Protecting mobiles for Dummies....

It’s official now. I have been formally inducted to the hall of fame for the thickheaded.

The reason??? I just lost an ipod and a mobile in a span of three months in a busy BMTC bus. This time it happened even before the bus started to move. I wonder is it just me or the thief was a pure genius. Also I just hope it wasn’t stolen by the same thief. That might just catapult my sluggish reputation to levels never seen on earth.

Anyways a swanky new mobile and two days of visualizing the thief as one of the victims of the psycho doc in the movie ‘hostel’ has soothed the wound quite a lot. The only problem is that a crowded BMTC bus will keep on giving me the creeps for a long time now.

Looking back....

Attaining adulthood is like finally getting to know that there is nothing magical about the rainbow. The days of childhood illusions, daydreaming and innocence just vanishes away giving way to ambition, competition and lots of manipulations. Now it’s hard to find people whom one can trust. Minds have become so skeptical that there is always a lingering doubt even on the closed ones.

Even those “childhood heroes” who once brought a smile on our faces every time we see them, fade away. Circumstances just make us them or even ignore them and those who still command that respect are too few.

I sometimes miss those days when making friends was just about having a good time, when one’s favorite uncle was one who cracked the funniest jokes. When one use to be eager to return home from school to play in the locality. I miss those simple unadultrated joy we used to get by having the latest candy bar in the market. I miss those simpler days.

The Credit Card Debacle...

Few months back I had this embarassing conversation with my dad which I remembered a few days back. I had uploaded my CV on a few job portals, while searching for a job. After a month I got selected in Accenture and shifted back to Bangalore. On a Sunday morning my dad calls me up and what was said between us is as follows:

DAD: (in a very serious tone) Hey, How’s your training going on.

ME: (in a very bored tone) fine.

DAD: I wanted to talk to you about something.

ME: what is it?? (Gosh, hope it’s not about investments again!!)

DAD: I just received my credit card bill.

ME: So

DAD: There is an entry for Bharat Matrimony.com.

ME: (WHATTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#*%#$#*#^%$#%^&)

ME: That’s not me. That can’t be me.

DAD: (now in a very fatherly tone) you should have at least talked to us. You know we always support your decisions even though this is a bit too early.

ME: (agitated) aggggghhh!!!! There is nothing to talk about. There are no decisions to take. Dad!!!! I seriously have no idea about this.

DAD: Then who else would want to get married in our house.

ME: How should I know? (He did have a point)

Suddenly I realized about the online transactions for the job portals. I checked the net and it turns out that both the sites belong to the same company and they charged using the matrimonial site’s name.

On explaining this to dad he gave out a sigh of relief and said,” Well that resolves it. Anyways, now that you have a job, next time you decide to get married, kindly use your own credit card.”

Samaritan..

It’s strange, how it takes a bad spell in life to find those good Samaritans one hear only in stories. These are the people whom one tends to ignore or even make fun of in any normal day. But it’s they who come out of no where and go out of their way to help one out of any situations. In the end, in return they ask for nothing. They just go back to their daily lives leaving us awestruck and wondering, what motivated them to help out strangers like us.

It’s might not be easy to find the lessons one can learn from every bad situation. Maybe we sometimes face such situations just to be reminded that such people do exist all around us. All we need to have is some faith and hope that we can help them out during their times of need.

Life Doesn't Rhyme

Your heart is a blizzard,
so you said once.Still
you didn't expect your
tears to turn to ice.
Yes, I am the devil
shout it all around.
They will still love me back
probably with their first kiss.
Don't bother remembering those
nights, forget those days.
They have become jokes
that my friends make.

The world told you to
move on and so shall I.
You wont be alone. There
is still more to come.

Colors I Drift By…

Thousand of colors,
Millions of shades,
Swirl around the sky
Like a dragon’s breath.
The clouds slowly drift by
With an air of snob,
And the sun heads for
Another world across the sea.
I sit by my window alone
And enjoy the dusk,
Who knows it might probably be,
My last sunset in this city.

Headbanger's Ball?

Head Banging is a way of life for most music aficionados. Here's a link which just might make you have a second thought about it.

Enjoy!!

Economics of charity...

Lately, no other illusion broke like the illusions of the US financial institutions. And man!!! Wasn't it awfully dreadful. Completely wiping out three major companies in a matter of few weeks. Now all that's left of these companies are bewildered investors scrambling around looking for someone to blame.

The crisis started the day when these financial institutions decided to be more lenient in giving loans to people belonging to the sub prime category. There was always a inherent risk of these people defaulting in their loans. So to make their skeptical investors happy they charged a few extra percentage points in the interest rate of these people. But doesn't increasing the interest further increases the risk of defaulting. Its like charging less from the rich and more from the poor for the same thing. How did it appear as sound investments to these financial institutions?

Even the government was happy. Why wouldn't it be. Who wouldn't want to be known as the man who was responsible for 'delivering' houses to the poor.

So who should be blamed for this act of charity? These institutions, who foolishly ran after increasing profits while ignoring the need to make a strong foundation to fall on? Maybe, the government, for overlooking the emerging crisis just to appease their vote bank. Their very own citizens are blaming them for the whole mess. They should have certainly put more regulations to avert such a situations.

Its time for governments to realize a robust economy cant be created by giving away "hollow dreams" at expense of others. Its about investing on people who can return it at a higher value.
This is the only way a country can prosper.

Still Mumbai...

Yesterday when my flight landed in Mumbai, I gave out a sigh of relief. The city hasn't changed at all. The temperature outside was still a stinking 28 deg, it still takes about a half hour to get baggage, mom's first comments are still on on my 'Sick' looks and dad is still just happy to see me.
It simply doesn't feel like I have been away from this place all these while.

After staying here for a day I realized more :

• The sea breeze from my balcony still feels nice.
• The music in "Not Just Jazz by the bay" is still great.
• Evening walks in Priyadarshini park are still exhilarating.
• The sunset at Marine Drive is still heat warming.
• The women are as pretty as ever.
• and the men...... ummmhhh........ never mind.. they are still busy killing each other.

The thing is, I had got familiar with the city during my one year stay. It kind of seeped into my heart which even Kolkata couldn't do. It was here I spent one frustrating year of my life and it did it's best to make sure I am not sad all the time. Before leaving for the city from Bangalore I had a small apprehension that it might have some what changed like all long lost friends do. But when I came here and found it just the way I left it, I was relieved that it didn't change itself , at least not yet. It still has the amazing energy the whole world talks about.

Anyways lots of cheesy stuff has been written. But still if I ever meet the spirit of Mumbai I will definitely buy him a beer for doing such a magnificent job for the city.

Hornby's Humour

Recently I read two novels of Nick Hornby. Surprisingly, it turned out to be pretty nice change from the usual stuffs I read.

The first book, "High Fidelity" which I read is about a record store owner in his 30s recalling his five most memorable breakups. He eventually re-examines his failed relationships which leads him back to the last girl he broke up with. Next was "About a boy". The plot is about Will, a 36-year-old bachelor, and Marcus, an eccentric, introverted, bullied 12-year-old with a suicidal mother and how they meet each other and learn the lesson of life together.In the end Marcus evolves and becomes a “normal” kid, while Will becomes mature enough for his age.

The thing I liked about both his novels is that they are distinctly different from the usual stuffs I read which are like overtly gloomy with gloomy characters going on with their gloomy lives.Nick gives a humourous and a charmimg touch to the "not so perfect lives" of his characters. This makes the experience of reading his book quite cheerful. The humour of his makes sure that no matter how bad a phase the character is going through, in the end he will make it out of it.

Its a must read for people who believes no matter whatever problems we are going through there always be a space for a little humour in our lives.