Chat with a fellow Bajrangi

I was talking to a friend on Yahoo the other day and I thought it was an amusing session of chat. I saved it and I think its makes for interesting reading.

For your reference, the "BD" mentioned here is "Bajrang Dal" which LOL, has NOTHING to do with the political party or anything like that. Its just what we call ourselves, a group of young 'Celibatics By Fate', which is incidentally another name that we had thought up for the group. LMAO at anyone whos thinking its actually some real group/party/movement/cult etc. Its just a term we use to sledge each other all the time (on being single)!

You will have an insight into the beautiful language that tapori Hindi is - with a few words of Hyderabadi & Bhojpuri thrown in for added flavour.

Read on :

[FRIEND]: woh mail achha tha

[ME]: kaunsa re[ME]: guys' rule?[ME]: ya wallpapers?

[FRIEND]: haaan
[FRIEND]: wall paper ke liye itna time kahaan se milta hai tereko[FRIEND]: cruise ke photos mile kya?

[ME]: cruise?
[ME]: kaunsa cruise re baba

[FRIEND]: finland gaya tha cruise se

[ME]: kyaa baat kar raha hai
[ME]: kab bataayega
[ME]: jhinge....bhej photu

[FRIEND]: I thought I sent 'em

[ME]: nahi babua

[FRIEND]: id type kar tera

[ME]: [ME]@yahoo.co.in

[FRIEND]: baki public ko bhi bhej

[ME]: hau

[FRIEND]: mila kya?

[ME]: dekh raha hon

[FRIEND]: bol

[ME]: kya kar raha hai online?
[ME]: tujhe wallpapers mile kya?

[FRIEND]: haan
[FRIEND]: itna time kaha se milta hai tereko?
[FRIEND]: chal bye..gotta go

[ME]: bye
[ME]: Do you know who started Bata, when and where? Check it out for some really surprising answers !!
http://www.bata.com/about_us/heritage/bata_heritage.php
Look at their ultimo-cool site & once you look at their reach, their statistics and their history, I'm sure you wont even cast an eye towards all the Lee coopers etc.http://www.bata.com

[FRIEND]: rdb dekha kya?

[ME]: hau

[FRIEND]: kaisa hai?

[ME]: kal baat karte bhidu

[FRIEND]: k

[ME]: :d
[ME]: kya kore?
[ME]: RDB dekhi kya?
[ME]: hum log ne dekhi first day first show
[ME]: inox mein
[ME]: only Rs. 49

[FRIEND]: neeche baithke kya?

[ME]: =))

[FRIEND]: LOL

[ME]: **** ** ****
[ME]: Inox mein gaye they
[ME]: tere jhopadpatti waale ghar ke bagal waale theatre mein nahi
[ME]: wahaan koi uppar neeche waali baat nahi hoti

[FRIEND]: mere ??

[ME]: no concept of balcomny & stands

[FRIEND]: tu bhi udhar hi rehta hai

[ME]: kabhi gaya nahi hai kya multiplex mein?

[FRIEND]: itne saste mein kaise phir?

[ME]: maine tickets ek hafte pehle book kiye

[FRIEND]: aadhi film dekhi kya?
[FRIEND]: LOL

[ME]: sasta isliye kyonki INOX mein morning show discounted hota hai

[FRIEND]: k

[ME]: 10.00 am, 49 rupees[ME]: koi bhi film

[FRIEND]: kaisi hai?

[ME]: JHAKKAS
[ME]: ek number
[ME]: ultimate hai
[ME]: totally radical man
[ME]: formula se totally parey hai

[FRIEND]: good..

[ME]: ekdum young/contemporary
[ME]: bachhe log first half mein jo aish karte hain, woh dekh ke sach mein jalan hoti hai
[ME]: appan ne lukkhe log ne kuch bhi nahi kiya

[FRIEND]: apun bajrangi hai...

[ME]: hau

[FRIEND]: jai BD

[ME]: Jai BD
[ME]: lekin BD mein ho ke bhi bahut mazaa kar sakte they
[ME]: kisime enthu hii nahi hai lekin

[FRIEND]: football khele na..

[ME]: haan
[ME]: hafte mein ek baar

[FRIEND]: aur kya chahiye

[ME]: aadha ghanta
[ME]: kabhi koi match nahi khela

[FRIEND]: chalta hai..

[ME]: koi jaanta tak nahi hum log football khelte hain ya khelte they
[ME]: :))thats the criminal word
[ME]: "chalta hai"

[FRIEND]: LOL

[ME]: naa bhai.....high time we realize
[ME]: "nahi" chalta hai
[ME]: its just one life
[ME]: we cant run through it like its a formality

[FRIEND]: then what is supposed to be done u think?

[ME]: well
[ME]: time we created a few concrete aims
[ME]: and actually strived to get them
[ME]: not academic or monetary aims
[ME]: aims about life
[ME]: BIg aims

[FRIEND]: tell me one of yours

[ME]: not something like
[ME]: getting a distinction in final sem
[ME]: OK, thats a credible aim too

[FRIEND]: ha ha...

[ME]: but then....the problem is that
[ME]: we concentrate on that too much
[ME]: give it too high a priority

[FRIEND]: yahaan pass hone ke waande hai

[ME]: tell me one thing
[ME]: none of us have done ANYTHING professionally....neither any sport, nor any hobbies, nor any presentations, nor any international meets

[FRIEND]: hmm

[ME]: nothing[
ME]: who (or what) is responsible?

[FRIEND]: we

[ME]: we are all 22 now

[FRIEND]: the people

[ME]: almost 24
[ME]: 23*

[FRIEND]: yaa..

[ME]: people ae world champions in sport at 16
[ME]: business tycoons at 25
[ME]: even if they lose it all 5 years down the line...atleast they can say they had achieved SOMETHING
[ME]: apna kya hai

[FRIEND]: life is an odessy...

[ME]: idiots hai appan log
[ME]: total idiots

[FRIEND]: not a destination

[ME]: and we are driving through the dark without our headlights on

[FRIEND]: nope...

[ME]: trusting that the wheels will turn automatically and go along the road

[FRIEND]: we r walking in the evening haze

[ME]: what the f**k does that man?
[ME]: mean*

[FRIEND]: ke hamaare paas gadi nahi hai

[ME]: sabke paas aadi hai babuaa
[ME]: kisike paas cycle, toh kisike paas ferrari
[ME]: sab cheezen rakhi thi choice ke liye
[ME]: :))hum log ne cycle uthaayi

[FRIEND]: maza cycle mein bhi hai...

[ME]: because it was easier

[FRIEND]: no....we didn't choose..

[ME]: samjhauta karo aur jeete jao....keede kii zindagi aur kutte kii maut !!

[FRIEND]: aise sochoge toh zindagi ki khushiya kho doge

[ME]: your take on life !
[ME]: to each his own
[ME]: I think its high time, atleast for me
[ME]: to do something worthwile
[ME]: and stop being a sissy and just leading life as it comes
[ME]: without any aims

[FRIEND]: have u decided somethin'?

[ME]: without anything
[ME]: I have decided to plan a few aims in life
[ME]: and go after them sincerely

[FRIEND]: like

[ME]: cant decide/pinpoint/divulge any right now
[ME]: Lets see
[ME]: One thing for sure is...."HAVE MORE FUN"
[ME]: the best way to do it is to stop what we've been doing for so long....waiting for someone else to come along.

[FRIEND]: what kinda fun?

[ME]: go out and enjoy ...go to different places, do different activities without worrying about the company
[ME]: Uptill now, we used to plan things with close friends (our gang) and then when some people opted out, the plans went haywire and everyone had to quit
[ME]: it happened so many times
[ME]: thats a classic case of waiting for someone and when that
[ME]: "someone" does not join in, the plan is cancelled
[ME]: so its like you are leading your life according to the whims and fancies of that variable "someone"

[FRIEND]: ha ha...it's up to you to decide whether to go alone or..
[FRIEND]: take someone with you

[ME]: Chal bhidu....main soney ko jaa raha hoon. Tu wahaan padhai kar, ghoom phir aur majaa kar

[FRIEND]: k
[FRIEND]: bye...

[ME]: I hope you do something with your life too

[FRIEND]: all the best

[ME]: And I hope 15 years down the line
[ME]: we all have atleast SOMETHING to tell our children about
[ME]: some achievement(s)

[FRIEND]: sure...

[ME]: :-hJai BD
[ME]: bye

[FRIEND]: jai bd..
[FRIEND]: bye'

------------------------------------------------
Comments & brickbats welcome !

-PeAcE
--WiTh
---GuNs

Four-day vacation

Four day vacation !!
Where did I go??
Ermm...nowhere really. [:-P]

Ever since I've finished college, the meaning of that word "vacation" has changed so drastically. Now, it just means a multiple-day off from routine. In school, vacation was 2 months, in college, one month. Since I've started working, anything more than 2 days off is a vacation.

26th Jan was a Thursday & a holiday for the republic day. Bunked 27th and then that was followed by the weekend. So, that made the 4-day "vacation" possible.

We went down to watch "Rang De Basanti" in Inox, first day first show. I'd booked the tickets early last week and we were all eagerly looking forward to this movie. --- "I'm a REBEL" --- It didn't bely our expectations and it was everything that I had hoped for. A totally radical movie shot radically & naratted radically. I can write 15 pages reviewing the movie but I'll let go of that chance & just say that I hope atleast this movie inspires some people to do something about the present. People seem to learn all the bad things, bad attitude, bad habbits, bad style etc. from the movies but everyone seems to be shy of following good messages from the movies.

The movie also made me sit up and realize that I've already finished college & 've already passed my teenage 3 years ago. I've done nothing that I would be proud to tell my children. This movie reminded me that I seriously need to start having some real fun before I am too old to do so.

How do I do it? Gimme suggestions !!

Had played football the evening before. 6 people, after a long long time. Too bad we didnt play the rest of the days. We all did come to the ground on 26th but a majority polled that they were too tired to be able to play football. I left the ground disappointed. When I am on the ground, I'm there to play and not to sit & gossip.

27th evening, we went to the city to buy shoes. My friend & I bought a pair of Woodlands each. He got semi formals & I got some weird/ hybrid casual ones. Walked around on MG Road & had ice creams at 10:00 in the night (though it seemed a bit stupid to be doing that on the coldest day in Pune this year at 5.5 dC).

The day of 28th dawned and the 2 guys who'd come to visit home from their jobs in Karnataka had to leave. Spent most of the day at their place enjoying their last day of stay with us. These 2 guys have been our cronies, our henchmen in all the various (yet limited) adventures that we've been through. We always have fun when the whole gang is back together and these 2 form an integral part of that gang. Sadly, even these guys show signs of the "working-guy" syndrome already. As I'd said in my earlier post, lack of enthusiasm is a sure formula for failure & I hope these guys and every one else in my circle get back their enthusiasm somehow.

Today is Sunday, the 29th. Sunday evenings are the most boring with thoughts of the next 5 days of hard labour juggling around in the brain. I guess the only way to get out of this weekend-to-weekend life is by freaking out at the weekends. Maybe watch a movie or go out on a short one or two day trip to someplace. I think by doing that, I'll be having fun on the weekend rather than thinking about what work I'd be doing 2 days later when the next week starts. A relaxed mind & confidence coupled with positive thoughts fuel the drive to success.

Feels good to write again though I desparately need to read more. Its been my biggest hobby and my most relaxing activity since a very long time now. I realize that whenever I read actively, I am in a much better state of mind to do new things and have an open approach towards life.

4 days are over and its back to work tomorrow. Thank God my company's taken care to make sure I have all of what I described above on the next 2 weekends !!

Jai Bajrang Bali !!

-PeAcE
--WiTh
---GuNs

(Vain) King Of the World - Poem or Rap song ??

I’m the king of the world
And that’s what I say
I do what I do
And I have my way

I look up to the sky
And say you’re mine
As the ground seems to me
So asinine

I see no thing that isn’t fine
I hear no voice except of mine
The king will say
What he has to say
And all you bondsmen
Better obey.

So listen to this
If you hear my voice
Your king is here

So…rejoice!!!

-PeAcE
--WiTh
---GuNs

"Original" list of what I dream to do

All right, all right !! I will (grudgingly) admit that the idea of this post is shamelessly lifted from this person's blog. These are some of the secrets I've never told anyone. Heres a list of things I've always dreamt of doing :

1) I still dream of being the best bowler in world cricket (I've bowled an 18 ball over once...i.e. 6 legal balls + 12 wides & no balls in that over)

2) Being the best batsman and

3) The best fielder (I sure am better than the Indian team at the moment)!!

4) I dream of being a footballer who will lead India to a world cup victory.

5) I want to be an airforce pilot (I've got non-nerdy-looking specs, so I am not eligible anymore)

6) I want to be a mountaineer (Thinking of taking a long leave sometime and joining the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute sometime).

7) Going on a cross country cycling trip.

8) Being able to go out and travel every weekend without any worries of health/resources/company.

9) Being so good at photography that all my photos come out as I want them to.

10) Go live a nomad's life for a few days.

11) Pitch a tent and sleep out in the woods.

12) Stand on top of the tallest mountain and scream out "I'm on top of the world".
Then sit down and read a good book for a few hours sitting there.


13) Get a girlfriend and scream out "I'm not a loser".

14) Get a 200% salary raise.

15) Need to work only 3 or 4 hours a day.

16) Play the guitar really really well (well enough to get into a band).

17) Be able to sing.

18) Get rich, earn enough money to buy a palatial house and a pair of cars for my folks and then go live a common life doing nothing but enjoying myself.

19) Roaming the world travelling all the exciting and beautiful places that nature has to offer.

20) Re-live that day, that year, that place (6/7/3).

21) Hang out with friends every evening regardless of what we are doing or how busy we are (or at least find some friends like that).

22) Being able to wear sunglasses in public without feeling awkward.

23) Own a computer that never hangs.

24) Climb a mango tree and steal some unripe mangoes or take my dad's cycle out and be insanely excited about the privilege.

25) Go back to being a teenager and this time, have more fun.

There are many more which I cannot think of now but I might add them into this post later. I dont know how many of these dreams are really achievable but I always look for things to learn from good incidents as well as bad ones. e.g. In the very first point here, I didnt mention that the 18th ball was a perfect yorker which took away the batsman's middle stump. That was a fluke? Well ok...I atleast realized that I had the stamina to bowl three overs at one go and still bowl the 18th ball as fast as the 1st one.

We all have dreams and we all try to make an effort to achieve them. How dedicated is that effort is what decides whether you are a winner or a loser.

"There are two kinds of people in this world - a winner and a dreamer".

Everybody dreams. The difference : The winners are the ones who wake up.

-PeAcE

--WiTh

---GuNs

Football Pneumonia

Rahul (Raul)'s comment on my last post reminded me of this issue thats been floating in my mind for a year or more now. Thanks Rahul, for the idea.

I am 22 and I finished my M.Sc. in Computer Science in June 2005 and have been working since then. I'm from Pune, BTW. Work sux and I miss college life and all the freedom. I miss hanging around with friends till late in the night, sitting on the ground after a tiring session of football, coming home with sore toes and dirty clothes.

Me, football freak? Naah, not really. I only started playing and watching football since 2000 when my friend left for another city to do his MBBS. We had played cricket in his lawn every single day since school.

When he went away, I remember for about a week, the three of us who were a part of this lawn cricket team had nothing to do. We came down to the park near his home and sat on the park bench discussing stuff as usual. Somehow we were a little amused & suprised that our sporting life was over...at 17 ? I'd never followed any sport except cricket till then. I did play badminton and table tennis at the court sometimes but nothing that I did every single day of my life. Nothing except lawn cricket (thats a new term !!). I hated football and I never watched any matches neither did I know any of the teams or the players. Euro 2000 was the first football tournament that I watched and Holland turned into my favourite team and Dennis Bergkamp, my favourite player. I later started liking Arsenal when I came to know DB played for them.

One fine day, I met up with an old school friend who used to be in touch all the time but he never played with us. He said they played football in the evenings and asked us to join in. I took this proposal to the 3 member committee in the evening at the park bench and it was passed with a unanimous vote.

We went over in the evening to the huge ground that we have near our place. There we saw three (or maybe four, I dont remember) guys tapping the ball around and we looked at each other and thought simultaneously "looks like this is going to be a lot of fun". Sarcastically, of course. Anyhow, we started the gig that day.

Started out as someone who couldnt even stop a moving football properly but I've graduated to being a decent enough player though my left is still non-existent !! I cover it up with an unconventional approach of using the wrong side of the right-foot to get the ball to go in the other direction. It does look weird but is more often than not, effective.

We played everyday. We went to Goa, took the ball along, tried to play on the beach, the ball got filled with water and we had all the red marks on our legs within a few minutes and we dropped the idea of playing on the beach. New people came in sometimes. Sometimes we played with 6 folks, sometimes with 22. It was always fun. It got into my system. I had a challenging thing to do after a long time in my life. I dont know why but I never concentrated on academics as much as I should have. My only guess is that its for this very reason...challenge. I never thought academics was challenging enough. I always studied for one or two days before the exams and got a first class or a distinction. Football was always challenging. Specially because I started out as one of the worst players in the group. It was a challenge for me to, every minute, try and live upto the best in the vicinity. I loved it ! I've always loved playing underdog. The underdogs always make the most news when they steal the thunder !!


The only thing is that i just cant seem to get it into my system that now all my friends are working and they do not have the time and energy to play football everyday. Somehow, its the only sport I've played since the last 6 years and hence I just cant believe that if I have the energy to play, why cant my friends and that to me, is inexplicable.

It started when a bunch of the guys started working. Then we stopped playing everyday. We only played on weekends. We continued for about a year in that manner. It was disappointing and at times frustrating when we had to call off play because enough people didnt turn up. I hated it when I waited for the whole week for the weekend and then due to some sloppy lazy idiot, we couldnt play. It might seem unreasonable to accept it but the real reason was that these people very often committed that they would be there and then they didnt turn up. When we started out, we often played with only 4 players, two a side...with a very small field marked out. Believe me, that was an amazing exercise and helped me improve a lot because you were invariably in the game 100% of the time. I couldnt understand why the same people had suddenly lost motivation.

The problem worsened when another bunch of guys left for other cities for their jobs. Then it got very irregular. We played once in a while and then for weeks at end, we didnt play. Now, we played last week with 4 people again. This week, no one had the energy to repeat it. This last week was our first play after 7 or 8 months.

Its easy to see that its not just about sport. Its about a challenge. I like challenges. Sport to me, is the amongst the most challenging things in life. Though the stakes may vary, one thing is always at stake and its very important. Your self belief. I cant sit at home and do nothing. It just isnt in my blood. I've said this many times to a few of my friends..."this just isn't my calling".

Football or no football, I will always strive to do things which keepp me moving. I've started working and I'm no more a teenager but somehow, I dont feel old. I dont feel weak, I dont feel ...MIDDLE AGED. For a good while, I had this Bryan Adams poster on my wall that said "18 till I die".

Lack of enthusiasm is a symptom for the dreaded disease called FAILURE.

I pray I have the same energy and the enthusiasm forever !!

-PeAcE
--WiTh
---GuNs

P.S. : All the supra-corny quotes underlined here are a by-product of my own neural reactor otherwise known as the brain.

First steps

I finally got that printout of the "things-to-do" that I had promised to get myself. Its got 15 columns and multiple pages of 31 rows each.

Here's what it looks like (I've just added some dummy entries by editing it in PATINTBRUSH, just so you know how I am writing into it):



So, I use one row for each day and one sheet for each month. I have 10 of the 15 columns filled with what I want to do like "read a book", "practice the guitar", "go for a walk", "play football", "watch a movie" etc.

I will add more entries as I think of them. Currently, I put a tick mark in the current day's row for each of the activity that I've completed in that day.

I started day before yesterday with a measly 3 ticks from the 10 columns. I was slightly better with 4 yesterday. Looking to go upto 8 or 10 each day. I hope to reach that gradually. When I hit 10, I will be very happy.

I also skipped eating at McDonalds yesterday so my give-away account is finally opened. I've put as much money into it as the bill my friends raked up per head.

I have also completed my quota of writing today so I go home and put a tick on the "write something" column for today.

-PeAcE
--WiTh
---GuNs

APJ Abdul Kalam says the same

Came across this article today on "Pravasi Bhartiya Divas".
http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/jan/09pbd8.htm

Looks like my president agrees with my views.

He said January 9 marked the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to India, 91 years ago.

"When Gandhiji returned, he traveled from one colony to another; the sun would never set at that time. Today, the sun can never set on the empire of Indian mind. Some children of mother India are always working wherever the sun is shining on this planet," the President said.

He observed that overseas Indians living in foreign societies would have realized that each of them is a member of the extended human family. "India seeks your knowledge, experience and the art of success you have learnt through your struggle abroad," he added.

The President said overseas Indians had been successful thanks to their foundation in education and the heritage their home country has provided them besides the opportunities that the country has given them.

"Seventy per cent of Indians live in villages. It is important not only for NRIs to repay the debt to their motherland, but also for everyone living here," Kalam said.

Swades - We The People

Its been a while since I've written anything at all. I was therefore wondering what to write. I've made this list of things that I need to do everyday. I got a printout of it today in the form of a checklist. The check list has 10 tasks and I've only completed 3 today [:-(]. I expect to consistently hit 8-10 in the coming weeks.

Getting back on track, since I havent written for a long time, kindly forgive me if I am rusty. I was looking for a topic and I happened to remember commenting on Shradz' blog today about Swades. So I thought I should write on that.

I remember we saw Swades first day, last show. I knew it was going to be a house full show. Most tickets would be prebooked. So I had asked my friends if they would be coming so that we could book advance tickets in the morning itself. Sadly, everyone was non committal and by evening, I had shelved plans totally. It sucked coz I really wanted to watch that film. The promos had been so rivetting !!

In the evening, one of the guys whom I had asked for the movie called up. He said lets go. I was a bit snappy and I said "yeah right...like we own the theatre or something !! I am sure we wont get tickets for the whole week !". I dont know why but he had confidence that we would get the tickets. I thought he had lost it. SWADES, the most awaited film of the year, first day, current tickets?????? NAAH !!

We gave it a shot anyhow. We went down at 9:00 p.m for the 9:30 show. I dont know how but we managed to get tickets to the lower stall in row "L". I didnt know where the heck row "L" would be. Turned out to be the third row from the screen !!

We lowered ourself (literally) into the seat at the prospect of watching the movie like we would be watching a tennis match.

The accordion piece that plays in the background for the credits started playing. The setup was huge, the cinematography excellent. The music had some haunting feeling to it. I had a hunch I was going to like this movie....REALLY like it.

We were unfortunately in a pretty low-end rundown sort of a theatre. We had one joker in the stands who stood up every few minutes to shout out his expert commentary on everything from the boat to Shahrukh's shirt to Gayatri Joshi. Surprisingly, all 3 of us we so engrossed in the movie that we didnt notice him too much.

As the film rolled on, we came to the point of the song "Yunhi Chala Chal" and everyone was screaming at the top of their voices on seeing Makarand Deshpande. Thats when I realized that I wasnt the only one who liked that song [:-D] !! I'd watch the entire film once again just to hear the 3 songs in the theatre with that amazing bass and surround !!

1 and a half hours and we came out into the corridor in the interval. In the cigarette smog (not ours, none of us smoke), we discussed how strongly the movie had been done till that point. Shahrukh is still in his NRI mould at this point.

Post intermission, the scene changes drastically. I dont remember when this particular scene was, before or after the interval but it is a most moving scene. Shahrukh's visit to the poor villager is amazingly done. The journey amongst the commonfolk, the story of the humble and hard working villager's downfall, his humility, his helplessness....I will tell you all frankly, I was totally moved. I consider myself to be rarely prone to extreme feelings and theres been hardly a movie that has made me think twice. You will find all such movies in my favourites list in m profile here.

While coming back from the villager's home, Shahrukh drinks his first sip of water from his motherland. Sorry for putting that in dramatic words but thats how I saw it. Again, the scene is brilliantly shot. The little boy selling water seems to be a representative of a lot of the working lower class that does all these all jobs 12 to 15 to 18 hours a day just to earn a piece of bread. Again, it makes me feel like such a loser beacause I can do nothing about it. NOTHING.

We hear the "Yeh Tara Woh Tara" song beautifully done by A R Rehman and we concentrate on the lyrics which are for a change (from movie song lyrics these days) meaningful.

When Shahrukh says "India is not the greatest country in the world.....but we have the capabilty to make it great". It made me feel like standing up and shouting (like that drunk moron across the hall), shouting "Yes yes, its true...I;ve said that all the time". I dont know how but Ashutosh Gowariker seems to have got the EXACT pulse of the typical urban educated Indian's mindset. I feel if everyone in our country just concentrated on doing their jobs to the best of their ability, we would no longer be a third world country. It seems everyone here just seems to try and find ways to shirk their responsibilities and that makes me furious sometimes.

I see this to be related to the "brain drain" issue. All the students in the high profile universities like IIT and IIM get highly subsidized education. Where is the money for this subsidy coming from? From your pocket, from mine, from our pockets...the tax payers' pocket. Now, when these people are studying with MY money or lets say, the nation's money, we all expect something back from them. Most of the people go out to the west never to come back. Of course, they send in measly amount of foreign currency but what good is that? If we lose all the good talent, who is going to set up industries here? We desperately need these people to be here and start a revolution. Sadly, a lot of these people are selfish and just look at their own gain.

In my opinion, everyone getting higher education should be bound by contract to work for a minimum of 2 years in their own country and people in the high-profile institutions like the IIT and IIM should be bound for 5 years. Everyone argues that these people dont get enough money here. Thats a load of crap. Who pays an IIM graduate less than a 6 figure salary? There is a lot of money here too. We just need the will to do something for the country. One more restriction that we can have is restricting people who've lived out of India for more than 20 years or so from owning any property in India. You might think this is too harsh, even Talibanistic. Realistically, many countries all over the world have a compulsory military service period for their citizens. In India, where everyone breaks signals unless theres a traffic cop to enforce the law, we need everything to be done by force. People never follow rules when they are laid down. We still cross the tracks and avoid the overbridge. My maths teacher who was a really inspirational guy called all this "Slavery Mentalilty". Hes said we as Indians always seem to shirk responsibilities and take the easy way out which is more often than not, following orders.

This might be a really controversial topic and I might have stirred the hornet's nest in this post but really...this is just my opinion and I always practice what I talk. I NEVER throw chocolate wrappers, bus tickets etc. on the street. Every day, my pockets (or in my college days, the topmost comparment of my scatchel) are full of small pieces of debris that I tend to generate. Its not a big deal but if everyone did the same, there would be no clutter lying on the streets. APJ Abdul Kalam says the same about our mentality. When we go to Japan, we dont spit on the streets, we dont throw waste around the corner in singapore, we dont dump garbage outside the garbage bin....we all behave like perfect gentlemen. But suddenly when we are in India, we start to do all these things. Is there any justification to this? No justifications but the only explanation which I can imagine is that if we did all those things in all those places, we would really get our you-know-what whipped by the authorities. So this takes us back to what I just said....slavery mentality, the need for enforcing everything. Why cant we just follow the rules? Why cant we wait until the signal timer shows 0 seconds to green before we hit the gas? Why do we always have to wait for others to take the lead? Why are we scared to accept the responsibility of leadership and face the music? This might seem out of place but I really admire Saurav Ganguly for doing EXACTLY this !!

Enough preaching !! Getting back to Swades.

Swades finishd in 3 and a half hours at 1:45 in the night. The song "Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera" was still playing in my mind as I came out of the theatre, rode my bike home, prepared my bed and went to sleep. Next day two of us decided to give the UPSC and give IAS a shot (sadly, I missed the forms this year and I feel like kicking myself for it. My friend submitted the form though).

Life got back to usual in a week but a few things still stick in my mind. I still look at all the 5-6 year old kids on the street and think I am loser coz I cant do anything for them. I thought up another resolution. I will skip all our now-regular trips to multinational-junk-food-joints and save up the money that I would have otherwise spent. I could then give this in bulk to someone. Maybe I could give 300-400 bucks to a little beggar boy and maybe he could buy a kit and polish shoes. Not a big deal again but yes, something is better than nothing. I still havent got down to doing it but I hope to start soon.

I now realize after writing a MARATHON post that this wasnt about Swades at all, its about what I really feel. Maybe I am a patriotic guy. ARE YOU ??

-PeAcE
--WiTh
---GuNs

One year's up !!

Hello blog !!

I see its just a few days more than one year since my last post. Obviously, I havent been a good blogger. Since a friend has inspired me into writing more often, I will attempt to do that from now on.

Cheers !!

-PeAcE
--WiTh
---GuNs