When the Scruples bother you too much...

There was a time when I was rarely ever bothered by my conscience..or mostly it was about things so inconsequential,I tend to laugh at how much I wud giv importance to those little things back in my childhood...
But now that I have reached adulthood,past the time when I cud leave the decisions to my dad and forget abt it..now that I am reponsible as a citizen of this country that i stay in..I dont have the same liberty afforded to me in the warmth and ignorance and bliss of the childhood.

Wondering wht this is all abt??

Let me come straight to the point..
Last month i had been to my sister's place at Tarapur.One has to take a shuttle from Virar or a Gujrat bound expresss for reaching Boisar,which is near Tarapur.
When i was coming back to Dadar,me and my bro,my sister and my bro-in-law,the 4 of us got tickets for the Saurashtra Express..Now when you get into the long distance trains,you are not supposed to board the Sleeper or Reserved bogies..thr r 2 separate bogies known as the General compartment for passengers like us..
Naturally,u r expected to get into them and nowhere else.
Not that i didn't knw this basic piece of information..it was thr sumwhr at the back of my mind...
So, we 4 were waiting at the platform for the train to arrive..chatting and whiling away the time until then..none of us noticed that we were at the wrong place for the General bogie would not come where we were standing at..tht was the place for the Reserved bogie..
Eventually when the train did arrive,we all boarded the Reserved compartment without any qualms for it had slipped our minds to take care of that little technicality!
But after we got in and the train started,I realized sumthing was amiss and mentioned to my bro-in-law tht this might be the reserved bogie we got into..But he allayed my fears saying it was a free-for-all(if u knw wht i mean!) compartment and I shudn't bother myself much over it...
Suddenly thr was a commotion nearby wth 2 passengers squabbling over a seat and one of whom informed the other rather testily tht he had resevation for the entire berth and cud sleep on it if he wanted to!!Of course,now we were pretty sure we HAD got into the wrong compartment and decided to get down at the next station..
But as luck wud have had it...a Travelling Ticket Examiner came along the very next moment and asked me to show my ticket..So,me and my bro showed him wht ticket we had and the TTE took immense pleasure in informing me that i was in the wrong compartment and had to get down at the next station...after paying the required fine of course!!
The TTE hadn't bothered to chk my sis's and bro-in-law's tickets and thy were obviously not interested in drawing any attention to thmselves in this case..(my sis was already asleep by this time!!)
Well,i knew i was in the wrong and had no problem doing wht i was told to do..Then the TTE called me at the gangway near the door away from other passengers.There were a few passengers caught ticketless,others without a proper ticket like me standing there waiting to hear his verdict..
But the TTE was in no mood to take out his challan book and fine anybody,but happily accepted whatever the caught passengers gave him..for some he charged Rs.50,others 100 bucks..depending upon how much thy had grovelled..
First thing he had told me in front of the other passengers was to shell out 640 bucks--320 each for me and my bro..
Incidentally i did not hav more thn 250 bucks wth me then in my wallet(or so i thot!!),and i told him so..
So he asked me to pay up 100 bucks instead and get down at the next station like he did wth others..
Here's when the trouble began..my conscience pricked me..how could I pay a bribe to this dishonest officer and weedle out of the situation??!!
I told him i wud get down at the next station and take out money from the ATM and pay up whtever was the actual fine..The TTE looked at me for a second or two like i was barmy or maybe had a few nuts loose in my head..Someone present there even asked me if i was stupid!!
paagal ho gaya hai kya?? hehehe..
I said No..i made a mistake and i am ready to pay for it..whtever be the cost..i dont care!!
I dont think the TTE had ever met a person so willing to pay up the fine and not ready to compromise when the said fine was Rs.640..not a small sum for the average Joe, is it??
There was quite an argument between us and tempers flared on both sides..I was insisting i wud pay him once i get down and take out money from the ATM..he was insisting he was doing me a favor by letting me off lightly in 100 Rs.,if i didnt listen to him,i wud hav to go to the police station and all tht crap..So i told him i dont care.If he wants me to pay anything it will be all or none..by now,the onlookers had had quite the entertainment, most were coaxing me to giv him wht ever he was demanding..
It was then that my brother took out a 100 Rs. note from his pocket..quite the practical bloke,ain't he??:)

The TTE,by now too frustated wth my antics decided to giv me a receipt for 320Rs. as a single person's fine..Suddenly i remembered,i always keep 500 bucks spare in the inside pocket of my wallet in case of any emergency..Quite happy wth myself i took it out and told the TTE to make another receipt of Rs.320 for i had the required amount...
That did it for him i guess..My bro was too astonished to say anything other than 'arrey..' at this apparent stupidity of mine...
I will always remember what the TTE said to me then:
"Arey,main itna dayawaan ban raha hun...aur tum kyun Raja Harishchandra banna chahate ho??!!"
And i told him its not abt being someone like Raja Hasishchandra or sumthing..just that there are some who believe in honesty at some levels...hehehe

But he didnt budge, just one receipt of Rs.320 he gave me and told me not to worry abt any more problems from anyone else...I was free to travel in that same compartment until Dadar comes and shud take advantage of many a passengers alighting at Virar to take a seat,relax and travel comfortably for the rest of my journey!!!

But i got down at Virar along wth my bro and took a local train to Dadar.When i asked my bro if he didnt realize we took the wrong compartment,he quipped he tried telling me at Boisar,but I was too distracted and busy checking out two hot females on the platform!!
Well,I was guilty as charged..its not often u get to see nice birds in that part of the town!!;)

I don't knw why this guy made it a prestige issue..but i did want to check wth the Station Master at Virar, the validity of the receipt he gave me!!
I didnt get time to do tht however and the ticket along wth the fine receipt still lies wth me till date..maybe i will do it next time i go to m'bai,who knws...hehe;)


This was not my first experience wth the authorities when the issue of bribing ur way thru came into the picture..i have been caught before travelling ticketless thrice, when i used to do it just for the thrill of it..pretty lame,i know...however,i had paid the full fine then..each time so!!
And then when i was in college, i had altered my quarterly pass so that i cud use it well past the expiry date..Forgery!!!I cud be jailed if i had been caught,hahaha..

Where was this conscientious person then,u might wonder..
I used to get a kick out of robbing the govt of some money..but tht's in the past..
Then i bought a bike for myself,and with it came the driver's license i had to get from the RTO..
Hordes of agents stand outside the RTO office waiting to pounce on you if u giv 'em any indication u r out thr to get the driver's license!!I had decided thn i wud try to do this on my own...without paying any middlemen a single rupee..nor the RTO officer who issued me the license anything!
And i didnt!!I had to stand in the queue twice to get it done,but i did it all by myself without any help from those agents,one of whom had so helpfully remarked to me tht i wud never get the license without paying any commission to all parties concerned!!
Well,the RTO officer did give me receipts worth Rs.90 as my help to the fund for widowed wives of police personnel,without asking me if i did want to contribute in the first place!!!
But i didn't crib much as i hoped it really went for a good cause and was not a front for those people to collect money from the junta like thy did, in a backhanded way!!
Wht ever..i thot,and was very satisfied wth myself in proving that pesky agent wrong!!
Then came the compulsory helmet rule and all hell broke loose in Mumbai city..
The city police was supposed to fine 100 bucks to every rider without a helmet and most of them took it quite seriously ..most of the time ..People got away with paying 20-30 bucks too..so one always tried:)
I was caught once (yes only once when i was on the rider's seat:P) But i didnt have 100 bucks wth me thn..and didnt want to surrender my license ,go home and pay up the fine..Money was scarce for petrol then, and i told my conscience to shut up..
Quite the hypocrite,eh??But after i came home,i felt so bad wth myself..i decided enuf of this..no more bribes ever!!!
Little did i know this resolve of mine was to be tested in days to come...
I needed to apply for my passport for i was thinking abt giving the GRE test thn..
As is always my norm,i kept procrastinating and one day i realized i wud hav to postpone the exam date coz i didnt hav the passport !!!
but even after paying 1800 bucks extra for postponing the GRE appointment,i didnt take the matter urgently..
Boy ,did i pay for it!! when the time came to apply for the passport,i was told i cud get it done in 15 days if i paid 1000 bucks extra to the middlemen...But i decided to go ahead wth it on my own..
wht i didnt knw was the local police are in cahoots wth these middlemen,and if u dont go wth an agent thy wont fwd ur file to the verification dept..Tired of waiting ,i caught hold of 2 of my friends and went thr myself,completed all the formalities and asked for my passport..
The police officer told me in simple terms : "200 rupaye kadha"..i was surprised at his audacity to ask for a bribe in such a shameless and obvious manner.And being the smartass that i am,i asked him "what for??" A simple question really,ain't it?
And like a seasoned player of the game that he was,he told me elegantly to fuck off and come later...

Eventually,i had to shell out a 100 bucks as consolation to both of our egos..but the damage was done..
I didnt get the passport in time for my exam and i didnt have the heart to tell my dad i wanted to postpone the exam again..


Why shud one compromise on his principles?If u bliv in sumthing,u shud also have the courage to standup for it,stick to wht u bliv..rt??

Me and one of my best friend from college had decided never to pay any bribe and all that stuff in the final sem of my BE..
I know he will always stick to it..But when the time comes,i had thot...will i be able to hold my own against this rotten system??

I didnt knw until i had to pay my taxes this year...last yr,i decided to be generous to the govt and as atonement to my earlier forgery crimes,i paid the tax in full....more than 4 grands,actually..tht more thn made up for it,i bliv...Yes,i didnt show any HRA either!!
(Now its a different matter altogether tht i cudnt hav shown any investment even if i wanted to..i didnt hav my PAN card until then..hehheeehe..procrastination wat else??)
But his year,if i dont show any investment i have to pay almost 43,000 in tax..and i am defintely not that generous to gift it to the govt.!!!
How far do i go howevr??The HRA exemption i am eligible for is Rs.2900 but i pay only Rs.2200 as rent..
I dont want to get fake receipts from the brokers illegally showing my house rent as Rs.3000!!
I dont mind paying Rs.1020 extra in this case...
Same the case with my medical bills too...where wud i get bills worth Rs.15000 to evade the 30% tax on it??
It feels all so wrong...so unclean...so unethical and i know i will come back home feeling horribly disgusted wth myself again....like i did when i paid the 30 rs bribe to the traffic havaldar once..
No..once was enuf..

I dont know how long i wud be able to stick to my decision of not paying any bribe or cheat or act dishonestly...someone told me once, thr comes a time in ur life when u r at a crossroad...whr u dont hav the soft option..whr u have to choose one of the two things,which might decide the course of ur life ahead...will u then giv up all ur beliefs, compromise on ur integrity and honesty??
and i had said..only time will tell!!

So trite..yet so true!!!
But i am gonna try as far as i can...tht much i know!!

The God that is Roger Waters

Well..Some people term it blasphemous to compare people especially Rock stars to God..But aah..who has ever seen God,eh?? So I take the liberty here..
I havent' been such a great fan of Pink Floyd compared to my other friends..just a few songs here and there,whenever in da mood,thts all..I am more of a Metallica fan from the beginning..but recently I did let go of my inhibition to listen to new songs and decided to ventue into a few new songs..And boy!!WAS I HOOKED OR WHAT??!!!
Pink Floyd is one of those bands who can have a profound effect on your psyche..Just Heavy metal and head-banging i have never favored..Tht's why Floyd is so appealing..Some of the lyrics are soo profound..it leaves a lasting effect on your subconscious...

The best of all I have liked is of course TIME..which was the first song I heard of Floyd..
Some time back,my friend sent me the story behind 'the Wall'..its superb...and of course..the classic: Another Brick in the Wall..
Some people accuse PF of being depressing and pessimistic..But whatever they have dished out is the hard hitting reality..If truth is harsh and bites you in the ass..so be it!!

Here are the lyrics of the timeless song: TIME

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then the one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun


And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in the relative way, but you're older
And shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desparation in the English way
The time is gone the song is over, thought I'd something more to say...

{Breathe-Reprise addition}

Home, home again
I like to be there when I can
When I come in cold and tired
It's good to warm my bones beside the fire
Far away across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spells...

Does Afzal Guru deserve Clemency??

Finally!!Afzal Guru,accused and convicted to be hanged in the Parliament Attack case, has submitted an appeal for getting pardon to the President of India..

And the Indian Government is sitting on it prettily..waiting for another Kandahar to happen it looks like..

Afzal Guru, an ex-militant from the faction JKLF,which has given up arms now and has entered local politics in Kashmir.They don't have the mass following whcih PDP,Congress or National Conference enjoy..But they do carry considerable political clout with the Indian Union Government as one of the prominent groups which have given up arms and are not exactly Pro-Pakistan like the Hurriyat..

The present day lives of most of these ex-militants make for an interesting read..
As far as I have read,the reports suggest that they are under constant supervision of the State intelligence agencies,since there is zero trust level associated with them..and quite naturally too..

There are some interesting questions which come to my mind when I read the various accounts of all parties concerned..

Afzal too, was under constant supervision of the JK Special Task Force until he came to Delhi with the terrorsits who carried out the actual attack.How then, did he manage to cohort with the attackers who came from Pakistan under the watchful survelliance of the STF?

His wife has made some sensatinoal allegations against the STF personnel...Now what we can't be sure of is whether those allegations carry any shred of truth..or are they an attempt to cash in on the widespread discontent and mistrust, the local Kashmiri junta has against the STF and the Army in general..I think this is a strategic die played by them..Muddle the water and raise doubts..Actually,there is enough cause for concern over here..

Afzal's role in the conspiracy in providing logistical support to the terrorsits from across the border has been well documented in the Courts.This is the chief charge on which he's been convicted.
However,one cursory look at his statement in the lower courts is enuf to deduce that Afzal knew much more than he revealed in the court..Some of his answers to questions put forth by the Prrosecution are amusingly trite and laughable..One is actually reminded of the typical court room scenes from a Mithun/Jackie starrer 80s-90s ka Bollywood movie..!!

However the same prosecution failed to get convicted Dr.Geelani, a lecturer from Delhi Univ who was also implicated by the investigating agencies for planning the logistical details.
In fact,his role was considerably greater than Afzal's..

How come then Geelani was sentenced to death by the lower court,But let off scot free later on by high court and SC too?

Why did the police and intelligence agencies fail in getting Geelani convicted?
Was this trial a mere face saving excercise for them and Geelani a scapegoat??

What about Afzal in tht case?Was he a scapegoat too by the same logic?
If that is not the case,then why is Mr.Geelani a free man today and one of the loudest vioces for seeking Afzal Guru's clemency??

The actual masterminds who planned the attack are still safe sitting in their cosy abodes in Pakistan courtesy of the Islamabad govt..wht is the Indian govt doing to bring them to justice?


Some of the Communist parties are at the forefront today in voicing their support to the clemency plea of Guru..
We also have the neo-liberals and pacifists who want to abolish Capital-punishment,extending their support to Afzal..People like Jug Suraiya (Sunday TOI Columnist) is a case in point..
I wont talk abt Ms.Arundhati Roy over here..
(Somebody,told me once she was a writer-activist..but I disagree vehemently..
After all,there is something called as the 'Second Novel',if one claims to be a writer first!!)

This is not the case to debate whether Capital-Punishment shud be abolished in India!!
Terrorists are terrorists..they have no regard for human life at all..How can the rules and regulations of a civil society be applied to them,when they don't want to be part of it but follow the jungle law saying:"My way --the Only way!"???

When we had to release JEM cheif in exchange for the passengers of IA flight during the Kandahar fiasco,where were these pacifists and liberalists?Or for that matter,what shud have been the course of action according to these ppl,if say Indian security guards had failed to stop the attackers in time and they had blowed up the parliament??
If they were caught alive after that,shud we still have given them life imprisonment??Making a martyr out of them,giving more ammunition to the Jehadis??And then what next??Another Plane hijacking or some such method employed by the Jehadis to achieve the release of the prisoners?? What do these activists think??By giving the terrorists a life sentence,we are proudly claiming ourselves to be better than the Jehadis??we are not stooping to their level???
They feel we as a part of the civilised society,shud not exact the right to take away a human life legally.
That is barbaric according to them..
Hello!!What abt the cost incurred by the state in the whole process??Jails are for those who can be reformed(atleast that's the benevolent purpose for which jails exist on paper!!)
Why shud the exchequer like me pay for supporting the State in keeping these convicts hale and hearty in the Indian jails??Why shud we always be under a threat like yesterday's alert at all Airports across South India,where in there was a chance that some plane might be hijacked to rescue Afzal Guru??

If a person has been proven guilty of aiding,abetting or committing a grave terrorist act,by a fair and just trial in the lower courts,the High court and the Supreme court too,I don't find any reason to risk the lives of more Indian citizens by keeping him or her alive ..

The key words here however being the accused getting a fair and just trial!!

We all know how well documented the reports of State atrocities on innocent citizens are in areas like the North-East and for that matter even in Kashmir in the early days..
The Naxal infested parts of Central India too are no strangers to police atrocities..That's why one has to be careful..And in cases like that of Afzal,one must surely be doubly careful that no innocent has been made a scapegoat by the authorities in order to save their face in front of the public.

What I think here is Afzal's past has come back to haunt him now..Its quite unlikely that he did not know of the machinations of Mohammad and other perpetuators of the actual attack..After all he was also present when the Car for the suicide bombing was bought in Delhi...
He might have been forced to do their bidding..But the Benefit of doubt does not go to him over here..

One point raised by the group opposed to his clemency is that why are the Afzal suporters crying foul about an unfair trial now when he was awarded the verdict by the SC..why didn't they raise an alarm when and if there was actually a miscarraige of justice as they say,in the lower courts???Where were these human rights activists back then??


The terrorists who were charged with carrying out the actual attack were killed in encounter by security guards on that fateful day..
But for the timely action of constable Kamlesh Kumari,Ashok Chakra awardee(posthumous) there wud have been a major disaster..

Are we really doing justice to her brilliant sacrifice by making a farce out of this trial??

I don't think so..


P.S : http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/the-question-of-reasonable-doubt

Eeeewwwwww.....!!!

Today I saw the grossiest thing ever on TV as far as I can remember....

I was sitting along with some friends in front of the TV while having dinner and there was a show going on,on some channel(I think it was Sony..not sure),based on 'The Fear Factor' which is aired on AXN.

Now,I have seen many a things till today which would make an average person heave,but not me I thought!! I used to think I am immune to such things now..

But no!!How I was proved wrong today! Normally,u see people eating all kinds of worms,ants and many other insects on AXN's Fear Factor all the time..This for the sole purpose of achieving fame and prize money..
So what if it is achieved by such weird ways and means??

This was an Indianised bastard version of the show on AXN..
4 TV actors/models were competing and in the 2nd round,each one of them was shown a glass case full of different organs of the human body like the Heart,Lungs,Liver,Spinal Cord,et all..
where they were being preserved.

I couldn't believe what was the task they were supposed to do!!
Catch hold of each body part from the glass case by your mouth..YES the MOUTH..and transfer it to some other glass vessel!!!!

I was half hoping the host will suddenly crack up and tell those 4 poor souls tht he was joking..
But no..he was every bit serious abt it..
The first guy took the leap ahead and held the heart in his mouth and transferred it to the other vessel..

That's it! I couldn't watch any further..Imagine seeing such a thing while u r having ur dinner!!
Yukkkkssss!!I lost my apetite totally after I had gone and puked in the loo...

And all my friends were laughing and mocking me..I was labeled a big 'ch&%#a' for reacting this way to the show...

Well..! It turns out I am not that immune to such things after all!!
That image is gonna be stuck in my mind for quite a few days to come now..
I really hope I am not reminded of it the next time i am doing my pet puja...

Mayhem in Maharashtra

So...some good for nothing guy from Kanpur goes and desecrates Mr.Ambedkar's statue thinking it would be good time pass,and lo!!

Dalits in Maharashtra are so offended,they spill out on the streets and start rasta rokos..pelt stones at vehicles..damage and burn government buses and trains!!

We saw a spontaneous outburst from the community wherein angry protesters called on for bandhs,forcing shops and business establishments to down shutters..Curfew was imposed in so many places ..Its still tense in Aurangabad..That's an entire district..The sheer magnitude of this outburst has confounded many..Articles have been written and editorials have come out trying to delve behind the psyche of this incidence..But seriously,what difference its gonna make anyways??

We the people of India take pride in being citizens of a vibrant democracy..an economy which is growing at a rate of more than 8% per year..stock markets are soaring and Indian cos are expanding business vigorously..There seems to be a sense of complacency when we start patting our back saying all’s well when its so clearly not..

How is this related to the above violence one may ask…but its quite important to note that the masses who went on a rampage were not just Dalits..but they were impoverished Daits in most cases..Do u really think Dalits who have risen up the economic ladder,those from the Middle and Upper Middle class community, joined ranks with these arsonists and vandals?

These are the people from the typical Zopadpatti areas which are ubiquitous in cities like Mumbai, Pune and else where..The slum pockets where u will always see a board of ‘Jai Bhim’ at the entry point,along with Mr. Ambedkar’s statue or Portrait.

There has been enormous discontent amongst the lower strata all over ,which needed just a spark to kindle the kind of protests we saw.If nothing the Khairlenji killings are testimony to that.

The fruits of economic reforms and progress are not reaching these sections of the society and they are disillusioned with the entire situation.All the benefits available to the lower castes via Reservations and such other means are lapped up by the creamy layer..These are the people who are in real need of such affirmative action..but the govt and the politicians are happily ignoring the ground situation.

That is what we saw this past week where the anger in the minds of the Dalits spilled over the streets..and the mayhem resulted..

I don’t really understand why they have to burn down trains and buses…effectively those who suffer from these bandhs and riots are the people from the lower classes themselves..For many a loss of one day’s work means having to go without a meal or two..But these protesters are never concerned with that..After all,this is their only way of staging protests..If no one is ready to listen to you,take the law in ur own hand..and go on a rampage…

The politicians will have to take notice then..Well,I think that's the mindset anyways..otherwise there was no real purpose behind wht happened in past few days..

Alright,now everyone in Maharashtra has come to know that the feelings of the Dalits were hurt immensely..what next??the situation will be calm again in 2-3 days and life will be back to normal,but isn’t it time already for the govt to introspect and look at the real issues over here??

What these Dalits need is empowerment..not through Voting ..thats the biggest sham in our democracy and we all know it..

Empowerment through economic upbringing of these backward castes and communities..Unless there are Dalits at the lowest strata of the economic ladder,there will be such riots in the future over petty issues like desecration of a statue..today it’s Ambedkar..tomm it might be Shivaji Maharaj..

The sensibilities of people are hurt over many things in our nation..from Movies to Cricket to countless other things..I used to think it shameful that people need to riot and take the law in their hand to mark their protests..But one has to look at the people who are participating in such protests..Its very easy to say that India is a Banana Republic pointing to such incidences..But until the economic disparity remains and keeps on widening the way it is right now..Indian citizens can never get the real taste of a true Republic.

I am not advocating or justifying anything over here…

Just my attempt at looking at the rationale and logic behind these irrational and illogical ways of protesting over meaningless matters to you and me..

For them..its a totally different perspective after all..

P.S : Read the speech of Raj Thackerey in TOI today ..He was here in Pune to campaign for the next PMC elections.. It was very difficult no to agree with the points he had made.After all the violence in some of the pockets was seemingly pre-planned,though there is no way to verify that...But even in my office the lady sitting next to me proclaimed these were all ploys for the forthcomnig elections,since these politicians want to divert the attention of the Dalit public from their dismal failures in getting any constuctive work done for their betterment..

Well,when you put it that way..its really hard to argue wth that!!! hehehe..

04/12/2006 10:25 PM IST

Ours by Choice

Ours by Choice -- What Children's Day means to me...

We are guilty
of many errors and many faults
but our worst crime
Is abandoning the children,
neglecting the fountain of life.
Many of the things we need
can wait. The child cannot.
Right now is the time
his bones are being formed, his
blood is being made, and
his senses are being developed.
To him we cannot answer
"Tomorrow."
His name is "Today."

- Gabriela Mistral

I am feeling depressed..

Liverpool lost to Arsenal...pathetically..went down 3-0 rather tamely..

In Away games they have scored only one goal so far this season..

All hopes for a premiership title this season are lost now..

Well,they were pretty dismal looking at their away performance..But still,one always keeps hoping for miracles..

I'm sooooo very depressed rt now..

Even the Reshmiya post earlier failed to cheer me up...

Life sucks!!
Bigtime...!! :(

Himesh Reshamiya dokyaat jaato!!

Got this in a forward from a friend of mine..found it funny,so wud like to share it over here:)

हिमेश रेशामीया ची लावणी...



रेशमियाच्या गाण्यांनी
भुंकणाऱ्या प्राण्यांनी
कर्ण कसा माझा की हो फोडिला
हात नका लावु त्याच्या सीडीला

नवी कोरी कॉपी सुफि साजाची
'टोपी' चढविली रिमिक्स बाजाची
बजाची हो बाजाची
माईक आडवा ऐटिमधे तोंडाजवळ ओढिला
हात नका लावू त्याच्या सीडीला

गात जाई प्रत्येक गाणं नाकात
रसिकंच्या उठते तिडिक डोक्यात
डोक्यात हो डोक्यात
चुंबनखोर इम्रान हाशमी, आणिक असतो जोडीला
हात नका लावू त्याच्या सीडी ला

कॄपा त्याच्यावर सल्लू मियांची
बाजारात चलती आज कचऱ्याची
कचऱ्याची हो कचऱ्याची
काय म्हणू देवा देवा, जनतेच्या आवडीला
हात नका लावू त्याच्या सीडी ला

एक फायदा दिसे त्याच्या गाण्यात
गाढवही वाटे गाते सुरात
सुरात हो सुरात
न्यूनगंड कित्येकांचा, दूरदेशी धाडिला
हात नका लावु त्याच्या सीडी ला...

A Journey to Remember...

There are very few journeys in your life which u remember for a long time to come, the ones which leave a mark in your life.
And when u r a frequent Pune-Mumbai traveler like me, such incidences are indeed pretty rare...

But I’m fairly confident this one belongs to the above genre...

I was going to Mumbai a while back by my usual choice of transport---a shared cab. This is one journey which thanks to the Mumbai-Pune Expressway doesn't take longer than 3 hours and with Rs.250 you can travel at complete ease and comfort in an AC cab.

The people who travel this way are usually those who have little time to waste awaiting the Volvo buses to fill to their capacity, for which you end up wasting even 6 hours in toto at times!!
Quite normally, these types rarely bother with mingling with their fellow passengers, just happy to be busy going over their notes for their next meeting, fine tuning details over the phone for the next client meeting or sometimes a hapless papa calling his daughter and promising her he will be in town for the 9 pm movie this time for sure!!

This time was quite an aberration...

When I reached Pune station, I was immediately accosted by these agents who insist u go with them coz theirs is the best way to travel, where u r the luckiest person around since u wud be filling the last seat remaining and other such nonsense!!
But being wise to their ways I tell them strictly I want a shared cab and then they direct u to the appropriate agent for the cabbie.

I saw a TV actor seated at the front seat and another busybody going over his notes for the interview he was set to appear in Mumbai at the back seat.I was the third person then...Sigh! Wait for 10-15 mins now..No problem for me,after all who said i had to attend some important seminar or meeting in the next few hours??

But the cab was going till Dadar only and when the TV actor realised this,he got down unhappily complaining that he was told by the agent it will take him to Andheri,haha!!!

Only 5 mins since i set foot in the Pune station area and already a little bit of the drama had unfolded! More was yet to come as i realised later.

Now a lady comes along in a car which I barely noticed,but her driver is asked to step down by these rogues here and is slapped because he apparently almost hit one of them just so!!
The thing could have escalated but for the lady's hurry to reach the airport,since she had to catch the 2:50 pm Delhi flight.She told her driver to go home with the car and agreed to share the cab with us.Here comes the rider...She wanted the front seat of the car and the cab should be leaving at once!
No problem for us we thought,since she was the one insisting on the cab to leave with 3 ppl,she wud be the one paying the extra money!!

With so much of confusion going on..I think the agent conveniently forgot to mention this to her..So she takes the front seat and asks the driver whom was she supposed to pay the 250 bucks??
Wait a minute! Wasn't she supposed to pay 500 bucks??
Hell no! The agent had told her she was the last seat remaining and the rate was just 250 bucks!!
The agent was called in and she started ranting to him about the unfairness of it all..

Well,if that's the case shell up more was what he said to her..
Or wait for another person to come along..By this time,the lady's driver had already gone home along with her car and she had to make do with the public transport now.

Now,any seasoned traveller will make sure to ask basic questions like how many seats have filled already,and what's the rate before getting into the cab,won't he?
But apparently this was the first time this woman was travelling this way and forgot to ask the above questions..
What she did not forget to tell everyone around was that she was in an extreme hurry to catch the "do baje ka flight" to Delhi,since she had to attend some really important meeting out there!
No wonder she was taken for a ride! (pun unintended,haha)

Now she was insisting that the cab leave at once or she would be calling the police as she had had enough!!The driver poor guy was not able to acquiesce since he would be in a real loss if he took only 3 passengers for Rs.750
The agent in the meanwhile had disappeared to go and look for the 4th person.

The drama had begun in full fore now...Every agent,driver and passenger out there came to know in no time that this particular 50 something lady had been cheated by these goons out there AND she was late for her 2 pm flight to Delhi for an extremely important meeting!!

Now comes the ego trip!!She requested me and the other poor guy already seated in to come with her and take a different cab.I told her I was in no hurry,so no point in paying the extra bucks..Oh!!But I didnt have to pay anything extra you see..she was ready to pay any extra amount incurred all by herself for both of us!!
Hmm...why not??No harm right..?

But just getting out of the cab and leaving won't set right with her either..
She had to teach these goons a lesson,didn't she?? So she started to threaten them with a phone to the police..

Oh i forgot to mention..her majesty is an esteemed Director of the Bharti Vidyapeeth..She also carries a lot of political clout,weight whatever u wanna call it!!
So she would be able to stop this illegal business in no time!!Not only wud she get these people arrested or fined,she wud also get the PSI of the area on duty,fired in a day!!
Gosh!!
The driver was a bit scared now and asked her to talk to the agent who had offered her a seat in the first place..
No!!That won't do at all..Why shud she go and search for that asshole??Call him here,she said.So another person was dispatched in search of the said agent.

And she was still insisting the driver leave at once or she would be placing that BIG call to the DIG of police in Pune..

Here I mentioned to her,If she was ready to pay 1200 bucks to go by the CoolCab why not just pay 250 extra and get on with it??
Nope,this was a matter of principle you see.Rs.250 was a paltry sum for her..but she was not ready to take any such treatment from these vandals lying down.
She would really show them what stuff she was made of and whom these idiots were messing up with..

Now 15 minutes had passed since this started and the agent in question finally arrived on the scene.. luckily with the 4th passenger in tow...Lucky for everyone I guess.

Again we all had to hear what a big shot she was and how these agents and their nexus is going to be dismantled in one day by her one phone call..

Did I mention she was a DIRECTOR on the board of Bharti Vidyapeeth??Oh,I did..Sorry for repeating it again here..but I had forgotten the count by now how many times she had mentioned this already!!

Finally,we all commenced our ill-fated journey to Mumbai,why ill-fated u ask??
Because we were doomed to hear this woman's tirade for the next 3 hours at least!!

So in the nxt one hour we had already come to know,that this lady was a Director on Bharti Vidyapeeth's board(Sorry for the repetition,can't help it,hehe)

She was going to 'bajao the band' of these thugs who take hapless commuters like her for granted..

She was really getting late to reach her 2:50 PM flight from Mumbai to Delhi for a very important meeting.

By this time I really had to say something to shut her up..So i told her that the MSRTC(Apna Govt Corporation) runs a highly efficient bus service from Pune to Dadar every half an hour,and it takes only 3 hours and 15 mins for the bus to reach its destination.Not only that.. she would be paying 5 bucks lesser!!

She being a govt employee,should be setting an example to the aam junta and travel by that mode instead!!

But no..u see the bus being a bus takes more time than a car..obviously!!But wasn't that better and safer than the way she was travelling now??

Here comes the big revelation....Her brother is none other than Mr.Ashok Gehlot..Delhi's CM.(I know its Mrs.Dickshit,tell that to her..lol)

She does travel by this aam junta mode of transport whenever possible..After all ,thats how they keep in touch wth the ground realities and the hardships common ppl suffer in their day-to-day life..She doesn't like to abuse the power her position offers..no red carpet treatment for her and her family..

She could have easily got the ticket for a day earlier that way,but she chose to go thru the proper channel instead!

Now she takes her cell phone out and dials her home number to talk to some relative of her( I assumed it was her daughter) in a really loud voice!!

And while also informing her daughter,she was really keen on letting her fellow passengers know too,how she had taken pity on her poor driver and sent him home so he could celebrate Diwali with his family that day...Then a call to Delhi to let the junta there know she was definitely going to reach by the said flight..

No need to arrange for Dinner..Please dont take so much pains..A meeting with whom??Mr.Kashiram??Oh no..but he would be busy in a meeting with Soniajii.

She has had a talk with her brother..He is busy arranging a meeting of MLAs..No he won't be able to make it tonight..

At this point,I had managed to switch my media player on at full volume..

After completing her call,she turned back and started telling us how was not allowed to go by such means of public transport by her family,but she had disregarded her safety for a benevolent cause.

Since it would be rude to pretend not to listen to her when she is looking at you and talking to you,I had to take my earphones out and suffer!!

And then, all of a sudden she started asking me about my personal and professional details..

Where did I work in Pune?Where am I actually from?How much salary do I earn in a year?What is my educational qualification?

And without wanting to know about it,she still went ahead and helpfully informed us in detail,how both of her sons had studied in the US..I think she also mentioned the name of the University..but she couldn't pronounce it well..all i got was that it started with an 'A'..

That she didn't like the quality of education imparted in India came as a no surprise to me..

Here's some more info which I didn't want to know..

Her family has a big bungalow in the US which her husband had bought solely for their 2 sons' education purpose..

The elder son has done his MBA from another reputed university whose name she couldn't pronounce properly again and I failed to understand..

Then he got a job in AT&T where he was awarded as the best employee of the year amongst the new joinees..

This was more relevant than you think..it was during the Recession..when every company was laying off their employees en masse..

And this guy had the guts to resign and start his own software company at that time..Now he has AT&T as one of his clients..

No wonder his company's turnover was 20 million $ a year..

She even gave me a suggestion for my future career moves..
SAP is the in thing beta...U can earn a lot of money if you get into it..

So I told her I had no interest in Software..and I'm quitting soon..

Quitting??what next then,she asked me..

I don't know,I said..that gave her a pause and I could finally ignore her and listen to Metallica again..phew!!!

Next bakra was the fellow next to me..I had completed my obligation of travelling on her ego trip..Now i could blissfully ignore her!!

But why take a chance???So I slept..unaware that the driver had made a swerving cut barely avoiding a collision with a truck,when she was busy trying to draw him into the conversation too..

The luckiest bloke was the one sitting directly behind her..After all she could not make a 180 degree turn to pakao him right?

We reached Sion in 2 and a half hours itself where the Interview guy and this lady were going to get down..

Kudos to the driver for this feat..After all he had made sure Ms.Indu Jain wouldn't be missing her all important flight..

While getting off,she also gave a 5 Rs tip to the driver for his amazing speed and control..

Well,we all had a hearty laugh after she got off...each laughing at the other's expense...
Good thing for the other guy and I was that the driver had some work in Mulund..
So he could drop us at Vikhroli and Mulund respectively..

Now you can easily guess what the topic for the rest of our journey was..

There was a whole lot of dissection of Ms. Jain's behaviour and bitching about her in general..
Who knows if she was actually all those things she mentioned about herself??
It could be true...but it really goes on to show how shallow and hypocrites such people are in reality...

She didn't succeed in fooling anyone present of her good intentions or such..
Instead,by constantly harping about her position and the power she weilded she had already created an image of a buffon in front of each one of us..

What power does a Board Director of a deemed university really carries??

People like these are so egotistic that any government position carries a lustful appeal to them,where they can constantly show off in the public..

One really can't understand if one should laugh at them or pity these fools...

Inside I think these types are very insecure..otherwise they wudn't find a need to brag about their position in society in public..however pitiful or unimportant that position maybe..

That is why you see a simple government clerk in a GPO acting as if he is a king and he is doing a big favor on us taxpayers by accepting our Returns on the 31st of July...

These kinds are always searching for a chance to subjugate others to their will, but are they willing to take the responsibility for what their position of power demands of them?? NO!!

This is why we hear the likes of Indu Jains fretting about the make of a bronze statue to be installed in the college campus,than the quality of the education imparted inside the college walls..

And then we have the same people complaining about the sad infrastructure and quality of education in India..

God save us all from such important and well connected people...

Shadows of the past always hound you...

One of the few songs which touched my heart..cause it struck a chord deep down somewhere...
Yes,there's a darkness in my past too..I was a totally different person when I was thirteen..
And I have made mistakes which I regret profoundly today..mistakes I am ashamed to admit are true..
Oh! How I wish I could go back and change these..
Someday I hope I will find enough courage to seek forgiveness for those past actions of mine..




It's easier to run

Replacing this pain with something NUMB

It's so much easier to go

Than face all this pain here all alone



Something has been taken from deep inside of me

The secret I've kept locked away no one can ever see

Wounds so deep they never show they never go away

Like moving pictures in my head for years and years they've played



If I could change I would take back the pain I would

Retrace every wrong move that I made I would

If I could stand up and take the blame I would

If I could take all the shame to the grave I would

If I could change I would take back the pain I would

Retrace every wrong move that I made I would

If I could stand up and take the blame I would

I would take all my shame to the grave



It's easier to run

Replacing this pain with something numb

It's so much easier to go

Than face all this pain here all alone



Sometimes I remember the darkness of my past

Bringing back these memories I wish I didn't have

Sometimes I think of letting go and never looking back

And never moving forward so there'd never be a past



If I could change I would take back the pain I would

Retrace every wrong move that I made I would

If I could stand up and take the blame I would

If I could take all the shame to the grave I would

If I could change I would take back the pain I would

Retrace every wrong move that I made I would

If I could stand up and take the blame I would

I would take all my shame to the grave



Just washing it aside

All of the helplessness inside

Pretending I don't feel misplaced

It's so much simpler than change



It's easier to run

Replacing this pain with something numb

It's so much easier to go

Than face all this pain here all alone



It's easier to run

If I could change I would take back the pain I would

Retrace every wrong move that I made

It's easier to go

If I could change I would take back the pain I would

Retrace every wrong move that I made I would

If I could stand up and take the blame I would

I would take all my shame to the grave