And we will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger - those who attempt to poison and destroy my countrymen!!!

November 26, '08 Mumbai around 2200 hrs IST

it's happened again...& in a manner that has left us speechless! in a way that hasn't happened before!

innocent ppl...innocent bystanders...innocent tourists...why? why?!

our defence-forces hve responded with force, tact and bravery...even as i type this, they hve nearly cleaned up the act...but at a price. there hve been martyrs among the elite forces, heaps of innocent casualties - both among the indian civilians & the foreign tourists...bystanders n hostages. prominent landmarks of the city damaged n scarred beyond anything, but negligible compared to the loss of HUMAN LIVES!

THIS IS UTTER DISREGARD FOR HUMAN LIVES....this cant go on!

u know...it provides me with a desire...with a initiative which i would like to see take shape! with such terror incidents becoming a sporadic part of our lives, as Prannoy Roy put it - we must sacrifice sumthing to make our lives more secure. the thought i had was - along the lines of Israel, a compulsory military conscription for all the citizens of india....age no bar till 40! a year or 2 dedicated to the nation...to make us more trained for emergencies, to act for the benefit of the nation, to make us -on a collective whole- a nation much more trained and equipped to handle and respond to such acts better!

our industries and corporate world must act as a support to this. employees who come away must be paid a small retainership fee to sustain/ support the person thru the year or 2 that he/ she dedicates to the nation!

as with myself, i see a lot of anger among reasonable ppl...and dat is never a good sign! u can go on prodding a sleeping dragon only til a certain point...but as a lot of the newspersons are saying..."we need to stop being just resilient, rather become responsive"...eliminate all and every risks to your lives, to the lives of innocent civilians and to the threat of freedom!

we must react...but we must keep our heads about us. we shud not fuel rumors, we shud not taint ppl of any faith/ community/ religion just becos of some individuals, we shud not indulge in mob mentality. even as others mite start losing their wits about u, we shud try n keep ours...really difficult (god forbid) if u see ur near and dear ones as a victim of any sort...may God gives us the strength!

my anger within me makes me feel that if i were granted a wish, i wud hve wished i was a part of the NSG or MARCOS or the Indian Army rite at this moment and be a part of the encounter operation...& that if ever i am in such a position, i may not think twice before squeezing the trigger...

prayers for the departed, salute to the defence & paramilitary forces and the martyrs and hope for my countrymen...

and cudnt help adding this line - wherever those bastards may be from, whoever they mite be - screw their happines and fcuk them to hell & back!!

Jai Hind.

I'm a Mo-Bro!

well...learnt 1 more great thing from the aussies, a custom which's gud enuff to carry back home with the other good 'uns!

it's Movember!!!

as the month of november was approaching, i cud hear my mates all around talkin off growing a moustache-donation for a shave-movember...goin on & goin forth! all i cud gather was u dont shave ur moustache in november (& assumed i misheard november as movember), and before knowing anything else of the rest - bang! i joined the bandwagon of not shaving my moustache!

and somedays prior...nrabouts mid-nov, i thot to me'self - dat i really dunno the reason i'm growing this bristle growth on my upper lip! and that's when i sought...and upon seeking did i discover!

wat a novelty thru an atypical aussie irreverant custom!

movember is the 'the month formerly known as november' in which u dont shave ur mo (aussie slang for ur moustache)! and why? b'cos u pledge not to shave til the end of month, and ur friends...oops - mates around u contribute money to your cause to sponsor ur moustache shaving at the end of the month! all the money dat is contributed against ur name, is donated to a cause for men's health research n prevention every year! this year - it's going to the prostate cancer reseacrh, prevention and cure society...

pls chk this link for further info http://www.movember.com.au/

i was surprsied to know dat there are well laid down rules and customs associated with it, unaware of which all i jumped headlong into it!

but as they say - it's never too late to make amends! so instead of just sporting a moustache jus' for the heck of it, now i'm a proper registered member of Movember 2008 of Australia, n am proud of muhself mate...so there!!

this here is the official badge of being a part of this movement and hve already been gifted a shaving set and a free ticket to the gran parté (the party which marks the end of movember) for having more than a certain mark of contributions made against my name!

needless to say it's itching as hell, and if not for this pledge - i wud hve shaved it away long back! but some colleagues around me hve provided the much needed enthu by their unshirking attitude in following up this custom. as knowing myself - am a sucker to try out most new things....and when i saw an opportunity to give back to the land a li'l in return for all the gud time that i'm havin here....why not mate?!

it's also a custom to splash ur 'Mo progress' snaps at regular intervals...so thereby i post mine most recent ones!

if any of you readers perchance read this before Nov 30, ure welcome to add to the cause by ur contributions. just click on this link: https://www.movember.com/au/donate/donate-details.php?action=sponsorlink&rego=2183971&country=au

else u can follow the instructions in this mo-card and do so too!

if it's beyond nov 30, look fwd to ur contribution nxt yr around mate...or mebbe u can participate urself!

one more good custom added to my kitty bag of 'things to carry back home'!

cheers,

there they go across europe!

they say the child imbibes from the parents'....the reverse can be so true!

for the last 2 yrs my folks hve been zigzagging all across the country....now that they r unburdened of the excess luggage of m'self n my sis (:-))....but then i guess the stories of my excursion provided them the boost for their next item on the agenda...the euro trip!!

if it had come by in a normal-seen everyday-guided tour kinda way....i had no issues whatsoever! but no...they banished the thought of the guided tour...bought themselves a lonely planet guide...got talkin to their friends who had been to europe better...charted their own 'flexible' itinerary....n got all ready to fly off!!!

imagine me....sitting 1000 of miles away...how wud i react when they say..."we cud go to berlin...or maybe go first to vienna...and then maybe take a nite train to berlin - if we get a reservation - or wil take a hotel in vienna"...jesus christ - this aint your backyard!! get a fixed itinerary!! but no...my parents after all...hve to stubbornly sustain that streak of adventurism!!

then started my trans-continental calls to all my friend-base/ acquaintance base in europe...calling ppl...trying to put those places in the folks' itinarary...tryin to make my mates meet them at various places...tryin to make them stay at their places...spking at my 2 Am-3 Am...spkin to them mine 12 pm/6 am...time zones of all the major cities of europe at my fingertips!
so at last they flew...got one of me mates to meet them at first base at frankfurt-heidelberg itself...still cant totally calm the nervous wreck that i had become and wont to remain so till they land back in Cal again!

just before i wrote this, i had placed a call to them to check on them...they were supposed to be at lucerne today. this is how the gist of the call went...mom took the call...

me: hello mom...how are ya? where are u guys?

mom: hellooo beta...we're all good. me and ur dad are on the top of mt. titlis rite now...

me: wat?! top of where?! u were supposed to be at lucerne lake today?!

mom: been there...seen that & left lucerne for mt. titlis...and now we're 10000 ffet high up on top of it...the temp is arnd -5/6 degrees i think..

me: (totally speechless n doubly concerned n literally shouting) negative temperature?!?!? u guys hve enuff warm clothes i hope...u not feeling cold or nething...hve some coffee...glug some brandy....

mom: aare relax beta...we're all cool...had some special swiss coffee as soon as we reached the top...and me & ur dad just finished a game of throwing snowballs at each other! dont worry...we're fine!

a smile broke across my face at hearing this. atta boy...thats my folks!

guess i dont need 2 b so concerned abt them...they are managing just fine! which doesnt mean at all that i'm not damn tensed rite now wondering whether they went down by the ski lift...or the cable car....or did they try something else...or....

jeez...stop it...stop it....let them enjoy themselves! they will be fine.let them go on travelling and having fun....and i will try and keep sending my mates as chaperones with them just like i had sent my mates in heidelberg...in zurich and are setting some up in belgium, paris, scotland n london!! :-)

hve a gr8 time folks....travel safe n come back soon...ppl back home are missin u already! :-)

the passage of nearly 365 that went by....

jeez....nearly a year that i scribbled down sumthing!

so much went past in da passage dat went by!

spent time in aus, came back to blore...settled to life in blore....usual weekday-weekends colleagues-friends cycle!

various hues passin by thru personal life too....unsurprisingly managed 2 run thru various ppl as is the wont...got to get rid of some unwanted baggage in life...new ppl - old ppl..ppl comin back...ppl movin far...

on the good side, last year provided complete formal closures to a lot of chapters, chapters...chapters which cud hve had other endings if only i had shown the inclination to...but guess i didnt, and dont incline to i guess for sumtime! but i guess after these closures, some good bro's of mine will stop hounding me for not doin what they thought i ought to hve done! watver happens, happens for the good!

wat else went by...mmm..home trips...random trips...trips here n there...a quick jaunt to the himalayas for GIM juniors' wedding...usual mumbai trips from where i dont really feel like comin back...the guys are there!! it re mains a sanctuary apart from home dat i like to run to!


got another tattoo done...took a friend to show the parlor, and got one done for myself too! lower back center...slightly upwarsd of the lower-back tattoo zone...solomon n nefertitit!! :-) <>

on work front? umm...nuthin much...client paid me to sit on my ass, just becos they wanted me and they cud not start then! wish my bosses were as realistic as my client ;-)!!

wat else...wat else? lost an extended family member...kaka...actually dad's kaka. strange character he was! may his soul rest in the musical peace which he spread so magically.

aus beckoned again. sandy slated to fly off to sgpore. indiranagar breaking up. especially dbpc @ bangalore...
as i sit here typing today....i hve already spent 4 months back here in sydney. experienced the full blast of the southern hemisphere winter, and didnt like it one bit! been to adelaide n back, crazy horse more memorable than last time...full fledged trip along coast of queensland to snorkellin in the outer great barrier reefs packed in already!

nearly that time in space of this year when last year i had landed in sydney for the 1st time!

dunno how long wil be here...but landing back in blore seems a dangerous predicamant now! did all the closed chapters and the half-closed, semi-opened and just-opening all hve to congregate over there?! crowd of any kind hastens the claustrophobia in me ;-)

i bow...to lord confusion!

hope to scribble in some more...soon!