Bol India Bol!

The Indian Premier League was a great success and a big money spinner. It did bring out names normally associated with domestic cricket and made them quite popular. We realized that there were other good players than the 11 we see in every International series.

The cheapest team won the IPL purely on team work confirming the fact that Cricket is still a team game rather than individual dependent and still the individuals in Rajasthan Royals shined throughout the tournament. One among them was Yusuf Pathan, lesser known brother of Irfan Pathan. Quite effective in the whole series, he did exceptionally well during the finals

As expected with 54 Runs and 3 wickets, he was the man of the match. At the presentation ceremony he was asked by, if I remember right Ravi Shastri if he had a script in mind in the last match.

The Pathan brothers come from a small town in Gujarat and have probably spent most of their childhood in the streets of Baroda, they could not master that much English. During the presentation ceremony, Ravi Shastri realized this and swiftly turned to Hindi in the next question. Irfan Pathan is more comfortable understanding in English and speaking in Hindi but Yusuf Pathan fumbles. Ravi Shastri was smart enough to understand this.

The next day, the English news channel “Times Now” decided to interview Yusuf Pathan. A pretty young thing took the interview and as expected she bombarded him with questions in rapid fire English. Poor Yusuf Pathan just could not handle that and he started muttering in broken English. By now the reporter should have switched to Hindi but she continued her mission to visible embarrass Yusuf Pathan. She did try a sentence in Hindi before she realized that she did not speak good Hindi.

Ultimately the interview ended with a dejected Yusuf Pathan and an excited TV reporter who claimed to have taken a great interview.

Indians for some reason still have the colonial hangover. Most of the Indians think that speaking English is a sign of prosperity and being influential. Some take pride that they cannot speak the national language or their mother tongue at all. People would feel embarrass when they cannot speak English but feel nothing when they cannot speak their mother tongue.

A few year back, we witnessed a big quarrel in our neighborhood. One man who was a B.Sc graduate started talking in English and speaking ill about his neighbors. I tried to intervene asking him to end the matter peacefully but he just wouldn’t listen. The neighbors were not so good in English and tried to fight in their local language. This was becoming funny as both were having a quarrel in two different languages.

I tried to get the man’s wife to take him home but he just wouldn’t relent and started raising his voice. I finally lost it and started to shout at him in English. This somewhat had a desirable effect. The man retreated and he went back in the house. He was becoming unreasonable and the only language he understood was of shouting. The quarrel ended but it made me realize that people use English language to unknowingly establish supremacy over others.

Imagine a quarrel using desi language and imagine a quarrel where the two sides call each other with the choicest English abuses. I have to agree while the former looks crude, the latter is amusing.

There was a time when English was the in-fashion thing and speaking English was a sign of sophistication. Hopefully this has changed over the years. People speak in their mother tongue and even in their profession, they can speak their own language. I pity people who struggle speaking in Hindi or people changing their accent after staying sometime outside India.

In office, I speak in Marathi when I realize that the opposite person is Marathi. Its not because I am proud of being a Marathi or any such reasons but only because Language is a mean of communication and it has to be used to make the other person understand you.

No language is superior than the other and neither English or French become superior by speaking the language. We have just taken the phrase “the Queen’s English” a bit too seriously.

Unless we understand that, people like Yusuf Pathan might feel embarrass to talk when their action had already spoken for them.

Pani!

The temperature dipped!
Cloudy sky!
Cool winds bring relief to the hot city
And the sweet smell of earth when it soaks in the first rain
Monsoon has arrived in Mumbai!

 

Note: The picture is from Amsterdam and it was on the rare occasions when it rained like Mumbai there

Going to the Dogs!

Abodh is associated with the welfare for stray dogs since a long time. Being a NGO, a large part of the earning comes from donations. People not only donate money but some other stuff too like they had organized a sale of old books some time back. Now again they are organizing a garage sale and here is your chance to help the stray dogs of Mumbai. In a way you are helping to check the stray population in the city and thus helping yourself. Another reason is that he is really promising some cheap stuff so why not?

Abodh - Please post a way to get there using the public transport.

As Abodh says

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The Welfare of Stray Dogs (WSD) is an animal welfare NGO that sterilizes and immunizes stray dogs. We also have an adoption program for abandoned pets and pariahs, an on-site first–aid program and an education and awareness program in schools, colleges, streets and slums. WSD has so far sterilized more than 33,800 stray dogs and impacted the lives of thousands more through first-aid and adoption.

WSD spends Rs 2,00,000 per month on the above activities and we depend on the largess of donors to fund these activities.
One of the methods of raising funds to sustain our costs is our regular garage/jumble sale and we are having one from June 6-9, 2008 (Friday-Monday) at Walkeshwar, near Chowpatty.

On Sale would be L.P.’s, C.D’s, DVD’s, VCD’s, Artifacts, Glassware, Crockery, Gift Items, Linen, Clothes, and Electronic Items at THROW AWAY PRICES !!!

Sneak Peek of Items on sale

• Fender Guitar
• Chancellor Full Drum Set
• Exercise Cycle
• Floor Lamp
• Citizen Digital Table clock
• Brass Candle Stands
• Brass Pan Servers from Assam

The proceeds of the Garage Sale would be used to fund the above–mentioned programs.

Venue :

Ground Floor Garage, Surya Darshan Bldg, 44/50 Walkeshwar Road, Near Sital Baug Bus stop, Mumbai 400 006

Date : June 6-9, 2008 (Fri-Mon) Time : 10 AM to 7:00 PM

For more information you can call WSD on 64222838 or e-mail wsd@wsdindia.org

–
Adopt a street dog ! They are a breed apart !
WSD Website: www.wsdindia.org
My Blog: http://strayingaround.blogspot.com

The Latest One!

In 2000 when I joined the present company, I saw the first laptop of my life from close quarters. Before that I had seen them in Hollywood movies. Anyone having a laptop would get my admiration and awe. I had configured a laptop for one of our executive. Using a touchpad instead of mouse was so difficult. Double clicking meant tapping the touchpad twice.

I was trying to navigate through the windows using the touchpad while my boss stood patiently near me trying to check if all configuration were as per his instruction. My colleague had to take over because I found it really difficult to use the touchpad.

“I will have one of those one day” I told my friend

It has been a long time since that day. On Saturday I bought my third laptop in 4 years. Its not that I am ultra rich but the old laptop was asking for a replacement since a long time.

The first got sold and replaced. The second is still with me and I plan to use it more or maybe sell it. The second laptop has served me well. Almost all the post have come from that laptop and I have used it mercilessly. I have kept it on for days, ran many process at the same time, kept it upside down and what not. That’s why it will hurt to see it go. I might just keep it.

So what does my new baby has?

Its a HP Pavilion 6704TU. A 1.7 GHz Intel Dual Core processor, a 4 GB RAM  (although Windows Vista can recognize only 3.12 GB), 250 GB Hard disk, 3 USB port, 1 Firewire port, 1 6 in one card reader,an inbuilt web cam and mike, a finger print reader for added security and a lightscribe dual layer DVD writer.

Is it worth the replacement. Yes! it runs faster than my earlier laptop but not as fast as expected. But that is because of Windows Vista which always occupies more than 30% of the RAM and considerably slows down. It also recognizes my 4GB RAM as 3.12 GB. Microsoft calls it “As Designed”.

It is also the reason why I am not able to write since a long time because I have been tweaking and configuring the laptop since a long time now. Almost ready, this is the first post coming from the new lappy. You may have noticed the fonts, they look different.

Ok! That was really a bad one!

In a craze to copy Apple Mac OS, Microsoft has made Vista quite bulky and slow. If I strip down the fancy effects of Vista, it runs quite well which means Vista when running as Windows XP is good. Which means Windows XP still rules.

As for the laptop, you won’t find many reviews on the net. So here is my rating. Looking at criteria like value for money, features, speed and performance, I would give it between 7.5 to 8 out of 10. Could have been better!

 

 

 

  

The wall paper on the desktop is a photo taken by me. Pretty nice ya?

I am still talking about the laptop!

Smile!!!

8:20 AM on the busy Western Express highway near Kandivli

Sitting in the company’s bus, I look outside at the slow moving traffic. The morning sun can be quite hot. As I look, a family of four sits in a taxi, the elder son in the front seat and the husband and wife with their infant son in the back seat. The infant who may be just a year or so old stands/sits between the two parents looking from the rear window at the world outside.

Behind the taxi, a lone driver sits in his car. From his clothes, he looks to be in a well-to-do job, complete with tie and jazzy identity card hanging around his neck, As I look at the kid completely comforatble standing and looking around, the man behind starts waving at the kid. First quite discreetly and then quite happily.

The kid looks on at the man and seems confused at first. The traffic has stopped and the man is still waving. The kid is still looking. Both of them seem oblivious of the surrounding. The man keeps waving and finally the infant smiles. He looks sideways to see a biker and he smiles at him too. He is quite in a mood smiling at everybody around him

I smile too!

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As soon as the month of May ends, Mumbaikar wait eagerly for the monsoon. As I sit in the bus, I see dark clouds in the sky. The traffic had really slowed down and a bus comes and stands close to our bus. The heat is becoming unbearable, coupled with humidity, I am sweating drenched when I reach office.

I feel some drops of water on my hand. I look out. The sky is overcast but I feel small drops on my hand. I look out but the sun still shines brightly between the clouds but still there are some tiny water droplets on my arm. I stretch out my hand from the stationary bus

The people in the opposite bus also did feel the waterdrops. One hand comes out of the window from the opposite bus, then another, then another and then another. I see 5 hands out of the bus trying to touch the first drops of rain this year. All in the hope of the much needed rains. All spontaneous.

I look on as the drops stop!

I smile again!

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Some pictures of the first dark clouds in Mumbai

The Job Story - 14

The next day was Sunday and I open my eyes to realize that I was late to go far away to anywhere from Herentals. Determined not to waste my day, I decided the next best option to see, the city I was living. Although we had been staying here for 15 days, we had not seen anything except the railway station. But with no mode of transport and no clue about the public transport, the task was just a bit too difficult.

Another problem that I did not think about and which had reached critical point was the cash I had. Although my colleagues had paid for the hotel, I was low on cash as we had exhausted everything and paid for everything from transport to food. Some of the money was to be compensated by the company but with company office in Amsterdam, there was no way I could reach there.

My return flight was from Amsterdam on Tuesday morning. So I had to use the available cash wisely. I knew the direction of the railway station and that is where I figured would be the city Centrum. I could walk along the road but then it would not be much fun watching the cars go by. The other route which I thought led to the same station would be along the river behind the hotel.

I was so wrong!

I started walking along the river. It was October and although it was not winter yet, it was considerably cold. Atleast colder than what I was used to in Mumbai. When I started walking after midday, the day was quite sunny. I did not sweat. It was a quite country-side with almost no homes near the river. I was the only one walking along the river. Halfway into the road, heavy winds started blowing accompanied with rain. I was caught in between without any cover from the rains.

The climate changed by the minute. It was bright and sunny one moment and the next moment it was raining like crazy and winds blowing at great speed. I continued shooting with the camera. It was becoming difficult with strong winds and rains and no place to take shelter. I had walked almost 2 hours in rain and wind to finally reach the station.

I wondered where to go and decided to go to the nearest town the train takes me. I took the minimum ticket and boarded the train to travel to Lier, a town next to Herentals. I was might disappointed because the town was deserted. Rain and strong winds had not been silent yet. I had a burger and a cold drink near the station and decided to explore the town. However the wind and rain increased so much that, it became impossible to look at the town. The sky was turning overcast and it was wise to go back to the comfort of the hotel.

I walked the empty street before I decided to call it a day. The sky had really turned dark and I walked against the wind toward the station. The station as expected was empty and although it was just one stop to Herentals, the trains were a little late because of the rains. As the train drove into the station, I got in the first compartment that came in front of me.

The train was surprisingly empty with only a couple of people in. I sat in the empty section of the train watching outside as the train made its way slowly to Herentals which was actually a 5 minute journey but actually took 15 minutes.

As I sat there, a lady ticket collector came to check the tickets. I had my ticket so did not worry much but one look at the ticket and she politely told me that I was sitting in the first class.

First class? I looked around. Just beyond the glass partition was the second class and to tell the truth there was absolutely no difference between the first and the second class except that a tiny “1″ was written near the glass partition and the colour of the seats were different. I mean how do they really justify the high fares of first class compartment. They looked the same.

I had never traveled without a proper ticket in my life and here I was in a foreign country sitting in a first class with a second class ticket. The ticket collector was kind enough to let me stay but I got up and stood near the door, apologetic and embarrassed. When the station arrived, I got down as fast as I could.

Taking a taxi, I reached the hotel in the late evening. The rain was lashing on the car’s windshield but that much rain we had seen earlier too. Looking at the weather, I decided to stay put in the hotel and enjoy the Sunday Hollywood movies. While switching channels, I managed to catch some local news in English.

Europe had witnessed the most fiercest storm in 15 years that day. TV news showed trees being uprooted and a lot of destruction due to rains and strong winds. A lot of Belgium had suffered from the storm and I was the one who had walked through without even knowing it. What I was thinking as strong winds and rains was actually a storm that just passed over Europe.  

The last Sunday in Europe turned out to be quite eventful even though I did not know about it!

 

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Note: I just cannot reduce it. I should be ending it in few more parts

Job Story Archive

Out!

Finally Sachin’s team is out of IPL. There is still a chance of somebody not doing well but then its a questions of lots of “IFs” and “buts” so lets not leave it to chance and start mentally preparing for a semi-finals without the Mumbai Indians.

The Rajastan Royals played when it mattered the most and Mumbai Indians lost a close one again. Are the Mumbai Indians chokers?

At least they went down fighting unlike Bangalore and Hyderabad.

There is always a next time.

I Wanna….

 

Daniel Connelly: I really like you but I can’t be the invisible man. I am tired of being the shoulder. I wanna be another body part you need, you know.  I wanna be the bad guy. I wanna woman to go crazy over me and then I wanna use her up until she is ruined up for all other men

Holly Kennedy: You dont wanna do that

Daniel Connelly: No I dont wanna do that. But I would… I would like to date a woman who actually likes men.

I like to be somebody’s Jerry

Its alright! Honestly its not your fault, its mine. I really didn’t plan feeling something for you it just sort of happen. I am sorry about that!

———————————-

And the pain continues………

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From the movie “P.S. I Love you” when the character of Daniel Connelly wants to become more than just a friend for the lead character of Holly Kennedy played by Hillary Swank who had lost her husband, Jerry.

The Job Story - 13

We completed our work two days before the scheduled date. Taking a sign-off from the client, the other three left early to join others in the project in new location. I, on the other hand was supposed to return back to India after Herentals. As the work was done, I contacted other colleagues in other cities through email. I did not have a mobile then and land line and email were my only communication medium.

I had my last weekend in Belgium and surprisingly I had no work and free to explore. I decided to contact my friends and wanted to see the city of Brussels because it was the only famous city we knew by name and also it was closer that we could get back to our base. I traveled to Leuven to meet my friend and we were both supposed to visit Brussels.

On a Saturday morning eager to look as much as possible in Brussels, I took a train to Leuven and pick up a friend from there. He was supposed to meet me at the Leuven station. An hour wait on the station and he was still not there. I had the choice of either going to the hotel and searching for him in turn losing almost half a day or going alone to Brussels. Except for the train that takes me to Brussels, I had no idea as to what to do there. A friend in foreign company does help even though you are both confused. I still waited for another 15 minutes before choosing to go alone.

This was the first time I choose to be alone to see a city not only in Europe but the first time in my whole life. I did not meet the friend till I came back to India and I learnt that he had overslept that day. I was supposed to stay with him for a day and probably see another city close by. Hence I carried extra clothes with me.

With that heavy baggage I got down at Brussels central station at around noon. I had already lost half a day and I was determined to make the most of it. Taking a cue from Antwerp, I had guessed that there are city tours available in Europe. Fortunately I did find one. Its fun to watch a city alone.

The pamphlet handed to me by the tour bus operator described many tourist spots in Brussels. I did not have time for museums so the best was to see the best spots. I choose Atomium.

Atomium is to Brussels what Eiffel Tower is to Paris. Its is a big Aluminum structure with nine steel sphere representing the Iron crystal. Its a gigantic structure that takes you 102 feet above the surface and you can see the whole of Brussels from there. I took video going up, in the sphere and from the top with my own running commentary. I had seen people making videos when they go on a sightseeing tour but they do it silently. People become bored faster by the silent treatment. I tried to add my flavor in the video. People still sleep after seeing these videos but a little late.

Atomium was my first world monument and that will always remain special. I remember when I sat in front of the structure on the green grass, I saw a wedding and the bride and groom posed in front of the gigantic structure. I still have the video somewhere.

From the top of Atomium, I saw another attraction, Mini Europe. Mini Europe is a small park of miniature models of the famous monuments in Europe. What better way to see all the famous monuments of Europe from one place. I went on clicking photos and taking videos.

Mini Europe is like a small boy’s fantasy. I don’t know if other boys played it but when I was small, I would play with my toy cars, planes and trains. I would imagine a whole world around these toys where plane would take up like rockets and make crash landings. Mini Europe has these small boats in small rivers and big boats at sea and an airport and planes and it even has a mini space station where a rocket is launched every few minutes. I sat alone in front of the rocket and actually took a video and yes completely with my running commentary and countdown included.

I was so engrossed in Mini Europe that I did not realize that it was already evening and I had only seen two spots. I rushed out only to find that the tour bus service was in its last laps. It was my first trip alone and in a foreign land and I was worried about being safe. So I decided that it was enough of Brussels. I still took photos of the streets and then boarded a train to Herantals.

Coming back, the train was almost empty. Strong winds blew outside. I had gained some confidence by taking the Brussels trip alone and decided to see another city on Sunday. With no medium of sending email, I was all alone and did not expect company. As I came back to hotel, the sky had changed dramatically. The wind was blowing quite strongly now. I decided to call it a day and retired to my room.

I don’t fancy eating alone in a restaurant alone so I ordered room service and watched a movie. It was my second night alone on the hotel and the silent hotel gave me the creeps in the night. I lay awake long into the night, switching channels and watching unidentifiable Flemish stuff.

The next day, I could not wake up early!

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Job Story Archives

Dil Dosti Etc…..

I saw these kids during my visit to Gorai last week. Probably living in one of the village of Gorai, they came to wash their feet ironically from the muddy water of Gorai creek. The smart one among them insisted that everyone wash their feet, probably thinking about the scolding he had received last time. He took the water out himself and poured on everybody’s feet.

As I clicked away their antics, some of them watched me from the corner of their eye. As they were going away contented that they were clean by washing their feet in the muddy water, they looked at me and were in awe of the big camera.

I smiled and asked if I could take their photos. They readily agreed and then and there took this picture. The smart one turned out to be the shy one, hiding behind his friend and I really had to coax him to come forward.

Years from now, they will move to better life, jobs and places but the they will always remember this time

Dil Dosti etc…..