Life in US

Ek subah aisi bhi

2010-10-06T22:18:00.000-07:00

Ek subah hua yuin ki hum bistar se uthe bhi nahi aur ek kaala mota aadmi mere saamne aake khada ho gaya. Mujhe laga Kahin main sapna to nahi dekh raha. Darr ke uthkar baith gaya. Bola koi chor daaku ghus aaya hai lagta hai. Saale ko tizori ki chaabi nahi mili to uthane aa gaya hoga. Ab Is bewakoof ko kaun samjhaaye ki ATM ke zamane mein paise ghar pe kaun rakhta hain. Faaltu ke meri neend kharab kar daala. Bara darr bhi lag raha tha. Kala aisa ki daamar ka ghamand todh de. Mucchein ya baddi baddi. Abe yeh kya......sar pe sing pe hain uske......oye mar gaye yaar.....yeh to yamraaj lag raha hai mujhe. Nazar thodi usse hati to dekhta huun........ek haath mein rassi.....oye angrez de puttar......rope rope....kehte hai.....aur dushra chod....i mean the other end ek lambe chaude buffalo ke gale mein bandhi thi. Us bhainsh ne kaafi dino se dhoya nahi thi....kaafi badboo aa rahi thi usse. Khair back to situation of crisis. Bande ne bola finally........ Abe kis language mein bol rahe ho maharaj????? Oye hoye yeh to meri fav language sanskrit mein kuch bol rahe hain....lekin char saal ke padhai mein aur kitana yaad rahega. Sandhi vicched aur ramah ramam ramaan aise hi kuch kuch yaad aa raha tha. Saala desperation mein bhi comedy sujh raha tha. Maine himmat karke bola sanskrit gottila( kannad mein bola thoda impress karne ke liye which means sanskrit nahi aati). Hindi english ya bengali mein translate karke bole prabhu. Prabgu ki leela aparampar hai bhai. Kisi bhi bhasa mein aapse baatein kar sakte hain. Garazkar hindi, hamari rashtra bhasa mein bole.....chal bete bahut so liya, ab tera time ho gaya hai, swarg mein kuch din bita le fir nark mein kaafi time bitana hai.

Meri to sitti pitti gum..... Lekin darr ke saath gusssa bhi bahut aaya. Abe job se bhi nikalte hai to 1-2 week notice milta hai, aur yeh to zindagi ka sawal hai. Kam se kam 1 month to banta hai yaar. Meri biwi ko bank accounts ka kuch pata nahi. Saare password use batane hain. Credit cards ke bill chukane hain. India money transfer karna hai. House rent bhi dena hai parso. Mere bacche ko school kaun chodega. Abe mere saath mere family ko kyun disturb kar raha hai khote. Yeh to comedy se tragedy mein tabdeel ho rahi hai. Maine kaha beta aise kitane situation maine patiently handle kiye hain. Yeh to aar ya paar ki siruation hain. Darega to marega aur fir kuch nahi karega. Maine usse kaha.....maharaj thoda shower wagerah le lo aur apne buffalo ko bhi clean kar lo. Mere apartment mein pets policy thodi strict hai. No pets allowed aur aap to itna wadda ganda janwar le aaye ho. Apartment waale bhi mujhe bina notice ke nikal denge aur security deposit bhi refund nahin karenge.
Maharaj bole ab to tere saath hi nahaunga yamlok mein. Lets go fatafat. Ek do ko aur uthana hai. Abe aise bol raha hai jaise shopping karne nikla hai. Bacchoon ki jaan lene nikla hai saitaan kahin ka. Kaash Aru ya meri maa hoti to abhi daant dapat ke bhaga deti. Paheli baar apneaap ko ashay mehsoos kar raha huun. Mushibat mein log prabhu ko yaad karte hai. Yahan to rakshak hi bhakshak ban ke aaya hai. Kise yaad karun???? Bachao bachao kehte kehte main bhagne ki koshish karne laga. Yeh mere pairoon ko kya ho gaya. Dekhta huun mera beta arjun mere paon ko pakad rakha hai. Oye apne hi baap se gaddari. Chod de mere baap.... Chocolate doonga...... Kaafi struggle ke baad meri aankh khool hi gaya. Sssala horror se bharpur sapna tha. Dekhta kya huun arjun sach mein mere paon ko apne daant se katne ki koshish kar raha hai.
Main jhath uthke usko gale laga liya aur mere ankhon mein thode aansun aa gaye. Socha abhi to isko kitana kuch sikhana hai. Come on god, not this soon.

Apne zindagi ko aaj salaam kehta huun
Har ek din ko main apna inaam kehta huun
Jee le is zindagi ko jaise kal koi kal nahi
Upar se call aa bhi gaya to koi gal nahi

HPIT Fashion Show 2005

2010-08-23T14:48:00.000-07:00

Camping at night : 6th August 2010

2010-08-16T08:30:00.001-07:00

Camping at night

Though it was not my first camp, I was excited by the very thought of spending a night at jungle. We were four families having one kid each. The camp site was only 30 odd miles from our residence so there was no overhead of driving. For 12 ppl we need to book 2 sites which was done promptly by Sandip.

A week ahead we met at our favorate pub called Irish pub to chalk out the plan and make a checklist. Checklist included food, camp material, baby item, personal belongings and the like.
Starting Monday till the day of the event we did the necesary shopping from walmart, shoprite, indian stores etc. Tuks decided to keep all the camp related stuff and jayant took the responsibility of food which included fruits and freshly prepared veg biryani. Pratap was in-charge of drinks - soft as well as hard. Since alcohol is strictly prohibited, guys came up with a neat plan to add johny walker black label into the bottle of coke and play and drink it safe. Boys will be boys you know.

Thursday night i and aru did all thr major packings and set them right on the car. There were many arguments and disagreements in between which any couple can imagine that happens in any travel so i am skipping those part. Friday the 7th we wake up at decent time, given that we both were working from home. Aru did the chores for baby and I started wfh. Few minutes past 12, I had a plan to buy few minor items. Accordingly I went out and what I found made me real panic. I was like out of blue and couldnot figure out for few seconds how to react. I took out my wallet in a jiffy and started looking for AAA card. As expected my card was missing from my wallet. Soon I unlocked my car and started looking in various storage sections inside the car. Finally I found it out. Called those triple a guys and informed them that one of my tyre got flat. They asked me what do I need. I said can they fix it? They replied back saying they can tow the car though for which I agreed. Immediately I called Tuks and sandy to inform the situation. Tuks suggested me to........TO BE CONTINUED

Ab aagey.....start writing again on Aug 30th 2010.

Tuks suggested me to replace the tire with the doughnut. This way we will not be delayed much. After waiting for long, the AAA guy came, made the replacement and I was all set. A big hurdle was taken care.....

We all(Sandy/Pratap/Tuks/Raj) started in our respective car and headed for Beaver Pond. It was about 30 miles away. Took the help of indispensible Navigator(a true friend at road) and it guided us with small hiccups to the spot within an hour. Sandy reached there first, followed by Raj, Pratap and Tuks. Tuks, who bought his new Lexus couldnot resist to drive few extra miles for fun. Anyways, we all reached there, registered our vehicles and finished few formailities there at the office.

The Place looked beautiful. There was a small beach, not very far from our location. We could see few people playing near it. Day was sunny and hot. We all were wearning comfortable dresses to avaoid the heat. Children were very happy. Arjun(my son), Saachi(Sady's daughter), Shubham(Tuk's son) and Tanishq(Pratap's son) were very excited. Our camping area was sorrounded by big green trees. Our camping spot was serial number 28 and 30 which were just adjacent to each other.

Our plan was to set up the tents before its too dark and then shoot for the beach. We have two tents to setup. We know we will have some problem during setting the first one and then the next one is not going to take much time. All of us started breaking our heads and put our best ideas(which we thought). Sandy suggested emulating the setup from our neighbouring camps, which we Indians are definitely good at, unarguably. This exercise reminded me of my Group Task test at SSB(Service Selection Board), Banaras for NDA(National defense Academy) where I couldnot do very well. Pratap((a product of Army school)) came up with some idea which made the process a little faster. Sandy, Tuks and I also made our life-time contribution. we setup the first tent....Yahooooooooooooo............Googleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

In the meantime, our dharmpatnis(wives) made delicious bhel(Haldiram). It was yummy, for sure. Kumud(Tuk's wife), Swati(Pratap's wife), Aru(Raj's wife) and Rupali(Sandy's wife) did fantastic job with the bhel. After finishing the snacks, we headed for the beach with volleyball. To our utter disappointment, the beach was closed at 6PM. Still, we went near water and keep doing some water activities till we get a final warning from the authorities. we played volleyball for a while and then we headed back for our camping site.

What is hope?

2010-08-16T08:28:00.000-07:00

What is hope?
Hope is the unyielding belief that the current situation will change for good. Things will fall into place and happiness will prevail. It is this word which make us keep going in spite of adversaries. Hope may come from within or because of some circumstances.

My dad is alcoholic and is in very poor health condition. I have a hope that he will leave the evil and will look healthy and hale again. Today his sugar level tested very high and I am really concerned. Don't know what to do? How to bring his level down to normalcy? Help him God. I hope you understand it, my Lord.

Email to convince my friends to play boxcricket

2010-08-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

Save the planet and also.......plz read

We all r concerned saving the planet trying to go green eating organic food consuming less gas doing car pool using less power consuming less paper but inspite of all our effort one creature is going to die: not unknown to us it's our box cricket. It's at the verge of extinction and only the member of box cricketers can save it.

Natural question comes to mind : how?
We need our time and involvement. We are social beings and love to be in groups. Box cricket is a small group but ask yourself won't you enjoy this one hour here with dirt cheap investment or no investment. I feel it's like a free ride so why are we letting this go? Why don't we all step in and share the. Ownership and responsibility ?

I know we all have our genuine reasons to not able to make it to the ground so what I am proposing here is please fill in ur availability throughout the week from mon to friday so that we can come up with at least 3 common days of playing.

Every year we play from June to august after that nobody is going to even see each other for next 6-7 months so why r we missing this chance of comradship and togetherness.Let's turn up to the grasses

Saying all that pls let me know who can come today

Life is a journey

2010-08-16T08:26:00.001-07:00

Life is a journey of experiences for me . The happiness and pain on the way teach me a lot. When I get rest, i.e on sundays I ponder over the past; relish the good things and regret on my mistakes. On Monday I get rejuvenated and motivated by default. It is the day full of hopes and expectations. Today I am travelling(on a bus going to New York city) to my work place. Hope life will teach me something today. Plz share how life is treating you?

Thought of the day

2010-08-16T08:24:00.001-07:00

One cannot be successful in a day or overnight but one has to face a history of struggle and failures.

Hmm....I feel so

2010-08-16T08:18:00.000-07:00

The intensity of pain can be truly realized only by those who have gone through it. It is very difficult to realize other's pain and its beyond the capability of a common man. Only great men can shed tears when he see any living being in pain

Cricket and oooouchhhhes

2010-04-17T11:08:00.001-07:00

On Sunday I played cricket after a long time. Dropped 2 catches, but managed one brilliant one, scored just half a dozen run and was brutally run out with severe bruises in my left elbow. Also broke my left thumb while successfully dropping one catch. God bless cricketers........ We need to understand that nobody drops catch intentionally......have sympathy with me.......fuck the bloody ball though.

On Following Sunday, again played another match, scored just a dismal 2 runs, was victim of a misjudgement and declared caught behind. I assumed the extra role of wicket-keeper this time, dropped one catch and the only catch that came to me, twisted my left leg this time and am not able to walk properly for a week and till today have a severe pain while walking.

Observation

2010-04-17T11:06:00.000-07:00

Whenever you step forward to explore or see things you always find something new, something which has the ability to surprise you or secretly please you. Today I found a restroom/toilet near my office, from where I can see Statue of Liberty(SOL) . One thing leads to another. My search for toilet lead me to SOL. Even though I know where is SOL it was a pleasant surprise to see it so near. After I emptied my kidney I thought to watch the sea little closely and to my dismay I was watching SoL in front of my eyes. Next week I am planning to take my parents to SOL. Last week plan was a disaster bcos of me. We headed for Point Pleasant beach but lost extra 30 mins travelling in the wrong direction. By the time we started and by the time we reached there was hell and heaven difference between the weather. Pleasant and warm weather became windy and chilly. We made so much of prep, so much food but it was a disappointing trip. Finally we bid goodnight by watching a horror flick "The Others".

GULAAL

2010-03-25T06:24:00.001-07:00

Yesterday watched the movie "Gulaal". It started flying high from the word "Go". After a long time, I watched a real art movie, which made me scratch my head. It was nail-biting experience and one could hardly afford to miss a dialogue. Directed by Anurag Kashyap, the movie was at par the expectation....but as the cliche goes, there is always room for perfection. Actors were brilliant, true but sad I don't know the name of all of them, except KK (elder brother of Abhishek in movie Sarkar) and the other familiar face was from a character in C.I.D. (serial shown in SONY SET MAX). Movie was based at Rajasthan and the agenda was "Rajputs" has sacrificed so much for their motherland and got nothing in return so their current generation want to fight it out to get their rights....in short they want to build something called "RAJPUTANA". People who were seeking this goal would do anything and used in the way manipulation, cheat, murder, sex, money, power and what not. Also sad to see how students who just want to study can be corrupted by politics and the people around. Overall a nice but little "hila dene waali" movie hai.

My Name is Khan....from the epiglottis

2010-02-23T11:37:00.001-08:00

Yesterday as soon as I reached home from office, my wifey announced we are going to watch the movie "My name is Khan" tonight......starring Shahrukh Khan and Kajol...the movie directed by Karan Johar...already a proven hit trio. Who am I say No to this proposal....not a proposal...its a declaration :)
Anyways, I am a movie buff too, but its a challenge to reach the theatre on time and watch movie in a theatre after Arjun(my son) joined us. Previously, we have seen just one more movie "3 Idiots" with him. I would say, he really behaved well that time. He was a quite guy, in fact he was watching the movie and smiling all the time in the theatre.

The movie was at 9:30 PM and we started at 9:12 PM. I set up the address in the GPS navigator ..perfect...12 miles......In 18 minutes I have to cover 12 miles...looks achievable...and we made it 10 minutes late as I took the wrong entrance to theatre building.

Reached the theatre....tickets...dirt cheap 5$ each on Wednesday.....almost full house.....mostly desis.....got the right corner seat at the back....Movie starts....Arjun gets on my lap....Aru couldnot sit comfortably until she finished arranging all our winter clothes over different vacant seats.

The movie....."One of the best performance by Shahrukh and Kajol".....perfectly portrayed his part as an unusual/abnormal, but a talented guy. If you have watched and liked the role of Shahrukh in Chak De, then this movie is for you. May be a little exaggerated but I would put this movie at par with Forrest Gump.

Shahrukh delivers his best and shines when he is not "Shahrukh". The pathos of Muslims and how the sheer name "Khan"(just one example) affected their life after 9/11 can be felt from the heart. How ruthless act of few handfulls can adversely affect the whole community of Muslims and Sikhs as well(as they were mistaken for Muslims). How a Khan can do anything to keep his word can be taken as a lesson.(Do we keep our words on daily basis !!!!) You can also get a glimpse of how humaity can be larger than caste, color and creed in this movie.(Wish this is true). Also, how you can win over hatred by sheer love and good will.

Few of the scenes which will never be wiped from my memories :
1. Brutal murder of Kajol's son
2. Kajol's wailing over her son's body......a brilliant performance by Kajol
3. Shahrukh helping the people trapped by the storm and flood.
4. Shahrukh's innocence throughout the movie.

Dialogues which will be remembered
1. "My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist".
2. "When I will be back Mandira ?" (when Kajol asks Shahrukh to leave her for ever when their only son got killed because of his Last Name "Khan").
3. There are only two types of people in this world...good and bad.

A must watch movie...please watch it in theatre or you will miss the impact. On a lighter mood, please make sure to carry good reserve of water since I lost a lot of water while watching the movie....yes I cried in the movie.....No coke plzzzzzzzzzzzz.....................buzzzzzz

Visit to India 2010

2010-01-11T08:16:00.000-08:00

Went for a very short visit to India starting 31st Jan 2009 and back on 10th Jan 2010. This travel was different because I had to leave my 6 month old son and wife alone in US, though our baby-sitter was there to help them.

ARJUN came into our life

2009-09-08T05:29:00.000-07:00

Retrospection - Yes I raced yesterday after 15 years

2009-06-11T14:31:00.001-07:00

Recently I moved from Iselin/Edison to Hackensack, a town in New Jersey, US. Hackensack town has a lot of playgrounds and fortunately they are near my house. I go there occasionally for few minutes of jogging. Yesterday, I felt like racing with somebody. I saw few teenagers are practicing sprint. I requested one of them to race with me. Immediately a 5 foot 10 inch tall, lean dark guy, wearing a white vest and black sweat pant was ready to crush me. I knew I cannot beat him because he was looking in great shape, but he told me morosely that he is out of shape. If he is out of shape then what he would be telling himself about my shape :)? Anyways we agreed to race for 100 meters. One of his friends went to the finish line and shouted “Get - Set – Go” and immediately adrenalin started flowing in my blood…more in my competitor’s blood. I lost but I think it was not that bad. I lost by 2 seconds or 5 feet.

After the race, I told the teenagers that I am racing exactly after 15 years since my high school days when I was a champ, back in 1994. One of the guys told that he was just 2 years old in 1994. Wow….so many years just passed by.

Shalom

2009-03-26T14:01:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we were watching an ad on TV which was promoting tourism in Israel.
The key word they were using was “Shalom”..which was sounding like “Halo”, you know how Whites pronounce..then I realized its so close to the word “Salaam”. I think it’s because the way we pronounce the word, has created different spelling for the same word.

Maa Babi

2009-02-03T13:46:00.000-08:00

For the past one year, my brother was in China without his wife and daughter. Tomorrow he is going to take them along with him to China. Babi got attached with Brishti, my brother’s daughter. She is the apple of everyone’s eye. I have never seen my dad so happy in his life when he is in her company. He plays like a kid with her. Now after she leaves along with her parents, Maa and Babi will be very lonely. I cannot imagine how much they are going to cry in her absence. Three years ago I left India to settle in USA. My parents and I were OK as my brother was near them. Now he is also leaving. I wish I could return back and stay with them. God help me go back to them.

End of a generation

2009-01-12T11:08:00.000-08:00

I used to call her Thaku Maa, means my father’s mother. She was a very simple lady. I remember whenever I have seen her,she was always in some white saree with red borders. A lady who was very down to earth, an excellent cook, a brilliant story teller and an amateur poetess and singer too. She was soft-spoken She had a great sense of humor. I remember whenever we visited her she will have a lot of funny anecdotes to tell. She used to speak Bengali with different but a sweet accent. When I am typing this, it’s hard to believe that she is no more in this world. With her death, a generation is wiped off. She took along with her all the sweet memories and the cooking skills. The last time I met her was during my wedding in 2004. I had few conversations with her then. I remember she blessed me and my wife a lot. Now after 4 years I wanted to meet her, but couldn’t because of various reasons. She left this world on 11th Jan 2009 without giving anyone any trouble; silently. I wonder whether she has any unfulfilled desires.

My First Technical Article

2008-10-01T06:45:00.000-07:00

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/webforms/CustomGridView.aspx
My First Technical Article, though very naive in nature, gave me an unexplainable sense of satisfaction. Even though I have written each piece of the code myself, its interesting to know that I find it much more difficult to express what my project does or accomplishes. Its pretty well known that action is better than words but sometimes your words need to be mightier than the deadliest Sword. For instance, if anyone is following the American presindential debate he/she can evaluate the importance of words. John McCain, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and others demonstrated their oratorical skills with very well-chosen words. Imagine, you are in front of hundreds of people and you have to answer some questions, then nothing but your knowledge, composure, confidence and well-picked up vocabulary can only save you. Even the strongest person in this world would flounder before a fragile interviewer if he/she doesnot have the arsenal of words in his/her wallet. Not to mention, Sarah Palin here, but one can take a good lesson from her. "Silence is Gold" resonates in my ears when I think about her now. I have my full sympathy with her, hopefully she will make a good comeback sooner.

Words, words and words…at times you must have experienced that you are short of words when you need them the most. I was trying to find the reason why it happens and surprisingly though, the reason is very simple. It takes nothing but good deal of practise and nothing but practise, to master the words. The ideal way is to engage with your colleagues in day-to-day discussions, bring out some topic and do brain-storming, watch the news or read them online, pick a good book and try to finish it in a month, are some of the things that can be done for self-improvement. Even the best batsman like Sachin Tendulkar would loose his batting skill, if he donot practise it often. Similarly to be a good conversationist or a writer one needs to be in constant touch with the relevant stuff. Again there is something called talent, which one may not be able to beat but there is no harm in coming as closer as possible to it. A lot many people like me have to break their head over and over, thousand times to achive something near perfect, but the key is perseverance. Keep scratching the surface until you find an oil-well, the need of the hour.

2008-06-05T11:00:00.000-07:00

i am: Superman. Don't believe me. Ok, remember me when you are in distress, I will come flying. By the way the real world knows me by the name "Rajib Banerjee". Parents call me "Bappa". Friends call me by different names like Ra, Raj, dada, da, Babu Moshay, Bangali Babu, Baali, Mundu, Salman, Govinda, Jack and what not. A firm beilever of "What you desire is what you get", so ones thought process should be clear before acting upon something.
i think: as continuously as the dial of a watch rotates. I will materialize my ideas someday.
i know: "World is a ocean and I am not even a tiny droplet"
i want: happiness for everybody...including me.
i have: everything I need for survival.

i wish: world peace and less bloodshed.
i hate: my bad habits. wannna know???? mail me rajib.banerjee5@gmail.com
i miss: my maa, my babi(dad), my brother Rahul, all my friends(wish to meet them at least once)
i forget: first thing when I start doing the next thing. I forget words and names too. By the way whats your name and what are you doing in my blog ?????
i fear: ghosts (u know they do exist...)
i feel: sleepy most of the time now a days. Aaraam hai bahut life mein yaar.
i hear: my conscience, it always tells me what is right and what is wrong....but I end up doing the wrong one.
i smell: bad, need a good deo always near me(sprayinnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggg nowwww).
i crave: for sweats and sensuality.
i search: for knowledge.
i wonder: Why I am paid so much for doing nothing ?
i regret: for a lot of things....will tell you in leisure.
i love: my wife, my parents and all my dear ones.
i ache: for my childhood
i care: for the relationship and the feelings of others.
i always: eat.
i am not: a good speaker.
i believe: in myself and in karma.
i dance: a lot. Its my hobby and a way to express my happiness.
i sing: always to bore my wife, but seriously I love to sing without feeling embarrased. Also when I am sad.
i cry: a lot while feeling sad or nostalgic and watching emotional movies. Its the easiest thing for me.
i don’t always: waste time.
I always remember: to wish my friends on their brithday.
i fight: with my wife because I have high expectations from her.
i write: blogs and diary.
i win: hearts.
i lose: money, bad freinds and bad habits.
i never: give up hope.
i confuse: myself.
i listen: everybody, news and songs.
i can usually be found: in ur heart if you are seriously looking for or in my home. Remember I am Cancerian.
i am scared: of loosing my loved ones.
i need: emotional security.
i am happy about: my current affairs.

How my haircut helped me dodge the traffic police ?

2008-06-04T13:20:00.000-07:00

This tiny incident happened in the year 2005 when I was in Bangalore that time. Adventure sports are my passion and I never missed an opportunity to enjoy them, unless I have some other obligations. Parasailing happened to be one of those sports. It was new and in vogue. Few of my friends told me that parasailing is absolute fun and there is nothing to fear. Even though I am a big coward, why I need to show it to anyone ? I planned this activity on some Saturday, which makes sense because after five days of routine job, you definitely deserve a break. I remember, that day was nice and sunny. I don't wanted to get dalayed for any reason apart from the fact that I have no choice but to wait till my wife finish her make up. Universal is the fact that girls have all the rights in this world to turn themselves the most beautiful creature so that guys like me can drool over them, so its justified. They are just doing this for us. Anyways I rode my bike "Splendor" and started for the jurney, oh ya...the name of the venue was Jaqur flying club. It was around 30 Kms away from my house. Absoultely not a big deal. The far the better and the more I can enjoy the ride.

Just to brief you about parasailing, a instructor will first equip you with a parachute hanging from your back. He will then tie you to a jeep through a long and strong rope. Thereafter ensuring everything is safe, he signals the driver to start. The driver rolls the jeep slowly and it will lift you off the ground in no time. And here the adventure rolls on .... As the jeep speeds further you ascend more and more, finally to hit a height of approximately 300 ft above the ground level. At this level, the driver stops the jeep so that you can descend gently.

Along with ensuring I was wearing the perfect dress and shoes to go with the activity I also managed a nice crew hair cut. You know, just to feel like pilots and armymen. I always had a desire to join the force: police, army, air force or whatsoever but fortunately or unfortunately I couldnot pass their tough SSB interviews. You can give it the name of destiny, Ok Ok...I will lecture on destiny later on. I was very excited and reached the spot well on time. It was a huge ground spread around in few hundred miles. The soil was light brown and there were very few vegetation. I remembered few cattles grazing around. I parked my bike and stood there for a while to watch those guys who arrived before me and were enjoying the adventure. Few girls were screaming when they were air borne. Kids were not allowed here for the practical reason. Overall it was a nice sight. It seemed like simple, but a breath taking and life time experience.

My wife went first and I video shooted her with my commentaries or else these kind of videos would be very monotonous. I can see her going higher and higher and
when my turn came, it bacame very cloudy and windy too. Anyways, it added to the excitement. In a moment I was lifted up and my wife was video shooting me. For a moment I feit like a bird and tend to spread my hands as if they were wings. Momentarily I feel like cursing the GOD for not equipping me with wings. Seems like an absolute mistake by Him and there was no way to rectify it. I wondered, how we could have avoided so many hot debates on global warming problems. So many attention could have been diverted to some other issues. There would have been no need for petrol or diesel or hybrid cars or solar cars or electric cars or whatsoever. In fact, mankind is doomed to struggle lifelong. Man has no solace or peace. He will keep breaking his head searching new alternatives for fuel and energy. Suddenly, I realized I have started descending. All my ongoing thoughts started evaporating. I became more cautious and started concentrating on my safe landing. Thank God!!! I reached safely on the ground, eventhough I wanted to remain there for few more time. The activity was finished and the mission was accomplished.

We are reaching the climax guys, so wake up pleazzzzzzzzzz. I took my bike and started towards our home. While on the way, I saw few traffic police were stopping everybody and enquiring for their vehicle documents. Gottcha!!!!! As you know, Indian youth feels no obligation to keep docs, so was I, but I quickly learnt that its not a good practice and I should have kept it. Its the same kind of realization when a Railway TT was about to catch you for not buying train ticket. That moment you curse your friends, your destiny for trying to save 4 bucks while now you have to cough off 400 bucks as fine.

with lots of anticipation I approached the policemen with my bike. They took a good look at me. I was scared to death because I have no documents and secondly I really scare Indian cops, but I guess they couldnot read my expressions as I was wearing nice goggles. Instead asking for my docs, they in turn asked me "Are you from Air Force ?" I was like thinking, in my mind, probably at a lightning speed "What???", but I controlled myself and calmly replied "hmmmmm" and nodded my head. They took it as 'yes' and asked me to leave as a mark of respect towards fraternity. I was holding my breath. With my shaking body, I kick started my bike hurriedly and zoomed past them. God, what an escape from the brutal hands of the white collar mercenaries. We both were laughing like hysterics. I can feel my heart beat pumping like some big engine. Believe me, Indian cops are known for their nastiness and you cannot escape them unless you bribe them out. By now you can figure out it was bacause of my hair cut (watch the video), we could escape the cops.

I felt this concluding episode to be more adventurous and fun than the one I planned so well in advance. Overall the day went well. Slowly I returned to myself and observed the sun going down far away on my right side. The sky was becoming more and more orange in colour and darker too. The birds over, where I was flying few moments ago, were returning to their nests and so was I.

Some crazy drawings

2008-06-02T13:36:00.000-07:00

तेरे नजराने को एक और दीवाना आया है

2008-05-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

इंतज़ार है तेरा हर पल, हर घड़ी, हर साँस बस तेरा ही नाम लेती है
आ रहा हूँ ऐ मंजिल मेरी, देर से ही सही पर मेरा रास्ता ज़रूर तकना
मिल न सकी अगर तू मुझे, फ़िर तेरे ही दर् पे मैं दम अपना छोडूंगा
दिल में कोई अफ्सोश नही है आज, क्यूंकि मैंने टूट के तुझे चाहा है
मैं भी तेरी महफिल का एक शमा हूँ bas do gadhi jalne ko aaya tha
नाराज़ न होना तुझमे कोई तोहमत ना होगी

बस तेरे नजराने को एक और दीवाना चला आया था

तुझे पाने की तमन्ना रखता हूँ

2008-05-27T07:38:00.000-07:00

धून में हूँ तेरी, चैन नही जब तलक तुझे पा ना लूँ

रात दिन तू मेरे ख्वाबों में आके मुझे बड़ा तद्पाती है

मदहोश हूँ तुझे पाने को , जानता हूँ तू नही है हाशील-ऐ-आसान

बड़ा दर्द दिया है तुने मेरे दिल को, रुलाया है, ठोकर मारा है

घायल हूँ, बहते है लहू दर्द के, पर दिल-ही-दिल यह सोचके कभी मुश्क़रता हूँ

की कितना सुकून होगा उसदिन, जब तू मेरी बाहों में आकर जख्मों पे मेरे रोएगी

- राजिब बैनेर्जी के ई-कलम से

The story of my ear ring - First body piercing

2008-05-22T06:09:00.000-07:00

Just in the morning, when I was browsing my gmail, an old instance came to my mind. I was working for Accenture as a consultant for Microsoft in Hyderabad. I was taking a stroll with this guy who happen to my colleague and kind of mentor. I liked him for his knowledge and brotherly treatment. He told me "Rajib remove your ear rings. It doesnot looks professional. If you have to go higher, you need to look profesional." I simply nodded, but deep in my heart I knew I would never remove it.

I do agree that appearance do matter in the professional environment where a lot of people watch you, may emulate you and get influenced by you. There are certain company norms, both documented and undocumented which we need to follow without questioning even. If you have to work under somebody you have to follow his/her terms and conditions. You may recall those papers which you would have signed without second thought, in the jubilation of getting a new job. Those papers have everything mentioned in fine prints, so you are under no pressure to join the firm, if you feel that you cannot agree to their terms and conditions.

What is the lesson to be learnt ? Today I am in US and am doing just fine. Currently I am working for UPS and in its job interview, my manager asked me was it OK for me to remove the ear ring?" I said, "Yes I am fine with it". But I knew it would be a little difficult decision to part with it. Ear ring on my left ear has became my casual identity. People holds different opinion about it. I came to know from few people that in US that generally gay wears them, but did that affected them. No way boss. Do you think getting this ear ring was an easy job when I was in India ? Absolutely not. Are you curious to know how I got this precious thing in my ear.

I was a turbulent youth of 21-22 years and a part of the cricket team which was very popular in my local town. People knew me and my brother very well because of our funny names - "Bappa" (my name) and "Tappa" ( my kiddo brother's name). He was a good batsman and fielder, I was good too but not to his extent. I have a childhood friend named "Sanjay" (nickname - Babbu), both of us used to manage all the team affairs like, whom we should keep in the team , whom we should exclude, what would be our strategy be and the like. Funny enough, most of our plans used to get screwed up in the field.

Anyways, back to the moot point, my ear ring. One fine day Sanjay came up with the idea of sporting ear ring. He said we would look cute, because that time "Sachin Tendulkar" (don't even ask me who he was) and "Vinod Kambli" used to wear them during some matches and I remembered they looked absolutely cool.

I decided I want to wear it, but how ? How to get it ? You might be thinking, whats the big deal in getting an ear ring. Come on dude.....for that, you need to understand the people's perception at that time and the background I belong to. I was from a middle class family like any other famous personalities, among the top students in my class and also known as a good boy in my colony. You need to know who wear ear rings those days ? Basically, jobless young kids who drink and smoke and has hardly any aim in the life. Its a fact that even if you don't drink, but if you are seen in a bar, people has all the right in this world to consider you as a drunkard. Thats how, we Indians think. Man, you have to agree with me it was a challenging task to accomplish single-handedly.

You call call it bragging, but its true whatever I dream or desire, I have got it by hook or by crook. So I started persuading my mom by giving her all nonsense reasons for getting those ear ring. It was very difficult to convince both my mom and dad, but finally during a dinner, Babi(my dad) and Maa both gave me green signal to go for it. I couldnot believe my ears or my ears couldnot believe it. Obviously, it was for my ear and its happiness :)

Next day, I told Sanjay , hey man we are good to go. Lets have those cuties in our ear. Sanjay shocked me by telling that his parents were not happy for it. I barked "What???? You are the one who came up with this plan and now you are the one who is sabotaging it ?" I really got offended when he said " What people would think if we wear them?" To be very frank, I had a much better reputation than Sanjay to worry about. I told him "Go to Hell man with your cowardish act". I will do what I planned to and there was no looking back.

Next day, mom called a goldsmith who frequented our colony, don't know whether he is alive. Indeed he was gentle and very soft-spoken, often humorous too. He was businessman and he ought to have the gift of gab. Operation Pierce began................. We all sat under the sun and he hold my ear. Instantly few incidents coming to my mind which I heard about young girls, who were taken to goldsmith for peircing their ears and nose. I have never witnessed the piercing act before but I have heard their howling, shouting and crying with my own ears. I heard that the ear bleeds too. No doubt, I was afraid, but soon I convinced myself that its bearable. The goldsmith took out a gold piece which was in the shape of a thin wire. He started piercing it into my soft part. The end of the wire drilling into my left ear was very sharp. I kept on asking, "Was it over??? I mean, was the ordeal over ???" It might have taken 3-5 minutes, not more than that, and I have a new companion. It was my first body piercing. I ran towards the mirror. Yes the new thing was very tiny yet cute. Believe me, I didnot bleed a single droplet. It was a painless journey to the so called world of glory :). Sanjay you could have travelled the same road as I did, only if you had diplayed a little courage.

Consequences of the act. People started giving me second looks, at times, people who knew me came really close to touch it and believe their eyes. I said its permanent dude. Its not a temporary ring. Its gonna stay with me for my life. Sanjay also saw. He was happy for me. I got a mixed reaction from a lot of different people. Some appreciated me and some adviced me bluntly to remove it. Some said, people will have a bad opinion about you and what not. I never cared for those words much. My policy- "Listen to everyone, but do only what you think is good for you" Its like being responsible for yourself and every acts of yourself.

Anyways, Its still with me for the last 11 years precisely. Now nobody questions about it. My parents are Ok. My wife loves it. She says it looks good on you. So who else should I care for?

Moral of the story -

"Be yourself. Don't loose your identity. You have every right to preserve it".

"Don't go by what people say, go by what you think is right and stick to your gun".

"Don't waver by any external factors and held yourself responsible for any consequences".

- Happy day ahead.

Quotes

2008-05-19T11:46:00.000-07:00

Good Sleep is the key to a great day.

Sleep well and exercise a bit....and believe me you will do wonders.

I have to study my dear

2008-05-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

Please do'nt come tonight in my dreams honey

Know you are sad and lil' upset and you have every reasons

When you so near do you think I can concentrate on anything else

Don't you understand how important this exam is, I hope I too understand

Exams so near that I shouldn't even write this

I know you cannot sit quiet.

You would argue " I will do nothing but watch you study"

I would snap back "IS IT POSSIBLE when......."

" A girl is stating at you and you keep studying"

" A girl whose silky hair smells like fragrant"

" A girl whose innocence smiles always"

" No way...... i can't do that..I ain't saint"

I will also miss you tonight my love...

Its you who inspires me always

It is for you whom I am doing this

Do'nt you know the reason for my existence ???

Whenever I will take a break, I may watch your photo

I may talk to you or may go for a short walk with you.

China's earth quake gave me a jolt too

2008-05-14T08:49:00.000-07:00

The recent earth quake that struck China on May 11th was measured to be 7.9 on the Richter scale. Major destruction and losses happened in the province of Sichuan. Amount of destruction and loss is unbelievable and growing with every new day. People which include children, woman and man equally lost so much in a single day. Their lives, their property, everything collapsed by the curse of the nature. Rescue workers are finding it very difficult to search and pull out the survivors from the debris.

I saw photograps of a pregnant woman who is still alive who was being taken out, another photo of a young father holding his few months old son who is dead and the child's face is all covered with bandage and stained with blood, yet another photo of a old person pointing towards a hoard of bricks which used to be his house few days back...all made me sad. I imagined my wife facing the same situation with her husband(myself) dead and she's homeless. My heart cried for her. Why mother nature has to be so cruel ? What is the good we can justify of such massacre???

Although we have advanced so much with the help of technolgy and modern inventions, but this incident again proved that we cannot tame nature. The more we build, the more it will be destroyed. This event will be forgotten after a month or so, but the people who became homeless, the children who became orphan, the women who may have to choose prostitution will always carry this pain in their heart. They have nobody left in this world to wipe their tears.
Help them God. Thats what I can type or do by sitting in front of the computer.

Humanity, its the time to learn from your mistakes. We can be a little less shelfish, can be a little more merciful for the poor and the underprivileged, can be little less greedy, be a little more considerate for our neighbours and fellow countrymen. This is the time to cling to each other, to each member in the family, to each students in the school and the college, its the time to unity.

Lets pray for the souls who is no more and who left this world with so many unfulfilled desires. May all of them rest in peace. May the sufferings of this world come down.

Brother I could not love you more

2008-05-09T08:31:00.000-07:00

Brother, I could not love you more.....

I still remember your gentle smile and innocent eyes...
You care so much for me and always be with me......
How we used to wear the same dress and people used to call us twins
Our countenance and body so different now
You always wanted to be with me and I always ward you off...
How we used get frantic on silly jokes and couldnot control our laughter
How we fought over carrom board and chess ?
You were a nasty guy.... always tried to beat me :)

I always fought with you and tried to hurt you....
I enjoyed so much with you and never appreciated those moments
Memories so fresh while we played cricket in our garden
After we came back from school and finished our lunch
How mom used to keep calling us to take a nap so that we could study later
How we would damage maa's favorate plants and then arrange and hide it somehow

How we used to steal sweets, laddus and dry fruits when maa babi were asleep
How we get on the attic to get guava and mango
How we used to finish our share of cake and drool over each other's leftovers
How we used to fight for our share when Maa or Babi used to feed us ?
How we used to play antakshari with Bunu, Sopon and Chunki
How we fight for the ranger bicycle or the scooter ?

While coming back from school while it rained, we used to splash our shoes in the water
Then Mom used to scold and box our ears
How we used to get into one blanket while its winter
How we used to wrestle when no body is at home...
How I wonder that sometimes I was more stronger than you and now you beat me so easily
How we used to tear the film posters from the Sindhi Hotel's wall while coming back from school
How we both bully other guys in our colony
I wonder why we fought while together, but instantly got united against anybody else

How we gave away beautiful girls for each other's sake
How we cried after meeting long time later.......
Bhai but I could not love you more.......

You are of my size and age, and I could never take you on my lap nor could I cuddle you.
But I remember how I used to read bangla comics for you, since you could not read it.
How we used to enjoy the ride on blanket while one sits on it and the other drag it over the surface.
How maa used to beat us and when we looked at each other how we smiled and share the pain
How we used to get into our water tank when nobody was there at home.......

I don't know when we went so far away from each other....now I can only hear your voice...
You have your own family and I have my own..but still deep in my heart I have a regret...

Brother, I could not love you more.....

To be continued........

My drawings

2008-04-16T13:21:00.000-07:00

If only you dare ............

2008-04-08T06:32:00.000-07:00

If you dare to dream, dare to believe yourself

If you dare to go high, dare to climb

If you dare to win, dare to fight

If only you dare..........

Have we stopped appreciating the technology ?

2008-04-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

Just close your eyes for a second and think of your mom in India....u may feel the pang to call her, what next.... you fumble for your cell phone in your pocket and just make a one touch dial and boom....you are connected to your mom sitting thousand of miles away from you. A GPS can locate any place, TV brings you any major events happening all over the world, internet brings you whole lot of information to your PC, Email are the fastest ad industry accepted medium to communicate, Cell Phone, IPOD, IPHONE are indispensable, Itunes made purchasing so effortless, wireless, wi-fi, radar, laser, sonar, VOIP and so on in the list. I, for a moment ponder whether we have stopped appreciating the technology ?

Going 2 to 3 decades back, I wonder how much a long distance call cost, I could have only dreamt of calling anybody in US or UK or Australia or China ? Forget about calling overseas, calling my own relatives within India was not very cheap. My dad used to go to another state for Territorial Army (TA camp) training for a month or so and we would not hear from him for that period, but he used to write us mails because cellphone was not even heard of, forget of it being ubiquitous.

Coming to the present scenario, I am in touch with my realtives in all over world like China, UK, Australia, India while I am in US. In the years to come, it will be a legendary that once we existed without cellphone and Internet. I will be able to share nice stories with my grand children. Then they might get nighmares that their cellphone is vanished. I sincerely feel we must appreciate the technolgy which has made our life so comfy and connected. We must be thankful to the efforts of the guys who made it possible for us to be in touch with our loved ones, who helped us save so much money and who made our life better.

Why New York Governor Spitzer faltered ?

2008-03-14T08:51:00.000-07:00

Man toils hard to reach a position and then some day his one silly act drown his position and makes him stand stark naked before everybody with his swollen and gloomy face to make an apology which nobody is interested in, except his foes. I wonder how come a man who is so popular and hard working, a man who has been a torch bearer for others, again who is an inspiration for the masses why did he took such a chance? Why Spitzer, the ex governor of New York, risked his reputation for few minutes of fun and ecstacy? Why, only men at his age and reputation dare to do such act of pervertness ? Hope you remember "Bill Clinton".

Agreed, we all are human beings and anybody can slip, but when a huge personality like Spitzer does that why do we make hue and cry? The reason can be as simple as "We look forward to him as a personification of "so called goodness" and when he commits such sin, common man like us are shell shocked; our faith on the existence of an ideal guy gets shattered one more time, we get awe struck with our mouth wide open". I want to pursue this question a little further, why in the first place he has to do that ?

To my mind, comes the two factors :- his age and his huge position. Basically, a man may falter in certain conditions like : when his wife and kids doesnot pay much attention to him or his wife, may not be satisfying his sexual appetite. Alternatively, a man may not be any more inclined to his aged wife sexually. There can be many reasons of similar kinds, which may occur to us if we try to get into his shoe.

Majority would agree with me when I proclaim that a guy in his entire life time keeps running after two things : sex and money, and both of which somehow signify power and achivement; whether you talk about success in bed or about succes in the stock market. Believe me, it gives a man immense delight and satisfaction when he has complete rein in these domains. These things holds true for Spitzer too. He earned enough money, raised his family, enough good work for public, so what next or what is there to excite him ? What is the harm in assuming that he might just need some thrill, given his work pressure. In his case the huge popularity acted like a deadly catalyst. It gave him a false confidence that he is all powerful and he can fool anybody.

Till the time he was on the right track, even kismet was pretty much was on his side, but the moment he started playing fool with those girls, his bad days had already started counting down. What we learnt from this incident ? Is there anything worth learning here ? Ask yourself ? Its a question of morality. Common man like us can straightway say..."Spitzer shouldnot have acted that way" but my dear friend, simple truth is we need to reach at his stature and undergo his kind of experience before we pass any judgement. Still it would be safer to say that any act of this kind is both unforgiveable and unforgettable. It kills the trust you build over the years with your family, friends and loyal people around you. If you think there is something more important than these things you are pretty much on your own to play with the fire. Dear friends, its just another warning for the future which will keep repeating itself with the mis adventures from the likes of Clinton, Spitzer and bla bla bla.

Things Indian shouldnot learn from Americans

2008-03-04T11:18:00.000-08:00

Way Too much Formality : Question : Hi, How are you doing ? Answer : Who cares ???

Credit for everything and anything : 0% APR for 12 months, No yearly fee, No Interest till u die

Attire for any and all occassions : Simply ostentatious, Hey u have to come prepared as a princess today, tomorrow you have to dress like a monkey, because tommorrow is a animal day.

Everyday is Special : Mother's day, Father's day, Teacher's day, Friend's day, Animal day, Highway day and what not ?

Shopping & Shopping is the summary for all of their celebration and festival Extravanganza Costly college education

Junk food : McDonald, Hamburger, Pizza, Coke, Cheese, Chocolates...........

Over use of the F*** word

Over indulgent in latest technology : IPhone, Ipod, GPS, HDTV, Blu Ray, XP, Vista, XBOX...come on give me a break.Who wants all these ?

Obsessed with horror movies : You hardly feel scary of american movies rather you feel more sick and the feel of disgust comes to your mind. Never ever watch them

Teen Sex

Teen Violence

Arms and Ammunation

My first cartoon blog : Things Indian can take away along with dollars

2007-09-27T06:27:00.001-07:00

India is a beautiful land of colorful and intelligent people. Every year thousands of people from different field come to US to fulfill their dreams. What I feel, if during our stay we pick a few things from Americans we will be earning much more than mere dollars. In this blog I am writting what we as a Indian can learn from them. In the next blogs I will be telling what we should not even think about getting from them and what Americans can learn from us as well. Hope you will enjoy my trivial cartoons along with the messages. Love to hear any comments from you.

Yes I have made all the cartoons using MS Paint and they have not been copied from any other sources. Please click on the cartoons to get the enlarged view.

Showing courtesy : Hold the door for the guy coming behind you. Its such a humane gesture.
Following the Traffic : Its sensible.

Road Lane System : Isn't it convenient that everybody drives in his or her lane and show signs/indications while they change it?

Handling Accidents : How smartly the accidents are handled here, not the way how we take law in our hand and want to kill each other. Corruption is so rampant in India that we hardly have any trust on the cops, thats probably one of the reasons why we want to settle things by our own way and which definitely sucks. Can we hope for a change in the near future ???

Mimimum Honks : Nobody blows horn if its not necessary.
Q system : Never follow the rule of precedence. No preferences, everybody has to wait and follow to get anything. Its should always be First Come First Serve.

Free Library : A great place to visit where you get to read books without spending a penny.

Giving way to Pedestrians : Thats the way it should be. Doesn't it shows American society have a sense of protection for weaker section ???

Google Map/ Mapquest : Who doesnot refers to one of these two sites before looking for an address. They are one of the biggest reasons for commuters' convenience. Kudos to US again for organizing its addresses so well.

GPS : Global Positioning Satellite is a device which helps you locate an address with least of your effort. You can dare to visit any new place with the help of this tiny and inexpensive device.

Greeting, even the poorest guy : Everybody greets everybody, without thinking twice whether I know this guy or not. A warm smile from a stranger is so rejuvenating.

Valuing labors : Even the nasty looking guy in tattered clothes may be earning more than you depending on the kind of labor he is engaged in. Go for a car repair once and you will realize the value of labor here.

Law & Order : People dread cops like hell.

Following a system for everything : Everyone and everything is following some system, there is nothing called unruly and unmanaged here except few exceptions.

Garbage cans : Don't we want our India to be as neat as US, definitely yes, then why do we make our public places like railway station, bus station, movie theatre and hospitals dirty ? they are for own usage man. Please learn this.

Subway Restaurant : One of the American food which I feel, is definitely fresh and with lot of different combinations, and yet affordable.

SubWay trains : Oh man, what a relief for the New Yorkers, they don't even appreciate it any more.

US salary : Can't ask for more.

Great protection and concern for kids : Cops will take away your kids if you dare to neglect or physically assault them. Kids have the ultimate freedom and care in this country.

Free education : Definitely needed in India, but when ? We need to get rid of shortcut policies like Reservation based on caste and creed, but if we can provide free basic education, I strongly believe it would resolve half the problems of our country.

Outspoken : Just speak up your mind guys. Be outspoken. Appeal against anything and everything. Praise it, boo it, criticize it but don't be mum.

Keep the distance buddy : Respect their space and privacy. This is one thing we Indians need to learn fast.

Early to rise and early to bed : Coming early to office and leaving early.

Physical fitness & exercise ; equal importance to all kind of sports : Don't we envy and fantasize their great bodies ????

Eating raw foods like salads and mildly cooked food : One of the reasons of their lean shape.

Internet : Majority of US household has Internet facility at their home.

Online payment : At the comfort of your home, you can use your internet to pay almost any kind of bills.

Online shopping is intelligent shopping : Anything and Everything can be shopped online

Online reviews : Customers leave excellent reviews for everything, whether its about a product, whether how a doctor treats his patients , how good a hotel is, what are the pros and cons of appartment X ,place of visit and what so ever. Online comments do helps in intelligent decision making, which eventually saves few bucks and avoid hassles.

Online stores : Every store or product is bound to be popular if they have a dedicated internet site along with customer service which gives support 24*7*365.

Online Rental Movie : Get the Netflix or the Blockbuster account and you would be instantly addicted to them and the movies of course. The picture quality is awesome for the simplest reason that all the DVDs or CDs are original. You never have to go to the stores. Definitely needed in India.

Earn money online : Don't have much idea, but people are making a lot of money through online networking.

Great Love for pets : Its such a cultural shock when you see how these guys treat their dogs and cats. I think US should start visa for pets too, dogs in Indian streets will have a great relief here.

No Eve teasing : I think its a great relief for the girls here.

To be continued....................

I am ispiring myself

2007-09-18T09:08:00.000-07:00

Lets try to stride where nobody has ever walked...............
Lets try to do which nobody thinks possible........................
Lets try to fight the battle which no one has ever won......

My Driving adventure

2007-09-15T05:53:00.000-07:00

The day I landed in US, it it never occured to me how driving would affect my life here. Back in India, bike was my best buddy, always reliable, no hassles, can take to anywhere, can take you out from anywhere, never ever betrayed, never broke down apart from getting punctured couple of time. I feel, people get used to what they ride. Like initially I was more than happy with a cycle or a ranger. Then came Luna, followed by scooter and then the deadly manly BIKE came to my life. It was every youth's dream to possess a bike. I never thought of buying a car in Bangalore where I used to work because its not worth to have car, beacuse people in bike can more cover any distance in less time than cars too. Apart from that, slow moving traffic killed the thrill of sitting in an air-conditioned car.

To be continued....................

Love for Bengali song

2007-04-30T10:41:00.000-07:00

Yes I was kid when I was exposed to Bengali songs, especially sung by Kishore, Md Rafi , Mannna Dey, Asha Bhonsle and Lata. Out of them , Kishore's voice has the greatest impact on me. After returning from school and having our lunch I used to take a nap of 1 hr from 1 PM to 2 PM and sometimes a little more. The nap used to be so good and pleasing all because of Kishore's sweet voice. My father was one of his greatest fan and I inherited this attribute naturally. I could have never imagined that I could hear him in US too. Thanks to the numerous websites where this invaluable songs are available free of cost.

Aru, my wife is not bengali, but I am really amazed seeing her develop the interest for the Bengali songs. She also has the same taste for Kishore's song. In the weekends she would wake up earlier than me to play the Kishore's DVD so that I can wake up gently.