Waiting for 2015 !!!!!

Hoping the last few days of month December.... keeps flowing fast and passes in a wink!

Anger and Me !!!!

Yeahhh...finally it's time write something on this. So many times I have heard about this from friends.....I have made so many silly mistakes in those moments of anger be it punching a wall...window or breaking a glass in hand. I am not justifying my anger but just trying to be honest with my self to accept it as my weakness. Most of the times or say all the times after few minutes I realize my mistake and try to make things even which was broken or damaged by my anger be it a friends...a relationship or any non-living thing. Hardly succeeded in doing it ...every time I promise my self but then after sometimes I do it again. 

See....we claim to be a strong person in front of people around us....for the world...may be we can try doing in front of friends and parents but then it's difficult to lie to oneself ...nearly impossible. 

Sometimes we act foolish.... when we like someone...like someone more than we should. I am not talking about love.....It's the state of confusion....because when you are in love.... you forgive everything.... and keep on living in the hurt. But when you are not sure of your feelings....it keeps on piling and sometimes frustration come our in burst as anger.

Again.....the hitch here is that right differs for everyone....what is right for me may not be the same for you....and that's where the problem starts. Even bigger problem is the expectations....Expectations are a part of any relations....and they increase or change with time. Sooner you accept and acknowledge this, the better. 

What I feel is that ....It's very easy to be a shoulder when someone is sad.....listening him/her blubbering is not that difficult either. As per me the most difficult part is to make a room for happiness for that person. So if you know that you can't fulfil the latter....then there is no meaning of doing the former. Because in that case you always end up hurting someone in the process.

For the past one month (actually it's true for every month).... I have felt so many emotions....but most of the time it has been anger. Not on others but I think ....I was angry at myself. 

But yeah I am saying this.....there is also true that ....there is no room for regret in my life. I haven't regretted anything I have done so far......which I believe was my correct thing to do. I believe in autocratic democracy ...you are free to give advice but decision will be mine and...then I will take the full responsibility of my actions. 

But again here.....what makes me angry is when people forget.....forget the fact that you are human. ....Just like them....and also you can be sensitive....may be not for most of things but for something. You may get offended for that something....even may be by the smallest of thing....then I expect the other person to understand your anger.... Because what I believe is that Anger comes where there is love....there is care....I can't be angry at some random people....but than most people overlook the fact.....they become defensive....and that kills the understanding. 

Sometimes we feels that .....Life teaches lessons in a harsh way. And also it's a fact that we don't really know what's happening in others' lives.

It is also true that.....when I am writing about my stupid emotions here.....in some part of the world.... someone would be praying....praying to save a dear one's life.... someone would be waiting.....waiting for help after meeting with a horrible accident.... someone would be celebrating....celebrating a success at career......also someone would be happy .....very happy because the girl he loves just said yes (lucky boy)..... and someone must have lost a huge assignment still fighting to start a life again. Someone may be trying to sleep and someone may trying to wake up.

You know what.....when the worst possible scenario chooses to be in your life.....you wake up every morning miserable.... and want to yell like a hell - why me. But there is not answer....whether you chose it... Or it chose you.... In any case it's you who has to fight with this. It's a Fight within yourself.....To keep convincing yourself that you will have good days too. Until then..... try to look for the you.... that's gone missing.

If you are lucky enough then you will get it and.... If you get that....help me to know where to search... :)

Have a rocking life ahead :)

Mentors....

Had thought about writing something on this long ago but was not able to put to gather respect in words. It's just that every time i sat down to write, i felt paralyzed. Where should i begin? every time i started to write something, i'd read over it and it didn't seem right. So i'd tear it up and promise that i'd start over again the next day. But one day just kept turning into the next and then , too much time had passed.

I would like to start the post with a short story.

"It was hostel canteen of an engineering college. As it was semester end examination time everyone was busy preparing and discussing exams,subjects and course content. Karan was one of those student present in the canteen. But he was lost in some thoughts. He was thinking of skipping semester end exams with a fear that he was not ready for it. It's not that he has not read anything or he was dull. But he just came back from home completing last rituals of his dad. He was brilliant student and had learnt the whole subjects through out the semester But i would say it was the lack of confidence. He was part of crowd but was lost in his own world of thoughts with lots of confusion.

There was one more person existed in crowd with having thought of skipping exams. He was Ravi . He was having same confusion due to some other reason. Both were sitting opposite to each other busy eating their lunch. Suddenly Karan asked Ravi why don't you have any reading material with you, have you completed everything? Ravi replied in low voice that he was planning to skip exams. He had make sure that no one was listening him. Skipping exam in first semester of engineering was equivalent to crime. Karan replied that he was to thinking on same line.

After completing lunch both them went outside of campus. They have watched movie , have roamed around city and had dinner at some highway dhaba. Both returned to campus late in night. Exam in engineering college is like festival. Most of the students were gathered in single room of friend and were preparing for the exams. These both guys have decided to skip exams so they went back to their room and collapsed on bed.

Aarif was student of 7th semester of same college. He had excellent record in college and already been placed in some multinational. Aarif and Karan were from city and they know each other. News of Karan was skipping exams reached to Aarif next morning. Campus was like home for students and they were like family such news can spread faster than 3G speed. Soon after hearing news Aarif rushed towards the room of Karan. He was still sleeping on his bed as he didn't want to attend exams.

Aarif had woke him up and asked him to wear shirt and follow him. In engineering college campus seniors gets more respected than Professors. Without arguing much Karan joined Aarif with puzzled look. It was 9:00 and exam was scheduled on 9:15. Aarif have rushed towards the exam hall with Karan. He had drawn 2-3 pens out of his pocket and asked him to attend the exam and write down what ever you know.

As soon after reading first question Karan was like yeah...i know bit about this let me write it down first and then second and third. He had completed paper with a great satisfaction. He has attended almost 80% question. Same was the case with other paper. Karan has completed the semester with B+ grade and completed his engineering with same. He is now working with some very good company with handsome package. It was due to Aarif. He had mentor Karan on right time. When on the other side Ravi didn't get that much needed mentoring . He had skipped the exam and went in depression. He didn't completed his engineering and lost somewhere in the crowd of unemployed youths."

The story ends here. But there are many Karan's and Ravi's are there but very few Aarif's. It's important for every Karan's to get mentors in form of Aarif's.

I too have many mentors in my life (touch wood). I have always been lucky to get someone to mentor me as and when needed. Be it school, college or company.

Many time i have tried to cry when i couldn't take it any more. But they have helped and taught me to get back and roar....

I would like to mention their initials....( ab,db,sv,no,tp,ht,hp,hb ,nj,mg,hc.)

Thanks guys to be there for me.... at some stage of my life.

[Note - Article is republished here, it has been already published in my older blog- http://time4masti.blogspot.in/2013/05/mentors.html ]

Book review - Half Girlfriend

I got the book on Wednesday morning in office. So curious to read much hyped novel but then something funny happened.  I was going to hometown same day and then forgot to take along with me.

I came back from home on Sunday night and then completed it at one go in 4 and half hours....being precise 4 hours and 35 minutes :).

It can be done with novel of Chetan Bhagat only and he is also criticized for that....yes.... because of his simple english. Five Point Someone was the first novel from where I have started reading english novel (yeah...I know...I know.... some of you don't consider him as English author at all) . And also... it is the new "cool" to criticize Chetan.....without even reading any of his books. If you are on twitter and following him then you must be knowing it.

Enough about background. ...let's come to the point. ...his latest novel .... 5 point someone. ..3 mistakes. ...1 night....revolution 2020.... he has something to do with numbers....1/2 girlfriend.

Yeah...without any doubt his latest novel "Half Girlfriend" is most hyped novel of the year and it will be best seller for years.  Mohit suri has already announced movie with it. He is surely a marketing genius, he has played every move correctly for launching of it.

"Half Girlfriend" is story about a rural bihari boy who can't speak proper english but then like any other Bollywood flick... he conquers the world ....but only after his true love is shattered.Then as it is chetan bhagat novel....so it also shows governmental inefficiency....corruption....and social activities. It also shows desire to succeed and internal fire to achieve something. Leaving some really good offer to be with family reminds me a phase of my life. (Actually the thought of half girlfriend from Riya's perspective... also reminds me something :p ).

Packed with cool quotes like....

"Girls never tell you anything straight out anyway....you have to interpolate and extrapolate their responses to figure out what's on their mind"

"An army of intellectual men cannot solve the riddle created by an indecisive woman. "

"I am with you ....that's how I define my good time :)"

"sometimes it matters to me.... unlike your other friends.. .I can tell if something is wrong....and if something bothering you...it bothers me..... I want to know everything about you.....but getting you to talk is like a dentist pulling teeth "

"Learn about girls...or figure it out....but don't ruin it.  Understand? "

It is interesting book....I don't want to add spoilers in this post...so will not share anything about story. I will only say that I liked it....more than normal like because many incidents reminds me about my life .... :)

All in all, It will make a good Bollywood movie story.

Happy Reading!!!!!

Youth - and so called generation gap !!!!!

Most of the time....I don't take so much time to accept or to ask for apologies from friends because they are from my generation and we are more transparent and vocal about likes and dislikes. 

Youth these says may not be wiser than the elders but they are more transparent.  To hide once own mistake is may be the expertise of our so called elders but guts to accept that mistake and trying to make it correct is the power and monopoly of younger generation.

See again I am vocal about praising my generation but that doesn't mean every time elders are wrong. I use 50 bucks by taking Auto to save time of 15 minutes and my Mom walk that distance and use that 15 minutes to save 50 bucks. We both are correct from our view point and I respect that view point as well.

But I have issue when something happen like this.....

Incident 1 :- 

One day at my building I saw two elders waiting for lift....lift was at fourth floor and we have to reach at 2nd floor. Instead of waiting I opted for the staircase and we all reach to second floor at same time. One of the gentleman asked me that if you could have wait for few seconds you might not had to climb stairs and ultimately it took same time. I just said I don't like to wait for anything.  Just after that I overheard them murmuring that no body wants to wait...what will happen with this new generation.

Incident 2:- 

The next day I again meet both of them during dinner at some function and people were waiting in queue in front of counters.  And there these so called elders came jump the queue and took food in their plates and no body from us who were waiting in queue uttered a word out of respect.  After taking food I went towards them and whispered in his ear that...as I don't like to wait ...but I also understand and respect the feelings of people waiting for something and hence I don't jump the queue.

My point over here is that ...we give you respect (which you deserve) ... but we also want you people to understand and respect our view point. 

Most Imp - Here by younger and elder ....I don't mean by age... I am talking about the mental state. Elder means living in past century.... I have one uncle (friends dad ) of age of 60 whom I do consider of my generation. 

What is success !!!!

Feeling Successful is an emotion that is not really related to Success….

***************** Not my words************

Consider that everyone in this world is running a race. Everyone is somewhere in the race. The beggars and homeless are somewhere towards the end, whereas the likes of Bill Gates and Ophra Winfrey are somewhere towards the front. You are also somewhere in the race, running and trying to move ahead of those in front of you.

Also, consider that everyone is suffering from myopia. Therefore, no matter where you are in the race, you can only see 5 people ahead of you and 5 people behind you. A small shop owner somewhere in the line can only see and compare with similar 5 people ahead, and 5 people behind. This shop owner cannot even see Bill Gates or Oprah Winfrey. If the shop owner moves ahead, he would have a different set of 5 people ahead and 5 people behind to compare with. Similarly, a multi-millionaire somewhere in the race can see and compare himself only with 5 similar multi-millionaires ahead and 5 behind.

People continuously move ahead or behind in the race. Their position keeps changing with successes and failures in their own lives and in the lives of others. However, no matter where they are, their position remains the same from their own perspective. There are always 5 more successful people ahead, and 5 less successful people behind.

***************************************************

I agree life is not a race. In fact it is not possible to define what is life. There are multiple perspectives of life. Life being a race it one such perspectives, which helps in understanding some aspects of it.

Some other perspectives of life that I personally like are, life is a journey, life is a game, life is an opportunity, life is an illusion....

Oppsss diverted from topic.... Let me bring it back to track....

........... So ........What does really success mean to you ????

Feelings unleashed - a short love story !!!!

It wasn't his day.... Ayaan ran ....ran with full speed collecting all the energy left in his body...but it seemed as if it wasn't his day.....he was destined to be late. He was breathing his lungs out ....the car had already left the campus....only thing left behind was a puff of smoke.... and trail of memories.... memories that filled his heart with happiness ....but at the same time it has created void and snatched away his beloved Mishree.

The book.....the gift he has chosen for his loved one..... dropped from his hands.... as a grief stricken Ayaan broke down in pain for not ever being able to speak of his innumerable emotions..... emotions that he was trying to hide behind his subtle smile. He left the place ...left the place with empty hands... perhaps empty heart....and mind full of thoughts....

The book...."chosen one".... lay there on the floor untouched.... ignored like a lost love feeling ....helpless ....motionless and baffled.... waiting for someone to come.... come for it’s rescue.... until the canteen boy’s eyes fell on it.....instead of being in hand of "Mishree"... within no time it found itself surrounded by numerous others on road side shop....very famous for old books.

"As in books so in life, it’s not about the hours but the feelings that binds us…."

- Your’s Ayaan 

 ..... were the lines written with curly handwriting.... on the  very first page of a Nicholas Spark’s novel....and other eye catching thing was the date.... it was the date of their graduation ...that Mishree discovered on one of her expeditions for old books in the city.... and an unexpected celebration filled her heart with warmth speaking out unspoken emotions that Ayaan wasn’t able to.

"The longer you wait for something ....the more you appreciate it when you get it....because anything worth having is definitely worth waiting for.... "

Happy Engineers Day - Hum hain to sab hey !!!

Happy ENGINEERS day!!

We rock..

Each one of us claims to be a "farzi engineer" (Imaginary Engineer).....We entered our course with high aspirations....and dreaming about glamorous life...But in the very first semester....we learnt that only thing engineering teaches us is --"Jugaad" (innovative fix or a simple work-around) !!!

Every time.... 

• To finish off the syllabus in one night...
• To pass in midterms and semester ends without even doing half the course...
• To forget the names of the subjects taught in first semester by the end of final semester...
• To know about all the gossips of campus...
• To have weirdest possible nicknames.... ( we all have it... most of us try to hide it in current phase of life )
• So many weekend night outs...and hanging out on the roads on exam nights
• To have bunks and mass bunks....

We loved...we laughed...we cried...we learnt...we fought... and most important we learnt to live!!!

Yeah ...we did it all!!!

Yet , we have a class....we have our unison......we really know how to manage everything in the last moments....(without much panic).....and yet do with grace.....Yes,we do "Jugaad"....but they too are "INNOVATIVE" ( Of course using "File destroyer" to corrupt PPT of assignment is innovative )......proud to be even a "Farzi Engineer"....which most of we all claim to be.

"There is a method in our Madness...and ...happiness hidden in our sadness..... Yess we are The Engineers..."

Happy Engineers day !!!! 

Addicted to something - not an issue!!

You are addicted to mobile. I heard this line 10th time of a day. Now that's enough for a day.

Let me tell you a bitter fact - We all are addicted to something or some person.

Let's put it this way...

"We all are addicted to something ... which take away the pain...."

Let's be honest to answer the question :

What do you do normally after tiring office hours ?

1. Talk or chat with your girl friend/ Boy friend . (If you are lucky enough to have one).

2. Play with your little one and make funny gesture to get smile on their face.

3. If recently merried then fighting and making up with each other.

4. If you are gujarati and living out side of gujrat then 100 % you will go for some hard drinks.

5. If you are far away from home and
living lonely then you might get connected to some virtual world of social networking.

6. If you are fan of Jackie chain and Rambo then you might go for gyming and kung-fu.

7. If you are tech crazzy and geek guy then you might jingle with some weird OS and buggy coding kind of stuff.

8. If you are sas-bahu serial fan then you might turned on TV before removing your shoes.

9. Somebody of you just crazzy after movies and TV serials then you start your lappy and head phone.

There are many more to be added in list in short you all do something which makes you happy. Which take away some pain from you...

Which give you reason to smile though a very little and temporary but still you can't leave doing it.

Yes I am too addicted..... .I am addicted of my friends....

But as I said ....its nothing wrong in getting addicted. Because at the end of the day....

"We all are addicted to something ... which take away the pain....!!!!"

Fish Philosophy - Make their day !!!!

I was just sitting at cafe outside of my apartment. It was the very same place where I used to hang out with my friends during college life. We were gang of 7 friends from same city and school living together. Today after attending the training I just thought of having conversation with them. So I just called one of them and then end up having conference call with all of them. That cafe guy also knew all of us as a gang so I also made him talk with group.

It was just 5 minute call but after that my mind was full of memories. How we fought to have one piece of pizza and sharing bill of with 20 bucks from each ones wallet and sometimes those few bucks to be hard to find in it.

At that moment, in cafe I was alone and few couples were hooked up in corners. Wallet was full but was not up to eating something like I wanted it during college life. Things change with time.

Suddenly a horde of kids entered into the garden. So basically this was open air cafe established on the highway so such incidents were not new for me or owner. They will roam around ...would tease couples and then owner will scold them and they will run away.

This time it was no different...they just started interacting or say bargaining with one of the couple and they were just looking for owner to break them away. Before anything like that happen I have called those notorious and what followed that was completely different experience. ...

Unlike the other days this group was not begging something they all were having that brush in hand for shoe polish and they were just asking if anyone wants to look smart with polished shoe. I was wearing sports shoes and one of them just spoke up the fact and they were up to leaving.

Suddenly....and even I don't know why....but I have asked one of them "Pizza khayega??"

The little guy looked towards his gang and I just said yeah not you alone. Offer is for your entire gang. They nodded in affirmation and I have ordered pizza for them. I was not feeling hungry so mean time I was just looking at them...recalling all the fun I have had with my group. I was basically feeling good. They were just about to finish and I have paid bucks to cafe owner for the food.

I was shocked when he the cafe guy refused to take bucks. He was like.."Bhaiya aapne to khaya hi nahi....paise kaise lu?" I reciprocated with "paise kya bachho se lega kya??.. le rakh le"

What he replied was surprise for me. He replied that "jaise aap ko achhha laga...waise muje bhi achha laga.....ye pizza meri aur se". It was more shocking for me because this was the same guy who used to scold such kids to shoo them away and....now he was refusing to take money for food they have consumed.

Just to recover from that shock ...I have tried to give that bucks to the gang of kids and now it was time for double shock. That bunch of notorious kids too refused to take that. The one whom I have approached first spoke up with wink of his eye "Phir kabhi dusre bachho ko pizza khila dena"

I was just trying to follow the rule from the training I have attended few days back "Make their day" and at the end when I left cafe, my mind was full of confusion..... 

"Who has made whose day ?"

Let's not judge it because it was win win situation for all of us as all were happy at the end of incident. For me lesson I have learnt that day was more important.

An Accident - Moments which I can't forget

          Huhhh...it was an awesome day. I had lots of fun and almost died laughing. So much tired went to sleep soon after reaching home. I was recalling those all funny incidents occurred in day and in last few years with friends and in process I also recalled this.....

          I was on my way back to home after party I was cruising at around 80 kmph on my Bike and then THUD. The next moment I felt severe pain on the left side of my head, my palms felt scalded, and I could not stand properly because my left toe hurt. Got up slowly tried thinking over what happened.

          The pictures started falling in place and I realized I have met with an accident. I removed my helmet – no bleeding. Good. Next removed the riding gloves – palms looked well. Checked my foot, and my knee was badly hurt. I wore pair of jeans which had reduced damage but had damn Canvas shoes ! Tried to lift my bike and it was a mess – a broken mirror, front guard bent, connecting rod to the rear suspension was cut. Some how managed to ride back home.

          At home after relaxing a few minutes I started looking at the damage on my helmet and the gloves I wore. The scrapes on my helmet and riding gloves gave me goose bumps. The left side of the helmet was a mess with loads of scratches and when I run my finger over it I could feel the impact the helmet had taken. The gloves well, in simple words I could type today because I wore them. This made me wonder

• What if I did not wear a helmet?

• What if I did not wear riding gloves?

• What if I had invested in a sub-standard helmet or gloves only because it was cheaper?

• What if I had stopped wearing them because many made fun of me, since I shelled out a good amount of money on it?

Well, I thanked myself for investing in the best riding gear. The investment just saved my life.

લોકો કહે છે સમય સાથે દરેક ઘાવ ભરાઈ જાય છે
તોય રાત્રે ઊંઘ માંથી કેમ બેઠું થઇ જવાઈ છે???

[ I still feel that goose bumps on my hand when I remember those few moments. I was just flying in the air :(]

Black Jack - A card game

Isn’t it a game where I am the dealer? We play blackjack. I keep losing some money in each round. It’s a small amount, I can afford it. But when I win, I win big. I recover the amount 4 times higher than what I had lost.

Aren’t we like this too? I lose each time you tell a lie; but when I win, I gain a lot more. The worst thing is that the win doesn’t have you.

I lose the most when I win.....

Misunderstanding - A story of confusion

Fate had a funny way of playing with things Ayesha thought with moist eyes..

Flashback to a year ago...

Ayesha was a regular customer at a coffee shop two blocks from her office. Every day after work, she’d go there not because she loves coffee, she actually hated it... but because of that tall cute guy with to-die-for eyes working behind the counter. 

Shirley was her best friend…Sitting at the coffee table, Ayesha and Shirley were discussing the  SWOT analysis of being a girl. After a hard week of work with tons of responsibilities, a girl also has to take care of household chores amongst other family commitments over the weekend. After all this, what Ayesha looked forward to was just a glimpse of Sid, the tall cute guy at the counter.

His hazel eyes were so attractive, she thought...He resembled Hrithik Roshan, she thought as her heart skipped a beat. Shirley waved her hand in front of Ayesha to drag her back to reality. This was it Ayesha thought…

It was time to make friends with him. Without hesitation, Ayesha dragged Shirley with her to the counter. Excuse me, said Ayesha. “What can I get for you”, said Sid… Ayesha was awe struck…Her

mind went blank. She didn’t know what to say…She was just staring at him…. It was a moment of embarrassment for Ayesha, so to lighten the mode, Shirley cracked a joke and all of them had a good laugh.

This incident turned out to be the start of a new friendship for all of them. Ayesha and Shirley’s visit to the café increased. Their frequent visits proved cumbersome for Sid working at the café. He had issues with actual working hours and often got angry stares from his manager when Ayesha and Shirley spent more time at the café.

On the other hand, Ayesha and Shirley worked for a corporate giant who had lenient working hours so the café became their common hang out. Ayesha was in love with Sid. She had not yet revealed her feelings to Shirley though. 

Unaware of Ayesha’s feelings Shirley also began to develop a soft corner for Sid. As luck would have it, Sid too had fallen for Ayesha. Some days later, Ayesha and Sid were sitting at the café and Sid told Ayesha about his feelings for a girl and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. 

When she heard this Ayesha was dumb struck. Her face fell. She assumed that Sid had feelings for someone else. . Why was life so complicated, she thought? Ayesha stood up, quickly bid him goodbye and left the place. She wanted to share her feeling and finally blurted out to Shirley about her feelings for Sid, as well as how Sid had feelings for some other girl. 

Now it was time for Shirley to be dumb founded. Not only did she find out that her best friend and she had feelings for the same guy but ironically the guy had feelings for a third person altogether. She was heart- broken too…..

Ayesha couldn’t handle this whole ordeal and moved to USA to restart her life. Left alone with a broken heart, Shirley too went in isolation and stopped visiting the café. Shocked by Ayesha’s behavior that day, Sid too began to believe that it was a mistake to love high society girls. He quit

his job at the café too. 

Leap 5 years, present day all of them are thinking that they lost their true love. Could things have turned out any better? That’s a point to ponder on…

Moral: - It was clear example of miscommunication and misunderstandings. Sid didn’t present his thought clearly to Ayesha. Ayesha didn’t read between the lines of Sid’s message and passed on a confusing message to Shirley. Shirley didn’t use her logic sense and got carried away with emotion None of them found true love.

Lessons to be learnt -

• To clear misunderstandings, yesterday is never early but tomorrow is definitely too late!
• When in love seize the moment, put no trust in future.