Offers Nothing But Smile !

Whisper

2010-03-20T21:54:00.000-07:00

::::: Whisper :::::

A lonely night...
and a calm moonlight...
an empty road ...
and no one in sight..

a waiting bench...
and creepy fence...
a creaking gate...
and a broken lens...

old man walks...
with dimming lamp...
black cat follows...
and sound goes damp...

a thunder hits..
and lighting strikes...
breeze go wild...
as roaring bikes...

a sudden silence...
and breath go deep...
someone whispers...
please go to sleep....

-- Harshal Patil (Meghraj)

Nothing ...

2009-03-18T22:57:00.000-07:00

You wake up in the morning...see bright blue sky patched with snow white clouds...golden shades spread across..on green tree-leaves, on floor...birds chirping....your arms slowly stretching upwards and neck slightly tilted towards one side...you open your jaw and say..."ahhmmmmm..."....and if you have absolutely nothing in your mind at that moment, then thats it....a perfect morning...I am having such mornings from last couple of days...I wake up in the morning and my mind is cleared without any thoughts, any workload...any kind of tensions....it feels great.

Nothing is the Ultimate Simplicity. You have something you have to take care of it. You have nothing, then no worry...peace in life. No work, no tensions, no commitments...absolute nothing. If you ask people about what makes their day beautiful then most people will answer a sound sleep. Wondered, why do we need sleep..why is it so important? You all know the answer..it is the time when your brain takes rest from all day tiring activities. That is the time; it flushes out all thoughts and you try to have NOTHING inside...blah blah....I won't keep on describing every little detail...you must have understood the point that I am trying to make.

I will just close here and leave you with nothing out of this article to realize that having nothing is beautiful.... so enjoy it. :-)

Its too big to be small...

2009-02-14T22:26:00.000-08:00

World is very huge thing made up of very small small particles. Isn't it? But we always look at big picture only. We never see the tiny colour grains on canvas. If you get to see those, then observe them. Observe them closely. They are a picture in themselves. These days our domains are so expanded that we don't even care about small things that we posses. Having grown up as an adult, our expectation level increases. The world has not changed, its you who has changed. I don't say that one should stop dreaming. Dreams are part of life, progress. But while pursuing our new dreams sometimes we tend to forget our old dreams. Just try to remember your childhood dreams. You will cherish some of them.

Yesterday, I was reading one article. It was pointing out how no one can be "Happy" forever. My answer to it was, " Our Life comes in moments, but we spend it in time." Am I right? We always collect our past, worry about future and lose our present. Many have said about this. Everyone knows it. But no one follows it. We have to understand. Understand that life is really worth of moments and we have trillions of them. We don't have to spend it in time. We should get hold of our moments, live them..live the life as it comes and as it goes....live the moment. Go out and look how small small creatures are living their lives...see the beauty in tiny droplets...hear the music in sound of wind...feel the magic of every second...As that second passes, there are so many changes have happened through out the world.

God has gifted us all. Remember it. You try crying forcefully...you can not. It is too difficult to cry just like that. But try smiling just like that...it is easy...so simple...so nice...God has made it that way...When we try simpler things over difficult then why should we feel blue...just smile...

I condemn

2008-11-27T04:17:00.000-08:00

"100 Killed...300 Injured...in Mumbai terror attack on Wednesday 26, 2008" Is this a first time this kind of news is heard /viewed??? No! In fact, in recent past of less than a year several such news are the headlines in the media. Then why no one is acting? Is our country so helpless to prevent such attacks from happening? Ain't we and our government supposed to learn anything from these REGULAR incidents?? ...o.k...Agreed..We should learn lessons from these. But what should we do? The attacks are so (un ?)predictable.. The ministers just say, we condemn these attacks and this will not happen again...and again...and again....and now ONCE AGAIN.... They seriously just say condemn and do something for few days of digging up the stories....and all well...everyone starts forgetting those memories....After some days, it happens again...and same cycle repeats.

Do they really sit down and think about how our intelligence and security forces are failing to detect these attacks?? Is it so easy to cross border with several KGs of RDX and dozens of AK-47 carrying in bags?? From where these kind of stuff is brought in? And obviously, without the locals help, such kind of planned attacks are impossible. So who are these anti-national elements living with us? After the attack you get all the links and you gun down them.

What is the solution then? in the broader sense, we all have to stop acting like a self-centered individuals and sense the meaning of WE constitutes the society. Obviously, the day-to-day rush don't allow us to look what is happening next to us, many times we board the train or bus and just take a sigh of relief...I got the place. Any suspicious movements are simply ignored in such busy and fast moving life. These terrorist ain't going to create weapons and explosive right at the place of attack. They have to travel with these things from one place to another...that's the time we have to keep our eyes open. Now, you will argue, how will I know man next to me is carrying gun or explosive along with him? Yes, you will not unless you know him. So...? So just have habit of sharing few words with your fellow passengers. At least chance of identifying or sensing if something is wrong will increase. The lack of social behavior among us is the key weakness. If we are aware of what is happening in our surroundings then chances will be reduced to greater extent.

O.K....this is very small and inefficient solution. What our security system is doing then? Ain't they supposed to keep watch on these?? Yes, they have to. But what will system do if the parts of system which together constitutes it are corrupt. When with the help of so called POLICE, it is possible to smuggle the drugs and other things. Why will not they bring RDX and Guns from the same route? Getting persons inside the country may be easy with forging passports and morphing visa etc. But, they also need weapons. And how such things are allowed to cross our borders so easily?? Power of money...just make security section corrupt and take inside few things and after it becomes routine bring in anything you want. If these police people know the suspected areas and people then why don't they catch them and put into the jail? Make some very strict laws and punish these bloody terrorists. Why can't we make strict laws against terrorism? Because we fear that our police will misuse them to trap innocents. If your door is broken then what is the point in building huge walls around your house? We have to fix these loop holes. Lets stop the corruption, at least in police and security related areas and then ask these m*****-f**king bastards to come and terrorize us. Bring out good teachers, educate poor and slum areas, it will decrease crime rates and local helps to these cowards.

I condemn Terrorism...I condemn Corruption....I condemn religion/caste based division to break our social integrity. Let's become equal and fight. Create a new India...

You Complete Me !

2008-10-21T20:49:00.000-07:00

“Kill you? I don’t want to kill you! What would I do without you? Go back to ripping off mob dealers? No, no, you... you complete me. “
..yes...Joker's dialog from Dark Knight sometimes makes you wonder. What is Good without Bad and what is Bad without Good? When one say things are going Good that actually means they are not going Bad. It is all relative. Once you set your perspective and draw the fine, invisible line of comparison, you start to position other things above or below that line. And then you start grading them as Good or Bad. But what is it actually? It is mere comparison with your own perspective. If you stop drawing that line then this whole won't make any sense.

When you see beautiful scenery, flowers etc., you feel Good...why? Because somewhere inside your mind your brain compares the current scene with other stored images and grade it as superior. What if you haven't seen any bad picture yet? Think of a new born baby, who has not seen anything yet. Whatever is the first thing that baby is going to see will not get into Good or bad....it just stays at is. The moment it sees different thing it starts comparing and categorizing them. So imagine the world without comparisons... Imagine there is nothing Bad as per your current perspective. We always want to live in the world which is all good in our perspective....imagine that...The moment you imagine all things which are Bad as per your current perspective are vanished...you forget them....the same moment your line of perception has changed. New set of Bad category comes into picture, because the all you know is the good things with respect to old perception line..some are more Good and some are not so Good...So your not so Good things become Bad. Because Good is compliment to Bad....They complete each other.

Now you will start saying, what "bakwaas" I am doing. Who the hell care about if anything is Good or anything is Bad. I don't care whether they are complementary or distinct....but the whole point of my above discussion is not proving the comparison, as it is going to be there always. My point is, if you feel something is going Bad...then it is just because your line of perception is little higher at that time. And when things go bad you get depressed. So just look at the bigger picture...drag your line of perception little lower and you will see the things are not actually that bad...it is just like new born baby..you have to see lot more new things....If there is Bad means you have already seen Good compared to the Bad...and when you experience Good...the joy comes because you have faced the Bad part of it in the past...It is just a line...where it lies thats all matter.

Naturally ...!!!!

2008-10-10T09:28:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but today morning my eyes opened earlier than usual time. I looked at my mobile, time was '6:24', I was feeling fresh. I stood up and suddenly I heard nice chirping sound of some bird outside my window. I felt delighted. Last couple of weeks were very hectic and unknowingly due to that busy schedule, I almost stopped hearing all these voices, all these sounds. Sometimes you become so busy that you never realise these sounds are ringing just besides you until some day you get moment of relaxation and you realise their existence. I got freshed up and had bath in nice chilling water ...ahhaaa... then I got dressed up and took my cycle towards my department road. A cool breeze flowed through my arms and I felt like I got the wings....I felt like I should stop and feel that air....feel the freshness till it gets inside my lungs...my heart...in my mind...

Everyday I run towards different different technologies, different different modes of comfort, but truely there is nothing compared to natural comfort. In all these modern ways of comforting, we seek natural touch. No matter how long you sit in the A.C. room but there is no comparision with the sea wind, or nice cool natural breeze you feel. As this breeze passes near your body, if you give just a moment to feel it...a moment to let that breeze disolve in you.....it will take away all your fatigue with itself... You just have to give the little attention towards it. We paint our walls with various shades of colors, but when you look at the sky, clouds....or may be the greenary just after the rain, the joy, the peace you feel looking at those is amazing. You can never achive it with any of your artifical things. Same is the case with natural sounds, the softness of lushy green grass...All we can do is try to imitate all these natural things with our technology. I ask why? ...Why do you need to re-create something which is freely available... Just becuase you don't have time to feel that natural beauty.

If you stop running and spare some time with nature then you won't be needing any artifical way of comforting yourself because nature is the biggest psychiatrist of all. You hear all those unheard daily noises, see all those unseen scences, and feel all those un-noticed moments then half of your worries, half of your tensions will go away like magic. Just Naturally...!!!

Past....Present...Future....

2008-08-31T23:44:00.000-07:00

Today, while looking at the web clips; I came across the following quote and for a second it took me away from myself.

"There's no present. There's only the immediate future and the recent past."
-George Carlin

Isn't it true? Or it is just illusion made by few words put together drawing confusing meaning?...indeed it is...the word PRESENT contradicts to itself..its a paradox. When you are looking at the situation and saying its in present...thhhhh...gone.....it has already become a recent past by that time. The existence of this moment called present is so small, it comes from the recent past and travels into what we call as immediate future. if you are confused then just take a example of one finely marked giant vessel with water pouring it continuously. When some one ask you the "tell the the reading for water level now". The moment you record your observation, water level has crossed its the level...it is reading for the recently passed moment. by the time we perceive the present moment it has already been passed.

When you say someone is walking means one's feet are moving forward continuously...but wait..who told you its a present situation, one can stop and take a pause at any point of time. You never know, what is the current position of one's feet. You just try to predict the immediate future of one's motion and you say it as someone is walking. And moment you say, one is walking its observation made in recent past.

People tell you to forget the past and don't care about the future...live your present moment...what is that? when there is no such thing called present then whats that we are living?...As I am writing now, words that I am going to type are from immediate future and what I see on screen is recent past..what happened to the present? where is it?
Ahhh......totally confused....so basically....you see things are going to past and you can't change it....so don't worry about them....one can not tell exact future...we always predict about things and hope that they will be as we thought...so don't care about future also....and as there is no such thing called PRESENT....you just smile and start moving...

A lot more to Go....

2008-05-22T11:02:00.000-07:00

It was last semester Computer Vision class, my prof. was teaching about patterns and he started with very small unit of picture of that pattern...Only one duck was there in that picture....then he started to expand that and one became 4 and then complete set of duck pattern came on screen. Who knows what is there before viewing complete picture. There was every possibility of seeing other than only ducks. Nothing is complete forever. Remember the line from movie OSO.. "Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost....." There is always some part of the situation we have not seen yet. And we will never know when we will see the remaining part of it. But we have tendency to assume the end looking at the smaller version of bad picture. If picture is good then we will always look for more see in it....we hunt for bigger picture....but if it is bad then we start thinking it’s the end. Probably that’s how human understand feeling as bad. But nothing is bad until you get a complete view of it. There are beautiful things hidden behind curtain of time. We just have to wait and watch.

Obviously, during bad part if you give up and close your eyes then you miss the opportunity to see the good things in that bad too. One just need a ray of hope to keep one's interest in those things. And that ray of hope we have to search in those bad things only. Looking at the sunset we never think that there will be darkness forever because we know that there is going to be sunrise next day. It is just matter of time, you have to patient for a while.

Hope puts our feet on the path when our eyes can't see it. Hope moves us to act when our souls are confused of the direction. Just never loose hope.

One Level Above

2008-04-14T11:05:00.000-07:00

It was very hectic day. Too many assignments coming up, had an intense fight with my best friend. To get out of that mood saw one movie and that too turned out boring. uhmm....I needed a change. A change that will take me to next level. One level above all. I was desperately looking for a break the time and seize it to have a relaxed, calm moment of peace.

So I decided to go up on water tank near our hostel. I always wanted to visit it but for some reasons I had not been there till that day. May be it was right time to move myself one level above all. As I entered inside that tower, I found different staircase than usual spiral ones. So at least while climbing my mind didn't have to spin over n over and peacefully I reached to the top. I stepped out of that door and cool wind hit on me. Aaahhh......that was a first change as I had a level changed. I moved further and delightful view of my hostel lightened my thoughts.

It was very silent evening or may be from the above, it was appeared like that. View was amazing from that height. Everywhere green green inside campus and just outside a concrete jungle, trains running, traffic flowing on roads, rush everywhere. But I don't know why, I was feeling everything slowed down from there. It was a time that all day thoughts were draining out of mind. And then my eyes were stuck on west, horizon....sun was going to set in few minutes. Beautiful colors were spilled across the sky, though due to clear sky with out too many clouds it wasn't glorified. But still it was very wonderful to see changing shades in sky.
I don't understand why does changing weather affect our mood? Those different different shades of red and yellow were so attractive. I stood up on the edge of the tank and spread my arms like someone should appear from horizon and take me in to arms. Looking down from that level, feeling like to free myself down there and experience a free fall. Sun was setting there and my thoughts here. All lights were dimming so are the noises. Now it was time to get back to routine level to continue with daily work. So I moved down with a peace filled within. Just coooooled down.....hmm....To feel that One level above reality into the world of imagination moment was just mesmerizing.

P.S. : For more photos, visit my picasa album

Ripples...

2008-03-11T04:13:00.000-07:00

Tap...Tap...Tap...
Water drops are slowly coming down....
...And that tiny water sphere making contact with still, plain, calm water surface....
A slight sound of splash...
...circular water film stretching out with some small small droplets at the border spreading across 2-dimensional surface with 3rd dimension's interaction...
At the same time, that water drop pulling water surface down and making place for itself to become part of it....
...but, that has already affected the calm surface...that pulling down tension reacted and swollen into little wave on surface....
that's Ripple....
undulating circular lines then slowly move apart....one after the other....

A simple phenomenon...but we can see many things from it...
Life....cool on going steady, calm life....its like a water surface...
and sometimes we see few things trying to interfere in our life...disturbing the stillness...creating ripples....
This interfering entities are sometime part of us only....just like water-drops falling..
or sometimes external which are not related to us but it tries to enter into our life....like pebble thrown in water..
or may be the disturbing thing is unknown...invisible...we never see what is causing that ripples....as breeze flowing over water....

Sitting on lakeside or river bank, we observe these ripples unknowingly. There is nothing new in it...but when you are disturbed internally, your mind relates it to the scene it is viewing. These ripples formed moves outward from the centre and waves disturb the surrounding and gradually with period of time it dies down....the intensity of disturbance reduces and it tries to get back to original form.

Sometimes there might not be one ripple but two three forming nearby... circling at different positions.... and these ripples then collides...few adds up or few nullify each other...creating mixed patterns....Our troubles are like this only...one after the another....they get mixed up..and creates more confusion...and everything start looking complicated...We just have to wait...solve them one by one....as water is always going to come to its stillness.

Valentine Greet

2008-02-14T00:37:00.000-08:00

:::::: Valentine Greet ::::::

Standing on the pair of
balance feet....
listen to the sound
that bird just tweet...

Chilling air blows...
and calm water neat...
Look what is there...
its forming sleet....

fog now spreads
with painting white...
things got vanish
as no one in sight....

Standing on the middle of
lonely street...
look into the eye...
they are lovely sweet...

sun will peek..
will seek some heat...
its a beautiful time..
two hearts will meet...

come dear near...
lets have a seat...
don't talk now..
just hear my beat...

sing this song
as a valentine greet...
follow your heart...
and never ever cheat...

---- Harshal Patil

Ssshhh...!!! Silence...!!

2008-02-13T20:04:00.000-08:00

“I was never one to patiently pick up broken fragments and glue them together again and tell myself that the mended whole was as good as new. What is broken is broken - and I'd rather remember it as it was at its best than mend it and see the broken places as long as I lived.”
~ Margaret Mitchell

The Man from Earth

2007-12-04T21:52:00.000-08:00

The house located in remote place...
The Man packing his stuff in mini truck....
Time is about late afternoon....
Few of his colleagues drop by his house....had wine...and its beginning of farewell talk...
Trying to find reasons behind sudden moving on from job of the character John Oldman....
And...here is the shocking confession....
The Man who lived thousands of years...a cave man...is no other but their fellow professor John....
After this you witness a most amazingly told story....do not allow you to move from your chair....and you start feeling the situation....

Except Shawshank Redemption, Phone-booth and Memento no other movie has made me feel to be in the plot situation...Screenplay by Jerome Bixby is so well written that takes you to the living room in which John is revealing threads of secret...opening new questions....and your mind behaves like you are the part of story...you are among the people who are sitting there and exploring John's mysterious past....

The entire film is set in living room...plot moves with conversation...no jokes..no sexual comments...no action...no fast pace story plots....no special effects...no action....its just TALK....
The film driven by thought provoking dialogs ..raised series of questions....explained in very scientific manner...anxious to disprove the statements...disturbed by instantly given explanation by John....doubts moves to frustration...who-what questions turned to why....making everyone in the film (including you nicely engaged audience ) to believe in what he says ....semi-belief...and now they want conformation....art of persuasion to complete new level... and this will go on till end...with nicely written climax.....you should watch it to feel it... Its just way cool...

Director has made good choice of location and other movie elements...costumes..music..set....elimination of all unwanted elements make easy to concentrate on movie's heart....its talk....remarkable expressions on faces....

Movies whole idea..selling point is "You can make people believe in anything" .....
no matter how absurd idea....
transform idea to persona to which audience can relate...can acquire trust...
be simple and weak element....just like audience...
don't prove yourself...let others prove you....
capture minds giving your ideas full emphasis...

Jerome Bixby's last work, a screenplay "The Man from Earth" , was conceived in the early 1960s and was completed on his death bed in April of 1998....keeps you amazed after you witness it....watch it...feel it...believe it...appreciate it....

I Wannt Selfish...

2007-12-03T11:00:00.000-08:00

I don't want that = ? ~ ( I want that )

Few days back, I was talking with my friend about something - not sure what - but she mentioned that she really did not want to go. She said, I don't think that saying to you how much I don't want to go really conveys the sentiment. She said, I have the opposite of a desire, not the absence of a desire. She called it a dis-sire.

I thought about this for a while because the negation of something is not the same as its opposite. There is an "active" quality about wanting and there isn't the same "active" quality to "not wanting". The active nature of "not wanting" is communicated through tone and emphasis, not the words themselves. Lets say it "Wannt". e.g. From past three days I am eating rice, today I "Wannt" it.This concept of actively not wanting is more akin to repulsion or disgust than it is to the more benign "not wanting."

Sometimes, we are not sure of what we want, but we know what we "Wannt". So this is the thing that makes confusion many times. If you know exactly your wants then you can decide nicely. But if don't know your wants then you prefer to prune out "Wannt" part of it and leave with the subset remaining.

As we are talking about wanting something and Wannting few-things, lets take it to very personal level. Selfishness has become a dirty word AND an accepted defining characteristic of humankind. Why is that?

It seems to me that one of the greatest challenges in life is to figure out what I want. That is, to figure out what is to my benefit, what it is specifically, how to get it, etc. It seems hard to be purely selfishly motivated. The challenge of thinking of me, and only me, is making a decision on that criteria alone. Most decisions I make are based on a variety of factors, my interests of course included, and I suspect most people consider more than purely selfish variables.

PEOPLE are selfish, but I'm not. I think that's how most people understand the idea. I think that healthier way to think about it - and lose the pejorative connotation - is to understand that everyone has complex motives and interests, many of which include their own, perhaps exclusively. The statement: I have interests, desires and wants, and others do too; is probably more helpful than thinking that "People are selfish." It's also helpful to consider that people are struggling, constantly, to figure out and give shape to what they want, and think about how to get it. If we think of this as bad, we deny one of the core joys in life and the pleasures of ambition, competition and pride.

P.S. : This article has nothing to do with current placement scenario and people's decisions. Any resemblance is considered to be fictional.

Good Morning !!!

2007-11-17T08:00:00.000-08:00

A hazy morning ....
The spade shape oars dipping into the clear water making delighting sound ... dip ... dipp ... dipppp .... listen to it for few minutes ......
A beautiful lake in middle of a valley with snow peak mountain range and green green pine trees on their borders ......
Greenery everywhere with white toppings and little bit brown-black rocks peeking through it to catch sight of sun ......
Large tracts of lotus with perfectly formed pink flowers floating on lake water and a long flat-bottomed boat with canopy above (Shikara) is passing through it.....
Lying on soft rose bed ... silky touching ... red colored petals ......
Chilling breeze flowing across the valley... giving a different pleasure ......
There is complete silence besides dipping sound of oars.....
A long ... wide ... lazy paradise ......
A pretty smiling face seen through partially closed eyes was trying to make mark inside me ......
I smiled back .....
shhh....hhhhh....hhhhhhhhhhhhh.....
complete silence for a moment .......

and then my cellphone rings ... bringing me to reality .... I saw Happy Diwali message on screen... "DIWALI means LIGHT, means ENERGY, means ENTHUSIASM means MOMENTUM means SPEED means PROGRESS means SUCCESS !!! Wish U a gr8 SUCCESS on dis DIWALI" ....
No wonder...it was a pleasant morning gift... Though there was dim LIGHT ... It brought ENERGY in me ... gave me ENTHUSIASM ... filled me with MOMENTUM to start a new day ... with SPEED marching to PROGRESS ... seeking for SUCCESS .....
I wish I could be there .......

Sup-plantation !

2007-10-12T23:49:00.000-07:00

Before you start wondering if you landed up elsewhere..Stop!
My life has changed a lot since last year, so my blog also need sup-plantation. It has been long time I haven't written anything neither on my blog nor in my poetry additions. So this is just warm-up element after long gap.
Changing :-

Light, joyful yellow replaced with dull, pointless black as a colorless dark life.
Dusky green with little hopes has taken place of enlightening brown.
The first most happy thing seen on this page is the title....return to my childhood , reverting changes back to my older days and just to forget the hard time faced in last couple of years.

Still, offering same refreshing smile to everyone without expecting anything from anyone in return. Because no matter how little your expectation is, it stays in your mind. Its like breath you take. When you take it...its cooler...it comes inside you...fill up your lungs..body...touches your hart..pump it...but when the work is done...heart throws away that breath...and it becomes hot...helpless and had to leave you...

I am just hoping to add up few light and colors to dull, dark life. Because hope is the golden line between clouds of hard time and distress...I know, I just have to wait till bright time spreads over the sky...

An Evening at Golconda...

2007-06-02T23:40:00.000-07:00

Sunny afternoon in Hyderabad, six young explorer and destination...Golconda....the most magnificent fortress complex in India which lies on the western outskirts around 11km from Hyderabad. We reached there when sun was packing for the day and breeze was flowing through the corners of the hills comforting the leaves and giving moment of relaxation for everyone.
Entering into Fateh Darwaza [Gate of Victory] , we got surprised by the security check the metal detector door wasn't working. It was really surprising to see lack of security even after Mecca Masjid blast. What can we say, its India and we have short term memory. The door is 13 feet wide and 25 feet high and studded with steel spikes to protect it from charging elephants. At Fateh Darwaza can be experienced the fantastic acoustical effects, characteristic of the engineering marvels at Golconda. A hand clap at a certain point below the dome at the entrance reverberates and can be heard clearly at the 'Bala Hisar' pavilion, the highest point almost a kilometre away. This acted as the warning note to residents in case of danger though now it is a mere amusing diversion to visitors. But in actual we can't verify this as many tourists come everyday and there is continuous clapping sound and that get mixed up to hear anything at Bala Hisar. But never the less it was new experience. The main structure of the fort is laid out in a sequence of enclosures that holds the public and administrative structures to the royal residences and halls. The mortuary baths lie to the right of the portico. The baths were meant for the deceased royalty and harem ladies who were given the ritualistic bath before burial outside the Banjara Gate. Moving through the 'Nagina Bagh' we entered in area where ancient princes were used to play but before knowing the actual place name we almost named it with various guess ....one of them was 'Hamam'.. where Queen used to have bath...looking at the heavy metal cube lying on the ground..one of us said..no no..it was jail...after some photo session we all moved towards 'Badi Bowli' ( Big Well )...in Urdu 'Bowli' means 'well' where people used to have water reservoir for whole year. Me and KC just went on security wall...massive crenellated ramparts. That wall was around 10KM long , surrounding the fortress built on a granite hill 120 metres high. And with yes-no-yes-no we all decided to explore the fort with unusual way...little adventures and exciting...we started marching on that wall with ups-down..and walking on the "proper way" having nothing proper in it....KC heading the unit always finding the "proper way" way to march forward whenever we hit dead-end...it was getting excited..heavy feet relaxing in A.C. were now climbing on the rocks in hot sunny atmosphere...aha...really cool na...
Finally almost when we all decided to move back as at that dead end we found no "proper way" to move forward..suddenly Nitin said..."Hey Guys com'on...here is the 'proper way'..." ..."ohh...no..enough 'proper way'..."...but really that was real proper way in true sense...and we reached at top of the hill....Hurrey....mission accomplished....truly it was great when you do something offbeat and you finally make it...it feels good....then we went on exploring the normal tourist way enjoying the 'Prakratik Saundarya' .....oops..no 'Mazza' available on Fort...so thirsty throats have to accept Limca and Sprite... Then we visited a Hindu temple (Madanna's) belonging to the Kakatiya period carved out of a huge boulder. It has colorful murals of the Goddess Kali on the white-painted facade.
Another important structure is the mosque built by Taramati. As one clambers up and down the boulders through narrow patches and uneven steps we can see unusual clay pipes fitted into the wall planks – evidence of an efficient water supply arrangement to the uphill residential area.Prominent corner minarets distinguish the small mosque (1518) built by Ibrahim Quli Qutub Shah. The courtyard extend up to the ramparts providing spectacular views of the landscape below, for miles. Close to the mosque lies the small Rama Mandir under the boulders. Ram Das, a revenue official jailed by Abul Hasan Tana Shah for misusing state funds, carved images of Rama, Lakshman and Hanuman on the rock surface in the cell. We didn't get time to visit that cell as we were waiting for Dharmendra aka Baba who was supposed to be at Fort by that time. Vipul and Ankit waited at Bala Hisar for him and we other four continued our exploration as we did not want to miss the sound and light show on Fort.
The ascent of 380 steps finally culminates at the Balahisar Baradari, a wind-swept pavilion, twelve-arched, triple storied structure used as a durbar hall. It is divided by substantial piers into vaulted bays, a raised chamber with triple arches opens off the rear wall. On the uppermost terrace stands a stone throne. A pavilion, far away in the hills, is believed to have housed Taramati, Abul Hasan’s paramour. The Baradari shows yet another engineering marvel – natural air-conditioning provided by a gap in the double walls which sucks the air and releases it with accumulated pressure in the chambers. Steep narrow steps descend to the zenana quarters – Rani Mahal. These palaces, built on massive platforms, had high ceilings and walls covered with decorative niches, alcoves and cornices, essentially Persian in design. Now a days that place is used for sound and light show.that brings the legend of Golconda to life. With a spectacular interplay of audio and visual effects, the story of Golconda unfolds over centuries of splendour. The show livens up the glorious past and it is an experience worth watching.
So after enlightening our minds with glorious past of Golconda and beautiful gazal by Jagjeet Sing we moved out. Golconda Fort, architecturally it is very different from Northern India where the architecture was a combination of the traditional architecture and influences that were brought in by the various empires (including mainly Central Asian and Persian influences). Unlike the north, the south was very isolated geographically and was not influenced to the same level and has retained its own style. Nowadays the ruins have a desolate majesty in the midst of an arid plain....Hmm...Witnessing and experiencing great exploration.....we packed up for the Wang's Kichten...umm..yummy Chinese and Thai food....really at the end of the day I was feeling satisfied with unknown joy in my mind...unforgettable evening at Golconda....whuhh...

P.S. :- Photos... http://picasaweb.google.com/harshaliitm/GolcondaFortHyderabad

Stay on-line when you are off-line !

2007-06-01T06:23:00.000-07:00

After hectic reading through the reflection documents and digging into some crappy tools' doc.s I got up from my chair and went in the corridor to have a sip of Boost. While roaming around with hot energy cup in my hand, I landed up on couch picking into newspaper. Suddenly one news caught my attention....Google launches new open source product called Google Gear on the occasion of Google's Developer Day. A wide opening to offline web apps. development. A tool which can help to lot of web apps. developer worldwide, a next step idea in Internet field.

Google Gear , an open source browser plug-in that will enable developers to create offline web applications using JavaScript APIs. As a developer, you’ll be able to make an application with the assurance that it will work offline and online across browsers. This tool is available for FireFox 1.5+ and IE6+ with windows, Mac and Linux support. Google Gear gives three basic APIs for developer. One API will handle the creation of data objects to store application information locally, another will be a SQLite relational database for searching the data, and the final part will enable asynchronous JavaScript so applications can sync data in the background without overburdening the browser. Google is planning to extend this tools' use to various applications. but, the first demo of Gears will be for Google Reader, but more Google apps are expected to come. Reader will add a green download button to the user interface. When you click the button, Reader will download the last 2,000 messages to your computer, preparing your computer to work offline or under a spotty Internet connection. Isn't it amazing? You can work while you are travelling, no one will stop you from virtually connected to the Internet. Some applications need continuous online support and can't be done offline just because you don't have the required data cached locally.

Downloading will take place in the background, using the asynchronous JavaScript API. While offline you can read these articles and carry out your usual sharing and tagging. When you get back online, just click the button and Reader will sync your offline activity with their server. Right now the syncing is initiated manually, but it’s easy to see that it will become more seamless as the program develops. Gears could conceivably solve the large data overhead problems of Google’s AJAX applications, pushing updates to your desktop instead of slowing down your browser. A simple idea taken from OS implementation of memory fetching. When you have to get data from server it is always better to have its local copy cached for faster access and even when connection is broken.

Again, Google is trying to beat his rival Microsoft with this open source tools. For this Google has tied up development with Mozilla ,Opera, Adobe and other industry partners to make sure that Gears is the right solution for everyone. But right now its business applications are not even at a sight as security concerns raised with this applications. Still in business world Microsoft rocks. Google is fighting hard to capture the business domain which is major source of income. Being most popular is not the only goal. Also you can note the point as this tool is open source to make the development faster as we saw in the case of FireFox launch. Google doesn't want to Microsoft come up with similar idea with better business applications before they come up with a product up to the mark. As normal layman is concerned this tool can do miracle for him who may not concern with security issues much and love to stay connected to work even when offline. So there will be no concept offline....You will be always online...Virtually...

Air Deccan...

2007-05-13T22:09:00.000-07:00

Wuhhh,..... finally after great pressure and night outs I finished up with my assignment work ( still having two I's in this sem... :-) ) ...and next day, I knew, I am going away from Madras to complete new place...in city of Nijaam... Hyderabad....
Unfortunately I forgot to recharge my cell before going and on the day of departure I just got reminder...Oh..I have no balance left on my cell, so went to Gurunath took one recharge coupon and tried to recharge, but the bsnl god damn network as usual said... Network Busy..Try again Later...and that later didn't come. So...way to Hyd was started with delay from Hostel, first taxi came late then Ankit took some time to reshuffle his belongings to fit the 15 KG limit for flight and Sameer had a sip of watermelon juice just before leaving the IIT Madras campus...and finally we arrived at Chennai's Airport... ohwo..even Chennai is such a metro city still Airport didn't seem to be exciting as any other airports I have seen. ( even Bagdogara's airport was cleaner and neat than Chennai's )...
There we got our bags checked in for security and all got a Boarding Pass for flight...umma...what was that Pass...even our Saarang tickets have better quality than that.....obb.... Saarang ticket cost around 100 bucks but this our flight ticket cost was only Rs. 10/-... ( excluding the taxes n all :P )...so there is bargain on quality...o.k....so moving to check in area we had my fav. Dairy Milk ( Thanks to Ankit he didn't forget to bring that )..umm. yummy...after finishing my cad bury I was thinking of dropping those wrappers in dust bin...thank god I didn't find any close one otherwise I would have dropped my boarding pass along with those wrappers ...again you can understand the quality of wrapper was better than our boarding pass... ( no comments on Rs. 10/- ticket )...
For just time pass we roamed around and got up to 1st floor to watch landings and stuff....4 Jet Airways, couple of Indian Airlines and Kingfisher , one Saudi Arabian airlines and one of paramount airways planes were there....wait wait wait....what was that...is that a toy plain....no no no....that wasn't toy plain...it was Air Deccan safari...so sad...compare to others air crafts over the board that was so BIG in size...thankfully we were not going to board that one and our airplane just arrived to pick us...that was pretty good size...at least you can not call that as toy plain...size comparable to Kingfisher's one...So ...we moved towards bus to get down near our flight....pleasant welcome by air hostess....as there is no system in Air Deccan for Seat No.s we just put our self finding good position near emergency exit ( in case we need :P )...
As usual in-flight instructions started. It is really funny to watch air hostess acting on the stupid demo for safety (I couldn't hold my laugh)... so after few minutes we thought of relaxing a bit and tried to slide my seat back a little bit...umm...ymm..amm.... shit... damn air Deccan...no seat adjustment :( ... even bus seats are better than those... again..obb....bus ticket cost more than what air Deccan was... Rs. 10/- ticket... ..on the one side of a seat there was some radio channel kind thing where you can put your headphones and listen to some stations but air Deccan's counting start from 3...ya 3 ...no 1 and 2... ( I think it shows there quality...starting from 3rd class... :P ) even flight doesn't have any business class seat..
Our flight was descent one, at least pilot was experienced..out side view was beautiful....surrounded by all clouds and you in middle of air experiencing various shades of sun rays...awesome...at least you get to see mind blowing sight of sunny afternoon with Rs. 10/- ticket... :-) ...Monacco...monacco..parle Monaco...have you seen that ad. ?? where one guy flies along with aircraft and sell Monaco biscuits to passangers....ya...that air hostess remind me that ad when she came to sell Lays packets and all such stuff... oh man...it was getting funnier experiences with Air Deccan. There was some auction kind thing which they gave us while boarding...don't know, who will buy those items whose minimum bid was itself high that you get a better quality stuff from any shopping complex..
Finally after 1 hour of travel our flight landed in city of Nijaam.....at beautiful airport of Hyderabad... and we moved in for finding some accommodation in city. So, this was my experience with Air Deccan....of course with Rs. 10/- ticket....so meet you in next article about first day in Hyderabad....
cheers..

P.S. Total cost of flight to Hyderabad from chennai was Rs. 10( ticket cost ) + 1025 (taxes) = Rs. 1035/-

Just Another Evening !

2007-04-29T03:49:00.000-07:00

::: Just another evening ::::

As Sun goes down...
breeze starts to flow...
I sit beside my window...
to watch beautiful show...

lookin thru that square...
I don't care...
I feel notihng...
jus' the cushy air...

wind is crazy...
and so my mind...
thoughts now run...
which I can not bind...

just another evening...
but also the blessing...
I came out of that world...
which was so boring...

Is that a heaven...
or just my dream...
everyone is around...
but I want to scream...

Now stop the clock...
bring moment to lock...
I feel empty...
have nothing to talk...

------- Harshal Patil

Moon

2007-04-06T11:07:00.000-07:00

"In the darkening sky, if you cast your eyes,

You will see the silver lady rise,

Bathing the world in a steely blue

Edged with a haunting, silver hue"

Moon...just a sight of which gives a feeling of lightness, calm n peace of mind. Sometimes brain become motionless and mind starts flowing and often surprising journey through a world of rhythms, noise and silence, in search of small slice of tranquillity.Ever tried to listen sound of wind in nights, it just feel different. It takes me away from all worries, towards peace and I leave my soul free to explore the territory of wisdom, a philosophical kingdom of thoughts.
Looking at moon, may be full moon or a crescent one.... what a creation... looking at a lovely lady who just come out after taking bath...aahhaa...and showering the dark night with milky rays.... dreaming thoughts flowing all over mind... a feeling of relaxation.... you just need to experience it.

Moon, science might have proved his dependence on sun for light, his inability to give own light... But I will say look at him in just different manner. Just imagine, how kind he ( Moon) is ... a torturing, hot rays from cruel sun... he just accepts it... it absorbs all the abominable part of it.. and reflects a calm flowing stream of pastoral light... one should learn from him , how to make out of bad things and coming out with wonderful things which are hidden in the wrapper of agony of thoughts. In our childhood we used to call moon as 'chandamama' ( brother of mother Earth). He is so close to us... in our mind... he has his own virtual life cycle as all of us have... it goes shrinking with pain day by day and one day hides behind the shadow, but next day he starts building up his attitude and rise back to become full moon... and enjoys the joy of attainment and dims the effect of stars around. Its all philosophy, never get down in your hard times, you have opportunity to rise back again and avoid vainglory when your are top at something, it always results in extinction. I think that's why every time I look at him, I feel something different, something that I can't describe but I feel, just like your inner 'you' starts conversing with you.

In ancient Indian philosophy, moon has every important position. He is the one who drives the Indian calender which is though tough to manipulate but more accurate than the one which we all are following now. They believe that, all stars position and moon decides our life moves. Even in Muslim religion, they have importance to 'Chand ' on Id specially ....aha... I just love the crescent view of moon and Venus appears coming near to him...just remind me the marathi song by MangeshPadgaonkar- "Shukratara, mand wara... chandane paanyatuni.. " The moon sometimes reminds you the person whom you love so much but still far from them. ...huh....I will go on talking...I need to stop...
As today it was Sankashti Chaturthi , I had a fast for whole day and haven't eaten anything without taking first look of moon, that's the gift that Lord Ganesh has given to him. Its now 1 o clock in night and I am going to talk with moon...going to live in world of dreams...showering my self with moonlight and washing out all thoughts and clearing my mind from all worries....want to live in space of eternity.

Don't Let Anyone ....

2007-03-24T13:25:00.000-07:00

:::::::::Don't Let Anyone :::::::::::::

Don't let anyone
in ur heart...
its a pain u feel
when u get apart...
and u will miss her
right from the start....
don't let anyone
in ur heart.....

Never will u forget
the times u had....
though the reflections are happy
it makes u rather sad...
think of every moment
tht beats in ur heart...
just donn let anyone
in ur heart...

The world 'round u
is not the world u see ....
u keep dreaming
and time just flees..
nights are longer
n days get short....
so donn let anyone
in ur heart...

...............
..........
..............
.........
................................

......................

-Harshal Patil

P.S. : My first ever attempt in English poetry writing...... Date:02/11/2006

Ten on Ten !!!!!

2007-03-23T01:34:00.000-07:00

Hurrey!!!! I never thought I would start writing blogs...and here comes my 10th blog entry...TEN ON TEN ( surf excel ad)....
This is world cup season...anywhere, everywhere, wherever, okk whatever....Its cricket time..wuhh...1 crore eyes... opps 2 crore eyes... (we have pair na..ek ke upar ek free...) laid on today's match. But rather than fans big companies are also worried today. Why ? Market analyst believe that should India fail to reach the Super 8 stage of the World Cup, it would put Rs.3.5 billion worth of ad money and roughly Rs.13.25 billion in sponsorship money at risk.....After every over, after every wicket....you see the ad...and most of the times you wont switch the channel, because its very short time and you won't like to miss the little action in game. That's what this ad maker catch and throws billions of dollars on campaign.

This means, if they are investing so much in this then there should be some output. The whole philosophy of life is, first "sow," then "reap." That is the way the farmer does; he plants his potatoes and corn, and sows his grain, and then goes about something else, and the time comes when he reaps. But he never reaps first and sows afterwards. This principle applies to all kinds of business, and to nothing more eminently than to advertising. Can you just imagine how much money they put to make an ad for 50 paise of candy ?....Kuch dimaag ki batti jali...??....nahi na...toh fir Dobara mat puchna...nahi toh Jor ka jhatka dhire se lag jayega. Advertising is the art of convincing people to spend money they don't have for something they don't need.

Some ads really make us wonder...How can anyone think like this??... hope not by chewing mentos... :D ...So when creativity comes in the picture, advertising media is the best way to utilise it. Here, I won't stop myself mentioning very brilliant ad of Happydent ( click on it to watch video on youtube). What a idea to cell 50 paise candy. How much thinking is involved....just amazing. Sometime its the effect of tag-line, sometimes character , few times music or may be its presentation. One can not forget the little child from Britannia's ad..ting-ting-ti-ting... Thanda matlab Coca-Cola catch line...Airtel's music.....or old ad of Amul- The Taste Of India. You see advertising everywhere, streets, newspaper, TV, your mailbox, even your cell phone's inbox..wherever media is operating ads are there. Recently we had lecture by famous ad maker Prahlad Kakkar in Saarang. He refreshed our minds with many brilliant ideas. ( I won't mention his hotel's name here :P ).If you ever go to pune, you will see many creative names (many in marathi)of shops and hotels e.g. 'Ais-pais' , 'Thenga', 'My foot', ' Aai Ga' etc.

When I was a little child , I always wondered about, How can they sell newspaper with just Rs. 1.50 cost ? How can they telecast serials without taking any money from viewers ? Who gives them? ..ya...the readers, viewers only pays them, but in indirect way. Through ads. The reader of a newspaper does not see the first mention of an ordinary advertisement; the second insertion he sees, but does not read; the third insertion he reads; the fourth insertion, he looks at the price; the fifth insertion, he speaks of it to his wife. That's the catch, more you bombard , more is effect. Its just game of psychology. When you are viewing any ad, at that time you may not even willing to purchase that product, but when you go for shopping you will definitely choose product that you heard most of the times. Thanks to all this ad funda, who ever has invented of marketing things first time. They run every thing. Every event has sponsors, without sponsors it is just impossible to conduct large events. You see this world cup, because of sponsors only. Even the open secret about politics is Advertise only.Your cricketers like SachinTendulkar, stars like Big B, makes more money through these ad campaigns. Big B cleared his ABCL's loan by selling Hajmola, Navratn tel or cadbury. The man who stops advertising to save money is like the man who stops the clock to save time.

Coming to our own side, we also advertise everyday. wait wait...did you just read "WE" ??...ya you read it correct....How? and What for "WE" advertise ?...simple answer, you advertise yourself.. You try looking good, have a pleasant behavior...just to advertise yourself. That's how people come to know about you. If you don't then people may not even get to know about you.
Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does. So keep advertising.

Aha Insight !!!!

2007-03-16T23:28:00.000-07:00

A beautiful creative photo of droplets

Yesterday night, after running through all day with network assignment and little bit of enjoyment at CS Club event, my mind start stumbling on various thoughts that came to mind. Suddenly my mind started debating to myself "Who is better, Scientist or Artist ?".....I don't know how my thoughts lead me to that, but it just flashes in my mind.

Scientist discovers, Artist creates......both are at their levels....you just can't compare them. The only thing connects them is the feeling..." Aha Insight ! " after every creation the peace of mind experienced is just, is just just....no....you can't bind it in words...but ya, it is great feeling. In my school time, we some group of friends always tried some hard mathematical problems beyond the scope of our level at that age. But whenever I got solution to such things..most of the times just after I woke up around 5 o clock in the morning, I have experienced such 'Aha' feeling. As a artistic part of mine, whenever I write some poetry, just after writing last line of it...sometimes it amazes me, ' Is this my baby?'...or sometimes looking at some beautiful photograph, my eyes react the pleasure I feel.

Many times it seems like art that is created is done in one go or it just sudden realisation of creation. But its not true. There must be innumerable fragments, ideas, impressions, feelings which are playing together, dancing, colliding, meeting, separating, always with some organizing principle coagulating the ideas to form a whole. Then, perhaps when we least expect it, we have an "Aha" or "eureka" moment.

Just look at the picture above. How that artist thought about engaging droplets into necklace ? He has to be mad to think such great idea. Just amazing ! If I decide to just write on the picture above, it will lead to another post ( I won't write more about it now). Various thoughts running all day, may lead to creation. Creation are originated from emotional background, some kind of madness associated with it. Is creative genius somehow woven together with "madness"? According to the dictionary, "to create" is "to bring into being or form out of nothing." Such a powerful, mysterious, and seemingly impossible act must surely be beyond the scope of scientific inquiry. No wonder creativity has for so long been "explained" as the expression of an irrational, intuitive psychic "underground" teaming with forces (perhaps divine) that are unknown and unknowable (at least to the "sane," rational mind).

How can emotional turmoil enhance creativity?

"... his raptures were,
All air, and fire, which made his verses clear,
For that fine madness still he did retain,
Which rightly should posses a poet's brain
-- Michael Dray ton "

Creative person , may be he is a painter, composer, writer or poet or whatever...many times he relates his current state of mind with his art. He dissolves his emotions in his art. Creative people can use their personal pain to help others find wholeness. The people who taste his art may not realise the feelings that artist could have experienced. If creation does come from "the depths of the mind and the depths of the personality and the depths of the unconscious," it may be that the introspective, ruminative state of depression can enhance this journey. "One goes down into the well and nothing protects one from the assault of the truth".

There are various aspects associated with art..It truly reflect our life. In fact, it is science of our life. You feel joy, you feel grieve, you feel proud, you feel distress....It is a dish having all taste of life. One has to have artistic view for looking at it. I wish I could get, eyes of photographer or painter , ear of musician, taste of cook, heart of poet, touch of sculptor and many more......I want to live my life to fullest....I always wish to get the feeling " AHA , INSIGHT !".

Life is an opportunity, cash in on it.
Life is an adventure, get into it.
Life is a tragedy, grow from it.
Life is a struggle, make it sacred.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a promise, meet it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a duty, fulfil it.
Life is a challenge, face it.
Life is a dream, realise it.
Life is beauty, feel it.
Life is bliss, experience it.

Tension ! Hussshhhhh

2007-03-12T22:19:00.000-07:00

Huuuuuuussssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh !!!!!!!!!!

I don't see any reason why am I writing this blog today? I have mid-sem which is gonna eat me as a breakfast tomorrow and I have not read a single line for it. May be, the state of my mind provokes my thoughts to come out at this time only.

"The time to relax is when you don't have time for it."

Ya, its true. Have you ever notice ,why do you get trillions of irrelevant thoughts while you are studying or preparing for something? If you don't , but I do experience such things. This blog is result of same. I always wonder why during exam times my minds start thinking of poems and unwillingly I have to suppress them. I wish , I could live in two time spaces at same time, one in which I am currently and the other space will be for all those thoughts which come in my way while living in first space. I can live my life at fullest doing what I want to do and doing what I should be doing uninterruptedly.

Without tension life will not be moving, this is by the law of physics ( courtesy: Newton's First law of motion :P ). Too much tension kills....ya that's what my physician told me when last Sunday I was at hospital having oxygen mask on my face and lying down on bed helpless. Why do I take tension....NO , I don't. It comes to me even I don't wish to have it. But from now onwards , I will not accept any tension because I have to realise the fact that, just flip the order....

TENSION = ITS NONE