The self proclaimed Management Guru... you know who am I talking about!!

I have started reading “The Beautiful and the Damned: Life in the New India” by Siddhartha Deb. The cover of the book has a warning, “The first chapter of this book has been removed in accordance with a court order.” I got curious to find out more about the chapter which has been removed. Thanks to google I found the chapter. The chapter is titled, "The Great Gatsby: A Rich Man in India." It was first published in the magazine "The Caravan' under the title, "SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS - How Arindam Chaudhuri made a fortune off the aspirations—and insecurities—of India’s middle classes." Here’s a link to the chapter: http://rationalzom.blogspot.com/2011/06/sweet-smell-of-success-siddhartha-deb.html

In case the link doesn’t work by the time you access it, please drop me a note in the comment section. I will mail it to you.

Frankly I don’t want to comment on Arindam Chaudhri. However, at times I really get pissed off by the way he brags about himself. I mean he is the only person in this world who thinks that his last book “Discover the diamond in you” was a bestseller. There is an advertisement on this book being a bestseller every week in one of the business news channels such as CNBC TV18 or NDTV Profit. I would really be interested to know how many copies of this book have really been sold till date. Is Mr. Arindam Chaudhuri listening?

9 years back I bought a book (The great Indian dream) written by this fellow and his Father. The punch line of the book was, “a must for every Indian.” After reading the first few chapters I really hated myself for buying the book. The Managing Partner of the firm (a very well read Man) that I was working with saw the book with me once. He said, “You should make good use of your hard earned money.”

The Caravan removed the story from their wesbite. As I mentioned earlier, you can read it by doing a google search. You know what….Arindam Chaudhori has sued Google India as well! I fail to understand why has he filed a suit in Silchar District of Assam when he is based out of Delhi and even Delhi Press (the owner of ‘The Caravan’ magazine) is based out of Delhi.

The book including the first chapter is available in the international market except India. So what's the point in filing a lawsuit and removing the first chapter in India. Guess Mr. Chowdhri is still living in the 18th century. He should know that these days books are sold internationally. I thought he was a marketing and management consultant!! Or, may be he thought (and wrongly so) that like his books, even Siddhartha Deb's books will be sold in India only. Or (let me try one more) may be he realized (and rightly so) that no one knows him outside India.

By the way, let me unravel the mystery behind the title of this post, "the self proclaimed management guru." I was looking for a suitable title for my post. That's when I googled "the self proclaimed management guru" and guess what... the first few links were pages on Arindam Chodhry.

Let me come back to the controversial chapter on Arindam Chowdhary. According to the Caravan magazine “The 10,000-word story was the result of several months of work by Siddhartha Deb, whose exhaustive reporting included interviews with Arindam Chaudhuri himself and several of his close associates who spoke openly about the IIPM and its critics, coverage of Chaudhuri’s public functions, and an account of considerable time spent on the IIPM campus."

By the way the book “the beautiful and the damned” is a nice and thought provoking read. The book has five stories of life in India on subjects ranging from farmers in Andhra Pradesh to a Manipuri waitress working in Delhi. Here’s a para from India Today’s review of this book published in Sep 12 issue:

“…In his introduction Deb recalls two stories he worked on as a journalist-the first when he took a job in a call centre in order to be able to write about it from the inside, and the second his coverage of the 20th anniversary of the Bhopal gas disaster. He finds the 'fake' technology-driven world of the call centre contrasts with the dogged determination of old-style activist Abdul Jabbar who has devoted the large part of his life to fighting for the poorest of the victims of Bhopal. Deb finds them co-existing in the New India and they are the spur for him to strive to describe the different realities of this country through the lives of individuals.”

On removal of the first chapter, Deb rightly said, "..but that in itself says something about the state of affairs in India these days, where critiques of the powerful and wealthy, no matter how scrupulously researched, are subject so often to intimidation.”

Here’s an interesting extract from press release by The Caravan magazine:

“The suit against The Caravan, which seeks huge damages, has been filed not in Delhi, where both the IIPM and the magazine’s publisher, Delhi Press, are based, but 2,200 km away in Silchar, Assam, 300 km from Guwahati, Assam’s capital. The IIPM filed the case at the Court of Civil Judge in Silchar district, through one Kishorendu Gupta, who operates Gupta Electrical Engineers in a Silchar suburb, and is the first plaintiff. IIPM is the second plaintiff.

In addition to The Caravan and its proprietors, the suit charges Siddhartha Deb, Penguin (the publisher of the upcoming book by Deb in which the article is a chapter), and Google India (which, the suit alleges, has been “publishing, distributing, giving coverage, circulating, blogging the defamatory, libelous and slanderous articles”).
The civil court in Silchar granted the IIPM a preliminary injunction, enjoining Delhi Press to remove the article in question from their website, ex-parte, without any pre-hearing notice.

Kishorendu Gupta is a commissioned agent who works for the IIPM on a contractual basis. Although Gupta is called a counselor, a contract between Gupta and IIPM shows Gupta is a recruitment agent who has commercial interest and is paid for his service on a commission basis. IIPM’s contract with Gupta states:

“for number of students enrolled between 1 to 24, the compensation would be 75,000 per student …[and] for anyone who crosses the 25 students mark, the compensation would be 90,000 per student…[and] for anyone who crosses the 50 student mark, the compensation would be 1,25,000 per student” (From the agreement submitted by the plaintiffs in the court).

It is learnt that the IIPM has filed similar lawsuits against certain other publishers, also in Silchar, Assam, rather than in Delhi."

It will be interesting to see the outcome of the above cases. I am still curious as to why are these lawsuits filed in Silchar???

I hope that Mr. Chaudhory doesn't file a lawsuit against me now and that too in Silchar. By the way if there's one surname that I can never spell correctly, it has to be Chowdhary. I mean just look at this one post alone. I probably have used 10,000 versions of Choudhory -- Chaudhari, Chaudhri, Chowdhary, Chowdhari, Chowdhri, Chaudhry, etc. etc. you can go and on by playing with the 'i's and the 'y's and the 'a's and the 'o's.

Don't ask me if the above post is about Arindam Chaudhri or the book, "the beautiful and the damned." I leave it upto you to decide.

Assam - First State to Guarantee Right to Health - The Sun Rises in the East

Just imagine a scene: An army bus hits a rickshaw puller while taking a wrong U-turn. A young guy in his early thirties (who is on board the rickshaw) is hit badly by that bus. The Army Personnel takes him to a Government Hospital. As expected, he is not provided appropriate treatment and he breathes his last. The Army Personnel could have taken him to a good private hospital, but they didn’t because of fear of too many formalities and above all ‘exorbitant’ cost of treatment.

This actually happened August 2009.

There are lots of such cases. Many a times those who are not able to afford these so called ‘appropriate’ treatment in private hospitals are forced to shift the patient to a Government Hospital waiting for the patient breathe his/her last.

By the way, do Government hospitals deserve to be termed as ‘hospitals’?? Just visit GB Pant Hospital, Lal Bahadur Shashtri Hospital in Delhi once and you will know the answer. They look more like garbage bins).

Anyway this is not what my post is all about. My post is about giving Kudos to the Government of Assam!!

Assam became the first state in India to enact right to health. Wow! Simply unbelievable. Its now mandatory for all hospitals and nursing homes (including the private ones) to provide free treatment for at least first 24 hours to emergency patients. This is path breaking!! This will ensure that emergency patients will not be denied ‘appropriate’ treatment for lack of funds. Great Job!!

Its time that other State Government also enacts similar law immediately.

Kudos to the Health Minister of Assam for presenting the People of Assam with such a Gift before immediately before the Festival of Bihu.

The Sun Rises in the East!!

Chetan Bhagat answers his critic

I want to keep this post very simple. Chetan Bhagat has been included in Time's 100 Most Influential People List. He deserves it. Inclusion in this poll along with famous personalities such as Bill Clinton, Barak Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Rupert Murdoch, Steve Jobs, Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan, etc. itself proves his greatness.

This post is dedicated to those who said that his comment on 3 idiots was a publicity stunt. Inclusion in this list proves that he does not need such cheap publicity.

Those who wants to vote for him can vote at

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1972075_1972078_1972620,00.html

Mumbai not safe for Bitches - The Curious Incident With the Dog in the Night-Time

Some of you must have read the famous book ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ by Mark Haddon. My name is Khan’s character, Rizwan Khan, is loosely based on the protagonist in the book. Anyway, now let me share a story, based on a true event, titled, ‘The Curious Incident with the Dog in the Night-Time’ by Mahesh Kamath.

By the way, before I proceed I want to give 100% credit for the story to my friend Shivani. I don’t want to land up in an Aamir-Chetan type controversy later.

It’s quite natural for Indians to compare Delhi and Mumbai. They say Delhi is not safe for Girls while Mumbai is safe and similar other craps. Right? Now here’s an incident that demonstrates that Mumbai is not safe for Bitches. The incident took place in September 2009.

A stray Dog was raped by a Taxi Driver (named Mahesh Kamath) in Mumbai. The Driver was drunk when he committed the crime. The Bitch was so shocked that she didn’t have food for almost a week after the crime. The Police have given assurance to the owner of the Bitch that she (the Bitch and not the owner) won’t be asked to attend the proceedings in the Court.

The Police are confused as to what section of Criminal Code to charge the accused. Initially they were not even sure if they should file a case. This is considered to be one of the most challenging cases for the Indian law makers. The biggest challenge being how to prove that it was infact a rape.

One important factor in deciding such cases is to decide on the issue of consent, ‘whether consent was given’. The challenge being faced by the Police is how to determine whether this act was consensual. According to a gay activist, ‘animal can’t give consent to human’.

Some of the path-breaking steps being taken include testing of semen samples, injury marks and dog's hair in the nails of the suspect. This case might lead to a change in Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code by inclusion of unnatural sex in the definition of crime.

Once, there was a similar case registered against a man in Delhi for raping a buffalo.

I am sure, incidents like these, would keep the Animal Rights Activists busy for a couple of weeks.

It’s high time that India should legalize prostitution like many other countries.

Thanks to people like Mahesh Kamath, Girls are safe in Mumbai!!

The First Worldwide Website Where Nothing Happens

http://www.thefirstworldwidewebsitewherenothinghappens.com/

Are We Going Back to British Rule?

Telengana, Gorkhaland, Bodoland, Bundelkhand, Harit Pradesh (Western UP)..... the list goes on. These are the names of states that I am sure will get added to the list of states of India. Thanks to the hard to understand political game and egos of political leaders. The day is not far when the MLA of Gurgaon will go on a hunger strike and will demand that Gurgaon be declared a separate state. Soon, Mayawati will demand Lucknow to be declared a separate state.

India had more than 570 states before Independence. Thanks to Sardar Patel, the number of Princely States reduced to less than 20 at the time of Independence. If things goes on the way they are we will soon have more than 500 states. These politicians are busy fighting with each other for a new state. Similar fight among various states encouraged British to invade India and rule us for more than 200 years. By creating new States we are inviting similar trouble again. This is the reason that a peanut like Pakistan is considered to be more powerful than India.

Kudos to Manmohan Singh, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi for succumbing to political egos of inefficient politicians.

Save the Girl Child

The sequel to Freakonomics, 'Superfreakonomics' has an interesting analysis on female population in India. The analysis reminded me of one of my analyses on the major cause of alarming growth of population in India. It will also feature in my novel. Here it goes,

There is only one cause of alarming growth of population in India - the expectation of a boy child. Let me explain by way of a simple example. My colony in Golaghat has 30 families with 95 children out of which 60 are girls. Ideally, no one would want to have more than 2 children. The ideal children population of the colony should have been 60, i.e. two children per family. The extra children were the outcome of the Parents’ desire to have a baby Boy. It would be right to say that our colony contributed 35 extra children to the population of this country. Thus, one third of the population of this country is not ‘real population’ but is an outcome of Parents’ desire to have a ‘baby boy’.

Grow up India!!

When Dreams Come True

When You are Me and I am You

The first unofficial book review of 2 States.. The Story of My Marriage

Let me be the first one to unofficially write a book review on “2 States… the story of my marriage”. I can claim to be the first one as till the time I am writing this there’s isn’t any book review on the net. Atleast none existed on the net when I googled for one.

Well... unlike his other books, this book is not about friendship, call centre or cricket. This is a love story. So what's new???? Well... what's new is the fact that it is a love story of in-laws and the boy/girl. For the first time in the history of books, an author has dedicated the book to "in-laws".

The book’s famous quote is: Love marriages around the world are simple: Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy. They get married.

In India, there are a few more steps:

1. Boy loves Girl.
2. Girl loves Boy.
3. Girl’s family has to love boy.
4. Boy’s family has to love girl.
5. Girl’s Family has to love Boy’s Family.
6. Boy’s family has to love girl’s family.
7. Girl and Boy still love each other. They get married.

The book starts with a focus on step 1 and 2, however, focuses on step 3 for the most part with a slight focus on step 4, 5 and 6 towards the end. The book is unputdownable from the very beginning. You feel a part of Krish’s and Ananya’s world from the very first page. The language and the plot of the book are so simple that it makes you believe that Krish and Ananya (including their parents) are your next-door neighbours.

The book answers many questions that any outsider in Delhi spends his lifetime to find an answer to:

1. Why are marriages such a big deal in Delhi?
2. Why everything has to be over hyped including the fact that dry fruits and dates are from Dubai?
3. Why being on boy’s side means that you are the King of this world and that your ego needs to be buttered every single day and moment by girl’s side?
4. Why the only way to show love and affection is by showering expensive gifts on every possible occasion?
5. Why the first thing that you will notice at most of the wedding reception is a brand new Car?
6. Why what you eat is such a big deal when eating food was just meant to keep you alive?
7. Why what others eat is also a big deal?
8. Why a price tag is attached to a baby boy the day he is born?
9. Why a party is not complete without vodka and chicken?

And many more such questions… read to find out.

The book deals with the otherwise boring subject matter of boy and girl trying hard to impress each other’s parent in a witty yet sensible manner. This story could easily have become yet another boring bollywood tale. Kudos to Chetan for keeping it simple, yet interesting and humorous.

Some of the best moments of the book are:

· Krish’s PowerPoint presentation sessions with his to be father-in-law
· Krish and Ananya’s live-in relationship in the IIMA campus
· Krish’s telling his to be brother-in-law that he will get blind if he watches blue film
· The reaction of Krish’s flat mates in Chennai when they realize that Ananya is his girlfriend

And many more such moments… read to find out.

2 States - The Story of My Marriage

Just came back from the book launch ceremony of the most eagerly awaited title of 2009... Chetan Bhagat's "2 States.. the story of my marriage".

I still can't believe that Chetan responded to my mail where I requested him for a pass for the event. No wonder that Chetan is heartthrob of the Youth of this country and world over.

I read the prologue of the book at the event and can't wait to finish the remaining 270 pages. Chetan and his wife Anusha read an excerpt from the book, where Krish and Ananya are dating for the first time. Krish and Ananya are Chetan and Anusha in real life.

The event started with a brief little speech from Mr. Mehra of Rupa & Co. Chetan is the record breaking author in Indian history. His book "One Night @ the Call Centre" has sold more than 10 million copies, i.e. one book per 30 second.

The title of all his books till date has a number in it:

Five Point Someone
One Night @ The Call Centre
The Three Mistakes of My Life

And now

2 States.. The Story of My Marriage

Shashi Taroor rightly said that his next title should be "Four bestsellers and still going strong". He also mentioned that one of the commonalities between him and Chetan is that one of their twin son's name is Ishaan.

Somehow I have a feeling that Chetan will be one of the 543 MPs of India in years to come. I guess this is his natural progression. Am I right Chetan?

Karva Chauth.... or Karwa Truth...

Karva Chauth… I have always failed to understand this ritual followed by Women in North India. I asked this question to many friends/relatives/neighbors, etc. and I got the same answer in most of the cases – this for the well-being and long life of my husband. One doesn’t have to prove it in front of the world… by keeping a fast just because others do. Majority of the women fast because if they don’t they will be seen as someone who don’t care for their husband as much as they should.

They show it in the movies and TV dramas because audiences love these rituals being aired on TV and movies. The only beneficiaries are the moms-in-law and elderly women whose false believes are rubber stamped by these rituals being aired on TVs. The problem is that we love to follow something blindly without questioning the head and tail and the reason behind the same and thus it gets passed on to generation after generation.

Why are most of these difficult and painful rituals always for Women?

The answer is simple… these started way back in 8th or 9th or similar single digit century when this was a male dominated society and anything that translated into a ‘torture’ was meant for Women only. Dowry, Sati… and the list is endless.

Karva Chauth is as bad as and similar to Sati. In both the rituals women suffers. The later leads to death and in the former you die many times during the day.

According to some, the ritual signifies extreme love and devotion to the husband, as evidenced by the wife's willingness to suffer for his well being’… wow… a big round of applause from my side…. There are other ways to show love and affection to your husband… Give me a break!

I also want to write about another ritual that I hate the most …… Dowry… watch out for my next post.

Snzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Wake Up.... Wake Up

Look at this image carefully. This is what’s gonna happen to you if you watch “Wake Up Sid”.

If I were to rate the crappiest movie of 2009 so far… it has to be “Wake Up Sid”. All throughout the movie it was a challenge to keep myself awake and I kept repeating “Wake up Jit”, “Wake up Jit”.

Karan Johar should know by now that making serious movie is simply not his cup of tea. He should make crappy movie like Dostana and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham only.

The worst part of the movie is its speed. This movie is a 2.5 hour version of what could have been 15 minutes documentary for school kids. The film simply refused to move.

Top of that the songs and picturisation. The songs are good but are complete wastage in this movie.

Konkana should soon retire and start acting in some serials in DD National to regain her senses.

Ranbir’s college friends are pathetic as they fail miserably in creating what’s supposed to be comic sequences. BTW were they really comic? I don’t know who will laugh if you call a fat girl a bhains instead of a Haati.

What was Kashmira Shah doing in this movie?

For the first time in my life I felt like sleeping during the day … so, go and watch this movie only if you find it challenging to get some sleep during the day. Else, pick up any other DVD from the nearest library such as “Barah Aana”, “The Strangers” etc. They don’t fool the public atleast.

Someone has rightly said that the whole story revolves around Siddharth ‘waking up’ and in turn putting the viewers to sleep!

There are only two beneficiaries from this movie, (1) Provogue – for selling the T-Shirts; and (2) Karan Johar – this guy knows how to make money by fooling public and he does that every year. Kudos to Karan Johar.

Wake up Karan!! All the best for My Name is Khan.

What will you do if you secure 92% marks in Class XII………… Commit Suicide?????

What will you do if you secure 92% marks in Class XII?

Well…. if I was the one securing this mark, I would have died out of disbelief. ‘Cos you will need to add the percentage of one more student to my percentage to make it 92%.

In a very unfortunate incident, Kritika Khanna, a resident of Gurgaon hanged herself to death ‘cos 92% was not enough to get her admission into the so-called “Best Colleges” such as SRCC. The News sounds boring… right… ‘cos we are used to such news now, at least in Delhi, Mumbai and other Metros, where the only way to secure admission in Best Colleges is Grades.

If only, schoolteachers, friends or parents had told Kritika that Grades or best college are not everything. They can guarantee only one thing “snob value”. They cannot guarantee you street smartness, a good future or a good life.

How can one commit suicide? It takes a lot of courage to do that… or may be some peer pressure…. or society pressure…. as happened in the instant case.

The best way to run a college is the way Colleges in Golaghat (or any small town for that matter) are run. You go there on the date of the admission with roughly Rs. 400 ($10) and your original 10th pass certificate. That’s it. The admission clerk will ask if you would like to opt for Science, Commerce or Arts. If by God’s grace you secured Ist division (i.e. > 60%), the clerk knows the answer upfront, you would opt for Science, else, you would opt for Arts. There are negligible few only who secure first division. Being A Grades or studious is not considered a cool or in thing, at least in Golaghat. In case the number of seats for Science or Arts in the particular college is full, then only you would choose Commerce. So… this is how admissions take place. What happens as a result is that you do not worry about Grades in schools, until and unless you want to go and do your XIth from a school in one of the metros.

Who is to blame? Well.. the most common answer is “The System”. So I wont delve into it. What I want to highlight is the way the society judge kids. Go to any social gathering…. the first question thrown at a kid is “beta… which standard are you in?” “what was your % in 10th board and so on. What happens as a result? Those who do not secure good marks normally shy away from being social (let’s call them Category B kids). Thus the former category of kids starts getting everything easy in life (till they study) including attention (let’s call them Category A kids). Most of their time goes in notebooks, tuitions, rote learning few schoolbooks. They see life only through these books and rote learning. However, rote learning has one big advantage…. if the person setting the exam question is not smart (99 out of 100 are not), one can secure 100% marks simply by good memorization techniques, even though he or she may not have understood the subject at all. And, this is what happens in every schools in India (atleast).

The Bs has to struggle to get the same attention. As a result what happens is that Bs become stronger than the A’s mentally. As they are exposed to things other than books. They don’t learn much in Classroom; they learn everything the hard way, by navigating their way through real life challenges. No wonder, those who are used to getting everything easy in life (thanks to Grades), struggles the most when faced with reality.

The good news is that Street smartness is the only trait that can make you successful in life. You may choose to define success the way you want (Name, fame, money, well-balanced life, etc. etc.). Unfortunately Grades does not guarantee you that.

It’s high time that our schools focus on active learning and deep critical thinking rather than rote learning and high time for our society to stop asking that stupid question on Grades and School.

I would only like to give one gyan to the students… You might have one big reason for committing suicide… however, there are thousand reasons why you should not.

In case the one reading this happens to be A's, please don’t mind… I can only say that there are exceptions everywhere.

Quest

don't read it ... it's all about me ...

It’s only about me
Don’t read it
Selfish, I may sound
‘Cos I talk about me

I talk about me
Others, I refuse to see
I pretend to listen
This makes me happy

This makes me happy
Does it make others as well
I wish I could know
Could not care less

I could not care less
There’s tomorrow, I can’t see
It makes me anxious
Yesterday makes me weak

Yesterday makes me weak
In Now I feel strong
I make the most of it
Now is the music to life’s song

I am the music to my life’s song
Listen, even if I don’t
Listen, if I like
In my company, I can’t think beyond

I can’t think beyond
Its all about me…me…me…
Selfish I may sound
Don’t read it…

Unreasoned

8th hour
I wake up……..
Vulnerable, I become
It’s a one-way street
I am running
Away from me

9th hour
I envision …….
Beyond the offing
Beyond the blurred horizon
What is the direction
What is the destination

10th hour
I realize………
I don’t need a direction
I don’t need a destination
I have an ineffable feeling
An unreasoning passion

11th hour
I decide……….
What I fear much
What I long to feel
I close my eyes
I come back to me

Can't live without music?

7:20 PM. IPL 20-20 final, pizzas from Dominos (to be delivered in 30 mins), few friends and Afridi all set to rock (I hope he does today). Let me share this post which was long overdue.

Are you among those very few who can't live a second without music? Well.. lemme share some links that you will really love:
http://www.beemp3.com/ : you can download any damn song in this world for free.... English, Hindi, Indonesian, Korean, etc. etc. for free. Why on Earth you will download Indonesian or Korean songs? Well.. remember our very own Pritam of Life in a Metro and Jab We Met fame. Most of the songs were copied from Indonesian and Korean hits.
http://www.in.com/music/ : This is from the TV18 group. The one that has a stake in CNBC TV18, CNN IBN, IBN7, Forbes India, etc. You can listen to live FM radio for free. You can create your playlists and play them whenver you want. Again, you can listen to almost any song (western, hindi, etc.). There are playlists and radio stations playing 80's and 90's hits as well.
http://www.last.fm/ : It is an UK based music community website. It has more than 25 mm users in more than 100 countries. It has an inbuilt music recommender system (Audiscrobbler). It creates a profile of your music taste based on what you listen to often. It also recommends and plays artist similar to your favourites. You can create your radio station and playlist from last fm's library of billion songs. All this for for pretty inexpensive 3$ a month. Even if you don't pay, when you register, you will get to hear 30 songs for free. Also, you can download free songs everyday from the songs that offer to be downloaded everyday.

I am sure..... Sasank will have some more. But... you know what he is too lazy to write a blog.. or to comment on this post even.

Till my next post... happy listening....

Don't Wait

You wait for a gentle touch when you’re sad
You wait for shelter when it rains
You wait for a hug when in stress
You wait for time to soothe your pain

You wait for love when you need the most
You wait for dreams to show you the way
You wait for someone else’s smile on your face
You wait until tomorrow to be happy today

The wait doesn’t seem to get over…
Close your eyes… think of your pal
Every second, every moment, wherever you are

Don’t wait… in me… you have it all

You

Your tap on my shoulder, when I cry
Your gentle touch, less than a while
Your happiness, when I smile
The look of your eyes in my eyes


Your thoughts, when you are away
Your talks, when you are with me
Your believing in my dreams
Your telling me, there’s only one way

You’ve stolen me from me
Filled my days with smile of yours
Lost, I am standing on life’s shore
Everywhere, its you that I see

Don’t know, when and how you came
Wherever I am, I feel your presence
Crowded everywhere, but this place
Everything, as it was, nothing’s the same

ATTITUDE - You have it... wear it

The other day a friend of mine accused me of throwing attitude for what I have done/achieved/become. This was enough to agitate me and I got furious and started defending myself with crazy explanations.

I thought about it later and realized that my friend was right. Why was I angry then? Why was I defending myself?

Well... my friend was wrong in attaching reasons to my attitude. I throw, carry, show attitude not for what I have done/achieved and become but simply for what I am and what I do.

Yes I have an attitude and I wear it all the time. I carry it wherever I go. What’s wrong in it? Everyone has a right to throw attitude.

I wear it because I do what I like and what makes me happy even if it is at the cost of hurting others. And I do it all the time. Well….. my intention is never to hurt anyone though, if someone is hurt, it’s by their choice and not mine.

I live to make myself happy and I will do it for the rest of my life. If this is what attitude is all about, yes I wear, carry and throw attitude.

I don’t know about tomorrow, but today and now I throw ATTITUDE.

ATTITUDE….. its my decision and my choice.

Look who's here

Finally the much-awaited business magazine Forbes India was launched yesterday.  It is the first international magazine to make an entry in India. Since, FDI permitted in print media is only 26%, it had no other option but to choose an obvious Indian partner, Raghav Bahl’s TV18. I hope that this magazine will have insightful analysis as compared to the likes of Business India, Business World and Business Today, which has nothing but facts, facts and facts without any meaningful analysis.

What I liked about the magazine launch ceremony was the opening remarks by the CEO of Forbes Media, Steve Forbes. One of his lines was, “The purpose of business is to spread happiness and not to pile up monies”. 

Steve Forbes promised that the magazine would have global content with an India twist. He strongly felt that the growth of economies like India and China is good not only for India and China but also for the USA.

Can’t wait to read the first issue.

Make the most of now

Let me write my own lines
Doesn't matter if words don’t rhyme
Let me sing my own song
Others’ can wait for some time




Let me dance to my own tune
Don’t bother me with any other sound
Let the music take me so high
That it’s my tune all around


Let me paint your picture
With me written all over it
Let me capture it in my eyes
It remains a secret… let it be

Let me make the most of now
Who cares… what’s gone by
Let me cherish this moment
Who cares… what’s ahead in time

Make the most of now

One life to live and love
One chance to be happy
One life to be yourself
One life…. just be

You create and own yourself
Its you who you face
You are in love with yourself
You owe yourself your space




You owe yourself your love
You owe yourself your smile
You owe yourself this world
You owe yourself your life

The love that you give yourself
Is the greatest love of all
Keep away from the crowd
Stand different…stand tall

Make the most of yourself
You know why… you know how
You owe yourself this moment
Make the most of now

Definitely. May Be.

“Definitely. May be” is a touching, pleasing, beautiful, 2^nd best romcom movie from the makers of the best romcom movie “Notting Hill”.

The movie revolves around Will (Ryan Reynolds), who recites the history of his complicated relationships with 3 beautiful and attractive women. The 3 women are April (played by Isla Fisher) Summer (played by Rachel Weisz) and Emily (played by Elizabeth Banks). He shares his story with his daughter, Maya. She has to guess who her mother is. BTW, Will is in the middle of a divorce.

Though it is a romantic comedy, it takes a serious look at relationships. Its not only destiny, but bad timings, good timings, misunderstandings, communication, silence, understandings… that make or mar a relationship.

It portrays beautifully that there is a very thin line of difference between friendship and love and we spend lifetime understanding what it is. We get confused as to who is the right one for us and who is not.  Everyday, every moment, every moment of our life we make a choice and our relationships depend a lot on these choices we make.

The most memorable moment in the movie is when Will practices his proposal to Emily on April in this manner:

I wanna marry you because you're the first person I wanna look at when I wake up in the morning, and the only one I wanna kiss goodnight. Because the first time that I saw these hands, I couldn't imagine not being able to hold them. But mainly, when you love someone as much as I love you, getting married is the only thing left to do. So, will you, um, marry me? 

April immediately replies………… Definitely. May be.

The movie (like most romantic movie) encourages you to follow your heart. We have one life to live and love and be happy. We have a choice to make the best of this one life. It’s never too late.

The surprise package of the movie is Bill Clinton.

A surprising moment in the movie is when Maya says to her father…. “Dad, I can't believe you smoked and drank and were such a slut….. but I still love you”. 

Another surprise is when Will says… “I haven't had sex since Clinton was re-elected”. April replies… “He's having enough sex for the entire country”. 

To me the title of the movie is apt as it answers two questions:

Whether love exist……………. Definitely. 

Whether love last ………… Definitely. May be

“The human heart has hidden treasures, in secret kept in silence sealed.

The thought, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures, whose charms were broken if revealed”.

This is the Quote from April’s father in the book “Jane Eyre” gifted to her.

Together

What is good and what’s not

Why do we decide

Why worry about the destination

Why don’t we simply ride

Let’s be together

And stand for each other

Let’s not say anything

And talk to each other

Let’s not understand things

We will never know

Let’s not ask questions

Let’s never say no

As long as

As strong as you feel

As long as you hide

.......... I will

As soon as you express

As soon as you smile

.......... I will

As far as you go

As high as you reach

.......... I will

As hard as you try

As much as you miss

.......... I will

As long as you are

As silent as you are

..... I am

As long as you will

As long as you love

..... I will

Prime Minister's Speech Speed

I was watching the G20 summit overview on BBC yesterday. Let’s see what role does this trillion-dollar baby play in uplifting the so called “poor countries”. Also, I liked the way Gordon Brown said “we will name and shame the tax havens”. There is no point in blaming the tax havens when the biggest culprit in this whole mess is none other than the USA. Anyway this is not what my post is all about. My post is about the person who has spent his last 1800 days uttering two words only “Yes Madam”. I am talking about our PM, Manmohan Singh.

You should have seen the way he was responding to the journalists at the press conference in Excel Center in London. If I were one of the journalists, I would have gone up to the podium and completed his sentences instead of allowing him to waste everybody’s time. His face is expressionless when he is speaking. Looks like he is crying all the time. Even his strong points looks like he is murmuring prayers. His rate of speech on top of all these. I think he will just beat a snail.

A person’s rate of speech governs his personality I believe. Manmohan’s rate of speech also reflects the rate of growth of our country. We have been blessed with these funny creatures to run our country. Remember, Shankar Dayal Sharma’s speed, probably slower than a snail. I don’t want to waste my energy talking about Pratibha Ji.

Anyway coming back to Manmohan’s speech yesterday. The sooner we get rid of him the better. His speed shows that it will take him 20 years to do what Obama or Gordon Brown would do in 5 years. I believe Manmohan is suffering from Aphasia. Aphasia does damage to the language centers of the brain. Manmohan has trouble with expression and understanding lengthy sentences. No wonder he was giving wrong answers to the questions from the journalists and his press conference lasted few minutes only. May be he is suffering from Stuttering also.

Notting Hill - Surreal But Nice

As usual, they played “Notting Hill” yet again on HBO day before yesterday. “Surreal but nice”…. that’s how I feel every time I watch this movie. Well… this is how William Thacker (Hugh Grant) summarizes his first kiss with Anna Scott (Julia Roberts). Also, this is how Anna summarizes her first meeting with William after they part after the first kiss. Surreal But Nice.

I can watch this movie again and again for endless reasons; the first, of course being the above and the others are the moments of subtle passion between William and Anna such as:

· When Anna asks William to sit beside her in the Park on the bench that has “FOR JUNE WHO LOVED THIS GARDEN… FROM JOSEPH, WHO ALWAYS SAT BESIDE HER” written on it. In the background Ronan Keating is singing:

The smile on your face let's me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me
The touch of your hand says you'll catch me wherever I fall
You say it best, when you say nothing at all

· When Anna Scott says “After all... I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her".

· When Anna asks one of the journalists to repeat the question on the duration of her stay in Britain and she answers, “Indefinitely”

There are moments of subtle humor in this movie as well, especially the one involving William’s flat mate Spike.

Overall, it is the best romantic comedy of all time and you can’t stop yourself from saying “Surreal but nice” at the end of the movie.

Back to Black

Well..... I missed black truly, madly, deeply. Can't survive a day without it.

Background to the new background

Don't read too much into the new background. I just changed it to the first or probably second available template in the blog, only at the request of a friend. I am sure that I will switch to black soon. I can not survive without black. I have already started missing black. And I dedicate this copied poem to black. " Black is Beautiful"

I am What I am

I don't understand rules
I live life.... there's no end
I don't understand expectations
I am honest... never pretend

~~~

"The Stranger", "The Selfish"
Call me by whatever name
I am ahead of my time
I am what I am

www.2-Letter.com

Let's see how many 2-letter domain names can I think of and how many of these you are already aware of:

www.ft.com

www.ey.com

www.aa.com

www.ba.com

www.ti.com

www.ta.com

If you got less than 3 correct answers....you need to do something else in life..... besides what you have been doing day in and day out.

Here are the answers:

Financial Times

Ernst & Young

Well it's not Arthur Anderson.  It is American Airlines

British Airways

Tough one.. right? It is Texas Instruments.

Another toughie: TA Associates, the private equity firm

The last two 2 letters domain name to be auctioned were www.xu.com and www.zr.com

There are a few 1 letter domain name as well.  The ICANN has stopped auctioning these domains now.  The few lucky ones to be registered before the ban are 

i.net

q.net

q.com

z.com

x.net

x.com

Out of the above only 3 are operational.  Just browse and find out.

Life is Calling

Why do you see darkness everywhere

When you know its daylight somewhere

Why are you walking on a road

that’s leading you to nowhere

Why do you look into a mirror

that make you feel good about what you’re not

Why are you doing things

that you have never dreamt of or thought

Why do you dream of impossible

when reality is what you want to live in

Why are you searching for it outside

when happiness lies within

It’s never too late. Wake up.

Why regret if you can’t restart things

Listen to your heart. Recognize your voice.

Life is calling, “Reborn and you will win”

End of Life

It’s a bright and sunny day
But it’s cloudy inside my heart
I am sitting motionless and still
In front of a church
The church goers are coming and going
In front of the church there’s a garden
The eventide prime rose is emitting a fragrance
That mitigates my grief and pain
The smell is soothing
But I feel a bit unconscious
~ ~ ~
The church clock struck twelve
It’s dark everywhere
~ ~ ~
The moment I was waiting for has come
I am walking through the churchyard
I see a gravedigger waiting for me
He is digging a grave
The task is not over, but I have to leave
For a while, I close my eyes
Tears are not coming
But I want to cry

Things I have Learned in My Life So Far

Just came across this fantastic website http://thingsihavelearnedinmylife.com/ (also a book written by Stefan Sagmeister). Stefan managed to learn twenty things so far. All listed in his website and the book. The author extends the same question to us:

What have you learned in your life so far? What is it that you are fairly sure about? What is it that you believe in by now?

Here's what I have learned:

Never lend books: Jacques Anatole François Thibault, AKA Anatole France, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1921, once said "Never lend books, for no one ever returns them; the only books I have in my library are books that other folks have lent to me."

Say I love You Now: If you love someone ...... say it now.... don't wait for something to happen.....else, it will be too late.

"If you love someone, you say it, right then, out loud. Otherwise, the moment just passes you by"

Read "The Catcher in the Rye" by JD Salinger atleast once in your life: And you will realize that people in this world are superficial, or in Holden Caulfield's words, "phony. It remains the most censored book and the second most taught book in public schools in the United States.

Read "The Strangers" by Albert Camus atleast once in your life: Never display emotions that you do not feel, nor participates in social conventions requiring emotional dishonesty.

Be Honest .... Always: Have the guts to tell someone how crappy that person looks in a particular dress, if you really mean it.

Learn one musical instrument atleast: I don't feel like explaining this one.

Do not plan any important task between Dec 15 to Jan 15 if you are living in North India: These are the most unproductive days, thanks to the depressing weather around this time of the year.

Whatever happens…. happens as a result of our own choice. Every moment we live is a choice. We choose every moment.