Going west!!!

This was first written when Kedar was packing-up to leave for Uncle Sam's land (its been a lil worked upon since then). I've been through this feeling many a times. Lots of my closer friends have left the country (while some have left me), I am happy DG is soon coming back and kedar is already back for a break, after a year.

Good Bye… No Why?

Fly away, O Mighty ol’ west-wind,

Fly away, for today you must,

We swayed together in these fields,

The fields you will sweep, on your way, to dust.

I hear you ticking, O time you leveler,

I hear you don’t have much of a choice,

We’d slain away about a million of seconds,

That ticked away during our suburban-drives.

Every minute, every hour, I know you’ve got the power,

But back then we were kings, and you: just a device.

So winds and storm,

And time and tide,

How can you take away something that’s deep inside?

Those memories of moments, those bruises of life.

Can you take away those days of thunder?

Those nights of frenzy,

Those games, those blunders.

Talks of life, walks of strife, sizzlers and knife, how many can you wipe.

Malls and movies, some money, a call for cheers

Comforts and victories, decisions and fears.

I can’t believe, you’re leaving pal,

But your bag hangs on your shoulder,

Take care; I’ve heard out there it’s cold.

Should I say Good bye now? No wait I need to wonder.

LOST

This is a part of whats been happening for some time now..... since the "END OF THE BEGINING".....just expressive of the way i've been feeling in the world, the Corporate World as they call it. The rest is for you to infer.

LOST

Does it feel great to be on the highway?
That wind in your hair, and passion to be right there,
Does it strike how far you reached, how many you left behind on the way?

Hi-tech, all geared up; ready to go.
Push the limits to what they could’ve never thought before.

Does the thrill drive you crazy?
Make you feel the center of galaxy,
Are you still awestruck by beauty, humbled by simplicity?

You’re sharper than before, nothings as potent to block the way.
Walk-on you’ve to conquer everyday.

Does it really need to be so damned?
So twisted and turned and lowered and churned,
They said, Faster, Higher, Stronger, you rammed.
You pushed the hardest now you hardly can stand,

Do they mean what they say?
Did you ask a “BY THE WAY”?
Did they say what they meant?
Or were those words from somebody lent?
Didn’t they teach you to go everywhere and knock-out and swear?
Didn’t they tell you of GOD and his Angels, and of DEVILS you need to beware?

I am lost, but to follow you, is the last thing I could dare,
I don’t remember, came I from where,
I don’t remember what I sought, no reason no prayer.
You have a plan, a road and a van, take care
Just watch out for that sign I saw back there,
I don’t know what it meant, four letters and a glare
I heard a man shouting, and I heard his bell,
In a mystic voice he said, “Bon Voyage on your way to HELL”.

PRINTING THE UNREADABLE

Its been really long this time that something came up here, simply because no one bothered to write or read something here. Seems like all of us are too busy to come back to this place which kept us occupied all thru the days when there was nthng to do. All those days the thoughts kept pouring, in fact overflowing sometimes.

I was just going thru my own blog after like a month or so and I was surprised what we used to think just some months ago. It seems like I am talking to myself as I was some time back. And believe me it’s a really intriguing experience to see someone so similar.

A lot has changed in the past months. Junaid starting his job, me shuttling here and there as a part of my job, Sunny bought a pulsar 200 and Rohan moving to kandivli.

And as a part of this change here I am sitting in my hotel room in Trivandrum looking for ways to kill time after a busy day at work. Although I am dead tired I cant sleep so early, its just 10 pm and I am Deepak..not good for my image to sleep so early…

So as destiny, hard work or luck whatever u mite consider has brought me to Trivandrum working at a printing press, I am hoping with crossed fingers that this thing goes well. I hope this wud be a good learning experience, academically I know it will be and it is. But what I am enjoying is all the different places I get to go to. All the different people I get to meet. Be it the client who is not expected to be good at all, surprisingly here the client is good( so far so good) or the locals of this place. People understand hindi but can rarely speak it, English saves the day most of the times, seems like u r not in ur own country, but then I look around and I see all the old vintage KSRTC buses and ‘small’ cars, brings me back to reality…..

Since this is kerala, all I have seen here is coconut trees, bananas to eat, and men wearing lungis. It’s a part of the uniform at some places, I mean it. Peoples knowledge here about different cuisines is so limited that Chinese means noodles, north Indian food means anything made out of paneer and anything else I haven’t dared to try yet. Roti here is a very decent substitute for rubber and I am starving to have a soft roti here. I have been on rice for the past whole week.

This weekend we had the opportunity to take a half day on Sunday, yes ppl, half day on a Sunday is luxury here. So we asked the local people working at the press to guide us as to how shud we spend the day. And of crse the answer was go to a near by beach. I have heard that Kovallam( pronounced Kovaddam) is a beautiful beach and so I was keen to go there. But I was told that there is some rally going on at that place and wudnt be a good idea to go there coz of the traffic. So we went to a far away beach named varkala to see the nayked ladies( no spelling mistakes, that’s how they describe this beach, just try to get the pronunciations rite) and the rest of the graphic details I cant share here due to the lack of appropriate gadgets to capture the moments of bliss……..

So far this is the story from Trivandrum…..will keep posting as and when I have some time and access to the net…till then…idli dosa rice coconut banana Malayalam newspaper….thats what life is

Money

Back after a long time...the last one by Sunny gave a glimpse of the transition from the carefree college world to the dog eat dog industrial world.

And heres something I chose to write on....one thing that makes the world go around....

MONEY

The first thing that comes to anyones mind is the most common phrase "Money is the root of all evil"

Have we ever really thought about what is the root of all the money that exchanges hands all over the world every single moment???? The obvious answer wud be all the people working all day long to earn money so that we can live a happy life....and to put it more precisely I quote some lines from Atlas Shrugged.

"Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think. Then is money made by the man who invents a motor at the expense of those who did not invent it? Is money made by the intelligent at the expense of the fools? By the able at the expense of the incompetent? By the ambitious at the expense of the lazy? Money is made--before it can be looted or mooched--made by the effort of every honest man, each to the extent of his ability. An honest man is one who knows that he can't consume more than he has produced."

All thru the years when I gained enuf sense to form opinions about money and life and other concepts of life, I have never believed money is the root of all evil, on the contrary I started believing that money is definitely THE source of happiness. Of course what gives a man happiness is solely a reflection of his mind, his soul. Although in the last few months I found enuf reasons to think over the issue money being THE source of happiness all over again

I have always been crunched to spend money all thru my life, another way to put it wud be I never had money to afford luxuries in life. Basic necessities are all that I could always afford. Which again is a relative concept in itself. What is luxury for me wud be a necessity for others. But I wud define necessity as smthng I cant stay happy without(example: Ice cream) and luxury as smthng u can enjoy and feel good about but can live happily without it(example: Vodka). All thru those years when money was not an abundant resource we had, I always thght it will give me all the happiness that I look for in life.

It will give me the ability to do all the things I love. Finally I will see ppl around me happy at least from the money point of view in life. But sadly I was hit by a unprecedented reality check as soon as I started earning. And that was now that u have money which u never had in all the past years, u start saving it rather than spending it. And the Q is why?????. The answer really simple....what if those years come back again....or is it that difficult for us to move ahead and accept change in life????

And all this just leaves me with a faint smile...definitely taking back my own words....money IS THE source of happiness...I must say it can be...but it is not THE source of content and happiness.


U can have the best meal in ur life eating at a roadside stall or at a five star restaur. What matters is the experience and the memory. Baskin Robbins back then was not anything great cause I was the only one appreciating good Ice Cream. But now when u have a great company to share it with(I hope u get I am talking abt u) it taste like never before. In our college days we had the best times with not more than 50 bucks in our wallet every day. And today when I have the liberty to carry 500 in my wallet, I dont have my friends to live those great moments again. Of course after reading this I am sure they will come flocking to me this weekend for a party

To put the above whole idea in a better(philosophical) way here's Atlas shrugged again

Money will not purchase happiness for the man who has no concept of what he wants: money will not give him a code of values, if he's evaded the knowledge of what to value, and it will not provide him with a purpose, if he's evaded the choice of what to seek. Money will not buy intelligence for the fool, or admiration for the coward, or respect for the incompetent. Money will not give you the unearned, neither in matter nor in spirit.

And if u think this post can end without the Floydian view of money...sorry

Pink Floyd - Money

Money, get away.
Get a good job with good pay and you're okay.
Money, it's a gas.
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.
New car, caviar, four star daydream,
Think I'll buy me a football team.

Money, get back.
I'm all right Jack keep your hands off of my stack.
Money, it's a hit.
Don't give me that do goody good bullshit.

I'm in the high-fidelity first class traveling set

And I think I need a Lear jet.

Money, it's a crime.
Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie.
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today.
But if you ask for a raise it's no surprise that they're
giving none away.

Pink Floyd - Dogs

For all the blog frequenters or none at all, for those wondering whether the blog is deceased or breathing, is it with the blog, or simply, the contributors dead? The answer to all of this is just that we are all riding are lives with the clutch pedal on. It’s the time to change gears fractions ahead of the next chicane. It’s the time to continue the engine (here, the hearts that drives men of immense wisdom) churning the revs with very modest or almost no power transmission. Only to keep it all set to pump up enormous muscle at the exit of the chicane. In plain simple words, it’s the point of our lives when we are bumping into the world of competition, technology and service.

So what is it that has caught up on us? Most of our time is occupied in recovering from the old concepts shattering blows of information each day at work. The rest of the time is used up in finding ways to spend the compensations after all the beating (This may not include others). I call it the Dog part of our lives. It’s the exact metaphor for human behavior at this juncture of our life.

To understand it better just run thru the lyrics of Pink Floyd song from the album Animals. Contrastingly, Roger Waters had composed these lines with a different view point; I looked at it from a different dimension.

Artist: Pink Floyd

Album: Animals

Title: Dogs

“You gotta be crazy, you gotta have a real need

You gotta sleep on your toes, and when you're on the street

You gotta be able to pick out the easy meat with your eyes closed

And then moving in silently, down wind and out of sight

You gotta strike when the moment is right without thinking.

And after a while, you can work on points for style

Like the club tie, and the firm handshake

A certain look in the eye, and an easy smile

You gotta keep one eye looking over your shoulder

You know it's going to get harder, and harder, and harder as you get older

This is where it is right now. It couldn’t have got along any better than this. Beginning with DG (he has to start this). DG’s ass has always been the first ass to feel the gush of braking inertia each time. He was the first one to get a job (sadly with MBT though), first one to turn 18 (he did nothing, it just happened to be that way, or well, all of us were born after him) and most significantly the first one to fly abroad (purely on his credentials). Rohan is working with international clients selling the Americans insurance plans, Sunny (the author) is riding on 3D models of bikes and Junior is still burning up few more gallons of fuel on the test tracks for some more time.

The scene on the circuit is beginning to heat up. The start-finish straight of this new lap has faded in the rear view mirror (the induction training, I mean). We are all running down to lower gears to hit the first of the dreadful corners of just another lap of our lives. The analogy remains the same, the rules of the game remains same. The tyres are feeling new and the brakes are beginning to heat up. Time to develop a skill set to negotiate the trickiest of turns. I am allowing the Dog in me to take over. It’s the right time to run down the gears, feel the revs of engine and release the clutch lever once the curve is nudged away.

And this one is for you Junior; often the winner of the race is the one who hits the brakes last and hits every bit of the turn when the others are just trying to nudge off the apex. You’ll see a few people ahead of you in your visor, but they might very well be a lap down, so you don’t know who the winner here is? No one does…. The entire script is off course written by something Supernatural, we are just dogs in the park.

Still alive.....

long long time......but frankly no time as far as i am concerned.....and no intention/time as far as others are concerned to write smthng here...

has been 2 long mnths since i posted here...lot happened...siemens strted...went to nasik for 3 weeks training...first outstation trip....earned a huge amount of this trip...

had a great time there...both in office and outside it as well....nice city to live in...small but independent and complete i must say....got to know some ppl better than i knew them before....will really cherish these memories abt this trip for a long time....

back to office in mumbai....first day we get down kind of assisting on a project...learning some softwares....second day at office i get my salary cheque.....a few thousands more than i was expecting....pleasant surprise....two parties planned for the coming 2 weekends...hope we have a great time....

srry this post is written out of an attempt to announce that this blog is still alive....i am not in touch with music or general entertainment means for a long time...so a good post will follow soon...over the weekend....

Coming Back to Life

Here I am again.....this time its a pure tribute to a Pink Floyd song...
Song: Coming back to life Album: The division bell

There are times in everyone's life when u want someone to just be there with u....most of the times u know whom u want to be with, but there are times when u just dont know who u r craving to be with. Just the presence of someone u are connected to can make the difference between being comfortably numb or coming back to life.......

This song is David Gilmour's take on such times.....a song for his wife.....but many say tat maybe this song was written for his friend and band mate Roger Waters after he left the band(tats just before this album was released).

As always too good lyrics and never will u hear such pure love and longing in any other pink floyd song......all others are mostly outrageous takes on all unwanted thngs happening around us...the kind of rebel feeling to their songs...and yes wish u were here is another song which gives u the same feeling.....

The rest of the talking I guess shud be done by floyd....

Below are the lyrics and MP3 and click here to see the song performed by floyd at pulse,most of u wont, i know..:(

Where were you when I was burned and broken
While the days slipped by from my window watching
And where were you when I was hurt and I was helpless
Because the things you say and the things you do surround me
While you were hanging yourself on someone else's words
Dying to believe in what you heard
I was staring straight into the shining sun
Lost in thought and lost in time
While the seeds of life and the seeds of change were planted
Outside the rain fell dark and slow
While I pondered on this dangerous but irresistible pastime
I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the moment had arrived
For killing the past and coming back to life
I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the waiting had begun
And headed straight into the shining sun

Passion rules the Game

So its me again. coz I am the only one doing nthng as of now. sunny is in pune, living his dream at bajaj auto. Rohan has also strted with his job, looking pretty decent as of now. So tat leaves me and Junaid as we say always bekaar, lukkha and what not.....

Most of these days have been spent by me doing nthng, sitting and just dreaming of big things, lots of money, lots of places to go to, lots of lists already exist in my mind of "to do things"....

Life has been on a roller coaster ride in the past few days. From good news tat I am still being considered for automation department to the news tat I cannot be absorbed into process control. Then came a super shock, when a candid chat in the canteen turned out to b an interview.....what is the freq vs current response of a rlc series circuit.....total bouncer....still managed to crack it.....all because of those basics tat are considered trivial.....anyways...managed to crack it somehow..

Then came the hardest part....waiting ...waiting...waiting for a reply....mentally preparing myself for the worst news and the good one as well.....was almost drained out of all energy waiting for a reply.....what if they say NO....every assurance I gave to myself and got from friends and mom....had that end....what if NO...being so close still if I dont make it....it will b harder to go to tech mahindra than before....back then there were no options and all thru the final year I somehow prepared myself to go to TM for a year or so....

Finally the news came...drives and motion control dept....was happy...but was kind of prepared for that news...so not surprised.....but mom was very tensed and I saw her crying after a long time when the news came in....the feeling was just awesome...kind of the same when i got the news of getting electronics engg at RAIT....and I knew now the time has come....its upto me now....I make it or break it....and I know I will make it the way I want it to be....

And in the past days I saw a documentary on Mclaren Mercedes F1 team....extensive footages and interviews of Mclaren drivers Alonso and Hamilton and boss Ron Dennis..was so moved by the whole story of Lewis Hamilton....when a 8 year kid goes to a ceo(Ron Dennis) on stage and pulls his pants and tells him..." i have just won the british junior championship....and one day i would like to drive your car"....and what a journey it has been since then for him...he is 22 now and has been racing for the past 13 years....and i am 22 now and driving INDICA occasionally.....well srry, no over ambitious comparisons

He and his father saw a dream, one day lewis will drive a F1 car....and they saw it when lewis was 6.....and there has been no black driver in motoracing's 50 years of existence....and they worked towards it...It was a pact....lewis will pursue his dream but not let studies suffer and dad will work two jobs, one for the household and one for his son's dream....to build him go karts....

Ron Dennis gave him his chance when he was 9.....he won, they paid for his studies and racing.....Ron dennis says " when i met him as a child....he spoke more thru his eyes than his mouth....they said it all" ....the most striking line in the whole documentary was when Ron says for Lewis" he is confidence devoid of arrogance".....

All this comes down to one thing....a tear in lewis's fathers eye when his son was on podium in his first ever F1 race....the dream accomplished....and what a way they did it.....

As for me, the chase towards the dream begins shortly....standing on a formula 1 podium as a team engineer....but the Q remains...who will be the one shedding a tear??????

A Saucerful of ?????????

Long time since I posted smthng here......the last one by sunny was really nice......

Frankly speaking I was too bored to write smthng.....just lazing for the past whole month...I was expecting rohan to write smthng here....but he is lazier than me....

This post is not abt anythng in particular....so will not match up to the standards of this blog.

Lot of thngs going on in the past few days.....

Interview with siemens....was a big learning experience..

Matheran trip.....very close to the goa trip...was a really cherished experience

Daily outings with coll friends.....nerul station hang outs.....probably the last few days of freedom and fun....

Few quotes by friends....prasad said on last exam day...." apne liye jeene wale din shayad khatam ho gaye"....will always remember tat coz at tat very moment i was thinking our days have just strted.....prasad again" duniya ek medical store hai aur main aaj dosti ki goli khaa ke aaya hoon"....maan really feel like killing him sometimes...kitna pakata hai yaar

So many plans to spend money when i finally strt earning....I find myself making a list of restaurs where I wanna eat....things I wanna buy....parties I wanna give.....gifts I wanna buy for ppl.....and in distant future CARS I wanna buy

Sunny finally leaving mumbai....the first among us to strt his job...hope he achieves all tat he wants to...

Prasad and Rohan finally got their calls....all of my friends stay in Mumbai....except Nair and Charu.....really sad when I thnk of this...I hope v never find it difficult to find time for each other....

Lots of new music in the last few days....mainly Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.....dont feel like listening to anything else other than Floyd these days.....they are like GOD himself teaching u abt different aspects of life....the medium here is music...

Just realised a few days ago....so many common members between Pink Floyd and Ayn Rand community on orkut....two different takes on LIFE, but the ideology is the same.....

Didnt get chance to have vodka for the past 2 months almost.....waiting.....:(

My mom and bro gng crazy abt this Art Of Living Thing....and driving me crazy with their pravachan all day long.....no ways will i ever go to tat place.....the whole idea just feels disgusting to me.....how can someone else teach u "THE ART" of living your life...wat have u done all ur life if u dont know how to live it?????????

Thinking for the past few days....do we really mean when we say ..."we will be friends forever"...."i am always there for u"....and if we are not sure of whats gng to happen the next day why do we give these false assurances to others and ourselves????

Is guilt the only way u can make a person confess to his true self.....Is guilt the only link between u and ur conscience???? Have we stooped down to such a level tat we tlk to our conscience only when we feel guilty about something?????

Isn't the desire to take up the hardest challenge and beat it, a confession of weakness in itself????

Enuf said.....the saucer is overflowing now....so i better stop!!!

High Hopes - Pink Floyd

Artist: Pink Floyd; Album: Division Bell; Title: High Hopes: Composer: David Gilmour

I have always existed with an illusion that beyond the horizon there is a world far superior and evenhanded than the world I currently live in. The world, which does not work on magnets of control bred from fellowmen. Men do not believe in power of miracles but hold high regards for value of labor. Men with immense passion to achieve what they dream. The world of my imagination where men are rewarded only for what they deserve. The inhabitants, who are blessed enough so that they don’t have to depend on an Abstract Extra-ordinary Super Power to live through their lives. A world where emotions are not like shackles that bind men. Instead they stir up motive power to go a step further. Men, who cheat or kill, perish at once. The others that survive the heat of healthy competition live their way with an honesty of purpose. Not very sure whether it is same as Atlantis or is it different?

Several attempts, successful and unsuccessful, have been made to get a sneak peek in a world of my fascination. The successful ones could only succeed to break open just a small hole through the horizon, just open enough to allow a distinct single ray of light. The unsuccessful attempts were blurred at first and then beyond a certain distance they went no further, only to be blocked by a wall. As DG very rightly stated in his earlier blog entry, the whole scenario looks so similar to masons building the wall around the center of creativity and talent, the bricks being the our well-regarded communal round, the masons are left for us to figure out. Inspiration very naturally came from Pink Floyd – The Wall.

And then I was moved by a brilliant blend of music and lyrics composed by David Gilmour, popularly known as ‘High Hopes’. The fact that it was the very last song composed by Pink Floyd, it couldn’t have got any better than this magnum opus. The lyrics were instituted during the period when the band had torn apart and law suits worth of a million dollars were trying to bring it further down.

It an epitomized by talking about all the insignificant countless small creatures that are trying their very best to confine our feet to a second-rate way of life. And to add to the agony, leaving all of us to a life obsessed with slow decay, signifying end in the most brutal mode.

But very soon, a passion drives a ray of hope in the blood stream of brave men who fear none but loss. And it’s this towering hope that keeps the will going, to achieve what currently appears to be behind the walls of a narrow minded world. It is this hope that shall dwell in men of character. Men that deserve to live in the world of my imagination. For now it may appear like a tough ask, but I have HIGH HOPES.

The desire, ambition and the hunger shall remain forever and ever.