Gibberish

Do u look good?

2010-03-01T19:19:00.000+05:30

It's been a long time. But, it does feel good to be back!

Travel seems to bring about new thoughts in my head. Well, not exactly traveling.. but while traveling back home.. from work... or the kind!

We human beings have always been very much concerned about our looks. The way we look, our complexion, height, so on and so forth.. And if u talk about Indians, there is a definite concern about the looks. From childhood, parents keep telling the kids the 'importance' of looking good. A girl, if not beautiful might not find a good groom. The stories are endless.

But does it really matter? The looks that is.. What has a person's looks got to do with his achievements? Is it that only a good looking person is good at heart? Why does a girl's looks become so important when searching for a groom? Won't she be the same person, even if she didn't look the way she does? Why does it matter? How does it matter?

May be its not that unimportant after all... Why do we easily get along with people who are good looking... why do we get attracted to people just by his looks at first. why is there anything called love-at-first-sight? Why are we little hesitant to talk to someone who is not good looking?

It may be only my experience, but I have hardly seen really successful people who don't look all that good. Is it just a coincidence or not.. I don't know. But may be there is a reason for it. I am just trying to figure it out here.

Imagine a child who is not fair.. or who is not thin.. is fat... or has thick spectacles.. Doesn't he get teased by his friends everyday... Aren't his friends always reminding him/her of how he/she looks.. rather how he/she doesn't look... Even the parents keep reminding the kid of his looks..rather the lack of it.. (this esp happens if you are an indian girl child who is not very pretty)..

How does a kid react to these situations? His brain is naive.. He only believes what he sees or hears.. and he probably starts believing that looks after all might be important in life. He probably gets an inferiority complex... He starts thinking that his friends who are the so called good looking ones are the ones who will end up successful...

Imagine the confidence of such a child. This kid won't even think of success.. He won't even believe that he can be successful in anything he does. However as he grows, he might get over all the inferiority complex. But the lack of confidence is what remains. Even when such a kid grows up, he is still doubtful about his potential. All caused because of what he went through during his childhood.. All because he didn't look the best.

The lack of confidence he will have remains for a long time. And it affects his performance throughout his life.. his college, his work, may be even while talking to person's of opposite sex... it affects everywhere... and its difficult to get over it at a later stage.

So i believe that looks of a person might not be such an unimportant aspect of his life. I know its really sad.. but i am afraid, i feel its the truth... The looks affects the psyche of a kid and it remains affected forever... Yes, i know its wrong... its not all false. May be someday we will see that looks are not at all given importance while judging a person.. but till then.. we got to live with it

PS: This is totally my own views based on my own personal experiences. I agree this is debatable. Counter views are welcome.

I have had enough

2008-11-30T20:33:00.002+05:30

It has been almost 4 days. 4 days of terror, unimaginable, unprecedented terror. I am shocked, stunned. I am angry. And I am shit scared.

4 days ago on 26th November, few terrorists wrecked havoc in Mumbai. They fired openly at innocent people, took many people hostage & shattered couple of 5 star hotels.

Friends and family have been asking me how i am? I have to tell them i am fine, i am alive. That this time, i was safe. But am i really fine? Physically yes. Mentally?? I am shattered. I am scared. I will not be the same again. From now on whenever i travel in a bus or train, i will suspect each and every co-passenger. I will wonder whether any one of those is carrying a gun or a bomb. I will be scared to walk in open, to go to restaurants for dinner, go shopping in a mall. These terrorists have changed the way we live.

Mumbai has been attacked many times before. Everytime we have returned to normalcy quite fast. We have been resiliant. We have told the terrorists that what ever you do, we will not let it affect us. We will still live our lives the way we do. And this motivated them to come back at us harder and in a bigger way.

We have been resiliant enough. We have always become used to the life that we have been given. But its enough now. I have had enough. Its not time to be more resiliant. Its time to show the terrorists that we won't accept it any more. Its time to tell those people that if you attack us, you will be hurt more. For this we have to change. We have to stop accepting things and stop getting used to it. We have to start fighting.

Its time we stop blaming each other. Its time we stop being selfish. Its time we all unite and stand up against these messengers of terror and tell them that we have had enough. Either you stop or you pay the price.

Also its time to pay a tribute to all those brave commandos, army men & police men who laid their lives so that we could sleep peacefully. Thank you!

The fight continues...

2008-10-12T18:01:00.003+05:30

Week after week after week, the fight goes on. The struggle continues. I know not till when.

It was not the usual devil this time. But it was a closely related brother.

You think the brother is not so dangerous. That you can easily owerpower it. That finally it will be you who will be victorious.

But by the end of the bout, its him who is laughing at you. Just like his brother does everyweek. Lauging at you from the corner after he has made a mockery of you.

And you hope that next week it will be your day. It will be you who will be laughing.

Week after week after week, the mocks come and go. They hit u so hard that u don't even realise. And by the time they go u are left wondering what to do.

This week it was not mockCAT, but mockSNAP.

SNAP is considered to be easy compared to its counterpart CAT. But then you forget that it got more questions and less time. 150 questions in 120 min.

Add to that the GK section. 40 questions of general knowledge. What do they get by putting all those history, geography & civics questions which you had studied but don't know when. I mean its an MBA entrance. Let there not be GK. And if it is there let it be only business related. Not some 100AD waala history.

Then there is the analytical section. Well its heaven for me atleast. Scored more than 50% of marks in that section. Glad they give 2 marks for a right answer here.

And then comes the verbal. The ambiguous VA. Where you never know what the actual answer is. 40 questions where you are not sure whether what you are attempting is right or wrong.

And when you finish these three sections and you feel that time is up and so is the paper, QA stares at you. 40 questions still to solve. It may be easy but dude!! you need time to solve even the easy ones. Where in the world is time?

Finally the invigilator comes and tells you its time. Snatches your OMR sheets as you try to mark that last answer which you think might make or break your life.

Now that you are out, you think about all the things that you will do this week, so that you do well in the next mock.

The next mock comes. Its the same ol' story. It keeps on happening. Mock after mock after mock.

Well i don't mind the blows i get now. I don't mind what i score now. I'll be too happy not to score now and score finally on D-day. To have the last & final laugh.

Wanna get rich?

2008-10-09T20:05:00.003+05:30

Every man dreams of becoming rich someday.

To be able to own that perfect house, that one car. Buy those clothes you always wanted. To be able to live in luxury all your life.

And everyone wants an easy way to achieve all this.

Well!! The beggars show one of those ways to earn big bucks.

To know more... click here.

Let's Live India!

2008-10-09T19:38:00.004+05:30

Its time we start living!!!

Happy Dussehra!

2008-10-09T17:32:00.003+05:30

Its Dussehra today. It marks the win of good over evil. Victory of Rama over Ravana.

Today's world/society faces many evils. Terrorism, corruption, gradual fall of human values to name a few.

Don't we need a Rama now to free us from these Ravana's?

Festival season is here again

2008-10-05T21:56:00.002+05:30

Yes, its here again. Durga puja, navratri, dussehra and finally diwali. Its the festival season. The fun, frolic is back again. The lights, dandiya, fireworks, pujas...Enjoy the season to the max..

Happy festival season to you all.

Survival of the Fittest

2008-10-04T18:26:00.003+05:30

Its 7:55 monday morning. I am at the Dombivli station waiting for my 8:01 semi-fast local. I can see the first class coach of another train in the adjacent platform. There is a crowd just outside the entrance. All trying rather fighting to get in. Someone is pushing people inside. There are some shouting at others to get in. Quite a few are holding on to the pole at the entrance. Few are hanging on the door only on their toes.

In the whole fight i see a young kid trying to make his way through. He is not as tall as others. He is not as strong as others. He cannot shout as others. But he surely knows how to make his way inside. Within seconds this kid is in while others are still struggling.

Its not just this morning. This whole episode goes on and on and on, 7 days a week, 30 days a month, 365 days a year.... this never stops. The fight only gets tougher.

My thought goes back to the kid in the train. What his parents must be teaching him? To respect elders, to be polite with strangers, to help others, not to be selfish, learn to give, etc, etc...

But what does he learn in reality?
He fights, he pushes, he shouts, he abuses...

And this is what each n every child in this society is learning. Imagine a society where everyone is only fighting against each other, where people only hate one another. Where there is space only for the strong, the aggressive. No place for the mild, the sober. Where all people will know is to get their job done ... without thinking about its effect on others.

Are we going back to the Darwinian days of survival of the fittest? Where only the strongest animal survives.

Are we then becoming animals again?
Our recent actions suggest that. Everyone of us carry an 'attitude' with us. The rough the better. An attitude which says 'who the hell are you to tell me anything?'.

That is the attitude we carry with ourselves everywhere. To work, to home, to parties, during travel. And that is how we express ourselves. This attitude reflects in the way we talk, act and react. To be different, be polite is just out of the question. Its unthinkable.

But is it that difficult?

Oh! there is a loud horn. I can see my train arriving at the station. The crowd gathers in a huddle. All ready to jump in. The train slows. The coach approaches. And then ... here i go ...

Boss! You cannot be late

2008-09-29T22:10:00.008+05:30

You were working till late last night,
having only numbers and targets in your sight.

You reached home after midnight,
but that is not an excuse for being late.

You were working your ass off this sunday,
as if it was just another weekday.

Missed the latest movie, cancelled your date.
but that is not an excuse for being late.

Your leave got cancelled this diwali,
Just like it happened during holi

So what if your boss is going for a break?
but that is not an excuse for being late.

Reaching late defies punctuality
Working late shows responsibility

You gotta be kidding me mate!
Why the hell can't we come late?

Finally it comes down to the same ol' shit...
that the boss is always right

So ... do whatever you may
but never ever be late.

The week that was

2008-09-28T22:40:00.002+05:30

It has really been a tiring week.

Have been travelling a lot.

Mumbai-Bangalore-Mumbai

Was in an exhibition for the last 4 days.

Standing for the whole day. Exhibiting in front of clients. Speaking the same thing again n again. Phew.. it was tough. The only consolation was the pretty receptionist at the stall..

Has been working n partying for the last 7 days.. non-stop.

And there is office again tomorrow.

Guess its part n parcel of the job that i have... travel, tours, exhibitions, so on n so forth.

'kya karein .. kaam hai karna padta hai'

कविता कोश

2008-04-15T21:31:00.003+05:30

For all interested in Hindi poetry, visit कविता कोश . U'll find all the poets u wud have heard about!!!

Spin Friendly Tracks in India !!!

2008-04-15T18:34:00.002+05:30

India won the third test against South Africa in Kanpur and leveled the series. It was a crumbling track on which the ball spun like a top. The critics as expected couldn’t keep their mouths shut. The curator was once again under the scanner for preparing a spin friendly track. Why can’t we produce tracks which assist spinners? What’s wrong in doing that?

I think its high time people stopped cribbing about the turning tracks and learnt how to deal with it. We don’t ask for turning tracks outside. When we go to Australia or South Africa we get fast and bouncy tracks. In England the tracks are always seaming. Then why not turning tracks in India?

It’s true that we should also learn to play on fast tracks so that our players don’t face a problem when they play outside. But that doesn’t mean that we start making those sorts of wickets even for our international matches. Let the practice wickets be bouncy or fast. We may have different kinds of tracks at the domestic level so that the new players learn to play on all kinds of tracks. But let’s not give away our advantage when someone else is visiting us.

Whats next on their minds now?

2008-04-10T23:06:00.004+05:30

Supreme Court today upheld 27% reservations for OBC in educational institutes like IIMs, IITs, etc. This means that the reservation for all “backward classes” adds up to almost 50%. Where will the general meritorious students go now?

It was understandable for the govt. to go in for such a quota as the elections come near. But it’s really surprising to see 4 judges of Supreme Court of India agreeing to this. What could be their reasons to justify their decision? How can they say that it does not defy the Indian Constitution?

What happens to the hundreds of meritorious students who won’t get admission to these premier institutes just because they were born in the so-called upper caste? Is their only fault their birth in the wrong family?

The IIMs will also probably defer their admission list by a week now. The supreme court rule will definitely affect this list. Imagine the situation of a candidate who would have been selected but for this new rule. How can u justify this?

What’s next in the mind of our great leaders? No one knows. May be in some years the general category might become the minority and then it would become necessary for them to have quotas to get admission in any institutes.

Will IPL be a hit?

2008-04-10T14:29:00.002+05:30

As a country India always has a topic to talk about, a topic which interests one n all in the country. The latest such craze is the BCCI’s Indian Premier League (IPL). Wherever one goes, people are discussing this latest addition in Indian Cricket. The reasons may be many. The amount of money & glamour associated with it, the new format (T20) which is pretty fascinating, the fact that India is the current T20 champions, and also the performance of Indian team down under. Whatever be it, this new league is surely gathering steam with the Indian public.

But what is the guarantee that it will be a hit? Can anyone say for sure that the money that has been put in is worth it? In this article I will try to mention some reasons due to which IPL may not work. I would also like to add that I myself am a big fan of cricket and am really looking forward to IPL. I feel that it was a pretty good idea to introduce such a league. But I have some reservations about it which I wanted to share.

My main concern is the concept itself. For centuries India has been participating in different sports. These include hockey, cricket, tennis etc. In all of these the player/team represents India. This means that the supporters are supporting the country India. Take cricket for example. India has been playing cricket for a long time now. All this time the Indian crowd has been supporting the Indian team. Although everyone has their own favorite players, but when the match starts they always support their team. We never support a player or the region.

Now look at the concept of IPL. The teams in IPL include Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Jaipur, Mohali, Bangalore and Hyderabad. These are all regions and not a particular country. In India any National level sporting events including the different states have always received a very cold response. And this is also true when the sport is cricket. We all know the response for the Ranji/Duleep trophy matches. In India a sport/competition between two different states is never a big deal.

The IPL is based on the EPL format. The number of international matches in soccer is far less compared to that in cricket. Also the culture present in European n American countries is different than that in India. In America for example a game between two high schools gets a huge response. It’s next to world cup for them.

We have a similar tournament going on in out country right now – ICL. The only difference between these two tournaments is the money & glamour involved. But the response to it is not what people are expecting for IPL. I don’t think that money is the only reason.

Secondly, the international calendar in cricket is very hectic. Even in the first edition of this tournament there are many boards which are not allowing its players to play IPL because of their international schedule. And the schedule will definitely become tight with each passing year. Will ICC continue with IPL if it finds that international cricket is getting affected due to this?
I don’t know how much these reasons will be affecting the success of IPL. I hope they do not. But are these points not even worth consideration?