The Peace is Illusive

Ok. So another long, unwieldy, would be non-productive peace process between India and Pakistan has started, courtesy – Mr. President of Pakistan. Future only will tell if the new Joint Counter Terror Mechanism is going to work or not. But I have a few questions and doubts –

• Why Mr. President of Pakistan is still referred to as General? Is he still the commanding officer of the forces?
• If yes, then isn’t Pakistan still a military dictatorship?
• If no, then shouldn’t Prime Minister of Pakistan be representing his country at the NAM Summit?
• The timing of some revelations made by Mr. Musharraf is mind boggling. He is practically accepting that Pakistan’s Army was actively involved in the Kargil misadventure, and that the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr. Nawaz Sharif knew about it long back, even before the historic Lahore trip by the then Prime Minister of India Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
• Isn’t Mr. Musharraf the mastermind behind the whole Kargil saga? What point does Mr. Musharraf want to prove here?
• How is it possible that Pakistan did not have nuclear strike capability in 1999, as per Mr. Musharraf, when we have solid proofs of Father of Pakistani Atomic Bomb proliferating the technology to other countries like Iran and North Korea during the same period? Was Mr. A.Q.Khan helping these countries make Nuclear Bombs that would carry water baloons?
• How often have we seen a military dictatorship engage in war rather than peace process?
• I have never seen such a bizarre peace process where the side making the offensive is asking the side on the defensive to cut down its troops in the disputed area.
• Why, I say, should India agree to such outrageous demands. Haven’t we seen enough of it in Kargil?
• And for Gods sakes, stop calling Pakistan Occupied Kashmir as Azad Kashmir. It is anything but Azad… just like Free Iraq.
• Why is Pakistan not agreeing to deport the top 20 terrorists most wanted in India?
• Why Pakistan Foreign Affairs Ministry denies the claims that there are terror camps running active in POK? Does it need photographic proofs from amateur observer like me using Google Earth to drive home India’s point?
• If Dawood Imbrahim’s son’s marriage takes place in Pakistan, if RAW has details of his residence in Pakistan, what makes one think that Dawood maybe in UAE and not in Pakistan? If you want to get the peace process on track, for once, talk on a positive note. Even if you are not willing to hand him over, atleast say that you would give it a try.
• What makes Jamaat-Ud-Dawa a sociable charity organization, when US itself has black-listed it?
• And last but not the least – Why is Pakistan a Victim of Terror? Explain atleast in 10 words, if you can.
• And the greatest irony - The fight over Kashmir has got so old, that, I'm afraid, the two warring sides don’t even know the exact reason of the conflict.

Sulking on the Edge

I have had it and I have had enough. After all good dreams don’t come true – or maybe it was just another of my nightmares that I failed to recognize. I’m losing everything – Sanity, Will to survive, Energy to fight back. After lobbying aggressively to end my short term transfer (misadventure), I was glad to hear that I’m getting released by September end. What I heard next almost made me faint. The light at the end of the tunnel was infact a freight train (Courtesy – Metallica) running at Mach3 towards me. I never knew when it hit me. After 2 months of this misadventure in Chennai, with the only hope of somehow making it to Pune, I’m being zorged to B’lore, on another “Short-term” transfer of 3 months. After which, apparently, yet again, I may or may not be posted to Pune. The reason – Business Requirements. Oh yeah!! Everybody is helpless when it comes to business requirements. My superiors cannot help it because client has put in certain restrictions based on the project requirements, in a specific way, and client cannot help it because he is not so sure what the exact requirement is. So while they decide what the heck they actually want to achieve, I may very well rot in B’lore.

I’ve decided that while I’m at it, I must pledge my dream company another… mmm….. say 45 years of selfless short term transfer services. Why not send me to Bhuvaneshwar, Mangalore and Trivandrum on such short term transfers? I’m very much interested you see. I would love to live the life of a nomad. And when they run out of places, my humble request to send me back to Chennai, but this time – Mahindra City. You know, I want to get the feel of working at all the DCs. Working at all theses places for a maximum of 9-10 months (beyond that it will become a long term transfer) will be good for my psychological and physical well being. And when they run out of all the places where DCs already exist, I’m ready to volunteer for opening new DCs in the far reaches and confines of the world – Jungles of Timbaktu – for want of space and Client Requirements. I am ready to go alone in fact, so that with no satellite TV, books or any thing remotely resembling Social Life, I’ll be able to dedicate 16 hours of productive work per day of my existence. If that is not enough I’m also ready to put my thumb out, get a hitch hike from one of those interstellar transports captained by bug-eyed, slimy green aliens, land on Zamogran and code, while dangling onto a last string of hope that my beloved company will one day, one fine day, give me a “One Day” short term transfer to Pune.

Now you may ask - Why am I dieing to be in Pune? Why, may I ask, you need reasons to be in Pune? It is not like I am asking my company to open up a new development center in Pune. Infact not one, but two exist. I am of the view that if I am not able to enjoy the money that I’m making, there’s no point in having a job like this. You may say that I’m rigid, inflexible – So be it. I don’t care. Now I don’t want to get emotional or the sort, but I ask myself - My parents never left me, when they were busy working so that they could provide me the best of education and nurturing. So why should I be living far away from them, when the need of the time is that I should be as closer to them? And especially when it is all possible. I’m mad, and I’m mad as hell. And someone has to pay for it. Today I resolve to get a permanent posting in Pune through this company or another job, whatever it might be. And until that happens, I’m not setting my foot in Pune. I don’t know what fate has in store for me. But I’ll never forget these words – With a Software Job, comes great frustration. It is my gift, my curse. Who am I? I’m just another Software Engineer. (Courtesy – Spiderman)

Need I say any more?

Let’s have a look at his vital statistics:

40 centuries and around 75 half centuries in 363 ODI matches. All this implies 2 half centuries and 1 century per 9 matches. It also means that every 3^rd half century is getting converted into a ton. His 40 centuries puts him way ahead of likes of Jayasuriyas and Gangulys, who are tied on 22 ODI centuries each. Out of the 40 matches in which he scored a century, India has won 28 times: That is a healthy percentage of 70. These matches span over a period of 16 years.

His statistics in 2006: 380 runs in 6 innings. As far as I know at least one time Not Out - yesterday’s assault. Not to mention that yesterday’s innings was a sort of comeback innings after a gap of 6 months due to injury. That’s class. That’s mark of a champion. That’s a legend walking. That’s a player saying, “I may have been here too long, but I’m not done yet”.

For 16 long years, since he was just in his teens, he has carried the burden of crazy expectations of billion crazy cricket fans. And yet he is loathed. For what? Millions argue that he has hardly played match winning innings. I guess that’s the side effects of fame and success. Oh darn those people who tend to forget all his glorious innings where he has pulled India out of precarious situations. These people tend to forget that he indeed has won some matches for the country. These people tend to forget that instead of mourning over losing his father, he chose to play for the country. These people tend to forget that he had to change his style of playing, to adapt with different situations, different roles.

All these people remember are his failures. Yes, how could he lose his wicket? It’s preposterous. So stupid of him! Isn’t he supposed to be God? Why o why did you have to get out on 116? That wasn’t enough to win the match. Yeh Dil Maange More! You should have made all the runs. Don’t you know India is a one man team? How could you do it? You have betrayed a nation! His critics have one more problem. He doesn’t score well against minnows. But don’t you get it people? If he has scored less against minnows, he must have scored heavily against the top class attacks in the world.

“No, we would conveniently like to overlook that fact pls, if you don’t mind. You see, we need someone to take a fall for India’s failures. We need someone to vent our anger on, for the hardships in our life, and who else can be the perfect person to do so than him. You see, he never retorts back!”

Any other person would have ended up in a mental asylum. But not he… He is a unique personality. He has carried out his duties, without fail, for 16 years. And he has silenced his opponents and his critics in a Gandhian way. He has let his batting do the talking. And he did it yesterday too.

Now I may not have witnessed the live innings, but from whatever I saw in the news, his selection of shots was like he was trying to summarize all his past innings - Wristy shots, cover drives, cuts, pulls, square cuts, straight drives – everything from and out of the cricketing book. Agreed that the boundaries were short, but his sixes were long – Pulled six, dancing down the wicket over the cover six… and three others. He had come with a replenished arsenal, including the so famous pull shot that he had stopped playing due to his back injury. After all he had to prove a point. But you see, 141 not out was not enough to satisfy his critics maybe and also to seal a victory for India. Maybe he should have opened the bowling too and tried to grab all 10 wickets. Maybe then his critics would have thought – “Ok. It seems this chap has got something in him”.

Huh?...... these thick skulled people!!! To hell with them!

Sachin, I’m with you dude! No matter what, just carry on doing whatever you have been doing since last 16 years. This time the World Cup is ours.

I've Just Got Tagg'd!!!

Well, it’s been long since I wrote a blog. Though I’m not short of topics to write something on, but don’t find time to write one, and don’t get net access to put it up. So anyways, since I got tagged today, thought of well, you see, it sounds interesting, and not that difficult too. So here I’m, putting my blog, after a very loooooong time.

The Fantastic Four –

Jobs I’ve had:
• Infosys – Supposedly my dream job
• Infosys – As a CAD/CAM Engineer
• Infosys – As a Software Engineer
• Infosys – It has been only Infosys all along…

Films I could watch again and again: As you know, I hate Bollywood films. But still would like to include one Hindi movie, worth mentioning -
1. Dil Chahta Hai – Three Close friends, just fresh out of college, trying to shape an identity for themselves and at the same time making most of this thing called Life. Bollywood has never got better than this.
2. Terminator 2 : The Judgement Day – Do I need to say anything about this movie?!! ohh.. BTW…. how many of you know that T1000 imitates American Bald Eagle’s head movements?!!
3. Matrix Trilogy – Sci-fi, Slow-Mo, Bullet-Time, Mythology, Action, Romance, Special Effects, Fashion, Style, Dialogues, multi-layered storyline and what not… everything about this movie rocks… Possibly the future of Terminator Trilogy.
4. Lord of the Rings – The plot could never be so simple, yet the story could never be so fascinating. J.R.R.Tolkien is a master story teller, and Peter Jackson has an unmatched Power of Imagination and Artistic Quotient.

Places I’ve lived in:
1. Nagpur- Born and brought up in Nagpur, the heart of India.
2. Pune – An awesome blend of a fairly big Indian City and a Metropolis. This city simply ROCKS!!!
3. Mysore – A small town from Karnataka, with a rich cultural and historical heritage is now trying to make it big on the International IT map. It still has a long way to go. Sadly, the only thing that is really cool in this city right now is – Infy Mysore.
4. Chennai – Though better than Mysore, still it gets me wondering why people call it a Metropolis!!

TV series I like to watch: Get me books and get me Satellite TV, and I can spend the rest of my life on Pluto.
1. F*R*I*E*N*D*S – When the chips are down, this is the only non living thing in the world that can cheer me up instantly – whether it is the theme song or recollecting a joke from any of those episodes. It is like I have got 6 virtual friends.
2. C.S.I. – All three: Las Vegas, Miami and NY – The lines between Medical Investigators and Crime Detectives have got blurred. The story lines are complicated, the presentation is faultless.
3. The OC – Lives of the wealthy and the indulging people of the Orange County, Newport, USA. The central characters are a group of 4 teenagers and their guardians. And yes, the golden rule of the series – Parties are meant to crash.
4. Extreme Machines/Megastructures – The best series ever on Discovery Channel – covered right from Space Shuttles, Channel Tunnel boring machines to Suspension bridges, World Trade Centre (NY)

Places that I’ve been on vacation to: I haven’t been much of a vacation guy, but still there are some amazing places I have been to.
1. Panchmarhi – Situated 100 kms from Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, in the heart of India – The Vindhyas, this is my favourite vacation spot so far. About 150 waterfalls, unexplored mountains, deep valleys… absolutely amazing place. Been to this place twice till now.
2. Sinhagad - If you have been to Pune, and not seen Sinhagad, you’ve not seen anything! Very ideal place for a one day outing… (especially when it is in the middle of the night… eh eh….)
3. Murud (Konkan) – no… not the one famous for the Janjira fort, this is some other village, right on the shores of Arabian Sea. Totally virgin beach and very little commercialization have preserved the freshness of this place. I usually visit this place every year, in April.
4. Mysore – All the places in and around Mysore. No matter how much I despise living in Mysore, there’s no point in denying the fact that there are so many options for a nice, short vacation around Mysore – especially since you can do a biking trip to see these places. Places worth mentioning are – Infy Mysore (:O), Waynad, Ooty & Gopalaswamybetta. And not to mention the ever awesome weather.

Websites I visit everyday:
1. Believe it or not – Google Earth: seen all the amazing places from an e-bird’s POV.
2. Wikipedia – All the stuff in my coffee-time mails comes generally from this site.
3. Orkut – Even I have not been spared from the Scrapping Syndrome.
4. GMail – The best mailer since USA.Net

Books I’d love to read again and again:
1. Red Storm Rising – Tom Clancy
2. Entire Harry Potter series – J.K.Rowling
3. Timeline – Michael Crichton
4. The Temple – Matthew Reilly

Favorite dishes: (apart from whatever my Aai cooks)
1. Aamrakhanda and Poori
2. Steaming rice, plain dal (not fried) & ghee
3. Absolutely anything with Paneer, especially Smokin Joe’s Chilly Paneer Pizza
4. Anything with chocolate - chocolate cake, chocolate milkshake etc. etc……

Places where I’d like to be right now:
1. Home Sweet Home – Would love to get a “Champi” from my Aai right now.
2. Pune – With my friends, having a good job with a reasonable pay-scale & own place to stay - my Great Indian Software Dream.
3. Anywhere on the western seaboard, USA.
4. Moon – People from ISRO… are you listening??!! Rakesh Sharma, Kalpana Chawla, Sunita Williams, Gaurav Dandekar :)

People I’m gonna tag:
1. Smiley
2. Shanny
3. Amu
4. Shivkant