My Authorings!!

Knockout!!

2009-10-02T16:36:00.004+05:30

Raging bull
Lurching lion
Fearless dragon
Ali's ferocious scion

Seeing him fight
was such a sight
Half a dozen from the left
Half a dozen from the right

Blow after blow
his opponents went slow
Then that famous blow
that full-stopped the show

Had received
multiple blows
but could not handle
that one blow

Had so many
on head, but
could not handle
one on heart

Always thought
he had a strong body
but never realized the
weakness of his heart

A heart
that got crushed
at a single
betrayal

The heart
that loved and
asked for no
explanations

The same heart
now has stripped
him of all his
powers

Leaving him
with an unseen wound
and enormous
memory showers

Life for him
was a roller-coaster ride
and now he is thinking of
different ways of suicide

About his fate
he is still in doubt
Out of
umpteen matches
why this
particular 'match'
was chosen for
his KNOCKOUT

--sudharm baxi

Come out and Act!!

2009-04-24T10:24:00.006+05:30

If you are a
part of the herd
I assure you, you'll
never be heard
Come out
Speak about
Share concerns
Learn lessons
Ask questions
Life is short
Take your shot
Or else keep regretting
if i had done this
if i had done that
History doesn't care about
those who regret
Praise songs are written
for those who beget,
those who initiate,
those who proliferate,
Unleash the
chains of dogmas and the
shackles of notion
Jump into the pool of
positivity and thus clean-off
every bit of negation

DeceitOCTOR

2009-04-22T16:46:00.005+05:30

Cleared exams

became a doctor

Took the oath of

being a protector

A job near to God,

with time became

more of a fraud

Indulged myself

in all the deceits, be it

a simple cesarean or my

other operational feats

These hands have

performed umpteen

unnecessary operations

On being paid enough

have killed lots of

God's pink* creations

Bleeding souls

that fear death

feed me with my

daily bread

Yes i feed upon

fear and not

compassion

For me, they are

mere products

on the assembly-line

troubled by God, and

sent to make

my wallet shine

Public service

Humanity, Love or

Altruism

All subdued when

seen through my

money prism

*pink - girl (implying female infanticide)

Another 3WW, the three words were Deceit, Indulge and Oath.

--sudharm baxi

Master Stocker!!

2009-04-22T13:20:00.015+05:30

Magnanimous master
Intelligent iconoclast
Rejected rewards
Rewarded 'rejects'
Occidental offbeat
Realistic reasoner
Sanguine stockist

This acrostic is dedicated to Warren Buffet (b.1930), owner of the famous Berkshire Hathaway, the best stockist of all times, known for his magnanimity and insight; a constant learner and a high-achiever. In these black days of credit crunch, recession and whatnot, his companies are least affected. I chose this acrostic (the word 'MIRRORS') to express my love for the best broker on the face of this planet.

With time, he saw in the mirrors (spiritual may be), the originality of life and the minimality of money, and hence donated every penny of his hard and smartly earned money for the well-being of the downtrodden.

I know i have breached many rules of ACROSTICS, but for Warren Buffet, i guess they are pardonable.

--sudharm baxi

Acrostic 180409

2009-04-21T13:57:00.003+05:30

Another Acrostic, consider it to be a slogan for a fictional social networking site called 'OPPORTUNITY'!!

Openness is good, but it
Promotes
Perversion and plagiarism, hence
Offer only
Restricted
Thoughts and
Upload only
Necessary
Information,
Thank
You!!

--sudharm baxi

Egoistic Me!!

2009-04-20T09:58:00.004+05:30

Read this slowly to get the insights of an Egoist!!

I patch
just to tear

I befriend
only for fear

I agree
just to break

I freeze
just to crack

I sense
but never feel

I fall in love
but never faint

I sketch
and never paint

I think
but never dream

I link
but never attach

I mind trade
and never the dealings

I have emotions,
but no empathic feelings

Never a sharpener,
but always a good shredder

In this life, full of trade-offs,
I am certainly, a very smart trader!!

Tried to portray the increasing ego, with the metres, as the poem progresses.
--sudharm baxi (my creation but not me!!)

Is she still mine??

2009-04-08T19:06:00.006+05:30

Buried all the differences
Wanted to start everything new..
Reached the party
when the people were so few..

The diamond necklace on that
stunning black dress..
Beautifying the beauty as if
a dove in a cloudy mess..

Mustering courage
with the hope of a new dawn..
Buttoning the suit
i was even willing to fawn..

But my eyes signaled
something else to my mind..
She was with someone who
certainly was not her kind..

Sam - the flirt,
is what he was famously called..
The dude with the
French beard and a shaven bald..

She looked happy and
she looked calm..
She looked content and
still carried her charm..

My colors faded
faster than i thought..
I blamed myself for
the lost jewel i sought..

I was still sipping the un-cherished agony
when she approached with a glass of wine..
Told me about her ploy to open my eyes, cleared
the clouds of lies with her lightening shine..

My heart beats paced, before
the heart could sublime..
Mind was still furious but the heart pounced
with joy stating - She is still mine..

--sudharm baxi
Thanks 3WW, the inspiration for this conventional poem, the three words were - Flirt, Ploy and Stunning.

Weeping clown!!

2009-04-07T14:52:00.010+05:30

The red nose and
the unkempt green hair
The red lips and my
skin utterly fair, they
all try their best
to hide my tear but
for how long? Already
holding that tear
for centuries now
Holding it and trying to
keep it always within
Never dared to share
Not because i was afraid
but only because
i am not supposed to
People say
You are a clown and
you can never frown, just
wear that silly gown and
accept the humility crown
Spread laughter,
Be full of fake joy
and never even think
of being thoughtful
But i am one, i too
have a family to run,
i too want to have some fun,
i too care for the poor
even though i am one
Barely i know where
to find my next meal,
barely i find clothes
that don't show something within
The excessive make-up
could no more hide the
wrinkles and the pain
And that one tear in my eye,
it refused to hold up
it rebelled and came out
leaving another ocean of
his mates to burn about
Life is harsh i know
for that very reason
i chose to be a clown
coz as they say a clown
has no burdens to lay
he is happy and gay
and is always required
to keep his tears and
his sorrows at bay...

Thanks to the wonderful graffiti at Poefusion, the root of inspiration for this abstract effort. (About the photo-'Weeping Clown' by Cesar Austudillo (a graffiti shot in Spain))
--sudharm baxi

Friendship

2009-04-07T12:24:00.004+05:30

An attempt at acrostic , inspired by Acrostic Only

Fun filled summers at

Riverside camps

Interesting relations with

Endearing romance

Never ending affection and

Deathly departures

Strongly felt love glued with

Hearty enthusiasm

Intermingled favors, all

Packaged as a gift called

FRIENDSHIP

--sudharm baxi

Previous immature pieces on similar topic at Friends indeed and Friends.

Varied Intoxications!!

2009-04-06T14:25:00.004+05:30

I went to the bar
and sat on a chair
on being asked
I replied unaware

Enough of intoxicating my mind
Please STOP!!!
Don't offer me more..
I have spoiled myself already enough
If you really wanna help
gimme something to intoxicate my soul

Instead of the bottled
let me taste my own spirit
Keep me away from whisky
and let me be a little more risky
Enough of momentary pleasures
Give me a pleasure that lasts
No more i wish to get smashed
nor find any pride in getting zonked
In fact
no more reasons i find to be proud
no more i wish to lead the crowd
All my ambitions
have rested in this ocean
the ocean that was always within
but always ignored
Ocean that always remained unexplored
But not anymore

Not anymore
i wish to be a part of the herd
Not anymore
i wish to be an enclosed bird

Open up my cage and let me fly
Let me measure boundaries of the sky

No more i want colored drugs to try
No more i wish to experience a high
All i wish is to be lofted
lofted into the eternity
lofted into the divine serenity

This is not some drunkard
speaking after a couple of shots,
not someone who has had that in lots, but
someone who has drank a part of his spirit,
someone who doesn't shout at life - "I've gotit!", but
someone who has seen life in its entirety,
someone who has tasted the sweetness of spirituality

--sudharm baxi
Another prose, i know, but could not help;
thanks for bearing with me and giving it a read..

My crush crushed with such knack!!

2009-04-01T18:00:00.009+05:30

He knew some magic he knew some charm
Out of so many varied tricks he knew
My life's magician mastered this one too

He had a particular knack for this kind of cheat
No devil could replace him from the top seat
He showed such unmatchable skill for that feat

By the time i realized
my crush had shifted gears
My prolonged longings
had become ever flowing tears
All i was left with were
a baby and all the worldly fears

My mind refused to work
my heart still facing quiver
My feelings succumbed to death
my soul died of an unknown fever

Tears roll down my life
Emotions flood my world
Feelings long evaporated
leaving behind a life so curled

No one can find my trust now
none i believe anymore
You squeezed my sweetness
leaving behind a life so sore

Smiles faded
Heart shivered
Memories haunted
Happiness crumpled
Relationship cheated
Sentiments crushed
Thoughts troubled
Spirit dissolved
Tears befriend

--sudharm baxi

Though a sad piece, but i am happy that i compiled this. Another of 3WW, the three words to be used were Crush, Knack and Varied.

With love, for Tej

2009-03-30T19:01:00.006+05:30

My cousin and his wife recently received a beautiful gift, a baby that would enrich their lives and open a new chapter in it, his name is Tejraj Baxi (Tej), so this is for you Tej,

Your name carries that
profound glaze..
On your birth no one can
guage our craze..

Life is so beautiful
and you are an example..
Life is full of colours
and you are a true sample..
Life is full of happiness
wish you get that in ample..
Don't let even a slight wrinkle
find a place on your sweet temple..

While getting massaged
the expressions on your face
were a sight to catch..
And those calisthenics
suggest as if a gymnast
getting ready for a match..

Seeing you truly makes one believe
that someone up there is surely an artist
Your dad wants you to be a surgeon
i would rather tell you to be a guitarist

Grow up quickly
and decide on your own..
whether to play chords
or research some clone..

Reach for the skies
but never be arrogant..
Search for the stars
but never be ignorant..
do things in life that
makes everyone jubiliant..

Keep your head high
and the feet firm..
Believe in just one thing
and that is 'Karm'..

with loads of love and goodluck...

--sudharm baxi

What is Victory?

2009-03-30T14:21:00.009+05:30

Victory is what i crave for
Victory is what i can kill for
Indeed for victory i can die for

Describing victory is not a child's play
it's not like building castles with wet clay

It is the net outcome of
a wholesome effort
and never-say-die spirit
at every step of the
extraordinarily initiated feat

It is the profound pride that follow
It is the joy that fills the hollow

But there are stories behind
the medal glory and pride curtain
about the life so left out and uncertain

torn wings*
broken limbs
crying mothers
weeping kids
open wounds
closed lids**
dependent life
mourning wife

Past gracious glory is now
nothing but an unending story

Not told to boast off or brag about
but just to re-live that daring life
and savor all those tiny bits of the
praise bestowed for the winning strife
.
.
.
* spirit/ambition
** lesser options in life

Thanks to the 'Winged Victory' photo at EPTAS for inspiration..

--sudharm baxi

Earnestness required

2009-03-25T19:10:00.005+05:30

Response to 3WW, the words were Earnest, Layer and Reactive:

Earnestness
in relationship
is all i demanded

i did not want
moon or the sparkling stars
i did not ask for
diamond or the luxury cars

your poems were lovely
your talks were sweet
but hidden in those
a plethora of cheat

now i understand you and your love
now your fakeness is unlayered
standing naked with the torn shame
you can't even ask to be spared

You tell me
not to be hyperactive
You tell me
not to be reactive

Don't suggest anything
or act overtly smart
Just leave my shattered body
with the bleeding heart

In our relationship
i saw the gleaming
i should be punished
for all the dreaming

This love should
have been crushed
in the bud
and my heart should
have been stopped

with a thud

Also my first Haiku, a japanese form of poetry with 5-7-5 pattern of unrhyming syllables and hidden meanings -

Remove the outer covering layer
to unveil earnest truth behind your hatred
relationships are reactive for sure

--sudharm baxi

a friend indeed!!

2009-03-20T14:05:00.005+05:30

Inspired by a beautiful painting of 'a boy and his horse' by Deano on EPTAS -

'a friend in need
is a friend indeed'
is something we read
where ever we lead

but why look for deed
break into this creed
a friend is a friend
and not a piece of need

don't pay any heed
who is in the lead
sow that love seed
and pluck envy weed

we have been freed
of all kinds of greed
we have been freed
coz we are same breed

in wartime you are a steed*
for enemies you are a gleed**
making those fiends bleed
by being my armour n shield

you are my daily feed
God this is what i plead
let me keep this meed***
for which i write n read

*steed - A horse, especially a spirited one.
**gleed - A glowing coal; an ember.
***meed - A merited gift

Someone knows a name for such a poem?
One with similar ending sounds all throughout..

--sudharm baxi

Ubiquitous Burden of being unnatural

2009-03-18T17:13:00.006+05:30

This poem is in response to a fantastic site Three word wednesday, the 3 words to be used were - Burden, Natural, Ubiquitous.

Burden in the mind
burden on the back ..

Burden in the street
burden on the rack ..

Kill the burden
be merry ..
Don't fake around
be a sweet cherry ..

Artificial intelligence
synthetic clothes ..
Manufactured features
plastic growths ..
Hypocrite behaviour
creating moths ..

Shamming is taught
forgery practiced ..
Nothing is real
everything transfixed ..

Be natural is all
i suggest ..
in order to put
your brain at rest ..

Sooner or later
you will find The treasure ..
that was always
ubiquitous in nature ..

--sudharm baxi

Ohh son!!

2009-03-13T13:01:00.010+05:30

Oh God i always loved exploration
but not like this..

I wished to admire him
but not like this..

I wanted him to be strong
but not like this

From where my son you gathered such courage
you even feared a tiny spider at an early age

They said better
don't have a look at the body
but your mother was adamant
she felt what greater pain can there be
than knowing it was her son lying there

She picked up the cloth
and my heart freezed

Is it you my son
Ohh son!! is it you

How in a father's life it could be tough
to recognize his own son

How much you cared of your physique
how wakeful you appeared even being asleep
Ohh son!! look at you now

You had duties towards the land
but what about your mom and dad

Nothing moved you
Neither your mother's cries
nor my umpteen terrified sighs

She applied herbs and creams
to prevent you from pimples
but could not stop those bullets
from hitting your temples

How much your mother was
worried of your complexion and now
looking at your blood smeared face
is mad at your job selection

Yes you were the one who
told her it is just another job

You were the one who
amused her everytime sensing a sob

Now son tell me
whose departure is going to make her cry
Tell me son
who is going to offer me a scotch to try

Your birth was that one moment
for which i could gamble my whole life

You were my medal my sense of pride
and you were the one who could calm my inner strife

Ohh son!! where have you gone
leaving us all alone
in this so called post war zone...

--sudharm baxi

Writing – From hot-pan walk to cake-walk

2009-03-12T20:05:00.020+05:30

There are a variety of readers with varying tastes; they have a reading pattern of their own, some like to read the old fashioned detailed writings, while others prefer crisp and to the point writings.

A writer writes to be READ and hence he strives to improve everyday, with this thing in mind, I would like to share some points that may come handy to my fellow writers and to-be-writers who are willing to be read:

Keep in mind the target audience, anyone who is going to read your writing is your audience; he is going to see you perform throughout your article.
Never show off, your writing is not your attire but your attitude and hence carry it with utmost care and never ever show off.
Have a clear picture of what you wish to convey, unless you are clear about the ideas you wish to share, it would be very tough for your audience to grasp the same.
Never make unnecessary assumptions which would eventually alter the entire style of your writing. For instance, don’t feed in a lot of details about some basic scientific phenomena when your target audience is scientists or take it the other way round, never write so much superficially that your readers are flummoxed and are even unable to comprehend the piece.
Using thesaurus is good but it is not meant to show off the language; to pick a precise word is one thing and to pick an unknown, uncommon word another.
See if your ‘writing’ interests you or not, if it can not interest you, there is a very high chance that it won’t interest anyone else; I tell you a secret – NO ONE READS TO GET BORED!!
If I want to get bored, I would never prefer reading over umpteen other mediums; hence never take chances and try creating a piece of work that could be anything but not BORING.
Be specific, digression is good only if you know your destination, you digress and reach somewhere, which leaves not only you but also your readers confused, is unacceptable.
Read your article a couple of times before actually publishing it, every time you would be beautifying your piece at least a bit.
Neither feel contended nor complacent; you might have written a fantastic article but DON’T get carried away, always have the zeal to improve upon yourself, bring in consistency, bring in charm, bring in a new wave of magic in each and every article.
Novelty is what we are all are looking for; bring in the variety and kill clichéd works in your article; this newness is always admired and talked about (This novelty made Aravind Adiga win Booker for The White Tiger).
Experiment with your articles; never be afraid of trying something new: it may or may not be liked by one and all, but it would certainly make you much wiser.
In the journey of your article writing, bring in unexpected twists, turns and sharp curves; grave and joyous picturesque sceneries for the reader to admire and then leave your article up to the reader to praise, love and cherish.

""13 points is just a matter of chance, no voodoo attempts""

Comparing writing with the culinary skill, some points garnishing this analogy are:

However good your dish may be, it has a scope for improvement.
All the best dishes in this world are a result of experimentation.
Same kind of the best delicacy if eaten daily can lead to monotony and hence food merely becomes a daily bread rather than a piece of art, so bring in novelty.
Be it a food connoisseur or your 10 year old kid, anyone can give you a tip or two to improve upon your dish, so listen to them.
The content is certainly important but equally important is the overview of your dish; work on the overall presentation to ensure that no one makes a decision without even tasting it.
Prepare food that can be digested, if the eater is required to take in something to digest it, you are to be blamed.
Never prepare the food without the prior knowledge of those who are going to consume it, you serve the best sea-food to a bunch of veggies and end up receiving boos and shoos.

Unless you are very clear about the target audience, you can’t create a good piece of art.

Be it
a painting, a song
a poem, a dance

give your best shot
and never miss a chance

it should be appealing enough
even in the first glance

it is a piece of your soul
and not a piercing lance

it would bridge the distances
shorten the gaps

it would narrow the lanes
put you ahead some laps

Spread magic and charm
And make the cold life lovely and warm….

So gear up authors, mould your thoughts into words and present them in a beautiful platter to be remembered and admired till eternity.

You will die but your writing won’t, it would see the times that even your last worn-out strand of DNA won’t be able to.

This post is primarily motivated by a writing project on a fantastic site ‘Confident Writing’ to improve your writing skills by Joanna. Thanks Joanna for the inspiration!!

--sudharm baxi

My darling talk to me!!

2009-03-05T14:22:00.006+05:30

This is in respone to a beautiful photo by Vanessa at a fantastic blog..

Oh my love
where have you gone?

leaving me all alone with
the never ending mourn

i still long for our talks
i still long for your laugh

i have always felt
we have never had enough

there were places
to explore..
dreams
to share ..
castles
to make ..
dogmas
to break ..

Come back
Come back my love

or else ..

for whom shall i find the best food
for whom shall i learn culinary

for whom shall i pick my pen now
for whom shall i write poetry

You have never been in my arms
the way you are today

Why your body is so cold
why don't you ask me to hold

why don't you grumble
about being hungry ..
why don't you complain that
i am always angry ..

Oh darling shout at me
change my attitude
alter my dressing
improve my eating habits

do something darling
do something
move a little
shake a bit
for God's sake
darling talk to me
talk to me....
.
.

The Grand Indian IT brigade

2009-03-04T19:57:00.010+05:30

India and IT are somewhat synonyms in one way or the other. India, being the leader in outsourcing (more about it later) boasts of high revenue from IT. Till 1991, India used to be a big importer. Only after a lot of amendments to the existing tacky policies, India could retrace all its past glory (YES! India used to be a lavish exporter even before the British came to India).

A lot of companies emerged and eventually flourished as a result. Companies like Infosys, TCS, WIPRO, Tech Mahindra, Satyam, Patni, LnT Infotech and umpteen other small Indian IT enterprises became the front runners amongst exporters in India.

So what exactly do they offer?
They benefit from something called as outsourcing. Now, what is outsourcing? It would be much easier to understand this strange business practice using certain analogies.
Consider a shirt making company that makes variety of shirts. Now, is it required for this company to necessarily manufacture buttons, threads, collar material and other stuff? No not at all, pertaining to various constraints they avoid manufacturing all such stuff by themselves.
So, what they do is - They outsource (out + source) such material from some industry preferably devoted to manufacturing of that particular stuff. By doing this, they can focus on their core competence instead of thinking about other mundane stuff. This practice removes the pain off the shoulders of the shirt manufacturer and let them focus on their shirts.
In IT scenario, the big organizations of US of A and European nations prefer to get their IT operations outsourced, so that they can focus on their core competency - be it Banking, Manufacturing, Marketing, Advertising, or whatever.
They could have a full fledged department for carrying out their IT operations, but in that case their focus would be diverted and also they would require a lot of skilled professionals to carry out miniscule works (Compared to their major business flows, IT is just a small section).
One more reason for not doing their IT operations themselves is – Transformation of the business knowledge into IT panorama. So vendors come into picture, these vendors provide that ‘IT competence’ for the businesses. And where are the major IT vendors based on this planet - Ofcourse India!!
Now the question arises - why India? Because we are cheaper than our western counterparts; we know their language very well and above all we have learnt the tricks of trade over the period of time. The internal competition has made us smarter and more practical.
Before presenting another analogy about this scenario let me throw light upon some of the familiar IT companies:

Oracle: the Giant Database

SAP: the ERP pioneer

SUN: java fame, open source giant

MICROSOFT: who on earth has not heard of MICROSOFT

IBM: the real hardware giant, much into software development nowadays

YAHOO: the pioneer search engine, email provider

GOOGLE: the Giant search, the API/code provider and much more

ADOBE: .pdf fame, front end beautifier (particularly with FLASH)

All of these are the driving forces of the IT. I would like to do a little more detailing with the aid of another analogy that would explain the IT scenario as a whole.

Consider all the companies mentioned above as car manufacturers. They manufacture both customizable as well as non customizable cars. They design, innovate, and refurbish these cars from time to time.

And all the Indian companies (IT VENDORS) are either drivers or mechanics or both for these cars. As IT vendors, we drive the cars manufactured by some of those WESTERN car makers, we also modify, service, maintain, beautify, manage, buy/fix accessories for the owner of the as per his needs.

Now the drivers can also be put into varying categories based on their driving styles or the kind of car they prefer to drive:

Some are good at driving the robust and reliable JAVA cars (INFOSYS, TECH MAHINDRA)
Some are good at driving and customizing the automatic SAP cars (TCS, LnT Infotech)
Some like to drive the legacy vintage cars (Patni)
Some like to do a mix of all (WIPRO)
Some are significantly into servicing (SATYAM- yes after all the ups and downs it is still a major player)
Some provide stylish chauffer driven services (MINDTREE and many other small companies)

Some prefer to drive big cars, some small; some drive petrol cars, some diesel; some drive ready-to-use automatic cars; some others modify them according to the needs of the end customer and some offer chauffer benefits. The entire-grand-Indian-vendor-brigade is like a driver to the cars manufactured by US or European companies (particularly German and English).
All of these cater myriad of customers, aiding them in various IT tasks related to various business processes and existing at various stages of the business-process-life-cycle, in brief their operations can be pointed out as:
they modify and customize the ERP systems as per their needs,
they provide support and maintenance for the existing systems,
they provide solutions to ease out the businesses using latest technologies
they help customers to migrate from an old car(some legacy system) to a new one (some new technology).
But the only thing that trips me is being a Vendor - we don’t really get into R & D and bring up new products on our own.

I am not suggesting that the driver is not important. The driver is certainly an integral part of this complete process because the customers are unwilling to drive/service the car themselves; they have to have a driver cum service guy to do all this as per their needs. But how great it would be if our own IT giants (vendors) also try their hands at some R & D and develop newer technologies for themselves to work upon.

This is not like Indians are not a lot into product building but they do all this being in one of the ’car making companies’. Most of the guys in those western companies are Indians only but not in any Indian company that could develop such new technologies.
Have a look at the ‘credits list’ of Acrobat reader:
HELP- >> ABOUT ADOBE- >> CREDITS
And you will find every third name in the team is that of an Indian. So, ultimately Indians are driving everything everywhere in IT, but not the way that can help Indian companies come out of the garb of being a service provider.
The car manufacturers do listen to the drivers extensively because ultimately they are going to drive the cars and not the manufacturers or the real Customers.
But my urge to the Indian IT vendors is to spend more on R & D and develop newer technologies to cater the clients more ergonomically; provide solutions that help them in planning and creating a clearer picture of their businesses and ultimately helping them gain benefits where they actually want, that is - the BOTTOM LINE (i mean in monetary terms).

P.S.- Please put in your thoughts to provide a new direction to this debate.

Fly bird fly

2009-02-27T11:14:00.004+05:30

Fly bird fly
the sky is waiting

Fly bird fly
horizon awaiting

Fly bird fly
There are boundaries to merge

Fly bird fly
With your profound upsurge

Go about
with courage in your heart

Chase mountains
with the well learnt art

Cross seas
Cross continents
Cross the mighty earthly gown

Act as that shining beacon
that doesn't
let us settle down

Go bird go
Ignite the spirits
Burn procrastination

Coz you are the one
who give us that
sense of satisfaction

That someone up there
is faithfully
playing its part

That someone up there
knows how to merge
duty with art
.
.

Friends

2009-02-26T11:57:00.005+05:30

From the pen of a kid (my keyboard of course) who wants nothing but his friends around wherever he goes, whatever he does.

Life without friends....

Industry without shifts
Building without lifts

Father without heed
Moral without deed

Restaurant without food
Bike without hood

Shadow without light
Democracy without right

Sun without heat
Body without feet

Sleep without dream
Cake without cream

Life without friends is unimaginable
Lessons without them are incomprehensible....

Straight from the gut i declare
These are the guys on whom i swear

But in pain and in sorrow
When i have no choice but to borrow

They are the one who say
cheer up baby
This is just a rough time
don't go crazy

I know this life is full of
ups and downs
But my friends are here to
up the ups and
drown the downs

To narrow the lanes
Between love and care
magic and charm
and make my cold life
lovely and warm.

Thanks to all those who came into my mind while penning this.

Goodbye - salutations

2009-02-24T15:49:00.006+05:30

It is always tough to part from your loved ones. Hence, the English language takes care of it through so many adopted words, phrases and idioms from various languages.

Some of the most appealing and widely used ones are briefed here, all of them suggest a meaning very close to goodbye:

Ciao - Italian (pronounced Chao).
Hasta la vista - Spanish (meaning: until next time) (remember Terminator 2).
Sayonara - Chinese.
Adieu - French.
Adios - Spanish.
Au revoir - French.
auf wiedersehen - German.
ta-ta - British (informal).
Do svidaniya - Russian.

And the regular ones - See you later/soon/tomorrow(cya), goodbye, take care, b-bye etc. (Origin of Goodbye - God be with you).

OK so bye for now!! More coming up soon, keep crawling (a term used by Google to look for your search items in the web pages worldwide).

2009-02-23T15:41:00.005+05:30

Each one of us is both a sinner and a saint,

the difference lies in the ratio.
-sudharm baxi

Writing - my endearing romance!!

2009-02-23T11:48:00.009+05:30

This blog is like my baby. I once heard somewhere - किताबो से तो शादी करनी पड़ती है (One has to get into a wedlock with the books). But my engineering books never found me worthy enough as a life-long soulmate, hence i could just manage short term relationships with them (short term implies one semester).

And no traces of anything studied in that semester could be found in the rarest-remotest corner of my brain post that semester. Still, somehow i managed to clear engineering and ended up in an IT company. Here the ghoulish coding languages were awaiting my welcome to this graveyard (sorry for being harsh - i know this is my PRESENT EMPLOYER - making me a PAST). Somehow i managed to finish off with the gruesome training and right now doing something that earns my company some dollars.

During this whole expedition, i came across the world of blogging. And here i could deliver this baby - i was expecting ever since i came across linguistic communication. I could give shape to my thoughts, my ideologies, my understanding and as per my title - my underintelligence.

So why do you write?
Because i love writing.

And who gave you the right to impose this writing upon others?
I never imposed anything...

Yes you did..you forced them to read and admire your so called 'baby'..
Nooo!! i just send the link and if they wish they read it...

Don't send the link even - this is like forcing them to read..
I don't force them, i share it only with the selected few and that too i stop sharing if i feel they might not be interested in it.

This is like showing off, displaying your ego..
Showing off- i can't believe this, i have stopped using a capital 'i' ever since i started writing and you accuse me of showing off.

Ok Ok!! Still stop telling them that you have added something on your blog, stop imposing your love of writing upon others - Be humane, you should not trouble others because of your love. Should you?
No i should not and i will try that i do not.

But let me assure you of one thing - i will never let this baby grow old. Right now the baby is maturing with time, it is going through the vicissitudes of life and once it attains adult-hood, i would stop the process of its ageing (Yes, i can do that, but don't ask me how?). Because if my writing grows old it is bound to die, and i can't let it die.

I would die but my writing won't, it would see the times that even my last worn-out strand of DNA won't be able to.

Contentment is bad

2009-02-20T14:51:00.004+05:30

Contentment is bad unless you are Buddha or Mahavir. You would not even realize when this contentment transforms into complacency and thence your (asked for) failure.

The world is full of examples that claim this fact. You remember Romesh Powar, the red-goggled Mumbai spinner. He might be talented as he got into the national team, and then out of contentment, he started to take it for granted; never tried to improve his fitness, his fielding and above all bowling, as a result he is out forever. Ask a guy who practices cricket 8 hours a day, sweats out in the gym, pool and race tracks for the remaining day, just to get into the Ranaji team or the university team. And here we have a guy who got such an immense opportunity, a chance to represent the nation and he wasted it like anything.

Have you visited any of the 'More' stores by the Aditya Birla Group? They have huge establishments, so many employees, so much space, money and experience to experiment with and become a leader in FMCG sales. But where do they stand right now? Nowhere.

This is because of the very basic reason - they don't even understand that the force that drives the middle class is money; if you don't give discounts, if you are not healthy on the pockets of the consumers, why would the customer prefer you over the local kirana store or any other local grocery store.

Have you visited any of the huge book stores namely 'Odyssey' or 'Crossword', i am not sure if they generate profits or not. But one thing is for sure, if they deploy a few very obvious strategic techniques, they would be heavily profitable.

People actually love reading, they want to purchase original books, but the books are so heavily charged. A piece of fiction which is not more than a few hours read for a voracious reader is worth 500 bucks. I can not even imagine buying that book; hence i go to the road side vendor and purchase the duplicate copy for 70-200 rupees. Yes, i feel guilty in doing so but i can't help, i can not purchase a book at an asking price of Rs.500.

Firstly if that book had been priced 250 or so i would have gone for the original one, secondly if those grandiose stores offer schemes like discounts on future purchases or gift coupons or for that matter anything which make me feel that i get worth of MY money whenever i go to so and so store, why would i go for the duplicate cheap purchases (Recently i purchased the duplicate titles of - 'Go kiss the world' and 'The White Tiger' for the very same reason).

Contentment certainly leads to happiness but it kills the urge to get ahead. In a race, you are contended that there are five cars behind you, but that would never make you win, what would make you win is i have to speed up, there are still 8 cars ahead of me.

Just after college, we get into the job without thinking or giving a second thought to WHAT IF i go for this or that? I seek contentment in - Hey! At least i have a job. Also, in the job we don't put in our 100% because we don't find it necessary. But in order to succeed we have to get ahead, think of new frontiers, think of new horizons and without fail head start in that direction.

If you want to get somewhere, you have to know where you want to go and how to get there. Then never, never, never give up.
--Norman Vincent Peale

Smile - Joviality Transmitter!!

2009-02-19T16:55:00.005+05:30

Here in this post i would like to share something that i have discovered recently. I call it a discovery because it was ever existent, known to many maybe, but never realized and practiced. And pertaining to my altruistic, philanthropic nature, i ought to share it with you..

Do you realize how scarcely we smile, how we have almost forgotten how to smile. Try to recollect - Your mom's face when you left your home for studies or job; a mix of care, fear and love beautifully encompassed in the teary smile. This smile was pure, straight from heart and selfless.

Smile is one of the most beautiful gifts; which i am not sure if is adorned only by humans because i have seen monkeys, donkeys, owls, cheetah cubs and particularly dogs and cats smile. So, why not make full use of this gift, why not smile in all the situations of life - good or bad, tough or easy.

There are umpteen benefits of endowing a smile in the tougher times of life:

A smile creates an atmosphere of positive energy.
A smile shifts mood from sad to happy and happy to happier.
A smile always signifies calmness, laugh can not boast of this.
Smile makes you livelier, jollier and much more adorable over the period of time.
Being contagious, it relieves tensions, worries and the troubles not only you but also others around you.
A smiling face emanates - happiness; contentment; high energy level; welcoming and accepting attitude.

The mojo possessed by smile is not something that a hearty laugh can boast of. The technique was employed by Boman Irani in Munnabhai-MBBS, he actually laughed heartily whenever he was in tension and suggested that it is a good technique to relieve him from tension.

But i feel a smile comes more naturally than a laugh.

You meet your dear ones, you smile and not laugh.
You see a cute puppy on the road, you smile and not laugh.

Hence, we are (if not can be) more prone to a smile than a laugh. A smile is more personal than a laugh. A person is at his honest best when he is smiling, he is his own true self and that too through his own eyes (try hiding your mouth and than smile and see your eyes smiling). A laugh when cherished in memory can lead to a beautiful smile.

Initially it would be tough for you to adorn this jewel, this crown of smile; it would be like wearing an Armani tuxedo in the company of beggars. Yes it would be tough, because over the period of time we have been taught to be serious. So, you need to condition your mind with the benefits of wearing a smile.

This would be like that flowing river which flows on and on smiling, creating lives all over.
This would be like that tree which is so very happy to give shelter, fruits and whatnot to the fauna.
This would be like those flowers which are so welcoming to the bees.

So, the mantra is smile whenever you feel worn out, smile whenever something troubles you; use this infectious perfume to spread happiness all around the globe. Wear this perfume wherever you go, in the process you will not only enlighten your own self but also the lives of all your dear ones. The aroma, the charm of smile is going to glorify your life and let you exude gallons of positive energy all around.

Smile - This investment only knows hefty and merry returns and nothing else, always!!!

Bombay - a transposer

2009-02-18T17:52:00.008+05:30

While talking to a friend on phone yesterday, who has just shifted to Bombay, i tried to comprehend how the life in Bombay can be characterized for the middle class. Also, let me tell you that - you are just another middle class guy here in Bombay, irrespective of what you or your native city thinks of you.

Bombay had always been a dream city for me; i have always admired the beauty, the mojo, the excitement and the quality of life here. But the charm is available only for less than 0.001% of the people (Don't ask me how i reached this figure, just wanted to state an enormously small quantity, hence 0.001). For everyone else, the life is killing out here in Bombay.

Once, i met a couple of well-to-do bank guys in their early forties at around 10:30pm in the local. They were returning from the job, so out of curiosity i asked them If it was the usual time to return. Of course they said yes, and told me they won't reach home before 11, just to leave the other day at 5:30 am. I was severely surprised to find out that it had been their routine ever since. Now tell me- What kind of life is that?

They can surely be considered amongst the well paid middle class, but what for - Raising just a modest living even after so much pain.

Bombay is a city full of luxuries both necessary and unnecessary. Yes, here in Bombay you get to learn that luxuries can also be necessities, you can't live without certain luxuries that could have sounded utterly unnecessary earlier, but no more in Bombay.

My father says - 'Bombay is a city to enjoy for those who don't actually require to personally go and do business. The business creates money for them and they get to spend this automatically earned money.' These people actually enjoy the life in Bombay; all the others, however hefty pay packs or revenues they generate, have to lead a laborious life.

I feel whenever a new guy comes to this city, he gets transposed to the bigness of Bombay from his native place in three stages as mentioned underneath:

Excitement -- So many people around; so much to see; so many trains, buses, expensive cars, malls, hence the guy is so much excited; he travels in the local and shares the experiences with friends; experience a fight or an accident and narrates it with minute details to his relatives and so on and on. Hence, everything excites him like anything.

Boredom -- After a while, the same crowd that had created a sense of excitement, now is a source of constant trouble; the endless queues at the ticket window; daily pouts of fights both verbal and physical; uncaring attitude of passersby, and all the robotic attributes now appear mundane and boring.

Habit -- Now the time comes when the guy is completely acquainted with the vicissitudes of Bombay, he has experienced enough to start the mundane life without the minutest thought of excitement. For boredom, there is no time at all. In a way he got bored of getting bored and is no more bored in anything for that matter.

He is no more astonished looking at the queues longer than the great wall.
He no more fears at the look of heavily crowded buses and trains.
He doesn't care to say a sorry to the passerby whom he has overstepped.
He doesn't believe in creating relationships with the shop wallahs.
He goes to the job, comes back, to go back the next day.

So, this is how life changes for a guy from a small town (barring a couple of cities on this planet, all towns and cities are smaller when compared to Bombay). He becomes acquainted too quickly and rarely wishes to move out of this habit. No pain, no excitement, no feelings, just plain robotics.

He doesn't want to get out of this mechanical trail just like the train that knows nothing but to move on the same parallel tracks over and over again. He doesn't even think of moving back to his home town. A personality trainer in a workshop once said for Bombay

You can checkout anytime you like
But you can never leave...

(picking it from the famous song 'Hotel California' by The Eagles).

But one thing is for sure, this city hates slow movers. Bombayites might not respect anything else but they definitely respect time. You have to be quick-moving, 7:32 local arrives precisely on time and you can not afford to even think of missing it.

Bombay creates quick movers, fast learners, pompous-flashy-socialites and laborers (yes not at all i've mistaken here). It can and will teach you high class management lessons but at a cost which might not be acceptable to you; but do you really think you have a choice against BOMBAY....No you don't have...Here

Bombay decide and we quietly reside..

Diana

2009-02-10T19:32:00.006+05:30

A lady probably having half a dozen disclosed affairs, if still is adored by the masses, that lady ought to be Lady Diana.

She was so very beautiful and charismatic and wonderful (one adjective is never enough for 'Di') that you can’t live unnoticing her. Leaving the pulchritude (physical beauty) apart, she was so gracious, so magnanimous, so helping, so much eager to work for various public causes, that you can not avoid getting inspired by her. One of her pictures, showing her sitting with an AIDS patient is considered the best ad campaign ever for awareness towards AIDS.

This is always believed that her aura shadowed the complete royal family, one smile of hers outsmarted umpteen claims of her bad attitude by the members of the royal family.

Prince Charles did not like her even a bit, pertaining to various reasons:

Out of many girlfriends, he adored Camilla Parker (yes the one whom he married later in life - God knows WHy??) to an unacceptable and unbelievable (she was not beautiful even when she was young - take my word, I have seen her photos) extent.
Diana was more like a necessity for Charles because only a virgin; royal/partially royal member could be a soul mate (yes yes ironically speaking) to the royal heir (what heir, Still at this age, Queen rules and there is no King).
People loved her much much more than any other royal member ever, this made Charles particularly uneasy. There were umpteen incidents when Prince Charles was standing all alone and people, journalists, paparazzi chased 'Di'.
And of course, with time people showed unprecedented love and warmth for Diana, that was incomprehensible and unacceptable to Prince Charles (I don’t like using the word ‘Prince’ for this jealous, good–for-nothing guy).

Prince Charles, at that time was a crappy, spoilt, extra rich kid who got a toy which could have been a beautiful possession for life time but he kept on looking in dirt for something else and never ever cared for it. And when others took care of her, showed interest in her solely because of his negligence; he became utterly jealous and started to foulmouth and misbehave with one of the world's most beautiful possessions.

If Andrew Morton (author, Diana-Her True Story) is to be believed:

she tried to commit suicide five times;
had a digestive trouble called bulimia, a severe eating disorder;
was constrained so heavily by the royal family (Charles particularly) to behave in a way they wanted;

So, she was covering the wounds caused by an uncaring husband under this veil of smiles, love, warmth and affection. The real love was offered to her by many friends, many of whom have actually lost lives, lost jobs and whatnot. But i m not sure, any one can actually prove this ever.

I admire many women, and Diana for me is much more than a mere admiration, she is a ray of hope, a beautiful way of life. And i am sure whosoever knows even a bit about her would share the same thoughts.

I leave you with the beautiful lyrics by Elton John, a special tribute to the love of all...Diana

Goodbye England's rose
May you ever grow in our hearts
You were the grace that placed itself
Where lives were torn apart
You called out to our country
And you whispered to those in pain
Now you belong to heaven
And the stars spell out your name

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never fading with the sunset
When the rain set in
And your footsteps will always fall here
Along England's greenest hills
Your candle's burned out long before
Your legend ever will

Loveliness we've lost
These empty days without your smile
This torch we'll always carry
For our nation's golden child
And even though we try
The truth brings us to tears
All our words cannot express
The joy you brought us through the years

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never fading with the sunset
When the rain set in
And your footsteps will always fall here
Along England's greenest hills
Your candle's burned our long before
Your legend ever will

Goodbye England's rose
May you ever grow in our hearts
You were the grace that placed itself
Where lives were torn apart
Goodbye England's rose
From a country lost without your soul
Who'll miss the wings of your compassion
More than you'll ever know

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never fading with the sunset
When the rain set in
And you footsteps will always fall here
Along England's greenest hills
Your candle's burned out long before
Your legend ever will

Front seaters - Back benchers

2009-02-02T19:31:00.004+05:30

This post is a consolidated effort of all my fellow movie goers and me.

What are the benefits of sitting in the first (in worst case second) row in a movie theatre (read Multiplex):

No pain of finding the seat.
Enter the hall and here is your seat.
You watch the movie afresh, it gets worn out after passing through eyes of so many sitting in front rows.
We get to see the minutest details of the movie.
You are amongst the best of the lot, all these guys are your fellow back benchers in various institutes around the globe.
Full leg space, stretch your legs as much as you want without worrying about anyone.
Don't like to lower your head, use front rows and keep it high always.
Movie ends and out you go, no need to wait for the uncle or auntie to clear stairs

So, by now, you must have left the wrong notion that guys buy front row tickets, because they are cheap.

No man no.

They buy them because of the reasons mentioned above.

What say front seaters (syn: back benchers)?

What say all my fellow movie goers??

Feel free to add, i am sure i have missed out quite a few...

Socialism

2009-01-16T16:38:00.000+05:30

Socialism – Industrial Revolution is a serious requirement for a nation to thrive. But rich individuals or business houses don’t aspire to bridge the gap between rich and poor. So, the state (read government) has to take responsibility to drive all the major industries. Whatever losses incurred, the rich should never be promoted to trade freely. There should be a lot of restrictions, regulations and bans on the private entities. The state should play the role of developing and managing the complete industrial base for the nation as a whole. This is Socialism.

Typical example - Post independence India under the visionary rule of Nehru, who envisaged a mixed economy, a government that would be a mix of capitalistic and communistic ideologies, where the state ran all the major industries and necessarily make the remaining dependent upon the state.

But things did not turn out, the way Nehru wanted them to. Bureaucrats enamored power and felt no shame in using it for the betterment of their own being. Bribing became a common phenomenon, from T.C to collector, from manager to peon, from tax inspector to sub-inspector; everyone employed under any government organization was corrupt.

Later on came Indira Gandhi with her stiffer, uglier policies of socialism – she nationalized all the banks (China still has all its banks owned by the government); imposed free trade barring acts like MRTP (Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices act). In her regime, came the era infamously called the License Raj, where a company was required to get licenses for almost every new act. You wanted to open a new shop; buy telephone, scooter; go abroad or for that matter anything which state felt like required license, you had to get a license. The same required a whole round of bribing starting from peon to the ministry.

As a result of all such (mal) practices and that too for such a long time, Bureaucrats gained more power and hence became more corrupt than ever.

But there was an uglier and much more unacceptable consequence bound to happen. The Indian businessmen created this hard and harsh notion, that here in order to run industries you have to be corrupt. A businessman before writing the first draft of his proposal/plan had to bear certain things in his mind:

No matter how good his plan was, he had to bribe the bank officials to sanction the loan.
No matter how he is killing his margin, he had to convince (read bribe) the ministry that he was doing it not for the sake of profits (A businessman starting a new venture and that too not for profit – how foolish!!).
Once the plan would go on track anyhow, there would be union troubles even before the first quarterly results would be declared.
Expanding the business would require more convincing (bribing) than starting the same.
In no case he could think of promoting the business oversees, pertaining to the strict laws with regards to exports and foreign trade practices.

Once, Nehru told JRD - NEVER TALK ABOUT PROFIT IN FRONT OF ME, PROFIT IS AN UGLY WORD.
(JRD always felt bad for not being able to convince Nehru (also Indira) about the benefits of a private enterprise parallel to the one owned by state)

So, what socialism did for Indian private companies willing to grow was something like this –
They kept on pouring acid instead of water to the seeds that were sown by someone else (private houses). Knowing the fact that the seeds would require proper care and nurturing and above all water, they still poured acid. Certainly, they killed most of the seeds; the plants were nipped in the bud. But the ones that were able to thrive even upon acid-care, Can you even imagine them to be any fruitful to the nation building. No they can’t. They can’t conceive any fruits for the people of the nation (who anyways were willing to eat anything that came their way, pertaining to the prolonged hunger and the prolonged beatings by the mighty).

The businessmen became corrupt from the root itself. Tax-theft was no more considered a theft, illegal imports, bribing the officials for official/unofficial sanctions, bending jurisdiction as per the trade requirements with the aid of contacts and the green notes became a daily practice. From a small kirana-store to the million-dollar business house, all lost their ethics, their morality; all they knew was how to get rid of the ugly, sticky clutches of the socialistic beast, Nehru created (though unknowingly).

But times have changed ever since India adopted the free trade practices. Now Indian companies are buying out their foreign counterparts. And there are enough of initiatives by the government to pour water instead of acid.

Paulo Coelho

2009-01-16T13:33:00.000+05:30

I have particularly liked Coelho ever since i read 'The Alchemist' because of the simplicity in his writings. He tries to teach life lessons that are so simple but all forgotten, all buried in the sands of civilizations. He is the guy who is removing the sand. For me he is a cleaner, a soul cleaner.

There are gurus who say do this dhyaan, asana, Samadhi and whatnot, and we forget all that, minutes after listening. But Coelho is different, he is a simple story-teller with that grace, that aura, and that magic to transform the complex life lessons into easy, comprehensible and good to read fables.

You always wish to live in the world, in the shoes, in the troubles of the central characters of Coelho. Be it the girl who decided to die (Veronika decides to die) or the guy who was willing to cross deserts to attain his much desired treasure (The Alchemist), or the girl willing to learn magical powers (Brida) or any character for that matter.

You actually think what if I get to experience all this, but here is the trick, Coelho through his lessons want to convey one very strong point and that is – You need to experience everything in this life yourself and no one is going to actually teach you any of those strange or mundane or whatever things. You have to be a self learner.

You have to go through the pond of wealth as well as the creek of bitter life yourself. Life and time are bigger teachers than anything else ever existed on the face of this planet. So, I sincerely request you to read Paulo Coelho, he may sound silly, insane, or childlike at some instances but he is actually a connector between the unknown, unidentified being and the small us.

This spiritual extravaganza awaits anyone who wishes to explore, who is willing to remove the dust off the lid. One who is eager to take pain, suffer at the hands of the society, the customs, and the dictums to find the unknown will be the one who is going to find true spiritualism, true eternity and will eventually become the flag-bearer of the coming generations.

Lover or a ..

2009-01-12T20:10:00.000+05:30

On a lighter note i penned these lines yesterday..

Her wink suggested she has brought something
And somehow I had to get rid of the friends crowding

Once I did so, how I don’t really remember
She grabbed me by my arm and took me to a corner

We sat on a two sitter
And she started her famous chatter

Unpacking the food
She looked so good

Her food was not exactly delicious
But she certainly looked very gracious

I ate like a hungry fox
Knowing I would later require a Maalox1

Not that she forced me as such
But as always I was obliged pretty much

She said she would bring more next time
And I was constantly thinking about some lime

Being with me she considered her luck
But I was more worried of my stomach

She departed saying meet you at dinner
Oh man this girl is a lover or a hired killer……..

1 Maalox is a trademark drug for relief from indigestion and other common stomach ailments.

Kill Me ! ! ! !

2009-01-12T12:22:00.000+05:30

People say
Don’t stop things in between
Then why you leave me half alive

Kill me
I’m already half dead
Kill me
I am terribly sad

Kill me
I carry my dad’s ambition
Kill me
I say no to addiction

Kill me
I dare to speak
Kill me
My moral doesn’t leak

Kill me
I refuse to bribe
Kill me
I don’t belong to your tribe

Kill me
I abhor plagiarism
Kill me
I adore patriotism

Kill me
Please please kill me

Before I create my own paws
And start tearing and bending the laws

Before I find pleasure in cocaine
And my dad’s ambition utterly insane….

Kill me!!!

Me - You

2009-01-09T15:57:00.000+05:30

Me Hindu
You Muslim..
Me Christian
You Jew..
Me Capitalist
You Communist..
Me Secular
You Fascist..
Me Modern
You Chauvinist..
Me God's Child
You Devil's Pride..

All this goes no where
But you don't dare you don't care..

Why i fight the stream
Why i try to scream..

Let the other guys fight and die
If necessary in the court i would lie..

I am not concerned with people dying, children crying
Most of the times they are lying

Yes they lie when they say they are dead
To check I kick them hard in their head

They say I don’t care I don’t dare
And I tell you I won’t dare till I go bare

All i am concerned with is my pocket
And my wife’s ring and her diamond studded locket….

Hunger - IMMORALITY harbinger?

2009-01-07T11:05:00.000+05:30

Ethics, morality, patriotism and all the wonderful attributes of a noble person don't exist for a hungry man.

You steal
You kill
You cheat
You hit

Not because you are morally disinclined

but because you have not had

a roof
for years,
a bread
for days,
water
for hours,
medicine
for the dying mother,
dowry
for the unmarried sister,
fund
for brother's education

and above all

money
for raising a living..

Everyone is born with whiteness inside
but sooner or later that is put aside..

You can stick with truthfulness
until you have encountered the worldliness..

Go out with a white shirt on
Try your best to keep it on..

I mean don't allow it to be tainted
don't let your spirit be fainted..

Soon your bones would be visible
and stealing would look more feasible..

Still somehow you protest
Give cheating a look so grotesque..

But the world out there is willing to spoil you
Neither they like your white shirt nor the whiteness within you..

They don't believe in healing or curing
all they know is spoiling or torturing..

They dig in to your roots to kill
every truth telling pill that can take you to the hill..

And history is evident that those with white shirts still white end up in grave sooner than others
Those with their ethics still intact, morale castle-high and spirits unadulterated, end up as Stickers..

Don't take me as if i am proclaiming the fact that all the acts of indiscretion are because of poverty, oppression, depression or suppression. There are filthy creatures on the face of this planet who do so because they don't find anything wrong about it.

More about such creatures in my next poetic endeavor… :)

Israel - some other blasting title required?

2008-12-12T14:03:00.000+05:30

When Jews were tortured in an affluent corner of this planet, they looked for a place to rehabitat. And they headed towards middle east since there were Jewish colonies in Palestine already. There was a rapid shift of Jewish population from the Christian extremism (if i may say so) to the centre of most insendiary Muslim epicentre.

They were accepted to some extent but with time tensions started to creep in. With the intervention of UN, two states were created out of Palestine. Ever since (the independence of Israel in 1948), it has kept itself engaged for various conflicts with almost all the Muslim countries.

India can not even imagine, the way Israel works or thinks, being so small, trapped amongst umpteen muslim countries (surrounded by Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Jordan) and still fighting all the time. With a population of less than 8million, Israel is one of the highest spending country in terms of intelligence and security.

Many a times, US intervenes and get treaties signed or ceasefires agreed upon in between Arab coutries and Israel. But history is evident, Israel keeps no resolution for long and attacks one of those countries, captures its land and shows the middle finger to all the Arabs and the treaty makers from US, UK and the lame elephant UN.

The reason for the States not taking harsh actions against Israel is that there are myriad of Jews at prominent positions and with enormous wealth in US (Steve Ballmer, Sergey Brin, Larry Elison, Michael Dell and many many more). And also many politicians..

http://knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/List_of_Famous_Jews/

And guess what - Harrison Ford, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, Sandra Bullock, Milton Friedman, Woody Allen, Paul Newman, Dustin Hoffman, Michael Douglas, Ben Kingsley, Kirk Douglas, Goldie Hawn, Levis Strauss, Ralph Lauren, Henry Kissinger, Mark Spitz, Steven Spielberg, Mel Brooks are all Jewish.

So, in one way or the other Jews are damn influential when it comes to deciding the policies for US (read UN also). They have enough of green notes, grey cells (ofcourse in brain) and leadership enzymes embedded in themselves. So, world better watch out coz they are looking out for their small community to place bookmarks (they are a lot into literature also) in each and every corner of this world.

Gandhi

2008-12-11T19:24:00.000+05:30

Mahatma Gandhi (2nd Oct 1869 to 30th Jan 1948)- Much is already known, said and written about this frail saint. A man with whom you might agree or disagree but can't avoid. A stern follower of his home made policies, medicines, philosophies and attire.

If you have to choose one man for the good or bad or whatever India faced - it has to be Gandhi. He was not liked by most of the Britishers for obvious reasons but many Indians (not necessarily extremists) also disliked him. Anything you might feel about Gandhi, but one thing is for sure, he was a man of immense will power.

After reading 'My experiments with Truth' (i would love to call it-'I, ME, MY, MINE by Gandhi' - yes yes i know it was his AUTObiography), you get to know how an underconfident man lifts himself with self proclaimed ups and downs. He faced immense humiliation at the hands of Whites, Hindus, Muslims, and loads of leaders, but life goes on for this kind of guy. For him no praise was small and no humiliation big enough.

He not only had ardent admirers and followers like Mountbatten, Nehru, Patel but also had Jinnah, S.Bose, Churchill and many extremists (Godse, Savarkar to name the influential) on the other side of his spinning wheel.

One can never undermine his achievements, but also can't forget his distinctive personality traits, i would like to elaborate some of them here:

1. His campaigns to raise awareness about sanitary cleanliness in houses is unimaginable. He rushed from vilas to houses to even huts, only because of his willingness to see Indians live a cleaner, healthier life.
2. It is said that no one can ridicule you without your consent. Gandhi is the best example. He just made a note of every disrespect in his mind but never actually felt humiliated.
3. His unbound love for the motherland, mothertongue and culture.
4. His Vegetarianism.
5. His belief in earth and water techniques (and other self experimented remedies).
6. Vocational training to others, so they can live a respectful life.
And above all, his never failing brahmastra- Fasting and that too till death (many a times) proved an aid in making him Mahatma.

Me and most people like me neither have rights nor hold any feasible reason to justify the stands of Gandhi in various struggles of his life, but one thing is for sure - He was a stern being with a lot of guts, will power, dominance streak, truthfulness and leadership skills. Somewhere in his heart he might have a will to be MAHATMA - but as i said i can't and i should not comment on that.

But, someone like Osho certainly can - "If a threat to kill another person is wrong , how can the threat to kill oneself be right? If it is wrong for me to make you accept what i say by pointing gun at you, how can it be right if i make you accept the same thing by pointing gun at myself?"

World War-1

2008-11-06T17:22:00.000+05:30

I have always loved reading and knowing the intricacies of Wars. I have always liked to know what must have been the reasons involved that could lead to humongous wars on the face of this planet. And a war as huge as World War would certainly fascinate any one.

And i would like to share the knowledge i have acquired over the period of time about those times of blood, toil, tears and sweat. This article is about World War-1.

By the year 1913, tensions had been building up in various affluent countries of Europe over myriads of issues like:

-Huge spendings on the warfare.
-UK having large colonies across the globe (Imperialism), made Germany jealous (yes right word).
-France's resentment over its large territories acquired by Germany.
-Many smaller European colonies no longer wanted to be part of their larger counterparts (like Bosnia and Herzegovina no longer wanted to be a part of Austria-Hungary but instead be part of Serbia.)

But one incident that triggered this sleeping Dragon (read war) - The assasination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (heir to the Austrian Empire) at Sarajevo (capital of Bosnia). A member of Black Hand Gang (which wanted to rid Bosnia of Austrian rule) shot Franz and his wife. This agitated Austria. Austria suspected Serbia becuase of its closeness to Bosnia and sensing the selfish motive of Serbia taking over Bosnia. This lead to Austria attacking Serbia.

But Serbia was an ally of Russia and hence Russia jumped in to rescue Serbia. Serbia alone could have been an easy prey for Austria but now that Russia was also involved - Germany was called for help. Germany entering war made France angry but Germany was willing to help because of something more dangerous cooking up in its closet. This was the Schlieffen Plan.

Schlieffen being a senior German army officer felt that German army was better than any other army in Europe. But it would be tough for it to fight both France and Russia on the warfronts. However, he felt that the large Russian army would require at least 6weeks to mobilize and this time was enough for diminishing the French front. Hence, after finishing off France, the advanced railway network of Germany would take the army towards east and deal with the Russians.

So, the Schleffen plan was carried out to attack France via Belgium. But Belgium was supported by Britain and hence Britain came into the picture. Later on Italy also jumped in to aid Germany-Austria.
Now there were two clear fronts:

The Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria, Italy) and
The Triple Entente (Britain, France, Russia)

All these alliances were solely based on selfish motives. For instance, France aided Britain for the want of the huge fleet of British navy and Britain due to France's modern army. Only aiding each other, they could stand against the mighty Germany - which had the most modern warfare both on land and sea.

Later on almost all the European countries and their colonies got involved in the bloodshed. This all lead to uncountable strategies and alliances all around the globe. But one major event turned out to be very major setback for Germany.

US was unwilling to join the war as an ally to the Britain and party. There were tensions with regards to Germany bombing passenger ships carrying Americans. But, a message decoded by Britain that was sent by Germany to Mexico urged US to roar. Actually, Germany wanted Mexico (with the aid of Japan) to attack US, provided it jumps into the war. In return, Germany would help Mexico get the US acquired states like New Mexico, Arizona and Texas.

This stirred up America and hence it actively got involved in the war as an Associated Ally in the year 1917. By then, things had already started getting rough for the Triple Alliance. Russia under smart leadership of Lenin was gaining force. France and Britain aided by their colonies all around were fighting hard. Germany, Japan, Austria started losing the sheen.

By the end of the year 1918 - time for treaties was round the corner. Germany agreed on armistice with the allied powers on 11th of November. And the war completely ceased with Treaty of Versailles (called "Versai") in the mid of 1919. The whole of Europe was redefined as a consequence of war. Central Powers lost a lot of territories and new nations were formulated.

And this also lead to the creation of League of Nations which failed in the years to follow. More about that and WW-2 in some future blog.

I feel good i compiled this :)

Lehmann down, y?

2008-10-24T13:35:00.000+05:30

I solely feel the reason behind the sad demise of Lehman Brothers is over-smartness of the policy makers, not only in Lehman but also other such banks.

Let me first of all brief you about the kind of work investment banks do. They basically invest the money deposited by the customers-big (companies) or small (individuals). In return they pay them some interest to them. This is a sound business. Since, you get a lot of money to play with. And with highly intellectual strategists (no sarcasm!!), they devise newer plans everyday.

And everything worked out well for them (read Lehman and alike companies). But we all know something hit them real hard. And this something was- Sub prime crisis. Now, what is sub-prime crisis?

Every bank has a set of customers to whom it is going to give loan or provide a particular set of services. Technically, these customers are called Prime customers. So, the banks were giving away loans to them and everything was going their way. But these banks had a lot of money and fewer and fewer prime customers. So, they started looking for Sub-Prime customers. These were the customers to whom the bank was unwilling to pay loans earlier. But now, they were also considered 4 loans.

Even now the ball was rolling well. These customers were paying their installments and the cycle was good. But now comes the twist. The customers (majorly sub-prime) loaned money for buying properties and making profit. The property rates as a consequence were reaching sky. And people found it an easy way to make money. Let's take a scenario to understand the whole stuff.

A customer (name him Sam) took a loan of 10,000 USD to buy a property (with sole purpose of making profit by later on selling it at higher rates.)
He was paying the installments faithfully and things were good. But, the real estate prices have a limit. The real estate prices started plummeting due to certain factors pertaining to global reasons.

So, what happened to customers like Sam? They did not know what to do because their real estate costed less than the amount they had invested. Suppose, Sam's property now costs 6000USD, so what would smart Sam do? He would leave the papers with the bank and would stop paying INSTALLMENTS. Smart Sam as i said!!

Now, bank finds out that Sam is unwilling to pay his installments-So, the bank goes into the market to sell the property and guess what, it finds out that the property against which it had availed a loan of 10,000USD now costs 4500USD. Leave the interest, its principal amount can't be recovered even. So, the bank gets screwed up. And there was not one Sam. There were Sam’s all around. Becoming defaulters and making banks poorer and poorer.

So, why on the first hand banks did this? They could have kept the extra money with themselves instead of risking it with the Sub-primers. But banks never do so. They are always willing to loan it for INTEREST. And if one bank does that, others unwillingly also have to follow the trend in order to stay in the market. And hence, the complete cycle of the downfall of not only Lehman but all the other biggies.

india shud rule

2008-08-29T14:06:00.000+05:30

Tradition is something we put forward whenever we don’t try or don’t intend to try our best. Sometimes in life, the protecting shield moreover becomes a burden and not only a burden but also a hindrance in our ventures. And this is what Tradition is doing to us.

We knowingly or unknowingly, intentionally or unintentionally use it as armour against our own prosperity.

Most of us can end up firing a panegyric instead of an argument against our so called tradition.
One can avoid anything but CHANGE.But we Indians have been doing this ever since.
Moghuls reigned, English ruled and who ever came to devour us was welcomed.
That golden bird was butchered many times and was praised as an easy prey by the predators.
And guess what—at the bottom of our hearts we took it as an encomium.
We admired being praised. As we are not Germans. Ok, I would leave that for a later thought.
The English admired Indians being arduous and not archaic.
Our most noble people sang songs in praise of our new self made rulers. (Jan Gan Man by Tagore- a classic example).
Neither I nor anyone on this planet can demean the Queen’s people because it is the human tendency to conquer, to expand their territory.
But it should also be a human tendency to defend your territory. You don’t attack its ok but you don’t defend yourself, your people; you don’t erect a bulwark to safeguard your traditions; you are defying the first and foremost rule of the planet. You are serving yourself in the plates of the predators and when they have devoured the delicacy, you go out lamenting and shouting that the British robbed us. No they did not. Instead we robbed ourselves. We robbed ourselves of our values, of our courage, of our basic human insignia.
We did not spare a single thought about the outcome of all this and now here we are.

Now let me come back to where I started that is CHANGE.
We don’t accept changes. We have become as stagnant as a pond. And that pond is covered too, so no sunlight no fresh air but only smell of our own sweat. So however hard we toil our soil, we still would require fresh air, sunlight and if I may say so global exposure to flourish our lands.

And what is wrong in that. This is the era of globalization. Even the stiff and stern Chinese are changing as according to the need of the hour. They are learning from the States like no one else has ever before yet they don't let anyone interfere in their political matters. It is upto you to erect boundaries or limits.
Leaving tradition apart, consider India as a teen who has just acquired enough maturity to understand tactics of this cruel and harsh world. Now at this time it has to learn as much as possible from the giants around. It has to embellish itself with the smartness of the smart.
This is like garnishing our own pizza with toppings from around the world.
And guess what, we can select the kind of toppings....like:

Sophistication of the French,
Killer instinct/Engineering of the Germans,
Innovativeness of the Japanese,
Market-understanding of the Chinese,
Arduousness of the Koreans,
Diplomacy of the British,
Farsightedness of the Americas,

And whatnot…

So, who would not like this customized pizza? The pizza with our staple and toppings peculiarly selected from around the world as never done before in the history of mankind.
There may be an argument here - why should we learn from them. I say why we should not.
History is full of precedents where pupils have outsmarted their cicerone.
All we need to have is a victory over our narrow-mindedness. As known our bigotry smartly acts as bottleneck for any of our future endeavors.

So, I come to being a rebel. Show rebelliousness against our straw-like mindset.
Osho has very rightly quoted:
विद्रोह नही तो जवानी कैसी!!

Speak out against injustice, malpractice, black-marketing, and chauvinism.
Say your word. Discuss nation instead of discussing mundane sitcom or silly page-3. Our nation needs us more than a cancer patient needs chemo.
And the time is right; if we still delay this cancer would be incurable. So, act before it is too late. Act, don’t think don’t talk.
We Indians have a basic tendency of analyzing things instead of acting upon them. And hence in the process, many times we put our human instinct on bay. And after a thorough analysis which way do we opt—Ahh the safer one, the less tedious one.
We don’t invest in R & D- because America is doing it.
We don’t look after our education system properly, because politics is more important here.
Our politicians are ruined because we’re more ruined and stale.
Think about this, how many times you went for a safer side instead of listening to what your instinct told you to.
In the words of Jonathan Spencer- We never ask ourselves a simple question before foregoing our initial instinct-
"What would you do if you were not afraid?"

We never think that way- We rationalize things like no one else on this planet.
We never risk things, never risk luxury, never risk comfort and as an outcome have to RISK LIVES.
I once read these beautiful words (sorry I don’t remember where?)

Fight the tendency to quit while you are left behind.
When we trail in a race-we sit back and start enjoying the race. We have been very good admirers which is certainly admired but wont you prefer to be a participant. A watcher does enjoy a game but do you have any idea of the gratification, the gusto of the player actually involved.
So, why not be that player। Make India that player that virtuoso who not only enjoys his game but also keeps in mind that future would come apace than imagined.

Don't compare our state, our problems with the likes of US or any other nation. We have to forget the trembling past and plan for a swift and smooth future. We have to be forgetful of our own people and our own mistakes..
With these beautiful words(again don't remember where i read) i would like to finish my work for a while::::
क्षमा शोभती उस भुजंग को, जिसके पास गरल हो
उसका क्या जो विषरहित, विनीत और सरल हो