Musings of a CuriousGanja

[20] Quarter century reflections

2009-04-26T08:08:00.000-07:00

I want to go back to the time when getting high meant on a swing.When dad was the only hero. When love was mum's hug. When dad's shoulder was the highest place on earth. When your worst enemies were your siblings. When the only thing that could hurt were wounded knees. When the only things broken were toys and when goodbyes meant only till tomorrow. Now we realize that life has changed so much~ AA

This dil kholna in this post is courtesy a trying period in all phases of life over the last few months and this semester break offers a brief intermission to take stock of things and error correct. I dont know if this is what they call quarter life crises.Just thought to pour out some thoughts in this post. How many of us look out of the window wondering where it all went. The world not looking like anything like what we wanted to grow up in.

We wanted epic adventures and what do we get.. four days vacation. We wanted a mission..we go for groceries. We wanted a purpose and we get cubicles. We wanted a beautiful, enchanting damsel..we get a jaded career women(ya woh bhi nahi :p). We wanted a castle..we get a rented apartment. We wanted wisdom..we get insipid talkshows. We wanted treasures..we get a wage. We wanted to be a knight with a shining armor who would change the world..we end up becoming a face in the crowd dabbling away in our routine. We wanted fairy tale endings... we get reality, which is a boulevard of broken dreams. It just seems that whole of life is a never ending chase for one thing to another till the graveyard is hit.

Maybe we are not entitled to anything. Maybe we are here to give our deepest gifts in a totally unrestrained manner no matter what the situation. Knowing what we offer may not be accepted. Knowing that whatever we create will be destroyed only to stoop and build it again with worn out tools without loss of enthusiasm or trust. Maybe thats what Bruce Lee meant when he wrote in Tao of Jeet Kun Do to be the water and not the rock. Maybe rough and smooth are but the same and is just the interpretation we put on it. Easier said than done. Maybe thats why they call it practice. To conclude with a sher by Ghalib that seems somewhat relevent to this post

Mareez-e-khwab tu ab shafaa hai 'Ghalib'

Magar....duniya badi kadwi dawa thi

Angreji translation:

You are now cured from the illness of dreams 'Ghalib'

But...world was a very bitter medicine

[19] Madhushala

2009-03-26T19:31:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon this masterpiece a few days ago again. I had read it in my undergrad. But sometimes when I read something again after a gap, it appears totally different and new. Similar thing happened with this poem.

Madhushala was written by Harivansh Rai Bachan in 1935. Madhushala litrally means tavern or bar and this poem consists of 135 versus describing daaru in all its beauty. The analogies and metaphors he uses in his descriptions paints such a vivid picture, one cant help but be in awe. He links up madhushala to array of topics- love, unity, death, purpose in life, worship,heaven to name a few. I love Bachan's writing style in this poem. He builds ip the plot and tension in the first three lines of the verse with clever use of words and rhyme and releases it dramatically in the last line leaving the reader with goosebumps. On the superficial level, Madhushala can be mistaken to be celebration of liqour, extolling the virtues of drinking. But, to a discerning person it is the celebration of life, joy in the purest form; a life devoid of orthoxies, make-believe and dogma.

The superficial research I conducted on it says that it was written when his wife was on her deathbed with TB. Makes me wonder, how suffering drives some people to build layers over their core and some people go deeper into the depths of their souls and come up with their magnum opus. But I am drifting.

This is good read for anybody who has remote interest in poetry and arts. Though I believe that Bigger B is considered by many as a one hit wonder, in his defense if they are going to compare all his works with a classic as this he has a huge standard to live up to so give him a break.

Its difficult to decide my favourite verse, but if I have to choose one it would be this one.

bane pujaari premi saaqi, gangaajal pawan haalaa
rahe pherata avirat gati se, madhu ke pyaalon ki maalaa
aur liye jaa, aur piye jaa, isi mantra ka jaap kare
maen Shiv ki pratimaa ban baethun, mandir ho yeh MADHUSHAALAA.

Angreji translation:
He imagines the beloved bartender as the priest, and the drink as holy as gangajal,
And counts rapidly on the rosary of his pegs,
His only mantra is "Take more. Drink more."

[In his imagination] he becomes the image of Shiva and his temple, Madhushaalaa.

[18] Federer Vs Nadal - A rivalry to cherish

2009-02-01T13:23:00.000-08:00

Waking up at 5 has never been so good. Sipping lemon tea in the coziness of a blanket and watching two gladiators of tennis battle their guts out for the Australian open title is the best way to celebrate Sunday morning.

This rivalry among these greats has been on for sometime, and this time Nadal had to prove that Wimbledon 2008 and his rank 1 is no fluke and did that in style. It is truly a match made in tennis heaven and is a privilege to watch these two athletes compete and both of them more than lived up to their expectations. What makes this my fav rivalry is the ways these two players complement each other so beautifully.

Federer had his pristine touch, and watching him play is pure poetry. The way he flows is like a river is like an artist at work. He hits the baselines with the accuracy and precision of a cruise missile. He embodies classical tennis at its magical best. He is a sorcerer who can deposit the ball to any corner he chooses from anywhere with amazing grace and finesse.

On the other hand Nadal embodies more contemporary tennis. He is a machine endowed with left arm of God.He has an amazing defensive game, plays the angles beautifully and out of nowhere can come up with winners to the astonishment of everybody. He has the knack of raising his game to a totally different level when the big points come into play. The difference between the two players in this match would be in the third set when he was trailing 0-40 in the third set and came back to win the game and the set. Some of the tennis in the third and fourth set was from a different planet. It would have been super demoralizing for Federer. He is like a moving wall and returns everything. He came back after a mentally and physically draining, marathon five setter against Verdasco in semis with one day rest to play another five setter today and even towards the end looked fit to play another five setter.

I was crestfallen to see Federer cry during the presentation speech and say 'Its killing me'. It was as if the tears spoke saying he had tried absolutely everything. It showed that he was human too and my respect for him has grown many fold. This victory would be the entry of Nadal in the legends category. Though rivals, the way they met each other after the game, it seemed that they had utmost regard and admiration of each others game.

Ten hours after the game, I am still high on adrenalin. I hope to draw energy and inspiration from this match during tuff times.

[17] The Power of Now

2008-12-17T18:19:00.000-08:00

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle is the most transformative book I have read, and I would go so far to say that if you were to read one book in your entire life, I would recommend this one. It is not a self help book like the title sounds, but could be described more as a spiritual treatise. The book talks about end of suffering, not at the cosmetic level but the root cause level. After oscillating between being a religious zealot and a rebellious athiest most of my life, this book offers another perspective, and while reading it was a series of epiphany one after the other. It seems like, this book treads the underlying thread that all religions have been pointing to, which has been distorted over the years by priests for their vested interests.

The theme of this book is that past and future are illusions created by the mind and take us away from the 'now' which is all there is, and all the suffering in our life is caused by the unconscious identification with the mind, which drags away from our true self. To explain furthur, if you are reading this you would have had a lot of life experiences so far. You would have experienced happiness, sadness, fallen in love, fallen out of love, trauma, misery, depression, ecstacy etc in varying proportions. But is there something that is remains changeless despite the changing experiences? Tolle calls it the consciousness or the silent observer of events, which is beyond the comprehension of the mind but can only be experienced. It is not to be confused as a lethargic or passive observer but this incredibly alive, alert and intelligent silence could be the womb of all creation itself. It is the beautiful silence characterised by harmony through which nature operates- an embryo grows into a baby, seed germinates into a tree, the sun rises and sets,stars twinkle, universe expands etc.

Athletes sometimes experience moments, while playing their sport when they feel invincible which is commonly referred by them as 'the zone'. Similarly, sometimes while writing poetry, watching a sunset, painting, having a flash of brilliant idea we experience something magical. What is common in all these states is that the constant chattering of the mind is absent, and we are just present. Tolle says, any act of true creation takes place not because of thinking or mind but because we accessed to the 'gaps' in thinking. He says, the mind is an accumulation of past experiences and interpretations and incapable of coming up with anything original. However, due to the massive momentum of the mind it takes over us and we are possessed by it and rather than us using the mind, the mind uses us, and thus separates us from our true nature.

Furthur, Tolle says, the turbulance in the world is caused by the turbulance in the collective consciousness. Turbulance is the world would refer to all the wars going on, terrorism, rape, murder, child abuse, poverty, disease and even natural disasters like Tsunami, global warming etc. You might say, How the hell am I responsible for all these which have nothing to do with me? It is a concept which you might better understand after reading the book. I was shocked when I read the following statistic. The last hundred years has seen humans kill 100 million of their fellow species, which is as much as amount of people killed in the last 2000 years. The insanity of the collective mind, amplified by science and technology, is rapidly taking our species to the brink of disaster. This statistic does not include the emotional wounds we continue to inflict on each other by identification with the unconscious mind. Tolle says, 'You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you, and allowing the goodness to emerge. But it can only emerge if something fundamental changes in your state of consciousness.'

I usually hesitate to share my opinions on these topics in a public domain, and I risk sounding new agey in this post, but since we are more restless and preoccupied than ever and this post is a humble attempt to try to bring to light the urgency of the situation. Living the concepts of this book could lead not only to true and lasting power, abundance, relationships and inner peace but even possibly enligtenment or Buddhahood. I would love to discuss (not debate) about this furthur with anybody interested.

Death is a stripping away of all that is not you. The secret of life is to "die before you die" --- and find that there is no death ~Eckhart Tolle- ThePower of Now - page 46

[16] Self Torture

2008-11-27T10:27:00.000-08:00

Last couple of weeks, I have been at my slacking best. Winters are not my fav season, and this time it is worse than the past years in Florida. Since I got this new queen size blanket, getting out of it in the mornings is soo agonizing. Research too has reached a semi dead end and spent most of the time spacing out in the lab. Missed couple of deadlines in couple of major homeworks and research deadlines and casual with other Aal baal activities which I love. In short, Murphy is after my tail and I have been sleepwalking thru life. So I needed some severe shock treatment. And on thanksgiving day I decided to provide just that by watching Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav and to record my horror story I am blogging it so that it will be a reminder everytime I get into those phases.

A rude awakening it was. It is the epitome of bad movies. Trust me, it cannot get worse than this. It felt as if Mahesh Manjrekar had to be on dope to direct such a crap after decent movies like Vaastav and Astitva. SuniEl Shetty gave a idiotic performance as usual. He thought adding an 'E' to his name will improve his acting performances. Just his image can grind my gears. A comedy which had dialogs that tried hard to be funny but ended up like jokes of a bored fifth class student. I am just amazed at the creative talents of the scriptwriter to come up with such cheapness.

You must watch this movie if you want to know how bad a bad movie can be. Personally, it was not just a waste of 2 hrs for me as this was a therapeautic movie which blasted me out of the trance and am grateful for it. Not only that this movie is like a tapas because it helps in pushing my abilities in tolerating crap.

When the shit hits the fan some guys run and some stay. I stayed and endured. The CuriousGanja challenge of the month is to watch this movie without mentally switching off.

[15]The Tao of Fight Club

2008-06-12T18:13:00.000-07:00

This is one of the profound movies I have seen. Though I had seen it before it hadnt captivated me as much as when I saw it about 18 months ago, and have been addicted to most of the clips read the book many a times since and love discussing about it. Just to make sure, I am not talking about the SuniEl Shetty starring Fight club , but the one starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton based on Chuck Palahniuk's novel.

Regarding this movie people are divided in two categories. The ones that hate the movie and ones that love the movie.

The basic premise of the movie revolves around the philosophy that we are God's unwanted children with no special place and no special attention and this is not the worst thing that can happen but is liberating in a way. It is close to Nietzsche's philosophy of Nihilism. When you see the movie and read the book (Warning:Book is pretty unpleasant at parts) with all the reverence I had for it, it was like your eyes are rubbed in broken glass at first, then you are being punched. The world seems broken. But somehow you keep reading. And after you rub the pulp from your eyes you realize something. The world is not broken. In fact, it is more together than the time you started reading it(stolen lines..but seemed apt here). It sort of embodies a peculiar masculine sort of sadomasochism 'Self improvement isint the answer, self-destruction is'.
Self destruction maybe synonymous to destroying the society created self image which identifies the individual with his position, possessions, indoctrinations and thoughts.

The whole control demolition idea was to nullify the influence of societal control on our actions. This was accomplished by setting up an underground boxing network called the fight club and the violence escalates to attempted bombings. The movie is less acts of fantasized revenge rather elaborate acts of self ruin.'Its only after you have lost everything are you free to do anything'. Palahniuk might have envisioned the resulting individual to be free of criticism or complements of others, who neither considers himself superior or inferior to anybody and fearless of any challenge.

I loved Pitt's powerful casting in the movie as Tyler Durden, his smarts, his nerve which were both a fantasy and delusion, in the end which Tyler turns out to be. I dont know if this would lead to bliss in long term, and I think Tyler should not be taken literally. But there are some nuggets of wisdom that are really cool.

In the last chapter of the book, after the narrator shoots himself there is the following excerpt in heaven which I found awesome.

I've met God across his long walnut desk with his diplomas hanging on the wall behind him, and God asks me, "Why?" Why did I cause so much pain? Didn't I realize that each of us is a sacred, unique snowflake of special unique specialness? Can't I see how we're all manifestations of love? I look at God behind his desk, taking notes on a pad, but God's got this all wrong. We are not special. We are not crap or trash, either. We just are. We just are, and what happens just happens. And God says, "No, that's not right." Yeah. Well. Whatever. You can't teach God anything. ~Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club, Chapter 30

[14] Chicken - For the love(or hate) of it

2008-05-08T20:09:00.000-07:00

Rewind six and a half years ago to land of the surds, Jalandhar, India, where there was a pampered, teetoteller, God fearing, tambram child whose among several virtues was also that he was as innocent as a dove set foot enthusiastically for the first time away from his home into the 'real world' to set himself up to become an engineer and explore what the world has to offer.

Cut to end of first semester. After attending the boring classes during the day, and into the hands of seniors who had the gift of testing the mental and physical limit and who cud put the crucifiers of Jesus to shame thru the nites for four months straight. Followed by supplimentary in computer programming course, a course in which students from deepest jungles of Bihar who hadnt seen a computer in their lives cleared. Add to it being shot down in his first proposal to a girl.

The boy lay in his room depressed as crap wondering if this was all there is to life. These are the times true friends come and show you the path. He too found a mentor in Kukkar. He advised him to dissolve everything in alcohol. After a bit of coaxing both of them were at the local dhaba. Soon there was two mugs of beer and chicken tikka in front of them. There was a bit of last minute resistance from the boy like that of a gharelu bharatiya naari in her suhaagraat. While the tape running in his head was of all the two generations of ancestors advising him on the brahminical duties, veganism etc. while Kukkar was still not out of fundas and some of them so compelling that his hand automatically lifted the leg piece and bit it. This guy could even sell ice to eskimos. It felt chewy to him at first, the juices from the marination started flowing as he kept chewing, the combination of the chicken and the marinate started mixing in his mouth in a tumultous manner, as if they were fighting, but still made for each other. This unparalled turbulance in his mouth obscured all his worries and anxieties and exalted him to instant nirvana. It was as if clouds had parted, angels singing and God in all her glory came to him and whispered in his ears that she still cares and was in a whole new world. He experienced bliss. Since then this became his addiction and this new bond helped him see the trying times at the insti with a smile on his face.

Forward four years to Nashik. He met a like minded soul in Khare with same love for chicken. He is also the king of Faltugiri and he has a philosophy that it was his mission to reduce the chicken population of the world. He was as ruthless as Steve Waugh's captaincy when chicken was in front of him and it was inspirational how he would make the authorities of Taj regret charging only Rs 500 for a all you can eat dinner. That was an inspirational scene. Thereafter, both of them ravished different varieties of chicken all over the town. It was an education staying with him and made him appreciate the naunces of loving chicken.

And now, this guy still marvels this little creation, which sacrifices itself as a felicity to humanity and is unconscionable in tasting all varieties of chicken delicacies available in the world.

Chicken dont die, they attain martyrdom.

PS:All Menaka Gandhi fans and vegan fanatics..Pl dont hate and stay away from the comments tab

[13] Embracing Faltugiri

2008-03-07T19:23:00.000-08:00

Today I write to muse about the day-to-day human interactions with each other. I think most of the interactions between people have become commonplace, predictable and uninteresting. This was not the case when we were children. As we grow up I observe that we start to talk more and more about mundane, routine and banal stuff. To cut to the chase, I feel that the major ingredient which could make us truly alive is 'faltugiri' and non-politically correctly called 'chootiyapanti'.

Faltugiri is an attitude by which you take charge of your own life. It is characterized by a state of mind in which you are chilled out in all levels of body, mind and soul. It involves challenging the cliched responses that come up in our thought process. Faltugiri is not to be confused about being a clown and making people laugh. It is not about approval seeking and thus could involve saying something 'risky' within the boundaries of not being disrespectful. The journey along this path should be taken for your own sake. It is for the feeling of euphoria in your stomach you get by coming up with something new. Advanced students of faltugiri have stated that any action performed should have your own unique individual 'style' associated to it. Then drinking water from a glass will never be the same routine activity again.

Another aspect of faltugiri is about making falooda of your image in this matrix world. Examples could be asking for a burger in a milkshake parlor, asking for a quarter from a homeless person, cold approach a person of opposite sex and say something weird, start a fight with a stranger etc. The mantra is 'Think counter-intuitive'.

To conclude and paraphrase Seth Mcfarlane, I speak of faltugiri, not vaginas when I say, they never added a dime to my pocket, but they do does bring a smile to my face, so I declare it good.

[12] Khujli-The Itch which leads to discovery

2007-08-12T19:33:00.000-07:00

From the title you might be wondering if it is another desi movie title. 'Khujli' or itch is the driving force which initiates all creative pursuits of humans, end product could be anything from theory of relativity, the paintings of DaVinci or something as worthless as this article. All starts from the same source- the khujli of man. Mr Anonymous said 'necessity is the mother of invention', but if you think about it you might find that Khujli is the mother of invention. Case in point is invention of fire. Every early man would need fire. But it was not until the man of khujli, who rubbed flintstones together did fire came to being. So, the invention has to be attributed to the man of khujli, not the others who 'needed' it and were scratching their balls.

By now you must have understood that by khujli I do not mean it literally (for which you use ringcutter-daad, khaaj aur khujli ka dushman) but it is a feeling of some 'keeda' crawling in your heart, stomach or ass (Research shows diff ppl feel it in diff areas) which prevents you from sitting still until you satisfy the hunger of the 'keeda' or just ignore it.

Acting on the khujli is a noble pursuit and even it is not rewarding is atleast fun, bcoz it is a vent to the desire from within.

[11] Whats in a name?

2007-08-04T17:48:00.000-07:00

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
by any other name would smell as sweet."

--Romeo and Juliet

I am sure many of the unfortunate tambram boys who have names like yours truly would beg to differ with Mr Shakespeare. How could you possibly name a human 'Venkataramanan Jayaraman' .This was one of the first thing I asked my grandparents when I gained my senses and their explanation was that they dreamed of me to have the good qualities of three Gods(not one but three). A bit greedy, you would think. I am not sure if even a fraction of the good qualities of any one have come yet.

Reasons for my aversion to the name are the following. In any test I take, more than half of the length of the test goes in filling the 'Name' tab. Though, this was a good excuse to give at home for my poor scores when I was small. Secondly, the number of syllables in the name tends to infinity. Thirdly, when the image when ppl say this name would be a studious guy with lots of coconut oil in his head doing math all the time. Fourth, not as simple as John or Joe. I am tired of the horrific reaction of Amreekans when they note my name from my ID or I have to spell my name over phone. Fifth, on the auspicious of nights when I would be in the climaxing with my partner, 'Venkataramanan' from her mouth will NOT be cool.

Thats why I am thankful to the guy who invented nicknames. Saves me from the blushes a million times a day. I have my share- venky, venkat, venks, ganje, takle, bhenki, memory loss,sotta,ven'cute'(hey,I too could not blive it), ven'key',ven'cat', whencut..(last 3 courtesy amreekans)

If I become a Prof in this country and am really pissed with Amreekans I would offer a 3 credit course for 'pronunciation of south Indian names' and no prizes for guessing what the tuffest homework is going to be.

[10] 'The thin line between genius and insanity'

2007-06-25T20:14:00.000-07:00

These lines were spoken by the commentator of soccer wc 2006 final when Zidane headbutted Materazzi and there could not have been a more apt situation to use this phrase. This has been my fav line since but have not been able to use it, so I write it here to unsuppress my 'khujli' to verbalize it. As I imagine it would be really exciting to tread on this line, but only people who live their passion(which I believe to be the most overused in angreji) can experience it.

These are the people I envy, who have discovered something greater than themselves for which they can dedicate their life to and the courage to do what they enjoy.

[9] Bane of political correctness

2007-06-01T19:37:00.000-07:00

Words like 'benchow' in hindi 'pen di' and 'maa di' in punjabi 'waatha baadu ommale' in tamil are harmless words that are used as punctuations and conjunctions and help the speaker maintain his flow and continuity over his spoken language. And 'fcuk', (See I cant even write it properly) the most versatile word in angreji can be modified to be used in almost every situation.

Even the word shit and its derivatives (piss and fart) used in all its glory provide a fascinating source of spice to language allow limitless arsenal of analogies, metaphors and proverbs at the speakers disposal.

But as we grow up these words start to be less accepted in the lingo. Political correctness is the norm. Now to analyze why such words are taboo in society. How much ever I love and respect the fairer sex I would have to hold them responsible for this. This is a bold statement to make for a guy who has mastered the art of not understanding the female psyche, so I better stop as I hear sandles slamming on my door, but I do encourage you to think over this and come to your own conclusions.

Needless to say I write this because your truly has been a victim of having his foot in his mouth and subject to social awkwardness and agonizing stares for having less than perfect control of the muscles of his tongue. So I request the patriarchs of society to slacken the rules and make it easier for my kind.

[8]The WC and road ahead for Indian cricket

2007-04-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

The cricket WC being the biggest thing in cricket, it deserves a post. Like the millions of self procliamed cricket pundits I too will give my 'vishesh tippani' on the tournament. This time the excitement was not the same as the previous years. The reasons could be the loooong tournament itenerary and the number of dead rubber games with the so-called minnows or maybe just that I am away from cricket centric junta
.
The Aussies widened the gap between them and other teams to mammoth proportions and completed their world cup hattrick. In the 99 WC they were on the verge of knock out and had to win every match to stay in contention, in 2003 they had some close calls but survived each of them. In this edition they were the most dominant force with no team even challenging their supremacy. It was like they were playing a different league. The hardest thing is not to become a champion but to stay champion, because you are constantly under the scanner and to perform consitantly with all the expectations really calls for mental strength.

Also this WC saw many major teams being exposed. These included Pakistan, England, West Indies and India. Lets focus on India. After the unceremonious exit, I think they have taken some good decisions. Ravi Shastri is a shrewd man has a good cricketing brain and is a good ad hoc choice. More importantly he is well aware of the politicians and self important admistrators who rule over Indian cricket. Chappel thought he could change the system but found out he cant, then tried to change the players, but again got into loggerheads with Sachin and co. and was clueless towards the end. Ravi Shastri and Dravid would have to work thru the system rather than against it. Also the decision to drop (sugarcoated as rest) Sachin and Sourav is a brave and good one. The area where the Aussie administrators have done well is that they have always put performance before reputation, be it in the case of Mark Taylor or S Waugh. The time has come for the birth cetificates to be out and anyone over 32 should be shown the door. I think it makes sense for top players to choose the occasion to bid farewell than hang around till they are kicked, even though it maybe be a year too soon. McGrath could not have had a more glorious exit from the game and it could not have happened to a better person. In the beginning purists said it was sledging that got him wickets but later on stopping sledging did not stop him taking wickets. The way he stood by his wife thru cancer was also incredible. McGrath you will be missed n thanks for the great times.

[7] And I went skydiving..

2007-03-07T17:10:00.000-08:00

This has to rank among the craziest thing I have ever done in my life. To jump of a moving plane 12000 ft above the ground hoping that some plastic will open out from a bag is demented idea. Having said that the plastic has not failed anybody for 20 years in the site. And weighing that probablity against Murphy's affection for my backside, the former won (but not by much). While jumping off with the tandem master, it felt as though a 600 HP pump was in me pumping the adrenaline. The 40 sec free fall reaching 120 mph was like the feeling, life is over and me going to meet the maker. Then when the chute opened was like everything was still.
The whole experience burnt a big hole in my pocket and have to go on a big cost cutting spree this month. And now I depend on largesse of well meaning souls in communities like bhuka gators to inform about free food in and around the univ. Also any party invite will not be refused.

[6] England- Risen from the Ashes??

2007-02-13T14:17:00.000-08:00

All cricket lovers must have seen the incredible comeback of the pommies in the last three games from their dismal summer. The English team are now being hailed by all quarters as one of the frontrunners for the world cup. In response to this,this was a comment that was posted somewhere- "The England cricket team, are in the position of a person who charges back into a burning house to rescue the baby and comes out with the cat. It's a nice cat, and you are fond of it, but it's not exactly what you went in for. Still, there's not much you can do except stroke it."
England were dominated for the whole summer by a professional Aussie side, and in the final days of the tour they would have surprised themselves too by the victories. This cannot be considered anymore than an casual adherence to the law of averages. The transformation from a team which was a sitting duck for the whole season into a champion side does not take place in a matter of days.
The cliched phrase that 'the public memory is very short' seems so true. Just a single victory and the team is exalted as the world beaters. Only the Australian team has proved 'consistantly' in both forms of the game and against all teams over the past two decades that it deserves this title and a series here and there cannot possibly take the champion tag away from them. No team in the near future even hints to match their brilliance. The ruthless and clinical way they go about demolishing the opposition is a treat to watch. They way the bench force fits the shoes of the likes of S Waugh, Warne and McGrath says a lot about their administration too who are able to churn up quality players from a country that has a fraction of the population of India and almost four times the size. Though I support India, Aussies are my favourite team and love to see them play.

[5] 'Zinda hoon mei'

2007-01-22T16:28:00.000-08:00

I have no excuses this time for not blogging so long. There was time, topics and most importantly i had remembered this blog site was on, but I was just too lazy to get my fingers on to type on the keyboard. I am writing now because I have a deadline for research work tmmrw and am trying to find other important things to do instead of that and this came up on the top of the list.
I saw Guru yesterday. It was right up there with the best hindi movies I have seen.I like movies that show victory of human spirit. Script was awesome, direction top class as expected, music(Ay hairathe rocked) was good, and Abhishek Bachan totally redeemed himself. It was a powerful performance. Comparing his peformance in refugee and in this u wonder he is the same guy. Mallika's appearance ne bhi dil khush kar diya. I am a big fan. Hangover of this movie will be there for atleast two three days.

[4]:The Gator spirit!!

2006-11-09T19:24:00.000-08:00

When you enter the UF campus the first thing you will notice is the gator feeling. You just cant miss it. The ID card is called the Gator one, the annual event is the gator growl, gator dining, and the friday nights when they play movies and other fun stuff is called gator nights.
Gator is derived from Alli'gator' which is supposed to be abundant in the swamps near gainesville. Itna latak chuke hai gators pe that the university football and basketball teams are also called gators. And the huge football stadium is called 'the swamp'. Needless to say they have formed some oneliners for gators.Some of my favourites are
1. If you are not a gator u are gator bait
2. Chances are that you have met many gators in your life, chances are you remember them
3. Out of 'the swamp' only the gators come out alive.

The gator feeling is most evident in game days where the atmosphere absolutely electrifying. The noise level is like ten wankhade stadiums together. There is synchronized cheering led by the gator band and 90,ooo ppl with them. It really causes a kind of flow experience.

It helps to have a unifying factor like this in a large and multicultural university. Even if it is grotesque and uncomely creature like alligator it more than serves the purpose.

Go Gators

[3] CuriousGanja returns

2006-11-02T17:40:00.000-08:00

I think I am a sureshot candidate for Alzeihmers coz I literally forgot that I had this blog site on. It was after the test today that the 'khujli' for writing something reminded me of this site and am lucky that the password still worked. The nickname of 'memory loss' which was given to me by my dear friends in Nasik seems quite apt now. I promise to be regular from now on so keep dropping by.
After my previous post a day before leaving for Amreeka, now I am settled and into the groove. Contrary to my previous post in which I thought I would be going without any assumptions or expectations, subconciously there seems to be many assumptions I have made.

Assumption 1:MS is a cakewalk
Reality: Bhai log Literally thukk rahi hai
Assumption 2: I am a freaking genious and can learn anything
Reality: The performance in the courses I have taken surely does not seem to suggest that
Assumption 3: I would be courting a different chick every sunday of various nationalities in alphabetic order.
Reality: Abhi takk lukkha hoon and scene does not look bright. I am going to kill the guy who spread the misconception Amreeka mei aasaan hai.
Assumption 4: will be travelling to a different state each month.
Reality: Gainesville ke baahar nahi gaya ab tak.

I think I better stop now as u ppl may be thinking pehle return post mei hi dil khol raha hai.

[2] Chasing the American dream

2006-07-29T03:06:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow nite is the DDay. Gonna be in Amreeka day after. I wouldnt be wrong if i say lots of nervous energy and butterflies in my stomach combined with the excitement of a setting foot on a whole new culture. Yup lot of expectations are there, but the learnt one thing after the 'Omkara' experience is that when you go see thinking the movie is gonna be good and turns out shit you get disappointed and conversely if you go with no assumptions you feel better. But one expectation i cannot get rid of is the one of hot females in the beach.man how lucky a bastard i am.

All bags packed and ready to go now. The question often asked is when will i come back. answer is when i see swades there i ll be back ;) ( copyright stolen from from new golmaal).so send me the DVD.

Amreeka here i come!!

[1] Follow your heart

2006-06-14T08:27:00.000-07:00

Twenty years in life you spend in gaining your senses, and you are left with forty years. Just forty dam years and each minute is passing you by.I do not intend to make this a preaching page or anything like that. But this is THE most important thing I have learnt in life and quite recently, but I hope to never loose it. It is FOLLOW YOUR HEART.

That is why I like to observe small children ( below 5yrs; 5 onwards are a pain in the ass). They are always so genuine with their feelings. After a few years the heart looses control and the mind starts getting socially conditioned. Thats the death of the child's innosence and beginning of his misery. Parents set an aim for the child to be doctor or engineer, society wants him to be like everybody else, whether he likes it or not has to participate in bloody rat race called entrance examinations; killing the individuality of the child every moment till he becomes like a robot for the rest of his years and dies.

And who is the happiest all this? Its society, because it does not like people to challenge the status quo. They want robots who just do things mechanically. They want people to act with their mind because the mind always works on 'logic', constantly looks for reassurances and security. It is afraid of people who follow their heart because they live dangerously, constantly challenging traditions and treading on the untrodden track. Again this may not always lead to the desired result. It may lead to a ditch. But according to me it is worth it, because it is something new, and in newness only there is growth and only growth will lead to BLISS.

Ideal condition would be the heart as navigator and the mind as the wheels. The heart should show the path and the mind should tread along it.