Snow sshhhh

Snow in the day,
Making it a beautiful sight,
At first i start to play,
Hurling snow balls is a delight

As the winter get strong
The snow get hard
The winds get it wrong
Even lips and skin get cracked

Shsh the white carpet is ready
I don't fancy the walk
Work awaits me today
I pray for a snow break

Snow snow go away
I am no Eskimo
Sun please make your way
I had enough of snow

MY LOVE

R says
she is Rare diamond

A says
she is an Attractive wine

J says
she is a Joy to eyes

A says
she is Angel of love

S says
she is Sexy

U says
she is Universe to me

N says
she is the Name of my breath

A says
she is an Abundance of patience

T says
she is the Tranquility in me

H says
she is the Happiness in eyes

G says
she is a God's Gift

I am still searching the SHE though !!

PAIN

PAIN - What is it ?

Is it an absence of happiness or presence of sadness ?

Is it knowing something you wouldn't want to hear - breaking the shell that clouds your own understanding of you ?

Is it someone ripping you naked to baking sun ?

Is it one of those seasons to your heart like the winter to trees ?

Is it a self-chosen present to keep the balance of emotions ?

Is it the bitter fruit that you taste ?

What ever be the case....you are not alone all this time, there is a guiding hand in the form of relatives, friends, love, parents. For those who are far away from all have memories of their loved ones to reflect on, the silence with God and inner-self.

For this is a gift by him, though heavy and hard, a gift to know yourselves better.

I wish !

I wish I wish I wish....

You make me feel special,
You make me feel new,
You make me feel loved,
You make me feel wanted.

I love the way you kiss me,
I love the way you touch me,
I love the way you hug me,
I love the way you complete me.

I wish i could say this,
I wish i would experience this,
I wish..I wish...I wish !!

To be NRI's/Today's Dogs

Should I call this a learning experience or a dog's life. I guess the latter would be appropriate - and i am one the millions dogs out trying to put up a brave face, when most in the society would look at us and sing " Who let the DOGS out........" and more and more so when the countries are rich with history and are developed, fueling their thoughts are RECESSION and CHEESE MOVING ASIA. I wouldn't blame any of my esteemed counterparts or citizens from these societies as they are just at the start of the emotional curve 'U'- Denial, Anger, Fear, Sad, Acceptance and Moving on. I only wish they have a shorter U curve -- 'Get moving or the ground beneath will be COLD'

If that is what the society is doing to me, take a look at my routine activities -- at the age of 24 i have 'mastered' the art of cooking, which my grandpa vehemently says is a womens task - no one can beat them to taste, and my dad has been struggling till now. It is my only way of survival being a vegetarian in the land where animals are grown with balanced diet. When you cook you an't far off from washing utensils either - so in a day of 24 hours i spend 2-3 hours daily on these activites. My mom has always kept technology aside when it comes to washing clothes and i am practicing it sincerely - not because i am comfortable with it, but "Paisa karvatha hain" - Every weekend i slog and slog half my day trying to get rid of dirt. The rest of the weekend, but for partying time :- Party culture of these people and drinking a wine at every possible opportunity is something that keeps you goings. "Pecks with pegs" -- It took me a semester to learn - not the hand but the face should go take the lead when it comes to socializing - a telugu saying put its rightly "Dog made to do takeover Lion's throne will prefer to be gutter lying", i will be hooked up in the computer trying to catch up with friends and family over skype and voip respectively. And some among the millions take the pain of being in the hotels cleaning tables and dishes, taking orders - not because they love it, but "paisa sabh kuch karvatha hain".....

Every week the things remain the same, grocesary, cooking, cleaning, eagerness to meet some one special in parties (with no luck as usual) and 'glorifying' to parents and friends about life here ! Life moves on and soon the loyal one will be recognized - NRI they become, at least 70% of them succeed. Abroad - student life -- It was choice made and a chance taken :D

Other Side

"the other side of it is always green" !

I was a student 4 years back, wanting to step in to corporate world, wanting to prove - don't know what ! After a certain two and half years, though i was fairing well at job and was happy with it, i wanted to live the student life again - a life with less responsibilities and carefree, at least i see it that way. By fortune or stupidity i ended up pursuing the wish - studying abroad !

No more than 2 months into the course i started to miss the work life, probably the power of money was missed, the transition from spend thrift to budgets is tough, may be differential treatment offered to a student & a professional by world, May be it was just that i had to do too many case studies !

And now as i near the end of the course i fear getting back to industry. The fear that i can never become a student - full time for rest of my life. I will be learning all life but with roles to perform, too much for my thin shoulders to take on. It looks scary, doesn't it ?

The other side for once doesn't look greener, not because it has changed but the fear of loosing this side had made it look bleaker. I will get back the freedom and power of money, but i for ever might loose my student life. As i read more into it i start to realize that the other side was never greener. It was just my perception; eyes closed - not a dream ! eyes opened - not a reality ! Ooph they were just the same coin !!

be-LIE-ve

Modern world with full of opportunities and challenges ! Modern society full of glitter and glamor ! Modern people vibrant and outgoing ! Wait --

'Modern' - is it lucrative ? Does it bring in Belief or is just that we decide to believe that this is lucrative. Isn't it naive of us to fall for the trick? Immature?

I have made my own choice and so shall all of you make your very own decision. Believe me we all are big personalities, our believes for us are the start and the end of the world. Believes drive us - opinions, arguments, decisions etc.... at least we claim ! I do it !

I do what i believe in - most common way of defense when hurried !
I believe that this is the right way to .... - My way or High way !
I believe - My belief is my strength - Do we really know what we are talking about?

Is it not like the word itself - A 'lie' - that against the misery that we feel, a truth that we are proud of when surrounded !

Use it and gain the pleasure of having some one's trust - easy it
Use it and bring in calamity to the world - evoke emotions
Use it - it is free ! Sell the world as you see it (oops as you 'be-LIE-ve')

Conversation !

Interesting Conversation with an European friend (He)

He : Hey Ca Va ! (how are you ?)
Me : Ca Va (Kind of i am fine.....), Merci !
He : How is it going, what is happening in north part of your country ?
Me : It is fine hear and Nantes is a pretty good city. Are you referring to Kashmir or any issue in specific
He : No not Kashmir, it is some temple issue, how can people do it?
Me : Oh yeah the Ayodhya one, you know everywhere we have extremists
He : Ok, but don't you think you it is shame for the country as big and democratic as India.
Me : I donot know... but now that it has caught your attention more than big sporting event happening in India.... may be..
He : No offence intended but the sporting event as well is making news for the wrong reasons..
Me : I guess the world is getting to hear the wrong things happening in india much more (thanks to the TRP infight by media), which i would say isn't that bad.
He : But 2 big scams in such short time; sports one and the IT firm. Do you think it reduces your image?
Me : What do you think? Has it changed the way you looked upon India
He : I am skeptical about taking a career over there. I heard so many good things about India and its potential that i started to take a serious consideration of moving to India for work. But looking at the magnitude and frequency of the events i am concerned and worried.
Me : Nice to see that young europe is looking to India as a desitation for work. I am suprisingly pleased. But i would suggest none of these incidents that concerns you have stalled the common man's life. It is just the part of being a country of such volume of people who are democratic. Individual goals sometime superceed national goals.
He : Oh, yeah too crowdy man...
Me : I guess you can understand...you will need patience and loads of it when you move in to our place.you guys would see that as a major change if at all you find to manage jobs there. Too much of competition !!
He : We get the previlage in your land, i know that.
Me : We say it respect and you call it previlage...so chill and have fun through you thesis defence...if you need any help let me know. Need to hurry up for my lame lectures !! See you
He : See you !

Interesting that young Europe is following us, they are seeing professional stability in India but are concerned about social stability. Should we all work to address this or still get torn apart for the benefit of a very few ?

Blame it on Media !!

Media has been the real pain of this Commonwealth Games ! You say Beijing was better - Reflect on this -- tight control on media all the 2008 Olympics blips were sealed and thrown into dustbin. May be we should also have followed the pattern. Sometimes such restrictions give a positive boost to the event of this mega scale - with no pull outs the least(thanks to bad media, headed by our very own Indians). You were given an unprecedented walk through the stadiums for understanding the readiness and what did you guys ended up doing? Yeah right - Finding faults for TRP's. For a second take a breather and ask yourselves - What is your role in the society, to the games to the commonwealth games? Only if you had time for an introspection !!

I know you don't have time to think about moral's and ethics in this competitive world. Do you? If you had then how on earth can you keep showing the footage of where, how and which part did the police man touch (an accident turned into breaking news) a female activist (referring to the recent incidents in Andra) so many times? It is not one channel to blame, all the 14 news channels (national, local channels part of cable programs) took the poor activist to a ride in the name of Justice. These vulgar analysis were being done my fellow women who happened to be doing 'justice' to their profession of reporter and reader respectively ! Wow Media, what a 'Justice'! [Mind you even before the media took on this storm the police was reprimanded for his sudden rush of blood with a transfer and strict warning, apology sent and accepted by the parties involved.]

So it doesn't surprise me that if MEDIA can do such a thing to women (in a country where history preaches us to treat females with utmost respect) for TRP's then it takes the commonwealth for a ride. Is this what the 'Aam Janta' wants? Certainly not! I take this opportunity to call upon the media to be considerate and stop playing on my country names for your TRP's. I want the best in the world to come and compete in my Capital. I want the kid's of my nation to be inspired by these wonderful athletes and make it big some day ! Please don't rob this opportunity from the hands of Young India with a 'Dil'.

And to all the athletes out their a quote from the Champion of Champion's : Freeman -“As an athlete I was pretty ruthless and very focussed, I was very unfazed by any kind of external goings-on, once I knew what my target was, I stayed committed. Nothing could really take me away from an arena of competition. My priority was just to compete and compete against the best there was,”.

Come and make history ! Not often will you guys get a chance to win over the hearts of 1.3 billions !

Gift

A designer, a researcher and a son looked STUPID on a saturday afternoon walking the streets of Milan. Purpose - Finding a gift to the mother of the son. As the son had already narrowed down gift list to a designer bag the task should have been simpler. It looked that way when the journey commenced, with the gift decided, shopping zone picked this one was supposed to be a walk in the park. Alright with the designer who was shopping zone guide too we embarked this adventure. Adventure it was -- 3 guys trying to pick out a designer bag from the fashion capital.

H&M outlet was an outright reject for all 3 at the first glance. Pathetic it was for us until we found UCB which was ridiculous. At UCB neither did we have options nor did we think that we will get value for money. A walk into Zara outlet to me was a little dull except for one master piece bag which was priced at 50 Euros. Value for money may be or may be not but it had Zara's brand value which convinced me it was worth it. I expected more from Zara especially after the dozens of case studies i had done in my course on their new product development and supply chain spread. I thought i will be spoilt for choices but they surprised me with lack of them to say the least. With almost an eye fixed on the 50 Euro one we dragged ourselves to another outlet a local one just to feel the difference between branded and non-branded. Not that we understood the difference but during that walk probably all of us were convinced that Zara one will be the fall back option to say the least if our adventure doesn't yield any more fruits.

Jasmine was our next stop. It was an exclusive bag outlet and a powerful local brand in this field but way way out of the budget and too stylish and trendy for the purpose. At UPM we fell in love with couple of bags worth 35E. Almost the credit card was peeping out of the pocket when our eyes landed on the Carpisa outlet whose visit was a must before we buy. With the designer and son convinced that the bags in UPM would make it all their way to India as a gift we crossed the zebra. At Carpisa we did find bags which fitted into all the requirements that we were looking for, may be the one that we did finally select at 26E was a little less stylish than those 35E ones. But then the Carpisa sales girl was what that clinched the deal for the Carpisa and not UPM where we were gay abonded. The gal was smart enough to give us options on colors and this human touch finally made the deal. Fortunately the dark brown one had little treads coming out and was the last piece. Once she found out that we were Indians and we found out that she had a Paksitani boy friend both seller-buyer wanted to work this deal. She offered us a 10% discount on the threaded piece and we asked for the undamaged piece at 10% discount. After a talk with the cashier she with a beaming smile agreed to give us at 10% discount on the piece we picked. Both buyer and seller happy that they got the deal; a win win trade. The son was happy that he isn't returning empty handed, designer was happy as it was from Carpisa (though he would have preferred 35E one for his mom) and researcher was elated because he helped the lazy son pick his ass up finally to buy the gift. STUPIDS - 'Super Talented Useful Person In Demand' S they were as it took them nearly 3 hours to get this done !! Thanks designer Thanks researcher ;)

Greece

Greece sounds like Grease. Now to European Union it even stands the meaning "Anything regarded as making something unclean". It has infact been 'THE' news in Europe but for a day or two when the ejaculation of 'Ejya' - the icelandic mountain took the limelight. Thanks to Greece being very clear on making others unclear of what it intends to do on the crisis it will continue to Top the charts. Greece is literally Grease !!!

But hold on, was it supposed to be one of those countries outside European Union which was happily making progress. Wasn't it happy and slowing but surely mapping its way into prosperity with certanity. But then they where lured into the Euro world and they happily took the helping hand. Now who on this earth would deny Million Euros for 'free'- you just say 'Hail Euro'. Greece took the easy option and with tail in between the legs Hailed Euro for the prosperity and freedom it brought to them. The slow and certain progress was giving way to fast and uncertain progress, but who cared. They were getting millions of Euro's at such low interest rates that they kept on taking debts. Now that's all Greece did - as my dear friend once said "she was like a kid who was given loads of chocloate when she met her love" she just could resist the temptation.

Blame this on the European Gurus who appaling had made Greece and even some other growing economies a part of European Union. They just threw the freebies and kids happily kept asking for more. It seems a cruel Irony that lower interests rates - which helped greater borrowing, thus spreading debt crisis which was what Euro was designed for has been the root cause of this misery. Euro was intended to be a superior debt financing machine against dollar which would allow member states to compete with US for a share of the global reserve currency business. Euro was born to breach the monopoly of US to these global reserves and creating the very credit explosion that strangles it today. Euro creation thumbs up, but briniging in too many economies too fast has misfired. Greece has hit rock today, Portugal is in touching distance and Spain is not far either which on the hindsight shows a greater probation period from European Union masters would have worked better.

PS: Euro dropping from 66 to 58 against INR is something i am enjoying as a student ;) 'Hail Euro' :D

Creative Destruction

Recession probably the most talked word in 2009 and 2010. Blame in on this 9 letter word and you will find support from all and as bonus sympathy. This cloud - a dark devil is taking life away. The whole world has been hit with unemployment and sovereign debt crisis are mounting but to me i see a silver lining. A necessary part of a 'reset' that we all needed. This reset has taken many of us closer to our families, brought in those smiles back with the loved ones, has given has time to retrospect. This has resulted in greater flexibility living and work wise. It has lowered the debt levels, given better personal development opportunity and access to more and better experiences.

Every turmoil has given us a new lease to life. From 1870'e economic crash where we learned to broaden our horizon and expanded our selves to customization. Patents were on rapid rise and so too multiple industries came into exsistence. Come 1929 "wall street crash" we experienced 2.3 percent of total factor productivity the most we have even seen in that era. This 'reset'was based on mass consumption, sub urbanisation and credit. Credit the virus was created then. Now in 2009-10 crash it is nothing different. We needed to reset ourselves as we were loosing it professionally and personally. This 'reset' will make us more flexible, sub urban theory will go to garbage and the need to have better infrastructure has been highlighted enough and also the real estate boom created more my speculation rather than demand needed the reversal. I see that this 'reset' will make the generations to come wary of the mortage lendings which will die sooner rather than later and also real estate will be ripped. Infrastructure that connects the villages to urban towns will soon become a reality or to say the least an indispensable measure of economic growth. The people who recover and see this will have the power to rule and for the first time i see the ignorance of western world turning out to be their bain rather than boon.

Made in China

Made in China is one of the most recognizable labels in the world today due to the large manufacturing industry poweress of China. I would call this as a false market to invest but then that is the reason why I ant a big money consultant. This country is the largest exporter in the world and the made in china label can be seen on a huge range of products from a pin to plane. False false and morphed market for me. But who am I to call the Great walled country a morphed economy.

I hail from India which too many is an automatic reason why i should hate china. But why should i hate china, i too prefer goods that are sold to me at prices that are lucrative. Hence i decline to see that argument and fail it. I question china's credentials because they don't seem to put in their brain when replicating products what other’s having spend billions and years to get too. My understanding was given an affirmation when i read a recent article which says that Indian students when they copy in an examination can't Xerox an answer and always the student who copies get more marks than the student whose paper was copied, where as Chinese students replicated it to perfection. Isn't it funny... Chinese have taken the world by storm by copying the things and producing them at Nano's price.

The whole world on one hand enjoys the prices of Made in China but at the same time looks at it with suspicion. Look at Apple -- they label their products with "Designed by Apple in California Assembled in China" to indicate that even though the products are made in China, the original design was from the US. Now this act have meant that Chinese use 'Made in India' instead of 'Made in China' to sell products to western world. The answer to this shift is simple -- India sells on it name beyond any country would. India is considered as a market that can produce superior goods at affordable prices thanks to the volume of people it has. In manufacturing terminologies India is called the BCCS (Best cost country for sourcing) & China is called LCCS (Low cost country for sourcing).

To be frank even we Indian's didn’t realize this act of China until the recent 2009 June scandal (large consignment of fake anti-malarial generic pharmaceuticals sold to Nigeria) produced in china but labeled as 'Made in India'. Mind you exports from China are directly under the surveillance of Chinese government. No second guesses why India is targeted by China. To play and calm India would further strengthen Chinese position in the world. Morphed position which i am sure in 5-8 years time will be stripped. In times to come i would urge China to be proud of 'Made in China'themselves first. These cheap acts are a further testimony to my reasoning that china doesn't believe in itself and sees the bubble will burst sooner rather than later. With brasil, mexico also claming stakes rapidly for LCCS and subsequently for being BCCS - China needs to dweal upon 'Made in China'.. I would say innovation will make the difference, but a legal one. Students need to learn the art from schools - art of Innovation ;)

Perfect Sunday

Simple things that made my sunday ;)

a) Early morning mail that wakes you up stating that your candidature has been accepted and you are welcomed as an intern

b) Cleaning room after ages, admist of the dust you find the lovely letter of your friend, memories flash by

c) Hungry after cleaning and you find that you are invited for lunch and the excess goes into your ref for dinner...gosh delicious international dishes..food taken care

d) Seeing your IPL team charge itself towards semifinals - Go Deccan GO !!

d)Finding out on sunday night while fighting against heap of assigments that your monday morning blues (classes) are cancelled

Normal sunday turns into a memorable sunday !!

Eyjafjallajokull

Eyjafjallajokull - Scrabblers out there take this one into your memory list, the 16 letter mammoth. The hottest word that had choked every body from President Obama to the layman. Exactly, All isn't well !!

With a monstrous cloud of volcanic ash closing down airports from across Europe, much of Europe is pondereing on: What do you do in a world without air travel? What really would you when the artifical birds can't take off ? Travellers - taking it as an excuse to spend another day or may be days at their respective destinations, bussines vultures turning to sea (not really), cars(London - paris 1500 Euros...lol), trains(cars preffered to show the urgency), e-world chit chats. The ash hovering at altitudes from 20,000 to 30,000 feet has grounded around 18000 flights since causing chaos to our day to day activites. Wonder how dependent are we on these Birds ??

Now if these troubles weren't enough this volcano has been named Eyjafjallajokull. Tongue twister. I have been reading enough about this cloud that has gulped the flying zone of 12 European countries wondering why is it named so?. I do know the bizzarre naming principle adopted in eastern world for the cyclones that keep battering the coasts (Each country that is a part of this group will get in its turn to name it as they like it -- rotational policy). 16 letter world - each european country contributing one letter from it - sharing policy, makes sense. The theory did hold good until a read in face book told me that it is simple. You need to learn how to break this icelandic word (i can't even break a hindi word properly at times). Anyways this is how it goes “Eyja” for island - “Fjalla” means mountain - “Jokull” for glacier. Fjalla and Jokull to an extent make sense but Eyja what is that doing in here ? I guess not all are named to make sense. I would rather pray to this Eyja-Fjalla-Jokull that its anger subsides down and when the ash settles down owing to Mr Gravity it doesn't cause major health problems. Praying and wishing is all that we can do as the experts have resorted to saying "We are not sure when it will stop, may be in hours, days or weeks". Hail science and technology. It again reconfirms my thought that we just can't predict the mother nature.

The Forgotten Glory !

April 12th, will go down in memory of most of us as a day when one of India's most hyped sports women had become the second wife of 'Doorsa' boy of Pakistan. This galmourous marraige with 'Haq Mehr' (dower money)of 61 lakhs has made it to the front, back and centre pages of newspapers, televisions channels would have crackled this as the breaking news of the day. In admist of this hype somewhere in the heart of Punjab Indian's most reliable sport was scripting history silently. Generations or to be specific sports enthusiats like me will remember this day for precisely this reason. The man's game as we call it in our villages - 'Kabbadi', yet again was at the centre in pinning the smiles back. World Champions we are !!

Since time immemorial we have been good at this one beast of a game where your acumen, judgement, speed & team work are put to test. This time it in the form of World Cup we were challenged. Were we ? Thrasing the finalists Pakistan mercilessly, 58-24, India had won the first edition of the Kabaddi World Cup. The final of this 10-day tournament was played at jam-packed floodlit Guru Nanak Stadium in Punjab where still the spirit and respect for this game remains untampered. Bring them on, I say !! It is one sport in which the whole world will take ages to catch up and i have every reason to belive seeing the scorelines throughout the championship.

A poke -- These gentle warriors don't even get a mentioning in the national newspapers leave making it as breaking news in television channels. Media needs glamour and not substance - Examplified. I as a sports lover am saddened to see that Indian's most respected news (sports) publishers NDTV and ESPN STAR didn't take it upon themselves to bring this mega event to the masses. The traditional game had long lost its battle against India's heart trob-Cricket, and a chance to revive it was eaten away by IPL coverage and marraiges. May be some of my Indian brothers and sisters who are after hype will soon realise it to be China - The Manipulated destination.

This event had participation from Britain, USA, Pakistan, Iran, Italy, Canada and Australia. In the semi-finals, India defeated Canada by 57-36 while Pakistan defeated Italy by 57-33 and made their grand entry into the finals. India - Pakistan finals are special, even more because it is Kabbadi - richest and oldest sport played in the now divided Punjab. Indians holding the cup and eating into all the accolades and trophies on the final day at cermony shows the mere domination. Bravo Bravo !!!

Take a bow Punjab govertment for the efforts you have churned out in reviving this special sport. I sincerely hope that this will give enough fillip to the sport and to players. 1 Crore price money on a sport that lacks 'glamour' and 'hype' is a worthy investment and history will applaud your efforts. Thanks Kabbadi - for reminding me that we are world beaters ! Being world champion is a matter of pride and i salute you warriors in making me proud !! Challenging the world -- Kabbadi, Kabbadi, Kabbadi.... ;)

Dream-Lived !!!

Planes, Artifical Birds -- Doesn't they spark your interest ? When I read in schools about the wright brothers inventing them, challenging birds to break their monopoly in skies I was curious..how can they fly? What makes them fly? How are they produced? Year after year i grew, so did my fascination. I would be the first to turn on the TV on Aug 15th, just to see the wonderful fighter jets forming the tricolor in sky. I had developed a love for these artifical birds. And Aerospace engineering was one field that always interested me, but thanks to my knowledge skills it remained a dream. HAL's, NAL's have always amazed me and at every opportunity during my engineering days i did try to get an internship opening. But as merit had no place and i had no contacts i couldnt break into them. My dream was under the carpet still. Trust me when i say my first flight was when i was 21 yrs old on July 26th from Delhi to Hyderabad, thanks to Whirlpool. That was the first time i touched the human bird. I flew the sky, with still a wish 'when i can see the making of them'.

On 9th April 2010 (a day when my cousin was getting engaged in India), i was living my dream. I was at the place where these beauties are made. Specialised for Trainner Fighters (defence purpose) & engine nacelles (for civil) it was one of the best Industrial visits. The place had some kind of magic in it, as i entered the supply chain expert in me took a back seat and engineer in me was re-born or more appropriately kid in me jumping up and down. 2 hours of presentation concentrated on the supply chain was interesting enough, but the main purpose of this 7.2 Euro trip was to see the making of these bitches. The bitches that train the pilots for wars. As we moved into the shop floor it was nothing but spectacular !

Composite unit - metal to metal bonding, composite to composite bonding, laser technology, curing etc.. Touching the fins of the Airbus and Boeings this metallurgical and materials engineer's mind was getting excited. From composite shop to the metal forming shop :- where for the first time i saw a rubber press which can form the metal. Can you imagine rubber doing that to metal ?? If that was not enough a few steps and it was water piercing the metal to shapes of its interest. The power of water - true; cutting the metal. I was spell bound, i never heard about that leave wanting to see that in 23 yrs. And here i was staring at the magic stream forcing it ways into steel, titanium, light alloys. My day as an engineer was made. More was on its way Machining, Heat treatment, Painting - all these process are unique in their own sense and far more technical, complicated than the automobiles (that's the technology related industry that i have seen). The whole experience had it own pleasure and learning because we were fortuned to see both the fighter's and civilians part's getting made. From parts, processes we went to final assembly unit where the final piece that competes and overturns birds in the sky was getting made. The walk down that 1 km square was all i have been dreaming all these years. The whole picture of M-346 being assembled will stay fresh forever in my life. Mind you that was the 5th trainner that was being meticulously put together under the vision of the mother depatment (RnD). Parellely on the other line we got the glimpse of M-311 which had completed its first journey (flight hours before first time full maintanence) in sky churning out more than 30 experts over 4-5 yrs of its flights. Third line - was getting laid. Believed them when they said the 3rd one is a masterpiece and the most ergonomic line designed ever in aerospace industry, such was their technical expertise. It was time to go back to the presentation room to pack bags and leave. But, If the menu till now was delicious, there was an icing on the cake. The newly launched M-346 was making it testing. It was about to take off from the run way. Paused to see the leader in fighter trainer's designed to prepare the piolts of new generation combat aircraft flying today. How many times in my life will i be able to see this red bitch or to that matter any fighter taking off from a distance of 100m ?

In 30 minutes with all the signals cleared this bitch full away into sky -- beautiful 'flying'. The cycle complete- seeing them fly, to flying in them, to making of them and to seeing them fly !! Man had lived his dream of flying long back and I had lived mine !! April 9th will go done in memory books for more than engagement that took place back in India.

PS: Company name intensionally avoided. M-346 is the latest one that can train the pilots for the next 10 yrs of changes that aerospace industry will go through. M- 311 is the bread and butter of today's pilot.

penned: Zero

penned: Zero

Zero

India's gift to the number's game. India's pride !! Zero is an integer, an even number. Zero is neither positive nor negative and Zero is a natural number and only natural number that is not positive. So it says all, Zero is all in one. With the flexibility it gives and its completeness i am proud when called by people a Zero. Such a feeling is natural, isn't it?

How many of us are merrier when people call us Hero and disappointed when called Zero? Infact all would be gallant to be called as Hero and gutted to be called Zero. I for one might see it differently, not that i am unique nor does my nationality plays a part - just because i think that Zero is complete. Probabaly we have taken Zero for granted, to be used to our liking. Using him for negativity which is beyond him, nearer but not him. But again, humbly the Hero in him has accepted what we want him to be. Isn't that the sign of adaptability? Isn't that a sign of a true winner? Doesn't it say all about Zero. It starts and ends at the same point, it represents a famous saying "what goes around comes around" which is so humble and grounded. And if that wasn't enough add him as many as you want to your right side minus obstacles (decimals) he makes your richer. Doesn't it speaks volumes of this gentle giant. I wish i was him. Humble, adaptable and yet powerful !! I laugh at those who riducle me by saying "You are a Zero" and thank all of them whole heartedly for this comparison. I wish when the history books are written i am referred of being the Zero of this era !!

Getting it Wrong/Right ?

I wonder with the things happening arnd have i got it wrong ?

It was new year eve and the whole world was partying, but me tried from the long day at Embassy (31st Dec) was off to bed at 10:00PM. The best of new year celebrations were behind me when i lazed out of my bed. And even bad was the timing of resignation. Had quit company in 2009 Dec only to be told that this year the bonues will be paid to only those who are in the organisation during April2010 (the time the bonuses are credited), a revised HR policies as communicated to me in Jan 2010. Loosing a good amount i guess, it has to be when your company is breaking all sorts of records. The amount becomes more valuable when you leave job for studies, and even more when you trade INR for EURO's. Only if HR policies could realize this human and conversion factors. My full and final statement will reveal it all

Landing in Milan only to get the confirmation in a week from dad that sis marraige has been fixed for June 2nd (Surprise element was far lesser in this case). Now not being able to support family for the preparations for the biggest of occassions isn't sinking in well. Some where the thought araises if i timed it wrong. May be yes...To add to this, when Lakshya team is working day in day out to diversify from Education to Health to Technology i sitting far away miss the action and have become a burden leg whom they are carrying along.

And with all the IPL happening in India with Deccan Charges charging their way back to summit i am only left with cric info commentary for updates. Wait wait if during the IPL i am in europe where no one understands what Cricket is or who Sachin is, during summer I will be in India, Andra, Tenali, Vetapalem where i won't be able to catch Football world cup live. Not even online (my village is still in the 1960's, but i admit i love it that way for its innocence)! Come monza (30 minutes from where i stay) in F1 and the rides of alphs by Mr Lance, i will be in India waiting for the first showers of monsoon. Missing out isn't it?

Does this degree and new learning's weigh over these moments that i am missing out on...Only time will tell.. I am sure there can't be an equation that will give a direct result on the trade off...But for sure only time will tell...Only time can give the answer....Am i winded by missing out on all these, I dont know may be to an extent yes with some of them but then living in Milan, enjoying the fashion week, San siros, Aperitivos, mastering the trade is worth the experience.

'North India' as i Experienced

I lived all my life in Southern part of India, but for a mumbai or delhi trip with family. In 2007 when i joined Whirlpool it was the first time i had to live for an extended period in the northern part of India. I have to thank my schooling and parents as i was ok with Hindi (my friends stay i have a slang of south indian while i speak, isn't it natural to have a slang ??). It wasn't something new that i was going to experience (atleast i thought so) as i studied at NIT W (a mini India) and majority of my friends have been the northies. Hindi was the flavor during those four years of college life where we co-exsisted but for some small state quarrels mainly over gals and 'chirkut' comments.

But life was to be so different. Living in north india all the south indians irrespective of the states where they hail from are called chennaities or thambis (the only word this part of india can twist). My first phase of 4 months wasn't tough though as there were plenty of trainess around and four months whissed by (2 out of 4 i was hit by acute jaundice and was restingin God's own place). Again in an opportunistic move (by company) i landed in Gurgaon (called millenium city of India) in 2009. I don't see a single reason why it is called Millenium city. I would rather call it the Dustiest city of India. A south Indian amongst northies -- Your skin colors is your sin, You taking bath in the morning and praying to god is considered yuck (not cool was ok, but yucky was hard to digest), You put oil to your hair (typical indian tradition to keep the head cool) very few would volunteer to have a converstation And eating by hand, forget it u will become the laughing stock. I an't joking at all.....These were hard realties that i had to accept being a southe in north. The only saving point for me was the language comfort that i had (i have seen the difficulty of the guys for whom hindi was alien). It left me wondering was I in India? Am i being osctrazied for my dravidian origin. It was so different from what i have lived and how we treated our guests (north, west or east of the country) back home. But i had to eat my ego and kill my anger for what i was being dished out to in my own country for the first few days of this new experience. Most of the places at office, guest house, public transports (autos are the only mode in gurgaon) it happened. I continued my way of eating with hand (more often than not), oil to my hair and other stuff as they were a part of my personality -'my habits'. Things started to change or may be my expectations changed as the days went by. I was getting comfortable when people at evey opportunity reminded me of the 'sins' and day flew. More friends and comfortable i was in Dusty city of India (but i still am wary of so called 'Delhites'). I still think they weren't joking. They keep dishing out the same treatment to all the dravidians one after other who land up there. May be it is their inferiority complex or insecurity or trying to be 'yo-yo'. Whatever it was pleasure staying there and experiencing the differnces my own people dished out to me and will continue to do so in my stints further.

Eng/English in Chats - Interesting

Till few moments back I was of the opinion that formal English (which means typing sentences as they ought to be, words as they are spelled) was meant for occasions (speeches, literature writing etc etc..). But one question and the statement that followed on a recent chat changed it.

"Did you pick up your English from movies or Tv shows? I am impressed by the slang that you use..."

I was trying to clarify that I rarely watch English movies or Tv shows, hence for them to influence my lingo was feable. I gave the credit/blame to the most trustable allies in universe - 'Friends' (always to fall back on - evergreen option). Then my eyes picked up the word 'slang' on to which i hung on trying to decipher the meaning. In couple of seconds I gave it up and asked my friend what actually she meant by 'slang'. I was curios because it wasn't the first time this was happening to me. The other day one of my friends used the word 'juvenile' to describe the English that I used over the chat and today it was 'slang'. I asked my friend to throw light on what exactly she meant by 'slang' (I am used to being pulled by my friends by associating 'slang' to my accent of hind, Eng, Telugu while speaking) as this was the first time I was slanged in a chat. You start worrying, when the incident happens again and again, whether you are abnormal. My question to her had worry at the same time curiosity written all over it. She was kind enough to elaborate on 'slang'. 'Slang' - Using too many abbreviations. Too many abbreviations over a chat by me was making others to either slang/juvenile my English. Ooph now that was something new to me. Abbz in chats is prety comn 2 us (oops-Abbreviations in chats is pretty common to us). All life long in g-talk and yahoo messenger (predominately Indians) we are used to it and we find fun in innovating new abbreviations time and again (Wasn't that supposed to be smart and fun). It is good when you comment over a picture, but over usage of it is hard to follow or comprehend was the swift reply. I did a quick check on the same in fb to find that we both were right. It is jst d Indians who use it tme & again & r comfy wid al d abbz, whereas others use the literature english (read as without abbreviations). Lessons learnt and cautious not to be called Juvenile or slanged in near future I thanked her. In deed this input from my Easter friend of the day (selected by fb this morning) will prove to me useful.

PS: So folks keep abbz to Indians and when you step out leave your abbreviations/innovations on language to rest, otherwise rest of the world will find it strange and hard to comprehend. 2 months it took me to learn this and probably many more to follow in this Euro Trip of mine.
Ms Miller & Ms Danna - I have in the above article tried my level best to keep my slangged/juvenile english out of the way (the once you see are intentional). Thanking you once gain. Ciao…ciao ;)

Winner - Sport

Sports – I love them. Cricket, Football, Tennis and the list goes on. Reliving some of the best moments make you wonder at the way the modern sport is moving. “The Gentlemen’s Game” doesn’t hold good anymore for Cricket, It’s now more of physical than a serene game. The way tackles are flying in and the head butts happen in football, it seems to be giving rugby a run for its money. All this happens in the name of winning. Is this want winning means or does? Winning at any cost is good attitude to have keeping in mind the respect for the opposition. It seems to be contradictory doesn’t it? Surely it did to me until I switched on El Clasico of tennis Fed-x V Nadal match (Wimbledon 2008 highlights). The answer seemed to be so obvious and the statement as such was put to perspective seeing the best in the business sweat it out.

The R v R rivalry had all the answers. Every match of theirs irrespective of the surfaces they play is a treat to watch. Certainly so in clay and grass, I might have no answer to the pundits and stats that show that Fed express speeds over the Spanish warrior on faster surfaces. But then here we are not debating who the best is. For me it is more about the way they play the game. One a magnificent artist, the other street fighter, one right handed the other left handed, one possess the most beautiful shot in the game - single hand backhand the other has a deadly spinning and dipping forehand, one relaxed and carefree the other meticulous about his rituals. They for sure have contrasting styles but they have one thing in common that is to win. Win at any cost? Certainly- pundits would echo coarsely. Yes they do with great hunger. For that they don’t slap each other, neither on the name of mind games call one another “Monkey or rather Maa Ki”. Wait when I say this all you will mull over to the fact that Cricket or Football is a team game and so a contact sport. Inevitable, hence Game-set and Match. Is that what is running through your brains?

Friends here there is no comparison that is being made but rather a genuine observation at how well a rivalry can be fruitful for the game. How aggression in the game and not on the personnel makes the game even more enjoyable. Tennis very true isn’t a contact sport, but neither is cricket. The rivalry between the Swiss maestro and the Spanish bull - isn’t it a treat to watch? They are so special for the reason that they are not bad losers. They make each other sweat the most to earn every single point. But then that is where their animosity ends. The respect they have for game and to opponents as such reminds you that this is still a game, where one has to loose but the sport wins, the fans win. They are the perfect brand ambassadors for this wonderful game. As I finish this one just to emphasis the point we just have to rewind to Barca v Arsenal quarter final’s match at Emirates. Wasn’t that a treat? Football played at break taking pace, end to end stuff, no swearing, no play acting and no leg breaking tackles. After all it is a game where one has to win and win at all costs. I agree. But to win you don’t have to be a bad looser, you don’t have to enact you opponents to red cards. The pain in me as a genuine sports follower is that the people have taken the wrong side of ‘Winning at any cost’. The people who matter have forgotten that it is a game that is played to bring smiles on those tired faces that walk in to stadium. Hope there are many more such rivalries that will grace the sports and refresh it for the generations to come. Hope players walk the pitch to play the game. Hope Hope and Hope !!!

Do U?

Do you have it in you?

To stand by your feelings

To stand tall among opinions

To call spade a spade

To call the shorts when required

To be self, to be you


Do you have it in you?

To make the impossible possible

To make history

To question the traditions, customs

To question the ‘wise’ men

To be self, to be you


Do you have it in you?

To find your destination

To find your dream

To walk the walk

To walk to glory

To be self, to be you


Do you have it in you?

To be self, to be you

Happiness

I search for her I want her,

I wish for her presence

I crave for her, I pray for her

I dream about her hereness

She brings repose, she brings calmness

She is serene, she is priceless

She brings radiance, she brings freshness

She is simple, she is peerless

There I see her, she is suffocating

They all are fighting for her

They squeeze her, she is aching

They want her, they forget her

She escapes them, she comes to me

My wish is here, I celebrate

I want to keep her, I want to own her

I forget her, she is mine forever

I stagnate; I realize I am suffocating,

I pause, I see her struggling

She is aching, she is hurting

She wants to speak, she is whispering

I hear her, she wants freedom

She wants to move places

I ask, will you come back to my kingdom

She smiles and moves

She is enjoying, she is growing

She is Happiness, I see her living

I am happy, I see her around me

She is with me forever, forever

NIT W

Walked through the gates first time ever with pride,

Feeling satisfied and accomplished with every stride

People and culture were different and new

The things I knew were very few

Initially attending classes, meant learning

Being with seniors meant time wasting

But, space with them taught more than any school could have



As time moved on lifelong friends were made

Soon from fresher’s to seniors we made the grade

Attending classes, labs and submitting assignments were of least priority

Late night movies, booze and sreenu point became a regularity

Hanging out with friends, playing and long hours in front of PC gave us the satisfaction

Last minute studies, sharing of papers got us through examination

Fests, Festivals, Fresher’s and Farewells – 4 F’s of our college

Life was better, Life was fun : we didn't have to manage



Fours years flew by and curtains to college life neared

We were bidding adieu to place, to people whom we cared

Walking through the gates this time around, We had grown up from boys to men

NIT W, you the best !! Thanking you for all that you have given

Bitter 'Rasagolla'

I couldn't believe my eyes. It is one of those 'unthinkables', may be by restricting self to 'unthinkables' i am being nice (my vocab isn't strong either). A sin, unpardonable crime has been commited. In the land of Kali her own son has be cornered. Yes, Sourav Ganguly, Bengal's greatest sporting gift to India is once again questioned, this time from within (probably first and will be the last time to happen). Avid followers of Prince (i being one of them) are shell shocked. Anti-Dada campaign in the heart of Bengal - I for one never thought that it can happen.

The poster read "Dada theke dadu bhai / tabu cricket khela chaai" -- Dada has become 'Dadu' (grand father) & still wants to play cricket. If that statement wasn't enough it had message for the IPL caretakers of KKR "Souravke tara re/Kolkata jitbe re" - Fire sourav if you want to win. In Indian cricket this is nothing new for cricketers in general, the 1.3 billions fans who follow the game are all 'Experts' (We all think we play better and understand the game superior to the 11 that go out and play the game). But the thing that doesn't sink in me is how can it happen to Dada and too in Bengal - 'Insane'. If it happened to Sachin in mumbai under the leadership of 'Marati Manoos' or to Dhoni in Jharkhand it wouldn't have come as an iota of surprise. But this getting dished out in Bengal is altogether different.

Bengal has always been known for its passion for sports. Be it be any sport (soccer, cricket) they wear heart on the sleves and admire it. And to those masses when Sourav turned out innings after innings taking Indian cricket to its Pinnacles, it was celebration time. The little boy from Kolkatta had become everything for them. He had become their 'Dada'. When the world questioned Ganguly they stood behind their Icon. Ganguly's enemies were Bengal's enemies. They took on the entire world (in any forum Tv chats, Interviews, public debates) and braved their child for more.It was a relation probably the whole world envied. It was emotional, it was PASSIONATE.

It took a certain innings of 88 runs the following day from the 'Lord of Offside' to answer the tweets of the selfcentered 'Bollywood Shame' (Sharukh Khan, I hate Hema Malini for giving this dual faced hypocrate a break and Yash Raj for giving him all those wonderful roles) rather than a reminder of his aura to the Kolkatta or his fans. 2007 of Indian Cricket (The Rising of the Pheonix) is still fresh in the minds of the people from the land of Hoogly and the rest of India too. He forever had to live with critics and enviers for the mere reason that he was Unique & Succesful (he installed belief into us, he captained us for victories-India & Abroad, he stood by his players against world and will remain the Icon who changed the way we played the game). He had the land of 15 million people behind him no matter what. Their 18 years of love story would become an Oscar winning movie by itself. But if every movie needs a villian and to spice it up even more if it is a 'Vibhishana' (the cult fig in Indian history who leaked his family secrets) then on March 30th we got The New Alipore Cricket lovers' Association (NACLA), under whose banner the poster appeared, even painted Sourav's picture with his hairs white and a walking stick on Sourav's left hand, the hand that holds the bat. They committed Sin. They will never be pardoned by the macher jhol, rasagolla and Dada loving people. I only could see the families of NACLA culprits abandoning them for the love of 'Son of Kali- Saurav'. Their love story continues; within 48 hours the posters were stripped away from the streets and support to Saurav was capturing the headlines once again (status co).

14 years and counting :D

A causal chat with Abhishek Verma (who was supposed to spend his night shift working for IBM rather than chatting with me over Man u - Chelsea game) threw up this amazing number in front of me. 14 years man 14 years (i still can't take it) i have been following BPL or rather i should say Man U. It all started in knowing that the defending champions (red devils) were playing and when you see your first goal of a football match being the 52m stunner by David Bechkam you just turn out to be. A David bechkam and Man U fan for life. That season i didn't have many chance to see the matches live on TV (as BPL fever hadn't caught up that much in India and i was in Kerala (Pilicode, by nov moved to Tcr) and computer and internet were not even in my vocabulary) but do remember that Man U drew stick from all quarters after the loss to New castle (infact they were thumped by New castle). Come may even w/o kicking the ball Man U were crowed champions. It was then a big shock when the famous Eric called quits, to be frank i only knew few names in the team DB, Ole (as he was the leading scorer) and coach Alex. So Eric quitting and its consequences didn't matter to me. I, 11 year old kid was celebrating that my team had won the championship (if fact retained).
The importance of Eric resignation hit me when in 1997-98 season we ended trophy less. All pundits attributed it to the absence of the charismatic Eric and shrewdness of Arsene Wegner at Arsenal. I can still remember that Roy Keane (new club captain) was adamant that United will win the championship some where in March (my final year exams were on) and i was trying to get as much information as possible on PL (premier league) with the access to DD and The Hindu. As a budding footballer fan it was probably the point when Man U became close to my heart. When your team gets beaten and your friends go gaga on it, the anger in you makes you closer to your team even challenging them that they trophy will be back with me (read as Man U; emotional).
And back it was in 1998-99 season. There was no stopping us. We won the treble. Bring them on no matter which club what competition we went on decimating the opposition by keeping them guessing till the last seconds. It was a year of last minute victories. It was the year when we become come back kings. It was the year when we crowned our selves as Champion of Champions at Nou Camp in the final 3 minutes. That season will remain as the season to beat for times to comes. We played the final without out charsmatic captain (keane) and fox (scholes). I can still remember the pleasure of winning it catching the highlights of the match at cousins place (guntur). To get those glimpses i had to resort to emotional blackmails to my dad to get the train tickets dates moved from the final's day (we were supposed to return from tenali, my home town to trichur).In this season the golden generation (The beck's, scholsy, giggsy, keane, nevviles, ole all from the OT school) of the 1990's peaked.
We lost the best Goal Keepers of that decade Peter Schmeichel in the same season. He was one of the most imposing GK's you will find in football. Brought to Theatre of Dreams in 1991 he played for us for 8 years. The deal of 1991 was later acknowledged by the manager himself as the 'bargain of the century'. Since then we had many a GK's but PS is the special one to have played the game. 1999-00 season was more or less taking care of threatening Leeds united. But i will remember it as a season where we made the biggest mistake even though we won the league we didn't play the FA cup. My footballing knowledge was improving and not seeing Man U play in FA instead play the world club competition in Brazil. In India the coverage to PL was improving day by day and by accessibility was getting better to the live matches. 2000-01 season was a comfortable season where we retained the league easily and probably the season where in i realized the pace and strength of what Arsenal was building. Even though my heart will always say united, that Arsenal team was playing some great football. I liked them and in Arsene Wenger there was a manager who was silently plotting the downfall of Sir Alex and Man U.
Come 2001-02 and Arsenal's young brigade walked the PL. They scored in all the matches, went through the season w/o loosing a single match at home. The nail in the coffin was when Arsenal won 1-0 at Theatre of Dreams (wiltord scored the goal, I will never forgive him for that sin of his). It was probably the season where we could have done better but as every good thing has to come to an end out hatrick of league titles had to come to an end. But on reflecting i think loosing to that Arsenal side with pires, dennis, henry, sol, Inspirational and calm Tony, flying freddie it wasn't a disgrace. But the biggest flaw that season was Liverlpool (team of fools) leapfrogged us to finish second.
Probably that was the kick we needed. Roy Keane and his men bruised and hurt from previous season went to the battle field and reclaimed their right - Right to be Champions of BPL (PL was renamed to BPL that year).2002-03 we won it our right at the top step of podium and giving arsenal the taste of 1997-98 season (where they amassed and amazing run in april and may to steal our cup), who went on to nick the FA cup from us. We had Nistel roy finally living up to his potential. A potent poacher he was. The best by far compare to Coles and Yorkes we had in late 90’s. The boot kick incident can’t go w/o a mention. My link to BPL, Man U was gone. Beck’s was sold to Real Madrid. Goals of Becks in champion league quarter final at OT against real as a substitute couldn’t convince Alex to retain him. Deal was done, Beck’s had to leave.
2003-04 was a year of prolific Chelsea acquisitions, with the new signings legacy of Chelsea was getting created. But the title went into the hands of Arsenal led by Henry. Arsenal bet there own previous record and went unbeaten in the whole campaign. Take a bow Wenger and his men!!! Man U with no becks had to settle for the FA cup. It was the year where we were seeing the diving Ronaldo (carrying the Eric and Becks legacy on his back) come of age. He was breathtaking to watch and the restricting was taking place at theatre of dreams. Gold gen was aging. Roy Keane departed the in a dramatic of fashions.
In the following season big spending Chelsea landed the ‘Special One’ to BPL and he in his first season capped them with league title and the carling cup. I admire him man, I love him and still think that he will take over the reigns at OT once Sir Alex calls it a day. Man U ended trophy less, loosing to arsenal in penalties in FA cup final. Champion’s league was a disappointment yet again (as a man u fan I was confined to thought that CL is not our cup of tea). But if the previous campaigns positive was Ronaldo, this year we had Wayne stolen from Everton. 2005-06 wasn’t much different. Rebuilding was happening at theatre. Nistelroy left us for Real, which turned out to be the blessing in disguise. After two trophies less years and young squad under disposal we stopped Chelsea. Since then we have won BPL three times, reached CL’s finals twice is successive years (no other team has done that, may be Barca might do it this time) winning once and loosing to Barca. 2007-08 we won everything 4 trophies in one year. With Rooney-Ronaldo partnership ending (thanks to the big spending Madrid), 2009-10 season we are being tested. New signings have come and gone, but as Neville said in Fergie we ‘Trust’. We need a big lift from him to see us through this hectic finish (finish with none of the R’s). As I write we are on top of BPL edging Chelsea by a point, still in CL with a return fixture against Bayern Munich (who has taken the revenge for last minute final loss in 1999 with their own spl last minuter in the first leg).

It hard too believe 14 yrs have flown by and still some of the Golden genx are weaving their magic (giggs, g neville & scholsy). One final push guys trust me i won't ask again. This year we need Premier League (to show the fools we have 19 and all recent one's not barking on history as they like them) & CL (to show Barca that they were lucky the other night). Holding of Mourinhio less Blues should be easier and seeing of Bayern & then frenchies a must. At Madrid on 22nd May we have an appointment with Barca.