Marriage and Facebook!!

Facebook is now a common thing in our life. Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg, he has been able to add a new spice to the routine recipe of our life i.e. Facebooking… Many of my friends are now in their mid-20s and as our Indian society says, it is the ripe age to get married. Same has been happening too. Many of my friends have got married recently or are about to and their facebook profiles have got sudden changes which have not been seen since they have been active on this social platform. The changes are noticeable well-in advance of their actual marriage itinerary. Few days before engagement and marriage, we can see our friends’ (boys and gals…) status being updated like below- - Bakra halal hone wala hai - Bechara shaheed hone wala/wali hai - 7 days to go, 6 days to go (Seems he/she is going to be launched to space) - Awaiting a new phase of life - Missing you so much… - Oh my jaanu….jhappi palo saanu!( lol) Hilarious enough, and friends are happily liking and commenting on these status like- - Beta,. Bhag le nai toh saari umar pachtayega - Yeh toh gaya - Ab phasa saala - Tera number bhi lag gaya - Doston ko na bhul jaiyo - I am so happy for you You will notice a sudden increase in the number of friends in your friend’s profile during their marriage days. There will be all sorts of friend requests from in-laws, relatives, fiancée’s friends, brothers, sisters, cousins and blah blah. Your good gonna-be-hooked friend will start getting confused between this whole new junta in his/her profile and has to make some separate lists to for all these gonna-be-family members. People now prefer to make a facebook event of their marriage and invite people over there only., thereby decreasing the all kharcha of getting new wedding cards published and sending them over( Nice idea for cost-cutting) Now, as marriage happens, new photo albums titled engagement, sangeet, pre-marriage preps, marriage day, doli, new home, Honeymoon etc etc. get uploaded on facebook . Special attention is given to those pics which are clicked by photographer at a separate photo session on the engagement/marriage day. Your new groom/bride friend has to keep his and in-laws family on priority while putting these pics, so that all come in balanced numbers and the relatives, especially in-laws get their due respect Girls feel a new pride while changing their surname to match with their husband’s surname. Some girls with a I-want-independence attitude will never change their surname, giving bad signs to husband that he has to remain under her control. Bad days for husbands ahead! I have read this joke somewhere – Husband was having his first night after marriage and he was updating his facebook status . First update- ghunghat utha raha hu, 2nd update- aaj who zyada haseen hai ya chand??…Friends start commenting now--- beta laga reh, keep updating every moment whole night, we are enjoying..;) Thus, facebook has come as a new way to promote your life socially after marriage. After marriage life, photos for events like first festivals after marriage(diwali, holi and karwa chauth..mostly), babies, their schooling etc. and couples pulling their leg by commenting on each other on their walls are going to become a common thing. And, it's not a harm to do so. As our lives are becoming so busy ahead that we forget to keep in touch with ourselves and our dear friends, we can still see these updates, photos someday or the other and laugh them out as good memories!

Ghunghat or Tight jeans??

Should girls wear small clothes? Should girl go away and dress up with traditional ghunghat on face? What should girls do to save their morality? These questions always make many people to have a thought when girls' morality, their safety, their social value comes under question and the only major culprit who is always taken into custody is man and in 90% of the cases, its true. But what's all happening is really correct? Men have this natural ability to get attracted towards a lady who has wore a gaudy dress, has a lustful walk etc. That Girl also knows that she is getting attention and to grab more of that pie, she will keep making herself look as attractive as possible. Girls do all this- may be in the name of social and personal freedom but the motive may be only to grab attention. It is justified that everyone likes to seek some attention but doing anything to get a lustful attraction of men is always dangerous for her. So, she must think to dress up sensibly before going out. Men, on their part, should control their instincts towards a girl. Giving attention and getting attracted to someone have their limits but crossing the line to molest that girl will ultimately put whole men community in question. City Police or any moral brigade can't control these day-to-day issues as they can't monitor every girl on the road.So, it is the duty to whole aam junta there to have situation under control India is a confused country. The country boasts of beautiful nude statues, sculptures at Ajanta, Khjuraho, its science of Kamasutra etc. but advocates to have girl to cover herself properly. We have been listening all social guidelines in media where some unknown personalities guide us with same rules. But can they justify out Kamasutra laden past then? Becoming a preacher and dictating those rules is always easy but to provide a solution to this confusion is very difficult job. Ultimately, its all a duty of he and she of India to do everything in limit keeping a good balance and respect for Indian as well as Western Culture.

Plan A...or Plan B??

We have always been following a simple theory in life- Have a Plan, work for it and achieve it. But sometimes, we are not having surety of completion of that Plan when we may encounter chaos/complications/problems/hard situations etc. And at that time, a so called ‘Plan B’ becomes handy and has to be worked out. God may have followed same when he created women first as Plan A but then has to create men along as Plan B to counteract blown up issues of Plan A aka Women ;) I have also followed the same adage, made Plan A every time but seldom achieved it due to my inefficiency, fable spirit to work hard and all other excuses etc. I had thoughts of Plan B too but here is the catch…before I had my Plan B , my destiny already had its another Plan B. and before giving me a chance to execute mine, the destiny had already moved and made its Plan B active. Today, whatever I am is due to this Plan B of destiny. This also supports the fact that whatever happens, happens for good and it is worth believing. I am not sitting with a silver spoon given by destiny but yes, destiny has shown me it’s Plan and I have always worked to keep polishing myself and work harder on that Plan and as a result, I keep getting rewards. Today, if you see any of my friends earning good(7 digit annual salary), studying in good institutes(IIMs, IITs) , they are all eating fruits of their Plan A’ success but I am eating fruits of destiny’s Plan B and I owe to make this success continue.. I hope that this Plan B of destiny and my Plan A will equate someday..

B for Bribery, C for Corruption and A for Anna....

The whole month of August belonged to just one man…No guess work needed as the name is on our lips and mind. Our 67 Kg man-ANNA HAZARE( He has gained some weight since he broke his fast..). The man who fasted for 12 days, lived on water and got the government to genuflect in front of him or rather say..in front of the people for whom Anna was fighting.
We can’t say the corruption has ended after all this epic battle of 2 weeks but a ray of hope has been shown to Indians. Jai Anna!

As one week has passed since Anna broke his fast, It seems that its effect is also fading away at a good pace. Today, while standing in office lift, I was the audience to a conversation between two well-educated IT employees. Better name them B and C( A is for Anna.. :-) B had got fined at some traffic signal and was boasting how he escaped the penalty. If A-effect was there, he should have paid the fine. But instead, he paid Rs 100/- ONLY , to the cop and let the A-effect fall into drain. C was, as usual, laughing and learning. And I am sure that C will also do same thing next time-Prefer to pay bribe over fine.

Lord Rama, Krishna, Buddha –all came and went but could not clean the world fully. Same will happen here with Anna Hazare. He will be part of our history books, some roads and statues will be made for him. But his real reason to be here will be forgotten by all.

People boast of following Anna by praising him, by wearing ‘I am Anna’ caps, creating posters and wallpapers. But if we really want some change in this country, we have to wear Anna in our minds and hearts. Our words and deeds can never match but If we can care to give one try by improving characters of all those Bs, Cs in India and making our system more people friendly, the Anna effect will get its due respect.

More Pune..less Gurgaon and the 'new hire'

I hope you will find the title quite strange..but for now,this is my identity 'NEW HIRE'..naam toh suna hi hoga....and why this title...plz continue reading..

IT people or say IT nomads...say anything...this is the most lucrative field to work..where people jump from company to company every month...If i say that every hour..3 IT persons quit and join a new company..that would not be wrong....and I was part of 11th April,2011..12 noon batch of this nomadic shifting...Finally..i have joined a new firm in the Mecca(2nd one..after b'lore) of IT..Gurgaon(New hire.....)

P.S----> No regrets with the present company...


It was't that bad feel..worst was when i shifted from my home place to Noida 3 years back...Gurgaon is a city of rich...flaunting people..known by its name 'A Millennium city '..it is a brand in itself...Here, people believe in living life king size and they are not at fault....the high incomes here compel people to live like that...but the city lacks that sense of simplicity and friendliness...If you like to spend big bucks, live a flaunting life then Gurgaon is for you....for me..It should have been Pune.....

I visited this place in Feb..and as soon as i landed there..it took me in itself..I never felt i am visiting it first time....Pune is a mix of Delhi, Mumbai, Gurgaon and Goa...60% people here are youth..Much of the Pune's cantonment area is having the Goan style of living...as you go deep into the city...a whole new appearance of city starts revealing itself...

Being a hill locked city...it has got some of its greenery intact...Its proximity to nearest hill-stations and sea adds some stars to its location and provides it a soothing climate to boast of....which becomes best when you come in rains...

Here..You can find best of street foods...Punjabi, Mumbain, Delhi, gujrati..loads of local delicacies to offer...especially..vada paav, kachori, kulfi, dabheli...mouth watering dishes and that too available cheaply....

A local Puneite can give you an 'angry young man' look...if you call him by saying 'bhaiya'..they take it as insult..like being compared to biharis.....better call them...'bhau', 'anna' or 'dada'...Here you will not hear anyone saying 'photostat'..its called xerox....No lafda of wearing any hemlata(in my words)..or ....helmet...and all autos are on petrol...no CNG or diseal.....

People here...are quite simple...all prefer a bike over a new car... eat and wear simple...they are not addicted to look into mirrors again and again...and to seek some spirituality...you can go to Shirdi which is around 4 hours away.....and thanks to IT, the urban life is always on the move...

In all, its the best IT town, a best place to live and love.....60% youth...more probability to find your gf/bf...

Social Networking....take that...its wonderful

Its 2.42 am by my lappy watch...sleeping n blogging...but events in past 1 hour just gave a bit of push to my adrenaline to do this write up...

Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra had taken India to a miraculous win...and some facebook and twitter updates were expected...so not a BIIIIIIGGGGGG deal...

But as soon as i was about to switch off my laptop...i felt mild tremors of eartquake..the iron door of my house and so of other houses in the vicinity were shaking badly n i just came running out of the house...in this cold....called up home and made my parents a bit cautious about the events...

Now..i came back inside..switched on the laptop n opened google to search some news abt present eartquake...there was no media coverage as of now abt the earthquake...though on google..a real-time twitter update tool runs which keeps track of all the updates coming...n sec after sec...earthquake updates were there...i opened fb...n almost deja vu was hpng there...frens were updating earthquake-earthquake...

SO that's the magic of Social Networking in this age....It has given a new meaning to our virtual world...that connects people....you can't expect any media coverage as such as social networking does...we ourselves are the corresspondents...in this world of netizens...Twitter n fb are the tools of the day where one can speak his words or pour his shit freely...

A page-3 article of actress Konkana Sen came in this regard...guess, i m not that filmi buff but still this news has some connection here...The actress was facing trouble with her Tata Sky connection from past 3 days...n after being fed up she posted..na tweeted... her sigh remarks about Tata Sky on her twitter update..one of her fans was following her updates on Twitter updates and he turned out to be someone from Tata Sky only...he got it fixed in 2 hours....

Same goes with our former Minister of state Shashi Tharoor..He had got some Norton Antivirus product but its authorisation key was n't working...he also put his sigh comments about Norton on twitter..n within same day..the problem was resolved by Norton engineer....

Social Networking---may become an addiction..but if we use it judiciously and for changing society...it will turn to be a bliss...Its a new age thing which has shrunk us into Global Village...connected by our gadgets n posting n tweeting ourselves on the global 'wall' n twitter's 'notice board'....we all compaining, crying or laughing..all with those virtual social tools...Social Networking rocks...

Indian railways and its ways....

Indians and Indian Railways are having one thing in common- their size..Both are so populised..Indian railways being 4th largest rail network of world and 2nd largest public sector employer in whole world...and about Indian population...has a world rank of 2nd in terms of numbers(will be 1st in 2035)...

Indians have a distinct behaviour when they have anything to do at railway station- take travelling in train, dropping their relatives, their eating n toilet habits..everything...

Taking a dig on travelling...Indians or say....we are always particular about one thing..that our luggage should always be placed in the space over our head...Counting through my travel experiences, i have always seen people arguing, fighting for some 0.5 by 0.5 ft luggage space..adjusting or throwing away other passenger's luggage..and adjust their luggage like putting their baby comfortably in a pram....if the space over-head falls short, they will keep the luggage near their seat in between the passage...giving trammelled ways to move...and more the size of person, more will be his luggage...Railways should introduce separate luggage coaches in the passenger trains...to promote peace and luggage-passenger integrity in the trains...

Relatives who come at railway-stations to drop their near-dear ones form another exciting class of travellers...As soon as the train comes...the relatives along with passenger who is the real one to travel..get ready to do a high jump towards the train...After making the passsenger comfortable and exchanging a final warmth feeling with him, they try to move towards the exit door of the wagon..pushing n pulling other passengers out of their way...though, most of the times they will deboard somehow..but in many chaotic cases, relatives also become part of the journey...an extra luggage of the passenger...and giving some extra revenue to the railways in terms of fine...You can't take this risk in newly introduced trains-Durronto express...because it has no other stoppages in between and you will straight reach your destination..along with the extra set of your relatives...

Eating and Toilet habbits are other prominent look-at points at railway stations and trains...Railways lines not only serve as the lifelines of the country but also the toilet-lines..As 40% of population of India still does n't has access to toilets...they consider to put everything out of them on railway lines....one mug of water along will be handy for cleaning...all done under open skies..even the birds flying above feel embarrased and consider themselves more civilised then Indian humans...Eating habits of travellers also depends on their origin...Southies will feed on Idli,vada, sambhar...Northies will feed heavily on paranthas and tea...and all waste then thrown on railway lines....and no one bothers as it all has to be taken out on raliway tracks only..either by puking or shiting...

Railway stations too form a mini-India in itself...especially the New Delhi Railway Station(NDLS) n Mumbai's station...People from all origins..all 28 states n 7 UTs can be found moving here...doctors, beggars, teachers, students, engineers, govt. babus, peasents, workers..all professions.......hindus, christians, sikhs, parsis, muslims..all religions n castes..evryone can be found on NDLS...anyone can hardly disagree...its an example in itself of the place of national harmony n peace.....

Railways are having a whole ecosystem in itself..n we need to improve our travelling n living habits to make this ecosystem more livable and adaptable...Long live Indian railways!

Urbanised and rich India..but rural and gareeb bharat..

I read a report on Urbanising India today-published by Mckinsey. The facts and figures provided were quite astounding but it was a reality of the new vibrant and developing India...By 2030,590 million of Indian hoi polloi(people).. will be living in cities...twice that of poulation of USA...and one of Indian states to show this trait will be our own Punjab..where more people will be migrating from their villages or in desi language..their pinds to cities...Its very nice and lofty in way to think about that future..considering yourself as part of many Indian Urbanites...but as conditions are today...do add more chaos and mayhems to your urbanite dreams because its going to be a harsh relaity rather then a fantastic truth...

Indians are not fit, character wise to live like people in US or China or Europe..or name any beautiful landscape you think off...Corruption, over population,price rise, lack of infrastructure, health problems have already marred India...and by next decade, these problems will be infecting our roots..our next generation will be cursing us....Lets start with the data below

India just spends 0.2 % of its GDP on health and that too 78% of the health budget has to be borne by us privately...20% of rural population never care to go to a doctor....there is just 1 hospital bed for 1000 people...what you can expect now in 2030 ??it will be nice for us to start saving now for your health or buy a health insurance!!

Infrastructure is lacking like anything...though we have not so world class cities today and take pride in Delhi's roads, its metro...n in our Mumbai-city of dreams..but the cities have already reached to their peaks....and living there is just like filling an over-flowing pot..we have our IT hubs today like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune. Gurgaon to name few...some of them are already developed n some of them are developing..but at such a slow pace...that you will find yourself in queue on the very first day of their use...may never get a chance to use the infrastructire...beacuse high density of people depending on it...

Problem of Price rise viz. of vegetables, milk and other FMCGs...things that are of daily use and vital necessaity for a common Indian has put a burden on our pockets...the problem has attained such a horrendous shape..that even govt. is feeling helpless now on to how control this menace...Food inflation is at its peak since last 2 years....same with petrol prices....these things are becoming as precious as gold today.....Montek Singh Ahluwalia says that price rise is a symbol of India's prosperity in terms of our spending power.....but he does n't see the fact that spending is increasing because everything is priced at such astronomical numbers that even one month's salary will fall short to compensate the spending...

Corruption to the tune of Rs 20 lakh crores has led to our free-fall to bottom of Global Corruption Index..today we are compared with the likes of those poorest of poor African countries where people fight or bribe officials for 2 meals of day.....Everyday..one scam or the other takes our notice....and we start cursing our polity and bureaucrats...Such money if spent on development of infrastructure, providing relief to poor could have done wonders till now but its all doing wonders in the coffers of those babus who have sucked up this money like highly starved termites...

Everyday, every common Indian..in someway or the other....faces these problems....gets harrased...and then after just cursing the bad people..we sleep to again get harassed the next day...those whom we take as responsible, show their chalta hai attitude and leave the people in unending misery...

Its all our responsiblity....to take things in our hands now...and eradicate these problems...promote those people to administrative posts who owe their responsibilty to us to change our lives and make them livable...who can earn our daily praise instead of curses of daily harrassment....A massive change in our chalta hai character has to be infused form inside all of us...to be more practical and stop being ingenuous..about our surroundings.....If we can walk the path of this change with strictist possible adherence to the rules...we can definitely have a comfortable future for our kids...for ourselves..for everyone..