Category: General

  • Doesn’t make sense not to live for fun!

    A retired man moves near a junior high school. He spends the first few weeks of retirement in peace and quiet. However, when a new school year begins, three young boys beat on every trash can they encounter every day on their way home from school.

    Finally, the man decides to take action and walks out to meet the boys. He says, “You kids are a lot of fun. I’ll give you each a dollar if you’ll promise to come around every day and do your thing.” The kids continue to do a bang-up job on the trashcans.

    After a few days, the man tells the kids, “This recession’s really putting a big dent in my income. From now on, I’ll only be able to pay you 50 cents to beat on the cans.” The noisemakers are displeased, but they accept his offer.

    A few days later, the retiree approaches them again. “Look,” he says, “I haven’t received my Social Security check yet, so I’m not going to be able to pay more than 25 cents. Will that be OK?” “A freakin’ quarter?” the drum leader exclaims. “If you think we’re going to waste our time beating these cans around for a quarter, you’re nuts. We quit.”

    This was a joke that I got some days back on a RSS feed, but I did not laugh after reading this but it got me thinking instead…

    The moment we take away fun from what we do and start doing things for returns, the entire perception changes… now the effort is usually defined by the returns we are getting out of it and not by how much we enjoy doing it !!!

    When I put myself into this position, I see myself doing most of the things because I enjoy doing them and not because I want some returns to come from them… having said that I really like the returns too in forms of money or attention or praise, but the bottom line is that how much I enjoy doing it, does not change !

    I hope to continue living this way !

    Well the years start coming and they don’t stop coming
    Back to the rule and I hit the ground running

    Didn’t make sense not to live for fun
    Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb

    So much to do so much to see

    So what’s wrong with taking the back streets

    You’ll never know if you don’t go

    You’ll never shine if you don’t glow

    Smashmouth – All Star (One of my favorite tracks EVER)

  • Randomness in me !

    Come to think about it, Chai Ki Dukaan is a random blog !!! Not many posts are in order of being connected to each other, however there is a certain order that got built in between all this randomness over the last few years !

    I am wondering if there are enough random things that I can write about myself, but looks like there are… every month every week every day something new happens that might just seem random but is a part of a larger plan someone (I don’t know who) is busy making for me !!! so thank you that someone 🙂 !!

    and here is a free flow of some randomness about myself…

    1. I face Southwest in my office and at days when I reach early (like 7ish) and the day is sunny, there is sunlight on my desk… I love it

    2. I like to give and get credit for things both at work and in personal life! If I am using something that someone else has worked on, I do try to ensure that the audience knows about that effort ! I absolutely hated it when a friend once used a picture that I clicked and put it on her page without a mention of me anywhere and without asking me… and all of this when she knew that the picture was very close to my heart… to top it all she comes back and tells me that she did justice to the picture by doing that !!! phew !

    3. I don’t work for money.. I love what I do at work, and that’s why I work ! IT Services Consulting… love it! and money most of the time is the least of my worries… Surprisingly whenever it has been a cause of concern, it was taken care of… as if someone was ensuring it does not bother me! and at multiple times!

    4. Mostly my life is driven by needs and not wants… if I want something too much then I try to figure out how it qualifies to be a need and then get it!

    5. I want to get married next year… how to go about it is another story and will need a post a blog a diary an year to write about ! I am hoping I will find someone really nice who my parents would like too sometime!

    6. I forget about drinking water and having food at times when I am too much into work!


    7. I take my time (now) before I decide on what kind of a person someone is… earlier it used to be a quick(er) judgment !

    8. There has been a phase in my life when I totally hated women and that went on for a year or so… no points for guessing that it was because of a relationship that ended at a very very bad note.. I have never cried that much in my life…

    9. My behavior (mostly) is driven by how I would like to be treated in a similar situation… that has helped me a lot over the past few years !!!

    10. I don’t have an excuse for not working out regularly ! and thankfully for the past two days I am regular with exercise… 😉 two needs to be 20 and 20 needs to be 200 !

    11. I love tea and not all tea… tea is with tea leaves and not really anything and everything that you can dry and crush to a powder and put in a bag! Though I have to admit that I like some of them, but not many!

    12. I am an extremely lucky person. There are times when I feel frustrated, but when I look back at things I realize that most of it did fall into place… and Uncle God has been around most of the time either in the form of my parents, or my friends or in forms that I did not realize then but I do now!

    13. I can act strangely crazy, closed, stupid at times, and all of this while knowing that I should not be doing it… I guess I cannot lie to myself !

    14. I think flowers good great in B/W photographs ! For that matter, I think most of the things look great in B/W… even life ! 🙂


    15. I had a 3 gb collection of porn which I deleted last year! ok 3.4 GB!

    16. I enjoy walking


    17. Alone on the hills


    18. and I feel the need of a company at times on the beaches

    19. But I have sat down and looked at the sea for hours alone as well, and I loved all of those experiences !

    20. I broke down the beach/hill/alone/company points above so that I finish 25 random points quicker !!

    21. My interest in anything stops when learning from it stops!

    22. But I also feel that I am growing up to be a more patient person than I have been all through these years ! So I tend to find ways to get some learning or make things interesting when they are too conveyor belt-ish.

    23. I want to go back to London and stay there for at least 6 months during spring and fall.


    24. I like open windows and fresh air… Even when the temperature was in negatives outside, I would open the window an inch or so that fresh air can circulate inside my apartment…

    25. I like heights… I could jump from a plane 14500 ft above ground (Sky diving, Chicago last year) but I find it difficult to jump from a 22ft cliff into the water (River Rafting, Rishikesh every year, well almost every year).

    26… So I finished 25 but I think I can write a few more

    27. I like to be in love… Its a very complete feeling… and I am not really talking about the relationship love, it can be the love for someone without being in a relationship as well, and the willingness to do things to make them happy… I do not like an overuse of the word “love”… its a precious word for me!


    28. I don’t understand football but I love Tennis (Pete Sampras and Steffi Graf are my favorites, but I don’t know everything about them like most fans do; watching them play was a visual delight like nothing else; I liked watching Ivan Lendl and Boris Becker as well) and Basketball( Lakers happens to be my favorite team and Kobe Bryant the favorite player)… I cannot watch cricket alone…

    29. This number and my age have a certain resemblance that is both comforting and challenging at the same time

    30. I am going to be 30 soon.. I wanted to take a month long break travel throughout India when that happens, but looks like I would be spending it here in the US.. the month long break has been deferred and the three must go places for me are Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Mumbai


    31. I have learned how to play a keyboard and a guitar and have spent most of my college life either on the stage or in greenrooms or writing/directing/doing street plays… I really miss those times ! Really!


    32. This is a very very long post ! tell me if you did manage to read it !!! Chandan, you specially 🙂

  • कविराज प्रशांत भारद्वाज

    You’ve read what I write… here is a chance to hear it too 🙂

    Apologies for a bad video quality… It was taken using a regular point and shoot camera and in the darker side of the living room !

  • Refresh Complete !

    Had a very refreshing weekend !!!

    Hope you enjoyed too !!!

    And sincere apologies for not being able to respond to any comments on the last few posts !! Have been crazy busy at work and was out for the weekend ! Will write soonest !

  • Workout need identified !!!

    My left thumb is swollen today ! It probably needs a regular workout !!!! the bugger is just getting fatter by not doing anything at all…

    I type with both my hands and mostly use all my fingers and the right thumb (for the space bar) but the poor left thumb is left out except for the ocassional left click or a left button press (I use keyboard for most of my shortcuts)

    Or maybe I just slept on it !!!

    😉

  • puddle puddle jump jump

    I wanted to wake up early today to go out and see the sunrise, but I logged on to gmail, and while was talking to a few friends got late for the sunrise…

    Still went out and had fun walking around !!!





    Brought back a few good pictures, some very nice smiles, a few good morning wishes, a lot of fresh air in my lungs, and loads of soul satisfying happiness !!!

    Some more photographs to follow later… till then enjoy life !

  • The Joy of Film

    NOTHING, and I mean nothing in this world beats the romance of clicking B/Ws on Film… was going through Aro’s Picasa stream today and found this picture of mine…

    Though the picture is very badly processed, there is something about it that I like… I guess the grains more than anything !!!

    This is from a day when we had gone to Chandni Chawk just to have breakfast.. Nigodi Poodi and Bedmi Halwa (you saw a picture of it in the previous post; another picture in this post too)…

    Click here to read more…


    I might buy an old film camera sometime with a 50mm lens (should not cost more than $200) and use it for my street portraits… not sure.. lets see !!!

  • What if..

    Calvin grew up?

    What would he be like?

    I can think of some similarities between him and Ross (from Friends)… Actually a lot !!!

    Or maybe its Ross who might have been like Calvin when he was young !!!

    Or is it just the love for Dinosaurs that makes them similar… I don’t really know !

    Still : Aarush (My boss’s son, London)
  • Words Worth

    Words are like machines, over working or over using them diminishes the effect/ fulfillment of purpose over a period of time…


    Constant and over-considerate use of words like
    nice,
    good,
    great,
    amazing,
    wow,
    awesome,
    brilliant,
    that’s a nice thought,
    that is a very valid question,
    i understand what you are saying,
    i will be there for you,
    i love you,
    trust me,
    have faith,
    things will be alright,
    don’t worry,
    you are an idiot,
    you will never understand,
    be with me

    is something that I am not sure is the best thing to do..

    When I started working on computers, I was told that every key on the keyboard has a life and it will function only those many times… which basically means that if you have used a couple of keys too much over a period of time, you will not be able to use them anymore and that would in turn mean that your sentences would be incomplete, your codes would be erroneous, your programs would be faulty and results might be disastrous too !!! (I think they did not know that Ctrl C and Ctrl V works magic… but then what if the Ctrl key stops functioning? Can’t imagine a world without that)

    What if the same thing applies to a person too, he can use a certain set of words only an “x” number of times and after that he cannot use that word anymore… It might just help us evaluate what we speak before we do, and also increase the value attached to them !!! Also I need to earn my right to use the words… To start with I think this would apply to me first, I speak freely and too freely at times, but that can be misinterpreted because of multiple reasons… A better way, I guess, would be to hold on to words and take my time before I start talking again… tough? Yes. Doable? again yes? Thinking about it? Yes! Will I do it? Yes!

    But then some people say and believe that Silence is golden… I don’t really agree to it all the time… There are times when you gotta speak up and there are times when you gotta let something other than your words say what you wanted to say !!!


    So all I am saying is open your word tap wisely, there is only so much you are left with !!!

    Stills from : Harley Davidson Museum (Milwaukee); Millenium Park (Chicago); Daurala Railway Station, Meerut (UP,India)
  • of Love that is not that common, but IS !

    I was in college, and like most of the other college going lads would not leave an opportunity to show off my smartness at the drop of a hat !

    So I went to this marriage function and I saw her !!! She knew me and I knew her, we had met a few times previously, were introduced to each other too, but never got talking !!!

    It was her brother’s marriage, and she out of courtsey came and talked to me… and then the smartass mr. Prashant spoke, “आप अकेले अकेले chewing gum खा रही हो, मुझे नहीं दी !!!” (aap akele akele chewing gum kha rahi ho, mujhe nahin di)… and she simply takes her gum out of her mouth and offers it to me !!! I am stunned and She just laughs her ass off !!! and I still shocked ! Thankfully I am saved from any further embarrassment, and her friends come and take her away !! I am sure I was their laughing stock for the evening !!!

    However later in the evening, we met again and I took her number… I think she felt safe giving her number to a stupid guy… we cannot be much trouble, I guess !!!

    I did not call her for a while… weeks in fact, and after a month or so I gather enough courage and call her up, hoping that she picks up the phone… she does, and she says,” ओह, तो फ़ोन कर ही लिया आपने, मुझे तो लगा के फ़ोन नम्बर कॉल्लेक्ट करने का शौक है आपको “! (oh!, to phone kar hi liya aapne, mujhe to laga phone number collect karne ka shawk hai aapko) third encounter, second embarassing moment !!!

    That one phone call matured to a call a week and then, in not too long a time, our daily 1600 hrs 30 minute call… and then transformed into one of the most beautiful relationships of my life… It did not work out the way we wanted ( but that’s another story, and I rather not talk about it right now)

    Bhoomi and me went around for a good 4 years, and she, till date, is the only woman, who managed to pull my leg as often and leave me dumbstruck and in a state of shock like no one else… but her chuckle and more often than not a loud laughter at my state, made me happy…

    It was like I grew up with her, from college to masters, overdose of Theatre in Graduation, to loads of study and Basketball in Post Graduation, to the IT bubble burst and my hunt for jobs and the stress and struggle, and my first training/job and then the real fist job !!! I think it was THE perfect relationship… no point regretting now though…

    anyway, why was I talking about Bhoomi?

    because I was reminded of my second longest relationship ( yea yea, I have a few extra feathers in my cap, but so what!!!)

    Radha… another relationship that did not take much time to develop and only got stronger with time !!! My first and only “Love at first sight” as far as I can remember… here are a few pictures of her that I took on our first long drive together to Uttaranchal ( now uttarakhand).. More than 4 years now and her charm is still as strong as the day I first saw her !!!


    Some more pictures from the trip here and here. and if you are keen on reading about the trip click here.