2024 - An year that has gone by but will stay forever

Its been quite a few years since I did this, think about the year gone by and summarise my thoughts because all years remained the same and just the dates and calendars changed but this year was different...

January to March 

I have been brought up by a woman whose strength is unmatched, my Grandma..she has gone through all kinds of hardships in terms of finances but has always found a way to stay afloat and in all this at no point has she sought help from any relatives or siblings, she has taken care of the family with her head held high.. 

Even at 98 years, she was a proud woman and more importantly, a very very independent woman, her life motto always was that she wouldn't need help from anyone..She stayed fit, managed her diet, was always mobile to ensure her muscles and bones were strong..She had a sharp cognitive ability at 98 years.. 

Whatever I am today or for that matter our entire family is because of her, she ensured all her kids were able to stand on their own feet and the next generation(her grandkids) are all extremely successful and leading a comfortable life..no one would even know that their parents and grandparents couldn't afford 3 meals a day everyday and this strong woman at times has stitched baskets in record time to put food on the table for the night.. 

Her memory started fading late last year and she had a fall in December 2023 where she had to go through a hip replacement surgery, the Orthopedic surgeon was apprehensive when I consulted him but when he saw her, he was absolutely sure that she would be able to go through the procedure and would be well. She got the surgery done and was able to be on her feet 3rd day itself. At 98 years, she wasn't getting younger although her mind would think otherwise, the age factors started showing. I ensured we had a caretaker, what she could never take would have been someone saying they helped her..That would have killed her spirits so thankful to God and of course Ajji we could afford a good caretaker and they really did take care of her well. 

But on March 4th, she breathed her last..I had been to office and then had to step out to run some errands. Came back around 9 0 clock, she saw me and around 11 pm she passed away.. 

From the day I was born to this day, she has always been in my life and she has been my life, but now for the rest of my life I need to live with the fact that she wouldn't be around physically.  She was educated only till 1st standard as she lost her mother early but she was a learned lady, she made a lot of attempt to understand what I was doing, she understood in her own way..irrespective she always was a cheer leader, she whole heartedly felt happy with whatever I did or achieved. Always proud of me or what I did..I would miss that genuine happiness from now on whenever I achieve something. 

Even to go through the rest of my life without her I would rely on the lessons she has taught me. I am forever Ajji's favourite grandson and she is forever my own, she is only mine too.. 

I can never express what I feel for her in words or in any form of emotion. 

Running Journey 

I have been a lazy person all my life, that hasn't changed much but then there were health triggers which made me take up walking around 8 years ago. Was a regular in that aspect, from 15 mins to 30 minutes then settled at 48 Minutes, 4 Km, 400 Kcal on my Fitbit as the target..need to achieve all these 3 in my everyday workout..I was always around 13- 14 minutes per km pace. 

Then started getting bored, so started doing 200 m of every km as a jog/run then added 200 m at the start and end of every km then increased to 300m every Km..Before I knew it, I started running the entire 4 Km huffing and puffing, then a health trigger worsened and pushed me to take things a little more seriously so went on low carb diet, IF, reversed diabetes and was told to atleast push myself to 10 Min per Km..started running/jogging and was able to do it and that changed to 9 min then 8 min..settled at 7 min per Km..Joined a lovely community called Fitness Capital and by then my speed was around higher 6 minutes. Thought it was impossible to do less than 6 Km unless you are a trained athlete but wanted to achieve this. Saw a few folks in the community do it regularly and was amazed, pushed myself to do it..strong sprints at the first and before I could know it was doing great, consistently doing less than 6 min per km..Loved it..had super fun pushing myself..used to enjoy my runs.. everyday target was 45Min and used to do 7 to 7.5Kms..Then settled to doing 7km every day..so 40-42Min everyday used to be my workout. Started focussing on other metrics such as VO2 Max, Heart Rate zones..wanted to do Z2 training or atleast push myself to run at a Zone down. I used to regularly run which was Z4/Z5..So had to push myself to run at Z3/Z2. Started focussing on these metrics and lost pace, stopped enjoying my runs. No matter how much I pushed I was not able to get a good pace..VO2 Max went up, Zones became lesser..Then slowly started getting the pace back. Now a lot better runner, pace is not everything in my runs now although running faster gives a high, can't say I consistently would close less than 6Min per KM but it happens often, one thing I know is, its a natural thing, I wake up and go running, I don't know when it will be faster when it will be little slower and I give in to that. 2025 my goal is to not worry about pace and enjoy my runs. 

Also 2024, I had registered for a HM which I thought was never possible for myself, can a guy who struggled to climb 3 floors at a stretch will be able to run for 3 hours or even walk..nah..impossible is what I thought but since I was in my running high wanted to do a few timed runs, did about 3 10k runs I the year, Wipro run was another I wanted to do but they had 5K tor HM and no 10K, so the FC community which has a lot of HM and even FM runners said my training and consistency is good enough to run a HM, one of them even offered me to work with me to prepare for HM. So registered but kept pushing the preparation, there was a sense of fear of failure. Then one day, started mid day at 11am and ran my first HM. Felt good and then told myself that I am not doing this again, so was thinking of downgrading HM to 10K cos Wipro by then had opened 10K too but then had a US trip and would have landed probably a day before or on the day of the run or even worse would have been in US. So let it be and didn't downgrade. Came back to India 6 days before the race day, 2 weeks in NY meant early morning runs were short 5Km and couple of lovely 10Ks in Prospect Park and Central Park were done. So very less mileage and was extremely jet lagged. So there was no hope of me running the HM, still went and collected the t shirt and BIB. Told the FC group that wouldn't be doing it this time, slept but somehow woke up at 4:30 am..pushed myself back to sleep, started visualising me running the HM, at 5:20 AM just woke up, freshened up and told my security to drop me..Was there by 5:50 am. Ran to the venue and said, let's do it. No targets, no force to complete too. So started running and before I knew it, had ran my first HM..There was a sense of accomplishment, felt extremely good all this after having 1.5 litres of water and juices after the finish line, I was literally dehydrated and zoned out at finish line. Did it and did it well, my target initially when I registered was best case to be done within 2.5Hours, I had completed my first timed HM at 2 Hours 19 Minutes...I still feel high thinking about it :) 

2025, just want to enjoy running, not worry about pace or metrics. Just want to have fun running. 

Professional Journey 

6th year at Drinkprime, love the vision of the company. We want to ensure safe drinking water to entire India at affordable pricing. Love my job and it's a very fulfilling experience, lovely bunch of folks. Along with this, there is Versatiletech. This phase of VT, I was very clear that I would only be the Business owner and team would run the show. Thats what was happening but then there was a lot of politics at play from the ground team of the client. Internal team found it rough and then there was a visit to the US for 2 weeks, spent the first 10 days understanding the people, work culture etc there. 11th day I had a meeting with the CEO, 30 minute meeting and was able to articulate challenges, acknowledged where improvements from our side was needed, what changes would be done. After that meeting, began taking actions. Focus moved from delivering work and not at all talking to proving to people. Brought in discipline, brought in a colleague who knows how to inculcate discipline better than me. She took the reins, the leaders were happy to be able to focus on work than people. Delivered amazing results in the next 45 days and the team is back on track and looking forward to more progress and success in 2025. 

Personal Journey 

I am a very reserved person, it's tough for myself to open up and mainly to make new friends. The year was a lot different, made a lot of new friends from the Thindi Capital Community, its liberating to be yourself around people and happiness is finding such people. 

Reality of Banking and Fintech experience

 

Sunday, 15^th August 2021, I had gone shopping for electronics for my farmhouse, I used my American Express credit card for paying for them. I usually have a habit of paying off my credit card immediately after using it. So, while I was waiting for a table at the restaurant, I opened the Cred app to pay off my Amex credit card. Since it was a high value transaction, I had to pay via net banking instead of the UPI method I usually use. 

Here is where my set of problems started 

 

1.     CRED allows directly to pay only via net banking and not via debit card 

2.     So I tried to pay via IDFC net banking and the net banking interface/integration of IDFC is probably the worst among most banks in India 

3.     I entered the credentials and yes it was wrong in the first attempt due to bad interface, I again tried to enter the correct password and it went through.

4.     By then, CRED declared the transaction failed and bank debited the money.

5.     I immediately called the bank, they said if the transaction failed it should return in 24 hours or 5-7 days. 

6.     I tried to check with CRED to ensure money is not stuck in their authorization queue, CRED bot said the money was not received as the transaction failed. 

7.     I didn’t get the credit back to my account, since there was no other way to reach out to CRED other than bot, I posted on twitter. Got a response requesting details of the transaction. 

8.     They confirmed that transaction didn’t come through and it’s not with them, I need to check with my bank. 

9.     Tuesday evening, I get a call saying, there was confusion, and the money was indeed stuck with CRED. They told me that they will instantly refund if I set up my instant refund account (nice one to get bank account details). I set it up while on the call, the agent said he has done the transfer and it should be credited in about 2 hours if not immediately. 

10.  Wednesday morning and nothing in my account yet, so I DMed them and no response, I checked with the bank, and they said they have no information. 

11.  Thursday went on a twitter rant, finally get a DM saying this is the UTR and I need to check with my bank. When I gave the UTR to my bank, they said it doesn’t match the RTGS/NEFT UTR format. Again, tried my luck via twitter, after half a day of struggle and tagging Kunal, RBI, talking about taking legal route, I get a response via DM that the UTR is from payment gateway, and I should wait for the credit to my bank then they will send me the UTR. 

 

 

Here are the issues with CRED 

1.     When a company deals with financial transactions, not having a customer care number/email and leaving the customers at the mercy of bots. This is by far the worst customer experience 

2.     When the money is stuck in the middle, it is important to give clear information to the customer. 

3.     The CRED faltered so many times, initially saying transaction failed and no way they have the money, second saying they have the money, and they will instantly refund and money will be credited immediately, third we have refunded but it takes 5-7 days. How can such conflicting information be given? 

 

My question to CRED is simple, how does someone deal with the fact that they are paying their credit card bill on the last day and the money gets stuck. Imagine the financial loss for the person. I don’t think the anxiety of hard-earned money getting stuck is worth any CRED coins at all. 

People who run apps that deal with money need to a lot more empathetic and responsible. This shows that every company treats its users as commodities. I am sorry but the brand voice or PR angle versus the reality are way apart. The brand talks about building trust, they call everyone cheaters and want to show if there are any hidden charges etc but they have no accountability or responsibility towards their users. 

 

I am not the one to say, I will never use the app etc but I hope they really fix these things, I could afford my money getting stuck for a week or so but not sure if many people would be able to afford that. 

 

 

 #CRED #Banking #Fintech #CX

 

Musings of a Cluttered and Restless Mind

Over the past few months, the world is going through an unprecedented situation, how long this situation persists is something no amount of intelligent human brain or technology is able to predict. But what we can absolutely predict is that the world will not be the same anymore. The biggest revival would be needed in the economic front, although everyone is predicting doomsday I have a contrarian view especially for India. 

I haven't seen a biggest economic opportunity present itself to India and for it to evolve and stamp its authority as a super power. The general perception of India is that we lack innovation, the reason I feel we lack innovation is globalization. Although globalization has a lot of benefits one of the biggest demerits is collective and incremental innovation, what i mean to say is when there is a solution that is present to a problem you stop thinking and improvise on the solution. With his pandemic, more and more borders will get closed and localization will be the need of the hour. 

The biggest challenge lies in whether India will be able to make use of the opportunity.  The 3 key factors would be the government, the leaders or the entrepreneurs and the human capital. If we have to look at the sectors that would be attributing to India’s rise, they would be manufacturing,  IT services, innovations and consumer goods.Right now , Electricity, Internet and Convenience has become the quintessential needs of a human being as opposed to just the Roti Kapda Makaan. 

Never before have we seen the dependency of the other countries on India both in terms of supply and demand. Post this Pandemic, we would see a lot of countries struggle to come back on its limbs because they are either dependent for their materials (manufacturing) on China and their business on the USA and Europe. India being the second largest market in the world we can and absolutely should focus on being self sufficient. So how do we do it? This is where the government plays an important role in collecting the demand and supply within the country. Stronger policy push (Make in India) is needed to nudge the businesses to take hard calls and start looking within. 

Manufacturing - Although we depend on China highly for manufacturing India is not far behind in revolutionizing and being self sufficient in manufacturing. Our current manufacturing infrastructure needs to start looking to produce more and more stuff that is needed by the Indian industries. This is where we need leaders who can motivate a lot of people to join the manufacturing revolution in India. Every person who is part of this revolution will have the same dignity as a software engineer sitting in an AC office.There should be economic parity to bridge the gap. Government needs to infuse capital and protect the industry via new labour laws which removes the fear for both the employers and the workers against all the anarchic burden of the older labour laws, they  should be done away with. 

IT Industry - IT services is the industry that helped the world stand up and take notice of India. This is the time where IT services have a huge potential for exponential growth, Although we need to depend on other countries for the business to flow. IT services should shred the cost factor being the only differentiator and take a new form where quality, efficiency, automation, innovation takes the center stage. This is the right time for us to make use of the employable human capital that India had exported to all the countries to be given the opportunity to help IT services reach a higher standard. A lot of Indians will come back due to the economic downturn and India needs to make use of this talent. 

Manufacturing needs to be revolutionized by the big players as it needs a lot of machinery set up and land etc. 

IT Industry needs to be reshaped by the new age entrepreneurs. 

All in all, I see a huge potential for India to move towards becoming the economic superpower. It's all in our hands. 

Key Mentions  - Cari who is a good friend hosts the show and it actually triggered a lot of thoughts after the early morning walk https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/bharatvaarta/id1501417442?i=1000470493503 

Good Byes and Adieus - No more See You Soons

January 2015, completed 8 years of professional journey and 5 of those years as an entrepreneur. When i look back on the learning and experience i feel very privileged to have met the people i have met and encountered the experiences and circumstances i have. These years are no less than a roller coaster ride with no safety belts. The beginning of 2015 has been a total new experience and it makes me think that i don't belong to this generation of thought or may be this is a new learning for me.

I have always been proud of my team because i hand pick folks who have the right attitude and character and grow their skills. They have always performed and been with the organisation through thick and thin. I also have been very vocal about my organisation having a very enviable attrition rate.
And, all of this changed with few folks leaving the organisation in the early 2015 and i was struck with the reality yet again in life, change is the only constant and being attached to something/someone will never help. The resignations hurt not because they cannot be replaced but the way they happened. The timing of them was what affected me a lot because it did pull me back on my growth plans. The growth will have to wait because we need to settle down and ensure that nothing changed in terms of operations to the client. Amidst all this i have learnt a lot of things, some very painful and some very insightful ones.

• Business should be run as a business and emotions should always be kept on check. I have everyday thought more about employees and their growth, have to confess at times more than i have thought about my family and friends. I sense a responsibly to the growth of my employees in every aspect be it financially, career growth etc. The hard truth is not all employees understand that and in fact they don't even realise that. 
• Careers i have seen before had stages as Fresher ->Learner->Hard Worker->Performer->Responsible->Confident but now the stages have changed to Fresher->Learner->Confident->Over Confident and Arrogance.  Fail to understand the transition and also how quickly they happen.
•  Everything on the net would always be written in favour of employees because they are a bigger number, all articles such as 'Love your Job and not your company' etc. Unfortunately when employees are happy making articles such as these employers are busy thinking about the growth of the very employees :-) 
• Favor - Most folks after getting a new offer consider that all the years they were doing favour to the company, wonder what pay checks were meant for. 
• Rules - The very rules that have protected them when they were part of the company becomes a burden while leaving the organisation. 
• Respect - The respect factor is a very interesting one, it remains when the organisation bends its rules to accommodate all requests but when asked to follow what was promised during hiring it becomes a big problem and organisation doesn't care about its employees :-)

Trust is something very very precious and delicate, the actions of some employees affects an employer so bad that he/she will start doubting their own self but as an employer this should never be shown outside because it affects the morale of few employees who still have the respect and look up to the employer. 

As an employer and with the team i have, i am willing to trust again, get hurt again and pick myself up again because in all these if i am able to help the growth of even one employee then i would consider myself lucky and happy. 

From a practical stand point, you need to trust the core team because a one man/woman cannot sail a ship, it always has to be a team. 

In diversity is when you find the truest of accomplices, with all that was going around there was just one IM that actually ignited the spark back and that was from one of the employees who just said 'we are definitely by your side'. The next morning i was to my own self because everyday i work to help such characters grow and see to it they reach the top of the World. 

Cricket – Once a sport, once a gentleman’s game

I have been an avid follower of Cricket right from the tender age of 7-8 years when the sport for me just meant to hit the ball and then on learnt the finer aspects of the game by following many forms of competitive cricket played by different teams including the English County, Ranji matches, local tennis ball cricket etc. I have followed more cricket than have played the game that is, if you don’t count the various video, computer and mobile games though ☺
What drew me into the game was the thinking needed for the game and not many people would understand the aesthetics of the game. The game is played more on working out a batsman, handling the bowler and manipulating and manoeuvring the field. Execution, which is playing the game is as important as planning for the game. 
And I was lucky to have been watching cricket in the era of many great talents and gentlemen likes of Sachin, Kumble, Dravid, Pollock, Aravinda De Silva, Murali, Kallis, Ambrose, Lara, Mark Waugh, Richie Richardson, Gavin Larsen, Stephen Flemming, Laxman, Gilchrist etc played the game. Then there were the not so gentlemen who played the game with sheer aggression not just in their game such as Ponting, Steve Waugh, Ganguly, Warne, Cairns, Donald, Franklyn Rose, Ranatunga, Akram, Waqar etc. 
These guys added to the flavor and excitement to cricket without ever needing the catalysts such as cheer leaders or sponsorship deals for every catch taken or every boundary hit. There was no need for the game to be shortened. In fact people wanted the 5 day games to last longer because there was purity in the completion, unpredictability was dependent on players ability not to give up and a bit of luck and now we have IPL. 

I always believe that smartest and most intelligent people are greedy and can stoop to any levels for their selfish gains and such a problem attacked the game of Cricket too.  There was hunger to capitalize on the passion of the people for the game, different groups were formed. Game became a mere means of money and entertainment. The greed became insatiable, wanted it to reach many other unexplored countries and compete with Football, Basketball etc . And in the process, a lot of changes happened to the game, trimmed down to a mere hitting the ball as far as possible phenomenon. Game that started as timeless shortened to a sport of 2-3 hours per game. It totally doesn’t make sense for a team of 22 players where at a time it’s just a couple of people being active participants can be completed in a matter of minutes but hey, people have no time, they like the shortened version. It drew many people away from the game, people wanted more Test matches and didn’t bother much about T20 and so the administrators of the game started reducing Test matches and we cricket lovers had to resort to IPL, Thanks to some of our icons being part of the tournament. 
There are many positives about IPL which probably the marketing team of IPL and cricket bloggers have extensively covered such a money for cricketers, chance for youngsters rubbing shoulders with legends, opportunities etc.  But there are many more negatives to the IPL, money being perceived in a wrong sense, young cricket minds drifting away from cricket to being page 3 celebs, fixing, average talent which should be supported and nourished further getting big bucks and in the process being obsolete after a couple of seasons etc. 

This post was triggered by the growing predictably unpredictable matches of the IPL, taking one such match Mumbai Vs Rajasthan last league match of 2014 IPL. The first half of the tournament had clear positions of the team but then most of the remaining matches would have rendered useless so all probability and combinations came to play, we need these teams to win these matches to compete for the top 4 and so all matches became very interesting, the top 3 team making all the necessary experimentation to lose the matches, the top 2 teams suitably losing few games to keep the battle for the top spot open. All ingredients of an entertainment series when you have TRPs coming down. Sport is meant to be unpredictable and battle of talents, but when you take that away then what you are providing is sheer entertainment. 
The scenario for Mumbai was to beat Rajasthan with certain stipulation for them to qualify to the top 4. If Mumbai players did this then would have been very exciting but when many people predicted what could be the scenario that happens is kind of unbelievable in the wrong sense. 

• Qualifiers were never in Mumbai in the first place but then the Qualifiers get moved to Mumbai so we need a Mumbai team to get the crowd.
• Rajasthan is almost the least hated team of the IPL and underdogs so none will suspect fixing especially after 3 players were arrested last year. 
• Watson plays a shambolic innings. I have not seen him play so defensively even in Test cricket. 
• Watson is not a great captain but his bowling changes and decisions, come on man it was for all to see. 
• Big signing player should be showcased else who will be paying big bucks next year.

Yes I am alleging fixing of the game. But bigger question is not if it’s, true it’s just that who all are involved. 
I had spoken of the same scenario and how it would unfold to half a dozen people 10-12 days ago, the only change in my narration was Pollard and not Anderson. Either I am Nostradamus or that is one hell of a coincidence for the impossible to happen. 
Cricket is reduced to entertainment thanks to some buffoons and IPL. 
IPL is good entertainment but for it taking away the spirit of the game and unpredictability and competition is a bit too much for a Cricket fan to take. 
WWE and IPL are no different, both very well scripted reality shows.

The story of a Kid and a Toy

It was the time when the kid had just learnt walking, parents dreamt of big steps the kid may take in life. Kid felt happy to be on its own feet, excited at being able to see world on its feet. In the process of learning to talk, it could just mumble few words but parents did understand what the kid meant. Parents were happy to take the kid for a walk, the kid was happy. On one of those walks, kid saw a toy in the store. It instantly got attached to it, it wasn't the most attractive in the world nor was the most popular but kid loved it the moment it saw it. The toy became special for the kid. It wanted it, it mumbled, parents didn't understand, it cried, shopkeeper saw it but didn't bother. The kid tried to explain it to the parents but in vain, kid was helpless, restless. It didn't give up, learnt to speak just to explain it to the parents. Kid learnt fast and was able to explain the request to the parents. Parents were surprised, they loved the kid but were not willing to pamper it. They were not going to buy unless they felt it is right for the kid, alas first challenge for the kid. The parents weren't too keen on buying the toy. The kid cried, whined all in vain. Kid had only one thing in mind, it wanted the toy, it learnt to live in the best possible way. Parents loved everything the kid did, it was perfect and a kid anyone would love to have. Kid had built an unspoken relationship with the toy, parents were unaware and so was the shopkeeper. Kid longed to see toy express, kid knew the toy liked the kid. Kid grew up and the soft spoken request became scream. The parents saw the want becoming need, they cared about nothing than the happiness of their kid. They decided to get the toy for the kid, they went to the shop. They didn't like the way shopkeeper projected himself, they didn't like the company toys had but they too saw the toy the way seen by the kid. They liked it, they accepted it. The ignored the behavior of the shopkeeper, ignored the arrogance of the co-owner. All this showed the love for their kid. Kid saw the love and was happy, he was happy more for the toy, he always dreamt of sharing the home with the toy, his parents love, grandma's warmth. Shopkeeper wanted sometime to give the toy, kid was willing to wait as it understood it isn't easy for the toy to leave the place of its existence. A week later shopkeeper informed the kid they were not willing to part away with the toy, kid couldn't bear it. Tried everything it possibly could to get the toy like it had from the day it saw the toy, was ready to fight the world for it. Shopkeeper and co-owner were adamant, kid had no choice but to give the news to parents, kid was shattered, crying uncontrollably, parents were panicked and hurt. They were helpless, their anger at the shop increased, they couldn't bear their kid being hurt. They promised to buy better toy little could they feel the attachment kid had for the toy. Kid missed the toy, tried to forget but couldn't. Toy interacted with the kid in a way none could see none could understand, it asked the kid to take it away. Kid was not willing to, he wanted to take the toy with dignity, parents had always taught the kid ethics and not to snatch away anything. Kid wanted to take the toy away but couldn't. In the meanwhile, shopkeeper decided to find a suitable owner to the toy, the toy had given up. Kid knew nothing of it and still didn't know the reason for shopkeeper not giving the toy to it.

Time was running out for the kid, it knew there were many kids wanting the toy but it thought the toy would wait till the kid fixed the world but time was running out for the toy too.

The time came when the toy found a owner, shopkeeper had made the decision, all the kid expected was the toy to talk. Toy to talk and kid knew the World would listen if the toy would talk but it didn't and kid had lost the toy. World changed for the kid but for how long only time would tell. Will the kid ever become happy? Will the kid ever want another toy? Will the kid want anything so passionately ever? Will the kid follow the right path always?

My Witty Brain at work :-)

http://www.cnngo.com/mumbai/life/10-indianisms-652344

It is time these get included in the English Language else i will protest by fasting like 'years back' protest against corruption which will include recently 'passing out' students.
If English doesn't 'do the needful' and 'revert back' the protest will go 'out of station'. They can 'do one thing' and we can 'order for pizzas' and 'discuss about' the issue.I am 'preponing' my 'big sleep' to get these words into English.

Revolution in India

Past 3 days have been really absorbing and really made me believe change is possible.
Not long ago had i tweeted calling people to stop celebrating world cup victory and stand up against corruption and scams and a week later it happening gives me a sense of satisfaction.
It takes just small stir somewhere to unite the nation and fight against a common cause.
I love the fact that it has come from an elderly man who lives by Gandhian or principles of non-violence.
The fact that it is a non-violent movement so far is the reason for it to be gaining so much momentum and traction, over the years i have believed that people respect you and join you if you are those intellectual silent types who can put your word across strongly and noy by shouting or being violent. Violence is always considered hooliganish and not many people like it.
It is also easy for the opposition to pin you down if you are violent and there are chances you blow yourself as well with violence.
These are the very facts and thinking that make me respect Gandhi in our freedom struggle though most of the people/friends i know hate him to the core and blame him for getting freedom late. But i am a firm believer that non-violence combined with strong rebellious fight is the way to achieve something. There was a perfect mix of non-violence from Gandhi and certainly more than enough fire power from guys like Subhash Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh which made Indian Independence possible.

Now we have an elderly man fighting for a cause so lets help and support him in anyway possible.
And yeah, lets stop being cynical and asking 'oh, you are fighting now and you paid bribe to get your land allotted', You jumped a traffic signal.. etc. We all know that we do make mistakes and when it is time to correct in a large scale lets do it.

Respect to Anna Hazare. Sir, it takes something to unite the entire nation.
My 2 idols in life
Mahatma Gandhi - Was able to unite the entire nation
Adolf Hitler - Was able to fight a whole community head on and cause misery to many European countries

Decision

Have had a hang on my life all these years be it school i went to, college i wanted to go to, company i joined or company i wanted to join...These are all some of the things most people won't have control on either cos someone else decides for them or consequences are such that they don't have the criteria to choose but have been lucky to make the choice and not get in anywhere by chance but life's biggest decision(as many call it) has left me in a position where i need to wait on many parties. Trust me its tough especially for a person whose way of life is impatience and for whom any decision in the world has to be either a simple 'yes' or 'no' to be caught in tangles of emotion, culture, time, tradition and more importantly to be waiting on others to take any step forward is really taking a toll on me..

The most difficult of all things is to wait on something and you being helpless...It really takes a lot of effort to balance things in such a phase of life..There are times you start to question 'is it really worth it' and the answer always will be 'Yes' :-) atleast its been so far......

I just hope that everything settles soon and i get a hang back on my life..

Randomness to the core..

Written a long time back..was in drafts and just published it..

Few years ago i believed that i was an practical pessimist i guess that doesn't hold good anymore..I am now more of an optimist oozing with confidence and grit of a man on mission.Past few months i have not been myself and that is clearly shown in my recent posts..there always used to be my soul in the posts but nowadays its not the same..reasons may be numerous..trying to hide something or in the phase of transisition but doesn't matter..my posts are still good and they do tell about myself.


Last few months a lot of things have happened which could have broke me but i am bloody strong that i have stood strong without even a tear spent..Lost my grandpa..hit by recession..lost a good friend ( she got a guy )..trip got canceled.fell ill..health has deteriorated(still haven't been to doc)..but i still feel great about myself..I have always loved myself and have started to feel greater about myself..But one thing that has always haunted is me losing ppl..what the crap is that..can't i ever be successful in friendship..donno what goes wrong..have had numerous friends till now and will have many more but i wish someone would tell me what actually is wrong in me that my friends can't hold on to me..my friends have always made me feel special in their lives until they find someone..Donno what to write..But i have learnt living life this way..
No regrets..

Year of 2010

Bit late but better than never..Back to writing a blog and living in tradition of writing a blog in January..The topic pretty straight forward my yearly update :-) i just hope i don't copy paste everything from my fb and twitter profiles..
Let me change the format of the yearly update from the month by month as i usually did..Why?????
Change is the only constant? or i am too old to remember the dates (will write from remains of memory or memory remains)..ok enough its just that i prefer to give importance to the things that have happened rather than the time... let me see..habits usually die hard..

Year started on a good note with a new client being added to the company profile and a big client with a good prospect of growth and the trial period was an excellent success and growth has been tremendous with team growing from 3 ppl to 11 and we handling more than 70% of the customers..A professional organization and a very good one to grow with..Hope to see more success and growth with the client..
Then we had a change of management in another client place and hence had to cut down the resources but me and my partner being strategist planners we ensured all was well we just did a bit of reshuffling of resources across clients.

Family pressure regarding taking away my independence(marriage) had started in October and the agitation if you may call it was 2 months old but still the warrior in me fought on :-)

Dad had started looking for a plot or house in and around Rajajinagar but as always we had a argument and the proximity had to me maximum of 2 kms from my current home :-) We saw many some priced as high as 12.5k per sq ft....and then zeroed in on some but every house had some or the other point me or dad disagreed upon..
Then finally we saw a plot about 0.4 kms from my home and initially i had outright said no and didn't even visit as i had to cross West of Chord Road but my friend suggested me to have a look and i did and then we finalized on it but the owner was an entrepreneur in US and he was coming down in June so registration had to wait on till then..But i loved the plot...

The IPL started and kept me glued to the tv for the first few days and then had me glued to cricinfo for few more then preferred to look at scores of RCB matches and the points table..
RCB had a good performance and Dravid had some pretty good knocks..End of the day they reached semis and were knocked out by spirited Mumbai.. But finally were able to win a match convincingly against DC in all 3 years of IPL..RCB were more like chokers when it came to playing against DC..

Oh yeah..before the IPL Kallis, White, Merwe, Morgan, Boucher and Steyn had a privilege of being at HRC at the same time as me and a few friends were...

My birthday is a day i look forward to not for the gifts or wishes alone but for the time i introspect and i loved the way i have grown in every aspect but i am never contented or satisfied..Still a lot more things to and i always want something more and get bored easily with monotony and something which has already been done/achieved..

May is the month my company completed its first year and i felt really proud and kicked about it...First time in my life deciding on pay raise or hikes certainly made me feel good..
We had a small get together of sorts where we just ordered pizza and gave all my employees wrist watches and sweets...Promise guys the party will be on in a few years for anniversary celebrations:-)

Prospect of new clients joining was looming large and hence had to be on my toes with getting infrastructure in place..hire resources etc..all was done and new client did come in but lasted just 3 months..its a secret but there was misappropriation of funds and false advertisement of Google analytics to get more investors..I cannot name the client :-) One of the clients i was happy to let go as they absolutely had shabby process and its difficult for off shore companies to work if process is not solid..Happy that i got the big name in my client list though ;-) ..

Oh..i think now i came to about July or August and there it was the topic of marriage..it blew up and i had no cover so had to give a go ahead for ctrl+f with a set of crazy criteria and thankfully been able to reject everything even without meeting anyone from past 8 months..Don
t know till when i can do that but been successful so far...

Then i got my vision correction done and am happy about it...i can wear sun glasses now...not can i just have to bloody wear it to protect my eyes from all the dust and pollution around..That reminds me that i had to meet my Doctor and it has just been a delay of just 6 months for now...
Dentist is just a month away from being one year..Hope he doesn't charge me more for going late :-P

The plot registration was done and the owner of the plot was a very good guy and i got instantaneously close to him and still maintain contact with him and he shares me his success story and also has promised to let me know of any opportunities that may arise as well.

Then the planning of the house happened not without its share of arguments between me and dad..I always felt arguments get the best of every person and end product will be superior and i agree to it..me and my dad never agree on anything unless we have a discussion and have our say :-)
The plan came out well and when we were supposed to start the construction..Tarle happened with the neighbor..he has not left a single inch of space but expects us to leave 3 feet..we had left 1.6 ft and then i spoke to our engineer and told that just leave it and lets proceed and we did so.
My point is if 100 ppl make a mistake it doesn't become right just because he has not followed the rules doesn't make sense for us to break the rule and argue saying u have not followed and so won't we..sounds kiddish..

The plan is awesome and love it..Ground floor of parking space then a duplex home and finally a floor for office.. I am not a fan of having office and home at the same place but financials and time saving takes a priority here for time being than my likes..My office works 24 hours and hence it is safe and convenient that i stay as close as possible..


Now now and now let me talk about my first trip to Goa....Did i love it?? yes i loved every moment of it and certainly asking for more.....Now i clearly get why in DCH those guys planned one trip to Goa every year... for the serenity of Goa...Man makes me go back.....But missed my best friend as he was not able to make it for personal reasons...looking forward to spending time with him there..We can talk about everything under the Sun and above it and beyond it as well..I would love that to happen in Goa..perfect ingredient for relaxation...Lets see when and if it happens..But overall mesmerized by Goa and won't care the company can go there alone as well..

Then got a very big project from a leading company..ok i think i can reveal this AOL and we did a good job and we are promised more work and yes already in talks with more stuff..

Then finally we decided to launch or re launch our website..Being a web development company and building corporate websites for many companies it was a shame that i was still sticking to a kiddish website i had built for fun in a matter of hours on Feb 2009 even before the company started or idea chipped in i had this website and probably for fun then :-)
The website certainly took a lot of my attention from many things that were happening around and made me focus and the result made me happy..it came well and it was well received..

Then i got a new found interest for discovering good music especially english classics..so the search is still on and have got some awesome collection and i keep listening to glory while working..Helps me focus..


Ok i am getting bored..will add more later...not sure..

No Wonder am Wandering..

I have always been very focused and never have i seen myself having long term goals.
Its always been phase by phase..When in school it was about getting good scores not even knowing what i wanted to do next..When in college was to focus on getting into good college..When in college to get a placement..Once in company was just to learn work and enjoy whatever i was doing..My only long term goal was to be my own Boss, which came in as an opportunity and i grabbed with both hands and legs as one of my friends point out..When i have reached this point is where i am having trouble..I am not an outright technical guy but at the same time not the managerial type but have the confidence in doing well on any of the roles and have done well in the past..but what do i like to do..question which has been haunting me for quite a few days now..i want to be a manager and also wants to get involved as a developer..i know its not that easy looking at how demanding a managerial role is but i am willing to put in that extra effort..working for 14-15 hrs a day is not alien to me..
Being a manager all you need to do is design process, monitor the work, build out strategy, asses the progress, send status reports, bill the clients, build out salary slips, budget, attend meetings on all levels, daily scrums, to strategic planning meetings, to decision making on new tools to be procured etc..This is all good work i agree but am i too young to be taken out of the challenging environment of development..break my head to fix a bug..google hours together to built a new feature..search for new plug-ins that can be used, design the framework for a new feature, try to search code to do a ctrl+c and ctrl+v..Miss all the fun..

But at this point my focus has to be on my company because its 2 clients and 9 people depending on me to sail the ship and a partner who trusts me undoubtedly to lead the team..

May be some time in the future i do get into development scheme of things..Hope it won't be too late..

A Typical Weekend For Me

A man who has been branded as workaholic is usually a man who does nothing other than work on the weekdays but i don't think his weekends would be so boring :-)

yes weekend is when i try to relax and have some fun.

Perfect recipe for a good weekend is venturing out on Saturday and being lazy on a Sunday.

I would prefer every weekend to be a perfect dish with the above ingredients. If it happens..this is how it goes..

Getting up early in the morning may be around 8:00(mind you..this is after closing shop around 4-5 on friday(saturday morning)

Making it to the movie barely on time with just stuffing a piece of whatever grandma feeds and a full glass of milk going full throttle into the tummy.

Watch the movie with a small nap in between :-)

buy some pop corn and tons of Cola in the interval..

Go out for lunch to some chinese/pizza/north Indian and crib saying Idly sambhar is what i should have had and this restaurant sucks..

Window Shopping..

Sankey Tank .. have ice cream and Corn (Jola) before entering..Enjoying the nature at Sankey tank..Talking everything under the sun which makes sense and some not..

Passing the ball among friends to decide the place for early dinner..End up going to a couple of places since there never is an unanimous choice..

Hit the Cd shop..rent some old movies and some new ones..Watch one of the movies and simultaneously read the book..Yes i don't like doing one thing at a time..

Sleep around 2-3 after parents try all methods from sweet words to scolding to put me to sleep..

Sunday get up around 1-2..

Have brunch..

Go back to sleep with either music or movie on lappy..

Get up and take bath around 5-6..

Just go out for a walk around and have some chats..

Come back..Have dinner.. Sleeeeeeppp..to wake up to another workaholic week..

Aall izz Well or Is it?

Recently i saw a very nice blog written about the after effects on him after watching the '3 idiots'..Yeah..all will not be well after you watch the movie..it is so well made with scenes and dialogues in every part of the movie which can make you think and think and think..
Yeah..the sure on the face message of the movie is do what you love and not follow the popular choice if that is not what you don't want to be...but..do you feel in reality this can happen?..This should happen is a different scenario..will it happen is my question..just think about a minute..are you ready to allow your kid to go play cricket and make a career out of it..Think...think...Guys..come back to reality..every day we try to be as careful as possible..we want to be cent percent sure that our decision has to be fruitful..be it buying vegetables or planning a trip..We Indians go to super markets and buy the toothpaste which gives tooth brush free and not the one we want..and you guys are going to leave that mentality aside in your kid's future..This is what passed through my mind..

And next is the scenario of my life..about a guy who didn't know what tomorrow means..yep..at school i never knew what studying for tests or exams meant..my parents used to ask me questions and i used to answer and write in exams..the trend was the same till 8th standard..how i wrote my exams is still a mystery to me and probably that is exactly why i couldn't crack my engg exams so well..in terms of my goals or what i wanted to do..i seriously was blessed for the fact that i didn't exactly know what the popular or in thing is cos i was not the one to discuss about future or movies with my cousins..i was more interested in knowing if they had the same chapters as i had in that class..see even there i was least bothered about my future..But in 5th standard i had one aim of having my own company or basically be my own Boss..i think that is the only idea or goal about future i had..i always stuck to it..not sure due to my fondness to it or my character of being committed to things..later sometime in school..grew attachment towards being a software engineer cos it looked nice to write that in slam books..so stuck to it..ha ha..what a planned future..i didn't about IIT's back in school..Didn't know much about MES or St.Jospeh's college even on the day of my 10 results..if not for my friends i would probably have never known much about these colleges.The only time i was passionate about something was in 2nd pu when i wanted to become chemical engineer..reason was it was different and i was good at chemistry..or fear of other subjects for which i don't have an answer..but as far as i am concerned i have become what i wanted to become but even after that i at times feel is this all..make no mistake..there is still lot more to do in what i am doing..i am happy but now i feel i need to create a new goal for myself..cos i need spice in my life..

Eventful 2009

This being the longest weekend i had in a long time and fact that i had not planned to relax has helped me relax. So been watching a lot of tv just to realise that the number of channels have been increasing but the quality of programmes have been coming down..over the 3 days i just liked the Hanuman, Bheem shows on pogo..Cricket matches and couple of new channels..MTV and Channel V have been taken to dogs i tell you..While surfing the channels on Times Now i saw a programme 2009 in 60 minutes and i saw it for about 6 minutes before surfing the channels again.
Then when i started surfing the net i understood why people find net more interesting than tv , atleast i am of this opinion. So i thought let me put my 2009 on my post and also that it had been really long since i wrote something.

Like all 24 years of my life so far, 2009 was a mixture of good and bad moments..come on argh..i will be saying the same throughout my life cos all years will have its share of good and bad things..

January -
A major release happened at Injoos and it waa good. I liked my effort in building about 5 good themes and then mixing matching copying made the count to about 25.

February -
Got a pay cut.
Designed,developed and hosted my website all in 5 hours and till date have not changed a word :-D have been planning to revamp it and hoping to do it real soon.
My freelancing work got real big cos i was co ordinating between US, Hyderabad, Banashankari and got the project done. In fact i had 2 projects completed by then.
We were planning for a trip and the destination was Goa bt got changed to Ooty..
The time was march and then got changed to June and for records neither of the destinations nor timeframes worked out :-D

March -
The month that forwarded my life 4-5 years cos i had always goal to have a company of my own, was always focussed but had expected to try it out when i was around 27 or 28 but an opportunity knocked and i didn't find it hard to accept it at all. Only thing that made me think was how will i be still part of Injoos where i loved and learned every moment of my life. I was no way going to leave it and at the same time i didn't want to leave the opportunity so i had to do my balancing act which i have been doing well all my life so working for 16 hours was a routine to me so decided to go for it.


April -
I got confirmation of the company and the start date was may 4, yes for a novice who had not even lead a team or interviewed anyone or anything had to rent an office space, hire people, get internet lines, furniture and whatever is necessary in less than a month, precisely i got confirmation on april 8, so i got the office space by april 10 and one by one all fell in place due to great help from my dad and my dear friend Srinivas who was always there for any help i needed.
And then the big moment of informing my manager at Injoos and still wondering if i would be given a chance to work at Injoos, but the talk was so smooth and gave me more confidence, strength and assurance that i can carry things through and so the things have been pretty good.

May -
Yep..office started and i got the first hit when the senior most person who was supposed to lead didn't join and we were left with 5 people who had finished engineering about 20 months ago but i had the confidence we would carry it through and we did..we were hit again when one other person had to quit..we moved on and hired another person.
First month was about getting used to training and timings for the employees..
RCB lost the final of IPL..

June -
The biggest thing was getting the laptops from customs and realizing that moving things in Indian offices is so not quick..Damn!!!
Was just the routine of office and home..seldom home..

July -
Part of big enhancement of User Profile and was happy to be part of it..
Had lot of work on the enhancement and lot of responsibility at my office too..

August -
User Profile launched and it had come out really well..
The team at my office had been doing good and the client was happy to give us another unit and that means more systems, bigger UPS and more people.
Got everything done but drama unfolded in september.
My sister got married :-)
I bought my Iphone after planning to get it from US for nearly 5 months..yes i spent 29,650 INR for it but i love it ;-) my phone not the money i spent.

September -
Person leading the team got selected to Navy and so we had to let him go.
Out of the hired people one of my closest friends from college quit unexpectedly and we had to tell client to hold off and i was heart broken.
We got a quick replacement to the existing team and that is when i had to officially fire the person cos he was too baaaad..
Had been to 2 Champions Trophy Matches and every moment was worth it..

October-
For a person like me to take tough decision on someone was difficult but had to for the benefit of the company and i did it..Yes i fired someone..
We had a trip to Kgudi..nice relaxed trip..Thing about trips is everytime u r in trip u keep planning for the next and u want to go for more trips but seldom does those blossom..
Grandpa's one year ceremony.

November -
Prospect of 3 new clients..
Yes had to hire people and i did and they started on December 1 with a probation of 3 weeks..
Have been looking for a bigger house or big plot..only and only at Rajajinagar..to be precise within 2 kms of my home :-)
Rates are so unbelievable...

December -
new team was real strong and they help their own and did a fantastic job and after 3 weeks of probation. client has asked us to hire 2-4 more people and so i have scheduled interviews :-).
Had a team outing at Injoos..Loved it..
Had to get my eyes operated..postponed to January..

Movies this year -
Have watched a real lot of movies in theatre this year and would want to do so from now on..
Delhi ..Kaminey..Avatar 3d..Rocket Singh..Ajab Prem ki Ghazab Kahani..Dostana..3 idiots..etc...

Hoping a great year ahead and wishing you all a very happy new year..
Good Bye 2009..

My Friends

Weekend has been good and relaxing for the fact that i have not ventured anywhere out of my house..now coming to my friends..i have been thinking a lot about this since a couple of months..probably an year or so..the best i felt was write about my feelings for each of them..at the end of it they may like me more or hate me but really that is not the purpose of this post.Its just what i feel for them and to show my kids how my friends were.
Let me talk about each one individually..

Friend 1 -
Before : One of my very best friends till date..our friendship dates back to nearly 15 years and good thing is there were never really rough moments between us anytime..grew up together.We were like 2 bodies one soul..always there for me..knew me inside out..only person whom i knew could pep me up when down.. our conversations would stretch from movies to cricket to people to country to music to all that makes sense and nonsense too..never left me alone..Couldn't stay without meeting each other for more than a day or 2

Now: Times changed found the girl of his life..too busy with life and no time for anything other than career and life which obviously doesn't include me..it takes a special occasion for us to meet..We think now what to speak to each other..Talking has stopped a long way back..
All the best in life..

Friend 2 -
Before : Second of my very less set of best friends..grew up together can say till school..after school though we were and we are friends the magic didn't strike well enough cos we couldn't spend quality time with each other..used to be part of the group only when he had spare time..always had a reason to change our decisions of going to a movie or hotel and always had a 'no' as an answer for our plans..Good friend..


Now : Busy with life and partner..a bit selfish and opportunist but thats how some people are...Talks about bringing back the magic of our friendship little does he know that i had moved on long time back and his attitude is the one that stops me to work on getting friendship back to where it was if not better cos i donno if it would really last.

So this part of my post has been grossly misunderstood..what i have meant in the above paragraphs is just some things that have happened in our lives that doesn't mean there was nothing good about our friendship..we have had some of the best moments of our lives together..
Always there when he knows i am sad about anything..best part about him is his memory..has a very good memory and keeps reminding the good moments we had together and keeps relating things..I would definitely ask him suggestions on places for food and parking..He has a sweet gf who is more sensible and mature than this idiot :-)..she is very good friend of mine and deserves equal respect to everyone else in the post and you don't find a different section for her cos i have never seen them as separate..
He along with friend 1 have been my strength and inspiration..
People if you felt i have nothing positive to talk about him come speak to me and i can talk about it for months..
We are friends for life..

Sister 1 :
Before : A junior at school got introduced to me in a purely coincidental circumstances..never really knew we would go on to be so close but we did..Used to share everything and anything and always looked up to me for strength and focus..didn't really matter is i had exams next day she had to talk to me for a couple of hours..she being my first sister..loved her a lot..there couldn't be a day passed without our conversation..during these years she grew from strength to strength and went on to become a very successful person in life..

Now : Busy with her focus towards her family and career..i am the last on her list of friends but let me tell you she has very little friends..now we speak as we are acquaintance and nothing more..we need a valid reason to talk to each other..calls wouldn't last for more than 2 minutes..

Friend 3 :
Before : She was my sister's best friend and we became the closest of friends..first girl with whom i felt comfortable talking to..she admired me and we couldn't stop telling each other whats happening at that moment..mobile service providers made huge profit cos of us :-D
She had feelings which i couldn't reciprocate and she moved on..

Now : Back into my life after a couple of years but friendship didn't change and she is happily married now.

Friend4:
Before : Got together during our PU days but really got close from 4th semester and we grew together from then on and still growing together..total opposite personalities but still we compliment each other very well..no hint of tact or secrecy in him..always there for company be it goiing to return a rented cd or filling up petrol or buying clothes..never do we talk about each other but we always lend support to each other..value each others company a lot..we have got so used to each other that we can't stay away (touch wood)..Feels good to have a buddy who is simple non nonsense and no strings attached kind

Now :no change yet :-)

Sister 2 :
Before : Got to know her in 5th semester and somehow chords stroked immediately and we got close so close in no time..People wondered if we knew each others over years..Nice person..always had things to tell you..always bored to study..dream t a lot..filled the void of a sister in my life..loved her a lot..at times she was my kid sister and sometimes my elder one..:-)

Now : Times changed..fell in love forgot to tell me..got married and living happily..

Friend 5 :
Before : A sweet girl got introduced to me during a fest at college and we have been very close since then..nice girl..looks up to me for advice..respects me a lot..always there for me and expects the same from me..staying in hostel she feels my home is her local guardian and my parents love her as well..they find a daughter in her..

Now : No change yet :-)

Sister 3 :

Before : My friend's sister but a very very close sister to me as well..She likes me and respects me equal to her brothers and i love the fact as i always love having sisters..Simple girl..if there are no exams she will come out with us and i like teasing her..

Now : No change yet :-)

Wrote my feelings in this post..just like Abraham Lincoln told one of his subordinates to express his anger on paper i did the same about my feelings..

These people have had a huge influence in my life..There have been numerous other friends but these fall into the special bracket..
None the less one thing is friendship also comes with a validity..As my first post goes 'Change is eternal'

Myself as a friend : Bestest of friends..moody but still there..helps me focus and determined in life..Good thing about the things that has happened is that it has helped me to concentrate on my career and goals as the only thing i had in life other than my family was work..helped me a lot in growing..

And one small conclusion i had not written last time around is that everyone in this post are the best of my friends and am always there for them and they are always there for me..
We are all friends for life..

Cheers!!!Loved writing this post..

Great Weekend

Its been really a long time since i penned down my thoughts..there has been a lot of things that has happened over these months..

First my dream of starting my company bloomed..i believed in myself but yet felt it was close to impossible for a boy from middle class family to realize such a big dream but it happened..Probably that has kept me busy from blogging..

But am breathing a bit freely from last 2 weeks..previous weekend was a good one with 3 good movies..'Gafla' in hindi..'Shoot at sight' in english and 'Vinayakadu' in telugu..Needed a good break and got it but this weekend was better..

Weekend started with some spine chilling music by Nirvana..
First 3 official meetings scheduled for saturday got canceled and then had to go out with one friend in the morning and with another in the evening but both got canceled..so it was good rest day for me till i decided to go shopping with my dad..went to brigade and entered the Levis showroom but out of so much collection i didn't like even a single jeans there and then went to Lee where the collection wasn't too good..stepped into Pepe showroom..i always liked the pepe brand but never really bought it due to cost factor but this was the day of spending so went and really loved the collection and fit and bought 2 jeans and 2 short casual shirts..cost a whopping 6,400 but due to discount came down to 4000 and the surprise was at the bill counter when my dad paid the bill ;-) .. in the evening just bought some essential stuff for office and then picked up about 5 dvds out of which one was a pathetic movie called ' Kambhakth ishq' ..crap movie i tell you..Script writers and directors still feel showing a bit of skin and using some raunchy double meaning jokes makes a movie hit..pity those idiots..

Sunday was brothers sisters day..me my friend and our sister had booked tickets for 'new york' i bet this is a good movie in sometime now..Real good movie..its story based and very little entertainment quotient in the movie..what made the movie special was the realistic ending rather than the miraculous happy ending usually bollywood movies have..Like to watch movies with a story and a strong one..Then had lunch at mcdonlads and desserts at Gelato..Liked the ice cream but cone sucked big time..my hunger for shopping hadn't really ended the day before..so checked out some stuff at Levis and again the collection looked mediocore..found a couple of neat t shirts at Pantaloon..picked them up and headed back home..Evening went to meet a friend and spent some quality time..came back to watch the match between Roddick and fedrer..stepped out a few minutes to meet a couple of friends and to return the cd but couldn't move an inch for nearly 2 hours..what a match..Roddick just shocked fedrer until the second set tie break..then it was pure awe to watch the relentless exhibition of pure ecstasy and grand strokes i have ever witnessed so far in tennis..first time in my life did i choose tennis over cricket and i felt it was worth it..It was a great win for Fedrer but for me respect for Roddick just doubled..from the times in 2004 and 2005..this time around his game was so mature..what i love about Roddick is that he plays by instinct and power..love the rawness of his game..Fedrer tamed the rawness on previous occassions but here roddick's tennis had a new element called maturity..On a personal not it would have been an icing on the cake to witness Roddick win but its fine..There is always another day..


Nice weekend..Rejuvinated.. Replenished..Refreshed..Refuelled..