Shivaji Maharaj and politics

Yesterday, I came across a news in the local newspaper that a police case has been lodged against Amitabh Bachchan and his show KBC. Inrigued, I read on to discover that the complaint is lodged because the complainant was not happy with a particular question or rather its chosen answer.
The question was "Who was the Guru of Shivaji Maharaj?" and the correct answer was "Dadoji Kondadev". The complaint is lodged by a so called marathi group, whose sole agenda is hate campaign against Brahmin community. This was the same group who successfully managed to get Dadoji's statue removed from the Laal Mahaal in Pune. These are the same people who managed to arm twist the goverment to stop the Dadoji Kondadev award, given to the best mentors in the sporting community.
What I fail to understand is how come these people try and put Shivaji Maharaj into a particular community. Don't they realise that they are making Maharaj look smaller by arguing about his caste and his mentor's caste?
I am proud of Shivaji Maharaj. Whenever I feel down and out, I always pick up Shreeman Yogi and that gives me the inspiration to fight on. He was the true Chhatrapati, the Raja of our hearts!
How sad he would be today, looking at the politics being played in his name... sigh!

Apple!

The legendary Apple Man, Steve Jobs, passed away a few days back. I need not elaborate on why he was legendary and how he was driven by the passion to create beautiful things. While reading the news about his demise, a recent incident came to my mind.

Me and Shruti had gone out on a trip with my friend Mukta, Atul and their son Vedant, who is roughly 2.75 years old. Vedant was getting restless while we were driving to our destination and he started asking for "Tom n Jerry". I sat wondering how my friend was going to handle this demand, when she took out her iPod Touch and casually handed it over to her kiddo. I was scared that he might simply throw it out, bang it, etc etc. But to my amazement, he quickly turned it on, flipped (or rather swyped) through the menu's and started watching Tom n Jerry in a second!

I was amazed by his ease of handling the iPod. I mean, I understand that kids are far more better at picking up new technology, as they are open to explore things, but this was still a surprise for me. I turned to Mukta and asked if she had taught him to do it. But she replied in negative and told me that he had simply seen her do it a few times and then one day, picked it up and simply managed to start it on his own. And once he had done that, now he is able to play games on the iPod, along with watching videos. All this, from a kid, who does not understand the language at all!

Now, that is what an intuitive UI is!!

Hats off Sir Steve Jobs, RIP...

Me and My Knee - part 1

I recovered from a knee injury last year... I thought I would pen down the experience finally now when it is almost over... Being a long story and my desire to add too many small (and may be insignificant, but then its my blog) details, I realised that I can not fit it into one post and hence decided to break it into parts.. here is the first one.

I went out to a project outing on the fateful Saturday, the 21st June 2008 (thats 2 days into 27th year!!). The project party was at outdoors, at a place called Anand Valley, around 2 hours away from Pune. After playing foosball (the game that Chandler and Joey keep playing in F.R.I.E.N.D.S.) for quite some time (and a mixed winnings), we proceeded to play Volleyball. I was playing volleyball only for the 2nd time in my life. After quite some time of ball-watching, something bit me and I tried a smash... The moment I landed on ground, I realized something is wrong with my left knee, as I didn't feel anything below my left knee. I hobbled out of the ground, tried bending and stretching my knee and decided to rest for a while. I was even able to walk without support then...

Within few hours, I realized that I am no more able to bend my knee and it was swelling quite rapidly. Being so far out of Pune meant that for me to return back home, the entire touring party would have to come back home... As I was able to sit down and relax (just was not able to walk anymore), I decided to wait it out till the evening leaving time. So I somehow changed into my shorts, which I had thankfully carried with me for rain dance in the evening, and decided to stay put.

Eventually, I reached home at around midnight by which time everybody home was quite anxious and scared too at what might have happened. Given the history of our project (1 ligament injury every year) I was kind of aware of what had gone wrong.
I went to my physician next day,who suggested waiting for the swelling to go down but then recommended to an orthopedic surgeon the next day. The Surgeon, upon seeing my swollen knee (I was able to wear only shorts, if that gives you any idea), decided that there was some blood present in the joint, due to internal injury. So he applied some local anasthetic to my knee, and then started taking the blood out using a BIG injection with a huge needle. Boy, that was a bit scary. Plus when he would scrape the bone, I could feel it. He later educated me that the anesthetic does not affect the bones. He took out around 80Cc blood from my joint (that means he pierced my leg 8-9 times to take out most of the blood) but then my knee started looking almost like a normal one, albeit a clean shaven knee :). Further, he sent me for an MRI scan to DMH (Dinanath Mangeshkar Hospital). But before that, I was given a walking stick and a walker as well, and was strictly told to move around only when necessary (u know when). When I reached home, getting up to the third floor was another challenge. I am not that light weight to be carried up by anyone and of course, when my building was constructed, the concept of a lift was considered to be a fancy one... So, I had to go up 3.5 floor (45 steps to be exact) by just jumping on my good right leg. On day 1, it took me around 20 mins to reach home using the stick and by the time I reached home, both my right leg and left hand, who were carrying my weight were hurting like anything. That was a taste of times to come... My Mom was already going into shock, seeing me coming up like that. She later told me how horrified she was looking me like that. Her image of me was of running up and down the stairs in a flash and here I was not even able to walk on my both legs.. well, it had scared me too big time... The next day, we went for the MRI scan in a wheel chair, imagine my poor Mom!

The MRI staff made me change into hospital gown, thereby removing anything remotely metallic and then wrapped me into a blanket and slid into the MRI machine. I slept peacefully for next one hour and woke up with a start when suddenly the machine went quiet, realizing that the procedure is over.
The scan confirmed my worst fears, that one of my AC Ligaments was torn and the MC Ligament was partially damaged. (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anterior_cruciate_ligament). I was given two options; either to go for a reconstruction surgery or to go for plain physiotherapy and no surgical option. More on that in part 2...

Latest Music: Fireflies by Owl City

Came across this song on youtube and got totally hooked after listening to it first time itself...

Melodious song... it makes me feel at peace... like a kid... try it with headphones... kind of overwhelming...

Planet earth turns slowly... but it doesn't... time passes away so quickly.. wow!

The lyrics go like this:

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You would not believe your eyes
If ten million fireflies lit up the world as i fell asleep
'Cause they'd fill the open air
And leave teardrops everywhere
You'd think me rude but I'd just stand and stare

[Chorus:]
I'd like to make myself believe
That planet Earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems

'Cause I'd get a thousand hugs from ten thousand lightning bugs
As they tried to teach me how to dance
A foxtrot above my head
A sockhop beneath my bed
A disco ball is just hanging by a thread

[Repeat Chorus:]

When I fall asleep leave my door open just a crack
[ Owl City Lyrics are found on www.songlyrics.com ]
(Please take me away from here)
'Cause I feel like such an insomniac
(Please take me away from here)
Why do I tire of counting sheep
(Please take me away from here)
When I'm far too tired to fall asleep

To ten million fireflies
I'm weird 'cause I hate goodbyes
I got misty eyes as they said farewell
But ill know where several are
If my dreams get real bizarre
'Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar

[Repeat Chorus:] (2x)

I'd like to make myself believe that planet earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep
'Cause my dreams are bursting at the seams

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Have a look at the video on youtube at the below link... (embedding disabled, hence only the link)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI4JLa0hbUw

Came across an interpretation of the lyrics which is on similar lines, kids and how we become old too quickly... see if you like it...

http://www.lyricinterpretations.com/lookat.php/bands/Owl-City/1dea86ef9073645

I am Waiting... a nice post I came across

I was going through some very old emails, exchanged on our BE computer group and came across a very nice writeup... I believe its the kind of phase I can relate to, and I know a lot of us "professionals" also will... Hence sharing with you all! Unfortunately, don't know the authors name...

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Its 7:15am and I stand here in the bus stop waiting for the office bus to arrive. I stand here in the same spot as I did a few years back waiting for my college bus. Little did I know then that things would change so much in 2 years; the tree under which I was standing seemed to be looking at me and smiling,perhaps the only living thing that stands as a testimony there, watching the transformation of a loud and bubbly person into a quiet professional. I wouldn't blame the professionalism for the change though. It is destiny, or may be you could call it life. Yes Life, esoteric in the true sense, for one does not understand why you meet hundreds of people everyday, work with so many, and still remain lonely.

I am now in one of the corner seats in the bus,looking out of the window watching people trying to catch up with "life"! It's an hour's journey and the only company that I generally have is the chatter of the RJ. I seldom notice the person sitting next to me,
for its going to be yet another stranger or may be you could say another acquaintance. It is annoying at times when the radio is switched off, not because I am cut off from the melody (?) but because I would now be thrust with the thought of the solitary travel ahead.

I can't help thinking about the short bus journeys to college, well it's a paradox to call a distance of 40 kms "short", but that is how it always seemed. A typical college day always begins in the bus with all the familiar faces; you look forward for all your friends to get in from the various stops, the reasonless giggles, the loud laughter that were stifled to avert the eyes of the lecturers and professors who would watch on us as if we were their prospective prey for the day, well as I said it was a different life then.

The pleasant memories of college are in itself good enough to save me from the misery of the bus journey. I notice that it is time for me to get down and flash my smile of acknowledgement to all the known strangers that I see as I walk towards my cubicle. A few of my
project mates greet me with their morning wishes and as always, we exchange our pleasantries. Discussions jump to the weekend plans and I wonder what I'd do over the weekend. It would be just another day staring at the mobile, wishing it would ring and bring back some wonderful moments that are now missing in life or maybe the safer option would be to come to office, for it's my new founded asylum these days. A few years back, weekends or weekdays didn't matter to me, I was always busy. I always stood doubting the authenticity of the wall clock that seemed to be in running too fast to perceive its movement. Alas, now it seems as though my clock is suffering from some kind of paralytic attack.

There is a time in life, where one needs to go ahead, leave behind all your friends and carry along only memories. You do make friends, but then you never get back the same old close ones, you do meet people who'd be so good to you that you could tell them anything and everything, but you'd not find a person, to whom you needn't say things, friends who just know you.
Occasional calls from such friends, has been the only thing that I seem to look forward to, but I cant help but notice the uneasy pause that lingers around the conversation, pause not because of the relationship,but because it is too short a duration to say everything, and of course you cannot completely rule out the paucity of words!

As I sip coffee from the ubiquitous coffee mugs,watching the drops of rain, trickling down the tinted glass panes, veiling the scenic beauty outside, I tell myself, may be there'd be a day when things change,when life offers a rewind, a recap of all the events, and I'd just have to wait.

Capricious are the ways of life, for I know there would be many who'd be able to empathize with me, ironically, even the dear ones that I miss this moment, are waiting perhaps.

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On a lighter note, some of them have taken the easy way out by getting married, leaving us bachelors to wander around on our own... :-)

मैत्री

कधी कधी ओळख अलगदपणे मैत्रीमध्ये बदलते,

गप्पा रंगतात, वादही होतात, नवे नाते उमलते....

गाण्याची एखादी मैफल जशी उत्तरोत्तर रंगत जाते,

तशीच ही मैत्री आयुष्याला संगीतमय करत राहते....

अशा मैत्रीला नियमांचे अन अटींचे बंध नसतात,

चेहरे दिसले नाही तरी मनं मात्र नक्की दिसतात....

आपली मैत्री अशीच आहे कायम मनात जपण्यासारखी,

चिरकाळ आनंद देणाऱ्या गोड सुरेल गाण्यासारखी

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Credits - Anon

Bowling in Cricket

Since I have come here in Ipswich, and the summer has begun, we have been playing good amount of cricket on the weekends. When people like Prafulla, Prasad, Nilay are around, it feels really good to bat well and to hit a nice drive going through the covers or to take a good catch!!
But so far, I have been playing mainly as a batsman and a fielder. Since I have been playing (even gully cricket), I have never been really looking towards bowling as an option. But with some games really becoming one sided or me getting out early sometimes, has made me think about this. I mean, I dont think as of now, I have the stamina or accuracy to be a fast bowler but why not a gentle slow medium with good line and length?
Past couple of days I have been bowling some timepass overs and it feels good to really be involved in this aspect of the game also.. I was never aware that bowling can be so fun too..
I have decided now... from now on, whenever I have the chance, I am going to bowl and try to bowl well!!! Lets see, how much chance I get... may be against weaker batters, but still, before I go back, I want to be at least a good part timer from a nobody in the bowling department!!