King of forts ... !!

I feel very lucky being in Pune. Its like the epicenter of all tourist destinations. Beaches, forts, renowned temples (read Ashtavinayak and Jyotir-ling) ... everything is accessible with minimum of effort. Due to monsoons hitting Pune earlier than expected, all monsoon plans had to be preponed. Yes, preponed and not postponed. Last weekend, we (read Biwi, Omkar, Dinesh, Prakash and I) visited a fabulous point at Mulshi and we didn't want to waste this weekend too.

The original plan was to trek from Arthur's seat in old Mahabaleshwar to Pratapgad on Saturday. But Dinesh had to stay in office on Saturday. So we rescheduled it for Sunday. We called up a person in Mahabaleshwar to inquire if traffic to Mahabaleshwar is proceeding. The answer dampened our spirits a bit. Apparently, traffic to Mahabaleshwar it halted at Panchgani itself during heavy rain. So, now what?

Oye koi gall nahi baashaaon. We decided we will trek Rajgad. So, everyone assembled at my place at 6 am sharp (quite a surprise huh?). We stopped 16 km off Rajgad to have naashta and then proceeded to reach Rajgad at 8:30 am.



I could vividly remember my first trip to Rajgad on Republic Day in 2005. That was CoV's first official trip and what a joy that was, although it was in January when most of the greenery was wiped out and we had skipped the trek to Baale Killa. Cut to 2008.

We started our trek from a place called 'Gunjavane paayta'. It was a pleasure to be amidst such a green and misty locale. The scenic horizon tempted us to hurry up with every step.



The last section was extremely treacherous, at least when we saw it first. It was a vertical climb with a few railings for support. But we managed to negotiate it and reached the top at around 11 am.

The atmosphere around the lake was astonishing. Almost surreal.



We had tea at a place called the 'Kacheri'. There was a nice statue of Shivaji Maharaj kept over there.



Sipping hot tea along with chips was the perfect recipe for this kind of weather. Did someone say 'Kaanda Bhaji'?

But then started the fun part. We had to go up to Baale Killa. This was even more hazardous.



Kudos to everyone who pulled their weight and completed the 2nd trek successfully. No wonder that everyone was overjoyed on reaching Baale Killa.





It was even more misty and windy at the top.



After spending around an hour on top, we started trekking down, which was non-trivial. It was a long time before we came back to Gunjavane. I guess it was 5:30 pm. We reached home at around 7 pm.

One of the most enjoyable as well as difficult treks so far in my life. King of forts as well as King of treks ... RAJGAD ... !!



Cheers ... !!

Trends ... !!

Its funny how trends change. In fact, if they wouldn't change, I don't think such a word would have existed. Its worthy to note how you discuss stuff with your family/friends at various junctures in your life.

For instance, during childhood, your eye would always be on your friend's toys. Why cant I have that toy? Why don't I have his fancy shoes? Some more years down the line, you would be inquisitive about the school your friend goes to. Your conversations with your friends/cousins would revolve around exams, marks, weird teachers, etc.

Your first bicycle would draw comparisons and lead to discussions. For days, you will discuss how many times you fell off while learning to ride your bicycle.

During the 10th grade exams, the focus would be on each other's preparations for the exams. Your strong and weak subjects. As soon as the exams are over, the focus shifts to expectations, possible career paths and colleges. Once the results are out, accompanying each other to various colleges for admission.

Attraction to the opposite sex is a long term activity, which is at its peak during these days. The time you spent talking to one particular pretty lass makes you brag about it to the entire circle. Then its about career, specialization courses, etc. IITs, IIMs, Engineering, Hotel Management, Business, etc. This becomes normal jargon.

At the end of your education, its basically talking about jobs. Indulging in your family's business or seeking an opportunity in an MNC? You are dead curious to find out where your friends/cousins are placed and how they are doing.

Then comes marriage. All of a sudden, everyone starts getting hitched. All you know is that you are running from one marriage hall to another to attends weddings. This doubles when you are married yourself since you have to attend weddings of all people related to your better half.

Then kids take over. Its moves from marriage halls to hospitals and Baarsaas.

I don't know what the next phase would be in my life. But I don't think this will stop. Trends will remain just that .... trends ... !!

Cheers ... !!

Fairytale finals ... !!

No, this is not related to cricket, soccer or tennis or any other fad sport followed by Indians earnestly. Its about basketball. Yes, its NBA finals time and ever since the Playoffs started, I had been rooting for just 2 teams ... they go by the name of Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. For some, these 2 name might sound like ... What? ... while for true NBA fans, it will sound like the biggest sporting phenomenon in the world. Yes, a NBA finals comprising of the Lakers and the Celtics is almost like a fairytale ... in fact it is a fairytale.

Now, why is this a fairytale. Well, just looking at it from a historic point of view. For starters, just talk about the legends who are part of this storied rivalry. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird are two unparalled icons in the NBA history. Both were pillars for their respective teams, almost like blood running through their team's veins. Talk about the hookster Kareem Abdul Jabbar (famous for his hook shot), the sublime Bob Cousy, the irresistable Bill Russell, the energetic Danny Ainge, the most amazing Jerry West or the larger than life Wilt Chamberlain. Each champion willing to slug it out till the last second with its competitor. 4 quarters of 12 minutes looked like a never ending highlight reel.

Who can forget a forward/guard like Magic Johnson filling in as Center in place Kareem to win the deciding game for the Lakers in one of their Finals contests. Talk about colour ... White and Green for the Celtics and Purple and Gold for the Lakers. Talk about the venues ... the Boston garden and the Forum at LA.

They have met 10 times in the past in the finals. Boston have won 8 of them. It does not reflect the intensity with which these two teams have played. Its just that Boston has upped their tempo in the clutch moments. Together, they have won a staggering 30 titles together. Phenomenal.

So its no wonder that when the playoffs started, I desperately wanted these 2 teams to be in the finals. So who will win? Or whom do I want to win?

My heart says Lakers but I think the Celtics have a better team. Its gonna be Garnett, Allen and Pierce from the Celtics against Kobe Bryant of the Lakers. Yeah, Lakers dont have that kind of "Big-3" force but if their bench plays the same way as they played against the Jazz and the Spurs, then Lakers might just pip the Celtics. I cant wait to watch the finals. As an update, Celtics won Game 1 tonight. My prediction is 1-1 in Boston ... then 2-1 to Boston in LA and finally 1-1 in Boston again. So my prediction is 4-3 to Boston ... but I would still like the Lakers to win ... Cheers ... !!

First brush in 2008 with favourite season ... !!

Yeah, my favorite season has kicked off ... just at the right time ... since IPL just concluded ... ;)

My first brush this year with the rains wasn't according to script though. I was in the middle of a meeting when the sound of thunder forced us to peek out of the room. At that time, it was just dark clouds and plenty of thunder and lightning. But what followed was the true essence of the Monsoons.

After completing my naashta at office, I took off for home at around 6 pm. It was going according to script till Mehendale Garage (by script,I mean enjoying driving my bike in rain). After that, it was a first for me. There was a traffic snarl close to Mehendale Garage. This is another bare essential about rainfall, especially in Pune. You cant keep traffic jams and monsoon away from each other. In fact, % increase in the number of vehicles added in a year can be thought of being directly proportional to the % increase in time you spend in traffic jams (during monsoons) between the 2 years in question.

I kept my bike running for the initial 100 meter struggle. But after that, I heard the sound of my bike at around 10 pm, when I was close to City Pride (Satara Road). It was a tough ordeal not to drive my bike for 4 hours but just push it forward as and when the traffic inched ahead. This was my first stint with the Kothrud-home stretch in the monsoon since for the last 3 years, I had been going home from Aundh and I could easily escape from Khadki station during those days. But Kothrud to home is like a nightmare since it includes negotiating Mhatre Bridge, Shastri road, Sinhagad road, Swargate/Parvati and finally the chaotic BRTS Satara road.

But thats what monsoons are all about. A little hit here, a little whimper there. I made some friends during this horror journey. Yes, I call it a journey. I was audience to some of the most hilarious conversations. There was this woman who was on her Spirit and she was constantly getting calls (presumably from her home). When she received the first of such calls, her response was ... "Mi ata traffic jam madhe adakli aahe ... maala vel laagnaar ghari pochaayla". Fair enough. Next call ... "Naahi, azun tithech aahe ... khup vel laagnaar asa distay". Encouraging. Next call ... "Naahi, tithech aahe". Sublime. And the clincher was ... "Ho baal radat asel, pan ata mi pan radnaar aahe". That was brilliant.

Two college going boys were at the extreme left of the road, almost kissing the footpath. This footpath was very narrow. Hardly one person could stand at one time without falling out. Plus, the footpath was surrounded by short trees/plants/shrub. So, if someone was to walk on the footpath, he/she needed to jerk their head outwards to avoid the tree/plant/shrub. These 2 guys were immersed in some college conversation. Just then, 2 girls came walking from the opposite side. The first girl now had to avoid the tree/plant/shrub but if she bent her head outwards, she would be touching this guy who was driving the bike. The guy obviously wouldn't have minded. And these guys were the typical taporis. Good girl or bad girl ... comments would not stop. This is what their conversation was like ...

Boy 1 - arey bagh bagh ... ithech thaambaayla paahije hi ... majaa yenaar mag ..
Boy 2 - saalya maala de naa gaadi ... ata mi thoda vel chaalavto
Boy 1 - veda beda zhaalay ki kaay ... thoda vel thaamb ... hechya pudhchi mulgi tujhi
Boy 2 - chal zaao de ...
this is when the girl came agonizingly close to the guy. I really pity her.
Boy 1 (in a slight hush)- kasla scent maarlaay re ... gaadi nasli asti naa .. tar ... (i will skip this) ..
Boy 2 - chal pudha chal pudha ... raatra bhar ithach naahi thambaycha aplyaala ..
Boy 1 - Chyaaila ... maagchya 15 mintaat ek hi gaadi pudhe naahi geli .. ataach zaaychi hoti kaa ... B*******
Boy 2 - tula aadhich saangitla hota maala gaadi de ... tuzha luck futka aahe ...
Boy 1 - gapp re ch****, tuzha luck baghu pudhchya chowkaat ... aey pan mi tila vicharu kaa kuthla scent hota?
Boy 2 - vichaarun kaay gh**** karnaar aahe ... ladies asnaar .. tu laaun kaay karnaar?
Boy 1 - arey mi maajhya baayko laa laavnaar naa ...
Boy 2 - ho ... milaali tula baayko ... chal pudhe aata ...

This is what i call ... once in a lifetime experience ... ;)

There was another chap on a bicycle just in front of me ... since everyone was moving forward inch by inch ... I too tried to occupy every inch available. On one such occasion, the front tyre of my bike brushed the bottom part of this guy's trouser. He looked back ... I wasn't apologetic ... this happened again after some time ... this time he couldn't help but respond ...

Man - arey bhau ... zara baghun ...
Me - kaay zhaala?
Man - tyre laagla tumcha maajhya pant laa ...
Me - mag?
Man - dusryaanda zhaala he ...
Me - arey paaus padtoy, traffic jam aahe ... he tar honaarach ...
Man - te barobar aahe tumcha ... pan don da naahi hoyala paahije ...
Me - kaa?
Man - kaa mhanje kaay? ek daa zhaala ki theek aahe pan tumhi don daa kela ...
Me - Ok Ok ... sorry.

It seemed he had a tolerance value of 1 ... ;)

One person was coming from the opposite side of the road (wrong side) in such a huge traffic jam ... I was so angry at him that I told him ... "arey ch****, kuthun gaadi kaadhaaycha prayatn kartoy ... (and some more ... lets leave that). I expected him to reply aggressively. Instead, he was calm as a cucumber. He didnt say anything. I told him ... "arey aiku naahi yet aahe kaa ... shivi dili tar kalat naahi kaa?". His response was so surreal ... "arey kaay karu ... shambar shivya aiklet ith paryant ... tula kaay vaat ta ... mi correct side try naahi keli kaa?".

I couldnt help but smile at this.

It was surely a first for me ... trapped in a traffic jam for more than 3 hours ... what a start to the monsoons ... I need to get down to business planning my monsoon ...

I hope such encounters visit me day and again (just the conversations and not the traffic jams)... Cheers ... !!

IPL heroes ... !!

As an exception, IPL lived upto its hype if not surpassed it. It had become such a habit to head back home and sit glued to the TV for 3 hours while indulging in a cup of Coffee/Kokam/some X drink and a bowl of snacks. For all its worth, it has been a tremendous success ... atleast for the viewers. Its scary to think about the void left over as a consequence of the curtains coming down on the first edition.

But there have been lots of heroes ... local and non-Indian. Its worth to note I am categorizing even our Indian international players as local. It would be quite befitting to come up with a pool of 20 local and non-Indian players based on their performance in the IPL. Lets start with the local team of XX.

Well, a team should contain 4 openers, 2 wicketkeepers, 4 fast bowlers, 3 spinners, 3 all rounders and 4 batters

Lets start with the wicketkeepers ...

MS Dhoni cant be left out. Though he didnt do justice to his price tag, he was basically trying to cope with the loss of Oram, Hayden and Hussey throughout the tournament. His captaincy stood out again and his team almost won the trophy. The other wicketkeeper would be his team mate from Chennai ... Parthiv Patel. His glove work was great but he surprised with his batting. He raised his game when it mattered in the last 2 league games and in the semis and finals.

Now the openers ...
Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan were extemely consistent. Though Dhawan came in at No. 3, he is primarily an opener. I would also pick Virender Sehwag as one of the openers. This format of the game suits him and he played some murderous innings. The 4th opener would be Swapnil Asnodkar. The dimunitive batsman did well whenever he was presented with an opportunity.

Now the fast bowlers ...
Manpreet Gony is the first that comes to mind. Apart from his sharp pace, he also exploded with the bat. Sreesanth would be the next. His opening spells were a joy to watch. Ashoke Dinda was another impressive performer from Kolkata. The last one would be YoMahesh from Delhi.

Now the spinners ...
Piyush Chawla was undoubtedly the best on view. Amit Mishra was the surprise element from Delhi. The third would be Pragyan Ojha from Hyderabad. He did well in patches but his performance was creditable.

Now the allrounders ...
Irfan Pathan can be termed as one of them. He was great with the ball and hit some out of the park when he batted. Laxmi Ratan Shukla was a revelation in all departments of the game. Finally, one of my favourite players of the tournament ... Yusuf Pathan. He rocked with the bat and got crucial wickets when it mattered.

Finally, the batters ...
Rohit Sharma would be an automatic choice. Abhishek Nayar was also a good performer. Venugopal Rao struck gold late in the tournament in an otherwise disappointing team display. The last spot goes to Suresh Raina. I am wondering why this man is still not in the senior team (atleast in Tests).

So the final team would be as follows:

Gautam Gambhir
Virender Sehwag
Shikhar Dhawan
Swapnil Asnodkar
Rohit Sharma
Suresh Raina
Abhishek Nayar
Venugopal Rao
MS Dhoni
Parthiv Patel
Irfan Pathan
Laxmi Ratan Shukla
Yusuf Pathan
Piyush Chawla
Amit Mishra
Pragyan Ojha
S Sreesanth
Manpreet Gony
Ashoke Dinda
YoMahesh

Notable absentees from the World Cup winning T20 team are Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa and RP Singh for obvious reasons.

Now, for the non-Indian team ...

Lets start with the wicketkeepers ...

This one was easy ... since there were just 3 contenders practically ... Gilchrist, Mccullum and Sangakkara ... 2 of these didnt play all the games ... in fact Mccullum played just 3 games ... so I would say it will have to be Gilchrist and Sangakkara.

The openers would be ...

Shaun Marsh without a shadow of a doubt. He was awe inspiring. The next 3 spots are quite straight forward ... Hayden, Jayasuriya and Graeme Smith though Hayden played a handful of games.

Fast bowlers ...

Makhaya Ntini came in late but was magical. Glenn Mcgrath proved that age doesnt matter. Dale Steyn was quick and effective. The last spot would go to Sohail Tanvir. His opening spells as well bowling at the death was phenomenal.

Spinners ...
Shane Warne would be the first. Shahid Afridi purely as a bowler wasnt bad. And you cant leave Murali out.

All rounders ...
Shane Watson of course. Farveez Maharoof would be the next. A toss up between Hopes, Bravo, Morkel and Pollock ... I would go for Morkel since he was more effective with both ball and bat and was instrumental in guiding his team to the finals.

Batsmen ...
Not many options here ... the 2 Husseys will certainly be there. Bravo will be another. The last spot according to me should go to Cameron White. I dont know why he didnt get many opportunities but he is a devastating T20 player.

So the final non-Indian XX looks like ...

Shaun Marsh
Mathew Hayden
Sanath Jayasuriya
Graeme Smith
Micheal Hussey
David Hussey
Dwayne Bravo
Cameron White
Shane Watson
Farveez Maharoof
Albie Morkel
Adam Gilchrist
Kumar Sangakkara
Shane Warne
Shahid Afridi
Muttiah Muralitharan
Makhaya Ntini
Glenn McGrath
Dale Steyn
Sohail Tanvir.


so what about the dream team? well, it can be something like this ...

Gautam Gambhir
Shaun Marsh
Sanath Jayasuriya
Graeme Smith
Rohit Sharma
Dwayne Bravo
Suresh Raina
David Hussey
MS Dhoni
Adam Gilchrist
Yusuf Pathan
Shane Watson
Albie Morkel
Shane Warne
Piyush Chawla
Muttiah Muralitharan
Glenn McGrath
Manpreet Gony
Sohail Tanvir
S Sreesanth

well this is just my dream team ... :) I hope to see IPL going from strength to strength ...

Cheers ... !!

Appraisal ... smile or frown ... !!

The Appraisal process was completed in office last week. Since I was on leave, I was one of the very few who hadn't received my revised compensation. I was relieved to get it on my first day back at work. I was happy with my compensation and also with the new designation. The title of Team Lead is quite misleading though, coz I don't know whom I am supposed to lead. But anyway, its quite a happy moment. For the record, I have had a new designation in each of my appraisals so far which can be something extremely difficult to live up to.

In hindsight, I always wonder whether I should be happy or sad. Happy, coz I get more money, a better job profile and more authority. Sad, coz I am enjoying my moment of joy and luxury at a job that I never wanted to do. This jolly moment means that I will now have to stick to this job for longer than I had anticipated. I never thought I will be complaining about excess of money but sadly thats a fact. How I wish that one rainy night at Mumbai in 2000, I should have never called one of my friends.

But as the saying goes ... The show must go on ... so adhering to that ... Cheers ... !!

F.R.I.E.N.D.S frenzy ... !!

I have been thinking of posting this for some time now. During the month of March, my wife and I happened to experience all 10 seasons of the iconic Friends series. I had seen it quite a few times but it never gets boring. For my wife, it was the first time so she was in splits 25 hours every day. Watching Friends is extremely addictive. You just cant stop. Weekends were consumed finishing off atleast 20 episodes. By the end of it, it felt miserable especially the last episode when the entire apartment is empty.

Anyway, I have posted this for some of my most favorite hilarious dialogues ... here they come ...

"You are 18 and she is 44 ... when you are 36, she will be 88" - Joey to Frank (Phoebe's brother) (Frank replies with - "You think I dont know that?")

When Ross is playing the bagpipe horribly ... "Why is your family Scottish" - Monica to Chandler. Chandler replies with ... "Why is your family Ross?" (since Ross is Monica's brother)

During Ross and Emily's wedding, this is how Emily's Dad introduces Ross's parents to his wife ... "Darling, meet the Gellers ... this is one and this is the other one" (Ross's surname is Geller)

"Its OK Pheebs" - Phoebe to Rachel. Rachel says ... "Pheebs is your nickname". Phoebe says ... "Oh, is it? I thought thats what we all call each other lovingly"

"Ducks is heads and Clowns is tails" - Joey to Chandler when they lose little Ben and start finding him. They get 2 babies and cant decide which one is Ben. One of the babies in wearing a shirt with Ducks and the other baby is wearing one with Clowns. So they decide to flip a coin and choose which one is Ben. Chandler asks "Why heads for Ducks?" ... Joey replies ... "Coz Ducks have heads" ...

When Frank brings his 44 year old teacher cum girlfriend to the Cafe and they start kissing in front of everyone ... Chandler says ... "If that doesnt keep kids in school then what will?"

When Phoebe enrolls for a job for a telephone operator to sell something called Toner, the person in charge explains everything to her about how to speak, how to market Toner, etc and finally she asks Phoebe ... "Ok ... all fine?" ... Phoebe replies ... "Yes, but just one thing ... what is Toner?"

Joey to Chandler ... "Imagine if our Duck and Chick have a kid, what will we name them ... Chuck" ... Chandler replies ... "or ... Dick"

Chandler is watching Yasmeen Blith on Baywatch and his Chick is making some noise ... he starts talking to the Chick ... "You both are chicks (Chick and Yasmeen Blith) ... I love you both ... but in very different ways"

Monica is a cleanliness freak and she doesnt like anyone tinkering with the arrangement of her apartment. Chandler plans to surprise her by changing the arrangement. Ross walks in and tells Chandler that Monica will freak out. Chandler gets worried and suddenly Monica knocks on the door. Chandler goes upto the door and says ... "You cant come in because Ross in naked" ... then he goes upto Ross and tries to explain ... "Ross, I had to take your name coz Monica has seen me naked millions of time" ... Ross asks ... "Why does anyone has to be naked?"

Joey to Ross - "If they homo-sapiens were indeed HOMO sapiens, is it the reason why they are extinct?"

I am sure there are many more but these are the ones at the top of my head. I think the best lines have been given to the guys ... Chandler and Joey pull off every dialogue remarkably.

It doesn't annoy me seeing any episode of Friends any number of times ...

Cheers ... !!

Do favors exist in RELATIONSHIPS ... !!

Do they?

Parents often hide the intricacies of how they raised their kids just to keep their kids aloof from stress or the struggle they went through. This is true for poor or rich, just that the level of struggle varies. But does that mean its a favor for their kids? I know there are bucketful of cases where parents harass their kids (to the extent of murder, prostitution, etc) no end but I am talking about the not-so-horrible parents.

Is there anything like a favor in a relationship and even if the answer is YES (for me, the answer is NO), does it give the favorer (the person doing the favour) the right to commit atrocities on the favoree. I don't think so. Does it give a person the bragging rights to always remind someone that their existence is only because of them.

If a person falls sick and someone in the immediate relationship takes care of him/her, how can you use that as a favor? I mean, if there are kids, parents will have to take care of them. If there is a younger sibling, the elder one has to take care. Why is it so difficult to understand? How can you term it as a favor? In any case, even if you consider this as a favor, how can you undo all that by committing hedious crimes on someone who isn't even objecting to anything. This may be sounding a bit abstract.

For parents, how does it matter if some offspring of theirs earns more/less than the other or why one of them should get less/more if the other one already has more/less of something. If it is such a big favor so as to kill your offspring of mental torture, then they shouldn't have done a favor in the first place. What joy can parents get by initiating hatred between their off springs? Why is there such a lot of difference between a daughter and a daughter-in-law? Or for that matter, mother and mother-in-law or any set of parallel relationship. Why is every concern of yours weighed in terms of money? Why is your concern for anyone termed as an effort to gain monetary advantage of that person?

I know I will never get these answers. The reason being, people are so entrenched into thinking about you in certain way that they cant possibly think about the real you. And finally, if you have ever done a favor on your child/sibling/parent, please get that spirit back because for the person being favored, that was Love and not a favor.

Relationships have gone off flavor for me ... !!

Less of BAD is GOOD ... !!

I didn't hope to stumble upon the practical instance of this phrase so soon. During the bull run of the Indian stock market in the last 4 to 5 quarters, the Technology stocks have been the only laggards with Infosys, Satyam, Wipro and TCS leading this bunch. The weakening dollar, credit concerns in the US (since most of their clients are financial companies based in the US) and the global economic meltdown are some of the catalysts responsible for the downward growth graph for these blue chip companies. The sentiment has been so pessimistic on Technology that the time has come that even a straw of good news is being lapped up as potentially positive news.

Infosys came out with their yearly results yesterday. Growth was about 9% (slowest in history) and they upped their EPS guidance to Rs. 93 (the market expected something less - I guess it was 90). Interesting to note that the growth in itself isn't very substantial but because it beats market expectations, it becomes good news. Funny.
Adding on, Infosys declared a dividend of 145% (Rs. 7.25 per share) which is great comparing it to the dividends it dished out the last 3 times. But the SAY IT ALOUD fact is that it declared a special dividend of 400% (Rs. 20 per share). So the total dividend comes out to Rs. 27.25. Now, how do you explain that as a correlation to economic slowdown.

The global markets collapsed on Monday and traded with a negative bias on Tuesday. We were closed on Monday. So we were expecting our markets to collapse yesterday. And so we did. We opened with a 200 point gap down. But then Infosys declared its numbers and BANG ... no looking back. Infy closed around 80 rupees up for the day and the markets boomed 350 points. All this on the basis of just beating market expectations (which were abysmally low).

So there will be talk of economic slowdown (Infy themselves admitted it), but all it needs for the market to sustain its march ahead is some low expectations. There is something much more to this market than what the common man knows.

For now, its pomp time for me. I hold 96 shares of Infosys.

Cheers ... !!

No new games ... !!

Since my last post was about 2 games, I have started wondering why there is a dearth of new games. You always hear or read about some path breaking innovation in some Eks Wie Zee walk of life but personally speaking, its been a while that I have heard about a new game being originated. Just imagine some people spending time to come up with a game. The thought itself is hard to digest. Games we know, seem so natural like they were ought to be that way but if you keep everything aside to think of a new game, it will take a lot more out of you than the so called WORK PRESSURE at your job. The thing that will kill you is that you know it is not something you will hate doing but still you will struggle to make a game of your own.

I am game about not creating a new game ... Cheers ... !!

Remembering Persistent ... !!

Yeah, its been a long time since I blogged. I am not going to quote any cliches for doing so ... :)

After spending 3 years at AirTight, I finally experienced a means of leisure in the form of a Table Tennis table (quite a word that ... ;)). Thoughts raced back to mid 2004 when I joined Persistent Systems Private Limited (Private is struck off now I guess). 2 games that had caught my fancy then were Carrom and Table Tennis. Though I tried my hand at both, I could never graduate past "below average" in TT, though I managed something better in Carrom. But I am relieved to be playing better TT than what I used to play in PSPL. Now, I need to pester our HR to get a Carrom board.

Till then, I guess I need to hone my skills on the TT table (I hate using this term ... reminds me of terms like 'FC college' and 'short nap').

I also hope I can get back to blogging ... till then ... Cheers ... !!

Chak De India ... !!

You would to yell out that slogan in order to get people going to see this movie. Yeah, its precisely that good. This being said by a person who hates SRK top to bottom. For the time being, I need to keep my reservations against SRK aside. Only the 2nd SRK movie that I have liked so far. Of course, there have been some that I haven't seen yet. But lets talk about the movie.

From the opening sequence till the time the team lands in India with the World Cup, the movie is rivetting. Though the onus shifts to the actual matches in the 2nd half, it doesnt make you lousy. I must say this is an intense performance by SRK. He is especially good in the scenes where he is displaying the plight of facing the wrath of the entire nation after he misses the penalty stroke against Pakistan. His sense of accomplishment after winning the World Cup makes you admire his expressions.

But the movie belongs to the interactions between SRK and his team. And what a team. No wonder we use the phrase "Unity in Diversity" so often. Even though unity will always fall short of diversity, it still makes for inspirational viewing. There are some highlight reel scenes when SRK takes the entire team out for lunch and when the team loses against the men's team of India.

In hindsight, you always know what is going to happen but the journey is quite fulfilling. I would seriously recommend this movie to every Indian. However, the movie doesnt make me feel that I will now watch all SRK movies :).

Cheers ... !!

New Arrivals ... !!

Well, don't read that title as an extension of my married life ... ;). Its just that our home has been blessed with the arrival of new electronic goods as well some other stuff. Its quite obvious that my wife has been the catalyst for more than a few of these new attractions.

Since I am quite a laid back organism, I seldom buy new stuff for me (read: clothes, footwear, bags, etc). My wife had been coaxing me to pay a visit to Camp or Laxmi Road (I'm sure these 2 hot spots are not the only 2 options anymore on Pune's shopping map) to get me a new look. On a lazy Sunday evening, we hit Laxmi Road in our endeavor to shrug off my ragged look. We had received a Gift Voucher from my company of Rs. 3500, the reason being that I got married while I was in AirTight. Keep them coming folks !!

In an hour's time, I had doubled (or maybe tripled) my clothes count of the last 5 years. 4 trousers, 4 shirts, 3 t shirts and a belt. I have never had to strip so many times in an hour before. I am sure I lost at least 2 kgs in the process. We went on to buy a raincoat and a bag for me (I had to bid adieu to the Persistent bag after using it for 2 and a half years).

We moved from Laxmi Road to FC Road. My cell had been troubling me for some time now. We got a new Sony cell in exchange for my old Sony cell. After hopping across to JM Road, we got a new wristwatch for my wife. Aah. so much for one day ... !!

Back home, our TV was also showing signs of being on its last legs. My Dad had been talking about a Plasma LCD TV for a long time. Last Thursday, when I went back home after office, I could hear nearly all the members of my family in unison as I made my way towards our apartment. No wonder the hue and cry was coz of the new Plasma TV that has just arrived and what a beauty it is. 32 inches of Black Beauty. Ahem .. mind your imagination ... ;).

What a coincidence it was when I came to office the next day and saw a Digicam on my desk. It was the one that I had asked my colleague to get from the States. He had just returned a day back and I was overjoyed to finally get my hands on my own camera.

I had picked up some photography nuances from my dear friend Amit Gupte just 2 weekends ago. I was looking forward to put them in practice and I feel I have done a decent job.

















So its like me and my family have been upgraded to the next version with so many new arrivals ... it would be tough replicating this sequence .... Cheers ... !!

The Wishing syndrome .... !!

Wishing ... Aaah, nowdays its like an achievement if you wish someone on time, given the so called hectic schedule that drives people nuts. Over the years, I have stumbled upon an interesting, yet weird, pattern about wishing people. Instead of classifying your friends as good, bad, best, bitch (ahem .. !!), you can group them according to the way you wish them.

There are many sophisticated ways to wish people in the modern era. So what exactly are the categories ? To sample a few, there is the good old fashioned greeting card (hard copy of course) which can be used to wish a friend who is marginally better than another friend for whom the soft copy version of the card may suffice. Mind you, BETTER over here is in terms of friendship ... ;)

Then you have electronic mail, a telephone call, an SMS or Orkut that can double up as a birthday alarm too. What a pity that you need a birthday alarm to remind you about the special days of your friends. In this case, not wishing someone can mean lots of things too ... ;)

Of course, meeting the person in person (confusing ?) takes the cake as well as the bakery it seems. There is no better feeling than to wish a person by meeting him/her. FEELING over here means the feeling of the person being wished ... ;)

Here is my prioroty list for wishing, in descending order of FRIENDSHIP.

Wish in person
Post a greeting card
Call the person
SMS
Email a greeting card
Plain simple Email
Orkut scrap
Dont wish

So how do you categorize the friendship (or the lack of it) of your friends ?

Cheers .... !!

Cows and Bulls .... !!

You never know what would make you nostalgic. During the week, I experienced one instance of NOSTALGIA when I drove my friend's scooter for a while. Memories of Wadias came storming back when I used to have immense pride in going to college on my Dad's Bajaj Super every Saturday. The pride originated from the fact that on other days I had to be content in driving my sister's Sunny which isnt the most "pridey" bike you can ever ride. But after reminiscing about this piece of History, I thought I wont feel nostalgic for quite some time but I was pleasantly mistaken. After a hectic schedule at office for over 5 months, I found myself idle. Coinciding with my leisure was another interesting occurence. My wife found a way to be online on Yahoo which hadn't happened for the last 3 years. Since she was also idle, we decided to play a game. The game goes by the weird name of COWS AND BULLS.

I remember playing this game in all the periods (since I am talking about School, I am calling it periods instead of lectures) in School that were either boring or I was occupying one of the last 2 benches. The primary pre requisite of the game is that you should have an equally enthusiastic opponent. Here are the rules.

Its predominantly a 2 player game though nothing stops you from making it 1 vs n. Lets assume that its a 1 vs 1 game. Lets call them Player 1 and Player 2. Now Player 1 thinks of a 4 digit number. There are some constraints on this number. Firstly, it should not start with a zero. Secondly, no digit in the number should repeat.

Now, Player 2 starts guessing the number. Suppose Player 1 thought of 2758 and Player 2 guessed 1786 in his first attempt. Player 1 would compare the guessed number (1786) with his own number (2758). Player 1 will find that 7 and 8 are the digits that are present in his number (2758) whereas 1 and 6 aren't. Now he will compare the positions of 7 and 8 in his number. 7 is the second digit in the guessed number as well as his own number. All such digits that are present and also in the correct position are called BULLS. But 8 is not at the correct position since it is the 3rd digit in the guessed number as 4th in the actual number thought of by Player 1. All such digits that are present but at the wrong position are called COWS.

So Player 1's response to the guess of 1786 by Player 2 would be 1 BULL and 1 COW. Player 2 will then know that out of 1786, two digits are correct and 2 are wrong. Out of the 2 correct, 1 is at the correct position and 1 is at the wrong position. Of course, Player 1 doesnt mention which 2 digits are BULLS AND COWS. Player 2 takes note of this and proceeds with his second guess and so on until Player 2 guesses the number correctly. Both players keep track of the number of attempts to guess the number.

Now, Player 2 thinks of a number and Player 1 guesses. If Player 1 guesses the number in lesser attempts as compared to Player 2, Player 1 wins and vice-versa.

I find it tough to imagine this as a game since it can be an extremely challenging exercise to hone your Logical Reasoning skills.

Its interesting thinking that I spent 3 years (Grade 8 to Grade 10) playing this game in school but only hit upon it 9 years later.

Happy Playing .... !!

Cheers .. !!

Half baked movies .... !!

It feels great to return to Blogging. The last six months have been the most gruelling in my life. Getting my house in order post marriage, running errands on weekends, meeting up with my millions of in-laws and top it all, the work schedule at office are some of the things that have kept me busy. The inspiration to write again arose from one of the movies I caught up on TV over the weekend.

The movie made me think about the number of movies having contrasting halves. Either the movie is great before the interval or picks up in the second half. The movie in question is Hera Pheri. Yes, I know most of the people rave about it a lot but personally I feel it loses its charm in the second half.

Other such first half masterpieces according to me (I am sorry I have to use "according to me" to avoid being blasted) are Ishq, Satte pe Satta, Aankhen, Ram Lakhan, DDLJ, Khuda Gawah, Khalnayak etc. Of late, Cheeni Kum is being criticised to follow the same trend but I feel it is a bit harsh. Even the legendary Sholay wanes in the second half.

There are movies that follow an opposite trend of a lacklustre first half brightening up post interval like Satya, Company, Mr. India, Karma, etc.

But there are some that keep you hooked for their entire length like Trishul, DON (old one), Maqbool, Sarfarosh, Andaz Apna Apna, Ardh Satya, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron, Amar Akbar Anthony, Bheja Fry, Sarkar, etc.

I wont go into the details of movies that are pathetic in all respects.

Happy patchy viewing.

Cheers ... !!

Black Friday .... !!

Well, a prelude to begin with. We (my wife and I) had tickes booked for the 10 30 pm show. But we had run some errands around the city the entire day and were dead tired by the time we reached home at 7 pm. Hadnt boozed for a while. So we dug deep into our coffers and got 180 ml of manna, more commonly called Vodka. 2 bottoms up each down the line, we were entrenched into oblivion. The movie had evaporated from our minds. Fortunately, we fell short of Chakna and I had to visit my wallet again and my fingers hit something shiny, white and smooth in texture. Those were the tickets. The time was 10 05 pm. The next thing we knew was that we were at Inox at 10 25 pm, well in time. But we had forgotten to change. I was still in my pyjamas while my wife was in her Bermudas. Of course we had clothes on top ... :). Im sure we were the laughing stock of the crowd. But kya karein .... hota hai.

So about the movie ... hhhhmmm. Goodish movie. Actually that would be an under exaggeration. It was quite good. The best I have seen in the last cycle of the year. Anurag Kashyap has had a problem with the release of his movies in the past. And I can see why.

For much of the movie, you feel as if you are seeing a documentary or a news channel. But it doesnt bore you. Rather, you get hooked onto the screen like stamp to a letter. The intrigue is generated from the fact that the blasts happened at a time when I was a kid, so I was double interested in the presentation of the movie. The maligning of Babri Masjid and the subsequent turmoil of the Muslims are the highlight. It again underlines the fact that India is perhaps the country where people fight within themselves more than against others.

Pavan Malhotra as Tiger Memon is sublime. He is calm throughout except when his office is burned down by some Hindus. Kay Kay stamps his authority with another elegant essay. He is great in the interrogation scenes. The bits and pieces actors also shine throughout the movie. There is actual footage from 1993 that stick out like a sore thumb on democracy.

To conclude, a movie worth a watch.

Cheers ... !!

Addy .....

Addy .... Adu ... Adyaa ... Aditya Prabhakar Kamble. My best friend. He left for heaven yesterday morning leaving behind a sea of tears and his impeccable personality.

I know people would be thinking why is Pratik writing about such a sad event. But Addy was such an influence that I cant keep it back. We knew each other since we were 3 years old. Went to the same pre nursery school. Took it forward with the same school. We used to go home in the same PMT bus everyday (8006). He got down at Netaji Nagar. Initially I used to get down at Wanorie and after some time I went till the last stop of Kondhwa. Someway down the line we got fed up and started taking a lift home. We always urged the person giving us a lift to take us both else we wouldnt come. And finally we ended up going home together on our bicycles. We went to Alaka talkies for 3 consecutive days on our bicycles to book the tickets of Titanic way back in 1998. But since it was a very popular movie we never got tickets. Finally, one day we went there at 6 am itself .. :).

I always took him with me for shopping since his sense of clothes was light years ahead of me. We were extension of each others' families. No wonder my family was weeping like hell yesterday. We both (only the 2 of us mind u) went to Tirupati and Chennai in 9th standard for a good 8 days. People called us mad men and we were proud to be mad. We even went shit scared to see porn movies at Alpana. Gosh .. those were the days.

He taught me how to drive a geared bike using his mother's M-80. When I bought my Yamaha, I rode to his place and I was so proud that he was the first person after me to drive the bike. The tie that I wore for my reception was chosen by him. When I met with an accident in 12th standard, he bought me home and then took me to the hospital. Whenever we were bored, he would come to my place and we played video games the entire day. From losing 6-0, 6-0 in a game of Tennis at Level 1, we went on to win 6-0,6-0 at Level 5. He played at the net and I played from the baseline.

In my hour of despair 2 years back, Addy and his family were at the forefront of solving our misery. The first person who came to my mind in any kind of problem was Addy. If I would have had a Christian wedding, he would have been my Best Man. He was scheduled to go to London on Feb 6th to pursue a course in Tourism. An avid chef, he always asked me to come with him for some drinks. Drinks was just a reason ... we ended up talking about our problems. Whenever either of us felt like having a beer, we went to an isolated military area in Lulla Nagar from where we could see the entire city.

I even proposed to Amruta from Addy's place using his telephone when there were 6 digit telephone numbers. 672554 ... that was his number. In school, we were in the same house. He always defeated me in short distance races while I held the upper hand in long distance races. He used to put newspapers in his pants to avoid getting hurt while being caned by teachers .... :)

He was a year junior to me academically. I remember he was applying for admission for 11th standard in Wadias and he met me at a place called "The Theatre" in Wadias and he asked, "Pratik, Commerce lu yaa Science lu ?". Knowing his academic acumen, I asked him to apply for Commerce. But I had to face the wrath of his parents later that evening since they wanted him to take up Science. He applied for Science at SP college later.

One of the weirdest things we did was that we went to Lonavla one fine day coz we were getting bored. We walked from Lonavla station to Bushy Dam and decided to trek a bit on a hilly area just next to Bushy Dam. Since it was December, it was reltively hot in the afternoon. The next thing we knew was that we were trekking in our underwears to get rid of the heat. We walked from Bushy dam back to the station in underwears. Phew ... !!

He always feared of being a virgin all his life. I'm so gutted that his fear came true. I dont know if stuff like this and porn should be mentioned but we hardly care. He always said ... "Pratik, ek din traffic ruk jaayega mere liye". And yes Sir, you did cause a traffic jam yesterday ... !!

I have cried enough. Addy, you didnt have a right to do this to us. My Orkut testimonial for you would never be fulfilled .... Dude I will MISS U. LOVE U TONS MAN ... Cant say Cheers ... though you liked that word a lot.

Adieu ....

Tune into Advertising .... !!

There is an Ad doing the rounds in which a teenaged boy is praising some instances where the Indian cricket team has performed extremely well. While it makes very good viewing for a cricket fan like me, it does expose the frailities of Advertisement. Every walk of life should be well tuned to the happenings especially something like Advertising.

The first clip of video shows India defeating England in the Natwest series final at Lords in 2002. Who can forget that ? But the catalysts of that victory namely Yuvraj and Kaif are both out of the team. Kaif for his poor run of scores while Yuvraj for his injury hassles. While the state of Yuvraj can still be forgiven, that of Kaif makes you feel whether that video should still be shown. I wonder when I will be able to see Yuvraj, Kaif and Raina bully the batsmen by acting like a wall in the circle.

The next video shows Virender Sehwag hitting a six off Saqlain Mushtaq to go from 295 to 301 at Multan in 2004. As sublime as that moment was, in today's context it should go off the air since Viru is going through a bad phase. This does not undermine his capability as a match winner. But with a technique like his, this was bound to happen. I am still an ardent admirer of this man and would like to see him back sooner than later.

The next video shows Irfan Pathan taking a hat trick in the first over of the test match at Karachi in January 2006. I remember watching it live on the hospital bed at Jehangir Hospital last year. No one has ever taken a hat trick in the first over of a test match. But then, even Irfan transformed from a wicket taking genie to gift-a-boundary laggard.

So what exactly goes into advertising. I know that all these 3 videos are landmarks in Indian cricketing history but there has to be some thought process that goes into catching the fancy of the people at the right time ....

Cheers ... !!

Bachelor's ... CoV style ... !!

Yeah, what a Bachelors party. This is what I had dreamt of. There were no strippers, no over the top hooliganism and no exaggerated brouhaha. It was just spending quality time with your bumchums and freaking out. In the morning, it seemed like no one would be able to make it since everyone was busy. But by the time it was 10 pm, we were safely deposited in a corner of one of our latest hideouts ... Archers.







It was a pleasure to be with Prashant, Salil, Sabhtarsha, Charan, Amol and Ameya. In other words, the heart and soul of CoV. Chicken, paneer, peanut masala and Vodka were gulped down which included plenty of rounds of bottoms up. As a token, the Smirn Off bottle was labelled with signatures of everyone and we left a bit of Vodka in it. I guess I will frame that bottle.



It was 12 30 am. Salil and Prashant decided that they would go home. The remaining decided that we will have a bit of an adventure. The next thing we knew was that we were hurtling down Mulshi road towards DiveAgar .. another hideout. Though the roads were pathetic, I didnt realise it since I was high.





We stopped at Mangaon at 3 am for some tea. It was a chilly night and tea was the perfect answer for it. We reached Diveagar at 4 30 am and started walking in the dark towards the beach. It can get scary at night with all the tall trees around you. Luckily, Charan had a torch in his cell. We lazed around on the beach gazing in the star laden sky.

Astronomical talks were the order of the night thereafter with Sabhtarsha and Ameya ruling the roost. Charan and I found a bit of time to have a nap. After about 2 hours, we decided to head back home and left Diveagar at 6 30 am. I must say Konkan looks good no matter what time it is. We were driving through fog for most of the journey with the sunrise in the background.







The road suddenly appeared to be very bad unlike the night and I kept muttering that we hadnt come from this road. I knew I was kidding but I wanted to remember this for the rest of my life. We reached Pune at around 11 am.







What a Bachelor's. Unplanned, unmanaged and maybe unreasonable for most of the people. But who cares. This is CoV ... it was created as a consequence of no reason. The only reason was ADVENTURE.



Cheers mates ... !!