Canvas of Thoughts

EnCompassing Life

2014-12-19T11:12:00.000+05:30

Long ago, during our childhood, we used to carry a thing which was of utmost use to all of us going to school. It was something which made its presence daily in our bags. Its contents were of utmost use to all of us at different stages/lectures in our schooling life. I am referring to the geometry ‘compass box’. The contents of this compass box had different use to each one of us at different times.

A thought stuck to me that can we relate to the articles in this compass with the life we live in. Can we draw some parallels from these based on their characteristics and the way we use them. I have tried to draw analogy of the components to our life.

Here is a take on the various components of the compass box and philosophical or light hearted parallels in our life. This came out from a thought that…what if each element had a story to tell which we can relate to the way we live our everyday life. For some of us it will be vague, for some it will be relative, for some it will be too philosophical and for someone it will be just a read. Nonetheless, lets see what each element has to tell us about life.

Pencil

No matter how you are from outside, be what you are from the inside throughout. Not changing yourself from start to end is the key.

One has to go through lot of tribulations in life but tht will make a good person out of u

You can always erase certain unwanted things out of ur life

Be the same from start to end

You never know what you got in you unless you bring it on paper

Eraser

Be the one who can erase all sorrows / unwanted things in life

When you give all of yourself to others, you can see them rewrite things

Be useful with what you have and what you can do

Ruler / Scale –

No matter how crooked the world is, be straight in life..

People will rely on your ‘straightness’ for drawing lines in life

Sharpener -

You never know what you have unless someone makes use of you to ‘sharpen’ their skills. As a person moves on in his life drawing lines, he needs a point to pause and add value to himself to sharpen himself. He has to come to you to do that.

Compass and divider –

You need your feet strongly grounded on ground to move places.

If your feet are properly grounded , you know how much your reach it based on the radius of your limitations

Set squares -

The fixed angles of you add to the perspective on which one wants to draw lines onto. Few look at life at a particular angle (say 45deg) and few at different (60 deg) perhaps. But many also look at a mix and match of all the possibilities of angles 45+30, 45+60 t explore life from different perspectives

Protractor –

You present life in all possibilities, come and pick and choose the angle depending on your requirement.

I present a ‘180 deg’ view of life. Choice is wide

These were the components of the compass box aka Life. We need all of these components with the characteristics they present to make the 'geometry of our life' more meaningful. As they are useful during our school days, its characteristics can be useful during our entire life thus learnings from a compass box is like Encompassing our Life

Dream to chat with you

2013-06-01T16:20:00.001+05:30

Chatting – what an amazing tool to connect yourself to someone you want to. It is one activity which forms the basis of our being. we as humans are constantly in need to connect to someone. Chatting in person has a personal touch to it. Now, Virtual chatting too has become practical means to share and explore ‘the me’ with ‘the you’. It helps to connect/reconnect with all our past, present acquaintances, friends, relatives alike. A random thought brought up by the 'We chat' group interested me in particular – the topic being 'whom would you connect (anyone alive/dead/ fictional) with in a wechat group'. This topic serves a possibility to explore the imaginative dimensions to connect the me with the unknown. After a exhaustive search within myself, I came up with those five souls I would like to connect myself to.

The first soul certainly has to be my baby daughter. She is seven months old and I am often intrigued by the way she might be thinking at this particular age. The amusement to know what dwells in her mind when me and my family talk, play, make funny faces, sounds in front of her. Does she think of us as a set of entertainers or has got some different take about it. This thought intrigues me. How does she look at things around her? How and what is she absorbing amongst the gamut of things she happens to see each day. It is indeed a blank hard drive which is going to be fed with data with each passing day. I would definitely like to bond with this thought matrix of hers.

Second soul has to be my brother, whom I could never really talk to because he wasn’t there when I was born. Given a chance I would certainly like to have long and perennial conversations with him. Not having him around and still wanting to talk to him is the unusual dimension which I would like to explore in these talks.

Third soul which I would definitely like to chat and know more about is Chanakya. With the kind of extremely upsetting state of affairs our country is facing, it would be noteworthy to have a comprehensive conversation with him to help our countrymen come out of this rut. How much of his values principles need redefinition in today’s context needs to be questioned and the strategies to overcome the dilemmas our country is facing. His take on the contemporary state our politics is, would help to ascertain the right track for our country.

Fourth on my list of people I would love to have a chat is Pete Sampras. My sporting hero that he is, would definitely like to have dialogue with him on the game of tennis, how he used to approach his game, his preparations and much more. An interesting chat this would be surely for me, for the kind of humility, grace, dignity he displayed in his entire sporting career.

Lastly I would want to have prolonged chat with is the musical maestro Mr A.R Rahman. A discourse with this genius would surely be enlightening for me. What amazes me about his work is the detailing of music which is being worked out in his songs. As it is said that 'God lies in the details' , and it is in this detailing of his work, that i feel a divine intervention. His work is like a fluid medium which embraces differentiation improvisation and is always ahead of times. A maverick that he is, would definitely prove to give an insightful dimension to the way one approaches life. I believe there are immense things to be known and learnt from this prodigy , the lessons which are hidden deep within the layers of silence, humility and focus on his work. It is through these conversations that the true face of this person could be seen.

There could be more to the list of such people to know more about life- but to shotlist these are the people topping my list for ‘Dream to chat with you ’.

This Post is part of a contest for 'wechat' ...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjGoyjH-AuM

Invisible Love - My entry for the get published contest

2013-01-22T15:02:00.000+05:30

Love can only be realized when one drowns in its depths. Love is also finding about oneself than finding someone else. It is the emotion which has began life and the elemental sentiment that revolves the world.

'Invisible love' is a story of pure love which is felt by the senses except for the sense of sight. Two hearts beating in two different parts of the world get connected to each other through the medium of the internet. What is conceived as a mere friendship blossoms into an extraordinary feeling of love for the two. Both of them become inseparable on the virtual world and carry each other in their minds in the real world. They decide to bridge the gap between the virtual and real when they decide to meet after knowing each other 'virtually' for six years and things take an ugly turn minutes before their first meeting. They had planned months before their first meeting as it was supposed to be an absolute spiritual experience for them. But with the unusual turn of event before seeing each other brings forth the harsh realities of life and tests their convictions and the feeling of love for each other. This incident also puts forth their true faces not only in front of the other but also in front of themselves. The incident jostles both of them and their dreamy picture of the first sight of each other turns into an unexpected rendezvous. The incident proves to be a test of their invisible love.

What makes the story real –

The drive for attaining pure love and the lengths to which one can go to achieve it makes the story more compelling, riveting. To love another without any bias, to create and nurture a garden of unconditional love needs a strong heart, willing soul with strong spirituality.

"This is my entry for the HarperCollins–IndiBlogger Get Published contest, which is run with inputs from Yashodhara Lal and HarperCollins India."

If you found it worth reading more, and to see it in print, please like it at : http://www.indiblogger.in/getpublished/idea/523/

Geometrical Driving

2012-01-18T14:11:00.000+05:30

Most of us are frequent users of automobiles- either a bike/cycle or a car. These are the mechanical innovations which have made our life rather time saving. Earlier walking was the source of movement which has now been replaced by these machines. With the factors like rural urban migration, population explosion and less dependence on public transport, lot many of us are party to the use of these engines. The city design thus is guided majorly by vehicles.

The city design is a complex process with numerous factors governing its outcome. Geometry is one mathematical logic which applies to create a sensible blueprint of the city plan. It plays a major role in directing the arteries of the city and evolving overall form of the city. A well planned city is often a classical example of geometrical design.

Transportation planning also considers geometry as a major part to determine the road layouts, junction geometry, street patterns, sidewalks and many more. The way a street is designed and intersects other street/ road holds lot of meaning in its smooth and proper functioning. The execution too plays an important part in ascertaining a proper geometry.

But all said and done, the most impotant aspect of proper functioning of roads is the end users i.e the commuters. Like a well designed road pattern can create a havoc if the end users don’t respect it , equally ethical driving can make a insensibly designed road/ junction work smoothly.

Like me, most of the Indians spend major part of their life on wheels and I have been a spectator to the ‘driving marvels’ of several commuters. Though I don’t pride on being an ethical driver, but it falters to understand why people take things for granted while driving. The geometry learned in school if applied in the mind while driving on road can save us a lot many accidents and fights on street.

There are several interpretations of ‘go straight’ while driving. For some go straight is following the road edge, centerline, a zig zag way on the road is ‘straight’ for some. Lane cutting without observing , rushing through and many more add to the list. A junction is the best example to demonstrate the manie examples of the way road geometry while driving is perceived. To make my point clear, the image below illustrates the fact in a slightly better manner.

Driving past the junction is a herculean task if such a driving geometry is observed. The additional layer of pedestrians is not marked to avoid more confusion. What we need to understand right now is that roads can work properly and efficiently if we imbibe proper road driving ethics. By simply following the traffic rules and the road geometry we can certainly o our bit in saving the city from accident hazards. One must understand that this is not only for the city for but for our safety too. We can avoid the large infrastructural set ups like flyovers, metros by adhering to some simple ethics.

This blog post is not as a learning guide but as an observation. It aims at making a point that a slight correction in our manner can help us save our future generations. What it aspires to tell is that even planes have a well defined paths while flying. The expanse and the infiniteness of the sky is restricted for the flyer just to make sure that he is well directed. This helps him minimize any confusion. We still ply on roads and surfaces which are well marked, it is upon us to define our own paths.

Let’s give the straight lines in our driving a meaning. Let the curve we take while turning be defined. Let’s give in to the geometrical driving!!!!

Paintings - 2

2011-12-22T15:15:00.000+05:30

Second Part of the series - Set of Graphical Paintings

Paintings-1

2011-12-22T14:42:00.001+05:30

Presenting some of my paintings. I have been struck with water colour paintings for a while. I am trying to create my own style and body of work.

First Attempt at Landscape

Waterfall

An experiement to create a pixellated sunrise

Detail of the Flower

An impromput experiement with Curves and Straight Lines

Googled and facebooked-2

2011-10-15T14:00:00.000+05:30

Second part of the post.......

Facebooked

The other colossal named Facebook – was perceived to be in line with the google product called orkut. Initially started in a dorm room in Harvard was restricted to the use of Harvard students only, with time it was made accessible to more institutions and later the world alike. What was perceived as a social networking site initially graduated to be the lifeline of the online social world. Besides profile creation and exchange of messages combined additional tools like game sharing, note sharing, approval of a comment/ article in terms of ‘like’. Additionally, users could also join common-interest user groups, organized by workplace, school or college, or other characteristics, and categorize their friends into lists.

It entered into the market at a right time when people were bored of 'Orkut' thus shifting people's base from Orkut to Facebook. At first, it was identified as being complex and difficult to comprehend, but was later transformed into a regular habit. Facebook became the new lifeline of the online social networking arena.

People have found their long lost friends and acquaintances on this social platform. The tool which indicates the 'mutual friends' between two friends sometimes surprises - the world is small indeed! Two people of very different backgrounds and cities who have never met each other in lifetime can be mutual friends with two known friends. A imaginary friend tree is visible virtually.

Surprising as it may sound, but it does garner a lot of speculative expressions like "How do you know him/her?".

Many re-unions have happened since people have met each other primarily on Facebook.

I have observed people talk about facebook at lengths - how this invisible partner has helped the connect with so many people. The gaming took facebook features is one which has drawn many people. Farmville, Cityville, Mafia wars and many more common games are the talk of the town for people who are addicted to it. People talk about these games when they meet in person.

Facebook has infuenced many companies too into its own advertising. The popularity of the website has made sure that each company shares a link on Facebook and has community presence on it. Its a win win situation for both - facebook gets advertised and also the company gets advertised through facebook.

The status updates is one tool which has been of interest to many. Being a very dominant tool on facebook, it is meant to strike to eye of the people on one's list. People have eventually started sharing their lives with their friends by means of these status updates. From a movie review to the schedule of the day to any possible thing get shared - thanks to this tool. It is an incredibly powerful tool. Imagine one wants ti share a piece of information to 400 people at a time - one can do it instantly with status updates. This implement got amazing responses with people flocking to Facebook to mention something that excited them or the event they are looking forward to. Conversely, this tool has also created a new process altogether. People have started thinking in a particular mind which can be updated on facebook. Facebook has thus altered the way one thinks too. For example - a movie or a play seen by someone always runs in the ind of the person unless he/she updates reviews on facebook updates. The 'likes' and comments received on it gathers additional excitement. The status updates became so much an integral part of one's life that updates like ' having tea / coffee' too made their presence felt. People started sharing every damn thing.

"I will add you on facebook", " Give me updates on facebook", " Lets catch up on facebook", " Lets play on facebook" became the common conversation patterns. The website has influenced the life indeed!!!! Photographs have not been spared too - Special photographs which can be shared on facebook were clicked. Profile pictures and several others were snapped keeping in mind their ultimate destination.

Movies based on the formation of this social circuit to naming the characters in movies on facebook creates a newer dimesnsion of popularising this online social network. Vodafone recently launched a phone dedicated to this website in special facebook phone.

Similar to that of Google, Facebook's reach is pan earth, exciting people of all ages. Profiles range from newly born to old people are figured on the website.

But Facebook has darker and ugly side too. Many cases of crimes are being recorded because of the use of Facebook. The recent norway attacker updated about himself and his crime on facebook. People with terrorist bent of mind too have left their crime updates here. Murders and acts of bashing up people for not 'liking' or commenting in a negative manner to their updates/articles have been increasingly reported.Such is the kind of impact this has on the minds and attitudes of people. As it can 'connect' two people, the ugly innumerable instances suggest that it can 'dis-connect' them too.

It is on the users to decide on to the usage and kind of usage that they need to associate themselves with. But one thing is for sure, browsing through web world in the current setting has made sure that we are ‘googled and facebooked’.

Googled and facebooked

2011-10-14T10:58:00.000+05:30

This is a two part series of observations of two of the most popular websites of today’s times.

Googled

In todays times when internet rules the media communications, two giants have popularized themselves to the core that the names of the two internet giants are synonymous with day today activities. The two giants are none other than – Google and Facebook. This post is not meant as a promotional tool for these giants, but as a personal observation into the way these giants have commanded our lives.

What started as a research project in Stanford University in January 1996 is now a name on the tip of tongue of almost everybody. Initially conceived as a search engine has fuelled itself into riding the lives pan earth. The intention to provide with a platform to access information related to any topic on the earth catapulted itself into one of the premier search partners we have today. It can no more be called merely a search engine – as it has penetrated our lives with more than plain search. Think of any topic to look for on the web and google is the first website that pops up in them ind and on the computer screen. The simplicity and no fuss website is the crowning glory that attracts millions of clicks daily. Creating a user friendly and pan age product bearing the immense complexity behind it is indeed a product of genius. The evolution of such an idea and presenting it with such a simplicity is a achievement in itself. Making it usable for people of all age groups is another feat.

What makes google even more accessible is because of the non striking commercial interface. With other websites popping and throwing brash colours and animations to catch the eye of the viewer, google manages to subtly commercialize the product.

‘Search’ has a got a new meaning because of this intangible product. ‘Google it’ or ‘did you google me?’ are the new words being used in communications rather than saying ‘search’. Search = google and google = search is being fitted in them minds of internet savvy.

Because of such popularity there is a rat race for dominating the market share for any particular word. Companies harness the importance of ensuring that their company is amongst the first ones to be seen when someone googles for it. The search for a particular commodity based on the word is an ugly fight for the companies offering it. Such has become the power of ‘the word’.

Currently google not only is left as a search engine but has entered into number of online sectors viz google products, blogs, books, videos, maps, gtalk and much more. Services like translate, reader, labs, alerts etc are real value addition for the quality information seeker. Google has indeed given a new meaning to the existence of web world.

With the android world ruling the mobile market, google has established itself in a different league altogether on a newer platform.

Are we Infra-structured?

2011-10-10T15:00:00.000+05:30

‘Shortage of homes’ was the tagline of one of the news article that hit my eye the other day. 2.3 million houses in the next five years are required for the ever increasing population to ‘accommodate’ themselves. This number was mentioned for top seven cities mapped in India considering the rate of urbanization and development. As expected such a huge housing demand was estimated to fall short by only 1.3 million units for the five year term. A good publicity stunt for the builders perhaps!!!

The mid range housing demand is the driver of this requirement. But the question is- Is the pricing true to be called a ‘mid-range’ housing demand? When one questions the demand supply ratio, one must also look into the product and its rate ratio. Staggering house rates, increasing bank loan rates and rising inflation lead to a panic situation in the populace. Some deem to run away from this massive attack of the housing prices whilst many other wait for lowering of the property rates to fall, which is a distant dream. When the country debates about the rate to be fixed for people below poverty line, there should also be a clear picture for the housing demand supply strategy. With migration and urbanization being the biggest transformational measures in the development or de-development of a particular city, the infrastructure should match up with the estimated users.

Merely providing wide roads in the newer developments and overlooking the heart of the city is the trend of governance. But the passage of commuters through the soul of the city is ignored. Burdening the narrow lanes of the old city is a common picture in most of the cities.Rampant abuse of the existing infrastructure leads to chaos and confusion in the city itself. Proper lining of resources and upgrading the existing infrastructure to meet the current and future requirements should be the norm.

Advent of mega industries like Information Technology, seen as boon to many is also a curse in manier ways. For example the case of Bangalore - Once a beautiful green city is now a hot destination to the ‘Silicon Valley’ and it’s after effects. What was perceived as an attractive destination for settling few years back is now reconsidered for a packing up businesses to other cities. Now the IT hub is also getting associated with crumbling infrastructure and associated woes. IT majors are relocating their Indian operations to other lucrative options like Gurgaon , Noida, Cochin, Mysore. With IT operations comes a heavy demand for housing, infrastructural needs and allied services but it might also lead to a state of utter commotion and disarray, if not met sensibly.

What happens or is happening to one major IT hub should be a lesson in disguise to other cities where they must plan the entry of a giant in accordance with the existing resources and future plan of infrastructure. Water needs, electricity needs, sewage and other aspects of infrastructural wants need to be taken care of. Setting up a seat for a large giant is rather easy than feeding him the necessary and long lasting food is essential to make sure the giant’s seat is comfortable in the fabric of the city.

Creating diversified economic bases in terms of mix of industries, health care, institutions and financial services could be an appropriate option of securing a prosperous advent of progress of a city. While doing so, it is inevitable that the charm of the prevalent city is in threat. Policies and strategies to divert these could lead to a holistic approach.

Also the initial debate of providing ‘housing’ in the near future- the sad infrastructural encroachment on the natural resources like hills, rivers is disturbing. It is sad to see the hills being covered with shanty structures and infrastructural lines running all across them. It brings in a picture of two sides of the same coin to us. One face of the coin shows city with a lucrative and upscale entrants which needs constant up gradation whilst the other side of coin shows these malpractices of infrastructural exploitation in the form of sprawling slums all over. These have all the infrastructural pleasures, a city can have. Being lured by the political ambitions, they command a substantial sprawl.

Such scenarios create a rather unhealthy kind of image of a city. What a city aspires to be at the initial, eventually gets lost in the process. Being true to most of the cities in India, it needs to be altered at an emergency level. Coming up with ‘infrastructure bonds’ is not the solution – rather creating ‘bonds with infrastructure’ should be the order of the day. Mess,chaos and confusion on the street sometimes questions – Are we infra-structured?

Fuel - Handle me with care

2011-08-16T16:02:00.001+05:30

Food, shelter and water are the three basic necessities which are required in life as they say. But with the current scenario, there is one more thing that has become a necessity sheerly for its usability…this is means of transport. Be it public transport, or own vehicle – it has become one of the ingredients of ‘basic’ life. And it is because of me that this basic necessity dwells upon. I am the driver of this essential.

I have come a long way in seeing the way I have been used time and again for this essentiality of the humans. Centuries earlier when man invented the wheel, he was considered as an offender then, but when one looks back, this invention was a huge progression for mankind, who tried to dwell in unknown territory. But the invention of wheel was triggered with the use of me which acted as a catalyst for the boom in the automobile industry.

Though I come from a lineage that is into providing service for the mankind,it has been a long and treacherous journey. My ancestors were always living a life of pride because it was y pricing that depended the countries economy, politics and technology. My forefathers gained a respectable place in the society. This happened because of the rise of automobile industry all over the world. Currently, I command almost 90% vehicular needs all over. A rise in my prices leads to the rise in all usable non usable commodities, thus affecting inflation at large.

Though on one side, I am boasting with pride for the kind of importance showered upon me worldwide, internally I am very saddened at the kind of situation mother earth is going through the saddening usage of me. My heart reaches out to the millions of money spending mechanisms and practices which are followed all over. These humans said to be brilliant and rational, use me in rather inhumane and harsh practices sometimes. Manier practices involving me enhance wastage of me. I suffer because of utter wasteage some humans create with their thinking and practices. Given a stage, I would like to bring forth the way humans can handle me.

At a country level, there needs to be stringent policy decisions regarding the usage at mass level and allotment of me categorically. Countries advocating sensible use of me should unite and create awareness amongst other countries which do not respect my consumption. My counterparts from petroleum producing nations are boasting in pride for the amount of fuel storage they have, but they should sincerely understand that I am a non renewable source of energy and I need to be handled with sense. Wars are fought for the want of me, and I am the biggest sufferer to see innocent killings done for me.

At the state level, there needs to be healthy distribution of me and my equivalents should be of top priority. Extensive calculations based on each state’s population and usage needs to be figured out to arrive at proper number for my distribution network. Encouraging means of mass transport and public transport is the major decision which the state government needs to encourage.

I see lot of buses unnecessarily plying without much human traffic. All of this saddens me because it is me who is burning.

At city level, is where I see utmost waste consumption of me. Some concentrated efforts to save me will lead the entire mankind with heaps of goodness. Here I recall one song that touched me on one of my journeys…it was the legendary Michael Jackson and the lyrics goes like ‘I am asking the man in the mirror, I am asking him to change his ways. And no message could have been ever clearer. If you want the world a better place, just look at yourself and make the change’. It applies to all the human beings who use me. Using public transport more often, car pooling, creating monthly expenditure for the use of me, encouraging cycling, work from home options, using the vehicle only when required than driving without need are some of the advices I would like to give to my end user.

Companies should encourage employees to work from home for jobs that does not require physical presence of the employee. In the world where technology is at breath taking pace, such options are definitely viable to support. Controlling my use is controlling my pricing thereby affecting inflation.

Creating awareness in villagers, in children and advocating the disadvantages of using me irrationally will lead me to a better tomorrow. Creating a hoax picture of misuse of me and its probable illeffects should be imbibed amongst the people, to help me survive longer. Hoardings, ads in all mass media communications needs to be flashed. I believe human beings act faster when they are shown pictures of emergency.

It is upon the minds and actions of the human beings to help me live longer. They enjoy at the expense of burning me. No one likes extinction, I am no different. I want to live as longer as I can. As my life is dependent on you- humans, please Handle me with care.

PS - This post is a part of a blogging competition. This competition is to generate ideas to beat the fuel hikes.
There is a link to the sponsorers ad http://fiat-india.com/upgrade_to_multijet.aspx?partner=id8&cat=upgrade&city=null&event=null&src=yahoo&det=112,fiat,300x250,fl,max

Ride called Life

2011-07-22T18:00:00.001+05:30

There has been innumerable occasions where we are stuck up with different ideas and thoughts which keep lingering into one’s mind for long. It is these thoughts and ideas that shape our perspective towards many things in life and create this vision to look at things from ‘one’s perspective’. These ideas can strike you anywhere – in loo, in garden, whilst watering plants or while doing any activity not related to that particular thought.

I have spent most of my life in my city moving on the bike and it is but obvious for me to spend some time churning out ideas whilst moving. One such thought which lingered in my mind for long was – is there any similarity with the way a bike is designed and operated vis-à-vis our life. Can there be a traceable relationship between my bike and life. The answer left me pondering over the thought for longer and my mind ran parallel in search for this.

The several parts of the bike can have a direct or indirect reference to either parts of our body or the way we look at life. The work of an engine can be similar to the functioning of our body. Being the core for the functioning of the bike, it can be related to the core of the human body. An effective and a well maintained engine ensures that the ‘vehicle’ lasts longer and in a stable manner.

A trigger is required in life to perform several duties and this is acquired by the spark plug which is bestowed with a similar function. Igniting the engine or the core is the main function of the spark plug upon which the engine performs its the duty. Does our brain work in a similar fashion?

The assembly of the accelerator, handle and brake work in tandem as drivers of our life, steering the way we move ahead and decelerate ourselves whenever required. The mechanism and the function of these have a direct relation with our outlook towards life, the way we maneuver our thoughts, actions in different situations and control ourselves in different walks of life.

Our moments of happiness, fun and happy times are the shock absorbers of our life and the more we fill our life with these- the more we are able to absorb the hard times in life well.

The luxuries and pleasures that we indulge in our life are the cushion of our bike, seating on which we can ride.

The fuel storage is the information bank i.e the memory bank we carry with ourselves which proves the silage for our day to day activities.

Tyres come in direct contact with the road surface thereby creating wear and tear of it. These experiences are built with the kind of situations life offers.

Exhausts are the part of the assembly which throws out unwanted things out of our life. Be it bad experiences, memories, feeling etc. It is the cleaner of our system.

But the ride on the bike makes it an interesting simile with life. The parts of the overall assembly needs to be maintained well to keep them moving the way they should be. One must enjoy the ride of the life striking a balance between the lovely visuals along the ride as well as steering well between the traffic and potholes of life.

Whatever the road, enjoying the journey of life and creating a joy ride is the key to ‘ride called life’.

Colourfully black and white

2011-06-15T15:53:00.000+05:30

'What would you like to see in glorious colour', was one of the question I read somewhere. It was the tagline for a blogging competition asking the readers to suggest things that are black and white and ones which they would like to see in colour. Intrigued and puzzled – my mind tried to visualize all the ‘possible’ black and white’ things that exist in the world. I even googled on the net to find out what all black and white things that existed. I came across some animals like zebras, elephants, dolphins, penguins which are blessed with black and white colour, whilst other animals have been assigned a different colour for each one. Images of the yin yang too flashed on the screen. Also some images of beautiful black and white photography with landscapes and portraits made their presence felt.

Glancing through all the images, I tried to figure out which one of these would look great in colour. Recollecting all the good old movies, I tried to scratch my head to remember all the amazing movies being made in black and white. From Satyajit Ray to Billy Wilder’s films – a long list of memorable classics ran through my mind. My imaginative mind started looking at most of these in its colourful avatars. I couldn’t definitively stumble upon one movie which I could single out to be made in colour.

I realized one fact in my process of this research that – each colour is unique and has its own associative value. The way each thing has its own definite value and characteristic – it should not be replaced with anything else. As being original has a charm of its own – a remixed version doesn’t always garner attention.

Emphasizing on this realization I questioned myself – how would a multi colour stripped zebra will look like? How will a red and white dolphin seem while swimming ,a chess board has its identity because of the use of two colours. Will a colourful version of black and white classic like ‘Chalti ka naam gadi’ create any difference? The answer was a strict no. I realized that as much as each thing has its definitive value – each colour too has its purpose. Why do we need to add colour to every thing black or white? Why can’t it have its own appeal? I believe all the black and white things do have their own magic which makes them stand apart from the colourful counterparts. Because of this fact, there are attempts to make colourful objects seem black and white.

Photographers purposely shoot some objects in black and white, most of the cameras come with a black and white mode. Being black and white shouldn’t be considered passé, it is sometimes the ‘in-thing’. Our printers too come up with ‘black and white’ versions, to ‘save colour’.

A right colour at right time in right proportion makes the difference. Instead of saying black and white – one should say its colourfully black and white.

P.S - The post is a part of a blogging competition topic

Games limited

2011-06-03T12:21:00.000+05:30

"What does Sameer do in the summer vacation" was my question to my friend, inquiring him about his son’s plans for the vacation? Without any hesitation he replied , "he plays video games on his play station all day. That’s what most of the kids do", was his justification for the same. This answer took me aback for a while. 80 days of vacation and most of today’s children spend at home fiddling with these mechanical gadgets. The only fun they get is by hitting a virtual enemy, winning a virtual car race, building up some castles and battlegrounds as part of some gaming exercises on these devices.

Pondering upon this issue – I tried to compare the nature of games existed earlier than the ones prevalent today. I tried to enquire whether the social set up and the civilization pattern is leading to such a kind of habit amongst the kids. Nuclear family structure and a busy lifestyle takes a toll on the children unknowingly. The charm of a ‘summer vacation’ seems to have faded now. Earlier, the summer vacations were synonymous with a visit to a village, hometown of either of the parents, playing the fields, mud, water, binging on food, sleep and more. Hanging out with the ‘gang’, playing gully cricket, being together most of the time was the norm. This social structure is truly changing amongst the kids nowadays.

Now, the summer vacations are eagerly awaited to spend maximum time either in front of cartoon network, on video games and on computer games. The vacations are marred by these laze inducing technologies. The ‘summer classes’ are thronged by crowds in such large numbers that one has to really crave out space for yourself to understand the ‘teachings’ of the classes. The ever popular swimming pools during summers are swarmed by more people than the water can take probably.

A certain tintin, tinkle, champak, chitra katha which were the lifeline of the avid vacation readers don’t have a place in the book shelves now. They are being replaced by the ‘Ben10s’, ‘Doremons’ and many more broadcasted on the idiot box. Earlier, there were no Play Stations, MP3, Nintendo's, I-Pods, Video games, Cable TV channels, DVD's, Home Cinema, Home Computers,Laptops,
Chat-rooms, Internet, etc but still there was a strong connect. There were much ‘real’ moments of enjoyment than being dependent on these gadgets to give us leisurely pleasure.

The aspect of the city development and the social structuring too is responsible for germination of such a culture amongst the kids. The open spaces in the city which were earlier playgrounds for the kids are getting fast replaced by townships and housing schemes, the kids have no other place than a club / sports class to go and ‘play’ in a real sense. The spaces in the townships are earmarked not to let the gully cricket make its presence felt. Nuclear family set up is also responsible for isolating kids from the ‘fun in group’ charm. Due to these aspects the parents,who have realized this take special efforts to ‘create’ an appeal for their child’s summer vacations.

I relived the ‘real’ fun in street games when I happened to see some kids having a ball of a time on the streets – all engrossed in their game of cricket into their own ‘created’ stadium. There is a great amount of fun to absorb oneself on these ‘imaginatively created’ pitches, stumps, boundaries etc. Games like pakda pakdi, lappa chappi, gilori, gotya, dhaba aispais, langadi, vitti dandu and many more do not feature on the list of ‘to-do’ list of the kids these days whilst playing. ‘Jasti- chi-majority’, ‘time- please’ and other lingo used while playing no more are heard.

Changing times have brought in virtual fun rather than constructive leisure for the kids. Going by the current rapid techno-gratification of the kids, there is certainly a ‘virtual’ scene of being ‘games limited’.

A festival called world cup win

2011-04-05T15:12:00.000+05:30

A lot has been said, shown and discussed about the historic world cup win against a mighty opponent last Saturday. The moment’s, energy and enthusiasm is still afresh in manier minds. But a lot more needs to be said about what one crucial win has done to the entire nation.

This sport has done something to the nation what no government of sixty four independent years has done to the country. It has become a language which holds together the country. The Indian captain has done something which none of our political heros could achieve. He has brought back a genuine, simple and purest of smiles back to the millions of Indians across the world. He brought back the feeling of being proud of an Indian and made all those eyes watching that win a sense of utter delight which no other event than 1983 win brought. Our hearts were filled with tears and hearts with love for the game. The Indian team not only brought the cup to the country but also kept the excitement, anticipation and were true to the expectations of all cricket fans.

Rightly quoted by one of the politicians that this victory has brought in a new dimension to the Indian perspective. A statement that India shouldn’t be taken lightly on the world map and we can prove when needed. Indians needed a real reason to celebrate, to dance on streets, to play the dhols, music and simply dance without any inhibitions. It needed to come to the streets without the fear of a terrorist attack, without an impending political intention. The sight of the Indian tricolor flying high on many hands is etched in our minds.The men in blue gave us all reason to celebrate with utmost valor. The entire country is basking in the glory which 11 players on green field brought to the nation.

Recent major outings of Indian cricket on the International arena have gained mass public following. The famous T20 world cup win, number one test team and many more victories in the recent past have made us Indians proud of their achievements. But a much anticipated world cup win was the icing on the cake. Enjoyment met many forms of expressions. Pool of cars on street, people dancing on top of the cars, water baths on many, hi-fives all around, hugs to strangers, dhols, music flowing through the air took the kind of expressions after a famous Indian triumph. It was dreamlike! This just means to show what cricket means to us and how powerful it is a tool to bridge the gap between people of different communities, sects etc. No one was cheering for the players of their states, regions ; they were cheering for India- which mattered.

The 15 players made us patriotic one more time, they made us fanatical one more time, they made us self-important one more time. Such thoughts of self beliefs and patriotism rarely come these days, other than a surprise terrorist attack or a bomb scare. Mr Dhoni, captured the hearts of millions and like Kapil Dev did in 1983, gave us a reason to celebrate. He gave the current generation chance to feel the magic- which a ‘world cup win’ can give.

He gave the reason for the people of current era to be proud to live and to see the historic moment. Replays of that famous six to get the winning runs, his look on the face watching that ball soar into the stands, his antics with the willow meant just one gesture- we are the champions. This moment is going to be played time and again in the minds of us.

Conquering one massive opponent after another, this Indian team ultimately conquered the highest honour of world cricket. Thanks guys for installing and awakening the hidden patriotism in the hearts of Indians. Lets find ourselves more reasons to be patriotic and celebrate India more often, other than cricket. Lets us look for more moments to celebrate like this one gave us. Let us look at more festivals like this one was – ‘A festival called world cup win’.

Cricketing expressions and superstitions

2011-03-25T12:52:00.000+05:30

Cricket - the religion of India, the binding factor of patriotism and the pulse of millions altogether. Be it whatever form of Cricket, it generates utmost amount of discussions, views, comments on various aspect of this sport in India. Not to mention that it is this mania that halts several working systems in the country. With growing number of population, the fan base for the game has increased manifolds. Other than a terrorist attack on the country, it is the only major factor that unites the spirits of Indians nowadays.

So with it being the way of life, will it be short of any form of expressions and superstitions? Each match featuring India is nothing short of varying forms of expressions being belted out. A look at any cricket loving family, group of friends or cricketing communities are always filled with the paramount expressive best. Agony, sadness, cheer. Laughter, tears, smile, respect, honor, vigor, zeal – name the feeling and it shall bring on its face during an intense cricket match. Deserted streets, empty shops and public places are all witness to a rather ‘big’ event for the country.

When a cricket match is being played, more often than not, it happens that all the billion people play together. Especially in a gala event like the world cup, eyes are glued to each and every moment telecasted of the cricketing field. Days featuring Indias match are earmarked in the calendar as ‘not to-do’ lists. Appointments, schedules, meetings are fixed accordingly. Flurry of vehicles to go home early and watch as much broadcast of the competition as possible becomes the order of the day. One thing is for sure, India can’t miss on all of this.

When such an intensity rules the roost, it is inevitable that the Indians are not at their expressive best. A superb cricketing drive is jointly applauded by all, as well as a major mistake brings in all the negative expressions. A parallel commentary by the viewers to the live broadcast happens for all the moves of the captain as well as shots selected by the players. Billions of minds work together knowingly- unknowingly for the 11 players on field. Sadness on loosing Sachin’s wicket is the most common of feeling what rules the heart of people. Pain of losing a match is bad mouthed by many. Mistakes made by players are expressed loudly and harshly.

But what takes the cake from all of this is the smile after winning an intense match. This smile is truly genuine, from the heart and just means one thing…we did it. This expression doesn’t need any other words, as each one understands what the other similar smile is saying.

Best is the form of expressions post any match. Debates ranging from hours to joy/agony that lingers for long in the game loving minds. Everyone who loves the game becomes a critique in himself and analyses the game played or the one coming ahead. Millions of views, remarks flow in the air either in the praise or displeasure of the team’s performance on a particular day. Ranging from the team selectors to individual performances, everything is commented upon. The technological advancements in broadcasting which captures each and every expression of the player on field adds to the discuss off the field. Sledging, reactions to situations are well debated off field.

With such a fan base to a cult sport in the country – there is indeed a parallel spiritual system that runs. It is called ‘cricketing supersitions’. It’s that time of the World Cup when die-hard fans would go any distance to keep their teams from losing. Indians being people with a thing for the irrational, one can expect them to do some crazy things when their team performs post the quarterfinal. The most common superstition amongst the cricket fans – when the team is doing well, one should not move and inch from whatever position he/she is. Crazy as it might sound, it does bring in the ‘goodluck’ the team requires at that particular moment. A thought that a minor movement might risk the formation and orientation of the planets from the constructive positions and might bring in bad luck for the team. This would in effect be true for their wellbeing post the match. Doing poojas, homas, special prayers to the gods to some real crazy stuff, is the trend amongst the superstitious folk.Following the herd, I too have my share of these supersitional beliefs that help me bring relief to my self seeing India perform well. Not everytime, does this work, but the over optimism of seeing a bright Indian performance never leaves the mind. Sitting in a position for long, asking everyone not to move or say anything during the match, making sure all the things are placed in similar fashion as the last time India won a match and more.

Some of my friends too have their share of superstitions which are worth mentioning. Some friends of mine believe, them seeing a match makes the team under perform, so to avoid the tension and anticipation of the team’s performance they give up viewing the match. But the tension building up in such a situation is unimaginable. A clincher of a Indo Australia match yesterday gave rise to several such practices prevailing amongst my friends. Whilst the match yesterday, one good friend of mine got up to get something and Australia lost a wicket. This sheer excitement and joy of his movement made him stand still for the rest of the Aussie inning. At the end, it did pay as India won the match, but the point being that there are thousands of such still positions, statue like positions, anxious eyes and innumerable practices that act as blessing to the performers on the field.

Cricketers are no way behind in following these invisible beliefs. Innumerable articles and write ups boasts of the practices these players adopt to better their performances. Whilst it is understandable for the amount of pressure and expectations relied upon them- it is equally fascinating for the practices adopted by the fans for them. A mere emotion that their team should do well, takes them to unimaginable levels of practices and rituals which truly are captivating ‘Cricketing expressions and superstitions’.

A close look at death

2011-03-08T14:57:00.000+05:30

Death – the name itself brings in the feeling of sadness, loss, pain and feelings attached to negativity. It is one emotion that every human being fears the most. The mere mention of the word distances the person from himself for a moment. News of uncertain death of anyone touches the human heart and condolences and prayers for the near and dear ones of the casualty follow.

What was thought of as a cricket match during the safety week in Lavasa yesterday proved to be an experience of terror for all. I was a close witness of an unfortunate event yesterday.

As part of the celebrations for the ‘National Safety Week’ – Lavasa arranges a series of events to create awareness amongst its employees. The highlight of this event is the cricket tournament which features employees, contractors, laborers and everyone associated with Lavasa. I decided to take part in one of the teams and we were petted against the city management team from the company.

A star cricketer and a good hitter of the cricketing ball- was the image that I carried of this City manager who batted after the fall of the first wicket of the opposition. His walk towards the pitch was very well cheered as everyone was in awe of this 55 year old man with a personality to die for. His tall and muscular demeanor was well admired by everyone who knew him.

Being a wicket keeper myself – I observed this gentleman, his body language not being short of any well maintained sportsman. An unsuccessful stint with the bat, left us see his back after a few balls. The opposition team posted a decent enough total to be chased by us.

Me along with my colleague friend were chosen to open the chase for our team. Whilst taking the walk, my eyes were on the gentleman who I thought was an inspiration to be on cricketing field at that age. He took guard behind the wickets and made sure of the field arrangements with the bowler and captain. His enthusiasm at that age was remarkable. The first over was bowled and I was at the batting end for the next over. The first ball of the second over missed my bat and went to the keeper on which Mr Muzumdar aptly collected it with his large hands. I had a brief sight of the ball in his hands. The bowler went to take his run up and I was gearing for the next ball. The ball left the clutches of the bowler’s hand, ran past me, was wide enough, and left me looking behind at the wicket keeper. That sight behind me left me gasped and shocked as I found that our city manager banged on the ground hard while collecting the ball. An initial reaction that he slipped instantly faded away when his body started shivering profusely. I ran towards him only to see him vibrating and creating weird sound – a horrific sound of a man in pain.

The pool of people watching us play ran towards him, some asking for water in the hot afternoon, whilst some making sure the crowd is away from him to avoid suffocation. Shouts, confusion and chaos followed for the next three minutes as a zooming vehicle was seen towards the crowd. Mr Muzumdar was immediately shifted into the vehicle with flurry of people along with him to whiz to the nearest hospital.

We were all perplexed with this turn of events. The crowd that was cheering for the play 5 mins back was suddenly transformed into a stunned pool of witnesses. Announcement of cancellation of the days matches made us walk back towards our vehicles in anticipation of the health of Mr Muzumdar. Whispers and talks donning around the people present were varied. Some people opined it was a sun stroke while some confirmed it was a heart attack.

I along with my colleagues sat in the vehicle carrying us back to the office - stopped at a hotel on the way. I called up a friend, who works in a different department, to inform him about the incident. He was shocked to know about it. After 20 mins, I got a call back from him to tell me that the city manager is no more. These words, unfolded the series of events that I observered closely few minutes back. What followed was the empathy towards his family to bear a shock of a precious loss. Rest in peace , Mr Muzumdar!

The sight of his trembling body, the bizarre sound coming from him, his eyes all white and shivers – for me this experience surely was a close look at death.

Night to remember

2011-02-15T11:54:00.001+05:30

Posters flashed all over the city, banners announced his arrival, all routes of reaching to the public via media were flooded with one day…11th Feb…when Bryan Adams was set to perform live in Pune. An unusual and iconic concert to flaunt. Pune boasted of hosting ‘ The Legend’ and also had the rare opportunity to kick off his series of Asian concerts with this one in the city.

After initial apprehension for the pricing of the tickets, to landing amidst the flurry of people on the entrance gate, it was all in the mind. A lifetime opportunity to listen and see perform one of the biggest international talents….Bryan Adams.

First two hours were marred by sheer disappointment as we were thrown open to plethora of activities unfolding on the stage. Watching the technicians at work, some stupid introductory compering by radio jockeys to some disappointing ramp walk by models, the show started with a boo from all. The band to open for the legend was a total anticlimax, with the music taking the piece of the cake rather than the vocals and the song lyrics. Nonetheless, what followed after this mess made sure that we forgot all this nuance. I was cursing for we left our office early to make sure we get a good spot to view. And what was happening in front of us was utter rubbish. Me and my friends prayed that Bryan show should make up for this.

7.45pm, it was announced that ‘Here is Bryan Adams’ and all the lights went off, everyones eyes were set on the stage and the screen to see their hero come on stage. He took half an hour to come on stage and did he rock….well, mightily, in deed

He simply came on stage and started with the music with the apt opening of a concert, ‘I need somebody, somebody like you’ as a gesture to appreciate the presence of thousands of people in front of him. The crowd went made and shouted to the core to listen his first song. The fact that here is the moment to see the legendary guitarist perform in front of you is one of its kind. This one followed by Somebody, one night love affair. ‘Here I am’ marked the enthusiasm of the crowd trigger to the hilt, whilst the stage displayed its true colours in reds, blues, greens, yellows, all flashing. After this one, he introduced himself to the crowd saying, my name is Bryan, well…does he need an introduction?

‘Can’t stop this think we started' was an fitting song in the middle of the concert supported amiably with the eclectic guitar , amazing vocals and lights all around. The stage was throwing pictures of all the band members performing, and it was treat to watch. Adams, got louder rightly responded by the crowd.

‘Lets make a night to remember’ followed, a song which for me, is a benchmark for romance. It sent chills into me, as I have been listening to this song for hundreds of times, and to see it live sent waves across me. It was sheer delight to see the aging rockstar perform with utmost zeal and valor. I was thoroughly enjoying the way he expressed himself whilst singing this one. Sure this man is one romantic. This song was well responded by the audience as he muted himself for a while to let the audience since parts of it. Loved it!

The youthful '18 till I die’ made the crowd shout to the top of the voices, whilst I was struggling to listen to the original voice. Then came the song, which everyone waited for. ‘Summer of 69’, I expected he will keep this one for lasts, but was a surprise to hear so soon. This song catapulted the fervor of the audience as it was their voice more than his that ran all round. Bryan adams knowing the popularity of this one, rightly muted himself to let the audience sing for him.

In the midst of his performace, Adams at one point motioned towards a lit room on one of the towers in the background, and yelled, “Dear sir, hello do come down and join us. I have a spare ticket here.”

The lead guitarist, Keith Scott performed amazingly with the guitar with some unusual sounds with the strings and some small gigs like rotating the guitar around his neck, on which Bryan adams asked him, ‘how do you do it, tell me’. Keith replied ‘ I don’t know’.

‘The only thing I want’ , ‘All for you’ created that mass shouting amongst the crowd, while songs like ‘Everything I do’ garnered the interest of all those romantics present. It was a speechless moment for me, for the song which I have been humming and listening and rerunning for thousands of times was being performed live in front of me. It was a moment to cherish forever. The song 'Please Forgive me' put forth his nostalgic face in front and he said ‘ Please forgive me’ to the crowd after the song. 'Cuts like a knife', charged the spirits with crowd humming the songs one after another.

Then came the moment of enjoyment when Bryan asked the crowd if anyone knew the lyrics of his song ‘ Baby’, one girl was chosen amongst the pool of hands raised. The lucky girl got a chance to sing along the star in front of the mammoth crowd.

5 minutes to 10 and Bryan Adams took his bow with his band and left the stage. Disappointed that the show got over so soon, we started moving towards the exit and to our dismay (or cheer), he came back on to the stage to perform for some more time. He said, lets sing some more songs. And we were sad that we lost our prized spot to see him, but nonetheless enjoyed the next 3-4 songs he sang.

The show got over and the numbness in our legs was sensed as we walked towards our vehicles. The pain of standing for more than 5 hours was lost in the anticipation of a brilliant show. And certainly, the rockstar made sure that ‘It was a night to remember’.

Nothing 'adarsh' about it

2011-02-05T17:18:00.000+05:30

India- seen as a rising economy, developing nation and a country to look forward to by manier nations in the present era. But are the current episodes happening in and around the country creating a goody image of us?

Present times are the testing time for our country. Overall, it is exposed to various and difficult situations in all the corners of its existence. The perennial Kashmir issue dons the north, while Leh-Ladakh was grappling with floods, eastern story is bound with the frequent tibetian and Chinese attacks, the fear of Chinese encroachment into the country looms large. Political unrest down south surfaces its head from time and again, while the west is subjected to fear of attack or unrest.

Apart from the unrest, there is a heavy menace in the form of internal disturbances in the form of flurry of major scams hiting the nation. The cost the nation has to pay for hosting (or boasting) a commonwealth games is still impending on us. Advancements in the form of communication well also took its toll on exposing yet another scam which featured a certain ‘Raja’. As soon as that subsided, tabloids’ shocking revelation of news providers lobbying around crept in. Such incidents can question the moralities of the news providers at large.

Every month there is a certain price rise, either in petrol, milk, foodgrains and vegetables, thus raising the inflation rate. To top it all, there is uncertainty in the form of climate where we experience rainfall in non rainy seasons leading to the damage in crops. This has lead to the reducing number of agricultural fields. Villagers seek to the temptations of sacrificing their healthy agricultural land to the real estate seductions. Such a decrease in agricultural sector might lead India to a worrisome state in future.

Internal conflicts in the form of Maoist attacks, internal violence amongst communities based on shallow political intentions are creating a vulnerable image of the nation. There is an ever impending sword of a terrorist attack at any time at any place now. All the major festivals, events are marred by heavy security and a possible threat from the fanatics. The charm of enjoying these festivals without any prenominations is fading away.

The episodes of political selfishness in the form of creating assets during the tenure, making the most of the chair, lobbying , corruption, vested interests have faltered the kind of leadership our country needs. One major contradictory statement comes from the lady who leads the Congress party urging all ‘old’ party workers to step down from their positions and curbing their greeds. She herself doesn’t apply being a sexagenarian.(60 plus).

With the certain air of ambiguity looming large over our country, there is a sense of ‘nothing adarsh about it’.

Happy second decade of the century

2011-01-03T13:10:00.000+05:30

Another new year, another set of new year wishes, another location for parties, music, dance, people. Another set of smses, forwards, mails and telephone calls to near and dear ones. Another remembrance of the year gone by and mental preparation to welcome the new one. Another chapter added to the book of life. But one needs to understand – with this another , where are we as human beings?

Multitudes of smses and emails flow through the air carrying millions of wishes from some part of the world to another, during the New Year. Each and every message boasts of a new beginning to the year to follow and retrospection of the one gone by. Wishes change but the condition around us remain the same. People carry with them similar prejudice. The question here is – with the passing of years, do we really aspire to bring in a positive and healthy change around us?

Do we really abide to the values and principles set in or imbibed to us while we were young? With the passing of decades – the flair of these value sets are diminishing, giving rise to newer and superficial ways of living.

In this new year, do we remind each other of those cultural degradation happening around us, of the value sets that are being ignored, of the sensible and skillful uses of the available resources around us. We embark on the new year resolutions, do we endorse greening our planet by our own small initiatives?

With the onset of the new decade – where do we as Indians stand as against 6.3 decades earlier?

Things are changing rapidly in this era. Technological spread leads to constant change. With this change, the culture is also changing at if not similar but fast pace. What was considered as must before is considered as passé now. The set of values which one wants India to progress must be instilled in younger minds and efforts to make sure that those are being followed need to be generated. It is only the culture that India had (or has), that distinquishes us from the lot, lets preserve it for generation to come. Let us resolve to keep these cultures intact, let us resolve to spread the defined set of values and ethics to Manier people. Let us treasure our roots, our belief system. Lets trust each other, lets spread honesty once again, lets be better human beings with higher morals. Let’s not just merely wish happy new year, but spread a hope to cherish and evolve ways to retain our identity, culture, values, roots, keeping in mind the future aspirations. Let us not expand ourselves externally, but evolve internally

Happy second decade of the century

Hypocrites rule the roost

2010-12-22T18:09:00.001+05:30

I often question myself- why we have to live in a world full of rules and regulations. A world full of do’s and don’ts, of haves and have not’s, a world guided by discipline seekers and law makers. A world where a ruling party decides the fate of the nation. The common man is at the receiving end of all and he has to abide to all the laws of the books. If one has to trace down the growth as a country, one must look into the ideologies of the particular ruling party.

As far as India’s progress goes- we have been steered into the new decade of the 21^st century mostly by one party who ruled for 58 years at the central level. Tracking India’s growth over all these years – there have been innumerous stalwart decisions and leaders, but equally menancing and fraudulent people at the decision level. But one question that can haunt many of us Indians is – are we heading towards the right direction inspite of being free for almost 64years. Where is our standing in terms of development towards the right path goes. Inspite of the growth trend on a upward curve, we are after expanding Indian land in horizontal direction. Grabbing parcels, mountains, hills, rivers, canals for so called development is the regular practice of the babus who sit and do almost nothing at the government offices. A look into any well positioned government officer can give a picture that he is more interested in amassing wealth from improper means and creating property pools. Diverting decisions, creating means of escape, not abiding to the law, procrastinating decisions have left us Indians bereft of the sense of pride we should have been enjoying.

The recent news surrounding India creates a kind of panic situation and also the one of unrest. Impounding terror attacks, corruption creeping its head, malpractices all around, counter attacks of political parties on each other, mind games of the leaders for each other and many more. Much more disheartening is the fact that one comes to know that everything is staged – right from post of a chief minister to inflation, to common wealth games, scams, phone tappings, matches .Everything seems to be a part of a perfectly scripted reality show, where the audience keeps voting through smses, whilst the winner is pre decided.

Most of the rulings by the court for national level cases are either deferred or are favoured by the person pumping more money. Be it IPL mess, Kalmadi’s histrionics, Raja’s notoriety, lobbying of the newsmakers for key decisions of national interest, everything happening around the country is well decided in advance and executed. Money rules. Even awards are not spared – there is a beeline to buy awards.

The common man is nothing but left as a mere spectator to these dramatic events unfolding in front of him everyday. Decisions taken at very large scale percolate to the common man in manier smaller ways – price hikes, tax hikes, etc. The common man is merely party to these decision turners. With dirty politics and selfish grabbing the prime mottos, the genuineness of present time leaders is questionable.

Often do we see many allegations, revelations, scandals, scams pointed at most of the politicians and leaders alike. These prove to be a good fodder for ‘breaking news’ for the aam janta. But these so called ‘breaking news’ turn into ‘broken down’ news after a while, with either public loosing interest in the matter or the case being suppressed. This has become the order of the day since history. The common man is being choreographed into this mode of life. Debate, discuss and 'carryon' is the modus operandi subscribed by most. These leaders take advantage of such an attitude and stage histrionics one after another.

We are nothing but living in environs where manipulation is the name of the game and ‘hypocrites rule the roost’.

'Graph'ing Photo -4

2010-12-05T13:25:00.000+05:30

Addition to the collection

Experiments with firecrackers during Diwali

Matheran - could capture nature at best during the wee hours of morning

'Graph'ing 'photo's -3

2010-11-15T20:49:00.001+05:30

New addition to the collection of my photographs

Dhol player during the Ganeshotav 2010

Flags in the air

Rhythm

Halo around the moon during the 'Kojari Poornima'

'Insect' ing

'kid'ding around

Its an 'ads'olute world

2010-11-10T15:09:00.001+05:30

Any commodity in the market needs to make its presence felt for visitors and users alike to make the use of it and for that commodity to sell better. The realization of this concept lead to the origination of the idea of advertisements. To advertise means to promote. Here is a take on the way products are advertised, kind of products which are advertised and the type of advertisements which throng people’s minds.

Advertisement as a field is sheer brilliant as each advertisement needs a ‘unique’ concept and should act as a catalyst to boost sale of that particular product. Such is the brilliance of the field that it has penetrated in almost all spheres of commodity promotion. If one looks at the way product is promoted- one can see the advances being made. Right from the old ads of Nirma, the Rasna girl, utensils flying for the prestige cooker ad, liril ads, the famous garden varelli ads, cinthol , only vimal and many more. One can track with way these television ads have ‘come of age’ with passing times. ‘One black coffee please’ made a huge stir in the way ads were being perceived and that gave rise to intelligent ads and ads driven by a pinch of humour. Cabury’s come up with ads that touch the human emotions, while fevicol tinkles the funnier side of life, they tried to create a name for itself in the advertising scenario. The recent Vodafone ads with the new character 'Zoozoo' made sure the viewers are glued to the television sets during those matches. Occasions like Diwali, certain important events like world cup, IPL, political rallies make sure the viewers are bombarded with enough content during the breaks and throughout the session. Almost 70% of the content on popular television channels are commanded by several ads. This calls for the importance advertisement is being given in the minds of the people and also by the companies.

The intrusion of various types of media has led to the variations in types of ads too. One product is marketed differently on television, on radio, on print, in newspapers, on hoardings and also on the minds of people. One can see a totally new vocabulary for marketing of one particular product according to the media variant. The newer concept of advertising is to stimulate and make the most of the senses of human beings to attract to the product. That’s were one can find a totally voiceless ad on television for a product, a visual treat on a hoarding, perceptible voice ads on radio. A recent ad by Volkswagen Vento in the newspaper with a small device, proclaiming about the product , which was fitted to one of the page of the newspaper was a superb attempt to grab attention of the populace. Such concepts not only boost the sales of the product but also creates an identity for the product and the company at large.

For some reason several companies always stick to non-sensical ads to grab people’s attention. Some innerwear brand comes up with ads inclining towards vulgarity while some other brands knowingly create utter rubbish ads, so that they are in public talks for their stupid ideas perhaps. This tact is used as a publicity stunt in a negative manner. Mobile services too are not far behind in the rat race of advertisements. These services are seen as personal or one on one way to reach the potential customers. The promotional ads on mobile services and the non subscribed messages for various ads are sheer nuisance to the mobile users.

The ads featured in the newspaper are being unnecessarily barraged on to the readers. Huge ads covering the entire page, pages, or even supplements together are becoming a routine for the everyday reader. As in case of television ad contents, the print ads too command more than 50% of the informative space. Every page of any newspaper is filled with some or the other ad making it a commercial newspaper rather than an informative one. These newspapers are also accompanied with pamphlets marketing some other business.

The attitude of advertising on every possible surface available is the trend of the hour. Webpages with pop ups, news channels with commercial breaks, gift items with ads etc are all gimmicks to seize the attention of the eyeballs.

Our cities are not left from these advertising trends. Hoardings, large and small adorn the city and these have now become an integral part of the cityscape. Real estate ventures, large and ugly faces of stupid politicians are some of the popular types of the hoardings imposing their presence. Hefty prices for the hoardings on judicious locations are marked in the city. Some buildings even sacrifice their building façade to gain the commercials from the hoardings. The need to gain more money by placing these hoarding right in front of the windows supercedes the need for good amount of light and ventilation. Retaining walls in the city, bridges, railings, street poles etc are the most vulnerable locations to bear the brunt of forced advertising.

Nonetheless, we are now living in a world where advertisement rules the roost and the rat race to grab ‘the look’.It is becoming a mad mad world full of advertisements – its an ‘ads'olute world

PS - This post marks a half century of posts on my blog.

Patterns of Devotion

2010-10-22T15:41:00.000+05:30

Most human beings are god fearing. They believe in the holy spirit and each religion has its own way of offering their prayers. Each religion, according to its beliefs, have set certain rules and modes of offering prayers. Like Christians have their own way of offering prayers, muslims do it by presenting a shawl to the holy tomb. Hindus, who believe in idol worship also have their own way of offering prayers – a symbol of showing that you are devoted.

But as Hinduism boasts of crores of deities, the form of prayers too differ and are subjected to change depending on the local beliefs. It might be surprising to know that certain deities are offered ‘prasad’ (an offering of food) made of pure vegetables and pure ghee, some other deities who come under ‘hinduism’ need

sacrificies in the form of a lamb / chicken etc. All of this is guided by beliefs and so called traditions.

Even though one religion has crores of deities, only a select few get the honor of being ‘celebrity deity’. In India, holy places like ‘Tirupati’, ‘ Sai baba Shirdi’, ‘ ‘Vaishnodevi’, ‘ Lal Baug cha Raja , ‘ Dagdu Seth Ganapati , ‘Mahalaxmi from Kolhapur’ etc are the deities to name a few which can be mapped as the most popular deities amongst followers. There is an interesting pattern of devotion that exists in these popular holy places. Lord Tirupati is the most sought after deity in terms of number of people visiting. People wait there for queue which can span to one or two days even, to get a glimpse of the god. A new trend is to ‘book’ the time of your prayer in advance and visit the temple. Several centres which offers such services are making a good business of it.

This trend of sorts is now spreading to other deities which are frequented by such a large number of populace. Whilst visiting these believers shower the god ( and the associated trusts) with huge amount of money and other valuable accessories. A gold crown for the ganapati, a golden traditional cap for Shri Sai Baba, interior of the temple made of silver and what not. These are the kind of offerings the ‘strong believers’ in the deity offer. There is a certain rat race to gift glamorous items to the lord just as a publicity gimmick. These attention seeking followers don’t do it with ‘heart’, but they do it with full ‘money and political power’. One who grants these heavy duty items to the idol and its trusts is a loyal believer –whereas one who goes with a pure feeling of devotion sans any costly accessory is a mundane visitor. One can clearly see commercialization of religion and religious values which are being exploited by the political will power.

The other factor deciding the popularity of the deity is the amount of time a mundane visitor takes to get ‘darshan’ of the lord. Two days to see the lord means the deity is popular amongst the masses. To avoid such time consuming practices, a newer fashion is to set up a replica of a certain popular temple in other parts of the country and world – to decentralize the crowd??? Its like creating a chain of temples. Isn’t this another business of sorts?

Another pattern of unusual devotion is the crazy loyalty of the people of South India towards the South Indian heroes. Names like Rajnikant, Chiranjeevi, MGR are equivalent to almighty and temples to worship them are built. It is indeed a ritual for the true south Indian movie fan to worship these ‘lords’ along with other regular gods. A procession carrying the movie reel of a Rajnikanth movie, to creating a larger than life statues of these stars is no new practice for the people down south. This epidemic spreads across all the places in the world where a true south Indian fan lives.

Few are the places where one can satisfy oneself with the whole hearted emotion of devotional offerings. With the kind of religious practices going around, one can certainly find himself lost into these ‘patterns of devotion’.

My smartphone's true connection

2010-10-04T15:15:00.000+05:30

Smartphone is the new device which many of us aspire to possess some or the other day. Rather than being a pride, it is slowly becoming a status symbol too. I am still not amongst the league of smartphone populace, but I do desire to have one of my own, someday!

Smartphone as the name suggests is supposed to be chic. It should carry the features a ‘regular’ mobile device has, plus it should incorporate the features which can really astonish, surprise and create a sense of excitement for the user every time they use it. Even though I am not amongst the rather ‘elite’ club of smartphone users, but I often wonder what features can actually make me excite. One feature that can set my smartphone apart from mundane mobile devices according to me is the feature to read peoples mind and send across the emotions (in a true way).

The way I see mobile device, is a gadget meant to connect people to each other. Imagine if this gadget incorporated feelings of the user. What if these feelings are transmitted to each other in real time. The normal mobile device does the same feature in a rather boring manner in the form of text messages or photographs or voice calls. This doesn’t make the messages ‘really personal’ as one would like to be connected. An actual smile of the sender along with a ‘Hi’ cannot have ‘the real essence’ a message is meant to carry, rather than a mere smiley. Even voice over the phone can seem less personal than actually meeting or knowing what the person is feeling.

It can integrate other features like capturing the reaction of the receiver which the sender is unaware of. Making the smartphone extremely personal would be the feature. A sense of belonging towards the tool could really make it personal and special than other ordinary mobile device. Addition of a webcam or a facility to actually feel the expressions and reaction to a call or sms would set it apart for me. Meeting someone in person is no doubt an experience, but since this gadget is the bridge to connect them, one can imagine a near to real experience via such smartphone. Bridging the gap of human connect with the help of a tool can make my smartphone in a different race altogether.

For me, such an application can signify my smartphone’s ‘true connection’.

PS- This post is for a blogging competition