बहती हवा सा था वोह .....

Very nice song from the movie 3 Idiots.

The first thing I can't help but notice, is that this song HAS to be about Aamir. There is no chance in the world that either Sharman Joshi or Madhavan can play the character described here, while Aamir is around !!

The second noticeable thing is that it has a very distinct Bengali sound to it, you know, the likes where the maanjhi is singing to pass the time while he gets the naiyaan to the other side of the dariyaan, but is actually singing about the states of the mind of his passengers.

One can almost visualize Sharman Joshi and Madhavan sitting in the boat and reminiscing about Aamir.

बहती हवा सा था वोह ... उडती पतंग सा था वोह ...
कहाँ गया उसे ढूँढो !!
बहती हवा सा था वोह ... उडती पतंग सा था वोह ...
कहाँ गया उसे ढूँढो !!

हमको तो राहें थी चलाती ... वोह खुद अपनी राह बनाता ...
गिरता संभलता मस्ती में चलता था वोह !!
हमको कल की फिक्र सताती ... वोह बस आज का जश्न मनाता ...
हर लम्हे को खुल के जीता था वोह !!
कहाँ से आया था वोह ... छु के हमारे दिल को .....
कहाँ गया उसे ढूँढो !!

सुलगती धुप में छाव के जैसा ... रेगिस्तान में गाव के जैसा ...
मन के घाव पे मरहम जैसा ... था वोह !!
हम सहमे से रहते कुँए में ... वोह नदियाँ में गोते लगाता ...
उलटी धारा चीर के तैरता था वोह !!
बादल आवारा था वोह ... यार हमारा था वोह ...
कहाँ गया उसे ढूँढो !!

हमको तो राहें थी चलाती ... वोह खुद अपनी राह बनाता ...
गिरता संभलता मस्ती में चलता था वोह !!
हमको कल की फिक्र सताती ... वोह बस आज का जश्न मनाता ...
हर लम्हे को खुल के जीता था वोह !!
कहाँ से आया था वोह ... छु के हमारे दिल को .....
कहाँ गया उसे ढूँढो !!

Rajkonna maane Angel .....

This is a performance by a Bengali dude called Iman Sen, in the MTV Rock On show.
He describes about himself, his background in music, and the song itself in the build up to the performance. So no point in me re-iterating the details.

Beautiful song, very well sung and check out the sparkle in Kailash Kher's eyes at the end of the performance ........ :-)

Tell me where have you come from .....
Oh beautiful woman .....
You were my hearts desire ....

But are you really there?
Or are you just a figment of my imagination?
A picture which the rain mischievously splatters in the night ....

My whole world comes to a standstill
at the slight tinkle of the bells adorning your feet
Believe me when I say
that I have loved you more than life itself .....
And as always ... would you hold it against me?
Believe me when I say
that I have loved you more than life itself .....
And you can blame me for it .....

Are you my happiness?
My most beautiful one .....
I have seen the rain ...
I have seen you step into it ... and fade away .....
You are my Angel

Rajkonna maane Angel !!!

Draped in white ...
... the most beautiful one
Your impish grin that I love so much ...
Come back to me !!

Angel ... Angel ... Angel ...
Are you my Angel?
My Angel ... My Angel !!

The English version of the lyrics does not do much justice to the song, I feel. I almost have half a heart to get Bengali lessons from somewhere, and yes, divulge a bit more into "Bangla Rock" (as they call it) :-)

My kinda dance .....

A friend on one of the "social networking" sites put up this video in his favorites, and for once, I enjoyed something from the updates I see on my home page, which I see owing to the feature where they clutter my home page when my "friends" clutter theirs!
(Slightly besides the point, but given that this is an internal RSS feed of sorts, I wonder if they use the same technology :-p).

Anyways, so I really loved this video. Firstly, kudos to the choreographer (as would oft be repeated in the comments section against this video), and also to the 30-odd performers (including the singular girl in the center of the front-row whom I did not notice till after half the video) for maintaining such a straight face throughout the performance !! :-D

Just notice the steps @1:51 where the song goes "मुझको आवाज दो ..... " and also @3:58 where it goes "के दिल करे हाय ..... " !!
Beats the hell out of even The Govinda or The Mithunda steps !!

I cannot help not smiling ..... especially because if I ever get "on stage" to dance, this will be the only kind of dance that I might be able to pull off !!!
(I am sure more than a few people would agree with me here :-))

P.S.: Does the girl fall at the very end, just before the Ganpati dance starts ???

No. 62 it is !!

A "forward" that I received today pretty much sums up the importance of this day .....

LORD MACAULAY'S ADDRESS TO THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT, 2 FEBRUARY, 1835

I have traveled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such caliber, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage. And, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native culture and will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation.

It pains me to say that I was not able to attend any flag hoisting ceremony today, not even the one in my apartment like I did on the 26^th. Would have loved to blame it on the "flu" rampant in the city, but I know that really was not the reason. :-(

कधी तरी वेड्या गत वागायला हवे .....

कधी तरी वेड्या गत वागायला हवे .....

कधी तरी वेड्या गत वागायला हवे !!

भांड्यावर भांडे कधी भिडायाला हवे ..... भांड्यावर भांडे कधी भिडायाला हवे .....

उगाचच सखिवर चिडायाला हवे .....

मुखातून तिच्यावर पाखडता आग ..... मुखातून तिच्यावर पाखडता आग

एकीकडे प्रेमगीत लिहायला हवे !!

कधी तरी वेड्या गत वागायला हवे !!

विळिपरी कधी एक चंद्रकोर घ्यावी ..... विळिपरी कधी एक चंद्रकोर घ्यावी .....

हिरविशी स्वप्ने धारे धारे ने चिरावी .....

कोर कोर चंद्र चंद्र हारता हारता ..... कोर कोर चंद्र चंद्र हारता हारता

मनातून पुर्णबिंब तगायाला हवे !!

कधी तरी वेड्या गत वागायला हवे !!

मनातल्या माकडाशी हात मिळवुन ..... मनातल्या माकडाशी हात मिळवुन .....

आचरावे कधीतरी विचारा वाचून .....

झाडापास झोपुनिया हाती येता फ़ळ ..... झाडापास झोपुनिया हाती येता फ़ळ

सहजपणाने तेहि फेकायाला हवे !!

कधी तरी वेड्या गत वागायला हवे !!

कधी राती लावुनिया नयनांचे दिवे ..... कधी राती लावुनिया नयनांचे दिवे .....

पुस्तकाला काहीतरी वाचायला द्यावे .....

शोधुनिया प्राणातले दुमडले पान ..... शोधुनिया प्राणातले दुमडले पान

मग ..... मग त्याने आपल्याला चाळायला हवे !!

कधी तरी वेड्या गत वागायला हवे !!

स्वतःला विकून ..... स्वतःला विकून काय घेशील विकत .....

खरी खरी सूखे राजा मिळति फुकट !!

हपापुन बाजारात मागशील किती ..... हपापुन बाजारात मागशील किती

स्वतः तसे नवे काही शोधायला हवे !!

कधी तरी वेड्या गत वागायला हवे !!

तेच तेच पाणी आणि तीच तीच हवा ..... तेच तेच पाणी आणि तीच तीच हवा .....

आणि तुला बदलही कशासाठी हवा ??

जुनेच अजुन आहे रियाजावाचुन ..... जुनेच अजुन आहे रियाजावाचुन

गिळलेले सारे आधी पचायला हवे !!

कधी तरी वेड्या गत वागायला हवे !!

नको बघू पाठीमागे .. येइल कळून ..... नको बघू पाठीमागे .. येइल कळून .....

कितीतरी करायचे गेले रे राहून !!

नको करू त्रागा ..... नको करू त्रागा असा उद्याच्या दारात

स्वतःला कधी माफ़ करायला हवे !!

कधी तरी वेड्या गत वागायला हवे !!

कधी तरी वेड्या गत वागायला हवे !!

कधी तरी वेड्या गत वागायला हवे !!

कधी तरी वेड्या गत वागायला हवे !!

The Three Days Rule

The origin of The Three Days Rule [ as described by The Barney Stinson ]

[ No religious offense meant ]

Seriously, Jesus started the whole wait three days thing. He waited three days to come back to life. It was perfect!

If he'd waited only one day, a lot of people wouldn't have even heard that he died! They'd be all ..... "Heyy Jesus ... whaddup??"
And Jesus'd probably be like ..... "Whaddup?? I died yesterday!!"
And then they'd be all ..... "Err ... you look pretty alive to me dude!!"
And then Jesus would have to explain how he was resurrected and how it was a miracle.
And then the dude would be like ..... "OKAY!! Whatever you say bro!!"

And you're not gonna come back on a Saturday! Everybody's busy ..... doing chores ..... working the loom ..... trimming their beards!!
NO!!
He waits the exact right number of days ..... THREE!!

Plus it's Sunday! Everyone's in church already!
They're all in their ..... "Oh no! Jesus is dead!!"
Then BAAM ..... he bursts through the back door ..... runs up the aisle ..... everyone's totally psyched ..... and FYI ..... that's when he invented the HIGH FIVE!!!!!

THREE DAYS!! You wait three days to call a woman ..... because that's how long Jesus wants us to wait!

True story!!

One Two Three ....

Had been out of touch with the latest movies, release dates, pre-release antics, etc. in Bollywood for some time now, mainly because of no time (*roll of the eyes*), and no TV at our new home (*very sad face*) !!

But now, since the last week, both problems got solved, and I am back on the circuit (*proud smile*) !! :-)

The first movie (and its songs) that I noticed when I got back to my music channels (a horde of them nowadays, difficult for me to even keep track of all of them), was One Two Three. Trailors showing Paresh Rawal selling *kachcha-baniyaaan*, and Tushar Kapoor as a wannabe *bhai*, with Suneil Shetty, Vrajesh Hirjee (whom I really like a lot, especially since his stint in RHTDM), and a horde of heroines, made it an immediate must-watch, especially after I was making a comeback and had almost forgotten what E-Square looks like from inside !! To the extent, that I was not even waiting for the reviews this time :-).

So, first-day-last-show tickets were booked ((incidentlally, not at E-Square), and the movie was seen!! Excellent performances all around, except for all the ladies and Upen Patel, which leaves us only with the 3 Laxmi Narayan's, the 2 Dons, and Alberts and Pintos :-p !! I feel it would have been an excellent movie, had it been woven together properly. The indiviual hilarious moments were many, but for some reason, the tempo is not maintained. The plot, well it cannot be called a plot, but even that could have made for a good watch, if the entire story had been concentrated upon the 3 Laxmi Narayan's rather than giving equal screen space to the rest of the bandwagon, like it had been done in Hera Pheri, with minimal focus on Kabira and Deviprasad.

Tushar Kapoor, I loved him in this movie, because he is playing himself for once :-)!! The typical fattu, wannabe, under the rest of the family's shadow types character, that he is in real life, is portrayed with ease!! Paresh Rawal is as hilarious as ever, and just continues from where he left (in one of his earlier movies, I don't even remember which)!! Suneil Shetty, great job, with his *aapka left ya mera left* antics!! The first Don (Manoj Pahwa) with his two-liners, the second Don (Mukesh Tiwari) with his "s"s everywhere (a spinoff from Javed Jaffry in Salaam Namaste), Sanjay Mishra (Alberts) with his Jeevan accent, and Vrajesh Hirjee (Pintos) with his usual stuff, make a perfect team!

The title song and the *Rock Mahi* track are great, according to me, I have them on my playlist on loop currently :-).

And this kinda completes my *review* in typical Taran Adarsh style (as GB would put it) :-).
Some of the two-liners from the Don to conclude .....

बंदूक से निकला फौलाद ..... और पेट से निकली औलाद ..... वापस नही जाते !!

एक बॉल पे दो चौके ..... और एक लाइफ मी दो मौके ..... कभी नही मिलते !!

जवानी पे चढा शबाब ..... और ज़ोर से लगा पिशाप ..... ज्यादा देर नही रुकते !!

(*applause*)

लारी छूटी ..... के लारी मिल गई ??

So ..... I am no longer a bachelor (this realisation has just started to sink in, after more than 3 weeks of *not* being single) ..... and allow me to make a public confession ..... I am loving it !! (to be said in the McDonald's style) :-)

My first post as a *married* man !! :-)

Had been thinking for a long time, as to how to break the news on the blog. Not that it matters, how I put it up here .... coz most of the people who venture onto this blogspace already know about it!! But its still something to think about :-).

As we were about to leave today morning, as usual, I had been humming along a song (that is usually stuck in my head because of an overdose of listening to it the previous day, till I change the entire playlist, so that I can get it out of my head, to end up listening to just one new song for the entire day again, and hum it along the next morning ..... and the cycle continues ..... you get the picture :-)).
And suddenly, she says, "These lyrics kinda match with what has been happening to you over the last few days, isn't it ??".
And then I had to hum through the lyrics all over again, to *hear* them this time, and I realised, that they did kinda match with whats been going on with me lately :-). So now hear I was, hearing and writing out the song in देवनागरी, the way I like it.
But, I also did realise as I wrote it, that the base of the song is *unexpected*, things of copper suddenly turning to gold! And that is NOT how it has happened to me, meaning, I always knew things were "golden", just that I did not know that they were in reach :-)!! (समझदार को इशारा काफ़ी है !). Well, so what I have done, is highlighted (in red) the parts that I can identify with :-).

So here goes .....

वोह कहते है ना ..... जो होता है ..... अच्छे के लिए होता है ..... गलद कहते है !!

किस्मत का खेल है सारा ..... फिरता था मैं आवारा ..... ये क्या से क्या हो गया .....
चार दिन की जिंदगानी ..... हर पल एक नई कहानी ..... क्या था मैं क्या बन गया .....

क्या हुआ जो लारी छूटी ..... जीवन की गारी लूटी ..... ख्वाब है तो मुझको ना जगा
जिंदगी एक पल मे साली ..... यू पलट गई हमारी ..... झूठ है तो मुझको ना बता !!


मुम्बई ..... सुना था यहाँ आदमी पुरी जिंदगी अपनी किस्मत .....
slow track से fast track लाने मे निकाल देता है .....
पर ढाई घंटे मे मेरी किस्मत .....
ऐसे slow track से fast track पर आ जाएगी .....
यह मैंने कभी सोचा नही था .....
सजा मजा बन जाएगी .....
यह भी कभी सोचा नही था !!!
last local क्या छूटी .....
साला किस्मत पटरी पर आ गई !!


कर लू जो भी करना है ..... होता है जो होना है .....
गुजरा तो पल ये ..... फ़िर ना आएगा .....
क्या बुरा है .... क्या भला है ...... वक़्त ही शायद खुदा है .....
हो जाने दो फ़िर ...... देखा जाएगा !!

क्या हुआ जो लारी छूटी ..... जीवन की गारी लूटी ..... ख्वाब है तो मुझको ना जगा
जिंदगी एक पल मे साली ..... यू पलट गई हमारी ..... झूठ है तो मुझको ना बता !!

वोह कहते है ना ..... जो होता है ..... अच्छे के लिए होता है ..... सही कहते है !!!

Wishing Sonal and myself a very *Happy married life* !!! :-)

V-Day Special

मी तिला विचारलं, तिने लाजून होय म्हटलं
सोनेरी गिरक्या घेत मनात गाणं नाचत सुटलं !

काय म्हणालात ? यात विशेष काय घडलं ?
त्यालाच कळेल ज्याचं असं मन जडलं !

तुमचं लग्न ठरवून झालं ?
कोवळेपण हरपून झालं ?
देणार काय ?
घेणार काय ?
हुंडा किती ?
बिंडा किती ?
काड्या किती ?
साड्या किती ?
याचा मान,
त्याचं पान,
सगळा मामला रोख होता,
व्यवहार भलताच चोख होता !

तुम्हाला हे सांगून तरी कळणार कसं ?
असलं गाणं तुमच्या कड़े पळणार कसं ?

पण ते जाऊ द्या,
माझं गाणं गाऊ द्या !
मी तिला विचारलं, तिने लाजून होय म्हटलं
सोनेरी गिरक्या घेत मनात गाणं नाचत सुटलं !

Wishing everyone a *Very Happy Valentine's Day* !! :-)

[courtesy: A mail fwd, I am not @ all good at poetry :-)]

Shell Age - Manfred looking for Ellie

Absolutely hilarious article here.

There is a sad truth to the world today. I am part of a dying breed of people known as "shell users." We are an old-fashioned bunch, preferring the warm glow of a green screen full of text over the cold blockiness of a graphical interface. We use ssh, scp, and even occassionally ftp. Back in the days before high-speed connections ("broadband"), we would dial up during off-hours to avoid being slammed with huge phone bills. The whole "Microsoft Windows" fad will fade away sooner or later, but in the interim, our kind is facing extinction.

Because there are fewer and fewer of us, I must help keep our lineage alive. I am looking for someone to help me do this. I need a woman (obviously) who is willing to raise a child with me in the method of Unix. Our child will be introduced to computers at a young age, and will be setting emacs mode before any other child can even read. I earn a sufficient income to support a family in modest comfort. Other than the fact our child will be bright, text-based and sarcastic, we will otherwise be a normal family. We will even go to Disney World and see Mickey Mouse.

So, if you are a woman between the ages of 23 and 43 who is ready to raise a child in the way of the shell, let me know so we can begin the process. (If you are ready to raise more than one child, even better.)

PS - yes, this is for real. Given the right person, I would obviously propose before we ... call fork().
PPS - I only set emacs mode for my ksh session. I only edit files using vi. Just wanted to clear that up. And I'm looking to raise the child(ren) as a dedicated couple, so if you aren't interested in being married, you may wish to select() a different posting.

N.B. - on the issue of relocation. I live in a place where my income/expense ratio is proper (i.e., greater than 2:1). I'm willing to live anywhere in the world where this remains true. I've been to much of the country as well as foreign nations. There are no limits to where I will live *so long as the job market for unix admins is robust enough to be sustainable.* And yes, I am interested in a strictly monogamous situation. I've been known to actually turn down offers of "two chicks at the same time."

An even more hilarious discussion about this article here.

Of elevators and people !!

We have 2 elevators in the building where our office is, which are controlled by a central dispatch pad located on each floor. A very typical setting nowadays ..... I know ...... nothing out-of-the-world about this ..... I know ..... but given the number of people using elevators thus described ..... why do they commit the same *stupid* mistakes ..... I do NOT know !!!!

Seriously, everyday, I come across at least one person, who commits at least one of these. And if you have the time and the patience, do observe that person carefully (well, maybe not too carefully, if it were a lady, she might just slap you), it could also tell you quite a bit about the personality.

So ..... you are inside the elevator (going up or down doesn't make a difference), and you reach your floor. The doors open, and this horde of people just starts barging in !!! I mean, take a look around people, you have the entire corridor to yourselves (how many ever you might be), and there's not more than 6 or 7 of us inside this cubicle of 5' x 5' !! Not only that, but most of the times, some of us are wanting to alight, which is going to make SPACE FOR YOU to come in !!!!! Can you not hold on for a couple of seconds ?? Take a cue from the local train commuters in Mumbai ..... :-)

Why do people think that they are so important, that they should TELL the elevator, where it should be going ? So ..... a person, who has to travel to the ground floor, is standing on floor 3 (lets say, of a 6 storey building). Both the elevators are at some floor below him, and SO, this person presses the UP key. And this is because he feels that the lift should be coming UP, in order to pick him up, and take him to his destination !! Dude, you should not be telling the lift where IT should go, you should be telling it where YOU want to go !! Is this asking too much, is this not common-sense ? Do you tell a shopkeeper what HE should be selling, or do you tell him what YOU want to buy ???

And then, there are those people, who feel that they are so smart, that only when their divine fingers touch the keypad, will the elevator move, and all those stranded on this floor would be saved !! So ..... you are on the lowest floor (parking or ground or whatever), meaning everybody HAS to travel up. Somebody has already pressed the UP button, very clearly advertised by the red indicator light. In spite of this, this person walks up, rather impatiently, and purposefully pushes the same button far into the wall, and that too a number of times !! My good man, we still do not have finger-print recognition on the elevator control pads, in buildings with IT offices (which is a lot of buildings), in India, for you pressing the key to make a difference. Or do you just want to show off in front of the well-dressed female (standing alongside me, though not with me), that you have something very important awaiting you upstairs (which is incidentally not important enough for him to take the steps :-)) ??

Obviously, you also get to see a combination of these categories, and mark my words, it DOES tell you a lot about the personalities. Let me not get into HOW for now, because I am still in the process of evolving my theorems in this context :-).

To end, all I can do, is empathise with the poor lift-man (who casts knowing, help-less glances at me and my like, especially when his elevator stops mid-way for no apparent reason, and the other patrons look at him rather accusingly), and appeal to the above described category of people as:
"My dear people using elevators, please also use your brains too once in a while!!"

A related and very interesting article here.

मेरा जहाँ ......

Great work Mr. Prasoon Joshi (lyricist), Mr. Shankar, Mr. Ehsaan, Mr. Loy (Music) and Mr. Adnan Sami (for his dreamy voice, and dreams is basically what this song is all about :-)).

A little sweet, a little sour,
A little close, not too far.
All I need, all I need, all I need,
Is, to be free !!

चूम लू मैं, इतना करीब,
चल पडू, तो कितना दूर .....
सपनो का बुना sweater सा warm,
सफेद बादलों के पार .....

मेरा जहाँ !!!!!!!

Let me in, without a shout,
Let me in, I have a doubt.
Let me in, without a shout,
Let me in, I have a doubt.
There are more, many more,
Many many, many more, like me !!!!

अकेला नही मैं,
खुली आखों से, नीन्द मे चलता,
गिरता ज्यादा, कम संभलता,
फ़िर भी न कोई, शक ना शुबा,
निकलेगा फ़िर से, सूरज जो डूबा,
हैरत हो सबको, ऐसा अजूबा
है ..... मेरा जहाँ !!!!!!!

Open eyes, how I run,
How I run to the other side,
Then I glide, like a bird,
I just want to be !!!!!!!

उड़ने को सौ पंख दिये है,
चढ़ने को खुला आसमा .....
मुड़ने को है करवट, करवट,
और बढ़ने को ..... मेरा जहाँ !!!!!!!

बचपन के, दिन चार,
ना आएँगे बार बार,
जिले जिले, मेरे यार,
जेब खाली, तो उधार,
जी जिंदगी ..... !!!!!

A lot has already been said about the movie, so no point in re-iterating. Excellent movie, very well handled, and backed up some awesome music and lyrics.

Sachin's Cricket Ground

Seriously, why don't they just re-christen the "Sydney Cricket Ground" to be called the "Sachin's Cricket Ground" ??

4 matches, 6 innings, 4 not-out's, 652 runs at a whooping average of 326.00, 3 centuries and just the 1 fifty. And all of this is just till date (the second innings is yet to commence :-)).
[courtesy: stats.cricinfo.com]

Whatever happens to the match, I do not care ...... because The Man is back (if he ever was away) ...... the jinx is broken (if it ever was there) !!!

Also, I would like to thank Bhajji from the bottom-most part of my heart, stomach, whatever ..... for staying put through an entire session, unlike some others (who should not be in the team in the first place, especially for this series).

Long Live The Little Master !!

The Prologue

The urge to write this post has been derived from the most recent India-Pakistan match, held on last Friday, as part of the ongoing T20 World Cup. I do not wish to review it, or put it my *expert* comments on the same. But the match reminded me of another match that was played about 10 odd years ago.

Since I want to describe the incident in its true detail, I have decided to split it into 3 parts :-).

Disclaimer:

This story is *not* a figment of my imagination. All characters and incidents in this story are real (I have put in links to people's orkut profiles wherever possible), and there is no question about the characters having any resemblance to characters living or dead, since as I said, all this is true !!

The Prologue:

Mumbai, about 10 odd years ago. There is a craze in Mumbai for under-arm cricket, which is for some reason, looked down upon by the rest of India (as far as I have known). They have tournaments (under lights as well, nowadays) at various levels of expertise. I will not get into the rules of the game, but believe me when I tell you, it requires the exact same set of skills you need to do well at over-arm cricket, and a lot more !!

We (the team of our building) had been a bunch of underdogs for the last 2-3 years that we'd been participating, but this year we were actually well prepared and kind of looked upon as a strong contender by the other teams. We called ourselves "Six Squares" (the number of our building was 36 :-p). In fact, we were so well prepared, that we had enough people to form 2 teams of our own - namely 36A, comprising of the senior members (though all were below 16, cause it was a U-16 event), and 36B, comprising of the relatively junior (read kachchaa) players.

Another interesting fact, was that the captains of both our teams, were brothers. And also the junior-most members of the respective teams, meaning that all strategic decisions were made by everybody other than the captain, and if things were to go wrong, the captain would be the one to blame :-). Newyz, each team comprsed of 8 players. I don't think I remember the composition of the teams exactly, but here is what I recollect:

36A - Akhil (c), Arun, Ajith, Lovely, Pathak, Takla, Amit, Chikara
36B - Abhishek (c), Mota, Bantu, Pranav, Alan, Guy from Ajith's building, Nalwaya, Varun

Both teams started off well. 36A did very well (as expected), and 36B did exceptionally well, mainly because of the bowling exploits of their captain, arguably the most prodigious under-arm leg-spinner in the tournament, and some high spirited team management by Mota.

Both teams registered very crucial (and memorable) wins in their respective league matches, which were supposed to be followed by the Semis.
36A got the better of 35, arch rivals, seperated by just a wall (complete with India-Pakistan like hostility, on and off the field. We, of course, were India :-)). 35 had players like Gaggu, Zaid, Lotsy, etc. who were part of their over-arm teams as well, which had no age-limit. We, for that matter, also were part of our over-arm team, but that was because none of the seniors from our building were ever interested (which is why we never took part in the over-arm tournament :-p). I think I would attribute that win to some excellent batting by Lovely and Arun, and a blinder of a catch that Ajith took, to dismiss Gaggu. We were heroes when we went back to the building in the break :-D
36B, not to left behind, and riding on luck big time, got the better out of 47, who called themselves the "Fighting Tigers". They were very strong contenders themselves, with Deepak as the captain, and Amit (tailor) as the hard-hitting all-rounder. 36B actually won because of Nalwaya's hanuman style hitting, and more importantly a second last ball 6 hit by the guy from Ajth's building, which travelled all along the ground at a height of not more than 6 inches.

The camaraderie between both our teams uptill this point in the tournament had been enviable, with the seniors guiding the game plan of the juniors, and the juniors shouting their hearts out to support the seniors. And then it dawned upon the 16 involved. The second semi-final to be played was 36A Vs. 36B !!!!!

Nastik (Sandeep Khare)

Okay, I realise 2 things as I start writing this post:
a) I have not written in a long time, but I have managed to make a comeback of sorts, and not doing exactly what I did not want to do here.
b) As the title suggests, this post is about the famed कविता by the same name by Sandeep Khare.
(it took me about 3 minutes to type in that piece in देवनागरी , which is why I skipped writing the name of the poem or the poet again :-p).

I know that this poem has been talked about as well as posted on *n* number of blogs, websites, as well as communities. So it makes no sense for me to put it up over here. But the extent to which I have been able to identify with this piece of prose, I could not *not* put this up here (maybe for no one else's reading pleasure, but my own :-)).

So here goes ......

एक खराखुरा नास्तिक जेव्हा देवळा बाहेर थांबतो
तेव्हा खरे तर गाभार्यातच भर पडत असते
की कोणीतरी आपआपल्या पुर्ता सत्याशी का होइना
पण प्रामाणिक पणे चिक्टून राहील्याच्या पुण्याइची !

(When a true atheist stands outside a temple
Some offering is actually being made to the altar
Of the goodwill, that at least someone, loyally stands behind his belief,
Even if it is a selfish one)

एक खराखुरा नास्तिक जेव्हा देवळा बाहेर थांबतो
तेव्हा होते निर्माण
देवाने आपला आळस झटकून देवळा बाहेर येण्याची !

(When a true atheist stands outside a temple
It generates a need for God to shirk his sluggishness
And step outside the temple)

एक खराखुरा नास्तिक जेव्हा देवळा बाहेर थांबतो
तेव्हा कोर्या नाजरेने पाहत राहतो
सभोवतालच्या हाल चाली, भाविकांच्या जात्रा.......
कोणितरी स्वतःचे ओझे , स्वतःच्या पायांवर
सांभाळत असल्याचे समाधान लाभते देवालाच !

(When a true atheist stands outside the temple
He listlessly looks upon the happenings in his surroundings,
hordes of believers.......
God Himself feels the satisfaction
that somebody is bearing his onus on his own shoulders !)

म्हणून तर एक खराखुरा नास्तिक जेव्हा देवळा बाहेर थांबतो
तेव्हा देवाला एक भक्त कमी मिळत असेल कदाचित !
पण मिळते अकंठ समाधान एक सहकारी लाभल्याच

(Which is why when an atheist stands outside the temple
Maybe God gets deprived of a follower
But He feels the enormous satisfaction
of having gained a colleague)

देेऊळ बंद झाल्यावर एक मरट आळस देऊन
बाहेर तातकाळलेल्या नास्तिकाशी गप्पा मारता मारता
देव म्हणतो, "दर्शन देत जा अधून मधून...............
तुमचा नसेल विश्वास आमच्यावर,
पण आमचा तर आहे ना !"

(When the temple closes down,
As God has a lazy chat with the atheist stranded outside,
God says to him, "Keep visiting...............
You might not believe in me,
But I believe in you !")

देवळा बाहेर थांबलेला एक खराखुरा नास्तिक
कंटाळलेल्या देवाला मोठ्या मिन्नत्वरिने पाठवतो देवळात
तेव्हा कुठे अनंत वर्षे आपण घेऊ शकतो दर्शन
आस्तिकवातच्या भर्जरी शालित गुद्मरलेल्या देवाचे.................

(The atheist standing outside the temple finally sends the
weary God back into the temple with much persuasion
Which is when, for countless years to come, we can pay homage to
the God, who is smothered in the expensive shawl
showered upon Him by theists.................)

True Sandeep Khare fans, please excuse me if I have not been able to translate the words so as to hold true the exact meeting intended, but this is what I understood and related too :-)

Also, I have very desperately wanted to put the actual stanzas in the देवनागरी script, but believe me that is a hell of a tedious job. However, I intend to keep converting it into the देवनागरी script as I get time.

Be spiritual, not religious !!! :-)

Update: Thanks to Google (and Salil), I have been able to convert the text into the देवनागरी script in almost no time (compared to what it took for me to write कविता using KDE Keyboard Map :-p). I know there are still a few mistakes, which will be sorted out soon. :-)

It is but "Natural"

A senior of mine had been speaking about one for quite some time. The same guy finally got one for himself. I'd been looking at it and wondering for a long time, as to how in the world would it be possible to use it. Then I reached a level of competency where I could actually use one myself. And today I finally got myself one of those.

*satisfied smile*

The one in the story above refers to this.

I have always been fascinated by people who can type without casting a single glance at their fingers (I understand that this is not something to be fascinated about. but I really was). It almost seems like they are speaking, maybe because their eyes never lose focus !! And now, after completing more than 2 years of handling a keyboard continuously (and having lost the ability to use a pencil), I can almost do exactly that :-). I remember how contented I had felt when I had first been able to type my password without looking down, I'd practically told about it to a good friend of mine :-p.

Newyz, coming back to today, because of my incessant practice on my laptop, the keys got screwed big time. To the extent, that I got used to using the screwed up keys the way they respond :-D. And today for some reason, I had an urge to go get a new keyboard for myself, and now if I was going to get one, why not one which takes care of me ergonomically. Hence, the Natural Multimedia Keyboard from Microsoft.

So now, even though I am very proud of owning, and being able to use one, I still hate a few things about it, as follows (in order of appearance in the last 6 hours):

• The fact that it has been designed by Microsoft (I don't know when I might have to restart my keyboard :-p)
• It costs way more than its other simpler counterpart input devices, and its possession may be termed as extravagance on my part.
• Since I have not configured most of the other keys as yet, I am in a position where I can make my machine sleep in one click, but I do not know how to wake it up. (I choose to blame it on Microsoft ;-)).
  
• Throughout the writing of this post, I have kept pressing an "N" when I want to write a "B" (ditto for "T" and "Y").
• I have an uneasy feeling, that the keyboard on my laptop is going to feel left out, a soutan kinda feeling :-(.
  

In spite of this though, now I am looking forward to spending on otherwise busy Sunday, configuring the unused keys, and making nice things happen to my XGL setup, thanks to this writeup.

And now I can sleep peacefully, knowing that there is at least one disorder that I am guarded against.

Theorems 1

A nice theorem-corollary combo I came across while going through a fellow blogger's comments.

Theorem: We Hindus re-incarnate to rectify the mistakes we committed in the last one.
Corollary: If we stop making mistakes, we won't re-incarnate.

What do the die-hard Hindus have to say to this ??? :-)

The new gal on the block

I was just hanging out at my Didi's place the other day, and that too in the middle of the afternoon.
(Oh okay ..... fine .... all right ..... like most die-hard Puneites, I too like to have my mid-day siesta from time to time, and what better time to enjoy this, than after a good home-made lunch :-))

Neways, so I was just hanging out. Other people at home were also chilling around .... Didi was getting her nails done ...... Ishaan doing his Spiderman bit .... Shree making tea :-p ....... Ira also doing her bit (as much as a 1 year old can). Suddenly, out of the blue, Ira shifts her attention to her mom (Didi), or more precisely, to what her mom is doing. Now how much can a year old "woman" understand, about doing one's nails ??? But there was that spark in her eye!

What she did after that, was totally unexpected by any one of us, who'd been around her for the past 12 months. She crawled (with her sinister one legged crawl) towards her mom, perched herself on her legs, and stared intently. Then she gets up again, crawls towards her chair (the one she uses as a crawler) and gets it back to where her mom is sitting. She pulls herself up onto the chair, and ................ starts wailing :\

I had absolutely no idea as to what this drama was going to end in, but Didi, being the excellent mom (really) that she is, as well as a woman herself :-p realised what her daughter meant, and she herself very willingly gave up what she had been upto, and ended up doing this.

Now this is what I mean, when I say that the generation after ours, know their stuff well ....... and also know how to get the job done :-)

Kickoff !!!!

I knew I had to get myself one of these blog thingies, the moment I came across one, quite a few years ago. But somehow, I never ended up doing anything to initiate the process. At one point of time I was against blogging as well, some of the reasons cited being:

• failing to understand, why someone would want to put up their personal thoughts on the net for everyone to read ?
• being able to write out your mind in a hidden manner, somehow indicated to me a sense of insecurity on the writer's part.
• I hated it when readers put in "anonymous" comments, this kinda gave me a feeling of violation. Something like, what Monica feels in The One With All The Candy (7.09)
• I did not see the point in writing anything other than a technical blog (which is at least helpful to people).

....... and in spite of all this ........ here I am with my first post! :-)

Regarding my "blogging" experience, I can say that I have lots of it, but ....... all of it has been on the other side of the table i.e. reading blogs written by others.
(Some of my favorite ones should be listed somewhere on this page, by the time someone actually reads this post, bcoz right now I do not how to put those links there :-))

Now based on this vast (:-p) experience of mine, I have realised that a lot many of these good bloggers, have a tendency to look back upon the earliest of their posts, and say "I can't believe I had the cheaps to write something like that" !! And this actually works well for me when I start of today, because I can always expect myself to be able to follow suit in due time :-)

Another thing that I do not wish to end up doing, is stop this new interest of mine mid-way, when certain people actually gain interest in getting to read what you feel (like some of my close friends have done). I have put this line in intentionally, so that if I actually do end up doing the same thing, then I myself will feel ashamed at not having kept one more of my promises :-p.

So, let's see how it goes ......