident from his face. Some how, he was pointing to the fact that “all was not lost”. He can still come back in the game and there are lots of chances of it. That extra time for which he was still seating on his chair, that extra pause changed him tremendously.

But when Roger served, Blake could not return his serve. Crowed went mad for Roger and they were all thinking as that was the last game of that match. But Blake bounced backed in the game and in the end he broke Roger Federer’s serve. Then he managed to keep his serve and from 5-2, the scores became 5-4.

The change was not only in score, but the way Blake played in those two games. He was just looking unstoppable. The commentator who had already declared Roger’s win now started praising Blake. And this new found confidence of Blake caused some problems to Roger’s confidence. He had few unforced errors in those two games.

That little pause was still working for Blake.

After 5-4, they had one more break and once again Roger was to serve. But this time, Roger managed to hold his serve and ultimately won the game and a spot in the Semifinals of US Open 2006.

I was happy for Roger, for advancing into the Semifinals. But I did learn few lessons from Blake as well. I got the importance of that little pause. The importance of that little analysis, which he may have done. That attitude of not accepting defeat till the final whistle is blown. Though in the end, James Blake could not win the set, he definitely proved his guts and confidence.

In our everyday life, we do need to take such small pause. Pause to think, to analyze and understand, different situations we are in or we see around us. Collect all the energy and control of the rhythm of our life. And may be this little pause can make wonders!

So, once in a while, take some time off to think and take control of our situation before it is too late!

Killed on the job!

Three days back, all news channels were broadcasting the shocking news about the tragic death of Steve Irwin. I was shocked when I first got that news. That was a real tragic end to his adventures life.

Irony was, “Crocodile Hunter” was killed by venomous sting of Stingray, known to be a shy fish!

I used to enjoy all of his adventurous shows on “Animal Planet”. Those were real thrilling and entertaining shows. At times scary too! That attracted a lot of criticism from many. Especially the time when he carried his kid in one hand while feeding one of the dangerous crocodiles, attracted a lot of anger. But then, the thing he attempted was a bit risky. And all those who got angry were his die-hard fans. It is expected of them to get agitated for that particular stunt. I think, in the end, he apologized to his fans.

That story apart, his work was appreciable in many ways. The awareness that those programs created among children and the amount of knowledge they had was just amazing!

Just a week back, I watched an episode where his friends played a little prank on him. One of them dressed as “Arab Shekh” with his wives came to visit Steve’s park. Steve was already told not to make the Shekh angry. And this Shekh was constantly showing interest in purchasing the animals from Steve’s park. Our good man was impossibly pissed off by these demands. But because he was already instructed to keep his cool and not to upset the Shekh, he was controlling his anger. His reaction to each of the demand from Shekh was really worth watching.

The reason I liked that prank because it brought out his real character. His love and care for animals was evident from that video.

This world has seen many animals lover before Steve Irwin and there will be many more still to come. But his work was something that we all will remember for rest of our life. Its’ hard for me to imagine “Animal Planet” without Steve Irwin, but then life has to go on! One silver lining in the whole episode was that, till his last moment, he was doing things he just loved to do his entire life. He got “Killed on the job”, the job he loved more than his life!!!

Thanks a lot Steve for all the joy and knowledge you gave to this world!!!

May his soul rest in peace! Aamin!!!

Finally …!

Yeh, finally I am starting my own blog. As I am writing this first blog, ganpati immersion processions are making their way towards river/sea/lake in almost all parts of India. Especially in Maharashtra, Ganesh festival has got its own importance. I wanted to start this blog on the first day of this Ganesh Festival, known as “Ganesh Chaturthi”. But, this week’s work pressure, like every week, was a bit too much which stopped me from starting this blog till now.

Ganpati is known as god of wisdom, knowledge, prosperity. Ganpati word is made from two words, gana and pati. Gana means people, and pati, i.e. adhipati, means leader. So ganpati means the leader of people. He is the god of common man. Everyone loves ganpati. One of the specialties of this god is that he can be represented in just any form. And absolutely every form is very attractive. I am crazy for this god!

“Vakra Tunda Maha Kaaya, Surya Koti Samaaprabha |
Nirvighnam Kurume Deva, Saarvaa Kaaryeshu Saarvada ||“

In Indian culture, all the good work start after worshiping Ganpti. Even before we start worshiping any other god, we worship Ganpati first. He has got this special honor in Hindu culture.

Around 114 years back, in 1893, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak brought the concept of public celebrations of Ganpati festival. The inspiration behind starting such public celebrations was to bring everyone together on a common platform and use it to inspire them to contribute in the fight for freedom. That concept is still working for the current generation, with one small change, today we do not have to fight to liberate India, but to bring the awareness among our fellow citizens about social, environmental issues. The celebration last for 10 days and these 10 days are just amazing!

Like every year, this year also we installed a clay statue of our beloved deity at our place. During these 10 days, the whole atmosphere gets charged with a special charm. We all enjoyed the presence of our beloved god in our home. These days generally fly very quickly. And on the last day, we immerse the statue in water and bid adieu to our beloved god. This last day is called as “Anant Chaturdashi”. This day has got a mix feeling of emotions. We all feel very sad to say good bye to ganpati, but the big processions that accompany are organised are mind blowing.

As every year, we performed all the rituals today and had special delicacy for our god. In the evening, with heavy heart, we immersed the statue in water and that brought down the curtains on this year’s celebrations of the festival. Now we are all looking forward to the next years’ “Ganesh Chaturthi”. Like we say in marathi:

“Ganpati Bappa Mooryaa,
Pudchya Vaarshi Laavkaar Yaa”