4:12 AM

Its 4.12 AM and I am awake. I am not an insomniac so don't think I did not sleep the last night. It's just that I have to catch an early morning train to Peace.
I will be away for 3 days.
Finally...

Kailasa Jhoomo Re

They are back. With a bang.
And trust me this one is louder and better than any of his previous attempts.
Listen to Band Kailasa's new album Kailasa Jhoomo Re.

Rocking.

Fix You...

When you try your best but you don't succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse.

When the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

And high up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
But if you never try you'll never know
"Just what your worth"

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

Tears stream, down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face
And I..

Tears stream, down your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down your face
And I..

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you.

- Fix You by Coldplay.

Anandashram

I have got three son and all of them are well settled in life now. All three of them went to IIT. And now they are working in software industry.
I have two son, one lives in HSR Layout while other lives in Vidyaranyapura. My wife and I am from Aagra.
For past 6 years [since the time she came to this place] the old lady in her 90s has been telling everyone that her age is 86. She is a proud Tamilian and makes faces when telling about her one son who married a Mallu.

Some of the stories which we heard in our visit to Anandashram last Saturday. Interesting? Not at all. I was speechless when one of them asked me where my parents were and did they live with me.
There 26 inmates in Anandashram and all have a different story to tell. You can feel their pain when they tell you about their life. But somehow they have learnt to hide it.

We went there with 9 kids from Ananya. It was Goli's idea to have an interaction between these kids and the old people there. And our day one at work was pretty good. The response from both sides has been encouraging and now we are trying to scale and structure these visits.

I am sure Goli will write a post about it soon. If he doesn't in next few days, I will do the honor.
In any case, if you interested in this idea, you are welcome to mail or call me.

Free Falling..

Winds are changing
'So what is your name?' asked the instructor.

"Pritesh," I answered. Thank god I still am in my full senses. I think even he was trying to ascertain the same.

"Pritesh, I am ... and I will give you some tips for a nice jump," replied he. I forgot his name, and I can easily put the blame on heat of the moment. Nervousness grips your soul like that scene from Spiderman 3 where Spiderman is gripped by the black creature [or whatever it was].

"So Pritesh, I will hold you from back till you are ready for the fall. Don't worry. You need to stand like this at the edge of this trolley. Once we are up, you move forward and hold this handle bars. I will keep a firm grip on you so don't worry. You have to hold your hands together like this and then one-two-three. Just fall. It will be fun." He said in one line.

I didn't have time or courage to hmmm also!! Doesn't matter anyways. My words, then, do not hold any significance for anyone anyways.

"And one more thing, don't take more than 10 seconds at the top. Jump as soon as you are ready. We are facing powerful winds, so it will be difficult to stand there for long," He continued once more in his next breath. I knew I won't stand there for more than that.

Winds were indeed changing.

Free falling
While getting ready for the jump, I tried hard to recall lyrics of Free Falling by Tom Petty. Nothing came to my mind, I could just hum the tune. I don't even think if the song was anyways related to such a situation. But only two words keep echoing in my ears - free falling. And I knew it was going to be one hell of free fall. But I was ready for it. It was "Now or Never".

As soon as I left the handle-bar, I felt a shiver down my whole body. Here I am standing at 150 m height, with nothing but a guy holding me from back. Trust is the word here. I got myself in the position and told him "Yes, leave." He trusted my words too.

And here I am. Free Falling.

From the top I could watch some of the world [Had to leave my glasses there on ground :(] But as soon as I was falling, I could not see anything. My eyes are wide open, still vision is as blurred as that when you try to recall the sweet dream you saw in early morning. Nothing at all. It was an experience I will never be able to put in words.

I reached the nadir. And then I was again going up. This time there was no trolley though. I realized I could see something. Oh yes, I have to see up or down. Sideways it is just sky. So I looked down for the first time since the time I left the trolley. I guess 10 seconds were over by now. Around 1/4rd of time over.

For sometime I went up, then again down. Life, only thing that could have come to my mind if I was thinking then. But it was not time for thinking. It was just to grasp as much of the moment as I can. And I did exactly the same.

Three more oscillations and I was again on earth.

Yes, I did it. That's the expression on my face, if anybody could read it. I knew it, and I did not need any mirror to read it.

Birthday Gift
102 - you will never like such a number to be written on your hand, if that specifies that you are 102th person to attempt bungee on the day. In indirect terms it amounts to a wait of more than 4 hour. Anyways, I could not have helped it. They wrote on my hand "102" and I took it as the God's will.

Waiting for such an exceptional event is not a boring experience indeed. You see people going up the trolley and then coming down. Some through use of rope, other less courageous back on the trolley. How their face changes color and expression with each moment is a thing to see. And you really won't feel bored if you are observant enough.

Before us, there were few interesting people who tried their luck against the gravity with just an elastic rope tied to their ankles. The three girl gang was extraordinary in courage. They had the best possible falls and with no hesitation whatsoever. Board the trolley, go up and come down. No time waste in thinking anything. I took as much inspiration from them as I could.

Then there is this girl in her 19s. As she reached on top, her dad took the mike from the MC and shouted "Happy Birthday ..." Oh my god, what a way to celebrate your birthday. The happiness of every face is apparent and a moment to cherish.

The 5 second theory
"Don't take more than 5 seconds to make yourself ready there at the top. If you take more time, the decision of falling will be difficult one to take," declared Ravi. I did not know he has read Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. If not, he is the next Gladwell for sure.

There were few who went up there, with all their determination intact and a hundred people cheering them from the ground. They reached, tried to take the position. Could not leave hand. So they moved back. Again one more attempt. Result the same. Again and again it was the same.

Very few people could actually successfully jump after the 5 second window. May be its the heights or the wind - but somehow the more you stay there, the feeble your chances of enjoying a fun filled fall. Quickness is the key. Logic and Calculation can wait for 30 second [of fall].

Photos: Link

ps: An account of my experience from Xtreme zone. There is lots more to be shared. Please wait...

They are mocking at you Mr. System

Saw this ad in today's newspaper. Could not stop myself from sharing it here.

Strand Book Festival

(click on the image to enlarge)

I am planning to go there tomorrow.
Anyone game for it?

work life and other things

Last few weeks have been pretty hectic in general. Not that I am slogging my ass at work, or partying like wild animals. Rather I am doing none of it. Its been work while work and play while play type of life.

It's been almost 4 and half months since I joined this new company and life here has been pretty relaxed. New company, new work and new environment. And the best [or worst] part of it - new people. I wont lie here if I say that I hated those geeky nerdy people when I joined the new place. For some days I was all alone. Did lunch alone, spoke hardly. But then I realized it was me who was new to place. And it was me who had to initiate the conversations. And to my horror, I was the one trying to escape from it. No wonder, the world was less colorful then.
And then came the time, when I started to mingle with those whom I had rejected as no-one in my first meeting. I was so wrong. They all are so different and yet so special. Helping and caring. As time is passing, I am getting to know them more. And each one of them is teaching me something or other. I am so happy today. Now that lots of new people are joining my team, I am trying to be one amongst them. And its been a pleasure all these while.

Life, it's been fun too. Got to do things I never thought I would do. I am surrounded by some of the greatest friends one could ever get. My family came here and stayed with us for some time. And they were so happy to be here and to have met all my friends. We had time of our life.
Post family days, its been struggle for food [as we sent our cook back] and then to settle in normal life. Bday and then some more happy days. Well and good overall.

Otherwise, Nothing as such. Have been reading on my way to office. Company buses are good in this way. Malgudi Days has been amazing till now. Looking for something new in non-fiction. May be something related to Bollywood. Lets see what comes my way. As I am writing this, countdown is on for Sunita's landing on earth. All the TV channels have done their best to make a great historical event out of it. I pity those other 6 co-passengers who wouldn't even find their name mentioned in news. Thank god they don't watch any Indian News Channel there in space shuttle!!

Indian Summers

A young Pakistani net bowler said to me: 'Coach, winning doesn't matter, it's the struggle that counts.' He was right in the sense that the struggle teaches some of life's most valuable lessons and forces us to confront our fears, doubts and insecurities. But why do you want to embark on the struggle in the first place? Because you want to succeed; you want to win. If the result doesn't matter, then why bother struggling? To say that winning isn't important is to diminish the effort and heartache that goes into getting there. Your toughest opponent is always yourself, and a large part of the struggle involves fighting internal battles which, if won, can provide some of the sweetest victories of all.

- John Wright in "Indian Summers"

ps: Just finished reading this book. If you have/had any interest in Indian Cricket or are generally enthusiastic about reading a book written by a coach (or manager) go for it. I would recommend it for all budding managers who want to work in India.

me against myself

You are your biggest critic. And of course your best friend too.
I felt it strongly last few days. It was time when I took few of the most important decisions in my life. Decision that can change my life; I am hoping for the best, thats all.

Each time, one is faced with such a dilemma, a make or break situation, he should pit himself against himself. I only know what I am. Others just have a perception, or rather a preoccupied and influenced image, most of the times. Nobody can help you so.

So be yourself, think for yourself.

Coz you deserve a better you.

do you have it in you...

Its here...
Are you ready for it...
I am... and looking for company...

Party Time

Yes...
"The" results are out. And we all have cleared it with flying colors.
Here is the mail from Shashank:

Dear all, :-) :-)

This one, for sure, will blow off your head! :-)

All the Ananya kids who appeared for the NIOS exam for standard 10th have cleared MS Word Processing subject.
5 out of 6 have secured what you call as '1st division' :-)

All of them flunked in Mathematics but English results, in which all passed, are equally encouraging and heartening.

Here are the details:
[read it as Kid: Marks in English(max 100), Marks in M S Word(theory+practical)]
Aishwarya: 52, 62( 19+43)
Arun: 40, 58(13+45)
Shobhana: 58, 62(18+44)
Subhashini : didn't appear, 63(17+46)
Sarsa: 54, 64(20+44)
Prasanna: 43, 61(18+43)

Too senti to write anything more! :-)
Best Regards,
Shashank.

And here are some of the replies to the same.
Shashiji -

"This is a personal THANK YOU to one and all for working so hard with our children. Even appearring in an exam was a distant dream which has become an encouraging morale booster today. For many of you, the marks may not seem very great, considering we are living in an era where even students securing 90% marks and above are commiting suicide, because they realize they stand no chance of succeeding in this highly competitive society. But for us at Ananya, this has been a major achievement and a true assessment of the children's capacity to survive and succeed.

This is now greater challenge to all of us so that we continue to provide the facilities and opportunities to our children."

Girish -

"They have not just learnt to ask and asked to learn, but have proved beyond doubt that given an opportunity, a tiny crack in the door, they will push their way through and let a flood of sunshine in to their lives and the lives of everyone else around them. This does not happen easily, it is the system you have created for them at Ananya and we are all happy and privileged to be just associated with all of you at Ananya.

Congratulations is the least we can tell these kids and to the Ananya system !! Wish you tons of such success in future and hope to continue to be part of your system for ages to come."

Dr Rao -

"This just goes to prove the adage that even in the tiniest of cracks in a rock, a seed will sprout provided it is given the nourishment and succour it requires...

Well done Shashi Ji and all at Ananya ; and an equally well-deserved pat-on-the-backs of all of you who participated in the Program ..."

Many more like this will give testimonials of our happiness and excitement.
It surely is PARTY TIME...

ps: I am man of few words so could say on these... "VOHO... Rock On..."

A Dream Birthday Celebration

Ananya in Sanskrit means "unique" and I can surely vouch for the fact that every time I go there, its a new experience. "Like no other" indeed.

I got to know about this unique place through Dream A Dream and then came closer through Shashank. Shashank always makes it a point to invite his friends whenever he is visiting this place. I thought why should I not do the same. After all so many of my friends had expressed their wish to visit such a place and know more about the. No other better way to experience such place but to be there. This is the origin of idea that one day I will take my friends there; to spend time of their life. And I could not have found a better day than my birthday for this purpose. We all have some plans for our dream birthday celebration and somehow this visit fitted perfectly in my dreams.

I expressed the desire to Shashank and then with his help and Shashiji's encouragement, my dreams looked coming to realization.

Plans were made, phone calls made and it was all in place. The D-Day came and we all gathered at my place. The excitement could have matched well to a child [at least this is what we thought while starting from my place].

Reach Ananya and our excitement level further shoot up. Kids have a contagious spirit inside them. As soon as we entered, they came running to us. I did not expect everyone of them to come and wish me on my birthday. It was a pleasant surprise nonetheless. There were few new kids and how the "old is gold" kids taught them to say birthday wishes is a scene I would never forget. Al inhibitions were kept apart within moments and we all were chatting with each other.
Time for some energizer and we had rounds of introduction with their favorite Hinesh bhai playing in background.

Initial hi hello lasted few minutes only and everyone was in their newly found group. Kids, here, will catch your hand and pull you to show their world. The smiles which popped on their face while showing their class rooms and computer labs could any day beat those Colgate/closeup smiles. The pride and confidence which these kids display today talks a volume about the transformation they have gone through. Give them the freedom, show them the path and they will conquer the world. For themselves, for you, for everyone.

The computer lab was the main attraction for me. After all it is the project I have been involved with. All the computers their have plenty of stories to tell. Kids have their personal folders on one or the other system which is password protected. Photos, music, word files, their drawings, Greeting cards and what not... all stored in their safe vault in the computer. Can you imagine such thing happening. It was almost two years back when Me and some other volunteers were teaching them about Password and login in Kaps IT. Today they make better posters and reports than what I can make. Really amazing indeed.

George Uncle's English Class, Suman aunti's Hindi class, Udhav uncle's Math class, Science lab, Social science class, Kannada class and so on... they kept us showing and we were just glued to their words. They seem so satisfied and content. They should be, it was just few years (or months, or days) when they had dropped out of a normal school. But here, it is all theirs. It is their world and they know how to make it better. The feeling of owning something brings the best of you in any effort.

One can not imagine how much time can you spend exploring this place. Every nook and corner has a story of its own to be told. And ask anyone, they will tell you with the same zeal. Its their own world and they are its proud owner. We spent more than one hour exploring this place, not to forget the tasty jamoon sessions. Its after ages we got to eat Jamoon, I really missed my home that time. And here these kids enjoy it daily. Sometime I wonder who is more lucky. :)

And then came Shashiji with a new pack of energy supply. As some of us had to leave early, we gathered at the Dining area and cut the cake. Goli dude has made the cake for everyone in morning. Kids had made a bouquet and beautiful card for me. The best birthday gift I ever got. So I cut the cake, we all had cake and it was time again for masti. Now it was turn of running games. Mouse and Cat, Snack head, tree climbing, Circle games and what not. Run, shout, laugh - do whatever you want to do. All are kids and all are free.

Within half n hour we so called techies were tired. There was no sign of tiredness on kids' face though. It was lunch time. Shashijee had arranged for yummi chat for everyone. We all set and enjoyed the lunch. Smiles all over....

Post lunch most of the kids headed back to their home. Actually weekend is the family time for kids, they had stayed back just for the function. We set their and chatted amongst ourselves. Shashijee told all of us about Ananya and the idea behind it.

One last round of tea and we started on our journey home.

Everyone looked happy and satisfied. And I am the most satisfied. Finally I could do it.
This day I wont forget in my lifetime. Looking forward at having many more such days ni future. Life will be so beautiful then.

See the photos here...

My heartily thanks..
to all the kids at Ananya, who made my day. And for the beautiful gift.
to Shashijee, for the encouragement and help in making it possible.
to George uncle, Suman aunti, Udhav and everyone at Ananya for their hospitality.
to Shashank for his support and help... You rock dude. You always do.
to Kautuk, Divya bhabhi, And Jaya bhabhi - I had a great time with all you people. Just be the way you are.
to Goli, for the cake, for the story and for the guitar. More so for his time and presence and energy. Can you imagine this guy got up and 6am and made the cake for 60 people!! Finally we did it dude.
to Ravi, Chandu, Arpit, Ankit, Gautam, Namrata and Shilpa - it was so nice to have you there. You made my the day with your time and presence. I hope you enjoyed it too.
to all others.. Enjoy..

/home/pritesh/lib

I am not a regular reader. But I do read whenever I have time. I have got a small collection at home which I can share with you. [Some are original prints while others are from roadside shops]. If you are interested in reading them, I can lend them. Ofcourse, you can do the same if you want. Leave a mail at jain.pritesh@gmail.com or leave comment.

Rohinton Mistry - A Fine Balance
Rohinton Mistry - Family Matters
Rohinton Mistry - Tales from Firozsha Baag
Anurag Mathur - The Inscrutable Americans
George Orwell - Animal Farm
Vikas Swarup - Q and A
Kishore Biyani - It happened in India
Khaled Hosseini - Kite Runner
Kiran Desai - The Inheritance of Loss

and many more... I will keep updating this list.

lajja

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the police chiefs of Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi to submit reports within 10 days detailing the action taken/proposed against those damaging public/private properties during the agitation for inclusion in Gurjar community in the Scheduled Tribes’ list.

Taking cognizance of media reports on large-scale destruction of properties during the week-long stir, a bench of justices Arijit Pasayat and Justice DK Jain said if no action had been taken against the offenders as yet, the police chiefs should also indicate the cause behind the inaction.

"It is a national shame when hordes of people are destroying public and private properties," the bench said, a day after the agitation was withdrawn following an agreement reached between Gurjar leaders and the Rajasthan Government that a judicial panel will look into their demand and submit a report within three months.

Noting that no preventive action appeared to have been taken to check the violence, the bench appointed senior advocate Rajiv Dhavan as amicus curiae to assist it in the case and fixed June 18 for further hearing.

"As the electronic media shows, the offenders feel that they have done some very heroic or laudable thing because they show their beaming faces when the TV camera is focused on them," the court observed. “…unfortunately it does not prima facie appear that any action has been taken against the offenders who were responsible for destruction of such properties,” it said.

The court said that the amicus curiae “may ask the TV channels concerned to provide the footage of the telecasts to the police authorities as also to him so that appropriate orders can be passed in the matter.”

Dhavan submitted that “even if there may be a right to propest in some cases, that does not give licence to anybody to destroy properties and/or indulge in acts of vandalism.” Those who called for the bandh had a vicarious responsibility to ensure that the protests are conducted in a peaceful manner, he added.

The court said the bandh caused considerable hardships to the general public and paralysed normal life to the extent that people reached their offices late and doctors could not attend to their patients.

It noted that the Supreme Court had earlier ordered recovery of compensation from violent protesters in Kerala for damaging public property.

source: Hindustan Times

ps: I am reading Lajja these days. A must read if you have any interest in politics and world events as such.

CHEENI KUM sugar free treat

In childhood my mom taught me this, excess of everything is bad. Life is a mix of sweet and sour experiences and both are necessary in a proper ratio to make life tasteful. Cheeni Kum exactly teaches the same lesson. Too much of sweetness (Tabu) is properly unsweetened by a pinch of sourness (BigB).

BigB plays a arrogant passionate sarcastic 64 year old man Ghaaspoos. He sports a ponytail and wears Versace glasses (to impress girls). You will get a thousand reason if you speculate as to why is he a chef. I guess being chef is new cool thing in town. He repeats a Major Sahab. How passion translates to rudeness is a million dollar question. He falls in love with 34 year old tangadi kabab - Tabu. She is cute and charming. uninhibited and bold. She too falls in love. Interestingly both of them do not have any dilemma about their ages. May be true love really does not see age.

Its only when Paresh Rawal enters the scene in second half that we realize that age does matter. Why does he need to play gandhigiri is another million dollar question (which makes it a KBC film). Everyone wants to play safe, I guess.

Director says that this movie is a comedy. And if I want to trust his words, I would say that its Zohra Sehgal and Swini (Sexy) that actually fits the role. They both rock. Zohra is simply brilliant as a cheerful and mischievous mom. So is Swini who plays a little angel. Again I want to play devil's advocate and ask the director why is sexy there in first place?

I will give 2.5 stars to the movie, and trust me this has no contribution from BigB. My craze for BigB is going down with each of his new movie. :)

shootout at lokhandwala

Why did they not shoot Vivek (or whatever way he spells his name) Oberoi? It would have been less painful as then we had only Tusshar Kapoor to take care of. There is one advantage of having a production house in your family. All the Tusshars and Udays get their due chance to show their talent then.

I watched this movie on DVD and I am really happy that I saved 190rs from my khun-pasine ki kamai. Movie is based on true rumors and even before its release everyone knew of the story. Still to make it easily understandable for junta, Sanju baba with help of Suniel And Arbaaz narrates it in detail. BigB is still in the KBC mood. Can you believe he didn't even spare the judge in court and asked him ek sawaal jo jindagi badal sakta hai. Ab Jr. has acted brilliantly in the two minutes cameo. He had exactly 6 words to speak and trust me no one could have spoke those golden words any better. Sanjay Gupta has uncanny touch of getting such cameos from stars and can really show their real talent displayed in a minute's performance.
Neha, Diya, Aarti - Sorry for you people. You should have known that it was not an Ekta Kapoor family drama but Sanjay Gupta's fantasy.

And how can I forget Mr Vivek (obey-rai). He is still in the shock after AbhiAsh marriage. Overacting ki all limits cross kar di aapne. I can not imagine today that it is the same guy who made his debut in Company and then acted in Omkara. He looks as if he is trying to repeat Chandu. Now someone go and tell him that we have seen it again and again. We need something new.

Only one person gets my standing ovation. And that's Amrita Singh. She has acted brilliantly.
My two cents for her. Of course this movie is worth only two cent. So please avoid.

I am wondering if the movie is really based on any true story. If yes, they have really wasted a chance to make a dream cinema. A Munich is still far away.