Life as it is!!!!

What is life?

There are two ways of looking at it.

• The way we are living
• The way we want to be living.

The way we are living may seem to be satisfactory to us but not to the ones who are close to us.

It can also be the other way round, where we may be dissatisfied, but not the ones close to us.

This is a state of affairs where we may be satisfied or dissatisfied with what we have in the present. It is just a feeling or opinion about the current status. It has nothing to do with the future, nor is it too clear about what exactly we want.

Whereas, the way we want to be living, definitely proves that we are dissatisfied with the current state of affairs and we definitely know what it is we want to be doing.

Life is all about two states of mind. What you are doing & what you want to be doing.

That's life!!!!

Amitabh Bachchan - Gujarat Brand Ambassador!!!!

This has been a hot topic. Too hot for me to ignore.

Mr. Bachchan who has always been seen with the Congress bigshots, all of a sudden accepted an offer from Mr. Narendra Modi to become the brand ambassador of Gujarat.

Now this is a good thing, as Mr. Bachchan feels that his name should be associated with a state that has been progressing at a very fast pace, under a leader like Mr. Narendra Modi.

The issue is that, the political scenario in our country would term Mr. Bachchan as a manipulator or a publicity hungry maniac.

Congress thinks that Mr. Bachchan should justify this move.

They have even asked him to justify the role Mr. Modi played in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

It is so amazing that nobody asked this affable personality to justify, why he was the brand ambassador for Uttar Pradesh.

Now when it comes to Gujarat, there are justifications being demanded.

Is Gujarat the only place on this earth where unfortunate things have happened to people?

Why were his justifications not demanded when the Babri Masjid was demolished?

Where was his opinion when riots took place in Meerut in 1987?

Why was his opinion not asked when the Taj Corridor controversy was at its peak?

Why was he not asked to justify the "best practices" of corruption Uttar Pradesh was famous for?

Whenever a person is attacked or his integrity is in question, there should be a certain level of uniformity maintained.

Gujarat Brand Ambassador was not something which was put on his head. He accepted it when offered.

It was a simple agreement (Offer + Acceptance)

And that is what counts the most!!!!!

Human Nature - Really Dynamic!!!!!!!

Nishith - Thanks for the inspiration for coming out with this one.

Human Nature

We always use this term when we talk about how something important was hashed up by someone not so important.

The shit ideologies of a person or his/her personality is never blamed for any goof up or mishap. It is always human nature which is spoken about and blamed in the same manner when Sachin scores a duck.

Why do I say Human Nature is very dynamic?

It is the character, personality, thoughts or attitudes of the person which gets him/her into trouble or puts someone else into trouble, however the blame goes on poor old human nature, which having the capacity to withstand such an assault on its integrity (or existence for that matter) still survives today, since the evolution of mankind.

It is the same situation when a small kid eats up all the goodies, and when the parents ask where the goodies are, the kid calmly points towards the pet dog.

Just an example. Request all the Maneka Gandhi fans not to take the previous line seriously.

Hyderabad!!!! Colours of Life!!!!!

Date: 24/3/2010

Place: Hyderabad

It has been 10 months since I moved down to Hyderabad, to pursue my MBA-HR (HECH R- as it is popularly known out here).

Honestly speaking when it comes to South India, I have always visited as a tourist. This is my first time as a resident. And it is definitely my first time in Andhra.

Now, lets cut to the chase - HYDERABAD.

Popularly known as the land of the Nizams.

Home to Golconda, Charminar, Hitech City, Deccan Chargers (IPL Champs 2009) and much more.

But this is not being posted with an intent to increase the tourism revenue for the city. There are many capable people who would do a much better job of it than I would.

Lets talk about life in Hyderabad.

People - The word "Bindaas" would be an understatement.

There does seem to be a very happy-go-lucky mentality that haunts the people of this land.

When I say this, they really know how to live life. I have seen people going back form work, stopping off to have a full chicken biryani before going home ( Do these guys actually have dinner when they go home?)

The best part about Hyderabad is the rickshaw drivers. Finding a guy who would be willing to take you to your destination and charge according to the meter would be the equivalent of witnessing the solar eclipse.

Rickshaw drivers in Delhi seem to be very reasonable after experiencing the lot in Hyderabad.

My favourite part is the lingo used here.

Normally in Hindi - Yes means "haan", here yes means "haao"

No means "nahi" or "na", here no means "nakko"

This is the Hyderabadi way of speaking hindi.

A typical statement made in a bus by a passenger to the conductor of a bus:

"Arre miyaan, busaa chalate ki hum tumhare sab kaachaa phod dalte"

Hyderabad - a place you would fall in love with.

My problem - IBS campus is 40 kms out of city limits. The number of trips I have made to the city are not enough for me to fall in love.

Sad!!!!!

Victim of Changes!!!!

Disclaimer: This has nothing to do with the smash hit by Judas Priest!!!!!

Change has become pretty normal these days. (Not the one used to purchase Rajnigandha & Manikchand)

Life changes too fast, sometimes it is not according to one's liking.

A person who happily accepts change, tends to get a better deal out of life.

A person who is forced to accept change, would not succeed, as he/she would waste most of the time remembering the good old days.

A person who refuses to accept the change, goes into frustration and is aptly given the title "Victim of Changes".

We can encounter stuff like this in corporate life as well.

A banking operations guy in the early 90s was just supposed to handle cash and stamp cheques for clearing.

Now if you check out the work culture @ places like ICICI Bank, where the branch personnel are handling cash, cheques, fixed deposits,etc. also have their sales targets for life insurance, general insurance, mutual funds, gold, loans and credit cards.

From organization point of view, this is called multitasking.

But if you look at it from the employee point of view, it is defined as change, particularly for the guy who has been into banking operations in the 90s as well as the 00s.

To put things into perspective, here are a few lines from the song Victim of Changes (inspite of the disclaimer @ the beginning of this post:

Takes another look around, you're not goin' anywhere
You've realized you're gettin' old and no one seems to care
You're tryin' to find your way again
You're tryin' to find some new...
Another woman's got her man
But she won't find a new...

Takes another drink or two, things look better when she's through

City Based Loyalties

An interesting experience!!!

We all know that the IPL is going on. This is the only time of the year when we tend to realize which part of the country we belong to.

Date: 17/3/2010

Venue: Feroze Shah Kotal, New Delhi

Fixture: Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Daredevils

Mumbai smashed 218 of their 20 overs. An achievement considering the fact that uncapped youngsters like Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu displayed fireworks towards the end, justice done as they were sent ahead of Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo.

Delhi were cruising at 68-2 after 9 overs. My best friend Nishith was following the match on rediff. That is where it all started to go wrong.

Being a Maharashtrian and a die hard Sachin fan, I was naturally supporting the Mumbai Indians.

Nishith was all out for Delhi (as that is the closest IPL center to his home territory)

As i came into the room, we started following the match together.

Delhi was 68-2 when i entered the room. Within 45 minutes, they were all out for a 120.

Nishith thought that it was my presence and not the tornado launched by the Mumbai Indians, which wiped out Delhi in the middle of nowhere.

When I came into his room, he was chanting "Jai Dilli".

But being my best friend he was also chanting "Jai Maharashtra" on my behalf.

Finally after the match was over ( As Mumbai butchered Delhi by 98 runs), life was back to normal.

I was chatting with my warden regarding the television subscription in the hostel (which has to be renewed, because of which we have to follow matches on rediff).

Nishith got back to studying Leadership. Test in class next week, otherwise there was no intention of him doing so.

Moral of the story - We may belong to a particular city or a region, which makes us passionate for certain sports. But when such moments are experienced with friends from other cities, it is the kind of friendship which one would cherish forever.

However, according to Nishith it was my presence in the room which lost Delhi the match, so I would have to make Delhi win the next battle ( not bottle - just in case you did not read this line carefully Nishith).

It just struck me,what the atmosphere in the room would be if Mumbai & Delhi play this years finals.

Nishith -