Life In Progress (LIP)

Life - An Experiment!

2011-06-17T14:33:00.007+05:30

All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better life turns out to be.

---- Ralph Waldo Emerson

What is life? Why are we living it? Is it necessary to live your life on the basis of the goals we have set for ourselves? Or the rules we have made for ourselves? What is the aim behind it all?

These are some of the questions that continue to plague me, more so recently than ever before. Often when I am alone, my mind drifts towards where I have reached in my life vs. where I want to be. This comparison more often than naught leaves me distressed, disturbed and mostly unhappy (not sad but unhappy). Just yesterday I was discussing with a friend of mine (a very good friend indeed) as to 'where I want to be what I want to do'. And as usual by the time the conversation ended I was unhappy with myself.

Life is truly an experiment. We learn about it with each passing day,we learn how to deal with our stress, we learn how to deal with people around us, we learn how to work on new things both in office as well as back home. Last night could have been like any other, but for a change I tried to reason with myself, to try and get a grip of things happening around me. I learnt that the mind is too unstable, too scattered to be able to let it all go.

We struggle throughout our lives cursing the events around us,wondering if any good will ever happen to us, those our the deepest darkest hours we spent. But in contrast to the times when we succeed, show the world what we are capable of lies the flame that ignites passion within us, this feeling of being able to achieve anything and it is during times like these that we really excel and build memories that last with us for a lifetime. Happiness is around us, we just need to take that one step and grab it. It lies just around the corner when you make your friends laugh, parents laugh or for that matter see a baby laughing! It is when you plan something like a trip, when you think of the people you love, when you smell the rains, see a movie, go out to eat with friends, meet up will college friends after ages, chat with someone online, pull each others legs on facebook, play a prank, drive a car, buy someone a present. All these opportunities are within our grasp, we need to grab them. One should never be afraid to reach out to experiment because you never know which one will change your life, brighten your day and make a moment that shall last for a lifetime! :)

The fear of failure should never stop one from experimenting as that would stop life itself.

P.S. -> Life seems to be my favorite topic :)

untill next time............

2 states.....

2009-10-19T00:25:00.004+05:30

Well this just might be my first ever review, but its finally happening. And the book that made me come out of a shell of sorts is 2 States by Chetan Bhagat, an earnest attempt by the author to spread a message and one that I totally believe in. But this being a Chetan Bhagat novel needs to be over the top and unbelievable at times.

The book starts off like all his other books in which the protagonist is narrating his story to a third person who has no involvement with the main storyline. His story starts at IIMA where he meets and subsequently falls in love (after a few fights of course) with the best looking girl in college. College ends in two years and so does the fairytale which included living in with each other at an IIMA hostel (ya this is trademark Chetan Bhagat), they realize that them being in love is not the only criterion. There families need to accept each other and hence the tagline of the book-marriage of two states. So the next 200 pages or so go in trying to make the two families accept each other and some where down the line u realize its not just two families but two communities. Agreed that it can be difficult for two people from totally different backgrounds to adjust and adopt each others habits but it’s not impossible is it, you after all have the rest of your lifetimes to adjust. And that is where one connects with the book, how the guy tries to bring around the girls family to accept and then bring around his own family to accept the girl. Yes you got it right, the guy does almost everything!!! By the way guy's called Krish and girls called Ananya. Apart from the main plot you have several side plots woven into the story:
1) Krish and his brother-in-law (Manju- future IITian who has nothing to do other than study)
2) Krish and his father --> they don’t get along all that well, his father has a history of domestic violence other than being over-imposing, a habit he couldn’t get rid of after retiring from the armed forces.
3) Krish with Chennai -->Apart from getting his family to accept Ananya, he himself has to adjust to ways of Chennai and so called "Madrasis"
The books moves at a slow pace compared to other novels by the same author but the climax with marriage and Krish's father showing up was appropriate and well written. Its always better to give out only bits and pieces than the whole storyline………

The real reason it helped me come out of the shell and write this post was that this books sends across a very important and relevant message, that of not favoring communities that of two people going out of there way just coz they love each other and not being held back just because there parents said so. It shows the way our country is evolving or can evolve into a new and better India. Not only will inter-caste inter-community marriages help to reduce the chaos and turbulence (raised by people with nothing on their mind but politics and too politics of power) it will also help bring together the people of this country together. It will help them to think of India before they think of Punjab or Chennai; help them to think of themselves as Indian before they think that they are Tamilians or Punjabis. I am sure that most of our parents will react in much the same way if something like this happens in our case but I hope most of us also have the will power to stand for what we believe and be the change we want to see around us.

All in all the book is a good read and will make you think about the whole community system we live in, the few pros and loads of cons.

untill next time..................

Missing clg......sumthin penned down in 2006

2009-06-15T21:25:00.003+05:30

padhna
aish karna
classes bunk karna
biko par gediyaan marna
ccd ki coffee pina
sahni ka burger te chawlas ka chicken khana
tagore te movie dekhna
saagar par dungaro ki tarah khana
prof ki marna
hostel ka woh sada huan khana
doston ke saath time bitana
ek dusre ki taang khichna
sab kuch properrrrr aur sahi dhang se karna
yehi hain clg life
ek dum mast aur jhakassssssssss........

Goodbye 2008......byezzz

2009-01-01T22:40:00.008+05:30

As we welcome 2009 with open arms.....though stretch of the arms is slightly less than tht we had in 2008, keeping in mind the happenings of the recent year. But still the New Year brings with it hope, a hope for change, a change for the better.

We have seen quite a lot during 2008, both globally and locally. Globally, everyone’s been affected by recession/depression, whatever you may call it. We have been hearing about pink slips being handed out, Stock markets crashing worldwide mostly due to the sub prime crisis, oil prices hitting a high of 150$ a barrel and finally settling at 35$ at year end. The after effects of recession have been disturbing to say the least; one has seen companies like Lehmann Brothers go bankrupt. Not just on the economic front, nature’s fury was also seen at full blast, tornadoes in USA, cyclone 'Nargis' much closer to home in Burma, earthquake in China. Tension between countries was evident as Israel continued to conduct air strikes in March and Dec, USA continued its mission to bring 'peace' to Iraq but as usual not making much headway in doing the same. Also piracy in the true sense of the word was seen in Somalia, it was something we had seen and heard of only in books or movies, but when we got to see it in real life, trust me it wasn’t a great feeling. Bill 'Microsoft' Gates stepped down as the chairman in 2008, we witnessed once of the biggest sporting events 'The Beijing Olympics' in 2008. Also a great 'change' was seen in the political scene, with a change in government in Pakistan (Dictator Pervez Mush being overthrown), 240 year old monarchy being abolished in Nepal, Fidel Castro stepping down as President of Cuba (after 49 years) only to give it away to his younger brother Raul Castro, but the medal of honor goes to Barack Obama President-elect USA. Something that was said to be impossible, a black guy of African descent who spent most of his childhood in Asia, one with a truly global upbringing manages to become the head of state. Thing like these are expected only in the greatest democracy of the world India! We had at one point in time a Muslim President, a Sikh Prime Minister, Christian as the head of the party in power in a country with predominantly Hindu population!

Now that we are talking about India, lets look at things that have affected the local scene. Stock market saw a high of 21000 only to close at 9700 at the end of 2008, inflation touching a record high of 12.65%, Rupee at its lowest of 50 Rs to a $, though quite a few pink slips have been handed out , the overall scene is still stable when compared to the world scene. One of the biggest problems that India has faced in the series of terrorist attacks throughout the country Jaipur, Bangalore, New Delhi, Guwahati, Malegaon Blasts and lastly 26/11 attacks in Mumbai. Indians have been targeted not just in India but at other places too, example being the attack on the Indian embassy in Afghanistan. But one shudnt be so negative when looking back at 2008, as this was also a year in which we saw some extraordinary sporting feats being achieved. Abinav Bindra winning an Olympic gold, Indian Cricket team beating Australia at home (ODI) and then at home (Tests), inaugural IPL becoming a huge hit, retirement of legendary players like Saurav Ganguly and Anil Kumble, Anand Vishwanathan becoming world No.1, Saina Nehwal reaching the Semis in World Badminton Championships. Also great leaps were taken by the Indian Space scientist, firstly creating a world record by launching 10 satellites into space during one space flight, then by successfully launching Chandrayaan into space. Lastly Indian Cinema managed to enthrall audiences not just in India but worldwide with the release of some masterpieces like Taare Zameen Par, A Wednesday, Jodha Akbar, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Shaurya, Rock On!, etc.....

Well that was most of what I can remember of 2008, a year full of surprises and am I glad that its finally over, I guess out of the 21 years of my existence, 2008 has been the wildest, scariest and most thought provoking one....lets see what happens around the world and in India in the year 2009. All the best to all!

Choice...the most fundamental right!

2008-09-28T18:00:00.000+05:30

Well I am feeling happy, contended and at peace after the last post. It was something that was on my mind for quite some time, it feels good to finally take it all out.....

I received feedback for my last post, both positive and negative as was expected. (Pssstttt---->read the previos post before u read this....) One of my friends was of the opinion that I should remove the last post as it might endanger my life!!! No, to be honest i dint see that coming. Some were happy that I came out out so strongly against such issues, and some don't agree with my viewpoint. After having dscussed with a few friends, I feel even closer to the original idea, than I had been when I started writing the last post. So lets get straight to the point......

The main argument, as was expected, was about singling out muslims. But I stand my ground, I only raised a question....'''Why is it that 95% of the terrorists are Muslims?'''

I am not trying to say anything about them or against them, all I am doing is trying to bring forth a fact and then examine it. Is that equivalent to going against them, i dont think so. Though none of my friends could give a satisfactory answer to that particular question, they moved on to a totally different line of thinking......

This involved bashing of other religions so as to prove that Islam is not the only culprit in the scheme of things, others like Hinduism, Sikhism, Christianity, Jainism, etc are equally resploinsible for the present state of affairs. I totally agree with that point of view, there are problems like opression of women, using religion as a tool to arouse violent tendencies in people, favoring people of the same religion, trying to get others to convert to yours, pressurizing you to pay up for supposed rituals. But I say to you, are these not issues that are prevelant throughtout the world across all regions regions, religions, etc.....

This brings me to the title of the post....."CHOICE"......the reason i came up with such a title was because this according to me is the most fundamental right that humans possess., we have the right to make choices to be able to decide what is right or wrong, to be able to choose to walk down the right path (or the worng one). In all the above issues that I mentioned, people have a choice that they are allowed to make, they can choose to pack up things and move to better places, to new beginnings. But can we say the same about terrorism and its most favoured style of attack, bomb blasts???

If a blast takes place, people die and with them dies there power to choose. What can be more disturbing, what can destroy the fabric of the society in a way that blasts do??? To be honest I cant think of anything that can be more destructive......I stand by what I said, I believe what I said was right...questions raised were the right ones......And I hope the answers come to me asap!!!

India Terrorized.....?!?

2008-09-21T15:46:00.004+05:30

ter·ror·ism
–noun
1.the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes.
2.the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization.
3.a terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government.

Ever since India became independent, one can never single out at a period and conclude that the nation was at peace. Some or other event takes place either at the borders or within it, which leads to situation in which this great nation finds itself on its knees, only to rise through like a phoenix brighter and mightier than ever before. Be it at the time of independence (1947), at the time of wars (65,71,99), or when the country is rocked by serial blasts and instances like the attack on the parliament. Each time India and its people have fought with resilience, solidarity and patience.
But till when can one be patient to all that has been wronged around him???

That is a question that no one wants to answer, a question that no one is comfortable answering.....coz everyone fears the answer, the day peoples answer is 'not anymore' we will have what everyone calls a revolution. Though I am right in assuming that most of you who read this, would laugh at such a notion, call it far-fetched. But I for one believe that this is something that is bound to happen sooner or later. People (like us) are bound to take things into their own hands, and whenevr that happens, gold help us, god help everyone.

And for those who care, I have just been told that a blast took place in Mehrauli, New Delhi today afternoon, 6 feared dead and many more injured. WTF!!!

I have no idea as to how others react to all of this, most of the people don't feel a thing, its just like a peice of news for them. But when I hear about such incidents, my blood boils, I feel like somebody's punched me, punched me hard, and after a second or too its like a mixture of sadness and fear. Fear because half of my family lives in Delhi, and one day (if these blasts go on like this) they are sure to affect me in a very very personal way and sad for all those who have been affected, because now I understand how it feels to loose someone close to you. I now have an understanding of the after affects of death and a void that it leaves behind.

I have no ideas about the steps that the governement should take on how to stop such blasts, I mean what can you do if some madmen fill a bag with explosives and dump it in a dustbin in a market full on people, how much can a goernemnt do, especially one as incapable as ours. But I do know what the goverment can do after the blasts, they can kick some ass, they can go all out to nab these terrorists. The governement needs to take actions, have policies in place which instills a fear in the hearts of such people, which stops them from committing such acts of terror. And I know it, I believe it that the present government is incapable of doing so. For that matter any coalition government that comes to power wont have the balls to take tought stance on such issues, coz as soon as they do, some attention hungry sonofabitch politician will come forward and try to make most of the situation. So this leads to no win situtation in a country like India in which no party can ever dream of winning the general elections single handedly..............anyways......

Few more things came to mind when I was watching those one hour specials on news channels(yes I do watch those, especially when I am bored beyond believable levels...), while they were showing how Delhi Police with the help of state police( of about a zillion states) had nabbed terrorists behind the blasts in Delhi and also behind the Surat, Ahmedabad, Mumabi and Hyderabad blasts. One, the authenticity of such claims by the police, are these actually people who were behind those blasts or are these carefully orchestrated coverups by the police so as to reassure the people that they are doing there job???.....I want to trust the police on this, that these people are the ones behind the blasts but I have to accept that I am unable to do so, I just cant get myself to think that these people were behind the delhi blasts and the one in Surat and those in Mumbai and Hyderabad!!!...coz if that was the case what was the police doing uptill now?..why werent these people caught after the Hyderabad blasts, Mumabi train blasts of after the Surat blasts??....but these doubts are mine and lets leave it at that, everyone has to the right to believe what they want.....The second things that struck me, well its been on my mind for quite sometime is that why are all these terrorists Muslim??? Some of you may not like this part of the blog but this is something that needs to be thought about. My argument is that lets say there are 100 terrorists in the world, 95 of them would be muslim, is that not proof enough to be stricter with them than the rest. I am not referring to the good ones, ones who are rational enough to base there life's values and principles on what they have been taught at rather than religious teachings. If most of them are muslims I surmise there is some problem at the grassroot level that needs to pinpointed and removed, and some of us may even question if thats possible??...Is it possible to remove a notion thats been so deeply ingrained in there minds that they actually believe that what they are doing is the right thing to do if they have to go to heaven, for them there are actually doing what there gos told them to do!!!...I mean how can any sane person ask you to go and kill someone because that would please the almighty!!??? Even after so much has been said about the muslims, one thing that cannot be changed is that they are an integeral part of India, and nothing woulod please me and the rest of us than to see those few people who are causing all this ruckus be punished and removed form this society, but till then a firmer stand needs to be taken....

What I have written about in this post is just a small portion of what all has gone through my mind in the past few days. I have experienced various emotions like anger, frustation, sadness and fear. Some of you might not take my word on this, as I am not one those whos been directly affected by all this, but whatever be the case, this is the truth. I salute all those who came forward and helped everyone and anyone they could. I believe in the saying that 'its easier said than done', but I pray with all my heart that if a situation arises in which one person has the power and courage to stop such instances from taking place, he does not backaway, and thinks of all those who can be saved by doing so.....I hope that if I am in such a situation myself....I do not backaway.....I stand my ground.......

November Rain......

2008-09-18T18:53:00.000+05:30

Well, I am back....after a refreshing trip to goa....Will post about that later.

For Now its Novemeber Rain by GnR...one of my all time favorite songs. I recently put this up as my Hell Tune...well its supposed to Hello Tune, but people arent able to make what the song is and hence making it hell tune for the person who subscribed to it.....thts me in this case.

neways abt this song, I have never been a great follower of english music, its like a hear a gud track sumwhere and get hooked on to it. There are loads of people who hv more info abt music than mayb a music encyclopedia!!

It was the same for this song, heard it sumtime during Xth standard and instantly fell in love with it. U have the guitar part for the first 2 min 3 secs followed by the most amazing lines.....i guess i can write much about this....coz m sort of speechless....go to listen to this song, if u hvent done so yet.....so here are the lyrics.....

When I look into your eyes
I can see a love restrained
But darlin' when I hold you
Don't you know I feel the same'

Cause nothin' lasts forever
And we both know hearts can change
And it's hard to hold a candle
In the cold November rain

We've been through this auch a long long time
Just tryin' to kill the pain

But lovers always come and lovers always go
An no one's really sure who's lettin' go today

Walking away
If we could take the time
to lay it on the line
I could rest my head
Just knowin' that you were mine
All mine

So if you want to love me
then darlin' don't refrain
Or I'll just end up walkin'
In the cold November rain

Do you need some time...on your own
Do you need some time...all alone
Everybody needs some time...on their own
Don't you know you need some time...all alone

I know it's hard to keep an open heart
When even friends seem out to harm you
But if you could heal a broken heart
Wouldn't time be out to charm you

Sometimes I need some time...on myown
Sometimes I need some time...all alone
Everybody needs some time...on their own
Don't you know you need some time...all alone

And when your fears subside
And shadows still remain
I know that you can love me
When there's no one left to blame

So never mind the darkness
We still can find a way'
Cause nothin' lasts forever
Even cold November rain

Don't ya think that you need somebody
Don't ya think that you need someone
Everybody needs somebody
You're not the only one
You're not the only one

Thank you one and all!!!

2008-09-09T22:36:00.001+05:30

I would like to thank each and everyone who took time out to read whatever crap I wrote and actually wrote down their comment's about the same. I was really taken aback by the response I got from everyone, totally unexpected but completely acceptable.....

It was more than I could have ever dreamed off, but that raises the expectations and pressures for futures posts, but......though I am surprised to say this, I am actually looking forward to all of it. I have always been a bit hesitant about stating my blog, fearing the kind of reviews and feedback I would get, but I am quite pleased with myself for having overcome those fears and finally starting a blog. I guess this would be the right time to highlight a few people without whom I wouldn't have had the courage of starting a blog.

First and foremost, Ankur Garg, one of my oldest friends and a true confidant. He is a fellow engineer(DCE passout!!!) whos struggling to come to terms with the corporate life, much like myself. Hes a fellow blogger who can be reached at www.gargonomics.blogspot.com. (And please dont go by the name, he's in the habit of prefixing or suffxing anything or evrything with garg, an old habit of his which I can guess can be explained by the fact thats he a member of World Baniya Association at Orkut.....)

Then comes my dear dear friend Deepak Gauri, a guy whos been into blogging for quite sometime and he also had a big role to play in starting of this blog. I had been requesting him(and others too) to update his blog for quite some time, and in the end I got so pissed off with him(and others too) that I decided to start LIP. He was with me at Thapar University, Patiala. The place where we managed to finish of our engineering in the allotted 4 yrs, yes I know thats a surprise.His blog goes by the name of Bamboozled and the link for is www.crazy-deepak.blogspot.com.

And lastly comes,Madhuri Krishnan, I cant really find words to describe her. All I can say is that shes a dilli ki ladki whos been in bombay for the last 4 years or so. Quite a deadly combination that, and the results are for everyone to see. One of the best blogs (acc to me, and thats not open for discussions) that I have come across. Though the blog is updated once a year, but trust me its worth the wait. Shes in the same category as mentioned above, I had been trying to get to write a new post for quite sometime but........neways shes presently doing her MBA from NMIMS, Mumbai and her blog is titled Bling and the link for the same is www.moinsanity.blogspot.com.

Well thats about it, I have thanked all the people I can think off, there are always a few people who havent directly helped the cause but thanks to them anyways, now would like to end with a few lines sent to me my ankur...his views on LIP

'''Life In Progress....a journey through the life of two friends with contrasting schools of thought, both of whose journey through life marked with peer pressure to adopt the insanities when they are parted and how the 'bro' bond pulls them through......'''

untill next time then......

Life in Progress.....

2008-09-08T23:33:00.002+05:30

As I sit down to write my first post, sleepy & hungry,thinking really hard on how to justify the title.....Many things come to mind...many things slip away.....i just cant seem to be able to hold a single thread of thought and analyze it.....so many things come to mind and you realize how difficult it can be to write a post.....but let me try atleast once before giving up completely....which i most definitely will.....

Life.....is quite a fascinating topic....all of us are living a life but each is unique from the other....my life has been unique in more ways than one....my dad was in the indian navy, so we were constantly moving around, going to new places, making new friends/enemies, getting used to different cultures, eating local stuff(yummmmmmmmm!)....that was good in more ways than one.....makes it easier for me to adapt to changes.....most of school life got over in moving from one place to another without actually caring all that much about the future, about results....but by the time i reached 11th standard, i realized sumthin had to be done if one had to secure his future...but trust me this is something that concerned me for about 6 mnths or so...after that it ws like '''''evrythings destined dude, watevr has to happen will happen, even if i do study, it wont help, coz my destiny's already been decided!!!'''''', well as you can see thats what someone would call flawless logic!!...still cant figure out as to how i got into such a good college.....but only after getting in did i realize that it wasnt as good as expected....but still had the most amazing 4 years of my life...made new frnds, experienced hostel life, buked quite a few lectures(dont remeber attending any lecture in the last 4 sems....so thts like half the course!!!), started understanding how people react, how life operates...well in hindsight...college wasnt all that bad either......and now getting used to this way of life called coporate bullshit....trust me its nothing but a load full of bullshit.....but neways lets move on.......

Life in Progress is a very apt title for this blog, coz my life, like the lives of most others is always in progress. Most of us dont even get a minute to sit down and think about our lives, all we want is to keep doing something. In this age, where creativity, spontaneity and other similar things are given preference, even a small break can make your progress stagnant, can make you outdated.Hence it is important that our lives are always in progress....

Throught this blog, I hope to keep track of the life of atleast one of the zillion engineers in the world.....hope to keep this space updated with the happenings, opinions and thoughts, of just another engineer whos life's in progress....

And with this i would like to end the first post of LIP by requesting anyone and evryone who reads this to please leave your comments (+ve or -ve).

untill next time.........