Creative retention strategies that can be used by organizations today

This is context to the need of a system in place in today’s corporate world to hold back the potential carrying, & talented employees. Although I’m neither a market researcher, nor a person involved in human resources specialization of management, but having worked with an organization in past for two years, I wish to express few ideas that can be put to use in almost all the organizations. The ideas would help an organization to retain its employee’s pool, gain trust and a feeling of belongingness with the company not as a business firm but as an institute that musters growth.

I would begin by a famous quote, “Always love your work, never love your company, for you may never know when company stops loving you!!!”

Here are few methods I have enumerated to highlight about creative retention strategies that can be used by organizations of today:-

·         The greatest motivation for an employee to continue working with an organization doesn’t lie in perks given in form of petty gifts time & on, but in form of regular rewards & recognitions, the three R’s (Regularity in recognition, Recognition, and rewarding the recognition). Yes, that’s the key word. An employee would only feel encouraged if he/she is rewarded at business unit/organizational level for the task/project he’s been involved into. This remuneration can come in form of timely certifications symbolic to applause offered depending on the complexity & priority of the task at hand. The varying degree of work would determine the kind of certificate issued, vis-à-vis something catering to organizational level, or BU level or team level. And to compliment these certificates, the best option for any company would be to distribute rewards in form of gift vouchers, movie tickets, club swimming passes etc with them. These petty vouchers would add to the cost to the company, but the level of productivity increase and goals clearance would surpass all costs incurred.

·         Next big factor that keeps an employee glued to a company is the desire to grow, not just financially but also holistically, both at work and personal life. The three areas of concern can be looked into by different strategies that need to be devised and implemented timely with full effectiveness:- 

• Financially: - This would be the most important growth factor for an employee esp. for the ones who are at the starting levels. An efficient bonus tracking system needs to be taken into consideration, which could be made online to the extent that an employee keeps feeding in his/her work/tasks completed (with code assigned to each task) and manager’s approval (again online) in the system, so that all those feedback can be taken into account while deciding the bonus for an employee at the end of the period. This would give the organization an advantage to introduce transparency in the system, make the whole process of project completion more efficient and productive and encourage greater employee participation. On one hand where coming up with such a system would incur some costs, the benefits reaped out of it for long term would supersede all the costs automatically. This would also allow variable bonuses to be offered to employees for doing different levels of work, rather than judging two employees with different levels of work on the same scale.
• Work growth: - This would include provision of latest trainings required, both offline and online to all the employees of the company at all the levels. External vendors/ trainers need to be called in on regular basis and training sessions conducted. Also, to encourage employees to go and attend trainings externally arranged by the company after incurring heavy costs, a company can offer petty certifications (not much cost constraint for a company) to all the trained employees. But this would mean, an employee needs to pass the necessary tests at the end of the training (to get that significant certificate), and make self available for any work required outside the peripherals of his/her team. This would allow effective utilization of trained resources across teams and hence across spectrum.  This may also ask an employee to devote self as an effective collaborator for other teams working in the same organizations on different platforms.
• Personal growth: - This would include making the work friendlier for an employee by giving him/her the right to have flexibility at work. /this may not include a flexibility in time, but yes, a flexibility to report at work when desired by an employee on basis of an authenticate reason. This factor would help an employee of not deducting his/her approved leaves, and would be most effective if immediate senior/superior is well informed beforehand.

·         Moving ahead, the next big factor for winning the hearts of employees for an employer is to have regular team-outings in form of lunch, dinners, gaming sessions, birthday celebrations etc. This would generate greater camaraderie among all employees and higher levels of interaction would help in siphoning off all the everlasting hiccups that exists between two colleagues or between a subordinate & his/her boss. Regular conversations would keep the employees abreast of the prevailing market situations and hence provide them an informal platform to discuss all the issues they face on day to day basis. All views are personal...

Voting - A compulsory act????

Apropos to the news published in respected newspapers about Narendra Modi’s statement of making voting compulsory across the country, I would like to propose a better alternative than coming up with a humungous task of making a billion and rising population accountable (also who would keep a check on fulfillment criteria?).

It would be wise for Indian government to come up with a website (portal) which could carry the whole process of casting your vote during respective state & assembly elections. To increase the voting numbers, the portal would work in coherence with the manual way (ballot process) of casting votes. Only modification that needs to be introduced is generation of a unique number series on all voter Identity cards issued by the authorities. All poor households and rural people who are not exposed to operate a system or doesn’t have an access to one would continue voting the way they have been doing till today and all the savvy and literate people with an easy access to internet can go and cast a vote online. This step would ask for a high security website to be in place with few mandatory details that needs to be furnished by every individual for avoidance of double entries/ fake entries.

The benefits of such a system would be manifolds on the other hand, which will include:-

1)A greater transparency in entire process of voting.

2)A greater response from Indian population who otherwise avoid casting a vote owing to troubles involved.

3)The on set of an era which would entrust government with the responsibility of promoting education and expose people to computers in coming times.

4)Huge savings on expenditure incurred during the whole process of voting/ huge savings on exchequers’ money spent during the same period.

5)Using this online database created as a result of registration of citizens for conducting periodic surveys/census/assessments by government agencies. 

6)Making possible the conception of the provision of Social Security Numbers (SSN) which is prevalent in countries like US and is the need of time for a country like ours.

 

Aahat

Aahat kissi ke kadmon ki, ek umeed ki kiran jagaya karti hai,

Durr koi awaaz sunne par, ghungroo ki khan-khan sunai padti hai!!!

Mann daudta hai har chehre ke peeche, kissi kii talaash mein,

Karodon ki bheed hai wahan, fir bhi kissi ki kami khalti rehti hai!!!

Band khidkiyon ke us par, kissi ko paane ka mann karta hai,

Khulte darwazon ko dekh, soti aankhen jaag jaya karti hain,

Aahat kissi ke kadmon ki, ek umeed ki kiran jagaya karti hai!!!

Aate jate is zindagi ke safar mein, har gadi kissi ki lagti hai,

Saath aaj chutta hai hamara,

Lekin kadmon ki aahat wohi manzil ki taraf ishara karti hai,

Aahat kissi ke kadmon ki, ek umeed ki kiran jagaya karti hai!!!

Kissi ke bulane par, har awaaz ussi ki lagti hai,

num khamoshi mein har ehsaas, kissi ki sansein sulgaya karta hai,

dil aaj bhi hai kissi ke paas,

sirf dhadkan idhar sun jaya karti hai,

Aahat kissi ke kadmon ki, ek umeed ki kiran jagaya karti hai!!!

Cricket – a new Avtaar

Cricket - A gentleman’s game has seen many avtaars in recent past. From an ever-lasting & most exhilarating beginning of One Day Internationals & Tests to avant-garde Hong-kong sixes and Twenty-twenty matches in Premier League & Cricket leagues. The game is in all forms of evolution and is slowly working as a great business proposition, or to be rightly stated as young tycoons’ game instead of gentleman’s game or the gentlemen’s game played on business lines, the metaphors can go on endlessly. If it did not matter till today about the number of spectators vying for cricket in all forms and at all places, and the amount of mullah it carried over years, for the Olympics, it certainly would matter in coming times owing to its ever-evolving Avtaars. Till recent past, it has been argued for inclusion of games like Football, Cricket etc. in Olympics which are played widely in entire world and watched over by zillions of people. Even if the proposition arises, how do Olympics authorities take cricket into consideration? Simply, by its new Business Avtaar, where this game can become an individual’s take to prove his mettle in coliseum of sports arena. This would be a format where eleven diverse individuals, that is, from different cricket playing countries would play a match for the same time duration as duration of an ODI. This would make every individual to fight for self, or more apt description would be to fight for his country. The game would involve 55 over’s match (nearly longer than 20-20 format) with each player given 5 over’s to play for. No runners involved, but every man for himself. The format would be scoring maximum points at the end of the match by scoring maximum runs out of eleven players, best fielding, taking maximum wickets, and maximum number of catches & finally for being the wicket keeper on relative grading scale(higher points for being the only wicket keeper in a match). Rest 10 players would field & bowl and the only objective would be to get each batsman out as soon as possible. As soon as one is out, one of the fielders (in predefined order before commencement as per past relative performances) would grab the armor to score maximum and exiting batsman would take the covers of the field. The wicket-keeper would be the last person to bat, but would already have few points to start with for being the only keeper in the match. The burden on cricket community would decrease all the more by having just one umpire, the 3^rd umpire watching every movement from the control room. As every player, fights for his cause, it would be a game of just & fair play with no wrong signage’s to be seen. Taking maximum wickets and scoring runs would be the biggest determining factors for overall points tally. Diverse companies, sponsors from all across the participating nations can chip in for sponsorships and tournament holdings. This would generate more revenue both for the players, companies, cricket world, with gargantuan increase in viewership and a better reach to the sport for non-cricket playing nations. It would come handy as a tournament where a number of matches are played with all players (an exhaustive list) playing league & subsequent matches as per their ranking (similar to Lawn-tennis tournaments like US Open etc) and then proceeding to tougher and testing levels.

There is exponential money riding on game of cricket, yet untapped, and unfazed. The money involved in this sport would one day incorporate this game into Olympics for sure, but can that day be the one when cricket would enter this sporting arena on basis of its viewership, demand & a platform to search the best athletes in the world?? Any prospective takers?

A Paradigm shift in thinking

Apropos to the latest incidents happening in India ranging from bomb blasts that started in Jaipur, & moved on to Bangalore, Ahmadabad and then to Delhi; to the communal rights creating an inferno in states like Orissa owing to death of Swami Laxmananda; from Raj Thackeray party playing a mockery of Indian's glorified freedom given to every individual, to non-happening of Nano project in Singur; from huge unrest amongst the farmers in land compensation in north, to havoc of conversions & re-conversions in Karnataka, Kerala; Is India on the verge of an internal blow-up? Answer: No, not really. This is the time for India and people to consolidate as a unit to combat all levels of evilness in the society. As our agencies like Intelligence Bureau etc. gear up to fight against the terrorism and its uncanny plans, rather then calling it an hour of the need, we as responsible citizens should delve into greater cooperation and brotherhood amongst each other and fight for a much larger cause like eradicating poverty, pollution, global warming, corruption etc. than fighting amongst ourselves those so called communal or holy or islamist or naxal wars. Many of us would call this option as a futile and fruitless drive, but realize the fact; it is still the next best thing to think of as no other means do work out in long run. Joining a militant group, killing innocents, causing disturbance sounds exciting but do they ignite the passion within you to fight for the cause? Ask yourself, answer lies within your soul. As Dan Brown, author of Angels & Demons quotes in his book, the most universal language in world is not the language of religion or science, but of numbers, logic & rationale, that is the language of mathematics. We must understand that Adam & Eve belonged to no religion, Jesus never taught to fight for the hatred amongst each others, and there was no bifurcation on basis of religion in one of the greatest epics ever, Mahabharata. Rather than condemning an individual (Shivraj Patil) for no timely action to uproot terrorism, it is time for us to castigate ourselves for the same. Think of it as an unfortunate person in those streets of Gaffar Market, Karol Bagh just before the blow-ups, wouldn't you ever want to save everyone out there if you knew that something terrible was about to happen? Would you really look into menial details of knowing the religion and ethnicity of an individual first before extending hand in times of grief & pain? Would you be able to judge the difference in blood and skin splattered & splintered around on seeing all brothers & sisters lying dead on the road? The answer is a clear no. Then what are we fighting for if not fighting for helping each other? We must learn that the outfits, militants only become strong when they are highly motivated to fight for their defined cause as they lack the experience of witnessing the world as they would want to see it in their vision & existence, but we have experienced for ages in different generations the world we always wanted to live in, so we don't even need an external motivation, as they do. We don't need to become radical to fight for a noble cause, but to fight!!! The whole concept lies in bringing harmony, peace and love for each other out there. 

The movie Matrix clearly explains the power of 'One', the mighty powers of Neo to fight against the programs of virtual world deceiving humans of their energy; philosophically & realistically speaking, this world is a Matrix, we need to unite as One to break its code. It is high time; the media agencies become highly proactive in spreading the word of brotherhood, camaraderie and love as a message to fight for a cause of long run on daily basis. The parties like BJP takes stricter actions to refrain their prodigies(Bajrang Dal) from rather fighting for petty things at hand to contest for elections, it should be glorifying people at time when they are not in power. Raj Thackeray who can act like a representative & responsible ambassador for entire state should set an example rather then carping on personalities like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan who belong to no state or territory but to one state of film industry brethren. One need to realize that progress made by few people who have won accolades for the country need not unnecessarily be hampered as they are the ones who generate employment for a millions out there & give realistic-unrealistic heroic hopes to trillions out there in their own direct-indirect ways to fight for a greater cause and to fight within. Police should shun the lackadaisical image it has always carried amongst masses and proper campaigns & awareness needs to be imbibed in every facet of society. Thus we would have a safe place to live in for future.

Life with a Mallu

For all those who don’t know who a MALLU is, please do read this article, for the whole purpose is not to define who he (/she) is but to describe few attributes of the person engraved in soul with such a personality with world’s all limped modernism present externally. I had one of my friends staying with me for a period of almost 40 days. This was a time to share the same room, same set of books & notes, and almost the same hackneyed routine. But mind you, did you hear the word ‘same’ quite a number of times!!! Believe me, it’s purely a matter of coincidence, for we too were very different, not just geographically, but in respects of age, thinking, money, girls, and what not!!! The list is endless…

“Ballzzzzzz….” as would my ex-room-mate, Mr.SRK would say on hearing something nonsense, gibberish and highly calorific.

A regular conversation between me and him would lead the way as if going through a wild safari though Western Ghats destined to somebody’s home-land Kerala:-

Me:- Wassup SRK!!! Didn’t you notice the hot chic today with that sexy skirt?

SRK: - (as usual) Ballzzzz…I hope that she’s definitely a Pallakadian (a place in Kerala), for I got to marry someone like her for sure.

Me:- Hell You, do you actually think that you get those kindaa beauties in your place back home?? Get some logical/realistic rationale working for you man!!!

SRK: - I would tell you Raghav, either I’m marrying a Pallakadian in my life or a Punjabi who knows pretty well how to prepare good food.

Me:- you seem to be talking now.

Before I could continue further, he interrupts in between,

SRK: - Ballzzzzz…..

I waited thinking that he might want to say something, but that was the biggest silence I ever delved into!!!

SRK: - Raghav, you know what, one of my Surd friends told me in the past that if you see a South Indian & a snake, choose the snake over South Indian.

Me:- (thinking as to  what to make out of it with my eyes rolling in all directions, believe me, even 11 dimensions of universe were less at the moment) AAhhhhhh……….silence

After a pause,

Me:- Why do you say that yaar?

SRK: - I don’t, it was my friend who said that, you ass…

Me:- anyways…

SRK: - (certainly out of nowhere) you are one such bond with a CGPA of 3.7/4, with a great company experience to bank upon, and studying here XYZ (name changed), in such a great college...what else do you need in life man?

Me (with full sarcasm in tone):- I know I know…I’m one such unfortunate great studying with a guys like you…I should have been into something like IIMs, XLs…

SRK: - Ballzzzzz…

(Now somebody make him realize that I’m trying to justify why we all here, not why we all couldn’t make it to those great places, and this guy has just one thing to give me, in fact the pluralist form)

Me (on a serious note):- Look at you…you are the talent of tomorrow, you got the name of SRK with you, and people know you and accept you everywhere you go!!!(What was I saying even I couldn’t make head n tail of it, he was one person who imbibed within you what he possessed all along!!!)

SRK: - Ballzzzzz… Studying here, I would go places with a bowl in my hand asking for monetary help!!!

Me:- ha ha… (Don’t know if it was really funny, but did feel like one!!!)

SRK:- Raghav, management is all about studying great people like Kotler, and it would be great if we can get into a company like Texas Instruments for summers!!!

Me:- (with mouth wide open, contemplating the thought, have I been living two lives one for management n other for engineering where latter has come to the fore-ground at the moment, or is this again one of those jokes by SIR SRK which shoots over & above my understanding??) Woah, that’s awesome…that sounds a real cool proposition (somebody please come as a saviour)

Above is just an excerpt of daily musing like those that used to happen between us. Now SRK is one such guy, who would place ethics, morals, integrity, hard work, passion and money at the top level. Yes, money also occupied the same podium. Known for his wit & humor, and the immature knack of being over worried, over conscious and over what not, he is pretty famous amongst friends & esp. girls. He’s been one sincere person around and a reliable material.

Being SRK would be a lot different from being a Mallu. This individual having seen many places did learn quite a lot by adjusting amongst all sections of society, and went on to become a great friend.

Today, he puts up with another of our college friend in a hostel. His room-mate is a core Punjabi by nature, and SRK is getting accustomed to loud tunes of Punjabi folk with Gurdaas Mann topping the chart. Unknowingly, he is made listen to those Punjabi numbers he didn’t even know of as a special request by him!!! I wonder if he’s been practicing Bhangra with heavy south Indian look on his face and ondu, vondu and wannakam chants that go with the beat. No wonder, if SRK comes back to me one day, and asks one question, & that too the most important one, “What is the procedure to change the room??”

Apologies for hurting any sentiments across…all care was taken not to do so, apologies for any uninviting remark!!! All mistakes are coincidental due to incidents that happened and nothing personal in what so ever respects has been tried to bring to the fore.

 

India China, views

As one rightly said, 'absence of evidence is not evidence of absence!!!'

This wise thought rightfully applies to the policy framework of China which shows no evidence of human tyranny in most plausible & superficial manner, but exists in darkest dungeons known to all if not spoken aloud. There is no second thought to the adage that what is considered to be India's biggest strength is biggest threat to China, if not monetarily but yes in terms of long perspective envisioned growth, is respect for humanity, & that comes in form of DEMOCRACY. It would be foolish to state that democracy has been the stumbling factor for India; in fact there is no denying the fact that democracy is the most stable form of government that exists in the world today, even when it states the truth behind the saying, "Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried." – By Winston Churchill.

One could very well ascertain the growth shown by China since past many years is gigantic in every sense, but that simply over-shadows the grim reality that exists below the belly. No wonder, China has not been given the status of MES (Market Economy Status) for such a long time owing to its dumping policies, resulting in ruining the growth of other countries. A foreign firm makes an investments in form of FDI, turnkey project etc. to reap the benefits/gains, but what is followed by China is sheer dismantling of the host country economy by its wrongly subservient personal interests. This results in loss of respect for individuals as human beings, no matter to which country they belong.

Olympics was un-deniably the most historic event of today's time (wonder if it is China's growth time or China's time to make a nose-dive) but with venomous smell of Tibet unrest, huge protectionism followed by government (Chinese) control, fake singing by an adorable girl for a not-so cute girl (Yang Peiy) at the opening inauguration of Beijing Olympics did spread all across the world. The training Chinese athletes undergo is so rigorous that even kids as young as 6 yrs old and with a presence all across the country end up without going to school, learn what they should be learning and lead life as human instead of sports machines. Even with promises that the government makes in reciprocation for national glory are kept in abeyance (again not known to the rest of the world).

 If one goes by the news published some years back, it is known a fact that Chinese employ a large portion of dead people's skin to produce cosmetics for growing Chinese industry and most of these products help in getting rid of early wrinkles on face. This is one of the factors why there's a high number of electrocution done year on year in china on prisoners. One can wonder to what extent China can flood itself with weirdest of implementations to see it reach where it would have never even dreamt of reaching.

Chinese government is a single party socialist republic, and Indians certainly don't need to take a lesson from them. Yes, we may not be growing at the same rate as China is, but yes, we are growing at 2^nd fastest rate in the world. And the figures just do not end here. Owing to the NSG exemption for India, one can certainly deduce the importance India has not just for US but for entire world. Indians do not end up doing business globally on a small scale, but we are on an investments spree gigantically in every nook & corner of the world with major accusations. On one hand, where we keep our promises to fight against corruption, poverty, pollution, hazards, at the same time, on other hand, we continuously strive to work hard and enrich the globe with everything it deserves. The Indian growth happens automatically. Looking at the figures, India's trade with China has grown in recent years, and China is now bound to become the 3^rd largest trading partner for India after US. We are aiming to increase bilateral trade with China to nearly $ 30bn by 2010. All this isn't a coincidence, but the wisdom of India to have an exclusive 'inclusive' growth in all respects with all sanity in mind and soul. The leaps by China may be challenging, but not long lasting, they may be daring, but not bold when it comes to human development.

The Chinese media is in total grips of the government and follows an almost self inflicted ritual of composing/writing/publishing/advertising what needs to be transpired to people in glorious sense and shun the hard realities before they reach to the public.

The Indian System, democratic in every sense, calls for a greater cause of brotherhood, respect for each other, and longevity of 3S - sustenance, survival and stability. We have had a glorious past, and a promising future, with the country proving to be the only pillar of success in today's time of oppression, depression, slump, and recession & many other ions one could think of. Natural calamities did hit us in form of tsunami, floods etc, the communal riots did break now & then, all these events do create a havoc for Indians, but not on the behest of being a democratic country. An individual with his/her precious say in government activities is not only patriotism reflection in today's modern sense ( as contrary to puppet control in Afghanistan, unrest in Zimbabwe, government control excessively in China, anarchy in Nepal till recent past, past militancy in Pakistan) but the magical mirror of blessed future in a darkness bound environment. Realizing the potential stored in over almost 90% of young India (below 63 years of age) when compared to China, India is certainly bound to grow at slower acceleration when compared to China, but reach to higher point then China in long run with better vision and consistent tenacity.

We Believe

Closing of a chapter, marks the beginning of the next,

Cohesion arises in adversity, one need to be blessed!!!

"Set the platform", what others would say,

Every day has an end, but then every day is followed by another 'promising' day!!!

Time has come, when we make an aplomb start,

With the vision of our aim striking the dart,

Wishing luck and blessings to every individual out there,

We believe, We believe this journey to not end here!!!

We believe, We believe in roads crossing again,

With baton of love switching hands without disdain,

Let's forgo all enmity, all hatred in soul,

Let's pledge together to succeed together wherever we go!!!

We believe, We believe to set the world rolling again,

Spreading happiness around, while crying in rain,

We believe, We believe in spirits of high-impetus accord,

Calling everyone to hit the right chord!!!

Split twice-open into three

It started with one. The true power of one could have been apprehended had it remained existent physically since independence. But the non existence of anticipated application of one was the case applicable to all the other cases. Bharat was once a one-ation where there was no hatred based on religion, no communalism ever crept in, and people talked about unity to fight the greater cause, the cause of achieving independence. But the unity didn’t last a life time, a nation of martyrs got bifurcated into two-Pakistan and Hindustan. Never did anyone think of divide widening any further until recently when Kashmir gained the detestation of standing on the precipice of the contentious valley between the two giants, ready to make a move to one of the two sides, sadly. It is no denying a fact, that India did win three Olympics at Beijing Olympics, with three Indians being ranked amongst 40 richest Individuals in Singapore (Kartar Singh Thakral,, Mustaq Ahmad, Sunny George Verghese), and three Khans(ShahRukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Saif Ali khan) ruling the Indian film industry. But out of one corner, so does the inauspicious ‘three’ of two giants and a state in tussle starts creeping in! Yes, it’s Kashmir, Pakistan and India. And the manacles of it brings adversity to the life of three innocent people (Abrar Ali,Anwar Hussein, Rashid Hussein) in context to blasts that took place at two places with one rendered as a warning of undefeatable danger(again adding to ‘three’).
It was sad to have come across news where the three innocent citizens of our country were reprimanded for no fault of theirs, with no connection with the terrorist outfits unless the state forces convict them on the lines of Kevin Bacon’s theory of six degrees of connection with terrorist present all over. Equally sad was to know that people like Shabana Azmi were denied of owning a flat in Mumbai on context of being a person belonging to the minority religion in our country i.e. Islam. We should rather reconcile the fact that more Muslims live in India than they do in Pakistan and form an equally important part in comprehending the definition of Secularism in India. Where on one hand, ShahRukh/Aamir khan personifies every individual of the country in most patriotic Indian way; on other hand actors like them carry forward the bacon of harmony & brotherhood across nations with zeal. Only a dormant mind can rightly act the torch bearer of extremism & communalism in this ever evolving world. It is high time, we Hindustanis & Pakistanis shun the deplorable principles of hypocritical hatred amongst each other and start fighting jihad, a fight with inner-self in a more spiritual way!!! Let the Trinity (that God exists as three persons) be the only propitious unit of ‘three’ prevail in this world with God being present at the centre and balancing the two extremes of love & hatred, good & evil. Let us hope the numeral would only increment for the universal glory and not for the ill-fated discourse.

Shiv Kumar Batalvi

Continuing with the questions about mysterious events in this world, today I bring to you yet again a mystifying figure, the person who was famous, yet so mystique, one who did break the code of life, yet couldn’t save self from the strings of death, one who died to live as a legend, or lived dying the death forever in his living. He was a great poet, a magical composer, an un-ordinary lyricist, a charming & adorable person, a lunatic lover, a charismatic individual and the undying patriot.

The person talked here is the great legend, Shiv Kumar Batalvi. He was someone who understood the meaning of life, accepted everything that was everything in the spiritual world, rejected everything that was anything in this materialistic world, with such an in-depth wisdom and enlightenment of peace within, free from external world and surroundings. Nobody would ever be certain about his unexplained death, the death of a young soft spoken lad born on the land of the warriors, the death of a romantic lover who loved in the land of turmoil, the death of a poet who explained the life in his work.
Shiv Kumar Batalvi was the son of a tehsildar in Punjab, who never knew that one day, he would go on to become one of the greatest poets in Punjabi Literature.

He was an alcoholic, who was made to drink by his companions to exploit his genius, got disease ridden by epilepsy at a very young age, but simultaneously wrote great works in poetry and songs by the age of 28 and died at the age of just 34 years. Truly, he was the legend in poetry brethren and the undying soul in this morbid world.

Above is the interview of the great whose message of love, pain, hatred, patriotism, brotherhood, friendship, needs to be spread around the whole world and in all literature. The interview shows the pain in his voice, the morbidity he sees in sorrow, the love in his passion, the attachment with people, and sadness in the way we are progressing. Salute to the greatest legend of all time!!!

One of his works:-

Thought

Life can not be explained with a mere definition,

it is something for which there exists no definition!!!

-Raghav

Destiny

Ever wondered what life is? Neither did Neo (from Matrix) must have thought what he was expected to do for the mankind and what all sacrifices he’ll have to make to achieve what he’s not destined for!!! Had he been a complete controller of his life, he would not have been the selected anti-Agent Smith to win the battle against evil machines. Was he the complete controller or a person selected as an anomaly by someone to break the matrix???



I never thought about the hackneyed yet so intriguing question about life!!!
And I still don’t see myself able to solve the mystery behind it, behind life and death, sadness and happiness, love and hatred, destiny and faith etc.

It feels like standing at the same place where I was originally and would continue to be at the same place where I am chronologically. Who asked me to write this piece here, what made me sit in front of the computer & made me think about life today when I’m supposed to be working for the job I get paid for? Is destiny driven by my control, all the actions I perform in daily musings, or is it the fate that defines my course of action for the future (that too whose??), and chalk out a plan about which nobody else knows; why would anybody else know even!!!

What is destiny?? I thought of it as something written for you by some supreme entity, which designed this universe, and dictated all the contents engraved on it. What I experience, what I live, re-live, learn, un-learn, grow, recede, is all as per my destiny. Or is not? Isn’t destiny something that is not controlled by me or by my actions? I’ve heard people telling me various paths available to reach to the desired destiny, I ask, what is desired destiny then??? How would an individual desire something cherishing out of a ‘thing’ that is pre-defined by the LORD (if so ever he/she exists!!!) himself? How can numerous paths change the destination if all of them points towards the same thing?

Yes, alternative paths are available to race towards your destiny, but what’s the point of running a single individual race where you would anyways reach one fine day (death)!!! Isn’t destiny an end where all our expectations begin? Isn’t it a black hole (an anomaly) from where all our desires emerge? I could never find answer to any of those questions and the quandary continues within.

Prevalence of GOD:-

Nobody knows whether GOD actually exists as some supreme entity that defines this universe or not! Even I have belief in Him, but the logics somehow do not allow His Omni-presence to intercept within my soul infinitely.

If everything in this world has a beginning, what was the beginning of the almighty?
If He has been there forever, then why isn’t there anything in this universe that doesn’t have an end?
If time flows, then what was the time when it was zero (t=0) and what was the time when it was below zero, c’mon tell in those Newtonian mechanic terms?
If evolution is answer to human development questions, then what is the relevance of Adam & Eve?

If I go as per my belief that God definitely exists, and it is because of the almighty that we are progressing the way we are, then aren’t we heading towards something that the Lord himself doesn’t want? Or is He trying to test humans to see to what extreme extent of negativity we can reach? But for everything negative, there’s positivity attached to it. God creates a balance in everything, day n night, male n female, sun n shade, left n right, right n wrong, good n evil, almost everything. But if positive aura is also present around, then isn’t this whole balancing act helping God to reach nowhere.

Another question that raises in my mind, if we people define our own destiny, then why can’t we get what we desire? Why do an ailing child can’t born in a resource rich country by deciding his/her destiny at the time when it is present in mother’s womb?
If destiny is individual controlled, then shouldn’t the destiny of everyone be independent from each other? But they aren’t. Our actions generate an equal reaction in every tangible/non tangible entity that exists around us. If destiny is so human controlled, why cant most of the people change from what they are & what they intend to be for their entire life even if they want to?

I suppose there would be 100’s of those questions left unanswered within my soul and would either have to wait for my destiny to show me the answers for all of them or have to turn the stones around to find an answer for all of these bugging questions (of course by changing the destiny); don’t know what would happen, asks you out there to solve this real life Rubik’s cube with those 6 exhilarating faces of life, death, sadness, prosperity, love & hatred!!!

Letter to TOI

Article published in TOI on 18/06/08

Environment Inc(Anand Soondas)

Those of us who have some hope of remaining alive for the next 20 years will be very worried about the doomsday predictions for the environment. Looks like the world won’t just be a hothouse, but a very bleak house — ACs in Srinagar, no rain in Cherrapunji, Londoners without overcoats, Bangladesh under water and base camps almost at the top of Everest because the mountain sans snow and fog won’t be half as treacherous as it is now. Of course, the Chinese would have made the whole thing easier by building metal roads that would take truckloads of T-shirt clad tourists right up to where Hillary and Tenzing planted their victory flags, but that’s besides the point. The issue, really, is that in the absence of proactive steps by governments across the world, who obviously choose economics over ecology, letting developing countries do the emissions saving for them in the name of carbon credits, who will take care of the environment, global warming, vanishing pandas and tigers? The capitalists, who else. Just privatise the environment and see what a difference it makes. For money, they will gladly make a business of it and even go to the extent of saving humanity from imminent collapse. This is how the model will work. Each eco-entrepreneur — let’s call them that until something more apt is coined — will bid for “spaces” in an auction by the government. Ghaziabad will go to someone and Noida to someone else. Mumbai, of course, will go to one of the Ambanis. It’ll be the sole responsibility of the winners to ensure that their space is as clean as what is mandated by a global body. This will mean that the air in their specific areas of operation is permissibly clean, the rivers have no effluents, endangered species don’t go extinct, the water table doesn’t dip further, the hills don’t become naked without pines and both flora and fauna are secured well. For his hard work — because he will have to tackle the industry, poachers, agriculturists, bus operators and autorickshaw guys, almost everyone who’s out to make a fast buck at the cost of earth — the eco-entrepreneur will get a good portion of the taxpayers’ money. Everyone will be happy, except maybe netas fattening up on huge cuts from various cartels. In which case, we can go one step ahead and privatise politics.

Thoughts (An Opinion sent to TOI Editor):-

Privatization of the environment?

Sounds good, but not an ideal solution in this far stretched world out there. Where we have sub-Sahara African countries like Mali etc., to places in Middle East and other developing nations all sustaining at the whims & fancies of the great super powers of the world, one just cannot anticipate the participation of private players as a blessing in disguise for protection of environment.
To quote a few; Africa (read as resource rich nature), being a nation with a hugely growing vegetation & highest rate of forests growth in the world, is cut down by countries like US (read as those private advanced nation players) excessively just to serve their own interests. Another example to quote here is again of US economy causing most terrible impact on environment. Kyoto protocol did create a technique of saving eco-system using Carbon credits, but the day wouldn't be far when an equal encouragement to pollute would be made to earn more profits monetarily in one place on the expense of the other (nation) just like arms race.
Privatizing the space-width would not be a wise decision for protection of the environment. It reminds one of the novel 'Frankenstein' by Mary Shelly which had a living being named Frankenstein with all likelihood of a human, but went on to be a lot more powerful and a gruesome monster. Playing with the forces of nature and taking control over them would never result in anybody's good, the race can go beyond all human expectations one day!!!
In the article, author talks about the sharing of space geographically amongst the big shots for the good of the environment, plants and animals. But that idea has a very acute & dominating limp attached to it. When individuals run business, ethics & moral values receive a toss, and stakes are automatically higher when it is the question of safeguarding our environment. The tendency to save the environment using capitalism would definitely lose it's objective in long run and eventually one day become a warring battle between players to make the most out of it. The only entities that would bear the brunt would be plants, animals, common man and the environment. Privatization would lead to privatization of basic amenities of nature, which may include inhaling a clean air, drinking clean water, eating a non-genetically induced vegetation. And on same hand, it would lead to severe catastrophes like cloning of the endangered species, creating of artificial food, revoking the rights of the individuals, tussle between people for agricultural land, security concerns over other's industrial set-ups, exploitation of workers, inflation going overboard, government losing control etc.
Protection of environment, reducing greenhouse gases, planting trees, reducing effluents discharge are the objectives for the future. But more viable, feasible, practical and environment friendly steps need to be devised as a course of action needs to be carved out. Use of more renewable source of energy, employing the benefits of carbon credits, creating awareness amongst individuals and nations, exploiting the best use of Solar energy, nuclear energy etc would help in protecting the eco-system. Alternative fuels like ethanol etc. can be studied as a replacement for combustible fuels. As the adage goes, with great power, comes greater responsibility. Now it is the responsibility of humans to define a track that would define future for us and our generations to come.

A perfect example of out of the box thinking!!!

I read this mail some time ago and was very impressed with the ability of an individual to think differently. Well, if you dont think so, i must say, do read it once to reconsider your decision:-

"Some time ago I received a call from a colleague. He was about to give a student a zero for his answer to a physics question, while the student claimed a perfect score. The instructor and the student agreed to an impartial arbiter, and I was selected.
I read the examination question:
"SHOW HOW IT IS POSSIBLE TO DETERMINE THE HEIGHT OF A TALL BUILDING WITH THE AID OF A BAROMETER."
The student had answered, "Take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower it to the street, and then bring it up, measuring the length of the rope. The length of the rope is the height of the building."
The student really had a strong case for full credit since he had really answered the question completely and correctly! On the other hand, if full credit were given, it could well contribute to a high grade in his physics course and to certify competence in physics, but the answer did not confirm this.
I suggested that the student have another try. I gave the student six minutes to answer the question with the warning that the answer should show some knowledge of physics . At the end of five minutes, he had not written anything. I asked if he wished to give up, but he said he had many answers to this problem; he was just thinking of the best one .. I excused myself for interrupting him and asked him to please go on.
In the next minute, he dashed off his answer, which read:
"Take the barometer to the top of the building and lean over the edge of the roof. Drop the barometer, timing its fall with a stopwatch. Then, using the formula H = 1/2 x a x t 2 , calculate the height of the building."
At this point, I asked my colleague if he would give up. He conceded, and gave the student almost full credit.
While leaving my colleague's office, I recalled that the student had said that he had other answers to the problem, so I asked him what they were.
"Well," said the student, "there are many ways of getting the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer.
For example, you could take the barometer out on a sunny day and measure the height of the barometer, the length of its shadow, and the length of the shadow of the building, and by the use of simple proportion, determine the height of the building."
"Fine," I said, "and others?"
"Yes," said the student, "there is a very basic measurement method you will like. In this method, you take the barometer and begin to walk up the stairs. As you climb the stairs, you mark off the length of the barometer along the wall. You then count the number of marks, and this will give you the height of the building in barometer units."
"A very direct method."
"Of course. If you want a more sophisticated method, you can tie the barometer to the end of a string, swing it as a pendulum, and determine the value of g at the street level and at the top of the building.
From the difference between the two values of g, the height of the building, in principle, can be calculated."
"On this same tact, you could take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower it to just above the street, and then swing it as a pendulum. You could then calculate the height of the building by the period of the precession".
"Finally," he concluded, "there are many other ways of solving the problem. Probably the best," he said, "is to take the barometer to the basement and knock on the superintendent's door. When the superintendent answers, you speak to him as follows:
'Mr. Superintendent, here is a fine barometer. If you will tell me the height of the building, I will give you this barometer."
At this point, I asked the student if he really did not know the conventional answer to this question. He admitted that he did, but said that he was fed up with high school and college instructors trying to teach him how to think.
The student was Neil Bohr (known for quantum theory of physics & mechanics,hydrogen atom etc ) and the arbiter was Rutherford .
THINK DIFFERENT!!!!"

A Short Story

This is my first fiction story, hope you all enjoy!!!

Truth never seems to die so easily and so is the inevitability of death. Yes, I loved him. No matter what my beliefs were and to what extent would they fall in sync with others’ thoughts, I stood firm with them. He has been more than a friend to me; rather I simply adored him and wanted to spend my entire life with him. The adolescence of my age just did not give me enough time to judge between right n wrong, but the unconditional love for someone made me think of doing right whatsoever I could do at my end. I never happened to make many friends. To be liked by someone is something great; I was not even looked upon by others. People found me scary and other boys used to think of me as a secluded/unusual child. Even when I would want to play with them, I was shoved off and utterly ignored. Then there was the opposite sex, or the so called fair sex. Considering them as someone who would really like to listen what you want to deliver was something I always thrived upon. There were few who would listen to my tantrums, the others would simply push me away, but they did find a friend in me, but that again someone highly uncommon. The ubiquitous friendliness just did not sting me ever. We were a nuclear family, and nobody knew for how many generations would the principle of an isolated family continue?

My father has always been a middle class employee, just fighting hard to earn those two basic meals for the day. He could not ever find time for me, neither as a son nor as another individual present in his abode, even when I required at the so called ‘evolutionary’ stage. I used to wait for him at the courtyard anticipating his coming back home after a strenuous day at work and pick me up and feel rejuvenated on seeing a smiling cuddle of human lump in his hands. Alas, that was never meant to happen. There were financial crises strangling him with his arms criss-crossed in the ropes from which he couldn’t break free. Mother was another typical house-wife who shared the same space and time with me, but I would never be able to guess whether she supported me or loved me. I could not find a friend in her that I was in need of!!!
The days we spent there, I wished time could flow like a flash of a light and things suddenly changed, but in this world not all wishes gets fulfilled.

The story continued for a very long time, till one day, I got a chance to visit my grand parents. My grand-pa was so old that since my birth I always saw him the way he was now, as if some how, he had broken the code of life, preventing any further decay. I wasn’t much delighted as nothing gave me motivation to feel happy. He was old and ailing at times. And for having not spent much life with them, I couldn’t feel the same pain he was going through for the time. Life did show the other facet which was missing for so long for me at least. I found a friend in this small town, whom I loved and shared my feelings with as and when possible. He was my soul-mate, my companion, my caretaker and my partner I would anticipate for this short life. Time flew like wind and I could see myself sailing along in full throttle. We used to spend most of the time together except when I had to get back home and study.
The trip was a very eventful one, but it did not last long. And in a fraction of few nanoseconds, I started missing my love, my friend!!! After having spent best time of my life in grandpa’s small town, I decided to visit them again and come back again in near future. The place helped establish a strong bond with someone eagerly waiting for me. The impetus was to get back to someone whom I loved, who would always be waiting for me and would understand me what nobody from my family could ever do.
I started growing up in his company. He would treat me like nobody else ever did. He would adore me, caress me, feed me and play with me when I was with him. My grand parents were much elated to see me coming back to them again and again but were perplexed about this new craze. They wanted to discover my needs of making frequent trips to them when on contrary, their son don’t even get time to even call them up. But, I always kept myself free from all shackles of the real world. I tried keeping myself in sight of someone who could die for me. I never doubted my friends’ expertise at hand as compared to everyone else. My father did bring me to this world, but my friend made me learn the subtlety of life. I started enjoying every day and waited for new dawn to come and raised hopes to meet my friend, yet again.

Never did I realize that this small town would also find me uninviting one day. I was given a much discarded look by people around. There were questions like, “Why does he come so often here? Who is his friend here who loves him so much while nobody else does including his family?” The semi-urban used to ponder and wanted to save their kids from very shadows of mine. Except this lonely individual, nobody was ready to understand me. I was asked to come back home and wasn’t even sure whether the pressure would even let me go back to grandpa’s town again!!! What bothered me was my friend whom I loved so much and wanted to live my entire life with. I did realise my father’s plight and concerns but other than being sorry, I couldn’t do much when life has made me like that. As per my father, the need of the hour was to sit with my friend and chalk out a life that would prove good for me. But when he came to know about me and my friend, he remained in utter silence. I could comprehend his silence all in my favour, till the day I proved fatal with this take on life for someone. My father did advice me to make friends and start exploring life rather than putting up with one mate. But nothing could have changed me and it never did. I remained the same till I had my friend standing next to me.

Today, life has changed, times have changed, and so is my scary face become normal with growth, but one thing never changed and those are my thoughts and feelings. Yes, I had a rotten face since birth and nobody knew why. And what more I don’t have today is my mate, but his love, support and feelings would live with me forever. No matter what my father warned me about my grand-pa’s health, I stand no regrets and pray to God to bless me as the prodigy of just one individual in all my births and that is my very dear friend, my support, my life, and my companion, my old, ailing, no more Grand-father!!!

Romantic Poem

zindagi ka aangan tha suna,
is mein ek din ek nanhi kali khili,
andhere mein gum patange ko,
jaise door deepak ki roshini mili!!
rishte ki buniyaad thi pyar aur dosti par,
mar mitne ka ehasas tha,
ek dusre ke bina lagta tha dar,
milkar duniya se ladane ka abhas tha!!!
pyar kab junoon banaa, n jaan saka mera mann,
thithurta hai dil voh barish ki boondon se, voh pehli ghta, voh pehli pavan!!!
ishvar kii terah basi hai mann mein,
raat din sirf tera hi khyaal hai,
dukh ke pal badle ja sakte hain kabhi??
mar ne se pahle bas yahi ek swaal hai!!!
mann ne jise chahaa khud se jyada,
vo hii pyar udasii ki salakhon mein bandha hai,
hamesha hansane ka kiya tha jis se vaada,
voh hi chehra sookhe ansuon ki mitti mein dhansa hai,
saath bitaye pal nahin bhoolte,
yaadon kii chhaayien nahin hoti gum,
kahe shabdon kaa nahin koi prayashchit,
aye dost, saf mann kii vaani ko sun!!!
mila tha samudr ka anmol moti,
sunehra patthar samajh kar uss se khel liya,
jis kali ne diya baag ko rang,
us kali ko phoolon mein khilne se rondh diya!!!

Poem out of nowhere...

I'm still in pains,
just like rains,
either they do not shower,
or does so heavily that a minute is an hour!!!

Friendship

A medium sized word with a standard numeric of 10 characters, but with a lot more hidden within than a simple standard definition. As per Oxford dictionary, the meaning of friendship is “the state of being a friend; association as friends: to value a person's friendship”, but when we retrospect, don’t you all think it is definitely more than a simple association. Well, the answer is yes, and we do need to realize the gravity behind this relationship, the unconditional love hidden, the unspoken emotions splurging, the rock-solid faith, the anatomy is simply inexplicable to the core!!!

I’ve had great friends in the past, the ones whom u cannot part away so easily, the ones who were always there for you when you were looking for support, the ones who stood to defend you, not just with you but ready to sacrifice before you ought to!!! And this is a story of one of those many friends I would cherish to be with worth for my lifetime, for eons, for an eternity and for every happy n sad moment in my life. This is a friend, a foe, a critic, a mentor, an adviser, a mother, a baby, a care-taker, an inspiration, a lover, a supervisor, and what not. I could go about tagging her with innumerable synonyms but for a person for whom infinity is a limited space, what purpose would those countable synonyms achieve???

Ever did anyone see the facet of friendship in more than a million ways?? Have you ever noticed someone so close to you sharing with you all that information what nobody feels easy to share with?? Have you ever felt so helpless in finding your true friend in every other human being and start comparing?? Have you ever felt the presence of your best friend always with you 24*7?? If you answer yes, then this is a person who is definitely not just your best friend, but a soul-mate for a lifetime.

Some of the most profound and enlightening moments that truly describe this friend of mine as a person with whom I never connected worldly but internally are quoted here. Please consider the same for yourself, I bet, it would make you realize someone who is so dear to you, that you feel like being nostalgic and call him/her up and talk!!! You feel so heavy from within that there’s a sudden feeling that gives an impetus to remember your friend and wish prosperity and health for the individual.-

 Going for a roll/party/trip with a large group of other friends/colleagues and suddenly remembering your best friend who’s not there on the trip with you. Thinking how more enjoyable and fun loving this entire journey would have been had he/she been along!!!

 Feel his/her presence in every activity you do, every game you play in your trips/tours etc. and start missing her badly. This is when there exists an invisible chord of connectivity stronger than rest and next to the belief of existence of GOD‘s connection with you.

 Walking alone/appearing for an exam/test, would always make you feel the need of someone either walking with you pacing up or supporting you for all the hard-work you put in for the next big thing in your life.

 Looking for your friend, searching him/her in every human being you meet, in the crowd, thinking you must be out there somewhere!!! Looking everywhere from all corners of your eye, to all corners of vision, hoping to find your friend and give him/her a pleasant surprise.

 A sudden heart pumping at high pace just at the thought of seeing him/her one more time for the day/moment, knowing that you’ve already met sometime back.
 Feeling blessed to have encountered your friend and got chance to be with him/her and sending in the purest form of thanks to the LORD!!!

 Feeling honored to have received some task/assignment from your best friend who considers you as capable of solving/rectifying/completing it.
 A feeling of expecting every phone call to be from your friend when it rings, every door bell to be of your friend when it hits, every mail to be from this soul-mate of yours when you receive an email, and every conversation going on to be about your friend even if it is not linked in most bleak manner. Such a feeling makes you express from within the blessing and love for your friend who always thought about you and showed up via different forms like phone, door-bell, mails etc.

 Feeling of buying something and thinking about your friend whether he/she would also be needing/requiring this or not.
 Feeling of letting he/she know the earliest when there is something bad that happens to you.

Well, there are innumerable instances one can quote to define what friendship is. I’m lucky I’ve had very good, humble, caring and trust-worthy friends in my life, but my heart would always go down for one person in my life who has always remained more than a best friend!!! I would not want to thank her but God for creating such a great human being for the betterment of this world and as a greatest person in my entire life!!!

Chamakdaar Chaar

It was one of those regular hackneyed sessions that we’ve lived our entire life sitting idle (after company meetings of course)!!!And yet again, here we four were present, the same four mischievous chaps, who were always there to rather pull each other’s leg and have a blast for the evening!!! It was not a booze session but the one in which people talked only non-Sense when they weren’t supposed to. Sometimes, I wonder how insensible we are when we are in senses and how logical we are when driven away. Or that is the whole point where we are finding ourselves lost!!!
You guys decide from the real life incident described below. This was the same gang…which included me, the non-stop talker, Amandy Singh (Thapar wale), the only surviving Sardar; Love Walls, the only dude that has a name for which we crave literally, and our very old (don’t go by the looks), slow moving baniya brother named Varon G; man behind all girls’ ******** (something missing huh!!!).The evening was a regular sitting session with Rooh-Af-Za in our hands and some chieslings in the other…It all started with the same regular discussions/ debates of how frustrated, depressing life is, and wasn’t the place (read Gurgaon) proving a hell for four bachelors putting up together with no strings attached, read no girl-friends!!! But this was gonna be a night when all sorts of serious discussions got a lot more serious when the topic of Indian epics came into picture… n no exaggeration, here came in the entry of the greatest epic, Ramayana in our discussions!!! What each of us ignored was the fact that nobody was thorough with Ramayana, and nobody wanted to be tagged 'ignorant' about it. So everyone thought of chipping in information in bits n pieces, as if Confucius was here for a lecture with Robert Langdon sitting to crack some secret code and build a huge empire out of no-where. Man, booze would have been a lot appropriate drink to help us accomplish that!!! But as said, “Darr sabhiakoilagta hai”, yahan par, a more refined was “Sunane ka mann sabhi ka karta hai” :-)
But before life could roll any further and every individual can show-off the religious prowess, Love, the mota-bhai,who doesn’t drink at all except those lemon/mint breezers (that too to his heart’s content), show-cased the path for a mind-boggling new incident in Ramayana(I'm afraid if Maharishi Valmiki knew about it), and we always thought that breezer was a non-alcoholic drink until that day!!! There were immemorial times when Maharishi Valmiki wrote Ramayana and there is a time now when Rishi Love Walia wrote few anecdotes once again with few shots of breezer down the gulp.Narration as per real-life chronology:-
V. Gups (as usual in under-shorts sitting right in the middle of the lobby): Ki gall hai Amandy, aaj tussi jaldi kis tereh??
Amandy (with usual sad looks on face, as if pata nai kitno se ladkar aaya hoga UDHAM Singh): Kuch nai yaar,***** Team hai, I’m just frustrated with this city!!!
Gups saab, on hearing this, came forward with a certain sulking and a similar usual comment, “**** Dii..i know yaar!!!”I was also there through-out listening to the conversation , trying to figure out something I didn’t know.Here comes the entry of Walia sahab:-
Love:- Guys, Kapde alag kar diye hain,pani bhar diya hai, raddi bech kar aani hai (his daily musings)…
Getting frustrated with such a domestic, celibate, dull life certainly asked for shots of daaru and there was this Rooh-Af-Za (no money to go for an elite drink) this time ready with chieslings lying on the table.Once we were on with the discussion on Ramayan, Love started to roll it down our gulp, and believe me guys, it pained real hard.
The source (ofcourse Wiki) described Ravan in Ramayan like this (courtesy: Love Walia):-Guys, tumhe malum hai , sagar manthan ke time par, Ravan ne matke ke content ko na peekar, matke ko kha liya tha, jisme kuch left over Amrit bache rehne ke karan, matke ke saath who bhi uske pat mein chala gya!!!
Gupta sahab, jinhe ek shot mein chad jati hai:Kya baat kar raha hai???? Amandy, ek hor glass bana mera..sounds interesting..Please go forward Love...
Love, knowing that he has hit the right chord of mysteries out there, hand-picked his long bermuda shots to the top, ignoring the eccentric organs of body!!!
Gupta Sahab(with highest levels of curiosity):- Who matka ka peetal(read bronze) ka tha ya mitti ka??? Khaya kaise usne??Ek to hum hairan they iske sunaye hue incident par, and gupta sahab was using all his IQ curisoity to highest extent!!!
Love:- Yeh mujhe nai pata, aur important yeh nahi hai ki usne khaya kaise, important yeh hai, ki matke ne Ravan ko Amar (immortal) bane rehne ki shakti dii..
We three had our mouths open wide like dinosaurs with such an info. and we felt like totally ignorant people/dumb ass** in this world who knew nothing about such an important event that happened in Ramayana!!!
Rooh-Af-Za ke do-do shots aur lagane pade..And that was the moment of thrust for Love which gave him all the impetus to continue further.
Love (with breezer shots in succession as if enjoying seeing his competitiors lose):- Is tereh Ravan ko marne mein Ram Bhagwan ko dikkat hui..
Ma, that was one great conclusion, all tremors to world of belief, logic and rationale).
Me (standing and trying to enact Ravan during real battle when in front of Shri Ram):- Ravan must have quoted to Ram Bhagwan in following manner, with his fingers running on his tummy and dancing on foot alternately with mischievous smile, “Aa Ram, aa, maar mujhe!! Mere pet ke idhar maar, udhar maar, yahan maar, wahaan maar,ha ha ha, tu kahin bhi maar, I got full round protection throughout, a matka within me, ha ha ha!!!”
Man, we laughed our ass off for such an explanation and the guy never objected to any of it owing to the fact, it was there in wiki!!! May be, down the line, few eons down rather, people would get to hear all sorts of stories getting composed with worldly humor of highest degree to at least bring a smile on an individual’s face rather than spreading knowledge around!!! No hard feelings here for anyone with no intentions (even if coincidental!!!). All names have been dealt in a twisted manner. Great guys to spend the session or two on daily basis and have time of our lives laughing and having a roll!!! Source of inspiration to write this incident was my twin (the way he finds he humor in world is truly amazing!!!) Thanks Rahul. And luckily, we did find ourselves enjoying without booze requirement!!! Thanks guys and say no to booze!!!

Unexplained to the Core?

Ever wondered the presence of some un-answered, un-believable, mysterious phenomenon around you!!! Well, this world Is a mysterious place with simplest of activities being convoluted into each other. Ranging from anachronous superstitions to unexplained human behavior, from haunted places on earth to mysterious happenings, not everything in this world follows an order, a ‘defined’ order.
Each individual has a certain power that resides within either to forecast, to premonitory behave, to sense, or to rationalize a weird explanation. And I am no less. Putting it on paper just brings in a distinction of providing strength to the feelings I experience, but no deviation from what all go through in this world of Brownian Movement.
Ever tried understanding the trauma for people who can predict future, like Alex Browning in Final Destination movie series, or Sandra Bullock in Premonition?? I don’t know what tag a phenomenon like feeling the same on same day at a different place as a different individual would be given, but yes I have felt the same.
Following are few instances of something weird, something mystique things I’ve encountered in the past:-
• A sudden nostalgic feeling to search the song ‘Hiriye (by Shael)’ on Internet for downloading on the same day when my twin, residing 1000’s of kilometers away from me experienced the same. It was late in the evening he called me up asking me to download, and I was dumbstruck.. This is no mainstream song that many other individuals would be downloading that created this coincidence but a strong feeling of emotions; of hearts that connect individuals. But can science explain this phenomenon?
• A sudden prediction all of a sudden about an unknown stage show artist who had to deliver until main guest Udit Narayan at the college function arrived at the venue. Before the female artist could even give her introduction, there was something in me that predicted her name loud and clear and all my friends’ eyes kept rolling in total shock on hearing the same in her introduction speech. I had no clue where did that come from as I had never seen the artist ever before in my entire life!!!
• It was during the time when we were waiting for CAT percentile to be out shortly, precisely a day before when one of my friends called me up to know the source from where he can have a look at his results. Being brilliant at studies, he had always expected a decent score when something in me predicted his score (a very sorry figure) and it was bang exactly the same value he scored during announcements, totally an unanticipated value. It was a shock to him not allowing him to stand eligible for any college and a deplorable co-incidence for me to know before-hand what was not asked for!!!
• Another shocking incident occurred when i had carried out extensive search in my mailbox looking for a mail with the subject 'Thought for the day!!!' on one fine afternoon. It was a daily ritual(receiving mail for thought) and i was wondering that one of my very close friends' (whom i've not talked since ages) "thought" relating to me should be there in my mail box. Never did that thought occur to me in the past and never did i find any thought from this person in my mailbox. But just a day after, i could see what i had forseen the day before. There was a mail which read 'Friend is the one with whom you can dare to be yourself', totally for me by this female friend. It did give me goose-bumps and shivers down my spine. I was moved more by the true yet silent prediction of the event within me than the thought itself. any explanation??????
There are a lot many other small instances in day-to-day life that goes for me unexplained and unanswered. Does anyone amongst us have the keys to these mysteries??? Any takers??