sangyaheen संज्ञाहीन

You will be missed

2008-12-24T01:11:00.002-05:00

I am sad; I had been following Lalita's blog for a while now and just realized she had passed away. I couldn't figure out when, but it's of little consequence. Those who are thinking 'what's the big deal' haven't been here. LM, you will be missed. Your readers adored you, and are missing you.

LM, I know you never subscribed to the 'yeh dil maange more' philosophy, but I feel sad and deprived. Deprived of not having shared even an opinion on your blog, of not picking your brains even once, of not having tried either.

You went beyond the horizon, and it's not an irony that my feelings are best summarized in the same poem of yours; I can't resist quoting it here.

And so
We went on dreaming,
Searching.
When truth stood stark before our eyes
We said this is not the truth we seek,
This is not the light we want.

And so
We never spoke
Letting things lie
Each of us commanding

Willing things to die.

This is not what I wanted but I realize I have little control. I am just sad, annoyed and angry at the cruel world we live in.

You are the one who made me look at trees and birds from a different perspective. I can't even figure what all I picked up just reading you.

Adios lady, from someone who will be fan, always. May you rest in peace.

On the right side

2008-11-21T00:18:00.003-05:00

For once, I find myself on the same side as Javed Miandad.
It's time for BCCI to shrug off its monopolistic tendencies.

Railways to nominate OG as a World Heritage site

2008-09-22T11:59:00.002-05:00

It's a proud day for all Oak Grovians - Indian Railways have decided to nominate Oak Grove as a World Heritage Site to UNESCO.

More here.

दुश्मनी

2008-09-12T14:05:00.005-05:00

कभी ख़ुद से इतनी दुश्मनी कर मेरे दोस्त, कि तेरी रूह भी तुझसे ये पूछे
कि तू इतना ज़ालिम क्यूँ है?

Lost maps

2008-09-11T00:37:00.002-05:00

The Indian government, apparently has lost the original maps of Nagaland. More here

Well, IMHO, it may not be that bad a thing. Think of it, if all maps of the world, counties, states, cities were to be lost, burnt, shred and deleted (from electronic media). It wouldn't be that bad a thing. I can foresee an end to a lot of fight over petty regional and border issues. What's your take?

Origins of Cricket

2008-08-09T15:17:00.007-05:00

I always thought the Brits introduced this game to the world, but this is a little over the top for me even as a die-hard fan of the game.

May be The Vatican will send a team to the next ICC event!

भारत अनोखा राग है

2008-08-08T23:48:00.003-05:00

Kisi patthar ki moorat se

2008-08-06T21:43:00.004-05:00

An old memory refreshed. I recall hearing this first on Rangoli over a decade ago. And the lyrics somehow suit the ~~ambience~~ mood today.

yoodleeyoo

2008-08-04T13:21:00.008-05:00

Today is Kishore Kumar's birth anniversary.

Apparently, this is his most viewed song on you tube.

Kitchen Catastrophes

2008-08-03T00:23:00.007-05:00

A Sunday morning is a good time to do something that you haven't don'e for a while, and with such a noble idea I venture in the kitchen to make myself some tea. Nothing exotic, as simple as a cuppa could get. And while the stuff heats up, I decide to checkout the Sunday TOI and it absorbs me for a while; until I nostrils smell something weird and I realize that a disaster has struck. I rush to the kitchen, and it's full of smoke. Open the windows, turn on the exhaust and in a minute, I get a clear view of what would have been a hot cup of tea. The white sprinklings, I realized are ashes while the rest of the stuff is charred red label tea and a coat of soot all along the wall.

This is the second time in less than an year that I have done something like this. The last time it happened, I was distracted by an email I was in the middle of. And it was a bigger disaster in terms of magnitude and set off the fire alarm. I was in Nashua back then, and was boiling water to cook some Maggi in a thin aluminium saucepan and realized the horror only when the alarm went off! The aluminium thing or whatever

remained off it (the thin sheet of metal had melted away and deposited on the plate below the heating layer) was terribly hot to move around and place it anywhere else. Still I tried and molten aluminium dripped over the vinyl floor and wooden kitchen top. Finally, it was time to clear off the smoke and get the alarm to stop blaring. Portions of floor and kitchen top were charred by the molten aluminium and I ended up losing some of my deposit for the apartment.

Let me tell all the sceptics that I am not that bad a cook, and most of my stuff is palatable. Ok, swallow-able, if there is anything like that.

The only respite is that there have been no fires yet. I hope to keep that record intact.

Left - Red hot ashes.
Top - Ashes and the charred remains.

A multi-billionaire! Not anymore

2008-07-30T09:09:00.002-05:00

Check this out

Edit: Make that a trillionaire. I never knew such words existed! Even m-w.com was stumped!

The Search

2008-06-19T23:16:00.004-05:00

बंजर है सब बंजर है -
बंजर है सब बंजर है
हम ढूँढने जब फिरदौस चले,
तेरी एक तलाश में....

Thus end all meaningful searches of my life..

(फिरदौस - garden)

Edit - The poetry is Gulzar's, in case someone had a khujli.

Pajamas to assist swing

2008-06-04T18:25:00.001-05:00

Debut for high tech pajamas - courtesy the tech savvy Kiwis. More here.

The cleft stick

2008-06-03T18:06:00.004-05:00

What a sham!
It would be really funny but for the situation that stares us in our faces today.

the first showers..

2008-06-03T17:49:00.007-05:00

जब घुंघरुओं की बजती हैं बूँदें, अरमां हमारे पलकें न मूँदे...
and then...
महफ़िल में कैसे कह दें किसी से, दिल बंध रहा है एक अजनबी से.

How weather evokes strong memories of the yore. On the drive back home from work, the heavens opened up and the-already-drenched-me had to take a break at a road side tapri where this song played.

Is mod se jaate hain

2008-05-31T15:40:00.003-05:00

Gulzar, RD, Lata and Kishore... Need I say more.
Bad poetry from me. But check out what I am talking about - an absolute lyrical marvel.

Firefox 3 - Do your bit

2008-05-29T07:38:00.000-05:00

Pledge here.

xkcd unplugged

2008-05-27T04:28:00.001-05:00

Here is it.

What Type of Writer Should You Be?

2008-05-14T00:51:00.000-05:00

You Should Be a Science Fiction Writer

Your ideas are very strange, and people often wonder what planet you're from.

And while you may have some problems being "normal," you'll have no problems writing sci-fi.

Whether it's epic films, important novels, or vivid comics...

Your own little universe could leave an important mark on the world!

What Type of Writer Should You Be?

Ramadoss quarantined

2008-05-08T05:43:00.005-05:00

I am sitting in my office and writing this; although I have lot of work to do. Why? The honorable Supreme Court of India just reinstated the ousted AIIMS director, Dr. Venugopal. Frankly, I feel Ramadoss is Sreesanth of the union cabinet; always in the news for wrong reasons.

Check this out:

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/bitter-pill-for-ramadoss-
venugopal-reinstated/64826-3.html

Some Poetry on a dull Wednesday evening

2008-05-07T22:28:00.002-05:00

Just in case you haven't come across this yet.

Another microsoft gem..

2008-05-02T22:44:00.002-05:00

This is what MS has been up to. I somehow suspected it has always been the case, but here is ample proof.

"We understand that the main problem is online web sites that find security holes so as to be able to run code locally. Code that runs locally used to be able to damage your system because it ran with the highest privileges. So - rather than block up the security holes - Microsoft have decided to clamp down on all local web page active content so that the user has to agree to various dire warnings before letting it run."

More on http://www.phdcc.com/xpsp2.htm

A classic case of solving the wrong problem.

The unseeded Frenchman from Le Mans

2008-01-27T06:46:00.000-05:00

When was the last grand slam final so engrossing? Federer-Nadal contests are almost folklore, but this one beats them all on just going by quality of tennis on display. The last contest that comes close can only be the US Open final few years back when Federer beat Agassi. As Vijay Amritraj and Alan Wilkins in the commentary box concede, they haven't seen the tennis ball being harder than it has been today,

Thanks JWF for such a wonderful Sunday. You may not win today, but you definitely belong here. Keep those volleys going, you remind me of pistol Pete when you play them. And don't let that smile vanish from your face! As for Novak, may you win many more.

The last time when neither Federer nor Nadal played in a Grand slam final was Aussie Open in 2005. And since then the tennis world has bowed to the greatness of one man, who has been pronounced the greatest ever by the pundits. And now, we see a new world order emerging.
There are two more reasons to watch tennis; and another one in Ana Ivanovic who went down to Sharapova yesterday. They have done almost all they could do to put Serbia on the world tennis map.

P.S. Novak wins it 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6. The presenter rightly calls the contest 'Gladiatorial'.

Right vs Left

2007-12-13T11:43:00.000-05:00

This isn't about communists and conservatives, this is about my brain, although I wonder if I can still say I have one after taking this test:

Here is what showed up for me:

Left - 52 %, Right - 48 %

You are more left-brained than right-brained. Your left brain controls the right side of your body. In addition to being known as left-brained, you are also known as a critical thinker who uses logic and sense to collect information. You are able to retain this information through the use of numbers, words, and symbols. You usually only see parts of the "whole" picture, but this is what guides you step-by-step in a logical manner to your conclusion. Concise words, numerical and written formulas and technological systems are often forms of expression for you. Some occupations usually held by a left-brained person include a lab scientist, banker, judge, lawyer, mathematician, librarian, and skating judge.

Now, I am none of these, nor I do want to be one. I may have second thoughts about being a skating judge though.

Your left brain/right brain percentage was calculated by combining the individual scores of each half's sub-categories. They are as follows:

Your Left Brain Percentages
48% Linear (Your most dominant characteristic)
44% Sequential
34% Symbolic
34% Verbal
34% Reality-based
9% Logical (Your least dominant characteristic)

Your Right Brain Percentages
55% Concrete (Your most dominant characteristic)
38% Nonverbal
30% Holistic
29% Intuitive
29% Fantasy-oriented
17% Random (Your least dominant characteristic)

Logical -9%, I rest my case.

P.S. Just in case you tried taking the test and score better on logic, let me know.

Motivation, marriages and Modi

2007-12-07T10:24:00.000-05:00

No, I am in no mood to disburse gyaan to all and sundry, but if you felt a lack of motivation anytime in your life, this is something you may want to lay your eyes on:

It's Not about the Bike: My Journey Back to Life

Any other good recommendations on the subject are welcome. People around me are getting married; and anything to keep me occupied with other thoughts will do! Like many other things, it is funny as long as it doesn't happen to you.

Modi is back to bashing his sister-in-arms Sonia. I wish political correctness would mean excluding words like caste, religion, majority, minority, secularism, pseudo-secularism, reservation, et al and all their variations from politics. Rich and poor should suffice; and you may add middle class. Sometimes I am inclined to think that the Indian constitution is fundamentally flawed; we might be better off without such 'noble' ideas. I might be oversimplifying things, but in Gujarat, it seems there is no need to be politically correct either. To me, these are the weeds that we would do well remove from our psyche. The graffiti I read in a restroom (and posted a few months back) is particularly relevant here and worth pondering over.

Out of damp and gloomy days, out of solitude
out of loveless words directed at us, conclusions grow
in us like fungus; one minute they are there, we know
not how. Woe to the thinker who is not the gardener,
but only to the soil of the plants that grow in him.

- Friedrich Nietzsche

The Homecoming..

2007-10-21T18:41:00.001-05:00

It was a pleasant surprise, my colleagues (who are more like an extended family) took me out to lunch today...it was more like a farewell party... yes, it is time to pack up and go...go home..I am not sure if that is a correct statement, but I am going..to India..for good.

It has been a a little over an year here, and when I came in, I didn't really like it. But as the weeks went by, I would shirk aside the dislikes and move on.. And that is the real crux of it. I don't know what the real America is;, is it the chaos of Manhattan, or the easy going folks around here in New Hampshire. The first impression of this land of opportunity (loo for short) was that it was so different from Europe, and it still holds. I obviously refer to the people. And I guess it has a lot to do with the volume of immigrant population here. But that's just an explanation, and it is not going to change how I view this land. Here are my initial thoughts about this place, just in case you were wondering.

The packing is tiring. There is a ton of stuff that I need to dispose off, but just recalling the price I paid for some of them makes me cringe. How does one pack up effects amounting to an year's worth of life in a couple of 30" x 20" x 14" bags? But that is a digression, and I am a little too happy to crib right now.

Homecoming has always been a happy affair. When we were about to leave for vacations (for those who don't know, I went to a boarding school), a classic way to start small talk on the dinner table was that this was the n'th last time we were having this kind of food. When we were served fish (on Wed'days for dinner) that no one would like, we would say I am eating this for the third last time this year. I still remember the menu - each day of the week and every meal of the day still seems a recent memory. Back then, packing used to be fun. You wanted to leave almost every item of clothing behind, secretly hoping your parents would buy you new ones. And of course you wouldn't have to carry heavy bags. The last day invariably had an exam, and we would fight tooth and nail to schedule the easiest (like Civics or 'Work Experience') or the craziest (like Sanskrit) for the last day. And we would race to run out of the hall to meet our parents who would have come to take us home. Some of the lucky ones had an 'authority letter' from their parents that would allow them to go home by themselves. I never had such an opportunity, until I appeared for my last exams, and I would always be jealous of those who were going home 'alone'. I guess my parents never realized I had grown up, and I am not sure if that has changed. Back then, being alone meant so much fun. You could trek all the way down to Rajpur with a backpack and take a local bus to the station instead of the boring one and half hours on the regular bus, or could have poori chhole instead of the mundane rajma chawal, and also grab a thums up with it (If you are thinking what's the big deal, let me tell you that our vacations began december 1st, we were in Dehradun and it used to be really cold; no sane Indian parent would allow a child to have a cold drink in that temperature). Some would skip the dinner altogether, and squueze out a movie at Prabhat, Krishna or Natraj or a rasmalai at the kumar sweets at Ghantaghar. Just before the vacations, as the classes remained suspended for the exams, we would wander around the school, in an area that we called the peninsula and the front pitch. Here is a link in case you were interested. The peninsula would offer a great view of the doon valley (it was like u were on the edge of a cliff which faced the valley and had rocks on the other 3 sides, hence the name). Another name for the same area was 'sinhaasan battisi' as the rocks flattened in the center in the form of a seat with a not-so-convenient backrest and if you sat there, you could see the shivaliks giving way to the plains of north india. But that was one place where we grew up, came to know each other and make friends for life.

Coming back to the present, there has been some excitement (a saner mind may call it relief) that is all-pervasive. There has been some shopping (mostly online) and some futile gift searches have not helped my planning. Hopefully things will fall in place in the next couple of days, before I take off.

P.S. I wonder how I have not managed a post till date about my school. Perhaps, there hasn't been a compelling reason. I hope to find one soon!

The disappointment...

2007-10-14T11:06:00.001-05:00

Was up all of last night, with a Sam Adams hefe and a sandwich to fuel it...And they (do I say we?) lost again..So much so that my 11 year old cousin didn't feel like celebrating his b'day. So much for hope...and yet the flicker is undiminished...

Choked...

2007-09-30T08:45:00.000-05:00

Yes, this is about cricket, and about South Africa. Here they go again. The sequence is so close to the epic '99 semis that it's hard to believe. Two boundaries and a runout! I feel for the South African cricket fan. And yes, a certain player on the sidelines may not be in contention, but he is doing his bit.

Oktoberfest

2007-09-29T15:23:00.000-05:00

Just to give you an idea of how BIG is it. How would I love to be in München at this time of the year! Needless to say, I love hefeweizen.

RD Goes....

2007-09-14T04:06:00.000-05:00

Disclaimers are the order of the day when you talk of Indian Cricket.
I am a big fan on RD, the man and the player.
It is 5.00 AM and I am up not to write this blog but wrap up a stupid document that I was supposed to finish yesterday for a customer.
I am no good at writing obituaries.

Now, What the heck happened? Against all my wishes, I ctrl+t to cricinfo, to check on the T20s and the headline says RD has resigned! How, why, OMG...Why does it always have to happen before we are to play Aussies? The curse of Oz, a particular willophile friend of mine might say. The other day I was discussing RD's captaincy with this friend of mine, and we kinda concurred that it leaves a lot to be desired, the decision to bat first in the decider at Lords being one of them.

Did I tell you that hindsight was a funny thing, and most of our decisions will be looked upon by future generations (if at all) in shock. But now that he has resigned, discussing what he did as the Captain of team India (as all the media has cried horse to tell me this technically fallacy) is a moot point. Pawar and Modi, for all your marketing crap and minting gold with the viewership, people might call you the best CEO or salesman in Corporate India. But tell me your one contribution to the cause of improving Indian cricket. You guys suck when it comes to leading: your man-management is horrible, and some of your policies an utter shocker ( I am not going to rant about a monopolistic, power-starved regime of yours in my blog). So you couldn't anticipate what was coming, could you. Well, frankly I don't expect any better. Enough of my rants; BCCI, the sooner you would dissolve yourself, the better it would be for the game of cricket in India. Period. Why in another post, I got that doc to complete.

Let's look at some recent captains and the way they have exited the stage

Kapil Dev - never saw eye to eye with SMG - and although you lead us to glory unsurpassed, thankfully you did not choose to prolong your captaincy for as long as your career (as far as i recall of those days).
SMG - Again, power hungry, and monopolistic, I can't recall how you left, on various occasions.
BSB - No idea how you got there in the first place, lol!
GV - This is no place for gentlemen, as I realize today!
DBV - no idea what he did as Indian captain.
RJS - Nipped in the bud..lol!
KS - Tried your best to stick, but the glue had a limited shelf life
MA - After a long tenure, you should have known when to leave, but left it to the messiahs to make the decision, and didn't push come to shove the second time?
SRT - So unhappy when the old order was established, and all those senti stories in the media didn't make you look as innocent as you have told us u are. Thankfully, u knew better the second time.
SCG - For all the good you did to the Indian psyche, you should have known that it was too stressful a job for anyone to retain his sanity after 5 years in the seat. We prefer communists wearing chappals to the parliament than Chappel showing us the middle finger. And you didn't come out of that nasty exchange with your head held high.
RSD - For a man with a cooler mind than anyone in the list, you probably knew better than most of your distinguished predecessors

(Vaas bowls a wicket maiden first up as Kenya chase 261...no this is not a 50 over match) .

Now that leadership question will be discussed all over print and electronic media, chat forums with the wise offering all gyaan, come on, take your pick, who should succeed RD. In the past, BCCI has chosen to stick to the senior people, and if they go the same way, either of Sehwag, Yuvraj or MSD is a choice (I am keeping it safe for now, lol.). I just hope they don't go back to SRT or SCG or VVS (in tests). But different captains for tests, ODIs, and may be T20s as well would sure be a one way to cool off the hot seat. Take your pick BCCI, prove me wrong, prove it to me that you got a brain that could manage people and not just dollars.

I am going back to writing that stupid document. Did I tell you I love Fridays?

Gyan in unexpected corners..

2007-08-06T08:57:00.000-05:00

As soon as I lay my eyes on it, I thought it would make a good blog post... Checkout the pictures below.

Sorry for the trouble, but there wasn't enough space and light to get a single good picture.. for those who cannot connect the two pieces, here is what it says:

Out of damp and gloomy days, out of solitude
out of loveless words directed at us, conclusions grow
in us like fungus; one minute they are there, we know
not how. Woe to the thinker who is not the gardener,
but only to the soil of the plants that grow in him.

Google didn't tell me who JDM was, but it told me that the profound thought came from none other than Nietzsche. So here is the complete verse(or is it just a quote), JDM happened to miss a few words...

"Out of damp and gloomy days, out of solitude, out of loveless words directed at us, conclusions grow up in us like fungus: one morning they are there, we know not how, and they gaze upon us, morose and gray. Woe to the thinker who is not the gardener but only the soil of the plants that grow in him!"

Too bad google didn't tell me was where could I get a fungi cleaner for these :(

If you haven't been able to make out where I got the pictures from, let me give you a hint. There is a clue in the bottom right of the picture. And there are not too many places where you can find such graffiti. If you still cannot figure this out, you know whom to ask.

Travel travails...

2007-07-28T18:36:00.000-05:00

Let me introduce you to my constant twin companions, but that would be a futile exercise...my apologies if the picture doesn't look great, in all fairness they deserve a better deal...not counting the abuse they have suffered from my own hands ever since I landed in this country... this picture was taken last evening after a delayed flight from Cleveland was further delayed due to bad weather in Newark whereas I was in Boston :(, and some further delay as the shuttle I use to commute from my pad to Logan was long gone; and I had a few moments to spare, to stretch my rusty limbs, and get some fresh air...

It's been a full year on the move...and it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon, but that is a different story, for another time....

Being a small time consultant has its own charm, but it erodes after a while...and all that you thought was exciting; traveling, going places, meeting people and the fun that is usually associates with these activities begins to diminish...sometimes you feel like you are on the run, pushed into places you never though you would have to see, and fake smiles to unknow faces every week...not to mention the vagaries of hotels, the expensive beds that you wouldn't manage a decent sleep in, just because your body is not used to it..the vagaries of traffic in every city, from the turtlesque traffic speeds of Ohio and Minnesota to breakneck in California, to perpetual bad weather in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the sunshine of New England; from the mountainous terrains of Pennsylvania(not again) to the flat corn fields of Ohio..to crazy roads and traffic rules of NJ to the fluidity of Michigan...the great desi restaurants that you can find in California, NJ and New England to the not-so-decent stuff thrown in by desperate people in other places...ah...the list is getting long...not to mention the crazy salespeople from airlines and rental car companies who talk to you as if you were still wearing diapers and sucking your thumb (this is one thing I really hate)...and would ask you the same stupid questions time and again...to meeting all sorts of people on board a plane, varying from ones who would sleep through the flight to the ones who would move every muscle in their body while sitting in their cramped economy class seats and wearing seatbelts...to some charming flight attendants to the not-so-friendly ones...from the air traffic radio you get to listen to on united flights, to the cacophony of security announcements on others (read Continental)...from the mini pretzels I have never eaten except on flights to united's wonderful in-flight meal service (you have to pay, but it's worth every penny) ..from the routine takeoffs and landings that you see...to the thrill of watching a plane swoosh across yours in mid air in the blink of an eye... when you actually feel the speed of air travel....the experiences are more than humbling....There is so much more that you absorb than you see. And I say this only because I never consciously thought of most of the stuff that I talk of above.

Sometimes, when you cannot get something you have yearned for most of your life, when misses are by whiskers than by miles, when your life is halfway into doldrums, when someone somewhere is lost... for ever, when all doors are shut, all alleys appear blind, the wind has been knocked out of your sails, and you are beginning to lose it, there are no answers to glaring questions....when you feel it is time for you to start all over, when cognition becomes synonymous with fear..... a fear of loss, defeat, pain...and disaster....when there is hardly a thought that evokes dulce et decorum est; when your past is the proverbial albatross and the future a bottomless pit....when you feel like getting away from your own self...the self which you once dreamed of nurturing...the self which is hurt more than you are; when your sounding boards appear distant and isolated...it perhaps is best to get away...to run..run hard...and fast..to alien lands..amidst alien faces....where there is no one to run away from....to a place where this song befits you...

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I made such a choice (as if there was another) sometime back...and I thought I had escaped...when my demons continued chasing me...there was no getting away from them...but an escape provides you a breather...to think...and act....

It has been more than an year since I made that decision....I am not sure if I have chased my demons away, but surely fear of my own self has dissipated....I am still not back to where I could start nurturing my soul.... on a side note, this reminds me of someone who actually made me say those words more than 8 years ago...where are you my dear....and where is that diary of yours where I wrote 'what I wanted to do' and this was one of those things...ah..those were the days..but coming back...I am still alive...and human...and that is enough...I remember reading somewhere that travel was as good as education...and there is no denying it. No university could teach you what you learn under open skies, in shady streets, amidst foreign cultures between unknown faces....So if Harvard rejected you, it may not be such a bad thing, after all. Happy traveling!

गुलज़ार की त्रिवेणियाँ

2007-07-21T13:27:00.000-05:00

Got hold of some real beautiful verses from the master....they are reproduced below verbatim..

१. माँ ने जिस चांद सी दुल्हन की दुआ दी थी मुझको
आज की रात वह फुटपाथ से देखा मैंने

रात भर रोटी नज़र आया है वो चांद मुझे।

२ सारा दिन बैठा, मैं हाथ में लेकर खाली कासा (भिक्षापात्र)
रात जो गुज़री, चांद की कौड़ी डाल गयी उसमें

सूदखोर सूरज कल मुझसे ये भी ले जायेगा।

३ सामने आये मेरे, मुझसे बात भी की
मुस्कुराये भी, पुरानी किसी पहचान की खातिर

कल का अखबार था, बस देख लिया, रख भी दिया।

४ शोला सा उतरता है मेरे जिस्म से हो कर
किस लौ से उतारा है खुदावंद ने तुमको

तिनकों का घर है, कभी आओ तो क्या हो?

५ ज़मीं भी उसकी, ज़मीं की नेमतें भी उसकी
ये सब उसी का है, घर भी ये घर के बन्दे भी

खुदा से कहिये कभी वो भी अपने घर आयें!

६ लोग मेलों मे भी गुम हो के मिले हैं बारहा
दास्तानों के किसी दिलचस्प से एक मोड़ पर

यूँ हमेशा के लिए भी कोई बिछड़ता कोई?

७ आप की खातिर हम लूट भी ले आसमाँ
क्या मिलेगा चांद चमकीले शीशे तोड़ के

चाँद चुभ जाएगा तो उंगली में तो ख़ून आ जाएगा

८ पौ फूटी है और किरणों से कांच बजे हैं
घर जाने का वक़्त हुआ है, पांच बजे हैं

सारी शब् घड़ियाल ने चौकीदारी की है

९ बे-लगाम उड़ती है कुछ ख्वाहिशें दिल में
मेक्सिकन फिल्मों में कुछ दौड़ते घोड़े जैसे

थान पर बांधी नहीं जातीं सभी ख्वाहिशें मुझ से।

१० तमाम सफहे किताबों के फ़ड़फड़ाने लगे
हवा धकेल के दरवाज़ा आ गयी घर में

कभी हवा की तरह तुम भी आया जाया करो।

११ कभी-कभी बाज़ार में यूँ भी हो जाता है
कीमत ठीक थी, पर जेब में इतने दाम नहीं थे

ऐसे ही एक बार मैं तुमको हार आया था।

१२ वह मेरे साथ ही था दूर तक मगर एक दिन
जो मुड़ के देखा तो वह दोस्त मेरे साथ ना था

फटी हो जेब तो कुछ सिक्के खो भी जाते हैं।

१३ वह जिस सांस का रिश्ता बंधा हुआ था मेरा
दबा के दांत तले सांस काट दी उसने

कटी पतंग का मांझा पूरे मुहल्ले में लूटा!

१४ कुछ मेरे यार थे रहते थे मेरे साथ हमेशा
कोई साथ आया था, उन्हें ले गया, फिर नहीं लौटे
शेल्फ से निकली किताबों की ज़गह खाली पड़ी है।

१५ इतनी लंबी अंगड़ाई ली लड़की ने
शोले जैसे सूरज पर हाथ लगा

छाले जैसा चाँद पड़ा है उंगली पर!

१६ बुद बुद करते लफ्ज़ों को चिमटी से पकड़ो
फेंको और मसल दो एड़ी से

अफवाहों को खूँ पीने की आदत है।

१७ चूड़ी के टुकड़े थे, पैर में चुभते ही खूँ बह निकला
नंगे पाँव खेल रहा था, लड़का अपने आंगन में

बाप ने कल दारु पी के माँ की बाह मड़ोड़ी थी।

१८ चाँद के माथे पर बचपन की चोट के दाग नज़र आते है
रोड़े, पत्थर और गुल्लों से दिनभर खेला करता था

बहुत कहा आवारा उल्काओं की संगत ठीक नहीं!

१९ कोई सूरत भी मुझे पूरी नज़र आती नहीं
आंख के शीशे चटखे हुये हैं कब से

टुकड़ों टुकड़ों में सभी लोग मिले हैं मुझको!

२० कोने वाली सीट पे अब दो और ही कोई बैठते हैं
पिछले चंद महीनों से अब वो भी लड़ते रहते हैं

क्लर्क हैं दोनों, लगता है अब शादी करने वाले हैं।

२१ कुछ इस तरह ख़्याल तेरा जल उठा की बस
जैसे दियासलाई सी जली हो अँधेरे में

अब फूँक भी दो, वरना ये उंगली जलायेगा।

२२ काँटे वाली तार पे किसने गीले कपड़े टाँगे हैं
ख़ून टपकता रहता है और नाली में बह जाया है

क्यों इस फौजी की बेवा हर रोज़ ये वर्दी धोती है।

२३ आओ बाँट लें अब अपनी अपनी हम
न तुम सुनोगे बात, ना हमको समझाना है

दो अनपढ़ों को कितनी मुहब्बत है अदब से!

२४ नाप के वक़्त भरा जाता है, रेत घड़ी में
एक तरफ खली हो ज़ब फिर से उलट देते हैं उसको

उम्र ज़ब खतम हो , क्या मुझको वो उलटा नहीं सकता?

२५ तुम्हारे होठ बहुत खुश्क रहते हैं
इन्ही लबों पे कभी ताज़ा शेर मिलते थे

ये तुमने होंठों पे अफ़साने रख लिए कब से?

And if you have enjoyed reading so far, let me know which one(s) you happen to like most.

Envisioning a new world....

2007-07-10T21:28:00.000-05:00

I somehow happened to glance over the copy of USA today that was slipped under my door my door this morning. And it really got me hooked up. Check this out:

New Rules could rock the wireless world

It's just what these oligopolistic bunch of carriers need; a hard kick on their shins. Till date, these carriers have sabotaged the aspirations of millions of customers and got away with it. It's time for some determined action to inject the concept of free-market in their I-need-more-money psyche.

I am asking you, yes you, are you happy with the the quality of service rendered by these companies? If you are, you may be one in a million. There is a real scarcity of quality handsets, and the service is totally unreliable. sample this from my experience, my t-mobile phone works fine in two places (only, if I may add): my home and freeways, and there is no assurance about the later. Most of the other places I travel to, including my workplace, and the hotels I usually stay in, I have to rush out under open skies every hour if I am expecting an important call, just to ensure that I at least get my voice mail. but then, you even pay for listening to your voice mail. Every time. WHY DO I HAVE TO DO THAT? Most phones have enough memory for a few voice mails to be downloaded, but you never heard of that option, did you. what outlook express did to emails more than a decade back is yet to be replicated by these carriers. Just because they want your hard-earned cents. This is just one example. I am not talking if wi-fi and other techno-zaz that iPhones and likes are rolling out. the iPhone is pretty innovative, but it comes with a price, and it's just the handset. there are absolutely no guarantees about the quality of service. Coming from India, the schemes these carriers offer can at best be said to be of medieval origin, at least in my opinion. And if you are getting sick of my rant, ask yourself one question: Do you get value for what you pay?

I just hope skype or google, even microsoft just buys out the newly-available bandwidth and gives the consumers what they deserve.

इसे कहते हैं गंगा उलटी बहाना

2007-07-08T23:14:00.000-05:00

ये पढ़ो।

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1108645

आमची मुम्बई ये कैसे लोगों के हाथ में पड़ गयी है!

अब टाटा और मारुति को कार बनने से पहले इनसे पूछना पड़ेगा; कहते हैं कि पार्किंग स्पेस की राशानिंग करेंगे; मतलब भ्रष्टाचार का एक और तरीका। मेरे ख़याल से टाटा वालों को चंद्रशेखर जी को नौकरी पर रख लेना चाहिऐ, मुझे पक्का यकीन है कि इतने शानदार आईडिया तो टाटा वालों के दिमाग में भी नहीं आ सकते। और ये तो मैं अनुभव से कह सकता हूँ।
जय हो एम एम आर डी ए की।

और कुछ दिन पहले मुख्य मंत्री विलासराव देशमुख ने ये कहा था:

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1108490

स्वयं ही पढ़ लीजिये मैं क्या कहूँ; लेकिन सारांश तो यही है कि इंद्र देव ज़िम्मेदार है मुम्बई की इस हालत के लिए। बारिश वैसी जगह हुई जहाँ इनकी तैयारी कुछ कम थी। वो तो भला हो इन नेक लोगों का कि इन्होंने मौसम विभाग को ज़िम्मेदार नहीं ठहराया। इतनी ज्ञानवर्धक बातें सुनकर मेरा मन अति प्रसन्न हो उठाता है। आख़िर ये लोग कितने समझदार हैं, और जनता कितनी मूढ़!

और डी एन ए वालों को मेरा बहुत बहुत धन्यवाद।

Safari 3.0.2

2007-07-08T02:58:00.001-05:00

Have been trying the new Safari beta for a week or so now...and the thoughts are mixed. If you are coming from IE 6/7, you may just love it, but if you are a Firefox addict anywhere close to me, you may be in for a slight disappointment. Let's see what I found...

New: snapback...ultra cool...and how thoughtful..when you do your next google, try safari..you don't need to track your search results page by going fwd or back..when u do a web search using your the standard search box..the results page is marked as a snapback page..so no matter how deep you have hyperlinked your way thru..you can get back to the search results in a single click...way to show...

Good:

Looks: the typical Apple looks more like QuickTime and iTunes...none of which are much to my liking, crisp toolbars and uncluttered buttons, the lack of lines separating the menu bars, the tool bars, the address bar, all merging onto one. the smallish status bar is cool, and you will not notice it unless you want to. All this translates to more area assigned to the web page and although it does not have an F11, I hardly needed it. that's where it scores over FF, but then even IE does better than FF in this department. the address bar doubles up as the page download status bar as well..and thats really cool..

Speed: Compares to and scores over FF in browsing speeds. Download speed is more or less the same.

stabilty - hasnt crashed yet...but then I havent used it so much..I forced it to crash..half expecting FF's restore session or something similar..but was disappointed..but then..it didnt crash..

Bad:

Navigation: No good shortcut keys, thats where FF is damn good, so I need to use my mouse all the time, a big pain in my fingers :( there is no ctrl+tab..the equivalent is ctrl + } or ctrl + {..so u gotta press shift as well..and that's a pain...

When you type in something in the address bar..and you get some matching choices to show up, you can't edit them as in FF..that's something which I don't do often, so it's not a major inconvenience..

Search: Defaults only to yahoo and google searches, no wiki, no answers.com..but hey, it's just a beta

bookmarks: the default install comes with hundreds of bookmarks: yahoo, NY times, and all the usual yankee crap..but its bookmark management is not that intuitive, like FF or IE; know what I mean..but honestly, I haven't tried enough yet..and yeah, it imports your FF/Mozilla/IE stuff by default. but there lies a catch. I want a central bookmark repository, not one for IE, one for FF and one for SF(Safari); and none of them has this feature. So I have to keep importing 3C2 times all the time :P. It also doesn't have the 'open in tabs' feature from FF..and that's another cool thing amiss here..

scrollbars: they are a real pain..esp with orkut, somehow it does not wrap up everything and I have to scroll an inch horzontally everytime.. I call this a pita(pain in the @$$)...

blogging...good...I am typing this in SF, there is a marked difference between this and FF as I can see how much I have written. Let me confess my laptop has a small screen, and I use a small resolution of 1024 x 768. It is so much better than FF, where I would use F11 all the time..again, for all its good stuff..the Devanagari transliteration is screwed big time..FF does a wonderful job when it comes to showing Devanagari fonts..SF has some homework to do..first up, it messes up with the इ and ई symbols...and moves them around the consonants...so not much fun there...it also screws up the mixed consonants and although you cn read it, it's an eyesore..but wattheheck..it's a beta..I just hope they fix it..sooner the better...

Advanced web features: Not that great with custom UI..php and js things...some things that are expected didn't show up. not sure how good it is at running applets..but then who has designed web apps keeping safari in mind..it's not going to hurt anyone..

ugly: nothing really..

summary: it's a good cross between the appearance of IE and the speed and usability of FF, but as many a wise men said...miles to go...I am a avid fan of microsoft (I hear knives being drawn ;))when it comes to UI...but this is as good as it gets with a beta...and it beats FF 9 out of 10 times when it comes to speed.

verdict: download, install and use...and it's not FF losing it's share... it's IE.

P.S. Here is what it looks like. See for yourself..much more content..but the transliteration went haywire

What's cooking?

2007-07-07T15:15:00.001-05:00

Nothing exotic there, I must say; but I don't have a clue why I did such a thing. If you don't understand what I am saying, you obviously haven't experimented enough!

The after effects....

2007-07-03T13:03:00.002-05:00

Overheard: There are some days when you only have the hope of happy hour to give you strength.

And a master piece from Private Opinion
दिन गुज़रा बड़ी मुश्किल से, फिर तेरा वादा-ए-शब् याद आया

Jokes...

2007-06-25T19:04:00.000-05:00

I don't know why, but I keep running into really funny stuff...

Sycophancy redefined...

and this is just on the back of this one...
It happens only in ...

And another one....

http://navbharattimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2151935.cms

Federal...are we?

2007-06-25T18:42:00.000-05:00

I am back, with more political masala :)

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/202619.html

So Mr Moily and team recommend legislation to give sweeping powers to the center in case of 'breakdown of constitutional machinery'. If I were to list three most hated and most misused terms in India's post independence political history, they would be the emergency, the numerous instances of the so called breakdown...and the one that I have talked about in my previous posts..secularism...

the first and third tend to give dictatorial powers to the central government, and the second has defined post babari politics of India, although I must say that the literal meaning of the word is more than forgotten..but let's not digress here..i was talking of Mr Moily and his team's recommendations.

Prima facie, I would welcome the move to empower the center to deploy armed forces in extreme situations, but we cannot overlook history here...These powers will hardly be utilized in a godhara-gujrat scenario, or a more recent gujjar-raje-reservation scenario..they would be probably be used against naxalites, the north-eastern states..and wherever the central government sees an opportunity to grab power...

breakdown of constitutional machinery inevitably leads to president's rule in a state...I don't know why the government is hell bent on a new legislation for this scenario...if there is a breakdown, u impose president's rule, and send the armed forces..why bother with a new legislation...the only reason i can think of is that the imposition of president's rule has to be passed in the parliament's both houses, and this act would summarily bypass and such procedure...so the law and order in a state is in the hands of the central government while there is a puppet government in the state capital..aren't we giving the prime minister musharrafsque powers?

And while you ponder over (just in case), let me know your three most hated words in indian polity...

Polity...redefined..

2007-06-17T22:50:00.000-05:00

Gary is gonna eat his words, only if he was hungry :)

Just as I am going to hit the sack for a 3 hour nap...the hindu throws in this

the lady-in-waiting tries to be bold in her own backyard..and ends up infuriating historians and muslim social activists...mind you, she may be factually wrong (I dont know much of medieval history anyway), but the import of her statement should not be lost

Must say it's a nice beginning...only if she can carry the same attitude through her would-be-tenure. Hats off to you madame!

Polity thy name is ... secularism

2007-06-17T19:22:00.002-05:00

Check this out

So it does not matter who is a better candidate. All you need to be is 'secular' and flaunt it as well. The fact that these small-time wannabes of Indian politics are not able to make up their minds for supporting an ex Vice President against a near-anonymous candidate goes to highlight the insecurity of these regional parties. I am no avid supporter of Shekhawat, I can't recall what has he done for the people of Rajasthan, much less India. But then, who has. As for Patil, who just happens to have right marriage of feminism, loyalty to Gandhis, a surname (or middle, or whatever) to appease the Marathi jingoism and placate the Rajput शान and an not-so high profile name, all I needed to hear was her declaration that she will not be a puppet। Pardon me, madame; but who has ridden a royal bagghi on Janpath on the 26th January and not be on virtually a payroll of the ruling party. KRN and APJ are notable exceptions, and Indian democracy would be a lot poorer but for these men; but what is noteworthy is that they are puppets: KRN could not do anything but to watch Gujrat burn in hell, and APJ was coaxed to sign the office of profit bill. They tried, as much as they could, never mind the result, but the efforts would go a long way in redefining roles of the Indian president. Let's not flag the dead horses of operation bluestar and Zail Singh.

I cannot think of a single Indian who would not want Kalam to continue, except for the ones running the show from Lutyens' bungalows. All concerns point to the next General Elections, where the verdict, as has been recently, is expected to be fractured. That's has been the real कर्मभूमि of the Indian president, of late. Let's hope the chosen one stands up to the occasion when it comes, whosoever it is.

Prologue(s)

2007-03-25T22:03:00.000-05:00

Again, I am trying to type in some thoughts...and I have no idea what to begin with...I remember, in secondary school, when our English teacher asked us to write an essay, he would ask us to make sure we had a good introduction and a good summary and the body didn't matter so much...and as I type in, I see the introduction going terrible...so I think of the great books I have had a chance to read, just for the heck of inspiration ;) , and again I am a cropper; I am talking of the Bhagwadgeeta and the Ramcharitmanas....Now no mortal can dream to copy the god himself, so I will move on to the next. I still remember my father reciting the first couplet (or is it a quadruplet!) of the epic verbatim on countless occasions; and I still don't know it by heart; but yes I know that the great Tulsidas offers his regards to the goddess Saraswati, the equivalent of the nine muses in Hindu mytho and Lord Ganesha, the god of all good omens.. (the couplet ends in 'वन्दे वाणी विनायकौ' meaning I worship Saraswati (synonymous to वाणी and Ganesha, a synonym for विनायक with some other grammar thrown in) and seeks their blessings further in other couplets, he does the same to other gods and powers that be....but lets not digress, I am talking of introductions and how they make up a literary piece (no, I am not saying this is one; it has a terrible startup anyway!); and how important it is to have one when u r writing something...

I do remember some other masterpieces:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness... (a tale of two cities);
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife ... (Pride and Prejudice);
Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show...(David Copperfield, one of the best pseudo autobios I 've read);
or sample this from 'shekhar-ek jeevani' by 'agyeya' (another pseudo autobio) -
वेदना में एक शक्ति है जो दृष्टि देती है; जो यातना में है, वो दृष्टा हो सकता है (pain has the power that provides vision to (the) one who beholds it (is allowed to watch);
or the first stanza from Dharmvir Bharati's Kanupriya -
यह जो मैं कभी कभी चरम साक्षात्कार के क्षणों मे बिल्कुल जड़ और निःस्प्न्द हो जाती हूँ, इस का मर्म तुम क्यों नहीं समझते मेरे साँवरे
(kanupriya aka radha, Krishna's beloved, sweetly scolds him that he does not understand her loss of sensation when they are with each other (and why)....
and lest someone complain, what could be more apt that this....the simplest and perhaps the best of all..and I hope it does not need any introductions...
What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old girl who died?...

well..I am not saying anything more..