Jai Ho!!!

Ok...I know I have again done the disappearing act...and I have a zillion reasons for it again…. lack of time, too much work, cant think of something…and the other blahs like that...nevertheless i think that all these are plain simple excuses and its clearly the fact that my silly mind couldn’t get enough thoughts to pen down...

and nor did i think they would...until yesterday!!

I am not at all a cricket lover…The only sport I truly relish is Tennis…and I follow it like a religion(not that I follow my religion like one!!)...but when it comes to Cricket, I have my own prejudices…there are times when I totally hate the game...and a lot of it has to do with my father, my cousin brothers...and my set of cricket fanatic friends...All of them have always hyped the game so much…that it kind of got irritating for me…I understood papa's reasons for loving it(he himself being a good player in his times...until he got busy with lots of other stuff in life)...but when it comes to the other people...I just could never understand the craze...!!!All the more since its not even our national game and the poor national game is in crazy shambles…while the cricketers in India are busy minting money….The likes of Sachin, Dhoni, Dravid and etceteras have so much money with them that the next 3 generations can have crazy fun without batting an eyelid…and yet save enough for the next 2....

Having said that… Ofcourse just like any other girl,I do have my crushes on so many of them… Be it Peterson,or Dhoni;Pathan or Watson;my ever dearest Brett Lee ,Vettori or Warne…I think some of them are totally drool worthy…. and ofcourse I drool over them left right and centre

And comes IPL which by itself is the epitome of crazy money movements accompanied with scorching glamour.The biggies from all the walks of life having decided to have some fun with the excessivemoney in their bank accounts…and hence the concept of IPL…Cheers to Lalit Modi,(a man who was once a part of the poor Rajsthan Cricket council with unusual dreams in his eyes…) for having been able to sell IPL so well.

Whats most exciting is to see the greatest of the players from different countires coming together as a team…and voila how charming is that.Which means that I see Yuvraaj singh and Brett Lee as a part of one team and Peterson and Dravid as the part of another....Ahem!!!

My favourites are ofcourse the Rajasthan Royals.I loved the finals last year(the only match i saw from start to finish)and I totally freaked out on the match yesterday.From whatever limited matches I have forcefully seen in my life,I have enjoyed this one the most.What moments and what enthusiasm!!!Boy I was totally enthralled by Shane Warne and his team who were amazingly terrific.Ofcourse they had their weak moments with Munaaf Patel in a mood for some charity,but the ultimate win is what mattered…and they did..My love for Warne increased manifolds from the last season…he is that one leader who doesn’t need to say any un necessary jargons to win,he leads by example and he does it oh so charmingly…(wink winkI so totally hope that the Royals have a win this year too…Not because I am from Rajasthan,but because it is a team made of people who really have a lot to prove.It is a team who has people like Kamran Khan (who didn’t exist for cricketers,before Warne spotted him in the small town of Azamgarh)and the ones like Yousuf Pathan (who is hungry for the victory)…and some one like Warne who has the everyone against him(I can say that from the round of commentries I heard yesterday)…and who I feel is indeed the greatest Captain australia never had..(though I think Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting too are pretty good looking...mmmm!!!)

Being an avid cricket hater so far..I cannot sit and analyse the game and the jargons and the pitches and the reports….But I can just hope for some real nice and budding players to get the lime light they would have never got

So Royals…go halla bol

Of love...and life..

I claim to understand a lot of things in life…and then there is love..!!!

Its not about any of my romantic dreams,or some beautiful book I read..

Its not even about my perceptions on love..and nor of others…

Its just about how I wonder when people lose their mind in the wrong way when they are in love.

I have a friend at my workplace.Nice and sweet guy and truly, madly deeply in love with this girl who stays in Dubai.They have known each other for ages…. and finally started seeing each other a couple of years back…and for all this while the relationship has been long distance.

So,everyday at lunch time I would be bombarded with their long love filled stories,and I used to feel terrible that two people who were so much in love couldn’t be together.

He would plan nice little ,big ,huge surprises for her everyday..and when he was not working,we all knew where to find him..He would always be in the pantry talking to his sweetheart.We all totally loved having him around….and he would give us all reasons to.

He would often come home and we would strum the guitar and sing on for hours while Vin recorded our amateur performances…

He and Vin gelled along like brothers…and I kept getting my cooking lessons from his mother..And a thousand miles away from home,it indeed was a little family situation we were a part of…

But some how gradually I noticed that the sweet smiling boy had started getting jittery about little things. He would often get finicky, and weird .He was thinking a lot, was always on the phone and eventually started taking a lot of leaves too...Initially I presumed it was his back that kept troubling him like in the old times..On a few occasions me n Vin went to visit him over,his parents seemed distressed … but they would still try n be the merry people that they are… And some how things didn’t seem right..

Finally after a gap of 2 weeks, he came to work...and as we caught up for lunch, he told me..”Rich I am leaving”..

I didn’t quite understand what he meant by that…but on closer look at him,I knew what he meant .He was quitting the job to go ....to go and be with his lady love.

I first thought he had finally got a job in Dubai and was moving there,when he told me that he didn’t have a job…and was going there to look for one…I was shocked..

I knew..and so did he…that in the pathetic market situation like this, where people were being thrown out of their jobs ,he had taken a huge risk by quitting a well paying job…only because his girl friend felt that he didn’t want to be with her.

I asked him if he had thought about what he was doing?The answer to which was,

“I cant let her be alone….”

I was pretty shocked again… because I knew she lived there with her family..and was in no way all alone and by her self…But I knew that he had made up his mind and as expected ,all that I was trying to explain seemed gibberish to him.As the conversation proceeded… I kept thinking on what caused such a wise guy to do something so foolish …

When you are an only child..and your parents have retired…I guess there is a huge sense of responsibility and in those situations,if a person,who is incidentally a good friend too…makes such decisions,you cant do anything but feel helpless at the irony of the situation.

So finally,he applied for a 1 week leave( he finally listened to me and did not resign),and left for Dubai.

The very same week,came a shocker at our workplace,when about 100 people were fired as a part of the cost cutting measure by the company.

The process was simple,the people who were to be fired were called in for a meeting by their respective managers,and while they were being given the notice of termination,all their access were revoked.

And I don’t know why I was really scared about the whole thing.

I informed my friend about the situation,who by then was pretty happy being in Dubai..and making up for all the years he lost out on.

I knew once gone,he was not coming back until he had a job in his hand…and that’s how it has been till date

Its been 4 weeks since he’s gone;he hasn't called his manager to inform him of reasons on why he’s not back yet..

He is still struggling to get a job there …and its unlikely that he will…because the ever flourishing Middle East too is in shambles of the Recession...

This morning,he pinged me to tell me that he couldn’t connect to the vpn…he couldn’t access his outlook…his accesses were revoked…I tried talking to the IT guys,but I was directed to his manager,who seemed totally cold whe I went to him to talk…

I didn’t know what to do…I don’t even know whats happening…

Some how I don’t feel sorry for the state he is in..he asked for what he has got…But I do feel really sad for all that has happened..and I so wish I could reverse it completely..I wish I could make him think sane.

And in the middle of it..all I can remember is a saying…”people rise in love”

..And then I wonder why that girl,for whom he took so many pains,didn't understand that just because of her own selfish interests,she made him lose out on a lot.

And I wonder why…even after all this, he hasn’t got a lesson..to rectify his mistakes…

..and why he is not thinking of his parents who he has left all alone here…

…why is he so blinded by the cursory illusions of fame,power and quick money…..

This is just a person in my life who I came across...I am sure there are so many other people like that..who do not rise in love..but get drowned..who do not realise a lot of things untill they have messed them.

I have been through that phase too...but before I could lose myself in my own shadow,I came out of it..But then not everyone gets that chance in life..

I wonder why…when in love ,you are so blinded that you don’t realize your wrongs…

I wonder …..if it is really love…or just the illusion of it..!

Yet again...!

Yesterday as I sat at Shivanis house and surfed channels, I got a dose of another bomb blast,at Mumbai…The last blast in Mumbai happened in the year 1993.This was when Mr. Dawood Ibrahim was the reason behind this havoc, this inhuman act against the good people of India.
Today, it seems to be “The Indian Mujahideen” who have created this wave of horror on our beloved city of blinding lights.
I sit here and seethe, no tremble, no confront, anger!!! My country has become the playground of some misled idiots who believe that paradise is around the corner, yes once you kill a few good people. No disrespect to the prophet, may he rest where/what state he is in, but there is more to this Life …than killing!

I believe in our Constitution, in what our forefathers formulated on the 15th of August 1947 when we gained our freedom from repression, from slavery, from FEAR!!! I believe that the great warriors of our nation believed in a strong India, in a new India. But, I doubt if they were alive today they would have been even slightly pleased. I look at the so called “Heads” of our governments who sit in their posh houses surrounded with Z securities,to pass rulings which hurt no one but you and me,while the common man is dying of terror attacks. Vote bank politics, fighting over who is the leader of the “Minority”, fighting (literally…we have seen it) with each other in the lower house of parliament….Leaders?????

Where is the job which they have been asked to do??? Were they not supposed to help this country grow??? Make our great nation into what it is destined to be???

Coming back to today!! I wonder if we are safe enough from this mindless violence?? These buggers walked into the Taj Hotel, unnoticed, unquestioned armed with AK-47’s and grenades????? Man that makes my blood boil. Who is responsible for the safety of the city, of the 120 (accounted for on television and 300+ in reality) dead in the mayhem. Are those idiots who are sitting in the parliament done with their “COMMITTEES”? Or they still want to DISCUSS things so that they don’t lose their votes in the upcoming elections.
One British national has died in the attacks and the British government is in uproar. Every attack in the history of terrorism in India leads to hundreds dying, and what does our great government do: discuss issues in committees!!
Come on, we are not some country who has existed since 4000 BC to be facing this day because of these incapable jerks( read- politicians)!!! Today,when I opened the rediff.com to check the news related to the blasts,there it was…an advertisement for Sheila Dixit’s congress campaign!!! That’s the so called competent MEDIA of this nation..one of the largest in the world,yet indifferent…and all set to mint some more money.Switch on the radio…and you get to hear the RJ talking about benefits of Carpooling in Bangalore..Yes..it disgusts me…to no extent!

What are they going to give to the brave ATS guys who died.. and the hundred innocent others…? A pension, A cheque for 5 Lacs, A bravery award?? Why are they even dead??Just because they decided to protect common people like you and me…just because they were a tad more patriotic than us?
I am ANGRY!!! I am LIVID!!! What do I do??? What do all of us do?sit and probably write some more of these posts…crib over the coffee sessions…and then forget about it in a few days?Today the youth..US.. make up 70% of our population. We are the projected new hope of India. Yet what are you, me, and every single youth of India doing??? Nothing..!
I know, I am sounding like just another cribber, who sits in his plush office and cribs, what can we do?? This country has surely gone for a toss and I would rather leave India and live in the serene surroundings of Switzerland!! Yes,this is what all of us think..and this is the choice we make between improving the state of this country..or enjoying our lives.. I don’t doubt we are the most patriotic people ever in this history, we believe in dedication of Bhagat Singh, in the vision of Sardar Patel, in the might of Subhash Chandra Bose. But what do we do today????

Who is answerable??? I say the politicians.They say the Intelligence,(even the opposition) But sadly, it really is a vicious circle. We are the ones who somewhere are also responsible,simply because we don’t care.We don’t vote,and let one hoarde after the other set of useless ministers get into power and learn to IGNORE.What has our education taught us..and what really is the difference between us and the lakhs of uneducated young men who come in big numbers to support the politician rallies,in a hope to get a square meal for the day,absolutely nothing. And today, I blame everyone ,including myself…and members of my family too, I blame them because I don’t want my country to end this way,I don’t want ruthless and unwanted killings…I want all of us to work towards a peaceful India..an INDIA…which our great freedom fighters left to us..to live the dream they died for!!!

I don’t blog…I never have, this is just a siphon, for my anger, my frustration, my
disgust.



P.S:-That's Vin..and his thoughts on the Carnage In Mumbai...!