Hrishi and me..

So another day has come to an end. Indeed, one year can be a long time especially when you go through some lull periods in life. One year is all it takes for two people to go in vastly different directions!!!

Two lives could not have been more coincidental than what has been the case with myself and one of my best friends, Hrisheekesh Sabnis. We were in the same school, St. Francis D'Assisi High School. I came to know him when I was in Std VII as we used to board the same bus (bus no. 207) to go home. Those were the days of heated competition where comparision between the toppers of each division used to fly thick and fast. But it wasn't until Std X that I came to know him better since only then the teachers stood up to take notice of the possible candidates who could make it to the merit list!!! I had shifted my division from H to C and now the competition with Hrishi was even more direct - he was till then the topper in div C!!! If I remember correctly, I had stood first in the class in our first unit test where Hrishi was second; we swapped our positions for the terminal exam and I managed to stood second in the school in our prelims in our school in which Shreyans stood first. Hrishi managed to come 2nd in the school in the Std X board exams and I stood 7th. At that time, I never thought we would land up in the same college and same classes again!!

I called up Hrishi during our vacations and came to know he had joined some classes for IIT-JEE. I soon joined it and thus began was to be a long partnership with Hrisheekesh Sabnis. Consistently I found he was simply damn good at maths and the ease with which he cracked problems left me with a serious inferiority complex. Despite all that, I pushed him hard to help me out with my Maths and he never left any stone unturned. We joined the same classes for Std XII and used to constantly find ourselves solving problems at Andheri station in between shuttling between our IIT and Std XII classes. When our Std XII results were declared, I guess Hrishi had got just 1 mark less in PCM (Please forgive me Hrishi if I have misplaced our marks :D)



After two years of real hard work, I still fondly remember the happiness on our faces on the morning of June 2nd, 2002 when we both cleared our JEE exams and still we weren't much far away from each other - I was at rank 678 while Hrishi got 850. Again I didn't know what fate has decided for both of us!!Call it a quirk of fate and where Hrishi had almost applied for aerospace engg at IIT Bombay while I had applied for Mechanical engg at IIT Madras, which both of us would have got for sure, we still found ourselves joining B.Tech. Chemical Engg at IIT Bombay thanks to a certain chap called Durgesh Mangeshkar!!!!!

4 years at IIT Bombay were soon to be a roller-coaster ride of our own - in all respects, be it completing assignments, mugging for exams, having late-night rounds of the canteen!!! The first two years, Hrishi sailed clear of me and especially in the 4th semester where he cracked 9.42 on 10 with ease, I guess some complacency got hold of him..By now more popularly now as Mota, Hrishi was "enjoying" chem engg. like nothing before. He had a fantastic trip to Europe in the summer of 2005 for his internship while I spent my hours slogging in a plant in Sriperumbudur to earn what I can proudly call my first salary - Rs. 8000 per month!!! The last two years, we spent a considerable amount of time studying for our common courses esp on the nights before our exams!!! By the time, placements arrived, we were almost in the same boat of academically categorized students!!!


The "studs" in our college got placed soon and PhD was looking like a distant oasis for our dear Hrishi. Then came yet another big moment in our lives - in the wee hours of 16th June, 2006 when Hrishi and Mohit came running to my room where I had already fallen asleep to announce that both myself and Hrishi had got into Modelytics!!! I simply couldn't believe how two people can study in the same school, same junior college, same classes, same branch of engineering with nearly similar kind of academic record and now we cracked the first job of our lives in the same company!!!!!

Well, life could not be more coincidental after all and soon I found myself joining an engg company in Abu Dhabi while Hrishi flew down to Bangalore in the June of 2006. Our experiences probably became much different at this time - Hrishi prepared for CAT while I spent my time visiting new places!!!

Infact, it might well have been Hrishi would have joined my company but something more beautiful and exciting came along - he got calls from all 6 IIMs!!! I truly felt proud of him at the moment and felt happy for him. Then finally after lot of trials and tribulation came yet another feather-capping moment in his life - he got into the presitigious IIM-A on April 20th, 2007. He was destined to go places which he will surely go. I met him when I came to India in May and it simply felt so nice!! Ofcourse, he's not going to forget the treat he gave us at Hilton Towers!!! :)

It cannot be more poignant that Hrishi joined IIM-A on June 21st, the same day I completed one year in my office!!! Sometimes, I wonder what role destiny plays in all our lives, how so many things conspire to take us to an unimaginable position in life with or without our knowledge!! When we look back, we begin to feel,"So near yet so far" not truly in terms of opportunities or success but in terms of parallels in life itself!!!

All the best, Hrishi. You are on your way to achieving a lot of success. The best part about you is that I can call you, meet you and talk to you in the way I want - so what if you become the CEO of some of the biggest companies of this world :)!! This blog is specifically dedicated to you without whom I could not have managed to experience so many wonderful moments in life!!

Kasturi

I could not find a better title to put but now-a-days surprisingly I have got hooked on to watching this TV serial on Star Plus. Am posting my favourite episode here - especially with the song "Mitwa" from KANK in the background. I really wondered if people could be crazy enough to post videos on youtube. This is just for the people who think they are crazy enough!!!!

Somewhere the innocent way in which the love story is brought out makes the serial worth watching. I have a craze for these innocent love stories which very few movies or serials ever portray. Shubangi Atre dazzles in her role as Kasturi not so much for her acting skills as much for that innocent smile and it's really hard to imagine she's actually a mother of an 18 month old daughter in real life!!! Hope you enjoy watching it.




Another b'ful scene..



News story by Star News -




http://content1.msn.co.in/Entertainment/TV/Stories/TVStarTV_250407_655.htm

http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=611125

Some b'ful moments..

Honestly, I have received enough brickbats for not being in touch with some of my close friends, not responding to e-mails, not commenting on blogs etc. etc. But if all this has to happen when you have spent two unbelievable months, then it's worth it.

With virtually no work to do by the mid of February, boredom was plauging me like anything. Just needed something which could make life more interesting for me. Somebody posted on our company intranet about an inter-company cricket tournament being planned between 4 companies (Veco, Technip, Tebodin and Worley Parsons - all engineering consultancies) to be played at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. This was really a mouth-watering prospect for me. In all my life, I never got an opportunity to play top-flight leather ball cricket and now one stood at my door-step. I really put myself in top gear running hard everyday after office hours, pushed myself hard to exercise and sweated it out in the completely dry but relatively cold climes of Abu Dhabi. I used to run on the hard ground outside a shopping centre and it used to pain a lot in my calf muscles. But it also made them rock-solid.

We started off with a practice match against Tebodin in the last week of February before the tournament started (which was to be played on every Saturday in March). We won the match chasing down a target of 140 runs in 20 overs with myself making a handy contribution of 29 runs.



After a rigorous selection process which saw the squad being pruned from an initial number of around 30 players to a final 15 for the tournament, the team was getting ready for the first match of the tournament between Technip and Veco on 3rd March. I wasn't picked in the final eleven for the first match but was not too disappointed about not making it. I had determined myself to practise harder and push my claim for selection in the next match. Technip lost the match quite badly and with two more league matches to go, it was going to be do-or-die for us. By now, I was showing considerable improvement in my batting which is what I had to be picked for. After the final practice session couple of days before the 2nd match, the captain indicated to me that he wanted me to play this one. I was thrilled at the opportunity of being able to play at the Abu Dhabi Cricket Stadium in a proper leather-ball limited overs cricket match. I called up home to give the good news and went back home to get some good sleep after a tiring day at office followed by a cricket practice session unaware of what was to come.

The next morning (Thursday, March 8th), just before I went to have my bath, the flat-owner came and told me he was going to India for a week. I went in, had my bath and sat down in my room to have my breakfast. The thought just passed my mind of calling my parents to Abu Dhabi to watch me play at the stadium. Though I had requested the owner previously as well, he had declined to allow my parents to stay in his flat. Besides, hotel accommodation is extremely expensive in Abu Dhabi. Still, with my fingers crossed, I went ahead and requested my owner if he would allow my parents to stay with me atleast till he came back. To my good fortune (and by god's grace), he said yes and thus began what was to be probably the longest day of my life!!!

I reached office at 8:15 am with half my mind thinking about how to get all the formalities (getting the visa, getting the ticket for the flight on Friday) done within one day!!! I tried calling a contact in my office who handles visas but he too said that it's only possible to get the visa in 2-3 days. I wasn't convinced. I went up to our administration department and asked them if it was possible to get visit visa for my parents in one day!!! The lady initially scoffed at me but still pulled out my salary certificate (which was completely in Arabic) and gave it to me. Then she directed me to go to one of those legal translation shops down below and get the visa application form typed by them. The form along with my salary certificate then would have to be deposited at the immigration office and perhaps there was some provision to get the visit visa (which has a validity of two months) within a day provided we make some extra payment.



Sometimes, you really don’t know if what you think or plan would actually happen but really nothing should deter you from making the effort if that thing is really close to your heart.

Taking a break from my office hours (which had to be compensated later), I got the form typed in an hour’s time and then took a taxi straight to the immigration office. I reached there in about half an hour’s time and no sooner I found myself running around to get to the right counter. I made all the payments and had to wait for another agonizing hour before I could deposit the form at the counter. They asked me to come back and collect the visa after one hour. I caught another taxi and headed straight to office. Work clearly was the last thing on my mind and somehow I managed to plough my mind till it was lunch time. In the meanwhile, I had asked my brother to book the ticket and keep it ready but the agent had said that he needed the visa by 5 pm (India time). I was fighting against time and completed another trip to the immigration office by 2:30 pm local time (Abu Dhabi is behind India by 1 hour and 30 min) to collect the visa after a frustrating wait for the taxi in mid-day sun.

By 3 pm, I got the visa copies scanned and sent by mail. In another half an hour, I had them faxed as well to the travel agent in India. Returning back to work, I pushed myself hard to concentrate on the work but clearly I was waiting to hear from my parents if they had received the tickets. By evening time, mom called up to say that I had delayed in sending the visa and that actually the visa was to be received by the agent by 4 pm India time and not 5 pm. As a result, he had cancelled the booking and now only a fresh booking on March 10th (the day of the match) could be made. I was distraught, angry that so much effort still did not yield the desired result. Consoling myself, I asked them to get the tickets for Saturday if it was not possible to make it on Friday. I went back to my desk, almost feeling defeated. I had to put in extra hours that day as I had to make up for the office hours lost. Late in the evening, after almost everyone had left office for the weekend here, my brother calls up to tell me that they had managed to get the tickets for the next day (Friday, March 9th). A sense of relief spread through me as I just relaxed myself and shut down my PC for the day. I left my office only to realize that I had forgotten the original visas in my office drawer. I ran back to get it, got down again, went to recharge my cell and went back home looking at the sky, smiling and thinking,” Impossible surely is nothing”. One of my long-cherished dreams to bring my parents to a foreign land was standing to be fulfilled.

Next day, early morning, I headed for the airport at 9 in the morning and deposited the visa. The flight was on time and soon I was standing there smiling as my parents came out. My parents accompanied me to watch the match. We won chasing 165 runs in 25 overs in a thrilling last over finish. I scored only 9 runs but managed to put up a good stand of 50 runs.

Initially, I had thought of being able to accommodate my parents only for a couple of weeks but soon I was able to secure a reasonably less expensive family accommodation for them for two months. Next week, my parents went off to Dubai and Sharjah where they stayed at my mom’s friend Anna’s place and my friend Chetan’s place. In the meanwhile, unfortunately, I was down with viral fever and had to take leave from office for two days. The do-or-die clash with Tebodin was coming up on Saturday in which the winner would be through to the final. I was fighting my illness and only by Thursday had I somewhat recovered when my parents came back from their short trip.



I was picked for the virtual semi-final, this time as an opening batsman. Still feeling weak and not exactly in full fitness, I crossed the ropes and marched into the ground with my opening partner after our skipper won the toss and elected to bat. This really had to be my test of character. I faced the first ball and just flicked it to the leg. My partner called, I just lifted my hand to say no but he was half-way through the pitch. My heart skipped a beat as I realized I was sure to be run out first ball of the innings and had I not run, people would have blamed me for being selfish. I just pushed the yards, half-falling, half-running. A bad throw and a miss and I managed to complete the single. A loud cheer went through the stadium from the lot of our company supporters who had come to watch the match. I hit one sizzling straight drive for four, a shot which I still feel proud of and in no time, myself and my partner each scored 21 runs and put together a partnership of 59 runs. Our captain came out and scored a brilliant fifty and we put up a massive total of 204 runs in 25 overs, which was just too much on that day for Tebodin to chase.



One more week went past swiftly and soon, the day arrived – March the 31st. It was the grand final between Technip and Veco. We had lost to Veco in our league match and were definitely hoping for a reverse. Veco won the toss and batted their way to 213 runs in a 30 over per innings match. The onus was again on myself and my partner to put up a good opening stand. This time, I went on the defensive just taking the singles and giving strike to my aggressive partner who was going hammer and tongs against the bowling. In no time, 50 runs were on board when my partner retired hurt. Soon after, I threw away my wicket in a very soft manner – a shot which I regret till now. Thankfully, my captain in the company of other batsmen played stunningly to ensure that the inter-consultancy cricket cup was ours. The ground was invaded by the sizeable crowd which had come for the final and the exciting moments simply went on and on and on...A few of them said that my parents brought our team a lot of luck as we won every match after they arrived and witnessed.

The month of April was very hectic – lot of work had piled up and the deadlines were closing in. I was put with long hours of work at office and used to come home tired. Ofcourse, my parents were always there which gave me a sense of relief. Still, almost every weekend, we managed to make atleast one trip – a desert safari, a trip to Al-Ain and a trip to Kurfakan/Fujairah. The desert safari was especially enthralling with all dune-bashing, sand skiing and traditional Arabic food. Al-Ain is really special for me as it is such a peaceful place with all its greenery and lack of commotion. More importantly, it was made all the more wonderful by Kartik’s parents at whose place we were put up for the night (Kartik is my batchmate from IIT Bombay). They enthusiastically took us to the Al-Ain zoo and the absolutely fabulous Jebel Hafeet mountains. If Al-Ain was fantastic, then a ride to Kurfakan was absolutely outstanding. We went with another family in a van past the Hajjar mountains and drove to the beach which was simply marvelous. I enjoyed a little swim and a short boat ride at the beach. All-in-all I thoroughly enjoyed taking my parents around UAE as much as I could. Returning back, we were all happy with fond memories to cherish.

I can never forget the last two months which were simply fascinating in every sense, almost unbelievable for me. I thank God and all my close friends with whom I can now share this amazing time in my life.

Live Sport, Live Life...

I am inspired to write this on the back of India completing its 58th Republic Day last week & I enjoying yet another successful Friday morning in all departments of the game - Batting, Bowling and Fielding.

I sat on the 26th of Jan watching the Republic day parade celebrations going on in New Delhi on TV. India's rich culture, its versatile geography, nature's gifts in the form of rivers & the mountains, different climatic seasons, fertile river banks, her diverse mix of people, our tremendous belief in spirituality & human values never cease to amaze me. You just feel a lot at home when you are living in India. It's so comfortable - you would not find politics and diplomacy in your relations with your near and dear ones, you share a lot of fun with your friends, your relatives & even your neighbours!!! Despite the various personal or professional setbacks one has, you would always find someone of your own who supports you through the tough times - something which I feel originates from India's ancient culture. In the last 58 years, a lot has definitely changed. India has made giant strides in different walks of life. Our economy is growing rapidly. I really am not aware of any statistics in this regard but we sure have set ourselves on the path of tremendous progress.

The news also brought to light our darker side - incidents like the Nithari killings, the Jessica Lal murder case and more recently the fake encouters in J&K. It's sad to watch and read about them and it made me think more about the way the present generation (atleast in cities) has been brought up. When I look at our city life, it's so very busy. There is not enough time for parents to be with their children, to teach them good values or just spend enough time playing with them or addressing their curiosity. They say, "Money talks and Money walks" even if you end up doing a job which you know is well below your intellectual capabilities but is earning you the big bucks simply because you happen to put in 10 hrs a day in office and you still feel proud about it!!!

There was a time when I used to complete a part of my school homework by 5:00 pm and no later would you find me in my half-pants (as they were popularly called then :)) on the building compound or nearby ground or a nearby court batting, bowling, fielding, kicking the ball, saving goals, hitting smashes with alarming accuracy in TT (and I was damn good at that) or even the odd games of "sakhli" or "Pakda Pakdi" or "dabba express" which we engaged in after the primary sport was over for the day. Play time continued for a minimum of 2 hrs if not more and I am ever grateful to my mom who did not send me to evening tutions as was the case with some of my friends. I enjoyed every bit of it, it imbibed in me a spirit which is truly unique - I call it the sportsman spirit. It taught me to be honest & dignified even if it meant to lose a game and ever humble even after effecting a brilliant save or playing a superb shot!!!

To my great satisfaction, these qualities could be found in certain measure in all the people alongside whom I played and this certainly enhanced my interest, commitment & love towards sports in general. This also did meant I was kept away from the regular fare of video games which was quite popular in those days. In todays' times, when I do come home or have the occasional rounds of my school grounds, I only find the regular players playing - no new additions!!! Sometimes, I just begin to wonder where are all the kids?? Maybe they are busy in tutions or playing video games or maybe just chit-chatting or gossipping their evenings. If this continues to be the case, I am sorry to be harsh but have to admit that India has no socially wealthy future.

Sport is life. Life is sport. This saying is the ultimate for me. It epitomises everything for me. I may sound partial but there are certain things which no other form of education can provide us. Sport inculcates in us a spirit of self-will. In today's sedentary world, it helps us remove our physical restlessness & build our health. So what? Even jogging or going to the gym daily can help us do all that. The most important thing that sport does is build our character!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I am talking about that form of sport which is true in nature. There might be many who may turn up to play but not many who are truly a sportsperson. I am not talking about the professional players but about the sportsperson in each one of us. A true sportsperson is epitomised by a character of the highest order. Only a military education could inculcate more discipline than sport but even that comes more so out of punishments being meted out to the guilty. For a true sportsperson, he or she simply enjoys the discipline of sport and consequently is able to perform well in it.

Sports is an important distraction as well esp in today's times where too much information is available in the hands of almost anyone and which can induce the young to do something wrong or immoral. Sports helps esp the youth to stay away from lust, temptation, immoral thoughts and deeds and channelises their energy towards something useful, constructive and helps to improve even their mental powers of concentration. The importance of this cannot be exaggerated and only if parents sincerely encourage their children to play regularly would we see a new dynamic, educated yet virtuous India !!!

I have seen people in office and elsewhere who have little or nothing to do with sport & those who atleast enjoy discussing India's performance on the field for the day. Quite remarkably, I notice the latter as being extremely different in their thinking and ideas, ready to live life more and in simple terms, "a better human being" overall than the former who continue to live their routine life and would hesitate to add any dynamism to it.

I am quoting from what my friend once told me. The great Swami Vivekanand had said, "Football is a better way of taking us closer to GOD than reading the Vedas". The truth is this statement is quite remarkable.

Even as India stands on the threshold of big things, an olympic gold medal still continues to elude us 1 billion people. We are yet to play at the soccer world cup let alone winning one. Our national sport continues to decline as politicians continue to poke their dirty noses in it. Dogged by controversies and handicapped by lack of infrastructure, I feel sad for the greats of the yesteryears who had taken Indian hockey to unimaginable levels. We continue to receive mixed results from Tennis, TT and badminton but I am sure we can do better. Chess is the only glittering sport at the moment but sponsorship is lacking. It's unfortunate to see something as beautiful as sport become a victim of that dreaded money!!!!!!!! So can the BCCI share some of its whopping deals and earnings with other sports? Maybe it can but when those chaps end up putting only 2% of their earnings into improving domestic cricket facilities, what more can we expect?

I wish as in all other fields, it's the people and not the bureaucrats or the administrators or the politicans who can bring about a revolution and witness India making its mark in the world of sport!!! Ofcourse, the corporates need to provide sponsorhips, the money should be pooled in to develop the infrastructure and offer world-class facilities. But it all starts with that one small step - allowing the kid to play 5 pm onwards everday!!! Miracles have happened in the past and history does repeat itself!!!

Guru

Shakti Parivar ko Gurubhai ka namaskar..For long, I have been thinking of writing something and atlast Guru provided me with the right script. Guru adds to the list of movies which definitely mark a shift in the way certain Hindi movies are made. The movies about which I think, write, sleep, dream and eat are Rang De Basanti, Swades, Yuva & Iqbal. Guru has become the latest entrant and I simply love to find out similarities and differences amongst all these movies. I shall find some other time to write my analysis on these movies. Let me start with Guru which is fresh on my mind :)

Guru is about a simple villager who dreams, dreams and dreams & believes he can achieve them. It's the theme of the movie which is so likeable more than the movie itself. As usual, characters are portrayed by Mani with a grey shade as has become the trend in the latest Hindi movies where a Mohan Bharagava is too imaginary and often loathed at and a Daljit Singh has begun to represent the real Indian youth. Indeed, it must have been a special feeling for a simple villager to go abroad in early 1950s and understand the nuances of business. Yes, there are similarities between Dhirubhai and Gurubhai but setting aside these comparisions, I liked and disliked a few things about the movie.

The movie underlines once again how it important it is to dream big. Very akin to the concept in Iqbal, yes, one has to dream, dream and dream big, dream far and dream wide. It's not morally incorrect to earn money and more money. Ofcourse, how one earns the money and how one plans to use it decides the real worth and value of the money. The movie sidesteps issues as to how much one is wrong and how much one is right. So what if only 2 allegations out of 29 could be proved against Gurubhai, does it justify what he has achieved and done? The story clearly draws its parallel to the Reliance success story.

I have not seen too many movies of Abhishek Bachchan but this is undoubtedly his best role and probably shall remain his best ever till he retires from Hindi cinema. All the actors reach a peak somewhere and it needs directors like Mani and Ashutosh to help them achieve that. Abhishek showed glimpses of the real Big B in his role as Gurubhai. Mani Ratnam has a brilliant flair for movie-making and to make scenes count. With this Gujju story, he has once again shattered the geographical boundaries of movie-making going as far as Kashmir (Roja), Bombay (Bombay), The North-east (Dil Se), Calcutta (Yuva) and now finally again to Gujarat/Bombay in Guru. It was also heartening to see Ash play the perfect wife and supporting Guru and believing in him all the time - almost like the typical Indian wife who has lot of faith in her husband.

The movie also showcases the strength of the press and the influence they have over the lives of people. The most striking aspect of the move however should be the quintessential short-lived memory of the general public of India. As the stocks of Shakti Corp. crashed, the same people who were praising and lauding Gurubhai started cursing him. This, for me, typifies the Indian public who really have a very short memory. That's why I sometimes sympathise with the Indian cricketers. (However, looking at their recent performances, despite my long-term memory, I have started to despise them). The game of stocks, of business or of buying-selling does not have any place for the weak-hearted people and so people should think before investing in stocks before beginning to curse the company and it's chief.

Guru, however, once again shows traces of Yuva where too many things happen too fast and the difference between the right and wrong seems to vanish all too easily. Guru is initially shown as fighting the trade union president in giving him permission to trade in Bombay. He wins the battle, goes on to reject a corrupt offer made by others to stop his growth and even exposes them in the newspapers. Surely, there is nothing wrong about it. So after all this, why is Gurubhai himself involved in giving bribes and buying people? Crimes are often forgiven out of nostalgia on witnessing the remarkable progress of a company or individual and the arguments given by Guru to the prosecution bench at the end (easily the best ever dialogue delivery by Abhishek) fail to justify the righteousness of his growth. However, at the same time, it underlines the number of formalities needed to be completed in India in order to become a big businessman. It isn't as simple as merely buying and selling. There are so much rules, laws and regulations to a point that sometimes it begins to hamper our own progress!!!!

So does all this make Gurubhai right? I asked the wrong question since the movie is not about right and wrong. Just as there are profits and losses, there would be rights and wrongs. But to play with the lives of lakhs or millions of people who invest not just their money and time but also their faith in you is definitely a great responsibility and more often than not, great responsibilities are well-fulfilled only when there is a firm, just and truthful foundation to one's actions.

22 down...Many more to go

I just completed 22 trips around the sun successfully on the 1st of this month :). I spent my b'day in a foreign land for the first time away from all my near and dear ones. Mom wished me well in advance and the happy messages just kept pouring in - Anand and Vinita, Nams, Pady, Hrisheekesh, Akshat, Sachin, Meher, Mohit, Siddharth among others.

Sunday was a working day and there was lot of work to be done as my boss was leaving for Paris later in the week for a meeting. Even as me and my boss haggled to get our simulation results in order, we were frequently interrupted by the messages and phone calls for me. Finally, I had to apologise to him and tell him that it was my birthday today. Well, then he too wished me a very happy b'day !!!!!!!!

Ramzaan time has been bad in some sense. Have to leave office at around 2 pm. Rush to the nearest hotel to get packed lunch and rush back home to eat and get back to office all in an hours' time. Oct 1st was no different except that work kept me in office till 3:15 pm after which I got back home hungry and tired. Had my lunch, once again went through my routine of re-reading all the smses I received for the day, gifted chocolates to the two children of my house-owner and went off for a nap.

I got up later for a nice chat with mom, dad, sis-in-law and brother who had just returned from Jammu after a short official trip. Despite being far away, all the lovely mails and messages from some many well-wishers just made me feel so good.

My parents, brother and sister-in-law had specially couriered a gift from India - comprising of a sweet little greeting card and a book so special that I shall treasure it for a life-time. Coincidentially, I had read the entire book earlier in Crossword, Powai much to the ire of the shopkeeper :) The book was on Sachin Tendulkar written by Peter Murray which travails his journey as a 16 yr old in Pakistan to the WC 2003.Besides there were a lot of newspaper cuttings from mom. I am amazed at the kind of effort she puts in cutting those articles for me. When I was at home, I rarely had the patience to go through them. But here I find it a relaxing yet sensible way of spending a lazy night in company of some good music on my CD player and mom's articles.

I thank Namrata Srivastava for visiting an orphanage that day and distributing chocolates to all the little children there on my behalf. It was a very touching gesture and really it's such special moments which makes life memorable even after your hair has gone white.

In the evening, I walked along the Corniche coastline, enjoying the breeze and feeling the moment. I realised that I am on the threshold of something special. The past is history, tommorrow is a mystery but today is a gift which is why it is called present. Through my years at IIT and even at school, there have been some frustrating moments, some highs and some lows. Now-a-days, I have begun to take life with a sense of equanimity and it is really helping me. Now-a-days, I compete only with myself - If I can be happier today than I was yesterday, I consider myself to be successful. I credit this change to a lot of people who have been very dear to me in my life and I know they shall always be there when I need them the most.

To Mom and my dear friends..

This blog is not to write about my experiences. It is for the small yet significant contributions made by the people around which I so conveniently forget at most times.

MOM - God alone knows the number of times I have shouted at her for almost anything and everything in life. She is like my frustration-sink. For all the disappointments meted out by other people and circumstances, poor mom had to cop it all from me. So let me take this opportunity to thank her - and go beyond it.

I rate Mom ahead of even GOD. Whatever I am doing today is for my mom first before anyone else. I have strong dreams for her and will go any length to accomplish it - no matter what. Despite all the distant relatives and friends I have here and the activities I participate in - loneliness is definitely creeping in. In this context, I can never forget the effort she put in sending me my childhood photographs by post. I simply broke down after looking at all those happy moments of life enjoyed during my childhood days. I realised it was important to be good with people around me - and more importantly to balance optimism, expectation and ambition in life.

I must say I have enjoyed very few but extremely deep and long-lasting friendships in my short life so far. Which is why I keep my standards for friendship very very high. I am sad with the way I spoke in a very insensitive fashion to (most definitely) my best friend, Namrata Srivastava. I vented some of my frustration on Sachin and Padmanabh - I realised soon that I have a certain perspective and expectation from life and people but cannot expect everyone to be like that. I think in a certain fashion from the position where I am but forget that others are not in the same position. I hate disappointing ppl and hate to receive disappointments as well.

I know this is a crucial stage for all my friends - building career and lives. I wish them all the best in their personal endeavours and would like to tell them that I am always there to help them in whatever manner possible.

I learnt to keep doing what you do without ever expecting the fruits of my action, without worrying about the results - Just keep doing what is right and preferably also good and forget about the rest. Somewhere what you do and what you express will hit somebody like an arrow and you won't believe what is to follow next..

The Globe trekker continues..

Quite exactly like Ian Wright, the host of much-popular TV show "Lonely Planet" or now known as "Globe Trekker" on Discovery Channel, my tour in UAE also continued courtesy a rare 3-day weekend provided by the company. And yes, now having visited 4 cities & 3 emirates in the UAE, I am in a better position to analyse all of them.

Al-Ain is by far one of the most beautiful cities I have seen. Very very green and definitely, a place which my parents would love to stay. It's amazing that Al-Ain has been maintained so beautiful, so green by the ruling authorities. Everywhere you would find gardens. Lots of open spaces. Not a single building allowed more than 3 floors. Just a very serene and calm place to live.

On the contrary, Abu Dhabi is a concrete jungle - a highly consumerist emirate and only buying and selling takes place here. There is lack of open space, lack of greenery and the serenity - just a like a cosmopolitan city in India. Ditto Dubai. Additionally, Dubai is a financial centre. Sharjah is very good and neatly developed - the roads are designed very well along the coast and it really is amazing to walk down the coast. Having said all that, Al-Ain is a place where children can be reared by parents and taught a lot of things - especially to fall in love with nature.

The view from the amazing Jebel Hafeetmountains are a sight to behold for the adventurers. The drive to the top was equally stunning. In between the mountains, they have constructed a green garden with lot of open spaces to play especially for children. On the rocks, they have got soil and grass from different places and constructed it on the mountains. Right at the top of the mountain, one can see the splendid view of deserts extending far and wide in every direction - In the west direction, the desert proceeds towards the Liwa Oasis and further west, you would reach the border of Saudi Arabia. If you look south-east, you would find the plains extending into Oman. And just as I was admiring this splendid view and taking a pic of my friend, a ferocious red-colour bee stung me right through my shirt. The burning sensation was terrible and despite water treatment, the burning didn't subside. Finally, as a precautionary measure, I had to be taken to a doctor for an anti-allergic injection. Thankfully nothing much happened and the pain subsided in a few days' time.

Al-Ain shares its border with Oman. Infact, there is place called Burayami near Al-Ain which is actually in Oman but is bordered by UAE on 3 sides. Interestingly, it's easy for anyone to drive down into Buruyami from Al-Ain and so I can proudly claim to have visited another country itself !!!!!!!!!! A special mention here has to be made of Kartik's parents at whose place I spent that night amidst some very good food and company and lots of discussion. Indeed, they made it memorable for me by taking me on long drives in Al-Ain.

From Al-Ain, I caught a mini bus to Sharjah. Listening to "Yuhi Chala Chal Rahi" and going again and again through the maps (which I had xeroxed courtesy my french colleague at office) at every highway indicator, my journey to Sharjah was indeed memorable. On reaching there, it was easy to see why Sharjah is so different - the crowds seemed to pour in and finally the city feeling dawned on me. I soon called up Chetan and he directed to reach their place. After a simple but delicious lunch of Puris, Subji and Dahi, we made our way to Dubai for a pravachan by one guru in India - Pandurang Athavle. Despite not being so much into spirituality as my other friends (Sachin, Namrata S and Akshat are), I still liked listening to his lecture. After about an hour, we made our way back to Sharjah in Chetan's dad's car.

As always and it has to be expected from me, I told Chetan that I would like to visit the Sharjah cricket stadium before other things. His dad drove us and despite initially being sceptical as to whether we would be allowed inside or not, I and Chetan managed to muster enough courage to go inside.

To our extreme surprise, the person standing outside the entrance allowed us to go inside without the slightest hitch. And then it was just - WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I couldn't believe my eyes that all this was happening in reality. I couldn't believe I was looking down the same pitch where once the majestic GOD danced down the track to smack Warne over the top, where he made mince-meat of Kasprowicz and where he showed Australia their rightful place under the sun !!!!!!

Soon after spreading my excitement to my parents and amidst some wonderful camera-work, video-shooting aided with excellent commentary from Chetan, we made our way to the pitch. I touched the pitch and felt like kissing it but somehow, my expression always stops short of actually doing it. Nevertheless, I looked at the sky, down the pitch, all around the stands and a feeling sunk into me - perhaps all this was meant to happen. I felt that good things and special memories (sooner or later) always happens to people who are true in their nature. I thought of all the coincidences, the unbelievable miracles and beautiful sights which I have encountered in life so far- and felt why these things happened to me? GOD is truly great and I am happy he showers his best as also the worst on true people. No in-between stuff !!!!!!

Soon, we found ourselves in the Central Souq - a marketplace in the heartland of Sharjah. Chetan was excited all the while and it is extremely nice to have such people for company when you are visiting new places. We roamed around the coast, were exposed to a mini desert-storm which forced us back to our hut. Then we attended a Ganesh puja at Chetan's friend's place. India truly didn't appear too far from there !!!!

Rounding off the night with some extremely thought-provoking discussion with Chetan, I made my way back next morning, half-sleepy and most definitely tired, back to Abu Dhabi. A truly memorable trip had ended !!!

Despite the work pressure, I am looking to make things memorable for myself over the weekend. Often, I visit friends and distant relatives in Abu Dhabi. I am extremely happy to find a decent group of expatriates who are from Bombay and are living here and continuously try and engage myself in cricket and soccer on weekends.

And yes, I am excited about my impending trip to Egypt in mid-Oct. Just waiting for my leave request to be approved by my boss !!!!!!!! :)

And beyond that, there is my rotational trip back to India in late December. I look forward to that - hope all my friends would be there to celebrate New Year with me.

Coming back home

Yes, finally, I am coming back home - India surely has been on my mind from the time I came here and it feels so good to be coming back even thought it is only for 3 days.

Firstly, there is the convocation to attend. Then all the gifts which have been purchased from my hard-earned money to be distributed to so many friends, relatives and ofcourse, my parents. I am not a shopping person at all but I spent 3 full weeks and made list after list in trying to think what to buy for whom !!!!!

At the end of it, I really feel happy with the choices I made as to what would suit whom. Also there is the pleasant feeling in giving back what I myself got as gifts from my relatives coming from foreign land when I was a child. Abu Dhabi has just too many things to buy and you are just kept wishing you had all the money in the world.

Back home, it's raining a lot and that is sure to spoil my homecoming though I secretely am wanting to get wet in the rains - after all, it rains only for 2 days max in Abu Dhabi in an year. Then there are plans after plans which I have been busy making both in the short and long run.


Ofcourse, I am just waiting to meet my friends. Hrishi and Mohit would be coming for convocation as well. Bhagyesh, Santosh and some other friends have gone to US/ taken up jobs and I wish them all the best wherever they go and whatever they do. Just wish that life comes a full circle again and we all get to come together some time in life - Just wish we all remain the children that we were and never become overly formal and time-conscious (typical traits of elders). People who say "I have no time" are the biggest liars in the world and simply need to look into themselves as to where they are going wrong. The greatest of the great people had only 24 hrs in a day and if there is a will on one's part, one can achieve a lot without sacrificing on the innocence, innovation and beauty that every child is endowed with.

On my part, I know I can go any length to achieve something if I truly want to. Maybe it was the lucks of fortune that I got to work in this MNC and staying and working here just makes you feel you can achieve just about anything and everything. Ambition has been sky-rocketing for me in the last 1.5 months - quite the opposite to what I was at IIT. Partly this is because I have to make my own decisions here and nobody tells me what is impossible and what is not. I really feel unhinhibited and surely sky seems to be limit for me now - or is it? Just feel that I am returning to the same person that I was for a while in my school days - extremely rebellious, "dissatisified" and ambitious.

Work-wise as well, I am in better control now and am learning things faster. Things can only go one way from here - and I am dictating it :)

Faith & Destiny

Life has been very interesting here. I found all the south Indian people in my office speak very sweetly to me as if they were my closest friends or relatives!!!
I saw Indians lining up outside a restaraunt having a TV set when the test matches against WI were going on and was left dumbfounded to see the lady owner of the restaurant ask somebody by how much India were following on and predict whether they would manage to draw the test match or not !!!!! Now that was something which I will take as a really special memory when I go back home..

Now-a-days, after coming back home, I play (or rather try to play) Scrabble with the 5 yr old son of my flat owner. The zeal, enthusiasm and energy though tinged with the lack of understanding shown by him amazes me and reinvigorates my faith as to why we need a top-notch education system to retain children who have such tremendous potential and prevent them from going "astray". Work has been really demanding on me and literally the project that I have been made to work on will take some 2-3 months to finish and I am actually packed with work !!!!!! At the same time, I also observed the detailed way work is done in reality and frankly speaking, too much of learning in great academic institutions with little or not application is rubbish. That way it has been good and I share a good rapport with my boss as well :)

Food has been good here but I miss home food badly. Fridays are off for everybody and it would be disastrous to venture out on a friday morning in the hot sun. The remaining time is spent scourging the shopping malls here with my friends to check out gifts, items, chocolates and other things which I would most pleasurably have to take back home for a host of friends and relatives next month and that too from my first salary - It is indeed a momentuous occasion for me !!!!!

I am missing out on somebody like Hrishi or Mohit with whom I could have spent the weekend travelling far and wide instead of having to think about working overtime(simply ridiculous) as one of my colleagues suggested. People at times just do not realise how much more they can do with their lives really - if they just sit down and think about it !!!!!! Agreed this is a hot place, transportation is a headache, life is as yet transient but still......I soon hope to look for some place where they play sports, hope to leave office earlier and earlier by finishing my work faster and faster and reserve my energy to explore this new place, meet new people and capture new moments in life.

and Yes, today, I got my first salary and immediately i withdrew some amount from it :P - Wow, it's a special feeling and you just know you deserve it thoroughly.
I am looking forward to getting back home in August to meet a special friend who is extremely stubborn, adamant and as per me, has the guts to go out and achieve what most people feel unsure about. See u soon then..

Life is going good

The last few days have been a real roller-coaster for me. Have been braving the hot sun and the excessively humid atmosphere, working long and hard at office and finally rediscovering some love for engg in the process and still trying to get out of the awe that I am engulfed in - the sheer magnamity of this place.

I have been visiting the shopping malls, departmental stores and Indian restaurants which are aplenty here, checking out prices and comparing them to decide places to buy from. Also next month is going to be kadki for me since money going for rent, buying preliminary sustainable items and also to pay for my airline ticket back to India. Office has been going good and I am now assigned to work on an oil and gas project to simulate and study the adequacy of a water network system !!!!!!! Now that is some real engg.....

Also I have been lucky enough to find some nice seniors and colleagues in my department who are very helpful. After office, I, Shraddha and Vikas have a nice time walking down the really huge streets here - be it to search for a new place to stay or for having a quick meal or simply just like that..

Back home, I have learnt how difficult it is to be a room-maker - forget being a homemaker. Having to wash clothes, keep all things in place, being disciplined, punctual, neat and regular are things which I casually put to rest while being at time. Now, I realised how difficult it is be M-O-T-H-E-R !!!!!!

I am also learning to manage finances - something which my father and CA brother were in complete control of when I was at home. This is something new and I feel I am managing it well. Ofcourse, I started calculating how the expenses are going, how much is left, what are the necessities to be fulfilled etc. etc.

I am also trying to find a special place for all the special gifts given to me before I came here - the nice pen-stand and glass showpiece by Namrata G and Prajakta, the beautifully written greeting card by Namrata S, the absolutely wonderful Notebook and pencil box gifted by Akshat, Sachin and other TS friends and lastly but not the least, the wonderful songs ka CD from Pady which I hope to listen as soon as I buy my MP3 player. These are really special gifts which make life really nice and I hope to make my room a better place to live in :)

Still exploring the place, plan to visit Dubai soon and hope to get my residence visa in a months' time after which I can directly fly to Abu Dhabi, can have an official net connection and most importantly, can fly my parents on their first ever flight and first trip to a foreign country...Things slowly but surely are coming true.

First days on foreign soil......

I can still remember the emotional moment when I saw my parents and dear friends at the Bombay airport waving at me. As soon as I lost sight of them, I realised that a whole new world awaits where there are not people behind to help or support you if you fall. Quite automatically, I felt more responsible. The joy of flying by plane was somewhat lost in the sadness of leaving the most important people in my life.
Even as IA 681 took off from Bombay at 12:05 am, I saw the chain of streets and hoarding lights disappear into darkness and soon there was only the black Arabian sea to give me company.

I read some Technip info and a WC 2006 magazine and had my dinner on the flight. Soon, after some 2 hrs, lights reappeared again in the background. These were my first live glimpses of a foreign land - something which I had only heard of and seen only on TV or books. As we touched down at Sharjah, I could clearly see the small sand dunes and before I could realise, I was amidst a host of Malaylis, Americans, French, Iranians and ofcourse Arab people. Soon, after completing formalities, I found myself in one of the most comfortable AC vehicles sent by the company to pick me up and it roared down the WIDE highways at 130 KMPH !!!!!!!!! As we roared, I could see a stadium with lights and for all practical purposes, regarded it to be the stadium where the GOD demolished the Aussies some 8 yrs ago !!!!!!

I slept in the car and reached our hotel - a 10 star one (for me) at 4 in the morning. Soon, without any sleep, I made my way to the office at 8 in the morning. First day was spent mainly completing the formalities. The office people were nice with me and my fresher colleagues, Vikas and Shraddha are really nice ppl to hv as friends.

Abu Dhabi is characterized by TALL buldings and WIDE roads - u will hv to walk vertically, not horizontally. All the posh cars going around and u will hv utter confusion since u will tend to look left when u hv to look right while crossing the road since vehicles are left-hand drive here. This place is hot but ACs are everywhere. I met an Indian and Bangladeshi working in the hotel and they were so happy to see an Indian here !!!!!

I got an accomodation with a southie family at reasonable price close to office. Here, most things are cheap including food, cyber, cell, travel and most things except for acco. There are lots of malls and restaurants and I am proud to be working on the 21st flr of the tallest building in Abu Dhabi !!!!!!!!!!

This place is still a concrete jungle - worth working in some of poshest offices which are hard to find even in Nariman Point in Bombay!!!!!! The buildings from inside look very ordinary and it is not worth to live here as socialising is difficult. My pre-medical check-up was done by French lady doctor and it was really quite an amusing experience. Ofcourse, anything Indian - be it the food or the movies or the people looks doubly nice from this place. Today I happened to watch Lakhshya on TV and literally cried at some of the scenes. As they say, when u live away from India while being Indian at heart, you realise the power of India.

Will write more soon..

First Job

Finally, after a lot of pushing and prodding from friends and my own self, I hv started to write my blog. Also realised that this was going to be needed so that I could keep my mind free from a lot of thoughts. And what a time to start writing this as I am about to join my first job in the gulf.

This has been a really sweet gift for me in some sense - a childhood dream (of flying by plane) come true. I feel proud of having achieved things on my own and literally from sratch !!!!! Coming from a middle class background, travelling by plane or even AC or 1st class compartment was out of question and still is - though relatively less as compared to an year ago. My air ticket and visa are sponsored by the company. Last year too, I got an internship in Asian Paints on merit and they sponsored my tickets by 3rd class AC. I know all this sounds too childish but I realise the pride that I have for such small things in life which most upper classes might take for granted.

The job itself is daunting - involving hard core engineering skills and I am looking forward with great eagerness to it. Right from school days, I failed to understand why people studied something and worked somewhere else only !!!!!!! I must consider myself lucky that I am getting an opportunity to work as a process engineer in a multinational company which is into engineering consultancy mainly in the oil and gas sector else even I might have wasted all the chemical engg I learnt by working as a data analyst. I really wish that my love for engg is rediscovered during my job which was somewhere lost at IIT due to too much of theory and lack of application in any way.

I wish that I manage to maintain good relations with all my colleagues and most importantly, enjoy the job that I do. As long as you are happy, nothing can prevent you from working and I wish I tread that path to success. From a career point of view as well, this will provide me with a good platform to take up certain decision in future. I may plan to do an MBA or do a complete U-turn and study something like astronomy purely out of interest and now with any intention to make money out of it. Ofcourse, all these would be subject to how well I am able to take care of myself and my parents financially.

I hope to nurture my love for travel with all the money made from the job and wish to meet so many friends that I have made all over the world now courtesy various forums and discussion groups. A good chunk of my relatives are in the US and with so many friends also heading off to the US for further studies, the US of A surely beckons as a place to be visited. Personally, I would love to visit Australia and Europe - really want to visit the Alps, the Black Forest, Madame Tussads, boat on River Thames, climb onto the bridge at the Sydney harbour, go to Melbourne Zoo (one of my ultimate favs) and ofcourse, kiss the pitch at the Adelaide Cricket Ground for very very special reasons.

All and all, life has really opened up new horizons for me and I am geared up to take up the challenges as they come by with great enthusiasm and excitement.