Pappu can't vote!

Yes, thats the tag line of campaign launched by EC to woo delhiites to vote.
I happen to see this ad in Timesnow channel quite a few times over the weekend and it is innovative....couldn't find any Youtube link though.

Delhi Election commissioner on launching the innovative ad campaign to woo delhiites to vote on Nov 29th said this,
"'We invested so much of money and human resources in providing photo ID cards and many people use it just to open a bank account, take a telephone connection or making passport. The most important function - to cast vote - is just not in their mind. This is sad,' Bedi told reporters.

This campaign, based on a Hindi film song Pappu can't dance from the hit movie Jane Tu Jane Na, will give the message that those who will not vote or don't vote are not smart.

“The message is casting your vote is the new fashion statement of Delhi. Those who don't vote are good for nothing,” Bedi said."

Also i found this link, www.votebyphone.org.
It starts with questions not relevant to the topic and somehow ends with a relevant last 2 lines!!

Bollywood dream!

I read this article in "The Hindu" newspaper about a 15 year old Pakistani boy who crossed into India with the Bollywood dream of meeting his favourite star, Shahrukh Khan and becoming one as well, but ended up in a Jail.
This boy is not from any place near the Indian Border, but from the western side of Pakistan!

Today, read this article in "Dawn" . The boy is released from Jail and reunited with his parents in Pakistan.

I feel slightly sad for this boy...

It's not always, one braves so much for a dream...some might say it's pure craze...whatever :)
Now, this boy is returning home without fulfilling even a part of his dream...his dream and home are in two different countries!

And the boy waves so happily in this picture in the article, i am sure he still doesn't regret a single moment of his adventure :)
Somehow, i truly hope and wish that this guy gets a chance to fulfill his dream in future...

200$ Samosa!!

This is greediness...

At the end of the day, there is no profit. He could've better charged $20...

That would've been similar to how Indian government charges a different entry fee for foreigners to visit the Indian monuments :)

Nuggets!

In these uncertain times, when the intelligent investor's stocks are not going to give any positive returns, when the historically safest bet, gold, is plunging, when the great asset class, realty, is beaten to dust, hot cash in the bank is the only true king :) (Is rupee better than dollar? i don't know)

Are many Indian individuals, over leveraged, as per the revised economic situation? :) And the unfortunate thing is, it might not be possible to correct it over night...

And the guys in business who are in better position are there because of smartness or luck or plain living or simply the reality wasn't realized at the right time or there was no other go but to follow the crowd madness?

btw, this is the link that attributed to this thought. It's easy to say that all boils down to greed...but that's not right. I think it really boils down to better balancing. maybe, there is a book to read about this.

Oh btw, Insurance cover for any savings account is only 1 lakh...so incase, an individual has 2 lakhs in a bank savings account and if the bank goes bust, all he/she will get is only 1 lakh :)

Jackpot Glamour Man!!

In our college, there used to be NRI Quota... And around 2 seats are allotted in a few departments. Honestly, i never liked it mainly because i always felt that this is not used rightly as most of the students would've studied in India and it's only their parents who would've worked or working abroad.

In our department, there was one such guy...Honestly, i never interacted much with him...it's because he really wasn't keen on studying and was a back bencher with unkempt beard and hair most of the times!

I always wondered that it's because of the stupid parents obsession that people like him are wasting a seat in such a prestigious department in a prestigious college...but then, nowadays i have started wondering whether i have done enough justice to that college :)

So, when my college mate, fwded a link on friday about this guy, i was totally surprised to read it...One of my friend was remembering the college days when this guy used to come to his hostel room at odd hours for subject notes :)

We all knew that this guy was interested in modelling, but didn't know he has made a successful career out of it...Here is the Jackpot Glamour Man.
And this year, he's opening branches in London and NY.

Interestingly, even he had hated his college days :)

"Born and raised in Dubai after his Indian family moved here for business, Vishal completed an engineering degree at a prestigious Indian college before returning to work in Dubai.
But with no interest in engineering he became involved in event management and modelling, working first at a bridal exhibition centre and then an advertising agency.
"I wanted fun, models and events," he said.
I went to a college outside Madras Chennai. There was a village twelve hours away and the college was another two hours away.
"I would go crazy out there. I would cut a day of school and go to the city every weekend.
"It was like getting out of jail." " (Link)

Really a great news... Best wishes to him!

Of all the slips...

ok...i really don't know how to start, but today is just one of those days in my life which i can never really forget.

had a personal appointment in the morning...came back to office at 12.30pm. my teammate who sits beside me was packing things and HR was standing next to her...also the IT Dept guy was standing. My teammates eyes were red and she didn't talk to me. I asked HR what's going on...she didn't say anything...
I told to HR,"I am her Team lead. Can you please tell what's going on?". HR said,"Today is her last day".

I was shocked. My teammate couldn't talk and was looking very uncomfortable to stand inside office itself. I said,"i'll call you in your mobile".

She left. I turned back to fellow team member and asked,"what is going on?".He said,"i don't know.but few are asked to leave".

In the next few hours, i came to know all my good buddies are gone. There is just not many left...

I have read about pink slips after dotcom bust...
But this is the first time, i saw something with my own eyes.

Honestly, i thought i am in today's list,somehow, i had a feeling that i'll be in the list...

I mentally started calculating how much i have in my current bank balance and how many months i can survive peacefully before getting next job... And the next thing i did was to cleanup my desk and then take backup of salary slips because if i am going to start job search, i'll be asked for that .

Well, by the end of the day, i am still employed!!

I feel sad and bad for my friends and colleagues who left today...Infact,my hands were cold and face flushed till evening...

I still see the confused, fearful faces of my friends who left today...when my team member asked,"why me?", i didn't know the answer...i kind of gave a very convincing answer which in no way mentioned anything about her performance...because many fear that they are let go because of poor performance and at heart they don't want that to be the reason because that will be a totally demoralizing factor...

When one colleague cried telling that she moved to the city few months back and have put her kid in a new school this year, i was actually shocked and just for a moment thought that if i blink, tears might fall...I did end up telling her that she still has 1 and half months to search and get a job and promised her that i'll help in forwarding her resume to my friends in other companies...

I did have a very bad feeling over the 4-5 months about the whole economy and job market, but somehow i never expected this...

Among all this, the only moment when i couldn't blink off tears was when i saw an SMS from one of my best buddies which said,"Everything ok?"

This simple line was just too overwhelming......

Naya Bharat ?!

Came across 2 interesting poems...

Below one from this link
Naya Bharat (New India)

Tum bilkul hum jaisey nikley
Voh moorkhta, voh ghaamarpan
Aakhir pahunchi dwaar tumhaarey

You turned out to be just like us;
Similarly stupid, wallowing in the past,
You’ve reached the same doorstep at last.

Preyt dharma ka naach rahaa hai
Saarey ultey karya karogay
Tum bhee baithey karogey sochaa
Kaun hai Hindu, kaun naheen hai
Ek jaap saa kartey jao
Kitna veer mahaan tha Bharat

Your demon [of] religion dances like a clown,
Whatever you do will be upside down.
You too will sit deep in thought,
Who is Hindu, who is not.
Keep repeating the mantra like a parrot,
Bharat was like the land of the brave.

(translated by Khushwant Singh)

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Yet another amazing one (from this link)....seems to reflect the current happenings!

nahi chuni maiNne ye zamin jo vatan Thahri
nahi chunaa maniNne voh ghar jo khaandaan banaa
nahi chunaa maiNne voh mazhab jo mujhe bakhsha gayaa
nahi chuni maiNne vo zabaaN jismeN maaN ne bolnaa sikhaaya
aur ab maiN in sab ke liye tayyar huN
maarne, marne par

Fazal Tabish

I didn’t choose the country where I was born
I didn’t select my family, my clan
I was given no option to decide upon my religion
And I didn’t choose my mother tongue either
But for all of them I am ready
To kill...

Love & Compromise!

It happened on a Saturday morning 5 years ago...Got a call from my friend.

Friend: Max...morning.
Me : Do u really need to kill my name to this level? What's up?
Friend: No...just wanted to tell you something. Can you come to chat at 10am?
Me: You can tell now itself right?
Friend: No, i want to introduce somebody over chat...
Me: Is it so important? Why can't we do it over weekdays when i have net access in office?
Friend: No..It's quite urgent.

So went to a Sify internet cafe, got an account and wondered what to do next...because i had never been to any chat session before...i think that is one of those allergic stuffs which i never liked...maybe, this is what has manifested now into me being a pathetic SMS replier as well :)

So, with the help of my friend over mobile, got into some chat room...
Here she introduced me to a person who was in Canada and told that she is in love with him...
I actually thought that she was joking...

Me: Good joke..Nice try :)
Friend: No, i am serious. You are the first to whom i am telling...
Me : And the reason for this privilege?
Friend: I am sure you are the only person who'll understand this.
Me : You know well that i don't have this love business experience...
Friend: Yes...but you will understand.

(Well, whatever she said was true...Because, during college days, we were neighbours in hostel and there had been numerous arguments regarding "Falling in Love" with me supporting it and she arguing against it)

After this, i couldn't ask her much in that chat session, as the other person was also in the chat session.
So it went on as an introductory session where i ended up asking him about his schooling, his current Masters program in Canada and then about F1...Luckily he was also an F1 fan...

Even though, I had a normal chat session, I was completely shocked and just didn't understand how this could happen, as she never believed in the concept of "Falling in Love"...Also, I couldn't understand at that time as how somebody could love a person only based on interaction over Chat...
Luckily, this guy was Indian and also Tamilian :) Still, they were from different castes and it is almost equivalent to being from different religions!

One good thing was, the guy isn't a fanatic religious type and a very simple, friendly human being. But my friend is from South Tamilnadu and there are enough love theme movies taken based on these people with the sad ending!!

I tried telling her that it's not love, but only an infatuation...asked her as how was she sure that she was in love, what if she didn't like him in person or what if he didn't like her in person...also, what exactly was the next step...

I think i asked questions in all possible pragmatic angles...She never had any doubtful replies for my questions.

It was surprising and totally unbelievable for me!

And so many things happened over this 5 years...He did finish his Masters in Canada, returned to India, searched for a job and settled in one, conveyed his love matter to his parents, waited for his sister to get married...Meanwhile my wonderful friend sponsored her mother a trip to UK when she was onsite... conveyed this love matter to her mother there :) (some kind of ploy :))...then he talked to her parents, convinced them...and atlast they did get married 2 weeks back.

Now, I don't know whether both the parents were 100% happy, but they did agree for the marriage and also arranged and performed it well...

But the interesting or intriguing point is, the marriage happened as per the guy's side...Even though, the religion is the same, customs are very different for different castes...So, this made me wonder, how come? I thought of it only from the parents perspective...

I am all for love marriages...Individual is the best person to identify his/her potential partner..Also, i think it's one of the ways, our class society can be broken...But, shouldn't the marriage happen on a common platform? Wouldn't this upset the girl's parents?

When i told this point to my brother, he shrugged it off telling that these are all too trivial to be considered and this will be forgotten after few days...He also added that parents always forgive their kids and hence no problem.

Interestingly, today, i heard of a marriage between 2 individuals of different religion and even this time, the marriage has happened as per the guy's side.

So, this made me wonder again, how come?

And one of my friend here had an interesting explanation.
He said,"When girls fall in love, they compromise everything for that guy. But guys, don't expect it and also don't do anything"
I said,"So basically guys are silent spectators and hence accept it?"
He kind of replied that when a person itself is willing to change, there is nothing much to do except to accept it...

So, is that the case? All is fair and compromising in love and war?!

Hindustan ka Dil dekho!

Yet another fav ad... The music is quite different.
If only these guys can remove the naxals from their state and improve the welfare of children among tribals ;)