My Trysts With Life

17th November, IMT Ghaziabad : "Bhaiya, maine bhi ek gaana suna dun sabko?"- This one sweet and small sentence by an even smaller and sweeter girl made me smile. This little girl (with an eye on the pencil boxes being handed out to performers) kept on insisting that she just had to perform. It was the Joy of Giving Event, organized by MadF (yes I am a member) at IMT Ghaziabad. So we had 126 kids of all age groups barraging in to have their share of the limelight- some even a bit surprised that why all these bhaiyas and didis are spending so much time with them. Little did they know that these particular Bhaiyas and Didis were learning a very important lesson- of being happy, from them. The day began with me and three MADF members going to Noida and receiving the kids. It felt strange to be the one getting the kids into a line, checking the head count, when some years back, I was the one being counted. being marked present. Then came the teachers: agitated, excit

"When in doubt, ask!" is perhaps the most heard of adage while growing up. Circa 2020, the adage's essence has remained same, while the who part has been replaced by "Search engines" or maybe the "cellphone" or basically, the "technology". Yup, you must be getting the general idea- people today are becoming just too dependent on technology. Want to go somewhere- GPS. Want to know something: search engines. I believe most of you just loose it when the internet connection is down. Or maybe when you are outside, you call a friend of yours, to ask where that ATM/ Shop is. Take a poll and tell me, how many of you just keep on looking at your cellphones, just so to check if someone has sent a "ping" on Whatsapp! I still fondly remember asking the local "paan-wala" for directions and those humorous replies: "left lena, phir seedhe haath pe 5 minute mien aa jaega". Or looking frantically for a piece of paper to

Ghaziabad: I was reading a newspaper (damn this PGDM and the need for general awareness), when an article on the "CSR" caught my attention. CSR, or the in-vogue Corporate Social Responsibility is basically the various small or long term activities initiated by the corporate overlords. So nowadays, everyone is jumping in the bandwagon to be called "socially responsible". Now, I was thinking something different (of course right!). There definitely IS a selfish motif involved when a money hungry organization goes on a spending spree for someone who is essentially a non-user for their company. It’s basically projecting their organizations in good light- then they care for a sustainable future, for a better tomorrow and it’s not just good business. So by this CSR act of the organization, they are hitting two targets with the same arrow- silence the government and society, secondly (and more importantly) actually help someone.                                     

Ghaziabad: I was priviliged enough to be inducted in the official social work club at IMT Ghaziabad- Make a Difference Foundation (MadF, as they call themselves).   Now Madf organizes a number of events both inside IMT and outside- which include a convenience store (all profit goes to charity), a clothes donation drive and other social events.     One such event was “Sanjeevani” or your everyday blood donation camp. Now I have been a part of many such camps, both as volunteer and as a donor. However, this particular club and the zeal shown by the members left a deep impact on me. So here we have a group of individuals, working for a cause, with no monetary or for that matter any incentive- working tirelessly and efficiently to make the whole process as smooth as possible. We have three people accumulating data, three or four talking animatedly to the donors and three rushing to the donor once the torrid time (read blood donation) is complete- with juice and band aid, and wit

The very first word, when you open the Vocabulary building exercise book: "Word Power Made Easy" is EGOIST. This specific word, derived from the word: 'ego' means a person who places himself in front of others. And to be honest, we all are egoist- to some extent. Now considering the fact that all of us are egoist, how do we actually become the infamous "team player", a desperate trait in the job specification of a dream employee of all companies? Ergo, the "Adjustment Club"- a self-thought of concept (I happen to be the founding figure, president, point of contact, strategist, consultant, basically every job possible- and the ONLY recognized member!). What's the concept you ask? Simple, force this ego dude to the back and empathize. Sounds simple right! Oh mind you, it's not. From what I've seen, people in general tend to put their side of the story first- that's human nature. Here's a test: sit for two minutes and

Ghaziabad: I was doing my normal rounds of jogging (all right I am not a regular) in a nearby park in my locality. While returning, I chanced upon one of the more garrulous uncles’ of my colony, who decided to accompany me on the way back. Well somehow the conversation drifted to marriage (don’t know why, but people have a habit of talking about your marriage as soon as your elder sibling gets married). So here goes uncle, explaining with great gusto about a grand wedding that he was a part of. The groom, a doctor was given a Fortuner while all the baraatis were given silver key rings, the food was majestic and the decorations were mind blowing. This continued for another 10 minutes, the final conclusion being that it was a marriage to remember!                                                                                       Photo Courtesy: www.divorceindia.org Then suddenly, the conversation shifted to the demon called “dowry”, still prevalent in all parts of Indi

Mumbai: I was returning from my work after quite a hectic day. Cursing the day that had just passed, I waited for the local. Well, the old anecdote came true, “an empty mind is a devil’s workshop”- as I sat there, thinking about what life can be, the missed opportunities, the lost ways. I noticed another fellow sitting there, shouting at the top of his voice to his mother (I can only assume), that he had to do everything by himself and they (his parents) and never shown any kind of empathy towards him. So here we have two young men, kind of cursing their luck (in the other guy’s case his parents) while we waited for the local. Well, as it many times happens, our dear friend, “Mr Life”, nearly always teaches us a lesson when we are not too cheerful about it. When I embarked from the train, now debating whether the guy was right or wrong, I chanced upon a guy my age- by the looks of him. He was sitting on the road, making “Rotis” (the classical Indian Chapatis), using his hands. Hi

Ville Parle, Mumbai: New city, new people, new things to laugh at! My internship with a company brought me to Mumbai, the city of dreams as they call it. Now Mumbai is crowded- mind you it is! And to no big surprise, people from the northern states are obviously more in number here than anywhere else! So let me describe how the “Mumbaikars” go about their lives. Day starts at about 6 am in the morning, with hurried steps- because water is an issue (at least at some places). Then a quick bath, followed by gobbling whatever edible is in sight, and you are ready for office. Then comes the lifeline of Mumbai- the Mumbai “local” as people here address it, runs through all parts of Mumbai and mind you- is full all the time. So our office goer boards the local for his office, with the monthly pass ready in his pockets. To prevent pick pockets, you are required to keep your wallet and other valuable in your bag and the bag is required to be firmly tucked under your arm. With this done,

I believe all of you must have heard or seen the Mobile App: "Talking Tom Cat". It's a pretty nifty app, a cute looking tom-cat, who imitates your voice in a very funny way. End result- people clutching their stomachs and laughing their heads off. I too downloaded the app, and joined in the frenzy of the app world phenomena.                                                                                                                                  Well while coming back from Dubai, I happened to chance upon a small life size tom cat toy. The toy also does the same things- talks back, purrs when you cuddle him and cries in anguish when you hit him. The app designer must have designed it keeping the small kids in mind, but too my surprise, it's the adults who are more addicted to the tom-cat. Reason: the cat is giving all BUSY adults a chance to jump time zones and go back to their childhood, to relieve some stress and above all- have a good laugh, something t

Dubai, UAE. I had boarded the bus to Rashidiya Metro Station and then to my sister's place. Now let me describe the Dubai RTA (road & transport authority) buses. The buses, red in color have lesser space than our local Indian buses, with an automated card system and sophisticated looking seats and ambience. And of course, filled with people from over 160 different nationalities- a trademark of Dubai. So here I am sitting in the bus- thinking about the latest pjs (hey I can have a strange hobby!), when the bus starts getting crowded. The present scenario in the bus is like this: three chattery Philippinos, a group of constant smsing girls, me and around fifteen more people, all from different places. At the next bus stop, an elderly lady (I believe Irish) enters and finding no vacant seat, stands near the gate.  So I am looking at the lady, wondering how to get to her and give her my seat. I look towards her but she's looking the other way round. Not able to reach her

An unusual stroke of luck followed by several sarcastic comments and my name came out of a lottery for the appointment of the Official Representative of the college for DIAC (that's Dubai International Academic City- 37 colleges, common functions, student hub and all). My duties thus included representing the college at the meetings, forwarding mails, and basically carrying out small small formal things for the student hub. One such activity was the Winter Week of Welcome, which is basically your everyday fresher party. I was given the task of helping the various sponsors who would be there with their stalls and their marketing strategies. Dubai, is called the "Melting Pot" of the world, wherein people from all parts of the world (basically, India Pakistan and Philippines, rest are just a minority!!!) meet and work with each other. So we (the representatives) were instructed to be very specific when interacting with various people. In the end as it turned out- every on