Man found in Gym at 7am on 1st Jan, arrested for suspicious behaviour

In a bizarre incident, a man found exercising in a gym at 7am on 1st January has been arrested for suspicious behavior. The arrest was made when Pandu hawaldar (name changed to protect identity), the gym’s security guard alerted the local police. “I was sleeping peacefully at the entrance of the gym when suddenly I heard someone say ‘Bhaiya, gym kholo na’. I ignored it once thinking that it was last night’s party playing games with my mind. But when I heard it again, I woke up with a start. I immediately got suspicious of the person. Aap hi batao, who comes to the gym on 1st Jan? I opened the gym and let the person enter, but as soon as he was inside, I locked him up and alerted the local police”.

A similar mysterious man spotted inside a deserted gym some time back.
Image source : This page

Mr. Dikshit, the Inspector who made the arrest said, “We received a call at about 7.15 am today. You see, we cannot celebrate like you people as we have to make sure that there are no untoward incidents because of the New Year Parties. We immediately sent a team of 4 to the gym to investigate the matter. Sure enough, a young man was found inside the gym and we arrested him immediately.”

Yo Yo Honey Singh, a World famous singer seemed visibly disappointed. “I have been trying to promote Party all night, ladki, daru, etc. for so many years. But still this dude turns up in the gym at 7am? Seriously? I am sure he was up to no good. People like him are a threat to the society. But I have faith in our police and am sure that he would be punished for this irresponsible behavior.”

When asked to clarify his actions, the arrested man said, “I have been tricked into this situation by my friends. I am a software engineer and have no girlfriend to hang out with on New Year’s Eve. My friends advised me that if I undergo a rigorous training routine for 45 days, I will look like Hrithik Roshan and will bag a girl soon. If I start on 1st Jan, I will be ready on Valentine’s day. Since I did not want to lose this opportunity, I went to the gym. I am innocent.”

It is learnt that some people believe that the only valid explanation of this behavior is that the arrested person is an alien like PK. No person on earth can head to the gym on 1st Jan.

P.S. This article can be found on Faking News here

Flipkart announces flash sale of New Year Resolutions

As per the latest developments, Flipkart, India's largest online retailer has announced a flash sale of New Year Resolutions. A market analyst (on condition of anonymity, ofcourse) hailed the move and said that "This is really a great initiative by Flipkart. Having New Year Resolutions is a cool thing for today's youth and has a mass appeal. However, the youth is tired of the same old resolutions like I will start exercising, I will quit smoking, etc. They want something new. With a player like Flipkart entering this segment, they are bound to get a lot of options".

Flipkart and OLX partnering for New Year Resolutions Sale. Image source: This page

When asked about how exactly this is going to work, a spokesperson for Flipkart said, "This is very simple. You have to register for the flash sale before 11pm on 31st December. The sale will start at the stroke of midnight and the lucky ones will get to buy the resolutions." The spokesperson refused to divulge any more information and added that "The details like the products and service offerings and the pricings will be declared at midnight. Please register and see for yourself".

During Flipkart's previous sale, many people were dissatisfied as they could not get the deals of their choice. When asked about how this has been addressed, the spokesperson clarified that "This won't be a problem this time. I agree that we have not made any significant improvements to our server's capabilities, but we have other plans. New Year's Resolutions are anyways thrown away after a few days or may be weeks. We have partnered with OLX so that people who no more want to keep their New Years Resolutions can sell them to others".

It has been learnt that the Government has partnered with Flipkart to sell "Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan" and "Make in India" initiatives through the flash sale. They also plan to sell patriotism during the Republic Day.

While filing this report, over 10 million people had already registered on Flipkart for the flash sale. Hurry up and do not lose the opportunity.

P.S. This article can be found on Faking News here.

Corners in Government buildings declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites

As per the latest developments on WhatsApp, India's leading rumour news broadcasting service, the corners in various commercial complexes and Government buildings in India have been declared as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This was confirmed when this reporter received a message that read "Good News! All the corners in the commercial complexes and Government buildings in India have been declared as UNESCO World Heritage Sites for their unique red coloured spit patterns. Proud to be an Indian! Pass on the message if you truly love your country!"

One of the unique pieces of art. Image source : This page

Pandu Hawaldar (name changed for no particular reason), a security guard at National Bank of India seemed visibly elated. "I am proud that my efforts have finally borne fruits. I have been spitting all over this place for years creating various unique patterns, but no one ever noticed. This news however is a testimony to the contributions that I and others like me have made to this country. Achchhe din are finally here. I would like to thank Manikchand and Goa for making this possible. Now I can retire happily”.

When asked about the importance of this news, Mr. Puranik, an official of Archaeological Survey of India said, “This is really great! The heritage of our country is finally being recognized at a global level. We have been preserving this art for many years. It is worth noticing that there are millions of such spit patterns and each pattern is unique. The 1444 unique pillars of Ranakpur temple in Rajasthan seem nothing in comparison to this. We are planning to hold workshops to educate people about various ways of spitting so that this art is not lost to modernisation”.

“This is a sign of Unity in Diversity and Communal Harmony that our Government has been working on for past 60 years. People from all strata including the rich and poor, businessmen and farmers, Hindus, Muslims and Dalits, everyone has participated in this. But the current ruling party is trying to destroy this rich heritage in the name of Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan. The installation of photos of various Gods and Goddesses at many such corners in the name of cleanliness is actually a plot to promote Hinduism and divide the nation on communal lines”, said an angry senior member of the opposition party on condition of anonymity.

Taking cue from this development, various municipal corporations in India were contemplating to suggest the pothole ridden roads for the World Heritage tag. “Even we have preserved the pot holes for ages. Why should they not be considered? We have to hurry up before the Government destroys them in the name of development”, said a municipal commissioner of a metro city, with a hint of urgency.

Meanwhile, no UNESCO officials were available for comments. But this is insignificant as WhatsApp has been officially accepted as a credible source of information.

P.S. This article can be found on Faking News here.

Growth

There are a few plants planted in my window. Since this is the flowering season, I thought about taking pictures of the flowers, from bud to full bloom. Here are the pics.

HIBISCUS

ROSE

Flawed Patiala House

Writing after a very long time...7months!! Did not have anything interesting to write, and since I no more watch serials, the Hindi Serial Loopholes thread is dead.

Anyways, just to keep the blog alive, I am writing about "Patiala House", a movie I watched recently. The story is quite typically Bollywood shtyle. The protagonist, Akshay Kumar who plays Parghat Singh Kahlon a.k.a. Gattu is a budding cricketer who is a British citizen of Indian origin. His father Gurtej Kahlon a.k.a. Bauji (played by Rishi Kapoor) does not want him to play for England and hence Gattu leaves his dreams and starts working in their shop. 17 years later, however, he shows the courage to fulfill his dreams defying Bauji's orders when he gets a second chance (at the age of 34!!) to play for England in T20 championships.The movie ends on a happy note.

Most Bollywood movies are seriously flawed, but most people do not notice them, or worse, no one cares. But as I said, I am writing this just to keep the blog alive and there was no other topic.

So...Bauji is miffed with the whites due to their attitude towars Indians in UK. He organizes many agitations for Indians' rights. Gattu is quite happily playing cricket with as well as against whites in Inter school competitions. Bauji is Ok with that. But when he gets a chance to play for the country (England), Bauji prohibits it!!! Goron ke nahi khelenga! Come on!! Getting a place in the National team should be a thing of pride for the Indians. Bauji's ideology seems flawed. He was fighting for the rights of Indian's and now when his son is getting respect and recognition, he turns it down. And suppose he is against the country itself, why the hell is he staying there!!

Secondly, all other youngsters in the family (seriously, the family was so huge, I couldn't understand who's who!) are miffed with Gattu, since he has set an example by sacrificing his dreams and they all have to do the same. They accuse him of not showing courage (and they themselves are quite silent, not agitating at all :-|). When Gattu gets a second chance, they want him to show courage and go for it. Now, courage should have meant standing against Bauji and expressing his wish and dreams. But no! Instead, all of them help him to go for his dreams, without Bauji knowing. They do all sorts of stuff...cutting TV cable, changing the photos in newspaper, renaming Gattu as Kaali, so that Bauji does not know!! How was this supposed to help!! Those people wanted Gattu to speak up against Bauji so that even they could fulfill their dreams. How did the priority change to just allow Gattu to fulfill his and this, when they all disliked him! But luckily enough, Bauji knows the truth and then Gattu shows courage and then all is well.

Anyways, I believe most people must have not realized these flaws. Overall, the movie was OK. And much much better than Nikhil Advani's previous venture CC2C.

Aren't we Lucky??

We feel sad when we get lower increments. We get angry when caught in traffic jams. We feel jealous when we see someone in an Audi when we ourselves are driving a 2-wheeler or a small car. We feel forgotten when some close friends forget our birthdays. We always complain with life. I often do.

But sometimes when I am alone, with no work to do, I ask myself, am I really sad? Is my life really worth complaining? Then I realize, I am in fact far more lucky than most people. All you people reading this post are very lucky. We have decent incomes. We have decent dwellings to leave. We can buy as many clothes as we want. We get multiple meals each day. We can spend hundreds or even thousands just for fun. We can pursue or hobbies. We got (or are getting) good education. We have most modern amenities.We have someone to care for us. Someone to share our happiness. Someone to share our sorrows.

There are crores of people out there who don't know how they'll sail through the day. How they'll get even one meal. A single roti is a satisfying food for them. People are happy even if they get old, soiled clothes to wear. They call a tin shed as their home. Be it rains, be it cold, be it hot, people stay on footpaths, on railway platforms, on bus-stops. A single Rs. 10/- note is like a huge amount for them.

There are so many kids out there, who want to study, who want to play, who want to wear nice clothes, who want to eat sweets, who want to live their lives, but are working day and night, supporting their families,...supporting themselves.

There are so many people out there, who are in a constant threat of wars, of terrorism. They cant say if they'll see see the light of the day tomorrow. They don't know if they'll see their kids grow.

There are so many people out there who are handicapped, who cannot see the beautiful colors of life, who cannot hear the melodious sound of nature and of people, who cannot move on their own, who are always dependent on others for their daily chores, who are just counting their days in some hospitals.

There are so many people out there, who have been left alone by their families, who have been tricked into giving away their entire fortunes, who have lost their near and dear ones in accidents, in riots, in earthquakes, in floods.

There is so much sorrow out there.

When I think about all this, I feel that I am infact very very lucky. We all are. We are very much blessed. Our lives will be a lot better if we think of it from this perspective. So, always when you are sad, or are feeling very low, think of all that's happening in the world and ask yourself, Aren't we lucky?

Quota

Disclaimer: These are just my views. People may or may not agree. Please do not get into comment-fights with me.

Whenever the admission season comes, this issue bugs me - QUOTA.
Does quota system really help? Is giving reservations based on caste truly a tool for social upliftment?

Quota, according to me, infact makes people lazy. You get admission through quota, you can get jobs through quota, your kids get admission through quota...and so on. Isn't this ease of getting things a deterrent for true progress?

Is it so that people from some particular castes have lesser brains compared to others? Why are the cut-offs made so low for them? It really pains when one sees a brilliant student from Open category not getting admission to a particular institute just because of a couple of marks' difference and another who obviously is not so good in academics getting the admission with a much lesser score. Such people are also generally from well-to-do families who do not need such benefits, but get them just because the system allows them to. There are also concessions in fees given, even if it is clearly visible that the person is rich enough to afford the education. A deserving candidate from open category, however, wont get such benefits even if he really needs them. A simple caste certificate gives you access to host of benefits whether or not you need them. Merit and true need have no place in our system

Women's quota is somewhat better than caste based quota. However, just having a quota does not address the issue of women empowerment. Awareness amongst the masses, especially rural and slum-dwellers, is needed to achieve the desired effect. But I don't know whether the Government is really doing so.

Quota these days is just a tool for generating vote banks. The vision that Ambedkar had has totally been spoilt by the politicians. I had read an interesting observation somewhere. If the quota system indeed helps in social upliftment of backward classes, 50 years (2 generations) should have been enough and so the quota system should be abolished. And, if the people have still not made a progress, the quota system is flawed and it should be abolished. However, our leaders are not brave enough to make such a bold decision. Even if they are brave, they are aware that they'll lose major vote-banks. This may eventually lead to the opposition rising to power and the quota system being re-introduced by them. So why bother? Let the system stay.

It is no wonder that people prefer moving abroad to make life easier for them and their kids rather than stay here and fight against quota. Who knows, there may be just 15-20% seats remaining for the Open category, a few years down the line. And mind you, this 15-20% wont be "reserved" for Open category, but open for all.
The quota system is really spoiling our nation and its younger generations.

Hindi Serial Loophole 4 : Do Hanso ka Joda

Serial: Do Hanso ka Joda
Channel: NDTV Imagine
Timing: 9.30-10.00pm
Summary: There is a rich family staying jointly in a palatial home. There are two daughters of similar age in that family. The mother of one marries her off to a very ordinary, poor guy who she thinks is very good at heart. The mother of the other marries her off to a rich guy, just by looking at his money, not caring about his nature. The story revolves around the lives of the 2 cousin sisters.
Loophole: The husband of one of the daughters returns home from office. When he comes home, we can clearly see that it is very sunny. We can even see dark shadows of the persons and the size of the shadow was enough to prove that it was just after noon. As he comes home, he asks his wife to bring water for him and then goes to to the terrace. When the wife comes with the glass of water, he is looking somewhere. The wife immediately understands that he is looking at the sunset. Both praise the beauty of the sunset, and indeed we are shown the setting sun. But it is still quite sunny on the terrace. :P
Ever heard of 2 suns?

Bollywood kinda scene...contd

Since I had already posted a scene from the TV serial "Rehne hai teri palkon ki chaaon mein", I thought of posting this one, which shows us how strong women are. Coincidently, the scene was aired on the same day as the women's bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha :P

For new-comers, the current hero of this story is the elder brother of the heroine's dead husband. He had recently saved her from a villain. The description of the scene can be found here on my blog.

Now, the villain has returned after escaping from the prison. In serials, its very easy to do so. Don't ask for an explanation. He calls up on the LANDLINE at her residence. Now, of all the members (there are atleast 10) of the family, luckily the heroine picks up the phone. I don't understand how the villain was confident hat the heroine will pick up the phone, but fine, she picks up the phone. The villain threatens to kill the hero, if the heroine does not agree to meet him (i.e the villain) at 12 midnight at the back door of the Durga temple. Now, the heroine is frightened. How will the hero, who had recently managed to enter the den of the villain and had single handedly beaten up all his armed men, stand up against ONE man?

Meanwhile, the villain is already at the temple, where a samuhik vivaah has been arranged, the hero being the chief guest. The villain is loitering around there, with a cloth held in his hand hiding one of his cheeks. What a great disguise to escape from the police!!! The heroine also comes in disguise. Now, since its already past 12, the villain decides to shoot at the hero. However, the heroine, who is just around a 100 feet away manages to come in between, before the bullet arrives, and hooray!!! our hero is saved. But what did you think, the heroine will die of the bullet injury? Do you think the fairer sex is so week? Forget dying, she manages to stand up, and when the villain (whom the police have already caught again) starts narrating false stories, she even slaps him hard. And what does our hero do? Take her to the hospital? NO. He takes her to the Durga temple and declares his love for her and they return home happily.

Hats off to the Bharatiya naari of Indian television!!!

Bollywood kinda scene...

Bollywood often portrays a hero as a one-man army, taking on the entire gang of the villain all by himself. Recently I saw a similar scene in a TV serial (रहना है तेरी पलकों की छाओं में...सोमवार से शुक्रवार रात ९ बजे, सिर्फ NDTV Imagine पे" . It's a very common scene in most movies, but still i would like to share it so that u can see for yourself how TYPICAL the scene is.

The hero(Kartik) and his entire family has gone out for some function. The heroine stays at home for some reason. The villain somehow gets her to come out of the house and kidnaps her. She is taken to a defunct, old mill. Hero and family come home and discover that the heroine is missing. Villain calls and "Muhahaha......Maine Suman ko kidnap kiya hai. Sari panchayat ke samne, mere paeer pakadke muzse mafi mango, thakur, varna tumhare ghar ki ijjat kisi galiyon mein ghar-ghar ki thokare khati rahegi". Then hero takes the vachan of saving Suman(the heroine), come what may. He leaves on his mission, all by himself. No police, no friends, no family to assist him.


During his search, the hero somehow gets to the villain on a phone. While speaking, the siren at the long defunct mill, where the villain has kept the heroine as a hostage, suddenly goes off (I wonder how the siren was still functional). The hero immediately knows the location of the villain and sets off to go there.


Meanwhile, at the defunct mill, the heroine has been tied up to the chair. But, there are some pieces of broken glass very close to the chair (as expected). The heroine somehow picks them up, cuts off the ropes and sets herself free, causing her hands to bleed in the process. By that time, our one man army reaches the mill and enters it. He comes across one of the villain's guards and kills him in an instant. Then he comes face to face with the heroine, who is trying to escape. Now, rather than escaping quickly, they hug each other for quite some time, long enough for the villain and his men to arrive on the scene.


The hero starts bashing all the bad men one by one, but alas! one guy manages to hit the hero on the head and he collapses. Then all the bad men hit him badly. The villain declares that the hero is dead, grabs the heroine's hand and starts to walk off. But, before he has covered even a couple of meters, our hero is back on his feet, with no signs of pain on his face, ready to fight again All bad men, who had left the scene, return to hit the hero. He successfully fights them all but now, the villain locates a knife nearby and threatens to kill the heroine.


The hero, with not even an iota of fear walks up to the villain. The villain, rather than killing the heroine attacks the hero. The hero defends himself, not by blocking the villain's hand, but by holding the blade of the knife (Holding the knife, rather than the hand adds to the effect) Now there is fear in the villain's eyes, seeing the strength of the mighty hero. The hero then hits the villain and rather than using the same knife, locates an iron rod to kill him. Man!... How well-quipped the mill was...broken glass, knife, iron rod, all in place...The hero swings his arms and just when the rod is near the villain's head, the heroine shouts "Ruk jao". Giving no respect to the momentum his hands had gained, the hero manages to stop instantly.


Suddenly, policemen rush in and arrest the villain and his men. Who called the police? No one knows  :(
The hero then takes the heroine to his home and announces "Maine mera vaada pura kiya" and then collapses. Sigh!!! And you thought, only bollywood heroes are macho??


Btw, the hero is not the lover or husband of the heroine. He is the elder brother of the heroine's dead husband :-p

Traffic woes

The Pune Municipal Corporation(PMC) is hastily implementing Pay and Park for all vehicles on most roads in Pune. The cost of owning a vehicle is increasing day by day. Lots of taxes and other fees are involved while buying a vehicle. Fuel costs keep on increasing. Vehicle maintenance costs are significant, chiefly due to the wear and tear caused due to rough roads at various places.Now add to this the extra expense that we will have to shell out everyday. Using own vehicle is now becoming a luxury.

Mostly when we go out for shopping, we need to stop at various places. The parking rates at various malls are already exorbitant. But, now even if you have to stop at some small shop in City area to buy some small item, which would hardly require 2 minutes, you'll have to shell out Rs. 2. Not that Rs.2 is very high for most of us, but  for some others, it really is. The cumulative cost of parking fees will easily go above Rs. 100 per month for most people.

The various reasons PMC gives is that they want to encourage people to use public transport,  de-congest the city roads and discipline the traffic. But, I think it has got all its calculations wrong. Now, since the public transport system was never good enough in Pune, I don't think charging for parking space will be strong enough deterrent for using private vehicles. People, who have already been used to travelling by own vehicle will prefer the parking charge, rather than use PMPML buses.

To de-congest the city roads, the traffic on those roads needs to be reduced. I don't think this issue can be addressed by charging parking fees. And if haphazard parking causes congestion, imposing penalties for improper parking should be the solution, and it is already being done. Moreover, improper parking is mostly a result of not having enough Parking space available. The PMC is not doing much to develop Parking lots in city area. The parking lots already developed are not good enough. The one near Mandai (at the place of Aryan Theater) does not have stairs for people to use before/after parking. The same route that is used by vehicles has to be used for walking up/down, meaning a lot of time and energy wasted. Moreover, its Entry and Exit gates keep on swapping. A big parking lot has been constructed near Modi Ganpati in Narayan Peth, but it is still not opened for the public, for dunno what reasons. Developing parking space should be the top most priority for PMC to de-congest the roads.

Unruly driving by rikshaw-men and PMPML bus drivers is also a major concern for the city traffic. Taking prompt action against them can prove to be useful for disciplining the traffic. Cars should not be allowed to stop on main roads for significant time, even if there are drivers waiting in them. Smaller buses should be used on narrow city roads. Public awareness camps should be held to imbibe proper traffic discipline in people. (But since no one cares for such awareness camps) high penalties should be imposed even on small traffic violations. Mass transport system projects (like Metros) should be planned and implemented at faster pace. Flop projects like BRTS should be scrapped immediately. Roads should be properly surfaced. Subways should be planned properly and implemented at suitable places(The subway at Goodluck chowk has already created lots of controversies due to improper planning). Flyovers should be built, wherever possible. Roads should not be dug up frequently. Timings for signals should be properly adjusted for smooth and continuous flow of traffic.

In short, a lot can be done to improve the traffic in Pune. All this needs to be done at a very fast pace, with proper planning, proper budgeting and by employing transparent means. But, this will be an almost impossible task for the corrupt and lazy PMC officials, so parking charges is the way to go...zero investment and lots of extra income.

Credit Cards

Credit cards, these days, are must haves for everyone. You don't need to carry much of cash with you if you have a card. Also, most online transactions happen only through credit cards. If used properly, you can get credit for upto 45 days without having to pay any interest.
But, it is generally advised to use credit card only when you need it . Moreover, one should not indulge in spending excessive amounts, so much so that you won't be able to pay back the amount later. But what if you can do away with the paying back part??
Recently I had a very funny (in fact an enlightening) experience regarding credit cards, or may be I was foolish enough for so many days for not understanding the trick myself. I was offered a FREE credit card by a particular bank. I said that I don't need it, since I already have a credit card of some other bank. But since the MADAM was insisting that it's free and that I have already been issued the card, I decided to take it. For verification, I needed to submit a few documents to a guy who was sent over to my office. However, later I again decided to decline the offer. I explained to that guy that I already had one credit card and did not need a second. But he kept insisting that a second card helps. His point was that currently I have to pay the credit card bill from my own pocket, but if I have multiple cards, I won't have to. HOW? Just pay the bill of one credit card from the other and vice versa and go on and on. No need to ever pay back in real money. Smart. Now I understand why most people and some Banks in US got bankrupt :)
One more thing that came forward was a nice marketing strategy that this particular Bank was employing. They call people saying that a credit card has been approved for them, but they need to provide contacts of at least 2 of their colleagues for verification. Once they get the contact numbers, they call them up and repeat the same thing, saying that a credit card has been approved for them, but they need to provide contact details of some colleagues for verification and the chain continues. Nice strategy I say, and more credit cards in the market...

Guidance [Part 2]

I am posting after a lot many days. Couldn't think of any decent stuff to write on. Even this is a very stale topic, but since I had written something similar to this and called it Part 1, having at least one more part was necessary :P.
I had written about people coming to me for guidance. Here I'll speak about people who gave me guidance, not to say, guidance I had never asked for. Here are some of my experiences...
My plans about my education were quite clear. 10th, 12th Science and then Engineering. But still, there were people who advised me all the way throughout my education.
Some said "Be a doctor. There's no doctor in our family." Come on, how is this a reason for choosing a career?
"BMCC madhe ka nahi admission ghetla 11-12th sathi?". Arey Science sathi BMCC madhe kon admission denar amhala?(For those who don't know, BMCC is a Commerce college in Pune)
"Amhi amchya XXX la javalchya school madhech taklay 11-12 sathi, mhanje abhyas neat hoto. Tumhi pan yala mothya college aivejit ashach kontyatari shalet ka nahi takla?" Pan tyanchya XXX la kuthe dusrikade admissionach milat navhta he nahi manya karnar.
"Engineering la kay jatos? Tu B.Sc. kar." When was B.Sc. a lucrative option compared to Engineering?
After getting admission into COEP, a guy even asked me "Bharatiya Vidyapeeth madhe ka nahi re try kelas?" Any sane person, with some knowledge of colleges in Pune must surely have understood why the above question is funny.
After Engineering, it became worse. Tu itka hushar ahes, MS tar whaychach. Engineering nantar MBA karavach lagta. Ata kay, GATE kadhi detoys? Arey, mala maza tharavu dya na.
Now, the latest and the most frequent advise I get is..
"Arey changla shiklays, changla kamavtoys, bhavacha lagna tharlyamule line clear ahe, ata tuza pan bagh" :P

Helmets

These days I have been reading a lot about Helmets in some Newspapers. People speaking for and some against the rule of making helmets compulsory. I don't know whether making helmets compulsory would be a good idea or not, but since I myself am using a helmet for past 5 years, I thought I should write something about it. Apart from being a protection for the skull, I found the following benefits:
1) No need to wear sun cap in summer. Believe me, you don't sweat in helmets, and you don't feel the heat much. (Some people give sweating as a reason for not wearing helmets)
2) No need of putting sun-screen on the face.
3) No need to wear ear muffs in winter.
4) The glass protects your face and eyes from dust as well as from insects. Insects hurt a lot, when they go straight into the eyes :(
5) Your earphones don't fall of, if they are held by the helmet
6) Good helmet designs add a style statement

And for people who give foolish reason for not wearing helmets, here are some facts gathered by first-hand experience.
1)Helmets don't obstruct the view much. If you are a good enough rider, you'll adapt quickly. And make good use of side mirrors.
2) Helmets don't impair audibility. You can easily hear the pillion rider's voice as well as the horns of other vehicles. That's sufficient. And if you are a music buff, you won't care. Coz wih or w/o helmet, you won't hear others'.
3) Helmets don't cause hair loss. Or may be I haven't noticed yet :P. I wear a cotton handkerchief on my head before wearing the helmet.
4) If you chose a good quality helmet of proper size and weight, you won't get any neck or back problems.
5) You don't sweat in helmets. I haven't. Don't have any supporting evidence though :(

So guys, start wearing helmets

Bengaluru a.k.a Bangalore

Recently I visited Bengaluru, the I.T. city of India, the Silicon valley of the east, the gateway to South India.
It was my first visit to this wonderful city and my first ever journey by flight.
The journey was really awesome. You get to have a bird's eye view of the earth...the buildings, rivers, farms, hills and all...look so small from far above. And then you are cut-off from this world and enter into another world...above the clouds. The cloud formations make you feel as if you are on some other planet. Since mine was an evening flight, I even got to see various hues and shades formed in the clouds as the sun set, which made it even more beautiful.

Pune airport is quite small, but its improving a lot. The new Bangalore airport, in contrast, is very huge. Lots and lots of planes can be accommodated here. Its very far away from the city. But you can't expect to get acres and acres of land very close to the city. The drive from airport to the place Kodihalli, where my brother is currently staying, was about 50min, which some people told me was pretty fast. I reached there at 8pm.
My brother had planned a tight schedule, so that I get to see almost everything thats worth seeing in Bangalore within the 2 days of my stay. He had also rented a Kinetic for that purpose. The only bad thing was that unluckily, it was raining. But we still stuck to our plan.
We started off with my brother's office ThoughtWorks. It was a pretty nice office with soft toys lying everywhere. I met most of his colleagues and then we proceeded to Forum mall, which is a huge mall with a 7 screen multiplex and lots and lots of shopping outlets.

We had dinner in its large food court and proceeded to UBCity, a mall set up by Vijay Mallya. It has nicely built structure. The mall and the items in it reflected Vijay Mallya's lifestyle. So obviously, it was good only for window shopping.

Then we proceeded to Kemp Fort which has a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. It has huge idols of Lord Shiva and Lord Ganesha. It also has a small museum where you get to see the 12 Jyotirlingas and a short history of each.

So 3 places covered on the first night itself.
Most of the roads in Bangalore were one-ways and the two-way roads had very few crossings. It helps to somewhat check the already chaotic traffic. The ongoing metro train project may help in reducing the traffic problems in this city. But currently, the metro-work has affected some major roads, including the M.G. Road, one of the most important streets in Bangalore.

Second day started off quite late. We had a brunch which comprised of Idli-Dosa-Meduvada and some fruits. We then went over to E-Zone for Go-karting. It was a great experience but the cars were hard to drive than what I had expected. I took a lot of time for each lap, but I enjoyed. The cars were skidding a lot due to the rains.

We then headed off to have a look at my company's Bangalore Office. Its located on the 2nd Floor of Hotel Leela Palace. The hotel looked truly like a palace. The office was also quite beautiful. The hotel has three floored shopping center, which again was good only for window shopping. It also has a games parlor called Amoeba :).

We had a coffee at Barista located in the hotel itself and proceeded to have a look at the Tech park called EGL that houses big US companies like Microsoft, IBM, Dell, Yahoo, etc. The campus was really beautiful with nicely structured buildings and excellent landscaping. We had light snacks at the canteen there and went back home. Later that evening we visited Brigade road, which seemed to be a cool place to hang out. The crowd was also pretty nice :). I called over one of my friends who stays in Bangalore and we visited the other AMOEBA in Bangalore, situated here. It was quite huge with 12 bowling alleys and lots of other games. Even though it was so huge, we still had to wait for an hour for our turn to come, such was the crowd.

We then proceeded to Garuda Mall, the other huge mall in Bangalore. There we had our dinner and went back home.
Third day also began late. We skipped breakfast and then had lunch at an Andhra Restaurant called Nagarjuna. The lunch comprised of sambhar, rassam, curry, curd, some veggies and rice. No roti. It was nice though. After lunch we went over to Lal Bagh, which is a very huge botanical garden. It has 4 gates in 4 directions. The garden has a large variety of different trees. Within the garden is a hillock, atop which is situated the Kempe Gowda tower from which you get a beautiful view of Bangalore.

From the garden, we went to Bull Temple which has a very huge Bull cut out of rock

After that, we went over to Gandhinagar which is located in the older sections of Bangalore. The Majestic bus station is located here. One interesting sight here was the huge cut-outs of Southie actors. These actors are like Gods for these people. We then visited the Bangalore Palace and the Vidhan Souda. Both these buildings are magnificent.

On our return home, we went through the Cubbon park, which again is a park almost as huge as the Lal Bagh.
Later that evening we went over for shopping at Max and Lifestyle. We had dinner at the Mall itself. The tour then ended with a visit to the Amoeaba at Leela Palace where me and my bro had 2 games of bowling and 3 car races. He beat me in bowling and I took revenge in racing.
My brother had arranged for a car to drop me to the airport the next morning. I then returned back to Pune with great memories of a great trip, made even more special by my brother.

Wake up Raj

Recently, Raj Thackeray had threatened MLAs who do not take oaths in Marathi with dire consequences. His own elected MLAs even manhandled an MLA who took an oath in Hindi. The reason Raj gives is that "Karnataka madhe Kannada yet naslyamule eka minister la kadhun takla, te chalta. Ani ithe amhi marathit shapath ghyayachi mhanala ki chalat nahi". Wake up Raj...Is this why we elect people? Just to see that all elected people speak in Marathi? There's no need to copy bad stuff from other states. You should respect our Constitution which permits MLAs to take oaths in other languages as well. Raj, you had said that you'll be a very constructive opposition. Is this what you call constructive? We don't care about what language our leaders speak. We just want an output from them. If you really wants to fight for the Marathi Manoos, just see that your own MLAs and the others fulfill the promises they have made and seriously abide by their oaths....taken in whichever language the Constitution permits.
Your MLAs have now been suspended from the house for 4 years. Isn't it a loss for the people who elected them? Moreover, MNS supporters burned down around 21 buses in protest. Whose money is going down the drain then? The common man's or MNS'? Is this called constructive? What do you want to prove?
I am not saying that the guy, Abu Azmi, who took the oath in Hindi is any good. He had mocked the MNS men by showing them sandals. Such behavior should also be punished. If he can speak Marathi, he should have taken an oath in Marathi, rather than purposely speaking in Hindi to test MNS. Politics is really very dirty.
At the end of the day, its the loss of the Marathi Manoos only.

SHAME!!!!

Isn't it really Frustrating....
A city which is considered to be a metro now, with a huge educated population, growing at a tremendous speed, making a mark at the global level and only 45% of her people come to chose leaders for her growth???
You miss no chance to speak of the corruption, the pending works, the hap-hazard growth, lack of proper infrastructure...and on and on. But what do you do about it? Just enjoy at home on the election day, since its a holiday?
Aren't you seeing campaigns going on everywhere...various NGOs, Election commission, newspapers, T.V.s, status messages, JAAGO RE...shouting out loudly..Please vote!!!!
How can you just give it a skip? Many people put up there photos on Orkut and Facebook, proudly showing their marked fingers. Don't you see them? Doesn't the message reach you? Oh! But I forgot. You just don't want to come out of your sleep. The EC and some volunteers try so hard...SMS, phone, visiting various areas and shouting out loudly for you to go and vote, even providing transport facilities to ferry  you to the polling booths....but all is in vain. The 24hrs holiday also dint work.
What else can be done now? Do you want the EC to declare prizes, carry out Lucky Draws with promises of a Dubai trip or a CAR, just like all the Malls to bring in the crowd? If that's the case, sorry, you don't just deserve this city, you Shameless people....

People who have voted, this was not for you.Keep up the good work

The purpose of this post is to solely hurt the sentiments of those non voting guys Any resemblance to anyone's life or actions is indeed intended.

Arey Padhe Likhe Anapadho, bheje mein kuchh ghusa ho toh agli baar to vote karo....

Hindi Serial Loophole 3: Jyoti

Serial: Jyoti
Channel: NDTV Imagine
Timing: 8.30-9.00pm
Summary: There's a girl called Jyoti who is the only earning person in a poor family of 7. She is the eldest daughter of a wheelchair-bound helpless man who has 1 mother, 1 wife, 1 son and 2 other daughters. The show is about how all her siblings are somehow spoilt and how Jyoti tries to bring them back on the right track despite the frequent taunting by some of them as well as her step-mother. You'll mostly see the characters shedding tears every now and then.
Loophole: Jyoti's sister Sudha faces charges of a murder which was in fact committed by her other personality (yes, she suffers from split personality :p). The police come and arrest her one morning. Jyoti goes to the police station immediately to rescue her sister, but returns home without her the same evening. Her mother feels that Sudha was indeed the real culprit. She was told about a fact by the Doodhwala that same morning. But, the dialogue she speaks is "Jis din police Sudha ko utha kar le gayi thi, usi din muze doodhwale na kaha ki...........". Come on Lady, why are you saying "Jis Din" and "Uss Din"? The girl was arrested today only.

Hindi Serial Loophole 2 : Kyunki ...

Serial: Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi...
Channel: Star Plus
Timing: 10.30 - 11.00pm (now off-air, luckily)
Summary: You do not exist if you have never heard of this T.V. Serial. Its the story of Tulsi Virani, the lead protagonist and her huge family. She and many others in her family marry as well as die a multiple times. Some people in her family vanish to some foreign country for business, never to return again. Quite a few kids in their family were lost and found a few years later, etc, etc. Details will be given in some later post.
Loophole: Tulsi Virani, the lead character dies in year 2006. They show us her photo with a garland around it and the caption "Tulsi Virani : 1966 - 2006". A few months later, the serial fast forwards by 20 years and then we know that she had not died at all, but was living at some distant location. She returns to her family, but Alas!! She dies again. They again show us her photo with a garland and the caption now reads, "Tulsi Virani : 1947 - 2007". If you are clever enough, you must have noticed that rather  than going 20 years into the future, the past went 20 years back.
How funny!!! I think Ekta doesn't realize that there are geniuses like me out there closely watching every move :p

Guidance [Part 1]

Many people who have scored decent marks in their board exams and/or later or are working in a good company may have had similar experiences...People coming to you for Guidance. I have had a lot.

People have frequently asked me ...
Tu abhyaas kasa kelas re?
Tu kiti vel abhyas karaycha? 
Tu T.V. Baghyacha?
Tu Classes lavlele ka?
Tu Guide vaparlis ka?
These questions are still fine. They are objective type. I can answer.

But then they(read...someone else's parents) start telling...
Amchya Mulala saang na jara abhyaas kasa karaycha te.
Yala saang na jara...kami khelat ja na mhanun.
Ha T.V. khup baghto. Saang ki jara tyala.
Yachya dokyavar haat thev na jara. :p
Come on, I am no education expert or someone great. If a person is not serious himself, doesn't listen to his parents, how am I supposed to enlighten him? And it feels so awkward. I myself hadn't followed any particular STARTEGY. I had watched T.V. I had played Computer Games. We know how boring it is to just study and not destress ourself by doing such stuff. And if we admit to have done all those things ourselves, there are 2 possibilities.
1) The parents felling that I don't want to reveal y secrets
2) The parents feeling that we are giving wrong guidance.
Donhikadun apanach wrong.
There are even more foolish questions like.
1) Amchya Mulala 50% marks milalet. Tyani konti side pakdavi?
Now how am I supposed to tell that? It depends on what that person is interested in. Ask him. Not me.
2) Amchya yala CET madhe 100 marks mialae. Tyala changlya Engineering college madhe admission milel ka?
Now even if we know that the person will not get admission in a good college, can we just say "Aho avghad ahe ho. Tyala bahutek kuthech admission milanar nahi changlya thikani. Ani milali tari tyachya choice chi branch tar ajibatach nahi milnar"? So we'll be either wrong or rude.
Moreover if we sincerely say that he should try some other course, since Engineering will be a little tough for him, there is a chance that the parents will think that we are misguiding and/or we don't want the person to be as well educated as ouselves. So Sick!!!
3) Amchya mulani B. Sc. kelay. Ata computer course kivva PG karaycha mhantoy. Kuthe karava?
Ata me E&TC cha mulga. Kahi course/PG na kelela. How will I tell? Even worse. even when I had said that so and so course is good, I have got replies like ..."Pan kahi lok mhantat ki yachya peksha te jasta changla ahe".
There have also been instances where when I had recommended a particular institute/college being better because the staff and placements are good, I have got an answer.."Pan aaj kaal kuthe itka farak padto staff cha. Ani job tar kasahi milun jato ata". 
Arey itka research kelach ahe tar maza doka kashala khata.

I even get questions totally unrelated to my field. Yani B Com kelay. Tyani pudhe kay karava? And. Toh ata pudhe kahi shikaycha nahi mhantoy. Tyala saang na C.A. vagaire karayla.
Ata malach nahi mahit B. Com madhe kay asta, C.A madhe kay asta, me kasa sangnar?


If we just go on speaking what is/was true and correct, there is a very high risk of the people concluding...
Ha kahi dhad salle det nahi
Asa salla tar koni pan deil
Ha lapavtoy kahi tari
Ha Engineer zala ani amchya mulani B. Sc. karava mhanto ka?
Sagle mhantat computer lach scope ahe. Ani hach kasa nahi mhanto.
Kahitari tingya martoy ha.
Ha mech pan changlay mhanto, tar swataha E&TC la kashala gela?
Yala kahi kalat nahi.
Ha uddhat ahe.
Apla mulga pudha java asa nahi vatat tyala.
and on and on and on and on

Arey...asach asel tart mazyakade kashala yeta. Me board lavlay ka mazya gharabaher....
Mazyakade guidance la ya mhanun.