"Expression of MY DAZE"

Nice poem about rains

2009-07-09T15:31:00.001+05:30

Beautiful river, down from the sky
Beauty, as the clouds do cry
The sacred bringer of all life
Water does calm all strife
Rain, quencher of the flame
Rain, Rain, I shout the name
Rain Rain, Beautiful rain.

-Aidan Ross

Memories of Rain

2009-07-09T15:18:00.001+05:30

It is raining here in Bombay and it brings back a gush of memories. My childhood memories are often about rain - the magic, innocence and the fun of it. Words are not enough to describe those feelings, and now, when I look back I have nothing but gratitude for the "showers of blessings". Sparkling raindrops lingering on the flowers, the lightness in the air and the fresh smell of the earth. Faraway, in the misty distance, so many shades of green. And closer, watching droplets racing down the windows.

The thought of school days at Shillong always brings back special memories. I remember being drenched from head to toe on the way to school because it poured with such ferociousness. I remember stomping through puddles while wearing our gumboots and splashing the water all around. I remember taking an umbrella to school and popping it open and shut in the classroom to get everyone wet. I remember putting on bright yellow rain coats and running in the rain. And during the breaks, I remember making paper boats and setting them to sail on the rainwater and look on as to whose boat went the farthest. I remember watching the dark pines wet with rain and the streets washed clean. I remember running to the college canteen and gorging on hot, steamy momos. I remember sliding and slipping in the wet corridors of the school. I remember wading in puddles after a shower in down field ('dhobi' field). I remember running to the down field with friends to catch fishes and tadpoles. I remember giving term exams in the study hall as it rained heavily, pounding away on the roof.

I remember the unpredictable weather. Sometimes it would start as a bright sunny day but by mid day the sky would be over cast with dark clouds and the rains would come pouring down, just when we were leaving school. I remember people used to say it's only in Shillong that we get to see all the four seasons in a single day. I also remember times when it rained and rained and rained for weeks on end without a break.

I have special memories of the joy of playing football with my friends who came out in utter joy to play every time it rained. Sliding around on the slippery grounds with droplets beating down on our faces was great fun. Particularly, I have great memories of playing in an inter-class football final in class 8 which unfortunately, we eventually lost.

Today, I miss the sound of raindrops falling on the tin roofs. I wish I was a school kid again so that I could enjoy the rains and life with the same carefree fervor all over again !

North East India

2006-02-22T13:43:00.000+05:30

Northeastern India is made up of the states commonly known as the “Seven Sisters” comprising Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, and Nagaland.
The lushness of its landscape, the range of communities and geographical and ecological diversity makes the North East quite different from other parts of the subcontinent.
It is connected to the rest of India by a narrow 20 km wide corridor of land called the Chicken's Neck. Due to this the states have been away from the Indian mainstream.
It is unfortunate that this region is neglected within our own country. I hope people will visit this beautiful part of the country and dispel their prejudices about the people of this region. The media is helping spread some awareness about the region now but a lot remains to be done.

Happy New Year

2005-12-30T11:02:00.000+05:30

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everybody!
May the season bring you joy and good cheer!

Here's looking forward to a great 2006!

Loneliness Quotes

2005-12-03T12:34:00.000+05:30

There is no greater sorrow than to recall in misery the time when we were happy. - Dante

I know the night is not the same as the day: that all things are different, that the things of the night cannot be explained in the day, because they do not then exist, and the night can be a dreadful time for lonely people once their loneliness has started. - Ernest Hemingway

Loneliness the clearest of crystal insight into your own soul, its the fear of one's own self that haunts the lonely. - Keith Haynie

Life dies inside a person when there are no others willing to be-friend him. He thus gets filled with emptiness and a non-existent sense of self-worth. - Mark Lavoie

Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the spaces between the notes and curl my back to loneliness. - Maya Angelou

Confused Lines

2005-11-27T19:15:00.000+05:30

Do I know you?
I really cannot!
I do not even know
The person that is me!

-----------------------

Head Left
Head Right
Go straight
Take the bait!

-----------------------

I remember you
I need you
I have a dream
But you are too far away
And who has time anyway!

-----------------------

Strangers, we stare
Size each other up
Realign our prejudices
And simply move on!

-----------------------

Happiness and grief
Everything is brief
I have nothing to give
All I do is take and live

-----------------------

I distrust my senses
They fool my mind
They push me into traps
Leaving me writhing
In despair and pain!

-----------------------

Feminists are dangerous

2005-11-27T18:57:00.000+05:30

No, I am not a male chauvanist. The problem with feminists is that they genaralize all men as their enemies. Something as simple as "You men are all the same!" tell you that these women are prejudiced. I have heard these words repeated often. One should not judge people because they belong to a certain sex, religion or colour. Everyone is different and unique. And people do change if you give them good reason to. I find it disheartening to see that women these days are always competing with the men to prove themselves. What men do is not so difficult really! So what good does it do to prove that you can do what men can do!

I Love Walking

2005-11-25T15:59:00.000+05:30

I love to walk. I've enjoyed walking and running in the hills for as long as I can remember.I've lived in Shillong most of my life, and love her verdant green hills. Shillong is a great place to walk and my father has always been an inspiration as far as walking is concerned. He enjoyed his walks and still does. The feeling of freedom, independence, and of being at one with nature is very special. It refreshes the soul - you remember to laugh again and enjoy life. And it is great for your health !
Pune is not a great place to walk. Most cities aren't. But there are places in the outskirts of Pune where one can enjoy a walk in solitude. I try to walk as much as possible and avoid using vehicles, which most people cannot quite understand in this day and age! Everyone is in a hurry these days. I like to take things easy and notice life around me as a million things keep going on inside my head! I intend to keep walking and enjoying it for as long as I can.

Calvin And Hobbes Quotes

2005-11-25T14:31:00.000+05:30

Calvin : "Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."

Calvin : "History is the fiction we invent to persuade ourselves that events are knowable and that life has order and direction."

Calvin : "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want."

Calvin : "The purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure pure reasoning, and inhibit clarity. With a little pratice, writing can be an intimidating and impenetrable fog!"

Calvin And Hobbes

2005-11-25T13:29:00.000+05:30

Calvin and Hobbes was easily my favorite comic strip when it was in circulation. In fact it still is my favorite all time comic to this day. The writing was great, the drawings magnificent and the creator, Bill Watterson had a cool sense of humor. I would love to have a collection of all the Calvin and Hobbes strips one day!
Calvin and Hobbes is one of the finest works about childhood of all time. The comic strip was introduced in 1985. Ten years ago Bill Watterson left newspaper cartooning for painting. Since then, no new comic strip has matched the quality of Watterson's daily drawings about the boy(Calvin) and his tiger(Hobbes). The 3150th and final strip ran on Sunday, December 31st, 1995. It depicted Calvin and Hobbes outside in freshly-fallen snow, reveling in the wonder and excitement of the winter scene. "It's a magical world, Hobbes ol' buddy!" Calvin exclaims in the last panel. "Let's go exploring!".

Sad but True

2005-11-23T11:53:00.000+05:30

Manju Nathan is dead. Here is indeed a sad and a true story of a life and talent wasted. Gaurav Sabnis, a friend of Manju's from his IIM days, has a moving post on the man :

Monday, November 21, 2005
Bye, Machan

It was a cold morning in our hostel in IIM Lucknow. Sometime in Januray 2004 I guess. I remember the time because it was our last term, so things were a bit relaxed. Placements were around a month away or so. Life on campus was suddenly a lot different. With no pressures of an avalanche of projects, assignments and mind-term exams, we were soaking in our last few weeks at L. Regular visits to the city for a lunch or dinner, usually someone's treat for a pre-placement offer or something, and watching cricket in the common rooms. India was touring Australia then, and having just drawn a thrilling test series, were finding themselves a bit lacking in the one-dayers.

So it was one such morning that I woke up and headed to the TV room to watch India play Australia. That's when I met him, sitting in the TV room, wearing his customary happy smile. He greeted me enthusiastically, as he always did. Very few people were as upbeat about life as he was. He was Manju, a senior of mine who had passed out the earlier year. He had come down to campus to meet a few profs, and a few friends. Manju had been placed in Indian Oil Corporation Limited.

Manju was one of the well known faces on campus. To be a well known face at IIML you had to be good at something or notorious, since at any given time, there were 500 students studying there. Manju belonged to the earlier category. He was the booming voice of " 3.4", our campus band. He sang with gay abandon, from the bottom of his heart, and with an infectious enthusiasm. One of those singers who made the listeners feel like singing along, or at least clap in tune. I can't claim to have been very close to him, but I got to know him quite well as we were in the same INDEX team. INDEX is a market-research event where a team of 20 students has to work night and day for around a month. Having Manju in our team was obviously great, as we would prod him to break out into a song, and he would readily agree.

That cold morning, we got talking, reminisced a bit about our INDEX days, exchanged notes about the latest happenings. A few minutes later Sunil joined us. Conversation invariably turned to Manju's work life. We asked him how it felt to work in a PSU like IOCL. Was he the "bada babu". He shrugged. He said work was OK and all, but he felt that the business would improve a lot more if there was transparency. Apparently, part of his job was to inspect samples from petrol pumps, and report back to the company. The petrol pumps were ideally supposed to adhere to very high standards of purity. But he said the adulteration in the petrol pumps in UP, where he was posted, was usually so rampant, it's a wonder even a single petrol pump was functioning. Sunil and I, ever the free-market-nuts, talked about how allotment of petrol pumps, rather than being an "allotment" should be a transparent auction or bidding process. A petrol pump license should not be a political capital to be bartered. Manju agreed. He said the reason why this adulteration happened so brazenly was that the dealers knew that no matter what happens, their licenses couldn't be cancelled. If everyone does it, how many pumps will the company shut down? He said he usually tried to cajole, convince and scold the dealers to not indulge in such dishonesty. He said some fell in line, but most of them usually got back to the same old adulteration business. In fact Manju said, some of the petrol pump owners are downright scary. Whatever he spoke of his job shocked me and Sunil. It was clearly a job that tested one's integrity and courage a lot.

I didn't meet Manju after that. Never really thought about him much. Didn't even hear about him from anyone. I just read about his murder today on our IIML group. Didn't know the details initially, but I immediately remembered what he was telling us about his work. I wondered if it was related to that. Yes it was, as is confirmed by this Indian Express report -

IOC official seals petrol pump, is killed

Manju was murdered for doing his job honestly. Considering the circumstances, this case is no different from that of Satyendra Dubey. But not a single TV channel has carried this news today. And except for the Express Lucknow edition, no newspapers have deemed it fit to report on the front page either. People always crib about how IIM grads never do anything for the country or don't join PSUs. Here was one IIM grad who joined a PSU. Did his work honestly and in the right way. The work he did was to make our lives better. To ensure that petrol sold is not adulterated. And he was murdered in cold blood. If a CAT exam report deserves 4 separate articles, surely this deserves at least one? On the front page? It leaves me numb. I wonder what the police, IOCL, and Mani Shanker Aiyer are planning to do about this.

Rest in peace, Machan. Whatever place you are at right now, I am sure you are rocking it. You staked your life on your integrity. I really doubt if I would have done the same, had I been in your shoes. Hats off, and bye, Manju.

I am back and blogging

2005-11-22T11:49:00.000+05:30

Much has happened since I last wrote on my blog. I am in a new company. My marriage has been postponed and as of now no one knows when we are getting married ! The last few months were pretty difficult for me but now I am really over all that. There were problems at my last company which shut down prematurely and I was without a job for some time.

I am really happy to be back on the blog. Hope some people will read my blog :) .

Some beautiful quotations

2005-06-02T16:03:00.000+05:30

Someone's boring me. I think it's me.
To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with.
There are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors.
The strong man is not the good wrestler; the strong man is only the one who controls himself when he is angry.
I think, therefore I am dangerous.
Enjoy your life today because yesterday had gone and tomorrow may never come.
I shut my eyes in order to see.
My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary.
If you are not big enough to lose, you are not big enough to win.
Remember that what you believe will depend very much on what you are.
If your parents never had children, chances are you won't, either.
Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings.
The secret of happiness is to make others believe that they are the cause of it.
Speak properly, and in as few words as you can, but always plainly; for the end of speech is not ostentation, but to be understood.
Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute.
Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.
A poem is never finished, only abandoned.
I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, i can reach for; perfection is God's business.
I don't let my mouth say nothin' my head can't stand.
Love is like a violin, the music may stop now and then, but the strings remain forever.
Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech.
The longest journey of any person is the journey inward.
My personal hobbies are reading, listening to music, and silence.
I think the first virtue is to restrain the tongue; he approaches nearest to gods who knows how to be silent, even though he is in the right.

June is here

2005-06-01T15:02:00.000+05:30

I have not posted to the blog in quite some time . I had to add something today .I was out of Pune for a few days in the middle of the month and I had a good time .
My brothers will be leaving for Shillong in a few days . Dina also plans to go to Shillong with her plans to shoot a full length feature film .
This is a good time to share some information about Shillong , my home town .

Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya, is a picturesque hill station commonly called the 'Scotland of the East', known for it's temperate climate and beautiful landscape. Shillong is situated at an altitude of 4,908ft (1,496 m) above sea level. It is situated on a plateau .Shillong Peak, the highest point of Shillong, is located to the south of the city and is 1961 meters (6,433 feet) in altitude. About 56 km from Shillong is Cherrapunji , also called Sohra. Cherrapunji and Mausynram (another village nearby) are reputed to be the wettest places in the world. Seventeen kilometers before Shillong is situated Umiam or Barapani—a large lake formed after a hydroelectric dam was built across a stream. Shillong is also famous for its churches and cathedrals. Shillong has one of the largest golf courses in Asia and the golf course is called "Glen Eagle of the East". Rabindranath Tagore wrote his famous play "Shesher Kobita" (the last poem) when he was in Shillong.

Happy New Year

2005-04-15T14:32:00.000+05:30

It is the first day of Bengali calendar year today . The first day of this month (Baishakh) is referred to as 'Poila Baishakh'. I hope it marks a new beginning, a new hope, a year full of joy, well-being and prosperity for all of you.
Shubho Nabo Barsho!!

This is also the perfect time for me to announce that I am getting married to Dina . The wedding ceremony will most probably be in the month of January next year at Kolkata .

Guitar

2005-04-08T11:04:00.000+05:30

I recently got myself a guitar from a friend of Sourav . It is a classic six-string Givson with nylon strings. I also got myself a simple book titled 'Right Way to Play the Guitar' and am going through it slowly, trying to teach myself how to play the guitar .
I am finding it difficult as yet to tune the guitar correctly and unfortunately I don't have any friends who play the guitar .
I hope with time I will be able to play the guitar pretty decently .

As of now , this suits me fine .

Theory is when you know everything about music but can't play.
Practical is when you can play everything but you don't know anything about music.
I am a perfect blend of both...
I dont know music and I cant play anything.

Happy Holi

2005-03-25T10:35:00.000+05:30

H O L I H A I !

The festival of colours - Holi is here . The coming of Spring is celebrated with a riot of rich colors . People smear 'gulal' and drench others with coloured water .
Holi actually starts the night before with a bonfire made up of all the dried leaves and branches that are burnt to signify the coming of Spring.
In most regions of India, Holi celebrates the joyful leelas of Lord Krishna and his gopis. There are other stories. Like the one about Holika who believed herself to be immune to death by fire and tries to kill her nephew Prahlad but gets burnt to death herself .

Here's wishing everyone a wonderful and cheerful HOLI !

Tsunami

2005-03-24T12:13:00.000+05:30

Out of the blue you hit us
With all your force
You battered me and
Left me broken ,on the shore

You came and you went away
You took away with you
The life we knew ,
And all that you had given me .

Now the waters are calm again
But the salty water
Cuts at my festering wounds
The deepest in my heart

You have left me numb
A zombie left clinging on
To a thread of hope
Broken away from my own

As I look back at you
I have a fear in my heart
I am scared ,
The rage of Mother Nature
Is something I cannot fathom !

Dina's stay at Pune

2005-03-23T19:16:00.000+05:30

Dina was in Pune between the 5th and 14th of March . I missed out on a lot of work , and I was so happy to do so.
I would say we had a great time even though we did not go out much .We just spent some quality time with each other .
We went to Koregaon Park one day with Sourav , Iba , Navin and Sharmilee for company . We saw 'Page 3' together at E-Square . And best of all , we saw the KK show live at the SSPMS grounds , courtesy Sourav.
She was aghast to see how we lived at our bachelor pad , which had been cleaned up to a large extent!
While she was here , she cooked for us on certain occasions. She is a very good cook and we all were left licking our hands. Now , I feel very lucky to know that my future wife is such a good cook ! The kitchen still has a lot of the things that she had purchased while she was here .
The people at FTII managed to bungle things .The forms were not available at the institute on the given date . They said that it would be available on the 14th, so Dina stayed on a bit longer. That was a blessing for me of course, as I got to spend more time with her. So we booked the tickets for the 14th . Unfortunately , the forms were still not out on the 14th and she had to leave without the forms . I got them from the institute later and mailed them to her.
But now that she has gone back home, I am missing her much more.

CRY

2005-03-11T14:57:00.000+05:30

Child Relief and You . CRY is an Indian non-government organisation (NGO) that works towards restoring basic rights to underprivileged Indian children.
In the words of Rippan Kapoor, "whatever it be that you choose to do, it will make a difference - to a child's life and your own".

Some Nice Thoughts

2005-03-02T19:20:00.000+05:30

The most wonderful of all things in life, I believe, is the discovery of another human being with whom one's relationship has a glowing depth, beauty, and joy as the years increase. This inner progressiveness of love between two human beings is a most marvelous thing, it cannot be found by looking for it or by passionately wishing for it. It is a sort of Divine accident.

Love is not just looking at each other, it's looking in the same direction.

Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others, and the delight in the recognition.

Grief knits two hearts in closer bonds than happiness ever can; and common sufferings are far stronger links than common joys.

Him that I love, I wish to be free -- even from me.

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage.
--Lao Tso

Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourself a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles.
--Helen Keller

Never let yesterday's disappointments overshadow tomorrow's dreams.

The best indices to a person's character are how he treats people who can't do him any good, and how he treats people who can't fight back.

When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.
--Buddha

Trip to Kolkata

2005-02-26T20:02:00.000+05:30

I was in Kolkata between the 13th and 19th of this month . I had a wonderful time meeting Dina , her family and friends . Before I left for Kolkata , I got rid of my goatee !
Meeting Dadu , Dida , Mama , Mamima and Mani after a long time brought back good memories. I enjoyed the food at Kalyani. Dida is simply the best cook in the world ! It was good to talk with Dadu and Dida after all this time . Unfortunately , I could stay there only for three days .
Time passed by so quickly that before I knew it I was on my way back to Pune . Unfortunately , I had to come back here before my birthday . Dina was very sad . And I was none too happy because she was sad .

Adapted from Bertrand Russel

2005-02-26T17:04:00.000+05:30

Three passions have governed my life:
The longings for love, the search for knowledge,
And unbearable pity for the suffering of [humankind].

Love brings ecstasy and relieves loneliness.
In the union of love I have seen
In a mystic miniature the prefiguring vision
Of the heavens that saints and poets have imagined.

With equal passion I have sought knowledge.
I have wished to understand the hearts of [people].
I have wished to know why the stars shine.

Love and knowledge led upwards to the heavens,
But always pity brought me back to earth;
Cries of pain reverberated in my heart
Of children in famine, of victims tortured
And of old people left helpless.
I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot,
And I too suffer.

This has been my life; I found it worth living.

Love Matters

2005-01-13T10:51:00.000+05:30

I guess what I wrote on my last post turned out to be truer than I imagined . The 4th of January proved to be a turning point in my life . All this , because a beautiful lady with an even more beautiful heart entered my life on this day . Her name is Dina . I am a lucky man to have her love .
Suddenly all my troubles , my emptiness , my loneliness seem like a distant memory . I am enjoying one of the best times of my life . Love matters !

Happy New Year

2005-01-03T10:45:00.000+05:30

    2004 turned out to be a pretty topsy turvy year for the world and also for me . There were a lot of ups and downs , but then that is what life is all about.
    The tsunami proved to be the biggest natural disaster in many , many years . I feel really helpless as I sit here not able to do anything to help those that faced the brunt of this .
    But then life goes on . We all have to move on and hope for a better tommorow . And also contribute towards making it a better tommorow !

    Here's wishing everyone a prosperous and happy year ahead !

   Personally , I had a great start to this year . I was fortunate to meet all my closest friends and spend some quality time with me . That leaves me with a lot of hope for the coming year .

   My prayers and best wishes are with all of you !

Merry Christmas

2004-12-24T16:30:00.000+05:30

Christmas is a time for rejoicing and feasting. Christmas evokes compassion and rekindles the goodness inherent in man. If only the Yuletide spirit were to last every day, the world would have been a better place for everyone.

I would like to wish everyone a very happy and peaceful Christmas !

Update

2004-12-19T05:55:00.000+05:30

It's been some time since I have added a post on this blog. Well there are a few changes to take stock of.

I have grown a small goatee now . It has a few advantages :
1) It looks pretty cool , especially with my new 'Megadeth' t-shirt.
2) I can pull on it when I am thinking !

Also , now I am the proud owner of a Motorola r350 . Heh Heh ! Now only the problem is that I have this mobile for two days already and no one's called me so far!

DON'T BE SAD

2004-11-18T17:36:00.000+05:30

This is something that a dear friend , Gazala sent me today . :)

SO - REMEMBER RIGHT NOW, DON'T BE SAD Because:
* Somebody is very proud of you.
* Somebody is caring about you.
* Somebody hopes you are not in trouble.
* Somebody is thankful for the support you have
provided.
* Somebody hopes everything turns out all right.
* Somebody wants you to be happy.
* Somebody thinks you ARE a gift.
* Somebody admires your strength.
* Somebody wants to protect you.
* Somebody loves you for who you are.
* Somebody treasures your spirit.
* Somebody is glad that you are their friend.
* Somebody would do anything for you.
* Somebody needs your support.
* Somebody always prays for u.
* Somebody will cry when they read this.
* Somebody needs you to have faith in them.
* Somebody trusts you.
* " Stop telling God how big your mountains are and
start telling your mountains how big your God is."
* Don't cry because it is over - smile because it happened!

Holiday in Murud / Harnai

2004-11-17T08:20:00.000+05:30

    Faced with a long weekend, Balam and I were desperate to get out of town for a little holiday far from the madding crowds. Unfortunately, Diwali weekend crept up too quickly and we had no plans. Maharashtra's Konkan Coast has some surprisingly nice beaches. So we decided at the last moment to head to Dapoli .

    We started off from Pune on the wrong foot though . Firstly, Sourav was not able to come because he some meetings to attend . So there were only three of us - Balam , Abhishek and me . Then , when we reached Swargate for our bus that was going to take us to Dapoli, the bus was an hour late ! We were travelling in one of those ST ' laal dabbas' literally meaning red boxes . The bus left Pune at 2:30 pm. Balam had got along his brand new Sony handycam.

    Well after the bus was on it's way and we reached the Bhor ghats , we managed to cheer up as we all thought that the scenery was pretty similar to that of Shillong. The scenery was truly breathtaking at some of the places. We got a few shots of the ghats on the handycam as we tried to use it properly .Our drive lead us to areas that were hardly populated at all .The bus journey though seemed to stretch on and on , more so as we had not had a proper lunch. The bus finally reached Dapoli at 9:30 pm.

    We were famished by now . We quickly headed to a hotel near the bus station at Dapoli. We had some fried pomfrets and 'surmai' curry cooked in typical Konkan style. We had our fill with a lot of rice !

    Now we were ready to hit the beach ! I had a plan that we would stay on the beach for the night and just have fun . I managed to convince Balam and Abhishek about this . We needed to find an auto now to take us to the beach which was around 16 km away . We found an auto and I tried to expalin to him where we wanted to go to (We did not know the name of the beach! ). The auto driver got it all wrong and he took us to some beach that was stinking of dry fish. So we had to ask him to take us away from there and to a better place . We had plans to see the Harnai fort in the morning , so we asked the auto driver to leave us on the beach near the fort . So the auto driver took us to the Harnai beach . It was now 11 pm.

    We were on this beach that was fringed by grass . The sea was near and we could see the surf breaking in the distance.But we could not see anything on the beach as it was a pitch dark night .The sky overhead provided an amazing sight .The stars were out in all their glory above us. We could also see international flights fly by high above us.

    We wanted a place where on the beach where we could sit down and enjoy ourselves. We went looking along this road that ran parallel to the beach. Unfortunately for us , we could not find any nice place and we had to walk back to where we had started. We sat at this small clearing near the beach. We all had something to say for the camera . I am sure Balam was not too happy , what with us ending up like this ! Abhishek was very excited though beacuse this was his first view of the sea ! I was enjoying myself . Balam was dead tired after the last two days of travelling and soon fell asleep . Abhishek and I tried to sleep but the insects would not let us . We had to wake Balam up again and ask him to come with us to this temple we had seen earlier. We spent the night sleeping on the steps of the temple . I am not too sure but the priest might have had a scare when he saw us all lying there and hearing Balam snoring loudly!

    We left for the beach again at dawn to catch some nice shots as the sun rose above the hills on the east and the haze lifted so that the earth and the sea slowly became visible. We saw that the beach was totally empty except for some people from the village who were answering the call of nature leading Balam to call this the 'toilet beach'. We had a walk along the entire beach none the less.
We decided we would go to the Murud beach . We had to walk the few kilometers there as there were no vehicles available . Balam had a sore on his foot and he was finding it difficult to walk.

    We chanced upon an advertising board down that was downright hilarious . The ad for a hotel on the Murud beach had such spelling that we could not stop laughing . Couple was spelled as 'coupal' and to top it all , bath tub was spelled as 'bath tuff' !

    We reached the village soon . It remined me of the villages in Kerela actually as the environment was so green. And we chanced upon Keralites, who had come to visit the village. We saw this really old temple in the middle of the village . We were hungry now after the walk , so we had 'vada' and tea. The 'pav' that goes with the 'vada' was not available as it was just 6:30 in the morning.
We now started to walk to the beach . We were looking for a hotel to put up in. I knew of some hotels at the far end of the beach , so I asked Balam and Abhishek to follow me. We saw a few people on the beach now . The water was looking very enticing and we all wanted to jump in but we wanted to get settled in somewhere first . We planned to have a bath as the humidity was making us sweat and we felt sticky all over.

    We soon reached the far end of the beach . This side of the beach was more rocky and much less crowded . The road here that runs parallel to the beach is a really wonderful sight. We were exhausted by now and the first hotel we enquired at was full . We sat down next to the road in this wonderful little clearing . We felt the wind on our faces. That was very relaxing . We sent Abhishek to enquire at the other hotel nearby. That too was full as it was Saturday !

    We decided to take a dip in the sea and move back to Pune in the evening ! We rested for a while on the grass . After this we all jumped into the water !

    We were in the water for more than two hours ! We loved it so much . Balam and Abhishek were a bit hesitant to come deep into the water as they could not swim . I told them not to worry as the water was shallow. Balam and Abhishek both wanted to learn some swimming . I helped then out a bit . They were floating around happily soon ! We all really enjoyed ourselves in the water.
After we came out of the water , we were exhausted . We sat on the beach chatting away . This beach was heavenly!

    We were soon very hungry and decided to find something to eat . Abhishek found out from the hotel nearby that their food was over . So we needed to go back to the other end of the beach but now we were too tired to walk back. We managed to find an auto thanks to a good samaritan . The auto driver took us to the 'Murud Beach Resort ' .

    At the resort , I went and asked if they had any food for us . The owner said that we would have to wait for an hour. We decided to wait . At the end of the hour , the food was laid out in front of us and we literally attacked it with gusto . We had rice , rotis , dal , fish curry and fish fry spread out in front of us. The food was wonderful . We really enjoyed it .

    After the lunch was over , we found that it was getting pretty hot . I decided to hit the water while Balam and Abhishek sat on the beach . Balam fell asleep under the hot sun . I had some fun in the water . After I got back , I found Balam still asleep . He was feeling dehydrated by now with the sun beating down on him . I pulled him up and asked them to follow me to some shade near the beach . We settled ourselves on some grass under the shade of the trees and tried to get some sleep . But this was not to be because of the insects that annoyed us no end. We still managed to get some rest.

    We hit the water again after we got some rest ! We had good fun again . There were a few people on the beach again as the heat became lesser with the evening approaching . We were tired after the exercise we had that day . We needed a bath badly now . We asked at the resort and they allowed us to have a bath . We all got fresh. We all felt much better after the bath .We ordered some tea and 'bhajjis' for our evening snack.

    We sat at the resort and watched as the sun slowly disaapeared over the horizon. We saw that a lot of people had now gathered to get a glimpse of the sunset . Unfortunately the battery of the handycam got over and we could not capture the beauty of the sunset.

    We decided to have our dinner at the resort before heading back . We ordered the same food we had for lunch . We were very hungry . The mosquites kept us company as we waited for our dinner to arrive which seemed to take unusually long for us hungry guys.

    By 8 we were ready to start on our trip back to Pune. It was really a difficult task convincing ourselves that we had to head back to the crowds . Do all good things have to have an end?

Happy Diwali and Eid

2004-11-09T15:16:00.000+05:30

Diwali is known as the festival of lights. This festival of Diwali honours the Hindu goddess Laksmi, who is the goddess of fortune, good luck, riches and generosity.

Eid is celebrated to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

I wish everyone a very ,very happy and peaceful Diwali

and

I wish everyone a very ,very happy and peaceful Eid .

Love Actually

2004-10-29T11:12:00.000+05:30

There is no doubt that the following quotations reflect a lot of what is going on in my mind . There is much for me to learn from these wonderful quotes and I hope I will. And I hope it inspires you too.

1) The greatest weakness of most humans is their hesitancy to tell others how much they love them while they’re still alive.

2) People need loving the most when they deserve it the least.

3)We cannot really love anybody with whom we never laugh.

4)You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.

5)People who are sensible about love are incapable of it.

6)When I first met you I was afraid to like you, now that I like you I'm afraid to love you, now that I love you I'm afraid to lose you.

7)Don't hold to anger, hurt or pain. They steal your energy and keep you from love.

Software Programmer's Life

2004-10-27T07:42:00.000+05:30

I start my day by sitting on a chair,
Giving my monitor a hard, cold stare,
By evening I am done with another coding,
Oh! This has become a routine so boring.

Like all , i entered this field with great hope,
Jobs were many and there was plenty of scope,
Dreams of joining the likes of Gates,
And a chance to make money in the States.

Thus, I entered the world of bytes ,
Only to realize that reality bites,
'Coz a programmer's life isn't all that cozy,
The bed of software isn't all that rosy.

Seeing the monitor all day and night ,
Have take the power of my sight ,
Working holidays , busy weekends ,
No time for family , no time for friends !

JSP / Servlet Interview Questions

2004-10-19T17:19:00.000+05:30

Here are some of the links that I gathered recently . Hope you will find them useful .

1. Questions at Techinterviews . Contains a lot of questions (on other subjects also). Check it out
2. Questions at Java Commerce
3. Questions at Applabs

Festivals

2004-10-16T16:48:00.000+05:30

The Navratri festival just started . The Durga Puja which is the most important festival for the Bengalis is just around the corner.
I wish I had holidays to go home to Shillong !
Happy Durga Puja to all of you !

The holy month of Ramzan starts today . I wish all a peaceful and blessed Ramadan !
I am looking forward to have a good treat on the occasion of Id later ! Asif would sorely like to go home for Id . His exams will be over but whether he will be going or not is the question !

Hope the festivals bring cheer and joy to all the people !

The week that was

2004-10-16T16:35:00.000+05:30

This has been quite a topsy turvy week .
Work has been hectic . I have had a few holidays but I can't wait to take a much needed break.
I had to take a holiday on the 12th because there was a theft at our flat . Two of our mobiles and the three wallets lying on the table in the hall were stolen ! And this happened at 8 in the morning ! The door was open and we were all asleep in the bedroom . The thief sneaked in and made off with the loot . When we went to the police , they asked us for money to file the report ! God , what have things come to in this country !
The theft has atleast taught us all a good lesson . Now no one's going to leave the front door open for some time to come atleast!

Top Five Search Engines

2004-10-08T17:51:00.000+05:30

1) Google
2) AllTheWeb
3) AltaVista
4) Yahoo
5) Ask Jeeves

Top Lists

2004-10-08T17:23:00.000+05:30

I have an idea !
I am planning to create top five/ten , etc. lists of different things on the internet . I will be personally checking out the sites to get the best (no guarantees) .
I will provide links to these sites on the list.
So happy surfing , folks !

Some cool quotes

2004-10-06T19:45:00.000+05:30

Hey I love quotes which can make you think and/or are funny. Here are some .

1) The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.
2) It takes both sunshine and rain to make a rainbow.
3) Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
4) Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.
5) Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.
6) Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.
7) I love work; it fascinates me; I can sit and watch it for hours.
8) Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun.
9) Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.
10) Out of my mind. Back in five minutes.

Back on the web

2004-10-05T08:10:00.000+05:30

I was away for a few days because I had a few holidays . I must admit that I am pretty much dependent on the internet for a lot of things . I don't like to depend on anything but then again , the internet has become such an important resource.
The weekend went off pretty well . First there was the little birthday celebration at our flat at 12'o' clock on the 2nd. Asif and Abhishek both had their birthdays .. we had some fun but the neighbours did put a spanner in the works. Asif has his exams and Abhishek had to go for some event , so there was was nothing special happening on the 2nd.
Balam reached here on the 2nd . He managed to find his way to the flat without any help . Both of us went out looking to lift our spirits but it was not to be . We ended up at E-square where we saw the second half of Tauba Tauba . That was enough to give me a headache . :)
The next day we went to E-square to watch 'The Terminal ' but we found out that the movie was at 11:35 pm , not am ! So Balam chose to watch 'Madhoshi' . I had to endure the movie for a full three hours after that . Wow , two bad movies in a row over the weekend gave me a heavy head. Why do these Bollywood guys make such inane movies ?
In the evening , I collected my new pair of glasses . Back to being four eyed !

Hey friends , is anyone reading this ? :|

Not a great day ...

2004-10-01T00:46:00.000+05:30

The day has started out pretty badly :(

I recieved some sad news from a friend .

I missed the bus for my office and if that was not bad enough , I lost my pair of spectacles in the rush to get to office . I don't have the faintest idea where I dropped them .

At work I am going real slow on this Struts project that I working on right now . I really would like to get some good advice on some stuff but I guess I have to make do with stumbling along and learning along the way .

Let's just hope the rest of the day does not turn out too badly !

Second day on my blog ..........

2004-09-30T03:09:00.000+05:30

Well , it's the second day on my blog .
I have registered with Google Adsense which will place ads in my blog . I will be earning a few dollars if you guys will click on the ads that you see . The ad should be visible on the right side of the page .
So now the challenge is to make this a popular blog ... how will I do that ... I don't have the slightest clue . Maybe you guys can help ... whoever comes by here could add a comment as to what they would like to see on this blog . :)

2004-09-28T19:34:00.000+05:30

Smiley

First day on my blog :)

2004-09-28T18:39:00.000+05:30

It's around 6:40 at my office in Pune, India .

I am trying out the preview version of the new browser Firefox ( great name !) and I think it's cool. The guys at Mozilla have done a great job on this .It is fast and I like the new features that it's got . If you are using the internet often, I suggest you install it too and try it out for yourself . It is available at http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

Actually I am on this blog because of Firefox which had blogger.com on it's bookmarks tab .

I hope some people are going to read this blog of mine ! ;)