Good Bye Rehab

 jeo jeo tera hukam tive teo hovna. jainh jainh rakhe aap tai jaye khadovna ||

Some people are too good for this world. and world can’t handle so much awesomeness. There is divine power which makes sure they shine and rise above this ocean of people. Morning of july 6th brought the news of one such star who left smiling at this world and leaving everyone in tears.

Rehab who left for her journey to the other world was not only a friend but part of life. Someone who would bring smile on face with every ping, every tweet, every whatsapp message and every call. 

Anything related to books, literature, blogs, business, and marketing would fascinate her and she would start conversation on it.

If ever there was a best smile award, she would win it without any competition.

She would take out time on my every visit to Mumbai to catch up and we would talk about anything and everything. That hour of meeting would hold so many memories and moments of pure joy. 

She wanted world to become a better place. She was curious to know about so many things. We would connect on music, literature, language and at times our personalities too. Random recommendations would land in my inbox with links to tracks with a comment ‘you will like this’.

For someone who had so many dreams, so much calmness, so much happiness and cheer to spread, and make this world a better place to live in, she left too early. She was a Star. A Shining Star. There was an upcoming author in her, there was an entrepreneurship bug in her, excitement about the new job and there were so many other plans she had in mind which she was working towards and shaping them well.

Outlandish Musings – Her blog would bring smile, would raise many questions, would talk about random topics and give me so much food for thought. Almost every blog post of hers would have one such line that would end up as my gtalk and facebook status message.

Have so many memories but can’t find courage to write more.

The last conversation we had last week, she expressed her wish to plan a visit Amritsar sometime this year. The trip will not happen. Ever.

She was special.

Twitter and Bombay will never be same without her.

Dear Rehab, You will be missed.

“We all are artists, musicians, dancers, writers. Everything else is just a way to pay bills ~ Rehab”

2012.Pause. Press Rewind. 2011. Check. Forward.

Made any resolutions? cool.me neither. :P

But yes, my regular and yearly update on ‘Things to Do’ in its third year. So quick update shall happen on that to set targets for next year and check on what all happened last year.

1. To get interviewed-  Well the context in which I had written it did not happen but yes, I was interviewed for various projects and clients to work with. Got selected too and worked on really good assignments last year. :p


2. Shot at dream companies –I did. And I will continue giving my dream companies a shot. One day I will get selected and will publish a separate post on that as well. J

3. Read and Write – Giving reading and writing a ‘red’ for last year. Hardly read any book except Calvin & Hobbes but I think I read that calvin book multiple times. On writing, well I made some technical documents :P but I won’t count them here. So I will try to get back to this habit of reading and writing this year.atleast try.


4. New Wardrobe –Just two months in 2012 right, I have added 6 shirts, 2 trousers, 1 belt and 1 pair of shoes already. Good start no. Pat on my back and may god bless me with more shirts, more trousers, more shoes and bigger paycheck to pay for all of them.


5. Bring AmritSarovar back – There is technical glitch here. Domain is no more with me. So all I can work on is the site with new domain name. fingers crossed to get this thing working. But hey, helped start one website and it is getting good response so efforts are being done.


6. Travel Show – Too much work , too much travel and not staying in one city. But that is not a good reason. Lets keep this uncheck on wish list and lets hope we get to make atleast an episode this year. J


7. Less of Crying and More of Laughter – Well. This would be ‘Check’. More laughter. More happy times. More haahahaha.. and less of :’( and lets hope this continues for years to come..;)

8. Travel Travel Travel – I did.Lot of travelling. Apart from regular trip to Amritsar,I travelled to Noida, Shirpur, Lucknow, Hubli, Dharwad, Goa , Lonavla and official trips to Pune, Mumbai and Bangalore as well. :D

9. Gain Knowledge – Lets mark this as ‘Check’ and continue learning.


10. Learn a dance form – Did not even make an effort to do this. Hopeful to do something about it this year.this was something I wrote last year.and will not delete it. Moving on.. :p


11. Talk Less- Are you kidding me??? :D

2011 - A Recap - Part II

Read 2011-A Recap -Part I here 

 

August – Birthday month. Was supposed to be on vacation for one complete month to take some break. But turned out to be totally opposite. Although I did not work much but still had to be on calls and did not travel anywhere without laptop. But good times spent nevertheless. Also the birthday month. Entered second half of twenties and people called from all around the globe to wish me :D loads of twitter and facebook birthday wishes too. For the record no one brought me a cake. :p and gifts.well.. I don’t believe in gift policy much so yeah no gifts are fine. Also attended my first live concert of the year. Coke studio minicert in hard rock Delhi.

September started off with quick trip to Pune for four days and one of those four days will be remembered for an unbearable shoulder pain which did not let me sleep the whole night. A lesson learnt to take care of health no matter what. Only asset that you control is your health and if you lose it, you lose so much more.  Also, September was tough time due to some other reason.

October – Well nothing spectacular/worth remembering happened in October but good time was spent at home celebrating mom’s and bhai’s birthday. Was diwali time and in Amritsar so that was also nice time to be home. :D . Also I could not make it to T’s wedding. Big miss that.

November - November brought a change in the completely set world on professional front. No details here but few things happened which made me think. Think about so many things. One opportunity coming and going. Another one which I held me back to take the next leap. November was not a very comfortable month for mind. Stress came. Lot of discussions happened. But by the month end, there were few decisions taken and windows of change were opened.

December was supposedly a travel to Bangalore but last moment plans changed and postponed to January. So for another month, the office issues continued but ended a year with cousin’s wedding, meeting cousins after long time and bringing New Year with family inside golden temple. :)

 

Phew, this was long write-up. I’m sure I’ve missed out something or the other...small brain...smaller memory.

Someone said you should visit a place you never visited at least once a year. I faired quite well there. Went to Shirpur, Hubli, Dharwad, Goa, and Lonavla for the first time and Mumbai/Noida/Bangalore again.  Decent na. :D 

When Reality Strikes – Second half of the year was cruel to some people in my close circle. With friends losing their near and dear ones it was a reality check for me as well. I had nothing to say to anyone of them but just be there for the support.  It’s tough for them and was equally tough for me to just get that feeling. That scary feeling and bitter reality of life that everyone has to go. I wrote a blog post about it too. Time to move on. Can’t write much on it. 

Friends– people change. And life takes a different turn every time it happens. JA stopped talking sometime last year. Still don’t know why. But I think I have stopped making friends after that. Last string of old friends was broken then. Nevertheless, this one is to thank everyone who met/came back/stayed/left for good times. Pooja, Ranjeet, Ankit, Esha, T rinjhna got married leaving me alone in Bachelor’s club. Ankit & Esha now blessed with baby girl so big hug and many congratulations to both of em..  M & M opened their joint venture which completed a year last week. So congratulations and best wishes to them too. R is studying hard and hopefully will be giving us all good news soon. Glad to have V and Hina on my advisory board :P and guiding me to right path on professional front. 

Personal life was pretty much on relaxed mode last year. So all good there as well.

Also, 2011 was year of music concerts and musical evenings. Got chance to witness Tochi Raina, Kailash Kher, Leslie Lewis, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Ustad Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Toumani Diabete , Imogen Heap, Shantanu Moitra/Swanand Kirkire and The Raghu Dixit Project live during musical concerts and evenings in Delhi. World Class Performers. Epic Performances. Have to see more live concerts to experience more awesomeness.

okay I am done with my post. and all i have to say now is 

 'HAPPY NEW YEAR - 2012' ENJOY & Live Life.  :D :P :) 

2011 - A Recap - Part I

February about to finish and I am doing a recap post of 2011. The year did not go as per plans or rather no plans were made. So went with the flow. Year which gave me chance to grow as a person and a professional, year which gave me opportunity to meet so many new people and visit so many new places. Year which brought about best learnings as far as work goes and year which brought so many memories to carry for times ahead. This blog is just about a short recap of events that took place. So let’s go month wise ‘coz it’s easy to remember that way. :D

-    January - Travelled from Bangalore to Delhi on Dec 31^st.and then took the train to Amritsar on Jan 1 for a mini break with family and friends. Only to realize a small surprise meeting lined up on first day itself. The meeting which was supposed to be a no-meeting happened. No more talk about that but yeah quick short trip ended and I went back to Bangalore only to return back by 21^st Jan when brother made everyone in the family proud. The day he became a chartered accountant, got an all India rank and topped in the city. Probably the happiest day of year for me and everyone in the family. :) 

 

-     Come February, I travelled to Noida, Shirpur near Nasik and Mumbai for different trainings to campus recruits. From technical to personality development, each day of training gave something to learn and interacting with more than 400+ college recruits during training days was great experience. Ranjit got married so me and jassi first attended his wedding in Amritsar and later visited sultanpur lodhi for his reception. 

-     March was mixed. Travelled to Lucknow which turned out to be an amazing amazing trip thanks to the food. And the people. Lucknow is amazing place to explore food especially if you are non vegetarian. Our stay of 5 days there was nothing short of heavenly experience for stomach. Noida happened again for another week. Also visited Mumbai again, missed a flight (no thanks to kingfisher for not helping out in that case.that is one long story), travelled to Hubli on bus the same day. and then post week long stay there, went to Amritsar.Planned a keertan samagam at home to thank god for all the blessings before I moved to Pune for 6 months. And the day I travelled to Delhi, someone stole our car. L  .and hey, I got my promotion too. Wasn’t too excited and you would know why if you knew the things that happened in the course. But a Yay to that as well. :D 

   April started off with a bang with India winning the world cup. Had a blast at Soho’s in Kalyani nagar where I went with friends. So glad I did not stay back in hotel room and watched match on TV. But hey INDIA WON. Going to magarpatta to see the celebrations and coming back at 1 in night was totally amazing experience. So much fun that day was.You read this right? Found a place to stay and started settling in. and then out of nowhere GOA happened. On Good Friday’s extended weekend. And undoubtedly the best vacation of life. 16 people.4 days. So many beaches. So many parties. So many conversations. So many drives. Pure awesomeness. And here is the awesome awesome video post which brings back all the good times. Also, a trip to Mumbai happened to attend Pooja’s wedding. Two days of memories packed for life. My first experience of going in a marathi-marwadi wedding where no one knew me except the one sitting on stage.  :D

-    May – Can’t remember anything significant happening in May but surely there was lot of work, deadlines and excitement. Many extra hours spent in office, lot of learning happened. And yes, brother also joined his first job, as a finance officer in a PSU. Big YAY to that. :) 

-    June – June was more work, more time spent in office and closer to release date. No regrets of all the time spent in office since it went pretty well. we went to lonavla on a day trip. with friends and few freshers. lot of fun and lot of masti that day. trekking.rains.clouds.time well spent.

-   July – Performed at an awards ceremony with our club team. Scripted a complete item voice over for which was given by yours truly and dance was performed by club members and the complete act was well appreciated by everyone.When you perform in creative field while working in little monotonous technical arena, it gives you sense of satisfaction to be linked to creative brain waves. Also, went to Mumbai to attend Amit’s wedding. Good Times Happened. 

S

After i wrote the post, i realized that it is too lengthy to be read in single post. so rest of it in part two. Read Part 2 here.

The Joy

How old are you? 
If you are above 20..and below 60 then I am talking to you.
Lets start with few simple questions.when was the last time you behaved like a 10 year old kid? when was the last time you tried to learn something by actually trying it ? when was the last time you laughed like no one is noticing and without bothering what people around you will think? when was the last time you opened a Calvin Hobbes or a Garfield or Chacha Chaudhary comic to pass your time and lived moments without bothering about past-present-future? 


Simple questions but not so simple answers right?


If you haven't done it in recent past all i can say is DO.IT.NOW. its sheer joy to be child again. :)  

About Choices

At some point of life,you would be asked to make a choice and there will be two windows to choose from.one will offer you more money than the other window.the 
other window will not give you more money option but will have a relatively better 
life.Don't know about your choice.I am always tempted to choose the former one but end up choosing the latter. pointless to say, life has been good.


Talking about some more choices in life.. 
if at some point of life, you are asked to make a choice, between your job and your family, Always choose your family. they are the ones for whom you do job. jobs come and go, family always stays.


Also, at every moment of life, you have two options. to crib with what you have or be happy with what you have. stay happy because if you see people around you,many of them won't be at the stage where you have reached. so be happy about it. also,you are part of competitive world, so stay in the competition and march ahead.you will cover more distance in less time this way. 


On choice between your friends and your girl friend..choose your girl friend.because friends will be your friends no matter what..so you don't have to worry about them and if your girl friend asks you to choose out of two. choose your friends because they will be the ones who will tell you that its time to make a new girl friend ;) 


you have read this post.now to make a choice.to close window after leaving a comment or without leaving a comment.choice is yours. ;) 

One Life. Live It.

why this thought came? In last 45 days,four souls in my friends families left this earth for their heavenly abode.words fail to come out while writing this.but then this thought in mind raises lot of questions.why would god take someone away who has a complete life ahead or someone who is there as pillar of family.someone who has just completed college education and have dreams of successful career ahead.but taking someone away at young age is harsh.cruel.its law of nature i agree. a life has to end.no questions asked if someone sees four stages of life and lives life completely and then goes away but its so unfair on part of people who are left with memories and vacuum people who go leave behind.


In last one year i did not even meet anyone who has gone. but i knew they were there.doing well or on bed, they were still there. such tragic news coming one by one and so many in such short time, for me it has been tough time. very tough.i don't know what to say at such times. I don't have anything to say.tears refuse to come out.they ask me to be strong instead.i try.


jio jio tera hukam tive teo hovna.

Six Places - 10 Day You Challenge

Six places I love. lets start right away.


1. New York - recently i saw the movie 'New York I Love You' and fell in love with NYC. since then the city is on my list.the culture and the experiences my friends living/been there share make me visit the place and enjoy the buzz in the air.new york, see you soon.

New York I Love You  - Shot by Pooja Ganeriwala

2. Amritsar - Born and brought up in Amritsar,the city attracts me like magnet and i would not mind staying in the city for lifetime.The city has my people, golden temple and food and combination of these three is impossible to be found anywhere.


3. Goa - Goa is awesome.one needs to visit the place with friends and enjoy the time there.I visited the place in april this year and had an amazing time.goa is definitely one of the places you would wish to go again and again.so plan anytime and everytime you get the opportunity.

A Collage of Memories - Goa 2011 

4. Maldives - too many honeymoon albums in my facebook from maldives.lovely place it looks in those pictures.so i want to visit the place.NOT for honeymoon but.

Maldives - A Dream . Shot by Pooja Ganeriwala.

5 & 6 & 7 & 8.  Europe - I want to live in Europe atleast for an year to absorb the beauty especially Athens(5),Paris(6),Rome(7),Bern(8).the fascination and attraction to Europe is credited to all the Hollywood movies shot there which take  you to these places.definitely on my radar and will not miss any opportunity to visit these places.

An evening in Paris - shot by Harman Boparai

so many more places to visit..so much to explore.

NOTE : No photograph from this post should be used without prior permission of the photographer. All Rights Reserved with the photographer. 

Seven Wants - 10 Day You Challenge

Ahem..look who is back to his own blog.staring at edit window for almost two hours and then finally deciding to break the block to complete the you challenge.time to talk about seven wants.my first expression is only seven? but then when i think about it, i am not able to pen down seven things i would WANT.


1. World Tour - It would be nice great awesome to visit all the places which are on your 'places to go' list and it would be equally awesome for Thomas cook or cox & kings to sponsor one.i promise i will blog about my trip and do shameless promotion about them. :) 


2. Time travel - yes, i want an ability to time travel.many a times watching a movie, you see a place.and you wish you were there.exactly at this time i want my superpower to activate and take me there.


3. One week exile every year - I want one week long vacation/exile every year somewhere where there is no signal and there is no internet. it would be great to live stress-free life. no tension. just be with people you like/love. for one week. :) 


4. Credit card free life - I want to live life without any tension of credit. nuff said.good enough money in debit card to buy anything i like so i can spend till last penny and by the time that happens, god brings back the second last day of month so salary is credited and debit card is recharged. ;) 


5. Revamp Wardrobe - I want to revamp my wardrobe every six months.


6. Chitranghda Singh -  but then she is married..so may be in some other life..


7. finish the challenge - you bet. i want to finish this 10 day you challenge.


then there are regulars like world peace, loads of gadgets , happy life, etc etc..

Eight Fears : Ten Day You Challenge

Right So we are on day 3 post 3 of ten day you challenge.and this is the most difficult post for me to write.I fear what? 


1. Losing - who doesn't have a fear of losing ? losing your near and dear ones. people who you love.people for who you pray for 


2. Water - i dunno where i heard it but its stuck in my head that i have water accident in my life at age of 35. and from that moment i fear water.i just can't get myself to learn swimming.fyi i take bath everyday. 


3. Height - you can take me to 100 story building but don't ask me to look at the ground from there.  that fear of height i carry with me. i have lived on 5th floor..8th floor...13th floor. but have tried best every time to not look at the ground from windows/balcony. scares me. 


4. Expression - fear of expression is what I fear the most. i can't express myself. i will have emotions i will have feelings but i will not express them. there is a fear always. at times of losing someone. other times of not being sure if that is right time/right person to talk to.


5. Double-faced people - you know people who are sweet to you when they talk and talk about you behind your back.i fear to make friends with such people.they kill your belief in trust and friendship. 


6. God - i fear god. a lot. and because of fear i believe in 'when when what what happen, that that then then happens' . :D  this fear also lets me believe in myself after i do anything wrong. after all i am not god. :D 


7. Hospitals - i don't like the hospital environment. it freaks me out. but at the same time utmost respect for doctors and people who support them in saving lives.


8. Horror/Ghosts - I don't like listening to horror stuff. although i know ghosts are non-existent but then the fear in mind is there. whenever i fear ghosts, i remember god. and that helps me fade out this fear.  



My 4th fear has ensured i don't write a detailed post about my fears. next up is seven wants. 

'The 6 PM Slot' - Book Review

Take a popular youth channel which will show you all uncensored stuff claiming it to be youth oriented content, another popular news channel which shows everything except the news, one star journalist anchor whose aim is to make his news channel the best and himself a brand in Indian media, an ambitious girl who wants to make mark in industry.mix it well. And you get some hilarious, some surprising, some oh-my-god moments and of course, a good novel.

‘the 6 pm slot’ revolves around Tania, a supervisor producer at YTV the channel which brands itself an entertainment channel targeting the Youth age-group, gets a chance to handle a show hosted by scantily clad host to solve love problems at a slot when nobody watches TV.6 PM. Series of events take place during each episode and the book is journey of events and the consequences .The show gets an attention when Rajneesh Tiwari who runs a news channels targets the show in a well-planned plan to increase the TRPs of his news channel. What happens after that is for you to read.

Naomi being a TV journalist has used very indianised vocabulary in the book and at times, it makes a good laugh for reader. There will be few moments when you will just stop reading and laugh at the situation and few when you will stop reading but this time think about situation and go Darn! what-the-beep! why! why not!! .’the 6 pm slot’ is one of very few Indian books where an Indian author doesn’t makes an IIT or an IIM campus its location, doesn’t base the story on an IT guy and makes an interesting read even without any single chapter of sex in it. And when someone who rarely opens a book to read finishes it in two sittings, you better believe it’s a good book to read.

I am not an avid book reader and when it comes to books written by an Indian author, I definitely give them a second thought before reading them. Because there is only recipe which every author has cooked in different way and presented to you. But 'the 6 pm slot' turns out to be an exception. It’s a book you will enjoy reading. More so because you will be able to relate to some live examples that you see on television every now and then.

When I started reading the book, I did not know that Naomi Dutta works as TV journalist but while reading you can make it that writer is someone among them since the description and way the story has been narrated gives an impression that writer is one of them. The vocabulary used is interesting and very clear picture of what happens behind the scenes and what impact it has on what we see on TV .I hope Naomi writes again and on a different subject and moves out of TV industry plot.

Book Rating - 3.75/5 

*this rating is just a random figure so don’t bother. Go. Read the book*.

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Nine Loves : 10 Day You Challenge

9 Loves

1. Family : There is no debate on this point and everyone loves their family. same goes for me too.and they come on top of my 'love' list.


2. Golden Temple : I totally LOVE it.For those who have been to the golden temple, they would totally agree to this. and for those who haven't been, PLAN and visit this abode of god. the experience is amazing..

4. Home : Home Sweet Home. :) 

5. Maggi : Maggi should be declared national food of India.most of indian population is young/unmarried and survives on what? Right. Maggi.  and this 2-minute noodles actually takes more than 2 minutes to make.Maggi Zindabad thi.maggi zindabad hai. maggi zindabad rahegi. 

6. Madhuri Dixit,Shireen Bhan, Steffi Graf and Chitranghda Singh : Give me one reason to not love these lovelies.i haven't found any. :) 

7. Ipod : Not much of Apple fan but totally love my ipod.I had ipod shuffle 512 mb when this love affair started.now I have an ipod nano 8gb.and am more than happy with it.

8. Tea : I am tea addict.and I can drink tea anytime and everytime of the day.or night.

9. Few Friends: and there are few people in life who I don't have blood relation with but still are part of my life.I don't think they know or will ever know  but for me,they are special.will always be. :) 


I made this wordmaze.you will find all my 9 loves in below pic.especially the 9th love.few of my friends have their names hidden in it. :) how many could you find? 

dan dana dan done... next up is eight fears. :)