Cognitive Amalgamation

The Versatile Blogger Award

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:29:00 +0000

I am excited, thrilled and ecstatic to receive “my first ever” (underlined) “Versatile Blogger Award” from a fellow blogger Divya. This came off as a surprise to me.

Versatile Blogger Award

I would like to thank Divya from ENTWINED THOUGHTS, a million times for this honor. Also, I would like to thank IndiBlogger for the platform they gave, indi-bloggers for their continuous participation, my laptop for the eternal (unending) support and my creative thinking for allowing me to write such posts!

To cut short, thank you all, thank you Divya for this wonderful gift.

I’ve already added the pic of the award on my blog.

Thank you Bikram for explaining me how the award is given from one blogger to other.

The Versatile Blogger Award Rules:

1. Add a picture of the award in your post.

2. Thank the award giver.

3. Share 7 random facts about you.

4. Choose 15 other bloggers to pass the award to and let them know that they’ve been nominated.

The 7 Random facts about me:

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1. I am like Ted Mosby from How I Met Your Mother. I put my friends above me, it’s hard for me to say NO to people, I get influenced easily and I am very prone to rejections.

2. I keep trying, I never accept defeat.

3. I love listening to Michael Jackson, STAIND, Metallica, GNR, Pink Floyd and Lucky Ali, Labh Janjua and Mohit Chauhan songs.

4. There’s something that keeps happening back of my mind even when am sitting idle. The screensaver in my head always have this numbers moving vertically like a matrix.

5. I love driving for hours. In my next birth, I would like to be a car racer or a driver (off course not in India) so that I can drive all kinds of cars.

6. I was so very much influenced by Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) from Prison Break that twice I got my hair-cut done like his and even got a tattoo on my arm (not as big as he had onscreen).

7. My Seagate hard-disk is my only will. You may take away everything I have except my hard-disk.

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And here are the Winners for the award:

http://subhorup.blogspot.com/

http://purplechronicle.blogspot.com/

http://jennyjain.wordpress.com/

http://www.readitt.in/

http://realityviews.blogspot.com/

http://www.purba-ray.com/

http://hridyanubhuti.wordpress.com/

http://aamthoughts.blogspot.com/

http://rinksnbitts.blogspot.com/

http://anucreations.blogspot.com/

http://cricketwise.blogspot.com/

http://myyatradiary.blogspot.com/

http://worldinanushell.blogspot.com/

http://nehhajosshi.blogspot.com/

http://olddigger.blogspot.com/

Congratulations!!!

This award is to appreciate your work and your creativity. A souvenir to keep you ticking and one should not stop writing such wonderful posts and inspire others.

P.S: Only the first pic is for the award not the rest!!! :-)

Follow Your Passion

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:18:00 +0000

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I never knew life will be so worth living past couple of days since quitting job. It turned out to be a mini-retirement for me. It’s like picturing yourself 30 years into the future and doing all those things that you planned to do post retirement. You finally get to choose how you want to spend your day and what you really want to do with it.

I understand this phase of ‘being unemployed’ cannot certify me the same satisfaction as it comes post retirement. But there’s nothing wrong in living in the moment. One must slow down in this fast paced world to enjoy every breath, every second and every moment of life. After all, Tim Ferries has this theory ‘one must have short breaks in career to enjoy mini retirements’.

I must admit, this freedom of being idle is a mere transition of myself from an ugly old life where I was, first of all, bonded to work that never excited me and secondly, turned me into a slave at the helm of others, to, this beautiful journey I experience now where am the master of my acts, it’s me who decides how every second of my life should tick.

If you believe life you are living now is not what you ever wanted or you are living someone else’s life, stop immediately. Do not worry about the consequences or after effects. Try to pursue your passion, dream big and stop worrying about the future. you won't fail. At least, defeat in a hard fought battle (to win over your passion) is worth a celebration than being a complete failure for doing something which you never chose for yourself or for your life.

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The change is for good. I am freer to do what I always wanted to do without any gratuitous or unwanted apprehensions or worries. I do not feel wasted at all. Money is not everything, at least not the only criteria for me to judge my happiness. I’ve learnt the simple fact of life, do what you always want to do and live your passion honestly, do not run after money, create enough worth for yourself, wealth will follow you wherever you go.

Learn from Sachin Tendulkar or Amitabh Bachchan, they rose to the occasion, they are the real heroes who worked hard to hunt their passion and achieve glory and now accolades come from all across the globe to acknowledge their hard work.

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Get inspired and be an inspiration for others. At the end I would say, learn to live life happily, be good and follow your heart and enjoy life with short breaks in this fast paced world. You’ve already been what your parents wanted you to be since childhood, now it’s time for you to be the change, be what you always desired to be, do things you always wanted to do and free yourself from the clutches of money or societal pressure, after all, it’s you whose answerable to yourself and not to the society.

P.S : This is a self motivational post I wrote to keep myself moving and do not lose focus.

P.P.S : I would like to thank Leo Babauta from zenhabits for being such an inspiration.

Things To Do Before I Die

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:18:00 +0000

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Read a post recently on THINGS TO DO BEFORE I DIE which inspired me to prepare my own wish list. Although I do not have any plans or timeframe in mind as to when these activities must be completed but there’s no harm in listing them now, at least to remind myself to finish few before I close my eyes forever!!!

Thanks Jojo for sharing your blog!

So here’s a list of things I think I must do before I die:

1. Stay fit for life

2. Sooner than later move to my flat in Pune

3. Adopt a child

4. Spend evenings with friends on weekends

5. ~~Marry love of my life~~

6. ~~Resign from my current job without a job in hand~~

7. Work for IBM (my dream company) one day

8. Teach mathematics on weekends to kids

9. Learn French

10. Open up my own Radio Station

11. Spend a day with Sachin Tendulkar : the ultimate Salvation

12. Spend a day with Hrithik Roshan

13. ~~Gift a laptop to my wife~~

14. Buy Renault Megane convertible in India

15. Buy an Apple I-Pod with docking Station

16. Gift a sedan to my parents

17. Fly to New Zealand with my wife

18. ~~See the world from Eifel Tower~~

19. ~~Drink and drive~~

20. ~~Get inked~~

21. Get inked again

22. Go on a long drive with my wife to roads unknown

23. Sing an English song in front of a very specific crowd just to prove I do not sing with a Punjabi accent

24. Learn swimming

25. Buy a bicycle

26. Watch ‘I dream of Jeanie’, ‘Prison Break’ & ‘Friends’ sitcoms as many times I want after retirement.

27. ~~Run continuous for 25 minutes~~

28. Run continuous for an hour

29. Write a novel

30. ~~Learn Yoga~~

31. ~~Exercise regularly~~

32. Write a post on my blog which grab at least 50+ comments

33. Be a Minimalist after 45

34. Prepare Butter Chicken Masala for my wife

35. ~~Drink all kinds of alcohol (world brands)~~

36. ~~Learn cooking~~

37. ~~Stay in a penthouse for a month~~

38. ~~Drive Alfa Romeo, Benz & BMW at least once in my life~~

39. ~~Stuff my fridge only with beer, coke and chocolates~~

40. Never die. Live forever!!!

This was my bucket list, hope to see yours floating soon on the web!!!

Into The Wild

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Confessions of an IT Engineer – Part 2

********************

"Where were you?"

“I went to submit resignation and surrender my ID card today.”

"What, are you out of your mind? Have you gone completely insane? What was the need for you to do that?"

“Well, it’s a very calculative risk I took and I am ready to face the music.”

"Face my foot you dumb-a**. You think yourself to be Joey Tribiyani who liked quitting before applying his brains’ to the job in hand?"

“I gave a lot of thinking to this and finally made my decision.”

"But till yesterday you had this offer to go to UK for 2 years and today you resigned from the company. Do you have any backup plan?"

“No, I am completely jobless now. I have to start searching for a job from scratch.”

"Dude (I meant you a**), do you understand what you are saying. Does words like ‘recession’, ‘sabbatical’, ‘being jobless’ holds any meaning to you? Even a dumb soul knows when not to quit than how on earth could you be so dim-witted?"

“I wasn’t satisfied with my job. The year’s frustration was boiling right below me. I always felt, this is not me. This is not what I want from life. It’s either I stop here today and hunt to follow my passion or I continue to be a literate slave amongst the crowd. So today I got a chance to throw my towel in the ring. And who knows this may turn out to be a beginning of a new chapter.”

(Or)

"End of the beginning!!!

This was your first company after graduation and now you’re last for retirement. This organisation gave you an identity and put you on the map of IT industry. It made you see places. You covered almost half of the world thanks to your ex-employer and now you say you were not satisfied and you call it a quit today? Whatever dude, you screwed up!!!"

“I know it’s complex and very hard for you to digest but I had my own priorities and concerns I couldn’t ignore.”

As I said this, the mirror shattered into pieces and the conversation with myself ended abruptly.

********************

Anyways, I walked out of the organization and did not turn back to see it for the last time. Ethically, professionally, I may be incorrect in the way I parted from the organization but I was satisfied to break this jinx of being in 1 company in Chennai (no offense meant) for more than 5 years.

There was no farewell, none to walk along as I moved out of the campus, I guess, I was back to where I started 6 years ago after the graduation.

Confessions of an IT Engineer - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 07:23:00 +0000

This is a series of posts, a series of confessions to make for the mistakes I did both personally and professionally during the IT period of my life. I write about the lessons learnt, the roads less taken and the wrong turns I had last 5 years working in a software industry.

I write how my dreams of making big in IT turned out to be nightmare in later years. The dreams of winning confidence and respect, the desire to have a flourishing career and a need to see the world all came with a price.

The first part of the series is about the lessons I learnt that helped me in gaining wisdom about the work culture in IT industry. I may not call it as the best practices or policies to follow, anyone reading this consider it as pages from my past experiences, pages that define ways to handle issues no matter how critical or severe they may sound and how one can either minimize or eradicate them completely. This is my personal diary about my professional world.

Lessons learnt:

1. The first lesson I learnt, be very clear in your ideas. Do not fool around. If you have a concern make sure people at the management level are listening. There may not be straight forward solutions but alternatives can always be worked out.

2. My second lesson I learnt, give respect, ~~take respect,~~ Demand Respect. If you want respect from others you must know how to treat others with respect.

People gain respect from the work they do. Argue by your work not by your words. Make sure you commit to the task at hand and do not procrastinate. Ontime delivery of work comes with respect attached with appreciation from management, also it helps in gaining trust and confidence among peers.

3. Third lesson is, do not over commit for a job at hand, if it is practically not feasible to finish the task in defined time. Discuss with the team and then make the final call. It’s better to be clear first than to apologize later.

4. Fourth lesson is an extension to the third one, do not trade results with excuses. If you commit to something and was not able to do it later, accept your mistake and do not trade the end result (whether good or bad) with excuses or apologies.

5. Be an inspiration for others. Set examples for others to follow.

6. Sixth important lesson I learnt is, do not procrastinate (postpone) your work. Do not put today’s work on tomorrow. The deal is, if you put-off today’s work on tomorrow, first, the tomorrow will never come and one day all the procrastinated work will pile up like a big stack and you will either eliminate it (not in the right sense) or ignore doing it.

7. Sycophants, give me a break. Earn respect from the work you do, not by sycophancy. I sometimes wonder, sycophancy is an art known by few, it should be made as a subject in management diploma. Be sweet in your work not through your words.

8. The most important lesson I learnt, hard work never fails. Be honest to your work, be honest to your employer and never leave your passion.

9. Do not bluff at work and avoid blame game. If you have missed doing certain task, do not get into blame game or accusations, have enough strength to face consequences for the mistakes made. People learn only by mistakes.

10. Learn to say NO when needed. If you are really not interested in taking up the assignment, learn to say NO. Raise your concern and justify your resentment. If you have a weak heart in saying NO at first place, buy time to think and revert back with your final answer.

These are the 10 most important lessons I learnt during my IT spat. I hope you learn something here and I wish, none of you to make such mistakes like i did in my profession or come out of it sooner than later.

Happy Reading!

The Year That Was 2011 : Blog Review

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 02:42:00 +0000

I had quite an interesting year with respect to Blogging. From reading articles, posts from the enormous blogging pool available online to making friends, I had a blast this 2011. Also, there was a fourfold increase in the traffic on my blog page, something to cherish for eons!!!

Here’s a brief review of my Blog (Cognitive Amalgamation):

I started blogging since December 2007 but the flow of publishing posts was quite fluctuating, once in a blue moon to be precise. As a result, my blog attracted a very staggered traffic. To be very honest, I was not into the concept of blogging, I took it because my twin was actively pursuing it. So I had to have my share of blogging. If he can do it, why not me? Besides, I dreaded when it comes to expressing views where medium of communication is English.

But frankly, I had this long mental constipation developed which never lets the words come out easy and I sooner than later lost interest in writing. Even IndiBlogger never excited me till last year, I considered IB for the rich not the poor.

Anyways, the last nail in coffin was pinned when my Google adsense account was deactivated. My blog was now officially DEAD and deprived of online minting. My dreams to make money through blogs (inspired from online money making ideas) were completely shattered.

But last year it all changed. I said to myself, screw adsense, screw facebook, this is the only platform that’s real and interesting so lets just get actively involve in it. As a result, instead of giving up blogging, I gave up facebook and adsense (although adsense gave up on me first, officially).

2011 was a year of changes I believe. I not only got back to blogging, traffic sensex on my blog touched 10k mark and in last 3-4 months it shot up to 15k hits and there was no looking back. Prosperity reigns!!!

I have been periodically posting my experiences now and regularly reading about others. IndiBlogger did the role of a catalyst.

Last few months, I learnt a lot about blogging. I realized your blog will only grow when you keep posting and keep reading. After all, words are food and energy to your blog’s health.

So with this, let me list down the experiences i had and things I look forward to see in my blog in coming years as it turns 5 this 2012.

Experiences:

1. Blog sensex crossed 15k mark and my rank at IndiBlogger also improved.

2. I’ve become a passionate admirer and follower of IndiBlogger and am now seriously following it.

3. Made new friends online via blogging and learnt a lot about them through their posts.

To list few, I love reading posts published on Bikram’s, DI, Arti, Renu, Rachna, Purba, Joshi D, Readitt, Indu, Saru, NRI and many more. I have subscribed to their blogs so that I do not miss out any post when i am offline. I have categorized them as virtual blogging pals at least better than the fake friend requests from dudes & duddettes from planet facebook.

4. I gave up facebook, orkut, Google plus or twitter (I was never on twitter) just to be on blogger. Although I do like it when people click on those tiny little ‘facebook’ ‘Google plus’ marks below every post and recommend/share them with their friends.

5. LinkWithin definitely helped me in gaining the edge!!!

6. Leobabauta’s zenhabits blog had a lasting impression on my personal and professional life.

Bottom line: Yes I confirm the Blog DNA in my blood has started re-forming.

Things I would like to see happen to my blog in 2012:

1. I never ever received an award for the blog or for any particular post I published. I get fascinated when I see those tiny little award/memento badges hanging on various bloggers page and dream of having one on mine too someday.

Also, I never gave an award to any bloggers for the posts I liked. I would love to give one but to be very honest, I am pretty naïve on how an award is given.

2. I wish to see more and more readers following my blog this year.

3. I have plans to add another blog but on wordpress this time. This blog will be more about my passion and what do I do to make a living!!!

4. My other wish is to see my blog grow and become what bikram’s or Rachna’s or DI’s or Indu’s or Arti’s or Joshi’s or The NRI’s or Saru's… or … (to name few) blog is today.

5. Last but not the least, I request readers to keep coming back on my blog and keep reading/writing.

Thanks for reading this.

New Year wishes to ALL!!!

Indian Ocean Band Spotted : Bhopal International Airport

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 09:52:00 +0000

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On my return journey from Bhopal to Chennai, i came across Indian Ocean Band at Bhopal Airport waiting for their flight in the lounge. They were on their way to Hyderabad after last night's concert they did in Bhopal. Because of the rush hour, i just squeezed in to grab few photographs with the band members and also managed to get their autographs. To name the few, i met R Ram, Sushmit Sen, Luheen, Nikhil and other members from the Band. Here are the pics:

2011 In A Glance

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 05:21:00 +0000

It’s a review of my experiences, lessons learnt, hits & misses I had this year in 2011.

It’s more of self-motivational way to judge myself or one may call it self-criticism in knowing how I did in 365 days of 2011.

These are my 12 experiences I had in last 12 months of 2011:

January: New Year Resolution to Reduce Drinking: I almost gave up drinking Alcohol. I won’t say I completely stopped it but the frequency is almost reduced to quarterly once (Ooops, this quarter is ending tomorrow on 31^st ... time to drink :P). Read more HERE.

February: Marriage Bells: Got married this year in Feb to love of my life i met online. Read more about my strange love Story HERE.

March: Buying a Flat: Bought a new flat in Pune this March and have plans to move there in coming year. Bought my first bike this year March and have plans to sell it soon :P

April: Work-out time: I started to work-out. I did not join any health, exercise or gym club. In fact I started to pump iron into me right at home.

May: Follow the Bear: I gave up eating Meat. I prefer to consume proteins from vegetables than from dead meat (animals). After all, bear is strong and vegetarian!!! Read HERE.

June: Follow your Passion: I found my interest, my passion. Although it took me a while to find one but I can say now, “finally I have one!!!” and I hope to pursue it as my career option (I already attracted lot of criticism at work, but now there’s no looking back for me). I thank my wife for helping me in this.

July: Keep Walking: I also started jogging / walking more regularly. Read about this HERE.

August: My 2nd Interest: I got back to Blogging. I read newer posts and write more on my personal page periodically.

September: Blogging Friends: I made more friends by blogging than by facebook and best part is I personally never knew my facebook friends either. But it’s better to have it via blog than by fb at least I can chat through comments and discuss ideas with them. Thanks Indiblogger.

October: Being Joey Tribbiani: I became more conscious about my diet. Read many self help books and online references for a healthy diet system. Reduced processed sugar intake and replaced it with natural sugar (jaggery).

November: Books Best Friends: I recuperated my passion for reading books. Although I was reading books throughout the year but I became more serious this November. Will shortly list down the books, novels I read in 2011 with a short review about each of them in my upcoming blogs.

December: Bye Bye Facebook, Orkut: Gave up Facebook / Orkut completely. Although I do have an account on Facebook but I rarely use it now. I have deleted my Orkut account (R.I.P). Read HERE.

Oh, did i just say December. Since we both are here while reading this, i wish you and your family a very Happy New Year and all the prosperity in coming years. Happy 2012. Be good to all and enjoy life!!!

Regards
Rahul Aggarwal

Main Anna Hoon ..!!!

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 10:03:00 +0000

On my way to office, I decided to take a detour and slid my bike through a one way lane with traffic moving right opposite me.

If you ask me, it was necessary not only to evade the two kilometer long road kissing a u-turn and come back on the other side, plus it saved me a lot of time for not being on road during rush hour. If you ask an onlooker, it was a foolish act and from a traffic policeman’s point of view, it was Christmas calling!!!

These guys they just love it when people are out of their senses and commit such mindless things and get busted. Frankly, if KFC had to advertise for “finger lickin’ good” caption, they must click the traffic police-walaas having a burger in one hand and driver’s wallet in other, cheering to the camera, “I am lovin’ it!!!”

Anyways, to cut short, I turned out to be a Santa this year for Chennai traffic police.

I somehow ignored the police van approaching me while I was sneaking on the wrong side, more like an ignorant moth running towards its own death. I thought I was imperceptible but I guess, not stealthy enough for the traffic police.

I stopped and removed my helmet as the traffic policeman stepped out of the van.

Before I could say anything, the traffic policeman broke out, “Saar, wrong side of road, heavy fine, Saar, License please, Saar”.

I handed over my license to him.

“I am sorry Sir, it’s a mistake, it won’t happen again”, I said.

“Saar, a mistake is a mistake, you will be heavily fined Saar”, he said raising his voice.

“Please Sir please … please Sir”, I cried.

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With the nation roaring to the anti corruption vibe led by Anna Hazare and every young Indian dressed like Anna echoing slogans during protests of “MAIN ANNA HOON”, I too, decided not to bail myself out by bribing the police. I was adamant and firm not to present my vulnerable side by showing greenery or asking leniency and being sweet. After all, I was supporting the anti-corruption cause.

I said to the police guy, “Saar, I support Anna hazare. I am ready for all kinds of punishment and will not undergo any sugar coated conversation!!!”

The policeman looked at me surprisingly and said, “Aapadiya??? I too support Anna ji and will charge you with whatsoever legal fine we have in our books for your mistake!!!”

I was unaware of what was coming. I guess my big mouth consequently led me into more trouble. The policeman cleared the phlegm in his throat and cried “Saar, fine of Rs. 500 for your mistake as per our records!!!”

“500 just for moving my bike on the opposite lane and I haven’t even covered 100 meters. Don’t you think that’s too much to ask for?” I replied. God, when did they last update their fine list I wondered?

“It’s perfect for your mistake YOU ANTI CORRUPTION ACTIVIST Saar!!!” said the policeman.

I turned around to check my wallet. I was like hit by a truck, I had the last 150 in my pocket. Before I could add any more to my misery, I smiled at the policeman and said, “Sir, i believe, we shall wait for LOKPAL BILL to get passed in HOUSE and then talk about the legal (honest) things .. till then, can’t we figure out a more effictive way to deal with this matter and get things settled right here right now?”

He immediately relaxed his facial muscles and said, “Alright, how much do you have?”

“ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY”, I underlined and said.

“Sweet, Skip it across, take your license and do not turn back!!!” he said and I obeyed to his instructions.

I did not turn back nor did I pay him the complete legal fine for my mistake. After all, we both were happy!!!

Inference:

This incident just made me realize, is common man or the System really interested in having the Lokpal Bill? After all, everyone is vulnerable to make mistakes and get rid of things the alternative way, then why do we need a transparent system.

When we cannot change the way we do things then how will we support the bill thanks to our parochial thinking? Every second person in India has this attitude: “My Money is MY MONEY and Your Money is also MY MONEY”, then how will we be able to follow the LOKPAL BILL?

P.S: Views expressed here are all very personal and should not arise any kind of agitation in people’s mindset about our system or in favor of / against campaign!!!

P.S: This also marks my entry for the “SETS YOU ON FIRE!” Contest by KFC on IndiBlogger.

Happy Reading!!!

A Girl On The Platform

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 10:21:00 +0000

New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS)

Date: 30^th Nov 2011

Time: 2 Afternoon!!!

I and my wife were sitting on chairs in New Delhi Railway Station waiting for train to arrive on Platform No.2. Very tired, we were silent and deep into our thoughts ignoring the commotion and loudness around us in the busy station.

A 10 year girl stopped by my side and looked at me. She was thin, pale at face, covered with a torn shawl. She held a 20 rupee note firmly in her small left fist to protect herself from robbery.

There was fear in her voice and anticipation to seek help in eyes. Tears ran down her cheeks in a desperate attempt to touch the dried up lips.

She shook my hand and asked,”Bhaiya, Saharanpur ko gaadi kounse platform se jaati hai?” (Train to Saharanpur departs from which platform?)

Her soft voice was loud enough to beat the station noise and wake me up from day dreaming.

I replied back, “malum nahi!!!” (I don’t know!!!) and she left without saying anything.

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My wife observed, she was asking the same question from every other person her footsteps took her. She waved and called her back. She raced back to the place we were sitting.

“What’s your name?” my wife asked.

Chandni came her reply.

“Where are you coming from Chandni? Where is your parent? Why do you want to go to Saharanpur platform?” a volley of questions my wife enquired from the little kid.

She was brought to Delhi by someone she never met before in life. Her father is dead and she was forced to leave Saharanpur so she ran from the place where she was put up in Delhi and came to the station to go back to Saharanpur, was her reply.

We were shocked. She further added that she knows how to read and write as she’s in her fifth standard and is youngest in the house of 4 siblings: 3 girls and 1 boy.

She broke down as she was anxious to go back to Saharanpur.

“Aapke paas vaapis jaane ka ticket hai Chandni?” (Do you have a ticket for Saharanpur train, Chandni?) I enquired and a person sitting to my right answered, “bachchi hai sahab, TT nahi puchega ticket ka aur jaane dega!!!” (She’s a minor, so TT will not ask her for the ticket and will let her go!!!)

“Bhookh lagi hai, kuch khaana hai?” (Do you want anything to eat; shall I get you something?) I asked. But she had one answer to all the queries, “mujhe platform number bata do, mujhe Saharanpur ki train pakadni hai” (please tell me which platform number for Saharanpur train).

Isolation and fear overtook her hunger and she was colder from within than from the skin on that winter day.

I made her sit on my seat and told, “Chandni, yahaan rehna didi ke paas. Main platform ka pata karke aata hoon” (Chandni, Sit here with didi and wait for me to come back with platform details). She nodded in affirmation.

It took me 10 minutes to get back to the place where I left them.

She was happy to know that the train will leave from platform 7 in another 30 minutes. I decided to give her money but she refused and showed me the wet 20 rupee note she held in her hand.

I escorted her till platform 7.

I asked her to make a call at home saying that she’s fine and will be coming home soon but the poor child was too young to memorize numbers. Before she could board the train, I bought her chocolate biscuits and snacks for the journey. She hesitated but the hunger made her reach out and take the stuff.

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Happiness started to show signs on her but same time, fear never retreated.

I once again alerted her with the rule book of “things you must remember while travelling alone”.

I blessed her and she smiled back to say bye.

I got back to the place my wife was. We discussed about this incident for a while before we lost words to speak any further. We both just hoped that Chandni should safely reach her place, her home as early as possible.

Epilogue:

This incident left so many things unsaid. It may happen with anyone at any time. We were without words for rest of our journey. My wife really wished if we were in a position today wherein we could have thought of adopting the child and protect her childhood but it was hoping against the hope.

I really wished children like Chandni do not lose their innocence and hoped that they are not let into wrong hands and made to do things they are really not supposed to do.

Thanks for reading this and I hope if you come across any such incident in your life, be good to kids and make sure you comfort them whatever way possible. Remember they are not as blessed as we were during our childhood.

Things You Must Know While Travelling To/From Delhi

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 16:56:00 +0000

If you are travelling by air to Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) Delhi, here are some interesting facts you must know if you expect your trip to be as smooth as flowing fluid.

Keep in mind: the Airport Metro Express is presently operational only from Terminal 3.

Travelling between Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 :

If your flight arrives at Terminal 1 and you have to take train from NDLS Railway Station for your ongoing journey, you must know certain things to make sure you have less hiccups between travels when you are running short of time.

1. Come out of terminal 1 and board Airport Shuttle which runs every 20 minutes between terminal 1 and terminal 3.

Bus Charge per person: 25 Rupees

Time it takes between the terminals: 15 minutes

2. Once you reach terminal 3, walk down the ramp to enter metro station. Buy a ticket for Delhi Railway station (NDLS). Airport metro express starts from Platform 2. Enjoy your journey till you reach Delhi Railway Station (NDLS).

Airport Metro Express Ticket Charge per person: 80 Rupees

Time for the journey: 15 minutes (approx)

3. Once you are in NDLS Station, you are good to go to the platform your train is scheduled to depart.

This whole journey should not take more than 30 minutes to move from Terminal 1 to NDLS Railway Station via Terminal 3, trespassing all the city traffic thanks to the Airport Metro Express.

Some interesting worth mentioning moments I experienced during travel:

a. There’s an underground tunnel from Metro Station that opens up to Delhi Railway Station (NDLS). Before you walk up to see the sky, you’ll come across “Hot n Chillz” outlet selling ready to eat junk stuff/food items for the travelers. A must if you want to munch while on the move. It’s cheap and yummy!!!

b. If you are ahead of time and want to relax and kill time, do not plan to go to Mustards Café (right opposite to NDLS Railway Station). A complete waste of money. Food served is cold and undercooked. My advice: Better sit on the waiting chair inside the station than crib on the idea of how worthless it was @ Mustards Café.

Just the opposite way to commute, if you are travelling first by train and planning to take flight from either Terminal 1 or Terminal 3.

Airport Shuttle service operates from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1 as well at the same cost and frequency.

So, if you are here and reading this post, I wish you a pleasant journey while travelling to or from Delhi

Metro Map :

Metro Route

Reasons why you must not stop running/jogging/walking

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 02:33:00 +0000

Cheapest way to stay healthy:

No need for club membership to run on a treadmill for hours and that too in a closed environment. Infuse early morning’s fresh air running on tracks than artificial air in gym.

Shower yourself to the morning sun light. It has its own advantages.

Increases your Endurance:

Do not sprint if you are a starter. Prefer jogging or brisk walking and set a target for yourself.

Review your target daily. Do not have limitations.

I started with 5 rounds jogging and now more than a month, I’ve increased my count to 6. Remember, slow and steady wins the race.

And do not strain yourself. Rome was not built in a day. So endurance will increase only after a period of dedicated hard work.

Reduces Weight:

Running is the best medium to keep yourself in shape and reduces the extra flab on you.

Run to improve your cardio vascular system. Regular jogging acts as a slow poison in eradicating unnecessary fat in your body. But you need to be careful with your diet as well to feel the difference.

Creates Balance in your sugar intake:

Run to stay fit.

Run hard and hydrate enough to break down all the sugar in your body.

Have a balanced life.

Keeps you active:

Imagine 2 scenarios: Wake up at 8 in morning and feel lethargic whole day or wake up at 5 and feel energetic after jogging. Feel the difference.

I got rid of laziness. Say “Thank You” to your cozy bed for the last night’s sleep.

Run as much you can and feel the difference.

Time yourself. It feels good:

I started with 15 minutes each, jog and walk.

I've improved myself with extra 5 minutes now. Time yourself to observe the exponential curve touching the sky.

Suggestions:

Do not worry about few hiccups if you miss jogging a day or two. Keep motivating yourself to come back on the tracks next day.

Speak to a friend or someone in your family who can accompany you for jogging if you cannot do it alone.

Keep yourself hydrated.

Reduce processed sugar intake, replace it with jaggery. Avoid artificial sugar.

Do not skip meals.

Also Read : 5 must have activities in your daily schedule.

A Bug In My Gmail Account

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 07:45:00 +0000

Yes i have a bug in my Gmail account and that's bugging me out.

I took the screenshot as soon as I knew I had the fish on my hook.

I sent the image with bug details to Google and still hoping against the hope, that, one fine day, Google will revert back to my query with an adequate feedback.

Or, May be, Google must have given it a pass (considering the severity or the impact on end user to be minimal – just an assumption) to such a tiny-winy bug from one of their application user.

No regrets.

Without adding much curiosity, let me share with you the bug I found couple of days back in my Gmail account.

PS: I am not very sure whether it’s a bug or what but when I try regenerating the error, it did appear couple of times before I signed out from my account.

Objective: Exploring Gmail web application

Date: 21 Oct 2011

Time: 11:01 hours IST

Theme Used: Minimalist

Findings:

The BACK button happened to lose its “black colored back arrow” visibility every time I opened a mail.

Although the BACK button was visible but the black arrow inside it was missing.

This happened not once, twice but couple of time before I signed out and signed in later to get the right BACK BUTTON with correct black-color-back-arrow visible while opening any mail in my inbox.

Inference:

It can be an issue with web server connectivity or some graphical misalignment but who knows!!!

Conclusion:

Well, a bug is a bug, no matter how big or small it is.

It may/may not be significant for Google and they might ignore my testimony but I do believe this bug have tendency to impact end user keeping in view the naivety of a newbie Gmail user.

This bug thus holds a good deal of importance to me!!!

P.S:

No intentions to ridicule/tarnish the image of Google mail application or of Google directly or indirectly as I am a big admirer of Google and their products and using Gmail now for more than 5 years.

But,

Mistakes can happen and bugs can appear anytime at any place.

After all, a bug is a bug...!

Till then,

Happy Reading!!!

5 Must Have Activities In Your Daily Schedule!!!

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:29:00 +0000

Disclaimer: Views expressed here are all personal and should not offend or influence readers’ rational thinking.

P.S : publish No HIRO NAKAMURA (HEROES) acts to save humans :-)

Anything and everything expressed here can have positive consequences in your daily life.

I soon realized the importance of few activities in my daily life.I started with 1 and ended up having 5.

I will share what keeps me moving and ticking in today's fast life.

1. I walk / jog

There's no age to walk or to run. Realize this!!!

Run/Jog as much you can else Walk.

There's no defined time to walk or to run. You don't need to take out time or think what time of the day is ideal for you to walk. If you are completely idle for 15 minutes and have nothing to do, start walking!!!

Also, try morning walk. I wake up every day at 5 and jog for an hour. Sometimes I go for work in morning but I make sure I walk at least for an hour in evening.

Q. how do I manage to wake up so early?

A. Well, if you can't, do not force yourself. I did because I was surprised the way my entire day passed after my morning jog in comparison to the days when I slogged. I am more contended, happier and energetic today than what i was when i used to wake up after the sunrise.

Here's someone inspiring you to walk : Read about Aimee Mullins. If she can do it with artificial legs, consider yourself blessed.

Still if you find it difficult to wake up when the whole world is sleeping, make sure you brisk walk or just walk for half an hour every evening. Move your hands while you walk.

So KEEP WALKING !!!

2. Follow your passion

Most Important!!!

Imagine your day of 22 hours instead of 24. Finish all the other stuff in 22 hours and give 2 hours to your passion.

Imagine yourself 25 years ahead, you realize and regret the decisions you made in giving up things you always wanted to do, instead, you gave up everything for someone else and that someone does not exists even today!!! Won't you feel like playing a rewind button to start all over again.

If today you are not what you wanted to be, tear off this mask and start dreaming now.

3. Eat nutritious food

Eat nutritious, healthy food. Do not abstain yourself from rich healthy diet.

Avoid stuff like:
• tea (alternative : green tea)
• bread (alternative : eat brown/wheat/whole grain bread)
• bakery stuff
• junk food
• cakes, pastries, chocolates

Must have:
• milk
• yogurt
• muesli/ corn flakes/ oat meals
• have walnut once in a while but not daily (good for liver as it contains omega 3)
• honey

4. Say No to alcohol/smoke

Once when I was in Johannesburg, a South African friend of mine asked on seeing my drinking habits, "Dude, when you gonna stop?"

My answer was, "Only when I die!!!"

Not anymore, I stopped it long back but it does not mean that I must start preaching about it. This should come from within.

Dudes & duddettes drinking, do know about the ill effects of excessive drinking but one shall only stop when they realize the importance of life without it.

Sooner the better!!!

I never smoked and have no plans to start in future as well.

I cannot stand the smell of smoke and do not like to actively participate in PASSIVE SMOKING as well but for all those smoking chimneys out there, avoid it wherever possible, burn your lungs walking not smoking!!!

At least i know somebody who can make you quit smoking and guess who?

It's CANCER!!!

5. Yoga

I am no expert in yoga. I started it thanks to my wife whose been teaching yoga now for several months.

If terms like “focus, meditation, balance between mind and soul, internal peace” etc makes sense to you while practicing yoga, bingo, good going buddy!!!.

If it doesn't add any zing in your life, I would still suggest, try it under instructor's guidance else read and understand this line: "STATUTORY WARNING: Do Not try at home!!!"

Q. Where do I find a mentor?

A. There are many institutes and health (yoga) centers opening up now and then, consult them, follow their one month course and see if you develop interest in it.

Else, either marry a yoga trainer like i did or get unlucky!!!

My inspiration for writing this blog today :-> Leo Babauta

Previous Post : Chapter 2 : The Door Opens : Read here.

Chapter 2 : The Door Opens!!!

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 07:51:00 +0000

Chapter 1 : The Closed Door Continues...

With no water or food, I was boxed in a non window room with zero network connectivity and to fear the worst, I was locked, enough to send chill down my spine. It was quite a horrifying experience and now I knew I’ve welcomed the mother of all fear and panic within myself.

The more I screamed, the more I could hear myself crying.

The drums in my head now played more nastily then ever letting the first drop of blood-filled-water drip off my eyes!!!

… I hibernated to an indefinite sleep after hours of weeping, as if somebody pressed the "switch off" button and knocked me out completely.

Sometime later, when I woke up, salted eye drops in my mouth gave away the thirst within me.

I kept lying on the floor thinking about her.

Why would she leave me and where will she go, leaving me like this, trapped for hours in a closed room? I kept asking myself.

I look at myself. The clothes on me weren’t mine. I never ever happen to wear white round neck t-shirt with white khakis.

What was happening was very difficult for me to figure out.

I tried not to choke myself to death soliciting all such questions and focused more on the times we spent in each else’s arms, all curled up during those cold winter nights.

I remembered the times she would sit by me and will never think of leaving me especially when I wanted her the most during my lows.

She was the only one who had answers to all my questions. With her, I never felt single handed. But today, the irony was, when I most needed her, she wasn’t there. In fact she’s the one who’ve put me in this situation and went away.

Was she bitching on me? The more I tried not to think bad about the situation or curse her, the more it kept coming back.

All such puzzles took permanent seat in my brain.

I knew, no matter what, she would never ditch me or leave me. But what made her leave today was the question that never left my mind.

I Wished I was a time traveler so that I could time travel and rectify things that must have went terribly wrong between us.

Hmmm…, I’d lost all hunger to eat or drink anything. I cornered myself and kept crying.
Sometime later, a strange pungent smell from the bottom of the door, filled the room and was heavy enough to doze me off to a dark sleep.

After few hours, I was not into myself, faintly I could see that the door was opened, there were 2 men holding me from the sides and took me out of the room. Their nose and mouth was covered with a plastic mask to prevent the gas from proliferating into their body.

Now I needed someone to answer all my queries.

I was taken out of the room. I could barely walk thanks to the heavy dose of gas perfumed in the room.

I could hear footsteps walking towards me and 2 people were talking to each other. One person was trying to explain Room 129’s case to his partner.

I overheard him saying, “The person in Room 129 suffers from STM (Short Term Memory) loss past 5 years and was found convict of murdering his own wife.”

Why was I listening to all this, where am I if not in my own house, what’s happening here, how do I fit in this situation, were the questions kept rising in my dizzy shaky mind.

I turned around to check my house just to find out the room I came out from was numbered 129 and the label above it read “MENTAL ASYLUM”

---- END OF CHAPTER 2 ----

Chapter 1 : The Closed DOOR!!!

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 12:55:00 +0000

“I try, I fail, I try better, and I fail better”

~ Anonymous

The mobile alarm buzzed off one more time today, as if, some fire broke loose and the f brigade was in a rush hour with its streaking red siren.

When I checked the time, it never felt like morning’s ten.

Seemed, I overslept.

As I woke up, she wasn’t beside me.

She wasn’t seen anywhere in the room. I could hear my forlorn breathe lose inside the four walls of the room.

There wasn’t any note or ‘post-it’ she left anywhere on the wall.

I looked at the mobile, if there were any miss calls or text she left while leaving. The screen was as blank as I was.

I was so very confused as to what must have gone wrong last night?

Did I do anything? Did we have a fight? But a fight can be no reason to leave the house.

Every question that pops up in my mind was in a race to overtake another. The headache, the frustration was steadily creeping within me.

I haven’t been drinking past few months but today it felt as if, I was over doped. The pain was excruciating.

I tried recalling, what time did we guys sleep last night and did anything happened out-of-place in last 12 hours and whether or not she was beside me when I hit the bed?

I knocked at the bathroom door, may be, I thought, she must have been in toilet for long. But the door moved with my hand’s weight and she wasn’t inside.

Her clothes were seen no where around.

I decided to search other rooms in the house but my room's door was clamped from outside. I tried hard to break through but all in vain.

“What’s going on? Have I become a prisoner in my own room?” I asked myself one more time, “isn’t it too perfect for her to leave me like this in jeopardy?”

I tried calling on her cell but there wasn’t any signal available. The piece of box was lying dead on bed for hours it seemed.

The time was running out and this “virtual trap” started to slither within my subconscious mind.

The more I unruffled myself, the more I disturbed my tranquility.

The water jug was empty and the thirst was craving. The only water available was one running from the tap in the toilet.

Phlegm in my throat had a very vicious taste. I myself smelled nothing less than the waste from the dump yard.

I banged at the room’s door as if someone might come listening to my groan and lock me out from here. But what was I thinking. It was only two of us who lived in this apartment.

I repented at the decision we made few years ago to have no window in our master bedroom when we started construction.

With no water or food, I was boxed in a non window room with zero network connectivity and to fear the worst, I was locked, enough to send chill down my spine. It was quite a horrifying experience and now I knew I’ve welcomed the mother of all fear and panic within myself.

The more I screamed, the more I could hear myself crying.

The drums in my head now played more nastily then ever letting the first drop of blood-filled-water drip off my eyes!!!

To Be Continued…

P.S: This is my second attempt to fiction.

Oops!!! Do not ask me which the first one was as it’s already lost in archive pages somewhere in this blog.

If you happen to drop by this blog, I would appreciate if you drop a comment to either motivate me to go ahead in continuing this short fable or to stop right here.
Thanks for reading this not-so-disturbing-but-still-annoying-PS!!!

Read More:

Chatper 2 : The Door Opens

Prabhjot Singh Rana

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 06:36:00 +0000

RA: Rahul Aggarwal

PSR: Prabhjot Singh Rana

“June 2007, IIT Madras, Chennai”

RA: Beere, what do you say, shall we do it?

PSR: Yes Beere, nothing to be scared of, nobody will come to know about it.

RA: let’s do it then Beere!!!

This dates back to 5 years from now. Prabhjot and I went to IIT madras to study in the library without a valid ID cards and we hoped to trespass all rules and regulations and we eventually succeeded in making to the study room.CATCH : None of us were students of IIT!!!

The theme of this blog today is not to make readers keep guessing how both of us achieved our long lost 12th standard dream of making it to the IIT (yeah yeah although illegally!!!) but to cherish 5 years of our friendship!!!

We everyday see blogs about personalities, 'hall of fames' and legends etc but we rarely come across something that is solely written for a friend.

Last I remember a person writing about their friends was on ORKUT’s testimonial page.

Many blogs you'll find on web about what friendship is all about or 10 things you must know while making new friends (enemies). But today, through this blog,i want to thanks/commemorate/bless a very special friend I made when I started my career and wish to continue and celebrate my friendship with him till eternity.

This blog is all about Prabhjot Singh Rana!!!

He is different. Very kind hearted, always loved by all, fun to be with and one who laughed and made fun all the time.

Okay, you may say what's the big deal then.

Well yeah, I know many people have these traits but he was the one you could always trust and count on. He’ll never disappoint you.

He had an easy going character and one who’ll always be there to help you no matter how deep shit you are in.

He’ll put himself first on the line before anything come across his friends. Ask him advice, it’ll be the most genuine suggestion one could ever receive from him.

He used to crack jokes, to make fun and tell PJs was his USP (no pun Praby ).

The calmness he showed in his character, his approach towards things and his friendly nature towards a stranger puts him way above the rest.

The charisma he carried in his nature, people very easily will fall for him and will throng to have an everlasting friendship with him.

I remember when we were in Chennai together for 4 years; people used to be speak the way he spoke and would pick up his one-liners. they just wanted to be like him. Everybody loved Prabhjot!!!

Trust me, if you are someone who can bore someone to tears, you'd had a hard time with Prabhjot around.

He was the favorite among girls, the blue turban SHAH RUKH KHAN!!!. people would envy him for that. Sehgal, Sanket and myself, we were victims of the public assault he rendered when girls sorrounded him.

1 line in punjabi that defined prabhjot is "Yaaran da Yaar!!!"

Although i can write pages about him but before i put my pen aside, i would like to say:

it doesn't matter how i expresss the importance he holds in my life through this blog, the only thing that matter most is, i thank god for giving such a wonderful friend and for making my life a little better by putting the "making friendship with prabhjot" chapter in my 'book of life'.

Prabhjot, you'll always be very special to me. thanks for everything!!!

Love you Beere. God bless you and on this day I wish you a very happy and fun filled birthday.

God bless you Beere and Have fun!!!

P.S: please do not consider this blog as a testimony for PSR. This is just a special way I chose to gift Prabhjot on his birthday today.

You can read about IIT Chennai here

Sir Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar!!!

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 06:08:00 +0000

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
- W. Shakespeare

17th day of June 2011, i and my roommates sitting round the table for lunch, watching LEGENGS OF CRICKET on tube, thought the day cannot be more peaceful with nice weather outside before a small question tossed by me, resulted in an argument, spectrum-med from a discussion to a heated confrontation.

The reason for me to mention about cricket was the question I raised was in direct connection to the game and as we all know when it comes to cricket, “fanaticism” is just a semi superlative term for Indians.

Without testing further patience of my readers, let me raise the same question which led my roommates abate them self from the delicious lunch today and led me to write this blog.

My question was: “Should SACIN TENDULKAR be facilitated with the title of SIR ”

Is winning the world cup not enough to judge the credibility of the master to give him the throne of KNIGHT?

Does 200 runs and plus 50 50s in ODI and test respectively, does not substantiate his role for the team? Are these just personal milestones and holds no significance for the team?

Taking the team to the final on different occasions and not performing in the finals is this the only criteria to judge the batsman’s failure rate?

Has Sachin still not surpassed what Don Bradman or Viv Rickards were to cricket?

Is T20 world cup win in absence of Sachin, justifies the mortal nature of his cricket?

Will he be remembered as “SIR SACHIN TENDULKAR” or just “SACHIN TENDULKAR” for his contribution to the game and to the country?

Is the GOD of Cricket will be written down in history as a god without Sir in his name? And is SIR the only NUMERO UNO benchmark title to facilitate the little master? Or has the master outshined this title?

There is no end to the questions i frame here as all directs to the same meaning. But not reaching to a common consensus made me rethink about the mixed feelings people have about Sachin Tendulkar’s contribution to the world of cricket.

P.S : You can also read about the LEGEND here : Sachin's 200

Love Is...

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 04:26:00 +0000

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"

- Mahatma Gandhi

It was a Saturday like never before.

The first day months after marriage that we both were together, free from work, free of all daily nuances of life, free for "complete one day". There wasn’t any Sunday in my calendar as my Monday blues started from 0th day of the week itself.

We planned to sit at home and enjoy time together in each else’ arms.

I woke up with a bright light showering on my face through the window that very morning. I could see her through the half opened eyes caressing her golden brown hair sitting near the window and the thin strides of her hair blowing away thanks to the cool breeze permeating through the window.

Soon after the cup of morning tea, we planned to stay home today and do nothing but to enjoy time together for next 24 hours. but seems it wasn't the way it was supposed to be today!!!.

I saw her rubbing her eyes again for the nth time since dawn.

“Honey, is everything OK?” I asked.

“Yeah, just a little pain in my eyes with add-on irritation”, she answered.

“Shall I put some eye drops then?”, was my quick reply.

“No”, she said, “it’ll be fine.”

But things were not meant to be fine.

She started rubbing her eyes more frequently and this added to our mutual frustration. Soon we realized, the pain was heart-breaking thanks to the 6 days sitting in office and practicing the philosophy of “1 idiot looking right into the other”, I mean looking at the computer screen 12 hours a day which acted as the main catalyst in making her eyes sore.

She didn’t accept but she had red eyes now.

We decided to consult a good eye specialist before things get worse. And soon, the “happy staying together Saturday” sided into “being any other working day”.

I googled for the nearest eye centre and found one which had the same surname as mine: “Agarwal Eye Care” in Velachery. A sense of brotherhood and unexplained emotional drama took birth within me to not to try any other institute but this, owe it to my same surname.

I got her sitting behind me on bike and we vroomed to the eye care in half an hour, thanks to the bleeding traffic of Chennai.

“I want to see the doctor for my wife’s eye checkup”, I explained to the receptionist.

She slowly lifted her face towards me and questioned,”do you have appointment fixed for the day?”

My answer was obvious “NO, as I never expected to be in an eye care today ruining my plans to stay at home, together, after a long long time", I said to myself.

“What’s your wife’s name”, she asked.

I, very confidently, slugged, “S AGGARWAL”, with the surname underlined. I knew I was not from the crowd; I was different as my surname matched the name of the eye care, so I believed I had certain affinity to the founders of this institute as we shared the same surname.

I was looking at the door the receptionist will point to for seeing the doctor (thanks to the advantage i had over others because of my surname) but i guess I was dreaming, i was wrong, she asked me to sit outside and wait in the hall.

Grrrrrrr, I felt fallen right on my face on the ground. I said to myself staring at the receptionist, “how unprofessional(rude...to be precise)!!!”

Anyways, finally we consulted the doctor and after few round of checkups, the doctor declared that her eyes are very much normal and healthy. It’s just a phobia of being unwell that was triggered unknowingly. “You have a perfect eyesight and need no medicine or spectacles of any kind to add to your perfection”, the doctor said while escorting us to the exit door.

But both of us were not satisfied and asked doctor to go further in conducting some more tests. if Sigmund freud was alive today, he would have definitely studied my brain and have added a new chapter to his book of psychology on why people doesn’t accept when the doctor says “EVERYTHING IS NORMAL” and believe in those doctors who give medicines just to make their business running and client’s satisfied for the consultation fees they pay.

“But that would involve some greenery to evaporate from your pocket”, the doctor chided.

I was prepared to go an extra mile but not to go out of this specialty centre without complete check up.

After few more tests, the doctor confirmed that she had just NORMAL eyes and she doesn’t need any extra care. He added few eye drops and asked to buy the same drops from the chemist.

This activity consumed most of our day and finally we were home at 2 noon.
She decided to lie down for a while and close her eyes as the tests were way too stressful.

15 minutes of nap and she opened her eyes and screeched,”Rahul, I cannot see aything. Why is everything so dark? Have I slept the whole day that it’s night outside?” she asked.

I was perturbed and trembling. But with full confidence, I took her in my arms and said, “No it’s still day time and you slept only for 15 minutes.”

She cried listening this as she really was not able to see anything long sighted.

I consoled her, took her in my arms we and decided to meet the doctor again as an emergency case. I told her, “not to worry as everything will be alright”. But I knew it wasn’t helping.

We rushed into the eye care in no time and were in doctor’s cabin once again.

I was concerned and she was crying.

The doctor assured there’s nothing to panic as this happens because of the eye-drops which he gave. These drops have such an effect for 6 hours that it literally makes you blind for looking objects placed closer, everything appears blur and hazy.

I shouted at him that he should have notified this thing before so that this “pain sickening panic situation” could have been averted.

I asked him to make her eye sight the way it was before when we entered this premises.

He pacified me to wait for 6 hours and do nothing.

I started to believe my “same-surname-sharing” proved to be a “curse in disguise” for my wife.

I got her back home and asked her to relax and do not worry about anything for another 4 hours.

She slowly slept into my arms like a baby.

I woke her up at 8 and she was normal without an iota pain in her eyes and was smiling.

I thought, “The curse I was hooked to…soon turned out to be blessing in disguise.” i don't remember but i guess, in one pat of the brain, i was thanking my forefathers for my inherited surname?

“NEVERMIND!!!”

She was all so very relaxed and happy and thanked me for going an extra mile in showering my love for her and for the feeling that “I cared”.

She hugged me for all that I did today and finally our “not-so-very-relaxing-SATURDAY” came to an end with both us hugging each other!!!

P.S:

I don’t know what it means when you care for someone and you just can’t see them in pain, you give all your love and support and pray to god and make sure, that, you put in 100% of yourself just to take away, all their pains and sorrows, just to have that SMILE last on their faces forever!!!.

AMEN!!!

May be this is what "LOVE IS"…

See how we met online and got married here.

Osama Bin Pakistan, America!!!

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Mon, 02 May 2011 14:37:00 +0000

With regard to such an important day (02-05-2011) in the history of mankind, important because US army has finally captured Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan and has killed him…, now, if US has to write a letter to Pakistan for the coarse of events that occurred from Osama’s foyer from 9/11 till day in relation to Pakistan, what U.S must have written in that letter.

Dear Pakistan,

First of All, thanks a lot for all the help and support you & your people have extended towards our efforts for the past 10-12 years.

No matter, how many allegations does India put against you for being the hub of terrorism, we have supported you in thick and thin and ignored all the factual rumors (on the pretext of being false) spread by other Asian countries including India against you; and will continue to provide the same support in future.

You always denied the presence of Osama in Pakistan, very true; if interrogated (apologies for being disrespectful Sir!!!), your response will be either, “he was caught in no man’s land as per you or you were made the scapegoat into this”.

But as per our understanding, you actually never knew about Osama’s hideout in first place…people now consider being in Pakistan. We accept generously your “NO-knowledge” on this subject and have no hard feelings against you.

You were also made responsible for the 26/11 attacks held in Mumbai. India caught the accused terrorist Ajmal kasab who was a Pakistani nationalist but you openly denied the Pakistani' nationality of the accused. We still supported this act of yours.

Allegations were that you were also responsible for the Indian parliamentary attacks but you openly denied the fact and now the same terrorists are hiding under your nose somewhere in Pakistan without your so-called-knowledge, shall we assume this as another Osama in making???

No matter what, we, as always, will remain silent on this.

We also know that the other most wanted terrorists like Daud and CON is also hiding in Pakistan without your awareness.

Lastly, apologies for the accidental humilation you faced on grounds of US army killing Osama in your land, we apologize for our mistake and hope it doesn’t play a spoiler in our future relations.

With this note, I would like to say, No matter what the world says against you, we will keep supporting you and keep strengthening you financially for your (OURS!!!) so called military aid (popularly known as terrorism).

Amen!!!

Building relationships,

America!!!

Google Adsense : GAME OVER !!!

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Mon, 02 May 2011 11:51:00 +0000

5 years ago, when I started blogging, I was acquainted to “adense”.

Soon my blog had nice little flashy thumbnails that automatically posted contents related to the blog and links to publicize the advertisers that would indirectly generate revenue for my posts.

But six months after the adsense activation, I got a surprise mail from the almighty “google” that your adsense account has been deactivated, disabled for the unnecessary click I made on the ads to raise the revenue bar.

I was completely numb on reading this mail. Double checked whether I opened my account only or not.

It felt as if some undefined force took away life from my blog, only to know later, I was the one who killed my blog.

First question that popped in my mind was, why would I do something so irrational to double my revenue when I knew adsense likes to grow more horizontally then exponential on the graphs and is no hen from the fantasy world that lay golden eggs all at once???

May be it was an accident, but, outlawing forever without understanding the situation was too harsh I believe on my blog.

I mailed the team all valid reasons for the unintentional act but all in vain.
The only reply was “Your adsense account is deactivated!!!”

And that’s when “B-adsense” nemesis rose to the occasion.

I tried everything from creating a new Google mail account, linking it to my blog, creating new blog on different platforms to creating new blogger profiles for myself, etc but every time i got the same message : “Your account is deactivated after verification”.

5 years now and my blog is very much alive and running but without the extra air of adsense to it, sadly.

I do not worry much about it anymore, although I do feel disappointed sometimes.
Wish I had some asian/Indian running alternatives to adsense accounts (Am I day Dreaming again???).

RIP My blogger’s adsense account!!!

love Story 2010

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 04:43:00 +0000

It was last year, March 2010 when she pinged and our conversation took off. The reason we had this conversation was my introduction to MOTA Blogs (thanks to Sanket).

Slowly as the days passed, our short and sweet conversations reached new heights. It was no longer short rather lengthier with some extra sugar, supplemented the tête-à-tête.

One point of time in each of our lives, a stage came where it was inevitable to chat (minimum) once in the day before clicking “OFFLINE”option.

People wandering why do I focus more on internet chatting when there are other means available in today’s world to have a better exchange of words?

I being in Johannesburg was the only reason to carry dialogue with her on web. We were on a virtual date over the internet least bothered about our physical appearances. The only way we would see each other was by exchanging photos through mail.

We discussed anything and everything from how the day would start to how many members in the family, likes/dislikes, followed by what we had in lunch etc etc…, every day.

Soon, I purchased a World calling card and we were free from the clutches of virtual dating over the internet. But very soon, the option to talk over phone, started to look cheesy in comparison to idea of meeting each other ‘in person’. So we finally decided to meet once I was back from Johannesburg.

Excitement was above the threshold. Although first time but it never felt like first timer’s meeting. One may call it telepathy but it always felt as if we had known each other past few years now.

I boarded the flight from Chennai to Pune, last year, sweet September. She looked more stunning and beautiful then what I saw in the pics. It looked as if this dawn will never kiss the dusk seeing the undying curiosity we had to know more & more about each other and stay together every minute.

Very soon, a seven day trip, I felt, as if was shortened to one day in each else’ presence. I remember reading somewhere; Einstein was asked once to define RELATIVITY. His answer was, “put your hand on a burning stove for 5 minutes, it looks like an hour. Sit for an hour with your beloved, it looks like 5 minutes. That’s relativity“. On the 7th day, I agreed to what Einstein said, not for the definition but for the second metaphor he used. The trip was short but had an ever lasting impression on each of us.

Last but one day, she took me to her place to meet her siblings. We had a nice time together.

Although physically I was in Chennai but I knew I lost something back in Pune. We were back to square one, chatting over internet and talking on phone for never-ending hours during my short stay in Germany. Very soon she decided to ask her family about “OUR” future together. All agreed and happiness on her face blossomed.

My parents were cool about it and they left it on me to make the final call. Soon she started speaking to all in my family telephonically. We had a new chemistry forming between us beyond our regular friendship. And that’s when we knew, we were in LOVE.

Initially I was apprehensive about the marriage as I needed more time to settle down and think about my future.

I always felt, the idea about marriage can act as a hurdle between me and my career growth. But soon after long discussions, we decided to settle down after marriage and sooner my ‘bachelor’ career chart was ripped off and replaced with the ‘career chart post marriage’.

And now since its public and the dates are out, 19th of feb, 2011, will be the day when my scooter will have “HAPPILY MARRIED” placard behind.

Bloopers of its Kind

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 12:12:00 +0000

Through this blog, I would like to share some of my experience/bloopers/blunders/accidents, i faced, during my stay in Germany.

On arrival at Frankfurt Airport:

At the airport, German staff at the VISA verification office, asked my dear Indian but yet not so Indian colleague, “KYA HAAL HAI” in German accent.

My friend from Chennai replied: “Sorry, I do not understand GERMAN.”

Work timesheet filling:

At work, asked my colleague in Germany to fill my ontime (work timesheet) with the status as “WORKING IN SHIFTS.”

Dude filled it as, “WORKING IN SHITS.”

Day Light Saving Time (DST):

Started from room at 5:15 AM to catch 5:50 AM tram which has a usual runtime of every one hour on weekends, ended up at the station at 4:50 AM thanks to Day Light Saving (DST).

Thank god we do not have DST in India. Trust me guys, it’s a MESS.

Wondering what happens if DST shifts time by 12 hours forward/backward?

At the Shop:

Day 1:

At the Shop counter,

Me (In English): “is this toothpaste?”

(There wasn't anything mentioned on the tube in english which says about its toothpaste characteristics...not even the word ‘TOOTHPASTE’.

Everything was German.)

The only fact I knew was, that the paste was placed in the same section where other dental stuff was present.

The dilemma whether to buy or not and check out for other alternatives, was trounced by the idea of tomorrow's situation to brush without paste keeping in mind the fact that no other shop was available in vicinity.

I once again asked the lady at the counter with tube in one hand and virtual brush made from my right hand finger held close to my mouth, “is this a tooth paste???”

Lady: “Ja, Ja (for yes), No Anglais!!!”

Me: “Oh, German….No English…Francais, Francais? (as if I knew French very well)!!!”

Lady: “Nein, Nein (for NO), German, German…no Francais!!!”
Me: “Tooth Paste” (literally rubbing my teeth with my finger)

Lade: Ja, Ja, toothpaste!!!

Me: “thankyou…bubye.”

I got back to the room.

Day 2:

Brushed with this new toothpaste the next day. Oh no!!! Blood all over my mouth. Googled the contents online for this brand.

Ooops, the tooth paste read “ANIMAL TOOTH ACHE” !!!

(phewwww....!)

Inked!!!

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:21:00 +0000

Times, a thing assumed so parochial when observed from periphery actually turns out to be so radical and fundamental in practice.

No matter how hard one tries to abstain from it, make it sit in one corner of the brain, it does spur one fine day and gives you a reality check.

The entire running away thing soon turns out to be ‘a thing of the past’.

My Advice: Do what your heart says not the people!!!

OKAY!!!

I finally did it, yes got myself inked!!!

I longed to do this from times immemorial (owing to the yes/no advices given by the mouths around).

I had my first tattoo done and was inked for rest of my life!!!

This dates back to days when I was in Chennai and came across this ink shop, our very own desi version of LA Ink!!!

I checked in and enquired.

Reason why I wanted a tattoo: primarily, I considered it cool to have one and the only way people start differentiating between twins (secondary reason ... off course)!

Jokes apart.

Apprehensions whether to get it done or not, threats of AIDS/HIV infection, non-sterilized needles, too expensive a tattoo etc were visible all over my face.

After a long wait and making up my mind, finally I got a chance to get my first tattoo done when I was in Johannesburg in 2009.

How should the first tattoo look like?

What design should it be?

What am I most fond/scared of?

...

...

Girlfriend’s name, my own name...

...

Etc etc

After a series of unending, undying questions about what my tattoo should be all about, I filtered and closed my heart for an OM tattoo.

Why OM?

Well, I am god fearing person, who thinks, some super natural force omnipresent to take care of me and so I believe nothing but OM is the only link to replace this feeling.

I incised the tattoo on my arm.

Why arm?

I always wanted to get a tattoo done on my arm so that it’s always visible. The other reason was I was afraid of prickling pain of piercing needles in other body parts (At least my arm had enough muscle to stand the pain).

My colleague (Vin) at work took me to a tattoo shop in Johannesburg.

Work reminds me of an incident when another colleague got in a verbal confrontation with Vin over provoking me to get a tattoo done. Now this colleague had a very different perception about tattoo. As per him, no artificial thing can replace the natural magnificence of god and a tattoo doesn't lasts forever as you grow old your body wrinkles.

So he strongly oppose to my idea of getting tattoo on my body!!!

But, I had already made up my mind to go ahead and now there was no turning back for me.

One thing I figured out from this incident is, we humans are very similar in thinking, no matter which part of world we belong to. Not only in India but people in other parts of the world still find tattoo ink not good, a no-reason-to-waste-money and leave a callisthenic scar on your body or may be, to be in a state of masochism.

Without further extending this post, let me show you the work I got done on my arm for the rest of my life.

My thoughts Tonight....

noreply@blogger.com (rahul aggarwal) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 10:06:00 +0000

I see my life as a blank page from the past where too much has already been scribbled on by the so called destiny, or god or whatever one calls it, and is written in such a fashion that no two sentences make sense together.

I see myself as a frail rot, someone who dreamt dreams in galore waiting for them to relish one by one but are still jammed in to embark one.

My pals feel the kind of work and life I have is very uncommon and not everyone is lucky enough to have one. But I hate myself for this messed up, transitory but long lasting moment, this life I live, which looks perky and luxurious but quite precarious and extinct from within.

Ironically, knowing all the facts and still pursuing this life has not only become too monotonous but quite mechanized obsession for me. I characterize myself for being nothing less to a ZOMBIE!!!

I know about this and yet I cannot change it. It’s not I don’t try; it’s just that I fail before I even try.

Is it the dissatisfaction feel I get in whatever I do, is it I am not interested in doing what I do, or is it the relativity of the name, money that either the society or I seeks to sink into my brain when I compare myself to my acquaintances for the kind of life they live and envy about it, is it something inexplicable but predictable about the whole situation which urges me to scribble tonight. Whatever it is, it’s like a termite that just wants to eat me in and out!!!

Every night before I go to sleep, a haunted cord strikes telling me about the moth life I posses wherein I get slowly pushed to the negative radiance of “meaningless life”. I do not struggle to fight back for the survival instead be a defeated warrior who lost the battle long before it got started.

I pour all my thoughts here because, sometimes I feel, I stammer to say all this to others and do not expect someone to listen about all this. So the bottom line still remains the same, that, “no matter where I am, what I am doing, I am still waiting to smell real SATISFACTION!!!”

Read what happened when i met William and his family in South Africa here.