Few Pictures from Lahore....

As I promised, I will try to upload a few pictures from my Lahore trip. So, click here. Am off for the India-England match now, lets hope our team does well this time. Ciao.

Zen: Endurance Test!

I have been driving this Zen for past three years now. I always believed in my car but today I really got to see what it was really capable of! Just about a 1000cc with a weight of about 800kgs, it managed to take six people. Now don't ask me how we managed that, but we were just able to do that (unfortunately I don't have any pictures to show you this time, it was just to blurred).

Ok, so I am back trying to write another blog but am just not sober enough to think clearly what to write! Fine, let me complain again this time and talk about Bangalore a bit! It's one of the most cosmopolitan cities in India. You can find lots of young gals and guys from all over the country, just out of college or maybe an year and some, working their ass off from like nine to seven-eight. Also, you will see a sizable chunk of expats. Now, after all this hard work what do they need? Some place they can get relaxed, maybe have a few drinks, shake their bootys and forget about what's in store for them coming Monday.

As always, who thinks logically, who cares about what the majority wants, or at least, the majority who really cares and contributes think. So, one fine day, someone think, hey, these guys in Bangalore are having just too much fun meeting friends, getting drunk and creating (the so called) lawlessness later. So, let me be the one who decides what is good for them. Close down all the dance places, order all the clubs and restaurants etc. to be shut down by 11:30pm. And that is the sad story in Bangalore these days.

Well, we are quite used to it now. But not to be outdone, people have a lot more house parties these days. So, get kicked out (very politely unlike the clubs in the US as my dear firang friend pointed out today!) from these places by 11:30 and get together at a friends place. Now, you drink, play music, dance, no one bothers you (unless you live in a really annoying neighborhood with all these really fussy neighbors who keep complaining about all the noise you are making). Fortunately for our neighbors, we were quite considerate and keep the music just at the level that no one bothered.

Anyway, my point being, this is one good thing that has come out with the whole 11:30 bandh thing. You can really talk now. Without all that loud music and total strangers, a bunch of friends gathered together, you really get comfortable. You talk like you would never had in some club. Even for someone who meets others for the first time, it is better than the club atmosphere, you really talk and make more than just acquaintances.

This still doesn't do away with the fact that we are mature enough to know what is right for us and don't need some stupid cop telling us when to go home. That apart, I think Bangalore is a great place to be in. Over the past couple of years or so, I have driven and traveled so much around the city which I never did in my whole life. Leave for Goa at two in the morning or have a lifetime rafting experience after twelve hours of continuous driving, go on a trek at some abandoned railway track or be in the midst of all the wildlife, you can do all that here. No wonder then that I have been pestering this friend of mine to come to Bangalore for a long time now, only if she relented.

That is it for now. Time to sleep, will be back with something more interesting or more stupid soon. Till then, borrowing from The Truman Show, good morning, good afternoon, good evening and good night.

Roger Federer

You might find me mention this guy quite often in my blogs. Well, he's just too good and it's always a treat watching him play. He's the reason I follow tennis so much these days and to help me with any statistics, Google apart, I have a master statistician in house (my friend, batchmate, colleague and now my flat partner!), Satyajit or John as I love to call him.

But I am not here to give you any statistics on Roger, you can find all about him on Google. So, what am I doing writing this blog with his name as the subject? Well, I promised myself to be more active here and thought, maybe I should share a few interesting moments with Roger as the subject and of course, you might forgive my more sinister motive, getting more hits on Google for my page.

While in London, I had a chance to watch all the action at Wimbledon live. It was a Saturday and I had to choose between Wimbledon and the World Cup quarterfinals, couple of games involving England (against Portugal) and Brazil (against France). Since Federer was not scheduled to play, I choose to go for the latter. Unfortunately for me, both my favorites were outplayed and this friend of mine, who stood all night in the cold with nothing but a thin Manchester United (or was it some other club?) jersey on for the Wimbledon tickets, was rewarded for his endurance when he got a chance to see the God himself practicing on one of the main courts. And he didn't feel a bit sympathetic when he showed me all the pictures he had managed to click (this photo is courtesy him, you can check out more here)! So, I missed that one close opportunity to watch him live but maybe next time.

Who wants to miss the Wimbledon finals? Not me for sure. No wonder than that when Panga and I were out with a couple of other friends on a Sunday lukkhagiri trip to Southall in London, (we had promised to show them around and help with some shopping!) we spent the whole afternoon in some shady pub watching Federer battle it out with Nadal while our poor friends were left to fend for themselves. Fortunately for us, they didn't complain much, and we are still in talking terms. And for once this year, we got the result we so badly wanted, for Federer to beat Nadal.

Talking about Roger again, this friend visited us in Bangalore a few days back. Thanks to a few twisted minds, we reached the airport to "welcome" our dear friend in a tradition Indian style, garlands, coconut, rice and what not! I am sure we managed to embarrass him. Later, when I was checking out the pictures, one really struck me. We have our own Federer look-alike!! Even my friend Himanshu (that’s the look-alike) acknowledged that himself. Take a look for yourself. I am sure Heman (as we call him lovingly) won't mind and Heman, if you do, maaf kar de yaar.

Well, that is all I have the energy for today. Can't promise I will be back tomorrow with something but will definitely try to come up with something this weekend. Ciao.

Catching Up!

I will continue doing some catching up with this blog. A lot has happened in the past few months and I just can't help commenting on a few. Ok, moving away from the personal front this time, some events of national significance, and if not significant to you in true sense of the word, issues/events which I thought and talked about.

Where do I begin, let me start with the issue of quota in government aided professional colleges. It made big news and interests me personally, since I come from one of these institutes. So, with the allotment of quota seats to the OBCs, just about 50% of all seats are now reserved. Well, these numbers doesn't look that bad considering that about the same number of our population falls in different reserved categories. So, where's the issue?

• From what facts and figures show, even the current quota remains unfulfilled;
• A large number of these students are not able to cope up with the competition inside and drop out which I must say is not their fault, it's just the way it is;
• Not much is being done at the primary school level which lays the foundation;
  
• Will cost the treasury millions;
• Talking about IITs at least, they are short staffed even now and the current infrastructure is maybe, if at all, just enough to support current numbers

Is this the real issue though? Does the esteemed Mr. Arjun Singh really care about the issues above? Caste politics have been going on since decades in India and this is just another extension. All they care about is how to get themselves in the news, create a nation stir and win cheap votes. So no wonder, all those protests and demonstrations fell on deaf ears. Well, few months, people will forget and life will be back as usual like nothing happened. We truly are great, myself included.

So, politicians come and go, but the system doesn't change, it's like one passing the baton of corruption to the other. Brings me to a couple of movies this year, Rang De Basanti and Lage Raho Munnabhai. Both were quite different in the approach but touched upon a common theme, corruption, the system, politics, things we loathe but love to talk about. Both made good money and did give us something to think about.

I read all these news about Gandhigiri being employed by some institute or group of people, makes me wonder how long this will continue. Has the movie really woken up the sleeping Gandhi within us (I am sure there is one!!) or are we just riding the Gandhian tide to get into news, impress friends and neighbors or as they say, making hay while the sun is shining? I don't know. But I would really love to see people getting their own act together, behave like they expect others to behave and we won't need a Gandhi and I can leave home in the morning and get to office without the frustrating 30 mins of agonizing drive on Bangalore roads and frankly, that's all I care about right now.

What else, the rise and fall of Sania Mirza? She is the best woman player we ever had and deserves all the applauds and recognition coming her way. But has she side tracked a bit? Again, I don't know. There are so many news channels being aired these days, each looking for something sensational to sell to gain visibility and what do they do when they can't find something? Simple, create one!! Fill the airtime with news about what a prodigy Sania is when she wins and the moment she loses, get the so called experts to dissect her game, and pass the verdict. So, I really don't know. Maybe there is some truth, she's barely played for an year, but requesting the chief minister for land to start a tennis academy, I really think she needs proper guidance from people who really care about her.

And talking about all the news channels, just switch to one of them and watch the bottom half of your idiot box for the stupidest of breaking news you could ever think of. Sometimes when I really get bored, I just read one of these "Breaking News", really helps. Try that out sometime yourself.

Just read what I wrote and got a feeling I have started complaining a lot. Well, sometimes when you write and read what you write, it reflects on the kind of person you have become or are becoming. So, I rather stop at this point. Maybe, next time, I will try not to complain too much, if only, the Gandhi in people wakes up. So long.

Back!!

Finally, I resume after an year or so. I had just been busy in my own little selfish world, or call it plain laziness on my part! Again, I don't know how often I would be writing but will try. Thanks to Federer (Roger Federer? Tennis player?? World No.1???), after reading his blogs on ATP site, I was inspired to start again about the funny world out there.

Past one year has been very mixed, had good times and my share of bad times (which always seem to out do the good times!), have certain regrets, been optimistic, broke and been broken, still optimistic about few things! But life moves on and so do I and so does the world.

Of the few things I would remember about the past months was my visit to Lahore in Feb '06. Some official work, but ended up spending most of the time sight seeing and shopping (DVDs, clothes), eating (still miss those delicious Kababs I had at Food Street and my visit to Coco's Cafe overlooking Badshahi Mosque). And the biggest moment, watching India and Pakistan cricket teams play live at the Gadaffi Stadium (courtesy my client) and see India WIN!!!

The whole experience was so humbling, the love, the care they showed us made me feel so small, so stupid and so angry; what are the governments fighting for, some false pride?? Standing at the Lahore side of Wagah border, I could see people moving in and out with their suitcases in their hands, like they just crossed the road, just moved into a friends place! It was beautiful, just beautiful! And that was the memory I wanted to take back home and share with my friends!

I was also away in London for a few months this year, made a few new friends, met some old ones. Don't really feel like writing much about that trip or I would be late again for office tomorrow like always! Maybe, if I have the time and energy, I will pen that down too! Lots of pictures too, will try to upload a few soon.

This is where I stop today. Will be back soon with something interesting, or not so interesting, it is really a funny world out there, just keep looking for those lighter moments!!