Happiness and Relationships

For all those who were pondering over my disappearance from the blogging circle (read: regular blogger), I am BACK ! I know, this sounds like a typical statement being made by some bollywood's actress who is now back in business after a sabbatical and has finally paid humongous sum to a director to present her like a sweet sixteen, competing with a 20-something actress. But no, I had so much going around on the work-front that right now, there are close to 10 drafts in my blogging posts which I never intended to complete and will now end up as archives in the drafts folder. Some push from my friends, juniors and of course, myself and here I am blogging again after months.

The state of the country is atrocious with our Prime Minister still oblivion to facial gestures, assembly elections, Indian cricket team sulking after the losses down under, young infants dying in hospitals, minority quotas being offered at throw away prices of just a single vote, telecom corporates frowning over the supreme court's decision to squash 2G licences and the list can go on an on. But despite all the fuss and the mess around, there still seems to be a reason for us to cheer up. A recent survey  seems to reveal that we Indians are amongst the world's happiest people. Came as a shock to me and not just me, I am sure, most of us would agree to disagree with this. Having gone through the details of the survey, the point which came as a shocker was that the relationships and culture seems to be one of the important factors contributing to our happiness. And no, I have nothing against the institution of marriages but considering the rate of divorces in our country and the buoyant increase in the sales of i-pills, it was not easy for me to digest the fact.

But this brings me to another one of my not-so favourite topics of discussion: Marriages (Gosh). I am actually quite amused by the number of marriage and marriage related (read: mehendi, engagement, sangeet etc.) pictures being updated on my FB wall every other day. On a serious note, I do enjoy them thoroughly. Probably, this makes me ponder if this is what brings happiness in the lives of people when their friends, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters get married and gives them a reason to forget about the worldly woes and enjoy the week long traditions and functions of wedding. It is only in India, that the preparations and the functions begin way in advance and the everyone on the family from the youngest of the lot to the oldest in the family, everyone joins in the fun and celebration. Where on earth will anyone get to witness this jamboree??.

Some of my very close friends got hitched recently and the BIG smile is pretty much visible on everyone's face standing next to the bride and the groom. Really !

 Apu and Nitin: Finally within a month madam was able to manage everything on time

DJ and Yogesh: And for this pair, the dream finally came true :)

And hopefully this smile stays on everyone'e face who ever got married, or is about to get married or just attended their friend's wedding or cousin's wedding. (Oh, but our Prime Minister will not smile until the day he sees Rahul baba taking on his Gaddi :), So please do not expect him to smile until 2014 I guess ). And considering the fact that, it has been now proven that relationships do matter in our life,  all we have to do is possess them and enjoy the moments as they come and we will be the happiest people on the earth.

And for all those poor souls like me, being tortured by their parents every now and then, please read the following blog. I am sure you will relate to this and smile by the end of it. After all, we are the happiest people !!

Keep smiling and do write to me if you wish to share your happiness !!

A tale of three countries and Terrorism

Quite often I have seen my friends updating their status messages on facebook stating “What doesn’t kill you makes you even stronger”. I ponder over the statement every time and always end up disagreeing with it and continue with my mundane life. Why cannot I relate myself with the statement is something I fail to understand but this gives me a prospect to contemplate over it and comprehend the reasons for my disassociation.  All throughout my life there have been many instances where I lost out on many of my dreams, and my pursuit for them didn’t end there. I knew somewhere down the line, the temporary loss was just about the time being not right for my dreams to be achieved! And henceforth this thought has ruled over ever since.

And with the recent serial attacks on the maximum city, I was forced to rethink over my stand on the above statement. I read recently in a newspaper that this is the ninth terror attack on Mumbai in the past nine years, which averages out to one attack every year, and what a shame it is on the world’s largest democracy. Each time the city is hit, the very next day it is not uncommon to witness newspapers flashing the bold headlines speaking of the spirit and courage of mumbaikars, getting back to business as usual. How different a city would react, when it has become used to terror attacks and the paralytic state of the government agencies. After every terror attack, new never to be fulfilled promises are made, new intelligence agencies are formed, and condolence messages are sent out by people governing the nation and the political parties. At the end of the day, the citizens of the country are denied the justice and we are left deserted to guard ourselves.

Despite being in the run to become a developed nation, the country has constantly failed to address the issue of terrorism and security to the citizens. The government is too dependent on US to take a bold action against the perpetrators of terror act despite having evidences to nail them. I wonder what obstructs them to do so. For long, we have known that Pakistan has been the breeding ground for terrorists, and that certain Pakistan government agencies have been supporting the same, and everytime there are talks between the government, talks are inconclusive and only  sham promises and statements are released. Does the government ever end up taking a firm stand on such issues? The answer will be point blank no, but the government is always happy to let the US intervene in the same and propose solutions or be a part of terror act investigations.  And again, the end results never go beyond some high end statements which never get executed uptill another terror act.

While the US may not be too supportive of India taking strong actions against anyone in Pakistan, it doesn’t believe in walking the talk. Last year when in May, a major bombing attempt at Times Square was foiled, it took less than 6 months for the Obama administration to get hold of the man behind it and also convicting him for life. Are we smelling hypocrisy here ? We better do that !!

And here’s hoping that everyone out there in the country realizes that it is time we demand our right to security and ask tough questions from the government. And the spirit which drives the city of Mumbai, is ignited within every one of us.

A short and not so great tribute to the so called Bollywood's first family.

Ever since, Amitabh Bachchan tweeted about Ash's pregnancy, I have been sick and tired of listening and reading about it, be it newspapers, magazines, news channels etc etc. The fourth estate should really get a life. It sums up as if a miracle happened and it turned out Ash was the chosen one to bring another life on Planet. I have nothing against the lady or her pregnancy, but it turns out her father-in-law made the most of it and was happy enjoying all the attention centered around him at a time when the so called IIFA awards were being held in Toronto for which he used to be a brand ambassador uptill last year. 

Poor director, Madhur Bhadarkar had to let go off his ambitious project ( read here ). And reading this I was almost shattered because I was eagerly waiting for movie ( and not Ash as heroine) and now that the project has been put on the back burner, I really do not hope that the same will see the light of the day soon enough..!!!

I sometimes feel, that the entire Bachchan family is a big hypocrite. With a fake accent, you have AB junior on one hand, and then with a fake smile one has Ash. And then they are led by AB senior who tries to make big moolah out of every petty product from cement to toothpaste. And how can one forget Jaya Aunty who believes in speaking her mind, and disrespecting even her own relationship with husband's Big Brother (read Amar Singh) for the sake of retaining her Rajya Sabha seat. 

With all the family members competing against each other in the field of hypocrisy, it becomes pretty interesting to follow each of their actions closely. For sure, I can guarantee that at least you will be entertained. I have never been a fan of any of the bachchans and neither do I have any grudges against anyone, however I do feel that if they command respect in the society, they should at least walk the talk. Media will cover anything to spice up their news stories, but it is up to an individual to respect the integrity of the society and not just exploit it for their personal prosperity. Amen..!!!

A dream come true..!!!

I had a wish, that 10-15 years down the line, I will work for the poor/street/orphaned children towards their upliftment, development. I knew it was a faraway dream, but I wanted to start off somewhere, and finally 10th June, 2011 it was. We at Deloitte celebrate Impact Day where each and every employee worldwide spend a day off from office to do community service. I chose to be a part of the thread, which was going to a NGO supporting street children. I was more than excited, and on any other usual day, I cannot even think of getting up early at 5.30 on my own, but voila, I was up before time and had spent the amazing 6 hours of my life with the kids.

The only pic, I was able to click of myself with the kids..!!!

Leaving aside my experience with the street kids, I was rather shocked today when news channel flashed on the screen that Congress party will celebrate Rahul Gandhi's Birthday (which is today) as Kisan Adhikar Divas. And my first reaction was WTF (seriously....). This Amul baby, has hardly done any social good apart from hogging limelight of being the Youth Icon. His so called baby, NREGA today is one of the major causes of high inflation. It has been reported by several business commentators that if inflation is to be tamed, funding for NREGA has to be lowered and the way it functions has to be tweaked. But the UPA chose to give a deaf ear and a result, it is ultimately the middle class wo is suffering.

Frankly speaking, I have never admired this Gandhi scion. He has a legacy behind, which is why his voice is heard within the party and also everyone within the party defends him. He did give few shots to construct his own identity of the so called youth icon, by visiting his constituency villages, doing labor work, spending night, to which I believe he failed miserably at. Such acts of showing concern were always cornered around some major political event and he only tried to gain political mileage out of it.

My only suggestion to him, if he really wishes to work for the social good and the upliftment of the poor would be to detach himself from the party and work as an individual. If he does so, he surely would earn my respect for him. All political parties have the same/common agenda to empty the pockets of the public, make false promises, and stash away all the black money to swiss accounts. If only Rahul Gandhi can prove me otherwise..!!!

And lastly, its Father's Day today. Although one doesn't need a reason to celebrate happiness with mom and dad, it is always good to make your dad feel special one day unlike what fathers do for us everyday..!!! Here's wishing my dad, a great father's day and a very long long and happy life ahead..!!!

Celebrating the Green Day..!!!

What do you when in the middle of the road, an auto rickshaw driver asks you to GET OUT .!! As awful it may sound, this actually happened to 3 friends who were on their way back to a B-school, hostel in chennai after watching the movie ROBOT. Their only fault was that they were criticising the God of Chennai, Rajnikant as rude it may sound. This isn't a fancy imagination but actually a true incident which happened to one of the new Joinees @ Deloitte which she narrated. It was hillarious, and none of us could stop laughing after hearing it. And now that Rajnikant is being treated in Singapore, hopefully the god will be well soon and cheerful.

My brother recently shared an interesting piece of editorial written by Mr. Anil Dharker on the ongoing fast of Ramdev. The post can be seen here. I ahven't been able to follow much of the news off lately, but Ramdev Baba it seems is actually competing with Anna Hazare and also rather following it to the hilt. Anna striked a chord with the mass, but Ramdev Baba has had followers before who came to support him. Before his campaign, I had never heard much about Anna Hazare, but I am sure, like me there were many youngsters who could not resist themseleves form knowing deeper about this campaign, and somehow being a part of it. Ramdev Baba, no matter what anti-corruption fast he is upto, he seriously needs to get a reality check.on the future of his supposed anti corruption campaign.

Back here in hyderabad, it has been quite hectic for the past few days, with back to back training sessions, but I must confess that I am addicted to our very own dilli. No matter, how far I need to travel for college, shopping etc, I still cant get over it. Interestingly, over here in hyderabad, it just takes me 10 mins to reach my office, and evrything is located within a small circle. For two years I had lived in delhi, and everytime I went out of home, I cursed the over congested traffic, which is comparatively not quite the case here. The traffic is smooth, except in few areas in the evening when the office hours are over and also not much crowded. If I were to had differences drawn between the two cities, I will end up writing an essay :).

For all the people concerned or not concerned about environment, lets do our bit of saving the environment, no matter how miniscule the bit is, these efforts of ours willl not go in vain.

So Near, Yet so far

I was greeted with heavy rain showers in Hyderabad which was quite unexpected to what I was told by my friends. But I was delighted and crashed on bed as soon as I got to it.

The next day was going to be quite tiresome, as I started off with the house-hunting. I was eagerly waiting for it to finish so that I can go back home and watch the IPL-4 Finale.

Luckily, my wish was granted, and I was able to witness the run chase of Bangalore. Somewhere down the line I felt, that RCB underperformed. The fortunes of RCB turned around after the arrival of Chris Gayle. Last season of IPL-3 witnessed a mediocre performance by Gayle and henceforth his ouster from KKR. And if RCB has reached the finale of IPL-4, the credit has to be given to this Caribbean. This year before every IPL match, every cricket related show used to discuss the strategy the opposing team needs to employ in order to get rid of Gayle storm, such was his terror. RCB was solely dependent on Gayle, when they had to chase such a mammoth score of more than 200, and the moment I saw his wicket falling in the very first over, I knew that RCB has lost it. CSK deserved to win, with match winners like Raina and Morkel in the team. Shrinivasan must be rejoicing over his team's win, and must be contented that after all his tweaking of bidding plans, at the very last moment paid off :).

Today, after finishing off with the house hunting, we headed to the Charminar, in the old city of hyderabad. The moment you enter the area, you recognize the distinction between the old city and the new city (Hitec city) of hyderabad. If you have had the chance of visiting the old by-lanes of lucknow, and the area around Chowk, one would immediately notice the similarity in the two. The old hyderabad has the same charm as that of lucknow, and this comes from someone who is a native of old lucknow.

Above is the pic of the charminar, I was able to click in the absence of daylight. Exuberant I was after visiting the monument, as I believe that it helps me realize the importance of our ancestral history.

I start off with my job tomorrow and hope to have an amazing experience...!!!

The beginning of a new Southern Journey.

They say good things always come to an end, but I believe that the end is just the beginning of a new journey. Shifting to Delhi (for a year I stayed n NOIDA) three years back was the best thing ever happened to me in the past. I relish all my memories which I have stacked up over the years, be it making new friends, visiting myriad eating joints in the past couple of weeks and of course the metro journeys. The city has given me a new life if I had to put it down. Mumbai, I felt was very dismal, and by the time I returned back to delhi, I was certain of not going back to the city because somehow I never felt related to the city, unlike the way Delhi attracted me. And now after, three glorious years Hyderabad beckons me and this time I start afresh with a job at Deloitte. 

I am quite lazy when it comes down to writing, be it exams, essays, or even blogs, but today before I leave Delhi, I decided to kick-off my own blog-spot something I wish to remember as a departing gift to this city (:D). Being a very outspoken person I decided to convert my views into black and white, sigh finally. I promise to keep the blog a simple one to read for all my friends, and one of a kind.

Just when I was about to return from lucknow, I was told about the excellent weather in Delhi, which I regret missing out, but today is no different with a cool weather. I am happy that I would be leaving delhi on a rather cool note :). 

Right now, I sign off, but I give my word to be back, and rather become an active blogger in the coming days. Also, soon I would be sharing my experiences in Hyderabad..!!

Ciao..!!