A regular affair..!!

Another Bomb Blast..!!!
Its 2:15 pm, mehrauli hardware galli, South Delhi. Two men on a motorcycle manoeuver in through the narrow galli, drop a black plastic bag and tread back the same path. A little boy playing in the street picks up the bag and runs behind the bike only to have his last act of kindness go unfinished. He just was a good boy whose mommi taught him to be kind and helpful. The Indian Police follows the tradition of the hindi movies and reaches 45 mins late. Afterall the movies aren't totally based on foul information.

******

I have a meeting every Tuesday with my onsite (US) client. And for the last 5-6 months, she has been asking me every week, "Oh..!! Another Bomb Blast?? How are you?? How is your family?? Its must be so difficult to live under terror in your home country." How do I tell her that India is beyond all this. India is beautiful and friendly. Its colourful and vibrant. Its warm with a rich cultural heritage. And I love my country. Its just a minority, a few of them who have a different perception of a country.

******

Talking about minorities.. How many minorities are there in India. Come to think of it, if we put all the minorities together, it might come to be more than the 'so called' majority. I might be wrong. These are not statistical figures. But thats not the point. Since a long time there has been enough friction between Hindu-Muslims. And to most of us its become a part of our life in India. It started in 40's and then aggravated every decade. Then came something new to worry ourselves with. In the recent past there have been huge issues with the caste reservations too which our respected Ambedkar sa'ab had included in the Constitution only for the first few decades considering the harijan belief that existed then. This part of the Constitution was extended in the 80's as Congress couldn't afford to lose this vote bank. And one mistake leads to another. There came the Mandal Commission in the 90's. The self immolation by Rajeev Goswami sparked a series of self immolations by students all over India. But nothing defies the greed for votes. And today we have a 49.5% quota for the various minorities. So much so that we are fighting to be a part of it. Lathi dhava, interrupting the trains, burning public property and all that they can do just to be recognized as a part of minority. The qualification to be a groom is not to have a MBA/Engg degree but to have a SC/ST/OBC certificate. The former they say can follow. People WAKE UP..!! We need to move ahead and not take a step back.

******

There is this new ad on TV which asks you to WAKE UP.. (jago re..) and vote coz if we are not voting then we sure are sleeping. I turned 18 six years ago and I have never voted till date. I dont even have a voter's id. Shameful am I? NO. Initially I never wanted to vote coz I felt I am still too young to understand the complexities that follow. And I will wait for the right time. And by the time I understood those complexities and realised who I will be voting for (if i did), I chose not to. Id rather not vote than vote for the wrong person, for a person that I dont completely believe will be a good leader. I will vote not for the 'better' person but for one that I feel can completely lead the country. I will vote the day Rahul Gandhi contests for Prime Ministership.

******

I was talking to a friend of mine regarding the attacks on Churches in Bangalore. The attacks were a reply to the Christian community (read Bishop) for their alleged forceful conversion of Hindus to Christians. The converted dont second this. They are happy to be Christians today just because they are recognised, helped and feel a part of a community. In an effort to protect the culture, Bajrang Dal cannot deny aam junta of their rights. It cannot decide for them. If you are pro Hindutva and think that there is no reason for these people to convert themselves then preach them the same. By reverting to violent ways you are only strengthening their belief. My friend's friend is a pro Bajrang dal and supports their claims. There were exchange of a number of mails between them each trying to prove the other's idea/approach wrong and claiming their's to be right. Well discussing those mail with my friend I could see what they are trying to do and why they are trying to do it and may be in their light they may be right. But the path that they have resorted to is horrendous and will make them no less jihadis or terrorits (as we call them) than their Muslim counterparts.

******

It has come down to this..!!! to this..!!!! Unbelievable..
There is now no value for life. The once considered the most sacred gift is no longer a thing of pride. Its Money, Greed ,Envy, Jealousy, Selfishness and everything but the love for life in today's world (notice the small l of life as against the caps of others). An Indian CEO of an Italian company operating in Noida was beaten to death by anguished management workers. We are all educated people! Now even education cannot tame crime. Well we had an MBA student as one of the bomb plotters in Delhi. And if this was not all, our Labour Minister spoke words of shame as he supported those who were responsible for this hideous act of crime. According to him the labour of India needs to be protected against such management mafia and this was a good example set to them. I agree that I dont consider the CEO to be fairly naive but this is about somebody's life and by no means can statements like this be passed without a ruling.

******

That'll be all MyLord..!!

Kkkkrrrrrr….

So, I am back. After a long long time. And did I miss it – Naa, not really.

So much has happened in the past couple of months. I remember thinking 'Life will be so different on the other side of these 3 months' the last time I wrote here but you know what it is not. It's the same. Sometimes I feel I am just too hard on Life. C'mon give it a break. Its all a matter of perception but I cannot come to change mine. You know the feeling one gets when one is all engrossed into eating his thick gravy dal makhani with butter naan and suddenly gets cracked up by a little stone in his mouth which he by now has chewed enough and converted to powder. And then the 'kkkkrrrrr' he gets in his mouth…. That's how I am feeling today. Like that 'kkkkrrrr'.. Yeah quite detailed..!!

So much so for the sad part.

Went to this really awesome restaurant today – Via Milano. Yes, it was all Italiano. Ambience was beautifulano. And Garimano loved it. I loved the glasses there. They were plain, blood red in colour, translucent and wide mouthed. Very simple but were amazing to hold. Oh, and the food was good too. All so good but yet not so affective to cover up for the little brawl that I had with my dinner partner. The chef was Italian himself and partly owned the restaurant with 2 others. Well, one of the owners greeted me with a rose. I tried to keep my detective eye on him to notice if he was giving to other chicks as well… But he wasn't (Cheeeeeez)…. Oh yes and they were giving free freshly grated cheese as extra topping on everyone's food. I had stuffed pancakes influenced by Marshall of the How I Met Your Mother series with the extra topping of cheese. Weird combination but what the hell it was for free and it was cheese. I can't say no to either.

Note: This is not the post which I had in mind to come out of the little hiatus that I had taken. But what the heck, I need to stop planning.

Lappi, The Puppy

Its finally here..!! All the long discussions with parents, friends, experts etc have finally given way to this. It fought all the delays due to part shortage, colour not available, flight delays etc and finally reached me. I am so happy to be the proud owner of my brand new laptop.

So Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting to you my Dell XPS 1530.




Thanks to my parents for this. Even though I paid for it (and this not being my first big buy), this wouldn't have been possible without them.

(And as far as the title goes... :) ... I find it extremely funny when people address laptops as 'Lappi'. To me it sounds like 'Lappi, The Puppy'... and so I called it that)

Wishful Sinful..

Its 6:30 pm and I am on my 7th floor terrace.

For someone whose Bday it is today.

A Toast

It calls for a celebration when a couple scores a quarter of a century. Though I would try and make my presence felt today by quoting a few lines about them, the fact is that no one beyond the couple really know the value of their journey together. It does sound strange to me but still I would address them as a 'couple' today rather than parents coz it is that day of their life which is exlusive to them and no mother.. father.. daughter can take their share in this..

25 years.. though not so long.. but is still a long time.. To keep together in all the ups and down of life and nurture a bond so strong as that we 3 share today is quite a task..

Although they would love to disagree but to me their's is the most beautiful relationship in all those that i have ever witnessed. They may be different people..they are different people but they fill in for each other's lacunas so well that it is comendable. It is this that makes them so perfect for each other. They may not be the best individuals around..but they make the perfect couple together.

This celebration would be incomplete without a 25th wedding anniversary toast being raised to the eternal couple.. I love you Ma and Pa. And this is for you, for my parents.. Cheers..!!!

And this is not it.... Cake and confetti follows.

"Forever in Love"

Scene 1 : May 2008, UB City Bangalore.
Its a beautiful evening: ladies standing tall in high heels with flowing dresses, men smartly dressed in their crisp shirts, a shade of green splurged on this canvas by the numerous trees planted spaciously in this little open area of UB City in Bangalore. There are neatly erected rows of chairs with the bold demarcation between the sitting areas for the elite group and the young budding professionals. On our left Black Dog has lavishly displayed its golden coloured whisky, a glass of which is complementary with the ticket, along with unlimited yummy snacks. And to top it all the weather couldnt have been more perfect with the cool breeze blowing setting us all in a mood to listen to the best symphonies we ever might have heard.

And then sharp at 8, the focus light which all this while wasnt sure where to focus knew exactly what to do. A beautiful man he is (err.. man.. umm beautiful.... YES..). All these years I was so madly in love with his tunes but today I fell in love with the man himself. Never seen someone so humble and sexy. There is something about these aged Americans. Its like their charm grows with their age. He looked sexy in a plain white shirt carrying a soprano saxophone and sporting those curly locks which only he can carry. Yes I spent an evening watching Kenny G perform live in front of me.

Scene 2 : March 2003, PICT Girls Hostel, Pune.
Its 11 pm. Me and my roomie are under our sheets trying to force ourselves to sleep. Her bed is right next to the window (the massive window-it stretched across the biggest wall in the room and faced the front of the college campus). And Kenny G's Breathless' old tattered tape is playing on a borrowed cassette player. It had just rained and the smell was fresh in the air. Cool breeze and full moon peeking through the window into our rooms had just kind of set an atmosphere. We start with our usual bed time talks and invariably like every other day our conversation deviates and lands at what is being played and how we cannot get sleep if we dont listen to it every night (atleast me).

And I remember how I then became an ardent fan of his music, of his tunes. And it is today after so many years that I have listened to him again and I still feel that peace, that calm possessing me as it did then and if it wasnt for my friend I would have gone off to sleep at UB City on that chair.

Haunted!!

Have you ever felt that your past keeps following you everywhere you go and it never lets you off? No I am not talking about the people or the associates from the past who cross your way in the present. That would be a pleasant encounter for me. I love reuniting with people I have lost in touch with. But it is absolutley scary when situations from the past are put in front of you in exactly the same form as before. Situations that you dreaded and ran away from or lost to. Situations that you swore you would never want to face. And they come to you at the time when you have almost just started to forget about them, only difference being that this time they involve people who are presently very important to you as someone was in the past and this very thing tore away all the the relationship threads that you shared with them. I dont want to face the same thing this time around as well and lose another something or someone that is precious to me. That is the scariest thing that I have ever experienced. Good or Bad.. It was my past and I am DONE with it. But I guess it is not done with me. This is worse than the feeling of deja wu because here everytime new people are involved and it doesnt last just a few moments.

And today was that day.. after a long long time that I felt numb in my feet and shivered with the realisation that I was reliving my past all over again..!!!! To see it do the dirty dance in front of my eyes in its full fury left me speechless, although I fumbled with some words which didn't make any sense to me let alone to anyone else. For those few moments I had lost sensibility to comprehend what life was presenting to me. For once and for all :

'To Dear Life - I am tired of your Satanic gifts which present my dirty past wrapped in the most colourful of the covers. You rather not give me anything than give me this. Its lot of effort to forget the dread that this act of yours leaves in me and everytime that I think I have succeeded you only get back at me with more of this wrapped in even more beautiful covers. Should I stop believing in you? I dont want to be one of those who have lost faith in Life. But you need to stop troubling me.'

Well does life get any better

More yesterday than today

How I thought the sun would shine tomorrow

But it rained . . .