Patang Bankar Jo Seekha

Kal jo waqt ki aandhi aayi thi, usme kati patang bankar jo
Main toot raha tha aasman se, us jameen par girne ki jaddo jehed me ye bhool gaya tha ki
Wo jo aaj dhoondta hoon wo kal bhi yahin tha aur parso bhi

Pehle udte hue sochta tha ki udte hi jaunga bas, ki ek din hawa ki bhi na manunga

Par aaj bas ek aas hai ki girte girte us ghar ke aas paas hi kahin giru aese ki

Wo na bhi hoga aangan me baitha, par wo kal ki kuch baateen hain khud se dohrane ko, wo hi sahi

Sochta tha ki ek din main hi udunga bas, baki sab ko chhod dunga neeche

Ek din to hadd kardi thi, sab ko chakkar dekar gira diya tha girne ke liye peeche

Par aaj palat kar dhoondta hoon ki phati peeli si hi sahi, par ek patang aur hoti to aasmaan ka rang kuch aur hota

Ab samajhta hoon kyun wo gale me haath daal ghooma karte they

Rona husna gana muskrana kiya karte they

Kyunki wo jo kal tha, jisko aaj dhoondta hoon, wo aaj hai nahi, wo kal bhi na hoga aur na parso hoga

Bas ab wo kuch yaadeen hain gehri par dhundli si, wo jo kal bhi thi aur aaj bhi hain aur parso bhi hongi

The Pinto Khareej Story - I

Introduction: All characters in this story are fictional, but the story might resemble your college life to some extent ;)

Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh boom badaaaaaam booooom badaaaaaaaaaam rang the phone alarm, for the nth time that morning. It was 9 a.m. now, the first alarm went off at 5, snoozing shamelessly every 15min. This time I had to get up, I HAD TO, with ONLY 3 hours left for the exam and still three more chapters of the dreaded "Control Systems" book to read. I forced my eyes open, and looked out of the small window to check what others were up to and found that everyone in the hostel wing was either carrying a notes register in his hand or a grumpy look on his face or both.

With almost no chance of completing even one chapter, I sank back into my bed again. But mid-term test marks had been a shocker to me (not because I expected to ace it but rather I had expected to get the pass grade, Sadly even that didn't happen) and now I had to do more than well to survive the course. Familiar stuff! Feeling terrible about what was so inevitable now, I walked into the next room to find some consolation in Aditya, my partner in all crimes. His room was an ongoing struggle between those who walk and those who crawl, the spider’s web on the ceiling was now mightier than the bird's nest on the side window. Aditya, the usually chirpy but frail figure was hidden under a pile of notes, curled over a small portion of the bed. Rest of the bed was occupied by a pile of clothes that generally embellished the chair, on other days. The chair is worth a mention at this point, its arms and legs were now weak having faced the wrath of many defeated players in numerous CS battles. Yet, it was the most useful piece of furniture in a student's room, it could be used as a rocking chair (it rocked anyways), a clothes hanger, a foot rest, its arms could be taken off to make a cricket bat, then could be used as dry wood to keep the flames high during the Diwali celebrations. However, like me that chair had very little chance of surviving through that term.

Anyways, back to the central issue, Aditya who was otherwise always serene and graceful before all exams, was like a meek mouse just caught ONCE again in the same old mice trap. I inquired if his girl friend had again threatened to hang herself? Well no, that’s not the reason this time, he replied. Then What? So while I was snoring shamelessly till 9, the grapevine was roil with rumors that all the questions in today's exam are available in "Advanced Control Systems" by Pinto Khareej. I looked up in the sky and quickly thanked the exam god. I knew I was his beloved son, he would never let me fail without giving me a chance.

But, Pinto Khareej??? The professor had never mentioned that name in all of 10(out of 40) classes I had attended that term, what a waste going to those classes. I was really upset that such a big news went unnoticed from right under my nose. Now the question was where to get this savior book from, and its here that the issue turned complex. Aditya told me that there was just one copy of the book on campus and despite sending more than 68 text messages and making more than 25 frantic phone calls he wasn't able to locate who had it. Apparently, each student could only keep it for 15 minutes and then pass it on. But all of a sudden it had disappeared somewhere, no one seemed to know who was hiding it(possibly one of the Ghissus...well who knows!).

To be continued....

Kahin

Kahin zindagi udaas hai, to kahin jeene ki aas hai,
kahin hai dhoop to kahin kali ghani raat hai!

Kahin phoolo ke rang hain, to kahin patjhad ki shaakh hai
Kahin hai raat kahin savera, kahin dhaam to kahin basera!

Kahin pyar ka paigaam hai, to kahin dushmani ki dhaal hai,
Kahin daftar ki bhaag hai, to kahin shaam ki intezaar hai!

Kahin rango ka tyohaar hai, to kahin matam ki si baat hai,
Kahin bhagam bhaag hai, to kahin ahista si ek chaal hai.

to be continued....

CWG A systematic Failure

I don't want to belabor on the point that the officials working towards making the games a success have failed miserably. A lot of obituary writers have done it already I need not waste my words and your time in saying it over again.

Personally, I do not know what went wrong and like all of you I would like an answer. But-not-now. Now is the time to stand behind those who are still trying to save some grace.

If we learn from history do we remember how many times we were embarrassed 'coz we were not united? No? Im sure you don't need a history lesson from me to remind you that we need to be united.

So I urge you all for a few days to do whatever you can to make these games a success. And you would say what can I possibly do? Well, I don't know, maybe if you are in Delhi, you can contribute by following traffic rules so that the visitors can move around comfortably(something you otherwise never think of doing!). You can try to keep the city clean(if you are so worried about our image to the outside world). I don't know, just do whatever you can which you think will make the games a success. And for God's sake stop criticizing the organizers.

I know its kind of hard to ask you for these big sacrifices, but it surely is easy to send the curator to the gallows but harder to follow some basic steps yourself.

And then a wise man once said, "tough times don't build a character, they reveal it!"

So guys relax, and trust me when I say, "All is well!"

Extinction of Dinosaurs. A Strategic Perspective!

For years, Dinosaurs were our muse, we used them for recreational purposes. (Seen Avatar?)The industry had grown very big over time, (Seen Jurassic Park?) So why did we let them go? Here are some reasons why?

A quick Porter Analysis of the industry reveals staggering facts.

Threats of Entry: The entertainment industry was getting more and more open for other rivals, and barriers were really low, as sense of humor was by and large declining amongst the humans. Even monkeys and dogs were able to compete in the industry, giving no competitive advantage to dinosaurs, who with their wide jawline and long tail amused mankind all through the pre-pre-historic ages.

Industry Outlook: The industry had matured! Had low growth opportunities, like some of the big firms( they had turned into cash cows. Raw material had become costly, for reasons we will touch upon later. In all, the situation looked grim.

Substitutes: For the consumer there were many substitutes available in the market for adventure activities, like anaconda and Godzilla(seen these?). So the Dinosaur were losing popularity, and of course we humans(read shareholders) don’t like to cling on to assets that we no longer use. So pre historic(I have always wondered what that era refers to) man decided to short sell them.

Supply Conflict: In the earlier days, Dinosaur were the sole vendor for suppliers(smaller animals they fed on). But then man thought apple was not his cup of tea, he decided to eat smaller animals, and thus appeared the conflict of interests between Man and Dinosaur. Then man thought, if this big giant can’t make me laugh, I’ll eat him, and thus began the tale of slow extinction.

Buyer Power: Dinosaurs could not sell their services to anyone else. As no other animal relied on others for their humor, so humans had great buying power. Eventually it got to the level, where a guy asked a dinosaurs to swing from one tree to another(Seen Tarzan?) and spit fire, and when it declined, to avoid further global warming, that guy asked for a 100% refund. The dinosaurs got fed up and ate him.

This lead to a war and change in strategies and positioning of the dinosaurs. Let’s see how that took place.

So clearly we see that there is a misalignment of strategy and capabilities. Where the market Segment of low fun low animosity was still open , and was being occupied by the lesser known species, (like the Koalas and Hippos), yet the management decided to take the harder step.

And what happens when someone starts attacking the Humans. Well, the dinosaurs had no learning curve to evaluate, but now we can look back and say that the strategy was totally wrong. See how the Koalas, dogs and cockroaches have still maintained the competitive advantage.

G28 at Melbourne

The momentous day began with chins ever so high, lips curled into smiles, attire prim and walk surefooted, slowly they gathered, (some very experienced and the others slightly more), and made their way towards the theater. Responding amicably on being accosted by another unfamiliar face and almost forgetting the name of the first guy they met, still struggling to pronounce the names of atleast half of them, correctly, in one go.

This group could easily pass for a G28 delegation, discussing economic turbulence in the Sea of Tranquility. But that's not what they are doing, at least not right away. They are trying to get familiar to one another, so that the next year and a half becomes a pleasant bare footed walk on hot sand, ironic, isn't it? :) Well that's what they aim for.

Unfamiliarity of faces(& personalities) will tend to create uneasiness, but the camaraderie of syndicates, might bridge those distances. Or atleast that's what we "Hope" ;) It Won't be wrong to say that the fear of unknown, apprehensions of unseen, and anticipation of both brings the class closer.

In all an excellent mix and a great learning opportunity. Like, Toby they may or may not be good managers on graduating, they will certainly be better individuals, or won't they? Well, that's the "Concern".

A quick calculation in the class showed us that after spending time studying, sleeping, traveling, preparing etc, we will still be left with 6 hours every week. That's close to less than an hour each day. Not too sure how I will spend this daily quota of one hour, still baffled to know I no more have control over the remaining 23 hours.

So far so good, the course picks up in full swing from Monday. Syndicates have been allotted, some have been lucky, other not quite so ;) and as they say

"Chance favours the prepared mind"

Are we prepared? We better be!

Tadka Incident

I would not have mentioned this to save me of some embarrassment in life, had someone not told me that I could win a gift coupon just by ridiculing myself. So, here I am sharing this, sorry I farted incident, for the event "Tadka Maar Ke"

Well, this takes me a few years back, when these wispy tufts of hair on my head were free flowing silk threads, the dull in my eyes, sparkled like venus, in short I was young, and still fresh in college.

By then, the English men had devised a way to embarrass us and rob us of our self-respect by making us write exams like TOEFL. Yeah, it was the same demeaning day in my life and I was feeling as bad about it as the rest of them who take it.I was sulking, and wondering what all I could have done with those 7K rupees had it not gone down the funnel in my foren education fund.

A day before the exam, I happened to travel to Delhi alone, and no, this isn't one of those raunchy travel unravel stories told by Chetan Bhagat, where the hero ends up getting laid even before the journey ends. This one is a sad UPSRTC bus, which would rattle so hard that the horn was inaudible in all the din. So naturally, the journey was peaceful and spice-less, except for a couple of incidents. One involving my co-passenger spitting paan masala out of the window and my rubbing what fell on my arm, on his white shirt. The other, of a salesman being snubbed away as he tried to sell a 'Gupt Rog doshi' tablet to a bus carrying men smarting in their manliness.

It was once I reached Delhi that the real show began.

The examination center being in Hauz Khas, I decided to stay somewhere close by and hence went to a shoddy place which for some strange reason was called, 'Mandir wali gali'.

It was almost 8 p.m. on a moderately hot October day, when I reached. Battered by pollution in Delhi, the raucous on road by the autos, and frustration of call balance plummeting on roaming,(like a snapped kite), I finally arrived.

Just 2 meters away from the destination and it took 20 min to cross the road. When I finally did manage to cross it, I was taken aback by the narrowness of the place and the grimness in the air. The narrow alley could surely not have hosted a mandir. Anyhow, alking past those small shops searching for a decent place to stay, I bumped into an old old old friend. I write old thrice only to emphasize on the oddity of our meeting. A college guy from a small town, Roorkee, coming to a huge monster city, Delhi, bumping into a friend whom he met in another smallish city, Lucknow. Whatacoincidence!!! I was so surprised I jumped up in air and so did she. It so happened that she was living in a NIFT hostel nearby, and daily crossed this mandir wali gali at around the same time. Gradually, we got over the surprise and awe of the tricks that he played on us lesser mortals.

We decided that after throwing my stuff in a decent hotel room, we would move to Green Park for dinner.

Knowing the place better, she suggested a hotel and right away walked in "Bhaiyya, he wants a room for tonight, a single bed will do. We want a real cheap one." The concierge looked right, left, to and fro and everywhere except the register, because without peeping in it to look at the details he knew what he had to say. He, looked out of the hotel and saw a few police men standing, other than the general crowd that thronged the halwai shop nearby. Looking back at us, he came up with a lame excuse, "Madamji, Pulse(AIIMS fest) is going on, all the rooms are booked."

We got out disappointed, but not dejected as there were many more such places in that single gali. After assuring me, she went in the next one. and repeated the same, adding "bhaiyya kaisa bhi chalega". And this time there was an instant no. Reason the same, Pulse. With this, my pulse began to rise. No place to spend a night in Delhi where am I going to go. What was wrong with Delhi, how could everyone come for Pulse, and put up at the same place I had in mind.

Anyhow, after about 4-5 rejections and only one last place left to inquire, I got why everyone's pulse raced on seeing us together. Well, looking back I would say, I should have guessed earlier. But somehow, I didn't think, that an innocuous looking female would raise an alarm in the minds of those house keepers, though I understand their concern now, specially with a few policemen at stone's throw distance from their hotel. Now I know, Delhi dharamshalas don't house college students, who appeared like couples even for one night, but I didn't know this then.

So I asked her to let me go in first this time, and wait at some distance from the hotel. She didn't get my logic begind this arrangement, but yeah decided to stay back nonetheless, and talk to her friend over the phone, while I went in. Finally, I was shown a room in the last dharamshala of Mandir Wali Gali, which shared roof with another room, and only a temporary single brick wall to separate the two rooms.

I found after dinner, that a couple had taken shelter in the other room. Incidentally, they had come from Chandigarh to attend Pulse.