Mannu-ji my PM

Dear PM-sahib,

I write this note to you not due to what would-be-well-earned disgust, anger or frustration, but with a strange cocktail of puzzlement and disbelief that one feels when Sehwag is out for a 2nd golden duck (yes it still hurts, but I digress, that's the 2nd biggest Indian let down of the decade, so must wait). Once the initial hair pulling (and Glass smashing if it's an innings defeat) anger is done with, I look for solace in reason, surely it must be the shoulder surgery that made his arms a tiny bit shorter (you get the drift..) and that's usually enough for me to sleep over. But this time, you haven't given me any such solace .. For no matter how much I look, there seems no reasonable explanation for what you're doing.. I understand why the congress is doing this, but why are YOU?

Surely the happenings in Egypt, Libya and Sudan must be fresh in your memory, at least kapil-ji with his new rishwat-owned 105 inch tv would've educated you about the perils of crossing the line with the youth of a country.. Surely some old memory of Hk must remain in your memory from several years back.. Of course you were a very different man then.. But then so was sehwag 2 IPLs and a WC earlier (btw did u know that sehwag is autocorrected to sewage in the iPhone?).

Surely, you have thought a few times about how you are at the fag end of your career, and how you'd like to be remembered. While the brilliant work of 1991 may have been marred by your scam-ophiliac term as PM, people will still be willing to forgive and forget and store you in the minds section titled - 'spineless but oddly cuddly'... So why suddenly take this suicidal single just because the nightwatchman said so?

Surely, you know that the people you're supporting, standing with, are the very people who will leave you to decay and pin you down as the one to blame when it all goes awry? Surely you know that the heir apparent is already warming up on the sidelines while you are busy typing another sailors knot to the nets that bind you. News articles already read - 'Rahul speaks to the PM about...'. On thank you dear yuv-raj, rescuer of the downtrodden.. Seriously, this isn't that tough to figure out, it it?

Surely, you've not forgotten the reaction when Anna started his fast the last time in April, surely you know that this awareness escalates rapidly in the new online world (or did Raje-Saab have yet another hidden slide in his telecom license presentations), surely you know that the supporters of Anna have chosen some good people on their team, crane-ji has a ruthless but 'deeply wronged' equity.. Ravishankar/Ramdev are complex men, but with many a devotee..

Surely, you knew that there is a line that if crossed would accelerate all this burning.. You knew that, and still u get him arrested, you know how we hate being muzzled and you block SMS campaign, you blockwebsites.. Why you're china again! No ones missing tiananmen square now.. It doesn't take much to see what will happen to this movement if you don't do something now (hint: take 5 figure number and take an exponential index).

Surely you knew that this would soon transform from a anti-corruption to a anti-congress movement, and the second that happens, all opposition parties would weigh in and scream murder. Everybody is looking for distraction from their sore points and you've thrown the biggest red cape there was.. Heck Obama and the EU are probably lining up to make this the reason for all the financial issues.. Not much u can say to Sreesanth when he says 'so what if I'm am listless and slow, so is my PM!'

Surely you knew that you will be the reason that usually lazy bystanders like me have the urge to say something, all suddenly. You got me writing again, which was last achieved through a combination of complete joblessness and the chance to impress a girl.. heck, i'm considering fasting one meal a day (the 5th one), and I assure you this time it's not cos some asked me to diet!

You don't have to care about the movement, you don't have to care about corruption, lokpal bill, Anna or the Indian team for that matter to see that this this was the silliest of battles to take on for you given you had such little to lose. Let Madame Italiano fight the battles if needed.

Nuff said, pls wake up and shake yourself dry. I haven't given up hope, you can still do quite a lot, to start with write a real heartfelt speech for the Independence Day and re telecast it.

Puzzled-ly yours,

Shiv

the chaps are here!

To break the monotony of our usual life, the party kings are here.. man.. what I'd give for a few more hours of sleep :(

i dont think ive seen clark quay as much as this in the last 2 years hehe :)

anyways, quick poll - after dinner, 2 bags of popcorn and a few drinks - how many McD chicken burgers can you eat? Apparently i wagered that i could eat 8 for 100 dollars. Soon i was actually attempting that .. finally gave up at 5.5 burgers when i was on the brink of dying

just to prove my point!

just to prove my point, here I am!

As I sit at research, the biggggest thing that strikes me is that no matter where u go, there are more things in common between people, rather than the differences..

what she wants in life, what her fears are, what she wishes she had done a little bit more - so so so common....

surprisingly, each one of us springs to point out how 'my country is different, we are different ppl - u guys would never know!'

:)

the pheonix rises ... a little bit

well then, am back! its been several months of hard hard work... not so much a reason to not write as was the feeling that i hadnt thought enough to write..

its been like that for a few months - restless at mind, need to be constantly doing something almost as if I were afraid that I will stop to think and then realise that its really not what I want to do - after all escapism is inherent in me :(

anyways, today I was sitting at research and complete boredom, bordering on insanity has forced me to start off again! so here I am, hoping that the dam is down and so the water will flow! :)

cheeers!

becoming kewl

was on penguins blog (which i think is very cool btw).. and saw her pseud little counter which keeps track of who comes to her blog all that..

so i installed it , and now all u nerds from antartica who used to visit me .. i can see you!

btw - it must be quite smart cos i tried to come back to my page again and it didnt increase the reader count! damn damn!

taking a tag: my first :)

Succumbing to the pitfalls of promising something you haven’t thought through – yet again.. here I am taking up unpredictables tag on ‘my biggest quirks’

To be completely honest, I don’t remember if it was quirks or if was oddities or weirdnesses or what – but I think it was generally in that area and my current in-flight status (Bangalore to Mumbai) doesn’t allow me to go and check - so here goes!

1) Superstition : I like to believe this is not in a very bad way J, but I have a lucky interview shirt, the lucky cricket whites, the lucky bat, the ‘big presentation’ set of clothes and all that..
2) Bathroom floors: I absolutely ABHOR walking on wet bathroom floors, just completely hate them. Fullstop.
3) Am I weird to not like middle seats in flights. And NO – its nothing to do with my waistline!
4) The need to see everything, always – for those who wear spectacles – ud probably understand what I go through – I don’t take my specs off while sleeping, while bathing even swimming till I found powered goggles J
5) I need my ears warm – honestly, I don’t know why this is not the case with everyone. The one part of the body I need to cover first in cold times is my ears – why do ppl stare at a poor guy using a blanket to cover his ears in a flight? If I wasn’t scared of being killed with bong based comments, id wear a monkey cap forever. Id even get them matching with my clothes
6) Soft bananas – fewer eatables are more disgusting than ‘gone soft’ bananas with those squishy black marks .. yechhhhh!
7) ‘sms barrage’ : I usually have sms sending attacks – these are bursts of 15 mins when I send sms’s to frends and folks – some long due, some random.. just feel the need to communicate. Never really understood this.. just happens. Whether its on the way to airports, or while walking home, or just some time in office.


I cant remember any others.. can you?

oh btw.. tagging ganji, faiz, sleazy, mak (this ought to be good hehe!)

atoning for my sins

A few weeks ago - i felt the gnawing sensation that I have begun to associate with my craving for blogging.. and thru the ensuing hectic weeks it receded to a dull pain somewhere - constantly reminding me that i needed an outlet..

anyway, here I am, back to living my very erratic online existence (yes Bharat, erratic with an 'a' is also a word).. just that I dont know where to start from..

Pauline once told me that you should not change > 2 major things in life at the same time.. and I think I may have done 1 too many.. so here go the big changes..

a) Spunky is here .. finally - after more than two years of living away from each other, we've landed up in not just the same city - but the same company too! I warned her about the latter.. but u know the young of today..

Ive got a few hundred questions about how it is this far, and my answer remains the same.. i dont know! it still feels like a holiday and we really dont know how couples who live in the same city feel like.. talk about getting used to long distance relationships!

b) We've moved to a new house.. still not gotten over the loss of the simply awesome elmira heights.. a overall downgrade in the face of fast rising rental rates, but still pretty decent. The best thing about this place is the convenience, its right at the office junction which reduces my need to travel to a max of 500 m.

The huge downside is the state at which the house is right now, paint peeling off, leaky bath tubs, 15 inch tv, doors that scare you with thier creaking and need to shut by themselves.

c) Ive changed roles.. From a time where i worked with a team of 10 non-indians to now where I have only Indians to work with. And boy! is it different .. almost like a flip or whats imp and whats not..

The role is fantastic, so are the people.. and oh! i still have to do the crappy work, but still, its no Herbal Essences Australia..

anyway, a combination of all of this has me gasping for breath - taking its toll of items such as blogging etc etc..

feels good to be back.. cheers!