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  • Happy Holi ЁЯЩВ

    Holi hai bhai holi hai
    Rang Birangi Holi hai



    Pictures from Holi’06 at Home ЁЯЩВ

    And what is a Holi without this song?

  • For the Women I know and I don’t

    I was in a meeting today… and most of my audience was Director level decision making stakeholders and I am glad to say that most of these were Women… Just the right reminder to Women’s day .. I am intentionally keeping myself away from the word “International” because I have doubts that it is truly an international thought !

    But here on Chai Ki Dukan, which has seen three continents (Bit of international eh!) in the last few years I had to write my dedication to Women… I associate Women with a few words.. here are some of them that I like to remember …

    Innocent

    Assertive

    Stylish

    Fun

    Calm

    Faithful

    Leader

    Adventurous

    Thinker

    Beautiful

    Independent

    Mysterious

    Sexy

    Talented

    And my limited vocabulary and lack of time is making me stop here, however I did make a set on Flickr to put together all the photographs above and more. Please do see a slide show here, when you have sometime.

    Hope for a better tomorrow, for the WOMEN of the world !

    Amen !

    And a big thank you to every woman who has been a part of my life, big or small and I know this for sure that I have learnt from everyone of them!

    I wanted to write names here first, but chose not to – Jealous is a word that comes to my mind in addition to the ones above ЁЯШЙ

  • There is a lot of money out there !!!

    $ 150 Million were spent on Obama’s inaugration ceremony… Was it just to keep with the expectations of the world?

    I am just wondering if this could have been managed in anything less than what was spent?

    Recession? Was anyone really thinking about it when this function was held?

    I am wondering if this ceremony was the cheapest ever instead of the most expensive ever, would it have made people to think differently?

    And…

    Vijay Mallya gets back Gandhi’s stuff to the country at a cost of $1.8 million…

    For?

    The country?

    right !!!

    and now I am really interested in knowing how India gained from this.. After all this was done for the country !!! On second thoughts I am wondering about why am I getting so angry about all this, its his bloody money, he can spend it on whatever he wants! after all, he has earned the money and the rights to spend it too !

    I personally feel that the word Gandhi is a bit too over hyped in India… especially when the other names have just been limited to names and a holiday and maybe some awards or roads or markets…

    I did not feel good about this “victory” and felt that we are focussing on absolutely irrelevant activities at some level… and spending time, money, and effort doing those!


    Multiple issues, and I am feeling angry… aargh !

  • рдЖ рдЖ рдИ рдИ рдЖ рдЖ рдИ рдИ рдорд╛рд╕реНрдЯрд░рдЬреА рдХреА рдЖ рдЧрдИ рдЪрд┐рдЯреНрдареА

    рдорд╛рд╕реНрдЯрд░рдЬреА : рд░рд╛рдореВ рдмреЗрдЯрд╛ рддреБрдо рд╕реНрдХреВрд▓ рджреЗрд░ рд╕реЗ рдХреНрдпреЛрдВ рдЖрдпреЗ?

    рд░рд╛рдореВ : рдорд╛рд╕реНрдЯрд░рдЬреА, рдореЗрд░реА рдЪрд╡рдиреНрдиреА рдирд╣реАрдВ рдорд┐рд▓ рд░рд╣реА рдереА… рддреЛ рд╡реЛрд╣реА рдвреВрдВрдб рд░рд╣рд╛ рдерд╛ !

    рдорд╛рд╕реНрдЯрд░рдЬреА : рдФрд░ рдмреЗрдЯрд╛ рд╢реНрдпрд╛рдо, рддреБрдо рджреЗрд░ рд╕реЗ рдХреНрдпреЛрдВ рдЖрдпреЗ?

    рд╢реНрдпрд╛рдо : рдорд╛рд╕реНрдЯрд░рдЬреА, рдореИрдВ рдЗрд╕рдХреА рдЪрд╡рдиреНрдиреА рдкрд░ рдкреИрд░ рд░рдЦ рдХрд░ рдЬреЛ рдЦреЬрд╛ рдерд╛ !!!!

    So did you smile or did you laugh?

    Enjoy the video below ЁЯЩВ I love it… hope you will too !

    This video kind of tells me where Himess bhai got his singing ideas from…

    and the part with “Gathri mein laga chor musafir ! dekh chand ki or”

    and that the kid missed the centre of gravity ЁЯЩВ

    love this song totally !!!! love eeet !!! Here is the link in case you are not able to see the video above.

    And my sincere apologies… I now remember that Mayuri had sent me this song and she knew I was going to love it.. Thanks dear !!! God bless !!

  • Go but never leave…

    I needed a break, had been working for a while…

    Got up

    and tried to open the door… but it took me some effort before the door opened…

    on my way back.. the door opened relatively much easier!

    I thought why, and realised something…

    • The flames are more stable near the wick…

    • The flags flutter least near the rope…

    • The door opens with the most effort if pushed from near the hinges…


    Strange thought but I need to write it here…

    Stability is more when you are closer to your roots… when you are closer to your base…

    The farther you wander away the more unstable you get…

    Now another point of view can be about the reach when you move away… Remember that geometry problem from school?
    What is the area in which the Cow can eat grass when she is tied to a pole with a rope which is 10 metres long?

    Increase the rope length and the cow has more to eat, more space to explore… but when it comes to taking a rest, the cow (At least that is something that I have seen in my village) would always come back near her pole and sit… and if they are out in the open, they will come back home in the evening… That’s where the word Godhuli comes from too.

    The essence of this post (and this is a note to myself) is to be aware of your roots, and stay connected while you explore the rest of the world… because your roots are where you get the most stability and the most peace !

  • The Good and the Bad !

    Lets start with the good one… According to an article in the TOI, Delhi Police would help stranded women anytime of the day… which basically means if you are stuck somewhere please call 100 and a PCR would assist you shortly…

    The decision is noble and well appreciated… what needs to be done is a proper implementation and then sustain it… make sure that records are maintained and published for the people to judge if this initiative is successful or not… if not anything else it might just help restore some faith that I am not sure how many have in the Delhi Police.

    If the past has taught us anything, such initiatives do start but loose their steam in the early stages, either because of lack of properly thinking or planning !

    So, good luck Delhi Police! I hope you do make a change !

    And the bad one now…

    Sri Lankan Cricket team attacked in Pakistan… ok before that… Pakistani Stand up comedians were forced to leave India after the Bombay incident !

    I agree that the magnitude of these two incidents is way different, but still SHAME on people who are involved in spreading the terror and reacting like a bunch of idiots to it !

    ART, SPORTS, MUSIC and similar, are things that go a long way in helping bridge some gaps at-least between the people if not between two nations… and such acts ensure that everything is over in a minute…

    I doubt if SL or any other international team is going to play a match in Pakistan EVER, and I am not sure if any Pakistani Comedian or Musician would perform in India…

    but what I know is somewhere someone, in the streets of these nations, irrespective of the boundaries would continue to love how JayaSurya has kicked some bowler butt, how Wasim Akram has made the batsmen go clueless (I love watching his action… every single time), how Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan has made millions of people love him..

    Damn the Political Agendas which has separated the people and drew these limits !!!

  • Of mixed emotions…

    Its strange how one act of nature can invoke so many feelings together in me…

    I am talking about a snowfall !

    On my way out of home today I just happened to check the scene outside, and I was like damn… need to change the shoes… so the formals go in the bag, and the dependable woodlands are out !

    I walk out, and there is a cover of white all around… I feel a certain peace and calm when I see the snow on the footpaths, the trees, bushes…

    The snow is still falling and there is no wind… so it falls slowly and the snowflakes enjoy their ride down to the ground moving around at their own pace and taking their own path… Find a snowflake that you like and then follow it to the ground… Its amazing…

    And then some wind… some snowflakes hit my face and I just take my tongue out to let some of the flakes fall on it… I love that feeling of the cold snowflakes landing on my tongue… ЁЯЩВ

    I walk by a small park towards the office and there is so much snow… and I feel like leaving my bag and just go make a snowman the entire day

    All of this snow makes me want my friends around me too so that we can play war in the snow ЁЯЩВ

    and something that I always miss in a snowfall… to have a sweetheart and walk with her hand in hand looking at the snowfall !

    All of this in some 5 minutes walk to the office ЁЯЩВ

  • The 8th Day !

    I have been thinking for a while about this and I finally talked to Uncle God to see what does he have to say about it… here is how our conversation went…

    Me: Uncle, I need another day …

    Uncle: For?

    Me : To have fun… Weekdays seem to be too busy at work, and weekends as well fly away… when do I have fun…

    Uncle: And?

    Me: So you add another day in the week… make it an 8 day week… and the 8th day would be the “Funday“… I will only enjoy on that day… no sad feelings, no dull faces… only fun !

    Uncle: You are crazy fella ! And me too, for keeping up with you… but I am sorry, I cannot just add another day to the week… Even I am hit by recession… even I am short of days these days ! I rather give another day for people to eat, and another day for people to live.. don’t even get me started on that note.. but here is what you can do…

    • When you wake up in the morning, thank someone that you have another day to enjoy !
    • When you brush your teeth, dance
    • When you are cooking in the kitchen, dance
    • When are walking to the office, or driving or cycling to the office, listen to your favorite music… and do that when you are coming back from work too
    • When you meet people in the elevator, always say a hello
    • When you are taking food in the cafe, greet the person on the other side of the counter
    • Before you go off to sleep, call someone you’ve not called in a while and talk for 5 minutes
    • Don’t ever sleep with a unresolved argument
    • Sing when you take a bath
    • Go out for a walk after you have your dinner… spend this time with yourself.. leave your phone home, leave your iPod home as well
    • Cook for someone you like
    • Write a letter to your parents
    • Play, run, jump, hop whenever you get an opportunity
    • Once a day smell something nice
    • Compliment when you like something
    • Ask for opinions from the sales people when you shop
    • Find a complete misfit cloth, wear it and show it your friends
    • Make faces in the mirror


    Do these and come back to me… I will tell you a few more things to do… If you still feel you need another day called a “funday” we will think about it !

  • 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 ЁЯЩВ !!

    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… ЁЯШЙ 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 ! ЁЯЩВ


    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 ЁЯЩВ