Pursuit of Happyness

Saw this amazing movie i.e. Pursuit of Happyness yesterday on my PC.Ok i know it is too late but still better late than never.

It is a story about one man's miseries in life. The best thing i like about the movie is how someone can lose everyhing in life and still have hope of rebuilding everyhing one day. How he can struggle through every problem and win against all odds.

The best sequence from the movie for me would be when Smith and his son are playing basketball and he tells his son that 'Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. Not even me. If you have a dream you got to protect it. Its people who could not do it themselves who tell others that they can’t do it either. If you want something go and get it.' The thought just moved me and made me take all things in a different way.

The movie is a must watch for all Will Smith fans and for those who love good cinema.

A phenomenon called Orkut

An old friend of mine...Someone with whom i used to play football in 5th standard in my school scrapped me today. For those still living in the old age in some desert ( how are you reading my blog ??) Scrapping is writing a message in someones scrapbook on Orkut. Orkut as defined in Wikipedia 'is an Internet social network service run by Google and named after its creator, Google employee Orkut Büyükkökten. It claims to be designed to help users meet new friends and maintain existing relationships.'

I have been a member of Orkut for the past 6 months and i am surprised to find out how many people still remember me in this world. Some people with whom i played and studied in school, some with whom i used to share a bus ride to school, some with whom i met at coaching classes, some who used to work with me and have now left the company. Generally some people with whom i have shared some part of my beautiful life.

The guy i have mentioned above was a gud friend of mine until he left school and we lost contact. The way he reminded me about him was by writing 'we used to play football together in school and you were always on the losing side.' Yaa that does remind me something.

It is just one of the friends i have met through the network.There have been some special people with whom i had lost contact and they suddenely appeared one day.It was great to know that they still existed on this planet and are leading a life just like me.It was surprising to know how much life has changed since i spoke to them last time.We exchanged numbers,addresses,emails and some notes on life.

There have also been some nice people who tried to be my friends.Like this one guy who looked at my profile and said 'U look like Gay.Wanna Enjoy.' I was so afraid of him that i didn't open my account for alomst 2 weeks. Then there was this guy who wrote to me asking 'Are u from some ABC school ??I used to study there when i was 3 yrs old and it looks like i know u.'I asked him to send me his snaps when he was 3 and may be then i will try to remember.

My sincere Thanx goes to the guy who invented this thing called orkut. Without your vision i wouldn't have had the oppurtunity to relive some golden days of my life. Just one request please include a feature where girls who do not accept invitations from guys for friendship should be banned from the using the network.

Home Coming

Its my seventh day at home today. YES !! i am on a vacation.

HOME... where i have the luxury of lying around whole day without doing anything....Eat the home cooked food that i always desired...Watch TV whole day without being disturbed....Where there are no client calls to attend...Where i don't have to give the status of work every 2 hrs....Where i can do any stupid act and still get away without being laughed at....Where i don't have to bother about my lunch and dinner... Yeah i am at HOME !!

Having spent almost 3 years outside of my home for earning a fat salary ( why do i have to lie ?? ) every home trip i have made has been special for me. No specific reasons ( should there be one ??) but just that i am coming back to the place where i have spent 22 important years of my life. The excitement of seeing my family, the oppurtunity to spend time with my cousins, the feeling of love,safety,care. All this and hundred other things make me run home as many times as i can.

But just wondering about how things have changed over time i felt that some things are missing...

Everyone here is busy with their own lives and daily chores. In fact it becomes difficult for me to get a time when all my friends are free to meet me at one place together. So i normally end up meeting them at different times at different places. The amazing fact is that it is only when i go to my hometown that some of my friends make a plan to meet. They hardly get time to meet each other even though they are staying in the same city. Just an instance of how much life and people have changed.

I believe that if you try to make time to spend with you dear once no matter how busy you are, you will make it. One of my friend said it rightly ‘ In your death bed you will not remember how much time you spent in office but you will regret how less time you spent with your friends & family’. May be it’s a wake up call for all of us.

Things with my family also look different. They have got used to living without me. They know that i have left for good and may or may not return in future ( career matters a lot). My mom takes leave from office as long as i am here and she makes it a point that i get to eat all my favorite food before its time to go back. She even takes care of my shopping and packs up home cooked ladoos for my friends back (my second) home.My dad makes sure that atleast once the whole family goes out for dinner whenever i'm home.My brother hands over the keys of the bike to me and travels by bus. All the relatives come over to visit us. Everyone tries to spend as much time as possible with me until it is time for me to go back.

It all is great but i sometimes get a feeling that it is a ritual that is being performed and things are not what they used to be. It feels bad when you work hard and stay away from your dear ones thinking that you are working for making their life better and then you find out that they don't need you any more...

May be i am over reacting and things are not that bad. May be its just that this visit has been at a wrong time. May be i am just bored, stupid , dumb...May be i am not able to see the love behind the faces any more.. May be things will be better when i come next...

Chalo itz time for me to pack my bags.I have to go back to the place of my Karma tomorrow...meanwhile i also have to answer my Mom's question 'Ab next time kab aayega ??'

Heart broken

The inevitable has happened today.Yes I had a break up.It was the only serious relationship I got into in my whole life. And I wanted it to last forever.

Some things about her.She was one of the good friends i had in my college. We were together for almost 3 yrs in college. She had a relationship with my best friend and many a times i acted as the messenger for them.I used to transfer gifts and cards from her to my friend and vice versa. I was like a good guy they knew. Someone who could be there for you when you need him. I advised them many a times and even helped them to resolve their fights. My friend as turned out later was not that serious about this whole love thing and decided to end the relation. There were tears all around and i helped her recover, bad mouthing my friend in the process.Her parents also came to know about all this and she had a hard time facing their anger.

The story ended.My friend has got married and even has a kid today.I left my hometown for job and she also got one in a bank.We used to talk as friends though and mostly we discussed career issues. My liking for her never ended and we got bit closer. She also discussed about the guys who had come to see her for marriage. I asked her once what she wanted in a guy and she told me all. I wrote a mail to her next day telling her that 'I had all those qualities that u mentioned u wanted. So am i eligible for you.' She understood my intention and with some talk accepted my proposal.

We used to speak 3-4 times a day on phone. Would mail each other and exchange 1000s sms in a day.It was a great time of my life and i looked forward to spending time with her whenever i went home.We were togther for last one year and even discussed marriage. As i was not earning that well and my PG ending next year we decided to wait till next year before i could look for a jump in my career and salary. As she comes from a business family and is earning better than me i needed to have some financial standing before we could look to reveal the things to our family.

But my last visit to home and we didn't meet.Everytime i called her to meet she made some or the other excuse.Not knowing what was on her mind i came back hoping for things to improve.

Last some days and we have not spoken properly. Some times we didn't speak for a day at a stretch. Whenever i called, it was like one way talk with me speaking all the times and for most of the things she replied in simple Hmmmmm.

I could sense somethin was wrong and today i got a message from her saying she wanted us to be just friends from now on. I called her immediately and
She said it was not possible for her to wait for me any longer with the growing pressure from her family to settle down.She said they wanted her to select a guy soon and get married. It was not possible for her to reject every guy she met. She could not tell her parents about me as she had faced lot of problems when they came to know about her relation with my friend. Her mother had cried and all hell broke lose. She didn't wanted a repeat of all this and decided to go with their decision.

All my request and assurance didn't work and she said she was sure that her decision was right.We decided to leave everything to fate and she said if by next year she didn't get married we might give it a try (Yes Try !!!).

I don't know who is wrong in this whole mess.May be i am too weak to go forward and tell everyone,may be we were not meant to be together,may be god is testing us,may be next year i will earn enough to convince people (who don't matter) that i am the right guy for her, may be...

Corporate Lessons

It’s been 2.5 yrs since I have been in the corporate way of life. Having spent some time here I think I should write down some lessons that I have learnt here (Oh no!! another management Guru in the making ??). I will try to update this whenever I can and will also try to remember these things in my journey further in this Big Bad world…..

1. Never give advice until asked for.Whatever you say as a gesture of goodwill
can be held against you.

2. Always document whatever work you do.Someone is sure to ask.

3. In the workplace we only have colleagues and not friends.They would do
anything to go up...even walk over you.

4. Always be committed to learn and explore.The day you stop learning you are dead.

5. Never fail to ask for what you truly deserve.It's the crying baby who drinks
the milk.

6. Work Hard.The hardest you can.

7. Always be clear about what you can or cannot do.Give realistic deadlines
which you know you can meet.

8. Never be afraid to raise an issue.It can be a bomb waiting to explode.

9. There is no job security.Be the best man in the team...someone who cannot
be replaced....and you will be secure.

10. Always keep your position safe,so that no one can point fingers at you if
something goes wrong.

11. Always be ready to help others.You never know when you might need their help.

12. Don't look for appreciation to come your way.It is not in your hands.
Be your own motivator.Give a pat on your back when you do good work and
kick yourself when you make a mistake.

I Miss..

I miss the early morning cries of getting up to go to school..

I miss the Rs 2 coin that was given to me every morning as my pocket money..

I miss the bus ride to school and the fights over a seat..

I miss the last bench where I sat trying to study with the aim of achieving something in life..

I miss the afternoon lunch with friends under the tree in hot afternoons..

I miss the Sports period and the football game with lots of guys from other classes..

I miss the afternoon naps before running for tution classes...

I miss the annual fests and the time we spent preparing for it..

I miss the free periods we had which we spent doing nothing..

I miss weekend afternoons with family sitting and watching daily soaps together..

I miss the summer holidays of lazying around..

I miss the happines i had when we moved to a new class..

I think i am missing life here..

Life or Destiny !!!

I found the following article somewhere. As I read it I could relate so much to it that I thought it was worth posting.I am sure there will be thousands of people out there who would be able to relate to it.So it goes out to all of them.

Its 7 : 30 a.m. and I stand here in the bus stop waiting for the office bus to arrive. I stand here in the same manner as I did a few years back waiting for my college bus. Little did I know then that things would change so much in 2 years; the sky under which I am standing seems to be looking at me and smiling .. It is perhaps the only thing that has acted as a witness .. watching the transformation of a loud and bubbly person into a quiet professional.

I wouldn't blame the professionalism for the change though. It is destiny, or may be you could call it life. Yes Life, esoteric in the true sense, for one does not understand why you meet hundreds of people everyday, work with so many, and still remain lonely.

I am now in one of the corner seats in the bus, looking out of the window watching people trying to catch up with "life" .. It's an hour's journey and the only company that I generally have is the chatter of the RJ. I seldom notice the person sitting next to me, for its going to be yet another stranger or may be you could say another acquaintance. It is annoying at times when the radio is switched off, not because I am cut off from the melody but because I would now be thrust with thoughts of the solitary journey ahead.

I can't help thinking about the short bus journeys to college ... well it's a paradox to call a distance of 30 KMs "short", but that is how it always seemed. A typical college day always begins in the bus with all the familiar faces; you look forward for all your friends to get in from the various stops, the reasonless giggles, the loud laughter that were stifled to avert the eyes of the lecturers and professors who would watch on us as if we were their prospective prey for the day ... well as I said it was a different life then. The pleasant memories of college are in itself good enough to save me from the misery of the bus journey.

I notice that it is time for me to get down and flash my smile of acknowledgement to all the known strangers that I see as I approach my cubicle. A few of my colleagues greet me with their morning wishes and as always, we exchange our pleasantries. Discussions jump to the weekend plans and I wonder what I'd do over the weekend.

It would be just another day staring at the mobile, wishing it would ring and bring back some wonderful moments that are now missing in life or maybe the safer option would be to come to office, for it's my new founded asylum these days. A few years back, weekends or weekdays didn't matter to me, I was always busy. I always stood doubting the authenticity of the wall clock that seemed to be in running too fast to perceive its movement. Alas, now it seems as though my clock is suffering from some kind of paralytic attack.

There is a time in life, where one needs to go ahead, leaving behind your friends and carrying along only memories. You do make new friends, but then you never get the old close ones ... you do meet people who'd be so good to you that you could tell them anything and everything, but you do not find a person to whom you needn't say things ... friends who just know you. Occasional calls from such friends, have been the only thing that I seem to look forward to .....However,I cant help but notice the uneasy pause that lingers around the conversation ..A pause not because of the relationship, but because it is too short a duration to say everything, and of course you cannot completely rule out the paucity of words!

As I sip coffee from the ubiquitous coffee mug, watching the drops of rain, trickling down the tinted glass panes, veiling the scenic beauty outside, I tell myself, may be there will be a day when things will change, when life will offer a rewind, a recap of all the events and I just have to wait.

Capricious are the ways of life, for I know there would be many who'd be able to empathize with me, ironically, even the dear ones that I miss this moment, waiting perhaps...!!

And I keep on waiting...

Study Well !!!

This incident happened when I was traveling in a train back from home.

After having my evening snacks as I was getting back to reading, a man in his middle age passed by. He was selling cigarettes and pan supari.

A gentleman sitting next to me with his wife and a 5 year old son called him and asked him for a pack of supari. The seller gave him a pack and asked him for Rs.2.
The man was angry and he said that it was actually worth Rs.1 in the market. The seller obviously tired after long day’s work told him that he only earns 50 paisa on one pack as he has to give a share of the earning to the shop owner from whom every morning he collects the stuff for selling. He said he has spent almost 20 yrs traveling in trains like this selling something or the other.He pointed towards the man’s son and said his own son is as old as him. He said he leaves his motherless child everyday to come to work. Isn’t 50 paisa even worth his effort?

By that time the man sitting next to me had already reached for his pocket and was taking out money to pay to the seller. He initially refused and told the man to keep it. But after continues insistence from the man he finally agreed to keep it. Before leaving the seller kept his hand on the head of man’s son and said “Study Well!!”.

I realized that even such a poor man understands the value of education. He knows that the reason of all his sufferings is the fact that he was not educated. It made me appreciate the fact that I am one of the few people who have got an opportunity to study and make a name for my self.All the things that I heard from my elders in childhood about being committed to studies and only studies being the way to grow in life made sense to me.

This thought inspires me every time I sit down to study and stops me from criticizing my teachers and the education system. Well its rightly said
"Knowledge is power Supreme".

Life is a gift !!

I have not blogged for some time now but something happened today which made me come back and write it out.

While speaking to one of my friends today I came to know that her sister's two year old son is badly ill.On enquiring what had happened to him she told me that the child is very weak since birth.He is very sensitive to heat and dust and has to be kept inside a closed room. He just sleeps whole day in AC and can barely move much.He has to be fed and moved by them.

Recently he started facing problem in breathing and was kept in ICU for a week.The Child's body has become immune to medicines which has made it more difficult for the doctors.They have to use new medicines and hope it helps the child.After keeping the child under observation they advised his parents to take him home and keep him on Oxygen.Since returning back from hospital he has become more weak.Even when they have to change his oxygen cylinder and remove the mask he can barely hold his breath for few seconds.

The trauma that the family is going through is unimaginable.To see your young child struggling for life is not easy.The boy has not even seen the world properly through his eyes. They have enough money to get all possible medical help from any place in the world.As parents they have made a decision that they will try till the end no matter how small the hope of survival is.I think even if the kid survives the illness,he will lead a very difficult life due to his weak body.

This whole thing just made me think how lucky I am.I might not have all the riches of the world.Atleast I can breathe on my own.I can move around and see the beauty of the world through my eyes.I can work hard for my living and provide help to others as well.The thought made me raise my hands in appreciation of God's greatness.

The Quote by Robert Louis Stevenson never made more sense to me “The person who has stopped being thankful has fallen asleep in life.”