Laws about Girls...

I don't know which Newton did this, but got this in a mail forward. & found it interesting enough to post here...

Needless to say, I dont endorse or oppose any of the laws mentioned herein. Posted on my blog, so that I can have it for reference in future...

Law # 1.
If u think a girl is beautiful, she'll always have a boyfriend to confirm that

Law # 2.
The nicer she is...the quicker u will be dumped!!!!!

Law # 3.
The more the makeup, worse the looks...

Law # 4.
95% of the girls in this world are beautiful. Remaining 5% would always be around you...

Law # 5.
The guy standing next to a beautiful girl can never be her brother.

Law # 6.
If by any chance the girl you like, likes you too, she will let you know in about 10 years from now, when you are committed to some one else...

Law # 7.
The more you ignore a girl, the more she'll want to be friends with you.

Law # 8.
Theory of relativity.. ... The more u run towards a hot chick....the more she goes away from u...

Law # 9.
Even if you got her out alone... just when you are about to let her know
about your feelings... she will spot a long lost friend.
Beware if this friend of her's is some school friend...1

Law # 9A - Corollary to Law # 9:
The more desperate you are to tell your feelings to a girl on a private
hat, the more probability the long lost friend she discovered is a
handsome superman, who beats you in everything 9:1

Law # 9B - Axiom to Law # 9:
The more dedicated you are to the girl, the longer it takes before
things work out, but ultimately it will (I'm sure this would bring some smile for the guys)

Law # 10.
The day the chick you really like comes and speaks to you will be the day when -
a. You are dressed badly, OR
b. You forgot to brush your teeth for the first time in your life, OR
c. Have a bad hair day.

Law # 11.
All the good girls are either nuns or married. The rest go around with u and ruin ur money, health and leave u a total wreck - i haven't had any experience which would validate this law. Thank GOD!!

To the Reader:
If you happen to be a girl, I'm sure you would want to start hating me by now. But relax! If that thought passed your mind, it confirms that the above (or atleast more than one of the above) Laws are true.

If you are a guy, then buddy, try to fathom these thoughts. Best of luck.

A reminiscence of the good times…

It’s been a long time that I have done some justice to this blogspot. Though I have quite a good issues in my mind to pen down my thoughts on, I feel people around me, who made the last few weeks memorable in every way, deserve a few lines for them & the associated events.

To start with, my mom had come over for two weeks so that I can concentrate on my CPIM Paper II exam on 23rd September. The first week of her stay reminded me of the preparation leave during good old engineering days back in Mumbai; when I used to frequently doze off reading & mom would regularly wake me up. The saga continued over again, with me taking solace in sleep & mom coming over & pulling me out of the slumber. God knows what would have happened if she wouldn’t have come over. Thanks Mom, for always being when I needed you most.

After the exams, it was more of leisure, with me rushing home after work, to take mom to various places around in Hyderabad. Most interesting place being Chilkoor Balaji – often referred to as Visa Mandir! God, what’s this world come to!!

Amidst the visits to places nearby, my mom managed to host a small dinner (though I would still cling to calling it snacks) for the office colleagues with whom I spend most of the time. Here’s a thankful tribute to each of them for being as sweet, as all of them are:

Starting with the youngest attendee:
Anika: Arti & Rajeev’s 6 month old daughter made it a point to attend (accompanied with her parents, of course!) The best part of her presence was that she actively participated in the get to gather by being silent (paradoxically speaking) & smiling throughout the evening, except that she used to cry when I tried to play with her. Alas!

& now the attendees listed randomly:

Bhavna: Hmmm, the obvious target for pranksters like me & Ashish; she made it to be there, though she had a bus to catch up to Bangalore. Always needs to be emotionally threatened to ensure her presence in such gatherings. Best part of her being that she’s always around to discuss anything, be it anything as stupid as working in JDA, or as serious as holidaying during Diwali & if not such discussions, then she’s always around to argue with me over silly things of life…

Suma: The dimpled smile “SCRUM Master” in my office. Though a bit silent kinds, she always laughs cheerfully at the jokes cracked. Many a times, I have observed her go into deep thoughts of oblivion & when I disturb her enquiring as to what was churning in (or out of) her mind, she would often reply back “Nothing, just thinking about (Master Planning) Code”. Now that’s what I call as a committed team leader. Keep smiling babe…

Gopi: Aah, the guy who always reminds me of “Wally” of Dilbert comic fame. The guy whose always worried about being a test engineer & even on such casual events; he does not misses an opportunity to talk about his desires of moving to play role of Business Analyst or a SCM consultant in any company…

Jyoti: Hmmm, Bhavna’s hostel-mate whose being a pal around with all of us, though she’s not working in the same company. The first (& only, till date!) girl to ever sit with me on bike; one has to tickle her rib bone to hear her laugh from her heart. Still remember the first time I had seen her smile, when I met her for first time near Hyderabad Central…

Rajeev: A friend, philosopher & guide for me (& almost all of us); the seen it all, done it all guy, he’s always been around with his friendly advices & sharing jokes over lunch everyday. Based on his gesture of taking care of Arti, m sure he must be a very caring hubby & father. Always a fan of you, buddy…

Arti: That’s Mrs. Rajeev, another lady who’s gelled so well with all of us, & so soon. Coincidentally, me & her share the same birthday – 18th August. She is so amicable that she started helping my mom fry some ‘puri’s’. Hats off to you, Bhabhi…

Amit: That’s Kanjibhai for all of us. The first Gujju whom I met (accidentally though) in Hyderabad. He would rarely talk anything except stocks; & despite of the heavy work pressure he’s experiencing, he made it a point to dine with all of us. Keep up dude…

Ashish: One of my closest buddies in Hyderabad, he’s always around when needed most & always been the guy to bear all my thoughtless talks. As for Hyderabad, I guess I have had most of the good times with him & of course, he reminds me of “The Great Mango Fall” in Coorg…

Sonia: Hmmm, she’s the receptionist of my company & it’s her smile everyday that gears up everyone stepping out of the elevator on our office floor. Initially, I used to consider her as a kid by heart but considering the time’s she’s passing through, it requires a great mental strength to be as bubbly as she’s is always…(& she’s going to go wild for including her name so later in the list!)

Pankaj: That’s my roomie. The second guy I got to know, when I was new to Hyderabad. Amazingly, we – that’s me, Rahul (our earlier roomie) & Pankaj – got along so well with each other that last 10 months passed like a swift of time. Well, that’s what a good sign of having great people around is…

Rohit (Tuli): That’s also my roomie. Though he’s joined in just recently, I feel like I know him since quite a long time. Probably that’s due to he’s got mixed into our way of things so fast, that we never realized that he’s been with us for less than a month. Good Luck dude for your preparations...

Rushikesh: Aah, he’s a “Guru” for me & academically the most educated roomie we have. He also joined in just recently with Rohit & ditto as Rohit, he’s moved in with least of hassles. A Masters from IIT-Kanpur, he seems to omniscient of anything & everything related to Operation Research. & of course, what makes him great is he’s always there to share it with us…

Well, these are just a few of the great people I have met in Hyderabad. Hats off to all you guys & girls!

Cheers!!

India DOES / DOESN’T need Superman (or Superwoman)?

Well, I am not much into following superheroes like Superman, Spiderman, and Batman et al since childhood. Though, when my cousin Ravi was here, @ 4 years back, I managed to catch up with Batman series on Cartoon network, for the sake of accompanying him, when he used to be alone at home.

So when I saw this movie – Superman Returns – on Friday, I was impressed with the super-humanness of Superman. I mean it; for example, it CANNOT be a normal human who could descend a crashing aero plane to safe landing – that too on a baseball field – those of you who have seen it may comply to this…

Hmmm, ok, I’m not here to express my surprise to his feats & action.

I was wondering if India is in need of a superhero like Superman (or a Superwoman, for that matter).

WHY WOULD INDIA NEED A SUPERMAN? Does India need Superman for his heroism, his innocence, his decency, his kindness, and his modesty? In a country full of corruption and selfishness, brimming population, increasing violence and despair, do we desperately need the last man capable of being such a true champion?

& we are wishing to have Superman because this country is in need of a super-hero? Does that mean that this country is devoid of courageous people? Or this country lacks people who are innocent, decent, kind, modest & heroic too, above all.

Let’s first explore, as to how it might help to have a Superman. Considering the recent events that have managed to get into news recently (though it’s not great for any event to be Breaking News nowadays), are there any positive answers for these questions –

Would Superman have rescued Prince (of Kurukshetra) earlier than our Army?
Would Superman have averted the terrorist attacks on the lifeline of Mumbai?
Would Superman have averted the heavy rainfall which is creating havoc in Western, & now southern India?
Would Superman have bought the terrorist enemies of this nation to account?
The list is endless…

Further looking, Superman is not capable of foreseeing these events & stopping them. From the movie, what I was able to gauge was that he makes best of his efforts to minimize the loss – of life only, because he does destroys property – after a calamity has occurred.

As it is, we Indians are better at it anyways. We have capacity to pull out Prince from a narrow hole, 59 feet deep. See it this way; we have 5 – 6 yr old kids like Prince, who can survive for more than 2 day’s in such situations. & a Super-Army comes to its rescue – drilling a parallel hole, 60 foot deep, ASAP!

We also have the Mumbaikar, whose spirits have been tested time & again, by Nature, then Terrorists & Nature again. As for the endless tragedies hitting Mumbai, we don’t have ONE Superman. We had many, who saved the lives of people they have never met before, UNLIKE Superman, who saves life of many just because one amongst those many is the girl he has soft feelings for – Lois Lane, for those who have seen the movie.

No, India is not in need of such superhero. Because, we already have many super heroes who may be how so ever selfish, rude or despair, the champion within them rises up & extends to help the needy, in times of calamity.

Whether it was the 26/7 floods that almost drowned major part of Mumbai or the 11/7 bomb blasts that ripped off the confidence of the citizens, the super human in each of us has emerged to save our compatriots & help them to revive from the disaster.

To conclude, I personally think that India is not in need of one Superhero like Superman. It’s just that the there is a Superman is each of us – who may not be able to fly in air or descend a crashing aero-plane safely – but who has the capability to come forward & help others at the first opportunity & save lives. Someone who can fight the problems, clouding this nation, in a unified manner. And this does not call for some Superhero. It’s just a matter of courage, concern & unity.

On the eve of Independence Day – 2006, I wish that there are more people in India who extend help & support to others in times of despair, who consider it as their religion to treat others on humane grounds & who have the courage to tackle the problems facing this nation, in the most diligent manner!

Happy Independence Day to the reader…

My salute to the Undisciplined & Impatient Indian:

Based on general observations & various incidences that I stumbled upon, one thing that would characterize an Indian is lack of discipline garnished with impatience. Personally, I feel that it is impatience that leads to being undisciplined.

To support the above observation, I reckon some incidences:

The only incidence that strikes to me is when I was riding with Ashish on his bike, waiting at a railroad crossover. We waited for about 15-20 minutes for the “fatak” to open. It was basically at that time, when I decided to pen down this article. During that time, we saw innumerable number of people, sneaking below the rod with their two wheelers. Some simply tilting their scooters while others had to do lots of adjustments to shove their bikes, so as to pass through the closed “fatak”. What was surprising here was that the whole act was being done with so much of confidence & courage, as if no train would be passing & the “fatak” had left closed, mistakenly. It was done in most simplistic manner – approach the “fatak”, the pillion rider, if any, would automatically step down, the rider would tilt his 2 wheeler, bend so as to pass through below the rod, walk with the vehicle over the track, again bend the vehicle when they came across the other side. Once having crossed it, they would earnestly start the scoter / bike & just vroom away.

Another interesting point to make here is that most of these two wheelers had their rear view mirrors removed so as to pass through the “fatak” without much of hassles. Probably they must be passing through it regularly. So, basically, in order to pass through, even though when it is closed, they risk their & other vehicular class lives, when riding amidst heavy traffic (recollect those lane cutters, who blame it on lack of mirror, when confronted with).

Being a Mumbaikar myself, I realised that it is not only in Mumbai that people are worried & concerned for every minute. In Mumbai, the aforesaid behaviour is evident during peak hours. While some are fighting their way to board the 7:04 train to Dadar, others use their elbows to shoo away the slow movers, so that they can take the timed BEST bus to reach office. Agreed, in Mumbai, if a person misses his scheduled train, it may affect his entire day.

This particular attribute is not applicable to the average Indian only during travelling, but even in other aspects of life. Be it during dealing with the municipal or governmental authorities or searching for alliances for their son(s) / daughter(s).

It is this impatience, which leads people to spit at the nearest corner, thereby proving to be undisciplined, rather than spot a nearby spittoon. It’s the same impatience that breeds indiscipline or corruption (as in case of bribing “Chai-Pani” to the “havaldar” – the need to scuttle way freely even after violating the traffic rule, to avoid the hassles of touring the police station, in case the license gets seized). The impatience which leads these people to cross a heavy traffic area rather than waiting near Zebra crossing or using the designated subway or foot-over-bridge. The same impatience plays major role when you see an Auto rickshaw nosing his way in a T-Junction or while steering a U-turn.

There are many other characteristics that may be ascribed to being impatient – callousness, indecisiveness, and indiscipline, but in root, impatience qualifies to be the major culprit.

If you are an Indian who’s reading this & if you want to differ on my viewpoint, you may very well comment on this. If you agree & still if you would like to comment, please do so.

Waiting Impatiently for your comments…

Some kool shayaries... (First one is my favourite...)

Note: These are not written by me. Only the comments in between are my personal.

Liked this for the meaning it conveys (too good) -
Soch ko badlo, sitare badal jayeng,
Najar ko badlo, nazare badal jayenge,
Kashtiya badalne ki jarurat nahi, Dishaon ko badlo, KINARE badal jayenge.

Hmmm, I hope I remember this to say this to some (worthy) girl, sometime -
Kya kahun tujhe?
Khwab kahun to toot jayega, dil kahun to bikhar jayega,
Aa tera naam zindagi rakh dun, maut se pehle to tera saath chuut na payega!

This reminds me of those gals, who usually smile to attract attention -
Itna khubsurat kaise muskura lete ho,
Itna qatil kaise sharma lete ho,
Kitni aasani se jaan le lete ho,
Kisi ne sikhaya hai...ya bachpan se hi kamine ho?

This one's are just for their humour. Some rip off's to the listener, some really sweet & some wishful enough to SMS around to pals -

Yun to kisika peecha nahin karte, Dard-e-dil diya aur liya nahin karte,
Ittefaq ki baat hai ye hamari dosti varna,
Itni kimti SHAYARI Hum kisi ko sunaya Yun to kisika peecha nahin karte

Arz hai,
Chai ke cup se uthte dhuein mein teri shakl nazar aati hai,
Tere khyalon mein kho kar aksar meri chai thandi ho jaati hai.

Ek tanha raat me apki yaad aayi, tanhai mitane ko humne ek cigrate sulgai,
na jaane kaise qayamat ho gayi ke dhooeein ne bhi apki tasvir banayi.

Kaash is dil ki awaz mein itna asar ho jaye,
Hum apko yaad karein, aur aapko khabar ho jaye,
Khuda se maangte hain ki aap jise bhi chaho,
Woh zindagi ki raah mein apka humsafar ho jaye.

Kal mila waqt to zulfein teri suljha doonga,
Aaaj uljha hoon zara waqt ko sulajhane mein,
Yun to sulajh jatee hain uljhi zulfein,
Umar kat jati hai waqt ko sulajhane mein.

Kitne jaldi yeh mulakat guzar jati hai,
Pyaass bujhti nahin ki barsaat guzar jati hai.
Apni yadon se keho ki yun na sataya kare,
Neend aati nahin aur raat guzar jati hai.

Zikar hua jab Khuda ki rehmaton ka,
Hamne khud ko khushnaseeb paya,
Tamanna thi ek pyare se dost ki,
Khuda khud dost bankar chala aaya.

Kuch nasha to aapki baat ka hai,
kuch nasha to dheemi barsaat ka hai,
humein aap yun hi sharabi na kahiye,
is dil par asar to aap se mulakat ka hai!

Chand lamhon ki zindagani hai, nafraton se jiya nahi karte,
lagta hai dusamanon se guzarish karni padegi, dost to aab yaad kiya nahi karte.

Tere DIL mein rahenge SMS bankar,
Dhadkano mein bajenge RINGTONE bankar,
Kabhi apne DIL se juda mut Samajana,
Hum tere saath chalenge NETWORK bankar!

Hum dua karte hain Khuda se,
ki wo aap jaisa dost aur na banaye,
Ek Cartoon jaisi cheez hai humare paas,
kahin wo bhi common na ho jaye!

Hum na hote to aapko gazal kaun kehta,
apke chehre ko gulab kaun kehta,
Ye to karishma hai hum pyar karne walon ka,
warna pattharon ko Taj Mahal kaun kehta.

Safar lamba hai dost banate rahiye,
Dil mile na mile haath badate rahiye,
Taj na banaiye costly padega,
Har taraf Mumtaj banate rahiye.

Aahat si koi aaye to lagta hai ki tum ho,
Saya sa koi lehraye to lagta hai ki tum ho,
Ab tumhi batao tum kya kisi bhoot se kam ho?

Dil ka dard dil todne wale kya jane,
Pyar ke rivazon ko zamana kya jane,
Hoti hai kitni takleef ladki patane mein,
Ye ghar pe baitha ladki ka baap kya jaane.

In pursuit of “putting on”:

It has been a very long time since I have been fruitlessly pursuing to complete this task satisfactorily. Well, not a task actually, since it’s more of continuous rather than being a final task. To put it in simple words, it is more of a journey with milestones.

However, the sad part is that I have never been able to even cross, or reach for that matter, the first milestone of 55 Kgs. Being 5’7” tall, I have been advised by numerous doctors & health instructors that the ideal weight range for me would be approximately 60-65 Kgs. Further, being an organized task planner, I decided to put up milestones of 55 Kgs, 58 Kgs & 60 Kgs. But here I am, still hovering in the range of 50-52 Kgs. since last 5 years.

Considering the spate of events, in the year 2000, my weight was almost 55 Kgs. Bang! The dreaded thing happened. I met with an accident in Surat (don’t feel like covering the details here). My weight plummeted to 47 Kgs within the first 15 days. Thereafter, my exam preparation leave would add 2-3 Kgs to my body. & later that will get knocked down on the onset of the succeeding semester.

There have been quite a few people around – like my bro-in-law Jay – who have told (once or twice, maybe) me that I may put on after completing my studies. So I hoped that my job life would help me in crossing my first milestone at the least. Alas!

I guess I have tried everything possible within limits, by now to put on. To cite examples, I ate almost 6 bananas’s a day for 3 months. Been a couch potato for almost 4 months. However, no intended results were achieved. The Weight meter swore not to move by even a centimeter. 50 Kgs!

Been in Hyderabad since 4 months & my diet has been more healthy 7 nutritious than what it was in Chennai. More of fruit juices, more of milk consumption per day, more of almost everything. But Still I don’t think I have put on!

& more agonizing is the fact that my pants have gone tighter from waist since last 1 month or so, but there seems to be no remarkable achievement of crossing the first milestone of 55 Kgs.

& the agony is further aggravated each time when I go to Mumbai & hear it from my parents, my sis & overall lots of relative there: “Wajan kem nathi vadharto?” (In Guajarati it means – why aren’t you putting on weight?)

Phew! So this happens to by my BHAG-2006; a Big Hairy Audacious Goal – cross first milestone by June – July 2006.

Any tips to put on would be highly appreciated.

How Blogging Helped me in trying new things?

Till recently, I had been suppressing the urge to blog since I was actually not clear about the objective. As it happens, a lack of an objective restricts our actions & suppresses our urge. However, I just thought of getting started (without any firm objective in mind). & as Nescafe likes to put it – ‘One thing leads to another’ – blogging instilled in me a habit of penning down my thoughts, my opinions and reviews on almost anything & everything.

To justify, since my last blog on this blogspot (Sania Link added) I had not been keen enough to write regularly. But however, the writing habit got me hooked to another habit, which I consider quite refreshing & healthy – posting reviews on commercials on mouthshut.com.
Link to my reviews: http://www.mouthshut.com/user/kool_writer/1.html

Till date, I have posted 3 reviews on various advertisements which I came across surfing TV channels. & I guess I’m not doing badly, since more than 60% of the people who have read my reviews (& cared to rate it) have rated it as ‘Very Useful’.

Further, I plan to shift focus from posting reviews on commercials to other categories like Products, Places, Events & so on.

Pondering further on my posts, I was wondering as to ‘Why did I start off on commercials only’? Frankly, I always found commercials interesting. I consider advertisements as a major contributor to the branding strategy for any product.

I was discussing the same when returning from lunch with my room mate. He was feeling bit unwell. So I just asked him (jokingly, of course) “Sar dard hai? Aur naak bhi bund? Kuch lete kyon nahin? Coldarin lee?” After laughing out the humor, I was wondering that even though we consider these dialogues (the one said above) as funny, they exemplify one of the major branding successes in India. The discussion further made us recollect other pioneering branding successes like “Humdard Cinkara tonic”, “Bajaj Bulbs” & so on.

Further impressing upon the statements that ‘Advertisements are major contributor to the branding strategy’, then consider this – normally when people try to recall a product, they associate it with their usage experience, if any, else they tend to associate the product with the advertisement that they have seen. When either or both of the above bring a smile to their face (or arises a sense of satisfaction within them), the brand should be considered as successful.

I guess I will stop here & keep rest for future. Hope you enjoyed reading this & do comment.

Link to Unofficial site for Sania Mirza fans.

Just recently I have uploaded a link to the 'Unofficial' website of Sania Mirza fans. Well, there were two reasons for incorporating this link on my blogspot.

The obvious reason is that I am her fan. Fine, I would like to clarify here that it’s not because of her physical statistics or her tennis game (which by no means would attract any fans), but for other reasons. To state that here, it’s purely due to the fact that she has emerged successfully as a new face in the list of Indian Sport personalities. Unconsciously & unintentionally, she has dared to bring upon a new face in the Indian Sporting arena. & the Indian ‘junta’ has also responded positively to accommodate her amidst the likes of Sachin, Sehwag & Sourav. That does not mean that other non-cricketing sporting icons like Dhanraj Pillai or Anjali Bhagwat have not done their job, but the penetration level of Sania amongst the masses has been fast. Also, other factors like the fatwa raised by Muslim clerics for her on-court costumes, the media coverage on that issue & many such have been catalytic in helping Sania gain coverage. This can be further gauged from the fact that of all the sporting personalities who received the Padma awards this year, it was only Sania’s name that got most media & public attention.

The other reason to include a link to this webpage from my blogspot is that the website proudly claims to be the ‘Unofficial’ website of Sania fans. ‘Unofficial’! Does that means that other websites of fans of celebrities or sport personalities are Official! Or is it that since Sania must have refused to fund to host this site, they chose to term it ‘Unofficial Fan site’! It further reminds me of the ‘Nothing Official About It’ ad campaign of Coca Cola during the 1996 Cricket world cup. Are the website hosts trying to say that there is ‘Nothing Official About’ the Sania fan’s website. Whew, too many possibilities. But ‘Unofficial’ is surely an eye-catcher. Whatever be the case, at the least, the website offers an opportunity for moderate (not die-hard) fans – like me – to express their views about her game (tennis, of course), to check out her updated tennis statistics, news & of course, the photo gallery.

Finally, being her fan, I wish her best of luck for her tennis career ahead.

Why Did I start blogging?

At last, here I'm. typing out my first blog.
I was just wondering, wat actually made me involve myself in this activity?
I don't think my company is gonna hike my sal for blogging neither it's gonna add as a credential to my list of achievements (which is almost NIL till date).

Well, I guess I will ponder on this sometime later.
But there was surely something itching inside me which made me log into this site to get registered & get started. Still searching...

Hmmm.. I will surely try to cover this in future. As for now, lets consider this as a test blog. Let me see & check if this get published properly.
Later, I would try to tweak around (this word is used extensively in my present company) with the settings part to see how each option affects the published post.

Hope this gets published soon.