America sings : Yes, we can !

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there.

Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years _ block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand. What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old. She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons _ because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin. And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America _ the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can. At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can. When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that We Shall Overcome. Yes we can.

Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves _ if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made? This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes, we can.

Shubh Deepawali !

Oh ya I celebrated Deepawali here too, except that I couldnt fire crackers since for that I will need permissions from security deptt and except that I couldn't put my diya's outside the windows since the houses here are made up of woods and a single diya may alert the whole fire deptt of NJ and except that I couldn't put Rangoli since my whole house is covered with damn carpet and except that I couldnt eat much sweets since my cholestrol levels don't allow me to do such sin and yeah except that the tuni lights which saved my and my Deepawali's izzat was misunderstood as halloween decoration by my American neighbours ... except all of these my Deepawali went really magnificent. I had a small Lakshmi puja, good indian food with our friends here and with our all time favourite Sholay, arey O Sambha kitane aadami the re?

This was my Deepawali here which I do not want to exaggerate any more so allow me to once again bring you the story of three little sisters in gulabi winters and their much awaited festival of lights and patakha fights ... you gaat it wright ... its Deeeepawali back in India, in my BALCO, inside our quarter no 42, type IV, Sector 1, BALCO Nagar KORBA, 495684 !

Winter is knocking on the door and Papa has already started looking for his Deepawali card designs, his treasured drawing book has came out of the shelfs and all of us are giving our weird creative ideas and a design will be finalized soon and will be sent for printing. And with the aromas of gujhiya and coconut milkmaid laddu's we will fill colors in the hundreds of cards. I remember there came a time when we kind of felt bored to fill these cards ... and now don't even ask me how much I miss all that, Papa has sent me his cards this time also and my emotions are breaking all the boundaries every time I see the cards. I have kept the cards on my desk Papa and they are being appreciated by every one, I am so proud and I am so sad, I want to fill those wax colors in the cards with Niru and Gudiya just one more time. Just five of us and nobody else inside our quarter no 42, type IV, Sector 1, BALCO Nagar KORBA, 495684!!

Guds would start her Deepawali after everybody else's finishes, she would generously exchange her rockets and anaars for one box of color matchstick or her favourite saap goli and she would be incharge of making garlands of red hibiscus flowers and filling every available cross words, my dal'g Guds, Niru would clean all puja idols with lemon and a hard hand, would draw the outlines of Rangoli and will eventually leave the color filling to us and she will be the one who would get maximum number of visitors this day, our powerful and very social Niru. I would avoid all hard work and would grab the tasks which will take less efforts and which would bring more credit, I actually can't remember what was my signature task in Deepawali, except that I will get very few visitors and my visitors will be hated by everybody at home, Mom would not give her best sweets to them unlike Niru's guest who will be welcomed so warmly, oh I hated that. Gujhiya and laddu and namkeen and puri and kheer and Lakshmi bomb, that was my Mom. Mummy will not fire any other crackers except Lakshmi Bomb, so Mum's signature her laksmi bomb and yeah how could I forget her one and only picture of Deepawali inside the kitchen with her brand new five diyas and pallu on her head, you know Mom I also posed the same this time, I don't know what prayers you said in front of those diyas, but I prayed for whatever you would pray. Do you still do that Mom? Can we do all of this once more, just five of us and nobody else inside our quarter no 42, type IV, Sector 1, BALCO Nagar KORBA, 495684!!!

Shubh Deepawali !!!!!

Arunima ...

After hide and seek of moon and the stars,

when dreams are nearing from the distant aparts ...

emerges a petite crack of the day,

there glows a Arunima on your way !

Attractions of the day ... today !

I got up with some jovial vibes today morning, I woke up in the first alarm bell without snoozing it for twenty times. And I had two strong reasons for this revolution of the day -

First one, I had these three CDs full of my favourite songs which I wrote yesterday night for my fourty miles of drive. I even have Rock on rocks on one CD. Isn't it a reason to be in high spirits? Oh yeah sure it is.

I have one thrill for my evening too ... thats the Sarah Palin show tonight, her vice presidential debate.

I was never as involved in American politics as I am right now, politics was never this intersting too afterall before Palin entered the news.

Everyday she is giving her hit shows and I can not afford to miss this funny side of Republicans. She is more interesting than her spoof Tina Fey, believe me. So no need to wait till Saturday for SNL, you can get your share of comedy everyday by none other than the real Ms Palin.

I didn't liked her right from the day one when she was announced as running mate of McCain. There is somthing in that lady that irritates me. She is too much of nautanki probably. Her flat accent, her scary sharp voice, her french beard cut hubby, her son serving somehwere in Iraq, her daughter getting pregnant ... and the list goes on, only thing that I like in her is her hairstyle and her spectacles, these two things turn me green with envy everytime I see em.

Sarah O Sarah, please make my evening uproarious, I really had a chaotic day today!

Where is that winter?

Fall, its there ... can you believe it, it has already entered in my office campus, on the Garden State Parkway where I drive everyday, in my apartment complex, in Boston where I am going next weekend ... red, yellow and orange colors are tossed around almost everywhere, but not yet into my heart. I do not want to accept that fall is already here, I still want to be in warm sunny summer days. Not like I do not appreciate fall colors but thing is now I do not like what comes next to it, the gloominess of chilly winters.

Winter, season of energy, season of joy, season that I loved the most once upon a time. Winter filled with tons of pressure for the comming exams, winters filled with gulabi dhoop, winters filled with blood red carrots and curliflowers, winters of adarak waali chai, winters of Gudia solving crosswords in the front yard, winters of Niru sitting on Garrage sheets, winters of one single rajai and three sisters ... Where is that winter? Winters of my childhood?

Poojo aashche, Navratri Garba season, Dushehra, Dhanteras, Narak Chaturdash, Deepawali, Bhaidooj, Ekadashi than Half yearly Exams ... humn this all will come and go but I will be too busy to miss any of it celeberating Rosh Hashanah, Halloween, Columbus Day ... and the kinds. I will be eating Halloween candies when I am supposed to eat Deepawali Gujhiya and besan laddus, I will be busy shopping in Macy's and JC Penny when I am supposed to fire crackers, can you believe it, neither do I.

Sex Scandal in my Apartment !

My apartment recently decided to serve as a romantic resort for some of the creatures at its own risk and completely in my ignorance. And lot of illegal sex happened lately in my apartment, in my ignorance. But they forgot to take precautions and the evidences started showing up recently ... which shocked both me and Ra.

reproduction of roaches ... thats what I am talking about, thats what happened in my apartment. Until now I had a notion that roaches are permanent citizens of India only, I never knew when and how they got their visas and became US NRIs.

But me and Ra are tough ones, we won't kneel down to them, we will nail them, I vow. Raid is my weapon, I am trying to get some proven arms and ammunition from across the seven seas, my Mom has suggested Lakshman Rekha, she will be sending that to me very soon and than no body can save these disgusting erotic creatures. I have been yelling at them, Go away while you can, you morons, otherwise you will regret once my Mom's Lakshman Rekha arrives United States of America. I have also planned to put a printout of this blog at their favourite spots, so that they get my message in black and white.

From Recession to Depression

Everything was well in control before I left for vacations to India last November. I left everything in good shape but gosh they couldnt take care of the things in my absence. If I knew this before, I wouldn't have gone for it I swear.

I came back in December and saw a line of worry on the foreheads of my friends, my collegues, my managers and my Employer. And the rumours were in air that a recession is comming. But I didnt believed it and I kept looking for a job after I recovered fully from my bone breaking injury. I had a broken collar bone, great deal of confdence and a genuine six years of experience and I thought I will break all the odds with a combination of these three.

But I did saw a slow down, I called it a mere slowdown since eventually I got into a job. My other friends who couldnt make it, called it a recession.

I got confirmed for Bear Stearns on Friday March 14th and BS started shaking after that, JPMC offered $2 per shares to this big giant on Monday March 17th when I was supposed to join BS, damn it ! I said No to this Two dollar company, you dont buy it okay so lets be honest I got a offer cancellation on Monday.

After few more ups and down I finally got settled in a Health care company.

Sitting quietly and safely here I saw Fennie Freddie comming down and gas prices going up. Last weekend when I waS watching Hurricane Ike blowing everything in Heuston, this wall street shakes rocked the news channels. I speculated that same bailout will come from Fed and this two hundred years old company will be saved on the shoulders of Tax Payers. But nothing like that happened, Barclays and BOA raised hands and this one finally filed bankruptcy today. BOA is buying Meryll Lynch. AIG and Washington Mutual are the next ones wating silently for their fate.

So see this is what it happens when I leave the country on its own for a few weeks, from slow down to recession it finally falls nose down towards DEPRESSION.

Famous Fives

Me, N, S, V .. all are tittle-tattling about all possible topics in the world ranging from Babri Masjeed demolition by BJP to Biology class test next day, arguing over last night's performance of Romário in FIFA, scrutinizing A's knee length short skirts, spreading rumours about our tall handsome D Sir and newly joined P Madam, giving expert reviews of Sundays Agatha Christie episode and critising Rupa Ganguli for her overacting in Mahabharata ... and we all are walking towards the assembly hall agreeing on one thing unarguably that Amir is our dream boy and there s nothing as sensational as seeing him singing Papa Kahate hai ... we all are head deep in love with him.

Juhi is our common target and we all are irritated by her hum hum. We hate her indisputably.

And yeah we all are waiting for D to join us, who is as usual late for the assembly prayer since she comes from Sector Two in her red hero cycle.

We all have different tactics for remembering the periodic table but none of us can balance the chemical formulas with the confidence that P possesses. We all love making fun of her.

Two of us are good in Maths and other three are concentrating on Physics, nobody wants to take the responsibility of Chemistry. We are the best volleyball girls of our school.

Teachers dont like us, girls dont even talk to us in open, they think that might affect their practical marks, boys feel ashamed of us, after our recent all time low performance in last chemistry test, none has hopes on our future.

We are proud B Section Girls of KV BALCO.

My Skydive!

It was my idea to take the stills while skydiving and Ra full heartedly discarded that saying what’s the need when we are taking the full videos and ultimately it’s these stills that are being admired the most among our friend circle and Ra is loving that damn thing so much that he has already ordered framed hardcopies of those stills. I hate him!

But I just loved the idea of freely falling under G-force at the speed of 120-140 miles per hour for about 60 to 80 seconds... tearing down the white cotton balls of clouds into several pieces and meanwhile getting captured inside the lenses of the video man like a big flying bird with all the wacky expressions of trying to smile hard concealing the words worst fears inside and throwing hundreds of flying kisses and doing cabbage dance in the air and clapping and doing a thumbs up … and than landing with a zoooop down the earth and saying dude I loved this … and these were all my ideas and I did not saw any Tom Dick Harry’s skydive before I thought bout em (imagine me with my infamous evil grin).

Humn and this is how it actually went … when we entered the skydiving zone half of my morale came down with the skydivers coming down but somehow I gathered the remaining half and I went up the airplane … and there every second I wanted to yell and ask the damn pilot about how high he want me to jump from, isn’t this ten feet high enough … now it’s a hundred feet … gosh guess its some thousand feet now … o boy I have now even stopped guessing. And here comes the biggest gugly, my photographer is telling me that his still photography camera is not working and so no stills for me. So he means I will do all this ultra hazardous stunt without being photographed, I will go through this entire trauma without being able to get those flying bird snaps which holds the capacity of gathering major appreciations for my valor? Are you kidding me buddy? Okay there s no time to argue about all that since my instructor is telling me that its time now and it’s a fifteen thousand feet above ground level and you have to jump without being photographed. f^&*(()^$* … And he took me near the airplane exit and my face turned white with real fear this time … I forgot all my steps of doing a thumbs up and throwing a flying kiss that I had planned to do before the actual dive, all I remember was Mummmyyyy save me, I don’t wanna jump, take me back I don’t wanna do this stunt, this is all I could think about on that exit door but my instructor turned out to be a deaf crazy monster, he lifted my chin up and yelled at me don’t look down and he literally pushed me down, ohh boy what is it some wild rotations and green land down and the video man on my side trying to hold my hands and one more whirl and down and down. I practiced my cabbage dance on my bed and I had planned to clap and do a yoo … but what is it why am I not even able to open my eyes haan … can somebody stop the spins please I am not a ball I am still alive save me while you still can and than again a zoooop and than up and up my parachute is open and the instructor says “you are now safe, girl! You did well, you can hold your breadth … you can open your eyes and enjoy the ride, there that side it’s Atlantic city, there its Cape May and that’s our Williamstown”.

He did few more twists and twirls, showed me few more views; and he regretted that he couldn’t keep me up in the air till sunset since my husband was waiting down for me to land safely.

And the best part is … when I landed, I remembered very well to pose for a thumbs up and to throw a flying kiss and to hug my instructor and I told my video man that I loved it, it was awesome and I will do it again (I have to, you know it right, I couldn’t get my still photographs this time … grrr).

And this is what was my idea and this is what Ra said he didn't needed and still he got it and this is the pose that I needed so desparately and I missed it this time buhuuuuuu

(But seriously guys, it was awesome and awesome means awesome no cliché this time, do it if ever you get a chance, it was worth every penny. )

Choti si kahani se, baarisho ke paani se ...

Its July 4th here in Jersey and its beautiful outside my window ... clouds have just halted after pouring and the leaves and the grass and everything else out there is like all fresh after a royal sprinkle ...

dhula dhula sa ...

khila khila sa ...

birds are chirping and its quiet a scene outside I tell you. While Ra is still sleeping and snoring strong ... I couldnt afford to miss this beautiful morning. And soon after getting up I found myself singing my heart out and quiet aloud ... without even a slightest concern for my neighbours or Ra's holiday sleep ...

aakhir tumhe aanaa hai ei eiiiiiii...

zaraa der lagegi

baarish kaa bahaanaa hai ei eiiiiii

zaraa der lagegi

Udit bhaiya ... you must be proud today haan?

Not like I dont know any other song okay buddy ... perfect for a morning this beautiful ... but this was the one which came instantly and there was no reason and no time to think for another one something like ...

lalaaaaa lalalalaaaaaaa
choti si kahani se

baarishon ke pani se

saari waadi bhar gayi
lalalala la la la
naa janee kyo

dil bhar gayaaaaa

na jaanee kyooooo

aankh bhar gayeee

par mazaak mazaak me aankhe sach me bhar gayi ... when I saw another window from this window of my apartment in Jersey ... that window is a window of house number 305, Sector One .. BALCO Nagar KORBA .. Pin Number 495 684 (Anybody wanna post a card there?) and there are these three pairs of small legs and hands hanging outside that window ... and there also it is pouring heavily ... but these three pairs are the ones who seem to enjoy the rain more than anybody else on the Earth ... Mom is yelling since the Sofa beneath this window is also playing in the rain with these three girls ... But neither the rains nor the sofa seem to care for Mom's squawking ... and the three girls ... ohh boy their pleasure know no limits today ... they are all busy in singing in the rythm of rains ... and they have no time to hear any other sound as useless as their Mom's. I cant hear which song they are singing ... but I bet that one is the most beautiful song !

Can somebody bring that song closer to me ...?

Its becomming misty ... I want to see those girls for some more time ... can somebody clear this fog please? I want to see what those girls are wearing ... I want to know why they seem to be the happiest girls of this planet? Are they waiting for 5 30 when their Papa will come back from office ... all soaked in water inside his khakhi raincoat and white helmet?

Or they waiting for their Mom's Pakora and adarak waali Chai?

Helllooo girls can you hear me ... what is it?

What day is it there? Can somebody return me that one small window and that one tiny moment please ...

lalalala la la la ... na jaane kyoooo ... aankh bhar gayeee !

Habit Two: Mission Statements … jeez … what for my life?

Mission Statement … care bout em? No seriously?

When I read about it in this book about Seven Habits of Highly Effective People By Stephen Covey, what came in my muddled mind … yeah mission statements of all the different organizations, which in my opinion are nothing more than advertising gimmicks and honestly speaking I don’t care much about them.

So what is such big a deal with these mission statements haan? Okay without dragging (Aru tum kab sudhrogi bhai?) let’s come to the point straight, this second habit says; Begin with the End in Mind. Ok now let’s go deeper … ever thought about your own Eulogy yes you read it right your own Eulogy that you would like to listen from your near and dear ones … while sitting cozy in heaven (lets be positive guys). I mean how would you like to be remembered? I am not trying to tell you to live such great a life so that they declare a public holiday all over nation on your Birthday … I am just talking about your priorities … very simple thing Mitra… how would you like to be remembered after your death … As a magnificent Mother, a wonderful wife or as a desirable daughter…As a endearing Entrepreneur, or a spirited Leader … As a Humanitarian, or a wealthy individual … or as a Mix of all of them together haan how bout that?

To Begin with the End in Mind is to Begin thinking what you want to be or to achieve by the end of your life, and start (as early as possible) with that as a reference.

Covey says … everything is created twice, once in somebody’s mind, mentally and than by somebody’s hand, tangibly. And he gives more weight to the first creation, most of the projects that fail … fail because of the blotch in First creation. Flaw in Second creation is always amendable.

We always do this first creation for almost everything other than our very own life! I and all of you out there must have gone through this very demanding Analysis and Design phases of different projects in our career … we understand the cruciality and criticality of these phases … we are all intelligent people.

But somehow I was missing these phases in this very personal project called life … I until now am busy doing developments in this project without any of my own blueprints without any of the Analysis estimates or design drafts… I am living like the second creation of circumstances; I am not living my life based on my own first creation. I am not my own Creator … I am just a creation of some unknown external conditions.

What I want at the End Of My Life! Where s the Mission Statement Of My Life? I am missing this … and this is … so very grave oooohhh!

And this, my dear friend is the Second Habit of some of the very effective people out there.

I am all motivated to write a Mission Statement for my Life and this wont be a usual two or a five year short term goal setter plan I promise. What about you?

You know whats the beauty of this book ... It takes you from a state of Dependence to Independence and eventually to Interdependence, the first three habits will lead you towards personal Victories … from dependence to independence and the remaining ones are supposed to bring interdependence … will lead us towards public victories, a win win for all at the end.

(See you don’t need to go through the whole book I am giving you a kunji to it.. remember those kunji’s during exam times? I will be back with Third Habit very soon … is it boring ... no tell me honestly? I know it is but still I want to share these so that you wont blame me in future ... ki kya sab akele hi seekh liya aur ban gayi one of the highly effective people)

The Class Of 2K

I was posting a new topic in one of the Discussion Boards and I saw another discussion going on… about the memories of the college and I went to a flash back instantly … where I was in a black Kurata …sleeves rolled up and both the hands inside the pockets … first day you know … you got to be identified by all means.

GEC looked gorgeous, Profs looked smart and the students looked terrific that day believe me! Seniors were busy in some exam and I had no idea what the things will look like once they are back … but lets keep this post clean by writing only the good memories and editing out the bad ones … yeah lets keep the good ones (this I learned from Ray Romano’s speech on Robert’s wedding … we keep the good ones).

Only four other girls and plenty of boys in The Class of 2K2 … Sooooo yup I did not had much competition … in fact it looked boring at a glance but than came this boy inside the circle of my vision with a pierced ear and a baali and yes he too had his hands in his pockets … I knew this ones gonna click because he also seemed to understand the need of a distinct identification and he was distinctly identified in that crowd just like me.

So after all that crap paperwork and other formalities … we finally were all out in the lobby to get our much awaited introductions … our Dad’s were busy finalizing the safest place for their daughters and we daughters were busy finalizing prospective grooms for our Dad’s in return.

For some reason the girls were not interacting too much … it was all very formal hum aap types and boys were not even saying a hello but for this behavior I knew the reason …yes the gigantic Dad’s standing behind their beautiful daughters.

Somebody’s Dad suggested to go for chai outside the college (we were ignorant of the fact that Tapari is exclusively Boys Only) so we all started marching towards that infamous Tapari for Chai Samosa and on the way somehow we managed to maintain a distance of few yards between fathers and daughters … and than boooom … came the boys gang leaded by my baali boy … with hands in his pockets and the first words that we heard from him was “Aap log itana isolated kyo hai” and this became our punch line “No Isolation only unison” and we have been maintaining this till now … yes I eventually married this baali one.

The girls who were confined in hum aaps
started sharing their crush stories and uncensored jokes
The boys who felt isolated
started sharing their ragging pains and ice creams
Seniors who loved tormenting and torturing
started sharing their knowledge and notes
Profs who talked this and that
Started missing classes and labs ...

And this is how The Class of 2K2 flourished and prospered in true essence and this is how I gained the knack of Blogging and Coding concomitantly … may not effectively though ... but who cares!

One Correction : I realized this mistake after posting the blog ... but dont want to edit the title ... it looks alluring I guess ... I was in The Class of 2002. :)

Namesake…

So last night me and Ra were fighting over the name of our kiddo … ok before you frown or twinkle your eyes in a pleasant surprise, le me clear the situation, we don’t have any kid and I am not even expecting, but this my friend is our favorite pass time you know. We enjoy giving the world’s strangest and stupid-est names to our kid. I know … God bless my poor kid.

Ra always forewarns me that his son’s name should be a very much manly sort of name ... okay before I delve deep inside this … here goes one more assumption … we both believe that we will have a baby boy … so Ra dreams this manly name and he has been thinking about it since he was … I don’t know … probably in his teens … some thirteen fourteen years old … and after all those years of deep thoughts ... he finalized these two names for his sons ... okay be ready for a blast … the names are SamudraGupt and ChandraGupt … and he meant it … I swear to God he meant it first time when he disclosed his idea weaved over a decade or so.

But after all these years of being with this smart @$$ … his son’s names have became little milder… but hey watch it …still he wont compromise for anything less than his very manly name concept haan !

When I have some serious fights with him … I scare him that I am gonna name his kid Jhandooram.

When I was kid … I wanted to name my kids ... Ada and Adams … Ada is the very first person who thought about computers … and Adams is just stylish … and it goes with Ada … impressive haan ... what say? I told you I am a smart girl.

Than … for sometime I had this Aarav and Aarohi in mind … I know, beautiful names.

So you might have guessed … provided you are as intelligent as me … that I want my kid’s names to start with A … and if possible … with a double A … so that the names are always on top … wherever they go. After holding a name that starts with A for all these years … I know all the benefits of A … Thanks Mom Papa … I love my name.

And I suggested the same to Ra … for this he had one instant intellegent solution … why not start the names with a numeric character … like 0ChitraGupt … or 1SamudraGupt … So now you must have understood … why my poor kid is so very scared to enter our world … but don’t worry my chweetie pie ... Mumma’s here … she will save you from all the evil ideas of your Baba … so please come aboard … we are waiting.

(FYI ... All the names mentioned here are copyrighted to me and Ra … if anybody steals these names than be prepared for the worst … ChtraGupt, Samudraupt included … and we hold a patent over that numeric character waala idea)

First Habit of Highly Effective People: Being Proactive!

I am reading a book about seven habits of highly effective people ... I discuss the habits with Ra, with my friends and with my work colleagues ... I am not sure how many of them are thinking about practicing those habits but they do nod in appreciation and they do ponder about it ... at least for a moment ...well I guess so ... thought provoking I am sure it is! So here are some food for your thoughts too... my blog readers (let’s assume they do exist ... dil ke khush rakhane ko ... Ghalib ye khayaal ....)

Being Proactive as the title suggest is the very first habit! You must be thinking ... huh what with proactivity? being proactive in meetings? Being proactive in work? Being proactive in relations ... I am proactive everywhere... I will be dumped if I miss being proactive in any one of these areas!

But the fact is ... most of the times we are Reactive and not Proactive, for example …

Reactive to Kitchen weather (If only that flour were little smart ... if only it knew the magic of becoming Roti by its own ... we wouldn’t have slept hungry)
Reactive to Physical weathers (If only the mausam were good... I wouldn't have got my first ticket)
Reactive to Technical weathers (If only Bill Gates wouldn't have released that damn .Net 3.5 version ... I would have cleared the interview ... I am an expert up to 3.4999999999)
Reactive to Social weathers (If only Ra could have kept quiet ... I wouldn't have fought with him).
Reactive to National weathers (If only the gas were below 4 ... I would have driven to that donation camp instead of wasting my time in Narnia)
Reactive to International weather (If only China would have behaved properly ... I would have made friends with my colleague chaau maau)

So did you get the point ... my examples are stupid I know ... but the fact is ... most of the times we are reactive ... very rarely we want to take the responsibility on our head, because taking responsibility sometimes means agreeing on being irresponsible. If only I could understand that I am the one responsible for whatever I am going through ... If only I could understand that nobody can let me down, unless I wish to ... if only I could realize that nobody can take my self esteem unless I let it go ... life will be a lot easy and I will fly light like a bird on the top of the world guys!!!

Marriage for example of one of my very close friend is unfortunately on the brink of ... end! Husband blames wife... I wouldn’t have done this unless you did that ... wife gives explanation why she did that and they both think that their other half is the root of all the problems. My Guru Mantra says... if only they both could be proactive in loving each other rather than being reactive for what the other one is doing, if only one of them could understand the responsibility of self rather than making noise about other one's responsibility, if only one of them could think about what can be done from his side rather than concentrating on what the other one is doing ... they will be a hit like Lord Shiva and Parvati and their marriage will be saved! Okay who else needs marriage counseling?

But that’s not all ... their is a small twist in the above Gyaan ... lets think we became proactive ... now what next ... next is ... do not be on the extreme side being proactive ... okay I understand that their are a lot of things about which you are significantly concerned and you are trying to resolve these concerns very proactively ... but watch out ... inside that outer circle of concerns their is a inner circle of influence ... that means not all the concerns are completely in your hands... their are a few concerns for which you can do nothing ... they are just inside your circle of concern and not inside your circle of influence ... so if you will put all your energy on the outer circle of concern than your circle of influence will start shrinking ... but if you will put your entire energy on the inner circle of influence than your circle of influence will start expanding ... isn’t it beautiful? If you answered in negative than probably you didn’t understand my point ...read the para again and concentrate properly this time.

So the bottom line is ... Be proactive and take the full responsibility of all the concerns that are inside the circle of your influence ... and this my dear friend is the very first Habit of highly effective people !!!

(Will See Ya Next Week ... With The Second Habit ... Be Online)

If she weren't there ...

A cool thing happened to me last week, worth penning down ... so here I go ... here I go again ... racing through my brain ... and I just can't contain ... this feeling that remains ... there she goes there she goes again ... I love this song !

So the story goes like this … one of my very first pahala pyaar moment was abbbboutttt humn … mmm ... okay le me count it down … in reverse chronicle order … 2002 was my final pahala pyaar ... which gave a period to all the roller coaster rides of my life … 2001 - 02 went dawdling … I was ravaging my precious time in career building (dawdling … ravaging … career building … oh boy am I a poet or what? ) okay so back to 98 – 2000 ahha that was indeed a hit … 97 again I wasted for what I did in 96 and 96 yes this is the year that I want to expose.

So I met this girl in 1996 … who claimed on what I thought was mine and I was so very enormously messed up by her loot. I damned that girl ferociously but I am really glad that she made it through all my juvenile curses and I also appreciate her dare to come and visit my profile in Orkut regardless of all that she did to me.

So this girl scrapped me … are you not angry with me?

And I realized that no ... I am not at all mad at her … in fact I wanted to thank her from the very deep bottom of my heart for all that she did to me because if she weren’t there at that moment of my life ... I probably wouldn’t be here at this moment of my life. If she weren’t happened to me I wouldn’t have taken serious things seriously and casual things casually … if she weren’t there … than probably I were there at her place … and I am scared to death to exchange our places ... not that I feel pity for her now but only because I am very gratified with what all I have today.

So... I replied her scrap … angry what for?? For saving me?

( And I told the whole story to Ra … he paused … took a deep breadth and said … "that girl should have asked me about this ... and I will tell her how mad I am on her ... if she weren’t there … you wouldn’t have entered in my damn life ... !!!" ... you didn't meant it ... right sweeeeety ... or did you ... grrr ...??? )

Desire ...

Desire, when it stems from the heart and spirit, when it is pure and intense, possesses awesome electromagnetic energy. This energy is released into the ether each night, as the mind falls into the sleep state. Each morning it returns to the conscious state reinforced with the cosmic currents. That which has been imaged will surely and certainly be manifested. You can rely, upon this ageless promise as surely as you can rely upon the eternally unbroken promise of sunrise and of Spring ... my lil angel !

Do not ask me

who said this to whom

but I truly believe in this

and I want you to believe in that too ...

my lil angel !!

Promise yourself, to never give up

to dream what you want to dream

to go where you want to go

to be what you want to be

Because you have only one life and

one chance to do all the things you want to do

my lil angel !!!

(courtsey : DhruvWorld)

Dulhe ka Mama ... his sole sovereignty!

I was excruciating myself hard yesterday night to dig out something sensible and/or simpler like education, location, occupation ... any damn "ion" of this guy and that is when I came up with this conclus"ion" ... Dulhe ka Mama ... yes that was this guys sole sovereignty.

(This actually is a big name to type down everytime ... so lets refer to him as DKM from hereafter.)

My first rendezvous with DKM happened when he was busy banging our crockery and cursing our caterer ... charisma of his discus throw was so alluring that I could not avoid my entry into the combat zone

Me : What is the problem.
DKM: Dishes are not clean.
Me: I personally don't find them dirty. But since you are saying so, we will change them, have some patience.
DKM: If you find them clean, you eat on it, I am not gonna eat. (one more bang, this time in front of me)

Needless to say I would have showered a hundreds of honeyed words on him, had he not been a Dulhe ka Mama ... damn it. In between all this tantrum of DKM, dazzle of our yellow saaris, and all that action on the floor ... aroma of our caterers food stood up as a clear winner. Yes, DKM was seen gulping a plate full of Pakodas and jalebis moments later, immidiately after the vows of not touching our food with his sacred hands.

Crockery was changed within hours but the pride of being a Dulhe ka Mama remained unshakable, after his discus throw this playful guy named DKM tried his hands on lot of other stuffs ... to mention some, DKM threw a bowl full of soup, DKM threw a glass full of badam milk, DKM yelled on our dhobi, DKM was drunk so badly that he misbahaved with one of our maid, DKM hit a poor begger kid with something hard in his hand during barat procession ... and the list went on till we bid adieu to Mr DKM.

And than there was one Dulhe ka Chaha, and with the name of him the color of my font changes automatically ... aaila magic ... and so was the change in mausam with him, who was not just another DKC, who had a nice real name, who was a research scholar in Reliance, who had his own integrity, who was a lot more than a dulhe ka chaha and the one who made his presence felt too in everybody's heart indisputably without doing any sort of discus throw, and there were a lot of other honorable mentions, some of them were Surgeons, some Railways officers, some Banking officers ... the ones we never heard yelling, the ones having individuality of there owns, the ones who preferred to be something more than Dulhe ka something.

We were not horrified by you Mr DKM, I am sorry to disappoint you, rather we sympathize with you, for we understand the fact that Dulhe ka Mama qualification was valid only for those five days and we do care for the rest of the days of your life Mr. DKM, the days when nobody will respect you for being just a Dulhe ka Mama ... yes we feel pity for you ... because we realise that Dulhe ka Mama once was Dulhe ka Sala too ... or how about giving a new title to Miss K Kapoor Kyoki .... Dulhe ka Mama bhi kabhi Dulhan ka baap hoga ... ?