best critisism...

I opened my inbox today and was surprised to find this mail from my sister

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"kutta(thats how she and my parents affectionately call me) kill the girl(she meant GO TO HELL attitude and not murder :)) in "he waited 4 sunrise" and rewrite it. just she becoming friend's friend is not a pain worth crying so much abt. or u make the hero of the story little more strong and write it as he took it as part of life.hero sounds like a weakling and an immature individual.all friendships doesnt last only TRUE frienship does.

then in "lessons of life" not getting back what u gave is not a big thing. its a common thing.either v dont get or we fail to give back to people from whom v get.there r lot of real PAINS in life. things which v cant even think of going through.dont let negativity creep into ur writing."

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i was really surprised reading this mail from her...i had always underestimated her maturity level...i used to play the big brother at home, even after being 4yrs younger to her..i was under the impression that i have seen the world more than her and none can understand human emotions as i do...but to my surprise, i realized that she is indeed my elder sister..and i must say this is the best criticism/comment i have got for any of my posts in this blog...sis..great going...

papa...was Bhagat Singh cricketer or movie star....

yeah.....i wont be surprised if my children ask me these questions, few years later...

March 23rd was the day Bhagath Singh was hanged along with Rajguru and Sukhdev .. i don't know how many of the readers would have remembered this, but its fine...if the media and the whole nation had forgot it, including the leaders..no wonder common man, who is no way related to him forget this day...

yes..i searched all the leading news sites..but even in its remote corners, there was no mention of these men of valor ...i was not surprised.. i expected the same.
any way a zillion thanks to Aamir Khan and Rakesh Omprakash Mehra, who at least introduced these freedom fighters to the current generation. At least they will be able to relate to these names, through the movie...[i know there have been other movies too..i mentioned this, being the recent one]

Even Gandhiji,being a strict follower of non violence, had praised the courage of these men. He quoted "These heroes had conquered the fear of death. Let us bow to them a thousand times for their heroism."

They deserve to be remembered, in a better way than this. We cant find too many men like Bhagat Singh, who would be ready to sacrifice their life for the nation,that too at the young age of 23.

My salute to Bhagat Singh and 1000s of other unknown heroes, who had laid their lives for the freedom of our Country...{which we are very happily misusing}

he waited for sunrise...

They had been together for yrs...sharing joys and sorrows and taking turns being the lantern, when the other was lost in darkness.. forgetting and forgiving every mistakes, rejoicing in each others success and achievements, sharing every secrets, talking on all the topics under the sun..it was a dream come true... he thought..if there is something beautiful in this world, then it is this friendship..unmatchable, unbreakable..and she kept reiterating..you are the best i have and you ll remain so...doesn't matter whoever comes in my life...he was happy..as he wished...a friendship never to be broken..so even in his worst nightmares, he couldn't dream of an end for their friendship.

but now he has tears in his eyes.. he stood there as a toddler who is now falling in each step he makes forward..yes for him a life without her friendship is like starting to live from scratch.. as far his memories could travel, he couldn't remember a time when she was not with him as an inspiration or support..irrespective of the distance, she was there with him to console, to rejoice..and now in a moments time she seems to have moved far away...out of reach...he couldn't have food..he couldn't sleep...he even forgot how to smile...it was like sunset to his life...he was moving to darkness..


he saw her picture disappear in the community..curiously he visited her profile...he couldn't stand it..another name between them was hard for him to digest.. yes...she had deleted her from friends list...for her its just a number...one of her contacts..but for him..it was a nerve that was broken..now they were related by a 3rd person between them...now he has to be know as a friends friend of her...no more he had access to her profile..as it was friends only...alas now he was no more her friend.. he couldn't stand it..he stood motionless..he had to witness it..his most cherished relation getting broken...his life seemed aimless and his existence seemed meaningless to him...

they used to fight..to more extent than this..but whatever they said..however they hurt each other..they never broke their friendship..even for fun...but now..her act was beyond his understanding..

he blamed her..she blamed him..for each silly thing they started arguing..and finally it happened..

was he that cruel to her or did she find his doing so disturbing that she had to take this extreme step? was his behavior that irritating? did she get fed up with him? is it true when she said she no more want the friendship? that this friendship had to end one day?

even with so many unanswered questions in his mind..he still waited expecting to see her back as his friend..waiting for the community to show him as her friend...he is waiting...and he will keep waiting endlessly, till she accepts him...

he waited for the sunrise...still waiting..



NB: All pics are copyright protected.

102th way to make egg curry

its been 4 weeks...and i haven't done anything other than washing plates and cooking rice...
but now one of my roomie has left and now pressure was building up..
cooking..a field which i have never ventured in...the mere thought of trying out something in kitchen gave me shivers...after all am experimenting with FOOD...and i ll be putting others also in trouble along with me....i gave a deep sigh and sat down..
i was feeling damn sleepy because of yesterdays production move...the tension was too much...
i got up, cleaned the room and then later got to bed..and now with the thought of preparing something for dinner.....i dozed off....
was a sound sleep for 2hrs...then i got up..washed my face and went to main room..all roomies were sitting in main room...i asked...what u guys want for dinner....i still don't know what made me ask that question...may be the water really didn't wash off the sleep...
roomies said...just make anything...that will do.. i went straight to fridge, took out egg and put that for boiling..
yeeks...what i have done?? egg curry?? that too my 1st cooking experiment...i should have settled for some onion curry..i looked at the guinea pigs sitting across the room...poor souls...
but now it was time for action..

i looked around...what all do i need...yeah...some onion, tomato...and there goes my recipe for egg curry..

1. Take out enough egg and boil for 15mins
2. cut a full onion into small round pieces and fry it in vegetable oil, till it turn brownish
3. slice tomato and add wen the onion is brownish enough
4. Add some salt and look out to ur shelf...make sure u put all the powders that is within an arms distance from u. I tried chilli powder, turmeric powder and masala powder.( you can add few more at ur own risk and depending on what all u can reach out to)
5. Add some water to make it a paste. once the paste is set, add more water and make it watery
6. Slice the boiled shell less egg into two and place it in a decorative manner so that it atleast looks good...
7. Put on the lid and keep it for sometime, till the water gets dried up and you get a semi gravy.

This is 102th way to make egg curry...

But to my surprise it tasted good... one of the best i ever tasted i must say..a simplified version of preapring egg curry....
so thats a proof for my culinary skill... man am good in that too...felt good..

hope to post more of Ajay's recipe's in coming weeks..

from "no strings attached"...to.."life is cool"

{on empty stomach on a Thursday night...after visiting few excellent blogs}

some times i wonder how good it would be, to live a life with no strings attached... no relationships... no commitments.... no responsibilities...at times i find all these as a burden.some thing which shelves me away from my true self..the independent me..the joyous me...

i know a lot of people will disagree with me in this front...but still...

i have lots of interests - traveling, blogging, photography, but its very disturbing fact to me that, even with lot of time in my hand and the resources readily available, i still don't do anything towards fulfilling it.

I have been in this new place for almost a month - "the other side of the world" as i used to call, when in India. A place which offers a lot for people with travel interest - the land of Statue of Liberty, White House, Times Square, Wall Street Bull, Miami , Key West...lots to list...thats for the traveler me.
I have 24/7 high speed, broadband , wifi internet connection and a personal laptop...for the blogger in me.
I am the proud owner of Canon S5 IS, the best point and shoot camera, as per my knowledge...for the photographer in me.

Being an Onshore coordinator, weekdays are hectic for me, will have enough official work to do and coordinate even on reaching home. But weekends...i am absolutely free from Friday night till Sunday night...a time i can happily blog or visit near by places, or try out my photography skills in this beautiful countryside...or at least try to learn photography in the first place.. i know just obsession wont do, i need to really learn the art of capturing images with life...
but.....what do i do on weekends??? either remained glued to my chair with hands running through the keyboard like Saantana on his guitar...or with mobile fixed to my ear like a call center guy - rightly termed by my roomies. yes. my weekend is restricted to one activity alone...chatting chatting chatting...this is all because of those strings attached to me...the relations....at least now i must learn the lesson of life..enjoy the essence of life...give at most importance to oneself and ones own happiness...

{gulping one bottle of beer on a Friday evening..and watching movie "Happy Days"}

actually life is not that complicated as i think it to be.. i can still find time for my hobbies by reducing the time i spend in front of laptop...i needn't try to cut those strings as such...(i know its a hard job)
closed my laptop, took out my camera and shot few sunset pics from my balcony in "Manual mode"...i was happy...finally some image is getting captured...(earlier when in Manual mode, i ended up with a black/dark image)...felt happy..good...a fine start to my hobby..

aaah...bad print...if at all they are doing piracy, why dont they do it in a better way...huh...

{my 2nd beer on my way..destination- stomach}

the bad print spoiled my whole mood..was a good movie..entertaining...aah..wish i had a time machine..just press of a button and back to college....and there is some excitement in untold romance...i really like the chemistry between the 2 main characters...aah...movie getting to my head or the beer??? my typing speed has increased..so it got to be the beer at work...ok...what next??i dont want to watch this movie this way..in such bad print...

{3rd beer opened....}
hmm...my teeth is real strong...i had no problems in opening my 3rd beer...
hey life is really beautiful...why didn't i realize it earlier????
{few more gulps...}
logged in to gtalk....my best buddy...deepu is online....

me:da...me having corona...mexican..3rd on the way....
D: da...me too...my 4th..
me: i ll soon jump to 4th da... :)

there ended the conversaton. felt good...am not alone..

{11:50pm}
something pricking me in the back of my semi unconscious mind....production move...yeah my code is going to production and i need to ensure its certified for production...GTH...i thought...yeah...Go To Hell.... i know the changes made..is not a big issue even if it goes next week..dono y the clients are making a big fuzz abt it...

{1:02am}
yeeks my code is still not in production...did the testing team fail my code? then client gonna say..GTH to me...so will my senior management.. nail biting moment..all the "life is cool" feeling the beer had given is taking a big U turn now...life is not so cool...:(
talked to my offshore..she said..u sleep now..in case of issues, i shall give you a call...those were more than assuring words...esp since i have been sleeping past 2am for past 3-4 days...
so off to sleep...with nightmares of my mobile ringing with call from offshore..
{7:02 am}
i suddenly woke up from my sleep and switched on my office laptop...
1st mail read "you can sleep peacefully...ur code is certified" - from my offshore
so life really is cool....

few learning i got from this 24hrs in my life:
1. all emotions are temporary...
2. don't take any decision in haste...
3. take things lightly, don't think too much emotionally
4. there is no mood that cant be corrected by 3bottles of beer{statutory warning: not advised to follow}

lessons life taught..but which i never learned

Sipping on a beer and sitting in the balcony of this country side apartment...i was thinking....who can be the greatest teacher...other than our own life...but as some great personality said..life is a difficult teacher...as it gives the examination first and lessons later..but what if we lose the examination after repeated learnings???

There are lot many lessons life has taught me...but which i never learned..i sometimes feel..i am a coward...cos i never wanted to admit these harsh realities of life, which was no where close to the dream i had about my life and those around me...i always tried to run away from these...

lesson 1: love and care yourself more than anything or anyone..cos no other person can ever return the love you give, in the same intensity..this is a lesson life has repeatedly taught me..but i fail to learn each time and now i have decided...its high time i start loving myself.

lesson 2: never interfere in others life, doesn't matter who that person is to you or how much ever freedom that person gives you. They may not really like it.

lesson 3: never take anyone for granted. Whether it be parents,friends or gal/boy friends or spouse. everyone is a different person from you and they have to be treated different. never expect them to read your mind and capture your untold feelings. There is nothing like "silence speaks a lot" its utter stupidity.

lesson 4: be selfish. under any situation, be selfish. see how u can feel better out of the situation and how you can escape unhurt. fools are those who care for others, sacrificing one's own happiness for others.
as well said by Chanakya in THE POLITICAL ETHICS OF CHANAKYA PANDIT
"Give up a member to save a family, a family to save a village, a village to save a country, and the country to save yourself."

lesson 5: When you give something, don't expect anything in return. And if you are of the expecting kind, then never give. They don't deserve it.

These are few of the many lessons life has taught me....but if you want to find happiness, better follow...thats my motto for now.