London Dreams...

Watched London Dreams today.....

1. London is some place. The movie just made me remember the time when I visited the city. It made me remember how exciting it was for me to see the tower bridge from the plane when I traveled abroad for the first time.

2. Khanabadosh......Superb song!!

3. Salman rocks. But I like Ajay better. I like his attitude towards his goals. The movie conveys a nice message of accepting the fact that some people are simply better than you in what you do, just because they are gifted.

4. After this my desire to visit London once again, has increased.

Are you gonna finish strong...

Speechless after I saw this man on youtube .

No arms no legs no worries

Dada....

"... behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!"
psalm 133:1


I got a mail from my younger sister some days ago requesting for my US address. I asked her why did she want it all of a sudden. She wanted to post this years rakhee to me. Was just wondering about how wonderful is the relationship of siblings.
When I was a child, I had a friend named Sachin. Whenever he would get into a fight and feel outnumbered, he would threaten "back off, or I ll shout for my big brother". Most of the times it worked. I always envied him for having a elder brother who was always there to protect him. Some months ago my roommate in Michigan said in a conversation : "You should always have a guide in your life. Someone who is like an elder brother. With whom you can fight, yet ask for anything you need. With whom you can argue, yet know the fact that he would always be there when you need support. Who lets you have your freedom, yet is always there to protect you, to catch you when you fall. I have missed precious years of my career just because I did not have any person telling me what to do and what not to."
When I see "Jo jeeta wohi sikander" I enjoy the song where they show the brotherly camaraderie between Aamir and his elder brother when they are young.
Today when I am at a stage in my life where I am confused with my career, I miss the guidance of an elder brother, who unlike your dad, knows and understands what your situation exactly is. Not that fathers do not care or provide support, but an elder brother knows and identifies with your problems more than your dad does.



I like the character Salim in slumdog millionaire. On every occasion he is there to save Jamal. Although crooked, his heart always pushes him to save his younger sibling. When he saves him in the riots, or rescues his sweetheart from goons, or saves him from being blinded, or sacrifices his life at the end for him, Salim takes the form of a selfishly crooked yet a protective brother.

My grandpa once told me when I was a kid "You are an elder brother. God has given you the responsibility of protecting your younger sister. You are like a second dad for her. Do not ever hurt her again." I realize the real meaning of that sentence now.

There is a saying "Blood is always thicker than water", which means that your family would always support you more than your friends would. But to have friend in your family, under whom you can be carefree, who guides and protects you, who hits you when you are wrong, who is your partner in crime, who becomes your second dad , is a damn lucky thing.

Sindbad the sailor.....

This time its more like Sindbad and less like Alice.......I know a weird statement......but m enjoying the ride now.....learning hell lot of things.......the exposure that I get at work is excellent.......currently working on Oracle service bus(which was acquired from bea) , oracle service registry, IBM datapower.........web services......security systems........if it goes like this I will turn into a mini guru of SOA... :P ..... with good skills on IBM MQ, IBM message broker, Oracle enteripe service bus(the mediator) , oracle BPEL.......i have come a long way in the SOA world.....yet the journey ahead(if I decide to walk this path forever) is way too long and ardous......the important thing about being here is that I get to design systems......I dont go on coding foolishly for some client whom I have never seen......nor do I do production support(most of the times its knowing the system more than knowing the technology)........I get to participate in design meetings......I get to decide on security stuff......SAML, SSL, certificates..........I get to setup entire systems......like I have setup the UDDI here all by myself........sometimes its very scary......talking to people who are big.....really big......taking decisions which if gone wrong can screw up the entire system.......its feels like Sindbad........conquering storms after storms.....exploring new horizons......not knowing what the next tide brings with it........the fear is inevitable .....but the victory is so sweet that it all seems worth........I no longer feel like Alice.....as I felt when I was in UK.........so no tumbling down the rabbit hole at the moment......but riding the wild waves and conquering them...... :)

Random Rambling....

Climate here - Much better

Work - Not sure whats going on.

Home - Almost alone.

Weekend - Watched "Barah aana" , Naseer was as usual - Superb.

Pending jobs - Study DMV manual for the written test. Study for certification. Haircut.

Number of times I thought of returning back to Mumbai, in the last one week - too many.

Overall mood - Sad, Confused, Homesick.

Encounters with the maximum city - 7

It has been 3 weeks here now, at Albany NY. I am so close to the big apple. Finally I will get to see the one city i always wanted to visit. But in spite of this, I have a growing feeling of going back to my own city - Mumbai - the city of dreams - the maximum city - with maximum energy. So today being Saturday, I am just lazying around and indulging into random thoughts, like - What is it about Mumbai? I wasnt born in Mumbai, but I do not when I started loving the city. and I found out when it actually started. :) (Okay I know I am rambling too much about the city, but who cares :P)

It all started with Shahrukh Khan. Yes the famous actor known for the hard work and his great journey at Mumbai. In fact it was not Shahrukh, it was his movie "Raju ban gaya gentleman". The ambitious young lad who comes from darjeeling to Mumbai to make it big, his struggle, his friends during his bad times, his love, his success and at the end his honest heart that gets him past the glamorous but decieving world of the riches. Yes as a kid I was a die hard shahrukh fan.

I watched Raju Ban gaya gentleman so many times in childhood that I actually believed in it. That was , I guess, one of the reasons I always dreamed big. My mom used to tell me that we are not supposed to dream big(the typical middle class mentality), but my heart always urged against all that. And when I came to stay at Mumbai, the city always boosted my courage to dream big. Not that I am very big at present , but I certainly believe that I am on the right track.

I hope, rather, I believe that I will make it big like Raju did. Thanks Shahrukh, I definitely owe something to you.

Ehsaas....

Just heard this song after ages.....Joon used to listen to it often......Atif Aslam has sung it well......somehow I relate to the song.....

Mai ek fard hoon ya ek ehsaas hoon
Mai ek jism hoon ya rooh ke pyaas hoon

Kay sach ke talash hai
Durr akash hai
Manzil pass nahi
Kya tu meray pass hai

Kabhi mai aaml hoon
Kabhi beaaml hoon
Garr tujh mai nahi
Tou phir bemehel hoon

Kay sach ke talash hai
Durr akash hai
Manzil pass nahi
Kya tu meray pass hai

GAME ON!!

I am happy today........I got a project at Albany NY........i guess this is the storm that I was looking for.......real work.....real responsibilities.........m so looking forward for the challenge......yes this is what pulled me to the US(apart from money ;) ) ........I m all set to take it head on......GAME ON!!

Encounters with the maximum city - 6

Mumbai - bombay - I miss my city......yes its my city......i feel i belong there......i love the fast life......the bumbaiyya hindi.......the city......has a special place in my heart.......ever since i came to mumbai.....it was bombay then......i had an obsession to visit every metro city.....i have been to london.....and i ll be visiting New york soon.......when in mumbai i often was frustated about the crowd and the growing insecurity(Mumbai is the only city that has had more than 2 terrorist attacks)........yet today i realize why Mumbai is so close to my heart.......its the city that gave me my dreams.......its the city that taught me to dream......dream big.....i have spend my teenage years roaming around the city in locals.......shifting homes.......the struggle for life that i saw.......people who came out of it and made it big.......the city gave me the courage to look for challenges and conquer them........neways i started with this post to describe something else......but i guess everyone becomes homesick when they come abroad.......so I am.......and thats why this rambling.... :) .....


This story again is about the Virar fast train ....... it goes back to 2001 when we usd to travel from Vasai road to Andheri for our college..........so we used to board the 8 21 Vasai local.......now as the train approached the platform.......people used to dive in like fishes want to dive back in water when they are caught by some fisherman....(yeah i know a bad anology may be....i cudnt think of a better one....actually the people climbing the local would put even the fishes to shame...).....so there we were young 18 years old students wondering how board the train safely......so me and my friend came up with some really useful tricks to board the local in a comfortable fashion and yet secure a place for us.........

TRICK 1 : As the first class door came near and everybody was just about to dive in for the kill, we would shout loudly ...both of us in unison.......the shout used to be so loud that the people would get distracted just for a second and in that second we would jump across.......

TRICK 2 : If we were somehow not able to jump then it was really difficult to get in quickly.....then we would tag one behind the other......and the person in front would give a 'tapli'(a gentle pat on the head) to a person just at the door.....that person would look back to see who hit him and thus create a small gap to enter in and we would push the guy just behind him in that gap and get inside quickly.......

There were some more.....they all sound so stupid now.....but they make me laugh when i think of those times..........

Get busy Livin' or get busy dyin'

Back to random rambling.......its been quite a while that i have posted here......honestly i wasnt in the mood to post......so m here.....finally!!.....in the US......and my timing wouldnt have been worse than this.....this country is going thru a bad patch.....probably the worst that it has ever been thru.......u feel it when u come here.......right now i am looking for interviews and projects.......its not that i dun have enugh skills or that I am not well prepared.......its just the fact that everything depends on luck now......if i am lucky enugh i ll get a call from a recruiter......still more lucky - a client call.......and if i hit the jackpot - i get a project......right now m getting paid on bench......probably for another month or two......so right now.....things are not goin my way......but whe u ride against the tide.....everything does go in the other direction......so its just being "prepared for the worst and hoping for the best" thing for me now....... was watching Shawshank Redemption once again last week........excellent movie.......have been watching it time and again for years now.......some dialogues from the movie :

Andy: You know what the Mexicans say about the Pacific?

Red: No.

Andy: They say it has no memory. That's where I want to live the rest of my life. A warm place with no memory.

Red: I don't think you ought to be doing this to yourself, Andy. This is just shitty pipedreams. I mean, Mexico is way the hell down there and you're in here, and that's the way it is.

Andy: Yeah, right. That's the way it is. It's down there and I'm in here. I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy livin' or get busy dyin'.

Red -

Andy Dufresne, who crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side. Andy Dufresne, headed for the Pacific. Those of us who knew him best talk about him often. I swear the stuff he pulled. Sometimes it makes me sad, though, Andy being gone. I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright and when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up does rejoice, but still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they're gone. I guess I just miss my friend.


Andy -

Dear Red, If you're reading this, you've gotten out. And if you've come this far, maybe you're willing to come a little further. You remember the name of the town, don't you? I could use a good man to help me get my project on wheels. I'll keep an eye out for you and the chessboard ready. Remember, Red. Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. I will be hoping that this letter finds you, and finds you well. Your friend, Andy.


I like Andy Dufrense.....his integrity......the movie is great......

And I smile when i say "Hope is a good thing,may be the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."

Shauk hai....

This song makes me cry every time I hear it. I am writing this blog with moist eyes. The melody of "shauk hai" from Guru haunts me. Its the song of a dying person....the dreams of a dying person....When I saw this in the movie for the first time....with vidya balan's character dying with this melody playing in the background....tears went down my eyes.....hats off to Rehman....

Here are the lyrics (i got them at some site) :

Raat ka shauk hai
I aspire of the night

Raat ki saundhi si khamoshi ka
That earthen silence of the night

Shauk hai
I aspire

Subha ki roshni
That light of the morning

Bezubaan subho ki aur gungunati
Humming toward the mum morning

Roshni ka Shauk hai, ho shauk hai
I aspire of light, oh…I aspire

San sani anwlon ka
Of those pungency of amlas (I aspire to taste)

Ke ishq ke banwlon ka
Of those crazyness of the lovers (I aspire to have)

San sani anwle
Those pungent amlas

Ke ishq ke banwle
Those crazy lovers

Barf se khelte badolon ka
Of those clouds playing with the ice

Shauk hai
I aspire (to touch)

Kaash ye zindagi Khel hi khel mein kho gayi hoti
I wish this life were a child’s play

Raat ka shauk hai
I aspire of night

Neend ki goliyon ka
Of those sleeping pills (I aspire)

Khwab ke loriyon ka
Of those lullabies of dreams (I aspire to listen)

Neend ki goliyan
Those sleeping pills

Khwab ke loriyan
Those lullabies of dreams

Bezubaan aus ki boliyon ka
Of those (unsaid) words of mum dews (I aspire to listen)

Shauk hai
I aspire

Kaash ye zindagi binkahe binsune so gayi hoti
I wish this life had gone to sleep without saying or listening
anything

Subha ki roshni
That light of the morning

Bezubaan subho ki aur gungunati
Humming toward the mum morning

Roshni ka Shauk hai, ho shauk hai
I aspire of light, oh…I aspire

Encounters with the Maximum city - 5

Yesterday 26th November

2.30 pm :

"Hello Amit, Yaar mai aaj nahi aa raha office."
"Kya baat hai aaj fir chutti?"
"Haa yaar waise bhi aaj kuch kaam nahi hai, to socha ghar baith ke maja karu."
"hmmmm thik hai karo maje....mai lunch kar raha hu Gokul me".

I hung up the phone after informing Amit that I wont come to office.

10.00 pm :

"Hello, kya kar raha hai?"
"Padh rha hu yaar. Pak gaya lekin abhi yeh oracle padh padh ke."
"TV on kar."
"Kyu kya aa raha hai TV par."
"Arre kar toh sahi. VT station pe terrorist firing chalu hai.'
"Kya baat kar raha hai!!Lemme see."

I switched on the TV to see the platform, from where i board the local train everday, having unattended luggage all over the place with pools of blood here and there.

"Yaar yaha se to apun roj jaate hai. Kitne baje hua yeh?" I said.
"sade nau baje hua hai kuch."
"Fuck, saale apun roj 9 40 kaa train pakadte hai. Naseeb aaj mai nahi aaya."
"Haa mai toh just 30 minute pehle nikla hu CST station se train me."
"Blast bhi hua hai Parla me"
"Kitne hue hai?"
"1 hi hua hai total."
"Thank god ek hi hua hai."

Both of us knew what luck had saved us from.


This has been the worst terrorist attack till date on an Indian city. There was a blast on the western express highway near Vile Parle. Terrorists attacked 7 places in south Mumbai. The situation was the worst at the Taj hotel, the oberoi hotel and the Nariman house. Today we were given a off due to the rescue operations being carried out at the place near the office building. My office is located very near to the mantralaya. The oberoi hotel and the leopold cafe are just a walk away from here.

One of my friend who called up yesterday said proudly " Mai to jaaunga kal office(he works at a different location than I do). I wont let the spirit of Mumbai die."

Many questions haunt my mind from yesterday :

Why are we so proud of the spirit of Mumbai?
Is it not the same spirit that is killing us?
Why do we forget the wounds that these bastards cause us in a day or two?
Why do politicians make a blame game out of these attacks instead of securing the city?
Why don't we refuse to let this city run unless given an answer by the leaders?
Why don't we demand an answer for this?
Why do terrorist activities have to be a part and parcel of our lives?
Why cant we have a secure life?
What are all the politicians offering us for the votes that we grant them?
Why doesn't someone crib against the terrorist as they do against the North Indians here?
Is expecting a secure life in Mumbai a crime?
Why do my friends laugh at me when I tell them that this city is not safe for me and that I do not feel secure here anymore?
Why don't they realize that they are sitting on a volcano that can erupt any time at any place?
Why do they want to be proud of the fact that they are the torch bearers of the spirit of Mumbai when they themselves believe that the security system is all fucked up and incapable of restricting these anti social bastards?

I am no different than my friends are. I will board a train to CST station tomorrow morning. But I am no longer proud of the so called spirit of mumbai.

As I said before "The spirit of Mumbai never dies, what dies is - is the common Mumbaikar."

And to some extent this very spirit of the dream city is responsible for killing him.

Encounters with the maximum city 4

It was year 2001 - We used to stay at Vasai in the quarters allotted by MSEB. I had just secured an admission at Sardar Patel College of Engineering at Andheri. I used to travel in the first class compartment of the Vasai local(the railways offered 50% concession to students).

Scene 1 : Argument between two individuals at the gate.

The train was moving from Borivali to Andheri(this is the longest stretch that a fast train runs on the western line in mumbai). Person A and B were hanging on to the door besides each other. As usual the train was packed to the full capacity.

Person A : Abbe thik se khada reh naa.
Person B : Thik se hi to khada hu , bazzar me aayela hai kya?
Person A : Bhe@#$%d khada hai kopche me aur danda pakad ke rakha hai?
Person B : Bho@#d yeh danda chod dunga toh kya tera danda pakadunga?
Person A : Mad@#$%d khud kaa pakad naa , diya nahi kya bhagwaan ne?

I was standing just behind them with my friend Sanind. We could'nt manage to stop our laughter at hearing the two men abusing each other. Soon others started laughing too and thus the altercation gave way to people's amusement.

Scene 2 : Sardar who saved me.

We used to stand at the space near the gates resting against the side wall. When I was very new to the travel I knew nothing of the Virar local rules ( there are indeed many rules for the Virar fast train during the peak hours, for eg. , no one from borivali dares to board a Virar fast in the morning rush hour...rather the people dont allow them. "Borivali local se jaa bhe@#$%d" is what they tell to anyone from borivali who tries to board the train.). So I did not knew how to get down at Andheri amidst of the jam packed crowd. The train just stopped at Andheri and I desperately pushed myself in the crowd. Any person disturbing the flow of people getting down would face their wrath. I was too scared to react and was being literally thrown at the exit. At the exit I knew I would fall. And I did fall. I was so horrified for that one moment thinking of passengers running over me. Suddenly someone picked me with one hand and also resisted the furious crowd behind. "Abbe baccha gir gaya hai....bhe@#$do maar daaloge kya". I saw the surd picking me up through the crowd. He had powerful hands. He managed to hold me and resist the crowd at the same moment. "Sambhal ke bacche , yeh mumbai kaa sabse khatarnaak local hai". He gave me a smile and left in a hurry. He indeed saved me from a debacle. God bless the surd .


There were many other interesting incidents which I would describe later on. The Virar local is one helluva experience in peek hours. It is indeed the "sabse khatarnaak" local of the dream city.

The gateway theme...

Today is good.....I dunno why i am feeling so relaxed and at ease......working at my NIC desk I am enjoying the view from the 14th floor......the mantralaya, mumbai university,the naval dock,oval maidan, a glimse of marine drive and the distant indian ocean.....m listening to a very nice song......the gateway theme....from bluffmaster.......and then i write this mail to vaku.....

tumhe aise kitne din yaad hai Roy.....
your first job...pehla suit....pehli salary...
jab tumne ek ladki ko pehli baar chuaa....pehli baar chuma...
jab pehli baar tumhara dil dhadka Roy......

n the melody goes on........listening to the gateway theme at the gateway.......made me think of you......abhishek saala...... :)

but its very touching.......itne busy routines and itne alag alag raaste.......yet the haga moments of our haga gang make me smile everytime i think of them......

thought of sharing this smile with someone.......who better than the bacchan junior ;)

-- Regards,
Nilay.

PS : Vaku is heavily inspired by Abhishek bacchan.

Kanyakumari blues...

This post has been long due. I have tried to reproduce the scenarios as exactly as they took place. It was the third day of our ILP(Initial Learning Program) at TCS. I had hardly made any friends and I was reluctant to make any.I was going through a bad phase of my life at that time. Ankur Joon was from Delhi. He and a girl called Ashwini had planned the entire kanyakumari trip. I must say both of them were very enthusiastic about it.We reached at the sunrise point at 4 30 in the morning. We hardly slept the night before.

Pic - Joon and me.

To have a better view of the sun rise we decided to climb a huge rock that was situated a bit away from the shore and we had to cross the waves to reach there. Little did we know that the water in between had spiky rocks beneath. To have a grip we removed our footwear and started towards the big rock in the sea. The rock had a big "DANGER" sign painted on it. But we were so enthusiastic that we just went in. We had to cross a big gap between the shore and the rock and the waves were flowing in with tremendous force.

Joon , the stud boy, took the initiative and jumped across. I was shit scared to cross those waves and I was in no way going to jump as Joon did. I saw Joon climbing up the rock and thats when I decided to go for it. Half way through, the waves were so overpowering that they came till my neck with full swing. The taste of saline water sent a chill down my spine. I knew I would drown if I didn't get out of it quickly.

I saw Joon climbing up and took a deep breath and plunged ahead. The water was in my nostrils n in my mouth. Out of desperate efforts I put my feet down to withstand the force of the waves. What I did not realize was that 17 of 2 - 3 inch long small stones(they resembled small nails) went deep in my leg.

I climbed up the rock and happily shouted out to Joon that I had made it too. But something on Joon's face told me that he wasn't alright. His leg was bleeding and that's when I realized an acute pain in my left leg. I sat down and looked at my feet. I had never seen that much blood flowing out of my body. The winds blew with their mighty best and with them the blood was getting sprayed on my shirt. We hopelessly tried to pluck the stones out, but they were so deeply stuck in our legs that we had to get some doctor to remove them.

I looked at Joon and I knew that we were in big trouble. We had to cross the gap again if we had to get back at the shore. The pain was unbearable. Other colleagues fled from the scene as they were afraid of losing their jobs. Yes , the colonel at the induction center did not forgive such irresponsible behavior. We knew that there was no help available. We tied our handkerchiefs to our legs and started our way back to the shore. Man!!! Those 15 minutes of struggle were the longest and the most scariest of my life. Holding hands, me and Joon were crossing the same spiky rock bed waters again . The situation was so grave that we were constantly shouting "haath mat chodna , kuch bhi ho jaaye." (Don't let go the hand until we cross this). PD(who later became a very good buddy at ILP) came to our rescue and helped us reach the shore. I was relieved , but for a very short time.Our troubles had just started.

An inspector was watching us and as we reached the shore came near to us asking what we were doing on the "danger" rock. I knew that this was surely the end of our careers at TCS. Out of despair I started explaining him that we were sorry for overlooking the danger sign. That's when Joon shouted "bhaag jaldi"(run). And boy!!! we were running with our legs bleeding.After a while I looked back and the inspector was out of sight. I breathed a sigh of relief. We desperately needed medical attention.

"Hospital hospital" shouted Joon angrily looking at the dumb struck shopkeepers at kanyakumari. "BH@#$%^D , kisi ko samjhta nahi kya bol rahe hai....naa english naa hindi.....ch%$#&yo ko jakhm dekh ke bhi samjh nahi aa raha", I said. We could sense the panic. One shopkeeper somehow managed to tell us that there was a government hospital on the hill. We took the directions and started walking towards the hill.

Pic - The mighty Joon. This one was clicked at another beach.

I still remember that 1 km uphill walk. We were hungry, tired and in great pain. To make the matters worse the road was so full of sediments that it made our wounds pain more. Joon n me decided to talk. That's when we started acting like we were the most courageous warriors of the entire world. And seriously that talk helped a lot in diverting our attention from our pain.

7 o clock in the morning we were at the government hospital. The place was filthy. The doctor would arrive by 8 30. My mobile was drenched in water and did not start. Joon had his mobile working but we dint have the numbers of any of our colleagues(most of them were yet to have a SIM card of TVM). A nurse gave us tetanus injections and from then I knew why people hated government hospitals. It felt like the injections were shot on our arms till our bones.

The nurse tried removing the weeds from Joon's leg using forceps. I could see Joon was in great pain. Soon he started shouting "F%$k Leave me Leave me...I will faint". I guess the pain was unbearable. The nurse was also terrified. Looking at the huge Joon(who had a body and attitude that I always thought he would never give away for any pain) shouting like that I quickly decided not to let the nurse experiment on my leg. Soon the doctor arrived. She said we have to show the wounds to a orthopedic (i dunno if this is the right medical term...but it was something similar). By now we were much relaxed. The bandage helped too. We collected all our belongings in my shirt, tied them in like a bag and set towards the Kanyakumari student hospital. After descending the hill we learnt that the student hospital was closed for that day.

Joon asked an auto rickshaw person where the nearest hospital was. We had to travel to Nagercoil. It was sheer luck that I already had an account and money in it. Then as we both know the journey was just memorable. We enjoyed our pain to the core. Be it the injections that were shot on our legs, be it the metal needles poked on our hands, or be it the surgery that took place. I had seventeen weeds in my leg, Joon had 7.

Pic - Joon's injured leg. (my room) Goofy at his table.

On our trip back to the techno park at trivendrum we were hungry and sleepy because of the regional anesthesia doses. At the Nagercoil bus stand we were desperately searching for a restaurant. All we could find was a 5 star hotel nearby. The hunger was so intense that we went straight inside without thinking of our condition(I was in in my vests and jeans....joon in shorts.....one floater in hand one in leg.....disheveled hair.....). Man I never craved so much for food like I did that day. The anesthesia was overpowering our senses. On our way back in the state transport bus, we didn't realize when we fell asleep watching the loud tamil movie.

Pic - My wounded leg . Anuj at my desk.

We reached the techno park at 6 o clock and bought some fruits and stuff to eat. While going to my room I told Joon "mai aata hu tere room me 10 minute me.....sutta marte hai".......the hostel was empty.....joon gave a big smile to me.......and it felt great.....we were the two warriors of the day.....I still remember that moment when I ate some apples and rested on my bed thinking about the entire day.....the next thing that I heard was ....."Nilay uth jaa be.....class aaega ke nahi tu aaj....pair thik ho to chal...." goofy was saying while getting ready for the lecture.....The anesthesia had made me sleep the entire evening and night....I limped for the next 2 weeks......"langda tyagi" is what they used to call me then..... :D

The entire adventure cost us 8 thousand in total. But I guess it was worth it. It is till date the most adventurous thing i did in my life. And the friendship that me n joon shared after that was just splendid. Joon you rock dude!!! and ofsourse I rock a bit too... :P ....

Kanyakumari....will always remember the place......

Encounters with the maximum city - 3

Recently saw the movie "Mumbai Meri Jaan"...couldn’t resist from writing a blog about the ideas it triggered in my mind....I could feel what Madhavan's character was going through in the movie...the 7/11 blasts surely instilled a fear in every mumbikars heart....Just wanted to narrate an incident that happened with me a month ago...the Ahmedabad blasts had just happened...on a bright Sunday afternoon I boarded the first class compartment of a local train from chembur station for Vashi...the train was quite empty, yet almost all the seats were occupied(yes thats called empty in mumbai local trains).....as usual i just stood at the door, enjoying the breeze....suddenly I noticed a black luggage bag lying near the door.....there was only one person standing near the door...he was looking at the bag with a tense face....

Me: "Is this bag urs."
Other guy: "No it’s not mine, but the person standing with it just got off the train."
Me: "What the F*&k are you saying!!!"
Other guy: "haa wo banda utar gaya abhi chembur pe, kya karneka ab?"(the guy standing next to the bag just got down. What do we do now?)


I gulped down and looked at the bag.

"Let’s ask if it belongs to someone inside", I said.
"You ask that side I will ask this side", he replied.

I asked the passengers who were seated "Bhaisaab bahar ek bag hai. Kya aap me se kisi kaa reh gaya hai?”(Does the bag at the door belong to anyone in here)

After 5 minutes we were sure that the bag did not belong to anyone in the compartment. All of the passengers looked aghast.

"Yaat bomb thevla asnar koni tari. Aattach tar fodlet 10 gujrat madhye"(Someone must have left a bomb, like they did in gujrat recently) said a man to his wife. This intensified the situation even more.

"Abhi Govandi pe chain khicho...pandu nahi dikha to platform pe", said a big man out of the crowd. After 2 minutes the train approached Govandi station. The cops were sitting across a desk on the platform. People shouted for help and the cops came running before the train came to a halt. As soon as the train halted almost all of the passengers got down.

Suddenly some people shouted from inside the train " Arre iski bag hai....saala so gaya tha ch*%$ya"(hey the bag belongs to this fool. He was sleeping)

I quickly got on the running train. At least half of the passengers were left behind.

1st Cop to the bag owner: "Kay re kalat nahi kaa tula bag kuthe thevaychi te?"(Dun u understand where to keep your bag)
2nd cop: "Tujhya aayla mumbai laa navin alas kaa re? Saman sambhalta yet nahi...seat rikami disli ki ghar sodun dhavtil bh$%^&iche"(Are you new to the city. These people forget everything in the haste of getting a seat)

The big man : "Chu&^%$ya saala....khaali fukat G$$d faad diya public kaa...du kya kaan ke niche"(Fool, unnecessarily created panic)

The man was so apologetic that he almost was in the cops' feet.

I was standing at the door watching at the passengers. All of them looked very relieved.

13 years ago when I came to Mumbai, it was still abuzz with the 93 bomb blasts, but today after the 7/11 blasts, and the blasts happening all over the country, the people of Mumbai have come in terms to live with a new fear. Some people say “the spirit of Mumbai never dies”. What dies is the common mumbaikar.
“Mumbai meri Jaan” portrays a very sensitive and sad reality of the city.
The movie ends with the song:
“Aye dil hai mushkil hai jeena yaha…..jara hat ke…..jara bach ke…..yeh hai Bombay meri jaan”

Appreciation for me!

Got this one from goofy today . Thnx buddy :)

Dear Nilay Sundarkar,

You have been appreciated by Rohit Kumar.

Appreciation Note:A great buddy and a sensible advisor, this fellow has contributed a lot to my learning in the matters of corporate existence and general life. As roommates at ILP center, we had a great time where I learnt a lot from him. He is one of those few people I have met who are very positive and damn enthusiastic about life. He doesn?t fear any challenge and fights till the end to get what he wants. In case he loses, he will ensure that he learns something out of it. Great going, brother. Keep your spirits alive!!

All the best.. . Keep up the good work!

Warm Regards,
TCS Gems Team

Jaane Tu Yaa Jaane naa.

Well....this is not a review........but I liked the movie.......particularly the part where Genelina talks to her brother Pratik Babbar. He asks her "tujhe mere koi friends yaad hai".......that moment touched me.......also when he asks her to see his room......n then his paintings.........Loner......I have been one for the major part of my life.......restricted within my own walls......not open to everyone......I was just wondering how many friends do I have......no one from my school,high school, junior college........ofcourse some may remember me as a distant face........had it not been for the 4 -5 friends from engineering I have and 2 - 3 from ILP, I would have been a perfect loner. I am glad that my friends push me to stay in touch and I owe a lot of happy moments to them.......but still......a loner's world is not dull as most people think it is.......rather it is very beautiful........i remember my friends(or rather my now friends) in the first year........how they used to be......how they behaved.......but I would seldom be a part of their memories.......except for the last three semesters, i barely exist in anyone's memory.......there was a simple reason to this......i was alone.....i did not make friends.......people who sat with me on that special last bench of the 2nd row of FE C at SPCE were my friends.......the spot near me was always the filler for the latecomers......sometimes i feel bad about those times....but thats the way i was......rather thats the way i am......an ambitious introvert..... :D

Encounters with the maximum city - 2

"Do Wada Paav dena bhaiyya", I tell the small wada paav stall person in the midst of crowd asking for wada paavs, bhajiya paavs, etc. He hurriedly hands me two wada paavs with slightly more chutney in one wada paav. "Here you go Hari", I signal Hari to take one wada paav. I deliberately keep the one with more chutney far from him so that he chooses the other one. "That's alright dude, I don't like extra chutney", he winks at me.
We stand beside a small newspaper stall. Looking at a magazine which shows Anil Ambani's photograph over it and I say nonchalantly "This city has lost love. Everyone seems to run behind money these days. Look at these filthy rich brothers. What on earth made them fight for money and divide their father's kingdom."Hari is busy eating the wada paav and looks at me with a chuckle on his face. He is about to say something and our conversation is intercepted by a urchin coming towards us.
Hari looks towards the sky, trying to signal the urchin to move ahead. I try to do the same. But for some reason I notice her teary eyes. The urchin is a girl, maybe of 12 to 14 years old. She has a baby tied to her waist. She looks at me and says "Saab khaane ko de do, paisa nahi chahiye". I try to look away but something in her eyes tells me that she is really hungry - may be for more than one day. I ask the stall person to give her a plate of bhajiya. She takes the plate hurriedly from the person and sits in a corner to feed the small child on her lap. Both Hari and me look at her with curiosity and then she yells "oye , jaldi aa idhar". A small girl younger than this girl but elder than the baby rushes to the scene from no where. She eats up a majority of the bhajiyas. We observe that the elder girl hasn't eaten anything herself.
Irritated by this I ask her , "khaya kyu nahi tune". She looks up with a faint smile which vanishes as she speaks. "mere bhai behan hai saab, kal se kuch nahi khaya hai." Then with hesitation she asks from the corner of her eye "ek wada paav le lu saab". I signal the person to give her a wada paav.
We pay the wada paav person and start walking back towards the office building. At the signal as we wait for the traffic to subside I blurt out unknowingly "This city hasn't lost the love".
A thought lingers in my mind that day "Mumbai - Rich city of poor people."

Encounters with the maximum city - 1

A scorching June afternoon. I sit by the window of an empty first class compartment of the local train at the CST station. Its 4 pm and I hopelessly try to wipe out the sweat across my face n shoulders using my handkerchief. "midde midde", shouts the mid - day boy in his usual half sleeve mid day jacket. I signal him with a pound in my hand. (they call a five rupee coin a pound in mumbai). He looks for change and asks me reluctantly " Aaj jaldi wapas jaa rela hai saab?". I gave him a smile . "kanatala aa gaya yaar aaj", I reply putting the 2 rupee coin in my wallet. The boy sits on the seat in front and asks again "aap bank me kaam karte ho saab?". I say "Bank me nahi IT me kaam karta hu". He looks at me puzzled and blurts out "ATM me?". I laugh out loudly and tell him that i work in some computer company. He nods and goes off the compartment soon. I realize that I am smiling for a reason unknown to me.
Normally an IT engineer leaves the office after 6 pm in Mumbai. It is rather early for most of the IT engineers in Mumbai. The Indian IT culture has an inherent code that makes the IT engineer work for late hours and not claim over time for it. He lives to work not work to live. And sometimes my life also gets on the same track. Thanks to the ever increasing project pressures and deadlines. I had left by 4 pm that day. Frustrated over an unresolved issue and not having the morale to carry on, I just switched off my mobile and rushed to CST station to catch the 4 : 00 local for Vashi. Out of all my frustration this Mid Day boy unknowingly manages to put a smile across my face. I realize there is life outside work.
For most of the Mumbaikars life is to work, eat and sleep. And on holidays - sleep more. Of course this is just one of the many faces of mumbai life that i have experienced. God bless the Mid - day boy. :D