A tribute to a great teacher!!

This world is full of people ... we come across many in our day-to-day interactions ... most we forget ... few we faintly remember and there are very few which we vividly remember... in fact we never forget them ... these are people who live their life like it should be lived ... simple,selfless and for others! It's just by mere association with them that we find our life full of color ... full of hoping and worth living!!

Mrs Joglekar was more than a teacher to me ... Apart from being a dedicated teacher (a rarity these days), she instilled a belief in each of her students, she always encouraged us to do well and achieve more in life!! It was really astonishing to see a person who taught only out of pure love for teaching! It's no wonder that students even after leaving the school , kept in touch even 10 years after school ... because that was how she was ... like a guiding star!!

I would never forget the way she believed in my brother's ability when he was not doing well in school and was afraid to sit for the SSC exam ... she trusted him even when my parents had no hope for him... Both of us were very fond of our teacher and always made it a point to visit our guru on "guru pournima" and during Ganpati!

But it wont be the same any longer ... since long time she was suffering from a illness and today morning she passed away! She will be dearly missed not only as a great teacher but also as a person who lived selflessly... May her soul rest in peace!

Home Sweet Home!!!

Finally it came ... the "Sparrow's shelter" as it is called ... 2 of them ... just have a look!!

I thought that going by the word "shelter" it would be something delicate but didnt think that it would be such a robust and palacial home ... almost like a mansion ;)

I mean look at it .... It has a waterproof roof ... cool design ...has some ventilation it also has an extension ... for the sparrows to just hang out! ... how kewl is that :)

We can either hang it outside our window , tied to the grill or we can put a nail in the outside wall and hang it there!

These sparrow shelters are sold as a part of a environment friendly gesture ... sparrows dont get a proper place to stay in this concrete jungle ... in old days, they could find a place in small gaps here and there ... but now they dont find such places ...

In fact, as per the person who sold this to us (he does this to give something back to nature),told us that sparrows being the fragile species as they are, are vulnerable even to the mobile waves from the cellphone towers! In fact in cities like Mumbai ... their population is on a decline!

So i felt really nice that we are doing something like this, we already have sparrows chirping around in the gallery ... in fact we could find them building a nice nest ... in a small hole in the outside wall , something like a shanty!

I hope we really help the cause with such shelters!

Now all we need is a sparrow couple to come and get a good look of their new "home". I am sure they are going to love it and bless us with their chirping ... something to sit back and enjoy in this chaotic world!!

If you are in Mumbai and would like to help the cause by having such shelter ... please do! The contact number is given in the image!

We also have bought a feeder which we can fill with grains! The design is so innovative that only sparrows can eat the grains from it ... we have thought a name also for the same "चिऊ-दा-ढाबा" !! :)

Surprise Surprise

I used to think that i am very much in touch with all my friends and trustworthy enough to confide in!

But i guess i was wrong ... all it took was just an "email" which
said that two of my best friends are getting engaged! (Not mentioning the names to keep anonymity)

The "Groom-to-be" is with me since engineering college days (4 years) and also for almost 2 years at the same workplace!!

So i expected that such an important update would be conveyed in a more appropriate way rather than a innocuous looking email that too from the "bride-to-be", who also happens to be my friend since last 4 years!!

I had written a blog on "breaking news" few days back ... This would have been a perfect example ... unexpected and very significant... because it not just surprised me ... but i couldnt make my mind whether i should believe it or not? ( "not" because in our group it is quite normal for rumour mail getting circulated and creating a junk of chain mails ... they used to be quite a good timepass ... in fact i also started a false rumour about myself getting engaged...)

Anyways, the shock element of this surprise was also partly because it's been 4 months since i left my job hence i was not updated on most of the happenings ... the "groom-to-be" had changed his job ... also the "bride-to-be" was onsite in US for a long period ... so I was out of touch!

I can also say that i was naive enough (I wont use "stupid" in my own blog ... :)) not to pickup some obvious clues ... one of them ...when the "bride-to-be" sent a cake and some chocolates all the way from US to the "groom-to-be" ... it's a different matter that his roomies ate the whole cake instead! and he was left with only the chocolates ;)

Now I am still struggling to understand why this whole thing was kept such a secret! almost like a covert operation!

I would also like to address my remaining "single" friends ("single" as per my updates ... i hope i am right) .... DO NOT SHOCK ME LIKE THIS!

I hope my image as a "Trustworthy" friend is still intact ...

In the end ... I would like to congratulate the "Groom-to-be" and "Bride-to-be" a very happy and blissful married life ! Be rest assure that i will try my best to repay this shock !!! Muahahaha

Moral of the story : There can be a fire without smoke!!! ;)

Finally ...!!

There are many moments in our life which stand out ... some which give a new direction to our life!

For me ... getting into my desired engineering college and getting my first job ... were dream moments which are still crystal clear in my mind!!

But since last 2 years, i was waiting for a similar moment to happen! I was pretty much bored working ... was trying for MBA ... but was not getting any good results!

Then came the day 16th February 2008 ....

I was anxious the whole day ... since the result of SIBM (Symbiosis Institute of Business Management) was going to be displayed on the website at around 5 pm ... The wait till 5 pm was nerve-wrecking ... i tried net surfing (The previous blog would reflect my state of mind) ... watching a movie ... reading a book ...even sleeping .... every possible thing just to make the wait a little bearable!

and then it was 5 pm ... i logged on to the site ... 5:05 ... 5:10...5:15 ... i was frantically refreshing the page but it was still showing the same old message ... grrr

Then suddenly ... the page refreshed and came window asking for my SNAP id to retrieve the result ... This was it ... during all this by elder brother ( unaware that it was the result day) was trying to talk to me and trying to catch my attention by closing the laptop... A little irritated ... but damn nervous at the same time ... i typed in the number ... fortunately or unfortunately ... the page opened very quickly ... and i glanced at the mail

"Not selected for SIBM pune" was the first thing which caught my sight ... my heart missed a bit ... but then the line little below was showing " Welcome to the SIBM family!!"
I was wondering ... why are they saying welcome when i am not selected ???

But then ... Duhhh ... i missed the line in between .... "Selected for SIBM Bengaluru"

At that moment ... i was very confused ... should i happy that i got selected for one campus or disappointed that i dint make it to the other ?

I told my brother ... that i got selected for SIBM ... he was elated ... i was still dazed ... perhaps waiting for the feeling to sink in ...
My brother called my dad to give him the news ... (This was like a BREAKING NEWS for me ;) ) ... Congratulations and Thank you's followed for the rest of the day...

I started SMSing my friends frantically that i have done it ... i have finally converted an MBA call !!!! SMS replies , calls started flowing in ... was simultaneously chatting on gtalk ... to friends , SIBM senior... one window with pagalguy.com was opened where i was the first to post my result ... forgot to add the dancing smiley though .. ;)
There is still a lot of selection process remaining for other B-schools ... but definitely this one is special ... because doing an MBA is a surety this time round ... and that is a very relieving .... trust me!!

A bundle of nerves...

I have been bundle of nerves during exam time and even more so when the results approached ! I dont know why I used to worry so much ... maybe the fear of failure ... I remember during my 10th standard exam; i used to be under so much pressure for each paper but after solving the paper ... i used to find out that all my fears were baseless... later it was confirmed by the result as well!

Even during job interview ... i used to feel so nervous ... i could feel my heart beating like drums! ... even after the interview ... the scenes of the interview used to play and replay in mind ... sometime highlighting the good part and the next time showing the same in negative sense! Mind can truly play havoc if it's not under your control ...

Since then i have been trying various things to keep my mind focused! "Reframing" is one thing i have learnt and practiced ... Here you keep telling yourself that "Whatever happens ...happens for the best" ... though this may sound pretty naive ... It's very effective! You avoid yourself thinking too much about your failures ... Trust me ... getting disappointed is natural ... but chewing that same disappointment over and over again is completely useless!

Many a times we worry too much about the result and forget that a sincere effort will automatically ensure that result!

We forget that in every failure there's a hidden lesson to be learnt ... it points to some weakness of ours ... once we learn that ... it's not a failure anymore ... it just becomes a step towards achieving your goal!!


This morning, i came across a similar quote from the book "Wisdom Song - The life of Baba Amte"
"It is wrong to evaluate an adventure in terms of ultimate success and failure. An adventurer does not bother about success or failure. Some (experiments) succeed, others fail ... the small failures will be the launching pads of bigger adventures .... The seed of success is hidden within every failure"


Aren't we nothing but adventurers set on the jouney of life ?


So I dont worry too much .... I just keep on putting in efforts ...
I find Paulo Coelho's qutoe from "The Alchemist" very inspiring ...
“When you want something, all the world conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

Sorry ... if that was a strong dose of spirituality .... :-)

Just to end on light note ... here's a video clip of SRK from "Om Shanti Om"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6dacWmdDG8


For non-hindi audience .. here is the translation :
"They say, if you want something with your heart,
the whole universe will try to help you get it.
Finally everyone has helped me achieve this goal.
Thanks, thanks very much.
I feel like the king of the world.
Today, I realized that in life, like in our movies,
everything becomes good in the end.
And if it does not get better, then it is not the end.
The movie is still not over. "

Jodha Akbar

It's Friday ... and eagerly awaited "Jodha Akbar" is getting released today!

Ever since Ashutosh Gowariker's Lagaan made a trip to Oscars ... the standards have been raised with each movie ... I am sure "Jodha Akbar" will raise it still further!

Each of his movies are characterised by great attention to detail ... a strong storyline that simply touches your heart ... Music which is nothing lesser than World Class (Read A.R.Rehman) !

Also credit should go to Ashutosh for getting the best out the actors ... Aamir in case of Lagaan and SRK in Swades (Top notch performance) ...

With every movie , AR Rehman conjures a melodious tune... which we keep on humming for months together and become addicted to ... You can listen to the songs (see the playlist in the sidebar)

My favourites is definitely "Jashn-e-Baharan" ... never heard of Javed Ali ... but he's done justice to this song ... Sonu Nigam is at its usual BEST with "In Lamhon ke daaman mein"

Looking forward to watching it next week @ SUNCITY! Dont care what are the initial previews like ... I am gonna watch it for sure!

I think "Jodha Akbar" is simulaneously getting released worldwide... Indian movies are going global which is pretty heartening to see ... Hollywood beware :)

Here is the trailor ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRyDWVXheL0 ... Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day

14th February, hasn't been a significant day for me (atleast so far) But this is not going to stop me from wishing others a very happy valentine's day! ... though i doubt people will read this on V-day ... they would rather be busy with their loved one's!

Anyways, V-day means a lot to many folks ... especially for those who work day-in-day-out and don't get time to spend with their loved ones ... well ... this day is exclusively for that! :)
so grab some flowers , chocolates , jewellery or even take your loved one's out for that lovely candle-light dinner!!! In fact this is the day which companies eagerly await to cash in ...
I read a news article which mentioned that "Archies" earns 15% of their income from this one day alone! isnt that amazing ?

And then there is other group of people who are anxiously wait for this day to pass on ... as quickly as possible without themselves being noticed (Yours truly is currently included in this group) ... some of them say "We dont believe in V-day ... why to restrict ourselves to just 1 day in the whole year ?"
well ... i kinda agree ... also V-day somehow seems to be narrow in scope ... is it only for couples to express their love for each other? I think , it should be a day to express our feelings towards everyone who we feel attached to ... be it parents , brother, sister and even friends!!

Plus the focus should be on emotions rather than spending a fortune on material things ... Though a lot of fortune is currently spent on it , i think it's because of the "herd" mentality!
Everyone looks around and feels compelled to celebrate the "V-day" like others do!

Let's be ourselves and celebrate V-day the way we want!!
Happy valentine!!

Whose "Mumbai" is it anyway?

As images of "raj thakrey" ,first getting arrested and consequently released, got flashed on the TV , I couldnt help but think ... why is all this happening? why is everyone getting so xenophobic when we have grown up in an India ... where we are proud of the "unity in diversity"?
I think these are just the symptoms of a grave underlying issue .....

After 1947, Indian states were created based on language which i think was the right thing to do as these states not only represent different languages but also different cultures.
After 60 years of independence, if you look at each of the states ... in terms of development and employment opportunities created ... then there's a stark difference !!
Some of the states have done well but other group of states are still lagging far behind ... Also in every state, certain cities become the centres of development while the rest of the state simply gets ignored !! ... So it is but natural that people from the poor areas would simply "migrate" to such centres of development with a hope for earning a better living!
These migrants have no option but to work for whatever money they can get ....obviously they would be preferred by the employers over the locals ... who will feel discriminated!

Other thing which is happening is that when everyone rushes to Mumbai, Delhi or cities like it ... the basic resources need to be shared ... e.g. water, electricity etc. And then naturally there's a shortage and everyone starts feeling the pinch!

To avoid this , we need "Decentralisation" ... we need to create employment opportunities in rural areas to such an extent that people wont feel the need to migrate!
We need "self sufficient villages" as envisioned by Mahatma Gandhi ... where all the needs are satisfied within the villages itself... if this happens then we wont the "trickle down" effect which till now doesnt seem to have worked !!

But till this happens ... such incidents would happen ... the locals will feel discriminated and politicians will continue to take advantage of such a sentiment!
what we can hope is that sense prevails out of all this chaos and Mumbai would be normal again!

Evadhasa Aabhal

Marathi Cinema has seen an upsurge since "Shwaas" made it to the Oscar nominations!

I think "Evadhasa Aabhal" would rate very high amongst the most memorable marathi movies...

Apart from normal entertainers ... marathi movies have always showed a capacity to handle serious topics and issues! This movie depicts the emotions which a child goes through when his parents get divorced.

The topic of divorced parents may sound common. But where this movie scores is the way they have handled the topic!

Be it while portraying the state of mind of the child ... his attachment towards his parents ... the way he struggles to accept the reality that his parents wont be together anymore ... the alienation he strongly feels when his monther remarries!

The movie is full of emotions ... I think the movie is different because it views the whole issue from the child's point of view who is emotionally shattered because of his parent's divorce! Generally movies related to divorce focus mainly on the husband and wife who separate ... but hardly any thought is given to the child.

I liked the title track ... though i doubt it would be available on the net ...

Pity that marathi movies aren't marketed that well ... wish this movie had even a fraction of the marketing budget which the likes of OSOs and the Saawariya's had!

This movie won the best film and best direction award ... good to see that it's getting appreciated!

Do watch it ... Think it would be worth watching even with the subtitles!

Till the next blog entry ... Good bye :)

PS. The movie is based on the fiction novel "Aap ka Bunty" by Mannu Bhandari.

Breaking News!!!

The day was 11th september 2001, I was watching TV in the evening ... surfing channels when i saw a breaking news flashing on CNN ... two planes crashed in WTC ... at that instant it looked an accident but as we all know it has been one of the significant events in world history!

Zoom to 2008 ... around 10-15 news channels exist in india ... and if you are getting bored these can provide you the entertainment ... something that was never expected coming from a news channel!

"Breaking News" is something which is always flashing on these channels and every channel is showing a different breaking news :S

Height is that these news channels project any news as breaking news ... i mean absolutely anything under the sun... whether it's sanjay dutt marrying for the third time ... or rumour of raj thakrey getting arrested .... or be it Abhishek-aishwarya on a temple spree !!

I sometimes wonder what is the point of giving such news .... are people looking for news that "entertain" or news that inform?

I am not against news that entertain ... if you see some channels do use it in a subtle manner and as something in between all serious news ... like we use pickle but ... you dont have the whole pickle bottle for lunch ?!!?

Another grudge against these news is the repeatative nature of them ... they just keep on repeating the same thing ... although come to think of it ... viewers are advised NOT to stay on the same news channel for more than say ... 3 mins ;)

Never mind the entertainment ... after all these channels are still on AIR means that "shockingly" they do have some audience!!

But what about the distorted news ? Especially when the politicians are always willing to indulge "vote-bank" politics ... the news channels by giving biased views simply play into their hands so that they can gain political mileage from it! What if such a distorted news serves as a spark amongst all the communal tension! Dont you think that news channels OUGHT to be more responsible?

If this is the way "News" are going to be ... I am seriously worried about the future!

Thankfully national news channels have stayed away from all this circus ... and managed to stay purely "NEWS" channels ... so there is some hope for those who want to get informative, concise and unbiased news

Another good example of how a channel should be is "Loksabha" ... i dont know if it is categorised as a news channel ... Initially when it was launched ... i was doubtful about the nature of their programmes being naturally favouring the political party in power! But it has came across as a refreshing surprise .... with its neutral content ... it has so far tried to give a true and unbiased picture ... it has also brought to the fore lot of social issues ... which could have never been expected from other "masala" news channels!

I think "Journalism" is a very important and noble profession ...especially in a democracy like ours ... where we need people to be informed and aware of the problems and issues around them

we want news that give us the real picture and not the distorted ones!

I would like to end with the hope that the viewers with the remote in hand, is sensible enough to discern between what is news and what is entertainment and what is it that he's looking for!

Latest BREAKING NEWS : India post a target of 196 for SriLanka to chase!! :)