Sad...Agitated...Shocked...Confused

Finally...after gruelling 59 hours the mission rescuing Taj, Oberoi and Nariman House is finally over. This nightmare...no.... worse than a nightmare rattled the globe all around. I don't think any Indian slept all these 59 hours...there were these brave officers flushing out terrorists....there were these people trapped inside....and there were people like me glued to television praying for the best. I donot remember how many times I actually cried after watching the torments of the hostages.

No one would doubt the Spirit of Mumbai.. which would always remain..but one thing is for sure.. Mumbai would not be the same for days to come. It would be an arduous task to reinstate the prestige of Mumbai. India has lost out on top officers, NSG commandos....we have lost our beloved ones...this loss is irreparable. 

Kudos to all the rescue operators who fearlessly crushed the heartless militants. Thanks to the media who kept the country and world together with the information. One thing which always comes up with a terrorist attack is the wake up call. How many times is thing going to happen? Over the last year or so..India has been terrorised with bombings...and now this fidayein attack. Hope that we act promptly to this wake up call and ramp up our security. Hope that the sacrifices of the brave officers do not go in vain. As civilians..lets join the global war on terrorism...lets be alert and if We See something...we will Say Something.

Small Screen

Small Screen....It has been an indespensible part of our lives. I don't really remember when we got our first tv-box. But I do remember the model ..it was a Crown b/w 20'' television set. It was brought exactly when the one of the first popular tv-serials Ramayan was being aired. Some are curious to see if Tendulkar makes a mark in the upcoming series...some watch it to find out if Prerna meets Anurag..while some just want to get entertained.

Fifteen-sixteen years back DD ruled the stage. Hum Log, Hum Rahi, Buniyaad, Gul Gulshan Gulfam were some of the classics. Mahabharat enjoyed the largest viewership. Turning Point gave a scientific edge whereas series like Bharat Ek Khoj, Chanakya maintained the cultural heritage. Zee Tv was I guess the first hindi channel besides DD1. Star Plus was an english channel then.  Steadily but not slowly the tv world has evolved.  One of my favorites (n I guess for many)-- Jungle Book started animated age. Kids glued to Duck Tales, Arabian Nites, Tale spin.  Dillagi- the comedy series based on people and their relationships in an office was a Zee Tv starter. Another big one was Chandrakanta. Though I haven't seen much of Chandrakata...I used to get updates every Monday in school. Alif Laila...the boring one..paradoxically was a big hit.  Summer afternoons..we had Dekh Bhai Dekh, Swabhimaan, Shanti. Tehkikaat, Karamchand jasoos, Byomkesh Bakshi were from a different genre. Hum Paanch, Campus, Antakshari, Sam Re Ga Ma (Sonu Nigam), Parampara, Zee Horror Show, Philips Top Ten, Filmi Chakkar, Saans, Tol Mol Ke Bol were some of the popular ones.

10th to 12th was a period when I had the good old Doordarshan. Dishayen, Suraag, Jaane Anjane, marathi soaps like Gharkul, Damini entertained me these four years. Kaun Banega Crorepati which marked the entry and the survival point of BigB was named the one with highest TRP after Mahabharat. Then the K-series paved their way in people's lives. 

Marathi serials have evolved quite significantly over the past few years. With new channels opening up...the marathi viewers have started transitioning towards marathi tv-entertainment. Awantika, Wadalvaat, Abhalmaya, Saheb-Bibi aani Me, Ghadlaya Bighadlaya, Prapanch have engrossed the marathis.

Though I would have missed quite a few names...looking back I see how well I was amused by this same television set. Just like recalling the college days makes us nostalgic...I am sure the serials and their characters force us to open up our memory album.

Dynamism

BITS Pilani...my alma mater, my ex-abode has been known for its Parampara Prathista Anushashan ...

We have heard amitabh bachchan quoting "mujhe parivartan pasand nahi" in his Gurukul. The same should be true about BITS. The shivering cold, melanin raising sun-god, the PILA(yellow) buildings, the same old edifice, the boisterous BOSMs, the exhuberant OASISs and not so overwhelming APOGEEs.

Neverthless, dynamism is at its heart. The next day after OASIS... is just like an ordinary day. Now, I do not know...may be SAC is used for department rooms. But then...the classrooms were transformed into department/club HQs. Hardly a few hours have passed and you would see the gardener watering the lawns where more than 2000 students rocked on a dance floor.

The test schedule is the same...the same grades...the same courses...the same CDCs..but the CTs(course toppers), 10ps, Aves (averages) change. Shivganga is still the couple place...but the couples change every semester. Blue Moon still is one of the favorite hang-out spots..but the addendum (coffee or shakes) changes with season. The LAN is still the same..but the bandwidth destroying games change. Munnaji reidi is still the same...just that we also get bread-pakoras. Campus is still 100%...just that the salaries are sky-high.

Some of things which I am very fortunate to have seen...the Cent-li and Ref-li...Central Library and Reference Library.. These were in FD-II and still we can see the board "Library Area- please keep silence". Imagine Pilani campus without mobiles. I have talked hours at the abandoned/rusted/pathetic looking telephone-box near the common room. With the arrival of cellphones, gate-calls have become almost extinct. Thanks to BITSConnect, the IPC stay of most BITSian have reduced exponentially. (FYI-- We had non-graphical internet in our first year..n that too only in IPC. Only third year onwards graphical internet was allowed.) There wasn't any SAC, any FD-5 or the lecture theatre complex then. MAL or Malviya Bhawan has been one of the most dynamic bhawans. An abode of fifth year students became a girls hostel which became a boys-girls hostel(Obviously proper care was taken that no interaction of any kind was possible between a resident boy and a resident girl) again was transformed back to a boys hostel.

So, whenever I visit Pilani...I will have to restrain myself from saying -- everything is still the same here. A lot of things would have changed just that they got assimilated unknowingly.

Kal Aaj Aur Kal..

Currently, I am on a blogging spree...third blog in three days...

One of the topics I thought is worth mentioning - "Indian Music". By Indian I mean hindi music and especially the bollywood music. My soulmate since I don't know what age...in every mood, in every situation good or bad it has buttressed me thoroughout. Indian music has seen generations and has seen adept professionals like Lata...born talent like Kishoreda...hyper-active Dr. Palash Sen...sarod legend Ustad Amjad Ali Khan...Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismilla Khan...even the latest find Farhan Akhtar.

Kal -- the past generation..the most melodious one I must say...Ofcourse some elder people might argue that there wasn't just one such contiguous generation...but there were times when vocalists like Mukesh, Manna Dey, Talat Mehmud, Rafi, KL saab, Suraiya ruled the podium. For me....it is the same...right from 50s till 80s. My favorite song is from this Kal ..Abhi na jao chhod kar..The song focusses on the restiveness of a lover who insists his girlfriend to stay. 

Several immemorable songs are from this era... Chaudavi Ka Chand, Yeh hai Bombay meri jaan, Dil ka bhanwar kare pukar, Madhuban mein radhika nache re, Tere mere sapne ab ek rang hain, Yeh shaam mastani, Dekha ek khawb to yeh silsile...countless...

Then comes...the 90s and the current kaal..I hate those 90s movies n those songs wherein a huge loafer college-going gang monkey jumped through their university corridors...The only place where i heard such songs was the hair-cut salon...These guys I guess got the cheapest of all cassettes so that the customers do no linger around for long. The crux I would say was that Indian music needed restructuring.

Aaj is the time when there is a talent boom...rather talent-hunt boom. Possibility is that we have surpassed the impasse and back on the right track. Fusionised version depicted in movies like RockOn, Jhankar beats  is commendable. Seeing the inclusion of songs like Teri Diwani, tu hi meri shab hai, Piya basanti re... in the hit lists make me feel top of the world. Even the dance numbers like Just Chill, Hare Krishna Hare Ram, Its the time to disco, Pappu can't dance are in some sense sensible unlike the 90s. We are regaining that lost glitter.

Tomorrow's kal looks brigher and I hope to soothe my ears and rock the dance floor with the upcoming future.

Enjoy Maadi!

Date When I Dated!

“All Characters in this article are fictitious. Resembling to any living or dead is only coincidental"

Well..according to US standards, writing about a date at the age of 24 is surely unacceptable. But then, at the age of 15, I probably knew of date only from the Gregorian calender.

It was a perfect morning...birds chirping love songs, someone somewhere synthesizing a romantic tune on a piano, a pleasant 68F morning! ...n why not...I was on a date! I had waited for this for a while now...I mean its a rare occasion when a girl asks you out for a date. It was 10 am and I had 2 hours to groom and polish myself. I took a bath and then it was Gucci all the way...Now I know why brands like Gucci survive. Who will anyway put on a Cartier and beat on a laptop to complete an assignment?

I had to worry little about clothes-selection. She liked me-with-blue and I had only one blue T-shirt which she had not seen. A black Levis suited best with the Duke T-shirt. I was ready.

The restaurant was at a walking distance...n the rendezvous was decided to be the same. I reached there exactly at 11.58. I can never be late..not even by mistake. As always, she wasn't there...not because she used to be late..but all girls I knew were always late. I had to book a table presumably...The restaurant manager who was no stranger to me gave me the most secluded place. Well...he had to...I took care of his waiters' tips.

The aroma was at the place. Helpless I was....I hated to only watch people gobbling up delicacies. Chicken tikka, Veg Jalfrezi, Dal Tadka, Navratan Korma, Ras Malai, Dosa...all luring me...n I cudn't do anything....I cudn't do anything? I asked myself a few times...n I emerged transformed by the lust for food...helped myself...and got every dish from the menu. Thanking myself profusely I enjoyed every ounce of it. But hey..hey I was on a date....so what don't I have any space..individualism rose its head..Such are the circumstances when you thank god for a girlfriend who is understanding.

I spent rest of my date watching her eat....n boy...she looked super duper gorgeous. Everytime she chewed..everytime she swallowed....everytime her lips touched the glass...Ahh!!..it can't be expressed in words...

Since then, I never ate with her...either finished before or waited for her to finish. 

Fall of a giant!

Back after a long break. Well..things have changed..in fact a lot! Actually, I had no plans to write a blog but this topic is mouth watering.

A fall of the 49th Street giant..yes the same news which was chewed and chewed over the last few weeks. As a matter of fact, I was there just a couple of months back and now when I visit the city I would be eyeing that building with a tag of Barclays..

Lehman Brothers had a reputation...it still has...but something went wrong. I wont talk about what went wrong because we have several expert blogs discussing the same. Whatever the reason be, the company was great and did achieve great things. A trend-setter in Fixed Income, some of the brightest minds on Wall Street occupied Lehman desks, competitors awed at the pace LEH bounced after 9/11, it owned the crown of having some of the highest salaried employees and the list would continue to grow. I would say I was very fortunate to experience such a work culture just before it became extinct.

I have several memories from my internship...a few being the managerial talks, outings, my commute, weekly meetings, suiting myself, free dinners...The best I would say was being a New Yorker.like...get a newspaper, travel through a path/subway, get coffee, walk from the station to the office from streets filled with suits and yellow cabs. I know this might sound a little childish but I dunno..while watching movies portraying NY..I used to search myself on those streets/avenues passing by the Empire State, the Central park or the NYSE...Being there on those street not as a tourist but a daily bread earner used to make me proud.

Sorry...enough of digression.. The bottom line is I had a wonderful time at Lehman...though I cant work there full-time..no one can restrain me from pointing towards the 49th Street, 7th Avenue ex-Lehman building and saying "This is the great place where I worked"