life ki race

I saw people congratulating students on Facebook who passed their CBSE board exams. It brought few memories of good old days. After all these years I must say ignorance is bliss. I did not knew what I m going do with my life & career; neither did my parents knew anything. It was all my family & friends who made choices on what shall I be doing next. In fact it was nobody who took a decision coz there no options.

I can’t even blame anybody coz nobody knew what I was good at. I liked science but my scores and my ability to work hard & study did not support the argument that I should go to science school. I was never engineering material either. I only broke tape recorders never fixed them. I neither played cricket and anyway in those sport was not career option. Arts has never been my forte; music beyond Kishore Kumar and Kumar Shanu did not make any sense. When I say make sense I meant words not raag, taal & rythem. Only thing I was good at in those days was watching TV and sleeping.

What I did after that is not important. But a lesson is. Another lesson that we all learn hard way. When I started my career life was not race; but today it is. If you want to be part of this race and want to win it make sure you get pole position every season. Otherwise you should have Mr. Mallya types team owner who proudly owns a loser & cheers for them.

All average types take a chill pill. Hard work, perseverance and continuous learning is the only hope; remember it is not a guarantee to success. [I bet my money here coz this is where I have been all my life.]

Another option is to be happy. Be content. Turn your hobbies and passion in to career and enjoy the journey. I know this one is the most impractical and weird choice but I guess it is best. Success might come late but it will come.

Last option is to have typical 9 to 5 career and nurturing your hobbies and passion in parallel. It is safe bet though there no big rewards unless your father or father-in-law are rich.

You guys still have time. Make best of it.

One thing I must say before I logout from wordpress and login to my office network. Luck plays an important part in our lives. It was only one advice that made one life and it just one advice that ruined another life. Which one will you get is difficult to find till…..

hope is the only hope

Life has new lessons for us everyday. That is okay for me as I do learn few of those lessons. In fact, I teach many of those to my friends and colleagues. In past eight years of my life I have been better at giving these lessons rather than learning what I need to do as part of my job. If anybody has been silent observer of my life all these years they would call me Gyaan Baba. Jokes apart – one problem with lessons of life is that they all contradict each other. I had learnt that friends are forever hence I thought happiness is also forever. Then I realized that it means that friends are forever in that moment of life and so is happiness. After that – only nostalgia.

dedicated to robo daa

For the people who do not know robo daa – here is an introduction. I am sure except robo daa nobody knows. He is full Gujarati from Baroda. He loves and lives in Baroda so much that I gave him a name robo daa. Ba Ro Da. Ro Bo(a) Daa. more later. enjoy the pics.

No1 knows the past.. no1 can see beyong today.... Still we fcukin waste time to study history in school and stuggle in office to make better future.

my manager

Why managers think that every problem needs to be solved today; like there is no tomorrow.

Another interesting things about them is that they treat every task in project as ping-pong ball. You do not need to place it on other side of the table to win the game. Projects are game of football – you need to tackle the ball, do you part to take it forward, and pass it on to next player who can take it further. Eventually someone needs to make a goal. I am sure I do not need to explain what strikers, midfielders, defenders and goal keepers do. (I m sure MJ can write story on this.)

march obligation

Today is last day of the March and last day to keep me survived in challenge. I must post something today.

Matter of the fact is that here is nothing great to talk about and worth posting. But obligation. I do not to give up so early. I can also not make announcement and call it post. And anyway, how many news babies will born this year to make me announcements? Only things that I am missing right now is – angel. I could not spend even one weekend and I had to leave home. This is the most dreadful part of life and my work/job. I also missed very important engagement ceremony. MJ got engaged and finally he will be in locked and wedded in June. Btw, if you missed my comment on earlier post – we named her Mehal.

arrival of an angel

Today morning my brother and sister-in-law are blessed with a baby girl. This has been greatest joy in our life in recent time. It is 32 year-long wait for my mom and dad. They have yearned for it ever since my elder bro was born. Better late than never. Dreams do come true.

It is wonderful feeling and at this moment we are all dancing with joy. I am too eager to see her, touch her and feel her. God may bless her with joy, health and happiness forever.

Now another search will begin; that perfect name. All the suggestions are welcome and M is preferred letter. T is also an option.

not going down without fight

Great weekend this has been. Saturday Nadal thrashed Tomic and on Sunday Freddy did that to Tommy. After long time got a chance to check this fighters. I think I am little inspired and decided that I will not go down without fight. I challenged myself this year that I will post something at least once in month. Now this post cannot really qualify but I am happy that this is new post.

Post every day challenge from WordPress

When did I post last time? I guess in previous life.

This is interesting post from WordPress.com. They have launched Post every day challenge. There is option to opt for Post a Week as well. I am not sure where am I going to be… or may be they should have Post a month for me.

Challenge for 2011

2010 in review (WordPress gave me insight in to my blog)

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Route 67

I was on way back from friends place.  Journey started from Bedok where he lives. 91.3 was playing Shakira’s Waka Waka in my ears. Football fever is high in the city. From Bedok it takes Geylang Rd. You peep in to old style colonial settlements with shades of Malay and Chinese colors. Neon lights of 80s & Portuguese single and double storey houses with small colorful windows. Tiles of 50s & 60s, that were not boring place, the immortalized carved roses. It entered Paya Lebar from here; where I wondered with RK on night of Ramadan. Felt hot curries or RK instantly on tongue.

solitaire sojourn singapore

A day is nearing when I must bid adieu to Singapore. It is end of another roller coaster ride full of high & lows, thrills & lulls. Probably never had more love & hate relationship with any other city before. Life here is hallucination of Hyderabad. A city I called hell when landed first foot and called heaven when finally took off. Missed it for long time. A reason I loved Hyderabad was food. I still have few of my favorite restaurants in the city. And I think today after a yearlong sojourn I want to remember this island for food and drink.

Japanese English from Singapore

I found these instructions in English on a cleaner sheets I bought from Japanese store in Singapore. Have fun!!

CLEANER SHEET

FOR OFFICE AUTOMATION EQUIPMENT

1. Please do not use it except a usage that the skin, and is original
2. Please use the method of maintaining the screen after confirming the manual. (There is a product that the coating of the surface peels off according to the screen.)
3. Please do not use it for internal mechanism part of the OA sound equipment.
4. Please use it after it turns off power to an electric equipment.
5. Please wipe with a dry cloth and come after blowing the screen of the personal computer. It might remain in white on the screen after a wipe.

What ever I do, I find you.

In long desert, infinite desert, while walking I saw the mirage. Something like that happened to me today. The best thing is that my mirage was actually oasis. Very small but very sweet.

That Oasis was a mail from MJ. He shares birthday with Michael Jackson, like I do. So MJ is good name. But only for now coz it is not the best name. Before you ask let me tell you MJ is my birthday brother I referred earlier as Aiyla. I told you I did not like the name much.

Mini Post

I need to do something to keep posting more regularly. I wish posting from cell phone was cheap and convenient. Currently it is neither of them. Nonetheless, let me be abrupt at least.

I am finally settled in the place now. Singapore. I must say it is not as cosmopolitan as I had thought and as my friends propagated to me. Hmnn .. No problem I am here and will learn to enjoy this place.

Basic facts. I have an apartment, non-typical HDB. A good house. Water, gas, electricity working & running. Internet connection activated with free phone and unlimited locals. No cable TV. We have decided to save S$30 a month. We includes my two colleagues, my boss and RK. They are roommates as well in this 3 bedroom HDB. Rent of S$ 2400 is little higher than what we had intend to pay. I am sure you are not interested in these details. But I need to hone my skills to write something better.

Confidence – answer to your questions Pa

Other day over the lunch Pa asked me a difficult question. Pa is my roomie and like a young brother (in fact he respects me like elder brother). He asked me how I am so confident? I think he wanted to know how do one stay confident? Pa’s real concern is definitely for his career.

I did continue to ponder over it for a while. I did told him something which was irrelevant. I said it because I had to say something. Honestly no good answer really clicked. I started having doubt on self and Pa’s confidence that I am confident. I fumbled for a while, shuffled pages of dictionary to find that meaning and answer.

sound of silence

Last Saturday, a old friend took me to Worli Sea Face. The place require no introduction to most Mumbaikars. For years we had been hanging out in suburb Ghatkopar; A home to my school, college, and place where I made all my childhood and teenage friends. For no reason this is the place where I find myself most comfortable. Sachin told me that instead meeting in Ghatkopar let us meet somewhere else; he was tired of meeting and eating in Ghatkopar.

The Secret

Ask – Believe – Receive

Yes this is secret to happiness, wealth, love and all you wanted in your life according to this book by Rhonda Byrne. Yeah, this is a three step process to get all those things you ever dreamt and desired. Rhonda Byrne and many happy, healthy and wealthy folks (in her book) like her have reiterated zillion times that this is the only secret to life. Law of Attraction forms the basis for her book and all the people she named in the book claim that it works in your favor if you use the way she said and these people did.

In Alchemist Paulo Coelho said the same thing with amazing play of words and poetry. I loved it to the core. But primary difference between a Brazilian and his Australian counter part is putting in effort, the hard work, the endeavor and the exertion. Paulo says follow your dreams. Do what it takes to achieve what you want, and you have always dreamt. The whole universe will work towards achieving that for you.

Loneliness

6 years. On June 13 I had left home to work with company in Pune. It was my first job as computer programmer. I had done couple of small stints with uncles, cousins and dad. One with my uncle was fun. With cousin it was painstaking accountancy job. Amazingly boring. Data entry, debits and credits, phone calls and businessmen all around. Sounds dud haan?

With dad it was kind of strange. My job was that of caretaker. Go open the shop till he comes. Customer never came to us; my dad was salesman on the go. Mumbai trotter (Globe trotter) kind.

Leaving Mumbai was easy, I always loved the city I was born and raised. But I never had such great affinity as I have today. It is so true; a human being never values what he has. He is always in search of something different and new.

After living in 4 different cities, and 2 different continents today I miss Mumbai more than anything else. When I say Mumbai, I am talking about my family, extended family, and extra extended family. My few friends; very few. I do not even need fingers to count them, forget about tips.

Testimonial … a personal compliment.

Everyone has been raving about the testimonial on this page , a thought crossed my mind … why not write a testimonial for Ken … and what better place than his own blog … it should even give some new life to this page … and so I take advantage of having the privilege of posting here.

Ken … have known him for quite some time now … and a little better than I could possibly know anyone else in the given time frame … and that’s because he is one hell of a smooth talker … Words in itself are powerless, they can neither benefit or harm you unless someone has the fine ability to combine them to use it for good bad and evil expressions … and he has a knack at it … one of the few people I know who have their way with words.

A cool guy … a good human and a perfectionalist by nature. He has a bundle full of patience don’t know where it comes from . Someone who is helpful, analytic … and the best has a decent ability to laugh at himself … I mean take humor in the

right spirit (well almost). How can I forget his ability to argue … this being in the right spirit based on beliefs and fundas … that’s so entertaining . And ya just read the gyan in the form of quotes on the home page of this blog.

I agree to his statement “Its difficult to define simple things” and so For now I am happy to stop here … maybe I will come back with more … some other time.

I know it’s all too good … but the fact is if I start writing the other part this is going to be an endlessly long … or should I say a never ending post … so for now just wishing him all the love, luck, success , happiness and prosperity in life.

real paradox of Munich trip

With my heart in my mouth; we boarded train to Nuremburg. It was late by twenty minutes. We got on bus to Opladen from office on time at 16:08 hrs. I saw my manager missing his bus back home. From Opladen we had to board a train to Cologne at 16:46. I am sure you are impatient while I am giving the account of each minute of this journey.

Believe me; I had jitters, goosebumps and all such feeling since I got on train to Cologne from Opladen. On Thursday I called up YMCA in Munich and I could book a twin room for €32.00 per night per person for two nights.

Once I knew I had place to spend night, I started looking for a cheap way to reach Munich. There was return flight for €200. But it was from Cologne airport and I had no clue on how to be there. Second option I thought was Thalys; but it does not travel between Cologne and Munich. Now the only option was to use ICE (InterCity Express); which will cost €178. It was okay; as this was the only option or we do not travel. It was expensive as next weekend we could have flew for €150.

The train to Cologne got delayed by long 45 minutes due to police inquiry in Cologne. We were to reach there by 05:05 pm, find a counter to buy a ticket to and from Munich. We reached at 15:45 hrs. We ran to counter to check if we can still board the train. Looking at long queue, we decided we will go to platform and see how the train looks like. And head back home with fool’s mug. Two minutes close to 17:53 hrs we were talking to station master about the status as there was no train on platform. At the back of my mind I was toying with idea; I have reservation; but I have not yet paid for ticket. Is it possible to pay on train?

Station master told me train is twenty minutes late. Immediate question was where to buy a ticket. He said on the train. Was there moment happier in near future? I doubled checked everything. A local guy helped me to have detailed conversation with station master. Now you must have understood why I was holding my breath.