HABIT

I would like to share something with you all about "Habit". This was told to us by my computer science teacher when I was in school.

HABIT - It is something that is part of our life. Now remove 'H' from it.
ABIT - It means A BIT is still there. Now remove 'A' from it.
BIT - It means BIT (of the Habit) is still there. Now remove 'B' from it.
IT - It means IT (the Habit) is still there. Now remove 'I' from it.
'T - It means IT (the Habit) is still there.

Moral of the story - A habit is very difficult to get rid of :-).

Any habit that one has, sometime serves a boon and sometime even as bane. Today I experienced both sides of it with the same 'habit'.

Everyday in the evening when I travel back to my home in the bus, I have this habit of listening to a program on FM Radio called "Gaane Anjane". It starts at 8 PM. I use my mobile phone to listen to the FM. Today when it struck 8 PM, as usual, I went for my mobile phone only to find that it was missing. I then realized that I had left my mobile phone in office itself. If I did not have this habit, then I would have not realized that I missed my phone in office. It is this habit that helped me to realize that :-).

In fact it was this habit that made me lose my phone as well. In the evening when I saw my phone, the charge was very less. Since I wanted to listen to this program, I put my phone on charge. Later, I forgot to take the phone.

Thus a habit could prove to be advantageous and sometimes disastrous too. Moreover it is very difficult to get rid of. So choose your habits carefully.

Jai Ho...

Must be wondering what is it about...so here goes the story...

I returned back to India from Brussels on April 30. This time instead of taking the usual direct flight, I took the flight to Chennai via Frankfurt. My flight from Brussels was an early morning flight at 7:15 am. The flight reached Frankfurt at 8:30 am. I had to wait there for about 2.5 hrs before taking the flight to Chennai at 11 am. I bought some chocolates. I just roamed around the for a while and then moved towards Gate number 26 from where I had to board the flight. During this long wait, I had to attend nature's call. When I opened the door of the toilet to come out, a short guy crossed me and went into the toilet. His face seemed very familiar. Can you guess who it was? It was the great "A. R. Rahman". I just waited outside the toilet, with a paper and pen ready to get the autograph. He came out and I just followed him to get the autograph, but he just did not listen and went inside the business lounge. I did not have the business class ticket, so I could not get into it. So I could not take his autograph. I saw him again when he crossed me to board the flight as business class ticket holders were the first one to board the flight. When I entered the flight and was going to occupy my seat, I had to cross the business class seats. I saw Rahman again. He was sitting on the window seat. So we shared the flight for some 9 hours. I once again had the chance to see him when we were collecting the check-in baggage. He had two big suitcases. He refused help from a few people. He picked those heavy bags himself and put it on the trolley and left. So that was the last time I saw him for that day.

Let us see if I have another chance to see him and speak to him..till then "Jai Ho" to the maestro.

India desperate for change, Wants its Obama

The title of the post is not mine but I borrowed it from a news channel. In fact it is this title that prompted me to write this post. I am sometimes very amused by the headings that these news agencies use. Is it just to attract the eye balls? Well then I would like to see how much eye balls my post catches. If you are reading this blog, then please do post a comment "Yes! I read." :-).

Coming back to the heading. I have no objection to the first half of the heading. India is indeed desperate for a change. There is no doubt about it. It is to the second half, that I have objection to. What do they mean by "its Obama"? Obama himself is new to the power. With due respect to him, he is yet to prove everyone what he is capable of. Already I see media everywhere in the world quoting him, as if he is an icon. I do not intend to echo any nationalist sentiment but what I would like to know from this news agency is, can't they find a single icon within our own nation. India is a bigger democracy than America, what could an Obama do to it?

Why do we have to look outside our country for examples and icons? Shed the populistic approach to the news and open your eyes and you will see a lot more people you can look up to. Then you would not need "an Obama" for your headings.

So finally I would like to say...India is desperate for change, so change yourself.

Story of Hope, Optimism and Cheer

Just two months ago, the movie Slumdog Millionaire was being hailed as the story of optimism. It was claimed that the movie brought with it hope, optimism and cheer in the times of recession. It was also referred to as "Rags to Riches" story. That was all in reel life and people would have been wondering, is this kind of story ever possible in real life.

Today I can definitely say that it happens in real life too. Fairy tales do come alive. You need the will to bring them alive. Afghanistan more known as a war ravaged country and known less for its cricket prowess, started from WCL Division 5 (rags) and has ended today in WCL Division 1 (riches) in less than a years time. Theirs is indeed a story of optimism. The story of Afghanistan's progress in the cricket gives hope, optimism and cheer too all the ICC Associates and Affiliates that dream of being in the top league.

When the World Cricket league was first introduced by ICC in 2007, it was believed by ICC that it will ensure that the qualifying pathway for the ICC Cricket World Cup is open to the majority of the 94 ICC Associate and Affiliate members. Afghanistan's progress is a testimony to ICC's belief and serves as a good example for others. Being a war-torn country, it obviously faced many disadvantages, such as a lack of facilities, etc. but the dedication of the players and authorities made them achieve what looked impossible just a year ago.

When Afghanistan began their campaign in WCL Division 5 last year on May 23 against Japan, no one expected them to get this far. Even the Afghans themselves would have not expected it. Finishing second in their group, later defeating Nepal in semi-final to reach the final and then finally clinching the trophy defeating the host Jersey, they saw themselves climbing the ladder of WCL reaching Division 4.

WCL Division 4 was relatively easy for them where they remained undefeated and clinched the title and another promotion defeating Hong Kong. WCL Division 3 was the real test for them. A place in final here would not just mean a promotion but also a place in the World Cup Qualifier. Their campaign began with a setback. They were defeated by Uganda in their very first game. Then they came back firing all cylinders to clinch the next three games. Their dream run was about to end when they received a scare from Cayman Islands in their final league game. They were at the verge of defeat at the hands of Cayman Islands. They had set Cayman Islands a target of 63 in 20 overs. Cayman Islands were cruising to the victory scoring 35 in just 7 overs. At this stage only a divine intervention could have averted Afghanistan's defeat. As it is always said that fortune favors the brave, heavy showers led to the abandonment of the match and the match was replayed the next day. Afghanistan made sure that they use this opportunity and won the game very comfortably, finishing top of the table. This meant that they have won another title, a promotion and a chance to play the World Cup Qualifiers.

Afghanistan must have known coming to the world cup qualifiers that with Top 10 Associates in the fray, it will not be a cake walk to qualify for the world cup in 2011. Thus their realistic aim would have been to end up in top 6, which would not just earn them an ODI status bit also to play them InterContinental Cup (The 4 day version of the game). They began their campaign very well beating Denmark by 5 wickets. Then they defeated Bermuda (one of the top 6 Associates) by 60 runs. Then they suffered a heavy defeat against Kenya. In their fourth game they gave a close fight to Holland but went down. The next game against UAE was also a close one which again went the other way for the Afghans. This meant that though they were able to cross the first barrier but they were in the Super Eights without a point.

At this point of time with 4 games to go and top associates to play against, the only realistic target was to secure an ODI status. Afghans began their Super Eights campaign with a bang, defeating the tournament favorite and top Associate Ireland. But the very next match they suffered defeat against Canada, which in my opinion they could have really won. Then they added to the misery of Scotland, the defending champion, defeating them by 42 runs. Now with just one game to go, Afghanistan which began the Super Eights with zero points and hoped that it just manages to secure an ODI status was in the running for a spot in the World Cup 2011. It had to win its match against Namibia convincingly and hope that two of the three (Canada, Holland and Kenya) lost their games. But none of the two happened. Afghanistan did win against Namibia but that was not convincing enough to boost their NRR. Also Holland and Kenya both won their final games, shutting any opportunity whatsoever Afghanistan had. But Afghanistan had already achieved what they wanted to - ODI status for the next 4 years. This will give them an opportunity to play against the full members and learn from them.

Afghanistan finished 6th in the Super Eights table and had to play against Scotland for the fifth place playoff. Afghanistan completed their journey defeating Scotland again convincingly and finishing fifth in the tournament.

The rise of Afghanistan over the one year reinforces the fact that there is indeed a hope and optimism beyond the test world. One has to believe in their ability and consistently deliver. I hope that Afghanistan, now reaching the top level performs well consistently and prove to the rest of the world that it is not just a soap bubble but is here to stay much longer.

Socks

Socks - short stocking worn in feet, reaching a point between the ankle and the knee. Every one knows that, so what about it? The answer is, wearing it. I have always struggled to decide whether wearing socks is an art or it is a scince.

After buying a pair of socks, when it comes to wearing it for the first time, a confusion creeps in. Which one is for the right leg and which one is for the left leg. Even after examining both of them closely, one is not able to find any difference in them. This makes one arrive at a simple conclusion, when they are new, there is no right one or left one. Going by this theory, whenever the pair is new, I have never bothered to find out which one is for right leg and which one is for left leg. Now if one decides to wear the socks again, before the first wash, then it is very convinient as one can see very clearly that the socks has already taken the shape of one's legs when one wore it the first time. So one can easily slip in his leg as per what his socks guides. The real confusion starts when one is wearing the socks after the first wash. The socks now loses the impression that it had before the wash. Though it is as good as the new one and the theory above still holds good, one still wants to challenge oneself. Since one has already worn it, one takes this as a prestige issue to identify which one is to be worn on which leg. Sometimes one succeeds and sometimes one does not. If one does not succeed to find the correct one for the correct leg, then it goes without saying that one follows the above theory. After these initial struggles, one starts wearing the socks regularly and the socks takes the shape of your leg and helps you identify the correct one in spite of repeated rigourous washes.

But I have come across certain stubborn socks that does not take the shape very easily. So this means that the struggle continues. In such cases one's bad habit of not cutting their toe nails comes handy. After you wear the socks for couple of times, the nail makes an impression and that helps a great deal to identify the correct sock for the correct leg. If one is persistent with not cutting his nails, then it results in a hole (an eye) at toe point. This is of great help and thus puts an end to the struggle in the morning, when you are desperate to go out for work. But yes this eye comes with a cost, the cost being that the life of one's socks becomes less. This means that the time for buying a new pair of socks comes near. So that means that the cycle will start again.

So what do you reckon? Is it an art or a science?

Ashwin in Paris - 10

In my last post I had promised that I will share an experience that I 'll never forget in my life. I do not think you were anyway eagerly waiting to hear it :-). But still, without wasting any time, let me break the suspense.

See the picture attached…Saw something unusual??????? I know what you must be thinking….you must be thinking of the angular nature of the picture… No!

By this time you must have got a smile on your face…and yes now you would have observed the grin on my face as well…very unnatural for me to smile this way when I pose for the photograph…most of you know that :-).

Even now the smile that you see on my face is not natural…but forced by circumstance…yep you hear it right forced…:-)

How? Here it goes…

I was standing for my friend to take a photograph of mine…I was posing for the photo and true to my reputation with a grim face…

Come on Ashwin …you have to smile when you pose for a photo …a comment should have come from my friend … but my friends are used to it …they know I don't have a photogenic face…:-) and to add to it …smile is the last thing that they can expect from me when I pose for a photograph…

One of my colleagues had once commented that I was serious to the core…Let me open a poll here….Do you agree to it? Or Do you disagree? You can use the comments section for this :-).

So now what is so memorable about this ???????

"You have to smile when you pose for a photo" …Though these were not the exact words but that is what an Old Lady who passed by me meant when she shouted "Smile please" and demonstrated to me how to do it…

And with that the entire crowd surrounding me burst into laughter…It was very embarrassing but even I could not stop laughing and the "grim face" turned into a "grin face". My friend took advantage of this golden opportunity and seized the moment in his camera…and this is what is attached.

Hope you enjoyed this……keep waiting for my next post

Ashwin in Paris - 9

The next destination on our sojourn was in sight and we crossed the road to enter it. We moved towards the entrance of the world famous museum. And here we reached the outer entrance of the museum. We went inside and posed for a photograph in front of a beautiful fountain. We went further inside passing another arch and here, the main entrance was well within our reach, the main entrance of the world famous museum "Louvre". It is a Pyramid shaped structure that is the main entrance for this world famous museum. Louvre is divided into three sections. I do not remember the name that they had given to those. I refer them as galleries.

At this point I take a pause…Though there is no logical break but I would like to take a break here to share an experience that I had here.…an experience that I 'll never forget in my life.

Those who know me well will enjoy it …for those who do not know me well…it might serve as a good chance…

What was it? As usual keep waiting …Keep guessing ...Any guess is welcome...

Ashwin in Paris - 8

After spending some time taking pictures we decided we will march towards our destination next. Yes "march" ... Our next destination (let it be a surprise till the next post :-)) was about 15 mins walk from Palais de Justice. And it is a world famous tourist spot (keep up your guess work) ...

The weather was pleasant and cool. We had to walk along the river Siene to reach our destination. We took this as another oppurtunity to probe into our photographic skills. As we were walking, we found some small shops on the pavement. They were selling small souvenirs. Some were selling paintings. We stopped there for a while to do window shopping. At least I was doing window shopping, not sure about others.

There were really nice paintings at display....and then we started again to inch towards our. It was within our sight.

What it is?

As usual in my next post...Till then enjoy...

Ashwin in Paris - 7

We entered the Notre-Dame Cathedral and it was very dark inside. This was the second church that I was visiting here in Europe (in fact in my life). The previous one was also dark. When I say dark, it means that it was with limited visibility. We took lots of photos inside but because it was dark the quality of the photos were not very good. What more could I tell? I am not in a position to explain various things as I myself do not know much about the architecture and the history of Notre-Dame Cathedral. You can always refer to the link that I gave before :-).

We came out of the Cathedral. Now we had the choice of going up the Cathedral and see Paris from a decent height but then we decided against it for the following reasons:
1) We wanted to save time

2) The ticket was too expensive (around 10 euros)

3) Anyway we were going to climb the Eiffel Tower :-)

Now our next destination was "Palais de Justice". To know more about Palais de Justice, use your surfing skills...:-). Palais de Justice was closed for some reasons and thus we were not able to go inside. So we took this oppurtunity to take some snaps outside the place. After taking sufficient pictures..we turned towards our DestinationNEXT...and what was it....?

Press your guessing button...and wait for my next post...

Ashwin in Paris - 6

We reached the first destination of our Paris sojourn – Notre-Dame Cathedral.To know more about Notre-Dame Cathedral, go through the link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre_Dame_de_Paris
There are many other such links but I am a bad surfer… Check them yourself…:-).

What did we do different? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha …..We had our breakfast there … in front of the great Notre-DameCathedral. Do not curse me …Now that we were at the famous Notre-Dame Cathedral, we decided to have our breakfast here to save some precious time…yeah time is precious.

Now let me try to describe this place…I am very poor at this…moreoverI have to recall now whatever I had seen…Since at that point of time I had never even imagined that I would write something on my Paris trip I did not observe very minutely…(I am not a good observer either).

There is a large (am not sure of the adjective, feel free to correct me) open space (what do we call it? A porch… not sure) in front of the church. On the right side (when u r facing the church), there is a lot of empty space, not cemented. On your left (when u r facing the church) there is a road, on the other side of the road you haves hops. Right opposite to the church you can see a palace kind of building ... do not know what it is. That is it for the description...my memory does not give me any other details.

It was cold in the morning and the place was crowded and I could see people all over the porch…pretty much tourists like us… there were many people who were selling key chains with Eiffel tower. Some were selling 6 pieces for 2 euros and some 10 for 2 euros. I was not interested so did not bother to see what the difference was.

We decided to go inside the Cathedral.

What is there inside? What will be there inside a Cathedral??????? Do not know? Even I was eager to know that…

Keep waiting for my next post ….Happy reading …

Ashwin in Paris - 5

Must be wondering where the hell did I go...Answer is Rotterdam :-). So getting back to the business of blogging...

I woke up at 7 am the next morning…finished up my morning chores. One of my colleagues was with his wife and kid in another room. I went to his room to ensure that he has also woken up. My friends too woke up very early…yeah only after 8 am but considering that it was a Saturday… it was definitely too early. By now you would have come to a conclusion and yes your conclusion is correct that we met out target of 9 am with an Indian Standard Delayof 15 mins (ahh…that is acceptable). Then we bought some snacks and juices for our breakfast on our way to the metro station.We had the road map of Paris which had the details of the metro as well. Our first destination was Notre-Dame Cathedral. We reached our destination station. We came out of the station and that was my(rather our) first view of "day Paris". We decided to take some photos. The cathedral was about 10 mins walk from the station. So we began to walk towards Notre Dame. We walked along the Siene river(again a potential spot to take pictures).

After almost 10 mins of walk exclusive of the 10 mins of photo session, we reached the "Destination First" of our tour… Notre-Dame Cathedral.

What did we do there? You must be thinking what special we could have done there. Yeah nothing special but something different …
What???????????? Keep checking this space… The Paris sojourn has just begun…:-)

Ashwin in Paris - 4

Yeah of course we did find our "Hotel Modern". No pleasant surprise….they did confirm our booking…:-). But yeah, surprise was due….our room was at third floor…and there was no lift…:-). You would be wondering, is this worth calling a surprise…sometime yes…

The room was small but enough to accommodate three of us. There was an attached toilet too. We had provision for hot water too. What else do you need? It was already 00:30 am. We quickly went through the Paris map to decide the "Destination Next"....rather "Destination First" for the morning. We set ourselves an ambitious target of 9 am to leave the hotel for our tourist endeavour. After the rapid discussion and quick decision we went to bed around 1 am (don't remember the exact time and I know you are not bothered too…:-)).

Did we meet our ambitious target………….??????? Keep checking this spcae….

Ashwin in Paris - 3

We finally reached the Galeni metro station. From there we boarded the metro at 2305 hrs. The destination station was the third from Galeni. I was telling you about the metro. After seeing the metro map attached earlier you would have understood how complex the network is. The stations cannot be branded as very clean but they were ok. The one thing that I liked about the stations was that there were plenty of signboards to direct you. The basic word with which you should know is the French word for exit---"Sortie". With this word and the metro map that I attached in my previous post, youcan roam anywhere in Paris........:-). I hope I am not exagerating :-).

The metro trains are also good. Each compartment (bogie) lists all the stations that comes in that route (u can see this in the photo attached). I have a few pics that we took in the train. These photos will not help you in forming any opinion on how the trains are. But these are the only photos that I have.

Then we reached our destination station "Pere Lachaise". With the help of "Sortie" we came out of the station. Now the challenge at 2325 hrs was to find out where our hotel is. The temperature was low and no one was there on streets (their presence would have also not helped as we did not know the local language :-)). We had the street name where our hotel was and thus two of us went in different directions to find out where that street was.One thing that I like about Brussels and Paris is that they have a name for each street, however small or narrow the street is. The most important thing being that they have the name of the street written on both ends of the street.

I managed to find out the street where our hotel was. It was very near to the station. Then we all started towards that street.

Did we find our hotel? Was there any surpise in store for us?

To get answer to these questions and many more keep watching this space :-))))))))))

Ashwin in Paris - 2

We reached Paris (rather the outskirst of Paris) at about 2245. This is a place called Galeni. People at south India can compare it to CMBT andpeople at north India can compare it to ISBT...So finaly we reached Paris..........

We had already booked a hotel. It was in a place called "PereLachaise". Since we were reaching Paris late in the night, we thought it was wise to search for a hotel near Galeni. We booked it through internet. This was the nearest, cheapest hotel available.

You can search for ETAP hotels and IBIS hotels. These hotels are really cheap and are almost everywhere in Paris.

Once we reached Galeni we had to hunt for the metro station. That was not difficult as we had a metro station in Galeni too. Moreover there were directions everywhere to facilitate us to reach the metro station.

One of the main mode of local transport here in Paris is metro. In fact we used only that during our stay in Paris. Once we reached the Galeni metro station, we purchased the metro pass for the next two 2 days.

For me, the metro network is the lifeline of Paris. It is spread accross the whole Paris. To understand how complex the network is see the photo attached.

I think I have written too much........It is time for me to take rest.........So keep waiting.....

Ashwin in Paris - 1

Paris is about 300km from Brussels. There are two preffered modes of transport to Paris from Brussels. One is the train and the other one is bus. There is a very famous train called Thalys that runs betweenParis and Brussels. It is very expensive if you book your tickets very close to the date of travel. The journey takes around 1.75 hours. The rate of ticket just two days before our journey was 58 euros (one way) per head. The other mode is bus. There are several travel agencies that run their busses between Paris and Brussels. It is relatively less expensive, rather very cheap. We booked our tickets just one day before our journey date and it costed us 51 euros (to and fro) per head. We used eurolines. The bus journey takes about 3.5 hrs.

We left Brussels by bus at around 1930 hrs on December 1. We reached Paris (rather the outskirst of Paris) at about 2245. This is a place called Galeni. People at south India can compare it to CMBT and people at north India can compare it to ISBT...

So finaly we reached Paris..........
What next?...............Keep checking this space......Till then good bye.........:-)

Ashwin in Paris

I went to Paris on December 1, 2006. I thought that I would share my experience in Paris with my near and dear ones. So I started this series called "Ashwin in Paris" through mails about 2 years ago. Though I started this with much enthusiasm, I could not keep alive my interest to write for a long time. I stopped the series very soon and thus I could not share the experience of whole trip. This post in anyway, is not going to complete that series but it is just an attempt to keep this blog alive. I am posting the contents of those mails here and I hope that by the time I share with you, all the mails regarding my trip to Paris, I will be ready with something new.

For those who have already read my series "Ashwin in Paris", it will be like a refresher, for others it will be an interesting read (at least I hope so).

Keep watching this space for more...

Plague

This is the first poem that I wrote in my life, way back on October 11, 1994. Though the title is in English, the poem is a Hindi poem.
Plague को हव्वा मत बनाईये,
न डरिये और न दूसरों को डरायिये।
दवाईयों का stock घर में मत बढाईये
ज़रुरतमंदों को मत तडपायिये।
चूहों को मार कर सड़क पर मत छोड़ जाईये,
उसपर flint छिड़ककर उसे जलाईये।
आसपास गन्दगी मत फैलाईये,
वातावरण को स्वच्छ बनाईये।
बस इन सावधानियों पर अमल फरमाईये,
अपने घर, वातावरण, शहर को सुखी पाईये।
Plague का भी इलाज है जनाब,
इसे लाइलाज मान कर मत घबराईये आप।

अब बिलकुल अकेला है....

चलते चलते एक दिन, यूँ ही उन से टकरा गए।
मुलाकातें बढ़ी, बातें बढ़ी, न हुई ख़बर अनजाने ही, कब उनके करीब आ गए।

जब भी हो मुलाकात, यह दिल धड़कता था।
न मिल पाये किसी दिन उनसे, यह दिल तड़पता था।

न सोचा था होगी हमको भी किसी से मोहब्बत।
इस कदर खींचेगी हमको भी किसी की चाहत।

प्रेम के पंछी ने अपना पंख जो फैलाया।
इस दिल की उड़ान में, आखिर एक हमसफ़र पाया।

यह सोच कर, अक्सर नहीं होता है यह प्यार,
बिना समय गवाए हमने भी कर दिया इश्क का इज़हार।

पर कमज़ोर था यह इश्क, जो नहीं हुई कुबूल।
अब समझाना था मुश्किल दिल को, जिसने की थी यह भूल।

हमने तो चाहा था दिल ही से, पर हमें यह मोहब्बत रास न आई।
जितना चाहा, वोह करीब हों, उतनी ही हमने दूरी पायी।

अब वोह सपना ही लगता है, यादें भी हुई धुंदली।
दिमाग ही नहीं, दिल भी करता है विश्वास, कोई मुझसे नहीं थी मिली।

यह चाहत, क्या सागर है या कोई मेला है?
मेरा दिल जो निकला था बेफिक्री में, अब बिकुल अकेला है, अब बिलकुल अकेला है....

PS: It took me more than a year to finish this, though bulk of it was written even before I started blogging. I was not able to give it a meaningful ending. Though I still feel that the ending could be better, but I thought, it was stupid to keep it incomplete for such a long time. So I sat for almost 2 hours today and finally finished it.
Please do post your feedback.