Hasta La Vista 2k9

I type this as the clock ticks onto the final hours of the calender year. Let us all look back at how the year has been.. there might have been up's and down's, victories and failures, joy and despair and a lot of other emotions.. however good or bad the year was, it did leave us a bit more wiser, more experienced and with a lot of bitter-sweet memories.. Take a moment to recollect the good moments of the year and end the year on a happy note and welcome 2010 with open arms and lots of hope...

Sayonara 2k9, Swagatam 2010

A Surprise backfired.. But ended well..

Well ever experienced your plans to surprise some back firing on you and leaving you dumbfound and not knowing what to do? Well something similar happened to me and a group of friends who were planning to surprise a close friend of ours who was having his b'day.. being the kingpin of the plan i was almost left with a red face..

The friend was had come back from a class trip and was down with heavy fever. basically he robbed us of the opportunity to surprise him in college bus as well as in the college. We planned to meet up go to his house and surprise him at home. Everything was set. 3 of us brought a cake and a cold drink bottle and went to his house. We had called him on another pretext previously and he said he was at home was watching the cricket match between India and Sri Lanka and will be at home anytime. We reached his home, silently opened the gate, parked our vehicles, climbed the stair, stood outside the door of his house and silently removed our footwear and took our positions. Inside the TV was blaring the cricket commentary at full volume, the door was ajar.. We counted 1..2..3.. and burst in.. only to find aunty staring back at us wide eyed. Seeing her expression , i thought if she had not seen us before she might have shouted "thief thief". We were rooted to the place, some how managed to get back some composure to ask where he was gone and the reply was "Some of his friends had come, he has gone out with them for an Haircut."

We got down and were planning for our next move while aunty was calling him trying to somehow get him back home. While we were downstairs planning what to do next, the plans randing from dragging him from the hair saloon to putting a bucket of water on him the next morning, we heard a movement near the gate. We saw a group of people tiptoing in, and we realised that we werent the only fools thats day. :P Now the total number of fools had increased to 10 and we called him direclty and angrilly asked him to come back home. Usually in surprise b'day plans cake is a problem, but in this cake there were 3 cakes whereas the b'day boy was missing.. Nice irony.. Finally the gr8 man arrived and got a huge number of b'day bumps and finally we got him to his cake(s) and made him cut it, thus ending a surpise party which had began on an embarassing note on a high one(India lost the match that day though).

Though the actual plan backfired, the output was obtained.. :) reminds me to be extra careful when planning something next time.. ;)

States

Well lot has happened in the past few weeks which concerns states.

First one that created a lot of problems is the AP-Telengana issue. Some say that smaller states solves a lot of administrative problems as they are easier to govern and stuff.. I say it might lead to a lot of problems. Even in the current case of Telengana, one of the premier cities of India Hydrebad is thrown into turmoil and it might have to be turned into a Union teritory. And right after this was sancationed(almost), more ppl have jumped on the bandwagon wanting states for their own. Now maybe the next thing we hear is that a city wants to be split into 2(yeah, even that can happen). Maybe we might see Berlin Wall 2. Who knows.. maybe we'll have another India-Pak withing the country and maybe LOC's between all states.. This is India.. anything is possible... Again let me enquire with the rule makers.. "with the Telengana for the telegus and the gorkhaland for the goorkhas and so on, do you have an India for the Indians? or is the cultural, ethinic and linguistic diversity we are so proud of, gonna tear us apart? "

Secondly my mind is in a very jumbbled state. I just dont know what i want to do and what i dont want to do. I've just stopped putting my head into everything thought the urge to do so is very high. I've started to add sarcasm to anything related to college and none of it is funny. i just wanna jump out of there and get some of my otehr things in order cos i understand i'm going nowhere if i stay there.

Lastly i read 2 states. Good book ,definitely better than his previous novel 3 mistakes of life, 2 states has all the ingredients of a Chetan Bhagath novel. You have wit , humour , situations that bring out your emotions. It is a story of a boy and girl from 2 different states of India ie Punjab and Tamilnadu and how they want to get married but thier communites are against it and how they toil to solve eveything so that they can get married. In a way I think it’s Chetan’s best book I read till date right up there with 5 point someone(there are some references of that book in this, sort of like a sequel book to that one). I laughed ,got emo and empathised with the concept of Indianness. Having lived in both North and South i can vouce for a lot of those things that are said in the book. Sometimes its quiet stop and go, sometimes drags a bit, but still is a good read.

Strangly( i dont know why it clicked to me now as i was typing), a crude answer to the above 2 "states" was derived from this book.

For the first one.. After the birth of twins, the nurse asks the lead character Krish, " Which will be their state?" he replies " They'll be from a state called India". I hope some important people are listening(or atleast readin this book).

For the second
“Sometimes in your life you just meet someone or hear something that nudges you on the right path. And that becomes the best advice. It could just be a bit of common sense said in a way that resonates with something in you. It’s nothing new, but because it connects with you it holds meaning for you.”

hmm.. I hope something happens..

Bad Day at work and a stupid new rule

Ok.. i've had a bad day.. so this post can go from downright ranting to a lot of self introspection. If u are not interested to read, pls check out my other posts.

I just had a bad day at the office, which seems the trend of the past 2 weeks. I've been slaughtered for doing nothing out of the ordinary and by the book. now if doing by the book is wrong, at least the person on the other side can tell me what is the right way to do it? But no... they wont and they want everything to be right even if is already right and way better than they expect it to be. some one just said to me " Some people just cant handle power". I say true.. Getting the power does not mean that u slat all of ur subordinates that u dont like. First you got to understand what is wrong rater than directly thinking that the thing is wrong.

Well some people take a position of power for granted thinking that they can say anything and no one will question them. They are the only one right , they are infallible.. They will go to heaven whereas all the others can go to hell.. well for ur sake.. don't take our silence as our weak point for we are silent only by choice, once we explode u wouldn't have a thing to say. When the argument started today i had half a mind to pay back in the same coin, but what stopped me is not the position of the person any other such attribute. We have been taught to be respectful towards our elders and be thankful that i remembered it of the person might have left ashen face today. But still i ended up on the receiving end with a lot of people watching..

I dont know why i'm not the center of attention for a lot of people. Seems like i have a magnet attached to me which drags them to me and i always end up on the wrong side of a one sided debate. Guess i'm getting paid back for some bad things i did in my college, or maybe the other just dont like me and want me out(which i'll be even if they want or dont want). I just wanna get out on good terms and not be a part of any controversy while i'm leaving. So pls don't test my patience.....

Now on to something funny, but it irritated me to the core.. I heard a rumor circulating of some new rule the college had implemented.. The rule goes like this: At any time, no girl and boy should be seen roaming around together in the college, an group of equal number of girls as boys is also not advised. and some more about proportion of boys and girls allowed who can talk and etc etc etc.. I was like "The college is going down the dumps". First of all explain to me why u want to have such a rule implemented.. why not just have a boys college and a girls college. That will solve a lot of problems. Secondly, do u think its gonna do any good? What the bull***t are you gonna achieve with that? The message u are trying to spread is that you dont trust your own students. I dont know who made this rule or implemented it, but he seems like a nutter who was still alive when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Well let me ask you another simple question? Tell me any other leading college(mixed) which advocates this policy? and in this world, how successful do u think its gonna be?? and at this rate its better to call it a convent than a college... Rule makers, You decide...

Finally on the TOP..

Finally the Indian Cricket team has reached the heights that it promised to achieve but always flattered when within catching distance. Finally a decade long quest to attain the top spot in the rankings has be achieved, though the team could have finished the year in first place in Test and ODI's(they could have won 4 of the 5 games against Australia, but ended up winning only 2 and losing 2 by 3 runs). But still its a commendable feat to say that the team will be finishing the year in top spot(probably).

I remember watching the India-Australia Series in Australia almost a decade ago when the Australian team was laying its claim to be the best in the world. They were totally decimated, and the team had a famous tag line when went with them "Tigers at home, Kittens away". well, no longer. The new look team India is no longer a team which depends on one person. It all started with the Australia's tour of India, Ganguly's First as captain, the famous victories in Kolkata and Chennai(one of the best Test series that i have witnessed, on par with The Ashes, which England won in 2005). If that ill-fated tour of Australia in 1999-2000 taught many players harsh lessons about the game and the rub of the green, then it was the next visit there that really laid the platform for what India have gone on to achieve since. Having overcome the improbable odds to thwart Steve Waugh's quest for Indian glory a couple of years earlier, India went into the series without being overawed or intimidated. With a little more luck on the final day at the SCG, they could even have won under Sourav Ganguly's captaincy. Whatever you say about Sourav Ganguly, he was one person who added steel to the Indian Claws, making them tigers from cubs they actually were. He instilled in the team a spirit of defiance which is carried on by Dhoni and his men now.

The ascent, though achieved, was not smooth. Quiet a lot of off field issues have been witnessed, the dismal show the the world cup, Sydneygate, Ganguly-Chappel Spat, Kumble Retirement to name a few. But nothing has affected the players on field performance. Even with all that the objective has been achieved. Sachin Tendulkar , India's longest-playing cricketer, said this series victory was a "special" moment in his career. "This is a reflection of what we have been able to achieve in the last 20 months or so. It is a special day for me and all the Indians. It is great to be sitting on the top."and truly it was. Many have come and gone, some contributed, some didnt, some shone, some failed miserable, but almost all of them have in some part contributed to the effort. One effort that comes to mind is of Sanjay Bangar's(he didnt play in the team much), whose first-day defiance alongside Dravid was so pivotal in India squaring a series at Headingley in 2002

Though it might take a lot of consistency to keep the no1 position. The current Indian Team, under the guidance of Gary Kirsten and the captaincy of MS Dhoni, is capable of doing that and more. With the team already winning the inaugural T20 World Cup and now the Number 1 spot in Test cricket, guess the next thing on the agenda will be, other than maintaining the current position, to go No1 in ODI's and also winning the 2011 world Cup.

Tendulkar and the other weatherbeaten warriors alongside him has done as much as anyone to get India to where they are now. And regardless of what happens over the next few months, it's something to savour. In a country where both administrators and fans are obsessed with cricket in coloured clothes, whether it be over 50 or 20 overs, the players deserve much credit for keeping their eyes on the red ball. After the horrors of a decade ago, these are the best of times.

Congrats....

"Hope"nhagen holds the key

"Copenhagen can be one of two things. It can be an historic event where the world unites against carbon pollution in a collective spirit of co-operation and collaboration, or Copenhagen can be a suicide pact. The choice is that stark." says President Nasheed, President of Maldives, who is being forced to watch as his homeland is wiped from the map. With each year that passes, the rising sea claims more land, and at the current rate it will claim everything.

From the 7th-18th of December the eyes of the world will be on the Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark which will play host to the biggest, and perhaps the most important, Climate Conference which can go a long way in determining the fate of the world. COP (Confederation of Parties) 15 is the place where world leaders are expected to, in my layman’s terms, pick up where Kyoto left off and produce an agreement to which ALL of the world’s nations can agree to protect the earth’s climate. as i write So far 98 heads of state and government have already made it to Denmark.

Global Warming has had a an adverse affect of the world till now and if nothing is done about it soon then maybe 2012(ya.. the movie) will be a reality. There has been quiet a resistance from various countries about emission cuts, but hopefully all of them will see the light and agree to some forms of restriction for the better good of the world than their own country. Its not the time to be selfish, it is the time to reason, to know facts, to understand the need, and to ACT. The year has seen a marked interest in concern about Global Warming in people and many people even had public demonstrations on the 24th of October 2009 which was the "International Day of Climate Action" which saw a over 1800 demonstration all over the globle, which shows that people are actually concerned. And 2009 can be a landmark year if Hopenhagen is a resonding success.

All said, failure in Copehangen is not an option as the fate of the world lies with a few. And as Connie Hedegaard, Danish Minister for Climate and Energy says "If the world fails to deliver a political agreement at the UN climate conference in December, it will be “the whole global democratic system not being able to deliver results in one of the defining challenges of our century”

This is a call for all you world leaders.. ACT before its too late.. For the better good of the planet, think sensibly. Good Luck.. Lets hope for the best... Lets Go Green

P.S. Dr. Manmohan Singh Sir, Pls do attend the meeting. Its time for you to show you are one of the better leaders of the world.

Remembering 26/11

Its been a year since the country was witness to the horrific events of 26th November 2008 when a group of terrorists ran amok in the City of Mumbai. That 70 odd hours of ordeal is hard to ‘forget’ and ‘forgive’. The whole country came to standstill and people watched ‘terror at its worst’ live for three long days. The memory of those days of horror is still afresh in the minds of millions of Indians who watched those audacious terror attacks. The media frenzy generated could be compared with those generated after the 9/11 attacks.

I vividly remember watching a sports program on TV and switching channels and suddenly stopping at a news channel(guess it was CNN IBN) which was showing footage of the attack. I at first thought that it was the shooting of a new movie and only after a few moments realising that the shooting was real and it was really happening. And what followed he the next 60 hours was something that no movie could ever show. Having lived in Mumbai not long ago i used to have horrific dreams of this at night. And i remembering waking up the next day and walking towards the TV one thing only " is it over yet? is it over yet? Pls god.. Let it be over" And finally it was.. But at what cost..

Lets face it.. Whilst the last commando and the last hostage may have left the scene, and the last burnt tile or broken door been replaced months ago, the truth is Mumbai and the whole of the country will not be over it until we are able to squarely face what happened to us during those three days. What is more confusing is the fact that justice has not been served.

Now it has been a year when Mumbai was shaken, infact the whole country. And when I think of it today I still go numb… I go numb because of the fact that nothing has been done to give justice to the people who lost their lives that day, they are still mourning and hoping for justice. Kasab should have just been hanged without trial to say the least. Even though he was captured and investigations were put forth and a trail was going on, no judgment has been passed yet which makes up question our own judicial system. And the latest we hear is that the government has spent 31 crores for that man. Now that puts a lot of doubt in the minds of the common public.. Pls.. At least for the sake of the thousands of lives that changed after the event, for those brave soldiers and Policemen, For the sake of the country.. Let justice be served...

Once IC-814 took off for Pakistan, the terrorists won the advantage, and eventually achieved their aim of freeing some of the sub-continent's most dangerous men at Kandahar. "Never again", we said hoping that the country would not suffer at the hands of those terrorists again. But Mumbai 26/11 happened. Well This time also we'll say "Never again." But lets hope only this time we mean it..

Saluting those brave Commandos and Policemen who risked their lives for the cause of the country.

Ending my post with a line from a movie
We are resilient by force not by choice – A Wednesday...