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Showing posts from September, 2008

Tom & Jerry

Watching Tom & Jerry is an addiction. Every evening between 11.30 pm and midnight. Thirty minutes of sheer fun and joy ! While the stories flash by one after another, one is in stitches, as one story is funnier than the other. But you don't only laugh - when it is over, you are left with a feeling of only admiration for such a creative piece of art. Every character has a special role to play. Jerry, wants to live in peace in his comfortable little house behind the wall. (His bed is made out of a can of sardines, and the legs of the bed, of match sticks).Once in a while he wants to steal a bit of cheese which he simply loves and cannot resist, from the refrigerator. Tom has been employed basically to hunt him down. But his skills, speed and intelligence are no match to the little Jerry. So, more often than not he is at the receiving end. Jerry wants to make peace with everyone. But when cornered, he displays courage, initiative ingenuity of the highest order to beat his main ene

September 23 - Sidhu

As I was surfing the usually visited sites on Internet, I came across a message informing me that Sidhu has added me as a friend on Facebook. About time Sidhu! Can't blame him though, he's a busy man. (If you search for his name on Google, there are 11,700 results matching his name !). WPS Sidhu and I came to know each other when he joined my School and Class -8th standard, way back in 1974. He has come from St. Joseph's Academy, Dehra Dun. Sidhu was a smart and bright kid, and created a favorable impression on all teachers in School very early, for a new comer. He was an excellent debator, with an exceptional command over English language. He chose to pursue Science in Senior School, but at the end of Class XI, concluded that it would be a mistake for him to continue. So he took a bold but what he thought a wise decision to move to humanities for Class XII. We joined St. Stpehen's College together - he as student of History, and I, a student of Science. We studied toge

Sept 22

This evening after dinner, I stroll across the IIM Ahmedabad campus where I am staying for three days. The campus has a modern architectural design, with all buildings having the appearance of a precise geometric shape. It is also immaculately maintained – neatly cut grass in all lawns and spotless clean roads and pathways. Like most others, this campus is also quiet in the evening, perhaps because the occupants are spread all over the vast expanse of many acres. Lights are on in some of the rooms in the students’ dormitories. Across, there is a fitness centre, and through the windows I see vigorous exercise in many forms – some walking on treadmills, others pumping iron. I see at a distance, a middle aged couple on a brisk walk after dinner. In all probability, one of them is a teacher. Its been a while since I walked across a campus like this. Memories come flooding back. And foremost amongst my thoughts, is all the teachers who taught me, not only in College but in School. Amongst

Sept 15

Landed in Luxemburg at 1000. Endless queues at Passport control and baggage claim are the not very different from back home. What is refreshing is the pleasant weather, the clean air, and the lush green surroundings. The train journey to Paris provides a breadthtaking view. Endless expanse of greenery, neatly cut plots of farmers' lands, almost geometrically done. Healthy cattle grazing. And all this rushes past me at 300 kms an hour which is the speed of the TGV train. We arrive in Paris at 5.30 in the evening, and quickly settle in, in our Hotel rooms, and relax first time in 19 hours....

Sunday September 14, 1130 pm

The 'D' day has arrived. Time to leave home and travel across 'seven seas' to distant lands. In search of prospective business. I wait at the airport to board the flight. The airport is an ordeal. Meanwhile I wish my sons the best for the exam tomorrow. And to my wife. And all near and dear ones - friends near and far. The World has shrunk, and we are just a call away. I rest with that thought...

September 13, 2320 hrs

Its happened again. Five bomb blasts in various corners of Delhi. About 20 dead till last reports came in. More than a 100 injured. Blood shed, panic, desperation, frustation and despair. Innocent people gone, some lives lost at the prime of their youth. The news spread across the Globe like fire. Indians overseas anxious to know about the welfare of their near and dear ones. Freinds advising each other not to venture out. Who knows - your colony market might also be a target. And amongst all this, the Government machinery sleeps. Despite a clear warning from Gujarat, that after the Agmedabad blasts, Delhi is the next target. That everything has been organised. Final plans frozen. Only instructions from the high command awaited. There are intelligence agencies - no intelligence. No clue. No semblance of damage control measures.  Life is cheap in India. Amongst a 100 crores Indians, a few lives lost - doesn't matter. Nature's way of population control? Life goes on.  

Saturday 13th September

As soon as I wake up let  myself get occupied with the time cosuming task helping my sons with their preparations for the examination on Monday. Science it is. A subject, which on the face is intimidating. But as you dwell deep, most fascinating. When I assume the role of a teacher and go through the very fundamental principles of Physics, I get more and more involved... I am gripped by a sense of growing anxiety as I embark upon a 10 day long tour, first to Europe, and then on return to IIM Ahmedabad for a training program.  The thought of absence from home has never been so distracting in the past, as it is, this time. Leaving the boys to fend for their own during the exams? The burden on Mani's head, with the driver's sudden disappearance, for an inexplicable reason?  And when  she too travels later during the week, how do the boys manage? I try to push the distractions out of my mind by delving deeper into the wonders of 'time and motion' and the simple pendulum. An

The Sea face

I would give my right hand to stay by the sea. I say so, because I have had the good fortune to have lived by the sea face some years ago. It was at Worli, that I set up home. It was a   spacious two bed room flat, right on top of Worli Hill, less than fifty meters from the Arabian Sea. On the third floor, we had an unobstructed view of the vast expanse of water.   Each moment that I stayed in the house, I marvelled at the idea in the mind of the person who designed the house. Every window in the house, that of the kitchen, bedrooms and even the bathrooms, faced the sea. And then there was a huge balcony. In the evenings, I would take my wife and my toddler son right up to the sea face, to go through an experience. As far one could stretch one’s vision, there seemed to be an endless expanse of water under a huge open sky. The gentle churning of the water, with only periodic gains and lows in the intensity, would provide a soothing sound, and a certain kind of calmness and seren

Mr. Raj Thackeray - you are at it again!

 You and your team - The 'Maharashtra Navnirman Sena' seem to pursue you vision of a new ‘re-built’   home State with a missionary zeal.  And what is your vision of the new State?  Your new Maharashtra will –forget welcoming, not even tolerate a non- Marathi. Doesn’t matter that in the years of its history, Maharashtra has only gained and prospered thanks to the millions of ‘outsiders’ who landed in Mumbai and other parts of the State and due to sheet dint of hard work, made success stories out of their enterprise. Yes they came to pursue their dreams, and realized them. But they gave to the State in equal measure. They were industrialists, film makers, actors, corporations.   It is by no small measure due to them that Mumbai today is regarded as   the financial and industrial capital of India , and Bollywood is the largest film industry in the World.   Your new Maharashtra loaths anyone who speaks in any language except Marathi. In a new found machoism, you and y

A Tribute to my Grandmother

My grandmother was born sometime in the beginning of the 20th century. Like most of her generation, she did not know of her exact date of birth. From my earliest memories of her, till the time she passed away, I remember her as a short very frail woman, not more than 5 ft tall, and very thin. The outward appearance was however deceptive. For I have not known many people at least amongst my own family, who had a personality close to hers. My grandmother had studied up to Class X, an accomplishment of sorts in her day and age. The formal education however was a small indicator of her level of literacy and general awareness. She read the daily English newspaper from the front page to the last, and updated herself on the latest happenings around the World. She had an excellent grasp of all current affairs, politics, India’s relations with her neighbours, friendly and otherwise and so on. This, she managed mostly by reading on her own, and very rarely, she sought help and clarification from